#how we feeling dubie........

[puckpocketed]

30/09/2024 - WSH @ CBJ

ivan miroshnichenko -> tom wilson -> pierre-luc dubois 🚨🐴!!!

[ID: Gifset of the Washington Capitals coming together to celebrate their power play goal. Pierre-Luc Dubois (#80) holds his hand out for a fist bump as Tom Wilson (#43) skates in. Ivan Miroshnichenko (#63) baps Dubois, then Wilson, then Rasmus Sandin (#38) over the head. While this is happening, Dubois pats Wilson on the ass. /. End ID]

[yunnierights]

chipi 💫 chipi 💥chapa 💫 chapa 💥dubi 💫 dubi 💥daba 💫 daba 💥magico mi 💫 dubi 💥dubi 💫 boom 💥 boom 💥 boom!

feels like we haven't interacted in forever (it's only been a few days?) but i hope you're doing well and thriving unlike me who's wilting rn LOL

OH EM GEE!! Yes! It's been too long. I have finals ( ＞Д＜；) (Don't ask me how it's going, I've literally spouted shit so bad on two of my papers, call me the Hanteo Shitter.) I'm most certainly NOT thriving but issokay! I only have one last paper left and then I'll be FREE!!

[karael-zexceed]

With the spooky season right around the corner, I feel obliged to say this - we need more possession slice-of-life movies and books. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to see a demon levitate a random victim, especially in the 40ish cases where they actually take the victory (yes I made an Imdb list).

However, voluntary possession would offer way more creative leeway. Picture this for example:

A person who was clumsy their whole life suddenly becomes way more graceful 'cause a literal deity is steering them (I'm a Satanist, demons are deities, sue me). Gone are the days of tripping down the stairs, falling off statues, slipping on ice and so on.

Demons using languages the way we use tone - so if they want to swear or deliver a terrible prophecy they use Hebrew, if they want to impart wisdom - Ancient Greek, and if they wanna be sassy or condescending plain old Latin will do. Example: tekel tel eskim (eat a pile of business, in Hebrew), oculos tuom dominent vacuae tenebrae (an empty darkness dominates your eyes, aka you're an idiot, in Latin)

Randomly waking up with sore muscles that your demon Master caused while piloting you while you were unconscious in the wee hours of the morning, which he refuses to heal due to this "not being a life threatening ailment". If he really overdoes it you might p*e a bit of bl**d.

Having knowledge of random events in the past or things you were never trained in and excelling at your exams 'cause you're cheating via a demon talking in your mind. Hell forbid someone asks for proof why you can make your skin transparent with tartrazine, or make fuel out of algae, or how do you know a Persian was tossed into a well after asking for an offering of "earth and water" or how you know for a fact a certain country had no infrared but someone accidentally shot down a plane and spooked their enemies into thinking they have superior tech.

Your demon Master can snitch on you telepathically to Lord Satan if you accidentally blaspheme in thought, just a heads up.

Don't ask for help with opening things, if demonic strength is applied to a bag of snickers you're gonna have a lot of flying snickers.

A demon that tries to outcompete Shakespeare with his poetry, but all he does is write Latin versions of his poems. Example: Dubi si fluvi flucent, sunt in igni cinis iam, dubi si stellae lucent, ne dubi:ego te ducam

Jumping in between 2 demons fighting and tanking a lightning bolt 'cause "why can't we just get along?", expecting to be praised by your Master but instead he's horrified that your soul is leaking in form of white will-o-wisps. When healed, you're freaking out at the fact sensation returned to some of your fingers after "permanent" nerve damage, and he's freaking out about not understanding mortals like "your soul is leaking, who cares about a finger?"

Bl**d sacrifices are no longer necessary, instead your Master requests smoked herrings to be imbibed. Ever since getting possessed, you've also acquired a taste for mayonnaise.

You get so burnt out that at some point you make muslim-friendly rations for the army of Lord Satan, and avoid getting a smite due to impaired judgment. "She can't see an elephant at point blank range, that's punishment enough"

You used to call the demon by a nickname, but a veteran went off at you and now you must call him Master

You blow up your school twice with pyrokinesis and do the same to a bully's house and a defense minister's xmas wreath. You also curse an old b*tch, making her fields fallow for 3 years and giving another guy brain cancer, which he regrettably recovers from.

Waking up from a takeover by a random demon and realize 2 hours of your time are missing, 3 electrical devices are dead and a mysterious milky substance is clouding one of your eyes until washed off.

You have a dream where you meet Lord Satan in Hell. Turns out he's blonde with blue eyes, a white toga and an indigo cape (drawing on my yt channel)

Inbefore "write a book", I wrote a free story available on Quora titled Saga of Nicodamus the Balseraphim Demon.

The best part is, some of this is true: the school and house really caught fire, my fingers did get healed, dude really got cancer, I lost time, had 3 electrical devices croak and milk come out of my eye, also weird dreams of interrupting demon combat, meeting my Lord and hearing Hebrew titles like Balseraphim etc etc. Heck, even my username Karael is technically stolen from a demon name.

So yea, more wholesome demon possessions, plz xdd

[ambernotember]

Featuring such hits as

I tried, Casey Dubie

We built a city out of sand Carving out our pillows Digging with our hands Your words came in waves Washing it away I'm laying on the beach On what's left of you and me

Nothing to lose, Hunter Metts

Cause I need you like water And I'd never tell you If your love was the rain Oh I'd lie on the roof The harder I try The more you slip through So I'll hold you like there is Nothing to losе

Loving you, Nick Wilson

How the hell did I find you A part of me I never knew No I don’t want anyone else Its funny how I used to be So scared of letting love control me Now it's so clear to me Of all the things I’ll ever do Nothing could come close to loving you

Eurydice, Vincent Lima

If you take one more step Then the damage is done But if you turn around You'll be giving this up Maybe it's time to feel trusting again

Orpheus, Vincent Lima

I turned back one last time just to prove you were there You said, if you can see me it's all in your head But it feels real to me now, it felt real to me then How do you know which memories to save?

i am not who i was, Chance Peña

So if I fly too far Will I still have a place inside your heart? And when you've seen what I've become Will you love me for who I am, not who I was?

[genz420]

The Fire That Burns With Us - Chapter 41: Days At Court.

Pervious Part - Next Part

137 - The Red Keep (6 months later)

Aemond kisses up Visenya's stomach, head still under the covers, and Aemond smiles as Visenya racks her hands through his hair.  Aemond kisses up her chest and out of the covers, Visenya smiling down at him.  Aemond moves higher and kisses Visenya, one hand on her hip while the other holds him up. 

Visenya and Aemond had woken up hours ago, but every time Visenya had tried to get out of bed, Aemond had convinced her to stay a little longer.  

“Aemond, I need to get dressed.  So do you,” Visenya tells him, but Aemond just buries his face into her neck.  “A busy day at court for you,” 

“I would rather spend the day between your legs,” Aemond whispers against her skin, feeling proud as he feels her skin heat up.  Visenya laughs and pushes Aemond to lie beside her. 

“You should be more careful with your words. They might understand you soon,” Visenya tells him as she gets out of bed.  Aemond rubs Visenya's bare back as she moves away from him.  

“By that time, they will have their room, and I won’t have to worry,” Aemond tells her as he watches her get dressed; once her pants and shirt are on, Aemond pulls himself out of bed.  

Aemond moves to stand behind Visenya, twisting her hair up and using the dragon pin to put it into a bun.   Visenya had learned that one of the twin's favourite things to do was pull her hair or any jewelry she wears.  She has gone any necklaces or earrings and has her hair down in braids.  The twins also loved to pull on Aemonds eye patch in public as he never wears the eye patch while in the comfort of the room, so the twins must find it weird seeing their father with it on.  

Aemond moves his hands under Visenya's shirt; Aemond had been very honest about how much he loved what pregnancy did to Visenya.  He had been very eager to show her as well.  Aemond rests his chin on Visenya's shoulder as he pulls her closer to his body. 

“Kosti tepagon se idaña naejot ñuha uēpkta mandia naejot urnēbagon syt se tubis se pār umbagon isse mirre tubis,” Aemond tells Visenya, and she thinks about his words.

We can give the twins my sister to watch for the day, and then we stay in all day.

“I thought you be tired from last night and this morning,” Visenya says as she turns around, wrapping her arms around his neck. Aemond leans his forehead against Visenyas as he hums.

“I can never be tired of you,” Aemond tells her and Visenya smiles.  

Aemond moves his hands down to Visenya's thighs and lightly pushes his hands against them; Visenya understands what he is asking and lightly jumps.  Aemond moves his hands to hold up Visenya as she wraps her legs around his waist, smiling as Visenya kisses his jaw.  

A cry ripping through the air makes the two stop.  Visenya looks away from Aemond and listens to the cry for a second.  Daenys.  

“Iksan sylugon naejot tepagon ao lanta iā dubys,” Aemond tells his children as he rests his head against Visenya's chest.

I am trying to give you two a sibling.

Aemond sets Visenya on the ground and Aemond watches Visenya check on the twins before he starts to get dressed. 

Visenya picks Daenys up from her cradle, gently hushing her as she rocks the 6-month-old.  

“What is wrong, my sweetling?” Visenya asks as she kisses Daenys forehead, trying to calm her down.  Visenya looks to Laenor's crib and sees one of the dragon toys that Ben has made for the twins in his crip. “Hmm.  Has your brother stolen your toy?” 

Visenya leans down to Laenor crip, the baby still sleeping, taking the dragon toy without waking him up.  Of all the carvings, Daenys favoured the dragon, while Laenor, the wolf.  Visenya shows Daenys the toy, making the dragon fly in the air while making dragon noises.  Daenys ignores her mother and finds a loose piece of hair in Visenya's bun, reaching out for it and pulling it.  

Visenya gently removes Daenys hold on her hold, giving her the dragon in hopes that it will distract Daenys.  Aemond walks to Visenya and Daenys, not bothering to put his eye patch on because he knows that his little girl will just try to get it off.  Visenya hands Daenys to Aemond, who gladly takes his daughter, making silly noises at her as he rocks her in his arms.  

Visenya moves towards Laenor crip, smiling at the sleeping baby.  Part of her worries that something might be wrong with him, he loves to sleep, but he loves to upset his sister by taking her toys and would always know when Visenya would take the toy away from him.  

– – 

Visenya moves through the Lords and Ladies of the court.  She knows Aemond would be towards the front of the group, but she gently moves people out of her way instead of drawing attention to herself by walking and pushing through everyone.  

Visenya smiles as she sees Aemond standing ever so still with a stoic expression.  Visenya can’t help but admire how handsome and intimidating he looks. There is no doubt that if the Lords and Ladies of the court saw how this morning Aemond was talking to Daenys, they wouldn’t think he was so intimidating.  

Visenya walks up behind Aemond, smiling as he spins his head around when she touches his arm.  Aemond relaxes once he realizes that the woman touching him is, in fact, his wife, a small smile on his face as he looks down at her.  He could tell she had finished training with Ben from the smell of sweat and the outside.  

“What are you doing here?” Aemond whispers to her as Otto continues his talk to some random Lord.  

“Nyke jeldan naejot ūndegon ao,” Visenya answers him, and Aemond looks around to ensure that no one has suddenly learned High Valyrian.  

I wanted to see you.

“Ao kostagon daor umbagon ēva tolī?” Aemond asks; he loves that Visenya wants to see him, but he has an intimidating presence that instantly washes away when around Visenya and the twins.  

Couldn’t you wait until later?

“Daor, nyke jorrāelatan naejot ūndegon ao,” Visenya tells him, gently running her hand up Aemond's chest.  Aemond looks around the court to ensure that no one sees what she is doing.  “Se idaña issi issare urnēbagon toliot se īlva tistālion iksis doru,”

No, I needed to see you. And the twins are being watched over, and our room is empty. 

“Jaelā nyke naejot henujagon syt se tubis?” Aemond says, and Visenya leans up to whisper into Aemond ear. 

You want me to leave court for the day?

“Jaelan ao naejot māzigon arlī naejot īlva tistālion se qogralbar nyke syt se rest hen tubis,” Visenya whisper to him, and Aemond stops breathing at her words.  Visenya pulls away from Aemond and smiles at him. “Gaomagon ao daor jaelagon naejot?”

I want you to come back to our room and fuck me for the rest of the day.  Do you not want to?

“Ñuha jorrāelagon lo nyke mirre ivestragon daor naejot bona másino mirros iksis pirta,” Aemond tells Visenya as he takes her hand off his chest.  

My love, if I ever say no to that question, something is wrong.  

[kyriat-stories]

That night there was enough food for everyone.

- So how do you think it went father? Did the boys behave?

- Oh yes, yes, yes. They all behaved very well.

- And you did get a lot of game didn’t you?

- Yes, yes, we did. I think we had two deer and some rabbits. Or did we get only one?

- No you did get two father, Dubi and Hdajk is preparing the second one to distribute to the rest of our clan now, and the first one is on the table. Or in our belly!. 

- Yes, yes! We are good hunters!

- You truly are, father! You want to eat some more?

- Yes! Very good meat. Very good, very good!

- Father is right, Klyg said. This is very good meat! And very nicely grilled Boui!

- Thank you!

- So, my brothers, how did it go? I still think father seems quite confused...

- Actually it went rather well, Efhag declared. It feels like he is much more forgetful and confused when he is here at the camp. At the savannah he was in his waters so to speak.

- I think we need to keep him busy, Won suggested. It makes him feel useful, and that makes him happy as well.

- This was a nice day, wasn’t it father? Ooops, be careful with that stick!

- Oh! Sorry! Yes, very nice day. Tomorrow I will go hunting.

- Eh.. Actually Won and Lea wanted you to join them tomorrow. They are going to the woods to find roots and mushrooms. You know some very good places for mushrooms, don’t you?

- Oh yeeees! Oyw nodded. I know very good places.

.

Previous | Index | Chapter 3 | Character overview | Next   

[shipcestuous]

I’m really interested in how they’ll adapt Garden of Shadows especially the Corrine/Chris Sr relationship because their incestuous relationship can’t be excused with them being locked in an attic and wait till the general audience finds out how much more related they are,lol. In all seriousness though apparently it’s going to be a mini series which I’m glad about I mean there’s so much creepiness and WTF moments in that one I feel like it rivals all the other movies combined plus it allows for better character development especially with Olivia.

I forgot that it was going to be a mini-series. I'm not sure if they have the material for it but it does span a long period. I just hope what they fill it in with will be good!

I think they go all-in on Corrine and Chris Sr. so I hope I won't be disappointed.

Oh,and sorry if you’ve already been asked that but do you think you would continue shipping Chris and Cathy in the movies if they had included the rape? I know some people argue about it being dubI con because Cathy says she could have stopped him but her thoughts afterwards about how she was tempting him with her femininity and that it was basically her fault kind of made me 😬 So yeah I’m glad they cut it off there was aleeway this build up of something sexual happening between them. The rape would have been shocking twist in the worst way.

Yeah, I think we have to take the rape the way Andrews' intcended it and not the way we would think about it happening in real life. There was a mutual attraction between them, and whatever her reason for including it, it wasn't meant to villify Chris. It was of the "he just couldn't resist her in that moment" variety, and again I think this is a case where Andrews wants us to put the blame on Corrine for keeping them in the attic, and that was just another symptom of them being suffocated and isolated in that place. That's what I think Andrews intended. It's been quite a while now since I read it last but from what I remember Cathy was not traumatized by it. She was more concerned with the sin of it all. So all that being said, yeah, I would still ship them (and I do in the books) but I'm just glad it's not that way in the movies.

[opinated-user]

it's also pretty obvious that CLO specifically is meant to be portrayed as the "only good trainer left" because she isn't predatory towards her G, unlike all these other perverts who take advantage of gardevours.

just for fun, let's do a little recap over the gardevours on this universe.

-diantha and her gardevour, that is extremely abusive from part of the gardevour and everyone knows about it but they won't do anything. the authorities won't do anything about it because they're afraid of diantha's gardevour attacking them and have no idea what to do, so they just leave this poor woman to be abused.

-a male trainer and a male gardevour that, all things considered, seemed to be a good relationship until they were turned apart and currently they're both being kept at a distance of each other. presumably, because of the bond they share, this is literal torture for the both of them.

-corazon and her female trainer whose name i forgot. corazon works with her trainer at the rescue center and seems to get along with each other or we were never given any reason to think otherwise. corazon despises G because she thinks G and CLO are together. later on LO revealed that she wanted G to force a bond between corazon and a child character in order to save corazon of some mysterious disease she had, without the consent of either of them despite this being a life changing decision.

-Marah, that lived on the household of CMO's family and was sexually harassed by CMO's father, thus making it so Marah can go live with G despite it being illegal to have two gardevours under a same roof. on marah's bio appears as if CMO's father only did a pass at her but... considering that Marah literally had to move out to a entirely different home, i can just guess that CMO's father was making Marah feel unsafe. LO revealed that she planned to have marah and CMO create a bond purely so G didn't have to lose her girlfriend, without any thought as to how this could affect CMO. marah does not understand boundaries, that is literally part of her "quirky" personality, and she has shown this by sexually harassing CMO by proposing to have sex or follow her to the bathroom while CMO is bathing, naked. this is meant to be "a joke".

-then of course, we all know what happened between G and CLO. G took advantage of a sleeping child, altering her mind forever, creating the bond that would keep her alive longer and she's the one who keeps pursuing CLO with her romantic feelings, causing CLO to have to reject her multiple times already. she gets a girlfriend that loves her. so we have 5 known gardevours, three of them are known to not respect consent and cross the boundaries of their trainers for their own selfish wants. 1 of them, as far we know, just had a consentual relationship with his trainer and is currently being punished for it. corazon is just there, waiting to be forced to bond with a child because of the selfish desires of another, or else she just dies.

so, according to the narrative... gardevours are written to have a tendency to be possessive and abusive towards their trainers. worse than that, the narrative rewards them for it. g never actually has to change anything about her life after CLO found out about the bond and she even gets an apology from her victim for daring to make her feel bad about taking advantage of a sleeping child. diantha's gardevour apparently can just do as she pleases and nobody even thinks to stop her. even CLO just hands diantha back to her abuser without a second thought, and nobody remarks how profoundly cruel and disgusting is to do this to a victim. it's even implied that the G from another universe that married her CLO did so through wearing her CLO down so much that she ended up accepting the relationship, and she can just continue on having a happy life without being treated as the predator she confessed to be.

the "hippy" gardevour from another universe is also shown to have sex with her CLO while CLO is high, adding dubious consent to the list, but it's never brought up and hippy CLO seems not to care about it at all.

nobody tells marah that she needs to start thinking about other people and respect boundaries. this is just a quirky personality trait that only makes her all the more endearing to everyone around her. she ultimately gets to have a girlfriend that she likes and a bondmate relationship that is purely out of convenience, so will never ask anything out of her. corazon is forced to accept a bond she never said she wanted to because of G, who gets justified by the narration by implying that she just saved corazon's life. the male gardevour apparently respected his trainer... and he's on prison because of it.

considering all of this, the narration seems to push this idea that being abusive, controlling and don't consider other people's feeling is a good thing that will bring good things to all the gardevours specifically. those who won't do that deserve nothing good.

at the same time, you're meant to see gardevours as the victims of humans that everyone just abuses and uses to their own benefit. you're meant to feel sorry for these creatures because all the humans they encounter never fail to groom them and abuse them. i can only imagine then that gardevour are allowed and rewarded to have such questionable behavior because of how bad their species is treated, as if "taking the power back". i don't know what to make of it, but it's certainly a choice to write multiple creatures being awful people to everyone around them and they still get everything they want in the end, while the "good" characters are actively put down or written to conform in some other way. i can't help to feel like reading stockholm all over again because twilight is written about the same way that gardevours are, down to the reader having to be forced to empathized with twilight because of her past as an abused victim.

Can anyone be so kind as to explain the predatory behavior against Gardevoirs in the Poke-Madhouse? It's said that Gardevoirs get physically intimate with humans, and while there anon questions answered, we see very little proof of it in the actual universe Lily is writing, not to mention the attempt to restore the Gardevoir count later on through the cloning process that allowed G to make Bonnie. It doesn't make sense without world-building.

There isn't a lore reason. It's just there.

I don't think it's even explained in the wiki.

If I'm completely honest, having an entire world where everyone is predatory towards Gardevoirs without explanation, kind of screams that the author has a very particular desire.

[child-of-hurin]

I’m starved for lpm content so I’m reading French fanfics with the help of google translate and I now hate the translators that much more because that guy from the third book? I did NOT realize it was a reference to “chevalier sans peur et sans reproche” bc they bungled it both in russian and in english! >:(

Oh god okay!! This sent me on a bit of a rabbit hole bc I had no idea how it had been translated, but ok so, in English he’s called “Fearless-and-Almost-Blameless”... In PTBR I just checked: “Sem medo e sem muita culpa”, literally “With no fear and not much blame” - which is a little more charming than the Eng version, but it also connects reproche to blame... Why? 

In PTBR we don’t have a proper good translation for reproche - Pierre Terrail’s wiki article uses irrepreensível which I think it’s also what I have seen George Duby’s translators use, and it works but it’s a mouthful, & I honestly have no idea .. I woulda preferred that translation to “culpa”/”blame” anyway, but w/e. But you know what? It’s a YA book, and at least the translation sounds nice to the ear. The Eng translation tho????

Throwing it on google got me

So maybe this is where the Eng translator decided to stop, in terms of cultural reference? 

I just can’t get my head around the translation of “reproche” to “blame” instead of “reproach”, the word is literally there?

I keep thinking that choosing the adjective form “blameless” instead of the adjective phrasal “without blame” happens bc then you can treat it as a noun, like, it’s much clunkier to say “I saw the Without Fear...” than “I saw the Fearless...”, so ok I get that.

except,

if that’s a choice to make it less clunky,

then what’s up with... the removal of the article in English? In FR he’s “le Sans-Peur-et-Presque-Sans-Reproche”, in PTBR the article remains there, in English they just... don’t use articles For some reason? 

If the original text read “c’est le Sans-Peur,...” why does the Eng translator chooses to go for “it’s Fearless...”? I always feel like the Eng translator is trying Too Hard to make it sound eerie and like a period piece, when IMO the FR dialogue is charming and vivacious... Every time I try to find a passage in the Eng translation I get a little :| :| :|  because it always sounds like the translation is just trying too hard... I kinda respect that a an aesthetic choice tbqh except the text does lose brilliance. 

But most importantly. If the translator is arbitrarily trying to give it a classic, period feeling by making the dialogue less sound less natural to an Eng reader than it does in the original to a FR reader... then why drop the ball on historical references like this??? IJDGI 🤷

Anyway, how did it get translated to Russian?? >_> Same problem? I know the Russian translation is a nightmare, though I don’t know the details (I wish I did! If you know exactly what the problems were... can you tell me? 👀) 

Besides that, I know the author’s father is a scholar specialized in Louis XIV’s court and esp in Fouquet’s trial so it really just makes you wonder how many references are there and we just don’t get? 👀

(Another thought: isn’t it crazy that Ophelie finally gets rid of one chevalier in a book and then gets in trouble with another chevalier in the next book?? Let her catch a break dshbdfnjfdm)

[richmond-rex]

Hey, I don’t know if you’re the right person to ask, but given how much you know of medieval lore I’ll shoot ahead. Given how religious 15th century England and it’s residents were and how harshly Catholicism punishes adultery, how did some of the pious figures e.g. Anthony Woodville, Edward IV, Richard III and others have extra-marital relations given that the potential penalty was hell? I mean I know there were societal double standards on gender,but surely as far as religion was concerned...

🌹 Hello! First I need to put forth my disclaimer that I'm not a medievalist, so if any of my medievalist friends are reading this ask, please feel free to step in. My academic formation involved history + psychology of education which of course led me to Ariès and Duby. Everything else is, you know, free reading. I may be able to reply to this ask in a better way after reading some of the books on my tbr list, but here’s how I understand the situation:

There has always been some dispute inside the Roman Catholic Church in terms of what determines salvation, marriage, the beatific vision, etc —which are theological aspects that I’m not really qualified to talk about. For example, the Franciscans were very much of the opinion that the Church should not have earthly possessions but not all clerics thought so. Acts of faith depended a lot on what ‘school of thought’ (let’s say) you followed, so practices were varied. We know that indulgences were popular by the Late Middle Ages but there are several misconceptions about the term, namely, they did not forgive mortal sin, and they didn’t always involve money. 

One thing that is essential to Catholicism in terms of salvation of the soul is the Sacrament of Confession/Penance and Reconciliation — if you were baptised and you sinned, and especially if you committed a mortal sin such as adultery which could lead to the damnation of your soul, the first thing you have to do is confess your sin to an ordained priest. The sacrament involves contrition (a specific type of prayer), confession and satisfaction, meaning: you would have to perform penance. 

There are two types of consequences for the sinner: eternal punishment, meaning the sinner is deprived of communion with God i.e. eternal life, and temporal punishment, which is what happens when you’re in Purgatory. Prayers said for your soul could shorten the time you spend in Purgatory being tormented by the sins you committed in life, and that’s why ordering masses to be said for your soul was such a common request from the powerful. 

The Sacrament of Confession may grant absolution for your sin, which means you are restored to communion with God (i.e. you have your eternal life back), but it does not absolve you from temporal punishment. A partial or plenary indulgence can remove either part or all of the temporal punishment you should face for committing your sin. Only works of devotion, penance and charity can absolve you from all punishment. 

Indulgences could entail a variety of things: abstaining from licit things that you enjoy, reading and listening to the Scriptures, acts of adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist, recitation of prayers, and then, of course, acts of charity — devoting one’s self or one’s goods to charitable causes. You could give money to the Church and (in theory but not always) they would give it to the poor or apply to charities such as hospitals, for example.

The way I see it, if I’m a powerful, rich medieval man, I can achieve plenary absolution from my mortal sin — be that adultery or fornication, for example — by taking the Sacrament of Confession, performing penance and being granted indulgence. Of course, there is something to be said about the sincerity of your acts if you keep committing those sins over and over again. In that case, it may be that God would not consider you to be purified from your sins, so indeed it was a very fine line to walk.

Now, penance also entailed a variety of things, from fasting to abstaining from matrimonial relations to whipping. There was an obvious difference in the type of penances that women and men performed. There was also a difference if you were a member of nobility or even just a distinguished member of society, like in this case from the episcopal visitation of the Canterbury Diocese (1292-1294):

In contrast, his mistresses:

The type of penance that Anthony Woodville, Edward IV, Richard III and others would have performed was most likely a very discreet one. Of course, it is extremely difficult for us to imagine what those figures might have done to repent their sins, but I think that they were well aware of the possibility of eternal condemnation and would have been mindful of seeking absolution at some point in life before they died.

Well, like I said before, this is how I see the situation now, but I may come to other conclusions in the future. I will let you know in case I do! I hope this answer is a bit helpful at least 🌹x

[puckngrind]

Skating Lessons part 9

Summary/note: So I deleted half of this and had to rewrite.  The story line is the same...but I’m still sad I messed up.  Dudes date/girls pedis out.

Warning: adorableness

Word count: 1888

Series Masterlist

Before Josh leaves in the morning he tosses a jersey on the bed.  “If you want to wear this today I wouldn’t be mad.”  You open up the jersey to see Anderson on the back.  It’s the 3rd jersey so it’s different than Mason’s home one and you eye Josh who has a bashful look on his face.  

“I’ll think about it Babe.”  You lean up to kiss him and Josh laughs into you.

“I’ll see you tonight after the game okay? I gave my mom your number just incase.”  Josh pulls you up from the bed to plant a kiss on you again.

Before Josh leaves in the morning he tosses a jersey on the bed.  “If you want to wear this today I wouldn’t be mad.”  You open up the jersey to see Anderson on the back.  It’s the 3rd jersey so it’s different than Mason’s home one and you eye Josh who has a bashful look on his face.  

“I’ll think about it Babe.”  You lean up to kiss him and Josh laughs into you.

“I’ll see you tonight after the game okay? I gave my mom your number just incase.”  Josh pulls you up from the bed to plant a kiss on you again.

You once again park at Josh’s and walk over.  Your seats are planted firmly in the middle of the family section.  You see many of the wives and girlfriends you saw at the last home game you went to.  Natalie turns around from her seat to greet you and say hi to Mason.  Before the boys skate out the Andersons and Amy Jones find their way to the seats behind you.  Mason stands up to talk Michelle’s ear off and pulls his jersey up to show Amy he in fact has his Seth Jones shirt from Christmas on under his Anderson jersey which makes everyone around you bust out laughing.  When the team skates out Josh, Boone, PLD, and Seth make their ways to wave at Mason.  Josh holds up his fingers counting down by 3 and both him and Mason do their secret signal.

“So, that’s why he keeps doing that.  I’ve seen it every game.”  Michelle leans over to you and you look back to meet her eyes.

“Yeah, Josh and Mason came up with it awhile ago during a skate.  Mason does it in our living room.”  You pull out your phone to show her the video you’ve sent Josh.  Michelle and Amy awe over the adorableness of Mason’s video.  

“Momma, Momma, Momma!”  Mason tugs at your jersey and you turn around to see Mason dancing round looking up at the screen.  Sure enough the camera had landed on him and he was in heaven.  You wave and then the video cuts to Josh shooting on the ice.  You gulp and Amy places her hand on your shoulder.

“So pedis tomorrow, you ready for some girl time?”  Amy distracts you and you are thankful for it.

“I sure am!” Michelle chimes in and you shake your head to agree.  

The game goes well.  Michelle took Mason to get popcorn between the 2nd and 3rd period and Amy climbs into his seat.  Gary was engrossed in a conversation with the man next to him.

“You are doing well with this.”  Amy pats your leg and you look down to try to control your blush.

“I don’t feel like I am usually.”  You honestly tell her as the boys come back out to warm up.  

“It comes with time Honey and you’ve got time from what I see.”  Amy points as Josh makes another pass fully keeping his eyes on you and only you.  Your heart skips a beat.  He had a way of making you feel like no one else was in the room even when you were in a stadium filled with tons of hockey fans.  

The buzzer sounded and the boys won 2 to 1.  You grab Mason’s hand and head to see Josh.  In the elevator you see Mason tug at Gary’s vest.  Gary looks down, “So what was Josh like when he played hockey at my age?”  Mason had the most serious look on his face and then lets out the biggest yawn.

Gary leans down to Mason’s level, “I’ve seen video of you skate and he wasn’t as good as you are now but promise you won’t tell him, okay?”  He winks at Mason and stands back up when the elevator doors open.  Amy nudges you as you take in the moment.

Rounding the corner that leads to the locker rooms you here Mason shout Josh’s name and before you can grab him he takes off.  Josh is standing in the hallway being interviewed...with a camera.  Josh holds up his finger to Mason without skipping a beat in the interview and grabs his hand.  The interviewer finishes and heads into the locker room with Amy on his heals.  Josh scoops up Mason and they are chatting when you make your way to his side.  He pulls you in whispering how much he loved you then places a kiss on the top of your head.  You say goodbye to his parents and Josh grabs your hand to head to the car.  Pulling out of the drive was easier than the first time.  Josh has his hand on your thigh and you are rubbing your hand through his hair.  

“I’m not sure what they said on television about you and Mason but he was adorable dancing on the big screen.”  Josh squeezes your knee and your hand stops moving.  

“What do you mean...television?”  You gulp.

“Well Dubi pointed up to the screen when he saw Mason and I had to look away when they moved out to show you.  Too distracting.”  He breathes out a laugh and continues, “well normally what’s on the screen is what is on the televised broadcast.  They usually just talk about the game and our stats not what they are actually showing.  No worries.”  He moves his hand up your leg as he waits for you to process.

“So are you two staying the night?”  He doesn’t break his eyes from the road.

“Yeah, I thought it would be silly to go home just to come right back.  Our bags are in the car.”  You stare at Josh and see the corners of his mouth turn up.

“I was hoping you would say that.  I’m looking forward to our dudes day tomorrow.”  His eyes flash to Mason and hand squeezes your leg.

“It’s a big step, you know, keeping him....”  You jump out of the car to help Josh get Mason inside.  

“Yeah, but I think we got this.”  Josh leads you into his place and you two tuck Mason in to his guest bedroom then retreat to his room.

You wake up to laughter and the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen.  Slipping out of bed, you find one of Josh’s shirts and shorts he left out and head towards the noise.  You take in the moment.  Cartoons on in the living room, Mason standing on a chair leaning into Josh who showing him how to scoop the bread out of the french toast mix.  You grab a coffee and lean in to see.  Josh places his hand on the small of your back and a gentle kiss on your lips.

“Momma, we wanted to make you breakfast before your girls day out.”  Josh continues to help Mason and Mace shakes his head in agreement.  “So go ahead and get ready so we can finish this.”  he leads you out of the kitchen and you catch a glimpse of Mason in full concentration mode as you head down the hall.  You quickly get ready and join the boys at the table.

“So I left a key on the counter for you in case we go down to the Mile or something so you don’t have to wait.  Also, there is a package being delivered while I’m on the road. I was hoping you could bring it in for me.”  Josh doesn’t look up from his breakfast.

“Yeah, I think I can handle that.  What’s the package?”  You ask and Josh just smirks at you.

“Oh you will see.”  As he stands up to answer the door.  Amy busts in the room with her arms wide open.

“Let’s go get our pedis on (y/n)!”  She engulfs you in a hug as Seth greets you and finds a place on the couch.  Mason quickly joins him to catch up on the episode on the television.

“Have fun babe.”  Josh kisses you and you nod into him.  “Us dudes are sure going to.”  With that Amy practically pulls you out and to her car.

Michelle greets you at the nail salon with mimosas in hand.  You settle in and immediately Amy is taking pictures and videos.  You laughed so hard at Amy and Michelle’s banter that your side hurt.  It was so good to just be around women.  Then Michelle puts her hand on yours, “So do you really love him?”  Her simple question has a lot of power behind it.  You look down at your empty glass and look back at Michelle with water welling in your eyes.  

“I do.”  You breathe out.  You absolutely loved Josh but telling his mother was a big deal that weighed on you.

“Well I can tell you I’ve never seen my son so in love with someone.  He loves you more than hockey and baseball.  He loves Mason just as much.  It’s something special you two have.”  She pats your hand again and releases it so you can wipe the tear that started streaming down your check.  

“Well Shell, I’m still mad Seth didn’t see her first.”  And with that Amy got you laughing again.  “Let’s go round up those boys of ours huh?”  You said your goodbyes to Michelle and followed Amy back to her car.

Josh didn’t answer your text about coming home but you thought Mason must have had him running around.  As you enter his place you take in the surroundings.  You see a knee hockey goal set up in the hallway and a giant blanket fort around the couch. Seth is sitting in the chair playing a video game.  You scan the room again but you don’t here or see Josh and Mason.  You eye Seth who points under the blanket fort.  You bend down to see Mason asleep on Josh’s chest.  You snap a picture and here Josh clear his throat.  

“Did you just post that?”  He groggy voice and rubbing of his eyes proves he was napping too.  

“I mean it’s adorable...unless I should delete it and post my cute pedi!”  You wiggle your toes at him.  

“Progress.  I like it.”  Josh gives you a smirk.  You say goodbye to Seth and Amy.  Thanking Amy again.  Then crawl in the fort snuggling into Josh’s side as he shifts Mason to put his arm around you.  Kissing your slightly he asks about your girls day.

“Your mom told me that you love me more than hockey.”  You look up at Josh.  He smiles simply and plants a gentle kiss on your lips.

“She’s 1000% correct.”  He kisses you again and you snuggle into his chest with Mason.

[senpai-no-lie]

So I Finally Finished A Route in Three Houses: A Review of Mechanics

I also finished the DLC, but I figured I’d split my thoughts of the DLC, the first route I played, and my general opinions on the mechanics into separate posts for length and coherency reasons 

Overall: I liked the idea of a lot of what they tried to do, but the execution was hit and miss. Additionally, some of the stuff that was interesting and new at first quickly became a chore. Purely on mechanics, I would say 3H was worse than both Fates and Awakening; Echoes is a toss-up. 

What I Think 3H Improved Upon: 

Combat Arts! I loathed how combat arts worked in Echoes. Attached to the weapon? So freaking dumb. I thought there was a good variety of different arts your unit could learn, and if they decided to keep weapon durability, I think having combat arts tie into that was a good idea

Forging. Ugh, do I hate weapons durability, but at least I could repair my weapons pretty easily (outside of the Relics, which I hardly used, as a consequence). Realizing I could craft Levin swords was also a big game changer for me. I also hated how limited and mysterious forging was in Echoes, so I’m glad 3H didn’t hide what the weapon could become behind ???. Still think Awakening had the best forging, as broken as it kinda was lol 

Paralogues...? I thought most of the paralogues were a fun challenge and were good opportunities to learn more about the characters who aren’t as vital to the main (meager) story. Sort of wished you could’ve recruited some other the other houses’ members via paralogues (akin to picking up your children from Time Travel/Deep Realm daycare) 

Demonic Beasts I liked them. They were a change of pace from regular enemies, which is a plus in my book.

Stat Gains and Level Design, at compared to Echoes. I feel like they borrowed a lot of ideas from Echoes, since that was the last game (excluding Warriors), but with some improvements. The stat gains in Echoes were notoriously awful, and as someone who is a bit...anal at times about evenly leveling all my characters, it was the Literal Worst to put all that work into chumps like Est and Atlas and Clive and they still sucked. Also, the maps in Echoes started to run together and just be like a slog, so good job, 3H, for not being as bad as your predecessor. (Though the general lack of gimmicks in the story chapters and reliance on fairly so-so maps with objectives like route the enemy/defeat the commander over and over could’ve been furthered improved upon)

What Was A Bit Meh: 

Timed Activities This is petty, but it just stressed me out when a game put a timer on something. I stopped doing the advice box and didn’t bother with tea parties pretty quickly because while I could suspend the software to have the extra time to look answers, it wasn’t fun or a good use of my time. 

So Many Activities During Exploration Too much, in my humble opinion. A good chunk of them were ways to gain support with units or minor increases in skills, so I think it would’ve been better to condense activities. Like, lost items??? I was able to A support every single available unit on my first playthrough without to much difficulty without that. I’d scrap the advice box and also combine seminar with the tutoring in some way. 

Classing System It was a neat idea, to have that much freedom with classing units, and tying reclassing to skill level instead of purely level, but it was also equally annoying to spend in game weeks trying over and over to get a character to pass an exam. And the concept of the exams make even less sense post-timeskip. I liked the flexibility, but I think they could’ve scaled it back a bit (especially to make the game less intimidating to new players) so it wasn’t so tedious. 

DLC I like the creativity of deciding to just do an entire side story DLC instead of typical bonus maps. However, having completed the DLC side story, outside the notion the chapters were a bit more challenging (which in itself is a balancing act between engaging and tedious), and perhaps giving us more info about Byleth’s mom... it was kind of meh. Story was fairly cookie-cutter and the lack of any animated cutscene was a bit disappointing, those some of the stills were nice. 

Things I Just Didn’t Like:

The General Aesthetic Is this a mechanic, not necessarily, but it’s more appropriate to talk about it here than another post. For one, I just never liked how plasticky all the characters look. I commend them, I suppose, for deciding to fully voice act the game like Echoes, but I wish they hadn’t if it meant I had to look at vacant-eyed characters talking in a half-circle before every fight and after every fight. You can’t unnotice that almost every cut scene if all the characters standing perfectly still, talking in a half-circle. Additionally, sometimes their mouths don’t even move when they talk!! The face portraits had maybe a quarter of the personality they’ve had in previous games, and I miss how crits were done in Fates. 

Non-Mission Activities Made the Actual Story Chapters Feel Secondary For my first playthrough, I just decided I was going to grind for as many supports as possible, since the first half (or more than half) of each route is exactly the same. However, I noticed that I often felt that having to stop and do the mission was getting in the way of my other aims, or I would more or less forget what was going on in the story by the time I had to do the mission. 

Reliance on Using the Monastery as Homebase I know a lot of people ripped on Fates’ My Castle, but I feel like that was a much less intrusive base of operations than the monastery, because none of the things in My Castle had to be acknowledged if you wanted to bulldoze through several chapters in a row or do paralogues or DLC or whatever. I understand they put a lot of work into the Monastery, but it was hell to navigate around (I just fast traveled rather than navigating lol), made a lot of story chapters feel awkward (we’re in the middle of a war, but after every battle we gotta go back to the Monastery and dick around for a month), and really bloated up the game.

Recruitment At first, I was pretty gun-ho about getting all the units I could, and it was exciting to get a bunch of new units based on my efforts to seduce recruit them (especially Ferdinand-- he was such a bastard to get despite being the second unit I tried to recruit), but then you have them all and suddenly Edelgard’s enemy forces feel like a joke (it’s just her and Hubie Dubie, p much) and you realize everyone feels like a flake if they’ll join pretty much any side no matter. Additionally, because of how recruitment works, outside of Byleth and the main lord, and to a lesser extent the retainer, a good chunk of the characters have very limited to no importance to the plot. The rest of your house has about average FE involvement in the plot, such as commentary or exposition dumping, but they don’t feel like they matter when you can feasibly never use them if you recruit enough from the other houses. 

[synthaes]

singin’ in the rain (1952) sentence starters.

it’s no wonder they’re a household name.

we’re just good friends!

we were kids together. we grew up together. we worked together!

dignity. always dignity.

[irritably plays a ragtime piano melody]

[i’m] fit as a fiddle and ready for love!

oh, that’s swell. just swell.

that’s a moot point.

well, that’s funny. i’m busy.

hot-diggity, kids!

can’t a girl get a word in edgewise?

no one’s got that much money.

why don’t you go out now and recite the gettysburg address?

you shouldn’t believe all that banana oil.

there is nothing between us.

there has never been anything between us– just air.

haven’t you heard? she’s irresistible. she told me herself.

i got no glory. i got no fame. i got no big mansions. i got no money. but i got – well, what have i got?

do something, call me a cab!

okay, you’re a cab.

don’t worry, i’m not a criminal!

you’re a famous gangster!

well, thanks for saving my life.

i’d very much like to know whose hospitality i’m enjoying.

we movie stars get the glory, i guess we have to take the little heartaches that go with it.

they just make a lot of dumb show.

you’ll have to wear a beard for that one.

you’re nothing but a shadow on film.

farewell, ethel barrymore!

how did you come, by way of australia?

you gotta show a movie at a party; it’s a hollywood law!

they’ll lose their shirts.

well, if it isn’t ethel barrymore.

all i do is dream of you.

you’re every thought, you’re everything, you’re every song i ever sing.

___, you never looked lovelier!

well, it’s a living.

she’s the first dame who hasn’t fallen for your lines since you were four.

come on now, snap out of it.

the show must go on!

i’m sure we should be as happy as – but are we? no. definitely no. positively no. decidedly no.

make ‘em laugh!

they’ll be standin’ in lines for those old, honky-tonk monkeyshines.

you could study shakespeare and be quite elite.

you could charm the critics and have nothing to eat.

slip on a banana peel, the world’s at your feet!

don’t you know the world wants to laugh?

go out and tell ‘em a joke, but give it plenty of hoke.

[cackles brightly, lengthily, and breathlessly]

why, you rattlesnake, you.

i never heard of anything so low.

i don’t like her half as much as i hate you, you reptile.

i’d rather kiss a tarantula.

i don’t – hey, ___, bring me a tarantula.

at last i can stop suffering and write that symphony!

what can i do but give my heart to you?

gee, i’m glad you turned up. we’ve been looking inside every cake in town!

i’m such a ham.

you sure look lovely in the moonlight.

i’ve laid awake the whole night through.

you were meant for me, and i was meant for you.

nature patterned you, and when she was done, you were all the sweet things rolled up in one.

you’re like a plaintive melody that never lets me free.

the angels must have sent you, and they meant you just for me.

sinful caeser sipped his snifter, seized his knees and sneezed.

moses supposes his toeses are roses, but moses supposes erroneously.

but moses, he knowses, his toeses aren’t roses, as moses supposes his toeses to be.

a rose is a rose, a nose is a nose, a toese is a toese.

hupi-dubi-du!

gee, this is dumb.

well, i can’t make love to a bush!

swell!

i love you, i love you, i love you.

this is a scream.

i’m no actor, i never was. just a lot of dumb show.

well, at least you’re taking it laying down.

or worse still, [you could] go back into vaudeville!

of course. it’s a cinch!

hot dog!

fellas, i feel this is my lucky day.

it’s 1:30 already. it’s morning!

we’ve talked the whole night through.

good mornin’!

it’s great to stay up late.

when the band began to play, the stars were shining bright.

now the milkman’s on his way, it’s too late to say goodnight.

so, good mornin’!

sunbeams will soon shine through.

we’ve gabbed the whole night through!

nothin’ could be grander than to be in louisiana.

might be just as zippy if we was in mississippi!

the pain is gone, the show goes on, and i don’t wanna say goodnight.

she can’t act, she can’t sing, and she can’t dance. a triple threat.

wait a minute. i am just about to be brilliant!

watch my mouth.

enchanting. what are you doing tomorrow?

where i stand, the sun is shining all over the place.

i’m singin’ in the rain; just singin’ in the rain.

what a glorious feeling, i’m happy again.

i’m laughin’ at clouds, so dark above.

the sun’s in my heart, and i’m ready for love.

let the stormy clouds chase everyone from this place.

come on with the rain, i’ve a smile on my face.

i’ll walk down the lane with a happy refrain.

remind me to give you a raise!

hey, ___. give me a raise.

would you dare to say: let’s do the same as they?

i would. would you?

first, we set the stage with a song.

don’t bring a frown to old broadway.

your troubles there, they’re out of style.

gotta dance!

broadway rhythm’s got me.

when i hear that happy beat, i feel like dancin’ down the street.

our love will last until the stars turn cold.

try and understand this: i’m going to marry her.

i once gave you a cigar. can i have it back?

tonight, i’m gonna do my own talking.

you’ve gotta do it, ___. this thing is too big.

you are my lucky star.

i was starstruck!

you are my lucky charms.

i’m lucky in your arms.

you’ve opened heaven’s portal here on earth for this poor mortal. 

[wwhaatttttttt]

Tú.  [A ‘You’ Fanfiction ]

Chapter 2: Andar Contigo

Mientras miraba al espejo, una cosa sonaba en mi cabeza, "¡Deja de pensar en español!"

My hand slapped my forehead and I groaned cause I ruined my eyebrow in the process.

If I want to fit in I should think like people here, and people here think in English. In fact, some people get angry if you speak Spanish, I learned that the hard way yesterday in my first day of university here.

Thankfully, there is a lot of Latinos in New York, so Spanish is very common. That does not mean I should rely on only that, that would limit me a lot. That is why I have asked Joe to help me.

Not only is he nice, but he is also very handsome and I'd rather take English classes from him than a middle-aged, too expensive, tutor. Sorry not sorry.

That is why I am currently going crazy in front of the mirror. I have to look like a bad bitch, no, the baddest bitch. I fix my eyebrow and look at myself well. I look good.

Joe seemed like a simple guy, he seems like the type of person to go for girls that have the personality of the color beige. I am not like that. I like flashy clothes and bomb makeup, that is why I am wearing exactly that. I did not keep my dubi in my beanie for nothing. If he doesn't accept me like this then he is not the one, but that does not stop me from wanting him to be.

Girls illus- um... Girls um. Fuck it.

Las nenas se ilusionan rápido, y de seguro no soy una excepción. De hecho, soy todo menos una excepción; Soy la niña crédula que cae en esta categoría a pesar de mis muchos intentos desesperados de no hacerlo.

Hopefully, Joe can help me translate that in case I ever need it outside of my thoughts.

Hopefully, it can keep him wondering why I wanted to translate specifically that.

Hopefully, it will give him a hint.

I should not get ahead of myself though, What if we become best friends and then it will be uncomfortable to be anything else? What if we become something and then regret it? What if we become nothing at all? This is the mentality I should have.

I read somewhere on Instagram that was like, "You can't be disappointed if you have no expectations at all." Very wise words, @babygal89.

I do not exactly know when Mooney's close but the sun is leaving and It is better to be safe than sorry.

...

New York has this amazing thing called Uber, it is God-sent, without it I would not have gotten here on time.

Mooney's is still open, but it looks as if they are closing.

My palms are sweaty as I open the door, maybe I am too dressed up. I look down at my bodycon two-piece. I am definitely too dressed up. Just by feeling the vibes of this place I can tell I should have came more casually.

"Sorry Ma'am, shop's closed for the day. We open tomorrow at 7 though."

I look around to see who said that, it was a tan, large, man. He seems friendly though. I find it extremely hard to read in English so it takes me a bit of time to see that his name is Ethan.

"Pardon me, Ethan. I do not mean to disturb you but is Joe here?"

"Oh yeah, give me a second."

It is silent when Ethan leaves, I do not know if I am homesick or going crazy but I can hear the faintest Enrique Iglesias song. Joe does not seem like the type of guy to listen to Enrique Iglesias. I will chat with Ethan to see if he speaks Spanish. If Ethan speaks Spanish then I will ask for him to tutor me.

I actually want, no, need to learn English. My little crushy-attraction-thingy with Joe is a distraction. I can not get distracted.

Talking about distractions... Joe is right in front of me. I can not believe I was spaced out for so long.

He looks sweaty and is slightly out of breathe and if I am honest, a bit smelly. He must be tired of such a long day, I should not disturb him. I should have been more considerate, oops.

"Joe, Is it a bad time?"

"No-no! Not at all Alexandra, I was wondering when you'd come."

I stay silent, not because I do not have anything to say, but because I am wondering how a job in a bookstore with air conditioning would leave you this tired and sweaty. Was he pajeándose before I came? Oh my God, I interrupted a paja session.

"What's so funny?"

Oh shit. Caught.

I continue the conversation as if I never came to that conclusion and in no time we already had our study area. There were no tables so I suggested we sit on the floor in the back of the store, Joe seemed fine with that. Before sitting down Joe grabbed a handful of books and now they are neatly stacked next to him.

I reach for my book bag and pull out my folder, it is pretty thick. "I have to translate these to English, but if I directly translate them I would not be learning as much as I could."

"So... What are you suggesting?"

"Em... What I am saying is you teach me English normally and sometimes we can read my papers and try to translate them."

I open the folder and give him the first paper. I am immediately embarrassed.

"Forgive the ugly letter."

After looking at it quickly (he obviously can't read it), he looked right at me and smiled. Dreamy.

"Don't worry about it, it's believed the uglier the handwriting the higher the intelligence."

iFo! Que cursi.

...

Me gusta.

"It can work like a progress report of sorts. I might even pick up some Spanish on the way."

"You better! You need to learn some kind of Spanish now that you're stuck with me!"

I can tell by his reaction, he likes that cursi shit too.

"Noted. Well... Let's start! Lesson number one: Contractions."

I have decided even if Ethan knows Spanish, I will take classes with Joe.

[mystblbk]

Chavela Valdes--Chapter 5

VALENTINA POV

“Wait,” Guille half-shouts over Eva and Lúcia’s chatter, “You’re telling us you both are now in good graces with one another and have decided to work together because Johnny is possibly the one behind dad's murder?”

“Sí.”

“Sí.”

I stare at my sister and step-mother nod at the same time with serious looks. With a glance over at Guille’s shocked but relieved expression, I grin and take both women into my arms in a tight embrace.

I laugh, “At least now we’re on the same page.”

Both women laugh and hug me back as tightly. A few seconds pass and then I feel Guille towering over us to join in on our hug from behind me. I feel warmth flood my heart as I feel all last three members of my family together and happy at this moment. My brain reminds me of encouraging words from a girl I met a month ago and my smile grows just a bit bigger.

You were right Juliana.

The moment is broken when Eva pulls away with a chuckle and gives Lúcia a smile before turning to Guille and I.

“So Lúcia and I need to talk to you seriously for a moment,” Eva says, her face turning hard again, “This has now become a family situation that we all have to deal with okay?”

With concern I nod, “Okay, but if Johnny is up to this then we need to be more careful when we talk. Where do we go?”

“Dad’s room,” Eva sighs, “It’s the only place we’ll be safe for this talk.”

I frown, “We don’t even know where dad’s room is.”

Lúcia smiles innocently, “You three don’t but I do. It’s the last place he showed me before the wedding.”

Eva’s face contorts to disgust as dose Guille. I feel a blush go up to my cheeks in embarrassment at heading this as well as grossed out. Lúcia sees our reactions and coughs with burning red cheeks.

“No,” she mumbles with a blush, “I mean he showed it to me because that’s where he keeps all his papers and security cameras. He also wanted me to know where to go in case we needed to hide in an emergency.”

My siblings and I share a relieved sigh then laugh awkwardly. Lúcia sighs and guides us out of the living room and into the winding hallways of our home. We pass the wine cellar and dinner table then stopping directly in front of three large shelves filled with dad’s possessions. Most of the items were from his trips abroad, a gold lamp from Dubi here and a pot of spices from Turkey there. My siblings and I watch as Lúcia opens a small box open then moves her hand inside the box. A small ‘click’ sounds can be heard and the middle shelves push forward to reveal a hidden room.

“Wow,” Guille gasp as we enter the room.

The room is definitely dad’s as I take it in. The walls are forest green with warm mahogany trims. There's a wall filled with books of all kinds across from the door’s opening; a few leather chairs and seats decorate the area along with two wood tables and tasteful table lamps. Further in is a hallway leading into a separate room. From where I can see, this sperate room is the security camera room. There are many monitors, I count ten that are visible, each split screened to separate areas of the house and Groupo Carvajal offices.

“Right then, let’s talk,” Lúcia sighs as she takes a seat on one of the leather chairs.

“Right,” Eva nods, “Guille, Val. This is important for all of us.”

I blink at the two women, each sitting across from the empty couch. Mateo, always the gentleman, stands behind my sister with a hand on her shoulder. Guille pulls my elbow and we take our place across from the two matriarchs of our family. Lúcia looks determined but wary while Eva looks cold and calculating. Mateo on his part look serious and angry, something odd on his usually happy face.

“Lúcia asked me to look into Johnny because he’s been very forward on his attraction to her along with a few off-handed comments she has caught during his advances since papá’s funeral,” Eva beings, “She told me that perhaps he’s the one behind papá’s death. I was skeptical of her but after she told me about him sending Mateo’s group on an interview for a few of Jonny’s friends, I figured it wouldn’t hurt. So, Mateo and I watched him for anything odd while my secretary looked through our bank records from top to bottom."

“And,” Guille pushes, “What did you find?”

“He took out half a million dollars from the company using dad’s name and deposited it into a ghost account,” Mateo says with a frown, “The bank could only get a location for it, as it was only used for withdrawals on a pre-paid debit card. The location was in Mexico City, but in the lower district banks.”

“He hired someone,” I gasp.

Lúcia nods, “That’s what I suspected. I looked through Léon’s files and saw other amounts taken and sent to different accounts but with the same trace number. I just needed Eva and Mateo to confirm I’m wasn’t going crazy.”

“And it looks like this has been going on for some time,” Mateo sighs, “The total amount of transactions equal to five million U.S. dollars.”

Guille let’s out a growl under his breath next to me as I look from Lúcia then to Eva. They stare at me with serious looks until I can’t stand the heaviness of it. I look down to my fisted hands, my green dress crinkling in my grasp.

Papá…

“What do we do then,” Guille growls out, “Call the cops?”

“I already contacted the Detective,” Lúcia says, my eyes still frozen on my hands, “He said he will need further evidence. He will be playing Johnny as his help into looking for what he needs, as a way of tricking him into slipping up.”

“That’s it,” I finally say looking up again, “That will take months! Johnny is not an idiot! He’ll figure something out!”

Eva raises her hand to stop me from shrieking, “We know. That’s why we’re here. Lúcia has a plan, but it requires all of us for it to work.”

I furrow my brows and wait for Lúcia to speak. The oldest woman is looking at the portrait my father had made of all of us, including my mother, that hangs above the couch Guille and I are sitting on. She then sighs again and looks from Eva to Mateo then to Guille and finally to me.

“We have to out him,” she says slowly as she turns to Mateo, “I will have Mateo promoted so he will take over as CIO so he will keep eye on what information is being given and sent between all our sources. Our previous chief has decided to step down as he has been offered a new job in the States.”

Mateo blinks then nods, “Sí, of course.”

Lucia looks to Eva then, “Eva will be placed as CFO, Don Emanuel is due to step down as he does not feel comfortable now that Léon is gone. This way she will be able to keep tabs on all finance matters.” the most

Eva’s expression becomes frozen then she nods slowly, “Okay.”

Lucia turns to Guille next, “Guillermo, you will have to be placed as COO. Mr. Rivera is starting to sway in Johnny’s favor. If I use the dirt on him that I have, he will jump and will allow you to take over. I know you're comfortable just dealing with the paper and not ready to take over all of our branches, but you have to step up. Okay?”

Guille’s face contorts into something unpleasant. It’s as if he tasted something bad and can’t get the taste out of his mouth but still has to look polite. Lúcia then stands and crouches down to her knees in front of him.

“I know,” she says softly, “It’s a lot. You want to be free. You want to explore and see something outside of what your father wanted you to do.”

“How would you know,” Guille huffs angrily, “You don’t know how much pressure—”

“I do,” Lúcia cuts him off, “Léon told me. He was always so proud of you. You are his pride and joy, his little prince that would follow his steps to protect your sisters. His mini-me that shared his love of art and travel. I know it’s a big role, Guille. I know it’s not something you could have wanted but something you were forced into.

"You need to understand that this is bigger than all of us. What your father has built has been under attack by an enemy we never would have guessed. All I ask of you is to help us push this man out and then we can see to moving things along after that. If you enjoy the position then you can keep it. If you don’t, you choose who takes it. Okay?”

Our stepmother’s words seem to sooth my brother as he sighs and nods, “Okay. I understand.”

Lúcia stands with a small smile and takes Guille into a hug as he remains sitting. I watch as my father’s wife kissed Guille on the top of his head tenderly as only a mother would do. As she pulls away I see my brother rub his eyes with his hands with a soft ‘thank you.’

Lúcia then does the same to me, crouched on her knees in front of me with a patient face.

“Val,” she says, “We need your help too, mija.”

I feel dread build in my chest as her clear green eyes hold mine in an encouraging stare.

“You will have to take my position as I will take over Léon’s,” she tells me while reaching out to take my fists in her hands, “I know you’re not ready, mija. I know you have over a year until you graduate. I know you’re the youngest of us and the one with the least amount of life lived. I know you’re our wild mustang but right now I need you to channel that power here. Can you do that?”

I keep staring at Lúcia then look over at Guille then to Mateo and finally to Eva. They all look strong and encouraging, just as the woman in front of me does. I feel a weight on my shoulders as if my father’s hands are on them for comfort. I sigh and nod.

“Okay,” I murmur, “I’ll take over as the Administrative Officer.”

Lúcia smiles and hugs me just as she did with Guille, “I’ll help you, Val. I know you have the heart to take care of people so this will be a great fit.”

“What about school,” I mumble ask.

“We’ll have you take the course online in the evening if you’d like,” Eva speaks up once Lúcia pulls away, “It’s only for a few months until we can get that snake out of here. The same thing as Guille applies to you. If you want to keep the job then you can. If you don’t, I’m sure you’ll help us find a replacement.”

“Okay,” Guille huffs, “But won’t it look odd that the majority of our board will be filled with family?”

“No one bats an eye when its any other company,” Eva smirks, “It will simply read as dad’s last wishes.”

“And it sort of is,” Lúcia says as she turns to one of the books shelves.

We watch as she pulls a thick black book from the center shelf’s center spot. She walks to the coffee table in the center of the room and turns to the middle. There sitting in the pages, is a thick file. She carefully pulls the two tabs off the file and pulls out the papers.

“This is Léon’s will,” Lúcia whispers into the quiet room, “It states that the exact positions I gave all of you be given once to you once he is no longer here. Well, he is no longer here but as the owner, CEO, and Chairman of Grupo Carvajal his word is law. His lawyer has set an appointment with all of the board and majority shareholders for this Friday. He will read it to us all and make it official.”

“So this was going to happen anyway,” I ask with anger, “You played us?”

“No, never,” Lúcia sighs, “It is directed for me or his next in line to give the positions when appropriate. All the shareholders and board members have signed acknowledgment clauses in their contracts, they know its there but don’t know I will act on it.”

“So dad’s word allows you to take over and put us in those positions,” Guille reasons, “We have a claim on the chairs already and you wanted us to accept and not force us into them?”

“Yes,” Eva nods, “Eva and I spoke of this on the way here.”

I nod slowly and allow Eva and Lúcia to explain to us the plan. In two days time, on Friday to be exact, Papá’s personal attorney will read his will in the presence of all the shareholders and board members as well as the family. This will allow Lúcia and him to go forward with setting us all up in our new positions by the end of the day so we can start working officially the following Monday.

Two weeks from then the monthly board meeting with be occurring and Eva will pull a motion to kick Johnny out of his position and give it over to another senior member that had worked hard under Eva and Mateo’s leadership. This man, Enrique Villalobos, has had a wonderful streak of working hard under the Marketing branch for the past five years and is likely to follow direction under my sister and her husband.

The whole situation seems shady to me but desperate times beg for drastic measures. It makes my heart feel heavy at the thought of pulling backhanded shadow deals to take back my father’s company from Johnny. I completely understand what is happening but it doesn't mean I have to like it, especially with the implications of Johnny being the one behind Papá’s murder. The thought of dragging Johnny by his stiff collar to jail is the only reason as to why I’m following with this plan, something that I’m happy Eva and Lúcia both understand.

“Val?”

The soft voice startles me and I look up from my dress to the sound. Eva looks concerned as I stare at her.

“Sí,” I ask.

“I was saying that Lúcia took me to a restaurant she worked at when she met Papá,” she speaks gently, “I liked the food and thought that maybe we should have a Family Dinner?”

I can feel my eyes sparkle as my frown shifts into a grin, “Really? Family Dinner?”

Eva nods with a soft smile, “Sí, all of us. We have to stick together now and what way to start this new beginning then a nice peaceful night out before the typhoon hits?”

My stomach bottoms out at the last bit of her explanation but I don’t allow it to dampen my mood. I smile happily at Eva then at Lúcia.

“Okay,” I nod, “Where?”

“It’s a nice restaurant hidden in the middle of the Mercado,” my stepmother says, “It has traditional Mexican food. Tonight they have a Mariachi band playing.”

“Really,” Guille asks, sharing a look with Mateo, “You think you ladies can keep the peace that long?”

“Yes,” Lúcia chuckles, “Eva and I have come to an understanding. Besides, this is Eva’s idea.”

“Eva’s idea,” Guille, Mateo and I say at the same time with wide eyes pointed at my sister.

Eva scoffs, “Yes it is. It's not out of this world that I want a nice family dinner with all of us.”

The men and I share a look then shrug hesitantly. Lúcia calmly starts talking about the restaurant, how she worked there and how she would take dad after work. I smile as she describes how enamored with the food dad was that he would even ask for catering from there. Lúcia and I spend the day like this after everyone leaves for work, talking about dad’s hidden love for the simpler things.

______________________________________________________________

JULIANA POV

“Okay, so you’re telling us that the girl you went to flirt with is the daughter of one of the richest families in Mexico. You met her stepmom and her sister. You helped her stepmom get some new clothes and now the oldest sister wants you to do the same for her,” Franky asks with furrowed brows, “What kind of novela did you walk into, Texas?”

I roll my eyes as Ray and Ricardo laugh at my annoyance.

“I didn’t flirt—”

“Well you kind of did,” Raùl speaks up with a smirk, “None of us go up to girls and offer them a drink and to listen to their personal problems with no hidden intentions.”

“Oh god,” I grunt in English.

The other boys start laughing as I rub my forehead with the palm of my hand, far away from the pin cushion I have strapped to my fingers. I decide to ignore them and continue fixing up the teal vest I have in my hands. As the silence draws out I get a tap on my shoulder. Hesitantly, I look up to Axel and see him smile at me.

“You’ve done amazing work so far,” he says, “I think you deserve a break now Chavela. Those suits don’t have to be ready until two weeks from now.”

I sigh, “Yeah I know. I just want them done so I can see how they fit on us and fix what I need to.”

Sal grins, “It's fine. Leave them for now. We want to talk about your girlfriend more before show time.”

I glare at him, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“You act like she is,” Ray and Ricardo speak up.

I blush as the boys share a smile and raised brows, “No i—”

“Juliana,” Franky speaks up again, “You have a notebook full of sketches of eyes. Blue eyes.”

“And you go to that park every day,” Axel nods along.

“And when she is not there,” Raul smirks, “She’s at my tio’s place walking amongst the dead looking for Doña Lúcia.”

“Its okay Juls,” Sal sighs, “You like her. Big deal! The point is, what are you going to do when you see her later tonight?”

I look down at the table I’m working on. The teal cloth is bright and cheery in my hands, completely far left form what I’ve been feeling since Miss Lúcia and Miss Eva left this morning.

“No sé,” I huff, “I honestly don’t. What if she thinks I’m trying to suck up to her sister and stepmom so I can hang out with her? I act like a creep already!”

“No Juliana, you don’t,” Sal sighs, “You act like someone that has a crush. And as I said before, it’s okay. Just be friends with her and then let things happen.”

I roll my eyes again, “Nothing will happen. She has a boyfriend.”

“Maybe not,” Raúl laughs, “You said she practically threw him across the street. Maybe they’re not together anymore?”

The twins grin and nod soon followed by the others. I smile at the memory too. That idiot’s face looked crush at the implication of being tossed around by a woman smaller than him. It sometimes flashes in my mind and I have to hold back a laugh. I shake my head and think seriously about Sal’s question.

“I guess I’ll be respectful but kind to her,” I reason, “As for Miss Eva and Miss Lúcia, I guess I can act professionally with them until I get a feel for how I should act.”

Raúl nods, “That’s good. I think that’s a sound decision.”

“And when you need someone to give you pointers on how to get the girl,” Axel grins then points at himself, “You’ve got the best teacher here.”

I guffaw, “What? You're stupid. Last week Carla threw a whole tray of aguas frescas at you after you came onto her!”

The other men laugh at the memory while Axel frowns.

“Yeah that’s true,” Franky chuckles, “Besides, I don’t think our little sister needs your help. She’s got her own fan club remember?”

I groan loudly through the men’s laughing.

“Oh yeah,” Sal smirks, “How could we forget Alejandra?”

“Or Isabell,” Raúl laughs.

“How about Isadora,” The twins guffaw.

“The list goes on and on,” Franky laughs, “I swear you have the whole colonia after you, Chavela!”

The men continue to laugh, this time Axel joining in, while I try to ignore them.

“Remember when Alejandra threw herself into Jul’s arms and ended up on the floor,” Axel shrieks with glee, “Poor girl thought Juli would catch her, but no Juls is too thick headed to catch a hint.”

“Oh yeah,” Ray laughs, “It took us a whole weekend of chamba to convince her that she has a fan club in the first place.”

“Okay,” I huff, “Stop.”

“Nope!”

I groan, “Look! I already told you! I never actually had someone actually like me back in Tejas! If this were a normal occurrence, then I would have known that those girls weren't being just friendly.”

Another round of laughing.

“At least I do now,” I grumble and cross my arms.

“Oh, you do,” Axel asks, “Do tell!”

I roll my eyes, “This girl this morning was hitting on me. I don’t think I made it obvious enough—”

“Is it the pretty brunette from last week,” Sal asks.

I blush and the men laugh again.

“You need to cool off Romeo,” Franky smirks, “We need women too, you know!”

“Don’t worry too much,” Raúl sighs, “She’s just been waiting for her princess to show up again. Lucky for us, she’s showing up tonight.”

“Which means we can have all the broken hearted girls Juls leaves,” Ricardo shouts, “That’s perfect!”

I groan again and start packing away my work. A quick look out the door and I can see that the crowd has begun to take over the restaurant. With a look over at all the band outfits, I decide to go with the classic white and gold combo. I quickly start pulling down hats and outfit sets from their places and hand them to the chattering men. They each approach me and take their things. I smile as they pull the curtain separating half of the room so they can start dressing behind it.

As I pull down my own form the shelves and lay the outfit on the table, I feel electric energy surge through me. Thoughts of brilliant blue eyes and puppy-like smiles make my heart skip with excitement. The giddiness goes away when I remember who is accompanying Valentina.

I glup and mumble under my breath, “A little help here, Santa?”

At my request I feel cold hands on my shoulders for a second. The ghostly action makes me braver instead of hysterical. I nod thanks to La Santa and start undressing from my civilian clothes to get dressed in my performance clothes.

“Alright boys,” Sal speaks up from the other side of the curtain, “We need a good show tonight. Our girl needs to impress her cuñados and suegratonight!”

“And her princessa,” shouts, “We need to impress her the most!”

I grin and listen to my bandmates and brothers hype each other up for ‘Jul’s first impression.’

__________________________________________________________

VALENTINA POV

After a long afternoon of shadowing Lúcia, I finally make my way up to my room to get ready. Eva had told us to dress nice but casual, so I stick to one of my favorite red dresses. After a walk into my closet, I pick my favorite black boots to match my denim jacket and black purse. I smile as I get dressed and do my usual light make up. The motions of getting ready to calm me down and before long I’m done and walking out of my room.

“You look nice,” Guille smiles as I reach the living room, “Trying to impress someone?”

I grin back at him and take in his casual white button up and dark jeans, “I could say the same about you. I don’t know. I’m single again remember?”

Guille laughs, “Thank God! That boy was annoying as hell!”

I giggle with him, “He wasn’t all that bad.”

My brother gives me a look but before he can answer Eva and Mateo come through the front doors. Eva is wearing a nice blouse and jeans combo, in her usual black and white, while Mateo wears his favorite lime green button-up with little pink umbrellas over his tan pants. I smile as my moody sister comes to a stop with her child-like husband next to her, their differences complementing one another.

I wish…

“Well, are we ready,” Eva asks with a soft smile, “I don’t want to be late getting there.”

“We just need—”

“Ready,” Lúcia says as she enters through the kitchen area, “I’m sorry for being a bit late. I was interviewing a new security guard.”

“A new one,” Eva says with narrowed eyes.

���Yes. His name is Jacobo. Camilo’s friend who needs a new job,” Eva nods, “He seems decent enough. I would like you to speak with him first, Eva. God knows Guille will just nod and let him pick a locker.”

Guille huffs and roll his eyes playfully while Eva tilts her head up as if to boast. I smirk and stand up.

“Let’s go then,” I tell them.

A round of nods and we are all walking to the two SUVs waiting outside. Alirio and Juan wait for us next to the vehicles along with a few men. The doors are open and we spit up. Lúcia, Guille and I take the first car while Eva and Mateo take the second. A few minutes later and we’re driving through the streets of our private neighborhood and into the streets of the city. My brother and stepmother talk about business, giving me a few explanations and engaging me when appropriate. I listen and nod, trying my best to catch up with the company’s current state.

The idea of becoming part of the company’s board with my family by my side makes me see the situation I’m now seeing in a new light. The more they talk, the more engrossed I become. In the chair I would be placed in, I would be in charge of the public perspective of the company and also the interworkings of the company with employees. The thought of taking care of all departments' social aspects seems doable to me as I did have a knack of talking to people and getting into good graces. Dad always said I was a charmer like mom, it’s nice to know there someplace I can apply it to.

Before long Lúcia tells me about stories that Dad told her, the humble beginnings of his journalism career and how his dream became a reality. Imagining my father running around with a raggedy notebook and pen over his ear makes me smile with pride for my father. The stories of my dad struggling to fit in after reaching notoriety keep me laughing as its difficult to place my charming and commanding father stumbling through galas and balls.

It's in that moment that I can understand the pride and fierce protectiveness over Grupo Carvajal that the rest of my family feel. Just thinking of how my father’s work over the years had built a media empire, comparable to any other across the world, makes me want to add my own achievements to help the company continue to grow. I become so engrossed with the stories of my dad that I don’t notice that we have arrived until Arilio is opening the car door on my side.

“Aqui estamos,” the guard smiles at me.

I smile back at him and allow him to help me out of the car. I wait nearby and watch as Lúcia follows after me, still wearing her gold-yellow dress, and my brother. I glance over to the other vehicle and see Eva with Mateo quickly approaching us.

“Alright,” Eva nods, “Come on then.”

I follow my family as they walk up the steps of the brick building. The placement of being surrounded by closed up mercado shops reassures anyone that it would have the freshest food anywhere. I look over the area and finally take notice of the large church on the other side of the street. I make a mental note to come back with my camera to take pictures of this hidden place sometime during the day, the colors contrasting in the bright Mexican sun would look amazing on film.

“Yes, all of us please,” I hear Eva tell a waiter once we reach the entrance.

“Well you see I don’t know if I have a spot,” this catches my attention and I look forward and see the young man dressed in white clothes, “You came in a little bit late. Most people show up early to get good seats.”

Eva looks angry but before she can say anything someone taps on the waiter’s shoulder to get his attention. The waiter turns and we can see who is grabbing his attention. A young man, no older than mid-20s, stands there in imposing stature. He’s about the size of Lucho but much more handsome. His tan skin contrast with his white outfit: a white mariachi uniform with gold trim and red tie. His dark eyes stare unwaveringly at the waiter and his patient smile calms the air around us.

“Salvador,” the waiter sighs, “Thank god you—”

“These are special guests Manny,” the young man says with a musically deep voice, “I already told my uncle to save them a good spot. They’re taking the one on the floor—the center table that’s reserved.

The waiter blinks rapidly, obviously confused, but nods slowly then turns to Eva.

“If you can please follow me, Miss,” he says slowly, “I’ll show you to your table.”

Eva stares at him shocked and then turns to the other man, Salvador, “Special guests?”

Salvador smiles, “Yes. Chavela let us know you might come by. I told my uncle to set that table aside for you, Señorita Carvajal.”

“Chavela,” Lúcia asks.

Salvador simply smiles, “I hope you enjoy yourselves.”

With that the mariachi leaves us all stunned as he turns on his spurred boot and walks deep into the restaurant. From my position still half-inside the lobby, I can see the top of his sombrero until he enters a sperate room by the bar area. We stay there standing until Manny the waiter asks us to follow him. We do as he asks and allow him to guide us into the restaurant.

The place is packed with people, mostly women, and a few men. I can’t help but notice that a few give me a vibe I had never gotten before. It’s not an odd or bad feeling, just different. It's as if I know them but not really. I try to put my finger on it until I see a handsome bearded man pull out a fan. With a flick and in one motion it opens, the move is graceful and distinctly womanly as he fans himself with a playfully aloof smile. Next, to the man a few women giggle and start chatting with him about the performers.

I look above the bar as we pass and see two flags hanging over the topmost shelves of liquor. A flag of Mexico is pinned by the topmost points and is connected by the red tip to the left corner of a rainbow flag.

Ah…that explains something I guess…

My siblings and I share a look when Manny leads us to the front of the room towards the stage. The table is large enough to fit us all and one person more. Its place was directly next to the stage, center stage as Salvador said.

“This is yours,” Manny nods to us, “I will get you your waitress. The show begins in ten minutes. Also, the restrooms are over there.”

The waiter points to two doors at the wall opposite the bar then smiles to us softy before leaving us.

“Well this is unexpected,” Lúcia chuckles.

“You don’t know what happened either,” Mateo asks as he pulls Eva’s chair out for her.

Lúcia shakes her head in the negative as Guille pushes her chair towards the table, “No. I have no idea who this Chavela could be.”

“Well it can’t be Chavela Vargas,” Eva scoffs, “She’s been dead for years and I’m sure we’ve never met her.”

I giggle and share a smile with Guille as he takes his seat next to me and across from Mateo. I look over at us and notice with sadness that the seat across from Lúcia would normally be where Dad would sit. My brother seems to understand this as he takes my hand in his and squeezes it softly. I smile at him again and he grins back.

“Buenas noches,” a woman says as she approaches the table.

The woman is a bit older then the other staff we saw on the way in. Her hair is pulled up in a bun with wisps of silver hair sticking out for it. Her kind eyes show a motherly aura to us as she hands us each a menu. As she moves about setting our utensils, I also can’t help but notice she’s not wearing a traditional costume like the other staff, instead of the large colorful folkloriko dresses the other women are wearing, she’s wearing a simpler white one with embroidered flowers on the hemline of her dress’ skirt.

“My name is Anita,” she says, “I’ll be taking care of you. Can I get you all something to drink?”

We each nod and give her our orders. Just as she’s turning to leave us Eva stops her.

“Anita, do you know who this Chavela person is,” my sister asks, “They got us this spot for us. I would like to know who it is.”

The old woman smiles and turns her head to the direction of the stage. I follow her stare and see that the stage now has the group of mariachi on it. A group of five young men stand in the center of the space each wearing white suits with golden accents and ret ties, just like Salvador who is standing in the middle. There are two trumpets, two violins, a guitarist and a guitarrón. The group seems small but from a look around the building, the sound will echo nicely inside the brick structure. The room slowly becomes silent as the lights begin to dim and spotlights are shined onto the group. Anita quickly makes her exit as the men look up at the audience with a smirk and take their positions.

With a united strum, one of the violinists starts playing followed by the other and the others quickly join in. The sound is crisp and joyful, I can’t help smile as they play in unison then abruptly stop. In a swift move, they all part and in the center is a lone figure. The man is slightly smaller than the rest of the men, around my size, and has his head turned down the floor as to not show his face.

De Altamira Tamaulipas

Traigo esta alegre canción

Y al son del viejo violín

Y jarana canto yo

Para las mujeres bonitas

Que son de mi adoración

De Altamira Tamaulipas

Traigo esta alegre cancion

With that last verse the person looks up and I can’t stop my jaw from dropping as I realize its not a man who’s singing.

Juliana!?

My eyes blink rapidly trying to make sense at what I’m seeing while the girl struts to center stage as the musicians start to play again. Just as I’m accepting what I’m seeing, the waiters and waitresses run onto the stage and make a pose surrounding her. The women on stage are in full folkloricooutfits, different color dresses with large arm length skirts and flower pinned hair clips. The men are wearing white shirts and pants with bandana’s for belts and hard leather tap shoes on their feet, they each have their hands behind them but I can see handles of machetes poking out of their hands. Juliana tips her hat forward and I feel heat rise up in my cheeks as she grins with dimples full on display.

When the band picks back up from their pause, they all start dancing around Juliana—Juliana?!—paired up inequally with one man for two women. The sound of their tap shoes hitting hard stone floor resonates beautifully in the space as they all move as a whole. As the song slows downs lightly until its just down beats, Juliana—Juliana?!—joins the dancers tap to the downbeats. The move is well practiced but what catches us all of our attention is how when Juliana—Juliana?!—taps her own foot, the spurs on her boots hit the floor as well and creates a spark that lights up the space like a firework against a dark sky.

The music starts back up as Juliana—I finally accept it's her and not my imagination conjuring her up because of the couple shots I took while in my room—starts singing again. As she does she walks forward with her arms stretched out to her sides until she’s a few feet away from the imaginary stage line. She taps the beat with the strumming of the instruments, sparks flying.

Si la vida es un jardín

Las mujeres son las flores

El hombre es el jardinero

Que corta de las mejores

Yo no tengo preferencia

Por ninguna de las flores

Me gusta cortar de todas

Me gusta ser mil amores

As she sings the first verse, Juliana turns to the dancers behind her and bows lowly. The women playfully bow back followed by the men. As she starts the second verse, another spark from her spurs surprises me. She turns back to the audience and slides her hands down her vest with a charming smirk, all the while her band partners jeering and shouting behind all of them.

The dancers, as well as Juliana, then start dancing, Juliana following the traditional men’s way with her hand behind her back as she follows the choreography, as the woman's skirts flutter around them. First, they tap with the violins' solo then slowly sperate into pairs, allowing Juliana a girl wearing a red dress in the center spotlight. A foreign but familiar feeling of jealousy bubbles up in my chest but I pin it down at the ease of Juliana's dance moves. After all, It seems as if she was born for this because she’s grinning cheekily while not losing her breath and shouting along with the jeering the men do.

The group then slowly separates until Juliana and the men from a group to the right and the women a group to the left. In their separate groups, they face each other and dance in place then slowly go back to their space. At some point, Juliana must have been handed her own machetes because she and the men pull them out and start hitting the blades together under each leg then above their heads. The metal sound goes amazingly well with the metal strumming of the mariachi. With one last run through of her machete routine, Juliana stops center stage again to sing.

Dichoso aquel que se casa

Y sigue la vacilada

Siempre anda jugando contras

A escondidas de su amada

Pero más dichoso yo

Que no me hare falta nada

Tengo viudas why solteras

Why una que otra casada

The dancers continue around Juliana as she goes through her verses and quickly leave the stage and into the darkness as if they were never there. Juliana sings the last note at the top of her lungs with all her strength, the sound and longevity of the notes resonate in my ears. With one last tap, this time with the band as a whole, Juliana bows and the audience around me goes wild.

I’m in too much shock to clap and cheer along. My eyes are stuck on Juliana as she graces everyone with a thankful dimpled grin, one so similar to the one she gave me when I first met her. I watch as she bows again and tilts her sombrero forward. The action is very vaquero and I finally move from my shocked state to grin like a love-struck school girl. I bite my lip and blush as Juliana catches my eye and winks at me before turning back to her band to start up the next song.

“I’m guessing that’s Chavela,” Guille chuckles next to me.

“Her name is Juliana, Guille,” I tell him.

This catches my step mother’s and sister’s attention as she turns away from the stage to look at me.

“You know Juliana,” Eva asks.

I blink, “You know Juliana, Eva?”

Lúcia shocks me even more as she nods, “I met her at the graveyard. I was visiting Léon and saw her playing. I called her and asked her to help me pick out my wardrobe. I liked her style and introduced her to Eva this morning when we ran into each other here.”

My eyes widen at the revelation. I quickly look up to the stage and see Juls singing while plucking on a guitar that somehow magically appeared on her. I stare at her for a while until she seems to feel my stare and she looks over at me. She continues singing but sends me confused looks. I shake my head and give her a comforting smile, one that she answers with a slight nod before looking away again.

“How did you meet her, Val,” Mateo asks in an effort to fill in the confused pause.

I sigh, “I met her a month ago. It was during one of Lucho’s fights actually.”

“Fights,” Guille growls, “What?”

“Lucho was being impossible after dad’s funeral,” I quickly try to explain, “He kept going on about not paying attention to him and we ended up fighting as we left mass that day.”

My brother and Mateo give me expressions of anger. I glance over the other two women and see their concern. I shake my head and continue.

“He told me to get lost and left me there in the middle of the street. It hurt and I didn’t want to bring my problems home so I went to the park nearby and walked around. I ended up sitting on a bench and crying,” I say with a far off look as I remember that day.

Somehow my eyes catch Juliana again and stay there. Her strong presence is comforting as I continue.

“Suddenly some girl stops in front of me then sits next to me,” I let out a grateful laugh, “She asks me if I’m okay and I practically tell her to f’ off. She apologizes and starts to leave. I sort of snap back into reality and call her back.”

I look back to my family and see them all giving me the same look: shocked for my rudeness but happy at my nostalgic tone.

“She ended up making me laugh,” this gains me surprised looks as they recall how num I was following dad’s funeral, “Anyway, we ended up walking around the park and I tell her about everything. She talked me through it until I felt bad about dragging her into my problems and I sort of just left her there.”

My smile is sad and regretfull now.

I hope she didn’t take it in a bad way.

A glance over at the singer and I’m reassured as she catches my stare and gives me another wink. I feel my cheeks heat up as she looks away again.

Wow…

“See Eva,” Guille speaks up and getting my attention, “Silvian was right.”

I frown in confusion as Guille and Mateo start laughing. Eva rolls her eyes and Lúcia just smiles.

“Well at least you came to your senses and left that boy,” Eva huffs annoyed.

“Well I for one approve,” my stepmother speaks up.

My siblings turn to her with shocked faces. I furrow my brows and try to figure out what she means. I don’t get a response as they all turn to me and share a knowing smile.

“¿Que?”

“Nothing Val,” Guille smirks.

_______________________________________________

JULIANA POV

Sal’s ideas goes well if Val’s shocked expression is anything to go by. The boys even let me know throughout our one hour how when she would stare at me. It makes me smile through the whole time we play, a natural one and not the usual forced one. The difference in my attitude is apparent as I strut around the stage and even mingle between the first rows of tables. I try not to linger too much on one table, the last time I did this I had a ton of girls and a few men ask for me after the dinner service was over.

Something I do follow through on more of bashfulness then by a decision is not go near the Carvajal table. I try to ignore them, sending them a smile here or a bow there but not really approaching them. I knew that if I was near them I would either freak out with Miss Eva’s penetrating gaze on me, or I would be too smiley to Val and end up getting a restraining order placed on me.

The later thought seems more of my dramatic thought process as I would find myself looking over at Valentina. Our gazes would meet and I could feel an electric jolt flow through me. Those jade eyes made my heart pound in my ears with excitement at getting her attention. This would make me wink at her or give her a full out grin. I couldn’t help but pray that when she looked away with her bottom lip between her teeth it was with shyness at my forwardness. Her blush basically confirmed it when I caught it a few times she didn’t look away.

By the time we finished, I didn’t feel drained as I normally would but much more energized. I was practically preening when we took our final bow and I could hear Val clap and shout my name from her seat. As I left the stage with my band I look over at her again and see her smiling at me with what I hoped were proud eyes. My heart continues to flutter as I step into our dressing room.

I sigh and lean against the wall with a huge smile and closed eyes. Behind my closed eyelids I relive Valentina’s expressions through the performance.

“Maybe we should change your name to Romero.”

I chuckle and open my eyes to see Raúl smirking at me, his jacket now gone as he unbuttons his vest.

“Sí, sí,” Richardo laughs, “She was practily singing to her princessa all night.

“I wasn’t,” I roll my eyes still smiling.

“But you wanted to,” Ray laughs.

I shrug and they all laugh. Sal pats my back as he passes by.

“We’re going to change, Juls,” nods toward the door again, “Maybe you should go find your Julieta?”

I stare at him then look at the other men. The all greet me with thumbs up and goofy expressions. I laugh and nod.

“Bien,” I agree, “But if that woman somehow finds me—”

“We’ll keep her away Juls,” Franky smiles, “We’ll take care of all of them, but I don’t think it matters much when they see how lovestruck you are with your güerita.”

I laugh again, this time because Franky is using slang about my ‘white girl’ when he’s more white then even I am. I shake my head and walk over to the mirror. I look myself over to see if I’m still looking sharp. A few stray hairs peek out of my tied hair but overall I’m good to go.

“Hey wait,” Axel says as he taps my shoulder.

I turn and see him pull out a gold chain from his pocket.

“This is from us,” he explains, “We got it for you. Everyone in the band has one.”

He hands me the chain and I examine it. The chain is thin and long, enough to dangle right above my belly button, and has La Santa Muerte on the small medallion hanging on it. I grin as I remember the one I had pawned on our way down from San Antonio. I had wanted to get another one and had my thoughts expressed around my friends a few days ago.

“You guys didn’t have to,” I mumble.

“We did,” Axel says, “We each have one. It has the band initials on the back. We hope it keeps you safe.”

My eyes water as I tun the medallion and look at the back, a letter ‘M’ and a letter ‘H’ are perfectly engraved on the back.

“We might be Mariachi los Hermanos,” Sal speaks up again, “But you’re our hermana, Juliana. One we didn’t know we needed.”

I give them a water laugh and move forward to hug Axel then Salvador. The other guys come forward to hug me too. As I pull away from Franky, Sal tilts his head in the direction of the door.

“Good luck,” he smiles.

I nod and give them a final grin before putting on my new necklace. With a final tip of my hat, I walk out the room and head over to the table I had asked to be reserved a few hours ago.

__________________________________________________________

VALENTIAN POV

The constant stare and shared looks my family has during our dinner after my revelation puts me on edge. I quickly find an excuse in the form of using the restroom to get out of there. I sigh as I get to the stalls and lean against the wall. The room is empty as I try to relax now that I’m alone. I walk up to the long mirror and stare at my expression. My pupils are larger than normal as I try to take in all that has happened today.

First, Lucho trys to force me into taking him back during classes. I decide to go home early only to find out I have to take over an executive position at twenty-two years of age. Then I find out that my revenge ridden sister is finally on good terms with our stepmother. Guille suddenly has a girl he’s into and now….

Maybe I do too?

I shake my head and turn on the water. I take a paper towel and let the water wet it for a moment. I pat the wet paper on my forehead then on my cheeks, the heat that had been boiling just under my skin’s surface lingers under my fingertips. My thoughts turn back to Juliana in the white and gold mariachi suit and the heat I’m trying to force away returns.

This is what they were talking about. They could see it so clearly on your face.

“Ay, Valentina,” I huff putting my hands on the countertop, “What is going on with you?”

I shake my head and apply my lipgloss on again before looking myself over and waking out of the restrooms. The small hall leading out to the restaurant was dim and empty when I entered earlier but as I exit a figure dressed in white leaning against the wall makes me jump.

“Did I startle you,” she says pushing herself off the wall and directly in front of me, “I’m sorry.”

I blush as I look at her, “N—no, well yes but it's okay.”

Juliana grins sheepishly at me and I watch as if in slow motion, she tilts her hat forward again in acknowledgment. She then pulls the hat completely off her and I can see her face fully without the hat being in the way. Her hair under her hat is in a bun with silver pins keeping stray strands in their place. She looks so handsome yet feminine that I feel a little jealous at her natural beauty. The feeling goes away as she walks closer to me and grins at me with her dimples on full display. My heart flutters again, this time I finally recognize the feeling.

“So do I get an apology from you now,” she asks.

I blink, “For what?”

“For not telling me how much I actually lost out on that day,” she smirks.

I blink again then laughter bubbles up in my chest. The implication of her loosing out on not mugging me when we met makes me laugh full heartedly. She obviously now knows who I am and who my family is, but her teasing tells me she could care less. By the time I settle down, she’s close enough to touch. I can’t help but reach over and tug at her jacket. The fabric is soft and so unlike the stiffness, it looks to be. I look down at my hand as I start tracing the patterns on her jacket then I look up through my lashes.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, “I shouldn't have left you there without an explaining but I just had a rough day and…I’m sorry. And thank you…for helping me think through all of it. I’m pretty sure I would still be moping around with Lucho attached to me if you hadn’t talked to me that day.”

Juliana’s tan cheeks darken with red as she smiles at me, “Don’t worry about it. We’ve all had days like that. I’m more upset because I didn’t know if you were alright or not.”

My heart squeezes at her words, swooning at how selfless she is.

“Well, I’m better,” I smile.

“So you say,” she sighs, “Something’s up.”

I furrow my brows, “What?”

“I can see you’re concerned, conflicted,” she points out, “Happy to see me of course. But something’s up.”

I scoff at her playfully but nod anyway, “Things have been crazy lately.”

“And I bet that boyfriend isn’t too helpful than,” she mumbles and looks away.

My eyes widen and I look at her expression. It's annoyed and resentful, it makes me sad but also excited as I speak up.

“No boyfriend,” I try to say nonchalantly, “No boyfriend for some time actually.”

Juliana bites her cheek, most likely to keep her from girning, then turns to me.

“Alright, then I guess I’ll sacrifice myself and listen to your problems,” Juls sighs sadly.

I scoff again, “Sure. Sacrifice.”

Our gazes meet for a second then we laugh. Juliana then straightens up and offers her arm. I raise an eyebrow and place my hand on her offered arm. Juls grins and leads me back out to the restaurant. If a smirk somehow appeared on my face as a few of the customer’s faces shifted from eager to upset when they looked from Juls to me, then so be it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18497122/chapters/45518905

[arizonatotoronto]

The most important person in Mitch's world is her grandmother, Grandma Danielle or Gran D. She had played hockey a young woman and was the first one to put Mitch in skates. She paid for hockey when Mitch's parents hesitated and traveled to see her granddaughter play; Major Junior hockey, Varsity Blues hockey, Canadian hockey. It didn't matter where she went, Mitch always knew her grandmother would be there. (1/4)

Now, she’s a spry septuagenarian who does water aerobics at 5am and babysits Mitch’s cats when she’s on the road. Mitch keeps quite, toeing off her heels on the mat and resetting the condo’s alarm. The flight from Vegas took longer than normal, the plane had detoured south to avoid a snow storm, and now it’s almost seven AM. Gran D is still asleep in the guest room, no aerobics classes on the weekend, and Mitch doesn’t want to wake her. (2/4)She always wears Leafs pajamas on the road, so she digs out something silky and purple. She’s braiding her hair when she hears slippers on the hardwood and the bed shifts next to her as Crookshanks and Luna make themselves at home. Gran D still owns the same pink terrycloth bathrobe Mitch remembers from girlhood and when she leans down for a hug, Gran D barely clears 158cm while Mitch is just over 175cm, she can smell Dior’s ‘Dolce Vita’ in her hair. (¾)This is the best place. Mitch doesn’t want to be anywhere else. (4/4)

Mitch tries to never, ever take her grandmother for granted. She knows just how lucky she is to have this strong, amazing woman as her role model, and she is determined to be grateful for it every day. “Your boys had a good trip, dolly,” Her grandmother says softly as she settles in on the edge of the bed. Mitch can feel the many, many rings on her fingers as she strokes a hand down the middle of Mitch’s back, slow and comforting. (Gran D has worn the birthstones of each of her grandchildren somewhere on her person, for as long as Mitch can remember. She’s always loved her grandmother’s nightly routine, getting to hear the gentle tinkling sound as she methodically removes her many pieces of jewelry and sets them in a decorative little bowl for the morning. Today, she’s already put all of them back on, despite still wearing her pyjamas. Mitch’s heart feels full with the familiarity of it.)“Mm,” Mitch agrees as she finishes taking out her contact lenses and runs a fresh makeup wipe over her face. “It was good. They played really, really well.”“It’s looking like this year might finally be their year.”(It’s touching, in a way, how Grand D tries to catch as many Leaf games as she can. She still really enjoys the sport itself, but there’s also the novelty of sometimes seeing Mitch on the screen, more-so now that she’s taken on Terry’s work for the foreseeable future. A few times a year, Gran D will even accept tickets - so long as she gets to share the box with Kyle’s Gramma Dubie. Mitch isn’t even close to surprised that the two of them have become fast friends. This year, she thinks she may even be able to convince them to finally come to the Leafs Christmas family skate.)“Don’t we all hope,” Mitch says with a tired laugh, exhausted just thinking about how much of the season, and then the postseason, still stretches out before them. “How were the cats?”They chat for a while longer while Gran D has her single daily cup of coffee and prepares herself to head home. Mitch had managed to nap just a little on the flight, but she still intends to sleep for a few hours before she’s meeting the girls for happy hour somewhere in the city. Mitch hugs her grandmother fiercely as they’re saying their goodbyes, thanks her again for coming over and watching the cats, watering the plants Mitch always forgets about. “I love you, drive safe,” Mitch says as she closes her apartment door. She falls into bed only moments after, and sleeps until the afternoon.–Mitch wakes without an alarm around three, feeling slightly out of sorts but still more rested than she has in weeks if she’s being honest with herself. The girls have been texting in the group chat, trying to decide on a place to get drinks later in the evening. Mitch scrolls through the messages with a smile, taps out a few responses. She’s got some time before she needs to get up and shower, and spends it answering a few work emails that probably can’t wait until tomorrow. She’s just wrapping up when a text from Kitty comes through, separate from the group chat. Mitch thumb it open curiously, and then immediately dies inside because Kitty is the worst, worst friend in the entire world.“just in case you haven’t seen yet” Kitty has typed, and then there’s a screenshot of an instagram post of a muscular, frankly huge-looking, guy in a really nice, expertly tailored suit. It’s fucking *Auston* (and Mitch had known that right away, could easily recognize the slope of those shoulders even before expanding the thumbnail for a proper look), taken during some sponsorship photoshoot with a couple high-end cars. Mitch feels her breath catch in her throat at the sight. There’s no one around to see her reaction, to judge the way she openly stares, but Mitch’s ears burn anyway. (She refuses to feel ashamed as she opens up instagram to check out the rest of the pictures. Nobody needs to know.)