#i am josiah tv show

[iamjosiahmovie]

Thank you to everyone who came far and wide to support the “i am JOSIAH” Film Project. There was a lot of hard work and dedication, extremely long hours, and what felt like neverending days. God’s plan unfolded during the process, and there was a lot of prayer. We made it by God's grace. #Jesus #GodsPlan #worldwide #ThankGod

[tinyowlthoughts]

Bury Your Gays by @drchucktingle

I laughed. I cried. I read it in one sitting and will read it again before the week is over.

Holy fuck.

The horror is exquisite. Not just that people are dying (both in-story but also fictionally through film) in fascinating and creative ways, as well as being stalked/threatened/jump scared/etc., but in the way that the horror characters are connected to the protagonists history. Habits, smells, sights - everything is part of the whole.

There are no throw-away details in this book - everything has meaning, everything connects in some way. This is the kind of tapestry woven that would take up an entire wall of a castle, the kind with so many small, intricate details that it would take you hours of examination to notice and appreciate all of them. The matchbooks, the phones, the crossword with pen - all of it has a meaning that reflects on the overall story. It's insane.

Misha is fantastic. He's smart and successful, but also a deeply flawed character in that he can't accept praise, not to mention being so deep in the closet for half the book he's having tea with Aslan and playing bridge with the Babadook on Thursdays. (But hey, double date potential for Misha & Zeke with Babadook & Pennywise!) His flaws aren't just 'he's in the closet', either. No, he's forgetful at times, not always great at communicating with his boyfriend (another great character), or with his employers. It's mentioned he has a snappy, harsh history with the paparazzi. Still, he's someone you want to root for throughout the book. He deserves to win, after you see his inner turmoil over everything going on.

Zeke, Tara, and Jack are all fantastic as characters as well. Zeke is adorkable, Tara is kick-ass, and Jack is - well, I spent most of the book HATING Jack, but he's a symptom of a larger problem, and well he is an asshole, he's not a complete one.

Also, FUCK YEAH ACE HERO! As an asexual, I'm used to not seeing myself in media. Having such a kickass aroace character was AMAZING, and she made me so happy. I've already started doodling some of her fantastic outfits.

The plot was fascinating. It started with this 'big corp v little guy over profits' idea, and it carries it through, but there is so much more to it than that. It touches on the effect of AI in Hollywood/creative endeavors, on how authors don't always own their characters in the same way after they've been franchised, on how important tech privacy is in a world where we just let cell phone towers do what they want. The horror characters are great - they're terrifying, lurking in the shadows, waiting to spring out at the most inopportune time - but they're a small part of the bigger threat - a symptom of the big bad evil guy. They're creative and fascinating and I really, really want to cuddle Black Lamb even if that is a supremely bad idea (as demonstrated by Josiah). Honestly, the Smoker stole the show for me. I loved when he showed up - an amazing character.

At one point in the story, Misha gives a speech. I'm going to be 100% clear here: I cried. I cried because I understood it. I cried because I grew up thinking I was broken, thinking there was something deeply wrong with me, that I was unworthy of love and acceptance, because I didn't feel romantic feelings towards boys. Because I didn't want to date or kiss or have sex. I didn't see characters like me on TV or in movies or in books. Just like Misha, I didn't see myself.

I am so fucking thankful that is changing. I'm so glad that media is going from 'queer coding' to overt 'be gay and slay'. I'm so happy to see the younger generations rising up and replacing the boomers with stories that preach tolerance and love and queer joy. I'm ecstatic that creators are changing entertainment media to include queer characters. I'm so hopeful that in the next few years, I'll be one of them.

Most of all I'm glad I read this book today. I'm glad I saw the post on Tumblr this morning and got it on my Kindle. I'm glad I got to experience the heart-pounding terror Misha went through because he wanted his two characters to kiss. I'm glad I've experienced a whirlwind of emotions in the past few hours as I dove into this experience headfirst.

I'm glad Chuck Tingle wrote this book.

And I'm ecstatic that he's proving Love is Real.

Thank you for another amazing novel, Mr. Tingle.

(And, should Mr. Tingle ever read this: what happened to the people injured on the plane? Did they recover in the end? Did poor seat mate ever finish his crossword?!?!)

[letstalkwhump]

Let's Talk Whump

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host today. 

Today’s I’m talking whump with the amazing @lonesome–hunter!

(this blog and the recommended pieces contain NSFW and are 18+)

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump! Would you mind sharing a little about yourself?

Howdy! My name is Sarah but everyone usually calls me Lonesome. I'm an elder here in the community lol. I love thrifting, smoking pot, birdwatching and Disney World (I live so close to it). My favorite colors alternate between black, various greens and burnt orange. I truly love all animals. There's no way I could pick just one. I am particularly fond of moths, owls, elephants and exotic birds. 

I'm a big stoner goth aunt and I love connecting with people. So feel free to come talk to me anytime!

What does whump mean to you? 

It's absolutely an outlet for me. When I was a kid I couldn't figure out why I liked seeing people tied up in people's basements in movies and on TV so much but it never left my mind. Those feelings are there, the excitement. When I started writing in fifth grade I realized I could produce those feelings by writing the stories myself.

And trauma dumping through fictional people is almost therapy lol.

And how did you find the whump community? What made you want to join? 

During the first season of Supernatural I got on live journal and found other SPN communities. Then I fell down a rabbit hole that led me to whump. I finally had a word and a whole bunch of people who felt the same way which felt validating after being told I'm weird from teachers and family members.

During the pandemic I reconnected with it when I was in a dark place and really got into what everyone was doing. I thought "maybe I can do this". The rest is history.

Do you think your view on whump changed since you joined in terms of trope enjoyment or consumption style?

My view on whump has always been the same really. No one is hurting anyone and with proper warnings we can write the darker stuff some of us really enjoy.

I can't really say there are any I changed my mind over. Any trope can be good if it sucks you in with the writing. 

And your favourite whump tropes because it’s guaranteed there’ll be more than one!

��Ooh wee here we goooo lol. I dig dehumanization, whipping, sadistic whumpers, noncon, water torture, stress positions, begging. So many.

Time to share your awesome writing. Do you have a favourite piece you've written? 

So my first main series “The Devil’s Highway” has been my baby for three plus years and I’m excited to rework it now that I have more tools at my disposal. That being said, I really am proud of what I did with “Bury Me Beneath The Weeping Willow Tree”. It features some heavy TWs so be mindful of that but that almost stopped me from wanting to do it. Would showing Big Boy and Darlin’s graphic murder be too far? Probably lol. But I really dug deep in and got emotional writing it honestly. And it shows Ezra that this weird love Josiah has for me won’t protect him like he thinks it will. It didn’t work for Big Boy. Those two guys are secretly my favorite and I’m most excited about reworking that particular story.

Your imagery is deliciously brutal and creepy. I’m obsessed with it, it’s that good! Do you have a writing routine or is it more when inspiration strikes?

Definitely a night owl. I can’t focus until it’s dark out. Gotta have water and a little sweet drink to keep me focused. I tend to write when something strikes, lately it’s been extremely dry for me creatively but I’m trying to stretch my legs again and get back into it.

And do you find that it’s easier to write some things over others?

I can write the hell out of dreams, surrealism and atmosphere. That’s always been my favorite thing to do writing wise. Also death fics are fun lol.

Dialogue is my least favorite and it probably shows but can’t get better without practice.

Is there anything you're working on at the moment?

Been working on the rework of The Devil’s Highway, started a fun little prompt series about a bunch of masked men and I have another forced to fight series with slow burn romance than I’ve ever done before.

Do you have a joke or pun you would like to share to spread some smiles today?

I wish I could remember the dad joke my customer told me last night that sent me into a coughing fit but I have another one for you.

"What do you call a factory that makes okay products?" "A satisfactory."

That got a laugh out of me! Is there any writing advice you’d like to share?

Just have fun. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself and just write for yourself.

And tag your stuff!

Shout out to your favourite writing/whump blogs, bffs or people who've inspired you. We're hyping everyone one up here!!!

Oh man there's so many I could be here all day but these folks have truly helped me so much over the years and I would die for them lol

@knivestothroats, @galaxywhump, @girlsjustwannadrawwhump, @evermetnotforgotten, @redstainedsocks, @coldresolve, @whumpshaped, @whumpfigure, @ephemeral-phosphorescence, @whump-me-all-night-long, 

Anything you'd like to add?

Save Florida from Facists!

So good to have you here today, @lonesome--hunter! 

And to all you folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

[mlmxreader]

╓┈♔◦☓◦☙◦♔◦☙◦☓◦♔┈╖

     WHO I WRITE FOR 

╙┈♔◦☓◦☙◦♔◦☙◦☓◦♔┈╜

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

List of all the characters I write for and am willing to take requests for 

◤──•~❉᯽❉~•──◥

JURASSIC PARK

◣──•~❉᯽❉~•──◢

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ Ian Malcolm

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ Alan Grant

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ Robert Muldoon

┏━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━┓

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

┌────･｡ﾟ: ∘◦☾◦∘｡ﾟ. ────┐

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

└────･｡ﾟ: ∘◦☾◦∘｡ﾟ. ────┘

➺ Lt. Aldo Raine

➺ Sgt. Donny Donowitz

➺ Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz

➺ Lt. Archie Hicox

➺ Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

MORTAL KOMBAT 

┗━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━┛

➵ Kuai Liang

➵ Johnny Cage

➵ Spawn

➵ Kung Lao

➵ Reptile/Syzoth

➵ Kenshi Takahashi

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

╔═════.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.═════╗

BAND OF BROTHERS

╚═════.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.═════╝

➣ William “Wild Bill” Guarnere

➣ Richard “Dick” Winters

➣ Burton Paul “Pat” Christenson

➣ Eugene G. “Doc” Roe

➣ Lewis Nixon

➣ Ronald Speirs

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

╔═════ ∘◦⛧ﾐ◦∘ ══════╗

CALL OF DUTY

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ⛧ ◦∘ ═════╝

GHOSTS:

➛ David “Hesh” Walker

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ °

WW2 & VANGUARD:

➛ Robert Zussman

➛ Ronald “Red” Daniels

➛ Arthur Crowley

➛ Marcus Howard

➛ Richard Webb

➛ Arthur Kingsley

➛ Lucas Riggs

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

════════════════════════╕

RED DEAD REDEMPTION

╘════════════════════════

➽ Arthur Morgan

➽ Charles Smith

➽ Josiah Trelawny

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

╔══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ═════╗

TOM HARDY

╚══════✮❁•°❀°•❁✮══════╝

↪ Farrier (Dunkirk)

↪ Alfie Solomons (Peaky Blinders)

↪ Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)

↪ Eddie Brock/Venom (Marvel)

↪ James Delaney (Taboo)

↪ Pavel Sidorov/Leo Demidov (Child 44)

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

︻⋆︻⋆︻⋆︻⋆︻⋆︻⋆︻

LOTR/THE HOBBIT

︼⋆︼⋆︼⋆︼⋆︼⋆︼⋆︼

⟿ Aragorn

⟿ Legolas

⟿ Boromir

⟿ Faramir

⟿ Thorin

⟿ Fili

⟿ Bard

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

╱╲❀╱╲╱╲❀╱╲╱╲❀╱╲╱╲❀╱╲╱╲❀╱╲

TV SHOWS & FILMS (misc)

╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱

⇉Indiana Jones

⇉ Holland March (The Nice Guys)

⇉ Tom Hanniger (My Bloody Valentine)

⇉ Pyramid Head (Silent Hill)

⇉Elliot Stabler (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)

⇉Art the Clown (Damien Leone's Terrifier)

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

┏━━━◥◣◆◢◤━━━━┓

MARVEL

┗━━━◢◤◆◥◣━━━━┛

➬ Venom/Eddie Brock

➬ Carnage (symbiote only!)

➬ Blade

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

-ˏˋ. DC ˊˎ-

↦ Bruce Wayne/Batman (Nolan only)

↦ Bane

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

┏━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━┓

SUPERNATURAL

┗━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━┛

➩ Dean Winchester

➩ Benny Lafitte

➩ Gadreel

➩ Crowley

➩ Mick Davies

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

╔═══*｡❅*⋆⍋✧ ✦ ✧⍋⋆*❅｡*═══╗

FALLOUT

╚═══*｡❅*⋆⍋✧ ✦ ✧⍋⋆*❅｡*═══╝

➲ Maximus

➲ Cooper Howard/The Ghoul

➲ Nick Valentine

➲ John Hancock

➲ Preston Garvey

➲ MacCready

➲ Sturges

➲ Paladin Danse

➲ Porter Gage

➲ Mason (The Pack Alpha/leader)

➲ Old Longfellow

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning!  I hope you slept well and feel rested?  Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day.  Welcome to the weekend!

Wow!  Here we are again: Friday!  Where did that week go?  No, seriously, where did that week go?

The Mighty Josiah will arrive this evening and I’m just praying he’s had a good week at school.  If not, he’ll be ‘on punishment’; no TV, no iPad, no park.  Trying to keep kids on the straight and narrow is a nightmare, innit?  I saw this video clip the other day; mum and two kids in a supermarket.  The mum is holding a baby and the other kid is only about nine or ten.  Trouble is, he’s got a lighter in his hand, and he sets fire to one the displays.  All of a sudden, staff are running around because a display of vegetables is melting!  The mum’s looking around like, “What the hell happened?”  What, she didn’t know her kid had a lighter?  Really?  And did you hear about Jennifer Crumbley?  The first U.S. parent convicted of manslaughter over a mass shooting carried out by their child.  Bringing up kids: it ain’t easy!

I am looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend.  I am talking sofa, food, TV and bedroom.  Next week is going to be very taxing on my brain and my voice, so I need down time, and I’m not talking about get down time!  Although, of course, I can never do nothing.  Big love to Julie Vee for inviting me on to her Trax FM radio show to talk about pirate radio.     

Really hope you can join me tomorrow for ‘The A-Z Of Mi-Soul Music’ (The Letter S Pt. 12).  What can I say?  Two hours of superb music, some of which you haven’t heard in ages!  No executive producer this week, just me playing with myself.  Although, the executive producers for The Letter T parts one and two have been chosen!

Have a fabulous and funky Friday!  I love you all.  You’re probably thinking, “You don’t even know me!” but, if people can hate for no reason, why can’t I love?

[isitovernow-ootw]

thanks for tagging me @suburbanlegnd ! :))) <33

last song: wintering - country version by josiah and the bonnevilles (lets pretend its not a 1975 cover besties its too good)

favorite color: constantly vaselating between pink and chartreuse. also a major fan of the color of watered down pthalo blue watercolor

last tv show: our flag means death! and im gonna include last audio drama podcast too because i basically listen to those instead of shows and i just finished parkdale haunt, so creepy so good

sweet/spicy/savory: savory i am a savory babe through and through i put soy sauce on my oat meal

relationship status: also woefully single somebody get me a gf

last thing i googled: "mushroom shaped mug that's also a bong"

current obsession: colored pencils and those tumblr posts that are just really long collections of screenshots of song lyrics poems posts etc that all follow a theme. very into those

npt: @nicestplaces @longlivestv @lovewithoutresin @sophisticatedswifts @cowboylikedean @winterstaryu @stillgotscars @expatiating @pissedabouthumidity

Nine people I'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @meghawhopp <33

Last song: Down by the River by Borislav Slavov from the Baldur’s Gate 3 Soundtrack (or more specifically the cover of Down by the River by Nerissa Ravencroft)

Favorite color: Blue and purple!

Last movie/TV show: Seinfeld, I’m currently on season four!

Sweet/spicy/savory?: I have a huge sweet tooth, so sweet things

Relationship status: Single

Last thing I googled: I searched up the show “Arthur” because I was trying to find that one meme where Buster was like “You really think someone would do that, just go on the internet and spread lies?”

Current obsession: Fragaria memories and tears of themis mostly^^

Tag Nine People: @kyaruun @xinieeee @deadmansbistro @florapot @hunita812 @scuffle-with-spirals @rexonalapis @maxellera @manicpixiedoomedgirl

[fundiebabynamebible]

I wonder if Josiah and Lauren chose to remove the photos of their daughter because of the situation with Josh and their awareness of who could be viewing those photos. It could also be something to do with jinger and Jeremy’s choice to keep their girls’ faces private. I’d be curious to know more about their choice and as nosy as I am lol I think you’re right and it’s a good decision for them.

I have no doubt that Josh's actions have prompted these changes revolving around child protections within the family. I was wondering what Jinger and Jeremy would do about the girls if they were offered a tv show - would they blur their faces? IMO Josiah and Jinger have made the best decisions concerning a child in the Duggar family by protecting the identity of their kids.

Side note - Lauren also deleted other posts that mention of Bella and Asa including the pregnancy announcement, mention of the miscarriage and baby shower. It's all gone. You wouldn't even know she'd had a miscarriage unless you Googled it. Good for her protecting personal details about her life. Bella can decide whether or not she wants to be in the public eye when she's older.

Evangeline's first birthday is coming up. It will be interesting to see whether JinJer post a recent photo without her face showing or photos from the early days of her life.

[geeky-politics-46]

The Asgardian Candidate

Loki/The West Wing FanFiction Crossover

Chapter 3 - “The First Debate”

The 2 candidates strode toward the center of the stage for the ceremonial pre-debate handshake. Both men exuding confidence & authority, even though the air around them was thick with palpable tension

The first lady, Abbey, entering hand in hand with her husband. It was an effort to further highlight the differences between the candidates.

President Bartlet easily outplayed Loki in policy knowledge, but regardless the handsome raven haired charismatic Loki managed to maintain a thin lead over the incumbent. Tonight they were hoping to change that.

They had found a vulnerable spot in Loki, one that Jed was particularly suited to take advantage of. Jed Bartlet was a family man 1st & foremost, nothing mattered more to him. Loki, always solo on the campaign trail with no spouse or relatives to be seen, became visibly angered at the mention of family.

After the first lady had smiled & waved to the audience she turned to her husband. Abbey tipped her head up & kissed Jed, she then placed her hand on his chest over his heart & touched her forehead to his. Both of their eyes closed in that moment & the president placed his hand over Abbey’s, smiling as their hands met.

Loki watched the display with annoyance, to him they were simply putting on an act, a show for their audience. They were posturing.

To the Bartlet’s however this was their moment of ritual, a grounding force that connected them before a moment of political chaos. While it may have been Loki’s weakness, Jed derived only strength from his family & especially from his wife.

Loki placed his hands on his hips & shifted his weight to signal his impatience with being made to wait. He had just finished rolling his eyes when Abbey pulled away from her husband & exited the debate stage.

President Bartlet was the 1st to extend his hand, his warm friendly smile covering a feeling of anxiety. He may be the President of the United States, the Commander In Chief, but something about this man exuded an authority outranking even his own.

Loki locked hands with the President, his lips curling into his signature mischievous smirk, lowering his gaze slightly & boring his rich emerald eyes into his opponent. He was ready for a battle.

As they walked to their podiums, Loki’s eyes stayed on the President. Like a predator stalking his prey, he watched every step the man took. The president could feel the eyes on him, causing him to swallow hard as he took his position.

The 2 men stood roughly 20 feet apart on the large stage, podiums angled toward the front center. The audience had begun to silence & still themselves. The moderator was finishing up sorting her papers. It was nearly time to begin.

Bartlet adjusted his microphone, straightened his tie, basically anything except look at the man to his left. Loki was still staring him down, & he couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the nervous fidgeting he had elicited.

Loki’s attention snapped to the front of the stage as the moderator began reciting the debate rules over her own microphone. Truth be told, he had been so wrapped up in his game that he had forgotten she was even there.

He could hardly even see her due to the stage lights, so he looked for the news & TV cameras instead. That was where he would focus. That was who he was campaigning to after all, to the millions watching on TV. They were who he wanted to win.

As the cameras went live the moderator once again recited her introduction & the rules for the debate. This time leaving out bits & pieces that pertained only to the candidates themselves or to their staff. It was really showtime now.

“Good evening, & welcome to the first debate for this year’s U.S. Presidential election. The participants are President Josiah Bartlet, & Mr. Loki Laufeyson. I am Rachel Maddow your moderator. The topics this evening will all be pertaining to U.S. domestic policy. The format for the debate is as follows, & has been agreed to by both campaigns. Each candidate will make a 2 minute opening statement. The debate will then be divided into 6 segments, each 14 minutes long. At the beginning of each segment I will ask both candidates the same lead-off question & they will each have up to 2 minutes to respond, we will then move into open discussion for the rest of the time allotted. At the end of the debate each candidate will be given 2 minutes to make a closing statement. Mr. Laufeyson you won the coin toss, so we will be beginning with you. You have 2 minutes for your opening statement please.”

Loki shifted his weight from foot to foot, hands poised on the edges of the podium. He glanced downward & licked his lips. A smile spread across his face as he brought his gaze back up, locking into the cameras.

“Well, first of all thank you dear Rachel & my opponent, President Bartlet, for taking part in this glorious display of… purpose… before the American people. I know you all feel lost, like leaves scattered in the wind. Without a true direction. That is the downside of freedom, it diminishes life’s joy as you scramble for identity. In order to truly embrace all that this life, this country, has to offer you must put your trust in a true leader. Someone who will lead you down the path toward greatness without question or hesitation. I will be that benevolent leader if you put your trust in my hands.”

“Thank you Mr. Laufeyson. Now to you President Bartlet.”

“I grew up on the promise of life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness. Along the way, however, we learn how important so many other things there are in our lives. Healthcare, an education, family. Those are just a few that pop to mind. I am, & will be a, president who see’s these issues as ever evolving questions seeking adaptable solutions. As your president I will continue to fight for policy that pulls us forward together, not pushes people into a line. To unite as one family; because at the end of the day, if you have people to call your family - even if you aren’t related by family - you are never truly lost.”

Loki could feel the color drain from his face. Bartlet had just fired a shot across the bow, within the first five minutes of the debate Loki knew he was already starting to sink.

————————

It simply got worse from there. On Asgard Loki never had to attend to matters of actual policy. He was trained as a sorcerer & warrior with a birth right to the throne. Why in the nine realms would he have bothered to learn about budgets & taxes? He was a prince, destined to be a king. A ruler waiting for his throne.

Despite his best efforts to keep up, & even throw a few quick magical charms to make his answers sound more polished, he knew he was floundering. The bile was rising in his stomach as he watched the human to his right take the last of the open question time.

All he had to do now was deliver his closing statement. Then he would re-evaluate. He knew he would have to make a big move tomorrow if he wanted to hold any footing .

“We have now come to the final segment of our debate, the closing statements. Mr. Laufeyson, you have 2 minutes.”

“Standing here, before all of you, I must confess that I spent much of my life being lied to. Many of you have also spent your lives being lied to, by the politicians who claim they will put your needs first. Being told you were something only to find out it was all fiction. All they really care about is power. It’s time for something different than these same lies time after time. I will never feed you those same lies, I will lead you to where you can fully flourish. I will make it easy for you.”

“President Bartlet, you have 2 minutes for your closing statement.”

“While I know that many voters prefer to not delve too deep into the world of policy specifics, & I certainly understand why, but a president should be able to give you a specific plan of how they intend to solve the problems befalling our country. While my opposition here certainly has a flair for language, even when it edges a tad on the overdramatic, I have yet to hear him detail exactly how he will lead this country to a better place. I can tell you that there aren’t many un-nuanced moments in leading a country, it takes much more than fancy generalities. So, Mr. Laufeyson, my question to you is what comes after the generality? What are the next 10 words? How are we going to do it? Give me the next 10 words after that & I’ll drop out of the race right now.”

Loki stood yet with his mouth agape. Fists clenched so tight on the podium his knuckles were white. A mere mortal had bested him, & he knew it just as well as Loki did. Even the moderator had appeared stunned at Bartlet’s closing statement bravado.

As the moderator closed out the debate, the tv camera crews began their scuttle over to the spin room to try & get the best spot for interviews. Bartlet smiled & waved to the audience as he strode offstage. Loki stood there, basking in the stage lights for just a moment longer. Taking a deep breath to compose himself before turning & leaving through the other side of stage. He could already see staffers & stagehands clearing a path for him, they could feel the frustration radiating off of him.

His campaign staff would be taking care of all the post debate interviews. On his best days he hardly had patience for them, on days like today he would rather be looked in closet with his brother than deal with the media’s pedantic prattling. Loki had a plan to put together, & he had to put it together fast.

[murtaghsbeard]

Season 5 Ep 3 - Free Will

I am liking this medical school. There is lots of bread experimentation

Daddy’s back! John Quincy Meyers. You are here among these militia men, it is revealed as a surprise. You are always welcome on my tv screen. You are the Hagrid of this show

The preteen huntsman Josiah who Lizzy is hot for has a secret twin who is deaf, in a wretched predicament, and very hungry. The story is a sad one. He was being abused by the man he is indentured to. Things are very creepy at the young brothers owner’s house. There are goats where there shouldn’t be goats.

Jamie’s crew has got to recruit some fighting men to fulfill the governor’s request to quell the regulators. Roger is maybe learning a lesson about making nice sounding promises you can’t keep? How are you going to return this surly widow’s sons to her unharmed if you can’t even shoot a squirrel?

Geez. Elder abuse turned vengeful torture now segues to childbirth

The uneasy young wife is not a widow after all and she has been keeping her murderous, abusive husband up in the attic barely alive and available for her little vengeful whims. He is practically dead, near starved and incapacitated by a stroke. He has got a backyard full of dead wives that let us know what he was like in a more ambulatory state. Jamie and Claire, of course, want to bring this literal villain downstairs, give him medical attention, and orchestrate some miracle to keep him alive (though paralyzed and unable to speak).

Please just kill this man already and put everyone out of their misery. Please, please, reconcile yourself to killing terrible people when there is little danger of being caught. In the resulting scuffle, the young wife goes into labor. The baby is half black, one last little wound for this terrible husband.

This traumatized girl. She has got to bounce. “Please take care of my baby,” she intimates. “I left all the important papers in the swaddling.”

Jamie comes to his senses a little bit and gets permission to perform euthanasia from a series of blinks. After Claire goes outside a shot rings out.

Jesus Christ! That is an insane amount of birds. That must have been the entire nesting colony of passenger pigeons in North America roosting at that homestead

[lonesome--hunter]

Rawhide

content warnings: death, tw noncon, blood, mentions of gore, drugging, abuse, beating

Ezra looked like a young Clint Eastwood from his Rawhide days.  Eastwood’s big break was on that show. That was one of Josiah's favorite black and white TV westerns from the 50’s. Mama always had them on the 10 incher in the kitchen while she snapped beans.

That’s why he was chosen. Josiah was just passing through his town, stopping for gas and smokes at the Gas Mart. Ezra was just making his usual stop there for Jenny’s famous boiled peanuts before heading home after a long work day. Never seeing the Trans Am trailing behind his pickup on that dark, dirt road to his trailer on the outskirts of town. Pulled from his bed in the dead of night, drugged and violated. Waking up to a devil in the flesh.

Mama would have liked this one.

 His blue eyes glassy, spotted with broken blood vessels and struggling to focus. Every blow was white blinding pain. 

“I stole these from Mama’s boyfriend Bobby. Right out of his back pocket.”  

He circled Ezra, taking in the sight of the man decorated in his own blood tied to the chair. He’d have to get some photos of this one. This was very good.  The brass knuckles were shiny silver and slick with blood. Ezra must have rejoined the room because the sight of them made him whimper.  “Yeah these are quite something huh.”  Josiah knelt down to give him a better look, leaning in close.

“Bobby got to feel the other end of these after he took a belt to Mama. Beat her black and blue.” 

All he got in response was muffled groans. A cloth gag was tied tightly around his head, soaked with sweat and quickly stained pink. There was blood cascading from his nose in a gruesome waterfall.

“I dropped him off the train bridge by the lake. Thank goodness for gators and razor wire. Good for making sure there’s nothing left.” Josiah heard the man frantically trying to pull air into his nose, blood and mucus making it harder and harder. Not wanting their time to end so early, Josiah pulled the gag down from Ezra’s mouth, frantic breaths and gasps the only sounds in the room. Gently he brushed away the hair stuck to his forehead, meeting his eyes glistening with tears. 

"That's it. Take it easy, baby. It’s gonna be a long night.’

Continued Here

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who: What Makes a Great One-Off Character?

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Some Doctor Who characters are intended for greatness; some are intended to be killed off at the end of their first episode. Writers have a lot more control over the second than the first. What remains true for all characters, is the tension that exists between their function in the story and their potential to affect it. Even a guard who simply runs into a room to get shot could have dragged the story in another direction, should they be allowed (this stock background character was the inspiration for Terry Pratchett’s City Watch novels).

Successful one-off characters aren’t necessarily those who break away from their function, (or even those who aren’t strictly required, for example Binro the Heretic in ‘The Ribos Operation’), but those who make a story soar to another level entirely. More often, what makes them work is when their function in the story is disguised. There are plenty of ways to do this and most of them intersect: casting, costume, dialogue, performance…

Let’s first address the latter. Does the actor need to get under the skin of the character to create a nuanced and layered take that resonates utterly with the audience?

Nope. Doctor Who frequently embraces camp. Sometimes camp holds Doctor Who at gunpoint and sings piano ballads at it. The results vary. Richard Briers’ possessed Chief Caretaker in ‘Paradise Towers’ undermines the production (while not a production striving for kitchen sink realism, Briers’ parody-like performance still cuts against its Brechtian leanings) whereas Graham Crowden’s Soldeed is heightened and ridiculous among similar performances.

Other great examples of this stock character, which I am calling Ham-Err Horror without apology, include Professor Zaroff in ‘The Underwater Menace’ (intended to be driven mad by the death of his family, only for this to be cut from the script, rendering the character inexplicably inexplicable) and John Lumic from ‘Rise of the Cybermen’ (inspired to create the Cybermen by a fear of death, with actor Roger Lloyd-Pack citing Dick Cheney as an inspiration for the performance, but remembered mainly for the ripe delivery of lines such as ‘And how will you do that from beyond the grave?’).

Sometimes you don’t even need dialogue. Christopher Bowen, as Mordred in ‘Battlefield’, commits to a maniacal laugh so long that there’s a cut to another scene in the middle of it.

And yet there are places where camp or over-the-top villains work unironically, and some of the most hospitable are the Tom Baker stories of 1975-1977. Harrison Chase, Magnus Greel, Morbius, the Master… these characters fit into the Grand Guignol tradition of heightened and melodramatic performances (Just because something is dark and morbid doesn’t stop it being ludicrously tragic). As the tone of these stories is pitched at gothic melodrama though, the characters and setting cohere.

Returning to ‘Battlefield’, while there are some great individual performances from one-off characters, they’re not quite pulling in the same direction (Jean Marsh as Morgaine is playing an inter-dimensional sorceress as if it’s real, Marcus Gilbert as Ancelyn is saying ‘This is ridiculous, and that’s great’ and pulling along Angela Bruce’s Bambera in that direction too). ‘Battlefield’ is fun, but also disjointed.

Read more

TV

Doctor Who: Ranking Every Single Companion Departure

By Andrew Blair

TV

It’s a Sin’s Doctor Who Crossover Pays Tribute to Remembrance of the Daleks Actor

By Louisa Mellor

Some characters get by on the strength of costume or make-up, such as the Destroyer (also from ‘Battlefield’) or the Zygons. Broton, the latter’s leader, is a successful character who operates purely as a function rather than an individual. Played with haughty relish by John Woodnutt, Broton is a visual triumph, with the costume a collaboration between costume designer Jim Acheson, visual effects designer John Friedlander and director Douglas Camfield. At its best, ‘Terror of the Zygons’ oozes with tension and atmosphere, with some fantastic design work and enjoyable pulp runaround. This all distracts the viewer from Broton being a colossal idiot. Indulging in clichés such as explaining his entire plot, putting characters in easily escapable situations and assuming the Doctor is dead without proof, Broton has to do these for the story to unfold according to Doctor Who’s format. Fortunately few people watch ‘Terror of the Zygons’ for Broton’s unique take on planetary subjugation.

Some clichés exist specifically because that character has worked well in previous stories. Frequently in Doctor Who somebody would sacrifice themselves to save the day, someone else would comment on this, and everybody would look solemn for a few seconds before immediately moving on with their lives. ‘The Ark in Space’ features two people sacrificing themselves to save humanity, one with a quip about his union and the other fighting possession, and in 1975, a single line noting these acts was enough.

In 2005, TV had changed, and so Doctor Who threw more weight behind these deaths (boosted by Russell T. Davies’ seemingly effortless ability to generate a whole human life by adding three adjectives per character to the scripts). Jabe in ‘The End of the World’, Gwyneth in ‘An Unquiet Dead’, Pete Tyler in ‘Father’s Day’… these sacrifices were dwelt on, their weight became cumulative. From this, a subgenre of Almost Companions emerged with Lynda in ‘The Parting of the Ways’, Astrid in ‘Voyage of the Damned’ and Rita in ‘The God Complex’: all too doomed to step on board. Eventually the show acknowledged this with the Eleventh Doctor standing over the body of Lorna Bucket and observing “They’re always brave.”

Doctor Who was commentating on itself as early as its second series (in ‘The Rescue’ David Whittaker created Koquillion, a monster in a rubber suit that turned out to actually be a man in a rubber monster costume). In the 1980s, Doctor Who had become increasingly continuity-heavy, but what its final few series managed successfully was to comment on Doctor Who without making the stories’ success dependent on this. Characters such as Captain Cook offer up twisted reflections of the Doctor, with the Chief Clown, Josiah Samuel Smith and Commander Millington all tapping into the historical influences on the show, but crucially the stories still work if you’re not familiar with all this.

‘Ghostlight’, the most densely packed version of this approach,is still entertaining even if you don’t know what is going on. It’s played with such conviction and unity, with each character managing to feel both heavily symbolic but with a sense of inner-life. This is generally true of the Seventh Doctor’s era supporting characters, especially the guy who snaps “I can’t do anything without my list now can I?” in ‘The Happiness Patrol’.

But as we’ve seen, a standout character doesn’t have to be multi-faceted. Not every henchman can be Packer from ‘The Invasion’ (he’s not only sadistic and cruel, but Peter Halliday really commits to the undignified flapping when things go wrong), but most stock characters in Doctor Who work by being given ‘a bit’.

Usually this stems from their plot function. Harrison Chase, in ‘The Seeds of Doom’ is a plant collector and obsessive because the story is based around aggressive plant-creatures, and needs a simple way to bring the main human antagonist into the adventure. Here though it’s more than that. Lesser examples of this trick can be seen with Tarun Capel in ‘Robots of Death’, where his obsession with robots isn’t as unsettling as Chase’s obsession with plants (and then further down the line we have Magnus Greel in ‘Talons of Weng-Chieng’, who is evil because the story needs a bad guy). In ‘Seeds of Doom’, time is devoted to the idea of a man who considers plant life superior to humanity, and the script and actor Tony Beckley really commit to the comedy and horror of this idea. That’s his ‘bit’.

Perhaps the finest example of turning a character’s basic function into pure entertainment is Duggan in ‘City of Death’. Douglas Adams and Graham Williams, rewriting David Fisher’s scripts about aliens in Monte Carlo, took a Bulldog Drummond-inspired detective character and realised his primary function in the script was to be the muscle for the Doctor and Romana.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

There are other elements of of ‘City of Death’ that poke fun at television’s contrivances (The guard’s throwaway line saying Captain Tancredi will “be here instantly” just before the door opens, for example) and Duggan’s repeatedly punching people unconscious to move the plot along is not only revealed to be an example of Chekhov’s Gun, whereby it’s the solution to the whole story, but also the source of the best sight gag in Doctor Who when Duggan opens a wine bottle by simply smashing it open off the bar. Without providing him with much in the way of depth or backstory, by leaning into the character’s story function to almost absurd levels, ‘City of Death’ creates one of the most memorable supporting characters in Doctor Who history.

The post Doctor Who: What Makes a Great One-Off Character? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[watchmegetobsessed]

Just you - Shawn Mendes

summary: you visit Shawn on tour and get jealous because he spends so much time with Allessia and you have a fight about it that ends with the two of you getting into a not too serious car accident

masterlist

You wouldn’t say you are a jealous type. Not the crazy type, at least. You had your fair share of jealous moments when some girls just didn’t know where the boundaries are and crossed the lines, but you also did a great job reminding yourself that these girls are no threats to you. Shawn is with you, he will probably never see them again, so sometimes you even let them have their moments knowing he would be coming home to you, sleep next to you and wake up next to you. It took you months, but you found your peace of mind with his lifestyle so you never thought anything would bring that bitter jealousy out of you again. You were wrong.

When you arrive to Europe to join him for an entire week on tour you couldn’t be happier. What more could you wish for than your boyfriend you loved whole-heartedly, some of the most beautiful European cities, the most delicious foreign foods and probably the best vacation ever. When Shawn picks you up at the airport you can’t control your out-bursting happiness as you basically throw yourself into his arms.

“I missed you so much, baby!” he breathes into your neck embracing you in the tightest hug as you cling onto him for dear life.

“I missed you too,” you mumble before leaning back and capturing his lips in a sweet welcome kiss finally.

“Come on, that was enough PDA for the photographers,” he grins at you taking your bags from you and leading you out to the car.

“So, what’s the plan for today? I’m pretty hungry, so can we have lunch somewhere?” you ask as you two are following the directions from the GPS, maneuvering through the beautiful streets of Barcelona.

“Glad to hear that, because we are having lunch with Alessia and Brian.”

“Oh! Do I have time to freshen up a bit at the hotel?” you ask checking yourself out in the blank screen of your phone. You just touched down after the longest flight, your hair is in a messy bun and you have the smallest amount of makeup on since you didn’t want to travel with a full glam on, which is not really your style anyway.

“You can get changed, but we have to leave quite fast, if that’s alright.” Shawn glances at you apologetically as he gives your thigh a gentle squeeze.

He was right, once you arrive to the hotel you basically have time only to gat changed from your worn-out jeans into a longer sundress with a knitted jumper above it. Shawn makes sure to assure you that you still look stunning and you just decide to let go of the urge to look spotless. You are here to spend time with him, you shouldn’t waste time.

You have met Brian several times, being one of Shawn’s closest friends you know him well, but this is the first time you see Alessia, though you’ve heard a lot about her as well. Shawn seems to like her a lot, he told a lot of stories about the stuff they did on tour and you are genuinely happy he had someone to let loose with during tour.

When you walk into the restaurant you immediately spot Brian and a moment later Alessia turns around and smile in your way as well.

“Hey! So good to have you here!” Brian pulls you into a tight hug that you return happily.

“Thanks, Brian. I missed you,” you smile at him.

“Missed you too, girl.”

“Y/N, this is Alessia. Alessia, this is my girlfriend, Y/N,” Shawn introduces the two of you to each other and you turn to her with a smile.

You’re not sure if you should go for a hug or just a handshake, but she decides it for you wrapping her arms around you warmly.

“I’m so happy to finally meet you!” she squeals cheerfully and it makes you chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Shawn has told so much about you!”

“He basically wouldn’t shut up about you when you two are apart,” Brian comments as you lean back from Alessia.

“Sorry if he was annoying,” you say laughing, glancing at Shawn who is just rolling his eyes at all of you, but you can see the small smile hiding on his perfect lips.

You all take a seat at the table, the waiter soon arrives and takes your order before your little group of four gets into the anecdotes of all the crazy stories that happened during tour. You listen to them talking about their favorite memories quite blissfully, it makes you happy to know Shawn has been having the time of his life, but also you can’t help but feel… left out.

“He is such a sucker for tasting all kind of beers wherever we go, but then he wouldn’t stop going to the bathroom every five minutes!” Alessia laughs at Shawn as they are telling me about their small culinary adventures.

“That happens, when you drink four different beers in one sitting!” he tries to defend himself.

“Yeah, and also, it causes you to stay up until four am and nag me out of sleep to jam with you in your room,” she chuckles shaking her head.

A sudden rush of distress runs through your body, which is quite unfamiliar. The thought of Shawn being alone with a girl at three or two am after drinking is just not something you feel comfortable with. Your eyes wander over to Alessia and you let yourself take a closer look at her.

Her makeup free skin looks flawless, her long brown curls are bouncing with each of her movements and even though she is wearing a simple oversized hoodie with ripped jeans she is owning that look. She is the kind of natural beauty guys get along with so well and fall in love with even easier.

“You okay?” Shawn’s gentle voice brings you back from your thoughts, his large hand takes yours and he laces your fingers together.

“Yeah, just… zoned out for a bit. It’s just the jetlag,” you smile at him and he doesn’t question it. He presses a kiss to your forehead as you two turn back to Brian and Alessia who are arguing about something.

You manage to push your anxious thoughts about Shawn and Alessia to the back of your head once you leave the restaurant and you go your separate ways. Shawn made sure to have the afternoon off so you two can spend as much time together as possible. Joined by two guards the two of you go for a romantic walk since this is your first time in Spain and he is eager to show you what he has already discovered. You run into fans here and there, Shawn patiently stops for photos, but he also lets everyone know he doesn’t have time and for your biggest surprise fans understand it and they wish the two of you a nice time together.

When you get back to the hotel your feet hurt, but you don’t mind it, you had an amazing time with him and you would trade it for anything. You have dinner at the hotel and afterwards you just chill in your room, watching movies on the large TV and enjoying each other’s company. Shawn’s phone buzzes on the nightstand around ten pm.

“Who is it?” you ask without looking away from the TV.

“Just Alessia. She and Josiah had an impromptu photoshoot and the pictures are so dumb,” he chuckles. Pushing yourself up you see him flicking through the photos she just sent, but you can’t really focus on anything else than Alessia hitting him up at ten in the night when she knows so damn well that you are here and you two are trying to make up for the time you spent apart.

“Uh huh, seems like fun.” You let the sarcastic comment slip before you can stop yourself and Shawn immediately notices it. He lifts his head up and looks at you.

“What’s the matter?” he asks, but you refuse to look at him, you keep your eyes fixated on the TV. “Babe?” he pokes at your side and you sigh slowly shifting your gaze to his gorgeous face.

“Nothing,” you mumble rolling closer to him on the bed. You slide a hand to his chest feeling his steady heartbeat under your touch, his body radiates warmth and you wish you could spend this time with him without doubts and problems since once you go back you won’t see him for more than a month again. Your rational side pushes the urge to fight back and you manage to smile at him.

“I’m just tired, nothing is wrong.”

He cups your face pulling you closer and kissing you gently on the lips.

“I’m sorry, you must be half asleep after your flight and everything. Let’s sleep, alright?” He smiles at you reaching for the remote and switching the TV off.

His arms find your waist under the cover as he pulls you close to his body, your back perfectly fitting against his hard chest as he spoons you.

“I love you, Baby,” he murmurs into your ear kissing the soft spot behind it.

“Love you too,” you sigh as you let yourself slowly drift to sleep.

The next day is far more hectic compared to the last one. Shawn has a show in the evening so he has to be at the venue a few hours prior leaving far less freetime for the two of you. After ordering room service for breakfast you run errands for souvenirs for your friends and family to take home, this pretty much takes up the whole noon, then lunch with the team, a quick siesta at the hotel room which quickly turns into passionate “so good to have you here” sex and napping afterwards. It’s past three pm when you get ready and meet the rest of the team at the lobby. Alessia appears with Josiah by her side, laughing on something he just said and seeing you she runs up and hugs you kindly.

You feel awkward around her. You don’t want anyone to notice how you wish she wouldn’t be around, but that’s basically impossible since she is the opening act and part of the team, so you just try to act like everything is okay.

Luckily, you don’t have to share the car with anyone but Shawn, so you arrive to the venue after some serious car PDA, for your biggest liking.

You take a quick walk around the stadium as it is still empty, waiting to be filled with thousands of screaming fans in just a couple of hours. You watch Shawn do his soundcheck, sitting on the ground in front of the stage, his voice fills the whole place beautifully and you wish you could hear him sing like this every night.

“I’m so proud of you,” you tell him as the two of you head backstage, he puts and arm around your shoulders pulling you close to his side and kissing the top of your head.

“Thank you, Baby,” he smiles down at you lovingly.

You hang out with the team for a while and then Shawn has to leave for his usual Q&A and you decide it’s better if you listen to it from the far where they can’t see you. Finding the perfect spot behind the curtains you hear them start the session, Shawn answering their questions one after the other.

“Do you think Alessia did good so far as your opening act?” You hear one of the girls’ question and you immediately perk up a bit waiting for the answer.

“Yeah, she is amazing. I love her music, I love the way she performs and she is a cool person to have around. I’m glad she was the one who came, it’s like having one of your best friends on the road with you, she just gets me so well, so it’s all good,” Shawn replies and your throat dries out hearing his nice and loving words.

You can’t make yourself stay, so you decide to wait for him in his dressing room until he finishes with the questions. You are trying your best to keep calm and don’t have a jealousy rage right here, right there. You trust Shawn, he would never cheat on you, there is no way they are more than just friends. But you can’t help it, maybe it’s all the time you spent apart, maybe it’s something else, you don’t know.

When Shawn is back you try your best to hide your feelings not wanting to stress him before the show. He goes onto the stage without knowing any of your doubts, but you know you have to have a talk with him afterwards.

Finding the perfect spot next to the stage you make yourself comfortable on a huge box and watch the show from there. It’s obvious this is his true element, he belongs on stage for sure. The connection between him and the screaming crowd is just unbelievable and the energy he channels blows your mind. You almost change your mind about the talking part, but then the show comes to its end. You head back to the dressing room before him, wanting to wait for him there. You hear him coming from far away, but right before he would open the door he is stopped by none other than Alessia and you hear the whole conversation clearly from the other side of the room.

“You were amazing!” she cheers on him and you are pretty sure they are hugging.

“You crushed it as well. I’m happy you took my advice on that high note, the one we practiced back in the hotel in Bologna.”

“Yeah, after you left my room I practiced some and we agreed with the band to give it a try this time,” she chuckles, and all you can think about the two of them alone in a hotel room at three am, getting cozier than you would approve.

A few moments later the door opens and Shawn appears with a beaming smile on his face, his hair damp, his skin is shiny from his sweat. He moves for a kiss, but then he sees your face and immediately stops.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” he asks worry lacing through his voice.

“So nice to have Alessia around, right?” You come out harsher than you thought, but you kept it inside for too long.

“What? What do you mean?” he asks in total confusion.

“I mean that you seem very happy to travel Europe with her, she is nice, shares the same interests and I guess you two hit it off while I was back at home.”

“Y/N, are you trying to tell me you think I cheated on you with Alessia?” he asks with wide eyes. You look away, feeling a bit guilty as he forms his words, but you still stand your ground.

“Ever since I arrived she is everywhere. You guys obviously enjoyed your time traveling, you spend nights in her room jamming after drinking and God knows what else happens when you visit her when you can’t sleep?”

“You can’t be serious right now.” He chuckles, but it’s far from being a cheerful laughter.

“See, your first reaction is making me look like I’m crazy, but you haven’t said it’s not true,” you spat feeling your anger building up in your chest.

“Because it’s nonsense!” he raises his voice and it’s just making you rage even more.

“Sure, but I’m pretty sure at least one of you has feelings for the other if not both! You know what? I’m out of here,” you growl as you push your way past him, out of the dressing room and head to the exit, Shawn hot on your heels.

“Where are you going? We are in Barcelona, you can’t just run free!”

“Oh, watch me!” you laugh frantically, but truth is you have no idea where you are going, you just need some space to clear your head. People are getting interested in what is going on even thought you had no intention in making a scene.

“Babe, please come back and let’s talk!” Shawn begs trying to stop you, but you just wouldn’t.

You finally walk out and look for the car you arrived with and there it is, with the driver next to it. You march over to him with Shawn continuously begging you to stop.

“Hey, can I go for a drive, please?” you ask the driver who looks back at you curiously.

“Don’t give her the keys,” Shawn tells him making you roll your eyes at him.

“Don’t listen to him. I need the keys, please.” You hold your hand out and poor guy is so confused. Shawn must look threatening with his height and muscular figure compared to the shorter, skinnier guy.

“Okay, I don’t want to take part in it,” he mumbles handing me the keys and walking away, earning a frustrated growl from Shawn.

“Babe, don’t do this. Don’t drive like this,” he pleads as I get into the car.

“I need to leave,” you sigh fumbling with finding the ignition. Shawn, realizing you probably won’t give up on your will to leave he quickly runs to the passenger side and gets into the car. “Shawn!”

“You’re not leaving on your own in a foreign country, Y/N! No matter how mad you are at me!” he growls annoyed and you just give up knowing there is no chance you can get him out of that car.

“Please don’t talk, okay?” You fume at him and he nods his head as he buckles himself up.

Leaving the venue you start driving wherever you feel like the road is taking you. The streets of Barcelona are so much different than anywhere in the US. Shawn’s phone goes off a few times, but he soon mutes it ignoring all the calls. It’s probably Andrew, raging where he went without a word and you feel guilty for getting him into trouble, but you are still angry.

“So are you?” you suddenly ask speaking out your thoughts.

“Am I what?” he asks turning to you. It’s weird to see him on the passenger seat, he is always the one who drives, this might even be the first ever time of you sitting behind the wheel with Shawn in the car even though you’ve been together for over a year now.

“Are you cheating on me with her?” you ask, the words almost burning up your tongue.

“Of course I’m not!” He sighs sadly as you reach a red light and stop. Turning to him there is worry all over his beautiful face and you just want to cup his cheeks and pull him into a kiss, but you have to remind yourself that this is not the time for being cute.

“Do you like her?” you ask, now more like desperate, not angry anymore.

“I like her, as a friend. Nothing more. My heart and all my love is yours, Baby.”

He reaches out and caresses your cheek, you basically melt into his touch. From the corner of your eyes you see the light turning, but you let yourself enjoy this truthful moment a little bit more. You slowly reach for the wheel, ready to start driving again, and then things happen so fast.

Even though you have green light, a car coming from your left totally ignores it drives through its red light, rolling into the crossroads. You see the headlights and hear Shawn’s voice at the same time.

“Y/N!” he shouts putting an arm across your chest with the intention of keeping you safe. They hit the break a bit before you do, but the crash is still noticeable. You feel your whole body yanking to the side as the car hits your side, the airbags go off and your face smashes against it, but you don’t lose your consciousness. Your ears go mute just for a few minutes before shouting hits them, strangers run up to the car as you turn to your side to check Shawn.

A grimace is sitting on his face as he shuts his eyes closed then opens them turning to you with horror in them. Seeing you looking back at him calms him down a bit.

“Are you okay?” he asks a bit out of his breath.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Just as you say this you move your left hand and pain shoots through it making you wince.

“What is it? Where does it hurt?” he asks horrified, but you shake your head.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. Definitely not broken,” you say knowing well that it would hurt a thousand times more if it was broken.

A few minutes later two police cars arrive and officers help you out of the car. You kind of shut everything out until the moment you are on your feet again. You really did just get into a car accident in Barcelona.

Shawn rushes over to you right when the tears start rolling down your cheeks.

“Shh, it’s okay Baby. We are both okay.”

“I’m sorry, it was my fault,” you sob into his chest clinging onto his shirt for dear life.

“It wasn’t! That asshole ran the red light!” He gestures towards the guy from the other car who is out of his car, clearly intoxicated and already in handcuffs. “You didn’t do anything, Baby,” he murmurs into your hair kissing the top of your head. “We are both okay, we’re fine.”

“I’m sorry for being a little bitch,” you sigh finally stopping yourself from crying. “I just lost my head.”

“It’s okay. Everything is okay.”

An hour later you are finally back in the hotel, Andrew almost got a heart attack when Shawn called him and told him what just happened, but the only thing that matters is that no one got hurt.

“Oh my God, you scared the shit out of me!” Alessia comes running towards you at the hotel lobby and she hugs the both of you at the same time. “What the fuck, guys?!”

“It’s alright, an asshole ran the red light, not our fault,” Shawn tells her when she lets go of you.

“Unbelievable. You guys want a drink at the bar? You must be shocked,” she offers, but Shawn shakes his head as he pulls you into his arms carefully.

“We would rather just go to sleep, it was a long day,” he says and Alessia nods understandingly.

The two of you go up to your room and as soon as the door is closed behind you Shawn takes your hand and pulls you close to him.

“I was so scared I would lose you tonight, twice.”

Your heart shatters to pieces as you process his words. He was afraid he would lose you as his girlfriend first, then lose you in life. But luckily, neither of these options happened and tonight’s actions somehow put everything in place.

“I’m sorry. I hope you don’t hate me too much.”

“I could never hate you, I love you so much Baby. Please don’t even think I would want anyone else than you. It’ll always be just you.”

He cups your face in his hands bringing your face up to his and placing small, featherlike kisses to your lips.

“I love you too,” you whisper back, smiling up at him.

“Come on, let’s get into bed. We need to rest.”

[olderthannetfic]

You’ve probably heard of that film version of The Magnificent Seven from a couple of years ago. Maybe you know it’s based on a film from 1960, which is itself a remake of Seven Samurai.

But if you’re like 99% of fandom or even that guy I know who worked on the 2016 version, you probably don’t know that there was also a TV series starring, among other people, Ron Perlman.

(This came up because said dude and I were working on another Western starring Ron Perlman. A sucky one though. Alas, I cannot pimp it.)

Mag7, as it is usually called in fandom, was quite the little slash fandom in its day, yet it is nearly forgotten by newer fans. The show aired for two seasons from 1998-2000.

It’s one of those shows I bought, sight unseen, so I could catch up on older fandoms. I ended up liking it more or less, but I don’t think canon has aged well. It’s too bloodless for the era it came out in while making a pretense at covering serious, dark shit. It has neither the standing sets of old Western TV nor the big budgets of the 2010s Western revival. It’s too white. The one black lead gets relegated to token status along with all Native characters. The treatment of women is laughable, from the Happy Hooker stuff (gah!) to the time they try to teach the tomboy to be more girly so she can get the young dude in the cast (ragescream!). It feels more in line with what I’d expect a Western to look like in 1988 than 1998, especially on the heels of the far more inventive The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. in 1993.

Fanlore says that Mag7 suffers because current fandom is not into Westerns, but my problem is that I am far too into Westerns, and this show is not a good one.

OTOH, there is a lot of material here to work with, and work with it fans did!

It’s a super interesting fandom for a fandom historian because of how intensely AU-infested it is. Maybe you’ve heard something about “ATF-verse”? That’s a Mag7 thing. It’s not just regular AUs: The fandom is full of these shared universes with established rules for writers who want to play in them.

The “Seven” are:

Chris Larabee: The black-clad, taciturn loner with... wait for it... a dead wife and child.

Vin Tanner: The soft-spoken woobie, sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, who has spent time amongst the Indian tribes. (It is every bit as cringey as you think.) Fandom’s #1 fave, natch.

J.D. Dunne: Horrid little twerp with a terrible hat. I wanted to stab him every time he was on screen. x100 whenever he was interacting with a woman.

Buck Wilmington: Played by Dale Midkiff of Time Trax fame! (What? Everyone important, by which I mean me, loved Time Trax!) He is Chris’s old friend and polar opposite, a jolly, good-humored man raised by a prostitute mother. Ladies, including the working girls, love him. Also he gets fake dead more than once, so he’s clearly the BEST character, and fandom ought to have loved him the best too! >:( 

Josiah Sanchez: Ron Perlman plays a wacky preacher and ex-gunfighter. Is he haunted by his past? Does he make woo-woo philosophical proclamations about this? Does this show love its ubiquitous Western cliches? (Don’t answer that.)

Ezra Standish: If Vin is the quiet, soft-spoken woobie, Ezra is the woobie who hides his Tragic Pain under a mask of charm and cheer. He’s the one with the rapidfire con artist patter, the fancy suits, and the Southern accent. He has a complicated relationship with his con artist mother. His wardrobe is a thousand times prettier than anyone else’s, and he crossdresses at some point. Naturally, he is fandom’s other darling after Vin. Possibly the #1 darling in ATF-verse.

Nathan Jackson: Nathan is a former slave and a doctor. He has a girlfriend in the local Seminole village and not enough to do on the show.

Other characters include a sad widow for Chris to have sad dead partner angst at, the judge who sends them on missions, and, in the pilot, that guy who played Harper in Sharpe. The judge is played by Robert Vaughn, which I 100% did not realize until I was looking at wikipedia just now!

Anyway, standard Western hijinks happen. The mystery of Chris’s wife’s death is eventually solved as angstily as possible. Chris pretends to kill Buck as part of a ruse at one point, making them my ship of choice. (What?) J.D. and the local tomboy get set up by all the other characters, causing me to want to stab not only them but also myself in the eye.

COME AT ME BRO!

Oops. I’m supposed to be promoting Escapade, not starting fights about old tv shows. Anyway, I think the canon has some issues, but the fic... let me tell you, there are no words more likely to attract me to a fandom than “presumed dead”, and Mag7 fandom delivered, not only in the slash but in the gen. I have no idea, years later, where to find any of those fics or even which ones I read, but I remember there was self-indulgent melodrama and it was GREAT.

Sweet, sweet idfic, come to Mama!

I would link you to a vid, but as Fanlore hilariously confirms for me, there are like no good vids in this fandom. They did eventually release it on DVD, but the image quality is... uh... not great. Oh, wait, I did love this lulzy het vid about ladies being thirsty for Buck.

Actually, that’s a total lie. I have gone looking for Mag7 vids repeatedly for the Escapade dance party. Excavating my old spreadsheets, I see a bunch of interesting ones, like this slash vid of Nathan/Ezra. The Southern gentleman and the black guy are an obvious cliche teamup for Westerns, but the fandom rarely went there. This vid is great though! The only reason I’ve never played it is that no one at the con ships this.

Past Escapade panels include:

2001 - True pairings and permutations (Who are the "right" couples, and what other combinations are remotely possible? Video excerpts for newcomers.)

2003 - AUs! Crutch or creative lifeblood? (Are ATF stories a creative extension of the universe or a cop-out by folks too lazy to do their historical research?)

2004 - The Multiverse (Where canon is a formulaic retread of a remake of a classic, the critical mass of fan creativity has exploded in fascinating and bizarre ways. Often, richly textured parallel universes seem more attractive than stories based on the original source material. From conflict over "closed" AUs to creative in-breeding, what's really going on in the Mag 7 multiverse?) [HAH, EVEN YOU GUYS AGREE WITH ME.]

2005 - Where has the Old West gone? (Magnificent Seven has it all! Seven sexy men, horses, the old west, guns, adventure, right and wrong, you name it! So why isn't there more Old West fic? Why all the modem and future AUs? Where do we go from here?)

2006 - Cowboys- Real Life v. Fantasy (From Magnificent Seven to Brokeback Mountain, from John Wayne toughness to curtain fic. What's reel? What's fun? And how much reality do we want in our fun?)

2007 - Chris Larabee: Tragic Hero or Pig-Headed Bastard? (How worthy is Chris to lead the Seven? Does he lead them because he believes in protecting the weak an innocent, or because it strokes his ego? Does he truly value Buck's friendship and support? Vin's? Anyone's?)

2008 - M7: Need Topic! by Megan Kent [LOL]

2011 - Mag 7: Deader Than a Beaver Hat (They're gorgeous. They're archetypes. Lots of other fandoms have less to work with. So, what the hell?)

2012 - My Paring is OK. Your Pairing Sucks! (In a fandom famous for pairing wars, let's get it all out in the open and put it to bed. Come and defend your pairing of choice, and enjoy others doing the same. Inflatable lightsabers, laughter, and the ability not to take yourself seriously. All welcome.)

2013 - What holds the gang together? (The deal was simple: a dollar a day, plus room and board, for a month. And now they've been together *how* long? What holds these seven loners together over the long haul? All pairings, all points of view. Bring story recs to share.) [Duct tape. The answer is always duct tape.]

Mag7 on Fanlore (including links to many smaller archives)

Mag7 on AO3

Mag7 on FFN

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning!  I hope you slept well and feel rested?  Currently sitting in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. 

Welcome to the working week although, for those of you working in the NHS, welcome to just another day.

The Mighty Josiah arrived on Friday evening.  I love waking up with him on Saturday (and Sunday morning).  He likes waffles and Nutella and playing games on his tablet.  He’s fairly self-sufficient these days and leaves me snoozing in the armchair.   

Saturday afternoon was big fun!  Thank you to everyone that listened to the radio show.  @DianeHastings did a superb job!  If you missed it, it’s available on Mixcloud.  Next week: The Letter S (Pt. 5).  Executive producer: @DennisDaye.  I’ll be live in the studio on December 16th, 23rd and 30th, but we have to go to Jamaica for The Trouble’s dad’s funeral, so I’ll miss my show on Saturday, January 6th, but I’ll be back in the studio on January 13th. 

On Saturday night, this huge Christmas tree arrived.  When she ordered it, I’m not sure The Trouble knew it would be that big!  Our front room isn’t spacious, so we’ve pushed it way into the corner, as it was blocking the TV!  On Sunday, they decorated it and it looks fabulous!  Over the holidays, I sit in the front room, in the dark, with just the Christmas lights on, watching movies, and only then do I really feel Christmassy.  I love my Christmas tree lights so much; I leave it to the last moment to undress the tree.  The rest of the road dumps their tree almost immediately but I am twinkling well into January.

This week is just going to be about marking assignments, pausing momentarily for a networking event on Thursday night.  Expect selfies of me and some old bastards on Friday morning.     

As we’ve had to spend so much money on flights down to Jamaica, we will have to measure Christmas very carefully.  It all goes a bit mad, innit?  No extravagant presents.  No daily deliveries from Amazon.  No wasting food.  No take-aways.  I don’t even wear a belt but I’ll be tightening it! 

Have a marvellous and momentous Monday.  I love you all.

[skyprincess212]

Wait. Before I go. Heres a reupload of my little space QnA with some updated answers.

Do you sleep with a stuffie? Mhmm. I sleep with a panda and a bunny and 2 reindeer

Do you have a CG/daddy? Nope. I'm not looking either. I do have a friend I'm talking to but I dont think they'd be interested because of my whole situation right now

How many stuffies do you have: I only have like 10 here and then about 20 at my mom’s house

Favorite time of the year: Wintr cuz its my birthday and christmas but santa is supr dupr scary cuz hes supr tall and stuff and he smells weerd

Favorite disney princess/prince: Repenzel cuz shes from tangled

Favorite little space sweet/candy: cheetos puffs

What do you do while in little space? I play the sims or runescape. Sometimes i’ll color but a lot of the time i just wanna cuddle

Stuffies or blankies: i got both

Favorite animal: cat

Favorite hobby: listening to music

Favorite disney movie: Tangled cuz the mosick is supr pretty and i can sing a lot of the songs

Do you use a paci: I used to have these really cute hello kitty ones but my ex found them and cut them up and set them on fire. I have one from the dollar tree but i’ve hidden it a lot better now

Do you use diapers: no but im sort of curious

Favorite color: blu and pink

Whats your zodiac sign: capricorn

Describe your ideal little date: ok so. They’d dress me up supr dupr cut. Then we’d go to the park and feed ducks and do nauhaty stuff and then we’d go to the mall and go shopping and then we’d go and have dinner where they’d order for me because im too little and cant red and then we’d go hoome and do nauhaty stuff and then we’d watch disny movies while eating ic cream and then id be the little spoon on the bed while they red me a story and then we’d fall aslep with him holdin me all tigt and warm like a little coocoon

Build a bear or disney stores: disny

Do you participate in pet play and if so which animal? Mhmm yes i do. I’m mainly a kitee

Do you have a blankie: mhmm its reely big and blu and soft and warm

What is your little/middle age range: Little age is from 2-7, middle age is about 9-12. 

Do you have any pets: mhmm a black kitee named raven

Favorite tv shows: i only have Netflix so money heist, atypical, and supernatural. I kind of like word party too tbh

Favorite game: the sims

Favorite disney character: Pascal. Repenzels frog

Favorite tv show character: maybe Dean??

What do you eat when its snack time: cheetos and chips

One little space thing you want: i really really want an actual paci from those little space websites so i dont feel like im biting my tongue all the time. Or maybe a cut pink and blu paddel with either “Sir” or “Daddy” on it for nauhaty stuff

One unique thing about you: I can sing really well and i know a lot of songs

Favorite little activity: making sims while drinkin juice but then i gotta pe real bad cuz juice makes me gotta pe

What would your dream playroom/bedroom look like? Well little me wants greyish with pastels to make everything look cute but gothic. Cute everything. That’s for the bedroom. Ideally, id want my own room and id only be allowed into the main bedroom if i was told to be. That way, they can stay with me until I fall asleep and have other people over if they want. It would be filled with toys both innocent and not so innocent. A lot of books since I love to read. Maybe a little computer area too

Talk about someone special: I dont have anyone like that right now.

Favorite little space drink: apple juice

Whats your little space name: i dont really have a set name. Just call me whatever you want

Last picture you colored: i’m not sure where the coloring book went or else id show you

What are your fears: that no one actually loves me and everything is just one giant lie. That people won’t except me for who i am. That this is all just a dream like in the matrix or something

Are you a little 24/7? I really really want to be but i do have sub space too and occastionally Domme space too since i’m a switch. Well… its like 80% submissive/little and 20% Domme. But yeah if i could live the lifestyle 24/7 i would

Favorite smell: popcorn

What always puts you in little space? sammich and lollipops. I really wanna watch it together with my friend. He liks thm too I think

Whats your little nighttime routine? Ok so nauhaty stuff and then help me brush my teeth and brush my hair and help me put pjs on and then sleepy time

Whats your morning routine? idk I dissociate half the time so i have no clue

Do you have a favorite sippy cup? I don’t have any right now. I’ve been kind of scared to get any since my abuser found all my little space stuff. That was not a fun time

Favorite dessert: cupcakes or oreos. 

Favorite little space song: i see the light from tangled. I sing it supr good and its supr pretty and its the best

Do you have any little friends? yup. I got a couple

How long have you been a little? since i was 19

How did you discover you were a little? my abuser was yelling and screaming at me as usual and i just kind of slipped into little space. I was like wtf is happening. I then looked up what happened and i guess i used it to cope with my abuse at first

Are you open about it? Sort of. Some friends on Facebook know

Does anyone in real life know that your a little? I don’t think so

Do you have any little gear: mhmm and some pet play stuff too. I have one good collar and leash. I have some collars and chokers. Some paws, I used to have a tail but Josiah stole it and won’t give it back. I have a ton of skirts and dresses but only a couple are really for little space. Most of the rest of them put me into subspace because of how short or tight they are

Funniest experience in little space: so my mom called me once and since I was in little space I couldn’t talk very well especially not in full sentences so she just hung out and said she’d call me later

Worst experience in little space: I was raped and beaten up by my abuser. It was the day he found out about me being a little

Cg’s nickname: I dont have one but I'd call them 'sir' or 'daddy'

Favorite cartoon: either adventure time or the grim adventures of billy and mandy

Explain your username: my name is Sky and I'm a princess duh

Favorite little outfit: i wear my pink dino onsie

Dream little outfit: just a cute little gothic pastel baby

Hardest cg rule to follow: i dont really have any rules and the ones that i do have are really easy to follow

What makes you happy in little space? Being told im the cutest babee grl ever. It makes me squeal and giggle and blush or when I get called cuti or um idk

What makes you sad in little space? When my friend and I cant talk :(

[finderskeepersff]

70. Part 7

I was hoping a little bit that Sofia wouldn’t know but it’s the gossip queens, they can’t take a shit without announcing it in their group chat “you not going to speak to me? Like what happened?” I blew out air so heavy that it hit Cartier face, he scrunched his face up at me and found it hilarious “was that funny?” I asked, picking him up from the side of the couch and turning on my back with him in my arms, sitting him on my stomach “it just shows you know, ignore me. It’s fine” Sofia said “I’ll talk later, I just want to chill with my son” Sofia kisses her teeth waving me off as she walked off, Cartier just stared at Sofia as she did and then looked at me, I couldn’t help but laugh and it’s like he knew she wasn’t happy “you think I’m in trouble already?” Cartier didn’t say anything but stare at me “I am ain’t I” Cartier ignored me and started grabbing the side of the couch and climbing up “baby, give me kiss. Come on” it actually hurts my stomach that he’s stood up “come on” grabbing Cartier and pulling him down at me, he yelped out as I started attacking the side of his face with raspberries, trying to get my face just in his neck, his giggles filled the room as he couldn’t contain his happiness. Moving my head back and laid him out on my chest, watching Cartier looking at me, waiting for me to attack again. He rolled onto his stomach with my help and he faced me, blowing air in his face as he closed his eyes and laughed about it. Cartier tried to do it back to me but I just got bits of saliva from him “stank, you little stank boy” wrapping my arms around him “dada boy, who’s boy are you? You my boy, ain’t nothing going to change that” Cartier put his hand over my mouth “dada boy” I said but it was muffled and he smiled thinking it was funny, he moved his hand away “Cartier is goofy” I touched his lips, he just smiled at me. Least I know he is a happy baby.

Josiah keeps looking at me and then turning away and then looking again “you got some shit to tell me so say it” fixing a sleeping Cartier in my arms “I ain’t say anything” I laughed “that is the point, you want to say something. What is it?” He’s such a little bitch at times “I need a job” rolling my eyes shaking my head “right, what am I? The fucking employment office, I gave you a house but you’re still sat here in mine and you’re asking again for shit. I ain’t your fucking father because he failed you, we all would have been something if he was a fucking father but no, you’re sat here staring at me and Jasmine is whoring herself in Cali so we all fucked” I ain’t his fucking father to do this shit for him, he can pout all he wants “Jasmine wants to come here too and live with me” I groaned out “am I your fucking carer, I don’t want her here. She is unstable, I can’t deal with my emotions, your emotions and then a hormonal fucking brat. No! You tell her stay away and keep fucking old men for money, no! And Josiah grow the fuck up, the only thing you got is looks which is barely that! I think what has pissed me off is that you have the nerve to ask me for a job! I gave you a fucking house, not any small fucking house. Get a job yourself, actually clean my house and my son’ diaper’s. Because you will be beneath him too!” Josiah put his head down “Cassius! That is enough!!” Of course Sofia is here “how dare you, Josiah. Please take Cartier and go upstairs, how dare you” she is always there “you know what I don’t need Josiah to do shit, I can take my son myself. I don’t wish to speak to any of you” getting up from the couch “I think you need to go to sleep Cassius because this attitude I ain’t feeling, that is so fucking mean Cassius. How could you” I don’t need to hear them.

Cartier can sleep in the bed with me, I am going to attempt to sleep anyways “oh god” I said seeing the missed call from Mitch, this is not good I bet they hate me. First Mia heard the gunshot and then this, I fucked up but I need to call him back. Pressing my phone against my ear, I will take whatever he says because I deserve it, his house is trashed and that is all on me. They had a peaceful life, I mean everyone did until I came along “hey Cassius, brother” I laughed, I don’t know why but I did but I am a little nervous because I let them down like I do “I guess you know?” he said “I do” this is so fucking awkward and I hate it “I am sorry Mitch, I will have everything sorted. Don’t worry about it. Ethan will get that done for you” I feel so bad “we are in a hotel, it’s ok Cassius. I don’t blame you, they are just childish, they didn’t take anything just ruined the home. I just wanted to tell you that I don’t blame you, Mia doesn’t at all. She said you did what you needed, we appreciate that you came and did that for us. You can’t stop everyone can you? Some people don’t listen, don’t worry about it. Also I put that money in for you, I really wanted to tell you this. You can keep adding to it but don’t add too much. I recommend to buy something expensive, Rolex, Diamonds and add that. Too much money is a little frowned upon. The money is there now so just do that next ok?” taking in a deep breath “I expected you to hate me” I did expect it “hate you for what? It’s ok, things happen. We are in a nice hotel anyways” I guess that is something “thanks Mitch, it means a lot to me. I don’t have many true people around, thank you. I will call you later, I need to sleep” I need to have a nap.

I shot up awake, the room is dark “the fuck” looking to the side of me “Cartier” patting the bed, looking around me. Did I sleep all of that time, I mean it is night outside. Pushing he covers off of me, grabbing my phone from the side and seeing the time “wow” I was asleep all of that time, kicking my legs over and sitting on the edge of the bed. I feel a little better though, my mood has gone and that dark cloud has left me a little. Tapping Ethan’ name, let me call him back. I need too with him, he always has news and tells me everything “boss” Ethan said “what’s up? I was asleep” rubbing my eyes as I stifled out a yawn “they gone, I killed them” he said “ I don’t believe you” I said as I rubbed my chest “I knew you would say that! I will send you a picture, check your phone, I ain’t playing. Yes he was my friend but you need to understand business first, you my nigga!” he spat “Ethan, don’t ever bring your shit to my door again. This is all coming out of your money, get the drugs dealt with too. You’re better than this. Anyways, I need to eat, so take care” disconnecting the call, I am hungry as fuck. The thought of Sofia has left me has seeped into my mind, I mean what if she has done that and left me here.

I had a quick shower and put some sweatpants and a top on, I can’t stop thinking that Sofia has left me when I know she hasn’t, what the fuck is wrong with me. Making my way down the steps, I mean she doesn’t know but still. The sound of the TV can be heard in the living room, she must be here. Slowly walking into the living room, Josiah looked over at me and I just sighed out because I was being a dick to him “sorry” I said to him at the same time my burner phone started ringing, I am never going to get peace. Looking at the I.D, it would be Raphael “go on” walking out of the living room “I am in Atlanta, you meet me in the club. This is a not a no answer, you come” licking my top lip “why?” I asked him, I mean why does he need me to come “I have a present for you, so come” I guess so “you there now?” it is late now anyways “yes come, I am here with Amira. Kyle is here too” nodding my head “I cool, I will be there” disconnecting the call, I guess I need to go to the club. Walking back into the living room “Josiah, get changed. I need to go the club. You’re coming” I am goin to have some food before I go there.

I am surprised Sofia left me any food, she did anyways. I mean the Pasta has been reheated and doesn’t have the same affect when it’s freshly made but it’s fine. I can’t eat when I am listening to Omar, he wants me to listen to him doing a dealing and I am bored already. Since doing this shipment, I have become more busy “I have Cassius on the phone, if you don’t want it then we about to light this club up. My nigga, I am telling you don’t fuck with us” Omar is dumb “give him the phone” he out here speaking to these business people like this “my boss want you” hearing Omar say “your food is just getting cold” Sofia said “I know” she is tripping “Jay, my man. I am in Atlanta now, you know how these young niggas do it. It’s the same but we just need more stuff moving in your club, we supply you well Jay” Omar don’t know how to speak to people “Cassius, I prefer to deal with you. I have for years but he came here saying he will kill me and he demands, look I will deal with you. Not him. Get your monkey away from me, I am fine with that but I want a little more cut in doing it” Jay said “fine, two percent more then what you get now. Jay I like you, we have no issues. I was on the phone, Omar is new to my team but he will learn” I need to teach him so much “that is ok but between us, I am happy with that” that is something “cool, speak soon” disconnecting the call “is that all you’re going to do now?” getting up from the chair “Josiah, we need to go. We will talk when I come back, business is busy” I need to go so I can come back quickly.

Walking into the club, I am still in my sweatpants and top, I don’t care because I want to leave quickly “Cass, hey. You good?” Amira said “I am good thanks, where they sat?” she waved me over “follow me” that saved me time, walking behind Amira and into the club. The club is actually busy on a weekday and I like that, walking down the steps and onto the floor “move” hearing Josiah say behind me, looking behind me at who he saying that too. Seeing the guy behind staring at Josiah “what?” I asked him “he was going to get in your way” nodding my head “here” Amira said, looking ahead of me “Bro” dapping Kyle “my money maker, Cassius Warren. My boy” Raphael got up, he hugged me “I wouldn’t say that but you good?” I didn’t hug him back at all, I am still not feeling good from shit “me, I am fine. You? You still look not well, I see you. You have lots of fun in the club” sitting next to Kyle, he would mention it “still not well, but everything went fine. I need to go home, what is it?” I want this over with, also the smell of alcohol is getting to me.

Watching the bottle service girls come over, I want to go home and the only thing I have drank is water “I was saying to Kyle, I think you need to go back and live in Brooklyn. Oh wait, this is your brother” he has finally seen Josiah “yes he is my brother, he has nothing to do with this business. He’s here just to sit with me” Raphael smiled “your brother is a very clever man, he is dangerous. I am scared of him” Josiah didn’t say anything “why would you want me in Brooklyn?” I changed the subject “to keep the peace, you got stupid people working for you. People like you, not them. I hear the trouble, I know about it all. You need to teach real team, you see these men. Shoot to kill, you need them like that” clasping my hands together sitting forward “seeing as we are together, then you put your people on the streets. Actually I am telling you I want them on the streets” Raphael laughed “very rich man here, could be more rich than me. I got you something, I think you deserve it” Raphael placed a green box on the table, reading the top of the box “Rolex?” I read out “a gift from me to you” opening the box and seeing the Rolex watch, closing the box “Josiah, here” sliding it to him “sell it” Raphael laughed “I mean what I say Raphael I want those people on my streets. Thank you for the watch but I don’t need it, nice meeting you” getting up from the seat “Amira, all of the drinks they order. Charge me” walking off to go home “also I need to speak to you Amira” walking around the table, placing my arm on Sofia’ shoulder “Josiah needs a job so can he work here?” I asked her “I mean yes! It’s your business” shaking my head “but you look after it, it’s on you” Amira chuckled “oh wow, of course he can. I wouldn’t say no you know” I had to laugh because you never know she may have “I need you to sign some paperwork and take some cheques” I guess I might as well while I am here then I will be away soon.

Placing the cheques on the desk, who would have thought selling crack would be so giving. Like now I got money from the club, the crack money, the gun money. I am a rich a nigga “and that is all of the money from the drugs yeah?” Amira sat across from me “yes, everything is there. I paid everyone’s money too” signing off some paperwork “ok cool, I think I am going to open a second club, but in New York, be ready Amira. When I am back from Barbados then we will go further with this” standing up “Barbados? You’re actually going?” rolling my eyes “we will see after tonight, but yeah. Should be anyways” looking over at Josiah, he is holding that Rolex box with dear life “sell that ok, Raphael got that shit with my money. I make the money around here, this is my business. I just have him around, he has good security. Grab that duffle bag and put the cheques in that bag. Amira. It’s been good, Josiah will be here next week Monday. You working here, wherever Amira needs you, she is your boss and you get paid whatever she says” now he can’t cry that he hasn’t got a job because he has now, walking around the desk “see you next week Josiah, have fun in Barbados Cassius then” dragging open the office door, I think this club business has been the best thing I did. I needed Amira to have it on her name, taking it from Raphael was better too, he has connections. To see it packed is even better, looking behind me and Josiah has come out. Slowly walking down the steps, looking over at Raphael and he waved his hand at me, I just nodded my head.

“Doesn’t it make you nervous that you have all of that cash in your back seat?” Josiah asked “never nervous, I am nervous to lose my life. Money is nothing to me, Josiah I am having issues with hiding my money. These Cheques won’t go anywhere until I get to New York, I can’t do shit with them. I can’t cash these in, you know it’s an issue when I have no hiding places but I need to buy a few diamonds now” finishing my blunt as I drove ever so slowly “you got more money than you did before?” nodding my head “I have so much more money, you know when I came out of being locked up. Y’all took my money, I gave Jasmine money but yet she done nothing. I am hurt about Jasmine, I ain’t going to lie about that shit because I am” lighting my blunt “Cassius, I am always on your side, you got to understand this shit. Jasmine is a lost soul, I am too but I am trying to be good. I just want my family, and that is you. I really appreciate for what you done for me” I don’t want him to thank me, I just want him to do good “yeah” blowing the smoke out from my lips “just don’t let me down, I am sorry for what I said earlier. I have a lot on my mind, dependant on what happens. You may hear it” he probably will.

It’s late but I hope she can wake up, dropping the duffle bag on the floor of the bedroom. Looking over at the bed, she is asleep and disturbing her won’t be a good thing, and besides Ethan is calling me. Making me way out of the bedroom and answering the call “this is becoming all to common now Ethan, what is it now?” I might as well go downstairs “I think we need to celebrate” I snorted laughing “oh no, I am ok. Not again but why?” what has he done “you gave me a dead line, nigga I sold your guns, they gone. I have your money right here for you. Your guns are making their way to Cali, the buyer wanted them all. So when is the next one coming” raising an eyebrow “really?” I questioned “on god, come and get that money! I think I am going to build a home with just money” I am shocked “erm, wow” switching the kitchen light on “erm, wow. Ok. This is why I have you on my team, have you updated my team with guns? Like that was done right?” I did want that “yeah and also Raphael called me, he is having his team with us. Nigga you got an army” I am impressed “this is where I need to jump ship, I think we need to calm down. No Shipment, just need to lay low. Can’t keep doing it then we getting too big. What I need you to do, with that money I need you to get the biggest diamond you can buy, pay cash. Be careful who you deal with and then contact Mitch to put it in the box, thank you” I should celebrate but not after that night “Ethan, have a night off. Have a week off, go on holiday. It’s on me. I mean it ok” disconnecting the call, placing my phone on the kitchen counter. If Jordan didn’t get me locked up I would be this high ages ago, I think I would be more ruthless like when I had them moments where I walk into a place and be like kill me, I can’t do that anymore because I have a family to think of, my attitude has always been kill me I don’t care and it’s always been that because I hate my past or myself, not sure which one yet.

And just like that, another morning with Cartier. Another day watching him babble to the TV while he shares my fruit loops, he can eat whatever he likes “do you ever sleep? Did you even come to bed?” looking behind me “yeah, for an hour” looking back at the TV “and that is normal? You dumped that bag on the floor of the room which smell like it bathed in weed” here she comes whining “thanks Sofia, I know” I don’t know what else she wants me to do “anyways, I need to speak to you” I said placing Cartier down on the floor, he wanted to go onto the floor “about what?” I can’t see her face from here “sit down” I pointed at the couch “what is it? You’re going back to Brooklyn? Someone is going to kill you?” watching Sofia walk around the couch “I mean that is everyday with me” I laughed “you don’t want to come to Barbados, I know you don’t so just say it” Sofia said as she sat down “it’s about when I went to Brooklyn last time around and why I came back looking like shit and why I got a cut on my face, I could just not tell you but I ain’t a liar either. Shit like that eats at me you know, I spoke to Henry while I was there, I was feeling like shit shit. Yeah so anyways, after I did my thing. Kyle goes we should celebrate and we did” I can instantly see the change in Sofia’ face, it softened like she didn’t want to hear the next part “and, so you couldn’t have said or even text me saying Sofia I am going out but you didn’t, so you went out yeah?” nodding my head “I did” maybe keeping secrets is best “and I got drunk as fuck, so drunk that I thought this girl was you and she was dancing on me and Kyle and I fell back when he tried to get me to go but I was so drunk I didn’t realise, I didn’t know what I was doing” Sofia’ eyes widened “wait, just wait a moment now how did a female even get to you in the first place. Huh? How did this girl you thought was me? Fuck you, oh my god. You’re full of shit. How did this female get to where you was” being quiet was the best option, I cringed “I was drunk” I was “no, no, no. See you wasn’t fucking drunk, you knew the female were there before you got drunk, you fucking knew! She was there before you got drunk Cassius, don’t lie to me. You didn’t contact me once but you was out there having fun, not even told me and then you come back here all in a mood acting fucking weird with me. You need to fix your story because first of all you knew the girl were there, you knew it. The fact you’re telling me this, why do you need other girl when you have me” she is twisting my words “I was drunk!!” I said confused “don’t fucking lie to me!!” Sofia screamed at me “no way, I worked in those situations before. I have seen drunk men! This girl was there before you got so drunk, fuck you!” Cartier started to cry, Sofia got up from the couch. I was going to get Cartier but Sofia took him, shit was for nothing, why tell when I get this.

Sofia is just cleaning everything, she is not really speaking to me or even looked my way for a good three hours now. She is so angry at me but she isn’t listening to me “I love you, you know that Sofia” I don’t want to fall out with her “then you tell me the fucking truth did you know the female was there, did you know Cassius. You knew Cassius and I know you did, don’t lie to me. Did you know?” Sofia stared at my face “I was aware there was girls there because they was there for boys, we was all celebrating” Sofia sniggered “wow, ok. So you was aware of girls!? Now we have girls, and then you call some bitch me! Me!? Oh fuck you” Sofia slammed the bathroom door in my face.