#i passed 1/2 of the tests for my promotion (the other one is next month)

[domesticated-whores]

i just think i should get a boyfriend this pride month. i think i deserve it.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

Oh man. Oh jeez. Okay. I'm gonna get annoying about this. Just remember you invited this.

1. The Emergency Room - The West Wing

“You were supposed to leave—” he couldn’t remember when Donna had said her flight was. He remembered too much, but it was never the right things. “—already,” he finished lamely. “Well, I didn’t.” On Christmas Eve, Donna takes Josh to the emergency room. Post-Noël.

This is probably still my favorite thing I've ever written. I really feel like I achieved something with the prose here that I've been striving to do ever since. Since the whole point of this is self-promotion; this fic will probably make sense even if you haven't seen The West Wing. It takes place the same day Josh is diagnosed with PTSD, a few months after being shot. It focuses on Josh and Donna, but it's not romantic. If you ship them, it will feel like pre-relationship, if you don't it will feel like friendship. I alway catch myself thinking this fic came easily, because I pretty much tortured myself over this one but the result was so worth it. Here's a little excerpt from one of my favorite scenes:

A streetlight flickered above them. He watched through the windshield as a few wet flakes drifted down.

“We can deal with that.” Donna was solution-oriented; it was a valuable skill in an assistant. Even now, he knew, she was making plans—drafting memos, rearranging his schedule. She’d ban music from the building if she thought it would protect him. He felt a surge of appreciation—affection, even—but protection wasn’t what he needed now. “Next time it could be something else.” The implicit acknowledgment hung between them like frozen breath. There would be a next time. Donna turned up the heat. “We can deal with that too.”

It's really all about hope and getting better, but at this very early, awkward moment. It also explores, without discussing it head-on, the idea floated in the episode that Josh may have had suicidal thoughts. The conclusion this fic comes to is that he lived because he wanted to live.

2. hills like white elephants - M*A*S*H

“Margaret,” he says for a third time. “The result of this test… the one that goes in your file, the one we tell Colonel Potter… it doesn’t have to be positive. Not if you don’t want it to be.” Margaret laughs, because it’s just like him to think he can make a test say what he wants. “I think people would notice when I had a baby,” she says, trying hard to sound funny. “If you have a baby,” Hawkeye says quietly. Seriously. An AU of What's Up Doc? where Margaret is pregnant, but still doesn't want to be. Hawkeye offers her another choice.

The abortion fic! This one means a lot to me. I've had a couple people tell me they've read it more than once, and that means a lot to me in and of itself. I think we need more stories about abortion, especially ones where abortion is shown as it is: a procedure that rescues women from really difficult situations. I had a lot of fun writing this one, even if my post-Dobbs feelings were very much on my mind. I had a lot of fun writing Margaret and I feel good about how I wrote her in this one. It was nice to focus on her and her interiority. I originally envisioned the fic as a mix between Hawkeye and Margaret POV, and I almost cut the one short Hawkeye POV scene I ended up with because it was so close to being entirely Margaret. The reason I didn't is that it was very important to me to imply BJ knew what happened, but he and Hawkeye chose not to discuss it for safety. I really loved the Hawkeye-Margaret dynamic I hit in this one, too. This is my signature "if you ship them, you can read it a pre-romance, but that's not necessary" dynamic. Hawkeye's willingness to go out on a limb to help is important and I think the story is stronger for not suggesting it's motivated by romantic love. A little excerpt two little excerpts because I can't pick and they go together:

“Why are you doing this?” she blurts out.  He looks at her sideways.  “Just because we can’t do it in the hospital doesn’t mean we’re abandoning safety.”  “No,” she says, frustrated, “I mean… When I told you that I might be… you practically started knitting booties.”  He doesn’t say anything.  “You think I should have this baby,” she accuses.  “It doesn’t matter what I think,” he says softly.  “It matters to me.”  She’s even softer; she’s not sure he can hear her, but he does.  “Why?” he asks. 

and

“Maybe,” she says, but she knows she won’t. After a moment, she asks, “What would you want?” He raises his eyebrows.  “You mean besides a maternity girdle?”  She laughs, properly this time.  “I meant in Donald’s position,” she scolds.  He thinks for a moment.  “I’d want you to be happy,” he says. “That’s what I want in my position, too.”  She sighs.  “Not all men are like you.” 

I knew from the very beginning I had to get a couple Hawkeye pregnancy jokes in there. The booties line is my own little reference to the "baby booties" line in GFA. I also wrote an author's note where I wished death on a couple of Supreme Court justices.

3. the play's the thing - M*A*S*H

“Oh, yeah, in college I played Hamlet,” he brags. “No kidding.” Sidney stares at him, and he has a funny feeling he can see all of it. “I was pre-med. I was the only one who could get my hands on a skull,” he says, attempting to explain what he’s never been able to explain to himself. Hawkeye plays Hamlet and is very mentally ill about it.

This was not the first M*A*S*H fic I started, but it was the first one I finished and posted, so it's very special to me! I had a lot of fun writing this one. It kind on of turned Hamlet into my signature Shakespeare play. Hawkeye playing Hamlet being true is a near and dear headcanon to me. I knew that I wanted my Hawkeye acting story to be that he did it once and was very good at it and then never did it again. I was really worried about making actor Hawkeye different from Alan Alda and without knowing it, I succeeded at this by making Hawkeye memorize his lines without meaning to; Alan Alda was awful at learning lines (see: all the blooper reels). All the non-Hawkeye perspectives were added in fairly late in the process and I think it was absolutely worth it. Gloria also became much more significant; originally, she was just the cute girl he cited as his reason for auditioning. I really grew to love her. I loved her so much I had to give them a good ending; for all my reputation as an angstmonger, I'm a total sap. Gloria's last name, Mayer, is for my great-grandfather who worked in the ticket office on Broadway. A short excerpt:

He doesn’t say anything. He’s staring at the skull. It’ll spend one last night in the safe hiding spot he’s found for it backstage—protected from the world by the thin cloth of the bag—and in the morning he’ll slip in Searles 103B and return it. If Professor Grable has noticed it’s missing, he hasn’t said anything, and he sees him three times a week for anatomy lab. He finds himself a little sad at the thought that he won’t see it every day anymore. A man and his skull can grow very close, he thinks. 

This part is relatable to me in a way I can't quite explain. The image of college freshman Hawkeye showing up to the audition with the portion already memorized and his own skull charmed me and still does, but the skull just took on a life of its own, even for me. I didn't get too deep in the weeds researching this fic, but I did find a building at Bowdoin that was already built in the early 1940s and is currently a science building, and I used a plausible room number. I also did a quick, panicked rewrite when I remembered it wasn't co-ed yet. I just love this fic a lot.

4. Campfire - The West Wing

The fic I wrote in the woods. Huge chunks of it came to mind and I was so anxious about getting home in time to write it down, I ended up writing pieces of it in my notes app during lunch and in the car. Since I posted this, I've been really overwhelmed by the willingness of my fellow fans to put up with what I call "summer camp bullshit." It's a very different setting from the White House and it's about kids. That part of the story was intended to be shorter and darker, but these three kids basically invented themselves and said "what if Josh had friends?" and it really changed the whole tone of the story for the better. This was the second time I did this one-shot-two-narratives thing and I'd like to do it again. A small excerpt:

“You didn’t have older siblings growing up,” CJ continues. “It teaches you humility. And how to fight dirty.” His fist tightens around his beer. “I did,” he says softly. CJ looks surprised, then confused. “You did?” she asks. He nods. “But I thought… I mean, when we sent that card, after your dad— we checked with Leo, about who to address it to, and he said just your mom and you.” Josh looks at the floor. “Her name was Joanie,” he says, so he won’t have to say she died.

I've had bits jotted down for years that never saw the light of day but got at both parts of this fic. Josh talking about Joanie at summer camp and having it go badly, and CJ being the first person from the Bartlet campaign he told. I love Josh and CJ's brother-sister relationship, but I also think telling CJ first just makes the most sense because of her role in The Crackpots and These Women. This was also a September fic; one of the reasons I latched onto Josh was the experience of losing a close peer at a young age, and I certainly had feelings going into this fic. The only thing is I wish it had a better title! I couldn't think of anything better so I just went with this, but I love the titles for the other fics I've mentioned here.

5. safe travels - M*A*S*H

“Of course, this is all just speculation. I couldn’t tell you what happened in Seoul on that particular day.” BJ looks like he wants to say something, but Hawkeye beats him to it. “I never made it that far,” he admits, his voice dropping. Post-ep for 9.01 The Best of Enemies. With some encouragement, Hawkeye tells the truth about what happened after the left the 4077th.

I had a really hard time choosing a fifth fic, so I reread several, and I remembered how much I love this one. I posted the play's the thing first, but I started writing this one first, and it was almost finished for a very long time. I struggled to get it over the finish line, but I had so much fun with it! This was the first time I wrote BJ and I had a blast; since then, he's been difficult for me to write. I felt good about how I captured a bunch of different characters in this fic--BJ, Potter, Charles, and in a very brief appearance Mulcahy--and there are several pieces of dialogue I'm really, really happy with. I ended the first two sections on dialogue by chance and decided to keep it up throughout the fic. I don't think it was necessary, but it was fun to play with. When I reread it, I noticed some parallelism I don't remember consciously putting in, like both BJ and Hawkeye missing/ignoring their cues, so I'm very pleased with myself. A couple of small excerpts:

Sherman sits for a moment. It takes that long for the man’s words to sink in. “You’re serious.” “You thought I was kidding?” He’s not too old to feel the flush of shame. “I’m sorry.” “People always think I’m kidding,” Pierce shrugs it off. “Of course, most of the time, I am.”

This bit of dialogue came in early and I'm very fond of it.

“Hawk, he held a gun to your head!” BJ explodes. The thought of Hawkeye at gunpoint enrages him nearly as much as it frightens him. “What would you do if it was me?” Hawkeye asks. “If I had a chest full of shrapnel, bleeding into my brain—” “I—I’d try to make some burr holes. Get some pressure on the arteries—” “What if you weren’t a doctor?” Hawkeye presses. “What if you were… a farmer, or something, and one day the army said ‘sorry, Charlie, you’re ours now,’ and took you away from your plow and your family and your ox and gave you a gun? And the whole thing is just, completely unbearable, except for the guy standing next to you. He has has own family, and his own farm, and his own ox, or at least he did before the army took his pitchfork out of his hand and gave him a gun. And then suddenly he’s dying and all you have is this is stupid, lousy gun. What would you do?” “What if it was me? What if I had the 24 hour pass? What if someone held a gun to my head? Would you be so understanding then?”

This conversation--or rather, most of it; the Hawkeye speech came in later and was both fun and extremely hard to write--is where it all started. Hawkeye defending the man who abducted him was important to me. They formed a sort of bond by the end and I don't expect BJ or anyone else to understand that. I made a choice early on not to raise the question "what would Hawkeye do if it was BJ?" but instead "what would BJ do if it was Hawkeye?" I still alluded to the former, when Hawkeye himself wonders what he would do if it was any of his friends, but I gave more time to the latter. It just felt right; of course Hawkeye, who's been through it on the other side, has thought about it. BJ needs to be confronted with the question, and I found that more interesting. And of course it opens the door for BJ to ask how Hawkeye would feel if The Best of Enemies happened to BJ instead. I don't answer any of these questions, because that's the reader's job. If you have thoughts about these answers I'd love to hear them; I wrote this fic because I was absolutely consumed by this episode, and I still am.

[sensitive-virgo]

Open Your Dental Assisting Career: Everything You Need to Know About the National Board Certification Exam

**Title: Unlock‍ Your Dental Assisting Career: Everything You Need to Know About the National Board Certification Exam**

**Introduction:** Are you looking to kickstart or advance your career in dental assisting? One vital step in achieving this goal⁣ is obtaining your National Board Certification. This certification is ‍recognized across the United States ⁢and demonstrates your knowledge and competency ⁣in the field of dental assisting. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover everything you need to know about the National Board Certification Exam to help ​you unlock your dental assisting career.

**What is the National Board Certification Exam?** The National Board Certification‌ Exam is a standardized test administered by the Dental‌ Assisting National Board (DANB). The exam consists of multiple-choice questions that assess your understanding of key dental ⁢assisting concepts and ‍procedures. By ⁢obtaining your National Board​ Certification, you not‌ only prove your proficiency in the⁣ field‌ but also enhance your job prospects and earning potential.

**Benefits of Obtaining National ‌Board Certification:** – Increased job opportunities: Many employers prefer hiring dental assistants who are nationally certified. – Higher earning potential: Certified dental assistants often earn higher salaries than their non-certified counterparts. – Professional recognition: National Board Certification demonstrates your dedication to the field and⁤ sets you​ apart ​from other job candidates. – Career advancement: Certification can open doors to opportunities ⁢for career growth and advancement within the field.

**Practical Tips for ⁣Passing ⁤the Exam:** 1. **Study Consistently:** Set aside ​dedicated⁢ study time ‌each day to review exam materials and practice sample questions. 2. **Take Practice Exams:** Familiarize yourself with the format of the exam by taking practice⁢ tests to identify areas where you may need to focus your studying. 3. **Seek Additional Resources:** Utilize study guides, online courses, and review materials to supplement your studying and ensure you are well-prepared for the exam. 4. **Stay Calm and​ Focused:** On ​the⁢ day of the exam, remain‌ calm and focused to perform your best. Remember to read each question carefully and manage your time effectively.

**Case Study:** Sarah, a dental assistant with three years of experience, decided ⁣to pursue her National Board Certification to advance her career. She dedicated several months to studying for the‍ exam, using a combination of study guides and online resources. After passing ‌the exam, Sarah noticed ‍an immediate increase in job opportunities and received a promotion within her current workplace. She credits her​ National Board Certification for helping her achieve her career goals.

**Firsthand Experience:** “I decided to pursue my National Board Certification to take my career to the next level. The exam was challenging, but‍ with consistent studying ​and preparation,⁣ I was able to pass. The certification has ⁣opened up‍ new opportunities for me and given me confidence in my abilities ⁣as a dental assistant. I highly recommend pursuing National Board Certification to anyone looking to advance their⁤ career in the field.”

**Conclusion:** Obtaining your National Board Certification is a key step towards unlocking your dental assisting career. By demonstrating your knowledge and skills⁤ through this certification, you can enhance your job prospects, earning potential, and professional ‍recognition within the field. With dedication, preparation, and a commitment ⁤to excellence, you can successfully pass the National Board Certification Exam and take ⁢your career to new heights.

investing in your education and professional development​ through National⁣ Board Certification will pay dividends in your dental assisting career. Good luck‌ on your⁢ journey to⁤ becoming a nationally certified ​dental ​assistant!

https://dentalassistantclasses.net/open-your-dental-assisting-career-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-national-board-certification-exam/

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

[CN] Victor’s S2 Glimmer Of Dawn Date (Eng Translation)

This date features S2 Victor, but doesn’t contain any spoiler from the main story~ :>

It’s VERY IMPORTANT to read the company project prior to the date. So, please read that first before proceeding under the cut: ♡

–

[Note]: The rough translation of Victor’s karma name is “The brilliant scenery across the four seasons.” In other words, it refers to “Going through life hand-in-hand, together.” 🥺❤️

—

✧[Section 1]✧

MC: After the Glimmer Of Dawn Food Market officially opens for business tomorrow, we will be filming the process from beginning to end until the early hours of the morning.

MC: After the filming part is concluded, we just have to wait for the editing and the production to be done.

MC: Since it’s a documentary of a small scale, we are estimating that it will be able to go online in the next quarter.

I close the proposal document and breathe out softly. Just at this moment, a brightly colored booklet accidentally slips out of the proposal document, causing me to hasten to cover it up.

Feeling a line of sight being cast on the top of my head, I hurriedly look up and try to find another topic of conversation.

MC: One more thing! Have you noticed anything special when you passed by the food market area these past few days?

Victor’s gaze pauses on my hand covering the booklet, retracting it shortly afterward.

Victor: Things have been quite busy at LFG recently, so I haven’t paid attention.

Just as I’m about to open my mouth complacently, Victor continues with his words immediately afterward.

Victor: But, I don’t need to look to know what’s going on.

Victor: Are you running some kind of flashy promotional campaign again and thinking about wanting to get me to participate?

MC: ...you truly have incredible foresight with supernatural accuracy, Great CEO.

Victor: It’s so-so. I still can’t compare to a big producer who gives her heart out for LFG’s investment projects.

Victor raises his eyes as he teases me, the corners of his lips bending upward in a tiny arc.

Blinking, I remember the answer he has just given me, and ask with some uncertainty.

MC: Speaking of which, haven’t things been pretty busy at LFG lately? So you won’t be able to fulfill what you promised me for tomorrow, will you?

Seeing that I’m somewhat nervous, Victor actually loosens up.

Victor: A certain dummy’s eyes are about to widen round and round.

Victor: Even if LFG is busy, it’s not to the degree that can make me renege on my promise.

Victor: I’ll wait for you downstairs at the office half an hour early tomorrow.

He arranges everything in a few words. I set my heart at ease, nodding in agreement.

MC: Okay! I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow~

–

┈┈ ◍♡◍ ┈┈┈ ◍♡◍ ┈┈

–

✧[Section 2]✧

The next day, Victor and I arrive at the Glimmer Of Dawn Food Market ahead of time.

Surprisingly, although the door is not yet open, there is already a large crowd surrounding the periphery. I step forward towards the gathering with some uncertainty.

MC: Excuse me, what’s with the queue here?

A middle-aged uncle points to his phone interface and kindly introduces me to it.

Passer-by Uncle: Wasn’t the Glimmer Of Dawn Food Market previously closed down for the reconstruction? It’s opening for business today.

Passer-by Uncle: So long as you follow “Glimmer Of Dawn Food Market” on social media and participate in the mini-games, you can get a 20% off your grocery shopping for the entire next month!

Passer-by Uncle: Miss, you can also come and give it a try if you usually cook. It’s just a matter of distinguishing between some similar-looking vegetables anyway.

As it turns out, they’ve all actually come to queue for the new event. I can’t help but feel happy and return to Victor’s side.

MC: This is that new campaign I was telling you about!

MC: I didn’t expect this many people to show up. So it seems that it was a good idea after all, hehe.

I look at Victor in high spirits and present an invitation.

MC: The stall owners will provide specific test questions at the food market. Victor, let’s participate too, shall we?

MC: Participation is integral~

Seeing the impatient look on my face, Victor appears pensive for a moment but still nods his head in agreement.

Victor: We can participate.

Victor: But can you tell the difference between yellow chives and yellow garlic chives?

Victor suddenly tosses me a question, leaving me slightly stumped for words.

–

[OPTION A]: Of course I can. Who are you looking down on?

[OPTION B]: Aren’t they of the same kind? (Haven’t found anyone selecting this option yet)

–

⊳ [OPTION A] Of course I can. Who are you looking down on?

MC: Of course I can tell them apart!

I puff out my chest and answer rapidly.

MC: Although both are yellow vegetables, yellow chives have flat leaves, and yellow garlic chives have curly leaves.

Victor slightly arches an eyebrow.

Victor: It appears that you’ve done quite a lot of homework.

I smile gleefully, pushing him to walk forward.

MC: A scholar who’s made great progress should be regarded in a new light. And what’s more, I’ve been watching you cook for a long time now.

MC: I’ve become familiar with a lot of dishes that I overlooked before!

I speak in a manner as though making a solemn vow, but Victor tosses me a rather suspicious glance and turns to size up the crowd in the queue.

When Victor isn’t paying attention to me, I seize the moment and take the planner out of my bag and flip through the booklet that is sandwiched inside.

It has a few words printed on it– “Vegetable Encyclopedia.” This is the material I’ve secretly collected for this event over the past few days.

In the interests of fairness, I don’t know the specific questions for today’s test, only that it is related to all categories of vegetables.

I don’t want to cause some embarrassing incident in front of Victor. So, I’ve spent the past few days concentrating all my efforts on “making up for the missed lessons” on all sorts of vegetables.

When the time to register for the competition arrives, we need to enter our ID on the applet page. After entering my nickname, I curiously probe to look at Victor’s phone interface.

MC: You have to enter your ID name for this test. Victor, what do you wanna be called?

Victor shoots a glance at the name of the mini-game–– “Who Is The Genuine Vegetable Encyclopedia.”

Victor: Let’s enter the name “Vegetable Encyclopedia.”

MC: ...that’s so casual.

I give it a thought, then propose with a beaming smile on my face as I look up at him.

MC: Let me add a word for you~

Victor has always played along with me regarding trivial matters like this. But when I hand him back his phone after typing, he glances over at it, and his face immediately turns dark.

The name of the ID adorned with a tiny cartoon green oilseed rape avatar is, however–– “Vegetable Encyclopedia Jr.”.

–

[Note]: MC names Victor’s ID “蔬菜小百 (Shūcài Xiǎo Bǎikē).” A literal translation of it would be “Little Vegetable Encyclopedia.” Here, MC is specifically teasing Victor’s childhood food-market-going experience with his dad~ 💘

–

Along with the words “Competition Begins” appearing on the screen, the “tac tac” sound of typing into the phone screen can be heard from all around.

In case the elderly participants don’t know how to use a smartphone, an exclusive vegetable stand for offline quizzes has also been prepared as a precaution.

The criterion for evaluating the winner is who can distinguish the most number of vegetables within the time limit.

MC: This is garlic sprouts. These are lettuce leaves. This is...

Even though my rushed preparation in advance has been effective so far, I still have a hard time when faced with the white “garlic” before my eyes.

MC: Is this garlic? But I keep feeling that it can’t be this simple...

I look at Victor for help, and he is concise and comprehensive.

Victor: It’s lily.

With a light tap of his finger, he moves on to the next question. A round green vegetable appears on the screen.

I open my mouth immediately.

MC: This is Chinese...

Victor: Chinese cabbage of Taihu Lake Basin.

For the last question, a purple-colored lump appears on the screen.

MC: This is purple...

Victor: It’s Purple Yam.

Victor submits the answers. All correct.

And I got 70 points, which can be barely counted as a pass.

The final ranking table soon pops up on the screen, and “Vegetable Encyclopedia Jr.”. tops the list awe-inspiringly.

The middle-aged uncles and aunties participating in the competition around us begin to whisper.

Auntie: Who is this mysterious “Vegetable Encyclopedia Jr.?” Really impressive, must be a kitchen master.

Hearing their discussion, I can’t help but laugh up my sleeves, causing me to receive a not-so-gentle-or-firm tap on the head by Victor beside me. What accompanies that action is the sound of his helpless voice.

Victor: [sulking adorably]  ...this is all your doing.

At this moment, the emcee walks over and announces the result.

Emcee: Now, Mr. “Vegetable Encyclopedia Jr.” in the online quiz area and Grandma Zheng in the offline quiz area have got all the questions right.

Emcee: As a result, we currently need to go for one more play-off.

–

┈┈ ◍♡◍ ┈┈┈ ◍♡◍ ┈┈

–

✧[Section 3]✧

Emcee: Nowhere else can we tell the time faster and more accurately than at the food market, reminding us of the changing seasons.

Emcee: Therefore, the rule of the play-off is to see who can be the quickest to find ingredients in accordance with the spring, summer, autumn, and winter dishes.

Emcee: The two customers who were able to obtain the victory in Vegetable Encyclopedia must be the masters of culinary arts in the kitchen. So let’s hold our breath and see.

At the emcee’s instruction, the game has begun. Grandma Zheng at the side seems to have already chosen her target and walks directly towards the booth of the springtime bamboo shoots.

I’m left somewhat blank for a while. I originally just wanted to emphasize the participation, but I didn’t expect the competition to go into overtime.

MC: Victor, are you going to participate?

Victor picks up the basket on the side, giving me a look.

Victor: Since I’ve accepted a certain someone’s invitation, I certainly won’t leave it unfinished.

His gaze darts back and forth between the two similarly designed stalls which have eggplants on display. After receiving the stall owner’s permission, he reaches out and squeezes the eggplants from each of the stall individually.

Then calmly choosing the stall on the right, he picks a few and puts them in the basket.

Seeing the skill and ease with which Souvenir’s chef is handling everything, I also can’t help looking forward to the final result.

While Grandma Zheng is still picking and choosing the springtime bamboo shoots, Victor has already picked out all the vegetables.

The uncles and aunties among the onlookers, who initially sized up Victor with a skeptical gaze, are all overawed and begin to whisper to each other.

Uncle: This young man seems to have quite a good understanding. The leeks for early spring and the cabbage for late autumn are excellent choices.

Auntie: The old lady is being extremely punctilious again and hasn’t gone for the choice of garlic chives and Chinese cabbage.

Auntie: Anyway, I thought he must have chosen some out-of-the-ordinary vegetables when I saw that he was wearing a rather exquisite suit, but I didn’t expect him to be a man of life.

Auntie: Young people of this generation are pretty good, huh~

Amidst the praises of the uncles and aunties, I take Victor’s basket and give it a look over.

MC: Garlic chives, Chinese cabbage, lotus root, pork ribs, eggplant, acacia flowers...

MC: All these vegetables are very ubiquitous. Why is everyone praising you for your good choice?

I humbly ask for guidance. Victor tosses me a glance, his tone unhurried.

Victor: Who was the one that said just now, “A scholar who’s made great progress should be regarded in a new light?”

MC: ...let’s forget about it for now.

MC: There’s also another old saying that goes, “Be nimble and eager to learn. Don’t feel ashamed to ask questions”~

I stare at Victor with an inquisitive gaze. He doesn’t keep me on tenterhooks and speaks in a straightforward manner.

Victor: There’s originally no set of fixed interpretations for the dishes of the four seasons. The sole merit of the seasonal dishes is simply their freshness.

Victor: So as long as you choose the ingredients that taste the best when they’re in season, that will suffice.

Victor: Spring is the season for acacia flower and garlic chives, which you can use to make acacia flower and garlic chives egg pancakes.

Victor: Eggplant is ripe in summer, making it especially suitable for home-stewed eggplant.

Victor: Similarly, lotus root and pork rib soup are for autumn, and cabbage stew for winter.

Victor: Not only are these dishes simple, but they also restore the flavor of the seasonal vegetables to the maxim.

Victor unhurriedly explains the reasons behind the selection of his ingredients as though he is conducting some kind of strategic meeting in the LFG office right now.

Auntie: Little girl, you are very lucky! Your boyfriend seems to be an excellent cook.

A crimson blush finds itself prancing onto my face. Just as I’m about to say something, the bell rings out in the distance for the end of overtime.

Very soon, the results based on the consensus are out.

Deserving of her recognition as a kitchen veteran, Grandma Zheng’s vegetables are more resonating with the local taste. Therefore, she wins the first prize.

Victor humbly receives the second prize.

Holding the second prize in between my fingers–– a 20% discount coupon for the food market– I smile and take Victor’s arm, swaying it at him.

MC: Thanks to Chef Victor, we’ll have cheap and excellent quality vegetables for the next month.

MC: When we were passing by just a while ago, I saw a café right around the corner. In order to express my gratitude, I’ll treat you to a cup of seasonal coffee!

Victor gives me a sideways glance. The forenoon sunlight streams through the treetops and descends on his eyelashes, illuminating his dark eyes.

He taps me on the head with the coupon in his hand. Though a little helpless, a smile graces the corners of his lips.

Victor: [laughs, and it sounds like heaven]  Greedy cat. Lead the way.

–

┈┈ ◍♡◍ ┈┈┈ ◍♡◍ ┈┈

–

✧[Section 4]✧

Pushing open the door to the café, I instantly smell the fresh sweet aroma of roasted beans.

Next to the coffee machine, the small blackboard reads the new coffees in season. I promptly push Victor in first.

Victor: What’s going on?

I push him forward all the way over to a seat by the window. Then locking my eyes with his puzzled gaze, I open my mouth in an irrefutable tone.

MC: You’ve chosen the seasonal ingredients at the food market just earlier. Let me choose the seasonal coffee for you now.

MC: Take a look at this coffee I’ve chosen. I wonder if it conforms to CEO Victor’s preference?

Victor gives me a noncommittal answer.

Victor: You’ve been buying coffee for me for so long. Don’t you know my preferences like the back of your hand?

I smile gleefully, not denying it.

MC: But this shop has a lot of new varieties. I just took a look, and there are several kinds that we haven’t tried before.

MC: For example... coriander coffee!

Victor knits his brows together into a frown that is visible to the unaided eye, seemingly wondering who invented this flavor of the coffee.

Seeing the look on his face, I blink, place the proposal document in my arms on the table and turn to order at the front desk.

When I’m returning to my seat carrying the coffee tray, I steal a quick glance at Victor sitting in his place, looking at some kind of documents.

I can’t help but laugh in spite of myself. This man really can’t stop for even a moment. I wonder what big multi-million dollar project he’s busy with again.

Just as I’m thinking about this, he seems to have sensed something and suddenly lifts his eyes to meet my gaze.

I freeze slightly, looking at the man bathed in sunlight before my eyes.

The weather seems to have already become a little sweltering. He has slightly unbuttoned the button in front of his chest while waiting for me, revealing a small patch of skin. 

The dark shirt casts a light reflection on his glasses, displaying a competent and sophisticated impression.

This appearance of him is entirely different from when we were at the food market earlier, brimming with the vigor of immersing himself in the mundane matters of life. For a moment, I find myself being so bedazzled as I watch that my feet stagnate dead in their tracks.

However, in the next second, Victor looks at me, the corners of his lips curving themselves into a “mysterious” smile.

MC: Hmm?

Some unsettling feelings rush forth in my heart, and I suspiciously shift my line of sight towards the “document” in his hand.

The familiar brightly colored title immediately leaps into my field of view, and the word “vegetable” is faintly visible.

In his hand, what he is browsing through is actually the “Vegetable Encyclopedia” booklet I have stuffed inside my proposal document!

I hurriedly trot over and reach out to get my booklet back.

But Victor takes advantage of his long arm and raises his hand holding the booklet, as though he doesn’t want me to get it.

I pounce forward anxiously. But one inattentive motion, and I find myself being lunged into his arms.

I arduously lift my head from Victor’s chest as he holds me by the waist, a roguish, playful glint flowing in his eyes.

Victor: [sexy whispering, and I blanked out LOL]  So, it turns out that a certain someone has been sneaking around since yesterday, just cause she was scheming for today’s event?

Suddenly a little embarrassed, I quickly get up from him and sit down on the opposite side of the table, coughing in embarrassment.

MC: ...I did secretly do some homework for today’s event.

Victor: What’s the reason?

I stammer a little, trying to muddle through and stand my ground.

MC: Just wanted to set off the mood for the new opening of the food market...

But Victor obviously doesn’t believe my prevarication, and his words are concise and comprehensive.

Victor: Tell me the truth.

MC: ...all right. In fact, it’s you.

Victor seems to have long since expected this answer, yet he’s a little surprised. He lifts his eyes and stares intently at my face, hinting for me to go on.

MC: During the filming of Glimmer Of Dawn Food Market this time, something became a little clearer to me that I had always overlooked before.

MC: Cooking is a very complicated process that demands perseverance and patience.

MC: If a person doesn’t get tired of the entire process of cooking, then it also illustrates in another way that this individual is extraordinarily attentive to the details of life. 

MC: This approach itself is now a luxury for people these days.

MC: So, when I see you busying yourself in the back kitchen of Souvenir, I also wish to feel these details of life with the same heart as you do.

Hearing my words, Victor remains silent for a while. When he opens his mouth to speak again, a tide of emotions streams through his eyes.

Victor: ...dummy.

Victor: Not just cooking, but carefully savoring the food is also a method of living your life earnestly.

Victor: A guest who comes to dine at Souvenir should know this principle.

He looks up at me with a distinct smile in his eyes.

Victor: After all, no matter how great the ingredients are, someone must be there to taste them after they are transformed into food.

MC: In that case, I must work even harder in the future and eat every single food that CEO Victor cooks for me with great care.

Victor: What does working hard have to do with eating?

MC: Of course it has!

MC: The chef prepares each dish with care and attention, and it contains the entire heart of the person who cooks it.

MC: It’s not an easy feat for a “foodie” to carefully savor the mystery within it!

MC: It appears that CEO Victor still isn’t clear about this principle... how about I let you experience my craftsmanship today!

MC: You will also have an experience of how challenging it is to savor the food that is made from the heart~

Giving it some thought, I open my mouth in high spirits.

MC: After the teatime, accompany me back to the food market to buy some more ingredients?

Victor remains tranquil and calm, and simply asks a question as if to confirm.

Victor: [playful voice, brain shutdown 2.0]  Have you thought it through?

Victor: [playful voice, brain shutdown 2.5]  In my case, there are certain criteria for the so-called “big meal.” 

Victor: [playful voice, brain shutdown 3.0]  Lest the result you produce fall short of the standard, I need to supervise the process from beginning to end.

Seeing the teasing in Victor’s eyes that is clearly discernible, I know he is bantering with me.

MC: There’s no food for the person who stands on the sidelines. So since you want to supervise, you will have to be my sous chef.

MC: Scrape the fish scales, pluck the duck’s feather, and things like that~

Victor: [playful voice, brain shutdown- directly 5.0]  Are you sure you will be able to afford my remuneration?

Victor leans closer to me, his dark-colored eyes brimming with laughter.

On this sun-kissed afternoon, people on the road are returning home from grocery shopping with their kids.

I look across the table at the man who is so familiarly quibbling with me, and there seems to be a stream of honey slowly flowing through my heart.

Days like this, no matter how many of them we spend – it’s this human touch and warmth within that I fancy tirelessly.

—

📞 [Call and Moments]: Here!

—

[sabitosthirst]

Meeting him- Reader & Sabito - PT1

SFW- for starters

The story takes on our reader being invited to become a pillar. While meeting everyone, she encounters Sabito, and from that point on she’s a total goner.

Next-> Part2 of Meeting him

*artist unknown*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meeting the other pillars was a sudden thing. (y/n) had been climbing the ranks very fast over the past couple of months, and because of this, she has now been invited to a meeting with “the master” and hashira’s.

It’s actually no surprise she’s climbed this high and fast in ranks. Her breathing technique is unique to everyone; in fact, she’s the only electric-love breather. It’s a self taught technique that incorporates both lightning and love breaths in 1 stroke. In order to accomplish this, (y/n) uses 2 unique shorter swords. Though her shorter height and swords may seem as a down fall, it certainly isn’t. Her speed is remarkable, as is her flexibility. She is all this, and well composed... for the most part.

She’s near the estate, and if she’s being honest with herself, a bit anxious. (Y/n) looks at herself one last time over the dragging river. Her reflection showed a young short woman. One with short darkening brown hair, eyes a shade lighter, and freckles that danced across her nose and cheeks. She found her appearance boring. Her hair had some wave, but it stopped just pass her collarbone. The only thing she liked about her hair and eyes was that it held a pearl pin that her mother gave her, and that her eyes were shaded by long dark lashes.

She takes a deep breath, and turns away from the river. Her maroon horari that almost touches the floor followed suit. By taking a look at the sky, she confirms she’s not late. Her quick pace led her to the grounds of the training center and was soon met with a young kakushi member.

“Miss (y/n)! So good to see you made it in good health, please allow me to guide you to the master!” The masked kakushi dressed in all black was quick to show her the way. They bowed and leave before she could tell them ‘thank you.’

She knocks on the door.

“Ah, please come in (y/n)” came the most soothing voice she has ever heard. It coaxed her to reach out and slide the door.

What she saw was not what she expected. All the pillars are standing in the center of the room, as if they had just finished a meeting themselves. A man, who was clearly “Master”, stood in the front carrying a gentle smile. His face was painted with a scar that almost consumed his face, and yet, (y/n) sensed only peace radiating from the man.

Woah

“Please, enter. I apologizes for the laxness, but I’d like to introduce you to everyone, and everyone get to know you. From here on out, you shall train amongst the pillars and soon, I’d like to test and promote you to one as well.”

(Y/n) was speechless, not sure if she said “thank you, yessir” out loud or not.

“We shall be acquainted soon, however, sudden matters have come about, so I shall let you all get familiar for now. Rest today, training will begin tomorrow,” and with those last words, the master stepped out following two smaller girls in hand.

Is he blind? His children?

She was now left alone with a room full strangers who radiated power.

“Ah! (Y/n)! Come join us, master has mentioned you, but please allow us to get acquainted!” came a booming voice. Her eyes met with a man with fire in his hair, strong eyebrows, and stance that she dare not budged.

* @va12_nooo on Twitter. Posted May 19, 2021*

She walks over with a smile, “Hello everyone, it’s a pleasure to be here, my name is (y/n) (l/n), I look forward to training with you all.”

They didn’t line up, but instead came forward from the ground one by one, she bows her head and gives them the eye contact to respect them.

Some had eyes that seemed angry, some had eyes that seem kind, and others she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Though (y/n) understood the circumstances, she felt a particular set of eyes grazing her. Nonetheless, she continued to focus on the person in front of her.

After everyone introduced themselves, the last pillar finally came forward.

Numbness? Heat? Confusion? Weakness?

(Y/n) suddenly felt all this when her eyes met his.

“Hello (y/n), my name is Sabito, it certainly is a pleasure meeting, and I also look forward to training with you.” His voice was so smooth that she could drink it. He had peached color hair that begged to be stroked, as did his lips. His lavender eyes were sweet, almost intoxicating. If getting drunk off them was possible, she’d be passed out by now. Everything about this man was alluring to her. (Y/n) nearly got lost in his eyes, it was until his lavender set broke stare and started roaming her figure.

Is he checking me out? In front of me!?

(Y/n) mouth went dry, her voice suddenly couldn’t understand what her mind wanted to say. The pressure of her weight suddenly felt heavy in her knees, and her stomach felt like it was tingling.

What’s happening? Why can’t I say anything? I need to do something, I’m looking like a fool in front of this man!

“L-Likewise” was all she could muster out. She worried her words would continue to fail her if she dare say anymore. Plus, she felt her face hot. For sure she looked like a fool.

His reactive smirk nearly sent her flying, but a giggle came from the group in back of him.

“Sorry!” The sweet love hashira squeezed out, covering her smiling mess as she looked between Sabito and (y/n).

I’m done for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Try my other thirst-> Forever his- Part 1- Sabito x Y/N

[falquinold]

MY FORMAL DEMAND TO BE GIVEN THE RIGHTS TO (1) JOAQUIN TORRES.      ( AKA - The Big Canon Expansion Post™ )

steve vc: so.... you got played by the writers. you put your trust in them when you probably shouldn’t have. they lured you in with a false sense of security and promises of representation, and then ripped the carpet from below your feet. and the sad thing is... this isn’t the first time. 

hey! stupid opening aside, this is gonna be my explanation of torres’ backstory up to his presence in the falcon and the winter soldier, including the character arc that i believe he would have had if the show had been allowed to keep its original 10 episodes. this is mostly based around my own personal headcanons, so i please ask that you don’t steal or reblog this! 

anyway, putting it under a cut since it’s longer than i thought it’d be!

PART 1: PRE-IW.

like in the comics, joaquin immigrated to the united states from mexico with his mother and grandmother when he was 6 years old. they moved to sonoita, arizona, where they soon found a place to live and started to settle into their new life. while the first half of his school years consisted of him working twice as hard as any of his classmates due to the faults in the american public education system, he eventually shot up the class list, earning his spot as valedictorian by the end of his high school career. 

this caught the attention of multiple military recruiters, who came to his school with hopes of swaying as many teens (specifically teens of color) to join the forces as possible. with promises of great pay, free housing and healthcare for himself and his family, and the opportunity to use his intelligence to help ‘change the world for the better,’ the eager 17-year-old didn’t even have to think twice. that very same week that they showed up at his school, joaquin had taken the asvab test and passed with flying colors, soon putting in his application for the air force academy. 

the next 3 years went by in a flash - joaquin moved out of his home and to the academy in colorado, along with 1000 other teenagers who had found themselves in a similar position. he remained at the top 5% of his class, though all of his studies did nothing to prepare him for the day that thanos and his army broke through the atmosphere.

PART 2: IW --> ENDGAME.

in the 3 years that joaquin had been a student at the academy, the strict schedule of his day had never been broken. however, when the giant spaceship hovered over new york, thousands of students crowded around any available tv to stop and stare. he watched for what seemed like hours, frantically texting his mother to make sure that she and his grandmother were safe back at home in arizona. everyone watched with baited breath, until the students in the mess hall started disappearing. everything went in slow motion after that, with the blaring alarms ringing and the remaining teachers instructing everyone to go back to their dorms. the halls filled with dust and the yells for people that had vanished into thin air. 

calls and texts weren’t going through, and the news stations that everyone had been anchored to soon showed nothing but static. after a day, the school allowed for people to leave, and joaquin took his car and made his way back to arizona as fast as he could. he burst through the doors of his childhood home, to see dust settled on the couch in front of the tv that still blared on. he was alone. 

the few weeks remaining of the school year had been cut short, and in that time joaquin found himself spiraling. at the advice of one of his teachers, he sought out peer counseling, and eventually was able to come to terms with what had happened. at the end of that summer, the true nature of what had happened had finally dawned on the population - the avengers wouldn’t be saving them and their family members. nobody was coming back. the world continued to spin on, and with that, was the air force academy sending for the remaining students to finish out the rest of their time there. joaquin, now a senior and only 21 years old, was left with no choice but to sell his childhood home and pack as many family memories as he could into the trunk of his car, making his way back out to colorado to finish what he had started. 

the school looked like a ghost town, and the air of dread and grief hung around all year. at graduation, there were still the same 1000 seats on the football field. however, half of them remained empty - memorials for the dead scattered amongst the living. 

after graduation, joaquin started his service. he started renting a small one bedroom apartment outside of langley air force base in virginia, where he had been recently stationed. he threw himself into his work, moving up the ranks and proving himself for 4 years, up until the very moment that the dead started coming back to life. he found himself right back at his childhood home, where the new inhabitants had freaked out over the people that had revived themselves in the living room. after realizing what had happened outside, they had allowed them to stay there until joaquin could make his way down to find them. after a series of long hugs and tears shed outside the house that he grew up in, he took them back to his apartment where they tried to make sense of what had happened. 

PART 3: THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER.

six months after the dead had returned, joaquin’s family still lived in his small apartment. it was nearly impossible for anybody to find a new home when half of the world’s population needed places to stay. relieved that his survival meant the avoidance of the rapidly-filling grc camps, he and his family were more than happy to make do with what they had. he’d become the sole supporter of the household at 26 years old as his mother struggled to find somewhere to work, and he yet again poured himself into his own job, but he brought a new sense of optimism into the mix. the family that he mourned for years had returned to him. in his eyes, anything was possible. 

he soon found himself working alongside sam wilson, acting as his ‘boots on the ground’ and as his intel provider for his missions alongside the air force. after a successful rescue of one of his supervising officers from batroc and his crew, he found himself starstruck at what the man was able to accomplish completely on his own. the two quickly bonded and joaquin offered his help wherever he could give it, especially after sam seemed to take an interest in the flag smashers, a group that joaquin had been following since the creation of the grc camps. promising that he’d continue to watch the group’s movements online and notify sam if things started to escalate, joaquin found himself in switzerland just a couple days later, figuring that the best way to get information would be to get in the mix himself. that lands him with a broken orbital thanks to a man that has super strength, hinting at the possibility of the flag smashers being much more than meets the eye.

after the reveal of john walker as captain america, the air force immediately puts both him and lemar on the newly formed flag smasher case. due to his discovery of the group, joaquin is recruited onto the team as the only intel officer, helping to locate any and all information on the group and keep walker and hoskins up to date as they go and try to apprehend them. at the same time, sam is running his own mission on the side, as he’s able to use redwing to track the flag smashers to an abandoned warehouse in munich. joaquin drops everything to fly the plane and take them there. he doesn’t know that the ops department put a hidden tracker inside of redwing, but that revelation makes him start to become weary of them when sam tells him. 

after he returns to langley air force base from munich, he’s immediately spoken to by his superiors. he’s no longer under orders to help sam wilson, as that was a one-time mission to save captain vassant, and is told to instead focus his energy on what he was assigned to - assisting walker and hoskins. he’s not punished for his actions, but there’s a threat should he get caught helping someone with air force resources again. he agrees, though has no intentions on stopping his contact with sam. joaquin calls him after that, letting him know what went down and how he had to be more careful if he wanted to keep being able to help with things. he keeps his head down for a while, just doing what’s asked of him while trying to keep an ear out.

eventually, he’s called by sam and asked to find information on donya madani. he finds out that she and karli were registered at the camp in riga, lativa, and that she appeared to hold a loved position within the community. because of the rising threat of the flag smashers, the air force adds two more intel officers onto the case, which keeps joaquin from being able to delay information from getting to walker. he’s only able to buy sam and bucky a couple hours, before walker and hoskins meet them in latvia and the rest of episode 4′s events unfold. 

joaquin sees the video of the murder in the plaza along with the rest of the world, and immediately watches as the base turns to chaos with the higher ups seeking to take control of the situation. his scene with sam remains the same, and he excitedly picks up the bag with the wings and keeps it in the trunk of his car. he then goes back to dc (?), where walker’s punishments are set to be read to him. as a part of the team, he’s told to stand at the back of the room and bear witness, and he hears the accusations that he spews to the government officials. he doesn’t expect them to make sense, taking the seeds of doubt that had planted themselves after being told to work against sam and sprouting them into a genuine distaste for the air force. 

before he can leave, he’s stopped by the major from the vassant mission, a man that he’s known since his first days out of the academy. he reminds joaquin about the upcoming run of promotions, and how he’s been a first lieutenant long enough to apply for captain if he wanted to. with the reputation that he got after being the one to discover and report about the flag smashers, the major tells him that he was almost guaranteed to make the promotion if he applied for it. with walker’s voice still echoing in his head, and the wings now passed down to him, he hesitates and plays it off as being humble, telling the man that he’ll think about it. 

during the time that passes during the montage, joaquin spends his time trying to locate the flag smashers while fixing his wings in secret back at his apartment, until he finally realizes that their next target is new york. since the wings aren’t finished by that time, he offers to help as himself, pushing the fact that he told sam he was his boots on the ground, and he meant it. meeting them in new york, joaquin worked to evacuate people from the buildings, and was the person to hack into the flag smasher app to apprehend them. he’s also there with the big circle of people as sam has his speech to the government official, a giant smile on his face. it’s in that moment that he makes his decision regarding his promotion - sam was able to help countless more people in just a week (?) than joaquin had in the four years after his graduation from the air force academy. he doesn’t put in an application for promotion, and makes a mental note to leave the air force in the next couple months, once his 5 years of contractual post-grad service are completed. 

a few days later, joaquin video calls sam to show him the fixed wings, extremely proud of himself. sam then starts training him to take over the falcon mantle, and joaquin starts getting accustomed to the superhero world that he’s found himself in and everything that it entails. 

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

May you give some tips on how to write about mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth century ?? Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks if there is an answer or not xd 😅 greetings and take good care :) :D

Okay, so I only really know about AMERICAN mid-nineteenth and early 20th century history, so I hope that’s what you mean!!

How to Write About The Mid-Nineteenth/ Early Twentieth Century America

This post will encompass 1850-1920 in America only. A lot of things happened during this period, so I’m going to try to outline it as best I can! This post is gonna be a long one, so I put all of the specifics under the cut:

Overview:

The Industrial Revolution hits. We begin this era with horse-drawn carriages and end with planes, tanks, and cars.

Expansion west, “Manifest Destiny”

The Civil War ends slavery in the United States

The Gilded Age marks an era of unbridled capitalism and robber barons, while the Progressive Era following it marks an age of activism and human rights.

13th Amendment in 1865 abolishes slavery, 14th and 15th Amendments in 1868 and 1870 gives Black people the right to vote, 19th Amendment in 1920 gives women the right to vote.

World War I marks a major advancement in technology and global affairs, sets the stage for the second world war that will come later.

The Roaring 20s provides a façade of success to precede the gigantic stock market crash of 1929.

I’ve copied and pasted a lot of this information directly from America’s Best History and added tidbits of my own as well!

1. The 1850s

Presidents:

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Important Events:

- Peak point of tension between North and the South, primarily over which states will be admitted as free states or slave states.

- The Compromise of 1850 admits California as the 31st state, without slavery, and adds Utah and New Mexico as territories with no decision on the topic. The Fugitive Slave Law is strengthened under the Compromise, which also ended the slave trade in the District of Columbia.

-1854 - The Republican Party is founded, in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. (Note: This form of “Republican” is essentially modern-day Democrats. The parties switched platforms later.)

-The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allows the issue of slavery to be decided by a vote of settlers. This established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and would breed much of the rancor that culminated in the actions of the next years of "Bleeding Kansas."

2. The 1860s

Presidents:

James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

Important Events:

-1860- The Pony Express begins. Overland mail between Sacramento, California and St. Joseph's, Missouri is carried over the Oregon Trail for eighteen months by this series of riders on horseback, then rendered obsolete when the transcontinental telegraph is completed.

- 1860 - South Carolina is the first southern state to secede from the Union in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President.

-The Homestead Act of 1862 is approved, granting family farms of 160 acres to settlers, many of which were carved from Indian territories. This promotes expansion West, and eventually led to the establishment of the state university systems.

- The Civil War 1861 – 1865

Overview: Union won due to their advanced railroad system and industrialization that provided them with clothing and other supplies. South is ransacked by General Sherman, brings about era of Reconstruction. Slavery is abolished, but former slaves are not immediately emancipated.

People to know:

Abe Lincoln (President of the Union)

Ulysses S. Grant (Union General, future President)

William Sherman (Union General)

Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy)

Robert E. Lee (Confederate General)

Stonewall Jackson (Confederate General)

 Important Events/Battles:

Fort Sumter 1861- A fort in Charleston, South Carolina harbor is bombarded by Confederate forces after the U.S. Army commander failed to evacuate, thus triggering a declaration of war.

Battle of Bull Run 1861- First official battle in Manassas, Virginia. Confederates emerge victorious as picnicking (yes, you read that right. People were picnicking and using the battle as entertainment) onlookers watch on in horror; realization that this war won’t be resolved quickly or easily.

Emancipation Proclamation is issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862 stated that all slaves in places of rebellion against the Federal Government would be free.

Battle of Shiloh 1862- Victory of Union over Confederacy. Led by Ulysses S. Grant.

Battle of Antietam 1862- Bloodiest day of the war in Sharpsburg, Maryland. 

Gettysburg 1863- Considered the turning point of the war. The furthest Southern incursion into the North, where the Union beats back the attacking Confederate troops. A few weeks after the war, Lincoln issues the Gettysburg Address (“Four score and seven years ago…”).

The South Surrenders on April 2nd, 1865

- April 9th, 1865 - Abe Lincoln is assassinated at Ford Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson takes his place, and he does not keep up Reconstruction and withdrew all troops from the South so they could be left to their own devices. This is said to be the reason for segregation.

- 1866 -The KKK is formed  to prevent Black people from voting. Things such as poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests are implemented by states to also discourage Black people from voting as well.

-  1867 -Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million dollars, approximately two cents per acre, by signing the Treaty of Cession of Russian America to the United States.

- 1869- The final golden spike of the transcontinental railroad is driven into the ground, marking the junction of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads. This act, as much as any other, would signal the marked increase in the settlement of the west.

3. The 1870s

Presidents:

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

Important Events:          

-The Gilded Age begins. Characterized by gross materialism and blatant political corruption that gave rise to important novels of social and political criticism.

-1870 - Standard Oil Company is incorporated by John D. Rockefeller.

-1870 - The first African-American to be sworn into office in the United States Congress, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi takes his place in the United States Senate.

- 1870 - The 15th Amendment is ratified. It gave the right to vote to Black Americans. Race would officially no longer be a ban to voting rights, though it continues to be an issue in Southern states.

- 1871 - The great fire of Chicago starts. The fire burned 1.2 million acres of land, destroyed 17,450 buildings, killed 250 people, and left 90,000 homeless.

- 1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn occurs when Lt. Colonel George Custer and his 7th U.S. Cavalry engage the Oceti Sakowin and Cheyenne Indians on the bluffs above the Little Big Horn River. All 264 members of the 7th Cavalry and Custer perish in the battle, the most complete rout in American military history.

- 1877 - Crazy Horse surrenders to the United States Army in Nebraska. His people had been weakened by cold and hunger.

- 1878 - The first commercial telephone exchange is opened.

- 1878 - Thomas Edison patents the cylinder phonograph and the Edison Electric Company begins operation

4. The 1880s

Presidents:

James A. Garfield (1881-1881)

Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

Important Events:

- 1881 - Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

-1882 - The Standard Oil Company trust of John D. Rockefeller is formed when Rockefeller places all of his oil holdings inside it.

- 1883 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is passed by Congress, overhauling federal civil service and establishing the U.S. Civil Service agency.

- 1884 - The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in the U.S.A. call for an eight-hour workday.

- 1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives for the first time in New York harbor.

- 1886 - The Haymarket riot and bombing occurs in Chicago three days after the start of a general strike in the United States that pushed for an eight-hour workday.

- 1887 - Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate and control the monopolies of the railroad industry.

- 1888 - The prototype for the commercial phonograph is completed by Thomas A. Edison

- 1888 - The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.

5. The 1890s

Presidents:

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Important Events:

- The rise of Imperialism.

- 1890 - The Battle of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, occurs in the last major battle between United States troops and Native Americans. Hundreds of native men, women, and children are slain.

- 1892 - Ellis Island, in New York Harbor, opens as the main east coast immigration center, and would remain the initial debarkation point for European immigrants into the United States until its closure in 1954. More than 12 million immigrants would be processed on the island during those years.

- 1892- Nativist sentiments rise with the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans flooding into the country. Italian, Polish, Russian, and other immigrants face significant discrimination.

- 1895 - The first professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

- 1896 - Plessy vs Ferguson decision by the Supreme Court states that racial segregation is approved under the "separate but equal" doctrine. This paves the way for Jim Crow laws in the South.

- 1896 - The first modern Olympic Games is held in Athens, Greece.

- 1896 - Gold is discovered near Dawson, Canada, setting up the Klondike Gold Rush

- 1897 - The era of the subway begins when the first underground public transportation in North America opens in Boston, Massachusetts. 

-1897- The Progressive Era begins

- 1898 – The Spanish- American War begins. It lasts one year and ends in U.S. victory. It was triggered by United States battleship Maine exploding and sinking under unknown causes in Havana Harbor, Cuba, killing two hundred and sixteen seamen. 

- 1898 - The United States annexes the independent republic of Hawaii.

- 1899 - The Open Door Policy with China is declared by Secretary of State John Hay

9. The 1900s

Presidents:

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

Important Events:

- 1901 - The American League of Major League Baseball is formed.

- 1902 - The first movie theatre in the United States opens in Los Angeles, California.

- 1902 - Cuba gains independence from the United States.

- 1903 - Inventors Wilbur and Orville Wright succeed in the first sustained and manned plane flight.

- 1906 - The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act is passed due to the efforts of “muckrakers” that worked to expose corruption. “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, which described the horrible conditions in the meatpacking industry, helped sponsor outrage that would get these laws passed.

- 1908 - The first passenger flight on a plane occurs when Wilbur Wright escorts Charles W. Furnas in the Wright Flyer III at Huffman Prairie Flying Field in Dayton, Ohio.

- 1908- The first production Model T is built at the Ford plant in Detroit, Michigan.

10. The 1910s

Presidents:

William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

Important Events:

- 1911 - Standard Oil is declared a monopoly by the United States Supreme Court and ordered dissolved under the powers of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

- 1913 - The first moving assembly line is introduced and adopted for mass production by the Ford Motor Company, allowing automobile construction time to decrease by almost 10 hours per vehicle.

- 1915 – The first telephone conversation is conducted by Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson between New York and San Francisco.

- 1915 - The British ship Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat submarine, causing 128 American passengers to be lost. Germany, although it warned of the pending crises to passengers, issued an apology to the United States and promised payments.

- 1918 - The influenza epidemic Spanish flu spans the globe, killing over twenty million worldwide and five hundred and forty-eight thousand people in the United States.

- World War I 1917-1918

Overview: After three years spent remaining neutral, the United States joins World War I. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material, and money, and its joining into the war helped to turn the tides against the Germans and Ottomans.

People to know:

Woodrow Wilson (President)

John J. Pershing (General)

Important Events/Battles

The United States declares war on Germany in 1917 after the Zimmermann Telegram is given to the United States by Britain on February 24, showing the offer by Germany to give Mexico back the southwest United States if they would declare war on the United States.

June 26th, 1917 - The first troops from the United States arrive in Europe to assist European allies in World War I. Troops engaged in World War I would include conscript soldiers authorized by the passage of the Conscription Act, the Selective Services Act, on May 18, 1917. General John Pershing would be placed in command of the American Expeditionary Forces during the campaign.

1918 - The United States military forces has over one million troops in Europe fighting in World War I.

May 28, 1918- United States forces are victorious in the Battle of Cantigny, the first independent American operation.

September 26, 1918- Allied forces begin the attack at Meusse-Argonne, the final offensive of the war.

November 11, 1918 - Hostilities in World War I begin to end with the Austria-Hungary alliance for armistice with the allies on November 3. Armistice Day with Germany occurs when the Allies and the German nation sign an agreement in Compiegne, France. Woodrow Wilson would become the first U.S. President to travel to Europe while in office when he sails to attend the Paris Peace Conference on December 4.

1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I.

- 1919- The 18th Amendment is passed, bringing about the era of Prohibition

11. The 1920s

Presidents:

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

Important events:

-1920 - The League of Nations is established with the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, ending the hostilities of the first World War. In a final vote, the United States Senate again votes against joining the League.

- 1920 - Women are given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution grants universal women's suffrage.

- 1920 - The National Football League is formed

- 1921 - A national quota system on the number of incoming immigrants is established by the United States Congress in the Emergency Quota Act, curbing legal immigration.

- 1923 - The first sound on film motion picture Phonofilm is shown in the Rivoli Theatre in New York City by Lee de Forest.

- 1924 - The Indian Citizenship Act granted all Native Americans citizenship that had been born within the territory of the United States.

- 1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross is inaugurated as the first woman governor of the United States in Wyoming.

- 1925 - Radiovision is born. The precursor to television is demonstrated by Charles Francis Jenkins when he transmits a 10 minute film of synchronized pictures and sound for five miles from Anacostia to Washington, D.C. to representatives of the United States government.

- 1928 - The first appearance of Mickey and Minnie Mouse on film occurs with the release of the animated short film, Plane Crazy.

- 1928 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.

- 1929 - Postwar prosperity ends in the 1929 Stock Market crash. The plummeting stock prices led to losses between 1929 and 1931 of an estimated $50 billion and started the worst American depression in the nation's history.

Hope this helped, and happy writing!!!!!

[100daydresschallenge]

I’ve done it. I’ve bought The Dress.

Is it expensive? Not particularly. Though it is above my usual cheap-o budget for clothes.

Is it unusual? Again, no. It’s very, very neutral. This is part of its charm.

Does it have pockets? Of course it does. How else will I carry my snacks?

The Dress a big deal to me because it has been hanging up in the closet in my head for nearly a year. I read about the 100 Day Dress Challenge from Wool& in a newspaper back in the spring. The challenge is to wear one item of clothing for 100 days in a row. If you complete this with one of Wool&’s dresses (and, importantly, prove it) they’ll give you €100 off your next dress!

The writer detailed the challenges of wearing the same item every day for over three months, as well as the benefits and life lessons it offered. I got to a bit about doing less laundry and I my interest was piqued. I read on to a paragraph about the ease of getting ready and I was intrigued. I got to the website and saw a dress with pockets: I was sold.

But hold up! I’m trying to buy less stuff. To own less stuff. To throw away less stuff. I stopped myself from making a rash purchase - my thumb hovering over the button for Apple Pay - and considered my options:

1. I could buy the dress. If I buy the dress I ought to attempt the challenge. After all, it was the challenge that interested me, not the dress itself.

2. I could attempt a similar challenge with something I already own. Thus, save myself €140 and actually buy and own less stuff.

3. I could let the familiar feeling of “I need that” pass and accept that I will survive without a dress.

For some months I attempted option 3. Occasionally I considered option 2. But I couldn’t get the 100 Day Dress Challenge out of my head. I bored my sister with it endlessly, frequently spamming her with links to the online shop to consider the dresses in different colours, cuts and lengths.

We held off. She, virtuously, finds most of her clothes in charity shops. She can dress for a wedding for less than a tenner and look amazing. I, disgustingly, binge-buy cheap and nasty polyester clothes that fit into my tiny budget. How many items can I get for my money? Don’t think about who made it. Don’t think about how long it will last. Don’t think about micro plastics. For us both, €140 is a lot to spend on a dress.

I found my thoughts coming back to The Dress. Every time I got ready for an event, or a meeting, or even just to pop out for errands, the dress popped into my head. As I piled clothes on the bed, the chair, the floor, hating my body and hating the clothes I tried to squeeze it into, The Dress would beckon to me. The piles of rejected outfits grew like stalagmites on my bedroom floor. How easy it would be, I thought, to have just one item.

The other benefits of The Dress would pop into my mind at any opportunity. When I shivered in the fenland wind I wished for temperature regulating merino wool. When I undertook the “sniff test” on a top from the day before (don’t act like you’ve never done that) I ruminated on odour resistant merino wool. When I stared tearfully at my favourite dungaree dress, neglected for years on account of being several sizes too small for my ample hips and bosom, I thought wistfully of having a signature costume. Nobody asks what Marge Simpson is going to wear. We never see Velma asking Shaggy for his honest opinion on her outfit. Superman does, admittedly, get changed. But he never has to think about what he’s putting on. The outfits aren’t worn by the characters. The outfits are part of the characters. Does being a three dimensional human body really prevent me from having my own signature outfit?

Finally, the justification to make the purchase came. A potential promotion came up and I was asked to apply. The fear of job interviews gripped me with its icy claws, and I instantly made the decision not to submit an application. I have a job I enjoy. I know this is not common and I don’t want to risk leaving it for something I might not like. I tried to quiet the conflict in my head- I was turning down an opportunity for more money, for a role that relies on expertise I already have. It could be an easy win. If I let myself down this time, and next time, and again in the future, all because job interviews make me anxious, where will I be in 20 years?

I employed a tactic I’ve used for many unpleasant tasks in the past. Do the thing. Reward yourself. The reward isn’t based on the final outcome. It doesn’t matter if I don’t get the job. What matters is that I put on my big girl knickers and did the thing that scared me.

I ordered the dress. I picked one that I’ve come back to in the online store, again and again. It comes in several colours, and I picked a muted rusty red colour that I know suits my pale skin tone. I’m starting my challenge near the beginning of the year, but in 100 days the Northern Hemisphere will be firmly in warm embrace of spring. As such, I chose a dress that has short sleeves so I’ll be ready for the t-shirt dress and sneakers days that I am already craving.

Surprisingly, I’m not feeling any kind of apprehension about wearing the same thing for 100 days in a row. I use a wardrobe app, Style Book, to keep a record of outfits I actually like. This does sometimes help me with the crying-into-the-wardrobe-hating-my-body habit, but it is a bit fiddly to use and still requires you to have clothes that you like that work together as outfits.

In preparation for my challenge I took some time to play with the app and put together some ideas for outfits using The Dress and items I already own. I got into a roll and it became very easy to churn out 25 different outfits in the time it took to drink a cup of tea. I’m increasingly confident that I’ll not be bored of wearing one main item. I’ve also browsed through some other 100 Day Dress Challenge accounts online for ideas- I learned that The Dress can easily become a T-shirt for days when jeans are required, that layering with tops underneath doesn’t make you look like a Disney channel mum if you do it right, and that a casual beach dress becomes smart evening wear with a necklace and some heels. I’m itching to get some of my old, beloved but neglected accessories out and make the most of them.

Within a few hours of placing my order I received an email saying my dress is on the way. With the glee of someone announcing a much wanted pregnancy I told my partner that I’ve ordered The Dress. “Cool,” he said.

So here we are. I will record my 100 days in this blog. I will be sure to include on which day he notices that I’ve been wearing the same dress every day. Place your bets!

Wool& US website: https://journal.wooland.com/post/2020/5/1/100-day-dress-challenge

Wool& EU website: https://eu.wooland.com/collections/shop-all-dresses

[fanmoose12]

Partners

Characters: Petra Ral, Levi, Hanji Zoe x Levi Genre: Action / Mystery / Romance Rating: T

Detective!au

Summary: when Petra was promoted to a detective and partnered up with legendary Levi Ackerman, she felt like the happiest person in the world.

But, as she soon found out, detective Ackerman she used to admire so much was actually a far cry from the ideal policeman Petra thought he was. He was rude, harsh and easily annoyed. And, in addition, he still hadn’t moved on from the death of his previous partner - detective Hange Zoe.

Chapter 3/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

“Fuck,” Levi groaned, tightly gripping the steering wheel and looking up at the sky through the windshield. “The sun is almost up. We’ll need to be back at the precinct soon,” he glanced at Petra. “Do you still want me to take you home? Or we can have breakfast. There is a nice café nearby.”

Petra smiled. “Breakfast sounds good. Right now I need coffee more than a shower.”

Levi nodded, and without another word, speeded up the car.

A few minutes later they arrived to a small, cozy-looking café near the side of the road. It was painted in pretty pastel colors. Petra looked around in surprise, she would never guess that Levi preferred such home-looking establishments. It looked too personal for the grumpy detective.

As soon as they entered, a middle-aged woman with a warm, motherly smile came out to greet them. Her eyes widened, as they landed on Levi.

“Detective Ackerman!” she clasped her hands, looking utterly delighted. “It was so long since I’ve seen you! When was the last time that you and your partner have graced my café with your presence?”

“Two years ago,” Levi mumbled, avoiding the woman���s gaze. “And I don’t want to talk about it. I just want my damn breakfast.”

“Oh,” the woman’s face fell, as she looked at Petra. “I… I see. Alright, hon, do you want the usual tea and omelet?”

“If you would be so kind,” Levi agreed, taking a seat at the table near the window.

“Sure,” the woman gave him a smile. It was a sad and sympathetic one. “And you, my dear?” she turned to Petra. “What do you want?”

“An espresso and a toast would be great.”

“I’ll bring your order in a moment,” the woman stared at Levi for another second, and then turned around, disappearing into the kitchen.

“So you came here often?” Petra asked softly, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

“I said that I don’t want to talk about it,” Levi turned his glare on her. However, before Petra opened her mouth to apologize, he sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Let's just... Let's just talk about the case, alright?" he asked, looking up at her beneath his fridge.

"S-sure," Petra nodded, all too eager to change the topic of conversation.

In that moment, their orders were brought and put on a table in front of them. Petra smiled gratefully and Levi gave the woman a curt nod, taking a sip from his cup.

"What we know is this," Levi began, taking out a small notebook out of the inner pocket of his deep blue jacket. "A woman was killed in her apartment. Her throat was slashed."

"The apartment was very clean," Petra whispered absentmindedly.

"Huh? What did you say?"

She fidgeted in her seat, feeling shy and unsure. What if she says the wrong say? What if she makes an idiot out of herself? But when she gathered enough courage to glance up at Levi, he was looking at her with interest. Petra straightened out. "Her throat was slashed," she repeated his words. "But there was no blood. The killer obviously tried to make it look as clean as possible."

"Hm, maybe, you're right, good job," he said. Just a few words, but it made Petra's heart beat so much faster. "Also, no signs of forced entry or fighting were found."

"Maybe, she knew the killer?" Petra offered.

"Maybe," Levi agreed. "That bastard always knew how to be charming."

"Are... Are you talking about Zeke Yeager?"

Levi gave her a sharp look. "It's not nice to eavesdrop. Especially, if you want to build a trusting relationship with your partner."

Petra's cheeks flamed up. "I'm sorry! I didn't really mean to, but—"

"But you were curious," Levi finished for her. "Well, a good detective should always be curious. So I guess the least I can do is to satisfy your curiosity."

"You don't have to!"

"No, I do," Levi protested softly, but firmly. "I've been a real jerk to you. And, while I'm really not a nice guy, you didn't deserve all that shit I've dumped on you. If we're going to be partners, we need to learn to trust each other. And trust is impossible, when there are secrets. But before I tell you anything, I have one question: do you know Djel Sannes?”

“Who?” Petra’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Deputy police chief?” Levi’s eyes narrowed, as he carefully surveyed Petra’s face. “You don’t know him?”

“Er, sorry,” Petra chuckled, taking a sip of her espresso. “I’ve been a police technician for too long. I’m not really knowledgeable about all the higher-ups.”

“Hm,” Levi’s gaze lingered on her for another second. “It seems like you’re telling the truth. So it’s time for me to do the same," he turned his head to the side, staring at the window. He looked as calm as ever, but his hand was holding the cup so tightly, Petra worried he might break it. "As you probably know, Zeke was a notorious criminal. He was real bastard, who was not afraid to dirty his hands. Drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder - he was ready to do anything. Hange and I have been tracking him for months. Finally, we’ve managed to locate his hideout. As soon as we did, we started planning an ambush. Two weeks later and we were ready to capture Zeke. We arrived at the location, the building was huge, so we split up,” Levi let out a barely audible sigh. “Several minutes later, the explosion rang. It was a real fucking mess - the whole right wing of the hideout collapsed, there was fire and smoke all around. I tried to get there as soon as I could, but, no matter how hard I looked and how many broken slabs I’ve overturned, I couldn’t find even the sign of their bodies under all that mess. Only a few days later, forensics team found bits of Hange and Zeke’s DNA. But it was all they managed to retract.”

Despite, the horrible events he recounted, Levi’s voice was devoid of all emotions. His face was just as expressionless. Petra wasn’t sure if she should be amazed by his self-control or worried for his mental state. She decided to do neither, and instead followed Levi’s example and acted like as professional.

“You think Zeke had survived the explosion?”

“Erwin says it’s impossible,” Levi replied, expertly avoiding giving her a straight answer. “Says that DNA, found on the scene, had confirmed their deaths.”

Their? So Levi didn’t believe in Hange Zoe’s death as well? Petra remembered a desk in their office that looked as though it was waiting for its owner, even after two years. Was he really still expecting her to come back? Petra shook her head, she was losing focus again.

“You don’t believe the forensics team?”

“Zeke knew that we were coming for him. He planted the explosives beforehand,” he said. “Someone tipped him off, I’m sure of it.”

Petra’s eyes widened. Levi couldn’t be serious, right? “You think someone in police was involved with him?”

“I don’t have evidence,” Levi lifted the cup to his lips. “Yet,” he added with an intense look in his eyes. He shook his head and it was gone. “Now let’s deal with our breakfast, before it gets cold.”

***

As they were finishing their meals, Levi’s phone started ringing. He took it out and glanced at the screen. Sighing, he accepted the call.

“Yes, Erwin?” he asked, taking the last sip of his tea. For a few seconds, he listened to whatever was said on the other line. Petra watched him with interest. “Alright, we’ll be there soon.”

“Let’s go,” he told Petra after putting the phone back inside his pocket and paying for their breakfast. “They found a witness.”

***

Levi and Petra were making their way through the precinct, heading towards the interrogation room. As they were passing through a coffee machine, Moblit caught up with them.

"Detectives," he greeted them with a smile. "The autopsy report is finished," he handed the file to Levi, who accepted it with a murmured 'thanks'.

"Did you find something?" Petra asked, cocking her head.

"Yes," Moblit nodded with a grim face, all signs of the warmth gone from his expression. "We found traces of drug in victim's blood. Strong sedative, given to her three or four hours before her death."

"Shit," Levi whispered with feeling.

“And that’s not all,” Moblit tugged at his collar, looking tense and uncomfortable. Desperately trying to avoid looking Levi in the eyes.

“What else did you find?” Levi asked in a strangled voice. He probably already guessed what Moblit was going to say next, because he lowered his head. The black locks obscured his face completely.

“We ran a few tests on… the glasses that we found,” Moblit paused, clearing his throat. “We can’t really tell how old the blood on the lenses is, but… It definitely belongs to detective Hange.”

“Shit,” Levi clutched the hands on his side into fists. Petra wished she could look at his face, but she knew she wouldn’t like what she’d see there.

“Well, since I’ve delivered you the report,” Moblit chuckled, the sound fake and forced. “I… I’ll be going!”

"Wait," Levi grabbed him by the sleeve. "About yesterday, I sh—"

"It's fine, Detective," a sweet smile was back on Moblit's face. "It was a rather stressful situation for you. I understand it and harbor no ill feelings. Oh, and by the way, stop by our department, when you won't be so busy. I've got something that probably should belong to you."

"I..." Levi stared at him for a moment, his grey eyes reflecting a storm of unnamed feelings. But once again, he blinked and it was gone. "Thank you, Moblit," he said sincerely. "I'll come as soon as possible."

"Remember, Detective, our department has the best collection of tea," Moblit gently teased. "And Petra," he turned his hazel eyes at her. "Nifa brought delicious cupcakes today."

Petra chuckled, a warm feeling spreading through her. Moblit was always so nice, it was impossible not to like him. "I'll try to visit you as well."

"We'll be waiting then!" Moblit waved his hand and turned around, disappearing into the crowd of other policemen.

"You're getting friendly with Moblit," Levi commented, as they continued to walk.

Petra glanced at him. Levi's face was always so expressionless, his voice so neutral, it was hard to understand what he meant by his words. Was he disapproving? Or was it a simple observation?

"Well, he seems like a nice guy, so..." she trailed off, smiling impishly at Levi.

"He is a good man," Levi agreed. "Most members of forensic team are," he added. "They are trustworthy and honest. If you have any trouble, and you can't reach me or Erwin, they're your safest bet."

Levi was silent after that, but his words rang loudly in Petra's mind. It was the second time this day that Levi hinted about his lack of trust in police. Could it be that he was right? That there were traitors among their ranks who worked with the criminals? Or was it just a speculation of a man, who didn't know who to blame for the death of one woman? Who still wasn't able to accept that she was gone?

"Are you ready?" Levi asked, breaking Petra out of her thoughts. He stopped in front of big, metal doors.

Right, the interrogation room. They came here to question a witness.

"Sure," she smiled, hoping that her voice didn't quiver too much. "Shall we?"

Levi nodded, opening the door and letting Petra go in first.

Inside the small, dark room stood only a table and a couple of chairs. On one side of the table sat a young man, probably in his mid-twenties. He had light brown hair and a long face with narrow dark eyes. Petra and Levi sat down on the opposite side.

"I'm detective Ackerman and this is detective Ral," Levi said, before Petra could open her mouth. She couldn't help but feel disappointed that she wasn't the one to introduce them. She had rehearsed that line for so long...

"…Your name and occupation,” Levi asked the witness. He took out a pen and opened his notebook. Then he lifted his eyes, focusing his gaze on the man in front of him.

"Jean Kirschtein," his overly straight posture made it obvious that he was trying very hard not to squirm under Levi’s intense stare. Petra would have laughed, if she didn’t feel the same every time Levi turned his piercing eyes on her. “I’m a concierge at the apartment complex, where… that woman was killed.”

“That woman?” Levi raised an eyebrow. “So you didn’t know her?”

“I mean…” Jean ruffled his hair. “We’ve never really talked? She waved at me sometimes as she was passing by and sometimes she came up to my desk, so she could take her letters or deliveries, but that’s about it.”

“How long have you been working as a concierge there?”

“Um,” Jean raised his head, looking at the ceiling with pursed lips. “It’s already been three years, I think? By the way,” he leaned in, looking at Levi intently. “You look familiar. Did you use to live in that apartment complex, detective?”

“No,” Levi answered immediately. Maybe, it was Petra’s imagination, but he sounded rougher than usual. She looked at his face closely.

“Are you sure?” Jean pressed. “I’ve definitely seen you before.”

“I’m on a TV a lot,” Levi glared at Jean, daring him to say something else.

Levi sounded annoyed, and even more than that, disturbed? Was Jean really mistaken, or did Levi really live there? If so, then why deny it, and so fiercely? Maybe, he was not living there alone, maybe he shared the apartment with—

Oh. That made sense.

“When we got to the scene of the crime yesterday,” Petra softly began, diverting Jean’s attention from Levi. “Your post was empty. Why?”

“Ah, yes,” Jean scratched his neck, a slight blush suddenly appearing on his cheeks. “I, um, I had a date yesterday, so I left earlier.”

“How much earlier? When does your shift end?”

The blush on Jean’s cheek became more prominent. “At six in the morning. But I’ve left… a little after eleven.”  

“You just left?” Levi scoffed, siting back in a chair. “Why am I not surprised?”

“It was an important date!” Jean threw his hands in the air. “And that jerk Eren refused to cover for me, because I was going out with his sister!”

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "I didn't come here to ask about your personal life. Did you see the killer or not?"

"Of course, I've seen him! Why else would I come here?"

"Alright," Petra said placatingly. "Did you see him enter and exit?"

"Eh, no," Jean scratched his chin. "Only enter."

"And you left the post at eleven?" Levi opened the autopsy report. "It says that time of death is somewhere between ten pm and midnight. But if you didn't see him leave..."

"Then the death happened after eleven," Petra concluded.

"Yes," Levi nodded. "That or he left some other way. Is there any security camera in the hallway?"

“There is, but they’ve been malfunctioning for more than a month, so…”

Levi cursed.

"Have you seen that man before?" Petra asked, remembering that the victim probably knew the killer.

Jean shook his head. "No, I haven't. I have a good face memory," his eyes darted to Levi for a second. "But I definitely haven't seen that man before. That's why he attracted my attention in the first place, actually. I mean, I wouldn't have called that woman completely antisocial, she lived with a roommate after all, but... She had never brought someone home, that's why I got so intrigued."

“When did they enter the building?”

“Just a little after seven,” Jean answered.

Levi made a small note.

"And did you get a good look on his face?"

"Mm, yes," Jean nodded. Petra opened her notebook and prepared to write down every detail. However, Levi didn't do the same and just continued to watch Jean with bored expression, as though he already knew what he was going to say. "He was tall, probably close to my height. Not exactly muscular, but his shoulders were wide. He wore dark jeans and light, long coat. He had slight stubble on his face and his hair was dark and curly."

"Bullshit," Levi said quietly, but fiercely.

"What?" Petra and Jean asked in unison, both turning to stare at Levi in confusion.

"You're lying," Levi calmly elaborated.

"No, I'm not," Jean protested.

"Yes, you're."

"I'm not!" Jean jumped from his seat. "I know what I've seen!"

"What you've seen is wrong." Levi answered in a cold, angry voice. "And if you aren't lying," he slowly rose up, coming to stand close to Jean. Too close. He grabbed his tie, pulling Jean down to his level. Levi was so much shorter than him, but Jean’s face paled as he looked at Levi’s murderous expression. “Then you’re covering for him. Are you, Mr. Kirschtein?”

“Did he pay you? Did he pay you to come here and spout these lies?” Levi wasn’t letting him go and Jean was already getting pale in the face, desperately trying to free himself from the Levi’s steel hold.

Petra knew she had to do something, she had to intervene, she couldn’t just let Levi manhandle their witness like that. She was frozen with indecisiveness and uncertainty up until— Up until she saw the panic in Jean’s eyes.

This wasn’t like it was supposed to go. They shouldn’t act like that. They were meant to help people, not harass and manhandle them.

“Levi,” she called, at first gentle and quiet.

He didn’t hear her.

“Levi,” she pressed, more insisted this time.

Still no reaction.

“Detective Ackerman!” she shouted, getting to her feet and throwing Levi off Jean.

He looked at her then, dazed and confused. Slowly, he turned to Jean, the realization of what he had done reflecting in his eyes.

“My behavior was extremely improper,” Levi said, carefully pronouncing each syllable. “I lost my cool and I… apologize. Detective Ral,” his eyes darted back to her. “Finish this by yourself, please. There is something else I need to oversee.”

Then, after quickly fixing his jacket and shirt, Levi left the room, looking serious and composed. Petra once again marveled at his ability to put on the mask of indifference.

A silence settled over interrogation room. Petra kept nervously glancing at Jean, not really knowing what to do.

“He’s going through some stuff, isn’t he?” Jean chuckled, awkwardly rubbing his neck.

Petra smiled, eternally grateful to Jean for easing the atmosphere. “That’s one way to put it,” she answered, sitting down.

“I guess he already has a suspect?” Jean sat down opposite her.

Petra nodded in affirmative.

“And I guess he doesn’t match my description.”

“Precisely,” Petra sighed. “He suspects a guy who has been dead for two years, so… it’s no wonder that the description doesn’t match.”

Jean whistled. “I was correct then. He’s going through a lot.”

“He’s not a bad person,” Petra said, fiddling with her notebook. “Just a really sad one.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Jean ruffled his hair. “But… you do believe me, right?” he asked, looking at her beneath his fringe.

“Of course,” Petra gave him a reassuring smile. “I think that’s all we needed to discuss. You can go.”

“Alright,” Jean got up, stretching his feet. “If you need me for a follow-up questioning or something…”

“We’ll contact you, don’t worry,” Petra replied, opening the door and walking into the corridor. Jean followed after her. “Thank you for your time. And please forgive my partner for…”

“Manhandling me?” Jean grinned. “It’s alright. He clearly didn’t mean it, I understand. I’ve done worse things when angry. I hope you catch your guy… and I hope your partner gets the closure he needs.”

“Thank you again. Do you need me to walk you out?”

“No, I know the way,” Jean winked at her. “It’s not my first time at the police precinct. And I’m not even handcuffed this time!” he laughed merrily. “Goodbye and good luck!” he saluted to her and then walked away.

As Petra watched him go, she understood one important thing.

She could kill for a cup of coffee.

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Ain’t Sayin’ She’s a Gold Digger: Part 4

Pairings: Sugar Daddy!Negan x Sugar Baby!Reader

Warnings: Sugar baby relationship, swearing

Word Count: 7,963

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the four months between getting the tickets, and heading to Burning Man, Jeff added seventeen countries and almost double that in states to deal with hotels that were going through the summer with bad ratings and numbers to your travel list. And while he worked, you worked with your new, temporary Burning Man assistant and your friends to organize everything you would need. It was chosen by the group, that now included Matt and Stacy, to join Kenzie and Stacy’s usual camp, which was actually a collection of make your own camps, to get the full Burner experience, and despite the fact that you felt like you were going crazy with Kenzie, who was the other natural organizer in the group, the trip came up before you knew it.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Jeff laughed as he finally drove his RV into Black Rock City behind the 26 foot U Haul filled with your contribution to camp- thousands of dollars worth of water, Gatorade, mini and regular sized liquor bottles, beer, snacks, granola and power bars, and a thrift store find stand up piano, that Matt was driving for you.

“Oh, it’ll be fun.” You giggled as you waved at someone Kenzie had been yelling out the U Haul window at.

“Did you forget, I’m an old man, sweetheart?” He asked with a glance over at you before turning to the right to head down to where your camp, Island Time was located.

“Did you forget that we decided you are seasoned, not old?” Kara asked as she held two of six boxes of decorations in place on the dinning room table.

“We definitely agreed on seasoned, your Majesty.” Dana called out from the back bedroom, where she was responsible for keeping the dozen solar powered coolers of ice in place. Your boyfriend groaned as your smile grew even more.

“Oh, I’m never going to let you live this down.” You giggled as you reached over and pat his thigh.

“Yea, and you’re just making me wanna call an Uber.”

“They have an airport!” Chelsea called out as she sat up from the couch, where she was holding a rope that connected the three massive shade tents, also named Costco Barns, that would make up your themed camp.

“Don’t encourage him.” You scolded as you turned in your seat to look back at her. “He will leave.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” She laughed as she sat up completely, as Jeff parked the RV on the left side of your camp site, and beside the U Haul that would turn into a ‘fishing pond’ for all the snacks it held. “Alright, let’s get unpacked.” You pat Jeff’s thigh once more as the girls in the back got out to start setting up.

“Just let go, sweetheart.” You told him as he set the emergency brake. “You are allowed to take a vacation and the company won’t crumble in your absence.”

“You are the only person I would agree to this for.” He said honestly as he dropped the keys in his cup holder and picked up your hand. “I love you, (Y/N). I need you to know that.”

“I love you, too, Jeff. So, so much.”

“Are you two gunna help, or are you just gunna sit there all day?” Dana asked as she grabbed one of the decorations boxes to carry out. You muttered ‘shut up’ and gave Jeff a chaste kiss before getting out to begin the long day of work. Kate, who was the mastermind behind your camp’s theme, started directing instantly, transforming the square of desert into a tropical wonderland. 

Your group had thought of everything, from a had painted directional sign that pointed fellow Burners to coffee, the Playa, the Deep Playa, City Center, the bathrooms, and of course, the Burning Man center piece and The Temple, to a bunch of tropical themed pool rafts to be used by whomever as seats. You had a blue tarp on the ground and the dyed canvas covers above you that Chelsea had painted to look like waves, and dozens of starfish, jellyfish, and fish toys zip tied anywhere they could go so they didn’t become missiles in a dust storm. 

There were four fishing poles laid against the U Haul, which had giant handmade banners on each side to promote your camp, and they were set up for ‘fishing’ with baskets on the end of the 100 pound test line that Jeff swore would hold up for what you needed it to. And the piece de le resistance of your camp was an inflatable palm tree cooler, that would have ice cold drinks for anyone passing by that needed one, that would sit directly in front of the piano you had brought to play as yet another contribution to the Burning Man community.

“It’s perfect.” Dana said with a proud smile as you on Jeff’s shoulders, and Chelsea on Matt’s strung up the last strings of blue lights in the canopy.

“I would hope so.” Kate said with a nod. “I busted my ass to figure out this design.”

“Hey! Beach girls!” A guy called out as he rode by your camp on his bike. “Nice idea!” You all yelled thanks as Jeff kneeled down so you could climb off.

“Damn, it’s hot.” He sighed as he sat down on one of the couple chairs you had brought. You nodded in agreement and used your already dust covered shirt to wipe off your face.

“I need a shower.”

“Get used to being dirty.” Kenzie said as she just took off her shirt and tossed it on a chair on her way over to grab a the reusable water bottle with her name on it so she could fill it up from the sink on the outside of the RV.

“So are we getting ready to open here or what?” Matt asked as he helped Chelsea dump ice from one of the solar power coolers into the palm tree cooler.

“Yea, someone throw up the fishing sign.” You said as you two pulled off your shirt and headed inside to get dressed. “I’ll go get ready.”

——

“Oh, do you know ‘Piano Man’?” A girl asked as she skipped up to your piano with a champagne slushy from a few camps down. You glanced up at her and nodded as you set down your mermaid patterned water bottle, that was currently filled with rum and coke and adjusted your shell patterned bikini top.

“I wouldn’t be a piano playing mermaid if I didn’t!” You cried as your fingers moved from playing a random melody to the newest request. You started playing over the cheers of a man, who had gotten a mini bottle of Jäger and a bag of Goldfish in his fishing pole bucket, as the girl in front of you cheered and started singing with you, and the group that had collected in your tent at some point since the sun went down. You glanced over at Jeff, who had decided months ago that he was going to be on whatever shift you were on, and gave him a slightly knowing smile, since his only job was to make sure ice was being made in the ice genies you had filling your freezer, and that the ice that was melting was draining into a new one to make more ice as needed. 

He’d spent most of his evening simply watching you, and holding up polite conversations with people that had come in to your tent and had some how slipped past Matt, and Stacy, who were on an entertainment shift with you in the main part of your camp, while Dana played ‘fish’ in the fan filled U Haul, and the other girls rode around to check out some of the rest of the camps. You couldn’t help but fall even more in love with him like you had every day for the past couple months. He was just entirely too good for you, and you didn’t ever want to be away from him.

“Alright, guys, I’m gunna take a break for a few hours.” You said when you saw Kenzie and Kara on their bikes. “Put requests in the fish bowl!”

“We’re switching out?” Matt asked as grabbed a beer from the palm tree.

“Yea, we’re gunna go burn a while.” You said as you adjusted your mermaid scales bottoms on your way over to the U Haul. You yelled your intentions to Dana, who was going to switch places with Kenzie for the second shift of fishing, and grabbed your heavily decorated with bright neon blue LED battery power lights beach cruiser.

“You know, I don’t know if I remember how to ride a bike.” Jeff said softly as he grabbed his matching, mixed color bike from next to yours.

“I’ll make sure you don’t fall or embarrass yourself, my love.” He leaned over and kissed your temple as you grabbed your alcohol filled bottle and a water filled one as well and stuck them in your basket. “Alright, let’s…”

“Hey wait!” The girl that asked you to play Piano Man said as she came running out to the road. She smiled at you and held out a pair of pills. “Thank you. For my song.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to…”

“Take them.” She giggled as she grabbed your hand and put the two pills in your palm. “Happy Burn.” You nodded at her and looked over at Jeff with a smile.

“Just don’t think.” You said as you put a pill on your tongue, grabbed the back of his head, and kissed him roughly. You could feel him tense up the slightest bit as you pushed the pill between his lips with your tongue, but after a moment, he loosened up, and let you give him the ecstasy. 

“What kinda bad influence are you?” He laughed as you popped your pill in your mouth and followed it with a swig of your drink.

“One that you love.” You cooed as you straddled your bike and put your feet on the pedals. “You coming?”

“I guess I am.” He sighed as he got on his bike and briefly wobbled after you before he gained his confidence and pulled up to your side. “Thank you for not letting me back out.”

“Well look at it this way now.” You said as you grabbed your head lamp from the basket, switched it on, and put it on your head. “I just did ecstasy and am headed out to la Playa at prime time in Burning Man time in a bathing suit.”

“Yea, and if you walk more than five feet away from me at any point in time, I’ll take you to Europe, steal all of your things, and leave you there for a week to fend for yourself.”

“Oh, that sounds dangerous.” You teased as you pulled into the center of Black Rock City. You rode over to where a group of bikes and parked yours in the line with the rest, making sure to lock the wheel to the frame just in case someone drunkenly confused your bike with theirs.

“I don’t dance.” Jeff yelled at you over the music.

“You don’t have to.” You laughed as you laced your arm with his and pointed the farthest camp on the edge. “How about we start there and work our way down the line until the E kicks on?” With a nod, he reached out for your hand and laced his fingers with yours to walk with you. It only took about an hour for the drugs to kick in, and in that time you had been gifted a rubber bracelet for the event because you had pretty hair, a few glow stick bracelets and necklaces which made you realize you forgot yours in the RV, and more than a few shots and drinks. And as you were talking to someone about your time in Juilliard, and disagreeing with them on why your Burning Man nickname should not be ‘Keys’, you realized that Jeff was lost in his roll and the softness of your skin on the back of your neck.

“You OK?” You laughed at him when you had a moment break in the conversation.

“Why is your skin so soft?”

“Because you’re high, baby.” You laughed before saying a quick ‘see you later, come see us’ so you could hunt down your bikes before you got lost in the sensation, too.

“You’re back quick.” Dana said as you pulled up to the campsite and got off your bike.

“Yep.” Kenzie, who was sitting right next to her took one look at you before sitting up and turning to the group.

“OK, someone needs to turn the music up right now so we don’t have to hear them fuck!”

“God, you’re impossible.” You laughed as you headed in to the RV with Jeff’s hand in yours, while the people under your tent cheered for you. The second the door closed behind you, you kissed your boyfriend and walked him back to the king sized bed, closing the door only a couple seconds before your clothes hit the floor.

“Fuck, baby girl.” Jeff sighed when he got you completely undressed, and laid out on the blankets. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You know, I’m honestly surprised you lasted the entire week.” You admitted to Jeff, as he held the door to room one of four suites so you and your friends could shower off and have a good night sleep before you flew home. He huffed at you as your friends all tiredly headed into their rooms beside and across the hall from you to shower and wash off the six layers of dirt and catch up the dozens of hours of missed sleep.

“That is only because I wasn’t leaving my gorgeous girlfriend alone in the desert with that many drugs, and that many naked people.” You snorted a laugh through your nose, dropped your purse on the floor just inside the door, and kicked off your shoes in opposite directions on the way to the shower. “Hey, who said you could go first?”

“I will kill you if you think you are getting in before me.” You growled as you pulled off your clothes and got into the shower. “Get in here and help me.” You whined as you stood out of the way of the shower spray and turned the water on.

“So needy.” He huffed as he stripped out of his clothes and stepped in the shower in front of you. With a content sigh, you wrapped your arms around his waist and rested your head on his chest.

“This is all I need in life anymore.” You told him as you watched dirty water wash through and around the soft hairs on his chest. You adjusted your cheek and sighed once more as he grabbed a bar of soap and washed you off in lazy circles.

“Move in with me.” Those four words made your stomach flip as you looked up at the first man that had ever made you feel worth while, and nodded your head without needing to give the proposition any thought otherwise. 

“I’m taking a long nap first.” You replied with a smirk as you laid your head back down on his chest.

“I think that can be arranged, baby girl.”

The next two weeks of your life was a complete whirlwind as you packed up all your belongings, moved across Central Park to Jeff’s Upper East Side home, and helped Chelsea move out of the four bedroom hell hole she lived in with 3 total wack jobs and a horrible landlord since she spent half the time sleeping on your couch as is, and into your old room. But just as you were getting everything settled, you caught some kind of stomach bug that turned out to be something way more serious.

Jeff stood pin straight still, and dead silent, as you both stared at the door of the hospital room you were in- a trip you made because he couldn’t take one more night of you throwing up and writhing on the bathroom floor in pain. You had no idea what he was thinking, but then again, neither did he. You were both just absolutely terrified.

“Are they OK?” You both asked the second the doctor walked into the room.

“Let’s just take a look, OK?” He said with a reassuring smile. You couldn’t bring yourself to believe him as every single drug you took in Black Rock City ran like a bad movie in your head. You reached out for Jeff at the same moment he took a step toward you, as the doc grabbed the ultrasound wand. You actually held your breath as he located the two side by side blobs and nodded his head.

“They look fine.” You exhaled forcefully and burst into fear and joy fill tears, as Jeff sat down in the chair next to you in relief. “Two healthy babies.”

“We did a lot of drugs.” Jeff said as he worried your hand between his as he stared at the monitor. “And a lot of drinking at Burning Man...” 

“And all I can say on that is get in touch with an OBGYN, and disclose everything. I won’t lie to you, there could be some consequences, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I’ve seen drug addicts who used everyday of their pregnancy and had perfectly functioning, otherwise healthy babies. I’d just refrain from any and all alcohol consumption and drug use.”

“Oh absolutely.” You said with a nod as you took the two photos he handed you and held the delicately in your hands. “I’ll do everything by the book.”

“Just don’t worry to much about what you did. Focus on what you can do for them now.” You nodded your head and took the paper script from him, which Jeff took from you right after. “Something to help with the nausea. And I’ll have the nurse bring in a list of some OBGYN’s in town for you as well.”

“Thank you, doc.” Jeff said with a nod as he stood up and shook the man’s hand. “We appreciate it.” With another nod, the doctor left the room to go about his day, and you looked up at the father of your children and started to cry.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” He shushed you softly and shook his head as he leaned down to wrap you in a hug.

“It’s ok, baby girl.” He whispered as he held you to his shoulder with his hand on the back of your head. “I’m not mad. It’s OK now. We’ll all be OK.” You nodded for a second before your stomach rolled, and you practically shoved him away to grab the vomit bag the nurse had given you to get sick in. “It’s OK.” He repeated as he gently rubbed your back and picked up the ultrasounds from your lap to look at them in complete disbelief. “We’re all gunna be alright.”

——

Jeff didn’t speak to you for three days after you got home, other than to check to see how you were feeling, and to remind you he loved you every night as you walked out of the living room to the master bedroom without him, which was unusual for him, since you usually went to bed together. On the fourth night, you got fed up with laying in his bed, waiting for the man that you had fallen head over heels in love with, the father of your children, and grabbed your pillow and the blanket to head down to the guest bedroom. You made it almost all the way to the door, when it opened toward you. Jeff stopped for a moment and looked at you with eyes full of concern, as you hiked the blankets and your pillow up a little more. 

“No.” He said simply with a shake of his head, as if it were the answer to all of your problems.

“No, you no!” You snapped back as tears welled in your eyes. “I’m going…”

“I always wanted kids.” He sighed as he stepped in front of you and pulled the blanket out of your arms to put it back on the bed. “Hillarie couldn’t conceive. And the few times she did, we miscarried before the end of the first trimester.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you know that fear doesn’t go away?” He asked as he walked you around to your side of the bed. “Fear that you’re going to blink and everything is going to be ripped away from you, that doesn’t just go away.” He sighed as he pulled off his shoes and carefully laid you down on the bed so he could get in behind you. As if you were China doll about to break, he scooted up behind you as close as he could, and gently wrapped his arm under yours across your chest. 

“(Y/N), I’m so sorry I’ve pulled away from you. It is absolutely not your fault, or the fact that you are pregnant. I love you so fucking much and I need you with me every fucking day for the rest of my life. And now I need our kids just as much, but I’m fucking terrified. I can’t… I can’t…”

“I’m scared too.” You whispered as you pulled his arm even closer to you. “What if I fucked them up?”

“Then we will figure it out together, baby.” He sighed as he hugged you a little tighter. “I’m sorry I pulled away. I needed a minute and I never should have taken it silently without telling you what I was doing. That was not fair to you. I’ve just never been good at handling hard life shit.” You shook your head in agreement and sniffled as your tears fell on his arms and your pillow. “I’m sorry. Forgive me…” You nodded your head and rolled over to face him, and he held you to his chest as his own tears welled in his eyes.

“Just tell me it’s gunna be OK.” You sobbed as you held on to his shirt so he wouldn’t leave when you voiced your insecurities. “Tell me I didn’t kill our babies at stupid fucking Burning Man or that they aren’t going to end up blind, or with only one limb between them….”

“No, shhh…” He tried with a shake of his head as he realized that you were dealing with different versions of his same fears about the situation. “Our babies are going to be just fine. Unless they’re boys… then we’re both screwed.”

“No, I want boys!” You whined as he leaned back enough to kiss your forehead and wipe away your tears for you.

“Then we are going to have two, healthy boys, that have all ten fingers and all ten toes each, in their right places, on the right babies. And they’re gunna be smart, and handsome, and funny, and…”

“Perfect?” He nodded his head as he moved his hand to your stomach with as big of smile as his nervous self could handle.

“They will be perfect.”

——

“OK, you understand that I’m supposed to be peacefully resting at home, right? Not looking at new houses…”

“You’ve taken over my closet.” Jeff laughed as he held the elevator door open on the fourth floor of the millionth condo you had seen in the past six week. “And it’ll only be a matter of time before you start taking over the one in the guest bedroom. Besides my place is more of a bachelor pad still. It’s not really kid friendly…”

“I know what you’re doing.” You said as you stopped in front of 4B and turned around to look at him as you put your hand on your back and cocked your eyebrow at him. You pointed at the bump that officially stuck out past your boobs and shook your head. “We made it to the second trimester. You don’t need to distract yourself...”

“But we still need a bigger house.” He chuckled as he leaned towards you to knock at the door. “One that you can decorate for our family and not my assistant for my tastes.”

“Whatever.” You huffed as you turned toward Jeff’s real estate agent, Mark. “So? Let’s hear it.”

“Four beds, three and a half baths.” Mark started as he walked backwards into the living room. “Thirty five hundred square feet, and washer and dryer in the unit.”

“Big kitchen?” You asked as you curled your lip at the hideous purple painted book shelf in the study to your left off the living room. “Eww…”

“Big kitchen.” Mark agreed as Jeff followed you around, taking mental notes about the things he would need to change for you to make this the house you wanted to start your family in since he didn’t mind one bit where he lived as long as you were there with him.

“God, who designed this place?” You asked as you turned around and looked at weird, bell shaped light on the far side of the open concept room in what had to be the dining room. “Schools?”

“7, 2, and 8 out of 10.” He said as he looked at his notebook to get the answers to the questions he knew you were going to ask since he had been working with you for a few weeks. “The building was built in 1906 and was last coded in 2019. Been on the market five days and it’s already seen three people.” You shook your head as you peaked into the half bath and the walk in pantry across the way, before heading into the absolutely gorgeous white and grey kitchen, thats only blemish was the colored cushions on the bench in the breakfast nook in the corner, and more of the same strange gold bell lamp shades. 

“This could be a play room.” Jeff said as he looked at the den that backed the kitchen.

“You have another closet back there. And the laundry room with a sink is over there.” You nodded your head and glanced down the hall that lead to the bedrooms, as Jeff came up behind you with a smirk.

“You are poker facing awful hard, baby girl.”

“Other than paint, and changing light fixtures, I love it, but I’m not telling him that.” Your love huffed and nodded his head as you walked over to look at the actual laundry room with a sink, cabinets, and counter space, and the large walk in closet.

“It also has 3-zone central AC, a humidification system, and radiant-heated floors in the bathrooms. And it has a part time doorman, a live-in super, more added storage, and a bike room. The walk score is 98, and transit is 100. Now I think is the cutest part of the house is this room right here. I know Mr. Morgan said you were having twins, and this is perfect already if they are girls, or it can be painted for boys…”

“Oh, wow.” You said as your facade slipped for only a moment when you saw the built in bookshelves on one wall, and the already built in bunk beds next to the long closet on the other. You glanced up at Jeff with a smirk you couldn’t control, and he kissed your forehead in silent confirmation.

“What are they asking?”

“$5,375,000.” Jeff whistled as you looked at the similar room across the hall, that had the same bookshelves on one wall but a small ensuite on the other wall. 

“HOA?”

“It’s a little higher than the rest.” Mark said as he followed you and Jeff through the second to last bedroom, and the bath that it shared with the room with the bunk beds. “$5,018”

“Can you give us a minute?” Jeff asked as you stepped into the last room, the master bedroom.

“You may not have enough room in this closet either, baby.”

“Finally found one you like?” You finally let your smile show, and nodded your head as you turned on the wood floors that ran through all of the bedrooms toward him. He sighed and put his hands on your hips with a small smile that made your heart melt and your stomach flip. “Do you want it?”

“Do you?” He nodded his head and searched your eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“I’m gunna say the same thing I said to Hillarie when I bought our first house. This house will be our house, until the day comes when you don’t want me here anymore, which hopefully is never. But if that day comes, this house will still be yours, and our kids, for the rest their lives… unless you cheat on me, or if you attempt to steal money from me, which yes, it is possible, because I watched my ex-wife try to do it. Not saying you would, but I still need to lay the rules out…”

“Wait… you’re giving me a house?”

“No.” He chuckled as he moved his hands to the small of your back to hug you. “I’m buying us a house, that I’m going to put your name on as well, so that we both know that you and our children will always be taken care of. Because you are the real love of my life… and I need to know that you are safe.” You couldn’t help yourself but to start crying, and his smile simply grew more as he leaned down and kissed your forehead. “Wanna walk through it one more time to make sure you really love it?”

“Yes…”

“Well go on then.” He chuckled before giving you a chaste kiss. “I’m going to talk price and see if I can get them to do a short sale so we can get in here and get that purple book shelf painted…”

“Eww and change those horrid light shades, please!”

“We can find some new light shades, sweetheart.”

“Hey baby!” You called out before he could walk out of the room. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“Anything for you, baby girl.” You blew him a kiss and turned to look at the small white and bronze accented bathroom, that would have to have to be redone in some actual color, before heading back over to the bedroom with the bunk beds.

“This is gunna be your room one day, babies.” You whispered as you rubbed your bump and looked down at your babies as the reality that they would never have to live the life you did growing up caught up with you. You started to cry again as you looked up at a giant giraffe stuffed animal the owners kids owned, and choked on your tears with a laugh. “God, and I promise I will never buy you two something so tacky.”

——

“OK, this is just not fucking fair.” Dana said as she walked into your new, freshly painted, co-decorated, slightly remodeled home for your gender reveal. “This place could fit my house like ten times over!”

“She looked at about a million and one to find this one.” Jeff teased as he took the giant basket she was carrying from her.

“What’s in the basket?” You asked as you pushed the front door closed and took a step toward your boyfriend, only to have him turn away and Dana step in front of you.

“You can open it later.” She laughed as she turned you around and pushed you into your living room. “Now show me around. Be a good hostess before everyone else gets here.”

“Oh, Jesus I can’t even… You’re so needy!”

“Oh, I know! It’s so hard to be a good host.” She laughed back as she followed you to the kitchen, where you had dozens of finger foods and desserts in pink and blue.

“OK, wait. You have to place your vote.” You said as you pointed to the dry erase board you had borrowed from her office. “Two boys, two girls, or one of each. And then you have to wear the beads.”

“Oh, I like it!” She said as she lifted the two strands of blue beads from around your neck. “You want boys?”

“Oh, I need boys.” You said as you held out a few dry erase markers for her to choose. “Dana, we’re girls. Do you remember how much trouble we got in to?”

“Yea, but so do boys.” She pointed out as she drew a mark under the one boy, one girl column and picked up one of each necklace.

“Yes, but boys listen to their mothers.” You reminded her as you want over and grabbed a glass of blue raspberry lemonade and a blue straw from the table of the breakfast nook. “Come on, you have to see the boy’s room.”

“What if it’s one and one?”

“Then I guess I’m just going to have to recreate the room on the other side? I don’t know. I do know that I’ve grown to hate this purplish pinkish bleck shade they had in here…”

“Oh, that’s really cool. But I see about the color, this is awful.”

“So this one shares a bathroom with the one next door. And the one across the hall has an ensuite so it’s the guest room. And our room is next to that…”

“Oh, let me see the remodel you did with that. You changed the bathroom, right?”

“OK, so first, you have to see the final product so I can show you how we changed it because the way they set this up is just asinine.”

“What did they…”

“Who makes a master bathroom five feet wide and thinks that’s OK?” You asked as you stepped into the master suite and pushed open the bathroom door. “So this wall stopped here and we pushed it out into one of the two closets the undecided room had and doubled the size. And then I added the tub because I needed it.”

“I like this color.” She said as she touched the dark teal accent wall behind the mirror.

“I used the same one on the bookshelf in the study because I liked it so much.” You said with a nod. “We also pushed this wall into the walk in because Jeff still has his closet space out here and I didn’t need that much space, so that few feet gave us just the amount of room we needed.” Dana nodded and turned toward you with a smile.

“Are you happy, (Y/N)? Like not because of the physical possessions… does he make you happy?” You smiled and nodded your head as you put your hand on your 20 week along bump.

“Dana, I’m pretty sure I would die without him in my life. I have never loved someone the way I love Jeff.” Her smile grew as she stepped forward and put her hands on either side of your stomach.

“Then I know I made the right choice in calling you back that day.” You nodded your head as Jeff called your name from outside the door, and you looked over at him with a smile.

“My mom just got here. Are you done touring?”

“Where did your beads go, mister?” You asked as you turned toward him and followed him out of your room. 

“Mom votes with me that they are both girls so I gave them to her.” He laughed as he reached out for your hand just long enough to pull you to the side to put his hand on the small of your back.

“And you know I’m going to keep giving you shit until you put them back on, Daddy.” You cooed as you grabbed two pink bead necklaces and held them out to him. “Or you can sleep on the couch, far far away from Mommy and the boys.”

“See, I like her already.”

“Thanks Mom.” Jeff laughed as he put his necklaces on and turned you around to the food covered island. “Sweetheart, this is my mom, Sandy. Mom, the love of my life, mother of daughters…”

“Sons.” You laughed as you stepped forward to the grandmother of your children. “(Y/N). It’s so nice to finally meet you, Sandy.”

“Oh, please. It’s Mom.” She said sweetly as she gestured to your bump. “May I?”

“Absolutely!” You laughed as you reached out for her hands and pulled her a step closer. “You’ve got the soccer player down here, and the long jumper that uses my ribs as a jumping board up here. I say they have to be boys because like two nights ago, they got into what felt like a slap fight against my bladder and I feel like only boys would be that rude to their mother in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She laughed as she rubbed your bump through the knee length blue and pink splattered, off the shoulder dress that was tight against your body and had a long, loose ruffle around the top. “If they are boys, I hope for your sake they are nothing like their father because he was a wild child.”

“Oh, really!” You squealed as you refilled your cup and picked up a pink chocolate covered strawberry, while Jeff whined ‘Mom’ on his way to go get the door. “Please, I am begging you to tell me more.”

“Oh, honey I will never run out of stories about my Jeffrey. Like this one time…”

“Mom!” Jeff said as he walked back into the kitchen behind Chelsea and Kate, and couple of Jeff’s friends that you had only meet a few times before. “Don’t start!”

“Oh, I’ll start alright.” She laughed with a shake of her head. “I have to pre-warn her what she’s getting into with Morgan boys.” You laughed with her as Jeff simply shook his head and went to get the door again, and Dana quickly jumped on the train to get more stories about the father of your child with you. Since you had no representation of family, you shared your own embarrassing childhood stories as your friends and his came together to celebrate the lives you created. You played cheesy games, and ate probably way to many sweets, until Jeff’s assistant, Rebecca got there a little late with two large black balloons for Baby A and Baby B.

“OK, let’s see what the final vote is before we pop these suckers.” Jeff called out over the slight hum of voices in the living room and kitchen as he pointed to the two balloons Rebecca was putting in the arch way between the living and dining room. One of the men that worked in Jeff’s New York office, Jason, grabbed the white board for you and carried it out to the dinner table, where the presents that people had brought to make the last couple months of your pregnancy a little more enjoyable were.

“So we have eight for boy boy.” You said as you looked at all the tallies on the board. “Which is the right team, by the way…”

“Thirteen for girl girl, the winning team.” Jeff interrupted with a playful glare.

“You are are just mistaken.” You giggled. “And fourteen for both. So Baby B is the one up by my ribs, and Baby A is right now down by my left hip. So we’ll obviously start with A. Thanks, Bex.” You said as you took the balloon and a sewing needle from her. “You wanna?”

“No, pop away, my love.” Jeff said as he moved the balloon between you so that you could both be in the photos Kenzie had been taking for you all afternoon. You and your party guests counted down from three, and hesitated for only a second before hitting the black latex with the sharp tip. You cheered excitedly as blue confetti rained down on your head and floated down on your hardwood floors.

“Ok, so this one better be a girl.” Jeff mockingly complained as he took the string from you and traded it for the next balloon.

“If it is a girl, she’s a badass with the way she’s beating up on her brother.” You laughed as you handed him the pin. “But it’s gunna be another boy.”

“Wrong.” He laughed before starting the next count down. You actually held your breath, hoping in that moment that it was a girl for his sake, and you shrieked happily when the destroyed latex released its pink confetti over the blue.

“We got one of both.” You said with a smile as Jeff cupped your jaw with his hands.

“A Daddy’s girl and a Mama’s boy.” He said with a nod. “We’re both screwed.”

“Yea we are.” You laughed as you stood up on your tip toes and kissed him softly. “A boy and a girl… sorry baby, we gotta do even more painting.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, God, is this really necessary?” You whined as you stepped in to a white and black polka dot sleeveless, halter gown to go to a charity event for one of the foundations Jeff was a part of.

“I’m sorry, but it is.” Jeff said with a nod as he pulled your dress up to your hips where you could reach it without bending over around your substantial 32 week along bump. “It’s a once a year dinner that I have to go to, and you said you wanted to go…”

“Yea, I know.” You sighed as you turned around so he could zip you up. “But I was obviously delirious, running on more sleep, and probably half the size I am now.”

“And you still look just as beautiful to me, baby.” He said sweetly to keep you calm like he usually did as he turned you around toward him with a smile. “I love you… and I know Jett and Jace are both thankful you are carrying them…”

“Yea, I know you think that.” You huffed as a small smile pulled at your cheeks. “But I think these two are ungrateful, hate monsters that can’t keep their arms and legs inside the moving vehicle.” Jeff laughed whole heartedly as he knelt down and slipped your wedge sandals on your feet for you.

“You’re almost there, baby girl. 36 weeks was your goal…”

“Just make it go faster.” You sighed as you put your cell phone on silent and handed it to him to carry so you didn’t have to bring a purse. He put it in his inside jacket pocket with your tissues (because everything made you cry now a days), your lip gloss, and a bag of goldfish in case you got hungry before dinner was served.

“Make it through dinner, and we’re one more day closer.” He said in a sing song voice as he turned you toward the door and gave you a gentle push in that direction. You grumbled at him under your breath as you adjusted your belly band under your dress, and headed down stairs. “It’ll be over before you know it, sweetheart.” He placated over your continued grumbling when your car pulled up in front the Ritz in Manhattan. With one last grumble, you lost the pout and forced a smile on your face as he and his driver, Jonathan, helped you out of the car.

“Oh, you look so big!” “When are you due?!” “Twin’s, that sounds like a lot of work!” “Oh, you have to use cloth diapers, they are so much better for the babies.” “A tiny thing like you is going to have a lot of fun pushing those babies out.”

“OK!” Jeff said quickly before you knocked the woman that was reaching out for your bump on her ass. “Let’s go find our seats and get you off your feet.”

“Why do people think it’s acceptable to touch me?”

“Because people are weird.” He laughed as he guided you around a chair that had been left pulled out.

“Jeffrey Dean!” You stopped walking as a woman stood up on the far side of the table in front of you, and Jeff’s hand gripped the back of your dress when she started walking toward you.

“Hillarie.”

“The Hillarie?” You asked with a glance back up at him. He nodded his head and rubbed your back as he cleared his throat.

“What can I do for you, Hillarie?”

“Oh, nothing, I just… oh! You’re… pregnant.” You nodded your head and put your hand on your bump as she smirked between you and her ex. “You finally caved and went with a sperm donor…”

“Good night, Hillarie…” Jeff tried as he gave you a gentle push to the right, but his ex side stepped and blocked your path.

“No, I’m sorry. That’s rude of me.” She giggled with the fakest smile you had ever seen. “You seem like a nice young thing. I bet you found a man to knock you up and went after Jeff for the money, didn’t you?”

“Excuse me?!”

“That’s enough, Hillarie!”

“I mean you are huge and, let’s face it, we both know Jeff’s sperm are way to old to be a viable option…”

“I’m sorry.” You interrupted as your whole body started to shake. “I think I missed the memo saying that your opinion about my children and their father mattered to anyone but yourself.” She cocked her eyebrow at you as you reached back for Jeff’s hand with a very forced smile. “And I’m even more sorry that you decided to cheat on him and pass up on mind blowing sex. Not that it’s any of your business, but I can promise you that he is responsible for my huge stomach. He’s responsible for making me happy, and he’s responsible for making me forget my own name every night.” Hillarie looked shocked at your retort as you stepped back the other way and up to her side with a smile. “Oh, and thank you for talking to him. Now I know I’ll go to bed wore out as we both attempt to forget you are still in Manhattan and so he can welcomingly remind me the seasoned man he is and exactly who fathered my babies.” You took a step back and smiled at her once more as the exhausted vindictiveness washed over you.

“And I’m sorry that you weren’t capable of getting pregnant. But obviously… that’s not Jeff’s fault.”

“OK, let’s go find our seats, baby girl.” Jeff said quickly as he stepped between you and his ex with an uncontrollable satisfied smirk on his face. “Good night, Hillarie.” You heard her growl behind you as you were led away, and you glanced up at Jeff for a moment. “You did fine.” He chuckled before you could even ask.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my place… really, they’re starting with salad.”

“Just start with the salad so you don’t rip anyone else’s head off.” He laughed as he pulled your chair out at the first table in the middle row of the room.

“And for that, I’m eating yours too.” You huffed with a smile as you put your napkin on your lap, and turned your attention to the rest of the people at the table, who were thankfully people that you knew from Jeff’s New York office that had attended your gender reveal, or would be attending your baby shower the next day. “Growing babies is tough work. Can’t be done on just greens.”

[ruthoakenshield]

Very Good Friends (Chapter 7)

Catch up here: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6]

Reader x Henry Cavill, Reader x co-star named Dan

Warning: This tale is for 18+ readers ONLY!!! Mentions of flashbacks: (rape, anal sex, non-con sex, abuse), severe bruising and injury, mentions of suicidal thoughts, depression, humiliation, and some fluff to make us feel better. Smut comes later on in the story… Several chapters down the road… I promise!!!

If ANY of the warnings upset you or make you uncomfortable, DO NOT read below the cut! go find something else to read in this case.

If you are okay with reading those things then enjoy the tale below the cut.

Feedback and reblogs are appreciated. I do not own Henry nor do I have any personal knowledge of him besides what is common knowledge amongst the Cavillary. Any mistakes and typos are mine, story is not beta-tested. GIF I got from the tumbler search thingy.

When the two of you get back, you quietly shrug off your jacket and shoes and hand the jacket to Henry to hang up. He turns and looks down at you. You’re staring at the floor, shoulders sagging and looking as broken as he is sure you’re feeling. He reaches out gently and caresses your arm. “What do you want or need right now, Kitten. How can I help comfort you?” he asks.

You look up at him with glassy, sad and bewildered hazel eyes. He always loved your eyes. They always held so much expression, and they were unique, like his. Yours seemed to hold every color. The outer edges of your irises were a dark blue fading to gray, the middle of your irises were a mix of green, amber and blue with little flecks of brown and the inner edge around your pupil was a dark brown. Your eyes would change color, he noticed, depending on your moods and what you wore or the background behind you. Sometimes your eyes looked blue as the oceans near his childhood home, sometimes they were a stormy grey, other times green as the fields back home in the springtime. Right now, though, they held only sadness and pain and bewilderment. They looked pale blue and damn near broke his heart.

Henry reached out and caressed your face. “I know you’re hurting, and feeling overwhelmed, Kitten. How can I help you feel better?” he asks again.

You sigh and shrug and look back down at the floor. “I don’t know.” You quietly murmur.

Henry squats down and looks up into your face. His large, warm hand reaches up and just holds your face on one side. You close your eyes and tilt your head into his hand. A few tears trickle out of your eyes. His distinct smell of rosemary from his water he was drinking in the car along with the cedarwood soap he uses, and his distinctive musky man smell floods your senses as he squats down in front of you. His face close to yours now, and you just want to crawl into his arms and stay there forever.

“Sweetheart, I wish I could take this pain and heartache from you. You don’t deserve any of it.” he tells you. “You are very brave for agreeing to press charges and for standing up and telling Dan he’s hurt enough people. I’m proud of you, Sweetheart. I’m proud of you for cooperating with me and going to see the counselor and talking with her a bit. I know your throat is still sore and it hurts to talk.” He tells you. “We both know Dan’s ruined his career doing what he did to you. Don’t worry about things, okay? We’ll take this one day at a time. His scenes are done, you don’t have to deal with him any longer until the court case. So now it’s just you and me and the rest of the cast filming the last bit of scenes for the next four months.” He reminds you gently.

“No one is happy about what he did to you, and no one will blame you for what happened, Kitten. No one will be upset if you struggle for a bit trying to get back into the mindset of your character and the swing of things with filming again. You’ve been through something traumatic, Sweetie, but we’re all here for you and will support you the best we can, okay? You just gotta tell us what you need and when you need it.

If you need a hug, just ask. If you need time to collect your thoughts, then tell someone and take it. If you need to scream and hit something, tell someone and we’ll take you to the workout area and you can punch the bag or we can hold the punching and kicking pads and you can rail on them all you like. But Honey, we can’t help if we don’t know what it is you need.” He tells you. “Don’t shut us out, okay? We want to help you. We want to see you overcome this obstacle and get better.”

You nod. “Okay, Bear,” You say. “can I have something hot to drink? And can we just have supper and sit, and you hold me while I have my ice cream and strawberries?” you inquire. Henry grins, “Of course, Kitten. Go get comfortable and I’ll get you something hot to drink and get your supper and then your treat.” He confirms. You reach out and hug him. “Thank you, my big Bear.” You whisper.” He smiles affectionately and rubs your back and cups the back of your head with his hand. “I’m here for you Kitten. Sorry I couldn’t keep this from happening to you, but I’m here for you now.” he whispers back.

You nod and let go of his neck. You gaze at his face that is almost even with yours now. His blue eyes are bright, and glassy, and the little fleck of brown is hidden under his lid as he looks up at you. You see the love and concern in his eyes, and you reach out and caress his stubbly cheek. You watch his eyes flutter closed when your fingers touch his cheek, and he swallows hard. You run your fingers along the chiseled jaw of your handsome friend, grateful for him being in your life right now. He takes your hand in his, kisses it gently and stands. He gives you a gentle nudge towards the sofa and turns to go in the kitchen to get your warm drink and then supper and your treat.

You go and sit gingerly on the couch, pulling your knees up to your chest and wincing as the bruises and your uterus, vagina and ass all protest the movement. You sigh and think about all the stuff the counselor said. Looking around, you notice some of Henry’s stuff is moved on the various shelves and your stuff has been added to the shelves in the living room. You wonder when he did it, but just shrug.

Henry comes over with your honey lemon tea, then goes back and cooks you another amazing soft meal for supper. Then you have your ice cream and strawberries again, and the two of you spend another evening just cuddling and talking. There’s four months of filming left then another month or so of press junkets and promotions for the film, then you both are done. You agree that the time can’t pass fast enough. You both are looking forward to October and time off.

He watches you as you eat and drink. Your eyes are closed, and you have a contented look on your face as you enjoy your indulgence. He wonders how Dan’s actions are going to affect the reception of the movie if this gets out. His brows furrow at the thought. He wonders how it will affect your career. This is your first movie and he had high hopes it would get you the good kind of recognition to jumpstart your career. You truly are a wonderful actress, and he hopes this doesn’t affect it. He is concerned that if word gets out of what happened you’ll be labeled as the one who ended his career with a rape and assault accusation. He sighs feeling incredibly concerned for you and your future.

You lean against his side as you eat your ice cream and start to feel cold. When you finish your treat, you set the bowl on the coffee table and whimper as your crotch protests the movements.

Henry rubs your back, and you curl up against him. “Bear, just hold me please. I’m cold and you’re a fucking furnace. I need to borrow your heat for a while.” You ask quietly and wrap your arms around his massive chest. He gives you a sad smile and does what you ask, resting his cheek on you head, one of his massive hands cradle the back of your head and the other is placed on your low back.

You hear his heart racing and feel him give you a tight squeeze. Closing your eyes, you let his warmth seep into you. His distinctive scent calming you and his powerful arms making you feel encased in a protective shell. His warm breath you feel on your head as the two of you just sit there and cuddle.

Henry holds you close as you lean into him and he feels his own heart racing. God, he loves you! He wishes he could act on it, but knows it would spell disaster right now with the way things have gone. It infuriates him that Dan knew about your condition and said nothing all during the party knowing he was looking for you. Henry wonders if you were even conscious during the party and wondered how long you had been laying there alone on your bed bleeding. He wonders what he would’ve done if he would’ve left the party and found you in the trailer unconscious and that injured. He held you tighter, not wanting to go that way with his thoughts any longer.

He rests his cheek against your hair and closes his eyes, breathing in the familiar scent of your mint shampoo. It always calmed him smelling it and helped him focus after having to deal with Dan.

You talk about your hopes and dreams with Henry and he shares his. You both realize you have similar desires which makes the two of you smile. Henry picks you up and takes you to his bedroom. “How about we cuddle in bed, so we can fall asleep someplace more comfy?” he suggests. You nod, but are a little nervous. Henry understands your hesitation. “You okay, Kitten?” he asks as the two of you sit on the foot end of the bed.

You shrug. “I just don’t want to… to…” you aren't sure how to tell him what you’re feeling and the fear of losing your friendship with him if things turn intimate. You need his support right now and are afraid of what sharing a bed might do. Henry patiently waits for you to figure out how to put into words what you’re feeling. He sees a myriad of emotions play across your face and he is pretty sure he knows what you’re thinking.

“Kitten, would it make you feel better if we not share my bed?” he asks. “I understand you’re nervous and don’t want things between us to get fucked up, especially now. I get it, Kitten. I won’t push you. If it makes you uncomfortable, I can sleep on the couch.” he says. Your eyes fly up to his. “Oh! No! If anyone should sleep on the couch it should be me, Hen! This is your trailer! I’m fine taking the couch.” you insist.

He tilts his head, uncertainty evident on his face. “You sure, Kitten?” he says, caressing your cheek. You know I won’t do anything to ruin this.” he says. “I know, Bear.” you tell him. “I just need to figure things out. There’s so much swirling in my head and I don’t have any idea how to describe what I’m feeling.” you try to explain. Henry nods.

He picks up two of his pillows and hands them to you, then pulls off the comforter for his bed and digs in a cabinet and pulls out a set of sheets. He nudges you to go back into the living room and he puts the sheets and pillows on the couch, then picks you up, kisses your nose and gently sets you on the make shift bed and covers you with the comforter. “Get some sleep and rest, Kitten. You know where to find me if you need me. You’re always welcome to come cuddle in my bed.” he tells you and caresses your head.

You nod, “Thanks Henry.” you say, and he nods and heads back into his room. He leaves the door ajar so he can hear if you’re having another nightmare.

The middle of the night Henry wakes to find you snuggled against his side. You’re wrapped like a burrito in his comforter and are using him for a pillow. He smiles, caresses your head, and wraps an arm around you then drifts off to sleep again.

More chapters to come...

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[ohnobjyx]

you answer about celebrities being prudent with dating got me curious as western boys in bands, especially in the rock/alternative/rap scene, seem to have a reputation for dating/sleeping around a lot, do asian idols just not date/sleep around a lot or are they just better at hiding it because they are expected to?

Hi, anon! I’m slowly working through all the asks, but I remembered yours when I was watching this week hotpot episode from SDoC S3 (I’m wondering if I should write a post compiling all the candies, but I have so many asks pending).

To start with the answer, let’s put the disclaimer first: I don’t know celebrities, I’m a simple fan just like all of us. Whatever they do in their private life it’s their own thing, and I just simply try to place an objective view of their situation here.

Just a clarification: when we talk about idol or celebrity, I’m talking about those that are pretty successful in the industry (with their number of fans ranking in the millions). These are the tip of the iceberg in the industry however. The bulk of them have less fans, but are also less subjected to scrutiny by the public.

1. First of all they are prudent because it isn’t widely accepted as “good” that people date/sleep around a lot, especially among the older generations. However, many young people also feel that it’s unacceptable, and their opinions may vary from “they must be very promiscuous or they flicker a lot” to “if they haven’t been able to keep a relationship for long, there must be a problem with this person”.

2. We’ve already talked about the fact that celebrities are expected to uphold a clear and good moral example for their fans. They’ll be heavily criticized if they do things that aren’t socially approved, and it’ll impact negatively on their work prospects. So, I suppose that in the case any celebrity did date/sleep around, they’d have to be masters at hiding their “affairs”.

Let’s just imagine how a male idol’s gf fans (the type of fans that fantasize being their idol’s gf) would react if their idol publicly dated around with many girls. I don’t think that would end well.

3. Like I said at the beginning, I’m going to talk about those idols and celebrities that have more success in the industry.

So, when we talk about dating/sleeping around, there’s something that we can’t ignore: time.

I don’t know about the workload of the boy bands (especially, as you said, in the rock/alternative/rap scene) but the workload of an Asian idol is terrifying.

Let me show you a few examples:

a. Even before he debuted in the boy band, dd spent almost everyday hours dancing, no free weekends and barely vacations, since he was 13 and entered the company. As a child, he got myocarditis when he was learning to dance. As soon as he got discharged, he went back to dancing, and spent his summer vacations (just a month in China, btw, August) dancing from 1 pm to 9 pm everyday, to recover the lost ground (this really was a test for his love for dancing, but just imagine it: he could do 8 hours a day just because he liked it, how many hours would he pull when pressed by the company?)

b. To anyone unfamiliar with Asian culture, the Lunar New Year’s Eve is the most important celebration in Asian culture, a night when family gathers together to celebrate the arrival of the new year. Asian idols usually are full of work, even that same night, so they almost never spend the New Year’s Eve with their families. A famed actress (in her fifties), once said in a program: “my father died last year... and one of the things I regret the most is that I haven’t spent a single New Year’s Eve with him in the last 20 years”.

c. In 2015, a year after his debut with Uniq, dd posted on w/ibo: “Just another year that I can’t be with my parents on New Year’s Eve... just a little sad” (and from what I know, he hadn’t spent a single New Year’s Eve at home since his debut).

d. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Running Man, another c-variety show that’s very popular in China (I recommended it, btw). They did a night-life special last year, and when the director announced the theme (that they’d start filming by 4 pm and continue through the night), the host were like “just that?”:

“Then like our usual jobs”, “I can stay awake longer than an owl”, “I’m also good at spending all-nighters”.

One of them actually said: it seems that they don’t really get what an actor’s job is... everyone say how many days and nights have you gone by without sleeping in you busiest times? Angelababy (that’s her stage name, yes): “When I was a model... I really spent  three days and three nights   without a single moment of sleep.” Li Chen: “Before I came here to film yesterday, I spent 4 days filming night scenes for my drama, so 4 nights without sleep.”

Song Yuqi: “If we count sleeping an hour a day... I went a full week without a full night of sleep. Yesterday was the longest I’ve been sleeping in the last month”.

Their attitude is what surprises me the most, to be honest... It’s like, “of course we would spend a whole night awake, no problem!”

e. One of the previous hosts from this show once said that from his daughter’s birth to her first birthday the amount of time he spent with her totalled to three months.

4. I actually remembered your ask yesterday when I was watching the hotpot episode because of this:

The hosts mentioned getting back at their hotels after filming at 6 am (I think they had been filming the episode during the day and most of the night, and wanted to film a part of the dance using the first daylight). Actually, dd was talking about ZYX making noise in his room practicing dance moves at 6 am (wtf dude, you just pulled an all-nighter, please sleep).

There was a stalker photo of dd taken at 3 am when dd was coming out of the filming site for SDoC S3, one of the other day (just imagine it: you’re leaving the workplace, after a hard day of work, and instead of getting into the car peacefully you have to escape from these people). 

This kind of workload is insane. When they aren’t filming, they are travelling to filming sites, filming tv shows episodes, filming commercials, doing interviews, photoshoots, practicing whatever show is coming up next, reading scripts, and a long list of things they do. Almost without a single moment to rest.

I remember an interview of another actor, in which he said that if he had a free moment in his schedule or a free day, he spent it sleeping and talking with his family.

I’m not saying that with this kind of schedule keeping a relationship is absolutely impossible, but it resembles greatly a long distance relationship, no matter where your home actually is. So dating around a lot is quite of... difficult? (at least in my opinion). And about sleeping around... maybe it’s just me, but if I had a free night with their workload... I’d pass out as soon as I was in my room, and that’s all the sleeping I can envision.

(Btw, this kind of work pace is a trend in China. I've been told that it’s actually common to have surgeons doing 36-hour shifts... here I was thinking that 24h shifts were outrageous).

5. However, it’s not impossible. It wasn’t so long ago that a scandal got out about an actor who was married and with an adult son AND still had time to keep a mistress.

I hope I haven’t rambled too much, anon, and that you find my answer useful!

Edit (thanks to @gremlin-02!): “you're missing the part about propaganda. chinese idols have to hold up "chinese culture/good morals/examples of good citizens" they are not gonna be promoting a play boy idol since it "corrupts" the family values and state system.”

You are absolutely right, and it’s also a point that supports the second part of this post. We tend to forget about it, but the national propaganda has shaped the country from its core. Without it, the country would be very different today. Not better or worse, just... different, since propaganda, for all its bad reputation, has played a large part in their economic growth and their position in the world economy today.

[josephinemoore]

I saw JOSEPHINE MOORE at a coffee shop in QUEENS today. I forgot how much SHE looks like CANDICE KING. They are a THIRTY-TWO year old WEDDING PLANNER who’s been in NYC for A MONTH now. Every time we run into each other, they are always KIND-HEARTED & BUBBLY but I’ve heard people say they can also be STUBBORN & SUSPICIOUS. FIGHT SONG BY RACHEL PLATTEN reminds me of them every time it comes on the radio.

hello my loves , it’s caroline again and i’m here with another blonde ! this is josephine aka alexander warren’s long lost sibling dun dun dunnnnnn. as always , if you would like to plot , all you gotta do is like this post and i shall appear in your ims as soon as possible.

trigger warnings :      mentions of child neglect , domestic violence , substance abuse , overdose , infertility & miscarriage.

BACKSTORY.

born josephine briar warren , daughter of robert warren and alycia reynolds , she was the youngest of two kids. the family lived in hermosa beach , california during all of josie’s childhood. 

she was basically raised by her older brother , alexander , since their parents were too busy with their drug business to care for their children. 

josie worshiped the ground alexander walked on. he was her very best friend in the whole wide world and she was fascinated by everything he did.

abuse tw :     her father’s alcohol and drug problem became worse as the years went by and soon he began abusing josie’s mother and sometimes even alexander. the little girl , however , was lucky enough not to receive any of the physical abuse. she’d learnt to run and hide whenever her father went on one of his rampages.

everything changed when she was nine years-old :     alexander wasn’t home when a particularly bad fight broke out between their parents. a concerned neighbor called social services and they ended up taking josephine away. she kicked and screamed for her brother but it was in vain , they took her away and she never got to say goodbye.

josie was put in foster care and spent most of her time holed up in her room , crying herself to sleep for a full month. more often than not , she’d wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares of her father beating her entire family up or of the day she was taken away. 

vivian and jeremiah taylor appeared in josephine’s life nearly three years after she was put in foster care. the couple immediately fell in love with the bubbly yet spunky blonde-haired girl and decided to adopt her.

it took josie some time to warm up to her new adoptive parents. they spoiled her with things and , more importantly , love and affection. but since that was something she never experienced coming from a parental figure , josie was reluctant and suspicious.

with time , she grew to accept the fact she was wanted and loved. josephine’s name was officially changed to josephine briar taylor when she was sixteen and it was a day filled with warm hugs and happy tears.

her parents encouraged her to follow her dreams. she was enrolled in the best school , as well as dance class so she could have something to unwind after a stressful day. since education wasn’t a priority during her childhood , it took josie a while to get the hang of things in school. thankfully , she managed to catch up and graduate in time.

her mother worked in a bridal boutique and sometimes josephine would stop by on her way home from school. she’d always her mom interact with brides-to-be , the way they all got teary-eyed whenever they found the dress of their dreams. the aura of the place made josephine happy and excited , so she’d ask to help her mom carry dresses and find acessories whenever possible.

she quickly realized that the wedding industry is where she wanted to be. but instead of being a bridal consultant , she wanted to plan entire weddings. so when graduation rolled around , josephine sent out college applications with her major set in mind :     event planning.

josephine was accepted into university of central florida and , while it pained her to leave her parents behind , packed her bags and flew out across the country to start the next chapter of her life.

in college she found herself. maybe it was the fact she was miles and miles away from her birth parents drama, or maybe it was simply the new environment. josie became chattier & happier , making friends wherever she went.

during her second year of college , she met the man who’d later become her husband. the two ran in the same social circles and quickly became best friends. they were there for each other during stressful times such as finals or when one of their flirtationships fizzled out. the two would only get together , however , a short few months before josephine’s graduation. 

they both knew they were it for each other and didn’t waste time moving into a small apartment after graduation. the couple ended up staying in florida since he got a job offer that he couldn’t possibly pass on. however, josie flew out to california to visit her parents whenever possible , or they flew in to visit the lovebirds.

josephine’s boyfriend got down on one knee when she was twenty-five. he proposed on christmas morning , in their living room in front of their tiny but filled with presents christmas tree. 

being a wedding planner , it took josephine nearly a year and a half to plan the wedding of her dreams. she obsessed over the tiniest of details and had quite a few breakdowns whenever a deadline approached. in the end , it all paid off. she had a picture perfect summery wedding surrounded by her parents and friends. the one thing missing was her big brother , alexander.

josephine always knew she wanted kids , even if the thought of being a mom scared her. she was terrified of being a bad parent like her biological ones had been , but at the same time she wanted to prove to herself that she’d be nothing like them.

infertility & miscarriage tw :     getting pregnant was a long , exhaustive process for the blonde. it took her an entire year to feel ready to start trying for a baby , and then month after month after month , the countless pregnancy tests she’d take would turn out negative. when she finally fell pregnant , she ended up having a miscarriage around nine weeks along.

the loss devastated josephine , who retreated into her shell and became distant. the two months following the miscarriage were hard on her marriage since she barely spoke to her husband , thinking he saw her as a failure.

slowly but surely , she went back to the person she used to be before and , much to her surprise , found out she was pregnant only six months after the loss.

josephine gave birth to a gorgeous , chubby baby girl named olivia grace moore. the baby stole her heart as soon as their eyes met and josie swore she’d do everything for her and never let her down.

having her daughter only made her miss her brother even more. she’d tried to find him throughout the years but never managed to. that is , until she got a lead. somehow she managed to locate alexander , who seemed to be living in new york for over a decade now. 

before josephine could share the news with her husband , he gave some of his own :     a big promotion in which he’d have to move to new york. it all seemed too good to be true , like something that would only happen in her dreams. josephine packed up her things and moved to new york with her husband and daughter , ready to start a new chapter of her life and , hopefully , find her older brother. 

PERSONALITY.

despite everything she’s been through during her childhood , josie is probably the bubbliest person you’ll ever meet. she’s always got a smile on her face and a positivite outlook on things.

she loves meeting new people , though underneath her bright smiles and sweet giggles , she’s internally side-eyeing you until she forms a strong opinion on whether or not she wants to be friends with you.

she still has nightmares about her childhood. though they’re not as frequent as they used to be back when she was nine , they still happen. when they do , josie is usually a bit quiet and distant in the days that follow. she knows she’s safe now but she can’t help but be overly alert of her surroundings.

more will be added when my brain isn’t mush

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

husband (major wc , will probably send something to the main later)

college / florida friends

good influence

bad influence

party friends

mom squad

josie’s full wanted connection list is here

EXTRA.

she wants another kid but she’s scared to go through what she did when she was trying to get pregnant with olivia

would love to open up her own wedding planning business

pls don’t ever call her josephine unless 1) it’s a professional conversation or 2) you want her to think you’re mad at her

(  @villagestart​  )

[strangenewfriends]

During a pivotal year of his solo career, Harry Styles has notched another monumental achievement: his first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

As “Watermelon Sugar,” the standout track from Styles’ sophomore solo LP Fine Line, lifts 7-1 on this week’s Hot 100 tally, Styles tops the chart for the first time, after previously reaching a No. 2 peak as a member of One Direction. After starting his solo career with his classic rock influences on his sleeve, Styles has become a fixture at pop radio in 2020, with both “Watermelon Sugar” and “Adore You” becoming ubiquitous top 10 hits this year.

How shocking is the ascent of “Watermelon Sugar”? And what could the song mean for Styles’ future at the Grammy Awards? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.

1. On a scale of 1-10, how surprised are you that “Watermelon Sugar” is the song to finally give Harry Styles his first Hot 100 chart-topper?

Andrew Unterberger: Three months ago, it would've been a 10 for sure. Types of songs that don't usually go to No. 1 in 2020: fourth official singles, songs that have already dropped off the Hot 100 for multiple months after debuting, rock (or at least rock-based pop) songs. "Watermelon Sugar" was each of 'em, and even as recently as last week, I'd have been, like, an 8 about it going all the way to No. 1 -- even with a viral video, good audio-only streaming numbers and huge radio support, it seemed to have hit a ceiling outside the top 5. But a concentrated fan campaign and some good chart timing have put it over the top, and maybe I shouldn't be so surprised by that in 2020 after all.

Jason Lipshutz: I’d give it a 7 -- not because of any deficiency or quirk with the song, but because of its circuitous route to the top of the Hot 100 chart. Styles performed “Watermelon Sugar” for the first time on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 16, 2019, and released music videos for three other Fine Line songs before finally returning to it in May. That’s an incredibly slow burn -- to provide some context, “Watermelon Sugar” was released the same weekend as the ill-fated Charlie’s Angels reboot! -- and an unlikely path to pop ubiquity, to say the least.

Joe Lynch: I guess 9? It's super catchy and easy to get into, but it's just not the vibe of most 2019-2020 Hot 100 toppers – although given that Taylor Swift's "Cardigan" cozied up to the top slot last week, perhaps we're at a point in the pandemic where people are specifically turning to something that's a far cry from the top 40 norm for a break in monotony.

Lyndsey Havens: I'd say a 6. Three years ago (and still today) I thought that "Sign of the Times" could have and should have topped the chart, and then I thought that "Adore You" might finally do the trick. But people do say "third time's the charm" for a reason, and it makes sense that, after two strong top 10 singles, the continual growth of Fine Line well into 2020 and the strong promotional push, that this summer-ready, breezy pop-rock track has claimed the chart's top spot.

Stephen Daw: I'm clocking in at a solid 5 — it's surprising (to me, at least) that it took Harry Styles this long to log his first No. 1, but as soon as I heard "Watermelon Sugar," I was confident that, if a song off of Fine Line was going to reach the top of the Hot 100, it would be this one.

2. The success of Styles’ second album, Fine Line, has been one of the biggest stories in mainstream pop this year -- the album is still in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart eight months after its release. Why do you think Styles’ sophomore solo LP has resonated so well this year?

Andrew Unterberger: I wish I knew -- as do record company folks around the world, I imagine. It's a very good album and Harry is an extremely likeable star, but nothing about an album that feels largely like a tribute to '70s pop-rock and post-peak Paul McCartney would've struck me as an album to take him to that next level of stardom. He's just a star -- one with a big-enough gravitational pull to bend the mainstream to him -- and I won't underestimate him so easily again.

Jason Lipshutz: In 2020, artists like Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and 5 Seconds of Summer have all released top-notch pop full-lengths... but I have returned to Fine Line more than any of them. Part of that has to do with its sense of uplift and enthusiasm during a particularly trying year -- shout-out to “Treat People With Kindness” for snapping me out of some grade-A funks -- but Fine Line’s songs are stronger than those of Styles’ self-titled debut, the pacing is immaculate, the hits are far more effective and Styles is more comfortable in his own, ‘70s-pop-channeling skin. Fine Line is part throwback, part comfort food, part magnetic artistic presence, and remains an excellent front-to-back listen.

Joe Lynch: I think he's in a great spot in his career: not only has his 1D fan base embraced his maturing sound (which, to be fair, isn't a tough sell – this is very accessible pop-rock), but his gender-bending, classic rock-worshiping fashionista persona has expanded his listenership beyond the realm of card-carrying Directioners. Plus, it's an album that's crafted to last: this is meticulous studio pop that mostly eschews the tiresome trends and tricks most producers feel obligated to slap on a recording to make it feel “contemporary.” Fine Line occupies its own lane instead of competing against two-or-three new sound-alike albums a month.

Lyndsey Havens: Harry is the "perfect" pop star: his One Direction past earned him a built-in (and very dedicated) fan base, he’s mysterious enough but generous with his content, queen Stevie Nicks has become his number one fan, and, of course, he delivered an album filled with fantastic pop-rock hits and ballads. When Harry Styles arrived, fans had to adjust to Styles' sonic pivot. But by the time he delivered Fine Line, both Styles and his fans had matured -- and those pop-rock roots he planted years prior were in bloom. There was no adjustment period, and in my opinion, that allowed Fine Line to be immediately and repeatedly consumed.

Stephen Daw: There's a lot to be said for Harry's massive, mobilized fan base, and for his status as a burgeoning pop auteur in the modern era. But I think both of those facts only help uplift the fact that Fine Line is simply a great album. The songs aren't pigeonholed into one specific sound, yet they retain this classic, pop-rock finish to them that passes the minivan test; there's something for parents and kids in all of these songs.

3. Styles’ other Fine Line hit, “Adore You,” peaked at No. 6 earlier this year, and comes in at No. 12 this week. Are you a “Watermelon Sugar” person or an “Adore You” person?

Andrew Unterberger: I think "Adore You" is the better song, but I'm glad that "Watermelon Sugar" was the song to get him to No. 1. "Adore You" was the dead-center top 40 single -- and even "Falling" could've caught some post-"Someone You Loved" radio spillover -- but "Watermelon Sugar" is just pure Harry. He couldn't have asked for a better, more validating single to affirm his superstardom.

Jason Lipshutz: Hard to pick one, but give me “Watermelon Sugar” for the higher sing-along quality. Watching Styles perform Fine Line in its entirety at the Forum in Los Angeles last December included an arena of fans shouting “Watermelon sugar, HIGH!” -- and this was before the song was a chart-conquering hit. I suspect “Watermelon Sugar” is going to be a euphoric live staple in the coming years, which gives it the edge for me.

Joe Lynch: Definitely "Watermelon Sugar,“ a perfect, laid-back summer jam that gently uplifts without ever demanding attention. "Adore You" is solid but tailored for a specific topic, whereas "Watermelon Sugar" is the kind of softly buoyant treat that floats well in a variety of contexts.

Lyndsey Havens: I find it interesting that the two songs off Fine Line to stick around the chart's upper echelon are a bit similar-sounding. One of my favorite things about Styles is the risks he'll take, best evidenced by his debut solo single "Sign of the Times,” but also by Fine Line tracks like "Lights Up," "Falling" and "To Be So Lonely." But that's exactly what makes me a Harry Styles fan -- he's no one trick pony (insert joke about him heading in more than one direction), and while "Adore You" and "Watermelon Sugar" may not showcase his range, they've both become Styles standards for me. But to finally answer the question, I have to go with "Adore You" for the lyrics alone. I mean.... how can you compete, or argue, when he pleads like that?

Stephen Daw: They're both excellent songs, but if I had to pick, I'm partial to "Adore You." Sonically, the groovy bass line and stylized guitar riffs hit me right where I live. Lyrically, I respond a lot more to the "strawberry lipstick state of mind" than I do to something that "tastes like strawberries on a summer evening." But they both have strawberries in there, so it's a win either way!

4. Styles is now the second member of One Direction to score a solo No. 1, following Zayn with “Pillowtalk.” If you had to choose one of the other members -- Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson -- to someday score a No. 1 single, who would you put your money on?

Andrew Unterberger: Can't say the prospects for any of them reaching the Hot 100's peak are looking particularly robust right now, but if I had to choose one, I guess I'd say Liam. He has connections throughout the pop world that could result in him finding his way onto the right collab -- with buddy Post Malone, perhaps -- to find his way back to the top. Rooting for Louis, though! Go Louis!

Jason Lipshutz: I’m going to zag a little and go with Liam Payne, who scored an unexpected top 10 hit with the Quavo team-up “Strip That Down” and has been trying to recapture that magic in the years since. Payne’s solo debut didn’t offer any other standout singles, but he’s proven capable of headlining a rhythmic pop single that sticks around at radio, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he does so again over the next few years.

Joe Lynch: That's a tough question, because I could see Liam or Louis hopping on a track as a featured artist that goes all the way to the top. But if we're talking primary credited artist, it's gotta be Niall Horan, who has demonstrated probably the most solid catalog and sonic cohesion thus far of those three. Not saying it seems likely, but then again, when Fine Line dropped, who thought "Watermelon Sugar" would sweeten up the top spot on the Hot 100?

Lyndsey Havens: Justice for Niall's "No Judgement"! I played that song a lot when it first came out. But I actually think it's a smarter financial move to bet on Liam Payne, considering his strategy of collaboration. He's worked with Zedd, Quavo and Alesso, among others, and I wouldn't be all that surprised if in another year or so he lands on a track -- or a remix -- that shoots to No. 1 for the star power alone.

Stephen Daw: While Liam is the only other member to get one of his songs into the Top 10 of the Hot 100, I'm putting my chips down on Niall. Heartbreak Weather turned out to be a pretty fun record, and I remain convinced that "Black and White" is going to have a second life (much like "Watermelon Sugar”)!

5. Finish this sentence: at next year’s Grammy Awards, Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” will __________.

Andrew Unterberger: ...be shut out. It may score Harry his first nomination or two -- either solo or with 1D -- but considering how the Recording Academy has given him the cold shoulder so far, and seeing how overlooked he was even among this year's VMAs nods, I don’t know if I see him taking home his first Gramophone for it. (Uh-oh, looks like I'm easily underestimating him again -- never mind, I say the song sweeps.)

Jason Lipshutz: ...be nominated for record of the year, and Fine Line will be nominated for album of the year, and justice will have finally been served to Styles, who has yet to garner a single nomination over the course of his career. Will either win? It’s too early to say, but I like Fine Line’s chances at this point.

Joe Lynch: ...sow seeds of discontent; the Grammys will continue to ignore Harry Styles, and the fans will unleash their exasperation on Twitter with the machine gun-rapidity of a cartoon character spitting out watermelon seeds.

Stephen Daw: ...probably get nominated for record of the year. It would be worthy of a spot in the song of the year and best pop solo performance categories as well, but something tells me that if one of his songs were to be nominated for those categories, "Adore You" stands a better chance. While it would be great to see Harry win, if he were nominated in this category, he'd likely be going up against the likes of Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd and/or Megan Thee Stallion, and I just don't think he'd be able to clinch the ROTY win with that kind of competition.

Lyndsey Havens: ...still taste like strawberries on a summer evenin’.

[kuramirocket]

“In Lak’ech 

Tu eres mi otro yo/ You are my other me.

Si te hago daño a ti/ If I do harm to you,

Me hago daño a mi mismo/ I do harm to myself.

Si te amo y respeto/ If I love and respect you,

Me amo y respeto yo/ I love and respect myself.”

In the Tucson High Magnet School located in Arizona, high school students enrolled in Mexican American Studies (MAS) would start their day reciting this poem by Luis Valdez, signifying unity, oneness, and love. Their echoed words would fill their classrooms and celebrate their humanity with respect and empathy. But when the MAS program was banned and eliminated by Arizona lawmakers in 2010, it failed to silence students’ voices or deter their unity. Their passion and echoed chants caused an uproar across their communities in Arizona, and ultimately led to the rise of an Ethnic Studies movement nationwide.

The Mexican American Studies Program

Established in 1998, the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program was designed to motivate students and equip them with the tools to become agents of change within their communities. In a school district where Hispanic students made up the majority,  the MAS program was necessary to assist and guide students in reaching their full academic potential. Although it was not the first school to offer ethnic studies classes, Tucson Unified School District became the first to implement it at a district-wide level. 

And it worked. 

Over the next 13 years, the program flourished and more than 1,300 students had enrolled in these classrooms. The high school dropout rate for MAS students decreased significantly, at 2.5%, a notable contrast to the 56% drop out rates for Latino students, nationally, at that time. In addition, MAS students were found to academically improve, achieve high performing state tests, and enroll in college. 

“I had been in their classes for quite a while and when I was in their classes I was like ‘Woah! This is happening in public schools?’ Just to be in those classes, even the physical aspect and the feeling of coming into those rooms, the way they were decorated, the love from the teachers, the sense of belonging of the students was just like night and day from the rest of the school,”  states Anita Fernández, a scholar activist from Prescott College in Arizona and Director of XITO, the Xicanx Institute for Teaching and Organizing. 

In these classes, students learned about art, history, literature, government, and contemporary issues through the lens of the Mexican American experience in the U.S. 

They would participate in numerous activities, such as reading passages from Chicano authors, analyzing hip-hop/rap lyrics and connecting it to pop culture. They would write research papers about contemporary issues like poverty, school segregation, etc. 

“But I also had in the back of my mind, ‘they are going to come after you. There is no way this is going to fly…’” recalls Anita Fernández. 

HB2281 and SB1070

Sure enough, in 2008 the Mexican American Studies program became under scrutiny as a group of legislators began to openly attack the MAS program. Former state superintendent, Tom Horne, believed the Mexican American classes were meant to indoctrinate students and create hatred for other races by breeding ethnic solidarity. In 2010, with the new appointed Arizona Governor, HB2281 was signed and passed, banning the MAS program.

According to the bill, no school district or charter school in the state of Arizona, could include any programs or instructions containing the following:

1. Promotion of the overthrow of the United States government

2. Promotion of resentment toward a race or class of people 

3. Curricular design for pupils of a particular ethnic group

3. Ethnic solidarity advocacy instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals

If schools were not found compliant, the State of Arizona would withhold up to 10% of district funding, which would be restored once the schools were found compliant with the law. 

This bill was passed one month after the enactment of Arizona’s SB 1070; one of the strictest anti-immigrant laws in U.S. history. 

“[SB1070] was really, really scary and really dehumanizing as well for the families and the young people. Then, very shortly after, 2281 was signed into law which said, ‘your history and your culture are illegal. It is illegal to teach about that in this state…’ The law was really written to attack that specific program, even though it was state legislation,” explains Anita Fernández.

This was a dangerous time to be a person of color in Arizona. Not only were individuals racially profiled, stopped, and arrested, students were now restricted from learning certain subjects that taught them about agency, community involvement, and cultural pride. In fact, many books written by Mexican American authors were banned from the classrooms. Books like,  House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, and other nationally-awarded books were banned from the classrooms.

Movement and Countermovements

As a response to this bill, Tucson, Arizona became a state of resilience. Community organizing and student-led protests infiltrated Tucson, as students pushed back on the legislator’s decisions.

On April 26, 2011, nine students had chained themselves to chairs at one of the TUSD board meetings in an act of civil disobedience to protest the banning of Mexican American Studies. Holding microphones, they sat inside the TUSD boardroom and chanted,

“When Our education is under attack, what do we do?”

“Fight back!”

These students belonged to a group called United Non-Discriminatory Individuals Demanding Our Studies (UNIDOS), a grassroots, radical youth collective founded in January 2011 to defend ethnic studies, and the MAS program in particular. UNIDOS also organized walkouts through Tucson Magnet High School, hosted educational workshops, and community-wide events. 

But the protests didn’t just stop in Arizona. 

National media coverage of the protests reached California and Texas, where they started to take matters into their own hands. In Houston, Texas, a group of Chicano writers, poets, artists, and activists, including author and professor, Tony Diaz, came together and coined the term, Librotrafricantes, book smugglers. Soon after, a caravan formed and the book smugglers traveled from San Antonio to El Paso, then, Albuquerque, and finally Tucson, handing out copies of banned books to communities and local libraries. 

In Los Angeles, California, Jose Lara, a social studies teacher raised recommendations to incorporate their own Mexican American Studies classes within LA school districts, motivated by the protests in Arizona. With the help of his campaign, other districts in San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura county explored the inclusion of ethnic studies in their curriculum. Soon after, the Los Angeles school board approved the requirement and a few weeks later, the San Francisco School board ordered every school district to offer ethnic studies. 

Meanwhile, educators back in Arizona, like Anita Fernandez, took steps to defend the curriculum.

“When the program was banned, Curtis Acosta [one of the MAS teachers] said ,‘I’m not allowed to teach Chicano literature…I have to teach Chicano literature to these young people,’ recalls, Fernández. 

Sure enough, with the help of Anita, Curtis Acosta, and former MAS educators, they continued to carry out the legacy of the program through a Sunday school platform. 

“He said,  ‘I don’t know if the youth will show up,’ and 10 youth showed up to continue taking the classes. He and I partnered together and I said, ‘What if we could get Prescott College, (where I teach), to actually award college credit for the Sunday classes?’ So they did, and that was the launch of how we continued this work that is so critical and has been so successful, outside of Arizona, because it was illegal here. This is how we started to develop, XITO, in response to the banning of the program here.”

XITO, the Xicano Institute of Teaching and Organizing serves as an urban education consulting collective where they instruct teachers and school staff on how to develop an ethnic studies curriculum. The institute’s members travel the country hosting workshops and professional development training to help communities create ethnic studies programs for their specific school districts. With the use of a culturally responsive and rehumanizing pedagogy approach, XITO creates spaces for teachers and administrators to learn the tools to establish inclusive learning environments within their own classrooms.

“It is a rebuilding, a reimagining of what education spaces look like whose knowledge is centered in those spaces and legitimacy is given to RAZA, BIPOC folks by using these method.”

Currently, Anita Fernandez and other XITO members are working with the San Jose Unified School District to design their first ethnic studies curriculum while simultaneously training teachers for these courses.

Nationwide Uprising

After a seven-year long fight, Federal Judge A. Wallace Tashima, ruled that state law (HB2281)was unconstitutional and based on racial animus in August 2017.

Although the MAS program was replaced in 2013 with  a culturally-relevant curriculum, the Tucson district does not have any plan to reimplement MAS back into the curriculum. Still, the ethnic studies protests, organizing, and resilience led to the upbringing of a push for ethnic studies nationwide.

“The whole wave of ethnic studies that we are seeing right now…they were inspired by the program in Tucson. Even though the community here has been devoid of having that opportunity, what has grown in all these other places was influenced by the banning of the program here. It really highlighted the importance of ethnic studies,” affirms Fernández.

The growth of Ethnic Studies

Texas: Mission High School became one of the first public schools in the state to offer a Mexican American studies course after the Texas State Board of Education allowed schools to include ethnic-studies curriculum.

Seattle, Washington: A growing group of students and educators in the Puget Sound region spent their summer this year designing curriculum in science, math, English, history and other subjects that focus on the experiences of people of color. 

Oregon: In 2016, Governor Kate Brown signed an ethnic studies state-wide requirement legislation, making it the only state that now offers ethnic studies curriculum in K-12.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Launched a new ethnic studies program for all 13 of its high schools in 2017 and offer courses with Hispanic-American, African-American, Native-American, and Asian-American content.

California: Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed AB540 requiring all California State Universities to offer courses in African American, Asian American, Latino/a American and Native American studies. Now, California is pushing to establish ethnic studies as a graduation requirement for all of California’s K-12 public-school students.

They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds

Although the growing movement of ethnic studies has spread like a wildfire, the fight for ethnic studies is not over. Recently, the Trump administration ordered  federal agencies to eliminate anti-racism training focused on critical race theory and white privilege, casting these ideas as un-American and encapsulating the same narrative that dismantled the MAS program.

The Mexican American Program in the Tucson School District gave the education world a small look into what could be a future education system that speaks to students of color and their experiences. But it also gave us a look into the unintended consequences and results when taking this powerful knowledge away from students, and why today, we need it more than ever.

As Cesar Chavez once said, “Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.” 

[atrixfromice]

This might sound like a silly question, but is there something you regret having done on the artistic field?

Oh don't worry, for me there's no silly questions, all questions are great questions and worthy to be answered! And this one is particularly interesting! :D

Frankly, I've always thought I had no regrets on that regard, it's until now I received this question that I started thinking about this XD

...Mmmhh...

In fact, in regards of art I have not much regrets, because all of the tests and good or bad experiences that I've had in the art field have made me flourish and grow up as an artist, and learn a lot of things. They have helped me to become the artist I'm now. And I'm happy and grateful for that.  

I think if I regret about something, I regret more the stuff I didn't do that the stuff I did.

I think I regret of only two things actually.

The first: I regret of not listening my instinct and not having made a contract on my first art job opportunity.

When I was on collegue I met a teacher who worked on the collegue I was studying, who wanted me to illustrate a kids book he was writting. He made me read it, and I liked his story very much, and he seemed to be very nice and

understanding about me doing this for him on my free time cos I had also college classes, so I felt happy and excited to work with him. I should have been mistrustful with him I think. But I think I’d never have been able to predict what was going to happen next...

He said that as he didn't have much money at the moment he couldn'tpay me, but that he was going to "promote me on his social networks" and "give me my payment when the realease of the book could give him earnings"

I actually suspected of that, something deep inside me screamed it was just too good to be true. I rememmber Faik told me "no don't do that! No without a written contract, I feel there's a cat locked up in here" (the equivalent of the phrase "there’s something fishy here" in english) and he was right. Oooh so right!

To make the story short, the end the guy made me work for free off classes on my free time, for 1 month! I made a few illustrations for his work and later, not only he never promoted my artwork on his social networks as he promised. But he finished his book but didn't published it because "at that time he had "no enough money and publishing a book was very expensive" (as he said) so he never payed me any of the work I did!!!

Of course, I was very upset and I insisted him to pay me, but we had no contract, so even if I had tried to sue him, I think it wouldn't have helped. At the end he blocked me from his social networks and since then we never haved talked again.

The second thing I regret:  Is the fact of having spend a lot of time on kid and teen years making art and writting about the physiology and biology of my alien characters, instead of taking care of the other aspects of my story.

Because now I realize that nobody is interested or wants to know about that!

I was a shy girl, a science nerd with no friends who would want to hang out with her because they considered my hobbies and tastes odd or silly. So I spent my years my childhood and my adolescence creating histories and characters in hope to one day publish a succesful graphic novel, comic book or animated cartoon, and like that attracting people who would share my personal tastes and passions and be friends with them.

An that was a good idea in itself, but I think I didn't organize well my priorities.

I was so dumb and naive to think something like that would ever make people feel interested and excited to know about...

I mean, instead of passing most of that time drawing and writting about how the nervous system, the osseous system, the reproductive system, the reproductive organs, the the circulatory system, etc, was going to be. Now I realize I should have spent my time working with the plot, sceneries, places, and spaceships designs, and drawing ALL THAT out.  

Because, let's face it. I think these kind of little details are cool cos they give realism to a sci-fi universe, but is because I'm a dork! LOL

An average person doesn't care how an alien pisses or eats or breaths, or have sex, or how their reproductive organs look like. Or how their brain works.

Average people don't want to know why Faikel's feet can step on water without sinking, or why Nathius can jump up and fall from a 3 meter high without breaking his back.

The majority of people just want action and adventure and cool sceneries and landscapes on their sci-ci movies and shows. And to leave the rest to the imagination.

So yes, I regret a lot about this. I regret deeply.

Specially now I have to redesing Polaris (the spaceship that had no name but now it does), Anthur (the space station where Polaris will land on), Geerox (Faikel's planet) and Patch (Nathius planet) Tuloc (the planet where the other two aliens who are main characters in the crew come from), and The space patrol hidden Headquarters. And I'm spending a bad time with this because the older desings and art concepts I have for them are awfull! They're sooooo awful!!! XD They are from when I was 13 years old and they make me feel embarassed as hell! XD

And that is what I did draw, now imagine  all the other places/sceneries I have to do FROM ZERO because I never put my ideas for them on paper!

So yeah, that's all what I regret of, hehe

I think the lession I learned from this is: 1. To always make acontract when working as a pro artist. Or at least think about it before doing it without contract.

and 2. What people want to see the most on their sci-ci lore and folklore is cool spaceships and sceneries. And the rest they prefer to leave it as a mystery or unknown.

...I just wish someone have warned me about this! XD