#i think hake was crushing day one
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This is probably a strange ask, and I’m sure it’s just my aroace self having no understanding of anything lol, but was Hake & Tusk’s relationship intended to be romantic? Just for clarification’s sake :p
i personally view them at the start of a romantic journey, but they could also be read as platonic. They didn’t know each other very long, but they loved each other and were planning to raise a child together, and i think they would have been life partners had things gone differently.
#Answers#i think hake was crushing day one#And tusk realized she liked him more than she meant to when she first got to the caves after the willow tree talk#Because she was definitely just using him to get free food and then oops he’s nice and kind of funny#Too bad about the cult thing#But i can fix him#-tusk thoughts
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the play pt. 1- maddy perez
Summary: you attend lexis play
a/n: thanks for the support on my maddy fics! also y/cn means your characters name in lexis play. thx for 200 followers! and since the show is over for a while, i will write a few drabbles pre s1/during s1
“I met Y/CN through Hallie actually. They’d known each other longer than they knew Marta. She was the quiet friend, who never went to parties and babysat her friend’s younger sister when the older would go to parties as a freshman.”
“Ya know I’m like 14, I don’t need a babysitter.” Lexi groans. “I know, but your mom said we were supposed to watch you and…Cassie dipped on me.” The younger girl frowns, watching you as you look at your one card UNO deck with a slight frustration.
“My go?” Lexi nods, as you put a card down, making her groan. “UNO OUT BABY!”
“Hallie knew Y/CN was a good friend. She also knew she was in love with her. Hallie knew how to take advantage, and I sadly watched from the sidelines. Eventually though…I noticed Y/CN had actually developed feelings for someone else who treated her better. Marta.”
“So…do you like me?” Maddy asks, making you gulp. “No…I don’t really like straight girls…” Maddy smirks, crossing her legs. “Who said that?” You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion.
“Said what?”
“That I was straight. I like to think I like everyone.”
“Even girls?”
“Why not? I don’t see a problem with it.” Lexi looks between you as you try to keep your composure.
“It was sad to watch Y/CN pine over Marta, so I hatched an idea! Kissing practice. It was pervy, I know, but Y/CN actually needed because when she’d shown me on her own it was atrocious.” The audience laughs as you bury your face in your hands. Maddy giggles, hugging your side.
“So…we just…kiss? Wh-“ Before you could continue, Maddy grabs your head, connecting your lips. You both got into it, and it lasted way longer than you expected. When you separated your eyes were still closed.
“Wanna go again?” Your eyes shot open. “Again?” You gasp. “Practice makes perfect.” She batted her eyelashes, and you look hypnotized almost. “Okay.”
“It was like a forbidden love story, at least until Jake came along…”
You sat at a bench with Maddy, talking about having dinner at your house. That was until a silver Ford pulled up on the sidewalk. “Yo, Maddy!” Maddy looks up at the truck, a glint in her eyes.
“I’m gonna take you out, come on!” He completely ignored you as usual. Unsurprisingly, so did she. She jumped in his car, without even an utter of a goodbye.
“Crazily enough, we both listened to each other and gave advice. As Jade slowly drifted away, Y/CN swooped in. She was a great friend, and actually listened and cared about me. She’d told me once she thought Jake was like Midas but with the plague.” The crowd laughs as Nate’s jaw clenched.
“I always wondered what Marta had seen in Jake that wasn’t better in Y/CN.” Maddy wondered that too. “I don’t know if Y/CN ever told Marta, but she told me about the time…”
You noticed Maddy had been on a break with Nate, which was a good feeling for you sort of. She’d said that Nate was definitely gonna grovel at her feet and beg for her back on Valentine’s day, but he didn’t. Shocker.
So you bought her a large bouquet of roses, and got to school extra early, already knowing her code, you placed them in there, with a note.
Love you,
X
Nate
If only you had the confidence to just put your own name.
“That was you?” You don’t answer, continuing to watch. “You guys are like…meant for each other.” ‘Hallie’ says. So the play went on past Lexi, with your permission considering when it was still in the works you both reconnected, mentioning your long crush on Maddy, with a small mention about Jules.
She began to delve into ‘Marta and Jake’, and then there was a very eventful and stellar performance of “I Need A Hero.” from Ethan as Hake, which obviously pissed Nate off because he walked out and never came back.
When everyone had given a standing ovation, and the set was changing, you felt as though something was going to happen, and then you looked behind.
It was Cassie, breathing like she was a dinosaur in Jurassic Park. “What the hell…”
That was when she stormed inside, a determined face, you glanced where she had her eyes trained, and stood up to stop her, holding her arm. “What the fuck are you doing, Cassie?!” She tries to move out of your hold but you grip her a bit harder.
“Let go of me, Y/N!” You refused to let go, and she resorted to kicking you in the shin. She walks off as you caress your leg. “Ow! You bitch!” She flips you off as she walks onto the stage.
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Hope (I Lava You) Kylo Ren x reader)
Summary: Soulmate AU where you can talk to your soulmate though the force. Based off of a short film from Disney.
Word Count: 1912
Warnings: Mentions of death.
Requested: No
Ben Solo thew his lightsaber onto his dresser and sat on his bed, running his hands though his hair with a grunt. After training with Luke all day, Luke had the audacity to correct his form. Luke didn't understand him. No one did. Not his parents, his uncle Chewie, or the other padawans. Ben only wanted one person to see things the way he does. One person to know where his head goes. Ben wanted someone to see his flaws and accept who he was. Ben Solo wanted a soulmate.
With this idea of talking to her he sat on the floor, crossing his legs as he begun to replay the words that always came when he though of her. He did this every day after training for nearly two years now. His hope being the only thing keeping him from going insane.
I have one wish. A wish to meet you that one day I'll get to be alone with you. See all the stars in your eyes. See all ones in mine. I hope that the force carried in dark blue, brings me closer to the day I get to be there with you. Maybe the force between the planets above will grant me my little dove. Oh how much I really need you.
--
Years without response from the force made Ben finally turn to the dark side, his heart ultimately filled with hatred. He assumed that he didn't have a soulmate.
He watched his mom fall in love with his dad every single day before he was sent to train with Luke and finally came to terms that he would never get that kind of peace and tranquility. Now after his first day of training with Snoke, he is officially on the dark side. No more meditating to some stupid girl he never met.
Kylo Ren, Ben Solo's new identity, walk into his private quarters. He begins to strip his more unnecessary layers of black, starting with his helmet and ending with his boots ultimately leaving him in a tank top and his boxers. After the completely different training style from Luke's, that he is so not use to yet, he make moves to prepare for a shower.
I have one wish. A wish to meet you that one day I'll get to be alone with you. See all the stars in your eyes. See all ones in mine. I hope that the force carried in dark blue, brings me closer to the day I get to be there with you. Maybe the force between the planets above will grant me my little dove. Oh how much I really need you.
With the water running down his back he feels something in the force pull at him.
--
He was not aware of the outcast on the planet of Dantooine. She wasn't a light force user but she wasn't a dark force users either. She was in the middle, believing that one can not exist without the other. She aligned more with the dark force rather then the light because the light side saw her ideas as a threat. She always felt out of place and alone until she heard a voice though the force. She listened to it everyday when she got ready for her chores and though maybe he was asking for her. She wanted so desperately to respond but couldn't communicate though the blinding ideals of the light side.
So she waited and she waited and practiced using the light side until she though she was ready to respond to this man. But on the day she was ready to respond back was when she stopped hearing him. She didn't know what happened to make him stop but she though maybe she should try to reach out regardless.
She talked in her head, trying to communicate though the light force. Trying to reach him. She though about how she would respond and gave her prayer back into the light.
I have this wish. A wish to meet you so one day I'll get to be somewhere new. See all the stars in my eyes. And all ones in yours. I hope that the force carried in dark blue, brings me closer to the day I get to be alone with you. Maybe the force between my planet above will grant you your little dove. Oh how much I really love you.
--
Kylo tried to cut off all ties with the light side but he knew if he did that then he would never find this girl. He knew that if he didn't keep this a secret then she could be hunted down by the first order and executed for being a distraction. He worked really hard on hiding his thoughts from his master. He worked on building his mental wall but he learned later on that it wouldn't be enough to save her.
"You are conflicted Ren. I can feel it in you." Snoke accused.
Kylo, keeled in front of his master, stayed silent as he was lectured.
"It's your father. You know what you have to do." Snoke ordered.
Once Kylo was dismissed he went to the bridge where his father, Han Solo, was. Kylo looked around, walking out on the bridge. He knew his dad was there but didn't know where.
"BEN!!" Han Solo shouted from the other side of the bridge.
Kylo froze. He hadn't heard that name in years. He pivots around to face his father. "Han Solo." He pauses, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
His dad takes cautious step towards his son pausing when he got too close. A door opens above, blinding the dark corridor in a pale white light.
"Take off that mask. You don't need it." The elder Solo claimed as he continued to meet the darker version of his only child. Han stops a few paces before the Commander of the First Order.
"What do you think you'll see if I do?" Kylo asks.
"The face of my son." Han states.
Kylo can feel shock but can't tell from who. He mulls over the idea before deciding to give in and with a hiss, he takes his mask off and holds it by his side firmly.
They locks eyes. "Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish like his father so I destroyed him." Kylo lied.
Han took more steps to the middle of the bridge. A bridge which he now realized had no safety railing and wondered if this is a good idea but he promised his soulmate, Leia, Ben's mother, that he would do everything in his power to turn their son back so if that meant risking his life for his son then he'd do it for Leia.
"That's what Snoke wants you to believe but its not true. My son is alive." Han speaks, knowing what he says is true.
"No." Kylo contradicts calmly but the calmness in the situation was wearing quite thin. "The Supreme Leader is wise."
"Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants he'll crush you." The iconic smuggler is now face to face with his biggest regret. It was his idea to send Ben to train with Luke. "You know it's true."
"It's too late." Kylo though out loud.
"No it's not. Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you." Han interrupts.
Kylo knew his words to be true and it makes him sad. He can't verbally say what he's thinking so he eases a though into his dads subconscious. There's a girl. She's my hope. I'm planning on killing Snoke.
Stricken with grief he speaks, " I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain."
Han saw this coming. He's glad for a second at the though of his son being happy but in the end knows he'll have to sacrifice himself to keep his son alive long enough to see the end of his story. Han knew Kylo finding his soulmate was more dangerous then him abandoning the Order. Han knew that no one would be able to protect his son from that. However this was his chance to try.
"I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." Kylo continued. He really didn't want to kill his dad but hoped that he understood. And hope was a dangerous thing. "Will you help me?" Kylo asked.
"Yes. Anything." Han responded instantly.
Kylo finally drops his mask, watching it fall and reaches for his lightsaber on his belt. He holds it at chest level to his dad's abdomen. Han looks down acknowledging the red bladed weapon. When Kylo holds it in front of Han, almost like an offering, Han hakes it, finding the ignition button.
Letting his son go on thinking he killed his father was not a burden Han wanted to put on his son. He would be the one to turn the saber on. The light from the weapon of the planet was gone, leaving darkness and a dull red light.
Kylo ignited the cross-guarded saber into Han's abdomen when everyone was distracted. Pain filling Han's mind as he heard his best friend scream his name. Kylo pushed the blade in all the way up to the hilt and turned off his weapon. "Thank you."
His dad placed a shaky hand onto his cheek as a response, before falling at the hand of his son pushing him off the bridge.
Kylo heard Chewie yell his disappointment as his surrogate uncle blasted a shot to his abdomen.
--
A year has passed since the event of his father and a few months since he killed Snoke. With the help of the technology the First Order has access to, he was finally able to track down the planet he though the girl was on. Dantooine.
Ben nervously stood outside of a farming community. He knew she was there but he didn't' know who she was. He was waiting to hear her pray again. It was just before daybreak and after waiting all night he was beginning to think he was wrong.
I have this wish. A wish to meet you so one day I'll get to be somewhere new. See all the stars in my eyes. And all ones in yours. I hope that the force carried in dark blue, brings me closer to the day I get to be alone with you. Maybe the force between my planet above will grant you your little dove. Oh how much I really love you.
There! Kylo followed the pull in his chest to a small cottage at the end of town. He saw though a small window a girl sitting in front of her bed, hand clasped together, elbows resting on the fabric of her blanket. He was too frighten to knock so instead he responded to her.
I have one wish. A wish to meet you that one day I'll get to be alone with you. See all the stars in your eyes. See all ones in mine. I hope that the force carried in blue, brings me closer to the day I get to be with you. Maybe the force between the planets above will grant me my little dove. Oh how much I love you.
Started by the response she spun around, only to lock eyes with Ben.
#kylo ren#kylo ren x reader#kylo redemption#bendemption#ben solo#han solo#soulmate au#kylo#kylo trash#kylo x you#kylo ren x you#ben#first order#au#star wars#star wars tfa#star wars tlj#star wars trs#star wars saga#i lava you#disney#oneshot#starwars
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back to the start
so I really love this little profile I have. I think I have 20 followers top, and thank goodness no one that I know in real life. I can write in English without feeling a know-it-all because it’s not my first language. for some reason, writing in some other language when it’s not your first one seems snobbish and fake. but, truth is, I love writing in English. it makes me think twice about what I am writing. also, since I am studying totally in English, it just feels natural. anywhere else this would have come across as snobbish, fake, and again, back to the know-it-all.
it must be a pretty stressful period for me if I am just vomiting words in English. I must be struggling a lot, so much in fact that I feel the need to switch to another language and just write down some thoughts, because honestly, they are becoming too much. or too many, it depends on the point of view I suppose. that phrase was too long, should have stopped somewhere there. oh well.
what feels so heavy? what is that too much? in Italian we have this little saying that I love: the drop that made the vase overflow. it is just so powerful.
let’s proceed with some semblance order, shall we?
last week, this guy I barely knew from our local volleyball community (which is part of the max championship in Italy for volleyball, but still, since soccer exists, it feels like neighbourhood even if the other team is thousands of kilometres apart. BUT I will not start ranting about that now, and here). again, this guy I barely exchanged two words with answers my instagram story. I answered laughing, because really, it was the only possible way, and he writes again. I don’t remember about what, but it doesn’t matter. no, what matters is that then he wrote again. and again. it went on the whole morning, from work, to lunch, to uni, to home. at the end of the day he bid me goodnight.
two noticeable things here.
1. I usually tire pretty fast if I’m talking about nonsense. always been a pragmatic girl, if we talk it must be about something. and the fact that I don’t remember a single world about it, other than HE gave me his phone number and HE carried on with the chat, proves that it was, in fact, chat about non sense. idle things, little nothings, so many ways to paraphrase this, I love writing in English.
2. let me ask this as a question: do you usually bid goodnight to people you just met? I’ll answer honestly: yes, if it’s late enough and we’re tired and the conversation led to that. it did. goodnight, no kisses, no smiles, just that. what’s strange then? nothing, for now.
but going on, the following morning I wake up with a good morning. and a reference to the instagram story that started it all. and the conversation began again. bla bla blas really. I don’t grow tired of it, which when I stop for a second and think about it strucks me as strange, but hey, maybe finally... evidently, it must be the same for him, because he writes of everything and anything. what did he have for lunch, was the salad good and what was the lesson about? he bids me goodnight that night too. and good morning, and goodnight, and goodmorning and...
“what do you say? should we grab a bite somewhere? when you’re free?”
this was the third day. he mentioned something about coming to my grans to steal a bit of cake, it was my fathers birthday, but not seriously. that question was just that, but a question it was. almost shy, and it felt like a wind of spring (don't think this exists in English, “ventata di primavera”, Italian, a bit of freshness to put it simply)
crap, I must accelerate, dinners almost ready.
ok, so, I sort of avoid answering that question, mainly because it seemed too much and too soon for my standards, but also because apparently, we were both busy people, and there was no space to meet until next week. and the conversation goes on and on, so much so that I tell my mother. I’m usually pretty enthusiastic when these things happen, it’s just that good feeling that I get to feel sadly very rarely. but, this time, even my imagination wanted to be careful, to go slowly. please let this not be another asshole. I have started cataloguing those assholes per month.(with my friends, we call them human cases, but I don’t know if it makes sense in English. basically they are assholes, but with many different problems too, usually in their head. nobody’s perfect, definitely not me, but it’s like I have a radar to detect the worst ones out there.)
anyway, stop digressing, he mentions going out daily, but not insistently, and then, the genius. you see, we have two friends in common. one is my best friends, and she comes to the sport place where the volley matches are so the guy and her know each other. but he also knows my best friend’s boyfriend, so it came naturally to organise dinner with them included in the equation. it made me feel a lot better, because the first time alone... it’s not my forte let’s just leave it at that. great, so on with the conversation, not so smoothly because really, it looks like he’s not interested in anything other than soccer. no Harry Potter, no marvel, no books, no movies, no music. apparently he works and he plays soccer. stop. but I tell myself not to worry, because the topics will come, we will create them without even noticing. fast forward to Tuesday, the day before the dinner. I was at uni, law lesson (yeey) when he writes me: I have to ask you something, when do you get out of there? suuuuure man, no anxiety here eh? don’t worry, nothing serious, it’s just a long thing and I didn't want to distract you. nice. pity that lessons have a break, I inform him of such, and he starts writing.
it goes like this, pretty much
- ok so it may seem trivial but just answer “yes” or “no”, it’s just for me, forgive me in advance
(again, I’m not a ball of anxiety, nooo) so I tell him to just ask because I’m starting to get nervous. and here he goes
- I just wanted to understand what this dinner means to you, you know, if there is a second meaning behind.
stop. here is where I remind you, that HE did it ALL. he started everything, from the very beginning. My mind starts spinning around trying to see where I went wrong, where was the mistake, because really, the change was so abrupt that I had a neck-hake. so I ask him what it means a second meaning? of course we are not going out like after a match, (YOU HAVE BEEN FREAKING WRITNG ME FOR A WEEK FOR GODS SAKE), we are going out to get to know each other. why are you asking this?
- just wanted to clarify that I’m not looking for anything more than being friends really.
now, I must point out that I tend to vomit words when I’m upset (really? did I need to specify given what you are reading? no), and god, was I upset. he writes me, he asks me out, he organises and HE FRIEND-ZONES me even before we officially see each other for the first time. what the hell. so I send an audio that perfectly shows that I’m upset, tells him I have to go back to lesson, answer “ok” to a question I don't even read and proceed to ignore him.
I ask for the opinion of 4 girls, those people that are a jewel and I couldn’t live without them seriously so I have the desperate need to see what they think about it. all of the answer, in less mild tones: well, he is very much confused. add insult here and there. more or less everywhere. I love my friends.
but then my mum comes. I cannot hide a single thought from her. she just seed through, it’s always been like this. so I vomit again all the conversation, and what happens?
she hugs me and confronts me.
she starts telling me that I lash out, that I get angry and upset too easily, that I keep everyone out. the problem with my mother is that she tells the right things (it is true, I know my faults, they are plenty and these are certainly included and spot on) but she tells them in the wrong way. and she repeats the concept. and before I know it, I am crying, the ugly crying, because really, it was the last thing I wanted to do, and she goes on and on in listing out why I am wrong.
ten minutes after my mind is a circle of those faults, I just am damaged. I am a wrong girl, with a stone instead of a heart, with no kindness in my blood. let’s be clear, she didn't tell me this. but she told me those above, and these are just a natural continuation.
now you’re exaggerating, you’ll tell me. well, no, not really, because my last boyfriend was when I was 13, then high school started, I got fat, and I was wrong because of that. when I got less fat, I didn't want to go out, because obviously in my mind I was still too fat for that, so all the first three years of high school are out of the window. (for those not Italians, that means from 14 to 16/17). And she is always there, not telling me once that I was pretty. I was a teenager, my mind was a very dark place, I was surrounded by black.
By miracle, I came out of it, sort of, when I changed swimming group. there I met a guy that I had a crush on for two years straight. is it a crush if it lasts so long? I don’t think so, but I refuse to think it was more. so a crush it was. the problem is, when he leads you on, and then goes back. on, back. on, back. and one night, at two in the morning, he has the brilliant idea to inform you that he has a girlfriend. IN FREAKING TURKEY. he met her in Cambridge last summer, they were trying the long distance. not a chance, but here go two years of my life.
so hearing my mother saying those things, goodness did it hurt. I never cry. never. I can count the times I cried since I was 10 on one hand. three of them were because of my mother. fat, asocial, stone-hearted.
how did it end? we got out, had fun, nothing special but nothing unpleasant either, and since his request was “just friends” I bid him goodbye with my hand. you know the little emoji, that one.
the following morning doesn’t write, so for lunch, for the first time, I start, by asking him if he’s alive. yes he is, struggling to get the hamburger to stay down, pretty busy. the end.
so here I am, three days after, in need to process everything, because really, I didn’t want him to be the asshole of may, but apparently he is. and now my mind feels a bit lighter, finally, even with finals coming up and the fight with my mother still in the air.
I am damaged, I know I am. my family history for what concerns relationship has very few success, a lot of failure, so I am quite resigned. but maybe I am still hoping (god knows how, because I certainly don’t) for someone to see something else, something more than a heart of stone. so if someone hears this wish, since my “name” is typing-dreams, please please please...
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Strange Catch: TSRF Week Two
“I think we caught a fucking rock,” Birdy huffs, hauling at her end of the trawler net.
“Seal,” you suggest as the net heaves and buckles beneath the waves. Whatever you’ve caught is heavy, but too lively to be stone.
“Fat seal,” she says, and you both pull the net over the rail.
Cod and hake and pollack spill across the dark wood deck of your húicéir, but the beast in the net can’t free itself. It screams, high and painful as hooves thrash against wood, scraping bits of pine and pitch loose.
“Jesus Mary!” Birdy swears.
The capall uisce screams again, and another, larger water horse surfaces from the sea, screaming even louder.
The one in your boat is a little thing, all coltish legs and red blood streaking down a hide that flashes sliver as a salmon.
The big capall still in the sea gives the little caught one a terrible glare and huff before sinking down into the dark. The húicéir rocks slightly as the capall bumps it from below.
“Easy, easy, you silly fish,” you tell the capall tangled in your net. It bleeds from a gaping wound on its hind. “You’ll hurt yourself worse, ya big eejit.”
“We should push it back,” Birdy says.
“And let it get eaten?”
“It’s a capall, Doran, not a dog,” she snaps.
The capall has stopped screaming. It looks at you with one big, liquid dark eye, the white ring stark around it. It’s cut itself on the rope from pulling against the net, and more blood trickles down its legs.
“Dogs’ll bite when they’re scared too,” you say. You slide up close to the capall. It exhales, a loud, harsh sound, but stays still. Its sides tremble with effort.
“There we are, mo chara. Be still and I’ll get you out.” Your fingers slide through the damp strings of mane, down its neck, and your eyes are locked on its. Its hide quivers beneath your fingers. “Ceartaigh,” you tell it soft, as if it were an unruly milking cow, and your little fishing knife goes snicker-snack through the rope.
The capall squeals as though you cut the net, displeased at the touch of iron, but it doesn’t strike you with hooves or teeth.
“I know, you silly thing,” you tell it as you cut the net away.
By the time you have cut the salmon-silver capall free, it has stopped quivering at your touch, and it rips hunks from a hake fish in your hands with surprising gentleness.
“We are not taking that home,” Birdy says, sorting the fish the capall hasn’t crushed.
“Good luck pushing her out,” you say sweetly. The capall’s lips are soft as velvet on your palm.
You decide to name it Fish.
“O’Malley. What the hell is that,” McGreir says when you and Birdy tie off your húicéir at the docks, your deck full of fish and one capall uisce. He owns the biggest and newest of the big diesel trawlers that you hate with all of your heart. (When you were young the harbor was nothing but red sailed húicéirí, and now yours is one of the last left. The bombs didn’t come to Thisby, but maybe the war did anyway, and left diesel engines in its wake.)
“Fish,” you say.
“Caught it in the net,” Birdy says. “He wouldn’t throw it back.”
The capall nudges your hand for more fish, and you push her muzzle gently away. She’s very young, you think, perhaps only a yearling. It’s not the fact of catching a capall that they’re stuck over, but how you caught her.
As a rule, capall do not tangle themselves in fishing nets. They’re too clever, to graceful, too savage.
But your silly, strange catch doesn’t know that.
She limps heavy, the bite on her near hind so bad she doesn’t want to put weight on it. She throws her head with every step, skittering off the ship after you.
There’s work still to be done, but Birdy says, standing on deck like it’s her húicéir, not yours, hands on her hips and shirt sleeves rolled up, the wind pulling her dark hair from her braid, “Get that monster out of here.”
Probably she means “put her back in the ocean” or maybe “sell her to a fellah who knows what he’s doing,” but you do neither of these things. You take Fish home.
You live a ways from the docks at Skarmouth, in a little field that’s long gone to seed, in a little thatch-roofed cottage with a little thatch-roofed barn that keeps only chickens these days. Once, before your da drowned in the November sea himself, you had a milk cow and a calf every spring, and a flock of sheep, and you and your siblings helped hay the field twice every summer.
It seems like someone else’s childhood, sometimes.
Your mam comes out of the house and frowns as you approach, hands on her hips. Perhaps Birdy learnt the gesture from her.
“Saints keep you, Doran, what have you done?” she asks.
“I caught a fish,” you say.
You are beginning to realize no one finds this joke as funny as you do.
“I won’t let her eat the chickens,” you say. She isn’t worried about the chickens.
She has already realized she can’t stop you anymore.
The halter you made from the cut net isn’t very good, but Fish lets you tie her in the barn without much fuss, limping and skittering around the stall as you press iodine into all her wounds. Dried out she’s less fish scale silver and more stately gray, with a dark mane and dapples under her net of cuts. “Ceartaigh, ceartaigh,” you tell her again. She quiets at your voice, but never for long, like an anxious child posing for a photograph.
You braid her stringy little mane back to keep it from getting into her cuts, and only then does she really still, looking back at you with her one big dark eye. The wild white ring is long gone.
“Nach tú?” you ask her. “Nach tú féin?” She shakes her head and sighs. You laugh and pat her shoulder before leading her into one of the stalls. You’ll need straw—capall uisce need straw bedding like land horses, you think. You’ll need meat to feed her. Or bigger catches, at least.
You offer her a second hake, a long brown fish you really can’t afford not to send to market, but that you brought home and kept her from stealing, and now she takes it into her stall to eat.
You return to the house before you go back to the docks, to help Birdy with the catch, and find Mam at the table.
“We can’t afford her, Doran,” Mam says, going through the bills on the table. Rent is due soon. You always have enough, but just barely. Your pension from the army and Rory’s both aren’t enough, and your catch barely covers the rest. Most months, Mam has to dip into the little bit of savings Da left.
“Just until she’s healed,” you say. Mam looks up and smiles at you, sadly.
“Ah, I’ve heard that one before. With the crow with the broken wing, when you were just a buachallín? Didn’t you nurse her, and didn’t she never leave?”
“I tried,” you protest.
Mam sighs. “Come here to me,” she says, and you go, and she wraps her hand around the back of your neck and pulls your forehead to hers.
“I’m glad the war didn’t take you away from me,” she says, after a long moment. “I wish you’d found a dog.”
You laugh. “Maybe next time.”
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summer pasta with tomato, olives, anchovy, capers, basil & lemon
This pasta dish with tomato, olive, anchovy, capers, lemon, garlic and basil is pure heaven in a bowl. It reminds me of summer and everything I love to eat. When I dream of this, I also dream of long lazy lunches on a patio overlooking the sea with regular swims to cool off. It contains some of my favourite flavours and it makes me very happy.
I did the food styling for my client UCook recently and this was one of the dishes we shot for their website. They are South Africa’s best home-cooking meal delivery service and I love their recipes. They source top quality produce and ethically farmed meat so you can trust that your food comes from a good place. I’ve made so many of their recipes before and blogged about a few of them. My two favourite are the trout cooked en papillote – which is so ultra delicious and healthy I eat it almost every week. The oven baked cauliflower risotto is another winning recipe which I’ve made a few times.
I played around with a few of the ratios for this dish but kept the list of ingredients the same as theirs (apart from adding a sprinkling of smoked chilli flakes). I love all these flavours so much and really wanted my pasta to be super punchy, but you can adapt this to your liking. I think adding pan-fried prawns to the final dish would be amazing and definitely something I want to try soon.
I’ve called it a summer pasta but it can be made all year round. It’s especially nice in winter when you are craving a summery day.
Recipe serves 2
Pasta with tomato, olives, anchovy, basil & lemon
2018-09-10 12:06:18
250gms long noodle pasta (spaghetti or linguini)
3 – 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
½ - 1 green or red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped (additional dried chilli flakes too if desired)
6 – 8 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
50g black Calamata olives, de-pitted and halved
30 gm capers drained and roughly chopped
300gms baby tomatoes halved
Bunch basil (about 10gms) roughly chopped
Small bunch parsley (about 8gms) roughly chopped
Zest of half a lemon
30 – 40gms grated Parmesan or however much you like
olive oil for cooking
Sea salt & black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt generously. Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions and until al dente. Once cooked drain and set aside with a little olive oil drizzled over to separate the noodles.
While the water is boiling, chop up all the ingredients in the recipe as mentioned above. Set aside.
When the pasta is nearly ready, heat a non-stick pan over a medium heat and add a generous glug of olive oil. Cook the tomatoes for about 1 minute then add the garlic and chilli. Toss around the pan for about 2 minutes. Add the anchovies, olives and capers and cook for a further minute or two. Add a splash of water if necessary and if the ingredients start to stick to the pan. Swirl around to ensure the water emulsifies with the sauce.
Add the drained pasta to the sauce and add the lemon zest. Once it’s heated through and mixed, remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped herbs. Serve immediately with the grated Parmesan cheese and extra fresh basil if desired. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Drizzle and Dip https://drizzleanddip.com/
For my other Ucook recipes:
Trout with fennel & tomatoes
Oven roasted cauliflower risotto
Chicken & mushroom stroganoff with crispy sage
Grilled soy and lime hake with charred greens, fresh tomato & a chilli dressing
Find me on Instagram
Source: https://drizzleanddip.com/2018/09/11/summer-pasta-with-tomato-olives-anchovy-capers-basil-lemon/
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You can eat a 3-course dinner 100ft in the sky above London for $250 — here’s what it’s like, Defence Online
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Driking a glass of wine 100ft above London is pretty cool.
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Rachel Hosie
If you’re bored of conventional restaurants, it’s time to take things to new heights.
To be specific, 100ft high.
Flying above the O2 arena in London, you’ll find two huge dinner tables suspended from cranes, where London in the Sky has just been erected for another year.
Offering incredible views over the skyline paired with delicious food, this is a whole new level of dining experience.
Read more: You can now fly from London to Paris on a private jet for less than $850, fine dining and Champagne included
It costs £199 ($259) for a one-hour, three-course dinner with wine, but there are cheaper options such as breakfast or afternoon tea.
On a chilly spring evening, I went to the press launch to experience the dinner. This is what it was like.
I arrived at an area by the side of the O2 to see two huge cranes which would be used to hoist us into the sky.
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Rachel Hosie
The entrance area had been nicely done, and I could imagine it would be lovely on a warmer, more summery day.
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Rachel Hosie
Sadly it wasn’t really deck-chair weather when I visited.
I had a quick look at the 22-seat table which would soon be raised 100ft into the sky, and I was pleased to see a cover, should the ominous heavens decide to open.
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Rachel Hosie
There’s a big tent with a bar where you check in and wait before your flight — if you’re not great with heights, it might be wise to get a drink to steady the nerves.
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Rachel Hosie
Then it was time to be strapped in.
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Rachel Hosie
As I climbed into my seat and was secured into my harness, it felt a bit like I was going on a roller-coaster. Pleasingly, I did feel snug and secure, and I was excited to take off.
Our chef and two members of staff were already in the middle of the 22-seat rectangular table, tied up to harnesses.
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Rachel Hosie
The chef was already cooking on the hob in front of me and it smelled delicious.
Wine was poured, and my starter was presented just before we took off.
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Rachel Hosie
The starter was heritage tomato and whipped feta salad with black olive, basil and agro dolce red onion. There was a vegan option without the feta, too.
The menu was created by Social Pantry, which has three cafes across London and also does catering.
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Rachel Hosie
It was time to go up! We were slowly raised a short way off the ground for a quick security briefing before being lifted to 100ft high.
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Rachel Hosie
Two tables go up at once, and it was cool to see the others to get an idea for what we looked like, too.
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Rachel Hosie
It didn’t feel scary, but it was pretty windy. My napkin didn’t last long on my lap before blowing away.
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Rachel Hosie
Luckily, the sky was beginning to clear and we even saw some rainbows.
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Rachel Hosie
The table was never entirely still, but it wasn’t rocking in the wind or anything.
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Rachel Hosie
It was rotated every five minutes so your view never stayed the same.
There was red and white wine on the table, and plenty of it.
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Rachel Hosie
We got to watch our chef plate up the main course in front of us.
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Rachel Hosie
There were three options, which we’d chosen from in advance:
Corn-fed chicken, crushed new potato cake, courgette mousse, peas and broad beans, dill oil
Baked fillet of hake, crushed new potato cake, courgette mousse, peas and broad beans, dill oil
Tandoori gobhi cauliflower, mint and coriander chutney, crushed new potato cake, carrot, cauliflower and turnip pickle, and carrot purée.
It had pretty much all been prepared in advance – the chicken and potato was kept hot on foil-covered trays in a warm cupboard under the stove, upon which the peas and beans were warmed up. It was just a case of plating up and eating.
I went for the chicken, which was genuinely delicious (despite my average picture). However, the harness held me back from leaning too far forwards to get to the food without dropping it on myself or down below. If you were hit on the head by a pea falling from the sky, I apologise.
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Rachel Hosie
I asked the chef whether the menu had been specifically designed to be eaten at height, and he explained that the main thinking was that it was home-cooking-inspired, but elevated (in more ways than one).
They didn’t want to make the food too fussy “because most Brits are fussy,” he said.
The set-up probably wouldn’t be that great if you were a large group, as you can only really talk to the people next to you, unless you’re sitting round a corner.
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Rachel Hosie
Still, the sun was coming out and the vibe was really fun, largely thanks to the playlist of tunes playing pretty loudly.
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Rachel Hosie
The soundtrack included “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia (hopefully not a reference to our harnesses), “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves (made sense), “Tubthumping (I get knocked down, but I get up again)” by Chumbawamba (hopefully not our fate), and “The Final Countdown” by Europe (umm…).
Needless to say, many selfies were taken.
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Rachel Hosie
The chairs rotated and also reclined, which was mildly terrifying, but also very cool.
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Rachel Hosie
Pudding time! The options were a citrus tart with raspberry coulis, lemon crisp, and honeycomb…
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Rachel Hosie
…and a vegan brownie with summer berry coulis and honeycomb. If you play it right and befriend the chef like I did, you might get to have both.
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Rachel Hosie
Having three courses in the space of an hour would normally be quite rushed, but the dishes weren’t too big or heavy.
It was pretty breathtaking to see London in a completely new way from a brand new viewpoint.
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Rachel Hosie
As the sun began to set, it was time for us to descend (which I was actually ready for, as it was quite cold).
Since landing, meals on the ground have never bored me more.
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Rachel Hosie
London in the Sky is at the O2 until July 15 2019 – find out more here.
The post You can eat a 3-course dinner 100ft in the sky above London for $250 — here’s what it’s like, Defence Online appeared first on Defence Online.
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henlo naughty best friend it's lots of questions time ! snowball, spots, shadow, tabitha, bandit, marshmallow, socks, pepper, gozer, princess, mack, willie, spooky, xerxes, saint purrtrick, ms fortune, guy furry, and sassy fran ! lov u
ask me neko atsume themed questions!
hi paige ur the real mvp ily thank u
snowball: what is an activity that makes you happy? okay this is gonna be real sappy but lately hanging out with my friends and just talking to them has made me really happy and in a good state of mind lately?? good shit
spots: what never fails to make you laugh? this and this ffdsf
shadow: share an interesting fact about you! I’ve been playing pokemon games for like. the past 9 or so years now and I am deeply invested in the franchise lmao
tabitha: talk about one of your favorite pastimes! I love drawing a lot!! even when it is frustrating, sometimes stuff comes out real good and it’s really satisfying!! also I love learning new stuff to make myself better at it snd I really hope I can make it into a career!!
bandit: what is the strangest thing you’ve ever done? slurpy egg, probably
marshmallow: what’s your favorite thing to drink in the winter? it’s so basic but that like. instant hot chocolate?? it’s a winter staple in my house lmao
socks: where would you like to visit and what would you do there? I actually kinda wanna go to san diego again?? I want to have another family vacation there, we used to do it yearly until my uncle died and I just… really miss the beach and the sand crabs and the atmosphere lmao
pepper: do you like meeting new people? yeah!! sometimes it’s nerve-wracking and I leave a bad first impression but part of what makes college fun for me is that I get to know a lotta people!!
gozer: talk about something you’re good at! I’m really good at loving on and crying over my friends ocs ffdsf I love them all
princess: what do you find most beautiful in life? uh oh sappy again,, anyway I think good wholesome friendships make my life brighter every day and frankly?? it’s a beautiful feeling to have people actually there for u and who treat u like a person and it’s not something I’m ever gonna deprive myself of again haha
mack: name one goal you’d like to accoplish this week! I wanna get my ass in gear and study for my summer class!! I think I’ve gotten the Good Student ball rolling again, my goal is to keep it rolling lmao
willie: what’s your favorite form of expression? I really love art as a form of expression for myself! I like most creative outlets they’re all really cool to me ffdsf
spooky: talk about a time you wish you spoke up. the only thing that comes to mind is an Ongoing Situation which I will not go into but I will say that I just need to grow a backbone and speak up even if it’ll hake her hate me lol
xerxes: what is your most prized posession? alright it’s an even way split between the fluffy pink charm paige made me, the porcelain cup maddie got me for my bday, and my space 3ds xl lmao
saint purrtrick: talk about someone/something that inspires you! I have a lot of things that inspire me be it artists or music and I have no idea where to start with this one but!! I love all my friends creations and there’s something that varies in each that inspire me ahhhh!!
ms fortune: are you easily charmed by others? romantically? nah. platonically? absolutely ffdsf I’m real weak to nice ppl
guy furry: what’s your favorite food? i love sushi a lot!!! milkshakes probablu count as a beverage but I’m putting it down here anyway bc the craving Never Ends
sassy fran: talk about something you find cute! also a basic answer but like… boba tea?? esp the ones that they make it look like a lil plant in dirt on ur drink with mint and crushed oreos??? it’s a fave ahhhh!!
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