#i'm not done not done josh dub

[system-of-an-up]

Next tour setlist:

Overcompensate

Trees

Lavish

Friend, Please

Lavish (Josh's shirt off)

Semi-Automatic

Lavish (shirt back on, pants off)

Lavish (Jenna's version)

Lavish (Taylor's version)

Nico and the Niners

Lavish (With penny-loafers)

Next semester

Lavish x Shy away mashup

Choker

Lavish (acoustic)

Neon Gravestones

Lavish (sung by Lávash owners)

Lavish (sung by 2 randomly selected crowd members)

Lavish (Tyler drums, Josh sings)

Ode to Sleep (delusional system of an up version)

[thevegandarkelf]

QOTU: A Little Friendly Competition Part 1

Summary: Going on dates wasn’t always a guaranteed good time. Vec has had her fair share of shitty dates, but the nerves she had for this particular one were for a different reason. She truly liked this one, and she wanted it to go well. Thankfully, Scud shared the same sentiment, and it made for one of the best nights of their lives.

Third installment is finally here! Apologies that this one took longer than I anticipated. We get to see Vec & Scud's first date. I've been so excited to post this one, it's kinda stupid. I hope this pleases the council ('the council' is what we have dubbed our QOTU readers).

PS the shirt he's wearing is the one from the movie where he's talking to Whistler about his scars, just FYI. He just looks so good in it I had to use it. And massive thank you to @dixons-sunshine for help with the summary 🖤

Era: Pre-apocalypse, a bit over a year before the outbreak

Word count: 8.1k (this is my longest one-shot to date and it's only part 1 lmao I'm so sorry)

CW for swearing, some suggestive commentary. You are responsible for your own consumption.

We're also cross-posting on AO3 if you prefer to read it there!

My AO3 Krys' AO3

Upon hearing the vibration against the wood, Vec took her phone off her dresser, a small smile gracing her lips when she realized it was a message from him. Running a hand through her hair and brushing her bangs from her eyes, she opened the message, blood flowing to her cheeks and turning them from their normal pale to baby pink.

Josh ☺️: I can’t wait to see you later. It’s been too long 😉

They’d been talking for weeks, texting on and off throughout each day and even having a few phone calls in the evenings. During one of those phone calls was the first time he called her “Vee,” which quickly became his special nickname for her. Immediately following that conversation, she ran to Georgie, standing in her bedroom doorway and blinking repeatedly before whispering “he has a nickname for me” in the most lovesick tone possible.

She’d hardly stopped talking about this ‘cutie with the bandana’ in recent weeks. Now, it was time to make their first date a reality.

“What kind of makeup are you thinking?” Georgie asked. She began rifling through a stack of eyeshadow palettes Vec kept on her dresser, opening each to examine the colors before setting them down. “I know you usually like to keep it lighter on first dates.”

“Nah, I’m wearing that full-coverage shit,” Vec commented, pulling a small glass bottle of foundation from the drawer, “I’m not about to be looking like a tomato all night long.”

She spent hours curling her hair, having to take a break halfway through and recruiting her best friend to help finish the job when her arms got tired.

“Gin, can you help me?” Vec practically begged as she stepped out into the living room, half of her head in curls while the other remained pin straight.

“I was wondering when you were going to ask,” Georgie chuckled, setting her stack of papers on the glass coffee table to join her in the bathroom. Every time Vec curled her hair, she insisted she could do it all herself, and every time, she requested Georgie’s help somewhere between halfway and three-quarters of the way done.

As a surgeon, she typically wasn’t allowed to have her nails painted. However, since she was off for a couple of weeks taking some much-needed and well-deserved PTO, she decided to treat herself, opting for some black acrylics. electing to keep them short as long nails could make date night plans more difficult.

She also recruited Georgie’s help in picking an outfit, the pile of different dresses, skirts, and more on her bed becoming too much to sort through on her own. Walking back into the living room, she simply grabbed Georgie’s hand without saying a word, taking her back into her room for her to get an eyeful of the mountain of clothes occupying her place of rest, and Georgie knew just what that meant. Vec hated to pull Georgie from her work, but she also knew if she didn’t, one, she would never hear the end of it, and two, she would never be able to garner up the courage to leave the house.

“You didn’t already have your outfit picked out?” Georgie teased, grabbing different tops off of hangers and adding them to the pile, “what, are you gonna go in your scrubs?”

Vec chuckled, the sweet sound of amusement rising from the depths of her chest sounding like music to Georgie’s ears. “I mean, he has already seen me in them, and he still seemed to be into—“ she paused and used her hands to gesture up and down her body “—all of this.”

The pair eventually settled on something simple, pairing a long-sleeved black sweater with a black skirt and a pair of fishnets. Taking extra precaution, she slipped a pair of shorts on under her skirt, the shorts long enough to just cover the tattoos on the back on her thighs.

Grabbing her favorite fragrance off her dresser, she gave her neck, décolletage, and wrists a few spritzes, rubbing her wrists together to ensure the scent settled. The little bottle of vanilla-scented spray was a gift from her mom for her high-school graduation, and it had been dubbed her “lucky perfume” after many an instance of it coming clutch. She only wore it for the most special of occasions—her white coat ceremony, Match Day, her birthday—and this, a first date with a man she was already falling head over heels for, was a very, very special occasion.

Taking one last deep breath and draping her hair over her shoulders, she gave herself one final look-over in her mirror and flattened her sweater. She did one small twirl, watching her skirt flow around her thighs and her curls bounce as they settled back into place.

Making her way back into the living room, she stood in front of her best friend, who’d been spending her evening grading papers when she wasn’t helping her prepare for her date. She anxiously cracked her fingers before repeatedly wiggling them in some pathetic attempt to rid herself of all the nervous energy cooped up inside her body. “What do you think?”

Looking up from her work, a massive smile spread across Georgie’s face as she took in the sight of her bestie before her, all dolled up and dressed to impress. “You look hot.” Giving her a slow up-down with her eyes, something caught her attention. “You’re not wearing the push-up this time?”

Vec was a smaller gal, some curves but nothing crazy, and her chest was by far her biggest insecurity. She always wore the only push-up bra she owned on dates, attempting to boost her confidence by making her small chest not look so small. This time was different. “No. I’m, uh, going for…authenticity this time.”

“Wow. You must really like this one,” Georgie commented, setting her red pen down on the table and rising to her feet. She could only think of one other occasion where her Dia hadn’t worn that illustrious push-up, and that was back in undergrad.

“Yeah,” Vec replied in a sickly, tooth-rotting tone, her cheeks becoming flushed under her full-coverage face. She twirled away from Georgie long enough to slip on and zip up her combat boots.

“Well, he’s a lucky man, getting to take you out.”

Pacing the living room of their shared apartment, she kept her eyes glued to the floor as she began gently scratching at the side of her left thumb with her index finger, the primary telltale sign of her anxiety. “Gin, I feel like I wanna throw up and die.”

“Throw up, sure, yeah. That makes sense. And I’ll certainly hold your hair back if you do,” Georgie assured, crossing over from the couch and standing off to the side of Vec as she continued to pace. She followed her with her eyes back and forth from the entryway to the TV stand and back again. “But die? That feels a bit overdramatic, even for you, Dia.”

“Not helping.” Her tone was unintentionally stern, and she was immediately kicking herself. “I didn’t mean to snap, I’m just so worked up, and not in the fun way.”

Georgie couldn’t help but snicker in response. Even when she was “worked up, and not in the fun way,” her best friend was still cracking jokes and being her overdramatic, unhinged self. “Just try to take a deep breath, okay? Think of this as a day out with one of your friends, just a casual get-together. Less pressure that way.”

“Right…just a hangout…” Vec whispered between deep breaths, “…until one of us is flirting every two fucking seconds.”

“And if anything goes wrong on this ‘hangout’, I’m only a phone call away, remember? I’ll drop everything and come to you if I need to.”

“I know. I’m just super worked up right now. I mean, what if he thinks I’m too bold?”

She snickered again, this time a little louder and with a hint of surprise in her tone. Never had Vec been concerned about being “too bold,” especially for a man. For her to be worrying about something like that meant this ‘cutie with the bandana’ must’ve been special. “It sounds like you were pretty bold back at the auto shop, and he seemed into it. I think if he thought you were “too bold” then you wouldn’t be here now,” Georgie assured, “and if he does decide you’re “too bold,” then it’s his loss.”

Slowing down before coming to a stop, Vec finally ceased her pacing, turning to Georgie as she adjusted her glasses on her nose. “You’re right. I’ve already been pretty bold. I’m just stuck in my own head.”

“Well, let’s get you out of there then.” Georgie stepped closer to her and began brushing hair out of her eyes, adjusting her curls, and looking her outfit over to ensure there wasn’t a speck of dust in sight. “Tell me what the plan is again.”

“Umm, I’m meeting him at the bowling alley, and I’m not sure after that,” Vec explained, resting the urge to bite at her bottom lip as to not get lipstick on her teeth, “we might go get food or something, I don’t know. I feel too sick to eat right now.”

“Babe, can you take a deep breath for me?” Georgie asked. Vec nodded, and she forced herself to take a deep, calming breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. Georgie placed her hands on her shoulders before meeting her gaze. “You’re going to be fine. I’m sure once you get there, all of your nerves will just melt away. You’re Lydia Rae Vector, the best way this man could be spending his Friday night.”

Vec would’ve been lying if she said the mini pep-talk from her Ginny didn’t do a number in terms of boosting her ego. “Well, I don’t know about the best way, but definitely a good one.” She took her phone out long enough to look at the time before sliding it back into her bag. “I should get going. I’m supposed to be there in twenty minutes. And you know me, gotta get there early.”

“Don’t forget to—“

“I know, I know. Text you every time I change locations and call with the code phrase if things get sketchy.” Every time one of them was headed out on a date or a hookup, they always reminded the other of their golden rule, as if they hadn’t been doing it their entire friendship.

As she headed out the front door, Georgie called out to her one last time. “Stay safe, have fun, and use protection! Not necessarily in that order, but you know what I mean.”

Vec rolled her eyes and scoffed as she poked her head back in the doorframe just long enough to respond. “Thanks, Gin.”

The bowling alley was only about a 5 minute drive from her place, but given the Friday night Atlanta traffic, it took her almost the whole 20 minute window to get there. After speed-walking through the ever-growing-dark parking lot, she leaned against the first counter she came across, which happened to be empty. She sent a quick text to let him know she was there and where in the building to find her. She also send a message to Georgie, letting her know she’d made it safely.

Vec: Made it. Just waiting for him.

Vec: I still wanna throw up and ✨die✨

Ginny 🌻: You’re gonna be fine. And if you don’t feel fine, I’ll be there before you know it 💛

The next message that made its way through to her was from none other than her date, and given that it was their agreed meet-up time, she figured he had to be close.

Josh ☺️: What are you wearing?

Josh: ☺️: Y’know, so I can spot you 😉

Vec: You’ll see 😉

A few minutes later, she was greeted from behind by a pair of hands over her eyes, hovering just over her glasses. In a normal situation, she would’ve whipped around before the person had a chance to say a word and clocked them in the nose. This situation was out of the ordinary in the best way.

“Guess who?” the familiar voice behind her greeted, chuckling softly.

“Gee, I wonder.” Her tone was sarcastic, amused, and flirty all at the same time, a combination that sent the mechanic’s heart plummeting into his stomach and joining the butterflies already making a home there.

“I’d offer a hint, but that would give it away,” he teased. He hoped that, even though he didn’t give the hint, she’d still catch on to what it was going to be. And catch on she did.

The fucking bandana, she thought. She didn’t say anything, but the giggly scoff that met his ears told him everything he needed to know.

Finally removing his hands from her eyes, he tapped on her shoulder to get her to spin around. Her curls bounced on her shoulders as she turned, her skirt flowing around her thighs catching his attention. At the mere sight of her, his stomach was doing backflips, and when their eyes locked, he knew he was in for one of the best nights of his life.

“Hi!” she greeted. The tone of her voice had changed to one of sheer delight, and there was almost a sparkle to it. She roped him in for a hug, her arms sliding around his neck and his instinctively traveling to her waist. He was elated about her desire for physical contact. It was a short hug, but it was just long enough for him to get a whiff of the sweet vanilla perfume on her neck.

“Damn,” she laughed, bringing her head back up and gently brushing a few stray hairs from his eyes, “no bandana this time, huh?”

He kept his hands on her waist as she worked, moving strands from one side to the other of the natural parting on his scalp. It wasn’t intentional the way his hands stayed planted there and subconsciously pulled her closer. He was simply too enraptured with the sight before him to do anything about it. “Figured I’d let the hair down for a change. But look at you. You clean up good, doc.”

“Clean up good” was an understatement, he thought. She looked beautiful, damn near ethereal, the shimmer on her cheekbone catching the fluorescent light above them. Even curled, her long hair still reached down past her chest, and the shade of dark purple lipstick she’d picked out made her cerulean eyes pop. It took everything in him to not plant one on her right then and there.

After fixing his flyaways to her satisfaction, she folded her arms over her chest and took a moment to admire him. His jeans looked damn near brand new, if she had to guess, and hit button-up was open just enough to expose his collarbone. He was wearing the same choker she’d seen on him back at the auto shop, the same choker she fantasized about curling her finger around and pulling him in for a kiss by. He was a work of art as far as she was concerned. “So do you, mechanic man,” she replied. She was well aware of his hands still on her waist and too wrapped up in the moment to care. They could’ve stayed just like that, talking all night, and she would be happy.

“You smell nice.”

“Thank you. It’s my, uh, lucky perfume.”

“What makes it so lucky?” he inquired, the usage of the L word piquing his interest.

“I only wear it for…special occasions.” She was already starting to blush under all her makeup, but thankfully, her full-coverage foundation kept the blood rushing to her cheeks a secret from her date. “And usually, said occasions work out in my favor.”

“Honored to know I’m such a ‘special occasion.’” It was in that moment, when her gaze dropped to the floor for just a second and he was pulled from his trance, that he became overwhelmingly aware of his hands on her waist that had been very slowly creeping towards her hips.

“Shit, sorry.” He didn’t pull away abruptly, but rather let his hands naturally pull away, and now, it was his turn to get a little pink. “Guess I got distracted.”

Her mind echoed Georgie’s words from earlier in the evening. Think of this as a day out with one of your friends, just a casual get-together. Yeah, that’s certainly going well so far, she thought, a smile breaking out on her face from her thoughts and the compliment from him.

“You don’t need to apologize. Does it look like I was bothered at all?” she laughed, “believe me, if I’m bothered by something, you’ll know.”

Her laugh in response provided him some relief and gave him the confidence to take her hand, running his fingers over hers and looking at his reflection in the glossy black acrylics that adorned her nails. “These look cool. Bet you don’t get to do this too often, given your job.”

“Uh, no…no, I don’t, really.” She had to fight to keep herself from sliding her fingers in between his, resisting the pull she was feeling to lock their hands together.

“You should’ve told me. I would’ve painted mine to match,” he smirked. Now, it was her turn to have the butterflies in her stomach working overtime.

Had he painted his nails before? Yes, on more than one occasion. Did he currently own a bottle of black nail polish for himself? Not at all. If she indeed had let him know what she was doing, would he have went out and bought one just to match her? Absolutely.

“I love a man who breaks gender norms,” she gushed. Her fingers trailed up to the base of his-rolled up sleeve, goosebumps forming on his skin as she worked upwards. She tugged on it gently, and her lashes fluttered as she brought her gaze from his bicep back to his eyes. “I like this shirt, by the way. It looks great on you.”

“This old thing? I don’t really pull this one out much. Glad you like it.”

“You should pull it out more often.”

That sentence in another context would go crazy, she thought, doing her best to stifle the laugh trying to creep its way out of her chest. But she was a woman who wore her thoughts all over her face, and the smile she was fighting to make smaller told him that her mind had taken the statement in a more nefarious direction.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her attempt to keep hers contained, an amused smirk crossing his lips as he did. “C’mon, I already got us set up. Just gotta get shoes.”

As she turned to round the corner, his hand trailed to her upper back, taking the end of some of her curls between his fingers, though he was careful not to dishevel them. “Guess I didn’t realize how much hair you really got. It’s still so long. How you get it all to fit in that cap you gotta wear?”

“A very tight braid and lots of practice,” she explained. His hand moved under her curls to rest on her back, migrating down to her waist. They’d only been in each other’s presence for maybe five minutes. Already, he was hardly able to keep his hands off her, and Vec was eating that shit up.

“What made you wanna grow it out?” he inquired as they approached the shoe counter.

“I like to go to renaissance festivals and dress up for them. The long hair makes for some cool styles.” An idea struck her, and she was already reaching for her bag before she could get her next sentence out. “I have some pictures. If you wanna see, I mean.”

“Hell yeah, of course I do.”

Opening to her photos, she selected the album titled ‘ren fest(ivies)’ and clicked on the first picture. “My best friend likes to sew, so she helps me make them.” She handed her phone over to him before turning to the shoe counter, their fingers lightly grazing each other as they did. Just like that fateful day back at the auto shop, the sparks that generated between them could’ve lit the entire city of Atlanta. “You can just scroll through to the end.”

As he scrolled through, he got to feast his eyes on different pictures of her posed in medieval skirts and corsets with weapons that would make any fantasy nerd proud. Like she’d said, the long hair did in fact make for some sick hairstyles, and as he continued, he found himself having to swallow a couple of times to keep himself from drooling. He could vaguely hear her comment her shoe size to the man behind the counter. Eight, maybe? He couldn’t be sure. All of his senses were focused on the pictures of the goddess in front of him.

“Wow.” It came out more matter-of-fact than he anticipated. He was enamored, and it was more than evident based on his boyish grin and the way his eyes closed ever so slightly, like he was high. “You look…” his voice momentarily trailed off before he found it again “…beautiful, badass, all of it. Your confidence is top-notch.”

She looked up from the spot she’d taken on a nearby chair as she finished tying the laces of her bowling shoes. The way he called her ‘beautiful’ had her stomach doing backflips. “Thank you. I’m already planning my outfit for the next one.”

After he put on his shoes, they headed off to their lane. His hand found her waist again as they walked, and he kept it there, like he was guiding her through a large crowd despite not a single person being in their way. She didn’t mind one bit. In fact, quite the opposite. She’d began making mental notes about what she could do to further encourage the behavior.

“I put our names in already,” he said, nodding in the general direction of the small kiosk at their lane. Peering over the frame of her glasses, she chuckled as she scanned over their names on the screen above them. Hers read ‘Vee,’ but that wasn’t the funny part.

“‘Scudster’? Really?” she laughed, that sweet giggle trailing off her tongue to meet his ears again. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard him refer to himself as that, but it was still entertaining nonetheless. “You’re so unserious, you know that?”

“I like to think my “unserious” vibes are part of the charm.” As the pins came down at the end of the lane, he took a bowling ball in his hand, gently spinning it around as to not drop it. This time, it was his turn to be struck by a positively brilliant idea. “Hey Vee, what do you say we turn this into…a little friendly competition?”

The doctor cocked an eyebrow at him, her curiosity quickly piquing, which was evident by the look in her eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

“Let’s say…if I win, I get a kiss.” Immediately fearing he’d been too forward, he waited with bated breath for her to respond or do anything that would indicate she was comfortable with the situation. When her contagious smile appeared again, her pearly whites on full display, his shoulders relaxed, and that little Machiavellian smirk of his crept onto his face.

“Aah, I see.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she racked her brain for what she could say in return. What did she want from him? Just about anything. What did she want to know about him? Everything. “Then if I win…you gotta tell me your deepest, darkest secret. And it better be a good one.”

“Lucky for me, I’m good at bowling.” Judging by his tone and resting smirk, he was feeling rather confident. “Prepare to get shredded.”

He’d put her name in first, so he kindly grabbed one of the balls and held it out to her. “Ladies first,” Scud said, giving her a friendly smile.

Vec wasn’t a complete rookie when it came to bowling. She’d been before, although it had been a while, and given the little skills she had back then, she was certain they’d since faded away. She was almost positive she was going to get “shredded,” but she didn’t dare let it show, lest he already start to think he had the upper hand.

Taking the blue bowling ball in her hands, she stepped up to the lane, rolling it back and forth in her hands and staring down the pins at the end. It’s my favorite color, she thought, that has to mean something, right?

“So how did you get into dressing up for ren fests?” His question rang in her ears as she took her first shot, his voice catching her by surprise and making her stumble. She missed her center shot, the balling rolling off to the side and into the gutter, not hitting a single pin as it traveled into the darkness at the end of the lane.

“Wow,” he teased as he approached her, “should we have put the guards up?”

“That’s not fair,” she jokingly whined, her smirk turning into a playful pout, “you distracted me.”

“Fear not m’lady, you got one more shot,” he assured, stepping away only long enough to bring the bowling ball back to her.

“So to answer your question, I’m big into fantasy shit.” She lined herself up again, taking a deep breath to help her focus. “You know Disney movies at all?”

This time, he waited until after she took her turn to respond. While the ball didn’t roll into the gutter this time, it was no strike, just barely knocking a couple of the pins over on one side. “Sure do. My favorite’s The Fox and the Hound.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.” Scud looked over his shoulder long enough to give her a cheeky grin before lining up his first shot. Though he was determined to win their little friendly competition, he was far more interested in listening to what she had to say. “My favorite growing up was Sleeping Beauty. It was my ‘gateway drug’ into the world of fantasy. Got me into the Lord of the Rings, going to ren fests, and eventually dressing up for them.”

He rolled nearly dead center, knocking every pin over with a single strike. He turned back to her, that same cheeky grin on his face. “Oh you’re just showing off now,” she groaned, that playful joking pout making a second appearance for him. And oh, how he was loving it.

As he’d told her during their initial meeting, he’d been on the market for a while. He needed someone that could joke around with him, be able to laugh at themselves, was unapologetically authentic and genuine to their core. So far, she was checking all of those boxes and then some.

“Told you I was good.” Stepping back to her, Scud brushed some stray hairs out of her eyes, tucking them over the side of her glasses. There was hardly any, not enough to have bothered her at all, but it was enough for him to do something about it. He was looking for damn near any excuse to touch her in any capacity. And the little smile that crept up every time he did? He’d do anything to see that.

“Anyway,” she commented in an attempt to bring the conversation back, “I used to watch it so much that I’d constantly be singing the song from it around the house when I was little. My brothers used to make fun of me for it. All in good fun, of course, but they’ll still sometimes bring it up just to get under my skin. Y’know, the way siblings do.”

“You close with ‘em?” He was already lining up for his second shot of that turn, her standing over his shoulder, but far enough back to not get hit by his arm when he swung.

“Oh yeah. I have a few, we’re all really close. They’re all older. Joined the military right out of high school. Became Navy SEALs. They’re some of my best friends.”

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone—hell, he was hardly able to admit it to himself—but the mention of multiple military big-brothers did put him a bit on edge. In his mind, all it would take was one wrong move for them to come knocking on his door. He didn’t know much about the different branches of the military, but one thing he did know is that Navy SEALs were not to be fucked with.

“Don’t got any myself.” He took his second shot, once again landing another strike. Vec was beginning to wonder if he’d chosen bowling for a first date on purpose as a way to show off a little. “Had a lot of cousins growin’ up. Having kids my own age around was nice. That’s dope that you’re so close with yours.”

“I definitely got lucky. I certainly never taken them for granted.”

They continued chatting as they took turns, Scud occasionally doing a tiny fist pump when he made a strike. It wasn’t perfect, he didn’t land every single one, but it was damn near close, and Vec knew she had no chance. Still, she did her best to maintain her confidence and give the illusion that she believed she could actually win.

Every chance he got, he was grabbing her bowling ball for her, ensuring their fingers touched each time he handed it over. Even though she wasn’t nearly as skilled as he was, he hyped her up any time she knocked over even one pin. He was a jokester, and their playful, teasing banter had the butterflies in his stomach working overtime, but he also wanted her to have fun and feel good about her abilities.

“Now the big-ticket question I’ve been wanting to ask—what made you wanna become a doctor?”

“It’s kind of a silly story,” she sighed as he returned the bowling ball to her. She’d become accustomed to receiving rather snide comments when answering that question, and her evening was going too well to have it ruined over her response to a classic first-date question.

He picked up on her hesitation, the regret settling in as he worried he possibly struck a nerve or unintentionally brought up a touchy subject. He hoped a sprinkle of humor would provide some encouragement. “This is the Scudster you’re dealin’ with. Silly is my middle name.”

‘Scudster’ made her giggle and eased her nerves, so she decided she’d tell her story, hoping to whatever might be out there that he wouldn’t think it was stupid. “When I was three, one of my brothers got into an accident, landed himself in the hospital. One of the surgeons was this beautiful woman with long auburn hair, and she was wearing a floral dress and a white coat. Me, being three, saw any woman with long hair and a pretty dress and thought she was a princess, as most little girls do.”

“So I asked her. Toddled right up to her as she was talking to my mom and asked her if she was a princess. And she crouched down to my level with the biggest, brightest smile on her face and said “of course I am!” Then I turned to my mom and said “Mommy, I wanna be a princess when I grow up!” Princess, in that moment, meaning someone who wears pretty dresses and a white coat and saves lives like the way the pretty lady in front of me was saving my brother’s. Of course, as I got older, I learned what a doctor was, but I never wavered from that decision. Not even once.”

She waited with bated breath for him to say something, anything. The first thing he did was laugh, but not in a mocking way or a ‘wow, that’s stupid’ kind of way. It was the laugh of someone who’d just heard a baby giggle or watched a puppy chase their own tail. “That’s probably the most adorable thing I’ve heard in a long time.”

“You sure it’s not silly, not even a little bit? Most people think it is.” He gave her an empathetic sigh as his hand found her shoulder, and he subconsciously drew small circles with his fingers, hoping it would offer some solace. How could anyone find such a wholesome and precious story silly or stupid?

“You’re a smart woman, Vee. I’m sure you’ve gathered that I’m not “most people.” It’s super cute. I may be “unserious,” but I’m no liar.”

“Well thank you,” she replied, batting her lashes as she briefly dropped her gaze to the floor. They reveled in that pocket of time for a few moments, his hand still drawing small circles on her shoulder, and she brought her baby blues back to meet his. Blue was her favorite color, and the specific shade of his irises was quickly becoming her favorite one. “What about you, bandana boy? What got you into being an auto mechanic?”

“I used to work as an inventor. That’s just more of a hobby now.” He stepped away long enough to take the red bowling ball he’d been using for his next turn. “My dad taught me stuff about cars when I was younger, so that and the inventor skills carried over nicely into being a mechanic.”

Vec’s ears perked up at the mention of the word ‘inventor.’ Given how fascinating he already was, she didn’t think it was possible, but he’d just gotten a lot more interesting. “An inventor, huh? That’s so cool! What kind of stuff do you make?”

He took his turn before responding to her inquiry. “Used to make weapons for this guy. One might say he was kind of a sketchy character, but he was a nice guy. Never gave me any trouble unless he was up my ass about not getting something done fast enough.”

“You’re cute, funny, and you have cool hobbies? It’s like I won the jackpot or something.” She blinked a few times and shook her head gently, like she was shaking herself from a trance, before stifling a breathy chuckle and locking eyes with him. “I’m doing the thing again, aren’t I?”

She’d been bold from the moment they met—hell, even before that, given the initial bandana comment she’d made about him to his boss—but he found it cute that there were moments that she thought she was being ‘too much.’ He’d never once thought she was too much. There weren’t any words in the English language that captured how much he loved how forward, brazen, and shameless she was.

“Told you I liked how bold you are,” he assured, giving her a delicate pat on the small of her back, “I’ll be right back. Gotta hit up the little boy’s room. Try not to have too much fun without me.”

As he sauntered off, she took the opportunity to check in with her best friend. Leaning back against the kiosk, she took her phone from her bag and saw that she had a new message from Georgie.

Ginny 🌻: How’s it going? ☺️ Are you having fun? 💛

Vec: I don’t think it could be going any more perfectly. I can’t wait to tell you about it 💙

Vec: He’s kicking my ass though

Ginny 🌻: Can’t have that, now can we?

Vec: Well, it wouldn’t be so bad if he won ☺️

Ginny 🌻: Oh???

Vec: Maybe he’ll get a little 💋

Ginny 🌻: OH 👀

Chuckling softly to herself, she slipped her phone back into her bag, returning it to its home on the kiosk. She tapped her foot on the floor, taking a deep breath and focusing on the clicking of the bowling shoe on the wood. It was a small attempt, but she hoped it would be enough to rid herself of the anxious energy creeping through every inch of her body. When he was around, it was like all of nerves channeled themselves into her flirting, but the moment she was alone with her thoughts, she was spiraling.

“Didn’t have too much fun without me, did you?” His voice startled her, but not enough to make her jump.

“Of course not,” she replied, giving him a gentle nudge to the shoulder with hers, her voice laced with sarcasm. He scanned his baby blues over her face, stopping briefly on her lips before meeting hers again, and for a moment, she thought he might plant one on her.

He wanted to, though. He badly wanted to. But his own nerves, and the thought in the back of his mind of her military brothers kicking his ass if he made a wrong move, were getting in his way.

“The glitter looks cool,” he complimented, haphazardly gesturing to his own cheek.

Despite the gesturing, she cocked an eyebrow, confused. “What glitter?”

“Tilt your head up,” he instructed, but before she could do it on her own accord, he had his fingers under her chin, gently tipping her head back and adjusting the position until her cheekbone caught the light, “to the side, a little more, there you go.” He tapped gently on her cheekbone, careful not to ruin or smudge her hard work. “Right there.”

Vec was clenching her teeth to keep herself grounded in reality. If she didn’t, she was certain she would fold on the spot. Every time he touched her, she was ready to melt like putty in his hands, and she just hoped he couldn’t feel the heat radiating off of her cheeks from her blushing.

“Oh, that’s highlighter,” she explained, “it’s a shimmery powder you put on areas you want to…well, highlight, make stand out.” She shook her head softly to allow the highlight on her nose to catch the light. “Got it here too.”

Everything she said, he looked at her like it was the most damn interesting thing in the world, regardless of how ‘unimportant’ it seemed. Even something as simple as the shimmer on her cheekbones intrigued him, and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by her.

“You’re gonna have to show to me how you do that. It looks great.”

“I’m not a professional by any means, but thank you.” She tore her eyes from his long enough to look up at the screen and see that it was their last turn for this round.

“I’d love to be able to make a strike, even just once,” she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I could help. Get you set up perfectly and all that,” he offered. He didn’t even bother trying to hold back how eager he was. “If you want, that is.”

“Yeah.” Her smile softened as she met his gaze again. “I’d like that.” The look in her eyes and the way she said “I’d like that” had his heart pounding against the inside of his ribcage.

He grabbed the infamous blue bowling ball and met her at the lane, standing behind her after handing it over. “So you gotta line it up just right.” His hands found her hips, keeping his touch light as he coaxed her to shift to the center. “This good?”

“It’s great,” she replied, her voice cracking as she fought to control her anxiety. She’d hoped that the nosies of other families surrounding them would mask the crack in her voice, but his breath tickling her ear as he chuckled told her otherwise. Despite her boldness, Scud had noticed her getting flustered all evening, and to him, it was nothing short of adorable.

“You wanna aim just off of dead center to account for it curving.” Now, it was her turn to have her heart hammering against the inside of her ribcage as he adjusted her arms and straightened her shoulders, all while keeping his spot right behind her.

Taking a deep breath to calm down—both from the mounting pressure she was placing on herself to make a strike and having a handsome man who couldn’t keep his hands off her mere inches from her back—she followed his directions to a T, rolling just off of dead center and allowing the ball to curve as it traveled down the lane.

Boom. Strike.

“Oh my God, I did it!” Vec cried, twirling in circles a few times before launching into Scud’s arms. She threw her arms around his neck, practically squealing with delight, the excitement coursing through her body rapidly bubbling over. His chuckling in her ear was one of the sweetest sounds she’d ever heard. However, when his arms snaked around her waist, it occurred to her she might’ve gotten a little carried away. “Shit, sorry, I got excited.” She went to pull away, but he kept her in place, wrapping his arms around her further until her chest was flush with his. He wanted to stay in that little pocket of time forever.

“Don’t apologize.” He was reveling in the moment, and the last thing he wanted was for her to be feeling sorry for it. “You crushed it, Buttercup.”

She picked her head up to look at him, her curls tickling his cheek. Despite only a subtle cock of her eyebrows, the confusion on her face was obvious. “What did you call me?”

“Buttercup. Like the Powerpuff girl. Seems fitting for you.”

“I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.”

“You should, ‘cause it was certainly meant to be one. She’s always been my favorite.” She looked beautiful with her face done, but he loved seeing her blush with every compliment he gave. He could only hope she was turning red under her makeup. And she certainly was.

“Hair got all messy,” he teased, looking over the strands that had fallen in her face and flipped around her part, “guess it’s my turn to fix yours.”

He did the same as she had before, taking different chunks and moving them back to their place so her part was nice and straight again. It didn’t take long, but during those few seconds, her knees went weak, and if she hadn’t been so focused on holding herself up with her arms around his neck, she would’ve collapsed. He thought about putting his hands in her hair to fluff it before calling it quits, but he opted against it, the thought of her military big-brothers creeping back to the front of his mind. They were going to be the death of him.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a round to win.” His mischievous joke elicited an eye roll and a giggly scoff from her.

The moment he made his final strike, he did one last fist pump, turning back to her and playfully sticking his tongue like a child. “Told you you were gonna get shredded.”

She was blushing so hard this time, she was positive her cheeks were glowing & the heat radiating off her face would melt her foundation right off. She loved piercings, tattoos, any sort of body modification. Upon seeing his, her mind immediately went in the most nefarious direction imaginable.

“Whoa, you have a tongue piercing? That had to have hurt like a bitch,” she exclaimed, doing her best to mask how flustered she was despite the crack in her voice and the double take she did.

“It did, but it looks dope, so it was worth it. You like it?” She more than just liked it.

She’s definitely thinking what I think she is, he thought as a little smirk broke through, but he didn’t mind at all. He was flattered that her mind was going in that direction, and he would’ve been lying if he said his wasn’t doing the same.

“Yeah, it’s awesome. I love piercings. I’ve only got my ears done, but I don’t even get to wear earrings often because of my job. Can’t have a stud falling into somebody’s intestines or something.” She pretended to clear her throat to prevent her voice from breaking further. “Anyway, that was only round one. We’ve got two more. I still have a chance to beat you.”

Those next two rounds were much the same, consisting of them chatting and getting to know each other throughout their turns with plenty of flirtatious touching to accompany it. Despite some assistance from him, he crushed her in every single round. As it was a Friday night, it was rather noisy and busy in the bowling alley, but it was like they were the only two people in the room. They were in their own little bubble, as far as they were concerned, a bubble they could’ve stayed in eternally if they were allowed to.

“I’m a doctor, not an athlete.” she joked, balancing herself on the counter to finish putting her boots back on.

“You still did good,” he commended. When she finished with her boots, he propped his arm in her direction, indicating to her to take it if she wanted. “Guess we’ll just have to come back so I can teach you.”

Gracing him with her soft smile, she took his arm, delighted with the clear enthusiasm he had about what some might call ‘showing her off.’ It had been a long time since she’d been on a date with a man so comfortable with PDA, especially on a first date. It was refreshing, and it had her swooning big time. Scud wasn’t like any man she’d met before, and that was precisely the type of man she needed. “I guess we will.”

She clung to his arm as they stepped out into the parking lot. It was dark now, the automatic lamps in the lot having flipped on and the streets flooding with people heading out for their Friday night, end-of-the-work-week antics. She used her free hand to brush her hair out of her face, and she could feel his gorgeous ocean eyes on her, studying every microscopic move she made. Even the mundane act of her brushing some hair out of her eyes brought a smile to his face. He was falling hard, fast, and he knew it and had no problems with it.

“I don’t know about you Vee, but I’m not ready for this night to be over. You hungry at all?”

“I ate a little before I came, so I’m not ravenous, but I’m not ready to be done either.”

“There’s a nice bar up the street. What do you say I buy you a drink? I’d love to keep talking.” There was a teeny tiny sparkle in his eye at the declaration of wanting to continue their evening over drinks, and Vec couldn’t help but let her small smile warp into one that stretched from ear-to-ear.

“I’d like that.” She slipped her arm out from his, and she could’ve sworn the sparkle in his eye faded to sadness for a brief moment as she pulled away and reached for her bag, taking out her phone. “I just have to text my best friend first. It’s nothing personal, I promise. Part of girl code is keeping each other informed of our locations on dates.”

Vec: We’re walking to this nearby bar. I think it’s called Whistler’s? He didn’t say, but it’s the only one I can think of up the street.

“Nah, you got someone lookin’ out for you. That’s good,” he commented. Based on the inflection in his voice, he’d clearly taken no offense, but even if he had, it wouldn’t have mattered to her. She was simply doing what she needed to keep herself safe.

She slipped her phone back into her bag and adjusted it on her arm. Looking past his shoulder down the street, she nodded in the general direction. “You thinking we walk?”

“I was hopin’ we would.” Grazing his fingers against the back of her hand, he kept his touch light as he trailed them around and slipped them between hers. Vec had never been more thankful for the dark, and for full-coverage foundation, than she was in that moment. As she locked eyes with him, her small smile contorted into a giant grin, her delight turning his smirk into a smile. “It’s dark. Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

Vec belongs to me

Georgie belongs to @dixons-sunshine

QOTU taglist: @ripleyswife @gothic-pumpkin @weirdoneattheparty @holdmytesseract

General taglist: @raddydaddydude @lovenormandixon @angeldemoncrowley @negansbestie

Want to become a head of the council? Hit up either myself or Krys to be added to the taglist :)

Banner, divider, and © below were also made by Krys

[quitealotofsodapop]

In the Wukongverse what is Wukong's and Macaque's singing voice like?

Oh I do Love me some singing hcs. Took me a while cus I bad at actually remembering singers. I'm just trying to add as many song links as possible.

LMK: These two's english VAs (Sean Schemmel & Alejandro Saab) have sung before, and I will repeat my thoughts. Whilst Macaque is the more "stage friendly" of the two and can interact with an audience and put on a show, Wukong is stupidly good at singing. Like, LMK!Mac is dumbfounded how good his Wukong is. Wukong's stage fright gets to him tho, so his voice cracks the second he detects anyone listening to him - only Mac, the kids, and baby monkeys know his true voice. He destroys everyone at drunk karaoke tho.

HeroIsBack: SWK's singing voice is initally very harsh (not use much in 500 years) but grows softer/more confident as he sings. I can almost hear it as being like the song in the film itself "The Feeling of Flying", just full of joy. Also dubbing bonus; Jackie Chan singing the Cantonese version of "I'll Make A Man Out of You" from Mulan (1998). HeroIsBack!LEM's voice is similarly underused but a hidden gem. Mostly reserved for lulling infant monkeys to sleep. A tenor like Thomas Sanders. Gets embarassed quickly because his singing voice "doesn't match his face" (Dasheng disagrees).

Reborn: You could say his warped view of his own demonic identiy hasn't exactly left Reborn!SWK a positive idea of his singing ability. His actual singing voice is surprisingly deep with a lot of octave range; example Jonathan Young. 100% would jam with anime opening songs. Secretly gets really excited when he duets. Reborn!LEM is much less confident in their performing ability than the other LEMs, his voice is much softer, quieter, and soprano-pitch. Ethereal almost; like Ben Whishaw in The Tempest. And this LEM might just sing "Ariel's Song/Full Fathom Five" too - since his six ears often "hear "pick up" songs of the future. May use his voice to guide the lost souls he chariots.

Netflix: This SWK do be singing, and he penned his own theme song! Hidden talent at composing? I hc that he's singing voice is the metal version of his theme as done by Voodoo Kung Fu & Ian Honeyman. Probably scares the other monkeys (sans Reborn!SWK who starts rocking) the first time they let him take the mic and he goes full heavy metal on them. Has a hidden softer tune only his pilgrims + LEM know about. Netflix!LEM would say that they'd rather eat glass than sing in public, but like their main inspo (Aubrey Plaza - "Get Happy") they are ridiculously good at swing/jazz style music where the singer interacts with/insults their audience. A good example of them singing (whether for a con/trick) would be Amber Gray in Hadestown.

NewGods: This SWK sounds like a smooth cruise /lounge singer. This man can bust out a Sinatra that'll make the room shake. He however can get really emotionally into the music and end up crying at the oddest songs. Good reference would be Richard Cheese. NewGods!LEM gots broadway vocals like Josh Groban, and will completely shred you with his Phantom of the Opera performance. Unless he decides to use his voice for mischief and starts singing filthy blues songs with his SWK.

2000sCartoon: I bet these two dont really flex their singing muscles much so they dont sound "good", but SWK loves him some travelling songs and shanties, and his LEM provides good backing. SWK has a crackly, higher pitched singing voice like George Salazar (Be More Chill + Percy Jackson Musical). 2000sCartoon!LEM's voice I can see being smoother like Ashe (of "to ashes" on youtube), and once he becomes more confident in himself; its one of the first clear distinctions the two monkeys can make between one another.

Meihouwang: I could see Shihou & Mihou having "younger-sounding" singing voices similar to Zach Callison (of Steven Universe fame), and Jeremy Jordan (Tangled Series + Death Note Musical) respectively. Absurdly good for monkeys with no formal musical training.

Smash Legends: This Wukong has a pretty good singing voice but he uses it for goofy "meme" songs (ex Loney Island) since he's actually a little mic shy. Has potiential for greatness. "Serious" singing voice is similar to Sam Tsui. Smash!LEM aka SixEars is a legit indie music star along the lines of a "faceless" nearly-online-exclusive artist - best comparasion I can give for his "typical" vocal ranges (remember perfect mimicry/pitch) is between Aly & AJ to Taron Egerton. Will leave the other monkeys in the dust in a competition.

No matter who's the "better" singer of all of them one thing is for certain; you turn on that karaoke machine around the SWKs and LEMs, and there's about to be a whole lot of monkey business.

[wutheringmights]

I've been thinking about the voice acting in BotW lately and that made me wonder about your opinion on voice acting in Zelda, and if you have any headcanons for the CTB Links. Personally I have a weird relationship with it - I can't stand the English or Japanese voice acting because it breaks immersion. But I don't mind other languages. I switched BotW to French and pretended everyone was speaking a fantasy language, it was surprisingly charming.

I like the idea of there being voice acting in LOZ, though I think there are some problems with the BOTW dub. Mostly, I think that a lot of the voice actors would have done better if they had better direction. That being said, I still have an affection for when LOZ games just had characters speaking gibberish. If they ever switched back to that, I wouldn't be mad.

I think that I talked about voice casting in CTB a long time ago, but the conversation wasn't too productive. I mostly know voice actors from anime, and they all have that cheesiness I'm not too fond of.

But I have watched some more shows since then, so I have a few more ideas.

For Warriors, I like Josh Grelle (more specifically, his performance of older Canute from Vinland Saga). I remember someone also suggested Jensen Ackles, which I think is fitting.

For Spirit, I've talked before about Jason Liebrecht (specifically his performance of Heiderich from Conqueror of Shamballa), but I also like Aleks Le (specifically, Thorfinn from Vinland Saga).

(can you tell I'm really into Vinland Saga right now?)

I can't even begin with picking a voice for Mask. For Time, I think something like that really deadpan male voice that Disney gave every male lead in their Studio Ghibli dubs (like Joseph Gordon Levitt in the Wind Rises) would work well.

The obligatory J. Micheal Tatum casting goes to Lincoln. He deserved it.

[perfectionts-virgo]

Four Weeks Later:

JOSHUA ALDRIDGE

Walking out my last class, it's a lot to know for being a Royal... making my way back to the dorm.

Unlocking the door a smell of breakfast smack me in the face, stepping further in the room closing and locking the door walking seeing ej whipping it up in the kitchen...

"Wassup Josh" he said with a smile

"Sup E" I replied giving with a head nod "I didn't know you can cook"

"I can whip it up here or there" he replied with smirk

I see six platters of food, One of the platters have pancakes and blueberrie muffins then three small bowls of raspberries, Strawberries, Bananas then two separate bowels of scramble eggs, bacon and sausage... last but not least cinnamon rolls and brought out the orange juice...

"Damn it's going to be us" I said jokingly

All he did was laugh shaking his head...

"I invited some friends over if you don't mind " he said looking at me

"I need to be socializing anyway" I replied with a chuckle

"Okay they going to here any minute" he said washing the dishes Making me nod my head

Making my way to my room putting down my bag and walked to the bathroom to wash my hands...

Walking back in the kitchen then I hear the door being knocked.. making my opening the door seeing three girls standing there..

One of the girls she little taller than two with a ginger fro start taking..

"Hi my name is Terri and this is Diana and Alexis" She said a smile "Is Ej Here ?"

"Hi my name is Joshua and I'm his roommate" I said with a warm smile " he In the kitchen come on in"

Moving opening the door... they walked in saying their thank you.... Before I closed the I see a guy

"Wassup" i said curiously

"Hi do ej stay here ?" He asked

"Yeah I'm his roommate" I replied

"Thank god but it will be a dub if he think I will walking around this big ass campus" he said making me Burst out laughing

"Anyway my name is Logan" he said making his way in

Finally closing the door walking behind in the dining room area seeing everybody socializing...

"Okay everybody this is my roommate Joshua" he said with a smile

"Hi" they said in union

"Hey" I said shyly wave

"Okay Josh find a seat" he said

Walking to a seat between ej and Diana... then the door open I see Romeo walking with two different guys..

Everybody turn to face them... it was so quiet

(Awkward)

"Hey Romeo this is my friends we're having little brunch y'all could join if y'all want" he said

"Bro I didn't know the school cater ?" The brown skin boy with green hoodie said

"They don't ej cooked all this" i replied with smirk looking at ej

Ej just side eyed me before terri start laughing because how awkward it's was

"I'm so sorry I had to" she said her right hand hinding her face

"Girl you can't take anything serious" Diana replied chuckling while Logan & Alexis facing each other chuckling.

"Y'all don't mind them" ej said Rolling his eyes "y'all can join us"

The boyz walked to the bathroom I guess their hands and came the with the orange shirt sitting next to Diana and the one with the green hoodie sitting next to  Alexis....

Romeo walked to the sink to wash his hands and drying them off with a paper towel till we heard the door being knocked on...

He made his way to the door.. hearing laughing and I'm seeing another brown skin boy tattoos wearing a von Dutch hat...

"Hey y'all this is my childhood best friend Andre" Romeo said with smile with his left arm over Andre shoulder

"Hey" we all said

"Wassup" he replied with a smile

"Girl" Terri whispered making me chuckle

I can't blame her, he is a looker.....

.................... 50 Minutes Later........................

After we was done eating... we're getting to each other.

"Okay let's get to know we are" Alexis said looking at us

We all agreed so we are waiting someone to start...

"Okay... My Name Is Erick Alexander Jr my parents are the King  and Queen of the Northwest" ej said looking at us

Next

"Well my name is Gelani Calvin I'm a caster my grandfather is caster and my grandmother was his childhood friends turn lover helped him with the chilling adventures" he said looking around

Next

"Hi my name is Terri Franklin im a witch... but in a nature coven... Both side of my family is witches and my gift is resurgence" she said turned to look at Diana bumped her shoulder to hers

Next

"Okay my name is Diana Wilson I'm a witch... my father is Haitian so they are coven of Hoodoo and My mother born raise in new Orlean they are coven of Voodoo so I'm mixture both bloodlines and my gift is I'm a human voodoo doll" she said with a smirk on her face

(I Fucks With Her)

Next

"Hi my name is Joshua Aldridge... I'm a foster child but I'm finding out my biological parents are the Harthways the Seven Kindom Royality of the West.. and I'm new to all this" I said looking around seeing two of the girl looking at me sympathy and the boyz looking ate surprise and Alexis just looking at me understanding...

Next

"My name is Alexis Love... I'm a fairy, my mother side full of fairies and my father side are humans that's all" she said turning to face the boy with the orange shirt

Next

"I guess it's my turn, My name is Klaus Davis... I'm a vampire my father side from the south and my mother side from The Caribbean and I love the play basketball" he said chuckle trying to make it light hearted

Next

"My name is Romeo Harris.. im werewolf my great grandfather of my father side he was the first werewolf and my mother great father is the werewolf they are stereotyping in movies... and I also love playing basketball" he said staring around the room

Last but not least

"My Name Is Andre Williams, I'm mixture of a Caster & Witch.. my father side full of casters and my mother side full of Witches" he said with a sly smile

"Okay that we know each other" I said looking around "I'm glad this happened because I will be a loner"

"What about me I'm you're friend" ej replied looking at me with his right eyebrow raise

"You right but it's going to awkward when they show up" I said

"You're right" ej said nodding his head

"Anyway it's getting late I got a early class tomorrow" Diana said getting up

"Me too" Alexis said getting up also

"Already Brody I'm gone" Gelani said getting up doing handshake with Romeo the the other boys

Also Klaus and Andre getting up...

Everybody grabbing their belongings... say their byes then walking out the door leaving me saying good night... walking to my room.

EJ ALEXANDER

Washing the last fork... putting in the dish washer.. grabbing a paper towel drying my hands looking up seeing Romeo sitting in the living room watching a basketball game...

"You should be a chief" he said turning his face away from the tv looking at me

"Really ?" I said

"Hell yeah you you're soul in it" he replied with a smile

I turned my head away from him to hind my face Because I was blushing...

"Thanks that mean a lot" I said

Then I heard the knock.. walking to the door opening seeing Olivia James... I have two classes with her she one of the girls the guys like Romeo want talk to... why she in front of our door ?

"Hi Is Romeo here ?" She asked

"Yeah Wait here let me go get him" I said with a smile

Walking back to the living seeing Romeo paying attention to his phone...

"Romeo Olivia at the door" I said

I said Olivia he whipped his head up so fast I thought he would have a whip flash...

"Thanks bro" he got up fitting his self "good looking out"

Seeing him walking to the door, hearing talking seeing them walking back and making his way to his room opening the door for her..

"You want something to drink ?" I heard Him asked her

(Damn I'm lonely)

"You want water or something else ?" He asked again

Seeing him pour some of the orange juice I made in two glass and made his way to his room turned to face me...

"Thanks again bro" he said With a smile

"No problem" I replied with a tight lip smile

Seeing him closed his door with his foot... I turned around and walked to my room closing my door taking off my clothes and putting my black pajamas.. sitting down on my desk finish homework that not due for a minute... I'm that type of student...

After I was done I turn off the lights and turned on my tv watching black 90s sitcoms under my comfy bed...

Damn I want a boo.... This single life is overrated

[saltpepperbeard]

[buttercream-squad-imagines]

Pub Golf

Pairings: Sidemen x Platonic!reader, Talia Mar x Platonic!Best friend!reader Word Count: 1.3k Warnings: Violence, mentions of stabbing and blood, consumption of alcohol Request: hi! can i get a really angsty sidemen x reader, where someone tries to steal the readers phone in public when filming with the sidemen and when stopping the thief ,the reader physically have to fight and thinks ‘damn, their punches REALLY hurts’ but in reality the reader is getting stabbed by a small pocket knife, and gets stabbed in the face, head and neck, but obviously survives (this legitimately happened to me two years ago) Notes: Y/H/T - Your hometown

Sidemen Pub Golf. Why anyone let Harry and Ethan come up with this idea you'd never know, but somehow you had gotten roped into it along with Talia so that the teams could be equal. You had been put on a team with JJ and Ethan, the other two teams consisting of Talia, Harry and Vik, and Simon, Tobi, and Josh.

You had met the Sidemen through Talia, who was one of your best friends, having met her whilst in school. You were already attending Brit School when Talia joined at 16, and the two of you were quick to become joint at the hip. You had been there throughout the ups and downs of her career, at the start of her YouTube journey, and even the start of her relationship with Simon, and vice versa. She was there for you when you started your career, and consequently, your own YouTube channel.

The boys had wanted you to be on a team with Talia as they all knew that not only were you both lightweights, but also how the banter between the two of you increased tenfold after you had had a drink. Vik was quick to point out, however, that the banter would be in between teams and make you more competitive. Not that you weren't competitive anyway but if you and Talia were on different teams, neither of you would back down. It was a recipe for disaster as the boys would probably be carrying you both home, but to them, content was content.

You were sat in Harry's apartment, currently zoned out whilst Harry and Ethan were reading out the rules. The sound of what was dubbed the 'Sambuca alarm' brought you abruptly out of your daydream, startling you. You groaned out loud, already knowing this was going to be a disaster and you were likely going to blackout halfway through the day, but you were no quitter by any means.

"Come on, Y/N!" JJ cackled.

"Fuck off, JJ." You grumbled, throwing the shot back and pulling a face of disgust afterwards. "Ew."

"Yes, lads!" Ethan cheered, high fiving both you and JJ.

"Come on, Tals." You teased, laughing as she flipped you off and shotted her own drink.

"Why did we agree to this?" She groaned.

"We were promised top links." You laughed.

"What the fuck, Y/N?" The boys all looked baffled as you sealed off the pint in front of you, Talia cheering you on in the background.

"Since when could you do that?" JJ gaped.

"My girl's a dark horse." Talia blurted out with a large grin. This was the third pub, and you could tell the girl was pushing tipsy.

"Nah, I'm just from Y/H/T." You joked.

"Ghee." Ethan laughed loudly. "Well done, lass!"

The others finished their drinks, Tobi sealing it off in one whilst the others struggled, some more than others. You all gathered your things and set off for the next pub, which was about a five-minute walk away. You threaded your arm through Talia's, glancing down at your phone to answer a text from your mum. The two of you had fallen behind the group, you having slowed down significantly to make out what your mother had actually written.

The next few moments happened like a blur. You felt you phone being tugged out of your hands forcefully and let out a yelp of protest. You tried gripping on tightly and throwing punches at the man, Talia having stumbled forwards and was trying to call on the boys, but the stranger did not give up. You felt the man retaliating, throwing a number of punches at you, and let out a scream of pain. All you could think was how much pain you were in. You knew being punched would hurt, but fuck, you didn't think it was supposed to hurt this badly!

"Oi! Get away from her!" You heard the voice of JJ yell. The boys had heard the commotion, any intoxication being chased away by worry.

The man, seeing the large group of boys running towards you, had abandoned his efforts and ran off without your phone. JJ chased after the thief, but you paid no mind, feeling as though you were going to collapse. You fell forward, Simon supporting your weight. There were tears streaming down your cheeks but all you could think about was the searing pain you felt in your head and neck.

"Y/N." Simon gasped, frozen in shock, noticing the blood the coated you.

"Call an ambulance!" Vik yelled, the situation sobering him up as he quickly barked out orders. "Simon lay her down."

You felt yourself being set on the floor gently, a crowd slowly gathering around you, not that you noticed anyway. You were too focused on the pain. You felt hands being pressed to where you were hit. You were confused as to what was going on, but you were in too much shock to question it.

"It hurts." You cried, gripping onto Talia tightly. Your head was spinning, and you couldn't tell if it was from your injuries, the alcohol or just the shock of being in the situation you were in.

"Simon." Talia whispered with fear lacing her voice, tears forming in her eyes.

"The ambulance is on its way." The older boy couldn't tell whether he was trying to assure himself or his girlfriend.

"Ambulance?" You questioned, feeling as though you would pass out at any moment.

"You've been stabbed, Y/N." Tobi told her gently.

"S-stabbed?" You stammered, tears forming in your eyes. "Am I gonna die?"

"No!" Talia yelled. "I won't let you!"

"I love you, guys, so much." You sobbed. "Tell my family that I love them too."

"No, you can tell them yourself." Harry scolded her. Anyone could tell that the group of people surrounding you cared significantly for your wellbeing, the distress they were in making it very apparent.

"The ambulance is here!" Josh yelled, breathing out a sigh of relief as the paramedics rushed over and started handling the situation.

"I'm tired." You mumbled quietly, slurring your words slightly as you were lifted onto a gurney.

"No! Don't go to sleep now, Y/N." Ethan pleaded, but you couldn't keep your eyes open. They felt as though they were being weighed down, your mind slowly drifting off.

You groaned as you heard the sound of a steady beep that made you feel as though your head would explode. Wow, I feel like shit, you thought to yourself. Your eyes fluttered open, still feeling quite heavy, focussing on the group of people around you.

"What happened?" You croaked, your throat as dry as a desert.

"Y/N!" Ethan exclaimed causing you to wince at the volume. "Sorry."

"You were stabbed." Josh, who was sat at the edge of the hospital bed, explained gently. Tears began forming in your eyes once more as you recalled the earlier events.

"You're okay now, Y/N/N." Tobi assured you.

"The man?" You questioned meekly.

"JJ caught him, they've got him in custody now." Simon told you causing you to sigh in relief, tears falling freely down your face.

"Thank you, Jide." You sobbed.

"Hey, anything for our girl." He told you, wiping away your tears gently.

"You're awake." Vik smiled as he walked in the room. "The doctor said they want to keep her in for about a week but after that she should stay with someone, so she doesn't strain herself."

"I'll be fine on my own guys." You assured them.

"Absolutely not." Talia scolded. "You can stay at my place."

"I'll be fine, Tals." You told her.

"Doctor's orders." You rolled your eyes at her strict tone but made no move to argue with her. You just didn't have the energy.

"Well at least now we can put 'gone wrong' in the title." Harry spoke up, breaking the silence. You all burst out laughing at the boy's inability to be serious in these situations. You had the best support system around you, you were truly surrounded by such kind-hearted people.

[matt3470srandomthoughts]

Nostalgia

One of the things I've been feeling a lot recently is nostalgia, I have a love-hate relationship with the feeling. On one hand you smile remembering good times but on the other you get sad you can never re-experience that ever again. That's why I try to enjoy so many things in the moment now. But anyway, it's been on my mind a lot. I recently watched a video about a design language called "Frutiger Aero" (video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL7kTMtvebQ) and this is what I grew up with. Skeuomorphism was rampant during these years, which is considered to be a key part of the design language. This design langauge in operating systems such as Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. These are my personal favorites not just because of nostalgia, but I feel these systems were really refined and looked really clean. It also just felt like you were in a different world, especially with some of those wallpapers. I remember as a kid I would just go through the wallpapers on Windows 7 and imagine the kind of worlds they were in. Truly a magical time. Also around this time, I was first exposed to the iPhone, namely the 4. I was too young to care about "antenna gate" and I thought a touchscreen phone was just so incredible. iOS 4 through 6 were definitely the most nostalgic for me. I remember iOS 5 on my sister's iPod Touch 4, another super nostalgic piece of tech for me. She really liked Owl City, and I would then come to listen to a lot of their stuff too. My favorites were Fireflies and then Peppermint Winter, a song I've been listening to a lot recently, with it being Christmas and all.

Enough about tech, another thing I'm super nostalgic for is TV channels back in the early 2010s. You see back then cable was actually worth watching I feel like, and definitely peaked then until Netflix took over in the mid 2010s. I also miss old Netflix from 2011. It was reasonably priced, no ads and had a good library. As far as TV networks go, I would mainly watch Cartoon Network, Nick and PBS Kids. CN was going through a huge renaissance, with tons of new shows, that are super nostalgic to me now, something I like to dub the "Check It Renaissance" referring to CN's branding at the time. A kind of weird interest of mine is channel idents or bumpers that air between programming and commercials. Check it 1.0 from CN (2010-2013) is by far the most nostalgic for me, with cool flipnote like bumpers, catchy music, and skeuomorphism galore. But PBS Kids' bumpers from around the time (and PBS Kids Go's) are also super nostalgic for me. Nickelodeon's branding was already bland af and hasn't really improved since. But I loved spongebob, drake and josh, and icarly as a kid so I would watch it frequently. I think it was just such a good time for me simply because I was a young kid. I wasn't quite aware of what happened in the world, I just enjoyed life, played with friends, and quite a few family members who are unfortunately deceased now were alive and doing very well then. I think people weren't quite as addicted to the internet back then as a lot of us are now, obviously the internet has done a lot of good over the years, getting us through a pandemic and all, but it definitely has its downsides. I just feel like back then people would only pull their phone out if they had a call, or to show it to friends/family because it was such a novelty then. I miss when technology was advancing so fast, everything new was so cool. Each new iphone was a huge improvement over the previous, while now it feels like the only thing that really improves is the battery. The iPad was first introduced in 2010, quad core processors became standard back then too in desktops and high end laptops... and desktops nowadays are STILL shipping with quad cores. I'm not saying there's been no improvements to tech- that is incredibly untrue. VR has matured a ton since the clunky Oculus DK1 from 2013, 100 core processors are now a thing apparently, Apple's M1 and M2 processors have been able to accomplish things unimaginable back in 2010, and tons of discoveries with technology has been discovered to help the medical field and such. I guess I'm just not a young kid who thinks every new piece of technology is the coolest thing ever haha.

In conclusion, I love the late 2000s/early 2010s, it was just a truly special and incredible couple of years for me. Hopefully one day things like the design language from then will make a comeback or something. Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays :)

[rickygoldman34]

Hello everyone Ricky Goldman here.

Its Worlds Collide 2022.

Its Carmelo Hayes vs Ricochet for the North American title. Great way to kick it the crowd were very much into it. Lots of high flying and lots of near falls. Both guys pulling out all the stops and leaving it all on the mat. This went the distance and was a very food match. I'm so glad Ricochet is getting used now thank you Triple H. We saw a Spanish fly from Carmelo to Ricochet but to no avail. Both men go at it trading blows. I loved this one. A roll up from Carmelo gives him the dub.

Next up it's Pretty Deadly vs Gallus vs Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen vs Diamond Mine fatal four way elimination match for both the NXT and NXT UK tag team titles. Another really fantastic match. Crowd very got again. All 4 tag teams looking on point here. Josh Briggs and Jensen Brooks eliminated 1st followed by Gallus. It's now Diamond Mine vs Pretty Deadly. Back and forth between both tags teams OMG this was good,really good, Briggs and Jensen come out to distract the ref. Damon Kemp in the ring,he turns on the Creed Brothers costing them a history making win. Pretty Deadly are new unified champions.

Onto match 3 and it is Blair Davenport vs Meiko Satomura vs Mandy Rose triple threat match for both the NXT and NXT UK women's titles. A 3 women looking very on point and really good here. Mandy looking super hot,the crowd hyped up for this one. All 3 women leaving it all out there and looking to walk out with double gold. Blair and Meiko went at it before Mandy got back on in the action. Blair back in on the match and doing her thing. Meiko taking it to both women she goes for the pin but didnt get it done. Blair breaks up a 2nd pin,hits her finisher but it didnt get the job done. Mandy back in,she throws Meiko out the ring,knee to Blair,the cover and Mandy Rose is on the side of history and she is a double champ now.

Next match is Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H vs Kayden Carter and Kitanna Chance for the NXT women's tag team titles. The challengers very much in control throughout,going for many pin fall attempts and just beating down the challengers. Little offense from the champions here but they did get back into it. This was a decent match. Toxic Attraction come out and distract Doudrop and Nikki. Nikki flys off the top rope onto Toxic Attraction. The champions hit thier finisher and keep the gold.

[nieas1]

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul DUMPS his semiconductor shares following outrage as former Dallas Federal Reserve President say couple has been trading based off 'inside information'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.

On June 17 Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban.

But on Tuesday, the day before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Paul Pelosi sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 with a total loss of $341,365, according to a periodic transaction report released Tuesday.

Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'

'As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,' he added.

The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades.

Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.'

'Something needs to be done.'

The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds.

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week.

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report.

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government.

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.'

It was not resounding support, but it was a change of tune from three months earlier when Pelosi was actively against cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress' stock trading power.

'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' she said in December.

Despite broad support, some Democrats lay blame at leadership for stopping such bills from even getting a vote.

'The people who control the calendar don't want to bring it to the floor,' said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to put their assets in a blind trust. 'The people who control committees of jurisdiction don't want to bring it to the floor.'

Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of around $135 million.

In 2021, the House Speaker is ranked as the 14th wealthiest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider.

Paul Pelosi's lucrative stock trades have prompted social investing app Iris allows users to track the couple's trades and be notified every time Paul makes a purchase so that they can do the same.

And popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi's investments, was banned from the social media network.

The 2012 STOCK Act bans members of Congress from using 'any nonpublic information derived from the individual's position … or gained from performance of the individual's duties, for personal benefit.'

It also required lawmakers to report any publicly disclose any transaction of stocks, bond, commodities futures, and other securities within 45 days, rather than once per year.

Pelosi is far from alone in her husband's stock trades - more than 220 other representatives and senators, around 40% of Congress, held together at least $225 million in stock assets during 2020, according to an Insider investigation.

An Insider investigation found that 49 members and 182 congressional staffers were late to disclose trades from January through September 2021, violating the STOCK Act.

[fuuyer]

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul DUMPS his semiconductor shares following outrage as former Dallas Federal Reserve President say couple has been trading based off 'inside information'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.

On June 17 Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban.

But on Tuesday, the day before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Paul Pelosi sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 with a total loss of $341,365, according to a periodic transaction report released Tuesday.

Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'

'As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,' he added.

The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades.

Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.'

'Something needs to be done.'

The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds.

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week.

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report.

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government.

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week.

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report.

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government.

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.'

It also required lawmakers to report any publicly disclose any transaction of stocks, bond, commodities futures, and other securities within 45 days, rather than once per year.

Pelosi is far from alone in her husband's stock trades - more than 220 other representatives and senators, around 40% of Congress, held together at least $225 million in stock assets during 2020, according to an Insider investigation.

An Insider investigation found that 49 members and 182 congressional staffers were late to disclose trades from January through September 2021, violating the STOCK Act.

[pmlyy]

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul DUMPS his semiconductor shares following outrage as former Dallas Federal Reserve President say couple has been trading based off 'inside information'

The framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off

 Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul purchased over $1 million in shares of semiconductor firm Nvidia ahead of a vote on the CHIPS bill 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.

On June 17 Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban. 

But on Tuesday, the day before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Paul Pelosi sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 with a total loss of $341,365, according to a periodic transaction report released Tuesday. 

Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'

'As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,' he added. 

The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.  

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC  Speaker Nancy Pelosi  and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades. 

Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.' 

'Something needs to be done.'

The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds. 

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News. 

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week. 

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.   

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report. 

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government. 

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.' 

It was not resounding support, but it was a change of tune from three months earlier when Pelosi was actively against cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress' stock trading power. 

'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' she said in December.  

Despite broad support, some Democrats lay blame at leadership for stopping such bills from even getting a vote. 

'The people who control the calendar don't want to bring it to the floor,' said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to put their assets in a blind trust.  'The people who control committees of jurisdiction don't want to bring it to the floor.'

Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of around $135 million. 

In 2021, the House Speaker is ranked as the 14th wealthiest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider. 

Paul Pelosi's lucrative stock trades have prompted social investing app Iris allows users to track the couple's trades and be notified every time Paul makes a purchase so that they can do the same. 

And popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi's investments, was banned from the social media network.

The 2012 STOCK Act bans members of Congress from using 'any nonpublic information derived from the individual's position ... or gained from performance of the individual's duties, for personal benefit.'   

It also required lawmakers to report any publicly disclose any transaction of stocks, bond, commodities futures, and other securities within 45 days, rather than once per year. 

Pelosi is far from alone in her husband's stock trades - more than 220 other representatives and senators, around 40% of Congress, held together at least $225 million in stock assets during 2020, according to an Insider investigation.

An Insider investigation found that 49 members and 182 congressional staffers were late to disclose trades from January through September 2021, violating the STOCK Act.

[wsasdayye]

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul DUMPS his semiconductor shares following outrage as former Dallas Federal Reserve President say couple has been trading based off 'inside information'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.

On June 17 Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban. 

Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'

'As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,' he added. 

The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.  

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC  Speaker Nancy Pelosi  and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades. 

Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.' 

'Something needs to be done.'

The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds. 

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News. 

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week. 

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.   

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report. 

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government. 

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.' 

It was not resounding support, but it was a change of tune from three months earlier when Pelosi was actively against cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress' stock trading power. 

'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' she said in December.  

Despite broad support, some Democrats lay blame at leadership for stopping such bills from even getting a vote. 

'The people who control the calendar don't want to bring it to the floor,' said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to put their assets in a blind trust.  'The people who control committees of jurisdiction don't want to bring it to the floor.'

Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of around $135 million. 

In 2021, the House Speaker is ranked as the 14th wealthiest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider. 

Paul Pelosi's lucrative stock trades have prompted social investing app Iris allows users to track the couple's trades and be notified every time Paul makes a purchase so that they can do the same. 

And popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi's investments, was banned from the social media network.

The 2012 STOCK Act bans members of Congress from using 'any nonpublic information derived from the individual's position ... or gained from performance of the individual's duties, for personal benefit.'   

[fdsvfd]

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul DUMPS his semiconductor shares following outrage as former Dallas Federal Reserve President say couple has been trading based off 'inside information'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.

On June 17 Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban. 

But on Tuesday, the day before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Paul Pelosi sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 with a total loss of $341,365, according to a periodic transaction report released Tuesday. 

Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'

'As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,' he added. 

The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.  

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC  Speaker Nancy Pelosi  and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades. 

Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.' 

'Something needs to be done.'

The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds. 

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News. 

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week. 

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.   

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report. 

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government. 

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.' 

It was not resounding support, but it was a change of tune from three months earlier when Pelosi was actively against cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress' stock trading power. 

'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' she said in December.  

Despite broad support, some Democrats lay blame at leadership for stopping such bills from even getting a vote. 

'The people who control the calendar don't want to bring it to the floor,' said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to put their assets in a blind trust.  'The people who control committees of jurisdiction don't want to bring it to the floor.'

Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of around $135 million. 

In 2021, the House Speaker is ranked as the 14th wealthiest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider. 

Paul Pelosi's lucrative stock trades have prompted social investing app Iris allows users to track the couple's trades and be notified every time Paul makes a purchase so that they can do the same. 

And popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi's investments, was banned from the social media network.

The 2012 STOCK Act bans members of Congress from using 'any nonpublic information derived from the individual's position ... or gained from performance of the individual's duties, for personal benefit.'   

It also required lawmakers to report any publicly disclose any transaction of stocks, bond, commodities futures, and other securities within 45 days, rather than once per year. 

Pelosi is far from alone in her husband's stock trades - more than 220 other representatives and senators, around 40% of Congress, held together at least $225 million in stock assets during 2020, according to an Insider investigation.

An Insider investigation found that 49 members and 182 congressional staffers were late to disclose trades from January through September 2021, violating the STOCK Act.

[trenchfiction]

Good To You Part 10

The next few days were spent quitting her old job and getting everything ready to work in Canada; visas and packing. Rose was happy that her best friend was getting her dream job but she was going to miss her. "What are you taking with you and what are you shipping up there?" Rose asked. "Well, I'm just packing for a trip, you know clothes and things to take with me and shipping everything else. Josh and the guys are helping me get moved. I'm gonna crash at the old band house until I get a place of my own. I can't believe they kept it after all these years. And, it's just down the road from Josh's place, so that works." Rose placed her hand over her friend's.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm…no, I'm scared and nervous and excited and…argh, just too many feels." Trisha fell backwards on her bed and sighed.

"Well, a lot has happened in the last week. Why don't we take a break from packing and go get a bite to eat, just you and me?"

"Oh, Rose, what am I going to do without you?" Trisha embraced her best friend before they got up and left for their favorite little café.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Yeah?" Josh yelled from the middle of the suite.

"Dude, you have been holed up in your room all day! What are you doing?" Matt yelled through the door. Josh got up and let him in and went back to the table. Matt followed his best friend into his suite. There was paper everywhere; all over the table and the floor and a pile of paper wads beside the trashcan. "Oh, lord. You're writing. That explains it. Can I see it?"

Josh contemplated for a second. "Yeah, I want to hear what you think. It's not for us. I kinda wrote it for a certain girl to sing."

Matt read over the lyrics. "This is great, Josh. Who knew you could write such a great girl power song." He laughed at the end. "But, seriously man, it’s awesome."

"I'm gonna lay the instrument tracks when we get back. I wanna show her that she is beautiful and that she should be proud of it. I'm hoping this will help."

"I'm sure it will. Look, I came over to say we have an interview in a bit."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, that radio bit. I'll be over in a few. Just so I can clean up this mess a bit."

"Josh!!!" Trisha sang his name into her phone.

"Hey, babe. What are you so excited about?" Josh replied as he stepped out of the elevator.

"My visas just came through!! I'm cleared to work in Canada!" Trisha beamed as she walked out of her townhouse, heading toward Josh's hotel.

"That's great! Just bring them over and we'll get the info to 604. Where are you?" He asked.

"I'm on my way to you."

"Hey, since we're leaving in a few days, why don't we meet at the park?"

"Sounds great. See you there in five?"

"I'm halfway there now. Love you."

"Love you too."

Trisha caught up to Josh on the pathway to their spot, it was now dubbed. They held hands while Josh carried a guitar case in his other hand.

"I'm glad you brought that." Trisha motioned toward the guitar as they reached the spot.

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, I was looking through the booklet for “Masterpiece Theatre” one day and I noticed that you had written almost all of the music and it was so inspiring that I decided to try my hand at songwriting and I wrote a song about the day we met. I only wrote the lyrics and was hoping if it was good enough, you'd help me with the music."

Josh beamed, "Of course. Let's see." Over the next two hours, the couple tweaked lyrics and got the music down. "Okay, let's run through it one last time before we head to dinner."

Josh strummed the intro and nodded to Trisha to come in with the lyrics.

All I knew this morning When I woke Is I know something now, Know something now I didn't before And all I've seen Since eighteen hours ago Is blue eyes and dimples and your smile In the back of my mind Making me feel like

I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you Know you Know you

'Cause all I know is we said "Hello" And your eyes look like coming home All I know is a simple name Everything has changed All I know is you held the door You'll be mine and I'll be yours All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

And all my walls stood tall painted blue And I'll take them down, Take them down And open up the door for you And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies The beautiful kind, making up for lost time, Taking flight, making me feel like

I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you Know you Know you

'Cause all I know is we said "Hello" And your eyes look like coming home All I know is a simple name Everything has changed All I know is you held the door You'll be mine and I'll be yours All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

Come back and tell me why I'm feeling like I've missed you All this time, oh, oh, oh And meet me there tonight And let me know that it's not all in my mind

I just wanna know you better Know you better Know you better now I just wanna know you Know you Know you

'Cause all I know is we said "Hello" And your eyes look like coming home All I know is a simple name Everything has changed All I know is you held the door You'll be mine and I'll be yours All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

All I know is we said "Hello" So dust off your highest hopes All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed All I know is the new found grace All my days I'll know your face All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

"That was beautiful." Josh said after the last chord had finished.

Trisha shook her head. "I can't put my finger on it, but something is missing."

Josh stood and put the guitar away. "Come on, we gotta go. We're supposed to meet the guys in the lobby," Josh glanced down at his watch, "five minutes ago!" He grabbed her hand and took off toward the hotel.

"Where are they?" Ian pondered aloud.

Matt and Mike looked at each other, "3, 2, 1." They pointed to the front doors and Josh bulldozed through the door, guitar case in one hand, Trisha bringing up the rear.

"Sorry, we're late."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go! I'm starving!!" Mike whines.

"Mike, dear, don't whine. It's not pretty." Trisha retorted, tapping his cheek with her hand, causing the rest of the group to laugh as they went back outside to catch a ride to the hibachi restaurant that Trisha had suggested the night before.

As they made their way back to the hotel after dinner, Ian's curiosity got the better of him. "Josh, why have you been lugging around that guitar all night?" Ian asked, nodding toward the case by his lead singer's feet.

Josh turned to Trisha, "Wanna play it for them?"

Trisha nodded. "Okay, I have been dabbling in songwriting for a bit now and this is one I wrote about the first day that Josh and I met. You guys are the first to hear it. I think something is missing. Maybe you guys could help us out?" The guys chorused that they would love to help but right as Josh went to strum the intro, the SUV came to a stop in front of the hotel. They all piled out and hurried upstairs to Josh's suite to try again.

They played through the song. Trisha felt like it was the best run through they had done yet.

"Lyrics are amazing," Matt said, "but I agree, something is missing. Umm, have you tried it as a duet?"

Josh and Trisha looked at each other with wide eyes and they grabbed Trisha's notebook to start divvying up the lyrics. This went on for two hours, trying to find the right combination. By the end of the second hour, not only had they got the lyrics right, they even got some background vocals composed.

"Oh my gosh, Josh, it sounds amazing!!" Trisha gushed, pecking Josh on the cheek.

"Get a room!" Ian called.

"This is my room," Josh stated matter-of-factually, "so, if you don't like it, you can bugger off!"

All three boys looked at Josh like he had grown an extra head. "Bugger off? Really?"

"Ehh, thought I'd give it a go. Guess not."

[nieas1]

Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul DUMPS his semiconductor shares following outrage as former Dallas Federal Reserve President say couple has been trading based off 'inside information'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul dumped his stock in semiconductor firm Nvidia amid backlash just before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill to drum up domestic semiconductor chip production, according to a periodic report released Tuesday.

On June 17 Paul Pelosi exercised call options to buy 20,000 shares worth between $1 million and $5 million, ahead of the vote on the CHIPS plus bill which would inject $52 billion into the semiconductor market. The move drew bipartisan backlash and renewed calls for a congressional stock ban.

But on Tuesday, the day before the Senate passed the CHIPS bill, Paul Pelosi sold 25,000 shares of Nvidia at an average price of $165.05 with a total loss of $341,365, according to a periodic transaction report released Tuesday.

Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement: 'Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.'

'As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,' he added.

The Senate passed the CHIPS bill Wednesday and the House is expected to pass it on Thursday.

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Thursday on CNBC Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband 'appear' to have taken advantage of insider information with Paul's many lucrative stock trades.

Responding to news that Democrats would soon release the framework for a long-awaited stock pan proposal, Fisher said on CNBC's Squawk Box: 'Clearly people have taken advantage of insider information forever. I'm not against their tapping that down. I'm sorry to see that Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi and others appear - all appearance right now we don't know the facts - to have taken advantage of insider information.'

'Something needs to be done.'

The stock ban framework would force members of Congress, their spouses and senior staff to place assets in either a qualified blind trust or completely sell them off. Lawmakers, spouses and staff would still be able to hold mutual funds.

Leadership's goal is to get the legislation through the House in September, according to Punchbowl News.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who as head of the House Administration Committee has been tasked with reviewing the different proposals, told DailyMail.com on Friday the framework would be out 'in the coming weeks.'

'Has your husband ever made a stock purchase or sale based on information he's received from you?' a reported asked the speaker in her weekly briefing last week.

'No,' she scoffed. 'Absolutely not.' Pelosi then walked away from the podium.

The Pelosis are one of the wealthiest couples in Congress and Paul Pelosi has been dubbed one of the most prolific stock traders of all time. The speaker's office frequently notes that Nancy herself does not own any stock.

For months there has been broad bipartisan consensus behind banning individual stock trades for members and their spouses. Lawmakers in both parties have put forth a slew of bills since Pelosi first expressed a cool openness to such a ban in February, not one of which has made it to the floor.

Last Wednesday Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a letter asking Democrats to hold a hearing on banning stock trading.

'This issue of whether and how Members of Congress engage in various financial transactions deserves scrutiny by the Committee,' Hawley wrote to Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

'In 2020 Speaker Pelosi and her husband outperformed the S&P 500 by a whopping 14.3 percent,' Hawley said. Ninety percent of actively managed investment funds fail to beat the market, according to a report.

After initial resistance, Pelosi changed tune in February and said she would get behind a stock ban if it was not just aimed at Congress but all of government.

'It has to be government-wide,' the California Democrat told reporters. 'The judiciary has no reporting. The Supreme Court has no disclosure. It has no reporting of stock transactions, and it makes important decisions every day.'

It was not resounding support, but it was a change of tune from three months earlier when Pelosi was actively against cutting off her husband and the rest of Congress' stock trading power.

'We're a free market economy. '[Lawmakers] should be able to participate in that,' she said in December.

Despite broad support, some Democrats lay blame at leadership for stopping such bills from even getting a vote.

'The people who control the calendar don't want to bring it to the floor,' said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., a moderate who authored a bipartisan proposal to force members to put their assets in a blind trust. 'The people who control committees of jurisdiction don't want to bring it to the floor.'

Paul Pelosi, owner of Financial Leasing Services, has amassed a personal fortune of around $135 million.

In 2021, the House Speaker is ranked as the 14th wealthiest member of Congress with an estimated net worth of at least $46,123,051, according to Insider.

Paul Pelosi's lucrative stock trades have prompted social investing app Iris allows users to track the couple's trades and be notified every time Paul makes a purchase so that they can do the same.

And popular Twitter account @NancyTracker, which tracked Pelosi's investments, was banned from the social media network.

The 2012 STOCK Act bans members of Congress from using 'any nonpublic information derived from the individual's position … or gained from performance of the individual's duties, for personal benefit.'

It also required lawmakers to report any publicly disclose any transaction of stocks, bond, commodities futures, and other securities within 45 days, rather than once per year.

Pelosi is far from alone in her husband's stock trades - more than 220 other representatives and senators, around 40% of Congress, held together at least $225 million in stock assets during 2020, according to an Insider investigation.

An Insider investigation found that 49 members and 182 congressional staffers were late to disclose trades from January through September 2021, violating the STOCK Act.