#like i did NOT expect to get beatrice as a junior

[thoughts-of-caly]

screaming crying pulling out my hair because the cast list for much ado about nothing was just posted and who gets to say the iconic line "i would eat his heart in the marketplace"? tHAT'S RIGHT IT'S YOURS TRULY

[justpinkazure]

Lighter | Elinor Walker

CW: it's just a sad character backstory with some violence closer to end

The girl with red curls looked at her mother in fear. I watched as she dropped to her knees and tried to contain her own fear, hugging her daughter to her. The woman called her father's name several times so that he would look at them just once and immediately leave the room. Elinor heard him swearing as he searched for his phone while her mother calmed both him and her. And she tried to calm herself down too. However, the girl did not feel anything. For her, this is an ordinary day, like any other. They gave her a bike, and she immediately rode it down the slope. Eli remembers the moment of the collision so clearly. Blurred vision, some discomfort in the hand and blood flowing to the fingers. Hot, it cooled down very quickly, causing unpleasant goosebumps to crawl across the skin. But the most unpleasant thing is how the parents argue at such moments. Like it's her fault. You wouldn't even call her clumsy.

Elinor has suffered from congenital analgesia since childhood. Her brain is unable to receive pain signals. She feels only slight discomfort, constraining her movements. Father's genetics played a cruel joke. His sister and great-grandfather had this disease. Maybe that's why he's so strict with his daughter?

Despite her illness, Eli grew up to be no ordinary child. Yes, in addition to constant health problems, the girl constantly brought a lot of problems with her difficult character. Stubborn and persistent. Eli was unable to make long-term friends. In rare moments of reconciliation with other children, sparks of hope flashed in the eyes of the family, disappearing after the next call from the director. Elinor missed junior school. Not even a month had passed before she was transferred to home schooling. With such a disease and disgusting behavior, the parents did not want to take any risks.

If the child’s brain cannot detect pain, then let him learn to avoid its occurrence and look for the prerequisites for possible injuries. Her older brother helped with this. The years passed, and while Wallace grew closer to his sister, parents moved further and further away from her. This upset her. It happened that she could deliberately crash into a table top or sofa, but no one else came to help. The father never tolerated this, and on top of everything else, he put pressure on the mother, trying to save her from endless empathy and regret. He loved this woman and could not watch her cry. He also hated his sister, Aunt Beatrice, who once took all the attention in the family with the same deviation. This explains why she comes to visit so rarely.

The family is quite exemplary. Father is a surgeon, mother is a lawyer. The eldest son is going to follow in his father's footsteps. At the same time, both parents are constantly on the road. When the nannies and caregivers were tired of fussing with the capricious Elinor, and it was too early to leave Wallace in charge, Aunt Beatrice came. She was that sweet auntie, so understanding and cheerful. The wrinkles only embellished this woman’s smile. She understood Elinor like no one else. During all those rare visits, the girl learned so many useful things for herself. She was so pleased by Beatrice and so unbearably angry by her father, who looked for every opportunity to avoid getting involved with her, and her aunt, who lived for years with his resentment, understood everything and tried not to interfere with her brother’s family. I can't believe they are of the same blood.

As for the brother, Wallace Walker, well… He's perfect. Exceptional in almost everything. Studies, appearance, character - he was always the center of attention wherever he found himself. Even at home. This didn't bother Elinor much. Considering how demanding his parents were, she even felt somehow sorry for him.. He is the pride of the family and must achieve everything that is expected of him. Having taught Wallace to be a nurse for Elinor, his father increasingly persuaded his son to become a doctor. In response, as he grew older, the guy began to increasingly curse his choice of life path. He liked helping the girl, but the stress from his parents was pressing more and more on his chest.

When he became an actor, Eleanor would become the director for all the films in which Wallace would star. They will be inseparable like DiCaprio and Tim Burton. Such a funny fantasy distracted her.

In such a family there is so much time for oneself. Too much. It was too early to wander through abandoned buildings, to smoke and to study for a license, but she was lucky to get acquainted with film distribution. Of all the genres, it was horror that reverberated with fervor in her chest. Feeling no pain, she jumped every time fake blood appeared on the screen or when she saw fake weapons stabbing into actors. A strange emotion struck her every time while watching it. It was impossible to take your eyes off the cruelty on screen. An emotion that is impossible to experience was shown in all colors on the faces of the actors. Is it true that the pain is so unpleasant? Is she really like that? Various questions flashed through her mind so often that they forced her to take more and more discs with interest and follow the release of new slasher films in cinemas. How far can directors go with their cruelty? How she wanted to see more. The thought that in the future she herself could participate in horror filming warmed her soul.

A strong interest in cinema prompted Eleanor to earn extra money. The girl accidentally started buying CDs with her favorite films, gradually collecting a unique collection. Not as expensive as her father's cabinet of designer folding knives, and not as unusual as her mother's constant migraines from working too much. Any job available to a teenager was hers. Pocket money from parents was still only enough for lunch. With her purchases, they would never let her buy it all, let alone spend money on it all. Blu-ray editions of her favorite films took pride of place on the shelves in her room. Informal clothes, with edgy jewelry and creepy chains, took up residence in the darkest corner of Elinor's closet. Mom bought all her clothes. Over time, the closet stopped being so pink, but wearing boring floral blouses and skirts became unbearable. The girl often asked her brother to share his belt or shirts. And this guy definitely had style and a good heart. It was he who, through swearing and quarrels, was able to get his sister her personal, small, pot-bellied television. A gift she had never been able to save up for. This was the only birthday when her parents gave her exactly what Elinor wanted, and not what they thought was necessary. Whatever the thought behind this act, it did not improve the relationship, only inclining the girl towards greater isolation.

At school.. Don’t really want to talk about this part of her life. Elinor tried to get into any sports club, but her parents and teachers categorically prevented this. Teamwork was not for her at all, and her father and mother simply did not want to deal with another set of injuries. Sport is dangerous for Elinor. She only managed to get into an elective in physical education, which was already considered a victory. Anything that prepared him for a zombie attack or an escape from some abandoned place made Eli a little happier and his life simpler. What did the opposite was relationships with peers. Attempts to make friends ended in quarrels and even fights. Her classmates avoided her for many reasons, most often absurd and far-fetched, which is why she had to constantly prove that they were wrong. This did not lead the girl to success, only to the director’s office. Every day it became more and more difficult to be in society, feeling every non-existent gaze on myself and hearing the condemning vile whisper of my own self. She had to become an outcast, smoking outside the school walls from the constant tension pressing on her chest.

Maybe she would have spent her entire school life like this, completely alone, if Samantha had not appeared.

Oh, Samantha, this is an individual case. She is gentle and playful in character, like a rose. She wasn’t popular, but she didn’t remain completely without views either. One day they crossed paths at a disc rental. The conversation started on its own; Elinor was extremely puzzled to see such a sweet girl in the horror section. Samantha turned out to be no less interested in such films. It's a pity that she liked ghosts much more than maniacs. Meeting after meeting brought them closer together until the two were sitting at the same table at lunch, discussing various nonsense. Eli considered her a gift from above and often asked if her friend was a hallucination, to which she only laughed and played along with her. Here she is, a person who finally understood her. Not literally, of course, but this girl was glad to spend time with her. A little communication on the way home - what more could you ask for?

That's how the days went by. Despite her distant parents, she has a wonderful older brother and an equally wonderful friend, as well as a collection of the best slasher films of the decade. Elinor believed that she didn’t need more; what else could she dream of? Life couldn't get any better.

Until she turned sixteen.

Wallace is graduating this year. Final and entrance exams will be the peak of parental pressure. And while it was gradually growing, as luck would have it, my brother fell ill. A purulent sore throat took the guy by surprise. It was partly his own fault, carelessly drinking ice-cold drinks at the beginning of autumn, but even the guy did not expect such a loud scandal. Elie listened quietly on the steps, clenching her hands into fists with anxiety. In a hoarse voice, Wallace tried to defend himself while the same things that were obvious to everyone were repeated to him. The father cursed louder than usual, saying how the guy was trying to retreat at the very last moment, how he wanted to disgrace himself and destroy his wonderful future… A lot of stupid things were said in his direction, but he still tried to fight back. When his brother finally left the kitchen and went to his room, he immediately noticed Elinor. He tiredly patted her on the head and walked past, knowing that she would follow him.

— Wallace? — I'll spend the night at Max's. He lives on the opposite side when looking from the school. Do you remember? — I remember. — Can you handle it? — Can I handle what? Them? Wallace, you'll be back, won't you? This question sounded unusually frightened. Wallace stopped and turned to his sister. — Of course, — he smiled, — I need a little peace and lie down. A little sleepover won't hurt anyone. His calm and tired appearance begged to be believed. Girl hugged him goodnight as tightly as she could. That night she did not sleep and perfectly heard her brother leaving.

How wrong he was.

Things only got worse. Elinor had no idea what a strong wall her brother was between her and her parents. All the anger and irritation of her family began to be dumped on her. And it wasn’t just a showdown in the kitchen with or without cause. The girl received the attention she dreamed of and was jealous of, but at what cost. The family constantly clung to clothes, to grades, to the lack of friends, to the girl’s hobbies. The habit of defending oneself with aggression played a role here too. No, she couldn't build arguments like Wallace did.

— Why were you rummaging through my room? — Young lady, you shouldn’t have secrets from your parents! — said her mother, while father flipped through the dirty notebook. It fell onto the kitchen table with a slam. — Amazing… Who told you that you would become a director? You can't even imagine how much it takes. — A little imagination and a camera? — Tell me, which of these do you have? Knowledge! Knowledge in various fields is necessary for any person, and even more so for a film director. I can count on one hand the number of school subjects you have no problems with, and even that number of fingers would be too many! — So how useful is damn drawing to you, dad? Are you making beautiful seams now? Or maybe you think that you have the right to call the patterned handles of fucking knives art?

The loud bang and swearing stopped. With a red cheek and rapid breathing, the girl looked at her mother.

— Don’t you dare swear in my house, ungrateful one. And don’t you dare contradict your father!

She didn't even listen. Ears began to ring due to fear. She staggered and immediately ran out of the house. Her legs themselves led her to a crossroads, where Elinor became exhausted, squatted down and began to cry.

The arguing in the house did not stop. Stress and pressure only grew, and Elinor herself once again hung the poster in her room, covering the dent from her fist. She was so easy to piss off. Unfortunately, Samantha also managed to fall under the hot hand. Both girls never talked about personal things, about life. Perhaps it was worth raising this topic at least sometimes. Samantha had always noticed her friend's impulsiveness and temper, but lately Elinor had started to get angry out of nowhere over little things. Any little things. It wasn't good. Every hit of the vending machine, clap, throw, and even a glance from her friend made the girl jump in place and automatically cover herself with her hands. She was so afraid of being next. One day she even dared to ask if Eli could have hurt her? To which the girl said in surprise, «No way! Samantha, why do you ask?» In response, she could only smile awkwardly and change the subject.

— Elinor, — Samantha whispered, standing in the main doors of the school.

She looked guiltily at the floor when Elinor turned to her, and then pressed one button on her mobile phone. The puzzled girl heard the notification and immediately read the incoming SMS. The way she looked at Samantha made her shrink and step back.

— Is this a joke? Samantha, are you joking? — Sorry. I really thought I could fix you, — the gentle voice quickly trembled, — but I can’t do that anymore. — I'm sorry. — Samantha, I would never… Please, just listen. — Don't come near me! Stop! Don't!

Elinor didn't even take a step in her direction. All in tears, the girl ran out of the school. Devouring the back of her ex-friend's head with her eyes, she simply couldn't believe it. Was she friends with her out of pity? Her insides twisted, how unbearably disgusting it was to realize all this. She had nowhere to put all that she was experiencing. The angry voices were so loud that the girl did not remember how she returned home. Collapsed on the bed, she wrote a message to her brother. Another one that he will answer very late. Wallace was at school, calling his parents, he definitely didn't run away, but she didn't really want to go after him in front of her friends. Even though he still had a cold, he looked more alive. Short conversations with him after class gave her hope for the best. He said he would be home by Halloween.

It's mid-October. Elinor's favorite holiday is getting closer every day. But she isolated herself. I stopped attending classes and could barely move around the house. Insomnia was disrupting her sleep patterns. Elinor wandered aimlessly through the forest at night, through abandoned buildings, and during the day she slept for a couple of hours in order to continue wasting time. There were questions about missed lessons, but she had no idea how her parents solved them. Never cared about it. Often, she would go into her brother’s room and sit on various forums at his computer. Users shared new movies, leaked posters, and shared stories, but in her current state, Elinor was flipping through completely different threads. Violent and dark discussions could last for hours. She believed that this was an alternative way to cope with her anger, to release aggression into the text, to pretend that you were writing a script for a new slasher film. And although the flame of hatred for everything and everyone gradually faded away, new lights flared up more and more often, illuminating the path to the darkest corners of Elinor’s consciousness.

Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if they had just run away? Beatrice would gladly accept them, just pack your things and quietly take a bus or taxi at night, or whatever. But parents must somehow react to the escape of their children. Her mother is a lawyer. This is just an iceberg on the way of their Titanic. It would be no problem for her to get her children back for the best benefit of the family, and that was why Elinor hated her so much. She is sure that she has figured out this plan exactly. The minor daughter, for whose custody Beatrice will be suing, is recognized as mentally ill. Someone from the hospital will believe her father's plaintive cry and testify against Elinor, with real papers and all that crap. Sick in the head child will go to a mental hospital, and a kind brother will do everything to ensure that she does not suffer. He will return and become what they wanted him to be. After all, the trial will not affect him, only Elinor, a minor. Such a development of events was not even considered. Wallace has suffered enough, she can't afford to cause him any more trouble.

The long-awaited Halloween has arrived. The day dragged on so unbearably long. Elinor constantly fell asleep for just a few minutes, only to look at the clock and close her eyes again. As the sun approached the treetops, she received a call. It was Wallace. Said he'd be back after Halloween. The girl no longer heard his worried questions about absences and well-being. My head was splitting at the seams. She was so angry about all this. She couldn't believe that he couldn't come back. I didn’t believe in another date change. He definitely ran away. No, it couldn't be that Wallace just ran away. There must be a reason why he can't be here, come home. But there was a reason. Wait, it was true. And it was so obvious and easily solved that I couldn’t even believe it.

Father slept like a rock, but mother always needed sleeping pills. At midnight, the girl gathered her things and went out into the corridor. Taking out her small folding knife from her jacket, the girl crept into her parents' bedroom. She leaned over her mother, looking at her calm face. For the last time, she assessed her actions, and then ran the blade across the woman’s throat. Her chest quickly began to twitch unevenly. Fortunately, the mother did not wake up. It was the most merciful death that her daughter could give her. The girl clutched the knife tighter as she walked around the bed. He’s so kind when he’s not frowning. Father seemed really good as long as people looked at him. It is important for him to be able to behave, he is a doctor after all. Raising the blade, the girl delivered a sharp blow to the man's neck when a heavy hand slammed into his face. She was pushed back by inertia, girl quickly straightened up to see the father rise from the bed, looking at his own child in anger. The heat went from the lip to the cheek. The taste of metal and a slight chill on the chin. He stabbed her with one of his collectible knives.

— Ungrateful monster! He walked toward her with wheezing sounds. Blood was soaking into the collar of his shirt. — How dare you!? The man swung his hand, and she was confused. Blood dripped into the eye from the eyebrow. — Your life is worthless! Do you think this was even worth anything?! Blood filled his mouth. Squeezing her throat with one hand, he wanted to hit Elinor again. The girl moved further and further, covering herself with her hands. — You ruined my family! Destroyed! YOU— She pressed herself against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut when her father raised his hand with a knife above her head. But instead of a blow the body fell face down on the floor. Elinor froze. Breathing heavily, she smiled. Laughter escaped her lips, growing stronger with each passing second as the girl slid to the floor.

Throwing on her jacket, she felt a pack of cigarettes in her pocket and exhaled. What a nice little thing, it’s definitely worth a smoke break after what happened. Before leaving, Elinor wanted to turn off the computer. She noticed a new message and curiosity took over.

[Hey. Do you want to take a walk through abandoned places now? I recognize the photos from your thread, it’s not far from me] [Sure]

The stairs almost killed her when her vision went dark. It had been a long time since Elinor had lost so much blood. Such simple and stupid thoughts were spinning in her head. Walking out the front door, She froze. Can't be.

— Elinor? Wallace stood on the porch with his duffel bag and backpack. All so sunny. He definitely planned to surprise his sister. — Sorry. Somehow I even… Are you real? — Are you serious now? Elinor did not dare to hug him, but when he came up and pressed her to him, she could not restrain herself. — What a grip! What, are you running off to celebrate? — Yes... Yes! Can you cover me? — No problem. The main thing is to be back before morning. Laughing, Wallace released his sister. As Elinor was leaving, he called out to her one last time.

—Happy Halloween, Elinor.

Elinor had no idea what a strong wall her brother was between her and her parents.

This was the only way to repay him for all his care.

Now they are free. Now he will find his happiness.

Afterword

The white light forced her to wake up. Her head was pounding terribly, and her lungs were tingling as she inhaled. Rising somewhere in the forest, the first thing Elinor did was light a cigarette. The black smoke left her body as she exhaled, her skull no longer squeezing her tiny brain in a vice. Last night felt so blurry and unclear. The thick fog around was confusing. Touching the back of her head, she noticed how the darkened hair crunched with dried blood, like a crust on a wound. Cool. It seems like there was a light snowfall last night.

All that remains is to finish smoking and decide where to go first.

[mypoisonedvine]

pls give us more dad!bodecker i love him sm

(gets smutty below the cut but it's mostly fluff!)

“Daddy!” Beatrice squealed as she tumbled across the room to latch onto Lee’s legs the second he’d burst through the door, Penny following just behind in a crawl.  Lee laughed as he knelt down and scooped them both up in his arms, gasping in surprise as Beatrice kissed him on the cheek.

“Oh, I get a kiss?” he grinned.  She kissed him again and he squeezed her tight.  “You’re gonna spoil me, Bea.”

“Do I get to give Daddy a kiss, too?” you asked your daughter, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and shook her head.  “No, you want him all to yourself?”

“She’s already gettin’ bossy like her mama,” Lee winked.

You rolled your eyes before leaning in and giving your husband a kiss anyway, regardless of Beatrice giving you the stink eye as he set her down.

“How’s Lee Jr. doing?” he asked, putting his hand on your belly where it was just starting to protrude.

“How are you so sure it’s a boy?” you pressed.

“I think if I wish for it hard enough, it’ll have to come true,” he decided, handing Penny to you when she reached in your direction.

“And if it’s a girl?”

“Then I’ll love her just the same... and get you pregnant again as soon as possible,” he smirked.

“Am I supposed to be eternally pregnant until you get a son?”

“No, no, I might still want more after that, too.”

You giggled but truly, you loved your children so much and you didn’t at all mind the idea of a big family.  And Lee was a great father-- so much better than his own, doting and patient and generous, never angry.  If anything he had forced you to be the disciplinarian because he couldn’t bring himself to yell at his favorite girls (which included you, of course).

Beatrice was a force of nature at only five years old, unlike Penny who was only two-and-a-half adorably shy.  They were joined at the hip, though, and excited about the prospect of a new little sibling to play with.  Even though you mocked him for it, you wanted a boy, too, even if just to watch Lee dote on him.  You were going to have to bargain with him about not making him a Junior, though.  

Dinner was almost peaceful as the four of you crowded around the table; Lee helped Beatrice cut her food while you fed Penny in her high chair with those cute rubber-coated baby spoons.

"You gonna eat them vegetables, Bea?" Lee asked her as he watched her push them around with her fork. She shook her head, making Lee frown. "But they're so yummy, see?" he smiled as he shoved a huge bite of his own into his mouth. "Mmm," he hummed, overacting as he chewed.

Beatrice didn't seem convinced, giving her dad a crooked stare.

"I bet if you eat all your veggies, Daddy will let you have a piece of candy," you suggested.

Suddenly, Beatrice was shovelling the green beans into her mouth like it was a race. "All done!" she announced around a mouth full of food.

Lee insisted on putting them to bed while you rested after dinner, even though he'd already helped you cook and cleaned up everything for you. You were reading a book when he came back in, smiling and resting his head against the doorframe.

"Did they go down pretty easy?" you asked, not looking up from the paper until he failed to answer, just standing there and staring at you. "What are you looking at?"

"Just my beautiful wife," he smiled, finally stepping in and shutting the door behind you, joining you on the bed as you set down your book. "Can't a man look at his wife?"

"Yes, but it'd be nice if he answered her questions while he did it," you smirked.

"It took a few bedtime stories but I got 'em to settle down," he explained as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into him.

"So the girls are asleep, then?" you asked slowly, tracing over the exposed sliver of his chest where his shirt was unbuttoned. He looked down at you with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure, what's it to ya?"

"I just thought maybe you'd wanna do more than just look at your wife..."

A low growl rattled his throat and made you clench your thighs together as he slowly untied your robe, letting it fall open and exposing your naked body to him. "Think you can keep quiet, pretty girl?"

You nodded and bit your lip as those thick fingers tickled over your hips and finally found themselves between your legs, slowly teasing you there until your head fell back on his shoulder.

"Feel good, sweetpea?" he asked lowly.

"Yes," you gasped, "please, Lee, don't make me wait too long, I need you inside me..."

He chuckled, rolling you onto your side while he started to open his belt and slacks. You moaned and arched your back, waiting for him to push into you. Instead the head of his cock began to tease you as well, rubbing your clit and sliding over your opening.

"Daddy, please," you whimpered.

"I bet you want it rough, little girl," he groaned right against your ear, making you shiver. "I bet you wish I'd fuck you hard and rough, choke you, slap you, spank you..."

You nodded feverishly, "god, yes, please!"

"But you know I can't when you're pregnant," he reminded you.

"Not so much that you can't but that you won't," you sighed.

"You're sick of all this tender lovemaking, huh? You want something dirty and quick," he posited, laughing as you nodded again and tried to push your hips down onto his cock. "Needy slut."

You whimpered at the name and felt even more wetness warming your entrance.

"Oh, look at that," he purred, "so wet and ready for me."

He pushed in rougher than usual, just enough to make you groan as you bit down on your lip. Holding your hips down, he fucked you slow but deep. "Fuck, just like that, daddy, thank you," you moaned.

"What a noisy little fucktoy you are," he laughed. "Keep moanin' for my cock, whore."

His thrusts got faster, rougher, deeper as his vock started to flex within you. "Gonna fill you up, pretty baby, gonna fuckin' fill you up-- ah fuck!"

You didn't really have a choice as every movement was sliding against your swollen g-spot, and at this angle his balls slapped your clit when he was all the way inside.

Your eyes were closed so you didn't see his fingers pressing into your mouth, you only felt them as you obediently opened your lips and sucked him in. He moaned as you swirled your tongue around them, and took them in your throat effortlessly.

"You're so well-trained, you don't even gag anymore," he chuckled. "Every guy in town is already jealous of me, can you imagine if they knew how well you take me in your throat? If they knew how much you beg me to breed your pussy? If they knew what a cock-hungry, desperate slut you are for me? Their heads would fuckin' explode."

You keened and arched your back further, pushing the tip of him so deep that your whole body quivered. He leaned closer to suck a mark on your neck, his teeth digging into your skin just enough to make your eyes roll back in your head from the mix of pain and pleasure.

"Hmm, you like that idea, don't you? You want them to know... you like the attention, you like when they watch you walk past and their wives get jealous," he growled. "Fuckin' whore, you know it drives me crazy-- is that what you like about it? Makin' me lose my mind worrying that my wife could get any man she wants?"

"I just want you," you promised, "only you, daddy, there's nobody else, I swear!"

"Just shut up and listen," he hissed, clamping his hand down over your mouth. "You can't lie to me when I'm inside you, pretty girl, now just be honest: you like making your poor daddy jealous, don't you?"

Nervously, you nodded against the hand on your face.

"Of course you do," he smiled, "'cause you like how I fuck you when I wanna make sure you're mine."

You nodded again, muffled moans getting louder as your orgasm started building faster than even you expected.

"You've got this pretty mark on your neck to show for it," he purred as he licked where the bruise was forming, "so you and everybody else knows how good your daddy fucked you."

"I'm close," you mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked, removing his hand from your mouth.

"I'm close!"

"Oh, I knew that," he laughed, "I can feel your pussy grippin' me so tight, tryna make me come in ya. Is that what you want, princess?"

"Yes!" you moaned, almost screaming it, "yes, come in me, daddy, I love you so much, please!"

His come coated your walls as they flexed and pulsed for him, warmth seeping into you from the inside out.

Both of you caught your breath as he laid back and rolled you until you were laying on his chest. "You're okay, right? I wasn't too rough with ya?"

"No, I'm fine," you chuckled, "you really are a softie, Sheriff."

"Ooh, you only call me that after I love you up real good," he beamed, kissing your forehead.

"That's not true, I call you that when we're out in public," you denied.

"Yeah, but before we go out in public I always love you up real good," he smirked. You slapped his chest playfully but it was generally pretty true. "I'd better get up and take my shower, get ready for bed an' all."

"No," you protested, clutching his torso, "don't go yet... just stay here until I fall asleep, please?"

"Okay, sweet girl," he sighed, relaxing under your touch, "close your eyes."

You always fell asleep so easily when you were in his arms.

[athenagrantnash]

Omg it gave me so much joy to see your post about Bathena and last nights episode! I missed all your theories, Bathena freak outs and thoughts! �� the last episode was SO good and the Bathena content was off the charts. I loved everything about it! Bobby supporting Athena, respectfully acknowledging Beatrice’s pain but calling her out on her unfairness to Athena, getting the letter box for Beatrice and their bonding moment, the rain scene on the porch with Athena was so intimate and sweet, literally all perfection!

Anyone else wonder what Athena was thinking when she first pulled up to the house surrounded by the cop cars and crime scene techs? Her voice was a little shaken and it had me wondering if, for a moment, she was wondering if something had happened to Bobby. She had left her mom at the hospital (or so it seems) so the only person left at home was him and it made me think she could be having flashbacks to when she went to identify Emmett’s body. She didn’t stop to ask the cop what was going on when she pulled up and flashed her badge, just started walking towards the scene until Bobby came out the door.

I do think that it’s likely that it’s Junior’s dad that is the murderer and hid the body at the Carters because he was already doing work there and it was an easy place to access that no one would think to look. That’s just my guess. No idea if Samuel knew anything but I’m leaning towards no.

I’m really excited for next week! It’s going to be so good!

OMG Anon you're too sweet 🥺🥺🥺 Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

Also like? The fact that it was storming when Bobby and Athena were talking just made the scene even better. It took a beautiful intimate moment and made it all the more cozy and close and I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!

ALSO SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!! I did not even THINK about that parallel and now it's going to live rent free in my mind for FOREVER!!!! Somebody needs to gif this, PLEASE!

But also now that you've said it it's so obvious (and painful), because what ELSE would she be thinking??? Bobby was the only one still there, other than Junior, but it would probably be safe to assume he'd gone home around dinnertime. And obviously she wasn't going to be expecting the reveal that they found a body, so the only logical assumption was that Bobby had gotten hurt somehow.

And because there were that many police officers there and not just a paramedic team means that something criminal/violent happened.

And what makes it all the more painful is that she is already terrified she's going to lose her dad, who she just described as "the comfort". The one person who could have comforted her if the worst case scenario happened with Bobby... and he's in a coma and might never wake up.

ALSO ALSO ALSO

Now I'm headcanoning that when Emmett died Samuel immediately dropped EVERYTHING and flew to LA Because Athena needed him. Which is all the more touching because she'd said when Beatrice came to visit her right around when she met Emmett that "you couldn't get him to come here for five days" and it was a point of conversation about how to get him to come over there.

Well we have the answer: Samuel will come with Athena needs him.

And now add THAT to the fact that for a split second, Athena was probably terrified that she had lost Bobby. And this time, Samuel couldn't come - no matter how much Athena needs him.

OKAY NOW I ALSO NEED SOMEBODY TO WRITE THIS AU ENDING FOR THE EPISODE AND PARALLEL IT TO THAT BECAUSE THIS IS SO GOOD!!!

Also I definitely agree with you in regards to Samuel, Tanya, and Junior's dad. But I'm defintely excited for next week either way!

[gstqaobc]

THE ROYAL FASCINATOR

Friday, May 21, 2021

Hello, royal watchers and all those intrigued by what’s going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox.

Janet DavisonRoyal Expert

Meeting the Queen online

For Dr. Steve Beerman, it was in many ways like having a pleasant conversation with his 92-year-old mother. Except it wasn’t his mother. It was the Queen. Beerman, a retired family physician in Nanaimo, B.C., spoke with Queen Elizabeth online the other day as she gave him — virtually — an award recognizing his longstanding work in drowning prevention. “I’m very delighted to be able to present you with this cup, a very large cup, which one day you might see if you come to London,” Elizabeth told Beerman as she honoured him with the King Edward VII Cup during the virtual session with the Royal Life Saving Society. Beerman, co-chair of the Canadian Drowning Prevention Coalition, was quick to reply that it was “a pleasure and a humbling honour to be with you.” Being with the Queen in this way has become the way of the royal world during the pandemic. Many observers have said that virtual sessions involving the Queen have offered new insight into the 95-year-old monarch, who has more often been seen from afar, giving formal speeches or doing a walkabout. “Many people who commented to me about the interview [said] that they had never seen her have what they would describe as a nearly normal conversation with some people,” Beerman said. “My own mother is 92. This was not a whole lot different than talking to my own mother.” Beerman, a trustee with the Royal Life Saving Society, had met the Queen at Buckingham Palace a handful of times in connection with that Commonwealth organization. But his most recent session with her was memorable in a new way. “It was more chatty,” he said. “It was more communicative than when I’ve experienced these encounters in real life, face to face. So I thought this was actually a better way to do this.” A seven-minute video of the session involving Beerman and others honoured for their drowning prevention efforts was posted online, but the overall virtual encounter lasted about 20 minutes, and came after participants had two practice sessions. “In the second one, we actually rehearsed what we were going to say and we were coached in a very nice way by the people from the royal household about pausing and being slow enough to allow her to interject with comments or questions,” Beerman said. “We were very much encouraged to participate in a conversation as opposed to doing an acceptance speech.” Still, there was a bit of nervousness for Beerman as the call began. “There’s always some nerves about are you going to misstep or say something in a way you might regret or that might be perceived to be awkward by others,” he said. As the conversation progressed, Elizabeth shared her own memories of receiving a life-saving award as a teenager. In 1941, she became the first person in the Commonwealth to receive the Royal Life Saving Society’s junior respiration award. “I didn’t realize I was the first one — I just did it, and had to work very hard for it,” Elizabeth said. “It was a great achievement and I was very proud to wear the badge on the front of my swimming suit. It was very grand, I thought.” Beerman sees the shift to the virtual world for the Royal Family as a signal the House of Windsor can change with the times. “I think it’s a strong statement of ... we can pivot when we need to, we are flexible, adjustable and, like the rest of the world, we have to respond to the reality that we live within.”

The deceit behind the Diana interview

The interview was as devastating as it was haunting. And now, 26 years after Diana, Princess of Wales, sat down with a BBC journalist and told the world “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” an inquiry has found that Martin Bashir acted deceitfully to gain the interview. It’s a finding that will echo through both the royal and journalistic worlds.   In response, Princes William and Harry made statements that lay bare the deep pain the interview with their mother has left with them. “It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others," William said in his statement. "It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her." But what saddens William the most, he said, “is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived.” Diana was failed, he said, “not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.” Prince Harry said their mother “was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave and unquestionably honest.” He said what “deeply concerns” him is that similar journalistic practices are still widespread. “Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed. By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let’s remember who she was and what she stood for.” Observers suggest it will all have a significant impact on how the BBC is viewed. “It shakes the real core of journalism because people will no longer look to that broadcaster and trust them wholly because we now know that they're prepared to lie to coerce people into taking part in interviews,” marketing consultant Diana Young told the CBC’s Tesa Arcilla. Diana and Prince Charles were divorced in 1996. She died after a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Babies and the line of succession

(Peter Byrne/Press Association via The Associated Press Word this week that Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, are expecting their first child will add yet another shuffle in short order to the line of succession. The child, due sometime this fall, will be the 12th great-grandchild for the Queen, and the fourth baby to arrive in a matter of months. Beatrice’s younger sister, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, welcomed their son, August, in February. The following month, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara, and her husband, Mike Tindall, welcomed their son Lucas. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are expecting a daughter, with a due date thought to be in early summer. That baby will take the highest spot in the succession among the new arrivals, landing at No. 8, following her father, Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne and Harry and Meghan’s first child, Archie, now sitting at No. 7. The passage of time can mean marked shifts in the line of succession for those who enter it somewhat lower in the roster. Take, for example, Sarah Chatto, daughter of Princess Margaret. When she was born in 1964, she was No. 7. Now, she is 26th.

Royally quotable

"Planting a tree is a statement of hope and faith in the future."

— Prince Charles, in a video posted online to mark the launch of the Queen’s Green Canopy,

a tree-planting initiative to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee

next year that aims to enhance the environment now and for future generations.

Royal reads

1. Prince Harry says the pain of Diana’s death

pushed him to drinking and drugs

. The Duke of Sussex’s latest comments, along with further criticism of how he said the Royal Family neglected both him and his wife, Meghan, came in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in The Me You Can’t See, a new Apple TV series about mental health debuting Friday. [CBC]

2. Queen Elizabeth’s

first major ceremonial duty since the death of her husband

, Prince Philip, came during a scaled-down state opening of Parliament. [The Independent]

3. Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has

denied reports

he was willing to use his royal status for personal profit and provide access to the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. [BBC]

4. There was

lots of taffeta and no tantrums

during the creation of Diana's wedding dress, recalls one of its designers. [The Guardian]

5. One of the Queen’s two new puppies, which she reportedly received a few months ago from Prince Andrew for companionship,

has died

. [The Daily Mail]

6. The succession for the British throne is clearly laid out, but succession can in some other countries be

considerably more complicated

. [The Guardian]

Cheers!

I’m always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to

royalfascinator@cbc.ca

. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.

New newsletter alert! Our CBC colleague Peter Armstrong has a newsletter called Mind Your Business, a weekly guide to understanding what’s happening in the worlds of economics, business and finance. Subscribe to it

here

💜🙏🏻🙂✝️💟PG💟✝️🙂🙏🏻💜

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿.

[lovestrvck]

introducing the lover . . . beatrice anderson-yamada

handwritten letters, reciting poetry in front of the class, the japanese art of kintsugi.

hey friends !! i’m ash, i’m 23, in the est and i use she / her pronouns !! i’m so excited to rp with you all, your intros are amazing. i’m writing beatrice “bea” anderson-yamada, aka the lover skeleton. i’m really excited to introduce you all to her ! if you want to read her into bio / app, you can find that here

stats

full name: beatrice georgina anderson-yamada

nicknames: bea, tris ( for one terrible month after divergent became big...a lot of regrets there trust me), yamada

gender & pronouns: cis female & she / her

sexuality: bisexual / biromantic

major: first year grad student in creative writing with a concentration in poetry

zodiac: cancer sun

myers-briggs: enfp

hogwarts house: hufflepuff ( but fuck jk )

alignment: lawful good

favorite food: banana pancakes

favorite drink: sweet tea or margaritas

favorite movie: titanic

favorite book: pride and prejudice by jane austen

hometown: kitty hawk, north carolina

current residence: new york, new york ( when not at school ), harcourt institute

character inspo: anne shirley ( anne of green gables ), jess day ( new girl ), guinevere beck ( you ), jo march ( little women ), juliet & romeo ( romeo & juliet )

history

tw: parental death, car accident, death, alcohol

alright i’m gonna try to keep this brief because her app was on the longer end asljdasdj

beatrice was born in kitty hawk, north carolina. it’s on the coast, so she is a lil beach babe. also still has a slight accent that becomes more prominent when she’s mad or drunk

her parents were star-crossed lovers who met in college. they had SUCH a meet-cute, and fell in love pretty quickly ( although they definitely had their flaws that bea doesn’t know about or acknowledge )

her mom was a rich kid from nyc who’s parents disowned her when she married bea’s dad. they moved to north carolina to be near his mom, but she died when bea was three.

anyway, jackie ( bea’s mom ) and alex ( her dad ) loved each other a lot, and they loved her to pieces. they were like the world’s best parents, and were such a close family growing up. bea’s childhood was such a happy one honestly

but then when she was seven, her father died in a car accident. it was obviously very unexpected, and hit both bea and her mother very hard. but bea’s mom was amazing and stepped up and raised her to the best of her ability. bea still felt loved and safe, even though she was of course sad and could see how sad her mother was.

she fell in love with fairytales and romance novels growing up. at some point she just...began to idolize her parents’ love and love in general. her parents’ love is untouchable in her mind - it was perfect. she’s always dreamed of a love like that. 

 in high school, bea sort of went chasing after love. she dated a lot, giving her heart to anyone who seemed like they might want it. beatrice also realized just how much she loved writing and reading poetry. 

when she was seventeen, her estranged grandmother ( jackie’s rich mom ) called them and basically begged them to move in with her. her husband, jackie’s dad and bea’s grandfather, had died of a heart attack in the middle of the night and bea’s grandmother just couldn’t handle being alone. so they packed up and moved to nyc.

bea’s grandmother paid for her college. bea chose harcourt purely based on the romantic factor - it was very gloomy and beautiful when she toured. it didn’t take long to decide on english due to her love of writing. 

joining the society was like, the best thing to ever happen to her. she loves it so much. she takes it very seriously, and loves reading the old texts. she was initiated during junior year of undergrad, and decided to come back for grad school specifically because of that. now she’s a grad student getting a masters in creative writing with a concentration in poetry. 

head canons & personality

bea’s all time literary crushes are gilbert blythe, mr. darcy, elizabeth bennet, jo march, and sydney carton from a tale of two cities. but honestly, she would throw it all away for gilbert blythe. did i mention she has big anne shirley energy ??

bea is immature in a lot of ways because she just sees the world through this rose-colored lens. she idealizes love and thinks that it must be so magical, but real love is messy and it can hurt sometimes. she thinks the love her parents had was just incredible, but honestly? they fought. they got angry at one another. there was a good portion towards the beginning of their relationship where jackie didn’t even want to acknowledge that she was dating alex because her parents wouldn’t approve. things weren’t simple or perfect, but i didn’t include that because that’s not how bea sees it. i would love for her to realize that the idea of love she has is a fantasy, and maybe even start to see her parents as real people and not just the perfect example of true love.

she’s a poet and she really is good. i think her work is sort of flowery now though, and could be better once she herself gets more depth. to me, she’s just floating above everything now, trapped in her own dream land of love and virtue and kindness. she needs someone or something to ground her back into reality.

when she was fourteen, she found one of her father’s journals and it’s her most prized possession. bea still keeps it with her. she brought it to college; it’s on a shelf in her room right now.

she goes by bea or beatrice pretty evenly, honestly.

bea can be a bit dramatic at times. she’s definitely prone to finding things so romantic and then just going to extremes with it. and honestly, she has very high expectations that are unrealistic but good luck getting through to her. 

she’s so full of love honestly. love for others and a love for life. i think she just sees the world as this big romantic adventure, which can be both immature and refreshing at times ? again, she’s so naive but like, she has such a good heart. 

honestly at some point catch her getting a book of poetry published. she’s had a few poems published in literary magazines already, but i really think she has the passion and drive to get a whole book published. and honestly, i could see her doing some more work with prose at some point and maybe even writing a romance novel. 

overall, just a dramatic, loving queen who rarely gets upset. pretty optimistic in general. she never gives up on people; she’s absolutely someone you could call to come get you in the middle of the night if you were stranded. 

i don’t have a connections page yet, but i’m so down to brainstorm some things ! hit me up on discord if you want to plot !

[erhiem]

Before she was the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle She was a rising actress. He is mainly from USA’s . but is known for its years Suit, and as “Briefcase Model #24” deal or No deal. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as Markle appeared in several different projects before meeting Prince Harry. gossip police Taking a closer look at Markle’s pre-royal career.

married with Children

Growing up on the set of Markle married with Children. He said Sir, “Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of married with Children, which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl to grow up in a Catholic school uniform.” Thomas Markle, her now-estranged father, worked on shpw for ten seasons. Meghan on stage Sitting made a cameo appearance as a student, although his role was not credited. He made a big impression on the cast and crew that Ed O’Neill would still recognize him decades later.

general Hospital

It is very common for actors to start appearing in single episodes of soap operas and police procedurals. Markle was no exception, as her first credits appearance continued general Hospital. She had a minor role as nurse “Jill”. Markle survived as a calligrapher, taking small roles in several shows such as CSI: NY and little known series century city. While it only ran for nine episodes, century city Helped bring Viola Davis closer to Oscar-winning glory.

a lot like Love

Markle was very proud of her work as Rachel Zane Suit. in a 2013 interview Marie Claire, she explained that she really appreciates the character’s intelligence. She said, “Look, my first audition was for ‘Hot Girl #1’ in a movie. It’s absolute to me that writers are able to go ‘Sure, you can be a pretty girl, but there’s more to that. Something is there.'”

That “any movie” was probably 2005 a lot like Love, where Marley is credited as the “Hot Girl”. This Ashton Kutcher-led romantic comedy was a flop both critically and commercially, but it stands as Markle’s first film role. Kutcher and Markle only shared a few minutes of screen time.

90210

2008 was a big year for Markle. She earned roles in TV movies good behavior and Inspire and shared the stage with Brad Garrett in an episode of ‘to death. These are all small roles, exactly the kind of positions you would expect of a rising actress. had a potentially promising role 90210.

Markle worked on several pilots that were not picked up during this time, including the pilot for this reboot. while 90210 That would go on for over 100 episodes, she did so without the Duchess of Sussex. She only got a few seconds of screen time as “Wendy” and was never heard from again.

fringe

JJ Abrams Series Gave Markle One of Her First Posts deal or No deal recurring roles. Markle played junior FBI agent Amy Jessup in episode two of the series. She looks back on the series and says she enjoyed the combat training that came with Bhaag. While Markle had to make up for a few episodes, her character disappeared without mention, as many fringe Didn’t have to character.

remember me

This Robert Pattinson romantic drama is best remembered today for its twist ending. Markle played “Megan” as part of a talented supporting cast including Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper. Markle’s husband at the time, Trevor Engelson, was the producer of the film.

Markle and Pattinson would talk about each other a lot later. When Markle got engaged to Prince Harry, Pattinson said of working with him, “That’s my claim to fame!”

get him to the Greek

Did you know that Markle once had a relationship with Russell Brand? He had an unrecognized role in the 2010s get him to the Greek where she kissed the comedian. The role was so small that Brand didn’t remember it happened until seeing a clip years later.

horrible Bosses

Markle plays FedEx girl Jamie, sharing almost a minute with Jason Sudeikis in 2011 horrible Bosses. ted lasso The star later joked, “She was principled in that moment, and it looked like she only got better at it.” Markle was only a small part of the star-studded cast that also included Jennifer Aniston and Donald Sutherland.

dater’s handbook

As it currently stands, 2016 dater’s handbook Markle’s final acting role. The Hallmark romantic comedy was his last non-Suit role before moving to England. He shared the screen with Future Jurassic World: Dominion Star Kristogar Polha.

Tabloids continue to speculate that Markle is planning a grand return to Hollywood. One story even said that she would return Suit, which is quite difficult considering the finale of the show. There’s no indication that Markle has any interest in getting back in front of the camera, but her job as a producer will keep her in Tinseltown for years to come.

Gossip Cop. more news from

Meghan Markle’s former chief of staff makes new revelations about workplace amid bullying claims

Meghan Markle Stole Her Baby Name of Choice After ‘Heartbroken’ Princess Beatrice Cry?

Meghan Markle critics, Prince Harry targeted by death threats

Why Meghan Markle, Prince Harry already have a website for their daughter

Source

The post 9 Movies And TV Shows You Won’t Remember Meghan Markle Starred In appeared first on Spicy Celebrity News.

[briangroth27]

The Exorcist Season 2 Review

I came into Season 2 wary of the show’s direction—in Season 1, I loved the Rance family plotline but found the papal conspiracy boring—so I was glad the show shifted focus almost completely to the “possession of the season.” Not only is a family in peril easier for me to relate to and invest in, but the conspiracy element has never felt very “Exorcist” to me and I’m glad it all but disappeared by the end of the season (even if the homage to Exorcist III’s famous hospital hallway scene was well done). In Season 2, a family was once again under siege by a demon and only Fathers Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) and Keane (Ben Daniels) could help them. This time, the family consisted of Andy Kim (John Cho) and the several foster children under his care (Brianna Hildebrand, Cyrus Arnold, Hunter Dillon, Alex Barmia, Amelie Eve, and eventually Beatrice Kitsos). I liked that the kids’ diversities—be they blindness, homosexuality, developmental issues, etc.—were utilized for characterization, but those were never the kids’ sole defining characteristics. I really hope fans didn’t take issue with the kids, Andy, and Rose (Li Jun Li) all representing some facet of diversity; this is what the world looks like and I’m glad the show fully embraced it. It’s also cool that a foster home run by a single dad was treated as just as viable a family as a traditional nuclear family.

Full spoilers…

I liked what all the kids brought to the family, particularly when their differences collided with each other, like Shelby’s religious beliefs and Verity’s torture at the hands of “pray out the gay” conditioning. However, it did seem like there might’ve been one too many children to fully dig into in terms of screentime. It felt like they all had solid, distinct personalities; they just didn’t have much to do. Early on it seemed like Caleb might have a bigger role to play, but outside of his initial adventure on the old well and a few moments of his blindness being used to create tension when he couldn’t see the possessed Andy, it felt like his story was a little thinner than it could’ve been. Ditto for Truck, who was sent away midway through the season. I definitely expected Shelby to become something of a junior exorcist when Marcus and Tomas arrived at the Kim household, but not doing so didn’t feel unfinished (particularly when you take into account what we learned of Marcus’ past with eager exorcists). I liked that he was identifying the unholy signs early on, though, and perhaps they could’ve nodded at him wanting to become an exorcist one day in the future. Harper didn’t get much time at the Kim house before things went crazy, but I did like that we got to see how the family adjusted to a new kid through her introduction. Verity got the most mileage out of the writing and Hildebrand crafted a compelling teen who didn’t always get along with her new family, but clearly loved them despite the front she sometimes put up. Going back for a book Andy had given her was a touching moment and I was happy she was the one to stick by Andy longest. I totally fell for the trick that “agoraphobic” Grace wasn’t real, though her “brave face”—the creepiest pillow case-turned-mask ever—should’ve been a major clue.

John Cho brilliantly balanced Andy’s grief over his wife Nicole’s (Alicia Witt) suicide, guilt for not seeing the signs of her depression, care for the kids, affection for Rose, and the demonic side that overtook him as the series progressed. I loved the layers of hallucinations the demon inflicted on him as it attempted to bond with him permanently by enticing him with a “fairy tale” life with his wife. Witt did a great job playing both the caring and troubled Nicole and the maliciously tempting demon trying to entrap him. I’m a fan of puns, so “the kids are in the garden” was a particularly fun bit of dark and ominous humor from her. The battle for Andy’s soul was intense and I liked that Andy had moments of lucidity where he was able to keep the demon from harming Verity, despite the demon’s attempts to convince him the kids distracted him from seeing Nicole’s depression and that Verity might’ve had a hand in driving Nicole to suicide by mocking her issues. Andy’s final act—keeping the demon tethered to his soul so it couldn’t possess anyone else, even if killing it meant dying with it—was tragically perfect. I wanted him to survive, but Verity was right: once he started killing people, no one would believe him. It wouldn’t have been much of a life for him to be arrested for murders he didn’t commit, but maybe he could’ve gone on the run with the priests or something. As things turned out, Andy’s sacrifice worked on an emotional level and the final battle with the demon was tense, touching, and scary in all the right ways; Andy’s goodbye to his kids almost made me cry. I liked that the kids got to start a new family with Rose, who Li Jun Li had made into a solid, supportive, and strong presence the entire season. I also liked that Rose was so open to inviting exorcists into the home to examine Andy; usually there’s a lot more skepticism to break through before the people around the possessed open themselves up to that possibility.

The tests of Tomas’ resolve when it came to saving Andy this season worked very well. I had a hard time knowing when he was in reality and when he wasn’t, making for some great twists and putting me in his confused mindset perfectly, particularly when the demon turned the exorcism around on Tomas. The demon dangling a vision of Tomas as a bishop was great, especially when it included Casey Rance (Hannah Kasulka) to try and guilt him for leaving his parishioners in Chicago to become an exorcist. I was a little surprised they didn’t have the demon play up Tomas’ temptation to stray from the strict celibacy commanded by the church, as we saw in Season 1, but I suppose we’ve already seen that and Tomas has grown. His apology on behalf of the church officials who tried to force Verity to be straight was a great moment and a nice recognition that not everyone in the church—even priests—is opposed to homosexuality. It was good getting to know Ben Marcus’ past more this year. Both his tragic family history and his past with Mouse (Zuleikha Robinson) worked well to illuminate him. I was surprised he left Mouse behind after her possession and I liked that his inaction then was juxtaposed with his resolution to stay and kill the demon possessing Andy in the present. Not wanting to repeat that mistake has probably driven much of his dedication to exorcising demons, even after falling from grace within the church. Marcus’ father killing his mother was also a clever tie to the island’s history of parents killing their families. Finding a bit of romance with Peter (Christopher Cousins) rather than continuing to drown in sadness was another nice touch. I wonder if Marcus actually did get a message from God at the end. If so—and if they can do something different than what Supernatural and Constantine have done—bringing in angels and God could be an interesting, fresh spin on The Exorcist mythos. Mouse joining Tomas as his new partner should make for a cool change in the exorcist dynamic, given she’s much quicker to jump to killing whoever needs to be killed as long as the demons are vanquished. That should play off Tomas’ relative pacifistic nature very well, unless he’s been changed by the experience with Andy. Mouse having been possessed herself and Tomas’ mental link with the demon here—opening him up to being possessed as well—should also give them a unique background to bond over. Since Tomas’ true desire was to see the demon die moreso than an eventual shot at the papacy, I wonder if Mouse will propel him along a more violent path or if she’ll recognize her own past eagerness to be an exorcist in him and council him against it. Either way, the two of them are going to have some very interesting discussions about a lot of things, including being mentored by Ben! And if Marcus has a new directive that’s different from anything we’ve seen from exorcists or the church, it should throw the three of them into an even more interesting dynamic. What if he shows up saying that demons possessing people is somehow part of God’s plan and they should stop exorcising demons altogether?

I really enjoyed the evil history of the island and the season’s shift to a self-contained demon after revisiting Captain Howdy (Robert Emmet Lunney) and Reagan MacNeil (Geena Davis) in Season 1 proved the series doesn’t need to rely on direct connections to The Exorcist to create compelling monsters. The demon forcing multiple parents to kill their children was scary, particularly played against a found family like this one, where the foster kids depended on Andy to keep them together. The series once again found a polished yet creepy aesthetic that didn’t avoid gore, but also never reveled in it. That worked very well to set the tone and setting things on a remote island gave the season a totally different feel than Season 1’s Chicago. Making everything more remote worked to establish classic horror tropes, but the season never felt derivative. If the show gets another season, I wonder where they’ll take it to create an entirely different feel this fall.

Like last season, I'm content with where the story ended with the priests and the Kim family, so if they end up not getting a third season, I would accept it. I like that it's mostly contained each year; focusing on a single family in danger makes for smart insurance against cancellation. It would be a shame to lose characters like Tomas, Marcus, and Mouse, though. Even if I’m not a fan of the papal conspiracy, seeing them grow with each new case and the threat of each new demon makes for a strong series arc for them. A message from God does seem like it holds more promise than whatever the demons are planning with the papacy, so it would be a shame to see this always solid show end here.

[searchingforaplacetocallhome]

Almost Easy

Setting: New Orleans**

Characters: Michaela “Mickey” McKenna & Johnny Tran

Warnings: Angst, Drama, Sexual Content NSFW (possible trigger: sexual assault)

Background: Mickey is one of these characters that stuck with me through the years, because she never really got her story told in a way that satisfied me. Originally from Los Angeles, she comes from the Fast and Furious setting. She was an undercover police officer, sent to infiltrate pretty much like Brian O’Connor did. Rather than Dominic’s crew, she drew the attention of Johnny Tran. When the lines between her cover and her true identity blurred, she became involved with Johnny. He was controlling to the point of abusive, knew she was a police officer all along, but still kept her around. She was his personal toy. So when Brian shot him, she saw her chance, and escaped. Moving to New Orleans, she discovered she was pregnant, had her baby boy, and has been going at it alone, building up a new life, thinking she’s free of her past…

** Mickey is currently and NPC in an AU Supernatural story set in New Orleans, but she deserves to have her story told and there is no reason the two don’t mesh.

Word count: 2133

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3

Part 4 - Is It Love

“Voom, voom. Voom, voom.”

Matthew ran naked from room to room with his toy car, running it over every surface he could touch. Mickey paid just enough attention that she could stop him before he could hurt himself. Most of her attention was on her phone. She had sent Steve two texts, and he still hadn’t responded. Staring at the phone wasn’t helping either, so she put it aside. “Okay buddy, time for bed.”

Unsurprisingly, Matthew didn’t agree with bedtime. The moment she picked him up he went limp like a rag doll and started crying. Struggling to get him on the changing table without bumping his head, Mickey got his diaper on. “This would be a lot easier if you worked with me, baby,” she said with a sigh and ran her fingertips over the soft skin of his chest. As it always did, it soothed his cries and he looked up at her, holding out his toy.

“Daddy!”

Swallowing down a lump in her throat, Mickey leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Your daddy’s in heaven, baby.” If there was such a thing as heaven and hell, Johnny surely wouldn’t have gone upstairs, but Matthew was too young to understand it.

Holding up the toy again, he pointed to it. “Daddy!”

“Okay. Are you and daddy gonna help mommy get your jammies on?” Matthew nodded and lay still, riding the toy car through the air over invisible roads while she got him dressed. He only fussed a little when she had to get his shirt over his head and his arms in the sleeves. Mickey felt an odd sense of relief that maybe he had gotten the toy from Miss Bee after all and ‘daddy’ was just what he named it.

Tucking him in, she turned on the baby monitor, hitting the button to start his favorite tunes playing and caressed his hair and back until she was sure he was too far gone to wake up when she walked away. She had only just turned off the light and closed the door when her phone buzzed on the counter in the bathroom where she had left it.

Hurriedly tiptoeing across the hall, she grabbed it and looked at the screen before answering. “Finally. Do you have any news?”

“Still investigating. Besides, I am not going to give you an update over the phone. I know you.”

Mickey rolled her eyes at Steve even though he couldn’t see it, closing the baby gate behind her as she walked down the stairs. “I just put Matthew to sleep, I am not going anywhere. Did you talk to Beatrice?”

“Yes, and that is all the information you are getting over the phone. Will you let me do my job?”

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“You are not doing nothing. Did you make that list like I asked you to?”

“Yes, though I am still not sure what good it will do. What did Beatrice say? Did he get the toy from her?”

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Your selective hearing is getting worse. I have a few things to wrap up. You texting me every five minutes to ask for an update is not going to speed things up.”

“Sorry… I need answers, Steve.”

“And we’ll get them. You gotta let me do my job though. Have you eaten yet?”

“Does wearing half of Matthew’s dinner count?” Mickey smiled when she got a chuckle from the other end of the line. She knew she had to be driving Steve crazy with her constant harassment.

“I’ll make you a deal. You let me finish what I need to do without bugging me for updates, and I will pick up some food. We can go over my findings together. Sound good?”

“What about your daughter?”

“She’s working tonight. If I call her and explain she’ll understand. You let me worry about my kid, okay? Any preference for food?”

“Anything but Chinese.” Her freezer was full of leftover Chinese take out. Mickey had many talents, but cooking wasn’t one of them. She hardly had the time, and Matthew was the worst food critic, so getting him to eat his dinner was a job all on its own. So she often resorted to ordering food after he was asleep.

“Noted. I will text you when I am on my way. I gotta go. Hang in there, kiddo.”

“Ugh! Hanging up on you,” Mickey grumbled at her phone, ending the call and tossing the device on the couch in passing. Steve enjoyed ruffling her feathers from time to time to remind her she was still just a junior.

Making a bee line for the fridge, she pulled out a bottle of wine, grabbed a glass and poured a respectable amount of wine in it. “Who am I kidding?” Pouring some more wine in until she was satisfied it was enough, she left the bottle on the counter and sank into the couch, fishing the remote out from between the cushions.

Finding something mindless to watch, she sipped her wine. It had never been Johnny’s drink of choice. He preferred the taste of a good whiskey as he sat in his chair, always the same chair with a view of the door. Swirling the ice cubes in his glass as he sat and waited for her to walk in. She never knew what to expect though, when he was sitting in that chair and she had come to fear it.

“You’re late.”

The tone of his voice made her hold her breath for a moment. With just three words he had her fighting the urge to cower in fear. How did he do that so easily? “I was stuck in traffic. There was an accident.”

“And your phone stopped working?”

“Battery’s dead.” Her answer didn’t please him. His eyes were narrowing, but as they did, it ignited a fire inside of her. Straightening her back, she put a hand on her hip and fixed him with a look. “Is this what we’re doing now? Because if that is what’s happening, let me stop you now. I had a really long day, and the last thing I need is for you to pick a fight with me over something that was beyond my control.”

Turning on her heel, she only took one step before his next words cut through the silence of the room.

“Michaela. Not another step.” Slow, deliberately articulated words spoken in a low tone. The groaning and grunting of the leather chair followed by his foot steps coming toward her had her frozen in her spot. Her heart was pounding in her chest, which heaved with each breath, bracing herself for what was about to happen.

The hand that grabbed her chin was firm, but his urging for her to turn around was gentle. The anger she expected to see in his eyes when she turned was absent. A thumb rubbed over her bottom lip, and her sights lowered to his mouth, a smirk twisting the corners of his lips upward. “Such fire… What am I gonna do with you, hm?”

- Kiss me. Shut up and kiss me. -

Hypnotized by those lips, no words made it from hers. Slipping her hands up over his chest, she tugged on the collar of his button up shirt, urging him forward, pushing herself up on her toes. His resistance to her urging, causing her lips to just barely brush over his, drew little frustrated sounds of protest from her. Sticking her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout, she leaned her head to the side a little for added effect.

His eyes moved slowly, searching, over her face, down to the dress she was wearing and back up. When his gaze met hers, he waited for her to open her mouth to speak to make his move. Slipping a hand into her hair, the other gripping her hip, he pulled her against his chest as he crushed her lips in a kiss that took away her breath and ability to form coherent thought.

Melting completely into his embrace, her arms wrapping around his waist, nails scratching over his clothed back, the kiss eased off the last of her fear. Dropping her guard turned out to be a mistake.

His hand tightened it’s grip on her hair, pulling back while the hand from her hip now gripped her chin to make sure she was looking into the angry eyes that brought the fear rushing back to the surface. “Don’t ever speak to me that way again.”

The room went by in a blur as she was turned around, the grip on her hair still tight and her hands came up too late to brace her impact with the wall. It knocked the wind out of her for a moment. Tears blurred her vision, but she didn’t struggle as he pulled her hips back, kicking her feet apart. Struggling only made things worse.

Impatiently the skirt was pushed up around her waist and she grimaced as her panties were pulled taut, the fabric cutting into her skin before it finally snapped under his force. The sound of his belt being pulled lose followed by the sound of his zipper sliding down was the only warning she got before a sharp pain made her cry out.

Relinquishing his grip on her hair, he used both hands on her hips to pull her back against him each time he thrust his, driving him deep inside of her. Her body shook from the impact. Bracing herself against the wall as best as she could, she endured the assault on her body.

He was hurting her with forceful thrusts, and yet as he continued, each stroke of his cock became smoother, and the sharp pain was now a dull ache. Whimpers escaped her when he hit a spot inside of her that made her hollow her back more, turning her head and giving him a pleading look.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her against his body more, grabbing at breasts straining against her bra and dress. Another ripping sound as he yanked her dress out of the way, freeing a breast to pinch the sensitive nipple and tug it, drawing little wordless pleas from her lips.

His mouth pressed kisses from her shoulder up the side of her neck, biting down on the muscle at the same time as he bucked his hips hard enough to jolt her forward. Throwing her head back against his shoulder, she cried out and tried desperately to find some hold on the wall.

His lips pressed against the shell of her ear, letting out a guttural sound that traveled straight to her core, making the heat radiate out. Her muscles tightened around him in warning and driving his cock as deep as he could, he stilled inside of her, drawing more sounds of protest from her. “You belong to me. You understand?”

“Yes...”

“I don’t think you do.” A hand closed around her throat with just enough pressure to get her attention. Pulling his hips back, they collided with her body again in a forceful thrust, driving him impossibly deep inside of her. “Tell me. Who do you belong to?”

“You.” Her legs were trembling and every fiber in her body was screaming for him to stop torturing and give her the release she so badly needed.

“I can’t hear you. Who do you belong to?”

Another forceful thrust left her aching for release so badly she would have signed her soul over to the Devil. “You. I belong to you.”

“Good girl.”

What followed was the sound of skin slapping against skin, fingertips digging into her hip. She didn’t even recognize the sounds she was producing, surrendering completely to his assault and her desire. Her back arched almost painfully when his thrusts finally pushed her over the edge, crying out loud enough to make her voice crack and fail.

Sitting up straight, Mickey startled, looking for her glass, afraid she was about to drop it or already. What had just happened? Had she dozed off. The clock told her fourty minutes had passed, and whatever was on tv was not what she had put on. Her glass was on the coffee table, where she had left it along with the remote.

Reaching across the couch, she glanced at her phone screen. No new messages meant that Steve wasn’t on his way yet. Rubbing her face with both hands, she stood up and stretched, needing to move around after that. At least Steve hadn’t walked in on her that way, because she had no idea what had just happened.

“I’m losing my damn mind...”

[phff-forevermeanttobe-blog]

chapter thirty one

Rebecca and Harry had truly enjoyed their time in the city. They were so busy that they never even made it to any of the other places they planned on going to. They hardly even cared though. They enjoyed the walks through the parks, the ice skating, they even did some Christmas shopping, and went out to some social events like the ballet and a snowflake ball that Jackie hosts.

They had been in Paris for a week now and had opened their Christmas gifts on the day before Christmas Eve. Since both Harry and Rebecca and Jackson and Amelia would be leaving out on Christmas Eve morning to go celebrate elsewhere.

It was Christmas Eve morning now and Harry and Rebecca were on a helicopter that was landing right in front of Sandringham house.

As they stepped off the helicopter and started walking towards the house Rebecca noticed a few older royals looking at them through a window, but if she could have seen how glamorous they looked she would have understood the reason for the stares.

Although Harry’s family was the most famous royal family in the world they still couldn’t compare to the glamour of Rebecca’s family. Yet she still hadn’t even thought about this.

They were greeted at the door by one of the butlers who ushered them to their room. Harry had spoken to his dad and explained that there was no reason for Rebecca and Harry to have separate rooms as it was a waste of space, and since they were already short on space the queen allowed it. So they were sharing a room this year.

It was just now noon and they didn’t have anything scheduled until four o’clock when they would go to the white drawing room for tea. So they decided to walk around and see where everyone else was.

They found themselves in one of the smaller drawing rooms where Charles and Camilla set with Philip and William and Kate.

“There you two are.” Charles said as he saw the two walk into the room.

“Dad, how did you get here before us?” Harry asked concerned knowing that his dad and Camilla should be the last to arrive.

“We were a bit early.” Charles told his son.

“How was Paris?” Camilla asked the couple as they sat down in the empty spots they could find. Harry by William and Rebecca by Camilla.

“It was lovely. There was a little bit of snow when we left out this morning.” Harry told everyone with a smile.

“Oh well don’t worry we are expecting a snow tonight.” Charles said knowing how his son loved the snow.

“I do hope we will get it.” Harry said with a smile.

“You sound like George and Charlotte. All they want to talk about is snow.” Kate said making William laugh because he knew it was true.

“Oh that’s so sweet.” Charles said with a smile.

“Rebecca I’m so glad you could join us again.” Philip said looking over to Rebecca.

“I was happy to be invited.” Rebecca said giving him a smile.

They talked for a little bit longer before they decided it would be best if they went and got ready for tea. Rebecca’s outfits for the week came in a couple weeks ago and she was completely I love with them. She had made a mental note to get a picture with Harry every time she changed.

After she got ready she headed downstairs by herself to look around. She walked into a room that was very cozy feeling she noticed the beautiful tree and the table with Christmas cards set out in it she noticed the queens family was in the center and she also noticed that her families Christmas card was very close to the center. Rebecca walked over and picked up the card and looked over it. She then picked up Harry’s personal Christmas card. It was a picture of Harry holding a African child they had met over the summer when they were there. She even remembered taking the picture he used.

She noticed someone walk past the door to the room and put the card down and headed out into the hallway to see who it was.

It was Eugenia so Rebecca stopped her and they started talking.

“So have you received any news about ivy cottage?” Rebecca asked as they started walking down the hallway together.

“None of the news good.” She said she truly looked upset.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Rebecca said sincerely.

“It’s just that Jack has been waiting so patiently to get married, but we don’t have anywhere to live. We can’t afford a place to live, let alone a nice wedding.” Eugenie said she had obviously been holding her feelings in for quite a time.

“If there is anything I can do, please let me know I don’t mind to help out. Also you and Beatrice should call me sometime. I have nothing to do when Harry is at work, and would love to go to lunch or shopping with you two.” Rebecca said as she looked over at Harry’s cousin.

Rebecca and Eugenie soon found themselves in the white drawing room with the rest of the family. Rebecca set down next to Kate and was given a cup of tea by a maid.

The family all found a seat and then fell silent as the head of the household started talking and schedules were passed out. He ran through the schedule quickly while everyone slipped on their tea. Then he left and the queen asked the younger children to help decorate the tree.

Kate and Rebecca made small talk while they enjoyed their tea. It didn’t take long though before everyone moved into the next room for presents.

Everyone had an assigned seat where there presents had been placed. They started with the most junior royal and worked their way around the room opening presents one by one. Like last year Rebecca was put in order as if she were Harry’s wife. Finally the queen was opening her gifts. She had already opened a few they all made the people in the room laugh.

“And who’s this one from, mummy?” Princess Anne asked as the queen started to unwrap another gift.

The queen stopped and looked at the box to see a name, “It says it’s from Rebecca.” The queen said before going back to unwrapping.

Rebecca had done a really good job this year picking out gifts for everyone and she was so nervous about what the queen would think.

Finally the queen had unwrapped the gift and she now opened the box and pulled out a plastic tiara that had the words ‘queen bitch’ on it in hot pink. Her husband started to laugh when he saw the gift. She laughed as she put the tiara on for everyone else in the room to see it. They all started laughing.

The queen then continued to open the rest of her gifts before it was they dismissed into the next hall for drinks. Rebecca found herself talking to the Kent’s and Gloucester’s  who she had always heard were really close and had noticed them always going over to each other’s homes at Kensington.

“So where do you and Harry think you’ll live once you get married?” The duchess of Kent asked Rebecca before taking a sip of her martini.

“I’m not really sure. We have to find a larger place soon though.” Rebecca said. She remembered Harry telling her in the past to watch what you said around the princess of Kent as she was known to tell a lot.

“Oh really why?” The princess asked.

“It’s just to small for us. I told Harry that I was upset that apartments eight and nine were now occupied as I think they look beautiful.” Rebecca said manipulating the situation.

“Yes they are beautiful.” The duke of Gloucester said with a smile.

“I have been trying to get Harry to set up a tour of the other empty apartments, but personally I don’t think they look to promising from what I’ve seen on the outside.” Rebecca said, she knew the conversation would be leaked and that’s what she wanted.

“You think you might go to saint James?” The princess asked curiously.

“I just don’t know where we will go. There is no room anywhere. There are other houses like Marlborough or Lancaster but the public wants those leased out to be offices. London might have a few sky scrapers if we would quit taking old houses and using them as offices. I’m sure that’s not what they were intended to by. But on top of all that it would be like pulling teeth trying to get the public to foot the bill for the proper renovations.” Rebecca said making sure they heard her.

“I personally have never liked the idea of leading out royal residences to be offices.” The prince of Kent said agreeing with Rebecca.

Rebecca was about to say something before the room was interrupted by the head butler who dismissed them to get ready for the dinner. Harry immediately found Rebecca and they walked on to their room.

“I saw you were talking with some of the older folks.” Harry said with a smile once they got up to their room.

“Yes, they asked me where we might live once we get married.” Rebecca said to him.

“Well I just hope you didn’t say too much. Especially in front of the princess.” Harry said looking over at Rebecca as he took his shoes off.

“I only said things I wouldn’t mind being repeated.” Rebecca said looking at him.

They took their time getting ready before heading down for the dinner. Rebecca was seated in between Harry and Kate. Everyone took their seats and then the dinner was served.

“You look nice.” Kate said to Rebecca as everyone started to eat. Rebecca kindly thanked her before taking a bite. They talked throughout the dinner Rebecca asked how late was feeling and Kate told her she felt amazing. They were both done eating when the queen finished and decided it was time for the ladies to head to another room for coffee.

They walked together to the drawing room and took a seat on one of the couches. They talked with the other ladies way into the night. Once the queen dismissed herself for bed both Kate and Rebecca decided they also would head to bed.

Rebecca walked through the house by herself when she walked into her room she found it empty as Harry was still downstairs with the rest of the men. She got ready for bed and went to sleep.

When Rebecca woke the next morning Harry was laying next to her. She woke him up and they both got ready and headed down for breakfast. William and Kate were not at breakfast since they had stayed at Anmer hall last night so that the kids could open their presents this morning, but they would come over in time for the walk to church. After eating breakfast everyone rushed off to get ready for the church service. Once Rebecca and Harry finished getting ready they headed back downstairs and gathered in the main hall with the others who were waiting.

The walk to church went well Rebecca was cold but she hid it from the cameras and once they came out of the church for the ride back she talked with some of the people standing around wishing them a Merry Christmas and accepting their gifts.

When they got back they had lunch and then watched the queens speech. Then everyone was left to do whatever they wished. Boxing Day went smoothly Rebecca even decided to do a little shooting outperforming most of the men. Rebecca and Harry then left that night and headed to London to exchange their own gifts before they would head off to New York for New Years.

Rebecca’s Outfit for arriving at Sandringham 

Rebecca’s Outfit for Christmas eve tea

Rebecca's Outfit for Christmas eve dinner

Rebecca’s Outfit for Christmas church service

[theoddcatlady]

Mismatched

I have heterochromia.

My mom has it too, only hers is sectoral heterochromia. A part of her left eye is brown while most of it is blue. Mine’s complete. My right eye is brown, the left is blue. As a kid I’d get the most excited reaction out of the adults-

“His eyes are so beautiful!”

“Wow, they’re different colors!”

“How stunning!”

I’d like to say that my eyes are only one part of myself, that it’s just a slice of the pie that makes up me. But really, the only fascinating part of myself is the heterochromia. I’m average in grades. Height. Strength. IQ. Not much stunning charisma either- I tend to stick to myself.

But in the end, it’s my eyes that saved my life. And maybe the lives of a few others.

The killings started my sophomore year. A young couple going out to smooch in their car was found dead, mangled by some wild beast. Their faces had been eaten off, their tongues ripped out, and their eyes completely gone.

I didn’t know them, they went to the private school. All the same, the stories started up about the Gosbecks Knoll Beast.

My mom laughed when I told her about it. Apparently the ‘Beast’ was around in her highschool days too, two people turned up dead before it stopped. Conveniently, at the same time a bear was brought down in the area. She told me just not to go smooching any girls around there and I’d be fine.

Of course this is when I corrected her and said ‘boys’ but this really didn’t take her by surprise. Mom’s good like that.

However, this time, The Beast wasn’t content just to gnaw on the faces of horny teens on our Lover’s Lane.

When I’d gotten to school about a week after the first incident I knew something was wrong. Everyone was quiet, and a lot of people were crying. I found my friend Trent and asked him what was up. He criticized me for not checking my Facebook before he told me.

Douglas Stafford. Better known as Doug. Senior. Everyone loved him. He was a nice guy. Heck, even to lil ole wallflower me. I’d gotten lost my first day of freshman year and he pointed me in the right direction. Even offered to walk me there. I never talked to him again, but damn. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.

He’d turned up dead in his parent’s garage. His face gnawed on just like the pair from earlier.

The next day there was a school assembly where the principal even teared up a bit and told us that it was okay if we were upset and if necessary we could take an absence from class to talk to the school counselor. Doug’s girlfriend Cathy was in the front row bawling. They’d dated since their little freshman years, and it was pretty obvious they would’ve one day gotten a house with a white picket fence and a dog.

Cathy was the last casualty of the school year, a few months later she was found dead in the forest. The Beast hadn’t been the one to kill her though- she’d hung herself and apparently Beastie helped himself, at least according to the rumors.

During the summer everything went quiet, and soon the talks of dead teens faded into the background. I think Doug’s parents started up a fund for depressed youth. I spent ninety percent of the summer in my bedroom playing way too many video games.

I also came out on Facebook. I got a lot of approval. A lot of ‘you’re perfect the way you are’. And a lot of ‘dude it was OBVIOUS.’

However, Trent didn’t see it as most people did. He unfriended me almost immediately and when I got back to school he’d apparently been badmouthing me to our mutual friends, none of them wanted anything to do with me anymore.

It hurt. I won’t lie, it hurt a lot. But I chose to ignore it for the most part. So I lost all my close friends. Big deal. I could get new ones.

Yeah, no, not happening.

Like I said, my social skills suck. The only reason Trent and I were friends in the first place was because we were assigned to be project partners in the fourth grade. We got a B. And now whenever he talked to me every other sentence had the word ‘fag’ or ‘queer’ thrown in someplace. Shows how little I knew about my best friend right?

But this is when the murders REALLY picked up the pace.

The first victim of junior year was Camille Dunn. She’d missed her bus home and decided to walk. The next morning a dogwalker found her stretched out on the sidewalk. Eyes gone and face eaten off. The Beast was back.

Clearly there was some madman or wild animal on the loose and everyone put up their guard. But now I think this is when the Beast got really cocky. He realized he could get away with this shit.

The next victims were in their damn house. An elderly couple, John and Beatrice. They lived across the street from me. When I woke up the next morning to sirens, my heart sank. I thought Beatrice’s heart finally gave out on her.

Noooo, the Beast just decided to up his game by ripping out said heart. It was the same thing though- ate the faces and the eyes. It got into the house through the back window, judging by the bloody prints. Kids whispered about how supposedly the prints looked like a humans but clawed. Sightings of The Beast grew in number. A freak that had fangs and glowing eyes, his only desire being to hunt and kill.

Of course my mom immediately kicked in a curfew and kept the house secure. At night I’d hear her wake up and walk around, as if to make sure we were safe.

I believed in the Beast when she saw it too.

I woke up to hear her scream and I ran to the source. My mom was white as a ghost, her hand on her heart as she stared out the now empty window.

“It… it was there. I don’t know what it was, but- fuck, fuck, call the police, call the police right now!”

My mom doesn’t cuss. She’s a classy lady like that. I grabbed the junior baseball bat I used as a kid and called 911. Cops showed up surprisingly fast and mom told them what happened while her eyes still darted to the window on occasion.

She’d gone down because she couldn’t sleep and it was at the window. Its shape was vaguely humanoid but its eyes did in fact glow. That’s when she screamed. It must’ve not expected her to see it as it took off running. And sure enough, when I went into the backyard the next morning, its feet were indeed clawed. I didn’t bother collecting evidence as I’m sure everyone would’ve thought I faked it, but I knew the Beast was real.

Two days later I got kidnapped by my so called ‘friend’.

I was walking home from school when Trent ran up behind me, acting all buddy buddy until he got close. Then I felt a switchblade press against my side. Trent was still smiling, but it was cold, dark.

“Start walking, you fucking queer.”

The biggest ‘well shit’ moment of my life.

I didn’t try to be the hero and get the knife, Trent was bigger than me and I didn’t have a prayer. We walked until we got to his car, where he pushed me into the backseat and he duct-taped my hands and feet together.

He drove us out of town to this abandoned old shed. Two other guys I didn’t know were waiting there, and I saw more knives. I was close to pissing myself while still being neck deep in denial. Surely this had to be a joke though. Just a prank to scare me.

Trent dragged me inside and slammed the door.

It was dark and I couldn’t see a thing. I got whacked in the stomach and the air whooshed out of my lungs.

“You fucking fag. How many times did you touch me when I slept over, huh?” I could hear the sneer in Trent’s voice.

I groaned as I was shoved to my knees. “Never, Trent. You’re not exactly my type,” I said as I struggled against the tape.

I got kicked across the face and I hit the floor. I felt one of my teeth come loose and blood start to pool in my gums.

Trent squatted down next to me. I could barely make out his silhouette in the cracks in the shed.

“Fucking liar. You’re a freak. And now you’re gonna be another victim of the Gosbecks Knoll Beast, old buddy.”

I felt the blade press right beneath my blue eye.

“Hope your mommy doesn’t miss your creepy ass eyes, faggot!”

I wanted to shut my eyes. Hoped that he’d drive the knife right into my brain so I didn’t have to feel it. Instead I felt my eyes stay wide open as the blade glinted, and I suddenly made out Trent and his three goonies…

Yeah. Three goonies. There were only two outside the shed.

Guess the Beast really doesn’t care for copycats.

I heard the scream before the tallest of the figures slammed the other two heads together. When standing straight up he almost reached the ceiling. Trent whipped around and the blade nicked below my eye.

“What the fuck-“

Another whack and Trent was on the ground. I heard him choking and realized I smelled blood.

The figure moved onto me and he hoisted me up to his level. I felt claws tear my shirt. I was certain I’d be dead.

Then I felt the monster pause.

“… Eyes?”

I passed out.

When I came to, it was now dark outside, and we were no longer in the shed. Now we were in a cabin, lit by a lantern.

And I saw the Beast in his entirety.

He looked vaguely human, wearing what looked like a loincloth, had pale skin and black stringy hair that hung down his back. His skin was occasionally broken up by patches of scales, and his fingers looked like a tiny blade stuck out of each. His spine was lined with thin bristles that would rise and fall with each breath.

Trent was hung up in the corner by a hook, awake and filled with terror. I could smell more blood. The Beast examined Trent’s face thoughtfully before his middle finger carved through his cheek.

I shut my eyes tight when I heard Trent scream.

The Beast made almost no sound at all, other than a soft hum as he worked on carving off Trent’s face. When I took a peek, I saw the gleaming white of Trent’s cheekbones.

My eyes shut again.

Finally when the screams went quiet, I heard footsteps approach. Felt his huge presence kneel over me. His hair smelled like pond weeds.

“… Open. Open your eyes.”

I did, although I’m not sure why.

His face was kinda human. Had a strong nose and gaunt features. But it was his eyes that caught me.

They glowed all right. But the left one was yellow, and the right eye was violet.

The Beast inhaled sharply before his hand reached up to my face. I flinched and tilted my head away but he only hushed me as he lightly caressed my cheek. His claws didn’t even break skin.

“… Eyes. They don’t… match.”

I swallowed. “N… neither do yours,” I pointed out.

The Beast grinned, his crooked teeth flecked with blood. “No. No they don’t,” He said, almost if he was trying not to laugh.

I don’t know what possessed me to do this, but I reached up to touch his face too. His skin was oily, it almost reminded me of a fish. “They uh, look good though?” I offered. Play nice with the monster, maybe you can go home.

This comment struck him, he looked shocked. Then he pulled me into the most uncomfortable hug of my life.

“… Only one. Thought I was the only one,” He sobbed, I felt his greasy tears hit the top of my head.

Really not sure of how to handle this, I patted his back, careful to avoid the spines. God knew they were probably poisonous. Thankfully the Beast seemed to appreciate this.

I’m really not sure how I fell asleep with a giant stinky monster practically spooning me, but when I woke up, the police were there. According to them, someone called 911 from my phone and told them where to find me.

Trent’s body was found strung up in the other room with the other two guys. They’d been almost entirely butchered. It was a miracle I was alive, according to the police.

I attended Trent’s funeral. I don’t know why but I did. His sister apologized for all the bullshit he did to me. I saved her the knowledge of the fact he was going to murder me and make it look like the Beast did it.

When I got home late that night I found mussel shells on my windowsill. I took them inside and let them rest on my dresser.

Top of my dresser’s covered with little ‘gifts’ now, from snake skins to smooth rocks to glass beads. I haven’t seen him since that night but sometimes I catch a glimpse of those mismatched eyes, glowing from my backyard.  

[you-float-i-stumble-blog]

Extract from the rough first draft of a story (meaning there’s stuff I want to change in future versions)

Echo Berezin felt the air flying over her face and fought the urge to whoop as her reptavian traversed the training course. Reaching out with his scaly talons, Brin grabbed the wooden beam, and latching on with his rear legs, extended forwards again, launching both mount and rider through space. Echo gripped the reins, her knuckles a stark white against her darker skin, her boots hooked into her seat's catches to save her a fall.

"On your left!" A voice called out from behind her. Echo's training partner, Felix, passed her on Beatrice just as the four of them neared the final section of the course. Brin tensed up a little,  and launched himself off the next pole with such determination that they closed the long gap between the beams without slowing down, completely overtaking the gliding Beatrice. With a final leap, Brin landed elegantly on the finish line.

As Echo fumbled with her boots, Felix landed next to her, swung his leg over the saddle, and slid off. The bastard probably didn't even need to use the foot-hooks. When they had first arrived at the Zemilya Academy, both of them were very secretive about their gifts, for different reasons. Kid Felix didn't feel like "luck" was as impressive a skill as the more physical powers, whereas Echo's telepathy made her a bit of an outcast - it can be hard to trust someone who, theoretically, never has to trust you in return. A few years later, though, everyone had come to terms with it, and the quiet Echo had been accepted by almost everyone as someone they could trust. Almost everyone.

"Bell, Berezin, front and centre!" The command carried across the field and Echo groaned inwardly.  Felix gave a sympathetic shrug and broke into a halfhearted jog toward Kalani. Echo hesitated, then turned to pat Brin on the side of the head.

Do good? Echo could just about make out the question directed at her.

"You did great," Echo said to reassure her mount, before finally heading to join up with the others. The reptavians weren't as capable of complex thought as the humans that had tamed them, but Echo could still discern their clearer thoughts when in direct contact. Unlike the rest of her class, who were always so noisy, all the time. One of the better things about spending time with animals was that she could relax without having to actively tune out the cacophony of thoughts.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Kalani remarked as she reached them, jostling her back into the world as she almost walked into someone's back. Hugo turned and gave a quick smile before returning his attention to Kalani, who was giving his breakdowns of everyone's performance. Finishing off the one he had started before interrupting himself, he then turned to Echo. "Berezin," he started, "what the hell happened at the end there?"

Echo cocked her head to the side slightly. "Sir?"

Kalani shifted his weight slightly, uncomfortable under her gaze. She didn't even need to open her mind to him to know that he was worried about just that. Her technique wasn't perfect yet, though, and every so often snippets made their way past her defences. She was surprised to not hear a voice this time, though, but saw what he was visualising - a reptavian mid-leap, surrounded by calculations. Even coaches can have hidden depths, she thought to herself, but refrained from commenting. It wouldn't help her case with Kalani if she revealed that she had ended up seeing his thoughts.

"How did Brin manage that jump? It's not meant to be possible."

***

Eight months previously, the 52nd class had been led out into this same yard, fledgeling reptavians in tow, to be introduced to the training course for the first time. As Kalani showed both groups of juveniles around, he gave a play-by-play commentary of each section. "The majority of section two, poles five to ten, is as close a straightforward climb as you're going to get, with the possible exception of section six. Section three, however, starts lower than two does - you're looking at the biggest drop of the course. But don't think that means the rest of it's going to be easy!" Towards the end of section seven, Kalani's chest practically inflated. "Now this is one of my favourite parts of the course. This is where we will see the most obvious improvement in your mount's development. I should hope that by now, having had to hatch these creatures yourselves, you'll have done a fair amount of research on them." Kalani's moustache quivered, his face otherwise so unreadable even Echo was unsure if it was in jest or anger. They'd heard horror stories of previous classes failing in the hatchery and the wrath of Kalani. "Who among you has picked up on why we use them as our military mount of choice?" He scanned the crowd, zeroing in on Arthur Brett, swooping down to his eye level. "Ooh, I can practically see the cogs turning. Come on, Brett, what have you got for me?"

"They're... really good on almost any terrain?"

Kalani's entire face stretched, his eyebrows going high, his chin going low in mock astonishment. "Tell you what, that's not bad." Standing back up, he addressed the whole group again. "Can anyone tell me what makes them so really good?"

Hugo spoke up. "Their climbing, their speed, their gliding..."

"And it is here," Kalani interrupted him, "that we work on the gliding." He paced from poles thirty-three to thirty-four. "This distance has been carefully calculated, measured, and verified to be out of range of a reptavian leap. They have to glide to successfully cross the gap. In this way, we can teach your rides their own limits - and expand them to what is required."

***

Eight months later, back in Echo's present, Kalani was wondering if the course required an adjustment.

Echo shrugged. "He has a bit of a rivalry with Bea. I think he just wanted to get to the end first."

Kalani nodded to himself. "Interesting." He was probably already coming up with an idea for a treatise on the social interconnections of reptavians, or something like that. "Bell, keep an eye on Beatrice too. I want updates on any social developments. Same goes to all of you. Brett - check on Alizeh. Her front left leg seemed to give a little in section five, I want you to make sure she's okay. Everyone - go put your mounts to stable, then you're dismissed for the night."

The group wasted no time in getting back to their mounts, eager to get onto break. After washing them down and taking them to their stalls, the kids filled up their reptavian's food buckets and shuffled off to get some food of their own. Echo and Felix loitered for a moment, waiting for Hugo, who in turn was helping Arthur look after Alizeh's leg. He had found a poultice to ease sore muscles, and was showing Arthur how to apply it properly.

"You really get on with them," Felix remarked as the three of them crossed the courtyard back into the Junior Department. Arthur had run on ahead, eager not to miss the steak on offer tonight.

"The reptavians? Yeah." Hugo said cheerfully, then faltered. "I feel like that's where I'm best suited. Honestly, I think that I might elect for the School of Rearing in a couple of months."

"I can't say I'm too surprised," said Echo, quietly. "You're definitely the best in the class at caring for them. I don't think Ermir's had a single health problem so far."

Hugo shot her a glance as a younger kid, probably from the 54th class, sprinted past them, footsteps reverberating on the flagstones. "Honestly, I'm surprised that you're still considering the School of Arms. I would have thought that Rearing would have been heaven for you."

Felix opened the door to the stairway and ushered them inside and up the stairs without a word, only breaking his silence as they began the climb to the Upper Halls. "I'm sure that everyone has their reasons for their choices."

"You're not happy with my choice," Hugo said.

"No," was all Felix said in reply as they reached the corridor and turned into the refectory. He sullenly grabbed a tray, loaded it up without looking at what he'd chosen, and went to eat in his room.

"There are far too many onions on that plate. He's not gonna be happy when he realises."

Echo found a quiet corner of the cafeteria and sat down. "He needs to learn he can't rely on his luck all of the time."

Hugo sat down opposite her. "What's the big deal about me wanting to go to the School of Rearing, anyway? The whole point is that we go where we'd best be suited. That's why Arthur's going to join Bernt at the School of the Foundry."

"If I had to guess, I'd say he doesn't want the group to split up. He's too fond of the three of us being a trio." Echo turned to look out of the window next to her. From this side of the canteen, she was looking into the central courtyard, out toward the Senior Departments - to their future. Twice already they had watched the ceremony unfold, as each student was called forth and they declared their intentions for the future. Next, it would be their turn. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Felix was going for the School of Arms.

"Is that why you're going with him?"

"Not really. It's just that..." Echo paused. She hastily scooped some peas up with her fork, and chewed them deliberately. Mulling her words over. Finally, she was ready to swallow. "Everyone always looks at me funny, you know? They don't like the fact that I'm telepathic. I wanna show them all that there's nothing to fear when it comes to people like me, and it's harder to be an example when you're behind the scenes."

Hugo laughed, then stopped abruptly. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean... it's just that you're the last person I'd expect to want to be in the spotlight."

Echo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "It's not that I want to be in it exactly... more like that some good might come of it if I happen to be in it and someone happens to notice?"

Hugo nodded. "A fortunate coincidence could arise, got it."

Echo shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Hugo conceded on that point, and the rest of the meal passed without incident.

In the recreation room, Felix was in the middle of a match of ping pong against Horace, finding challenge in each other's gifts. Hugo had opted to return to his room to continue his research, reading into some of Kalani's papers on the care of reptavians, leaving Echo to enter alone. Felix had his back to her, and didn't see her come in, as she slipped through the door and made her way to a couch, falling into a reclining position with her feet up on the armrest. Meditating, she practised tuning out the buzz of everyone's background thoughts until all she could hear was the tap-thunk tap-thunk of the ball going from paddle to table and back again. The repetitive rhythm was soothing, and she was able to get lost in it, not hearing anyone else's thoughts, barely hearing her own, until she was suddenly snapped out of it by the ball skittering across the floor.

"Yes! I am a ping-pong god!"

Sighing, Echo rolled over to crane her neck to look across to him. "If you're a god, then I'm the Queen of the Spiders," she said irritably.

Felix jumped, not having noticed her presence, but recovered quickly. Making a skittering noise with his mouth, he sarcastically wiggled his fingers at her to imitate an arachnid.

Echo hissed back, standing up to leave. "Be careful, Felix," she said as she opened the door. "If your ego gets much bigger it may make a bid for independence and secede."

Felix was left alone with a sniggering Horace as the door swung shut. "I still won," he bristled.

The next morning, Felix seemed content to pretend that nothing had happened the previous day.  Hugo wasn't a fan of dodging the subject, but decided not to bring it up again just yet. They'd have to face each other again sooner or later.

"Oh no," Hugo heard Echo mumble as she opened her morning news. Felix's eyes snapped up to look, but his hand and mouth continued operating independently, shovelling sausage and egg automatically into his mouth as his brow creased.

Since Felix's mouth was otherwise engaged, Hugo asked the question for him. "What is it?" He leant over to see if he could read what she was looking at. Then he read it again.

"There was an... incident." Echo said. "At Eagle's Rest."

Felix's fork faltered in its course, freezing in midair. "Eagle's Rest?" He repeated. "But that's our closest outpost. What kind of incident?"

"The barrier broke for a few minutes. A Goliath managed to get in before they could get it repaired in time."

The fork dropped its payload back onto Felix's plate. "Any survivors?"

"About 25 people got killed in the rampage but everyone else managed to make it out. When the barrier went back up the military was able to go take care of it but it levelled at least half the city before they got there."

Felix breathed out a curse. "That's gotta be a hell of a rebuild effort."

"Hey, guys, I see you've already heard the news."

Felix almost fell out of his chair, startled by the sudden appearance of Jabin Chase over his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's a massive bummer, but we're gonna be helping out the rebuild project."

Echo frowned. "Well yeah, I mean, we are a part of the same country, it makes sense that -"

"No, you misunderstand me, Echo. By 'we' I mean the Academy! You guys in the 52nd class are coming along on a little field trip with the School of Arms to examine the body of the fallen Goliath. The Foundry folks are coming too, going to see what they can patch up." As Chase paused for breath, another student caught his eye. "Ah, there's Arthur! I have to go tell him too."

Echo, Felix, and Hugo were left in a bewildered silence.

***

Four hours later, they were left in another bewildered silence, as they gazed at the wall of fur and meat in front of them. Echo couldn't hold her barrier and was bombarded by everyone's thoughts.

That's one hell of a beast…

I knew they called them "Goliaths" but never thought they'd be this big…

This thing killed twenty five people easily…

I'm glad these things don't have much intelligence…

One of them was just a scream. A full-on scream of terror that made Echo wince with the raw emotion and volume. She staggered away from everyone, making sure to still keep the group of people in view. Sitting down heavily by one of the stagecoaches, she looked up at the creature's body. The buildings around it had fallen into had already been victim to its rampage before it was felled, but the ones it had fallen through were in an even sorrier state than the rest of this district, a ghoulish sector of an already-ghost town.

A pebble clattered to the ground down an alleyway near her. Looking up, Echo saw that some of her more rebellious classmates had decided it would be great fun to climb up the ruined houses and have a bit of an explore of the city from the rooftops. After some of the pushing around that boys like to have with each other, one of them started to run along the ruined wall. With a sure-footedness that could only have been Flink Dain, he leapt from the shattered roof and landed on the Goliath's side, whooping as he clung to its fur. When he had attracted the attention of the audience he desired, he began climbing up , hauling himself onto the giant's chest.

Echo breathed deeply, managed to fully rebuild her barrier, and  hauled herself up  to walk closer to the crowd and try to see better.

The staff members were not amused. When it was obvious that merely calling threats up to hie would not bring him down, Jabin Chase began the climb up to Flink. He did not have th e youthful energy or gift of agility that Flink did, but he was athletic and practised, and made good time.

"Dain is so done for," Felix piped up from behind Echo, something he'd had a habit of doing since they had met. "He's gotta be outta here after a stunt like this." "I dunno," Hugo chimed in from behind Felix. "I realise that he's just getting himself in more and more trouble the longer this goes on for but he's got a pretty useful gift. I wouldn't be surprised if he was just disciplined somewhat - they don't want to lose someone who's a potentially viable asset. Just look at how fast he scaled that thing, given a few more years training, he'd be killer in the field."

[harryandmeghan0-blog]

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry join royals at garden party in first appearance as married couple

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/meghan-markle-and-prince-harry-join-royals-at-garden-party-in-first-appearance-as-married-couple/

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry join royals at garden party in first appearance as married couple

HER style may have already adopted a more “regal” and polished edge (goodbye bare legs and messy buns) but the “Meghan effect” shows no sign of slowing down with the new Duchess of Sussex’s sartorial choices continuing to crash websites and inspire copycat looks.

Stepping out at her first official event as part of the royal family, Meghan opted for a peach dress by British fashion label Goat, along with a Philip Treacy custom hat and nude heels.

The brand’s website crashed just minutes after her appearance at Prince Charles’ 70th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace as fans tried desperately to get their hands on the Flavia Silk-Crepe Pencil Dress.

PHOTOS: Meghan and Harry’s gorgeous moments

READ: James Corden’s royal stuff-up

MORE: Samantha tears into Meghan again

REVEALED: Guests cash in on royal goodie bags

A spokesman for Goat — which is also a favourite label of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge — took to Twitter to apologise for the technical difficulties.

“Our website is currently down due to a high volume of traffic,” it read. “We sincerely apologise and hope to rectify this as soon as we can.”

According to Twitter account What Meghan Wore, Goat confirmed that a custom version of the 590-pound ($A1048) dress was created for the duchess.

Meanwhile, since the history-making wedding on Saturday, imitations of Meghan’s wedding and reception dresses have also already become available.

As both dresses were designed especially for the bride by Clare Waight Keller from Givenchy and Stella McCartney, they haven’t been flying off shelves, however replicas of the two dresses can been found online.

New York designer Justin Alexander has a similar style wedding dress in his Fall 2017 collection, while a bargain version can be found at Misguided for just $70.

Those coveting the bride’s reception dress can also find a similar, but much more affordable gown on Boohoo.com, however it is not available in white on the Australian version of the site.

Before she tied the knot to Prince Harry, Meghan’s style was already causing a frenzy among fans.

Struggling Aussie company Oroton received a surge in business after she wore its $295 Avalon crossbody bag to the Commonwealth Youth Forum in April.

The bag sold out in mere hours and did wonders for the luxury fashion accessories brand that had recently fallen into voluntary administration.

“Whatever she wears sells out and she often makes a habit of wearing smaller labels and giving them huge global exposure,” Emily Andrews the royal correspondent for The Sun told News Corp at the time.

Other companies to also benefit from her star power so far include Canadian labels Mackage and Line, Scottish brand Strathberry, designer Jason Wu and Italian label P.A.R.O.S.H.

MEGHAN GETS THE GIGGLES AT FIRST EVENT

Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan have attended Prince Charles’ 70th birthday party as their first official royal event as a married couple.

But the new Duchess of Sussex nearly lost her royal poise after a bee threatened to steal the show as her new husband gave a speech in honour of his father.

More than 6000 charity workers were invited for the party where they were treated to a speech from Harry, musical performances and a customary cup of tea.

The event was held in advance of Prince Charles’ actual birthday, which is in November.

Meghan and Harry had delayed their honeymoon so they could attend the event.

The pair looked like they were enjoying their first week as husband and wife, with Meghan touching Harry’s back as they walked up the stairs of Buckingham Palace.

Hundreds of royal fans had lined the streets surrounding the palace in an attempt to get a glimpse of the newlyweds.

Prince Harry was wearing a traditional morning suit with a yellow waistcoat and blue tie.

He gave a speech where he paid tribute to his father’s charity work and his “selfless drive to affect change”.

“His enthusiasm and energy are truly infectious; it has certainly inspired William and I to get involved in issues we care passionately about and to do whatever we can to make a difference. In fact, many of the issues William and I now work on are subjects we were introduced to by our father growing up,” Harry said.

“So, Pa, while I know that you’ve asked that today not be about you, you must forgive me if I don’t listen to you — much like when I was younger — and instead, I ask everyone here to say a huge thank you to you, for your incredible work over nearly 50 years.”

But Prince Harry was slightly put off as he gave his speech — having to stop to swipe away a bee, reports The Sun.

He left his new wife giggling as he tried to bat the insect away, saying: “Sorry, that bee really got me.”

The Prince also asked the audience to take a minute to remember the one year anniversary of the Manchester terrorist attack.

Harry said his brother William would have been at their father’s party were he not attending a tribute service in Manchester.

Earlier, Meghan and Harry returned to their home at Kensington Palace as they prepared for their new life as working royals.

The pair were seen driving back to their home at Nottingham Cottage, a small house in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London.

They have lived there for more than a year, and it’s where Prince Harry proposed to the American actress over a chicken dinner.

The pair were in casual clothes and wearing sunglasses as Harry drove their Range Rover through the London traffic back to their home — and back to work.

MORE: Meghan’s eccentric bishop responds

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They are also expected to make a high-profile appearance next month on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the annual Trooping the Colour parade on June 9.

The annual event, held in June to commemorate the Queen’s birthday (which is actually in April), the spectacular military parade concludes with the most senior royals appearing on the balcony to greet the crowds outside Buckingham Palace.

MORE: The cute twins who stole the show

THE PARTY: Celebs turn on glamour at evening bash

THE DRESS: All you need to know about Meghan’s wedding dress

MORE: Meghan’s dad lashes out at relatives

Girlfriends and fiancees are not invited, but wives are, so Meghan, the new Duchess of Sussex, will join the Queen, husband Prince Philip, Prince Charles and wife Camilla, Prince William and wife Catherine and their three children, on the balcony this year for the RAF flyover which ends the parade.

There are unconfirmed reports the Queen, who has ultimate say over who is invited on to the balcony, may exclude minor royals such as Prince Andrew’s daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, as she reiterates the primacy of those in more direct line to the throne (Charles, William and George).

However, Prince Harry has been on the balcony in other years and is sure to be there this year with his new bride.

After a 48-hour ceasefire over the wedding weekend, Meghan’s estranged sister began sniping at her again from America, urging her to “do the right thing’’ and fly her father to London to fulfil a lifelong dream, to visit Buckingham Palace.

Samantha Grant also urged her sister, who she has not seen for 10 years, to reunite the family.

Meghan’s father Thomas Markle was photographed yesterday returning to his home in Rosarito, in Mexico, after spending a few days in hospital recovering from a minor heart procedure.

He pulled out of the wedding with less than a week’s notice after being caught collaborating with the paparazzi, and suffering a heart scare.

He had urged Ms Grant and his other children from his first marriage, Thomas Markle Junior, to “just shut up about everything’’ but his words were clearly ignored by Ms Grant.

[spongebobsquarepiss]

shakespearean asks (rip spelling)

thank u yuki ily! 

A is for Ariel: Who does a lot of crud for Prospero. What is the most important thing you’ve ever done for a friend? What is the most important thing a friend did for you?

im honestly not sure what ive done thats important to a friend. my one of my friends told the counselor i was suicidal and i got the help i needed.

B is for Beatrice and Benedick: What is something you expected to suck but turned out really great?

My musical skills

C is for Caliban: Do you dislike being told what to do?

No im dumb and need guidance

D is for Dogberry: What’s the silliest thing you’ve ever done? Also: are you an ass? (PS: you’re as pretty a piece of flesh as any in Messina)

Honestly? i have no idea but two of my best friends make fun of me for saying listen too often and it cracks me tf up. And yes i am an ass on occasion

E is for Edmund and Edgar: Do you and your siblings get along (cuz these two sure don’t). If you don’t have siblings, pretend you do and answer.

i dont have any siblings but the closest i have is my best friend and we get along until one of us does something stupid and then we kill the other

F is for Friar Lawrence: What is the worst you’ve ever fucked up? Like hardcore “you done messed up”

Freshman year w my gf at the time, junior year same idea

G is for Ghost of King Hamlet: If you were to die and had one chance to talk to someone after death (so in ghost form), who would it be?

Tf if i know.

H is for Hamlet and Horatio: Are you a little gay with your best friend  Who is your best friend in the world?

Y e s. Collin

I is for Iago: Have you ever done something mean or bad just because you can?

no?

J is for Julius Ceasar: What would you do first if you were put in charge of an empire

id give everyone food and water and a place to live

K is for Katherine: Can you not be tamed?

i probably can

L is for Lear: You have to write your will now. Who’s getting what?

God fuck ok. My instruments are going to collin. Kaities getting my books. Malcolm gets half of my pop culture shit, jj gets the other half. Yuki gets all my highlighters, washi tape, binders and japanese books uhh everything else? donno

M is for Macbeth: Have you ever been pressured into doing something you really really really don’t want to do?

yes

N is for Nurse: Do you know someone who’s always got your back?

yep

O is for Orsino: Do you generally like poetry? (sorry lame question)

Love poetry

P is for Puck: Best prank you ever played on someone?

ive never pulled a prank at least to my knowledge

Q is for Queen Gertrude: What is the worst thing you’ve ever tasted (and don’t say poisoned wine, if you’re answering questions it means you’re alive.)

i once had some chips that were three years too old to eat and it tasted like moldy cardboard and i puked on the spot

R is for Romeo: Do you fall in love quickly?

Too quickly

S is for Shylock: Do you tend to hold grudges?

Not really

T is for Titania: Do you fight for what you want or do you tend to be passive and give in?

Only when speaking about me being LGBT

U is for Ursula: Write a backstory for a minor character who you think deserves more

Honestly? i want a more in depth backstory for Aomine but i seriously dont want to get into it

V is for Viola: What gender do you define as?

male

W is for Watchmen: What is the most important thing you’ve ever been entrusted with?

My tuba

X is for PoliXenes (i tried, okay?): On a scale of 1-10 how ridiculous do you think “A Winter’s Tale” is (for better or for worse)?

8? i dont remember all that happens tbh

Y is for Yorick: Do you want everyone to remember you when you’re gone or are the people close to you enough?

i want to be remembered only by my close friends and those ive impacted

Z is for Zebsastian (Yes I know it’s spelled with an S be quiet I tried ok):What is the craziest thing you and your sibling ever did? (if you don’t have one talk about something you did with another family member or friend)

i dont think ive ever done anything super crazy so idk??? My life is pretty fucking boring

[mechagalaxy]

John T. Mainer - Pirates

Pirates: You can’t cheat an honest man, but boy can you mess with the crooked ones.

Spirit of Bunny was in rough shape. We had suffered supply shortages all war, running actually out of missiles half way through the Zeon conflict. It got so bad we loaded fire suppression rounds, flares, and my personal favorite, the condom dispensing cluster munition usually reserved for Mardi-gras, Saturnalia, and Mayday celebrations.

We got some kills anyway. Dr Oki O’Connor was taken by rank trickery when we faked a hack of his research and streamed it live during my attack. He stopped dodging long enough to pump some really top rate virus code into the data stream, terrified we were leaking his research. Actually it was a collection of his presentations and papers mixed together with some utterly BS data our Artificial Intelligence (The Mighty Beatrice) made up that she swore would be close if Oki was on the right track. I guess he must be, because he lost his mind, then his mecha as he forgot about the fight and purged our fake data with extreme prejudice. Ooops. We have helped fund his research in the past, and I guess he never saw the tactical utility of those neat updates he sends.

We were in terrible shape, and needed some breathing room to rearm. That is when the pirates hit us. The Pirate King descended with every unhung criminal scumbag. Wow, they were all nicely painted, fully armed, and I swear some of those were our missiles. Fudge puppets. I really don’t like those guys. They look like they even had a full night’s sleep before their rampage. Now I really hate them.

“Spirit of Bunny leader, this is the Pirate King. Surrender and you may keep your lives. Your pilots stole my Commissars, return them before this gets ugly”

The Pirate king was hailing me with a challenge. Oh man. I do not do diplomacy without caffine, and we are all out of stim packs because some PIRATE FUDGE MUPPET stole them. Now the fudge muppet pirate king was hailing me. Oh well. Time to do my imitation of a civilized Clan Leader. Its not very good, I don’t practice it that often, and the laughter when I try it with other clans makes it even harder for me to pull it off straight faced.

I turned to my 20 ton specialists and asked “OK you lunatics, was it you Don, or you Fritz who stole the nice pirates Commissar?”

Both were grinning and waving. Awesome, they both did it. Well if the Pirates had messed with us all war stealing our supplies and sabotaging our war with Leviathan, Juggernaut and Zeon, then my boys and girls deserved a little payback, and it was only fair the pirates who stole so much from us should do the bulk of the work themselves. Time to unleash my greatest weapon; BS. I call it Brilliant Stratagem, but the rest of Mecha Galaxy calls is Bull Shite.

“If you aim so much as a single weapon at us, our allies in Leviathan, Juggernaut and Zeon will wipe you from existence. You could not stand against us all, and if you bring your forces against any one of us, the rest will trap and annihilate you.”

The Pirate King snarled and raised his fist to us, hurling his defiance. The effect was somewhat spoiled as he splattered the camera with his drool and his appearance was blotchy through the spit covered lens as he ranted and raved.

“You stinking Clansmen are all in it together, you are all conspiring to keep us from what is rightfully ours. If you stinking Clanners were wiped out real men like me would be running the Galaxy, not forced to piracy just to survive!”

Wow, someone has a little inferiority complex, good think he was in a 100 tonner, that much inferiorty complex just won’t fit in a 90 ton cockpit. He really has no clue that he is a pirate loser because he took up piracy, not because the Clans play nice with each other. We shoot each other for fun and profit. On a good day we even do it from the front, but bad days happen too. Clan solidarity? Its like Galactic Peace or honest politicians; only in fiction.

The Pirate King bought it hook line and sinker though. He radioed his troops and fell back for re-enforcements. He was really ticked off. I guess he really didn’t like people stealing his stuff. Funny, you think a pirate would be more philosophical about the whole property ownership/grand theft mecha thing.

“I am coming for you, I will send my forces against all of you. Your allies won’t save you, they will BURN WITH YOU CLAN SCUM!”

As the pirates disappeared through the portal, I gave the warning order to strip every bit of ammo from every lineup other than our mains, and get ready for a full scale pirate assault. I figured to use the chart data from the Commissars to hit them on their base, and see if we can steal some of their stuff while they are out getting slaughtered.

Don Lindley piped up from his stolen Commisar “Hey boss, that bit about the other clans coming to help us if the pirates attacked……are you mental? What do you figure they would really do?”

One of my jobs as chieftain is to educate my officers as to the finer points of strategic analysis, and this was just such a teaching moment.

“Well, Juggernaut would make popcorn and draft beer to watch from the hilltops as we played Spartan 300 to the pirate kings hordes. Expect lots of cheering, cat calls and smartass remarks as the bodies start stacking deep. They would probably salute our colours as they finally fell, then get back to looting the galaxy, like they do on every day that ends in y”

“Leviathan would set up a mobile HQ on the ridge, deploy full sensor drones. I would expect full tactical analysis with overlays, and messages from their leadership asking for my reasoning behind individual deployments they were arguing over. At some point they would set the prettier bits to music and publish a video of the better moments, either the really brave, or the really stupid, depending on what was more impressive. You know they would treat the whole thing like an advanced strategic and tactical study, their poor Junior officers would be writing papers about it long after our ashes cooled.”

“Zeon would wait until we had wiped out at least half, by that point we would be in deep, deep caka, surrounded, totally out of ammunition, and about ready to get slaughtered, then they would pull a colony drop and wipe them out. Possibly us too, but hey if you can’t take a joke, you joined the wrong outfit. They do have a soft spot for us, and wouldn’t let us actually get wiped out, but we would never hear the end of it.”

Don whistled. “You totally BS’d him. The Pirate King bought that whole ‘clans stick together’ line, now he’s going to throw his army at Juggernaut, Leviathan, Zeon AND us!”

Mariea Lindley said with a kind of reverent awe, visions of our own three recent ass kickings dancing in her head.

“They are going to get SLAUGHTERED!”

The Spirit of Bunny went to raid the Pirate King, and the forces Xeon had recruited to crush the clans, we went to war not with a song in our heart, but giggling like fools.

I gave the order from the Spirit of Bunny code book.

“Attention to orders, the Spirit of Bunny will execute the following contingency plan as follows: Hold my beer. I say again. Hold my beer”

And the raid was on.

John T Mainer 28840

[oldguardaudio]

A mixture of FAKE NEWS, and one very low information Pastor that thinks President Trump is a racist.

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Nostalgia: the yearning that will continue to carry the Trump message forward

Female Pastor Jean Smith – “Am I surprised Trump won? No. Do I think he is a racist? Ha! I know he is. Am I scared of Trump? No. We here are not going to suffer because we are under the blood and the Lord is with us. You can call me stupid for thinking that for all I care.”

She continues: “As long as we stand together, we will be OK.

    I have been through the Ku Klux Klan. As a child they called me a nigger, told me to get off the streets. I wasn’t scared of them then, and I didn’t lose my dignity then because I had the Lord. I can deal with the Ku Klux Klan and I can deal with Trump.”

Economic anguish after years of prosperity drove millions to Donald Trump’s nationalistic agenda, and continues to fuel resentment of an America many feel has left them behind

A congregant in Overflow Church in Battle creek. Photograph: Chris Arnade

Chris Arnade

Tuesday 14 March 2017 06.00 EDTLast modified on Tuesday 14 March 2017 06.02 EDT

In Battle Creek, Michigan, a town famous for making cereal, Sue Lunz is sitting with her husband, Jerry, 82, at the McDonald’s. They have both spent their whole lives in the town. Both retired from lifetime jobs for Kellogg’s – he in a factory, she in an office job.

Sue is soft-spoken yet firm, telling me one of the more quietly damning things I have heard from a voter: “I am 73 and I am glad I am not young now.”

I push back, suggesting everyone would like to be young and have a long future, but she is thoughtful and serious. “Me and my husband have had a good life. We could get good jobs with benefits straight out of high school. My daughter and her children cannot do that. They have to work weekends and are always anxious and worried. I wouldn’t want that life.”

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Sue Lunz: ‘People who voted for Trump didn’t do a bit of good for themselves’. Photograph: Chris Arnade

Both four and eight years ago, Battle Creek voters put their faith in Obama’s call for a hopeful and equitable future. Last November, they went for Trump’s promise to return to a past greatness.

Sue went against that shifting tide and voted for Hillary Clinton, but without enthusiasm. I ask her about Trump, and her tone shifts to frustration. “People who voted for Trump didn’t do a bit of good for themselves. But when the higher-ups see it, maybe they will wake up to what has been going on.”

In places like Battle Creek, you see and hear a lot of despair. The good jobs, ones that could be turned into careers, have been replaced with an economic version of the Hunger Games. Magnifying it is the sense that “higher-ups” – the collection of distant political, economic and thought leaders – don’t see the anguish, don’t care about it and are partly responsible for it. It has made many nostalgic for a better past.

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Gary and Joyce Kronz at a McDonald’s in Battle Creek. Photograph: Chris Arnade

At the next table are Gary and Joyce Kronz, both 74. They were born in Battle Creek, met in junior high, dated in high school and then married. Their parents worked in the cereal factories and Gary did as well, as a packing repairman, while Joyce raised their two daughters. He got laid off in 1999 with no benefits. “It is hard to live without benefits.”They both voted for Trump, despite having voted for Obama before. When asked why, they give a variation of “things had to change, we need jobs again”, then explain further, speaking as one, completing each other’s sentences.

Outside coastal cities an ‘other America’ has different values and challenges

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“You could walk into a factory job with only a high school diploma, but now Battle Creek is dying. What are people going to do when all the factories are gone?” they say. “Kellogg’s used to have 10 times the employees. They let this town down. They used it, got what they wanted and still moved jobs overseas. The factories were the backbone of this town, and they are breaking it.”

With the economic backbone broken, with hope in the future dimming, faith has become more central as a source of community, solace and hope. It is a “if you won’t value me for my work, I will find another place that values me” response.

I run into Gary and Joyce again at a weeknight service of the Overflow Church. Despite the weekday, the church is filled, with almost everyone casually dressed, some having come straight from work. The sermon is preceded by prayer requests, which brings a listing of people’s frustrations, anxieties and pains. One man, after mentioning a recent health struggle that has sapped him physically and economically, is surrounded by others offering up help.

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Alexandra Barnes: ‘The church has kept me alive.’ Photograph: Chris Arnade

In the hallway, Alexandra Barnes, 41, is sitting beneath inspirational posters. She is a single mom of two kids and is currently struggling paying the bills. “I don’t get enough child support, jobs are hard to come by, and my son is going through complications. What do I do to get by? I come to church and I pray. The church has kept me alive.”

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About 350 miles to the west, Dubuque, Iowa, also voted for Trump after having twice voted for Obama. Like Battle Creek, it is a smaller, mostly white town once reliant on manufacturing with a downtown that feels anachronistic and drained of energy.

In Dubuque, you also hear a constant refrain of nostalgia. Jerry Ehlers, 84, a lifetime resident, is quick to identify problems and solutions. “We had good-paying jobs. Then they started what I call FDL – ‘Fuck Dubuque Labor’ – and now we don’t have much. Of course I voted for Trump. I don’t like how the country is going. Tired of our jobs going overseas.”

In both cases, the nostalgia isn’t confined to elderly people. Richard Lowe, 27, is studying at the local community college to “better himself”. He didn’t vote, but he notes: “All my friends voted for Trump. We need to turn what the rest of the world thinks of America around. Be strong again. We need jobs. American people sick of being taken advantage of.”

Faith is also central in Dubuque, with Sunday given over to the churches. The Dubuque church of the Nazarene, a small congregation, is led by Pastor Leah Barker, aged 30, who only left Dubuque to study at a Bible college.

The church is simple, with music led by a man on guitar and hymns loaded from YouTube. The prayer requests become a group conversation, a Sunday morning therapy session. Some are dramatic, asking to pray for a neighbor’s death; most are mundane but no less important. A middle-aged man mentions his car getting fixed: “It only cost me $400. I had expected it to be more. Praise the Lord for that. I am on a tight budget and anything more would have broken me.” This evolves into a few minutes of conversation about who in town is the cheapest and best mechanic.

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Jerome Patterson. Photograph: Chris Arnade

While many working-class white people shifted heavily towards Trump, working-class minorities didn’t. For them, a despair brought about by inequality has long been an ugly constant. So has finding solace in faith. Yet they don’t have the luxury of being nostalgic.

In Battle Creek, Jerome Patterson, 62, is driving past as I approach a church in the black part of town. He stops to warn me of the unchained and unleashed dogs in the neighborhood. He has been living in Battle Creek since 1972, except for time in the army. He is happy to talk, but initially won’t let me take his photo. “Shit, no! Black men don’t trust pictures for good reason. The police and reporters disrespect us.”

I ask him about politics and Trump. “Most of the men I know didn’t vote. Nobody had the spirit this time. Trump or Hillary? Doesn’t make much difference. Things out here gonna stay the same. We had high hopes for Obama. But nothing changed. Blacks here didn’t end up being helped by him. I mean, he might have tried, but his hands were tied by both parties. Lots of us are just so frustrated. Nobody had the spirit.”

Am I surprised Trump won. No. Do I think he is a racist? Ha! I know he is. Am I scared of Trump? No

Pastor Jean Smith

He pauses to repeat, before leaving: “You have to understand: nobody had the spirit this time.” He points to the church. “Now, Sister Jean, she has maintained the spirit.”

Pastor Jean Smith, 80, welcomes me to a small Thursday night Bible study, where she is lecturing a few kids. Originally from Beatrice, Alabama, she has been in Battle Creek for 62 years, 21 of them “working on Kellogg’s factory floor”.

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Pastor Jean Smith. ‘As long as we stand together, we will be OK.’ Photograph: Chris Arnade

I ask her about politics and about her faith. “I supported Hillary not because she was a woman, but because her policies were for working families and children.

“Am I surprised Trump won? No. Do I think he is a racist? Ha! I know he is. Am I scared of Trump? No. We here are not going to suffer because we are under the blood and the Lord is with us. You can call me stupid for thinking that for all I care.”

She continues: “As long as we stand together, we will be OK. I have been through the Ku Klux Klan. As a child they called me a nigger, told me to get off the streets. I wasn’t scared of them then, and I didn’t lose my dignity then because I had the Lord. I can deal with the Ku Klux Klan and I can deal with Trump.”

A mixture of FAKE NEWS, and one very low information Pastor that thinks President Trump is a racist A mixture of FAKE NEWS, and one very low information Pastor that thinks President Trump is a racist.