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thegreatestofheck · 4 years ago

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Bare Bones {Theory 2} ⋇ Pope Heyward ⋇

find the masterlist for the rest of this chapter here!

description: Pippa Cantu has always been a little…strange. With a knack for knowing everything there is to know about every conspiracy, every mystery, and every weird happening, she doesn’t have much time (or desire) for friends. But when her chemistry lab partner asks her to join him and his friends on a hunt for the Royal Merchant, she just can’t say no.

Theory 2 summary: Pippa meets the Pogues and they commit their first crime together.

word count - 4.6k

warnings: swearing

a/n: hello!! sorry this update took forever, but here I am again with some more Pippa! thank you for reading!!

***

Pope leaned up against the railing outside the Wreck. The others were already inside, scheming quietly in a secluded booth with a hot plate of food. Pope’s eyes scanned the parking lot, waiting for Pippa to pull up. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, but his stomach rolled and his foot refused to stop tapping away at the gravel underneath him. The hot sun bore down on him as he tried to remind himself that breathing was important.

He had expected her to show up in a car, watching the parking lot carefully. So, when she walked up beside him, dropping her backpack on the ground, and leaned against the railing just inches away, he didn’t even notice.

“What’re you waiting for?” Pippa asked. Pope jumped, letting out a startled shout as he threw his hands in the air.

“Jeez, Pippa!” He said, dropping a hand over his heart. “When did you get here?”

“Like, three seconds ago.” She leaned her head back, letting the sun kiss her face. She wore a loose, thin sweater over a pair of grey cargo shirts, like something JJ might wear. Her crazy colored socks came halfway up her shins, paired with black high top converse. Her backpack was by her feet, so full of books that the seams were stretched out. She looked just like the same Pippa he had seen a month ago.

“How are you?” He asked, that nervous feeling building up again. Pippa let out a small, sigh as she nodded her head slowly.

“I’m doing good. How are you?”

“That’s good! I’m good.”

“Good, good.”

“How’s your summer so far?”

“Pretty good. Yours?”

“Yeah, it’s going good.”

“That’s good.”

Pope pressed his lips into a fine line. This wasn’t exactly the riveting conversation that he was expecting when he saw her again.

“Did you walk here?” He asked, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. Pippa simply nodded her head slowly.

“Yup.”

“Not a fan of cars or something?” Pope said in an attempt to joke. He noticed a shift in her face but she simply sent him a smile.

“Walking is good for you,” was all she said in response. Pope tried not to keep himself from doing his “thinking face” as John B called it. He tried to think back to a single time he had seen Pippa in a car. As far as he could tell, she had always walked everywhere. Kildare may be a small island, but walking anywhere still took time, especially with as heavy a backpack as hers always was.

“Should we go inside?” Pippa asked, leaning down to hoist her backpack off the ground.

“I can grab that,” Pope offered and reached out to grab the bag but Pippa swatted his hand away.

“Thanks, bro, but I’ve got it,” she said with a laugh. She grabbed hold of the withered handle and pulled one strap onto her shoulder. “Let’s go meet my employers, yeah?”

There was a smile on her face that eased some of Pope’s worry. She was strange, just like he had told his mom, and he wasn’t sure how his laid back friends would react to her. A part of him was worried she would be too much for them, another part of him worried that she wouldn’t like them. Either way, his nerves picked up again as she waltzed toward the Wreck without a worry in the world.

He opened the door for her, to which she rolled her eyes but still gave a quiet ‘thanks’.

“They’re right over here,” Pope said, leading Pippa to the booth where his friends were munching happily on their midmorning meal. “Guys, this is my...this is Pippa.”

Pope stumbled over the word friend. He watched her side eye him and he gave the smallest of shrugs.

“This is the girl?” JJ asked, his arm flung lazily over the back of the booth. “We’ve met.”

“Have we?” Pippa’s eyes were narrowed.

“You chewed my ear off about some dude in a grey town or something like that.”

“The Devil in the White City?” Pippa set her bag down heavily on the ground. “He killed over 200 people.”

“You told me,” JJ grumbled. He sent a concerned look to Pope who tried to tell him to shut up with his eyes.

“It’s great to have you,” Kie said pointedly at JJ as the boy rolled his eyes. “I’m Kie.”

She stood and offered a hand for Pippa to shake. Pope was worried that Pippa would take the Pippa way out and just ignore the handshake, but she didn’t.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Kie. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Pope shut his eyes and prayed that God would smite him right where he stood. Putting Pippa, JJ, and John B all in one place was probably the worst decision he ever could have made.

“The Royal Merchant?” He asked once he finally opened his eyes. He slid into the booth beside John B and Kie followed after him, leaving only an open spot beside JJ, which made both Pippa and JJ glower.

“Um, yes.” Pippa sat as close to the edge of the seat as she possibly could, leaving a large gap between her and the annoying blond boy. She dragged her bag over and unzipped it. “What do you need to know?”

She pulled out three large books and everyone’s eyes went wide.

“Anything you’ve got, we want to hear,” said John B. Pippa nodded her head as she leaned back toward her bag to pull out a couple of notebooks, a map, and a box.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that you know most of this already,” Pippa said as she spread the books across the table. “But the Royal Merchantwent down somewhere around the island in 1641. September 23rd, to be exact. It’s no surprise really. This is the Graveyard of the Atlantic for a reason. There are thousands of ships down there at the bottom of the ocean. Like, did you hear about the-”

“The Royal Merchant, Pippa,” Pope said, hoping to redirect her attention.

“Right, right.” Pippa shook her head and looked back at her notes. “The captain was a white Irish guy by the name of Johnathan Brannon, but his crew all called him John B.”

The boy across from him widened his eyes, but then Pippa laughed.

“Really?”

“Nah, I’m shitting with you. They all called him Bucktooth and I’m sure you can guess why.” Pippa laughed at her own little joke. Pope was about to feel absolutely horrible, but then he looked up and saw JJ hiding a laugh of his own behind a small fist. “There’s rumored to be 400 million dollars worth of gold on that ship, but that amount of gold is hella heavy so I’m really not surprised the ship went down.”

“How heavy is 400 million dollars of gold?” Kie asked, leaning forward with her hands folded.

Pippa looked up as if trying to remember.

“Approximately 22,000 pounds? So, like I said, super heavy. Very unrealistic of Captain Bucktooth to try and transport that much gold, but ya know, you reap what you sow.”

“What can you tell us about where the ship went down?” John B asked, looking at the map that Pippa had unfolded over the entire table.

“There are lots of different opinions, but me? I think it went down right here,” Pippa said, pointing at a place on the map just off the shore. “With the current ocean level, it should only be a thousand feet down or so.”

“What are the coordinates for that?” Kie asked, pulling out a napkin and a pen from her back pocket. Pippa peered down at the paper and pointed at a scribbling she had written in pen.

“There. 34 degrees, 57 feet, 30 inches North and 75 degrees, 55 feet, and 42 inches West,” Pippa said. Kie stopped writing halfway through and glanced over at John B, who’s face went white.

“Is that-?” JJ trailed off, his arms crossed in front of him.

“It’s the same,” John B confirmed. Pippa scowled.

“I’m missing something here,” she said and leaned back in the booth. The four others passed silent glances, as if trying to decide whether or not they should spill what they were all thinking. Pippa suddenly felt a little bit out of place.

“Where did you get these coordinates from?” John B asked, tapping on the writing on the map. Pippa let out a small sigh.

“I had a contact on the island before I moved here.”

“A contact?” Kie’s voice rose. “Who?”

“I don’t know,” Pippa said honestly. “We just emailed back and forth, never exchanged names. He gave me the coordinates.”

“Can you contact him now?” JJ asked, showing real interest in Pippa for the first time. She shook her head with pursed lips.

“The last time we talked, it was to give me those coordinates. That was all he sent in the email and I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Pippa,” John B’s hands were locked together, clenched so tight that his knuckles were white. “How long ago did you get this email?”

“I dunno,” Pippa shrugged. “Nine, ten months ago?”

John B’s face turned white almost instantly and then green. Pope and Kie moved out of the booth almost on instinct, allowing John B to slide out and run off toward the bathroom. Kie followed after him.

“Did I say something wrong?” Pippa asked JJ, feeling an unfamiliar twist in her stomach. JJ shook his head.

“JB’s dad went missing nine months ago, ‘lost at sea’.”

“Oh.”

“He was obsessed with this Royal Merchant thing. Spent his whole life hunting the ship and the gold down.”

“Oh.”

“Those coordinates you just gave us? We got them from a letter that Big John left for JB just before he went missing.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.”

“So, you think my contact on the island was...John B’s dad?”

JJ let out a heavy breath and looked out in the direction that his friends had run off in.

“Seems like it.”

When the others came back, JJ and Pippa were both silently flipping through the books and notes.

“You got JJ to read?” Kie asked as she lowered herself back into the booth. Pippa smiled but JJ just rolled his eyes.

“It’s not as hard as you think.”

“Teach me your ways.”

Pope smiled, grateful that the tension upon their first meeting had started to fade. John B was the last to sit in the booth, sitting right across from Pippa, who gave him her best attempt at a sympathetic look.

“Listen, dude, I didn’t know-”

“Did he know you moved here?” John B asked. Pippa shook her head.

“I was afraid that if I told him I started living on the island that he would want to meet. But anonymity was important for both of us. That way, if something happened to one, the other would be safe. I swear to you, I didn’t know.” Pippa didn’t know why, but she felt the need to explain herself to this boy. She had a feeling that she somehow had a relationship with his father that John B had wanted. And it made her feel horrible.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, but by his clenched fist, Pippa knew it did matter. “What else did he tell you?”

This no longer felt like a prospective job interview for Pippa. This was just as important to John B as it was to her, and it wasn’t because of the gold. She was holding nothing back.

“Denmark Tanny,” she said.

“The survivor, right?” Kie asked, shuffling through the papers that she had in her lap.

“Yeah. My bet is that he somehow smuggled at least some of the gold off of the ship as it was going down. The fact that your dad found out about Tanny could break this entire case open,” Pippa said. “We find Tanny and we find the gold, I’m sure of it.”

“We gotta find the ship first,” John B said with certainty. “If the gold isn’t there, then we’ll go after Tanny.”

Pippa scowled, but John B seemed like the leader of this expedition, so she didn’t find that she had a place to question him.

“Pippa, could we have a moment?” Kie asked, giving her a smile. Pippa glanced over at Pope for a moment, who nodded his head.

“Sure.” Pippa stood up and walked away.

“So, do we bring her on?” Kie asked, her voice at a whisper. “She knows what she’s talking about and if she’s had contact with Big John-”

“I don’t trust her,” John B said, voice tight.

“Dude, what?” JJ uncrossed his arms and leaned forward.

“There are two different handwritings,” John B told them, pointing at one notebook and then the other. “She’s got another partner she’s not telling us about.”

“So, she’s got skeletons in the closet,” Kie said with a scowl. “We all do. What’s the difference?”

“The difference is I trust you guys.”

“You can learn to trust her.”

“How is it that she didn’t know he went missing even though she was living on the island?” John B turned toward Kie with wide eyes. “What if she knows something about it that she isn’t telling?”

“JB,” Pope said, reaching out and putting a hand on John B’s arm. “Pippa’s solid. You can’t trust her? Fine. Trust me. She just wants to help.”

John B sighed, looking over all of the stuff that Pippa had pulled out of her bag. Pope watched a thousand and one things pass behind his eyes. Eventually, John B conceded a sigh and nodded his head.

“Pope, if you trust her, I’ll let her tag along. But I swear, if she keeps anything from us-”

“Got it.”

Kie stood up and went to collect Pippa, who returned with a large soda in her hand. Taking a long sip, she plopped herself back beside JJ.

“So, what’s the consensus?” She asked. She would never admit it to herself or to the others, but she was definitely nervous. She had been waiting for this big break since she moved to Kildare and she didn’t want to lose the opportunity just because she had unknowingly been in contact with John B’s dad.

“You won’t get a cut,” JJ said. “Money only goes four ways evenly.”

Pippa shrugged.

“I don’t care,” she said.

“Then why help us?” Kie asked. Pippa fell quiet and breathed out deeply.

“I have to know,” she told them, looking at each one in turn. “I just have to know.”

“Welcome to the team, Pippa Cantu,” John B said, almost giving her a smile. Pippa tried to keep herself from smiling too.

“So, where do we start?”

***

Pippa stared up at the hotel, glaring against the sun that beat down against her.

“You good?” Pope asked, walking up beside her as the other three snuck into the kitchen.

“How was the drive over?” She asked him to evade his question.

“Oh, you know.” He shrugged. “How was the walk?”

“Why does your friend have a gun?” She asked after giving him a shrug. “Little sketchy if you ask me.”

Pope sighed.

“That’s just...JJ.”

Pippa laughed.

“Come on, slowpokes,” JJ said, poking his head out of the kitchen door. “Time’s a tickin’.”

“Speak of the devil,” grumbled Pope. Pippa tapped his arm with her elbow and ran inside after his friends.

She had never been to Figure Eight before, not really. Just looking at the hotel, Pippa didn’t have to guess what kind of people it pulled in. Rich people were far more insufferable than any other kind of person. Pippa often ran into them at the second-hand store. They came for cheap, “trendy” clothes, buying out half the store every time they passed through. Which always made it harder for the people who needed cheap clothes to find something they actually like. Most of the rich costumers were bratty, annoying, and Pippa wished her grandma would let her kick them out.

These were the very same people who came to stay at this hotel. Tourons, as people on her side of the island called them.

Pippa followed JJ and the others through the kitchen. The staff didn’t seem to mind five teenagers weaving their way through the kitchen.

“How are they open right now?” Pippa asked as they stepped into the lobby. “My gran’s shop is shut down until the power comes back.”

“Back up generators,” JJ said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Kooks don’t miss a beat.”

He wore a smug face as he led the four of them through the hotel and toward the computer room.

“Someone should stand guard,” Pippa said as they snuck inside. John B and JJ both gave her a look that made her sigh. “Right. I’ll stand guard.”

Pope looked her way and Pippa gave a shrug. She knew that there was a level of distrust surrounding her. She was new and they didn’t know her quite yet, so she had a feeling she would be on the sidelines for a while. Pope closed the door quietly behind him and the others while Pippa leaned up against the wall, picking at her nails.

“What’s going on here?” A voice asked, pulling Pippa from her absent-mindedness. She looked up with an attempted smile. Standing before her was a boy she sort of recognized. She’d seen him around, but he was definitely a Figure Eight resident (at least, judging by his polo shirt and frat boy blue shorts).

“Just waiting for my dad,” Pippa said. Her lie wasn’t smooth. She’d never been a great liar when it came to the little things, but the boy didn’t really have a reason not to believe her.

“You staying here?” He asked. Pippa just smiled and nodded. “The name’s Smith.”

“First or last?” Pippa asked.

“First.”

“Funny first name.”

“Oh, yeah?” He laughed. “What’s yours?”

Pippa hesitated.

“Zara.”

“Zara?”

“That’s my name,” Pippa said uncomfortably. “Listen, my dad’s gonna be here soon and he’ll hand me my ass if he sees my talking to a guy.”

“Right,” Smith said with a smile. “I’ll catch you around then, Zara.”

“Yeah. Catch ya.”

Smith sent her one last smile and walked away. Pippa felt like she could finally breathe. She waited for him to turn the corner before she slipped inside the computer room.

“What happened to standing watch?” JJ asked as she neared the computer they were all crowding around.

“It appears to pull more unwanted attention. What have you found?”

“Coordinates are right here,” Pope said, pointing at the screen. “You were right, about 900 feet.”

“Sweet,” Pippa said with a smile.

“Is that doable?” Kie asked.

“Totally doable,” JJ told her. Pippa nodded her head in agreement.

“Are we taking your personal submarine or….?” Pope turned toward JJ with a scowl.

“How do you know this, Mr. Dive Master?” John B asked. Pippa had a feeling that JJ was often full of bad ideas, which meant that this line of questioning was absolutely necessary.

“The salvage yard,” he said simply, looking between his two friends. Kie and Pippa raised their eyebrows at each other. “They got a drone that can drop a thousand. 360-degree camera and everything.”

“So, it’s for deep dives and stuff?” Pippa asked and JJ nodded at her. “Sounds like something professionals use a lot. It’s exactly what we need.”

“Can your dad get his grimy little hands on that?” John B asked. Pippa felt her blood run cold. The way John B talked about JJ’s dad like they all knew he was up to no good was just another reminder that she was along for the ride, nothing more.

“My dad’s grimy little hands got his ass fired,” JJ told them and Pope let out an almost disappointed sigh. “I guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shitfaced, turns out.”

“Funny,” Pippa mumbled to herself.

“But the drone’s there. It’s in the impound yard out back.”

“So, we just gotta get the drone,” Pippa said with a shrug. “Easy peasy.”

“Not easy peasy!” Pope hissed. “There’s nothing easy peasy about breaking into a salvage yard and stealing a drone!”

“How much did you say was on the Royal Merchant again?” Kie asked, looking up at Pippa.

“400 million dollars,” Pippa told her. Pope slid out of his chair and ran for the door, acting as a barricade.

“400 million?” Kie doubled checked, just to make sure this whole thing was absolutely worth it.

“Yep.”

Kie stood so quickly, the swivel chair she was sitting in spun in a circle.

“No,” Pope said, standing firmly in front of the door. “Absolutely not. No!”

“Pope, move,” Kie said as she shoved him out of the way. She pulled the door open and JJ followed her out while John B shoved their things back into his bag. Pippa’s bag had to be left in the van and she was starting to miss it.

“Come on!” Kie hissed as they left the computer room.

“Can’t we do anything legal for money?” Pope complained

“Just go,” Pippa laughed, shaking her head.

They all walked back toward the kitchen, Kie and JJ walking a little faster than usual. Pope dragged his feet.

“What, you don’t want 100 million dollars?” Pippa asked him, laughing at his little pouty face.

“I should be excited about risking getting arrested for a bunch of gold that may or may not be there?” There was an edge to his voice.

“It’s gonna be there, Pope,” Pippa assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s gotta be.”

***

“So, I’m thinking, Kie and Pippa, you guys distract the guard,” John B said as Pippa leaned inside Kie’s window. The walk from the hotel to the salvage yard had been a lot longer than she had expected.

“Why us?” Pippa asked, lifting her head. John B turned to look at her.

“Well, because….” He trailed off, obviously not really wanting to say why. Pippa tilted her head to the side, not willing to back out of her question. He cleared his throat looking to Pope and JJ for help. Both of them shrugged. “You and Kie are, like, girls.”

Pippa’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open in fake shock.

“Really?” She said, trying to fight off a smile. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Fine. Listen, someone’s gotta distract the guard and you and Kie are the most distracting,” he said. Pippa put a hand over her heart and gave a sarcastic smile.

“It’s the socks, isn’t it?” She asked Kie, lifting her foot to display her rainbow socks. “These socks are very distracting.”

Pippa was pleased to earn a giggle from the other girl. It wasn’t hard to tell why Pope liked her so much. Kie smiled like the sun itself.

“Do you wanna come with us and leave Kie to herself to distract the guard?” He asked.

“Why don’t you stay with Kie and I go with the boys?” When John B sighed dramatically, Pippa let herself laugh. “I’m just yanking your chain, John. Kie and I can handle this.”

“Pope, your friend thinks she’s very funny,” John B grumbled.

“Yeah, she thinks she’s amusing from time to time,” Pippa responded.

At least JJ thought it was funny.

“They’re all idiots,” Kie told Pippa as they walked up to a random car in hopes of letting air out of a random tire. “But they mean well.”

“I figured,” Pippa said, pulling on her long sleeves.

“Aren’t you hot?” Kie asked.

“Not really.”

“Man, I’m hot as fuck in just this,” Kie said with a laugh. Pippa laughed along with her. “So, I’m thinking we let out air from a tire and ask for help.”

“What if we let out two?” Pippa suggested. “Just in case the boys are slow.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Pippa stood guard while Kie let out the air from two of the tires from one of the random cars parked by the salvage yard.

“I’m going to be 100% with you right now, Kie,” Pippa said. “I’m not the greatest with, uh, conversing with people about anything other than really strange theories.”

“Right,” Kie replied. “I’ll do the talking.”

“Good plan.”

With both of the tires released of most of their air, Pippa followed Kie up to the guard. Pippa watched with her hands shoved into her pockets as Kie lured the guard out of his tower and toward the front gate. The smile Kie gave the guard was enough to make Pippa’s legs weak, she could only imagine what it did to the security guard.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do,” the guard said with a sheepish smile all his own. He glanced over at Pippa, who tried to give him a smile in return. It didn’t seem to do much.

“It’s too easy,” Kie murmured to Pippa once the guard had walked away. Pippa scoffed with a smile and turned to look back at the boys who hid behind a dock. They looked like they were talking about something, but she wasn’t sure what. Pope waved at her and she sent a thumbs up and a wide-mouthed grin in response.

The guard returned with a toolbox and an almost giddy smile. Pippa curled her hands into fists in her large pockets.

“Where’s your car?”

***

“God, I hope that’s not JJ barking at snakes again,” Kie whispered to herself.

“I’m sorry, what?” Pippa turned toward the gate, tapping her knuckles against the hood of the stranger’s car. She could hear the dog barking from somewhere in the salvage yard and it was doing nothing for her heart rate. Clearly, the security guard was getting nervous too.

“What was our safe word again?” Kie asked underneath her breath.

“Giraffes?” Pippa suggested.

“Right.” Kie crossed her arms, listening to the barking get more and more erratic.

“I’m sorry,” the security guard said. “I’ve gotta go check on-”

“Mr. Security Guard, you can’t leave the two of us here!” Pippa attempted.

“Gotta check on the dog,” he said, scooping his things back into his bag. “I’ll be right back.”

Pippa and Kie watched in distress as the security guard walked away.

“Should we make, like, a bird call or something? To warn them?” Pippa asked. Kie shook her head.

“The boys can handle themselves. We gotta get out of here.”

“You go ahead, I’ll stick around and wait for them,” Pippa said.

“Pippa-”

“Wait up!” Pope came running toward the gate, his face sweaty and red, his chest heaving. Pippa and Kie watched him attempt to scale the fence and land flat on his stomach.

“Ooh,” Pippa hissed, grimacing. Kie made a face to match. Pope pushed himself off the ground and came running toward them now covered in yellow dust.

“We gotta go,” Pope said, breathless. “Guard came back.”

“Do you have the thingy?” Pippa asked. He shrugged his shoulders dramatically. “You guys go. I’ll wait for the others.”

“Pippa, you’ll get caught!” Pope protested.

“Nah, I won’t. Seriously, go!”

“Meet back at the Wreck,” Kie said, putting a hand on Pope’s shoulder. She seemed to gather that there was no way they were getting Pippa into that van.

“Got it.”

“Good luck,” Pope told Pippa as she ran to hide in the trees.

“Don’t do anything stupid until we catch up!” She called back.

“How can we? Seems like we’re leaving the stupid here!”

Pippa didn’t respond, choosing instead to flip him the bird. Pope and Kie stood where they were until Pippa disappeared into the brush.

“Come on,” Kie said, smacking Pope lightly on the shoulder. “We gotta go.”

~~~

tagging - @simonsbluee, @parkerpetertingle, @diverrdown, @ponyboys-sunsets, @outerbanksbro, @kikifromtheblock, @sunflowerbecca, @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch, @lost-cause-land,

if you want to be added to the taglist, just let me know! ❤

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onewaywardwitch · 5 years ago

Text

Just A Typo (11/?)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Hacker!Reader

Summary: It was a simple challenge between a very competitive group of friends. A challenge that ended very differently than anticipated.

Warnings: A cliché trope and a lot of shouting

Word Count: 2106

A/N: I promise the gif is accurate for this part.

“I don’t get why you can’t just ask him out,” Becca whined as she glared at me across the table. We were sitting in Angie’s apartment which was a refreshing change from the high-tech atmosphere of the tower. After begging and pleading and annoying Tony for nearly eleven hours straight, he finally agreed I could leave for a few hours, provided I was brought there and back. He didn’t seem to appreciate me persistently hanging around his lab.

We were talking about Bucky. Again. It's not as though I was the one to bring him up. Since Becca visited me in the tower last week, she’s been more determined than ever to make something happen between Bucky and I. Somehow, she managed to convince Angie to join her on her mission. So now I had to deal with the pair of them constantly inserting themselves into my love life. Or lack of.

“I can’t do that,” I scoffed. “It's Bucky. He’s not looking for anything like that. I'm just grateful he talks to me at all. He’s pretty quiet with most people.

Angie clapped her hands together. “There, you said it yourself. He doesn’t talk to many people, but he talks to you. He clearly likes your company, judging by what Becca said happened last week.”

“Oh please,” I waved her off. “Becca exaggerates everything- “

“Hey!”

“- nothing happened. He was just curious about what I was doing on my laptop, so I showed him. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that, for a very empty corridor, you both were sitting awfully close to each other,” Becca replied, smirking at my flustered face while I struggled to come up with an excuse.

“Why don’t you just focus on your own love life?”

“Oh I am, trust me.” She grinned proudly, nodding in Angie’s direction who just gave me an exhausted look.

“Becca’s decided to join my gym,” she explained. “She picked me up last week and has now fallen head over heels for another woman who goes there.”

“We’re soulmates! I can feel it,” she defended. I simply rolled my eyes. This wasn’t unusual for Becca. She caught sight of a woman in the grocery store or in the bank and promptly fell for them. It was endearing how passionate she could be, but it didn’t make it any easier when the relationship ended and Angie and I were left to help her move on.

“But for once Y/N's life is more interesting than mine so that’s my current priority.” Before I had the chance to interrupt and disagree with her, she went on. “Look, you're clearly a mess and have no idea what to do with all your feelings- “

“Oh dear God, are you about to give me the talk?”

“- so why don’t you write it down.”

I rolled my eyes at Angie who shrugged in reply, not bothering to hide it from Becca. “What?”

She grabbed my laptop from the bag I brought with me and opened it up. After a few moments of her messing around on it, she looked up at me and cooed, “Aw, you have his email.”

“What are you doing,” I questioned, trying to sneak a peek at my laptop but she moved and sat away from the pair of us.

“Ok, say we write an email to him. But we don’t actually send it, of course,” she added quickly, noticing how I was about to interject from her first statement alone. “That way you can get everything out there so you know what to do. You can practice how to ask him out.

I laughed nervously, chewing on my bottom lip and glancing at Angie for support. “I mean, it couldn’t hurt.”

“Great!” Becca clapped her hands in glee. The pure joy that was radiating off her was shocking. She loved playing matchmaker a bit too much. “We’ll start it off simply. ‘My dearest Bucky, my loins burn in your presence- “

“What the hell!” “Why would you write that!” Angie and I yelled at the same time. I stared at Becca incredulously. “I want a date with this guy, not a restraining order.”

“Then tell me what you want me to write.”

That’s how the next hour or so went; with me baring my heart and soul while Becca told me I sounded like an idiot and needed to rephrase. Angie chimed in every so often with a “Becca, shut the hell up” or a supportive “that sounds great!”

Together, we broke everything down. We went through it step by step, word by word. It wasn’t uncommon for me to start blabbering before stopping myself and telling Becca to delete everything I just said. I was surprised with how helpful I found it. Admitting to myself and my friends that there was a slight possibility there was a spark between Bucky and I was almost therapeutic. And definitely healthier than the whole ‘lock it in a box’ schtick.

“And I was wondering if you drink? Well, obviously you do. Y’know, you’d be dead if you didn’t drink water. But other drinks. With people,” I rambled on and rubbed a hand over my face. “Scratch everything I just said, that was so dumb. Just end it with ‘I’d like to get a drink with you sometime’.”

“And that’s that,” Becca announced, mockingly wiping a tear from her eye. “I'm so proud that not all of that sounded moronic.”

“Gee, thanks for your undying support,” I replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

“So, all you have to do is say to him everything you said here. You’ve already done it once. The hardest part is honesty. Now you’ve been honest with yourself, you can be honest with others.”

“If I'm being honest, Angie, you need to stop reading those motivational books. You're starting to sound like you swallowed a few dozen of them,” I commented. I turned to Becca. “You can shut the laptop off now. I think I should just go talk to Bucky while I'm in the right head-space.”

She shot me a thumbs up and went to exit our work. I was putting on my jacket when I heard the ping from the laptop.

It was like a scene from the most cliché movie ever. We all turned to stare at one another at the exact same moment, mouths agape in horror. Becca was glancing from the screen and back to our alarmed faces. She did this several more times before any of us did anything.

“Wha- please, please, please tell me that was not what I think it was,” I managed to sputter out. Angie clutched her scarf as though it was the only thing tethering her to the ground. I appreciated her dramatics on my behalf.

“I am so sorry,” Becca whispered. “I thought it was the delete button.”

“NO!”

I rushed over to where Becca was cowering and looked at the open email that now had a little ‘sent’ button in the corner. I quickly scrolled through, hoping it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was worse.

“Wait, you didn’t even delete the stuff I told you to cut out!”

Oh, it was much worse.

“Maybe it's not that bad,” Angie offered.

“Well, Bucky’s gonna see that I said, ‘shall I compare thy ass to a summer’s day?’, so that’s not ideal,” I exclaimed, giving Angie a pointed look.

This was horrible.

“Don’t forget the whole ‘burning loins’ part.”

It was this moment I decided I hated my friends.

Angie sensed that I was about to throw Becca out the nearest window and rushed over, struggling to think of how to console me. “ It's going to be alright. First things first, does he check his emails often?”

I snorted. “He’s like a hundred years old. I think he forgets he has an email half the time.”

“Great. So we just hack into Bucky’s phone and delete the email. Simple,” Angie said as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Becca and I shared a look. It did sound pretty simple when she put it like that. Technically, cyber security was what I did for a living now. And this was technically a cyber threat. To my happiness. How hard could it be to delete an email?

“The only thing is, Tony set up all the tech in the tower to be much more difficult to breach ever since what happened with us. I helped him make every electronic more secure. You have to be in the building and have whatever it is you're hacking into in your possession.”

“Field trip to the tower to save your relationship. Yay,” Becca said quietly, waving her hands slightly in mock excitement. She was still hiding behind a cushion, scared that the second she came out I would attack her.

She wasn’t wrong.

~~~~~

We somehow managed to make it inside the tower without anyone being suspicious of our behaviour. We all seemed to realise that we would we terrible spies; we couldn’t lie for shit. At least, Becca and I couldn’t. Angie was a lot calmer, acting like her true neutral self. She was able to whisk me away from a colleague who had said hi to me and I replied with a very loud “I work here!”

It wasn’t that difficult to get Bucky’s phone. I was just glad we didn’t bump into anyone on the way to the gym. While I was distracted watching him with the weights, my ever-faithful friends snuck over to take his phone which was lying on the bench. His hair was tied up in a bun, which was a style he hadn’t tried before but damn, it was definitely working for him.

“Hey, you still don’t want that restraining order, right,” Angie hissed, snapping me out of my trance and beckoning me to leave with them.

~~~~~

“We should be good here,” I told them, closing over the door to Tony’s lab. We headed towards the back where we would be less likely to be seen. “Pepper’s been giving out to Tony about the lack of breaks he takes from work, so she’s dragged him away for a few hours at least. I think my nagging earlier might have had something to do with it too.”

We hooked the phone up to my laptop and, with three expert hackers working on it, we unlocked it quickly.

“That wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be,” I said, cringing as I saw the first line of that email once again while deleting it.

I could only imagine Bucky’s reaction if he had seen it. That email was unfiltered madness and I wished I could do more than just delete it. I'd rather burn it from screen. If Bucky had even got a glimpse of it, I would have been ruined. His stupidly perfect eyes would glare at me in horror while I took one of the quinjets to an uncharted planet not in our solar system.

As we were leaving the lab, we froze when we heard Bucky shouting, and nearly tripped over each other when Sam came running past us in a panic.

“He’s gone mad!” He panted, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds as he paused to speak with us. “He says he’s sick of me taking his stuff. He flexed his metal arm at me! I don’t even know what he’s taking about!”

I went to comment, but he was gone before I could help him with his unfortunate situation. Becca stifled a giggle and Angie and I turned to her with a questioning gaze.

“I slipped Bucky’s phone into Sam’s back pocket,” she cackled. I grinned at her. She was a pain in my ass half the time, but Becca really did lighten up every shitty situation.

Bucky came thundering down the hall, a murderous look on his face. The three of us just pointed in Sam’s direction. He grunted in reply and we scurried down the opposite direction.

~~~~~

“Y/N, can we talk for a minute.”

I felt my blood run cold as I heard Bucky’s voice. Angie and Becca’s eyes grew wide from where they were sitting on the sofa.

“And, uh, what do you want to talk about,” I asked, facing his general direction but refusing to look him in the eyes.

“Um, I got a really weird email from you…” He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “Something about my ‘intoxicating smell’?”

My two ‘friends’ bolted from the room before Bucky had even finished his sentence.

‘Just A Typo’ Taglist (open):

(if there’s a strike through your name it means I couldn’t tag you)

(if I forgot to tag you just send me a message)

@amybarter15 @imperialoath @mamaraptor @marbleowl @lydklein1 @wantingtobekorra @winter-scolder @uhholyhazza @ladymelissastark @sarcasm-n-insomnia @foxylupines @myrabbitholetoneverland @amazingficsthatididnotwrite @markusstraya @padfootormoose @worldofchoices @just-some-stuff-in-life @colie87 @catsandbooksinafarawayplace @littleblackdressxx @thequirkypeach @astronomicparker @asguardiansoftheavengers @awesome-alysia @sebbystanlover-vk @unknownwonder @wowstiless @d-eracine @nattie0010 @bloodyproudpotterhead @waddupmydood @jjlevin @libbymouse @piscesbarnes @yourwonderbelle @pinnedandneedled @otterlockholmes @wandressfox @chybay22 @my-nonexistant-romance @cap-just-said-language @pinkbubblegumuniverse @forsaken-letters @mywinterwolf @izzyisavengersupernaturaltrash @ur-mom-24-7 @yourpal-yourbuddy-yourbuckyy @viioletdelights @moli1497 @glitterypinkkkitty @borkystank @eyeliveinabook @andreagf956 @doctoranon @gracefull-life

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #the winter solider x reader #Winter Soldier #winter solider x reader #winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier #bucky barnes x y/n #series #fluff #just a typo #reader insert #marvel #MCU #Marvel MCU #falcon #sam wilson #iron man #tony stark

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caffeineivore · 6 years ago

Text

Mako-Neph dedicated to @antivanruffles

Because of reasons. *cough H6H6H6H6H6 cough*

Set in a ficverse not yet published. M/N, mentions A/Z, and Minako. N is a part-time model who’d featured on some cover of some romance novel called ‘His Thundering Highland Heart’ by Katie Satine. Just... sayin’. >.>

The atmosphere of the pub is dim and low-key, with wood panelling and a pleasant sort of unpretentiousness, and though Noah doesn’t consider himself a soccer fan, he makes himself comfortable amidst the group currently watching the game on the television screen. Zack, who could only have been more besotted had he actually been the hero of a fluffy teenage rom-com from the ‘90s or early ‘00s, possibly played by a young Freddie Prinze Jr., had left with Amy a few hours ago. Dinner with her mother. And if that wasn’t super extra serious for a guy who’d met a girl two years ago and spent all of three days with her…

But then again, Zack, despite being generally easygoing in that amiable midwestern way, could not be swayed from his path once he’d made up his mind, and his mind was apparently made up. Certainly it was serious enough for him to buy a plane ticket, book a hotel, and travel across an ocean to find this girl again. Noah had come along to keep him out of trouble, of course, and also to be able to say that he’d been to Europe.

The weather, of course, leaves something to be desired. And no one knew a damn thing about football-- oh, excuse him, AMERICAN football. Not the David Beckham stuff. But the beer, he had to admit, was superior. Europeans knew their way around a damn brew.

“Oy! What are you doing here?”

Noah swivels his head over in the direction of the shout, and grins. Even a borderline-rude question like that sounds sexy as hell in that Irish accent of hers. Amy’s roommate is tall and stacked in the best of ways, a stunner from the top of her curly head to the bottom of her boot-clad feet. “Oh, hey. Just chilling. Grabbing a beer and a bite to eat, since this is walking distance from the hotel. Zack’s hanging out with Amy, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

“I did.” Mary Kathleen takes a seat across from him, and he sort of appreciates the directness of it rather than a dance-around asking for permission to sit as though she had any less right to be there than he did. “I had to coax the story out of her last night, but I’d known something was different. She’s always been a quiet girl, but she’d come back from summer hols two years ago and I’d just known something had happened. Nothing bad, but just significant, all the same. She’s never been the sort to pine after a lad, you know. Too sensible, by far. But she’s happy to see him, still. Quite happy indeed.”

“Oh, they’re adorable together, and he’s a lovesick puppy, and someday, I have a feeling you and I will be Maid of Honour and Best Man, respectively, at their wedding,” Noah quips, only half-joking. “I’d heard the story, of course, from Morgan. She was sort of there in Italy when it happened, and was probably the first witness to their storybook romance. She’ll be happy that it worked out, I’m sure, and that your friend didn’t have to call security to throw my friend out.”

“‘Tis funny to hear you talking about one of the most famous supermodels in the world like she’s just another bird, though I suppose to you lot she would be.”

“Morgan’s pretty down-to-Earth for being who and what she is. But Zack and I are also not as deep into this whole business as she is.” Noah finishes his beer, then playfully flexes his biceps. “I’m surprised you recognized me, actually. The, uh, picture on that cover has my face in profile.” The picture in question also had most of his chest bare aside from a tartan covering only a small area for modesty. Noah doesn’t remember too much else about the book in question aside from it being set in the Scottish highlands in the Middle Ages and was quite popular with its target audience. Lots of bodice-ripping, undoubtedly, by Laird Carmichael of the shirtless tartan fame.

“It’s the hair, and the pecs.” Unapologetically, Mary Kathleen taps a knuckle on his chest and grins, even as the barman brings her her own beer. “‘Twas not a bad look for you a’tall.”

“Thanks. You saying so makes the several hours spent with baby oil covering all exposed skin on my body worth it.”

She laughs-- a full-on, belly laugh, not a girly giggle, and orders some food. He joins her and does the same.

Three or four beers later, they’re both tipsy, and jolly, and embroiled in a friendly debate over local foods from both their hometowns. Noah tries to explain exactly what a chimichanga is, and he’s not quite sure that he’s successful, but he does agree that as mildly horrifying as a Scotch egg looks at first sight, it’s pretty damn good. And much to his relief, Mary Kathleen does not seem like the depressing sort of girl who’d order a garden salad, dressing on the side, for dinner and then look mournful and hungry for the rest of the evening.

They talk, mostly about school, though also about their friends. Mary Kathleen majored in Electrical Engineering, and there’s enough commonality with his own major, Physics, that there’s room for shared stories about uppity TA’s and labs and the like. They’re both far from home-- she’s originally from a tiny village called Carran, in County Clare, before she’d moved to London at the age of fifteen. He’d lived in Sedona, Arizona until moving to New York City for school and work, and both of them agreed that the crowded, busy, big-city life was not for them.

They eventually leave the pub together, and she walks with him back to his hotel. He pulls out his phone at the door, and gives her his best smile. “So that was fun.”

“It was. I wonder if our friends are back yet? Amy’s not really the sort to do anything naughty, but he is awfully pretty. And there’s that whole pent-up two-years’-worth-of-longing.”

“Zack’s not the type to do anything naughty either, nor the type to pressure a girl into it if you were worried about that. He’s surrounded by beautiful women all the damn time in modeling, and sees enough sleazy shit to never want to go that route, himself. He’ll never do anything to hurt your friend if he can help it, and that’s even if he weren’t besotted, which he totally is.”

“That’s good to know.” Mary Kathleen relaxes fractionally, and Noah knows, without her saying so, that the reassurance assuages a protective streak within her. She doesn’t comment on it, though, and instead holds out a hand for him to shake. “You’re not bad company, for a Yank obsessed with Mexican food.”

“Nor are you, for an Irish girl obsessed with half-naked Scotsmen,” he returns, taking her hand in his and holding on. “So since we’re now buddies and I’m not an idiot like Zack, do you have a phone number or email or Facebook or something? You know, so we can keep in touch and gossip about our friends and all that.”

That gets another one of those wide, cheeky grins. “If I give that to you, am I going to get any more half-naked kilt pics?”

Noah laughs so hard that his stomach aches with it. “I don’t know, do you want any?”

#fanfiction #fanfic #sailor moon #antivanruffles #M/N #senshi/shitennou

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dearlazerbunny · 6 years ago

Text

By Any Other Name; Ch. 1

Pairings: Kylo x Reader

Genre/Ratings: Highschool AU; M (eventually)

Words: 1,000

Summary: Your new lab partner proves to be nothing short of an asshole- or is he? The more of Kylo that’s revealed, the more you can’t help but think you might be falling for him just a little...

Click HERE for Chapter 2.

“So all you missed in chemistry was an introduction to a group project…”

“All I missed? That sounds like a pretty big fucking deal!”

“Y/N, relax. I told Mr. Tarkin you were at a band competition and he gave me all the materials to pass along to you.”

“And you were planning on doing that when?”

“Open your front door.”

You jog down the stairs, phone still cradled between your ear and shoulder, only to find your friend Rey at the door, stacks of paper and backpack in hand.

“You’re such a dork,” you laugh, hanging up your cell and ushering her in. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough!” Rey is also laughing as she enters. “Got any food? I’m starving.”

“You act like you’ve never seen food before!” You shove her shoulder lightly in the direction of the kitchen. “You know where the snacks are, you freeloader.”

“You’re the best!” She runs off and you sling her pack over your shoulder, hiking back up to your room and spreading the chemistry work out on your bed. You’re already pouring over it by the time she gets back, string cheese sticking out of her mouth and an apple in each hand. She tosses one to you and you catch it nonchalantly without looking up.

‘The reflexes, they’re staggering! You really should join the hand-to-hand club, you know.”

“What, so I can land on my ass in front of you?” You tease, taking a bite of the apple. “I’m good with flute, thanks.”

“I’ll get you there someday.”

“Keep dreaming, Rey. Will you just explain this to me already?”

“Okay, so basically, it’s just like the experiment we did in class last semester, except you have to replicate it on your own with your partner. He’s set up a list of times you can use the lab, I wrote it down on the back of the worksheet.”

“You’re a gem.” You immediately start copying the dates and times into your planner. “Who’s my partner.” Rey doesn’t respond, and you look up. “It’s you, right? I mean come on.”

She grimaces. “Not… exactly…”

“What? Rey!” You toss a throw pillow at her, hitting her in the stomach. “What sort of best friend are you?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! But there was an odd number of people so me, Finn, and Poe all paired up together.”

“You’d rather be a third wheel than work with your bestie? Wow, I see how it is.”

“Oh, come on, they’re not that bad. I think they’re really cute, actually.”

You grin, thinking of your other best friends and how they (completely unsurprisingly) got together over the previous summer break after years of mutual pining. “Yeah, you’re right. They are.”

“So don’t shoot the messenger, okay?”

“Fine, fine. But who am I paired up with.”

“Oh, some new guy. I think his name is Kylo? Kylo something.”

“Great. New guy. Well, at least it’s not Armitage.”

“Oh, god, that would suck so much. Bad enough he’s your section leader.”

“Right?! He was so completely anal this past week I wanted to tear my hair out every time he opened his mouth.”

“But how’d you do?”

Your flute was tucked securely at the head of your bed, nestled in its case. You’d been practicing before Rey had called. You gave it a protective pat and glanced over at her. “First in the state overall, and distinguished on all my solos and ensembles.”

“Hell yeah you did!” She gives you a high five and you return it eagerly. “Nicely done!”

“Plus, I got one more commendation than Armitage.” You smile wickedly. “I so love pissing him off.”

Rey cackles as she opens her textbook. “I know you do. Okay, so the assignment is on page 114…”

You grab your own book from the shelf, but not before marking a note in your planner: meet with kylo. Whoever he was. You’d have to get Rey to point him out next time you were in class.

“Page 114 you said?”

“Honey? Is that you?” You mom knocks softly on your bedroom door then pokes her head in.

“Yeah, mom, I got home an hour or so ago.”

“Hello, Rey.” She smiles at your friend in the way that only mothers can do.

“Hi, Mrs. Y/L/N.”

“Y/N, I just came up to make sure you had gotten home safe.”

You gesture to your arms and legs, which were decidedly not in casts or crutches of any kind. “Mom, it was just a band competition. As you can see, I’m in entirely one piece.”

“Did you clean your flute well afterwards? You know how it can get at competition-”

“Yes, I’m, I did it when I got home.”

“Are you catching up on your homework? I know how you hate to get behind-”

“You raise your textbook in the air and proffer it to her. “That’s what me and Rey are doing right now.”

“Just make sure you email your teachers in the classes you missed-”

“-so I can get all my makeup work.” You shake your head, smiling a little at her worry. “I’ve got it mom, I’m good.”

“Alright, alright, I just wanted to make sure. Good to see you, Rey.” She shuts the door behind her as quietly as she came.

Rey is looking at you with a face you can’t quite identify, and you shrug your shoulders at her. “What?”

She bugs her eyes out dramatically. “Your mom is so over the top! If mine was hanging over me all the damn time I would have lost my shit by now. Doesn’t it bother you?”

“Eh, maybe sometimes, but she just- cares, is all.”

“And your dad?”

“What about my dad?” You ask a bit defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with dad.”

“Y/N. You are in high school and he still polices what you wear! And who you hang out with! And when!”

“Well, he just wants to make sure I’m on the right track,” you say stubbornly. Rey sighs. “Sure, babe, whatever you say. But anytime you want to escape the regime, there’s always my house.”

You throw another pillow at her, this time square in the face.

A/N: considering how much I’ve written this should be about 15 chapters...? Full length TBA.

#fanfic #Star Wars fanfic #reader insert #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren x you #star wars fluff #star wars angst #star wars #kylo ren

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you-never-liked-this-sweater · 7 years ago

Text

Connor Murphy x Reader: Zoe’s Brother (Soulmate!AU)

Word Count: 3241

Summary: Soulmates are born with marks on their bodies that reveal what their soulmates first words will be to them. Reader is born was a mark that they’re embarrassed of and want to find their soulmate simply so the mark would go away. When they move to a new town and attend a new school they finally get their wish.

Warnings: Swearing

Author’s Note: A bunch of you sweet people really liked my last soulmate!au story so I thought I would write another one. Once again it’s unedited so if you see any huge flaws, let me know and I’ll fix them.

——————————————————

‘Get out of my fucking way!’

The words that you were born with, tattooed along your wrist. The words that your parents adamantly covered up through your childhood, careful to not let any of the other kids see in case the word caught on. Those words made it difficult for you during the summer, wearing long sleeved shirts or hoodies, rarely going swimming. When you were finally old enough to know what it was you instantly held a grudge against your soulmate for cursing you with such a horrible thing to have written on your skin. You told yourself that when the day came and you heard that phrase that you would have something even worse to snap back at them. But if felt like that day would never come. The years dragged on, and your senior year of high school rolled around. Your family had decided to move at the beginning of the summer. A job opportunity opened up and just like that you were uprooted and placed in a new town. On one hand, you had left close friends behind that you promised to keep in touch with, and on the other hand you knew that a new town meant new people. And new people meant the possibility of finding the asshole who made you cover up your arm since birth.

Your day started out normal enough, alarm blaring, throwing on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and your favourite sweater as you hurried into the kitchen to start the day, hastily made breakfast and rushed to get ready in time to catch the bus. After an entire summer of sleeping in, the weight of waking up so early for the first day of school was weighing heavily on your shoulders. You knew what it would be like, going to school in senior year with no friends. You sat near the back of the bus, watching kids excitedly chat to each other, sharing what they did over the summer and talking about how amazing it was to see each other again. It made your stomach churn as you realized you would have to make an entirely new friend group or suffer through senior year alone. The moment you pushed into the school with the rest of the students getting off their buses you felt the anxiety of being alone finally set in and you tried to keep your head down as you headed to the office just inside the doors.

You approached the front desk, aware of the girl in front of you chatting with the secretary. The was very pretty, you realized instantly as you stood a few feet behind her. Long dirty blond hair, the front pulled back out of her face by a few hair-clips, a textured dark pink sweater, a pair of light blue jeans with a few stars scribbled along the cuffs, and a pair of worn in grey sneakers on her feet. She was leaning over the counter slightly, a happy smile on her face, “Sorry, I just wasn’t sure where we were meeting since Mr. Englund retired last year.”

“It’s no problem, dear,” The secretary smiled back as she typed away at her computer before looking up at the girl, “Jazz band has been moved to room 208 this semester.”

“Thanks a bunch,” The girl says before turning and almost running straight into you.

“Shit, sorry,” You say quickly, stepping back as you cringed, “I shouldn’t have been standing right behind you. I wasn’t thinking-”

“It’s fine, really, uh…” The girl responded, trailing off before she quirked a smile, “Sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you new or am I just really not as observant as I thought I was?”

“Yeah, I’m f/n l/n. I moved here over the summer,” You explained, pulling your bag a little closer.

“I’m Zoe,” She says simply, folding her hands together in front of her, “If you don’t know anyone else here yet, feel free to come and sit with me and my friends at our table during lunch. We’re very nice people, I promise.”

“I’ll think about it,” You smile slightly, “Thanks.”

“It was nice meeting you,” She says, giving a small wave as she walked around you, hurrying towards what you assumed was her first class.

“Nice meeting you too,” You called after her before turning to the secretary, approaching as you began rooting for papers in your bag, “Hi, I’m f/n l/n. I was just wondering if I could get my schedule?”

“I’m sorry dear, our printer is broken at the moment but I can send a pdf version to your email if you’d like?” She suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” Pulling out your phone before you looked up at her, “Do you need my email?”

“I believe your preferred email is already attached to your student account,” She says, typing something out on the computer before looking up at you, “If there’s any issues with it, please feel free to come and let me know.”

You nodded and turned, walking from the room, saying a “thanks” behind you as you went.

Trying to keep your head down as you moved through the hallways, you pulled up your schedule on your phone, making a mental note to print it out in the computer lab later. Classes were uneventful, some ice breakers were attempted by the teachers, most of the kids participated in them including yourself but no one went out of their way to talk to you as you expected. When lunch eventually rolled around you found yourself standing off to the side of the lunchroom, clutching your lunch tray in your hands nervously. You had scanned the room three times and you didn’t see Zoe and contemplated if maybe she had lied to you and didn’t want you to sit with them and that she and her friends were now hiding from you somewhere else. Slowly you began making your way to the emptiest table you could find. A boy sat on one end of it, long hair hanging around his face as he stared down at an open book. From across the room he visibly tensed as if he could sense you headed in his direction and he looked up at you, eyes shining curiously.

Before you get even get remotely close to his table an arm caught yours and you looked over to see Zoe, a smile on her face, “Hey, sorry I was late. I wanted to talk to my teachers about maybe switching classes.”

“It’s okay,” You said quickly before glancing back at the boy who had his eyes narrowed, glaring back down at his book, “Who’s that?”

“That’s my brother, Connor. Trust me, you do not want to go anywhere near him. He’s a psychopath,” She cringed as if mentioning her brother physically hurt her. Zoe nodded towards the side of the room at a table occupied by a few people, “This way.” You cast Connor one last glance before heading off with Zoe to her table. As you approached the people there turned to look at you, shifting over so you and Zoe could join them. Zoe spoke up first as you took your seats, “Guys, this is y/n. I invited them to join us for lunch cause they’re new. Y/n, this is Kevin, Rosa, and Alana.”

The group chorused hellos and you gave a small wave back, “Hi.”

“So, y/n. Where are you from?” Alana asked, leaning forward in her seat with a smile.

“I moved from (hometown) late this June,” You say as you adjusted your food tray so it was closer to you before picking up a jello cup and a spoon.

“Never been there,” Alana said as she stabbed some of her salad with her fork, “I’ve heard good things about it though.”

You shrugged, “You’re not missing much.”

Zoe perked up suddenly as if she remembered something, nudging you, “Oh, show us your schedule so we can see if we’re in any of your classes.”

Plucking your phone from your pocket, you toss it onto the table in front of Zoe before eating a scoop of jello, casting your gaze over your shoulder at Connor who was still alone and still reading his book. As you stared at him you began to feel bad for him, sitting all alone, which was exactly what you were dreading doing today. Part of you wanted to go and say ‘hi’ but you didn’t want to be rude to Zoe, a potential friend. Additionally, the things she said about Connor cast a shadow of doubt over you and kept you in your seat.

“You’re in Kev’s math class with Ms. Bondy,” Zoe says, looking up from your phone, “And Alana is in your English class.”

“At least I won’t be alone like all my other classes today,” You say with a small smile before looking at Zoe, “Thanks for this. I was honestly kind of terrified of trying to make it through senior year by myself.”

She smiled back at you, “It’s no problem. If you ever need anything feel free to ask any of us. Especially Alana. She is the smartest person I know.”

Alana waved a hand dismissively at Zoe before smiling wide, “I know I am.”

“So humble,” Rosa speaks up, returning the wide smile.

“I’m not going to lie to our new acquaintance,” Alana beams, turning her attention to you, “I’m taking almost entirely AP classes so if you need help in any subject just let me know and I’d be glad to help.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” You chuckled, resting your head in your hand.

“Yikes,” Zoe muttered beside you, staring down at your phone.

Your smile wavered and you looked at her in worry, “What?”

“You’re taking art with Mr. Reid?” She says, looking at you, brow furrowed.

“Yeah, it’s my elective. Why?” You asked, suddenly anxious, “Is he a horrible teacher or something?”

“No, it’s just that Connor is in his class this semester too,” Zoe responds, nibbling her lip before looking back at the phone, “My advice is to just try and steer clear of him. Sit on the opposite side of the room. Don’t make eye contact.”

“Is he really that bad?” You picked at your food, losing your appetite.

“Honestly, he’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” Zoe says and she sounded completely sincere. She sighed, and looked back at you, “He’s got this explosive temper and anything can set him off. And when he gets angry he throws things and lashes out at anyone in the way which is me most of the time.”

“That sounds awful…” You muttered, glancing back the him to find that he was already gone from his table, a few new people filing into the space.

“He is,” She says, shaking her head, “Sorry, he’s just…I don’t like him. At some point he just became this monster.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” You say quickly.

“It’s fine. Really,” Zoe says with a weak smile.

“As exciting as this conversation is, I’m going to head to English class a few minutes early to make sure I get a seat in the front row. Are you coming, y/n?” Alana asks as she rises to her feet, moving her empty salad bowl onto her tray and picking it up.

“Oh, y-yeah. Yes,” You get up and glance down at your almost full tray of food. All of which seemed unappetizing to you at the moment so you ended up dumping it into the garbage on your way out of the room with Alana. You turned back to Zoe and gave a small wave which she returned happily before you disappeared out the cafeteria doors with Alana.

Alana was talkative throughout the entire period, you sat in the front row with her and she constantly had her hand raised to ask the teacher about different topics you would be covering over the course. The next period flew by and was equally as uneventful as the rest of the day. When the bell signaled the end of the day, you made your way towards the computer lab so you could print off your schedule while the rest of the student body flooded out the doors to catch their buses. You hoped this wouldn’t take that long so that you would still be able to catch your bus but as you approached the door of the computer lab and heard people talking inside, you felt like it was going to take longer than expected.

“Is this yours? I found it on the printer, it’s-it’s uh…’Dear Evan Hansen’, that’s you name, right?”

You saw Connor talking to a smaller boy who had a cast on his arm and you assumed that this was the ‘Evan’ who wrote the letter.

“Yeah, n-no-no, it’s just a stupid- it’s just this paper I have to write and it’s this stupid assignment-” Evan began stuttering, panicking as he reached towards the paper clutched in Connor’s hands.

“Because there’s Zoe…?” Connor’s voice was small and your brow furrowed, wondering why this kid ‘Evan’ would have written about Zoe, “Uh…is this about my sister?”

“Uh-N-No!” Evan reached for it again, but Connor held it back out of his reach. You stiffened in the doorway, watching the events unfold as you tugged at the sleeve of your sweater nervously. The body language Evan was giving off and the way he held himself showed just how terrified he was as you tried to figure out what exactly was going on.

“You wrote this because you knew that I would find it?” Connor stated.

“What?” Evan honestly sounded confused, arms drooping.

“Yeah-you uh…you saw that I was the only other person in the computer lab so you wrote this and you-” Connor began spiraling and rambling as his eyes burned holes through Evan, “-printed this out so I would find it.”

Evan shook his head, brows furrowing, “Why…why would I do that-”

“So, I would read some creepy shit you wrote about my sister and freak out, right?” Connor snapped, cutting him off as tears well in his eyes, “And then you can tell everybody that I’m crazy!”

“What?” Evan’s voice was small, and he seemed horrified.

“Right?!” Connor yelled.

“No, I-” Evan tried to speak but Connor shoved past him.

“Fuck you!” He called over his shoulder, letter still clenched in his hand as he rushed towards the door. “Get out of my fucking way!” Connor snapped, shoving past you as he ran from the computer lab.

Without realizing what he had said you quickly turned and rushed after him, reaching out to him, “Fuck- Connor, are you okay?”

You saw his entire body tense at those words and he stopped moving, standing a few feet away from you. The hallway was empty and it seemed like everything around you had stopped. It was quiet and you were momentarily confused at to why those words made him react this way. Then it dawned on you and you looked down at your arm, slowly rolling up the sleeve to look at the words tattooed there. ‘Get out of my fucking way!’

When you looked back up at Connor he was facing you, staring down at your mark as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his undershirt and pulled the collar of his shirt back to reveal the words ‘Fuck- Connor, are you okay?’ written in bold text. After a moment both marks faded out of existence, and his arm dropped back to his side, the letter he had been holding fell to the floor silently.

“You were the person staring at me in the cafeteria,” He looked at you, watching as if trying to decide if you were deceiving him in some way and had somehow planned this whole thing.

You flushed and you took your eyes off his collarbone, meeting his eyes as you quickly thought of an excuse, “I wanted to know what you were reading.”

His raised an eyebrow in question, “And here I thought you were checking me out.”

Your cheeks burned and you looked away from him, unsure of what to say to him.

“Fahrenheit 451.”

“What?” You looked up at him in confusion.

“The book I was reading,” He says as he looks down at his bag, “It was ‘Fahrenheit 451’. One of my favorites.”

“A fan of the classics?” You ask curiously.

“Books are better than people,” He states simply before glancing back at you.

“I don’t know. I think some people can be pretty cool,” You say, smiling warmly, “I’m y/n.”

The smallest of smiles pulled up at the corners of his mouth, “I’m Connor. But, I guess you already knew that.”

“Yeah, your sister has a very strong opinion of you,” You said, thinking back to the things she said about him.

Connor let out a breath, cringing slightly, “You were talking to her about me?”

“Only cause I asked about you,” You say as if trying to dismiss it but when you saw his eyebrows raise in question, your face heated up, “I mean, Zoe said we were in the same art class and seemed super distressed about it so I asked her why. So, I wasn’t just asking about you because I thought you were cute or something- but- shit- I’m not saying you’re not cute. I actually think you’re super attractive- I just…” You let out a breath and shook your head as you tried to stop your rambling, “Sorry, I’m just making this super weird…uh…”

He scoffed and looked away from you as if something on the wall was suddenly incredibly interesting as his cheeks flushed with colour, “Fuck off…”

“Do you want to go for a coffee, maybe?” You asked quickly before you psyched yourself out.

He seemed surprised, looking back at you quickly, “What?”

“I mean…we are sort of destined to be together, so I’d like to maybe hang out with you? Get to know you better? Maybe we could talk about our favourite books?” You suggest, a nervous smile on your face, “We could suggest some books to each other too? It could be a regular thing. We could meet every few days and talk about what we thought of each other’s book suggestions? Like book club? But uh…more like dates?”

“Dates?” He questions again, brow furrowing.

Your smile fell, “Fuck, you hate the idea, right? I’m sorry, I just got a little excited about spending time with you. We can do anything you want. We don’t even have to go for coffee.”

“It’s not that. I just…” Connor trailed off, jaw setting as his eyes darkened, “I had something planned for today after school…” He swallowed thickly and looked back to you, noticing the concern on your face.

“We don’t need to go if you had plans,” You say quickly, not wanting to take him away from whatever it was he had planned.

“No…” He said firmly, before letting out a soft breath, “I’d rather spend the day with you.”

“Really? I’m not going to keep you from anything?” You ask, still worried you were keeping him from something important.

“If anything, you’re stopping me from doing something stupid,” His eyes eased as he stared at you.

“So…it’s a date?” A smile worked its way onto your face hopefully.

He cracked a smile and chuckled breathlessly, “Yeah. It’s a date.”

#connor murphy x reader #connor murphy #x reader #reader #deh #deh x reader #soulmate au #zoe's brother #you-never-liked-this-sweater

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allwaswell16 · 7 years ago

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This is the masterpost for my fan fictions. You can also find and subscribe to my fics here on ao3. My word count so far is: 388,316. All pairings are Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson unless otherwise specified. Thanks for reading! <3 <3

Faded From This Touch | explicit | 7k | read here on ao3

Pop star Louis Tomlinson is about to make his long awaited return to music. Unfortunately, his label and manager feel his long hair isn't in tune with his pop star image. When Louis goes to get a hair cut at a posh London salon, he unexpectedly finds a very handsome reason to keep returning.

Today’s the Day (Winter Drabble Series) | G | 300 words | read here on ao3

Polar-Harry pines for the beautiful boy he sees in the coffee shop. Radiator-Harry meets the beautiful boy in the coffee shop he has been pining over. Melt-Harry talks to the boy in the coffee shop he has been pining over.

Be My Homeward Dove | explicit | drarry | 7k | read here on ao3

It's almost Christmas, and Draco must find Harry the perfect gift. It's much more difficult than he'd imagined.

We’re Dancing On Tables | explicit | 5k | read here on ao3

Last week, Louis went on the very best date of his life with the hot guy from his chemistry lab, which was great until the guy never texted him or called him afterwards. Everything is great. Everything is fucking great. Now this guy has the nerve to show up at Louis’ house party, which of course forces Louis to plot to ruin his night.

Staring Across the Room | explicit | 26k | read here on ao3

Harry Styles has a great life. He’s a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library, he’s got wonderful friends, and he loves cooking, green tea, yoga, and his collection of bow ties. He doesn’t mind that his life seems a little structured, maybe even a little boring. But when Louis Tomlinson joins the library staff as the new Installation Coordinator, things become a lot less predictable. Louis gets under his skin right from the start, bossing Harry around, making noise during story time, and eating the last cupcake in the staff lounge. Louis may be almost offensively attractive, but Harry will not be succumbing to Louis Tomlinson’s charms, even if the rest of the library staff have.

Do You Smile To Tempt a Lover | explicit | 18k | read here on ao3

Pairing: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson

Nick Grimshaw is entranced by Louis, his very beautiful, very cheeky new coworker at The National Portrait Gallery. He watches him day after day, wondering what he’s furiously typing on his laptop over lunch. With a little help from the very bored barista in the gallery cafe, Nick finds himself growing closer to Louis than he ever dreamed possible.

Let You Lick the Lollipop | explicit | 4.4k | read here on ao3

Louis may be throwing a Halloween costume party for a lot of drunk college students, but that doesn’t mean he can’t also hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. He just has to keep people from stealing all the candy--especially the very hot guy in a toga who won’t leave his candy alone.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene | general | 2k | read here on ao3

When Louis takes his son trick-or-treating in a stormtrooper costume, little does he know by the end of the night he will end up gaining a Luke Skywalker, a Chewbacca, and a Rey. He doesn't mind the additions, and if Rey's very hot dad wants to come along as well, he doesn't mind that too much either.

Just Hear This (series) | explicit | 46k | read here on ao3

Former boy band member Louis Tomlinson can’t stand pompous indie artist Harry Styles, but with a new record label to launch he is going to have to endure his pretensions to snag up and coming new artist Liam Payne, who happens to be Harry’s oldest friend. Luckily, Liam seems to be very interested in 78 Records and maybe a little more than interested in Louis’ best friend. Too bad Harry won’t be making this easy on any of them. Or a modern day Pride and Prejudice.

You’re the Light (series) | explicit | 39k | read here on ao3

Before beginning a new graduate school in the fall, Louis Tomlinson decides to spend the summer working in Chicago as an editor’s assistant for the Chicago Tribune newspaper and staying with his old college roommate. What he finds on his first day of work is a tall, gorgeous editor named Harry who has the most beautiful green eyes he’s ever seen—and who also happens to be his new boss.

Looking Through You (series) | explicit | 49k | read here on ao3

Just as Louis and Liam were starting out in the music industry, writing and producing for up and coming artists, a fateful meeting with new pop singer Harry Styles changes everything. Four years later, just as Harry is set to embark on his next world tour, a drunken confession causes a rift between once inseparable friends. As Harry tries to make sense of his feelings for Louis, he begins writing his next album to express them as it may be the only way to break through the walls that Louis has built between them.

That’s How I Know | explicit | 17k | read here on ao3

Louis Tomlinson has just landed his dream job, coaching soccer at Augustus University. When he moves into a new house near campus, he meets his very fit new neighbor, English professor Harry Styles. Although their first meeting leads to an instant mutual dislike, the more Harry gets to know Louis, the more he likes what he sees. Or the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

I’ll Be There | explicit | 5k | read here on ao3

Louis is less than thrilled to find out his roommate has coerced his nemesis to check on him whilst he’s sick in bed. However, Harry seems to take great pleasure in taking care of Louis. Maybe this green smoothie drinking, hot yoga instructing, hair in a bun wearing, pretentious art history studying wanker isn’t so bad after all. On Monday, Louis thinks Harry’s a twat. By Friday, he’s thinking of reasons for him to stay.

One Day You’ll Say These Words | mature | 10k | read here on ao3

Growing up together in Yorkshire has led to a lifelong friendship between Louis Tomlinson, the future Marquess of Rotherham, and Harry Styles, the heir to a viscount. When Harry suddenly inherits his uncle’s title and estate much earlier than expected, Louis must watch his friend struggle under the weight of these new responsibilities, including searching for a wife with a dowry large enough to save his estate. However, sitting idly by as Harry looks for a bride brings some unexpected feelings to the surface. A friends to lovers story set in the Regency era.

Sound Like a Song | explicit | 14k | read here on ao3

Part 1 of When We Were Young Series: In high school, Louis Tomlinson lit up Harry’s world like nobody else, even if Harry did most of his pining from the safety of his tightly knit circle of friends. Ten years later, Harry is ready to make some changes. He’s tired of having so many regrets and not taking charge of his life, and he still hasn’t forgotten how brightly Louis shines. He’s about to get a long awaited second chance.Or the one where Harry helps out at a farmer’s market and gives Louis free vegetables. Featuring Elton John songs, many vegetable puns, way too many zucchinis, and being right on time for the love of your life.

Look Like a Movie | mature | 10k | read here on ao3

Part 2 of When We Were Young Series. Louis lights up Harry’s world like nobody else. Harry just wishes he could be brave enough to ever ask him out. Although Harry’s high school life is fraught with anxious encounters, he gets by with a little help from his friends.Or a prequel taking place ten years before ‘Sound Like a Song.’ Featuring school dances, soccer games, overeager lab partners, crushes, and being ten years too early for the love of your life.

How Could I Ever Forget | explicit | 14k | read here on ao3

After his boyfriend leaves him for a job in New York, Harry vows to move on with his life. A year later when their best friends announce their engagement, Harry knows he’ll be forced to see Louis again and face the truth he’s been trying his best to hide–even from himself. Or a Vegas AU where Ziam’s bachelor party turns into drunken karaoke, winning thousands at slots, washing your clothes at the laundromat in your underwear, and making life altering decisions that you can’t remember in the morning.

You Really Got Me Now | explicit | 6k | read here on ao3

Louis is the best older brother anyone could ask for. He knows this because he’s agreed to help chaperone his younger sister’s school trip to Rome. As it turns out, Italy is full of surprises. Fizzy’s Italian teacher is surprisingly hot, Rome is surprisingly interesting, and Louis is surprisingly falling in love with more than just the city.

You & Me | general | 3k | read here on ao3

Louis Tomlinson doesn’t have much faith in fate. Unfortunately, his mother does. She thinks he’s destined to be with her best friend’s son. Louis hasn’t had much luck in love, so he decides to finally meet this boy his mother thinks is his match. As fate would have it, he encounters an intriguing stranger to confide in before he meets with destiny.

1D Very Silly Chat/Email Chain (series) | (im)mature| 7k+ | read here on ao3

(1) Danger in the Produce Aisle, (2) Caramel Apple Peeps, (3)The OT4 Email Chain, (4) Email Chain OT4, (5) Screaming, (6)The Brits & Always You, (7) Is Neil Available?

Read emails sent from : [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]

Important topics including: frightening fruits, no milk for Louis’ tea, hacking, being jealous of Steve Aoki, way too many poo jokes, Niall screaming, dogs Liam doesn’t Instagram, Harry’s floofy hair, Liam’s chains, Instagram aesthetics, and much more!

Now That I’ve Found You | mature | 6k+ | read here on ao3

Harry Styles has a great job working for his brother-in-law’s construction company. He has just one small problem. His concrete sub-contractor just quit, and he needs a foundation built as soon as possible. One fateful turn brings him exactly what he’s been looking for—an experienced concrete construction company that happens to be owned by the most beautiful man he’s ever laid eyes upon.

For You I’d Bleed Myself Dry | explicit | 3k+ | read here on ao3

After a public and humiliating breakup, Louis Tomlinson finds himself on his would-be honeymoon with his best friend, Niall. However, this St. Lucian paradise is not all that it seems. Louis may be particularly vulnerable to an unusually handsome predator.

On a Day Like This You Know It’s Meant To Be | t&up | 2k+ | read here on ao3

One year ago Harry Styles met Louis Tomlinson, the man of his dreams. Harry is certain he’ll never see him again, even if they did make a pact to reunite should the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. Harry has one small flicker of hope left when it appears the Cubs might actually win it all. But will Louis fulfill his end of this fateful bargain?

Won’t You Please Come Around | mature | 5k+ | read here on ao3

Harry has lived in London for a month, and so far the only friend he’s made is his sister’s cat, Mr. Whiskers. When the lock on the window breaks, Mr. Whiskers begins exploring his new neighbourhood a bit too thoroughly and brings back mementos of his escapes. Or a Valentine’s Day story where Harry has a really fit neighbour, and his cat is a thief.

Let Me Kiss You | mature | 3k+ | read here on ao3

Harry Styles is on top of the world. He’s moving to Chicago to live in a kick ass apartment that he’s sharing with his old college friend, Niall. When their old college crew makes plans to hang out, Harry realizes he will be coming face to face with his unrequited crush, Louis.

haven’t you heard | explicit | 8k | read here on ao3

Harry Styles has been in love with Louis Tomlinson since they were eighteen. After six years together, Harry is ready to propose to the love of his life. The holidays strike him as the perfect time for a romantic proposal, but his well-meaning friends and family (including his self-appointed best friend, Niall) seem to thwart him at every turn. Or the four times Harry tries to propose, and the one time he gets it right.

but tonight (you’re on my mind) | explicit | 36k | read here on ao3

Pairing: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson (Tomlinshaw)

Nick’s friendship with the lead singer of Seventy Eight has come with a new circle of people including an entrancing, blue eyed drummer. But what brings them together can also tear them apart.

And I Could Hear the Thunder | mature | 1/? WIP | read here on ao3

Harry prepares to inherit his family’s estate, and Louis is the mysterious boy living in the manor to the north.

#hello i redid this so it's easier to update #my other one was a pain in my ass #larry fan fiction #my fic masterpost

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supernoondles · 4 years ago

Text

2020

A lot happens in a year, even when nothing seems to happen at all.

There's nothing new my commentary about a global pandemic (and the particularly frustrating experience of living in America during it, even with all my privileges of continued employment, owning a car, rent stability, and living in the bay area) will bring to the reader, but I will underscore this: my feelings aren't that 2020 is any kind of exceptional year, but the point where, hopefully, we finally realize that economic/climate/racial injustice has been a terrible problem for a long time, and will continue to be unless we enact massive collective change. A vaccine is not going to make any of those issues disappear, and I worry the people in power (including myself) will return to their comfortable life styles as if the next decade won't be even worse.

Anyway, general DOOM aside (RIP man), here's my year in specific!

From looking through my photos: January was off to a great start. I celebrated the new year with dim sum with J/M/M, as per tradition, and went on a foggy hike through SF with my family that involved my dad and J getting hilariously lost. Soon after I went to Sonoma with J/M -- for all my years in the bay, I had never explored north of the Golden Gate that much -- which was a wonderful trip seeing J's hometown. I helped my lab demo research at the Exploratorium, started growing my own microgreens, and went on more (to become semi-regular and my only source of cardio through the pandemic) bike rides with my lab mates. I finally saw Hamilton (though feel a need to justify here how "cringey" I think LMM is). I went to Genesis, my first gaming-related convention, and it was a lot of fun despite seeing no women. I did so many things, was making progress on research (I think? I don't recall any breakdowns) and my mental health was generally good.

The doing of things continued in February. After not going last year, I went to the Tet Festival in SJ (which was kind of sad). I joined a Chinese learning club and a crafts club and had a delicious omakase. N visited again, I went ice skating and tried to rescue a giant rat from string lights, and saw the Sonic movie in theaters (which would have been my last movie in theaters, sigh). After having a drink at Wursthall with T, I felt terrible (to the unaccustomed reader, not only do I Asian glow, my hands/feet itch whenever I drink and I feel like I want to die), and decided that was the last drink I'd ever have -- thanks to the pandemic that's stayed true. I went on a ski retreat with the lab that felt particularly special (and not just because I didn't have to pay). We (I, in convincing my mostly Asian office) wanted to make 元宵 on the eve of E's birthday, but it turns out that a bunch of CS PhD students really love singing karaoke for like 4 hours straight into the night, and at some point I was like, okay y'all, time to go to bed. So I hosted 元宵 making at my apartment the next weekend, and we watched another Bong Joon-Ho movie (The Host) to celebrate his Oscar win. Typing this out, it seems wild that this was even in this year. I also did sh*** for the first time, hallucinated white woman in the edges of my vision like a GAN, ate a lot of shaved parmesan from TJ, and let go of any stress I had about the UIST deadline to the abundance of nature and the world.

I break from the month-per-paragraph format now because we all know what happens next. M and I biked around campus to film a virtual tour for the newly virtual admit weekend. Being in Gates that Friday (three days before the bay area wide shelter-in-place order) was the last time I'd be on campus for a while. The next day I adopted 3 wonderful baby rats (my biggest brain move this whole year) and the day after that I moved home. I was counting down the days until Animal Crossing and then J and I were duplicating royal crowns in ACNH. At some point my hair got really bad. The months blurred together. Adjusting to WFH was extremely challenging for me, someone who had structured their whole life around the "I only do work in the office and I leave the office when I get hungry for dinner" logic. I would stop working at 6pm but spent the entire afternoon mentally prepping myself to do maybe 30 menial minutes of it. I binged AtLA. I gave up submitting to UIST. In May I hung out in the park with J, who came home from Seattle, which was the first time I saw anyone outside my family. Sometime in there I decided to become a Twitch streamer and had a brief revival as DJ Noon before I felt bad for roping my friends into listening to my music and ran out of interesting songs I wanted to play. In June I, like many others, took to the streets. For two weeks I donated $50 a day to a different organization. I couldn't get any work done at all and spent an entire advisor meeting sobbing so intensely that they felt bad and canceled it after 10 minutes. I emailed the university and got my housing back for the summer and I moved back to start my internship.

The internship was the break I needed -- working with W was a godsend compared to the struggle of my advisors. After reaching new lows at the start of the summer, my mental health was sloping positively again -- working on a new research project helped clear the emotional baggage of the last one. I was also getting more outdoor social interaction -- I went to Ocean Beach with M/D, Half Moon Bay with my family, and going on weekly bike rides with M. At the end of June, M, my roommate, her boyfriend M the clown (there are now 3 different Ms) and I waited for negative COVID results before going on a 2 day camping trip to Mt. Lassen, which felt completely surreal, and, at that time, completely necessary.

The summer dragged on and my mental health, at some point, began to slip. If I were to graph it it would probably look like the inverse of COVID cases in the US -- gradually decreasing, but with high variance from the day to day. I got an embroidery machine, I attended a workshop on docu-poetics with CPH that was so ripe with information my brain physically ached, I saw my lab mates again for the first time as we sat in a very, very wide circle to say goodbye to a post-doc who got a faculty job in Israel. Most weekends I drove to my parents' house and would take J on various hikes around East Bay so he could better appreciate his roots before he went off to Boston for college. He was taking the Switch with him, so in August I bought myself a new one and planned out my entire second ACNH town, which kept me busy for a while -- but surprisingly not as long as I thought, as with planning (and money from my old account) the whole project took I think less than 50 hours. The camping itch came back and the day before my birthday, which was also the day before J would leave for Boston, we went camping at a small state park in San Jose where he got heat stroke and we slept on top of fire ants. The entire experience reminded me how much I disliked camping -- but what else was there to do? I had a wonderful (and long, bless the folks who stayed) Zoom birthday party where I wore a mesh shirt I made and covered with worms on a string. The day after my birthday someone backed into my car, which, following the demands of a racist letter from the HOA, was parked in guest parking. (Ultimately this would be a blessing of insurance money, as the damage was mainly cosmetic and the person kindly left their contact information.) At this time I was also unironically watching ASMR videos to fall asleep, so I painted a two Bob Ross style paintings, one in my virtual art club, to pay homage.

Fire season this year was worse than it's ever been. Being trapped inside the house combined with my roommate moving out at the start of fall quarter and now living alone marked the second downward spiral of my mental health. The bad days were more frequent. I TA'd a game design course, my first time teaching at this university, where many students messaged me to complain that their 95s were not 100s. In the end the lowest grade in the class was an A- and 20% of the class got an A+. At some point I submitted a summer-long project I did with J and S to CHI; it is so much easier to produce work when I do not have to wrangle with M. (This paper gets accepted, but my silly grad student excitement is tampered both by general "why are we still trying to publish when society is crumbling" pandemic feelings and the fact that CHI will not be physically in Japan next year.) Maybe once a month I go birding. I feel increasingly as if there is nothing novel in my life; I am tired of it all and my body feels fatigued even though I don't do anything with my days. Some days it feels like if I don't touch someone I will explode. My use of recreational marijuana skyrockets. I start doing exercise videos semi-regularly with A. I briefly consider moving to Seattle with E, who is about to defend, before it's clear we have, as always, different boundaries and expectations. I look for places in Sunset/Richmond with M to little success.

In October I somehow pull it together and organize student volunteers for a 3 day conference that requires waking up before 5am every day. I do nothing the rest of the week. After we get flu shots and I let someone into my apartment for the first time since the pandemic started, I help E move up to Seattle. The trip is comfortable and we get to take care of each other; this fulfills a need in me. On Halloween J and I dance in a soccer field next to a combination anarchist recruitment center and homeless encampment -- now cleared by the cops -- and eat a mud pie that is too sweet. On my last day in WA I ask E if he would like to have sex, as friends, and he politely declines. I am pleased with how easily I emotionally accept this answer, how through time and therapy I've finally come to cherish our friendship without always looking for what could have been. I am extremely nervous on the flight home, and it's the first and only flight I will take during the pandemic, and the N-95 squishes my face so my head looks like a balloon, but I have the privilege of free 5 minute weekly tests through the university and I collect another negative result.

In November I fully embrace the hyperfixation lifestyle. My brain, always looking for novel stimuli, has given up on doing work entirely and instead thinks of Thanzag constantly. There is one day where I play Hades for 8 hours and I feel gross, as if I've completed my regression to my high school self. It takes 90 hours until I achieve all my goals, and with no more runs necessary to roll for RNG-based conversational triggers, I finally feel a sense of freedom. (My Switch tells me I have used it for 580+ hours this year, which is more than double last year.) The second SwSh DLC is a struggle for me to complete as I do not find catching legendaries enticing. J comes back early from university at my urging to avoid the travel surge, a week before Thanksgiving, and starts living with me. This helps a lot. My next hyperfixations come overlapping and staggered: I write 25k words of a second iteration of my 2015 NaNoWriMo with the protagonist I had developed in high school before I get bored with the story and realize I need yet another iteration; I buy a combination air fryer pressure cooker and ask my parents for a functional vacuum and bidet as early Christmas gifts and become obsessed with immaculate inside living spaces. This carries on to re-decorating my room at my parents' house, after installing a shelf in the closet and a curtain to close it off from the living room, and spending roughly 30 hours over December break organizing and cleaning their entire garage--they have not thrown out a single piece of paper or article of clothing since they set foot in this country over 20 years ago. My therapist quits the practice and my relationship with my advisors improve. I watch a few housewife vlogs and make my own. I have the revelation that doing research in a pandemic is basically just like any other creative project -- no one really cares that much if I get it done, it's just harder to do than, say, putting together a vlog in a few hours. This shift in mindset feels life changing to me, having before thought of research more as work, a taboo thing to pursue in a pandemic, and when W compliments me for the progress I've made in both the system and managing our meeting with M I do not know how to respond because no one has ever done that before. In the last two weeks of the year I start tracking my time. In our last session (that I almost sleep through), my therapist tells me that I seem stable to her and she is not worried about me. I believe her.

In 2020 I made a marked point to let everyone know that I didn't have goals. It felt lofty to have personal ambitions in the face of everything at a global scale. With this said I will now revisit the 2020 resolutions I wrote last year: (1) Intentionally seek out love: absolutely not, (2) Do enough work such that I don't feel guilty: also no, (3) sew one thing a month: no, but in the end I sewed 11 things total this year so I was close, (4) improve my Chinese: this was actually the only thing that did happen, and now my mom and I have better conversations because of it and I'm so thankful.

In 2021, however, I feel like I finally have it in me to have goals again. They are simple. (1) Get laid. (2) Submit the two research projects I've been doing forever. (3) Commit to writing down my thoughts that make me think, "Oh, that's interesting, I should write it down." Ideas are unfortunately such currency in what I do.

Last year I wrapped up this post with some candid, but embarrassing, optimism. I will offer no such high hopes for 2021, but I do ask the reader if they have noticed that I switched tenses from past to present halfway through this post. And that's 2021: an incidentally unintentional, but then consciously controllable, shift to the present.

#noon's shitty end of the year summary posts #my last post on this blog was my 2019 post lmao

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doomedandstoned · 5 years ago

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Elder Druid, Barbarian Hermit, Satlan, and Slowbro Play Coventry

~By Reek of STOOM~

Photos by Luke Orchard

Friday, November 29th, at The Phoenix in Coventry, England

On the coldest night of the year so far, we ventured into the frost and made our way to the well-renowned Phoenix venue in the heart of Coventry to witness a four-band spectacle organised by Heathen Mirth Promotions out of London, UK. The venue itself is impressive and inviting: traditional pub downstairs with the live area above and an expansive beer garden.

SLOWBRO

Split (With Those Amongst Us Are Wolves) by Slowbro

First up on the bill were SLOWBRO, a three-piece local band who I hadn't encountered before and who surprised us with their dexterity and musicianship: A Stoner/Doom/Progressive crossover with heaps of energy and enthusiasm that won over the small but rapidly-filling room. After their set, I caught up with the members, James, Sam and Zeke for a quick chat.

Hi guys, you're new to the Doomed & Stoned radar, please tell us a little about yourselves.

Sam (guitars): "Well, James & I knew each other from the area and we both had guitars gathering dust in our rooms, so we decided to do something with them. We met up in a practice room once every two months or so, found a slot on a gig, came up with a name and just took it from there."

James (guitars) pipes in: "People started asking us to come back. We kept telling them no, but..." and laughs.

So why have you kept such a low profile on social media?

Zeke (drums) replied: "These guys just like to go abroad for three years or so" and laughs. "We're not trying to be the next big thing, just going about it and seeing what happens".

You had a split release out last year. Are there any other releases?

Sam: "Yes we had a full album out in 2018 called 'Nothings,' recorded locally and released on a small local label Creature Lab Records."

Are you signed to a label now?

James: "We're not tied to anyone long-term yet, we're just hoping to make our next album and see if it gets any interest."

Looking ahead to 2020, what plans do you have?

Zeke: "To play outside Coventry."

James: "We want to get our next album recorded - just get back into the studio and put down all the new stuff we've been working on."

You really impressed me with your style, Who are your influences?

Sam: "Sleep, Kyuss, Electric Wizard, first 2 Black Sabbath albums.." James interjects; "Christina Aguilera" and the three of them collapse, laughing. "Old School riffing, classic stuff, you know?"

What's your long-term ambition?

James: "Just to give people something good to listen to and get them to come out and see us."

Final question: What was the last piece of equipment you had to kick to get working again?

Sam creases: "The amp we borrow from Steven Bennett for every gig. We DO take care of it, honest!"

James: "We want to thank you and Doomed and Stoned for all your support. It means a lot."

No problem guys, thanks for talking to me and good luck for next year.

SATLAN

Next up on the bill were SATLAN, a four-piece outfit based in London and fronted by erstwhile Dead Witches vocalist Soozi Chameleone. The band are seriously tight and their drummer is a superstar. Soozi herself was having an off night, but still delivered a powerful performance despite not feeling at her best. Musically, a combination of Dead Witches and Alunah in style, but Satlan have a distinct Sabbath-esque motif generated by guitarist Roy Nadel. I caught up with Roy and bassist Alex after the set.

Firstly, the name Satlan, where did that come from?

Roy: "It's actually Hebrew slang for 'Stoner', someone who is too lazy - it fits our style."

Are you originally an Israeli band?

Alex: "No, we're from all over the place. Roy is Israeli, I'm Russian and Jake (drums) is Malaysian. We all got together in London and just started jamming, so we're an International mix. Roy and I have known each other since we were 16, playing in various bands together in Israel's Punk scene - Roy was actually a drummer in one of our bands! Our current drummer, Jake we found playing in thrash metal band THE BLEEDING and we knew straight away we wanted to work with him. I remember saying I wanna work with this guy!"

Do you have any recordings planned in the near future?

Roy: "We've just recorded an album. it's in the mixing stage right now and it'll be ready sometime in the next couple of months. We also have a gig with Church of the Cosmic Skull coming up in February and we're planning a UK tour, including a few dates in Scotland around April."

Final question: what was the last thing you kicked to get working?

Alex: "My cat." They both laugh.

Roy: "No animals were harmed really - we both have cats and we love them."

BARBARIAN HERMIT

Solitude And Savagery by Barbarian Hermit

BARBARIAN HERMIT are no strangers to us, having been included on our recent England compilation. Manchester's finest took to the stage around 10pm and proceeded to blast the eardrums out of the room with their signature Stoner/Sludge crossover. Compelling frontman Ed Campbell is a madman on stage and the most heroic poser since Bruce Dickinson! The dual guitar assaults from Mike 'Big Daddy Reeg' Reagan and Rob 'Spadge Fafner' Sutcliffe are ferocious and tighter than drainpipe jeans. After a blinding set, I caught up with the lads in the pub's pool room.

Thanks for attending the interview, tell me - how did you hear about the job?

Ed: "Well we had an email from a guy saying he was gonna pay us from a Somali bank account if we played. He said he wasn't a pirate. Seriously though, Heathen Mirth Promotions got us onto this and we've really enjoyed sharing a stage with everybody."

Since the Doomed and Stoned in England appearance, what's been happening?

Mike: "We opened for Bloodstock during the summer, that was a great laugh and we had a mini-tour in Edinburgh, Carlisle and the north with Widows and Drudge in October, then joined up with this lot for the dates we're doing now."

You guys have a new release coming out soon and a new tour next year. In hindsight, is there anything you'd have changed about the process?

Rob: "Phew, fair question that. Working on the details, in a studio when you've got a deadline in the studio and label commitments like "How's it sounding?" and y'know, general pressure to get it finished; it's all in those final little details."

Ed: "At the same time we did some of our greatest work under pressure. My personal favourite on the album is the one we put together right at the last minute, well, not the LAST minute but near."

It's normally always the way. When the pressure's on, some bands do their best stuff.

Mike: "We find that even though been playing these songs for about a year, you pick up little things and think, “Wish I'd done it like that instead,” but it's been great to get people in like Ten Foot Wizard and Boss Keloid to help us out."

ELDER DRUID

Golgotha by Elder Druid

At just after 11pm the monstrous apparition called ELDER DRUID took to the stage and detonated. Massive waves of Doom flood out from the barely-intact cabs as frontman Greg conjures spooky sounds from the Theremin, ghosting over a sea of intense riffing. Mass worship ensued as the congregation got down and dirty at the Druid's altar, the dual guitar assault of Jake and Mikey crushing everything in its wake.

Devastatingly heavy, Elder Druid came to preach The Old Religion and the flock lapped it up like manna from the heavens...pure class! I caught up with them before their set:

Good evening gentlemen. First question: what brought you to Coventry on a freezing cold night?

Greg: "Soozi from Heathen Mirth contacted us and got us onto the bill. We played a different venue last time we were in Coventry, but we heard that The Phoenix was the #1 place so we just had to be here."

Moving on to the new album. You're in the finishing stages now and it's due for release on 17th January. How have you found the recording?

Jake: "Yeah it's been great. Last time we had an engineer record and mix us but this time we've done it entirely by ourselves so it's good to have that freedom so we can get everything organised properly before we went in to record. you get to do it on your own timescale. Then it's good having the time to get all the details together, tinkering as it were."

There's a danger of "over-tinkering," though. Did you fall foul of it?

Mikey: "100% yeah, there is risk of being too critical, but I think we got it right this time. There's a few surprises on the album, Electric Piano and the Theremin to name a couple."

Is there anything you would have changed given the chance?

Greg: "The whole band" and laughs.

Dale (bass): "Better equipment would be nice. When you have the best gear etc it makes a big difference to the sound and inevitably it would be nicer to work with, but what's come out the other end we're really happy with it."

You can always ask Slomatics if you could borrow some of theirs?

Mikey: "Yeah, like can we borrow a riff off you please?" they all crack up.

What's the plan for 2020?

Brien (drums): "The launch day gig will be @ Voodoo in Belfast on the 17th Jan and the day after @ Fibber McGee's in Dublin then we're playing a festival in May over in Antrim, then we're heading over to play at Stonebaked Festival in Leeds, (Formerly BOOM fest) which we're really up for."

What was the last piece of equipment you had to kick to get working?

Mikey: "Greg."

Jake: "Funny you should say that...one of the amps blew up last night, but I managed to sell it on eBay." (laughs)

Any message for the fans?

Brien: "We don't have fans."

Greg:" Anyone out there who likes what we do, thank you!"

Thanks guys, it's been a pleasure!

Jake: "Thank you and thanks to Billy and Doomed and Stoned for looking after us."

#D&S Concert Review #Elder Druid #Barbarian Hermit #Slowbro #Satlan #Coventry #England #UK #doom #sludge #metal #stoner rock #Reek of STOOM #Doomed & Stoned

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syrren · 8 years ago

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Dear Evan Hansen X Yuri on Ice AU (see my other musical AUs)

So this has been swirling around in my head for ages (inspired in part by one of @zephyrine-gale‘s posts), and I have too many HCs to list, but featuring:

Yuuri as Evan Hansen

Victor as Connor Murphy

Yurio as Zoe Murphy

Phichit as Jared Kleinman

Minako as Heidi Hansen

Yakov and Lilia as Larry and Cynthia Murphy

See under the cut for headcanons about this AU (warning for long post)

Minako (Heidi Hansen) is a ballet dancer, but that means she’s always on trips, rarely home, and doesn’t bring much money home. Tries her best, and introduces Yuuri to ballet and eventually skating to deal with his anxiety along with his letters.

Yuuri (Evan Hansen) has his canon-typical anxiety, and no friends aside from the “family friend”, Phichit Chulanont. Honestly he and canon-Evan are basically the same, except instead of a closet tree nerd, Yuuri is a closet ice skating nerd who is actually really good at skating...he’s just never been able to skate in front of other people without his anxiety getting in the way and completely screwing him up.

Minako is childhood friends with the owner of the local rink (Hiroko Katsuki), so she gives Yuuri a set of keys to the rink and he goes at random hours of the morning/night when no one else is there so he can skate alone.

Skating usually clears his mind and helps him relax, but one day, he’s just skating and thinking and skating and thinking and skating and thinking and in the middle of a jump, he’s thinking and he thinks: “what if I just...didn’t land right, and never got up again, wouldn’t everyone be better off? would someone come to get me? To help me? What if I―”

So he falls “on accident” and lays there dazed from his concussion and in pain from his broken arm and fantasizes about someone coming to help him for hours and hours until Hiroko comes in to open the rink in the morning and freaks out because he’s still lying on the ice, cold and alone, because when you’re falling in a forest an ice rink and nobody’s around, do you ever even crash, or even make a sound?

And of course he writes letters to himself on the advice of his therapist (Celestino, probably?), and they still come into play, but first:

Victor (Connor Murphy) used to be the perfect student™ that everyone knew but never really knew. He used to get perfect grades and won all the academic competitions and figure skating competitions, but he never saw any point in all of it. Despite everything, he was never very close with his parents or his peers, and felt stagnant in everything from his grades to his competitions to, eventually, his personal hobby, ice skating.

So once high school hit and even ice skating lost its appeal, he started dropping off the map and doing drugs and skipping school so by the time he commits suicide no one really knows him anymore and like typical high schoolers, no one really cares either (until the Victor Project of course).

The day he first talks to Yuuri in the computer lab isn’t the first time he’s seen him, but lord knows if Victor is ever going to admit that he broke into the local ice skating rink one day last summer and saw the most marvelous skater already there, skating his heart out to heartbreaking music. (He was skating to Waving Through a Window, and that song+Yuuri’s skating just about kills Victor but tbh who wouldn’t it kill).

Near the end of the routine, the skater is on his final jump when suddenly he falls apart mid-jump, his limbs coming apart and going limp like he’s just...given up. Victor watches in silent horror as he crashes into the side of the rink, arm and head-first, slides a few feet on the ice, and goes still.

Victor wants to help, but he panics and doesn’t know what to do (you know since he’s there illegally in the first place and being super stalkerish besides) so he just stays awkwardly until he sees Yuuri open his eyes, then leaves figuring that Yuuri can probably call someone to come help him.

So when he sees Yuuri in the hallway that first day, he panics and lashes out because he’s afraid that Yuuri knows he was there and didn’t help and hates him. In the computer lab, later, he decides to approach Yuuri a little more calmly with a VERY SUBTLE “So...how’d you break your arm?” (Nice going Nikiforov, very smooth, very subtle) and offers to sign his cast. Nevermind the stinging guilt when Victor hears that no one ended up coming to help Yuuri, and isn’t that just the saddest fucking thing he’s ever heard. It all goes swimmingly until he reads Yuuri’s letter.

Because you see, Yuuri has been wanting to talk to Yurio, Victor’s little brother for a very long time. Yurio is famous for being in the jazz band a very skilled figure skater, and Yuuri admires that even though he’s never actually talked to him. He had been inspired to start skating by a certain local figure skater a long time ago, after all, and since he never learned the skater’s name, he just assumed that it was Yurio, the only real publicly prominent figure skater in the area (Hint hint, it wasn’t Yurio).

Yuuri doesn’t have a crush on Yurio, but he wants to be his friend, and writes about him (in place of Zoe) in his letter.

And this piece of “mockery” combined with panic about Yuuri knowing combined with hopelessness because “Oh, he likes Yurio, not me.” is the last thing to tip Victor over the edge, and he leaves, the letter still in his pocket to...well, you know, to do what canon-Connor does at this point. He comes back as our resident dead gay son tho its ok

Yurio (Zoe Murphy) is Victor’s little brother, the self-proclaimed better skater/son, and he’s always resented Victor for being seemingly perfect and then throwing it all away. Yakov and Lilia (Larry and Cynthia Murphy) had always compared him to Victor, and Yurio feels Victor’s influence looming over him even in death.

When Victor had been perfect, everyone told Yurio that he needed to “be more like his older brother,” but when Victor started crashing and burning, Yurio suddenly needed to “be better than his older brother” and he’s just so sick of being defined by his older brother that Victor’s suicide makes him even more bitter, because now he will never be able to surpass him and shed the shadow he left over his life. (Insert Requiem here) or as i like to call it in this AU, the “Victor Nikiforov is Dead” song.

So, when Yuuri comes out proclaiming that he was Victor’s best friend, Yurio is very very skeptical. Until it turns out that he knows Victor used to skate and he starts talking about an unmistakably real time they went skating together and Yuuri broke his arm trying a difficult jump, but Victor came to help him up (For Forever).

And when Yurio, who has never been very close with his brother, but has always secretly wanted to be, asks Yuuri about why Victor would have written about him in his suicide note, Yuuri word-vomits everything he’s ever admired about Yurio’s (and by proxy, Victor’s) skating. (If I Could Tell Him).

The two of them end up bonding (platonically) and go skating together a lot because I’m a sucker for happy friendship.

Whenever he gets bored, Yurio scribbles stars cats on the cuffs of his jeans

Yuuri bonds with Yakov over skating, because Yuuri has never had a mentor for his skating (Minako helps, but she’s a ballet dancer, she doesn’t really understand). Yakov teaches Yuuri how “To Break in Skates” with a pair of old skates that he bought for Victor after Victor started drifting away (he doesn’t know that Victor never stopped skating).

Phichit (Jared Kleinman) and Yuuri used to be super close as kids, but their friendship kinda fell apart when Phichit started getting more social and Yuuri’s anxiety got in the way of any and all attempts at joining him and his friends.

Phichit gets enlisted to help write the emails and channels every shipping bone in his body into writing the gayest emails in existence, full of bad puns and as much sexual tension as Yuuri will allow him to slip in.

Yuuri also gets very attached to Victor while he’s “researching” for his faked emails. He finds a bunch of old videos of Victor in local skating competitions before he dropped off the map and falls in love with his skating all over again, realizing that Victor is the skater that inspired him to start figure skating, which leads him to base a lot of their “friendship” around skating.

Alright this is becoming a small novel, so I’m going to cut it there, but I have a bunch of sketches that aren’t finished yet, so definitely expect more from me on this AU!

Please PM me if you have any ideas for who should be Alana or if you just want to talk about DEH/YOI in general, I’d love to hear what you think!

#myart #yoi #deh #yurionice #dearevanhansen #yuuri katsuki #victor nikiforov #musical #musicalAU #Yuri on ice au #yuri plisetsky #evan hansen #connor murphy #zoe murphy #jared kleinman #phichit chulanont #yoi au #deh au #broadway

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wearethemockingjays · 7 years ago

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This is just kinda me reflecting over how 3 years ago was my first day of college and everything that’s changed since then

It’s honestly crazy how much life can change in 3 years. 3 years ago today was my first day of college. The day before I just accidentally joined a sorority (because I rushed just to move in early and I kinda just continued in it). I was super shy and not at all confident. I came into school wanting to be a forensic psychologist. I didn’t really have any concrete goals and was kinda choosing it just because I liked criminal minds. High school I never tried and by not trying I mean I got a D in an elective cause I didn’t feel like doing the final project. Well the first semester wasn’t the best for me. I would get too nervous going to the sorority house to make friends and would just not go. I spent most of my freshman year depressed and gained 30 pounds in a 3 1/2 month span. Before the first semester ended I decided i’d push myself to graduate early. The main reason behind this was I wasn’t really enjoying my time at FSU it was a big party school and i’m not a fan of partying. I had looked into transferring schools but decided not to because I didn’t want people thinking I couldn’t handle it. A homework assignment was to apply to psychology lab towards the end of the semester. And I somehow got into one and decided why not i’ll try working in a lab. Well winter break came and I was going back home to New York, which means I had to wear thicker clothes. Aka jeans and jackets which I realized no longer fit me, really made me take in the weight gain. I decided that the spring semester to try to go to the gym. Now first day of spring semester I walk into a sorority chapter meeting and people came up to me saying how they missed me and asking about my break. And it hit me that people cared about me. Working in the lab I loved during breaks we would all hang in the research assistant room goofing off. I decided to finalize double majoring in psychology and criminology about then. Soon I decided that I wanted to be a clinical psychologist and realized how much work that took and how selective the program was. So i put the pedal to the metal and started working my ass off. On the working out front I started dieting and went to the gym 6 days a week, I wound up losing 25 pounds that semester. I found working out was really helping with the depression. It was my area of stress relief taking 18 credits and working. That summer I took 12 credits at a community college so I could stay at home. My parents moved right after I graduated high school so that’s all I really did.

Well sophomore year comes along, but before that happens theres sorority recruitment. the week before that is basically training to talk for a week straight. These hell weeks low key changed my life. All of the sudden I was able to talk to anyone and I felt more confident in myself. All of the sudden talking to strangers came naturally and I wasn’t freakin out. This whole week I never thought about the pressing issue of what if I don’t get into grad school (which consumed every waking second of my brain all of college). I was laughing with new friends and my previous friends and I had a stronger bond. This semester I was taking 18 credits and working in 2 labs. Little did I know that one of these labs would change my life. My professor expected a lot from me but it lead to me presenting at international conferences in Japan and Chicago. In the lab I was studying PTSD which is what I thought I wanted to do. Soon I became pretty bored but kept pushing cause hey it was my dream to be a clinical psychologist for the army. Fast forward spring semester I’ve signed up for the GRE and i’m taking a class called Minorities Crime, and Social Policy. For this class we had the opportunity to volunteer at a local low income school. I found myself so happy when I was there and when I’d return. I thought nothing of it and continued with my clinical psychologist dream. I took the GRE during spring break so I was ready for the grad school application process. A couple weeks later I started looking into possible career options involving schools seeing that I really loved working with these kids. Starting the summer semester I was still freaking out about what future to choose. I hadn’t heard of school psychology yet and decided on child clinical psych. That summer I took a class mentoring minority males (taught by the same professor as the last one). We learned a lot about the school to prison pipeline and I was so intruged by it I started watching so many documentaries and looking it up. I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life. (writing this i’m thinking I should really email the professor that taught these classes to tell him about his impact). Well I traveled alone to chicago to present at a conference and visited LOYOLA chicago to talk about their school psych program to dip my toes in like will this allow me to help stop the school to prison pipeline. The conversation I had got me so excited for the future I was almost giddy I knew what I needed to do with the rest of my life.

About a month later was the start of my senior year and I was really starting to regret the whole graduating early thing because I was having the time of my life at FSU. But it was too late and I was rocketing into the future. Applying to grad school was hell and I was always freaking out about not getting in which lead me to also apply to teach for america like jobs. (fun fact actually got accepted to one) Writing my personal statement came oddly easy. I went to a bunch of places to get it looked at and people said they could see my passion through it and that’s something I couldn’t fake. I was excited and ready to go. While all this was going on I was living at cafes with my friends and having a great time. early spring semester was interview time and I got invited to interview with 4/5 schools I applied to. (I was happy the one that I didn’t get an interview with was the #1 school and I was just curious if I could get in.) I was freaking out but soon I found out I got into NC State. I remember being in bed and seeing that email I ran into the living room and started screaming and jumping around the living room with my roommates. Everything I worked for was there and wasn’t pointless. Even though I was super excited it hit me I was leaving tallahassee and I wasn’t ready. The last month I wound up getting a semi colon tattoo in an arrow. I got the tattoo with one of my sorority littles. Having the tattoo something from tallahassee will always be with me and reminds me to always aim higher and serves the purpose to start the conversation of mental illness with people around me that asked about the tattoo. (seeing it now it also oddly reminds me that I can make decisions like getting a tattoo and that i’m in control of myself) I loved my life and all the people around me but in the end it was time to continue on in life.

Now i’m sitting in my apartment in North Carolina done with my second week of grad school. I just got a job this week and will be starting next week. Sitting in my classes I know i’m in the right place and i’m confident with myself and can talk to a wall. So much has happened in the last 3 years I can’t believe it’s only been 3 years but I know I am where I am supposed to be.

#dear whoevers listening #this is really long and im really writing it for future me to look back at tbh

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alanakusumas · 8 years ago

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Milestones (Slight Jake x F!MC)

Universe: Endless Summer Word Count: 2322 (whoops) Rating: PG Prompt: For #ChoicesCreates Week 5, hosted by @hollyashton and @cartoonfanforlife. The prompt for this week was: “Mirror.” Summary: A picture speaks a thousand words. But when you’re looking at not a still image, but what’s in front of you, the thoughts could be endless. You tell your own story, through your own eyes, through your own parallels, and through your own reflection.

Side note: I posted another JakexF!MC earlier this week, and would love to receive feedback for it! May or not be emotion-packed. Check it out through this link: http://ladysansaa.tumblr.com/post/159476264758/let-there-be-light-jake-x-fmc

——

-6 years old-

You stand in front of the mirror, watching the blonde pigtails that your aunt tied up bob up and down as you sway to the tempo of the pop song playing on the radio. They were cute, but your costume isn’t. Your puffy, cyan blue Cinderella dress seems to refuse to move with you, and because of that you groan in frustration. It’s so itchy, and uncomfortable, you just want Halloween to be over with.

Your aunt, Rebecca, strolls into your bedroom, tiara in hand. “What’s wrong, love? I don’t recall the part in Cinderella where she throws fits.” She jokes, but it makes you even more upset.

You cross your arms, trying to get the point across. “I don’t like this costume. It doesn’t look good on me. I wanted to be cop. Why can’t I be a cop?”

“Sorry, love, I couldn’t find a police costume. Next year, I promise. And nonsense, you look adorable,” She tuts. “But, if you insist, I think I might have just the solution…” Your aunt waves the tiara ecstatically. “I knew your dress was missing something, so I quickly drove to the store to buy you a crown, fit for royalty!”

You stand still, arms remain folded, as she gently adjusts the tiara into your hair, careful not to poke you anywhere. “There. Now, you’re beautiful, princess.”

You scoff and roll your eyes. “I was always beautiful.”

-16 years old-

Orange sun rays pour into your window, signaling the commencement of yet another school day. But, this wasn’t any typical school day.

You stand in front of the mirror, adjusting the navy blue and white tie you adorned over your white collared shirt. The radish earrings you have dangling in your earlobes sway to the tempo of the latest Hayley Rose single.

You’ve always loved the character Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. It hadn’t occurred to you until now that she would make a perfect costume. As you face your reflection, you see yourself in Luna, as if the two of you have merged into one. You feel like an oddball in high school, but, if Luna Lovegood can persevere through seven years of people snickering behind her back for doing what she loves, then you can do the same.

It’s not that you don’t have friends, they’re just…acquaintances. And you never felt at home with any of the cliques in high school. You’re not lonely. Just alone. A lone individual.

“M/C! Time for breakfast!”

“Coming Rebecca!” You take a deep breath and admire your costume through the mirror one last time. You can’t wait for college.

-18 years old-

You stand in front of your dorm room’s mirror with the worst lighting possible, adjusting the mouse ears you fitted into your pin-straight, blonde hair. As much as you’d like to go full-out Karen Smith, your subconscious suggests that perhaps wearing lingerie to your first college Halloween party would not be the wisest idea. Earlier this week, you visited a thrift store, and managed to snag a flowy black dress and some pink ribbon to help create your makeshift Mean Girls-inspired costume. You’ve been dying to finally have the freedom to be who you want to be – Not just on Halloween, but in life in general. College is your fresh start, and so far it has not disappointed.

From the corner of your eye, you notice a curly-haired boy in an oversized lab coat saunter into your room. He gives you a once-over, amused, before he raises the question you’ve been preparing to hear the entire night.

“What are you?”

You exaggeratedly turn so you’re facing your new-found best friend Diego, jut your hip to your side, and point towards your mouse ears as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m a mouse, duh.”

With Diego’s extensive knowledge of pop culture, you are not one bit surprised he detected your costume reference from down the hallway. During the first week of college, you blasted a Hayley Rose classic, “Outlaw”, hoping to attract people to drop by and discuss their oh-so varying music tastes. It turns out that your brilliant idea wasn’t so brilliant after all, but thank the heavens someone just as lame as you decided to pop in.

Despite it only being a few weeks, you feel like Diego is the gem you’re destined to encounter, your partner-in-crime for the following years to come. And you’re so thankful for him. If by any circumstances you lose him in this journey through college, you honestly might lose yourself too.

-21 years old-

You literally skipped Halloween this year.

You sit behind your group friends, all gathered in the lobby around Michelle and the birthday cake which Quinn set down on the table. Quinn being Quinn, you have a feeling she’s going to bring out another cake when the clock strikes twelve, as your birthday follows right after Michelle’s.

But in this moment, you could not care less about Michelle’s birthday. You could not care less about yours. You could not care less about yourself.

You’ve lost a part of yourself recently; and the reality of it has been sinking into you, slowly killing your willpower, draining your energy, and made you completely numb on the inside.

It could have been you.

It shouldn’t have happened to Diego.

You just want this to end.

A wall of mirrors sit on the other side of the lobby. In the reflection, you stare back at yourself, acknowledging the hopelessness of your current situation.

“…Happy birthday dear Michelle, happy birthday to you!” Your classmates sing at the top of their lungs.

Amidst all the chaos you watch occur beyond the reflection, a striking army green jacket catches your attention. You shift your eyes upward to catch a glimpse of Jake, only to find him already looking at you, eyebrow raised as his way of asking, “How you holdin’ up?”

Subtly, you respond to him with a nod, and turn away. You’re hurting, in more ways than any of your friends can imagine, but that doesn’t mean you should spoil the fun for him. Jake deserves to be happy, even if it’s temporarily. After all, that’s all you can promise him – temporary, right?

All your life, you yearned for someone like Jake, for the special connection, the euphoric sensation you feel every moment you’ve spent with him. But, there’s absolutely no possibility that the two of you will manage to be anything but strangers off this island.

It was all too hopeless.

-24 years young-

You strut towards your work station at ClickIt! and set down your coffee, catching a glimpse of yourself in your monitor’s reflection. The long and glittery, detailed braid that you styled this morning rests on top of your navy blue blazer, not moving a single inch from where you positioned it earlier today. You never thought you’d dress up as a Disney princess ever again, yet here you are. It’s a subtle costume, but you hope it gets the point across.

Dani, your best friend and desk neighbor at the office, tries to swiftly roll her chair closer , but her eye patch and floppy pirate hat blocks her vision and she ends up colliding her chair into yours.

“Oouf, sorry! Holy smokes, you make one flaming hot ice queen, M/C. What’s the inspo?”

“Oh, you know, nothing much…except for the fact that everyone in this office has been begging me to dress up as Elsa ever since I joined the team. Oh, and nice oxymoron.” Dani appreciates that you caught her witty play on words and shoots you a wink.

“Hmm…do you think you could sprinkle some of that glitter in your hair onto TJ’s desk? He could use the sparkle. Or a spark. Turn the spark into an explosion and we’re talking.” You slyly smile at each other.

“Oh, I’ll be sure to whip my hair here and there when I pass by his corner.”

The two of you try to get back to your own individual work, but the limited space between you two is a usual welcome for catching each other up on the hot gossip.

“So Dani, how’s it like being the new lead of #LoveHacks? Does your team like you?”

“Oh yeah, we were all working together beforehand; it’s just that I’m in a ‘higher’ position than them now. But they love it. Neil and Alex are writing up this article about ‘the perfect coffee date’, and Stef is brainstorming some steamy ideas to spice up our brand.”

“Oh really?” You smirk at the thought. “I’d definitely read that. Actually, I’d read all of Stef’s work.”

“Yeah, she’s awesome. What about you? Are you finally going to stay in the office for a while? Or is Martin sending you off on another #TripTips trip? Heh, ‘#TripTips trip,’ try saying that ten times.”

You lean back in your chair, letting out a long exhale. “Yeah, Vancouver was not fun. It rained the entire time I was there. Martin supposedly sent me my next project this morning, so I just gotta check my e-mail and find out.”

You glance over at Dani, a look of uncertainty washing over your face. “Is it bad that I want to stay cooped up in an office for eight hours a day? I’ve been flying around the globe so much, I honestly think it’d be more cost efficient for the company to just buy me a private jet and personal pilot.”

Dani lets out a hearty chuckle. “What can I say? We always want what we can’t have. If I were you, I’d drop everything and do as much travelling for my job as I can.”

You beam at her optimism. “In that case, wanna do the honours and look at my next assignment for me?”

“Sure!” You roll away from your desk, letting Dani take control. She’s clicking away at your emails, meanwhile you’re looking around the office, noticing all the Halloween costumes for the first time since you got in.

In front of you, Dani lets out a gasp. “Oooooohhh, I think you’re gonna like this assignment. Martin’s really not taking you for granted, huh?” Dani whips her head around, and you cock your eyebrow at her in suspicion.

“Well, are you gonna tell me what it is?”

Your best friend rolls away from your computer, revealing your newest project. “M/C, you’re going to Costa Ricaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

-26 years young-

You stand in front of the mirror, watching the blonde pigtails you tied up bob up and down as you sway to the tempo of the Spanish song playing from the radio. The blue and pink you chalked up near the end of your pigtails doesn’t seem vibrant enough. You grab the hair chalk still sitting on top of your vanity and begin rubbing more colour onto your ends.

“Well, hello gorgeous,” A husky voice comes from behind. You’ve been so busy perfecting your costume you barely noticed the love of your life, Jacob Lucas McKenzie, stroll into your room in an incredibly dashing indigo coat over a forest green dress shirt (which you picked out, of course).

“That’s Dr. Harleen Quinzel for you, Jared.”

Jake glares at you. “Joker.”

“Jared.”

“Joker.”

“Jared.”

A familiar smirk lifts up the corner of his mouth. “Are we about to have this conversation again?”

“No, I’ll save it for later tonight,” You shoot a suggestive wink at him, “Ready to head out?”

“Yeah, just one more thing –“

Jake leans in and presses his lips roughly against yours, which earns him a questioning look from you. “Mmm...What was that for?”

“Nothing. Just…You’re beautiful, princess.”

A small smile forms on your lips. “As I’ve heard before.”

You take Jake’s hand and the two of you walk out of your hotel room.

“So,” Jake starts, “Costume ideas for next Halloween?”

“Hmm, I remember, in college, Diego always hyped up this game called ‘Uncharted’. Ever heard of it?”

“Pfft, yeah. I think he figured you grew tired of listening to him talk about his pop culture and La Huerta comparisons, ‘cause he was blurting it to the rest of us.”

“I don’t know…maybe he just wanted to annoy you. I mean, you did give him the worst nickname.”

Jake flashes you a grin, which you gladly return. “So, you think we should dress up as those guys from the video game?”

“Oh yeah,” You chuckle, “Diego’s not wrong, you and I could definitely give Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher a run for their money..."

Bonus:

Chop!

Nathan faces away from the living room, focusing on the giant carrot he has to quickly chop and throw into the soup brewing on the stove. In the background, he hears the jingle of a mobile game coming from his wife’s phone. “What chu playing there?” He shouts.

“It’s this app called Choices,” Elena shouts back. “They’re like the ‘Choose-Your-Own-Adventure’ books we had as a kid, except better, apparently. I saw my coworker play it during break, and he convinced me to download it. Oh hold on – quick time event.” Nathan turns around from the kitchen counter and sees a head of blonde hair hovering intently over a phone.

“Oh, really?” He throws the chopped up carrots into the pot. “So, what adventure are you facing tonight?”

“Just this book called ‘Endless Summer’, it’s about a bunch of college kids stuck on an island. They even got a character choice that kind of looks like me, so that’s kinda cool.”

Elena keeps tapping her screen. “I already like this book so much, it kinda reminds me of what we used to do, y’know? Well, except much, much milder. But I think my own character’s got potential. I can tell she’s well-rounded.”

Nathan turns the tap on to wash his hands. “Mmhmm…anybody like me?”

“We’ll see…ooooh. Okay, she’s talking to this pilot in the cockpit now…ahaha! Oh my god – Nate - this could totally be us in a parallel universe. Forget Elena and Nate, hello, Elena and Jake.”

“Wait, what? Hold on, lemme take a look at this kid.”

#choicescreates #playchoices #fanfic #jake mckenzie #jakexmc #my writing #es ff #endless summer

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tattly · 8 years ago

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Tattly Talk: Q&A with Gregory Jecmen, National Gallery of Art

Earlier this week, another Renaissance master joined the Tattly artist roster by way of the Natural Curiosities Set. No big deal, right?! Jacob Hoefnagel is now in the company of his father, Joris Hoefnagel, the Circle of Jan van Kessel, and Albrecht Dürer. These artists represent our Old Masters collection and are officially licensed through our partnership with Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art.

Who were these Old Masters? Lucky for us, we were able to ask the most informed expert we know. Gregory Jecmen, an Associate Curator of Old Master Prints and Drawings at the NGA [pictured above], spoke with Tattly’s Yng-Ru Chen about the history behind museum’s incredible collection, Dürer and Justin Bieber, and how you (yes, you!) can visit these artworks in person.

YRC: Hello Greg! Good afternoon.

GJ: Hello, how are you?

YRC: The National Gallery of Art is one of my favorite museums. How long have you been with the museum?

GJ: I came to the Gallery as a summer intern in 1984, and have been here ever since!

YRC: Have you always worked in Prints and Drawings?

GJ: I have, yes. I have a BA, an MA, and PhD (ABD) all in Art History, specializing in works of art on paper. My area of interest is Northern prints and drawings of the 16th and 17th centuries.

YRC: So, you’re in the perfect place.

GJ: I am, right!

YRC: What inspired you to work in the area you are in now?

GJ: One of the things that I like about Northern European art is the sense of realism you see in the paintings, prints, and drawings of artists like Albrecht Dürer and Hoefnagel. Their attention to detail is extraordinary. Especially when depicting nature. In Hoefnagel, that intense interest in natural detail is something that has always appealed to me in art. I also like the intimacy and immediacy of works of art on paper. They’re more accessible than paintings.

YRC: It’s such an amazing collection. I could spend a whole day at the museum. How would you advise a first-time visitor who has only time to view one work of art? Which would it be?

GJ: For me, one of the most amazing things in the Prints and Drawing department is a landscape drawing by Rembrandt of the Amstel [pictured below], a major river flowing through Amsterdam. The way its rendered with wash, brush and pen, and the way he manipulates the viewer’s eye and gaze through the composition is astonishing. In addition to that, I would say, any print by Dürer. The engravings with all that meticulous detail and rendering of surface textures and light. I never tire of that.

YRC: I assume you have to cycle out what goes on view due to the light sensitivity of the medium?

GJ: Yes, everything is kept in storage and we bring the works out for visitors to view. I’m one of two curators working in the European Print and Drawing Study Room who are responsible for assisting visitors, including many classes. We have a collection of over 122,000 works of art on paper. They are accessible on our website and anyone can request to come in and see them (we are open to all because we are a federal institution). My colleague and I get about 1,200 visitors a year. While we accept last minute requests if possible, we encourage people to make an appointment ahead of time. Our public hours are Monday through Friday,10am-12pm and 2-4 pm.

I also do a lot of teaching and lecturing from the original object. I enjoy working with the public.

YRC: Let’s talk about the works that were selected for Tattly. We launched the Natural Curiosities Set, which are reproduced by a work by Jacob Hoefnagel. Can you tell us about the artist?

GJ: Jacob Hoefnagel was the son of Joris Hoefnagel, an important Netherlandish painter in the 16th century. The father, Joris, was court artist to the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II who established a very cultured court in Prague with many artists working for him. Hoefnagel’s interest was precisely rendering nature—animals, birds, insects, fish, flowers, etc.The natural world was of great interest during the Renaissance, especially the practice of observing, cataloging, and recording it. Hoefnagel was part of that tradition.

We have his four volumes representing the Four Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water). Each volume represents a different element, the insects are in the Fire volume. They’re incredible. [Two pages from this work are shown below, featuring the Stag Beetle detail on the top image and the Seahorse detail on the bottom image.] It was discovered a number of years ago, under magnification in the NGA paper lab, that for two of the insect drawings he actually used real insect wings. He glued them onto the paper and then filled in the missing veins and so forth. That went undetected for years until a close examination was made; you really can’t tell with the naked eye. The brushes that he used must have had one or two hairs each. Joris’s son, Jacob, made engravings after his father’s drawings. It’s several of these prints that are being used for this new set of tattoos.

YRC: I’m an art history buff and this information is making my day!

GJ: I want to mention an interesting story: the four Hoefnagel volumes were given by the wife of the largest benefactor to the Print and Drawing department, Mrs. Edith Rosenwald. Her husband, Lessing J. Rosenwald, was chairman of the board of Sears, Roebuck and Company in the 1930s. He retired at an early age and spent the next 40 years collecting prints and drawings. The core of our collection is from him. He started giving the collection to the NGA in the 1940s, soon after the museum was founded. By the time Rosenwald died in 1979, he gave us 22,000 works of art on paper. For instance, the Dürer Rhinoceros came from that collection. For one special occasion he gave his wife these four Hoefnagel volumes -- she was a great gardener and loved nature. Those were hers, and upon her death in the 1980s she gave them to the NGA. It’s a very special gift! Over the past 76 years we’ve made many important acquisitions but the Rosenwald collection really forms the core of the Gallery’s works of art on paper collection.

YRC: I think I know the answer, but did you ever expect that some of these works would become temporary tattoos? [See below for Tattly’s Dürer Rhinoceros and Hoefnagel’s Dragonfly.]

GJ: (Laughs) I didn’t! I never thought of it, I must say. At first I was surprised. Though I think Dürer especially would have welcomed it. He liked getting his work out there, making it visible to the public, and this is a way to do that. If people can learn something about the art and the artist from the tattoos, that’s great.

YRC: Have you seen that people get real Dürer tattoos?

GJ: Yes, I have. We had an assistant working here a few years ago who had a real “AD’ [Dürer’s famous monogram] tattoo. She was a great fan of the artist.

YRC: Do you know about Justin Bieber’s Praying Hands tattoo?

GJ: No, oh wow!

YRC: I wonder if most of his fans even know that the work is a Dürer. Do you think that’s a positive thing?

GJ: I do. If people can learn something about the art and the artist from tattoos, that’s great. Dürer did much to promote his art, he loved having his work recognized.

YRC: Out of the ones selected for Tattly, do you have a personal favorite?

GJ: I do. I love the Hoefnagel Dragonfly [pictured below]. I think it’s a great work and it makes a nice tattoo.

YRC: I agree, it’s a beauty! I wanted to make sure people know that they can ask to view these originals at the NGA. Since they aren’t always on view, what is the best way to request to view them?

GJ: Anyone can email [email protected] for an appointment!

Image credits: All reproductions of original artwork are courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and are available on www.nga.gov. Photographs of the Tattly tattoos are courtesy of Tattly.

#Tattly Talk #National Gallery of Art Washington #Gregory Jecmen #Old Masters

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vcg73 · 8 years ago

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Witch!Kurt #21: Making Plans

A little in-betweener.

~*~*~*~*~

Monica’s weather prediction proved to be spot-on. By 10pm, the snow was falling twice as heavily and howling winds were driving the thick flakes into swirling, blinding curtains of white. Occasional powerful gusts slammed at the windows as if the storm were throwing a tantrum, furious that it could not get inside. The electricity in the loft flickered every so often, but so far it had held up.

Weather reports indicated that other parts of the city weren’t so lucky. All over New York, white out conditions were building and the storm was expected to last throughout the weekend and into the first day or two of the upcoming week. Everyone was advised to stay inside their homes if possible. Naturally, the coven had obeyed this order only to a point. They had changed out of their pajamas again and abandoned the loft en masse to check around the building and make sure that Kurt’s fellow tenants were also equipped for the storm. Most were young and able-bodied, but there were some elderly folk here and there, a few families with children, a wheelchair bound single man on the first floor, and a group of college freshmen on the fifth who had moved to the city from Arizona only last summer and had no idea what they were in for.

Apartment by apartment, floor by floor, the group brought friendly faces, baskets of food, bottled water, and emergency supplies. (Some conjured, some rifled from Kurt’s every-ready storm stock. He was not an Ohio boy for nothing.) Most people were surprised, several were grateful, and in spite of late hour nearly everyone was friendly. A few apartments were empty, their owners staying out the weather elsewhere. Normally, they would not have considered entering people’s homes uninvited, but as this could be considered an emergency situation, at these places Elliott stealthily whisked inside in cat-form just to make sure that there were no animals in need of dinner, soothing, or an emergency newspaper/litterbox. If there were, the gang helpfully provided what comforts they could. When they were satisfied that everyone was okay, the little company went home, feeling happy for their good deed, and well-rewarded with hugs, kind words, and a few stashes of goodies pressed upon them by appreciative neighbors.

“Isabelle just sent a text telling me not to try coming in until things clear up,” Kurt reported, checking the chirping phone next to his bed as he performed a magical quick-change back into his pajamas, which had Santana grumbling under her breath about some people having all the good powers until he did the same for her, and for anyone else shooting him the big hopeful eyes. His entire coven found this particular power endlessly amusing and cool. Even more than the levitation, for some reason. “She’s emailing me some files to work on from home for next week’s web issue.”

“I’m glad,” Adam said, his voice a bit muffled as he dove into bed and cuddled up close to Kurt as he climbed in with a shiver. He had spooned up against his fiancé under their shared blankets, wrapping an arm around Kurt’s waist and burying his nose in his thick hair. The temperature was dropping quickly, and one thing the cavernous loft apartment did not have was good interior heating. “I didn’t like the idea of you going out into this for work. One of the newer Apples sent me a message a few moments ago when you were in the loo. Someone at NYADA has already updated their web-page to say that all weekend activities are cancelled, along with Monday classes.”

Kurt made an impressed sound. “Huh. Guess they’re taking this storm seriously.”

“Probably figured it’d be a ghost town anyway. Even if students and staff could get in, odds are most of them wouldn’t bother,” Elliott said, scrolling through his own phone in search of similar news from the NYU page. “Mine hasn’t quite caught up yet. I’ll check again in the morning. I was supposed to go in Sunday for some lab study. If they’re open, I can transport myself within a block or two and pretend to have walked. Otherwise, I’ll just stick around here if you guys don’t mind.”

Elliott was, rather appropriately, studying veterinary medicine at New York University and he had mid-terms coming up soon.

Kurt said, “Of course we don’t. I meant it when I invited you to stay with us and there’s no reason that can’t start right away. It’s not like you can’t handle your other commitments just as well from this place as yours. Especially since you can just pop home any time you need to. Besides, my furniture is more comfortable than yours.”

His Familiar laughed but did not dispute this claim. Long before he revealed himself as a part time cat, Elliott had loved nothing more than stretching his lanky frame over Kurt’s deep cushioned sofa for a nap. “Don’t have to convince me! I’ll go home for some spare clothes tomorrow, and otherwise consider myself a long-term guest.”

“Good. And bring your guitar back too,” Kurt said, yawning around the words. “I know you’re here to give magic lessons, but who says we can’t have musical ones too? I’ve gotten pretty rusty on my guitar practice.”

“Happy to,” he said with a grin. “And the music should make the rest easier. Adam was telling me how you two delineated your powers by comparing them to a choir. That’s actually brilliant. I wish I’d thought of it. Sure you have time, though?”

“Mmm,” Kurt agreed, already half asleep as his body grew warm and comfortable.

Other than the fact that this storm would put a damper on his previous plan of working at the Lexington House over the weekend, he found that he did not mind the idea of being house-bound for a few days. He was still worn out from keeping such a frantic and stress-filled schedule recently, and a little time off sounded nice. For now, he was just enjoying the company of his friends. Snuggling a little deeper into Adam’s arms, Kurt tucked his hand over his fiancé’s and pulled their joined hands against his heart. He knew without having to ask that the yowling storm was making Adam feel jumpy and that his closeness was about more than just keeping warm.

“If anyone else needs to stick around a few days, you’re all welcome,” he added, forcing his heavy eyelids back up and blinking at his friends, who were tucked into their cozy circle in various states of drowsiness. It was nearly midnight by now and most of them had been up since early morning, but everyone seemed very determined after their earlier conversation, to show that he or she was dedicated to renewing the group’s friendship. There had been little talk of witchcraft tonight. Only a lot of joking, laughing, story-telling, gossip, and – as seemed inevitable with any group Kurt was a part of for long – occasional bursts of song. “All I ask is that the people with conjuring powers bring in extra food, and those with teleportation powers help out by taking the others elsewhere for showering. No offense, but even if Elliott and L.T. decide to do their bathing the feline way, that still leaves up to seven people sharing a single bathroom.”

There were murmurs of agreement around the circle, everyone seeing the logic in his requests. They also recognized that an occasional teleportation out of the apartment would keep them from getting on each other’s nerves if the storm lasted longer than expected. Coven or not, friends or not, they were only human (well, most of them) and as performers and artists, they all tended to be very passionate people.

Elliott made a show of transforming to his cat body and stretching luxuriously before he hopped up on Kurt and Adam’s bed and curled up in the little warm hollow formed by Kurt’s stomach and legs. With a happy purr, he drifted off to sleep with Kurt’s fingers affectionately carding his soft black fur. Kurt laughed softly. “I think I’m ready to start taking my Familiar’s advice. Good night, everybody.”

“Good night, Kurt. Night Adam,” they chorused. There were a few joking rounds of ‘goodnight John Boy’ and then Kurt sent a little pulse of telekinesis at the light switches, leaving the room bathed in darkness that was just slightly illuminated by the glowing white of the storm outside.

“Night, darling. I love you,” Adam mumbled into his hair, giving Kurt an affectionate squeeze before he too, dozed off.

Even though he knew that Adam could not hear him, Kurt returned the sentiment. He remained awake for a few more minutes, listening to the wind howling, and the soft breathing – and occasional snoring – of his coven as they fell asleep one by one. He smiled when he detected the shadow of Tubbington stealthily slipping back into the living room and up onto Brittany and Santana’s shared bed. Sparing one final thought of gratitude that they had all come together this way, then Kurt followed the others into sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, after everyone had finished showering and having breakfast, they once again gathered together in the middle of the living room. The sleeping bags, air mattresses, and bedding had been rolled up and put away for the day, leaving room for everyone to sit on the assortment of chairs, sofas and sturdy tables.

Kurt had brought his notebook and pen, and as he sat in his favorite seat on one corner of the couch, his left foot tucked beneath his right knee to lift it high enough to form a writing surface, he looked around at the others. “Okay, so I was thinking about this last night. I don’t want anyone beating themselves up about my magical training going a little sideways, because I really have learned a lot over the last few months. I’m not a total novice anymore, and I think I’m just missing a few pieces of basic information. Like, knowing I had a Familiar turns out to not be the same as knowing what a Familiar does and how they’re connected to a particular witch. You guys spent a lot of time my first couple of weeks teaching me things like how to reach and shield my powers, how to See and differentiate the various types of magic, how to keep myself from activating spells while dreaming or singing. That’s a lot, so the fact that I didn’t have enough time to learn everything due to work, school, and taking care of Adam, wasn’t anyone’s fault. What was my fault is that I didn’t speak up when I started to get confused and overwhelmed. I let my self-doubt get the better of me, so I promise to try and not do that again.”

“We’re also a little better at recognizing the signs of that happening than we were at the beginning,” Dani said, coming up behind him and giving Kurt a rocking squish of a hug from over the back of the sofa. “It didn’t help that you suddenly had a half dozen people flinging information at you without stopping to give you any real context for what you were hearing. I promise not to do that again either.”

He smiled and squeezed her forearms, telegraphing that there were no hard feelings. “And this time I’m going to take lots of notes and make sure I have the entire lesson learned before moving on to something else. So everyone get ready to be patient. Santana, that means you.”

She snorted and threw a pillow at him. “All right, I get it! Sheesh. As if the stink-eye you’ve been giving me lately wasn’t warning enough. Besides, Brittany, and L.T., and Dani all said the same thing.”

“You did?” he said, looking around in surprise.

“We did, but it isn’t all on her, kid,” Tubbington said, flicking his tail around Santana’s neck from where he perched behind her on the back of a chair, giving her an affectionate and semi apologetic stroke. “All of us were chucking advice at you every time you showed your face. You were still on the natural high of learning you had magic, and here we all were, burying you in an avalanche of catnip mice. From the second that Brittany and I found out that you didn’t know anything about witches, we should have pulled the brakes and started you on basic ABC level stuff. But I got impatient because we’d already waited so long, so I pushed. That one’s on me. If you were just entering into puberty, and developing magic along with hormones and pimples like most young witches, I’d have started with the shielding and grounding of your Talents, and moved forward a day at a time as I deemed you ready. Instead, I saw a grown man who had a lot of catching up to do, and hit the ground running. Seriously, a dog would have had more sense.”

His pointed ears flicked back and his round furry face twisted into a look of such disgust as he issued this self-insult that Kurt could not help laughing. “It’s okay, L.T.,” he said. “Like I said, there’s no point in beating ourselves up about what we didn’t do. Twenty-twenty hindsight and all that, right? The important thing is, we know the problem now, and we can fix it. Just … this time I want everyone to give me a little space to breathe, okay? The first time, I’m not even sure how much I retained.”

“So we start over,” Brittany said reasonably. “In cheerleading, you don’t start at the top of the pyramid. Or even with round-offs and back-flips. You do laps, and calisthenics, and conditioning exercises until you’re strong enough, and have enough confidence, to try something more complicated.”

Santana nodded, liking the analogy. “We sort of made you Head Cheerleader without teaching you how to do more than turn a cartwheel, didn’t we?”

Kurt sighed. “I always hated it when Sue made us run laps, spin hula-hoops, and lift weights, but I can admit that I was a lot stronger and steadier for it.”

“Magic is pretty much the same,” Santana told him. “A lot of it is boring and repetitive. It just has a lot of other parts that can blow shit up if you aren’t careful.”

He grimaced, flicking a leftover paper napkin into the air and willing a burst of energy at it that caused the napkin to ignite in a fireball that fell to the floor in nothing but a tiny pile of smoking ash. “I’ve noticed.”

Dani grinned, leaning over and hovering a hand over the ash to cool it instantly to a safe temperature before sweeping it up with a second napkin. “On the plus side, you couldn’t have done that a month ago. Not with that kind of control. You’re gonna be just fine.”

Kurt perked up, his mood lifting at the show of support. “So, any suggestions on how we should begin?”

Tubbington hopped down from the couch and a round man with curly brown hair and a goatee suddenly took the cat’s place. The Familiar had the ability to will his clothing – in reality a cat collar with a little charm bearing his name – into whatever style he liked for his human form, and today he had chosen what appeared to be khaki pants, a green army jacket, and a black t-shirt that said ‘Cats rule, dogs drool’. “The first thing we need to do is get out of your way,” he said. Seeing Kurt’s puzzled face, he shrugged. “Like I said a minute ago, we had way too many cooks in your kitchen last time. So since nobody has anyplace better to be today, I say Elliott, Dani, Johnny, and Monica stay here with you and conduct class. Brittany, Santana, Adam and I will go back and spy on the hairball.”

Seeing Kurt’s alarm, Brittany reached over and squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry, Kurt. He’ll be safe with us. Adam is going to be disguised as …” She looked at Adam, who appeared just as surprised as his fiancé. “I don’t know. Do you want to transform, or would you rather have us put a glamour on you?”

Adam and Kurt looked at one another, speaking without words, and slowly Kurt’s instinctive hackles settled down. He knew this was something that needed to be done, both for information’s sake, and for Adam’s continuing progress, but it was not easy to let go. Adam’s eyes had held equal parts nervousness, excitement, and fear, but it was the hope in their deep blue depths that sold Kurt. He wanted to do this, and just as Kurt needed to believe that his coven had faith in him to learn and to lead them, Adam needed to believe that his beloved had faith that he could overcome his demons and be a vital part of this group.

Kurt glanced at his former Cheerios teammates, seeing their anxiousness in the way they unconsciously reached toward one another and linked their pinkies together as they waited on his decision. It hit him with a small shock that these two, who deferred to almost no one, were waiting on him to approve the plan. To show that he had enough faith in them to believe that they could, and would, accomplish this necessary surveillance mission while keeping Adam safe for him.

Somehow, in all this time, it had never occurred to Kurt that his opinion and approval meant so much to the two members of the group that he had known the longest. “That’s probably a good idea,” he said, doing his best to sound as though he was calm and confident. “I’m not very clear on the difference. If you do a glamour on Adam, will other witches be able to detect it? Or will it be simpler for Adam to transform himself into some kind of object?”

“Like an awesome handbag,” Santana said, repeating her previous suggestion to Adam, her dark eyes gleaming at hearing that they had the green-light to proceed.

Adam snorted. “Not my preference, thank you. It would be easiest to simply blur my features, as Johnny does. If anyone asks, I’m just your friend from New York that you’re showing around your old digs.”

“As for how good a disguise it is, that depends on what kind of magic you’re using,” Johnny chimed in. “He could do a straight-up potion, which would transform him for a short time. Anything longer than an hour or two isn’t very good for a person. Makes ‘em sick, dizzy, a little confused. A glamour is a spell used to make someone else look different, and it can last as long as the casting witch maintains line of sight. After that, it tends to get blurry and easier for witches to See through. You also can’t do a glamour on yourself, unless you want to walk around holding up a mirror all day, and I’m thinking that might look a little suspicious.”

Kurt chuckled. “I’ve known a few people at school who might not draw much attention if they did that, but for the most part I’d have to agree. And the other? I know he has a little telekinesis, otherwise Adam wouldn’t be able to give people cool hair-dos at will, but it’s different from mine because I can’t do that.”

“And he has definitely tried,” Adam teased, wiggling his fingers at Kurt and causing his tall crown of hair to reform into three or four different shapes before giving in to his lover’s glare and settling it back into place again. He smirked when Kurt patted the locks in a suspiciously protective manner, assuring himself that it was back to normal.

Johnny grinned at their antics. “He does have a little of that, yes, and it’s mixed in with his transmogrification power. To do a good long-term self disguise, you’d need to have the latter as one of your Talents. And unlike me, he can use his to take on the shape of non-human objects, like that poster.”

“But I only held that shape as a fluke of two spells striking head to head at the same time. The disguise literally got stuck because my will and spirit were split apart from my body just as I cast it.”

“Exactly,” Johnny agreed enthusiastically. “The moment body and soul joined back together, your appearance went back to normal. Well, I mean, sort of. Sorry.” He suddenly looked a bit guilty as he recalled that this might not be a pleasant reminder for the other man.

Adam shook his head. He had grown used to his coven brother’s habit of awkwardly running off at the mouth by now. “It’s okay, mate. What’s done is done. Nothing to be gained from avoiding the topic, particularly if you’re suggesting I use it again.”

Kurt held up a hand. “Which brings us back to my original question. Will other witches be able to see through your disguise if you transform? Will Blaine?”

“Not if it’s done well, and we’ll make sure that it is. Besides, Blaine hasn’t got Sight,” Santana cut in. “I’m sure of that much. I spent a lot of time watching that little cockroach when we were in choir together, and I never spotted any evidence that he knew he was surrounded by so many witches and Potentials.”

Curious, Kurt said, “How many? Was it more than just me, you two, and our wild-witch Blaine, and magic-damper Rachel?”

“Quinn, Mike, and Tina,” Brittany said. “Quinn was only a potential, but I always thought that was more self-denial than lack of Talent. Even without manifest power, she had the strongest shielding I’ve ever felt. Probably that’s why she’s the only one of us who seemed totally immune to Blaine’s brain-washing thing.”

Santana nodded. “Mike is a teleporter but I’m not sure what else. Tina’s had active magic almost as long as I have, but it’s weak and limited to some mixture of empathy and shielding. That’s like telepathy, except it’s pretty much only good for convincing other people that you aren’t there. I offered to teach her better control, but she freaked out and I literally forgot I was talking to her. That’s what happens. She broadcasts that shit every time she gets nervous,” Santana said, flipping her hair disdainfully. “Which is why she was always crying over everything, and why people never even noticed she was in the room most of the time. Well, that, and because she’s got the personality of a wet-nap.”

Kurt considered the ramifications of this. “That does explain where the out-of-nowhere stalker level crush on Blaine came from. One minute she didn’t like him, and the next she was ready to take my head off because I didn’t instantly forgive him for the cheating. Between his coercion and her empathy, it must have been like a mouse meeting the Pied Piper.”

“Huh,” Santana grunted. “I never thought of that. The girl nobody sees giving all her love and devotion to an emotional leech who can’t stay out of the spotlight. If she had a dick, they’d have been a match made in heaven. Or hell, because … ew.”

“That’s decided,” Adam said loudly, getting up from the sofa and cutting her off before she could get any more explicit. “A simple but well-formed disguise, no direct confrontation, and a bit of harmless spying.”

Santana butted in again, “With maybe just a little bit of long-distance torment?”

Kurt knew he should be taking the high-road here, but he said, “Only if you can do it without being detected.”

His ex-roommate whooped and exchanged a high five with him.

Adam rolled his eyes. “Shall we do this, then?”

“Please,” he agreed. “And honey? This isn’t some kind of endurance test. If you start to feel nervous, or scared, or just uncomfortable, especially when you see Blaine, then I want you to come home right away. Or go to my parents’ house if that’s easier.”

“Don’t be a martyr, got it,” he said shortly, the terse reply giving away his nervousness to everyone in the room. Adam tended to be a loquacious and easy-going fellow under normal circumstances. He only became brusque when he felt uncomfortable.

Brittany hopped up and spontaneously slipped under his arm, giving Adam a comforting hug. She had been the first of the girls to adopt him as a surrogate brother, and he instinctively relaxed at her show of affection, putting an arm around her shoulders and squeezing back. Kurt smiled at them both, nodding a subtle thanks to his friend.

Tubbington slapped his hands together loudly, startling everyone. “Great! Let’s get this show on the road then.” He winked at Kurt. “And you better put your thinking cap on, kid. It’s time for school.”

“I’m ready,” he said. Moving to Adam, he pulled him close for a firm kiss. “Be careful, okay? Remember that this is only a surveillance mission. No heroics.”

“I won’t forget,” Adam promised. He had confessed to Kurt when they were alone that he was not sure how he would react to seeing their enemy in the flesh. Making this promise would help him to keep his temper in check, and hopefully his courage as well. “See you soon.”

Afraid they might never stop exchanging goodbyes and reassurances if she did not act quickly, Santana nodded to L.T., who transformed himself and hopped up into Brittany’s waiting arms. Then Santana hooked her elbows through Brittany and Adam’s and all of four of them vanished with a nearly-audible pop of energy.

Kurt made an unconscious grabbing gesture toward the space where they had been a moment ago, then his shoulders sagged. He did not like this, no matter how necessary it might be. He just hoped Santana would wink them in someplace quiet and undisturbed, so Adam could gather himself and have time to settle his disguise. Whatever that turned out to be. He was a little bit miffed that they had not given him a preview. Adam had, understandably, been reluctant to use his transformative power since his return from the Void and being stuck in an alternate form for so long. He had confessed to practicing the skill on his own when Kurt was out at work or school, but he had never been willing to share it. It was just slightly (and irrationally) annoying that he was apparently comfortable doing so with the girls.

“You okay?” Elliott asked him, giving Kurt’s shoulder a comforting little shake.

He sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I will be anyway. I could really use some distraction, though. Can we just get started?”

“Sure,” Dani said. “What do you say you take lots of notes while we go over every form of magic Talent and spell-casting we can think of?”

Well, that sounded both interesting and potentially brain-numbing. Not to mention very time consuming. “Perfect,” he said, flashing his friends a grateful smile as he grabbed his notebook and settled down at the kitchen table, pen poised. “Let’s get started.”

THE END

#witch!kurt #kadam #one three hill coven

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ladystylestores · 4 years ago

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What’s Behind the Shootings? – The New York Times

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Good morning. A heat wave is pounding the South. Fauci responds to his White House critics. And crime is rising in several major cities.

Gun violence has been rising lately in some of the biggest American cities. It’s happened in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and, perhaps most notably, Minneapolis, the scene of the brutal killing of George Floyd and the intense protests that followed.

The trend raises a question: Is it possible to change the nature of policing in the United States — and to make it less violent, as protesters are demanding — without unleashing other kinds of violence?

Some opponents of police reform say no. Some advocates of police reform claim that the recent crime increase is a meaningless blip.

To make sense of it, I talked with Patrick Sharkey, a sociologist who’s written perhaps the clearest explanation of the great crime decline of the past few decades, a book called “Uneasy Peace.” He offers two main answers:

First, the crime increase is not just statistical noise. It’s real, even if there are sometimes multiple causes, depending on the city. “It is a pattern,” Sharkey said. “When there have been large-scale protests against police, it is pretty clear that some police have stopped doing their jobs, and that’s destabilizing.”

Before this year, the biggest examples were in 2015, in Baltimore and in Ferguson, Mo., where crime also rose after protests. “I worry this is going to be a violent summer in a lot of cities,” Sharkey added.

But a second point is also vital: The rise in violence is not inevitable.

It happens because some police officers respond to criticism by staging a work slowdown — and because the U.S. relies on the police to fulfill so many roles that other civic organizations could accomplish. That reliance also has huge downsides.

“Police are effective at controlling violence, but there are all these costs,” Sharkey said. They include mass incarceration and widespread violence committed by the police, often against Black men.

“But there are alternatives that maintain safe streets without the costs,” says Sharkey, who was previously the scientific director of Crime Lab New York and is now a Princeton professor. “There is now a body of evidence showing these are not just feel-good stories. The effects are very real.”

The alternatives include conflict-resolution counselors, addiction and mental-health programs, summer-jobs and after-school programs and more. The Cure Violence program, in Chicago, New York and elsewhere, is an example. (For more detail, read this 2017 Times article.)

“We’ve asked police departments to be the primary force that responds to many situations,” Sharkey said. That’s not the only option, of course. But when it’s the approach that cities take — and when police then respond to protests by pulling back — violence often does increase.

For more: The Times’s Ashley Southall looks in depth at the recent crime increase in New York.

FOUR MORE BIG STORIES

1. Where the protests haven’t stopped

In Louisville, Ky., protesters continue to hit the streets demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed at her home by the police. The Times has put together a visual story about the daily demonstrations.

On Tuesday, 87 demonstrators were arrested and charged with a felony after gathering outside the home of Kentucky’s attorney general to demand action in Taylor’s case. None of the officers involved in the shooting have been charged.

In Minneapolis: Journalists were allowed to watch the police body camera footage from the killing of George Floyd for the first time. In the video, “the officers seemed to be more concerned with controlling his body than saving his life,” Times reporters write.

2. Fauci responds to attacks

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most prominent scientist on the White House coronavirus task force, pressed back against criticism that some Trump administration officials have recently leveled at him. “I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that,” Fauci said in an interview with The Atlantic. “It’s only reflecting negatively on them.”

Trump aides have criticized Fauci for underplaying the virus, and Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, has called him “wrong about everything.” In truth, Fauci’s predictions about the virus — and his warning about its seriousness — have proven more accurate than the president’s remarks in recent months.

In Oklahoma: Gov. Kevin Stitt announced yesterday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, a first for a U.S. governor.

3. A heat wave hits the South

4. U.S. considers barring many Chinese

The Trump administration is considering a sweeping ban on travel to the United States by members of the Chinese Communist Party and their families, The Times’s Paul Mozur and Edward Wong report. About 92 million Chinese citizens belong to the party.

Administration officials have loudly denounced China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak and its crackdown on Hong Kong.

Elsewhere: TikTok, which is owned by a company based in China, has hired a small army of lobbyists to convince lawmakers of its allegiance to the U.S.

Here’s what else is happening

President Trump demoted his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, last night, in an effort to lift a re-election effort that is trailing in the polls.

Hackers hijacked the Twitter accounts of a number of major figures, including Barack Obama, Kanye West and Bill Gates, and posted messages asking followers to send them Bitcoin. (Unaffected was Trump’s account, which is under a special kind of lock-and-key after past incidents.)

Deadly monsoons across southern Asia have displaced millions of people, destroying homes and drowning villages. Scientists say global warming has increased the frequency of extreme rains that cause flooding.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, was released from the hospital yesterday, a day after she was admitted for a possible infection.

Lives Lived: Like Walt Disney, Blaine Kern was an artist, a businessman and a showman all in one. As the designer of innovative and spectacular parade floats, he helped turn Mardi Gras from a New Orleans institution into a worldwide phenomenon. Kern died at 93.

Subscribers help make Times journalism possible. To support our efforts, please consider subscribing today.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT, GARDEN

Get gardening

Gardening makes Samin Nosrat happier. Yanking out weeds, composting for hours at a time and planting seeds have become a kind of solace, “regenerating both the soil and something deep in myself,” she writes.

Green coriander seed — the fresh seed of the cilantro plant — is Nosrat’s favorite thing to grow. Intensely fragrant and slightly citrusy, it can be used interchangeably with cilantro in stews, marinades, dressings and more. Try it in her recipe for corn on the cob with green coriander butter.

For more on gardening: Read the fascinating history of victory gardens in the Times Magazine.

A star director gets her due

Best known for intimate dramas like “Love & Basketball” and “Beyond the Lights,” the director Gina Prince-Bythewood is trying her hand at something new: a summer blockbuster.

Netflix has released “The Old Guard,” starring Charlize Theron, which makes Prince-Bythewood the first Black woman to helm a big-budget comic book movie. Read this interview with her, in which she talked about the perils of the Netflix algorithm, sexism in the film industry and the future of independent films.

The show goes on, at a distance

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David

P.S. This was supposed to be the week of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. But there’s still plenty of politics to talk about. Join several Times reporters — plus Julián Castro — for a conversation today at 5 p.m. Eastern.

You can see today’s print front page here.

Today’s episode of “The Daily” revisits a restaurant owner in Baton Rouge, La., who struggled to decide whether to reopen. On “The Argument,” Times Opinion columnists interview Senator Tammy Duckworth, a potential running mate for Joe Biden.

Ian Prasad Philbrick, Sanam Yar, Gus Wezerek and Lauren Leatherby contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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