#oh & she's chinese/scottish as I am

[xilonette]

(game model draw over) what do we think of my first s/i design 🙂‍↕️

[minkyungseokie]

第二章 | Moving and Meeting the Boss

warnings; age gap love(R: 23, S:39, T: 50), gxg, throuple, controversial age gaps, random German and Scottish pet names, topics of eating that aren't ED related, but might be triggering to some, DeepL translated languages. Untranslated Chinese, French, and other languages

note; okay! second chapter is now ready. I might start another series based on driver x reader x wag. I sort of rushed through this. I also changed a couple of things

She now contracted meningitis during her F2 days and that was the reason for her leaving, but she told people it was the lack of funds

There has something to do with eating, but it's not an ED

The eating thing is based off of a very adorable mukbang YouTuber named Tzuyang. I also never been to Monaco, so Idk how everything works

Realized she should have a last name since she's Felix's sister

note2; please give me requests for moodboards, blurbs, smaus, or anything else you want for this series. Or just request anything as long as you read my rules and how to request thing

fc; imleslie(Y/n), xavier serrano(Aaron Antognelli), blanca soler(Chiara Lorenzi)

Come Talk to Me

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I do not give anyone permission to change, copy, or put my work on any other platform. It will only be on top, so if you see it, please report it. Or let me know.

DO NOT ask me to update this story. I'll update when I can.

Anyway, only accepting 10 more people to be tagged

Buckle up! This is a long one!!!!!!!!

(My god, Susie is so fucking pretty that I might actually cry)

In the now packed-up house, Y/n gazed around. "Are you all packed up?" Her brother asked as he crossed his arms next to her. Chan sighed, "I'm going to miss coming over to your house and hanging out," he said, looking around the house. With a soft smile that showed off her sharp teeth, Y/n looked at her brother, "He'll miss popping by my house during random times when the homeless orphans don't have work to do and mooching off me until he needs to go home to Korea." Y/n teased, pinching his freckled cheeks.

Chan giggled at Felix's expression and looked away, clearing his throat when Felix's glare turned to him. The long-haired male slapped his sister's hand away gently and tried to keep his scowl before giving up and breaking out into smiles as laughs filled the room. "For real though, I am going to miss you." Felix said, opening his arms for Y/n to enter, "Aw, I'm going to miss you too, but you can come visit me anytime you want in Monaco." Y/n offered, pulling back.

"You too, Channie. You and the rest of the derelict unparented are free to come visit me in Monaco when you want." Y/n said, opening her arms up to the shorter male. "Why does this feel like I'm sending my little sister off?" Chan asked, gladly accepting the hug that was offered, "You are basically family, mate." Felix assured, wrapping his arms around both his sister and his best friend. The group continued to hug until there was a loud honk heard in front of the house, "Well, I guess we should get this stuff into the truck." Y/n said, letting go of the two singers to grab one of the nearest boxes.

Y/n lugged the box to the truck where a mover stood, ready to grab the box from her hands and put it in the truck, "I'll take that, sir." The worker offered. Y/n froze and stared at the mover, "Excuse me?" Y/n asked, "Oh? Did I say something wrong?" The worker questioned, looking at Y/n with a raised eyebrow, "I am not a man. Please don't assume because I have masculine features." Y/n said, steeling her nerves. Y/n wasn't a confrontational person, but over the years, resentment had built up enough for her to tell someone off when they called her a man.

Her boobs were prominent enough for people to know that she wasn't a man and she was wearing a sports bra with flannel, how the hell did the man assume she was one as well? "I'm sorry, I didn't know--" "I think you did know, but it's whatever. Don't do it again." Y/n huffed, turning around and walking away.

Y/n entered the home again and grabbed a box aggressively, huffing dramatically. Felix and Chan shared looks before putting the boxes they had in their possession down, "Hey, what's wrong?" Chan questioned.

Y/n shook her head, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. She sometimes felt like it was irrational of her to get so upset by someone assuming she was a man, but at the same time, anyone would get upset by being called the wrong gender.

Y/n squared her shoulders and picked up another box before turning to look at the two with a smile, "It's nothing, mate. Just a bit of an annoyance." Y/n then turned and walked out with the box in her hands.

The trio made their way back and forth until all the boxes were in the truck. Now, they stood on the lawn watching as the movers grabbed the furniture and loaded it onto the truck, "Y'know, we're actually going to miss you." Chan spoke up, continuing to watch the movers work. "I know. That's why I said you're free to visit me in Monaco. I'll also try to visit you and in Seoul whenever I can." Y/n assured, throwing her arms around each of the boy's shoulders and giving them an awkward side hug.

"We know. We'll try to visit when we can too." Felix said, laying his head on her arm with Changbin following suit, "We're done, ma'am. We'll be taking this to the sea freight now unless there is something else you need." The mover looked at the tall half-Asian with a pointed look, asking if there was anything she needed or if were they good.

"You're good to go. Thank you." Y/n said, nodding at the mover. The trio watched as the movers packed up and drove away, "What time do you leave?" Felix asked after a few moments of silence, "Three o'clock in the morning. Seeing as my insomnia is so bad that I can't fall asleep, I'll probably be up and out by two. Do you mind dropping my keys off at the realtor office safe drop box? I won't be able to do it since I leave at three." Y/n said.

"Yeah, we can do that. We'll be dropping you off anyway." Chan nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets.

⋘ 𝑙𝑜����𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙

"Yah, wake up. It's two." Felix hissed as if there were others in the house.

Y/n groaned and swatted Felix's hands away before turning onto her side and snuggling into the blankets, "Y/n, it's time to wake up." Chan said, joining Felix at the side of the hotel bed Y/n was sleeping in. The two put their hands on her and looked at each other, nodding before violently shaking Y/n back and forth.

"搞什么鬼?!" Y/n yelled in Chinese after being woken up so violently, turning to stare at her brothers with wide eyes, "Sorry, you wouldn't wake up, so we decided to shake you until you woke up." Chan snickered, signing as he spoke, looking away as Y/n glared at him and Felix. 

Y/n sighed and threw the blankets off of her body, "Jesus, dude. You could've kept trying to wake me up gently." The dark-haired woman scowled, reaching over to grab the external part of her cochlear implant and the hearing aid for her other ear. Felix grabbed the hearing aid and helped her put it into her ear, "When are you getting your other cochlear?" Felix questioned, making sure the volume was on the level Y/n always kept it on.

"I get the second implant after I start my new job. I'll have to tell the boss about it as soon I do the interview. Especially since I forgot to tell her about my lack of hearing." Y/n mumbled, looking at Chan and Felix from the side since she knew that they would be giving her judgy looks.

Y/n turned to see that they were indeed giving her disappointed looks as if she wasn't taller than Chan, older than Felix, and more intimidating than the both of them combined. "Stop looking at me like that! I was trying to get the application in as fast as I could. I simply just...forgot to put it on my application." Y/n explained, looking down and scratching her cheek. When she looked back up, they were still looking at her with disappointment, "Stop looking at me like you're my parents and I just got caught smoking a fat one....or something cause I wouldn't know how they would look at me." Y/n quickly added the second part and gave the two boys a awkward smile.

Felix and Chan sighed in unison, "Okay, well, I guess we can't really be that upset with you since you'll be telling her face-to-face. Get up and get ready. Felix picked out some clothes for you to wear." Chan said, pointing to the end of the bed where some clothes were laid out for her, Y/n sighed, running a hand through her thick hair, "Okay, whatever. Please move out of the way." 

Chan stepped back as Y/n swung her long legs over the side of the bed and planted her feet onto the floor, grabbing the clothes and studying them before going to the bathroom to get changed while Felix and Chan checked to make sure that everything was properly packed. Y/n exited the bathroom wearing a pair of high waisted brown trousers, a white collared button down with a brown, beige and white sweater vest one top.

Y/n sat down on the bed and picked up the socks that were sitting on the bed, putting them on while Felix and Chan continued to talk, "Y/n, do you want to get some McDonald's on the way or something?" Felix asked.

"I just want a coffee and a bagel honestly. We can get something from the bagel shop nearby. I heard they have some good bagels and coffee." Y/n suggested, putting on her boots and grabbing the glasses that were on the nightstand next to the bed. "I'm down." Chan said, looking to Felix, "I'm okay with that." The blonde shrugged, grabbing Y/n's suitcase and pulling it out into the hallway.

Y/n stood up and looked around, making sure that she had left nothing on the ground

⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙

Y/n turned and looked at her brother as she got ready to board the plane, "Okay, so you'll call when you've landed in Monaco, right?" Felix inquired, holding her wrists lightly. Y/n rolled her eyes and chuckled, "I promise that I'll call you as soon as I get to my new home in Monaco. Don't worry about me. Just make sure that you take care of yourself. All of you." Y/n gave a pointed look at Chan.

"What? Why'd you look at me like that?" Chan chuckled nervously, "I'm telling you to take care of yourself. You tend not to do that." Y/n joked, looking him in the side. Chan jumped away as if he was shocked and held his side, "No promises, but I'll try."

"Flight 35 A is now boarding."

Y/n looked over at where people were beginning to line up, "Alright, it seems I've got to go." The girl pointed behind her with a thumb. Felix pulled his sister into a hug and laid his head on her shoulder, "You better call me when you land. I'll fly to Monaco myself if you don't." He said voice muffled into her sweater vest.

"Okay, let go. I have to board." Y/n groaned, pushing the blonde away from her playfully, "See you, Y/n." Chan said, giving the girl a quick hug. Y/n grabbed her carry-on and boarded the plane, "Make sure the other Stray Animals are around when I call. I want to talk to all of you." Y/n spoke.

After a long flight, of which she slept through most, she hopped off the flight feeling groggy and completely disoriented. To be quite honest, she just wanted to go to sleep in a bed with thick blankets and the fan blasting on her face so she didn't overheat while sleeping. The thing was, she wouldn't be able to meet up with the person who sold her the house until the next day because the offices were closed and her stuff wouldn't arrive until the next day either, so she had to get a hotel for the night.

Y/n groaned as she rolled her neck, attempting to massage the stiffness out of her shoulder and neck as she entered the Uber, "Uh, Hôtel Fairmont Monte Carlo, s'il vous plaît." Y/n spoke in a tired and dull tone.

The driver nodded and pulled off. Y/n pulled out her phone and pressed on the contact of the one person she knew would be up. It was 9:41 PM in Monaco, which meant it was 4:41 AM in Seoul currently and there was one person she could guarantee would be up at that time.

Chan.

Y/n pulled out a pair of headphones with a large-diameter ear cup that completely encloses her ear and audio processor and put them on. Y/n looked out the window while the phone rang, "Hey! You're in Monaco, I'm guessing." Chan said as his face popped up on the screen. "Yeah, I'm in an Uber right now. I'm heading to the hotel." Y/n mumbled, mouth stretching into a little yawn.

"Oh, yeah. Your stuff isn't there yet, is it?" Chan asked, looking at something off to the side, "No, it'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon. I'll be contacting Mrs. Wolff tomorrow as well to schedule the interview. The jet lag was going to be a bitch." Y/n sighed, leaning against the window. "Yeah, it is. What time is it there?" Chan questioned, "It's, uh, 9:43 PM." Y/n answered, dragging her eyes away from the fogged-up window to the face on her phone.

"Have you eaten?" Chan questioned, "No, not yet. Have you?" Y/n raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I ate some ramen earlier. I'm just snacking on some honey butter chips right now." Chan responded, lifting the yellow bag to the screen.

Y/n opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the driver, "Madame, nous sommes arrivés à votre destination."

Y/n looked out the window and saw they were indeed in front of the luxury hotel, "D'accord, merci, monsieur. Je vous souhaite une excellente soirée. Sorry, Chan. I have to go. Tell Lixie and the others to text me when they can." Y/n said, exiting the car.

"Okay, I will. Have a good night." Chan said, "Have a good day, mate." Y/n said before hanging up. Y/n pocketed her phone and grabbed her items from the trunk. She waved at the driver in thanks and made her way into the hotel. It was a random one that she picked out and it was probably way too luxurious for a one-night stay, but it was the closest to where her new home would be and she was way too tired to find an even cheaper hotel.

She checked in and paid for the room, trudging up the stairs in a slumped-over position. As soon as she found her room, she stood up and unlocked it as if she was being followed by someone and had to enter quickly. Y/n threw the door open and closed, dropping her bags where she stood before making her way to the bed and getting in

Y/n woke up the next day and immediately ordered an Uber. Her items would be arriving today and she already slept in pretty late. Y/n's dark brown eyes swept the room until they landed on the digital clock on the dresser. It was 2:52 PM. The truck with her stuff would be there around four and the realtor would be there around 3:00, so she had to get going pretty quickly. Luckily, her Uber was on its way and she would be at her new address in no time.

Honk!

Y/n's head snapped up once she had heard the honking of the horn. She could only assume that they were there for her and the chime from her phone telling her that her ride has arrived only confirmed her suspicion. Y/n quickly gathered her items and sped and walked out of the front of the building with her hand up in a wave to show that it was her who had ordered the Uber. Y/n pulled up the trunk after the driver had opened it from the inside of the car.

Y/n put her suitcase and carry-on bag into the trunk and closed it, rushing to get to the backseat and get into the car. "Bonjour, Monsieur. Monaco, La Condamine, 98000 Monaco, s'il vous plaît." Y/n said breathily, pulling her phone out of the bag she had and opening the notes app. Seeing as she would have to move all of her stuff in, of course with the help of the moving pros, and there were some other things she needed to do through the day, she decided that it would be a good idea to make a to-do list.

To do for today and tomorrow

Move my stuff into the house

Rearrange everything to my liking

Unpack everything

Go grocery shopping

Call Mrs. Wolff back

Y/n reread the list over and over to see if anything else came to mind, but when nothing did, she pocketed her phone again and stared out the window. Monaco was a truly gorgeous place and she could see herself living out the rest of her life in this beautiful country.

She could definitely see herself finding a man or woman, who would most definitely be an F1 fan seeing as the country basically lived and breathed F1, finding a much better home, settling down, and having a family.

It wasn't something she wanted anytime soon since she was still pretty young, but it was something she could see happening when she was ready.

Actually, now that Y/n thought about it, and as the car passed by the water, she doesn't think any house, which was actually one of those apartments where you have a whole floor to yourself, would be better than the one she got. It cost an arm and a leg to get and she would be able to afford it after she finally started the PA position.

The flat included three bedrooms, one bathroom, two shower rooms, one separate toilet and a kitchen. In total, it has four rooms. Two underground parking spaces provide space for any vehicles and a balcony that overlooked the water. It that high street, city center, bus station, and shopping center all within 500 m, so it was well situated.

Y/n sighed and closed her eyes. This was the start of her new life. While she was is Monaco, she was going to be a different person then what she was in Australia. Gone is the shy, antisocial, introverted girl that lived in Sydney and in is the girl who is still the same thing, but trying to be more confident.

"Pardonnez-moi, madame. Nous sommes arrivés." The driver announced, "Hm? Oh, merci beaucoup." Y/n thanked as she exited the car. She waited until the driver popped the trunk and then grabbed her things, "Merci encore, madame. J'espère que vous passerez une excellente soirée."

The driver gave Y/n a smile, "C'est très gentil de votre part. J'espère que vous passerez également une excellente soirée." She responded before driving off, giving Y/n a wave as she drove off.

"Miss Lee?" A voice with a thick accent called out from behind her. Y/n whirled around to face a tall man with dark, curly hair, a chisled jaw, and broad shoulders. It was the realtor, "Ah, Mr. Tomatis. How are you doing today?" Y/n greeted, looking to the side so she didn't make eye contact. "I am well. Listen, I would love to stay and talk with you, but I have an important showing to do, so here's your keys. Enjoy your new home." Mr. Tomatis gently place the keys into her hands before walking off.

"Oh-kay. Guess it's time to check out the new place in person." Y/n took a deep breath, trilling as she exhaled. The girl made her way into the building until she reached her floor. Y/n put the key into the door and unlocked it, "Home sweet home, I guess. Once I step through this door, my new life officially starts." Y/n mumbled, resting her forehead against the cool wood. Y/n opened the door and wheeled her suitcase in behind her, "Woah, this is sick!" Y/n awed, looking around her home.

She left the suitcase and carry-on near the entrance and walked around, looking through each room and mentally mapping what went into each room and how she would lay everything out.

Once she was done with her mental mapping, her hands fell to her sides and she looked around with a flat face and eyes dulled due to boredom.

She didn't know what to do now.

The truck wouldn't be there until four and it was only... Y/n looked down at the screen of her phone, which displayed the time in a large blue font...3:12.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Y/n's head. She had to schedule the interview and was advised to do so once she was settled down enough, but since she had time to waste, why not do it now? Y/n opened her contacts and pressed on Susie's, making sure it was on speaker, "Hello?" The sweet Irish voice that Y/n had heard last time, answered the phone.

"Uh, yes. It's Y/n Lee. I'm calling to set up my interview for the PA position." Y/n stammered, "Oh, Ms. Lee! I've been expecting your call back. I assume that means you're in Monaco?" Susie asked, "Yeah, uh, yes...ma'am." Y/n confirmed, nodding as of the woman on the other line could see her.

"Great, I know that you're going to need some time to settle down completely, so the interview will not be taking place any time this week. How about the next week around 10:00 AM? What day works for you?" Susie questioned, "I can do next week. How about Wednesday?" Y/n pulled out a pen and pad of paper to write down the date and time. "Wednesday works perfectly. Alright, I will e you then." Susie said.

"See you then." Y/n confirmed before pressing the 'end call' button. Just as Y/n put her phone on the counter, she got another call but this time from the company that had her stuff, telling her that they had arrived early and were ready to move her stuff in.

Y/n ran out the front door and down the stairs to see that they had indeed arrived earlier than planned and were already beginning to unload the lighter stuff, "Hey, I didn't expect you to be so early. Please, follow me and I'll show you where my apartment is." Y/n said, grabbing a box and leading the way to her floor.

After showing the movers where she was, Y/n went back down to grab another, but before she could make it too far, someone stopped her. "Hey, I couldn't help but notice you're moving in. Do you want some help?" A tall slender man with dark hair and dark eyes. The man in front of her was the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome and Y/n was the definition of awkward around pretty people.

Y/n opened her mouth to decline, probably stutter through the sentence before falling too embarrassed to continue speaking, when another voice spoke up. "Babe, what are you doing? Who's this?" A woman who absolutely gorgeous saddeled herself next to the man, looking up at Y/n with a raised, perfectly sculpted, eyebrow. "I-uh..." Y/n's eyes darted around frantically, trying to find any way out of the situation.

She knew she said she was going to be a totally different person than she was in Australia, but she had the worst night of sleep where her body got too hot with the blankets, too cold with the fan, and still too hot with both. She also kept waking up randomly during the night, feeling dizzy and disoriented. She also may be up and doing things, but she was severely jet lagged and wanted to do nothing, but drop dead on the floor and sleep until she could physically no longer sleep.

Y/n was going to be quite honest, she could use the help and it would make things go a lot faster, but how was she, a socially awkward person, to talk to two very pretty people? 

Answer; she didn't.

She walked past them with a quick 'excuse me' pretending like she didn't hear them. If they got upset with her, she'll just say her hearing aids weren't on or turned up enough for her to hear that they were speaking to her. "Wait! Ma'am, hold on." The man called out, following Y/n outside and grabbing her wrist gently, stopping her in her tracks. Y/n steeled herself and whirled around with a fake smile, "Oh, sorry. Can I, uh, can I help you?" Y/n asked, eyes darting between the man, who was giving her a smile, and the woman, who was scowling at her with her arms crossed.

"Yes, you can help us. My boyfriend asked you a question and you just walked past us as if you didn't hear. Are you deaf or something?" The girl sneered.

"Yes."

"Pa-pardon?" The girl asked, dropping her arms, Y/n turned her head to the side, showing the couple her cochlear and the the hearing aid, "I-I am in fact...deaf." Y/n muttered, turning to go get more boxes. Behind her she could hear the flustered man scolding his girlfriend while she stammered out flustered responses, 

"How could you-?!"

 "I..I didn't know, okay? Hop off my balls."

"Woman, what balls would I be hopping off of?"

"I... You... Just shut up! We should be helping anyway."

The two stopped their flustered play fighting as Y/n walked past. They both grabbed boxes and followed her, "Hey, we are so sorry." The man spoke up, speed walking so he was next to Y/n, "Especially me. I didn't know you were actually deaf and even if you weren't, I wasn't being the nicest. It's just, and this isn't an excuse, there have been some... how do I say this?" The girl asked, looking up.

"Issues." The man supplied, the woman snapped her fingers and pointed at her boyfriend before quickly putting her hand back under the box as it began to tip over in her hands, "Issues. We have had some issues with our last neighbours and it made me sort of defensive. Sorry about that. My name Chiara Lorenzi and this is my boyfriend..." Chiara trailed off so that he could speak for himself.

"Aaron Antognelli. And you are?" Aaron asked, depositing the box on the floor of Y/n's apartment, "Y/n Lee." Y/n answered. "It's nice to meet you, Y/n. I hope we get to become very good friends in the near future." Chiara said, nudging the taller girl as she and Aaron walked out to grab more boxes.

With the extra two sets of hands, Y/n and the movers were able to get everything inside quickly and it was a good thing too since the sky began to dark with thick rain clouds. "Um, thank you for your help." Y/n muttered, going into her house and beginning to close the door when a hand appeared between the door and the frame, keeping her from closing it fully, "Hold on there, kangaroo. Don't you want help unpacking?" Aaron asked.

"Oh, no. I couldn't ask for that. You have done quite a bit a-and I don't know you well enough." Y/n frantically shook her head. The couple shared a look before turning back to Y/n, "Please, we... I insist. We want to make up for the rocky way we greeted you. Of course, we won't force you to and if you don't want us to help you, we'll leave." Chiara said.

Y/n sighed and nodded, opening the door fully to let the couple in. She didn't know them or trust them, but she also needed all the help she could get. That, and she was shit at decorating, so it would be nice to enlist the help of someone else.

Chiara and Aaron looked around, "Why does your apartment look so much better than ours?" Aaron asked, "I thought they were all the same." Y/n said, looking at her spacious place. "Nah, yours has much more space, but it could be the fact that you're living alone that makes it seem that way." Aaron shrugged.

Chiara whirled around and clapped her hands together, "Alright, let's get this done."

With a yelp, Y/n fell out of her bed as the alarm she had set on her phone blared in her ear that contained the hearing aid. She had so much fun with Aaron and Chiara the previous night that she ended up going to be later than she usually liked to whenever she had something important to do the next day. After the day they helped her unpack, the two quickly became friends Y/n and they had been hanging out with each other ever since.

Y/n groaned and hobbled over to a cabinet near her bed where she kept her medicine, "Shit, getting drunk the day before my interview was not smart." Y/n grumbled, opening a bottle of pills and a bottle of water from her mini fridge.

Y/n gathered her clothing and put it on the end of the bed then went and took a scalding hot shower that helped her sober up. Y/n gave a quiet groan as she messaged her shoulders, "Man, my shoulders are stiff." She complained.

Stepping out of the shower, Y/n put on her outfit, which consisted of wool wide-leg pants, a skims t-shirt bodysuit, a nocturne cropped jacket, and a pair of heeled patchwork boots. Looking in the mirror, Y/n narrowed her eyes, "Hmm, wait." Y/n looked around to the clothes she had thrown everywhere when looking for a good outfit.

Her room was covered in an explosion of beige, brown, white, and black. There was not a lick of color in any of her wardrobe, save for her shoes, which were still not brightly colored, so they still fit her aesthetic. "I need to add some color to my wardrobe." Y/n muttered, before grabbing her things and making her way down to where the Uber was waiting for her.

She gave the driver the address of a café that Susie had suggested, Café de Paris, and  off they went. Y/n's heart thudded so hard in her chest that she was pretty sure that the beat was coming from her stomach rather than her chest. Y/n ran a hand through her long, messy hair and tried to calm the nervous feeling in her stomach.

The driver looked at Y/n through the rear mirror and cleared his throat, "Nerveux? Vous avez un rendez-vous ou une raison de vous énerver?" He asked, causing Y/n to jump from the sudden addressing. "Euh, oui. J'ai un entretien très important. J'ai déjà obtenu le poste, mais je suis encore nerveux." Y/n answered shakily, wringing her hands together nervously.

The driver studied Y/n through the mirror before turning his eyes back to the road, "Eh, don't be nervous. It must be just a 'get to know you' interview." The driver said, switching to English and waving a hand to the side as if he was brushing Y/n's nervousness away.

"You're right. Merci, Monsieur." Y/n sighed, leaning back against the headrest. The rest of the car ride was spent in silence.

⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙

Susie sat at a table in Café de Paris, occasionally looking at her watch as she waited for Y/n to arrive. Admittedly, she had arrived a bit too early, but she was excited. She had been looking forward to finally starting the F1 academy and with Y/n working by her side, she'd make these girls into Formula One champions.

Susie continued looking out the window for Y/n, even though she has no idea what Y/n looked like at all. Y/n walked through the door and approached Susie from behind, "Mrs. Wolff?" Y/n spoke up, causing the blonde woman to jump up. As soon as they were face-to-face, both women froze.

Now, Y/n was open about her sexuality and what she liked, but Susie wasn't. Susie had never been interested in women and she wasn't one who would ever fall in love when she already had a husband and a beautiful son, but Susie's heart raced looking at the younger woman and she couldn't understand why. Susie had no problem admitting when another woman is beautiful and the one in front of her? Well, she was drop dead gorgeous in Susie's eyes.

"Ah, Ms. Lee. You startled me." Susie chuckled, putting a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart. Whether it was racing because of Y/n's beauty or because she genuinely got startled, she didn't know. Either way, the woman in front of her made her heart race. "My apologies, Mrs. Wolff. I didn't mean to scare you." Y/n apologized, giving the older woman a shallow bow instinctively.

"Shall we sit and begin?" Susie asked, gesturing to the chair. Y/n nodded and sat down across from the older woman. "Okay, remember that you already have the job. This is just to get to know you a bit more. Do you want to order something or do you just want to start?" Susie questioned.

"I would like to order something." Y/n muttered, Susie gestured to someone and a waiter came over, "Are you ladies ready to order?" The waiter asked politely. "Yes, I would like a chocolate chaud and panna cotta parfumeé au citron." Susie told the waiter who wrote it down before turning to Y/n, "I would like Le Chou Profiterole and the Irish coffee. Please." Y/n said.

Once the waiter finished writing down their orders and left, Susie turned back to Y/n with a smile that made Y/n want to throw herself off a cliff. She was so pretty and Y/n didn't think Susie knew just how gorgeous she was.

"Okay, let's start while we're waiting for our orders. Can you tell me about yourself?" Susie questioned, "Oh okay, um... I'm Y/n Lee, I am half Chinese and Half Australian, I am 23 years old, I want to do modeling in my spare time, I like surfing and skiing, and I used to be a Formula Two driver before I contracted meningitis and had to stop." Y/n replied.

"You contracted meningitis?" Susie asked, "I did. I lost hearing in my right ear," Y/n turned her head and moved her hair, showing her cochlear, "I had to get a cochlear for my right ear and I have a hearing aid in my left because I'm losing my hearing in that ear. After I got my surgery, I just decided not to continue driving even though I would love to continue." Y/n shrugged.

Susie nodded, "If you had the chance, would you try and continue to drive in F2?" Susie questioned. Y/n sighed and looked around the café, "I honestly never thought about it. I wanted to but I didn't have enough money to continue, so I thought that my chances were over. If I had the chance to do it again, I don't know if I would take it. I'm turning 23 soon and I fell like I'm getting too old." Y/n said, looking up as the waiter arrived with their stuff.

"Thank you/Merci." Susie and Y/n said simultaneously. Y/n brought the glass mug up to her lips and took a sip of the drink. Y/n put the mug down and looked at Susie again, "What are your goals for the next five years?" Susie asked.

"Hmm, I think I still see myself working in the motorsports world or perhaps attempting to further my modeling career. Or both." Y/n answered, picking up one of the cream puff and taking a bite, refraining from making any sort of noise. 

"Do you consider yourself a passionate person when it comes to this sport?" Susie inquired, Y/n nodded as she swallowed the pastry in her mouth, "I was..am...Before I got meningitis, I was obsessed with being a Formula One driver. I was about as passionate about it like most of the guys on the grid. It was my passion." Y/n explained.

Susie nodded and sat back in her chair, "That'll be all." She said, picking up her spoon and eating some of her panna cotta parfumeé au citron. Y/n paused halfway from the plate where she was reaching for another mini creampuff, "That's all?" She asked, "That's all." Susie reiterated 

"Okay." Y/n nodded. She was honestly so unsure as to why she needed to do the interview when she was only going to be asked about four questions, "Now, let's get to know each other since we're going to be working closely together. My name is Suzanne Wolff, but you can call me Susie. I am Scottish, 39 years old, I have a wonderful husband who is the team principal of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One team, and I have a gorgeous fiver-year-old son named Jack." Susie introduced herself.

The woman held out a hand for Y/n to shake, "It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Wolff. I look forward to working with you." Y/n said, grabbing the older woman's hand and shaking it firmly. Susie waved off her formalities, "Oh, please. Call me Susie. We'll be working close together, so we might as well drop the formalities." She chuckled.

The two women continued to talk about random topics, getting to know each other more and more. The two became quick friends and even made plans to hang outside of work sometime in the future and even talked about Y/n meeting her son and husband since she would have to meet them eventually.

By the time Y/n was in her Uber and on her way home, it was well into the afternoon and Y/n had a small permanent smile on her face as she thought about the older woman.

Y/n hated to admit it, but she tended to catch feelings for people quite easily. She didn't and never would believe in love at first sight, but she did believe that one can get to know someone well enough to gain some sort of feelings for someone. 

And Y/n could tell that the bubbling feeling in her stomach was her feeling giddy and anxious. She was beginning to feel something for the older married woman, but she brushed it off. It was just a small puppy crush, and even if it wasn't, nothing would ever come of it. Susie was a heterosexual married woman with a family and if there was one thing Y/n could never be, it was a homewrecker.

 Susie entered her home happily. Her husband and son greeting her at the entrance, "Hello, liebling. How was the interview? I can assume it went well since you're smiling from ear to ear." Toto said, kissing his wife on the forehead. "She's perfect, Toto. She is everything I wanted and more in a personal assistant. Not to mention she's absolutely gorgeous. If she were to go to a GP, people would assume she is some sort of supermodel WAG." Susie said absentmindedly.

Toto gave his wife an odd look as she bent down to greet their five-year-old. His wife was what some people would call a girl's girl and she definitely has complimented other women before, but the way she had talked about the woman she had met with made him feel curious. She had never sounded so infatuated with anyone other than him and Jack.

Of course, Toto knew that his wife was not going to cheat on him and especially not with another woman, but there was just a feeling in his gut that said there was something more than just a regular excitement to be getting the F1 Academy project off the ground. 

"Yeah? Is that right?" Toto asked, "Yes. She used to be a F2 driver too, so she is the most perfect candidate for the job. I think you and Jackie would lover her." Susie said, kissing the top of Jack's head and carrying him into the kitchen.

Toto shook his head as he chuckled. He didn't know what the woman was like, but she must have been super amazing because she left such an impression on his wife that she was positively gushing about the new PA.

By the time Susie stopped talking about the new PA, Toto himself couldn't wait to meet her and he was now sharing the excitement that she was practically projecting off her in waves.

This was the start of something new and both Wolff's could tell.

↳ ❝ [Taglist] ¡!❞

@exotic-iris13 @alliwantisadonut @evie-119 @xoscar03 @cheyxfu @laur2608 @sunnylikesfrogs @goldenmoonbeam @victorharrington @only-nope

Unable to tag all of you

This one was over 6k words. I felt like I needed to give you guys this since I had been away for so long.

DO NOT ask me to update this story. I'll update when I can.

Anyway, only accepting 9 more people to be tagged

[sgiandubh]

Lights, camera, shit show

I was just cleaning my OL folders (all those Chinese paintings and scrolls do take a horrendous amount of space, heh) and I just stumbled upon something I completely forgot to share and discuss with you. I found this particular article during my solitaire lurking months and I remember being befuddled by it for a long time, then thought I've lost it for good.

I don't remember ever seeing it shared or discussed in here, either and if, by any slim chance, I am wrong, kindly forgive me. That professional website is now closed, but its content is still available to browse:

Anyway, there goes: https://www.studiodaily.com/2018/06/outlander-dp-stephen-mcnutt-asc-csc-saucy-scottish-show/

We discussed Terry Dresbach and her inebriated rants, Vanessa Woman's devastating impact on set as Intimacy Coordinator, RDM's jealousy and many other aspects of life on the OL set. Rumors likely to have originated there peppered our shipping trail like flickering lights in a sea of darkness. So yes, we dissected these things to death. But not Stephen McNutt's interview to Studio Daily, on June 22, 2018 - please keep in mind the date, it is essential!

Stephen McNutt is a well-established professional and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), as he hails from British Columbia. He also has a consistent track record of previous work with RDM, both on Battlestar Galactica and Caprica (its prequel). Therefore, one has to immediately suppose he was handpicked and brought on set by the same RDM, of course: set a very low bar on your expectations, I am warning you.

By the grace of RDM, he was one of the main Directors of Photography for OL during Seasons Two and Three. IMDb is not the best source for corroborating things, because they credit him with 13 episodes in Season Two (including La Dame Blanche- he is the Blue Room guy!), but only one for Season Three (First Wife), which is completely wrong. I even had to check some opening credits on Netflix (at reduced speed, ugh), because he speaks at length of A. Malcolm, something that would have made little sense otherwise. He was there, of course: and his is a first-hand account, heavily loaded with both innuendo and TPTB bullshit, up to the point of complete incoherence.

We focus on the three final questions:

This is a study in bullshitology, right here. The question asked is very clear and very technical: how did you approach those famous love scenes?

The answer is a mumble jumble of retcon, deflections, slips and overall impossible scramble for a logical explanation. I am doing a line by line, because this is almost too good to be true:

'(...) But as far as Cat and Sammy making love (...)' : um, hello and excuse me, I thought the question was about Jamie and Claire?!? And then we are delusional and can't fucking separate, when your own henchman, the Director of Photography no less, seems to be totally unable to do so, too? Hello? Also: 'Sammy'? 'Sammy'? What. The. Total. Fuck, and I LOLed then and I am still LOLing now. Terms of endearment overheard on set - but no, here comes the 'friendship' shite, hitting the narrative fan with Mach 5 speed. Objective? Explaining in a plausible way the hugging and 'keeping warm'. And I am sorry, but this begs the question: what the hell did this man see on that set? And how many people did see the same, hence the need to release such a gratuitous lie, for pure retconning purposes?

'They are not an item at all - I think she just got married'. Oh, fuck my life, man: you are such a terrible, terrible liar! Remember, that interview was taken in June 2018: after the OZ EFH and just about when C. was gleefully answering 'oh, God forbid!' every time she was prompted by press about her marriage plans. How can somebody with a pretty high trophic level and personal rapport to both S and C be totally unaware about C's marital status at the time? How can a long time acquaintance and coworker of RDM say no both to a friend and to a current boss (same person, the worst case scenario) asking for a favor, in that particular context? It also goes to prove that the shit show plot mainlines never originated with S and C and that the Remarkable Week-end was already planned for quite some time. By TPTB. With the full knowledge of RDM.

Let's suppose Mr. McNutt was so deeply engrossed in his work as not to notice all the people who must have congratulated C on set. I mean, I know who our (spinster) colleague from Accounting is currently banging and that guy is (mercifully) not among our staff (I totally wish them well, btw). Maybe because nobody congratulated C on that fakegagement? Also, you know them well enough to confidently say 'they are not an item', but don't know she was not married at the time and state an enormity with the same confidence? What in the name of the hoo-ha did I just read, here?

'I was always in such amazement of that.' In amazement of exactly what, Mr. McNutt? Surely not a woman holding hands or keeping warm with her gay co-star on set, huh? I mean, I need the best American English dictionary, here:

Again: what the heck did this man see? What comments did he hear? Surely, 'amazement' is a very precise choice of wording, with particularly enlightening synonyms:

Hence the need to end the demonstration with a deflection: 'They would just have fun.' You know, there is no such thing as a virgin whore, Mr. McNutt: you either are in such astonishment or you think your pals, good old S and C, such a funny girl, were having, well... 'fun', what else? You can't logically have both in the same paragraph!

And there we go: 'a very collegial atmosphere on set'. The answer is pure fool's gold, if you ask me: 'Nobody goes to sit in a trailer or says they aren’t showing up that day. '

And I laughed. And I laughed. And I laughed. I really don't know what this man is talking about. I never heard McTavish telling S to get out of that trailer ('nephew'). I never read the 'two very loved-up birdies' in a trailer a-rockin' Anons. I never watched that 2015 Anglophile SDCC interview, when S mentioned listening in their shared trailer to Erasure's Oh, l'Amour and C immediately reacted ('oh, did you just admit to that?'). But unlike me, McNutt must have been legally bound by a big cojones Non-Disclosure Agreement and morally bound by loyalty towards RDM, his friend, boss and benefactor.

This. All of the above. This is the real reason for all the bullshit you've just read: explaining a real, shocking love story by socially progressive regulations, allowing the cast to be 'much more happy'. I would laugh some more, if this was not sinister and cruel, in fact.

It is Love. A deep, strong one. But the seeds of the adverse narrative were planted early and deep, forcing even decent people like this guy to lie and smear himself a bit in the process. What we see and hear now are but better worded and more refined consequences of that fateful January 2016 morning in LA. And since I am allowed the dubious luxury only a healthy distance in time allows, let me remind you a simple, fun fact about this interview who stated they were never an item:

About ten months after McNutt uttered these words, the fandom was hit by the Covfefe Pics.

I rest my case.

[flagellant]

Putting this on anon, because I'm pretty sure this is an opinion that might upset people, but it's still relevant to the discussion you're currently having/stuck in.

I, personally, don't believe you CAN appropriate Japanese culture, for the same reason I don't believe you can appropriate American, British, Russian, or Chinese (Beijin central official government) culture.

Because these are imperialist powers who have literally murdered and waged war to FORCE people to adopt their culture. I feel like once a group walks up, says "You will adopt this culture or WE WILL KILL YOU," everyone is allowed to do whatever the fuck they want with it.

Now, I love Japan, I love Japanese culture and artwork, and yes, anime, but I think that anyone who high on the bandwagon of "Oh, you can't do that, that's ApPrOpRiAtIoN of the Japanese culture, needs to read some fucking Japanese history. Ideally stuff written by the Japanese.

The people worried about appropriation of Japanese culture are the same ones who dog-piled on a designer for making a Kimono in an Clan Tartan (she was half Japanese, half Scottish) because they were CERTAIN she was a non-Japanese """Appropriating""" Japanese culture.

Also, I follow all the Japanese official government twitters, and about once every other week they just tweet out a whole slew of "Come join us at such and such, learn about traditional Japanese culture! Come participate in our festivals! We really, REALLY want everyone to come be part of our cultural heritage! We'll send you free books on the subject!"

Closing clarification. I absolutely believe that Cultural Appropriation is a real thing, it is a real problem. Especially when dealing with smaller cultural groups that have been suppressed in the past, one must tread with care and the utmost respect. I very specifically have worked to remove terms taken from certain cultures from my common usage and vocabulary because people from those cultures have asked. Spirit Animal, Golem, (The cannibal spirit repeated referenced in Hannibal), these are terms that have important cultural significance, and diluting and misusing them is wrong.

But, again, if a major historical factor in a culture is "We are literally going to murder you and your family if you DON'T adopt our culture," I think you lose pretty much all right to claim/complain about appropriation of your culture.

Okay so you do realize that the reason the Japanese official government twitter posts "Come learn about all these traditional cultural and historical things" is because they want people to learn about Japanese culture so that they DON'T continue appropriating it, yes?

All I'm going to tell you is you seriously need to remind yourself what, exactly, cultural appropriation is. It doesn't just mean feeling entitled to a closed culture's practices. It means the theft and misinterpretation of a culture due to a lack of knowledge and respect for that culture within its own context. Wearing a kimono as someone who isn't Japanese isn't appropriative. Dressing as a geisha for Halloween is appropriative. A foreigner seeking to become a geisha isn't appropriative; Memoirs of a Geisha is appropriative.

I am trying to say this in the most well-intentioned way I can, and I hope you understand it as such: The reason you think this opinion will upset people is because it's an opinion which literally any fucking East Asian person would see and go "What the actual living fuck is this bullshit." If you are as invested in respecting these cultures and in not perpetrating racist and dismissive attitudes towards its people as you claim, I would really suggest you need to do a better job and actually find fucking someone, anyone, who is East Asian, because the concept of "It's impossible to appropriate Japanese (and by extension of your definition Chinese) culture" is literally why the term cultural appropriation exists in the first place.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Someone recently claimed that the new Davies era of doctor who has no more wokism* than the show used to.

Now, maybe I've just changed in the past few decades, but from what I've heard of the 60th anniversary specials it does seem a tad more concentrated. Cherry-picking SPOILERS, sweeties.

- Donna got married offscreen. To what I can only assume is the last black cab driver in London.

- Her kid is trans. Specifically, non-binary, female presenting, says the wiki.** - In the next episode, we learn the Doctor is gay/bi when he thinks Sir Isaac Newton is hot. I'd smugly say this bit has no real relevance, but...the actual scene does carry the episode theme of accidentally changing reality. It's just the queer bit that seems tacked on. Though it does carry forward themes from 10s era. - Sir Zack himself is played by a half-Indian actor. It's not exactly hard to tell. I'm assuming they're running on Bridgerton logic. https://twitter.com/frozenaesthetic/status/1731332492282429950 - This episode is basically just Donna and the Doc exploring a weird location, and running into monsters, who happen to look like them. It would be a bottle episode, except for the large vfx budget. And yet ol' Rusty somehow managed to awkwardly wedge in an  progressive issue. - In the next episode, the villain explains how he's just exploiting the divisions that already exist in human society, including cancel culture. - no wait he's got a point. Jpg - This is ironic, given that Davies and/or his broadcasting house masters are pretty blatantly on the team that a) coined the word,  b) cancels people the most often, and c) defends the idea of Internet lynch mobs*** (***as long as they're left wing. If not, they're *ist "trolls", even if they're just complaining about the latest sacred cow.) Maybe the Davies was criticizing his own team. * Because the Toymaker was kind of racist back in the day (white dude dressed like a stereotypical Chinese dude), Davies made the new version a bit racist "as a callback to his original, problematic depiction back in 1966." - TVtropes, ref. DW Unleashed. On the other hand, the Toymaker also mocks and dresses as several other cultural archetypes. All the ones I've seen were white European ones. He just does this to everyone, apparently. - Toymaker also weaponizes the Spice Girls hit "Spice Up Your Life". No, I will not explain. Though I will note that a line about the "Yellow man in Timbuktu" was apparently drowned out in the episode. Probably for being a tad spicy. - One new UNIT character is a lady in a wheelchair. When the new Tardis - no, I will not explain - has a wheelchair ramp, she happily points it out. Which makes me wonder why the blue box would be so limited, considering it often deals with alien species. - Also, the same actress played a disabled Companion in the Big Finish audio dramas. I'm not sure why it was considered essential to do so in an entirely audio format, but there have been controversies over this sort of thing before (EG Artie on Glee, various racial voice acting controversies). - At this point, casting Ncuti Gatwa as 15 doesn't even register. Not really a blip on my radar. Black Doc? Whatevs. His sonic screwdriver has Rwandan words on it? So? I go to church with lots of Africans. Heck, I'm a black immigrant to ol' Blighty myself, just from the other side of the pond. Ncuti is, chronologically speaking, more British than I am. - Though given that he's Rwandan-Scottish, there may be some debate on the "British" part. - Wikipedia says the actor is pretty left-wing, but the actor seems good so far, so I'm willing to give him a sha-

Oh, come ON!

Maybe the original person speaking was comparing it to the Chibnall “history has always been a whitewash” era, which had a character who was a paper thin Trump satire. A tad ironic, when the whole point of bringing Davies, Tennant, and Tate back is to play on nostalgia.

*Tangent: that word was apparently voted  the most annoying words in English. Which is kind of hilarious if you know that it was originally created to self-describe certain progressives. And the "you can't even define that word!" meme was almost certainly ripped off from the right wing "what is a woman?" Meme. ** This is apparently because she's part Time Lord, through Donna. It seems a tad interesting to me that a few works featuring non binary characters happen to make them enby due to some sort of supernatural (Omniscient Reader) or sci-fi (SW Squadrons) influence which the vast majority of IRL enbies don't have. ...As far as I know.

[1800duckhotline]

tell me about your butch4butches they look fantastic

Oh my god where do I begin.........You need to know i've had chelsea and juliya since i was 12... in my head... they STARTED OUT AS GIRLFRIENDS since the beginning and somehow i couldnt read the signs until i was 20

For now I am slowly reworking their lore, but it goes a little bit like this:

Chelsea and Juliya met 10 years prior to current day (where they are 30 and in Brighton, UK). They used to be part of a small mercenary group doing the bidding of high-paying clients, with their jobs involving typically assassinations and sometimes genuine espionage (though this isnt what Chelsea or Juliya did, so I'm not focused on that). The group was called "The Queen's Diamond" (QD for short) and they used to be part of the same group of operations, like there was group A, B, C, etc, they were part of the same group (let's say A... again, lots of lore will need to be reworked so thats why I'm vague).

Chelsea Fan (Scottish-Chinese gal with burn scars and eyepatch)

Chelsea was involved in the group since a young age due to the fact that she is literally the adopted daughter of the QD's leader. The leader was a hardass woman who decided to adopt Chelsea out of nowhere, as Chelsea unfortunately has had a rough childhood, born in Scotland to parents that then left her behind for reasons she does not remember (nor does she care much).

All she remembers is how ever since she was young she was affected by vampirism - a peculiar strain of the sickness, which entails her needing even more blood than the average person, as well as having bites that are not automatically infectious. (think of it as a 70/100 chance of catching vampirism if she bites you).

While I am still combing through her lore specifically, the short of it is that she hates her mom, and hates her life as a killer under her control - her vampirism is sincerely the least aggravating thing for her, even though her being reliant on being provided gallons of blood daily by the group makes it hard for her to branch off. Though she'd also like to know what the hell is up with her version of the virus.

Chelsea comes off as a sardonic girl who masks her true emotions and mind demons with sarcasm, out-of-place humor and enjoys getting a rise out of people. She genuinely enjoys fighting to some extent but likes to keep aces up her sleeve. She is a gunsmith by trade and knows more about guns than you ever will.

She is very scared of fire as a result of the incident that left her scarred. This might be obvious but you never know

Juliya Ivanovic (Serbian + bald + built like a truck)

Juliya was snatched by the group in a way similar to Chelsea. As you can imagine, operations like these are born from the predatory practice of plucking troubled children away from the possibilities of recovering from a difficult childhood, and she was one among many like this. I have never truly pinpointed well how she would be involved in an operation like this, but you can expect a difficult childhood being what shapes her for years to come.

Juliya deep down is a caring person, but doesn't like to get attached. She tends to have difficulty with experiencing emotions, and does not enjoy seeming 'weak' in front of others, especially since she has bmore or less always adopted the role of the "protector" among social groups she is in. She comes off as cold and rude, but to her this is just tough love. (She was never taught differently)

When she was in the group she essentially got a crash course on "All you need to know to be an efficient field medic". Taught to be a first aid help on field jobs and also when they were at the base, she was one of the "nurses" (in quotations bc none of them were qualified with university diplomas, but you know).

Juliya is like, a raging lesbian. Problem is she's also the most stuck up lesbian who can't grapple with her preference ever. While she took extremely long to realize she was a lesbian, it eventually clicked - what's not clicking now to her is that she does not find feminine women attractive, and only ever has had desires or interests towards masculine women, which makes her feel weird. Especially when her thoughts always pivot towards, well. Chelsea. COUGH

the short of it is that eventually a disastrous incident happens in the group and it results in chelsea leaving forever, Juliya also quitting, and them eventually slowly reintegrating themselves with 'normal' society. They properly met at 16, in the QD, and basically grew up together, the accident happens when they're both 22 or so... They physically could not see each other for at least 8 years, leading them in their 30s.

Though both of them knew neither were fit to be entirely normal citizens - Juliya got her way of becoming a qualified physician, meanwhile Chelsea turned to a life of killing for hire, however this time on her own terms - which is much more preferable. In time, Juliya was approached by the P.A.U. (Planetary Assassin Union) to become one of their informants (individuals who hand out jobs to local assassins) by swinging in front of her face a fat paycheck. And this is how she and chelsea meet again in person proper, though I think they probably kept in contact somehow during their time apart too. Juliya would not be at peace not knowing Chelsea's whereabouts.

Their whole dynamic is a mess and this is already so long. But it's kind of fucked up sad childhood friends (teenhood ...?), co-workers of sorts (i'd hardly call chelsea's situation that of a nepo baby since her "mom" exploited her vampirism to the QD's benefits), them having completely different personalities which is extremely attractive to both of them.

Especially since Chelsea gets around a lot with women, she kind of is afraid of commitment and jumps in many beds often. And Juliya is kind of jealous but... would never admit it. Because she cannot understand that butch4butch is a thing. Chelsea also has feelings for Juliya btw but. allergy to commitment. Anyway hey hows it going

[evegwood]

NOOOO i am too late to the party, can I still submit my ask? If the inhibit cast could speak any other language other than English, which one would it be?

Haha don't worry, I'm always happy to answer questions and this is a fun one!

A few of the characters already know another language - David knows British Sign Language fairly fluently, though he definitely has a hearing "accent" (less fluid signing, tendency to use English constructions rather than the way a fluent BSL user would phrase something, difficulty reading fast fingerspelling). He also understands Urdu because his mum is Pakistani but isn't as good at speaking it.

Like a lot of kids in the UK, the Earl kids were taught some German but wouldn't be able to say anything other than like "Ich lebe im Vereinigten Königreich" and "Scheisse" because language education is here is terrible and even worse at Earl.

Masha speaks textbook French because she's a swot and would learn Russian if she could because her adoptive family is originally from Russia.

Nate is Chinese-American (born in San Francisco, moved to the UK when he was really young) so he'd be like oh yeah one day I'm totally going to learn Chinese. And you'd ask if he would learn Cantonese or Mandarin and he'd be like what.

Paulina's family is Polish but she wouldn't be much interested in learning it. She doesn't plan on going to Poland any time soon. Same with Julia, she'd have no interest in learning Scottish Gaelic, it's too hard and stumbling through German articles has put her off language-learning.

If Vic had to learn a language he'd probably prefer to study BSL properly - his signing is pretty poor comparatively and he wouldn't be able to hold any sort of conversation with another BSL user beyond the basics, it's like a cobbled-together sign language based on library books and what David has taught him. Otherwise he'd be much more interested in learning the history of another country than its language.

[sailoropal]

My Pinned Bio / Summary

Hallo // This pinned bio makes it easier to explain myself, this blog, and what content will likely be spammed with it. As well as reaching out to other fans also thriving here, heh.

I must quickly clarify I do interact with 18+ content, so please, minors DNI and everyone else, proceed with caution; however, this post is SFW, hah!

About Me:

I go by Fae or Spec (She/They).

I am 24 years old - ENFP and queer [not a shock considering my sailor moon core]

A recent postgrad burnout woman who has resigned from the stressful 9 - 5 STEM grad job I had to now work as a disability student support worker. There's a lot more flexibility in this role that allows me to have passions and personality outside my Degrees and Academics, haha!

Regarding birth charts and for the sake of astrology I am Taurus Sun, Capricorn Moon, and Sagittarius Rising.

I have ASD - Like many women, I was late diagnosed due to many in my community dismissing my observational signs as "quirks" and "A wee bit away with the fae". I masked a lot in my life, but I realize it is essential for my mental health to unmask where possible.

My first language is Gàidhlig; later in my life, I learned English when I wanted to move from the Scottish isles, where I grew up. So, if you have a DnD/OC character influenced by Celtic Myth/Gaelic culture, I am happy to give advice and commentary.

Anime/Shows:

Attack on Titan, Avatar-The Last Airbender, Aggretsuko, Anohana, Bleach, Berserk, Chainsaw Man, Devilman Crybaby, Digimon, Dororo, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Made in Abyss, My Hero Academia, Naruto, One Piece, Pokémon, Sailor Moon, Shiki, Yu-gi-oh!, Yu Yu Hakusho, Lovely Complex, My Love Story!!, Wonder Egg Priority, Romantic Killer, Toradora, RWBY, ROTTMNT, Adventure Time, Bee and Puppycat, and a TON of K-dramas/C-dramas/J-dramas - atm I am watching a K-drama called The Glory and my most absolute fave is Strong Girl Bong-Soon.

I am starting the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and I am open to more recommendations!

Video Games:

Animal Crossing, Bloodborne, Baldur's Gate 3, Fire Emblem, Bravely Default, Cult of the Lamb, Dark Souls, Diablo, Hades, Stardew Valley, Rune Factory, Monster Hunter, Minecraft, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, The Sims, Style Savvy DS series (Dress-up Games are my weakness), Pokémon, Super Princess Peach (also looking forward to the switch release!)

Okay, I am also obsessed with Dating Horror Games:

John Doe, Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack, DachaBo!, Frost Bite, My Dear Hatchet Man, House Hunted.

(I know Your Boyfriend is a popular one - the game is fun, but I am not a fan of the creator.)

I intend to play the likes of Touch Starved, Courtin' Cowboys, Snaggemon, Trapped with Jester, and more, heh. :^

Books:

I read a lot of Fanfiction alongside actual works by Elizabeth Lim, Sue Lynn Tan, Sarah J Maas, Judy Lin - Anything that is literally Chinese Mythic Based Plot, and Fae Smut, if I gotta be honest with you PFFT. I am on Booktok a ton, so recommendations are appreciated while I organise my Kindle.

Roleplay/Writing:

I have been roleplaying/writing since about 15/16, so I have a few years of writing experience creating OCs and writing out RP Ideas. I went on an extended hiatus as I finished university and took time off to deal with my mental health as I settled into a new routine. I am currently not outright seeking RP partners as I slowly find the time to write again, but I am open to people reaching out to discuss their OCs and RP ideas!

I am such a recluse who will binge fanart, headcanons, and fanfics - I love listening to people talk about their OCs, Fanfics, AUs, and the works. If you share my hyperfixations, don't hesitate to infodump! I might get distracted and forget to respond- but I WILL respond.

[short-black-diamond]

HEYY *put shades on* I'm here to hear some business

I'm interested in hearing you talk about what caught your eye in The Tomato Can and I wanna know if you have an oc for it *Slides over a pink briefcase*

- 🍰nom

Hiiii~! *stares at the sun angrily because in no possession of sunglasses* I have business. *gives heavy pink envelope into the briefcase, gives a lil heart-sticker on the briefcase, slides briefcase back*

Also I didn't proofread.

I think I should start with the OC's I thought of because my analysis might take a while for you to read and I don't want you getting bored of my writing. So, I think I'd have two OC who could be friends of Milana. Let's think of a scottish buff woman, idk what to call her, but I thought of her looking like Merida from brave, but just--more muscles? And a Chinese one -please don't think I'm racist- who at first thinks that Milana is another easy opponent who doesn't take shit seriously when fighting against her, only to get her ass whooped in the process. I don't know, but I want to call her Mei or Feng, Idk, I imagine her having bangs which go a little over her eyes? But with like, a super serious expression, and Mei/feng is all about honor and has been fighting as some sort of family tradition, and when she looses against Milana does she try to copy her? But like, Mei looks at Milana like a student would look at his master, in such a way.

Like.--imagine:

Milana: *Does laundry a certain way*

Mei/Feng: *trying to fold them in the exact same way*

Merida?? Pls help me give her a name: *joins as well because she wants to feel included too*

and just---wholesome shit, you know?

And then I just thought...why not a little more drama??

So I thought with a few new fighters just being mean girls and ruining Milana's day?? Oh! What if Milana had a female coach, who also doesn't look like a fighter because she retired! Let's call her Ms. Carmichael, and she is just the sweetest person, and then I thought about Milana, Feng/Mei, Merida???, Elijah and Kublai trying to bring Ms. Carmichael and Coach Trevor together and I think that would be cute too.... But let me hear your thoughts as well!

Anyways-

hello and welcome to ...

short-black-diamond's webtoon "The tomato can" analysis!

Here, I am going to point out some details I've found about when reading the episodes of the tomato can!

Also this will contain spoilers? Because I'm going to summarise some episodes, so read at your own risk!

In the very first episode, Elijah is introduced as a golden boy. His opponent is "Guy 'The Machine' Nevazno", (Nevazno means doesn't matter) but what caught my eye was what stood on his boxers. Baby wipes. On his grey boxers stood legit baby wipes.

Like c'mon bro. I laughed so hard at this!!

But then, and I repeat, then there's this hot teacher, like I really wanna know her name. Like, bro, you don't understand-

I wish I could put her pic here, but then it'd be very weird, so you can just reread episode 1 again. Still, I'd do my very best to be a good student, because dayum she's hot. I don't get how he can sleep in her classes. (I secretly hope she will turn up later in the webtoon, if not I'm gonna cry.)

Then, later in the episode, Elijah is fighting against someone and barely wins, and there is another fight announced with Kevin "Bam Bam" Boseman. Please keep that name in mind, because I will go deeper on that name later on.

Anyways, in episode two, we can see Elijah barely winning the fight, and then he has some sort of afterparty all alone because his coaches didn't want to be seen with him (at least that one brother-Idk which one), and so, Elijah was just in a club or something and chilling with a drink. Then, Zach comes with his underlings? and just brings Elijah down.

Elijah warns him to leave, but Zach doesn't listen, and eggs the russian on even more, to which Elijah punches him and says something along the lines of "that was two years ago, bitch", which means that Elijah had all his fights with Zach (six fights) in the past.

(-I like to think that Elijah will beat Zach up in that tournament he took part in, let's hop for that to happen!-)

And, well, as the bodyguards interfere, tearing the boys apart, Zach was about to call him something, but Elijah just growls??? Wait, lemme just-

Yeah, that's what I mean. I think Elijah wanted to break free from that guy's grip, but it would also be funny if Elijah just growled at Zach.

Looking into the next few panels, we can see J.J. (Joseph Jericho) and his assistant/secretary Hank (what's his last name?) conversing and Elijah wants to take J.J. out for a drink. And then---I also love this panel-

Like, look at poor Hanks face. He angy bro. Look at him pout. Look at ugly jericho. This is why you don't have a wife, J.J. (He called Hanks wife shitty) IN THIS HOUSE WE RESPECT HANK'S WIFE.

And later on, when they're in some sort of restaurant, where Elijah wanted to ask Jericho about turning him into a golden boy, but before he could do that, Jericho slapped him with the cold truth. (I'm not going to write down what he said.)

But, then there was that TV show Jericho mentioned, "So you want to be a mixed martial artist?" (=name of tv show), where Elijah had a week to decide whether he'd like to join or not.

Now on to episode three, where some fighters are introduced. First, we have Joe Rumsfeld, whose nickname is GSM (Genetically superior male), and he wears something like gear?? Idk what he's wearing but it's not clothes according to Mr. Gills, the producer and director. BUt please keep in mind that he had such a headgear where it stands fight club- wait lemme just..Yeah, on the right is Joe, on the left V-cube. (idk who the person in the back is but nice jawline I guess?)

AND THEN WE HAVE PRECIOUS BEEFY VASILY VADYMOVYCH VOVCHANCHYN WHO HAS HIS CUTE LITTLE CUTIE-PATOOTIE SMILE LIKE I JUST CAN'T, 🍰-NOM, HE'S SO SWEET!!! Anyways, his friends not being able to pronounce his name is such a mood.

Again, keep in mind what Alpha male (the person next to v-cube) is wearing.

Then we have Bokassa with his cool spiritual horn, and I love how he just--believes in it! (The horn is never wrong) We also have Oscar Castro Fontana, a brazilian, who wants to represent his country and bring the big money to his family. Ah, what a man. But I don't really get the size disadvantage because in the later episodes, he looked like he'd be the same height as Vasily.

Now on to my third favourite, Kublai Khan, my wonderful psycho killer, who scared the living shit outta Mr. Gills/dad and the rest of the staff when he answered their question.

AND THEN--THEN THERE'S..omg, jason Hardwood...also known as "Lil sturdy", but like bro...I can't, like everytime I read his name or think about him, I have to think that "Lil sturdy" ... just stands for ....little dick---I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME BUT I WANT TO MAKE MILANA BULLY JASON SO MUCH ABOUT HIS NAME LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW-

And now to Zach...Zach Heartly...if evil why pretty face? Like, hear me out. Why does he have that long hair?? like for what? I mean, I don't really like him, but he looks handsome-you get what I mean?? And then, later on, his hair just whooshes when he finds out that ELijah is joining too.

And then he sweats? Like what are you so nervous for, Hartly?? Scared Elijah might beat your ass this time?

Anyways, Jason hardwood/lil sturdy (omg I still can't stop laughing abt it) tries to rile up Kublai because he beat his elder brother, Johnny, however, Kublai makes him mad by addressing him by his brother's name, to which Izo Honda (Daimyo) has to hold him back. And now to Izo. He's a gossip lover. Like, look.

But in the next panel he's just-

Like bro😭😭

And in the beginning of the fourth episode, we can see the brothers (Elijah's coaches) argumenting with each other that Elijah is not good enough to become a golden boy. *sad diamond noises*

Also, later on -sorry that I am going fast forward tthe hole time, but- we see Vasily trying to make Elijah his friend and I think that's really sweet of him. Also Vasily promising Elijah that he'll teach him russian for the time being is just so wholesome, but Elijah is a lil suspiscious of him and doesn't trust him at first.

Also if we look at the guys interacting with each other, Medusa asks GSM abt his clothes which are not there, but-

Kelvin Coin...bro I love this webtoon so much

Also can we look at Elijah? He's taller than Coah Trevor and Kublai and just

Just look at them. I mean, yeah the size difference is not really there but still. Also why is Kublai's chin so pointy?? Trevor looks like he aged like fine wine (not that I'm calling him old) and Elijah is just so good-looking...it makes my heart go doki-doki (ok I'll stop☠)

In episode 5, Vasily invites Elijah to take some of his nerves away, but Elijah isn't really happy there. Also not Medusa giving Joe stank eyes for drinking from a bottle...look-

What does Rhabdo stand for? I just looked it up and it stands for Rhabdomyolysis, which is a condition in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly. (-> which I looked up on wikipedia) So like, maybe that, or it means sth completely else.

Also, another reason why Elijah is my fave, is because he doesn't drink alcohol. Then, we have Mario Di Vito (MDV), who gives Elijah his left hand to shake because he doesn't have a right hand. ELijah doesn't even address that, but the tattoo. MDV feels delighted (in my opinion) that he doesn't get asked by a stranger abt his missing hand, but gets warned by Elijah playfully who says that he won't go easy on Mario.

I'm happy that Elijah is like that. *happy diamond noises*

And then, it comes to the conversation of Joe talking abt memories, and that takes us back to the first episode, where I talked about Kevin "Bam Bam" Boseman, if you can remember.

I think Kevin, Joe and Medusa were pals once, and maybe Kevin Boseman made it big as a fighter? I'm excited for what will happen in the future!

And then Joe talked abt college days and how they were drunk and a skunk, and then we have poor Mr. Gills/dad who looses it. Also the camera man is looking at them with a concerned face.

And Elijah just laughes his ass off by dark humor, according to Vasily.

And then, in episode six, we have Trevor recommending ELijah and Kublai to fight one round to close off for the night, and The bearded coach sent Izo/drama lover over to see if they could finally use the cage, but then-

izo runs towards his coach, and then-

look at him being all excited. I mean I'd be like that too, but no one is as excited as him in the webtoon.

In episode seven, Elijah finally lands a kick with "double cheese and mayo", as coach trevor explains which is "the code for a straight a straight left and calf kick".

And well, at the end of the seventh episode, Kublai recalls his memories on how Coach trevor stopped his right leg, but then he remembered that Coach Trevor actually blocked his left leg, and it was Elijah who gave him that nasty bruise on the right side of his knee-leg part.

In episode eight, we can see Elijah being one pound over the weight limit because of the energy drinks, according to Kublai, to which Elijah gets an earful. Maybe I'll write Milana making Vasily and Elijah getting a diet?

Then we have our Alpha male who has to wear that to sponsor the TV show. Can't wear his rhabdo thingy anymore i guess lol

As the fighers Elijah and Ethan are being checked by the security, Gills interviews the other fighters again. That blue haired guy, Donovan "the freak" Day says Elijah is the weakest link and that Ethan't going to win the fight easily. Alpha male exclaims that it's going to be a boring fight and that they should watch his instead. Stfu man no one likes u.

Then we have sweet Vasily who looks concerned on Elijah's behalf because of the wounds Kublai gave him, and our cool Bokassa, who says that Elijah will win, which makes mr. Gills perk up.

Also Elijah being 23? and Ethan 25? Damn, I dunno what I should expect- I actually wrote Milana being 20 in my fics, is that okay for you, 🍰-nom?

Now we know Hank's last name too, who is moderating the fight. Hank Morel, who is also vice president of the Pankration F.C. (idk what F.C. stands for)

I also love how Ethan tried to to the fake glove touch trick with Elijah as well, but homeboy got warned and info-dumped by Vasily and Alpha male. And well, Ethan got punched and nearly lost his balance and stood on wobbly legs.

---

That's it for this post! Thank you for reading this far! All the pictures I put up in this post do not belong to me but MAGNOZZ , WmW. Please support them on Instagram!

If you want to hear more about what I'd say about the webtoon, please like or comment, I'm all ears!

Please also read the Webtoon, it's really fun!

Read you in the next post!

[hillnerd]

Do you speak another language besides Spanish?

No. For a little bit I knew some Italian but now I think I can only say ‘how much does that cost?’ with any solidness. I can speak a few phrases and sentences in other languages like French, Hindi, Scottish Gaelic, Latin, and Portuguese- but that’s it.

I tried to learn some Chinese for a Chinese speaking student this semester but boy oh boy that went horribly. She just was like ‘thanks for trying but… no’ 😂 i need to listen to people saying pronunciations and then I can do ok once I have that down. I can use translation apps and dictionaries to muddle through enough that people understand me but am terrible at remembering and constructing new sentences in anything but present tense in every language but English 😝

[thepomegranatewitch]

Before I am anything else I am mixed race. I’m not Asian enough for the Koreans and I’m not allowed to be white because of exotifying thinking and I am consistently asked about my convert status. (We’ll leave aside the fact that it is halachicly unacceptable to treat a convert differently, and just focus on the racism that no-one believes I was born myself.) In the 90s we were given standardized testing over and over and required to mark only one bubble for our race, and I always felt I had to choose between mother and father. I alternated. Now there’s finally a box for people who don’t fit neatly into boxes.

So I don’t fill out anything but ‘other’ unless it’s medical and to my benefit my ethnic history is noted. Even then it’s hard - I asked a nurse in the perinatal period how they want me to mark ‘Jewish,’ and she started lecturing me that being Jewish isn’t a race. Ma’am. It is absolutely relevant to know if two parents are Ashkenazi when having babies.

I am multitudes. I have the privileges of everything my family is and the disadvantages of everything my family is. I can self identify however I like, but at the end of the day, people are going to racialize me and ask invasive questions about where I’m really from, no, you know, where you’re from from. Are you Hawaiian? Are you Egyptian? Oh you’re Chinese? Don’t you know this because you’re Vietnamese? No you’re not Scottish don’t be ridiculous. Wanna hear a joke I made up? An Asian Jew!!! If I have the time I go back 150 years and explain my full family history, following a person around because they asked and I am answering.

But it doesn’t matter. I AM Asian and I AM Jewish and I AM white. It doesn’t matter if you want to pretend like you’re not white by current definitions. It doesn’t matter if racists will treat you differently if you wear a star, because they don’t know until they see. They’ll make up all sorts of tests just like terfs and decide if you pass or not based on their standards. Yes, race is made up. But if everyone treats you with the benefits of a duck, it doesn’t matter if you’re a swan or a chicken or how well you walk and talk like a duck. You get to be a duck.

For all my Jewish followers, I have a pressing question.

Do you identify your race as Jewish?

I ask this because this is a comment that has come up over time in the communities I've been in, where people say they identify as Jewish above everything else, and do not identify with goys of their same race. I work at a university as a researcher of antisemitism, and this conversation has been coming up in academia as well.

We all know that race is a social construct, and various groups have had the perception of their racial status change over time (Ex. Irish people not being considered white, and more recently Hispanics/Latinos being considered white). It wouldn't be a new concept for the Jewish identity to be racialized, as we were classified as "yellow Eur-Asians" during the Jim Crow era, and non-Aryan during the Shoah (though there were thousands of years leading up to this of us not being considered whatever the dominant racial group was). Many groups still don't consider Ashkenazi Jews white (though these are most often far-right neo-Nazis that barely consider us humans).

North American Ashkenazi Jews who don't identify as white have said their reasoning is that the cultural and ethnic differences of Jews lead to a great divide between white-passing Jews and goys, and the inter-generational trauma of thousands of years of brutal oppression and slavery is something that white goys don't experience. They say that Jews originate from the middle east, so they can't be white even if their skin was paled during exile. They argue that as long as many people don't consider them white, they don't even really have a choice of what they identify as.

To Ashkenazi Jews who do identify as white, they've argued that by racializing your Jewish identity you're, in a way, giving in to what the oppressors want and accepting that you're different.

I just want to know what you think either way.

[nobody-knose--archive]

OH AND on that note can you share more about your fullerenes characters 👀👀

to start, i've got some ocs from a damn while ago called adrian & daniel, based on adrian from temporary boyfriend. i typed up a decently long thing about them a while ago but can't find it anymore so basically, the year is 2002 and adrian capaldi (he/she/it/they) could kick anyone's ass, and daniel matthews (he/him, she/shells, e/em, blank/blanks) is some nervous schmuck who tends to prefer written communication to verbal. after some shenanigans in which his friends egg him on a whole bunch to arrange some kind of date with them, they actually start up more elaborate communication over letters, at first, then, once adrian's introduced it to em decently, online forums & chat rooms! they hang around queer servers mostly, having fun on the wonders of digital communication. daniel's black & jewish, and adrian is of scottish descent.

more recently (& far less developed, as in i am going to make up all their names on the spot right now), how about arlet cisneros ibarra (she/her, ble/bleeps, byte/bytes, zi/ziz), the titular tetris girl of that very song, and her girlfriend fatima saleh (they/them, she/her, ve/vim, pri/prer). figures of legends in two completely different social spheres. nobody ever sees them like, hanging out together, but whenever someone asks out arlet zi's like nah i have a partner, and fatima is frequently going oh man thanks for the free dress my gf will adore it, and so on. arlet is mexican & puerto rican, fatima is liberian.

in contrast, the two guys from abigail- logan engels & ryan yang, they/he criss/cross & he/ze/xe respectively -are never apart from each other. ever. they're the number one slightly annoying, incredibly affectionate, and dysfunctional-seeming gay couple you'll ever meet. they are most commonly seen: bickering whilst cuddling in public, offering unwarranted relationship advice to the hets, and fucking it up in gay bars. i'd say they also date abigail but that's up to june because she's more his oc. regardless they are bi4bi solidarity And hostility. logan is wichita native and ryan is (east) chinese.

i don't have much to say about grace, other than: protagonist/pov character of glamour, transfem she/ey, the girlfriend of not my girlfriend. the (not referred to as such but, c'mon) not my boyfriend of not my girlfriend is adam (transmasc he/vae/it, mouse/mouself), extremely t-not-4-t-because-they're-both-acespec-and-arospec solidarity with grace. the specific line "no, but thanks for asking, she is not my girlfriend" i imagine takes place at a party where some fuck took a look at adam & how much it was hanging around grace, decided to hit her up through him, and misgendered em in the process, to which an extremely emphatic She is not my Girlfriend is like. the only response adam could think of making. mouse is a bit of a mess <3. both of them are african american, adam of sudanese descent.

what else what else. more miscellaneously i like to imagine every hapless guy who's just kind of a pov for songs like andrea, rosemary's baby, secretary of state, geo, and so on (mostly better dating through technology songs. huh) just kinda hangs out sometimes to lament about the struggles of life, girl-related or not. except the gravitational pull guys. they never suffer because they have physics.

the pov guy from satan is a baby (that lives in the sun) is like 6 years old and definitely one of the dudes' younger brothers (maybe they share older brotherhood of them or something) and they also have a younger sibling who's like. 3. and watches the teletubbies a lot. terrifying hir older sister. one time they tried asking their teacher for help with the teletubbies problem but their older brother told their teacher ahead of time to prank them and instead they just ended up crying and because of that i think their older brother took them to one of the Hapless Fellows meetings as compensation. it all worked out in the end because the baby sibling got put watching sesame street instead. god knows why ze was watching a british show in the first place.

[lemonsharks]

sometimes I think about cho chang

I need to be working at work, not writing an entire essay (too late) about How To Introduce Cho Chang (for starters, not with that name) And Not Have Her Entire Character Arc Be A Massive Fail

And, well, it would build out into a large not!fic that I am not starting because: I am also working on a queer/ish regency romance series set in magical england (still figuring out what bits of 'worldbuilding' to keep/toss, as "adding magic" means keeping sexism etc is now a deliberate choice)

1) introduce important characters for later as soon as you can

2) portray them through a lens other than the pov character's thirst, ie, people go for "friends to lovers" way more than they go for "she's hot to lovers"

3) portray characters through their actions, not their stated traits

4) if you're pulling a late- or mid-game love interest switcheroo, and you want audience sympathy, you really need to do it with a character for whom you've already built some sympathy.

Anyway. if I WERE writing the Cho Character Redemption Fic (because I'm already writing the not!fic apparently...)

fix Cho's backstory:

She'd be chinese-korean, for one: two muggle-born parents, bonded over being asian at the most anglo school in the universe. ("My English name is X. My Chinese name is Y. My Korean name is Z. I answer to all 3 of them so pick the one you can pronounce without extra coaching and do not call me [Offensive mispronunciation Q].)

Cho's grandparents are the expected amount of disapproving that their kids (1) did not follow their plans for their educations and (2) married outside of their nationalities but (3) ADORE their granddaughter enough to (begrudgingly?) follow their kids rules about grandparenting (most of the time).

Cho herself appears periodically throughout books 1-3 as a peripheral friend of Harry and Hermione who is sometimes called upon when they new eyes on a problem

She still sorts into Ravenclaw, but it's as much for her common sense as her book smarts. She's seen around campus as a friend to Luna in books 2-3.

Introduce Cho earlier, via not cancelling quidditch in book 3.

an overheard/witnessed conversation in ... book 1 or 2: Some Tool: "Where are you from" Cho: "Glasgow" S.T.: "No I mean where are you REALLY--" Cho: "Whin ah say a'm fae glescae ah mean a'm fae (*&^%!) glescae "

at which point Harry realizes that that wow, 1) wizards have some of the same prejudices muggles have, and 2) he'd like to get to know this girl better, because she has a firecracker personality. ie, make her More Scottish.

Book 2 or 3 sees Cho become Harry's Quidditch Friend.

Book 3 sees Cho become Hermione's Study Friend/

Cho catches the snitch but Gryffindor wins the match; Harry is gracious about it and Cho responds, cheerfully, in defense of both her teammates and the Gryffindor team's skills. They have some time so they get into an interesting conversation about snitch-catch "end with points" vs "simple end" rules (does catching the snitch end the match and earn 150 points or does it simply end the match? this is a matter of DEEP IMPORTANCE and MANY impassioned letters to the editor.) At some point we find out that Cho reads The Quibbler, which gives her some unexpected depth. "Only under the covers with alohamora ;) "

Re-arrange the trio, Hermione's backstory, GOF dynamic:

Ron and Harry are already fighting, but this time Hermione firmly takes Ron's side.

Because Hermione's parents are dentists, but they're also dentists in the 80s and living anywhere from just to oh shit above their means. Plus, the GBP to Wizard exchange rate skews heavily in favor of Wizard, and Hogwarts tuition, which richer than god Harry doesn't have to worry about, is expensive. Books and tools are expensive. Even cat food (you think Crookshanks tolerates anything but the bougiest of magical cat food?) is expensive.

Hermione Understands Poverty, and while it's not like Ron understands poverty, it is in her own way. She has talked her parents into telling her more about their finances than she has any right to know. ("Nothing that's actually happening could possibly be worse than what I've come up with in my own head.")

Hermione was a scholarship kid at her primary school but she's not one at Hogwarts (something about )

She has significantly less patience for Harry's empty-headed "it's just money, it's not important"ing

Because this Hermione? has come home to find the lights turned off because Dad paid the credit cards and not the electricity, then forgot to call the electric company and arrange a payment plan), but she's never woken up hungry the week before payday because Mum magicked extra food into the family dinner.

She's not Rich like Harry and her parents would NEVER self-identify as working class and probably don't vote labour, despite it being against their best interests and she's absolutely listened to her parents argue about whether paying their own mortgage or their employees' salaries is more pressing, because one too many patients wrote them a hot check this past fortnight.

(the answer is your employees. you pay your employees before you pay yourself. then the business bills. then your own household bills.)

So you get a secondary trio for GOF:

Harry, Cedric, and Cho

Harry approaches Cedric early on and goes: I swear I didn't put my name in the cup. You're the real champion and I'm going to stay out of your way so you can *be* champion.

Harry deliberately loses all of the Triwizard events, because he didn't sign up and he's not supposed to be there and they can force him to participate but they can't force him to try.

Cedric and Cho are not dating, but they are very dear friends (Cedric having been Cho's Dad Friend during books 1-3, as she also had a lot of Hufflepuff friends.)

They activate the room of requirement without realizing they've activated the room of requirement, because Gryffindor is being shitty to Harry about not trying to win and Hufflepuff is being "???????" to Cedric for befriending Harry.

Cho asks Harry to the yule ball, because all the boys are too intimidated by her to ask for themselves. Harry accepts. It's weird but not bad-weird but still weird-weird. They decide to keep being just friends for now.

They (Cedric and Cho particularly) have suspicions about "Mad-Eye" that none of them can substantiate, which is DEEPLY FRUSTRATING.

"Mad-Eye" keeps creeping on Harry, which causes Yet More Conflict with Ron and Hermione ("special treatment, ugh") but which Cedric and Cho find fucking creepy because it's fucking creepy

Harry comes to rely on Cedric and Cho for reality checks--and more importantly, learns how to ask for a reality check when he needs one.

At some point Harry gives up his conviction that Something Is Up With Snape, to be turned upside-down and sideways in book 5-6-7.

Someone, probably Cedric, spells it out in small words money makes people weird. It's a pride thing, and it's stupid, but when you don't have any money you have to cling to what you do have, and so very often that's pride, therefore setting up his reconciliation with Ron and Hermione at the beginning of book 5.

Harry actually puts in some effort in the maze, but only once he realizes that Cedric and Cho are in danger.

Ending is roughly the same as canon book 5.

[skelffricat]

Uppa (Mother)Hoods

I have never given birth, yet I have made three children. At the cosy NCT* group in the Ormeau Library, where I went with my first child (when I managed to get up early enough) I felt ashamed of this. The mothers there were Proper Mothers, with scars in their vaginas; tits out for milking; organic rice cakes for snacks; and great pride in their beautiful birth stories. They were horrific to me (the stories, not the mothers). I couldn’t talk about my birth experience without crying. I even made my GP cry, telling her about it. My eldest was whisked out of my unconscious middle in a now-derelict hospital in South Wales, while my legs were stirruped up (I once made the mistake of visiting the Erotic Museum in Amsterdam- the Sex Museum is better- whilst very stoned. One tends to be stoned, in Amsterdam, I suppose. The floors were confusingly slanted, giving me a sinking feeling, and the top floor’s “sexy” scene was a hospital one. Mannequins in stirrups do NOT turn me on. I had to immediately leave. I may have wept.) There was a student in the hospital room, with horror on his young face, gawping between my legs, and a nurse was urging the doctor to wait for me to go fully under the anaesthetic before he sliced my layers open with the scalpel. My eldest’s father had already been bade to leave. I think he signed something as he left. Signed our lives away?

I learnt later, whilst perusing my eldest’s little red book**, that her lung had collapsed. (I asked why they hadn’t told me. Oh, but it’s fairly common, they said. One in ten thousand. Not worth mentioning, really. Wtf?!) She had pooed in my womb (how rude!) and inhaled some of her own meconium. Meconium. Meconium. I had already learnt that word as a teen, from the band James, in their brilliant song, Gold Mother.

Then I had three friends- well, six, really- who had had stillborn children, at full term, and stopped feeling ashamed of how my child had made her clumsy entrance to the world, and merely relieved that she was alive and kicking, and proud of her. The biggest, reddest, loudest, baby in SCBU***. (“How will I know which one is mine?” I had croaked. Then, it was so obvious, I’d laughed.) I can also feel smug about not pissing myself on trampolines, or every time I sneeze, like most of the women I know who’ve had natural births. Perhaps I’ll start an Unnatural Childbirth Trust. Do your pelvic floor exercises. Now. 

TRIGGER WARNING: I am going to talk about teenage suicide.

Now my youngest child has died, by suicide, just short of her 15th birthday, and I try to feel relief that she is at peace, and that I got 15 glorious years with her. If I think about birthdays like the Chinese people do, I can call it 16****. Almost a woman.

I found her. She arranged that I would, I suppose because she thought I could cope with it better than her father could (she was right, of course. She was usually right. She was very wise. I miss her wisdom, and her unfailing ability to open any jar I couldn’t. She was strong.) I don’t know how to feel about that. People keep telling me that I’m strong, but it seems strangely shameful to be strong at this time (and I still can’t open jars). Perhaps the anti-depressants are working too well? I wonder. I worry that my blasé attitude to death made her decision easier (though I understand that it is pointless to worry about these things now. It won’t bring her back.) We tended to talk about death a lot. Some of my friends had died by suicide, and I would discuss with my mother, her granny, around the children, how suicide was no longer a shameful thing. How you shouldn’t say “committed” in front of it, because it hasn’t been a crime in the UK since 1961. It shouldn’t be a crime anywhere. We went to funerals in brightly coloured clothes. I celebrated dead people’s wonderful lives with them. 

She was hanging from the trapeze I’d had built for her, in our quiet back garden, from a hammock that I had bought for her. I had wondered about the hammock being out there in winter, and thought it was tied in a funny way, a few days before, but not done anything about that. I try not to regret that either. My logic comforts me thus: at least these things could be taken from the garden, and destroyed (the hammock) or used again (the trapeze) and I didn’t have to cut down any trees. I said to myself- she would have done it anyway, somewhere else, at some time. She did it with her things. She used to do amazing things on them. She could soar and swoop gracefully from that trapeze, and even the hammock got strung up high and spun from. 

I had been drinking the night before with my lovely Scottish lover. We watched Wild at Heart, and drank red wine. I thoroughly christened the new bright yellow carpet with a full glass of it, oops. Tried to clean it with a sock. My youngest child was baking in the kitchen. She made a vegan chocolate cake. At one point I went in to her and she was sat on the floor, looking at the cake in the oven. Her head was practically in there. When I was a child, we had electric, not gas, and I thought that people who killed themselves by putting their heads in the oven were cooking themselves to death. How did all the heat not escape, I wondered? How long would that take?! Those thoughts went through my head as I looked at her. She had attempted suicide before, around a month ago. We had been to the hospital. She convinced them (and me) that she wasn’t suicidal, and was sent home. I am not angry at this. What is the point in being angry? She is gone. She was a good actress. A cry for help? She had been to CAMHS that very day. I felt hopeful. She was making cake! She was going to try school tomorrow, in her own comfortable clothes. She hadn’t been for ages. She was too anxious, about uniform, about what to learn, about the future. I asked her what she was doing and we laughed about her proximity to the oven.

He and I ate the cake, later, with natural yoghurt. It was delicious. We called her to join us and she wouldn’t. The last time I saw my youngest daughter alive I was thinking about her killing herself, in a jocular way. Then she did. In a jugular way. Fuck, sorry. I find myself saying the most inappropriate things. 

Sometimes I imagine her last breath. Or dream of disembodied heads. I wonder did she change her mind at the last minute, or feel resolute, and pleased with herself, her escape? Did she make a noise? Did she call out to me, to anyone? I guess you probably can’t call out...? At first, the shock was so severe, I couldn’t think about it without feeling a massive surge of pure panic. I saw my face in the mirror that morning, and it was ashen grey. Later, my eldest described the sensation as a perpetual feeling of dread. Impending doom. Yes, I said, like we’re waiting for something horrific to happen! Then we would realise it already had. My heart thumped so viciously hard inside of me, it felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest. Proving its aliveness. Until I calmed it with (mostly) legal drugs. In the next few weeks, I liked to listen to hearts beating, breath flowing. People being alive, alive- oh. 

My lover had left that night, as he was to go on a walk early the next day. I am so relieved that he had. He has his own demons. He never went on that walk, of course, but at least he didn’t have to find her. He left at around 3am. Her bedroom door was closed. 

I awoke just before 6am. I’m not sure why. I expect I needed water, because I’d been drinking wine. Her door was open. The light was on, and I could see her bed was empty. I got water, and went to her room and saw there was a note on the bed. It was written in green biro, on an A4 file page, folded twice. There was a little cheeky red smiley face with its tongue out on the outside. It was a suicide note. Full of love. Was it a suicide note? So much love. It can’t be a suicide note. I started to look for her, around the house. It was still very dark. I was switching on the light in a room and looking around it and switching the light off and looking in another room. I couldn’t find her. I looked in some rooms twice. I even opened the compartment under her bed. I looked in the cupboard under the stairs, like Harry Potter’s room, that she and her friend had once shut themselves into, to see each other’s glow-in-the-dark bicycle helmets. Where is she? I thought. This is the worst game of Hide-and-Go-Seek ever! Perhaps it’s not a suicide note. Perhaps she has run away? I got dressed. 

Then I found her, in our dark and silent back garden. As she was on the far side of the trapeze to me, her feet were level with the safety mat under the trapeze. I thought for a second that she was just standing there, very still. I was still hoping it was all a joke. A mistake. One of our white garden chairs was beside her. When I realised she was hanging, I swung her slightly. This movement haunts me. Her face... her face was distorted. Her tongue lolling out. I hope you never have to see that on anyone. Especially not your child. My friend hanged herself years ago and my daughter’s face reminded me of her dead one. So, I was thinking, she is dead, in one layer of my mind, and in another, I was thinking, I shall save her. I was calling her, and caressing her freezing face. She was so cold. Dead cold. I ran into the kitchen, got a serrated knife. I am unsure of the order of things. Had I already phoned 999? Was I trying to talk on the phone whilst doing all of this? I cut rapidly through the hammock- it was easy. She flopped into the muck. It was so mucky. I was trying to pull her by the arms onto the trapeze mat, away from the cloying mud, but she was a dead weight. Dead dead dead. No help there. I couldn’t move her. She was so ungainly. I felt inept and weak. I tried to put her in the recovery position. Then I thought, oh wait, no, I need to do chest compressions- I can’t do that on a soft mat anyway. I kept dropping the phone in the mud, and the man on the end of the line was almost shouting at me. 

I put her on her back and was doing chest compressions and he was asking, “is she breathing?” 

She seemed to breathe when I pressed her. I thought, oh! She’s alive? I kept pressing, and dropping the phone in the mud, and I was all mucky too, and she wasn’t breathing- I was just pushing air through her- but I had a glimmer of hope, and the 999 man was counting with me through my mucky mobile phone, and I heard the ambulance coming, and I said to him, I have to let them in! and he said, NO! Keep pressing! I said, I have to, my garden is inaccessible, and I let them in. Two ambulances, filling my dark quiet street with noise and lights and hope. 

They took over. They asked for towels to kneel on in the muck. I’d never thought of that- I got them, as quick as I could. I paced, and watched, and walked away then watched again, and the cat jumped and wheedled around everything. Did he see her die? I wondered? Why didn’t you come get me, cat, like Lassie, or Skippy, or fucking Flipper!? She must have shut the kitchen door and kept him away. They tried and tried, and I paced. They did the defibrillators. Then her breasts became visible and I baulked at the indignity of it, whilst knowing it was entirely necessary, and just... human. They did the adrenaline shots. Four of them, taking turns. Is there any hope? I asked one. Not really, he said. We’re trying because she is young. She’s been there a while. At least I could feel less guilty about getting dressed. I kept thinking, why did I get dressed? I got dressed to go find my dead daughter. 

Was it starting to get light? It was going to be a beautiful morning, I thought, what a pity she can’t see it. I changed out of my mucky clothes. Layered up. It was so cold. There was time, while they tried to save her.

They tried for 20 minutes before they pronounced her dead. There was mud everywhere. They put the mucky towels in a shopping basket I had outside to light fires in. The ambulance people all told me they were very sorry for my loss.

I don’t like euphemisms for death. 

Saying I’ve lost her implies I could find her again. I suppose I find her in my dreams. Though I dreamt of different, unknown, children last night. Two little mixed race boys that I was minding in the (huge dream version) of the Carnival Centre. They kept running away and messing about. At one point we were all on top of a huge concrete topped lift (elevator), that lurched away from beneath us so that we flew into the air. It was falling faster than us. How is that possible? We couldn’t catch up with gravity. Griefity? We weren’t falling fast enough. I keep dreaming of losing children. Not children dying. I dreamt I lost my son the other night too. He was led into a room I wasn’t allowed in. I could see him through the window of the door I couldn’t go through. Then he went out of my sight and I woke up, shaking, horrified.

I recently found my daughter alive again, in a dream. She was very wee- three or four. Before her first haircut. She was being really bold and naughty. She kept running away from me, and she had pooed herself a little, and was rubbing the poo on things, half on purpose. I was trying to catch her and clean her and her hands. We were on holiday? Maybe on a big ferry? I think we had to catch a flight. She had run into a swimming pool room and climbed into a pile of boxes and upset the boxes, and pulled another little girl on top of her and hurt her too. I was trying to pull them out, without hurting them, without losing my temper. I was really trying hard to keep my temper. I was thinking as I woke, if this keeps up, she'll be taken off me. It was so vivid that as I came to, I thought, I must text the Woodcarver; I must text my youngest daughter, to see if she's ok. It was quite a while before I awoke properly and thought, of course she's not ok, she's dead. She's already away. Then I got upset, and cried, but I was glad I got upset because I've been taking anti-depressants and not feeling anything much, so it was a relief to feel sad. I accidentally hadn't taken any for a couple of days at that point.  

Saying she has passed annoys me more. Passed what? Her exams? Wind? (That’s always funny.) She has passed tense? She is past tense.

It wasn’t until she was pronounced officially dead that I phoned her father, the Woodcarver. I thought, there is no point in giving him false hope like mine. He made a loud guttural noise, like a wounded animal, on the other end of the line. It woke my son, who was staying with him. He thought his father was dying. Wrong relative.

It was a brightening cold morning by now. The police came. Her father came. He kicked the white chair she had used, and broke it. This satisfied and disturbed me in equal measure. He hit his head off the sink. I was frightened by him, despite the police presence. I was frightened for him.

The police were very kind. A man and a woman. The man was comfortingly camp. They had masks on. There’s a pandemic, it is said. They took their hats off, but left the masks on. No-one else really bothered with masks, for the next while. I was fascinated by the police officers’ dark green peaked hats- one for boys, and one for girls- on my kitchen table. I made myself tea and put sugar in it. I never take sugar in tea. I’d heard it was good for shock.

My dead daughter’s father’s brother came. He told me to phone my mum. I said I would wait until she normally got up. What is the sense of breaking your last peaceful night’s sleep early, to find out something that won’t be any less dreadful half an hour later? He had brought my son; my daughter’s father’s mother; my daughter’s father’s girlfriend. This is starting to read like Anna Burns’ The Milkman. My daughter’s grandma was also fascinated by the police officers’ hats. She said that one wanted mending, and she wished she had a needle and thread. I didn’t think to fetch her one. I asked if it is true that pregnant women are allowed to pee in police officers’ hats, but they hadn’t heard that before. I kept checking the time on my phone, every few minutes, and drinking sweet tea. I was waiting for the real morning to begin. Nothing has felt real ever since, though.

When I did ring my mother at 8am, she didn’t wake. My little brother did, though. He went and told her in person, and when she arrived, she was bawling, and had forgotten her glasses. She looked tiny. She was due to see everyone the next day. She had been quarantining as she was not long back from Spain. I deeply regret not bringing the children to wave at her in the garden. She hadn’t seen them for months. 

We were flitting between my house and our friends’ house round the corner. My garden was now a crime scene. My daughter’s father didn’t like this. He wanted to hold her lifeless body’s hand. At that point, I thought I never wanted to see her lifeless body again, but I changed my mind a few days later, and that was alright. I saw her in her casket and her face looked... Dead, but not distorted any more. She looked peaceful, I suppose, and very beautiful, in a sad way. She was surrounded by toys, trinkets, food she loved. Dried mango. Finn and Jake. Her elder sister tucked her pride flag around her. She hadn’t seen her for ten months. 

There were many people now, milling inside, and out in the sunshine, between the two houses. The neighbours were out and about, too. I had made horrendous phone calls to a workmate and a couple of friends and the word was spreading. I had phoned my eldest daughter in Wales. To spread the word. The bad word. The worst words. I have had Joshua Burnside’s song, The Good Word, in my head a lot, this last while.

“Last night I dreamed

We were running for our lives

From robots in the jungle

Helicopters in the sky

But the ground opened up and I

Couldn't save her

Couldn't save her

Couldn't save her again

Oh no

No sir

Not this time

Glory hallelujah.”

My lover came down and was of the utmost comfort to me. When the coroner had been and they were to take her away, the Woodcarver’s biggest brother- he that had been there first- came to me in the other house and asked did I want to say goodbye to her body? I said, no, I do not, that is not my daughter any more.

I sought comfort in words. We read poems on her bed. 

Various people told us of a humanist celebrant. She offered to help us for free, and she did, and I am so grateful. 

A friend gave me valium. At some point, someone went to the offy. More and more people came. The lovely camp police officer returned, with my daughter’s bank card, and people panicked, because of Covid, but he didn’t say anything. He only wanted to help.

The next while was a blur...

*National Childbirth Trust- it was the only secular one. I also enjoyed the ones in churches, with their cream teas, and knitted religious folks, trying not to try to convert you and yours. It perhaps could’ve been called the Natural Childbirth Trust, because they kept banging on about it...

**The NHS issue these red books as personal child health records. 

***SCBU- the Special Care Baby Unit. They pronounced it Skiboo, in their lovely Welsh lilts. My doctor looked like a child. She had been working for 24 hours straight, and was still charming and kind.

****Age reckoning originated in China, where it's believed that a baby's age starts from its time in the mother's womb. The practice is also common in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

[victoria-daydreams]

Skylark - Chapter Four

Chapter Three

Word Count: 2.7k

A/N: So I’ve been noticing this story slightly gaining traction and I’m eternally grateful for that. Sorry if there’s any mistakes.

Pairings: Collins X OC

The Tuesday date that Alice and Jack had planned led into several more dates between the two of them. For Alice, this came as a shock, that fateful night at the Garden Rouge should have been a one off thing. She didn't expect to see Jack again, let alone for him to show up at her other job two days later. Meeting Jack was a like breath of fresh air for Alice, he was like a hammer shattering the monotonous everyday life.

Alice flicked on a couple of lights and looked around her home. The flat was of an average size, not too small but neither too big. It was one bedroom with an en-suite bathroom which was down the hall. Her living room, where Jack and Alice were currently standing in was connected to the kitchen.

The living room felt warm and cozy, more lived-in as Alice once said when she finished furnishing her flat. Art lined the walls that she bought from the markets there was a bookshelf filled with novels and a cabinet that stored all her vinyl records and had her record player and radio on top. A small coffee table was placed in front of a sofa. The dining area was near the entrance of the kitchen, consisting of a small, round table with two chairs pushed in under it.

"Pinch me I must be dreamin'," Jack began, a smile quirking up on his lips. "Alice Lloyd finally let me into her flat," he finished, his tone teasing.

"Oh hush," she lightly scolded, hitting him on his arm. "I can't just let anyone into my flat," she said, walking into her kitchen.

Jack grinned at her before walking over to the mantelpiece and examined the handful of photos displayed there. He pointed at a picture of a older woman and older man who both wore warm smiles on their faces. Although it was hard to tell due to the black and white photograph, the woman was a shade darker than the man she was standing next to. She had a round shape with her hair pulled back into a bun. The man next to her was tall and slim, but had a slight muscular build. His hair was side parted and wore pair of round glasses.

"Yer mum and dad?" he guessed.

"Yes, that's them," Alice answered, joining him in the living room with a glass water in hand. She smiled down at the photo and trailed a finger along the edge of the frame. "This was taken a few years ago, but I'd like a photo of them that's more current," she added.

Jack picked up a photo showing three children, two young boys and a teenage girl. The girl stood in the middle the boys with each hand on one of their shoulders, all of them were grinning. Their clothes showed that the picture must have been at least a decade old.

"Who is this?"

Alice tried to snatch the frame out of hands, "Hey! Give me that!"

Jack laughed and held tight to the frame. He peered at the photo.

"Is that ye in the middle?"

Alice nodded, "Yes that's me and my two little brothers,"

"You look happy," Jack commented.

She smiled, "We were, still are," she confirmed, before taking the photo from him and brushed a little dust from the frame, then settled it back carefully on the mantelpiece. Alice grabbed Jack's hand and led him to her sofa and the two of them sat down. She placed her cup down onto the coffee table in front of them. "Did you still want to go out for dinner?" she asked, curling her legs underneath her.

"I would love te, that's if ye not te tired, ye did just get back from work," he answered, running his hand up and down her leg.

"I'm never too tired for you," Alice smiled, lightly hitting his leg and standing up from the sofa.

Jack mirrored her expression and pushed himself off the sofa and followed behind to the front door. He grabbed her jacket from the coat rack next to the door and held it out for her. Alice slid it on, digging into her pocket for her house keys she grabbed them and opened the door, but not before grabbing her purse.

"What do you have an appetite for?" Alice asked, as Jack stepped out.

"Hmm, I don't know," he answered, watching Alice close her front door behind her.

"Well, there's this spot in Soho that serves Chinese food that Mary told me about," Alice suggested, as she locked the door.

Jack placed a hand on her lower back, "Feeling adventurous are we?" he joked, as she moved away from the door.

She wrapped her arm around Jack, "I thought we should switch it up," Alice chuckled, looking up at Jack. "What's the harm...Mum!" she began, but cut herself off from finishing the rest of her sentence due to the woman in front of her. "W-What are you doing here?" she asked, snatching her arm from Jack.

Alice' mum shifted her gaze from her daughter to the man next to her, "I wanted to ask you to come to dinner at the house," her mum said, with a thick Jamaican accent.

"You couldn't have called?" she questioned, with a hint of disbelief as Jack discreetly removed his hand from her.

"Is it a crime to see my daughter?" she asked back, arching a brow. "And who's this?" she inquired, focusing her attention back to Jack.

"This is uh..." Alice began.

"Jack Collins ma'am," he finished with a smile, stepping forward and extending his hand out.

She took his hand and shook it, "How do you do Mr. Collins? I'm Mrs. Lloyd," she greeted, returning his smile. Jack's smile widened making his dimples prominent. "So Mr. Collins, how do you know my daughter?" Mrs. Lloyd asked curiously, clasping her hands together.

"Alice and I are-"

"Friends!" Alice cut in, letting out a nervous laugh. "We're friends," she repeated, with a nod.

Mrs. Lloyd quirked an eyebrow, "Well Alice, you and your friend are more than welcome to come the house for dinner," she stated.

"But we-" Alice began.

"I won't take no for answer dear," Mrs. Lloyd interjected. "You already skipped out on a family dinner already," she reminded.

Alice exhaled deeply, "Fine," she conceded.

"Wonderful!" Mrs. Lloyd cheered. "The three of us can catch a bus to Brixton,"

"We'll be right behind you Mum," Alice said, and watched her mother walk away and out the building, the slamming of the door echoing in the hall.

"I'm just yer friend?" Jack asked, disbelief written all over his face.

Alice spun around and faced him, "Oh Jack, I'm sorry," she apologized, grabbing both of his hands. "You mean much more than that to me, it's just that I know Mum would not approve of our relationship," she explained, shaking her head.

"And why not?"

"Because your white," Alice replied, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You can't possibly-"

"Yes I think that, because I know my mother," Alice said, cutting him off and let out a sigh. "Listen, I will make this up to you Jack, but first we have to get through this dinner with Mum," she finished, and standing on her tip toes she pressed a soft kiss to Jack's lips.

The bus ride to Brixton felt like an eternity for Alice as she sat stiffly next to her mother. In reality, the bus ride that seemed it would never end was only an hour really. But with the painstakingly awkward fifteen minute walk from the bus stop to the house Alice believed that everything was moving at a snail's pace at that point. As soon as Alice entered the foyer of her childhood home two pairs of arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Alice!"

A smile formed on Alice's lips at the embrace of her twin younger brothers Wesley and Thomas, it was the first smile she cracked since encountering her mother in the hallway of her flat.

"And how are you two?" she asked, grinning down at the two boys. "You're not giving Mum any trouble are you?" she questioned, a knowing look on her face.

Thomas shook his head, "No, we've been the perfect angels," Thomas stated, glancing over at his brother.

"He's right," Wesley confirmed, nodding his head.

"Boys, we have a guest," Mrs. Lloyd announced, as her sons released Alice from their embrace. "This is Mr. Collins, he'll be joining us for dinner," she introduced, Jack flashed them a friendly smile and gave a little wave to the boys. "I want the two of you to keep Mr. Collins company while your sister and I set the table," Mrs. Lloyd informed, Wesley and Thomas nodded their heads in understanding.

"Right this way Mr. Collins, we can stay in the den," Thomas stated, pointing towards the room down the hall.

"Thank you," Jack smiled, as he shrugged off his coat and placed it on the coat rack. "And please call me Jack," he added, following behind the two boys not before shooting Alice a glance over his shoulder.

"Are you Scottish Jack?" Thomas asked, his voice slightly fading away.

"Indeed I am," Jack replied.

Alice and Mrs. Lloyd both removed their coats before making their way to the kitchen. As soon as Alice stepped into the kitchen her nose picked up the mouth watering smell of curry chicken.

"You made curry chicken for dinner," Alice noted, going to open the kitchen window due to the hot, humid air and the smell was strong with curry.

"And rice and peas," Mrs. Lloyd added, putting on an apron and tying it around her waist. "So Alice, when were you going to tell me?" she questioned, turning the stove top on and grabbing a wooden spoon to stir the curry chicken which was in a metal pot.

"Tell you about?" Alice asked back, playing dumb as she grabbed plates from the cabinet.

"About your friend, Mr. Collins,"

Alice placed one plate down after another, "When did you become so invested in my social circle?" she inquired, looking over towards her mother.

"Since you decided to gallivant with a white man,"

"I think you're overreacting Mum, I do have friends that are white," Alice reminded, now grabbing the utensils.

"They're women," Mrs. Lloyd shot back, glancing at her.

Behind her mother's back Alice rolled her eyes, as she placed the utensils down onto the table.

"Will Dad be joining for us?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Unfortunately not, another late night at work I'm afraid," she answered, now filling each plate with food. "And don't think I didn't notice that you were trying change subjects Alice dear,"

Mrs. Lloyd put a decent amount of rice onto each plates in a circular pattern, leaving an open space in the middle. Next, she poured the curry chicken with potatoes into the middle of every plate, hot steam emanating from the yellow curry.

"Alice, men like Mr. Collins are not to be trusted," Mrs. Lloyd warned.

"You barely even know him mum," Alice argued, keeping her voice low. "He's been nothing but a gentlemen to me," she added, sticking her arm out.

"If a white man takes interest in a colored woman just know his intentions are never pure," Mrs. Lloyd stated, her back still turned to Alice. "They just want to sleep with us and toss us aside afterwards before they brag about it to their friends," she finished.

"Jack isn't like that Mum," Alice sighed, shaking her head. She walked to the entrance of the kitchen and stuck her head out. "Boys, go wash up. Dinner is ready," Alice announced, before turning around. "And please show Jack where the bathroom is," she added loudly, as she set down glasses filled with water onto the table.

Mrs. Lloyd walked over to the kitchen table with two plates of steaming food and placed them down where Wesley and Thomas would be sitting. Alice followed behind her mother and set down another two plates across from her brothers. Just as Mrs. Lloyd grabbed her plate the sound of quick footsteps bounded from the hallway. Thomas and Wesley burst into the kitchen breathless with grins on their faces.

"Mum!" Wesley shouted, excitement all over his face. "Jack's a pilot! He's in the Royal Air Force!" he exclaimed.

"He flies spitfires!" Thomas added, sharing his brother excitement.

Mrs. Lloyd craned her neck in Alice's direction, "Is he now?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

Before Mrs. Lloyd could say anything Jack entered into the kitchen, unaware of the tension that was building between Alice and her mother.

"It smells wonderful in here," Jack complimented, his trademark smile on his face.

"It does so let's eat," Alice agreed, trying to hurry along this dinner as fast as she could.

Everyone took their seat, Mrs. Lloyd was seated at the foot of table, Thomas and Wesley sat on the side of the table, while Jack and Alice sat next to each other across from her brothers much and Alice noticed the look of displeasure on her mother's face. A prayer of grace was said before everyone could eat and it was led by Mrs. Lloyd. When the prayer Alice grabbed her fork and jabbed it into the curry covered chicken, raising it to her mouth.

"So Mr. Collins, my boys tell me you're a RAF pilot," Mrs. Lloyd stated, after taking a bite of her potato.

"That's correct," he smiled. "I joined as soon as the war broke out," he informed

"Jack told us he's on leave here in London," Thomas stated. "But if I was pilot I would never take leave, my head would stay in the clouds," he grinned.

Alice glanced over to Jack and noticed his smile faltered slightly, she knew Thomas meant well, but at the end of the day he was still a boy. He didn't understand the horrors of war and what they could do to a man's spirit and mind. Subtly, Alice reached over to Jack, placing her hand over his and giving a squeeze.

"How long are you here for Mr. Collins?" Mrs. Lloyd inquired.

"Only for a few months," Jack answered, before taking another bite of his food.

"And I take it because of your leave this is how yours and Alice's paths crossed," Mrs. Lloyd guessed, before sipping from her glass.

"Yes, I met her at her job," he nodded, a smile on his face as he briefly looked at Alice.

"Which one?"

"Mum," Alice called, exasperation laced in her tone.

"The bookshop," Jack lied, and Alice was internally grateful that he could read the room.

"Mmm," Mrs. Lloyd hummed, ignoring her daughter.

"Have you heard Alice sing?" Wesley questioned. "She's amazing she could be the next Billie Holiday!" he beamed, looking at his older sister adoringly.

"Or Josephine Baker," Thomas chirped.

"Mr. Collins, I know when soldiers go on leave they want to have all types fun while they're here," Mrs. Lloyd stated, looking at Jack.

"Yes, I suppose so," Jack agreed, with a slightly confused expression on his face.

Alice observed Jack's expression and looked over to her mother, starting to wonder where she was going with this.

"And I'm sure you want all types of fun with my daughter before you have to go back, isn't that right?" she finished, shooting Jack a knowing look and Jack's face turned slightly red.

Alice threw her napkin down, "Mum!" she hissed, standing up quickly. Her chair screeched along the kitchen floor. "You think you're protecting me, but your not! You're hurting me!"

Alice stormed out of the kitchen and made her way into the foyer, snatching her coat from the rack. Too angry to put her coat on, she threw it over her arm and just as went to grab her purse a pale hand grabbed it for her. Alice looked up at Jack with tears brimming in her eyes.

"I would like to go back to my flat now," Alice stated, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I'll be more than happy te take ye there," Jack responded, brushing a tear from her face.

[infinitestarsintheskye]

I was tagged by the ever lovely @besidemethewholedamntime, thanks lovely! 😘

1. What is the color of your hairbrush?

Just plain black. Nothing exciting unfortunately!

2. Name a food you never eat

Mushrooms, and at the moment, cheese. Damned dairy intolerance.

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?

Both, but usually cold. My internal heating and cooling system is truly buggered, thanks to the fact that I was a premmie baby. Just one of the many fun side effects.

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Fannying about after having a shower. Every single day I do this and I don’t know why.

5. What’s your favorite candy bar?

CURRENTLY, it is the Galaxy Vegan caramelised hazelnut chocolate and oh my god it’s so good. A lot of vegan chocolate is really crumbly and whilst it tastes good, the texture is just off and that kind of ruins it for me. But Galaxy have really nailed the texture, it’s just creamy and good and just tastes and feels like real chocolate and I was honestly so happy the first time I tried it.

6. Have you ever been to professional sports event?

I have! I went to a few Scottish Premier League (football) games when I was younger, with my dad, before realising that I didn’t enjoy it much. I have also been to one singular hockey match, which really tells you everything you need to know about how I found that. Honestly I don’t really go in much for sports. I enjoy watching horse riding, show jumping and the like, and figure skating, and that’s about it.

7. What is the last thing you said out loud?

“WHAT ARE YOU EATING?!” To the doggo, who had just got a hold of the leftovers of my dad’s lunch.

8. What is your favorite ice cream?

Ben and Jerry’s do an ice cream that has vanilla on one side, and chocolate on the other, with a full ass BLOCK of caramel in the middle, and it is probably the unhealthiest thing I have ever consumed, but oh my god it’s so good.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Tea! Please assume that I am always drinking tea, it is a fairly accurate assumption.

10. Do you like your wallet?

Eh. It’s okay. It’s getting a bit old but I’ve been putting off getting a new one.

11. What is the last thing you ate?

One of those tiny little packets of haribo that are STILL somehow leftover from Halloween

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

I did! I bought a new top for work, a white jumper bc white goes with everything and I’m a bit lazy.

13. What’s the last sporting event you watched?

On purpose? The 2018 Winter Olympic Ice Dance final when Virtue/Moir FINALLY WON THE GOLD!!! It was on until like 3/4am, and I had 3 back to back lectures the next day, and I was SO TIRED, but oh it was worth it!! I think the mens individual final was on the next night but I FULLY fell asleep halfway through 😬

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

Sweet and salty!

15. Who is the last person you send text message to?

My sister! I was ranting about The Crown and she was just kind of listening haha

16. Ever been camping?

Twice! Both my guide troop. Once just cause, and once bc it was the Centenary of Girl Guiding in the UK and all of the troops in our county pitched up in a giant field for the weekend, which was good fun! Would I do it again? Maybe not. I’m not really that outdoorsy, but I will give anything a go once.

17. Do you take vitamins?

Nope! I probably should, but I swear every time I start taking vitamin C I get a cold. Not sure if this is just my immune system being weird or if I am actually cursed.

18. Do you regularly attend a place of workship?

Nope! I am very much agnostic. I used to live almost right across the road from a church, that was fun on a Sunday morning no need to set an alarm, and I used to walk past, I kid you not four or five on my way to work, which is a lot considering it was ALL ONE ROAD and a fairly short walk.

19. Do you have a tan?

Nope! I’m so pale I reflect the sun back.

20. Do you prefer chinese or pizza?

Pizza!!! I miss it!!! Dairy free cheese suuuuuccckkksssss

21 . Do you drink your soda through a straw?

Not really. I didn’t really before but I’m really not a fan of paper straws and them getting all soggy.

22. What color socks you usually wear?

Literally every single colour. A lot of blue and navy but I’m not kidding, it is every colour.

23. Do you ever drive above the speed limit?

I can’t drive so I can’t go over the speed limit haha

24. What terrifies you?

Oh well, what a fun question. So much. Ultimately failure. Failure to do anything worthwhile in my life, failure to help people, failure in my personal life. The list goes on. And heights. I am truly truly terrified of heights.

25. Look to your left, what do you see?

The doggo!! 🐶

26. What chore do you hate the most?

Sorting through odd socks. All black socks should be burned imo.

27. What do you think when you hear Australian accent?

Neighbors. My mum loved Neighbors in its hayday, and it is always discussed when Kylie or Jason Donovan is on the telly haha.

28. Whats your favorite soda?

Good old lemonade.

29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit drive through?

Can’t drive so go in. My flatmate and I got really bad for ordering in McDonalds last year after it got put on Uber eats. She was a terrible influence on me I swear.

30. What’s your favorite number?

8!

31. Who’s the last person you talked to?

My granny!

32. Favorite meal?

My mum’s leftover chicken risotto with bacony bits

33. Last song you listened to?

According to Spotify, Smoke by Gia Margaret (suprise surprise, its from the Normal People soundtrack)

34. Last book you read?

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Such a beautifully written book. Very casually magical and oh so very sad.

35. Favorite day of the week?

Tuesday, but I couldn’t tell you why.

36. Can you say alphabet backwards?

Absolutely not.

37. How do you like your coffee?

I don’t like coffee. I like the smell but it is far too bitter for me and the caffeine makes me feel truly awful.

38. Favorite pair of shoes?

I have a pair of brown boots that are almost victorian in style, they lace up, and made of the softest leather and I love them to utter pieces.

39. Time you normally get up?

On a normal day, usually any time after 10am. I like my bed and I don’t go to sleep until quite late. When I’m working, it’s usually between half past 6 and 9am.

40. What do you prefer, sunrise or sunset?

Sunset. I am very much a night owl.

41. How many blankets on your bed?

At the moment I just have my big thick duvet which keeps me very cosy and I never want to get out of my cosy bed, but I FULLY expect that to increase as it gets colder bc I am a cold creature.

42. Describe your kitchen plates

Just plain white, fairly standard.

43. Describe your kitchen at the moment.

Clean???

44. Do you have a favorite alcoholic drink?

Oooh, I like a Bacardi and coke or a gin and lemonade (which according to my gin and tonic loving mother is a sacreligous thing to do to gin). I don’t drink a whole lot, but those are my two go tos.

45. Do you play cards?

I can play cards, but I don’t do it on the regular.

46. What color is your car?

Don’t have a car!

47. Can you change a tire?

Nope!

48. Your favorite state or province?

Don’t really have that here, so I’m gonna be a bit cheeky and say Perthshire 😉. It really is beautiful though!!

49. Favorite job you’ve had?

My current job! It’s just a clothes shop retail job, but the company is so good (which is rare for a big company), the people are so lovely, the hours can suck sometimes, but I enjoy it so much more than waitressing and bar work!

Thanks again so much for the tag! I think just about everyone has been tagged in this, so if you haven’t done this yet, consider yourself tagged now!!