#she also loudly said she doesn’t care if she loses fans or doesn’t sell as many tix bc if her politics

[iwatcheditbegin]

I know he’s talking about sale loses, but it’s genuinely chilling to hear the words “she’ll probably pay a price” in regards to endorsing a democrat from a man who encouraged a insurrection

[tsuumu]

hq boys and their part time jobs.

yet another unseries headcanon post made by yours truly! unlike my last one which you can find here, i won’t be involving every single major hq character so that’s just a heads up!! i can’t always envision stuff fully with every single person...

kageyama tobio: this boy thought that applying to work part-time at a sports shop would be fitting ‘cause of his love for volleyball, completely unaware that this would involve way too much social interaction and tolerance???? like he thought he’d just have to look like someone who does sports and occasionally restock yoga mats but these loud ass kids are coming up to him asking for this that and the other for sports he’s never heard of. suddenly he regrets the entire thing. plus, he has no idea how to use the cash register and it’s his worse nightmare to ring up items without wanting to stomp a hole into it to get the customer’s change.

hinata shoyo: shoyo went straight for the pet shelter because he’s in love with playing with the little puppies. this boy will full on roll around with them, stuff them under his shirt so their heads poke out and just.. intergrate and become one of them... the doggies love him so much n always clamber to sit on his lap because hinata treats them with so much love and kindness!! customers looking for pets often joke about taking him home bc he’s just as excitable and friendly as the actual dogs. he’s also really good at convincing people on the fence to get a pet and explaining their individual personalities because he knows them so well :(

nishinoya yuu: he said: supermarket assistant so he could ride around on the carts, intimidates literally every customer with his ungodly enthusiasm but is determined to help EVERYONE, he’ll run around the store taking people where they need to go but only if he actually remembers where they’re situated. otherwise this boy is like “yeah they’re just... that way.” and bolts in the other direction. gets along with all his colleagues and tells them all about his tournaments with karasuno. he’s not the star employee but it wouldn’t be the same w out him.. often asks the manager if he can taste test the market’s pastry section to which he is rejected every single time.

tanaka ryuu: he’s convinced working in his local gym was him in his element, he wears that tag thing like a badge of honour and just walks around showing people he works there instead of actually doing his job??? he’s also overly enthusiastic and will sometimes cheer on the people working out as if he’s some kind of zealous personal trainer and everybody is like “literally how old is this guy??” he’s surprisingly awesome at reception duty because he’s always chatting to regulars about how they’re doing... the practical side like schedules and paperwork he leaves for someone else, everyone just puts up with him bc he’s a mood setter.

sugawara koushi: don’t get me started on this boy as a teacher’s assistant, like he helps little kids out with their work, tidies up the class during their break times and reads them stories?? he’s THAT senior boy who’s the biggest sweetheart and seeing him handle kids so well is like ... does he want some of his own ?? i’d like to offer my expertise he’s always got a smile on his face, gets along with all the staff much older than him, he’s like this perfect boy they all dote on and he gets super flustered saying he just really likes helping out the children and making them smile. often brings them little snacks too and they all call him big brother BYE.

tsukkishima kei: he does some low-key shit that’s kinda wholesome like working with the eldery or tutoring kids but prefers for literally nobody to know about it because anything he does outside of school is his business. he does it because it’s good pay, there’s not much else to it. if anybody found out he’d be super irritated tbh it’s just an invasion of privacy to him but eventually wouldn’t care because every kid is getting part-time jobs these days.

oikawa tooru: bye he’s THAT guy who got his job at a retail store because he’s pretty. like he has no real interest in clothes or anything but he takes the job as a place to validate himself when girls come up to him purposefully to flirt. he’s winking and laughing with them and also NOT actually doing his job but he brings in customers so at least he’s somewhat useful. doesn’t know how to fold clothes or hang stuff on hangers properly for shit and everyone lowkey wants to kick his ass but he’s actually very friendly and outgoing even if he has no clue what he’s doing. keeps asking if bra sizes come in small, medium and large and everyone just tells him to shut up.

iwaizumi hajime: when picking a job he was like “well what am i good at?” and went from there. he ended up as the local pool’s weekend lifeguard because he had the qualifications and time. again, everyone his age just tries to hit on him and he’s annoyed because it distracts him from the actual purpose of his job. he takes it seriously and impresses his colleagues with his swimming talent and knowledge on first aid. iwaizumi lowkey scares the little kids and they’re kind of afraid to ask him for help so he’s been working on looking a little more friendly.

kuroo tetsurou: kuroo as a tennis instructor assistant or just something sporty other than volleyball because he’s a multi-talented king?? like he’s not a professional by any means but he helps out the youth club and gets along with kids a few years younger than him. fills in for refs at tournaments, makes sure equipment is safe to use and is SUPER good at cheering club goers up when they lose or fail or can’t seem to do it correctly. he often refers to his experiences as nekoma’s captain to relate to them and they really admire his resilience and ask him to tell them more stories!!

kenma kozume: had to be dragged out to do a part-time job. was absolutely against the thought of it until hinata mentioned a friend of his who’d moved to the prefecture near kenma got a job at this new game shop. he was like fine and applied. he just kinda sat and people asked him questions about the games but he refused to do any further socialisation or actual grunt work like shelving, he quit pretty soon after, he just wanted the money to buy a game he ended up purchasing on his way out lmaoo

bokuto koutarou: he was dead set on having a volleyball related job, fukurodani have a club for junior players from all over the city to come and practice together. he was like?!? “and nobody told me??” he’s perfect for it as the captain and ends up as a secondary coach. he shows off A LOT and like kuroo, encourages the kids when they’re down. except kuroo is a more sit down, hand on shoulder, casual talk kind of guy. bokuto gets ridiculously sentimental and tells them dramatically about his lowest memories as captain when fukurodani lost and the kids are genuinely as emotional because of he way he tells it??? idk but they love him and he’s a ball of passion that keeps them going.

akaashi keiji: we are talking pretty waiter at a local gormet restaurant that gets tipped SO MUCH for his true professionalism. knows how to handle every situation with ease and is super calm, doesn’t care at all if someone from his school is there. he’s really just chasing that bag and he’s doing it well. bokuto often picks him up after his shifts so they can do stuff together but akaashi requests it be something calming since he’s tired after work... bokuto is like,, “so no to rock-climbing? alright i’ll reschedule..” the other waiters lowkey HATE the fact he gets tipped so well and they try and figure out his secrets. he has none. he’s just good at his job. i could see kiyoko working a similar job or somewhere lowkey like a flourist or bakery. she’s equally as professional and admired.

ushijima wakatoshi: ANY JOB. give this man any job and he’ll be able to carry it out like he’s been doing it since he popped out the womb. often mistaken for a grown adult so he gets jobs pretty easily? very very professional and aims to do everything perfectly. i think he’d also prefer a vb related job just like bokuto but something that could really get him somewhere big, smth to do with olympics like a paid internship for them .. can you even intern for the olympics lmao?? maybe something for the japanese team. it’s a lot of work to balance school & intern life but he’s very comitted and knows it’ll benefit him in the future. (kageyama was fuming when he found out he could have done that instead of his current gig).

tendou satori: has a job he’s very under-qualified for but somehow pulls off. he’s chilling at the hospital or law firm three times a week after classes or somewhere ridiculous but he’s doing just fine!! doesn’t actually do professional work n helps with small things but it impresses the hell out of everybody he tells, has no interest in persuing those careers but it’s fun for him, he gets paid VERY well for a boy his age and his personality creates a nice, talkative atmosphere in these seemingly tense environments.

miya atsumu / osamu: they both work at a café for novelty because they’re these handsome, athletic twins and it’s a thing that brings people in. they do a lot of fan service stuff and osamu is EXCELLENT like he was made for this job but atsumu is awful at keeping his cool. osamu will be chatting up customers, trying to persuade them to order more and atsumu is having a heated tustle with the coffee machine that’s broken down for the third time that day and it really ruins the magic osamu is trying to create. atsumu has probably sworn loudly. has probably almost been fired. he’s bad at playing along and flirting because he literally just wants them to leave so he can sit down lmao. osamu uses the pastries in the café as inspiration for his own at-home baking fiascos because it’s a stress-reliving hobby.

terushima yuji: he’s that boy in shoe shops that tries to sell you sneakers and he knows literally everything about them even when you really didn’t ask... looking to hit on girls that come in because shoe knowledge is obviously very sexy! alternatively you might catch him in a tattoo shop or sumn real appearance based and he definitely remembers all the regulars and greets them like they’re close friends, we’re talking inside jokes. always seems to know what tattoo people are looking to get purely based on their appearance and initial impression...

the list of unemployed:

yachi: too scared to do ANY job that requires interaction, she’s plagued by it.

hoshiumi: fired for picking too many fights with customers.

kyotani: EVEN WORSE THAN HOSHIUMI though he was strangely very efficient at paperwork.

suna: quit on the first day because it wasn’t what he expected and he doesn’t care about money that much.

lev: his family are like.... rich?? n nobody really expected it but he’s like yeah i really do not need one of those lmao.

yamaguchi: broke things, spilt things, smashed things. he really was trying his best..

aone: intimidated customers too much so they let him go (he was just STANDING THERE.. he deserved better).

sakusa: local venues are filthy, ushijima got the internship spot, no other job interests him enough to persue.

[coeurdastronaute]

Either/Or: WWC

“Jess?” 

“Yes, Ms. Luthor?” 

Squinting behind her glasses, the CEO peered at her schedule on her computer screen and furrowed as she read, but failed to comprehend the words under the seven o’clock time slot that seemed to take up majority of her evening. There should have been nothing there. She carefully kept track of every second, trusted her secretary to do the same, and suddenly, she had to be somewhere on a night when she could have been home. 

Leaning back in her chair, Lena Luthor scrolled and clicked on the offending task highlighted in a deep forest green. National City FC. 

National City Fire Council?

National City Financial Committee?

National City Freedom Conference?

“What the hell is National City FC, and why is it taking up 3 hours of my evening?” 

“The team you had us buy a few months ago. It’s their home opener.” the secretary explained, filing a few things in the drawer in the closet in Lena’s office. 

She didn’t bat an eye at such questions. It was her job to know those things, to take care of things, like when her boss came in with a circled article from her ride into the office, and told Jess to fix it. This somehow included a struggling council measure to bring another sports team to the city and help the underfunded women’s program develop. 

There were no follow up questions to how it got done, as Lena was immediately onto the next thing, but for Jess, there were hours spent meeting with officials and the in-house entertainment division to see how accumulating a women’s soccer team would diversify their holdings. This meant weeks pouring over spreadsheets and crunching numbers until the small team that was created for just this singular task, that again, came from a circled three inches of newspaper print, developed a plan to make it a success. 

“What did I do?” Lena asked, looking up from her computer as her assistant continued her work of pulling and rearranging to prepare for end of month reports. 

“You gave me an article about how the city wanted a team but couldn’t drum up the money to commit, and they were going to lose the bid for an expansion team.” 

“That sounds somewhat familiar.”

“You said that expansion and bringing professionals into the city was how we continued to grow.” 

“I’m sure I did.” 

Quickly, Lena googled the team and found a few headlines praising the companies initiative to help grown equality within the sport, to bring jobs and joy to the community, to expand programs for children and sports, to bring a championship to the city. It was all news to her but still made her smile. 

“I put together a team who did everything from polling to scouting locations to permits and projections,” Jess explained as Lena scrolled. “You helped pick out the colors and design the logo.” 

“I did?” 

“No,” she chuckled. “I did all of that. It’s been my pet project. I played in college, you know.” 

The webpage was green, deep and royal. A white logo with the crest of the city and an outline of a roaring bear over it sat in the corner. The banner had the team picture with rows of tough and smiling girls looking back. A schedule followed and links to tickets. It was an actual thing. 

“You did all of this?” 

“I delegated,” Jess explained, handing over a folder. “Take a look at this so you have your talking points.”

“This got past the board?” 

“A bit of community outreach, your name on the field, the logo on the jerseys, community services, tax breaks, and city-wide gratitude. It went a long way, and was a sound investment, set to see returns as early as six years.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want that promotion?” 

“I’ll just take another raise,” the secretary smiled as her boss looked over the papers in the folder. 

“This still doesn’t explain why it’s on my schedule though,” Lena decided, closing it and laying it back on her desk. 

“It’s the inaugural game. You have to go show your support.” 

“I don’t like sports,” she reminded her. “That’s why I created an entire division of this company to manage such things.” 

“You wanted more photo ops, and I’m creating that moment for you.” 

Jess was right, which was something Lena still wasn’t particularly fond of admitting. Ever since her brother’s implosion and her ascendence to help the company two years ago, it felt as if her full-time job wasn’t being a CEO but rather a figure head looking to make people believe that she was just as strong, just as capable, just as, if not moreso, credible as the leader of a multi-billion dollar organization. 

Lena looked back at the file on her desk and sighed, invariably giving in. 

“Fine, but I’m not going to wear a jer--”

Smiling, Jess held up her personal jersey with DANVERS printed in big white letters over the number eleven. She wiggled her eyebrows and tried to hide her amusement. 

“It’s to support the team.” 

“That’s not even my name.” 

“You don’t play for them, just own the team. You don’t get your own name on it.” 

“I couldn’t get a custom one? I don’t even know who that is.” 

“This is your star player, Kara Danvers. Got her in the expansion draft. She’s amazing. Led the league in scoring the past three years, only been in it for four.” 

“This is soccer, right?” 

With a heavy sigh, Jess tossed the jersey across the desk. 

“Keep reading. I’ll have the car here at six.” 

Lena smiled to herself as she held up the jersey, happy to have her name on it anyway with the logo of the rebranded L Corp. She never got used to seeing that, her accomplishments come to fruition. Somehow she accidentally bought a sports team, and though she wasn’t thrilled about having to spend her evening not at home on the couch, she was excited to see what her assistant created, excited to have done something for the city she grew to call home. 

Not the biggest sports fan on the planet, Lena looked back at the screen with the team on it and found number eleven and gulped slightly, deciding that sports couldn’t be that bad. 

XXXXXXXXX

The music blasted in the headphones, so loudly that nothing else could be heard, not even a thundering heartbeat or heavy breathing. The world and its honks and horns and yelling and voices and city chatter completely disappeared to nothing outside of the stadium, outside of the pitch of fresh grass. 

Before the first fan would be welcomed, before they thrust open the grates on the concession stands, before the lights were tested and left on, a single player began her routine, sitting in the stands alone and taking in the world around her, as soon it would be chaos-- screaming people on the sidelines, lines calling changes and plays in the heat of the moment, chirping from those coming to disrupt her home. The soccer player’s head nodded to the beat of the song as she prepared, washing the rest of it away and focusing, centering herself. 

The stadium was beginning to breathe again, with works appearing, setting up for the sell-out crowd. By the time the first few teammates began to filter out to warm up, Kara was warming up, making her way from side to side with a light jog, stretching muscles and coming back from her solitary centering. 

“Are you getting nervous yet?” Nia asked as she sat on the ground, working hamstrings into something more tenable. 

“I’m getting excited,” Kara corrected. 

She was a leader on the team, and she took the responsibility very seriously. That included measuring her responses for the younger teammates, making sure that she was always on. It also meant that she played her heart out and left every ounce of energy on the field. She was going to lead the league again. She was going to keep her national team spot. She was going to accomplish great things, just as her parents always told her. 

“I’m getting nervous,” her teammate confessed. “Sarah Lance is a terrifying defender. And Foster is a sniper.” 

“But you’re Nia Nal,” Kara smiled, helping to pull her goaltender up. She didn’t let her escape though. She held her shoulders in her hands and gave her an intense look. “You are a brick wall. You are unstoppable. You are a fortress. That’s your goal, and no one is going to score today.” 

“I know.” 

“I don’t think you do,” the captain disagreed, grinning a little wider now. “Hey, Allen, tell Nal what she is.” 

From over her shoulder another teammate immediately chimed in. 

“Nia Nal is a force to be reckoned with! She’s not allowing one point this entire year.” 

“See that?” Kara grinned, turning back to her goalie. “Everyone already knows it.” 

“I know,” Nia nodded, a little less worried and a little more serious. 

“Good. Let’s run some drills. I’m no Foster, but I’ll try to make it hard for you.” 

Leadership was a role Kara felt both thrust upon her and eager taken up, as if it were second nature. She didn’t think about it, not directly, but often her time was spent planning her moves within the team to make them successful. It showed on the field. 

On the pitch though, Kara was completely untouchable. She was focused on her goals and she was ready for anything. She was the captain, the heart, the everything for her team, and she gave her all because for so long it was all she had. 

“Danvers, lets go,” the coach’s voice called as the player finished getting ready, completing the final tasks of her routine. “I need you for some press stuff.” 

“I thought that was after,” Kara furrowed as she trotted over to Cat Grant as the rest of the team finished up in the locker room. 

“Opening day means a lot of parading around,” she explained as they walked through the corridor. “You know this team is precarious at best. We have to do everything we can to appease the money bags.”

“I was going to do some appeasing on the scoreboard. Try to put on a show.” 

“If you could do both, I’d appreciate it.” 

“You know I can.” 

With a comparable grin, Cat nodded and tugged open a door that led to a lobby area, where post game interviews would be held, where the team would meet before the huddle, only this time it was nearly empty save for two women. 

“Ms. Luthor,” Cat held out her hand as she approached the striking woman that Kara was stuck staring at. “It’s an honor to have you out here to see our first game.” 

“I’ve heard you’ve done amazing things. I’m excited to watch,” she smiled back, clasping Grant’s hand with both of hers. 

Dimples were there, right on her cheeks. There was also red lipstick. Cherry red and full on the lips. And her eyes. The green of the jersey was absolutely perfect for making her eyes seem like never-ending forests. Kara cleared her throat when she remembered to swallow and looked away from her face quickly, afraid of gawking too long, though her own cheeks grew a bit warm with the observations. The problem was that looking anywhere else was just as bad. Skin-tight black jeans betrayed hips, and the jersey was enough to not hide her chest, and Kara wanted to pluck out her own eyeballs. 

While she introduced her assistant, Kara looked helplessly at the door and shifted on her feet, hoping to avoid the weird feeling in her chest and head. 

“This is one of our stars, Kara Danvers. She’ll be doing some press with you after the game, so I thought it’d be better to look as if you’ve met before.”

“Good thinking,” Lena smiled and held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Kara nodded, curt and polite enough, the handshake not lasting very long. 

“I will confess I don’t know much about soccer, but I’ve done my research on you,” the money explained. “Jess was telling me how brilliant you are, and I’m excited for you to share your talent with the city.” 

“Me? Yes, um. I am as well. Excited. I love this city. My second home it is.”

With a funny look on her face, Lena just nodded and turned back to the coach, her glance following a beat later as Kara looked away, her cheeks full firetrucks. 

“I wont interrupt anymore of your prep time,” Lena explained. “Thank you Cat.” 

“Enjoy the view from the owner’s box.” 

“I get one of those?” Lena asked, her voice going a little low as she asked her assistant. 

Kara lingered for a moment as her coach made her way back toward the lock eroom to prepare. She met Lena’s lok and offered another shy smile before hurring to turn around. 

“See you later,” she offered and cringed as she turned around. 

The entire walk back to the locker room, Kara hung her head, oddly confused about the very short but very weird meeting. She didn’t know what to do or what she had done, just that she had a game to win and now knew that Lena Luthor existed. 

XXXXXXXXXXX

“Good evening National City!” the CEO cheered from the edge of the pitch, a giant television of herself played just behind her for everyone to see in the sold out crowd. 

The sun was beginning to set behind the city, the stadium sitting on the edge of the water with a view of the skyline and the lake behind it. It was all so new and clean and nice, that Lena took a little bit of pride in the fact hat she had some hand to play in it all even if she wan’t acutely aware of it. 

“I am so happy to introduce you to your National City FC!” 

The crowd roared again as she smiled into the microphone and surveyed the edge of the field with the waiting players and their tiny equivalents. 

“It has been an honor to be part of bringing the next great franchise to our wonderful city, and I know these women are going to make you all so proud!” 

The cheering was awfully addicting, and Lena was going to try to figure out how to get twenty thousand people to follow her around and agree with everything she said. 

“What do you say we get this inaugural season underway?” 

Lena smiled and waved, handing over the microphone to the emcee. The deep voice began to introduce the team as the owner walked off of the field toward her assistant who smiled, much too knowledgeable about the fact that her boss was actually having fun despite her inability to admit it. 

“You looked good out there,” Jess nodded as Lena stood beside her, shielding her eyes from the squint of the sun as she looked at her team. 

“Sports aren’t that bad,” Lena shrugged. 

Despite herself, the CEO found Kara Danvers in the lineup, a little girl standing before her as they did the anthem and introductions. Even though everyone was quiet and preparing for the game, the little girl was antsy. Kara held her hands and lifted her up slightly, swinging her a bit, her shoulders and biceps straining. Lena swallowed as she watched Kara giggle with the little girl, and wondered how someone could exist that was insanely hot and also a big old goober. It didn’t seem fair. 

“Let’s get to the box,” Jess offered, interrupting the absolute dehydration Lena was experiencing and hoping to hide. “We can go over some of the basics and I can finish explaining the strategy.” 

“I trust your judgement, but I should learn a few things for press. This is going to take a lot more of my face than previous expected, I guess?” 

“I was hoping a few showings of your face, and if we win, we’ll solidify the team. National City is lacking a prestigious championship caliber team.”

On the field, Kara hopped slightly before stretching out her legs and getting out the jitters. Hair pulled back tightly, her armband meant she was the captain, and she commanded her team with precision. 

“Is this our first championship team?” 

“I think so.” 

“This is a much more enjoyable investment than all those property deals and some of those research labs I have to hear about.” 

“Says the engineer?” 

“It pains me to admit it.” 

The whistle blew and Kara sprinted out, capturing the ball and immediately making her way toward the other goal. Lena’s heart jumped into her throat at the sheer force and speed of it all before she allowed Jess to tug her back to her box. 

“How much do you know about Kara Danvers?” Lena asked, hoping it as subtle enough to be taken as small talk. 

“It’s all in the folders.” 

The CEO nodded as the elevator ascended, and she didn’t dare to chance a look at her secretary. 

XXXXXXXXXX

No matter how many times she played, the adrenaline from a game was still mildly addicting. No matter how many goals she scored, the elation of scoring another was a fix that Kara Danvers chased perpetually. Nothing compared to it. 

After the final whistle blew though, after the game ended and there was nothing left to give, she found herself full of these things, and no matter how tired her muscles and body became, the high was slow to come down from. It did make everything happen quicker though, and somehow, not long after winning, and a hat trick under her belt, Kara found herself seated in the media room with the team logo behind her and her new owner beside her. 

“You must be fairly happy with the game tonight,” one reporter began, “any worries about the team as a whole that you will be working on this week at practice?” 

“We’re always looking to be better, and I can’t say we were flawless, but I’m so excited for where we’re at as a team, that I’m just going to bask for the evening before we get back to work in the morning.” 

The group chuckled slightly as the PR director called on the next hand. 

“Ms. Luthor, how important was it for this team to get a win tonight? Was it validation for your involvement? Vindication maybe for all the naysayers who were against the expansion?” 

“I can honestly say I haven’t paid any attention to anyone who was against this project,” Lena smiled as she earned a laugh from the audience. “It’s important to win as many games as possible for any team, let alone this team. We have a lot to prove as the new kids on the block, but I think Ms. Danvers is right, and we should celebrate and come back ready to continue in the morning.” 

For the life of her, Kara wasn’t sure why the mention of her name or the corresponding look from Lena made the tips of her ears burn, but she smiled awkwardly and tried to ignore it. 

“Ms. Luthor, what made you invest in this team and this  opportunity?” 

“The excitement in my advisor’s face when she talked about the team,” the CEO explained, nodding to the woman Kara didn’t remember officially meeting. “I can’t take credit for doing much more except being completely taken with Kara.” 

The player snapped to look at the CEO for the pause that seemed to last much too long. 

“Wait,” Lena shook her head and laughed. “Kara and her team. The sport really. The little girls that come out with the team. My advisor was one of those little girls, and she is now one of the most admirable and driven people I have ever met. If a team like this can give her joy and hope, imagine what it can do for all of the other little girls.” 

“How does it feel to have the most powerful woman in the world behind you, Kara?” 

“I’m quite taken by it,” she offered humbly with a smile, earning a laugh from the group and Lena in particular. “To be honest though, it is a truly empowering fact. To have someone with such kindness and tenacity as an example, it’s amazing.”

The pair shared a smile, and Kara looked back at the crowd, preparing for the next question.

next

[buddaimond]

Kristen Stewart is having a huge moment in her career with Charlie’s Angels coming to theaters in November and Underwater coming in January. But so far the 29-year-old has been focusing her energies on promoting her independent movie Seberg, the tragic story of American actress Jean Seberg whose life was essentially destroyed by late ‘60s FBI surveillance when she supported the Black Panthers and had an affair with one of their leaders. Stewart is keen to spread the word about Seberg on the 40th anniversary of her death at age 40.

In Venice, at the world premiere, she admitted “we should definitely know her for more than her short haircut and movies.” Stewart then moved on to the Toronto, Deauville and London Film Festivals. Though her biggest splash was made at the Zurich Film Festival, where she gave a Masterclass, a press conference, and where I sat down with her for an exclusive interview. Seberg comes out through Amazon in December.

COLLIDER: You seem to be doing more promotion for Seberg than Charlie’s Angels. Is there a reason for that?

KRISTEN STEWART: It’s funny you mention that as I was thinking about that this morning. Maybe it’s just been a minute since I was really proud of a smaller movie that I’ve done. I’d like people to see this one and unless you go to festivals and engage with the cinematic culture that could give you that opportunity to be seen, there’s no way to do that. So I support this movie, I think it’s good, and I think it’s a good time to tell the story. It’s been cool to travel with it because I also just love the festival vibe. I like traveling around and talking to people about movie stuff. It doesn’t feel like I’m selling a film. It feels like I’m supporting it and getting it out there for sure, but not in a way that it feels like my job. It’s a nice way to complete the experience of making a film. You get this opportunity to articulate the reasons why you made it and it completes the process.

How did you come to work on the film, which is the second film by Australian, London-based theatre director Benedict Andrews? It’s about the life of Jean Seberg but is not a straightforward biopic as it concentrates on the fraught period of her life.

STEWART: I spent a bit of time on the jury with Cate Blanchett in Cannes (2018) and I’d just met Beno and was thinking about working with him and she immediately said, “Do it!” She’d worked with him on stage, he’s done a lot of opera, a realm I knew very little about. His first film Una was so incredible and so contained, just an undeniably original movie. When we had our first meeting about Jean he felt so precious and particular and his protective nature felt really contagious and he made me want to get to know her. At that point I’d only seen Breathless and learning about the story I was wildly blown away by the fact that we don’t know what happened to her and why she receded and became somebody we lost too early.

Is it possible now for an actress or even a woman who is political to be blacklisted by the US government as Seberg was?

STEWART: No, I don’t think so. A lot of people are speaking against Trump, a lot of people are speaking against things they’re not into and they’re speaking very loudly. There are just too many of us now.

Seberg was also crucified because of her sexuality, for being with a black (married) man. Your life has been in the tabloids so you must be able to relate to that.

STEWART: Yes of course. I come from a staunchly moral country as if we all share those rules. As if there could possibly be a set of rules that applies to everyone and their own individual happiness, which is absurd. But at least we’re talking about it a little more than we ever have.

It’s actually a good time to be a woman in this business with #timesup.

STEWART: I think it’s such an exciting time to be a woman who’s allowed to make films right now. There are so many stories that are going to be unearthed that have otherwise been ignored for a long time. Not that some of those stories won’t be told by men. There will be a trickle down effect. Some of my favorite experiences have been with male directors. We’re just becoming more honest about the female experience and that’s very exciting.

How was it making Charlie’s Angels directed by Elizabeth Banks, who also plays Bosley in the film? Was it fun?

STEWART: It was really fun. Liz is really funny. It was her idea to revive the movies. I’d never worked with her before but I’ve always been a huge fan. Tonally we’re so different—she can squeeze a joke or a laugh out of anything and I’m the furthest from that. So I was so shocked that she saw me like that, like, “Hey you’re a goofball and I think we should play around together because nobody does that with you.” And I was like, “What? But you’re right, nobody ever does that with me.” So she got in there and it was this really tender act and I was so thankful and ultimately she wrote a really warm, grounded—also very silly, stupid, sometimes slapstick—but also really well-intentioned movie. It’s rad. She took this story we’ve grew up with and took the superhero aspect out if it and made the girls really relatable and accessible but also very aspirational. There’s this network of women across the globe who are connected and are really unstoppable. So it’s not like there are these three unattainable women who can fly or do kung fu while suspended in the air. No, these girls are actually smart and it’s about women who are friends and who are good people working together. It’s like a women-at-work story that’s also absurd sometimes. It didn’t lose the kitschy thing because she’s fucking silly.

Are you a goofball yourself?

STEWART: Mmm, sometimes.

Did you enjoy the comedy/action?

STEWART: My character is wily. I’m the really irresponsible older sister who takes care of these girls. Sabina would take a bullet for you but she never really knows what time it is or where she’s supposed to be. So it was fun to be just a dumb-ass.

Do you want to do more of the fun dumb-ass? I guess it has to be with exactly the right person like Ellzabeth?

STEWART: I would love to play around a little bit more. I like serious movies but yes of course.

You’ve directed a short film and a few music videos and now you’re about to direct your first feature The Chronology of Water based on the memoir by Portland-based writer Lidia Yuknavitch. Why has this story captured your imagination so much?

STEWART: It was such an incredible experience reading the book. Sometimes you encounter material that articulates something you aren’t able to yet feel within you and it’s striking as hell when someone does it for you. It’s an exceedingly cool time for women to tell stories right now, the perspective is changing and I thought this was so real. This woman is a brilliant writer and uses language and plays with words in a way that I’ve never seen before. Also there’s a coming-of-age story embedded in this thing that is so confronting and not just raw for the sake of being startling, but is actually real. I don’t think it’s impossible for the male perspective to tell epic female stories, it’s just that this is so embedded in this book about a woman processing pain and shame and repurposing it and creating art as savior. It’s sort of this art-as-savior and swimming-as-solace story. It’s a real-word, body-fuck story. The way she inhabits a body and the way she speaks about it is unlike anything I’ve ever read. So I want to see it; I’ve never seen that in a movie.

Are you writing the script or are you working on it together with Lidia?

STEWART: It’s definitely a collaborative process, but I’ve adapted it. It’s such a choose-your-own-adventure story. Whoever would have ended up making it, it has to be your own take on it. There’s so much to be had, it’s so non-linear, it’s so transient. It’s like water; it’s impossible to slip down the same stream.

Will you star in it or will you stay behind the camera?

STEWART: I’m not really right for it. Whoever plays the lead needs to play 17 to 40, so it’s a really wide range. I don’t know who that is at the moment. Hopefully I’m going to direct it next year.

With Twilight did you know how big it would become when you agreed to play Bella?

STEWART: The books were a big deal in the young adult novel realm, but it wasn’t in popular culture yet. I hadn’t heard of the book at that point and thought I was auditioning for a normal movie. It didn’t stand out as this gaping opportunity, it was just something that I liked. That was a cool audition process too. Catherine [Hardwicke] and I worked together for ages auditioning a bunch of other people for all the other parts. It was very normal—until it wasn’t.

What did you enjoy about playing Bella?

STEWART: When you read that book you are her. It’s such an immersive experience. So more so than with other parts the way to get close to it and make it feel true was to really own it and make it my own rather than be faithful to a text. I guess you can say that about most work, but this in particular was fun to be there. I was a teenager, it was such a visceral time to be alive and any 17-year-old knows what I’m talking about. It was just about capturing something so immediate, that first awakening, that ownership of your body and desire, all of it. It’s like having people tell you that it’s wrong and what you shouldn’t do. It’s a fierce commitment to something you believe in and was such a cool story to tell at that age.

You made five Twilight movies. Do you still see other cast members? Do you have a big WhatsApp group?

STEWART: We all have a group chat (jokes). But we all see each other, I run into people all the time. I can’t make it to Taylor’s Halloween party, which bums me out, I’m going to be in New York. Rob’s great, he’s doing well, he’s going to be Batman and I’m very proud of him. It’s nice. In terms of the group we’ve all disbanded now for so long. I have individual relationships with everyone, but it’s not this thing that you would assume binds us in this way where we go, “Remember that?” We’ve all become real whole people who still know each other. I’m really thankful for that.

[misssophiachase]

A while back the lovely @megansarah11 asked for a Klaroline drabble prompt inspired by Sybil and Tom from Downton Abbey (modern-day version). Apologies I never got to it love but I’m so excited about the movie coming out tomorrow so thought I’d finally write something : ) Hope you like it. Lyrics by Tracy Chapman.

He’s an Uber driver she wants to hate, she’s the daughter of an influential person he wants to hate but a mutually beneficial arrangement might change all that. 

Fast Car

You got a fast car, I want a ticket to anywhere

“Five minutes late,” she muttered from the backseat, stabbing at the buttons on her cell phone. “And one less star for lack of decorum.”

He’d picked her up outside Columbia University but given it was peak hour and hundreds of students milling around campus he’d struggled to see her even if it was her responsibility to place his license plate first. 

Glancing at the impressive looking college in the distance while he waited, Klaus wished he could afford to study there. His GPA was impressive so too his SAT scores during high school but he couldn’t afford college and scholarships were few and far between. 

Klaus Mikaelson didn’t drive an Uber for fun, in fact, he only drove because he needed the money to support his family not rude commentary from passengers mid-trip. 

This type he’d seen before, the epitome of a spoiled princess, although Klaus had to admit she was easy on the eye; blonde waves, porcelain skin, pink lips and legs for days encased within that leather mini-skirt. Daddy’s little girl had obviously decided putting the Uber driver out of business would be a fun distraction on the way out with friends. 

“Five minutes late is reasonably good for New York traffic, although I’m sure you know that already, but what exactly is wrong with my decorum?” He asked, probably against his better judgment but Klaus was bored and needed some entertainment to pull him out of his Friday night funk. 

“Lack of decorum you mean and last time I checked that was none of your business.”

“Well, if you’re going to review my services aloud, it’s a little difficult to ignore,” Kaus offered, looking at her in his rearview mirror curiously, noting those expressive blue eyes widening in shock.

She didn’t respond immediately, obviously thrown off by his reply. Instead, she proceeded to punch at her cell with more vigor and Klaus knew he’d lost at least another star in the process. He wasn’t phased and decided he’d much prefer music than her thoughts anyway.  

“What the hell is this?” She growled, finally finding her voice as the music reverberated loudly through the speakers. 

“It’s called music, sweetheart.”

“I’m aware it’s music,” she growled, “and don’t call me that.”

“It’s the Clash.” 

“Well, the name seems fitting given the lack of musicality,” she shared. Before she could eviscerate him again via review Klaus replied. 

“I should have known I suppose.”

“Should have known what exactly?”

“That someone so uptight and privileged wouldn’t understand punk rock.”

“I understand it perfectly,” she huffed. “In fact, I admire the way the genre has pioneered political messaging over the decades.”

“Really? You do?” He inquired, not expecting that response from the princess in his backseat. He decided she must be taking a few political electives and thought she knew everything.

“Yes, and, while we’re at it, everyone knows the Clash. I didn’t think you’d be so easily fooled.”

“Well, excuse me if you don’t look the type.” 

“You got me,” she admitted, his crimson lips curved into a smile knowing he’d won the argument. “I’m actually more of a Ramones fan if I’m to be completely honest.”

“Figures, you’d pick the band with the conservative guitarist.”

“I was more of a Joey fan, not Johnny if you must know. I ought to really address your judgmental tendencies in my review.” Klaus had to admit she knew her punk rock and the fact brother Joey was far more liberal than his older brother Johnny. 

“Well, given that, my tardiness and lack of decorum at least I’m consistent, love.”  

“I’d be curious to know just what your other passengers think about typecasting their musical tastes and political beliefs. And, by the way, you’re down to one star, buddy.”

Klaus could tell by consulting the rearview mirror she hadn’t bothered to look down at her phone once and a sly smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. 

She was enjoying this and Klaus had to admit he was too. It also didn’t hurt just how cute she looked twirling a blonde lock in her fingers and biting the right corner of her bottom lip either. 

“I’m amazed I still have one star,” he teased, realizing he had nothing to lose at this point. “Daddy must hate that his daughter is a Democrat.”

“You have no idea, not that I’m trying to entertain your stereotypes at all,” she mumbled, laying her head back, her blonde waves fanning out across the seat. “I think he’d disown me if I wasn’t his only child.”

“Well, then I’m sorry I judged you,” he offered, his eyes meeting hers briefly. “I definitely deserve that review.”

“Well, there’s still time to prove yourself,” she smiled deviously. “How about we make a detour and you can make it up to me?”

Maybe we make a deal

“You brought me to Central Park?” Klaus shivered, trying to ignore just how frozen his toes were and hoping it didn’t spread to other much-needed regions. 

Klaus had been unable to help himself, offering his jacket to his passenger who was less clothed and insisted they visit the Bethesda Fountain. It was empty given the season and this time of night.   

“If this is a frostbite competition, I give in,” he chuckled whilst trying to battle the chill. 

“This is my favorite place in the city,” she shared, looking upwards. The sky was clear tonight, the moon barely visible but multiple stars twinkling in the distance. “I like to come here when no one else is around.” 

“Well, you certainly chose the optimal time.” He agreed, hoping she’d get to the point sooner rather than later. As a driver, it wasn’t his role to get out of the car but for some reason, she’d enticed him into the cold. Klaus decided to blame it on his need for a good review, well in case anyone asked. “Don’t you want to meet your friends?”

“Maybe later,” she replied, taking a seat on the edge of the fountain and patting the spot next to her. Klaus wasn’t one to come on command but he’d long abandoned his usual routine when she’d jumped into his car. “I’ll pay extra and up your stars, promise.”

“It’s not about the money or the review,” Klaus admitted, probably too quickly. “I just like all my appendages working at full capacity.”

“Looks pretty good to me,” she shot back, a cheeky smile crossing her features as her eyes grazed his crotch. Klaus thought he’d pegged her when she jumped into his car but was finding it difficult to concentrate given just how unpredictable she’d proven.   

“You were not what I expected at all.”

“I have that effect on people,” she grinned. “My father doesn’t like it all that much, usually has one of his drivers take me around the city so as to avoid anything untoward.”

“And that’s not a nice, fatherly thing to do I assume?” 

“He does it to spy on me,” she growled. “It’s like I’m eight years old all over again and he’s chasing Liam O’Neil out of my treehouse.”

“What exactly were you doing in said treehouse?”

“We were playing doctors and nurses,” Klaus smirked knowingly, causing her to jab him in the ribs. “Get your head out of the gutter it was all above board. If anything it made me realise just what a bad nurse Liam made.”

“So, why no driver tonight then?”

“I snuck out before he arrived,” she admitted. “I wanted to spend my night my own way.”

“My curiosity is piqued, who exactly is your father?” 

“Republican Congressman for the 2nd District,” she murmured. “Talk about a total buzzkill. He has this tendency to put a dampener on my life in general and not just because of his choice of political party.”

“Wow, that was not who I was expecting at all when we started our discussion.”

“Oh, is that what you call it? From memory, it was all about you questioning my musical tastes and insulting my beliefs.”

“We haven’t even scratched the surface of a real political debate and you know it, Caroline.” For some reason that made Klaus smile in anticipation of a rematch.

“You said my name,” she smiled. “And here I thought I’d forever be known as love or sweetheart or whatever you call all the women you pick up.” Klaus didn’t miss her double meaning. 

“Assuming I pick up all these women, love,” he smirked flashing his dimples, noticing her creamy skin flush a cute shade of pink as he did. 

“So, any chance you’d consider driving me around?” His eyebrows shot up curiously wondering how they’d moved from pick-ups to fully-fledged driving.  “Urgh not in that way,” she groaned, jabbing him again. Klaus had to admit he was quite enjoying throwing around double entendres especially if it warded off the chill. 

“What? You mean like a chauffeur? It’s not really my thing and I’m not sure your father would approve,” he whistled. “We don’t exactly run in the same circles.”

“He doesn’t need to know that. I just need more space and this arrangement could be mutually beneficial.”

“And what do I get exactly?”

“You get money and I get freedom,” she shot back. “Seems like the perfect arrangement.”

“Except for the obvious,” he said, “Your father probably has the most stringent vetting process in place for the position of driving around his only daughter.”

“Just leave it to me.”

“Why does that worry me?”

“Because for the most part, and not that I want to prove your earlier assessment correct, my father does most things I ask. It’s either because he loves me or doesn’t want me to make a scene. Either scenario works I suppose.” Klaus could tell by the hurt in her voice that she cared about what he thought more than she liked to portray. “You’re English, surely we can sell you as some Margaret Thatcher-loving Tory who came to America to discover his dream.”

“Of being a chauffeur?”

“Of being a chauffeur who is saving for college to become a lawyer at a private equity practice in Washington DC and then the next Attorney-General in a Republican White House.”

“Sounds exactly like me,” he joked. “It seems like you’ve offered this position to others before me.”

“No, that’s just pretty much every guy my father has tried to set me up with since I was eighteen.”   

“I think that will be a tough sell, love.”

“But just think about all the money you could make, Uber driving would be peanuts in comparison.” 

Klaus wasn’t motivated by money but given his mother’s health problems he knew the extra cash would make a difference with her treatment. He’d be stupid to pass up an offer like that and if it meant more time to discuss politics with Caroline Klaus certainly wasn’t complaining. 

Maybe she needed more freedom and maybe he needed more money but for some reason, there seemed to be an underlying reason neither had verbalized. 

It was as if she wanted an escape just as much as he did.

Maybe together we can get somewhere, any place is better

[silver-wields-a-pen]

Illthdar High: an Au fan fiction

4:45 Wednesday Afternoon Rowdy boys calling dirty jokes echoed through the hallway where Scyanatha was sitting with her posse. They were at the opposite end from the entrance to the boys locker room, but could still clearly hear the ridiculous, hormonal chatter. Some boys are so pathetic. She blew a big bubble with her gum and popped it. She noted Seth’s voice wasn't among them, and that was enough to make her smile. She had a real man while everyone else in this school was messing with immature little boys. It was just another reason why she was better than them. “Isn’t this like, the fifth time he’s circled this way?” Imogen’s voice drew Scy away from her pink cellphone where she was ordering a pair of designer heels with Seth’s credit card. Tripton or Trenfon, whatever the janitor’s name was, was making yet another pass down their hallway, bucket of dirty mop water in tow. How it got dirty was anyone’s guess since Scy had yet to see him mop anything, but she wasn’t concerned with it. She just rolled her eyes and returned to her phone. “Let him look, this is probably the closest he’s ever come to boobs in his entire life.” She said it just loudly enough that he would hear, causing him to scuttle into the nearest classroom in an attempt to look like he had a reason to be here other than ogling her and her friends. “What's the name of the shop we’re going to?” Zercey asked from where she sat opposite Scyanatha and beside Imogen, leaving Laura to sit beside Scy like the good little pet she was. She was in a much better mood today, having made up with Lerki the previous night. He hadn’t been seen flirting with any random girls yet today, so maybe Zercey thought she made her point at last. Good, they were both getting annoying. “Oh my gosh, it’s the cutest place,” Scy gushed, happy to talk about their destination. “Seth’s aunt owns it and she only stocks items from the best designers, she has amazing fashion sense. She used to be a top model! She says I have potential to be a top model too and she’s going to hook me up with some of her connections after I escape this dump.” Zercey tried not to sigh as Scyanatha took her question and turned it into a chance to talk about herself. “Anyways,” Scy carried on, “the boutique isn’t officially open until this weekend but she’s letting us in early so we don’t look like peasants for the dance. We’ll have the entire store to ourselves.” “As long as we don’t mess anything up, everything will be all right.” Seth’s voice joined the conversation, though it didn’t last long since his mouth was soon occupied by Scyanatha’s lips.

She’d jumped up the moment he walked over, practically mauling him with loud and wet kisses.

Both Zercey and Imogen saw the little blob of pink gum that Scy was chewing pass into Seth’s mouth and it took every ounce of self-restraint they had not to gag, the urge becoming even more intense when the couple finally parted and Seth carried on chewing it. “I like this shirt on you,” Scy complemented, oblivious to her friends' existence as she tugged on the white fabric covering her boyfriend’s chest. She licked her lips, eyes lidded as one of Seth’s hands instantly went to grope her ass. The two of them looked set and ready to give that creepy janitor the show of a lifetime until Lerki’s voice snapped them out of it.

“As fun as it is to watch you two put on a peep show in the middle of the school, we should probably get out of here before they lock us in.” Scy rolled her pretty eyes, but relented, grabbing Seth’s hand and tugging him through the door, already chatting about what kind of dress she planned to get.

Laura skipped along beside her, the only one listening.

Zercey and Imogen, wary of seeing any more potentially scarring things, opted to ride with Lerki to the mall while Laura, the poor thing, was forced to endure a  twenty minute ride full of Scyanatha’s hand delving in Seth's pants and nearly causing an accident.    ~*~*~ “Here.” Salem handed over a vanilla ice cream cone topped with pink and green sprinkles to Vyxen, adding, “Yes, the cone is gluten free.” He’d made triple sure it was the right cone since the new guy, Nametag: Cowan, didn’t seem to understand or care much about how to do his job. His poor boss was really trying to train him well, but it wasn’t working. After catching the nerdettes doing their little dance number, he’d spent the rest of his night teasing Vyxen at every possible chance. It was all fun and games until she started to cry, leaving Salem to feel like a grade A jackass. Xyl even looked ashamed and he hadn’t even said anything. So here he was, buying her ice cream and about to lose a good chunk of his money to help pay for her dress in an effort to make her feel better and stop the guilt from chewing away at him. “Can you and your friends try to pick dresses quick when we get there? I don’t want to spend my whole afternoon here.” He wanted to make her feel better, yes, but not quite at the expense of his entire day. “You don’t have to come with me. Maybe we can meet back up in an hour or so to go home?” Vyxen tried, shuddering to even think how mortified poor Nyima would be if she had to try on dresses in front of Salem. “That way you can do whatever you want.” “And miss my darling little sister getting ready for her first dance?” Salem asked, clutching his heart in mock pain and laughing when Vyxen sighed. He pulled his phone out to check the time. He honestly had zero interest in watching her and her dorks try on dresses, but he also knew Date was somewhere in the building and after his last few songs, he didn’t know how much he trusted him being anywhere near his sister without supervision. He was going to have to watch his mouth though, lest he make both Vyxen and Nyima cry and have Rae trying to punch him in the face. They were passing some disgustingly expensive looking store when their path was suddenly blocked by group of people. Salem didn’t need to look up from his phone to know who they were, a cloud of overpriced floral perfume and gross cologne was already seeping into his sinuses and threatening to choke him. Only Scy and her group of nimrods travelled in such a foul smelling pack. He veered to the left to walk around them, not interested in dealing with their petty attitudes and not daring to look at Imogen least he sell her out to her friends. Why she hung out with them was beyond him, but making out with her a few times in hidden locations didn’t give him any right to question her poor taste in friends. He would have been content to steer himself and his sister right past them without acknowledging their existence at all but Scy’s high pitched, deeply annoying voice stopped him right in his tracks. “Watch where you’re walking, albino freak,” Scyanatha sneered, eyes boring into the back of Vyxen’s head.

Vyxen let out a small, involuntary whimper and Scy smirked over her victory. Salem slowly turned around until he was looking straight into the cold, brown eyes of the girl who just insulted his sister. “Why don’t you pick on someone in your own IQ range? Those mannequins look like they could put up a good fight,” he said as he gestured to the window display behind him. Out of his periphery, he could see the rest of the popular kids reactions, though he didn’t dare break eye contact. Lerki stood there with his mouth open, looking fully like the brainless jock he was. Laura and Zercey were frozen in surprise, eyes darting from their friend to the dweeb and then back again. Imogen paled as if she was watching her worst nightmare unfold before her. “What did you just say to her?” Seth snapped, removing his arm from around Scyanatha’s shoulder, taking a step forward and squaring up, ready for a fight. “You heard me.” Realistically Salem knew that he was about to get his ass handed to him, Seth was a moron but a strong one and he didn’t have anywhere near the guy’s muscle or mass. He was doomed if punches were thrown but his pride and anger refused to let him back down. “Salem, we should…” Vyxen started, reaching out to grab hold of his jacket only to have a warm hand enclose around her own. “You don’t want to be in the middle of this.” Date was there, appearing out of nowhere like some kind of ghost and gently wrapping his arm around her to lead her away from what he was sure would turn out to be a murder scene. She didn’t need to get involved in this and he couldn’t help Salem even if he wanted to, Seth would just knock them both out. “Maybe you should muzzle your bitch, or at least keep her on a leash so she doesn’t irritate everyone around her.” Salem's anger blinded him to the danger he was in, he didn’t even notice Date swoop in like a crow to gather up Vyxen when his back was turned. Seth crossed over two Salem in two quick strides. “You think you can just insult my woman and not have to pay for it, you little prick?” he growled before shoving him with both hands, causing Salem to stumble. “Seth, don’t,” came a voice from behind. Imogen knew Seth long enough to understand when he was about to start a fight, and there was very little time to act before it was too late. “He’s not worth it,” she said, lips twisting. “And plus, if you get thrown out of here, how are we supposed to get dresses from your aunt’s store? You don’t expect us to wear something from one of these places, do you?” “She’s right, babe,” Scyanatha agreed with a sigh. “You can kick the Twilight reject’s butt later. I cannot be seen wearing something off the rack at homecoming.” Seth hesitated, unsure he wanted to walk away from such easy prey. Finally, his shoulders relaxed and he unclenched his fists. “You’re lucky these ladies are here to save your ass,” he snarled, shoving Salem one more time before walking off with the rest of the group. Salem stayed there for a moment still seething. The arrogance of those people! He rubbed his shoulder where Seth pushed him, knowing that it would probably leave a bruise, but it could have been worse. No, what hurt more was the cool way Imogen had talked about him, as if he were beneath them, beneath her. He turned and finding no Vyxen in the vicinity, stalked away to locate her. He and Imogen weren’t a couple, he shouldn’t feel bad about the way she talked to him. He knew from the start that this, whatever it was that they were doing, was temporary and only for pleasure. Knowing that didn’t stop her words from stinging though.  ~*~*~ “That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard!” “I don’t hear you coming up with anything better!” Xyl let out a groan. “Will you two stop it, already?” Rhoe and Rhovan had been arguing this way for the last thirty minutes. They were supposed to be working on a project for their history class, but so far the only thing they could agree on was how much they resented being paired together.  His sister sent a glare his way and further slumped down in the worn out leather chair in their living room. “I don’t even know why we’re bothering. It’s a pointless class and I’m barely passing anyway. Getting another F won’t make much of a difference.” “Well I’m not failing and I’d like to keep it that way,” Rhovan retorted.

Rhoe responded by flipping him the bird.  “Let’s take a break and order some dinner. If I have to sit through this, I at least want some food. How does Chinese sound?” Without waiting for either of them, Xyl put down his guitar and crossed the room to pull up the delivery menu on his laptop.

Rhoe took out her lighter, flicking it repeatedly so the flame sparked and then went out over and over again.  “I can’t believe I’m missing work for this,” Rhovan snapped when Xyl was gone, thinking about pulling the lighter right from between Rhoe’s fingers and setting her on fire. He didn’t, obviously, but it was a nice fantasy. He’d never been paired with anyone so insufferable. He needed to get at least a B in this class and she was screwing him over with her attitude.   “Then why don’t you just go to work then and get out of my face?” They could ace this project and it still wouldn’t save her grade, so Rhoe wasn’t going to waste her time on it. She flat out told this idiot that and he came over anyway. As far as she was concerned this was all his fault; she could be getting free ice cream from Cowan right now, and Rhovan could be off pandering to hamsters in the pet store like he usually did. “Because,” Rhovan started, speaking through gritted teeth, “I’m trying to be a good partner. You, on the other hand, are a complete bitch. This is why no one sits beside you in class. You’re miserable and you ruin everyone’s day.” He honestly didn’t care that he was talking to the sister of his best friend, her attitude was awful and so was she. No wonder only one person in the school could stand her. “Aww,” Rhoe cooed, pulling a sad face and pretending to sniffle, “am I ruining your day, pretty boy?” Rhovan grabbed his bag and stood, done with her. “You know what, you can go screw yourself. I’ll talk to Mr. Culvers and do the project myself. Enjoy being a wash-out loser and repeating your junior year.” She was going to end up dropping out and becoming a junkie and he didn’t even feel bad for her, she brought it all on herself. “Later, Xyl!” he called as he threw open the door and strode out, nearly knocking the delivery boy off the steps on his way. He still had time to pick up his shift in the pet store if he hurried, that way he wouldn’t be losing anything this afternoon except a headache in human form. Jingyi, who had been just about to knock on the door, wasn’t fast enough to sidestep as Rhovan bolted down the steps, and ended up dropping the bag with food in it. Hoping nothing spilled, he picked it up again before hastily handing over the order to guy inside and making a fast retreat. Getting back on his bike, he took out his inhaler and took a deep breath in. As he waited for the medicine to take effect, he popped one of the fortune cookies he stashed in his pockets earlier into his mouth. Opening the scroll inside he read, ‘The fortune you seek is in another cookie. Lucky numbers 2, 33, 5, 84, 7.’ “Typical.” He finished chewing his snack and pedalled towards the restaurant. ~*~*~ Nyima and Raemina walked through the pet store, wasting time until they could meet up with Vyxen. They rarely got to go since she would start sneezing the moment she walked through the door, so it was a nice change of pace.

Rae was mentally going over today’s calculus questions and watching Nyima stop to pet and coo at all the animals with a fond smile. It wasn’t often such a shy girl got excited, but animals seemed to bring out the best in her. She would make an amazing vet one day. Their peaceful walk was ruined by the bell above the door ringing followed by a slam and Rae turned to see Rhovan stalk into the shop, clearly in a bad mood. She wondered where he was. She knew he worked there and this was usually the time of his shift. She wasn’t spying on him or anything, but spent a lot of time at the bookstore across the way, and remembered the days and times he appeared. That was actually how she first noticed him. His blue hair was hard to miss and she liked the way he smiled and talked to the animals when he cleaned out their cages. Just like Nyima, the pets seemed to bring out the best in him. Not today, apparently. He looked ready to fight and so she opted to keep her distance. It was tempting to ask him to the dance, but this was probably the worst time to do it and so she wouldn’t. Instead, she kept trailing after Nyima, getting lost once more in her mental mathematics. Her watch would beep when it was time to go meet Vyx,so she allowed her mind to wander and focus on various numbers and equations, running and rerunning them in her head until she was sure that she understood them all perfectly. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice Nyima stray away from her to go look at the wall of aquariums, nor the tall and solid body that entered her path until she almost slammed into it. “Man, you were really lost in thought right then. Homework troubles?” Rhovan asked, his easy grin back in place.

Raemina was taken aback by the sudden change in temperament, recalling that he looked as though he could breathe fire not even five minutes ago. “Something like that,” she responded simply. “Are you ok? You looked upset a few minutes ago.” It might not be her place to ask, she didn’t really know him, but her curiosity got the better of her. “I’m having some homework troubles myself, but if I keep stomping around the store the animals will get offended and rebel against me.” Just then, the puppies nearby started to make a ruckus and Rhovan waved his hand in their direction, them having just proved his point. “I don’t mind getting a little chewed on, but I kind of need my hands this week and would prefer them unbloodied. My band is performing in the talent show on Friday.” “I know.” Raemina moved away from him, heading towards the puppies to see what set them all off. “Your bass player is my best friend’s brother. I know a lot about your band,” she added when she saw one of his brows raise and a sly little smile appear on his face. She refused to let him think she was a fangirl. The puppies were in an uproar because a small grey one seemed to be on a mission to chew on the ears and tails of all the others. “That’s Loui,” Rhovan informed her with a sigh, having followed her over, and reached into the display case to scoop the wiggly pup into his arms. “He’s my problem child.” He’d have to keep a hold of him until he calmed down before he put him back with the others and hopefully he wouldn’t get peed on this time. Loui was notorious for peeing on people to the point where everyone brought an extra set of clothing and wipes with them to work now. Raemina was amused. “Well, your problem child is very cute.” “You can have him if you want, I’ll throw in a free bag of food if you take him.” “Tempting, but I don’t think my parents would like it.” It was a shame too, Rae thought, she’d like to have a reason to come back here in the future and Loui was awfully cute. “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Rhovan started, finally starting to feel a little better now that Rhoe was a bad memory and he had a pretty girl in front of him. He couldn’t believe that he’d never noticed her before. She was gorgeous and she smelled really good, like a flower. She rocked the school girl look with her polka dotted skirt and cream colored sweater and he couldn’t help but think they’d look hot together. He hadn’t forgotten about those lace panties either. “So are you going to the talent show? I’d love to see you there,” he added in an attempt to seal the deal before she got a chance to say no. “I’m thinking about it.” If she went would ultimately depend on if Vyxen and Nyima went, but she could probably convince them. “Well, I hope you come and maybe if you’re not doing anything afterwards, we could go––” Whatever Rhovan was about to say was cut off by the alarm blaring from her watch. It perked Loui right up and had him squirming so badly that Rhovan had to wrap both his arms around him to keep him from jumping down and causing all sorts of havoc. “Sorry,” Raemina apologized, though the smile on her face suggested that was a lie. It was cute to see this punk rocker struggling to keep a hold of an excitable puppy. “I have to go, I’ll think about coming to the talent show though,” she promised, turning away and going to gather up Nyima so they could head to the dress shop. “Cool,” Rhovan called after her lamely, sighing when she walked out the door without a backwards glance. “Look what you did,” he scolded the puppy in his arms. “That could have been my new girlfriend and you chased her away.” Loui’s response was to bark happily and then promptly pee all over him. ~*~*~ Vyxen was nervous. They were well out of sight of both Salem and Seth now, but Date still had an arm wrapped firmly around her shoulders. It wasn’t as though she hated it, it was just... New. It was new and awkward and she didn’t know how to deal with it. Should she wiggle out of his hold? Would it look weirder if she broke away or just stayed put? He was quiet beside her, relaxed and at ease, not seeming to realize that he was still holding onto her. Unable to deal with the silence, Vyxen attempted to fill it. “Do you think Salem will be ok?” she tried, genuinely worried for her brother and hoping conversation would clue Date into the fact that they were still touching. She didn’t want to have to make the decision of staying in his hold or breaking away as both options made her look bad in her own mind. If she stayed pressed against him, he might think she was desperate, but if she broke away he might think that she didn’t like him. It was a no-win situation. Date made the choice for her when he shifted his hold on her shoulders to be more comfortable for them both, but didn’t pull his arm away. “He’ll be fine. Seth isn’t stupid enough to cause a scene in the middle of the mall, he could get kicked off his beloved football team for something like that.” He knew a fight wouldn’t actually break out, but he’d seen an opportunity to get Vyxen alone and he’d taken it. Watching her blush next to him, flustered by his closeness was extremely cute. He wondered how flustered he could get her if he… “That’s good.” Vyxen’s voice broke his train of thought and it was probably for the best. It was too early to try anything drastic and Seth might be smart enough not to start a scene but Salem was not and Date didn’t feel like getting punched in the face today. Silence settled over them again and he purposely didn’t fix it because he liked watching how nervous she got. She’d run if it became too much for her though and so, eventually, he did have to stop being a jerk. “Your ice cream is melting,” he pointed out, thinking he could safely be a creep for a moment longer and thoroughly enjoying watching her hurry to lick up the trail of melted cream that threatened to drip onto the floor. Tucking that lovely image away for later review, he asked, “What are you doing after the pep rally on Friday?” The pep rally, for reasons past understanding, was a mandatory school event and he already knew she’d be at the talent show because Salem would be there and she tried to be a good sister. “I have a study session with Nyima and Raemina.” “At your house?” Date was disappointed she was already doing something, but he could probably save the situation by convincing Salem to let him stay over on the same night. That would give him a chance to…. “No, Raemina is having us all stay at her house.” To make sure neither she nor Nyima found an excuse not to attend the dance, she was sure. To do nothing, apparently. Vyxen being entirely unavailable to him on Friday threw a wrench into his carefully laid out plans of taking her out somewhere, asking her to the dance and possibly, possibly, getting to make out with her. She was easily flustered so he didn’t know how far he could get before he smacked into her limits, but until proven otherwise he was going to assume that a make out session would have been involved. “That’s a bummer, I was going to ask you to go out with me.” There was nothing for it at that point. He might not have another chance to get her alone like this and so he needed to skip over the date step and go right to the next. “How about we go to the dance together instead?” “What!?” Vyxen asked, stopping dead in her tracks and looking at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t possibly have heard him right, she couldn’t have. The last time she talked to him, he didn’t even know who she was and now he was asking to the dance? Impossible. Admittedly that was a couple of years ago, but it was still totally and completely impossible. She either misheard him or this was some kind of dream. It was probably a dream. She’d had similar ones before and quickly pinched herself to verify, the resulting sting proving her theory false. It’s not a dream, oh my god! Date had witnessed the little pinch and was amused, moving around so he could stand in front of her. He took her hand and kissed the back of it and then dragged his lips up her arm to kiss the spot she’d pinched. “Will you be my date to the dance?” he asked again, kissing his way back down her arm and enjoying the dark red color that stained his his soon-to-be girlfriend’s cheeks. “Yes?” he prodded when she still seemed unable to speak a minute later and smirked in victory when she nodded fervently in reply. “Good,” Date purred, pulling her forward by the arm and leaning in to taste her lips while he still had her stunned. Unfortunately, a large hand slapped directly over his face and pushed him back.

“Can you not?” Salem snapped, pulling Vyxen away from Date and pushing her in the direction of her two red-faced and quickly approaching friends. They witnessed the whole thing. All of his earlier interest faded from Date’s face and he slipped back into his usual, bored appearance. “You act like I was going to start taking her clothes off right here in the mall.” Salem scoffed, not entirely sure that Date wouldn’t have actually gone that far, the creep’s newest song lyrics still circling in his head. “You were thinking about it.” “How did it go with Seth?” Date sidestepped the question, not denying anything and not needing to because they both knew it was true. Salem cursed brilliantly and Date congratulated himself on successfully switching the subject.

“We’re going to do something about him and his pet. It’s about time someone put them in their place.” ~*~*~ Lerki watched Zercey walking around the boutique with the other girls with a hungry look on his face. Beside him, Seth was talking to his aunt about some family drama, but all of his attention was on the brunette trying to play coy. He couldn’t care less about what colors or designs they all ended up wearing so long as Zercey’s dress was short and sexy. He stared at her as she dropped the pen she was twirling in her fingers and reached down to pick it up without bending her knees, not-so-subtly showing off her incredible legs and flexibility. From this angle, he was even able to get the smallest of peeks below her skirt. She was playing with him, and he knew it. Zercey flashed a mischievous smile over her shoulder before turning back to the group. Scyanatha was in the middle, flicking through dresses and judging them one by one, while Laura, Imogen and herself surrounded her and listened as she went on about cut, color, design, and fabric. “It’s like, practically criminal that we have no good stores here. Thank god this place finally open. I would have died if I’d been stuck with something all of these peasants have seen before,” Scy said emphatically, using her preferred term for their classmates as if she were royalty and not just another suburbanite. “I would have made Seth skip class and drive me to the city.” Laura nodded along sympathetically, and Zercey had to work hard to not roll her eyes at how obviously the other girl was trying to be noticed. She tried to make eye contact with Imo, but she was looking at her phone. “Ooooh!” Scyanatha let out a high-pitched squeal, having finally found a dress she liked. “I love this one!” She pulled out a sparkly, pink strapless mini dress that forced Zercey to look away from the glare reflecting off the glitter. Attached under the bust was a gauzy blush coloured train that trailed all the way to the floor. It screamed ‘princess,’ which made Scy bounce with excitement. Now she just had to find something suitable for the others. Scanning the rest of the dresses quickly, Scyanatha’s gaze fell upon a section of dark pink and red dresses, none of which were half as flashy as the one she had in her hand. Perfect, she decided and redirected the group over there.  “What about this, Scy?” Laura offered, pointing to another sequined dress, this one in silver.

Scyanatha halted her forward march to raise an eyebrow at the younger girl. “What about it?” she asked, her question laced with a dare.  “Oh, nothing... Just that it isn’t nearly as pretty as yours is,” Laura finished. She might have been dim, but even she could tell when she was being put back in her place. “Exactly. So why would I be interested in it?” Scyanatha jeered, sticking her nose in the air and walking past Laura without a second glance.

Imogen and Zercey followed behind. Finally in the pre-approved color section, Scy left her two friends to look at dresses for themselves while she busied herself finding one for Laura.  “What do you think about this?” Zercey asked Imogen.  She looked over the hot pink, ruched frock. “For you or me?” “You.” Imogen scrunched up her face. “Too skanky,” she decided with a shake of her head.

Zercey shrugged and put it back.

“Plus, that color clashes horribly with my complexion. How about this one for you?” she offered holding out a bright red dress. “Eh––” she started. “Wait, I know what you’re going to say,” Imogen interrupted. “But look at this!” With a flourish, she turned it around so Zercey could see the back. The front was cute enough – it had a flashy red lace top and a tulle skirt in a matching hue – but it seemed to be more classy than sexy. The back, on the other hand… Zercey’s jaw dropped when she saw the back. Most of it had been cut out and she could imagine the way the uneven line of lace would frame her bare back. Plus, even though the skirt looked like it would pass the puritanical school dress code, the nature of the shape would provide easy access should she need it. “I guess I’ll try it on.”  “You couldn’t wear a bra with it, though,” Imogen said slyly. Zercey gave her co-conspirator a grin. “Oh,” she said with fake realization, “I suppose I couldn’t.” She gave a meaningful look to Lerki standing in the corner. He cleared his throat and moved his messenger bag in front of him. “That’s hot,” Scyanatha agreed from beside them. “You can try this one,” she continued, passing Laura a dress without looking at her. It was still cute  –she wouldn’t allow anyone who didn’t look good to associate with her - but it was a halter and definitely something from last season. After all, she couldn’t let the girl off too easily after her back talk. Imogen was too distracted to remember that she should have felt bad for Laura. She had been going through the motions this whole time, but she couldn’t help but replay the fight that almost broke out between Seth and Salem. She was able to text him a quick ‘I’m sorry,’ after they walked away, but she still hadn’t heard anything back.  “What about you, Imo?” asked Zercey. “Are you ready to try something on?” “Yeah,” she answered as she plastered a smile on her face. She held up an arm full of dresses in confirmation as she followed the other three into the dressing rooms.  “Hey babe,” came Scyanatha’s voice from behind the furthest curtain. “Could you help me zip up my dress?” After another hour – most of which was spent waiting for Seth to finishing helping Scy get into, and presumably out of, her dress – all four girls had successfully picked out their homecoming outfits. Seth's aunt didn’t only sell expensive and one-of-a-kind party dresses, but also had a decent selection of jewelry and accessories, though Scyanatha of course had to approve every item before it was put on the counter to be rung up. Once she was confident that she and her gang would be the best dressed crew at the dance, the group of six finally made its way out the door. As she stepped back into the mall, Imogen felt her phone vibrate. Opening up the text, she read: Meet in 5? ~*~*~ “What took you so long?” Salem demanded as Imogen rounded the corner to meet him by the handicap restroom.  “Shhh! Keep your voice down,” she snapped and led the way into the stall. Once the door was safely locked behind them she continued, “It was difficult trying to get away from my friends without being suspicious. They’re not stupid, you know.” Salem gave her a look that told her he wasn’t so sure about the last part. “They’re not,” she said defensively. Salem rolled his eyes. “Whatever, I didn’t come here to pick a fight.” “Oh really,” she laughed sarcastically. “Then what the heck do you call what happened earlier?” “I call that your douchenozzle friends picking on my sister. My sister, by the way, who never did anything to those idiots. Who gave them the right to drag her down and make her feel like garbage? They do that to everyone to make themselves feel superior, it’s disgusting,” Salem snapped, his earlier anger coming back full force. He’d seen Vyxen, Raemina and Nyima get bullied too often, he’d seen that loner kid get bullied too often and everyone else too. Even Laura, who was supposed to be Scyanatha’s friend, was treated like a servant instead of an equal.  “I’ve had enough of them and so has everyone else. They’re gonna get what they have coming and if you keep hanging out with them, you’re going to end up getting screwed over too,” Salem warned her, not quite thinking that spilling your revenge plans to your targets friend was a bad idea. “Excuse me?” Imogen snarled back and took a step forward so she could get right up in Salem’s face. “Are you threatening me?” “I’m warning you ahead of time so that you might make a good decision for once.”

The sound of skin hitting skin filled the small space as Imogen’s hand connected with the side of Salem’s face. “Who do you think you are?” She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back against the wall. “I do make good decisions! Don’t talk to me like you know anything about me.” “I know a lot about you, probably more than your so-called friends do,” Salem snapped right back, grabbing onto her wrists. “I know your favorite color is dark blue and that you love your dark blue sweater, it’s your favorite. You wear it all the time even if Scyanatha scoffs about it getting old.” He paid attention to her, more often than he’d like to admit. “I know your favorite cereal is Captain Crunch, you like Shakespeare and that you would probably shank somebody to get to a Rachel Platten concert.” He should have paused to consider how creepy or desperate he was making himself look right now, but he honestly couldn’t be bothered. This was going to go really well or blow up in his face and either way, he was getting kind of tired of being in a secret relationship. “I also know that you work hard to organize events for the school and to get good grades and I don’t understand how someone so smart can be friends with people who are so awful.” He had more he wanted to say, but he didn’t get a chance to finish airing his thoughts as Imogen closed the distance between their faces and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was feverish and desperate with both of them still worked up over the fight. Imogen’s hands moved from his shoulders to his collar, pulling at his shirt. Salem’s hands slid down around her waist and he pressed her body closer to his. This wasn’t like the kisses they’d shared under the bleachers, it was more intense and frenzied. There was no elegance to it and neither of them seemed to mind. Minutes ticked by without either of them realizing it, Salem shifted their position, grabbing Imogen by the waist and lifting her up, so he could flip them around and press her up against the dingy bathroom wall. He lifted one of her legs to wrap around his waist as his lips trailed from her lips to her neck. His vampire thing was totally just an aesthetic, but he couldn’t deny that he got a little thrill out of being able to bite and suck on her neck like this. It would probably be a bad idea to leave a mark there, but he didn’t care. He cared even less when he felt her hand tug on the button of his jeans, the small movement being enough to make his heart beat so fast that he thought it might actually come out of his chest. This is it! This is it! The sudden banging on the door ensured that this was most certainly not it and made the two of them reel back and away from each other. “Hide in the corner,” Salem instructed Imogen before moving to the door and opening it just a crack. Black hair and a stupid, evil grin were waiting for him on the other side. “What the fuck, Date?” “I’m sorry to break up your little rendezvous, but the girls are ready to go home and I’m pretty sure someone is going to come looking for your little miss pretty soon.” Date’s smile only widened, “it wouldn’t be a good idea for you two to get caught like this.” Salem could tell by the smirk that Date’s silence was going to cost him something, but he was still riding too high to care. “Whatever,” he said before turning back to Imogen and having the decency to flush when he saw the small red mark just above her collarbone. “I’ll leave first so no one suspects anything. Also… you might want to cover your neck.” He left before she had a chance to look in the mirror and see what he was talking about. ~*~*~ Scyanatha’s tongue was all the way inside Seth’s mouth when the pair heard a rapping on the window. They had been getting hot and heavy in his expensive car for the last few minutes; so much so, that the windows fogged up. With a sound like a suction cup being wrenched from a wall, the couple disengaged and rolled down the passenger side window. Scy scowled when she saw the person lurking outside. “What do you want?” she snarled without a hint of shame at being caught with her skirt hiked up a full three inches higher than it was supposed to sit.

It was her older brother, Oidhan, looking as annoying as ever. He gave Seth a nod in greeting before turning to his sister and saying, “Mother wants to know when you’ll be coming in for dinner.” She rolled her eyes. It was so like her mom to send out the perfect son to check up on her. “Aren’t you supposed to be in college? What are you even doing here?” When he didn’t reply, she groaned. “Fine. Tell her I’ll be in in a minute.” She turned back to her boyfriend with a practiced pout. “I’m sorry, baby. Whenever my parents send Oidhan after me I know it’s serious.” She wondered if they had seen her latest credit card statement, that would explain them being mad at her. Seth didn’t even try to hide his disappointment. He pulled Scy back to him and kissed her long and hard before finally letting her go. “All right princess, text me when your mom is through being a nag.” It was times like this when he was the most thankful for having parents who were almost never home. Oidhan cleared his throat as obviously as possible from outside the car and Seth was immediately thankful for also being an only child. Fixing her skirt and top, Scyanatha crawled off her boyfriend’s lap and out of the car, sighing in barley contained irritation and trying not to pout when Seth’s car pulled out of the drive and took off down the road. “Thanks for ruining my night,” she spat at Oidhan, flicking her red hair over her shoulder snottily. They headed towards the large, pristine manor that her family inhabited. “Shouldn’t you be off rescuing orphans somewhere?” “I’m an immigration lawyer, I protect people from getting kicked out of the country they think of as home. It’s called being a decent human being, maybe you should give it a try.” Oidhan was now remembering why he avoided coming home to visit. Even the stuck-up politicians he had to deal with through work weren’t quite as insufferable as his sister could be. How their parents put up with her was beyond him, he would have shipped her off to military school years ago. “Whatever.” Scy waved her hand at him as if he was a gnat, not listening to a word he said. A shiny compact mirror was taken out of her pocket so she could fix her smeared lipstick and then closed with a satisfying snap. “You don’t get anywhere in life by being decent, moron, one day you’ll figure that out.” With that, Scyanatha threw open the front door and strode into the hall as if she were walking into a throne room.

By @guardians-of-las-vyxen & @yogiwithabook

[probablydaydreamingg]

Nicotino AU fic - The Sun in His Eyes

Here it is ! The first chapter of my Nicotino AU fic. Please let me know what you guys think as it is my first fic and I have no idea if it’s any good. It involves the contrabbandieri a lot, so if you miss them as much as I do… You know what to do ;)

You can read it on AO3 here.

Summary: I contrabbandieri goes camping for a few days once they’re done with school. All Martino wanted was to relax and be a careless teenager for a few days. He had no idea that he would fall in love in the process. On their first day of lounging on the beach they meet a group of boys and play beach volley with them. They hit it off immediately and spend the rest of their vacation together. The problem is that one of them is the most beautiful boy in the planet and Martino can’t help but falling for his green eyes and his sunshine smile.

Chapter 1

It’s fair to say that it hadn’t be easy for Martino to convince his mom to let him go on vacation with the boys, but she finally caved in, after several conversations and one long speech from Gio exposing the different benefits of a friends’ gateway to the beach for a few days. It’s not that Martino’s mom didn’t trust Martino or the boys to be on their own, it’s mostly that she didn’t like the idea of being alone in the house for days. Martino knew that, which is why he managed to convince her to take this opportunity to visit her sister for a few days, this way it would be a nice getaway for them both. And of course, Martino would call her everyday to tell her all about their trip.

It was a month ago when Gio had proposed to go camping once they’re out of school, just the four of them together, Elia, Luchino and Marti. Gio had broken up with Sofia not so long before, which might be what prompted the idea of the getaway. Turned out all four boys could use some time to breathe the clean coastal air, to just chill under the sun for a few days. Their fourth year of high school had been exhausting for all of them, and one thing that’s for sure is that their fifth and final year won’t be any easier. They might as well enjoy themselves while they can. Martino was particularly grateful for this opportunity to be a careless teenager for a few days, to be completely rid of any responsibilities. As much as he loves his mom, with her ups and downs, he does have to put on his adult’s shoes more so than the average teenager which tend to be tiresome. Martino and his mom managed to find a balance, they’ve learned how to live without his dad by now and their relationship is now stronger than ever before, but even then Martino sometimes feels like there is a huge weight on his shoulders.

The boys decided on Fregene for their trip as it’s a short train ride away from Rome, is known to attract many young Italians due to its many bars and clubs, and on top of it is a relatively cheap destination for poor high schoolers like them. And as Luchino said: “I’m sure it’s full of pretty girls. We’ll have the time of our lives guys”. Even though Martino couldn’t care less if there were pretty girls there or not, he sure was looking forward to those few days at the beach with his friends.

The thing is that Martino had come to terms with the fact that’s he’s attracted to boys, and boys only, a few months ago. He just couldn’t lie to himself anymore, not when it took everything for him to try and pretend that he was even remotely attracted to Emma. No really, he just decided there was no point in putting up this façade for himself anymore. That’s the conclusion he came to after taking a quiz to assess his gayness (the results were complete bullshit by the way) – turns out if you take a quiz to know if you’re gay, there is a 99.9% chance that you’re gay, or bi, or pan, or anything else that isn’t straight. Just deal with it. Martino dealt with it, in fact he felt pretty good about it, even better now that his feelings for Gio seem to be a memory of the past. He hasn’t told any of the boys yet though, he hasn’t told anyone for that matter. He was too afraid of what their reaction might be, and he values their friendship way too much to risk losing them. Gio, Luchino and Elia are his moral support and he didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t get to spend most of his useless afternoons with them.

This is the exact thought that crossed Martino’s mind while he looked at his three best friends on the train to Fregene. Gio was telling a story excitedly with his hands, while Luchino was laughing loudly at all of his jokes and asking dumb questions from time to time which meant Gio had to tell the story from the beginning again since apparently Luchino didn’t understand any of it. Elia was looking at them both and shaking his head at their antics. Martino was thinking about how grateful he was that these three were in this life. Gio noticed that Martino was staring at them without saying anything, he looked back at him with a question in his eyes, probably wondering what’s in Marti’s mind like the mom friend he is. Martino tries to convey through his eyes that he’s fine, he’s just glad to be going on this trip with them and taking his mind off things. Gio seems to be satisfied with what he sees in Martino’s eyes and continues babbling about some adventure he’s had. After an hour and a half spent talking, listening to music, playing games, they arrive to their destination. It was near midday when they checked into the campsite and set up their tent. The campsite seems pretty chill, it has a pool, a snack bar and basically everything you would expect from the place. They decide not to lose any time and go straight to the beach once they’re done. The four boys wear really big smiles in addition to their light shirts, swimming trunks, flip flops and sunglasses. Once they step foot on the sand Martino takes a deep breath, the smell of iodine and sun cream invading his nostrils. They all look around them, at the people lying around sunbathing, at the people playing beach games, at the sun rays hitting the sea creating millions of crystalline reflections. They then look at each other and smile their widest smiles, summer vacation is officially on.

“Alright let’s find a spot to lay down and show off our athletic bodies guys!” taunts Elia.

“You mean show off our belly rolls” laughs back Gio. “Mr. Boccia was right, we should have been more dedicated in PE. Woah, I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I almost miss the guy”

“Me too honestly bro. We should have brought him and his husband with us, they could help us get into shape.” Says Marti.

“Wait why are we talking about Boccia right now?” Interrupts Luchino. “let’s go find that spot, we’re not allowed to talk about anything related to school, that’s the rule!”.

“There aren’t any rules Luchi, we’re just joking” retorts Gio. “Actually, the only rule is that there aren’t any rules”.

“That’s fine by me. Let’s go” concludes Elia. They all start walking, they take off their flip flops and then realize this was a bad idea as the sand is painfully hot. They put them back on as fast as they can when their feet can’t take the scorching heat anymore and head off again.

They end up spreading their beach towels near a cabin that sells drinks and snacks, just in front of a court where you can play beach volley. It’s the perfect spot for their starving stomachs, and also for people watching (because who doesn’t people watch when they go to the beach – people who are blind that’s who). Luchino doesn’t waste one second before rushing to the cabin to get food into his craving belly. The three boys follow suit not long after. They’re all eating their snacks, shirts off, fan-shaped feet, when a group of boys get into the beach volley court. They are a group of four guys who seem to be around the same age as them. One of them is dark-skinned and super athletic, looking like the type of guy that goes to the gym several times a week and likes to preach the virtues of maintaining a healthy body. The one next to him is much less built, with what looks like a bad sunburn on his upper back, he has brown hair and wears glasses which give him a bit of a nerdy look. The third one seems super chill while looking quite confident, his posture tells you that you’d have to try really hard for him to get riled up. But the one that caught Marti’s attention the most is the fourth one, a dark-haired boy with a blinding smile. Seriously he’s never seen a smile so wide and bright in his life. And…oh well the boy also happens to be ripped so there’s that. But Martino can’t help but staring at his face, his smile, his green eyes, his curls that fall over his eyes. Martino suddenly realizes that he’s been staring for far too long and tries to snap out of it. He looks over at the boys next to him, who are also looking at the group of boys in front of them. Martino dares to glance one more time at wide smile boy, which confirms to him he is just as beautiful and breathtaking as he first thought. Martino knows he shouldn’t let himself get too invested into a stranger who is most likely straight, but at this moment all his mind is telling him is that there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of harmless staring from afar. Suddenly a voice breaks his reverie:

“It would be cool to play some beach volley while we’re here, what do you think guys? Get our bodies moving a little bit?” asks Elia.

“Yeah maybe” replies Gio, looking a little bothered.

“All I can think of is how I wished those were girls playing in front of us” interjects Luchino.

Martino realizes that female volleyball players have to be the last thing Gio wants to think about right now. “Hey Luchino stop being a perv will you, we could play after they’re done”.

Gio looks at him, seeming invigorated again. “Sounds like a good idea Marti, I’m proud of you for actually agreeing to get up and move your body to play real life sports. You like to brag about how you’re winning me in FIFA, but you won’t be bragging for long when it comes to this.”

Elia and Luchino snickers, Martino rolls his eyes, and then Elia says: “but wait why don’t we ask the boys to play with them, they’re only four, we could play four to four, that’s much better”.

Luchino doesn’t seem convinced: “did you look at them though? Two of them look like they could be fitness coaches, like it shouldn’t be legal to be this ripped, we would get crashed in seconds”.

“Well yeah with you in our team that’s for sure” replies Gio “but come on it’ll be fun, and muscles don’t mean anything when it comes to volley, maybe they suck at it as bad as us”. Right as Gio finished his sentence, a ball rolls to Martino’s feet. Looks like the boys had started playing while they were chatting. The dark-skinned boy picks up the ball and looks over at them, they probably looked like idiots caught in flashlights.

“Ciao” greets the guy “sorry for the ball”.

Gio is the first one to recover: “Hey no problem, actually we were talking of joining you guys for a match, what do you think?” With all of this Martino had almost forgotten of wide smile boy, almost being the key word. He’s conflicted between wanting to be as far from him as possible so as not to embarrass himself and wanting to get to know the person behind the warm smile. Truthfully, he didn’t think showing off his non-existent real life sports skills would play in his favor as a first introduction, but it was too late to back off now.

Dark skinned boy now has a name, it’s Amir, he seems to be a really nice guy, he introduces them to the other three boys: Aurelio (the laid-back one), Stefano (the one with glasses) and… Niccolò. Niccolò is the name of the most beautiful boy Martino has laid his eyes on. Martino greets him as calmly as he can, trying not to show how affected he is by the boy. The thing is that Martino was caught off guard by the way Niccolò looked back at him, his smile seemed even wider, even brighter, and there was something in his eyes that Martino couldn’t decipher. Martino tried to reign his expressions in, however he’s pretty sure he didn’t manage to prevent the blush from creeping up on his face. Martino averts his eyes and tries to focus on the situation at hand. Beach volley. The ball. The net. The contrabbandieri next to him. Four seemingly friendly boys on the other side of the net. Martino reminds himself not to make a big deal out of this situation, it’s just a game and nothing is at stake. Just let it go, this is what this vacation is about remember?

“So, we’ll just pass the ball around at first, we’ll start counting the points once we’re warmed up, what do you say?” asks Amir.

“Well as you probably figured out we do need a bit of a warm up, so let’s do that” replies Gio sarcastically.

“We may look inexperienced but that’s just a trick. We’re actually going to smash you guys” added Elia. The four boys in front of them laughed at that.

“Well we’ll see about that” said Niccolò, and as he said that he turned his head to look at Martino. Martino wished he could be anywhere but here in this moment, he’s beginning to think that agreeing to play with them was the worst idea of the century.

They started playing and admittedly they weren’t as bad as he’d thought. Amir and Aurelio were respectively strong and fast, but overall both teams were relatively even. Martino was finally able to loosen up a little, cracking jokes with the boys in between passes. He sometimes felt like there were eyes on him, but he didn’t know if it was his mind playing tricks or if it was indeed the case. Niccolò was jumping around excitedly, his smile never seeming to falter even when he missed the ball. The fact that he is a bit shorter than the other tree boys of his team was the most endearing thing. They ended up face to face at some point, looking at each other from across the net, and again his body is reacting in a way that he can’t control. Gio throws the ball to the other side, and Niccolò jumps to get it, setting his body in motion. Martino makes a mental note to thank Gio for this moment, because he is in first row to witness the way Niccolò’s muscles contract and expand. He gets a full view of his torso, his arms, his baby blue shorts that hang low on his stomach and give way to his sharp hip bones, his legs, his face of concentration, and… The ball that comes crashing down Martino’s face. Well he was way too engrossed into everything that is Niccolò to see this one coming.

“Hey Marti, are you sleeping or what??” mocks Gio “you know you have to catch the ball with your hands, not your head”.

“Ahaha thank you for the reminder Gio”.

“Marti you ok? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” for the first time since Martino laid his eyes on him, Niccolò wears an expression of worry on his face, his usual excited demeanor gone. And wait… did he just call him “Marti”??

Martino reassures him right away, “No don’t worry, I’m fine”. They change positions and Martino tries not to die from embarrassment.

The two boy squads chatted in between passes, hitting it off almost immediately. Naturally it wasn’t long before they realized they all come from Rome. Aurelio, Stefano and Amir go to university there, while Niccolò just graduated from high school and will start his first year of uni in September. It’s clear that Niccolò doesn’t want to get into the details of why he’s one year behind the boys even though they are the same age. They chat about everything and anything, mostly about the differences between high school and university, as well as their reason for being here. The boys arrived the day before to spend a few days on the beach as Aurelio happens to have a cousin that lives in Fregene where they are staying. In just the little time that they’ve known the four boys, they’ve come to realize how strong their friendship is, the bond that unites them akin to the one of the contrabbandieri. It is quite obvious in the way that they share looks, sometimes holding silent conversations, in the way that they tease each other constantly lovingly. Even though the four boys have very distinct personalities from that of Martino, Gio, Elia and Luca, their similar dynamics is what made them click instantly, what made them feel comfortable around each other.

After over an hour of playing beach volley, Stefano shouted: “the last one in the water is the real loser”, prompting all eight boys to rush to the sea. None of the boys wanted to make the race easy for anyone, barring the way, kicking, pushing, it was a mess of legs, arms and laughter. Just as Martino was reaching the water, he felt arms enveloping him from behind preventing him from going any further. The arms that were around him felt both strong and soft on his skin, almost like their first intent were to hold rather than constrict. Not forgetting of the race, Martino managed to wiggle himself out of the grip to keep on running, almost immediately missing the sensation of the arms surrounding him. Once he was in the water, he turned around to see that the arms that enveloped him belonged to Niccolò. He was smiling his signature sunshine smile, only it was so big now it was threatening to break his face. Which would be an absolute shame considering its statuesque beauty. And he was laughing, a low and sweet sound. Martino wanted to slap himself for being so infatuated with every little thing Niccolò does.

“What exactly did you want to do Niccolò?” asked Martino with what was left of his bravery, he hoped his smile wasn’t too big, “just accept that you lost”.

“Well it was worth trying, and by the way I didn’t lose! Luca was the last one!” replied Niccolò in a smug way.

“I’m sorry but if you arrive second to last, the last being Luchino, that means you lost. It’s just a fact” teases Martino.

“Oh, okay I see how it is. I didn’t see you as the merciless type Martino. It’s not like you won either” Niccolò teases back, with the cutest headshake.

“No, it’s true but…” And it’s right at that moment that Gio decided to come up behind him without making a sound and drown him. When Martino came back to the surface he wanted nothing but to murder Gio, he went after him to try and drown him as a reprisal, but he was stronger than him and managed to drown him a second time. Martino came back up again, his hair all over the place, struggling to come up for air after he swallowed sea water. Martino finally dared to glance at Niccolò who looked like he was having the time of his life. Gio looked between Martino and Niccolò with a questioning look, probably wondering if he interrupted something.

“Hey Nico, don’t let those Bambi eyes of his fool you ok? He’s far from being innocent himself, trust me” says Gio. Martino wishes he would just shut his mouth and stop embarrassing him even further. Martino was managing this well enough on this own anyway.

“Bambi eyes?” Asked Niccolò, his eyes looking intensely at Martino’s, “ah yes Bambi really suits you actually” he added, looking pleased with himself.

Martino felt his cheeks turning red, but still managed to get out a “don’t listen to what Gio says, I’m definitely not a Bambi”.

“I beg to differ” responded Niccolò, looking smug yet again.

Gio was silently laughing next to Marti and then said to Nico “I feel like we’re going to get along just well you and me”.

Martino couldn’t take it anymore, “I’m going to drown the both of you if you don’t stop talking bullshit”.

“I’d like to see you try” challenged Niccolò. And try he did. He doesn’t know what force spurred him towards Nico and made him brave enough to try and drown him. He was touching his skin. His naked wet skin. It was a mess of limbs, legs, arms intertwined, that Martino couldn’t register which part of Nico he was touching. But he was touching him. Holy shit. At some point Martino’s face ended up really close to Niccolò’s, and for a slip second their eyes met, it was such a short moment and yet so intense. Nico finally gave out under his weight and was swallowed by the water. When he comes back up his hair messily covers his eyes and he’s giggling like he couldn’t be bothered. He then pushed his hair back to reveal his eyes again. Martino is mesmerized by their color, it’s a peculiar shade of green, almost like they have yet to decide if they are hazel or a mix of green and blue. Martino shouldn’t be so entranced only by a pair of eyes, but he couldn’t help himself. Next to them the rest of the boys, whom Gio had gone back to, were being loud and messy, splashing water in all directions, shouting and laughing like they had no care in the world. Martino could hear them, but it was faint, like he was hearing them from inside a secluded place. Niccolò was looking straight into his eyes and Martino wasn’t sure he knew how to speak anymore. Thankfully Niccolò was the first one to break the silence.

“For the record I could have drown you so easily, I just decided to let you do it. I didn’t want to offend Bambi” he said mockingly, his smile never faltering, even for a second.

“Oh really? I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You’re so tiny, you wouldn’t be able to drown me” Oh, he hadn’t lost his capacity to speak, that’s great. But did he just say that Niccolò is tiny?? He’s regretting ever opening his mouth. Technically Niccolò isn’t tiny, he’s built and has defined muscles. While Martino is toned but not as built and muscly, he is however taller and broader than Niccolò who has narrow shoulders and hips. Physicality aside his whole demeanor oozes tiny, there’s no denying that. Martino didn’t mean to say it out loud though, he’d rather keep this for himself. But it’s too late now and Niccolò is looking at him indignantly.

“I’m sorry what? Tiny? Me? I’ll let you know I’m the master of drowning. I just didn’t want to outshine you” he responded.

“Is that so? ‘Cause it sounds a lot like something a tiny person would say” and there he said it again, why can’t he shut his mouth?

And at this moment the bubble they were in was burst by the boys coming into their vision. Aurelio and Amir started messing with Niccolò, ruffling his hair and then trying to drown him. Niccolò tried to resist but the “master” of drowning couldn’t do much against these two. Once they were done with him, Niccolò went after Amir to retaliate. He did manage to drown him after some dazzling efforts.

Martino was now surrounded by Gio, Elia and Luca who were observing the commotion. The momentum Niccolò and Martino shared was definitely lost. That’s when Luchi’s stomach decided to intervene: “hey guys I’m starving, don’t you want to get something to eat?”. They all ended up going back to their towels. Martino glanced at Niccolò who was a few steps away, engrossed in a conversation with Amir. He was looking like a Roman God gracefully making his way out of the water, with droplets on his torso and his shorts plastered on his legs. It was all too much that Martino couldn’t stare at him for too long. The group of boys settled their beach towels next to the contrabbandieri’s. There was some sort of silent agreement that the two boy squads had adopted each other and didn’t want to go their separate ways. Martino is laying down on his towel, face up, when his eyes catch those of Niccolò’s who was still standing. They stare at each other for a few seconds longer than socially acceptable. Martino recalls their moment in the water and starts wondering if there might be more to it than friendly banter, but he knows he’s venturing into dangerous territory and tries to drown the thought as soon as it emerges, the same way he had physically drowned Niccolò, without much of a second thought.

“Hey, do you guys like to smoke? We brought some good weed that we could share” asked Aurelio.

“Ahh yes you’re saving us because we didn’t bring any” responded Elia. Gio and Luca looked at Aurelio like Christmas came early.

“Well we thought we’d celebrate as it’s just us boys you know. No girls on our backs telling us what to do and all that” added Aurelio.

“Yeah no Magdalena in sight” joked Stefano. His three best friends looked at him with a knowing look. This seems to be an inside joke, and it got Martino curious.

“Who’s Magdalena?” Martino asked.

“My ex-girlfriend” Niccolò responded straight away in a stern voice. He wasn’t looking at Martino when he said it. When he finally did there was something foreign in his eyes, a distance that Martino had never seen before. It took him a while to register the information. An ex-girlfriend. A girlfriend. A girl. Of course, girls would be into Niccolò. Of course, Niccolò would be into girls. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Martino, but it still stung him in a way that wasn’t comfortable. That’s what Martino gets for letting his guard down, for thinking for even a second that Niccolò could be into him. Martino hasn’t learnt his lesson apparently and he feels so very stupid for falling for a straight guy on his first day of vacation.

“We’re also completely girls free, so we can celebrate together. What about we hang out on the beach tonight then?” asked Gio to the group, breaking the awkward silence that followed Niccolò’s revelation. “We could play some games, play music and all that, what do you say?”

“Yeah sounds good! we could meet up here again after diner” responded eagerly Amir.

“That’s a deal!” concluded Gio.

All boys looked enthusiastic at the idea. It was almost seven when the two groups of boys collected their stuff and went their separate ways, the contrabbandieri to the campsite, and the other boys to Aurelio’s cousin’s. Martino hadn’t dared look at Niccolò again. On the way to their tent, Gio looks over at Martino, who didn’t have it in him to feign being cheerful. Gio knew him too well anyway, so there was no point in pretending. Gio didn’t say anything but it was clear he noticed. Martino knew Gio would ask about it later, but for now all Martino wanted to do was take a shower and try to get a certain pair of green eyes out of his mind.

[kirstensmee]

Code Name The Brave - The Brave fan fic

Hey, Bravers. Okay, so I wrote a multi-chapter The Brave fic. *gasps* Yes, me, multi-chapter, I know! I'm shocked too! Anyways... It will have 6 Chapters. It's predominantly Jazmir, but there also are Jalton moments in there. Inspired by a @stuckonyork edit! Okay, enough rambling, I own nothing but the plot of this story. Dean's the KING! Hope you enjoy!

Title: Code Name The Brave

Summary: After a mission goes wrong, Jaz gets arrested by the FBI and Amir is missing. So she has to team up with FBI agents Carter, McGuire, and Morgenthau, her old CO Adam Dalton and Patricia and Hannah from the DIA to rescue Amir and take down one of the most notorious arms dealers in the world.

Can be also found on: FF.net | Ao3

Jaz sighed loudly, clearly frustrated.

“You’re not listening to me! My name is Sergeant Jasmine Khan. I am working with the CIA to take down one of the most elusive arms dealers in the world Ranier Boothe. My partner, CIA agent Amir Al-Raisani is missing. So you need to let me go because I need to find him before Boothe kills him,” Jaz explained her situating to the FBI agents in front of her for the second time, this time saying her words slowly and pointedly, hoping that the agents will believe her this time around. But no joy.

“We hear you. But, unfortunately, your fingerprints didn’t come up in any of the databases. Not the army’s, not the CIA, nowhere. In fact, it seems that all information about you has been wiped from existence. Which in our experience doesn’t mean anything good,” said one of the FBI agents, Ezekiel Carter was his name.

“And since we picked you up with a small arsenal of assault rifles in your possession, that just so happen to be same ones that went missing from an army base last month, frankly we have a hard time believing you. Though I got to admit, the tale you’re spinning is one of the most original ones we have ever heard,” the other agent, Joseph McGuire, chimed in. With agent Carter nodding his head.

They have been interrogating Jaz for the better part of an hour after they let her marinate in the interrogation room for another. Jaz had to admit, the circumstances of her arrest weren’t stellar. She was in a room full of army’s assault rifles. With two dead men by her feet. And although the rifles being stolen was just a cover story, they were actually given to her and Amir as part of their arms dealer couple cover story, FBI didn’t know that. So it looked bad. However, what bothered Jaz the most was the fact that the FBI agents didn’t even try hearing her out. I guess she will have to bring out the big guns now.

“It’s not some story I am trying to sell you. Call the Deputy Director of the DIA Patricia Campbell and she will confirm everything I just told you. She’s running point on this op,” Jaz tried to reason with the agents, hoping that they will actually contact Patricia, not just laugh it off. Only a few people knew of the Deputy Director’s involvement in this mission. And at first Jaz wanted to keep it that way, but she needs to get out of this interrogation room more, so she had no choice but to tell the FBI about Campbell.

“DIA, huh?” agent McGuire questioned, clearly not believing her, “army, CIA, DIA. What next? Don’t say you work for the FBI too.”

That got Jaz’s blood boiling.

“Patricia Campbell. Call her!” Jaz yelled at agent McGuire in a strained voice. That took him aback. And it was enough for agent Carter to start believing Jaz’s story. So he motioned McGuire outside.

Once the two agents were out of the interrogation room, leaving Jaz angry and forced to do nothing, which was not a good combination, agent Carter spoke up.

“Maybe we should call Campbell?” agent Carter, nicknamed Preach, questioned the other agent.

“You can’t be serious, Preach! She’s clearly lying to us!” McGuire, who went by McG, replied, not believing that Preach would actually consider calling one the highest-ranking officials in the US defense sector.

“I mean we have nothing to lose. We have no idea who the woman in our interrogation is. And if Campbell can shed some light on it, why not try? The worst that can happen is she yells at us for wasting her time because she doesn’t know who she is,” Preach tried to reason with McG.

“Okay, but you’re calling her,” Mcg gave up and decided to allow the older agent to chase his hunch.

“Let’s get Noah to call,” Preach answered with a mischievous smile on his face. He and McG liked to tease their fellow agent Noah Morgenthau by giving him tasks that they themselves didn’t want to do, seeing that agent Morgenthau was the youngest among them. McG replied which a matching grin and they went to find Noah.

Ten minutes later all three FBI agents were sitting in Noah’s office, listening to dead air as the DIA analyst they reached, Hannah Rivera, went to find Deputy Director Campbell. A few more minutes passed and then somebody finally picked the phone back up.

“Patricia Campbell speaking. Who am I talking to and why is Hannah saying that you have one of my team members in custody?” Campbell spoke in a sharp tone and McG’s mouth dropped open. Was the woman in their interrogation actually telling the truth?

“FBI agent Noah Morgenthau here. With agents Carter and McGuire. And we are not sure if the woman in our custody is one of yours. She claims her name is Sergeant Jasmine Khan and that she is working with the CIA. But we couldn’t find anything about her in any databases,” Noah explained the situation to the Deputy Director.

“That’s because we wanted it that way. Sergeant Khan is doing a deep cover operation, trying to take down Rainer Boothe. A man who sells weapons exclusively to terrorist cells and drug cartels. And we couldn’t afford somebody tipping Boothe off by finding Jaz’s name in the army or CIA databases,” Patricia explained and continued, “what about her partner Amir Al-Raisani? Do you have him as well?” She sounded stressed, and maybe a little bit pissed off that the FBI was meddling in her operation.

“Miss Khan claims that he’s missing. She said that Boothe is going to kill him,” Preach spoke up. Now that they had confirmed that Sergeant Khan is who she says she is, Preach’s mind was spinning with the possibility that because of them, the woman’s partner might get killed.

The agent’s heard typing in the background and then Hannah spoke up, “Amir’s tracker is off. And his last known location is Boothe’s safehouse.”

“What does that mean?” chimed in McG not understanding where the analyst was going with it.

“It means that agent Al-Raisani is in grave danger. And you need to release Sergeant Khan immediately, so she can get to Boothe before he kills Amir,” Patricia clarified. But nobody said or did anything which got Patricia even angrier.

“Get her on the phone. Now!” she yelled at the FBI agents. And that got McG moving quickly, calling someone to bring the women to Noah’s office. And not 5 minutes later Sergeant Khan strolled into the office with an anxious expression on her face.

“She’s here, deputy director,” Noah alerted Patricia of Jaz’s presence.

“Jaz, what happened?” Patricia got straight to the point. No time for pleasantries when Amir’s life is on the line.

“We managed to finally schedule a meet with Boothe. But he’s careful, so he wanted one of us to go to the meeting and the other stay with the weapons with his lackeys babysitting. And since this was probably our only chance to get to Boothe we decided to go with it. Amir went to the meet, while I stayed with the guns. We figured Boothe being a macho-man would want to deal with a man, not a woman. I took out two of the three men Boothe sent to stay with me and the weapons when FBI breached the perimeter. But the third got away, no doubt calling Boothe and telling him that me and Amir are FBI,” Jaz explained.

“And now Boothe thinks that he lucked out and has captured an FBI agent that he can torture for information,” Patricia finished Jaz’s story to which Jaz hummed in agreement.

“I know where Boothe is keeping Amir. It’s the only place Boothe owns that is remote enough. I can get to Amir and Boothe, but I need a team in case something goes wrong,” the wheels in Jaz’s head were turning as she voiced the plan she had just come up with.

“We want to help,” suddenly Preach piped up and it caught both Jaz and Patricia off guard. They had almost forgotten that there were others listening as they were hatching a plan to save Amir.

“All due respect agent Carter, but this is a DIA matter, not the FBI’s,” Patricia replied but as she started to thank the FBI agent for his enthusiasm he interrupted the Deputy Director.

“It’s our fault that your agent is in danger. So it’s the least we can do,” Preach said almost pleading with Campbell. They heard some more typing in the background and after a moment Patricia spoke up again.

“An ex-navy SEAL and communications specialist, top-notch ex-army medic and an ex-CIA agent that graduated top of his class,” she listed off Preach, McGuire and Noah’s backgrounds sounding almost impressed. “Okay, you can help. Get your asses to the DIA. We have an agent to rescue,” Patricia deadpanned and the call was disconnected soon after.

The FBI agents gathered their stuff and they all drove to the DIA as fast as they could.

[fuckyfarnes]

Santa Buddy

It was my pleasure to be part of the @mattelektrasecretsanta this year and I’m so happy I was. Merry Christmas Babbles @babblesthemomfriend! I hope you enjoy your fic!

Sincerely, your Secret Santa!

Title: Santa Buddy

Matt and Foggy find a dog, but is Elektra even a dog person?

Santa Buddy

The smell of wet fur was the last thing Elektra expected to come home to - well not the last thing, but it was up there. Sighing, she slipped off her boots and jacket, and walked into the living room. Sure enough Matt was on the couch towel drying a wiggling pile of fluff. His shirt was soaked through and his pants looked to be in a similar state, but he was smiling so sincerely it made Elektra’s chest ache.

“Matthew,” she said. “What’s going on here?”

“Foggy and I found her in an alley!” he said excitedly. “She didn’t have any tags or anything.”

“And you didn’t bring her to a shelter?”

“It was way too late for that,” he said.

That was a complete lie seeing as it wasn’t even nine yet, but she chose not to call him on it. “What’s her name?” she asked.

Matt blushed. “I don’t know,” he replied.

“Come on Matthew,” she teased. “What have you named the poor creature?”

“Princess,” he mumbled.

“Princess,” she couldn’t believe her ears. The helpless animal was rescued from the street only to have been given a ridiculous name.

“Before you say anything, Foggy and I wanted to let her know that she’s safe and loved now. She deserves to have a good life after living on the street,” he said and made Elektra’s heart swell.

Matt had the purest heart of anyone, she knew that already, but that was definitely a refresher. He never ceased to amaze her with his kindness.

“I know you’re not really an animal person but Foggy can’t keep her and she’s got no place to go.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I thought you knew me better than this.”

“Elektra-”

“We’ve got to get her some tags and vaccinations,” she said and shifted closer to the two of them. “Then of course she’ll need other things; I have no idea what or how much but it’ll add up soon enough.”

“I’ve got that internship,” he added.

“What I’m saying is that she’s going to get whatever she needs and then some.”

Matt beamed at her and Princess yapped happily. “Hear that Princess,” Matt crooned. “Mommy Elektra is just as happy to have you as I am!”

“Mommy Elektra,” she muttered. Maybe that was a little much.

*

As it turned out, most of Princess’s fluffiness was matted fur. Upon going to the vet Princess was identified as a pitbull mix and given her basic shots, as well as given a check up. She was underweight but thankfully not severely and surprisingly healthy given having lived on the street.

“She’s a very happy girl,” Dr. Rand said and scratched behind Princess’s ear gently. “And she’s very cute.”

Princess’s tale wagged and she nudged Dr. Rand’s hand for another scratch. “You’ll need to go to city hall and get a proper licence in order to register her legally, but she’s good to go other than that.”

“Here Princess,” Matt all but chirped and Princess got down off the table, strode over to him, and sat down at his feet. She looked up at him with such love in her eyes - Elektra was shocked to see that expression on an animal. Princess clearly adored him even after such a short time together.

Elektra knew the feeling very well.

“So we just need to go to a pet store to get things for her?” he asked.

Dr. Rand nodded. “We sell dog food here - only the healthiest of course - and you can get a temporary collar if you wish.”

“How about we buy the food here, Matthew?” Elektra asked. Getting the healthiest food for their little girl was a top priority -  dear god, she was beginning to think like Matt would. “It’s only right to get her the best there is.”

Matt smiled at her so sweetly it hurt. “Sounds good to me,” he replied. “Doesn’t that sound good, girl?” he cooed and pet Princess’s head. Her tail beat against the floor and her tongue lolled out happily. She had to admit that Princess was very adorable and sweet.

“Alright,” Dr. Rand said. “I’ll get you all set up.”

They ended up leaving the vet’s office with two big bags of dog food, a small box of bags for her droppings, and a temporary

collar. Getting her a licence was surprisingly easy given how terrible and tedious dealing with government representatives usually was; Matt took the lead on that and had the clerk eating out of his hand in minutes. He was way more of a people person than she was, so she and Princess stayed outside the building on a bench. It turned out to be somewhat of a bonding time because of the reaction of people passing by.

Everyone who took the time to get a look at Princess looked either appalled or freaked out. She was easily identifiable as part pitbull now that her fur was brushed out and pitbulls were regarded as a breed to be feared. Every time anyone looked at her sideways Elektra glared at them,

daring them to say something. She wouldn’t hesitate to defend Princess because she was incredibly sweet and didn’t deserve to be treated that way— she also knew what it was like to be looked at like that and didn’t want that for anyone else.

A man stopped and stared at the two of them warily. “Is that a pitbull?” he asked.

“Partly,” she replied cooly.

“You really shouldn’t have one of those on the street without a muzzle,” he said and continued to stare at her. “They’re dangerous.”

“People are more in danger of getting bitten by me than they are of anything by her,” she said with a completely straight expression. The man recoiled and walked away muttering to himself.

Princess turned to look at her and tilted her head to the side. “I know,” she said. “People can be complete swines about things they know nothing about. But I know better than to accept that kind of behaviour — I won’t let anyone be mean to you ever again.”

Princess barked and nuzzled Elektra’s arm. The dog was just oozing affection

and gratitude. Elektra smiled and gave Princess’s head a few gentle scratches to appease her. “I have to admit it; you’re quite adorable,” she said softly. “Thankfully Matthew and Foggy found you.”

Matt cleared his throat from behind her and the two of them turned to look at him. Princess’s tail thumped against the ground eagerly. Elektra blushed and scratched her head again.

“Not a word,” she said and got a snort in reply — she couldn’t tell if it were Matt or Princess who did it.

*

Princess turned out to be a wonderful companion for both Matt and Elektra. Although Matt had never wanted a service dog he bought her a little vest and started taking her with him whenever he could. She was a dutiful little angel and listened to whatever he said despite having not been trained.

Elektra found herself falling — Princess became like a daughter to her, she was part of their little ‘family’ in no time. She spoiled Princess like no other; she brought her treats whenever she came back home and even began to order clothes for her. It was easily the best decision she’d ever made because there was nothing cuter than a dog wearing clothes. As the weather got colder Princess’s closet expanded into coats and boots, which were easily the most darling things she’d ever seen.

But they paled in comparison to when she found out about dog costumes. Sure she’d seen dogs wearing them before during Halloween and they’d been cute, but she hadn’t given them much thought before Princess. Halloween had long since passed and left Christmas in its wake, which meant a variety of holiday costumes to choose from. Princess started wearing Santa suits and ugly Christmas sweaters, even little hats. Elektra made sure to get very textured things so that Matt could feel just how ridiculous they were and enjoy them too.

*

“Come on Princess,” Elektra cooed and aled her out of the apartment. The building’s walkway was unshoveled and Princess wasn’t a big fan of snow, so it was a harrowing task to get her to go out for her daily walk. Elektra wasn’t the type to give up though. “It’s okay, the snow won’t hurt you.”

Matt snickered and she rolled her eyes at him. “It would be nice if you helped, Matthew,” she said.

“I think you’ve got this under control,” he replied. Princess turned to him and whined loudly in protest.

“We have the only dog in Hell’s Kitchen who isn’t loving this snow,” Elektra muttered. “Ridiculous.”

“She’s shivering!” Matt gasped and knelt down, letting Princess huddle close to him. “Her fur isn’t thick enough for this!”

“Matthew, her fur is definitely thick enough. Dogs get winter coats and she’s wearing a jacket,” she assured him.

He didn’t look all too convinced, and Princess’s continued whining did nothing to help the situation. She trembled and pressed closer to him, blocking out Elektra completely. She knew then that it was a trick; Princess was playing on Matt’s emotions in order to avoid going on a walk when she didn’t want to because she knew he was the weaker link out of the two of them.

Truth be told, Elektra couldn’t have been more proud.

*

Every year, as soon as Christmas rolled around, Elektra started finding mistIetoe around their apartment. It was a tradition that Foggy had started playing on Matt during their college days that had managed to stick around after, and Matt

took it upon himself to continue it when he and Elektra moved in together.

But mistletoe was dangerous for pets, so that year there was no mistletoe anywhere.

It was strange to deal with because when it was happening, Elektra didn’t care one way or another, but now that it wasn’t an option it was depressing. She missed randomly finding pieces in her shoes, in the shower, and many other ridiculous words places, and had grown to love the tradition without really noticing. Every time she came home she found herself looking for any sign of mistletoe and never found any, but losing out on it was a small price to pay for Princess’s health and safety.

But Matt wasn’t one to let things go so easily.

*

By the time Elektra managed to get home on Christmas Eve, it was after nine and she was exhausted. Being stuck in traffic was a harrowing affair and being at work that day had been a huge waste of time; everyone was frazzled and annoyed to be at work instead of having a day off, so getting anything done was like pulling teeth. All she really wanted to do was get into bed and sleep for a solid week, regardless of the fact that she, Matt, and Princess had to go to a big family party the next day.

There was a plate of Chinese food waiting for her when she got home, but Matt and Princess were nowhere in sight. Truth be told she wanted to get into bed with Matt and sleep for a week because they hadn’t been seeing much of each other. She was never one to express emotions very well, but she missed him dearly and oftentimes wanted to be around him whenever she could. She left the plate in the kitchen and looked went to the bedroom, finding Princess asleep in her dog bed at the bottom of their own.

Again, Matt was nowhere in sight.

The quiet of the house made tears randomly well up in her eyes and she slumped down on the edge of the bed. The day really had taken it out of her and she hadn’t expected to be alone that night. Even Princess was sleeping and she couldn’t wake her up - she needed sleep even if Elektra needed comfort. Matt was probably out preparing for Christmas dinner with Foggy and Karen, so she had no reason to be so upset, but she was. She wanted him to be there for her after not really having time with each other for a week.

Elektra sniffled and wiped at her eyes angrily. The sudden sadness was extremely frustrating and she wasn’t about to let it happen for much longer. She stood up and quickly undressed, changed into her pajamas, and climbed into bed. If she was spending Christmas Eve alone, then she was going straight to bed.

Naturally as soon as her eyes closed she heard noises coming from the living room. She rolled her eyes and pulled the blanket over her head, not even bothering to get up. If it’s a murderer, they’ve got another thing coming, she thought and shut her eyes tightly.

“Princess,” she heard Matt whisper. “Come on sweetie, wake up.”

Princess’s nails clacked against the floor and she heard the sound of a bag rustling. Princess yapped and Matt made a gentle noise to placate her all while still rustling the bag. Matt cursed a few times and knocked into things, but eventually stopped.

“I know you’re awake,” Matt said to her. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine, Matthew.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. The worry in his tone made her take the blanket off of her head and her annoyance drained out of her immediately.

Matt was decked out in a shirt with knitted mistletoe on it and had a mistletoe headband on. Princess had one on too and was sitting patiently at Matt’s feet. When she saw that Elektra was awake her tongue lolled out happily and she dove up onto the bed.

“You got mistletoe?” she asked softly.

Matt grinned and nodded, the mistletoe on his headband bobbing along with him. “It’s a tradition, right?”

She couldn’t hold back a giggle, which promptly turned into a laughing fit.

“A tradition is a tradition, Ellie,” Matt said, his voice leaking with happiness.

“Get over here,” she said once she stopped laughing. “I owe you something.” 

Matt grinned and made his way to her. Just as their lips brushed, Princess dove in between them because she was wearing mistletoe too - so naturally she deserved some kisses too.

[midnakoopa]

In Which I Rant About Rune Factory 4

Anyone who takes even a cursory glance at my blog over the past few months could tell that Rune Factory 4 has quickly become my new favorite game.

That being said, there are a few things that really bother me. A few things that I’d like to talk about.

SO FUCKLE THE BUCK UP IF YOU’RE GONNA READ THIS, ‘cause I’m gonna discuss, at length:

Spoilers for pretty much the whole game’s plot

Spoilers for Xiao Pai and Amber’s marriage events

Why I fucking hate Kiel

Also for the sake of not driving myself fucking insane I’m just gonna use Lest to refer to the main character.

HERE WE GO

Let’s start with the plot. Which I’ve discussed before, but fuck it, let’s do it again.

So. The plot itself, the reasons for doing whatever, I don’t have much of a problem with from a general standpoint. But holy shit, everyone in this game who plays any part in the plot is fucking worthless, including Lest.

Starting at the beginning, you’re on a ship to deliver the rune spheres, you fight some Sechs goons, whatever. After beating them, Lest turns his back on them, goes over to the edge of the ship, and holds up the rune sphere. It is at this point that one of the Sechs soldiers, in full view of the other two people on the ship who just stand there like fucking cabbages, comes over and, with a single blow to the head, somehow knocks Lest out and breaks his fucking mind in half, because of fucking course our main character has to lose their fucking memory. And I don’t have a huge problem with amnesia subplots if they’re done right. But this wasn’t? It was basically just an excuse to hide the plot from the player? But back on the subject I was on about... This is the first of many, MANY problems in this game that could’ve been avoided if literally anyone did literally anything.

Moving along, let’s talk a little bit about Doug. Doug has it out for Ventuswill, guardian dragon of Selphia, because the Sechs Empire, who have a history of being fuckers, told him she destroyed his village. I’m just gonna leave that there and move on to the rune spheres.

So... I don’t get it. From where I’m standing, the rune spheres are giant crystals that let off massive amounts of light and, presumably, power. Is that just to let the player know how important they are? Because from the way Lest treats them, you’d think they looked wholly fucking unimpressive. You can find the one in Water Ruins early, but you can’t do anything with it because ????. Like. Here’s a glowing sphere in a ruin, well that doesn’t look like something I want or am even going to acknowledge at all. And when you find the one in Yokmir Cave. Lest does this fucking do-si-do all around it with a Chipsqueek, and again, doesn’t even acknowledge it until the Chipsqueek leaves and he’s basically like “Huh, that thing sure was interested in this super uninteresting stone.”

And then there’s when the spheres were stolen. At one point, a Sechs soldier comes into town with a rune sphere and Etherlinks with a dragon. After beating this dragon back into a man, no one thinks to, oh, I don’t know, immediately apprehend him? No, instead they just stand there and let him run off. Fast-forward to Sechs Territory, we fight 3 Etherlinked Sechs soldiers. And once you beat the one with the sphere, he just lies there, sphere in his hand, out in the open. To Lest’s credit, as soon as the battle actually ends, he makes a move for it before Ethelberd comes in, but it’s kind of frustrating that you can beat the guy with the sphere first and you just have to let it lie there until the battle’s over.

Speaking of Ethelberd, there’s my next issue. An issue I like to call: FUCKING. KILL. HIM. HOOOOOLY SHIT, who fucking cares about his fucking monologues or motivations? With Ethelberd, we run into so many problems that could’ve been solved by not listening to him talk about how fucking great he is, and instead slitting his fucking throat. Like when he’s making Aquameleon. Or after said battle. Speaking of which, Doug, holy shit, maybe don’t fucking loudly announce your presence to an enemy with his back turned to you? And at the end of the second arc. After Lest and Ventuswill beat him. They just fucking stand there while Ethelberd, with the rune spheres still in hand, walks away from them while talking about how fucking great he is. Like. He’s clearly fucking trying to do something? Maybe, just maybe, while he’s weak, run him through, take the spheres, and hurl him off the fucking empire? Fucking hell.

And there’s enough about the main plot. Now I’d like to talk about those marriage events. Let’s start with Amber’s. Now. I like Amber a lot, I really do. And this whole event was sad and made me feel really bad for her. But at the same time. It’s... kind of entirely her fault? Okay, so. We learn that Ambrosia’s sharing Amber’s body, and that if Ambrosia doesn’t disappear, Amber will. Where we run into a problem here. Is that no one, literally no one involved wants Amber to disappear. The townsfolk wouldn’t want that, Lest especially in this case wouldn’t want that. Ambrosia herself says that she wants Amber to erase her, and we learn later that she, and I might be paraphrasing here, wanted to live in the world with Amber, not as her or instead of her. Amber herself says in her anime-style cutscene that she doesn’t want to vanish. And so we are left with Amber, who has full and final control over which of them vanishes, making the decision that satisfies literally no one, and in fact is saddening to all of them. So, you know. I feel like that could’ve been done better.

Moving on to Xiao Pai, by which I mean moving on to Yang Fan. Before going over the marriage event, I’d just like to talk about the other event he’s in. In which we hear about ants outside town, and go and find the ants around him. Later on, the ants get into town and chew holes in these buckets at the inn. And Yang Fan, who sells buckets, is conveniently in town for this to happen. Nothing overt, but I’m more than a little suspicious, especially after learning what a fucking asshole this guy is.

So, during Xiao Pai’s marriage event, we learn that Yang Fan, her father, started a false rumor that Lest is really going after Lin Fa, her mother. And yes, Yang Fan does say the rumor spread more quickly than he anticipated and kind of got out of hand. My takeaway from this is that the sole person he told this rumor to was Kiel. Which is supported by the fact that Kiel is the one both Lest and Xiao Pai hear this rumor from. More on that later, believe me. But back to Yang Fan, he tells Lest that he started the rumor. And he goes on to say that if he says anything to Xiao Pai about that, he’ll take her and Lin Fa and just leave?

First of all, no. For as serious as he tries to sound, this threat cannot be anything other than completely fucking empty. Because let’s assume Lest does tell Xiao Pai what her father said. The logical next step is that he is confronted on this. And then what? He just decides, yeah, no, you’re both coming with me, c’mon, we’re leaving forever. First of all, you really think Xiao Pai, who’s finally found love, and Lin Fa, who’s found happiness and livelihood in Selphia, are just gonna fucking leave with you, no questions asked? Second, you especially think that’s gonna go through after you get called out for doing something real fucking shady? No. Go fuck yourself.

Anyways. We learn that Yang Fan apparently doesn’t approve of this relationship for question mark reason. And along this event we learn even more about dad of the fucking year. Such as him traveling a lot, and taking Xiao Pai with him, leaving her away from home a lot. Which must’ve been hard on her, because we find out she would often venture out to this bridge alone and cry. Another point to add, traveling with her father, she grew up to pick up his way of speaking, something she seems a bit self-conscious about, and is often teased about, even by her father in one scene.

And at the end of it all? After everything he pulled, Yang Fan just admits it was him. Which, fine, whatever. You could make the argument that he had Xiao Pai’s interests in mind. And I would make the argument that he’s a huge prick. Because at one point Lest says something along the lines of “You knew this would work out all along, didn’t you?”, to which Yang Fan basically replies “Absolutely fucking not.”. Which implies to me that, since he didn’t know whether it would end badly or not, he had considered and was completely fucking okay with the fact that he may very well have ruined at least two people’s lives, including his own fucking daughter’s. His daughter who had quite frankly already been through way too fucking much because of him, and he comes along with this fucked up scheme that may very well have destroyed the love and happiness she finally found.

I said in a post before that at the end of it all, I didn’t despise Yang Fan like I did during the event. Looking back, I think that’s because I was in a good mood after the event ended, and his attempt at making himself look okay again kinda worked on me at the time. But since then, after looking back and thinking real hard on everything. I can safely say that I do in fact fucking hate Yang Fan. In fact, I can confidently say that I hate Yang Fan more than I hate Aura Blackquill.

AND NOW, to move onto my final point: Kiel. I fucking hate Kiel. Owing in decently large part to the fact that Xiao Pai is my favorite girl in the game, and the first I went for. Because there are at least three events, including the aforementioned marriage event, in which Kiel being a fuckwit causes her distress. And yes. To be fair. I get that Kiel is naïve. I get that he’s young. I get that he doesn’t mean any harm. And that... kind of makes it worse? Because he just never seems to fucking get it?

I said above I’d come back to this: The rumor spread in Xiao Pai’s marriage event. What has to be going on in your fucking head that you hear a rumor that might put someone’s relationship in jeopardy, and instead of, oh, I don’t know, going directly to the party being talked about to do any fact-checking, you just decide to tell literally everyone you come across? And again, he just never fucking gets it. He never gets that spreading these rumors without checking if there’s any credibility to them, surprise, surprise, might just cause people distress. Or that there are some things people just don’t want him fucking talking about.

Again, I get it. Kiel’s young, and pretty fucking stupid for someone so smart. He wants to help a lot of the time, and sometimes he even succeeds. Sometimes I want to like him. But he’s just so fucking clueless in ways that are damaging to characters I like so much better than him. Which makes me like him less.

AND THERE GOES THE BATTLE. That’s all I’ve gotta say, and I honestly feel a lot better after saying it. Those are pretty much all my biggest complaints about Rune Factory 4 out there now. It continues to be one of my favorite games, maybe even my very favorite game at the time I’m typing this. And not even my own complaints are gonna change that. Take easy, all.

Koopa, out.

[cover32-yahoopartner-blog]

Buffalo Bills: Things we know this week

It is toilsome to believe that this is the second time I am writing my weekly Buffalo Bills commentary from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I lay here on day five of endless unlimited food and drinks as the celestial tropical sun sets on our luxury suites second level balcony as opposed to last year when I was typing poolside.

(Dream Noise begins Wayne’s World Style) Last year, it was the week ensuing the Super bowl that Denver won convincingly, so far less activity on the Bills front existed in early February, except the Bills were preparing to enter the offseason that Rex Ryan eventually claimed the Bills had won. Won what? Now I’m getting fired up about those clowns known as the Ryan Brothers.

I was a Rex fan when he was with the Jets and was excited to get a big name coach here in Buffalo. The big personality was intriguing after the likes of “Mr. Excitement” Dick Jerean and Chan Gailey kept Bills fans on the edge of their seats.

Then you had the fraud of a man who was so likeable at his first press conference and initial media interviews that slowly progressed into a very unlikeable coach and I am referencing Doug Marrone. I saw him introduced as Jacksonville’s new coach and again remembered how he was that great exciting guy he was for a few weeks in Buffalo at one point.

I also bought in to Rex Ryan’s extremely strong way of re-selling the value of Rex Ryan and the way he operated. I grew tired of the Rex critics all over him for every little thing he did or said. His truck and tattoos really made a lifelong Bills fan like myself buy in to his enthusiasm.

I framed the cover of Sports Illustrated with him having wings and beer with Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. You can read my articles dating back to my first couple articles when I joined Cover32 — right around the time Rex named Tyrod Taylor the starter — prior to both of their first seasons as Buffalo Bills.

My fledgling day’s timeline contributing to the Bills pages of Cover32 coincided directly with the two of them as newcomers to the Bills. My “Rex” enthusiasm remained for the better part of his almost two seasons as “the guy” in Buffalo. Due to the injuries the team suffered, I really wanted Rex to get a third season to go hard and get the Bills a couple more wins and into the playoffs. I really wanted Rex Ryan to shut people up and win as head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

When it is all said and done though, Rex is secondary at most, being no more important than any other individual passing through during the great drought. I really just want the Buffalo Bills football team to win. To Win at The Sport Of Kings. Come again?

Coach Molly McGrath, (Goldie Hawn) can upgrade from motivating the lowly Wildcats, the 1986 movies high school team, and coach the Bills for all I care.

Sing loudly if you see fit

”It’s the sport of kings, better than Diamond Rings That’s why we’re here to sing, football. Sunday in the snow, referees whistles blows we’ve been warrior’s toe-to-toe, football.”

Goldie can coach as long as our Queen City wins double digit games topped off by playing meaningful football come January. Most importantly, this would signal an end to the great drought of the 21st century.

After the departure of Rex and digging in a little deeper, I can say that nothing Rex ever did — including presumptuous talk — was going to change. The peeled back layers of the previously unknown organizational onion revealed that his same approach was going to get the same results. He did things his way and was not flexible and the results would have been the same had he been given a third year and I can honestly say I totally agree with Terry Pegula for terminating Rex when he did.

Why drag it out longer if you realize that doing it the same way would produce the same or worse results and the Rex way was the same way. The fact that Rex would not change things up and was going to use the same approach was why he was not given the third season that many others get.

If he would have made significant changes from year one to year two and big changes were certain for year three, then maybe a year three could potentially have been a successful option. The fact is he believed in his system and his coaches and was going to repeat blaming injuries, officiating, scheduling or other parts of the organization for the same mediocre to poor results.

It nailed his coffin securely shut when he refused to play Cardale Jones in the meaningless final game of the season. He already publically goes out of his way and claims he is not bitter, but says he got “F’d in New York and in Buffalo.” When you are paid the way Rex was and given the authority and responsibility that he was, longer hours, harder work, outside of the box thinking, reaching out for help are approaches one must do if they are failing at what they were hired to be great at.

Staying the course after missing the playoffs, being the last one in and the first one out the door is not the way to lead a team to success. If we had been winning and improving then feel good about your “work smarter not harder” approach. That was not the case. In the business world, when you take management positions that pay you a hefty salary, you may then need to put in 16 hour days or seven day weeks.

The saying that you are not productive after eight hours does not apply when planning and watching film and paying attention to every little detail as if your career depended on it.  That saying is outdated and belongs back in a different time at some cancer causing coal mine in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

If you are not willing to put in the time or work especially when things are not going well…then stay with your hourly non-management job where you are only responsible for yourself and not the results of many others. For now, he will be very entertaining on ESPN where he accepted a new position and will indeed have interesting takes on how to coach against certain teams.

An entertainer is not needed in this leadership role in Buffalo now and was not needed when Terrell Owens was given the key to the city. Russ Brandon equals great marketing but adds zero value to the win column. A serious methodical detailed leader who assembles a similar staff and who finds a way to win in Buffalo for the first time since the 20th century is needed.

It is not a bad thing for the head coach to be the hardest working employee on the Pegula payroll. Ask people who have worked with Jon Gruden about working hard and long hours. After that check out his winning seasons heading up the Raiders and proceed to browse at his Super Bowl ring he won in Tampa Bay.

Keeping tradition alive I shall go put some aloe on my soon to be sleep preventing sunburn and proceed getting myself a fresh frozen drink in my amazing leak proof temperature maintaining thermos style drinking container. I shall then move onto to plan exactly how and when I will give my Lady the engagement ring tomorrow that I had brought along on the trip.

I am hopeful for a “yes” or this will be an embarrassing article that I will blame on the booze. Editing beyond recognition is a real life option as well. She is on her way back from a spa appointment so I will break now and then return later to tackle….

AROUND COVER32

Trivia Blitz: Enjoy a little St. Patrick’s Day fun with this football quiz

2017 Free Agency: Taking a look at the worst deals in free agency so far

cover32 Exclusive: Interview with Baltimore Ravens’ safety, Anthony Levine

Bills News: Buffalo’s potential first round draft picks

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Things We Know About The Buffalo Bills This Week:

J = Just when you hear we signed him and then it’s tweeted that it is not a fact, the Buffalo Bills have finally gotten Andre Holmes inked to deal. This contract makes the 28-year old, 210 pound, 6’4 former Raider wide receiver the highest profile free agency signing at the much needed wide out position.

The Bills should not be content here after losing Goodwin and Woods to free agency this year and still not fully staffed from the Chris Hogan defection. Tyrod took a pay cut to free up money to supply more weapons. Hopefully they meant more weapons he can throw the ball to and not a punt returner or new kicker that have been addressed.

E = E.J. Manuel has officially signed with the Raiders. Oakland will be fine as long as Derrick Carr doesn’t not get hurt… again. As Bills fans, we have learned that E.J. is more effective not actually playing in the games and occasionally getting called to take part on a trick play. That is ample EJ for me to see.

Now that the former first round pick is for sure gone, the Bills have not one player left on the roster from the 2013 draft. I will stay positive and change the subject by saying… she said Yes on the beach during out last full planned day in Punta Cana. I am one lucky guy.  I have that Sport of Kings Song in my head still and some other LL Cool J songs popped in my head while celebrating our engagement. I think my record speaks for itself in that this is a family article so I will not repeat any of these lyrics.

F = Free Agency losses had my Bills notification alert quite active on my voyage to the Caribbean, before and after traveling as well. A key loss obviously was Stephon Gilmore signing with New England as he walked away as so many defensive backs have done over the years with the Bills getting nothing in return.

F can also be for frustrating and notice it was not for a swear word. I get so frustrated watching the Bills draft the player, coach and train him while tolerating the inexperienced days and then watching them unable to pay the player when they really enter the prime days of their careers. I understand that it is sometimes in the best interest of the on field situation and other times it is a salary cap issue. I still get frustrated especially when the franchise tag is out there to use.

F =  Free Agent activity has been both re-signing and retaining several of our own players as well as signing free agents from other teams. They wrapped up two fullbacks in Mike Tolbert and Patrick DiMarco showing they plan on staying the course as a power running team.

Guard Vladimir Ducasse, place kicker Steven Hauschka, safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, wide receivers Jeremy Butler, Corey Washington and Corey Brown and defensive end Ryan Davis all signed on believing that Buffalo is the best place for personal careers as well as opportunity to win. I was glad to see them keep Lorenzo Alexander and Jordan Mills who both were starters with important roles last season not easily replaceable.

The spelling above of ’Jeff’ is honoring and paying tribute to Jeff Sgroi, who would have turned 47 Saturday but celebrated premature in the heavens as he passed away last February much too young. His sudden passing left a huge void in the hearts of hundreds of family members and friends, WNY sports, the business world and the charitable community throughout the area.

He was extremely active in the Buffalo/WNY community, being that everyone knew him from somewhere/somehow.  He served on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Orchard Park as well as the Academy of Digital Media in the West Seneca School District. He attended every Bills and Sabres home games as well as taking it to the road supporting our hometown teams out of town as well.

You could always spot his smile a mile away and the word always is pretty close to accurate as Jeff was always in attendance at anything proactive, social or charitable that was taking place in the Queen City.

He was on the baseball coaching staff at St. Francis High School for close to a decade. Jeff played division one baseball at Niagara University and was well known as a great ballplayer throughout his entire education. We remembered Jeff last year after he passed on Cover32. We all miss you very much Jeff. RIP.

READ MORE: Buffalo would be smart to sign cornerback Snead

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