#shelly long you will always be famous

[yung-sriracha]

❝ When Sam offered me the job, I laughed in his face ! But then it occurred to me . . . Here I am, I'm a student — Not just in an academic sense, but a student of life. And where better than here to study life in all its many facets ? People meet in bars . . . They part, they rejoice, they suffer . . . They come here to be with their own kind. ❞

Shelly Long as Diane Chambers in Cheers ( 1982-1993 )

[hello-nichya-here]

Why do people hate JK Rowling?

Long-ass story short: She said she always intended Dumbledore to be gay, but only didn't write into the books because it was not necessary to that particular plot. People understood and cheered.

Then she started revealing OTHER "bonus information that didn't make it to the books" through the years. They started out reasonable enough, but it soon became clear that Rowling was just making that shit up as she went along, to get more praise and attention in a quick way instead of actually sitting down and writting new material.

Eventually she DID started writting, or at least approving, of new stuff, like "The Cursed Child" play, or the Fantastic Beasts movies. The receptions were mixed to put it VERY kindly, and worse yet, Fantastic Beasts had a controversy regarding Rowling seemingly not understanding that women can sexually abuse/coerce men - something that was already a big issue in the original Harry Potter books, but it no longer got the pass of "It was a different time."

One of those movies would be centered around Dumbledore and his falling out with his evil boyfriend - yet the script was not going to acknowledge that they were indeed a couple, even though it was relevant to the plot this time, so it basically confirmed to people that "Dumbledore is gay" was just bullshit she made up at the last second to get praised as being a super progressive writer, aka queerbaiting. To make it worse, Rowling acted like people asking for canon confirmation that Dumbledore was gay could only possibly mean that they wanted sex scenes in the film, even though they were only saying "If he really is in love with this dude, let him say it. That's literally a key aspect of his conflict in this story."

To make matters even worse, during all of this, Rowling also decided to go full TERF/Radfem mode:

Any criticism of her, no matter how mild or valid? She'd call it misogyny.

Trans person existing? Treated like walking, living, breathing rape-threats. But no comment on TERFs literally spying and sometimes filming people in the bathroom "just to make sure they're not secretly trans" and TOTALLY not because they're creeps.

(And she'd also not comment on how some of her TERF buddies were doing insane shit like "claiming/exposing/harrassing" famous people like Daniel Radcliffe, aka the guy that played Harry Potter himself and that Rowling knew since he was a little kid, for "secretly being trans" for stuff like "being too short/tall for their supposed gender").

People getting uncomfortable with how she continued to not so subtly double-down on "Women cannot be abusive/predators, that's exclusively a guy thing"? Yelled at for "demonizing women" instead of "calling out the patriarchy."

Finally, her TERF buddies also started putting her on a pedestal for being "one of them", doing shit like claim no other woman EVER had any success as a writer. People were already no longer comfortable praising her for her real accomplishments after the shitshow she had turned into over the years, so you can bet that they were NOT okay with acting like women like Mary Shelly, ya know, the one who literally wrote Frankenstein nearly two centuries before Harry Potter was created, didn't exist or weren't important just because some truly vile people wanted to kiss Rowling's ass and she continued to let them be vile because she liked having her ass kissed.

So yeah, reminder: FUCK JK ROWLING AND ALL HER TERF BULLSHIT! Now excuse me while I wait for the inevitable angry asks from Radfems calling me a pick-me, porn-addicted "fmoid" brainwashed by the patriarchy.

[probabludaistkf]

i heard you have ocs?

Oh heck yeah! Finally some one asked, bro you have no idea how long I’ve been holding this in warning it is LONG

Elijah

main OC he is currently 13 and about to go through a LOT. Half angel half demon also emo his father is a demon but doesn’t talk much about his mother and when asked dodges the question not because she’s dead or anything but she was part of his worst memories. All Elijah knows about her is that she was an angel, he also has a best friend who he’s known since the age of 4 named Xane (we’ll come onto him) in a foul attempt to learn more about his parents ,as his father is very secretive, he ends up roping his friends into the worst mess imaginable; they get into the middle of a war between two mafias as a third party that threatens to reveal all their secrets and one of his friends is directly involved with one side and his father the other. He also meets his grim reaper who in an act of mercy gave him three lives because he didn’t want to take someone so young. Elijah has an idol, a famous detective with no name, he aspires to be just like her no

likes: cats, mcr, Xane, Shelly (his girlfriend who he gets later on when he’s 15), the drums, skateboarding

dislikes: being called a vampire, being told what to do, his mother (but that comes later on), piano lessons (the ghost of an old lady teaches him and Xane on Sundays)

Xane

Just a lil’ ghost boy but not really, he wears a sheet over himself to look more like a ghost despite not being dead(the face on the sheet was drawn on by Elijah), although he does wish he was but not in a suicidal way. He is an orphan he was left on the doorstep of an old abandoned mansion and a married couple of ghosts took him in, the other ghosts weren’t pleased at first but soon grew attached to him. He’s very shy and doesn’t talk and he’s pretty much a wallflower. He does get bullied sometimes. No one has actually ever seen his face apart from the ghosts of course but no one else not even Elijah (he did get a glimpse but was knocked out immediately and forgot what happened). He also has a killer death metal voice. No one knows how he obtained that skill but you can always hear him at band practice.

likes : mochi, spiders, Elijah, skateboarding

dislikes: disobeying authority, the colour yellow, piano lessons, rin (we’ll come to him)

Anaiah

She is a dog girl she wasn’t originally thought so technically human. She has two older brothers Louis and Vencel and Louis is a bit of a mad scientist and he was testing to see if his dog girl serum was working which it did but he also made it to be permanent. He was making this serum because dog girls are fictional and he’s lost taste for prosthetic tails and ears. One method of obtaining his dream would be crossbreeding werewolves until he got results but that would be very illegal and expensive. She is quite the violent girl and is currently dealing with anger issues she may also be crushing on her friend. She plays the bass guitar and was taught be Vencel, Louis also taught her how to DJ and mix her own songs. She is very punk btw.

likes: Lilly, waffles, band practice, violence, her trusty bats (she has a lot her bedroom walls are lined with baseball bats), anime

dislikes: school rules, staying put for too long, eggs, spicy food

Lilly

She and her family are vampires and are very rich, her older brother is a famous pop idol and so to follow in his footsteps she became a popular influencer. He didn’t seem to pleased about it though. Most people recognise her from her brother which annoys her. When her brother got scouted and found out that dying his hair was in his contract she also dyed her hair the same shade of bright magenta. Her parent apply a lot of pressure on her to be perfect and get good grades but she likes hanging out with Anaiah because than she doesn’t have to be perfect she can do or be whatever she wants and she likes that same as when she’s making a video or on stream. It’s her dream to make as many people snails as her big brother does but she’ll soon learn why her brother doesn’t want her to take this path (he commits suicide). She is the groups lead female singer and she also plays the keyboard

likes: cats, boba, anime, sora/ whatever I’m gonna name him idk (her brother), spicy food

dislikes: being recognised for sora, being asked to change into a bat, rodents

YET TO BE NAMED!!!! Hopefully

Please note he is not a kitsune, I repeat NOT a kitsune!! He is a Korean yeoul they are completely different (probably make a post about it later this is already too long) he’s more average than the others also can’t do half the stuff they can because he’s Catholic. People often confuse him for Rin a kitsune exorcist who is an entirely different shade of orange btw. He does have an anthro form so the day I commit the grave sin of learning to draw furries you’ll start seeing more art of him. Doesn’t have much lore cause he’s a normal child apart from the fact his girlfriend is a slave to the mafia well one of them. He does help her cope and with his friends he’s trying to get her out of that hellhole. Also random fact he’s lactose intolerant and has a peanut allergy. He’s the guitarist and sometimes back up vocals. He is self taught and can often be caught playing the season 1 blue exorcist theme song to warm up

Likes: ramen, chicken, chicken flavoured ramen, cheese, peanut butter, blue exorcist,

dislikes: being unable to eat cheese and peanut butter, being banned from blue exorcist for mentioning the demonic, being called a kitsune

Also yet to be named seriously what is wrong with me

she is the poor victim of a human trafficking incident everything you can imagine she’s probably been forced to do it or had it done to her. I don’t know why I gave her so much trauma. She is a werewolf and her master is a high ranking executive of the mafia and is able to cover up his horrible acts, he is also a sex offender. Lilly is quite young but the miserable life she was forced to lead caused her to mature much faster than the others. I think I may stop here because I gave her way too much trauma so let’s look on the brighter side of things. She is unable to speak and so uses ASL(American sign language) or BSL (British sign language) (the day I learn to draw hands) she quickly bonded with Xane over that fact she also has many dog or wolf like tendencies for example tail wagging. Her tail conveys a lot of emotions even though her face might not. She does make sounds such as whining, barking or howling. In her anthro or wolf form she’s more comfortable and Is more likely to bark. She is also a Siberian wolf and if you can tell from the name she is indeed related to the Siberian husky so she is quite loud also the drama queen. To show affection she’ll lean on you and she licks YET TO BE NAMED!!!! instead of kisses, she does it around his neck and ears the first time she did it he misinterpreted it as a sexual gesture.

likes: chew toys, dog treats, YET TO BE NAMED!!!!, the dog park,

dislikes: her master, most forms of physical contact unless she deeply trusts you, stereotypes about what happens to her on a full moon (nothing happens apart from the fact she get her period)

Rin

Now this, this is a kitsune. You can tell from the number or tails he has he’s been around for more that 200 years. He’s also a major dick for no reason. He is worshipped and has a small shrine dedicated to him although it seems it’s most likely gone to his head. He’s an exorcist and keeps trying to exorcise the ghosts in Xane’s mansion Its the reason no one likes him. One day he was saved by this little girl who took him in and took care of him he did refuse he bit and scratched her but she seemed determined to show the fox affection even after he ran away she still loved him so he had no Choice but to settle down and be her new pet. The little girl is now an old lady and unknown to her a kitsune calls her ‘mama’ when no one’s around. He feels he has a debt to the woman but still hasn’t found a way to repay her even though he’s warded off all the evil spirits that could harm her resulting in her living a long, happy, healthy life but he still feels there’s he hasn’t done.

likes: feeling superior to people, stealing, being a fraud, scamming people

dislikes: being called a yeoul, being lied to, disrespect to his mama

[moonbeam-dreamer]

Reawakened (Continued from part 2)

"James O' Barr wasn't an emo trying to make himself famous or give the world another hero to idolize", I stated flatly, while holding up the novel for him to focus on. "It was his way of getting justice and lashing out where he couldn't in real life". I paused a moment to let that sink in before continuing.

"His girlfriend was struck and killed by a drunk driver while she went from home to pick him up. He always blamed himself for this, and the driver barely had anything of a sentence handed down. He created Eric Draven, whose girlfriend was gang raped and killed before his eyes, and all he could was lay there and watch as he lay dying. Legends state that a crow can bring a soul back from death to right a wrong, and so he spends nights hunting the men across the city. Days were for himself, spent in their run down and deserted home, where he tortured himself with memories of Shelly and their love, just as James must have". I could see his self assured stance faltering, but I wasn't finished yet.

"The book later became a movie where Brandon Lee played the role of Eric. He died during the making of it by a truly fluke accident, and James felt that sadness and shame all over again. He believed that if he had never created the novel, then Brandon's fiancee Eliza would still have him". I let this knowledge simmer in silence and it was here that I got my first look at his name tag, and the black letters that spelled his identity; Li Brekker. Well, at least I had something to call him beside the tall guy with black hair, or mystery man. It would make our meetings a little less awkward, though not to any worthy extent. I still knew nothing about him save for his wit, and even that was biting. For someone that exuded the 'loner' vibe, he was certainly curious about strangers. Must have been the small town upbringing.

"You don't seem like a girl that's had significant loss", he stated after a time. "So why do you like it so much?"

It was my turn to stand mute and find the right words to answer. How I hated payback when it worked its way around. There was much to unpack with that question, even more that I could say and part of me longed to tell my story. He was an outsider in my world and didn't know my family personally. It was an opportunity too good to pass up. Inwardly, I kicked myself. I'd long ago decided not to share my business with the world. Whether out of embarrassment or fatigue at the whole crazy story, perhaps both, I wasn't about to break my mental peace for anyone.

"All of us have a story that speaks of injustice and a desire to see it end. That novel gives me a sense that one day, a time will come for me to be vindicated. My only hope is that I'm still here to see it".

"You're in danger?" His gaze turned from thoughtful to serious, and I knew my usual thoughts had turned what I thought to be a simple statement into a penny dreadful. No doubt he was envisioning the witness protection program or a gang of mobsters coming after me. Still, I wasn't up for sharing the horrible details but I had to say something to put his mind at ease.

"Nothing life threatening", I clarified and tucked the book beneath my arm. "Let's just say that I've taken steps to keep myself off certain radars". His stare stayed constant but rather than give into his silent demands, I side stepped for the counter. I'd stayed long enough and wanted to get home for some mental downtime.

A touch at my arm stalled me. He didn't grab like most people would, but the inference was enough to halt me.

"You have friends you can call on?"

For anyone else, this request would have seemed odd. Given our history and climate of friendly serial killers, it was better never to answer honestly. Yet there was something about him that put me at ease. Even if I wanted to run away at times rather than endure his surliness, this moment held importance and I wasn't going to be my usually bitchy self and dismiss it.

"In my need for escape, I had to create a physical distance". They were over an hour away. I had friends, just none that I could to when in need.

His eyes grew contemplative and I wondered where his thoughts were taking him. Would he be cross for my disregard of safety rules, or was he going to demand a right to escort me home? Having him know where I lived seemed worse than what I'd shared. It was the definition of secluded and though I enjoyed it, he he seemed to take the role of the over cautionary type and I could practically hear the lecture as he went through it in his head.

Surprisingly, he took gentle hold of my elbow and escorted me to the counter. There, he pulled out a business card from the holder and quickly scrawled his name and number before handing it over. My only thought was how immaculate his handwriting was and wondered just how many letters he'd written to make it so perfect? Silly, absolutely, but in moments of mental shut down, you found the oddest things to focus on and this was presented to me by his own hand. Like him, it was dark, graceful, yet beautiful and thoughtful. What had I done to receive this gracious attention?

[danishmuseuminterns]

I Did It My Way: The Dane Has Left the Building

By Anders Tornsø Jørgensen

Dear readers of this blog,

Thank you for following my American journey over the last six months. You have been great cheerleaders, encouraging me to explore this mighty nation in ways that I never imagined possible. Writing these blogposts has been quite an honor and a unique way to promote and strengthen the ties between our two countries.

In some way, these six months have felt long. Yet, somehow, it also feels like I just arrived yesterday. Time is fascinating, and so has this internship been. I saw, I came, and I pushed it to the limit. From enjoying the skyscrapers of great urban wonders to exploring the majestic national parks, I have truly enjoyed every moment of this odyssey. It feels so strange to finally write this last entry. I still remember arriving in late June, having all the time in the world in front of me. And now it’s about to end. However, this is only the beginning of my American journey. In fact, I’m already planning my next American adventure with my beloved Amtrak.

I have been an intern at one of the most dedicated and generous institutions, which is only made possible because of the Scan Design Foundation. Here’s goes a list of thanks to the wonderful people of the Museum of Danish America – their support has been tremendous:

To Deb for the music, the laughs, and for teaching me how to use an air fryer. To Terri J. for the morning conversations over a cup of coffee and for taking me to my first basketball game (go Cyclones!). To Tim P. for great times at the food trucks and for teaching me how to pick sweet corn. To Diya for introducing me to so many delicious cuisines, presenting me to ice hockey, and for always bringing homemade treats to the office. To Julia for great times at various museum-related events, excursions to various institutions across Iowa, but also for showing my family the behind-the-scenes operations of a museum. To Terri A. for always spreading great energy at the museum, thus always leaving me happier. To Nan for inviting me to the Rose Theater in Audubon, Iowa, but also for always giving me a good discount on my beloved MoDA socks. To Tova for showing me Iowa’s best hidden secret, Decorah, with its beautiful nature, thriving small-town atmosphere, and a rich Norwegian-American culture. To Shelli and Jeff for introducing me to bratwurst and tailgating, but also for bringing homemade cookies when my family visited the museum. To Phil for the jokes and for the mouthwatering scotcheroos. To Tim F. for the stories about Elk Horn back in the day. To Cheyenne for our trip to Chicago, which included a hilarious day in the rain and some pretty aggressive acorns. To Kelsey for being such a wonderful roommate. To Don for the Diet Cokes and Marian for all the great meals and times. And finally, a big thanks to the United States Embassy in Denmark, who posted these blogs. I actually felt kind of famous when I was recently recognized at a Scandinavian-American event as ‘that guy from the blog.’ I hope it won't go to my head.

Also, a huge shout-out to Erik, who somehow knew I was huge Jimmy Carter fan, and then decided to give me an authentic 50-pound bag from the old Carter family peanut farm. And to Pixie, who knew how much I appreciate and admire the National Park System, and gave me a calendar filled with photos of national parks. I also loved every second spent with volunteers like Rosa and Annette. I hope I have their energy and might whenever I reach their age. Southwest Iowa is truly the land of the kind and home of the generous. I may leave Iowa, but you can’t take Iowa out of me. And of course, thanks to the many Americans I met along my way. What I admire most about Americans are probably how effortlessly nice they are when meeting strangers.

During the last six months, I have experienced American culture in a way that is only possible when you actually live here. I consider my myself a Midwesterner by heart now. When they’ll do my autopsy someday, they'll probably still be able to find the remains of ranch dressing and cheese curds from Culver’s. While I have learned much about the complex fabric that constitutes the United States, I actually feel that I also learned a lot about Denmark in the process.

Exchange stays and internships provides individuals with opportunities that impacts a lifetime. That’s why I am so grateful for the opportunities provided by the Scan Design Foundation and the Museum of Danish America. The wonderful thing about cultural exchange is how it broadens your horizon, build bridges, and inspire; I have never lived rurally, yet I have enjoyed developing friendships with people with whom I would never had met back home.

I also appreciate the freedom I have been granted and trusted with during my internship, where I have been solving a lot of different challenges, growing professionally, academically, and personally along the way.

Sometimes people have asked me what my favorite state is. I usually answer that I find beauty and uniqueness in each state, so it is hard to highlight one particular state. However, I do have a weak spot for North Dakota’s vastness, Wyoming’s natural wonders, and Minnesota’s many lakes. Other times people have asked me what my favorite experience have been, and that’s also difficult to answer, because there have been so many great memories.

But I’ll mention a few. I’ll include my time at the Danebod Folk Meeting in Tyler, Minnesota. The people I met there was the definition of Midwestern hospitality, and the days spent there reminded me so much about my time at Baunehøj Efterskole. I have also cherished celebrating different American holidays, including Fourth of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Each holiday is filled with long enduring memories. I’ll probably keep celebrating Thanksgiving when I return home and introduce that tradition to my friends. I also had the chance to enjoy the Iowa State Fair during my internship. It is based in the state capital Des Moines and takes place over an 11-day period in August with 1,118,763 visitors in 2022. It is the only fair listed in The New York Times best-selling travel book, “1,000 Places to See Before You Die,” so I am glad I can cross it of my list.

There’s also been some hard times. Adjusting to living in rural Elk Horn was harder than I imagined, but my walks around Elk Horn helped a lot. Those walks made me appreciate the beauty of the prairie with its rolling hills, its wide-open spaces, and its stunning sunsets, always making me think that perhaps heaven is a place on earth. There was also the time when the intern car broke down in Denver. Luckily, I was saved by my Karen and Mark, two friends of mine. It’s that unique American friendliness that keeps me so fascinated. I actually named the intern car Roxie because we developed quite a friendship during our long drives across the endless land of prairie and sea of cornfields. It was pure happiness when I one day saw her at the museum’s parking lot and we were once again united.

And then there was all the eating, including countless runzas, pork tenderloins, and cheese curds, all served with something we Midwesterners hold dear: ranch. There was also the time when a buffalo, the most majestic animal I have ever seen, walked right up to Roxie and me while we were visiting Yellowstone. When I was a child, my family had a tradition of visiting Legoland back home. I remember being deeply fascinated by a LEGO replica of Mount Rushmore whenever we visited. During my internship I made the dream a reality when I visited Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, another unique moment of this American odyssey. However, the biggest highlight of my internship was when my special lady friend, Laura, crossed the Atlantic to see me. That was truly breathtaking.

Although I am an admirer of the American experiment, I am not blind to the problems facing the nation. However, I may be naïve, but I think that there is much more that unites Americans than what divides Americans. That’s at least my impressions from speaking with different people along my travels. When you travel alone in this country, you easily become a magnet for conversations with strangers whether it’s on the bus or on the train, at the gas stations, diners, museums, or on my evening strolls. My favorite quote from John F. Kennedy is the following: “We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal.” It still rings very true to this day. Nevertheless, recent years with crisis after crisis, where covid, inflation, and political instability has changed the everyday life for many Americans, and left many worried for the future. The January 6 attack on democracy still stands as a day of infamy to borrow a term from a great hero of mine. The once bright spark of American optimism has been darkened, but not extinguished. This nation has been in the deepest valley and somehow managed to climb back up again and again in the past. When thirteen colonies decided to rebel against the British Empire, the world largest superpower back then, history changed forever. While always struggling to fulfill the promises of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all of its citizens, the United States has always strived to achieve its creed, moving two steps forward, and then often one step back on its road to ensure liberty and justice for all. Out of the ashes of a bloody civil war, the union survived and a new nation emerged. Yet, it took about 100 years for heroic figures like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, John Lewis of the Civil Rights Movement to overcome and ensure basic rights for all Americans. You could also look at the Greatest Generation, who somehow managed to handle the poverty of the Great Depression while also winning a world war against tyranny. Their sacrifices and strength stand as a lesson for current generations, who faces the issues of growing inequality and climate change. I still belong to the group, who see this nation as “a shining city on a hill” as President Reagan once put it.  Whenever I engage with the younger generations of Americans, I get a sense that everything will be all right, because this land has always been, and will always be, a comeback country filled with dreamers who continues to reach for the stars.

[spypiner]

Henry gpass fabric

Henry Glass Fabrics are high quality, quilt shop quality fabrics. It's just that I got really, well, I guess we're even.Henry Glass is one of our favorite fabric manufacturers! They have a host of famous designers, and add more every year! Some of the more well known designers and designers we carry include Kim Diehl, Jan Mott, Stacy West of Buttermilk Basin, Shelly Comisky of of Simply Shelly Designs, Leanne Anderson and her daughter Kaytlyn Kuebler, Janet Rae Nesbitt, Jane Shasky and many more! JACK: Well, thanks for helping me explain the origins of glass and sorry about throwing that water on you before. Nowadays we have all sorts of glass for all sorts of purposes, and it's opened up windows, so to speak, into a whole world of inventions and discoveries. He was the first to find a way of making glass perfectly flat. Well, most of that is thanks to this guy Henry Bessemer. Ah, not bad hey.Īnd in the 17th century we got telescopes.Īs for the big sheets of glass that are used in buildings pretty much everywhere. Then in the 16th century in Venice we got our first look at ourselves thanks to mirrors. Oh, I can see everything so much more clearly now. In the 13th century in Northern Italy the first glasses to enhance eye sight came about. Yeah, I love it, love what you've done.Īs the years went on glass became more and more popular. Oh, I'm just kidding, no, no it looks great. What have you done? All the glass is stained. By the 1100s many European cathedrals were being decorated with stained glass windows, coloured with powdered metals mixed into the molten glass. Instead, you might just have a hole in your wall with an animal hide curtain or a window made out of paper, fancy. Yep, there was a time when people didn't have glass windows. JACK: Manny, Manny, can you see me? I can see you. Glass blowing was later taken by the Romans who used it, along with a sort of pressing technique, to create the first glass windows. And around the first century BC the Syrians came up with the technique of glass blowing, which truly changed the game. Over the next few hundred or so years glass making became popular across the Mediterranean, Europe and into parts of Asia. Ha.Ībout 1000 years later the Ancient Egyptians also began creating things out of glass, in particular they were quite fond of making glass beads. But instead, no, I was making this, a cup for my drink. JACK: Yeah, so, all I did was mix silica sand, lime, and soda. And some historians reckon it might have happened by accident. But the first human efforts to make glass, that we know of anyway, happened around 2500 BC, in the ancient region known as Mesopotamia. Including Australia's First Nations peoples who used it as cutting tools, as tips for spears and for ceremonial purposes. And from what experts can tell humans have been using these types of glass for hundreds of thousands of years. There are a few other types of naturally occurring glass, like fulgurite which occurs when sand is hit by lightning and tektite which is the result of a meteorite impact. The other is typically, but not always, sand. What do you think?Īs the volcano would suggest, one of the main ingredients in making glass is heat. It appears to have been formed when the molten rock from this volcano cooled rapidly resulting in this sort of blackish/greenish thing. This is obsidian, it's a type of natural glass. While we clean up, let's take a look at the long, long history of glass and I do mean long. Bluebird of Happiness 2719-95 Mixed Media Dark Gray by Janet Rae Nesbitt for Henry Glass Fabrics. Oh gosh sorry, you're just so terrifying sometimes. Bluebird of Happiness 2715-95 Alphabet Dark Gray by Janet Rae Nesbitt for Henry Glass Fabrics. But have you ever wondered where does glass comes from? Why can I see through it? Is it just hot sand? And why can't I throw stones in glass houses? Well, I've asked a very dear friend of mine to help explain. JACK, REPORTER: When it comes to drinking vessels, for me, nothing beats a glass.

[cacoetheswriting]

a mutually assured attachment: part two

pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader word count: 2.5k summary: trust and other dangerous feelings.

warnings: set before tfatws, therapy positive, emotional hurt / comfort, mutual pinning, mild swearing, use of pet names (sweets, darlin') mentions of food and alcohol consumption, overall just a lovely little slow burn

a/n: so turns out i posted part one six freaking months ago and this has been sitting in my drafts half finished for five... seriously cannot believe i am finally getting this out, i really hope you enjoy and as always tell me what you think!

SERIES MASTERLIST

To say you turned Bucky’s life upside down from the moment you moved in across the hall would be a vast understatement.

Not only was the brunette super soldier completely blindsided by your friendliness, generosity, and wittiness, but also by how quickly he opened himself up to you (with zero effort on your part really, simply thanks to your honest and welcoming spirit).

The two of you spent virtually every free minute together.

From morning coffee together before you rushed off to work, to walks around the neighbourhood on a Saturday, and dinner “dates” every other evening. You would either cook something or Bucky would order takeout, and the word exchange would flow naturally for hours on end.

You would tell him all about your day, mainly complaining about your quote on quote shitty boss, or you’d share with him random memories from your childhood and teenage years, some of which was seriously embarrassing stuff. Bucky would openly counter with anecdotes from his own life pre the war, and even though you’d complain none of his stories were as shaming as yours, it felt good to just get to know him a little.

An unspoken agreement quickly formed: anything else from his long life was not to be mentioned.

Lost in conversation and with mouths full of food, the two of you would divert to the couch. And usually at this point in the evening you’d convince Bucky to watch something with you.

That’s when you introduced him to Shelly, Bobby and Laura — amongst others — and he came to learn they weren’t your friends (as he initially thought). ‘Twin Peaks’ was confusing, and although you guaranteed a lot of people thought so, Bucky still felt bad for not liking something you so clearly enjoyed.

Hence why the following evening he gifted you with a small notebook in your favourite colour; “It’s so you can note everything you think we should watch together.” Your heart swelled. And when he saw the beam spreading across your features, so did his.

One Sunday afternoon, you taught him your famous apple pie recipe.

At least you tried your best.

Bucky may be a trained killer but even professionals with an enhanced attention to detail make mistakes. He misread the labels and instead of 2/3 cups of sugar, he added salt. (And it definitely had nothing to do with how he got distracted by the smudge of flour on the tip of your nose, and how adorable it made you look). By the time he realised his error, the pie was already in the oven.

You of course reassured him it was okay.

“It happens to the best of us, Buck. My mom once put salt in my tea and I only realised after I took a sip,” you tittered with a light shrug of the shoulder and a sweet smile.

Bucky returned the expression. He watched you move about your kitchen, cleaning the mess you both made, and found himself hoping the feeling forming at the pit of his stomach when he looked at you would never go away.

It was silly to feel this strongly about you. After all, he still didn’t know your name.

Yes, Bucky could admit it was odd spending this much time with someone and not knowing such an intimate detail of who they really were. But with you it didn’t feel so weird. He firmly stood by what he told you around the time he first met you: “You can tell me your name when you’re ready to do so.”.

Not like it mattered anyway, it was just a name. He’s been called by many over the years, some considerably better than others, and in the end it was a nickname he liked most.

He obviously wondered every night what it was. Oddly enough the guessing game helped him fall asleep by keeping his mind occupied and warding away any nightmares, because all he thought of as his eyes shut was you.

But Bucky wouldn’t have to ponder much longer.

You had a tough day — tough week actually — and he wanted to distract you somehow. Cheer you up in a memorable way. And having previously expressed interest in his mode of transport, Bucky knew taking you out on a trip on his motorcycle would be a great way to help you momentarily forget any troubles.

He bought you a helmet. You squealed with excitement as he gently placed it on your head. The enthusiasm so clearly visible on your features caused him to smile while  his fingers brushing your chin as he secured the strap.

But when he stepped away to hop on the motorcycle, the happy expression on your face faded. Nerves kicked in.

“What’s wrong?” Bucky asked, settling himself down on the seat.

“I don’t know about this, neighbour.”

He chuckled, “Aren’t you the one who’s been goin’ on about how you’d like to go on a motorcycle ride with me?”

“Well… yeah.” A sigh escaped your lips, “But now that I have this helmet on my head and you’re sitting, waiting for me to get on I just...”

The grin plastered on Bucky’s face caused you to bite the inside of your cheek, in an attempt to stop yourself from rambling on further.

“Come on,” he said and extended an arm in your direction, “I promise you’re safe with me, darlin’.”

With a slow nod of the head, you took his hand and maneuvered yourself onto the motorbike.

Bucky waited until you were settled before dropping your hand. And although you instantly wrapped your arms securely around his waist, he still found himself missing the feeling of your soft skin against his.

“Ready?” Bucky asked.

And it was then he finally learned your name. He didn’t think he heard you at first when it escaped your lips ever so faintly.

“y/n…” you mumbled into his ear in response to his question, “uhm- my name is y/n y/l/n.”

He looked back at you, almost in disbelief. He couldn’t really believe you told him. And here — now — of all places. And holy hell… y/n, even more beautiful than what he imagined.

“y/n,” Bucky tested the name on his tongue before the corners of his lips twirled upwards, “It sure suits you, darlin’.”

You repricoated the expression, “You think so?”

He nodded before his brows creased together, confused. “But I gotta know somethin’—”

“Well, I figured since we might die on this bike today, you might as well know who you’re dying with,” you replied, knowing exactly what he was going to ask.

Bucky smacked his lips together, containing a smile.

“We are not going to die,” he stated confidently before turning his attention to the road ahead and starting the machine.

You wanted to protest, tease him a little with a witty comment, but instead you only held onto him tighter, carefully resting your chin on his shoulder.

~~~

“She told me her name.”

Dr. Raynor raised a brow, “You don’t seem pleased? I thought you wanted to know what it was.”

He did, more than anything. He was delighted when you finally revealed what it was, replaying it in his mind that whole afternoon. However when he returned home that evening, after saying goodnight to you and watching you disappear into your apartment, an uneasy feeling rushed through him.

“It’s complicated.”

“How so?

“Because it means she trusts me.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Yes.

Bucky sighed, “Nothin’ good ever comes from people trusting me, doc.”

“I see…” Dr. Raynor scribbled something on the notepad in her lap and after a minute of silence focused again on the brunette man sitting across from her, “Would you like to know what I think?”

He didn’t say anything. Dr. Raynor exhaled.

“I think your neighbour telling you her name freaked you out not because she’s grown comfortable enough around you to share this part of herself with you, but because in the weeks you have spent hanging out together you also began to trust her. And that is what scares you.”

Dr. Raynor was right of course and Bucky hated it when she was right.

Yes, he’s grown to trust you. Honestly, it was almost impossible not to. Everything about you was so welcoming and honest, trusting you only felt natural.

“Do you think she is the type to break your trust?” Dr. Raynor enquired.

“No,” he responded instantly and without hesitation, causing the lady sitting across from him to smile before saying, “Then it’s important you don’t let your past hurt dictate your present relationships.”

“But how can I not, doc?” Bucky asked, because it honestly seemed like an impossible task.

~~~

Sucking in a sharp breath, Bucky entered the nearby bar you two decided to meet at for a change. He scanned the crowded room, quickly spotting you in the far corner, lost in your own thoughts. The second you noticed his approach, you waved and a wide grin graced your features.

“Hey, stranger,” you greeted him, “I was starting to think you forgot all about me.”

The brunette sergeant smiled while sitting down across from you. He hailed a server down and ordered two beers before turning his attention to you, “Sorry, I got held up at the, uhm—”

“You’re here now,” you cut in, noticing the apprehensive look on his face. Bucky bobbed his head in response.

A waiter rocked up to the table with the ordered beers. They asked if you needed anything else, to which Bucky shook his head and thanked them before once again focusing on you.

“How was your day?”

“It’s Friday, that always makes things better,” you answered, taking a sip of the liquid.

“If you hate your job so much, why don’t you resign?” Bucky queried, instantly picking up on the undertone in your reply.

“Trust me neighbour, I think about quitting every damn day but my bills won’t pay themselves and the job market sucks ass right now. It would be months before I found something else and I just can’t afford that kind of time,” you elaborated.

“Plus, even if I were to leave, I wouldn’t even know what else I could do,” you added and took another sip.

“A smart lady like you, I’m sure there’s somethin’,” Bucky encouraged, “What was your dream job when you were little?”

You chuckled. “I think my chances of doing that are quite slim, neighbour.”

Bucky raised an intrigued brow and inclined forward, arms resting on the table. He motioned for you to continue and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes.

“If we ever have a falling out, I hope you never repeat my embarrassing stories to anyone.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Bucky tittered and you shot him an annoyed glance before taking another sip of the liquid courage.

“I wanted to be an astronaut,” you finally admitted, covering your eyes with your hand, not wanting to witness Bucky’s reaction to your silly childhood dream.

Bucky pressed his tongue to his top lip, fighting back a smirk. An image of little you in a make-shit helmet flashed before his eyes. He could technically make a part of your dream come true, but that would involve talking to people he no longer wanted anything to do with.

He reached to move your hand away from your face and for a split second the two of you sat in silence, his fingers gently caressing yours.

The tender moment was interrupted by the server returning to ask whether you wanted another round.

You hastily withdrew your hands from Bucky’s grasp, placing them on your lap, while the brunette man ran his fingers through his hair before turning to decline the waiter. The whole ordeal lasted about a minute and once you were alone again, Bucky swallowed his breath and proceeded to veer the conversation away from the awkwardness that was suddenly closing in around you.

“An astronaut, huh?”

The chaffing tone detectable in his voice caused you to roll your eyes yet again before replying, “You can’t honestly tell me you grew up wanting to join the army.”

“I did.”

“Bullshit,” you exclaimed, “I call bullshit.”

He laughed, “Fine, but you gotta promise not to tell a living soul. The only other person that knows this about me is Steve.”

“Cross my heart,” you gesticulated.

“I wanted to be a cowboy.”

You pressed your fingers to your lips, hiding — or rather failing to hide — a satisfied smile.

He returned the expression and a warm fuzzy feeling settled in the pit of your stomach.

“All I’m going to say is, you should be very glad we’re going to be in each other's lives for the foreseeable future, because that is some pretty heavy ammunition you just gave me,” you teased him.

Bucky smirked. “Glad to hear I haven’t scared you off yet, darlin’.”

You shrugged lightly. “I guess I am strangely attached to you, Bucky Barnes,” you expressed.

The brunette man stiffened, all of the anxieties he’s been pushing down this evening were suddenly floating back up. His metal hand gripped the empty beer bottle a little too tight and a lump grew at the back of his throat as your words rang in his ears.

Okay, he may feel the same. And okay, he was attached to you too, he has been for some time now (in more ways than one). A mutual attachment however... Well, a mutual attachment is precisely why he didn’t want to get involved with you in the first place.

“I scared you a little, didn’t I? I freaked you out with the whole attached thing, right?”

Shifting into damage control mode, you inched forward and without waiting for a response, you continued: “I am so sorry, James. It uh, it's just an expression, p-please don’t read too much into it.”

The compassionate look on your face caused his heart to skip a beat. Although there was something else you just did that had an even greater effect on him.

“You called me James.”

Your brows creased together as you asked, “What?”

“You called me James,” he repeated and added, “you never call me by my first name.”

“Yes I do,” you protested, scrunching your nose.

“Nope,” Bucky countered with an assertive smirk, “It’s always either neighbour or old man. Sometimes Bucky or Buck, but never James.”

“Really?” you questioned in disbelief, “Never?”

He shook his head, “Never.”

You didn’t know what to say. It shouldn’t be this big a deal. James was his name afterall, so how come you’ve never used it? He hardly called you by yours, however with good reason since he only found out what it was the other day. Fuck. Why did this make you feel all sorts of flustered?

Sucking your bottom lip between your teeth, you looked back at him. The second his blue gaze caught yours, your breathing became softer.

“Don’t worry, y/n.” he began and the brazen smirk on his face slowly faded into a more tender expression, “I eh, I am strangely attached to you too.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

The longer you looked into his eyes the more your body squirmed, your muscles relaxing and further sinking you into the chair. There was something about that soft gaze of his you knew you’d never find in anyone else.

‘Attached’ was becoming a severe understatement.

“Good, because like I said, we’re going to be a part of each other’s lives for a long time, James.”

main masterlist

[thewritingace]

Since I don’t have the energy to do full intro posts rn, I’ll give you guys a brief overview over the WIPs I’ve been working on in the background over the last couple months. Let me know what you think. Ask questions. Send asks. Scream in the comments. Whatever you feel like.

🍎 Bad Apples

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery

Blurb (in progress): Jen, or “Little Miss Psycho” as her friends call her, has always been the life of the party. But her entire world comes crashing down one night, when she comes home to find her mother Shelly murdered. Suddenly, Jen finds herself in caught in the crossfire between the police, prosecutors and the public, all circling her like vultures to find out more about the case. Unsure of who to trust, Jen now has to navigate the hellscape that their small town has descended into, all while desperately trying to figure out who killed her mother, without becoming a target herself.

Themes: exploration of grief, corruption, politicization of tragedies, friendship, betrayal

Characters (subject to change):

JEN, also known as Jen-Jen or Little Miss Psycho [full name: Genevie?] ~ protagonist. 16 years old. White. mid-length blonde. popular girl. seen by most as the leader of the ‘Bad Apples’ friend group.

LEILA, also known as El ~ Jen’s best friend. 17 years old. long-haired brunette with blue streaks. popular girl. member of the ‘Bad Apples’ friend group.

SEB, also known as Snicker [full name: Sebastian] ~ theater kid and self-proclaimed Shakespeare geek. 16 years old. side part. member of the ‘Bad Apples’ friend group.

CLIVE [full name: Clifton] ~ recently started cross country. 17 years old. Black. buzz cut. newer member of the ‘Bad Apples’ friend group.

SHELLY ~ Jen’s mother. 42 years old.

Detective MARRON ~ one of the members of the police assigned to Shelly’s case. skeptical of Jen.

Jen’s father ~ Shelly’s abusive ex-husband .

🌀 Cataegis

Genre: Adult, Sci-Fi, Action

Description (vague): A sci-fi superhero story of sorts. Centered around a the formation of the world’s first alliance of superheroes, ASTAR, and the intricate dynamics of the group (meaning I don’t really have a plot for this, but I have the characters and their arcs).

Characters:

Marcia - founder of ASTAR. well-known superhero. 30 years old. comes from a remote area where a meteor struck, granting people mysterious power. became a hero as she sees is as her responsibility to use her powers to help others. undefeated in battle. tirelessly tries to balance the heroes personal goals with their mission to do good. no nonsense. self-sacrificial to a fault.

Leila Crescent | Mercy - founding member of ASTAR. well-known singer and activist. 24 years old. former lead singer of a band supporting a resistance movement against the corrupt regime of her home country. became a superhero after her band mates were assassinated during their attempt to flee. has a mind of steel. relentlessly hopeful. she was the one to inspire Marcia to found ASTAR and put her trust into the new generation of heroes.

unnamed - founding member of ASTAR. tech freak. 25 years old. installed high-tech self-built prosthetics on himself after losing parts of his body in a car crash. no superpowers. genuinely loves all forms of machinery and tech. not too interested in saving the world, he mostly just wants to help built ASTAR’s high-tech space ship base. snarky to an excessive degree.

Elias Steele | EOS - prominent member of ASTAR. new superhero, but famous for his immense power. 21 years old. supposedly the strongest being on the planet. still inexperienced as a hero, though he loathes to admit it. dreams of ending all strife. greatly admires Alistair. hopeful to the point of naivety.

Alistair Soledad | Solace - leader of ASTAR. well-known superhero. 28 years old. bastard son of Adam Solace, resident multi-millionaire. inherited all of his father’s wealth after Manor Soledad burned down 10 years ago, killing both his father and half-brother. became a hermit afterwards, but secretly took up the mantle of ‘Solace’ to help the citizens of his city in ways that law enforcement and social services couldn’t. was invited to be a founding member by Marcia, but initially declined. intensely cunning.

Colt Hayden - Alistair’s former sidekick. 18 years old. taken off duty by Alistair after trying to commit suicide. current whereabouts unknown. loyal till death.

Note: there are far more ASTAR members. since ASTAR becomes the first (and only) internationally recognized superhero organization, it’s kind of required to join them to become a superhero. Also, don’t ask me who the protagonist is, I have no idea. There will be a lot of pov switches though.

General Tag list: @artbyeloquent | @strosmkai-rum | @yami-kada

[minzart]

Brain was wondering what would happen if the various Ace Attorney Yuus, somehow ends up in the House of Mouse. Like, not the same one at the same time, but like, for the different sub-AUs they each have their own House of Mouse.

Og aa Yuu is lost, someone help them this kid has no idea how they got here and it's obvious, asks for help and almost got an heart attack when they saw very famous people sitting on the tables... the costumes are new but HEY! WHAT WOUDL TEHY KNOW ABOUT BEING RICH RIGHT? So uncomfortable bc doesn't understands the logic, like there wasn't that much logic in their world but still, mouse had to interfere

After calming dow and being informed that Pete tries to take this place down they re in a more familiar level, becomes the house unofficial attorney and ruins any plan of sabotage he has until they can go home

Legendary attorney Yuu calm in the outside panicking hard in the inside, tried to communicate with the people they knew but... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW ME?! OH FUCK... ok alright everything is going to be a ok! Just breath... Mr Writh dealt with diferent dimensions before right? It's easy pease ....

Once they relax they actualy got quite well with the heroes and villains, they are panicking inside of course, but they can bluff they wah out of any situation wich helps very much, as they og counterpart they help in any judicial way if it's necessary, after all of you are lost it's best to saty in one place until someone comes to rescue you

Yuu Von Karma is proper and regal, they walk in, asks for information gets explained what the place is and were, they now have control of the situation and are more at ease, just realy efficient

Gets along with nobility of all kind, literary just chilling and waiting help to arrive, the cartoons are nice, been so long since they enjoyed something like this

Detective Yuu Fey is vibing, such a nice littel club! Very up beat and helps around every so often, not frightened bc they can feel the vibe of the place is inviting, gossips with Minie and Daisy, helps the penguins, apaziguate the villains, talk to the heroes, tell stories of their own and amazes everyone with how diferent the two worlds are

They help uncovering Pete's latest bullshit, and even got the villains to help can you belive it?! Oh yeah and stuffing their tommie with delicious food, what good day... oh yeah they aren't in their world... ah what to do... meh, someone will come for them eventually :3

Shelly the Killer Yuu becomes a butler for free, loving the caos and wacky shenanigans of the place, they help around always watching, not panicking at all, they are in fact EXCITED, new place, new world, new things to learn and so much blackmail potential bc they notice a pattern, they notice the parallels to the people they know and now they have some leads to more dirty little secrets~

Their charisma is up to 12, they can charm anyone with they bubbly and innocent atitute, the villains can see trough some of their bullshit and are more intrigued with were this person came from,a nd why are they so interested in them, and of course, if they want to lend a little helping hand~

[patagucci34]

Partners for Life~ Tyson Jost

Warnings: swearing, some playful touching.... 

Word Count: 11k

All you wanted to do was change into comfy sweats, pour a heavy glass of wine, and forget about the awful week you had at work. But of course, there had to be something else to make this day even worse. When you were about 5 minutes away from your apartment it started down pouring. You cursed to yourself and picked up the pace.

Once you were in the comfort of your building, you let out a sigh of relief and made the trek up to your apartment. When you stepped out of the elevator you were met with a smiling face, one that normally would melt all of your worries away, but today, it only helped a little. You forced a smile back when his smile turned into a concerned frown.

"What happened to you?" He asked, stopping in front of you.

"I got caught in the rain on the way back from work."

He nodded and grabbed the bags out of your hands so you could unlock your door.

"Thanks, Tyson." You said with a small smile, hoping he would leave you be now. Normally you would welcome his company, but you really wanted that glass of wine and quiet night in by yourself. But it wasn't looking like that was the case when he strolled over to your fridge making himself at home. But that didn't stop you from wandering down the hall and taking a warm shower. Maybe then he would get the hint?

Nope. When you walked back out to the living room he was cozied up on the couch. A little bit of your annoyance dissipated when you saw the two wine glasses on the coffee table in front of him. So you grabbed one and plopped back into the couch.

"Rough week?" He asked, grabbing the other glass.

"You have no idea."

"I'm sorry, you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really.…" you sighed, "no game tonight?"

"Nah, we're leaving for a road trip tomorrow."

"Ohh nice, where to?"

"We're going to Florida."

"Ugh, I'm so jealous. I would love some nice weather right now."

Tyson chuckled, "yeah it might do you some good. You're looking a little pasty."

You rolled your eyes and pushed him playfully. "I meant mentally, but thank you for that."

"I know, I'm just messing…" he said patting your thigh "…are you sure you're okay?"

You sighed, "yeah, I just had an awful week at work, and my family has been harping on me a lot lately and I'm just over it all."

"I'm sorry, Y/n/N, what's going on at work?"

"My coworkers are just the worst. We had a huge project due this week and it seemed like I was the only one doing anything. And of course they got all of the credit. But it's fine, things should be better next week."

"What about your family?"

"Where do I even start…lately it's just been about me not having a boyfriend. I just don’t understand the fascination with my love life. My cousin is getting married soon and they really want me to bring someone…but like who cares? I'm 23, I don't see the urgency. But I also don't want to get shit for it the whole weekend. I don't know, whatever, it'll be fine, I'm just annoyed right now."

"When is the wedding?"

"A few weeks from now…why?"

"Is it the All Star break?"

"Ummmm…." you said while checking the dates "yes…why?!"

"I could be your date if you wanted…"

"No, Tyson, I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering."

"I don't know, Tys…"

"Come on, you'll have good company, you won't have to hear about how single you are…"

"Wait, you want to go as my boyfriend?"

"Well I don't think going as your friend would help…"

"You'd really do that?"

"Yes! I want to."

"Alright.…I don't know if it'll work, I'm not sure my family will even believe me."

"Oh, we can make it believable."

You eyed Tyson suspiciously but then gave in. "Okay…alright. I owe you big time."

"Let's just see how the weekend goes…" Tyson said with a smirk.

The rest of the night was spent watching New Girl. Tyson kept refilling your glass and you ended up pretty tipsy. Before Tyson left he helped you into bed and locked up your apartment on the way out.

~~~~~

The next morning, you woke up with a headache, cursing yourself for getting wine drunk. You loved being wine drunk in the moment but hated the hangover. You also cursed yourself at the thought of the little plan you and Tyson had come up with the night before. It's not that you weren't excited to spend an entire weekend with Tyson, it's just that you were pretty nervous about the whole thing. You had grown very close in your time as neighbors, but it was always just as friends. You'd be lying if you said you didn't have a crush on Tyson, but you always kept it to yourself because you didn't want to ruin their friendship, not to mention you didn't think you were his type. You were also nervous about your family buying their 'relationship'. Not only had you been telling your family that you were still single, but they would never believe that you were dating one of the Colorado Avalanche.

You tried to push it from your mind and focus on getting rid of the hangover. You made your way to the kitchen and guzzled down a glass of water accompanied by a few Tylenol and then rummaged through the fridge to make something to eat.

You posted up on the couch after you ate and watched movies all day. You were able to be a bit more productive on Sunday and cleaned your apartment and went grocery shopping for the week.

~~~~~

You didn't see Tyson until Wednesday night. He had texted you earlier in the day asking if you wanted to get take out. When you got home from work, Tyson was already in your apartment with the take out.

"I could kiss you right now, I'm starving." You said as you dropped your bags on the floor and sat down at the table."

Tyson smirked, "it might be good practice…"

"Oh my god, I actually kind of forgot about that…we should talk about our game plan."

"Yes, I like to excel so I need everything there is to know about your family so I'm fully prepared."

You rolled your eyes, "of course you do…well, I mean how long have we been dating for? I've been telling my family I'm single, but I'm sure I could come up with some excuse why I haven't told them."

"Yeah, it might be kind of weird to take your boyfriend of two weeks to a family wedding…"

"Okay, so how long do you think?"

"6 months?"

"Is that too long?"

Tyson shrugged, "I don't know, I think that's fine."

"Alright, and I think we should stick to saying we met through being neighbors."

"Good idea, less room for slip ups…what are you going to use as an excuse for not telling them?"

"I guess maybe that I wanted to feel things out and also because you're kinda famous?"

"Kinda?! I'm hurt."

You giggled at Tyson's dramatics. "Okay, sorry, you're famous. Fully famous."

"Much better…so let's start with the family lessons. I know you have 3 brothers, Charlie, Ben, and Jack. Your parents are Kate and Steve… but I think that's all I got."

"I'm impressed! Yes, Ben is the oldest, he's a lawyer, he's married to Hailey who is a nurse. Charlie is next, he's a teacher, he's engaged to Casey, who is also a teacher. Then there is Jack, he's in his second year of med school and his girlfriend is Carly, she's a physical therapist. Then my parents, Kate and Steve. My dad is a lawyer, Ben works at his firm. And my mom is a nurse. Do you want me to write this stuff down?"

"No way, I'll get it. Just keep going."

"Alright...the cousin that is getting married is on my dad's side. His name is Tom, his fiancé's name is Lauren. Tom does something with finance, I'm not exactly sure what, and Lauren is a social worker. Tom has one sister, Maddie, she's an aspiring actress…" Tyson stifled a laugh at your face when you said her occupation. "My grandparents are Dave and Shelly, they're both retired, but my grandfather was a lawyer, it’s his firm that my dad and Ben work for. And I think I can just introduce you to everyone else as we go…"

"Alright, got it."

"Do you?" You questioned, not believing him.

"Okay, fine, not yet. But I will."

~~~~~

The next few weeks went by faster than you had wanted. As the wedding grew nearer you became more and more nervous. You had let everyone know that you would be bringing your boyfriend, and of course, the questions rolled in. You told them what you had practiced with Tyson, you weren't sure where things were going to go and didn't want to get their hopes up, and because he's a professional athlete you wanted to make sure everything was sound in their relationship before you went public. Although your mom was upset that you didn’t confide in her earlier, they were happy that you had found a boyfriend. It definitely made you feel guilty for lying, but you were able to get over it.

A few days before you were leaving, you went to Tyson's game. You weren't able to go all of the time, but you had a blast when you did. You had become friends with a few of the WAGs and of course a bunch of the guys.

They were all going out after the game to celebrate the beginning of the All Star break and Tyson had invited you to go so you went down to the locker rooms after the game to wait for him.

"Y/N!" You turned at the familiar voice and smiled and gave Andre a hug.

"Hey, Burky, good game!"

"Thanks, are you coming out with us?"

"I am!!"

"Good, Tys is more fun when you're around." He said, winking. You laughed a bit before a few of the others guys joined and talked about the plans for this evening.

A few minutes later, Tyson came up behind you and wrapped his arm around you.

"Hey, Tys!" You greeted him happily.

"Hey, babe." You rolled your eyes at his choice of words. "What?! I'm just trying to get into character." He defended, which made the guys laugh. They all knew about the arrangement and most of them were hoping this weekend would be the push you needed to actually date.

"You ready?" Tyson asked. You nodded and bid farewells until later.

Tyson drove you back to you building and you split ways to get ready.

"How long do you need?" He asked.

"I'll be ready in like 20??"

"Alright, I'll come over in a half hour." He said chuckling at himself, which caused you to roll your eyes but nod your head and go inside.

An hour later you were making your way through the crowd at the club to find everyone else. Tyson had gone to get them drinks while you sat down next to EJ and Landy. Landy was grilling you about the weekend, him being the number one supporter of you guys actually dating. Luckily he let up a bit on  you when Tyson came back and started in on him.

You kept downing drinks as the night went on and ended up being very drunk. Tyson had to help you through the club and he pretty much carried you to your apartment. He was nervous to leave you alone, so he ran over to his apartment to change and came back to stay with you for the night.

~~~~~

The next morning, you groaned as you peeled your eyes open. You were slightly confused about the arm draped over you because you didn't remember talking to any guys at the club. You relaxed when you looked over and saw that it was Tyson.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." He said with a smirk.

"Morning….what are you doing here?"

"You were pretty loaded…I was nervous you might throw up in your sleep so I stayed with you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to get so drunk…"

"I know, it's all good. You just will really be kicking yourself in the car today!"

"Ugh, don't remind me." You said and rolled back over.

"10 more minutes! Then you need to get up and get ready." Tyson reminded.

"Okay, mom." You muffled into the pillow as you fell back asleep.

An hour later you had the car packed up and were on the way. Thankfully, Tyson offered to drive, knowing your current state and just the fact you didn't love driving anyway. You played the music, luckily you had similar taste, so you jammed out for most of the 4 hour drive. You also quizzed him on your family, and just as he claimed, he remembered it all.

Tyson noticed that you had grown quiet in the last half hour. He reached over and grabbed your hand.

"Hey," he started softly, "it's going to be fine."

"I know, I'm just nervous. Even though they're happy I have a boyfriend, they can be so critical and rude. I'm going to apologize in advance for anything that they say."

"I think I can handle them…I'm used to criticism."

"I know…I just, even though we aren't actually dating, you are one of my best friends and I don't want them to scare you off."

"Don't worry about that…I'm not going anywhere." He said and gave your hand a gentle squeeze before pulling it away. You smiled at him and started to realize that this might not have been the best idea for your sake. You had been able to keep your feelings at bay, but this weekend might change that. You push those thoughts out of your mind as Tyson pulls the car into your driveway. You panicked a bit when you saw all of the cars in the driveway. It had been your understanding that Jack was going to be the only of your brothers home tonight and everyone else would be over tomorrow. Tyson noticed your panic and grabbed your hand again.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom told me Jack and Carly were going to be here tonight, not everyone else…"

"Well that's okay, we'll get it over with."

"I know, I just wasn't prepared for this. I'm sorry, I'll stop freaking out."

Tyson chuckled, "don't apologize. But don't worry either, okay? We got this." He reassured you and kissed your forehead. You blushed at the act, you guys had cuddled before and obviously shared the same bed, but this felt different, and it just made you even more nervous.

You both got out and grabbed your bags before approaching the door. You didn't even have time to put your bag down when it burst open.

"Y/N!!! I've missed you so much!" Your mom exclaimed while giving you a tight hug.

"Hi, mom, I missed you too." Once she let go, she turned to Tyson and you introduced the two. "Mom, this is Tyson, Tys, this is mom, Kate."

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you!!!" Your mom exclaimed again, pulling Tyson in for a hug.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Y/L/N. I've heard so much about you."

"Oh, please, call me Kate." She said as she let go. "Well, come in! Everyone's dying to meet you!"

You glanced at Tyson and he winked in return. You followed your mom inside and you put your bags down and went into the living room where everyone was sitting. Tyson put his arm on the small of your back and you leaned into him as you walked into the room.

Your brothers all shot up and surrounded you in a hug, separating you and Tyson. You rolled your eyes but laughed and welcomed their embrace. Once they finally let you go, your dad stepped up and gave you a hug and kissed your cheek. "Hey, baby girl. It's nice to see you."

"It's good to see you too, dad, I've missed you." He gave you one more quick squeeze and let you go so you could introduce Tyson to everyone.

"Well, everyone, this is Tyson…" At this point your brother's partners had joined them. "…Tyson, this is my dad, Steve, Ben and Hailey, Charlie and Casey, and Jack and Carly."

Tyson shook all of their hands as you went down the line.

"It's nice to meet you all." Tyson said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, we're glad she's finally bringing someone home to us!" Your dad joked, causing you to roll your eyes.

"Okay, well, we're gonna bring our stuff upstairs. See you in a few." You said grabbing Tyson's hand and dragging him back into the hallway.

"No funny business!" Your brother Charlie called, laughing at himself. You heard Casey scold him and smiled to yourself.

You led Tyson to your old room, telling him you'll give him a tour once you put your bags down.

"That wasn't so bad…" He said as you plopped down on the bed.

"Yet…it's been 5 minutes."

Tyson chuckled and cupped your face with hands, "hey, what did I tell you? Stop worrying."

"I know, I know. I just can't help it."

"Come on, let's go. I'm ready for the grand tour." He said taking your hands and pulling you up. You sighed, but obliged and led him out of the room.

"….and this is the kitchen!" You said as you finished the tour. Your mom smiled at the two of you as you entered the room.

"Your home is very beautiful, Kate." Tyson said to your mom.

"Oh, you're too sweet…do you mind helping me finish up dinner, Y/n/N?"

"Sure. Tys do you want to help?" You asked, not really wanting to throw him to the wolves with your brothers in the next room.

"Yeah, I'll help. What do you need us to do?" He asked sweetly.

"Can you two finish putting the salad together? All of the stuff is on the counter over there."

You nodded and went to the sink to wash your hands and then you and Tyson started cutting up vegetables. You actually were having a lot of fun, Tyson was trying out some of his new jokes on your mom, which she loved. The whole scene felt very domestic, and of course you couldn't help but think about your feelings for him. You were brought back to reality when Tyson gave you a questioning look and mouthed "are you okay?" You forced a smile back and nodded and went back to cutting vegetables.

Once the three of you finished up, your mom called everyone into the dining room for dinner. Everyone took their seats and dug right in.

"This is delicious, mom." Jack complimented with his mouth full. Everyone chuckled and agreed, your mom blushing from the compliments.

"Well, I had good helpers." She said acknowledging you and Tyson. You both smiled and went back to eating.

You were starting to get nervous because your brothers hadn't really said much to Tyson. They had always been very overprotective and tried to scare off the guys you brought around and even though Tyson wasn't actually your boyfriend you were really nervous for what they might say. You knew better than to think that maybe they grew out of that stage, so it just made you more and more anxious for when it was going to come.

You caught Jack's gaze and he gave you a devilish grin. You gave him a warning look but he just shook his head. This was it. It was coming and there was nothing you could do to stop it. You looked at Tyson and he gave you a small smile and squeezed your thigh under the table.

"So, Tyson…" Charlie started "…hockey, huh?"

You shot a glare at your brother but he just smiled sweetly.

"Uh, yeah, I've played ever since I was young."

"How reliable is it to play professionally?" Ben asked this time.

"Ben…" Your mom scolded.

"It's okay, that's a fair question." Tyson defended. "I would say it's pretty secure, as long as I'm playing well and staying healthy."

"What happens if you get injured?" Jack asked.

"Well, if it's minor I'll get treatment until it's healed and then start playing again."

"And if it's not?"

"Well, I guess, I'd be done playing hockey."

"Okay, that's enough." You said glaring at all of your brothers.

"We just want to make sure you're in good hands, Y/n/N." Jack said sweetly.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself with my own salary, so Tyson's job security shouldn't be of concern." That shut them up for a little, but you knew they weren't done. Not with this dinner and certainly not for the rest of the weekend. Tyson squeezed your thigh again, that definitely being his way of telling you not to get too worked up.

Thankfully, your mom changed the subject to talk about plans for the weekend, but that didn't hold for very long.

"So, Tyson…" Jack started this time "…it must be pretty demanding being a professional athlete, do you even see Y/N that much?" You shot him another glare but he just kept smiling.

"Yeah, it can be, we live across the hall from each other so I pretty much see her whenever I'm home."

"Why does it matter to you how often we see each other?" You asked.

"We're just looking out for you, Y/n/N." Charlie defended.

"Well stop, you're just being rude."

"Alright, let's not fight at the table…" Your mom stated, trying to keep the peace. "Hailey, how are things at the hospital?"

You were thankful she changed the subject again, but you still weren't convinced it would put a total end to the grilling.

And you were right, a few minutes later, Jack spoke up again.

"Tyson, you must have a lot of girls after you, being a professional athlete and all."

You didn't even give Tyson the chance to defend himself before you lost it.

"Are you kidding me right now, Jack?! I cannot believe you would even ask that! Can you not be a dick for like one fucking weekend?!" And you stormed off up the stairs.

Tyson excused himself and followed after you. You sat on the bed, too mad to even cry, which you were thankful for. It was embarrassing enough that Tyson just had to sit through and witness what just happened.

"I'm so sorry, Tys." You apologized as he sat down next to you.

"No need to apologize, Y/n/N. It's not your fault your brother is a dick." You cracked a smile at his comment.

"I just didn't think he'd be like that. They've always been super overprotective, but that was just too much."

"It's really okay. Honestly, I can't say that I wouldn't have asked something similar to my sister's boyfriend. I get it. You're their baby sister, they just want what's best for you. I can take their crap, alright?"

"You're too good." You said with a huff, which made Tyson chuckle.

"Only for you, babe." He said and kissed your forehead. You both settled back on the bed and he tucked you into his side.

A little while later there was a knock on your door. You sat up a little bit and told them to come in. It was your mom.

"Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, I just wish Jack wasn't such an asshole."

"I know, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry Tyson that he was acting that way."

"It's okay, I understand, I have a younger sister."

"Well, I think he feels bad he upset you like that…"

"Good." You stated, causing your mom and Tyson to chuckle.

"Alright, well I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight, mom."

"Goodnight, Kate."

"I, um, don't usually freak out like that so, I'm sure it really made them feel bad…" You stated.

"Yeah, now I know to never piss you off."

You laughed at Tyson and cuddled back into his side. "That kind of freak out is reserved for my brothers. You probably won't ever be on the receiving end."

"Good to know." He said chuckling back. "You wanna watch New Girl?"

"Sure, I'm gonna go get changed first."

The rest of the night was spent watching Netflix, cuddled up in your bed. No apology from Jack but you didn't really expect one. He'll probably half ass one in the morning, and you'll forgive him, you always do.

~~~~~~

You were right. When you went downstairs for breakfast, it was just Jack in the kitchen. He looked over at you and held his arms out, signifying a hug. You looked at him and raised your eyebrows, awaiting those magic words.

"Come on, are you really going to make me say it?"

"Yes! You were so awful last night. You really owe an apology to Tyson…"

"Fine, I'm sorry, Y/n/N. I took it too far."

"Yes, you did. But I forgive you…as long as you cool it for the rest of the weekend!"

"I will, I promise."

"Thank you." You beamed and gave him a hug.

"Aww, how sweet!" Charlie cooed as he interrupted you and Jack.

"Hey, I think you and Ben also owe her an apology."

"No way, we didn't take it as far as you did." Charlie defended just as Ben walked in.

"Yeah, I agree, we were pretty mild." Ben agreed.

"Would it really be that bad to apologize to me?" You asked, fully knowing the answer.

"Yes." Ben and Charlie answered at the same time.

You rolled your eyes but went about your business.

"Where is lover boy anyway?" Charlie asked.

You shrugged, "still sleeping."

"Not out for an early morning run?" Jack teased, you rolled your eyes again.

"Stop!! You said you'd cool it!"

"Relax, I'm just teasing."

You rolled your eyes as you sat down at the table and your brothers joined around you.

"But seriously, Y/n/N. Are you happy?"

"Yes, Ben, I'm very happy. He's really good to me."

"Okay good, then we're happy. But as soon as he does something to hurt you…he's done for."

"I know, I know. Although…he is a professional athlete, are you sure you could take him?" You teased.

"Please, it's no contest." Charlie defended which made you laugh.

Just as he was about to throw a grape at you, Tyson walked in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Tys!" You called from the table. He came over and sat next to you and greeted your brothers. "Are you hungry? I can make you some eggs, or we have cereal, I could make pancakes?"

"How come you didn't offer to make any of us that stuff??" Jack whined. You just rolled your eyes and looked back at Tyson.

"I'll have some eggs, but I can help you." He said and the two of you got up and started cooking.

Everyone else ended up joining you in the kitchen so you ended up making breakfast for everyone else too, but you didn't mind. It was fun to hang out with everybody and you were glad that your brothers were done with third degree.

After breakfast you and Tyson went back upstairs to showered for the day. You wanted to show him around your hometown and have a chill day because the next two days were going to be filled with wedding stuff.

When you walked back into your room after your shower, Tyson was lying on the bed looking at his phone. You were just in a towel and while you and Tyson were pretty comfortable with each other, you expected him to go take his shower so you could change. He looked up at you and smirked when he saw your attire.

"You gonna give me a show?"

"Tyson!" You cried. "We're at my parents…and it's 10 in the morning."

"So you're saying you would though?"

"Seriously, that's what you took from that?"

Tyson smirked at you and moved to get off the bed. You watched him as he rummaged through his things and then started to move past you to go to the bathroom. Just as you thought you were safe, he slapped your ass and hurried out of the room. You gasped, though it wasn't very hard, you were not expecting that. You wanted to mad but you couldn't help but smile. If he wanted to play it like that this weekend, you were gonna give it right back.

You decided to only get half-dressed to start…you put on a sexy bra and super cheeky underwear. Once satisfied with your look, you laid down on the bed and waited for Tyson to come back. You didn’t have to wait long, a few minutes later you heard him opening the door.

"Hey, do you know if there is anymore-- whoa." You smirked at the thought of Tyson's face, you couldn't see because you were lying on your stomach so your ass was showing. What you didn't bargain for was for him to be so composed and not let it get to him. So just as you were about to turn around to see what he was doing, you felt a much harder slap to your ass.

"Ow, Tyson! What the hell!"

"Hey, you put your ass out here like that…I can't help it." He smirked and plopped down next to you.

"You're the worst." You grinned as you got up to finish getting dressed.

"You ready?" You asked a little while later after both of you had gotten dressed.

"Yes ma'am, let's get to it. Lots of history to see."

"History? I would hardly call this town historical."

"Yeah, your history." He said with a sweet smile. Your heart melted and you were really starting to wonder if you would make it through this weekend.

You started off by showing him the spot where everyone went to party, you didn't stay long because it was pretty cold, but he thought it was funny that a random spot in the woods was where you used to get drunk. "Hey, you do what you gotta do in a small town." You defended before moving on. You then took him by the high school, you couldn't really spend much time there either because kids were in school. Next you brought him 'downtown'. You walked around going into different little shops and boutiques. Then you brought him to your favorite place to eat for lunch.

The two of you talked a lot about high school and how different it was for both of you. You had never really talked much about your past during your friendship so it was nice to get to know each other a little better.

"So, tell me all about high school Y/N." He said once the two of you had ordered your food.

You sighed, "what do you want to know?"

"I don't know…were you popular? A jock? A nerd?"

"I mean…I guess I was popular…I played sports, I wouldn't identify as a nerd but I did do well in school…"

"Wait you played sports?"

"Yeah, soccer, hockey, and lacrosse."

"I'm sorry, what? You played hockey?? How come you never told me?"

"I don't know…I guess it never came up."

"We talk about hockey all the time…"

"Yeah, you playing hockey…professional hockey…not high school girls hockey. Besides, I really wasn't very good soo..."

"So what?! I can't believe you didn't tell me…I'm taking you skating as soon as we get back to Denver so you can show me your moves."

You shook your head, "nope. No way."

"Why not?!"

"Because I'm really not very good, and that's why I've never mentioned it because I knew that you would make me go skating with you."

"Oh come on, I seriously doubt you're that bad."

"Compared to you, yeah, I am."

Tyson rolled his eyes. "You are so ridiculous…so what else did you do in high school?"

"Well, I was in chorus…and don't ask me to sing for you because I will not be doing that."

"Come on, you're no fun." Tyson whined.

You laughed at him and shook your head, "yeah I guess I left all of it here."

"Anything else that I don't know about you that you want to share with me?? Crazy ex boyfriends?? Girlfriends??"

"I guess I should probably tell you…I do have an ex who will be going to the wedding…we dated for a few years but he was kinda shitty.."

"Shitty?"

You sighed, not really wanting to get into it but you knew that you should give him an explanation because you really didn't know what would happen this weekend. "It was a pretty unhealthy relationship…of course I didn't really know that at the time. It wasn't until I went off to college that I started realizing that something was wrong. I tried to end things while I was away but he wouldn't really let it happen so I tried again when I went back home for break and he, like, freaked out…and um, hit me, so I called my friend to come get me… I was able to get out of the relationship with some help but nothing ever really happened to him because I guess he was having drinking issues…"

"Wait, he hit you…and your family is still bringing him around?"

"Yeah...my uncle is really good friends with his dad so…"

"I'm so sorry, Y/n/N…are you gonna be okay this weekend?"

"It's okay.…it's been a few years now. I haven't really seen him much, I usually avoid the gatherings he goes to. I'm not really sure what will happen this weekend…"

"Well I won't leave your side the whole time. I'll protect you."

"Thanks, Tys. I'm actually so thankful you came with me this weekend."

"Of course. You do so much for me all the time…it's the least I could do."

Even though he meant that in the best way possible, and despite all of the flirty comments and advances, it just reinforced that he really was just here as your friend.

You spent the rest of lunch talking about random stuff. Tyson took his phone out and started taking a picture of you.

"Stop! What are you doing?" You said covering your face.

"Put your hands down!! This is great lighting. Smile, look cute."

You relented and let him take your picture. "You better not put that anywhere."

Tyson smirked, "too late."

"Tyson! I’m gonna kill you." You checked your phone and sure enough he tagged you in his Instagram story.

"It's fine, you look really pretty!"

"Okay, but you have so many followers! They're going to think we're dating."

"We are...aren't we?"

You rolled your eyes and focused back on your food.

"I can take it down if you really want me to, but that might look extra sus."

"No, it's fine. I just will kill you if you do it again."

There wasn't really much else to show him so after you finished you headed back to your parent's house.

Your parents were the only ones home so you greeted them and headed up to your room. Tyson went to the bathroom so you took the opportunity to change into some comfy clothes and put on Netflix. You didn't acknowledge him when he walked back into your room but he had the same idea you did, he stripped down and put on some sweats before lying next to you in bed. Normally you would snuggle up next to him but you decided you needed to start distancing yourself a bit otherwise you were going to end up getting hurt.

You ended up falling asleep and woke up an hour later and woke up with your head on Tyson's shoulder. Figures, you knew that would happen. You turned your head and noticed that he was asleep too and he had wrapped his arm around your waist. You sighed as you grabbed your phone from your nightstand and settled back into bed, not wanting to wake him up.

You opened Instagram and were met with hundreds of notifications. Luckily, you were private, but you had a ton of follower requests. Thanks, Tyson. You scrolled through them, most of them being random girls, a few cute guys that you took the chance and let them follow you. There were a few people with the little blue check mark, mostly other guys in the NHL, but one in particular caught your eye. Mat Barzal. You knew that Tyson was friends with him, and you'd be lying if you denied thinking he was attractive. You had always had a little crush on him, so you accepted his request and kept scrolling through. A few minutes later, you received a DM from Mat. Your heart started racing as you went to open it.

Tyson didn't tell me his neighbor friend was so cute ;)

Okay, now you were freaking out, you did not expect that. Obviously Tyson had told him that he was going to a wedding with you. But it was also more proof that Tyson thought of you as just a friend. I mean, he would have told Mat that he liked you, right? You were interrupted from your thoughts by Tyson shifting next to you.

"Who's that?" He asked groggily.

"Um, no one." You said quickly exiting out of Instagram.

"Obviously not." He said grabbing your phone from your hand and getting out of bed.

"Tyson! Give me my phone back."

"I just want to see who's DMing you." You tried grabbing it from his hands but he held you back with one arm. "Mat?" He asked, growing serious.

"You're the one who posted the story…I'm getting lots of requests from guys in the NHL."

"But Mat?"

"You're acting as if I have any control over this."

"You know he's my friend right?"

"Tyson, he messaged me, I don't know what you want me to do."

"Are you gonna respond?"

"I don't know, I don't really know what to say back to that."

"Do you want to?"

"Well I don't want to be rude, but if it's going to bother you I guess I won't."

"No, I'm sorry, you can respond. I guess it just caught me off guard." He said giving you your phone and leaving the room.

You huffed and sat down on the bed. You were so confused. Why would Tyson react like that if he just liked you as a friend? This weekend was really messing with your head and you were kind of regretting bringing him with you. You had already accepted that you should get over your feelings for him, but now you were worried that it was going to mess with your friendship.

You contemplated what to say back to Mat. You didn't want to upset Tyson but you also didn't want to leave him on read, it might be kind of awkward if you guys ever met in person.

Tyson came back a few minutes later and seemed to be in a little bit of a better mood.

"Did you respond?" He asked, sitting down next to you.

"Not yet, I don't know what to say…any ideas?"

"You wanna mess with him a bit?" He asked with a smirk.

"I don't know, Tys, I don't know him."

"But I do…he'll think it's funny."

You sighed and handed him your phone, "fine."

Tyson took it happily and started typing away.

"What are you saying?" You asked, trying to look over his shoulder. He moved the phone so you could see it.

You know Tyson?

You looked at Tyson quizzically, "where are you going  with this?"

"I'm gonna make it seem like you don't know who he is."

"Tys, that's just mean."

"Relax, it'll be fine."

You only had to wait a few minutes before he replied again.

Wait, Tys hasn't mentioned me?

Tyson started laughing when he read it and you just rolled your eyes, wishing you had never agreed to this.

No…sorry :( Tyson cackled as he sent back,

"It’s not as funny as you think it is, you know."

"Oh, it's hilarious."

Damn, well then I guess I'm gonna have to get you to fall for me all by myself

You laughed as you watched Tyson react to the response.

"Guess that didn't work as well as you thought it would." You teased, grabbing your phone.

"Wait, let me say one more thing!!"

"No, you've done enough. I'm telling him it was a joke."

"You are absolutely no fun." Tyson whined.

You shrugged, "sorry!"

Hey, I’m so sorry, Tyson saw that you DM'd me and thought that it would be funny to mess with you…

I know who you are haha

Of course he did…what a relief though, you are very pretty I would love to meet you sometime :)

I'm sure we could make that happen…as long as Tyson doesn't get in the way.

"What are you saying?" Tyson asked when he saw you grinning at your phone like a teenager.

"Why must you know everything?"

"Because you're both my friends…"

"Fine." You said and showed him what you said. "Looks like you have to introduce us."

Tyson rolled his eyes, "we'll see."

You chose to just ignore him because you didn't want to argue anymore.

"We should probably go socialize…" You said sighing and getting up.

Tyson let out a sigh too and rummaged through his things to find a shirt to put on. Once he put one on the two of you headed downstairs.

Your mom, Casey, and Carly were in the kitchen getting started on dinner. You asked if they needed help but they said no so you went into the living room where your dad, Jack, and Charlie were all watching TV. You took the open loveseat and Tyson put his arm around you and you cuddled into his side. Although things were a little weird between the two of you, you had to keep appearances up. There wasn't much talking going on, although you were glad that your brothers were being pleasant with Tyson.

Tyson was focused on the TV while you were scrolling through Twitter. You hadn't even noticed that Tyson was now looking at your phone with you until he squeezed your shoulder and laughed at the tweet you just liked. You relaxed a little bit more in his arms, glad that things were becoming more comfortable again.

Dinner was much better than it was the night before. Everyone was laughing and making jokes, no one was grilling Tyson…

You helped your mom clean up while everyone else went into the living room to set up for a game of charades.

"So, how are you?" Your mom asked.

"Um, I'm good…why?"

"What? I can't ask how you are?"

"Well, you can, it just seemed a little out of the blue."

"I haven't really had any time alone with you…"

"I know, I'm sorry. I just worry about leaving Tyson alone with them…"

"How come you never told me about him?"

"I told you mom, I didn't know if things were serious or not, and we wanted to keep it kind of private, hockey fans can be crazy."

"I know, but I'm your mother. I want you to feel like you can tell me things like that."

"I do mom, I really do. I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier."

"Things are good with you two?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Things seemed a little tense tonight…"

"We just had a little disagreement earlier, but it's all good."

"Okay...he seems like a really great guy, Y/n/N, and the way he looks at you…it reminds me of how my father looked at my mother…he's really in love with you sweetie. I hope this works out for you two."

You smiled sweetly at your mom and gave her a hug, even though that was the last thing you wanted to hear right now. At this point, you had stopped getting your hopes at little signs because they never ended up meaning anything.  

Once you were finished cleaning up, you and your mom joined everyone else in the living room. You sat down next to Tyson and he put his arm around and kissed the side of your head. You were not looking forward to this game, your family was very competitive, and although you knew Tyson was too, it could get out of hand pretty quickly.

You were split into two teams, thankfully you were with Tyson, Charlie, Casey, and your dad. Jack and Ben are the worst to have on your team because they are the most competitive and they get super pissed when you're not performing well. Your dad and Charlie were also really good at charades so you'd probably win.

It actually ended up being a lot of fun. Thankfully, Jack and Ben didn't get too worked up and of course everyone was drinking so everyone was laughing and having a good time. Your parents called it quits when Ben and Hailey left to go back to their house. The rest of you stayed up and talked for a while before everyone slowly tucked in for the night.

When you and Tyson finally laid down you were exhausted.

"Well tonight went much better than last…" Tyson said, pulling you closer to him.

"Yes...thankfully. I was a little nervous, Jack and Ben can be a little crazy when it comes to games."

Tyson chuckled, "you're one to talk…"

You scoffed, "hey! I am not that competitive."

"Um, I have a monopoly board that would say differently."

"Oh my god, okay, I was really drunk…I don't usually get like that."

"Whatever you say…"

You shook your head and reached over to turn the lamp off.

"Do we have to be up early tomorrow?" Tyson asked.

"No, I don't think so. I think we have to be at the church by 3."

"Perfect, I want to sleep in, I'm exhausted."

"I know, me too."

"Are you gonna sleep in?" He asked, wrapping his arm around your waist.

"I'm gonna try…why?"

"It was hard to keep sleeping once you got up…"

"You want me to stay in bed until you get up?"

"Pretty please?" He asked, sticking his lip out.

You shook your head and chuckled, "yes, I can do that, but not if it's super late!!"

"Okay, deal. Night, Y/n/N."

"Goodnight, Tys."

The next morning you were kicking yourself for the deal you made. You were so tangled up in Tyson it was going to be impossible to even move. You tried to carefully grab your phone so you could see what time it was. 9 am. You relaxed and began checking all of your social media. You were careful to avoid your DMs, you didn't want him to wake up and see anything that would upset him. Although you still wanted to know why he actually cared so much about Mat messaging you.

A little while the arm around your waist tightened and Tyson's head poked up.

"So much better when you're in bed with me." He said groggily. "…just wish we were naked."

"Tyson!" You said shooting up to a sitting position. You looked over at his smug little face. "You are such an asshole."

"You love me." He shrugged, putting an arm around you.

You rolled your eyes, "you disgust me."

You laid there quietly for a few minutes before Tyson spoke up again, "you ready for today?"

"Pretty sure that should be a question for the bride…"

“`Yes but the whole reason I’m here this weekend is to help you get through it.” “Okay, yeah...I’m sure it’ll be fine. Seeing you with me should shut everyone up.”

A smug grin appeared on Tyson’s face, “I can’t argue with you there…”

You shook your head and laughed before growing serious again. “I just am a little nervous about seeing Jake...I don’t know if he’s still drinking and I’m worried he’s going to cause a scene.”

“Well if he does than fuck that. It won’t be your fault either so don’t feel bad if he does.” “I know, it’s just, everyone has always pitied him and let things slide because he’s an alcoholic. I just don’t think my family will see it as his fault...they’ll blame it on me for bringing some new guy around even though that’s all they talk about. I just can’t win with them.”

“Okay, well let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here. Hopefully everything will be fine and we won’t have to worry about it. If it does, we’ll deal with it then, okay? Just try and relax and have fun. Weddings are supposed to be fun.”

“I know...thanks, Tys. I know I keep saying this but I really do appreciate you being here with me.”

“And I will keep telling you that it’s no big deal, sweets.” You smiled as he kissed your forehead. You were quiet for a few moments before he spoke up again. “So...have you heard from Mat at all?”

“Not since last night…” You said softly while Tyson just nodded. “Why?” Tyson shrugged, “just wondering.” You gave him a pointed look. “What? I am!”

“How come you seemed so upset about it last night?” “I didn’t mean to seem upset, I just, I don’t know, it caught me off guard. But I know you think he’s attractive so go for it I guess.” He said enthusiastically.

“Okay, well I don’t care what you say, it clearly bothers you in some way, so I’m not going to talk to him.”

Tyson rolled his eyes but didn’t argue so you figured that meant there was some truth in your statement.

You laid in bed for about another hour talking about random stuff before you got up to shower and start getting ready.

“Alright,” you started as you untangle yourself from Tyson, “I’m gonna get in the shower.” “Wanna save some water and shower together?” He asked with a cheeky grin, grabbing your wrist to keep you in place.

“Absolutely not.” You said as you shrugged his hand off of yours and walked out of the room.

Tyson looked up when you walked back into your room. He opened his mouth but you cut him off before he could even say anything.

“Whatever you’re about to say, the answer is no. Go get in the shower.”

Tyson pouted, but did as he was told, not before grabbing your ass on the way out with a little giggle. You rolled your eyes and went about getting ready.

You couldn’t help but glance over at Tyson as he strolled back through the door a few minutes later. The towel he had wrapped around his waist was starting to fall off of his hips and you had a clear picture of his V line. You hadn’t really noticed that you were staring until you heard Tyson start talking to you.

“Like what you see?”

You blushed and rolled your eyes turning back towards the mirror to finish your makeup.

Once you were finally done with your makeup, Tyson had stepped out of the room so you took the opportunity to put your dress on. You slipped it on and tried your best to zip it up but you couldn’t quite reach. When you heard the door open again you turned to ask Tyson for help.

“Hey Tys can you help me-” You stopped when you saw him staring at you. “Is everything okay? Is there something wrong with my dress?” You asked, starting to panic a bit.

“No, no, not at all. I, um, you just look really beautiful.”

You visibly relaxed and smiled at him. “Thanks, Tys. Could you help me zip up though?” He nodded and stepped towards you and turned back around so he could help you. You could feel Tyson’s breath on the back of your neck. Once he zipped you up you turned around slowly, Tyson not moving a muscle. You looked up at him, his face just inches from yours. He cupped your chin in his hand and he brought your face to his and kissed you softly. You closed your eyes and welcomed his lips on yours.

Tyson pulled away after a few moments and turned away. “Shit, I’m sorry, I…” He trailed off and sat on the bed.

You grew sad at his reaction. Although he initiated the kiss it seems like he also regrets it.

“It’s okay...I, um, I’m gonna go downstairs.” You said and quickly left the room. You ducked into the bathroom and leaned against the counter willing yourself not to cry so you wouldn’t ruin your makeup. You took a few deep breaths to compose yourself and you made your way to the door. Just as you were about to turn the knob there was a knock.

“Y/n/N? Can I come in?” It was Tyson. The tears that you just suppressed were quickly coming back. You opened the door and retreated back to the counter.

“Jesus, are you crying?” You covered your face with your hands because the tears were now rolling. “Please don’t cry Y/N. I didn’t mean to upset you, jesus…” he trailed off as he placed his hands on your shoulders. “Please stop crying...I don’t know why I did that…” “It’s fine, Tys, you got caught up in the moment, it’s fine.” “What? No, not the kiss...the kiss was amazing...I totally meant to do that. I don’t know why I pulled away like that. I guess I just thought maybe that’s not what you wanted and I thought I messed everything up. I guess I did that anyway…” You didn’t say anything and you didn’t move for a few moments. “Will you look at me please?” He asked, softly guiding your chin up to look at him. “I’m sorry, Y/n/N. Please don’t be upset.” “You’re wrong you know…” He gave you a puzzled look but you just kept going. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me so badly...for so long. I just thought maybe you regretted it and that’s why you pulled away…”

“Not at all, babe...not at all.” He said, moving in, grabbing the sides of your face and kissing you tenderly.

This time when he pulled away his hands stayed where they were and he wiped away the remaining tears with his thumbs. “God you are so gorgeous.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Tyson, I’m crying and my makeup is everywhere.”

“That’s what makes you so beautiful.”

You shook your head and smiled at him, taking his hands in yours and bringing them to your sides.

“Come on, let’s go get you fixed up.” He said, leading you back to your room.

It didn’t take you too long to fix your makeup, and before you knew it you heard your mom yell up the stairs telling you guys to hurry up. You grabbed your shoes and sat on the bed next to Tyson to put them on. You started to open the door to leave and Tyson took your hand to stop you.

“Tys, we need to go what ar-” He stopped you with another kiss that you melted into.

“I know, I’m sorry, I just can’t get enough of your lips right now…”

You chuckled and rolled your eyes, “if we go now you can explore all of my lips later…”

Tyson’s eyes widened and he hurried both of you downstairs where the rest of your family was waiting.

~~~~~~

It was a beautiful day, although still pretty cold, the sun was shining and the snow was shimmering. The church looked gorgeous, they had decorated it with tons and tons of flowers, it looked like a garden and it was beautiful.

You held onto Tyson's arm as you followed the rest of your family to sit down. You got there on the earlier side, so there weren't too many people there yet. You found yourself looking back at the doors quite often, waiting for Jake to arrive. Tyson noticed, because you really weren't being very discrete about it, so he took your hand in his and squeezed it gently. You looked at him and smiled. You were so happy and relieved that you two finally shared how you felt and that you could finally be together. You wanted to believe that nothing would ruin such a beautiful day, but if anyone could, it would be Jake.

You were successfully distracted from the door by your brother's ridiculous argument over which of your cousins was going to get the most shitfaced. By the end of it you had placed $20 on who you thought I'd be.

When the ceremony was about to start, you looked to your left and your breath hitched. You grabbed Tyson's hand and looked at you before following your gaze across the room to where Jake was. He looked back and gave you a reassuring smile and kissed the side of your head. Thankfully, the music started to play and your focus was on the wedding party walking in.

The ceremony was beautiful, their vows were adorable, and all of the speakers and passages were very fitting. It wasn't too long either, which was also nice, you couldn't sit still for very long so you liked when things were quick.

Because of all of the people leaving the church, you avoided an encounter with Jake which you were glad about but you knew it was going to happen so the dread just set in. You were able to keep pretty busy throughout the night. Introducing Tyson to everyone and catching up with family you hadn't seen in a while. Tyson stayed by your side pretty much the whole night which was super comforting. You were nervous for him to leave you because you had caught Jake staring at you a few times, and you knew as soon as you were alone he was going to come up to you.

It didn't happen for a little while longer, which you didn't know if it was better or worse because you now had multiple vodka sodas in you. You had been sitting at the table with Tyson, taking a break from the dance floor, when your dad and uncles had come up to you and asked to steal Tyson. You tried to object but your uncles were insistent on spending a little time with him. You rolled your eyes and sat back, trying to push the anxious thoughts away. But that wasn't happening when you saw him approaching you. You tried to stand up but he grabbed your arm before you could take a step.

"Y/N, please. Just let me talk to you."

You sighed and sat down, making a point to shrug your arm out of his grip.

"So, who's the guy?"

"Tyson, my boyfriend." He scoffed at your reply. "What?" You asked.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised is all."

"Why?"

"Word on the street is, he's a professional athlete."

"So?"

"So, it's probably not going to last long. I wouldn’t say that you’re really his type."

"You don't know anything about me, Jake. We haven't talked in years. And I would really like to keep it that way, so please, leave me alone."

"Oh, come on, Y/n/N. Don't be like that. I wasn't that bad, you blew things way out of proportion."

"Did I? Because I'm pretty sure if your dad wasn't as good of friends with my uncle that you would have been in jail, not rehab. You're lucky you got off as well as you did. Me? I didn't get off that easy. You really fucked me up. I couldn't get near a guy for a year because of you. You were abusive. You were an asshole. And I wish that I hadn't wasted so many years of my life with you." You weren't really sure where you got the nerve to say all that, because as soon as it came out of your mouth you were scared of how he was going to react. He opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, you heard a voice behind you.

"I believe the lady has spoken, you can go now."

To your surprise, he walked right away. It was probably Tyson towering over him that scared him off.

"Well, I was feeling badly that I left you out in the open but it appears my girlfriend is a total badass and was fine on her own…" He commented, wrapping his arms around you and placing his chin on top of your head.

"Yeah, well I'm surprised too. I have no idea why I thought that would be a good idea. I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't come over."

"Well, hopefully we never have to find out…are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. It felt good to get that out."

"Good, fuck that guy."

"Yeah, fuck that guy." You said agreeing with him as you let go. "I need another drink…a stiff one."

"Anything for you, my love."

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, however you downed a few more drinks and were very drunk. Tyson helped you to the car and then up to your room once you got home.

You stripped out of your dress and pounced on Tyson.

"Whoa, easy there killer." He said catching you and placing you gently on the bed.

You kissed for a few minutes before he climbed off of you. "Alright, bedtime."

"What?! Tyson…" you whined. "I've been waiting so long for this."

“Oh have you?!” He asked, quirking his eyebrows.

“Yes, now pleeeeeease.” She whined.

“You’re too drunk, and besides it’s a little weird with your parents down the hall.”

"Ugh, fiiiine." You pouted, taking your bra off and getting comfy in the bed.

"Can you put a shirt on?"

"Oh my god, Tyson, what is wrong with you?"

"I don't know if I can control myself laying with you naked all night. Just please." He said, throwing you one of his shirts.

You sighed and put his shirt over your head. He climbed into bed next to you and wrapped his arms around you.

"I'm so glad you came with me this weekend, Tys."

"Me too, I don't think I could have lasted much longer just as your neighbor."

"Yeah, it was starting to really get to me…"

"What do you mean?"

"I just was thinking that I was going to have to distance myself because I couldn't suppress my feelings anymore…"

"Well, then I'm definitely glad we had this weekend, I would have been really sad if you did that."

"I don't know if I could live with myself if I made you sad…not to mention I'd have Landy on my ass."

"He's been texting me all weekend."

"Really? Why?"

"Updates on if we're together or not."

"Did you tell him?"

"Nah, I want to mess with him a bit."

You chuckled and rolled your eyes, "what are you gonna do?"

"I'm just going to tell him that we had an awful weekend, we got into a huge fight and we're not even friends anymore."

"You're awful."    

"But when I finally tell him that we are together now, he'll be so happy he won't even care."

"Okay, just leave me out of it!"

"Oh you're in it now. We're partners for life."

"For life?"

"I hope so."

"Me too." You said with a small smile. You turned so you were now facing him. "Goodnight, Tys." You said softly, giving him a kiss before snuggling into his chest.

"Goodnight, Y/n/N."

~~~~~~~

The next day you had a big brunch with your family before everyone went their separate ways again. Now that you and Tyson were actually together you were so much more relaxed. Despite the hangovers, everyone was laughing and joking around. You were actually a little sad that you were leaving. But, you were excited to get out of your parent's house and spend some alone time with Tyson.

After what seemed like a never ending goodbye, you and Tyson were finally on the road back to Denver. The car ride was much more pleasurable. Again, you were more relaxed, the weekend was behind you, and you frankly couldn't wait to get back.

When you pulled into the garage, you grabbed all of your bags and headed upstairs. You parted ways so you could put your bags down. A few minutes later, Tyson strolled through your front door. You were grabbing a glass of water in the kitchen, so you got one for him too and then you went back to your room so you could unpack and start some laundry.

"Do you want to bring your laundry over here?" You asked him as you gathered your dirty clothes.

"It's alright, I can do it later."

"I don't mind, Tys. I'm doing it anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, go get it."

Tyson gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and walked off to go get his laundry.

Once you had a load going the two of you went and sat on the couch. You started off just talking but then ended up making out a bit. Tyson was now lying on top of you and things were starting to get heated when his phone rang. "Shit," he muttered as he rummaged around trying to find it on the couch. "It's Landy, I have to answer, I told him to call me."

You rolled your eyes but sat up next to him as he settled back.

"Hey, man." He greeted solemnly. You mouthed for him to put it on speaker.

"Hey, are you home? What happened?"

"Yeah, I'm home…um, things didn't go so well."

"Oh no...what happened?"

"Well, things with her family weren't good to start with. Then the first night we got into a fight about her brothers, and then we got into another argument the next day and I almost just left…I ended up staying but I don't think we're really even friends anymore…"

"WHAT?! Why wouldn't you be friends anymore? What did you do???"

You had to suppress your laughter at Tyson's face when Gabe insinuated it was something he did and not you.

"Why would you think it was something I did?!" Tyson asked, obviously very offended.

"It's Y/N…she just doesn't do anything wrong."

"Okay, well, I don't know. We need a break from each other."

"What the hell, Tyson? Did you even tell her how you feel?"

"I was going to, but I figured telling her after we just had a screaming match wouldn't be the best idea."

"You screamed at each other??? Jesus, what did you fight about?"

"Mat Barzal."

"What?!"

"Yeah he DM'd her on Instagram and it pissed me off."

"Seriously? You screamed at her?! That's not even her fault, man."

"I know, I shouldn't have gotten upset with her, but I did, and now we're just giving each other some space."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Go over to her place right now and make things right."

"I can't, man."

"You can, and you will."

"No, I really can't."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm already over here."

"What?"

"I'm just messing with you, Landy. We're dating now."

"Are you kidding me?! Y/N are you there? Were you in on this??"

"I wanted no part in it!!!"

"Ugh, Tyson, I want to be so mad at you right now, but I'm too happy for you!! It's about time, though. We were going to give you guys like another week, tops, before we took matters into our own hands."

You and Tyson both laughed, "who is we?!" You asked.

"Me, Mel, basically the whole team…"

"Well I'm glad we have lots of supporters." You commented as Tyson pursed his lips.

"NO one will be butting into this relationship…I'm serious Landy."

"I'm sorry that's not the way it works, Josty." Tyson rolled his eyes but you just giggled. "Anyway, I'm glad you two love birds finally figured it out. Have a good rest of your day and use protection!!!"

Tyson rolled his eyes again and hung up on Landy. "We're turning our phones off and spending the rest of the day in the bedroom." He commanded as he put his phone down on the coffee table. He looked at you signifying for you to do the same and you obeyed then followed him into your bedroom.

[pokecommunityevents]

Welcome!

My name is Blue and I run this event blog! It’s that spooky time of year again and you know what that means? That’s right, Another event for the Pokémon community!

This year I’m hosting a haunted house and pumpkin patch event~ Unfortunately this month is always super full for me so I will not be having Shelly host :c I do, however, plan to try to bring a different blog of mine in if possible!

Now without further wait, here are the details~

Above is the layout of this event!

First off we have the ever so famous HAUNTED MANSION, test your courage by entering this ghost infested building

No Halloween event is complete without a pumpkin patch! Choose the best pumpkin and take it to the carving station!

Play games to win candy! We have plenty of fun activities to try out~ from pumpkin slingshot to apple bobbing! There are many more games than listed so the limit is your imagination

My favorite part, the corn maze, is something I don’t recommend small children to go alone. With how intricate it is, there’s a good chance you’ll get lost!

When it’s time for a break, take a hayride to the food stalls and grab some treats! They carry anything from candy apples to hamburgers and fries.

After a long day, why not grab a hot pumpkin spice latte or apple cider and gather by the bonfire on blankets and pillows laid out for you to enjoy.

On these blankets we’ve set out, make sure you turn your gaze towards the heavens to admire the beautiful autumn stars~ there is to be a full moon this Halloween so don’t miss that!

Now for the rules and dates!

The event begins immediately. (Apologies for being a few days late but I’ll extend the event to make up for it)

Dates:

Oct 3rd-10th: Arrivals. During this time everyone should be showing up HOWEVER YOU MAY COME AND GO WHENEVER YOU PLEASE!

Oct 11th-20th: Enjoy all the event has to offer!

Oct 21st-30th: Some contest will be held such as costume and pumpkin carving, if you’ll want to participate there will be prizes!

Oct 31st: Halloween! More information to come!

Nov 1st-5th: Wrap up. During this time the event will come to a close so say your goodbyes and rest before the winter event!

Rules:

Same with every year, please only Pokémon blogs written or drawn, all are welcome!

This is your time to interact with others so be kind and respectful!

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask me!

You do not have to wear a costume but it’s highly recommend, especially if you want to take part in the contest!

Make sure to tag every post with #pokehalloween2020 so I can reblog your posts!

Reblog THIS POST if you plan to attend! That way others know who to send asks to!

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY SHUNS AUDITIONS

July 21, 1950

[In the below article, reprinted verbatim, Johnson writes using a lot of imagery and insider jargon.  This sort of article was common in trade papers like Variety, but seems odd in a daily newspaper.]

Hollywood—(NEA) Lucille Ball slipped me the lowdown on her failure to pin to the canvas the dumb chick role in “Born Yesterday” and make it holler uncle. (1)

She’s got a touch of Francis the mule in her when it comes to auditions. (2)

Instead of scrimmaging for the role with Evelyn Keyes, Judy Holliday, Marie Wilson, Shelly Winters and Jan Sterling, (3) Lucille went bolting the other way. 

The “let’s-see-if-you’re-it” boys pleaded and cajoled. 

But Miss Anti-Auditions wasn’t having any of the competition, thank you. 

“I figure if they want you, they want you,” Lucille plainspoke it. If you’ve got to read and test for it, to heck with it.’

She isn’t chronicled in Hollywood history, but once, badgered by her RKO bosses, Lucille went tripping over to David O. Selznick’s office for a whack at the Scarlett O’Hara role in “Gone With the Wind.” 

That’s what curdled her in the first place. 

“It was awful,’’ Lucille shudders. I was shaking all over when I hit Selznick’s office. My knees gave way. I did the whole audition in scrubwoman position. Selznick laughs and says thanks a lot. (4)

Judy Holliday landed the junkman’s doll role and Lucille grabbed a railroad ticket for a personal appearance tour with hubby Desi Arnaz. She strutted to Latin rhythms, swung a glittering purse in a manner dear to runaway girls and wisecracked for the customers. (5)

MIMICS OSCAR WINNER 

At the last moment she nixed a dancing and singing routine. The star with the forest-fire hair shrugged: 

“I decided it would be silly to compete with Grable.” (6)

A lot of movie queens laid in fresh supplies of smelling salts, ice beanies and copies of “Release From Nervous Tension” when word got around that Lucille was about to whoop it up on the six-a-day circuit. (7)

She’s a blister-raiser from way back and the air was shrill with ouches about a year ago when she whipped up an impression of an Academy Award winner. 

But the girls can go back to worrying about other things—like shrinking from larger-than-life to television screen size. 

Lucille didn’t let any “furriners” see the routine. 

“It's for Hollywood only," she said. “I should take radio-active material on the road?” 

Her Oscar-grabber routine is strictly for unreal anyhow, she says. and no blood relation to Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Ingrid Bergman or any other Screen Duse. (8) She insisted:

“She's any movie star, even me. This character has to go up on that stage and act surprised. She’s only been rehearsing what she's going say flor eight weeks. So she says, ‘Ye gads, me?  But I’m so unprepared. Really, I didn’t dream...” Lucille is generally is as unflinching about the movie queen business as Pearl White was about onrushing trains. (9)

But her knees executed some wobbles that aren’t in Arthur Murray’s rhumba dance book when she checked into her first vaudeville dressing room. (10)

“Those stages—they’re so big.” she gasped. “Hey, I’d hate to get caught in the middle of one of those stages without bread and water.” 

Lucille didn’t take any chances with out-of-town press interviews, either. “I once did a personal appearance tour with Maureen O'Hara and had to show up at a press party,” she grinned. (11)

My sinus - I just die from it - was acting up. The reporter next to me didn’t understand my puffed eyes and cold sores. He called Maureen a lady in his story. But he referred to me as a whisky tenor with red-runny eyes.” 

Lucille’s brain cells work on direct current and she’s not one to make with the figure eights when a straight glide to home base would get her there quicker. 

They still laugh about her exit line to Louis B. Mayer. (12) Mayer always referred to her as a thoroughbred and sometimes compared her to his famous horses. "Yes, and like your other nags, I'm leaving your stable," Lucille said when she decided to bow out of her contract. 

She has high hopes for her new picture “The Fuller Brush Man.” Not that she enjoyed it: (13)

“Honey, this ones that I don t enjoy turn out be the best ones.  This one put me in the hospital. My feet are still bandaged up. I’m a mess. No more physical-type pictures for me.”

#   #   #    FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) The 1946 Broadway hit comedy Born Yesterday by Garsin Kanin was bought by Columbia Pictures. Things got complicated when its stage star, Judy Holliday, swore she would not do the film version. Columbia used this as fuel for publicity about who would win the role.  Naturally, Lucille Ball was considered a top contender.  As the article states, she was not eager, however, to prove her worth to the ‘let’s-see-if-you’re-it’ boys (aka producers).  There was talk of Lucille performing the play in London, or summer stock, but her film contracts would not allow her time off for a stage run. 

(2) Mules are supposedly notoriously stubborn animals - just like Lucy. Francis the Talking Mule was the star of seven popular Universal-International film comedies. The character originated in the 1946 novel Francis by David Stern III, adapting his own script for the first entry, simply titled Francis.  On “I Love Lucy” Fred Mertz sometimes called Ethel “Francis” to indicate she was being stubborn about something. 

(3) These were some of the Hollywood stars looking to play the part of Billie Dawn in the film Born Yesterday. Evelyn Keyes (1916 – 2008) was best known for playing Sue Ellen, Scarlett O’Hara’s kid sister, in Gone With The Wind (1939).  Judy Holliday (1921-65), changed her mind about playing the role she originated on Broadway, but by then the casting net was cast, and she was just another performer on the short list. She eventually got the role, which defined her career. Marie Wilson (1916-72) was a zany comedic actress in the style of Gracie Burns. She was widely known as the star of radio and TV’s “My Friend Irma”. Shelley Winters (1920-2006) would be nominated for an Oscar the year after this article. She was adept at playing drama and comedy, and had a long-lasting career in Hollywood.  She appeared on “Here’s Lucy” in 1968; Critics raved about her Jan Sterling’s portrayal of Billie Dawn in the Chicago touring company of Born Yesterday and Columbia brought her out to the West Coast to test for the film. At one point, she was actually announced to play the part but the role ultimately went to Holliday.

(4) Lucille Ball did indeed read (not screen test) for the role of Scarlet O’Hara, just like nearly all of the women in Hollywood in 1938. Ball told the story several times on television, each time with varying details, but probably most completely on “Bob Hope’s Unrehearsed Antics of The Stars” (1984).

(5) This is a vivid description of the “Cuban Pete / Sally Sweet” portion of Lucy and Desi’s nightclub act to convince sponsors to buy them as a couple. 

(6) Betty Grable (1916-73) was considered one of the most famous pin-up girls in history. In addition to her million dollar gams (legs), she could sing, dance, and act, too. She guest starred with her then-husband Harry James on “Lucy Wins A Racehorse”, an installment of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” aired on February 3, 1958.

(7) “Release from Nervous Tension” was an actual best-selling book by Dr. David Harold Fink, published in 1950. Vaudeville and Burlesque shows were often known as the ‘six-a-day circuit’ because sometimes there would be as many as six performances of the same act in a day.  Naturally, this did not apply to Lucy and Desi, who were big film and radio stars at the time. 

(8)  These were some of Hollywood’s top-line dramatic actors. Bette Davis (1908-89) had won two Oscars, and was nominated for several others during her long career. She was supposed to guest-star on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in “The Celebrity Next Door” in 1957 but dropped out after a horse-riding accident, leaving the role to Tallulah Bankhead; Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020) had also won two Oscars, the second the year this article was published. She was best remembered for playing Melanie Wilkes in Gone With The Wind (1939); Ingrid Bergman (1915-82) was a Swedish-born actress, who, by career’s end, had scored three Academy Awards.  When Johnson talks about “any other screen Duse” he is referring to Eleonor Duse (1858-1924), an Italian-born stage actress known for her grand, dramatic style.  

(9) Pearl White (1889-1938) was best known as the silent film actress who was tied to the railroad tracks in “The Perils of Pauline” (1914).  

(10) Arthur Murray (1895-1991) was a ballroom dancer and businessman best known for the chain of dancing schools that bear his name. Murray was often a punchline on “I Love Lucy,” especially when the subject of dancing came up. The Rhumba was a Latin dance that took America by storm in the late 1940s and 1950. Desi Arnaz often called his orchestra a ‘rhumba band.’ 

(11) Maureen O’Hara (1920-2015) and Lucille Ball had starred in Dance, Girl, Dance in 1940. As a result, the two went on a promotional tour that took them to several US cities, including the nation’s capitol. 

(12) Louis B. Meyer (1884-1957), along with Samuel Goldwyn and Marcus Loew of Metro Pictures, had formed a new motion picture company called Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1918. Over the next 25 years, MGM was "the Tiffany of the studios," producing more films and movie stars than any other studio in the world. Mayer became the highest-paid man in America, and one of the country's most successful horse breeders. Both he and MGM reached their peaks at the end of World War II, and Mayer was forced out in 1951, just a year after this article was written. 

(13) Erskine Johnson gets the title wrong. Lucille had madeThe Fuller Brush Girl, a sequel to The Fuller Brush Man (1948).  The film was released in mid-September 1950. 

[rockislandadultreads]

Domestic Fiction: a reading list

Neighbors by Danielle Steel

Meredith White was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. But a personal tragedy cut her acting career short and alienated her from her family. For the last fifteen years, Meredith has been living alone in San Francisco with two trusted caretakers. Then, on a muggy late summer day, a massive earthquake strikes Northern California, plunging the Bay Area into chaos. Without a moment’s hesitation, Meredith invites her stunned and shaken neighbors into her mostly undamaged home as the recovery begins. These people did not even realize that movie star Meredith White was living on their street. Now, they are sharing her mansion, as well as their most closely kept secrets. Without the walls and privacy of their own homes, one by one, new relationships are forged. For every neighbor there is a story, from the doctor whose wife and children fear him, to the beautiful young woman dating a dishonorable man, to the aspiring writer caring for a famous blind musician. In the heart of the crisis, Meredith finds herself venturing back into the world. And thanks to the suspicions and the dogged detective work of a disaster relief volunteer, a former military officer named Charles, a shocking truth about her own world is exposed. Suddenly Meredith sees her isolation, her estranged family, and even her acting career in a whole new light. Filled with powerful human dramas, Neighbors is a penetrating look at how our world can be upended in a moment. In a novel of unforgettable characters and stunning twists, acts of love and courage become the most powerful forces of all.

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

A promise could betray you. It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging into the past, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. Just as Ruth is about to uncover a burning secret her family desperately wants to keep hidden, a traumatic incident strains the town’s already searing racial tensions, sending Ruth and Midnight on a collision course that could upend both their lives. Powerful and revealing, The Kindest Lie captures the heartbreaking divide between Black and white communities and offers both an unflinching view of motherhood in contemporary America and the never-ending quest to achieve the American Dream.

A Lie Someone Told You about Yourself by Peter Ho Davies

A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself traces the complex consequences of one of the most personal yet public, intimate yet political experiences a family can have: to have a child, and conversely, the decision not to have a child. A first pregnancy is interrupted by test results at once catastrophic and uncertain. A second pregnancy ends in a fraught birth, a beloved child, the purgatory of further tests—and questions that reverberate down the years. When does sorrow turn to shame? When does love become labor? When does chance become choice? When does a diagnosis become destiny? And when does fact become fiction? This spare, graceful narrative chronicles the flux of parenthood, marriage, and the day-to-day practice of loving someone. As challenging as it is vulnerable, as furious as it is tender, as touching as it is darkly comic, Peter Ho Davies's new novel is an unprecedented depiction of fatherhood.

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world. Arlo Wilde, a gruff has-been rock star who’s got nothing to show for his fame but track marks, is always two steps behind the other dads. His wife, beautiful ex-pageant queen Gertie, feels socially ostracized and adrift. Spunky preteen Julie curses like a sailor and her kid brother Larry is called “Robot Boy” by the kids on the block. Their next-door neighbor and Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely community college professor repressing her own dark past—welcomes Gertie and family into the fold. Then, during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, the new best friends share too much, too soon. As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes that spins out of control. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

[thewritewolf]

Oh What A Guy Chapter 1: Carapace

🎶Chat Noir!🎶

This was inspired by @lnc2‘s fic, Bugging Out, where Marinette is way too popular among her hero friends for her own good. And, just like that fic, this one got stuck in WIP hell for a while (five months for me!) before I finally got the time to finish it. While the concept is still similar, it ended up turning into its own thing.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 (Final)

Read on Ao3

With the fight against Hawkmoth dragging out far longer than anyone had expected, it made sense to Nino why Ladybug and Chat Noir might want to get help on a more regular basis. And it made sense that they would want to pick people who had gotten to use the miraculous before as their new, permanent teammates.

None of that had prepared Nino for Ladybug and Chat Noir personally handing him the miraculous of the Turtle for good, though. His time as Carapace was something he cherished, but he had never felt like he truly belonged with the heroes he’d spent so long looking up to.

It all led to a surreal feeling as Carapace leapt from rooftop to rooftop alongside Chat Noir, like he was dreaming. The reason they had given for these patrols was to help the new heroes transition into their new lives. Learning patrol routes. Getting used to their powers, more so than they already had been.

But Carapace knew there were other reasons, which became all the more important when left unspoken. Seeing how they responded to the added duties. Forging connections with the original heroes and each other. Which was no doubt the reason that these one on one patrols with Chat Noir or Ladybug existed in the first place.

An hour passed in relative silence before Chat Noir stopped and watched Carapace. He stood there nervously, half expecting the feline hero to mock his jumping form or something. Not that he thought Chat was mean, but Carapace just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was doing something wrong.

It wasn’t a critique that came out of Chat Noir’s mouth though.

“Are you alright?” There was concern in his voice that surprised Carapace. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“I…” Carapace was about to brush it off, but something about Chat made him change his mind. “How do you do it?”

Chat blinked. “Do what?”

“Just… deal with it all, dude. I’m so freaked out that I’m gonna mess up. So much is riding on us, you know?” Carapace took a deep breath and pulled at the hood of his suit. “What’s your secret?”

The grin that spread across Chat Noir’s face was much more familiar. “You’ve just got to relax, shelly. I know it’s a rough gig, but it's not all bad.” He walked backward toward the edge of the rooftop and pointed his thumb behind him. “C’mon. Patrol isn’t going to finish itself.”

He did a backflip off the edge and Carapace chuckled even as he rolled his eyes. That was definitely the cocky but fun Chat Noir that everyone in the city had come to love. They returned to their patrol, but Carapace noticed that Chat was keeping them a lot closer to the ground. Even though it was late there were still a few people out on the streets. Some of them even called out to the passing heroes.

The expectation was that they’d wave at them before moving on. What Carapace hadn’t expected was Chat Noir jumping down to meet them.

The first people he did it for was an elderly couple, both of whom had only wanted to shake his hand and tell him that he was a good boy. When they mentioned that their grandchildren were huge fans, Chat even offered to sign something for them. They walked away beaming and chattering happily between them.

They weren’t alone for long - a mother and child appeared beside them. The mom explained that her daughter was a huge fan, something that Carapace had already figured out when she saw the big Chat Noir plushie that the little girl, no older than six, was holding on tight to. Apparently, once they got her the plushie, she no longer needed a night light to go to sleep. After smiling and chatting with the kid, they went along their way too.

A couple streets over, Carapace was still processing all that when Chat Noir suddenly leapt onto a lamppost and called out to a group of English tourists huddled together nervously. They were clearly lost, but the worry on their faces immediately melted in joy when they looked up to see one of Paris’s famous heroes standing over them. A few directions in their native language, a few group pictures later (this time with Carapace included), and they were on their way, excitedly chatting amongst themselves as they headed out for their hotel.

“So,” Chat began as they finished their patrol. “You feel any better now? Talking with the people I’m protecting always makes me feel better, at least.”

“Yeah… I think so.”

“I’m glad I could help.”

Then Chat Noir laughed, and when Carapace heard that laugh,so happy and honest, he could feel the heat rush to his cheeks.

Oh no.

[popculturebuffet]

Giant Days (Boom) #1 “Like A Sexy Moon”

In honor of Giant Days grand finale one-shot this week, we go all the way back to the beginning of it’s long and storied ongoing where three first year university students consisting of a flighty energetic goth, a hardboiled detective metaphorically in the body of a med student, and a cheerful and naive small town girl whose mostly hair try to make it through lunch without chaos ensuing. Spoilers: Chaos ensues. Class, and a heartfelt mega-paragraph about my love of the series, is under the cut. 

A few years ago, i’d say about 2016, my mom had her annual oscar party. This isn’t all that relevant to the story, and reveals that even at 27 (I kept forgetting to correct my age on my blog), soon to be 28, I still live at home, but it’s important because it’s where I first read giant days. Buying the first volume during a comixology sale that had it for all of three bucks, I lapped up the series almost immediately,  then when I got home got my hands on every issue that had been out at the time and caught up asap, following the series since then to it’s conclusion this week. , only missing the “Where women blow and men plunder” special. For the past few years, in an ever changing comic book landscape where titles come and go, start strong and peter out or are just plain great or foul from the start but leave all the same , i’ts been my rock. My mountain in a sea of ever changing titles... and Wednesday said mountain breaks off and floats off into the either, maybe to become a new campus for the university of north carolina in the sky I dunno. The point is the series means a lot to me and it’s sad to see it go, even if it’s writer John Allison probably won’t leave my life and knowing him our heroes probably will return, or at least one or two of them will, someday, it’s still a sad end to a heartfelt, ungodly hilarious, sometimes rediculous but always intresting journey. My intrest may of waxed and waned, as is expected when a book runs 4 years, but it never left  my heart. So join me won’t you as I go back to where it all began.. not with the whole volume, but with the first monthly issue of giant days. 

------------------------- Giant Day is the creation of John Allison, who before creating this and other print works By Night and Steeple, which having not read past issue 1 or read it yet respectively will certainly pop up here eventually, was the creator of a large number of web comics, all of which I discovered thanks to Giant Days, in part because Giant Days itself is a Spin-Off from Allison’s second comic strip, and his most famous work pre-Giant Days: Scary Go Round

Scary Go Round itself was a spinoff/sequel to Allison’s previous comic strip Bobbins, originally following two minor characters from that strip before they were slowly shoved out of the strip in favor of Shelley Winters... and yes the name i intentional, not the actress from Cheers but a bubbly red head with a skewed sense of reality and a can do spirit and her two best friends: local layabout with a heart of gold Ryan, one of shelly’s old friends and Amy, the daughter of Shelley’s ex-boss, a sharp tounged young woman with a healthy libidio who grows from a spoiled princess to a responsible buisness owner. The three deal with relationship issues, wacky shenanigans.. and the supernatural stuff that happens in their town of Tackleford because it’s a hub of spoopy shit Just in case you thought it was just his other print works that were kinda weird in comparison to the mostly grounded Giant Days, nope. While his stuff post the original bobbins is well grounded in character work, it’s all got a tinge of weird to it. If you have the time check it out. While some things may fly over your head unless you read the original bobbins, and I strongly suggest you don’t, it’s otherwise a very good read and very much the blue print for his stronger later stuff. 

And as noted it’s from this weird and wonderful early goop we get the protaganist of this book: Esther DeGroot, a perky goth girl who intitally showed up with her best friend Sarah and their muscle Big Lindsay to have LIndsay beat amy into the ground for chatting up a singer they liked. Thankfully she quickly grew out of having her friends beat up college drop outs and instead became a weird, snarky goth and rival to Shelley’s snarky buttoned up sister Erin for the heart of local shy awkard lab assitant Eustace “The Boy” Boyce, himself introduced as fumbling assitant to local inventor and longtime pal of Shelley’s Tim. And you can now see why I had to get into everyone else as SGR’s characters tend to intersect and that web only widens. 

Esther would eventually win, and Erin would eventually end up in hell then forgotten from everyone’s memories shortly after, with Esther and Eustace staying together for the duration of the strip and through many shenanigans and were actually a rather adorable couple. By this time Esther and Eustace were just as much leads as the main three and Esther was a close friend of Ryan’s to the point he and Sarah went out briefly in their Senior Year.. when Sarah was 18 thankfully. Though Ryan did get punched over it by a drunken awkard teenager so things sorted themself out. Big Lindsay quitely disappeared and was revealed to have gottten pregnant. Both would later show up in Giant Days. The strip ended, after a soft launch for the next strip which we’ll get to in a second, with Esther and freinds graduating, Ryan and Sarah breaking up, Shelley leaving town (She’d later return but story for another time), and Ryan and Amy, who had a whole will they or won’t they thing, getting together. 

Allison did this for a reason: He felt Scary Go Round was collapsing under it’s mound of Continuity and thus decided to switch to a fresh cast. Same continuity but with less ties to the old so new readers wouldn’t be turned off. Thus came Bad Machinery. Set up during the waning days of SGR, it followed Sarah’s weird sister Lottie, her sluthy best friend Shauna and a bunch of other bright young kids i’m only not getting into because i’ve introduced enough characters and most of the ones i’ve introduced are either vital to SGR or show up in Giant Days , but are all fantastic, focusing more on the mystery while also having some coming of age stuff of it’s own as by the series end years later, the characters all grew into their late teens. It’s an excellent read and again worth checking out if you haven’t and unlike SGR is in print with the print versions adding more pages to the story and revising bits. I haven’t read them but I intend to eventually because of the revisal, but if you can’t afford them the entire originals are online free. 

Bad Machinery would later be a hit in it’s own right, as the print collections show, but in it’s first years it was actually a shaky proposition to uproot everything, replace almost the entire cast (Though Ryan and Amy, now married, stayed around as supporting cast, with Ryan being the kids teacher and Amy eventually mentoring Shauna), and change the genre from 20 somethings and teens slice of life to a bunch of 11-12 year olds coming of age and solving mysteries. And at first things dipped a bit apparently and Allison panicked and started working on a backup plan. And that backup plan was where Giant Days comes in: A Spinoff following esther and two new characters as they navigate college. He did three self published issues of it, the first put online, before focusing back on bad machinery as it picked up, and many other projects we’ll cover some day. Esther as a result was kinda left in limbo while Erin and Eustace’s stories moved forward. It seemed Esther and her new pals Daisy and Susan were lost to time...

Until 2015 when Allison agreed to do a mini-series for Boom! Studios that picked up where the original series left off, eventually getting picked up as an ongoing that lasted all the way to last month, with 2 winter specials, a one shot trip to Australia, and a final one shot finishing the series Wednesday.  As for said series I do own it, Boom has since republished it, and we will get to it.. but I felt given this is where I and probably most other fans of the series came in, it was the best place to start and issue #1 of the boom series recaps what’s come so far and re-introduces the cast well. Kinda like the second episode of a series after the pilot: some things have changed, including the series now having Artist Lisa Tremain on board to draw instead of Allison himself, some new characters have been added, but it’s still the same show and still a good point to start. And with ALLL that exposition out of the way, including exposition to set up characters for ISSUES down the line, and a little more to go, let’s dig in.  As seen at the top, the first cover is great. The yellow and red works well, as does the simple image of a morose Esther fiddling with her phone, boxing gloves on the back for reasons we’ll see shortly. A good genre setter and an excellent cover, something the series always delivers with. 

We open on our three Heroines, on their third week of college,  with a helpful narration that does a good job summing each up, so I don’t have to and you know how I like to jabber, the giant barrage of paragraphs before should be proof: Naive cheerful Daisy, dramatic and funloving esther, and serious and sardonic Susan. There will be, and already is, more to each as they grow and we learn more, and Esther of course has a few years of comics behind her to start, Giant Days even being named after a Esther and Eustace centric arc from Scary Go Round, but not something I could fit into the exposition wall. 

As you can see the ladies are having a nice talk about if they would be friends without living in the same hall, with Susan bursting Daisy and Esther’s bubble.. but it fits her personality. Susan is a realist, she sees the world how it is. Daisy is an optimist seeing the world how it SHOULD be and Esther navigates the space between, as she can be realistic once in a while but mostly tries to avoid reality like the plauge in this series. She had a tad of this in Scary Go Round but it’s really dialed up here, but there’s a good reason for why i’ll get to after Susan helpfully outlines the indie issues for me and new readers.

See this is why I went here first: while I will cover these issues, themselves covering their first three weeks of college, eventually, it covers most of what happened pretty well and makes it easy to fill in the blanks that it glossed over. The first issue did indeed turn into a scott pilgrim style brawl where Esther boxed her way to victory, Susan set someone on fire and Daisy tried to use meditation to fight but Paul Mcartney’s ghost said no. It’s not a bad issue but tone wise the series would be something much more diffrent. 

Issue 2 is where I need to go into more detail: Esther cheated on Eustace with the douchebag you rightfully see in a heap above, who then spread their night around and got his commupance. Esther told Eustace.. who dumped her over it and drove her into a depressive state, a weird heavy metal society, and booze, which she can drink because you can drink at 18 in England. She was saved from it by her new galpals.. and Erin, who was supposed to likely be a recurring character, possibly on the same level as two we’ll get to soon, and definitely figured into a major plot with Daisy, as Allison admitted. But with the gap between issues and having other plans for Erin, he decided to write her out.  Susan pegs Esther as a drama queen soon after, a “sodding drama magnet”, attracting attention like I attract X-Men comics and Kirk Cameron attracts terrible Christian movies designed to stroke his own ego. She proves this by handing her a piece of paper and well....

Well look on the bright side Esther, you have a good career as the bride of dr.doom with those skills. I mean he’s single, has a spooky castle, does magic.. he’s basically a goth’s wet dream he just needs to black up his uniform a bit. Or put on that awful leather made out of a human armor he had. Yes that was a thing. Comics are weird. 

The rest of the group chase after an angry Esther who after this immortal line, challenges Susan to a bet: if Susan wins she gets a nice massage, if Esther wins she gets to dress Susan up however she likes to torment her.

 And somehow DAISY is the one who has a coming out story in a few issues. Jokes aside I do like the friendship here: They’ll razz each other, give Daisy time, and poke at their flaws gently, or be brutally honest, but their truly and honestly friends and it shows. It feels real and it’s one of the series big draws.  The girls run into Esther’s friend Ed. Ed has a huge crush on Esther, even when she had a boyfriend something to the series credit he was called out on, but not the nerves or charisma to actually try and ask her out. Shockingly, I liked, and still liked, Ed a lot as he reminded me of well.. myself in college. Pining after girls or starring without actually going anywhere and the series will deconstruct this as we go. He’s also basically the fourth main character, getting issues focusing entirely on him and arcs of his own, but the girls are still the main focus. Susan freezes however upon seeing his friend...

This is our fifth lead, McGraw. Basically a more emotive and british Ron Swanson who as you can see clearly has a history with Susan and Susan splits before they can say more. While McGraw falls back on the old men streotype of “We don’t have to talk about it”, though unlike say Tim Taylor it’s less “I genuinely believe this nonsense, as well as that men are  incapable of commuincating unless my neighbor tells me otherwise and all loves sports. I unsuprsingly got divorced once the kids all left the house, aug aug aug”  and more “I don’t want to talk about this nor do I want to force my new friend to talk about a touchy subject yet. “ Susan is likewise closed off but in her own special Susan way and Esther reveling in Susan having drama after accusing her of being a drama queen. This ends about as well as you’d expect. 

Daisy has had best friends for all of three weeks and she’s already figured out lies are a key part of friendship. Good for her. Esther heads off for the Gym, and while Daisy declines due to, and i’m not making this up this is a genuinely good joke of john’s, worrying she’ll become a killing machine. Esther however needs it to work out her feelings over Eustace because punching shit is better than wallowing in her misery over loosing the love of her, at this point, short life. 

That panel on the right... that’s a blessed image. And really this image showcases the true heart of the series: as I said the girls are there for each other but it dosen’t feels schmaltzy or forced, it feels real and has plenty of great lines to add to that. Daisy goes back to try talking to Susan, but Susan takes a bit and when she finally works up the energy to visit daisy. 

I I understand that feeling. It’s like the realization Mr. Rogers had sex at least once. You don’t WANT to know something that pure and innocent is capable of fucking, but you do now and it will haunt you like that ghost that won’t stop stealing my soap. BUY YOUR OWN SOAP JEREMY I’M BROKE SON. Of course this wasn’t actually sex stuff as Susan soon relays to Esther as she fears she upset the poor humanoid afro lesbian. 

Side note I love the phrase having a fiddle and will save it for future use. But yeah with Susan somehow spooked, she suggests Esther change the subject as soon as they get in there. 

Susan.. ya brought this on yourself. Naturally she tries to avoid getting into the subject until eventually this happens. 

I’ll be saving this for future reference of course. And Susan gives us a LITTLE to go on... about two panels worth of ominus foreshadowing to the eventual reveal without any actual info about what in the bloody hell actually happened. 

Of course Susan calls for dinner time and says they’ll have to earn the rest later. Naturaly McGraw is also going in for dinner and Susan once again tries to deflect as her friends bascially call him a snack. I mean he is ron swanson crossbred with berkely brethead. who wouldn’t?

I love the line above.. especially since really the comic DOES pass. While there is boy drama, and girl drama for Daisy, this issue has plenty else going on besides wanting to bang someone, though given Esther won’t shut up about McGraw while talking to the human equilveant of an active volcano.. 

She’s lucky she didn’t instead bash her face in with a tray, but she’s a friend after all. Susan saves the savage beatings for her enemies and McGraw is wise enough to not let his tray anywhere near her and to duck if she tried her own. Natrually given her Drama Magnet powers Esther somehow finds the one cowboy in all of England. 

His chivlary, genuine or dudebro wise unfortunately causes a chain reaction. 

Naturally Susan was hoping for something like this, loudly gloating at activating the drama field and at having won the bet and tries to use the high that being right gives a person to run McGraw out of town. 

Unfortunatley for her, while her speech is awesome i’ll admit, it’s also entirely unfair: She expects him to change schools, and given his focus on architecture and general no nonsense nature he choose this one for a reason. Just because you two have a history dosen’t mean you can just make him leave and McGraw, as seen above, isn’t taking it. And he responds just as badassly. 

Gross? A little. But worth it to basically win the argument without even invoking the fact you have the moral highground. Yeah he had to know she was going here too, but again he came her for a reason and has no reason to leave. She can be an adult about this and work past it or just avoid him, also like an adult. Esther, not wanting to deal with Susan’s smug or her rage both of which are probably ping ponging back and forth, sits with Ed and talks about her dramatic nature. She really dosen’t intend to call it on herself, but does like not knowing what will happen every day. 

This really sums up Esther’s character to start: She enjoys life, loves the hell out of it, but often fails to see the consequences of her actions. The drama field sometimes is just shit happening to her because she happens to be young, attractive and entergetic, but other times it happens, like with the blow up of her relationship, because she does something impulsive and it blows up in her face. Speaking of character insight we get a character defening inner monologue from ed. 

And that’s Ed’s pain:  To Esther she sees it genuinely as him just being her friend. And I do think even with his massive crush he genuinely cares about her more than just wanting to be with her, but worried she’ll reject him, as I can again relate. And even worse is the worry of not wanting to make their friendship weird. And i’ve had crushes on female friends that have gone both ways: it’s made things toow eird to continue, but i’ve also had plenty where I was gently turned down and we’re still on good terms to this day. One of my best friends was a result of this. What makes it work, when we’ve seen this plot a thousand times before, is that both the narrative and Ed don’t think he’s ENTITLED to Esther. Yes the above has him asking god to make her love him.. but it’s not in a forceful sense.. it comes off more as a desperate want for them to end up together or for him to be able to move on. It’s what seperates ed from a “nice guy”: Sure he’s into Esther, but he dosen’t think he deserves her, or that because their friends he’s earned her or any such nonsensical bullshit. He’s just hopelesly infatuated with the first girl he met in college and wants to either see where it goes, or have the feelings end so he can move on with someone he does have a future with. I”ve been there. Shit sucks and Allison handles it well without falling into entitlement territory, and given just HOW many geek gets the girl storylines have been written, having it treated realistically with it being treated with him having to get over her instead of her just being oblvious is refreshing and I wish i’d had a narrative like this when I was Ed’s age to smack me in the face and tell me “No it dosen’t work that way, say something or move on man. “ With that monster of a pargraph done let’s check back with the girls. 

Again, I love the character interactions and how that’s the focus here over anything else, even my word sandwitch up there. But speaking of things, Esther just up and asks Daisy what she was watching. Turns out...

Yup, Daisy just likes ASMR, which I now know just what it is, just a static reflex people get. Susan tests it to prove Daisy is normal and it’s just good clean fun. Esther tries to put nosepicking under the same, Elbow’s susan over it and we get this to close out our main trio for the issue. 

I am glad he showed off more lady friendships, but they would’ve been a hell of a couple had Allison went that way. Could be an intresting AU, especailly if you keep Daisy gay and have their being bi or pan, dealers choice, affect things. HOw would that effect their relationshpis, how long would it last, would the McGraw thing impact stuff.. it’s some food for thought is all i[’m saying. We close however on Ed and McGraw as Ron Jr. unpacks his stuff and helps ed with his key sticking by rubbing a pencil on it because Graphite is a lubricant. Huh. Neat. And then we end on this. 

And on that note, we end issue 1. No write in contests though i’m damn sure given he’s mentioned he’d want a ROM/Giant Days crossover for the absurdity John Allison would love that. 

Final Thoughts;  An excellent start to the BOOM! series and a good second pilot. It’s clear stuff happened but the series helps you get the gist well enough to not have to buy the collection of the first three issues, and the characters are all dynamic with plenty of laughs as well as genuine moments. Susan and Esther’s banter is hilarious and both Esther and Susan are given plenty of layers: Esther’s grappling with her sorrow over her nuking her first romance and Susan being sharp witted, quick to be smug with Esther, but still gentle with Daisy and trying to careful with her given her sheltered life before College. Daisy isn’t given much layers in this issue, but is sitll shown to be incredibly sweet and realstically naive. McGraw is a welcome addition, his past with susan providing an intresting mystery for what was intended to be just 6 issues and solved by the end, while also having some intresting swagger to him enough to not make him JUST her love intrest or Ed’s best friend. Tremain’s art is also great, diffrent than what most of the series would end up being, a bit sketchier with more dot eye, but still nice and stylish. I’ll also confess the cafeteria scene is what let me know the book existed as I read it in the back of another boom title, I can’t remember which honestly, wher eit was featured as a preview and was intstantly intrigued. Overall a strong start. There’s a reason the series both caught on and lasted as long as it did and i’ll miss it terribly. I won’t be reviewing as time goes by this week, though I may post some quick thoughts on it, but I intend to review the full series, including the 3 indie issues and specials, so i’ll probably get to it at some point. An excellent series that I can’t recommend enough. 

If you liked this review, feel free to reblog it, follow me for more, or comisson one for a comic of your choice for just 5 bucks. Until then, have some giant days of your own. 

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Everything Falls Into Place

Characters: Elizabeth Olsen x Reader, minor characters

Word Count: 1,152

Warnings: fluff 

Summary: The person you’ve been talking to for a long time, you’ve only known her online. Now it’s finally time to meet her.

Square Filled: Pen Pals

Author’s Note: I know you guys have requests and I promise to get to them. I have two bingos I need to finish before the deadline in Aug/Sept and by the rate I am going, I will be done before that so please bear with me. This is for @spnfluffbingo2019 and for Kari’s @until-theend-oftheline 2k Marvelous Writing Challenge and my prompt is “Don’t you know who I am?” - “Yup. I just don’t care.” which is bolded in the fic and if you have any requests, please send them in! This is unbeta’d and any and all mistakes are all on me.

Feedback the glue that holds my writing together

Tags at the bottom

Something as easy as human relationships never came easy to you. Making friends was something you dreaded because you could never seem to connect with someone as easily as you connected with Lizzy. About three years ago, you had come home from a long night at work, drained from talking to your coworkers about their lives. All they seemed to want to talk about were their husbands, their kids, the parties they were invited to, and all you wanted to do was go home and sleep.

Something snapped inside you that night, and you decided that instead of waiting for the perfect man or friend to come along, you were going to seek them out. Since face-to-face contact never seemed to do the trick, you thought one of those websites that offered a pen pal might do it.

So, after extensive research, you had found Lizzy and have been talking to her ever since. The minute you made contact, it was like everything fell into place. Maybe it was because it was a relationship online or whatever you want to call it, but it felt real.

Over time, you two had been talking nonstop, every chance that you got. She had told you about her life, how she never felt like she fit in anywhere until she met you. When you told your parents and coworkers about her, all they did was pass judgment. “This Lizzy could be a man.” “What if they want to kill you and are trying to do it but gaining your trust?” “You can never trust anyone you meet online.”

They just didn't understand the connection you two had. However, despite emailing back and forth, you never once saw her face. Maybe it was for the better, to keep the mystery alive between the two of you. It was so easy to talk to her, tell her of your problems, confide in her when you couldn’t in anyone else. It was nice to have that security once you found it. She seemed to like talking to you just as much as you did to her.

Though, you found yourself wondering what she looks like, sounds like, smells like, and if she is as wonderful as she makes herself out to be. It’s been brought up from time to time about you two meeting, but nothing ever came of it. Maybe the timing wasn’t right.

You home yet? Your phone pinged as soon as you got home from work. Hearing that sound put a smile on your face because you knew it was from her.

Yeah. It’s been a tiring day. Coworkers pissed me off a bit, but nothing I can’t handle.

Wanna talk about it? Seeing that message made your heart swelled. No matter the time of day, what she might be doing, whatever you were doing, she always offered an ear to listen. She made you feel like you mattered to her, that your problems were worth listening to.

They had asked me about you, and I told them what a good thing we had. Shelly, the really bitchy one I told you about, she had to make the comment about if things were so great, then why haven’t I seen your face? I swear to God, Lizzy, I wanted to sock her right then and there. She just doesn’t understand what we have.

And what do we have?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like we have something more than just friendship. Tell me if I’m wrong, and if I am, I will drop it and never speak of it again. But, you have been the easiest person to talk to since we met. I don’t care if it’s online. My coworkers talk about their husbands the way I talk about you.

I feel the same way. All my friends and family keep asking me when I might get a boyfriend or when I might bring a man home. But, the thing is, I might not even want a man. If I weren't so busy, I would drop everything and come see you.

I could be a man.

I’ve read the kinds of things you’ve written. You wouldn’t talk about bras and periods the way you do if you were a man.

Touché.

I really want to meet you.

Then we should stop making excuses. We should do it. I’ll fly to wherever you are if money is the issue.

Trust me, it’s not. I’ve told you about my riches and how people seem to think I am their bank account. No, I can come to you, but it won't be for a while. I have filming to do that will take some time.

Now, why won’t you tell me the kinds of things you’ve been in? Or how big they are?

I’m afraid once you see who I am, your opinion of me will change.

Lizzy, I hate to do this over a computer but I love you. A face to the person I know won’t change anything.

I think I love you too.

You think? xD

I got to go. Set is calling me. I will talk to you later and maybe we can talk about a meeting.

Okay, be safe.

The days counting down to the meeting between you and the woman you fell in love with were agonizing. In that span of time from when she said she can make it down to you, you had bought at least 5 new dressed, made sure everything was clean in your house and made sure everything was perfect for her arrival.

She was expected to show at your house tonight, and to say you were nervous was a complete understatement. Your thoughts were racing. What if she doesn’t like what she sees? What if you don’t? What if she is a man coming to kill you? Before you had a chance to overthink some more, a delicate knock came from the front door.

She’s here.

Fuck.

Walking over to the door, you took a deep breath before pulling it open. The person standing there was who you’d never thought you meet. Sure, you’ve seen her movies. You loved the way she portrayed her characters. She is nothing like her big sisters, yet, she always made you laugh whenever you saw an interview of hers. You never would have thought you would get to meet the famous Elizabeth Olsen.

The name Lizzy made a whole lot of sense now that you knew who she really was.

“Don’t you know who I am?” she asked with a shy smile on her face.

“Yup. I just don’t care,” you breathed out, grabbing her face and pulling it to yours. Smashing your lips against hers, everything else fell into place. She wasn’t just some username in a computer somewhere. She was Elizabeth Olsen, and she was right in front of you where she belongs.

If you want to be tagged, add yourself to this document! If your tag doesn’t work, find out why!

@vvishous  @5aftermidnight  @superapplepie  @cutelittlepurplesouls  @feelmyroarrrr  @xxloki81xx  @fuckthatfeeling  @ivvitm1109  @schwankyblock  @kendall-michele  @mackevanstanfan80  @tdntu0