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dayscrazed · 4 years

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Chain of Iron “Table Read”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLkmUgnZ8w4&feature=youtu.be

Cordelia is looking over at her brother. Alastair looked expressionless, or he would to someone who didn’t know him. Cordelia knew by his posture- he was nearly sliding down the pilar- and his tightly fisted hands, he was quite upset.

“I know you read mundane papers too. I wondered if you’d noticed the recent murder in the east end. It’s the sort of thing that seems as if it shouldn’t interest us, but on closer examination-”

Cordelia stepped up to Alastair, blinking demurely. She knew people were watching. She wanted to give them no reason to talk. “Charles, I believe you agreed to stay away from my brother.”

Charles raised a superior eyebrow. “Cordelia, dear, men have disagreements among themselves sometimes. It’s best to leave them be to sort it out.”

Cordelia looked at Alastair. “Do you wish to converse with Charles?”

“No.”

Charles flushed. “Alastair, only a coward needs to be rescued by his little sister.”

Alastair’s expressive eyebrows flickered. “And only an ass puts people into situations in which they need to be rescued at all.”

Charles took a deep breath as if he were about to shout. Cordelia moved swiftly between him and her brother. Her smile was beginning to make her face ache. “Charles, go away now. Or I will tell everyone how your aunt and uncle must go rushing off to Paris to rescue the Clave from your blunder.”

Charles’ eyes narrowed. And somehow in that moment Cordelia saw Matthew in him. She could not imagine why. There could have been two more different people. If only Charles was more kinder, understanding and perhaps Matthew would not-

Cordelia blinked. Charles had said something, undoubtedly something cutting, and stomped off. As he did, she noticed they were indeed being watched by Thomas. He was gazing at them from across the room, seemingly arrested in mid-motion. Behind him James had rejoined his friends and was chatting with them, one hand lightly on Matthew’s shoulder.

Several things happened at once. Thomas, seeing Cordelia looking at him, blushed and turned away. The music ended and the dancers began to stream off the floor. And Grace left Toby without a word and came up to James. Matthew and Christopher had been laughing together. Matthew, stopped, staring as Grace said something to James and the two of them stepped a bit apart from the others. James was shaking his head, the silver bracelet glimmered on his wrist as he gestured.

“Want me to go over and break James’ legs?”

“He can hardly run away screaming if Grace approaches him. He must be polite.”

“As you were polite to Charles?” Don’t take it the wrong way, Layla, I’m grateful, but you don’t need to-”

Out of the corner of her eye, Cordelia saw James break away from Grace. He came toward her. He was white as a sheet, but otherwise his mask was firmly in place. “Alastair, good to see you. Are your parents well?”

Alastair had told her she didn’t need to be polite. But politeness had its uses. James wore his manners like a suit of armor. A suit to match his mask.

“Well enough. The Silent Brothers recommended my mother rest at home given her condition. My father didn’t want to leave her.” Some of this was doubtless true, and some of it wasn’t. Cordelia didn’t have the heart for investigation. She no longer had the heart for the party at all. James hadn’t betrayed their agreement, but it was clear that it caused him pain to be in the same room as Grace. The worst part was she could sympathize. She knew what it was like to be near the person you loved but feel like you were a million miles away.

“James I find I have a rather desire to play chess.”

That brought a smile from James, but only a slight one. “Of course, we shall depart at once.”

“Play chess, how thrilling.”

Cordelia kissed Alastair on the cheek as James went to offer the necessary excuses to their hosts. They collected their things in silence and soon found themselves on the front steps of the Wentworth’s house, waiting for their carriage to be brought around. It was a lovely night.

Grace had watched them go, a thoughtful expression on her face. Cordelia could not help wonder how much she concealed. It was not like her to approach James. Perhaps she had felt desperate. Cordelia could not blame her if she did. But she could not ask James because they were not alone on the steps.

Tessa and Will were there. Tessa was smiling up at Will as she tucked her hands into fur-lined gloves. He bent to brush her hair from her forehead. James cleared his throat loudly. “Otherwise they’d start kissing. Believe me, I know.”

Tessa seemed delighted to see them. She beamed at Cordelia. “Don’t you look lovely. Dreadful we have to leave the party so early. Fortunately, Miss Highsmith has offered poor Filomena the use of her carriage later. But we’re meant to portal to Paris early tomorrow morning.” She did not, Cordelia noted, mention Charles.

“We tried to approach you inside but were cut off by Rosamund chasing Toby around because their ice sculpture had mented. What does it mean for the youth of today that they don’t know that ice melts. What are we teaching them in the schoolrooms?”

“Is this another youth-of-today speech?” He dropped his voice into a passable imitation of Will’s. “Running about, no morals, using ridiculous words like ‘barmie’ and ‘brinkets’!”

“Even I know ‘brinkets’ is not a word.” He and James bantered back and forth as the Institute’s carriage rolled around the corner and stopped at the foot of the steps driven by a skinny footman in silver and ivory. Cordelia could not help but think how different James’ relationship with his father was from Alastair’s with Elias. She wondered sometimes what Elias would say if he knew about Alastair and Charles. She wanted to think he wouldn’t care. Months ago she was sure of it, now she was sure of nothing.

Her reverie was broken by a sudden shout. The skinny footman had leapt to his feet, looking about wild-eyed. “Demon! Demon!” Cordelia starred. Something that looked like a spinning wheel covered in wet red mouths shot from under the carriage and rolled about in a circle. She reached for Cortana and flinched, her palm stinging. Had she cut herself on it somehow? That couldn’t be possible.

James laid a hand on Cordelia’s shoulder. “It’s alright, there’s no need.”

Will was looking at Tessa, his blue eyes wide. “Can I?”

Tessa smiled indulgingly as if Will had asked for a second helping of cake. “Oh, go ahead.” Will made a whooping sound. As Cordelia starred in puzzlement, he leaped down the stairs and raced off chasing the wheel demon. Tessa and James were both smiling.

“Should we help him?”

“No. That demon and my father are old friends. Or rather old enemies, but it amounts to the same thing. It likes to chase him around after parties.”

“That is very peculiar. I see that I have agreed to marry into a very peculiar family.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know that already.”

Cordelia laughed. It was all so ridiculous and so very much the way James’ family always was. She felt as if things were almost normal again by the time their carriage came around and they clamored into it. As they rolled off into the night, they passed Will brandishing a seraph blade as he happily chased the wheel demon through the Wentworth’s rose garden.

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Let’s Discuss!

1. Cordelia & James aren’t married yet, but they are still engaged.

2. Elias is home and with Sona who seems to be on bedrest during her pregnancy.

3. The two above points suggest that James and Cordelia’s wedding was postponed (the released first chapters reveal that they take place the night before the wedding when Elias has not arrived yet)

4. Charles made a “blunder” in Paris and so Will and Tessa are portaling there presumably to fix it.

5. James and Cordelia have some sort of an agreement that he will stay away from Grace.

6. Charles is being an ass. (After sending Alastair multiple unanswered letters, he’s still trying to strike up conversations, so he clearly is in denial/not moving on)

7. Thomastair crumbs.

8. Will Herondale being Will Herondale.

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aliciameade · 5 years

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Baby - Ch. 17 (Epilogue)

Title: Baby Author: aliciameade Rating: *** M *** Pairing: Stephanie Smothers/Emily Nelson Summary: That tearful kiss shared between Stephanie and Emily wasn't their first—and it certainly wasn't their last.

(Chapter 1)

Also on AO3

This is it, my friends. Thank you for taking this little detour from the movie’s plot of missed opportunity with me. It was an absolute joy of a story to tell!

Life with Emily is everything Stephanie had dreamed it could be.

They spend the first several weeks turning their house into a home, furnishing and decorating it beyond the minimal things Emily had done while she waited. It’s fun to hang curtains and bicker and compromise and then kiss when they’re finished. They go shopping to fill their closets and drawers since everyone arrived with little more than the clothes on their back. They take the boys to the market to pick out fresh produce. They hire a tutor to start teaching the boys Greek so they’ll be more prepared to re-enter school come September.

They hire one for themselves, too, and Stephanie’s perpetually annoyed that Emily’s better at it than she is. “I’ve had more time to practice, μωρό μου,” Emily says when Stephanie gets too frustrated. It doesn’t really help her irritation, but she kind of loves that Emily already knew how to call her “baby” in the native tongue before she’d arrived.

They both take up small part-time work. Not out of necessity, of course. They have some $3.5 million tucked away in bank accounts throughout the Mediterranean. It’s only to break up the days and keep hands and minds busy with activities they enjoy. Stephanie spends three mornings each week at a bakery. She loves it, and they also never need to buy bread at the market.

Emily volunteers at the youth center that organizes the soccer league Miles and Nicky join. It makes Stephanie smile to herself every time they and the boys get on their bicycles to head down the hill for practice. What would Darren, Stacy, and Sona think? Emily Nelson voluntarily working with children! Emily Nelson would never. Dillon Reid, however, loves it.

She finds herself wondering more than once what those three might be up to. If they pretended to care when Stephanie and the boys disappeared, too. If they gossiped and tried to start rumors and if any of their rumors were accurate. She wonders if her dedicated vlog audience misses her. She wonders how Sean is faring in prison. She thinks about maybe sending him a note, an anonymous one of course, in a year or two simply informing him that Nicky is safe. He’s surely heard what happened; maybe he’s even been questioned on the matter of their disappearance. Maybe he finally figured out what really happened.

They keep an eye on news from the United States and read The Warfield Observer online over a private VPN connection as the stories about the search for the single mom and her two boys who disappeared without a trace become shorter and shorter and move deeper down the page until the last one, just two paragraphs long, states that the search has been called off and the local police and FBI still have no leads.

They buy a boat; not a yacht and nothing outlandish, just a twenty-six-foot daysailer that lets them get off the island and onto the sea to relax in the sun, to let the boys snorkel off-shore, to fish like the locals. Neither of them knows how to sail it so they take lessons until they can.

The first time they try it without their instructor, they’re excited. Their neighbor agrees to take the boys for the evening and Stephanie packs a picnic of fresh fruits and cheeses and a bottle of wine. They get the craft out of the harbor and into the bay under the starry sky to make love, only to have the wind not be in their favor for the return. Their lack of experience quickly devolves into frustration on Emily’s part and helpless amusement on Stephanie’s as they drift. Stephanie repeatedly tells Emily, “Just use the outboard, that’s what it’s there for,” to which Emily replies, “We’re sailing. We’re supposed to sail.”

Stephanie kisses away her frustration and convinces her to give in to the convenience of the motor and Emily immediately books more advanced lessons with their instructor so it never happens again.

She learns new things about Emily and herself every day.

She learns that Emily likes to wake up early to watch the sunrise over a strong cup of coffee from their balcony before going for a run.

It’s an intense route, Stephanie learns the first time she joins Emily on her morning workout. There seem to be no such things as flat roads in Oia and if they’re not running uphill they’re climbing stairs so they can run down and back up the next.

“Καλημέρα, Dillon,” the elderly woman who lives on the corner says with a wave as they pass. “Morning,” Emily replies with a smile, sometimes in English, sometimes in Greek. She sits by the road every day in a rocking chair working on something; knitting, weaving, cleaning vegetables. “Καλημέρα, Alyson,” she waves on their way home. Her name is Antonia and she adores their boys. She looks after them sometimes and they always come home filled with local folklore stories to share, along with a homemade sweet.

Stephanie finds herself thinking more and more often that this is it: this is what The Greats meant when they wrote of paradise.

She’s thinking of it as she sits on the floor of their home trying to learn yet another game the boys have invented involving dice, a bouncy ball, and a plastic toy horse and glances up to see what Emily’s doing; all she’s doing is watching them with a soft smile on her lips.

“Connor, baby, come upstairs with me for a minute,” Emily says and stands, holding out her hand for Stephanie’s son to take. “You, too, Devon.”

“Why?” Miles asks as he pops up and skips over to her, followed by Nicky.

“I want to talk to you.”

“You can’t talk to them here?” Stephanie asks from the floor, confused and a hair suspicious as to why Emily needs to take their sons upstairs to talk to them as if they had a secret to share.

“It won’t take long,” Emily says with a smile before they’re heading upstairs.

She hears them above in Miles’s room; there’s a squeaky drawer in his dresser and she hears it open and close followed by several minutes of silence.

It makes her nervous, though she can’t pinpoint why and she plays with the dice while she waits, rolling and re-rolling to see if she can get all four of them to come up the same.

She looks up when she hears them coming back down the stairs and she can’t help but notice that both boys have their hands behind their backs doing a poor job of hiding what they’re holding. Emily’s aren’t behind her back but she can tell something’s in her hand by the way her fingers curl and Stephanie’s eyes snap to hers.

“Go on,” Emily says with a nudge to the boys’ backs once they’re in the middle of the living room floor where Stephanie still sits.

“These are for you,” Nicky says with stately purpose as he thrusts his arm out, a bouquet of yellow daffodils and purple crocuses in his fist.

“Oh, thank you,” Stephanie says as she accepts them. Now she really is nervous because clearly, there’s something going on. “What about you, Smooch? I know you’re hiding something, too.”

He nods and reveals a folded up piece of paper, the same one Stephanie remembers him snatching from her to hide their first day in their new home. He unfolds it and it takes a couple tries to get it right-side up and facing Stephanie and when it does, her voice catches and her eyes tear.

It’s a crayon drawing, very clearly done by Miles and Nicky of all four of them holding hands, Emily and Stephanie in the middle. Across the top in sharp, uneven capital letters is written, “Can we be a family?”

“So, how about it, baby?” Emily says after a few seconds when Stephanie’s gaze lands on her, now with her hand up and an open ring box sitting in her palm, its diamond glittering in the sunlight filtering in through the windows.

Proper words don’t seem to come to mind. Her vision blurs with tears and she can see Emily’s shape as it kneels to join her on the floor. Arms wrap around her and she’s already nodding when Emily whispers, “Marry me?” She feels the boys join in, hugging her from the side and from behind and she’s never felt so whole.

“Yes,” she finally manages. “A thousand times, yes.”

The end

#a simple favor #emily nelson #stephanie smothers #asf fic #murder moms #fanfic

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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I Photographed Women In 60 Countries To Change The Way We See Beauty

My name Mihaela Noroc, I’m a Romanian photographer who’s been travelling the world for the past 4 years with my backpack and my camera, photographing everyday women and collecting their stories. My project is called The Atlas of Beauty.

My goal is to show that every woman shines like a star because beauty is diversity, and not just what we see in mass-media.

For me, the real beauty has no age, colours or trends. You can find it in Africa or in Europe, in a village or in a skyscraper, in a smile, in a gesture, in an intense gaze, in some wrinkles, or in a story. You can find it in every kind-hearted human being.

Now The Atlas of Beauty becomes a stunning book with more that 500 portraits and many interesting stories. In a time of hate and intolerance, I want to send a message about love and acceptance. I hope this book will get into many homes around the world, convincing more people that diversity is a treasure and not a trigger for conflicts and hate. We are very different but at the same time we are all part of the same family.

More info: Facebook

Kathmandu, Nepal

Sona was celebrating Holi when I met her.

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Maria was selling vegetables in the market of a small village.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Thorunn brings Icelandic women together via a popular online community.

Omo Valley, Ethiopia

Her tribe is called the Daasanach. With the high temperatures here, nudity is not unusual.

Idomeni Refugee Camp, Greece

This mother and her daughters fled the war in Syria.

Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan

She was working in the field in one of the most remote places of the world.

Paris, France

Imane has African and European origins and dreams to open an art gallery for artists from all over the world.

Kathmandu, Nepal

She was walking with her son. She didn’t speak English, but he did. So I told him I wanted to photograph his mother. And he asked me why. ‘Because she’s beautiful.’ He proudly smiled and looked at his mother. ‘Yes, she is.’

Korolyov, Russia

Nastya takes passport photos in this little shop, but her dream is to take landscape photos around the world.

Nampan, Myanmar

I met this lovely lady at a local market.

Pushkar, India

While traveling from country to country, I was happy to see that women have joined public forces all over the world.

Belgian with Polish origins

Ania dreams to compete in the Paralympic Games.

Tehran, Iran

Mahsa is a graphic designer and is proud of the fact that from the time she turned eighteen, she has been financially independent.

Timisoara, Romania

Alice was celebrating her high school graduation.

Milan, Italy

The daughter, Caterina, is a ballerina and her biggest supporter is her mother, Barbara.

Berlin, Germany

Anais has a Malian mother and a French father and feels both African and European.

Istanbul, Turkey

Pinar is a theater actress. While she loves playing different roles on stage, in real life, she adores being herself, natural and free.

Amazon Rainforest

She was wearing her wedding outfit.

Havana, Cuba

An actress? A model? No, she wishes only to finish her studies and become a nurse.

Tibetan Plateau

Among the most graceful women I encountered, this Tibetan mother of two in a rural village looked like this the moment she opened her door to me; she had been cleaning her house, and yet she was wearing her jewelry.

Cuenca, Ecuador

A moment of tenderness at the food market.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

She’s wearing a deel, which is a traditional outfit commonly seen in Mongolia.

Syria

I met this young Yazidi girl from Syria in a refugee camp from the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. Hasa was feeling fortunate that she’s alive and has the chance to study. Unfortunately she lost six of her small cousins when Isis attacked her village in Syria.

Pushkar, India

While traveling from country to country, I was happy to see that many women have joined public forces all over the world. I met this young policewoman in Pushkar, India, almost two years ago.

Jodhpur, India

While traveling in India, almost two years ago, I noticed that trains are the country’s vital circulatory system. They transport more than twenty million people every day. Just imagine twenty million fascinating stories! I wanted to hear hers but the train left after a few seconds from Jodhpur Station.

Milan, Italy

I met this mother and her daughter last year in Milan, Italy. Caterina began dancing when she was three years old. Her mother, Barbara, was supportive, but knew that there were few opportunities to study ballet in their small town so, although her husband and son had to remain home, she moved with Caterina to Milan, where her daughter could fulfill her dream and attend one of the most esteemed ballet schools in the world. Art requires huge sacrifices, but imagine how Barbara feels today seeing Caterina dancing on the celebrated stage of La Scala.

Tbilisi, Georgia

Natia, from Tbilisi, Georgia, studies Law and wishes to become a criminalist. She told me that her dream is to work for the FBI someday. In the meantime she already gained a scholarship and works in this coffee shop for a living.

Lisbon, Portugal

Daniela is from Lisbon, Portugal and has Angolan origins. It’s lovely to walk on the streets of this gorgeous city and see so many diverse people living in harmony.

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Many women of the world carry great burdens every day, either literally or figuratively. And they do it, like this lovely woman, with so much tenderness and positivity. I met her in January, in Chichicastenango, a small town from Guatemala.

Idomeni, Greece

I met this brave mother of three children last year in Idomeni Refugee Camp from Greece. She escaped from her hometown in Iraq, which was under ISIS’s control. She traveled a long road to Europe with her children, spending all her savings, in hope of a safer life.

Korolyov, Russia

Nastya works in a small shop where she takes passport photos. But her dream is to take landscape photos around the world. Some time ago she made the first step, starting to study photography. In her everyday job her dream might feel far away. But “far” doesn’t mean “impossible.”

Guatemala

A beautiful family dressed in stunning outfits made by the mother.

Pokhara, Nepal

It was a Sunday in 2015 and just like every weekend, many people from Pokhara, Nepal were spending their time around the splendid Phewa lake.

Havana, Cuba

With her features she could be on the covers of magazines in most countries of the world. But Elianis never thought about such things. She just wishes to finish her studies and become a nurse.

Tibet

Berlin, Germany

This German young woman travels as much as she can. Her loved ones are spread all over the world and she is still searching for a place where she would love to live.

Baku, Azerbaijan

In a society dominated by men, where many women are still afraid to be photographed without asking permission from their husbands, things are changing. There are more and more Azerbaijani women who fight for gender equality and although they are now a minority, I’m sure they will soon be a majority. Fidan is one of these amazing women who would never start a relationship, if she wouldn’t be treated equally and respected.

Bucharest, Romania

In 2005 mAGDA experienced a terrible car accident, as a passenger. In most parts of the world, people in wheelchairs are condemned to isolation by authorities. While traveling around the planet I visited tens of countries where you don’t see them at all, in public areas. Why? Because in all those places, leaving your home in a wheelchair is almost an impossible mission due to that lack of infrastructure. But Magda wants to change the way people in wheelchairs are treated, at least in her country, through some amazing initiatives.

Kathmandu, Nepal

We live in a beautiful world and diversity is one of our greatest gifts. In the same time, this world became much more intolerant towards diversity, in the last years. But don’t lose hope! I’ve seen with my own eyes during my travels that there’s much more kindness in this world, than hate. We just have to notice it, share it with others and make this world a better place for our children.

Ethiopia

She is a Muslim and her best friend, another young woman who owns this small terrace, is a Christian. While traveling in Ethiopia, in February, I admired the way Christians and Muslims get along. I saw many beautiful friendships that go beyond religion.

Zürich, Switzerland

Patricia and Rebecca, from Switzerland, are sisters. There’s only one-year difference between them. “When we were small, most of the kids laughed at our red hair. But that brought us closer to each other.” Years have passed and I noticed them in Zürich Central Station, two days ago. There was something magical about them.

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2xoLyHj via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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the-halfling-prince · 3 years

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I posted 261 times in 2021

81 posts created (31%)

180 posts reblogged (69%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 2.2 posts.

I added 389 tags in 2021

#my posts - 82 posts

#lord of the rings - 77 posts

#over the garden wall - 55 posts

#wirt over the garden wall - 31 posts

#pippin took - 28 posts

#fav - 26 posts

#frodo baggins - 26 posts

#the hobbit - 25 posts

#samwise gamgee - 20 posts

#bilbo baggins - 19 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#my dad can't watch movies with my mum and i because we spend the whole time looking up trivia and reading out outloud while he's trying

My Top Posts in 2021

Help this poor boy

76 notes • Posted 2021-11-07 23:59:22 GMT

lotr as things said in my classes pt. 3

Frodo: Demi Lovato came out as nonbinary- Pippin: Danny Devito's nonbinary??? Frodo: THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!

Pippin: Hold on guys I gotta put my cis-sona back on

Sam: *offhandedly mentions that he can't swim* Frodo: We live near a body of water. Sam: I know where I live

Pippin: Did you know that spiders don't have bones in their legs, and that's why they curl up when they die? Merry: I hate to break it to you, Pip, but spiders don't have bones, period.

Pippin: would you still love me if I was a worm Merry: You already are a worm.

Pippin: Hey, Sam, would you still date Frodo if he was a worm? Sam: Can he talk? Pippin: Yeah sure. Sam: I probably wouldn't date him but I'd still be his friend because I could talk to him and stuff. I'd give him a little worm house and dirt and whatever worms like. Merry: Okay, and if he couldn't talk? Sam: No because then he'd just be a worm.

Frodo: great weather. There's not a sun in the sky. Which sorta implies that there's just no sun at all and we're all quickly making our way towards death. Sam: Frodo, look, I found a rock on the ground. :)

Legolas: You ever just find out that your best friend is half goat. Gimli: yes. Legolas: ... Damn

Boromir: You're my favorite little gremlin bitch Pippin: Thank you

Pippin: Who wants to see how Barry B Benson from the Bee Movie is a bad person? *writes out a bunch of math and graphs on the white board* Pippin, 15 minutes later: holy shit. He's caused the deaths of at least 10 million people Aragorn: That math doesn't really- Pippin: Shush, I'm onto something here

Bonus picture of the white board with the definitely not accurate work on it:

80 notes • Posted 2021-11-22 06:00:45 GMT

lotr (and the hobbit) as things said in my classes pt. 4

Pippin and Merry: *talking about kins* Gandalf: I kin Kermit the Frog Everyone: •_•

Faramir: I'm scared of monkeys Denethor: I've never met anyone who's scared of themself. Faramir: oh

Frodo: *throws something to Gandalf* Gandalf: Hey, don't throw stuff at me. That's a hate crime. Frodo: What, because you're gay? I'm gay too, dude. Gandalf: This isn't about you, Frodo.

Legolas: Do you consider Pluto to still be a planet? Aragorn: I don't know, I don't live there.

Boromir: I like your ears. Are you supposed to be an elf? Frodo: I'm a hobbit. Boromir: Sorry, I didn't mean to assume your mythical creature.

Elrond: For the longest time I thought bipoc just meant a bisexual person of color Aragorn: When did you realize what it actually meant? Elrond: just now.

Pippin, walking into the room: Where is everyone? Aragorn: at home. Why are you here?

Merry: Hey can I say something that may be offensive? Pippin: Offensive to who? Merry: to you Pippin: Sure okay Merry: you curse like a preteen boy who just got told he's allowed to curse. Pippin: shit okay.

Frodo: What are these donuts filled with? Sam: Cookies and cream, I think. Pippin: mold

Radagast: You said you like mushrooms? Bilbo: Yeah! Radagast: oh, I know how to grow mushrooms. Bilbo: that's so cool! Radagast: Yeah, it's actually really easy. *A few minutes later* Radagast: oh. Bilbo: what? Radagast: you were talking about- oh. I thought... I know how to grow 'shrooms. Like the- Bilbo: oh. I should've known. Radagast: you really should've.

87 notes • Posted 2021-11-30 00:01:23 GMT

my favorite Fall Out Boy song

125 notes • Posted 2021-11-07 21:31:37 GMT

Iconic panels from various otgw comics

136 notes • Posted 2021-11-08 12:01:15 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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aliciameade · 5 years

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Baby - Ch. 15

(Chapter 1)

Also on AO3

(You can buy me a ko-fi if you want to!)

When Stephanie’s cell phone rings with Sean’s name on the screen, she sends the boys to the backyard to play.

“Hello?”

She’s met with the gasping sobs of a broken man. “She’s gone.”

“Sean? Is that you? What’s wrong?”

His voice is strained, choked with tears. “Emily. She’s—someone—”

“Just take a breath. Tell me what happened.”

He does and in that second of silence, Stephanie can hear the chatter of many other people in the background. “She’s gone, Stephanie. I came home and found her…” He breaks into tears again and she works on drumming up her own as she allows a believable amount of time to pass to come to the conclusion he can’t put into words.

It’s not as difficult as she thought it might be to start crying; imagining Emily being murdered is an easy catalyst for tears. “Oh, my God. No!”

“Can you please look after Nicky tonight? I can’t have him here. The police say the house is a crime scene. I can’t let him see this.” He sounds destroyed.

“Yes, of course,” she says, working up plenty of tears. “Anything. Anything for Emily.” Her voice cracks over her name. “Let me know how I can help.”

“You’re a saint. Thank you. I need to go. I’ll call when you can bring Nicky home.”

Stephanie cries in earnest when she sets her phone down. Everything was so easy with Emily by her side but she’s gone and she has to see the last leg of this journey through alone.

Emily will be on a plane now somewhere over the Atlantic. They won’t communicate again for some time; they can’t risk it once the investigation begins. They won’t communicate at all until Stephanie, Miles, and Nicky show up at Emily’s new front door.

Their new front door.

She cries because she misses the woman she loves.

~ ~

Three days pass before Sean asks her to bring Nicky home.

The first night had been easy; he was excited to spend the night with Miles. The second, he asked if he could go home and she had to explain that she was watching him for a little while. The third, he cried that he missed his mom and dad.

That had been a difficult night for everyone. Lying to a little boy that he’ll see his parents soon, knowing he’s going to be told his mother is dead when she is very much alive…

If murder wasn’t already an egregious sin, setting it up so a little boy would mourn his mother unnecessarily…

She doesn’t let herself think about it.

When she arrives at Sean’s house, it’s in a far worse state than she and Emily had left it. It’s as though the police upturned every single thing, or maybe Sean had lost his mind when he found his wife strangled in their living room.

There are dark smudges on the walls and counters, fingerprint powder that has been left for someone else to clean up. The white couch is gone, leaving a noticeable void in the heart of the home.

Stephanie keeps an excessive distance between herself and Sean once they’ve hugged in grief. It’s a habit she needs to establish quickly, though it’s not a difficult one. Frankly, she’d like to have nothing to do with the man ever again, let alone be in the same room with him, but to accomplish one she’ll have to tolerate the other.

Nicky’s not ill-placed dramatics of the night previous are absent now and while he’s happy to be home, he doesn’t question why he had to stay at Stephanie’s house. He does ask where his mother is.

Stephanie grits her teeth while Sean tells him to wait in his room and he’ll talk to him soon.

“What did the detective say?” she asks once he’s upstairs. She refuses to ask how Sean’s holding up. It’s clear the answer is, “not well,” but she doesn’t need to be a source of sympathy for him.

“They’re investigating it as a burglary gone wrong. They think whoever did this didn’t expect someone to be home in the middle of the day and panicked.”

“That’s terrible,” she says with fake shock. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Sean doesn’t seem convinced by that but he doesn’t explicitly disagree. “The police are interviewing everyone she has—had contact with. Don’t be surprised if they reach out to you.”

“No, of course. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

~ ~

The funeral is a stark reminder of Emily’s aversion to casual human connection. Stephanie recognizes Emily’s boss, Dennis Nylon, from his advertisements attending with a smattering of similar high-fashion types she assumes to be Emily’s coworkers. To equal levels of astonishment and irritation, Darren, Sona, and Stacy are there with their children as though they gave two shits about Emily beyond either wanting to be her friend so they could tap into her A-list resources or to criticize her lack of helicopter parenting.

No one resembles someone who could be Emily’s mother and that makes Stephanie’s heart hurt. It’s a useful thought to get some tears flowing when she catches Stacy watching her with something akin to suspicion. She doesn’t want to be stoic but to be an emotional wreck would be just as question-inducing.

A thought, a tiny hint of guilt flits through her mind that someone’s daughter is being buried right now and the girl’s mother has no idea.

She blinks it away and holds Miles a little closer.

~ ~

She single-handedly organizes the wake; Sean is useless and his mother wasn’t able to come, still recovering from hip replacement surgery, so Stephanie has to do it.

It seems the town’s gossip committee is feeling their own type of guilt for the way they treated Emily and even Stephanie, and she’s forced to grin and bear the brunt of their attempts to rid themselves of such regrets.

“You’re a real saint to help her family out like this,” Darren says sheepishly after having the gall to use one of her own recipes and compliment her vlog after teasing her for so long.

She tries not to flinch; it’s the second time she’s been referred to as such since she took someone’s life and it doesn’t sit well with her. “I’m not a saint. I—Emily’s my friend. She’d do the same for me.”

~ ~

Nicky refuses to speak to her when she puts him to bed once everyone’s gone home. She doesn’t blame him; death is confusing and upsetting and she can’t imagine having to deal with it at such a young age. She wishes she could tell him it was all a trick, that his mom is waiting for him and he’ll see her again soon.

She contemplates it briefly but it will only stir more confusion in him and it should be Emily who discusses with him why this happened, not her.

She also can’t trust such a little boy to keep that type of thing a secret from his father.

Instead, she simply says, “I know your mother loves you very much.”

~ ~

Another week passes before a detective knocks on her door.

He’s loud and cocky and borderline condescending when he asks her, “Just how close are you to Sean Townsend?”

The question is out of left field and she blinks in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Some of the folks around here mentioned you’ve been spending quite a bit of time at his house.”

“Detective Summerville,” she says as her back straightens and she regrets her nicety of offering him tea, “what are you implying?”

He laughs loudly and holds up his hands as if surrendering. Or in defense. “I’m not implying anything. I was repeating an observation made by others.”

Stephanie finds it convenient that neighbors would only now take notice of her spending time at the house. She’s there far less often than she ever was when “Emily” was alive but now that she’s dead, they begin to gossip that Stephanie’s already swooped in on her grieving widower?

She’s offended, not for that but for the lack of gossip that she spent countless afternoons with Emily while Sean wasn’t home. Why? Because it was two women spending time together?

“I don’t appreciate their implications,” she says defiantly. “If I’m at Sean’s house it’s because I’m helping with his son, who is best friends with my own son. We’re not engaged in some torrid love affair. If that’s what you’re after, you should be taking a closer look at who Sean spends his time with.”

At least the offensive question set up her first breadcrumb perfectly.

It gets his attention and his cockiness shifts to genuine interest. “Is there something in Sean’s life we should be looking at?”

“Try someone.” She says it and then feigns regret as though she shouldn’t have said anything.

The detective pulls a tiny notebook from the breast pocket of his jacket and flips it open while clicking a pen. “Do you have a name?”

She shakes her head and wraps her arms around herself. “I only know what Emily told me.”

“And what is that?”

“I shouldn’t. It’s probably nothing.” She knows he won’t let it go.

“Miss Smothers, we have reason to believe Emily’s homicide wasn’t a burglary gone awry.”

“Why? What did you find?” She knows they found nothing; nothing, that is, but a poorly staged crime scene.

“I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that any information you have may be helpful.”

She takes a breath and nods. “Emily told me a few weeks ago that she was going to ask Sean for a divorce.”

That information is definitely new to the detective and he almost quivers with excitement in its revelation. “Did she say why she wanted a divorce?”

“He was—or is, I don’t know—having an affair with his T.A. at the university where he teaches. She was scared, and I’d never seen her scared a day in my life. But she was scared when she told me that. Like she was scared of what he might do if she tried to leave him.”

“And you didn’t think to alert the authorities?”

She sets her jaw firm at the return of his condescension. “I didn’t think he would actually…” She trails off to let Mr. Man-in-Charge reach the conclusion on his own; she’s planted the seed for what might have happened and unless he connects the dots himself, he won’t place enough importance on the theory.

“And are you aware he took out a four million dollar life insurance policy on Emily less than a year ago?”

She hesitates for dramatic effect, then nods. She has to be partially honest now.

“What’s interesting to me, though, is that last month, Emily made you the sole beneficiary. I guess you really were her best friend.”

She nods again. “I told you: she was scared. She was afraid of Sean, of what he might do. She didn’t want her son to suffer if something happened to her.”

“You talked about the possibility of Sean killing her?”

“Not in so many words, no.” She rubs the back of her neck. Her nerves are real now; she can’t misstep. One chink in the armor is all it will take. “She said she wanted a safety net. Just in case. It’s why we started guardianship paperwork, too.”

“Emily was going to make you the guardian of their child?”

“Like I said: it was all a safety net. A back-up plan in case...well...in case.” She shrugs at the obvious.

“I see. Well, I guess this means you’re getting four million dollars once we finish our investigation into Ms. Nelson’s death. Assuming you had nothing to do with it, of course,” he adds with an unnerving smile.

She ignores his bait. “Does Sean know about me being the beneficiary?”

“Not as far as I know; he hasn’t tried to file a claim or contacted them at all according to the agent. With a payout of this size and with the circumstances, you can expect them to open their own investigation.”

“No, of course,” she says, nodding in understanding. “Do you think I should wait to file for any reason? I don’t want to interfere with your investigation.”

He scribbles in his notebook as he shakes his head, then clicks his pen and puts them both back into his pocket. “That won’t be necessary. Thank you for your time, Miss Smothers. We’ll be in touch. If you think of anything else that might be of interest, give me a call.” He hands her a business card and shows himself out of her home.

When the door closes she breathes a sigh of relief and sinks onto the couch to hug a throw pillow to her chest wishing it was Emily.

~ ~

Sean finds out about the life insurance policy when Stephanie has to ask for a copy of Emily’s death certificate. She’d tried to avoid going through him but no one would provide her the required documentation because she wasn’t Emily’s next of kin.

“Why would she do that?” He looks almost as broken as he did after Emily’s death. It was clear he had yet to even think about collecting on her death which was, Stephanie supposed, admirable. “That was so I could support Nicky if anything ever happened.”

And that’s exactly what it will be used for. “I don’t know, Sean.” She can’t tell him the reason she told the detective; it’s not yet time for him to know. “But I promise, I’ll help with Nicky in any way I can.”

He agrees to put in the request for the needed paperwork regardless of his confusion and Stephanie offers to make dinner for him.

It’s the least she can do, given the circumstances. It’s the least she can do as she slowly takes everything that ever mattered to this poor man.

~ ~

He learns a week later that Emily’s put into her will that should anything happen to Sean, custody of Nicky is to be granted to one Stephanie Smothers.

He shows up on Stephanie’s doorstep irate, pounding on her front door demanding to know what he did to deserve this.

She calms him down with chamomile tea and reassurances that Emily’s decision was only in Nicky’s best interest and Sean has nothing to worry about. That the guardianship will only be enacted should something happen to him as well and surely, nothing will change.

~ ~

Sean is arrested three weeks later.

According to the news, he is a possessive husband who was engaging in a torrid affair with a college student. He snapped when his successful wife found out and tried to divorce him. He’d strangled her with a rope (the police had found a rope just like it in his gardening shed) in a fit of rage, then staged the house to make it look like someone had broken in to burglarize the home. Much of her jewelry appeared to be missing and the police uncovered one piece, a diamond and ruby necklace, at a pawn shop just a few miles from Warfield.

The shop’s security cameras weren’t recording at the time and no one remembers who sold them the necklace. It’s the only piece of missing jewelry that will ever be found. The rest, Stephanie knows, will be disassembled and sold separately as gemstones and precious metals over time to shops outside the United States.

She rushes to the police station as soon as the breaking news report about his arrest ends. No one has contacted her, but then again, no one would know to do so.

She arrives prepared, a certified copy of Emily’s Last Will and Testament and partially signed guardianship papers in hand should they be necessary.

There’s press everywhere, local news trucks and reporters from New York City are parked outside the station. They pay her no mind and she speaks to the officer at the front desk about the situation and her concern for Nicky Townsend’s well-being, and do they know where he is and if he’s okay?

Her concern is genuine; she doesn’t know how long Sean’s been in jail. She doesn’t know where Nicky is or if he understands what’s happening. He’s surely scared and upset; his life has been in turmoil for weeks since his mother died and now this.

She’s given the name and phone number of a Child Protective Services counselor and several more phone calls are required once she arrives at their office. Calls to lawyers, to law enforcement, to agency directors until she’s signing paperwork stating who she is and where she lives to allow Nicky to be released into her temporary custody.

It’s clear he’s upset: he won’t even speak to Miles on the car ride to her house. She knows he knows what’s happened; the counselor took care of educating him on where his father is, but (of course) not the specifics of why he is there.

She lets the boys have whatever they want for dinner and stay up as late as they want. They build a fort in the living room and the three of them fall asleep there together.

~ ~

The trial is arduous. Stephanie watches much of it play out in the news headlines. The jury selection. The recap of the arguments that were made each day. The evidence that was presented. She lives with constant, haunting worry that something will go wrong. That she and Emily made an error along the way. That one day the police will knock on her door with an arrest warrant for the murder of Faith McLanden.

More weeks pass.

She’s called to testify by the state’s prosecution.

“Can you describe your relationship to the victim?”

“Emily Nelson and I were best friends. Our sons are in the same class at Warfield Elementary.”

“Can you please share with the court what you told Detective Summerville on April 26, 2018 with regard to Sean Townsend’s personal relationships?”

Stephanie recounts what she’d told the detective about Emily confiding in her about Sean’s affair, her desire for a divorce, and her fear of the consequences. She’s asked to share the details of becoming the beneficiary of Emily’s life insurance, the guardianship paperwork they’d started, and the temporary custody of Nicky she’s been granted.

Sean’s defense attorney grills her about the details of her relationship with Emily. Why she trusted her so much as to give her millions of dollars. To trust her with her son. He stops short of saying the words, but she knows the implication he’s making. He wants the jury to think there’s more to the story. That Sean wasn’t the only unfaithful spouse.

All he needs to do is put enough doubt in the jurors’ minds to get them to return that Not Guilty verdict.

He doesn’t.

Stephanie watches the sentencing coverage on the news, heart in her throat and tears on her cheeks while she packs.

Sean Townsend will spend forty years in Bridgeport Correctional Center for the murder of Emily Nelson.

Stephanie Smothers is granted sole custody of Nicky Townsend in accordance with Emily’s will.

Stephanie and Miles Smothers and Nicky Townsend are reported missing by a concerned citizen on July 19, 2018.

~ ~

(Chapter 16)

#a simple favor #stephanie smothers #emily nelson #asf fic #murder moms #fanfic #HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

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I Photographed Women In 60 Countries To Change The Way We See Beauty

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This mother and her daughters fled the war in Syria.

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Nastya takes passport photos in this little shop, but her dream is to take landscape photos around the world.

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While traveling from country to country, I was happy to see that many women have joined public forces all over the world. I met this young policewoman in Pushkar, India, almost two years ago.

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Daniela is from Lisbon, Portugal and has Angolan origins. It’s lovely to walk on the streets of this gorgeous city and see so many diverse people living in harmony.

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This German young woman travels as much as she can. Her loved ones are spread all over the world and she is still searching for a place where she would love to live.

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