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Mis lecturas - 4º Trimestre 2023
Hola holaaaaaaa!Ya estoy aquí con el último trimestre lleno de lecturas maravillosas de 2023. Espero que os llame la atención alguno de los libros que me han hecho volar en estos meses y le deis una oportunidad. Sinopsis: Escocia, siglo xv.Clarion McLeod acude al castillo de Coill para reencontrarse con Daimh, su antiguo compañero de armas y laird del clan Mackenzie. Cuando la mujer de Daimh,…
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#el duque y la ladrona#el ejecutor#el juego del destino#en el filo de la espada#j de la rosa#jane hormuth#la caricia de la oscuridad#la caricia de la ruina#la cautiva del highlander#lady melindres#lindsay buroken#lord cheriton#mariah evans#mariah stone#mensajes del sur#novela histórica#novela romantica#paraíso de los libros perdidos#penelope douglas#phoebe#punk 57#regencia canalla#reseña#sangre cargada#sangre de dragon#scarlett st. clair#una dama inconveniente
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A Shitty Brother Kinda Christmas
(7,441 words)
Evan invites Michael over for Christmas after not speaking to him for over two years now. Shenanigans ensue
Michael was cold.
He was also annoyed and bored and excited and the slightest bit nervous.
But right now, he was just cold.
He was sitting out in the middle of nowhere waiting for a bus that had either already come or was nearly a half an hour late.
He was praying it was the latter.
It didn’t help that he’d had literally no time to prepare. Evan had called him at six in the morning and he’d had to rush to find a gift and means for transportation and it didn’t help that everything was closed for Christmas. So he’d thrown on the only coat he had and went for the first bus he could catch. Now he was stuck out in the snow waiting for a bus that might not even arrive.
But some things were worth getting hypothermia for.
Unfortunately for Michael, this was not feeling like one of those things. But it was a second chance, and he’s fucked up too much to give up on a second chance. Frankly, when Evan had asked for his number, he’d already expected not to hear from him ever again, and he’d made peace with that. As much peace as he could at least. It wasn’t something he thought about a lot, and he doubted Evan thought about it much either.
But today his head’s been full of it, as unpleasant as that is.
When the bus finally pulled up, the driver assured him that the snow was what caused the delay, and apologized profusely. Michael didn’t care, he was just glad it came at all.
The bus was almost entirely empty, which made his life a lot easier. He clicked on his phone, not that there was anything to look at. It was Christmas, after all.
When Evan had invited him, he’d known it would be disappointing to Jeremy; He always looked forward to Christmas, but he promised they’d have their own little Christmas when he got back, but this was the first time he’d spoken to Evan in… Forever. His little brother had a house for god’s sake! A house! And he lived with his friend! That friend who’d punched Michael, the friend who always let Evan stay over his house, the friend he’d totally definitely not gotten into a fist fight with more than once all because of his own stubborn attitude.
So yeah, Michael was a jerk. But in his defense, Gregory was stubborn too.
His phone pinged and he picked it up. It was Evan again. Geez, why did he keep calling? Michael had already agreed, he didn’t want to talk to him right now, not yet.
But he can’t keep putting it off, and he doesn’t wanna seem like he’s avoiding Evan. (Even though he is, technically.)
“Hello? Hello, hello?” He said, “What’s up?”
“It’s me.” Evan said, “Just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay? I’m really sorry it’s such short notice.”
“It’s whatever.” Michael replied, “The bus was late though.”
“It’s Christmas, that’s expected.” Evan replied.
This was weird. Not a bad weird, but not a good weird either.
“Yeah.” Is all he said, “Uhm, is there anything else you need? The service here is ass.”
“Uh, no, I was calling to tell you if the bus hadn’t come to just forget it because I didn’t want you to keep waiting. It’s cold outside.”
“No shit.” He said with a dry laugh, “I’m gonna go now. Bad service, you know how it is.”
“Oh? O-Okay, yeah, bye.” Evan said.
“Bye.” Michael said before hanging up and sitting back against the seat.
“Shitty service?” He mumbled to himself, “Idiot.”
“Well, that sucked.” Elizabeth said. She was hanging decorations she’d brought since their house wasn’t “Christmas ready” in her words.
“He’s probably just tired.” Charlie said, “I’m sure he’s happy you invited him.”
“Well maybe the invitation isn’t what’s got him in the dumps and maybe it’s more the timing?” Elizabeth said.
Evan shrunk back, “I really didn’t notice how close it was getting to Christmas, I just… I couldn’t decide if I wanted to invite him…”
Elizabeth shrugged, “Fair, I guess. I usually invite him over but he spends his Christmas with his friends a lot.”
“His friends?” Charlie asked, “Jeremy?”
“And those other kids from middle school.”
Evan scrunched up his nose, “He still hangs out with those guys?”
“Yeah?” Elizabeth climbs down the small step ladder she was on, “They’re his friends.”
Evan huffs, “Yeah, I know.” He mutters.
Charlie offers a small smile at him, nudging him, “He’s not bringing any of them, it’s just him, Ev.” She says, “I’m sure everything will be okay.”
He nods slowly, “Yeah, yeah I guess.”
“Hey, Evan?” Gregory calls from the other room where he’s helping Sammy set up for dinner.
“O-oh, yeah?”
“Why does Michael do that weird ‘hello? Hello, hello?’ thing?”
Evan blinked, “I… I don’t know, actually.”
“Oh my god he does that all the time I don’t think he even realizes it!” Elizabeth said, “It drives me insane!”
Charlie laughed, “Yeah, Sammy says he does it every time he calls him.”
“He does!” Sammy said, “Every time. I asked him about it once and he was just as confused as me! He just does it. It’s like an instinct.”
Gregory laughed too, “That is funny as hell I’m never letting him live that down.”
“Oh, speaking of living things down,” Evan hopped off his bed and headed to the kitchen, “You’re gonna be on your best behavior. If you and him fight, I’m sticking you both outside.”
“If you put me outside with him I’ll bury him alive in the snow.” Gregory said.
“I’m serious.” Evan said, “I don’t want you fighting with him.”
It’s not that Evan didn’t appreciate Gregory standing up for him, but it was stressful. He didn’t want his friend hurt for him, and he certainly didn’t want to spend Christmas breaking up his brother and his best friend.
Gregory looked over at Evan, “Yeah, of course.” He said, “No fighting.”
“And that means no punching, kicking, swearing, snapping, pushing, shoving-”
“Okay, okay, okay, no fighting.” Gregory said, “But he needs to back off sometimes, I’m gonna let him know.”
“I can let him know.” Evan said, “We’re going to have a nice Christmas like a family!”
They all turned to look at him.
“We’re going to have a nice Christmas like a… decent dysfunctional patchwork family…” He rephrased, “I-I guess.”
Gregory laughed at that, “It’ll be fun, I’m sure.”
“I wish you could’ve invited Nessa,” Evan said, “I’m sure she’d have loved to meet Mike.”
When Michael finally arrived, he was met with the entire house laughing at him. Even Evan couldn’t hide his amusement at seeing his brother pull up to his house soaking wet and shaking like a leaf.
“You look great.” Sammy said.
“Piss off.” Michael muttered.
“Come inside, you look like you’re gonna freeze to death.” Charlie said.
“I feel like it too.” Michael muttered.
They brought him inside and Evan found himself suddenly regretting every decision that led up to this.
He felt sick, and he realized with a shock that there was a reason he had avoided Michael. He didn’t know what to say to him, what to do with him, or what to talk about. What do you say to your big brother who you ghosted for nearly two years after getting his number? What do you say to the person who ruined your life? What do you say to the person who treated you like shit and almost killed you and only formally apologized a couple years ago?
Gregory must have noticed because he discreetly led Evan back to his room and sat down with him.
“Not ready?” He asked.
“Not at all.” He said, flopping onto his back.
“What is it?” Gregory asked, laying down beside him.
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him in forever and I was cool with that but then we did talk again and then we split up again and I just… How can I never speak to him again after that? How can I not give him at least a chance to be better? But at the same time… I don’t want to talk about The Thing, and I don’t want to bring it up but I can’t move on if I don’t and I feel sick thinking about it because what if it goes wrong? What if I fuck it up? What if he fucks it up? What if all this bullshit was for nothing this whole time and I’m just gonna end up hating him more than I already do?”
Gregory listens intently, staring at Evan, “You know, I told you not to invite him.”
“I know but-”
He continues speaking, interrupting Evan, “But! You insisted. Why?”
“Because I want to give him another shot.” Evan said.
“And he came because…” Gregory raises his eyebrows expectantly.
“Because he wants to take that shot.” Evan said, slowly understanding.
“So, you want to give him a chance? You don’t have you, you don’t owe anything to him, especially forgiveness. Do you wanna cut this short? Nobody would blame you if you did. I sure as hell wouldn’t.”
Evan sits up, “I guess.”
Gregory smiles, “Why don’t you take some time, dinner’s not done yet. Nobody’s rushing you, and I’m sure Michael is just as nervous. The only difference is that he deserves it.”
Evan laughs a bit at that, “Be nice.” He said.
“No promises!” Gregory called as he walked out of the room.
Frankly, Gregory was right. Michael was just as nervous. In fact, he wanted to curl up in a ball and sink into a hole and die right about now. He didn’t know where to sit so he ended up standing awkwardly off to the side.
Unfortunately for him, Sammy was quick to act like he owned the place. Gregory and him were like siblings, to be fair.
“Come on Mike, sit down.” Sammy said, “What’s wrong, are you nervous?”
“No. Not at all.” He muttered, “I just prefer standing.”
“Yeah, well, you look out of place with the Christmas decorations and I need to take photos so unless you wanna be my santa clause, I suggest you move.” Elizabeth said.
“You're as blunt as ever.” He muttered.
“Thanks, I try my best.” She replied with a grin.
He sat down next to Sammy, pulling out his phone, only to have Charlie grab it away from him, ignoring the indignant noise he made.
“Aw, Jeremy? Are you guys dating yet?” She teased.
“Wha- no! Give that back!” He lunged, reaching for it, but she snatched it away too quickly.
“Come on, Mike, you’ve gotta have something interesting in your life, how’s my dad?”
“Uncle Henry’s doing fine.” He answered as he continued to chase her around, “Give it back Charlie!”
“What pictures do you have? Aw, is that your dog?” Charlie pulled up a picture.
“No, it’s Jeremy’s! Now give it back!”
“What’s its name?” She asked.
Michael looked over at Elizabeth and exaggeratedly gestured at Charlie, but she just laughed at him.
“She missed messing with you, this is your own fault.” She said.
“She’s right, messing with Evan isn’t as fun. He doesn’t get mad like you do.” Charlie said.
Michael scowled at her, but he couldn’t deny that it made him feel a lot better though.
When Gregory and Evan returned, Michael offered a smile and a small wave at Evan, that his brother slowly returned.
Evan was pale, but Michael didn’t mention it; He probably was too. Although that could just be from sitting out in the snow for half an hour.
He was still a bit upset about that.
Elizabeth invited him to sit beside her, which ended up sticking him right beside Evan, who had Gregory on his other side, who had Sammy next to him, and then Charlie beside him, and then it came full circle back to Elizabeth.
Great, cool, cool cool cool cool cool. This could go one of two ways:
One, it goes horrible and awful and everything that could go wrong does go wrong.
Or two, it goes fine and Michael’s overreacting.
But he could tell Evan was uncomfortable, and the tension was uncomfortable for him as well.
He took a breath before standing abruptly, “Actually, I ate at home and I could totally just grab a hotel or something so I’m gonna-”
“You’re not leaving.” Evan said.
Michael turned to him, “I’m sorry what?”
Evan shrunk back, “I-I just mean- you can stay here. Uhm… Unless you really don’t want to which is fine but you know you should stay here with us because it’ll make it easier and honestly who sleeps in a hotel on Christmas Eve I mean-”
“Okay! Okay. That- we can do that, that’s fine.” Michael said. He sat back down slowly, staring hard at his plate.
“And I can tell you didn’t eat at home.” Evan said, “I don’t like that you’re lying to me.”
Michael doesn’t reply to that, shrugging.
Evan’s eyebrows furrow, but he doesn’t say anything else. Gregory leans in next to him and whispers something, though.
So it went bad. Not awful, but bad. Michael didn’t eat much, but the food was good. Henry knew how to cook, and it seemed like he’d taught the twins how to cook as well.
Elizabeth leans back in her chair, “So, now that we’ve invited Michael, who wants to send a call to dear old dad? I have his number.”
Evan groans, “Not again with this…”
“Please, please Evan it would be so funny please.” Gregory shot up in his chair, “Please you didn’t let me do it to Michael let me do it to your dad.”
“Do what to Michael?” Michael asked.
“They wanted me to prank call you guys and send you random shit. Gregory, my dad will find and kill us all. I hope you know that.”
Prank call his dad? Prank call the William Afton?
“No wait I like this idea, Ev, we should do it one hundred percent.” Michael said.
“See? He agrees.” Elizabeth said.
Evan rolled his eyes, “You guys are the worst.”
“We’re the best actually.” Charlie said, “And it’s uhhhh… five against one.”
Evan sighed, “Do what you want. I need to set up our room anyway.”
Charlie cheered.
“I actually think I’m still in his contacts.” Michael said, “He keeps texting me, I don’t read 'em though.” He didn’t tell them that he repeatedly hesitated and refused to block his dad for a reason he himself couldn’t fathom. But to be fair, Lizzie hadn’t blocked him either. In fact, she still messaged him back sometimes. Even if the conversations weren’t friendly, he couldn’t imagine talking to his dad ever again, he didn’t know how she did it.
“And we don’t wanna start today, let’s use Charlie’s phone.” Sammy said.
They spent the night sending random images to William until he blocked them, and then they went on to relentlessly call Jeremy, who had apparently been asleep, before they went on to call Gregory, and stayed on call with him while he and Evan set up.
It was weird how normal this was. It was weird how quickly it had become just spending Christmas together instead of unloading 15 years of bullying and 21 years of loathing.
But then again, they were the Afton family, pretending to be normal was their whole thing. They did it for the first eighteen years of Michael’s life.
But he could sit back and enjoy this before the incredibly uncomfortable conversation that was inevitable. If him and Evan would quit avoiding it.
Gregory then came in to let them know the room was ready.
Sitting down in Evan’s house was one thing. Sleeping in it was a whole other thing. He felt like a teen again, when his dad was in the hospital for one of his springlock accidents and Michael had to stay with Henry while he was gone. That had sucked. His dad hadn’t wanted to bring him over Henry’s house, so he hardly knew Charlie and Sammy, and because of that he’d felt so out of place in their house. Not to mention his siblings were there, and by then he was sick to death of them.
Thinking back on it, he did have a lot of issues as a kid. Maybe he still had them. Who was he to dwell on it, though.
Michael Afton has issues, like that’s news.
This time he made a point to sit beside Elizabeth. She wasn’t the best choice, but she was the only one who still messaged him. Despite how she acted, she always wanted a family. But she got the Aftons, which is more like a classification than a family.
She gave him a disappointed look, but he ignored it.
The decorations in the room were really cool. They had lights strung up on the walls and they’d put up blankets to hang over them, as well as covering up the window. The floor was layered with blankets and pillows, and Michael noticed it looked like a nest.
He had taught Evan how to make nest-like pillow forts when he was only four. Michael had been seven, and hadn’t even been good at teaching, but Evan had really enjoyed it. Michael hadn’t enjoyed teaching him, but it kept the kid quiet and that’s all he’d needed. But this fort was obviously not a product of his teaching, since it was unlikely Evan remembered that.
Weird that he’d remember that. It felt like a karmic “fuck you” from the universe.
Evan was really enjoying this. He didn’t feel as anxious anymore, and it felt almost normal. He had been preoccupied with everything else to think about The Thing and it made him feel a lot better about it. He was also proud of the pillow fort, which Gregory had helped with a lot. They’d had it planned for a while, and he was glad it turned out so well.
Good food, good bed, good friends, and so far no issues with Michael. None that he wanted to talk about yet, at least.
This was a good day! A great day! And hopefully a great Christmas day would follow!
He was quick to pull his friends into it and talk to them about it. He loved how cozy it looked. Like a shiny little nest. It was awesome and he loved it so much.
“Wait. Wait! I need my camera!” He went out to the kitchen, “Gregory? Do you know where I put my camera?”
“I put it in the end table drawer! The bottom one, next to the couch!” Gregory called back.
“Awesome. Thank you!” He grabbed it and ran back into the room, “Mike get in the back you’re the tallest, Gregory and Charlie, I need you guys up front. Elizabeth, get closer to Mike, come on. Sammy, you’re perfect there don’t move. It’s on a ten second timer so hold that for a moment!”
He ran over to them, positioning himself beside Michael and behind Gregory.
He went to grab his camera when it was done, smiling at the picture, “It looks awesome, I can’t wait to print it.” He said.
The others crowded over to see.
“You’re pretty good at sitting still and looking pretty.” Charlie teased Michael, “It’s your one redeeming quality.”
Michael shoved her face away with his hand, “Oh piss off.”
“He said the thing again!” Sammy cheered, “He said it earlier too. I feel like I’m in England every time I talk to him.”
“Did I tell you guys about that time Evan screamed ‘you cunt’ at the top of his lungs?” Gregory said.
“No! No! You promised you wouldn’t tell them about that!” Evan wails, grabbing Gregory’s arm.
“He was playing a racing game or something and he just lost big time. Huge time. Horribly. Awful. It was embarrassing.”
“Gregory!”
“And he just shouted at the top of his lungs. In the most British I’ve ever heard him, it was insane.” Gregory continues, “He had to apologize to our neighbors. It was hilarious.”
Evan covered his face, “It was awful, I felt so bad.” He groaned.
Michael chuckled, “That’s funny, Lizzie was always the one who used British slang. She got it from our father.”
Elizabeth shoved him playfully, “Okay Mr. I-Say-Bloody-Hell-And-Piss-Off-Every-Five-Seconds.”
“Pi- leave me alone!” Michael said indignantly.
“He almost said it again!” Charlie said, laughing.
“Jeez, you people are impossible.” He said.
At that moment, his phone rang. “Oh, shit, it’s Jeremy. I’ll be right back!”
Evan watched Michael leave, his head tilted slightly to the side.
Gregory nudged him, “Feel better?”
“A bit… Thanks.” He answered.
Gregory smiled, “I told you it’d be okay.”
Evan nodded, “I’m stressing out a bit still but I do feel better. Maybe I was just overreacting.”
“Mike is being super weird though.” Elizabeth said, “He’s not usually like this with his friends.”
“Well duh,” Charlie said, “he’s overthinking just as much as Evan is. He’s just shit at hiding it because he’s not a ball of fear and sadness the way Evan is.”
Evan frowned, “Well I wish he’d just act normal. I don’t like that he keeps lying to me. He makes everything harder than it has to be.”
Charlie hummed, “He’s just scared. Like a little animal in the woods.”
Evan couldn’t stop his sudden and loud laughter at that.
But he did feel angry. He wasn’t going to say it, he wasn’t sure he was ready to say it, but he felt it. Michael wasn’t even trying.
“I’m gonna use the bathroom real quick.” He told Gregory.
Michael knew the call wasn’t Jeremy. He also knew it would end long before he wanted it to. It’d been one of his friends from middle school, and they had hung up several minutes ago. But he liked the silence while it lasted.
“So, you’re avoiding me?” Evan asked from directly beside him.
Michael jumped with a shout, nearly falling off the couch.
“Jesus Christ, Evan!” He gasped, “Don’t do that!”
Evan didn’t react, “Whatcha doin’?”
“Sitting… on the couch?”
Evan’s eyebrows furrowed. He looked like Dad when he did that.
“No, actually,” he said, “you’re being a bum. Alone on Christmas? Come on, we’re heading to bed now.”
Michael nodded, “Yeah, okay.”
They spent the night doing random things. Charlie told some scary stories, they watched a movie, Michael showed them his playing card collection and Evan beat Gregory at war at least ten times, and Elizabeth got a whole console out and they played a few different games.
Of course, the tension did not leave. Everytime he accidentally bumped into Evan or one of them said something a little too… Iffy… it only got thicker.
When he looked over at his little brother, he noticed he was asleep. Him and everyone else.
Well, except for one.
“Can’t sleep?” Gregory asked.
Michael shrugged, “Who can sleep on Christmas Eve?”
Gregory eyed the others, “Them, apparently.”
Michael chuckled, “Yeah, I guess so.” He said.
They fell silent, and Michael laid down on his back, staring at the blankets hung above him.
“You know I don’t want you here, right?”
“Yeah. I know.”
“But he does. Don’t ruin that for him. Or Elizabeth. She said she’s been trying to get you to come over for Christmas.”
Michael stares at him, “I don’t talk to her a lot, I thought she was just being nice.”
“She was.” Gregory said, “I don’t doubt she was. But she still likes talking to you. I don’t know, don’t you think maybe she actually cared if she asked every year?”
Michael scoffed, “I told her every year that I spend my Christmas with Jeremy. Or Henry.”
“Speaking of Henry, what’s he doing for Christmas if Charlie and Sammy aren’t there?”
Gregory sat up, “Charlie said He remarried or something.”
“Really?” Michael said, “That’s… He didn’t tell me that…”
“I might be wrong but that’s what I heard.”
“Hm.”
Gregory looked over at him, “You’re kind of a loser, you know that?”
Michael stared at him for a moment before he burst out laughing.
Gregory shushed him, “You’re gonna wake them up, shut your mouth!” He hissed.
Michael flopped over on his back, still laughing, though he tried to keep quiet, “You are incredibly blunt.”
“Well, to be fair, I don’t particularly like you very much,” Gregory said.
“I can tell.”
When Gregory heard him go quiet, he glanced over his shoulder.
“Lightweight.”
Evan woke up with a pillow being chucked at his face the moment he sat up.
So he stayed down.
But he could hear Charlie and Michael laughing.
Michael sounded like he’d been doing this for a while, and Charlie kept squealing. The noise was quickly giving him a headache, but it made him feel better about the day, and that’s all he needed anyways.
The day?
Holy shit it’s Christmas.
Evan bolted upright, “It’s Christmas.”
Gregory laughed, “Yeah, it is.”
Elizabeth threw herself on Evan and pulled him into a hug, “Morning sleepyhead!” She said, “You’re the last one to wake up.”
“We’ve been waiting forever.” Sammy groaned, “So I started chucking pillows at you and seeing if you’d wake up.”
“I told him not to.” Gregory said.
Evan smiled, “You guys are amusing. Has anyone made breakfast?”
Charlie points at Michael, “I told him to.”
Michael pushes her finger away from his face, “And I told her that I have not cooked something edible since I was 15.”
Elizabeth shuddered, “That lasagna was not edible.”
“Har har har.” Michael muttered, “at least I tried.”
Charlie sat up, “Me and Sammy made dinner, it’s someone else’s turn.”
“I vote Greg does it.” Sammy said.
“What? Why me?” Gregory whined, “I always do it!”
“I’ll make it.” Evan said.
“I’ll come help.” Elizabeth jumped to her feet.
She grabbed Michael’s arm, “I’ll show you what edible actually means.”
Charlie waved Michael goodbye with a smirk on her face as he scowled.
Evan took out the stupid cinnamon rolls in the weird circle can thingy? He didn’t know anything about them but they were good so who cares.
Michael frowned, “This is breakfast?”
“You look like you live off ramen noodles, shut up and enjoy Christmas dinner as it should be.” Evan said.
Michael blinked a few times.
“… You don’t… You don’t actually live off noodles, do you?”
“…”
So Evan learned several unpleasant things about Michael’s eating habits.
But so far, so good. He’d only felt soul crushing anxiety twice since Michael got here!
So… Good?
He wasn’t sure but it wasn’t bad so that had to mean something.
Despite joking around, Evan was a bit irritated. Michael was still being weird and it didn’t help that Elizabeth clearly didn’t understand the tension.
“You two are too quiet, come on, it’s Christmas.” She said, “Loosen up!”
“I’m just tired, Liz.” Evan said.
She flicked his forehead, earning a yelp from Evan.
“Well, don’t be, it’s Christmas!”
He didn’t like how much this reminded him of home. He didn’t like that this reminded him of his sister avoiding and ignoring his problems or his brother never listening to him.
They were all so different, but some things never change.
Unpleasantly, his mind drifted to his dad. But he pushed those thoughts away. He didn’t know why he always thought of his dad when he talked to his siblings.
“Evan, it’s done.” Elizabeth said, “Do you wanna frost it?”
Evan nodded, “While they’re still hot.”
She smiled at him, “Then we can open gifts? You’re gonna love what I got you, I promise.”
No, his siblings were nothing like his dad. No doubt they have pieces of him in them—No doubt Evan did too—But they were not him.
Maybe he could learn to live with those pieces. He’d done it with Elizabeth.
But it was just so much harder with Michael. Even now, when they were laughing and pretending to be okay, he felt dissatisfied. He wanted more than this, he wanted reassurance that his brother actually wanted to change and didn’t just feel bad. What if Michael was doing this for himself? To make himself feel less guilty? Less at fault?
As cruel as it sounded in his head, he found himself regretting giving Michael this chance. He didn’t deserve closure, not when it had taken Evan over a decade to get his own closure. He knew Michael was trying, but why did he get to decide when this change of heart came along? Why did he get to decide when this ended?
He settled in his seat beside Gregory, who was talking to Charlie and Sammy. Elizabeth was quietly talking to Michael, and Evan stayed quiet. He had things to think over. A lot.
When they finished, Charlie and Elizabeth practically dragged him to the tree.
Michael hung back, and Evan felt a twinge of… Something. Sadness? Anger? He didn’t know. But it was something.
Elizabeth insisted he opened hers first, so he did. It was a camera. Except it was yellow and had little bear ears and…
“It’s Fredbear!” He exclaimed, “It’s so cute! Oh my god, Lizzie, this must have taken forever!”
“Charlie helped with it,” She said.
He looked it over, “And it’s brand new… Smile!” He pointed it at Elizabeth and Charlie, snapping a photo quickly, “Oh my god, I love it, Liz.”
She grinned, “I knew you would.”
Gregory smiled at Evan, pushing a small box closer to him.
Evan unwrapped it slowly, before slamming it down and giving Gregory a playfully harsh look, “You did not.”
Gregory laughed, “I really did.”
He held up the sweater, “This is so dumb I’m gonna wear it for the rest of my life.”
The sweater was black with a skull on it, but it was sporadically decorated with random Christmas things. It looked so strange and out of place and he loved it.
Of course he got Gregory an equally ugly sweater, one with flowers on it, but the middle of the flower was replaced with Glamrock Freddy, one of the characters made for Fazbear Entertainment after his father had sold it off in response to the horror rumors about it.
Evan knew they weren’t true, but they still made his skin crawl sometimes.
Sammy bought him a crochet kit, with a bunch of colors for him and Gregory to mess with. He must have remembered Evan mentioning that he wanted to pick it up as a hobby.
They continued exchanging gifts, and Michael was quiet for the most part, as if he was dreading something, which Evan found amusing; of course he was nervous, he’d had one day to find thoughtful gifts for people he hardly spoke to.
Suddenly, just as Evan was going to stand, Michael tossed something to him, and he jumped in surprise.
“I didn’t know what to get you, to be honest. I, uhm, I hope this isn’t a shitty gift…” Michael said, “I also hope it doesn’t like… ruin your day… it’s a hit or miss, so I’m taking a shot.”
Evan blinks a few times, “Alright…”
He carefully unwraps the gift, gasping softly when he sees it fully.
The fur is worn, and the stitches are messy—the handiwork of his uncle, no doubt—and one of the ears has a hole in it, but there’s no mistaking it.
It was Fredbear.
The original plushie.
The one he hadn’t seen since he moved out of his dad’s house.
He’d had another, one that Gregory’s dad had made for him, but it’d never been quite the same. It also didn’t talk to him.
… Well maybe that was a good thing.
He didn’t take his eyes off it as he spoke softly, “Where… did you get this?”
“Dad sent it to me since he didn’t have contact with you. He didn’t give me a chance to say I didn’t either. Henry patched it up and it’s just been collecting dust for the past few months.”
He stared at it. It reminded him of a lot of things. The animatronics on stage that terrified him, being bullied, his nightmares, his dad, The Thing, meeting Gregory, that day he broke his ankle, that time Mike almost hit him with his car his first time driving it, when he spent that first night with Gregory, and so many other things.
“Huh…” He said.
“Is it… a good gift…?”
“Yeah, yeah I missed him.” He said, “Thank you.”
Michael smiled.
Elizabeth stood up, “Well, that was sweet,” she said, “let’s get this picked up now.”
They all groaned, and Lizzie clicked her tongue, “Come on, guys, this isn’t our house, we can’t trash it and leave.”
So they picked up. It wasn’t hard, but at some point Charlie bumped into Elizabeth, who playfully pushed her away, and then that ended with the two of them wrestling each other to the ground. Sammy jumped in and for a moment Evan thought Gregory would too, but he didn’t.
So the two of them just continued cleaning while Charlie squealed. And he glanced over at Michael.
He was picking up alongside them, and Evan couldn’t stop himself from laughing a bit.
Michael frowned, “What? What am I doing?”
“Nothing, nothing, it’s just funny that you’re cleaning. We were lucky if Dad got you to pick up a sock, much less your room, much less Henry’s house.”
Michael scoffed, but didn’t say anything.
Thanks for participating in the conversation, I’m glad we’re talking. Evan thought sarcastically.
Gregory looked like he wanted to say something, but he bit his tongue when Evan gave him a look.
“No fighting, I know,” He muttered.
God this sucked a lot.
Michael didn’t know what to say. And he was annoyed that Evan would bring that up. He got so much shit from his dad for not picking up his room, but he could never bring himself to care. He’d hated that house, he’d hated his dad, he’d hated his siblings, and god he’d hated his little brother.
Not that he knew exactly why, though.
His thoughts were interrupted by Elizabeth grabbing his arm, “It snowed last night, do you guys still get snow over in Utah?”
“What? Of course we do!” He said, “Why wouldn’t we?”
“I don’t know, you seem so grumpy I thought you must have never experienced a good thing in your life.” She said.
Evan winced and Michael frowned, “I’m not grumpy.” He said.
“Sure, as if you haven’t been moping around. You know, if you were just going to sulk this whole time you shouldn’t have come,” Elizabeth crossed her arms, “Nobody forced you to come, but you’re acting like this is the worst place to be right now.”
“I’m just… nervous…” He said slowly.
“Nervous? About what? You came because you wanted to see us, didn’t you?” She challenged, “You’re just being dodgy today, I don’t know. You just nudged gifts to us and mumbled ‘thank you’ and hung back, why aren’t you at least trying to participate?”
“I am trying! I’m just not feeling it, okay? Why do you even care, you’re not the one who invited me!”
Elizabeth scoffed, “I invite you every year and every year you shut me down, but not Evan? Is this even about him? Because it feels like it’s about you!”
Michael stared at her, “I’m trying my best!”
“Avoiding us is your best!?”
He fell silent. One look at Evan and Gregory told him they had been thinking the same things.
Goddammit.
He really had been neglecting his sister, hadn’t he? It’s not that he meant to, it’s just that he didn’t know how to talk to her. Her life fell apart pretty quickly once their father’s parenting… declined… but even then she still reached out to their father. Whether she actually thought he could change or if she was just doing it for herself, though, he had no idea.
He was trying to settle these things one at a time! why did he have to fuck up with both his siblings?
“She’s not wrong.” Gregory said, “You’ve been weird lately, and it’d be much easier for everyone if you just… I don’t know… talked? You’re not getting anywhere sneaking around like a dog.”
Michael felt his anger spark at that, “I’m not sneaking around! And don’t call me a dog!”
Elizabeth clenched her fists, “Well if you were really here to make amends, you’d put some effort in, but instead this feels more like a shitty way of getting closure and making yourself feel better-”
Evan stepped forward then, “Okay, that’s enough!”
“-And maybe if you hadn’t almost killed Evan he wouldn’t hate you so much!”
The whole room fell silent.
Evan stared at her, “Elizabeth…”
“It’s true!” She said, “It’s true! He’s always done this! You just avoid us, you shut us out, like that will help, and then you come crawling back for forgiveness so you don’t feel like shit about it!”
“Elizabeth!” Evan shouted.
She turned to look at Evan, and they locked eyes for a moment. She sighed, “I’m going… To go to the gas station for a bit. Call me if you need me.”
Michael watched her go, silent. His gut was twisting and he felt sick.
He was a shitty brother all around, wasn’t he?
He couldn’t even get his sister to like him. Not that he’d tried very hard. Elizabeth made herself feel untouchable. She avoided her brothers because she didn’t want to be caught in the middle of whatever they were doing. She hadn’t been talking about Evan, not entirely. She was probably lonely, he realized.
He looked at Evan, “I didn’t… I’m… I’m sorry…”
Evan stared at him, “Do you want to talk about It? Now?”
Michael laughed, but it was dry and humorless, “No, but I’m willing to, if you want to.”
“We’ll leave you guys alone.” Charlie said, grabbing Gregory and Sammy and pulling them away.
“Liz is right, you’re not really proving anything other than the fact that you feel bad. Which is… It’s annoying.” Evan said, “I know you feel bad, I’ve known that since I got out of the hospital when I was ten, Mike. I don’t need to know you feel bad, I need to know you care and want to make an effort to change.”
“Well, I am trying I just-”
“Don’t know how?”
Michael looked up at him.
“...Yeah.” He said softly, “I don’t know what to do, I hardly know you guys anymore.”
Evan sat down beside him, “None of us do, it took Elizabeth years to even look at me, and even longer for us to finally start actually talking. There’s a lot of things we can’t fix. Elizabeth will always be blunt, that will never change. It’s something she got from Dad. She can’t help that, but she can make it better.” He looked up at Michael, “And I think you can, too. If you just talk to me, but you won’t. And that’s making it hard. I don’t want to push you or bother you but I really really need to just… understand this.”
“So… About The Thing…”
“Yeah, The Thing. Me almost dying, you putting my head into heavy machinery? That Thing?”
“Yeah.”
“I… I still have the scar, you know? It healed over pretty well though, head wounds do that. But I still dream of it, you know. Do you have nightmares?”
“Of seeing my little brother’s head get crushed like a grape? Yeah,” He took a deep breath, “Hard to forget that when I spent at least five minutes staring at it.”
Evan stares at the floor, “... I don’t even remember when it happened. I didn’t feel it at all. Not until I woke up, at least.”
He takes a deep breath, “I… Can I just ask you why?”
“What?”
“Why did you do all that? Why did you treat me like that?”
Michael fell silent. He never talked about the why. It’s not that he didn’t know. He knew. He had known since he started, since he watched his brother’s skull get crunched in front of him.
“I thought it was funny,” He said, “I didn’t like that Dad did all that shit to me. He obviously enjoyed it, and I enjoyed doing it to you. Some kind of fucked up stress relief, I guess.”
Evan stares at him, looking hurt, “That’s brutally honest.”
“You said you didn’t want me to lie to you.”
Evan nodded, “Yeah.”
They sat in silence for a bit, before Evan spoke.
“I don’t know if I want to forgive you or not,” He said, “It’s not that… It’s not that I don’t think you’ve changed but… I still have nightmares. I still remember these things that happened to me and they… they suck. But sometimes I feel like a jerk because I know you’re trying and I know you don’t get why this is so hard for me but… But I really hate you. I hate that you are here for closure, I hate that you are here at all. But I invited you.”
“I think I do get it.” Michael said.
“Hm?”
“I… I haven’t blocked Dad yet, did you know that?”
“Really? I blocked him the day I moved out.” Evan said.
“I keep not wanting to. I keep thinking, ‘what if something happens? What if I need to talk to him?’ even though I know that’ll probably never happen.”
“So I guess I can get where you’re coming from. In a weird twisted way, you know? I don’t know how to cut him off, but I don’t know how to talk to him. It’s like there’s a door open in front of me and I’m too scared to walk through it but what if I close it and it locks? What if there was something good in there?”
Evan doesn’t take his eyes off Michael, before he says, “Give me your phone.”
Michael blinks at him, tilting his head, but he slowly hands Evan his phone, “What’re you doing?”
“Blocking Dad.”
“What!? Did you not hear anything I just said?” He reached for his phone, but Evan was quicker and pulled away from him.
“There’s nothing behind that door, Michael.” He says, startling Michael with his intensity, “Nothing that you want or need. You left that room forever ago and you deserve to stay out of it for the rest of your life. You and Liz.”
Michael watched him and his hand dropped back to his side.
Maybe Evan was right. Maybe there was nothing behind that door. Maybe he was just wishing there had been something in that room. It’s like he was closing and opening it in hopes for something new.
“...Thanks.”
“Always available for cutting off shitty family members. I’m incredibly good at it.”
Michael laughed, “... Yeah… you are.”
Evan stood up, “I think that’s enough for now, I don’t know if I forgive you, honestly.”
Michael shrugs, “Eh, that’s not the most of my worries,” He says, “I guess this was something of a test run?”
“If it was, I think it turned out okay.”
When Elizabeth got back, Michael took her aside to talk to her. Evan didn’t listen in, but he knew what they were talking about, and he did indeed see them hug tightly. It wasn’t Evan’s business. He left it alone.
So things weren’t fixed. But they were better. They had wrapped old wounds. Nothing was healed, but they weren’t bleeding anymore, and that was good.
The rest of the day was fun. Elizabeth insisted Michael stayed, but he had to go home eventually, and there was a mutual understanding that he needed some time alone after all that. It was overwhelming, and Evan was definitely done with seeing his family for a bit. They weren’t friends, but it was something.
He watched Michael walk outside, where Jeremy had come to pick him up.
“Hey, Mike?” He called.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming.”
Michael smiled at him, “Thanks for letting me.”
Not forgiveness, and in the end he would always prefer the family he’d made for himself, but otherwise this went well.
That being said, he was never inviting that many people over for Christmas again. He should’ve gotten them together for Thanksgiving instead.
Gregory pulled Evan back inside, “Dude, it’s freezing, come inside.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Gregory looked inside, “This place is a mess. What happened to ‘we can’t make a mess and leave it’?”
Evan laughed.
#im participating in the thawing of Mariah Carrey and I'm not sorry#Christmas#fnaf#five nights at freddy's#my writing#michael afton#evan afton#no specific au#elizabeth afton#charlie emily#sammy emily#gregory fnaf#really hope u guys like this i spent forever on it#no beta reader bc im impatient#some of the characterization might get choppy but to be honest i really really enjoyed writing this#afton brothers#flashlight duo
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Faith Evans & Mariah Carey photographed by Kevin Mazur & Ron Galella during WBLS Holiday Jam Concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City (November 1997).
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just gimme the (purple) light
#p valley#brandee evans#sheryl lee ralph#shannon thornton#sevyn streeter#doja cat#zendaya#chloe bailey#jorja smith#mariah the scientist#young thug#nicki minaj#my posts#purple light
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Tony Khan needs to do more to promote All-In. I know he has said he responds well to positive reinforcement, so... what should I do? Bake him apple pie or blood sacrifice? I do have some suggestions:
Send the wrestlers (and himself) to do some Korean Englishman and/or JOLLY segments to promote AEW and ALL-IN in London. Josh and Olly have millions of followers, especially in England and Korea. They also have a good relationship with Fulham in London, Fulham Football Club, Fulham High School, and even other football clubs in the UK. It's time for AEW and their wrestlers to be included and catapulted to the mainstream consciousness. When they interviewed the celebrities and offered them food, people were paying attention.
They did the HOT ONES segment with Adam Cole and MJF last year, and now we need to send Bryan Danielson, Swerve Strickland, or Will Ospreay. I know that when Adam Cole and MJF did the show, ticket sales went through the roof according to lots of chatters. Hot Ones seems to prefer WWE, judging from their repertoires, so maybe AEW needs to be included as well. I don't want WWE to monopolize the Hot Ones.
Seriously, I used to ask my (ex) fandoms showrunners to promote their shit on those shows for so many years, and immediately when they actually did that, everyone would buy tickets, streaming services, and watch the shows.
Lastly, according to lots of British fans on social media, after the disappointment of the Euro Cup, they want to see Zack Sabre Jr, their king, be in the All-In. I'm not a Brit, American, or Canadian, but I totally agree with this. It's the Summer of Sabre, he needs to be there, in whatever capacity. People will flock to Wembley to see him!
Also, add Mariah May who is predicted to win the championship and will become the Queen. Pair her with Zack, and turn them to King and Queen of Nasty.
#Tony Khan#Adam Cole#MJF#ZSJ#Maxwell Jacob Friedman#AEW#Mariah May#Zack Sabre Jr#All In#Korean Englishman#JOLLY#Zack Sabre Jr.#All Elite Wrestling#Ring of Honor#Fulham#All Elite#ROH#AEW Dynamite#AEW Rampage#AEW Collision#HOT ONES#Sean Evans#Wembley#Bryan Danielson#Will Ospreay#Swerve Strickland
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Vote for your fave, reblog & share your thoughts and other faves (even if it's not on this list) in the tags I would love to hear it ☺️☺️
Check out my masterpost for the other open polls thank you and have fun ☺️☺️
#whitney houston#self titled#whitney#the bodyguard#waiting to exhale#prince of egypt#soundtrack#my love is your love#mariah carey#george michael#faith evans#kelly price#r&b#soul#pop#vocalists#power ballads#ballads#the voice#tumblr polls#music polls#music#legendary
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Some of my favorite female R&B singers from the 90s. 🤎
#90s r&b#90s singers#90sr&b#90s fashion#r&b/soul#Mya#kelly price#mary j blige#tamia#mariah carey#brandy#deborah cox#aaliyah#faith evans#nicole wray#black singer#black singers
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Fun fact: in the Dorlene fic, Sirius and Regulus are twins
And it's only briefly mentioned bc it's Dorcas' pov while she's taking care of Sirius
while Reg is with their bitchass parents
but essentially their parents visited for the royal celebrations
And their birthday happens during that span of time and OnionBurger only acknowledge Reggie's birthday and ignore ris completely
I also have a related work planned which shows each November 3rd from when they were kids to the year after the fic is set and goes into the different family relationships in more depth that I can't justify going into in the main fic
#there are two sets of twins in this fic wow#there are loads of sibling dynamics to go into tho#the Evans sisters have a shit relationship#the black twins are complicated#black sisters are briefly mentioned but its also complex#rosier twins are really close#Dorcas and Daphne are very much 'ur ugly lol' 'get OUT OF MY ROOM'#and mariah's brother is dead
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💛🎶Singers Part 4🎶💛
#icons#itgirl#potential#sing#talent#r&bgirls#black women#black girls rock#erykah badu#kelis#jennifer hudson#mariah carey#jill scott#Tamia#faith evans#k michelle#singers#singer
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pssst! you! do you enjoy reading about the underdogs of the marauders universe? good news, day 3 of my advent calendar is all about marylily !!!
just some wholesome valkyries and marylily getting together in time for christmas c:
disclaimer: mariah carey is now a wizard
#marauders#mary mcdonald#lily evans#marylily#marlene mckinnon#dorlene#dorcas meadowes#thr valkyries#mariah carey the wizard#hogsmeade bazaar#fic#marylily fic
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Mis lecturas 2023 - Segundo trimestre
¡Hola, hola! Aquí estoy de nuevo con la segunda entrega de mis lecturas anuales… esta vez viene cargada por lo que no me enrollo más.Tengo que decir que he disfrutado mucho de la fantasía en este 2023 y seguro que volveré a hacerlo en 2024 😛 Sinopsis: Un cuento de hadas nunca había sido tan sexy. ¡Déjate seducir por la saga del momento! (Libro 2) Tras haber superado más pruebas de las que un…
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#desear a un duque#deshielo#el duque de manhattan#el sol sale por el oeste#fantasía#fue un martes#invierno#Isabel Keats#la venganza de ramsay#lenora bell#lousie bay#mariah evans#Mia Sheridan#noa alferez#novela romantica#olivia monterrey#olvidar a ethan#paraíso de los libros perdidos#phoebe#reseña#saga renacer#sarah j. maas#secretos compartidos#te odio con todo mi amor#una corte de alas y ruina#una corte de hielo y estrellas#una corte de llamas plateadas#una corte de niebla y furia#whitney g#whitney g.
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RC, PLEASE share more BuckTommy headcanons with us, everything you’ve said about them so far has been glorious.
Headcanon 1:
After Buck calls Tommy about touring Harbor and they agree on a date and time, he starts researching. Every free second he has between calls is spent watching videos that walk through what all the switches and gauges on a helicopter control panel do. On his days off, he reads pages and pages of posts on r/flying. There are no less than eight biographies about pilots on his kitchen counter dressed in the colorful fringe of all his page markers at any given moment. He devours Chickenhawk in one evening, then falls down a Wikipedia rabbit hole that starts with the article on the Bell UH-1 Iroquois and spits him out when he finishes reading about a municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan called Bibiheybət just as the sun starts peeking through the windows.
The night before he's supposed to meet Tommy, he takes a practice PPL exam for shits and giggles. He doesn't pass, of course, but he scores better than he expected to, and he can't wait to tell Tommy. He can't wait to wow him with everything he's learned.
Of course, it's all for nothing, because Eddie swoops in and steals Tommy right out from under him before Buck can even ask Tommy about his thoughts on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.
Once they make their relationship official, Tommy does make good on his promise to take Buck up, and it's so fun to watch Tommy navigate the skies like the helicopter is an extension of his body, like he's barely wowed anymore by the fact he can fly, and he even lets Buck handle the cyclic for a couple of minutes.
They're hovering almost 6,000 feet above city limits, watching the sun set in a sweet comfortable silence, when Buck's almost had his fill of looking at the clean lines of Tommy's profile, he says, "Someday, when I get certified, I'm going to do a Screwdriver Down in a MD-500."
Once Tommy has wrestled the bird out of its sudden 400-foot free fall and back into an even hover, he grips the cyclic until his knuckles bleed white and says, teeth clenched, "Evan, unless you want tomorrow's top headline to be 'Two LAFD Firefighters Die In Massive West Hollywood Helicopter Crash,' I'm begging you to keep the dirty talk to yourself until we're back on the ground."
Headcanon 2:
Tommy has seen a UFO. He's actually seen, like, four. The third time, he'd been flying over the San Gabriel Mountains when something popped up on his radar out of literally nowhere and clipped his tail rotor, sending both him and the craft crashing into the woods.
He doesn't remember anything that happened after that. He woke up in a windowless hospital room where someone in full military dress blues shook his hand and congratulated him on becoming the first ambassador to outer space. Then he made Tommy sign approximately eight million SF-312s and consent to be called upon "if the time should ever come."
This is why he can't watch sci-fi movies with a straight face.
Headcanon 3:
Back in 1996, Tommy's buddies Jamal Kluger and Mitch Henney finally convinced him to go to one of the weekly school dances, mostly because Jamal was determined to slow dance with Amanda O'Shaughnessy and he needed moral support. Tommy didn't hate dances per se. Were there a hundred other things he'd rather be doing? Yes. He had a backlog of Car and Driver that really needed seeing to, but Jamal was practically his brother and Tommy would do a lot worse than dispassionately swaying with a few of his classmates to Mariah Carey in the name of best-friendship.
He'd been in the middle of trying to get Jamal's attention—not that he was ever going to notice, because he was finally dancing with Amanda and everyone else in the gym had probably ceased to exist—with his hands hovering a respectful quarter inch off Laura Lee Moore's hips, who said she'd specifically requested Dreaming of You, when the slow turning they'd been doing put him at the perfect vantage point to see Brett Bennett, pitcher for the East Woodbridge Falcons, dancing with Vanessa Wilson.
Brett was wearing a really nice button-up shirt and Tommy's gaze kept snagging on the way his arms filled out the sleeves, and he couldn't help but wonder if Vanessa could feel the calluses on Brett's hands through her miniskirt. They were probably rough and kept snagging the fabric. Vanessa could probably feel the pull of them, like velcro trying to pry apart. He watched Brett lean down to say something to her and couldn't help but think Brett wouldn't have to strain his neck so much to talk if he were dancing with Tommy. They were almost of a height; Tommy would barely have to tilt his head down. Selena crooned I just want to hold you close, but so far, all I have are dreams of you, and Tommy's heart pounded so loud he was almost certain Laura Lee could hear it over the music. When the song ended, he awkwardly backed away from her and thanked her for the dance, his gaze on Brett and Vanessa, who were still pressed close even though the Quad City DJs were enthusiastically telling people to ride a train. According to his cousin Denise, who was a grade below him and also in attendance that night, Laura Lee spent the rest of the night crying in the bathroom because Tommy couldn't take his eyes off Vanessa.
Almost thirty years later, he and Evan are hanging on the couch, half-watching an episode of Taskmaster and reminiscing about their first crushes—"Really, Evan, your teacher?"—and when Tommy tells him about wishing he'd danced to Dreaming of You with Brett Bennett, Buck presses a sweet kiss to Tommy's arm and says, "Stop making me want to time travel so I can fight an eleven-year old."
Tommy laughs and says, "It was more wanting to slow dance with a cute boy in front of everyone than Brett himself. You have nothing to be jealous about. When we were in the eighth grade, he crushed up a bunch of Altoids and snorted them through a hollowed-out pen during social studies. I've never heard anyone scream like that in my entire life. They had an ambulance come for him and he never came back to school after that."
"Sounds like a real winner," Evan teases, tongue between his teeth. "You really know how to pick 'em."
"Yeah, it's a gift," Tommy deadpans, and then wrestles Evan, who's cackling like a hyena, into the couch cushions.
Months later, Howie and Maddie throw a big party—which Howie's been calling Reception Redux in the OG 118 group chat—in Tommy's backyard, and he's in the middle of an unspoken chicken wing eating contest with Eddie—who's winning, and Tommy has no idea how he's putting them away so fast—when the music changes from some pop song he doesn't know to a familiar tinkle of piano chords. Howie strong-arms the mic away from the DJ and announces with a big grin that the song was requested by someone who wanted to "quote-unquote: dance with a cute boy in front of everyone."
Tommy almost chokes on the wing in his mouth, and he barely wipes the barbeque sauce off his fingers in time before Evan comes over, takes his hand, and pulls him onto the little dance floor they'd put down that morning in the flattest part of the yard.
His heart pounds as Evan drapes his arms over Tommy's shoulders like it's the easiest thing in the world, pressing close until it feels like their bodies are merging everywhere they touch, and then starts to sway. Tommy slowly lets his hands settle on Evan's hips, firm and sure. He doesn't even consider doing the hover thing.
As Selena sings about wishing on stars, Tommy closes his eyes and tucks his temple against Evan's, and for a moment they're in the East Westbridge Junior High School gym, which smells like sweat and cherry Lip Smackers and body odor, and across the room Jamal and Mitch both give him an enthusiastic thumbs up—and Mitch then does something obscene with his hands that has Jamal smacking him upside the head—because Tommy's dancing with the boy of his dreams in front of everyone while his stack of Car and Driver magazines sit unread and curling from the humidity.
"If Brett Whatshisname shows up, I won't be responsible for my actions," Evan says warmly, voice soft against the curve of his ear. "Literally. I already cleared it with Athena."
I'll be dreaming with you tonight endlessly, the song promises, and Tommy opens his eyes in the present. He takes a deep breath, borrows the energy of Selena's vow, and pulls back just far enough to whisper against the corner of Evan's mouth, "Marry me."
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Vedic Astrology Observations
1. Punarvasus tend to be very spiritual if not religious. They find peace in prayer. Another thing I've noticed is that they are very sexually conservative (probably because of their cat yoni). Mariah Carey, Punarvasu Moon was a virgin when she married her first husband and waited until marriage to be intimate with her second husband as well. She was engaged to James Packer for 18 months and they reportedly never had a physical relationship.
Miranda Kerr, Punarvasu Moon was in a relationship with Evan Spiegel for 3 years and waited until marriage. Drew Barrymore, Punarvasu Moon has said that she's been celibate since her divorce in 2016.
2. Mariah Carey, Punarvasu Moon speaking of the nature of light & time , her memoir has multiple chapters titled with light-related names and even sooo many of her songs , including Butterfly (Punarvasus are connected to butterflies)
3. Moksha gana nakshatras embody the trickster archetype. They also often argue or provoke people simply for the heck of it. 2/3 Moon ruled naks (Rohini & Hasta) are Moksha gana and it makes sense as to why they fuck with people just because they can, they have nothing to gain from it and it serves no purpose, they're evil for the heck of it. They'll go to any length to ruin you even if they ruin themselves in the process.
Moksha means liberation in Sanskrit (Sanskrit is a classical language like Latin that is pretty much only used in a scholarly context) and is one of 4 purusharthas or motivations assigned to the 27 naks. The others are artha (wealth) kama (pleasure) and dharma (duty). Moksha would be located at the very top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which means an individual with Moksha gana naks has transcended all the other base level motivations of accumulating wealth, seeking pleasure and doing one's duty. What is left to do now? If an individual is evolved, they actually seek liberation through their spirituality but if they are not, not only are they unbothered by any ordinary human motives, they lack the ability to devote themselves to anything ordinary because they simply dont care about getting a job or building a house or whatever. this means they also kind of exist beyond normal social norms?? go up against a Moksha gana native/Moon dominant person and the kind of arguments they'll use against you will reveal this nature of theirs. like they will have zero issue using your every vulnerability and insecurity against you just to win an argument or put you down. they hate to look "weak" so they will tear you apart just because they can, with no regard for any history you share. there are people who defend this by saying "oh well i was mad" babygirl everybody gets mad, but if someone isnt raising their voice, being petty or singling you out and bringing up your past to make you crumble, its not because they're incapable of it, its because they have principles.
Moksha gana naks love to play devil's advocate.
4. Rahuvians have bad memory, they probably repeat the same stories in different ways every few weeks lol
5. Saturnian women often marry billionaires according to Claire Nakti and I recently found some more examples of that:
** Mariah Carey, UBP Sun was engaged to Australian billionaire, James Packer who used to date Miranda Kerr, Pushya Rising (both these women are also Punarvasu Moon), Miranda is now married to the CEO of Snapchat.
** Lisa Manobal, UBP Sun is dating Frederic Arnault, a French billionaire
** Elle Macpherson, UBP Sun was in a relationship with Arpad Busson with whom she had 2 kids (he's not a billionaire but he does have a net worth of $500 million)
6. Nominative determinism, literally "name-driven outcome", is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that reflect their names.
but i thought i'd use it in the context of astrology and how most people are subconsciously given names that reflect their nakshatras
ex: Angelina Jolie
the name Angelina is an expansion of Angela which is derived from the Greek word Angelos which means "Angel" or "messenger". Angelina has Revati Moon which is a deva ("godly" nakshatra) and Jolie is the French word for "pretty" and Angelina has Venus in 1h and is Pushya Rising (these were two of the biggest beauty indicators according to Claire's research)
(its so cute to me that her name is literally Angel Pretty bc damn right she is)
Yara Shahidi (Revati Moon)- Yara is the name of a water spirit and in Portuguese it means "Water lady" (Yara has stated that her name means one who is close to your heart, but names can have several different meanings) and Shahidi means "witness" in Persian. I feel like all of that really ties together with Revati being in pisces rashi and the last nakshatra that is "witness" to everything else etc
#astrology notes#sidereal astrology#astrology observations#vedic astro notes#nakshatras#astro notes#astrology#vedic astrology#astroblr#astro observations#astro community#12h#jyotish#pisces#punarvasu
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CLUB DANCE COMPANY TEAMS 2024/2025
SUPERSTARS:
Kailey Miller, Hazel Jenkins , Remy Schwalb, Parker Banks, Delaney Poulson, Kristen Morales, Sunny Cunnigham, Daisy Nielsen, Kennedy Elliott, Kenley Rodriguez, Blaire Atchley, Harper Scates, Skye Parkinson, Avery Palacios, Peyton De La Cerda, Paisley Self, , Leo Robbins, Zadie Evans, Peyton Marble, Dolly Putton, Jolene Serna, Eastyn Vose, Blakely Paul
ROCKSTARS:
Harper Rosenbaugh, Lola Forrest, Claire Sandall, Goldie Nielsen, Abbey Scott, Penelope Ortiz, Hazel Silverman, Lily Knopps, Paislee Perkins, Emersyn Varker, Faye Cunnigham, Riley Bagnoli, Olivia Serna, Reagan Tannehill, Allie Kleve, Kinley Palmer, Ava Palmer, Hadley Taylor ( from September), Kinley Martz, Kinsley Camp
MINI COMPANY:
Kensington Ferrin, Addison Pichette, Cara Hart, Presley Ortiz,Kinsley Jackman, Emerson Van Houten, Kate Valentine,Bryn Spears, Emma Kleve, River Robbins, Zoe Zwick, Scarlett Robinson, Kennedy Besch, Taeya Ivory, Mariah Bland, Aspen Brandt, Kyle Young, Jolie Harris, Remy Blaise, Karsyn Brewer
JR COMPANY:
Sylvie Win Szyndlar, Navy Forrest, Finley Nielsen, Kinley Harper, Caitlyn Mackenzie, Harper Scwhalb, Shale Herrera, Nixie Vance, Bella Linman, Libby Jhonson, Maddie Downs, Kennedy Marble, Tatum Self, Nicola Fleming, Cambrie O' Haver, Landrie Kuhni, Kaia Erby, Zoe Philadiapht,
TEEN COMPANY:
Ellary Day Szyndlar, Elsie Sandall, Hadlie Scott, Harper Peterson, Kendyl Miller, Mikayla Isler, Alexis Alvarez, Ellie Self, Emma Scott, Brooklyn Besch, Mikayla Jackman, Lucia Piedrahita, Isla Gardner
THERE'S PROBABLY MORE I CAN'T THINK OF SO WRITE THEM DOWN IN THE COMMENTS!
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https://www.tumblr.com/hockeygossipdaily/764528769094631424/who-are-all-the-kraken-wags-anyone-have-a-list-or
That WAG list is pretty out of date. Here are the ones I know of:
Matty Beniers: soft launched someone over the summer but not confirmed that it’s evolved beyond something minor. Lives with Will Borgen.
Jared McCann: married, Val Vanderkuylen McCann
Chandler Stephenson: married, Tasha Stephenson
Shane Wright: unsure
Oliver Bjorkstrand: married, Jill Bjorkstrand
Andre Burakovsky: long term gf Johanna Scortea, have a kid together
Jordan Eberle: married, Lauren Rodych Eberle
Yanni Gourde: married, Marie Gourde
Ty Kartye: dating, Monik Pigeau
Jaden Schwartz: long term gf Adi Stromberg
Brandon Tanev: unknown, that man is a mystery to us all
Eeli Tolvanen: long term gf Benita
Will Borgen: unknown, dude is more private than anyone else on the team
Vince Dunn: dating Daniella Direnzo
Ryker Evans: dating Mariah Feist
Adam Larsson: married, Vera Soderberg
Josh Mahura: engaged, Kennedy Maling
Brandon Montour: married, Ryian Montour
Jamie Oleksiak: long term gf Kenzie Englund
Joey Daccord: recently single, split from serious gf Lexi Dickinson for unknown reasons
Philipp Grubauer: long term gf Isobel Leandra
Thank you anon!
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list of mixed name ideas (oct 27, 2024)
i sorted them into three categories: androgynous, feminine and masculine.
in this list, there's any type of names (mostly for english-speaking people though): typical first names, noun names, mythology names, etc.
if you have more ideas of names for trans folks, writers, etc, just lemme know! (Can also be not-so-cool names for the writers, we need them for the asshole side characters :3)
i will update the list every time I have a lot of new name suggestions. you can find the newest list under the tag #updated name list on my profile.
(alphabetical list with 398 mixed names under the cut)
--- androgynous ---
Aki
Alex
Alexis
Ares
Ari
Artemis
Aster
Bennie/Benny
Blair
Charlie
Chrissy
Crimson
Eli
Evie
Finn/Fynn
Frances/Francis
Hayden
Jackie/Jacky
Jess
Jessie
Lou
Louie
Mag
Maggot
Max
Mika
Miko
Noah
Ollie
Quinn
Rafa
Robin
Shilo/Shiloh
Sky/Skye
Val
Vin
Vinnie/Vinny
Wilson
--- feminine ---
Abby
Abigail
Aileen/Eileen
Aimee/Amy
Alessia
Alexa
Alexia
Alexandra
Alice
Alissa
Amalia
Amber/Ember
Amelia
Amelie
Angie
Anna
Anne
Annie
Anastasia
Andrea/Andreea
Antheia
Astra
Audrey
Bailey
Becky
Bella
Belle
Bettie/Betty
Brie
Carla/Karla
Carolina
Caroline
Catherine
Celina/Selena/Selina
Celine
Charlotte
Christina/Kristina
Christine/Kristine
Claire
Cora/Corah
Daniela/Daniella
Danielle
Dalia/Daliah
Debbie
Debora/Deborah
Delilah
Diana/Diane
Dora/Dorah
Eburia
Elena
Eleanor/Elenor
Elisa/Eliza
Elizabeth
Ella
Emery
Emilia
Emilie/Emily
Emma
Eva
Evie
Evelyn
Fenya
Finya
Fiona
Francisca/Franziska
Gaia
Gina
Hanna/Hannah
Harmony
Hecate
Hera
Hestia
Hope
Irena
Irene
Iris
Isa
Isabel/Isabelle
Isabela/Isabella
Ivory
Ivonne/Yvonne
Ivy
Izzy
Jasmin/Jasmine
Jenna
Jenny
Jolene
Julia
Julianne
Julie
Juliet/Juliette
Katarina/Katharina
Kathy/Katy
Laura
Lauren
Laurel
Lara
Lena
Leia/Leya
Levina
Levinia
Liara
Lili/Lilli/Lilly/Lily
Lilian/Lilien
Lisa
Livia
Lola
Lorelei
Louisa/Luisa
Louise/Luise
Luce
Lucy
Luna
Madeline
Maggie/Meggie
Meg
Marlene
Maira/Myra
Margaret
Marge
Marlene
Maria/Mariah
Marie/Mary
Melanie
Melissa
Mellie/Melly
Mia
Milly
Mina
Minerva
Minnie
Miriam
Naira/Nyra
Natalia
Natalie
Natasha
Nellie/Nelly
Nessie
Nina
Nora/Norah
OIiv/Olive
Olivia
Ollie
Paula
Peggy
Penelope/Pinelopy
Penny
Philippa
Polly
Poppy
Rebecka
Robin
Roxanne
Sara/Sarah
Stella
Stephanie/Stephany
Tara/Tarah
Tina
Valerie/Valery
Vanessa
Veronica
Victoria
Viona
Vivian
Viviana
Willow
Yasmin/Yasmine
Zoe/Zoé/Zoey
--- masculine ---
Aion
Alex
Alexander
Amon
Anthony
Anton
Ares
Ben
Benjamin
Bennie/Benny
Bill
Billy
Brian
Calvin
Carl/Karl
Chad
Chris
Chrissy
Damian
Dan
Daniel
Davon/Devon
Dorian
Elia/Elijah
Elio
Eliot/Elliot/Elliott
Emilio
Erion
Evan
Felix
Finn/Fynn
Icarus
Jack
Jackie/Jacky
Jona/Jonah
Jonas
Jones
Julian/Julien
Julius
Justin
Kevin
Leo
Linus
Louie
Louis/Luis
Lucc/Luke
Lucas/Lukas
Luigi
Marc
Marco
Mario
Max
Michael
Mickey
Mike
Milo
Nathan
Nick
Nico/Niko/Nikko
Noah
Oliver
Ollie
Paul
Pete
Peter
Robin
Sebastian
Steve
Steven
Theodore
Tim
Toby
Tom
Tommy
Tony
Valentine
Victor
Wilson
Zach/Zack
If you want me to add things like meanings, origins, etc you can just tell me!!
#noni's posts#name ideas#noni's writing prompts and tips#noni's queer posts#names#name suggestions#name list#name help#name change#identity#name#writing#writing tips#trans#transgender#non binary#enby#queer#lgbtq#lgbtqia#genderqueer#nonbinary#bigender#agender#genderfluid#demigender#updated name list#baby names#baby name ideas#pet names
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