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suckerfordeansfreckles · 5 years

Note

Christmas prompt: hospital worker (doctor, nurse, tech, etc.) falls in love with volunteer who comes in to give presents to children and play songs for them, etc. ❤️ Thank you, lovely, and I hope you are well

MERRY CHRISTMAS/(HOLI)DAYS MY LOVES

Just a New Volunteer (read on AO3)

It’s been five weeks since Dean Winchester first sauntered into Kansas Hospital and charmed his way into every kid’s and nurse’s heart. Actually, he stumbled in here with a blush hard to match, introducing himself as Dean, just a new volunteer, and only afterwards went on to charm everyone.

Five Weeks of Cas feeling unable to not peek into the rooms of his little patients whenever Dean is around, sneaking in to watch for a few stolen seconds how gentle Dean is with the kids. How he doesn’t shy away from games like imaginary tea parties, painting the same fairy tales over and over again, playing Uno with kids that can’t even tell the colors apart. How he doesn’t shy away from their illnesses either, from talking to them about life and health and a possible end.

He’s so patient and sweet and gentle with the kids, and it makes Cas ache for something he can’t quite name.

The fact that he’s gorgeous and entirely unaware of it doesn’t really help Cas’ growing crush either. He runs his fingers through his dirty-blond hair and bites his lovely pink lips like he has no idea what effects it has on everyone — on Cas, mostly. He sends Cas these lovely smiles, brings him coffee sometimes, asks him about his days. Asks about the kids, whether things got better or maybe worse, what he has to keep in mind and be aware of when he spends time playing with them.

He’s thoughtful and nice and generous and he volunteers to play with sick children like it’s the best thing he could do with his free time.

It is the best thing, in Cas’ humble opinion, but from Dean’s stories about balancing a part-time job at a garage and studying mechanical engineering… Cas isn’t sure he could do all that and volunteer with the enthusiasm and care and patience Dean brings into the hospital every Tuesday and Thursday.

It’s the last Thursday before volunteering will take a break for Christmas, and Cas is already wondering how he will make it through the holidays without Dean’s soft, beaming smiles.

He’s not sure how it even happened, how he fell this quickly for a man he barely knows, but it’s been so easy.

It’s easy again today, when Dean comes in and hands Cas a steaming cup of hot cocoa with a gentle smile.

“Hey there, Doc,” Dean says, as he lets go of the cup that now warms Cas’ hands, fingers brushing Cas’ knuckles.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas answers, raising his cup to take the first sip of perfect warm sweetness. “Thank you for this, it saved my afternoon.”

Dean can only linger for a few more seconds, watching as Cas drinks his cocoa behind the counter. Jody comes by to pick him up and take him to little Sophie’s room for an hour of whatever she feels like playing today.

Sophie has been doing better during the past few weeks, and Dean has been coming back out of her room a little happier every time he saw her, lately.

It’s the same today, as he wanders out with a soft smile and humming We Wish You A Merry Christmas under his breath. Cas is in the middle of filling out a document for a new admission when Dean comes to a stop in front of him, pulling his soft red pullover down over his hands.

“Hey,” he mumbles, eyes flitting to Cas, then the countertop between them, and back again.

“Hello again,” Cas answers, as always, sending Dean a smile. “I guess you’re heading out now?”

Dean just nods, biting his lower lip. “I — Well, I just wanna wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays, I guess. Just — I hope you’ll get to spend them with the people you love.”

Cas feels strangely hollow at those words, but manages a rather fake smile anyway. “Well, I’ll be working 24th and 25th. I don’t have anyone waiting for me so I figured I could do the work here and let my colleagues go home to their families.”

Dean’s smile drops, brows pulling together. “Oh, I — I’m sorry. But I’m really glad the kids got you keeping them company during the holidays.”

That makes Cas smile again, and this time it’s a genuine one. “The holidays are a tough time for a lot of them, yeah.”

“Well,” Dean says, swaying a little on his feet. “Well, then, I won’t keep you from your work any longer, then! Happy holidays, Cas. See you.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Dean,” Cas responds, feeling fuzzy both at Dean’s smile and the way he called him by his nickname. Cas. He remembers times when Dean would only call him Mr. Novak, Doctor Novak, Sir.

Dean sends him one last grin, then turns around and leaves. And all the fuzzy feelings leave right with him.

The following days are a little monotonous, and the sadness that comes with having to spend Christmas in a hospital gets to Cas, too, this year.

It’s December 24th and getting out of bed and into work was hard today.

It gets easier when Cas meets the first kids, finds them giddy and excited for Christmas and presents and Santa.

The day flies by, and the evening comes, and Cas’ stomach clenches a little when he thinks about going home alone and finding an empty, cold apartment.

He has an hour left and decides to leave the front desk to Jody and spend the rest of his time filing paperwork in one of their small office rooms.

When there’s a knock on the door behind Cas, he startles hard enough to drop a stack of files.

“Oh god, sorry,” Dean speaks up behind him, and Cas’ heart beats faster just at hearing his voice.

Cas whirls around, smile already stretching on his face. “Dean,” he says, and it sounds a little too breathless.

“Cas,” Dean says, a wide smile on his face. “Hey, sorry to bother you today, but I — Well, I spent the day with my brother and his fiancee and we ate a lot but had all these leftovers, anyway, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how you told me you’d be all alone today and —” he breaks off, takes a deep breath, then looks up at Cas again with wide green eyes. “God, sorry for rambling. I thought I’d bring you some food, maybe. If you want it.”

Cas can watch how the flush spreads over Dean’s cheeks in seconds.

“Dean, that’s—” He feels his heart beat overtime, throat closing up a little. “That’s so sweet of you, thank you so much.”

Dean just blushes impossibly more, the tips of his ears coloring red. “I just thought — you know, I just wanted you to be okay and well-fed.”

And then it suddenly hits Cas, that maybe that’s not how Dean treats just everyone, despite his goodness, his generosity and helpfulness. Dean didn’t come to bring leftovers for Jody, Dean doesn’t bring coffee or cocoa for anyone but Cas. He doesn’t stop to chat for a few minutes with anyone but Cas. Maybe Dean feels as fuzzy as Cas does, and maybe this is Cas’ chance. His one chance to do something about it. So he does.

“I’m off in —” He blurts, breaking off briefly to check his clock. “I’m off in 22 minutes. If you don’t have any plans yet, for the rest of your evening, would you maybe want to join me for dinner tonight? I can’t offer much but —”

Dean interrupts him before he can even stutter about the lack of food in his house, he steps forward, into Cas’ space, and says: “Yes, I’d love that, Cas.”

Cas makes it through 22 agonizingly slow minutes of work.

He makes it through 22 minutes, and then he grabs his things and rushes out towards where Dean is supposed to be waiting at the entrance.

And Dean is waiting, turning towards Cas with a giddy smile when he rushes through the hallway and towards him. And then Cas kind of just crashes into Dean’s arms and buries his face in the crook of his neck.

He thought about it for 22 minutes so now he just does what he’s been dreaming about. He pulls back a little to look into Dean’s eyes and asks, thrilled and maybe a little too blunt: “Can I kiss you, finally?”

And Dean doesn’t respond with words, just laughs softly and then leans in to kiss Cas, soft and gentle and sure.

When they pull away a little, Dean grabs Cas’ hand, intertwines their fingers and whispers against his lips: “Merry Christmas, Cas.”

“Merry Christmas, Dean,” Cas responds, and then they hurry out towards Dean’s car, towards Cas’ apartment.

They hurry home.

Tag list: @planetahmane @justyourordinaryfangirl @winchester-cas @castielinparadise @trxye-sxvxn @runtosleepdreamer @destielhoneybee @breathingdestiel @wellofwoes @xxgoldensnowflake @dshelley @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @robotsnchicks @jemariel @reallyelegantsharkfish @mellomish @frecklessaver @jasminrogue @skittles-rainbow-cat @Insecureadult @fpwoper @imbiowaresbitch @destielsangel @elaspn @didnt-survive-twist-and-shout @mercenarydestiel @a-pastel-pan @7faerielights @kathrinerose @nerd-litteraire @wingsandimpalas @casbean @miasif @petrichoravellichor @trenchcoatsandfreckles @sleephawhoneedsit @vibraniumarm @youreabadliar @inlovewithsaturn @super-powerful-queen-slayyna @brangaene @all-or-nothing-baby @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday @error-name-not-in-this-dimension @elizaeverafter@letofarrell @apieceofurmind @notfunnydean @winchester-ofthe-lord @love-neve-dies @korppikasvo @imafluffyjellybean @carry-on-my-wayward-hunter @mishtho

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thefandomsinhalor · 4 years

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Title: Let Your Heart Be Light

Author: thefandomsinhalor

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Castiel/ Dean Winchester

Summary:

On Christmas Eve, five-year-old Dean meets a boy of the same age, named Castiel. With every passing year, their friendship blossoms, and soon, Dean knows that he is drawn to his friend more deeply he’d like to admit.

The question is: will he do something about it before it’s too late?

Read on AO3

(I will update throughout the month)

Read Chapter One below :)

Chapter One: Thursday, December 24th, 1998

“Dean, honey, what do we say?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! Ho-ho-ho!”

The man pretending to be Santa Claus amicably bopped Dean’s head before walking away to the next couple of children standing by, awaiting their present.

Yes, Dean Winchester, despite being five-year-old, wasn’t fooled by this imposter. He knew this man couldn’t possibly be the real one.

It was quite simple, really. It was late afternoon, he hadn’t climbed down the chimney, nor had he any cookie or milk laid out for him.

And then, there was the gift in question.

Dean didn’t want to seem ungrateful, as he knew his mother wouldn’t like it, but he had been very specific in his letter to Santa.

And there was no way this flat, though large, box contained the very intricate race track set he had begged for.

But that was fine. As he had concluded, this man wasn’t Santa. He was just pretending. Like the one at the mall. Or the one near the video store.

No. The real Santa was yet to come.

“Don’t you want to know what you got?” his father asked him.

Glancing around him, Dean realized that nearly every child had already torn open the wrappings and were enjoying their Christmas surprises. Fire trucks. Coloring books. Dolls and soldier toys. Even Sammy, sitting on his mother’s lap, was hugging a cute teddy bear.

Feeling the stare of both his parents on him, Dean began tearing off the metallic blue and silver wrapping, which had snowflakes of various shapes on it, and was left staring at his present, puzzled once he had opened the box.

He had no idea what he was looking at. It was a thin layer of material, of a bright yellow color, with adorable bees depicted on it, stretched across a wooden frame, and a string attached to it.

“Oooh, that’s nice,” said Mary gleefully.

Noticing his confused state, John asked him, “Do you know what this is, Dean?”

Frowning, he shook his head at his father.

“It’s a kite,” he said kindly. “You make it fly.”

Dean lowered his eyes to look at his present again.

“Like in Mary Poppins,” said Mary. “You remember?”

He nodded.

“Next time we go to the park,” said John, “we’ll try it. Or even when we visit Uncle Bobby. He certainly has the open fields around his house for it.”

A grown-up, one of many present swarming around in the house, then called out to Dean’s parents. It was a nice lady named Tamara who smiled at Dean and wished him Merry Christmas.

“Isaac is somewhere in the parlor talking with Rufus and Bill Harvelle. They were asking for you, John,” she said to Dean’s father.

“Bill?” said Mary. “Did he and Ellen bring little Joanna with them?”

“That’s what he said. I was just on my way to find them.”

Keeping Sam in her arms, Mary stood up from her seat, scanning the room for her friend.

“I’ll go check on Isaac and the others, and then I’ll catch up with you to see Ellen and the baby,” said John, smiling at his wife’s eagerness to see the newborn. He then turned to his son. “Do you want to say hello with me, Dean? Or would you prefer going with Mom, Sammy and Tamara?”

Dean shrugged. Talking to grown-ups wasn’t exactly what he considered a thrilling activity. Of course, there were exceptions.

Due to his lack of enthusiasm, however, his mother then suggested, “How about you stay here with the other children?”

Another questionable prospect, thought Dean.

Most of the kids in the living room, laughing and playing with their new toys, seemed much older than he was.

And more importantly, he didn’t really know any of them.

The celebration, which Dean and his family were taking part in that day, had been hosted by Mr. Donatello Redfield, one of Dean’s neighbors.

Except for when John had raked his lawn in the fall, a task dutifully assisted by Dean—though he had mainly played in the pile of dead leaves while his father had done most of the work—Dean hadn’t had much interaction with Mr. Redfield.

He remembered that he had been very generous at Halloween when he and Sam had stopped by his house. Mr. Redfield had given them enormous delicious candy bars. And Dean also recalled him letting him taste his spicy chicken wings on the Fourth of July, in the previous summer.

But nothing much beyond that, and especially during Christmastime. For reasons unknown to Dean, Mr. Redfield didn’t make a fuss of the holidays. He typically travelled somewhere exotic and returned home in the new year with a sunburn on his nose.

This year, however, had been different. For health-related reasons, or so Dean had heard, Mr. Redfield had been recommended to pause his travels, and given his holiday habits, many of his concerned neighbors feared he would feel lonely and had wanted to keep him company.

So, due to numerous dotting neighbors, friends and colleagues showing up at his doorstep throughout the months of November and December, Mr. Redfield had decided to host a Christmas family-friendly party on Christmas Eve to thank everyone.

His first ever.

The crowd was merry. Laughter and cheers from children and adults alike filled the entire house.

But despite the jolly vibe in the air and the numerous children present, Dean hadn’t been too keen on exploring on his own.

When he told his parents why that was, his mother said, “That’s a good thing, sweetie. It means you can make a new friend. Okay?”

Assessing his mild hesitation, after he had glanced apprehensively at the other children, she pointed out that he had nothing to worry about and that if he was shy, he could start by joining another of their neighbors. For example, Mrs. Missouri, a kind and generous woman, was comfortably sitting in a rocking chair, telling a story to a few children gathering around her, and listening with attention and with wide eyes, near the fireplace.

Suddenly determined to prove that he was not shy, Dean shook his head and said, “I’ll go play with the others, first.”

Even if he really wanted to say hello to Missouri as well.

“Alright, buddy. Do you want me to hold this for you while you do that?” said his father, pointing at his kite, but Dean expressed that he wanted to keep it with him.

And without further ado, young Dean turned on his heels and joined the group of children, searching for a new friend.

He was briefly tempted to approach a joyous girl with a blond ponytail and a sheriff’s hat that was too big for her. She was laughing with her friend who had a very strange haircut. His hair was very short in the front, but really long in the back. They were playing Connect Four, which Dean enjoyed playing.

He changed his mind, however, when a bunch of older children swooped by, running around, taking a lot of space.

Feeling somewhat intimidated by them, Dean briefly glimpsed back to the spot where his parents and his brother had been a moment ago.

But they were no longer present, as he knew they wouldn’t be.

He swallowed hard and decided to go near the large window across the room to avoid the bigger kids. He kneeled next to the Christmas tree, taking in the overwhelming scent of pine and cinnamon, and observed the room from this new angle, holding on tightly to his kite.

Everyone else seemed to know each other and blissfully occupied themselves with their toys.

Which made sense, thought Dean, as their toys could be enjoyed in their current environment.

Unlike Dean’s.

“Hello.”

Dean looked up.

A boy his age and height, with bright blue eyes and thick, wavy dark hair, was suddenly standing right in front of him. He was wearing a green knitted sweater with an angel on it and his socks were different colors.

“Hi.”

“Do you want one?” the boy asked politely.

He was holding a square box against him with one hand.

And then, Dean’s eyes fell on what the boy was presenting him with his other hand.

Star-shaped sugar cookies.

“For me?”

The boy nodded.

After Dean accepted his generous offer, the boy sat next to him and they both ate their treats next to each other.

“What did you get?” he asked Dean, nodding at what he was holding.

Pursing his lips, Dean showed him his kite. Expecting the boy to be as disappointed as he was, he was then stunned to see the boy’s eyes widen.

“You’re so lucky,” he told him.

“You think so?”

“I like bees,” he said, after nodding. “And kites are fun.”

“I’ve never had one before.” Eyeing the box that the boy had rested next to him, he said, “What’s yours?”

And the boy slid himself closer to Dean to show him.

Right next to him.

They delicately opened the box together.

And to Dean’s delight, the boy retrieved a giant rainbow slinky.

“Whoa! That’s so cool. Can we play with it?”

“You like it?”

His eyes glued to it in adoration, Dean nodded.

“Do you want it?”

Young Dean blinked. “What?”

“We can exchange, if you want.”

“Really?”

And moments later, both boys were content with their new presents. Dean certainly believed that he had gotten the better end of that deal. At that thought, a mild pit grew in his stomach, not unlike when he sometimes lied to his mother about brushing his teeth.

Feeling uneasy that he had perhaps taken advantage of his new friend’s generosity, he asked him, “Are you sure you don’t want the slinky? It’s really fun and the colours are nice. It was yours first. I—if you changed your mind, it’s okay.”

But the adorable boy in question did not mind. In fact, he informed Dean that the main reason why he was so keen on having the kite was because his brother had one of his own. So now, he would be able to accompany him to the park without having to constantly ask him to share.

Reassured—not to mention, very glad to know he could keep his rainbow slinky—Dean said, “I have a brother too. He’s younger than me.”

“I have more than one brother. I have three. They’re all older than me.” The boy hadn’t said it with as much enthusiasm as Dean had. His brief morose expression disappeared though, and a warm grin spread on his face when his eyes met Dean’s.

His bright blue eyes staring back at him.

“What’s your name? I’m—” started saying the other boy, but he was cut off by an impeccably dressed teenager, who had stopped right in front of them.

“Castiel, there you are. Come, now. We have to go.”

Dean’s new friend shook his head vehemently at the teen. “No. I want—I just made a friend. Can I stay a little longer? Please?”

“Aunt Naomi said we have to leave now or we’ll be late.”

“Michael, please? I’ll—”

“She asked me to find you. I found you, now come on.”

“Michael,” hissed a woman. “It’s time to go—Gabe, stop! You’re making me dizzy.”

A child with sandy hair, not much older than Dean and Castiel, was running relentlessly around her, chortling and unspent.

“Castiel, say goodbye.” And his brother presented him his hand, signalling to him that he had to leave immediately.

He turned facing Dean and said softly, “Goodbye.” And added, waving at him, “Thank you for the kite. I love it.”

“Bye.” And Dean thanked him as well.

He watched his new friend walk away towards his family members, a large group, mostly consisting of older kids and adults, and disappeared through the crowd.

Feeling lonely once more, Dean was suddenly sad when he realized that he never had the chance to tell him his name.

He comforted himself, however, that he had caught the boy’s name and was eager to tell his parents of his new friend and the very first Christmas present he had ever received from a friend.

And that was the day Dean had met his best friend Castiel Novak. His best friend of many years to come. And one day, perhaps, something more.

Read on AO3

(where I will update throughout the rest of the month)

#Destiel fanfic #spnpetra #destiel fluff #spn fic #SPN xmas #kid fic #growing up #my fanfic #spn fandom #spn fam #spn family

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ajw720 · 5 years

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Just want to say that I could not be happier about most of the Halloween costumes and parties this year. But, I do think it needs to be said that Kathy and Chris were friends before this. By this interview with D, she and Chris had been pals for years. I know she was on Glee, as a judge of one of their many competitions. And she also held a fake marriage ceremony with him on stage somewhere, with Chris as her groom. She’s like Jane, a mom sub. C was on K’s show, then D, same as Jane’s.

***********************************************************************

This Halloween was like Christmas, it was fabulous and no matter what they try, they cannot undo it. And I am confident D&C were fully aware of what was happening on Thursday night with the pictures. They have been playing this game for years, they know how not to be in the background of photos. They wanted those pics circulated. So my question is, why now and who allowed those pics to be published? We all know the content is generally very controlled. And I would imagine EP has full control over the pics that are released from his party, I always question his involvement and well he was responsible for the only formal pic to date of CC, albeit a group photo.

C killed Halloween with his 2 costume choices. They were amazing. And I love that both he and D wee in drag last Saturday.

As for M/iarren, while the costumes themselves were not that great (kind of cheap and poorly executed though D as a dalmatian was adorable). I would say she spent more time and effort on the pics with her “squad’), i loved both of them. The villain and the victim. And in both cases, the D character won. And costume one was a blatant nod to C and his amazing books. Proving she is obsessed with us and what we say and trying to one up C.

Sad for her, she lost Halloween this year and CC triumphed and caused an absolute riot.

No doubt both L/ily and JTF knew. I think JTF has actually been a role model to D. And he and JM have been, from what i can see, really amazing to both our guys. And L/ily would never have jumped in that way if she thought for one second that d was capable of handling it himself. But since D could not muster an answer, she answered for him and then he was able to collect himself and go with the joke.

Intereting side note, when that video originally aired, i still believed the PR story and I remember thinking about how odd his answer was and how uncomfortable he was. And i wasn’t looking for anything as I didn’t think there was a reason for him to lie.

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lovelylogans · 5 years

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love light gleams

previous chapter | epilogue

part of the wyliwf verse.

the sideshire files | read my other fics | coffee?

warnings: food mentions, complicated parental relationships, teenage emancipation, emotional abuse, mentions of being disowned, mentions of transphobia and homophobia, classism, mentions of past underage drinking, crying, religious content (church, going to confession), remus cameo, mentions of choking/killing someone, something similar to the canon “have you thought about killing your brother?” monologue, please let me know if i’ve missed anything!

pairings: gen

words: 57,686

after the usual niceties with his secretary, richard steals into his office with a breath that probably shouldn’t seem quite so relieved.

the house had never seemed so empty around a holiday since his father died, when richard was twelve. and even then, there had been his mother. and after, his son, attempting to make cookies that came out lopsided and near-raw, helping the maid decorate, playing christmas music from his room. richard had yelled at him to turn it down, for years and years on end.

as his wife had spent most of her days lying silent in bed when she wasn’t a ghost of her former self attempting to present a normal front at their yearly christmas party, he found his ears straining. like some horrible rock version of a song would come floating from patton’s room, and richard would step into the room to find his son and his grandson back home, never gone, and the whole affair had been a lesson in the style of charles dickens—

but now. now, there was work. the familiar live preserver of work. the president of the company has complimented him on his increased presence around the holidays, to really ensure that work was getting done, but it’s because the familiarities of phone calls and paper work are safe to look at, safe to examine, safe to pursue with his usual bulldog-style tactics.

as richard waits for his computer to boot up, he paces around his desk, ensuring that no dust has accumulated in his mandatory holiday absence. none has—well, for what they pay these janitors for, there better not be—but there is a red light blinking on his desktop phone.

richard frowns, and, after re-reading the label, manages to push the right one, he thinks.

a rush of sound, like whoever’s calling him is outside and it’s windy, before there’s a crackle.

“uh, hey, dad. merry christmas.”

richard’s knees just about give out—he manages to land in the desk chair, thank goodness.

"logan, honey, can you say merry christmas? can you say merry christmas for grandpa?”

there’s a shuffle, and then a rush of babyish babbling, a blown raspberry, a shrieking giggle, and richard covers his eyes with shaking hands.

they’re safe. thank god, they’re safe.

patton had said that when he’d first called, but he’d said nothing of where they were, the conditions of the place they were staying, when he was coming back—

“well, dad, i think that’s about as close as you’re going to get, with him,” patton says ruefully. “i know it’s probably after the new year by the time you listen to this, but, well, it’s christmas now, um, obviously, but i—i hope that you and mom are having a good christmas party, like usual. i hope you had an apple tart for me.”

emily hadn’t ordered them, richard thinks bleakly. they reminded her too much of patton, who’d eat himself near-sick on those tarts every year. she’d changed the traditional catering menu entirely.

“no apple tarts here, but a friend made me something that was close enough," patton says.

what friend? emily had exhausted every form of a social book they had trying to get in touch with patton’s friends.

“i’m sorry i’m not there,” patton says, “but i, um. if i’m calculating right, i think you’ll get this in time, but on the morning of that next... thursday? thursday, after new years. i’ll, um, i’ll be at that café mom likes, you know, the one with the thirty-two kinds of pie and the curtains that reminded her of granny’s doilies?”

the what at the where?

“kennington’s, that’s it! okay, i’ll be at kennington’s on thursday morning, and, um. you can show up, or mom, or you and mom, or neither of you, just... just know i’ll be there to talk about everything. you know, moving forward.”

moving forward? richard thinks, and the closest thing he’s felt to hope springs forth since they came back to an empty house and a note in a crib.

“so, um, i’ll be there. ready to talk, and listen, and—and i hope you are too. or not. um. if you don’t show up—“

not a chance in hell, richard thinks.

“—then i, i understand. i mean, it’s not like—i haven’t exactly been an upstanding model of communication, for... longer than i’d like to admit,” patton says.

someone says something that richard can’t hear well enough to unparse.

“right, right, um—voicemail limits, got it, i think my time’s running out.”

no, no, no—

“uh, logan’s healthy—well, he’s got colic—but he’s healthy, and safe, and happy, i think, and i... i am too. and despite, well, everything, i... i’m actually having a really good holiday. and i hope you are too. so. merry christmas, dad. i love you.”

the line goes dead. richard lets out a shaky breath, staring at the little red light going dead. he should—he should call emily, immediately. he should see if there’s a possibility of booking out weston’s so it’s just him, his wife, his son, and his grandson. he should see if there’s a way to transfer this voicemail so emily can hear it. he should call the maid to ensure that patton’s room is dusted and logan’s toys are all up to snuff, because he’s open to talk, he’s open to come home. he should... he should do a great many things.

there’s only one thing he wants to do, but he can’t. so he’ll have to do the next best thing, small and desperate and clinging as much to his son as it may seem. so he hits the button that will make the voicemail play again.

and he knows it might be pathetic, but it’s the closest thing to a christmas miracle he’s had in years.

#my post #text #the sideshire files #my fic #my fanfic #sanders sides #love light gleams

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mrsslrss · 5 years

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2019.

Welcome to my annual accounting of things I loved, 2019 edition.

I’m realizing the pattern here is to start this with a reflection of how I rang in the year but 2019 crept in pretty calmly: no big bugs to kill, no spontaneous sobs to a Sharon Van Etten song. On the first day of this year, I woke up and cleaned the house and, I don’t know, probably went to Big Bear and got a coffee and took a nap. Since it’s nearly the end of the decade, I could start there, but I couldn’t tell you where I was for New Year’s Eve, 2009; if I had to guess, I’d put myself at a friend’s house on the North Shore, drinking PBR with the guys and listening to pop-punk. That winter I was convinced I wouldn’t return to Poughkeepsie, I was so miserable, but when I did things started to fall into place.

I think my goal for this year was roughly something like, Just put your head down and do the work. When you are tempted to get fed up and wither from frustration or have a big ego about not getting what you want, just put your head down and do the work. I don’t know if I did that, exactly, if I really stuck to the goal, but every so often in a particularly challenging moment the goal would come into focus at the front of my mind and I’d sigh and acquiesce and nod at the work ahead of me. I got a lot done, I think; in this way I got a lot done. It was nice to be reminded about how the process can be the goal -- something I thought about a lot this year. Sometimes the goal looks like a result, but it’s really the habit I’m after.

I’d like to keep that up next year. 2019 was a year of cultivating; 2020, maybe, will be a year of action. Or maybe not! Maybe nothing flowers until 2021 or beyond. Or maybe I start tearing things up by the roots in 2020, who knows!

So anyway. Here’s to 2019, and here’s a list (more or less alphabetized -- why not!) of ten things that helped me make it through.

annie’s homegrown birthday cake bunny grahams

My official snack of the year. Over the summer I was visiting MZ in Brooklyn and we got snacks at their neighborhood grocery store and I bought these, which are meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this snack company, taste like funfetti cake, and are definitely meant for/marketed to children. But anyway I ate the whole box and then sought them out at every Whole Foods in my vicinity (because I went online and WH is apparently basically the only place you can find them?) and started preaching the good word to anyone who was looking for a snack. By, like, September I had eaten so many of these that I could no longer stomach them, so I’ve been on a brief hiatus, but still: snack of the year.

keeping lists

I started this year with a big digital spreadsheet called “2019 things” where I intended to keep lists: all the new albums and songs that struck me, all the old albums and songs I got obsessed with, the places I wanted to travel in the year. I kept adding tabs: the books I finished, my financial priorities, stuff I wanted to make sure to read or watch. I was pretty diligent about updating them -- I wrote down every book I read, but definitely forgot to add a couple albums; I never made it to Philly this year. I started keeping gratitude lists (analog) towards the end of year, too, because in college a friend told me it helps rewire the brain away from pessimism, or something.

meditation

Before this year, I’ve never had a serious relationship with meditation, but it always seemed like the kind of thing I would like. In mid-January I got struck by the urge to try it, so I did, and kept it up for a few days, and then I fell off, and then I got back on, and now, somehow, it’s been three-hundred-something days of it in a row. I have learned to find a quiet moment in a nice corner of my room before work, but also in a tent in the Catskills, in a guest room in Wales, in a hotel in Georgia, on a walk through Brooklyn, in my childhood bedroom. My life and brain don’t feel, like, enormously different or changed, but that’s good; it feels useful to keep showing up to something without expectation.

my siblings

Having a big family means every year is inevitably a big year for someone, but this was, somehow, a big year for all of my siblings. Mostly good things: health and healing, a wedding and a graduation, a license acquired and a course of study started and jobs well done. It doesn’t feel good to get into the hard stuff here, but there was a lot of that, too -- a lot of grueling bullshit overcome. After the wedding I almost texted everyone just to say how proud I was of all of them, but naturally I chickened out. But I really am proud!

navy blue

Longtime readers of, uh, *gestures wildly* whatever this is may recall that last year I claimed I only wore black but might be interested in navy blue? This year I determined that navy blue is so good: the color of the deep ocean, the night sky, my first Catholic school uniform. I bought navy jumpsuits, a sweatshirt, a scrunchie. I wore navy-adjacent eyeliner just in the corners of my eyes most days of July and August and September. I’m wearing a navy blue sweater right now. A good year for navy.

“not” by big thief

My song of the year, which I knew from the first time I heard it. So much of this year (the news, the planet, global catastrophes, mass violence, etc. not to mention personal failures) felt hopeless and dreadful, but also so constant and exhausting that I wasn’t sure I could keep summoning anger, never mind do it in a useful way. I love this song because it is about abjection in the same way it isn’t about anything, about absence as presence, about not-knowing as knowing. It is desperate without being hopeless, explosive without being violent, or maybe: violent without being harmful. It’s about transcending language and different kinds of language and using whichever tools you have (Words are good enough). It’s about being swallowed whole by the everything-ness, a theme that came up in so much of the work I loved this year, the subject of an essay I’ll never write (lol). Music Twitter™ got into an argument about whether this band is good; I feel so sure of my love for this song (and most of what this band does) that I, for once, didn’t immediately assume I was a fool, or being had, just because someone disagrees with me. Instead it felt delicious and special to resonate with a thing that doesn’t resonate for everyone, a rare and generous experience for me. Imagine that.

pottery

At the beginning of the year I signed up for a ten-week session of pottery classes at a studio in Georgetown, and then when I told M, he wanted to join (by which I felt incredibly endeared). Then it became ten more weeks, then ten more, and since then we’ve gone nearly every Thursday night. Some things that are nice: learning to to make something with my hands, especially after staring at a screen all day; not being able to look at my phone or read the news for several hours (related: so many of the Democratic debates happened on Thursday nights!); having a standing weekly date with my favorite person. Nearly everyone in our lives got lumpy bowls, vases, etc. for Christmas this year, of which we are very proud.

“rooms on fire” by stevie nicks

This year, Stevie Nicks became the first woman be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice and so Rolling Stone interviewed her about her fabulous career. In the interview, Rob Sheffield said his favorite song of hers is “Ooh My Love” from The Other Side of the Mirror, which is an album I had never listened to before, so I started listening and the first song just hooked me. It’s so dramatic and magical and moody! It’s right up there on the Apple Music-generated playlist of my most-played songs of the year.

stockholm

For several years one of my repeated resolutions was “go to Scandinavia.” Sweden has always been the big goal, but Oslo seemed possible for a minute, and in 2013 I did briefly entertain the idea of going to graduate school in Finland. (Imagine!) This year I got really fed up of having not really, you know, taken a proper vacation since starting my job, so I took a full week off after my sister’s wedding and planned a solo trip to Stockholm. Each day of my trip I woke up whenever I woke up and I explored a different island; I went for long runs, drank coffee, ate kardemummabullar, took the subway across town, saw a one-of-a-kind Viking ship. I burst into tears at the Moderna Museet, ate through a vegetarian tasting menu at the Fotografiska, had an extremely lovely spa experience. I read three books in a week. I loved every second of it.

wigs

I bought a big gaudy pink wig this spring in anticipation of seeing Sasha Velour’s one-woman show in New York -- or, I told myself I bought it for that reason, but I think I really just wanted the possibility of wearing a big gaudy pink wig at will. After the Sasha show, I wore it to see Robyn at The Anthem, and was delighted when, after I put a picture on Instagram, a handful of people in my life thought I had a) dyed my hair pastel pink and b) grew my hair ~half a foot over the weekend. (I wish!) I think I’ll wear it for our house’s beach-themed NYE party, too.

everything else

frequent, long drives with M; songs about solidarity; the #saltypod; custom t-shirts; craving waffles; having an e-reader; the concept of “the archive”; choosing kindness; threatening to move to rural new england to work on a farm; being in love

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makistar2018 · 5 years

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Taylor Swift Says She Will Rerecord Her Old Music. Here’s How.

The singer and songwriter could gain control by creating new master recordings of material that has been sold. It’s a drastic but not unheard-of move.

By Joe Coscarelli Aug. 22, 2019

When Taylor Swift took to Tumblr earlier this summer to decry the sale of the Nashville-based Big Machine Label Group, the owner of her first six multiplatinum albums, to the powerful music manager Scooter Braun, she kick-started an industrywide conversation about master recordings and artists’ rights.

The $300 million deal “stripped me of my life’s work,” she wrote, and left her back catalog “in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

She said Braun, who has worked with Swift’s longtime foil Kanye West, had subjected her to years of “incessant, manipulative bullying.” With the master recordings of her albums now under the purview of Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, the company could dictate how her songs are sold and used moving forward.

(At the time, Scott Borchetta, the Big Machine founder, pushed back against Swift’s statement, saying he had given her the opportunity to earn back her masters through a new deal with his label. In November, Swift decamped for Universal Music Group’s Republic Records in a multiple album agreement that allowed her to own her future masters.)

Now, ahead of the release of her new album, “Lover,” on Friday, Swift, ever the tactician, has reignited the industry battle with an out-of-left-field proposition: She could rerecord her old music and release new versions that she would own.

Though the idea had previously been floated on Swift’s behalf by no less than Kelly Clarkson, Swift publicly raised the possibility herself for the first time in a pretaped interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” set to air this weekend. In an excerpt released on Wednesday, the interviewer Tracy Smith asked if Swift had considered that option. “Oh yeah,” Swift said, according to the CBS transcript.

Smith followed-up, “That’s a plan?,” to which Swift replied, “Yeah, absolutely.”

A representative for Swift declined to detail her intentions or answer questions about past contract stipulations. Universal Music declined to comment; Braun and Borchetta did not respond to questions. But this is how things might shake out should Swift choose to pursue such a drastic — if not unheard-of — move.

How could this be possible?

Music rights are infamously complicated, but owning the master recordings — the original copies of an artist’s work — and the associated copyright is not everything. While the owner of a master typically has the ability to sell songs and albums, as well as license the recordings to movies, television and video games, there are separate rights for the composition itself, which is usually split among the songwriters. When a song is covered, for instance, the songwriters are compensated; when it is sampled from the original recording, both the songwriters and the owner of the master benefit.

In most standard recording contracts, labels retain ownership over masters in return for the investment they make in unproven artists in the form of recording, promotion and other expenditures.

But because Swift is credited as a lead writer across her entire catalog — excluding some songs on her 2007 Christmas EP — she could essentially give herself permission to record “cover versions” of her own compositions without having to touch the masters owned by Big Machine and Braun.

What could stop her?

On the one hand, not many practical concerns, given that this is Taylor Swift, one of the most connected, wealthy and powerful people in the modern music industry. “She certainly has the money to be able to do this, which is always going to be an issue in this situation,” said Mark Tavern, a former major-label record executive and a professor of music business at LaGuardia Community College. “It’s one thing to make acoustic versions, it’s another to do a full pop production and make them competitive” with the originals, he added.

If Swift were to attempt a note-for-note recreation that could replace the old versions in loyal fans’ collections, she would probably need the support of her past collaborators, from co-writers on her early songs, like Liz Rose, to the pop producers Max Martin, Shellback and Jack Antonoff. “That would be smoother and prevent backlash in public,” Tavern said, adding: “Each of those co-writers stands to make a ton of money from any of those rereleases.

”Still, Swift’s past contracts with Big Machine, where she first signed as a teenager in 2005, could include language that would complicate things. Restrictions on rerecording songs have been common since the Everly Brothers put out fresh versions of past hits on a new label in the early ’60s, according to Tavern. Such terms typically bar artists from releasing rerecorded work for three to five years, or more, from its release. In Swift’s case, “We haven’t seen the contracts, but it’s pretty standard language in everyone’s contract,” Tavern said.

Swift’s first album on Big Machine, her self-titled debut, came out in 2006, while her most recent, “Reputation,” was released in 2017. In theory, should her contracts have time restrictions in place, she could begin releasing new versions on rolling basis, starting at the beginning.

In an appearance Thursday on “Good Morning America,” Swift alluded to these contract restrictions more specifically: “My contract says that starting November 2020, so next year, I can record albums one through five all over again,” she said. “It’s next year, it’s right around the corner — I’m going to be busy, I’m excited.”

“I think that artists deserve to own their work,” she added. “I just feel very passionately about that.”

What would this look like in practice?

Taking into consideration any restrictions, Swift could opt to rerecord entire albums, or start with her most-played singles. Those updated versions might then be released in physical forms, as new merchandise, or be uploaded to streaming services alongside the originals, leaving listeners the choice of whether to listen to “Love Story” or, say, “Love Story (2020 Version)” on Spotify or Apple Music. (Via her publishing contracts as a songwriter, Swift could also urge anyone looking to license her songs in the future to take her new renditions instead of the Big Machine versions.)

In an interesting twist, Swift’s current label and distributor, Universal, is also the distributor of Big Machine, which could leave the corporation competing against itself.

At the same time, any attention given to the rereleases could rub off on the old versions, helping the bottom line of Braun, Borchetta and Big Machine. “I think there will be some benefit to the original streaming masters as people go and compare,” Tavern said. “I don’t think that people are going to stop streaming those masters.”

For Swift, however, the maneuver could be more of a statement than a financial play. “Knowing how she likes to kind of twist the knife a little bit, this could be a great opportunity for her to do that,” Tavern said. “It’s the ultimate way that she could get back at Big Machine and thumb her nose at Scooter.”

Has anyone ever pulled this off before?

In addition to the Everly Brothers, various acts have gone down this path, or at least threatened to. Most famously, Prince vowed to rerecord his entire catalog while feuding with his label, Warner Bros., in the 1990s, but released only select tracks before reaching an agreement to gain ownership of his masters.

More recently, as the industry went digital, Def Leppard blocked its label, Universal, from releasing its catalog online and instead sold what the band playfully called “forgeries” of its biggest hits, “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Rock of Ages.” (“I had to sing myself into a certain throat shape to be able to sing that way again,” said the Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott at the time.) The parties eventually came to an agreement over the original music.

The pop singer Jojo went even further last year, releasing newly recorded versions of her first two albums, which were not available on streaming services, after her rerecording clauses ran out.

How serious is Swift about this?

She has yet to reveal more about her plans, but she has signaled that she means it. On Tumblr, where her most dedicated fans, known as Swifties, congregate, she has been known to boost fan theories and insights she agrees with. After the CBS interview excerpt surfaced on Wednesday, Swift went on a “liking” spree, throwing her support behind breathless posts like “HAHAHAHAHA HE BOUGHT HER MASTERS FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BEHIND HER BACK AND NOW SHES MAKING THEM WORTHLESS” and “I’m so freaking proud of Taylor controlling her life, accomplishments, work, her art, her story, and her life,” as another fan wrote. “THATS WHAT MY BABY DESERVES.”

The New York Times

#taylor swift #masters #rerecord #2019.08.22

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migleefulmoments · 5 years

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“Precious little d. Either embarrrssed about talking about sex or it had been quite some time, and if it had been a long time, that seems quite inconsistent with the PR story that was starting to ramp up as this was not long before confirmation day and the I’m a straight man with a gf tour.” Gawd is she serious lols. Darren loves a naughty pun so why would be embarrassed to talk about sex. And seeing as Abby has probably never had sex she should probs keeps quiet.

Darren embarrassed to talk about sex? HE WROTE “ME AND MY DICK”!!!!!! He has a bar called Tramp Stamp Grannies which serves drinks called boob soup...there is no way in hell he was embarrassed. Like who the hell is she thinking about when she says that? Herself? Kurt with his “because of the layers” conversation? Certainly not Darren Criss.

The clip is here (X) so you don't have to watch the entire episode.

He says ‘who me” and takes a heart beat to answer - Kathy makes another joke and he says “IDK...IDK, yesterday?” to which Kathy says “because I would think playing a gay guy but being a hot straight guy, you must get a ton of pussy” and he says “Well I mean, well I mean, I don’t want to embarrass Lily...” In fact Darren says “yeah, yeah” while Kathy is saying this. He wasn’t silent and trembling in the corner while Lily saved him. IDK what video you were watching. Kathy wasn’t outing him she was making a joke about how much pussy he gets being straight and hot but playing a gay guy. How do the ccers get everything so wrong? Oh right- they cut the clip, slow it down, make a gif which Abbys calls

““Little bonus:”

Keep reading some high-end nonsense-I commented on some of the nonsense but I only made the comments regarding this video “bold”.

Anonymous asked:

For some reason KGriffin has been on my mind today. Her infamous interview asking D about vaginal sex. Dude looked like he was going to come out of his skin. Another thing as close as C is with her I’ve seen a lot of pics with him at her house at parties without the boyfriend.

Oh you mean this classic moment? An interview just a few short months after the woman he had been betrothed to since birth moved to LA and you’d think the answer would be frequent and all time and not something that would completely fluster him. So much so that L/ily had to step in and save him.(Yes, because everyone wants to say “frequently and all the time” about their girlfriend who just moved to town. Classy. Lily didn’t “step in and save him”. You should have watched the video again before you write about it.)

You can always see his brain spinning, thinking “can I say 3 years ago before I became Co/lfersexual? Oh wait my beard lives here now. Surely if it were real it would be all the time. Should I just refer to the last time I had sex with C? They don’t need to know there was no vagina involved…..” (Yes, that is exactly what a sane person would think in the heartbeat it takes him to answer. Watch the video again- NOT THE GIF...your fantasy has changed the facts-you sound like Trump “he ran int other tunnel and died crying and screaming and whimpering like a dog”)

He was so obviously struggling and thankfully L/ily, an openly gay woman, made it into a joke to spare him. (what joke does L/ily tell that saves him? I’m curious because when I watch the video that part must be mute)

Precious little d. Either embarrrssed about talking about sex or it had been quite some time, and if it had been a long time, that seems quite inconsistent with the PR story that was starting to ramp up as this was not long before confirmation day and the I’m a straight man with a gf tour. (But look at that, it IS consistent with YOUR story of a fragile but powerful gay man who realized he loved his costar the moment they met but woefully that love is forbidden for reasons that make no sense whatsoever but involve Ryan Murphy and a contract, a contract he signed with wide-eyed innocence at 23. He just wanted to share his talents with the world and the lure of fame dazzled him but he soon found out he signed the deal with the devil. It’s the story of a man who chose the wrong beard and is still paying for that a decade later just as he still pays for signing that contract as a naive 23 yo. A man who, as you say “likes cock”, but it stuck spending most of his time with his “wife”, a woman he detests. This fragile but strong man who wrote “me and My Dick” and mimicked masturbation while standing in front of the paparazzi pen on a red carpet is is TERRIFIED of talking about sex...duh!)

*****************************************************************************************

rougedraconteur asked:

And yes, Kathy knew. She always has, same as Jane. They are insiders, people to be trusted with the truth. She just loves to put people on the spot, even those she cares about. All of these folks on the show that day, knew the truth, whatever it was at that time.(She’s his mother figure? but his mother was alive when this was shot. I love how they “know” this stuff-everyone know but nobody thought to help Darren or stop working with Ryan Murphy out of solidarity and support- hell even Darren didn’t support Darren by icing Ryan Murphy out of his life. Also nobody has leaked on bit of information ...ever...in 10 years. That impressive AF. )

***********************************************************************

This Halloween was like Christmas, it was fabulous and no matter what they try, they cannot undo it. And I am confident D&C were fully aware of what was happening on Thursday night with the pictures. They have been playing this game for years, they know how not to be in the background of photos. They wanted those pics circulated.(more confirmation bias) So my question is, why now and who allowed those pics to be published? We all know the content is generally very controlled. And I would imagine EP has full control over the pics that are released from his party, I always question his involvement and well he was responsible for the only formal pic to date of CC, albeit a group photo.

C killed Halloween with his 2 costume choices. They were amazing. And I love that both he and D wee in drag last Saturday.

Sad for her, she lost Halloween this year and CC triumphed and caused an absolute riot (a riot caused by Chris, Darren, Will and Mia speaking together at a party.. it has come to this#SAD!).

On K/athy thanks for the insight. I guess i cannot imagine asking such a direct question if I knew the truth. I guess what she failed to realize is that D is a terrible liar, especially back then. (why would Kathy, a great friend to Chris, do something so painful and difficult for Darren in front of a video camera let alone on a comedy show. Outing someone is a serious matter and not something concussive a rapid-fire comedy show. Your theory makes no sense whatsoever). His face told a million stories and none of them were of a straight man with a gf that just moves across the country to be with him (yes Abby, his face gave him away because his words sure as hell didn’t, never have and never will. It’s absurd but you continue to believe you know his truth based solely on facial expresses-which you have proven you cannot read accurately-, t-shirt graphics, song lyrics and Instagram “likes” but sadly, that is where we are at).

No doubt both L/ily and JTF knew. I think JTF has actually been a role model to D. And he and JM have been, from what i can see, really amazing to both our guys.(Vomit- random gay men in Hollywood are not “supporting Darren” through his 10 years of closeting, denial and marriage to a women-they have their own lives.) And L/ily would never have jumped in that way if she thought for one second that d was capable of handling it himself (Oh FFS, Darren made the joke about him and Lily having vaginal sex, Lily didn’t jump in, she cracked up and after he milked the joke for all he could get out of it- then she made a joke riffed off his. Your fantasy has overtaken the truth once again. Luckily we have video proof). But since D could not muster an answer, she answered for him and then he was able to collect himself and go with the joke. (that isn’t true at all-it’s a complete a lie).

I love this interview. And example of something team shit would dream about if only d could answer convincingly and instead it completely shined a light on the fact that D is queer and prefers the company of men, at least at that point in his life (Not making a statement on his past and sexuality) (OMG really? You're not? All you do is make statements about his sexuality. Let’s pretend you are right with this theory- For all the help that Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ricky Martin, Ryan Murphy, and all the other gay men in Hollywood are providing ccDarren, this video showing how team shit failed again was broadcast 6 1/2 years ago (3/13) and Darren is still saying he’s straight, he’s still not spending time with Chris -well of course except the Halloween moment caught on the camera-they still lead entirely different lives and Darren married Mia sooo I’m not sure how they are team “shit”. Sounds like “team perfect” since everything is going their way. They even got Darren to cuddle Mia for a photo as “punishment” for that little moment with Chris...Team Shit for the Win....again!)

#cc #ccer #cc fandom #crisscolfer #darren criss #debunking cc liees #Kathy Griffin Show

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sevenseasofrog · 5 years

Text

Lads ‘n Lasses Chapter 4

single sex schools are never boring

high school!ben x fem!reader

2.7k words

a/n: lol hi, Me for the first time in about 10 billion years. I kind of hate this Chapter?? But I’ll put the next part up tomorrow which should be better :-)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

As the autumn colours became deeper and the summer temperatures began to fade, you began to feel as though you were dragging yourself through each day, the thought of your plush duvet at the end of it keeping you motivated. Luckily enough though, it wasn’t just you who the changing seasons effected, and your friends were also beginning to look a little more disheveled with each morning that passed by, and it soon became clear that everyone was desperately in need of a break from the school routine. By the final week of term, motivation to even get out of bed each morning was severely lacking, and it seemed to be the same for Ben. Some mornings the pair of you didn’t even have the energy to speak, still content in each others company though, leaning on each other when you finally flopped down on the tram’s plastic seats.

You hadn’t forgotten that you were supposed to be coordinating your friend’s costumes for the mysterious Halloween party you knew very little about, but it definitely wasn’t your top priority- especially since your workload in and out of school had increased rapidly only a few weeks after the start of the new term. Since the gathering was set to take place on Friday, it was Tuesday that you figured you had to at least start thinking about how terrible you wanted your four closest friends to look. After a few hours of careful consideration and research you found yourself rather impressed with what you had come up with. If they wanted a group costume, a group costume they were going to get. It was perfect, inducing childhood nostalgia and characters which seemed to parallel your friends personalities, the five of you were going as none other than the Scooby-Doo gang. You couldn’t help but feel at least a bit proud of your master plan, but decided to keep it under wraps, just to add to the suspense. You spent the rest of that night drawing out meticulous plans, giving yourself Thursday and Friday to finish them. Out of instinct however you left the next day free, knowing that it was highly likely you would be spending the evening out somewhere to celebrate the beginning of the short break from school.

As he had done for the past five weeks or so, Ben had waited patiently outside your house for you to stumble out the front door, usually looking a little disheveled. Believe it or not, this was one of the things he had begun to admire most about you, little to your knowledge. The fact that your hair sometimes fell across your face, still messy from the previous nights sleep, and more often than not you would have acrylic paint splodged over you like some form of radioactive dalmatian. Both of these were the little things Ben had started to pay more and more attention to, and he couldn’t help but find himself smile whenever he thought of you.

“Last day of your first half term then Benny boy” you spoke with a grin. “Ready to go back down South yet or can you handle a little more of this?”

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh, “I think I’ll cope y’know, maybe a little longer, might even make it to Christmas!”

“You bloody better Jones! otherwise I’ll have no reason to even leave the house in the morning, then I’ll drop out of school, adopt a load of cats and drink cheap wine every day because I never got any a levels.”

“What a pity that would be” He retorted, with blatant sarcasm. You rolled your eyes and gave a gentle shove before the pair of you continued the walk to the tram stop in a content silence.

Eventually, you made your way onto a tram and flopped down on each other. You closed your eyes, enjoying the warmth of the autumn sun and found yourself dozing a little, this didn’t last long however.

Ben flicked your cheek before he spoke, “y/n, wake up you big loser, what are we doing after school?”

“I was wondering how long it would be before you asked, I don’t really care though. Won’t it just be easier to wait till the others get on and ask them?”

“We’re seeing them on Friday though, and Saturday I guess, and probably most of next week too”

“You have a most interesting way of thinking Jonsey. But you’re not wrong. What are you suggesting?” You spoke, followed by a smirk, “Won’t you be seeing me today, tomorrow, the day after that and next week however?”

“Shutup and come to mine tonight okay? We can have a takeaway from wherever you want and we can make up shitty excuses as to why we can’t do anything with the others because right now I can’t really be bothered with anyone else.”

You felt a little taken aback, but unsure as to why. Ben had spoken with a twinge of emotion in his voice, and suddenly seemed a little wound up- most out of character.

“Alright. You got me, but only if we’re having a chinese?

“Suits me”, he spoke with a smile, seeming somewhat relieved, before you both sank into each other in the seats. Even making the cold plastic seem a little more comfortable.

School has been productive. Well, as productive as you could have made it given that you only had some art coursework to finish and given that Ben’s sudden decision that he didn’t want to see anyone else that evening was playing on your mind. You had scrubbed the last of the dried acrylic paint off the battered brushes you had kept for god knows how long and were about to put them back into your bag before being interrupted by the lunch bell. Figuring you should reconvene with Maria and Niamh, you began to head towards the common room so that you could grab some lunch before heading to the library for the rest of the afternoon.

“y/n! hello? care to join us here on planet earth?” Niamh waved a hand in front of you, you had forgotten about your mediocre salad and had started daydreaming mid-conversation.

“shit yeah, sorry, just tired, i was sorting out the outfits for friday until like 2 this morning or something like that”

Maria chimed in too at mention of Friday, “oh yeah! the costumes, I’d forgotten about those, they’d better be-“

You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, undoubtedly your mum checking if you were staying in school or leaving after lunch. “One sec, let me just check this”

Benny:

Call me when you can. i’m going home.

You couldn’t help but wonder whad gotten into the boy, shocked by the sudden character change, you figured this was your call to leave and find out what the hell was going on with Ben. Now all you needed was an excuse to leave.

“Shit, sorry, erm… it’s my mum…she’s locked herself out and needs me to let her back into the house…” You scrambled to pack your bag and put your blazer back on “duty calls… I’ll see you on Friday night yeah?” You signed out at student services and began to walk towards the met stop.

benny: incoming call

“Ben what the hell are you playing at? where the fuck are you?” You heard the frustration in your own voice and couldn’t help but regret it.

“Why do you sound like your running a marathon?” Because I’m speed walking like a lunatic to come and find you thank you. “I’m nearly at the tram stop.”

“Right, ok… wait for me… I’m nearly there”

“see you then.” He hung up.

You continued the walk, thoughts racing, surely someone had just said something to wind him up? Nothing worth overthinking really? You eventually found Ben after what seemed like an eternity of walking and he stank of smoke, he had a cigarette between his lips and it was certainly not the first one of the day. “You going to tell me why I had to up and leave or are we going to pretend it never happened?” You demanded.

“We’re not talking about it until we get home” He said, slightly muffled. As if on queue, one of the yellow trams pulled into the station and Ben put out his smoke before dragging himself onto the empty tram, you followed, still feeling slightly bedraggled. The boy threw himself onto one of the chairs, visibly frustrated, you sat on the row behind and began digging through your bag, simply looking for something to do.

The tram ride was long, painfully so. The silence between the two of you was deafening, something you never expected to happen, but it was clear that Ben needed space from the moment you met back with him. You reached your stop and the two of you stood up, briefly making eye contact with each other.

“I need to erm, get some fresh clothes from mine if that’s okay...on the way to yours..These aren’t exactly.. y’know.. comfortable” You spoke, gesturing at the suit you had worn the past two days.

He gave a curt nod, and you continued the walk away from the platform. You quickly unlocked your front door and shoved a few essentials in a bag, along with an oversized shirt and some joggers, well aware that this would be a long night. Ben has waited downstairs, waiting to head back out again a little further down the road to his house.

It was definitely bigger than yours, and much more modern. It wasn’t that you disliked newer houses, you just felt a somewhat alienated stepping into something that felt more like a spaceship than a house. Each to their own though- that’s what you had always figured.

“Gonna tell me what’s got you in a tizz or do I get the joy of guessing?” Desperate for some hint of the Ben you knew to return.

“We’ll go upstairs first yeah, then we can get changed or whatever” He began to trudge up the stairs and you followed. By the time you caught up with him in his room, Ben already had half of his clothes off, and although now definitely wasn’t the best time, you had to admit to yourself that topless Ben certainly wasn’t a sorry sight as you slipped into the marble en-suite.

“You’re killing me Ben. What’s happened for the love of God?”

“People happened.”

You checked yourself over before unlatching the bathroom door again. For the record, the old grey pants paired with the extra large shirt you had brought at some past gig certainly wasn’t your best look, but it was going to have to do for now.

“C’mon grumpy you can tell me all about it like i’m your very own agony aunt” You grabbed his wrist and flopped onto the bed,causing Ben to follow with a thud.

“So what have people done to you to cause such a commotion Benny? You’ve never been like this and you’ve got me proper fussing about you” He rolled onto his back and began to speak.

“They’ll do anything to drag you through the dirt. I haven’t put a foot out of line and half of the idiots at school have decided they don’t like me for it. It’s so fucking stupid I don’t know why it’s bothering me...It just is and I could honestly-“

“Ben it’s probably pissing you off because that’s a normal human emotion I’m afraid…”

“But it’s not just that and it’s another stupid thing honestly I don’t know what my problem is because it’s got nothing to do with me and-“

“One thing at a time okay? Start at the beginning and then if you want, you can tell me what else is getting to you.”

You felt bad for Ben, you really did, he hadn’t done anything wrong and it was clear he didn’t have much experience in handling his emotions. You threw a packet if tissues at him after he began to snivel and kept brushing his face. It was clear he trust you, this was something which brought a strange relief over you that you couldn’t quite explain. The main thing you could do do help Ben was to listen to him, and boy was he glad that the pair of you had all night.

You had migrated downstairs at around 8pm to order food, normally you would have both sprawled out separately over two of the three sofas in the front room, but when you came back from a trip to the kitchen for glasses of water, Ben had parked himself at the end of where you were sat.

“I was cold.” He looked up at you, as if trying to read your thoughts.

“I never said anything Jones! If it was anyone else I’d have told them to move but I think you can be an acception” You had honestly been expecting some sort of reply, and it came as a bit of a shock to you when you looked up to find Ben staring at the t.v. absentmindedly.

“Ben? what’s up?”

“Sorry it’s just, it’s not worth it don’t worry..” he trailed off

You have a stern look, “Anything you think or say is worth my time Ben, I really mean it.”

“It’s just. Jones. that’s what they call me, at school and, I don’t really know why it bothers me but… I’m not Jones, I’m Ben and, it bothers me-“ His eyes had gone slightly glassy again, “It bothers me because they don’t care about me, they care that I score tries and bring the team up the leaderboard. That’s Jones. I don’t even think Ben likes rugby, but what else can you do when it’s expected of you.”

“One thing at a time yeah?”

“I told you it’s stupid”

“yeah you did, and I completely disagree, it’s Benny from now on”

“No one's ever really called me that to be honest..”

“Does it bother you?”

“I think I like it.. but only you can get away with it from now on”

You leaned back onto him as the pair of you waited for the takeaway to arrive, you had sincerely hoped that Ben felt a little better at least, it was glaringly clear that he was more worried that unloading his problems would simply pass them onto you, and you had taken the opportunity to reassure him that you weren’t there to judge him at several opportunities.

You had been talking about this and that until a wave of fatigue hit you at what must have been around half one in the morning, Ben had insisted that you should go upstairs and sleep in his bed and he would take the sofa.

“Ben you’re my best friend I’m pretty sure I can cope with sharing a bed with you, we’ll both be out like lights when we get up there anyway”

You both made your way up the stairs, leaving the remainder of the takeaway to deal with in the morning, and fell onto the the mountain of crisp white pillows. You burrowed your way under the duvet, waiting for Ben to follow. “Y’know.. this is really comfy. Makes my bed feel like a fabulous pile of rocks.”

“Does the job I suppose”

“à le matin mon aimie”

“à demain”

You felt yourself drifting into a deep slumber, unsure as to weather or not Ben was still talking. “I know it’s late but are you awake?” You gave a grunt, which the boy opposite you took as a response.

“At school right.. well where else would it be.. and I don’t know if it’s true but I thought I’d tell you just in case but erm.. People were saying Lewis has a thing for you and I know you’re supposed to be my best mate but it bothers me because-“ he gave a sigh. “It bothers me because I think I like you, and I know it’s only been two months, but you’re more than I could ask for in a friend and-“ He realised that he had been greeted with silence. “y/n” Ben had to admit to himself that he was a little disappointed when he realised you hadn’t heard a word he said, already fast asleep. He wasn’t sure if he’d tell you again in the morning, or if it would ruin what he felt was one of the best things he had in a long time.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

@fatbottomedbitch , @crazyweirdocalledfriday , @borhapandshawn , @benhardyjones , @simplyvictoria-93 , @virtualsheepeat

Sorry that my tag list is a bit dodgey, pretty sure that usernames have changed so let me know if you want adding :) xoxo

#bohemian rhapsody #ben hardy #brian may #queen #roger taylor #bo rhap #queen band #freddie mercury #joe mazzello #john deacon #ben!roger imagine #ben!roger x reader #ben hardy!roger x reader #ben!roger taylor #ben hardy! roger taylor #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy imagine #lads ‘n lasses

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quantumarvel · 5 years

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@oh-snap-bucky and I like to scream fic concepts at each other a lot. I, somehow, convinced her to let me share them with yall. Here’s a recent one.

It all started with this post (please read the tags)

Courtney: can we talk about this cause wow

Sam: you thought up an entire fic

Sam: we stan

Sam: sitting under a tree and rEADING

Courtney: Sammy help me out here cause I may just roll with this

Courtney: how do they meet?

Sam: Park? Library? Cafe?

Courtney: library

Courtney: he looks vaguely homeless and he’s BRILLIANT and studying something to do with poetry

Sam: English major? I think yes

Courtney: and she’s studying at the library and has to keep pushing her glasses back up her nose and she’s tapping her pencil on her chin

Courtney: and he can’t help but SAY SOMETHING cause she’s pretty ya know but also cause she’s currently reading the only copy of the book he needs

Courtney: and she’s like ha good luck cause this poet guy doesn’t make any sense

Courtney: and of course Bucky understands it

Courtney: but poetry isn’t her major, she just has to read it for like this one class she has to take so she can get her teaching degree

Courtney: he’s all knowledgeable in poetry and junk and she just… doesn’t get it. Like at all. And he thinks its adorable. And she’s all “I’m gonna be a history teacher idk why i even need this.”

Courtney: and being the flirt he is, he offers to tutor her

Courtney: and she knows EXACTLY what he’s doing

Courtney: says yes anyway

Courtney: so they start meeting up on Thursdays at the library

Sam: I support her saying yes anyway

Sam: bc we get that

Sam: take your chance girl

Courtney: they spend a couple of hours talking about how this poet dude was annoying and pretentious and a douche and he’s like, “just imagine all this being said but the whitest, richest, most uptight dude you can think of” and she starts to Get It but also thinking of it like that makes it SO FUNNY

Sam: “oh so he’s just being a spoiled brat?”

Sam: okay so for how long do they meet at the library?

Courtney: oh this lasts the rest of their first semester. They met in like September and they get together every Thursday and she invited him to a Halloween party some of her friends are throwing and they accidentally show up in complimenting costumes (probably different Breakfast Club characters cause I’m dumb) and he complains about having to go home for Thanksgiving (she still doesn’t know what kind of a family she comes from) and they text the whole break and when they get back they hang out so much more than just on Thursdays and by the time Christmas rolls around, they get each other the sweetest gifts right before they leave for break and standing in the train station (they’re both taking trains home but going different directions), he realizes how long he’s gonna be without her and they’re both getting kinda choked up, more than you would if you had to leave a friend for a nearly month and they’re making all these promises to call and text and “maybe I’ll write you?” and after like the nineteenth hug,

Courtney: he realizes that the girl he’s been halfway in love with since the fall maybe likes him back? the girl he’s been opening his jacket to tucking her against him to shield her from the “stupidly cold” wind. the girl that shares her candy corn and bring him hot chocolate when the temperature drops below 40. the girl who reads poetry books that he recommends cause he just KNOWS that if he finds the right style, she’ll fall in love with it. the girl that he spends so much time with that he knows which colors mean what on her color coded notes. the girl that he helped bandage up when she was too busy staring at a dog to notice the raised pavement and when she tripped, he felt it in his chest. the girl that tells him that she knows he deserves better than the hurt he carries in his eyes. the girl that doesn’t know anything about his past, but knows him. the girl he feels so lucky to be around. that girl. she’s looking at him right now like it hurts her like it does him to part ways. and maybe he realizes then that he has a chance? so he musters up just enough courage to press a kiss to her forehead and walk her to her train. as he watches her disappear down the tracks, he decided that when he sees her again after the new year, he’ll take her to a museum or a planetarium or a park or something, and he’ll ask her to take a chance on him.

Courtney: (he doesn’t get the chance because when she asks for his address to send him a Christmas card, she really drives up to Brooklyn from Boston just to give him a New Years kiss. his parents aren’t home (to his relief) but Becca absolutely adores her)

Sam: ummmmmm

Sam: that’s gorgeous

Sam: and so so so heart wrenching

Sam: but SHE DRIVES TO BOSTON

Courtney: it’s only like 200 miles yeah

Sam: only

Sam: for a kiss

Sam: that’s a lot

Sam: for a FIRST kiss at that

Courtney: okay I should clarify

Sam: yes please do

Courtney: she get there at like 7:30pm and he answers the door and he’s so happy to see her but he’s like “?? why are you here?” and she’s blushing and “well I wanted to talk to you... in private...” which makes Bucky look over at Becca who’s 15 and standing at the other end of the foyer. “It’s my house too.” And he just rolls his eyes and takes his girl outside cause that’s not the fight he wants to have rn. anyway so they go walk through the garden and it’s all so pretty cause the Christmas lights are still up and the stars are out. “what do you have to talk to me about that’s so urgent that you couldn’t wait until next week and had to drive 200 miles instead of just calling me?” he’s all smiles. “I, um... I wanted to tell you that I uh... I think I like you? Like a lot? No, I know I do. And I have, for a while. And I can’t it out of my head, when you kissed my forehead at the station, and I KNOW that sounds ridiculous and childish but I can’t stop thinking about it and how maybe you like me too and yeah sure that could’ve waited but I needed to KNOW cause to be perfectly honest, I’d really like to be your New Years kiss this year, which again, dumb and childish but I do and so I didn’t really think, I just decided to take a chance. I’m sure I’m making a complete fool of myself right now too, like that idiot poet we read about in September but you told me something once about stepping out of your comfort zone and taking chances and so that’s what I’m doing, I’m taking your advice, so you really have no one else to blame here but yourself and-“ he finally just puts a hand over her mouth cause he can tell she’s working herself up into a frenzy. When she finally looks up at him, he’s smiling. He takes his hand away, “you came a few hours early for a New Years kiss” And for some reason that embarrasses her more than anything else has. “Ugh I know I just, I just couldn’t wait any more. I paced around my parents house for three hours and spent another two in this diner once I got to town. Think I would’ve gone mad if I waited any longer.” He laughs and tells her “well it’s...” a quick glance at his watch “7:59pm right now. It’s midnight somewhere.” And even though he takes his time, and she knows what he’s about to do, the kiss still surprises her.

Sam: I’m screaming

Sam: “It’s midnight somewhere”

Sam: I can imagine Becca totally seeing all this happen from the window

Sam: keeping quiet bc “that was kinda sweet I guess”

Sam: okay okay okay even if you don’t write this part i gotta know

Sam: what happens after New Years?

Courtney: Oh after New Years, they’re disgusting. STUPIDLY in love and constant heart eyes and “darling/baby/doll/sweetheart/honey” and they’re ALWAYS TOUCHING. like, hugging all the time and holding hands and tucking hair behind her ear and linking pinkies and he always has an arm around her shoulder and it’s all adorable and innocent and TOOTH ACHINGLY SWEET. she reads to him and plays with his hair (braids it when it gets long enough) and laughs at all his jokes and just adores him. he cooks her dinner a lot and carries her books and takes pictures of her and gives so many sweet kisses on her forehead, temple, nose, chin and (finally) mouth and just adores her.

Courtney: he picks her flowers in the spring when they have a picnic by a pond and she ties them together into a crown and puts it on him. that night, he takes one and presses it into the back of the book she gave him for his birthday

Sam: I love this so much

Sam: he wears the flower crown

Sam: and rocks it

Courtney: she meets his parents at his birthday party. they insist on throwing this big party every year and this is the first year since he was like 10 that he actually enjoys it. she wears this pretty floral dress and curls her hair and just about knocks the breath out of him when he opens the door. she’s nervous and he squeezes her hand as they walk up to them. all she really remembers is Bucky introducing them and the way her mom smiles and says “so you’re the one that got him to finally shave that hobo scruff” and thing is, she wanted him to keep it cause she loved the expression on his face when he saw how it turned her skin red but he insisted on shaving it for a job interview (that his parents didn’t know about) but Bucky saves her from clarifying by saying that he’s going to take her to get something to drink. they drink punch that turns their mouths red and stay huddled together giggling in the corner (Bucky was doing his best impression of Mr. Harris from his dads company) until his mother comes and insists that he comes and mingles with company people cause in her mind, Bucky will be joining his father soon. Bucky tells his girl to meet him at the pond behind the house in half an hour before being dragged off

Sam: the look of “help me” as he’s walking away but like his ma is talking so much and his gal tells him to pay attention and he just winks before giving her this ridiculously gorgeous grin

Sam: her and becca chat a little more and she introuced her to their grandmother bc grandma Barnes couldn’t wait another second more

Courtney: I love Grandma Barnes

Sam: boo me too

Sam: literally her and his gal get on like a hose on fire and she completely forgets to meet him and he appears after waiting five minutes

Sam: his hands rest on her shoulders and he looks between them “see you two seem to be having a ball”

“oh we are”

“I was just telling this sweetheart about your 11th birthday party, do you remember that one James?”

Courtney: “There was a petting zoo incident.”

#this is embarrassing #but here it is #bucky barnes #bucky barns x reader #bucky barnes imagine #i hate that #marvel #40s bucky #college bucky #Sebastian Stan #concepts #mine #courtney talks

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mythwine · 5 years

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Dragon Con 2019 Recap, Part 1

DragonCon was soooo much fun this year! I am really glad I had the chance to go, and despite some hiccups it was a wonderful time.

So, hiccups out of the way first. Sabrina, Kelly and I rode to DragonCon with Trista (who luckily has an SUV). I didn’t have to do any driving and the trip went fine … until we got to Atlanta and got stuck behind a stalled vehicle at a light (their transmission died and they needed to be towed). While we were attempting to merge into the other lane and allowing the car in front of us to switch lanes, some IDIOT ignored the fact that an SUV was already in her lane and tried to go around, sideswiping Trista’s car. It damaged the front bumper. And then she decided to do a hit-and-run and not even stop. But she sure did pause long enough for us to get her plates before driving off, so we gave that and a description of the vehicle/driver to the police. So needless to say that was upsetting and not a great way to start the convention. At least we got rooms, though. Poor @Sashaforthewin checked into the Marriott at 9 AM and didn’t get her room until 7 PM, leading to a bunch of stranded people in our hotel room all day. Similarly upsetting car issues on the way back, when Sabrina’s car had a dead battery, delaying her arrival back home by a day. Speaking of transportation issues, @elrohare was stranded in Atlanta for a few extra days as planes don’t like flying into hurricanes and flights were cancelled/delayed. Everything worked out (so far as I know), but that was some extra stress. Con crunch caught me hard this year. I maybe kinda sorta over-ambitiously decided on 4 new costumes for DragonCon. But the catch was that *every single one of them* was part of a group, so there was no way to gracefully back out or decide not to do them last minute. Now, had I been a foresighted individual, I might have started making these costumes back in, say, June, to ensure they were all ready to go in time. But…to the surprise of no one who knows me, delay after delay after delay meant that I sure did get a late start. So while I gathered the supplies and plans and started some of the accessories in advance, I basically had to make three costumes from scratch in about 12 days (one costume was made of purchased clothing, so doesn’t count, though I did still have to dye a wig and a skirt for it). For the most part, these costumes came out well enough, though the third one was a serious rush job and nothing to be proud of. Also, embarrassingly, I was sewing it in the minutes leading up to our departure and had to hem it in the room at con.

That distraction meant that I wasn’t really all that careful with my packing. Here’s the full list of items I flat-out forgot to bring – stuff that was in my house, and I intended to bring, but that didn’t make it into my bags. A wig cap. Wig brush. Hair spray. A sewing needle with silver thread. Plastic drinking goblet. Canister of tea. A pair of grey stockings. BOTH of Nienna’s veils. Nienna’s belt. Some items fortuitously made it into my bag without my intentionally packing them, such as a spoon and my elf ears. Luckily, between my roommates and CVS, I was able to make do without these forgotten items, but man. That’s disorganized even for me.

But who cares about all of that, because Dragon Con was amazing! One upshot of the room situation was that Trista and Murph got an adjoining room to ours, and Sasha, Kathleen, Cindy, and Allison were only three doors down. Very convenient!

Wednesday night, we went to dinner at Pacific Rim after a de-stressing visit to the hotel pool. Lovely company, and an opportunity to catch up with friends! I don’t even remember what I ate (something with scallops), but it was delicious. Afterwards, we went to Trader Vic’s in the Hilton for MaiTais from their bar, meeting up with more friends. DragonCon is this big reunion, but especially on Wednesday night! There were T-Rexes having a dance party in the lobby, as you do. I think what’s fun for me is that on Wednesday, the conversations are still about real-world stuff, catching up with what has been happening in people’s lives, and then as the weekend progresses, it’s more silly stuff. The same person who is willing to discuss church policy with me in a bar on Wednesday is just as happy to kazoo Christmas carols with me on Sunday. I enjoy that transition into just hanging out and enjoying everyone’s company, but I like the real conversations too.

One of my favorite parts of con is no alarm clocks. I can sleep as long as needed and get up whenever. And after the overnight drive, I sure did need that slow start on Thursday. The main goals for the day were to obtain a badge, practice singing/panel (which required obtaining a Stacey) and attending Haldir’s ‘Sweet 1600’ birthday party. So this was a low-stress day for me. The badge process was a bit longer than usual, for some reason, so there was a steady line with a wait of about 45 minutes all day (for those who didn’t get the code thingy on their phone). Trista and I waited in line together, and Sabrina was kind enough to keep us company, even though she got her badge in like three minutes (she had the code). I met up with Stacey and Daisy in the food court (they were staying in the Westin), then back to the Marriott Dome for singing. Afterwards, we ran through our panel and timed it at 60 minutes, so we were in good shape for Friday. Then, I quickly changed into the one non-new costume I was wearing this weekend (Elwing) and went to the room party. Fun, as always! I was glad to have the chance to congratulate Stacey on her marriage. YouTube on the TV allows for anyone with the remote to set the music, so I sure did switch it to Berlioz’s Symphanie Fantastique for like 30 seconds before that got strangely vetoed. It was somehow not even my fault that we ended up shouting Lords of the Rhymes later, but it was totally my fault that Rolling Down the Hole was played. After the party, we went down to the Marriott lobby to take in the atmosphere of DragonCon, which included chatting with some firefighters from Miami who kept referring to @hellofeanor as ‘cheeseball girl.’ Mostly because she was holding an open canister of cheeseballs, which would remain open until Monday night.

The saga continues here: https://mythwine.tumblr.com/post/187588236720/dragon-con-recap-part-2-friday

#hiltonwars2019 #dragoncon2019

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lindsaywesker · 3 years

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Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Happy Throwback Thursday! A day for great memories (wink!)

Fascinating article in last night’s Standard (full interview in ES this weekend) on designer Tom Ford saying that ’cancel culture’ has made him rethink everything he designs. And you’ve probably heard this term banded about and not known what it means. You will NOT be surprised to hear it means different things to different people. Rather like the term ‘woke’! Ford goes on to say, ’cancel culture’ has made it harder to be creative, as designers are always worried about offending people with their work, but says, “a shift needed to happen.” A “zero tolerance policy” is “great in many ways” but poses challenges for creatives!

I guess it must be similar to songwriters, anxiously looking at the charts, praying that their song doesn’t go to No. 1, because we know what happens to huge No. 1 hits; an act from the sixties or seventies takes you to court for copyright infringement!

So, what is ‘cancel culture’? Merriam-Webster says, “the practice or tendency of engaging in mass cancelling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure.” Dictionary dot com says, “Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming.” On the flip side of this, you have people who detest cancel culture because it means that people have to walk on egg shells all day every day and ensure that every word they utter and every gesture they make is politically correct. The thing is: no matter what you say or do, someone is going to get upset or be offended. It’s nigh on impossible to stay on the right side of everyone’s feelings! In general, I am viewed as a sensible, kind and sensitive person but, doubtless, there are people out there seething about something I’ve said.

The coming weeks will be busy. I’ve been booked to play at very cool events: this Saturday, November 13: Let The Music Play – Holiday Inn, Stevenage with James Anthony, Richard Lobban + PA from Kenny Thomas; Saturday, November 27: Soullife – The Crown, Shirley with Craig Williams, Joe Carter & Soulcadelic; Tuesday, December 28: Mi-Soul Christmas Party, E1, Unit 2, 110 Pennington Street, London E1W 2BB; New Year’s Eve: The White Lion, Streatham High Road. Hopefully, I’ll see you at one of them?

My aim is to get to 100 reviews for ‘Whatever Makes Them Dance’ (91 so far) and 40 reviews of ‘Keep It Fun’ by the end of the year, so I’d be very grateful if you’d read and review at least one of them. (Both available via Amazon.) I thank you.

Have a throbbing and thrusting Thursday (with hopefully a few thrills through your thoroughfare?) I love you all.

#mixcloud #mi soul #lockdown #new blog #dj #music #coronavirus #books

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augustbess · 3 years

Text

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purplesurveys · 6 years

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What are you excited for? I have a two-week break before I start midyear classes and I’m just ecstatic at the thought of finally not having any deadlines for the time being and sleeping in when I want. I enrolled for midyear though because my depression hits me the hardest during the summer, so I wanted to do something that would keep me occupied all throughout. What is your name? How nice of you to ask. I’m Robyn. Who was the last person to talk to you? Well Audrey tweeted me and that was the most recent time someone talked to me. I dunno if that counts. Are you part Irish? I am 0% Irish. What was your last facebook status? I never post statuses on Facebook. If I do post anything it’s always a profile photo change to promote my org.

Do you find musicians or athletes more attractive? I don’t have a preference. What is your favourite colour? Pastel pink or black. Do you email often? Very often for school matters, yes. Rarely for anything else. How was your night last night? It was pretty cool! I hung out at Gab’s dorm from afternoon to evening so I could help her with 90 packages that she had to assemble, and watched BuzzFeed’s Worth It while doing that. Then we caught the Friends finale on her TV so I made her watch it and she loved it ahhhhh after that we just kind of went from channel to channel because there was nothing to watch. At around 9 PM she watched this show she’s currently following while I took a nap. All in all, solid glimpse as to how our home life would be. If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? I’d love to meet my maternal great-grandfather. He was a very respected and intelligent man. The only trace of him I see today is at our old house, where his library of law books and encyclopedias still exists. Do you own any action figures? I own wrestling figures. Do you like reading? I used to go with one book every two weeks when I was younger. Since then school just kind of took all my time and I never got back to the hobby anymore. What's your favourite thing about your hometown? It’s in between the city and the mountains. It’s easier to get to either when you’re in between. What did you do over Christmas? I don’t remember...I also get hugely depressed over the Christmas season so I don’t make memories from it. When I was younger I wanted to be a: Firefighter. Do you have a lucky number? No, I don’t pick lucky anythings. How many vowels has your whole name got in it? Nine all in all. The last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A PowerPoint presentation that I needed to study for my broadcasting finals. Do you like cats? I like all animals but I have very little patience and enjoyment with cats. Do you have an iPod? Yeah from like a decade ago. I still have it, just as an artifact now haha. Are you wearing jeans? No I HATE jeans. I had an unplanned sleepover at a friend’s last Thursday and I had been wearing jeans, which meant I had to wear them for two days straight. In hot. Humid. Weather. It was torture and I’m never doing that again. Do you prefer nighttime or daytime? Nighttime. Have you got any piercings? Yes, my mom got my ears pierced as an infant. I’ve since damaged one of my piercings though. Is the window in your room open? A couple of them are always open in the summer. Do you own a gun? No. Do you chew on ice cubes? Not really, no. Do you hold grudges easily? Yes. I find it satisfying. Do you play any instruments? The recorder, I guess. Super lame. Have you ever thrown a surprise birthday party? I’ve participated in numerous surprise parties, but very seldom have I directly planned one myself. If you celebrate Christmas, do you get a real tree or an artificial tree? Everyone here in the Philippines gets artificial ones, so it was incredibly weird to me when I found out other cultures get real, actual trees. What's the last thing you watched? Brooklyn Nine-Nine. What websites do you go on more than others? Twitter. What is the hardest decision that you have ever had to make? Accepting that my first relationship with Gab was no more. I had been hanging on to it in the hopes that we get to mend it, but we were on different pages at the time and it was a hard pill to swallow, especially knowing that I exerted a lot of effort into trying to make it work.

Another one that I have in mind wasn’t exactly a hard decision to make per se, but answering university application forms and filling which courses I plan to take was a bold step for me and really solidified that I was going to be on my own from that time on. Private Catholic schools babysit you for 14 years, so filing out each form was a big achievement for me every time. How long ago did you take your last survey? Like 9-10 hours ago, I dunno. This morning. Have you ever been told you were a good writer? I get that a lot, mainly because that is my forte. What do you want to be when you're older? Financially stable. What colour car do your parents drive? We have two white cars and another that is blue. The latter drives me nuts, as I’ve always thought an all-white lineup looks so much nicer. Are you shy? Yep. Do you change depending on who you're with? No not really; the only difference shows when I talk to people I personally dislike. Have you ever liked someone and they were taken? I haven’t. Do you own a camera? If so, do you use it often? I’ve since given away my DSLR to my sister so no, I don’t use it anymore. My only camera is on my phone and I use that a lot instead. What's your biggest wish right now? I wish I could be guaranteed a happy and secure life in a couple of years. Do you believe in fate? Not really. Does it take a lot to make you cry? Nope. Do you have a Twitter? I do. Do you often find yourself eating just because you're bored? Ahahaha you got me. I make trips to the fridge every time there’s nothing to do. What are your worst habits? I have trichotillomania, so hair-pulling is a big aspect of my life and one that drives me nearly crazy. Would you rather be alone or in the company of other people? Depends on my mood. I love my own company, but my friends are my family. When was the last time you flew on a plane? Last month. Do you watch music videos? Not really. Do you ever wish you were someone else? I always wish I was richer, but I’ve never thought about being a particular person. Do you know much about your family tree? A fair amount. What is your favorite home-cooked meal? My maternal grandmother’s kare-kare and paternal grandmother’s crabs. Do you own an account on club penguin? LOL Do you like lemonade? No. Is there someone who means a lot to you but they don't know that? A lot of my friends probably think that because I’m shy most of the time and don’t really express my feelings. But like I said, friends are my established family and I’d take a bullet for anyone I take into my circle. Who are you currently talking to? Just this survey. Is money important to you? Extremely. What are you afraid of? This is always a super broad question. Uh flying cockroaches? First person to come to your mind: The first being I thought of was my dog honestly. But since Cindy tweeted me like 30 seconds ago and the notification popped up, I remembered her first. Who was the last person to call you? My girlfriend. Is there someone you trust more than others? Yes, see above.

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