#and he continues to win for another 65 years

[lazyspeedy]

tbosas has left a feeling of emptiness inside of me that previously was caused by watching the virgin suicides for the first time this year in may and then rewatching in sept

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box— Quinn Hughes Edition (Part Fourteen)

SERIES MASTERLIST

previous: thirteen

next: fifteen

this is 1000% the longest one yet and i simply couldn’t cut anything.

TUESDAY, MARCH 28TH

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, trevorzegras, and 10,671 others

yourusername welcome to my postgame penalty box update: i’m going to be a sap because of my best friend edition! this was a heartbreaking loss, but quinn kicked some serious ass tonight. in his postgame interview, he went on to explain why this game wasn’t their best. i’m not going to argue, but quinn, my favorite hughes of the day, you were really hughesing tonight! (warning: this next part is zero silly goosing and pure love babies)

during his 28:33 minutes of ice time, my best friend scored the opening goal of the game 6:06 into the game! jamie has photographic proof that i immediately burst into tears at this from pure joy and pride. this was his sixth of the season, for real this time, so this goal gave him his 70th point of the season! he is continuing to beat his points in a single season for a d-man in the canucks record!

quinny baby’s second point of the night came in second period at 18:26, where he got his 65th assist on brock’s goal! once again adding to his record point season!

here’s where it gets extra special: quinn’s third point of the night happened at 19:06 in third period. how did he get this third point? WITH ANOTHER GOAL BABY!!! LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN!!! my best friend scored the equalizer and brought the game into OT! i cried even harder this time, and trevor did NOT have a fun time with that! (i’m not sorry)

to summarize: quinn now has 7 goals, 65 assists, and 72 points this season! he had his second career multi goal game, and has beat his previous record of most multi point games for a d-man in a season for the canucks’ franchise to 20 to 21 games! happy quinn hughes night everyone! all of this on the four year anniversary of his first nhl point! and his fourth game without a penalty!

shoutouts: brock also had a three point game! and kuzy got two goals and is now 2nd for the record of most goals by a first year player, behind austin matthews who had 39 goals! and burroughs!! he threw hands!! blood was drawn!! z has video evidence of me cheering!

i’ve never been prouder of you, quinn, and i’m so lucky to call you my best friend. i love you!💙

tagged _quinnhughes

view all 304 comments

_quinnhughes post game facetimes are now my favorite tradition because seeing you bouncy and happy made my night better! (i love you, too)

yourusername i’ll always be your number one fan, quinner <3

trevorzegras stop being cute i’m scared

jackhughes it’s very unnerving

yourusername i gotta keep ya’ll on your toes

user1 the blues had no right to win on quinn’s night

jackhughes not mentioned: y/n group facetiming me and moose after quinny’s first goal and just screamed

trevorzegras were you surprised?

lhughes_06 @/trevorzegras not a bit

jackhughes @/trevorzegras i was alarmed it took so long

jamie.drysdale @/jackhughes she had to stop crying

yourusername LET ME BE PROUD!!

_quinnhughes this is the most y/n thing she’s ever done

user2 THIS IS HIS SEASON

user3 y/n is the president of quinn hughes nation

yourusername and treasurer

_eliaspettersson so proud!🥳

_quinnhughes thank you, petey💯💯

user4 i, too, cried over quinn tonight

_alexturcotte SO PROUD OF YOU @_quinnhughes !!

_quinnhughes thanks man!!

yourusername ty for your appreciation comment, vice president!

_alexturcotte happy to serve for quinn hughes nation

user5 petition to make y/n a canucks announcer

lhughes_06 quinn got jealous that jack and i scored two goals friday and just had to do it, too, smh. copy cat

jackhughes TECHNICALLY i scored three! i win!

_quinnhughes @/jackhughes LEGALLY you scored twice

lhughes_06 @_quinnhughes well i got five LEGAL points and you got three so HA! i win!

yourusername i’m going to rip out all of your eyeballs and put them in a jar and randomly select which eye goes to who if you three don’t stfu and be nice and support to one another

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras all you, dude

trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale all you, dude

jamie.drysdale @/yourusername it’s enclosure time, wifey

user6 new lore unlocked: y/n is scary

trevorzegras y/n osmosised her pride into me when she clung to me as she cried so… i’m proud of you!

_quinnhughes thanks😂

yourusername when they get along >>>

colecaufield @_quinnhughes you’re my idol

_quinnhughes i know

yourusername my best friend is so humble🥰

trevorzegras @/yourusername i don’t think that word means what you think it means

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras no that’s right

yourusername @/trevorzegras suck it

trevorzegras @/yourusername you first

_quinnhughes stop being horny on MY post!

user7 i’d kill to watch y/n watch a game

user8 the real question is: do the guys keep a games since y/n last cried count?

jamie.drysdale brilliant

_alexturcotte how did we not think of this

_eliaspettersson added this to their story

[yukitscne]

I posted 2,350 times in 2022

That's 2,177 more posts than 2021!

1,138 posts created (48%)

1,212 posts reblogged (52%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@veiledfox

@constellaris

@from-across-the-stars

@yukitscne

@heincus

I tagged 2,273 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#i'm the video game boy; i'm the one who wins! ✧･ﾟ ooc - 698 posts

#veiledfox - 179 posts

#constellaris - 131 posts

#what a beautiful sight ✧･ﾟ aes - 131 posts

#let's have some fun ✧･ﾟ memes - 119 posts

#from across the stars - 111 posts

#heincus - 72 posts

#an interesting thought ✧･ﾟ musings - 65 posts

#hiisfire - 51 posts

#mangher - 46 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#most people who have more feelings for yuki are human i guess and it would b very hard to be human and not love one (1) fluffy boi i guess--

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

@veiledfox liked ♥ for a starter!

     ‘It’s only midnight,’ Yuki observed not too long before grabbing Kyuushi by the wrist and pulling her along. ‘C’mon, there’s plenty of fun to be had!’

17 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

#4

See the full post

23 notes - Posted July 7, 2022

#3

@veiledfox ･ﾟ✧ continued from ★

     ‘Shh,’ is the first thing that comes from his mouth. His eyes dart to where her hands have travelled; he understands how this must look, a total stranger having pulled another total stranger aside and out of sight. His voice is quiet, little more than a whisper, as he continues ‘I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.’      Hers is a familiar smell, he takes quick note of, not unlike his own or others like him. She is not known to him, but he can only assume that she is one of his own, if not something similar. Such issues were not ones which he was concerned with at present, though.      ‘But you need to be quiet. Please.’

27 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

#2

Biiiiiig yawn.

46 notes - Posted June 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

@heincus ･ﾟ✧ continued from  ★

     ‘It’s just-’ Yuki shakes his head and bows. ‘I’m sorry.’ His instincts never lead him wrong; there’s definitely something about this one which is making him nervous. Try as either of them might, Yuki just can’t shake that feeling.      Maybe it was just fear of the unknown, of being around someone so well-known.      Yuki gives Aurora a large, warm smile. ‘I suppose I’m just nervous.'

50 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[holyiker-blog1]

FC 25 Manchester City Rating Predictions

Champions again ole ole… After a treble-winning season in 22/23 it was always going to be hard to follow that up, but winning a 4th Premier League title in a row wasn’t a bad way to do so. It could have been another League and FA Cup double for City but Ten Haag’s Tricky Reds undid them in the final. Despite only winning the Premier League, we’re expecting plenty of upgrades for City, especially for the young stars!

Goalkeepers

Ederson (88>88) - A solid enough season for Ederson but no need for any change in terms of rating, but will there be a change of club? Links to the Saudi League have been around since the start of the summer, so don’t rule out Ortega taking the Number 1 spot next season.

Stefan Ortega Moreno (79>81) - Ortega may have only had a small part to play last season, but he was responsible for one of the biggest moments in the title race. His 1v1 save against Son in the dying moments kept City in the lead and secured a vital 3 points with just one game left. Deserves a +2 for that save alone. 

Scott Carson (65>65) – This man has the best job in world football and long may it continue. He gets paid to be Erling Haaland’s best mate and he’s great at what he does, kept his 65 rating after 2 years of doing nothing on the pitch, so we’ve gone for the same again. 

Defenders

Ruben Dias (89>89) - Ruben Dias has been in Manchester for 4 seasons and is yet to experience the feeling of losing a Premier League title race. We expect world-class performances from Ruben Dias but we need even more if he wants to hit that 90 OVR for FC 25. 

John Stones (85>86) - If it wasn’t for his injury issues, John Stones would be up there with the best in the world, and on his day there isn’t anyone better. It’s just a question of how often those injury-free days are. He only featured in around half of City’s games last year but was incredible when he did so. +1 for The General and maybe a CDM alternate position too?

Joao Cancelo (86>86) - Will Cancelo still be in Manchester by the end of the transfer window? Who knows, but he’s back for now so gets included. He had a good season on loan with Barcelona but missed out on the title to Real Madrid, we’ve kept him at 86 but would not be shocked to see him back to an 85. 

Kyle Walker (84>84) - Aside from a poor performance in the Euro 2024 final it was a decent season for Walker so we see no reason for change. Maybe a little downgrade in defending but across the board should stay fairly similar. 

Manuel Akanji (82>83) - Akanji’s showdown card will go down in the FC 24 Hall of Fame and we’ll be expecting to see a lot of him again at the start of 25. A brilliant season from the Swiss international, we’ve played it safe with a +1, but an 84 certainly isn’t out of the question. 

Josko Gvardiol (82>83) - Pep roulette can strike at any moment, but for now Gvardiol is safe. He locked down that left-back position towards the back end of the season and even started scoring screamers for fun. One more year like this and we’ll be expecting 85+ in 26, but for now, we’ve gone for a +1 at 83!

Nathan Ake (81>82) - Gvardiol made the LB his own last season but that meant Ake he’d play second fiddle and fill in where necessary across the back line. Was brilliant when he played so we’ve opted for a +1 here as well!

Midfielders

Kevin De Bruyne (91>91) - Kevin De Bruyne may have been injured for the first half of 23/24 but when he returned, he transformed Manchester City and helped them on their way to 4 in a row. The Belgian returned 18 Assists and 6 Goals in just 26 matches in all competitions. Manchester City only dropped 6 points in the matches KDB featured in this season, he is that guy.

Rodri (89>90) - There is an argument for Rodri to be the highest-rated player, not just in the Premier League, but in the game. He is the best player in the world and should win the Ballon d’Or, but we’re just not sure everyone sees it. 90 would be well deserved, but don’t be surprised if he edges into the 91 category…

Phil Foden (85>87) - If we were choosing ratings we’d have Foden at an 88 or 89 but we don’t think EA will be quite as generous. He was by far the best player in the Premier League last season and deserves a massive upgrade, but could range anywhere from 87 to 89. 

Bernardo Silva (88>88) - It’s not summer without a Bernardo Silva to Barca transfer rumor, but we expect him to stay in Manchester for the upcoming season. An average season for his standards so we’re keeping him at 88.

Mateo Kovacic (82>82) - The Croatian’s first season at City was one to be proud of, finally winning the Premier League and adding that to his trophy cabinet. Played a huge role in the team, filling in across all midfield positions.

Matheus Nunes (79>79) - Nunes struggled a little bit in his first season at the Etihad, but when called upon he did impress. We’ve kept him at a 79 due to limited minutes but hopefully, he can improve on this in 2025!

Rico Lewis (73>78) - Rico Lewis will hopefully be running the City midfield for the next decade, and has been putting in a shift at both DM and Right Back. A fantastic season in 23/24 so we’ve gone for a huge +5 for Rico.

Attackers  

Erling Haaland (91>91) - After a 52-goal debut season, it was always going to be hard for Erling Haaland to replicate that. He only scored a mere 38 goals in the 23/24 campaign, just about enough to keep him at a 91… The guy needs to grow up and score some proper goals to really earn a 92. Tap in merchant. 

Jack Grealish (85>85) - It was a disappointing season for Grealish and he’d say so himself, missing out on the England squad and not featuring for City as much as he’d like. He still showed his quality when he did play so we’ll keep him at 85.

Savio (70>83) - One of the biggest upgrades for City goes to their new summer signing, Savio. The Brazilian was key to Girona’s success last season, guiding them to the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. We’re expecting a HUGE +13 for Savio in FC 25. 

Jeremy Doku (77>81) - Due to how stacked the Manchester City attack is, we only saw glimpses of Jeremy Doku, but when we did it was unbelievable. He was the only player who decided to turn up in the FA Cup final and was their only outlet in that game. We’ve gone for a +4 for the Belgian. 

Oscar Bobb (64>75) - Ole ole, ole ole, Oscar Bobb Bobb Bobb. Another HUGE upgrade for a Manchester City winger and this time for Norwegian Oscar Bobb. Again maybe we’ve been a tad ambitious here, but the quality is there to see with Bobb. It wouldn’t surprise me if he stole the RW spot from Bernardo Silva this season and solidified himself as a starter for Pep Guardiola. 

Will it be 5 Premier League titles in a row for Manchester City? Let us know which team you want us to predict next!

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Other related FC 25 blogs

EA SPORTS FC 25 - Career Mode Deep Dive

EA FC 25 Ultimate Team Deep Dive Overview

EA FC 25 Rush explained: how to play, available game modes, 1v1 penalties and more

New Players Coming To Ultimate Team In EA FC 25

[misfitwashere]

August 15, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 16, 2024

In 2021 a study by the RAND Corporation found that drug prices average 2.56 times higher in the U.S. than in 32 other countries. For name brand drugs, U.S. prices were 3.44 times those in comparable nations. Almost exactly two years ago, on August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Among other things, that law permitted Medicare to negotiate drug prices, a provision about 83% of voters supported.

Republicans opposed the measure, siding with drug company executives who insist that high prices are necessary to create an incentive for drug companies to innovate, as their investment in research and development depends on the revenue they expect from new drugs. Ultimately, not a single Republican voted for the Inflation Reduction Act itself, and Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote that gave the act the votes to go to the president’s desk. 

About a year later, on August 29, 2023, the government announced the first ten drugs over whose prices it would negotiate on behalf of about 65 million Medicare recipients. The ten drugs are among those with the highest total spending in Medicare Part D, which is the Medicare plan that covers drugs administered at home. The original plan for Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 covered drugs administered in health care settings, but it was not until 2003, after almost 40 years of medical innovation had significantly changed our management of chronic illnesses, that Congress included those drugs someone takes at home. At the time, to get Republicans behind the bill, Congress explicitly prohibited the government from negotiating the prices of medications. 

Today the Biden-Harris administration announced it has reached agreements with pharmaceutical companies for those ten drugs. The new prices offer discounts of from 38% to 79% off list prices. The new prices would have saved the government an estimated $6 billion last year if they had been in effect. About 9 million people take those drugs and will save about $1.5 billion out of pocket after the new prices go into effect on January 1, 2026. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expects to select the next 15 drugs for negotiation by February 1, 2025, although Trump and the Republicans have vowed to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act conferring on the government the ability to negotiate drug prices, so a Trump-Vance victory would presumably change that plan. 

Speaking together in Maryland today for the first time since Biden announced he would not accept the Democratic nomination for president and instead endorsed Vice President Harris, Biden and Harris praised the drug negotiations and each other. We’re in a weird moment, in which the press seems to be demanding detailed policy positions from Vice President Harris as she tries to win the presidency in 2024, while putting little comparable pressure on former president Donald Trump, who is the Republican presidential nominee.

Yesterday the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation had fallen below 3% for the past year while economic growth continues strong and unemployment is low, putting us in what some call a “Goldilocks economy,” neither too hot nor too cold. Today, news broke that retail sales were up 1%, higher than expected, and the stock market rallied, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending the day over 40,000. 

There is every reason to think that a Harris presidency will continue the policies that put the U.S. in such an enviable position. Nonetheless, a reporter today asked President Biden: “How much does it bother you that Vice President Harris might soon, for political reasons, start to distance herself from your economic plan?” Biden responded: “She’s not going to.” Another asked: “Will Bidenomics continue under Vice President Harris?” The president responded: “It doesn’t matter what the hell you call it, the economy is going to continue. With…all the legislation we passed, it’s working. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s working.”

In contrast, Trump has been unable to articulate any actual policies for an economic program. After yesterday’s planned economic speech became a rant, he called reporters to his property in Bedminster, New Jersey, today for what was billed as a press conference about the economy. He appeared before a table with containers of coffee and breakfast cereal, but the reason for those props never became clear. 

He began the event by reading from a script that rehashed the greatest hits of the 1950s, saying: “Kamala Harris is a radical California liberal who broke the economy, broke the border, and broke the world, frankly.” He claimed that Harris has “a very strong communist lean” and is in favor of “the death of the American dream.” He predicted a stock market crash like that of 1929 and warned that “you’re all going to be thrown into a communist system…where everybody gets health care.” As he spoke, on the Fox News Channel, a stock ticker in the corner of the screen showed the stock market over 40,563. Trump spoke nonstop for an hour—essentially garnering free press coverage by advertising that he would take questions—before taking questions for another hour, during which he said of his strategy, “All we have to do is define our opponent as being a communist or a socialist or somebody that's gonna destroy our country." 

He never got around to talking about the coffee and breakfast cereal.

CNN fact checker Daniel Dale called it “a whole bunch of nonsense.”

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earlier today, Republican vice presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) said: “We actually have the plans, we have the policies, to accomplish this stuff—that’s a big thing that sets us apart from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.” 

In fact, the Republican Party platform lists things like “END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN,” but Trump’s promises to deport more than 10 million migrants and to put a tariff wall around the country are both highly inflationary measures. Sixteen economists who have won Nobel prizes said in June that Trump’s policies would fuel inflation. They lauded the Biden-Harris administration’s policies and wrote: “We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the U.S.'s economic standing in the world, and a destabilizing effect on the U.S.'s domestic economy.”

To the degree there is an actual set of policies in place on the Republican side, more evidence appeared today to suggest those policies are those set by the 2025 Project, no matter how strongly Trump has tried to distance himself from it. 

Two men associated with the British nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting secretly video recorded one of the key authors of Project 2025, Christian nationalist Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump and the budget director for the extremist Republican Study Committee. In the recording, released today, Vought assured the men, who he thought might donate to the cause, that he and his Center for Renewing America were secretly writing a blueprint of executive orders, memos, and regulations that Trump could enact immediately upon taking office a second time.

Vought assured the men that Trump was only disavowing Project 2025 for political reasons. In reality, Vought said, Trump is “very supportive of what we do.” Vought also said that he does not believe the president is bound by the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that prohibits the use of federal troops for law enforcement purposes against U.S. citizens. “The President has, you know, the ability both along the border and elsewhere to maintain law and order with the military,” Vought said. “And that’s something that, you know, it’s going to be important for, for him to remember and his lawyers to affirm.” In summer 2020, defense officials stopped Trump from mobilizing active duty troops against protesters.

Project 2025 calls for gutting the nonpartisan civil service and replacing it with people loyal to a strong president, and making the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense loyal to the president. With the power concentrated in the president, the government would enforce strict Christian nationalist ideals, revoking the rights of LGBTQ+ people, women, and immigrants and racial minorities. 

Yesterday, Jill Lawrence of The Bulwark noted that Trump and his allies don’t even need to enact all of Project 2025: simply gutting the nonpartisan civil service and filling almost 2 million government jobs with those who are loyal to Trump “above even laws, courts, security, liberty, the ‘general welfare,’ and the rest of the Constitution” would be enough to destroy the county as we know it. 

Think Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge who dismissed the federal case charging Trump for retaining classified documents, or House speaker Mike Johnson, who killed a bipartisan border security bill because Trump wanted to keep the issue of immigration open so he could campaign on it. Trump could install into official positions doctors who endorse quack health remedies, or officials who nod as Trump changes the trajectory of a tropical storm with a Sharpie. “Personnel is policy,” Project 2025’s authors say, and, if elected, Trump has vowed to have his own loyalists take over the United States government. 

But Americans largely oppose Project 2025 and the Trump agenda, even in its vague state. In his appearance in Maryland today, Biden mocked Trump and added: “You may have heard about the MAGA Republican Project 2025 plan. They want to repeal Medicare's power to negotiate drug prices, let Big Pharma get back to charging whatever they want. Let me tell ya what our Project 2025 is—beat the hell out of ‘em.”

—

[bllsbailey]

CNN's Harry Enten Had Another Brutal Assessment for the Biden Campaign

CNN’s Harry Enten is the canary in the coal mine for the Biden campaign that has yet to realize they’re on the precipice of total political disaster. In multiple donor calls, memos, and fundraising emails, the Biden operation has taken a stoic, and some could argue insane, approach to putting out fires among the Democratic Party’s donor class. Some top donors reportedly inquired about refunds, while others wanted Biden officials to be receptive to their concerns about the president’s mental health. The Biden team accommodated neither, but Enten added that these issues should be the primary focus for a campaign teetering on defeat.

Enten told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that polling on Biden’s capacity to be president isn’t even on the same planet as it was four years ago. After Trump demolished Biden, 72 percent of Americans feel he’s too old to be president, up from 65 percent pre-debate. It was only 36 percent in 2020. 

The CNN data cruncher was blunt in that he didn’t see how Biden would win if these figures continued to be this poor for the president. He also torched a counternarrative from liberals regarding Ronald Reagan, who didn’t have a good first debate in the 1984 election. He bounced back in the second, but the baseline isn’t close. Just 27 percent of Americans felt in 1984 that Reagan was too old to be president, and that was after the first debate.

Reagan got the benefit of the doubt from voters, but Enten doesn’t see it with Biden, who arguably had a worse performance. He’s also not the only one asking how to win when three-fourths of the country thinks you’ve lost it. Sam Stein tweeted that he didn’t mean to be “glib” but wondered how Biden could win re-election with figures like this. 

You probably can’t unless you cheat.

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[nbmsports]

Novak Djokovic gets French Open campaign off to winning start; matches Roger Federer record

CNN  —  Novak Djokovic got his French Open campaign off to a winning start with a dominant victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round. The No. 3 seed beat Kovacevic in straight sets, 6-3 6-2 7-6(7-1), at Roland Garros as he begins his quest for a third title at the grand slam. The victory continues his undefeated record in first round French Open matches, moving to 19-0 for his career. The Serbian also matched a record first set by Roger Federer, becoming the second player in the Open Era to win 65 consecutive first-round matches at grand slam events – between Roland Garros 2006 and 2023. Without 14-time champion Rafael Nadal in the men’s draw, there is a big opportunity for many players to step up and claim the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is one of the favorites as the top seed, but Djokovic also has a great chance to win a 23rd grand slam title, which would see him overtake Nadal at the top of the men’s all-time list and further staking his claim as the greatest male tennis player in history. If Djokovic is able to claim a third French Open title, he would return to the top of the men’s world rankings. He also now has 86 wins at the grand slam, second only to Nadal’s 112. But the 36-year-old has struggled this clay-court season, failing to get beyond the quarterfinals of three events and missing another with an elbow injury. In the opening two sets against Kovacevic though, Djokovic showed no signs of rust or nerves, calmly dissecting the 24-year-old.

However, Kovacevic – who was a self-professed Djokovic fan as a child and posed for a picture with the Serbian as a seven-year-old at the 2005 US Open – rallied in the third set, breaking Djokovic when he was serving for the match. Djokovic was the subject of boos from the watching fans when he cupped his ears to the crowd after going up 4-3 in the third set. Kovacevic eventually battled hard enough to force the third set to a tiebreak which Djokovic won tidily. The 22-time grand slam champion will now face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round. Source link Read the full article

[veliusthewanderer]

The Second Civil War: How It Has Already Begun and How It Could Progress.

We're midway through the year 2023 and already the division both among the Republicans and between them and the Democrats has received a new crack. Ron DeSantis, the Mussolini to Donald Trump's Hitler, is set to announce his candidacy for the White House in 2024. The final months of 2023 and the early months of 2024 will become a period of warfare between two of the GOP's most hardline candidates, and Trump already has a head-start on DeSantis, hitting him with ads which paint the Florida governor as an opponent of social security benefits. Meanwhile, Democrats watch on the sidelines, waiting to see who will emerge from the Republican bloodbath. But you wouldn't know this from the many posts on Twitter which declare that Trump will not only overcome DeSantis, but go on to defeat President Biden in the general election and win back the White House he was driven from in 2020.

There has been growing statements by people such as Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) for a "national divorce" which in theory would allow Republican states to manage their own laws without interference from the Democrats or the central government. The problem is, a national divorce cannot happen without a civil war, and as things continue to remain in limbo, the more extremist elements on both sides are getting ready to take it to the next level, one side in defense, the other in offense. It should be easy to see which side is playing offense because ever since Trump last occupied the White House, they've been playing offense. It's therefore not a stretch to say we're already in the throes of another civil war and while no full-scale violence has happened so far, I fear its just a matter of time.

So how would a second Civil War progress? Unlike 1860-65, this will not be so much a war between regions of the country as between urban/suburban and rural. With the majority of liberals located in the urban and suburban areas of the country, they control the commerce. On the other hand, the rural areas are the breadbaskets from which the cities derive much of their food supply. Should a second Civil War take place, it would be easy for the Conservative, rural inhabitants to cut off food and water supply to the liberals in the cities. How effective this would be would depend on how much has been stocked. The opening days of the conflict would be the most dangerous. Over time, however, as the cities and suburbs band together, a pool of manpower could be gathered which could then be directed at seizing the farmlands and secure those resources, thus denying long-term victory for the ruralists.

Why am I outlining a potential second Civil War? Many factors come into play when laying out the likely causes of a second Civil War. Of these, ideology is perhaps-alongside religion-the biggest factor. With both sides dug in and unwilling to make any effort to talk to the other side without resorting to mudslinging, name-calling, and accusations which may or may not be based on facts, and with the radical religious extremists who primarily thrive on the Right pursuing the suppression of women's rights, including reproductive rights, and pushing for more and more extreme measures against the LGBTQA+, the stage is set for a second showdown. The most tragic thing about this civil war is that it will also involve issues which had not be resolved in the first Civil War, such as states' rights.

In the end, no matter which side ultimately emerges from this second Civil War, the country will be changed forever, and quite possibly the United States will cease to be united. shattered into regional confederacies (pun very much intended) whose only common ground was that they were once part of the world's only superpower but had fallen from Grace due to pride, presumption, hubris and paranoia of the other side. What's worse is that many households, many families will become more polarized around their respective figureheads to such an extent that the very concept of family could be forever destroyed. We came close to that point in the last Civil War and only managed to avoid it because of military skill, tactical thinking, and a forgiving commander-in-chief who strove until he was assassinated to bring the country back together. This time, there will be no such figure as Lincoln to begin the healing process as many will simply cast off central government control in favor of regional strongmen who will only be interested in their own territories. Marjorie Greene could, at that point, get the very national divorce she spoke of, but at the high cost in dead, injured, and property destroyed. Without a central agency to spread out the costs of reconstruction due to separatism finally winning out over national unity, each independent region will struggle just to remain sovereign, let alone rebuilding.

This is a truly horrifying prospect that should scare everyone. Sadly as we near the 2024 Presidential General Election and have the two best people facing off, calls for national divorce or civil war will only grow louder, and it'll only then take someone lighting the fuse to set the House of America crashing down on all our heads.

[bongaboi]

Purdue: 2022-23 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions

CHICAGO − If anyone doubted the validity of Purdue's regular-season Big Ten championship, the Boilermakers doubled down.

After running through the league and winning the title by three games, Purdue (29-5) beat Rutgers, Ohio State and Penn State on consecutive days to add a Big Ten tournament championship.

Piloted again by Zach Edey and a cast of eight solid role players, Purdue stopped a monumental week for the Nittany Lions on championship Sunday with a 67-65 victory in the United Center, surviving a late rally.

With 3.3 seconds left, Penn State's inbounds pass from the right wing was tipped by Edey, causing a scramble that resulted in a traveling violation on the Nittany Lions. With 0.6 of a second left, Purdue heaved a pass to the 7-foot-4 Edey, who swatted it away as time expired.

It is Purdue's second Big Ten tournament championship, with the first coming in 2009.

Edey also added to his postseason haul of awards, garnering Tournament Most Valuable Player to package with his Big Ten Player of the Year award.

3 stars Zach Edey, Purdue: The Boilermakers trailed 4-0 after Penn State opened with two straight shots. Then Edey scored. Then he scored again. And Purdue's unstoppable force was just that. Edey went 12 of 17 from the field, finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds.

David Jenkins Jr., Purdue: Jenkins continued his hot shooting in the first half Sunday, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes, missing only on an attempt as the shot clock expired and on the final play of the first half. This week, Jenkins became the scoring punch Purdue needed off the bench, scoring 11 first-half points.

Purdue men's basketball: This third part is interchangeable and probably why the Boilermakers got just one player (Edey) on the Big Ten's first-, second- and third-teams. There's Edey. And there's a plethora of really good basketball players besides him. None consistently stand out, but at one time or another, all eight players aside from Edey in the rotation have stood out. Every player who saw the floor in the Big Ten Tournament championship - Edey, Jenkins, Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Brandon Newman, Ethan Morton, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn - had big moments in Sunday's victory.

Key moment Penn State can get hot from the outside and with Jalen Pickett, has one of the most dynamic players in the Big Ten.

When the Nittany Lions pulled within 40-36 with 16 minutes to go, it felt like an opportunity.

Purdue slammed that door shut immediately, holding Penn State to five points over the net seven-plus minutes and expanding that lead back to 14.

Ethan Morton slid into the paint on a Seth Lundy drive and drew a charge with 8:21 to go. This is the stuff that gets Purdue coaches excited more than flashy passes or 3-point shooting. The United Center erupted as Morton pounded the floor with both hands in celebration after the charge.

Penn State was able to cut the lead to four with 1:55 to go, but the Boilermakers went back to old reliable, getting it down low to Edey, who turned and put in a shot off the glass. Purdue needed every bit of that separation.

Myles Dread hit a 3, then Penn State stole the ensuing inbounds pass and cut the deficit to 66-65. Loyer made 1 of 2 free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining.

Key stat When Purdue struggled this season, it was plagued by turnovers.

Needing to elevate its level of play heading into the NCAA tournament, the Boilermakers were masterful in taking care of the basketball on Sunday.

Purdue turned the ball over just seven times. If there's one concern, its' that three of those came in the final minutes that kept Penn State in striking distance.

[rubycubix-alt]

Dr. Rupert Stevenson, head of the pharmaceutical development division at DrugCorp, was nervous. He stood backstage and noted with annoyance the butterflies in his stomach. He tried talking himself down.

“It’s not as if you’ve never given a speech before,” he reasoned with himself. “You won the Nobel Prize, for Christ’s sake, you can give a simple presentation to a room of people” he continued, without much luck.

Dr. Stevenson had, in fact, won the Nobel Prize several years ago, awarded in recognition of his “development of anti-Alzheimer’s Disease medications which have broadened humanity’s grasp of the future”. To put it another way, he had synthesized the first successful treatment (he was uncomfortable with the word ‘cure’) for that scourge of the over-65 crowd. Since that time, he had rather faded into obscurity, much to the consternation of the scientific community at large.

Unbeknownst to the large audience gathered in the theater, Dr. Stevenson was not, as the poster promoting this appearance had stated, “making his grand return to the cutting edge of science”. Rather, he was desperate for cash, and this seemed like the best way to parlay his limited fame into a quick paycheck. The technology he was about to step on stage to reveal to the waiting crowd, far from being the next world-changing treatment or life-lengthening procedure, was nothing whatsoever. Dr. Stevenson had no new discovery, no groundbreaking experimental successes. He hadn’t run a successful experiment in over a year. Hence his nervousness. Nevertheless, when he heard his name announced and the crowd begin its applause (tinged with anticipation), he found his legs propelling him through the curtain and into the spotlight.

“Hello” he began, rather nervously. He paused for a moment to gain confidence, self-assurance, and plowed on. “I’ll get right to the point. Ever since I won the Nobel Prize three years ago, I have been asking myself: what’s next? The several months immediately following my win were some of the hardest of my professional life. ‘Is this it?’ I thought. ‘Is this all I was meant to achieve in life?’ Then I answered myself: ‘No!’. So today, ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, I announce that I, Doctor Rupert Stevenson, have discovered a cure for human aging.” Here, he paused to take in his audience’s reaction.

His audience was, to say the least, confused. They didn’t know whether he was having a joke at their expense, but based on the joyful expression the scientist wore on his face, it soon became clear that he was quite serious. They slowly (then quickly, in that way audiences have) broke into rapturous applause. Some may have thrown flowers, if they had only thought to bring them into the theater with them.

“And that’s not all!” continued the lying physician. “Not only have I cured aging, but the cure is something that is not patentable, not copyrightable, not monetizable. It’s something that is all around us every day.”

At this new revelation, the audience became (if this is possible) even more laudatory in their plaudits.

“It is…

[art-making-grat]

I posted 79 times in 2022

That's 79 more posts than 2021!

65 posts created (82%)

14 posts reblogged (18%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thehornedsystem

@catcrumb

@nuppu-nuppu

@justmenoworries

@besosquecreanadiccion

I tagged 48 of my posts in 2022

Only 39% of my posts had no tags

#art - 33 posts

#drawing - 31 posts

#messy drawing - 10 posts

#genshin - 8 posts

#sketch - 7 posts

#oc - 6 posts

#fanart - 6 posts

#genshin impact - 5 posts

#genshin fanart - 4 posts

#color - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 45 characters

#someone buy me a ps5 rn i need to try this 😤

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

yay it’s finally done and now I can work on other stuff asflkshslkaha

7 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

#4

just another tuesday

venti: *drunk* hEyYyYyYyyyyyyyyy 😏😏😏😏😏🤭

diluc who is used to this happening: *ignores him … continues working*

zhongli: *gags* you disgust me 😒😔🤢😤*sighs like an old man* 

kaeya: *also drunk* hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 😋🥴

paimon: does this mean paimon will have to carry the tone deaf bard home…?  kazuha: *awkward and concerned* are you feeling alright, friend?

itto: BETCHU CANT DO ANOTHER ONE 😤 - venti: oH yEaH??

scaramouche who challenged venti to a drinking competition then proceeded to drink water: I WIN 😈😈😈😈😈😈

childe: well venti, if you think you can handle another one… drinks on me 😏💰

albedo who got dragged along for some reason even though he isn’t friends with anybody: I’m afraid this is an unhealthy addiction you have 😕 alcohol poisoning is a real issue *goes on about all the ways alcohol can kill you blah blah blah in gory detail*

literally everybody to albedo: ohmygod why would you say that 😭🤢😰☠️

See the full post

8 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

#3

WIP lol

11 notes - Posted November 9, 2022

#2

venti :))

23 notes - Posted November 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

okay it’s coming along so much better than i ever expected 😭 

62 notes - Posted November 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[paddy-morgan]

Seamus Power is on the rise

Professional

Seamus Power is an Irish professional golfer from Waterford, Ireland. Power attended East Tennessee, State University while living in America. Power turned professional in 2011 but found it hard to maintain his card on PGA Tour for many years. Power changed everything as he won his first PGA Tour tournament at the Barbasol Championship in 2021. Power won on his 106th start and confirmed his card for 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 PGA Tour season.

Events

Having a tour card on the PGA Tour is massive as you can select what tournaments that you want to play in each month. Power jumped to 113th in world rankings after his breakthrough win and 69th in FedEx Cup rankings. Power qualified to play in 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions after winning in 2021. He started 2022 in good form after finishing tied 15th at Sentry Tournament of Champions. He continued his great start to 2022 with a tied 3rd finish at Sony Open and a tied 14th finish at American Express Open.

Pebble Beach

Power’s next start was at 2022 AT& T Pebble Beach Pro-Am which is played over three golf courses. Power got off to a fantastic start at this tournament as he led at the halfway stage of 2022 AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Power struggled over the weekend but still finished in the top ten on 9th position. Power was 42nd in the world rankings after Pebble Beach but needed to stay inside the top 50 to qualify for Augusta. Power confirmed his place at 2022 US Masters after making it to the last 16 of WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay.

Summer

He held his own at Augusta as Power made it to the weekend. To get four rounds under your belt is a fantastic experience at Augusta as Power finished tied 27th on four over. Southern Hills was the venue for 2022 PGA Championship. Southern Hills was a tough venue with Justin Thomas winning 2022 PGA Championship on five under with Power putting in a fantastic finish in tied 9th. Another week were Power raised his profile as a golfer on one of the toughest courses in America.

Irish Open

Power followed up his good finish at Southern Hills with a tied 12th finish at Brookline in 2022 U.S. Open. Mount Juliet was the venue for 2022 Irish Open and Power made his well deserved return to Ireland. He gave the crowds plenty of highlights at Mount Juliet as Power shot three rounds of four under par. Power got a fantastic draw for the first two rounds of 150th The Open playing alongside four-time major winner Brooks Koepka and 2022 The Players winner Cameron Smith. He had a bit of bad luck as Power missed the halfway cut at St Andrews.

2022/2023

It’s important to start the season well with events counting for FedEx Cup in both 2022 and 2023. Power went into the Butterfield Bermuda Championship as the highest ranked player in the field on 48th. Power shot three consecutive rounds of 65 to be tied for the lead going into the final round. The final round conditions were difficult due to a strong breeze and Power went into the lead after a birdie on 14th hole. Power played the final four holes in one under to seal his second victory on PGA Tour.

Ranking

Power jumped to 32 in the world rankings after winning Bermuda Championship. With less than a year to go Power has to be in the conversation for the Ryder Cup next year. Playing well on difficult courses is not easy and this is why Power has to be in the mix for Luke Donald in Rome.

[robertreich]

The Democrat’s Secret Sauce to Win the Midterm elections

The beginning of May before midterm elections signals the official start of primary season and the kickoff of fall campaigns. Because midterms are usually referendums on a president’s performance, the conventional view now is that Democrats are in deep trouble because Biden’s approval ratings are in the cellar.

But the conventional view doesn’t account for the Trump factor, which gives Democrats a fighting chance of keeping one or both chambers.

According to recent polls, Trump’s popularity continues to sink. He is liked by only 38 percent of Americans and disliked by 46 percent. (12 percent are neutral.) And Trump continues to slide: Among voters 45-64 years old – a group exit polls show Trump won 50% to 49% in 2020 – just 39 percent now view him favorably and 57 percent unfavorably. Among voters older than 65 -- 52 percent of whom voted for him in 2000 to Biden's 47 percent – only 44 percent now see him favorably and more than half (54%) view him unfavorably. Importantly, independents hold him in even lower regard. Just 26 percent view him favorably and 68 percent unfavorably.

Republican lawmakers had hoped and assumed that Trump would fade from the scene by the 2022 midterms, allowing them to engage in full-throttled attacks on Democrats.

But Trump hasn’t faded. In fact, his visibility is growing daily.

******

Btw, if you’d like my daily analyses, commentary, and drawings, please subscribe to my free newsletter: robertreich.substack.com

******

The media is framing the May Republican primaries as all about Trump. The Ohio primary was a giant proxy battle over him, in which Republican candidates outdid each other trying to sound just like Trump -- railing against undocumented immigrants, coastal elites, “socialism,” and “wokeness,” and regurgitating the Big Lie.

Trump’s April 15 endorsement of JD Vance made the difference -- as could his backing of Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Mary 17 primary and Hershel Walker in Georgia’s May 24 primary. But whether Trump’s bets pay off in wins for these candidates is beside the point. Trump is making these races all about himself —and in so doing, casting the midterms as a referendum on his continuing power and influence.  

June’s televised hearings of the House January 6 committee will likely show how Trump and his White House orchestrated the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and rekindle memories of Trump’s threat to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless Ukrainian president Zelensky came up with dirt on Biden.

Here again, the real significance of these hearings won’t be seen in Trump’s approval ratings but in Trump’s heightened visibility in the months before the midterms -- and its almost certain shift in voters’ preferences toward the Democrats.    

Also likely in June (according to leaked documents) is a decision by the Supreme Court to uphold Oklahoma’s near ban on abortion and reverse Roe v. Wade – courtesy of Trump’s three Court nominees whom Trump explicitly nominated in order to reverse Roe. 

The high court’s decision will green-light other Republican states to enact similar bans, and spur Republicans in Congress to push for national legislation to virtually bar abortions across the country. Republicans believe this would ignite their base, but it’s more likely to ignite a firestorm among the vast majority of Americans who believe abortion should be legal. Score another one for Trump.

There is also the distinct possibility of criminal trials over Trump’s business and electoral frauds (such as his brazen attempt to change the Georgia vote tally). Again, their significance for the midterms is less about whether Trump is found guilty than about their continuing reminders of his lawlessness.  

Meanwhile, America will be treated to more Trump rallies, interviews, and barnstorming to convince voters the 2020 election was stolen from him, along with his incessant demands that Republican candidates reiterate his Big Lie.

Somewhere along the line, also before the midterms, Elon Musk will allow Trump back on Twitter. The move would be bad for America, but it would remind voters of how whacky, racist, and dangerously incendiary Trump continues to be.

Oh, and don’t forget the antics of Trump’s many surrogates – Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Steven Bannon, Madison Cawthorn, and others – who mimic Trump’s bravado, bigotry, divisiveness, and disdain for the law. All are walking billboards for Trumpism’s heinous impact on American life.

All will push wavering voters toward Democrats in November.

I’m not suggesting Democrats seeking election or reelection should center their campaigns around Trump. To the contrary, Democrats need to show their continuing commitment to average working people. Between now and November, they should provide help with childcare, cut the costs of prescription drugs, and stop oil companies for price gouging, to take but three examples.

If they do this, they can count on Trump to remind Americans of the hatefulness and chaos he unleashed. The combination – Democrats scoring some additional victories for working people, and Trump being Trump – could well reverse conventional wisdom about midterms and keep Dems in control of Congress.

[captainsolare]

All Things Come to an End

A/N: This is my collab piece for @quirkyseastone 's milestone event!

Enemies to Lovers + Fairy Tale AU + Bakugo

Synopsis: When it is time for the heir to the throne to seek a spouse, one champion a month is chosen to go through a series of challenges. Bakugo is the first champion from his village to be chosen in several years and he will do anything to win. You, the heir to the throne, are terrified of change, and will do anything to keep it from happening.

Word Count: ~3.5k

The buzz of the hall came to an abrupt halt as he came onto the stage; Yagi Toshinori, the previous champion had at long last come to pick from their village.

“Hello, citizens of Eikka! As you know, the royal family is still looking for a worthy partner for the heir. Many of you are gathered here today for a chance to join the family, whether that be for social reasons, for wealth, or just to prove you can. Regardless, only one of you has been chosen.”

“This month’s champion, from the village of Eikka is…”

Amidst the anticipation of the announcement Bakugo balled his fists, hoping no one would take notice of the way his nails dug into the soft flesh of his palms. His eyes darted from person to person, heart racing as they waited.

“Katsuki Bakugo!”

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, had he heard right? Was it actually him? Arms shoved him towards the stage and he stumbled up the stairs. The lights were blinding, he’d waited for this moment for so long, and now it had finally arrived.

“Bakugo, what are you hoping to achieve this month? Not just for yourself but for your village?” Yagi asked, eyes fixated on the young man.

Bakugo blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the bright spotlights.

“Honestly, I just want to win. I will give this village the honor of having its champion become the first in its history to become a part of the royal family.”

Yagi smiled, nodding at his answer. He then grabbed Bakugo’s arm, thrusting it up towards the sky,

“Citizens, your champion!”

-

You sat leaned back in your chair, feet on the desk as you read the file you were given. You sighed, giving an incredulous look to your first knight, Keigo,

“This is this month’s champion? How boring.” You tossed the file onto the desk with the others from the previous months, “He’ll probably give up within the first week.”

Keigo tutted, “Now now Y/N, I would give him more credit than that. He is ranked number one in his village in all the important areas.”

You scoffed, “Except in diplomacy. How am I supposed to lead beside someone who can’t negotiate his way out of a paper bag without ripping it?”

The corners of Keigo’s mouth twitched, “I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.”

-

Bakugo walked home, chest puffed out and heart soaring. Midoriya, his childhood friend and rival, walked with him, a much shyer figure compared to the newly chosen champion.

“I always knew you could do it.” Midoriya said, eyes sparkling.

Bakugo laughed, “Of course! I always knew I was worthy, now’s my chance to prove it.”

Midoriya paused, shoulders tense, “Aren’t you afraid you might die? The last champion didn’t come home.”

Bakugo stopped in his tracks, causing his friend to nearly stumble.

“Why would I be afraid of a silly thing like death? I’m way too good to die.”

Midoriya straightened, extending a finger and poking him in the chest, hard.

“You better not. I’ll never forgive you if you do.”

-

Bakugo stood at the edge of the forest, heart pounding as he prepared to set off on his journey. This would be it, the fruits of his labor, everything he had been working towards would be decided this month. Everyone in the village had come to see him off, but he had shooed them away, telling them he needed his concentration. Even though it appeared they had left, it still felt as though there were eyes watching him, studying his every move, waiting for him to fail.

He walked, careful to move as silently as possible; oftentimes champions were ambushed in the forests outside their towns, usually by a nameless jealous person who was afraid of their dreams of wealth and fortune being dashed. There was a large crack of wood, and Bakugo spun around, knife clutched tightly in his hand.

“There’s no need for all that, it’s only an old man.”

Bakugo studied the figure before him, it did appear to be an old man, harmless enough, but there was no telling if he had allies in the woods, waiting, watching.

The man laughed, a gravelly sound that grated in Bakugo’s ears. “I brought you an amulet.” As if sensing his inevitable protest, the man continued,

“You may not think you need it, but every little bit of protection helps doesn’t it?”

Bakugo frowned, head cocked to the side as he studied the situation, worst case, he could die, but then again he had a real possibility of doing so in the challenges, or best case, the amulet really would protect him.

He took the amulet from the man’s outstretched hand and put it in his pocket.

“I can’t promise that I’ll wear it, but thank you.”

Bakugo turned on his heel, knife still clutched tightly in his palm, and set off on his journey.

-

“Lame!” You threw a piece of popcorn at the crystal ball you were watching Bakugo through. “You can’t just take the amulet, you have to at least say no first.”

You looked at the papers on your desk, the final preparations for your challenges were made, all it needed was your signature and everything would be complete.

Stealing a glance at the crystal ball showing his progress you smiled, “Ah, I can’t wait to crush another one.”

-

The path to the castle was steep and winding and Bakugo’s legs were aching by the time he reached the gate. A pair of trumpets announced him and the gate opened to reveal you standing there, your first knight just behind your shoulder.

“Greetings champion, I am the royal heir, Y/N.”

Bakugo bowed his head and opened his mouth to introduce himself but you waved him off.

“I know who you are. Katsuki Bakugo, selfish man with an artificially inflated ego who thinks he is better than everyone else.”

His cheeks burned at your words but he held his tongue, there was no way for him to talk back here, you were royalty and despite appearances, Katsuki knew his place.

You smiled, “Congratulations, you just passed your first challenge.”

Katsuki’s head snapped up, “Really?”

Your smile immediately disappeared, “Of course not. You really think winning my hand would be that easy?”

His cheeks reddened, embarrassed that he had fallen for such a petty trick.

Waving your hand in the air, you turned to walk away.

“This will be hell, I’ll make sure of it. Keigo will take you around the grounds and show you to your quarters. I expect you to come to me at 7 sharp in the morning.”

Keigo bowed as you walked away and you were quickly accompanied by several other attendants.

Keigo took a moment to look over Katsuki with his keen eyes, narrowing them, he cleared his throat.

“Y/N is really something, don’t you think?” He said, an almost daring tone in his voice.

Bakugo’s brows furrowed as he studied the older man, “Yeah, something.”

Keigo turned and set a quick pace, enough that Bakugo had to jog to keep up.

“Here are the training grounds, you can use them at your leisure though I can’t say how much good it’ll do you; for most of the challenges you aren’t allowed to use weapons. The castle gardens are that way, the heir can often be found reading there. There is the castle, obviously.”

Bakugo tried to take in as much information as he could in the short span he was given. Keigo led him inside and the pair walked up a long staircase. A simple door lay in front of them, wooden and unimpressive looking.

“Your quarters are here through that door, try to get rest when you can, you’ll need it.”

Keigo pointed down a hallway, “Down there is the tower. You’ll go there to meet with the heir to get your challenges. This is where I leave you, there is a kitchen stocked with food in your quarters, I presume you can make your own meals, yes?”

Bakugo nodded and Keigo nodded in affirmation.

“You shall meet the heir in the morning to receive your first challenge. Get some sleep.”

“Yes sir.”

-

The door to the tower stood large and intimidating; he knocked once and the door opened, revealing a long winding staircase. When he reached the top, he hesitated, thumbing at the amulet that lay under his clothes. This is stupid, how is an amulet going to help me?

The door opened to reveal Keigo, and Bakugo strode in after a quick bow to the heir.

“Greetings Heir.”

You smiled but it lacked warmth, “Good morning Champion. Are you ready to receive your first challenge?”

“Yes I am.”

Your smile widened, “Glad to hear it. Just to refresh your memory, you have 5 challenges to complete, with varying degrees of difficulty.”

“Yes Heir.”

“Your first task will be to retrieve a pearl necklace from the bottom of the nearby lake.”

Bakugo stiffened, it was winter outside, the water would be ice cold.

“Yes Heir.”

-

Bakugo tried to hide how he was shivering, but the erratic fog of his breath gave him away. The knight accompanying him tried to reassure him with a smile.

“There are 85 pearls in a necklace.” The knight said quietly, as Bakugo stood at the edge of the lake.

Bakugo turned to look at him, “Excuse me?”

The knight said nothing further.

-

He could feel the icy water in his veins, in his very soul. It was cold, so very cold, and he had only found 20 pearls so far. He swam to the surface once more, adding a singular pearl to his pile on a tree stump.

Before he dove again, he tapped the amulet, secretly hoping it would bring him strength through this trial. This time when he dove, the water felt warm and when he reached the sandy bottom he found a long strand of pearls.

When he emerged to count them, he was delighted to find that it was a string of 65 pearls, missing 20 to make an even 85.

-

You hissed as he pulled the long string of pearls from the water. How did he get that? I cut those off myself.

There was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal Bakugo, dripping icy water on your floor while holding a complete pearl necklace. He walked towards you and bowed at the desk you sat behind.

“May I put the necklace on you?”

You hummed an affirmative, and he came behind you, shaking hands dripping ice cold water down your back as he tried to clasp the necklace. You hissed from the cold, but the more overwhelming feeling was the heat that seemed to radiate from him. He was so close, for some reason it made your heart beat faster, and that made you seethe with anger.

“Congratulations, you have successfully completed the first task. Go rest and save your strength for the day ahead.”

As soon as he was out of earshot you stood, slamming your hands on the desk.

“Keigo!”

“Yes, my Heir.”

Your head snapped up to meet his gaze, “Was that just a fluke? I cut that necklace myself, there should have been 85 individual pearls and one string with a clasp at the bottom of that lake.”

Keigo’s expression was unreadable, “I don’t know, but I shall endeavor to find out for you.”

He left you sitting at your desk, chewing on your lip in frustration.

-

“Your next task is translating a love poem into the ancient language.”

The paper given to him read as follows,

‘I have loved you since before my first breath and will love you long after my last

You are like the breeze on a hot summer's day, refreshing and just what I need

I will be by your side until the end and beyond it, we are bound by fate forever’

He had spent hours in the library, flipping between pages and pages of books that might give him an answer.

-

You smiled thoughtfully, “Look at him Keigo, so lost in thought. He should be stuck on this one for a while.”

-

As Bakugo pulled book after book off the shelf with no success he absentmindedly thumbed the amulet. He turned the corner to make a pass at a bookshelf he had cleared and there was a single book still left on it. A quick glance showed it was exactly what he needed and he had to restrain himself from running back to his work station.

-

You frowned as you watched him and it deepened as you realized which book he was reading.

“I don’t understand, I removed that book from the library myself.”

Your brows furrowed as you rewound the footage, it was subtle, but you saw Bakugo’s hand briefly go to his chest. There was a flash of silver and you gasped, “It’s that damned amulet, it must be.”

“Keigo!” You called, he appeared at your side at once, “I need you to do something about the amulet that boy is wearing.”

“I shall take care of it at once.”

-

Bakugo examined the manuscript. The poem was somehow more beautiful after you read the translation. He went to the tower with paper in hand, heart hammering at the prospect of reading it to you. The door opened for him immediately and he did the customary bow.

“You were able to translate it?” You asked, an almost imperceptible quiver in your voice.

“Yes, shall I read it to you?”

When you nodded, Bakugo held the paper before him and took a deep breath,

“I love you from my first breath and I love you after my last breath

You are like the wind on a hot summer day, refreshing and exactly what I want

I will be with you until the end, and we will be bound forever”

He hoped you couldn’t hear the shake in his voice as he read it.

You paused, cheeks hot with embarrassment,

“Congratulations Champion, you have successfully completed your second task.”

-

You sat on your balcony watching the moon when Keigo appeared next to you.

“Is it done?” You asked, not bothering to hide the shake in your voice.

“Yes.”

Keigo sat next to you on the lounge chair as you patted for him to sit down. You leaned against him, a silent plea for support.

“Keigo?” You asked after a while.

He hummed in response and you took a shaky breath.

“Is it wrong to be scared? There’s a very real chance he could win.”

Keigo wrapped his arm around you, it’s weight was a welcome comfort.

“Not at all, if he wins, your life will change. But all things must change at some point or another.”

You grabbed his arm with your own, holding it tighter against you.

“But I’m not ready to leave you yet.” You said quietly.

Keigo smiled sadly and kissed the top of your head, “Oh little bird, all things must come to an end. But I will be here always, your faithful knight, nothing more, nothing less.” We were never anything more.

You let the tears flow down your cheeks, Keigo held you as you cried long into the night.

-

The next challenge was to move a pile of boulders to the top of a tall hill without them rolling back down. Bakugo carried boulder after boulder up the hill but no matter what he did they would roll back to the bottom.

One of the boulders split and he got an idea, a sudden spark of innovation.

“Am I allowed to use items for this one?”

The knight nodded and Bakugo jumped up, grabbing an axe and a flour sack. He hacked at the boulders until the sun sank low in the sky and his shoulders were on fire, but when he was finished he had a large sack of pebbles.

He took it easily to the top of the hill and laid it down flat, it wouldn’t roll down the hill.

-

You couldn’t help but marvel at his idea, it required adaptability and working with materials you had that weren’t necessarily suited to the job.

He entered the tower with a bow, and you smiled a genuine smile.

“Congratulations Champion, you have successfully completed your third challenge.”

-

Bakugo couldn’t get your smile out of his head, now that he had seen it for real he never wanted to let it go. He somehow wanted to be the reason you smiled, and he would do anything to see it again.

-

“Your fourth challenge is to save someone in distress. Go to town and see what you can do.”

When Bakugo made it to the town he was surprised to find it remarkably empty for a place that was usually bustling. He wandered the city, and only found a dog with a hurt paw.

He sat down and pulled the medicine kit from his bag, coaxing the dog towards him. He gently cleaned and wrapped the dog’s hurt paw and sent her on her way, with a bit of food first.

-

Bakugo was sent to the gardens instead of the tower to receive his judgement, he arrived a bit early though and stumbled across you tending to your plants as you hummed. His heart clenched, it was a little adorable, seeing the normally closed off you so open while by yourself. There was something remarkably authentic about it, seeing your slumped posture, your genuine smile.

Once you noticed him you straightened your posture and your clothes, expression returning to the neutral one of a ruler.

“That was an interesting loophole you found there. Congratulations Bakugo, you have successfully completed your fourth challenge.”

My name. The Heir said my name.

-

“I think I want him to win, Keigo.” You said softly, voice scarcely above a whisper.

Keigo smiled, “That’s wonderful Y/N, I’m so glad.”

You didn’t notice the sadness as he left, nor the tears brimming above his cheeks.

-

“Your fifth and final challenge is the most difficult. You must bring me back a ruby from a dragon’s horde without weapons.”

Bakugo nodded and went to gather the necessary provisions for the journey.

It took four days to reach the mountain where the dragon lived, now he stood at the mouth of the cave, trying to stifle the nervousness threatening to explode from his chest.

He entered the cave with his hands up to show he was not a threat, all weapons left at the entrance to the cave.

The dragon regarded him curiously, “Who are you mortal? Why have you come to this place?”

“I am no threat to you. I only wish to make the one I love happy.”

The dragon chuckled, pillars of smoke rising from its nostrils, “Oh? You’ve come here for someone else? How selfless of you.”

Bakugo shoved his frustration down in favor of taking a deep breath. “I only wish to make the one I want to be with happy.”

“And how can I help with that? Wouldn’t your lover be happier if you returned alive.”

Bakugo remained steadfast, stilling his rapid heart.

“I only wish for one ruby from your horde.”

The dragon laughed once more, this time emitting sparks, “And what shall I get in return?”

Bakugo somehow stood even taller, “An ally, who will make sure you remain unbothered on your mountain.”

The dragon considered his offer for a moment then nodded.

“Very well, you may have a ruby. Be warned though, if I find anything else missing our agreement will be void and I will attack your kingdom.”

He nodded. “Of course, thank you.”

Bakugo picked up his weapons and prepared for the journey back to the castle.

-

You couldn’t help but run to him as he knelt at the gate with the ruby in his hand. You waved him up with your hand and wrapped him in an embrace.

“Congratulations Katsuki Bakugo, you have successfully completed your fifth and final challenge.”

The king came out, announced by a fanfare of trumpets. “There will be a ball tonight in your honor.”

-

Bakugo took your hand in the empty hallway, wanting to pause before you went into the eyes of the public.

“Remember when you hated me?”

You snorted, “I never hated you Katsuki.”

He turned to you with a raised eyebrow, “Oh really? Then what was the artificially inflated ego comment about?”

You gave him a coy smile, planting a kiss on his cheek. “That was a test.”

You opened the door and stepped into the light, hand in hand, until forever.

-

All things must come to an end, but sometimes the good leaves to make room for something better.

[jamespotterthefirst]

Okay I've done some thinking and now I'm going to do some annoying😂 and I've come up with several questions for Lilac and Ethan. BUT, you have to answer as them too. 🙃

What was their worst date together?

I think there might be some funny stories for this one. 🤭 But I'm not sure, so I'll leave that to you.

What are their most repeated sentences or phrases?

Who takes longer to get ready?

Who spends more time on social media?

Who is the better driver and who is the default passenger? (also, how were they like when the other first drove them somewhere? Like when Lilac first drove Ethan somewhere and vise versa? )

Who is better at fashion?

Who is the biggest flirt?

Who sings better?

Who usually wins an argument?

Who usually finishes their food faster?

Who is more likely to burn the house down when they're cooking?

Who has the shorter attention span?

who is more likely to admit that they are wrong?

Who is more likely to send an inappropriate message to another family member? (I couldn't help myself sorry😂)

Who is more likely to 'fake it till you make it' with a crush?

Who is more likely to use the other's things?

Who is more dramatic?

Who is more likely to embarrass themselves?

Who is most likely to trip while walking?

Who is more likely to buy things they don't need?

Who is most like to lock themselves out of the house/apartment?

Okay, that's all I got. (For now😂)

Sorry for making it so long.

Hi! Thank you so much for these! I love them lkjfskdlfjlk and you are seriously making me so happy. I love talking about these two!

What was their worst date together?

Lilac: *laughing while sharing a look with Ethan* It has to be that night you tried to take me to the Opera for Rigoletto. They didn't know we were coming so they donated your box that night like usually instruct them to do. Remember that night?

Ethan: *completely serious* I do. But I don't remember it as the worst date.

Lilac: No? We got all dressed up for nothing.

Ethan: Do you remember what happened after?

Lilac: We walked aimlessly until we ended up at the Common. They had Shakespeare at the Park. It was a production of Much Ado About Nothing.

Ethan: *nods* You got so excited because you said it was one of your favorites but you had never seen a production. You were just so... happy.

Lilac: *smiling tenderly at him* But your plan for the perfect date was ruined. I thought it was the worst date because you were disappointed.

Ethan: I planned to spend time with you. That's all I ever wanted and I got it. Plus more. That look on your face... It was worth everything.

What are their most repeated sentences or phrases?

Lilac: His infamous line about delaying the inevitable.

Ethan: Lilac constantly quotes long forgotten six second videos from 2015

L: Vines?

E: Precisely. Or she will quote literature quite impressively. There's no in between.

Who takes longer to get ready?

L: Me

E: Lilac.

L: But the end result is worth it, right?

E: You're worth any wait, darling. Yes.

Who spends more time on social media?

*They both point at Lilac without missing a beat*

Who is the better driver and who is the default passenger? (also, how were they like when the other first drove them somewhere? Like when Lilac first drove Ethan somewhere and vise versa? )

L: Ethan! I refuse to drive in this terrifying city again with Massholes on every inch of the road.

E: *snorts* Massholes? Very accurate. The first time Lilac drove, I prayed for the first time in years.

L: You're so dramatic.

E: She has no concept of speed limit, turn signals, or stop lights.

L: I'm from California! We don't make full stops.

Who is better at fashion?

E: My wife, thankfully.

L: I coordinate his outfits daily. He was hopeless before he met me.

E: *scoffs* I was not hopeless. I just didn't spend valuable time choosing what to wear.

L: Babe, you wore a polka dot tie with pinstripe trousers.

E: I don't see the issue.

L: *stares open-mouthed at him, almost as though she is reconsidering her life choices*

Who is the biggest flirt?

E: Lilac. She even does it without realizing it. L: It's not that bad. E: No? Miss You Can Give Me Private Lessons. L: That was a rare occasion of me breaking out of my shell. *but she can’t keep a straight face*  E: And let's not forget that half of the interns have a crush on you. It's annoying. L: More like 65% have a crush on me. The other 35% have a crush on you. E: They're setting their sights too high. L: *laughs* You become Chief and suddenly you’re unattainable? Luckily I met you when you were a nobody, world famous doctor.

Who sings better?

E: Me. L: Ouch, you could've pretended to think about it. E: I wouldn't have fooled either of us.

Who usually wins an argument?

E: Lilac. She grew up with the most argumentative siblings ever. Add to that her signature stubbornness and she sees most arguments to the end. 

L: The secret is to kiss him when things aren’t going well for me.

E: That too.  

Who usually finishes their food faster?

*They both point at Lilac without a moment’s pause*

Who is more likely to burn the house down when they're cooking?

*They continue to point at Lilac, adding extra flair for emphasis*

Who has the shorter attention span?

*They hesitate*

L: Neither of us?

E: In our line of work, we’d be in trouble with a short attention span. 

Who is more likely to admit that they are wrong?

L: Ethan. He’s gotten so much better about this through the years. I’m so proud of him.

Who is more likely to send an inappropriate message to another family member? (I couldn't help myself sorry😂)

L: Ethan accidentally sent his father a text that was meant for me. Luckily, it was innocent. He was only asking me what was for dinner.

E: Your reply when I finally sent it to you was not. 

Who is more likely to 'fake it till you make it' with a crush?

L: Ethan Jonah Ramsey. He pretended to be so suave with me during my intern year half of the time. The other half he teasingly insulted me, which is his way of flirting. 

E: Bold of you to assume I had a crush on you back then.

L: *arches a brow at him*

E: *breaks and laughs despite himself*

Who is more likely to use the other's things?

E: Lilac. She uses my shirts all the time.

L: They’re a badge of honor. I have to tell that world I’m sleeping with you somehow.

E: That’s implied given that we’re married. 

Who is more dramatic?

*Lilac points at Ethan instantly. After some hesitation, he points at himself too with the ghost of a smile*

Who is more likely to embarrass themselves?

*Their fingers remain on Ethan, both thinking of the time at the end of her intern year when he almost told Naveen all about how Ethan had slept with Lilac.* 

Who is most likely to trip while walking?

*They switch their fingers to Lilac*

L: I learned my lesson about what shoes not to wear to work.

Who is more likely to buy things they don't need?

*They continue to point at Lilac*

E: We have more soaps, socks, essential oils, and candles than anyone needs in a lifetime.

Who is most like to lock themselves out of the house/apartment?

*They point at Ethan now*

L: Only because I convinced him to switch to an electronic door lock.

E: I hate the damn thing.

[apocalypticgargoyle]

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"

I've heard that on TV shows all the time, but hearing it with my own ears is new. I'm scared.

"Hello, hi, uhm." What do I say? How do I do this? "I'm on interstate four, right by the exit to route 408 and I just watched a car go over the side." It feels not real, feels like I'm watching an action movie or one of those dashcam tiktoks that find their way onto my for you page from time to time.

"What interstate four, northbound or south?"

I look to the sign, forgetting that I've driven on this road a million times, still reeling. "North- northbound on four."

"I've dispatched emergency services to you. Can you see the driver?"

I can't even see the car, just the chunks taken out of the concrete barrier where the car hopped it, can see the brake lights still though. "Not where I am but I'm- I pulled off to the shoulder, I can get out and go see if they're okay."

"You don't have to do that, ma'am." A million things are running through my mind, but one sticks out.

"I'm, uh, I'm first aid trained, and I took an EMT class for extra credit in college, I might be able to help?" I turn my keys in the ignition, make sure to keep my hazards on and pocket them, dig through my glove box for the bare bones first aid kit I got when I got the car last year.

"Emergency services are 5 minutes out. I can walk you through helping and give them a better picture if you go over there, but you don't have to. Help is on the way."

"I'm going to see if I can help." Opening the driver's side door seems much too scary, with cars whizzing past going well over the 65 miles per hour speed limit. It's 3 in the morning, and there are no speed traps on this stretch of the interstate. People speed, and they go way over. Instead, I opt to climb over to the passenger seat, careful not to accidentally turn off my hazards, and start over to the crumbled concrete and brake lights. I can hear the driver before I see him, yelling for help. I call out to him.

"Thank god, can you call 911?" He yells, and then I see him. He's laid up between the dash and a cracked but not shattered windshield, curled to see me through the passenger side window, which is gone.

"I'm on the phone with them now, they're, how many minutes is it, 911 lady?"

"Gigi, two minutes out. Can you see the driver? Does he have any visible injuries?"

"Two minutes out, yeah, he's got cuts on his face and his arms, and-" It registers then, that I can see the bones of his arm jutting out of his elbow, and his leg is bent at an impossible angle, and his nose is much too bloody to still be intact. "I think a couple broken bones, too." It's then that I hear the sirens, loud honking, and look to see flashing lights moving down the road. "They're almost here, dude, just keep hanging out."

There's really not all that much distance between where he went over and the ground, so it's easy to clear the wall and land on the ground. Up closer, I can see the puddle of blood he's laying in, bubbling steady out of a large cut in his leg. A flash of my EMT class comes through, it's an artery, somewhere in his leg, and you need to tourniquet it, like ASAP. The truck is still honking, backed up in the saturday night orlando traffic and people pulling to the side to let them through and while I can see and hear it, there's a good half mile wall of bumper to bumper pulling off to give space. No clear path.

"Hey, are you, how do you feel?"

"I feel like shit for crashing my buddy's car, but that's about it right now. Why?" Asking that after you hopped an embankment crashing a car seems kinda weird, but ok?

"I think I need to, like, help you with your leg? Can I?" He nods. I close the distance between me and his car door and manage to open it enough so I can get in the car. It's awkward and there's no real good footing, but I manage to wedge myself in enough to get in a stable spot. "Let's see if I can remember how to do this. I need-"

Ever the helpful phone call, Gigi reminds me. "You need to tie something just above where he's bleeding, tight as you can. A cut seatbelt, a t shirt, something like that." There is nothing like that in my immediate vicinity except for my own shirt, which, I can give up my shirt for this guy, there's another one shoved somewhere in my trunk. It gets stripped off quickly and Gigi helps with directions all the way through. My hands shake vigorously, but I manage to get it to the point where I can't visibly see volumes of blood pour out of him, so I count it as a win.

I look at the truck, still pretty stuck where it is, but the ambulance is getting through, still huge but better able to work through the gaps between the large quantity of cars.

"Am I going to die? Is that why you keep looking to see where they are? Cause I'm going to die?"

"No." I speak firmly despite the panic coursing through my veins, the fear that I might be lying right to his face. "No. The paramedics are almost here and they're gonna help you and get you to the hospital and all that. You're not gonna die." I read somewhere once that in that situation you have to reassure people. They don't fight to live if they think they might die.

The stretch of time that passes before there's an EMT in front of me feels like a lifetime, even if it's only a couple of minutes. And the first thing I notice is that his gaze travels down my body, catching at my chest and oh, yeah, I gave my shirt to the bleeding guy and should probably get out of the paramedic's way. I make to go back and get the extra shirt I know I have in my backseat but I get stopped on my way by another EMT who wants to check and make sure I'm okay.

"I wasn't in the car, I called it in." I wave my phone, which still has 911 on the line, but the paramedic insists, points to a cut on my arm I hadn't realized I'd gotten. I get led to sit on the tailgate of an ambulance, watching firefighters run past from the truck that finally got through carrying loads of stuff, heavy equipment with ease. Nimble fingers clean out the cut before deciding it's not deep enough for stitches, just using steri-strips and wrapping it in gauze with gentle hands and a reserved smile.

"Jade, we need to get going with him!" The first EMT I saw calls while running with a gurney, the guy from the accident strapped against a yellow board with my work shirt still tied around his leg. The paramedic helping me jumps into action, ushers me into the ambulance and helps the guy get the gurney in.

"Sit down, buckle up." He says, looking at me. Jade turns and gives me a bit of a sympathetic look.

"He's always like this. You have to get that checked in the ER still." Oh. Okay. I sit down, strap into the seat, and the ambulance starts moving before the doors are fully closed. They get the car guy all hooked up to all kinds of machines and fuss over him, till the monitor beeping with what I assume is his heart rate steadies, and then the EMT guy visibly relaxes, eyes landing on me again. I cross my arms over my chest, much more self conscious of my state of dress with his gaze on me. He's, unfairly attractive, wavy blonde hair and toned skin, wrapped in an unbelievably tight uniform.

"D'you- here." And then he starts unbuttoning his uniform shirt, and I'm sure my eyes go wide. There's another shirt on under, just as tight with the fire department logo emblazoned on the chest of it. He shrugs off the button down and pulls the t shirt over his head and dear lord, why the hell do men feel so called to wear wife beaters under their clothes, I wanna see how fucking hot he is. The t shirt gets tossed into my lap. He really just- gave me the shirt off his back. My gaze locks on to it, only being torn away from the offending garment when he clears his throat and I snap back up to see him, button up back on his shoulders but undone, face sheepish and what I'd guess to be a blush tinting his skin further in the half dark of the ambulance. "You looked uncomfortable."

It's my turn to go red, flush covering most of my skin and incredibly visible. "Thanks." It takes a moment of maneuvering to get the shirt on with the seatbelt, but it's warm and smells of laundry detergent and a hint of cologne.

"Dream, only fuckin' you." His head whips to the other EMT.

"Only fuckin' me what? Huh?" Jade just laughs, head shaking from side to side.

"Only fuckin' you would give the first girl your age on a call the shirt off your damn back." If he wasn't blushing before, he is now, reaching a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

"Sorry if that's weird."

"No, it's- I appreciate it." I do.

"Good work, with the tourniquet. He'd be dead by now without it." Is that really the best thing to say while the guy can hear us? Maybe not. Speaking of the guy,

"Is his leg supposed to turn blue like that?" The relaxation in his face vanishes that instant as he hauls up, moves to where he can look up close at the leg, tearing up the leg of the guy's pants.

"Jade, I need to set it so he can keep the leg, can you keep him still?" A distinct yes, and then I get to watch as his muscles flex, hands gripping tight to the broken leg of this guy, and then an audible crack resounds through the small space of the ambulance as he pushes his body forward. The car guy's closed eyes shoot open, mouth gaping in a yell of pain underneath of an oxygen mask. I'm sure that probably hurts like a bitch, and suddenly I am very grateful that I've never broken a bone.

There's not much left in the ride. The two EMTs, Jade and Dream, mainly continuing to work on keeping his monitor from making the erratic beeping it has been letting out from time to time. The ER is a blur of people bustling around the guy, but I get led from the ambulance by a doctor to check the cut on my arm before he comes to the same conclusion that no, I do not need stitches, but that I do need to change the dressing once a day and gives me some disinfectant cream to put on it when I do. While he cleans the wound out, he asks in a lilted british accent. "Did you really tourniquet the guy with your shirt?"

"Yeah, I did. The one thing I remembered from my EMT class, really came in handy." I joke, and he laughs.

"Well the guy is lucky you did. You're an EMT?" I shake my head, and wince a bit when he presses a bit too hard.

"Nah, I wait tables at the Waterfront in South Orange. Took an EMT class for a summer course cause I thought it'd be fun." He hums, turning to grab more bandages to rewrap my forearm.

"Well maybe you should look into it. Quick thinking like that would get you far there."

"I might." It's a real possibility. My accounting major proved to get me the single most boring desk job ever, and I've been looking into other career paths recently. He smiles at me when he finishes wrapping, pulls a card out of his pocket and a pen, scribbles something on the back of it.

"Put me as a reference if you decide you want to." That's, incredibly nice.

"I will, thank you, uhm," The name stitched into his coat is hard to make out. "Doctor Davidson?"

"George. You're good to go, just need to fill out a little paperwork and then you can leave." He walks over to grab a clipboard and a form, brings it back to me, and then heads over to another bed with a little girl in it, pulling a curtain closed behind him.

A week later, I find myself outside of the massive firehouse on Central Boulevard. There's a couple guys in shirts that match the one in my hand outside washing a firetruck, and one notices me and comes over. He's cute. Dark hair that's a little longer than a boys regular, scraps of facial hair on his cheeks, and brown eyes that crinkle at the edges when he smiles.

"Y'need help with something?" His voice confirms the fact that he's young, and it takes me a minute to pull my eyes away from the way his sleeves are tight around the muscle of his arms.

"Uh, yeah, I'm looking for Dream?" I hold up the shirt and the brownies I made as a last minute addition for the firehouse.

"Ahh, shirt girl. Follow me." He heads into the building through one of the massive garage doors, and it is remarkably clean inside. He heads up some stairs to a balcony that overlooks the firetrucks, and both of the paramedics who had helped me are sitting there, talking over plates of pasta. The guy leading me clears his throat and they both look up.

"Hi." I say awkwardly with a small wave. "I brought your shirt back." Dream flusters, standing up to take the shirt from my hands with a thank you and I give him the brownies, too.

"Dream, cough them up, I want one."

"Sap, shut the hell up, here." He places them gently on the table.

"Okay, what's with your guy's names? No way his name is Sap." All three of them laugh.

"They're nicknames." Dream laughs. "My real name is Clay, and his is Nick. Jade is just Jade though, haven't gotten a nickname for them yet." He looks over his shoulder back at his coworker. "Coward." I feel like there's a story here that I don't know, but I don't press for it.

"I mean, I told you my last station called me Storm, so unless you can top that you can call me Jade and nothing else." I like Jade. Jade's funny.

Clay just rolls his eyes, no real malice behind it. "It's gotta be one we give to you. I'm thinking something about you being our getaway driver."

"Dream if you make a baby driver joke right now I swear you will not live to see tomorrow." He laughs, hard and wheezing, sounding nearly painful.

"Fine, fine." He turns to me. "Thank you for returning this." There's a distinct red flush creeping up his neck, but his smile is genuine, green eyes bright with it. Shit. Why do they have to be unfairly attractive? Who's idea was it? Huh? "I'll walk you out."

He walks me all the way to my car, standing awkwardly next to the door of my car.

"Well, I'll let you get back to work. You got lives to save."

"Wait," He says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I'm sorry if this is too forward, but could I get your number?" Oh. Oh.

"Yeah, of course." He hands me his phone and I punch in my contact, handing his phone back to him. "You should text me so I have yours."

The smile on his face is fitting, full of white teeth and bright happiness. "I will."

I don't think I put my phone down for a week. Clay and I text nearly non stop, and I learn a lot about him in the process. He has a cat (a beautiful tabby named patches who purrs very loudly), he's from Orlando (born and raised, baby.), he wanted to be a firefighter because his dad was one, but his mom who's a nurse had him take EMT training instead (I owe her everything for that), and that he's off work this Friday and wants to head out for drinks with a couple of his fire station buddies and me. I also start getting snapchats from that cute coworker of his, Nick.

I can't tell if Nick intends to be flirting with me or is just trying to get to know the girl his "best fucking friend" is talking to, but... I am definitely feeling some type of way about both of them. It's great, the attention is nice, until Nick invites me out to drinks with them on Friday night not three hours after Clay does.

I feel like my best bet is to be honest with them. I'm not one for lying. And then a new groupchat shows up on my phone. It's got Clay and a number I don't have saved in my phone, and there's a message sent, and then another. I'm scared to open it.

I expect it to be both of them mad that I'm talking to the other and instead it's not? There's a message from Clay and it's-

Dreamie

Hey, I just talked to Nick and wanted to make this groupchat with the three of us. I'm not mad you're talking with him, and he's not mad you're talking to me. We both really like you, and are open to letting you make the decision for yourself if you end up with one of us. Just wanted to communicate that with you :)

And another from who I'm assuming is Nick that says:

Unknown Number

its up to you what happens and if your not ok with this then just tell us and we'll back off.

It's not something I've experienced before talking with two guys at once. Talking with two guys at once that know and work with each other with their consent? Never would have imagined it in a million years. But this is probably the best way to go about it.

Three more days pass before I see either of them in person, still having plans to go out for drinks with Clay on Friday. I end up sandwiched in between the two of them in a both of some firefighter bar on the south side of the city. I feel awkward tucked between them until I get a bit of alcohol flowing through my veins, and then conversation comes like second nature. It's not crazy eventful, feels like I'm hanging out with close friends rather than basically strangers, and it's nice.

The night passes quick, but it's still fun, especially when Clay drives me home and drops me at the bottom of my apartment building with a promise of more plans and a quick kiss that leaves him blushing all the way to the tips of his ears.

In the morning, I wake up to go into work and see a text from Nick, inviting me to dinner with him tonight. I shoot back with a sure, I'd love to. Getting off work at four so that's perfect. and he just sends back a :) and an "I'll pick you up at 7." that makes my shift drag on and on. True to his word, he's outside my apartment building at 7 pm sharp in a button down with his hair brushed neatly behind the wheel of a toyota corolla.

"Where are we even going for dinner?" Nick just shoots me a smile and fucking winks at me.

"You'll see. It's a surprise."

It ends up being some hole in the wall chinese restaurant with what Nick claims is "the best moo goo gai pan in the city". It's fucking amazing, that's for sure, a steaming wok full of it in front of the two of us with plates of fried rice to go with it. It's not an experience I've had at a restaurant before and it's insanely fun. Nick pokes fun at my inability to use chopsticks, tells stories about his friend making fun of him for not being able to use them and learning how at three o'clock in the morning. We're constantly laughing between bites of amazing food, and this easily makes my top three first dates of all time. He refuses to let me pay for my half, but he does let me get the tip after I insist several times that its the least I could do. 

We're halfway through a really good conversation about something that doesn't matter when he pulls up to my apartment, and, not wanting that to end, I invite him upstairs with me. 

"Oh? It's my turn to come up with you?" He teases, and I'm confused for a second before I realize, oh yeah, I'm essentially talking with him and his best friend. 

"What do you mean turn? Clay didn't come up with me, he-" It's probably not the best idea to say he kissed me, I don't want to make Nick jealous. "He dropped me off at the door and he said goodbye." It's not- a lie, per say, but the second it passes my lips I feel guilty, knowing that we need to be honest for this to even have a shot at working. "He kissed me goodbye though." Honesty. We need honesty.

I don't really know what to expect as a reaction from him, but it's not a smile, cocky as ever. 

"Does that mean if I go up with you that I get a kiss too?" Nice, easy, no drama with honesty. 

"Maybe. You'd have to come find out." The grin he's got stays plastered to his face the whole time we're in the elevator, the whole time he's talking mindlessly about the distinct lack of fire safety in the building, the whole time I'm fighting with the works half the time lock on my door. "It's probably too late for coffee, but I have tea in the fridge or coke, or water if you want it." I say, turning to close the door behind us. 

"I'm all good, thank you though." The smile's still there, crinkling his eyes and baring white teeth. "Could go for a kiss, now that I think about it." I shake my head, but still, I laugh. 

"What is it that they call it?"

"Kissing? Lip locking? Smooching?"

"One track mind." That one earns a laugh, a hearty one from deep in his throat.

"You're funny." He says, grabbing my hand and gently tugging me to come sit on the couch with him. "And cute." He sits, pulls me with him so I end up sideways in his lap. The hand he led me over with comes up to brush some of the hair out of my face. "And unbelievably pretty. How could I think about anything else?" 

Smooth. Smooth as fucking butter. Smooth enough for him to earn a quick press of my lips to his own. I can feel him smiling before I pull back, but he chases, returning with a kiss just as chaste before leaning back into the couch, looking like the cat who got the cream.

"I'm winning. I got two kisses." I roll my eyes.

"Isn't it quality over quantity?" He hums, eyes playing from my lips to my own. 

"Why not both?"

"Haha, funny." They're playful, his eyes, as we talk. His bottom lip juts out in a joking pout, and I lean in to kiss at it. He moves at the last second, though, closes the last little bit of space between us when he moves forward to kiss me, soft and slow. His lips are slightly chapped, ever so gentle as the press against mine. My hands press into his thighs to keep me up as his hands come to wrap loosely around my shoulders and he pushes further into the kiss before pulling back. 

"Quality?" 

"Need more data." I say before our lips meet again. He's sweet with it, the way he kisses me. It's nice, easy, feels familiar even though it isn't, not yet. One of his hands moves to rub soft at the nape of my neck. 

I'm just getting comfortable in it when he deepens the kiss, tongue soft against the seam of my lips. It draws a gasp, just what he needs to push further, licking into my mouth before catching my bottom lip between his teeth, worrying at it. He's a good fucking kisser, hahh's into my mouth when I bring my hands up to tug at the dark strands of hair on the back of his head. 

But like all good things, it must come to an end. Unfortunately, that end is when my phone starts blaring the insanely annoying ringtone my friend set it as that I don't know how to change. 

"Nick, I gotta-" 

"Yeah." His arms drop, letting me stand so I can grab my phone and answer whoever is calling. 

"Hello?" 

"We have new information regarding student loan repayment in your area." Is loud in my ear, so I just pull back and press the red end call button.

Nick laughs a little. "Not important?"

"Spam call. Can't be assed to get put on the do not call list right now. I was doing research."

"Yeah? You happy with the results you're getting?" 

This motherfucker I swear.

"This motherfucker I swear." Is also the first thing I say in the morning when I wake up for work and there's a fat hickey on the side of my neck, dark purple and blatantly obvious. I send him a snap of it, just saying really? and he sends back a picture of himself and Clay sitting on the tailgate of a ladder truck with a :) and I am instantly worried that one, Clay saw the snap I sent him and two, that I won't be able to cover it for work. Pushing the first thought out of my mind to focus on the second, I try to get it as normal looking as I can before my shift. It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but it's good enough.

I'm riding the high of not getting comments on it at work when that first thought comes back, catalysted by a snapchat from Clay, a picture barely of his hair with the geotag from the gym down the street from the firehouse with text across it that says "purple looks good on you." I don't know how to respond to that, just send back the floor in front of me. oh come on now  pops up in the chat, and he's still typing. not mad. excited for my turn.  Right.

sorry  I shoot back. this is all pretty new to me

trying to be careful cause i dont wanna mess this up

The little bitmoji he has attached to his account pops up in the corner, lurking for a moment before he starts typing

having these chats is what makes it work. I don't go bragging to Nick about what you and I do, and he doesn't do that to me, but we don't lie about what happens. 

its alot, and none of us have done this before

but keeping communication open and honest is how it works

and that means feelings talks 

He's right. 

youre right

He is. I don't want to make them jealous of each other and that's probably the best way to combat that.

we also have to keep things fair ;) so i get a date too

That has me smiling like an idiot at my phone.

yeah? you got one planned?

not exactly. you doing anything rn though?

I was going to make a sandwich and watch She's the Man for the third time this month.

was gonna watch a movie if you wanna join?

I get a sure, would love to  and a could i trouble you for a pick up from the station?  that has me grabbing my keys and jogging to the elevator faster than I would like to admit.

When I get there, I head inside to say hi to Nick and collect Clay after both of them have assured me that I'm allowed to do so. I don't see Nick when I first walk in, but I do see Clay and jesus, mary, and joseph his hands. He's working over a slab of what seems to be silicon with those massive fingers moving with the utmost precision. When I get a little closer I can see that he's making sutures to close gashes and holes in the mat. I'm impressed with how uniform they are, each a perfect match of the one before it, and with the speed that his hands were moving, I'd say its even more impressive. I'm- not a perfect person, and the thought of what those hands could do to me has me flushing. 

He's pretty wrapped up in what he's doing so I don't want to bother him, but I'm watching so intently that I don't notice Nick come up to me until he hugs me from behind. It makes me jump.

“Shit, Nick, you scared me.”

-gg w the 911 au update

Gg I'm 😩😩😩 you are an amazing writer 🛐 teach me