#dire need of chocolate milk ... headache ...

[kkoct-ik]

sometimes youre a 12yo boy in the body of a man in the body of some girl

[annecoulmanross]

So! Together with guidance from the brilliant @solomontoaster, @frederickdesvoeux​, and @kaserl​, I’ve compiled a proposed scenario for The Erebus and Terror Crews Go to Starbucks: 

The Admiralty/Sir John Franklin have provided the boys with Starbucks gift cards instead of bonuses, here are their orders:

Dick Wall – Owner of the Erebus Place Starbucks franchise, thinks he’s in direct competition with John Diggle of the Terror Plaza Starbucks.

John Diggle – Owner of the Terror Plaza Starbucks franchise, doesn’t realize there’s a competition, has only ever really interacted with Wall when he’s needed to borrow supplies.

Sir John Franklin – Royal English Breakfast Tea (with milk) 

James Fitzjames – Fancy iced drink like an Iced Caramel Macchiato, no matter how cold it is; always with light ice and extra caramel syrup.

Graham Gore – Cookies & Cream Frappuccino.

Dundy Le Vesconte – One of the Refreshers, typically Strawberry Açai, or anything with Matcha, literally anything at all. 

James Walter Fairholme – Hot Chocolate. Have u looked at this beefy man. Have u heard him. Thank you goodbye. 

Harry Goodsir – Looks like he’d order a Hot Chocolate but actually just straight up chugs a Venti Americano in like five minutes. 

Freddy Des Voeux – (In the show) Black coffee. Pure bitter. Probably boiling hot. (Historically) Caramel Ribbon Crunch Crème Frappuccino or any other stupid sugary bullshit on the menu. (Both versions will, however, shill for pumpkin lattes.)

Henry Collins – Caramel Apple Spice Cider, warmed up all cozy. 

Stephen Stanley – Black coffee with Exactly™ one sugar cube’s worth of sugar, what do you mean Starbucks doesn’t have sugar cubes.

John Morfin – Anything with a lot of caffeine for him to chug along with an excedrin (for the headache). 

John Weekes – Honey Oatmilk Latte.

Edmund Hoar – Vanilla Crème. 

John Bridgens – Tall Chai Latte, nice and simple. 

Henry Peglar – Traditional little elegant Cappuccino. (Though they’re never as good as the ones John makes for him at home.) 

Thomas Blanky – One single. Espresso. Shot. At like. Midnight. Or, under dire circumstances (like having to come back to work the day after surgery), a Caffè Latte with as many shots as legally allowable. 

Francis Crozier – Black coffee, spiked afterward. (But regardless, it has to be of a certain quality; he’s a bit of a snob about blends, honestly.) 

Thomas Jopson – Cheapest blend with a little milk and/or cream, no sugar.

Alexander MacDonald – Brown Sugar Espresso. 

Edward Little – Maximizes the caffeine content usually, even if he doesn't actually like the taste of the resulting drink, so like, typically a Mocha with an unhealthy number of espresso shots. (If he somehow has a day off – which is never – he would treat himself to a peppermint hot chocolate. You know. In theory. It’s a nice dream, at least.) 

George Hodgson – Unicorn Frap. He only managed to order one once, and it was the single perfect moment in an imperfect life. 

John Irving – Pike Place Roast with a very restrained amount of cream and sugar when it’s cold out; iced black tea when it’s not, though he’s always really wanted to order the Iced Peach 🍑 Green Tea, he can never really find it in himself to admit that. 

Solomon Tozer – Cold Brew or Nitro Cold Brew aka pretty much the only kosher coffees outside of Americanos (based on this Star-K online guide), and Sol’s not about to order an Americano. 

Thomas Armitage – Cold Brew or Nitro Cold Brew (whatever Tozer is getting), brings his own tumbler to avoid the clear plastic cup and adds cream and sugar once Tozer isn’t looking, even with the Nitro when adding your own cream does not blend well.

Tom Hartnell – Honey Almondmilk Flat White (almond rather than dairy milk because he’s grown so used to wrangling Jartnell’s Numerous Food Allergies that it’s second nature at this point.) 

Several people who didn’t get the “gift card bonus” are joining in: 

Silna – Would get a water, since she’s been dragged into the store already, but why on earth would anyone agree to pay for a plastic cup? There are better options, and she knows where to find them. 

Lady Jane Franklin – London Fog Tea Latte. 

Sophia Cracroft – Seasonal frappuccino or a Pink Drink when they’re available.

Sir James Clark Ross – Rotates through a variety of seasonal and featured drinks, but always asks for whipped cream with his order regardless of what it is.

Anne Coulman Ross – Cinnamon Dolce Latte (And she’ll steal Sir James’s whipped cream, of course.) 

Sir John Ross – Espresso con Panna, but he refuses to use the Italian name, just orders it as an espresso shot, with a Tall cup of whipped cream on the side. 

Sir John Barrow – Also an Espresso con Panna, which he insists is the same drink as what John Ross ordered, though Ross adamantly denies this.  

Listen you guys, I’ve been a Starbucks barista for years and y’all have to answer me this:

What would our Terror boys’ Starbucks orders be???😦☕️⚓️

[sending-the-message]

A Child's Intuition by amcma10

This story I'm about to tell is something I've been trying to shake for the better part of 15 years. All names changed for privacy reasons. Had it not occurred on that fateful day and been witnessed by my sister I would have thought it to be a horribly fashioned creepypasta. However, given the events that transpired I had no choice but to take the words from my sister Shelly's mouth as the God's honest truth.

It was late summer back in 2002 and my sister Shelly was down on her luck having just been fired from her bank job. It was a complete misunderstanding but never the less she was terminated after cashing a series of bad checks from a former acquaintance. At 22 and living on her own in an apartment complex in the shittier part of Monroe NC she had to come up with a quick solution for her financial dire straits.

By happenstance she was at a gas station when she noticed a flyer on a cork board near the front entrance. "Child Care Giver Needed ASAP with weekly pay. Call for details. Must pass background check." There were several small strips at the bottom of the flyer with a phone number attached and undoubtably the flyer must have just been placed because none of the strips had been torn off. Shelly loved kids and figured it would be an easy gig and even easier money. She tore off a strip and immediately called the number as soon as she got home.

Shelly phoned me later that afternoon bouncing with excitement. She told me all about the flyer, how she had called and spoke to a very sweet single young mother who desperately needed someone to watch her three year old son while she worked second shift as a nurse. I listened intently as she rolled off the basics, pay was 350/week, nice location as it was a newer subdivision about 15 minutes from where she lived. She could start the following Monday as it was Thursday and Cora the child's mother had already made plans with her Aunt to watch her son until then.

I'm not gonna say I wasn't a little skeptical. I mean, a young single mother who worked in healthcare was willing to let a virtual stranger watch her only child? I know people get desperate but even with a background check there are still way too many crazy folks out there who slip under the radar. At least with Shelly she would be getting a decent babysitter free of any violent criminal offenses. I congratulated my sister on finding employment so quickly though I wondered how long this gig would last and prayed the little boy wasn't a holy terror.

The following Tuesday Shelly called me around lunch time as I was a stay at home mom at the time and told me all about her first evening on the job. "The house is super cute and Brayden is an absolute sweetheart!" She rambled on a bit about how he only eats chicken nuggets and drinks more chocolate milk than is probably healthy and loves building block towers and watching Bob the Builder. Shelly said that his bedtime is 8 o'clock and after a bath and a few readings from the same book he drifted off and the rest of the evening was spent straightening up and watching tv. "Piece of cake" Shelly exclaimed.

I was relieved and ecstatic for my little sister and hoped this would be a long term opportunity even if it lacked any real benefits. All seemed well for about a month.

It was a Wednesday night in mid September when my phone rang about 9 pm. I ignored my husband's protests and shushed him when I pushed the talk button. "Mandy? Oh thank God you answered! I'm seriously freaking the fuck out." My husband stared at me while I wide eyed listened to what Shelly was frantically trying to relay.

Apparently the evening had been quiet and uneventful until a little after 8 that night. "I had just gotten Brayden to sleep when all of a sudden he starts screaming at the top of his lungs!" Shelly spoke, her voice quivering. "I thought he had fallen out of bed or had a nightmare but that wasn't it at all." Shelly said he was standing in the middle of his bedroom staring up at the ceiling screaming. When Shelly rushed to his side he pointed up with tears in his eyes and started repeating "mama" over and over. "Sweetie, mama's at work" Shelly told him trying to relieve his panic.

"Mandy he started shaking violently and his little eyes rolled back in his head, I mean, he looked like he was having a grand mal seizure." Shelly took a deep breath. "I went to call 911 and then it's like the kid just snapped out of it. His eyes were still teary but he smiled and asked if I could read him a story." I thought about it for a few seconds before asking if he had a medical history of seizure disorder. "Nope, the only thing Cora said was that he's prone to ear infections but hasn't had one in almost a year." I thought about my own daughter Bella and then asked if she had checked his temp. "98.5, perfectly normal."

I chewed on my inner cheek and asked if she called Cora at work. "That's the fucked up part. Her coworker stated she left work over an hour ago complaining of a headache!" I began to understand Shelly's predicament. The hospital that Cora worked at was less than half an hour's drive from the subdivision. Maybe she stopped by the drug store to pick up some things I wondered aloud. "Possibly, but I'm getting a weird vibe here."

I told Shelly to calm her nerves and to keep me updated. Shelly reluctantly agreed she was probably overreacting but that she would call me in the morning.

The shrill ring of the phone awoke me a little after midnight. The voice on the other end of the line was unintelligible. Between snorts and sniffs and gasps I finally understood "she's dead". My mind raced as I sat up in bed, my husband rustling around before sitting up himself. He cursed about my dumb ass sister calling at all hours but I held my hand up.

"Slow down Shelly, take a deep breath." At that Shelly did seem to slow her breathing and told me what happened.

"I waited until a little after 10 and then I started to worry. Brayden was still asleep but I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Even if Cora stopped at the store or rode by a friends home she would have at least called to say she had gotten off early and to let me know when to expect her. I turned on the news and saw a breaking news story about a single car accident with a female occupant that had been thrown from the car and died at the scene."

I sucked in my breath knowing what was coming next. "The officer on scene said they were trying to piece together what happened and that it looked like the car had swerved to avoid something in the road and ended up hitting a utility pole. Alcohol did not appear to be involved but the investigation was still ongoing. "It was her car Mandy, I recognized the sticker in the back glass. What am I going to do? Brayden is still sleeping and I don't know anyone to contact besides the neighbors.

"I'll be right over" I told her. After explaining the situation to my husband and chastising him for being a jerk I made the 45 minute drive over to Cora's. An officer had just arrived at the home as well. From what we gathered the accident occurred shortly after 8pm around the same time Brayden started screaming and pointing at the ceiling calling "mama." Luckily Cora's aunt's number was located and she came to get the young boy, I can only imagine how heartbreaking that must have been. I swear though, that child knew the moment his mother's soul left this earth. It still gives me the heebie jeebies..