#east bay kids

[violetsmokes]

LMK AU ~ TJTTW Part 2

Wow okay, so some of you actually like my au idea so here I think I'll go over how exactly Macaque becomes the Monkey Queen, immortal, and a different punishment instead of everyone getting a mountain thrown on them. Comment, leave some questions or suggestions <3

First things first Macaque is just as immortal as Wukong, it's why during his fight with Wukong he doesn't die. Macaque ate the peach, drunk the wine, and took the pill. He fought heaven and they tired the same punishments to kill him, no luck but someone did get their hand bit and spent the rest of the day wondering if they got magical money rabies. The smirk Mac had didn't help. Wukong didn't get trapped under a mountain for 500 years, no Buddha decided to use a different punishment for the to monkeys that seem to be attached at the hip. "The hero and warrior were like the Sun and Moon." Buddha trapped Wukong in the Sun and Macaque in the Moon. Wukong could only walk the Earth in the day while Macaque could only walk in the night this kept the two separated for 500 years untill Wukong would leave for the Journey of the West. Side note getting trapped in the Sun and Moon had a few unforseen consequences, such as our monkeys gaining powers usually connect to the Sun and Moon. Powers such as the ability to control fire and water along with healing abilities, they can now control Sun and Moon when either one loses control of his emotions. Yes this is why Buddha will not fight them again. He didn't realize the punishment would somehow make two already overpowered monkeys even more OP and is afraid that fighting them again would tear the universe to shreds. No he will never let the monkeys know this mainly because his think Wukong would tear the universe apart for fun and Mac keeps no secrets from his mate. Buddha doesn't know how to tell the Jade Emperor that if the monkeys go crazy again then there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. He is 68% sure the Jade Emperor already know tho.

So that how we get two OP immortal monkeys but how does Macaque become Monkey Queen because currently his is still know as the King's Warrior. Well when Wukong leaves for the TJTTW Macaque for the first time ever doesn't go with him and stays to guard Flower Fruit Mountain and to care for the monkeys. Well a troublesome Baboon King hears about a beautiful mountain with rich fruit and water and many other resources. He hears how the king of this mountain had left for long journey leaving his beautiful mate and their hoard of monkeys without a leader. The Baboon King gathers his army and heads straight for Flower Fruit Mountain when they arrive he sent and small group of baboons to attack any near by monkeys. This quickly gains Macaque's attention and he confronts the Baboon King who tells Macaque to surrender and be his mate or the baboons will enslave the monkey army and kill the cubs. Macaque is given one day to make his choice and being the warrior his is chooses to fight for the only home and family he's ever known. This leads to years and years of a bloody and vicious war but also this is when Macaque makes an alliance with the Spider Queen and the Scorpion Queen trading food and gems for venom, weds, and a few illusion spells. Meanwhile the Baboon King was growing crazier by the day, especially when his general and number one supporter died is battle. A battle that took a heavy hit on the baboons, many missed home and were growing desperate and defeated. The new general just want this war to end and was ready to surrender. This general and many of the other baboons were losing respect in their tyrannical King. Finally the war came to an end when Macaque lead a small group immoral monkeys to ambush the baboons camp leaving them open to a large attack from the rest of the monkey army and hopefully driving the baboons off Flower Fruit Mountain for good. The attack went as planned until the final battle between Macaque and the Baboon King, the Baboon King was losing and noticed his general had managed to sneak up behind Macaque and yelled for the general to strike Macaque but as Macaque turn to defend against an attack the Baboon General dropped his weapons and raised his hands is surrender begging Macaque to let the remaining baboons leave the mountain. This gained the attention of every monkey and baboon as they paused to see what was happening between the leaders. The Baboon General's surrender angered the King and in a manic cry threatened to kill the general and any baboons that didn't fight. With that the baboons turned on their King dropping their weapons and bowing before Macaque, the general knelt down and loudly proclaimed Macaque as the Monkey Queen followed by the monkeys bowing with the baboons and everyone chanting for their new Monkey Queen as he read out the former Baboon King's crimes and landed the killing blow. From here the baboons and monkeys joined forces and lead by their new Queen built a strong kingdom on top of Flower Fruit Mountain.

One last bit before I end of this post with some songs. After the war and rebuilding a kingdom Macaque misses Wukong and is worried about his mate. He had been gone for so long and they hadn't heard anything. The monkeys were both hurt and angry, they loved their Monkey King but felt betrayed that he was always leaving the mountain and causing trouble. It didn't help that during the long war Wukong had not been seen or heard from at all. When Macaque announces that is leaving to find Wukong his monkey generals try to convince him to stay and opened up about how they should forget about the Monkey King for betraying them. Macaque sees through the anger and finds their pain in being left behind and their fear that if Macaque leaves then he will never return. Macaque reminds everyone that Flower Fruit Mountain is his home and as long as he is Queen Wukong is King and that he will bring Wukong back for good. Everyone respects their Queen and knows to trust his words. Macaque leaves unaware of the mess Wukong has gotten himself into and the Journey East he will soon face.

WOW MY GOD THIS WAS A LOT! And I have so much more! How Wukong and Macaque met, the actual journey to the east, does MK or Bai He play any roll, Mayor is still a fucking gremlin, Macaque and Tripitaka become friends and respect eachother!?!?!??!??! But as promised some songs that go along with the AU one in way or another.

This just matches with the punishment between Wukong and Macaque and how the only time then could see eachother was when the Sun and Moon shared the same sky.

Remember the small ambush on the baboon camp well Macaque gives a similar speech to his troop like Odysseus. But I guess the last bit of the song could be considered foreshadowing. For what? That is for another post, but incase anyone wants to know what Macaque fights for its for his King and their home.

For this one its mainly at the end of the song, 3:06 onward, were Odysseus confronts the cyclops. Yes Macaque gives Baboon King the same speech before kill the lunatic.

Part one https://at.tumblr.com/violetsmokes/thank-you-sasunaru22fy-and-everyone-who-got-me-to/uuaxds90kupm

[midpenmedia]

Lights, Camera, Action!

Out After School filmmaking program is up and running!

Over the semester these kids were learn and make their own film. We are so excited to see what they make!

[sixx-sixx-sixx]

THE TRADER’S DAUGHTER — cooper “the ghoul” howard x female!oc

EDIT; FOLLOW @bonafideyapper FOR FUTURE PARTS

warnings(?): dbf!cooper, female!oc, oc is described as brown eyed (but feel free to picture whatever you want), proofread to the best of my ability (correcting capitalization is not my priority on my phone, this is hard enough to format as is), this series will have smut at some point but let me work up to writing that (meaning, let me smoke this joint and see where the wind takes me), there’s allusion to smut in this towards the end but it’s nothing wild

(this is part one of some) - part 2

Daisy hadn’t seen Cooper for a very, very long time. She’d never forgotten the charismatic cowboy that told her stories of the old world and of his encounters with creatures in the wasteland. The ghoul that would bring her little trinkets from his travels, gifting her a pearl necklace for her 10th birthday. A single pearl on a dainty silver chain that she would wear every day until it wore out. She was 13 when that happened, and was utterly devastated. Thankfully, she had charmed a local boy for a new chain, sneaking behind her dad’s back to go on a few dates with the kid. She’s continue to flirt with men and make empty promises to them to replace the chain each time it broke.

Cooper had gotten himself into some thick shit, spending a good time locked up by some raiders and other bullshit that got him sidetracked. On the other side of the goddamn wasteland, on the fucking east coast. How did he even get to the fucking east coast? By the time he made it back to the trading post, over a decade had passed, and it showed in the size of the once-familiar settlement. More gambling, more fighting in the streets, whole lotta bad shit that he didn’t have time to get involved with. He made his way through the town, his gaze trained on the old trading post at the center of town. He took careful notice of how men sneered at him as he passed by them, mumbling some racist bullshit about his ghoulishness.

Fuck them, he thought as he stepped up to the door of the trading post. He opened the door to hear the old bell jingle to alert his presence, watching as a young woman walked out from the back room with a routine “Welcome to Jo’s Shack, what can I get you?” leaving her pretty pink lips.

Daisy was almost in shock, seeing the ghoul standing in her doorway. She had assumed the worst over the years, as his visits had become less and less until they were not at all. She figured he was dead, shriveled up and baking in the sun. Or worse, she worried he had gone feral, which was always going to be inevitable in his case. Either way, she would keep extra chems stocked for the day he returned.

Cooper strolled towards the counter and looked at the girl, recognizing those big brown eyes from a mile away. “Hey, little flower. Your daddy around?” He asked her, his eyes flickering down to look at the pearl around her neck. Huh, he didn’t know she’d have kept it all those years. Pretty things were hard to keep around these parts.

Daisy’s face broke out into a grin and she gave him a little nod, leaning forward to get a good look at him. “Sure is, I’ll go get him for you. he’s not gonna believe this.” She had to fight to maintain her composure and keep her excitement at bay, going through the back room and up the stairs to the second floor of the shack to where her father was sleeping. In the ghoul’s absence, Daisy had grown to be a respectable trader, taking over the face of her father’s shop after growing up learning from the best. Although the population was tougher, she was just as tough, and nobody dared to fuck with Jo’s Shack or the woman running the place.

She stepped back out to the main room and leaned against the newly-reinforced counter, a bright smile on her face as she gazed up at him. He was just as handsome as she remembered, though she was never truly able to capture how his eyes lit up at the sight of her.

“Flower, you are just as pretty as a peach.” Cooper flashed her a wide grin, unashamedly flirting with the girl who he had essentially watched grow up. And whew, did she grow up good. He couldn’t help himself as he let his sunken eyes roam over the smooth, exposed skin of her chest, the tank top she wore under her unzipped jacket left little to the imagination.

Daisy thought his southern drawl was absolutely intoxicating as she slid a little box of chem vials across the counter to him, “Thank you, Coop. Don’t tell dad I gave these to you.” She winked and leaned back as her dad came out to greet his old friend, letting the two men greet each other like they hadn’t spent any time apart.

“Cooper Howard, you son of a bitch! I hope you brought me that Brahmin you still owe me.” Josiah grinned as he pulled the ghoul in for a hug, giving him shit over some long-forgotten wager on a card game. Coop patted him on the back with a shit-eating grin, “Yessir, why, yo’ momma’s waitin’ outside!”

Daisy watched Cooper closely as she stood beside her dad, taking in the way his skin had started to redden in places she didn’t remember being scarred over before. She had spent her whole adolescence infatuated with him, playing it off as a silly little girl crush on a big strong man (who had killed for her, but that’s a story for another day.) Her pulse quickened as she overhead her father invite the ghoul inside for a drink and to rest, watching him come around the counter to push through the curtains leading to the back.

It was fucked up, Cooper knew that. He knew it was fucked up to already be thinking about the woman behind him. Thinking about how sweet she sounded when she said his name, thinking about that little pearl necklace dangling in his face as she skillfully sat atop his—

He really needed that drink, and maybe a puff of his inhaler before he went feral at the thought of something as soft and pretty as his Daisy having anything to do with something as scarred and distorted as him.

a/n: okay yall what do we think about part one? I got to the app to post it and immediately rewrote the ending because I hated the original, so I hope this was good!

taglist: @savanahc @one-of-thewalkingdead @silverose365 @neverendingdumptser

[miryum]

Always in All Ways (Mattheo Riddle x Reader) Great Gatsby AU

Warnings: angst!!!! (but a happy ending) Reader wears a dress (once) cause it’s the 20s. Talk of kids and a future together. For the sake of incest, we’re gonna ignore the fact that Enzo and Mattheo are half brothers… And if you squint, there could be a sign of domestic abuse (but it is so little there that I'm not sure if you can call it that). Reader is married (not to Mattheo at first) and it's not technically cheating.... it's hard to explain. As always, swearing. Not entirely proof-read, but will get it done soon

Lorenzo Berkshire had moved into a gated, two story house, surrounded by a thick forest. The neighbourhood he had moved into was affectionately called Diadem East. 

Diadem East was surrounded by a large bay, which, in turn, separated it from Diadem West. Diadem East and Diadem West were similar in the fact that they were obscenely rich. Even though both had enough wealth to buy the island of New York, Diadem West looked down on Diadem East because of generational wealth. Diadem West had come from old money - long lines of families that treated life like a simple game of chess and they could move others like pawns. Diadem East were those who only recently came into money and spent it freely and without care.

Lorenzo had moved to Diadem East in hopes of getting away from his overbearing parents, and it helped that his cousin lived right across the bay in Diadem West. 

Y/n Pucey was a recent newlywed to Adrian Pucey. Lorenzo hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see his baby cousin married to a man fifteen years older than her. Y/n had always been Lorenzo’s favourite cousin; she was a bubbling, carefree girl, probably due to the fact that from birth, she had no restrictions with her father’s money. Now that she was married to the pretentious Pucey family, Lorenzo doubted she was familiar with the word ‘no’. 

What Lorenzo did doubt, however, was Y/n’s happiness. He remembered a time, back when she was nineteen, that he had visited her over summer break. She told him tales of a man that had captured her heart. Lorenzo remembered how Y/n’s eyes gleamed and her cheeks burned with her extensive smiling. He remembered laughing with Y/n in the sunroom, saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy.”

“I’m in love, Enzo,” she had replied simply. 

Needless to say, Lorenzo couldn’t wait to see his cousin again. He also couldn’t wait to return to a normal sleep schedule, given that his new neighbour wouldn’t stop having parties every single night that blasted light and music into Lorenzo’s bedroom window. It wasn’t until Thursday at four pm when a butler knocked on Lorenzo’s back door, holding a silver plate with a letter positioned on it. “Can I help you?” Enzo asked slowly, leaning on the door frame.

“Mister Riddle requests your presence on Friday night for a party he is throwing,” the butler said. 

“Mister… Riddle?” Enzo reiterated. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Your neighbour, Mister Mattheo Riddle,” the butler explained. “He wanted to welcome you into the neighbourhood.”

“Right,” Enzo trailed off. “I’ll be there.”

“Mister Riddle looks forward to making your acquaintance.”

****

The next day, Enzo drove up to Diadem West, the hilltop Pucey Manor looming over everything. As soon as Enzo finished driving up the winding gravel road, the front door swung open dramatically. Y/n stood there, arms flung wide. “Darling Enzo!” she squealed. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!” 

“My sweet cousin!” Enzo called back, bounding up the steps. He whirled Y/n up in his arms, swinging her back and forth, much to her delight. Her sundress flared around them in a swirling dance. “How have you been?”

“Lively,” Y/n answered simply. “How are those back home? You must tell me everything.”

Enzo flung his head back and said dramatically, “they miss you dearly, loving cousin. When I passed through town, everyone wept when they heard I was to see you. Jealous men came running down from their houses and begged me to take them with you. Mothers sobbed and cried out how they wished their daughters would turn out like you. Children dashed through the streets, racing after my carriage with joy.”

“They did?” Y/n beamed, gripping onto Enzo’s arms. “I do miss them, you know. Perhaps I should visit next summer.”

“They would all love to see you,” Enzo stated plainly. “Yet I have a question for you. Do you know of-”

“Lorenzo Berkshire,” a voice boomed from the front door. “What’s a man like you doing in these parts?”

Enzo stared up at Adrian Pucey, the esteemed husband of Y/n. “Adrian,” Enzo peeled himself away from Y/n and sauntered up the steps. “It’s nice to see you again.” He held out his hand for the man to shake.

“Get in here, good pal.” Adrian clapped Enzo’s hand and pulled him into a rough hug. Enzo let out a huff of air as he collided with Adrian’s chest. “Wonderful to see you as well. Tell me, how’s the stock business going?” Adrian placed a nonnegotiable hand on Enzo’s shoulder and led him inside the Pucey mansion. Y/n let out a noise of surprise and hurried in after them, determined not to be left behind. 

“Good, good.” Enzo made senseless conversation with Adrian as he tried to take in the curated house he was in. All the doors and windows were open, letting in a soft breeze and the stinging smell of the bay water. The curtains fluttered around Y/n as she walked, her eyes cautiously on her cousin and husband. No matter how she acted, Lorenzo knew of the whip sharp mind that Y/n had.

“And you know where he’s living, Adrian?” Y/n cut in, moving to recline gracefully on the settee. “In Diadem East!” 

Adrian’s brows rose and he turned to Enzo as the men sat on the couch. “Why not buy a house here? Hell, you’re welcome to stay in our guest room. Anything for a relative.”

“No, please.” Enzo held a hand up. “I’m perfectly fine on my own and I don’t want to intrude. It’s a nice, cosy house looking over the bay. In fact, if I look towards the right, I can see the end of your pier.”

“Really?” Y/n lit up, head turning towards Enzo. “How sweet. It’s almost as if we’re neighbours.”

“Speaking of neighbours,” Enzo took this opportunity to ask, “my own seems to be very eccentric.”

Adrian chuckled and poured himself some whiskey. “How so? Do you want any?” He gestured to the whiskey.

“No, but thank you.” Enzo adjusted in his seat and crossed his legs. “My neighbour throws these obscene parties almost every single night. I’m convinced that if it weren’t for the trees, I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.” Y/n stretched out her legs and leaned her head back until it was resting on the arm of the chair. “But the oddest thing happened - he invited me to one tonight.”

“Really?” Adrian sipped his drink. “And who is this poseur?”

“A Mister Riddle.”

Y/n’s lips parted and, almost in slow motion, her eyes flickered to Lorenzo before going back to staring out the window to the gleaming blue water outside. “Riddle?” she murmured. Adrian glanced at her and Enzo’s brows furrowed. “I mean, there must be a thousand Riddles… why, in fact, just last month, I was introduced to a Ryder. Which is like Riddle, I guess.”

“Y/n, are you alright?” Enzo asked softly.

“Yes, are you well?” Adrian added on.

“I’m sure I’m fine,” Y/n said. “Perhaps just lightheaded. I’m going to go lay down now.” Her hand flit to her collarbone where a small chain was tucked under her dress.

“Okay.” Enzo stared after her, admittedly worried about his cousin, before standing and adjusting his suit. “Well, I'm afraid I have to go. Mustn’t be late to this fellow’s party.”

“Of course.” Adrian stood as well, in common courtesy, knowing that the two men had nothing in common or nothing to do with each other without Y/n as the mediator. “Riddle…” the man muttered. “I could’ve sworn I heard that name somewhere.”

“It’s a common name, you know.” Enzo chuckled as he swiped out the door. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Adrian closed the door behind Enzo almost as an afterthought.

****

“What do you want, my darling? Anything you wish and I will make it happen.”

“I’m happy with just you, Matty.”

“That’s not a good enough answer, and you know it. Now, I’m going to ask again: what do you want?”

“… I… I want a big house. Overlooking the water so our kids can play in the water.”

“Our kids, hm?”

“Oh, yes, Matty. Our kids.”

“Alright. And what else?”

“Hmm… and a big ballroom that we can dance in. And all the paintings will be our favourites. And big parties for every occasion. Perhaps a pool. Or a sunroom. And the largest bedroom ever.”

“Is that all?”

“As long as I have you, Matty, that’s all I ask.”

****

While everyone else arrived to Riddle’s party in new and shining cars, Enzo simply walked. People of all backgrounds were streaming in the doors and Enzo was pushed into the unrelenting mob of partygoers. Enzo shoved his way to the first butler he saw and presented his invitation. “Uh, yes. I have this invitation here…” 

The butler glanced down at the letter and said stoically, “you needn’t one.”

“Pardon?” Enzo had never been to a party where he didn’t need to be invited. 

“The guests come and go as they please - per Mister Riddle’s orders.”

“Alright,” Enzo pursed his lips together and nodded awkwardly. “Thank you. Do you know where I could find Mister Riddle?”

“No, sir,” the butler replied. “He likes to socialise with his attendees and be in the throng of things. He likes to make sure that everyone is comfortable and having a good time.”

Enzo hummed and nodded in thanks before allowing himself to be swept up in the current. He was carried further into the opulent mansion and Lorenzo needed to remind himself to close his mouth at the palatial nature of it all. 

Practically every surface was plated with gold or made of marble. The ballroom opened up to a balcony that overlooked a large pool which was currently populated with dozens of people. On the other side of the ballroom, a large sunroom was occupied by a throng of people, cigarette smoke wisping up through the open roof. The stars were obscured by not only the smoke, but by the fact that every light in the mansion was turned on. Marble stairs led down to another open room which held a stage and a band whose music filtered up throughout the rooms. Congressmen, celebrities, and random people off the street were packed into the house, booze and drugs were passed around and waiters tried to filter through the crowd to hand out refreshments and food.

As he passed, Enzo heard tidbits of conversations about their host. “Did you know he was a bootlegger?”

“No, no, I heard he fought in the last war.”

“Well, whatever it is, it’s all terribly romantic.”

“Well, I thought that he was chasing a girl-”

Enzo managed to fight his way to the balcony and snag a glass of champagne on his way. He sighed in relief at finding a bubble of air to himself. A man dressed in a finely pressed suit jostled into him and quickly apologised. “Terribly sorry, old friend,” the man said. “I didn’t see you there. It’s a rowdy party tonight, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Enzo replied loudly. “Is it usually like this?”

“Unfortunately,” the man grinned. “Although few frequent. I always find that many people come once and then never return.”

“You seem like you know an awful lot about Mister Riddle’s parties. Do you come here often?”

“Yes,” the man tsked. “As hard as I try, I can’t pull myself away from this old mansion. Something always draws me back. Did you know that Mattheo Riddle built this house from scratch?”

“I did not.”

“Yes,” the man laughed, his lips curing up. “Of course, he didn’t build the actual thing, but he bought the land and drew up the blueprints years ago. Six, to be exact.”

“Why is that?”

“No one knows for sure. There’s a lot of rumours circulating around Riddle.”

Enzo shouted over the music, “I was actually invited by Mister Riddle himself. But his butler seemed surprised by that.”

“Yes, it is very rare that one is personally invited to these gatherings.”

“Do you know where I could find him? Mister Riddle, I mean.” Enzo took a sip of his champagne.

The man laughed again and raised his own champagne glass. A smirk coiled up on his face and he said simply, “why, you’re talking to him, old friend. I am Mattheo Riddle.”

The party noise faded in Enzo’s ears. “Oh. I’m so sorry.” His hand shot out for Riddle to shake. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Pardon me, Mister Riddle.”

Mattheo Riddle shook Enzo’s hand, still grinning. His eyes held a mix of anticipation and happiness. Those who were close to Mattheo Riddle - which, really, was no one - had never seen such joy on Mattheo’s face. “Oh, call me Riddle. Or better yet, Mattheo. I feel as if I already know you, old friend. And, seeing as we’re neighbours, I hope to get to know you even better. How would you like to join me in my study?”

Enzo raised a brow and cliched his champagne fluke. “May I ask what for?”

“Oh, well, to tell you my life story, after all.” Mattheo clapped a hand on Enzo’s shoulder, much like Adrian had hours earlier. But unlike Adrian, Enzo found himself agreeing to go along with this man he only met today. 

Mattheo led Enzo down the hallway and nodded to a butler who was standing guard over an oak door. The butler opened the door up to Mattheo’s study, which was more of a library. The library was a much different aesthetic than the rest of the house. While the mansion next to Enzo’s little cottage was energetic and extravagant, Mattheo’s library was dark and cosy. Instead of gold and marble, it was made of oak and the flickering flames of candles.

“An impressive collection,” Enzo commented, glancing around the room at the rows of books.

“Why, thank you,” Mattheo replied. “It overlooks the bay, you see?” He pointed towards the window that, true to his word, was directly facing the large water. 

Enzo peered out the window and huffed a laugh when he saw Y/n’s house staring back at him. “That’s my cousin's house,” Enzo glanced back at Mattheo to see his gaze locked on the Pucey mansion. 

“I know,” Mattheo said quietly. 

“You know?” Lorenzo repeated questioningly. 

“Yeah,” Mattheo nodded. “You’ve heard rumours of me.” It wasn’t a question. Before Enzo could answer, Matthei continued, “but I can assure you, only one of those is true, old friend. I am… a helpless romantic.” Mattheo chuckled lowly, a sad layer in his eyes. Instead of sitting behind his large desk, Mattheo opted to lounge on a couch and Enzo sat in a loveseat next to him. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“About… eight years ago I met this girl. God, she was absolutely perfect.” Mattheo gazed out at Diadem West. “I have been bereft of her for so many years… And I finally hope to make it up to her. I’ve become the man that will be good enough for her archaic parents.”

“Where did you meet her?” Enzo asked quietly.

“I was visiting her hometown one day, eight years ago. And I just…” Mattheo took a moment to wet his chapped lips. “She had all other eyes on her. She was simply walking down the street, yet she drew everyone to her. And when I was blessed enough to hold her in my arms… to kiss her lips is better than heaven.”

“May I guess her name?” Enzo’s smile grew larger. “Is this lovely, captivating woman my cousin, Y/n Pucey?”

“How did you know?” Mattheo’s voice was airy and wistful.

“Many men have tripped over their feet just to take a glance at my cousin. She is not only beautiful, holding the Berkshire genes, but witty, magnetic, and gentle.” Enzo finished his champagne and lit a cigar that Mattheo had offered him. “And, well, she might have mentioned you once or twice. She was in love with you when she was nineteen. Perhaps she still is.” Mattheo’s eyes snapped to Enzo. “Then she was married to Adrian Pucey. Honestly, I’m a little surprised that you’re living right across from her.”

“Yes, I’m aware of all that,” Mattheo stated. “But nothing has been an accident, Mister Berkshire. There’s a reason why I host parties every weekend, why I keep the lights on every night, why my home is directly across from hers, and why you, her cousin, is renting next to me.”

Enzo scrutinised this stranger across from him. “You’re obsessed with my cousin,” he stated, somewhat disgustedly. 

“No,” Mattheo whispered. “I’m in love with your cousin. I have always been in love with her - in all ways. And she is me. Mention my name around her and you’ll see.”

“I have,” Enzo admitted. “She looked as if she’d seen a ghost. But she also looked guilty, Riddle. She’s married. She has a life. She wants children.” Mattheo’s jaw jumped as Enzo continued, “you can’t rip her away from that. It’s been years, Riddle. She hasn’t seen you for years.”

“I know…” Mattheo trailed off. “But just to see her again would fulfil any wish of mine. I have a vow I need to make due on. I- uh, I was wondering if you could invite her over for tea. And I could drop by. Just one day.” Mattheo’s eyes felt dry and he quickly blinked. 

Enzo sighed deeply and after a long moment, said, “okay. Tuesday? At three?”

A weight lifted off of Mattheo’s shoulders. He now had all the time in the world. In his eyes, everything was finally falling into place. Mattheo would finally get to be happy again. “That sounds absolutely perfect.”

****

Tuesday was outrageously cloudy. Lorenzo could hardly see the sun as he drove back to his house. As he pulled into his driveway, he came to see an ostentatious green Rolls-Royce convertible that was blocking his drive. Enzo stared defeatedly at the car for a long moment, knowing exactly whose it was. 

Mattheo Riddle leaned on the hood and proceeded to wave at Enzo as if the man wasn’t hours too early to tea. 

“You have a watch, don’t you?” Enzo called out, getting out of his car. 

“I couldn’t wait,” Mattheo admitted. “I had nothing else to do today - well, that’s not true. I in fact cancelled some meetings that were set to take place today, but no worries.”

“You cancelled - you know what? Nevermind. Look, Riddle, I sure hope you know what you’re doing. Y/n… she’s changed from when you met her.” Enzo couldn’t look at his neighbour as he unlocked his door. Mattheo followed in after him, glancing around courteously, as if the real reason he was here wasn’t sending waves of nerves through his stomach. Enzo glanced back at Mattheo and moved to the kitchen to make some tea. Mattheo followed after him, his gait slow. “She used to believe that she could live any way she wanted,” Enzo continued. “But then she met Adrian.”

“Hm.” Mattheo made a low noise in his throat, fingers reaching out to play with the teacups that hung from a shelf. 

“She’s not… unhappy with Adrian,” Enzo tried to explain. “But she’s putting her happiness aside for the grandeur of life.” 

“I could give her that grandeur,” Mattheo muttered. 

“Do you know how people back home would treat her if they found out she got divorced from Adrian Pucey just to marry a man who is rumoured to be a bootlegger?” Enzo asked, aghast. He roughly swallowed and said quietly, “I’m sorry. That was out of line.” 

“No, no,” Mattheo waved him off, still seemingly fascinated by Enzo’s teacups. “It’s perfectly in line. You make a valid point. Though I can assure you, I am not a bootlegger. Far from it.”

“Then what is your line of work?” 

“Never you mind. When is Y/n coming?” Mattheo turned to Enzo, changing the topic at an alarming speed. The teacups were long forgotten.

Enzo exhaled and dunked a teabag in the teapot. “She said she’ll be arriving around three. However, that means that she’ll either be arriving at two-fifteen on account of wanting to escape Adrian, or she’ll arrive at four-thirty because Adrian needs something from her.”

“Let’s hope it’s the former,” Mattheo growled.

As if on cue, the two men heard the rumbling of a car approaching. The air in the room stilled. Mattheo’s face dropped and he turned pale, staring at the door. They heard Y/n’s honey voice call out, “Lorenzo!” Enzo quickly came to his senses and rushed to open the door. Y/n was driving up, waving her hat enthusiastically in one hand. A smile split on Enzo’s face as he rushed over to help her out of her car. “I must say, I was wary when you asked me to visit without Adrian,” Y/n chatted as Enzo escorted her into the house. “I couldn’t possibly think of anything you would need from me.”

“Can’t I just ask you over for tea?” Enzo chuckled. “Does everything I do need malicious intent?”

“Based on your past, yes.”

Enzo rolled his eyes playfully. After he took Y/n’s coat and hat, his eyes darted around his house, but he couldn’t find one trace of Mattheo anywhere. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll… I’ll grab the tea,” Enzo muttered. He moved to his kitchen, and seeing his back door ajar, he shoved it open. “Where are you going?!” he cried out to Mattheo who was currently halfway across the lawn.

Mattheo spun back to Enzo, fear deeply rooted in his expression. “I can’t,” he whispered after he jogged back to Enzo. “I can’t do it. You’re absolutely right. She... she has a life. And probably doesn’t even remember me. It would be cruel to subject her to such emotions. I don’t want to cause her any harm.”

Enzo shook his head. “I will not have invited my cousin to tea under false pretences,” he said slowly and firmly. “You owe this to her,” he added. 

A droplet of rain fell from a passing cloud and fell faster and faster until it splattered on Mattheo’s wrist. The water was absorbed by the cuff of Mattheo’s shift, but a small bit of the water rolled down onto his hand and drifted its way down to Mattheo’s ring finger. A thin gold band sat snug there. “Do you know what a pyrrhic victory means?” 

“Yes.” Enzo frowned inquisitively. “It’s victory that cost the victor more than it did the defeated. But what does that have to do with Y/n?”

“My love for Y/n has cost me everything,” Mattheo muttered. “But she is everything. I'm used to people hating me for my wealth and how reserved I am. What I'm used to isn't people's love. And now, my love is with Y/n and I'm not letting anyone ruin that or take it away from me.” More raindrops began falling from the sky until a gentle pitter-patter could be heard all around them.

“So why don’t you come in and tell her that?” Enzo asked, gesturing towards his door. 

Mattheo’s jaw jumped but he nodded, giving in. He shuffled through the door and into the living room where Y/n sat. Enzo grinned to himself and shut the door behind them before hearing Y/n gasp and the sound of a glass breaking. Enzo cursed to himself, knowing one of his precious teacups had now lost its life.

“M- Matty?” Y/n murmured, eyes wide. “Oh- oh, dear.” She stared down at the broken teacup on the carpet and bent down, hands shuddering. Mattheo crouched down as well, maintaining eye contact with Y/n the entire way. Y/n shook her head and focused on cleaning up her mess. Enzo noticed her whole body was trembling and he took a step forward as if to console her. Mattheo beat him to the punch. He grasped her forearms and helped her up, leaving the teacup behind. Y/n sniffed and repeated, “Matty?”

“Yeah, darling. It’s me,” Mattheo murmured, stepping closer to her. His hold on her arms softened and his cheek brushed against her forehead. 

Y/n exhaled shakily. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, tipping her head to lean into a more intimate position with Mattheo. Enzo slid out of the room, smirking faintly.

“I live next to Enzo,” Mattheo said, neither one bothering to look for Y/n’s cousin. 

Y/n chuckled humourlessly. “Tell me the real reason, Matty. I know you better than this.”

Mattheo smiled - the truest smile Enzo had ever seen on his neighbour’s face (not that Enzo was watching from the next room) - and leaned down to bump his nose against hers. “I could never hide anything from you. Not that I ever would, but I digress.” Mattheo reached down and gently lifted Y/n’s hand to his lips. He pressed featherlight kisses along her fingertips and confessed, “a year after you married Adrian, I built a house across the bay. The mansion whose windows are alight every single night with fireworks going off every weekend… that’s me, darling. Trying to get you to even glance over at me. Renting the neighbouring cabin to your cousin… that’s me. Every little detail, down to my car, is so I can see you again.”

“You did all that for me?” Y/n ran a soft thumb over Mattheo’s jawline, making the man shiver. 

“And I will do so much more,” Mattheo promised. “I am yours, my love. Always in all ways.”

****

Y/n sat curled in Mattheo’s lap. The pair was under a tree on a picnic blanket, far from the L/n Villa. “I’m sorry I couldn’t spend my birthday with you, Matty,” Y/n murmured to him. “I know you had a surprise for me.”

“It’s alright, darling,” Mattheo whispered back, dragging his fingers through Y/n’s hair. “I know nineteen is a monumental birthday for your family.”

“But now you have me all to yourself,” Y/n lightly laughed, turning to grin at her lover. “What was the surprise you had for me? You’ve been awfully suspicious these past few days, Matty.”

Mattheo hummed, looking to the sky and rhythmically tapping his fingers against you. “Well, I don’t know, my love,” he teased. “What could I possibly get the most perfect girl for her birthday?” After your protests, he continued, not before kissing your temple. “I got you my heart,” he whispered. Out from his pocket, he pulled a thin chain. Dangling teasingly from the chain was a golden ring. “So I can be with you always,” Mattheo explained quietly. 

Tears pricked at Y/n’s eyes as she gently took the necklace from him and thread the chain through her fingers. “You… you’re being serious right now?” Her focus was drawn to Mattheo’s own ring finger, where she noticed a new, immortal band lay proudly. “Are you…?”

“Only for you,” Mattheo reassured her. “Don’t worry. It’s my way of showing my devotion.” He twisted the necklace around her neck, clipping it there. 

“Only for me?”

“Always in all ways,” Mattheo vowed.

****

Y/n frequented outings with her friends much more often as of late. Adrian only sent Y/n away with a half-committed kiss on the cheek and eyes fixated on his golfing or his business contracts. Y/n would get in her car (or Enzo’s if he was feeling nice), and drive down to Mattheo’s mansion. Most days, there would be other cars there, waiting for Riddle’s house to open to party. They would be carrying booze and wearing all fashions of clothes, and when they would walk up to his door only to be turned away, they would pout and groan. Mattheo’s house wasn’t blazing his lights anymore, nor were there any fireworks crackling each weekend. His car was kept parked in his garage and his smile was constant. 

The first time Y/n had gone over to Mattheo’s mansion, so conveniently and coincidentally located across from hers, she had been in awe. “It’s exquisite!” she had exclaimed. She had run all over the house, marvelling at the floors and the ceilings, dragging Mattheo along behind her. Mattheo laughed loudly, his joy echoing off the walls. Of course, all of the art decorating his walls was accented to Y/n’s taste and the colour palette was exactly as Y/n had hoped for all those years ago. 

“Dance with me,” she beckoned Mattheo one day, already spinning on the deserted dance floor. Mattheo would lock the doors to his manor and keep out the partiers forever and always if it meant he could see Y/n on his dance floor, waiting for him. 

Mattheo stared at her, his eyes bright with love. He swept her up in his arms, pressing her close, and they danced to nonexistent music. Y/n rested her head on Mattheo’s chest and whispered, “this is nice.”

“This is very nice, indeed. I hope to do it more often.”

Y/n’s fingers gripped onto Mattheo’s shoulders. “Matty…” she whispered. “You know my feelings for you. But I- Adrian-”

“Please don’t speak his name,” Mattheo pleaded. “And I know about him. But I don’t care about him. Please tell me you don’t care about him either.”

“He is my husband, Mattheo.”

“That doesn’t mean you care about him.” Y/n took a breath and stepped slowly back from Mattheo. His mouth parted slowly and desperation filled his eyes. His hands reached out in anguish. “Please, my love. Don’t do this.”

“I will never love him as much as I love you,” Y/n clarified gently. “But I don’t hate him, either. Over the years, I have come to care for him. It’s a complicated feeling, Mattheo, I’m sure you understand.”

“Marry me,” Mattheo suddenly declared. “I promise, my dearest, I will give you all and more.”

“It’s not fair to Adrian,” Y/n protested, her hands dropped to her sides. “We don’t live in a life where one can just divorce their spouse to pursue another. You know of the rigidity and the silent rules that if we don’t follow, the exile we face.”

“Exile of what?” Mattheo cried, helplessness in his voice. “You can move in here. I can give you the life we dreamed of.”

“The life I dreamed of included my parents and my loved ones,” Y/n objected. “Not an isolated life with only one of the many I love.”

“Anyone you love can come visit you if they want,” Mattheo offered. “I won’t push anyone away. I just want you.”

“You know they won’t visit,” Y/n’s voice broke. “You know people will ridicule us. And I am so sorry, Matty, but I don’t know if I could live with that.” Mattheo didn’t speak for a long moment, staring at Y/n’s neck. “What’s wrong?” she eventually demanded. “Do I have something on my collar?”

“No,” Mattheo murmured softly. “It’s just… you kept it.” He pointed to Y/n’s neck and reached out to finger the chain around Y/n’s neck. The woman couldn’t help but shiver under his light touch. “You kept it,” he repeated. Carefully, as if afraid he might break her, Mattheo lifted the hidden necklace that was tucked under Y/n’s dress. “My ring.”

“I couldn’t bear to get rid of it,” Y/n’s breath hitched and she swallowed back tears. “I’ve never taken it off. Even- even on my wedding day.”

Beside himself, Mattheo chuckled, though it quickly turned to a gasp for breath. “So even when he made love to you, you always kept my ring around your neck?” Tears slipped down his cheeks and Y/n reached up to quickly wipe them away. 

“I don’t want you thinking about that,” Y/n muttered, shaking her head at the absurdness of it all. “Please… just be here with me.”

“I’m here,” Mattheo could hardly get a couple words out. He pulled her close to him and pressed a firm kiss on her forehead. “You still haven’t said no to my proposal.”

Y/n laughed loudly. “I didn’t think you were being serious.”

“With you, I am always serious,” Mattheo grinned, bending down to look her in the eye. “And that wasn’t an answer. Why are you avoiding the question, darling?”

Y/n sighed, a coy smile on her lips. “Would I simply leave Adrian? What of my things? Adrian would come looking for me, you know?”

“I would buy you whatever you’re missing a thousand times over.” Mattheo stared at Y/n, his eyes holding all the tenderness that a lover was supposed to have. “I would protect you and Adrian would never know where you are. He will never harm you, I promise.” 

Y/n tapped Mattheo’s chest thrice and hummed. Mattheo’s heart fluttered and his lips brushed against her temple. Silently, he begged all the gods he knew of that Y/n would agree to be with him. His lips moved wordlessly, pleading, before Y/n said, “I will call you tomorrow, Matty. I’m sure Adrian already knows of our endeavours, but give me one night to collect my thoughts. Can you give me that much?”

“Of course, my love. Whatever you need.” He kissed Y/n’s forehead again. “Always in all ways.”

“Always in all ways,” Y/n repeated.

****

“Where are you going?”

Y/n’s shoulders tensed and she slowly turned around to face Adrian. A packed bag was on her bed. “Enzo, the sweetling cousin he is, invited me to stay with him,” she said. “I thought it would be fun to spend a night in East Diadem. To see how others live.”

“You? In East Diadem?” Adrian chortled a laugh. “And why, pray tell, would you do that?” 

“Because I love my cousin,” Y/n reiterated firmly. “Are you forbidding me to see my family?”

Adrian’s head hung and he shook his head. “I may be rich, but I’m not stupid.” He hesitated before stating, “I know about Riddle.”

“My old friend?” Y/n asked smoothly. “Yes, he was a friend of Enzo’s. That’s how I met him, you know.” She cleared her throat and zipped up her bag. 

“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?” Adrian then suddenly shouted out, his hair flying out of place and his face turning red. “He’s fucking my wife, that bastard! Why, I should- I outta- you bitch!” He growled and whirled around, dragging a hand through his hair. 

“Adrian.” Y/n held up her hands, trying to soothe his emotions. It was the only way she learned how. “I haven’t been unfaithful to you, I promise. I made a vow on our wedding day and I have since upheld it.”

Adrian grunted and demanded, “so tell me you love me.”

Y/n swallowed. “I- I love you, Adrian. Just not in the way you want me to.”

Her husband let out a yell of frustration and slammed his hands down on the back of an armchair. Y/n flinched. After a tense moment, he hissed out, “go, then. Leave me.” His voice rose to a crescendo and he shouted out, “but know that I will never let you back into this life again! No one will ever let you step inside Diadem West without rumours and hatred trailing behind you.” He let his voice drop and as Y/n shuffled back, he raised his head and looked at her, pleadingly. “I want to make you stay,” Adrian whispered. “I want to tell you all the ways I love you. But… But I think we both know I can’t.” He took a step towards her and held a hand out as if he wanted to cup her face in his palm. “You are so beautiful, Y/n,” he muttered. “But he makes you feel alive. You- you deserve that.”

“So do you, Adrian,” Y/n choked out. 

“I know,” he nodded once, conceding. “I know.”

****

It took four weeks for Y/n to officially move into the house across the bay. Immediately, she had sought out her cousin and stayed with him for some time. She spent many of those days sitting out on the lawn, staring out to the bay and her old house. Her hair would whip across her face and sometimes, Mattheo would come and sit a couple feet away from her, not saying a word. Mattheo knew she was experiencing the eroding feeling of guilt. He didn’t dare disturb her thoughts if, eventually, it would lead to him. What’s a couple more weeks when he had been waiting years?

Then, one day, Y/n turned towards Mattheo and said, “you promised to love me always and in all ways.” 

Mattheo’s head whipped toward her. The shame in his eyes was deep. “Yes,” he uttered.

“I think I’m ready to take you up on your offer.” 

Mattheo broke into a smile.

A year later, the pair was married. The band that had been around Y/n’s neck was now around her finger. Y/n’s parents refused to attend and she had spent the night crying in Mattheo’s arms. Enzo had taken the place of her father and walked her down the aisle. The wedding was sparse and while Mattheo’s aunt had come to offer her congratulations, as had one of Y/n’s old friends, the couple knew that their life would be a lonely one until they either made new friends or Y/n’s old friends in Diadem West came around. But they were happy. 

Grand parties weren’t a frequent occurrence, though every month or so, Mattheo threw a celebration for an unimportant holiday, simply to show Y/n off. He finally had the pleasure to kiss her in a room full of people and not be ridiculed. However, parties weren’t needed. As long as Mattheo woke up with Y/n in his arms, he would call it the most wonderful day ever. 

And when years had passed and their children would move out to begin their own endeavours, the house would lay empty. After decades had gone by and the mansion was simply a statement of extravagant wealth and the jubilance of society, people would wander in the house, marvelling at the gold and marble. Whispers would echo the hallways of the great love story that transpired within its walls. A large, dusty old portrait of the couple still hung above the fireplace, their eyes holding as much love as there was water in the bay.

[iww-gnv]

An Oakland-based Popeyes franchisee operating restaurants in the East Bay and San Joaquin County was expected to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars after a federal investigation found that minors as young as 13 years old were allegedly working at the fast-food chain restaurants, the Department of Labor announced Wednesday.

[bomberqueen17]

where tf did i leave off

girl (nonspecific, just used here as an interjection, i know there are several of you reading this) i know it's been a lot and like shit got so hectic i updated that i had a backsplash and then nothing but listen i've been unpacking stuff into my

NEW KITCHEN

which is fully operational and move-in ready it's just missing the door to one cabinet and a bunch of little pieces of trim and whatnot but

FEAR NOT

i will give you the scoop once i can figure out where i left off in the updates.

Image description: Picking up where we left off, here's the north wall looking east from the kitchen door, this time with the spacers removed from between the white tiles. The countertop is still covered with cardboard. You can see the underside of the cabinets a bit. The outlet has no faceplate on it.

Max mixed up a batch of grout and set to grouting the tiles, now that the adhesive or mortar or whatever had cured overnight. Jim, meanwhile, installed the dishwasher to be ready for the plumber, and installed the vent hood.

[image description: Two men are facing away from the camera, lifting a stainless steel vent hood up to hook it onto the screws it mounts to in a tiled wall.]

He also used a sheet of paper to cut out a template so he could cut the odd-sized piece of trim wood to cover the bay windowsill. "I got a whole roll of paper," he said, "but I only got one piece of wood." "Measure once, cut three times," Max interjected.

[Image description: Two men in a kitchen. The one on the left is standing on a stepstool to smear gray grout over the white tiled wall. On the right, the other man is bent over the countertop, with the offcuts of brown kraft paper curling away as he trims it with a utility knife.]

Finally the plumber rolled in-- Kyle, who'd been here before. He'd said he'd come Monday, but on Thursday when Jim called to confirm, he said he could push it up and come Friday instead. Which was huge, because it meant a working stove and working sink and working dishwasher and really, working kitchen, really really.

Jim bartered for a part from him, to hook the stove up-- he had one of Kyle's tools, left behind on an earlier job. Kyle was like ha I don't actually need it back I bought a replacement BUT i will give you the nipple you need anyway. (Yes! It was a nipple. That's a pipe fitting thing and I get a gold star for not giggling.)

So while Kyle was in the basement, hooking up my dryer and repairing my laundry sink (I had arranged to pay him separately for that, as neither thing were part of the kitchen job, and he figured he'd do those first so his boss would have a chance to send an invoice so I could pay him before he left, much easier all around), Jim and Max installed the stove and got it painstakingly leveled.

[Image description: a stove is pulled out somewhat from the surrounding counter. To the left a man is kneeling next to it; the other man stands to the right, leaning over to peer at a bubble level.]

They did a really thorough job on this, which involved pulling out that lower drawer so Jim could reach under to the rear adjustable feet with a wrench to fine-tune the position once the stove was shoved into place.

"Aw," I said, "now I gotta find the owner's manual to find out how to set the clock on this stove again," and Max wordlessly tilted his head, looked at the control panel, unerringly punched the button with a picture of a clock on it, and said "what time is it?" so I told him, he punched it in. "Kids," Jim laughed, and I said "so good with technology." Finished, Max hit the clock button again, and erased his work. "Oops," he said, repeated the process, and this time hit the "Start/OK" button at the end, which worked and actually entered the time.

Then the real excitement began, because Kyle finished mucking around in the basement and came up and put together the sink. Max, having now attached all of my cabinet door and drawer handles, had now mostly run out of work to do by then so he leaned on things and watched kyle work, which was also what I was doing, LOL.

But the moment of excitement came very soon.

[image description: two men standing by a kitchen counter. On the left, Kyle the plumber is staring down into the sink as the water runs. On the right, Max is leaning on the counter next to the stove, watching.]

No leaks! Hooked up! So exciting. He then ran a quick cycle on the dishwasher to make sure it didn't leak either, and lo and behold it did not.

Meanwhile Max lit the stove and ran it until the air was out of the line.

Literally, now we're cooking with gas.

So, everyone was done and wrapped up before 3pm on Friday afternoon, and they all left in high spirits. Jim will be back to put on the final cabinet door (they made it wrong! the custom cabinet people fucked up my door! I never knew because Jim had already sent it back) and all the crown molding, and a couple of other little details. He might come Monday but if the pieces aren't ready for him then he won't come until they are. In the meantime, I can use the kitchen to my heart's desire.

He gave me back my house key, since we were moving back into the house over the weekend, so I'd be present.

[image description: a kitchen! an actual kitchen, with grayish-blue cabinets, a white tiled wall, a dishwasher and a stove, a vent hood over the stove, and a hideous yellow flowered folding stool pulled up to the counter to be a makeshift chair. The knife block is on the counter, and the Instant Pot is sitting by the sink, and various other items are strewn around the counters. The floor is mottled gray and has a geometric blue and white mat in front of the sink.]

The first thing I did was put all my grungy old unwashable dishwares into the dishwasher to see if it melted them, hence my post on this topic. (Update: Nothing so far has actually gotten ruined! Amazing.)

But the second thing was that we went back over to dude's mom's to retrieve our cat. <3 <3 <3 and then i got to sleep in my own bed with my beloved cat.

[randomingoftherandomness]

Fic: shovel talk (Qiubing)

A/N: you know why you're tagged @snicker-doodles 😝

--

"May I know to what displeasure do I owe to have you all..." Qiu Qingzhi trails off, lazily flicking his gaze up from his documents to eye up the five men currently fidgeting under his focus. "Here."

This seems to cause a furious rush of whispers as Alibaba elbows the stocky one he knows is Sun Bai, while Cui Bei and Chen Shi side steps the whole mess. Eventually the glib tongued Wang Qi clears his throat.

"This is..." He smiles, bowing deeply with a smile that would not look out of place on the face of a swindler. "General Qiu, we of Mingjing Hall, have come to ask... That is, we represent the vested interests of Mingjing Hall--"

"If you're going to be beating around the bush like this, might I just make this easier and get Li Bing here to explain it to me why five of his men have practically forced their way into my hall to have an audience with me?"

This seems to spur them into a physical reaction of having the fear of the gods put right into them. Good, Qiu Qingzhi thinks, maybe they can hurry up and tell me what they want so that I can get back to my reports--

"What are your intentions with Li Bing!"

Shocked silence ensues while all eyes turn to look at the quiet Cui Bei who is practically wilting in mortification.

"And what would have given you the idea that I... Had any 'intentions' with him in the first place?"

"This..."

Eyeing them up for a bit, he sighs. Qiu Qingzhi sets aside his report and neatly steeples his fingers. "Go back to Mingjing Hall and come back in two days with a properly constructed script of what you'd like to say to me in defence of your Vice Minister. If you're going to give me a shovel talk, do it right."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The suffering continues.

Lamenting, not for the first time since he trusted his heart to be honest, at the way his ears are burning while the lilt of laughter fills the night quiet, he tries to turn away from his companion in the bed they share. Only to be bodily hauled back into his arms.

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore," Li Bing chuckles. Hand slipping into Qiu Qingzhi's, he tucks his body back into the warmth of their embrace. "So, they came to give you a shovel talk, eh?"

"It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed for them."

"So you gave the kids homework to do," Li Bing giggles, breath dancing over Qiu Qingzhi's neck. "How adorable."

"You deserve people who can give a good shovel talk in defence of you," Qiu Qingzhi says simply. As if stating facts like how the sun rises from the East and sets in the West, Li Bing deserves nothing but the best.

A gentle touch settles over his heart then. "So do you, too. And I'll gladly accept any shovel talk that comes my way for you."

Qiu Qingzhi smiles a little at that. Brushing his lips to the other man's brow, he murmurs, "No need. I already gave my heart to you since the beginning."

[chthonic-cassandra]

But when I got back to the New York for the NBC taping, Steve [Sondheim] called and said, "Let's talk." I didn't talk much; he did. He showed me the new place he'd just bought for $115,000 thanks to the movie deal for Gypsy, which promptly fell through but then came together again. It was a town house on East Forty-ninth Street in Turtle Bay Gardens, next door to to Katherine Hepburn. "This is where we could live," he explained, showing me the bottom two floors, which were then a duplex, "And there's plenty of room upstairs for the kids." [...] He never used the M-word and neither did I. But that's what it was intended to be; a marriage, at least of the trial variety. We gave ourselves a year [...] I know what you are saying: Mary, don't! Had I not just freed myself from this sort of thing with my first husband [who was gay and closeted]? Well, no. I was a patsy in that marriage. Here I would be - what? A co-conspirator? The follier half of a folie á duex? And what would Steven be? Even if I loved him, and I did, what was in it for him? But his shrink [...] was pushing him to have a "normal" relationship, and perhaps not having to push too hard. Together, I thought, she and Steve would fix his problem, and together, I thought, he and I would fix mine. [...] Even though he was thirty, I don't think Steve had the foggiest idea what people who love each other did. Which begs the question: Did we love each other? Can one beg an answer? He wasn't in love with me, certainly, and I wasn't really physically attracted to him. I just loved him, thoroughly enough for nothing else to matter. Do you not believe in that? Have you never seen Carousel? So we would get into the same bed, side by side, frozen with fear. We just lay there. We didn't discuss anything; we didn't do anything. If we touched, it was en passant. [...] I didn't confront him. I just said, "Steve, this isn't working, is it?" And he just said, "No, it's not." Not meanly. Merely an observation. I'm not sure he would have known how to call it off himself.

Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green, Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers

In addition to continuing to be heartbreakingly sad, this is also just. Literally. Marry Me A Little.

[archtroop]

No, Israeli kids are innocent of any crimes. The same as Palestinian kids. The problem is the crazy people like you. It's funny to think that your people suffered from a Genocide once and you're now the Nazis committing Genocide. You can say to yourself whatever you want to sleep at night but the truth is what it is: it's not a war, it's not suicide (what a fucking ridiculous notion). It's genocide. Shame you're so brainwashed you can't see what's in front of you.

And yet again, no.

The only Nazis in this equation are HAMAS and their infrastructure.

Anon, you have no leg to stand on this.

Attacking a well armed state, massacring 1200+ people in one day and, what? What do you call this? What you expect to happen next?

Here is the thing. You want the big picture, I'll give you the big picture.

The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to control the Middle East. They fund proxies to ankle-bite those who threaten their supremacy in the region. Like SaudiArabia, Israel and so on by employing: HAMAS, Hezbollah, Houthies etc. They settle roots in places of discord and disarray (Lebanon, Syria...Yemen. West Bank and Gaza. Places with no functional government).

They use Israel as a scapegoat to unite under (Fascism 1.01). They call upon "The Zionist Regime" rhetoric whenever shit hits the fan and they need to blame someone with something. Oldest trick in the book.

The Abraham Accorda are designed so that USA could finally leave the Middle East. UAE and others, had already signed the accords with Isrsel to manifest a solid treaty that would hold the Jihad at bay and will eventually stabilize the region (against threats like IRI and ISIS) by means of finance, strategy and military. Two weeks or so prior to Saudi Arabia signing the accords, Iran gives a nod of approval to HAMAS. The attack on the 7th was premeditated. It was planned for years. The idea is simple: make Israel look bad so that Saudi Arabia won't be happy to sign an agreement with a "weak" country (Israel is the security part in the agreement. SA enjoyed up till recently the security US provided. With deglobalization, this deal is off), and then drag Isrsel into a bloody war in urban terrain in Gaza to make Israel look very bad so Saudi Arabia won't sign with Israel in defense of the Palestinian Cause.

Yes, it was a premeditated suicide. And all of this is a geopolitical known knowledge. Nothing in what I wrote above is new or groundbreaking.

It was never about Palestinians. Or Palestine. It was all just an excuse. All of this, we all are just pawns.

On the world scale, Gaza doesn't matter. That's the sad truth. They were used and thrown away by their leaders. Israel is holding talks with both Egypt and Saudis over how to extract the civilians from this death trap, believe it or not. Both HATE HAMAS and watch all of this unfold and waiting for Israel to declare HAMAS IS NO MORE. Egypt hates HAMAS, a tie in to the Muslim Brotherhood, that has the power to topple the Egyptian secular government (funny how the most affected by Houthies attacks are Egypt, but no one gives a crap).

Gaza is a funnel for aid money. It produces nothing, it exports nothing. They are meaningless on the world map. That's the sad truth. By making Gaza absolutely dependent on UN aid (that never actually used for aid, but to cushion up HAMAS leaders), you have a society that cannot support itself in any way. They don't even have political allies. They are pawns.

Hate HAMAS. Hate IRI.

Or you can hate Israel, the only place where Palestinians from West Bank and Gaza could actually work and get paid. Now they don't have even that.

You know what's the cruelest joke? The accords are on talks and are progressing. There is a route of merchandise that goes right through Saudi Arabia and to Israel and Egypt, by trucks.

All of this. Was for nothing.

It's called Terrorism for a reason.

So, I guess whatever makes you sleep better. Jews did not survive the Holocaust to lie down and take it when another one is knocking on the door.

After the 7th, my emphaty dulled by a huge margin. That you cannot take back. Even symphaty has an expiration date.

There is no Genocide in Gaza. There is a Suicide on a national scale, and that's the harsh truth. And it didn't even make a lick of difference.

The only hope people in Gaza have, is to wake up without HAMAS. And it WILL happen.

Whether you like it or not.

[midpenmedia]

Day 2 of our spring break camp with the future filmmakers!

[winterpower98]

I am here to talk about my OCs!

Because @elianaroselight and I have talked about them so much we developed 4 RPs about them (that have been going for over a year now) and got a whole system going

Buckle up, it's long

First, there's Ju Ling's family, who now has 3 mates and 7 children (without counting the ones she lost). Her mates are Ju Jing the oni, Ri Shi and the white tiger of the west, Baihu. Her siblings are Hua and Ping, who have, respectively, the vermilion bird of the south, Zhuque, and the azure dragon of the east, Qinglong, as their mates.

Then there's Yue Shi and his mate Fengbao. Feng became friends with their doctor Jiahao, who had two twin kits that became friends (and enemies if you ask Shu) with Feng's kits. Jiahao's husband is Pingyi, who teaches sign language, and is friends with Ju Jing because he and his sister (name missing) were all at the same orphanage. Pingyi is also Cixin's teacher, Zan's adopted son. He's not mute or def but has trouble speaking and often communicates by repeating sounds or words (in the voice of the person that spoke them). Cixin and Tai Shi (one of Ju Ling's cubs) have pet ducks together.

The biological mothers of Tai Shi and the rest of the tiger cubs are Lan (who has Tai Shi, 2 tiger cubs that she lost, and Ju, a lynx cub she adopted) and An (who has Jingyi, Ling Min, Heng and Yawen) Tai Shi's dad is Qiong Qi, no one likes him. Baihu is the father of the other cubs. Depending on the AU, An and Lan are platonic mates with Ju Ling and the others and live in a huge ass house.

But anyway, Baihu is a big sweetheart who does his best to be a good baba. He loves seafood and spicy food and Ju Jing and Ri Shi very much feed into that. Lan grew a passion for gardening and plants and it was a great bonding moment for her and Ju Ling.

But anyway, all of An's cubs are adorable Jingyi likes plants and helps her moma with her garden. She even found a salamander once and wanted to keep it as a pet. Heng loves the sky and the sea, which works well with his uncle Ping, who works at an aquarium, and his yeye who used to be an astrologist. Yawen likes the sky, but specifically the clouds. He loves Wukong's nimbus and asks him to conjure it any time he comes over. And Ling Min is a little fighter that loves dragons and adores her gugu Mei.

Then there is Bai He's family. Obviously, her parents are the general Ba and Beng. Her wife is Zhi Hao, a gibbon demon the size of a wardrobe which works as a blacksmith. So you know, guaranteed thirst trap. Their children are Hua Mei, the oldest girl, Hao the only boy, and their twins Guiyin and Li Lei who is named after the empress of the kingdom of women, who Bai He is friend with.

There's also Kai Hu's group of friends! They call themselves the lost ones because Kai's cousin calls him Peter Pan. They are Chao a cat fish demon (not a catfish. a cat and fish demon), Juan a one-eyed cat demon, Fen a bunny demon, Bo the only human and Huangshu, a gibbon demon that was adopted into Kai's family and became his cousin.

And then there's Shu's group (she is one of Yue Shi and Fengbao's triplets kits), aka Lupin gang wannabe. Shu is of course Lupin, then we have Leale, a dog demon who is 100% based on Jigen, I'm not even going to hide that, and just discovered that he has 2 siblings, and Rampion, who was made as a joke with Skelle but he fits in this group of misfits. And I can't forget the Fujiko of the group, Junjie, who is also one of Jiahao's kits. The other one of Jiahao's kits is Xinyi who married Bao, Shu's second brother.

Last group that I can remember is Ling Min's family. Her mate is Hebo, a leopard gecko demon, and their adopted kids: Xu Qiu a dear and lion demon, Bian a they/them human, Hongbo an otter demon and Wuyue a baby lizard demon that Xu Qiu found in the snow

[beardedmrbean]

CSX train employees found metal materials jammed into the tracks and rail switches of an Ohio train line for months after a near-catastrophic derailment in August, according to court documents.

During a test run for a CSX employee appreciation day, a train hit an obstruction on the track and temporarily derailed before the wheels dropped back into place.

The seemingly mysterious accident quickly became a concerning issue when employees continued to find more "purposefully placed" materials along the tracks, which matched methods taught by international terrorist groups to make homemade derail devices, court documents say. 

The investigation led to Cleveland man Joseph Findley, 43, who was arrested and charged with terrorist attacks against railroad carriers. 

Findley lives with his parents, who could not be reached by Fox News Digital. His mother told Fox 8, though, that her son is not a terrorist. 

"He's never been a bad kid, never, he was always good. He’s no terrorist, somebody’s making that up," his mom told the local news outlet, which asked what would explain his alleged actions.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY BOATERS FORCED TO FIGHT OFF ‘PIRATES’ WHO ARE STEALING SHIPS

"Being depressed, because he lost his job, he lost his girlfriend, but he never did anything like that," she said. "They’re nuts, he’s not a terrorist. I think they all exaggerated it because he never did anything bad."

The Amtrak train along that line typically carries between 180 and 200 passengers twice per day, according to court documents.

The evidence and accusations 

Evidence laid out by the FBI and federal prosecutors in court papers reviewed by Fox News Digital tell a different story. 

After the derailment on August 12, CSX employees found obstructions, including tie plates, spikes and other pieces of metal, wedged between the guardrail and the rail, according to the criminal complaint. 

Findley allegedly jammed these metal objects in the line five times from August to October. 

"The objects and their specific placement indicate knowledge of how the tracks and the switch operate, as well as how to disrupt these normal operations," the criminal complaint says. 

A local business near the tracks caught a glimpse of a man in the area of the obstruction that caused the August 12 derailment and repositioned its cameras to get a clearer view of the tracks, court documents say.

"Over the next few days, CSX work crews reported several pieces of debris were placed on the tracks further east of the switch," the criminal complaint says. 

"This debris consisted of two fiberglass panels and various pieces of track material, including tie plates and spikes."

The spikes are sharp and pointed upwards "to cause harm to someone walking around the railroad tracks," the complaint says. 

Cameras caught the first glimpse of the suspect – a man wearing a black shirt, jean shorts and carrying an aluminum beverage can – on August 18, but investigators could not make out the man's face.

There was a lull in activity near the tracks until September 18, when crew members found material between the guardrail and the rail for the mainline. 

"Based on the condition of the material, it appeared to have been struck by at least one train," according to the criminal complaint, but luckily there were no derailments. 

How investigators found Findley

A day earlier – September 17 – trail cameras caught the same man from August 18 in the same clothing, but this time his face was clearer. 

Investigators followed his movements, and saw him check the switches where the obstructions were, according to court documents.

The same man was spotted in the same spot on September 30 and October 1, when he was "seen taking several pieces of track material and placing them on other parts of the rail."

Investigators showed the images from the secret trail cam to a number of nearby store employees, and one of them identified Findley. 

The clerk told investigators Findley grew up in the neighborhood, lives with his parents on a dead-end rotary and "is known to drink heavily," court documents say.

The FBI executed a search warrant on Findley's home, found the clothes seen in the surveillance videos and arrested him.

What Findley allegedly told investigators

Findley allegedly admitted to being the man in the surveillance videos and placing railroad spikes on the tracks, the criminal complaint says.  

However, he denied jamming the other objects in the tracks and said he did not intend to derail a train. 

He was represented by assistant public defender Ashlynn Mejia, who did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

[loving-n0t-heyting]

east bay anon (hi!) & yeah, revcom bob is creepy as fuck. i made the unfortunate mistake of signing up to revolution books bookstore email and entering my phone number for book discounts. They proceeded to literally call me non-stop to get me to join them. i used to be in a christian cult (same group as the duggers) as a kid and the alarm bells went off so much because they had been nice to me at said book store and i was new to berkeley and :/

:(((

I’m sorry anon. I always tear down any ads of theirs I see around town; it’s fucking insidious and not even remotely interesting or subtle about it. It was amazing watching them speedrun thru entryist tactics over the course of about 5min yesterday out in public, completely shameless stuff

He is ancient tho, with any luck he will die soon and leave the org to collapse

[necarion]

A couple minority opinions I have on voting rights:

There shouldn't be a minimum voting age There really isn't any principled reason you can/should cut the voting age at 18. Obviously, we arbitrarily cap some things at 18, like military service and (in some places) age of consent laws. But "ability to make decisions that affect all of society" is one of those things where people can make informed, good decisions at a way younger age (and people can fail to make those at a much older age). 14 year olds are affected by their school board choices or state superintendent. Wildly more so than I am as a childless 30-something. They're obviously affected by education policy in general which means choice of other state government officials. There's a common counter-argument that kids will just do what their teachers tell them. And really? 14 year olds don't even do what their parents tell them to. But if you lower the age past 14, it remains another arbitrary line. What I'd probably do is have a policy where parents can vote for their children until the children attend school, and then have a secret ballot for all children over the age of 5 or something. You'd get a lot of ballot spoiling from younger kids not doing anything right, but that would also be essentially random and probably wouldn't affect the overall vote much (especially if you randomized ballots). (You should probably provide some of the same accommodations you would for blind or otherwise disabled individuals, though. Not sure what those are.) There's the argument where "parents with lots of children will get more votes" and, yeah, probably. I just don't think "I don't like the politics of those people" is a good principled reason to make these rules.

Non-citizens should be allowed to vote in municipal elections (probably given permanent residency and X years). A non-citizen who has lived in New York City for 20 years has a hell of a lot more ties to the city than I would were I to move there for 3 months between October and December 2024. But I would be allowed to vote as a US citizen and they would not. And yet they can probably make more informed decisions than I possibly could with that little time. They've been paying taxes for ages to the city, they've been using the services, they're affected by corruption and police and gang violence. And often, they're concentrated in neighborhoods that therefore get wildly under-serviced because they can't vote. I'd probably also open municipal juries to them as well, because an immigrant can be arrested and given a trial of their peers which includes none of their actual peers. (And the same problem as above, where immigrant neighborhoods will have relatively fewer peers and probably more people drawn from outside it).

People should be able to vote in the municipal elections of the largest city in the metropolitan area. The shit that San Francisco pulls with policing, housing, homelessness, transit affects the entire Bay Area. But the only way I could seriously influence that is if I were wealthy enough to move there (or lucky enough to already have lived there). (Mind you, I think housing policy should be regional, because there are weird incentives to splitting cities up. Which is also a thing that should be unwound; San Francisco and South San Francisco shouldn't be separate cities, but that's a very different issue to resolve. There also needs to be a "Complete Bay Area" government, equivalent to the Los Angeles County government). I don't think people outside the city should be able to vote on, like, the school board or whatever. But there should be city counsel representatives for other regions of the Bay Area (East Bay, Peninsula, etc.) This would actually also be a totally reasonable place to violate one-person one-vote rules. The people who are outside the city should get proportionally fewer representatives. The SF council has about 10 members for 800k residents (1/80k). Another 5 representatives for "rest of the bay" would be 1/1400k, and yet would be enough for a very dramatic voice in the governance of the city.

Some of these things are obviously subject to implementation haggling.

[agentomato]

Any headcannons about the interactions between Piri, Mexico, and Spain? Since Piri was technically directly administered by Mexico for the majority of their time as colonies of Spain, how do you think their relationship would have been? And then what are your thoughts on how it would have been like when the colonial link between Piri and Mexico abruptly ended, and Spain was suddenly in and around Piri more often than before?

small note: I'm not as familiar with the histories of spain and mexico respectively, so i apologize for any errors or inaccuraries on my part! there's a lot i'm missing here as well because of how expansive this period was (literally 300+ years) but if you want any specifics feel free to send an ask anyway. as always, i'm defaulting to my PH OC for this, but you may use what i have for your interpretation of canon PH if you wish

i have the current personification of the philippines originally be the precolonial polity of tondo in my personal headcanon (and there's a lot to unpack and discuss there), so when she met spain for the first time they were pretty close in physical age with both more or less being in their teens (philippines being a younger teen at the time, but still); mexico, however, i see as being a result of colonization, born from the ruins of tenochtitlan as spain fashioned new spain into being, and as a result was very much a child in comparison. the hilarity that it's mexico-- still a kid-- who technically had more authority as the spanish east indies (philippines) were administered under new spain ensues

mexico being young also meant that a lot of the time she was operating under spain's instructions and influence, and often his authority superseded her's when it came to the spanish east indies, which was really more of a region part of the viceroyalty of new spain; i want to acknowledge the different power dynamics that were at play under the spanish empire, and that mexico was very much an important jewel to the spanish empire, but both she and philippines were still, at the end of the day, colonies under the spanish empire's eyes

that said i do think mexico and philippines interacted regularly with each other, mostly through trade (manila-acapulco galleon trade ties); the disparity between their physical ages helped to even out their dynamic a bit, and they often shared and exchanged aspects of their cultures with one another, influencing each other whether it be in food (ie. the evolution between the mexican drink champurrado and the rice porridge champorado, both utilizing chocolate, or the evolution of champoy/kiamoy in chinese-filipino communities to the chamoy sauce in mexico) or clothing or theater; both left an undeniable mark upon one another, and despite the disagreements and issues they had they were more or less very good friends-- a childhood friend on mexico's end even

that said, there were disagreements; it's bad enough philippines had gradually lost her sovereignty (although the conditions of that were complicated), spain had decided to put her under the technical administration of a viceroyalty whose personification was more or less a child, and the differences in that power dynamic on was felt; philippines did understand mexico was only doing what was instructed of her and much of her resentment fell more towards spain, but that didn't mean she and mexico didn't have disagreements from time to time

philippines (as tondo) had first met spain when he arrived together with the command of miguel lopez de legazpi at the shores of what is now manila bay (when spain had arrived with ferdinand magellan prior he had met a different polity), and while mexico was the one technically administering philippines spain was certainly still present, often intervening especially during times of more expansive military conflict such as the seven years war-- the spanish empire was expansive, and a lot of the basic tasks of administration as a result fell on mexico's shoulders, but that doesn't mean spain wasn't present in his own way as well, stepping in even at mexico's own protests at times

philippines and spain's close physical age gap and the fact both met as personifications with centuries already under their belts evidently means i don't see them as parent-child, but it doesn't mean spain wasn't also a big influence on her; the nature of their relationship during the colonial period was Complicated(tm), and i could probably expound on this another time, but essentially spain was sort of like an upperclassman mentor she was suspicious of but still drew influence from regardless; there's a lot more i could go into, from the colonial violence to the ways in which spanish cultural influence in religion and otherwise came with the creation of systemic structures that would make their adoption an implicit pressure that required conformity to access any amount of privilege under colonialism, but i don't want to discount hers (or even mexico's tbh but i'm less familiar with that history) agency for that matter either; philippines did feel the pressure to conform in a lot of areas, but sometimes she did adopt influences because she thought it was fashionable, and a lot of times even made some of those influences her own (indigenization/filipinization); it's messy and complex and maybe someday i'll expound on this in the future, but that day isn't today

whether it came from mexico or spain though, philippines did often more or less carry on doing her own thing; the physical distance between the spanish east indies and spanish crown did mean a lot of the time philippines pushed forward with doing what she wanted anyway, sometimes even ignoring missives from above completely if she could get away with it. mexico was usually far and only administering on a technical level, and spain was often too far away in europe or elsewhere in some other colony to do much anyway, so insert shrug emoji here

philippines had watched mexico grow, probably was bewildered by how fast she grew too (as these new world kids often did grow exponentially fast), and overall i do think she was sympathetic as insurgencies grew and she began demanding independence from spain; ultimately though i don't think philippines saw her fate tied with mexico. mexico did await the day philippines would gain her own independence again though, so that they could restart their relations as true equals; of course the road to ph independence... definitely had a lot of setbacks

after mexico became independent full administration of the philippines came fully under the spanish crown, and spain was more present in philippines's life; evidently she didn't receive it well as by the end of the century she would fight for her own independence, and even prior revolts against colonial authority were a regular par of the philippine experience under spain (although definitely complicated in its own right, something i'll also need to expand on someday)

there's. a lot more i would have wanted to go into and some stuff here is tentative but!! here's a rough idea basically

[agirlhasnoname265]

Where the heck is Rickon, and what is he doing?

As we know, Rickon Stark is the youngest and least known of all the Stark kids. The main question is, where is he and what in the world is he doing? Let’s discuss;

Where is Rickon Stark? 

With Osha in Skagos.

Skagos is an island off The Bay of Seals,  East of Eastwatch-by-the-sea. Not much is known about the island, other than its feared reputation of the Skagosi’s cannibalistic nature and their shaggy unicorns. 

But why Skagos? It’s known that the Skagosi are of the North, and are supposed to bend the knee to House Stark however they had previously revolted, killing thousands, including of the then Lord of Winterfell. Now, they tend to keep to themselves.

Okay, so, Osha brought a Stark boy to a place where the people rebelled against Starks. Not really a great combination, but who’s to say Osha won’t fake his name? The boy doesn’t look Stark at all, so it would be fairly easy to give him a new identity and just pass him off as someone else, like we see with both of his sisters, primarily Arya.

His age helps more, and the fact that the entire realm thinks he’s dead. Skagos would and perhaps is the perfect hiding spot for him. We learn in a Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV, about Skagos’ reputation for eating the flesh of men for breakfast, so I think it’s very safe to say no one is going to look for a “dead” boy there.

However, it’s really hard to believe Osha purposefully would bring harm to the boy as we can tell she begins to grow to deeply care for Bran and Rickon during her time with them. I don’t truly believe Skagos is as dangerous as they really say, I just think the people want to be left alone. Some of the stories might be true, but I believe most are legend. I think the Skagosi want to be left alone and feared because of what is on their land. Roose Bolton tells Theon Greyjoy in A Dance With Dragons, Chapter 32, Reek III, that only the heart trees know what happens on Skagos, which adds to the idea that they want to be left alone.

This all leads to the next question. What the heck is Rickon doing there? Well, what did I say before? The Skagosi want to be left alone and feared because of what is on their land. What is that exactly?

Magic.

If anyone has listened to The Order of the Greenhand, I just want to say their idea of what Rickon Stark is doing on Skagos is very similar to mine.

I think Rickon is a very powerful, probably the most powerful of his siblings other than Bran, skinchanger. This is proved in multipul Bran chapters where his little brother seems to be in full control of Shaggydog, unlike how his sister, Arya, can warg her wolf, but isn’t truly in control. I believe that this magic he has is going to be very important in the future and the Long Night.

I think Osha saw this, too, and decided to bring him to the most magical place she could. So what is he doing? This kid is training. 

While Bran trains with his mind, Jon trains with the sword, Sansa her lies and Arya in the arts of the Faceless Men, Rickon Stark is learning the art of his magic.

What do you think? Is he going to be a magical player of the game, or do you think something different?