#everything asset/love has been through and here's anton

[lvllns]

thinking about how anton spends his entire video humanizing asset/love

[geckolady]

Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – It's a girl!

Stephanie has just turned twelve years old

For her twelfth birthday, Stephanie wanted to see her friends and she was refused. So, she asked her friends, through Gordon, to see her. Gordon refused, and they had had an argument. It seemed so petty now, to have had such a silly argument when she now knew that he just wanted to make sure she had every chance to do everything and anything in the world, but it had hurt that she couldn’t at least see them over lunch or go on walks with them.

At Gordon’s funeral, she had wept her eyes out, the only one crying. She had overheard the rest of her family in the parlour of their home, Gordon and Stephanie’s home, chatting ideally about who got the fortune, who got the house, who got the kid. She had screamed at them and then had to sit in the car with them looking ashamed of themselves going to the burial site. They tried to comfort her, but the damage was done. Honestly, she was more upset about the argument they’d had weeks ago and apologised for, and of her relatives, than she was that she was at the funeral of the last person that cared solely for her being her.

The rest of her was numb. It had happened again. It was hard to not look at things with irony and with cynicism when this was the thirdparents figure that had died.

She had seen her six friends in the corner, all in black suits and looks of genuine upset on their faces but hadn’t dared go up to them. Gordon hadn’t wanted that. She fiddled with the priceless emerald necklace Wolf, who was really Dexter, had sent her after she had won a dance competition a few months ago.

The wake was a little easier as the coffin was out of sight and it felt a little more final. She had been told by her Grandma, who had picked her up from the police station after Stephanie had called them to report Gordon being dead in his study and thus taken her in temporarily since she was a minor, that the funeral was being taken care of by Gordon’s friends. The ‘Reading of the Will’ was partway through the wake, though only a few of them were leaving.

Stephanie was led by her Grandma out of the wake after a wonderful meal at a fancy restaurant, Gordon’s favourite – she’d ordered his favourite, no one else had that she had seen – and into a small back room where a short man with massive pores all over his face stood with a hunch back and awkward smile. She looked at her Grandma over her shoulder and the woman shrank away a little.

She’s been very harsh and vocal about Gordon earlier. Stephanie, Ireland had found, was a much louder shouter than her. She didn’t want to see her again after today.

She sat it one of the chairs, purposefully not looking at the others in the room. The door was closed. She took a deep final breath. This was it. Then it was over, and she could go back to her life. She was a fighter. She could do this.

She looked at the man squarely, who avoided her steely gaze, and went for the least harmful participant, Beryl.

Times were rough for this little man.

“Can we start now?” Beryl quipped. “I want to get back home soon.”

“Yeah, we have things to do today,” Fergus frowned at him.

Stephanie glared at them and bit her tongue.

“Erm, yes, that is everyone after all. Firstly, allow me to offer my deepest condolences to you, his friends and family. I understand this is a–”

“Can we please skip this part?” Fergus asked. “I want to know who gets the boat? The house?”

“The royalties,” Beryl joined.

“The fortune.”

“Of – of course,” he said, adjusting his glasses and looking at his paper. “To my dear brother Fergus and your beautiful wife Beryl, though we have not always agreed or, indeed, enjoyed each other’s company, I have always respected your steadfast ability to ignore great details. I wish I could have seen the world through your eyes sometimes. To thank you for your company as children and through the years since, I leave you this. I hope you enjoy it as much as me.”

The man brought out a small box. They stared at it before slapping each other’s hands and Beryl snatched it up. She opened it and went deadly white.

“What is it? A pin number? A key? A bar of gold? Wife, show me!” Fergus worried.

“A broach,” she said faintly. “He gave us a broach.”

Fergus looked sick. “What else do we get? Come on man, there has to be more!”

The little man wet his lips and Stephanie glared more at her least loved uncle. “I’ll have to read on. ‘To my long standing friends, Ghastly Bespoke, Anton Shudder, Erskine Ravel, Saracen Rue and Dexter Vex, I have only advice. Remember that though you may all wish for different things, reality is a lot simpler than you first think. I found that in my, albeit short, life that all I thought I wanted to possess and worked hard to make happen was not what I truly needed, nor what gave me joy. I hope you achieve what took me so long to find and can find the brotherhood I feel you have begun to forget.”

Stephanie looked at them slowly, her eyes softening. She knew they had once been soldiers. War was not kind, or so she’d been told, and she had learned a lot about PTSD and other soldier things when she was at school once. She hoped they found what they needed too. They hung their heads in to mull over their late friend’s advice.

“And to my perfect niece, Stephanie Edgley. When I saw you in the hospital for the first time, I fell in love. I loved you and always have since the moment I saw your little feet in the air and you chewing your teeny tiny fingers. I am so, so sorry that you have had to lose both your parents and now myself. I never wanted this to happen. You wanted me to be there so badly, and I know I have made mistakes and I worry that I made a massive one it not allowing you to see our friends. I only wanted to do what I thought was best for you. I hope that I make up for it here. I know this is what you need in your soul. I think this is the path for you, and I am certain you will see it too. So I leave you, firstly, something to think about: Even some butterflies are poisonous. The world is so much darker than you think, but holds beauty you cannot even begin to imagine. So I hope you take to heart my warning to be tough, but never rough. To be quick but never dismissive. To be upfront but never horrid. To be blunt but never enjoy the pain. To fight harder, tougher, longer, stronger, smarter and with wit, more than anyone else in the universe, but never forget your heart and those you shelter in it. You are my daughter in soul. You have made me so proud already. And, with every expectation you will be the bluntest, sharpest, prettiest woman to rule the world, I leave you my fortune, my home, my villa, my boat, my car and every asset and net worth to my name, including all the royalties from my work to receive upon your eighteenth birthday. Don’t spent it all at once.”

Stephanie tried to memorise his words. She wanted to make him so proud. She nodded at the man to continue before her relative could make an argument.

“And finally, to my dearest friend Skulduggery Pleasant, some more advice, though I know there isn’t much more to give. Use your eyes. I know what you need and want, and it is all in front of you. Grasp it and never let go. Take it down kicking and screaming. And remember, my niece is a lot more hard-headed than you think. I leave you sole custody of her to raise as your own and to take on as many adventures as you can. She will be the Dead Men’s prodigy. The greatest force this world has seen. She’ll need her brothers-in-arms to make it through this world. She loves you all so much.”

The man lowered the paper and Stephanie stared at the man in shock. All of them were staring at her. The minutes dragged on. Fergus and Beryl launched out their seats and slammed the door behind them at some point. The will-reader left too and Stephanie could only stare at the wall.

“Well, that happened,” she said quietly, looking slowly at Crow who was standing in the corner. Crow. Skulduggery Pleasant. “Hi.”

Panda stood up slowly and stood behind Crow. He placed his scared hand on his shoulder. “Congratulations. It’s a girl.”

Wolf jumped her and pulled her into a hug. “I have a sister! I always wanted one. How did Gordon know?”

“Gordon’s pretty great like that,” she murmured. “I should probably – I don’t – I’m sorry.”

She felt the first tear fall down her cheek and had almost made it to the door when thin arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a wide, cold chest. She tried not to sob.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” he whispered to her.

She hugged him back and finally, after a week of numbness, the sobbing came.

He carried her to the car and set her in bed after she had passed out, exhausted.

[sbknews]

New Post has been published on Superbike News

New Post has been published on http://superbike-news.co.uk/wordpress/dani-pedrosa-becomes-a-motogp-legend/

Dani Pedrosa becomes a MotoGP™ Legend

Three-time World Champion Dani Pedrosa has been named a MotoGP™ Legend ahead of hanging up his leathers at the end of 2018, with the Spaniard inducted into the MotoGP™ Legends Hall of Fame at the season finale at Valencia. Pedrosa won the 125 Championship in 2003, the 250 title in 2004 and 2005, and is one of the most successful riders of all time in the premier class.

Pedrosa’s international career began in 2001 in the 125 World Championship. As a rookie, he took two podiums and finished his first season within the top ten overall in eighth. The following year he took his first wins – three of them – to finish the season third overall, before he went two better in 2003 and won his first title with five wins.

Despite breaking both his ankles in a crash at the end of 2003, the ‘Little Samurai’ then moved up to the 250 World Championship for 2004 – and won on his debut. At 18 years and 202 days old Pedrosa became the youngest rider to win in the class, and it was on his way to becoming the youngest ever intermediate class World Champion at 19 years and 18 days old. In 2005, he defended the crown.

2006 marked Pedrosa’s debut in the premier class. On the podium first time out in Jerez and then needing only four races to take his first win when he took to the top step in Shanghai, one of the most successful premier class riders ever had arrived on the scene. He took another win in his rookie year, at Donington Park, and ended the year in the top five.

In 2007 Pedrosa was second overall to only Casey Stoner and added more wins and podiums to his tally, and he was in the top three in the Championship in 2008 – despite breaking his right hand in pre-season testing and sitting out the US GP after injuring his left hand at the German GP. In 2009 he managed the same top three despite more struggles with injury, and in 2010 was runner-up once again. 2011 was another battle through the pain barrier, before an incredible assault on the title in 2012 that saw the Spaniard only narrowly miss out on the crown – and win the most races that year.

In 2013 Pedrosa was leading the standings before a collarbone break and was third overall, and in 2014 he suffered with arm problems throughout the season and despite that, took another win. 2015 began with career-saving surgery to fix the problem, and Pedrosa was back on the top step towards the end of the year at Motegi and at Sepang. In 2016 he won at Misano as he destroyed the field, and 2017 saw him make another piece of history as he took to the top step in the 3000th race counting towards the World Championship, in Jerez. He also won the season finale in style, underlining an incredible achievement: he’s the first rider in history to win at least one Grand Prix per season for 16 consecutive years.

After taking the third most podiums of all time behind only Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini, Pedrosa retires at the end of 2018 – and now joins the ranks of MotoGP™ Legends.

“I’m very happy to be here with Dani,” began Vito Ippolito, President of the FIM. “You made the list of the big success of his racing career, in the different classes in MotoGP and I can’t add anything around that but I want to say that Dani is an example in my opinion to all the other riders, especially the youngest. Dani really is an example. The way he raced, the way he won, he had great results but the clean way he raced. We in the FIM I can say that sometimes we talked to Dani to share ideas about how he sees things, the penalties to the riders, what his opinion was. We have a lot of trust in Dani.”

“It’s a controversial situation for me, on one side I’m happy for him to be a Legend, from the first moment he said he would retire we talked about it and he’s been a big legend of MotoGP and a big asset,” adds Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports. “But on the other side all the memories of the generation are coming to me, Dani is one of the people who has worked through our system and now he has retired. I remember very well the first time I saw Dani in Jarama at the selection for the Activa Movistar Cup. Alberto Puig was talking to all the riders explaining everything, and from the beginning I saw Dani’s eyes and they were saying, ‘don’t talk to me and let me have the bike!’. And I remember he needed help to get on the bike but immediately we saw the skills and the possibilities of Dani. We decided the rules to be part of the Cup, the maximum and minimum age. And Dani wasn’t able to enter by a couple of months but then we talked about it and we decided to adjust it to allow him to participate, and it started a very good relationship. During a very long career we’ve discussed a lot of things many times. We are friends, but he’s also always trying to tell me what he thinks is correct! I’m extremely proud, together with the FIM, to make Dani a real MotoGP Legend, and thank him for all his contribution to MotoGP.”

“First of all thank you to Carmelo and thank you for the nice words,” smiled Pedrosa. Obviously it’s a very emotional moment you never expect it to arrive when you’re a kid, and now to be here is a bit strange but I’ happy because I felt a lot of support from all the fans, a lot from all the paddock. I’m really, really happy about this moment to see my rivals of a lifetime here. I feel that MotoGP gave me a lot of things in my life because basically I’ve always been here and I learned a lot in life thanks to MotoGP. In the same way I’m very happy that I could give something else to the sport like Carmelo was explaining. When I started it was a new generation winning races and Championships, not only me but everyone here on the front row. This is good for me because it’s a nice feeling that we opened a door for a new generation. Luckily I don’t know all my numbers which is a good thing!”

Asked about a standout moment, the Spaniard added: “Obviously the moment that stands out for me is the first Championship because you achieve something you dreamed of. You know you can get a podium or win a race but to get a championship it’s something that, as a kid, you see these guys going so fast and you don’t believe it. So when you achieve it all the emotions come out, and not only that year but for life because you’re been dreaming of it since you were born; watching races on TV and wanting to be that guy. So that day is unique and that’s what makes you, it’s the drive that makes you want more and want to keep going and get through the tough times – and the reaction from the people and the love you get is something I could never imagine so for me that’s the most beautiful.”

Pedrosa joins a long list of greats that have been made MotoGP™ Legends that includes Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan, Geoff Duke, Wayne Gardner, Mike Hailwood, Daijiro Kato, Eddie Lawson, Anton Mang, Angel Nieto, Wayne Rainey, Phil Read, Jim Redman, Kenny Roberts, Jarno Saarinen, Kevin Schwantz, Barry Sheene, Marco Simoncelli, Freddie Spencer, Casey Stoner, John Surtees, Carlo Ubbiali, Alex Crivillé, Franco Uncini, Marco Lucchinelli, Randy Mamola, Kork Ballington and the late Nicky Hayden.

MotoGP Gallery

jQuery(document).ready(function($) if(typeof(gg_galleria_init) == "function") gg_galleria_show("#5bedbd7a2e329");gg_galleria_init("#5bedbd7a2e329");); Grid Girls Gallery by Grid Girls UK

jQuery(document).ready(function($) if(typeof(gg_galleria_init) == "function") gg_galleria_show("#5bedbd7a32ca5");gg_galleria_init("#5bedbd7a32ca5"););

/* custom css */ .td_uid_16_5bedbd7a46d8d_rand min-height: 0;

@gridgirls

14.4k Followers

Follow