#gonna do this for the others too. AT LEAST for ricky cos him at the start of tsia kills me every time | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

babymetaldoll · 3 years

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Passive aggressive (Spencer Reid/Reader)

Requested: Yes!

Warnings: Cursing, a little angst, a lot of fluff. Spencer being an asshole.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader

Category: A little angst with a fluffy ending.

Summary: Spencer and his girlfriend don't know if they will survive their first fight.

Word count: 3.5 K

A/N: Hello my favorite people!! how are you doing? hope you are all safe! here's a little "angsty" request. I had to pick between Gubler and Spencer, but I think Spencer suits better for this request. Hope you like it!

Masterlist

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When (Y/N) fell in love with Spencer Reid, she couldn't think of anything wrong about him. Sure, she knew the man had flaws, but honestly, none of those actually bothered her. Not his rambling, not his lack of social cues. Neither his previous trauma nor how he kept moving his hands as he spoke, and how it gradually increased when the subject was about something he loved.

She liked all those things about him.

Spencer ignored all the flaws people pointed out about (Y/N), 'cos he was in love with her. He didn't care that she had a hard time sharing her feelings and that he had to basically profile her to get to know what was, in fact, going on with her. He didn't care that she was a little bossy from time to time, 'cos he loved making her happy.

All those things he could deal with, 'cos he loved everything about her.

But people don't warn you when you are dating for a long while. All those little things that don't matter can turn into a bunch of flaws that start driving you nuts. And after eight-month dating, their perfect honeymoon was over. Spencer Reid and his girlfriend were about to get into their first official fight.

No one prepared them for it.

- "Spencer? Can you help me, please?"- (Y/N) was in his room, folding bed sheets and towels.

- "In a minute!"- Spencer replied and didn't take his eyes from the book he was reading.

- "You said that twenty minutes ago"- (Y/N) frowned and dropped the clean sheets on their bed- "Please, Spencer. I'm tired, and I wanna go to bed. I'd finish folding the clean clothes if you helped me."

- "In a minute."- Spencer repeated and didn't even pay much attention to his girlfriend's annoyed tone of voice until it was too late. She was standing right next to her in the living room.

- "Spencer! Please! Fucking help me now!"- he raised both eyebrows and stared back at her, her cheeks red in anger and her hands clenched into fists.

- "Why are you talking to me like that? I haven't raised my voice to you."

- "'Cos I'm fucking tired, and you've been relaxing here for over an hour, while I do everything in the house, and you don't cooperate!"

- "Excuse me?"- Spencer stood up and took a look around- "Who cooked dinner?"

- "You did! and did you do the dishes? And cleaned the kitchen afterward? 'cos as far as I remember seeing it, it's still a mess!"

- "I'm gonna do it in a minute!"

- "No, you won't! You always do this! You make a big mess, pretend you'll clean it in a minute, and then you just leave it there until I do it!"- Spencer frowned and looked at (Y/N)'s angry face.

- "No, I don't! If anything! I am the one cleaning all the messes you leave around here all the time!"

- "What?!"- (Y/N) shriek, feeling almost insulted- "Which messes are you talking about?"

- "Top of my mind, all the hair you left in the shower! It was fucking disgusting!"

- "What?!"

- "If maybe you used all the freaking bobby pins you keep leaving everywhere, maybe the shower drain wouldn't get blocked!"

- "I didn't block the drain!"

- "And by the way, I told you I was going to help you with laundry. You didn't wait for me to it with you."

- "If I wait for you to help me, I'll run out of clean clothe, and I'll have nothing to wear tomorrow for work."

- "You do have a lot of clean clothing at your apartment! Maybe if you spent some time there, you'd see it. But you are always here!"

(Y/N)'s heart dropped. Since they had started dating eight months ago, they had spent most of their time in Spencer's apartment. She never overanalyzed it. They just did. (Y/N) loved Spencer's apartment 'cos it felt like home, and he always made her feel welcome.

Clearly, Spencer didn't feel the same. Not anymore, at least.

- "Sorry for intruding on your space, Spencer. I just thought you liked having me here!"- (Y/N) whispered with anger, trying not to cry, as she gathered all her things and put on her shoes.

- "I love having you here, but it's my house, and I don't appreciate you bossing me around, telling me what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, all the fucking time!"

Spencer kind of yelled, still mad, and not seeing the painful look in his girlfriend's eyes.

- "Well, enjoy your space. I won't tell you what to do anymore!"- and after those words, (Y/N) stormed out of the apartment, and Spencer sighed, staring at the empty space around him.

How did things get so out of hand? He had no idea. He didn't mean to hurt her, but the truth was that she was smothering him with all the nagging about the housework she kept doing. He didn't want her to do all the chores alone. He just had his own way of doing things, and he hated the fact she was imposing hers.

Could it have been said in a better way?

Yes. But Spencer didn't see that at that minute. He didn't realize how much he had hurt her. Why? Spencer didn't mean wrong, but he had no idea how hurtful his words could be when he was angry. And that night, Spencer was beyond angry.

Now, what's worse than having your first awful fight with your boyfriend? Having your first fight with your boyfriend, seeing him the day after at work, and having to act like everything is ok, 'cos you gave Hotch, your unit chief, your word your relationship wasn't going to get in the way of your work.

Bullshit! Of course, it was going to get in the way. Hotch knew it, (Y/N) Knew it, Spencer knew it. But the three of them pretended they had no idea what was going to happen.

Hotch thought Spencer and (Y/N) were going to be a mature young couple, 'cos he could see how much they loved each other. They had been in love with each other for so long before actually doing something about their feelings. Hotch thought they were never going to have any kind of trouble or argument.

He was so wrong it hurt.

The following morning, (Y/N) walked into the bullpen holding a black cup of coffee and headed straight to her desk. She waved at Emily and JJ and sighed, relieved, when she noticed Spencer was in the kitchenette with Morgan. That gave her the chance to casually ignore him and wait a little before dealing with him.

The truth was, (Y/N) was scared after their fight. She had known Spencer for over seven years, and she knew he had been honest about everything he had told her the night before. Everything. Sure, he yelled and hurt her. He didn't sugar-coat anything when he was mad. But he wasn't lying, and that was scary.

(Y/N) also knew Spencer was very passive-aggressive when he was upset. That was why she knew she had to be the bigger person and avoid him as much as possible while they were at work. Because, whatever she could say about the subject, or related, was going to trigger Spencer.

She remembered when Spencer got mad at JJ when he found out Emily wasn't dead. Spencer was hurtful when he was angry, and you don't want to be the target of his anger.

Spencer reached his desk and noticed his girlfriend was sitting all alone, practically hiding underneath a pile of files. His heart ached, staring at her for a second, fighting back the impulse of walking over and kissing her.

How long since he had kissed her? 14 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds. And counting.

But no. Spencer wanted to make a point, and he was still mad. He didn't want to cave in and lose that argument. Yes, it was their first fight, but he wanted to make a point. He didn't want her to boss him around in his own place and change his schedules. He had his own way of doing things. Like Paula Anka and Sinatra said: I did it my way.

Spencer had no idea, but his silence was slowly breaking (Y/N)'s heart more and more. She looked at him for a second, but he paid her no attention. Maybe it was better that way, she thought. She could focus on all the work she had to do.

But no. Of course, it didn't help.

When Penelope walked over and announced they had a case, half the team had already realized there was something wrong with their love bird. Spencer hadn't walked over (Y/N) with her favorite pastry soon after her arrival. She hadn't kissed him good morning. He hadn't spent half of the time staring at her from his desk. If anything, they had been ignoring each other most of the day.

Emily, JJ, and Derek looked at each other when (Y/N) stood up and walked alone to the conference room. Spencer didn't follow, didn't hold her hand. Didn't even look at her. He just gathered his things, put them in his satchel, and waited for a few minutes before standing up, just to make sure he wasn't alone in the room with (Y/N).

It was crystal clear: things were not going right.

Spencer ignored (Y/N) during the briefing at the jet, and he was relieved Hotch had paired him with Emily. (Y/N) focused on the case, and she was also glad she didn't have to see Reid during part of the day. She had to go to the last murder scene with Derek. It was sad and disturbing, but directing her attention to the case gave her a break and even some peace of mind.

- "What happened between you and pretty Ricky?"- Morgan was driving the SUV, and (Y/N) kept her eyes glued to the window.

- "We had a little argue"- she whispered- "Thank you for making me realize we are not subtle."

- "You are not glued to each other. That's weird. I haven't seen you two apart since you joined the BAU."- Derek chuckled and looked at (Y/N). Her arms were crossed on her chest, and her eyes were teary.

- "Wait, pretty girl. It was just a silly argument, right?"- Derek didn't even consider the couple could break up. Ever. For Derek, his best friend and his girlfriend were it for each other.

- "I don't know. I know I have to give Spencer a little space to cool off, but the more I think about it, the worst it feels."

- "But, (Y/N). He loves you. You can't let that go."- she cut him a short smile and nodded.

- "I love him too. Sometimes you wonder if that's enough, though. Maybe it was better for us when we were platonic."

- "You can't be serious"- Morgan frowned, and (Y/N) just shrugged- "Spencer is crazy for you. No matter what he said, he loves you."

Morgan was right. Spencer loved (Y/N) more than he loved himself. But he wasn't ready to let that one argument go just yet. Besides, the doctor focused on work that week. That case occupied 99% of his mind during the next couple of days.

(Y/N) knew that's how he usually worked. And the frustration that the case caused them, plus the anger he still felt after their fight, didn't make a good person out of Spencer. If anything, he was looking for a reason to start an argument with pretty much everyone, especially with (Y/N).

- "We have to consider this unsub is not acting on a fantasy. He is looking for revenge, and he is escalating quickly."- Hotch said, going over the files again.

- "But if the murderer spends time with them in their houses and kills them with something they own, something that actually means something for them, I think we might be looking for a woman. This is too personal, and at the same time, it feels domestic"- (Y/N) analyzed, staring at the latest murderer's scene pictures.

- "Perhaps the Freds didn't help her fold the clean sheets."- Spencer whispered and shook his head. (Y/N) held her breath and stood up. She had to move away from Spencer to avoid answering that kind of comment.

Unlucky for her, Spencer wasn't close to being done. And for the rest of the night, he whispered hurtful comments and kept breaking her heart over and over again. (Y/N) knew Spencer was mad, but she didn't imagine how much. Maybe she had pushed him too hard. What if that was it? If that fight meant the end for them? She was actually scared to ask.

After catching the murderer and solving the case, (Y/N) sat on her own on the jet back home, hugging her legs on her seat. Emily looked at her from behind her book and decided her friend needed some love. She poured a cup of earl grey and walked to her with a warm smile.

- "You are my hero, Emily Prentiss."- (Y/N) whispered and held her cup.

- "Well, it comes with the job. I can read it all over your face: you need tea, a warm bath, and fix things with Reid."

(Y/N) closed her eyes and sighed. Spencer was at the other side of the jet, asleep. Or well, pretending to be asleep just to avoid talking to her. She knew it, and it didn't make her feel better at all.

- "I don't know what happened, Em. But I think this might be it" Prentiss wide opened her eyes at those words and held (Y/N)'s hand right away.

- "No way. He is crazy for you."

- "Yeah, it's funny 'cos Morgan said the same a few days ago. But after this week, I think I actually drive him crazy in a sick bad smothering way. I really think I fucked things up"- (Y/N) was fighting the tears back and looked over the window to avoid human contact, though Emily still held her hand.

- "(Y/N), you have to talk to him. He loves you. He is not good with social cues and facing people. You know that."

- "Yeah, I know. But I thought it was going to be different with me. It's me, it's him. This was supposed to work easily. I guess I was wrong".

- "Nothing worth doing comes easy, (Y/N)"- Prentiss whispered and squeezed her friend's hand- "Don't give up on Spence."

(Y/N) didn't want to give up. But she was scared Spencer had already decided. It looked that way after his cold and mean attitude those days. When the jet landed, she tried to walk to him and talk, but he avoided her and just left.

(Y/N) walked to her car and sat behind the steering wheel. Finally, alone after a rough couple of days, she burst into tears. She was scared and frustrated, and most of all, anxious to know what was going to happen. That was a terrible mix of feelings.

She knew that she didn't want to push Spencer to continue a relationship that might make him miserable. That's why, after taking a few minutes to calm herself down, she texted him.

- "I'm sorry things got till this point. I didn't mean to make you feel so bad. I understand if you want to break up. I'll pick up my things tomorrow."

Spencer felt his cellphone hum as he walked into his apartment, holding a box of tandoori chicken. He thought for a second it might be Hotch with another case, and sighed annoyed just at the thought of missing the chance to relax on his own again.

But when he read it, it was actually worse.

He left the food on the table and read the text over and over again.

What had he done? Why did (Y/N) think he wanted to break up with her? That wasn't his plan at all. He just wanted to prove a point. Not end with their relationship.

Did he push things too far?

Did he act like an asshole?

Did he ruin everything?

Spencer stared at his apartment, and his heart ached. He didn't care if (Y/N) changed everything around. He just wanted her there, with him. Always. He could do laundry whenever she wanted to. He could fold sheets whenever she asked him to. He could be as domestic as she wanted him to be if that meant that she would stay with him.

(Y/N) drove back home. She thought about getting something for dinner, but honestly, all she wanted was to get into her bed and try to sleep. Spencer didn't reply to her text, which somehow surprised her. A part of her was waiting for him to tell her he didn't want to break up. But that silence was the confirmation she didn't want to have: it was over.

The young agent did her best to remain calm as she drove back home. She didn't want to cry. She could listen to Spencer's voice at the back of her head giving her some statistics about people crushing their cars when they drove under emotional distress.

(Y/N) made it to her building, parked the car, and literally dragged herself upstairs. She was about to reach her apartment when she saw him. Spencer Reid, waiting for her, sitting on the floor, his back resting against her door. She froze for a few seconds, looking at him, confused. He stared back at her and held his breath. Her eyes were puffy and red, her face was pale, and yet, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on.

- "(Y/N), I'm so sorry."- Spencer whispered and stood up. He walked to her and held her hands. She didn't follow, so she stayed in silence. Spencer lifted her hands until they reached his face and caressed himself with them carefully for a few seconds, tears falling from his eyes.

- "I'm so sorry, I was an asshole."- he murmured and kissed her hands over and over again as he sobbed.

- "Spencer..."- she whispered and stared at him confused- "I'm sorry."

- "No, I am. I was mean to you, and you didn't deserve it. You have to know how much I love you. How deeply in love I am with you. I love spending all my time with you. I don't want you to live twelve and a half blocks away from my apartment. I want you there all the time. Or I can be here all the time. I just... don't want to lose you."

- "I don't wanna lose you either"- (Y/N) managed to say- "I'm sorry I was so bossy and that I invaded your space."

- "No, I'm sorry I was an asshole and so passive-aggressive with you. I love you. I promise I will never act like that again"- Spencer hugged her and hid his face on the crook of her neck. (Y/N) hugged him too and breathed in his smell, feeling at home right away.

- "I missed you so much"- Spencer held her face with both hands and kissed her sweetly, rubbing his lips against her with such love and tenderness, (Y/N) felt her heart skipping a beat.

- "I missed you more"- she sighed into the kiss and held him closer.

- "I swear, I'm never going to hurt you again, buttercup."

- "I'm not going to nag you again. I don't care if you don't fold sheets, chipmunk"- (Y/N) smiled and rested her forehead against his for a moment.

- "You are doomed, (Y/N), 'cos I'm gonna do whatever you ask me to do from now on."- Spencer leaned in and kissed her again, feeling her smiling against his lips.

- "I just want you to be happy with me, Spencer"- she murmured- "I never want to make you feel like I'm invading your space or being bossy."

- "Then move in with me"- he said and smiled like a mad man- "I don't want it to be my apartment anymore. I want it to be ours. Let's find a place for the both of us, so we can make it our home."

(Y/N) stared into Spencer's eyes, and all she could read was his excitement and adoration. So she giggled and nodded.

- "Yes! I wanna have a home with you!"- she answered and nearly started jumping- "Come on, let's go inside so we can start looking for a new apartment. Or a house!"- her excitement was contagious, and it made SPencer chuckle.

- "Or we can have make-up sex first,"- he suggested, and (Y/N) dropped the keys she was holding. "Did you know when we argue, post-powerful hormones are released? The rush of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and testosterone triggers a state of extreme arousal. The perception of threat combined with the influence of the hormones on our brains is what takes us from seething with anger to seething with desire..."

- "I love it when you talk dirty to me, Spencer Walter Reid"- (Y/N) opened the door, and the couple rushed in. They hated to argue, but at least something god had come out of it.

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Spencer Taglist

@calm-and-doctor @all-tings-diego

#spencer reid #matthew gray gubler #criminal minds #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid x you #criminal minds fluff #babymetaldoll writes

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organic-guacamole · 3 years

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episode 210 here we go

awww seb doing the intro

congratulations to milky white and her baby chocolate milk😌

seb is so funny

but seriously, clean up that milk fast or else it will smell so bad in there....

was that Lauryn just randomly doing cartwheels? idk any theatre kids irl but that seems like it's a common thing...

is it just me or has ms Jenn been getting more harsh to Ricky and Seb mainly-

like what did they do to her

no because I actually snorted with laughter at the "you came back" WHAT IS THAT VOICE-

AND THE MASK OMG

yeah so my throat hurts now

I'm dying over here

KOURTNEY'S FACE

SAME GIRL SAME

Ricky's fake death got the whole place in tears /s

he looks like an asthmatic walrus

Seb's on piano, I love

we all know if he was the beast we'd all actually be crying✋

ok but I listen to Julia's version of home on Spotify when I want to cry-

right so gimme a second

is Ricky scratching his face.....while he's dying?

"belle i-" *flop*

round of applause to Ashlyn for trying to make Ricky's earthworm seizure look less.... yknow

Kourtney's just dying there

WAIT IS THAT NATALIE

did she really just disappear for 9 episodes just to come back and stare dramatically into the camera

WAIT SCRATCH THAT SHES HERE TO MURDER ASHLYN AND RICKY

oh so Ricky's wearing a gay shirt now too

so that's the real reason why Rini broke up, see y'all next season when Gini and caswen become canon /j

wait that was a long intro scene-

what was that look Carlos-

TALK TO MY BOY OR ELSE

carlos' run is so funny to me

therapist Ashlyn to the rescue

"that is...super" son you good?

ms Jenn call Benjamin, he would willingly put his loved ones on a rocket and blast them into Venus for you....

maybe

"I don't want you kids to be disappointed" girl you do realise you're the one that's most invested in this?

"a smooth opening night" wasn't there just 1 show though-

like their opening night was closing night too

"I think I was Troy at one point" PLEASE THATS THE MOST ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE SEASON 1 FINALE

me Jenn looks like a serial killer during that clap and I'm lowkey scared for zacky

"I have notes"

oo if you're taking suggestions, lemme get my list

"mother is freaking out" uhhhhhh

right....'mother"

"is everyone sitting down?"

*looks around awkwardly*

*big red slowly sits*

"no..."

please seb was the only one sitting-

does that mean Carlos looked at Seb as soon as he walked in and assumed that everyone else was sitting too or am I a seblos clown🤡

"is this about the transformation"

WOW MAYBE OT IS RICKY

WOW HES A DETECTIVE FOR FIGURING THAT OUT SO QUICK🤩

YO WHY IS NATALIE HERE-

she just shows up when it's convenient? is she gonna be at the sleepover too?

Seb's heavy swallow after Carlos shouts at him makes me so sad

"I never learned how to lie but I figure if I keep my mouth closed, I can't tell the truth" *nods and smiles at Nini when she asks*

why are they casually standing up all over the pizza shop, just sit at a big table and talk instead of blocking passageways and blocking off at least 6 tables-

"how about I invite myself" WHY DO PEOPLE ALWAYS FEEL THE NEED TO INVITE THEMSELVES TO ASHLYN'S HOUSE-

YOU CAN ASK BUT JUST FORCE YOUR WAY IN?

so Cash Caswell has a bigger house than... Dennis Caswell.... who would've thought

ah yes there's the good old EJ 1.0

Nini: "boys vs girls"

Gina: *looks devastated and glances longingly at EJ*

way to be inconspicuous

"but north high should be" *cracks her knuckles in the most uncomfortable way*

good for Ashlyn for getting more confident though

oo bossy big red

"i get bossy around the power tools"

is that why Ashlyn was holding up the drill in episode 8 orrrr 🤠

Lily, leave him alone please

she's literally not blinking, is that what makes her creepy?

the diss at big red and his face afterwards is priceless

isn't that similar to what Gina's mom said to her in season 1? hmmmm

but seriously please don't try to redeem lily, let us have a character to hate, or to love because they're evil.

not everyone's a good guy.

"im not liked here and I don't know what to do"

let antoine finish his salad and it'll fix everything

"hug emoji" *gags*

y'all realize Lily's literally 14?

why is she calling a 16/17 year old from another school for personal advice-

"he gets weird around tools"

I shouldn't be laughing so hard

"deja vu maybe?" awkward silence

I'm dying here I love EJ so so so so much

"where's seb"

*cuts to seb being held hostage hoping that they'd notice he's missing and go look for him*

"don't ask"

"oh ok"

"100% real faux fur" as you should queen

sponsored by target

Kourtney is singlehandedly saving the entire show.

Seb making finger guns make me happier than it should

why is this kinda making me want to have a co-ed sleepover with my non-existent theatre friends

YES YOU DO NEED TO TALK/SING TO SEB CARLOS THANK YOU FOR KNOWING THAT

wait what-

you haven't talked to him all WEEK-

Carlos are you stupid /hj

Benjamin is so adorable I can't

he turned around to come back for her instead of going home. you're "what do you want Jenn🙄X act isn't fooling anyone Benjamin 🙃

10101

1+4+16= 21st?

they placed 21st?

or do I just not remember how to convert to base ten

GIRL DON'T BE RUDE TO HIM, HE'S GONNA SAVE YALL

no ms Jenn, the kids are not eccentric 35 year olds.

aww sebby

is he thinking that Carlos is only with him cuz he's the only other openly gay guy at school-

son you are a perfect little bean don't put yourself down

yes they all ship portwell as they should.

they'll be throwing risotto at the wedding.

not the chocolates. stop there are no chocolates. please stop I'm dying.

Gina you don't have to explain yourself to her

it was a misunderstanding and it's in the past

why is Ashlyn still laughing-

exactly it wasn't a big deal please just move on Nini

Kourtney really be out here saving everything

WHY IS ASHLYN STILL LAUGHING

why do I feel like when Gina finally told Ash about it, she didn't think it was that funny but wanted to feel included in the inside joke so now she brings it up randomly to show that she's in on it....I totally don't do that...

"idk, the farmer type" oh son...

Ashlyn and big red are just spilling the secrets back and forth huh?

OOO EJ AND GINA SITTING IN A TREE K-I-S-S-I-

cmon guys don't look at me like that-

"she is the best" and "we're buddies" don't sound right together

"pretty boy" "sweet boy" best ways to describe EJ

I love him.

and aw he's scared of rejection so he'll hold back just to keep her happy and not awkward how sweet

is Ricky wondering if letting her go(literally his song from last episode) was the best thing he did for Nini because he doesn't feel like it now? hmmm this is getting good

why is everyone so invested in Kourtney and Howie's relationship

PACK UP THE LAZY RICKY THING

oh yes Benji, that's exactly what she's doing

she couldn't follow her dream or whatever so now she's using the kids to gain some of the success she craves. why else would she have that massive hsm poster with her name on it in huge letters in her office.

just casually grab his hand with both your hands and stare at him creepily 🥰

ship jennzzara y'all

the first bump was a missed opportunity to do the baymax "falalala" as a reference to the fact that they watched big hero six while committing arson✋

wait so big red and EJ just left Ricky in the basement and now Ricky invited Carlos when they're supposed to be at the stage?

help no Ricky looks like he's about to tell Carlos he likes him (I know it's about writing the song for seb but still, look at his body language and tell me it doesn't look like that)

Ricky is so mature about this, he really just wants Nini to be happy even though he's hurting-

baby you deserve love, maybe Nini isn't the one for you but don't say you don't deserve it

why does he keep adding bro to the end like he doesn't know how to address Carlos

PLEASE CARLOS HAVING TO ADDRESS THE BRO THING

"let's write a song when we have like 45 minutes to get to the place and help our friends possibly win $50000 at the show in 2 weeks"

"can you hit a high C?"

"that's like the bottom of my range"

why am I laughing

this is so cool to see friendship interactions that we don't normally get to see

Nini why are you being like this-

Gina did nothing wrong??

I saw that, EJ and Gina being the only ones going in the same direction👀

right so obviously Kourtney's waiting until after the menkies to get back with Howie just in case he really is just using her as a way in to east high... obviously... right?

CARLOS

OK ITS COMING GET READY YALL

Why is portwell so awkward all of a sudden

OMG EJ

OMG GINA SAY YES or not, do what you want.

the way she doubts that EJ would genuinely ask so she has to make sure it's not Ashlyn behind it

THE "NOT THAT I KNOW OF"

LIKE WHAT GINA SAID TO JACK ABOUT EJ BEING HER BOYFRIEND

GUYS THEY'RE SOULMATES

I want risotto now please

THEY'RE SO SWEET AND ADORABLY AWKWARD ITS LIKEEK LITTLE KIDS

OOOOOOO what is this place that seblos is in, looks fancy....and secluded

oh wait no Ricky's just standing there

wait is it the bomb shelter

it looks so good what

HSKAGSJAGAJAGWISGSKAUASBWKSVAIWBAISBQKSHIQBWOABWOABDOQBZIQBAIAQBSIWBQISVQKSIANSGOQBSAISBKASBKWBAIABQOSBBSJAHAJAVAJSBAJHSKAHSJAHAJAJAAJAHHHHHHHH

@youranxiousnerd ARE YOU OK?

CUZ IM NOT OK

LOOK AT SEBBY'S FACE

LOOK AT HOW ADORABLE IT IS

THE LYRICS ARE KILLING ME

SEBLOS IS KILLING ME

I AM DEAD

PLEASE SEND HELP

I like to imagine that Frankie and Joe practiced this in their apartment and just had a blast with it.

or maybe that Frankie practiced in secret like what Joe did for the climb

OH THE SUITS

THATS WHERE THAT CLIP IN THE PROMO WAS FROM

AWWW SEBBY'S SO CUTE

HE'S A LITTLE MARSHMALLOW

they're still so awkward with the dance I cant

let's appreciate Frankie's voice though

this episode really was made just for the seblos and portwell stans and you gotta love it

BIG RED GET OUT

WHY DOES HE ALWAYS DO THIS

Seb's little "yeah" IS ADORABLE

you can't tell me that wouldn't have been the best time for them to say I love you....IF FREAKIN BIG RED WASN'T THERE

ok but wait Ricky needs more hugs like that, look at his face

the boy needs love

"bro" please don't let Ricky and Carlos go back to not talking because their friendship is amazing

EJ laughing at Ricky sounding like a cat coughing up a furball is so funny to me

RICKY'S FLOP GETS ME EVERYTIME

I knew it was too good to be true

ok so Ricky's dead, next in line please

this episode was so short but I love it so much. this is what I signed up for for season 2✋

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 #hsmtmts season 2 #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #hsmtmts spoilers #seblos #seb mathew smith #carlos rodriguez #big red #ashlyn caswell #kourtney greene #lily hsmtmts #ms jenn #mr mazzara #natalie bagley #guac's episode text blocks :)

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aquariusshadow · 3 years

Text

Live!Blogging HSMTMTS

so...im a day late...i do apologize lmao

lesss gooooo

omg i forgot about the misdirect

asdljfhasdkjfasdf

"chocolate gives me heartburn"

i hate how much i relate to that

i miss chocolate...

awwww nini at least shes willing to talk through potential relationship issues

this really is all on ricky huh

"as our head choreographer" gina that look "i think you mean choreographersssssssss"

carlos i think thats why she didnt want to originally be a co-choreographer

oh...ignore me then

thats...a really bad analogy miss jenn

omfg

ricky sir

look at him he's whipped

carlos and gina yall need communication

finally some ej showt----

really

oh my goooooooooooooooooooood

ricky sir what are you doing

yea really funny......

and theres nini

it is nice to see nini back here

ajslfkjsdlfhsd the music when mazarra pokes his head through

this poor man

EJ THERE YOU ARE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

yea im not surprised...

its interesting that he's having this convo with nini

so nini was able to tell ej...her ex...that she hasnt talked too in months...that theres something scuff going on with her new school instead of her current boyfriend

im tired lmao

oh no a power outage

whats gonna happen with the plot

*insert power outage cliche stuff here*

look at gina knowing what to do

carlos this is not the time to potentially be annoyed with her taking charge in a situation like this

man gina deserves better at this point

i mean ricky doesnt know shes bothered and hes not going to unless theres communication

but

its a tricky situation

communication is key thats all i got

but ricky has to know something if he was trying to get big red not to ask gina for advice.......?

idk my head hurts hahaha

seriously the convo with miss jenn and nini is very well done

so nini and miss jenn's convo is paralleling ejs and mazarras convo

iiiiiiiiiinteresting

so why do tv shows/media really harp on the "individuality of college essays being the make or break it"

i mean idk what the big ivy leagues are like since that wasnt my college experience

but that seems to be an oddly pushed trope when ive found that its mainly grades and extra curriculars that ultimately help you

maybe im missing something

ignore me ahaha

yaaaaay carlos and gina communication

"you do matter"-carlos to gina everyone remember, gina remember, you do matter

howie(thats his name right?) and kourt are pretty cute hehe

so is this when nini decides to stay orrrr

nini: ricky communicate...speak words...feelings...tell me to stay

ooooooooo another good song nini

you gonna get off the bus?

yup there we go

that was a really good song ahaha

thank god they made sure nini's decision wasnt just because of ricky

i mean to me it was obvious that wasnt the case

but still

nini youre 16 youve already figured out a looooot

Gina. You matter. You and Ricky need serious communication. I’m glad to see Nini back but...what’s the rest of her arc for future episodes? I loved her song at the end of the episode. I feel like it’s pretty relatable overall! I guess I don’t have much else to say other than I enjoyed this episode a lot haha.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2x4 #rina #gina porter #ricky bowen #nini salazar roberts #communication is key #i feel like i dont have as much to say overall ahaha #EJ's arc where you at?

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hydroponicjj · 4 years

Text

let go

pairing: ricky bowen x reader

word count: 1.7k

warnings: angst (i’ve never written any angst before so, sorry if it sucks)

a/n: this was inspired by the song let go by ark patrol. it’s really popular on tiktok right now so, maybe you’ve heard it. this idea was just something that stumbled in my head while i was trying to sleep. anyway, i hope you like it!

[ ·˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ♡ ]

TO SAY THAT RICKY BOWEN is dealing with a lot right now would be an understatement. His family drama has skyrocketed through the roof in the course of a couple months with his mother moving to Chicago and the shocking news that his parents are getting a divorce.

That alone could break someone's spirit but, Ricky also had the stress of being the lead in East High’s production of High School Musical. The countless amount of rehearsals after school and the drama that comes with having your ex-girlfriend as your co-star leaves him exhausted when he comes home.

And shit just went from bad to worse.

Over Thanksgiving break, he got into a horrible fight with his ex-girlfriend, Nini while his current girlfriend, (y/n) was just mere feet away. There was no way that she didn’t see the interaction. Ricky feared that she noticed the feelings that the two still inhabited for each other.

Then, it was revealed that a fire occurred at the school, damaging the theatre. Nothing was left untouched. Costumes, props, everything. So, the musical was canceled.

All of the time, hard work, and energy that was devoted to this production had been thrown away in a matter of seconds.

When he got home that night, Ricky went straight to his room and cried himself to sleep.

What was he supposed to do? Sure, he could try and convince the others to search for another theatre but nothing good would come out of it. They’d get their hearts shattered and Ricky didn’t know if he could take it.

It felt like someone threw his thoughts in a blender, scrambled them all up, and then poured them back into his head.

His family is falling apart right before his eyes and there is nothing he can do about it. He has the best girlfriend that anyone could ask for. (Y/N) is beautiful, kind, intelligent, and she makes him very happy. But for some reason, she doesn’t plague his mind like Nini does. Last but not least, something he was so passionate about was ripped away from him.

His heart was slowly falling out of his chest and everyone around him doesn’t even know.

[ ₊˚.༄ ]

“Hey, Ricky,” You paused, inhaling deeply.

“I’m calling because I know that you’re really sad about everything with the musical and I just want to make sure you’re okay since we haven’t talked in a little bit. I’m at the store picking up a few things but, I was gonna stop by your place after. You don’t have to call me back or anything. I love you.” You finished, shoving your phone into your back pocket.

You watched as the person in front of you paid for their items and exited the store. Inching forward, you began to place the items that lay in your cart on the conveyer belt. A plethora of snacks, board games, and movies for Ricky.

You were buying all of these things with only one intention. So you could watch as his eyes lit up and see that big smile that you know and love appear on his face.

It hurt your heart to know that he was upset. All you wanted to do was make him feel better and you would spend your entire paycheck on him if that’s what it took.

“Ma’am, your total will be 47.68,” The female on the other side of the counter smiled at you.

You reached into your pocket and handed her your credit card, watching as she swiped it and then proceeded to give it back to you, along with your receipt.

“Have a great rest of your afternoon,” You said as you retrieved your bags and exited the store.

Once you reached your car, you could faintly hear someone calling your name off in the distance. Stopping, you turned around and you saw Nini making her way towards you.

“Hey, (y/n).” She greeted, fidgeting with her fingers.

“Hey, Nini.” You replied, raising your eyebrows. Obviously, it was going to be awkward talking to your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, even if the two of you didn’t have any bad blood.

“I know this might be a little inappropriate but, I think you should check on Ricky. I called him about an hour ago and he didn’t seem like he was doing too well.” An awkward silence instantly crept between the two of you.

“Wait, you’ve talked to Ricky today?” You asked. You could feel your eyebrows touch your hairline.

“Yeah,” Nini replied, confusion covered her face.

Of course, she didn’t know what was going on but, you felt like she was taunting you. Like she was rubbing it into your face that he’d answer her calls but not yours.

“I’ve gotta go,” You whispered as you got into your car and drove off, leaving Nini all by herself with no explanation as to why you left as quickly as you did.

You didn’t wanna see Ricky right now but for some reason, you found yourself driving towards his house as if your brain were in autopilot.

What were you gonna say to him? I mean, you couldn’t just scream at him without having some context as to why he wouldn’t answer your calls. You weren’t even mad, just worried about him.

He would always tell you that he didn’t like talking to Nini outside of rehearsal because all she did was remind him of the things he didn’t do right in their relationship so, why was he taking her calls all of a sudden?

Something was clearly wrong.

When you arrived at his house, you grabbed the groceries from the backseat then trotted up the stairs that lead to his front door. For a second, you contemplating doing this.

What if Ricky told you to go away or that he’d rather be around Nini than you? What if he said the reason that he and Nini were fighting at Thanksgiving was because he didn’t have the guts to break up with you so that he could get back together with her.

This was a terrible idea. What was I thinking? Ricky obviously doesn’t want to talk to you so, don’t bother him.

“(Y/N), what are you doing here?” Speak of the devil.

“Have you uh, have you checked your voicemail?” You stuttered, looking down at the wooden porch that you were currently standing on.

“I haven’t been on my phone all day.” He sighed, fidgeting with the strings of the yellow hoodie he was wearing.

Everything about this interaction felt off. Ricky was standing partially inside while you were on the top step. The physical distance between the two of you didn’t compare to how distant you were emotionally.

Not only that but, Ricky just lied to your face with ease which made you wonder if he had done it before.

“Really?” You paused, “Because I ran into Nini while I was at the grocery store and she said she had talked to you.”

“Yeah, we were just talking about how much it sucks that the musical is off and all of that stuff.” He explained.

“Oh, okay.” You whispered, feeling somewhat guilty for putting him on the spot like that.

“I think you should go home, (y/n). I’m not feeling up for any company today.” He sighed, looking down at the palm of his hands.

“I bought you all of this stuff though. Your favorite snacks, movies and a shit-ton of board games.” You smiled, holding up the bags in your hand.

“Thank you. Maybe you can come over sometime next week but for right now, I just wanna be by myself.” He pushed, starting to grow annoyed with you.

“Hey, what’s going on? You can talk to me.” You said, making your way towards him.

“(Y/N), just go home!” He snapped, causing you to flinch. In your entire 6 months of being together, he had never raised his voice at you. In fact, you two had never gotten into an argument.

“Ricky, I-I don’t understand. We were just fine last week and now, you’re acting as if I’m some leper and you can’t stand to be around me.” You jabbed, getting tired of the games.

“But that’s the thing, (y/n). We weren’t fine last week or the week before that. We were never fine!” He grumbled.

“You act as if we were perfect as if the both of us were happy being in a relationship that was so boring, so dull,” Ricky admitted, you watched as the weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

“You say “was” like we aren’t still in a relationship, Ricky.” You blinked back tears because you knew as soon as one of them fell, you wouldn’t be able to control them.

“God, you didn't even listen to what I said, (y/n).” He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I heard you. As much as I wish I didn’t, I did.” You whispered.

“Let me ask you this,” You paused, “Did you feel this way when you were with Nini?”

“What?” He lifted his head from his hands.

“Did you feel this way when you dated Nini? Would you tell her that you took your relationship as a joke? Everything that you just said to me, would you say it to her?” You deadpanned, making direct eye contact with Ricky.

“(Y/N), I’m sorry. I really am but, I don’t know what to tell you.” Ricky shrugged, “I was in love with Nini, she meant everything to me-”

“And I don’t?” You interrupted, fire burning inside of your chest.

“I-I never said that.” He stuttered, inhaling deeply.

“You didn’t have too.” You sighed, breaking eye contact with Ricky.

“You know what, here’s the groceries that I bought for you. Call Nini, eat the snacks, watch the movies, play the board games, I don’t even fucking care.” You scoff, throwing the bags at his feet, turning around and marching towards your car.

Ricky watched from his porch as you sped off. You didn’t even take a second to look back at him.

He thought that breaking up with you would bring him a sense of relief but, what he was experiencing now was definitely not that.

His heart felt ten pounds heavier, his throat stung and his insides felt empty.

Turns out Ricky had it all backwards, he didn’t need to cut you of of his life, he needed assurance that you’d always be in it.

And he just ruined his one and only chance of that happening.

#ricky bowen #ricky bowen x reader #ricky bowen angst #jey's oneshots #hsmtmts #hsmtmts imagine #joshua bassett #joshua bassett x reader #imagine #oneshot

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cutiepisenpai · 4 years

Text

Dear Stranger Series Ch. 5: Unicorn(Spencer Reid x Female OC)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Warnings: Some suggestive sexual activities(nothing graphic), Fluff

Melinda and Spencer’s morning routine starts off normal, the alarm rings and one of them hits snooze, it rings again and the other turns it off, when it rings a third they finally start to get up. “Ugh, we need a vacation.” Melinda groans sitting up in the bed. Although it can be assumed that the good doctor was a morning person, he was in fact less enthusiastic about the early hours of the day. It took at least two cups of coffee before he gained any kind of pep although he can function if necessary. But Melinda has a trick of her own to get him moving. “You know if we’re quick I can put on the coffee now and we can shower together.” It works like a charm he is up heading for the shower before she even has a chance to get up.

Arriving at Quantico a few minutes late, their shower activities dragged on a little too long. Spencer has a thermos with coffee but he will need more soon. Spencer is walking behind Melinda arms wrapped around her,his head resting atop of her head, it makes for a rather weird walk but he’s ok with that. Walking through the doors of the BAU the strange site garners the attention of the team eliciting giggles from JJ, Penelope, and Emily. Morgan rounds the corner taking in the site laughing, “Long night?” Spencer, still not fully functional on the singal cup of coffee, just nods in response. This causes the others to erupt in laughter. “Attay Boy, but he looks like the one that has been worn out so maybe it should be an atta girl?” He says, quirking an eyebrow. Melinda thinks it's best to just ignore all of them and heads towards hers and Spencer's desks, stopping in front of Spencer’s. “This is your stop.” He kisses the top of her head before taking a seat at his desk as Melinda moves around to set her stuff down.

Today has been an uneventful day for the BAU, they don’t have a current case so it is a catch up on paperwork day. Spencer is in his own personal heaven speeding through his paperwork much to the dismay of everyone. Melinda specifically cannot fathom his love of paperwork and as his complete opposite in this area she was in hell. Slowly reading through each file. Spencer has offered a few times to take a portion of her files but she refuses each offer she could move faster through it but was just unmotivated to do so. Since there isn't much need to hear everyone else they’re working semi-independently she decides to place an earbud in her ear humming along to the music as she works.

Completely enveloped in the paperwork before her and the music flowing in her ear Melinda missing Penelope walking up behind her exclaiming, “Lucy, you got some splainin to do.” in her best Ricky Ricardo impression. Receiving no response from Melinda she taps her on the shoulder. “Hey girly, you got some splainin to do.” Melinda is confused, wondering if she forgot something. She may be just and smart as her other half but one of the many differences they share is she does not have an eidetic memory. “Yes my love, what did I do?” She decides to just ask. “You know how I always joke and call you a unicorn because like how does a person as perfect as you exist.” Penelope starts to explain. “I’ve told you a hundred times I am not perfect. I am actually rather strange, I thought you would have noticed by now.” “Shush it I’m making a point. You are very weird but your cute habits just add to your charm. You failed to mention you are an actual unicorn and that is not an exaggeration.” Penelope continues to rant. “Come on Pen seriously what the hell are you talking about?” Melinda asks, not following her Rant. From above them Rossi calls out, “Maybe she finally saw those devilish horns growing from your forehead and confused it with a unicorn.” He says with a laugh. “Alright everyone to the conference now.” She demands grabbing Melinda by the arm and heading off. Spencer who was getting his 5th cup of coffee for the day missing the conversation that had just happened is confused coming in to sit down. “Did we get a case?” He asks. “No but something much more important has come to my intention. You are all familiar with our resident Unicorn, well look at this.” On the screen appears Melinda’s face yet again but this photo is much older taken about 8 years prior. The biggest difference in her appearance other than her age is the rainbow dyed hair she is sporting. Oh that’s what she meant when she said Unicorn. “Where did you even find that I don't have social media for you to cipher through.” Melinda asks, genuinely intrigued by where the photo came from. “Oh I talked to your bff and she was more than happy to share about your rebellious stage.” Penelope says changing the screen to show other photos of Melinda in her teens sporting all different colors of hair. “I don’t know if I would call it rebellious more along the lines of I was already done with 3 degree at the time and wanted to have fun before I had to start working and having “natural” hair color.” Melinda looked at all the photos four different rainbow hair colors, two blue and one purple. She really didn’t see it as all that rebellious. She just wanted to have fun and with her dad constantly working being left with her stepmother (the wicked witch of the west as Melinda calls her) she felt the need to bring joy into her life and she used color to do so. Now that she thinks about it rubbing her ear feeling all the piercings she began adorning along with the dyed hair, she guesses she may have had a mild teenage rebellion. “Hey at least it's not as bad as Emily’s high school photos.” Spencer says coming to her defense. But not quite thinking of the consequences of throwing his co-worker under the bus, Emily makes an offended sound, “Really is that how it's gonna be? Why don’t we just pull up everyone's teen photos and compare?” Emily's comments cause a commotion, everyone disagreeing with taking things that far. Melinda turns to Spencer, “So would you still date me if I had rainbow hair?” He pauses for a moment before answering, “Yes but please don’t dye your hair.”

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid #derek morgan #emily prentiss #Jennifer Jareau #Penelope Garcia #david rossi #bau x reader #bau team #Female reader #female oc #fluff #Dear Stranger Series

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

Text

THE WILLS

March 19, 1950

“The Wills” (aka “The Coopers Make Their Wills”) is episode #80 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on March 19, 1950.

Synopsis ~ After Liz and George make out their wills, Liz is convinced that George intends to do away with her. Liz is startled to find a receipt for some arsenic and rope in his pocket, but is shocked when George suggests a trip to the country - with a one-way ticket for Liz!

Starting with this episode, “My Favorite Husband” moved from Thursday nights, to Sunday nights.

Note: This program was used as a basis for a scene in “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her” (ILL S1;E4) filmed on September 8, 1951 and first aired November 5, 1951. For various reasons, it was the first episode of the series filmed, but the fourth aired.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benadaret was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on “Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) does not appear in this episode.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz (above right), a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Herb Vigran (Doctor Stephens) made several appearances on “My Favorite Husband.” He would later play Jule, Ricky’s music union agent on two episodes of “I Love Lucy”. He would go on to play Joe (and Mrs. Trumbull’s nephew), the washing machine repairman in “Never Do Business With Friends” (S2;E31) and Al Sparks, the publicity man who hires Lucy and Ethel to play Martians on top of the Empire State Building in “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23). Of his 350 screen roles, he also made six appearances on “The Lucy Show.”

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers tonight, it's just after dinner, and we find Liz and George settling down to a normal evening's conversation.”

George has something he needs to talk to Liz about. Liz immediately thinks it is something to do with her household budget, but George wants to talk about their wills. The subject immediately upsets Liz. The idea of living without George sends Liz into gales of tears. George wants her to read it, and threatens to leave everything to his mother if she doesn’t. Liz snatches the will from him. George then tells her that he has had her will drawn up as well.

LIZ: “What for? You're the one who's going! What are you trying to do, push me ahead of you in line?”

George reminds her of the three acres of Florida beachfront property that her father left her, which she calls ‘Sunken Acres.’ George always assumed it was oil land.

LIZ: “If there's any oil down there, it's still in a whale. Oh! I see it all now, George! You want me to sign a will leaving everything to you, and then you'll bump me off! You want to get your dirty fishhooks on my oil holdings!

Liz agrees to read and sign the will as the scene fades out. At the bank the next day, Mr. Atterbury notices that George seems tired. George admits he was up late talking to Liz about their wills. Mr. Atterbury proposes that the Coopers join him and Iris at their mountain lodge for the weekend, flying up, and then leaving the girls there for the week while they fly back for work. The following weekend they will drive up to get them in Mr. Atterbury’s new car.

Mr. Atterbury has already bought the airline tickets and asks George to go to the hardware store for a few items.

MR. ATTERBERRY: “I need poison for those horrible little gophers up there. And some rope for a clothesline, and a couple of sacks of cement. Iris wants a patio so she can sunbathe. Come to think of it, that ought to keep the gophers away.” GEORGE: “Let me make a list on the back of this envelope. Now, poison, ropes, cement...” MR. ATTERBERRY: “Oh, and I need an axe, too.”

Mr. Atterbury tells George that they should tell their wives that they are just going for a weekend, so that they don’t rush out to buy a week’s worth of new clothes.

At the Cooper home, Katie the Maid is preparing dinner. George comes home and tells Liz the good news that they’ll be going to the Atterbury’s lodge this weekend, and he’s got the airline tickets in his pocket. As George goes upstairs to prepare for dinner, Katie reminds Liz that she has a beauty shop appointment on Saturday. Liz wonders what time the plane leaves, and fishes in George’s jacket pocket to check the tickets. She notices that one tickets is round trip, and the other is one way! Liz immediately assumes one of them isn’t coming back, and reminds Katie that George asked her to sign her will! She notices some writing on the envelope that looks like a shopping list.

LIZ: “Poison! He's going to take me out in the woods and poison me! Look, at the next item - rope. If the poison doesn't work, he's gonna hang me! Cement. If I live through the poison and the rope, he's gonna put my feet in cement and dump me in the lake! Look what's next - axe! If I able to hold my breath, he's gonna swim in the water and chop me to pieces!” KATIE: “Oh, how can Mr. Cooper do such a thing?” LIZ: “With that list of weapons, how can he miss?“

Liz realizes why George might want to do away with her - they’ve finally struck oil on Sunken Acres!

End of Part One

Announcer Bob LeMond reads a live Jell-O commercial.

ANNOUNCCER: “As we return to the Coopers, we find Liz in a state of nervous apprehension. After years of having George under her thumb, she's suddenly discovered that he's bout to put the finger on her. Or at least she thinks he is. But right now it's after dinner, and Liz, the intended victim, is in the living room, reading. While George, the killer, is slowly stalking up behind her.”

George kisses Liz on the back of the neck. She screams! Liz nervously says that she’d rather not go to the Atterbury’s lodge this weekend.

GEORGE: “What? Why, Liz, you love the lodge. You always say that's your idea of living.” LIZ: “Well, I want to keep it that way.”

George says that he has a big surprise for her up there. Liz suggests he take his mother and give HER the big surprise!

GEORGE: “Now, don't be silly! You just wait: When you wake up Monday morning, you'll be very pleasantly surprised.” LIZ: “If I wake up Monday morning, I'll be surprised.”

Liz wonders if George is having money problems. She asks him why he made her sign her will last night. George says that if it bothers her so much, he’ll tear it up - as soon as they get back from the lodge.

Liz runs to her bedroom and locks the door! George telephones Dr. Stephens (Herb Vigran) to report that Liz is acting peculiar.

DOCTOR: “Peculiar for Liz, or peculiar for normal people?”

RICKY RICARDO: “Lucy is acting crazy!” FRED MERTZ: “Crazy for Lucy or crazy for ordinary people?”

This joke was adapted for Lucy Ricardo in “Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Do Murder Her” with Fred Mertz taking the Doctor’s line.

Doctor Stephens cannot make a house call because he’s got an appointment with his psychoanalyst, but he tells George to give Liz a sedative until he can get there.

Liz comes in for a glass of water. George tells her that he’s had Katie prepare them some hot milk. In the kitchen, Katie tells Liz that she saw Mr. Cooper pour a powder into one of the glasses. Liz says she’ll just switch the glasses so that George drinks the one with the powder in it.

In the living room she distracts George just long enough to switch the glasses. But when George lifts his glass to drink, Liz dashes it from his hand. She says she couldn’t do it to him, even if he could do it to her.

LIZ: “You put something in my glass, didn't you, George? Well, I fooled you! I switched glasses!” GEORGE: “I had a hunch that's why Katie called you, so I switched them again while you were out of the room.”

Liz starts to gag as if she’s been poisoned! Liz falls to the floor, convinced she is going to die, trying to make peace with George in her final moments.

LIZ: “If I had my life to live over again, I want you to know I'd do better. I could stay within the budget, if I tried. (coughs) And I'd never buy clothes I need. (coughs) I'd throw away my charge-a-plate.”

The doorbell rings. It is Mr. Atterbury, come to make the ‘final arrangements.’ Liz tells George that she saw the one way ticket, and the shopping list for poison and the axe. The men dissolve in laughter. Mr. Atterbury explains that those were supplies for the lodge. Liz is angry that she’s been tricked, and refuses to keep the promises she made in her ‘final moments’.

LIZ: "I didn't know what I was saying! I was under the influence of warm milk!”

End of Episode

In the live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball plays a Mexican spy, and Bob LeMond is interviewing her for a job.

In the bedtime tag, it is five in the morning and George is reading a suspenseful magazine story. Liz begs him to turn out the light, but then can’t sleep until he knows the outcome of the story. Liz grabs the magazine and reads the last lines.

LIZ: “The huge, shapeless thing crept slowly up behind Mildred, and before she could scream it slipped its bony hands around her - Oh, no!!!” GEORGE: “What does it say, Liz? Around her what?” LIZ: “Around her continued next week! Good night!”

ANNOUNCER: “You have been listening to ‘My Favorite Husband’ starring Lucille Ball, with Richard Denning, and based on characters created by Isobel Scott Rorick. Tonight's transcribed program was produced and directed by Jess Oppenheimer, who wrote the script with Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Be sure to get the April Issue of ‘Radio Mirror Magazine’ with the big picture of Lucille Ball on the cover. That's the April issue of ‘Radio Mirror Magazine.’ Original music was composed by Marlin Skyles and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. Bob LeMond speaking.”

#My Favorite Husband #Lucille Ball #Richard Denning #Gale Gordon #I Love Lucy #Ruth Perrott #Bob LeMond #Herb Vigran #radio #CBS #Radio Mirror #The Wills #Jello

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dc41896 · 4 years

Text

Calm Before the Storm

So this is an idea I had after watching a couple interviews (or more lol) of Pablo and thus making me in the mood to write something for him 😂 so I hope you guys like it😊!

Pairing: Pablo SchreiberxBlack Reader

Warning(s): Very slight angst but fluff other than that

Excitedly rushing into the house, you couldn’t wait to tell your boyfriend, Pablo, about your day. Plus with it being one of those rare times that he was on a break from his projects, you were also excited to spend some time with your goofy giant.

“Babe! Guess what happened at the studio today?!,” you announce walking into the living room to see Pablo wearing his headset playing Call of Duty.

Momentarily turning from the screen, he greets you with a smile before kissing your lips. “You got nominated for a Grammy?!”

“No, well not yet at least,” you laugh taking your usual seat between his legs as he wraps his arms around you continuing to play his game.

“So first, we finally finished the song I was working on and it sounds amazing! I can’t wait for you to hear it.”

“Mhmm that’s great babe.”

“And I already have the video idea planned out for it and the choreography! It’s like everything is falling into place and I’m so excited!”

“Mhmm yea.”

“But the biggest news is that Normani aka one of my fave singers was there and heard the track and wants to do a song together! I’m not gonna lie though, I’m kinda scared. I feel like it’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, and I don’t want to let anybody down.”

“Noo!,” he replies furiously tapping on the controller as his character on the screen was shot at from different directions.

You weren’t sure before, but now you definitely knew he wasn’t listening to you.

“And then aliens probed my brain and made me the new vessel for their children.”

“Wow that’s great babe,” he answers kissing the back of your head.

“Pablo you’re not even listening to me.” Moving his arms, you stand up making your way to the kitchen; Pablo not too far behind you tossing his headset on the couch.

“I was listening!”

“Then what did I say?”

“That you were at the studio and...”

Running a hand through his short hair, he pauses trying desperately to think of everything you said to avoid the impending consequences. However, judging from your angry glare and crossed arms it was too late.

“Ok you got me I wasn’t listening I’m sorry babe,” he smiles bringing you closer to him. “You have my full attention.”

“No it’s ok, we can talk about it later. I know it’s a rare off day for you so relax and go back to your game with Ricky.”

“How do you know I was playing with Ricky?”

“Who else would have the name ‘NotsowhittleRicky’,?” You laugh, lifting up your head from his chest.

“True, that’s Ricky for you,” he chuckles before gently caressing your face in his hands. “I can tell you’re stressed though babe, and don’t worry I know you’ll do great on this song and every song you make after.”

Yea you were stressed about the music, but there was more to it than working with Normani or making sure your songs were perfect. Feeling like Pablo wasn’t really in the listening mood though, you chose not to get into the extra details.

“Yea you’re right, I’m just overthinking it,” you smile as he kisses your forehead. “Well let me do the dishes that I know you ‘forgot’ to do being home all day.”

“Orrr you can come back on the couch with me and be my good luck charm!”

Not giving you a chance to answer, Pablo lifts you over his shoulder running back to the living room as you shriek and giggle holding tight unto the back of his shirt.

———

“Guys help us welcome to the studio Pablo Schreiber!,” Melissa, the radio host, announces into the microphone as the sound of applause is played over the air.

“Thank you for having me!”

“Oh anytime! And thank you for being here with us this afternoon,” she smiles. “Now I know she’s only here to support her man, which is adorable, but I also have to shout out the talented Y/N in the cut as well looking amazing!”

“Hi!,” you shout loud enough to hopefully be picked up by the microphones as those around laugh at your antics.

Patiently waiting in a chair off to the side, you listen as Pablo answers every question ranging from his new project to his workout routine and a bit of his personal life. Anyone else would probably feel a little bored with hearing someone’s conversation with another person, but you, on the other hand, could sit there all day.

Call you smitten, but listening to his voice was soothing. Plus watching him get excited when discussing some of his favorite things and new films he had coming always made smile from the warm feeling it gave you.

“Alright we’re back with Pablo Schreiber and if it’s ok with you, we’d like to play a game called Truth or Shots.”

“Ohh I’m interested!,” he smirks rubbing his hands together.

“And even better, Y/N can play with us!,” Melissa smiles as Pablo cheers. Scooting your chair up closer to the table, colorful, plastic shot glasses and a bottle of tequila are placed in the middle.

“Ok so basically it’s like truth or dare, but the catch is there is no dare, just truth. Now you can choose to not answer a question, but you’d have to take a shot,” she explains pouring out shots for each of you. “Sound good?”

“Yea,” you and Pablo say at the same time.

“Babe remember you’re a light weight so you pretty much have to answer everything.”

“Shut it Pablo,” you laugh along with everyone in the room.

“Ok so first question for Mr. Pablo. What is Y/N’s best quality?”

“Hmm good question,” you smirk putting your face near his, waiting for his answer.

“I know this is gonna sound really cheesy, but I’m being completely honest when I say that I can’t choose one. She’s so kind and has the biggest heart, makes me laugh every day, and I don’t know if I’m just that easy to read or she’s that amazing at doing it, but if I’m feeling the least bit off she’s asking me what’s wrong and trying to make me feel better.”

“Aww!!! Look at true love!!,” Melissa gushes as a chorus of “aw’s” and kissy noises are played overhead.

Leaning over, he quickly pecks your lips as you drape your arms around his waist before lying your head on his shoulder.

“Ok Y/N, you’re planning on robbing a bank, who’s your partner in crime your bestie Lauren or Pablo? Also was this question submitted by said best friend, I cannot disclose,” she laughs.

“Hmm...I think I’m gonna have to take a shot because I can’t decide,” you answer, a mix of disappointed aw’s and cheers from everyone in the room following.

Downing the clear liquid in one swift motion, you make a face as the familiar burning sensation rests in your throat.

“Is it you can’t decide or you know who you’re taking but don’t want to tell?,” one of Melissa’s co-hosts asks with a smirk.

“Honestly I wouldn’t take either of them because Lauren and I would mess it up somehow and Pablo wouldn’t listen to me so we’d get caught.”

As the room erupts in laughs and “oh’s” at your light roast, you immediately wish you’d never said anything at all. Although he was laughing with a shocked look on his face, you knew when you guys got home you were in for a more private conversation.

“Whoa whoa! I listen to you, maybe I don’t catch the small details all the time but I listen to you.”

“Mhmm keep telling yourself that,” you counter sipping your bottle of water as the “oh’s” continue.

“Even though I hate to hear you’re not listening to my girl Pablo, I’m gonna go ahead and change the subject to save you,” Melissa laughs, you and Pablo following soon after, but both definitely feeling the slight tension between you two.

———

Opening the fridge, you remove the ingredients you need to start cooking dinner. As expected, when you guys returned home, neither one of you barely said anything to each other. Seeing that you had a bit of an attitude, Pablo thought it best to give you your space and you not knowing what to say or where to start, you thought the same.

Momentarily taking a break from reading a newly arrived script, he enters the kitchen, passing behind you to get a bottle of water.

“Hey can you hand me a spoon please?”

“Sure. Better be careful not to grab a fork or knife since I don’t listen after all,” he replies handing you the metal utensil.

“Here we go,” you thought to yourself as you let out a sigh, turning to face him.

“I don’t know why you’re giving me that look.”

“I’m looking at you like this because of what you just said.”

“Well it’s true isn’t it? At least that’s what you said earlier on the radio,” he states, arms folded in front of his defined chest.

“Yea but it’s- you know what? Don’t worry about it, it’s not important.”

“Clearly it is for you to say all that. If you’re still mad about what happened yesterday I said I was sor-”

“You’re seriously this pressed over a hypothetical question?! Fine Pablo, yes I’m still mad, but not just at yesterday but this past week!”

You didn’t mean to shout, but with him pestering you about the incident, you felt yourself grow more frustrated.

“You’re right I’m stressed about the song, but it’s like you never even thought to ask if it was anything else. Just like you say I can read you, I’d like the same done for me,” you finish, looking down in an attempt to try to hold back the tears inches away from crossing your ducts.

Lightly grabbing your chin so your now red, watery, brown eyes could meet his, he wipes away the lone tear running down your cheek that managed to escape. “Y/N I’m so sorry that I haven’t been hearing you the way you want me to, I guess lately I’ve been so caught up in myself that I didn’t realize what that was doing to you. In those times you can’t hold everything in though ok? Let me know how you’re feeling.”

Although he’d only been with you for a few months, Pablo knew very well how you’d rather hold in what you were feeling than potentially hurt someone or cause a conflict. He’d seen you do it plenty of times with your label (well old one seeing that now you were an independent artist).

Lying your head just below his chest, you wrap your arms around his waist; letting a couple more tears fall as he rubs up and down your back. “You’re right, I should’ve said something earlier rather than holding it in. I’m sorry, I know I need to communicate better.”

“It’s ok, we both need to work on some things like everyone else, but we’ll do it together.” Widening his stance as he slightly squats down to your height, he pokes out his bottom lip donning puppy dog eyes before inching closer to your face until he could repeatedly kiss you all over. This was something he tended to do whenever he wanted to make you laugh or be extra playful, and like always, it worked even when you tried so desperately to maintain your demeanor.

Giggling, you kiss his lips before wrapping your arms around his neck, lightly playing with the short hair at the nape of his neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too, now you go rest and I’ll cook dinner.”

“Um you sure about that?”

“I’m sensing a bit of uncertainty here regarding my cooking skills,” he smirks moving around you to pick up where you started. “I cook for the boys all the time and they don’t have a problem with it.”

“Then why directly after do I get a text or call asking to bring them something else?”

“And there she is, back like she never left!,” he responds before bringing you into one of his big bear hugs and tickling your sides making you snort.

“Hey make sure you don’t burn the house down!,” you manage to say between laughs as Pablo stops, keeping an arm around your waist before kissing the top of your head and returning back to dinner with you by his side.

———

“Pablo?! You ok?!,” you call as you run through the front door, not caring to lock it back. While at the studio, he texted you saying how something wasn’t right. When you tried to ask him more, he never responded prompting you to call, which he didn’t pick up.

Thinking the worse, you cut your studio time short and rushed home as fast as you could still trying to call him during the drive. Noticing the back double doors were open, you run to the backyard with still no sign of Pablo, but a big, rectangular, inflatable pool full of blankets in the middle of the grass next to a projector and screen hanging up behind the house.

“Baby!,” he yells, popping up from under the blankets and making you jump.

“Jesus Christ Pablo, I thought something happened to you! Why would you text me a vague message like that?!”

“I didn’t mean to make you worry but also I knew I had to get you home because of this!”

Holding out his arms with the biggest smile on his face, he shows off his set up clearly proud of what he’s done.

“So I know we worked through our problem last week, but I was thinking and came up with this idea that once a week, we do something together, just us. No phones or anything else to distract us so we can have a moment to really talk and get out what we’re feeling, especially if we’re not able to talk anytime before.”

“And what about if either of us is away for business?”

“Then we FaceTime or Skype.”

Standing with your arms crossed shaking your head, you walk up to Pablo grabbing one of the blankets to wrap around yourself.

“So you gave me a heart attack, twice I might add, and made me rush home cutting my session short for this idea?”

“Yea...if you don’t like it-,”

Cutting him off before he could finish his sentence, you stand on your tip toes bringing his face closer to yours until you could crash your lips onto his. Lifting your body, he places you in the pool of blankets.

“I love it babe! And you set up one of my dream dates!”

“Yea, I remembered from a conversation we had on one of our first dates. You said you wanted to watch a movie under the stars.”

Sitting down on the end of the pool facing the screen, you make yourself comfortable in his lap as he covers you in blankets before wrapping his strong arms around your body.

“You know what would make this even perfect?,” you ask softly rubbing your thumb up and down the back of his hand.

“Already got it covered,” he answers opening a small cooler beside your seat to retrieve a pint of your favorite ice cream and a spoon.

“No lie, I’d marry you right now if there was a priest nearby.”

“Remember that the next time you get mad at me,” he chuckles starting the movie and pulling you closer to him.

Taglist: @crushed-pink-petals @fumbling-fanfics @honeychicana @lady-olive-oil @melinda-january @themyscxiras @lovelymari4 @nunubug99 @felicity-x0 @ellixthea @jojolu @jnk-812 @brwn-sgr @captainsamwlsn @itshinothey @wildfirecracker @nina-sj

If you want to be tagged, have asked to be tagged but don’t see your name, only want to be tagged for certain people I write for, or no longer wish to be tagged, just let me know🤓!

#pablo schreiber #pabloxreader #pabloxblackreader #pabloxwoc

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seblos · 4 years

Text

there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach - ch 7/10

chapter title: honey, not today of all days

word count: 8,826

read on ao3

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, their last rehearsal before break, and Carlos is using any excuse he has to go talk to Seb.

Homecoming had definitely been a big step in their potential relationship, but ever since the forest of trees incident, he’s felt more drawn than ever to be near Seb at all times. Whether it was the hug, or the text Seb had sent him that day, or his hand on Carlos’s knee in Big Red’s basement, he knew now more than ever he wanted this to be something— that he was ready for it to be something.

The idea of them being in this blissful era and then possibly not seeing the boy for a whole 4 days is painful to Carlos. So, throughout the rehearsal, he’s taken every opportunity he can to go stand near the piano. Every time he does, Seb gives him this smile like he’s pleasantly surprised every time whether or not he was expecting it, and it makes Carlos’s chest explode from the inside.

Carlos was standing there now, pretending to check his choreography notes with the music that Seb has. (He knows the show choreo back to front, and Seb probably knows that too, but neither of them says anything as Carlos keeps one hand on Seb’s shoulder.)

Every once in awhile as Miss Jenn sets up the blocking for the opening song, she’ll turn and ask Carlos for his opinion on something. It always elicits a general “yeah, sure” response from him. No matter what his opinion is, Miss Jenn will most likely do it, and Carlos isn’t exactly in the mood to put up a full argument about it when he can stay here and talk to Seb for the time being. Even when the song starts, he still lingers over there for a bit before retreating back to Miss Jenn for the last few bars.

When he finally sits back down next to Miss Jenn as Ricky and Nini rehearse ‘Start of Something New’, though, he notices a few changes in the choreography. Apparently, the things he accidentally agreed to were some extra props and choreo that... aren’t exactly necessary for this particular song. Oh well. After a couple months of rehearsal, Carlos knows that Miss Jenn will decide in a week that she doesn’t like it and take it out. (By this point he’ll just be happy if they get the show together in time for opening night.)

He marks down some things to discuss with Miss Jenn about removing. (Seriously, he doesn’t think they need cardboard pieces with the song title. There’s a pretty small chance that the audience won’t know the song.) At least the vocals sound good.

Not even halfway through the song, though, the bell signifying the end of all extracurriculars cuts through and interrupts rehearsal. Usually, they’re able to run on for however long necessary, but because of the break, they’re required to have everyone out of the building at a certain time before they can close it down for the long weekend.

A “Yes! Yes! WHOO!” accompanies the blaring of the bell as EJ stands up from the benches, speaking for the first time since the start of rehearsal. He looks around after a moment once he realizes everyone is staring at him.

“Sorry, I really love Thanksgiving,” he admits, sitting back down. A few people laugh, including Carlos, but he wonders if anyone else is thinking that maybe he just did it to stop whatever was happening between Nini and Ricky during that duet. The two of them had been staring and smiling at each other the entire time even with the whirlwind of props and choreography going on around them.

“Okay, hold on!” Miss Jenn says over the chatter as the cast begins to pack up their belongings for the break. She stands up, and Carlos follows her to the center of the room.

“I know everyone is excited for the holiday break, but I’m me, and I have notes,” she continues. “Ricky and Nini— that was good. But it could be better.”

Carlos glances over at her. Out of all the things in the scene and she thinks the vocals need adjustments? They’re lucky that Nini and Ricky will actually sing together at this point.

“She said in the spirit of holiday cheer,” she adds, noticing Carlos’s gaze on her.

He nods. “Good save.”

“Your homework over this break, all of you, is to please go on vocal rest,” she tells them. “And go over your lines too… which is hard to do on vocal rest but make it work. And remember, may nothing block your doorway to happiness!”

Just as she says it, Mr. Mazzara (ironically) steps through the door to the bomb shelter. “Excuse me!”

Carlos gives him the biggest eye roll he can muster, and in doing so, glances over at his backpack next to the piano. He had placed it over there as well in hopes to catch Seb at the end of rehearsal, but unfortunately, the boy had left his back by the risers and was already over there, deep in conversation with Gina.

“Okay, starting now,” Miss Jenn says in response to the STEM teacher.

“Oh, don’t mind me. I just came to return a missing item. Ashlyn,” all of the students watch as he approaches the girl with a giant accordion file-type folder in hand. “Cannot have our robotics team co-captain going home without her binder over break.”

She takes it with a smile, before going over to her backpack which is placed next to the piano. Carlos follows, in hopes that this means the end of the conversation with Mr. Mazzara and that he’ll leave.

Unfortunately, he has no such luck. “Thank you, Benjamin, and I hope you have a lovely holiday with whoever could possibly love you.”

“Oh, well, in fact, I will be enjoying three varieties of peach cobbler with a loving family so large, we’re renting out the Rotary club.”

“Well, I’m sure it can’t compare to the candied yam bake-off that we throw every year in my home, but I wish you joy nonetheless.

“And I wish you had some joy, too,” Mr. Mazzara says before finally spinning on his heel and walking out the door.

Carlos stands up from where he was packing up his backpack, letting out a sigh as he faces Ashlyn. “Cobbler sounds so nice,” he says, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “My family usually has three protein courses and then everybody’s asleep by 6:00.”

“My folks start eating at dawn, and then they barely make it past the Macy’s Parade,” Big Red says, coming up behind them.

“Well at least your folks are sticking around,” Ashlyn tells them, leaning her elbow on the piano next to her. “EJ’s parents are treating my parents to a spa in Park City after dinner tomorrow. They told us to try and have a meaningful night at the movies.”

Carlos immediately turns to Big Red to see if they have the same thing in mind. When he turns back, Ashlyn is looking at both of them with the same look he had given Red.

“Wait…” she says, shifting herself so she’s standing a little taller as she regards them, an idea brewing in her mind.

“I was gonna say,” Carlos nods, egging her on.

“Do you guys want to come over after dinner tomorrow? Like, late night party?”

Next to him, Big Red is nodding enthusiastically as Carlos grins.

“I never don’t want that,” he tells her, making Ashlyn laugh. It feels good to be included with them in something again.

Big Red leans closer, a little quieter this time. “Should we keep it to a small group, or…” he sounded hesitant, so Carlos took it as a sign.

“Party at Ashlyn’s after Thanksgiving tomorrow, everyone’s invited!” he calls out to the room, and immediately people erupt into cheers. After the past few weeks they’ve had, everyone is in desperate need of a little celebration.

After everyone calms down and begins to exit, they begin to finish packing up and exiting the room, including Ashlyn and Big Red, with Red saying something about offering to help set up the party. Carlos is about to follow them out when Seb comes up to him.

He smiles as the boy approaches. “Hey, you going tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he smiles softly. “I was actually wondering, though, if you maybe wanted to come over to my house today? Since you still owe me that coffee. The cows aren’t exactly the best partners to practice my lines with, and I think Georgie is getting a little tired of me bossing her around.”

Carlos laughs. “Yeah, of course. I would love to come over.”

As they’re walking down the hallway together, their hands bump together like they typically do when the two are walking together.

This time, though, he musters enough courage to reach out and take Seb’s hand. It feels like ever since homecoming, Seb has been the only one to initiate anything affectionate, and Carlos doesn’t want him feeling like he’s the only one who wants this, whatever this is. Next to him, Seb squeezes his hand softly, and he can see the tips of the other boy’s ears turning red.

They get in the car together as usual, pointed looks from Georgie at their joined hands ignored. Seb convinces her to stop once at Starbucks, so Carlos can fulfill his promise of buying him coffee (or, hot chocolate, actually) with only the promise of bringing her back a cake pop.

As they pull up in front of a small, off-white farmhouse with a barn behind it, Carlos realizes he hasn’t been to Seb’s house yet. They exit the car, and he follows Seb up the steps onto the wrap around porch.

Carlos is immediately surrounded by noise the moment he steps into the house. A mix of at least three or four different voices overlap the humming of a fan and the blare of the television in another room. There are also a few barks coming from two different dogs, both of which run up to greet the group as they enter. It’s the complete opposite of his own house, and he loves it.

Seb brings him into the kitchen long enough to throw away their cups while he introduces Carlos to his parents, as well as two more of his sisters before grabbing two apples, attempting to escape up to his room. Unfortunately, though, as they reach the stairs, Seb’s mom calls out. “Sebastian, sweetie, can you feed the cows for me?” she asks. “I have to finish making the pies for tomorrow.”

“Can’t Georgie do it? I’m kind of busy,” Seb sighs, gesturing towards Carlos as he faces his mom. Before she can reply, Georgie slips past the two of them and up the stairs, calling “Nope!” behind her.

His mom looks at her, then back at Seb. “Please?”

Seb sighs again, looking over at Carlos, apology in his eyes. “Do you mind?” he asks, handing Carlos one of the apples.

“Not at all,” Carlos smiles in an attempt to make him feel better. “You can introduce me to all of your cows.”

That seems to cheer him up enough fro Seb to lead out, behind the house, and towards the barn that Carlos had noticed when they first pulled up. It’s painted a dark red, almost brown, and the wood is a bit faded. He can already hear the cows inside making noise without having even entered yet.

When they do enter, it’s exactly what he’s expecting. He’s been to a farm before when he was a lot younger, so the stereotypical red barn with each cow in their specific pen doesn’t come as any surprise to him.

Seb goes around, gently pouring food from a bucket for them, introducing them as he does so. It’s cute watching him work, and he has an impressive amount of musical pun names for them, but he feels bad for not helping.

“Is there anything I can do?” he offers after a few more moments of silently following Seb around while he eats his apple.

“Oh, sorry, is this boring?” he turns, blushing slightly. “I should be done soon, I’m sorry for making you wait-”

“No, it’s fine!” Carlos explains quickly, cutting him off. “I just feel bad standing around behind you.”

Seb shrugs. “It’s fine if you’re okay, I wasn’t expecting to have to do chores this early. Is there anything I can get you while you wait?”

“No, I’m good,” he smiles. It’s always good around Seb.

He finishes up, the two of them idly chatting while he does so. Seb even manages to convince him to pet one of the babies, a new calf named Beyonce (courtesy of Georgie, which Carlos of course adored.)

He admittedly was a bit scared of farm animals growing up, but watching Seb do his chores with them was able to ease his mind enough for him to at least pet one. (As for picking her up, which Seb did offer, Carlos thinks he’ll hold off on.)

They walk back to the house together, hand in hand like they were on the way to Georgie’s car earlier. It feels totally natural to just slip his hand into Seb’s at this point, and Carlos wonders what would happen if he just brought the situation up to him.

He’s been trying to figure out how since the night after homecoming, but with the Miss Jenn situation, he never found a chance to do it earlier. It leaves him thinking over every moment they have together at night, wondering how he could naturally bring up the subject. Every moment he spends with Seb alone, though, he forgets himself. All cognitive thought disappears when the boy gets within six feet of him.

He’s pretty sure Seb likes him. No, he’s definitely sure of it, considering the boy’s hand currently in his. More than anything he wants to be able to call Seb his boyfriend. How to get to the point of asking that, though, is where you lose him. It’s unfortunate that he’s not close enough to Nini or anyone who’s actually done the whole relationship thing because he has no one to help him out.

Oh well, though. There are some things he has to figure out on his own, and luckily he’s with a perfect person to do it with. He will figure it out. It’s just a matter of when.

When they enter the house, Seb lets go of his hand in favor of opening the door for Carlos, ushering him up to his room. It takes him a minute to figure out which room was his, considering the five different doors in the hallway, all painted white and slightly chipping. When Seb reaches the top of the stairs, though, he takes his hand again and leads him to one of the last doors in the hall.

He closes the door behind them, and Carlos turns to admire the room. The walls of Seb’s are a soft green. A dark wood-framed bed with an off-white comforter and patterned with little leaves and flowers is pushed into the corner of the room, the afternoon sun streaming in through one of the windows and lighting up the center of the room.

A few decorations hung along the walls; various art prints, playbills from local shows, and printed photos with memories that lined the room. Carlos couldn’t help but admire them for a few moments, laughing silently at younger Seb smiling widely at the camera with his siblings or friends. Nothing about that smile had changed.

There were a few recent ones on the wall as well. He notices one of Seb and Natalie during auditions, as well as one of their failed jumps for the playbill, and even a couple from homecoming. It makes his heart flutter when he sees one of the two of them dancing together, a photo Ashlyn had snapped and sent to the both of them after the dance. Seeing the two of them together like that makes his stomach flip in a good way.

Carlos recognizes a desk on the other side of the room from their FaceTime calls. It’s made of the same dark wood as his bed and dresser are. Currently, it looks like a High School Musical shrine, covered with stuff for their show. He smiles when he notices the ‘Sharpay’ name card that Seb had apparently taken from the read through. (Carlos had taken his home as well, it was currently pinned to his corkboard.)

Behind him, Seb digs his script out of his backpack. “Do you mind reading for Ryan? I want to rehearse page 74. I keep tripping up on it during rehearsal,” he asks.

Carlos pulls out his own script, flipping to the page as he sits down at the end of Seb’s bed. The scene towards the end of the show when Sharpay and Ryan are plotting to change the timing of the callback. He’s already familiar with the script after countless meetings with Miss Jenn for blocking discussion. Plus, as amazing as Seb is when he’s acting, Carlos has noticed him trip over the lines a couple times now that Miss Jenn has them off-book.

Just as they’re about to start, the door bursts open and Georgie leans against the doorway, “You know you’re not supposed to have the door closed when you have a boy over,” she says slyly, making both boys blush despite not even being close to each other.

“We’re running lines,” Seb tells her, doing his best to glare with his face heated up. “So unless you want to join and hear me run the same scene over and over again-”

“I’ll save it for opening night,” Georgie cuts off, rolling her eyes teasingly before turning.

Once she leaves (closing the door behind her,) Carlos opens his script backup to the scene. Across the room, Seb places his open script behind him on the desk before gesturing towards him to start off the conversation.

“Wow, they sound good!” Carlos reads off, doing his best to portray the character as he reads the line out to Seb. He’s admittedly not the best actor, but he manages to at least keep what he hopes sounds like surprise in his voice.

Seb scoffs dramatically, and Carlos can already see him back in his Sharpay mindset. He leans to the side as if he’s listening to Troy and Gabriella practice in the room next door, before turning around to face him. “We have to do something.”

Carlos glances down at the page, but the next Ryan is for another couple of lines. He looks back up at Seb, nodding at him to keep going.

Seb squeezes his eyes shut, tilting his head towards the ceiling as he racks his brain for the lines. “Our callback is on Thursday, and the basketball game and scholastic decathlon are on Friday,” he says hesitantly, rolling his shoulders as he gets back into character. Carlos continues to nod along encouragingly.

“It’s too bad all the events aren’t happening on the same day, at the same time!” he finishes slyly with one hand on his hip, voice dripping with sass and the general fabulous tone Sharpay radiates.

He’s so perfect for this role that Carlos almost forgets to keep going. “That wouldn’t work out because then Troy and Gabriella wouldn’t be able to make the callba…” he trails off, as Seb shakes his head slightly, giving him wide, condescending eyes in perfect Sharpay fashion

“I’m proud to call you my sis- brother,” Carlos corrects himself at the very second, and he can see Seb biting his cheek to keep from smiling.

“I know,” he finishes, then pretends to whip his non-existent long hair, making them both laugh.

The scene goes on for them still after this when Miss Darbus is supposed to go on stage, and while Carlos could easily read for both roles for Seb, instead he puts his script down in favor of clapping softly for the boy. “You’re doing amazing, Seb!”

Seb smiles softly, but it’s soon replaced by a tense half-smile as he drops down next to Carlos. “I’m never going to remember all these lines,” he sighs, laying down back onto the bed. “The last role I played with anywhere close to this many lines was when I was the grasshopper in James and the Giant Peach in 7th grade.”

It makes Carlos smile, remembering one of the photos he noticed of Sebs in a dark green jacket and a top hat with antennas sticking out next to some other kids from what must have been the night of their show. It’s weird to think about their separate histories in theatre before ending up at the same school. Judging by the various playbills with Seb’s middle school on them, he must have been doing shows nearly his entire life.

Meanwhile, Carlos had barely been involved before coming to East High. He had auditioned for a few of his middle school shows, but he was almost always cast in ensembles. He much preferred being behind the scenes of the show anyway, and be able to witness the whole thing come together from every perspective.

Instead of dwelling on that, he holds out his hand to pull Seb back up to a sitting position. “You have nearly all your lines memorized, though!” he says. “Compared to Ricky or EJ, I think you’re doing fantastic. Plus your acting is on point, you would be able to pull off forgetting a line.”

“Really? I’m worried I’m making my Sharpay too nice. I always loved her too much as a kid to remember she’s a villain,”

“Trust me, it’s perfect,” Carlos laughs again. “And I agree, Sharpay is barely the villain in the show. The real villain is Gabriella.”

“Righ?!” Seb agrees, turning back around. “Especially in High School Musical 3! Gabriella already has her scholarship to Stanford, there’s nobody she has to impress with the show. The reason she didn’t get that Juilliard scholarship is because they made a fool of her on stage, and then Gabriella stole the show as always, and now she’s stuck in Albuquerque for the rest of her life.”

Carlos bites his lip, trying to keep from smiling.

“What?” Seb asks when he notices.

“It’s just… I’ve never seen High School Musical 2 or 3 all the way through,” he admits.

“What?!” Seb says again, but this time more distraught. “You’re telling me you’ve only seen the worst movie of the trilogy?”

It makes Carlos gasp and laugh at the same time. “HSM 1 is a classic! I refuse to believe the sequels of movies can ever top the first one.”

“Okay, I agree, but also High School Musical 2 is, like, every reason I ever wanted to be Sharpay.”

“I mean, I watched up until the end of Fabulous, but then I gave up on it,” Carlos explains.

Seb rolls his eyes teasingly, sitting back down next to Carlos. “Okay, at least you’re somewhat cultured. First chance we get after break, though, I am sitting you down and making you watch the second two movies with me,” he says, nudging Carlos’s shoulder with his own.

Carlos grins. “Deal,” he says, and now would be a perfect time to make a move and just kiss him, or bring up the whole situation, or do anything. But with Seb’s eyes locked with his, his heart is racing too fast to think properly at this moment, and the moment passes.

It’s progress, though.

(Kind of.)

—

7:45pm the night of Thanksgiving, and Carlos is just about to leave for Ashlyn’s party when he remembers something that’s been in his closet for years.

Ever since he had watched the movies when he was younger, not knowing he would one day be able to create his own version of the show, he wanted a way to express his obsession with the movies. And with that, High School Musical: the Choosical had been born. Granted, at 5 years old, his summer project was more of his mom’s project.

Still, his family had stopped playing it after he had brought it out every night for weeks until they all memorized every question, so he hadn’t played since that summer he made it. No better night than tonight to bring it out again now that he has his own version of the cast to play it with.

“Are you ready to go, mijo?” he hears his mom call up the stairs just as he’s contemplating whether or not to bring it. Before he can second guess himself too much, Carlos grabs the folded red cardboard off of the top shelf of his closet and heads out the door.

As Carlos walks downstairs, his mom raises her eyebrows amusedly at the game in his hands. “Haven’t seen that one in a while,” she says, grinning at him

He smiles, rolling his eyes at her. “Well, it’s not like I’ve had an excuse to take it out in 10 years.”

“Better them than me. I could probably win an episode of Jeopardy with just High School Musical trivia,” she laughs as she opens the door.

After he’s seated with the Choosical safely in his lap, Carlos pulls out his phone just as his phone buzzes with a text from Seb.

From: Seb Matthew-Smith: everyone’s here! just missing you :) <3

Carlos has to keep from smiling too much at the text as he replies to avoid any questions from his mom.

From: Carlos Rodriguez: omw now! tell ash im sorry im late but im bringing smth

From: Seb Matthew-Smith: oh? should i be scared?

From: Carlos Rodriguez: no!! I think ur gonna like it :)

From: Seb Matthew-Smith: guess i better trust you on this one. luckily- i always trust you! :)

From: Seb Matthew-Smith: text me when you get here!!

Even as he gets closer to the cast, and even after having seen him just yesterday, it still makes his chest tight whenever Seb seems excited to see Carlos. It always instills him with confidence to know he likes Carlos back at least somewhat the same way he likes Seb. Perhaps that confidence could take him a long way tonight…

Carlos has to put his phone down, forcing himself to think about something else as he stares out the window and attempts to stop his cheeks from heating up. As much as he loves to daydream about the possibility of having a relationship with Seb, he’s pretty sure his mom knows something is up between the two of them. He doesn’t want to talk to her about it before he knows for sure that it’s real.

Instead, his mind drifts to the party. He hopes he wasn’t being too forward when he invited the entire drama club to come, but he couldn’t help seizing the opportunity when he saw it. Thankfully, everyone seemed excited, including Ashlyn who has to deal with having two dozen theatre kids all in her living room.

It’s not the high school party like the one in shows and movies, he knows that much already. He’s already positive there won’t be drinking because if anything happens it could potentially endanger the show, and, honestly, he’s kind of happy that there won’t be. (Not to mention that theatre kids with sugar are already bad enough.) But it is his first ever party, which has to count for something. If there’s any night for a couple of firsts, it’s tonight.

The car pulls up to what he assumes is Ashlyn’s house, judging by the cars lined on the street and the lights on inside. Carlos shoots Seb a quick text before leaning over to kiss his mom on the cheek, promising to call her when he needs a ride home. He then carefully climbs out of the car, the Choosical still in hand, and makes his way up to the front door.

Just as Carlos is trying to figure out how to open the door without tilting the game so all the pieces fall out (again, never ended up coming up with a better way to store it,) the door opens. In the doorway stands Seb in a pink button up.

“Long time no see, Rodriguez- oh, do you want help with that?” Seb says, eyes drawing from Carlos’s face down to the box in his hand, playful grin turning into delighted confusion. He offers out a hand, but Carlos waves it away.

“As long as you don’t close the door on me, we should be good.”

“Is that your mom?” he asks Carlos, gesturing behind him.

Carlos smiles. “Yup. I think she’s just checking to make sure this is the right house.”

Seb glances over Carlos’s shoulder, grinning as he waves at the car before he ushers him inside the house. No doubt Carlos would be hearing about that later on.

Instead, he focuses his attention on the rest of the cast and crew that are already seated in Ashlyn’s living room.

“The party may begin!” Carlos announces, Seb closing the door behind him.

“Carlos!” Ashlyn emerges from what must be the kitchen judging by the bowl of food in her hand. She passes it off to Kaden, though, and reaches out to help bring the game in. “Woah, okay, you know it’s a potluck and not catering, right?”

“This is not food,” he promises.

“Oh, good, I thought it was pizza. Too much lactose,” Big Red chimes in, causing a few scattered laughs.

Carlos sets the game down on the table, unlatching the velcro strip his mom had attached to it to keep everything in place. As he unfolds the game, gasps come from nearly every person in the room as they stare at the game.

“What is that?” he hears Big Red say among the excited mumbles.

“This is something I’ve been waiting many long years to share with the world,” he explains while the cast fiddles with all the pieces and admires the different tiles on the board. It boosts his confidence when he finally says, “you guys, this is High School Musical: the Choosical. ”

Ashlyn laughs giddily. “The what, now?” she asks, causing a few others to laugh as well.

Carlos grins, his chest warming as he finally gets to debut his childhood creation. “Okay, so when I was a child, I wanted to go into the movie. But the movie was on a screen.”

“He’s not wrong,” Seb adds.

“So, I decided to create the next best thing: an interactive, hyperactive HSM experience that can be played by children and adults everywhere in the world…” he pauses, then, “as long as they lived in my bedroom.”

“Wait so you’ve had this for ten years?” Big Red asks.

“And I’ve never actually played it,” he says. Well, never actually played it the way he always imagined. It’s not exactly the best game when only two people are playing.

“Okay, we’ll totally play it!” Ashlyn says, and everyone else murmurs an excited agreement.

“I’m gonna cry!” Carlos says, (jokingly, although part of him wants to in a good way.) He then rummages through his pockets, where he had put all the cards and the figurines before he left his house, so they didn’t fall out of the game during transfer.

“There are two teams. The East High Wildcats-” he explains, pulling out the little toy cheetah (the closest thing he could get to a leopard). “-Or the West High Knights,” he says, this time with a knight figurine. “So, sort yourselves.”

Everyone talks excitedly among themselves as they decide who’s on which team. Seb, unfortunately, has to move from where he was sitting next to Carlos, to on the floor with the rest of the Wildcats team— the team Carlos always insisted on being while playing when he was younger.

Meanwhile, he notices Ashlyn shyly going to sit next to Big Red. Carlos vaguely remembers Red offering to set up before the party, and wonders if something happened before the party while no one else was around. He makes a mental note to ask her about it later.

“Wait, who goes first?” Big Red asks.

“Oh,” Carlos says, realizing he never actually figured out that detail. Usually, when he played with his mom, she would just let him go first.

“Coin toss?” Nini suggests. A few people nod in agreement, and after a bit of rummaging around, Ashlyn offers up a quarter to Carlos.

He takes it, then turns to the Wildcats team. “Pick a side.”

“Heads!” Seb calls out.

“I guess we’re tails then,” Ashlyn says in reference to the Knights, though nobody seems to object.

Carlos flips the coin.

Tails.

“West High Knights go first,” he announces, and the right side of the room cheers. Across the coffee table, Seb just smiles as he shrugs, mouthing ‘whoops!’ to Carlos.

Just as they’re about to start, Ashlyn announces that EJ had just texted her that he’s on his way. They decide to wait to start the game until he, as well as Ricky and Gina, arrive. A few people stand up, gravitating towards the kitchen for more drinks or just to stretch their legs. Carlos is tempted to go find a way to squeeze in next to Seb for a bit, but he looks deep in conversation with Steph. He just talked to him yesterday, anyway.

Instead, he decides to strike up a conversation with Big Red, who’s across the coffee table.

“Hey, Red, how’s your day been?” he asks, causing Big Red to look up from his phone in surprise. (To be fair, they’ve never really interacted themselves before if Ashlyn or Ricky wasn’t around.)

“Oh,” he smiles. “It was all right. My parents have been napping on and off since noon, so I’m glad we have this party.”

Carlos matches his grin. “Same. Did you come early?”

“Uh, yeah, I did. Ashlyn wanted help bringing all the sodas in, and I offered to help since crew is basically all about carrying around heavy stuff.”

It makes Carlos laugh. It’s not exactly all that crew is about, but sometimes it does feel a little bit just like that. Plus whenever he brings up theatre without the presence of Ricky, it makes Carlos happy to hear he’s not the only one who found a new family this year.

“How’s Ashlyn?” he asks, suddenly deciding to try and draw some details about her from him. “I haven’t really talked to her since rehearsal yesterday, and just now when I walked in.”

“Oh, she’s good, I think,” he says, flushing slightly at the question. “I mean, I don’t really know, but she seems good.”

“Cool,” Carlos smiles, nodding. Interesting… Perhaps he won’t be the only one this year spawning a new potentially romantic relationship

“How’s Seb? I know you two are like… a thing,” Red says suddenly, and this time it’s Carlos’s turn to blush. He knew Ashlyn thought they were together, but he didn’t realize that other people may have thought the same.

“What do you mean?”

Big Red glances over at Seb, then back at Carlos as he speaks. “I mean, like… you guys are dating, right?”

“Uh, no? I mean, well… no. I don’t think so. But, also, like, kinda? It’s complicated,” he rambles. “We’re not. But, like, yet. We could be. I don’t know really.”

“Oh,” Big Red says, shrugging. Judging by his blank stare, Carlos honestly thinks that his words may have gone through one ear and out the other. “Alright, cool. You would be good together, though.”

“Thanks,” Carlos replies. He’s definitely bright red at this point.

Thankfully, they’re saved by Gina and Ricky walking in together. Excited chatter starts up again as members of the cast call them over to sit with the rest of the West High Knights, who had ended up being slightly smaller compared to the Wildcats. Carlos settles back down in his spot on the floor, pulling each different deck of category cards out of his jacket before calling everyone to attention.

“Okay, okay you guys, okay!” he calls, and excited chatter turns to shushing as everyone quotes down to hear him explain the rules.

He points to each deck of cards as he speaks, each sporting one of his favorite characters on the label. “There are four basic categories. The Getcha Head in the Frame Trivia Challenge, the Bop ‘Till You Drop Dance Challenge, Sync to the Status Quo Lip Sync Challenge, and Looking for Glee, which I thought would be a fun name for the singing challenge because when I was a kid I was obsessed with the show.”

A few people laugh, but not in a judgemental way, including the newly arrived EJ, who tells him, “hey, it still holds up.”

“Oh, good, I thought you guys were gonna judge me,” Carlos admits with a laugh, causing a few murmured reactions, all sounding like it’s obvious that they wouldn’t. (Not that they have exactly the best track record of not judging Carlos, but it’s reassuring to at least hear their opinions on the game.)

He gets back on track, pointing to the left side of the room. “Okay, so Knights, you won the coin toss, so you guys get to pick the first challenge.”

They talk among themselves but eventually surface with Ashlyn being their chosen spokesperson. “We’re gonna Look for Glee.”

“Excellent,” Carlos says in his best dramatic game show host voice. He picks a card from the deck before clearing his throat and reading the question. “As fast as you can, please sing the lyrics to ‘What I’ve Been Looking For’ to the rhythm of ‘Getcha Head in the Game’... go!”

They sputter for a moment before Ashlyn and Red take the lead, rapping out the lyrics while Ricky sings out the ‘Getcha Head in the Game’ rhythm. It’s messy, and half the time they don’t even get the lyrics right, but it’s good enough to complete the challenge and leaves the rest of the cast laughing at the group. They end the song, clearly very proud of themselves, and everyone else still in tears at their performance.

“That was terrible,” EJ wheezes, followed by Seb’s joyful “I’m so happy.”

“Congratulations,” Carlos says, collecting himself as he turns to the team. “You get to move four spaces closer to center stage at East High!”

The Knights cheer as Red leans forward to move their knight across the board, much to the disagreement of the Wildcats.

Ignoring EJ’s “they get four spaces for that?”, Carlos continues the game, turning to the left side of the room.

“Okay, Wildcats. Take a spin,” he tells them.

EJ leans forward, spinning the Game of Life wheel that was attached to the center of the board that decided how many spaces they would move, before settling back in the chair. “Alright, we’re gonna bop.”

“Okay. Pick one member from each team,” Carlos says dramatically.

Both teams turn to talk among themselves, voices growing as they debate who to send up. After a moment, EJ and Ricky stand up at the same time. Realizing it’s already too late to switch them out without it being awkward, the room grows silent except for a quiet “oh, boy,” from Seb.

“Your challenge is to stare at your partner and do the Sharpay and Ryan warm-up thing for 60 seconds straight without laughing…” he trails off, regarding the two boys. “Or killing each other.”

Their competitive nature makes for thick tension between them, as well as all the Nini drama, but Carlos already knows that’ll just make for a more interesting game. (As long as they don’t literally kill each other.

“Okay, go!”

Both of them start the dramatic warm up, making the buzzing noises with their lips, then shouting “Ma!” as they flick their hands at each other like there’s water on them, just like from the movie. It becomes increasingly clear within the first few seconds that nobody can take them seriously like this, including them. Before long, everyone is once again doubled over with laughter.

It’s not even the hilarity of the situation that makes Carlos smile wide. Knowing that his game (and indirectly, himself) brings this much joy and laughter to the cast and crew is enough.

—

After many rounds of Choosical, including Seb doing his best Sharpay impression while reading Chad’s monologue to Troy from the first movie, Gina destroying everyone at movie trivia, Ashlyn giving a dramatic reading of ‘When There Was Me and You’, and Ricky doing as many jazz squares as he could in a minute, which ended in him tripping over himself and collapsing on the floor, the two teams were one tile away from the end of the board. Meaning, it was time for a tiebreaker.

“Okay, you guys!” Carlos says, calling for everyone’s attention, which was working better tonight than it ever did during rehearsal. “According to the Musical Choosical Handbook of Rulesicals-”

“Stop it,” EJ interrupts, though his tone is harmless and everybody laughs.

He continues. “The only way to resolve a tie at the end of regulation play is with a lightning speed round of Getcha Head in the Frame Trivia questions.”

A few oooh’s echo around the room as everybody sits back, preparing to show off their respective HSM knowledge.

“Are you ready?” Carlos asks, holding up the deck. “Because people have been known to cry during this.”

“I thought you had never actually played-” Seb starts, but Carlos cuts him off.

“Honey, not today of all days.”

Seb’s eyes widen, but he gives Carlos a soft smile as a feel people nudge him teasingly.

Carlos doesn’t even realize the pet name he used until he turns to see Ashlyn and Big Red giving him matching pointed looks. It was an accident, really. Ever since working with Miss Jenn, the names have started to slip out without him realizing. He realizes now, with Seb, though, that it means something totally different.

“Okay, here we go,” he starts, fighting back any heat creeping to his cheeks as he reads the question. “Name both jersey numbers Troy wears in the movie.”

Right away, Big Red answers. “Oh, uh, fourteen and ten!”

Carlos doesn’t even register who answered until he looks up, but when he does, he’s shocked. No wonder he and Ashlyn get along so well. Turns out, Big Red is a High School Musical nerd just like the rest of them.

Speaking of Ashlyn, she’s just as shocked as Carlos. “How did you know that? I didn’t even know that!”

“Correct!” Carlos moves on. “How does Gabriella describe herself when she’s complaining to her mom?”

Ashlyn jumps up. “Oh! As the school’s freaky genius girl.”

“And do people usually talk like that?”

“They do not!”

“Correct!” he says with a laugh, before turning back to the left side of the room. “Wildcats! Whose red tie does Ms. Darbus compliment at auditions?”

Expressions drop as everyone falters for a moment, trying to remember the audition scene in the movie since it’s not part of their show.

Just as it seems like nobody will get the answer, EJ speaks up. “Allen?”

Carlos grins. “Yes!”

People turn in surprise to EJ, before breaking out with praise for him.

He holds up his phone. “I looked it up on my phone, you guys. I can’t stop cheating, I’m sorry!”

Praise turns to groans, as everyone grills him on cheating.

“EJ…” he trails off, vaguely remembering seeing a few Instagram stories from him earlier in the day when he was talking about cheating at water polo. Not one of his best moves. Apparently, it’s a common theme for him. Honestly, Carlos is just surprised he never got caught.

“Well, the West High Knights have a chance to steal,” he pulls attention back to the game. “What is the name of the girl who pops and locks.”

Immediately, Gina hops up. “I love to pop and lock and jam and break!” she sings, mocking Martha’s movements from the movie much to the delight of the others.

“Martha Cox!” she answers afterward, dropping her arms.

Everybody laughs, and Carlos reaches for the handful of confetti he pocketed.

“West High Knights win!” he announces, throwing it into the air, and the right side of the room erupts into cheers.

“You, my dear, get this homemade Scholastic Decathlon ribbon,” he presents to Gina. It’s a little prop he’s had for a while, although never had any real use for. “Careful, it’s a straight pin, and was never sanitized,” he explains as he attempts to pin it onto her.

“Ooh, wait, everybody get in!” Gina pulls her phone out of her pocket and holds it up so the surrounding castmates can lean in for a selfie. It’s not the best angle or lighting, but it makes everybody laugh.

Once the photo is taken, she brings her phone back down to type out a number. “Okay, hold on, I need to share this honor with my loved ones.”

“You gotta stop moving, this is the price we pay for beauty,” Carlos jokes as he tries not to stab her while attaching the pin.

Someone picks up on her phone, though, and she holds it up to her ear just as he finishes pinning it. “Mom, mom, mom, okay, two things. One, I was just crowned the queen of crazytown. And two, can I spend the night at Ashlyn’s house?”

“Um, it’s actually the queen of East High,” Carlos corrects, settling back down in his spot on the floor.

She shushes him, then “sorry, mom, I can’t hear you,” she tells her. She pulls the phone off her ear and holds it out, tapping a button. “Okay, mom, you’re on speaker. Say happy Thanksgiving to my mom everyone!”

“Happy Thanksgiving!”

“Oh! Same to all of you!” Ms. Porter says, then a little quieter, “Gina, honey, can you take me off speaker?”

—

“Hey, are you heading out?” Seb asks as Carlos is packing up the game. After Gina left abruptly, followed by Ricky and Nini, the party pretty much winded down. Carlos didn’t know the full story, but from what it sounded like, Gina may be moving again. Already.

“Yeah, I’m just getting everything together,” Carlos says, shrugging on his jacket. “Mood kind of dropped.”

Seb picks up the Choosical carefully and hands it to him once he has his jacket on. “Do you need a ride.”

“My mom is on her way already. We could go sit outside together, though? I think I saw a porch swing out there.”

Seb nods. They go up to Ashlyn together, saying goodbye and thanking her for hosting. Seb allows Carlos to lead the way out the door since he was carrying the game.

“I feel bad for Gina,” Seb says, walking down to the swing at the end of the porch. “I know she had kind of a rough start, but she was starting to fit in well.”

Carlos sets the game down on the porch steps so he doesn’t accidentally drop it while they’re swinging. He then goes to sit down next to Seb. “Do you really think she’s going to move?”

He draws one knee up to his chest. “I don’t know. I mean, her mom is her only family. It’s not really like Gina has another option if she leaves.”

“Yeah. I get it, though. It’s not easy only having one parent.”

“What happened to your dad?” Seb asks softly, glancing at him without turning his head.

It’s hard to make out his features with the porch light all the way at the door as their only source of light, but he already knows what Seb is giving him. It’s the same one everyone gives when they ask. Like Carlos might break.

He takes a deep breath, heart beating hard against his chest like it’s trying to break out and run away. It’s not his favorite topic.

“When I was around three, he just… left. Sent her divorce papers a little while later or whatever. I don’t really know the reason why, but I guess he didn’t want this, with me and my mom.” Carlos says, spreading his hands. “He lives outside of Salt Lake. I think he has kids, but I’ve never met them or his wife. The few times I’ve visited, they weren’t there. I don’t visit anymore, though.”

Seb is quiet for a moment. Then, “Well, that sucks- he sucks. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

Carlos shrugs. “Yeah, well, it’s not a big deal. I have my mom, and I don’t think she has any plans of bringing me across the country at a week's notice, so there’s that.”

It’s enough of a joke to make Seb laugh, or maybe it’s just an excuse for him to take Carlos’s hand. “That’s good because I don’t know how I’d feel about you leaving.”

“Same applies to you,” he says, squeezing Seb’s hand gently. “You still have two High School Musical’s to show me.”

Seb laughs. “And then you can write some new Choosical questions! Although, that trivia kicked my butt! How was I supposed to know who was wearing a red tie in the first movie during the audition scene?”

“By watching the original 37 times instead of wasting time on the sequels.” Carlos nudges his knee.

“Watching the sequels is not wasting time! I think the moment you see ‘I Don’t Dance’, you’ll change your mind,” Seb insists.

“I guess we’ll have to see!”

“Speaking of the trivia…” Seb trails, scooting closer. Instantly, Carlos’s stomach flips. “Or more the moment, really. Um, you called me ‘honey’?” he asks, clearly blushing although acting like everything’s normal and not like he initiated the conversation Carlos had been thinking about all night.

“Yeah, it was kind of an accident, but, um,” he falters trying to find the words. Carlos is suddenly very aware that he’s currently holding Seb’s hand, and that Seb is sitting close enough to him that their thighs are pressed together. If he’s going to do anything tonight, it’s going to happen now.

Finally, he speaks. “What is this?” he asks, nodding his head at his hands.

“What do you mean?”

“Like… what are we?”

Seb glances up at him. “What do you want us to be?”

“Together,” Carlos says before he loses his courage. “Like, dating together, If you want, I mean. Or we can keep doing whatever this is and pretend this didn’t happen-”

“Carlos,” he interrupts. “That’s what I want, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I just didn’t know how to ask. But that’s what I’ve wanted for a while.”

“Me too,” Carlos breathes. “Since homecoming.

“Maybe a little before then, too,” Seb smiles, making him smile too. He suddenly bites his lip before dropping his head on Carlos’s shoulder, bursting into giggles.

“What?”

“Georgie has been not-so-subtly rooting for us forever. She’s going to freak when I tell her you’re my boyfriend,” he explains.

“Car rides will never be the same Carlos laughs, too, although he can feel his cheeks flushing at the word boyfriend. It’s absolutely everything he could hope for, and they’ve been officially dating for less than a minute

Seb lifts his head after a moment, locking eyes with Carlos. His eyes look nearly black. Their heads are definitely closer together now. In fact, if Carlos just-

A honk sounds from somewhere in the street, and he pulls his phone out of his jacket pocket.

“Oh, whoops,” he laughs, showing Seb the stream of missed messages from his mom that she was here.

“At least she didn’t come up here,” Seb points out, squeezing their still-clasped hands.

They stand up together, having to let their hands go so Carlos can go grab the Chooscial and head to his mom’s car. Before he can make it to the steps, though, Seb grabs his arm and pulls him back.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Carlos,” he says.

Carlos grins, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek like Seb did on his porch the night of homecoming.

“Happy Thanksgiving, honey,” he says, this time purposely using the pet name. Seb blushes, still visible even in the dark of the night. He squeezes Carlos’s hand one last time before letting him turn to pick up his game and get into his mom’s car.

“Sorry that I’m late. I was… talking. I didn’t see your messages,” he explains as he gets into the front seat.

His mom shrugs it off. She’s always been pretty chill about these things as long as he’s safe and lets her know where he is. “Was the party good, mijo?” she asks instead.

“Yeah,” Carlos says, only blue eyes and blonde hair on his mind. His boyfriend. “Yeah, it was great.”

#seblos #seb matthew smith #carlos rodriguez #hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #my writing #not a star

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lockdownuk · 4 years

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Lockdown Diary Part 6

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 151: Great hour or so last night around Foggy’s. When I got home I watched World War Z and some stand up by Nate Bargatze and drank and smoked loads. Today, I got up just before 2pm and felt soooo unmotivated. I was going to have a day of doing fuck all but had a change of heart around 7pm so did my stair climb then walked for over an hour (7km) and got home at 9:30pm!

Day 152: Typing on day 153. I popped up and saw Foggy last night. One of the reasons was I wanted to take him a beer to say thanks for looking over my mitigation statement for my impending court hearing for speeding. He liked what i wrote but has given me some key amendments. Basically free solictor advice and I am very grateful. While there he hit me with the news that Ham’s sister, Preeya, has died (last Friday 14th August) from Covid 19. To say i was gobsmacked is an understatement. She was 49. The family could only talk to her over a loud speaker and had to say good bye that way as her life support was swithced off. Fucking hell, it’s terrible. And, what makes it worse, is how complacent I have become about the disease while it’s causing so much tragedy. As I said to Foggy, it’s important to renew our efforts in combatting this disease so that Preeya’s death at least means we learn. I also feel guilty for not realising that many people have passed like this - just because I (sort of) knew Preeya doesn’t mean I shouldn’t feel any less sorry for the dozens of people dying and many more affected everyday. My emotions are in turmoil and yet I’m not directly affected.

Day 153: Typing this on day 154. Gone midday before I woke up. Beers in the evening and watched Den of Thieves. Great film.

Day 154: Woke up at 2:37 pm FFS. Just done a walk and I feel like shit (booze induced).

Day 155: Went to bed at about 4am yesterday but was up at 10am today so, usual Monday correction of sleep patterns. Two long walks today plus a little housekeeping on photos, sharing to the Oundle chatter group, so, quite constructive. Hoir chat with dad plus a chat with a recruitment agemt about a helpdesk manager role in Peterborough.

Day 156: Typing on Day 157. I saw Karen sitting with TTP (and two others I couldn’t make out) at the T&K on my second walk. Why does that piss me off so much? I am being like Jack in Midnight Run. I need to let go.

I am also getting wound up with Tumblr - I can only make entries on this diary blog on the PC - when I try on the Android or Apple apps, they pop up with ‘post too long’. Trying getting info from Tumblr’s online help on that though - fucking not happening. I think I might move this to a Google Blog...it’s not like anyone else reads it. I’m not sure I’d want that - it’s far more a private diary now rather than the cute ‘blog’ idea it started out as. It is now a disciplinary exercise more than anything.

Day 158: Feeling less sorry for myself now. It’s 10pm and I am having a midweek beer as I wait for tea to cook.

Day 159: Decided I will split this diary into 30 day sections to appease Tumblr. My second walk today was at 8pm ‘cos it was pissing down from about 4pm ‘til 7:30pm...very dark and so wet. Home by 9.15pm.

Day 160: I went shopping in Corby (Tesco and Asda) - I only really went so I could get blue eggs. £75 on booze! I was going up to Fog’s tonight but at around 6pm it started to piss down. So, I shall drink at home. It’s 9.15pm, I think it’s going to get messy.

Day 161: Not sure when I wnet to bed last night but I didn’t get up until 2pm. Nice long walk (9km) in the rain!

Banners and Sam G went to London to have a few with Andy P. I’m a little flabbergasted, it’s like there’s no Covid19 all a sudden.

Day 162: Bank holiday Sunday so I am having a beer or two. Tea’s cooking, gonna watch The Accountant on BBC1 at 10.30pm. Today I got up at 1.55pm and managed to have a shower and be downstairs to see the start of the Belgian GP. Hamilton won, pretty easily. I then did my stair climb and a 9.8km (6 mile) walk.

Last night I watched a rather quirky, entertaining comic horror film called Ready or Not and then Ricky Gervais - Fame. That’s the tour I saw him live after seeing Henman’s final tennis match at the Davis Cup at Wimbledon. Bloody funny - the recording could even be the show Karen and I were at. Bed at around 5am, hence not egtting up ‘til way past midday!

Day 163: Bank Holiday Monday, just like a Sunday. I am making this entry on my phone as I'm now able to due to breaking up the diary blog into 30 day sections.

Molly's Game, a film I've tried to rewatch several times but it's never been free, is on BBC2 tonight. I'm recording it right now but actually watching Seinfeld from the start on All4. The first couple of episodes are a bit ropey if truth be told. Luckily, I know it improves.

Day 164: Managed to get hold of Michelle via her daughter Daisy to place a nice big order for C. Just as well ‘cos Tim’s ignoring me!

Rang and spoke with Barry Haddon today to check he’s OK.

Day 165: Picked up C from Michelle’s in Yarwell. While there I was mauled by her over friendly Staffordshirebull terrier getting bit on the thigh. Twice in six months I’ve been bitten by dogs.

Karen WhatsApp’d to see if I’d seen Miley Cyrus on the Live Lounge!

Day 166: Forgot to say that yesterday, I also bumped into and chatted with Pete Gilder. We mainly talked about (getting caught) speeding.

Today I did over 22k steps and I am fucked.

I replied to an email from Shirley at work HR. After the furloughed staff call on Thursday, which I didn’t attend, they want us to cash in some (more) hoilday, which is fine by me, but I have also asked if we are any clearer as to what happens on 1st October, when the rentention scheme ends. I await her reply.

Day 167: Another 20k stpes today. Just 24k needed to have completed 1m steps since the start of July.

It’s Friday, about 9.45pm. I’m going to watch Molly’s Game and have a few beers.

Day 168: Got up at just before 2pm. It’s now 10.15pm and I am just having my first beer, Today was a lazyish day, completed 12k steps.

Day 169: Completed the 1m steps with 24 days to spare. Woohoo. Now, I am unsure whether to reduce the walking I have got so used to doing? I think I might keep up an average of 11k steps a day which is all I would have needed to accomplish to reack 1m in 3 months.

I’m pleased I did it today since I :went to bed a nearly 5am this morning!

Day 170: Actually typing this on day 171. Feels weird having done the 1m steps, almost like I’ve nothing to do. However, I am of course going to keep walking but not quite as hard/much. I did feel liek I was walking myself into the ground all in the name of finishiong the task ASAP. So, today I only had one walk, did 11,5k.

Yesterday’s Italian GP was a cracker. Hamilton had a penalty and ikt ended up with Gasly winning. Full of incident including a red flag so the race ‘restarted’.

I completely forgot ot make this entry on the correct day?

Day 171: I have decided to press on with the walking - not quite so urgently as before - to see what I can achieve steps-wise in 3 months. So, today, an unusually hot day for September, I did 18k steps plus cleaned the bathroom, hoovered my room and stairs and hallway. I am fucked!

Today I have bought a set of smart scales and a new pair of Skechers. The Skechers were almost free (£69 reduced to £30ish which I had in Paypal) and the scales were £20. Still, I shouldn’t. I don’t know what will happen at the end of October when the CJRS ends plus I don’t know what punsihment will be dished out, any day now, for the speeding offence! Fuck it!

Day 172: An eventful day. Boris has restricted gatherings to no more than 6 people and will use ‘Covid Marshalls’ to police this. It’s causing a stir amongst the online community. I have set up accounts with Gurushots and Picfair to showcase my snaps. The latter offers the opportunity to sell them. I watched Anchorman 2. It was pretty good. I also postd on the Oundle chatter group about walking in front of a car the other day - the driver, a yound lady, was enchanting the way she just smiled and let me pass - I used it as an opportunity to ask about George Higgins saving a child from near death at the hands of a lorry, the post about which has disappeared.

Day 173: Lots have seen my post re: my car incident but the bait hasn’t been taken.

Sarah Haines made a nice comment about my photo posts on the Oundle Chatter group also saying that she doesn’t know me but, it turns out she does. She is James Watson’s ex from when I first moved to Oundle so we caught up on Messenger.

Rachel Harris posted a meme slating Boris about the fact we were all encouraged to go out and about (inclding the Eat Out to Help Out scheme) and now we are being sent back to ‘our room’. Some of the comments continue to slate the government. I couldn’t resist commenting that, had the royal ‘we’ maintined social distancing and remembered there’s a fucking pandemic, perhaps we might not be under impending severe lockdown, as it now looks like. I also mentioned photos I have seen (one posted by Rach herslf) whereby you could be mistaken for thinking that there isn’t a pandemic. I have finished the comment with a line about we can only blame ourselves, not the hapless government! I wonder what reaction that will get!

Day 174: Scales were delivered today. If they are accurate I am a little over 11 stones, from 12st 7lbs before lockdown. Can’t quite believe it. I have a yearly diabetic review with Lynne in October so i can check then. If the scales are wrong, I’ll be livid on 2 scores!

Friday night beers as I type. Been looking forward to them since last Saturday!

Day 175: I do not trust the new scales. I get a different reading each time I step on them and by 10-12 lbs. Fucking things. Boots arrived today - they’re going back as well. Footy season started today. Posh lost away to Acrrington Stanley. “Who are they?”

Day 176: The GP was reflagged again today (a new track at Tuscany. A red flag two races on the trot is most unusual. Hamilton won.

Day 177: I managed to get the scales working. I’m pretty much the same weight I was prior to ld (about 12.5 st). This leads me to believe that if I wasn’t doing all the walking I am, I would be as fat as a fucking house. On that note, Google Fit is playing up. It loses the step and heart point count for each walk (although the workouts retain the route map info) Wtf?

I think K and TTP might be a thing from a post I saw on FB whereby some chap (who I don’t know) commented on TTP’s post that it was nice to see him and K. Kinda gutted if it is true but I shouldn’t be. That’s all I will say on here.

Day 178: Jim contacted me today to let me know he’s leaving RCI. He was quite secretive about why and what’s going on but, there it is. He went on to say that HR will be contacting me shortly to call me back from furlough. Sueanne is taking over as team leader but that’s temporary. and that they will most likely promote from within. I struggling to think what it would be like if Mark was boss! The way RCI are and how disjointed it is with Jim as boss, I shan’t take it as read until HR do contact me. Also, I dunno how I feel about it...I have got so used to not working. But, and it’s a big but, I doubt I’ll have a job after the retention scheme finishes so, if this does pan out, it’s good. I’ll be back to job hunting while in a job, as per before the pandemic.

Also, I received an email letting me know the punishment for my speeding offence was 6 points and a £233 fine, plus costs (£90) and victim support (£34), £357 in total. More than I expected. But, no ban, so I’ll suck it up.

Day 179: Having midweek beers. I'm in that sort of mood.

Day 180: I WhatsApp’d Jim to let him know HR haven’t contacted me. His garbled response went from telling to give them a shout and let them know he is leaving, to which I asked ‘don’t they know?’, he then said hold fire (on Sueanne’s instruction) and she has said for me to sit tight and then, finally, that HR will contact me! Fuck knows what’s going on! I had a diabetic review with Lynne today. When you go to the surgery you have to let in, which I was by Keren. It was nice to see and chat with her. She is back with Ronnie which was news to me. Then Lynne came and got me. It was nice to see and chat with her also. She weighed me and I’m 12st 3lb. Apparently in Jan last year I was over 13st!

#diary #Tumblr diary #lockdown #covid19 #lockdownuk

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ahs-theories · 4 years

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Episode Reaction: 9x08 Rest in pieces

@echoesout | @its-a-goode-day

Alright, we’re almost done. While I was watching the episode I kept having this feeling that it seemed to be mostly a set up for the finale. Almost every scene consisted on the characters getting ready for the final act/fight/event. That said, it made for a very entertaining hour.

The deadly trio

Now that we know who the deadly trio is, it seems so obvious. But in all honesty, I wasn’t considering Bruce at all. I wondered if we would see him again, but I didn’t expect that he would play a significant role in the final stages of the story. Not complaining, though. I find his wannabe ways highly entertaining. On the other hand, while I don’t believe Margaret’s plan will be successful, I find it quite logical and very business-oriented, lol.

I still feel silly because I literally had this whole thing about Bruce heading towards the camp and being a fan of Ramirez and in all that not once did it occur to me that they’d actually probably meet XD I love all three of them together though, it’s a very fun team dynamic.

The ghosts

It was really interesting to see the shift on Montana when she found out that Ramirez had changed since she first met him and after Richter all but told her that she was the cause for that. At first it seemed like she was going to just be depressed about, and almost could detect a hint of guilt in her, but I loved how she pick herself up and rejected the idea of being another woman blamed for a man’s actions. (Also off-topic, kind of, but Montana’s face when Trevor mentioned that no good aerobics class were left anymore. Priceless. Billie is being great this season).

I loved the speech, but honestly, I thought her whole “Ricky wasn’t like that when I knew him!” thing was really random. He was already in the news as the Night Stalker, albeit his streak was just beginning. He was already a Satanist. Seriously, he killed some dude at her aerobics studio and licked the blood off her feet. And she liked it. So, I don’t quite get in what way he’s turned out different than she expected, or why she was depressed about it considering how many people she’s killed just for fun these past few years. It definitely seems like they’re trying to backtrack with everyone one by one--Donna, Jingles, Montana--so we know the real villains are Margaret and Ramirez, and I don’t mind giving her character more depth, but I’m not sure this was the best way to do it.

I do hope Montana and Ramirez meet again in the next episode, if only because I have no idea how it would go. Ramirez seems pretty attached to Margaret and I wonder if he’s thought about Montana at all. Plus, I wonder how Xavier’s gonna handle the news of Montana getting together with Trevor (I still don’t understand them together either. They almost had sex one time in a lake and apparently he’s been in love with her for years since).

Brooke + Donna

Who else thinks Donna will be the final girl? They made such a big deal of it not happening. It’s very interesting to watch her trying to help Brooke, even though her experiment is over (or is it?), she’s still thinking on scientific terms (’you don’t have to act on those feelings and become a murderer’). As for Stacey the reporter, I wonder if she’ll show up as a ghost next episode.

Brooke and Donna were super cute in the roller rink and they seem like a great team, but I still feel like we just blew over the fact that Brooke knows about Donna’s role in the 1984 events. At the very least there should have been some acknowledgement of it, whether to say Brooke forgave her or is just teaming up with her because they’ve got bigger problems, etc., but something. And like Nora wonders if Donna’s experiment is really over, I wonder if Brooke is really Donna’s ally. It doesn’t seem like a huge stretch that once Margaret is taken care of, Brooke might punish the other people who had a hand in that terrible night

Benjamin

I’ve heard a couple of different things about that ending (I’ll let my partner in crime here expose her initial idea on that), but the feeling I got is that it’s not “real”. I believe it’s Benjamin’s very own afterlife, the same way in AHS universe everyone goes to their own hell. So the Lavinia there was not the Lavinia we saw last episode, but the one in Benjamin’s idea of heaven. One that has been reunited with her dead son and loves Benjamin. The real Lavinia is still roaming around the camp, and will probably never rest.

That ending did look like the end of his story, didn’t it? If it is, I liked it very much. Although depending on how accurate the theories are about Finn playing playing grown up Bobby (the son, not the brother), we may see more of him.

Also, I wasn’t expecting to see Lily again, so thanks for that, even thought it was only a few minutes.

I agree-that’s definitely not the real Lavinia. She never even liked him before Bobby died, and it’s really weird that they’d skip over any sort of reunion between her and Bobby if it was real and Bobby was literally hiding in the lake the entire time just waiting for his big brother so they could be a family again or something.

I’m skeptical on the afterlife bit, though. The last time we saw him, he was begging not to be thrown into the lake because his son would die if he couldn’t stop Ramirez. From what we know of past ghosts in the Murphyverse, he shouldn’t be able to move on to the afterlife until he’d made peace with not saving his son, not go to the afterlife in order to make that peace.

Honestly, I’m not sure what it’s all about. One option is that he’s hallucinating from oxygen deprivation. Obviously ghosts don’t need to breathe, but they can experience pain and other physical sensations, so theoretically he should still experience all the feelings of drowning and maybe this part, too. Other than that, it’s crossed my mind that it could somehow be Bobby’s doing. Benjamin and Jonas talk a little bit about the void ghosts go to between “dying” and coming back, but what if Bobby gave him a dream or somehow talked to him instead?

Either way, unlike my lovely co-writer, I feel like having Bobby drag him into the water so he can go have a nice talk with an idealized version of his mom would be a disappointing end. Without him as the bridging factor, I doubt we’ll see Lavinia or Bobby again, and I’d really want to see them reunite and for Benjamin to get to see real brother again. There has to be a reason why Bobby showed back up now after all these years. I have an imagine of Benjamin waking up on the banks with Bobby standing over him looking like he did before he died instead of all swamp-monster-y.

Season Finale

The plot summary goes like this: Camp Redwood draws in a lost soul looking for closure.

Aren’t there a few lost souls looking for closure? I’m guessing they are talking about Brooke, but they couldn’t be more vague if they tried XD

I don’t have many theories other than Donna being final girl (if there’s any at all) and what I mentioned in a past episode reaction about Margaret’s fate. Other than that, I’m curious about how the flashforward to present time is going to play out. If Finn is really playing Benjamin’s son, I can see how it can go with him going back to the camp to seek revenge. It is AHS after all, so I’m not looking for a clear cut ending.

I think it could be Bobby himself who’s the “lost soul.” Say someone kills Margaret, prevents anymore murders. Brooke and Donna and anyone else still alive would probably just disappear into anonymity, knowing that one one would believe their story. So, the official story still remains that Mr. Jingles committed the 1970 massacre, and Bobby would think his father was a mass murderer. But also, he was left to be raised by a neighbor, some who would probably tell him stories about what a lovely couple his parents were and how much they loved him. I could easily imagine Bobby going to Camp Redwood as an adult just looking for some way to reconcile the two stories. It’s a lot of “probably”s and guessing, but it’s my best theory at the moment. Although yeah, considering AHS is not one for cut-and-dry endings, I think it’s definitely likely they’ll go darker. Maybe Margaret was the final girl after all and after hearing the real story, Bobby goes after her and becomes a killer himself.

Also, this is completely random, but like, I want Lavinia to kill Ramirez. She may not like Benjamin, but she’s still a mom and knows what it’s like to lose a child, and I think it would be awesome if she took it into her own hands to make sure her grandson wasn’t harmed.

Season 10 theme

So, according to Ryan Murphy, there’s a clue about season 10’s theme in this episode. I should probably rewatch and pay more attention, but the two things that caught my mind were Stacey’s mentions of Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, which makes me think of urban-legend creatures, cryptids and such, and Small Wonder, that is, robots. Of the two, I’d say the first one is more plausible, but I’d like to hear more theories.

A cryptid season would be so much fun and could go in so many different directions, although I do wonder if it might be too similar to this season--people being terrorized in the middle of the woods and all. On the other hand, this isn’t the first reference we’ve gotten to robots. I remember everyone making a big deal of Mrs. Mead singing the robot’s song from Space Odyssey as she died. People have been wanting a space/extraterrestrial/future/robot/etc. season forever, so maybe it’s finally going to happen. Murphy’s said he’d never do something actually set in space because it’s American Horror Story, but we’ve seen the aliens and their technology on Earth before in Asylum. I’d especially love a direct follow up featuring Kit’s children.

#ahs #ahs 1984 #american horror story #ep. reaction #ahs spoilers #s9 reaction

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danetobelieve · 4 years

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Come Together || Penelope and Winston

Winston was having a really shit week. They were almost four animal attacks in, they had discovered that there were people in White Crest, people like Ricky, who they had known for years and years. People they trusted. And for some reason they had a mouthful of what could have very easily been mistaken for a shark’s teeth. Their hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that the veins in their hands bulged and they took the left turn to Pen’s house. They needed to talk to someone. Talk to someone that they could trust. Parking poorly, they jumped straight out of their car and stormed to the front door. They might’ve been shaking gently from the shock of it all or they might just be cold. They hadn’t exactly stayed long enough to get a jacket when they’d spoken with Ricky and spotted their mouthful of teeth. “Pen!” they shouted, wrapping loudly on the door and watching the door shake in the frame but not budge, “Pen please let me in, it’s really cold and I’ve had a really shitty time.” They’d almost died alongside Skylar, Skylar had fucked up teeth and here they were discovering that the dude they lived with was one of them. What the fuck was up with them only eating fish and meat? They hadn’t stayed long enough to find out. “Pen open the fucking door?!”

Where Winston’s week had been...lackluster, Penelope’s had been rather profitable with the monsters she’d brought in. It had started with Ereich, and other high money monsters had followed. She brought each one dutifully back to the Ring, not sparing them too much of a second thought when she was primarily certain their moral alignments were ones that deserved to be brought to judgment via involuntary fighting for the rest of their lives. Not that she had the most moral alignment, but she didn’t go around murdering without cause. Either way, it seemed that one of them had been carrying a little hitchhiker on their way back to White Crest, and now Nell was bent on all fours underneath the kitchen table desperately trying to trap the seemingly harmless bug flitting around the room. Then Winston’s voice came. Her head came up far too fast in her surprise, and a loud curse followed. “Shit!” As she cradled her head, she made her best attempts to stall for time. “Uhhh, one sec! I’m just uh- changing!” Then again under her breath, “Get back here you little shit. I’m gonna squish you like the bug you are.”

Winston was cold. They’d gotten soaked in the Cave of Voices and then they heard the thunder rumble in the background and rolled their eyes. Taking their glasses off, they polished them vigorously before taking a seat on Penelope’s front door step. Glancing at their phone, they considered texting Skylar to ask them some questions about WHAT THE FUCK was going on. But they ultimately decided against that. Right now they just needed to relax and be around someone who wasn’t about to have a mouthful of teeth that they hadn’t had the night before. Pen and Winston had literally lost teeth together, they’d been friends while their teeth were falling out and Pen had even helped Winston pull out their first loose tooth. They’d been so impressed by it all. “Ugh, hurry uppppppppp!” Winston banged the back of their head gently on the door, too lazy to reach around to knock with their knuckles and unconcerned by the way it might appear. After all what was the point of your childhood best friend moving back into town if you couldn’t treat them like that. “I’m going to get Abby or Bea to cut me a key so I don’t have to wait for your lazy ass to get dressed.” It was getting close to sundown and Winston honestly couldn’t help but wonder why the fuck they were like this. “Hurry up!!!!”

Penelope could tell that Winston was entirely not pleased with having been made to wait, and though it was something of a funny thing to be nostalgic for— she was glad that it still seemed they had no problem with acting like they owed every single minute of her life. Which...wasn’t entirely inaccurate. They were always the person she was sure to make time for. After all, it was a little difficult to ignore the person you’d been potty trained alongside, and Winston was arguably one of the pillars of Nell’s otherwise somewhat chaotic life. “I’m trying— just- hang on!” Her somewhat frantic tone was rather unmistakeable, and no doubt perhaps a little intense for simply changing. And why would she be changing in the entryway of her home anyway? “No! No- don’t ask them! I’ll just make you a key myself!” With a loud thud she finally managed to get a jar over the pesky little Adze, trapping it against the table. For a moment she left it there, taking pity on Winston to go and open the door, noticeably short of breath. “Sorry, I uhhh- couldn’t decide what to wear.”

After a little longer then they would’ve really liked to have waited, Winston felt the door open. Whilst they were still leaning against it. Falling backwards wasn’t ideal, but at least they had Penelope’s feet to cushion their fall. “Hey, hey, hey,” they said with a sigh, “a little warning next time, my brains the only thing I’ve got going for me.” Especially now. Standing, they looked her in the eye. Pausing for a moment before raising an eyebrow at Penelope, Winston strode into her home. “Nice of you to finally let me in…” “Getting dressed isn’t that hard …” they squinted at Penelope and frowned gently before adjusting their glasses thoughtfully, “Are you out of breath? I’m the one who is meant to be asthmatic. You’ve not started smoking have you?” They paused for a moment longer and strode towards the table, intent on taking a seat. “You don’t have to impress me, I know I’m important but I don’t care what you wear, I remember when you wore overalls and a fedora for months on end.”

“Shit” Penelope cursed again as Winston fell, and she did her best to try and help them up. “Are you alright?” was her first reflexive question. Followed by, “What were you doing? Trying to blow my house and front door down by standing so close?” Nevertheless she gave their head a soft side-swipe, a joking little hit. “That big ol’ noggin of your’s. Making real good use of it these days with all your coffee fetching.” Penelope had spent years keeping Winston in the dark of her biggest secret, though she’d come close to telling them many a time when it came to her abilities. She felt a bit guilty about leaving them in the dark, but really it would only make them safer by not knowing. But now, with an Azde inside an upside down jar on her kitchen table just behind her, she was doing her best to act natural. “What? Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s hard to get in and out of those clothes. No I haven’t started smoking. Apart from...the devil’s lettuce I got you on a while ago,” she teased, fondly remembering the first time she’d introduced them to weed. “Yes, well— I stand by that look. It was couture to nine-year-old me. Maybe I just like looking decent, though.”

“I’m fine,” Winston replied brushing off their friend’s attempt to be doting on them. It was kind but unnecessary. “Don’t be so dramatic, and my head isn’t any bigger then yours.” They’d insisted on measuring diameter of head. “It is a means to an end,” Winston replied with a shake of their head, “besides they’ve got me doing other stuff too, it’s all worth it.” They were working towards something greater then their current standing. But all the same, something seemed off with Penelope. “What?” they replied, confused, “When have you ever had problems getting in and out of clothes? Isn’t that like a basic function that you could more or less handle even at the age of three…?” They rolled their eyes and shrugged. “You only get to be young once, but those days are behind me, I’m a reformed man.” They raised an eyebrow and shook their head. “You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had…” They weren’t even going to be able to tell their friend the whole truth. Despite everything that was worrying them about their friend and their living situation, Ricky had asked them to keep it to themselves and Winston was determined not to let him down.

“Mmm, not so sure about that,” Penelope continued to tease as she eyed their head, always finding amusement when it came to poking a bit of fun at Winston. “I still think the measuring tape could have been faulty.” But she nodded along dutifully to Winston’s words, trying to be as supportive of a friend as she could be. “Okay well if they’re still having you fetch coffee in three months, tell me. ‘Cause I’ll come convince them to promote you.” Through all her words though, she kept glancing towards the table that had the Azde loudly buzzing around the jar, her anxiety mounting as it somehow managed to move said jar an inch towards the edge, as if it were trying to escape. “Look- sometimes clothes get the jump on you, alright?” It didn’t make sense even for her, but it was hard to form good comebacks when she was trying to keep a bloodsucking bug/vampire from getting loose. “What happened?” she asked, trying her best to give them her full attention, but failing a bit in her anxiety about the casual monster on her kitchen table.

“Of course you’re not sure about that, but it isn’t your head, it’s my head and I’m sure it’s fine. I’m okay you don’t need to worry about me.” Pausing for a moment, they raised an eyebrow. “How could a measuring tape be faulty?” Winston asked semi exasperated by their friends apparent lack of intelligence. “I don’t need you or anyone else to save me from my co-workers, believe me when I say that I have this under control. Besides coffee isn’t the only thing that I do. Also your brand of convincing might get my fired.” Winston could hear a loud whirring noise, but assumed that it was the wind or something. “My clothes have never got the better of me,” Winston retorted, “maybe you’re just broken?” They paused for a moment and scratched their head. “I think it was an animal attack of some kind? But I can’t really be sure to be perfectly honest. It all happened really fast, but everythings been weird. Like things haven’t been their normal weird, but weird weird, y’know…”

“I’d like to think I have some ownership over your head at this point,” Nell joked as best she could with the worry of the adze still in the back of her mind. “It’s like- just part of being friends since we were in pull-ups.” Perhaps she would have pushed the matter of Winston getting coffee further if her head hadn’t whipped around at the loud shattering of glass. The Adze had finally managed to knock itself off the table. “Fuck!” she cursed loudly, jumping into action by grabbing the nearest bit of newspaper to create a makeshift fly swatter, looking around wildly for the pesky little bugger. Meanwhile, she was only thinking about how this would not doubt be added to Winston’s list of weird weird things happening around town. “What uh- what kind of animal?” she tried her best to pretend as if she wasn't manically hunting a bug, and if she’d been less focused on the bug, she would have been amused to hear the clueless ramblings of a human refusing to believe what the weirdness in White Crest was.

“I will literally have it put into my will that you don’t get any part of my head at any point,” Winston retorted with a shake of their head. But then Penelope was off. Which in itself wasn’t weird. Penelope seemed to be categorically incapable of not constantly moving. But what was weird here was more what Penelope appeared to be doing. Winston wasn’t sure they understood. “Uh, hey,” they said leaning forward as they watched Penelope roll up a newspaper, “are you okay?” Maybe that was the buzzing. Was there a bug in here? Winston wasn’t sure why Penelope was making such a big deal about it. It was just a bug. “I don’t know what kind of animal it was,” Winston admitted, “I can’t really go into the specifics but there have been a load of weird things happening. Animals that breath fire, animals with red eyes, I even think I was hallucinating the other evening.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Nell said in a decidedly not fine tone. She looked like a cat ready to pounce, her eyes trailing the azde as it flew about the room. But then— she lost it. “Shit, did you see where it went? Do you see it flying around anywhere?” Honestly she was lucky the bug vampire hadn’t shifted into it’s humanoid form when she had trapped, but she had a feeling that was due to the light streaming into the kitchen. However if it managed to find a nice, shadowy place...The thought made her search more frantically. “Right- weird animal,” she repeated, absolutely barely listening at this point. She had to make sure she got this azde before it could put Winston in danger.

“Fine as in; fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional?” Winston asked teasingly. She seemed to be on high alert, almost uncharacteristically focussed on this bug that was flying around. Come to think of it, the bug looked a little odd. Winston hadn’t seen any insects that oddly shaped before and they weren’t sure what it was. Looking around, Winston spotted it perched on top of the frame of the doorway. Reaching into the cupboard, they pulled down two mugs and began making coffee in Pen’s kitchen as if this were nothing more then another normal day, definitely not as if they weren’t in someone elses kitchen. “I can tell you about this later if you’d rather catch whatever bug thing that is…?”

“Ha-ha, very funny. Except those are all words I’d use to describe yourself,” Penelope said in between her grunts of jumping and trying to catch this cursed Adze. She needed to get the damn thing back under wraps before Winston saw something off about it. Though, perhaps she could just play dumb if they did notice anything strange. This would all be much easier if she could use her magic in front of her friend. “No, no! I’m...listening!” Between her words, she tried to jump and hit the doorframe, a failed attempt to smash the pesky vermin. But she really did want to be there for Winston’s story, it was just a bit difficult to be when there was a blood-sucking bug flying around. “The animal!” she prompted, as if it were proof she could focus enough for their words.

“Just because they apply to me doesn’t mean that they do not also apply to you, had you ever considered that smart ass?” Winston smirked gently at their retort. Pausing they watched interested as she attempted to squash it, but merely succeeded in slapping the door frame. “Do you want a hand?” they asked somewhat concerned that Penelope wasn’t capable of managing this on her own. Which seemed odd, she’d always been the more athletic of the two of them. “It was just there have been some weird stuff going on, I ran into two dogs that were feral, it looked like one of them was breathing fire but y’know that’s obviously not happening and the other one had bright red eyes….” they swallowed and shrugged, “But that’s gotta be rabies right?”

“If I’m such a smart ass I’ve probably considered everything,” Penelope retorted back, enjoying their effortless back and forth banter. It seemed even when she was driving herself crazy trying to catch a little monster, their friendship was easy enough to maintain. “Uhhhh…” Penelope hesitated, juggling Winston helping catch a potentially dangerous creature against said creature escaping. “Maybe in a bit. Give me a few more chances— don’t give up on me now.” A moment later, Nell was crouched by the table where the bug had landed once more, as if she were trying to sneak up on it. Her voice had dropped to a hushed tone as she spoke to Winston, not wanting to blow her cover. “I mean- weirder things have happened around here, haven’t they? It could be rabies I guess…” She never wanted to lie to Winston, but it was difficult toeing the line with them and the supernatural.

“I would’ve hoped that you would have considered everything, but when you’ve been friends with someone since diapers then you begin to get to know them almost too well, and I know that you definitely have not considered this.” Winston wasn’t about to take any back chat from their oldest friend. “I’ll try not to give up on you, but there is only so much failure I can take before I feel the need to intervene.” They paused and shrugged. Honestly there was almost too much going on for them to really focus on, well the weirder things that were going on. They were trying to prioritise where they focussed their attention. “Have they? I feel like everyone constantly talks about how weird this town is and I only really started to notice how weird it was when all of this began.” They sighed and shrugged. “I don’t think it was rabies, I’m just trying to convince myself that it was indeed rabies so that I don’t know what it actually was.”

At this point, Nell had forgotten exactly what she was supposed to be considering— especially while she was thoroughly distracted with trying to finish the bug-vampire. But that didn’t stop her from once again going to tease Winston, enjoying their continued back and forth as always. “Yeah- but have you considered I remember exactly how long it took for you to be potty trained. Or I could always lie about it and people would believe me since I’m so believable- and I’ve known you forever.” For a moment, Nell didn’t reply, holding up a single finger as if she were signalling Winston to hold, intent on her prey. And then all at once she pounced, and loudly exclaimed “HA! Got him!” And indeed, she had managed to finally squish the supernatural vermin. “God- finally. I was about to burn the whole house down.” But the death of the Azde meant that she could finally focus on Winston’s words. “Well...I guess it’s been exceptionally weirder lately. Maybe that’s what you’re noticing?” Going out on the smallest of limbs, she decided to test the waters for a moment. “I don’t really think it was rabies either…”

“That is not something that I had considered, however my counter point would be that I have photos of you dressed in costumes that you absolutely would not want to get onto the internet, I also have the ability to create enough accounts on a repeating algorithm to make your fifth grade halloween costume go viral,” Winston replied with a very sweet smile as they adjusted their glasses. They watched as Nell finally managed to catch the bug. They weren’t sure why they were trying to catch it and not, y’know just kill it. But it was a bug. Hardly THAT important. “You’re right, it has been exceptionally weird and I don’t think that it was rabies either, at first I was able to convince myself that it might be but the more I think about it, well it seems unlikely. Rabies also doesn’t behave in that way. At least not from my research.”

At the first mention of mortifying costumes, Nell thought Winston was talking about her gymnastics ones. She’d loved the physicality of the sport, but the costumes...they were always a big much for her. But as he mentioned fifth grade Halloween she pointed a threatening finger at him. “You wouldn’t. I’ll tell everyone about the time your head got stuck in between the bars on the jungle gym ‘cause it’s just that big. Amongst other much more horrible things that I’ll only let you find out secondhand.” She wiped the remnants of the dead Azde off her hand, making a bit of face as it came away onto the towel. “Maybe it’s just a different breed of dog.” Was there any harm in nudging him in the right direction?

#p: penelope #para #chatzy para #wickedswriting #come together #this para title brought to you by the first song in my queue #bless primal scream

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