#nathan carlton

[fazcinatingblog]

I always wish Glenn Maxwell did this tactic because it's true

[asaragena1464]

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[masoncarr2244]

[spider-man-199999]

The bracelet pt 2

pairing: Nathan Drake x Reader

word count: 4,4 K

warnings: 18+; smut; public sex; unpotected sex

summary: You meet Nathan while he's working at the bar. He recognizes you and tries to steal your bracelet because he knows you're filthy rich. Instead, you manage to steal his heart.

Read part 1 here!

a/n: I didn't proof read the smut part but there goes nothing!

A couple of months went by since Nate decided to disappear into thin air. It was such a pitty that it had to end before it even began, which made your already broken heart ache even more. People say the best remedy in such cases is to drown yourself in so much work. That was precisely what you wered trying to do. You spent most of your days in the hotel, deciding the lobby and bar could use a renovation. Not that it looked bad before, but you needed a fresh start with this place. Your ex was not very keen on the idea of change but reluctantly agreed to let you do as you pleased, as long as it would keep you busy. So, two months after the start of this ambitious project, you were standing in the brand-new lobby of The Ritz-Carlton. You did your best to keep the spirit and style of the building but with a few modern touches of technology, which appealed so much more to the guests. The hotel was more busy with events than ever before, weddings, galas, balls, charity events, all because of the work you had but in. Bussiness was really picking up, The Ritz-Carlton had turned in the hottest spot in New York.

Besides the undeniably significant time and effort you had dedicated to the marketing of the place, your personal life seemed like it was put on hold. The paparazzi had been sneaking around town, trying to catch a sight of you doing something mildly interesting. However, they would fail miserably to this task. All of the recent news about you were only in regards of The Ritz-Carlton and event you had organized, praises on your astonishing work. Occasionall pictues of you and some friends clothes shopping would appear here and there but nothing major or scandalous.

At other times, late at night when you were laying in your king-sized bed and staring the ceiling, while the city lights shined through the thin curtians of your bedroom, your mind couldn't help but wander. And somehow it would always end up on Nate. Restlessly wondering what he was doing, where he was. But wherever he was, whatever he was doing, the only place you knew for sure he was never going to leave, was your head. After his departure you didn’t really have any interest in dating, even declining a few date offers from some very wealthy and famous people. Trying to mingle was not necessarily a bad thing, but every time such thoughts popped up in your head, you’d look out the window and see the faint sparkles of the same stars that Nate spent hours talking about. It made you feel nostalgic, knowing no one else could ever take you on a date and make something casual appear so fun. That alone made you give up on the idea of pursuing someone else, at least for the time being.

And while you were busy buraying your head into the piles and piles of demanding and much nessecary work, Nate himself had very different plans. He took the task of becoming wealthy to heart and persused that with the first opportunity that he stumbled upon. That was exactly why he took up Sully's proposal to work together and left. He left for long, but not for good. Now that he had a few dollars in his pocket, he decided it was time to make his advancment towards you showing you his brand new persona. His heart was filled with excitemet and anxiety, he knew he was gone for a long time but he hoped that you had kept your promise and waited for him. He was trying his best to keep up with the news about you, reading every newspaper, magazine, interview. All this time he was thinking of you, dreaming of you. The man wanted to tell you everything, to explain where he went, to watch your fascinated eyes sparkle while he told you the story of his adventure with Sully. So, as soon as he came back to New York, he stated working on his new, expensive image. He changed his wardrobe, his car, he rented out a new place. A whole new man by the looks of it, but not in his heart, not in his feelings for you. He renovated himself the way you were renovating The Ritz-Carlton. So, a month after he came back, a month after all the work, he decided it was finally time to approch you.

The day seemed like any normal day for you, sitting at your desk in the office of the hotel, filling in the upcoming events in the callendar. You checked on the progress of the current agenda - a wedding. You made a few phone calls and after doing the diplomatic work, that took no longer than a couple of hours, you decided to run some personal errands, such as picking up drycleaning and other mundane tasks. You stored most of your personal items in a room in the hotel for covenience, but it did mean that sometimes, like today, you had to leave the place with a few zipper bags full of clothes. The weather was starting to get colder and colder with each day, warm and careless summer nights seemed like only a memory that was sitting close to your heart now. The leaves were starting to change colors but that did not make New York look any less beautiful on your side of town. But the chilly weather meant warmer clothes, and a need to add a lot more layers on your body before walkig outside.Fortunately enough the sweather dress you had on was still going to do the job if you to put a coat on top, which annoyed you to an unbelieveble extent. It just meant more weight on you as you carried the cleaned clothes all the way back to your apartment. Holding the, what felt like an ungodly amount of weight of clothes over you shoulder, you walked out of the building. You were met by a gigantic rose bouquet, probably 50 roses or more, right in front of your face, held up by someone who you couldn't quite see. You shook your head, moving past the person and walking away.

"Hey, hey, Y/N, come on" you heard from behind you, the voice was somehow familiar but you couldn't link it to a face for the first few seconds.

You turned around, freezing in your spot, but not because of the low temperature outside.

"I've been standing here for hours and you won't even say hi" he laughed, moving to hold the bouquet in only one of his arms "You have no idea how many excited screechings I had to go through, followed by disappointed looks. Have I really become this unattractive?"

You were still frozen in your tracks while he went on, trying to process the sight in front of your eyes combined with the information in your brain. Your head felt like it was spinning and everything was somehow like it was in a haze.

"I think you managed to break me" you finally spoke. And it was the truth, the shock had taken over your body. It felt like you were dreaming. Did you accidentally fall asleep in your hotel room? You couldn't really tell.

"Well, I was hoping for more of an excited running into my arms, maybe even shedding a happy tear."

"Nate what the actual hell?"

It finally got through to you. Nathan Drake was standing right there, in front of you, a bouguet of 50 roses in his hands. He was dressed in a black tuxedo that hugged his body perfectly, his dark hair was styled back with gel. He looked even better than you remembered, making your heart beat so fast that you felt like you were going to faint. He laughed softly at your shocked reaction, making a few steps towards you.

"If you're not going to hug me, can I hug you at least?" He asked, wrapping the free arm around your waist and pulling you into his chest.

You wrapped your own free arm around him, your head rested against his body as you closed your eyes. You still couldn't believe he was really there, but the warmth of his torso was proving you otherwise. Hot streams of tears rolled down your cheeks, your emotions prevailing.

"Oh my god is that Dior?" you sniffled softly against his chest once you opened your eyes, them landing on the fabric of his clothes.

"I had to impress you." he shrugged and let go of you, brusbing a tear from your face. "There they are, the trears!" he chuckled.

You shook your head in disbelief, taking a step back from him. You had so many questions to ask, it felt like your head was going to explode, followed by the rest of your body. A cool breeze blew past the two of you, making your hair softly sway to the side while you held eye contact with him. It kind of brought you back into reality, in your dreams it was never cold, just endless summer.

"I have so many things to ask-" you started, but were cut off by the flowers being shoved in your face.

"Take these, my back hurts, I've been carrying them for so long"

"I have 3 bags of drycleaning in my hands, literally" you whined to him, moving the bags to your front and with a swift motion placing them over your forearm.

"Well in such case, why don't we take my car and you can ask anything you'd like?" he offered, reaching in his pocket and taking out the keys to unlock a black Mercedez GL that was parked on the street next to the two of you.

"That's your car?"

"Yes" he replied shortly, opening the back door and placing the roses inside gently.

"Who are you? What did you do to Nate?"

He laughed at your response, taking your bags off of you and putting them in the car as well before he grabbed your hand and pulled you towardws him. Like the gentleman he was, his arm wrapped around your waist before he held the passenger door for you, closing it after you sat inside.

"Can I ask my questions now?" you asked once the two of you drove off in an unknown to you direction.

"You can ask and ruin my very cool bad ass story about how I have money now or..." he said, turning his head towards you with a playful spark in his eyes and and a cheerful smile. "You could wait for us to get where I'm taking you and let me explain everything."

"Yeah I think I preffer asking, actually"

He shook his head and laughed at you, stopping at a red light.

"Okay fine, but you're totally killing the vibe."

"Okay I'll ask only one question now and you can tell me your mindblowing story whenever you think is best."

"We have a deal."

"Fine, then, why didn't you warn me about leaving? It was kind of scary to just have you stop showing up to work one day."

Heavy silence followed after your question echoed into the car. You turned your head to stare at his expression, studying his side profile. You could see his brows furrow while he thought of the answear, one arm let go of the wheel, elbow against the armrest on the car door while he rubbed a finger under his nose, his hand covering his mouth. He kind of seemed nervous.

"Well, honestly it wasn't something I planned to happen, it just did." he said finally.

It was your turn to furrow your brows now, but in utter confusion.

"You make it sound like you were abducted"

"More like recruited? I didn't have the time to find you and explain everything, and it's not like I have your number to call. You wanted to keep things professional between us. And I couldn't even think about explaining anything back then, you know? I wasn't really sure what was going to happen either."

"But it was scary. We didn't know if you were alive or not, you could have gotten into an accident or something, I had no information on you. I made the restaurant manager call you and your phone was turned off, I called in all the hospitals in the region around the hotel and around your apartment for you."

"I didn't know you were so worried."

"I was, I felt horrible and responsible. For a moment I thought about calling the police and tell them you were missing."

"Gosh, you care so much about me? It's almost as if you like me or something?" he joked, trying to break the tense atmosphere.

"Oh my god" you whispered in annoyance, laughing softly at his words.

It was odd, you never imagined yourself actually being into someone like him, someone so different to the men you were used to dating. But there you were, in his car, following him with no direction to wherever he pleased to go. Before you even had time to try and continue this conversation, he parked the car and turned the engine off.

The second you stepped out of the car, you were greeted by the sounds of waves crashing into land and the fresh smell of salt water. It was already late in the evening when Nate picked you up from the hotel, which meant it had gotten cold enough outside to make you shiver, even without the soft breeze that was blowing. You looked around, your attention immediately captured by the flickering lights of the amusement park on Coney Island. Unfortubately for you, who got excited from the thought of riding some of the rides with Nate, even if it meant you would look like crazy people wearing something so formal there, the park was closed and everyone was long gone. Your head turned to look for Nate in confusion, seeing him stand next to you with his hands in his pockets. He reached out a hand for you, taking yours and motioning for him to follow you. And you did, once again, follow him without asking any questions. He lead you towards the beach, an area that was unfamiliar to you. Soon you reached a big bell tent, open and inside there was a set-up simillar to your first date night with him - poof chairs, blankets, fairly lights. He walked you inside, helping you sit on one of the poof chairs and plopping down on one himself. You coudln't lie, it was so thoughtful, so beautiful and romantic. For the second time this cocky, slightly annoying man had left you speechless. You were so mesmerized by the scenery that you didn't even notice him stand and take out a bottle of champage out of somewhere and pour it in two glasses. You took one of them, clicking it with his before taking a sip.

"Nate this is... I don't even know what to say."

"Don't get used to it, it's my apology for leaving the way I did." He sat down next to you

"Well that was anticlimatic"

"I didn't mean it that way." he rolled his eyes, placing the glass on the ground. "I wanted this to be special, we haven't seen each other in so long and in my head this whole thing was going to happen in the summer but plans got delayed."

"Is now the time for you to tell me the amazing story of Nathan Drake's adventure?"

"You bet it is!" he laughed.

And he did tell you everything, about his brother and about Sully. He he went into great detail about everything that he went through in the last few months. And while he was speaking, you were going through every possible emotion you could think of, listening with your jaw practically on the floor. He would laugh at your reactions, copying your face to make fun of you.

"You're awful!" you would whine, hitting his chest playfully

"Oh, I'm awful? Why are you here then?"

"You're lucky, I like awful."

''You know..." he started, taking his glass and finishing the remaining content in it. "The whole time I couldn't really stop thinking about you."

Silence suddnely fell upon the two of you after his words, making your gaze turn from the pleasant view of the outside beach to the more pleasant one, his eyes.

"I thougut about you too" you whispered softly.

"It got the point where I couln't really... get rid of this" he reached for the inside pocket of his tux, taking out the diamond bracelet that you gave him.

It sparkled softly under the soft fairly lights around you. Your eyes stared at his hand, moving rapidly between his face and his palm. You couldn't believe your eyes. No matter how hard you tried, the damn bracelet somehow just wouldn't leave your life. Truthfully, you didn't really know what you were feeling in that moment. You were upset because you wanted to get rid of it at all cost, but in a weird, nostalgic way, you were glad to see it.

"Actually, I had it on me the whole time, to remind me of you." he spoke after he noticed your state.

Suddenly all the negative associations you had with the expensive item melted away and were replaced by the hearthwarming feelings his words brought. He put the bracelet on your wrist, making you shiver with the contact.

"Can I be honest about something?" you asked, your eyes fixed on the diamonds.

He nodded in response, making you look back at him.

"Truly, I've never met anyone so... romantic?"

"After everything you thought THAT was romantic?"

"No, I mean this whole thing. The flowers, the beach, the bracelet. This is more romantic than a proposal, and I've been proposed to... twice."

"The beach was actually a reference to something else." He mumbled before taking a sip from his glass.

It made you think for a second and suddenly the memory of your first intearaction came to the surface, making you blush.

"You dog!" you laughed, looking at him with the side of your eye.

He laughed as well, laying on his side, turning his body in your direction.

"Come here." he said, reffering to his chair.

You did your best to move over to him eleganly, not sure how well it worked out judging by his giggles. Or maybe he was just tipsy from the champagne? You sat down next to him, having him wrap an arm around your shoulders like he did on your first date. Your head rested against his chest while you snuggled up against him, only now realizing how actually cold you were before that. You closed your eyes, listening to the rythmic sound of his heartbeat as your hand rested against his stomach. You couldn't tell how long you sat there like this before you started playing with his tie. He noticed your actions, placing a soft kiss on your forehead before his hand travelled down to your waist, drawing soft circles on it. In the moment of silence, you could hear the sound of waves crashing in the background and it felt so calm, so perfect, even. Nate's hand was now slowly travelling up and down your back, going further down with each movement, until it finally landed on your butt. You giggled into his chest when you felt his hand there, making you look up at him. The both of you stared into each other's eyes for what felt like forever, until his lips finally crashed into yours. The kiss was passionate and long, it tasted like champagne and it was enough to make your head spin, while your hand left the tie alone and moved to his shoulder. His grip on your ass was now harsh and needy, trying to pull your hips closer to his own while he was squeezing. You broke the heated kiss to catch your breaths, suddenly feeling shy because of the butterflies that were going wild to the rythm of your heartbeats. You started kissing his jawline, softly, to hide that fact, your hand loosening the tie around his neck. Nate was quick to get out of his jacket, throwing it on the floor. His hands found their way back to your body, touching and grabbing everything he could. You took off his tie, placing it over your own head. He laughed at your act, pulling you by that same tie now and kissing you hungrily again. This time he was even more passionate, if that were even possible, his tongue danced against yours while his hands grabbed your wast and pulled you over on top of him, making you sit on his lap. Your hands were grabbing his hair, ruining the way he had styled it. After a few minutes of making out, you broke the kiss for air again. Now he looked more like the Nate you remembered, no fancy tuxedo, no tie, just a normal, very handsome guy. You smiled at him, undoing the bottons on his shirt while his hands roamned around your body. Once the shirt was undone and open, you had to bite your lip at the sight of his body. You knew he was toned, you just didn't know he was actually shredded as well. He smiled confidently at your reaction, but you kissed him before he could make the snarky comment you knew was already formed in his head.

You were growing more and more needy for him by the minute and he knew. Truth was, the feeling was mutual. He spent too many nights alone in bed thinking about this, thinking about you, imagining the exact moment your hands would be in his hair, his lips would be on yours. He couldn't help but be impatient, try to push you towardws going further and further into the heat of the moment. And while he was so lost in this timeless dance of your tongues together, the reality of his deepest desire being better than anything he could ever imagine, you had to break the kiss, making him moan with annoyance.

"Can we really do it here?" You asked, out of breath

"What's stopping us?" he asked back, attacking your jaw and neck with his lips.

"Well it's kind of... public?"

"You were the one.... who wanted.... sex on the beach" he said between kisses.

"The cocktail, Nate"

"I suggested the cocktail, you wanted the other thing"

"You really need to learn when to shut up"

"You need to learn how to lose an arguement"

You rolled your eyes at him but kissed him again, your hands undoing his belt and pants. He was smiling through the whole kiss, which made you even more annoyed with his cockiness. Speaking of cock, his was painfully hard, and you could tell by the way it twitched when your hand accidentally brushed against it in the process of unzipping his pants. You wasted no time, your eagerness was matching his and the thrill of someone catching you in the act was sending a type of feeling through your veins that you couldn't remember feeling before. Was it adreanline? Or were you just incredibly turned on? You slipped his member out of the boxers as well, giving it a few strokes with your hand which resulted in a hitched breath, followed by moans from Nate. He wasn't going to waste time either, hand slipping under your dress and pulling your panties to the side so he could touch you as well. The kiss was broken at that point, both of you looking into eachother's eyes. You two knew already there was no need for any foreplay since you were almost dipping on his fingers now and without saying anything, he grabbed your waist ang guided you to hover above him. The poof was a bit too unstable to help you with balancing on your knees but it had to do. Your hand held his dick in place before you slipped down on it slowly, making Nate throw his head back in ecstacy.

"This is so much better than I expected" he said holding you down while you were adjusting to the size.

It didn't take you long, pecking his lips before you started moving your hips in circles while you watched the expression on his face change from sweet and loving to lustful. He helped you move up and down his lenght because your mind was now too preoccupied and overstimulated to have such a complex thought about rythim and movement. It was all him and him only, nothing else in the world existed but this. He pulled your chess to his while you bounced on him, his hands now on your ass to guide you while his moans filled your ear. You weren't holding back on moaning or saying his name either, it simply felt too good to even try. Your hands were touching his muscles while you moved, your lips nibbling and biting on his neck. At some point your nails were digging into the skin of his chest and arms, but your mind was too clouded to even notice that. All you could really feel was the way he stretched your walls, his own hips now moving upwards to be fucking into you. You bit on his shoulder as you felt your walls tightening around him, and from the looks of it, he was feeling that you were close as well. He groaned your name deciding it was a good idea to push your hips down while he slammed himself into you, making you yelp as he hit a spot you didn't know existed. It felt so good you were having doubts it was real. You started screaming his name, feeling yourself finally release onto him while he moaned and moved. His hand travelled up from your ass to your hair, grabbing a handful and pulling you into a very tight hug while he moaned and groaned. You felt him cum inside you just as you were done with your orgams, your body collapsing onto his. You sat like this for a while, panting, hearts wildly beating.

"You have to tell me where you get your clothes dry cleaned, my pants are ruined"

"Jesus Christ, Nathan! I just gave you an orgasm and you're thinking about dry cleaning?"

"Yeah because of that orgasm, my pants are ruined, we orgasmed everywhere!"

You sat up to look at him, your hands on his chest while you shook your head.

"Okay fine. Our second date will be at the dry cleaners."

"Technically this was the second date."

"I hate you, so much."

"Oh, darling, we both know you don't."

[bullet-prooflove]

Ask List, Rules & Updates - PLEASE READ!

Please do not solicit me to read your work by tagging me or sending it to me unless I have asked you to.

The Schedule - See what's coming up this month!

Works In Progress - A visual up to date list of what I'm working on currently and their status.

MasterList:

Patreon:

Luna Creative Academy

Prompt Lists:

Character Tag List:

I have updated my ask list below so please only pick from the characters below if you want to submit.

The Rules:

Only pick people off the character list below for each fandom.

One prompt per ask - you can send as many asks as you want within reason

Include the whole prompt in the ask, not just the number.

I don’t write things like Voight’s daughter/Hondo’s friend/Adam’s sister

I also don't write specific asks on this blog eg: reader is a firefighter/doctor/cop who has this/does this. They meet and do this/and this and say this... I usually work from prompts.

I don't write other people's stories so if you have a long detailed idea you want writing, this is not the blog for you.

Fandoms & Chars I write for:

The Bear:

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto

Michael "Mikey" Berzatto 

Richie Jerimovich

Blue Bloods:

Jamie Reagan

Joe Hill

Chicago Fire:

Jeff Clarke

Sam Carver

Chicago Med

Connor Rhodes

James Lanik

Crockett Marcel

Sam Abrams

Mitch Ripley

Dean Archer

Sean Archer

Cobra Kai:

Daniel LaRusso

Johnny Lawrence

Terry Silver

Criminal Minds:

Luke Alvez

Will LaMontagne

CSI Vegas:

Trey Cahill

Josh Folsom

FBI:

Jubal Valentine

O.A Zidan

Stuart Scola

FBI: Most Wanted:

Remy Scott

Clinton Skye

Fire Country:

Bode Leone

Luke Leone

Manny Perez

Vince Leone

Haven:

Dwight Hendrickson

Duke Crocker

Nathan Wuornos

Hawaii Five-O:

Danny 'Danno' Williams

Adam Noshimuri

Hudson & Rex:

Charlie Hudson

JAG:

Mic Brumby

Harmon 'Harm' Rabb

AJ Chegwidden

Law & Order:

Nolan Price

Nicholas Baxter

Jalen Shaw

Vince Riley

Cyrus Lupo

Michael Cutter

Ed Green

Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Toronto:

Henry Graff

Law & Order SVU:

Joe Velasco

Mike Duarte

Terry Bruno

Magnum PI:

Rick Wright

Thomas Magnum

Shammy

Mayans MC:

Bishop Losa

Taza Romero

Micheal 'Riz' Ariza

Nestor Oceteva

EZ Reyes

Neron 'Creeper' Vargas

Manny

Mayor of Kingstown:

Mike McLusky

Robert Sawyer

MCU:

Frank Castle

The Mentalist:

Kimball Cho

Marcus Pike

NCIS:

Alden Parker

Nick Torres

Gage Winchester

Jimmy Palmer

NCIS LA:

Vostanik Sabatino

Arlo Turk

Harmon 'Harm' Rabb

Marty Deeks

AJ Chegwidden

NCIS: New Orleans

Dwayne Pride

Douglas Hamilton

Chris LaSalle

Sebastian Lund

NCIS Sydney:

JD Dempsey

De Shawn Jackson

Michelle Mackey

Numb3rs:

Ian Egerton

Don Eppes

Psych:

Carlton Lassiter

Red Dead Redemption 2:

Arthur Morgan

The Rookie:

John Nolan

Wade Grey

Ejiah Vestri

Ryan Caradine

Aaron Thorsen

The Rookie Feds:

Matt Garza

Brendon Acres

SEAL Team:

Sonny Quinn

Brock Reynolds

Trent Sawyer

Eric Blackburn

Silent Witness:

Jack Hodgson

SOA:

Juan 'Juice' Ortiz

Filip 'Chibs' Telford

Alexander 'Tig' Trager

David Hale

Supernatural:

Dean Winchester

Ted Lasso:

Roy Kent

Top Gun Maverick:

Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson 

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

Tulsa King:

Mitch Keller

Dwight Manfredi

Twisters:

Tyler Owens

White Collar:

Matt Keller

Will Trent:

Will Trent

Yellowstone:

Jamie Dutton

Kayce Dutton

Lee Dutton

Rip Wheeler

Travis Wheatley

Ryan

Walker

Feel free to send me prompts if you see anything you like with one of the characters.

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

I know that at least two Jellylorums were also Christines in "Phantom" (Marni Raab and Sara Jean Ford)--would you happen to know who some of the others were?

Are you looking specifically for Jellylorums that were previously Christines, or more like the general Phantom - CATS or CATS - Phantom pipeline? I can give you a decent list of both, since we'd be atom smashing two hyperfixations together.

Format: NAME OF PERFORMER - Role in Phantom (Role in Cats)

Sorted by part played in PotO - I won't be naming all locations of productions these individuals were in for the sake of some kind of brevity. Since you asked mainly for Jellylorums who have been Christine, I have taken the liberty to BOLD them for easy reference.

(Note that this is not an extensive list - just a bulky one - I was already getting too long in the tooth haha)

MAIN TRIO

Sarah Brightman - Christine Daaé (Jemima - OLC)

Nikki Ankara - Christine Daaé (UK 1st Tour) (Jellylorum - London)

Celia Graham - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - RCCL, Palladium, UK Tour 2016 etc)

Theresa Borg - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - Circus Tour 1999)

Maree Johnson - Christine Daaé (Guest Grizabella - Circus Tour 2000)

Myrra Malmberg - Christine Daaé (Young Grizabella - Gothenburg 1989 non-replica)

Katie Knight-Adams - Christine Daaé (Swing - UK Tour 1993, Jemima - London)

Mia van den Eykel - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - Aus/Asia Tour 1995)

Iren Bartok - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - London)

Zoe Curlett - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - UK Tour 2003 - 2009)

Debra Stables - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - London)

Josie Walker - Christine Daaé (Grizabella - London and UK Tour 1993)

Renée Knapp - Christine Daaé (Jennyanydots/Griddlebone - Amsterdam)

Lydia Gerrard - Cover Christine (Cover Jellylorum and Grizabella - Asia Tour 2022)

Marti Webb - Christine Daaé (Grizabella - London)

Colleen Besett - Christine Daaé (Jennyanydots - Berlin and Dusseldorf)

Els Bongers - Christine Daaé (Booth Singer - Amsterdam)

Teresa de Zarn - Christine Daaé (Sillabub - Broadway)

Diane Fratantoni - Christine Daaé (Swing - Broadway, cover Cassandra, Etcetera, Grizabella, Jellylorum / Griddlebone, Rumpleteazer, Sillabub)

Marina Prior - Christine Daaé (Jellylorum - Sydney 1985)

Steve Barton - Raoul/The Phantom - (Munkustrap Original Vienna)

Richard Todd Adams - Raoul/The Phantom (Cats Chorus)

Jeremy Hays - Raoul (The Rum Tum Tugger)

Bronson Norris Murphy - Raoul/Others - (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Brad Little - The Phantom (Old Deuteronomy)

Mark McKerracher - The Phantom (Old Deuteronomy)

Pierre-Yves Duchesne - The Phantom (Old Deuteronomy)

Ian Jon Bourg - The Phantom (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Ethan Freeman - The Phantom (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Peter Polycarpou - The Phantom (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Scott Davies - The Phantom (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Phyllida Crowley Smith - Meg Giry (Victoria)

Emma Harris - Meg Giry (Victoria)

Emmanuelle Guélin - Meg Giry (Victoria)

 Karin Seyfried - Meg Giry (Jennyanydots)

Julie Carlton - Meg Giry (Electra)

Sharyn Winney - Meg Giry Understudy/Ballet Corps (Tantomile, Sillabub, Swing)

Kathleen Mullin - Meg Giry (Rumpleteazer, Swing)

Kimberley Partridge - Meg Giry (Jemima)

Jeehyun Noh - Meg Giry (Jemima)

Claire Lander - Meg Giry (Jemima)

OTHER PARTS

Peter Kevoian - Monsieur Reyer (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Greg Castiglioni - Ubaldo Piangi (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Tony McGill - Assistant Conductor (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Andrew Keelan - Passarino (Walking Cover/Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Wim Van Den Driessche - Monsieur Firmin (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

Gareth Snook - Monsieur Andre (Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher)

John Dewar - Swing (Asparagus/Gus/Growltiger)

John Ellis - Ubaldo Piangi (Old Deuteronomy)

Nathan Patrick Morgan - Jeweler/Ubaldo Piangi Cover (Swing, Chorus, Asparagus/Gus/Bustopher, Old Deuteronomy, etc)

Saverio Pescucci - Dancer/Ensemble (Alonzo)

Sharon Wheatley - Replacement Page/Swing (Jennyanydots)

Katharine Heaton - Swing and Understudy (Swing/Jellylorum)

Karl Morgan - Dancer in the 2004 Film (Pouncival 1998)

Chrissy Brooke - Ballet Girl (Chorus Cat in 2019 Film)

Marisa Paull Gorst - Dancer/Ballet Girl (Swing)

Marise Dusheiko - Ballet Girl (Victoria)

Harriet Ho Yin Chung - Ballet Girl (Swing)

Myrthes Monteiro - Ensemble (Jemima)

Lucius Wolter - Ensemble (Walking Cover)

Matt McFarlane - Understudy Phantom/Raoul in Love Never Dies (Munkustrap)

Bradley Delarosbel - Unknown (Likely Ensemble) (Admetus/Macavity)

Stephen Morgante - Unknown - likely ensemble (Skimbleshanks/Swing)

Anton Luitingh - Resident Director/Possibly Played Raoul (Munkustrap)

And technically, Jack Rebaldi was supposed to play Monsieur André in the Theatre Mogador production of PotO, but that was tragically cut short and never came to fruition (justice for that cast).

[endlesstwanted]

The Voice In The Lights

Wrote a little fic @monthly-challenge’s prompt — Green. You can read it under the cut and on Ao3 here.

Fandom: The Last Ship (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Pairing: Carlton Burk/Danny Green

Tags: Canon Divergence, Missing Scene, Sunsets, Memories

Summary: The sunset makes Burk remember his mother. He wants to share the moment with Danny.

Wordcount: 712

Also created for: @fandombingo, The Last Ship card | Carlton Burk + Reverse: 1999 edition | Emergency Meeting / @eclipsingbingo | Hugs From Behind / @fandom-free-bingo, Book Night Edition | “I’m Not Asking.”

He had kept their mother alive in his thoughts.

In the memory of his sister, laughing at something he said and she didn’t find funny. In the echo of his mother’s voice, in the flashbacks of the farewell before he boarded the Nathan James for the first time and in the smell of fresh bacon in the morning when they were lucky to have some.

Meanwhile,  his sister lived in the picture on his phone from their trip to New Orleans, even if the device hadn’t been turned on for months now that he was back in the seas. In the only song that was in his music player because he had downloaded it for him and in the chilly nights when he just needed his sister to laugh along with him —or about him, he didn’t mind.

It had been almost four years now that his mother lived in his heart, because she didn’t live in their home anymore. At least he knew that much.

They had reached their hometown in one of the ground expeditions, and even if he hadn’t come with the group that covered the area, Green had been trusted with the duty of checking his mother’s house, and look for any sign of her.

There was no luck in finding her there. Which meant that the woman was clever enough not to stay alone when a virus threatened the world, and she had most likely packed a suitcase and drove to Aunt Claire’s home. Which meant that he was in luck. Because there was a chance, still, of his mother being there. Of her having gotten the vaccine even. Of her being alive.

So he knew, almost for sure, that her mother didn’t only live in his heart. At that moment, she was also living in the sunset lights in front of him that welcomed the evening and the promise of a calm night with no clouds in the sky. If luck was on his side again, perhaps a few stars will decorate the endless dark blue empire later that night as well.

Burk hadn’t seen anything like that in twenty years. The colours in the horizon danced and mixed together, painting a picture that was hard to describe but made him cherish the fact that he was there to watch it.

He heard a door closing, and calm steps followed the sound. He had been living there long enough to know who they belonged to.

Green soon reached his level and leaned on the deck rail next to him. Crashing their shoulders together, leaning softly onto him was his way of letting him know he was there, since his eyes were lost in paradise in front of them and he guessed anyone would say he was ‘absent’.

“You need to see me?” Danny asked. “Ray said it was important.”

“Look at this,” Burk said, almost whispering. “When was the last time you saw something this beautiful?”

Green needed a moment to realise what he was talking about, following his stare to the distant clouds and the colours painting them with beautiful shades over the Gulf of Mexico.

Danny turned to look at him, though Carlton missed that. He pushed the rail for support and backed off, rounding him until his arms were hugging him from behind and Danny’s chin rested on his shoulder. “When was the last time you looked in a mirror?”

“Smooth,” Burk huffed. His warmth felt nice; it wasn’t usual for them to have a quiet moment and just … enjoy the present.

“So this is the emergency you needed me for?” Danny asked. “Not that I’m complaining. It is beautiful.”

“It’s an emergency when the sunset lasts no more than three minutes and my boyfriend is not around to see it, yeah,” he confirmed. “You almost missed it this time.”

“I am here now.” Danny reassured him. If anything new had come up in the ship, that would be talked about later.

Green joined his partner to the show that was displayed on the horizon, and Burk wondered what was going on in Danny’s mind as he did. He could always ask him.

But for the time being, his own was filled with the memory of his mother smiling. So he smiled too.

[projazznet]

Fourplay – X

“Smooth-jazz journeymen Fourplay reunite for X and deliver more solid, lite-instrumental sounds.” -(AllMusic). Bob James – keyboards Larry Carlton – guitars Nathan East – bass, vocals Harvey Mason – drums

[bluebaggas]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carlton Football Club (@carlton_fc)

Okay everyone, here’s my rant…

AFL media, analysts and commentators cannot for the life of them say anything positive about the Blues. Saad’s impact on this game was incredible. He played his defensive role beautifully. (He kicked a goal for cripes sake!) What did the media say about him this week? I’d love to know if you heard him get a mention.

SEN on Monday morning mentioned Carlton players four times: why would anyone want to buy Sam Walsh custom boots; why would you rate Kade Simpson; Carazzo was a half decent player; Harry Mckay’s head trauma incident. Nathan Buckley spent the entire segment on the Carlton/Kangas game talking about Mckay’s head trauma incident. Is Buckley a medical professional? Could we get one single comment analysing the actual game? Nope. Hawthorn and Collingwood - all over it because Kane Cornes friggin loves his not-even-in-the-eight Hawthorn. Bucks said the Swans/Brissie game was the GF preview, and it was a good game but who’s second on the ladder???!!!!

Every mention about Carlton is negative. The Fox game commentary is negative, everything is negative. You wouldn’t think we were second on the ladder, half a game clear. You wouldn’t think we have a once-in-a-generation coach - one of the most talented coaches in the history of the game (YES I SAID IT). You wouldn’t think our Captain was on track to win his second Brownlow or that our full forward was the first player to reach 50 games in 2024, on track to win his second Coleman. You would think we have one of the best midfield duos in the league: Crippa and Walsh; or one of the best tall forward partnerships in the League: Curnow and McKay.

And you know what, friends: it doesn’t matter. Because WE KNOW we are Flaggers 2024. We know we are winning the Premiership in 2024. And they will hate us for it, just like they’ve hated us all year, and it’ll be great.

Go Baggas 💙💙💙💙💙

[partybarty]

WALLAROOS TEAM LIST TO FACE FIJI

1. Brianna Hoy (Coffs Harbour Snappers) – 6 caps

2. Tania Naden (Uni-North Owls) – 13 caps

3. Eva Karpani (Onkaparinga) – 24 caps

4. Kaitlan Leaney (CSU Marlins) – 18 caps

5. Michaela Leonard (c) (Tuggeranong Vikings) – 25 caps

6. Atasi Lafai (Campbelltown Harlequins) – 12 caps

7. Leilani Nathan (Hamilton Hawks) – 5 caps

8. Piper Duck (Tumut Bullettes) – 13 caps

9. Layne Morgan (Merewether Carlton) – 22 caps

10. Arabella McKenzie (Lightning Ridge Tigers) – 24 caps

11. Desiree Miller (Eastern Suburbs) – 5 caps

12. Cecilia Smith (Leeton Dianas) - 13 caps

13. Georgina Friedrichs (Wests Bulldogs) – 22 caps

14. Biola Dawa* (Wagga Reddies) – debut

15. Lori Cramer (University of Queensland) – 21 caps

Reserves

16. Tiarna Molloy (Inverell Highlanders) – 1 cap

17. Allana Sikimeti* (North Eagles) – debut

18. Bridie O'Gorman (Sydney University) – 20 caps

19. Siokapesi Palu (Rockdale Rangers) – 9 caps

20. Lydia Kavoa* (Eastern Suburbs) – debut

21. Natalie Wright* (Wests Bulldogs) – debut

22. Trilleen Pomare (Wanneroo) – 27 caps

23. Faitala Moleka (Blacktown Scorpions) – 9 caps

[fazcinatingblog]

Today's worpel was easy and I'm like I KNOW THAT HAIR but it still took me 8 guesses because I'm stupid

[aesopsbaby]

do you think you'd ever ship one of your characters with Master Quill? Idk I'm just thirsty for more of your content and your interactions with your Tumblr husband are impeccable (lo)

Feed me

Myself. EHUM EHUM,, COUGH,,!!

Also, seeing you guys call Lo my tumblr husband always makes me so happy for some reason-- is that weird,,, well anyways!!

I actually do have,,,a few candidates!

Butler OC (Unnamed at the moment) but I'm leaning with Carlton for his name so,,,let's call him that for the time being! (I...might change it..)

Why:

LOOK. HES A BUTLER BUT HE HAS NO MORALS. He would do whatever he is tasked to do. Take someone out? Sure, on a date or- oh nevermind, he already shot the person.

So imagine Master, who enjoys having full control over someone, meeting this man who is willing to submit to him no matter the orders. Carlton would carry out whatever Master wishes.

After all, a butler must serve his master, right?

Akari (I haven't drawn her in awhile but I'm pretty sure there are some posts floating around on my blog!!)

Why:

Not much is to be said about her, except for the fact that she'd take joy in being around Master. Having to live with two sisters that are always protective around her, is boring her.

She needs someone that is the embodiment of pure chaos and destruction. She enjoys watching Master torment others and would be more than happy to be his subject of torment!! She doesn't feel fear (except for her sisters being hurt), but she doesn't care if anything happens to her.

It would be so interesting to see Master takes full advantage of that and try to push Akari till he finds out how to make her feel true fear. How to make her crumble and afraid of him.

Nathan

Why:

He's stubborn. Real stubborn. He strongly believes that Elios was a good soul, that Meztli killed him and now he HAS to take revenge for Elios! His heart is set on Elios no matter what.

I'm just so interested to see Nathan being conflicted when Master joins the story. I just imagine Master taking advantage of how vulnerable Nathan is right now and just treating him with kindness, exactly how Elios was. And it's messing with Nathan's mind,,,now he has to decide whether he still loves Elios or has another man captured his cold, confused heart?

Head in hands,,,there's so many more ocs that I have thought of but I have to choose those that are mentally unstable,,,(for plot purpose ofc!!)

Master Quill belongs to @feelin-lo !! :D

[sharkssharpteeth]

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡Muses ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

“I'm down pounding my head against the kitchen floor, apologizing for my life and ever entering yours”

- “Against the Kitchen Floor” by Will Wood

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Listed below are my current fandoms and muses within them. I’m not too picky when it comes to ships, though I tend to lean towards those that are under-explored when the fandom allows (ex: Hadir Karim/Alex Keller). If you want to shoot me a DM or ask regarding a plot ideas, go for it.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Current Fandoms:

The Boys ♢ Brokeback Mountain ♢ Call of Duty (Modern Warfare Reboot) ♢ Detroit: Become Human ♢ Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ♢ Fallout (New Vegas & 4) ♢ Far Cry (4 & 5) ♢ Gen V ♢ Hannibal (NBC) ♢ House Of Ashes ♢ Legend of Zelda ♢ Moon Knight ♢ Mortal Kombat (1) ♢ Night At The Museum ♢ Outlast (1 & Whistleblower) ♢ Pokémon ♢ The Quarry ♢ Resident Evil ♢ Scream (1) ♢ Uncharted (2 & 4) ♢ Until Dawn

Muse List:

Brokeback Mountain

Ennis Del Mar

Jack Twist

Call of Duty (Modern Warfare Reboot)

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

Phillip Graves

Kim "Horangi" Hong-jin

Hadir Karim

Alex Keller

John “Soap” MacTavish

Vladimir Makarov

Andrei Nolan

Rodolfo Parra

John Price

Simon “Ghost” Riley

Alejandro Vargas

Detroit: Become Human

Colton (RK900)

Connor (RK800)

Elijah Kamski

Markus (RK200)

Gavin Reed

Simon (PL600)

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Simon Aumar

Edgin Darvis

Xenk Yendar

Fallout

New Vegas

Craig Boone

Caesar

Arcade Israel Gannon

Benny Gecko

Joshua Graham

Vulpes Inculta

The King

Pacer

Swank

4

Paladin Danse

Deacon

Porter Gage

Preston Garvey

Robert Joseph MacCready

Mason

Arthur Maxson

Sturges

X6-88

Far Cry

4

Ajay Ghale

Paul "De Pleur" Harmon

Regi

Yogi

5

Charlemagne "Sharky" Victor Boshaw IV

Jacob Seed

John Seed

Hannibal (NBC)

Frederick Chilton

Francis Dolarhyde

Will Graham

Hannibal Lecter

Mason Verger

Legend of Zelda

Kass

Link

Prince Sidon

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Steven Grant ♢ Mr. Knight

Jake Lockley

Marc Spector ♢ Moon Knight

Mortal Kombat 1

Baraka

Johnathan Carlton ♢ Johnny Cage

Bi-Han ♢ Sub-Zero

Liu Kang

Kung Lao

Kuai Liang ♢ Scorpion

Raiden

Reiko

Syzoth ♢ Reptile

Kenshi Takahashi

Shang Tsung

Tomas Vrbada ♢ Smoke

Night At The Museum

Ahkmenrah

Jedediah

Octavius

Outlast + Whistleblower

Jeremy Blaire

Eddie Gluskin

Waylon Park

Miles Upshur

Pokémon

Archer

Archie

Beni

Colress

Emmet

Faba

Ghetsis

Giovanni

Guzma

Ingo

Professor Kukui

Lysandre

Matt

Maxie

Milo

Molayne

Nanu

Peony

Petrel

Proton

Chairman Rose

Professor Sycamore

Tabitha

Resident Evil

Karl Heisenberg

Leon Kennedy

Carlos Oliveira

Chris Redfield

Ethan Winters

Scream (Original)

Billy Loomis

Stu Macher

Randy Meeks

Dwight “Dewey” Riley

Supermassive Games

The Devil in Me

Charles Lonnit

House of Ashes

Nick Kay

Eric King

Jason Kolchek

Salim Othman

Man of Medan

Conrad

Bradley Smith

The Quarry

Jacob Custos

Ryan Erzahler

Chris Hackett

Travis Hackett

Dylan Lenivy

Until Dawn

Christopher Hartley

Michael Munroe

Matthew Taylor

Joshua Washington

Uncharted

All Entries

Nathan Drake

Victor Sullivan

Among Thieves

Harry Flynn

A Thief’s End

Rafe Adler

[pureimaginefic]

Trivia

Vicki’s father James was at first an elitist snob who Vicki couldn’t stand

Lisa is named after a girl I went to school with who was a complete bitch

Vicki of course comes from Victoria “Posh Spice” Addams who I hardcore shipped with Brian when I was little, note their last names also being similar.

Incidentally Emily was loosely inspired by Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton

I gave Kevin, Howie, AJ, and Nick a case of SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome) to roughly the same as Brian so the high school plotline and the boys’ birth years made sense without being weird (IRL Nick would’ve been 12 and AJ would’ve been 13/14 if Neilson and Adam were to actually exist)

The boys’ names were supposed to be temporary placeholders so I could remember who’s kid belonged to whom until I could think of new ones…that didn’t happen

The boys’ middle names were inspired by my love of horror movies,

Bradley (Jason Voorhees; Friday the 13th)

Neilson (Freddy Krueger; Nightmare on Elm Street)

Kyle (Michael Myers; Halloween)

Harry (Dracula)

Adam’s middle name was originally Jackson as I believed that the killer of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface’s, real name was Jack (John), turns out it’s Thomas Hewitt, therefore Adam has no ties to any kind of scary movie, which I guess is okay considering he’s scary enough as a person

As far as I know the name “Neilson” IS real I only came up with it because I couldn’t think of another boys’ name that started with an N, completely forgetting the name Nathan existed

Natalie’s last name comes from a guy I was friends with in high school

Mr. Wexler was also the name of the school’s principal in the show “Even Stevens” let’s just say I decided to borrow it

Coach Reinhart’s name comes from my childhood best friend’s maternal grandfather, affectionately known as “Poppy Reinhart”

Forever Your Girl, Pomp & Circumstance, and The Winchester Saga went through NUMEROUS rewrites before their final versions were released

Harry is an amalgamation of Carlton from Fresh Prince, Fez from That 70’s Show, and Steve Urkel from Family Matters

The Winchester Saga has lead to some confusion with people thinking it has something to do with the TV show Supernatural, it doesn’t I was just trying to think of an elite, powerful, snooty sounding last name. I DID create characters named Sam and Dean as a fun Easter egg but they don’t hunt the supernatural, just criminals

The characters Rachel, Chandler, and Joey were NOT done on purpose, I didn’t realize I did it until much later and yes, Friends IS one of my favorite shows 

Incase you didn’t know, Bradley and Neilson are best friends (yes I’m aware of how much I have them refer to each other as such) their relationship is modeled after Brian and Nick’s during the early days of BSB when they were super close

Bradley, Neilson, and Natalie’s friendship was inspired by Shawn, Corey, and Topanga on Boy Meets World

Kevin’s departure from BSB is included in the series with it being mentioned that he’s either in Boston or New York working on movies

Brian’s Christian, good boy persona made me want to make Bradley a snarky, sarcastic, rebellious metalhead  

Neilson is just Nick during his Now or Never era

Mr. Mooney is a faceless character, meaning he’s only mentioned in passing and never actually makes appearances

“Backstreet Manor” as it’s called is big enough to include (at least) 10 bedrooms, an in-home recording studio, a game room, Harry’s lab, and an in-ground pool

While Natalie has a friendly relationship with Kyle and Harry, and is best friends with Bradley, she and Adam have an acrimonious relationship 

Bradley’s car “Christine” a 2008 Ford Mustang convertible gets it’s name from the Stephen King novel of the same name

[thisislizheather]

2023 Resolutions Revisited

Above Photo: The view from Nubeluz, NYC

Time to revisit the resolutions that I made in 2023! This is definitely my favourite post of the year because I will forever love accountability. The best part about making resolutions is going back and seeing how they went in reality. Why are people so anti-resolution? My guess is because most of us think that resolutions are supposed to be serious and not at all fun. Well, news flash - I’m here to tell you that you’re allowed to make fun ones. Also I’m bringing back “news flash.”

Throughout the year, I kept making my seasonal lists (spring, summer, autumn, winter). I got really into making reels, Nathan did his second Tonight Show, I got to visit the abandoned City Hall subway station, I toured the gorgeous Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, went to a tulip farm in New Jersey, we celebrated my dad’s 100th birthday with a giant party and a family trip to Scotland, I saw a ton of shows on Broadway (Death of a Salesman, Moulin Rouge, Shucked, Pictures From Home, Bad Cinderella, Hamlet at Shakespeare in the Park, Six, The Shark is Broken). I started the Summer Saturdays series, as well as Fall Fridays. I saw the Lagerfeld costume exhibit at The Met, I got to see this incredible private rehearsal of a play with Michael McKean, I flew in a Harvard plane, I continued my domination of Halloween, Nathan had three pretty significant pieces written about him in The New York Times, I compiled my favourites of 2023, and I found my favourite summer photos as well as my favourite photos of the year. And here’s how my 2023 resolutions went.

Above Photo: Family in Edinburgh, Scotland

1. Read at least one book per season.

Spring: Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke

Oh my god, that’s it. I read one book last year. Nobody tell my dad because that’s embarrassing as hell. That’s the worst I’ve ever done with my reading goals. Definitely aiming to better about that this year.

2. Take Baby Dog on an adventure at least twice a season.

Done! She went to Canada a total of three separate times this year, and I took her on Central Park walks each season. She also did her pet volunteering a few times and I also took her to the air field where my brother and I got to fly in those planes.

Above Photo: Baby Dog in Central Park, NYC

3. Try at least one new restaurant each month.

January: Carne Mare (such a beautiful space, it’s perfect for a special occasion, caviar mozzarella sticks were slightly overrated but everything else was good), Little Ruby’s Cafe (so great for lunch) & Bistro Eloise (had the best onion soup in all of NYC, that broth was unreal, escargots was fantastic)

Above Photo: Carne Mare, NYC

February: The Bar Room (the grilled chicken on top of their caesar salad was unparalleled), Nubeluz by Jose Andres at The Ritz-Carlton (everything was great, view is perfect), Golden Unicorn (suck city, don’t go) & Olio E Piu (so terrible, begging you to never go)

March: The now-closed Quality Eats (that short rib hash was great), Wayan (best dishes: the corn fritters, the spring rolls, the lamb kebabs and the chocolate chip cookie with cheddar ice cream) & The Grill (the MP pasta appetizer was the most incredible thing we ate - they used this crank-type machine table-side to make the broth for the pasta sauce out of MEAT BONES and I’m still thinking about it, other highlight was the gluten-free zucchini cornbread)

April: Hawksmoor (flashy and beautiful inside, but no real substance), Pete’s Tavern (space is great, food is fine and service was attentive but odd) & Figlia (best Italian in Astoria, by far)

Above Photo: Figlia in Astoria, Queens

May: Spirit Tree Estate Cidery (so wonderful, can’t wait to go again)

June: S& P (fine, absolutely nothing special) & Sojourn (the duck spring rolls are insanely good)

July: Superiority Burger (veggie burger was great, everything else was just average), Modern Bread and Bagel (the gluten free latkes and french toast sticks were unreal) & Rubirosa (great space, great food)

August: 111 by Modou in Glasgow (fantastic!)

September: Shukette (truly special), Margaritaville in Times Square (the key lime pie is legit here) & Shopsin’s (great chicken sandwich)

October: Beetle House (too fun) & Oscar Wilde (so seasonally perfect)

November: Kaia Wine Bar (insanely good birria tacos and a great happy hour)

Above Photo: Birria tacos at Kaia Wine Bar, NYC

December: Mel’s (good, but never need to go again)

4. Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.

Did it! Some of the dates included: going to see Death of a Salesman on Broadway, which depressed us so much that we silently went home and immediately to sleep. He made me see Scream VI against my will, we got drinks at Sunken Harbor Club, went bowling in Astoria, had a night at Rec Room in Square One, saw Talk To Me in theatres, went to Shot of Art together, devoted each Sunday in October to horror movies, we saw The Shark is Broken AND LIFE WAS CHANGED FOREVER (we loved it) and then we went to Maryland for New Year’s Eve.

Above Photo: Nathan in Baltimore, Maryland

5. Every month, cook something I’ve never cooked before.

January: penne alla vodka (this recipe sucked, but I want to try it again) and lasagna soup (wonderful, definitely would make again)

February: greek chicken meatballs (hard pass, too bland)

March: chicken marsala (I’ve made this at least ten times since March, favourite recipe of the year) & tres leche cake (heavenly)

Above Photo: Tres leche cake

April: steak Diane (really, really good) & asparagus soup (phenomenal)

May: lemon almond pudding cake (pretty boring, wouldn’t make again) & a classic bread pudding (simple and great recipe)

June: strawberry cobbler bars (good, but nothing to make again) & this dark chocolate cake with this icing (unbelievably tasty)

Above Photo: Strawberry cobbler bars

July: nothing this month (I’ll blame it on traveling)

August: stuffed summer shells (so, so good) & homemade pizza (which I promise to shut up about after this post)

Above Photo: Stuffed summer shells

September: tomato tart (good, but a ready-made puff pastry would’ve tasted better here) & pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (meh, don’t need to make again) & pumpkin spice syrup for iced coffee (wow)

October: apple cider doughnut cookies (good!) & a coconut chicken tikka masala (good but I never need to do it again)

Above Photo: Apple cider doughnut cookies

November: a rice krispies pumpkin pie (hilarious)

Above Photo: Rice Krispies pumpkin pie

December: espresso martini cookies (good!) & a mushroom loaf (truly great) & chocolate pistachio shortbread cookies (the worst! I think I just messed up the recipe though so this is on me)

6. Go on a solo, alone trip.

Biggest regret on this whole list. I’ve wanted to do this for years, so I might just keep it on the 2024 list.

7. Have at least one advertiser on this site.

Not yet! But I’ll keep trying.

8. On the first of each month, try something new.

Jesus, these resolutions were lofty! Big nope on this one.

9. Buy a keyboard and start playing piano again.

Hahahah, not even kinda. Great idea in theory. I did play piano each time I visited my parent’s house, though, so that’s something. A pathetic something, but a something. Don’t worry, I won’t try to take a half point here.

10. Have my book in at least one bookstore by the end of the year. Even if I have to self-publish and then physically put it on a shelf myself.

Okay, truthfully I didn’t even remember this was a resolution, so I didn’t even submit it anywhere for at least half of the year. But this is exactly why I need to revisit my resolutions list at least once a month. (It’s not lame if that itself is one of my resolutions, yeah?)

One thing that I’m so happy that I kept doing throughout the year? My monthly roundup posts. They’re basically little monthly journal entries that make me realize how good I have it sometimes, and I’m so grateful that anyone wants to read them. Here are the links to the last twelve months of them: December 2023, November 2023, October 2023, September 2023, August 2023, July 2023, June 2023, May 2023, April 2023, March 2023, February 2023 & January 2023.

And here are all the best tweets posts from 2023 as well: January, February, the best Valentine tweets, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, the best Halloween tweets, November, December and the best Christmas tweets.

So if we’re keeping score (we are), I did 4/10 on my resolutions (dear god). But see the thing is - this was one of the best years I’ve had in a very long time, so that’s important to note. You can brutally fail at resolutions and still make some progress because this felt like a very full year with a lot of things that went in the right direction.

2024 resolutions coming tomorrow!

[aurorabayrpg]

Welcome to Aurora Bay [BROOKE and MISSA]! We hope you enjoy your stay! Please send in your account within 24 hours to secure [JESSE LEE SOFFER, NATHALIE KELLEY, KATHRYN NEWTON, and THOMAS DOHERTY] as your faceclaim, and please be sure to review our checklist make sure you read our guidelines! **Astrid Hansley's long lost sibling wc is now taken**

[cis male and he & him] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [COOPER HAWKINS]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [JESSE LEE SOFFER]. You must be the [THIRTY - EIGHT] year old [PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR]. Word is you’re [LOYAL] but can also be a bit [SELF - DESTRUCTIVE] and your favorite song is [WAY DOWN WE GO AND KALEO]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREAST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

[cis female and she&her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [GENEVIEVE GRATH]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [NATHALIE KELLEY]. You must be the [THIRTY - EIGHT] year old [SCRIP WRITER]. Word is you’re [OUTGOING] but can also be a bit [BOSSY] and your favorite song is [BREATHE AND ANNA NALICK]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [ARUORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

[cis female and she&her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [BRYNLEY FISHER]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [KATHRYN NEWTON]. You must be the [TWNETY- FIVE] year old [WAITRESS at SEA SHANTY SHOP]. Word is you’re [PASSIONATE] but can also be a bit [EMOTIONAL] and your favorite song is [WHITE HOUSES AND VANESSA CARLTON]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREAST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!

[cis male and he/they] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [NATHAN "NATE" DANISH]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [THOMAS DOHERTY]. You must be the [TWENTY-SEVEN] year old [BRAND MANAGER]. Word is you’re [GOOD-NATURED] but can also be a bit [POMPOUS] and your favorite song is [BLINDING LIGHTS by THE WEEKND]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [AURORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! Astrid Hansley's Long Lost Brother