#of course the two (2) photos were taken by two different people

[soupy-sez]

Danny DeVito and Mike Patton attend the after party for the season 2 premiere of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" at The Cabana Club, Hollywood, California, June 25th, 2006, © Mark Mainz/Michael Tran

[bunnydolllies016]

Lab of the Damned

Chapter 1: Welcome Mc, to A.M.L!

(This is the first chapter of the main story of the Obey Me! Dark lab au! Be warned that future installments will include more gore and violence. The mc/reader is GN, so it'll be Obey me x Gn! reader. TW: Blood, dark themes mentioned, describes some violence.) Chp. 1 (you are here), Chp. 2(Coming soon)

"Greetings Mc!

We are sending you this letter regarding your application to work at Angel's Medicine Laboratory. We are so happy to welcome you to the A.M.L family! Please come into our main building as soon as possible through the hours of 8 A.M to 10 P.M for a tour and to sign your work contract. We'll provide you with your own living space as well so please bring your dear belongings.

We here at A.M.L. can't wait to meet you in person! We hope you'll love becoming part of our family.

Hope to see you soon,

Simeon Angel."

You couldn't believe it, even as you continued to hold the letter in your hands you couldn't believe it was real. You squealed happily and hugged the letter close to your chest, you can finally help make the world a better place! All the struggle throughout high school and a four-year college would finally be worth it. Also, you won't have to live with your parents anymore! You waste no time texting your parents the news, receiving congrats and support in a matter of minutes as you begin to pack up your more important items. Different outfits, some family photos, and anything else you held dear and wanted to keep with you. In the end, you had a backpack and gym bag full of stuff as you began to head out. By now your parents had rushed home to see you off and say their goodbyes. You got in your car and were off, it took you thirty minutes to finally reach the main building and it was around 1 P.M now. You sped-walked into the main building with your bags in hand, stopping to face the lady at the reception desk who seemed to be drawing something out, looked like some elaborate trap. You coughed to get their attention. The woman faced you, their pink rooted hair bounced a bit, and the blue in it looked like a good contrast to the pink. Their green eyes stared at you as they began to speak.

"Good Evening, Welcome to A.M.L., who are you and what do you need?" Their tone sounded slightly annoyed. 'Rude much?' you had thought to yourself.

"Hello, My name is Mc. I'm here for my tour and to sign my contract. Do I sign it here or?...." You say as you wait for their response. Instead, their neon green eyes look you up and down before they pick up their phone and dial a number. You hear them mumble your name over it before the person on the other line hangs up first.

"He'll be down here to get you and greet you shortly, please stay still and wait." They say before going back to drawing whatever they had been before you interrupted them. You decide to look at their name tag, 'Thirteen', what a weird name. Before you know it you see him, your eyes lighting up with recognition. Simeon Angel himself has come to greet you!

"Ah! You must be Mc!" He had begun to speak before a small bark sounded from his bag. You looked down at it just to be greeted by a light blonde chihuahua in a white hat. 'cute..' you thought to yourself. Simeon coughed before he chuckled. "Don't mind Luke, let's go to my office so we can get your papers signed," he says before motioning you to follow him into a nearby elevator. "Just leave your bags here, they'll be taken to your new living quarters by some fellow employees," Simeon states as he steps into the open elevator.

"Of course sir!" You say and do as told, dropping your bags in a nearby chair, and watching as they're taken by two mysterious people before you follow the slim male into the elevator. Eventually, you find yourself sitting at a desk, Simeon Angel behind the desk and in front of you. 

"Well Mc, I'm happy to congratulate you in person! I have your contract right here, please do sign it." The man says with a smile as he hands you a clipboard, your contract on it. You briefly read it, not really paying attention to the details, he definitely wouldn't be hiding anything dark in this contract, right? You sign the contract and hand it back to Simeon, who smiles at you and stamps it, confirming you signed it. Simeon speaks up as he takes Luke out of his bag to roam his office, "Thank you! You're the most perfect person for this role! Here take this." The male before you hands you a watch, it looks... weird, you put it on anyway, and once on your wrist, it locked around it. "Don't worry about that! It's just waterproof." Simeon says, his smile still kind and bright as he stands up and motions you to follow. He leads you out of his office, leaving Luke in it as he takes you to go get your uniform and badge. You take the bag containing your clothes and ID, smiling at Simeon before you speak up,

"Thank you, sir!" You begin with a soft smile, "Which part of the lab will I be working?" You miss it but a dark look crosses Simeon's face as he softly smirks.

"I'll take you down there now!" Simeon responds as he motions you to follow again. As you walk with him, you notice he's taking you to a darker part of the building, it somewhat looks hardly used. He stops you at an elevator and digs out a badge, using it to call the elevator. "Your department is top secret, as stated in your contract you can not talk about this work with anyone at all, we'll know if you do." He says, his voice having a somewhat dark undertone despite the soft smile on his face. "Now come along, the tour begins now!" Simeon states as the elevator door opens and he steps inside, you waste no time in following him.

You feel nervous the lower the elevator goes and decide to speak up, "So, why is the department I'm in on such a low floor?" You ask nervously with a small smile, trying to think of what kind of work you could be doing down here. You jump as the elevator stops with a thunk, not expecting the elevator to sound like, especially when the rest of the building is so modern and well-built.

"Well Mc, you will be a caretaker of sorts for our... subjects... I know it won't be too much for you to handle! They're sure to love you..." Simeon says as the dark look on his face is still present, but he still is smiling. You raise a brow, didn't A.M.L claim to not use animals as product and medicine testers? "This is the entrance hall, where you'll use your watch against that machine to clock in." He speaks softly as he points to a machine in front of the both of you. He walks forward and expects you to follow of course. Your eyes widened as you entered the next area; It was a long hallway of some sort, different testing chambers on either side. As you walk beside Simeon you aren't listening as he speaks about each room. Your heart is full of fear and dread as you see what, no, who they are testing on. In the testing room, before you stands a man with white hair in a lab coat, a sinister and sadistic look on his face as he uses a cattle prod to poke and taze a much taller man with black hair, his red eyes showing displeasure and disgust for the man prodding at him, he doesn't even flinch as he is tazed, no spasming or reaction at all came from him, his clothes were disheveled from the prodding though. That wasn't the weirdest part of the man, no it was the very pointy ears, the black horns coming from his head and the four wings coming from his back, all pitch black and some feathers clearly missing, whether it be from this kind of abuse or stress you can't tell.

"W-what the fuck?" You stuttered out as you stepped away from the glass on the testing chamber, not seeing the amused expression Simeon flashed your way.

"That is one of the nine subjects you will be looking after! His name is Lucifer, he is one of the best "demons" we have!" Simeon states as if he is just talking about the weather and not a fully grown man he's having his employees test on.

You stare at the dark-skinned male before you, a look of shock and fear across your face as you speak up in a confused but fearful voice, "Nine? Demons? Huh?" Just as you were about to continue before loud crashing, low growls, and yelling interrupted you; they came from down the hallway. Looking over revealed more "demons", specifically two certain ones fighting. One was a dark-tanned male, with slightly pointed ears, a full head of white hair, and blue eyes that had a golden-yellow gradient. He has horns that look somewhat like spirals atop his head, large bat-like wings come from his back and they flap violently. He's on top of the other male, throwing punches as different scientists try to pry him off the man below him. The male below him has pale skin, and what seems to be scales on it in certain places, he, like the two before him, has pointed ears, but his seemed to have two different pointed ends, somewhat like fish fins. His hair is a blueish-purple color and his eyes are a glowing orange with a purple gradient, the whites of his eyes seem to be a slight grey color. His horns look like coral and are a black color but have a hint of blue to them, he also seems to have a long lizard-like tail.

"Ah, Mammon and Leviathan are at it again. We'll have to punish them...again..." Simeon says, his tone showing distaste but amusement at the chaos around him as he ignores your comment. A door behind you opens and you turn to check it out, you are horrified at the man who stood behind you. He had to be about 7'5 in height alone, he was so muscular and well-built, with a muzzle around his mouth and his hands cuffed in front of him as he looked down at you with interest; he was sniffing you through the muzzle. His hair is a bright orange, his ears pointed but droopy, and he has purple eyes that seem to fade into magenta and then red, one of the whites of his eyes isn't white, but rather an inky black color. Scars litter across his body, along with weird black markings, he has black horns that curve and almost crown his head, fly-like wings coming from his back buzz softly as he continues to stare down at you. "Beelzebub! Now, Now, stop drooling into your muzzle at your new caretaker's scent! Mc this is Beelzebub, Beelzebub this is Mc, your new caretaker!" Simeon says to the towering male standing before them, who looks at Simeon with a somewhat blank expression, you can see some fear and pain in his purple eyes as he stares at Simeon.

"Wait a damn minute please!" You cry out to Simeon, finally catching his attention, and now Beelzebub, who watches you closely but with clear hesitance. "I can't possibly work here after seeing all of this! This is s-so.. so.. fucked up!" You said as you took several steps away from Simeon.

Simeon stopped smiling, his expression dark and serious as he spoke, "You don't have a choice, you signed a two-year contract with us. You're stuck here...unless you'd rather face certain consequences for trying to go against your contract." As he spoke the watch around your wrist tightened and its screen flashed red. By the look on Simeon's face, you knew the consequence of going against him would either be death or the same fate as the subjects you'll be in charge of.

"B-but- I-" You tried to protest but Simeon put a finger to your lips to hush you, a sinister smile on his own lips.

"Shhh, Mc. You already signed away your life to me." Simeon began to speak softly, but his eyes showed sadistic amusement at your internal conflict about all of this. "If this really had bothered you..." Simeon begins again, Beelzebub looks at you sadly and with pity as a guard begins to walk him back to his containment chamber, he can tell you're a good person who just got caught up in a bad situation, he can only hope you stay a good person in here. "Then you should have read the fine print." Simeon finished speaking with a cold smile as he looked down at you. Dread filled you completely, these two years weren't going to end well.

"Welcome to A.M.L, Mc. I can't wait to see all the good work you'll do."

(Well I'm not sure when I'll be able to work on chapter 2, I just started my psychology class, so I'll try my best to work on it when I can. Hope you enjoyed it! This is also posted on my AO3 account and shouldn't be anywhere else but here and there.)

[byersbootyshorts]

okay so love the virgin eddie content ofc but now it's got me thinking about shy virgin jonathan that's never felt the touch of a woman getting his world absolutely fucking rocked by reader, thoughts?

What Happens In The Darkroom…

Summary: After years of being fascinated by the mystery that is Jonathan Byers you finally get what you want.

Pairing: Jonathan Byers x fem!reader

Warnings: sub!Jonathan, dom!reader, smut, hand job

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: This request made me scream ngl. This isn’t much but I have an idea for a part 2 so if you like this please let me know. Even if you don’t like it I’ll probably write it anyway because holy shit sub!Jonathan.

Click here for part 2

Jonathan Byers always fascinated you. You’d never spoken a word to him but you crossed paths more often than people thought.

You were the head photographer of the Hawkins High newspaper and so you were constantly in the school’s darkroom developing photos for the newest issue. And it just so happened that almost every time you were in there, Jonathan was too, developing his own photos in the opposite corner, not saying a word.

And that was how it always was. You’d enter the darkroom with some new photos to develop, notice Jonathan working away at the other side of the room and get on with it. You didn’t even think he’d ever made eye contact with you, despite your constant close proximity to one another.

And that was why you found him so intriguing. He was a complete mystery. And it was that mystery that made you all the more attracted to him. You’d never tell your friends this, of course, but the more time you spent in his presence the more you wanted to talk to him; to touch him; to do things to him you only thought about late at night.

It was just another usual day. The final bell rang and you swiftly made your way to the darkroom to develop some photos you’d taken of the basketball team’s latest victory. Although, when you entered the room, you were startled. Jonathan, who was usually in his own little world at the back of the room, was working right next to where you always did.

You stopped dead in your tracks for a moment out of sheer shock before continuing as if nothing was different. You went to your usual place and grabbed the equipment you needed before getting to work. But you were distracted.

Jonathan was so close to you you could hear his shallow breaths. You felt almost rude not talking to him when he no more than an arm’s length away from you. So, you decided to do something you hadn’t done in the two years you’d known him. You decided to talk to Jonathan Byers.

‘Wanted a change of scenery today, huh?’ you asked, your voice a little louder than you expected.

Jonathan was taken aback. He almost dropped his camera as you spoke.

‘W-what?’ he stuttered, confused as to why you randomly decided to acknowledge him.

‘You’re normally over there,’ you pointed to the back corner of the room. ‘I’m just making an observation.’

‘Oh right, yeah, I, uh, well, the light’s broken so I have to use a different one,’ he mumbled.

‘And even with all the other lights working you had to use the one right beside me,’ you joked.

‘Uh, sorry, I-.’

‘Hey, it’s fine, Byers. I’m joking,’ you laughed.

‘You know my name?’ Jonathan asked, the look of confusion on his face growing more and more prominent.

‘Of course I do. What, you think we’ve been going to the same school for two years, using this room together and I don’t know your name? We even have some classes together.’

‘I know, it’s just, most people don’t even notice me.’ Jonathan continued to look down at his photos, not daring to meet your eyes.

‘Well, you are pretty quiet,’ you replied.

He didn’t say anything after that so you turned back to your work station and began developing your photos.

After about thirty minutes Jonathan was finished for the day. He’d hung up his photos and packed his camera back in his bag. However, as he made his way to the door something came over you. You didn’t want things to go back to the way they were before. You didn’t want to come into the darkroom the next day to find Jonathan holed up in his usual little corner. You didn’t want to just admire him from afar anymore because, now that you’d seem him up close, you wanted him more than ever. Besides, you hadn’t failed to notice all the times he glanced in your direction as you worked side by side that day.

No, you couldn’t let him get away this time.

Just as he was about to grab the doorknob you bolted over and turned the lock.

‘Wha- what are you doing?’ he asked. Your faces were so close you could feel his breath tickle your face. You made eye contact for the first time since meeting him.

‘What I’ve always wanted to do.’

You grabbed his face and pulled it towards you. Your lips met with such force that Jonathan let out a high-pitched whimper. You didn’t wrap your arms around him in case he wanted to pull away. You had no idea if he even wanted this and expected him to pull himself away. But he didn’t.

He was frozen at first, his lips rigid, his body stiff, but it only took a second for him to melt into you. His lips softened, allowing your tongue access to his mouth. His tongue tasted like mint as it tangled with yours. You wrapped your arms around his neck; his hands just barely brushed your waist. You could tell he had no idea what he was doing. You walked forward, still locked in the kiss, until his back hit the wall.

You moved your hands up from his neck to his hair, pulling lightly on the greasy strands. Each tug caused Jonathan to release yet another whine. Eventually you pulled his head back, breaking your lips apart.

Jonathan was a mess. His eyes bulged in shock. He seemed as though he could barely stand and his breaths were shaky and uneven. His eyes weren’t the only thing that was bulging.

Pressed so close to him you could feel the swell in his pants. You removed one hand from his hair and slowly dragged it down his body to his jeans. Jonathan swallowed deeply as you rubbed him, aching to remove the layer of fabric between your hand and his dick.

‘Help,’ he breathed.

‘What was that?’ you asked in an assertive tone.

‘Help, please,’ he moaned.

‘Oh, you want some help with that?’ you nodded down to his bulge. ‘But we’re in school. I can’t,’ you teased.

‘Please,’ Jonathan begged, burying his head in your neck. ‘I don’t care. Please. I don’t care what you do to me.’

Hearing Jonathan beg so pathetically like that made you want to fuck him right then and there. But you got a hold of yourself. You wanted to take things slow.

‘Well, seeing as you asked so nicely.’

You took a painfully long time unbuckling Jonathan’s belt, undoing his buttons and pulling down his pants.

‘Hmm, not bad,’ you smirked down at his exposed cock, then back up at Jonathan. His eyes were already closed in concentration and you had barely even touched him yet.

‘Look at me, Jonathan,’ you ordered. His eyes flicked open at the mention of his name. And when they met yours, you swiftly wrapped your hand around his dick. A small whimper escaped him but his eyes remained locked on yours. So, you began to move your hand up and down his cock, slow at first, agonisingly slow.

You pulled him close again, kissing him briefly before your lips made their way to his jaw and down his neck. You left dark red marks all the way down the left side of his neck while still maintaining a steady pace with your hand.

The louder his moans grew, the faster you pumped your hand. Every so often Jonathan’s waist jutted forward and you pushed him back with a kiss. After a long while Jonathan moans morphed into screams. The sudden loudness made you stop abruptly, causing Jonathan to let out a whine that sounded more like a sad dog.

‘We’re in school, remember? Keep it down.’

‘I will. I’m sorry. Please, keep going, please. I can’t…’

He threw his head back and shut his eyes tightly. You noticed a singular tear escape from his right eye as you picked up your pace once more. His whimpers got higher as he tried his best to supress them. Even though he was being quiet as you asked, you couldn’t help yourself placing your free hand over his mouth. Shit, he looked so pathetically hot like this.

You felt air move in and out of his nose as he tried to steady his erratic breathing.

His dick convulsed in your hand and you knew he wouldn’t last much longer. You removed your hand from his mouth and pulled his chin down so his eyes aligned with yours. His brows furrowed in expectance.

‘Not yet,’ you whispered.

You rubbed your thumb on around his wet tip. You were curious to see how much he could take. To your disappointment, it wasn’t much.

Soon you had to return your hand back over his mouth as he whined louder than ever, cum shooting from his exhausted cock.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whimpered when you pulled your hand away from his mouth. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold-. Fuck.’

‘It’s okay,’ you replied, not doing anything to mask your disappointment. You grabbed his shirt and wiped your cum covered hand on it. Then, you walked away from him as though nothing happened, leaving him there, mouth agape, jeans at his ankles, too in awe to speak.

You packed up your things, grabbed your bag and walked back over to him. Putting your mouth to his ear you whispered.

‘Just know, next time I won’t be so forgiving.’

You quickly placed a kiss on his cheek before turning on your heel, unlocking the door and leaving.

Part 2

[redhairedwolfwitch]

You Are My Home (3/3) - Alexia Putellas x Reader

Part 1 - Searching For A Home

Part 2 - No Place Like Home

Summary: When leaving Barcelona, you say it was to grow as a player and get more playing time, but your real reason is to get over your crush. But the constant moving around and not staying with one club or league for over 2 years has led to speculation you have commitment issues. Turns out that the truth is very different to what has been assumed, especially now you have returned and settled into Barcelona life again.

A/n: translations at the bottom, may be incorrect but it’s google translate and deepl for you… also let's hope the tags work because I broke everything last time i tried to fix things and almost quit writing all together...

The fact that you were actually having people over to your flat amused Jenni to no end, even after you pointed the salad tongs at her to stop bringing up that conversation, instead explaining each of the photos you had framed and put up around your flat.

Of course it was Leila and Mapi who stumbled across the photo you hadn’t told Alexia that you had printed with the bunch, but when the two defenders ran over with the frame to make enquiries about it, you chewed your lip instead of the salad, ignoring the knowing look in Irene’s eye as Jenni turned to and began to tease Alexia for her shocked expression in the photo.

“Where did you have this one?” Alexia enquired, taking the frame from Mapi to inspect it.

“Next to their bed-” Leila began but she was hit on the nose by a piece of bread, courtesy of you as you put your hand out to Alexia, asking for the frame.

“It was not, why were you guys even in my room?” you replied, getting up from your chair to put the photo frame back, not realising the others were following until you were well into your room, balancing on a chair to reach where Leila had taken the frame from on the wall earlier.

“Be careful!”

“When did you put this up?”

“Did you put this up by yourself?”

“By standing on a chair?”

“I… I borrowed a step ladder from my neighbour… you seriously think I’d stand on a chair when using a hammer?” you frowned, looking between each of your teammates, but Alexia’s gaze was on the wall, looking over each picture. Old ones from your time at Barcelona years ago, to your time at Portland with your teammates there, one shot from Chicago of the snow, shots from your time in Bristol with your teammates there, then many shots of Paris, including ones actually taken by Irene. It was the photo of you kissing Alexia’s cheek that Leila and Mapi found, but you had other photos of you and Alexia up on the wall, plus some new Barcelona team photos.

“There are more pictures here of our captain than with any of us!” Jenni teasingly pouted at you, not expecting you to flick an envelope of photos at her.

“Take your pick, that’s why there’s gaps. I picked out my favourites first-”

Alexia raised an eyebrow at you, but you rolled your eyes playfully.

“What? I like the lighting in them.” You tried to justify yourself on why so many of the photos were you and Alexia, but Alexia smiled softly, her gaze going back to one of the old photos from six years ago.

You were distracted from reminiscing about your time at PSG with Irene as Jenni shoved a photo in your face, making you laugh as you realised it was an old photo that you hadn’t put up, from years ago in Barcelona.

“Wasn’t sure whether to put that one up.” You admitted, looking at the old team photo from before you left Barcelona all that time ago.

“You got taller.” Jenni teased, resting her hand on your head as you glared at her playfully, realising after that Irene had nodded in agreement with Jenni, so you glared at your former PSG captain too.

///

The upcoming el clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid had a magnetic energy running through the squad. Everyone wanted to beat Madrid, and Madrid wanted to beat Barcelona, but their track record was never in their favour.

Stepping onto the pitch, you were part of the starting XI, your versatility slotting you into Barcelona’s usual 4-3-3 formation well, but everyone knew you would switch it up if the energy shifted. A reason why you were a pain in the ass to play against. But there was more than that. Your adaptation to the brutality of the NWSL meant you could sweep players off their feet cleanly. You always got the ball, and you never stayed down on the ground long, unless something was really wrong.

Alexia knew this, watching as you stared down the ref, waiting. No yellow card was given, your tackle was clean, and even the Real Madrid players knew this, but they didn’t like it. You had been a target all match, but you got up every time. Even when Jenni and Alexia were clashing with Esther, you were ready to pull them both back, even when Mapi was about to start fighting whoever sent you to the ground, you were up pulling Mapi back. The exhaustion was evident even as you managed to send the ball into the net, nearly collapsing in Alexia’s arms during the goal celebration.

She couldn’t hide the concern on her face as you walked to move back to your position for the game to continue, your body aching as you kept going. Even when one of the Madrid players got desperate and almost turned the football game into wrestling.

You ended up staring at the young player, telling her to calm down as you stood back up, walking away before the ref could get involved.

The game finally ended with Barcelona winning 5-0. Your teammates were revitalised with energy as they celebrated, but you held back a yawn, your limbs aching as Alexia pulled you into a hug, feeling her tense as you winced.

“I need an ice bath…” you murmured, hugging her tightly, even when you both were drenched in sweat from playing the entire game, plus stoppage time.

“Can I have a hug, or only our captain?” Jenni teased, raising an eyebrow as you ended up having to leave Alexia’s embrace, about to try hugging Jenni but you winced again.

“Raincheck? I need an ice bath… this game was a wrestling match!” you grumbled, squeezing Alexia’s bicep before you headed towards the tunnel. You would have stayed for the fans, but you knew you would be covered in bruises tomorrow.

Alexia found you almost asleep in the ice bath, scaring her for a second but you opened your eyes. Your jersey was on the floor with your boots, but Alexia’s hand was warm as she gently cupped your cheek, glancing over your face.

“I’m okay. I’m glad we won, they were brutal… you were a great captain today.” You smiled softly, leaning into her hand as Alexia coaxed you from the ice bath.

“You could have been subbed off.” Alexia frowned, but you shook your head, picking up your jersey and boots.

“And let someone else rough and tumble with Real Madrid? There’s a reason the fans call me a versatile tank.” You teased, but Alexia snorted.

“You are so silly when you are sleepy.”

“But you love me regardless…” you replied, walking back to the locker room to get changed.

“Si…” Alexia whispered to herself, watching you walk ahead of her with a soft smile on her face.

///

Recovery day turned into team bonding as everyone somehow agreed to watch a movie together. You were curled up next to Alexia, meaning Jenni was stuck with your feet in her lap, something she wasn’t enjoying as she tried to tickle your foot, getting kicked in the process.

You were barely half-way through the film before your eyes began to close, the ache from keeping them open wearing you down as your body leaned, ending up in Alexia’s personal space as you fell asleep. Jenni was about to complain as your heel pressed into her stomach, but she turned her head to spot you using Alexia as a pillow, your captain not complaining as she wrapped an arm around you to keep you stable.

Jenni wiggled her eyebrows, ready to tease your pillow, but instead, Alexia gave her a warning glare, gesturing to not wake you up with whatever she was about to say. Both women froze as you made a noise in your sleep, curling in further on yourself before your breathing levelled out again. Exchanging looks, they both looked down at you, but you were fast asleep, completely still minus your chest rising and falling with each breath.

It took until the end of the movie for you to stir, Leila had accidentally let out a loud yawn during the credits that had you stirring, before Jenni’s hand rested on your ankle, and your reflexes kicked in, and you kicked her.

Jenni cursing made you shuffle up, wide awake but now sat fully in Alexia’s lap as you began to apologise to them both, scrambling to get up and out of the room.

Alexia found you splashing cold water on your face, her hand reaching over to turn off the tap, as her other hand rested comfortingly on the small of your back.

“Lo siento, I didn’t mean to fall asleep at all, I’m sorry I used you as a pillow too-”

“Is your ankle okay?” Alexia cut straight to the point, having noticed you’d been walking a little funny since the match against Real Madrid.

“Nicked during stoppage time. The staff know, I just… I panicked when Jenni’s hand rested on it. I’m okay, I’ll be okay.” You affirmed, leaning into Alexia’s touch.

“You are not alone anymore, okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere, oh captain, my captain… I… when I said there is no home for me like Barcelona… I lied.” You admitted, realising how much of a mess your wording was as Alexia’s face fell, immediately thinking you were leaving again.

“Barcelona is my home, but… it is home because you are here. You are my home, Alexia… there is no home for me without you there.”

You avoided Alexia’s eyes, staring into the sink until her fingers hooked under your chin, bringing your gaze back to her with a soft smile.

“Welcome home.” Alexia hummed, her hands cupping your face, about to ask whether she could lean in, when you nodded, meeting her in the middle.

“You are my home…” you whispered in English against her lips, before slipping into Spanish as you leaned in again, Alexia’s hand on your hip, letting you rest on her as the kissing continued.

You were home, Alexia was your home. She always had been.

/// translations (hopefully) ///

si = yes

lo siento = i'm sorry

[profilerhotch]

For the Marchhotchness writing challenge by @hotchfiles

This is the non edited version of what I wanted to post, I might come back and re-edit it at a later date but I wanted to get something up.

It’s kinda cutesy and angsty, it was intentionally written to not include any descriptors of the other person involved so imagine whoever you want.

Word count- 1k

—

2. [PROMPT] The One That Got Away

Aaron’s FBI desk had 4 photo frames on it, 1 of jack, 1 of Haley, 1 of the team and another that he never explained or spoke about. Two people smiling, their arms around each other completely unaware their photo was being taken, so wrapped up in the other. It was clearly from when Aaron was in college, the oversized George Washington Law sweater his partner wore helped pinpoint that.

It became a bet within the team as to who would get the story for the mystery photo quickest. There were rules, the answer had to come from Hotch himself, Penelope wasn’t to hack or search any databases, and the story had to be given voluntarily- no locking him in an interrogation room until he talks.

Months went by with nothing, Aaron would ignore any and all questions about the photo obviously changing the topic or leaving the room.

It started as a standard Tuesday morning with JJ presenting the case they were being called out to, families being murdered with one sole survivor who had been bound and forced to witness only to be killed 3 days later.

Hotch didn’t flinch at graphic crime scene details or photos anymore so when he dropped the file and gasped, it gained attention. Realising what had happened he apologised and ordered the team to the jet. The most recent family was yours and he had less than 3 days to save your life.

———

You met in college, the only two people even slightly awake in your 9am lecture. Over the weeks you continued sitting next to each other, studying late in the library, and grabbing coffee before class. It was like you had known each other forever. When you went home for Spring Break you invited Aaron back with you, knowing that since he had split with Haley he wasn’t really looking forward to being home.

It was wonderful, you showed him all your favourite spots and pointed out the places you had told him about in stories from your childhood. He got on well with your family, particularly loved by your younger cousins who insisted he come back every break. So he did, you’d spend all semester practically living together, barely surviving the stress of Law School and then when a break rolled round you would pack up his car and make the journey back to your parents house.

This all changed going into your final semester, you had decided to live together off campus that year renting a little 2 bed apartment, you were well aware all your classmates and family thought you were together and this did nothing to disprove them. But you weren’t, had you thought about it? absolutely, but Aaron was still torn up about Haley and told you he needed time to move on from her.

You had a different course load now and today was one of the days you had class and Aaron didn’t, usually that meant you would arrive home to Aaron making you lunch in the kitchen before you embarked on that day's study session. Today though, you hadn’t heard from him since you left 3 hours ago. You were not expecting someone to be sitting in your living room when you got home, and you definitely weren’t expecting that person to be Haley Brooks.

From that day on things changed, Aaron had told you he wasn’t giving Hayley another chance and yet here she was, at every study session, every coffee date, practically living in your apartment. The only time you were alone with Aaron was if you shared a class and even then she’d text him constantly. You could see what was going to happen before it did, you have walked in on them making out enough times now to realise he had changed his mind.

You were happy for him, he had always loved her, but you thought you had been at least close enough friends that he would have told you she was back in his life.

You pulled away, slowly at first hoping he wouldn’t notice, until eventually you stayed after class in the library and only came home to eat and sleep. You were like strangers and he either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

The day of your graduation you set the gift you had brought him outside his door, before heading off to meet your family. It was a photo frame of the two of you and a leather briefcase monogrammed with his initials, you debated keeping the photo back but after today you knew in your gut you wouldn’t hear from him again.

You didn’t, not a thankyou nor a congratulations. 23 years went by and the only contact you had was a wedding invitation in the mail a year in.

———

Grabbing his bag from his office, he looked at your photograph on his desk. It had been 23 years since he had last spoken to you, the person who at one point in time had been his world and now you had lost everything and were in danger.

He refused to talk about his reaction to the case files and instead forced the team into building a profile, and assigning their jobs. The team knew something was up but Hotch was good at building walls and his had never been so solid.

At the precinct he had tasked himself and Rossi with interviewing you, while the others set up and visited crime scenes. Rossi led the way into the interview room, noticing Hotch’s hesitation. Your head snapped up and you promptly broke down, seeing Aaron for the first time every memory flooded back.

‘They’re all gone Aaron, every one of them’

He came and sat next to you and without a thought pulled you into his arms, not caring about the reaction of his colleague as tears filled his eyes.

He had left 20 years ago at Haley's request he sure as hell wasn’t going to leave you alone now. If you would let him he would be there.

Dave might not have the story yet, but you were the mystery person from the photograph now sobbing into his friend's chest.

[discopaddock]

BIEVRE RIVER - PIERRE GASLY (PART 2)

PAIRING: pierre gasly x fem!reader

GENRE: fluff

WORD COUNT: 841

NOTE: finally found time to write 2nd part! hope you guys like it. PART 2 TO THIS

WARNINGS: none just my english

The next few days were living hell for Pierre. Everything reminded him of his ex-fiancée. In addition, he had to arrange the wedding and hoped to get his money back. Because he was the one who took care of the financial issue of planning the celebration.

Unfortunately, his family did not leave a dry thread on him, constantly asking him about the reason for Dulcinea's run off from the church.

As if they couldn't leave him alone and end up with one and the same question.

Plus, Charles kept telling him about some girl that he should talk to her, and he honestly couldn't remember anything since his run away from the church on that fateful day.

But when he saw a photo in his gallery with a Y/H/C girl looking to the left, something clicked on his sad mind.

He also remembered that drunk as a bum, he asked her for her phone number. So when he went to the contacts on his phone and saw an unfamiliar name there, he felt a twist of embarrassment in his stomach.

He had no idea what he had said or how he had behaved that afternoon and evening, and he was embarrassed and disgusted with himself.

So he forced himself to write two short text messages in which he introduced himself and apologised for his behaviour.

Unfortunately, he had to wait a long time for the answer, because it came more than two hours later.

He was happy and relieved when he saw the message, the content of which said that Y/N was not angry with him at all and did not blame him for his behavior.

But the text that she thought he had forgotten about her made him huff appalled.

"I never forget, sweets ;)"

He replied yes and then started a completely different topic of conversation. About macaroons. He asked about her favorite flavor of those stupid cookies she had brought with her that day.

Y/L/N nearly spat out the tomato soup she was eating when she read the text. Nevertheless, she wrote him back, and so began their conversation, at the end of which they agreed to meet on the beach of the Bievre River.

When Charles heard from his friend that he was going to meet a girl next week, he thought the friend was joking. He was terribly surprised to find that Gasly was deadly serious.

Of course, Pierre emphasised at every turn that it was not a romantic or sexual meeting - he didn't know this girl and wanted to meet her sober.

And so he did, and Y/N herself turned out to be his first platonic, or so he thought, soulmate.

She was a wonderful friend, and not only in his opinion, because Charlotte Siné herself fell in love with her (reciprocally) at first sight.

Lottie became very close to her and together with Eszter they were confidants of Y/L/N's secrets.

They were also the first people to know about her crush on Pierre.

This happened about five months after their first meeting. Of course, Y/N had liked Gasly before, since they'd really met, but she thought that phase with him would pass.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

The first one to discover it was Balog, who noticed that her best friend's phone wallpaper was no longer with Timothée, whom she had adored since she was about fourteen, but with Pierre, and it wasn't some random Pinterest or Instagram picture of that man. It was a photo the brunette had taken on the day of his failed wedding as Charles was driving them home.

Eszter confided her discovery to Charlotte, who immediately stated that she would come from Monaco to Paris for coffee and told the Hungarian woman to prepare bedding for her.

That night was not easy for Y/N, who admitted her infatuation and cried, thinking that it was not serious that she liked a man whom her fiancée had just left, Pierre would not like her that way and she should not push herself like this relationship because only I will suffer.

And well, she might be right about the last one, but about the first two, according to the girls, she was wrong.

Soon after, Charlotte accidentally spilled a little crush on Charles to Charles, who promised not to tell Gasly.

He lied.

He lied perfidiously.

The very next day he told his best friend about it, who, hearing the source of this fact, only hit him on the head.

Pierre had already noticed that Y/N had become interested in him in a romantic way, but he also didn't want to enter into any relationship at the time. He had just finished dealing with the cancellation of the wedding, and here Leclerc told him to go on a date.

The brunette man really liked Y/N. He found her extremely attractive and thought she was an amazing person.

But he needed time.

Plus, he didn't want Y/L/N to feel like a temporary distraction.

First he had to heal, and only then enter into new relationships.

[divorcedfiddleford]

i already know what the story behind the picture is but please explain it anyway we need to educate the masses

oh my god thank you for enabling me ive been thinking about this all day. regarding this post i made yesterday and this classic image (which i actually just found out was posted seven years ago today!)

basically as can be read in the post at BigFest in 2016 somebody had what i believe was a fan-made prop based on the laptop from season 2 of gravity falls. alex hirsch attended this convention and decided to type in the password to the laptop. we never learned the password in the show so lots of people were excited to find out!

a HUGE thing to note here is that journal 3 was still months away from releasing and in fact while a couple pages had been released as promotional material it was still being worked on until, like... gosh i wanna say may is when they finally started printing it? don't quote me on that though my point is that this was all taking place pre-journal 3 and, therefore, many fans were still operating under the (sensible) impression that the laptop which

had been designed by fiddleford

had been built by fiddleford

had fiddleford's name on it

said "PROPERTY OF F" on it (at this point it had been established through promo images that "F" referred to fiddleford)

was assumed to be fiddleford's by, like, four different main characters

was given to and used by fiddleford following s2e7

fiddleford presumably knew the password to

would also belong to fiddleford. right? i mean logically. logically, guys.

so when alex hirsch revealed that the password had been "STANFORD" all along, people thought that was a little bit... well

of course, a couple months later journal 3 would be published and it would say that the laptop had actually been STANFORD'S, not fiddleford's, and that he had made the password his own name. so technically i lied in my earlier post, there IS a heterosexual explanation for this, but imo it's still bullshit. like sorry i don't believe for a fucking second that stanford "i need to encode all of my messages in multiple ciphers and write in invisible ink" pines would ever make a password as simple as his own name. he wouldve picked like something with six different layers of alternate meanings and also put it through atbash at the VERY least. also as i listed above there is a LOT of evidence which would support the laptop belonging to fiddleford, as opposed to ford, which has this random retcon (and like... some of the computer keys are different colors? i guess?? idk that bit was stupid) as its only supporting evidence.

my theory is that, while writing the show, alex and the other writers had intended for the laptop to belong to fiddleford, but for whatever reason, when they were writing the book, they decided to make it ford's instead. i want to make clear that i DON'T think this swap was motivated by homophobia, or as a reaction to seeing people interpret the password in a gay way. by the time that this photo was taken several promotional journal pages had been released, so it's safe to say that even if they were still adding the finishing touches to the book, it was pretty much in its final stage and in fact might have already started printing (i think the first photos we see of the book itself were posted like a week or two after bigfest). so to assume that there's a correlation there is both unfounded and extremely unlikely.

now, the stargazing scene reprint, on the other hand

[picturespurple-68]

Rusame/Amerus Secret Santa 2023 Gift

This is my secret santa gift for @vodkanburgers

I'm not really used to writing fluff so I hope you like it!

Summary: Cardverse au, Alfred is away on business and sends Ivan a few gifts to keep him company in his absence.

Rating: Teen (mostly sfw but the ending is suggestive)

To Ivan, Alfred was many things: a loud mouth with a lack of impulse control, a gifted magic wielder praised far too much throughout his land, and, just like himself, a grown child forced into the role of ruler much too soon. At least, as neighbors, they found they could confide in each other what few living could understand. Their circumstances had led to a deep kinship between the two, and that kinship had recently found itself evolving into a courtship (with the approval of their queens and aces of course). However, the little differences in how their kingdoms go about "dating" (as Alfred would call it), has led to a few instances of rendering Ivan more flustered than he’s ever been in his life.

Within the Spadian kingdom, gift giving is seen as the most celebrated of gestures because to them, it shows just how much someone really knows about those they love and to give them the things they want without ever having to ask. Truthfully, Ivan saw it more as an excuse to flaunt one's wealth and to monetize some of the most inane things, however he couldn't deny the giddiness he felt whenever another one of Alfred’s presents showed up at his castle's steps.

That's why, with Alfred out on a trip to the Diamonds’ kingdom for the next several weeks, Ivan wasn't surprised when he found the first gift of many placed neatly on his bed with a deep indigo envelope sat next to it.

Gift #1

"To my dearest,

Ivan, I hope in my absence I fill your thoughts just as much as you fill mine. In times like this I wished I had had a memento of yours to keep at my side, but I guess that’s why hindsight is 20/20. That’s why I've taken the liberty of capturing a photo more special than any ever made just for you.

With love,

Alfred

P.S. Don’t be afraid to take a closer look at it~"

The note was sappy, more so than usual. Ivan wondered if maybe the dramatics of the over emotional Diamonds’ people had rubbed off on the Spadian in such a short amount of time.

The accompanied box was thin and carefully wrapped in a golden ribbon that Ivan didn't hesitate to open. What he saw inside was a silver, ornately metal frame of tiny vines and flora that held behind glass a picture of Alfred. The glowing smile he always wore displayed prominently as he was captured mid wave to the camera. It was adorable.

Pulled in closer as told, he ran a gentle thumb down his framed face and a second later almost dropped the thing when Alfred moved. His hand was actually now waving at him and his smile transformed into an open silent laugh. When his movements slowed, he gave a smooth wink and mouthed something to the viewer before it suddenly reset to its original still image. In fascination at this new feat, Ivan watched it loop the same thing over and over until he was able to read the words on Alfred’s lips, “I love you”.

–

Only a few weeks had passed when a second package and letter was delivered straight to Ivan. He didn’t hesitate to rush to his chambers and open both items in private.

Gift #2

"To my dearest,

Ivan, in the short amount of time I've been here, Francis has asked me just about every question about the two of us (and obviously taking too much glee in watching me squirm). His doting “big brother” behavior reminds me of Arthur and it’s a wonder how they seemingly can’t find a middle ground like us to remain civil.

Aside from him, I've been enjoying my time with Diamond's newest royal Queen Lillie. She's almost as young as we were when called and has honestly been a real breath of fresh air among the stuffy coots in their court. In our free time she’s even begun teaching me knitting, like you love to do, and I’ve made you something special.

With love,

Alfred

P.S. I'm still a bit rusty, so if you really really really love me, you won't judge my work too harshly!"

That last part brought out a chuckle from him. This box now was bigger than the first one and as he lifted the lid, a look of confusion crossed his face. Inside was a "folded" mass of red fabric made of a thin yarn material. Picking the item up didn't really help as the shape revealed itself to be something like a…shawl, but the knitted threads were too spaced out to be of proper use in the cold. It seems he wanted to make Ivan something like a scarf, just as he’s done in the past for Alfred.

While not the best work, the thought definitely still counted. It even made his heart beat and brought him joy when he could smell a faint trace of the sharp cologne the young man loved to smother himself in. He knew just where to put this gift.

Gently, he folded up the fabric and placed it on his bedside table as a new piece of decor. Now it would make a lovely scene for Ivan to wake up to while it sat right next to his specially framed photo of Alfred’s goofy mug.

–

With only a week left before his return, Ivan was surprised when another gift was announced for him. It was the weightiest of all three packages and he was hungry with curiosity to open the, strangely, beige colored box.

Gift #3

“To my dearest,

Ivan, being without you has left me longing for you day, and especially night. I’ve missed holding you, I’ve missed sharing a bed with you, and I’ve missed touching the most intimate parts of your body. As soon as I’m able to see you again, I want to cover your face in the biggest, sloppiest kisses I can make and keep you in my company until we’re nagged enough to go back to our duties.

I know how flustered you usually get after reading your sisters’ romance novels and I can only dream of how you are now. If that is the case, please be sure you’re alone when you open your present. It took quite a bit of trial and error, but the final product is totally worth it. Just about one week left!

With love,

Alfred

P.S. Hopefully you think of me every time you use it.”

The contents of his letter stayed rooted in his mind like a weed in his greenhouse. From the things he referred to, Ivan had an idea of what could be in that box and waited until after dinner to rush off to his room.

On his bed sat the box. With jittery hands, he opened it to find a royal purple satin bag closed by a simple drawstring. By holding the bag Ivan could make out the shape of something cylindrical and when he pulled it out, he saw it was white with a cap to screw off. Removing it revealed– Oh.

A flesh colored inside greeted his eyes and his face flush harder than he’s ever felt since Alfred first confessed to him. He quickly re-capped the thing and sat in embarrassed silence with the object held in his lap. Questions swirled through his head of why, when, and how, but another one dominated them all.

What does it feel like?

Ivan knew when the man got back he was going to be hounded about if he got his gifts and how much did he like them. Curiosity burned inside and it only made sense to use his gift like how Alfred intended it. Just thinking about how happy he’ll be to see him again is all it really took for Ivan to give in and un-cap the device. The two other presents on his bedside table will be of great use tonight, tomorrow, and every night until he’ll get to physically hold Alfred again.

[starbuck09256]

I have a partner..

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023

Sorry xf fam, been a bit busy.

Fictober Day 9!

Set during Chimera Season 7

What if Mulder answered Ellen's question about his significant other in a different more truthful way? 

Ellen’s POV

I look at Agent Mulder, and he seems surprised that I ironed his shirt, and made a big breakfast for Phil. I feel Agent Mulder doesn’t have someone who takes care of him like I do with Phil. Once when I was younger I thought about being a therapist I had always been fascinated by people's relationships. Agent Mulder is handsome and good at his job. It makes me curious as he doesn’t wear a wedding band. I sit down across from him. 

I look over at him in curiosity “I get the feeling you are not used to having anyone take care of you?” I say trying to open the door without appearing too eager to know why he doesn’t wear a wedding ring. 

He gives a rough chuckle and states “Well that has a vaguely pathetic ring to it.” 

Not my intention of course. I clarify “No, I just mean I didn’t notice a wedding band.” I state. 

He replies “Oh,”

I get the feeling I can roll straight ahead. “Do you have a significant other?” I ask. 

He stops and takes a second, which is quite unusual. He smiles and bites his lip. “Um,” he takes a second and I see him trying to formulate the words as I tilt my head in interest.

 “I uh..” he chuckles. “I have a partner,” he says. 

I’m a bit taken aback as he didn’t strike me as gay, which is fine of course but now he is looking at me and his eyebrows crink. 

“Not umm.” he pauses again and sighs. “Her name is Dana.” he smiles at the end of his statement. 

I see him take a moment as if he is thinking of her. I lean in a bit, I want to know more about why she is a partner and not more. Given his smile and the way he said her name, it seems like she matters a great deal to him. “Can you tell me about her?” I ask. 

When Phil and I were younger I heard through a friend that he thought I was pretty, and that was the moment I decided to pursue him. How someone talks about their spouse has always taught me more about the person and less about the person they are speaking about. 

Mulder chuckles his eyes shining at me. “She’s umm.. Brillant, truly the smart person I’ve ever met,” and he takes a second. “She’s umm loyal, courageous, kind, she has a sort of deadpan dry sense of humor, a little sarcastic too.” he smiles again. “She’s a medical doctor but uh is pretty upset with me since I left her working in not the greatest conditions.” he chuckles again.

 He didn’t mention pretty which is odd. 

“Do you have a picture of her?” I make Phil carry a picture of us in his wallet. To show people that he has a family that loves him at home. 

Mulder reaches into his back pocket fiddling with his wallet. He hands me a photo of the two of them looking at some crime scene it looks like, she must also be in the FBI given that they are both wearing FBI jackets.

 “She’s pretty” I state. Wondering why he overlooked it.

 He looks at the picture and smiles. 

“She’s breathtaking,” he mutters. 

The way he says almost takes my breath away, he is looking at the picture as if just seeing it again for the first time, and his smile is stretched across his face. 

“She also looks very short,” I say moving the picture back to him. 

He laughs still looking at the photo of this Dana.

 “It’s weird because she seems to take up so much space in my mind sometimes, that I forget how tiny she is. She’s incredibly headstrong and stubborn it’s hard to remember she is only like 5’2.”

 “5 '2” I say, because she looks taller than that. 

He laughs again. “She wears the most ridiculous heels, they are like 3 inches, and she can run in them, which is nuts I know. I’m always amazed that she doesn’t break her neck sometimes.” his light chuckle is full of a deep fondness.

 I wonder if Phil has anywhere near the same level of fondness when talking about me. “

I bet you would catch her if she ever happened to trip though,” I smile at him. 

He looks up at me. 

“I would do anything for her, she is .. umm my partner. Certainly the better half of our partnership, that is. To some, she might not seem like she is the “significant other” in normal terms, but she is the most significant relationship I’ve ever had in my life.” His voice tapers off a bit at the end. 

I have the feeling the relationship he just described is much deeper than anything I’ve ever seen or experienced. Agent Mulder might not wear a ring or have someone who makes him breakfast, but he might have something much much better. He might have someone who has captured his soul. 

“Well,” I say standing up, if I didn’t feel like I was in control before I certainly don’t feel in control now. Something about knowing that there are relationships that don’t rely on what you are doing for the other person, cooking, cleaning, and showing you care by taking care of them in various ways. 

I wonder what a relationship would look like if it was just based on how you felt about the person. If you just appreciated them for existing. I think that Agent Mulder is much luckier than I have been, and it makes me question again why I forced Phil to stay married to me. I wonder if maybe I should let him go and try to find my own Agent Mulder. Maybe there is more than just pretending that everything is fine. Maybe I could have a life that didn’t make me feel the need to try and fit this perfect model that I always seem to fail at…

[x-on-the-calendar-business]

ryan ross iceberg tier 3

tier 1, tier 2, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 7, tier 8

into the waters:

cricket and clover:

also known as the cabin album, this is the scrapped album that panic! wrote in 2007 when they locked themselves in a cabin in nevada (hence the nickname). according to a tweet from jon, 14 songs were written for the album, only 3 of which ever saw the light of day [i]. however, this tweet seems to have been deleted.

one song was folkin’ around, which of course made it onto pretty. odd.

another was nearly witches, which made it on vices & virtues, but the demo version is very different from the official version. you can listen to the demo here [ii].

the last song that we know of from this album is it’s true love. this song was performed once in 2007 at summerfest; unfortunately, the quality isn’t the best [iii]. however, this song still gives good insight into what the album would’ve sounded like, which is very different from fever but similar to pretty odd (although sources state the album still sounded very different from both previous and future works) [iv].

the album was intended to be a concept album, with each song leading into the next story wise. it would tell a love story between two people named cricket and clover [iv].

in 2018, jon also tweeted that he found some cricket and clover demos at his dad’s house, but it seems he does not have the authority to release them [iv]. genius also released a number of song titles, but jon also said that those names were not accurate [i].

we also have this image of ryan’s handwritten lyrics for songs unreleased from the album.

besides these small snippets of information, it’s safe to assume this album will remain lost to time forever, unless someone gives jon the permission to leak the demos (please).

i’m afraid that i:

on the 2006 summer tour, and specifically on live in denver, panic! covered karma police by radiohead. this entry refers to a part of that song in which ryan sings the line “i’m afraid that i.” ryan fans became obsessed with this clip and it’s taken on a life of its own.

you smell like a slut:

this also references a clip from the live in denver dvd. rather than explaining it, i’ll just let the video explain itself.

the moat:

in 2010, ryan tweeted at one of his friends that he could “float in [ryan’s] moat until he gets settled,” implying that ryan has a moat around his house [v].

i also found this panic! confession, but i’m not sure of the legitimacy of the claim nor of the house in the photo actually being the home ryan lived in (i hope it wasn’t) [vi].

eta: i think that actually is his house because in a podcast, he talks about how people have shown up to his house and made him scared to even open the door for the mailman :( with that being said, i removed the original image because i don't feel comfortable having a pic of his house in this (idk if he still lives there, but regardless). it is still in the source i linked if you're really curious, but it should go without saying that no one should show up to his house.

it’s the end of the electric guitar era:

this is a clip from the documentary, the calendar business, in which ryan says he was so frustrated with one of his guitars. so, he said “it’s the end of the electric guitar era” and burned it.

i’ll also link the full documentary here because it’s an interesting watch itself! [vii]

coachella:

for a few years, ryan went to coachella. i know he was definitely at 2015 and 2016, but also maybe 2011 and 2013 [viii].

he was also pictured with cristofer drew at one of them (nevershoutnever) which doesn’t mean anything significant; it’s just an interesting tidbit to me because nsn started my emo phase lmao

gabe saporta:

my king.

gabe saporta, formerly of midtown and cobra starship (both incredible bands that you should check out), was an absolute icon of fueled by ramen bandom. in the presplit days, he and ryan were buddies, as were most bands on that label, but after the divorce ryan got to keep gabe. they used to frequently post on instagram hanging out. we don’t really see them together much these days, but to be fair, ryan disappeared from the internet and gabe is the father of two kids. so i’m sure they’re still friends offline!

there is also this absolutely iconic friends or enemies interview that gabe did with ryan that everyone should watch here [ix] (also guy ripley saying “delicious” in the background at the end means everything to me).

vicky t:

victoria asher, professionally known as vicky t, is another former member of cobra starship. she and ryan did hang out in the presplit days of course, but also some in the post split days. it seems she remained friends with all of panic! though.

however, vicky is extremely problematic and transphobic, which is detailed more here [x]. she also works with britney spears these days, and from what i can tell, britney’s fans do not have good things to say about vicky. but this is really not the place to dive into that.

keltie and jac podcast and books:

so kitty from glee and two of ryan ross’ exes start a podcast…

seriously though, keltie knight, jac vanek, and becca tobin run a podcast called lady gang, and ketlie and jac have discussed ryan on it before. in this interview from 2017, they say that they met because of a mutual ex, saying, “he was kind of known for a minute” and, “we don’t speak the name; it’s like voldemort.” [xi]. they also say they’re not sure if he’s still alive, and well…valid. in a tumblr post from 2018, an anon states that keltie talked about selling ryan’s clothes in an episode and that she and jac were saying mean things about him [xii]. also, in this podcast episode from last year, jac and keltie talk about ryan from about 05:25 to 08:10; they wonder if he has a girlfriend and what he is up to now, and keltie talks about how she regrets being messy in the relationship and writing her book, and how she tried to contact him when hobo died [xiii].

i’ve already talked about it some before, but in 2010, keltie released a book called “rockettes, rockstars, and rockbottom.” this book has an entire section dedicated to her relationship with ryan called “the dreamer” – the dreamer being the alias she uses to refer to him throughout. when describing the beginning of their relationship, she talks about how young he was very often, saying he was still a child and that he had a hard time passing for even 14, amongst other examples. as i said in tier 2, the age gap in their relationship was important because of the power dynamics, as evidenced in the book. from what i gather from the book, their relationship was messy, codependent, and, for lack of a better word, toxic. keltie is allowed to talk about her life, but it doesn’t sit right with me that she went into intimate detail about their relationship when ryan is such a private person. ryan was definitely not innocent in this relationship either, though; they both had their issues that they needed to work out on their own rather than keltie trying to fix ryan or him wanting her to. luckily, as i said before, keltie does regret writing the book at least.

if for some reason you’re interested in reading her book, you can find it for free here [xiv]. you just need to make an internet archive account and check it out hourly.

(also a side note that i did in fact listen to lady gang and read keltie’s book for this entry, so please at least give me kudos for that if nothing else)

5th member of 1d:

on march 25, 2015, zayn malik left one direction, and so naturally, people wanted to fuck with their fans. someone edited the official 1d wikipedia page and added ryan under their list of current members. 1d fans on twitter subsequently had meltdowns, exclaiming “WHO IS RYAN ROSS” (i mean c’mon they were in an emotional, vulnerable state). ryan ended up changing his twitter bio to say, “NOT in 1D” and made a tweet about it [xv].

scholarship:

when panic! was first getting its start, ryan received a full scholarship from the university of nevada las vegas for writing. however, he dropped out after one semester to focus on the band, which his dad did not approve of.

he talks about it in live in denver from 58:45 until 59:18 [xvi].

the boy who blocked his own shot:

this is song by brand new off their 2003 album deja entendu (fuck jesse lacey). it’s on this iceberg because ryan loved this song and posted about it on his lj a lot, along with the rest of the album. i know he specifically quoted another song, okay i believe you but my tommy gun don’t, as well.

blinkexists@aol.com:

when ryan was a teenager, this was his email. in fact, it is the email he used to communicate with pete wentz. pete talked about it in this interview with mark hoppus, starting at 02:00 [xvii].

moulin rouge:

this is a movie musical released in 2001 that ryan was obsessed with and one of his favorite movies. i don’t really have any other source for this than trust me bro, but i promise it’s true.

original singer for panic!:

when panic! first started, and even when brendon initially joined the band, ryan was the singer. however, they heard brendon singing back up during brand practice one day and asked him to be the singer rather than the guitarist.

ryan and brendon talk about it some in live in denver from 38:46 to 41:23 [xviii]. specifically my favorite quote from this is, “it felt right to have confident sounding lyrics behind a confident voice.”

(also i’m trying to be objective throughout this but let me just say this for context and transparency: i hate brendon urie LMAO)

guitarist ryan ross declined to be interviewed:

in 2015, billboard published this article for the 10 year anniversary of a fever you can’t sweat out [xix]. they reached out to multiple people to interview for the article, including brendon, jon, pete wentz, producer matt squire, manager scott magelberg, and bob mclynn. underneath this, it says spencer and brent could not be reached. it also says, “guitarist ryan ross declined to be interviewed.” people just thought it was funny because he would decline. he is living the hermit life for real.

so that’s all for tier 3. next we move onto a deeper layer, when i really feel like we get into some stuff the average fan wouldn’t know, which i am excited to delve into. gonna be honest though, it’s gonna be a long one.

tier 4

references:

[i] https://panicatthedisco.fandom.com/wiki/Cricket_%26_Clover

[ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfsssP9lwII

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNE4U5Yy-BE

[iv] https://lostmediawiki.com/Cricket_and_Clover_(partially_found_scrapped_Panic!_At_The_Disco_album;_2007)

[v] https://failross.livejournal.com/61466.html?thread=1787418

[vi] https://panicconfessions.tumblr.com/page/138

[vii] https://vimeo.com/164855487

[viii] https://twitter.com/search?q=ryan%20ross%20coachella&src=typed_query

[ix] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGe0fR5OM80

[x] https://ocalaghan.tumblr.com/post/157422369150/vickytransphobe-master-post

[xi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEwgcmUJbkE

[xii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/171494458406/keltie-talks-about-selling-ryans-clothes-in-one

[xiii] https://www.podcastone.com/episode/LG-QUICKIE-Not-Gonna-Lie-Part-2

[xiv] https://archive.org/details/rockettesrocksta0000coll/mode/2up

[xv] https://www.altpress.com/one_direction_fans_think_ryan_ross_is_joining_the_bandand_theyre_furious/

[xvi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWcbA2fhHI&t=3466s

[xvii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLD8sHVgEnA

[xviii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWcbA2fhHI&t=2326s

[xix] https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/panic-at-the-disco-fever-you-cant-sweat-out-oral-history-pete-wentz-brendon-urie-6707864/

[charlie-pippin-faraday]

Joy Mercer and Will Byers are essentially the same character

While looking at the parallels between House of Anubis and Stranger Things, I saw that there are a lot of overarching plot similarities (of course with their numerous differences). However, I couldn't help but notice the striking similarities in the narrative arc of one character in each show: Joy and Will. Almost the exact same thing happens to both of them, and they both follow practically the same plotline for a very large portion of their respective shows. Their respective season 1's are practically copies of each other, with their major differences starting to appear in later seasons when they actually have major screentime. A lot of the differences in their stories are due to their personality differences; as for the plot, they have the exact same role, and follow the same path with a lot of the same consequences.

So I want to break it down and show the parallels side-by-side to really just lay out how much they have in common (because it is a LOT). Here you can see all their equivalent plot points, narrative events, and their almost identical journey.

✨ Heads up: this is going to be a long post ✨

[please click on the photos to see them better]

1. Sudden mysterious disappearance

Both series are kicked off by the same initiating event: a character suddenly mysteriously disappears. We get to see them and establish their friendships for a scene or two before they vanish for the majority of season 1. For both shows, the plotline of the first season revolves around their disappearance. Joy gets kidnapped and hidden by the Society, and Will gets taken into the Upside Down by the Demogorgon, both without a trace.

Additionally: they also might have both been stolen away for a reason, because they were believed to be special. This is true for Joy, as they thought she was the Chosen One. This isn't confirmed yet for Will, but there are a lot of theories that he's got powers too, which is why he was chosen and how he survived the Upside Down and why he can sense the Mind Flayer/Vecna. There's also speculation that that's why he was spared in season 1, because they wanted to use him for a purpose, like the Society was planning to use Joy for a purpose.

2. Cover-up conspiracy of their disappearance

Both disappearances are covered up by secret organizations (the Society; Hawkins Lab) in order to hide a conspiracy. Joy's records are scrubbed and her social media deleted to try and erase her from existence, as well as fake correspondence sent to her friends in order to stop them from sniffing around and discovering the immortality cult, and perhaps even forget about her entirely. Hawkins Lab also tries to cover up Will's disappearance by producing a fake dead body and making it look like he died so that no one would come looking for him anymore and no one would stumble upon what was happening in the Lab.

3. Their best friend refuses to believe that they're gone and relentlessly looks for them

Both Joy and Will have a best friend who will stop at nothing to find them once they realize they've disappeared. In fact, their unrelenting search becomes one of the major plotlines of their respective season 1's. Both Patricia and Mike refuse to believe there's anything normal going on, and they refuse to stop looking or believe their friend is gone, despite the evidence to the contrary, and despite people telling them to stop. When the people in charge (the teachers, the government) try and get them to stop, they don't. Even when their other friends think it's useless, they never stop believing, to the point where just about everyone else thinks they're crazy.

Regardless, they never give up, even if they get involved in supernatural/otherworldly activities along the way.

4. Messages from beyond

While missing, both Will and Joy are able to communicate and get messages out to their family and friends, who are able to use it to help find them. Joy sends a coded message to Patricia (and eventually just texts her), and Will communicates with Joyce using the lights, along with the phone and radio. (Bonus points for the fake mirror message from "Joy" aka Alfie.)

5. A "girl with powers" coincidentally shows up right after they disappear

It feels very notable that almost immediately after they disappear, someone new shows up. And not just anyone: someone special, someone with some form of powers. Nina is the Chosen One, and Eleven has psychic abilities. It's almost too convenient how quickly these girls show up after they disappear. Almost like they're there to replace them (but not actually). And both girls are there to help solve the disappearance and save the day, both of which would not happen without them. The biggest difference in these shows with regards to the girl with powers is that the best friend (Mike) and most of the group embrace Eleven right away, while the best friend (Patricia) and most of the group shun Nina at first.

6. When they return, they're not the same

Both Will and Joy return for good in season 2, but as noted by the other characters, they're not the same. They go through major personality changes. Joy is a lot more guarded, harsh, and mean than her past self, for reasons we'll get into later. In her isolation, she also lost some of the bubbliness we see in the pilot episode, and she becomes rather withdrawn. The same goes for Will, who is even more quiet and withdrawn than before. He also has the unfortunate side effect of literally having pieces of the Upside Down within him, making the "not the same" comments more literal. Still waiting for Will to have his true angry arc like Joy had tho.

7. Their love interest is now dating the girl with powers

When they do return, they find out that something happened while they were gone: specifically, that their love interest got away. Both love interests become romantically involved with and eventually date the girl with powers, who had "replaced" them. So, not only were their love interests dating someone, but they're dating someone new and unfamiliar to Joy and Will. This leaves both of them pining for someone they can no longer have.

In Will's case, the best friend and the love interest are the same person, making it a double whammy for him.

8. Feelings of being replaced and others moving on without them

Both Will and Joy changed because of their experience, but everything else changed, too. After returning, they have to come back and try and find their place again in a group that has changed and maybe moved on without them. They expected it to remain the same as when they last saw it, but it's not anymore. Both of them are experiencing feelings of being replaced in their friend circles, particularly by the girl with powers, who showed up to fill their space while they were gone. This results in both of them fearing that their friends don't need or want them anymore. Joy, who is not a member of Sibuna, feels excluded, and feels that Nina is stealing her friends and taking what is rightfully hers. Will, while still a full member of the Party, also feels excluded and feels that Eleven and Max are stealing the attention of his friends (Mike and Lucas) away from him and the group, as they're acting like couples and he is obviously not part of one due to the fact that he's gay, even though no one knows this. Both Joy and Will feel "othered" and excluded. They're growing apart from their best friend and can no longer have their love interest (though for Will, this is the same person). They just want to go back to the way things were, even though that's not really possible anymore.

In their minds, they have someone they can blame for part of this change, someone they can point to: the girl with powers, who's throwing a wrench in everything (though Will also throws a tiny little bit of blame on Max, who's also new to the group, but most goes to Eleven because he is focused on Mike, the best friend/love interest). They each react to this situation differently, mainly because Joy hates Nina and Will likes Eleven (and eventually becomes a brother figure to her). Joy tries to actively do something about it and remove the "problem" while Will is passive, preferring to fade into the background or even just take himself out of the equation if anything.

9. Lashing out

All of these frustrations eventually lead to Joy and Will lashing out, albeit in very different ways. Joy writes a nasty, defamatory article about Nina with the intent to hurt her, ultimately hoping it will remove her from her life and eliminate her problems, even though it ends up backfiring on her big time. Will, on the other hand, goes into a rage and destroys Castle Byers, the fort he and his brother made when he was a kid. Joy lashes out to hurt others like they hurt her; Will keeps it to himself, and instead of punishing his friends he punishes himself to compound the hurt. Castle Byers is a representation of his friendships and his childhood, so he gets out his frustrations about his situation and about growing up that way. His lashing out is more symbolic, as he's not intending to make any active change like Joy is. But do their actions make either of them feel better? No. Because it doesn't change anything, and it just leads to tears.

10. Lasting trauma

As expected, they both have a whole boatload of trauma. Joy is still clearly traumatized by her experience, though less obviously than Will who can still physically see the Upside Down. Joy is hesitant to return to Sibuna activities, and robes are a trigger for her, as seen in the above photo. And I don't feel like I need to say much for Will, that boy is constantly being terrorized by the Upside Down, particularly in season 2 but he can still sense stuff in seasons 3 and 4 as well.

11. Almost die to supernatural causes and have to be revived

Save for some notable exceptions (ex. Max, Eddies plural), Joy and Will are the only kids in their respective shows that were seriously close to actually dying. Joy might've actually died, I'm a little fuzzy on that; either way, she was brought back to life with the Tears of Gold. Unsure if Will officially died, but he did have to be resuscitated by Hopper and Joyce. Both of them had a very very close brush with death due to supernatural forces (Senkhara, Upside Down), which is the last parallel I'm going to use to bond them together.

Now, I'm sure I could make more points and bring up more similarities. But Will's story isn't done yet, and I want to see what happens in Stranger Things 5 before I compare to Joy's healing and journey in the latter stages of HOA season 3. So, up to this point, I rest my case.

Joy Mercer 🤝 Will Byers = the same

[angrybell]

So Hamas allies in the US attended the hearings today on Capitol Hill about aid to Israel. It looks like they attended in costume because it was Halloween.

Now, most likely they using as an inspiration the photo on the right with the man, hands bloodied, in the window. Who is he? How did his hands get that way?

That man’s name is Abdel Aziz Salha. He is a “Palestinian” originally form Ramallah.

The photo was taken on October 12, 2000. On that day, two Israeli reservists took a wrong turn and ended up in Ramallah. Ramallah, then as now, was under PA control. Since the two men were Israeli Jews, they were taken into custody by the PA Police and taken to the police station under arrest.

The man in the left picture below is Vadim Norzhich was a truck driver who had made Aliyah from Russia ten years earlier. The man on the right is Yossi Avrahami, a toy salesman in civilian life. On the day in question, they were reservists in the IDF being called to report to an IDF base at Beit El.

While arrested and in custody, Salha and crowd of Arabs formed. This was just over 2 weeks into the Second Intifada, an uprising that occurred because a Jew had the temerity to go up to the Temple Mount (side note, I did it seven years before and they didn’t care). Salha, and his buddies, were angry that the Israelis had not just let his compatiots riot and destroy everything they could. So when they heard that 2 Israelis were in custody, it was time for pay back.

In the US, if this were to happen, we’d call it a lynch mob.

Rather than disperse the crowd and retain control, the PA Police were happy to let Salha and his buddies “storm” the police station and pull the two Israelis out of the cells. The group that actually entered the police station were made up of 2 Tanzim members (part of Fatah/PLO) and 2 Hamas members. It appears that Salha was the only who wasn’t a member of either terrorist groups.

They were beaten.

They were stabbed.

Their bodies were mutilated.

And Salha was part of that. He choked one of the Israelis while others beat and then butchered them with knives.

Salha was pursued by the Shin Bet for 11 months before he was finally caught. At trial, he was convicted of murder of Norzhich. He was supposed to spend life in prison, the harshest penalty israeli courts can impose on anyone who isn’t a member of the Nazi party form 1933 to 1945.

But instead of spending lift in prison, he was exchanged as part of the prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit.

When asked if he had any regrets about murdering Norzhich by the Eletronic Intifada, he replied

“I believe it is not the right thing to speak about such incidents because ti is nto going to make a difference whether people know the details or not. … “ Salha said. “It will harm us [those who killed Israeli soldiers] if we keep speaking and boasting about what we did, and also it will be used agaisnt us by Israeli media.”

“Does that mean you regret what you’ve done?” I ask him

Looking ponderous, Salha remained silent for a moment before replying, “It just means we should not speak about how we feel about what we did.”

So the Left is celebrating an unrepentant murderer of Jews for being Jews in the “wrong” place. They’re probably claim its the equivalent of another lie that the intersectional left pushed to the point where people forgot the truth: Hands up, don’t shoot.

Kind of par for the course these days.

[sleekervae]

Past Lives [0.2]

Masterlist

A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the love on the first part, everyone! Hope you enjoy part 2!

Warnings: mentions of InFiDeLiTy, nothing major

Back in 1997, when Jade Theodore was four years old, she had been obsessed with Disney movies; the most romantic in her prepubescent mind being Sleeping Beauty. Because even to this day, Prince Philip was the most handsome man Jade had ever laid eyes on. Not to mention the man could break an evil witch's curse with a single kiss? How much more romantic could you get?

Jade always fantasized about finding a great love like that; though as she grew up of course, that fantasy stayed just that as reality hit her like a bullet train. Especially when her family had hit rock bottom and her mom had signed her up to do some extras work to bring in some money. That first day on Even Stevens had kicked off a twenty year career in the making for the pop star, made up of moments both good and bad, but had shaped her into the inquisitive young woman she was today.

Some of those moments included getting to know her costars on a High School Musical spin off movie back in 2009, a dream come true at the time. However, getting to meet a then eighteen-year-old Austin Butler also made the experience memorable. He had never been outside of the country at the time (they were only in Canada so it wasn't that big of a leap), so with off days from filming, and Jade being a Toronto native, she was more than happy to show Austin some of her favourite places in the city.

She remembered Austin had this brand new Kodak camera he carried with him, taking photos of the skyline, the food they'd indulged in, and things he found overall curious. And of course, he had taken a photo of Jade at some point. She couldn't remember if it was in the moment or she had been posing at the waterfront railing. She maybe saw that photo once or twice, instead relishing in their friendship even after filming had ended.

He was shy in 2010, lanky, and left footed. His voice was higher and sometimes he'd stumble over his words when he'd become excited or nervous. Though his personality always shone through for Jade, he always treated her as though he'd known her their entire lives. Their friendship lived on as Austin continued to get movie and TV rolls and Jade's creative drive turned more to music in the early 2010s.

And Jade wouldn't lie if she'd said she hadn't developed a small crush on him.

That crush of course was stomped out with a platform stiletto when Austin was introduced to a friend of a friend, all the while Jade was negotiating with Disney to get her out of her contract. It all happened so fast, when Jade eventually found out, she felt like she had a bout of whiplash. Nonetheless, she was happy for Austin, and she always respected his relationship with his girlfriend.

Though as 2012 rolled around, Austin and Jade's relationship dwindled and grew stale.

Jade could still remember the last phone call she had with Austin; both of them so busy but trying to make plans to meet up again. She was running late for a negotiation with her music label, and she told him she'd call him back.

Being as scatterbrained as she was, she never did.

"I'll talk to you later!" she swore she had hung up before he even had a chance to say goodbye. And as it always did, too much time and energy apart had distracted Jade long enough before she came to the realization that she never did call Austin back.

However, time passed, she met knew friends, ventured onto new projects, and before long, Jade Theodore was now a name synonymous with modern-age alternative pop. And Austin had forged ahead on his own path. Their social circles were different, and truth be told, neither of them gave the other much thought in ten years.

How curious it was to see two people be so close before, and now suddenly they were strangers yet again...

In downtown London there was a sleek, modernized skyscraper, and on the 14th floor one could find an immaculate apartment facing the South-rising sun and its rays reflecting softly off of the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was somewhere within the seventh hour of the day, and Jade stood at the counter while she waited for her coffee to brew. She was already dressed for her rehearsal, though she didn't feel all that ready; more than anything she felt as though a cloud of fog had formed around her head and was stunting her train of thought.

A door down the hall creaked open, and Jade's roommate, Florence, came trudging out, yawning into her fist and scratching her fingers through her bed head.

"You're up early," she commented as she took a seat at the breakfast bar. The stool squealed against the hardwood floor. Her English accent was thicker in the mornings, her usually bright green eyes were a little hazy and droopy.

"I got rehearsal in an hour," Jade replied, "You want coffee?"

"Yes please," Florence grinned sleepily.

Jade was already on it and set up the coffee machine, "I didn't hear you come in last night. What time you finish?"

"Came home around two-ish. Then I had an interview with Kimmel around three," she shrugged, "I don't even remember when I went to sleep,"

"Babe!" Jade awed, "Go back to bed! What're you doing?"

"I knoooww," Florence drawled, "But Tommy scheduled me an interview for nine-thirty,"

"Call in sick," she replied, "Hell, I'll even pretend to be you and call in sick,"

Florence simpered, "Your English accent will insult the whole country, Jade,"

Jade refrained from rolling her eyes, "I'm not that bad," she slid the finished coffee towards Florence, and the sleepy actress took a long sip.

From beside her, Jade's phone buzzed. Florence was a little nosy, she could admit it, and she was curious as she saw an unfamiliar name flash across the screen.

"Some Austin guy's texting you," she said.

Jade glanced at the message quickly. He was just thanking her again for last night, and she smiled fondly at the message, "It's nothing," she replied quickly.

"Bullshit," Florence quipped, "Was that the guy you were on the date with last night?"

"It wasn't a date," Jade said, "We were just catching up,"

Florence scoffed, "Catching up maybe takes two hours? Tommy dropped by 'round seven and you still weren't back,"

"Still wasn't a date," Jade sipped her own coffee nonchalantly, "Wait -- what was your manager doing here?"

"Dropping off some new scripts he wants me to look over. But I'm just saying Jade, if you went on just one date, that loser would start leaving you alone. Oh! Speaking of," Florence shuffled over to their junk drawer and pulled out a letter, "He wrote you another poem,"

"Oh my God. This should be good," Jade ripped the letter open and skimmed just the first few lines. She cleared her throat and read, quite dramatically, "If love be love be love, let love be love, your kiss is like a strawberry meringue, you are the hand and I your winter glove, you are the song the singing singer sang --"

"Alright, enough!" Florence threw her hands over her ears, "I've heard enough!"

Jade's first response was to rip the poem in two, "'You are the song and singer sang' he's just so ick, now! What the hell was I thinking?"

"The singing singer sang," Florence corrected, "And I don't know what you were thinking but I wish I'd met you earlier so I could stop you from thinking those thoughts about him,"

Jade chuckled bitterly, "Probably would've saved me a lot of face if we'd met earlier," she grinned.

"Well hey, we were all young and dumb at one point. Difference between you and most other people is your willingness to admit what a bitch you were," Florence smirked.

Jade grimaced, then rolled her eyes, "Thanks, Flo,"

"Hey! I'm kidding!" Florence threw an arm around her shoulders, "I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself, Jade. And now you can have no qualms about obliterating that little turd in your song next week,"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me!" she took another quick sip of her coffee and grabbed her bag off the counter, "I'm gonna' go to soundcheck and you are gonna go back to bed!" and she started for the door.

"Not according to this coffee I won't," Florence shrugged.

"Oh, yeah? What if I told you it's decaf?" Jade asked.

Florence gasped, "You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" Jade smirked, wrenching the door open, "I'll be home around four, should we cook or order in?"

"Let's play it by ear. Hey, wait a minute! You never told me about your date!" she called after her.

"It wasn't a date!" Jade called back before the door slammed shut.

Florence rolled her eyes, "Sure, Miss Blushy McBlush,"

The weather was a little cooler that morning but still held the essence of summer. Jade had her mask pulled over her face and her earbuds blasting away with Kings of Leon while she waited for her ride. Brixton Academy wasn't too far from where she lived, it was close enough she could practically walk. Though it was at the behest of Cam, her manager, that she be escorted from place to place. Jade glanced up at the skyscraper, already feeling the pull of anguish in her chest at the thought of leaving.

What she and Florence neglected to talk about were the boxes already stacked up in the apartment, still empty yet expected to be shipped out by the end of next week. Jade though had found a home in London, and despite the pandemic a new appreciation for a lifestyle that gave her a freedom from her stresses back in America. If it were up to Florence, Jade knew she'd probably have tied her up and locked her away in a closet just to keep her from leaving. She had told her just as much, and Jade loved her enthusiasm.

The ride to the academy was quiet, albeit pleasant, as Jade spent the ten minute ride just scrolling through her phone. She was one of a majority of people who were addicted to just scrolling through social media, not really amused by much of anything. One post was speculation about the new music Jade had been teasing in her own media, below the comments were freaking out (and also speculating pretty closely) to what would be released. Jade had to smile at the enthusiasm, she truly did have some of the most amazing fans on the plant.

The next post however stopped her cold, and a chill shot down her spine. It was an older Perez Hilton post from 2020, gossiping about the breakdown of Austin's previous relationship. People in the comments were speculating all the same; maybe someone cheated, maybe they grew apart, most of them were baffled at the fact that something so solid could suddenly break apart before their eyes.

Jade couldn't lie, she too was blindsided when she first heard the news. But she also knew better than anybody that pictures could be just a facade for the truth. Hell, her own parent's divorce took her by surprise, and she lived under the same roof as them.

"Truth be told, I fell out of love," it was an occurrence that happened more often than not, a statement so complicated and simple at the same time. It took Jade a long time -- even after she left her ex -- to get to that same point. Being alone and facing responsibility; coming to terms with your own company again -- it was all downright terrifying. But nonetheless she had done it before; ten years ago when she had to put her own feeling for Austin aside.

She knew Florence was only teasing her, but the notion of a date made her chest tighten. She was nowhere near ready to throw herself into a relationship, didn't matter who with. And yet, that little fantasy she had locked away was beginning to tinker -- just lightly tap its way back into existence.

"... eodore?... Miss Theodore?" a gruff, cockney accent took her attention. Jade quickly pulled her earpiece out, finding the driver was staring at her expectantly, "We're here,"

"Right, sorry," Jade blushed furiously beneath her mask, hastily making her exit, "Thank you so much,"

A few days passed, and soon enough Austin found himself putting together some semblance of a normal routine. In the morning he'd get up and go for a run, condition his body back to what it used to be, then he'd try to cook something sustainable. He wasn't the worst cook in the world, but he also wouldn't consider himself a Jamie Oliver type. He had found some new shows to watch, a stack of new books to read, and some new non-Elvis related music to listen to.

Inevitably so, one of Austin's new playlists included more than a few hits from Jade Theodore. Listening to her music for the first time -- and not just in passing at a grocery store -- had been like walking through a portal to another world where the saturation had been turned up and words were either wrapped in daisies or barbed in thorns. He was also surprised to see just how many collaborations she had worked on with other creatives: The Weeknd, Halsey, Doja Cat, the list went on.

His favourite song was from her first album, a song called Roman Holiday that was gritty and colourful, and painted the most spectacular imagery of romantic escapism. However, she also had done a collaboration with The Weeknd on a shorter interlude called Stargirl; infectious, erotic, and dripping in heavy synths and red haze. The FOMO sensation rippled like a spiking chill through Austin as he realized just what he had been missing out on.

He kept in touch with Jade throughout the week, she didn't have a lot of time to meet up again before her show and he respected that. Nevertheless, she made the time to keep up early morning or late night conversations, talking about the books they were reading or debating who made the best milkshakes (they didn't want to five Chick-fil-A the win so they settled for Sonic). Austin would sit on his couch with the TV as background, and Jade would be curled up on her ottoman while Florence was mucking around in the kitchen, and they would just become lost in their own world. It was a new normal that at the same time was so familiar to him. Everything didn't seem so far away when he talked to Jade.

Needless to say, he was grateful to her.

Soon enough Wednesday had hit, and it would be Jade's first live performance in two years. She had spent the last four weeks rehearsing with her band, putting together a set list of classic and underrated hits, and hoping and praying for the success of her new song. The label would be releasing the studio version tonight anyway, so she had to make sure she delivered.

It was four o'clock in the day and already people were lining up outside of the Brixton. The air was buzzing with energy, anticipating, the time couldn't go by fast enough.

The green room was abuzz with stage crews rushing to finish the set, and the make up and hair artists were putting the finishing touches on Jade and her band. It had been so long since crews at the Brixton had put on a full show, Jade could tell as crews yelled back and forth to each other in the halls. She tried to keep her focus on the makeup for the most part, but her heart was fluttering more than a teenager on her first date. She had spent so much time practicing and somehow it still didn't feel like enough.

"Does this look dumb?" she turned to her guitarist, Maria, who was getting fitted into her faux leather pants.

Maria skimmed over the deep black liner and eyeshadow around Jade's eyes, but she shook her head, "No, you look cute,"

"You don't think all the black's too much?" she turned to her reflection.

"Who gives a fuck?" her drummer, Meg, asked. She was getting changed behind a divider, "You'll look metal as hell, babe!"

Samantha, her bassist, put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she did her own makeup, "Sweetheart, you look gorgeous. And you're gonna look hella' powerful with your outfit,"

"Which is extremely metal!" Meg added. She kicked out a sparkly pleather ankle boot before stepping out in her mesh maxi dress with a black bralet and shorts underneath. Her blue and purple galaxy hair feel in long, loose curls around her shoulders.

"Ooh, mama! Looking good, Meg!" Marie awed.

"Yeah?" Meg stuck her butt out, "We don't see no pandemic pounds showing, right? 'Cause I def packed 'em on,"

Jade began to laugh, "Girl, shut up! You're fucking gorgeous!"

"And I think we're all a little pandemic-pound guilty, anyway," Samantha added.

"We can't help it that we eat to make ourselves feel better," Jade shrugged. She finished with her makeup and went to pull her outfit off of the rack. She held the hanger up to her body, twirling back and forth in the mirror.

Maria watched from behind, "You feeling okay, Jade?" she asked.

"I think so," she exhaled slowly, "Kind of feels like the first day of school all over again,"

Samantha scoffed, "Find me a school that lets you wear that, I'm enrolling my daughter,"

"Sam, you don't have a daughter," Meg pointed out.

Samantha rolled her eyes, "When I have a daughter, smarty pants,"

Austin got to the venue about an hour before the show was supposed to start, a little worried to see the line up of people still waiting to get inside the venue. Nevertheless, covid protocols were still pretty tight in London so he could understand, and he fell into the line up with everyone else.

He scrolled through his phone to kill some time, rolling over some new pictures fans had taken with Jade earlier in the day. She kept her mask on when hugging fans, or standing two feet apart with a beaming smile. Her own joy and giddy reverberated through the screen, she was effortlessly beautiful even before getting dolled up, and seeing her look so happy made something flutter in Austin's chest.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and Austin turned around, finding a shorter young woman staring up at him. Half her face was concealed by her own mask, her dark auburn hair tied back in a messy bun.

"Oi, are you Austin?" she asked, her Oxford accent coming in thick.

He was taken aback at first, only nodding at first, "Y-uh -- y-yeah,"

"Austin Butler?"

"Yeah,"

"Great, I'm Florence," she nodded in the direction of the theatre, "Come with me,"

Austin's gaze flickered between her and the line up, "Isn't this the line up for show?" he asked.

"Yeah, but close friends go in a different way," she waved him over that time, "C'mon! We're burning daylight,"

Austin was skeptical, Jade never said anything to him about a friend, though he was cautiously optimistic as he followed Florence past the gates and in through the back of the theatre. Sure enough, security let them in without a second glance, and Florence led him up the stairs to mezzanine.

"So, you're the long lost friend Jade's been telling me 'bout?" she asked as they walked.

"I wouldn't say 'long lost' necessarily," Austin answered.

Florence side-eyed him, "You ain't spoken in about ten years?"

"Yeah," he replied sheepishly.

"Sounds pretty long lost to me," she said, "What made you want to get back in touch after so long?"

Austin shrugged, "I don't know, just saw she was in London, figured I'd reach out,"

Florence stared him, he couldn't tell if it was out of curiosity or judgement, "Really?"

"Yeah,"

"Alright," Florence was skeptical. In the back of her mind she figured it couldn't be as simple as 'wanting to reach out because', as nothing in this world was ever as simple as that.

Austin cleared his throat, trying to brush away this awkward scrutiny he felt he was under, "Well, how do you know Jade?" he asked.

"We worked together on a horror film a few years back, been tight ever since," she replied, "When I heard she was coming here I took her in faster than you could blink,"

Austin simpered, "Yeah. She told me about her ex in California. I don't know who's more at fault: him or the mother for telling her,"

Florence shook her head, "Worst part about it is she thinks she deserves it,"

He cocked a brow at that, "Why would she think that?"

Florence nearly tripped over herself as she came to a stop, a blank stare overcoming her face. Her lips formed into an 'O', her green eyes narrowing.

"Ah, she didn't tell you," she surmised.

"Tell me what?" he asked, his curiosity increasing steadily.

"... Never mind," and she walked off again. Austin was quick to follow her.

They found their seats in the mezzanine, overlooking the gloriously lit stage down below. A plain white sheet was drawn over the stage, drawing in the patterns casted by spinning strobe lights. People had flooded into the pit below, crowding in together as though the pandemic had never hit at all.

The air was electric, the chatter of anxious and excited fans echoed through Austin's ears. Something in his brain snapped because for a second, just a minuscule moment, Austin pictured the stage set up for the Russwood Park shoot for Elvis. The dynamic was the same, the nerve wracking anticipation sickeningly familiar. Austin inhaled sharply, running his hands through his hair as he willed himself to get a grip.

Florence turned to him, "You okay?"

"Yep," he replied quickly, "I'm just a little tired,"

"I'll bet," she said, "Jade told me you were filming Elvis over in Australia. That couldn't have been a walk in the park,"

Before Austin could reply, the lights began to dim, and the energy was taken up a notch as the crowd cheered and chanted for the beginning of the show.

Meanwhile, Jade was sequestered off in the wing, watching the beginning set up unfold just as they'd been practicing for weeks. The melodramatic, synthesized organ opened slowly, eerily, a multi-pitched recording of jabbering nonsense from her last album played over the speaker. Jade took the moment to ground herself, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to calm herself. She was dolled up to the nines, her wires were plugged and her mic tuned, and yet she still felt so unprepared. She had sold out Brixton Academy, which meant well over two-thousand people were out there waiting for her; Austin and Florence included.

Florence knew Jade would put on a great show, she had been assuring her all up until this point. But Austin had never seen her perform, not really. He would be close enough, be paying close attention to every move she made and note she sang. Surely, he and the rest of the venue were expecting a banging show and Jade very well couldn't disappoint.

Jade started jumping up and down, shaking out her nerves and hyping herself up. She had been doing this shit for almost ten years, she had it down by now, what was there to be nervous for?

Everything?

The band began to kick into gear, playing the extended intro to one of Jade's bigger hits, 'She Knows It'. Austin had heard it enough times to recognize it; it was one of the handful of songs she had where she mentioned liking girls. The white sheet had been drawn up to reveal the tightly wound four piece band jamming out, behind them another sheet, this time pinned up to look like fine drapery with colourful flowers and lights twinkling in the strobes. It was colourful and simple, but it didn't look cheap, either. And at the last stroke of the drum beat, Jade came bounding out, bouncing along with the catchy beat until her verse started.

From there it seemed as though Jade was a firecracker that had been freshly lit, commanding stage presence and relishing in the echo of her fans singing along with her. Her outfit -- a two-piece leather top and skirt set -- was quintessentially her, just revealing enough, and the crystal crosses sown into the material twinkled against the flashing lights. And her bright green eyes were rimmed in thick, tightly polished black liner. She was sleek, sophisticated, as well as giving a little tease.

Florence was quickly caught up in the hype of the venue, singing along to her heart's content and dancing in place. Truth be told, she sort of forgot Austin was there, all the while he watched Jade, nodding along to the beat, and a smile draw across his lips. It felt like the scene in Ariel when she got her voice back from Ursula, and there was this inane satisfaction in watching this music he'd been listening to come out of her mouth so smoothly. Regardless to say, Austin had become somewhat mesmerized by her performance.

Jade played several more hits, taking a couple breaks to greet everybody and relish in the fact that they could finally enjoy live shows again. When she'd settle in for some slower ballads her eyes scanned through the mezzanine, flickering over every face until she landed on the two most familiar. Florence of course was jamming out, and Austin stood against the railing, his eyes meeting hers for a fleeting moment. It was then Jade began to feel her body begin to heat up, likely from the jumping around and the blaring lights. And yet, her eyes kept drawing up towards Austin's again and again between takes. He seemed to be enjoying the show, and that made her happier then she cared to admit.

Jade's show continued to roar on for a good hour and some; the entire gig would've been no more than an hour and half. It was around the hour mark that the set had slowed down again. Jade sipped her water, splashing a little on her face and neck before getting ready to introduce the next song. Her new song.

"How many of you have been in relationships that... let's say, you regret?" she asked. Almost all of the audience gave a resounding 'I'.

Jade simpered, "Wow, I wasn't hoping for that many. Here's another question, how many people here have been cheated on?" and she raised her hand, along with the sea of fans. Jade was tentative as she thought of her next approach.

"Yep. This one's kind of different now: how many people -- if you feel brave enough to admit it -- have been the... home wrecker in a relationship?"

That question threw Austin a little bit, and a smaller faction of fans raised their hands. Jade waited for them to settle before she too raised her hand, much to some audible gasps and protests.

"Yeah," she sighed, "Some of you may hate me for this, but I was also the other woman in a relationship. And it goes without saying, I'm not proud of it,"

Something shifted in Austin, the shock and awe settled but also made way for a resounding sensation of disappointment. Jade was the other woman? This had to be about her last relationship, but how? The girl he knew would never, never in a million years so something so messy and toxic... wouldn't she?

"I was really young at the time when this relationship started. I was twenty-one, and he was eight years older than me. I thought I was special because this person who I trusted and loved very much had left his previous partner for me. What I didn't understand at the time was how manipulated I'd become by this person, and I was so devoted and blinded by what I thought was supposed to be love, I went along with it without question,"

The venue had become quieter now, but the crowd continued to chatter amongst themselves, discussing while all sucked in to Jade's story. Jade took a deep breath, "Now, I'm not trying to deflect blame, and I'm not going to defend myself either because -- to put it blatantly -- I got what I deserved in the end. And after I broke up with this person, I took a lot of time to reflect on what I had done and realized that I had become somebody I never wanted to be. What hurt the most is probably that I burned so many bridges with people who tried to warn me how in over my head I was; but I'm a Taurus, so I'm really stubborn," that elicited some laughter and agreeance from the crowd, much to Jade's relief, "Anyway, I'm trying to get better at talking about it, and thanks to time -- and a lot of therapy -- I came up with this new song..."

With that, the soft twang of an acoustic guitar began to play. The fear was written all over Jade's face while she waited for her cue, keeping her gaze fixed on the pit and only the pit as she slipped the mic into the stand. Florence watched tentatively, her arms folded and her breath hitched in her throat. Austin meanwhile was still trying to wrap his head around what the fuck Jade had just said.

"I am a magnet for broken pieces I am attracted to broken people I pick 'em up and now my fingers are bleeding And it looks like my fault And it looks like I'm caught red-handed"

The energy in the room had gone down, somber more than anything as Jade essentially rambled out a confession of regrets and her hopes to move on with her life. She gripped the pole of the mic stand tightly, her knuckles almost turning white as she sang, sadly, but still so beautifully and on point to call out both herself and her man.

"Hit over the head, epiphany Over my head, repeatedly Thick skull never did nothing for me Same lesson again? Come on, give it to me Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me"

A chilling silence took over the room, cut swiftly by gentle applause and cheers for more. That's when the music started up again, a funkier, droning, melody accompanied by a melancholic electric guitar and heavier drum beats. Jade started swaying gently back and forth, her teeth gnawed at her bottom lip. She met eyes briefly with Maria, who only nodded her on as she played her guitar.

"Only I know where all the bodies are buried Thought by now I'd find 'em just a little less scary Might get easier but you don't get used to it Keep on autopilot, hey, hey What's the body count up to now, captain?"

The song was an overall shift in direction from Jade's more upbeat, pop punk tempo set before. Austin got into it nonetheless, her words resonated with him on a deeper level than he'd expected. Her sadness and regret were profound, the strain in her voice sent goosebumps rippling down his arms. Despite it all, he felt this warmth simmering in his gut, he could liken it to a feeling of comfort. Though that comfort went hand-in-hand with some semblance of guilt:

"I burned so many bridges with people who tried to warn me how in over my head I was"

Austin had to wonder if maybe he'd been there for her, maybe pursued her a little more, then Jade wouldn't have found herself in such a taxing position. He wanted to take her and wrap her up in a hug, to apologize and wanting to promise that she would be okay.

The sea of fans were already on board, cheering for her as Jade finished out her final chorus with a roaring bang.

"Hit over the head, epiphany Over my head, repeatedly Thick skull never did nothing for me Same lesson again? Come on, give it to me

I pick 'em up And now my fingers are bleeding And it looks like I'm caught red-handed"

The music faded into a raucous applause, the guitar settled and Jade felt the mounting pressure in her chest begin to deflate. That was when she had the courage to look up, finding Flo jumping up and down as she cheered her on. And Austin stayed beside her, something fleeting in his gaze though he smiled at her nonetheless, applauding her on.

That was the most reaffirming applause she'd received in a long while.

[potatocrab]

listen, I know I’m not on here a lot but I needed a place to info dump my experience at the Eras Tour so here goes (and many apologies if this isn’t your thing)

OKAY SO I actually live in Arizona (Era-zona) and was stupidly lucky to get tickets to opening night(s) on 3/17 and 3/18; here are my feelings and photos (I guess spoilers if you don’t want to see / hear about the tour) 

my seats on night one were 400 level side stage view so I just vibed and took the majority of my (200+) photos on night 2, where I was sitting in the lower bowl. this is my PSA that if you are going to concerts where you aren’t going to be “at barricade” or front row, invest in a good digital camera. As “good” as iPhones are, nothing will beat a camera with a super-duper zoom, you will leave with photos that look like they were taken from five feet away 

FOR STARTERS, Gayle and Paramore were amazing. I grew up listening to and going to Paramore shows so I was super stoked to see them again IN A STADIUM. Despite what social media might tell you, the crowd was really receptive to Paramore on both nights, and Hayley is a freaking master of the stage 

NOW, MISS TAYLOR put on a THREE HOUR SET and believe me when I say it is a visually stunning, highly produced show. I can’t wait for the BTS to confirm her and her team planned this for years. Her work/effort shows and really cements her place as a PERFORMER in her PRIME. Between the light up bracelets making patterns to specific songs to the light up stage responding to her footsteps to the pre-recorded visuals on the mainstage screen... UGH

an attempt to organize my thoughts / reactions (followed by a photo dump):

the overwhelming realization half-way into cruel summer that I was one of the first (of 70,000 people) to hear it live and would hear so many more newly live songs that evening

THE FACT she had different colored outfits between night one and two made me so excited 

me feeling silly for thinking she’d play different songs from different eras like OF COURSE each era/album gets it’s own mini-set, DUH 

SHOCKED she only played one song off Speak Now (Enchanted)

the songs she chose for evermore? EXCUSE ME? MARJORIE?!! Taylor chose emotional violence by having it on the regular set list; I was speechless 

same for folklore; playing august into illicit affairs? EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

so there’s going to be a ‘surprise song’ played acoustically every night on tour. AWESOME. What does she play night one? MIRRORBALL (we were blessed) 

THEN on night two, realizing it isn’t just the acoustic song that is the surprise song but the piano is too! STATE OF GRACE? - big emotions, especially when she softly said “sing with me” before the bridge

the audience collectively gasping when she DIVES INTO THE STAGE and ‘swims’ back to the main stage?!?!?!

VIGILANTE SHIT CABARET INSPIRED CHAIR DANCE?  

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION HIGHLIGHTS: 

all too well 10 min : FUCK THE PATRIARCHY 

the man: (when everyone believes you) WHATS THAT LIKE?!

delicate: 123 LETS GO BITCH

champagne problems: WHAT A SHAME SHE’S FUCKED IN THE HEAD

cruel summer: HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE A DEVIL

almost every bridge of every song had the audience scream singing, tbh 

[lindszeppelin]

Whenever celebrities go private when they’re usually not, something is up. Kaia has had a lot to promote with her apple series and has been in a bunch of campaigns. And besides some solo stuff regarding pap photos ( mostly in nyc) it’s been really quiet. This to me feels weird bc once or twice a week the daily mail has a puff piece on her based on her pap walks and now it’s been weeks since she’s been a regular on there!

This proves a few things. One, for the people who claim she’s “so famous so of course the paps follow her everywhere” bc of who her mom is and Kaia’s own career….clearly that’s not the case. The girl actually has real projects in the world and should be even more recognizable than ever… and yet her “candid” coverage is at an all time low. It’s almost like she WAS calling the paps the whole time to seem more relevant than she was so she could book all of the projects she booked. Hmm. (Lol.)

Two…all may not be right in the world. It’s very, very, very quiet. I’m also noticing a slight shift in how her narrative is being written in the media. If I were a betting woman I think a break up is on the horizon where she is now an “independent, intellectual model actress who loves books.” There’s just something about how she’s positioning herself, how quiet she’s been lately, and how that contrasts to when she was new on the scene and kept dating every IT guy…idk. I get the impression since she keeps booking prestigious roles (why, I don’t know cuz the girl is pretty but she can’t act to save her life) she may feel like she doesn’t need cheap PR ploys as much to get what she wants. She’s dying to be taken seriously as a thespian after all and tabloid actors aren’t often taken too seriously (there are some exceptions, of course). But I really think something is up with this change.

Just food for thought. But I call a breakup by June. And/or new pap walks of them together before end of next week because that happens whenever there are breakup rumors with those 2 😏

You bring up incredible points indeed. We just gotta see how things play out but you are right, things have definitely changed in a way that is obvious. she still calls the paps on herself like when she was recently in NYC. every single day she was papped...sometimes a few times in a day, but i think in general the landscape is different and in a way that's noticeable. i agree i think she is trying to be taken seriously. if she wants to merge into the acting world and the book world like she clearly seems to be, then she has to separate herself from certain narratives that might be a bit juvenile or trite. and im sure she's taking notes from her PR team that lead her in a certain direction.

but yup, something is brewing lol.

[laurfilijames]

So I have always been curious about something, but I didn't want to overstep, so if this is personal or you don't want to share, please delete this Ask. XD

You mention that you're an equestrian and a horsegirl--can you please tell us more about that? About your horse(s), your experience riding, all or any of that stuff. :) I love horses but have never lived anywhere you can access them easily, so lucky people with horses fascinate me!

Me getting this ask.

Ohhhhh you're so nice for asking!! I am indeed an equestrian and proud Horse Girl and am more than happy to talk about my passion and number one hobby!

I've always loved horses, and first rode one when I was 2. My aunt (who is like my mother, who also never had kids ((we say every time we're together that were each other's favourite family member ☺️)) has always had horses and introduced me to the lovely beasts. Her first horse that she owned was the first one I rode; her name was Chardonnay (yes I know...) and we sadly lost her two years ago at the age of 25. We still have her two babies, a 20 yo gelding named Hooligan (again, I know...) and a 18 year old mare Izzy (aka The Red Devil) and yes they live up to their names.

I've ridden at various stables throughout my childhood and teenage years, with some breaks in between being a boy-crazy teen and working/school, but have always consistently ridden my Aunts horses.

I've never competed, had zero desire and it would've taken the joy out of it for me, as showing is a whole different ball game. I ride purely for the love of it and bonding with my horse.

I ride "English" and do hunter/jumper (jumping over fences through courses) but really just love going out and spending time with them by grooming them and maybe going for a hack through the fields after doing some walk/trot/canter exercises.

I was part-boarding two different horses over the last few years but sadly my coach sold one and then the other became severely lame so I actually haven't ridden since December 😭. I think I needed the break, and now that spring is here I will get back in the saddle and working my aunts horses as they've fattened up heaps over the winter.

It's a dangerous sport, and sometimes I get in my own head over it and am becoming less "risky" with riding in general (ie not terribly fussed if I jump or not). Now that I'm in my thirties, falling off hurts a f*ck of a lot more and takes longer to heal/recover and I have a job and a house and a cottage to pay for.

I don't know if I'll ever own a horse myself, they're bloody expensive, finicky beasts who have insane, head-scratching illnesses and injuries, but I know I will always have them be a part of my life.

Horses are truly magical creatures. They're like dogs, but bigger, and usually forget their size. They know when you have a bad day, are sad or happy, and have the amazing ability to feel every emotion you do. When you're on one, you can literally think what you're going to do next and lo and behold, they're doing it. They feed off of our emotions and even though they are prey animals and are completely reliant on us for their love and care, they give so much.

I really hope you have the opportunity to be around them one day, because it will change you forever.

Thank you SO MUCH for this ask and please please please feel free to chat with me about them any and all the time!! 💗💗💗

Here's some photos because obviously...

Hooligan

Izzy

Hooligan and Izzy

Chardonnay

(Let it be known that I say "MUSTER THE ROHIRRIM" whenever I bring them in from the field because how can you not?)