#round one pauline i think

[felicitykings]

You, Pauline Fowler, you've always looked down your nose at me, haven't you? You've sneered at my sons and my daughter. You think you're so superior, don't you? Your husband was a thief, your son's got HIV, and the whole lot of you are a pack of liars!

EASTENDERS (1985- ) 01.01.2002

BONUS:

[thebetawolfgirl]

We’re Just Friends

Pairing: Timmy x Reader

Warnings: Umm… Friends to lovers? Smut!

A/N: New Fic!

We’re Just Friends

Timothée and y/n had been friends since they were 10 years old. They knew nothing else but each other, they could spot each other from opposite ends of the school yard.

She could find him in a room full of people.

The point is they were close. Closer than siblings, except when they argued it wasn’t like siblings would argue, and it never lasted very long.

Y/n and her friends were getting ready for a party at her apartment, she was trying on dresses in her walk in wardrobe while one of her friends, Daisy was telling her about this guy she had met at one of her mom’s dinner parties.

‘He has a younger brother y/n, I could set you up?’

‘Y/n doesn’t go for the business type, they bore her to death.’

She heard Timmy step into her bedroom and smiled knowing her friends would be rolling their eyes.

‘Timmy, come and help me with this dress please? The zip is stuck again!’

Timmy sighed and opened the doors to the walk in and saw the dress she was wearing, the one with zip on the front ‘Why are you wearing this dress? You know the zip always catches?’

‘Because it’s a nice dress and it’s sparkly.’ She smiles at him as he slides down the zip slowly trying not to catch it again.

She stripped herself of the dress and hung it up before walking over to get something else.

She was walking around in her underwear in front of Timmy and though they were used to their odd behaviour this was new.

Y/n never stripped in front of anyone let alone walking around in her underwear. She didn’t even get undressed in front of her own mother, but here she was walking around half naked in front of her only guy friend.

‘Okay I need to go. As much as I would love to stay for your fashion show I have to get ready.’

Y/n frowned ‘Where you going?’

‘I’m going to be at that party tonight. My sister was invited so I’m going with her.’

Y/n smiled widely and jumped into his arms hugging him tightly, ‘YOURE GOING TOO????’

He chuckled wrapping his arms around her waist tightly and nodded. ‘Yes I’m going too. So I will see you there.’

She let him go, smiling and kissed his cheek before he buried his face in her neck swaying with her before letting her go ‘Get dressed before you catch a chill.’

She turned and squealed as he slapped her ass and turned round to smack his chest scolding him ‘Timmy. Go!’

He smirked as she clicked her tongue and walked out the door while her friends were whispering to each other glancing at them.

‘Y/n why haven’t you and Timmy gotten together?’

‘We’re just friends, and he’s with Stephanie now.’

‘Timmy doesn’t act like that with Stephanie.’ Daisy said raising her eyebrow.

‘In fact I don’t think he’s even touched her in that way.’

Y/n’s head snapped up looking over at her friend ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘I mean Stephanie has been complaining that Timmy still hasn’t slept with her. They’ve been going out for weeks!’

‘That’s impossible.’ Y/n shook her head and went into the bathroom to begin her makeup.

Later after her friends left to get ready themselves y/n heard the door open and close and footsteps come toward her room

‘Timmy?’ She called from the bathroom ‘Is that you?’

‘Yeah, sorry. I know I said we’d meet at the party but can I just arrive with you?’ He came into the bathroom and leaned against the door watching her as she nodded in confirmation.

‘Of course. What’s wrong?’ She asked buttoning her dress jeans and walking over to him.

‘Stephanie found out I’m going to the party after I told her I wasn’t going. Now she wants to go with me, but I already said I was escorting my sister. But Pauline is going with someone else so she doesn’t need me to escort her.’

‘Now Stephanie is pissed because you won’t take her.’ Timmy nodded resting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back as he lay his head against her neck as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

‘Why haven’t you slept with Stephanie yet?’ Y/n asked against his shoulder.

‘It doesn’t seem like the right time.’

He mumbled back, his voice muffled against her skin. ‘You smell good.’

She smiled playing with the curls at his neck.

‘Thank you, it’s cinnamon scented lotion.’

He moved his head, sliding his hand to hold the back of her neck and bit down sucking hard.

‘Ow! Not edible lotion you freak!’ She shoved him playfully, letting him hit the wall as she looked at her neck in the mirror and glared back at his smirking face ‘Im telling everyone you’re a vampire and you tried to eat me!’

He continued to smirk as she grabbed her jacket and bag walking out with him. ‘Come on.’

He followed obediently and walked down to the cab she had ordered in advance and told him to get in with her ignoring his insistence he could walk ‘Timmy get in, you’re not walking anywhere, it’s New York and it’s freezing.’

‘Fine!’ He slid in beside her and they made their way to the party together.

Halfway there she grabbed his phone and got some pics together in the cab and even got a cheeky one of her grabbing his face and kissing his cheek.

He posted one to his social media captioning it “Party time with bestie” and tagged her.

When they reached their destination they paid the driver and quickly got inside when it began to rain. Neither of them considered Stephanie would be attending so Timmy stayed by y/n’s side during the party.

Some of the older guests assumed they were a couple but they always denied it saying they were just friends and they grew up together.

Stephanie arrived an hour after them and sought out Timmy and found him getting cosy with y/n with his arm around her waist nuzzling her neck.

Y/n saw her entering the party and nudged Timmy pointing to his girlfriend and y/n heard him sigh against her neck and she patted his back ‘Go. Now.’ He left with a peck on her neck and she sighed as he approached Stephanie and watched the way he held her and kissed her in greeting.

Her friends were right, Timmy was completely different with Stephanie than he was with her. It was as if he was touching something nasty, y/n knew from just watching them he didn’t like touching her. Wether they were like this in private, she didn’t know. But this interaction was painful to watch.

She watched as they left the room to go out into the garden so y/n decided to subtly follow them when she was stopped by Daisy and some guy.

‘Y/n this is Tanner, Andy’s younger brother who I was telling you about.’

‘Oh hello, it’s not a good time right now. We’ll catch up later Daisy.’

She walked off sighing. She knew she had just been rude but she had to check on Timmy.

Y/n walked out into the garden and heard someone arguing as if they were trying to keep their voices down.

‘I just don’t get it, Timothée. We’ve been together for weeks and we still haven’t even had sex yet.’

‘I’m just not ready yet Stephanie. I’ve told you that!’ She heard him sigh, and took a peak around the corner and saw him sitting on a stone bench while Stephanie stood over him her arms folded across her chest looking upset.

‘But you won’t even touch me. Whenever I try an kiss you you turn your head away and right now when I tried to sit on your lap you pushed me off.’

‘Because you’re obsessed with sex! I’ve never met anyone so obsessed with fucking the way you are!’

‘I’m not obsessed with sex, I just want to have sex with you.’ She shouted.

Y/n had heard enough she came out of the shadow of her hiding place saying Timothée’s name ‘Timmy. Pauline is looking for you. Hello Stephanie, you look lovely as always.’ Y/n smiled nodding her head slightly in acknowledgment. Stephanie was glaring at y/n until she complimented her and she returned her smile in thank you.

Timmy stood up and followed y/n inside leaving Stephanie standing alone with her thoughts.

‘Thank you for rescuing me.’ Timmy whispered walking with y/n indoors.

‘You’re welcome, I saw you walking out with her and knew she would start something with you.’ He nodded grabbing a glass of champagne from a tray being passed around and took a sip before pulling y/n to his side by her waist and kissed her exposed shoulder, lightly nipping the skin making her turn her head towards him and wrapped her arm over his shoulder, when she saw the guy Daisy brought over make his way through the crowd towards them and sighed ‘Daisy isn’t gonna let this go until I give this guy a moment of my time.’

Timmy looked over and smirked ‘Very business type.’ He sniggered but y/n whispered his ear. ‘If you don’t come and get me in 15 minutes no more cuddles.’ He choked on his last chuckle and went pale at the very serious threat and nodded as the guy approached with a million dollar smile and y/n had to stop herself from gagging in disgust.

‘Hi, I’m-‘

‘Tanner, yes I remember. Nice to meet you.’ She held out her hand which he took and kissed her knuckles.

Oh so he was this type of guy, goodie. She could feel Timmy coming closer to her in a protective manner and smirked.

‘Would you care to dance?’

‘Sure, why not.’

He guided her to the dance floor as Timmy looked on burning a hole into the guy’s skull and walked over to Daisy pointing to his best friend’s dance partner ‘Who the fuck invited James Bond?’

‘I did, i wanted y/n to meet him.’

‘Why? He’s not her type.’

‘I thought he was handsome and cultured.’

‘He’s a shmuck and slobbering all over someone’s hand doesn’t make you cultured. It makes you look like a baby with no teeth.’

Daisy glared and stalked off while Timmy looked on counting down to 15 minutes when he could drag her away from this moron.

He didn’t know why he was acting so jealous, but he knew this guy was not y/n’s type. She liked the goofy type of guy who she could boss around but who could equally take charge when called for.

And he knew this because she ordered him around like a puppy. This guy was the type of guy that would order her food for her at a restaurant, who would feel threatened by her independence and her strength.

He looked at his watch and saw it had been 15minutes and walked over to where they were standing at the bar and was close enough to hear their conversation and knew it was not going well, for him. The guy was trying to order for her at the bar, and she was telling the bartender that she didn’t want that. He was also insisting that he would like to buy drink for her but y/n had already handed the guy her money paying for her own drink.

‘I pay my own way, I don’t need anyone’s charity.’

Timmy smiled approaching hearing the guy huffing exasperated ‘It’s not charity, it’s called being gentlemanly. A lady should never pay for her own drink at a party. Especially if a gentleman is offering to pay.’

She turned seeing Timmy approaching and tilted her head asking him ‘Timmy am I a lady?’ Timmy scoffed shaking his head ‘No. Absolutely not.’

‘And do I always pay my own way?’

‘You paid the cab ride over here.’

‘Exactly. So let this chivalrous crap go. I’m not into it. It’s more Daisy’s thing than mine.’

The guy shook his head disapprovingly and left as Timmy and y/n smiled at each other.

‘So do i still get my cuddles?’

He asked taking a sip of the very unlady like beer she had ordered for herself.

‘Yes of course you do.’ She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he hugged her back holding her tight against him before sitting on the bar stool pulling her back against him by her waist and watched the party going on around them. The music was louder now as the older guests had retired earlier and only the guests their age remained.

He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist and played with the waistband of her jeans, touching her skin there. She lay her hand over his and entwined their fingers together as he leaned forward and nipped her shoulder. She leaned into him and nudged his nose with hers and kissed his cheek.

‘Is there somewhere we can go?’

He whispered against her neck and she took his hand getting up and dragged him out of the door and up a set of stairs looking for a room.

Every time she stopped to open a door he would grab her hips and nip and kiss her neck until they found a bedroom and she dragged him in behind her as he ran his hands up and grabbed fistfuls of her breasts through her waistcoat, she kicked the door shut and he slammed her against it and began sucking on her neck while turning the key in the lock behind her as she tugged on his hair trying to get him closer to her as possible. She pushed her knee between his legs and pressed against his groin causing him to bite down on her neck hard.

He grabbed her waist picking her up and tosses her on the four poster king size bed crawling on top of her when she pulled his shirt over his head as he tore the buttons off her waistcoat and wrapped his hand around her throat squeezing gently making her gasp.

She grabbed him by his head and slammed her mouth against his in a hungry kiss. He kissed back with equal hunger sliding his hands down her body before sliding her jeans down her legs, breaking the kiss he removed his own jeans before climbing back over to her, he made quick work of their underwear and he slid into her slowly, taking his time as y/n reached up and placed small kisses along his shoulders before he began thrusting into her at a steady pace as she held onto his shoulders.

Y/n gripped onto his shoulders digging her nails into his skin as he began to slam into her harder making her gasp and drag her nails halfway down his arms.

He groaned and collapsed on top of her pinning her beneath him and rammed into her wrapping her legs higher around his waist causing her to moan and jerk higher up the mattress and the bed frame to rock.

She flipped them onto his back and began to ride him and felt his hands run up her torso and grab her breasts roughly. She slammed her hips down on his making him grunt and rut his hips upwards to meet hers causing him to go deeper inside her.

He rolled them to the other side of the bed pinning her down on the mattress and slammed into her as her head hung over the side of the bed and carved his hips into hers going deep again making her groan.

He pulled her up by her neck and kissing her roughly as they came together in a sweaty panting mess as they fell back landing at the bottom of the bed tangled in the sheets.

He kissed and nipped along her collarbone and throat before burying his face against her neck clinging to her and breathing shakily.

Y/n caught her breath and ran her fingers through his hair wiping his damp curls from his face.

She listened and realised the music had stopped downstairs and everyone had left.

‘It’s gone quiet downstairs. I think everyone is gone.’

She felt him move against her neck and wrap his arm tighter around her waist cuddling into her.

‘I’m not moving. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.’

She nodded and lifted his head placing an open kiss against his lips and turned onto her stomach letting Timmy kiss her back and shoulder before laying his head on her mid back closing his eyes as they drifted off to sleep!

@sufferingstarlight

@gatoenlaciudad

@kteezy997

@lixzey

@tchalamss

[relatableblorbopoll]

Round 1 of preliminaries, group 16

The first two places get a place on the bracket

Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket

Propaganda under the cut

Parker (Leverage)

"Some of the weird things she says are so true. Like when she talks about past/present/future parker. Her joy at the things that she loves is so complete. Christmas every year! I too have the urge to stab people with forks when in uncomfortable social situations. And it was great when she made her security code to her…home…Sophie’s real name because it was representative of where trust stood in the team after the prison break. Oh! And her and Alec are total couple goals. (Thruple goals if you add in Elliot)"

Gudetama (Sanrio)

"A lazy egg who really doesn't want to do much of anything and would rather just go back to sleep"

Finn the Human (Adventure Time)

"finn is just a little guy doing his best and trying to help people! he's the only human in the show so he's just like us fr (the entire human race) and he starts off the series as a kid and grows up during it so he really goes through all the relatable ups and downs and friendships and relationships and mistakes and achievements that we all go through. he does a lot of idolising people and having to realise they're not what he told himself they were. sometimes he tries to distract himself from an existential crisis by running around yelling or stabbing things with a sword. relatable"

Rain O'Fire Frazier (Worm)

"Rain grew up in a conservative community that he didn't want to be part of, and rejected their regressive ideology in favor of surrounding himself with people who have gender vibes, mental health issues, and traumas of their own. Also, people give him all sorts of crap in the setting, and while he does fuck up sometimes, he's just a swell dude who's hoping to not get murdered by crazy people. Times being what they are, I think that that's something a lot of people can relate to."

Piper Mclean (Heroes of the Olympus)

"she's SO full of love!!! she loves everyone so strongly!! she has a complicated relationship with femininity, gender and beauty standards. she bullies her friends but would go down fighting for them if needed. she acts out to get her dad's attention. she believes in a balance between emotions and logic, and is not afraid to tell her friends if she thinks they're neglecting the emotional side of a problem."

Norma Khan (Dead End Paranormal Park)

"She is autistic and struggles with socialising (same) She has special interests that she will bring up at any opportunity. She can get overwhelemed and scared being in the world. Norma is also bisexual! She spends her time in a Pauline Phoneix theme park (one of her spins) and fighting demons and ghosts (another special interest). Vote Norma today!!"

"She goes through so many relatable experiences that I rarely see depicted and is just overall an excellent character. The third episode of the show has the most relatable depiction of anxiety I've ever seen (especially the intersection between social anxiety and autistic sensory overload). It's one of those episodes where each character has to face their worst fears, and with how those episodes usually go, I expected her to overcome her fears at the end of the episode and just not have them anymore. Instead, she overloads the villain by having too much fear for him to handle since she has to constantly face her greatest fears as part of her everyday life. The protagonist also acknowledges how much more severe her fear is compared to most other people, which is pretty validating. Her special interest is an actress who turns out to be a really shady person, and she has a lot of trouble processing this because it was so close to her heart. She even gets a musical number about it! I've never seen this particular experience depicted in fiction, but it's one that is sadly pretty relatable to me and probably a lot of other people on here. She also has a plot where she is rejected romantically by a straight friend, which is kinda nice to see (even if it's not nice for poor Norma) since even though this is a really common experience IRL I rarely see it explored in fiction. And she's just really funny and smart and a great character in general!"

[heartfullofleeches]

How you meet them outside the Cafe

A series of shorts of you meeting the yan hybrids from my owner cafe series outside of the shop

Clyde/Spot [Rabbit Boy]

"Delivery for... Master?"

The word dies in the delivery boy's throat as the front door opens. You stand in the hall of your appartment, groggy from being woken up on your day off. Your barely conscious mind struggles to find the connection between the familiar face at first. Clyde choses to feign innocence as the pieces finally click; nearly dropping the package in hand as your lips form to his name.

"Sp-" You pause. "Clyde?"

He keeps his disappointment at bay with a shy smile. "Y-yea.. it's me. I thought the name on the order was familiar, but I didn't think it would really be you."

You prop against the doorframe, joining him in jollity as more memories cross your mind. "Oh, right- I remember you saying you did delivery work once."

Clyde wishes he could hide completely behind the box's small frame. He was prone to being bashful, but standing here, seeing you in your casual, comfortable environment was too much. If he tinted his head far enough, he could even see into your living room.

He scratches behind his ear to hide its tick. "Yea, I do bigger stuff on weekends, but on weekends I do food service if I need the extra cash. Um, this was from the bakery about a block over. I think it's a cake - not that I saw being noisy.

You take the box as he hands it over. Bit strange considering you didn't order anything, but free is free. Must be from a coworker. "'Sweet! Thank you so much for delivering this to me, Clyde. I'll be sure to thank you properly the next time you stop by the store."

He blushes. "It was my pleasure."

"Well, see you later!"

"S-see you soon, master." The word sits on his tongue as you shut the door, tainting it with the weight of his crime. Clyde slumps against your door. He's terrible - a horrible pet for lying to you like that; but it was the easiest way to confirm your location with looking directly through your window. He prays the bear along with the dessert will provide you with comfort at night - and that you don't squeeze it too hard.

Pauline/Belle [Cowwoman]

"We're here!"

You wake with a jolt as a large hand crashes around your shoulder. The woman to your left chuckles at your fright, offering you a hand to help you out of her truck. Leaning in to take it, she scoops you up by your arms and pulls you out herself. The bright sunlight warms your skin; cattle roaming freely in the distance.

"A beaut, ain't she?"

You nod in agreement as you look around her farm. As the head chef who quit a few months into your few year, Pauline often huffed about how she'd get this place fixed up and never look back when she was upset. Eventually that day would come, but there was one thing she couldn't leave behind.

Pauline sighs. "Yup, she's gorgeous, but nowhere near a knockout like you." She clears her throat as she glances your way. "Uh- anyway. Thanks for stopping by, Y/n. It gets real lonely round here without ya... And other folks, of course.

Saber [Catboy]

"Get the fuck out before they get here!"

A sharp hiss comes from behind a makeup room door, followed by a body shoved from its space. The figure in the doorframe sweeps the dust off their shirt and goes to sit back down; rushing to fix their hair and makeup as they spot you through the mirror.

"Y/n - Hello! What a wonderful surprise." The feline purrs, twisting in his chair to face you. His eyeshadow is uneven due to him booting his entire team before you came, but he still smiles at you like there wasn't a care in the world.

"Afternoon, Saber." You walk up to the table and set the bags you brought on it. His stomach grows as the scent of the food wafts through the air, but he plays it and his embarrassment off with a stretch.

Saber leans against the back of his chair. "Ah, I'm so glad the cafe started doing deliveries. With how many shoots there's been lately, I haven't had an hour to myself - or my needs."

The greedy cat strikes his claws up to the string of your apron, but you don't seem to notice as you pull the containers from the bag.

"I know. Management is still discussing renting us outside the cafe, but for now it's just the food." You turn and pat his head. "Sorry, kitty. I have other orders to take care of."

The calm in Saber's gaze turns frantic as he grabs onto your sleeve. "Wait! Before you go - feed me the first bite?"

Shanna/Bo [Sheep Girl]

After a long week of work, a small group of friends decided to take you out for the night to let off some steam. Standing in line for some club, the last thing you expect to see was a familiar face and a more recognizable pair of horns.

"Name?"

"Shanna?"

"That's not on the list... huh?" Trailing off, the slightly irritated look on the woman's face turns to shock and bashful. "Y-y/n?! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"My dad has me outside some nights for extra cash. Gosh - this is so embarrassing... D-do you wanna come in? Normally you'd need a reservation, but I can get you in no problem. I'll pay for whatever you want too."

"Shane! We need your help!"

Shanna flinches at the booming voice from within the bar. "Coming!" She looks back at you; the stress of whatever bothered her melting as she gazes into your eyes. She stammers. "Ah- I'll be right back. Please don't tell anyone I work here... or leave."

Prince [Hyena Boy]

Stepping off your final bus, you instinctively groan at the noise from the adjacent street. Your apartment was housed right across the street from a local college. Not quite upperclass, but definitely a name that was other here. Things normally weren't that loud, but with the end of the semester came chaos. You really needed to look for a new place to live.

"Boss? That you?"

You pay no mind to the person waving their arms in your direction - till they're running your way through busy traffic.

"Boss!"

As you finally turn to look, you're tackled by a body with the physique of an athlete; kept from falling by his swift movements as he twists on his heels and hugs you to his chest. You're damn near ready to toss him back into the streets when he starts to kiss all over your face, until his dog tags start to smack you in the chin.

"Ashur?"

The hyena whines as he lets you go. "Ah, man, don't call me that. Prince is way cooler - since it's the name ya gave me and all."

You look him up and down. He's wearing the colors of that school; and has a broken nose. "What are you doing here?"

Prince grins. "To fucking party, obviously! That and I got kicked outta my last school. Some bitch was dissing my collar and therefore you since your name's on it, so I had to beat his ass."

He points to his nose. "Trust me when I say this is nothin compared to him."

"Your collar has what now?"

Prince rubs his shoulders. "So what's going on? You live there?"

You nod as his gestures towards the building behind you. "Yeah. Been here for a couple years."

"Sweet! Let's head in! Maybe I'll look in to living here too!"

Prince follows behind you as you head up to your floor. He feels a little bad for lying to the fraternities that came to him in greeting - but he didn't come here for them.

Wisteria [Floral Monster]

"Hello, my dears. Have you missed me much?"

Visiting a museum on your day off, you're alerted to a familiar voice as you head out to the garden. A frequent ccustomerm and acquaintance of yours stands by a few rose bushes. With a wave of her hand, the drooping petals ripen to full glory.

"Wisteria?"

A new collection of flower buds spread across the entire field, and the woman's crown as she looks at you. The petals of the large rose in place of her upper face bleed from pure white to pink.

"Y/n? Is that you, darling? What a lovely surpise."

You join her side. "What are you up to?"

"Tending to my little sprouts. I was in charge of designing this garden when the museum was first built."

"Wasn't it built in the early 1900's?"

"They are like my children." Wisteria continues. "I've worked on countless projects, but they are the ones I find myself drawn to the most. I am happy you've finally met."

You wave at the flowers for some reason. Wisteria muffles a laugh.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but could you leave us for a while? I'd like to be alone with them a little while long."

"Oh - sure."

The second you're out of sight, the newly formered blossoms bloom. Wisteria plucks one, bringing it to their face.

"Yes, my loves. They are the one I've been speaking of. What do you think?"

Scout/Bear [Wolfman]

"Come on, little guy. Outta the cage."

Bus broken down on the road, you glance out the window only to find someone you'd seen countless times before. After hounding the bus driver to let you off, you sneak up on the man till your suspensions where confirmed.

"Scout?"

The cigarette held in his teeth falls from his lips from the fright. He stamps it out; aiming to avoid further scaring the racoon in the cagehe held. He hushes the creature as it chitters, setting the cage on the floor and waiting for it to scamper off before facing you. He takes off his coat and tosses in the the boot of his truck so the smell of ash won't reach you; looking down at you like he was in the middle of a dream he didn't want to wake from.

"Y/n. Thought my ears were playing a trick on me. What are you doing out here? It isn't safe to be out on your own."

You point at the bus. " Broke down. What were you doing?"

"Family called out a rodent infestation. It was just their son letting some poor raccoon into their home and feeding it chips. Wanted me to kill him, but they didn't care what I did long as it was gone."

"Oh.. That's sweet of you."

Bear leans against the bumper of his car; hiding the wag of his tail against its metal. He looks at you expectantly, before glancing away; hoping you'll ask for help first. It'll ease his conscious when he finally gets you on board; and remind him that eventually he'll have to begrudgingly let you leave.

"So.." He begins. "Need a ride?'

[fruity-phrog]

Dead End Paranormal Park shit I need to talk about and I feel bad for my discord server so:

I was expecting a Barney/Logs kiss to be monumental like the first Lumity or Catradora kiss, or at least something like Troyson or Bubbline. But NOOO, I just get SLAPPED IN THE FACE with it right at the beginning of the first episode.

And on the subject, I distinctly remember thinking “I wonder if they’ll have Barney tell Logs he loves them or smth” as I clicked on the second episode. I WAS NOT PREPARED.

Logs is a non-binary gay person. Don’t even fight me on this I’m right.

I was. So. Fucking. Excited. Watching Norma realize her crush on Badyah. It was literally exactly how I realized my crush on my friend and I was so excited to have those two canon.

I was fucking wrong.

Barney talking about transphobia?! Barney talking about people asking about his binder?! THIS SHOW FUCKIN RULES.

Again, I was very wrong about Badyah and Norma.

Badyah rejecting Norma hurt. So fucking much. The rawness of it all just stung so much.

BUT. I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYONE SAY THE WORDS “I’m straight” IN A KIDS’ CARTOON. It was astronomical. In shows nowadays, queer rep is so far and few between you don’t have any characters to get rejected. So to see Badyah let down Norma as softly as she did, explaining she’s straight then immediately going into a mini sexuality crisis was amazing. Norma’s tears though. 

Gonna be honest, was worried about the Josh thing for a minute.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even mind Norma x Zagan. I mean, Zagan’s canonically queer, and I can get behind a good height-difference ship. Also, I love the dynamic of “Morally grey but with a heart of gold x literal demon” Buuuuut Zagan being like 1600 comes with its Twilightes-esque issues.

Not Temeluchus and Pugsely acting like exes that still love each other lmao

Norma regretting everything when her connection to Badyah was lost just hit me in the worst way. The exact same thing happened to me about a year ago - I had a straight crush who was also my best friend, I told her I liked her and we...drifted apart. Everything about Norma's regret from the whole thing is so perfectly written, from her staring at photos of her and Badyah to insisting she's over the crush to being so incredibly excited when she thinks Badyah has come round to her house. I've never been able to relate to a character this much before, and adding on to the fact that Norma has social anxiety and can fixate on one thing until it becomes her entire personality...it just hit me so hard.

Am I still allowed to ship Norma and Badyah? They just meant so much to me before that episode. Is it problematic now? Coz it’s either that or aroace hetero-leaning Badyah. 

That whole episode though

The use of the word bi? An entire conversation about how hard it is to come out? The use of the word gay? Norma literally chanting “bi bi bi” like NSWNC?! Screaming, crying.

No, Pauline’s right, Norma’s mum has the best legs.

The coming out scene...shoot me now.

EVEN THE MUM SHIPPED BADYAH AND NORMA-

JULES USING THEY/THEM PRONOUNS. AND SAYING “I use they/them pronouns”. THE GAY IS REAL AND IT IS COMING FOR US.

Not Barney being saved by the power of gay 

I called Courtney being an angel from early s1. Suck it.

THE WATCHER THING I DID NOT CALL.

But we all knew Fingers had issues. I mean seriously. The dude’s got slay though.

Last thing - Gord means the absolute world to me.

[best-character-named-x-poll]

Best Character Named X Poll

I'm doing a series of "Best Character Named X" polls where all the characters have the same first name but are from completely different media, feel free to send in name/charcacter suggestions, I'm posting one poll a day. New polls scheduled for 1:30PM BST everyday.

If your favourite character is not included in the poll very sorry i have either never heard of them or actively chose not to include them as theres only 6 characters per poll. Characters will only count of that is their first name, surnames do not count. Official characters in canon only, please do not submit OCs.

Round 319: Hans

Round 320: Camille

Round 321: Olaf

Round 322: Dana

Round 323: Tim

Round 324: Daisy

Round 325: Quentin

Past Polls

Poll Ideas under the cut

Names that I have a complete list for*

Rebecca, Steve, Victoria, Katherine, George, Diana, Andy, Nora, Angel, Judy, Jo, Miranda, Pearl, Malcolm, Jamie, Tam, Klaus, Luna, Delilah, Claudia, Juliet, Jonas, Celia, Katya, Cynthia, Corey, Minerva, Ebony, Miriam, Percy, Bianca, Amara, Cleo, Cecil, Mabel, May, August, Francis, Matilda, Deborah, Jared, Kendra, Ophelia, Liesel, Fitz, Aurora, Ramona, Orion, Kala, Madeline, Anastasia, Kit, Marian, Lena, Polly, Cora, Leah, Jules, Irene, Laurie, Laurel, Hilda, Valentine, Joe, Monty, Skye, Walter, Marissa, Hope, Oberon, Lorna, Ace, Calvin, Bridget, Ulrich, Roger, Stella, Lenore, Wanda, Winona, Hannibal, Newt, Aiden, Oscar, Dorian, Dorothy, Una, Marnie, Mirabel, Dora, Olympia, Toby, Chip, Fearne, Axel, Gil, Bo, Rue, Leslie, Isabelle, Agnes, Luther, Sally, Delia, Richter, Scarlet, Bernard, Ray, Nigel, Selina, Harley, Blue, Missy, Perry, Paige, Duke, Tao, Gemma, Cornelius, Wendy, Apollo, Celeste, Clyde, Summer, Esther, Cole, Kieran, Melody, Vivian, Haley, Prudence, Ralph, Azrael, Lauren, Molly, Pauline, Athena, Darcy, Stan, Dana, Lee, Red, Stuart, Cliff, Gabriel, Octavia, Tsukasa, Anita, Esme, Ella, Heather, Riley, Pyrrha, Rupert, Ada, Orlando, Blair, Parker, Ike, Yukari, Tanya, Briar, Amber, Akira, Irma, Marlene, Trixie, Harriet, Letitia, Koichi, Katrina, Echo, Annette, Nami, Dale, Rod, Flora, Nina, Carina, Wade, Alucard, Rosemary, Lance, Yuki, Elena, Donatello, Puck, Callie, Moe, Hunter, Poppy, Titania, Fox, Melinda, Terry, Jackson, Melanie, Sunny, Dee, Clive, Freya, Randall, Caeser, Marina, Sasha, Dawn, Zain, Ron, Edith, Candy, Carlos, Raiden, Tara

Names I have an incomplete list for (welcome to send character suggestions)

Richter, Yasmin, Chase, Tina, Rudolf, Melvin, Melissa, Adele, Adeline, Jem, Dolores, Jude, Ginger, Bellamy, Jacob, Reese, Nemo, Addison, Adelaide, Candace, Abraham, Ragnar, Destiny, Hero, Drew, Raphael, Wallace, Jean (feminine), Cheryl, Shane, Tegan, Matthias, Liam, Ellis, Dennis, Josie, Mike, Bailey, Eden, Giselle, Suki, Keith, Wilfred, Blaine, Pam, Brianna, Sabine, Roman, Kalina, Mindy, Monet, Zara, Marcus, Elias, Mira, Glen, Farah, Faith, Enid, Ross, Antoinette, Elodie, Mallory, Kay, Renee, Willow, Albert, Howard, Oswald, Clem, Jace, Howell, Rowan, José, Christian, Ravi, Dev, Valerie, Norma, Tristan, Jolene, Yumi, Sakura, Carol, Carrie, Casper, Septimus, Rosalind, Rosamund, Rosie, Rosa, Gerald, Geraldine, Gerard, Ariel, Ariadne, Anya, Ida, Rocky, Mal, Solomon, Sol, Vera, Vincent, Nolan, Sage, Jojo, Calliope, Roxy, Roxanne, Silver, Noel, Noelle, Stacy, Lloyd, Alba, Virginia, Eva, Amos, Petra, Marla, Dante, Gretchen, Rhydian, Russ, Tate, Tatum, Morris, Ambrose, Doug, Grant, Graham, Aaron, Ivan, Paris, Doris, Rain, Sora, Wayne, Helga, Garth, Constantine, Sonny, Courtney, Jamal

Feel free to send more suggestions

*subject to change, you can still submit a character if there is no strikethrough if you think theres a character that its an absolute crime i dont add. Please don't suggest anything for the names with a strikethrough as they are polls that are already in my queue waiting to be published.

[josefavomjaaga]

Yet ANOTHER fiction snippet

But this will be the last, I hope. And it's only because it's the 200. anniversary of Eugène's death today. The text below is in fact translated from my very first story set in the napoleonic era, after hearing about Eugène had sparked my interest. It's the longest story I ever wrote, and one of the few I finished and even self-published. I've also shortened it a bit because I tend to be blabbering too much.

The scene takes place in Milan in early June 1805. Napoleon has turned the Italian republic into the Kingdom of Italy and now is searching a monarch for it. But his brothers, to whom he turns, all refuse. After having discussed his brothers and the reason why they refused at length with Caulaincourt (yes, I know, him of all people. No, I do not know why he would do that other the fact Caulaincourt happened to be in the room. Listen, this was my first story, okay? 😋), he resumes:

"All right, so my brothers are letting me down one by one. I have to take the crown myself, but I can't rule France and Italy at the same time without risking trouble with Austria. I must at least appoint someone to act as my governor in Italy. Any suggestions?" "Well, for the sake of argument, I must point out to Your Majesty that Prince Jérôme was not even asked whether he would accept the kingship of Italy." "I was thinking of serious suggestions, Caulaincourt. Jérôme can't command a rowing boat without help. If he gets his act together for a few months, gives up his American wife and submits to my command, we can consider elevating him to higher honours. Not before that. Who else do we have?"

"The most obvious candidate for the office would be your current Vice President of the Italian Republic, Francesco Melzi d'Eril." "Melzi? No, no. As vice president, he was a simple civil servant. This guy won't go any higher than that. I definitely don't want an Italian as viceroy. Fickle people, only pursuing their own interests. I need someone I can rely on here, a Frenchman, preferably someone from my family." "Well, both Prince Joachim Murat and Her Imperial Highness Princess Caroline Murat have repeatedly expressed their willingness, indeed their hope, to be considered for the posts in Italy."

"Did I not make myself clear, Caulaincourt? I said: I need someone I can rely on. - Murat!" He fervently motioned with his hand through the air. "Have you forgotten the ways he managed here as governor during the revolutionary wars? The Italians haven't, you can bet your life they haven't! [...] Pauline's husband is Italian, so he's out of the question, especially as the Lombards wouldn't accept a Roman as their ruler. And Elisa's Baciocchi? I'd rather pick a random oaf off the street to crown him! - Which reminds me ..." He wheeled round, stormed to the door and tore it open. "Duroc!" he shouted out into the anteroom. "Where's our little cutie?" Grand Court Marshal Duroc, busy sorting through some papers, seemed to have to think for a moment. "He's invited some officers from his chasseurs regiment to breakfast, if I'm informed correctly."

"Get him over here right away! His guests can have their coffee without him." He slammed the door shut again, folded his arms behind his back and continued to walk up and down, trapped in gloomy brooding. Grand Stable Master Caulaincourt, who knew his emperor, was careful not to disturb this contemplation. A few minutes passed in complete silence before the Grand Marshal entered in person to announce Prince Eugène Beauharnais. »At last!" Napoleon hastened across the room towards Eugène. "Listen, Prince, I have a task for you. If you've already packed for your journey back to Paris, go unpack straight away. You will stay in Milan. I hereby appoint you Viceroy of Italy."

"P-Pardon?" stuttered the young man, and both the grand marshal and the grand equerry shouted in disbelief: "Eugène?" "Yes." The emperor beamed and slipped a hand inside his unbuttoned vest. "What's wrong with that, gentlemen? The boy is not stupid and he has been in need of something meaningful to do for a long time. Besides, with him I can be certain that he will at least try to do what I tell him. An ideal solution. I'm very pleased with myself; the best idea I've had for a long time." "But sire," the young man objected. "I'm only twenty-three. And a soldier. I mean, I haven't learnt anything else. I don't speak Italian. I have no idea about portfolios and budgets and taxes and accounts…"

"Well, at least you realise that there are such things. With that, you're probably ahead of quite a few of my civil servants." His tone changed abruptly, he stepped next to his stepson and put his hand on his shoulder. "Listen, my boy, I know I'm throwing you in at the deep end. But you can do it, I'm sure of it. You don't need to worry about important things anyway, I'll decide those myself. What I want you to take care of here is the day-to-day business. Parliamentary sessions, submissions, petitions, promotions. [...] You'll have a lot to do. Italy has almost no army and what it has is in a terrible state. You will have to rebuild everything from scratch; reorganise the existing regiments, streamline the administration, build barracks, bolster fortifications, establish officer schools ... now don't look at me so fearfully. I'll write it all down for you. You'll see, it's not witchcraft. It's important that you don't allow them to steal your thunder. You have to show the Italians who's boss. Don't be too soft, don't be too kind-hearted. [...] Don't let anyone read my letters, not even Méjan or Melzi! Preside over the parliamentary sessions, meet your ministers once a week for reports, and learn Italian. Don't pretend to know more about things than you really do; nobody will believe you anyway. Don't let the Italians fool you and beware of flattery. Don't trust anyone! Above all," he added in a suddenly changed tone, "never sit on my throne! The only exception: you have to represent me in an important matter and I have expressly ordered you to do so. And if you do, hang a picture of me behind the throne so that it is clear that you are only representing me and speaking on my behalf. Otherwise, you are to sit on a chair next to or in front of the throne. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sire." Eugène nodded, having grown increasingly pale over the course of the speech. "At your command, Sire." "Very well. Then I will shortly present you to the parliament. Go and say goodbye to your mother in time; I think the Empress and I will return to France soon." "The Empress won't be at all pleased to see her son stay behind in Italy," Grand Court Marshal Duroc dared to remark. Napoleon dismissed the objection. "She will have to get used to the fact that he can no longer cling to her apron-strings all the time. And you, Caulaincourt, why are you looking so gloomy?" "If I may be so bold as to say so, Sire: the appointment of Prince Beauharnais will undoubtedly cause discord in the imperial family." "Yes," Napoleon Bonaparte beamed. "That's what I like best about my plan. I can't wait to see which of my dear siblings will be most annoyed."

[illleavemymessageinmysong]

Only Love Remains - I’ll Carry On Believing In A Love

Echoing ‘My Love’, lyrically as well as musically, ‘Only Love Remains’ begins with ‘And’, giving the idea that we’re joining an already started conversation. In the older song, the narrator ruminates on how it would be if he had to go away: how separation would not affect the connection between himself and his partner.

In ‘Only Love Remains’, the narrator imagines how he would feel if his love was taken from him: how, initially, he would probably pretend not to care, would want to save face. This wouldn’t sustain, though: “knowing me, I’ll want you back again and again”. Ultimately, when you strip away the facade of indifference, “only love remains”.

The video for Only Love Remains is intriguing with its’ use of shadows and light; characters hidden and revealed. Filmed in one long shot, it opens on Paul, Linda and the musicians but soon moves to a living room set. This set looks very like the living room at Cavendish Avenue. At least how it appears in the pictures from 1967.

White fireplace, couch facing it, single seat to the right of the couch, standard lamp to left of fireplace with similar lampshade, tv stood on floor next to lamp..

In this living room scene, the official narrative for the video, I believe , has Paul and Linda twenty years on. Of course, this is hugely sad as we know Linda didn’t make it to that age.

The actors playing old Paul and Linda were very well known in the UK: Gordon Jackson and Pauline Yates. In this scene, however, you can only see GJ clearly. He is initially sitting on the couch with a female figure beside him. She, though, is in shadow and cannot be identified as Pauline Yates (you only get to see Pauline clearly later on, in the closing scene). In this scene, GJ/old Paul gets up from the couch and walks over to the fireplace and looks at a photograph before turning and looking at the female figure on the couch. The lyrics being sung at this point are “to bring a happy ending to our song, I’ll carry on believing in a love”.

The female figure on the couch is in shadow and can’t be discerned. Perhaps, *someone suggested to me, it’s because she’s not actually there. She’s a memory. This, of course, is very speculative but she is quite deliberately kept in shadow. All we can see is that it’s a female figure, perhaps with a blanket round her for warmth? The camera pans over her with the shadow lifting only slightly.

This could be Pauline Yates, who we’ll show in a moment but it’s hard to say. The light from the table lamp reflects on her hair, perhaps changing its’ appearance.

This is from the start of the living room scene:

We now cut to the musicians before returning to the living room. This time, current Paul and Linda are standing in front of the fireplace. Linda walks over to the three-seater couch that the female figure had been sitting on but passes it and sits on the single seat.

We then cut back to the musicians. In front of them appear a number of older couples, including old Paul and Linda. This time we can clearly see not only Gordon Jackson but the actress Pauline Yates. In this remastered version of the video from, I think, 2022, this is the only clear sight we get of Pauline. I’m pretty sure that in the original video that had been on YouTube prior to this remaster, which I don’t think is up now, there was a scene where these older couples walked in procession to the front of the stage. Seems to have been edited out.

The other couples move away, leaving only old Paul and Linda/GJ and PY.

Pauline and the woman on the couch:

A beautiful song and fascinating video.

*thanks, Lisa.

[paulagnewart]

RIP Pauline Newstone

10th December marked 25 years since the Beast Wars episode Other Visits: Part 2 aired on Australian TV. Taking a moment to reflect, I vividly remember watching it (along with much of that season) on a small wall-mounted TV in a dimly-lit hospital waiting room. Hardly my idea of a grand way to spend multiple afternoons, but the prospect of more checkups and needles paled compared to the swelling dread of how, as the credits rolled, I might never see my favourite character again.

When Candice Santora announced three days later that Airazor's voice actor Pauline Newstone had passed away, that all-too familiar dread seeped its way back.

Beast Wars was far from my first foray into the world of those warrior Robots in Disguise, but certainly played an integral part of my life during the latter half of the 90's. Its writing and expansion of the Transformers history was captivating, its animation at the time second-to-none, and its voice acting nothing short of immaculate. Vancouver's finest breathed life into what could've easily been written off as another 20 minute toy commercial, but it excelled. They made the characters memorable, raw with wild, well-rounded emotions and truly raised the bar for future actors.

From the moment she burst onto the scene, I adored Airazor. Smart, sassy, more than strong enough to fight tooth and claw in battle, refused to put up with Rattrap's antics, and mistress in the art of dry wit. A welcome addition to the Maximal cast with a plethora of potential to grow. Granted the good times weren't to last; she was swiftly demoted to cannon fodder and later the role of "Mrs. Tigatron", but I was happy just to have her around. Whenever roleplaying our favourite scenes or making new adventures at school, Airazor was always my first choice. The original (and Transmetal figure a cherished Easter gift the following year) continued to have imaginative adventures after the show ran its course. For a time, something as trivial as a cartoon alien robot bird meant the world to me.

And it all came down to how awesome Ms. Newstone performed her.

It's a feeling the Aussie public clearly shared, as her video pack became one of the top 10 selling boys' toys of Christmas '98 (or maybe it's because the VHS repaint was, and remains to this day, the only version of her basic-class toy to see release here. But I digress). Yet Beast Wars proved a tip of the iceberg for Ms. Newstone's career. She lent her voice to shows including G.I. Joe, Mummies Alive!, Inuyasha, Monster Rancher, X-Men Evolution, Ninjago, and I certainly can't go without mentioning her portrayal of big baddie Frieza during Ocean Group's tenure on Dragon Ball Z (The infamous "Caressing the Balls" meme? That was her. Iconic).

Ms. Newstone was one of those voice actors I always hoped to meet someday. No means an easy feat, as she preferred to keep away from the spotlight in a fashion not dissimilar to the late Christine Cavanaugh. It would've been nice, but I understood and respected her desire for privacy, and commend the extra effort Pete and the other organizers went to adhering her "no photos" request at BotCon 2006.

Learning of her passing, let alone nobody reporting it until fellow actor Garry Chalk saw her name over six months later at the annual UBCP/ACTRA Awards, is a sad reminder how none of us are getting any younger, and each day those little things which used to give us joy slip further into the abyss of time. Cherish those memories and the ones you love, while always leaving room to create more tomorrow. Fiction generally doesn't last forever, but I like to think her memory and legacy both as a voice actor and person will for many out there.

The above image was taken back in 2011 while in Lithgow, but never made public until now. Far from my best work (assuming anything I do can be considered good to begin with :P ), but a decent day. History repeats itself, as that particular Airazor figure went on to appear in many more photos, accompanied me to multiple BotCons, a college graduation party (!), and most recently appeared on the official Oliver Brown social media page for their Rise of the Beasts promotion.

RIP Pauline Newstone. May many glasses be raised in your honour. You came, you stooped, and you sure as hell conquered.

[teegeewrites]

The Mayor and the Princess

The Mayor and the Princess

Synopsis: As Pauline is on the verge of starting her day, she is unexpectedly visited by Mario and Princess Peach. Shortly after their arrival, Peach expresses a desire to speak with Pauline privately. Intrigued, Pauline agrees and ponders the possible reasons for such a request, only to find herself taken aback by the surprising explanation that Peach provides.

I can only speak for myself, but I find that writing about a subject or person you know well is generally not too difficult, especially when those subjects ignite such positive or passionate feelings. However, exploring something or someone less familiar can be a bit tricky, yet it can also be incredibly fulfilling. Having been a part of the Mario fandom for many years, my stories have primarily focused on Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, or a blend of these characters. Still, I wanted to stretch my creative muscles and write about a character who I haven’t focused on much and seems to have a minimal following. As I considered my options, the perfect character came to mind. Who could be more intriguing to write about than someone who has been around since the very beginning?

Without a doubt, I’m referring to the original damsel in distress: the incredibly gorgeous Pauline! 🥰 While she has been featured in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games, that series doesn’t seem to garner the same popularity as the core Mario games and their various spinoffs. However, Pauline enjoyed a wonderful resurgence in Super Mario Odyssey, where she serves as the mayor of the bustling New Donk City. Speaking of spinoffs, she has appeared in several of them since her SMO appearance, including Mario Kart and the Mario sports games. Excitingly, she will also be a playable character in the upcoming Super Mario Party Jamboree, marking her first appearance in the Mario Party series.

In light of everything discussed, she seems to have a minimal following, with even fewer fan works dedicated to her. With this in mind, I chose to create a series that focuses on Pauline as she becomes more integrated with the main Mario characters following the events of Super Mario Odyssey. The first story in this series is already summarized, so I won’t reiterate it here.

A bit of a spoiler here: Peach wished to have a private conversation with Pauline about Mario. I wanted to explore how Peach grappled with her feelings for Mario after she had turned him and Bowser down on the moon. The situation became even more complex when she discovered that Pauline was celebrating Mario and had even penned a song for him during the New Donk City festival. Knowing that Mario and Pauline had a past, Peach felt the need to ask if Pauline still had any romantic feelings for him. To her relief, Pauline confirmed that she and Mario were just friends and had no interest in rekindling their romance. Furthermore, Pauline affirmed Peach's decision to reject Mario on the moon, expressing her belief that Mario still thinks highly of Peach in spite of it. In the end, Peach recognized that Pauline appeared to be a good person and chose to befriend her, even inviting her to join for a round of golf the following weekend.

I’m really happy with how this story has turned out; I think it serves as a wonderful kickoff for the series. As of now, I’ve finished two stories (I’ll be discussing the second one next) and am in the process of writing the third. As it stands, I have three well-defined stories, but a few ideas for future tales are also on my mind. I’ll just have to wait and see how everything shapes up from here.

[theretirementstory]

01/09/2024. Greetings on this first Sunday in September, where the weather in Bar-sur-Aube is 22c (and sunny) we are due 32c so I will need to hide in the shade.

This photo was taken on September 1st 2018, that was when the town used to have the Foire aux Bulles on the first weekend of the month, which for some reason was given a new name “Bulles et Gastronomie Foire”and moved to a new slot, the last weekend of the month.

Let’s get my health news out of the way first! My platelets have not fallen to 10 or below for a number of weeks and so the doctors in Paris agreed that we should try for just one transfusion per week 😳. The injection to boost my white blood cells is to be stopped as it looks as if my body is working better there. I still have to have the injection for red blood cells but haven’t had a haemoglobin transfusion for almost two weeks 😁 and of course I am still having platelet injections and transfusions. My blood pressure tablets have been stopped completely in the hope that blood pressure will return to normal levels after being really low. All in all a “good news” week. Keep your 🤞for me.

I had to eke out the shopping as Monique wanted to do some, I asked Anie to get fresh fruit and my neighbour to go for my prescription. On Friday (after my trip to Paris) my neighbour drove me to two supermarkets, where I hurried round picking up items for “my family’s” arrival. We are all so excited to be seeing one another soon.

It has been another busy week (well aren’t they all?) I messaged the gardener, who came out and cut the grass on Tuesday, then he messaged to say he would cut the hedges on Friday, so now my garden looks pretty good. I contacted the plumber who also called in on Tuesday and repaired the waste “thing” in the upstairs washbasin. I finally plucked up courage to contact the man to clean the outside walls of the house, they are streaked with red which appears to come from the roof tiles. He came out and looked at them, gave me a price which we agreed and then we agreed a start date. The only person, both Monique and I, have been unable to contact is the roofer. He seems to have gone to ground! She said I will have to try and find another man to do the work but to be honest those men are as rare as hens teeth! Oh well, it’s just one job left to do I suppose.

It was pay day for my cleaner and as usual, I hadn’t done something correctly! I finally printed off the paper she needed, at 5am on Friday (before my trip to Paris), left it where I had said I would leave it and she hasn’t been for it yet. Oh well I have done my bit, without my car I cannot go and deliver it to her. If Anie comes down I will get her to take it but other than that, I don’t know.

Pauline came to see me on Tuesday and we spent a lovely couple of hours together. She was quite taken by the gardener and kept “watching him work”.

I had a surprise yesterday, my friend, from the next village, sent a message to say she had left something outside my front door. Sure enough, a bunch of flowers were resting on the door handle and there was a large bag of tomatoes and courgettes. As it was so hot, I really couldn’t face cooking anything but I checked out some recipes and think I will be making tomato and courgette soup plus courgettes, tomato and garlic. Well I can but try!

We have had some really lovely days and I am hoping for more of these for next week. This week it has meant that washing could be hung out and dried which is a big boost enabling me to prepare for the autumn and winter.

If it’s good weather next week my visitors will be in the garden taking the sun and reading books. The perfect way to de-stress.

So “Mr Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” have been busy packing their bags and will spend today relaxing 🤞before an early start in the morning. Oh wow, don’t think about it or I will get 🤪.

“The Photographer” has been out and about in York taking photos. He is trying lots of different things and ways to photograph scenes, people etc. He made a flying visit home yesterday and will be heading back to York this evening.

On Friday morning the alarm woke me at 4:30a.m. it was dark and I felt as if it was still nighttime! I love the summer for the bright early mornings but know that those days will soon give way to darker mornings. It’s sad in a way but at least I have my trusty sunrise alarm clock to help me wake up to some light. When I was younger I wished I could hibernate until the days grew longer, now as I approach another birthday I want to make the most of the hours available to me, be they light or dark. Yes it’s the month of the autumnal equinox too!

So finally, I have reached the music slot, I don’t know why I haven’t had this song in before now! The song is “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry which was released in 1976.

This is another 1970’s song, it’s “Black Betty” by Ram Jam which was released in 1977. When I hear either of these songs I am transported poolside at the Hotel Tour Khalef in Sousse Tunisia. I was young and free as a bird unlike now where I am old but still free as a bird 😂.

Have a good week until next week, I hope to.

Final photo, the garden, ready for the visitors.

[fnvminorcharacterpoll]

FNV Minor Character Poll - Round 1-A, Day 4

Left: Ten of Spades, junior member of First Recon and spotter. —"See, I w-w-wanted to be Ace of Spades. But the LT says, sorry kid, you're t-t-too green. So he calls me Ten instead. It's okay, though. I get a few more k-k-kills under my belt, he'll move me up to Jack. Jack of Spades. Sounds better, right? I keep at it, eventually I'll make it to Ace. Think I'll skip Queen, though."

Right: Pauline & Sammy Wins, the Mojave's most dangerous pair of "up-and-coming" criminals. —Pauline Wins: "Sammy and me got our hands on a powerful weapon not too long ago: Vance's gun. You know - Vance, of Vance and Vikki? That gun's our 'shot' at the big-time. We're gonna sneak it onto the Strip and rob one of the casinos. Maybe all of them! We'll be known as the greatest gunslingers to ever terrorize the wastelands!"

Designated cheerleaders were not available for this match-up.

[Bracket | Info & FAQs | Become a Designated Cheerleader]

[glowyjellyfish]

Narniapocalypse: Contrary, Spring, Round 1 (part one)

It's certainly been more interesting.

Violet and Rick took the kids to The Woods, while David stayed home to watch the babies. Two infants and two toddlers will soon be too much for one boy to babysit, but he did fine in the early part where all the motives are still green.

Violet actually had the strength to chop down trees, so I had her chop one while everyone else gathered sticks and berries and then fished. Perhaps this household will progress to carpentry if they make it past subsistence survival!

David struck water... and also managed to dig up a treasure chest. He did get seeds later, so nothing's broken or anything. I think I'll do the same rules the DeBateau household have, and require them to give half the treasure to the elf king.

There was a lot of chaos. Like, a lot. I don't remember what happened most of the time, and this was only an hour ago. Rick bonded a bit with Sharla a bit.

Our first romance! I decided finally to run the hood-wide gender pref--at low, so I can easily adjust it if I really want somebody to have babies--and David and Violet quickly decided they wanted to be together, despite only having one bolt. I'll definitely allow it, I think they're a decent match. They wasted absolutely no time getting down to woohoo. I made sure to adjust the risky chance after the first time--without modern birth control, there should be a 1 in 3 chance of pregnancy. Nothing so far but they are so excited to play with fire lol. Really do not want another baby in this household until the first batch of toddlers become children. It certainly helped a lot in keeping them happy!

Steven and Stephanie Ottomas aged up on Spring 2--they should have aged up on Spring 1, actually, but I missed that. Their ages have been corrected. Poor kids got hit with the Ottomas genes real hard.

Oh, and the kids accidentally went to school one day, which was very annoying but did soothe Isaiah Gavigan's nerves. I really must fix the institution sign or get another mod to prevent the school bus from coming. That's all for today, it was a total madhouse and I needed to do other things. Next time, we'll see Tommy Ottomas and Pauline Aspir age to child, and I think we'll get a couple of the children aging to teens as well. I'm also plotting to get some dug-up treasures sold to the Merchant and buying a random crop soon; it's very difficult for anybody to get away from toddler care right now.

[nocompromise-noregrets]

five good things

Time for one of these, I think.

I'm now off work for a week, hooray. I have no concrete plans except some studying and hopefully some writing, and a bit of touristing around town, possibly combined with lunch or a coffee with one of my longest-standing colleagues from job number one who retired yesterday and wants to get out of the way of the builders who will be starting to redo her bathroom on Monday, rather than months ago, as planned, when she'd be out of the way at work all day XD

I went in to job number one yesterday to make some hours up and tackle a particularly complicated task that needed some sustained concentration to get it done; I'd been intending to do it over Christmas but then managed to get the plague and didn't feel up to it, then didn't manage to do it on any of the weekends since then, so when Kate announced she was having a retirement do in our function room at the end of her last day I thought it was a good opportunity to get it done since it was on a Friday which is my non-working day these days. I got done everything I needed to do and also had a good long chat with Pauline, one of my other longstanding colleagues who's been volunteering with us since she retired nearly 20 years ago; I never see her any more because she comes in on Fridays when I'm not there, so it was really lovely to see her. I'm really going to miss Kate, as she's the last member of the team I first worked in back in 1997 to retire - but she's going to be coming back in and volunteering so hopefully we won't lose touch. I've known her (and Pauline, and Julie, our erstwhile manager who retired five years ago) more than half my life and they've all been so incredibly supportive over my career, but none more so than Kate. She's incredibly perceptive and understanding, kind to a fault, and I think she knows me better than I know myself (I am not at all self-analytical or perceptive or any of that stuff). We've been meaning to go for lunch for at least six years, since we haven't worked so closely together after the last restructure eight years ago, and never getting round to it, so I rather hope we can sort something out soon.

The retirement do was lovely - Kate's family were there (including her Oscar-winning son, for those of you who remember that particular excitement this time last year) and colleagues past and present, everyone brought some food, Kate gave us a quiz about herself to see how much attention we'd all been paying over the 36 years we'd variously known her (she started working with us in the autumn of 1987 - so ten years before I did) which was huge fun - my table won, enormously satisfyingly XD although we did have a bit of an advantage with both me and my work wife Helen as we both know her pretty well :D - and it was enormous fun, although I'm in huge denial that she's actually left. I went on to the pub with three former colleagues who I don't see nearly enough of, and wended my way home at the end of the night feeling warm and happy and generally rather good. I'll be getting my long-service award next year (25 years!!!) and I do feel rather as though it's about time I stepped into Kate, Pauline and Julie's very supportive shoes for our younger members of staff.

On Thursday I had a very productive online meeting for job number two, for a project that my predecessor handed on to me without really any guidance as to what I was going to do with it or how (he was very much a project manager and I am very much not, and I think he just expected me to be able to take it and run with it) - I'd had it on the back burner for several years as I just did not know what to do with it, but this year I feel like everything's coming together a bit and I got in touch with the academic who'd thought of it in the first place to say I was almost in a position to facilitate something, and she nearly bit my hands off XD we finally managed to get our schedules aligned on Thursday and she and a colleague and I got a bit of a plan together which is likely to involve me facilitating but not doing much else, which suits me absolutely fine.

Also for job number two I had an enquirer at location number two who wanted to come and look at the house's Catholic chapel registers for a history of the neighbouring village where he lives in a monastery because he is a Benedictine monk. I had never met a monk before, so I was completely intrigued, and he was really lovely - quite young, and very nerdy about history, so we hit it off very well, he found what he wanted in the registers, and then we went for a wander in the Anglican churchyard next to the house looking for gravestones for the family he was looking for. Dealing with enquiries and enquirers isn't my favourite part of the job, but it's always rather rewarding when someone finds what they wants and goes away happy.

Since those five were all work-related...I've done a bit of writing this week on two Femslash February prompts and a birthday fic for @lemurious in her Astronomer!Arwen 'verse, and it's been so nice to be back at it. I haven't felt much inspiration just lately and I've really missed it.

We're plotting fun things for Barduil Month in April over at @bi-widower-dads :D

We have a new boiler! We have heating! And a much better thermostat and more economical boiler and better radiator controls and everything is so much more comfortable. :D

It's nearly spring! Our daffodils have been out for weeks, and one of my peach trees has been in full bloom for about two weeks at this point, although the other one is still only thinking about putting buds out, which is a bit weird because normally they flower together - but the later one is in a shadier position so maybe that's got something to do with it.

I had a couple of nice walks round the docks to and from the garage where the TT was having a couple of things fixed, one first thing in the morning when everything was misty and the water was still as a millpond, and one late in the afternoon when the sun was just beginning to head for the horizon, and it reminded me how beautiful our little city is. I don't usually see the pretty bits, but I feel like I should make more effort to go up to the docks more regularly than once a year around my birthday, when we don't usually enjoy it because all the pubs are showing the Six Nations and the horse racing and we have no interest in either of them. Thinking we might go up during the week this year, instead of the weekend, when the rugby at least isn't on, although it's Gold Cup week so there's no escaping the horses. Still, there are a couple of new places opened now so maybe one of those doesn't have a TV. XD

I have some lovely Lumene skincare stuff again, having discovered that John Lewis sells it over here. It's just the nicest stuff, from Finland, all full of Nordic botanicals and things, and after a while where they weren't shipping to the UK, they are again now, plus I can also get it from John Lewis (I have clearly arrived among the middle-aged middle classes, I have a John Lewis online account now XD ), hooray.

It's nearly bike weather again! I might see if I can get him started up this week, as long as it's not too cold and/or wet.

I've been having so much fun with @mihrsuri RPing in-universe fandom drama in her Tudors OT3-'verse :D :D :D <333333

good lord, thirteen things. Not bad :D

As always, if anyone wants to take this idea and run with it, do feel free. Five (or more!) good things, no matter how big or small. A little bit of positivity in the midst of everything else.

[autisticmagicalgirls]

Hey I'm still alive, just have been having a lotta mental and physical health stuff going on. I did finally decide on some names for the characters, though! As well as a bit of personalities!

---

The wand user is named Ethel Hart. Xe works very hard at school, and xir biggest fear is being seen as a failure. Xe works a bit too hard to avoid that, which may eventually cause burnout. Xe doesn't have a special interest, but rather, cycles through sort-term hyperfixations on various nonfiction topics to read about. As such, if xir memory is functioning right, xe has approximate knowledge of several things. Buuuut xe has an issue of getting facts mixed up in xir head sometimes due to swapping interests so often.

For example, xe can tell you some fun facts about spiders if you encounter one, buuuut xe might forget which ones are poisonous. Perhaps the three are fighting a snake monster. Are its bites poisonous? Was it round or diamond heads that have pois- whoops too late, Chrissy got bit. Guess Ethel'll find out which it was soon enough.

Xe lives in a college dorm as xe desperately tries to figure out what xe wants to major in for xir bachelor's degree. There's so many choices! There's so much stuff to learn! Deciding on just one stresses xir out.

-----

Bear arms/hands user is Christina "Chrissy" Robinson. She is mute, and uses an AAC device to communicate with others. She does know sign language, but only really uses it at home when she doesn't have her AAC with her, such as if it's dead or she left it on the couch when going to grab some food.

She lives with her sister, Pauline (Polly), who acts as her caregiver and helps her out whereever she can. Their mom is a doctor, and isn't home a lot. She pays Polly to help care for Chrissy since Chrissy has trouble with certain things. The two girls have only recently moved to town to be closer to their mom's workplace.

I'm thinking I might have Chrissy's dyspraxia be rough. Like... She has difficulty balancing when going up and down steps, trouble gripping small objects like forks and pencils and such, and she tends to either drop things or grasp them too hard. She also tends to fall a lot, if not careful.

I'm flip flopping between weather or not she minds eye contact, but anyway,

Due to her dyspraxia she has difficulty doing certain things like cooking, cleaning, bathing, and other things. Her sister helps her as needed, and Chrissy also has some devices and tools that help her out. For example, a spoon with a thick handle that's easier for her to grasp, with a mechanism to help itself stay balanced even if her hand goes shakey. I'm not sure what else though! If anyone has ideas, let me know. Perhaps a cane would be helpful? Idk. My dyspraxia isn't that severe, so I'd like to hear some from those who struggle with it more than me!

As for Christina's personality, she's sarcastic, blunt, and she's a bit abrasive when it comes to interacting with new people. She doesn't trust easily. Growing up she was bullied a lot and had some friends betray her trust, so now she's a bit standoffish with new people as a sort of defense mechanism. Friends can't betray you if you have none, right? People can't attack your insecurities if you hide them behind enough false confidence, right?

She read the words "fake it til you make it" and she FELT that shit. In junior year of high school, she started closing herself off, whilst putting on a show of false confidence. She began insulting people back when they made fun of her, and eventually they seemed to shut up and stop bothering her. So that's been her strategy for the last few years.

As such, she might be a bit of an asshole at the start. It'll take some work for her to open up to working with the other two. Knowing her she'd probably try to go it alone several times and get her ass kicked hard a few times before begrudgingly admitting she needs their help.

Maybe as she befriends them and slowly lets them into her heart, she'll realize that not everyone will betray her and that she can trust people again.

I'd say her biggest fear is being all alone. As much as she intentionally tries to drive people away so that they can't hurt her, she's also fucking terrified of being fully alone. She wants people to love and trust, but she feels like it could just lead to more pain. And yet... She doesn't want to be alone.

As for Zaps, I'm still working on her personality and her whole name, but I'm thinking she'll try out "Hannah" first

[caffeineinducedbeing]

as the world caves in

chapter one

-----------

Muscle spasm! Damn! Ow, ow, ow. 

Alyss rubbed her aching calf, berating the fact that this always seemed to happen when she was running late for something important. After the cramping died down, she continued to race to the meeting room that she was supposed to have arrived at over half an hour ago. She heard papers flying out behind her, but glancing at a passing water clock, she knows she hasn’t the time to pick them up. 

She stops at the door and hesitates for only a brief moment before knocking and letting herself in. Immediately she sees Pauline, and four other courier colleagues, ones who she’s worked with for years. They were all seated at a round table with the Baron, and they looked up as she entered, some giving understanding smiles, some simply nodding a greeting. 

“I apologize for my tardiness my Lord, I hope I haven’t missed anything important?” 

She says as she sets her bags down and takes a seat next to Pauline. 

Arald brushes off her apology with a wave of his hand, “Ah, no, of course not. We’re just getting to the juicy bits of the meeting, I’d say.” And had this not been a room of well-trained diplomats, Alyss was positive there would’ve been some rolling of the eyes at his choice of wording. She found it quite difficult to contain one herself. But she smiled at him and nodded a thank you. And soon the meeting picked up its pace on its own. 

They were about halfway through a discussion about the resolution of a conference in Elrod fief when an urgent knocking sounded at the door. 

“Come in,” Arald called, as the room lapsed into silence. 

The door opened to reveal a castle guard. A young one, no older than 25, his inexperience was all too evident in the stress showing so clearly on his face. He was trying to conceal his panting breaths, but it was obvious he had run here.

He cleared his throat, “Uhm, I- I’m looking for an Alyss Mainwaring Treaty, sir– My lord.” he hastily corrected. 

“That’s Lady Alyss Mainwaring Treaty, young lad.” The baron interjected before Alyss interrupted him. 

“I am Lady Alyss,” She said quietly, and a bit hesitantly, which was unlike her. But something about this situation made her uneasy. The worry on the guard's face, the way he fidgeted with his hands as if the news he was to deliver was to destroy their very lives, and worst of all, it was the deep gut feeling that Alyss had been carrying around with her since that morning. It was the kind of gut feeling that could make people stay home from work, the kind that made people think twice before walking into danger, the kind that sometimes saved lives, and sometimes destroyed them. 

The guard hesitated again for another small moment, then determination overtook his features and he said as clearly and confidently as he could, “My Lady I was told to fetch you. It’s an emergency concerning Ranger Will Treaty. Your husband.”

Alyss was already out of her chair. Pauline and Arald followed closely behind her. Alyss heard the Baron speak to the other participants in the meeting, likely saying something about postponing the rest of it until a later date. But Alyss wouldn’t know that, she couldn’t hear a word anyone was saying anymore. 

Alyss gathered her things quickly, and rushed toward the door, asking the guard in a shaky voice. “Where is he?” 

“In the infirmary ma’am. The emergency wing of the infirmary.”