#the anti brunette propaganda never rests

[brunetterightsactivist]

I’ve never watched sex and the city and I’ve been watching it the last few days and of COURSE the uptight one is the brunette. It really was a curse to be a brunette in the 90s

[alliswell21]

@duckpotatodandelion’s Prompt: “I do love me a coffee shop au.”

Rated T

This was writen last night and edited this morning before I had to run errands, so my apologies for any errors.

Also, since @duckpotatodandelion had that post about hot chocolate, I may have deviated her Prompt a bit... 😳... fine! a bunch... 🙈 don’t tell anyone!!!!

☕️ ☕️ ☕️

I walk into the Starbucks and wrinkle my nose in the first breath. I’m not a coffee person, the dark concoction loosens my stomach for whatever reason, but thanks to my boss, Plutarch Heavensbee, I have around $100 in Starbucks gift cards that only keep piling up for every occasion that requires management to give the employees recognition.

I’m guessing the man thinks coffee shop gift cards are the hip thing to do, and say whatever you want about Plutarch, that man is still trying to stay relevant.

One look at the line and I quickly realize I must be the only soul in this planet that doesn’t care for coffee. I sigh to myself, stepping in line with the rest of the morning rushers, wondering how does the son of a baker could’ve develop such an aversion to coffee, when it’s perhaps the hot drink most served in my father’s shop?

Since I’m number 2002 (fine, that’s an exaggeration on my part) in this line, I decide to spend my time people watching and trying to guess what they do for a living for a bit, it’s not like I can see the menu from where I stand, though the baristas seemed to be pretty proficient at their jobs, dispatching drink after drink like caffeinated fairy godparents.

The first customer in line is a severe looking woman with straight, gray hair that falls into a perfect curtain down to her shoulders; she’s wearing a gray power suit and gray comfortable shoes; when she turns around with her distinctive paper cup in hand I realize her eyes are the same hue of gray as her hair and outfit. It’s like all color has been drain from her. I’m going to call her Madam Monochrome. Or maybe Coin, since she reminds me of silver change. I wonder if she lives down in an underground bunker and only came up to surface because coffee is banned in her secret lair, that would explain the monotone colors. If that’s the case, she must be the president of the underground community, otherwise I don’t see how she was allowed to leave.

Next, is a guy with a wiry frame, ashen skin, balding. His glasses keep sliding down the bridge of his nose, so he pushes them back up with the middle finger of his hand. He’s carrying a laptop briefcase, the padded kind you don’t have to completely open in the TSA line at the airport for the x-ray machines. I’m going to call him Beetee, because that’s what the logo in his case says. He’s probably a genius, working for the next iPod nano device that may fit 3 gigabytes of music into chip as big as a grain of rice. Then again, he could be plotting to overthrow some totalitarian government, by breaking into the TV transmission with well placed anti government propaganda… he’d call them Propos for short, because he doesn’t have time to say the whole word. He’s too busy inventing weapons to chat.

Next, is a man tall, dark and very handsome. The kind women swoon after. I’m sure when he was in high school, girls giggled about him behind their notebooks and commented on how cute he was. He turns his head my way, probably feeling my gaze on him; he only spares me a glance and turns back to stare at the baristas impassively. Good looking Jerk! I bet he’s the military type. Fancy job at some highly rated base, with a huge family that adores him and look up to him. He also looks the type to own hunting gear. He’s probably a sharp shooter too… I can already picture him bringing home a twelve point deer he shot through the neck and a handful of dead, fat rabbits hanging from his belt, he caught in his snares, because what do you know? he’s also a whiz with snares! I should move on from his rigid form. For some reason I don’t think we would ever be friends, him and I. I bet we are total opposites. I’m gonna call him Gale, because he probably has a temper that would wreak havoc, like a strong willed gust of wind.

Behind Gale, there’s a little old lady I’m gonna call Mags, because she looks like she could be a Mags. She seems kind, but there’s something about her face that looks almost like one side is sagging. It saddens me. Maybe she had a stroke at some point, in which case, the mere fact she’s standing in line to get a hot beverage in a busy shop shows her resilience and strength. Good for Mags! I hope she gets to live a hundred more years. She deserves it.

Then, my eyes find two young women. One is blonde and blue eyed, while the other is a brunette with smooth olive skin. Both have matching braids which is strange. Most women don’t wear the same hairdos unless they’re in some kind of play, or maybe they’re twins… there have been cases with twins that physically aren’t even the same race. The two ladies are standing shoulder to shoulder. The blond keeps talking and gesturing with her hands animatedly, while the brunette looks on with rapt attention, nodding and smiling at the blonde. Brunette laughs out loud and I’ve never heard anything as musical as that before.

While pondering on names and imaginary backgrounds for the women, I try to lean on a display of collectible mugs, to disastrous results.

The whole shelf uppends under my weight and sends every single mug careening to the floor with a loud crash, with me, following closely. To say I’m embarrassed would be a gross understatement.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” Asks Blondie, blue eyes dripping with concern. “Your hand is bleeding, sir.” She states looking down at my hand, just as a barista comes to help me up from the floor, where I’m sitting on my ass surrounded by the broken pieces of the mugs I just murdered.

“I’m okay. Thank you.” I say trying to save face.

“Nonsense! Katniss, help me here!” Blondie calls to Brunette who’s looking at me with pity and apprehension.

“Prim…” Brunette sighs more than says, but comes closer all the same, “I don’t think I’ll be that much help. Sorry.” She says locking eyes with me, like she truly is chagrined she can’t help.

“I’m okay, really.” I say finally on my feet. I nod to the Starbucks employee. “I’m sorry about the mess. Talk about a bull in a China shop, right?!”

Brunette fights off a smirk at my self deprecating joke and I swear my heart swells in my chest.

Looking back at the young man helping me, I address him. “You wouldn’t be able to give me a veteran discount to pay for the mugs I broke, would you?”

He just stares at me for a second, “I- I’m not sure, dude. Are you cool? Do you need me to call 911? Your hand has a pretty big gash.”

“I’m a registered nurse, I can help him and take him to my hospital if he needs extra care.” Says Blondie… Prim, Brunette— Katniss— had called her.

“I really am alright—“ I stop talking when I lift my hand and see for myself the gnarly long cut in my hand. It goes from the side of the palm, to right under the thumb, like a jagged smile on the heel of my freaking hand.

I go woozy for a moment, and find myself sitting in a chair with Katniss pressing a cup of water to my good hand. “Drink this. My sister is gonna take good care of you, and then we will drive you to the ER so you can get a note from her boss telling your employer why you’re late.”

“Okay,” I say simply staring at her. She’s got the most amazing gray eyes ever, with specks of blue all over the iris. She’s gorgeous from this close.

“What’s your name?” She asks.

“Peeta Mellark.” I say automatically.

“Hi Peeta Mellark, I’m Katniss Everdeen. What else can you tell me about yourself?”

I think she’s trying to keep me distracted while her sister cleans my cut at the very back of the coffee house, where we can still hear the clinking of ceramic pieces being swept into a dustpan and then chucked into the trash. The silver lining is that they’re taking all my gift cards as payment for the broken cups!

“I’m a painter on a TV production company. I truly am a veteran. Lost my leg somewhere in Iraq. I came in here just for a cup of tea without sugar, how lame is that?”

“I’m sorry about your leg, but thank you for your service.” She says wincing a little. She recovers quickly. “I don’t like coffee either, this is more of Primrose’s addiction. The stuff makes me jittery and jumpy. I’m more of a hot chocolate kind of person.”

“Ditto!” I exclaim. “Dip some chunks of bread into the chocolate for a homier experience, and you’re in hot cocoa heaven!”

“Gotta try that, so much better than coffee!”

“Sure, hate on the drink all you want, but imagine the stories I’m going to tell my grand nephews and nieces about how their grandparents met!” Sing-songs Prim still wiping my hand with some rubbing alcohol infused gauze she apparently carries in her purse. “How romantic will that be?! They met at a coffee shop I dragged grandma Katniss to!”

“Prim…” Katniss mutters half hearted under her breath; both sisters glare at each other for a bit.

I have the distinct feeling this is a conversation they’ve had before and disagree upon.

In and effort to break the siblings staring contest, I dig around my brain for something to say, but instead of wit and charm, I come up with, “What’s your favorite color, Katniss?” Like a fifth grader or something.

She smiles and I feel all warm and tingly inside. “Green. How about yours?”

“Orange. Soft, like a sunset…”

“Mmm! Pretty.” She cocks her head, “What’s your biggest pet peeve?”

“Easy!” I say, “Starbucks microwaves all their pastries! That’s sacrilegious for guy who grew up in a bakery!”

Katniss laughs at that and I hope I can keep her laughing. We keep talking quietly until Primrose declares me ready to go. The cut is mainly superficial, and I won’t need stitches if I keep my injury from re-aggravating.

“So… how can I repay you ladies for the first aid care?” I ask them both smiling.

Primrose opens her mouth with a sly smile, “Take my sister out for a coff—“

“A burger!” Katniss cuts in. “I’ve had enough coffee for the day, but a burger with a chocolate milkshake would be awesome.”

I feel the smile unfurling slowly on my face. “I can do burgers and milkshakes.” I hope Primrose is a good storyteller, my grand babies deserve this story to be told epically.

[twi-sight2020]

An Introduction

When I was in High School, a friend forced me to read Twilight. I’d seen the books before, even had another friend who had been a fan since the first book had been released, but something about it never appealed to me. I was the girl who owned all the Buffy and Angel seasons, my Mother loved Interview with the Vampire, and I picked up almost every book with a supernatural love interest I could find.  In theory, these books were made for me but the descriptions had felt somewhat...lacking. Normal girl falls for broody vampire, I’d seen it all before, it was the the plot of The Silver Kiss, and Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Darkside, and every other book in the teen fantasy category. I wasn’t into it. But, it was fall break and I had nothing to do, and a friend had swore to me i would love the book, so it wasn’t as if i had anything to lose, so i took the leap. And I LOVED it. The main character was a brunette(like me) and clumsy (also like me) she even liked to read (again, like your’s truly) and here was this sexy vampire who was incredibly into her, and he was rich and had superpowers. Plus, his family was amazing. What wasn’t there to love? New Moon was already out at this point and I devoured it as well, being angry at Edward for leaving, and exasperated at Bella for letting his stupidity bring her down. I devoured the lore of the werewolves, and moaned when it seemed Bella was falling for Jacob. And, of course, I cheered when Bella and Edward were reunited.Of course I rolled my eyes at the thought of a love triangle, since we all KNEW she couldn’t be with anyone but Edward. It wasn’t long after that that Eclipse came out, and it was at that Point that Twilight mania seemed to take over my school. I admit, it wasn’t my favorite of the books for a variety of reasons, and it was around this point I started to see more of the appeal of Jacob. Edward struck me as a bit too controlling and annoying. I jumped ship, even though I knew it was fruitless, but still, nothing detoured me from my love of the series. When Breaking Dawn came out, I remember giving my mother the money I had gotten in tips from my waitressing job and having her pick up a copy as she got off work that morning. (she worked nights, my job was evenings on the weekends)I devoured half of the book before work that night and the rest when i got home. And, unpopular opinion, I LOVED it. It was unexpected, it was strange, some of it was downright weird. and it was my favorite book of the series, problematic and all. The movie came out my final year of high school, inspiring seventeen year old me to get the “Alice” haircut (it was not my best look, I assure you, but it taught me to NEVER go that short again)and the movies, oh lord, the movies got my mom into the series. Does she still regularly rewatch them? Yes, yes she does. Of course, when the movies made things more mainstream, it meant the detractors came out of the woodwork. “This is anti-feminist” “problematic” “abusive” “Pro-life propaganda” “Subtle Mormon indoctrination” and so forth. And, yea, there were some things i could see their points on but it was still my series...until suddenly, it wasn’t. The more I read the more I was concerned that some of the messages I had shrugged off as being simply a product of this one fictional relationship might actually influence people to accept this behavior in real life. Yes, most readers would understand that interactions that were seen as loving and protective by a centuries old vampire or a werewolf weren’t the norm but “THINK OF THE CHILDREN” (ignoring the fact that i had also been a child when reading, of course) So I became and Anti, I trash talked the writing style, read sporkings, even wrote an essay for a a literature class on women lacking agency in popular literature using Twilight as one of my two main examples. I rolled my eyes at my aunt naming her dog Bella and made fun of my mother trying to rename my dog “Jacob”  I was full on the hate train and there was no backing down. So what changed? Well, for one “Life and Death” came out and I was...curious. of course I didn’t buy it right away, but a bit later I found it on sell during Black Friday and I snatched it up. I thought it would be ridiculous and something I could make fun of, but instead, I genuinely enjoyed it. Several of my friends had the same reaction.But maybe, maybe her writing style had just improved, or maybe it had major changes, but ...no. it was 90% the same story, but I loved it it a way i hadn’t anything that that verse in years. Then, I watched the movies with a friend. Of course there were corny moments and things that made me roll my eyes (but these days, most shows with teenagers cause the same reaction in me) But on the whole, the movies were fun. Not masterpieces of cinema, but fun. And i wondered....was I a bit too harsh before? I wasn’t the only one. Tumblr began its “Twilight Renaissance.” Lindsay Ellis- once such a critic of Stephanie that she helped write a book parodying her- did a video apologizing to Stephanie Meyer and commenting on how it is often books and other media enjoyed by teenage girls that is subject to the harshest criticism, even by other woman. Buzzfeed was having articles and quizzes and memes about it. Twilight was back in my face again, just it was ten years ago. So, here I am, taking another look. Admitting that time changes viewpoints and that maybe i was too harsh, that an opinion  doesn’t have to be all or nothing. that I can say “Hey, there are some choices I don’t like and things I have issues with”  and yet admit “it’s enjoyable, it’s fun”,And -while it might not be “serious literature” it got  a lot of people reading and influenced an entire  generation. So I’m going back, I’m reading the main books first and, if I have time, taking in other things (the illustrated guide, Bree Tanner, Midnight Sun) that i skipped over before. I want to see where I come in at the end of things. Will I like the same characters? Will my favorite book and movies still be the same? Can this girl finally make up her mind if she’s Team Jacob or Team Edward? I hope to find out. And I hope to have some fun along the way. I’m going to have my ask box  and submissions open,because I really hope to engage with people while doing this, both to keep me motivated and to see where my thoughts and opinions go with this. i haven’t exactly worked out a reading schedule yet, and i will warn that updates may occasionally get sporadic as my personal life can be...a challenge. But,I  really hope this doesn’t turn anyone off of things as this si something I’m super excited about. Till then, Be Safe AJ