#this just . fits sam bennett a little too much

[barkovsasha]

don't threaten ME with a good time

' do you like it when i bleed for you? ' matthew tkachuk + whoever u want :P

Matthew can’t stop staring at Sam.

That should really have been the clue that something was going on but Matthew, for the life of him, can’t even think about why he’s staring or the fact that he should stop. He really should stop.

Matthew keeps staring.

He watches as Sam touches his fingers to his lips, watches as they come away red, blood dribbling down the length of his fingers and pooling darkly at the base. Matthew can barely focus as a little of it drips down onto his palm and he has the sudden urge to lick it clean.

He blinks, brow furrowing as he tries to get a hold of that thought and wonder why the fuck he’s thinking that. About Sam, no less. Sam, his friend, one of the closest he’s ever had. Someone he has never thought about like that before. Well, okay, not never. He’s only human. It’s totally normal to think about your closest friends the way he’s thought about Sam.

Well, is it? He’s always thought it was. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s thought about a friend in a non-friendly way. But with Sam, it’s always been there. Since they first met. Even more now that they’re on the same team again. But with the way Sam has been playing lately, he’s doing so well, he’s taking care of Matthew so much. He’s jumping into fights just for Matthew. The entire thing makes him feel like he’s floating, like if he isn’t grounded enough, he’ll just float up and up and up until he’s living in the clouds.

“Chucky?”

Matthew blinks, vision blurring at the edges when he realises Sam is staring at him. He realises with a start that he’s been staring directly at Sam the entire time.

“Hey, Benny.”

His gaze darts to where Sam’s lip is still bleeding and Matthew wants to bite it, dig his teeth into the split somebody put there with their knuckles. He doesn’t even remember which player it was on the other team, who grabbed him, if it was the same guy who hit Sam or somebody else. All he knows is how badly he wants to make it bleed more.

If Matthew were a smarter man, he wouldn’t stare at his best friend like this. So openly, plainly. In a way that nobody could misconstrue as innocent or platonic. He can practically feel the heat in his gaze, the flush in his cheeks. Matthew doesn’t think he’s ever wanted anything as much as he wants Sam in this moment.

When he drags his eyes back up to Sam’s, the look in his eyes is curious, searching. Like he knows what Matthew is thinking and he’s trying to figure it out for himself. Matthew isn’t sure if he wants Sam to work it out or not, but he knows Sam will. No matter what, Sam will get it out of him. He knows Matthew better than he knows himself most of the time.

And maybe it shouldn’t make sense, maybe Matthew should be scared that there was somebody who meant so much to him and they knew so much of Matthew. That they could take Matthew apart with just a few words, dig their fingers into all of his soft parts and rip him open until he was bleeding for them. Maybe he should be scared that that person is Sam.

But he isn’t. It makes sense, really, when he thinks about it. Sam has known him for so long, Sam has seen him through it all. Sam has stuck by him. Sam was part of the reason why Florida had looked so inviting, so close to what he had been searching for. Sure, he would have made his way to Florida even without Sam, but that didn’t happen because Sam was here. And now, Sam was fighting for him. Sam was bleeding for him.

Sam was talking to him and Matthew couldn’t fucking focus.

“Sorry, what?”

Sam laughs, shaking his head as he runs his tongue over his lower lip, Matthew’s eyes tracking the movement eagerly.

“Do you like it when I bleed for you?”

Matthew goes rigid, shoulders tense and drawing up. He’s on edge and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. It’s not that he’s been caught out, it’s that Sam is the one to do it. And of course he is, hadn’t he just been thinking about how well Sam knows him? But God, it’s one thing to think it and another for Sam to make it so plainly obvious.

He swallows thickly around the lump in his throat as he shakes his head, trying to keep what little composure he might have left. He’s still staring at Sam’s mouth, utter refusal to even consider looking in his eyes and looking anywhere else feels like a cop out. It also feels like a cop out not to look him in the eyes, but Matthew is afraid of what he might see there.

Nothing could prepare him for seeing the smile that tugs at Sam’s mouth. He can’t look away from it. He’s always thought Sam had a beautiful mouth. It looks heavenly stained with blood.

Sam’s hand is suddenly in view, knuckles bruised and crusted over with blood. Matthew hadn’t even realised his knuckles had split from the fight. He moves without thinking, reaching out to wrap his fingers around his wrist, guiding his hand closer until all he can see is Sam’s hand in front of his face.

“Yes,” he whispers, “Yeah, I fucking like it.”

He thinks Sam sounds a little breathless, a little smug with how he was right. Of course he was right. It’s sickening how he’s always fucking right. Matthew is sort of insanely into it.

Before he can stop himself, Matthew is leaning closer to press his lips against Sam’s knuckles, pressing kisses across his skin. He can feel where the blood is still slightly tacky and he finds himself hoping that his own lips are stained with it. That when he pulls away, anyone who sees him will see that Sam is there, too. That Sam is a part of him.

When he does pull back, he finally allows himself to look into Sam’s eyes. They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, where it feels like they might just be the only two people who even exist. Matthew licks at his lips, the familiar tang of blood on his tongue makes him feel slightly light headed. It’s not his blood for once, it’s Sam’s. Sam’s blood on his tongue. Sam’s blood in his mouth.

“You really fucking do like it, don’t you?”

Matthew doesn’t get to answer, Sam’s hand is grabbing at the back of his neck, tilting his head back before he crushes their mouths together. The last thing there is for Matthew to focus on is biting at Sam’s bottom lip, digging his teeth into the cut to draw more blood out.

[haus-seeblick]

Suptober Day 6: “Who Brings a Gun to a Cemetery?”

For Day 6: Cemetery Boys

Rating: General Audiences; Ship: Pre-Destiel; WC: 3,219

POV Outsider (Original Male Character); full tags on AO3 or below the cut.

Summary: Jerry Wallace has seen a lot of satanic rituals. A lot. Candles and daggers, pentagrams, hoods and chanting; you name it, he’s seen it. As the head of security — and only guard — of Sullivan Cemetery, he’s bound to have run into the occasional devil worshipper. It doesn’t even faze him anymore. There’s not much Jerry Wallace hasn’t seen.

In which: Jerry Wallace encounters Dean Winchester, supposed Satanist.

On AO3 Here (or read under the cut!)

Full Tags: POV Outsider, This poor cemetery guard doesn't know what to do about Dean Winchester, Dean seems insane, BAMF Castiel, Early Seasons Dean and Cas, Pre-Relationship Dean and Cas, Pre-Friendship Dean and Cas, somehow they still manage to flirt though, POV Character is briefly threatened by Dean Winchester but it all ends OK,Humor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerry Wallace has seen a lot of satanic rituals. A Iot. Candles and daggers, pentagrams, hoods and chanting; you name it, he’s seen it. As the head of security — and only guard — of Sullivan Cemetery, he’s bound to have run into the occasional devil worshipper (and worse. People dig up graves for really unsavory reasons). It doesn’t even faze him anymore. There’s not much Jerry Wallace hasn’t seen.

But tonight, as he sweeps his flashlight back and forth across the dewy grass, making his rounds and sipping on his steaming coffee, something stops him short. He narrows his eyes and cocks his head to listen. There’s a scuffling sound up ahead, from just outside the Bennett mausoleum. It sounds too big to be any of the usual animals. Humans, then. Jerry sighs. He was hoping for a quiet night, so he could make himself comfortable under the lamp at the cemetery entrance and read the book his teenage son, Andrew, had lent him. Cemetery Boys, it’s called. Jerry finds it fitting.

A man’s rough voice rings out from around the corner of the mausoleum. “Dammit, Sam, you can’t give me any hints?”

Jerry blinks at the audacity. Who sneaks into a cemetery at night and doesn’t even try to be quiet about it? He decides to give these particular satanists a little scare, just to teach them a lesson. He switches off his flashlight and gently sets his precious cup of coffee on top of the nearest headstone. Time to have some fun.

He sneaks on silent feet across the grass, clutching his flashlight tight in hand and deciding which tactic he wants to use. The reliable old jump scare? Flashlight beam to the face and an earsplitting yell — it’s worked well on thrill-seeking teenagers in the past. Or the more tricky option, creeping around and making ghostly sounds to unnerve the trespassers so thoroughly that they leave? More time investment, but also more amusing in the long run — Jerry decides on Option Two.

The wall of the mausoleum gives him excellent cover to start his performance. He sidles up along it, to the very edge. The intruders are just around the corner, and it sounds like one of them’s rummaging around in a bag of some sort. Jerry rolls his eyes. Probably some weirdos with spray paint, here to deface the walls of the mausoleum with symbols that take ages to wash off. Jerry opens his mouth and is about to emit his first long, ghostly moan, when the same voice as before pipes up again.

“Picking the lock didn’t work, Sam, I’m telling you, it’s gonna take longer. You gotta hold her off.”

The other person — Sam — doesn’t reply, though. Jerry furrows his brow. Who’s being held off? He decides to get a better picture of the scene before initiating his plan. Very slowly, he pokes just the right side of his face around the corner. The front of the small white building is washed in moonlight, the nearest lamp a ways down the path.

There’s a man crouched outside the mausoleum, maybe in his late twenties, from what Jerry can tell in the low light. He’s wearing an oversized leather jacket over a patterned shirt, with jeans and sturdy-looking boots. His short hair is spiked a bit in the front.

He doesn’t look like a satanist. Jerry stays very still, breathing shallowly and watching.

The man has both hands in a medium-sized duffel bag, rooting around. The contents of the bag are clanging and thudding. With a triumphant exhale, the man stands up, crowbar in hand. Jerry balks. This is already a step beyond chanting and spray paint. Again, nothing he hasn’t seen before, though.

What Jerry couldn’t see while the man was crouched, that now makes itself clear, is that he has a mobile phone pressed between his shoulder and ear. As the man advances on the door with the crowbar, he barks into the phone, “Update, Sammy. You still kicking?”

Jerry can’t make out Sam’s muffled response, but it obviously displeases the man, because he whacks the crowbar against the mausoleum door with a frustrated growl. “Watch your back. Figure out what the hell I’m supposed to burn!” He flips the phone shut and stuffs it into his jacket pocket.

This is getting stranger and stranger. Jerry watches as the man goes to town on the mausoleum door, an offense that Jerry would usually be more inclined to stop from happening. Something about this man, though, about the way he carries himself and the way he talks, is holding Jerry back.

He’s very glad about his decision to stay put about ten seconds later, when the man drops the crowbar to the ground with a clang and pulls a gun out of his jacket. Jerry doesn’t even carry a gun. His heart starts beating and his palms prickle with sweat. He didn’t sign up for this. Who brings a gun to a cemetery?

The man steps back a couple feet, points the handgun at the lock, hunches his shoulders, and fires. Jerry barely has the wherewithal to throw himself back around the corner and press his hands over his ears before the shot goes off. He feels it reverberate through the wall, twice, as the man fires again. Fully out of sight now, Jerry gingerly lowers the zipper on his jacket and reaches into his chest pocket for his radio. He needs to call this in. This is way above his pay grade.

“Dammit!” the man yells. The gun must’ve been ineffective. Jerry mentally pats himself on the shoulder. He requested upgrades to all mausoleum locks after a series of break ins last year, and it looks like the security company came through.

Jerry hears the keypad of the mobile phone beeping as the man punches in a number, then there’s muffled ringing. Jerry uses the sound as cover to pull his radio out and to inch his face around the corner again so he has a visual of the scene.

The man’s phone rings and rings. With another frustrated yell, the man slaps it shut and paces back and forth in front of the door, one hand running through his hair, the other still holding his gun. After a few moments, he stops in his tracks. He’s facing Jerry’s direction, silvery moonlight throwing his cheekbones in sharp relief. He looks like a respectable young man, really. Jerry wonders where he lost his way.

There’s a set of complicated emotions working their way across the man’s face. His eyebrows are pinched in concentration, eyes squeezed shut, lips moving as if he’s talking to himself. This lasts about ten seconds before he throws up his hands and glares at the sky.

“Oh, come on!” he shouts. “Get your harp-toting ass down here! Castiel!”

Jerry, who prides himself on never swearing, thinks: What the fuck.

The man is obviously disturbed. He needs a doctor. Jerry glances down at the radio in his hand, and presses the emergency button. He can’t afford a conversation with dispatch; the man will overhear. This will at least get someone out here.

When Jerry looks back up, he twitches. There are now two men in front of the mausoleum. The newcomer is wearing a long trenchcoat and standing stiffly. He’s facing away from Jerry, looking at the gunman, sensible shoes planted hip-width apart. His messy dark hair blends into the shadows.

Where on earth did he come from? Jerry darts his eyes around. The mausoleum is on a slightly raised part of the cemetery, visibility clear in all directions. Even if the trenchcoat man had approached from the opposite side of the building, Jerry would have seen him.

“Cas,” the gunman says, voice heavy with something like — relief, perhaps? His tense posture relaxes slightly and he claps the trenchcoat man on the shoulder. “You took your time,” he accuses. “Can you open those doors?”

The trenchcoat man, Cas — is this Castiel? Jerry cannot keep up — turns slightly to regard the doors.

“This is why you prayed to me?” Cas’ voice is deeper than the gunman’s, rougher. He speaks like a robot. “Heaven is at war, Dean. You call me to help you break down a door?”

Jerry’s brain is spinning. Are these… actors? Cosplayers? He learned about cosplayers from Andrew. Some of them do have very elaborate costumes. Jerry squints at Cas’ back. This doesn’t look like a costume, though. Cas looks like a tax accountant. Like he should be at home with his family at this time of night.

“Sam’s in trouble,” Dean’s saying, an ever-so-slight pleading edge to the words. “I gotta get in here, Cas, or he’s gonna meet a real bad end. I know you’ve got the mojo, come on!”

“I do not exist to do your bidding,” Cas replies. He strides over to the doors, though, trenchcoat flapping around his calves. “I do not serve you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re a warrior.” Dean’s hovering at Cas’ shoulder. “Can you blast ‘em?”

Cas lays a hand on the doors, long fingers splayed against the metal. Jerry glances down at his radio again. The red button is flashing, indicating that he’d called for help, but he can’t hear any sirens yet. He hopes they send enough officers for two grave-desecrating weirdos.

“Stand back,” Cas says. “And tell the man behind the wall to stand back, too.”

“What?” Dean’s head whips around.

Jerry hastily pulls his head out of sight, heart racing. Oh, no. He’s seen enough. He can ID these two for the cops later. He doesn’t need to be on the scene.

He turns heel to run, but makes it only two steps before a hand grabs his collar and yanks him back. The air is knocked out of him and he yelps, feet scrabbling on the pavement as a strong arm drags him around the corner. He lands on his butt in front of the doors, palms scraping on the ground. He quickly raises one over his head in surrender.

“Please— please, I have a family!” He keeps his eyes averted. Dean’s boots are inches away from his legs. “Don’t hurt me, I won’t say a word, I promise!”

“You the guard?” Dean crouches down in front of him. Oh, lord, the gun is trained on Jerry’s face. He whimpers and nods.

“Great. Give me the keys to the doors. Stat.” A palm appears in front of Jerry’s chest, held out in expectation. He hesitates. Isn’t that aiding and abetting?

No way. He’s at gunpoint. He nods again, fervently, and fumbles in his pocket for his ring of keys. His hand shakes violently as he drops them onto Dean’s outstretched palm. He sneaks a peek up at the men.

“Cas,” Dean says, tossing the keys to the trenchcoat man. “Figure out which one it is. I’ll deal with him.”

Cas catches the keys. “So, you do not want me to break the doors?”

“No— just—” Dean closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, lips pressed together. “Just unlock them.” Cas scowls, but begins slotting the various keys into the mausoleum lock.

Dean turns back to Jerry and waves a hand in front of his face. “Hey,” he snaps. Jerry meets his eyes, conscious that he must look utterly terrified. He hopes it’ll appeal to any sense of humanity in this gun-toting lunatic.

“Whatever you think I am, I’m not,” Dean says, quickly and gruffly. “I’m not some pervert tryin’ to get my rocks off with Sleeping Beauty in there. I haven’t got time to ease you in slow, so here it is: ghosts are real. There’s one after my brother. I can gank it, but I gotta burn some hair or somethin’, something keepin’ it here. That’s all. Once Cas opens the doors, I’ll be in and out. We don’t have to get nasty. I’m even saving your doors from gettin’ blasted, as a favor. ”

Jerry picks and chooses what to process of that. “You have a gun pointed at me.”

Dean glances at the gun, like he’s just now realizing he still has it trained on Jerry. He lowers it. “Sorry. Had to let you know I’m serious. You gonna let me do my thing, or we gonna have a problem?”

The police will be here soon, Jerry thinks. It’s not my responsibility to stop this maniac.

“No problem,” he says. Dean nods once, satisfied, and in that moment, the lock clicks. The doors swing open heavily. Dean springs to his feet and races toward the mausoleum.

“Awesome, Cas!” he shouts, slapping a palm against Cas’ chest as he passes. Cas looks after him, a bemused expression on his face.

“I don’t know what to burn!” Dean hollers from inside.

Jerry is so far past trying to understand any of this. He nurses his scraped palms, huddling on the cold pavement and thinking of the book Andrew gave him. He wanted to finish a few chapters tonight so they could talk about them over breakfast tomorrow. He hopes he gets the chance.

Jerry is tough, but his eyes sting a little as he thinks about it.

“Dean is a good man,” Cas suddenly says, in that mechanical way of his. “Righteous. He won’t harm a human.”

Jerry stares at him in disbelief. There’s nothing he can say to that, beyond “Okay.” Cas just nods, and turns to gaze into the darkness of the mausoleum. There’s a lot of scraping and clattering echoing from the room inside, as if Dean is dismantling the place. He probably is, Jerry thinks miserably as the sound of breaking glass reaches his ears.

Dean comes storming back out of the room, assorted items piled in his arms. Jerry recognizes the doll that’s usually propped up behind the glass of the Bennett daughter’s crypt, and a locket that hangs behind the mother’s. A whole array of other personal effects that Jerry spends his nights guarding also end up on the pavement at Dean’s feet. Dean dives into his duffel bag, pulling out a can of gasoline. He douses the whole pile in the acrid-smelling stuff — Jerry’s nostrils sting and he coughs, scrabbling a little farther away. Dean pulls a lighter out of pocket and flicks it several times, cursing when it doesn’t ignite.

“Allow me,” Cas says, stepping forward. He pauses. “Close your eyes.”

Jerry throws an arm over his eyes without a second thought, just catching sight of Dean doing the same. His jacket sleeve does very little, though, to shield his eyes from the brilliant blue-white light that rips through the darkness. It feels like a bonfire, there one moment and gone the next, leaving the tips of Jerry’s hair singed. He cowers, eyes pressed shut, heaving huge breaths.

“Damn, Cas,” Dean says, voice tinged with awe. “Thanks for the assist.”

Jerry lowers his (slightly smoking) arm and peers at where the pile of belongings once lay. It’s completely gone, reduced to ash, just smoldering dust on the pavement. How on Earth—

In that moment, Dean’s mobile phone rings. He frantically plunges a hand into his jacket and rips it out, flipping it open.

“Sammy?” he asks sharply, pressing the phone to his ear. The voice on the other end mumbles something and Dean sags in relief, dragging a hand over his face. “Close call, huh? Yeah, glad it worked.”

Jerry tunes out the rest of Dean and Sam’s conversation. His eyes travel from the smoking pile of dust, to Cas (who’s standing motionless, staring at Dean), to the open mausoleum door, to his own hands, trembling in his lap. A light catches his eye off to the side and he follows it, realizing it’s his radio, abandoned on the pavement, red emergency light still blinking steadily. He gazes at it like a lifeline.

“Is that— Did you—” Dean’s voice is suddenly closer, right next to Jerry, and he quickly looks up. Dean’s looking at the radio, too. His phone is closed in his hand; he must be done talking to his brother.

“The cops coming?” Dean demands, gesturing at the radio. Jerry doesn’t want to let on, he doesn’t, but faced with this strange, complicated, definitely violent person, he can’t hold out. He nods.

“Dammit,” Dean mutters. Just then, the first siren wails in the distance, growing louder by the second.

Finally.

Dean groans and rushes over to his duffel bag, throwing the can of gasoline back in and grabbing the crowbar off the ground to toss that in, too. “Leave the keys, Cas,” he snaps at the trenchcoat man, who still has Jerry’s key ring dangling from his fingers. Cas drops the keys on the ground.

“Can you zap me to my car?” Dean hoists the duffel over his shoulder and faces Cas. “I won’t make it if I run.”

Cas steps closer to Dean, until he’s right in front of him. Their noses are just a few inches apart. Jerry, with nothing else to do but wait for his rescuers, watches them. Dean takes what looks like a shaky breath. His eyes flick down to Cas’ mouth. “You gonna stare, or you gonna help?” he asks, but it comes out small, a weak attempt at bravado.

Cas reaches out and places his hand over Dean’s left shoulder. “I’ll go with you,” he says, deep and measured, and in the next second, they’re gone. Just gone.

Jerry could swear he heard the flapping of wings. He sits there, numb, staring at the spot where they vanished.

Eventually, the yellow beams of flashlights dart across the front of the mausoleum and voices break through the fog in Jerry’s brain. A hand lands on his shoulder. “Sir, are you all right?”

He’s saved.

There’s a lot of questions from the responding officers, a lot of Jerry having to recount what he saw, picking and choosing details — which of course renders his story utterly implausible — and a lot of nobody believing him; there’s a breathalizer test — humiliating — that of course comes back clean (whether that’s better or worse for him, Jerry’s not so sure), and a round of paperwork, and finally, finally, Jerry is allowed to go.

He stumbles down the cemetery path in a daze, passing his long-cold cup of coffee, still perched on its headstone. He snags it and throws it away in the trash can at the cemetery gates. The officers said they would lock the mausoleum and the security station; Jerry was supposed to go home. He stops briefly at his station, though, to grab Andrew’s book.

He’s not quite ready to go home yet. He’s not sure what to say.

Jerry makes himself comfortable in the front seat of his car, overhead light on, and cracks open his book. He starts to read.

[suckmysupernatural]

Sunshine - Chapter 3

Series Masterlist

Word Count: 1655

Pairing: Sam x OC Sunny

Series Summary: The Winchesters meet a cheerful hunter named Sunny, who quickly captures Sam’s attention. Little do any of them know what lies in store when Sunny gets invited to join the brothers. Who can say how Sam, Dean, and Sunny will be some training days, a handful of hunts, romantic dates, a kidnapping, and one vengeful demon later.

Chapter Summary: Sunny and Sam go on their first date

Warnings: language, fluff

-------------------------------------------

The three had decided to wait to start training, giving Sunny a chance to get settled into life at the bunker. She adjusted smoothly and it soon felt like she had always been with them. It was only a few days after Sam had asked her out that the date was planned. Sam had been ruminating over what the plans should be. He didn’t want something bland but he also worried about overdoing it. He just wanted everything to be perfect for her. 

It was finally the night of the big date and Sam was feeling pretty confident about the plans he had formed. He went over them with Dean earlier to make sure it sounded good. The only note Dean gave was adding ‘sexy times’ to the itinerary, to which Sam smacked his brother on the back of the head. He wasn’t trying to seduce her, but woo her. 

He had instructed Sunny to wear a dress, heels optional. She was glad to hear that, as she had plenty of dresses that she knew would work well. After about 20 minutes of contemplation, she decided on a satin wrap dress. It was beautiful jade green, with a slight ruffle along the bottom. It landed mid-thigh, with a faux slit where the dress folded over itself to wrap around. The dress had thin straps and showed off just the right amount of cleavage. Sunny paired the dress with a deep grey pair of chunky heels. They were much more comfortable than pumps but still gave her a height boost. 

Sam had let her know that he would ‘pick her up’ in the War Room at 7. It was cute, especially because their rooms were right across from one another. As Sunny made her way through the library, she bumped into Dean. 

“Wow, Sunny. Sam isn’t gonna know what hit him,” Dean said upon seeing her. It was the first time the boys had seen her all dolled-up. Dean’s reaction boosted Sunny’s confidence in her outfit choice. She thanked Dean before leaving him to go meet Sam. Upon walking into the War Room, her jaw almost dropped right off of her face.

Sam was standing there in dark grey slacks, a white button-up, and a dark grey blazer. He was the perfect mix between casual and formal, the blazer unbuttoned and a tie nowhere to be seen. Sunny found a well-dressed man incredibly sexy, especially when that man was Sam. 

Sam looked up at the sound of Sunny’s heels and almost passed out at the sight of her. She was fucking gorgeous. Her dress showed off a bit of skin, revealing the toned legs that he had yet to see. And of course, she was wearing the smile that took his breath away every time he saw it. 

“Wow, you look stunning,” Sam exhaled as Sunny got closer to him. She couldn’t help but blush at the compliment. 

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she responded, giving him a smirk. Sam couldn’t help but lick his lips, his eyes raking over her. He did his best to focus, knowing that if he kept staring he may never stop. 

“So, you ready?” Sam offered his hand, to which Sunny gladly took. The two of them walked to the bunker’s garage. Sam led her to a deep red classic Mustang convertible. Guiding her to the passenger side, he opened the door for her. He made his way back around the driver’s seat, getting behind the wheel of the car. Soon they were pulling out of the garage and into the night. 

The car’s top was down, which went perfectly with the warm summer night. The radio began to play “My Girl” by The Temptations and the two couldn’t help but share a smile. Sam didn’t say it out loud, but it was exactly how he felt about Sunny. She made him feel amazing every time the two were together. The last week with her felt like the best he had ever had. Sam was already falling hard for her. It was frightening and exciting all at the same time. 

It wasn’t long before Sam was pulling the car into a restaurant’s parking lot. He had done plenty of research before choosing this one. It was more upscale than he was used to, which made it the perfect date spot. After parking, Sam was quick to the other side of the car to open the door for Sunny once again. She couldn’t help but feel her heart swoon. Sure, she was a strong, independent woman but she also adored the effort Sam was putting in to make her feel special. 

The two entered the restaurant, Sam informing the hostess of his reservation. A second later, they were being ushered into the depths of the dining area. It was a gorgeous place, the lighting low giving it an intimate feel. Tables surrounded a large dance floor, where Sunny could see couples swaying along to slow songs. She had a feeling that she would be out on the floor soon enough.

Sitting, they began to glance over the menu. Sunny couldn’t help but be shocked by the prices of each item. Sure, hunters lived off of credit card scams, but even so, she tended to live life on a budget. 

“Hello, can I get you two started on anything to drink?” A waiter asked, appearing a few minutes after they sat. Sam looked over at Sunny.

“Want to share a bottle of wine? You’re choice, I enjoy all kinds,” He offered. She smiled before looking back at the waiter.

“We’ll have a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc,” Sunny ordered. The waiter nodded before leaving to go fetch the wine. 

“So, a white wine drinker?” Sam asked. 

“Red is too bitter for my taste, I have a bit of sweet tooth,” Sunny admitted.

“Why am I not surprised?” Sam chuckled. Her personality seemed to match her tastes almost to a tee. 

The conversation continued to flow between the two, each sharing bits about themselves that the other might not know. Sam told her what it was like growing up in the hunting life, while Sunny explained how boring normal life could be. They both slightly envied what the other had. Sam wanted the predictability while Sunny preferred the freedom that he had in youth. 

They both shared about their family and friends who they had lost, laughed over embarrassing stories, and flirted relentlessly. If anyone had looked in on the two, they would have thought that they had been a couple for years. Time flew by for the two, dinner finished before they knew it. Once the bill was paid, Sam stood and offered a hand to Sunny. 

“May I have this dance?” Sam asked with a smile. It was cheesy and Sunny loved it. 

“You may,” she giggled, taking his hand. He led them onto the dance floor as the song “The Way You Look Tonight” by Tony Bennett began to play. Sam wrapped his arms around Sunny’s waist, her wrists hooking together behind his neck. The two began to sway along to the music.

You're lovely, with your smile so warm

And your cheeks so soft

There is nothing for me but to love you

And the way you look tonight

Sam felt as if each word of this song was for her. He was mesmerized by her. Not just her beauty but her intelligence, compassion, and kindness. As they danced, their eyes couldn’t seem to stray from the other’s. It was as if they were drowning in one another, not wanting to breathe again. 

Lovely, never, ever change

Keep that breathless charm

Won't you please arrange it?

'Cause I love you

Just the way you look tonight

If someone had looked close enough, they may have seen it. Right then, on this dance floor, as they held one another, both Sam and Sunny began to fall in love. As the song ended, another began. It was “At Last,” by Etta James. 

At last, my love has come along

My lonely days are over and life is like a song, oh yeah

Yet another song that fits perfectly for the couple. Honestly, most love songs would speak to them at that moment. As they swayed together, it was as if Sam and Sunny were the only ones in existence. There were no monsters, no demons or angels, nothing. Only the two of them, holding one another.

 Leaning his head down, Sam closed the gap between the two. If sparks were ever to fly, now would be the time. The kiss was perfect, soft, and slow. It left both parties breathless. 

You smiled, you smiled oh and then the spell was cast

And here we are in Heaven

For you are mine at last

Sunny leaned into Sam’s chest, letting him hold her tight as they continued to dance. Neither could tell how many songs had passed when Sam whispered into her ear.

“Be mine?” his voice was tentative. Sam felt vulnerable as if he was offering for Sunny to take his heart in her hands. She leaned back to look into his eyes once more. The look they shared was passionate.

“I’m yours,” she whispered back. It wasn’t long until they were sharing another kiss. This one was even better than the last. It was saying everything that was currently being left unsaid. It told Sunny how Sam was constantly in awe of her strength and resilience. It told Sam that Sunny may be a happy person, but had never felt happier than when she was with him. 

It said the fear of falling for someone so fast. It said that the fear was worth it. It said how it was as if they had been waiting for one another all of their lives. It said that they felt complete when together. It said joy, passion, excitement, hope.

It said love.

Chapter 4 ->

[thebrochtuarachs]

The Making of Outlander: The Series Author Tara Bennett on Why She is Thankful for What Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe Shared

By Paulette Cohn

The countdown to season five of Outlander continues with three months left to go until the Feb. 16 premiere on STARZ. But in the interim, author Tara Bennett has a little something to help the time pass more quickly and provide you with an Outlander fix. It is her new book, The Making of Outlander: The Series: The Official Guide to Seasons Three & Four, which takes a deep dive into the making of the series, and is now available in stores and online.

“We spent a lot of time on the first one trying to frame it with new voices and different ways of telling the stories, or with people that aren’t covered by typical press for the show, and it went over well,” Bennett tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “Because of that, we wanted the second book to look and feel similar, as if you were making a collection on your shelf, and so we kept the format, we kept the relative design, and then we looked into spotlights and head-of-department features, so we could change it out, so you didn’t feel like you were learning the same thing but for a different year.”

The Making of Outlander: The Series is a beautifully crafted tome, and what makes it a must-have for fans of both Diana Gabaldon’s novels and for fans of the Starz TV series – as well as a great holiday gift — is the large number of photos, many that have never appeared in print or online stories.

“I did a cross check of everything that was available to the public via press versus what was made available to us for the book,” Bennett says. “We tried to put in as much new stuff as possible, otherwise, why bother buying the book? I literally made a huge Excel spreadsheet of what was given to press, and then what was given to us, and then made sure that we leaned into those things. If there was a beautiful picture that STARZ and Sony gave the regular press, it was still nice to be able to find a way to feature it, so that you could really look at it in a different way than looking at it on your tablet or your laptop.”

Bennett was also able to coax some interesting tidbits that hadn’t been in print before out of series stars Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) and Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser), like what lengths they went to for season three and four to accurately portray being parents, as neither of them are in real life.

“They both spent a lot of time trying to establish and understand that dynamic and really create that rapport with their costars,” Bennett relates. “Sam has some really great stories about the hesitancy of that, working with the little boy that plays Willie, his son, and creating that rapport. Then several of the actors also talk about watching him with the young actor and how endearing that was. I think that’s just a nice testament to both of them as actors is the level that they go to, to try to create the authenticity with Jamie and Claire.”

You’ve told us what’s the same about this book, what’s different other than the seasons?

We went into a lot more, specifically, about the production design and visual effects, how they worked in tandem, which was a lot more subtle in the first two years. Then in season three and four, you had tall ships that had to be created in visual effects, you had shooting Scotland for the United States, so for a lot of the environment, they would have to use blue screen to create Jocasta’s plantation house in season four. That doesn’t exist in Scotland.

And so, they basically had to do a lot of visual effects to that house, including an entire second floor, and the environment around it to make it look like it was truly in Wilmington. We decided to peel back a layer with that.

We did a lot about the First Nations, basically, the big immersive sets that they created and then really tried to look at some of the new cast, so that we could give them time in the sun. So, it’s people like Ed Speleers, who played Stephen Bonnet, and, of course, giving much bigger spreads to Sophie Skelton (Brianna) and Richard Rankin (Roger), because they’ve been bumped up in terms of presence, especially by season four, so they equal Sam and Caitriona now in terms of the spreads that they get in the book.

To me these are special coffee table books. I keep mine out, so I can flip through it any time.

Yes. That’s nice. That’s why we try to make sure when we play around with the color and the brightness of the pictures that you’re really getting the best possible version of the picture on the page, so that you really get to look at details that your eyes will get a little tired from looking at on a computer.

In the first book, there was a story about Caitriona’s casting, which was something that I didn’t know before I read it there. Do you have stories like that in this book? Is there one you could share?

David Berry, who is Lord John Grey, is a character that the book readers really, really love and that TV fandom has embraced. He’s Australian, and the story that both the casting director and he tell in tandem — she in her section and he in his — is that he was really part of a wide net that they put out for the show, because there’s so many television shows being produced now that even since the first season of Outlander, it’s harder to find actors who aren’t already engaged in something. So, what they used to do was just look in England and Scotland, but now they have put it out to the world when they’re doing a new casting call for a major character.

So, David Berry has a good story about how, in a casting sense, they went to Australia and were really starting to look for Australian actors who are very good, and then about how quickly his turnaround was. He had to deal with playing that character on the fly the entire first season. He’s been intermittent in the show, so his stories have been really fun about trying to get into character, but really not being with the show very much so that’s been a challenge.

How involved were Sam and Caitriona in the second book?

I have to thank them. It’s been a benefit that I’ve been able to cover the show as a reporter and then also be able to do these books. I first started covering Outlander for print and online outlets, and so, they’ve known me. Then when I started doing interviews with them for the book, there was already a recognition factor. The really great thing is that over a span of — now they’re into production for season five, they know me even more.

As it is with all lead actors in a television show that’s over four seasons, it gets harder and harder to get them, because they’re really busy, and when they’re on breaks, they’re doing other projects. But they have always made time to say, “Yes, I’m going to talk with Tara,” and so I’m always super grateful because, at the end of the day, there is no companion book of value without the two of them. Claire and Jamie are the books, and so, I would’ve really been devastated if we hadn’t gotten them. I ended up sitting on the phone with each of them separately.

In some instances, Sam was in a car literally heading to LAX, so a good way to combat traffic is to talk to me. With Caitriona, she was on a break from shooting, and so, we talked when she was doing a little bit of other press for season four and so it ended up being really great.

I always try to approach their interviews, in particular, as they’re covered a lot by mainstream media, so I try to talk a little bit more thematic and about the work that they do to progress the characters from year to year. I think they really appreciate that kind of deeper conversation that they don’t always get when they’ve got 10-minute hits with media outlets. So, that was always my focus and they were always really gracious. I always know that they really get thoughtful and dig deep to think about those moments that mean a lot to them and how they progress the character.

Any conversations about working with Rollo or the horses?

All those animals make noise and create problems and they’re never fun, so they look like they’re happy around them, but John Bell, who plays young Ian, is the only one that really likes Rollo because he was the one that had to, basically, help train him from its youth, so that he would respond to him.

Everybody else had had enough of those animals. There are good stories about how Matt Roberts, who’s the new show runner who took over from Ron Moore, had to go around the globe to find those animals and bring them back. They would basically make a global search for multiple puppies and other animals that would fit what the readers’ expectations were, so it’s not just going to a shelter and yanking an animal, it’s this whole thing that the book explains as well, which was surprising to me.

And this coming season, they had to look for Adso, too.

Adso will be, hopefully, in book five and six if people buy this book.

Did Diana participate at all? I know she’s been busy working on the next novel in the franchise.

For the first book, Diana, obviously, was establishing the transition, and so, she did the foreword. Then she also was a cameo actor and she also wrote episode 211. So, for season three and four, because of her own book deadlines and production timing, she didn’t end up doing an episode for either season three or four, and we wanted to leave her alone. We didn’t really want to bug her unless she really had free time, which she didn’t.

So, we asked the foreword go to Matt Roberts. So, she isn’t present but she’s been super gracious in terms of doing book signings and with approval, saying she appreciated what we did with the companion for the seasons.

But the nice thing is, she announced that she’s going to be doing episode 511. She’s writing that one, so I have a hope that if this book does well, then she will be back in the next tome, which is great.

In addition to photos, there’s sketches of some of the different sets.

We were able to get some sketches from Jon Gary Steele, who is the production designer, and then we were also able to get sketches from Terry Dresbach, who was the costume designer through the middle of season four.

That was something I wanted for the first book, lawyers sometimes don’t always make that easily happen, and so, because we knew we wanted them and could get the request earlier for this book, we were able to get the sketches directly from Terry and from production design to be able to give a flavor of some of the things that they built. So, you get a general idea of mood board things, which are very important for Terry in coming up with the overall ideas of what a character looks like, especially as they progress through the eras.

Then, for Jon Gary Steele, who really uses the facilities of the warehouses in Glasgow to basically repurpose, he’s a fun part of the book. He really explains when you see a new set what it came from, why he created something so that he could easily retrofit it to something for the next year, and there’s always a sense of they are borrowing from last year to use the footprint for what they’re going to need to do for the next year. So, there’s basically a taste of everything that came before and everything that he builds going forward.

[shelby-love]

♔ MY NAVIGATION ♔

0.5 TYPES OF REQUESTS I WRITE:

One-shots (1k words or more)

Drabbles  (below 1k words)

Headcanons (bullet point fics)

Blurbs (below 500 words)

Imagines (gif + a little blurb, around 500 words)

1.0 RULES:

Request via ask.

Always include what type of request you want me to write.

Specify because specification is very important as it helps me make your request as pleasing as possible, but try not to be too specific as I like the element of surprise.

If you want me to write something from my prompt list (click here): include the name of said character, category of the prompt and the prompt’s respective number (e.g. Jay Halstead, fluff 7). 

1.1 Note: If you don't include what type of request it is that you want me to cook up, I will choose the type myself so don't come at me if you wanted a 2K worded piece of work and instead got an imagine with 200 words!

1.2 Note: Mixing the prompt with a plot line of your own is allowed, just make sure to follow the rules (1-3). 

1.5 THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

Unless asked for, I will be writing with the Female!reader in mind (I like to exclude any gender relation and make it so that both genders could read and enjoy).

I respond to asks when the request has been qued to post and released on Ao3.

The maximum number of request you can send is 2. I know there is an option to send them in anonymously, but I really hope you will stick to this rule. Give others a chance to submit their wishes, and don’t make the line too big with by mass requesting (I close requests after I get around 30 requests).

Requests sent during seasons I have not watched or for characters that have yet to make an appearance in the show will not be written (exceptions exist).

I write one-shots but not a whole series unless I can see/want a continuation.

Themed requests (Christmas, Valentine's Day, New Year etc.) can be only sent during that time. I don’t accept Christmas requests during the month of May. The same goes for the rest.

I have every right to delete every request that does not fit within the rules stated above, or I feel uncomfortable writing. Also, it’s important to note that I don’t have inspiration to write every request that’s sent. It’s normal to not have inspiration, and because I prefer quality to quantity, if I see that I don’t have inspiration for a request then I will not write it.

Requests will be deleted if sent while my request box is closed. I won’t answer them as I feel like there is no need. On almost every informative post (+my bio, and if you’re on PC my theme under ‘blog status’) it will say whether the request box is closed or not.

English is not my first language but without digging myself my own grave this early on I want to say that I'm proud of how much I know, given that I never speak English unless in school.

Be nice because only constructive criticism is allowed. If you spot a grammatical error or a paragraph/sentence/word etc. that doesn't make sense, let me know. But be nice!

2.0 THINGS I DON’T WRITE:

LGBTQ+  topics/relationships (because I feel like I wouldn’t do a good job) 

Real people, send only requests for characters in my writing list

Ships or OC, send only reader inserts

NSFW (mature content stories)

Noncon

Dark!fics

Romanticized mental illnesses

S*icide scenes

R*pe scenes

Racism/slurs

2.1 Note: P*dophilia, r*pe, s*icide might be mentioned in my Chicago P.D, Fire, Med shots (or other), but I will never explicitly write about those subjects or write about anything that is about/centered around them.

2.2 Note: Explicitly written smut is a no, I will not write that. Try to refrain from requesting steamy scenes too, as I will only put them in myself were I to deem it necessary for the WIP.

2.5 THINGS I DO WRITE:

Angst

Fluff/ WAFF

Fusion/ Crossover

Daughter/Wife/Sister!Reader

Here is me trying to explain what kind of requests I also take [x]

2.6 Note: It’s hard to list but to make it easier for you guys, I will write about almost anything as long as it’s not on my 2.0 bullet.

3.0 POSTING SCHEDULE:

Posts are usually posted between 01:00 A.M. and 05:00 A.M. CET (Central European Time).

Check schedule to see what's been qued to post.

3.1 Note: This account is NOT my work place. Everything here is written when I have time and I feel like writing. Requests that I find more interesting will most likely be written and qued to post sooner. I advise you to follow my blog, check regularly and sit tight until you see that it's qued. You can always check my navigation page and click on 'schedule'. Or simply click here.

3.2 Note: I am not a doctor nor a firefighter nor a policeman. I research whatever I can before I start writing and sometimes that takes hours. Nothing is 100% accurate (especially for events set in Chicago Med) although I hope it is.

3.5 WRITING LIST:

3.6 Note: Requests are currently OPEN for all fandoms!!!

3.7 Note: Your requests do not have to be strictly romantic (Sibling!Reader or other are also (obviously) allowed).

---More shows and characters will be added through time

✏ TV SHOWS (alphabetical order)

9-1-1 (✓)

Evan Buckley

Eddie Diaz

Bobby Nash

Howard "Chimney" Han

BRIDGERTON (✓)

Simon Basset

Anthony Bridgerton

Benedict Bridgerton

Colin Bridgerton

Prince Friedrich

CHICAGO FIRE (S01-S06)

Kelly Severide

Matt Casey

Peter Mills

Jimmy Borelli

Christopher Herrmann

Brian “Otis” Zvonecek

Joe Cruz

CHICAGO PD (S01-SO2)

Antonio Dawson

Adam Ruzek

Kevin Atwater

Jay Halstead

Hank Voight

Alvin Olinsky

CHICAGO MED (✓)

Connor Rhodes

Will Halstead

Ethan Choi

Noah Sexton

Crockett Marcel

James Lanik

DYNASTY (S01-S02)

Blake Carrington

Jeff Colby

Liam Ridley

Michael Culhane

ELITE (✓)

Guzmán Nunier Osuna

Samuel García Domínguez

Christian Varela Expósito

Leopoldo Benavent Villada (Polo)

PEAKY BLINDERS (✓)

Thomas Shelby

Arthur Shelby

John Shelby

Finn Shelby

Ada Shelby

Polly Gray

Alfie Solomons

Michael Gray (I currently cannot stand this dude)

TEEN WOLF (✓)

Scott Mcall

Stiles Stilinski

Isaac Lahey

Liam Dunbar

Derek Hale

THE ORIGINALS (✓)

Klaus Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson

Kol Mikaelson

Finn Mikaelson

Marcel Gerard

Rebekah Mikaelson

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (✓)

Number Five

Diego Hargreeves

Luther Hargreeves

Klaus Hargreeves

Ben Hargreeves

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (✓)

Stefan Salvatore

Damon Salvatore (hate him)

Alaric Saltzman

Lorenzo St. John

Tyler Lockwood

Matt Donovan

Jeremy Gilbert

Katherine Pierce

Elena Gilbert (hate her even more)

Caroline Forbes

Bonnie Bennett

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT (✓)

Benny Watts

Townes

Harry Beltik

THE WITCHER (✓)

Geralt of Rivia

Jaskier

WANDAVISION  (✓)

See under ‘Marvel Universe’.

✏ MOVIES

HARRY POTTER

Oliver Wood

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Draco Malfoy

Ron Weasley

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Percy Weasley

Bill Weasley

Charlie Weasley

Neville Longbottom

Cedric Diggory

The Marauders era

James Potter

Sirius Black

Peter Pettigrew

Remus Lupin

Severus Snape

MARVEL UNIVERSE

Tony Stark / Iron Man

Bruce Banner / Hulk

Thor

Loki

Steve Rogers / Captain America

Natasha Romanoff

Clint Barton / Hawkeye

Nick Fury

James Rhodes / War Machine / Iron Patriot

Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier / White Wolf

Sam Wilson / Falcon

Vision

Scott Lang / Ant-Man

T'Challa / Black Panther

Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Stephen Strange

Peter Quill / Star-Lord

Pietro Maximoff

TWILIGHT

Edward Cullen

Carlisle Cullen

Emmett Cullen

Alice Cullen

Jasper Hale

Rosalie Hale

Alec

Benjamin

Jacob Black

Seth Clearwater

Embry Call

EXPENDABLES

Lee Christmas

Barney Ross

Billy The Kid

Smilee

Mars

Thorn

Hale Caesar

Yin Yang

Toll Road

Gunnar Jensen

Booker

[bringmetolife-pwff]

Part 1: Chapter 2 - It’s Show Time!

Evelyn wasn't in the mood to get up that morning, but she did anyways.  She groaned as she felt the after effects of a hangover.  Holding her head with both hands to try and stop the pounding headache as she got out of her cosy bed and headed into her kitchen.  Opening up her medicine cabinet, she sighed in relief as she realised that she still had some ibuprofen left over, she also opened her fridge and got out a sport's drink, guzzling it as she swallowed the pill.

Deciding to let that settle for a bit, she made some breakfast, going for the usual oatmeal with whole wheat toast.

As the water was heating up, she decided at this time to open up her agenda and look at her list that she had planned for today.

. Last minute fittings

. Talk with the makeup artist for the models

. Make sure all of the models can be there

. Get all the organising done

. Security detailing

. Final run-through

. SHOW TIME!

She let out an exhausted sigh.  All of the final preparations for her fashion show tonight were tiring and she was always made sure to clear her schedule the next day so that she could sleep.  But she was always immensely proud of her hard work and dedication that she put into her work.  She loved what she did and never felt as if it were work.

***

Making her way into The Royal Opera House where her fashion show was taking place later that night.  It was finally the day of her show and she could not be more excited and anxious about it.  She knew that her brother, Eric, would be coming to it in support of her and would be bringing a guest.  It's been a few weeks since her break up and although she was still hurting, she was putting all of her time and energy into her work while she stayed at her sister, Vivienne's place.

The Royal Opera House was decorated very minimalistic.  Not a lot of decorations but she still wanted there to be some.  Every few aisles Evelyn made sure to have a small amount of flowers that were pink peonies.

When Eric told her that it was Prince William she thought he was joking as she recalled their conversation earlier.  She had met William a few times before seeing as her brother was in the same unit as William.  She knew Prince William had been in the military for a year now along with his brother, Prince Harry.  It made headline news when the two Prince's joined the military.

William walked past the flashing lights with Eric as they made their way into the building.  At Evelyn's shows she always had photographers there capturing the moment every time someone famous walked in.  She was known to have celebrities and other fashion designers at her shows along with her parents.  Unfortunately they wouldn't be at the show tonight though as her father wasn't feeling as well and was down with a cold.  Nonetheless, he still managed to wish a  good luck text the morning of the show in hopes that it all went well regardless of not being able to come.  

There were around four hundred guests at The Royal Opera House.  Some were other fashion designers like Elie Saab, Victoria Beckham, actresses such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Winslet, Emma Watson, Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski.  Michelle Dockery and her friends, one of Evelyn's good friends Tom Hiddleston, Jenna Coleman and many others.

Evelyn looked past the curtain as she opened it back stage seeing loads of people taking their seats.  Her eyes scanning until they settled on the first row seeing her older brother Eric and Prince William with him.  She let out a relieved sigh knowing that they were there and hoped that he hadn't had any difficulty with getting in.  She knew how much Prince William disliked photographers.  Evelyn felt bad for having them here tonight but it was a usual at her shows and the show must carry on regardless of what happens.

There was a chatter in the building as people were in anticipation of tonights walk.  To see Evelyn Bennett's latest creations.  It was a hustle-and-bustle backstage and Evelyn could see that everyone was scattering about trying to find their clothes that they had to have on for the first walk.

"Sam," Evelyn calls out to her assistant.  "Is everything ready?  We need the first set of models to get lined up now."

"On it!"

Sam made a beeline as she gathered all of the first group models and had them line up in order.  Evelyn made her way to the line and was fixing models outfits if they needed it.

"All right, go darling, go!" Evelyn told her first model after fixing her Peter Pan collar with pearls on it.

The main lights had dimmed to darkness as the main light for the stage turned on making sure people knew where the models were going to be walking.  Alyssa made her way out as she walked like a predator.  Her chin was facing slightly down, no smile, eyes focused ahead, posture was straight as she walked like she had an attitude.  Alyssa was one of Evelyn's main models that she constantly had come back.  They had a fantastic relationship that was important and Alyssa knew what Evelyn wanted every time.

The audience hushed as Alyssa walked out as Evelyn prepared for the next model.

"Okay, go," Evelyn told Lexi as Alyssa was making her way back to backstage.

Her Spring 2007 line was based on feminine florals 70's inspired.  She had always been a fan of retro designs and wanted to somehow incorporate that into this years line.  She felt as though it looked complete.

During fashion shows there was no time for relaxing. The whole time Evelyn felt as though her heart was beating so fast - a mile a minute. It could be a blubbering mess all through out in the back where the models were but somehow looking flawless in the end if it was pulled off right. It always was with Evelyn.  

It was halfway through the show when Evelyn heard a commotion taking place backstage and hearing her name being called.

"Evelyn!"

She heard her name being called over the noise and looked around to see her assistant, Sam, waving at her trying to catch up to her.  She had a clipboard in one hand along with a headset to reach the other members of the team.

"We have a problem," Sam told her trying to remain calm knowing that Evelyn wouldn't once she hears the news.

"What's wrong?"

"Stephanie's not here yet.  We've been trying to reach her but to no avail."

"What the bloody hell do you mean Stephanie isn't here?" Evelyn yelled frantically.  "Where is she?  Does anyone know?"

People shook their heads as they had no clue where she was.  Luckily, they had her number written down and tried calling her.  The phone rang and rang with nobody picking up.  It was pissing Evelyn off because this was so unprofessional.  This had never happened at one of shows before and she knew that if Stephanie didn't call her back or come within the next few minutes she was never going to hire her back again.

"What if you wore it?" Sam asked.

"Me?" Evelyn shrieked in horror.  "I've hardly walked before.  I'm not a model!"

"We don't really have much of a choice.  And you're the only one who is the same size and height as Stephanie."

She wasn't model height by any means.  She was five foot seven and had barely any practice walking the runway.  The only time she did was after her shows.  She was nervous as hell and pissed at Stephanie for leaving them.

The outfit was a blush colour high low organza maxi skirt that had satin trims on the end.  She had it paired with a white sleeveless shirt that had thin spaghetti straps and was v neck as the v neck had a lace design.  She wore it with a pair of nude high heels.  Some people in the crowd were confused whilst others knew something must have happened.  Her hair was up in a milk braid from her hair stylist.

"Damn," Eric murmured to William.  "Someone must have not shown up."

"Does she not normally walk out like that?" William asked.

William didn't know how fashion shows worked out.  He had only been to one before for Kate but he didn't know the logistics of it.  

"No," Eric shook his head.  "She normally waits until the end when all of the models are done to let everyone know that's the end."

Unlike William, he did know the logistics of how fashion shows worked given how their father also made men's tuxedos.  He had grown up in the industry and knew the in's and out's.  

The rest of the show went fantastic after Evelyn finished her walk and she was so glad that it was all able to work out well.

At the end of the show Evelyn walked out again, this time for a different reason and a different outfit.  Her short blonde hair was down a little bit past her shoulders with her dark roots showing.  The outfit she chose was a white jumpsuit.  It was one of her favourite pieces that she had made.  As she walked out for the last time that night she had a big smile on her face as she waved to the crowd, happy that the guests seemed to like it.  

***

Her brother had told her that he was going to be bringing William to her show with him and on top of making sure her show ran smoothly, she also had to make sure security was in place.  

"Hello, it's so nice of you to come," Evelyn greeted Prince William.  "How did you find the show?"

He immediately stuck his hand out for her to shake as she did before she curtsied at him.  She had only met him a few times before and they hadn't had very long conversations then.  They were either too busy or didn't know each other well.  When Eric had first asked William if he wanted to go to his sister's fashion show he thought it might be interesting.  He had just gotten out a four year relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Kate Middleton, and felt as though he needed a bit of a distraction.  He didn't want to go to a club and get himself into trouble so he felt this was the better option of the two.

"It's a pleasure seeing you again as well.  Congratulations on a fantastic show," William said to Evelyn with a charming smile.  "And please you do not have to curtsy to me."

The Royal family was very strict with protocol but William never wanted his friends or their siblings to feel as though they had to curtsy to him every time they saw each other.  

"All right," Evelyn replied quietly with a shy smile as she looked at Prince William.  "Thank you, we all worked incredibly hard so it's nice to see it all come through."

Evelyn was never one to take all of the credit about anything.  It was always a team effort in her mind.  Although her team begged to differ.  

"Eric said you normally don't walk in your own shows?" He asked genuinely interested in her work.

"No, no no," she said laughing as she waved her hand.  "Unfortunately, I had a model do a no call no show and left us.  Luck turns out, I'm the same size as her as they had no one else to fill in so I was able to do it."

"Well, you pulled it off quite nicely."

"Thank you," she thanked William with a smile as she laughed.  "Do you want a tour back stage?" She asked tilting her head to the side slightly as her brother watched the two.

Eric knew about his sister's breakup from her fiancé a couple weeks ago.  He knew she was struggling with herself and her emotions.  He wanted a chance to talk to her alone.  To see where her head was at.  If she was doing okay.  Eric was one of the few that did actually like Liam Matthews and to hear from Vivienne what had happened he was absolutely gutted.  

"Please," William said professional as always.

William walked in front as she put her arm out in extension showing the Prince that he should go first.  

"Well done tonight, Lyn," Eric gave his sister a side hug as they walked on.

"Thank you, Eric," she smiled bashfully.  "Thank you for coming out and supporting me as well."

"It's no problem.  Always a fun night.  If you aren't busy tomorrow can we grab lunch to catch up?"

"Of course," she told him with a smile.

They both followed William as she showed him around and introduced William and her brother Eric to her workers.  Most of them already knew Eric personally from all times she would visit him in the office or come to one of her shows.  William was entranced by Evelyn and her ability to be love her work.  To be talkative yet quiet when she needed to be.  To answer his questions about her work if he had any.  

By the end of the night almost everyone had already left.  Evelyn was always the last to leave and the first to arrive to everything that had to relate to her business.  She was picking up her bag full of her things that she needed as she saw William walking back in.

"Oh hello again," she greeted him.  "I thought you left already?"

"I was about to but then I recalled I don't have your number.  Would it be all right if I called you sometime?"

"Yes, all right," she gave the Prince her number thinking that it was to keep in contact with her for updates about Eric.

"Right," William cleared his throat as she gave him her phone number.  "Thank you for that.  And congratulations again on a great show."

"Thank you and thank you for coming," Evelyn smiled at him more relaxed.  

That night was the first time since the breakup that Evelyn was able to sleep peacefully.  Evelyn had a successful night and was able to be with her brother and Prince William.  She had no idea what the future held for her but for the first time in a long time she was able to sleep.

[omeliashepherdhunt]

Simple Ch. 1

Seattle was carrying on its stereotypical behavior with the nonstop rain. Owen hated having to drive in torrential downpour so late at night but another day at work got away from him with a steady flow of traumas. By the time he parked in the driveway, the clock on his dashboard read 10:28. Maybe his wife would still be up to see him. 

With his keys and bag hung up on the hooks by the front door, Owen quietly walked through the entryway and into their living room to see what Amelia was up to. Part of him was disappointed to see she was asleep but he couldn’t help but smile when he saw baby Abel still latched to his mother’s breast, both of them contently asleep. He was a miracle no doubt. Born with Down Syndrome and ASD, he had undergone heart surgery at 4 days old to correct the hole in his heart. However he flatlined twice during the procedure which shook the Hunt family to their core. 

In typical Grey-Sloan surgeon fashion, Amelia and Owen had been up in the surgical theater watching as none other than Sam Bennett operated on their newborn so they witnessed their son come back from the brink of death twice. Amelia decided right then that she would be taking an extended maternity leave. Abel would be immunocompromised more than typical babies with his heart issues, and he already had 2 school aged siblings and 2 parents that worked inside a hospital to provide plenty germs. Owen on the other hand was so bothered by what happened, he didn’t want to think about it ever again. In return, he buried himself in work so he hadn’t been home much the past month other than his one off day he’d take. 

When Owen leaned in to unlatch Abel to move him to the bassinet in their bedroom, he took a moment to admire Amelia’s beauty. However the longer he looked, the more he noticed. Her cheek bones were more prominent, her collarbone was even more noticeable, and even her ring looked a bit loose on her finger. She was already a petite woman so her apparent weight loss didn’t sit right with Owen. 

He quickly moved Abel off of Amelia which only startled her awake. 

“What the hell?”

“It’s just me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“He was sleeping. We were fine.”

“I know but you can’t sleep in the recliner all night. Let’s go to bed. It’s coming close to 11 o clock.”

Amelia was definitely drowsy but was happy to settle in their bed. She wasn’t used to Owen being around anymore. They hadn’t really discussed it which in the long run would only worsen whatever riff they had, but she didn’t know what to say to him anymore. He just wasn’t around. Instead of focusing solely on their newborn son, she also had to split herself for the older three. Flynn had baseball and Bella was in gymnastics. Between two school kids, their sports, a very clingy one and a half year old, and their specially abled baby, both of which she was still nursing, there was no time for herself. She didn’t have Owen around to help offset the heavy load that was their life and honestly she didn’t have it in herself to fight with him about it. Amelia was spread as thin as possible and it showed. The house wasn’t trashed, but it was messier than they usually kept it. She felt that if she could keep the four kids alive, fed, and on time for school and sports each day, that was enough. Anything else could wait for another day. 

“Well, good night. I hope the kids behaved for you.”

Amelia hugged into her pillow and not Owen like she normally liked to. 

“They were great. Flynn and Bella are great helpers. He has a baseball game tomorrow at noon but don’t worry, he already knows Dad will probably be at work. Bella mastered her back handspring tonight so she’s really excited about that. Rosie is cutting all four molars at the same time so she is miserable.”

“What about Abe?”

“He’s good. He’s as strong as ever. Not at all scary.”

Owen shook his head at the very intentional dig she threw at him. While she didn’t care to argue, she would make it known how much she hated that he willingly chose to stay away. 

“I’m not scared of my own son, Amelia.”

“Really? When was the last time you held him for more than 5 minutes? I mean hold him just to admire him, not just because I need to brush my teeth and hair. They’re only a baby once.”

“I saw the monitor both times his heart stopped. It haunts me. I’ve doubted my ability as a parent ever since that day. I wish I could forget that that happened, but I can’t. Instead I save lives. I focus on that.”

“I was there too! You weren’t the only one. Ya know, I would’ve never done what you did. Then again, I was never given that option. You have three other kids too. They miss their dad. Sam knew what he was doing in the surgery too. Abel is strong and he made it. We clearly aren’t on the same page but just know I’m done covering you with the kids. Flynn and Bella are both old enough to understand what is going on. They will remember when you weren’t around. If you can live with yourself knowing that, okay. I am so exhausted day in and day out. So do what you want but they know Dad has no true reason to always be gone.”

Not another single word was spoken from either of them. Owen didn’t like knowing how much he was impacting his kids. Apparently he hadn’t thought too much into it until now. 

.

Amelia was woken up just after 8 a.m by Bellamy climbing in bed with her. 

“Mama, Daddy is cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Flynn is helping squeeze oranges for orange juice. Daddy put Rosie in her highchair with some banana and the baby is sleeping.”

“Oh thank you for coming to see me. Good morning my sweets.”

“Daddy isn’t working today?”

“It’s supposed to be his weekend off so he shouldn’t...”

Bellamy’s face lit up but Amelia didn’t want her to be disappointed in case he elected to go in.

“... but if he gets paged, then he will have no choice but to go. Mama and Daddy save lives.”

“And if you and Daddy are here, there are people that may not make it.”

“Yes but we love you all the same.”

Bellamy curled up to her mom’s side, basking in the rare moment of being the only one with Amelia. 

“Mama, can we do something fun today? Like going to the aquarium? I want to see the otters again like we did on my field trip.”

Amelia kissed the top of her daughter’s head, taking a second to breathe in the sweet scent of Bella’s strawberry shampoo. 

“Your brother has a baseball game at noon but we can go tomorrow if everyone behaves today. Do you still want to spend the night with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Maggie?”

“Yes please! They let me help give Emma and Evan their baths at night. It’s so much fun. Will Daddy come to the aquarium on Sunday?”

“I don’t know, sweets. You’d have to ask him.” Amelia laid there a little bit long with her oldest daughter until she heard her youngest start to fuss on his baby monitor.

“Bella, go see Dad. I’m going to feed Abel then I’ll come eat breakfast with everyone.” “Okay mommy! I love you very much.”

“Love you too sweet girl.”

.

By the time the older kids were dropped off with their aunt, uncle, and twin one year old cousins by Owen, Amelia had Rosalie and Abel nursed to sleep for their mid-afternoon naps. Shockingly he had been at home with her and the kids all morning and afternoon. Now she was uncertain of what to do. Amelia wasn’t used to his undivided attention since typically the kids were running circles around them or the whole house was asleep by the time Owen got home at night.

Owen carefully sat down beside Amelia on the couch. “Babe, can we talk about last night?”

“What about it?”

Owen ran his fingers through his tousled curls. This wasn’t going to be easy for him but he could only blame himself.

“There’s no excuse for my absence. I have let my wife down and all of my kids. Sorry won’t suffice, I know. I am just going to work on being here. Seeing you last night with Abel still latched onto you and you both fully asleep, looking like a pair of angels, I noticed you have even lost enough weight for your wedding rings to not fit properly anymore. If there’s no one here to help you, you won’t have time to get proper rest or eat meals that isn’t pb&j and goldfish. That’s my fault and I hate myself for it. I have two weeks left of paternity leave that I haven’t used since I went back to work 2 weeks after Abe was born. I called Bailey on the drive home to let her know I’m using those two weeks effective tomorrow.”

“But why? You have been so happy since you went back to work…”

“Absolutely not. I’ve just kept busy. I let my entire family down and now I need to redeem myself. I love you so much Amelia. I love you, Flynn, Bella, Rosie, and baby Abel more than anything. I’m also going to make sure to bond with Abel has much as I can these next two weeks.”

Owen finished his long winded statement to see Amelia’s eyes filled with tears. “Owen, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say something like that.”

She hugged into his side and was happy to have him with her now. “It’s true. I promise. I’ll be right here with you. I’m all yours for two weeks straight.” “I love you. This doesn’t fix everything but it’s a good start.”

“I love you too. I know it’s not gonna get back to normal overnight but we can take it day by day together with the kids.”

[forgottencosplayer]

The Roster

I present here a list of the future Cosplays I’ll be attempting. 

1.) Warduke, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Kind of an old school D&D character. I had the action figure as a child and was always struck by the design. Fear not though, I have no illusions that my physique is anywhere comparable to the Duke’s. I’ll be wearing a flesh tone muscle suit with rendering. The nice thing about the muscle suit is that it has loads or cosplay potential beyond Warduke. It’s nice to get to stretch the budget. 

2.) Bionic-1, The Bionic Six

Bionic Six was a short lived and strangely forgotten animated series from the 80s. The concept was essentially what if the The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman got married and had a family? Bionic-1, aka Jack Bennett, is the patriarch of the Bennett family and Co-Leader of the Bionic Six. 

3.) Marshal Shane Gooseman, Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers

The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers was another tragically short lived and forgotten animated series. I have it in mind to do two Galaxy ranger costumes. First, a reimagined Galaxy Ranger uniform. I like the classic, but I think it could be modernized a bit. Second, a likewise updated version of Shane’s black uniform. I’m toying with the idea of doing that spiky blonde anime hair in foam. We shall see. 

4.) The Spectacular Spider-Ham

I’ve been dying to do a Spider-Ham costume for ages. As much as I love Into the Spider-verse, I won’t be using their design. Don’t get me wrong, love the movie, love John Mulaney as Ham, but they changed the design too much for my taste. He looks more like Hampton from Tiny Toons. I’ll be going with the ultimate version of Spider-Ham as depicted by the late, great, Mike Wieringo! 

5.) Sam, Sam & Max: Freelance Police

Sam & Max are one of my favourite comic duos of all time. Sam is a 6 foot tall anthropomorphic hound dog who, along with his best friend Max, a disturbingly violent Lagomorph, fight crime as freelance police. They had a short lived animated series, a popular video game series, and an upcoming action figure line from Boss Fight Studios. Fairly well known characters, but they don’t see a lot of cosplay love. The furry community has already done a lot of the design work for me, I’m not expecting it to be a problem to find a fursuit maker capable of handling the head. Thankfully the rest of the body is mostly an ill fitting, big, grey suit. 

6.) Steel Brigade, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

In the 80s and early 90s, Hasbro had a promotion where in you could send away for your own custom G.I. Joe. A figure meant to represent yourself as part of the Joe team. Steel Brigade wears a helmet, thus concealing their face and make each figure the embodiment of its owner. They made you up a dossier file based on the answers to the questionnaire you filled out when ordering. It was pretty spiffy. There are a lot of G.I. Joe cosplayers out there, but I don’t see Steel Brigade very often. I think there’s room here design something true to the spirit of the original, that looks a little more tactical and bad ass. Probably starting with ditching the khaki pants ;)

7.) Strato-Viper, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero 

Always my favourite action figure from the entire G.I. Joe line, the Strato-Viper is the pilot of the Cobra Night Raven. I just think it’s a cool looking outfit. I’ve seen one cosplay of it. It’s pretty decent, but I think there’s room to be more accurate. The helmet is the especially tricky part. This one it going to take some time. 

8.) Captain Power, Captain Power and the Soliders of the Future

A strange live action children’s show from the 80s that was way darker and better than it has any right to be based on its origins. Designed to support and sell a toy line by Mattel, Captain Power is a post apocalyptic story of a small band of freedom fighters with incredible “power suits” who fight against the Fascist dictatorship of Lord Dredd and his Bio-Dredd Empire. I’m thinking I’ll build the armour of foam, and then wrap it in gold vinyl. I do not know if that approach will work, but it’s worth testing. 

I’m sure there are others I’ve forgotten, but this seems like an overly optimistic place to end the list. This listing is presented in no particular order. I will get to each of them as I can. I will abandon whichever projects turn out to be unfeasible as I make those determinations. Hopefully fun times ahead though. 

[martinlawless]

National Masters Circuit Race Championship 2021. Age Category 45-49 Race.

British Cycling, National A Race E1234 Leicester Cycle Circuit Sunday 4 July 2021

The National Masters Circuit Race Championships… a chance to win a proper National jersey for the year as recognition by British Cycling. There are separate category races in 5-year bands from 30+. Men and Women.

This year is my last in the 45-49 year band. Everyone’s UCI birthday is 1st Jan, so I’ll be 50 next year on the final bong from Big Ben. I did this race two years ago and really enjoyed the event and scene. So I made it a priority to sign up to this one early on and focus in on it.

The race would be on the Leicester Cycle Circuit. I’d never been there before. Turns out to be a very good 1km loop. Tarmac quality excellent and good safe run-offs onto grass (take note Colchester). It’s not technical, really. Though racing makes things technical. A simple circuit means more speed. More speed means more reaction times required on challenges and opportunities that appear in the bunch. And, as ever, the wind and weather makes a virtual hill - turning a stretch into a danger zone that can challenge riders and generate a split. The course is dumbbell shaped, with the northern loop being tighter than the southern one. The northern one rises a bit too.

I set off in the car in very good time. I didn’t have anything to hold back for and get there to see teammate Chris in his 40-44 category race. His field is smaller than ours. Maybe 25 riders. It’s a tough race. Chris goes heroic and into the first break of four from the gun. Hauled in and blitzed, he finds it hard to stick at the back recovering while fresh breaks occur. It’s a reminder to me that in my 75 mins race there will be several attacks. If I find myself in a break, it has to be decisive - or I’m bailing out back to the bunch. I’ll burn up easily otherwise.

I’ve got my crit wheels on. New second-hand Dura-Ace C35 tubular wheels. Ramped up to 110psi just to feel extra bad-ass. Super quick and nippy. I sign in. Pin up. I nearly forget to put on the transponder, which would be a disaster. There’s a good chance of a heavy shower, but it’s warm. So race suit only. Becoming less racy with every wash. Factor 50 suncream. I love my Koo eyewear, but for close-quarters crit stuff, I prefer my “100%” wraparounds that give me brilliant peripheral vision and eyes in the back of my head. I feel like a bit of a doofus Daft Punk wannabe. But - hey, safety first. I do a regular back garden workout. I always add in stretching around the neck and shoulders in simulation of the constant need to look around you in a tight race. I should do pilates and yoga as I get older too.

I have a good little chat with James from Cinnamon-Contour. He’s bandaged up like Roglic having had a crash in the sprint at Hillingdon in one of the rehearsal races last week. I’m impressed he’s back. I also bump into Chris from Verulam. I’m confident he’ll do well. The course suits his atomic finishing sprint power. He finished 3rd in one of the rehearsal races. Other than that, I don’t really know anyone - jut a few of the usual faces and backsides. It’s a good thing: it means the race is bringing in people from all regions - not just the south and east. I hear all sorts of accents. I’m concerned by how fit looking some of these old boys appear!

Our race is the most popular. I’m unsure why, but I have a theory it’s because mid-life crisis is peaking as people get to 50. One last chance to pretend to be Sam Bennett, Cav or Caleb.

This is a proper British Cycling event. The briefing is more stringent than the usual “rock-up with a banana and go” race. This adds nicely to the drama ahead. It feels significant. Points go down to 15th place. The top-third will score today. I am in a bit of a downward points spiral from my current 2nd Cat licence. The points started late this season - early races were zero-points post-COVID. And now I can’t see where I’ll get them from. I simply can’t find the time or BC events. To be honest though: a gentle relegation into 3rd Category doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll have more options to race.

There’s always something to forget or nearly forget. It’s a gel at the start this time. But I remember in time on the start line. I will have another halfway I reckon. I put my finger on my Wahoo to ensure I don’t forget to start the all-important Strava. We have two neutralised laps behind the car to get used to the bends and we’re released.

It’s a steady start. I expect we are all mostly unfamiliar with the course and each other and just want to walk into this one. Eventually, there’s a break and the peloton cranks up.

In a rather unconventional prep, I’d ridden a Hilly TT the Sunday before, a Zwift crit Monday, a tired chaingang Tuesday. Then did the Fred Whitton loop in the Lake District on Thursday with three friends. I’m unsure 110 miles featuring the toughest ascents in England, three sleeps before a short high energy effort, is in any training manual. After the Fred, I did not turn a pedal. I was unsure where my legs would be. In the first few laps I’m relieved to feel they are fine. A sports massage helped. In fact, I feel good. The Fred had raised my pain threshold it felt. When asked to dig deep, it was no problem.

I’m pleased to be lolling around the top third or so in the bunch. The first break gets a third of a lap gap. But the bunch aren’t really bothered. All the same, there’s always a rider or two getting frustrated about the lack of coherence in hauling them in. The laws of physics prevail, and the first break fizzles out eventually.

I can hear Chris cheer me on each lap which is motivating. I concentrate on my line, holding it, seizing gaps where possible and generally keeping my nose clean. As expected, I don’t feel I can be in a small break. I just need to watch out for a big split. I can feel this isn’t going to happen though after a while.

The wind is a bit tasty. As much as it’s valuable to look at those big flags you get at events for the direction, you can’t beat throwing a bit of grass up in the air before a race for the truth.

It gets tight at times. This Leicester doesn’t feel that wide. I go onto the grass on one lap to avoid a clash. In these situations you don’t panic, just glide back on and everything is all right. I get a good backside push on another lap. No problem. ‘On your left’, ‘On your right’. All the good calls you want in a race. No daft riding here which was appreciated.

A second break is brought in. Then on 37 minutes, the decisive break from Ian, who everyone seemed to fear, was made. He would take another rider with him and the bunch would let him go pretty easily.

The last laps approach and the race dynamic changes. The bunch gets top heavy as people prepare for the sprint. The last few laps are very twitchy. We are wide across the lane and very tight as everyone jostles for the sprint. I find myself in the middle of the bunch at times and hate it: locked in shoulder to shoulder. There’s few oohs and aaahs as riders barge each other. I see one rider barged and he has to unclip to save himself. He skips along the road on foot at 30mph+ and re-clips without losing too much momentum. It’s impressive control regained. I can see Verulam Chris inching forward. I want to keep on his wheel but the way through is blocked. It’s always remarkable how you might have a few laps to make a simple move up a few bike lengths - yet it’s just not doable. Stuck.

Into the final lap and final bend, it’s high speed but I’ve got something extra in the tank to give. I am forced wide if I’m to apply any sprint. This puts me out of the draught, and I lose momentum, but I gain a clean run. My sprint is OK. I can hold a decent effort for 10 seconds, albeit I won’t be strong enough to gain ground. The front of the tight sprint pulls away while I come in just off the back of it but ahead of the string of others behind.

I replay the last moments over and over. It’s hard to see what else I could have done except to maybe find more confidence in my endurance to move up and hold a premium position early on. I eventually scan the data. I’m 21st and ahead of me are many names I know to be strong. I’m happy with that.

I return to the car park and change. I have a good post-race chat with Chris. He has crazy high power and he’ll smash a race soon, with a bit of luck, choosing the right break. I decide to have a peep at the Cat 3-4 race going on after ours. As I rock up, there’s a crash at the most basic point of the course. Four riders down. Three get back up gingerly, one a lot slower. I’m thankful our race ended safe and well. Take out the neutralised laps and our race is well over 27mph average. Dynamic and speedchess-like reactions required at all times.

Tired of sugary things, I crave salt, so stop off at the nearby McDonalds on the way back. The most biblical thunderstorm kicks off in the drive-thru. I wonder what would have happened to our race in such conditions. As I carefully navigate the motorway with Lance Armstrong’s ‘The Move’ on Spotify, I wonder if they black flag circuit races for lightning as we all go around a big open field sat on quite metallic things.

I think about next year’s Masters and take a look at the results for this year’s 50-54 category. I’m slightly disappointed to see names of strong riders I know struggle to reach the points. It’s a useful reminder that it never gets easier - we just get older.

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5574763935

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Pale Waves have dropped their new video for ‘You Don’t Own Me’. Taken from their just released new album Who Am I?, the clip fits perfectly to the 90s-slash-00s guitar pop aesthetic that runs throughout the record. All multicoloured hair and graffiti covered walls, it’s a bright, brash delight. [via Dork]

Los Angeles-based pop artist Cooper Phillip is known for her empowering anthems that highlight everything from strength and gratitude to self-love. Her latest single, 'Not Perfect,' is yet another example of her ability to craft uplifting tunes, encouraging listeners to start putting themselves before others in order to fulfill your own desires. The Russian-born singer has just dropped a new music video, and it's everything we expected from this flamboyant artist and more. The theatrical video emphasizes the importance of rebelling against the idea of being perfect and all that it represents. When you begin to let go of the idea of perfection, Phillip reminds us, life is so much better. Phillip wants to encourage you to live life a little less seriously, do what you want, wear what you want, and most importantly, be who you want. After all, our time on this planet is far too short to worry about living up to other people's standards and expectations. According to the artist herself, "'Not Perfect' is about self love and finding qualities about yourself that make you unique. There is no need to modify who you are just to fit in with society's norms. You have to stay true to who you are and carry yourself with pride and with dignity." 'Not Perfect' features Phillip's soaring, soulful vocals, big and bold melodies, and fast-paced, dance-worthy beats. Intoxicating to say the least, this song will worm its way into your mind all day long. By the end, it'll have you grinning ear to ear, and more importantly, it'll remind you who you are. [via Pop Dust]

Closely following the release of their new single, Maltese electro-pop outfit OXYGYN have shared the brand new video for ‘Mercy’. The new video continues from 2020’s ‘Wicked White Lies’, a portrayal of how society deals with social issues in which individuals are made vulnerable, as frontman Kurt Abela details: “We become angered by a social cause when it first emerges, but we are quick to break it down within our own minds and forget. Instead, we focus on our own personal issues, and are not able to overcome them. This video acts as a wake-up call to society that the social issues hinted at throughout the video are still present and need their due attention.”

Oxford alt-pop outfit pecq have unveiled the video for ‘Killing Time’ . The band say: "‘Killing Time' is about making the same mistakes over and over – dying relationships I kept going back to, destructive habits I can’t break. I’m a big one for drastic changes and breaking with the past but so many times I end up back where I started – burn it down and build it just the same." Killing Time is the second single from their forthcoming EP Stranger, due out April 15. [via Loud Women]

With us getting a taster of spring the past weekend, singer-songwriter Bess Atwell is keeping the momentum going with her dreamy new single 'Co-op'. Like the first blooms of spring, Atwell’s latest single unfolds with serene ripples of guitar strings surrounded by her lush calming vocals, leading us to a track that has us reminiscent of Lana Del Rey and Phoebe Bridgers. Similar to her previous offerings, the track maintains the same fresh and unique sound she has displayed throughout her career. Accompanied by a self-directed video, the singer puts the emotional context of the track at the forefront, directly referencing the lyrics with bold imagery and contrasting props. Opening up on the single, the singer revealed, “It’s an illustration of mine and my partner’s life together. The relationship seemed to provide me with some sort of permission to recuperate from family trauma, as if realising for the first time that there was a life outside of that chaos lulled me into an emotional slumber. Through the song, I grapple with the desire for, and fear of, comfort. I used references to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway to depict a vivid nostalgia and an affinity for trivialities that serve to calm when darker thoughts set it.” [via Wonderland]

Polish alt-pop aesthete Brodka has shared her barbed new single 'Game Change'. The multi-hyphenate returns with new album BRUT, a fresh statement from a potent, outspoken figure. Huge in her homeland, Brodka has shifted and evolved with each project - and BRUT will be a further chapter in this. New single 'Game Change' is out now, and lyrically it's an expressive statement of feminism that comes at a timely moment for Poland. Brodka says that the single "is about gender roles in society; a topic that's particularly prevalent in her home-country of Poland at the moment, where reproductive rights are being rolled back by lawmakers." The dazzling video is online now, and it spins a repressive dogma on its head. She says: "While making the video for 'Game Change', I was inspired by the story of the Albanian Sworn Virgins. Women who, by taking a vow of chastity, take on a male role in society while gaining all the privileges associated with being a man. They are treated as men but can keep their feminine names. This story, although abstract, is relevant to the current situation of women in Poland. Sadly, you don't have to be a Sworn Virgin to have your rights decided by men in the 21st century." [via Clash]

After teasing the collaboration last week, Ashe and FINNEAS have unveiled their new single 'Till Forever Falls Apart'. The collaborative track is accompanied by a video directed by Sam Bennett that shows both artists dancing at sunset. Ashe says of the song, "'Till Forever Falls Apart' is one of my favourite songs with one of my favourite people. If I’ve learned anything from Moral of the Story, it’s that accepting the hard truth is strangely comforting. This song, while sounding like the most romantic song I’ve ever written, is about acceptance as well. The lyrics, ‘I’m gonna love you knowing we don’t have forever’ is about how it’s more important to have had the chance to love than to stay in love. FINNEAS is one of the most talented people I know and it’s fitting to release this song with someone I love so much. I'm lucky to know him and I hope to never know a life without him in it." FINNEAS adds, "Ashe to me, is a timeless artist. Her music will be as relevant and important 30 years from now as it is today. Making music with her has always been an extension of our friendship and I could not love this song more." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Charley enters into the Australian pop world with her debut single 'Hard For Me'. It's the type of slick, high-tier pop song that sits amongst the world's biggest stars, carrying the same acute level of sheen and confidence as Charley moves above a bright, synth-driven production that elevates her every word. It's the type of single that takes the foundations laid by modern-day pop heavy-hitters - she lists Katy Perry as an inspiration, for example - and builds upon them, evolving the sound forwards into 2021 and beyond. Produced by Stephen Schmultz in Nashville three years ago now, the song introduces Charley and everything you need to know about her this early on. You get a taste of her sound and the energies and inspirations that fuel them, as well as the intimacy that underlies a lot of her songwriting, and how she brings pockets of her personal life to the forefront through glitzy pop songwriting. She's a welcome addition to Australian pop, and you get the sense that 'Hard For Me' is really just the beginning. "[Hard For Me has been] a long time coming, and as a Virgo, I am not patient," she says on the single. "In my head, this has always been my debut release. It’s got such a special place in my heart. I’ve had such a vision for every single part of it. "Me and my boyfriend had kind of just gotten back together again at that point. All of the butterflies were heightened again. I just wanted to write a song about how I felt about him and how it gave me such a rush when I looked at him. Everyone has been there! When you just… melt." Take a dive into the single and its Mitchell McKay-directed video clip above. [via Pilerats]

After making a name for themselves with their dusty-yet-glowing self-titled debut in 2017, Chapel Hill duo Blue Cactus are announcing their return with their second LP called Stranger Again. Set to be released May via Sleepy Cat Records, the album continues the pair’s mission to blend classic country sounds with vintage ’70s pop sensibilities and a sobering sense of honesty, as heard on the record’s first single, 'Come Clean.' “Sometimes we are the last person to tell ourselves the truth,” vocalist Stephanie Stewart shares of the track’s lyrical origins. “We ignore our gut, suppress our instincts, and go through the motions of a life that other people have defined for us. We become the person everyone else wants us to be and lose ourselves along the way. ‘Come Clean’ is about radical self-love and acknowledging the struggle in that journey; that hard, unflinching look in the mirror. “In 2017,” she continues, “I was in the process of separating from my then husband. I wrote most of this song during that time. It wasn’t until a year later after the divorce was finalized that I was able to find the words that had been missing from this song. I was carrying a lot of shame and guilt, and once I finally let that go, I was free to rediscover who I was as a person outside of that relationship. I was finally free to love me.” The track’s video echoes these themes of rebirth and relearning, with the band members blindfolded and slowly making contact with the outside world. [via Flood]

Mermaidens have delivered their catchiest, dreamiest cut yet. 'Soft Energy' is the single teased with the announcement of their Soft Energy New Zealand Tour. The new track is stupidly good, and ushers in the next Mermaidens era after 2019 album Look Me In The Eye. Vocalist Gussie Larkin took the director's chair for the 'Soft Energy' video, and with support from NZ On Air and director of photography Ezra Simons (Earth Tongue), has created a blush-tinted world for the band to expose their soft, tender hearts and ask those with a "tough and detached exterior ... to act with softness and vulnerability". [via Under The Radar]

Along with the release of her debut EP, Swimming Lessons, 19-year-old alt-pop singer-songwriter Genevieve Stokes premiered the video for her newest single, 'Parking Lot,' on Friday. Shot in her hometown of Portland, ME, the 'Parking Lot' video is a wistful tribute to the first flush of young love. "I wrote 'Parking Lot' after I met my now-boyfriend for the first time," Stokes tells NYLON. "It’s about the intoxicating, obsessive feeling of a new crush and creating a fantasy world with them. " After teaching herself piano at the age of eight, Stokes spent her adolescence developing her sound, inspired by iconic female singer-songwriters like Cat Power and Regina Spektor. Swimming Lessons was recorded this past year in a cabin in the woods, a haunting, beautiful setting that seeps into the records' sound. [via NYLON]

You can’t blame us for wanting a bit of hedonistic relief after a year of going stir-crazy within our four walls. And as we yearn for release, and ache for the proximity and darkness of a packed dance floor, here to give it to us, no questions asked, is dark-pop trio KRUDO. Comprised of pop singer Olivia May Green, as well as established industry greats, producers Dan Duncan and Igor Tchkotoua, KRUDO blurs the lines of genre to make way for a whole new body-moving beast – and their latest release 'You Can’t Blame Me' is no exception. Moody warped synths, sinister bass lines and the haunting vocals of Green tell a story of empowerment and self-love, as she growls “I’ll never change or leave to fit your master plan.” Just the anthem we needed when many of us will be feeling disconnected and out of sorts. The trio have previously stated that their music is “not about polished pop music; it’s about memorable moments that hold a clear message.” And that much is clear from the formidable sonic palette of the new release, accompanied by a symbolic music video which shows Green breaking the picture-perfect shackles of industry expectation and rising phoenix-like into her own identity. Taken from their two-part EP of the same name, the release comes as part of the ever-expanding release schedule of label HE.SHE.THEY – the event series, record label and fashion brand operating as a safe space for individuals regardless of “age, race, sex, gender, ableness, religious background or sexual preference”. [via Wonderland]

Top popster Bebe Rexha has dropped a brand new single, titled ‘Sacrifice’. The track is taken from her forthcoming second album, which she claims is “by far the most challenging yet fulfilling project I have ever worked on. I wrote, recorded, re-wrote, re-recorded and then repeated that process in order to deliver an album that truly reflects who I am as a singer, songwriter and most importantly as an artist. I want to give listeners a journey of pop paradise fused with elements of rock and hip-hop. It’s important to me that my music continues to recognize ongoing themes of vulnerability, the cycle of self-destruction & self-realization, and female empowerment.” So there we go. ‘Sacrifice’ follows up on 2020’s ‘Baby, I’m Jealous’ which featured Doja Cat. You can check out the vampire themed video above. [via Dork]

Tulliah has debuted the video for her really quite lovely new single, ‘Distant Dreams’. Taken from her debut EP Fre$h Hugs – set to drop next Friday (12th March), the clip was filmed in her hometown of Mt Martha Beach, Australia and directed by Cass Wood. Tulliah explains, “30 degrees, snow gear on the beach, fish man = very weird dream! I had this idea for a while that the video clip for 'Distant Dreams' would be really weird and dream like. When I was in the studio we went on a tangent about being in winter clothes while sunbathing on the beach, flying on planes to Hawaiian beaches and little fishes eating big sharks. I have no idea why haha but I knew it was weird, just like all Dreams are”. Talking about how the track came together, she adds: “We set up my new piano in the backroom of my parent’s. My mum was moving a painting that they have had for years to the top of the piano when she read the back of it – it was called Distant Dreams. This song flowed out of me. I used to never really believe that I could achieve my dreams. This song is about not wanting to break away from my visions and goals. The lyrics ‘don’t go waking me up’ is a really direct demand to myself! It’s about not wanting to go back to doubting my capabilities.” [via Dork]

Ladyhawke is back with a brand new single, ‘Guilty Love’. The first taster of a new album, due to arrive later this year, the track features fellow popsters BROODS. Ladyhawke – real name Pip Brown – explains: “‘Guilty Love’ came about after some writing sessions with Tommy English in Los Angeles. Georgia Nott from BROODS came along to one of our sessions, and after we were talking a while, we realised we had all grown up Catholic. We shared stories and experiences; Georgia then suggested we write a song about shame”. “‘Guilty Love’ is important to Georgia and me for different reasons. Personally, growing up in the Catholic school system, as I reached my teens, I started to feel immense shame and denial about my sexuality. I suffered the constant fear of being judged and alienated by my friends and family. These feelings took a long time to shake off and work through. ‘Guilty Love’ is a way to share our experiences, and hopefully help anyone going through the same thing to know they’re not alone.” Georgia from BROODS adds “’Guilty Love’ came from the classic “in-studio heart to heart”. We talked about growing up religiously and how we carried a lot of shame around the idea of what a woman (or person) should be. This song is about that but also about finding our own way back to a sense of spirituality through love. The love that once caused so much guilt, ended up being the most healing and spiritual. END CONVERSION THERAPY EVERYWHERE!” Too bloody right. ‘Guilty Love’ comes with a video fitting of the song’s message. [via Dork]

Atlanta-based pop artist Siena Liggins shared her video 'No Valet' on Thursday, the second single from her upcoming debut album Ms. Out Tonight. The track serves as the follow-up to 'Dirty Girl' alongside Yung Baby Tate, seeing the singer take viewers from the dancefloor to the backseat of a car in the club parking lot. The quirky clip finds Liggins adorned and surrounded by sparkly glitz, cowboy hats, and disco balls, playfully performing with a full band. "'No Valet' is steamy, downtempo braggadocio disguised as a backseat car anthem for whatever happens after the after-party," Siena explained to FADER about the song. “I was listening to a lot of old songs produced by Timbaland before [producer] Nydge laid down this really sexy bassline that put me in the mood for something steamy and dreamy at the same time.... It’s the confidence I get after the function is over and the groove I need when I’m talking my shit." [via The FADER]

London's Mychelle is certainly an individual. Freshly signed to FAMM - the same management company as Jorja Smith and ENNY - her new single 'The Way' is a subtle but deeply powerful piece of songwriting. Soft and soulful, it relishes on nuance, allowing the most subtle element to rise and grapple with intensity. Mychelle's video for 'The Way' was shot on Hackney Downs in East London - fact fans might not that it's close to our office. Directed by photographer Michaela Quan it's a beautiful glimpse into her world. [via Clash]

Pussy Riot have announced a new EP called Panic Attack, due out next week — March 11. As a preview of the impending release, they’re sharing 'Sexist', a bold new single featuring fellow Russian rapper Hofmannita, which comes with an unforgettable NSFW music video. 'Sexist' is the second single Pussy Riot have shared from Panic Attack, following 'Toxic', their collaboration with Dorian Electra and 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady. Produced by White Punk and Count Baldor, 'Sexist' is a dark electro-pop hip-hop song about the severity of rape culture. Pussy Riot and Hofmannita take turns telling the fictional story of a heroine being invited to a hotel room by a male governmental official, being harassed, and, unable to escape, murdering him in self-defense. Consider shielding your screen before hitting play on the song’s music video. In the NSFW clip, various nude men pose as pieces of furniture while the singers casually push them around with collars and whips. Peppered throughout is plenty of latex apparel, BDSM positioning, and generally regal decor. According to Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova, the video is meant to inverse the main premise of the patriarchal culture. “Instead of women and queer people being objectified and serving as furniture, we use sexist pigs as furniture,” she said in a statement. “The video does not encourage to oppress anyone, but rather satirically highlights arbitrary and absurd nature of any oppression.” [via Consequence of Sound]

[auburnfamilynews]

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

SOMEHOW.

Auburn beat Arkansas yesterday, and while we got to see exactly how poorly the Tigers played, nearly losing and needing a beneficial call on a spike late to guarantee the win, what usually happens is that most folks only saw the final score. We definitely didn’t cover, but we stuck another notch in the left column, not the right one.

So where do we fall in the rankings this week?

AP POLL

Clemson

Alabama

Georgia

Notre Dame

North Carolina

Ohio State

Oklahoma State

Cincinnati

Penn State

Florida

Texas A&M

Oregon

Miami

Auburn

BYU

Wisconsin

SMU

Tennessee

Michigan

Iowa State

Louisiana-Lafayette

Kansas State

Virginia Tech

Minnesota

USC

COACHES’ POLL

Clemson

Alabama

Georgia

Notre Dame

Ohio State

North Carolina

Oklahoma State

Penn State

Florida

Cincinnati

Texas A&M

Miami

BYU

Auburn

Wisconsin

Oregon

Tennessee

Southern Methodist

Michigan

Iowa State

Louisiana-Lafayette

Kansas State

Virginia Tech

USC

Minnesota

As for the SEC, let’s give a quick rundown of how each team fared and how they look after week three —

ALABAMA: Thankfully, they looked somewhat mortal in one regard. While the offense was about as flawless as can be against Ole Miss, the defense gave up almost 700 yards and 50 points. Ole Miss’ offensive line pushed the Tide around, and only blinked late in the game when they needed a bold move to try to pull ahead. If the offense has an off week (a big ask), or even a bad half, the defense might not be up to the task to keep opposing offenses at bay. Still, they’re likely the most dangerous team in the SEC still.

ARKANSAS: Well, they may be better than indicated. Was that stingy first half against Georgia a fluke? What about shutting down Leach? They’re not going to be basement dwellers for long, because Sam Pittman has these guys motivated and playing much better football.

FLORIDA: Finally their defense got them. People said over the first two weeks that the Gators didn’t have enough to stop a team that was a little better than Ole Miss or South Carolina, and A&M made them pay. Kellen Mond even looked good, but the offense disappeared for a while, and the Aggies blanketed Kyle Pitts and took away the Gators’ best weapon. That’s concerning.

GEORGIA: The defense might be the best singular unit in the SEC, and we’re going to see exactly how good they are this week when they play in Tuscaloosa. Stetson Bennett is cut from the cloth of Georgia quarterbacks of old. Just get it done and don’t screw up. Let the defense take care of the rest. They turned it on after halftime yesterday.

KENTUCKY: Hey, one of our wins looks good! Kentucky shut down Mississippi State, winning 24-2 despite gaining only 157 total yards. Couldn’t really tell much due to the quality of the opponent but they’re still going to be a tough out for pretty much everyone.

LSU: Uh, what happened here, guys? Maybe everyone was right about them coming back to earth with all the graduates, early entrants, holdouts, and coaching departures. You wouldn’t know by talking to LSU fans. The defense is atrocious, and Myles Brennan leads an offense that’s boom or bust. All game long yesterday it seemed like they’d go incomplete pass, two-yard rush, long completion on third down. You can’t live like that, and Missouri’s defense bowed up at the end to stuff them at the goal line.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Lipstick gone here too. You beat what’s apparently a bad LSU team and the world is enamored. Now, two losses later and Mike Leach is talking about purging players who don’t fit in. Let this sink in, they scored 44 points in Baton Rouge and are 12th in the SEC in scoring. That’s how bad the last two games were.

MISSOURI: Hello, the Eli Drinkwitz version of the Malzahn attack seems to work. That was an enjoyable game and a big first win in CoMo. They took advantage of LSU’s woes and worked their offense to near perfection, but the most impressive bit was the goal line stand as they denied LSU the game-winning score in the closing seconds.

OLE MISS: Dang it, this is the most fun team in the conference. I hate what Matt Corral is going to do to us, but at least it won’t be a surprise. Lane Kiffin’s influence turned the Rebels into a fantastic offensive team, and the offensive line (former Jack Bicknell unit) looked great against Alabama. Defensively, though, they’re the worst team in the SEC. Bama had over 700 yards and 63 points and the Rebels barely seemed as if they were on the field half the time.

SOUTH CAROLINA: I’ll admit, this is the only game I didn’t watch yesterday, but it seems like the Gamecocks ran over a depleted Vandy squad that might not even have enough players for a game next weekend. Will Muschamp isn’t going to do anything too fancy, so Auburn just has to strap in for what I’m sure will be a physical game if nothing else.

TENNESSEE: You big teasers. Jeremy Pruitt’s head wrap COVID mask led us to believe that maybe he had something for Georgia, and while the Vols led at halftime, they got skunked in the second half. Georgia posted a 24-0 effort in the third and fourth quarters, but the Vols still have some guys in the receivers on the outside. Like Kentucky, won’t be an easy out at all.

TEXAS A&M: Kudos, Jimbo. You earned a small portion of that oil field they paid you with. This was his first win over a top five team since being in College Station, and I don’t think Kellen Mond has ever looked as good as he did yesterday. They’re still not a really good team (who is, though?) but what looked like a pretty full home crowd at Kyle Field was a big difference yesterday.

VANDERBILT: n/a, COVID doing COVID things.

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/10/11/21511704/new-poll-alert-auburn-still-ranked

[junker-town]

How the Patriots’ ‘Boogeymen’ make opposing quarterbacks see ghosts

Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

This New England defense is allowing a ludicrous 35.4 passer rating. But will it hold up when the competition gets better?

Kyle Van Noy has a name for the Patriots’ linebackers. Boogeymen. It’s also an extremely fitting name for the entire Patriots defense.

That unit’s dominance has been borderline supernatural through the team’s 7-0 start. New England leads the league in most defensive categories after allowing 14 points or fewer in each of its games this fall. And that moniker was especially appropriate after Bill Belichick’s team threw so much at Jets quarterback Sam Darnold that he claimed he was “seeing ghosts” by the second quarter in Week 7:

Sam Darnold on the performance & “seeing ghosts.” #NEvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/zoOJRplmbt

— Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) October 22, 2019

So how do you get a quarterback who’d put together one of his finest games as a pro in a win over the Cowboys to collapse like a dying star one week later in a 33-0 shellacking?

The Patriots have a plan to spook opposing quarterbacks.

Step 1: Dial up blitzes on clear passing downs

Belichick’s defensive strategy was clear from New York’s first possession. If the Jets were in a passing situation, a blitz was coming.

New England didn’t need stunts or subterfuge to confuse New York’s offensive line. It just sent more defenders than the Jets had blockers, then watched as Darnold lost his composure in the ensuing chaos. This was his very first dropback of the game:

the Patriots might blitz Sam Darnold 1,000 times pic.twitter.com/nk0gLfxk1J

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 22, 2019

An empty backfield left four prospective receivers and six blockers in front of Darnold. The Patriots single-covered those wideouts and sent everyone else, including safety Duron Harmon, meaning at least one player would have a mostly free run at the young quarterback.

Once the play started, both Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower got through the line untouched to force Darnold into a bad decision. A split second later, Devin McCourty had his fifth interception of the season and the offense had the ball inside the New York red zone.

This happened again early in the second quarter, only this time Darnold didn’t even have a chance to get a pass off:

Van Noy's TD run didn't count, but let's not ignore the fact that if not for the lucky clash of feet the Patriots would have scored a touchdown because the Jets' offense doesn't know how tackles work pic.twitter.com/Gz2fHe3Fnd

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 22, 2019

An empty backfield meant an extra rusher for New England. The Patriots defensive backs allowed a little more cushion for a short pass, but it didn’t matter. John Simon came through completely unblocked for a strip sack and the Jets narrowly avoided giving up one of the league’s most embarrassing fumble return touchdowns of the year.

At this point, the Patriots had taken up residence in Darnold’s head. Not only was he seeing receivers that didn’t exist and throwing to routes his actual targets were never meant to run, his accuracy had been shredded to hamster bedding by the mere threat of pressure. Even when his wideouts broke free from New England’s press coverage, he couldn’t get the ball to them.

Here’s his footwork on that first interception (where he’s facing seven guys) vs. his footwork on his fourth and final one (this time against a four-man rush):

That latent nervousness at the threat of being sacked won’t translate against more veteran passers. Fortunately for them, the Patriots have an elegant complement to their violent pass rush.

Step 2: Trust your defensive backs to handle man coverage near the line of scrimmage without safety help

Those blitzes that damned Darnold were the result of Cover-0 defensive packages that left every receiver locked into single coverage. New England can do this thanks to a versatile group of defensive backs who’ve been able to handle pretty much anything that’s been thrown at them.

High-profile stars like Stephon Gilmore and Devin McCourty have paired with less familiar faces like Jonathan Jones and J.C. Jackson to create a blanket of coverage. Through seven weeks, this defense has allowed only a single passing touchdown, hauled in 18 interceptions, and held opponents to a 35.6 passer rating — four points lower than if an opposing QB went 0-of-20 with no interceptions every Sunday.

That allows Belichick to get creative with his blitzes, even if his selection against the Jets was a rather academic affair. The team’s corners snuck up to the line of scrimmage in press coverage knowing that a flooding pass rush would likely force a quick shot and limit the distance their targets could cover downfield. The Patriots are daring opposing quarterbacks to fire off passes into a tight windows because their defensive backs have the green light to jump routes as soon as the ball’s in the air.

Or, as Pats Pulpit’s Taylor Kyles put it:

The Patriots are just toying with Darnold. DBs are waiting for him to let it go quickly against these blitzes and attacking the ball in the air before receivers even know it’s out of the QB’s hand

— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) October 22, 2019

That’s been the backbone of the New England defense, and eight different players have used it to haul in interceptions in 2019; 15 players have at least one pass defensed.

Step 3: Strength in numbers

One of my early-season concerns about the Patriots was how the defense would operate after the loss of Trey Flowers’ dynamic pass rush. No one player in the trenches took up as much of an opponent’s gameplanning spotlight as the do-it-all lineman who left for the Lions in free agency. I thought this would limit the damage the rest of the defense could do as blockers shifted their focus elsewhere.

This was incorrect.

New England has gotten major contributions from established Pro Bowlers, rookie debutantes, and players who had to claw their way to a roster spot alike. The team’s front seven has yet to showcase any glaring weakness in its pass rush. The following players each have at least two sacks through seven games:

Van Noy

Simon

Hightower

Collins

Chase Winovich

Michael Bennett

Danny Shelton

Adam Butler

The Patriots aren’t collapsing pockets because one guy is breaking through protection; they’re doing it because a handful of guys are. New England’s defense is a swarm, and that’s taking away lanes for opposing passers to run through to daylight in the midst of a dominant start.

Still, the Patriots have plenty to prove, even if they rank No. 1 in scoring defense, yards allowed, yards allowed per play, opponent passer efficiency, and about a dozen other categories. The question now is whether it can continue against tougher competition.

Step 4: Figure out if this can work against a quarterback who’s actually good in 2019

New England has fielded the league’s scariest defense through seven weeks, but it has done so against a lineup of underwhelming opponents.

Six of the Patriots’ victories this season have come over teams with two wins or fewer. The one team with a winning record — the 5-1 Bills — start the notoriously uneven Josh Allen at quarterback. He and Week 1 opponent Ben Roethlisberger are the only two QBs New England has faced with winning career records as starters.

It’s not especially surprising Belichick has found a way to baffle players like Luke Falk, Colt McCoy, Daniel Jones, and the 2019 version of Ryan Fitzpatrick. It’s going to be a lot more challenging to do the same over the team’s next six games.

Baker Mayfield, next man up to face the Pats in a Week 8 showdown in Cleveland, may lead the league in interceptions, but covering Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry is an entirely different challenge than a Robby Anderson-Demaryius Thomas combination. After that, the Patriots have Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. If Jackson can escape the pressure of a Cover-0 blitz, he’ll absolutely feast in the space created when his wideouts push New England’s secondary downfield and there’s no linebacker (or, more likely, safety) waiting as a spy in the second level.

The back end of the schedule is filled with more passers who can escape pressure, buy time, and take shots. Dates against 2016 draft class standouts Carson Wentz (Eagles) and Dak Prescott (Cowboys) follow in Weeks 11 and 12. The AFC’s race for homefield advantage will kick into high gear when the Texans and Chiefs bring likely MVP candidates into matchups in Weeks 13 and 14.

Deshaun Watson has a career 76.5 passer rating (and three interceptions) in two prior games against lesser Patriots defenses. Even though his offensive line has been its typically unimpressive self, he’s still having the most impactful and efficient season of his young career so far and remains one of the league’s toughest QBs to contain.

Patrick Mahomes remains Patrick Mahomes, and while he’s currently dealing with a dislocated kneecap, he’s slated to be healthy before he travels east to Foxborough in December. The Patriots held him in check for two quarters last year to start the AFC title game. He played six other quarters against Belichick’s defense last season and threw seven touchdowns.

New England isn’t as scary as Darnold made it seem, but it’s still loaded with a million different ways to derail a quarterback’s best-laid plans. When every part of that unit moves together, it creates a fast-moving horde that can overwhelm blockers, shut down wideouts, and make quarterbacks see specters.

That’s been incredible against some of the league’s least impressive quarterbacks. If the Patriots want to make it to their fourth straight Super Bowl, that defense will have to stand up against good passers, too.

[omgmicheal01me]

'It has exploded': Building a wellness app business

Sepel says her success is because "it just feels good to live a healthy life". "People want to know this is a lifestyle they can maintain forever, people are becoming too clever for the fad and the short term. Of course it is trendy and anything trendy people latch onto, but I want to go beyond the trending of the wellness space, it is something they can maintain for life."

Jessica Sepel started her business off as a blog. Surge in popularity Australians are increasingly turning to wellness apps and while Apple won't reveal numbers, last year the tech giant said apps in the category health, fitness and wellness "surged in popularity". "Apple Watch and HealthKit paved the way for developers to make health, fitness and wellness apps more innovative, intelligent and interactive, which in turn have inspired customers to be more active and mindful of their health," a spokesman said. "Downloads for these apps have increased 75 per cent since the launch of Apple Watch. The leading Australian entrepreneur in the field is Kayla Itsines and her fiance Tobi Pearce, who are worth $46 million on the back of Itsine's Sweat app.

Kayla Itsines, co-founder of fitness app Sweat.Credit:Damian Bennett Not just a matter of clicking your fingers However a host of other entrepreneurs have also built businesses on the back of wellness apps including former Bachelor television star Sam Wood who created the 28 by Sam Wood fitness app. Wood says he has great admiration for Itsines and "what she has done is nothing short of incredible, she is the biggest fitness influencer in the world". However, Wood says Itsines' customers are mainly 15 to 22 year olds while his audience is 26 to 50-year-old women who are predominantly mothers.

Sam Wood at the launch of his app 28 by Sam Wood. Credit:Allegra Sugianto "To be honest it has blown me and my team away how many people have done the program and how big it has gotten quite quickly," he says. "Social media is part of the puzzle, but it is not everything, you need to be authentic and know what you are talking about and have a good product." Wood launched his app in July last year, which he says cost more than $1 million to build. "It's not just a matter of clicking your fingers," he says. "We have 20 full-time staff. I think everyone thinks it is a lot simpler and your overheads are a lot less. They dive into the space because it is new and exciting but to do it well, and you do have to do it well to survive, it is far more expensive than you think." 28 by Sam Wood is now approaching 60,000 downloads and Wood says he has had 150,000 people complete or still be on his program, with turnover of about $8 million last year. "This space is becoming more and more dense with people bringing out programs," he says. "I think a lot of people underestimate how much work is involved to create a businesslike this and keep it fresh and relevant."

Chris Plowman is the founder of Insight Timer. It has exploded That work continues even if an app isn't a money-making venture as Sydneysider Chris Plowman has experienced with his mediation app Insight Timer. The app hashalf a million daily users and almost 7 million globally with 99 per cent of those using the app for free. "We thought there was an opportunity to build a meditation app that was free, every other app out there was focused on building subscription and revenue," says Plowman. He bought an existing mediation app five years ago, which had 100,00 users, and Plowman says "now it has exploded" with the aim of getting to 100 million meditatorsby 2022. "Our success, our survival is not guaranteed," he says. "With our premium products we have about 50,000 subscribers, that income allows us to pay for our infrastructure." Plowman says it costs $5 million a year to run Insight Timer and the business loses about $3 million a year with the losses covered by investors including co-founder of Matrix Partners China, Bo Shao, who leads the $100 million Evolve fund that invests in companies doing good. "Even the paid mediation apps are introducing people to mindfulness so in that respect they have done a great job in bringing mindfulness to the mainstream," he says. "I do struggle with it a little as I think they are mostly focused on the commercial aspects. We shouldn't be trying to make money as fast as possible off this new fad." Plowman wants to see more people in the space building conscious companies. "It is mental health, this is not the gaming industry or house rentals it is mental health, not mental stealth, so it is important we understand the intentions of the companies involved," he said. Follow MySmallBusiness on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Cara is the small business editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald based in Melbourne Most Viewed in Business Loading https://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/small-business/it-has-exploded-building-a-wellness-app-business-20190307-p512l2.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_business

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

James & Josie - Chapter 2

August 2018

Three months had passed since their chance meeting. Emmy and Niall had grown closer in that time. Currently, she was in a heated texting war with the man.

Sighing loudly, she let a string of curses fly through her brain before hitting the screen of her phone a little too hard. “They say stress is bad for you; but I think you’re takin’ it to a whole ‘nother level.” Grace stared at her younger sister with a smirk. “What’s Niall done now?”

Taking her eyes off the phone for a brief second, Emmy sighed. “He conveniently forgot he has a wedding tomorrow and since he mailed the RSVP back with a plus one, he needs someone to accompany him.”

“Why the hesitancy? You go, eat some good food, have a couple of drinks, and dance the night away. What do you have to lose?” Grace failed to see the problem Emmy was having. “Unless, things have changed between you two. Emmaline, do you have feelings for Niall?”

The horror that crossed Emmy’s face would’ve been hilarious, if Grace didn’t know her sister so well. “NO! Nothing has changed and I don’t like him. Some of his family will be there as well as his friends. I mean, it’s going to be weird, wouldn’t it?”

“Not everyone looks at every situation the 1,000 different ways you do, Em. You two are friends and you’re helping him out. No harm, no foul.” Grace smiled. “Besides, if there happened to be some hooking up after the wedding …” She trailed off with a grin.

Emmy threw her a dirty look, returning her attention to the phone, silence enveloping them. “So do you have a dress to wear?”

She bit her lip; she couldn’t believe she was actually going along with this. “I have a couple that might work but I just texted him to see what the colors are so I don’t clash.”

“I’m proud of you, you know.” Grace bit her lip, nervously looking at her sister.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Emmy’s eyes flew up. She didn’t know what to say, so she went for basics. “Why?”

“The way you’ve bounced back these last few months. You haven’t let anything stand in the way of what you’ve wanted. You found an awesome flat, in the middle of the city; you’re more successful at work and you’ve got a new best friend in Niall. Not to mention, how over the moon you are. This is a good look on you.”

A smile tugged on her lips. “Well you, Austin, and Niall had a lot to do with it. I’m not sure where I’d be without you three. And also, it’s been good to move on from what’s his name and all the damn drama.”

Her phone dinged, signaling a text from Niall. ‘Glad you’ve come to the dark side, Ems. Color of the wedding are black and mint - so don’t wear those. Pick you up at noon.’

“Wanna go dress shopping?” Emmy ignored the smug look of her sister before heading down the street to a speciality boutique.  

Next Day 12:00pm

She heard the door slam as she straightened out her dress. The navy blue one shoulder dress had been the third dress she tried on and it was the one that was voted the best one by Grace. A knock on her door caused her to look up. “Yes?”

“You almost ready, Ems? We’ve got to be going.” Niall’s gruff voice flowed through the door as she took one more glance at the door before walking to the door.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door before coming face to face with Niall. He smirked, letting his eyes trail down her body before meeting her eyes. “Damn Ems, you know how to clean up.”

“Thanks idiot.” She grabbed her purse before walking towards the door. “Ready?”

They walked towards Niall’s car; her feeling confident in her dress and feeling his eyes on her ass. He opened the door for her before giving her a kiss on the check. “You really do look beautiful, Ems. This is a good look on you.”

Thankfully, her blush waited until the door was shut and he was jogging over to the driver’s side. “Thanks Niall. You look quite spiffy as well. A suit suits you.”

Rolling his eyes, he gunned the engine before heading towards the wedding site. “So how do you know the couple getting married?”

“A friend of a friend. I did some digging and we’re at a table with a bunch of friends and my cousin.” He smirked. “You’re going to love them.”

Raising an eyebrow, Emmy grinned. “Are they your clones or something?”

“Football and beer are simple things that make a man happy.” Niall chuckled. “I grew up with all of them so we’re more like brothers than friends.”

She wrung her hands in nervousness before looking out the window. In the three months since he’s know her, that was one of her favorite ticks. “Nervous?”

“Why would you ask that?”

Nodding to her hands, Niall shook his head. “You have no reason to be nervous. They’re going to love you.”

She wasn’t convenience and continued to wring her hands as London flew by them. “Hey, if they don’t love you, drinks on me next time we go out.”

Emmy peaked up at the thought. “Throw in midnight pizza, and you have a deal.”

“Done!” He laughed her, watching her relax against the seat as he pulled into the Westminister. Finding a place to park, he threw the car into park before looking over at her. “This is a big hoopla; Samantha is the bride and she’s marrying one of my best friends, Patrick.  They’ve been my surrogate parents while my family is back in Ireland.”

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she gathered everything, pausing to look at the man beside her. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“Nope. Just wish you’d realize how fantastic you are and how you’re going to knock everyone’s socks off today. You’re going to be fine, Ems.” He smirked, pushing open his door, jogging over to hers, offering her his hand. “Let’s do this Bennett!”

With a gusto of confidence, she held his hand while he strolled up the stairs of the church. His grin was infectious, looking behind him to make sure he hadn’t lost her along the way. Seeing his friends standing in the back of the church, he tugged her gently to his side. “There’s the last man of the group. Nice of you to show up, Nialler.” The teasing was gentle among the friends. “And you brought a pretty girl with you.”

“Lads, this is Emmy. Em, these loveable idiots are my friends: Deo, Adam, James, Conor, and Matt.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, love. This one hasn’t shut up about you.” Deo nudged Niall before picking her hand up and giving it a kiss. “It’s nice to put a face with a name. Though, when you’re ready for a real man, let me know.”

Her eyes went wide, a giggle escaped her mouth and a wink was thrown his way. “I think I’m alright but I’ll keep you in mind.”

Niall looked between his cousin and Emmy. “And that’s enough outta you two. Geeze, I told you lot to be on your best behavior, yet it seems it went in one ear and out the other.”

The group laughed, Emmy relaxing in the laughter. Niall nudged her forward, guiding her down the aisle, following his friends down a row. Emmy’s eyes roamed the church, taking it all in. “Gorgeous, yeah?”

“A bit over the top for me. The next wedding I’m in, it’s going to be a low key affair.” She shrugged. “I hated everything that was picked for the ceremony and reception. I’m much more simple. That affair was a complete and utter shitshow.”

Matt poked his head between the couple with a grin. “Hey! We’re in a place of worship. How about we keep the cussing to a minimum or you’ll end up in hell.”

“Since you just used a cuss word, you’ll be joining us in the lovely place. Hope you love the heat.” Emmy smirked. “Glad you’re going to be going with us.”

His comeback was cut short with the organ playing “Pachelbel Canon” signaling the bridal party’s descent down the aisle. The adorable flower girl and ring bearer hammed it up as they walked down the aisle, waving to their friends and family along the way. The music became quieter, announcing the bride’s arrival. Niall’s hand found Emmy’s giving it a squeeze, watching his friend walk towards the love of her life, his oldest friend. Emmy smiled, caught up in the romance of the church and the happiness of the event about to take place.

Forty-five minutes after they took their seats, they stood once more and vacated the church, joining the line to congratulate the newly married couple. Niall once again grabbed her hand and lead her to the line. “So what did you think?”

“Gorgeous and from what I can tell, perfect for them.” Emmy stumbled slightly as the line moved forward.  “Sam has always had her wedding planned. She used to drone on about her wedding and how she wanted everything to be.” Looking around the church Niall smiled and nodded. “And I’d say this is exactly how she envisioned it.”

“Aww I’m so happy to hear that.” A new voice exclaimed happily. “Thanks for coming, Nialler.”

He hugged the blonde tightly. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Sammy. By the way, Sam this is Emmy; Emmy, Sam.”

“It’s very nice to meet you. He hasn’t stopped talking about you for the last three months. I look forward to getting to know you more.” Sam hugged her, dropping her voice to a whisper. “You’ve been really good for him.”

Emmy smiled. “He’s been really good for me.” She pulled back. “I look forward to getting to know you as well.”

Niall was talking to Patrick, when she caught up to him. Introductions were made and Patrick grinned while Niall told him of Emmy’s comeback with Matt. The words ‘she’ll fit in just fine’ were thrown around provoking a giant grin to appear on Emmy’s face. Promises to catch up were made as Niall led her back to his vehicle. “It’s official, my friends love you already.”

“They just met me.” She whispered, wide-eyed looking at Niall.

He chuckled. “I’ve talked you up and they saw how happy you’ve made me these last few months.”

“They do know we’re not dating right?” The words that were thrown around among his friends caused her to question their understanding of their status.

Niall hesitated, slowly exhaling and eyes focused on the road ahead. “They do, but I might have let something slip.”

“And what’s that?” She looked out the window, watching the city flew by. Silence had hushed over the car, Emmy glanced over at Niall to see him biting his lip. “Niall, it’s me. Just talk to me.”

“I didn’t expect it to be this hard.” He muttered, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Emmaline.”

Turning in her seat, she locked eyes with him. “Just talk to me, James. The one that you found in the park with makeup and mascara smudged from crying so hard.” Hearing his middle name, caused him to grin. Pulling into the reception hall’s parking lot, he threw the car into park before shifting in his seat. He took her hand in hers.

“Three months ago, you breezed into my life unexpectedly. And in the course of those three months, you’ve become one of my best friends but I’ve started to feel something more. I know you’re still healing from the previous guy … but I’ve been wanting to tell you and my wingmen have decided to help.” He chuckled. “But I’m not pressuring you. I know what it’s like to go through a rough breakup.”

A smile tugged on her lips at his words. Leaning forward, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “I could tell something was off but didn’t have any idea it was this. I’ve developed feelings for you along the way as well, Niall. And I may not be ready; yet I’m glad you’ve confessed what you’re thinking to me.”

At her words, he leaned forward and kissed her, trying to hold back from his desires of getting to know every nook and cranny of her lips. He pulled back, ignoring the angry look on her face. “As much as I’d love to sit in the car and make-out like teenagers, we have a wedding reception to attend.”

She pouted, looking into his blue eyes. “No one will miss us.”

“Oh how wrong you are. Come on.” Pushing open the car door, he opened hers, holding out his hand. He led the way to the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel. Emmy’s eyes widened at the gorgeous building and the entry way that laid out in front of them. Niall nudged her, a grin on his face at her astonishment of the venue. “Don’t drool.”

“It’s gorgeous. Shut up, Horan.” She pushed him rolling her eyes.

Stopping at a table, they grabbed their name cards before finding the table they would be seated at. A small vase with pink peonies were in the middle of the table with polished silverware gleaming around the table. Pulling out a chair, Niall nudged her to sit down, taking the seat on her right.

They took in the massive room as other mingled in and found their own seats. Soon, their table was full and the laughter was abundant.  Emmy spoke quietly to Deo, learning more details about Niall, which displeased him due to the dirt that was being spilled.

Soon, the bridal party was seated, food served, and a hush settled among the guests. The food was delicious and the conversation kicked up at Table 15. Before long, plates were being cleared and the guests were ready to mingle and dance the night away.

“I’ll be right back.” Niall scooted his chair back, a kiss to her cheek, before disappearing around the corridor of the room.

Deo pulled her into a story of Niall from their childhood. The more he got into it, the more she saved it for a rainy day. She laughed just as the DJ mentioned it was time for the bride and groom’s first dance.

She glanced towards the stage, looking back at Deo before looking at the stage. “What is going on? Why is Niall on stage?”

A look was traded between the group at the table. “Emmy, how much did Niall tell you about what he does for a living?”

“We don’t talk much about work, to be honest. We talk more about his likes/dislikes, favorites, and sports, lots and lots of sports.” Emmy took note on how comfortable he looked on stage. “Is there something I should know?”

Deo smirked, shaking his head at Niall’s stupidity. “Have you ever heard of One Direction?”

“Sure … but what does Niall have to do with them?” A familiar melody played and Emmy’s eyes went wide at the realization. “Niall’s a part of One Direction?”

Deo chuckled, nodding slowly. “He is. The band is on a hiatus at the moment and he’s been doing some solo stuff but yes he’s been a part of that since 2010.”

She was quiet, letting that new piece of knowledge setting, listening to him sing “This I Promise You” by NSYNC.

And I will take you in my arms And hold you right where you belong Til’ the day my life is through This I promise you This I promise you

She had to admit, he had a smooth crooner of a voice. She would hear him sing while they hung out, but never realized he was a professional singer.  Emmy felt dumb, not realizing such a vital piece of information of her best friend.

“Deo, why wouldn’t he tell me?”

Niall’s cousin smiled. “Niall doesn’t have many people that love him for him. Outside of family and friends that have known him for a while, the people he meets all want something. With you, you just wanted his friendship and nothing more. I kept telling him he was going to have to tell you but he hesitated for some reason.”

I’ve loved you forever In lifetimes before And I promise you never Will you hurt anymore I give you my word I give you my heart This is a battle we’ve won And with this vow Forever has now begun

“I’ve heard him singing but never realized it.” She shook her head. “I feel dumb.”

Deo smirked. “Don’t let this change anything, Emmy. Promise me, you’ll give him hell about not telling you and move on. He has his own reason for not telling you and you can’t fault him for wanting to hold on to you not knowing who he was.”

“I promise. Thank you Deo for telling me.” She smirked looking towards the stage. “On a scale from 1 to 10, how much does he hate dancing?”

At that moment, Deo realized Emmy was perfect for his cousin. “9.5; he hates slow dancing especially.”

“Perfect. I’m going to head up there and snag him as he gets off stage.” She winked. “Thanks for the chat Deo. I greatly appreciate it.”

The song came to a finish and Emmy excused herself from the table. Walking towards the stage, she spotted Niall finishing up a conversation before moving off the stage. She met him at the bottom of the little staircase with a smirk.

“You promised me a dance.” She raised her eyebrows, her grin growing at his fearful face. “I fully intend on cashing in that. Let’s go Horan.”

Taking his offered hand, she let him pull her close, swaying slowly with the music. “So you are now adding secret spy to your resume?”

“What do you mean?” Niall looked down at her with a smile, letting the music sweep them away. “I am not coordinated enough for a spy.”

She giggled, gripping his arm tighter as he dipped her quickly. “You didn’t mention you were a professional singer in a band. And yet I’m trying to figure out what else you haven’t told me. That’s something pretty big to keep hidden, Niall.”

“I’m sorry but you have been going through your own personal stuff and I know it was really selfish for me to keep it from you but you’re on of the first people in many years that didn’t know who I was. And to be honest, I absolutely loved that you didn’t know.” He sighed. “Deo kept telling me to tell you but I didn’t want to ruin the magic and the easygoingness of our relationship.”

Taking in all that he was saying, she understood. If she was a celebrity herself, she would crave for something to not know every little thing she’d ever done and revel in the normacy. “I get it; I just wish you were upfront about it. But I have one question: were you afraid I was going to take advantage of you?”

He looked away for a second. “I’m not going to lie, yes it crossed my mind but it was gone as soon as it appeared.”

“Then you’re forgiven.” Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “Don’t keep something this big from me again.”

Niall’s eyes widened. “Ok! I can do that. Besides, the lads want to meet you.”

It was her eyes that widened at that statement. “You mean they know about me?”

“Of course they know about you.” He threw his head back and laughed, loudly. “I see them every couple of weeks or so and there’s a thing called texting. Liam, particular, loved how we met.”

Emmy followed him off the dance floor, giving him a glance. “Why do I feel like my life just became a heck of a lot more interesting since you came around Horan?”

“You have no idea, Bennett. No idea.”

Come chat with me about the chapter. What did you love? Hate? Give me your thoughts! I have much more planned for these two!

[istartedbelievinginitmyself]

Review of Harry Potter and the cursed child (play)

Hello!. So on Sunday 1st January i finally got to see Harry Potter and the cursed child in the Palace Theatre in London. And here is what i think:

It was absolutly incredible!!! One of the best shows i have seen so far (and i saw a lot of shows on west end). It was beautifully artistic and it nearly made me cry several times which means a lot.

The Plot

I know a lot of people don't like the plot, but it worked so great on stage. I loved the plot, it was exciting until the end. It is not perfect of course (there is nothing that's perfect not even the original books) but the plot was very good, i loved the time travelling and it served it's main purpose: character development. Other than the books or fantastic beast cursed child is not about adventure or about the world and the plot so much, but it's about interesting characters and character development, mainly about the development of Harrys and Albus' father son relationship. So the main focus is not on the plot, but on the characters. So i will move on to the characters.

    The characters/actors

I saw the whole main cast (which made me really happy) so here we go:

  Harry James Potter

I saw Jamie Parker as Harry Potter and i can't say enough how amazing he is. His performance was one of the best performances i ever got to see on a stage and this man is so talented it's not normal any more. His portrayal of Harry's pain about his relationship to Albus and about his haunting memories of the past was beautiful. His screams in Harry‘s nightmare scenes were bonechilling and we see how much Harry as a young adult with all this preasure on him is still haunted by his past. At the beginning of the play Jamie plays Harry very sorrowless and happy, we see what a loving father he is and Jamie Parker has great charisma on stage. With the developement of the plot however, Harry gets more and more stressed, there is a lot of preasure on him and Jamie‘s portrayal gets darker and he shows us the troubled but beautifully complex and very emotional human being. We see how much he loves his son and is trying to be a good father, but he has no idea how to show Albus his love. Harry as an interesting character is beautifully written and Jamie Parker brought Harry from the books to life on stage. I think he is perfectly casted and one of the most talented actors on the west end.

    Albus Severus Potter

I saw Sam Clemmett as Albus Potter and he was amazing. His portrayal of Albus shows how angry Albus was and we understand why he is so angry. Everyone expects him to be like what they think Harry was: a perfect human being (which Harry of course wasn't ). It must be very very hard to see that all your siblings go to Griffindor and are popular and you are sorted into Slytherin. He makes Harry‘s fame responsible for his suffering (and bullying in school) and that's why he behaves the way to Harry as he does. He doesn't want to see the famous Harry Potter he wants to see his father which is very hard for both of them. The most important scene in the whole play is the blanket scene in part one act one. The scene was tragically beautifully played by both Sam and Jamie and you could see that they both understood their characters perfectly.

Sam had great on stage chemistry with Jamie and Poppy (Ginny ) and with Anthony (Scorpius) of course. These two boys were brilliant together. Sam is an amazing and very young actor and we will definetly see more of him in te futute.

      Ginny Potter

I saw Poppy Miller as Ginny and she was awesome (you will hear this a lot). In the movies i never really liked Ginny and i don't think Bonny Wright did much for her character, it was so refreshing to see the strong and fierce Ginny we love so much from the books. Poppy portrays Ginny as a strong woman, a loving mother and as a very supportive wife (she has one moment when she doubts Harry, but this flaw and her apology just made her character more interesting and beautiful). She and Jamie had amazing chemistry and the kiss was so adorable. My favourite Ginny line, which is perfectly presented by Poppy, is when she answeres Draco with "my son is missing too!" Poppy literally screams this line and it's such a strong moment (Draco‘s /Alex' reaction is priceless).

     Hermione Jean Granger

I saw Noma Dumenzweni as Hermione and you can tell me whatever you want but this woman was born to play Hermione Granger. She is one of those very rare actors/actresses who have such an authority when they enter the stage. Her Hermione was so strong and fierce as i remembered her from the books and she played such an amazing Minister of Magic (i really can't imagine Emma Watson playing Hermione as Minister of Magic, it really wouldn't fit for me as i always found Emma to be not strong and bossy enough to play Hermione). But Noma also has some beautiful soft scenes in the play e.g. in her kissing scene with Ron (they are a perfect couple) and this one scene after they changed back time and she sees Rose and then fully realized that her daughter didn't excist in the other universe and they share a very heartbreaking hug. I don't care about her skin colour or that some idiots think that she is too ugly to play Hermione, she was incredible and perfect in my eyes.

     Ron(ald) Weasley

I saw Paul Thorne as Ron Weasley and it was such a delight watching him. Ron has a lot of funny moments in the play , which paul played masterly, he is trying to be the light in those dark moments, but at the same time he is still the good friend we saw in the books. He stands up for his wife and his friend and Paul made me love Ron even more. He had amazing chemistry with Noma and their kissing scene was so cute and heartwarming.

     Rose Granger Weasley

I saw Cherrelle Skeete as Rose. When reading the script book first i didn't like Rose that much, but Cherrele managed to let me see the Hermione part more in her and i actually really liked Rose in the play. She gives a very energetic performance and had some good moments with Scorpius. I think i saw not enough of her to properly judge her, but i think she is a very talented young actress.

     Draco Malfoy

 I saw Alex Price as Draco and he was amazing. In the first part he portrays Draco as we all know him from the books (at the beginning he is a little brat), but the more we get into the play we see the real Draco, he loves his son more than anything like Harry does (and yes they have a lot of father son issues too) and he gets more and more in touch with Harry, Ginny and Ron and Hermione as he has the same problem as Harry, his son is missing. To see Draco working with the golden trio makes a really great dynamic at the end of the play. I also love that through Alex incredible acting we see how lonely Draco always has felt and that he indeed is not a bad human being but a very interesting and developed character.

    Scorpius Malfoy

I saw Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy and i tell you if Jamie Parker wouldn't have been such an incredible actor this young man would have totally stolen the show. It's very hard to describe Anthony's acting and his high voice but this young actor is something special. I don't think anyone came out of the theatre not totally in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Anthony has perfect comedic timing and he was so talented in the more silent scenes (i swear i saw a tear in his eyes). Whoever will play the part on Broadway has some big shoes to fill and in my opinion has to go with a totally different interpretation of Scorpius because you can't imitate Anthony Boyle.

Before this blog gets even longer i won't go into detail about the other actors, but i have to especially mention Esther Smith as Delphi and Paul Bennett as Snape for doing an especially great job.

     The special effects

Please don't ask me how they do it! The special effects are incredible, they are like real magic and with some tricks i still have no clue how they do it . I was sitting there with my jaw open and it was just magical. I can’t even say what i loved best it was all so amazing. But please never let the Dementors near me again. They were so creepy and frightening, amazingly made, but so creepy, not to even mention their terrifying screams. I never felt that horrified in my life before, i guess that’s the biggest compliment i can make the person, whoever designed them.

      The costumes

All of the costumes were beautiful and fitted the characters very well. I loved how flowy the cloakes were, what looked really good in the dance numbers. I especially liked the costumes for the alternate Voldemort timeline, they were all black and so beautifully elegant especially Scorpius‘, Draco's and Snape's costumes.

      Things i didn't like

There wasn't much that i didn't like and it's really just nitpicking, but every great thing always has some flaws that's normal.

First of all i had some problems with some specific actors, mainly with the actor who played Bane. He was so over the top that it was nearly hilarious to me. Maybe he had a bad day or just is not my cup of tea.

As much as i loved Paul Bennett as Snape his voice was way too special to play Voldemort as well, it was a little bit outputting as it was very clear that it was the same actor. Normally theatre can hide it very well when an actor plays multiple roles, but that really doesn’t work with Paul Bennett. I really loved his Snape (which means a lot form e as a hardcore Snape fan), but because he was so special and fitted so well to Snape, it was to me as Snape tried to pretend he is Voldemort, which felt really weird to me. And i really didn't like that they went with no nose ,new body Voldemort as up to my knowlegde he only looks like this since book four. I guess they made it so the audience can recognize him better.

The last things i wasn't too fond of (but didn't hate either) were the Trolley Witch (it was very cleverly made and funny just a little bit too much for me personally) and Delphi. I loved Esthers portrayal of her especially at the beginning and i don't have anything against the idea of Voldemort having a child and overall i liked Delphi, but they could have developed her character a little bit more at the end, that's all.  As i said nitpicking.

All in all it was one of the best days of my life and the show is amazing and i love it with all my heart. If you have a chance to see it: DO IT!!! It is one of the most beautiful Harry Potter related things i have seen and please don't judge it too soon by just reading the script. The script is very empty without seeing this wonderful show bringing it to life

I know this blog is very long, but i hope you enjoyed <3

[willreadforbooze]

Hey everyone!!

Hope you all had a great third week of Magical Readathon! I know we did!

Sam’s Update

I had a really fucking great week. Some really good life stuff happened. Also my best reading week this year. 5 OWLs down, 2 to go. I may even be able to get a seminar done!

What Sam Finished:

History of Magic: Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell: This is the sequel to Carry On. A sequel that we didn’t deserve but we got anyway. This is sort of a spoof on Harry Potter fanfiction that began in another of Rowell’s books, Fangirl, which was also great. This was not as good as the first one, sort of a let down. I still love the characters but they seemed a little whiny this time. More to come in a drunk review.

Ancient Runes: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkowski: (I have a real photo here to show that my beautiful special edition has a heart on it so it counts) This is a story of a girl who’s living a pretty shit life working for and being raised by this abusive woman. But as with most abusive relationships, she has no idea. Anyway, she ends up in prison for something dumb and she meets this person who is charming and they get them both out early. Another let-down but still beautiful. Drunk review is coming for this one too.

Arithmancy: The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd: FOLKS. This is the fictional story of Ana, Jesus’s wife. Yep, you read that right. Sue Monk Kidd imagines a universe in while Jesus Christ has a wife. And while we all know his story, this is really more about hers. What was it like to be a strong woman in a world where women weren’t intended to be. Friends, I loved this. LOVED it. Can’t wait for Drunk Sam to gush about this.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

Divination: The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: So I’m listening on audio but what I can make out is that this is the story of Wolfgang Mozart’s sister and her way in to a magic world. The way she gets there is through music. I am loving it. Can’t wait to read more.

Astronomy: Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke: I’m like 8 pages in. But it’s a gender bent Norse version of King Arthur, I think. We’ll see.

Minda’s Update

Magical Readathon (and social distancing) continues! Four classes down, two to go.

What Minda finished:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire – Completed Ancient Ruins! This (short!) read is about the children who travel to alternate worlds that reflect their truest selves—then end up back in our own world. It was delightfully creepy—loved hearing about the worlds.

Imposters by Scott Westerfeld – Charms also complete! This series is a continuation of the Uglies/Pretties/Specials world, which I loved when I was a teen. Two twin girls are inseparable… that’s because one is the other’s double. The double steps in for a dangerous deal and needs to keep her sister’s identity to survive. I loved and can’t wait to read the next!

What Minda is reading now:

If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley – For Arithmancy as something outside my fave genre. A powerful story about a teen girl who is balancing school, dating, and being a good sister, all under the cloud of the domestic violence she faces at the hands of her father at home.

Ginny’s Update

Happy 4/20 everyone. I managed to actually fit in a little more reading this week, and the library oh so cruelly took back another e-book. Because I’m actually home, I’ve been trying to get through some of the physical books I’ve had sitting around forever.

What Ginny Finished:

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: That’s right. I finally finished this sucker. And I was right, I needed to be in the right headspace and wasn’t there. This book got very 2001: A Space Odyssey late in the book and… I don’t have the brainpower to make that work. I think it’s a book I could still enjoy but, wow was now not the right time for me.

Sarah Bernhardt: The Divine and Dazzling Life of the World’s First Superstar by Catherine Reef: This is a YA biography. But I had a few issues with this that pretty much boiled down to this book felt more like a recitation of facts, and seemed unbalanced as to where the focus was.

A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison: Okay, so this book was clearly supposed to be a cute YA book, but boy do I have some major issues with it. To the point that Sam wants me to write a review to get it all out. I might, but let’s just say a lot of my issues stem from the fact that this book has a lot of good to it, which is why I’m so frustrated. Basic story, boy gets taken in by childhood friends family, but was from the rough side of town. He and the daughter clearly have a thing for each other.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett: I’m still loving this book, but like I said, I’ve been having trouble reading, and my focus has shifted to physical books, and this one isn’t physical. Things are starting to ramp up so I’m pretty sure that as soon as I read one more chapter I’m going to fall into a hole and finish the book.

Crybaby Ranch by Tina Welling: This is one of those books that I’ve had forever after pillaging it from family. It falls in the “wife realizes she needs to leave her marriage and goes to reinvent herself.” She’s going to Wyoming, which seems like an odd choice, but yeah, her husband sucked.

What the Library Stole:

City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders: I’ve already put a new hold on this one. It just got away from me.

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, and Minda

Weekly Wrap-Up: Apr 13 – 19, 2020 Hey everyone!! Hope you all had a great third week of Magical Readathon! I know we did!