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The Boy From Bomont
pairing: willard hewitt x fem!reader
warning: sexual harassment/assault, fighting
A/N: basically footloose 2011 in a different way.
Y/N’s POV
I don’t what it is about Bomont, it’s odd to me, we’re not allowed to listen to music including dancing. I’ve never been to a place like this or live in a place like this. My aunt, uncle, my cousins and I have to go to church, I’m not really a religious person but I’ll try to respect the church if I can.
I go to Bomont High School which their traditions at this school is nothing what my last school had. No school dances and no music allowed anywhere at this school.
I meet Ariel and Rusty in my ELA 3 class and Ariel reminds me of a girl who I went to school with, really rebellious, not a goody-goody I can tell, and has a boyfriend who looks like a college kid. Rusty is like me, not what Ariel is.
Rusty took me to the drive-in and everyone was really nice and really dirty minded, like my friends back home. I met Willard, he reminds me of a boy from my last high school. Really southern and really kinda has a good heart.
“What do want from the menu?” Woody told me.
I look at him about to speak but his girlfriend interrupted me.
“Leave that girl alone, so there’s a lot of good food on the menu, I suggest the hot dog.” She says.
I chuckle, “I think I’d like the hot dog with nothing on it.” I said to Claude.
Claude gives me the hot dog and says to Woody, “Now, I don’t want a fine, and you don’t want to get another ticket.”
“Wait, you got a ticket for dancing?” I asked Woody.
“He got two tickets for dancing, one more then you’re off the team!” Woody’s girlfriend said.
I get my stuff and go outside to see what’s going on, I hear music from the speakers.
“Holy.” I go to where Rusty and the rest of her friends are at.
Everyone continues to dance and I’m amazed by this, everyone hates the fact that dancing is against the law.
“Y/N, come on let’s dance.” Woody’s girlfriend says to me, leading me to the middle of the huge crowd of people dancing.
I start to dance and I get into it and I hear people cheering, I don’t know why for me or for another person. I continue dancing and noticing no one is dancing, just me. I got kinda nervous but I continue to dance. Ren starts dancing with me, I follow his lead, until I notice Ariel so I stop and faked a reason why I’m going to Rusty and the rest of her friends.
“Attention. Attention. Ariel Moore, will you please come to the front of the diner? Your daddy is here for you.” Claude says in a speaker.
Ariel leaves with her dad. “Daddy’s gon’ take her out to the woodshed.” Willard says.
“What does that mean?” I said looking at him.
“It means she’s in deep shit.”
What is wrong with the county?
I got to know Rusty friends a lot better, especially Willard, he told me about his personal life and what even happens at this county. I can’t stop looking in his eyes but I can’t help it. He seems like a sweet guy to me.
Ren gets in an invite to go to the speedway and Woody, Willard, Rusty, Woody’s girlfriend and I go to support Ren and I notice the gang, they are creepy to me. I get uncomfortable by approaching them and Willard notices me get uncomfortable so he holds my hand. The words I’m even hearing right now get me uncomfortable. I don’t want to be here.
“I love that lil dance you were doing last night. Noticed that you can swing your hips like, what are they called, a stripper.” Chuck says to me.
He’s friends giggle.
“Thank you, didn’t notice a maggot was looking at me being a pervert.” I said back.
He wants to kill by the way he’s looking at me.
“Now, how about you start dancing with this.” Chuck says to Ren getting in a tractor.
I hate this.
The race starts and I get nervous because some of Chuck’s gang get in three buses. I hope Ren survives this. My friends and I get up to where the flags are at.
“Go Ren!” We all say.
Ren is winning but we saw the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen. The buses tipped over and destroyed. Ren tries to stop and Woody and Willard goes out there to save him. Ren jumps out with Willard and Woody.
“Holy shit!” I say. Rusty laughs at my comment.
THE NEXT DAY
I get to the library to study for some things in some of my classes and I notice someone in the corner of my eye and it’s one of the guys from yesterday.
“Can I talk to ya.” He says.
I ignore him.
“Listen, yesterday was cool wasn’t?”
I stay silent.
“You’re actually kinda cute. Wanna somewhere more private?” He says.
“I don’t want to.” I said to him.
“Come on, a girl like you, might get a baby in her belly.” He says with a disgusting smirk on his face.
“I gotta go.” I get my things and try to leave but he stops me and tries to touch me.
“Let go of me you creep!” I struggle and kick his dick.
“Excuse me?” A librarian says.
I look at him and he takes me to the principal’s office.
AT THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE
“Now Ms. Y/L/N, why did you kick Rich?” Principal Roger says to me with the librarian and a cop in the room.
“Rich tried to touch me! And he, he wanted to rape me.” I said.
“Now Y/N, tell us the truth, what did he do to you to make you hit him.” Principal Roger says.
“What I just said.” I say looking in his eyes.
“Well he said that he was trying to help you with your homework.” He says to me.
“He’s lying!” I kinda yells.
“Now Y/N-“
“He told me that a girl like me can get pregnant!” I interrupt him.
“Then why did you kick him?” The librarian says.
I make a big sigh and say, “He sexually harassed me!”
“I know Rich won’t do that.” The cop says.
“Are you kidding me? Does anyone in this town understand about sexual harassment or assault?” I question.
“We do Y/N.” Principal Roger says.
Bullshit.
“Y/N, here’s your ISS slip and have a good day.” He says.
I take the slip out of his hand and look at it and look at him.
“You guys really don’t know what’s going on with women today don’t you?” I says and walk out of the office and went outside to get out of this hell hole.
“Y/N/N!” Ariel says to me but I ignore her.
“Y/N, what’s the matter?” She comes close to me.
I look at her, “Had the worst god damn day of my life.” I say.
“You wanna talk about it?” She says.
“I prefer not to, you won’t believe me.” I walk away.
“What happened?” She yells at my direction.
“You won’t even care!” I yell back.
I get in my car to drive at some abandoned warehouse. I get out of my car and start to get out and then start to think on what just happened at school.
“HE ASSAULTED ME, HE TRIED TO TOUCH ME AND I GET DETENTION!” I yell.
“IM NOT A STRIPPER CHUCK, ASSHOLE!” I yell again.
I start to cry and I sit on the floor and bawled my eyes out. Why do people don’t take women seriously? I curl up in a ball and cry to myself. I hear some footsteps, I look where the noises are at and it’s Willard.
I whimper a bit.
“What’s wrong?” Willard said walking up to me.
“I got in school suspension.” I wipe my tears off my face.
“What happened?” He sits next to me.
“That guy yesterday, Rich, he tried to touch me and he, he told me I would look good pregnant, and when he was trying to touch me, I kicked him in the ball sack.” I look at him.
“And you got suspended?” He questions.
I nod.
“Y/N/N, I’m sorry that happened to you.” Willard says and hugs me, I hug him back, I cry again.
“Those guys are assholes.” Willard whispers in my ear.
I giggle. “They really are. Does this town even care about women’s rights at all?” I stop hugging him and look at him.
“Apparently not.” He says.
I look down at the ground and Willard makes me look at him. I look at him with teary eyes, he kisses me. I kiss him back. He’s the only guy I can trust to be around me including Ren and Woody.
We stop kissing and he gets my hair away from my face.
“I wanna go home.” I said.
“I’ll take you home Y/N/N.” He says.
“Really? I mean I can drive myself.” I said.
“No, I insisted Y/N/N.” He holds his hand out for me so he can help me back up on my feet.
He helps me up and I give him my car keys. I get in the passenger seat and Willard gets in the driver’s seat.
“You ready?” He says looking at me.
“Yeah.” I look at him.
He drives away from the abandoned warehouse, I can’t believe what happened today. He pulls up to my driveway but we stayed in my car for a few minutes.
“I have a question Willard.” I look at him.
“Yes Y/N/N?” He looks at me.
“Why aren’t we allowed to dance or play music whatsoever?” I ask.
“Um, Ariel’s brother, Bobby and some of his friends went partying, they were drinking and driving, and they got in a car accident on a bridge.” Willard told me.
“Is that why Ariel is the way she is now?” I ask.
“Yeah, she used to be a goody two shoes back when we were freshman and sophomore and now she’s a rebellious girl who goes to church.”
“I met that type of person and she’s my friend since elementary school and she reminds me of Ariel.” I said to him.
“And she’s the preacher’s daughter.” He says.
I can’t believe that I just heard that, I never knew about that but I remember seeing her at church but never got to meet her.
“And she hangs out with those creeps and the one who tried touching me?” I said.
“Yep.” He says.
“Willard, do you want me to drive you home?” I said.
“My house is three houses down, you know that Y/N/N.”
I never noticed whatsoever.
“Oh I forgot about that Willard.” I said.
“It’s okay.”
Willard and I get out of my car and I walk up to him, he gives me my car keys.
“Again thank you for driving me home Will.” I said looking up at him.
“You’re wel- Will?” He questions.
“Am I allowed to call you that? You can tell me if you don’t want me to call you that.” I say.
“It’s fine. It’s cute that you just said that Y/N.” He gets closer to me.
“I-I love you.” I said.
“I love you to.” He smirks.
We kiss again. I hear giggling and it’s my cousins watching us. I look at them kinda embarrassed. Willard laughs at them.
“Again thank you for driving me home Will.” I said to him.
“Once again, you’re welcome.” He smiles.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”
“Hopefully all because of your stupid in school suspension dates.” He says.
“Don’t remind me.” I said walking to my car to get my book bag and the slip.
“See you tomorrow Y/N/N.” He says about to walk away.
“Hopefully Will.” I said back.
I show my aunt and uncle the slip and obviously they get angry but I tell them the full story and they agree with me but they want me to do the suspension days. I’ll do it but I don’t deserve to go to detention for what that asshole did to me.
I eventually showed and told Ariel the ISS slip and the whole story on what Rich did to me and Ariel confronted Chuck and Rich about it and Chuck beats her up. She tells her father and he slaps her because she’s not a virgin. When she came to my house, I call Rusty to come over and I patch her up. The three of us stayed up talking about my situation including Ariel’s as well but besides that, we talked for hours until we fell asleep on my bedroom floor.
A FEW WEEKS LATER
Ren is teaching Willard to dance. Woody, Ren, his cousins, my cousins and I help Willard to dance and he kinda got the hang of dancing. He asks me to dance with him and I join him. Ren and Woody notice us kinda flirty.
“You guys! There’s children here.” Ren says.
“Oh we caught them kissing a while back.” Sarah, my cousin, says.
“She just exposed you two.” Ren laughing.
We kinda get embarrassed but sometimes we don’t even care what people think of us.
Ren and I keep on helping Willard to dance, he kinda got confused but then one day he danced like Ren. Ren and Willard practiced a dance a week or so and Will finally did it!
A few weeks later, the county including students from Bomont High School and parents went to the county courthouse to talk about why dancing isn’t a crime. I sit with Willard and my aunt, uncle and my cousins sit next to me. Ren talked on the bench and a few hours later, dancing isn’t against the law anymore! So the whole senior class goes to the abandoned warehouse that I went to, to cry my feeling out but this is about Bomont’s first dance. We get decorations up on anything that involves a wall.
THE NIGHT OF THE DANCE
I get my dressed for the dance I hear a knock on the door and it’s my aunt.
“You look beautiful Y/N/N.” She says tearing up.
“Thank you Y/A/N.” I hug her.
“Someone’s waiting for you.” Y/A/N smiles.
“Willard?” I smile.
“Yeah Y/N. He looks really cute.” She whispers in my ear.
I look down, I think she can tell I’m blushing.
“I’m going downstairs, don’t stay up here too long.” She says walking out of my room.
“I will.” I said.
I fix my hair and walked downstairs and see Willard. Looking like country boy. I can tell he looks so happy.
I approach him and he has a crossage in his hand, I believe that my uncle gave him that.
“You look beautiful.” Willard whispers in my ear.
“Thank you.” I say.
He puts the crossage on my wrist and it matches my dress.
“Now you two, have a fun time and if something happens, call me.” My uncle said.
“We will Y/U/N.” I said.
I hug my aunt and uncle including my cousins and Willard drives us to the warehouse.
When we got out of the car we see Chuck, Rich and this other guy approaching us.
“Look who it is, the school’s slut and the school’s cowboy.” Chuck says.
“Let’s not fight alright, Rich how’s your small dick.” Willard says.
“It’s fine. Listen, you need to pay my medical bill.” Rich says directly at me.
“Let’s go Will.” I whisper to Willard.
We try to walk away but Chuck and Rich grab me and the other guy grabs Willard and I try to fight back but they were too strong.
“Do something Willard!” I scream.
“I can’t fight Y/N!”
“Fight Will!”
Willard starts fighting the other guy and I start to fight back Chuck and Rich. Ariel, Rusty, and Ren comes out to us fighting.
“Get your damn hands off of her!” Ariel screams at Rich and Chuck.
I fight with Ariel and I notice that Willard, Ren and Rusty is fighting the other guy. When everything was over Willard approached me.
“Are you okay?” Willard says touching my cheek.
“I’m okay, are you?” I question.
“I am Y/N/N. Let’s get in that warehouse.” He says grabbing my hand and taking me to the door.
Ariel, Ren, and Rusty join us and told us if we’re okay. When we got in the warehouse, music began to play, we danced like it was the last day on earth dancing.
Bomont isn’t that bad, except me getting suspended. I made good friends with the best humans I’ve ever met and I have a boyfriend who’s the most sweetest boy I’ve ever met as well.
Ariel told me this quote one day, ‘Dance like no one’s watching.’ And that’s what I did, danced like no one’s watching.
#fanfic#fanfiction#miles teller#footloose#footloose 2011#miles teller x reader#willard hewitt#miles teller imagine#willard hewitt imagine#ren mccormick#kenny wormald#ariel moore#dance#willard hewitt x reader#2011#1980s#willard hewitt x fem!reader#miles teller fluff#kenny loggins
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Emily of New Moon Book Club Chapters 15, 16, and 17
I am *desperately* behind, so now I get to gulp down several chapters at once 😁
Chapter 15
The Old Lee Well!
Perry!!
Perry and Ilse have such dramatic introductions. Ityfitting - but such a contrast to Teddy who ghosts into the story through hearsay more than anything.
'Keen grey eyes' - another one for the unusual eyes bucket. Actually, Emily eyes are described as grey here, too. Typo or do they change color? They're 'great grey eyes that looked blue under her long lashes.'
Wait, were Teddy's eyes ever described? Yes, 'black-browed blue eyes ' Hm, very normal. (Suspiciously normal?? 😂)
Aw, I forgot Perry decided to hire on at New Moon because Emily lived there. And to start going to school! All in one paragraph. Fast worker, that.
'I told him he should not call his Aunt Tom an old beast but he said he had to because she wasn't a young beast.' I love Perry.
...and the drama begins! Perry doesn't like Teddy who doesn't like Perry who isn't liked by Ilse, except sometimes none of those things are true.
The wallpaper trick does get another mention! I thought it disappeared altogether after the first. I still wonder if it's something LMM could do.
Emily arguing that she'd rather be Frances Willard than Joan of Arc because she's still alive is priceless. No wonder Ilse turned that argument into a fight!
Ooo Cousin Jimmy recited his poetry in front of Perry as well as Emily! That seems significant since he wouldn't do that for anyone but Emily during the potato boiling.
Chapter 16
This whole chapter always makes me just as mad as the first time I read it.
Perry is a brick from first to last in this chapter. The kitchen loft scene is so good!
And Teddy with his drawings! Revenge on Rhoda and Miss Brownell. I wish they'd ever done an illustrated version of Emily with interpretations of Teddy's drawings.
What was Ilse doing while all this went on, I wonder? We only got Emily, Perry, and Teddy's actions.
Dear Aunt Laura!
Chapter 17
'My ears are not big, only pointed.' I know this has come up before in the book, but LMM certainly laid the fae elements in thickly with Emily.
'I thought I need not be fritened. The angels are here. But then I felt I would be as much fritened of the angels as of anything else.'
Emily earned the praise of Aunt Elizabeth! No higher goal doth there be.
I am curious when she baked the cake though - if she didn't start until after the visitors came, was Cousin Jimmy keeping them entertained while she baked?
Emily asking if Aunt Elizabeth would like to be handsome and then wondering why she was annoyed 😂
I'm glad we get a little update on Jennie!
The first Jimmy Book! And an actual date for the age she's turning. I seem to recall the time frame getting muddled in the last book of the trilogy, so it's nice to see some stable time stamps here.
I wish we got to hear some of Aunt Laura's stories about Juliet! We know so little of Emily's mother, so while Emily is learning more about her, she's still a blank to us.
Oh, the letter to Aunt Nancy - it is so much harder to write for a critical audience. But clearly Aunt Nancy just writes from the hip - 'child must be stupid.' 😂
That's all I can read tonight, but I'm catching up! Reading these three all together makes it clear how quickly time passes. They covered November to June straight through!
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On the Road with Uncle Willard and Dad
My Sis and I knew something special was going to happen this Christmas because Dad and Mom were acting really weird. Cousin Ronny said something funning was going on at his house, too. Sis and I looked all through the house trying to find what it was that Dad and Mom were hiding. But no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find a thing.
Christmas morning came and went. We opened each present with great anticipation, but all we got were the usual toys and new clothes. Soon all the presents were open. Dad got up and said he had to go to the bathroom. Mom went into the kitchen to get some more eggnog. Sis and I looked at each other and sighed.
Suddenly we heard a loud honking outside. It was Dad in a big, new camper. So that was why Dad and Mom had been acting strange. Sis and I ran outside to check it out.
"Pack your bags, kids," Dad said when we opened the door to the camper "We're going away for a week!"
Sis and I ran outside to check it out.
"Pack your bags, kids," Dad said when we opened the door to the camper. "We're going away for a week!"
We ran back into the house. "Mom, Dad pulled up in a big new camper!" we cried out.
"Yes, isn't it great," she said. "And we're going to go on a trip right after lunch," Mom told us. "Now hurry upstairs and get some clothes ready." Sis and I bounded upstairs to our bedrooms and began getting together the clothes we'd need for the trip. Mom came up soon and helped us pack them into our bags.
As soon as we were packed, we hauled our bags down to the camper and helped Dad and Mom get ready for our unexpected trip. I was so excited about the camper and the trip that I forgot to call cousin Ronny. I was about to run back into the house to call Ronny when we heard some honking right behind us.
It was Uncle Willard, Aunt Lenora, Ronny, and Hellen. And they were in a camper, too. It turned out that Dad and Uncle Willard had wanted to get campers for a long time so they could take vacations together. This was turning out to be the best Christmas ever.
For the first couple of hours we followed Uncle Willard down the highway. But when sis and I started fighting, Dad signaled for e Willard to pull off at the next rest stop. The adults decided that maybe it would be better if the men were in one camper and women in the other. Sis stuck out her tongue at me as she went into the other camper with Mom, Aunt Lenora, and Hellen. I stuck my tongue out back at her. I'd rather be with Ronny, Uncle Willard, and Dad any day.
Dad and Uncle Willard sat up front while Ronny and I settled into the upper bunk at the rear of the camper. It was great. There was a curtain we could close so no one could see us. Ronny and I watched the scenery and the cars and trucks as we rolled down the highway. When we passed trucks Ronny and I held up our fists and pulled them up and down to get them to blow their horns. We weren't having real good luck until Ronny had this bright idea that if we pulled our weewees out, they'd sound their horns for sure.
At first I wasn't so sure about that, but when Ronny pointed out that we were up too high for any cars to see us, I went along. It worked like a charm. We'd wave our weewees and pump our fists and every single trucker we saw blasted their horns as hard as they could.
Ronny kept getting nastier, and even pumped his until it was hard and sticking up high. I laughed and joined him. But when I got mine all stiff and hard, Ronny went further and pulled off his jeans. Then he took off his shirt. He lay their naked as a jay bird getting every trucker to sound their horn. Of course I had to do the exact same thing.
We passed one truck with two truckers. When they saw us in the back of the camper, they speeded up and followed us real close. Then they both took off their shirts and then the trucker who wasn't driving sat up and he wasn't wearing anything underneath. He swung a really big, hard one at us and then pumped it. He stroked it while they followed right behind us. It was real exciting.
"He sure has a big one," Ronny sighed.
"Yeah, and look how fat it is," I noted. Ronny and I were stroking our wieners and getting all worked up. The truckers were as excited as we were. Then the trucker pressed his wiener right up against the window pane and white cream shot out, coating the glass with a glaze of milk.
"Wow," Ronny exclaimed. He pumped his pecker hard until he let out a gasp and cream splattered all over his belly. I followed soon behind. Then we both laughed and laughed. We'd never had so much fun. The truckers let out a long, loud horn blast and then slowed down. As we wiped up our juices in the sheets, we laughed.
We were still naked and talking about what had happened when we noticed that the camper was slowing down.
"Shit," Ronny said. "They're pulling off the freeway." We scurried to get our clothes back on, and just in time. The camper came to a stop and Uncle Willard pulled open the curtain. He looked at us and took a deep sniff.
"Ready for some lunch, boys?" he asked.
"Yeah," we said.
#Dad’sBedtimeTales#Volume1#uncle nephew#dad son#Handjobs Magazine#hjmag.com#On the Road whit Uncle Willard and Dad#gay
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On Age Gap Discourse
Finding out that there's a whole ageist discourse about fictional characters is wild, because simultaneously the same people screaming "old man Yaoi!" are upset because a 20 year old laughed at a middle aged mans joke.
For the record now and forever:
My characters and their age ranges are usually in the same decade I am, because it's what I know and it's easiest to write/relate to.
Jack The Warlock is 35 and has gray hair.
Jimothy Schwartz is 30 and easily looks in his early 20s.
Jenazebelle is 39 and both The Warlock and Jim jokingly call her a cougar.
Poppet, The Warlock's alter from another dimension, is 55 and has lived a hard life. He looks much older because of it.
Willard the Ghost Butler is over a hundred years old and is a RAGING cocain addict and alcoholic.
In "Old Man LaCroix", a holiday audio I produced last year, Jack Infernalus (named after the Warlock, his nephew and heavily inspired by a cousin I love dearly) is eleven whole years old. They're not the only child that's been featured in my work, as Kudzu (no last name) was only eight years old before he mutated into a giant evergreen forest.
All of these characters have interacted in a more-or-less same setting. Because that's life. You're gonna meet people older/younger and different from you in a lot of ways and sometimes they become your friends, sometimes you both pass each other like ships in the night, never to speak or see each other again. Sometimes you find shared experiences over the span of years in the count of one, five, ten or twenty and you form a bond you never forget.
Every time a "characters can't interact if they're (arbitrary number of years)" comes up, I'm reminded of one of my IRL friends named Charles who I used to play Magic: The Gathering with. I met Charles when I was 22. Charles was 65 years old and a born-and-bred carolina farmer. He'd gotten interested in the card game because of his grandson and would come every single friday to play cards with us. Charles and I hit it off smoking cigarettes together, and of all the people I wanted to see at the tournament friday, Charles was always the first person I spoke to.
We got beer and dinner together many a time. He'd talk about farming and the pending legalization of weed (which he called his "retirement plan") , and I talked about how badly I wanted to be a writer and radio broadcaster. Charles was one of the first people that heavily encouraged me to chase the dream, however unobtainable it seemed at the time.
I miss him dearly. The entire card shop showed up to his funeral, much to the joy of his family who doted that he always talked about "that group of guys he played cards with". If I'd followed the logic that popular discourse seems to preach, I would have been denied the memory of knowing that man and the many other elders, "big brothers/sisters", mentors, and even "cougars and dilfs" I've been fortunate enough to cross paths with. I never would have used those positive experiences to make the characters you all adore.
I'm not denying there's wolves after us out there; but there comes a point with the often hyperbolic, puritanical thinking of popular discourse that harms rather than reduces harm. You cut off your entire arm to save your finger.
Talk to people. Talk to people like you, but more importantly, talk to people radically different from you as often as you can, every single day. Sure, you're not always gonna agree. Sure, things are gonna be fucking awkward sometimes. But through words and speaking with them, you might just realize we're all a lot more alike than you'd ever imagine.
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Umineko Chapter 7 (front half)
i know i said i'd write a post about erika don't @ me
i knew Willard and Lion were coming because they're in the fighting game but i didn't know anything about them. so far Chiru has been less "answers" and more "here's new characters with new perspectives" will's Introduction is he says he's anti-erika, the detective that cares about love. so will he succeed where she failed? he's kinda boring but he moves the story along i suppose. i don't believe for a second that Lion existed in Reality. i guess they're "what if natsuhi didn't kill that kid" [edit: :)] they're fun but i'd like to see them interact with battler and the cousins. like is the family Cool with a nonbinary successor? kinzo and krauss are not exactly progressive. then again if beato the younger is canon trans that would make kinzo a trans-positive misogynist If bernie works for aurora does she work for "the author"? (as a force within the story) she has been Instigating Everything so far in the back half. did she always work for her or is that a post-ange development battler wouldn't approve of us "digging in the guts" of beato's game, it's less of a like, tcrf development post mortem and more like if a magic show showed how they did the trick at the end. but in Modern Era magic tricks are not really secret and it's more about the skill- there's folks who di a trick while explaining how it works, or with the secret compartments fully visible, and it's still impressive
~extended kinzo flashback sequence~ i'm reading an LP so i don't hear the voice acting, wonder if young kinzo has battler's VA. they comment that the voice is similar "...Lion. There is nothing so long and faint as a life you do not live for yourself. And yet, it slides on by in the blink of an eye. Do not forget this." "Living means having your own will. You probably were dead during that time." "Precisely. I wanted to live. No, I wanted to die. How can a puppet die?" "...By cutting... the strings." "Correct. That would be death and it would also be life, since it would mean being free." no escape from existentialism beato the elder was italian?! mama mia! lol at kinzo talking about the Bravery of the italian fascists the gold is gonna be on this sub [edit: :)] i had heard the end chapters of umineko were a little contentious and some people didn't like the explanations but once i saw the italian submarine every Kinzo Mystery fell into place BICE????? i've been using "beato" to refer to every beatrice but it's only properly beato the younger. bice... of course it gets all Dramatic when there's only two japanese soldiers and bice left, the guy who was shooting on sight suddenly wants to talk a lot
~now maria flashback~ lol maria is the messiah. also lol at maria's beato being like "real witches wash their hands and face every day" so if beato daughter of bice died with rosa where does Beato 3 come in. even if she didn't die on the rocks she would be older when she met maria so is it a different beato? though it's maria so she'd see all beatrices as Beato, it's not evidence of anything. i don't think she's a fully imaginary friend because imaginary beato would be able to make rainbows and wouldn't give her New information willard refers to maria's beato as "beato the elder" which has been my name for bice were there previously moments where someone suddenly acts OOC to represent the game master moving a piece? i don't recall any in part 1, was battler's beato mostly Above That will reaching into the story and telling his blorbos he's proud of them is surely wish fulfillment to Some subset of readers
WE CALLED THE GOLDEN WITCH AT 2 AM **SHE ACTUALLY RESPONDED?!?**
jessica goes into the vip room and sees a beatrice fumo on the side table i'm gonna assume will's seating arrangement mystery is just a sign of lion being poorly pasted in so if baby is rejected then maria's beato is born, that must mean the baby doesn't die. i think i said i would be mad if that was true because of how it was presented initially but whatever. maybe i said that about beato 2 (rosa's beato) dying on the spikes so if lion (loved baby) is trans i'd think that implies beato 3 (kanon probably?) is trans too? god i hope bryn picks this back up she called it so early. willard all "are you a boy or a girl" he's not very tactful. but it is magic 1987. well is yoshiya ftm, or mtf boymoding with the kanon identity, or genderfluid depending on role or what. i guess it'll be straightened out from them directly eventually but of course they wouldn't use any modern terminology ~yasu flashback~ it's cute they don't come out and say she's yoshiya despite how obvious it is. i'm gonna use the names and pronouns for yoshia's multiple presentations that they use At The Time for clarity. some trans folks are ok describing it like that, some aren't, but it's how you do the plurals and the genderfluids and there hasn't been anything Definitive said the stakes are not Just the stakes but also girls who went to furniture school with yasu. or their faces are based on them. or they're "playing" them in the Aurora Theater. ultimately doesn't matter but it's fun they do some Slight of Hand with shannon here. either she's rooming with yasu at the school and then Not rooming with her at the mansion OR she's yasu's tulpa. or alter. i wasn't too prudent in my rereading when i last considered the possibility of them sharing a body (to solve the number of people on rokkenjima)
i guess if you weren't paying ANY attention you'd be fooled by kanon speaking separately from yasu but it's a little insulting for 07 to try it on me :P oh hi gaap. story kinda forgot about you for a bit. so gaap is a beato and one of two older beatos for beato 3. gaap beato is not unlike the non-chick beato fragment (i forget if she had a title) [this is where the halfway point of the chapter is but i read a little more because my shift at work wasn't done]
awww kumasawa using magic to teach yasu "you'll lose shit less if you tie it to you or put it where it belongs" is very cute. she's all "this is a spiderweb charm to ward off beatrice" and "mr. knife is happier in his home" and. i don't remember how old yasu is in this scene but she's young it's definitely appropriate. kumasawa rules. she's definitely part of Maria's Beatrice. and she's who got yasu into mystery books! gaap talks about Golden Age mystery novels and that figuring it out before the end means you "win". so idk if i've "won" because it's not like there's a single culprit and crime in umineko, "figuring it out" and "before the end" are both on sliding scales. i figured out who beato is, basically what magic and love are, but i didn't figure out the epitath (which i think requires outside knowledge and japanese wordplay, so i'm not too upset about it), and my record for figuring out the closed rooms is pretty bad. i haven't solved if shannon is a beato tulpa/alter yet but it's certainly looking that way. there's still a full chapter and a half left, what is left to even happen? i guess it'll take a lot of words to wrap it all up from battler's perspective. and there's the little quiz (?) in ch8
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There are approximately 16,000,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - These are their problems
You hate the rain because you dread the phrase "thank you for the moisture"
You stopped doing family history because you got to the part with all the polygamy and it got real depressing to see that your great- granddad had seven wives meanwhile you're about to age out of the singles ward
On your mission you used to get so mad at the people who would pretend not to be home but, heck, now you'll pretend not to be home for an Amazon drone
You're still not sure if Coke is against the Word of Wisdom so you drink Pepsi instead
Your mom's stopped bugging you about being single but you're pretty sure that's because she thinks you're gay. You're not, but you're going let her think that and see how it all shakes out
You don't claim to be a great public speaker, but frikkin' heck, your cousin Willard gave a talk last Sunday and even Job wouldn't have had the patience to stay awake
You took piano lessons when you were 12. Every day you're afraid that someone will find out you'll have to play the piano in every. Single. Meeting.
You know that the type of bread use in the sacrament doesn't matter, but if it's anything other than Grandma Sycamore's you consider it blasphemy
You're closeted gay and the only person who knows is you Grandma who knew because the Holy Ghost told her. The mother fetchin' narc.
You hitch up your skirt above the knee to let that cute guy in your ward know you're down for a NCMO but then his cousin Willard comes by and you put that skirt right back where God intended it to be
You're looking forward to the new hymnbook because then you can say you don't know how to play any of the new songs. Hopefully you can keep that up long enough for people to forget you can play the piano
Your cousin Willard gave the prayer in sacrament meeting and accidentally said Joseph Smith instead of Jesus Christ. The missionaries had an investigator.
That weird old guy in your ward went off for about 15 minutes on his theories about Kolob and you want to write him off as crazy but, gosh darn it, the man made some real good points
You and your two buds pulled over to help someone stuck on the the side of the road and now that person is going around saying the met the The Nephites
You hate when people say "on my mission" but you just shared three mission stories in the past hour
You just heard you forth Harry Potter reference at church today which made it pull ahead of Disney references
Your cousin Willard is head over heels for a girl he met at EFY and you almost don't have the heart to tell him that she's only 13. Almost.
You had a crush on a girl you met on Trek, which is weird because she's not really your type. At first you thought it was because she's related to Brigham Young, but now you realize you just have a thing for girls in prairie dresses
The bishop called your cousin Willard to be a door greeter and your faith in local leaders has never been this shaken
Growing up you weren't allowed to do homework or play videogames on Sunday, but you were allowed to go to coolmathgames.com. you're still trying to figure out that one
#lds church#mormon#Tumblrstake#just mormon things#seriously frik you Willard#we all have a cousin Willard#if you don't then guess what#you're the cousin Willard
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ok but gotta yell about lion/willard hurt/comfort shit because RAWR you know??? spoilers whatever
because like lion has this huge weight on their shoulders to survive and be the happiness for beatrice/sayo and like in a lot of ways they can be. they had the love of natsuhi that sayo never got, they got the family that sayo was so close yet blocked away from. but yet....
but yet kinzo was still that monster. kinzo skill locked away beatrice ushiromiya and abused her, and that lion is as much a product of that terrible terrible past as sayo is. and how much was their relationship with their grandfather built from this? how much did kinzo see them as his grandchild? his child? god-forbid, another iteration of his beloved beatrice? how much of his 'love' was pity?
lion sneaking their way to the bathroom on a dark night, retching at the things that they now know as fact, muffling their sobbing because even without the fortune they are yet to kick the 'successor' decorum completely. willard finding them, of course he finds them. he initially gives practical assistance; tying their hair back, fetching them a glass of water. he offers a quiet platitude which makes them pause. it's nothing unusual for him, mostly poetic and mysterious. honestly, it's not the words themselves that gets lion to turn, but just his voice, and it gives them the confidence to collapse onto him. their sobs soak into his pyjamas. from then on willard is more forthcoming with physical affection.
god honestly lion would need a lot of comfort. the two visiting ange's golden land and while ange is easy enough to talk to (they're more like friends who met during the whole situation, with Lion only briefly recognising their baby cousin within her), the rest of the family is a struggle. they're the exact people that lion knows and loves but... they aren't. none remember a single thing about them. it's so hard to talk to jessica without the teasing, it's impossible to approach natsuhi when she gives them that blank hostess smile. willard keeps himself latched to lion's hand at all times, paying careful attention to when their expression turned too sour before announcing that they had an appointment to attend (as if time mattered here). he is not very good at hiding his intense glare.
AND
while it's hard to conceptualise what willard would need comfort with in his own life, as we only see the smallest snippet in umineko;
he is definitely more concerned about lion's potential to give in to death again than they are. he'll jump at any spot of blood from them- most often a papercut from them exploring his library -in case it's a sign of them forgetting to live. when they're much closer, he also runs his hand over their chest in the exact spot where the bullet would have penetrated. he tries to keep secret about it, in case the memory of death is enough to trigger lion's demise, but he's not very good at hiding and lion is stronger than that
lion is gentle at first when providing comfort, soft cheek touches are a go to. but the second willard shows signs of recovering, lion snaps into playful teasing. and it works. their timing is always impeccable, and their energy is infectious.
oh and like. clair and diana are there. they're best friends. gotta be when these bitches gay.
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“Can you help me put the star on top of the tree?” - Willard
“Ornaments”
It wasn’t their first Christmas together, but it would be their first Christmas tree. In the earlier years, it had always seemed like an extravagance, like new boots when the soles began to peel away from the bottom, or second helpings at supper time. But Willard knew how much she wanted to have a tree of her very own. She loved the way they filled the room with a crisp, clean smell, how they reminded her of holidays spent baking with her grandmother. He was determined that this year would be different. The foreman at the slaughterhouse had a cousin who owned a Christmas tree farm outside of town, and Willard had arranged to pick through whatever leftovers remained on Christmas Eve at a deeply discounted price.
It wasn’t until he got the tree loaded into the bed of his truck that Willard realized they wouldn’t have any ornaments to hang on it. He lit a cigarette on the long drive home, his excitement tempered with the familiar melancholy of knowing he couldn’t give his wife what she deserved. It was enough to drive him to drink at times, that awful feeling. But he’d been sober a few weeks. He was trying to be a better man. As he puffed away at the cigarette, he figured she’d find some way to make it look nice. She was good at that.
The house was filled with the scent of something delicious roasting in the oven when he walked inside. “There you are, Mr. Russell,” his wife called to him from the kitchen. “I was starting to think I’d have to eat supper all by my lonesome.” Her voice was playful as she chided him, knowing if he came home late, it would be for a good reason.
“You know I’d never miss your supper, darlin’,” Willard called back to her. He picked a place under the window in the living room and set up the Christmas tree stand. The oven door creaked as his wife checked on the roast.
“It’s almost ready,” she said. “Five more minutes.”
He wasn’t sure if five minutes would be long enough to set up the Christmas tree, but he figured he’d give it a try. Willard trudged back outside and hauled it down from the truck bed. It wasn’t too heavy, but it was big and awkward as he slung it against his shoulder and brought it into the house. Willard set the tree in the stand and held it steady while he knelt down to fix it into place. He could hear his wife humming a Christmas carol as she whisked the gravy over the stove.
When he was done, Willard stood up and brushed the dirt off his hands as he surveyed his handiwork. The tree was almost too tall for their little house, and its branches were uneven on both sides. Willard wiped a hand over his mouth and wished he’d bought something to hang on its branches. Maybe then it wouldn’t look so sad. After a few moments, his wife appeared in the doorway. Her mouth fell open and she dropped the kitchen towel she was holding. “Will,” she breathed.
Willard scratched the back of his head nervously as he looked at her. “It ain’t much, but...” he trailed off, unsure what else to say. ‘It ain’t much’ sounded about right to him. But her eyes lit up and she practically beamed as she quickly crossed the distance between them and seized his shirt, pulling him down so she could kiss his lips with a sudden tenderness. He looked at her in surprise and returned the kiss, wrapping his big arms around her
“It’s perfect,” she said when she finally broke away, tilting her head to the side so should look at the tree behind his broad shoulders. She looked back up at him, her eyes shining with excitement. “Can you help me put the star on top?”
Willard lifted a brow. “The star?” he asked. She took him by the hand and led him into their bedroom, retrieving a small cardboard box from the closet. She set it on the bed and took the lid off. Inside were half a dozen ornaments wrapped carefully in newspaper and a small gold star made out of mercury glass. “Where did you get these?” Willard asked in wonder, brushing his fingertips over the glass.
“They were my grandmother’s,” she explained. “She gave them to me the last time we visited.” She leaned back against his chest and smiled up at Willard. “Now I have a place to hang them.”
He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly. “You will next year, too,” he said. “I promise.”
#jj-lynn21#ask#willard#willard russell#drabble#Christmas#I had to rewrite this one entirely#after losing the first draft#so if it's a little rough#that's why#Soft Willard
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Maybe a story about Norman being a good parent?
Summary: Mindless beast or not, the Projectionist was a Polk, and the Polks did not hurt their young, or whatever they perceived as such.
You all knew it was coming inevitably...
---
[[MORE]]
Norman's and Margarite's marriage had come as a surprise to the entire Polk family. A simple signature on a piece of paper, and a pair of battered rings that had belonged to Nanna and Poppop Polk (gifted to him by the former who always knew he'd be a better fit for them). No fanciful ceremony with pretty dresses or suits, expensive cakes and extensive guest list.
A disappointing waste, his mama had proclaimed over the letter she'd sent as a reply to his own that detailed his status as a married man in a far off city. She'd wanted to witness the event, shed her motherly tears as one of her little ducklings became a real man ready to start a family.
But, to Norman and Maggie, the marriage wasn't a motive of celebration like his mama thought. It was insurance against further discrimination towards them. They were, after all, the black couple that lived in a quaint apartment in New York city.
Already that was a challenge of its own, as said apartment was populated primarily by white hot-blooded tenants, with only one more laying vacant for a (hopefully) friendlier family.
Their downstairs neighbor clearly hated them from sight alone, and the others were unsure how the new additions fit into their "perfect" lives in the Big Apple. If any of them were to discover that they both enjoyed the full spectrum of the gender binary, well... Accidents happened in the big city. Accidents that targeted specific minorities for some "unfathomable" reason.
So yes, as shameful as it may be, their wedding was strictly business. Rings for show, public displays of affection to dispell the gossip, and overall just the usual married life arguments in the grocery store to sell the deal (neither of them could care less about which type of sugar made the best apple pie crust, or what brand of soap was better, but it sure made the couples they passed by smile knowingly at the common domestic disputes). There was just one thing left to do to really make a statement on their relationship status.
"Three of my coworkers are getting maternity leave. It's been a few months, I think it's time."
Children were a sensitive topic. Both Norman and Maggie wanted kids, had a vague idea of how many they planned to raise, and were quite certain they'd make beautiful and healthy younglings with one another. The question was: Was it fair to bring in chidren into a farce of a matrimony? What if one day they found their actual ideal partner?
"Yous better be sure it's the right time darlin'..." He'd urged her to think more on the subject. "Don't want to rush things like that now, do we?"
"I'm ready." She'd stared him in the eye with a certainty and confidence he couldn't begin to imagine. He knew she was, but was he? Was he truly ready to bare such a responsibility?
That night he relented to her wishes and they had finally consummated their marriage. Nine months later, little Nancy was born a small but relatively healthy baby. Upon seeing his firstborn for the first time ever, and then holding her gently in hands that dwarfed her little head greatly, Norman immediately understood he was ready to be a parent. And a loving one at that.
-
In total, Norman and Maggie had five children. Three boys and two girls. Nancy was their eldest child and the more levelheaded of the bunch. The apple of her mother's eye, and her father's baby girl, she was the perfect balance of their greatest qualities and teachings. A clever and determined young girl with big aspirations for her future. She wanted to be a doctor.
Aaron was the second eldest child and the one most like his father. Clever and with an eye for detail, enough so that he had taken up an interest that fits his perceptive nature: Photography. The walls of the Polk household were filled with his works, at first done with Norman's own old and battered camera, until he'd bought the young lad his very own fancy new model.
Louise was the middle child, and the troublemaker of the bunch. She was a bit of a tomboy, and liked to scrap with the boys in her class, to the point where it wasn't uncommon to see her with several bruises and band-aids, and haphazardly taped wireframed glasses. She kept both Norman and Maggie on their toes.
Albert was the second youngest and the quietest. A little bookworm that appreciated the art of literature over anything else. He wanted to be a novelist, even at a very young age, and often shared ideas for stories at the dinner table. There was no doubt in Norman's heart that his little boy would write a best-seller one day. Maggie fretted for his social life, however, as he was the least sociable of their children. Far too shy.
Finally the youngest child was Willard. An outspoken young toddler that was definitely as confident as his mama. A little tot with a very big personality indeed, that Norman couldn't wait to see grow up into yet another fine young boy. If any of their children was to ever get what he wanted in life, it'd definitely be Will.
Truly there was nothing in this world that Norman loved more than his offsprings, and indulging in their interests was always an adventure. One to be shared with three other members of the family.
The vacant apartment had been occupied by Norman's younger brother, Alfred, and his own two children. By then almost all their neighbors (minus the one that hated them from day one) had warmed up to them. So another set of friendly faces was a good addition to their home life.
Norman absolutely loved watching over his nephew and niece, especially because his children were delighted to have other kids around their age to play with.
It reminded him of being back home in Louisiana, his own brothers and sisters sparring with him and playing whatever games they could come up with on the spot. Watching Louise and Nelson tumbling about fighting as equally dirty as the other, really stirred up some good memories he had of his older sisters.
"Bite her Nelson! Bite her!" Lydia cheered as her older brother pinned their cousin to the ground.
"Louise tug on his ears! Pummel him!" Aaron called out to his little sister, encouraging her to fend off her opponent.
"Lydia and Aaron! What I tell y'all 'bout encouragin' yous's siblings t'fight all nasty?!"
"Not to...?"
"Exactly."
Granted some play-fighting needed to be monitored when most of the audience were enablers, and neither his middle child nor his nephew had any qualms sending each other to the hospital. They were still learning about consequences after all.
Still, there wasn't anything else in the world that built better character than teaching the children that they were equals to one another in all their shared activities. Respect was an important lesson to be learned. One Norman wished every parent taught their child.
The world would be a better place otherwise...
-
Sometimes the Projectionist would inevitably be unable to fend off sleep. The exhaustion would wear it down and give way to the nightmares of a life it could barely remember. Then it would wake up and scream, trying to rid itself of heinous visions of itself ripping its offsprings apart.
Norman Polk would reawaken inside its brutish body and lash out, hoping to either physically fight away his own broken psyche or perhaps cripple the Projectionist so that it could never fulfil these dreamt up acts of violence.
A Polk was all about family, and the thought of becoming the sort to bring harm upon his own children... Well, Norman had heard the stories. Knew why Poppop was such a taboo topic. He did not want to be the man besides his Nanna in the portrait above the fireplace... One he'd resembled if his eye wasn't wrong and he'd grown out his beard...
The Projectionist didn't have the mental faculties to understand this distress however, but it seemed to recognize that what it saw in dreams was bad. That what it did to the vermin, it should never do to those innocent little youngsters that looked at it with love instead of fear and hatred. So... Why did it do it in dreams? Why did it kill when it wanted to be docile? The children were not a threat, so why...?
It made no sense... But it didn't much care for elaborate existential crisis like that. Norman's consciousness would freak it out, but ultimately loosened its grip and go back to being dormant. The lumbering beast resuming its tiring trek through the endless maze. A cycle that would repeat itself the next time it fell asleep.
It was in the aftermath of yet another nightmare that the Projectionist came across something completely new to it. Something small and living, and very much intruding on its space. Something that very vaguely looked like it...
A living being with a body similar to the ones the horrible botched critters that ran around in packs had, yet with no visible imperfections to it. Its head though... It was kind of like a projector, but not. Square in shape, with a lens, a tube, dial and something very round that kind of looked like a big ear. A camera, like the one Aaron had gotten for his birthday.
It seemed to have gloves, shoes and a belt that sort of looked like the speaker lodged in the Projectionist's torso, but it was hard to tell since the strange being was on the ground flailing about like a dying fish.
The towering amalgam stared at the tiny new thing in dumbfounded silence, unsure how to react to such a strange discovery, until it realized why the thing was flailing about to begin with.
One of its legs was pinned under a crate that appeared to have fallen from a nearby stack, and the Projectionist could tell the limb was broken. Nearby lay a series of Ink Hearts that had been resting on the fallen crate.
On any other occasion it would have simply walked over, raised one heavy foot, and crushed the intruder's skull for daring to try to steal from it. This time however, was completely different... Something primal was urging the Projectionist to do something completely alien to its usually aggressive nature. Something instinctive.
The poor creature grew agitated upon finally noticing the Projectionist's presence as it approached, but its broken limb ensured it stayed put even after the crate was picked up and tossed aside. It shook fearfully once the Projectionist knelt down to pick it up by the torso. It stopped shaking once it was brought to rest against the much larger beast's chest, cradled gently like an infant. The Projectionist rumbling softly so as to reassure it that no harm would befall it.
The little creature, with a head that was not a projector but a distant relative of a sort, stared up with its own dark lens before reaching out to gently pat the Projectionist's "face". It seemed to understand its intention to help it, rather than exterminate it.
The lumbering beast carried on in its path, now carrying a most precious cargo. It would find something to help treat the injury and then it would begin teaching this newly adopted offspring to survive in the studio.
Mindless beast or not, the Projectionist was still a Polk, and the Polks cared for their younglings. This tiny sentient camera was its child now, and the beast would protect it from the horrors of this horrid studio.
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Wartime Mysteries: a reading list
Billy Boyle by James R. Benn
Billy Boyle, a young Irish-American, cop from Boston has just made detective - with a little help from his cop relatives and friends - when World War II breaks out. His rabidly anti-English family calls on his mother's distant cousin, Mamie, married to a general, to wangle a staff job for him far from the fighting. But instead of a "safe, cushy" stateside assignment, he is ordered to London, still undergoing the Blitz. His "Uncle Ike" is Dwight D. Eisenhower, plucked from obscurity to command Army forces in Europe, and he wants Billy to be his personal investigator. Billy, who had never left Boston before he enlisted and was sent to Officer Candidate School, is not sure how good a detective he really is. But when Eisenhower asks Billy to undertake this task, he dutifully sets off for Beardsley Hall, where the Norwegian government in exile, led by King Haakon, is in residence. Accompanied by an aristocratic Polish officer in exile and a beautiful British WREN, his mission is to catch a spy who may have been planted there. A theft and two murders test Billy's investigative powers, as he comes to grips with the deadly demands of a war he never wanted any part of. To his own surprise - and that of others - Billy proves to be a better detective than any one expected.
The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indriðason, Victoria Cribb (Translation)
A deeply compassionate story of old crimes and their consequences, The Shadow District is the first in a thrilling new series by internationally bestselling author Arnaldur Indridason.
THE PAST In wartime Reykjavik, a young woman is found strangled in 'the shadow district', a rough and dangerous area of the city. An Icelandic detective and a member of the American military police are on the trail of a brutal killer.
THE PRESENT A 90-year-old man is discovered dead on his bed, smothered with his own pillow. Konrad, a former detective now bored with retirement, finds newspaper cuttings reporting the WWII shadow district murder the dead man’s home. It’s a crime that Konrad remembers, having grown up in the same neighborhood.
A MISSING LINK Why, after all this time, would an old crime resurface? Did the police arrest the wrong man? Will Konrad's link to the past help him solve the case and finally lay the ghosts of WWII Reykjavik to rest?
The Murder of Willie Lincoln by Burt Solomon
A historical fiction debut by an award-winning political journalist and Washington insider about the death of Abraham Lincoln’s son--was it illness or murder? Washington City, 1862: The United States lies in tatters, and there seems no end to the war. Abraham Lincoln, the legitimate President of the United States, is using all his will to keep his beloved land together. But Lincoln’s will and soul are tested when tragedy strikes the White House as Willie Lincoln, the love and shining light in the president’s heart, is taken by typhoid fever. But was this really the cause of his death? A message arrives, suggesting otherwise. Lincoln asks John Hay, his trusted aide—and almost a son—to investigate Willie’s death. Some see Hay as a gadfly--adventurous, incisive, lusty, reflective, skeptical, even cynical—but he loves the president and so seeks the truth behind the boy’s death. And so, as we follow Hay in his investigation, we are shown the loftiest and lowest corners of Washington City, from the president’s office and the gentleman’s dining room at Willard’s Hotel to the alley hovels, wartime hospitals, and the dome-less Capitol’s vermin-infested subbasement. We see the unfamiliar sides of a grief-stricken president, his hellcat of a wife, and their two surviving and suffering sons, and Hay matches wits with such luminaries as General McClellan, William Seward, and the indomitable detective Allan Pinkerton. What Hay discovers has the potential of not only destroying Lincoln, but a nation.
The Language of the Dead by Stephen Kelly
German bombers are arriving daily, seeking to crush England. But in a rural Hampshire village, things have remained fairly quiet—until an elderly loner, Will Blackwell, is brutally murdered. The method of his killing bears the hallmarks of the traditional vanquishing of a witch, and indeed, local legend claims that as a boy, Blackwell encountered a ghostly black dog sent from the devil, who struck a bargain for Blackwell’s soul. Not long after the murder, a young woman who is carrying the illegitimate child of a fighter pilot also is violently killed; then a local drunkard ends up in the race of an abandoned mill with the back of his head bashed in. As the Germans continue their relentless attack, Detective Inspector Thomas Lamb rushes to solve the crimes. Do the killer’s motivations lie in the murky regions of the occult?
#historical fiction#fiction#mystery#mysteries#books to read#reading recommendations#recommended reading#book recs#library#tbr#booklr#book list#reading list
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Legend - EP 1
Massive spoilers for Legend of the Golden Witch! Do not read if you are not okay with spoilers!
First Game Legend of the Golden Witch
Culprit: Sayo Yasuda Accomplices: Nanjo, Genji, Kumasawa, Eva, and Hideyoshi
Preparations: In Chapter 6, after talking with the cousins, Shannon ran off claiming that her break was over. It stated that she was headed toward the rose garden, but we didn’t see her after that. In this same chapter, Kanon was unaccounted for the entire time. Rosa and the cousins soon left Maria alone in the rose garden, since she refused to stop searching for her lost rose. Yasu, as either Shannon, Kanon, or Beatrice, gave the letter to Maria while she was searching for her rose in the garden. In this game and almost all the other others, Yasu told her to read it to everyone at dinner. Along with this, she must have taken the rose on the way to the rose garden to keep Maria there, otherwise it was simply a prediction of hers (it would make sense, she predicted the typhoon).
First Twilight: In the dining hall, Yasu killed Krauss, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, and Gohda, hence the blood on the seats. It is not certain why she killed those particular people, but it was most likely so that the adults wouldn’t solve the epitaph before Battler, which is what she wants to happen. With the help of one of the servants (she is the head, so they will obey her, and nobody else would help her; for more context, the servants with the exception of Gohda all accept Beatrice as their second master in Chapter 12), Yasu moved their bodies to the rose garden storehouse and painted the magic circle to give off the witch’s presence.
Although it is very discreet, Yasu presumably bribed Eva and Hideyoshi to conspire with her. Before she is killed, Eva refers to the blood as “horrible makeup” with a very firm tone. In Chapter 10, Hideyoshi did not allow George to come near Shannon’s body with the excuse of preserving her dignity. Nobody except Eva and Hideyoshi saw “Shannon” on the ground. That’s where Willard’s solution comes into place. “Illusions to illusions. The corpse that cannot return to earth returns to illusions.” Shannon’s corpse isn’t real because Kanon was at the scene, so lies took place.
To explain the scene at Natsuhi’s room, we will go back to Chapter 6. Maria rants about how scorpion charms ward off witches such as Beatrice. Shannon reaffirms this theory, and later puts it to use while planning the six murders. In Chapter 8, Jessica gives her scorpion charm to Natsuhi, and she hangs it on her door. Yasu most likely saw the charm and gave up on killing Natsuhi (keep in mind the purpose of killing the parents). She then settled for Gohda, who is the only servant who didn’t know the truth about her. To add the finishing touch, Yasu added the fake blood she uses later in the murders to her door to scare her, which fully recreated the scorpion charm myth.
Second Twilight: According to the epitaph, the victims of the second twilight will be “two who are close.” The only two who are close are the married couple of Eva and Hideyoshi, and are also dangerous accomplices who could expose her, so it would be twice as reasonable for Yasu to murder them. At a time where Kanon was unaccounted for, Yasu went to Eva and Hideyoshi’s room dressed up as Kanon. She shot them in the head and placed the stakes in the bullet spots in order to stick to her epitaph motif. Hideyoshi was placed in a running shower to create further chaos and confusion. It can be presumed that they were shot first because otherwise blood would be all over the walls and the bed.
Afterwards, Yasu went to the kitchen to get Genji as a watchdog in order to paint the magic circle. We as the readers are tricked to think that they are innocent and just checking on the couple. This can be predicted because the magic circle just suddenly appeared when Kanon came back with Kumasawa. It is said that it is a perfect closed room, but if they knew that these events occurred, they would probably come to a conclusion that is the same as mine. “Illusions to illusions. A chain of illusions can only hold back illusions.” Eva and Hideyoshi never mentioned a chain locking the door, only Kanon and Genji, so it had to be a lie. Even if the chain existed - logically, it would be easy for Yasu to lock the chain before leaving the room, creating the illusion of a perfect closed room.
Fourth Twilight: In Chapter 12, Eva talks about how she placed a receipt into the study door before she asked Natsuhi to go check on Kinzo. When Eva and Natsuhi went along to check on Kinzo, he “disappeared” and wasn’t in the study. Additionally, the receipt was in the exact same place as Eva put it in as they entered the door. To clarify, the receipt really exists because Natsuhi later says that she threw it in the trash when she saw it on the floor.
This would create a closed room scenario if not looked upon carefully. But with the evidence presented, it can be concluded that Kinzo was never there in the first place, even though everyone says he is. What would this suggest? He was already dead. “Illusions to illusions. Let the man of illusions go to where he belongs.” Krauss, Natsuhi, and the servants are “seen” with Kinzo throughout the first half of the novel. But looking back at what I just said, that is not possible. This means they are all faking his death, most likely to prevent a crazy incident to happen within the Ushiromiya family (I mean, look at the Rokkenjima Mass Murder). Knowing all this, it would be extremely easy for Yasu to stage Kinzo’s death to the unknowing family members.
Fifth Twilight: Considering the alibis, there is no possible way for Kanon and Kumasawa to hear a door closing in the boiler room. Kanon rushed down to the boiler room and saw “Beatrice.” Since Beatrice is Yasu, Kanon yelling at Beatrice would represent Yasu’s internal conflict about being a murderous sadist who causes grief to Battler and the others. In the end, Yasu goes through with it and stages a death for Kanon, so she can finish the last twilights easier. She presumably used the blood-like substance that was on Natsuhi’s door to stage Kanon’s death. “Illusions to illusions. The witch and stake of illusions can pierce naught but illusions.” The stake that apparently pierced Kanon was near him, not in him. Additionally, he was face down and the only confirmation of his death and the stab wound was Nanjo’s inspection.
Sixth, Seventh, & Eighth Twilight: The letter in the study must have been sneaked onto the table by one of the servants; most likely Genji. After all, Genji was with Kanon during the preparations for the second twilight, so he must have also slipped the letter under the door. While everyone was looking at the epitaph in the study, Maria and the servants were the only ones who weren’t seen. Maria couldn’t have done it because she legitimately believes in magic. After Natsuhi kicked Maria and the servants out, they went to the parlor. When the group in the study came down after getting the phone call in the study (from Yasu or Maria, this would also imply that Genji lied about the radio and phone not working), Maria claimed that Beatrice came through the door in the form of golden butterflies and spoke to them.
Again, when Genji said he was going to give all the keys in the mansion to Natsuhi, he lied because Yasu couldn’t have gotten in otherwise; Genji would have to lock the door in order to create an illusion for Maria. “Illusions to illusions. Illusions are the blind girls's song. Illusion of a closed room.” Adding onto Maria’s claim, she stated that Beatrice told her to face the wall and sing while she killed everyone else in the room, in order to prohibit Maria from seeing how she really does it. Either Yasu or Maria made the phone call and just left the wire hanging. Afterwards, Yasu left a taunting letter for Natsuhi and waited for her in the area with the portrait. Lastly, on the notion of Kumasawa being frightened (as Maria stated), it can simply be explained as her anxious nature toward the subject of death. Even if she knows something is going to happen, she’s still scared, as seen during the second and fifth twilights upon the body discoveries.
Final Moment: Natsuhi never fired the gun until the fight with “Beatrice.” The only logical explanation is that the gun had blanks (not by coincidence, Yasu had access to Kinzo’s room and his weapons; this means that she could tamper with them), because Natsuhi has no reason to kill herself as Jessica thought she did. Additionally, Alliance of the Golden Witch gives us two useful truths to help prove this:
“The bullet that killed Natsuhi was not fired from Natsuhi's gun; the thing that shot Natsuhi wasn't a trap, it was a real shooting murder with a gun raised and trigger pulled!”
The letter was about a duel between who should be the family head, as described as Natsuhi through her battle cry. Yasu revealed herself (dressed as Beatrice) to the children and simply waited for the explosives to go off (Rokkenjima used to be a military base of sorts, as elaborated on in Requiem of the Golden Witch).
Aftermath: It is said in the credits that Maria sent a message bottle to sea about the mass murder, but this was probably a fabrication by Yasu in order to conceal her identity to the police. The deaths by the game’s end were symbolized as “goats chewing them up,” which most likely refers to the Goat Butlers. Also, Shannon and Kanon can apparently exist as different beings inside Purgatorio, possibly because it is described by Bernkastel as “Beatrice’s realm,” and that Beatrice herself is a representation of the rules of the games (she doesn’t know about Yasu yet).
Pure Theory: Lastly, in Twilight of the Golden Witch, it is implied that Yasu committed suicide by drowning in the real world after the massacre and Battler tried to save her. Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed and instead suffered major brain damage and amnesia, making him a new person (Tohya Hachijo). This would mean that the only logical explanation for Battler not knowing anything in Legend of the Golden Witch and thinking it’s his normal life is that when both Yasu and Battler (Tohya’s former life) arrived in Purgatorio, Yasu started her game plan immediately.
Bonus: Here I will talk about how I think the Umineko universe and its writing works. It’s a bit simplified, but I hope I make sense.
Real World: The universe of Umineko When They Cry has multiple layers. The main two consist of fantasy and the real world. The message bottles are Yasu’s plans to murder the entire Ushiromiya family, but she never went through with them. In the first and second episodes, we see two of her message bottles in action. In addition, Ikuko’s novels (the third to sixth episodes) are based off of Yasu’s other message bottles that we haven’t seen.
Fantasy still plays a major part in the real world and how it shaped the characters. As seen in Twilight of the Golden Witch, Tohya comes to terms with everything in the end, with all of the magic and human characters around him. This was not just for us to see nor was it only an ending that wasn’t supposed to make sense. It would imply that the magical perspective of Battler and his adventures with Beatrice was part of Tohya’s thoughts and his regret over Yasu’s death.
Fantasy and Magic: Ange also has these types of thoughts, as revealed more clearly. Starting from the third (mainly the fourth) episode, we see that she uses Maria’s diary to escape in a fantasy world and go back into her past where she played around with the members of Mariage Sorciere. Bernkastel embodies her nihilistic thoughts of her life and the people around her. While it is supposed to look like the Ange we see in each episode is traveling to one world to another, it is actually a linear explanation of her experiences with a bit of magic added in.
The eighth episode concludes Ange’s journey, and shows that she has come to terms with everything that has happened to her family and herself. Ange in the seventh episode can be interpreted as what Tohya imagined she would feel when she discovered the truth, as Requiem of the Golden Witch is basically Tohya discovering the truth. This includes Yasu’s whole history, not just her plans to murder the Ushiromiya family.
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September 4 2020 Boulder
Technology is amazing and, in many ways, brings so many positive things into our lives. I’m especially impressed by and grateful to ZOOM and, honestly, don’t know what this year of the pandemic would have been like without it. I like to say I live half my life on ZOOM now, and that’s a bit of an exaggeration but mostly true. Early in the morning four days a week I work out with my cousin Jodie, who lives in Chicago. My sister, Kathi, who lives in Maine, also works out with her, along with many of Jodie’s friends in the Chicago area.
Jodie is a personal trainer and we are lucky to have her leading us through these exercises, which are also aerobic in nature. This work is helping to build our strength, flexibility, and stamina and, while it’s not exactly fun, I do enjoy it and also the camaraderie with the other women.
I’m also doing yoga, meditation, and taking classes online. One class I REALLY enjoy is my French class with my friend, Claire, who is in Barcelona. I had been taking classes with her in person in Barcelona for several years before we were stranded in Boulder by the pandemic and it’s really wonderful to connect with her over the time and space between us.
Claire is a lovely person and this photo doesn’t do her justice, so I’ll share others, below, which do. I have learned so much from her and we have also become very good friends over the years. She is also a member of the English Chat Group I started in Barcelona to help some friends improve their English skills.
I am grateful to Mother Nature for having planted the snapdragon seeds in many pots on the back deck, making my work planting the pots easier. They have been blooming all summer and, along with all the other flowers I planted, continue to bring a myriad of colors to our outdoor spaces.
Bruce and I took a bike tour of Haertling houses in our neighborhood. Charles Haertling was a famous architect who designed houses in the Frank Lloyd Wright style. Our house on 15th Street, where we lived before we built our current house, was designed by him.
The hallmarks of his houses were blending the houses into the surrounding habitat, using natural materials in the designs and using passive solar with lots of windows to bring light and the outdoors into the houses.
According to Wikipedia:
“Charles Haertling was born in 1928 in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. After completing high school, he joined the Navy, serving from 1946 to 1948. Following his naval service, Haertling studied at the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in architecture.
In 1953, Haertling moved to Boulder, Colorado to serve on the architecture faculty of the University of Colorado, a position he would hold until 1955, and again later from 1965-1966. In 1957 he opened his own architectural practice in Boulder, completing his first project, a local residential expansion, the following year. Haertling would eventually design over 40 buildings, primarily residential structures in the Boulder-Denver region, completing his last project in 1983. In 1970, the American Institute of Architects inducted Haertling as a member.
In addition to his architectural career, Haertling was also an active participant in local government and community service. From 1967-1973 he served three terms on Boulder's city council, where he was an advocate for greenbelt preservation, civic improvement projects such as the Pearl Street Mall, and environmental awareness. Between 1970-1971, he acted as Deputy Mayor for the City of Boulder. He also served on several local arts commissions and Lutheran church organizations.
Haertling married Viola Brase, with whom he raised four children. He died of brain cancer in 1984 at age 55. A memorial foundation was created in his name to document and promote the preservation of his work.”
Joel Haertling, Charles Haertling’s son, wearing glasses in the photo, is an experimental filmmaker and musician. He was also the founder of Architects Office and label with the same name. In 1984 he began publishing Zamizdat Trade Journal and continued with it for over a decade. He is the director of the Cinema Program at the Boulder Public Library. Joel’s son, Trevor, in the photo below, was also a musician and died in 2016.
“Haertling's designs reflect an eclectic mix of different architectural styles and philosophies, incorporating elements of modernism and organic architecture, and drawing inspiration from the Usonian principles of Frank Lloyd Wright and the works of Bruce Goff, among others.
He often experimented with forms found in nature, including leaves (Leaneagh House, 1980), mushrooms and barnacles (Brenton House, 1969), yucca plants (Warburton House, 1963), and other natural shapes. At the same time, he also designed many structures according to more mathematical and geometric themes, as in the examples of the Willard House (1962) and the multifaceted Jourgensen House (1971). For his St. Stephens Church in Northglenn, Colorado (1964), (seen in photo above), Haertling employed a tent-like thin-shell roof, evocative of similar curved concrete designs by Oscar Niemeyer.”
The Brenton House (1969), also known informally as the "Mushroom House", is notable for making an appearance in Woody Allen's 1973 futuristic sci-fi film, Sleeper, along with several other modernist buildings in Colorado, including I.M. Pei's NCAR labs and Charles Deaton's Sculptured House.”
As we were cycling through the neighborhood I noticed these signs in one of the yards. There are signs like this all over Colorado now, and even in other states, to remember 23-year-old Elijah McClain and call attention to his murder by police last summer by the Aurora, Colorado police.
They arrested Elijah as he was walking home from a convenience store in his neighborhood. The police department said they responded to a 911 caller who reported a “suspicious person” in a ski mask. The official police department story is that when officers confronted Elijah, who was not armed and hadn’t committed any kind of crime, he “resisted arrest”. In the fifteen minutes that followed, the officers tackled this young, small (5 and half feet, weighing 140 pounds) black man to the ground, put him in a carotid hold, and called first responders, who injected him with ketamine. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital and died days later, after he was declared brain dead. The case is still being investigated. Video footage of the arrest was suspiciously tainted by all the officers’ body cameras allegedly “falling off” during the arrest. In audio footage Elijah can be heard explaining to the officers that he was turning off his music to listen to them, telling them his name and the address of his house, which was close by, gasping and saying that he can’t breathe, sobbing, and vomiting. An officer can be heard threatening to turn his dog on Elijah if he doesn’t cooperate.
Despite local media coverage and some smaller rallies, Elijah’s murder didn’t initially receive widespread media coverage, until this summer when George Floyd was killed by police in a similar manner and investigations into other police murders across the country sparked protests and demands for accountability by police departments in these cases. Justice for George Floyd, Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor, and many other innocent black people has yet to be attained. Those of us who believe ALL lives matter, and in particular BLACK lives, since they are the most at risk of police brutality, are continuing to speak out about the need for radical reform of policing in our country
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A recliner is an armchair or sofa that reclines when the occupant lowers the chair's back and raises its front. It has a backrest that can be tilted back, and often a footrest that may be extended by means of a lever on the side of the chair, or may extend automatically when the back is reclined. A recliner is also known as a reclining chair, lounger and an armchair. Modern recliners often feature an adjustable headrest, lumbar support and an independent footstool that adjusts with the weight and angle of the user's legs to maximize comfort. Additional features include heat, massage and vibration. Some models are wheelchair accessible. Recliners can also accommodate a near supine position for sleeping, and are common in airplanes and trains, as well as in homes. A riser armchair or lift chair includes a standing-up system, for elderly and people with limited mobility.
Recliner History
Around 1850, the French introduced a reclining camp bed that could serve as a chair, a bed and a chaise longue. It was portable and featured padded arm rests and a steel frame. In the late 1800s, many designs were found for motion chairs that were made of wood with a padded seat and back. Designs from France and America included a document or book holder. The first reclining chair was reportedly owned by Napoleon III. Knabush and Shoemaker, two American cousins, are credited with gaining a patent on a wooden recliner. The design was the same wooden bench recliner found in other designs. Issued in 1928, the patent led to the founding of La-Z-Boy. In 1930, Knabush and Shoemaker patented an upholstered model with a mechanical movement.
in 1959, Daniel F. Caldemeyer patented a recliner as owner of National Furniture Mfg. Co based in Evansville, Indiana.[9] His name was based on the fact that he developed his chair based on the science of kinetics that he used while serving in the US Air Force. His design was used by NASA for the seats in Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.
His chairs were used in the ready room for these missions and can be seen in the movie Apollo 13. The Secret Service bought 50 of them for President Lyndon Baines Johnson as a Christmas gift. A Life magazine photo of President Johnson, post gall bladder surgery, has the President lifting his shirt and showing his scar while sitting in one of these chairs. The Presidential Seal was embossed on these chairs with one currently in the Smithsonian Institution and another at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. With over 300 patents, Caldemeyer added the foot lift rest, heated seating and massage features to this chair and had the patent for the first entertainment center.
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Hummel Clan Christmas Rendezvous
Hummel Holidays prompt seven: family
Pairing: Kadam
summery: If you are bring home a new guy, you might as well go big.
“Dad! NO!” Kurt hissed into the phone in horror. Adam looked up from where he was typing at his computer and faced Kurt, alarmed.
Kurt waved so he knew it wasn’t too awfully serious.
“But Dad, it’s the first time you are even meeting Adam. It is inhumane to ask us to consort with the rest of the clan. Inhumane, Dad!”
Adam tried to hold in a chuckle.
“I don’t care if Aunt Mildred decided to panic after Great Uncle Gideon had a heart attack and decided we now need yearly Hummel Clan Christmas parties. She can host it at her place and you and Carole can go! Great Uncle Gideon is 90 years old, anyway. Where was she when you had your heart attack? Where was her panic then?”
Adam tilted his head and looked at Kurt, whose face was quite furious.
“Oh, I am still a bit bitter. I have not got over that and I probably won’t until I’m your age.”
“I am sorry but that time is just one of those things I simply have shelved my fury about and not worked on lessening it in any form and you and Carole and everyone else will just have to deal with that. My therapist says that is fine.”
“I know Carole regrets how she handled things while you were in the coma…or rather how she didn’t…but I was the one dealing with everything. I get to decide when to let it go. And Aunt Mildred never even called…and I called her four times and she never picked up!”
Kurt’s face was an interesting shade of red and his eyes were twitching. He stared at the phone before speaking again.
“The boys were always in trouble.”
“So have Mildred rent her church building! And I am sorry but our house is NOT bigger than theirs…I know for a fact that Mildred’s boys each had their own room, she had a craft room, Uncle Wallace had a man cave before they were terribly popular and they have both a Den and Family room as well as a living room, a formal living room, and dining room! I was banished there for three summers before you finally decided to end my torture.”
Adam went back to typing. The end of the semester was zooming closer than he was happy with and his graduate classes each had major papers this semester.
“Dad. It was torture. I came home the first summer with a broken wrist, the second with a broken arm and the third with a broken foot. I can guarantee I did not get them terribly naturally.”
Adam swiveled his head towards Kurt again.
“Fine. Thanks for the warning I guess. How about Adam and I change our trip dates?”
“Fine.”
“I said Fine! I promise I will not change our trip dates and we will be there.”
“What?!” Kurt yelled.
“I love you, too, Dad.” Kurt sighed.
Kurt threw his phone onto the bed across the room.
“What is up, darling?” Adam asked, saving his document and turning to give Kurt his full attention.
“Dad is hosting the Hummel Merry Christmas Party. It starts at noon and dad would like us there on time, so asked we not stop too often as we drive from Columbus to Lima. You are going to be subject to all the insane beings belonging to my dad. I am so sorry.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
“My Aunt Mildred tried to get my dad to have me exorcised when I was 12. You heard the list of injuries…and that was just from a week or so of the three summers I spent time up there. The summer my mom died, dad sent me on vacation with them. My cousins nearly drowned me more than once, they tied me to a tree and left me there for hours, I was so sunburned I blistered and had to go to the ER and they left me at the campsite when they packed up to leave. I was left there for six hours…they were three hours away before the noticed I was not with them. I also came home with so many scrapes and bruises that my dad’s coworker thought I’d been in a car wreck and dragged by the car for a while.”
“Oh heavens.” Adam said.
“They all like to drink. Most like to shoot things. None of my three cousins graduated from school on time…I’m not sure Wayne even finished, although I think he got his GED. My cousin Willard got a girl pregnant when he was 14…she was 12. There might even be more spawns of his out there, too, because no one did anything about it except say ‘boys will be boys’. Rex is just mean. And it’s not just a gathering of Mildred and her crew. Oh No. It’s all dad’s aunts and uncles and their kids. Each cousin set is supposed to give gifts to those in their sets…so we are supposed to bring gifts for Aunt Mildred and crew…Dad said small things for 15…which means the boys have children and partners they have kept. I knew they were married but I was certain no one would be insane enough to stay for long. Oh, and we are having a white elephant exchange and an ornament exchange. Yay us!”
“Is there anyone who could be there that you like?” Adam asked.
“My Dad’s Aunt Mildred and most of her family and his cousin Lou and his family. We used to shoot bows with Lou, he has a friend who makes them and when I was in my Robin Hood stage he got me a real bow for Christmas. I liked it so he got me new ones when I outgrew the one before…I use them for props mostly now. He probably will not be there though, they moved to California when I was 16…the summer before Dad met Carole. That is the grand total of people I like from my Dad’s side of the family.”
The flight to Ohio was not delayed and they landed in plenty of time for them to make it to Lima in time for the Christmas party. Adam ended up making Kurt pull over and let him drive halfway there as his nerves got worse.
“Darling, no matter what, I’m not letting you go. They cannot scare me away.” Adam told Kurt for the umpteenth time. It didn’t seem to help.
“I don’t even know if anything we brought as gifts will be right or sufficient.” Kurt moaned from the passenger seat.
“Darling, we went with New York themed decks of cards and travel cups with hot chocolate. And we bought four gifts that could be given to small children…just in case. And four for tiny tots. We got your Aunt Mildred a nice scarf and gloves and a box of good chocolates, and your Uncle gloves and a nice cap. We even bought each cousin a New York Ball Cap and three stocking caps for their other halves. It will be fine.”
“They hate me. I’m bringing home a boyfriend and they will be rude and horrid and offend you and you’ll want nothing to do with me ever again!”
“I doubt it. However, if they do then we will make them sorry. I have no qualms whatsoever about making rude people uncomfortable. I’ll just kiss and snuggle and cuddle and love on you all the more.” Adam said.
Kurt looked his way. “Really?”
“Really.”
The good thing about walking straight into a huge family gathering like they were was that Adam had no chance of being nervous about meeting Kurt’s Dad and Step-Mom. Kurt had painted such a dismal picture that Adam was nervous about just being at the party, even though he had been certain Kurt was exaggerating.
Kurt wasn’t.
The party was held at the Hummel house, or rather in detached garage that was the main reason the Kurt’s family bought the new house when they moved his junior year of high school. It was a four car garage and workshop, big enough for his dad to have had a lift installed so he could work on cars when he was home as well. It was packed with people, tables and chairs, and smelled a bit like a brewery.
They had had to walk a full block to the house to start off with, and Adam was ever so glad Kurt convinced him to stay at a hotel that first night because their luggage was happily tucked away in their hotel room. Kurt wouldn’t let them leave anything in the rental car.
(“You don’t understand, Adam. The kids in this neighborhood are all thieves. Seriously, the cops were down here about stuff stolen from houses and vehicles three times a week. I doubt anything has changed in two years.”
“But, it’s a well off neighborhood.” Adam had replied.
Kurt snorted. “None did it because they needed money. They did it for ‘the thrill of the hunt’. Half the neighbors simply shrugged and said ‘boys will be boys’. Until we moved in and my dad pressed charges, no one had thought of it before even though the kids had stolen several thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff.”)
Adam carried the backpack Kurt had tucked all the gifts into and Kurt carried the bag with the food they’d picked up from the grocery store they’d stopped at on the way from the hotel to the house. Apparently he had no faith in anything edible being offered for lunch.
Carole wouldn’t let them into the house after Kurt said he didn’t need to use the bathroom. She directed them to the garage and that was that.
Kurt’s Dad’s cousin Roy met them at the door, with name tags and directions on how to fill them out. He didn’t recognize Kurt and didn’t believe Adam was Kurt’s boyfriend at all…none of their clan would dare be ‘that way’ didn’t they know? Kurt rolled his eyes and just put his name on his name tag…and had Adam just write Adam.
“My dad’s dad was number four of 10 kids. His name was Al. I don’t know if it was short for anything, but it probably was. He died when my dad was 20ish. My mom never met Dad’s dad. My dad’s mom told my dad she was never dealing with any of the Hummel clan again after she got remarried. She did show up for my dad and mom’s wedding, but that was it for a while. She sent a card when they had me. She always spelt my name with a C…she insisted it was spelled that way to keep up tradition. One of the things I do remember her telling me was that my first born son had to have a name that started with a D and then creating a list of names she found acceptable. I actually think I still have it somewhere. I was like three and she called just to tell me that and then sent the list in the mail. She hadn’t even ever sent a card or anything for holidays or birthdays before that. Then she got a divorce from that guy and married another guy and was around for a while. They died in a car wreck when I was eleven-ish. My dad and Aunt Mildred went to the funeral, but Aunt Mildred wouldn’t let me or my cousins go. I had to stay at Aunt Mildred’s with my cousins and her husband watching over us. I spent a week being maid and cook. My Uncle tossed me a hundred dollar bill as a I left, though. I never told my dad.” Kurt explained as they walked towards a long table that seemed to be covered in photos.
Kurt pointed to a set of photos close together. “Dad’s Aunt Mildred had two sets of kids. She was just older than my dad’s dad. One set of kids with her first husband, Hank, and one with her second husband Barney. The kids with Hank, of which there are three, are near my dad’s age…I think his cousin Marty is like within a few months. Then Hank went and joined a very weird religious cult type thing and Mildred left him the second time he dragged her and the kids to the meetings. It was a very smart move on her part. They got divorced quickly and Hank married someone from the cult thingy. She married Barney like a year later and they were all worried but Barney is a good guy. I like dad’s Aunt Mildred and Barney. Her kids with Barney are like 10 years younger…there are two of them. Lou is Dad’s Uncle Wayland’s kid. He is the oldest. Lou is his fourth but he is only like a year older than my dad. I like Lou, too. Roy belongs to Winifred, she was number two. She died when her kids young, before my Dad’s dad even. Roy has a twin named Guy and two sisters. They aren’t twins but were so close in age it is ridiculous…I think maybe just 10 months. One is Joy and I think the other is named Dolly, and that that is not a nickname. I think dad’s cousin Jill is his Aunt Jean’s girl, but I’m not sure. Jill has a sister named Billy, but I’ve never met her…she moved to Peru at some point. Her husband runs some sort of Adventure Trip company. The last kid of the 10 is dad’s Uncle Warren, who is also just a few months older than dad…so his kids are around my age. I’m not even sure who the others are…I think there is an Aunt Maribel and an Aunt Mona, but I don’t know if I have ever met them.”
“Did you dad have any other siblings?” Adam asked.
“Nope. Just him and Mildred. My mom had siblings, but they are even less close than Dad and Mildred. They only speak to each other if they can’t avoid it from what I can tell.”
Kurt and Adam wandered around the garage, trying to locate Kurt’s dad in all the people. There were several little kids running around, none of whom Kurt knew and several teens and older kids. Finally Kurt found his dad in the back by a long table…talking with both Mildreds. While wandering they had heard several slurs and multiple sets of “Ewww”s. Adam just held Kurt’s hand and if the slur was really nasty, kissed him soundly.
“Dad!” Kurt yelled.
Burt was up and over to his boy within a minute and it only took that long because he had to dodge a mass of running tots who seemed to be chasing a ball. Kurt pushed the bag of food into Adam’s hand and threw himself into the hug Burt was offering up.
“I’ve missed you!” Kurt exclaimed into his dad’s shoulder.
“I’ve missed you, too, Bud. I think you grew again!” Burt said as he patted Kurt’s back. They separated and Kurt turned to Adam.
“Dad, this is Adam.”
Adam shifted the bag he was holding to one side and held out his hand to shake Burt’s offered hand.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” Adam said.
“None of that sir bit, apparently you’re supposed to be becoming one of the family.” Burt said.
Kurt groaned. “I told you, I’m not getting engaged or anything until I’ve graduated. I told you that back in spring and it hasn’t changed since then.”
Adam chuckled and Burt shrugged. Kurt rolled his eyes.
“Come on Kiddo, I need grandbabies before I’m too old to enjoy them. Mildred’s making me feel like I’m wasting away.” Burt said.
“Mildred shouldn’t count. Try Lou’s kids as your base. I’ve a few years yet before I’m too old.” Kurt hissed.
“Now, Burt,” Aunt Mildred said from the other side of the table. “I done told you earlier, you should just get the nice little wife of yours pregnant again and have another kid or two. You are well within childrearing ages still. Then Kurt’s abnormalities wouldn’t be passed.”
“Millie,” Burt’s Aunt Mildred said. “Someone let your boys spawn, Kurt deserves to populate the earth with creatures that ought to be at least refined and cultured. Didn’t you just tell me how one of your grandkids is always playing in mud and naked?”
And the Mildreds were off snapping at each other about kids. Burt rolled his eyes and pulled Kurt and Adam towards a table filled with food.
“Put those groceries here and then garb yourself something to eat. There is ham sliced in the large crock pot on the end.”
Kurt recognized one of his dad’s aunts at the table directing people.
“Let’s see what you’ve got, boys.” She told them, making garbby hands at the bag.
Kurt handed it over. There were a few fruit bowls with berries and two with different melons, several small veggie strays with different vegetables mixed, and a small cheese tray.
“Where’s the meat, boys? How can you not bring meat? What is it with all this rabbit food? People can’t eat this!”
“Now, Aunt Mona, you know some people like lighter stuff.” Burt replied.
“Not real people…liberals, liberals like vegetables. Good red blooded Americans like meat. My dear Andrew loved a good steak; he liked them properly cooked over a grill like a man. Such a good boy. A real man.”
“Well, we’ll just put these over here.” Burt said, moving the fruit, veggies and cheese to the end of the table right before the desserts. “The kids might like them; you know vegetables are good for kids.”
“Oh! This is true. And kids like fruit. They should just stop eating that stuff once they’re too big for the parents to make them eat it.”
Adam was trying not to laugh. He looked over the spread of food.
“There are your pasta salads and your potato salads and your frogs eye salads and your whipped topping and jello salads in various colors and forms. I bet there is even a cookie salad; my Aunt Mildred’s boys favor it. There are pots of baked beans, it looks like three. There are Roy’s hot wieners and some cousin of dad’s brats in sauce. Roy’s dish is essentially hot dogs in a spicy ketchup and the other dish’s sauce varies but is generally alcohol based. Lots of deli meats and rolls and mayo and mustard for them. Lots of chips. Loads of potato casseroles. Bean dips and seven layer dips and hot dips like the artichoke one…that other with green might be a spinach dip. There are the cheese balls with crackers. Oh, someone went fancy a brought cocktail shrimp. Then you hit desserts and well…if it is full of sugar and fattening it is probably an option. At the end are drinks…soda is your only option here. The alcohol will be served wherever we find dad’s Uncle Wayland. Notice the lack of fruits or veggies. However, we’d better grab some now because people do actually like them and they will go fast.”
Adam and Kurt put together a small plate of veggies, fruit, deli meat and cheese that they could carry with them and promised to be back for ‘real’ plates later. Kurt waved to the lady manning the table as they left.
“It is nice to know I did remember Mona’s name.” Kurt said.
“What happened to Andrew?” Adam asked.
“Oh,” Burt said. “He got out of the military while stationed in Alaska and took off to live in a small subsistence village that is very much…hippie-ish. It is very much run like a free love commune, just in Alaska so they also have guns and hunt and such.”
“She made it sound like he died.” Adam said.
“He has voted liberal since his first year in the military,” Kurt said. “He is worse than dead.”
Adam just looked at Burt, who nodded.
“Ok..” Adam said.
They paused at the craft table but didn’t stay as two of Burt’s cousins were sitting there having a very lively and heated ‘discussion’ on religion during which they could only agree that Mormons were demons and Catholics probably practiced Satanic rituals because of ‘saints’ and that those homosexuals should be burned. They were starting on Jewish people when Burt dragged them away, while telling each other they were going to hell because they weren’t the right kind of Christian.
“I’ll go back and swipe you the baggies filled with the stuff to make the ornaments and cards and gifts.” Burt said. “I forgot that Marvel’s Jack and Mona’s Jack were manning the crafts.”
“Marvel? I thought there was a Maribel.” Kurt said.
“Maribel? No, there is a Clarabelle.” Burt said.
“Like the cow from Disney?” Adam asked.
Burt broke into laughter.
“Just like the cow from Disney.” Burt said.
Kurt sighed. “I’m still missing someone.”
“You got Jean?” Burt said.
“Yes.”
“Scott?”
“Scott? There is a Scott?”
“Yeah, he’s just older than Warren.”
“That’s just…such a normal and modernish name.” Kurt said.
“The Doctor was Scottish and my grandmother liked the accent.” Burt said.
Adam started cracking up.
Burt stopped them at the farthest table in the back. There were big boxes with smaller boxes inside.
“Mildred’s family’s boxes are in the big purple box. Wayne’s box is blue and has his kids listed on it and their ages, Willard’s box is green and has ages listed and Rex’s box is red with ages listed. Wayne and Rex have wives, Willard has a girlfriend…who is pregnant. Pete is here, too, technically. He actually took off as soon as Mildred was not looking. If you need something tell Uncle Wayland. Wayland send my boy and his beau back towards the games when they are done.” Burt waved the older man sitting by the table, with a glass of amber liquid in his hands and lots of clear plastic cups sitting by him.
“Would you boys like some hooch?” Uncle Wayland asked.
“Umm, I think we’re good for now,” Kurt said. “We need to get gifts sorted and labeled and such before we try anything out.”
“Good point. Had my Ronnie get ours all sorted out. Louie wanted me to ask you about hunting out in New York. You are Kurtie aren’t ya?”
“Yes, Uncle Wayland. I’m Kurt. I don’t know. I didn’t even think to ask about it, I was so busy trying to get settled during hunting season my first year there…find a job and a place to live…and it didn’t occur to me to check this past fall since I couldn’t use the meat very well. I’ll find out though and have Dad give me Lou’s number. If I went hunting with him and Dad, they could take home most the meat if we got anything.”
“You’re a good boy. No waste. We taught YOU right. You still mostly a bow man?”
“Yes, that is what I like best.”
“Does your friend hunt?” Wayland asked.
“I have not done so in the manner Kurt and you seem to be speaking of, no.” Adam said. “I’ve gone on a few fox hunts though, on horse back.”
“Like in movies?” Wayland asked.
“Yes.”
“Ehh…we could probably train ya then.”
One of the people Kurt’s dad’s age came up for some drink and Kurt and Adam turned their attention to the boxes.
Mildred and Pete’s were easily dropped in the right spot and Kurt located his cousin’s gifts and then gifts in paper that matched each cousin that was for the significant other.
Adam chuckled while Kurt fished the marker out of the backpack. “Your cousin Rex is married to Roxanne. They have kids named Royal, Regan, and Regina. Regina will need one of the gifts for tiny tots. I would suggest giving Regan one of the gifts for small children…thank goodness we got those as gender neutral, I’m not sure what Ragan is. Royal is a boy.”
Kurt facepalmed.
“Wayne’s box says he is married to Jonny.” Adam said.
Kurt laughed. “Jonny is Jonda. She hates it. Her middle name is Olga and her maiden name was North. Jonny was just what ended up her option really.”
“They are going backwards up the alphabet. Zach is seven and Yule is almost six.” Adam said.
“Cups and cards it is.” Kurt said. “I remember hearing about Yule’s birth. I was not aware they named the baby Yule.”
Adam sighed. “It’s a good thing we packed extra. Willard has more than 4 kids here. How can he have a 13 year old? Is he much older than you?”
“Hmm, Willard is 7 years older than me…they kept that baby he had at 14. The girl had it and they passed it back and forth between grandparents until she got married at 20 and no longer wanted to be tied to him. The Willard kept him.”
“How old is Wayne?”
“9 years older than me. Rex is four years older.”
“So, not every on in the family was quick to reproduce really.”
Kurt laughed. “My dad forgets that he and mom didn’t get married until they were 22 almost 23, and then didn’t have me for another two years or so. Mildred married a month out of high school and had Wayne right off the bat…like by the end of summer off the bat.”
“Anyway, Willard has six kids here. He has three three year olds, but it notes they are not triplets. Does that mean all three are from different mothers?” Adam asked.
Kurt turned his head to Adam. “Really? I told you, all that ever happen was ‘boys will be boys’,so it wouldn’t surprise me. Hmm…I wonder if that was part of ‘Aunt Mildred’s boys were in trouble’ therefore she couldn’t even bother returning my calls telling her Dad was in a coma.”
“Someday, love, you will have to explain this bit of bitterness to me.” Adam said. “If we give the three that were slated for small kids to these, and one for the babies to the one year old, the nine year old and 13 yr old will be fine with cards and cups.”
Kurt nodded. “We’ll have two tiny tot gifts left over and two card and cup sets left over…we can work with that.”
“We can give the cards and cups to your dad and step-mom as extra gifts.” Adam said.
Kurt beamed. “They would enjoy them, I think. Dad and his buddies play card games all the time.”
“Ya boys finished over there? I’m sure your Daddy wouldn’t mind you having a nip or two nowadays Kurtie.”
“We are finished Uncle Wayland and sure, we’ll try something I guess. I’m not quiet legal but Adam can legally drink.” Kurt replied.
Wayland laughed. “Ain’t never worried about that legal shit. Just drunk tots ain’t pretty so we keep it away from the young’uns. Want a Hot Toddy?”
“Sure.” Kurt said.
Uncle Wayland scooped something out of a crockpot hidden under the table and handed it to the Adam and Kurt. Adam took a sip first.
“Oh, Nice. I like the flavors.” Adam told Wayland.
“Now you’re a good boy. I think we might just need to keep you around. Potential for hunting and you appreciate good booze,. If little Kurtie’s gonna live fruity, then at least we’d better keep good men for him around.”
Adam nearly choked on his drink and Kurt blushed bright red.
“Thank You, Uncle Wayland. We’d better go see where Dad is.” Kurt finally sputtered out.
Adam waved as he left.
“He doesn’t seem too bad.” Adam said.
Kurt chuckled. “He is…easier…to take now that I’m older. He has a raunchy sense of humor and no filter at the best of times, and is 500 times worse when drunk. It was hard when I was younger and not…confident…in my sexuality. On the good note…he doesn’t mind that I’m gay, but he will always use the most offensive terms for it. He called me elf boy for ages. Of course he called me fairy boy from age three as well. The more drunk Uncle Wayland gets, the more you’ll find out intimate details about women he’s been with, or even seen. I always thought it hilarious that I knew more about the nether regions of a woman than all the other guys my age and I wasn’t into women at all and so had no use for the information.”
Kurt and Adam headed back to where Kurt’s dad was standing by a man sitting by a radio and looking through CDs.
“The good thing about this is it is a Christmas Party and so we will JUST be subject to Christmas Music and long ago they made a pact that ALL Christmas Music was acceptable as long as it didn’t have very bad words in it. Not just religious and not just secular. Apparently the fight over that nearly led to three divorces and did lead to black eyes and a broken nose. It happened before I was born.” Kurt said.
They were passing by some round tables surrounded by people their ages who were all playing cards of some sort. They were nearly past it when Kurt’s name was shouted.
“Kurt. Hey, flaming fairy! I heard you’ve got yourself a boyfriend. Does his cock taste good?” a dark hair man older than Adam and Kurt yelled.
Kurt tensed and then sighed.
“Wayne. It is oh so lovely to see you again. Have you found a steady job yet? Or are you still shoveling dog crap from people’s yards for change?’ Kurt said with a smile. “By the way, I’m telling your mother what words you used in the vicinity of children.”
“She won’t believe you!” Wayne yelled again.
“Sure she will, because you forget that half those surrounding you don’t like that type of language and especially not around their small children and will back me up.”
“Why you little…” Wayne growled, attempting to stand without pushing his chair back and shaking the table which made everyone else around it yell.
The women sitting next to him grabbed his arm and pulled him back, before whispering in his ear. She then waved at Kurt, who waved back.
Kurt looked at Adam and sighed. “Adam, these are the cousins. You’ve heard from Wayne. Jonny is the one who made him sit. Willard is the one is the black flannel, and Rex, is that you with the beard?” Kurt asked.
“Yeah. Hey, you like it? I think it makes me look tough.” Rex said, stroking his bushy brown beard.
“I think it makes you look homeless.” The women sitting next to him said. “Hi, I’m Roxanne.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Kurt said. “You were not home the last I saw of these guys. I think Mildred said you were at your folks?”
“Yeah, my sister got married the same weekend your dad did. Rex went to your dad’s. He hates my sister.” Roxanne said.
“Your sister is a snob and rude.”
“My sister is smart and not willing to play stupid to make a man feel good about himself.”
“See, a snob. Kurt would love her.”
Roxanne and Rex started fussing at each other and Kurt turned to Adam. “And various other cousins of the second or so variety. I think the red haired girls might belong to Uncle Warren or Aunt Winifred’s kids…the girls had lovey red hair. I always wanted hair the color of Joy’s or even Dolly’s.”
One of the girls beamed at Kurt while the other glared. Wayne started to get ready to speak and so Kurt quickly moved them away with an excuse that they needed to find Kurt’s dad.
“And that could have been so much worse.” Kurt said. “Most of the girls are OK. They ignore me or lecture me on going to hell. And a few of the guys are fine…if Mildred’s boys are not there. Like…I can go hunting with the two blonds in the matching flannels. They are Wayland’s grandsons; not Lou’s kids but Millie’s…Wayland had an Amelia who is called Millie. As long as we keep to hunting and bows as a topic, we were pretty good. We could also talk TV shows like Hercules. But when Mildred’s boys are in the group, the guys get nasty mean. You heard. It’s like that for hours and then it gets physical.”
Adam grabbed Kurt’s hand and held it as they walked away from the others. “Take some sips of your Hot Toddy, love and let it all go. Just make sure to sip. Your Uncle Wayland likes it a bit strong.”
Kurt giggled and took a sip of his drink. “I should have tossed it in Wayne’s face, but that would have ruined the cards.”
Burt was over by the darts. He was in the middle of a game when Kurt and Adam got over to him. Adam pulled Kurt so he was standing in front of him and then wrapped his arms around Kurt so Kurt could lean back into his embrace while they watched.
“Hey Burt, your fairy boy still have to stand up close to play darts?” one of the men playing with his dad asked as he noticed Kurt standing there.
“Hey, Mickey, he was 11 the last time you played against him.” Burt said. “Kurt, would you like to play against Mickey when we are done?”
Kurt sighed. “Sure, Dad.”
“I bet a ten he can’t even hit the target.” One of the other guys called out.
“Don’t be silly Mort,” a lady with dark red hair called back. “Burt’s little Kurt always had good aim. He just was too small to put power behind way back when. I’ll put a twenty on him winning the game.”
“No way, Dolly.”
And the betting was on. Adam watched with stunned befuddlement. Here were a bunch of adults betting on the skills of a young adult who they didn’t seem to see as one while most, even those betting in a positive manner on him, called him names and disparaged his educational choices, job choices, and entire being.
Burt won his game and then handed the darts to Kurt. Mickey tossed a fit and so Kurt traded dart sets with Mickey.
“Adam, could you hold my sweater?” Kurt asked as he pulled the sweater over his head and then quickly made sure his hair wasn’t too messed up.
“Burt, your boy has arm muscles! He must have finally taken up a real sport while he’s been away.” Mort called out.
“I have dance five days a week for an hour and half.” Kurt said. “And I do Yoga three times a week when I can fit it in. Oh, and I am a waiter. A singing waiter, but a waiter all the same.”
“Dance? A sissy thing like dance won’t give you muscles. Football…now that gives you muscles.” Someone shouted. Adam didn’t catch who.
Kurt snorted. “I guarantee that a woman weighs more than a football. I lift and carry people. That will always take more strength than lifting a football.”
“Kurt, focus on the game.” Burt said, smiling an odd little half smile to himself.
Kurt winked at his dad and then at Adam.
Adam had never played darts against Kurt. The one time they’d been out to a bar that had darts, they’d played pool instead. Mostly they went dancing or to eat or karaoke or open stage places. But Adam had lost pool to Kurt, and more than once lost at poker to Kurt. He knew Kurt’s game face.
Kurt wiped the floor with Mickey. Then he went on to wipe the floor with Mort and a man named Harvey. Dolly just laughed.
Money was traded around the group, with Burt pocketing a bit of a bundle.
Burt handed Kurt a bag as the others started chattering about who was going to play next.
“That has all the crafts and instructions for them in it. I think we are aiming for the white elephant exchange soon and then the ornament exchange. Did you bring things for both you and Adam to play?”
“Yes, Dad.” Kurt said.
“I’m going to go make Carole come out and fetch anyone from the house. Don’t go anywhere.” Burt said.
Kurt sighed and tried to find the best place to go sit.
Adam found a spot that didn’t seem to be too crowded and led Kurt towards it. Kurt sighed and followed. It was probably the best option.
Kurt settled into a chair. There were chairs open on either side of him and Adam was trying to decide which side to sit on when the lady to left side of Kurt turned and looked his way.
“Hell Spawn.” The lady said.
“Aunt Lettie.” Kurt said. “Adam, meet Roy’s wife.”
“Uncle Roy.” She corrected. Kurt sighed.
“Meet dad’s cousin Roy’s wife, who insists I call them Aunt and Uncle.”
Adam sat between the lady and Kurt.
“I heard you have moved to a Sin City and are studying the wicked practice of acting.”
“I have and I am. I am enjoying my classes greatly. I love reading great works both old and new and bringing them to life. I love using my imagination to write works of my own and scenes of my own. I love dressing up as someone else.”
Adam looked at the lady beside him as she hissed at Kurt…literally hissed.
Kurt smiled at Adam.
“We love being on stage and having people watch us perform. Adam and I love singing and dancing, too. We take all opportunities we can to do so.” Kurt added.
“The lord will correct your sinful ways, mark my words!”
Adam looked at the women turned herself in her chair till her back was to them.
“Lettie and Roy’s church do not believe in song or dance or acting of any sort. They don’t even like parties like this. I don’t think they believe in enjoyment at all.” Kurt said.
“So the Hell Spawn comment was because of your choice of career and not because of your sexual orientation?” Adam asked.
Lettie sucked in her breath and squeaked. She stood up really quickly and moved to the entire opposite side of the garage from them.
Kurt laughed and Adam smiled.
“Dad is going to be so mad. I’ve been told not to bait them since I was five.”
“Kisses?” Adam asked.
Kurt looked around and saw Lettie and several others looking their way. “Kisses.”
The kiss was light and just barely there, but it was enough to have Lettie fall off her chair.
Kurt looked pleased with himself and that made Adam smile brightly.
Adam tucked the bag of crafts into the backpack. Kurt and he turned to each other and started talking about Apple ideas and work plans and just everything they general talked about. Adam was telling Kurt about his adventure in stage combat, which Kurt was taking the next semester when they realized they had a small audience.
The red haired girl from earlier was there with several other younger people, ranging from probably just younger than Kurt to pre-teens.
“I’m Dolly’s youngest, Jane. Anyway…Rex said you live in New York and go to a Theater school. Is that true?”
Kurt nodded. “Yeah, I attend NYADA.”
One of the younger teens spoke next. “Have you been to any Broadway Shows?”
Kurt beamed. “I have. It was the first thing I did when I got to New York.”
Kurt and Adam answered questions about theater schools and classes and choirs and places to visit in New York for about a half hour.
“You are so lucky.” One of the younger girls said. “It is all there for you to see and be part of. I would love to be able to just stand in one of the theaters.”
“Do you like the theater?” Kurt asked.
“Oh Yes. I love musicals.” She whispered. “I’m Macy. I want to be an actress on stage when I grow up. I’ve been in my school’s play every year and we even do summer musical theater. Dad fussed once, but mom pointed out that it was a full week we were busy and not at home causing problems.”
Kurt laughed. “I think that was why my mom sent me to theater camp as well.”
“No, that is why I sent you to theater camp. Your mom volunteered at camp and just dragged you along.” Burt said.
Kurt smiled. “I didn’t know that.”
Burt ruffled Kurt’s hair. “She played the piano for them and then helped with costumes. Your first time on stage was as a little rabbit being chased by a dog. You were two. We are getting ready to do the white elephant gift, so go get your gifts. You can probably come back here, though. I’m sure neither the boys would mind. Kurt, Carole and I are going to go over and sit my Aunt Mildred and Uncle Barney. Be good. I got told all about that little display earlier. Don’t bait the nuts.”
Kurt rolled his eyes.
“Your Dad just called his cousin’s wife a nut.” Adam said.
Kurt nodded.
“Awesome. Which ones are the white elephant gifts?”
“The white elephant gifts are the ones in white paper. The ornaments are in red and green.” Kurt said.
Adam fished out the two gifts in white. “There are four in here in white.”
“I brought extras in case someone didn’t have one.” Kurt said. “Let me go tell my dad I have them.”
Kurt stood and ran over to Burt, who was making everyone sit in chairs. “I’ve two extras.” Kurt said. “And two extra ornaments.”
“Great…Aunt Mildred said one of Dolly’s girls brought a friend and they didn’t think about it…so you ask that little pack sitting next to you and come get others if needed…we put together a good dozen extras.”
Kurt and Adam managed to cover the little pack of people that had come back over with Jane and the ones originally talking to them. When Burt signaled everyone was gifted up, music played and Burt rolled dice to see which way things passed. Kurt ended up with Wee Sing Silly Songs and Adam ended up with earmuffs shaped like snowmen. Then Barney led them in a bizarre form of never have I ever and upset the fruit basket so that people were mixed up for the ornament exchange.
Adam waved to Kurt who was seated next to Carole, who seemed to be chewing him out about something. Adam was sitting in between a bunch of small children, of who at least one was one of Rex’s and Jonny.
“I’d like to apologize for Wayne.” She told him. “Mildred encourages their bad behavior especially towards Kurt, but it is uncalled for.”
Adam shrugged. “No one got hurt this time, so it is what it is.”
Jonny looked at Adam and nodded.
“Did Kurt really tell those over by the darts that he lifts women and women are heavier than footballs and that is why he is more muscular than them?”
“Well, he didn’t quite put it that way, but he certainly implied it.”
Jonny laughed. “Does he really?”
“Oh, yes. There is no passing Dance without being able to lift. And leap and twirl and what not.” Adam said. “Kurt just had less work to put into it, really, than some others. He learned how to properly lift in High School.”
Kurt came marching over and pulled out the ornaments. He was scowling and stomping and Adam took one look over to where he’d been sitting to see why. Carole was leaning back with Lettie whispering into her ear, nodding along with whatever she was saying. Kurt passed the extra ornaments to the two kids he’d given the extra white elephant gifts to and then marched over to his dad…who hightailed it to Carole and Lettie. Kurt glared towards Carole and came and sat on Adam’s lap. Adam smiled at him and kissed his cheek, pulling him closer. Kurt snuggled in and relaxed when he realize Adam wasn’t going to try to make him move even though he was making a scene.
“Hey Kurt.” Jonny said, smiling at how Kurt had relaxed in Adam’s lap.
“Hey Jonny, How is the craft store business?” Kurt asked.
“We are holding our own. We were worried when that new mega graft store came in, but they don’t do custom framing or anything like that, or make custom canvases and we offer better craft nights and classes. We also got the endorsement from the local schools and community college because we offer student packages specialized to each course.”
“I’m so glad. I was worried when Dad said that store was building close to you all.” Kurt said. “Do you still sell local patterns and fabrics?”
“Yes. We’ve even started stocking some locally spun yarns.”
“Cool.”
“Your dad said you have several jobs in New York?” Jonny asked.
“I work at Vogue.com for credits right now, and I work as a singing waiter and then I pick up odd jobs here and there, mostly when I need something not budgeted in. I usually pick up tailoring or seamstress type jobs, but I’ve done a bit of mechanic work.”
“And you go to school?” Jonny asked.
“Yeah, it’s not nearly as bad as it seems. I don’t have a family who needs me and Adam works just as nutty of an amount as I. We carve out time together, though, and make sure much of our fun activities mesh together.”
Burt announced that everyone needed to be ready to start passing ornaments at his shout…passing left when he said left and right when he said right and following some sort of odd dice shaking game. Kurt moved from Adam’s lap for it, but he did not go back to where he had been.
Finally Burt deemed the ornaments passed enough and Adam opened his. It was actually a set of crocheted stars that had been stiffened somehow and Adam was quite pleased. Kurt was smiling as well, although Adam thought it seemed a bit off. Kurt handed him the bag his ornament had come in and stalked off. He watched as Kurt marched over to his dad and said something and then his dad nodded and Kurt came Adam’s way. Adam peeked in the bag. The ornaments were stars with the names of Jesus on them,but Adam suspected that Kurt’s ire had been because he ought not have ended up with this particular bag, except one of the small children had taken it from who had it and given it to Kurt.
“They are starting the prize games now. We could play bingo or poker. We have been banned from ‘Name That Tune’ by Carole…at the demand of Lettie. I always won when I was 5 and 6 and so I do suppose all the extra years probably would give me an unfair advantage. However the DJ wants to do a who can name it fastest one note at a time and Dad said we can play that if we play against each other. He wanted us to go first to show how the game was done…and he is running it different than Lettie’s name that tune.”
Adam and Kurt played the DJs game and ended up tied 3 to 3. The DJs gifts were King Sized candy bars, which they split. Then Kurt and Adam played bingo for a while. Kurt managed to win a card game that was new to them and a candle and Adam won some Christmas ornaments, a nativity, oven mitts and a board game that involved trains. Kurt laughed and told Adam they were going to find someplace to play bingo near home because Adam had good bingo luck.
Carole came over and snapped at Kurt for winning too much, but left as soon as Burt started over their way.
“What the hell is Carole’s problem, Dad?” Kurt said as soon as Burt was near enough for him to ask without having to speak too loudly.
“Lettie and Roy have been here for three days and have been staying at the house. Lettie has managed to ask daily what sort of evilness you got Finn involved in that led to Finn’s death. Insisting you much have introduced him to drink or drugs or whatever that led him die. We were managing until I went to work yesterday and Carole decided to stay home and entertain Lettie and Roy.” Burt explained. “I’ve made an appointment for Carole with her therapist for Monday. I’ll pay to keep your hotel room for the extra night.”
Kurt growled.
“Kiddo, this just means that you can leave and head off to the hotel and not have to clean up, while Mildred’s whole family and Lettie and Roy will have to stay and help here…since they are all staying at the house.”
“Can we leave soon?” Kurt said.
“Let me check and see if everyone put their gifts in the boxes they go in and then we’ll figure out how we are doing that and I’ll tell you then. Meanwhile, go play rummy.”
“Dad, that will take forever.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be bored and Carole or Lettie are unlikely to bother you there, no prizes.”
Kurt and Adam joined the rummy game just starting up, which luckily had none of the people teasing Kurt earlier in the day present. It wasn’t a bad game, but Adam could tell Kurt was starting to droop. Adam realized they hadn’t gone back for more food and were working on only what they had eaten and the drink they got from Uncle Wayland. Adam also knew Kurt wouldn’t eat much of what was out and had been sitting there for hours.
Adam looked around for Burt and watched as people went in and out of the garage and back and forth from the table with the gift boxes on it. Burt was monitoring the boxes, and looked to be helping fill them if need be.
Meanwhile Kurt was looking more and more done and more and more tired.
When Burt got a break, Adam excused himself from the round and went over to talk to him.
“Is there anything at the house I could get for us to eat?” Adam said. “Kurt hasn’t eaten anything other than the little plate we made when we got here.”
Burt sighed. “Things are closing down here, why don’t you and Kurt head out and off to find someplace to eat. Take him over to say goodbye to My Aunt Mildred would you?”
Adam fetched Kurt from the game and they went around saying goodbye to the few people Kurt wanted to. Burt brought them over their boxes and made sure all their gifts and prizes were tucked into the backpack that they’d been carrying about. He brought over a few extra things as well, since Kurt had used extra’s they had brought for the white elephant and ornament exchanges. Adam suspected that the several extra ornaments they were given were to make up for Lettie and Carol’s interference in the exchange.
“You’re a good man, Adam.” Burt said as he watched Kurt let his Aunt Mona pinch his cheeks. “Make sure he eats and sleeps tonight.”
Adam smiled. “Of course.”
Kurt hugged his dad and kissed his cheeks and grabbed Adams hand as they headed out the garage, boxes in Adam’s arms and backpack on Kurt’s back.
They trudged through snow and managed to get to the rental car without too much an issue. Adam could see that others had left as well, already and made sure to take note of that in case Kurt got to feeling guilty for leaving early.
Kurt made grabby hands for the keys and Adam let him be the driver. They tucked everything they were carrying into the back seat and headed off.
Kurt drove them to Pizza Hut.
“And that was a Hummel Clan gathering.” Kurt said as he devoured a salad. “It could have been much worse.”
“It could have been better.” Adam said.
Kurt laughed. “Maybe, but they never ever have been. We were spared the epic fights between couples having problems today…although I guess Willard’s girlfriend and he got into a shouting match outside right before the white elephant exchange. No one came to blows and no cops or ambulances were called. No children were reduced to tears over something one of the adults said to them. And someone was managing Uncle Wayland because no one ended up so drunk they passed out.”
“I had thought you were exaggerating when you were talking before we arrived.” Adam said. “I am sorry, love.”
Kurt leaned back. “It wasn’t all bad. I talked to more people than I have before, and most of it wasn’t bad. I could do it again if my dad wanted me to. You made it immensely better,”
Adam chuckled. “Is that likely?”
“I guess that will all depend on Aunt Mildred and her dedication to the new found desire to have large family gathering yearly. I hope the next one is a summer one though. We have those outside and often at a lake. It is easier to avoid people at those. I am sorry about Carole.”
“I am sorry about Carole.” Adam said. “I know her behavior towards you had to have hurt.”
Kurt shrugged. “She’s been running hot and cold since my dad started dating her. Finn’s death just made it worse.”
“I suppose as getting a family introduction, it could have been worse.” Adam said.
Kurt laughed. “We tossed you right into the fire and you came out a hero. Thank you for coming with me.”
“There will never be any place I’d rather be than with you, right by your side.” Adam said.
Kurt blushed and is face was still rosy when the pizza came five minutes later.
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The Christmas Flag
(A Christmas gift for Laurel @golden-witch. Hope you enjoy it!
For context, this is a modern AU the two of us talk about, with some details explained at the story itself. Some bits might seem out of nowhere for most readers.
Also, featuring Ange/Beato because I feel like the gays deserve it.)
“Ah, finally you’ve arrived! I was starting to think that you were planning to purposefully starve your dearest sister to deaaaaath!!”
“Good evening to you too, Beato.” Lion calmly replies. “Will got stuck on petting this one stray cat a couple streets down here.”
“More like saving our lives.” The aforementioned Will replies. “That was not your typical cat, Lion. I could feel in my soul as she stared into me- the desire to tear me apart while laughing at it.”
“Yeah, sure.” The blonde shrugged off. This was not the time to indulge into Willard’s paranoia regarding that one black cat with the blue ribbon. “So, were we the last ones to arrive?”
“You can bet on that!” Battler shouted from afar, for he was too busy fighting against Jessica in a match of Silver Mysteria to look at the arriving couple. Not the most festive activity there is, but the perfect cousin bonding method. If anything, it’s a good way to channel fighting urges instead of them bickering to the point of violence.
Beato claps her hands, nodding enthusiastically at Battler’s words. “Yes, that’s very right! C’mon, Lion, everyone, enough playing. It’s finally time for our Christmas dinner!!”
With that energetic call, the seven people at the house got around the table to celebrate the occasion. Lion Castiglioni and Willard H. Wright; Battler Ushiromiya, Jessica Ushiromiya and Sayo Yasuda (who was today in a more ‘Yoshiya’ mood); lastly, Beatrice Castiglioni and… Ange Ushiromiya.
It’s not traditional of Japanese people to celebrate Christmas the same way people do in the West. While here there’s an emphasis on family and presents and the figure of Santa Claus, in Japan Christmas is mostly a date for small children and couples. In other words, it’s not too farfetched to say that this holiday is like a second Valentine’s Day there.
Thing is, as an Italian family, the Castiglioni’s have kept up with the tradition of holding a family dinner every Christmas Eve, even after they moved to Japan. And the Ushiromiyas, as expected after decades of being under the rule of Kinzo Ushiromiya and his West loving ways, followed a similar vein.
However, none of those here present truly felt fulfilled with such a shallow reunion, where they’re forced to bear smiles in their faces while standing to listen to veiled insults to each other. Some felt the full strike of that, like Beatrice, the problematic princess of the Castiglioni’s who committed the terrible ‘sin’ of being born with a penis. Or Ange, the bastard child who would forever carry the stain of having her mother be a convicted criminal and not receive genuine affection from her.
Then you have Sayo, whose life as a servant to the Castiglioni’s taught her several things about grudges, pessimism and the obsolescence of the gender binary. Lion got it better than their sister - being the favorite among the relatives and having no difficulties in pleasing others certainly helped, but they couldn’t leave Beato alone in this one chance for getting a decent holiday.
Battler’s life isn’t that different from the one most readers are used to. The main exception being, he and Jessica managed to have quite the detailed discussion in regards to how to conduct a polyamorous relationship with their mutual beloved. They don’t want each other, though. That’d be gross. Jessica’s biggest worry today is this one extracurricular program her parents want her to attend after winter break and the fact that Battler utterly destroyed her in Silver Mysteria right now.
Last, we have Willard, who’s only here to accompany his partner. He’s not really that close to any of the other people here, yet somehow he always ends up as their collective therapist when things spiral out of control.
This concludes presentations of this curious ensemble, which was now reunited in Ange’s apartment for a late Christmas celebration. It might be a strange group doing a strange thing on December 26th, but hey. None of them really felt like what they got during the day proper really carried an air of ‘peace’ and ‘happiness’. Isn’t that what this holiday should be about, to begin with?
Upon Beato’s loud exclamation of Lion and Willard’s arrival, Ange and Yoshiya, who were busy preparing the last components of the meal at the kitchen, joined the group to give their usual aloof greetings. The Ushiromiya girl simply waved at them, not really feeling like talking. Especially to Will, who gave her quite a painfully needed wake-up call on her behavior, last time they met. She is doing better now, but the shame of that time still runs through her veins.
“Alright, then, what did you guys get to do?” Jessica approached impatient. “My belly is starving after all the energy I’ve spent on that stupid game.”
“You mean,” Battler retorted. “the energy you spent losing to me, ihihi- OUCH!”
“S-Shut, dumbass!”
“Hey, you two, behave!” Yoshiya quickly berates. “If you don’t join the table soon, the dinner will get cold.”
“”Y-Yes, love…” They bow down in shame and do as solicited.
“That’s right.” Beato nods in agreement. “The longer you keep on that stuff, the longer I’ll have to wait until I get to be preeeetty gay with Ange, you know~?”
“B-BEATO!” Ange blushes like an apple at that affirmation from her girlfriend. “Not in front of them, e-especially Onii-chan!!”
The group laughs at the scene. Ah, young adult life. The moment where your spirit still carries the passion and wish for fun from adolescence, but you’re forced to face the reality of responsibilities and sustenance. That makes creating moments like these harder and harder, which’s why they must be enjoyed to the max.
With everyone on table, the dinner finally goes on without bigger problems. The group discusses questions regarding college, jobs, money, plans and promises for next year. It’s not that unlike what they had with the rest of their families the previous days. However, getting to share their perspective in an environment where they won’t be judged for not sharing the same ideology as their parents was certainly refreshing. Not to count, you wouldn’t see this much sincere laughter at either the Castiglioni’s or Ushiromiya’s tables.
To that, Beato was really glad. Ah, it’s been months ever since she has had an evening this pleasant. Anxious fits about her body still disturb her even when Ange has proven to her, time and time again, that she isn’t ‘furniture’ anymore. Yes, that’s in the past. A new chapter in her life is about to begin, one that for once she isn’t dreading to start…
“Beato?” Ange’s voice cuts the blonde from her thoughts, making her drop the fork on her hand. “You’re thinking of something?”
“A-Ah, nothing, n-nothing!” To prove that, she proceeds to munch several portions of the food on her dish at once. “W-Was jwust admwired at wour cooking skwll, wes!”
“………………….”
Ange can see her just perfectly behind her cheerful facade, can’t she? Who is she fooling? She’s still damn terrified of this whole thing! A life with friends, with someone who loves and accepts her for who she is… Does someone as selfish and disgusting as her really deserve any of this?
Just as she was having those thoughts, a gentle hand suddenly starts patting her head. “Ah, Battler!”
“You’re in one of those ‘moods’ again, aren’t you?” He asks with a concerned tone. She takes a chance to look around the table and notices- everyone is staring at her, no? Oh, great. Now she’s made everyone worried. She was singlehandedly ruining the festive spirit! Oooooh, she wants to die right now-
“SO!” All of a sudden, Jessica slams the table with her open palms. “I think we’ve all finished eating for now. Why don’t we move to dessert?! I’ve heard that you prepared a delicious thing, didn’t you, Yoshiya-kun?”
“Did I- Oh, right! Yes, I did.” He nods, catching on what Jessica’s intention is. He coughs awkwardly, in such a way that it becomes clear to Beato what is just happening. Still, she’s glad. At least like this, she can let herself be drowned in her intrusive thoughts without bothering anyone…
“Beato. It’s me, Lion.” The heir says after knocking at the bathroom door. “You’ve been there for 10 minutes already. Y-You okay?”
No response.
“Beatrice,” Will joined in. “if you’re hiding because you don’t want us to get worried over seeing your messy state, I’m sorry to say that might not be workin- GHNK!”
“Willard, manners.” Lion cuts him short, fingers quickly retreating from his butt at a pinching pose. Still no response from the other side.
“Nothing, huh…?” Ange sighs, while the others watch the door from afar. They all agree that it’s best limiting how many people try talking to Beato when she’s having an anxiety attack.
“At least I can’t hear her breathing hard anymore. She should be coming out soon.” Will says.
“Tsk… idiot. Why today of all days?! These stupid brains of ours must be defective or something!!” Ange punches a wall in protest. It’s not like she can talk much, though. She had a similar crisis just yesterday, at the Ushiromiya mansion. Were Battler not there to take her to a calmer place, who knows what a scandal she would have pulled in front of the relatives. That’d be utterly disgraceful to her pride.
Speaking of him… “Oh, Ange, I have an idea! Bring up the flags already, instead of leaving it to the very end!”
“The flags…” Ah, yes. It had been an idea that she had come up with to make the two of them more comfortable with the season. Ange was never good at picking presents for others or at giving comforting words according to what they need, as Battler is. So, she thought, perhaps… something simpler would be able to express what she thinks of Beato and their relationship in a better manner.
And you can’t go more symbolic than with these flags.
“…Beato.” She knocks the bathroom door. “Why don’t we… finish setting up the Christmas tree now? I left the top of it to you, you know?”
She’s referring to a small, slightly broken tree that they found abandoned on the street the other day. It seems like even on Japan, people have been getting too much into Christmas trees recently, to the point where defective ones have been appearing on trash cans more and more. For someone like Ange, however, who detested getting in touch with any of her family’s richness, this was just the perfect decoration for the season.
A couple seconds pass, no response coming from the blonde. Looks like Beatrice isn’t up to even this, Ange concludes. Willard tells them to return to the others, but before they can do so-
*CREEEEEEK!*
“…………” Beato stands there, eyes looking down and hair disheveled. It’s not hard to deduce what she was doing inside that bathroom, but the others choose not to comment on it - for her sake… and their own. They simply smile at her, Lion moving to pat her on the back.
“Welcome back, Beatrice-sama.” Yoshiya greets. “Feeling better?”
“Y-Yeah, I guess…” She sighs. A hand of hers is over her chest. Perhaps she’s still feeling her heart beat fast, but at least her breath seems to be more controlled by now. Jessica approaches her and, alongside Battler, help her sit down on a sofa. Meanwhile, Willard goes get a glass of water to her.
“Drink it. Your body needs to stay hydrated.” He commands, which Beato attends without difficulties. In the meantime, Ange brings the small tree closer to her girlfriend.
“See? The top is still missing. But I’ve prepared something that we can put on it, together.” She starts blushing. “I-If you want, of course!”
“Ah…” Beato massages a temple of hers, as if guiding her consciousness back to the situation in front of her. “Hmmmm...”
“C’mon, it’s gonna be great!” Battler cheers her. “I bet that it’s gonna make you smile aaaall night long, ehehehe~.”
“O-Oni-chan!! Don’t give her that sort of perverted idea about me!” Ange huffs at him. That finally warrants a more elaborated answer from Beato - a chuckle, to be more specific.
“Don’t you worry, Battler. On another occasion I’ll make sure that your sister spends all night long smiling too~.” She winks at Ange, who by now looks like a tomato. Ange feels like jumping at her brother for starting such an embarrassing line of conversation, but manages to contain herself. It did help cheer Beato, at least exteriorly, so she’ll forgive him this time.
“A-ANYWAY!!” She coughs, then rummages through a pocket on her pants. “I-It’s not really anything grandiose or spectacular, but… I hope you’ll like it.” At last, Ange pulls the two flags out of her pocket, making them perfectly visible to Beato.
Her pupils dilate at the vision. “Those are…!”
On Ange’s hands, two small flags, enough to fit on an open palm, were presented. One had several colored stripes in it, a composition similar to a rainbow, except with only one blue instead of two. The other was stripped too, except with only blue, pink and white. It should be no mystery what they stand for.
“You want to… really put these on the tree… for everyone to see?!” Beato asked. Her voice was laced with apprehension. Not surprising, for putting those up would mean… to have pride of them.
“W-Well, yeah.” Ange coughs some more. “I… I love you, you know?” Her eyes darted away from Beatrice as she uttered those words. “A-A-And… I’m happy with what we are, who we are. O-Or, well…” She takes a deep breath.
Everyone else stays silent. They don’t want to break Ange’s willingness to speak like this. Battler in particular would know, considering his sister trained these words with him a couple days ago.
“Uuuuh, I’m… glad to have you as my girlfriend. And I don’t want to feel ashamed about that ever again.” Then… Ange smiles. A small, pretty smile that she rarely shows. “I hope… that you’re glad for having me as well. That’d be nice.”
“Ange…” Beato’s eyes begin tearing at those words. As expected, the other isn’t the most eloquent person ever. Still, her speech touched the blonde deeply. “A-ANGEEEEEEEEE!!!!”
Beato proceeds to tackle her in a tight hug, all while sobbing in an ugly manner. “Waaaaah, Ange… I’m… I-I’m so happy!! That, that you think of me like that…!!”
Of course, such a sudden display of physical affection - in front of others, even - isn’t the most comfortable scenario for Ange. But, well… These ARE her friends (or the closest thing to the term that she considers to have) and it IS Christmas (or the day after it), so… Perhaps she’ll let this last a bit longer… just this time.
The others clap in celebration. That’s when Jessica makes a comment. “Yo, guys, the marathon of horror Christmas movies on Channel Lyte is about to begin! Hurry up!!”
“Fine, fine. Let’s join them, Ange?” Beato asks. There’re still trails of tears on her face, but she’s trying to clean them.
“Y-Yes, we will.” Ange replies, a small blush on her face. So the group spends the rest of the night getting spooked or laughing at the screen, all while a small Christmas tree stands at the corner, two flags hanging over it.
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