#we should make dat list

[kayime]

[sun-snatcher]

If you're writing for dp3 then Hiraeth from your prompt list would work SO well since they're all stuck in the void! 🤲🏽😭 We need Gambit fics its a DROUGHT HELP

♧ ⎯ LUCK O’ THE DRAW !

summ. You find the Devil himself at the end of the world. Surprisingly, it isn’t the first time you have. It is, however, the first time it hurts. pairing. Void!Gambit x f!Anomaly!reader (established relationship. Kinda. Multiverse be funky like 'dat.) w.count. 1.8k a/n. Because Channing deserved that Gambit all those years ago, and I've come to (attempt to) deliver what the the people have asked. Masterlist here.

MOST PEOPLE MEET THE DEVIL at a crossroads, but you meet yours in— quite literally— the back end of fuckin’ nowhere.

It hurt more than it should.

Your heart practically stutters. 

“Remy.”  

Then he turns, and you wait for the flash of recognition in his eyes.

Nothing comes.

And then. And then.

Realisation— logic. The cold, hard truth: This isn’t your Remy LeBeau. Your Remy had died long before, in a Universe that was pruned and erased into nothingness by the TVA. Your Universe. The joke? That the Gambit before you is merely a variant amongst a million. The punchline? He looks exactly the same as the day you’d lost your own. 

“Well, this is awkward. You know off-shoot Hawkeye here?” Wade says, astonished, before his eyes widened. “Ah. Tragic exposition time for the readers, I see.”

Your mind is still reeling. It feels like someone’s just jammed a chisel straight into your gut. “I— Knew a version. Variant, I guess,” you manage to correct yourself, distracted by the skirting trenchcoat and the all too familiar sound of shuffling cards. 

Christ, it’s like he’d stepped right out of your memories.

Remy’s eyebrows shoot up as he studies you. Something in your chest pulls taut, threatening to snap as he speaks. “Apologies, mon ami. But as far as I remember, I ain’t never seen you before.”

“Ouch,” Wade winces, looking between you both. “What a classic trope! This is like, me talking to my past Mom in The Adam Project. Funnily enough, my Mom was you!” He snorts, pointing to Elektra. 

You ignore Wade and offer Remy a wan smile. “I figured. It’s okay.”

…It is obviously, in fact, not okay. 

You avoid him like a plague shortly after the entire commotion; it’s almost comical. Wade had managed to come up with a plan with the rest of the group, albeit a ramshackle, flimsy one, but you’ve hardly been able to pay attention through the bloodrush of shock rocketing in your head, anyway. 

Being around this Remy is stunningly stifling. 

The lilt of his accent, the sharpness in his smile; the flourishing of cards and the faint hum-drum of kinetic charge against his fingertips. 

You’ve seen it all before, once upon a time. You never thought any of it could ever bring you to this bad of a heel. 

It hadn’t taken long before you’d tried drowning yourself at the end of a bottle of brandy Logan had handed you that night. (The whiskey tames his mordance and makes him uncharacteristically civil. He’d said something along the lines of: Y’need this more than I do, bub; look like you’ve just seen a fuckin’ ghost. Shit, I guess you did, huh? )

“Mais la,” comes a huff. “Ain’t that mine?”

A frisson runs through your heart. 

“Sorry,” you say, barely glancing up from the barrel fire tucked outside the team’s hideout. You’re not quite sure you can handle meeting his gaze. “I know I should’ve asked.”

A playful hum. Remy settles on the log adjacent to yours. “S’alright. No harm done, chèr.”

It takes everything in you not to flinch at the endearment. If he’d noticed, well— he’s smart enough not to mention it. He’s curious and it stands to reason; afterall, he’s never quite seen someone look at him as weathered as the way you do. It’s as if the effort itself to do so would be unbearable.

“Y’kno’, I been told I’m easy on the eyes. Not for you, tho’, eh?” Remy shoots you an amicable smile. It’s charming, if a little compelling. “Guessin’ I made bad on you where y’from? You done been boudéin’ since y’first got here.” 

You let out a laugh. It’s the most brittle sound he’s ever heard come from someone. 

“No, no,” you shake your head. “It’s… You just make me a lil’ homesick, is all.”

Remy bristles with his deck of cards. A Charlier cut; a One-handed shuffle. It’s a mindless tic; your variant used to do the exact same with the exact same ease.

(Such a miracle, you remember thinking once, that there could be symmetries in the Multiverse. Now you learn, perhaps, it’s far more a curse. Either way, you can hear Remy’s doting voice in a distant memory, dimpling coyly at you: “S’just the luck o’ your draw, chèr.” )

You tamp down the memory before it could sink its jowls any deeper in you. 

“You’re curious,” you say.

He makes a noise of assent. Revolution cut; One-handed shuffle. Repeat.

“I ain’t gon’ axe if y’ain’t wanna answer.” 

It’s kind of him. 

You forgot he was like this.

Witty, yet gentlemanly. The way Remy always has been.

Underneath the blanket of the night, the crackle of the flames limn the planes of his face in flickering, hazy saffron. The look in his eyes is sincere as they meet your red-rimmed gaze. It’s been awhile since you’ve seen him, and in this light no less: tall, cutting, strong.

Lively.

The last you’d seen Remy, he’d been drawn out and battered by the war. Not that he’d ever admit it; he always insisted on keeping up his sunny disposition despite the constant losing battles happening. (Sometimes you think you resent him for doing that; it’d felt like he’d taken the light of the world with him when—)

You thank your lucky stars the variant Remy doesn’t make a comment on how you must be staring so openly. It’s a feeble attempt to committing every detail to memory, you suppose, in case you don’t get the chance again.

“In my Universe, a war was waging against mutants.” Your nails tinker against the empty bottleneck of the flat whiskey you’d nursed, thinking of how to cut a bloodshed of a story short; to get your point across before you falter and lose your footing.

“There was a mission sanctioned, and during it— a decision had to be made at that moment. So… you chose. Easily.” Your brows pinch tight against your will. The molten burn returns to the back of your eyes. “You saved so many lives the day you died.” 

Something catches in your throat when you realise your mistake, find yourself amending instantly, “He. He died.”

(It had been swift. A small mercy, all things considered. There wasn’t even a need to check for a pulse when you finally managed to reach for him.)

You’re fidgeting, too, with something in your other hand. Remy catches sight of it only now: a card, sitting pinched between your ringed fingers. Nine of Hearts. Its edges are torn and creased across the face, singed an ashen black. 

A proverbial piece of Remy’s heart, carried to the end with you.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a cold rush over his body at the sight. 

“…I’m sorry, chèr,” he offers quietly, inadequate as it is. He hadn’t expected that. 

He can’t imagine how haunting it must be to look at someone you’d shared a lifetime with and be met with a complete stranger instead. 

A living, breathing, ghost.

That unbiddable feeling of longing had always seemed to accompany the sight of him; but now it’s different. Now, there’s a blistering, brutal pain to come with; All-encompassing grief, thick as molasses in your lungs, overturning itself like a phantom from wherever you thought you’d buried it a long time ago. 

The only way to smother it would be to reach out, to hold him like you had once before, and isn’t that an ironic inconvenience? 

“No, no. I’m sorry,” you tell him, sigh coming out as an awkward laugh. A breeze passes and you inhale deep to ground yourself. Press your eyes shut momentarily to will away useless tears. “It must be so weird to hear all of this from me about— well, you, technically.”

“Mais, can’t ‘ave all been a bad memory, tho’, right?”

Right. No. It hadn’t been. There’s something else too. An undercurrent. Beyond the grief, the deep ache in your marrows— you think it’s nostalgia. Hiraeth. More bittersweet than it is painful.

It’s… It’s watching mutant schoolkids teaching him UNO for the first time. It’s the bickering over the beignets for breakfast, or your feet on his lap at the couch in the lounge after dinners with the rest of the X-Men. Lazy banter. Conversations that go everywhere and nowhere.

“Yeah,” you agree, feeling something bloom in your chest you thought long lost. “You taught me everything about your home, too. Down South. Told me about the bayou, the cypress trees. Your Cajun, your ways. We used to play Bourré.”

Talk of home has him ducking into a laugh. Remy had been in the Void far longer than the rest (he figures, at least)— he’s very nearly lost most of his fragmented memories to time by now. “Did I? Oughta’ play a game or two wit’ you.”

You buckle at that. “Ah. You were always the better player.”

Then:

He makes the leap before he runs out of steam. “Was we…?”

His finger darts between the space you two share.

“Oh, no,” you override, sheepishly. “No, we, we were good friends and stayed good friends. I was—” Your breath scurries; a reconsideration. “I was glad with that. You had a Southern belle named Anna Marie. A powerful mutant called Rogue. You two were good for each other.”

You must have given yourself away somewhere, though, the way Remy is reading you with a pinned gaze. It’s the same, levelled look you’ve seen before— the kind he gets in a game of cards. 

Something discerning eclipses in his eyes.

He’d gotten the measure of you in an instant. 

“Gambit musta’ been blind blind not t’see you.”

Ah.

You smile. It’s windswept. Resigned. “Well. Doesn’t matter now, does it? My Gambit’s gone. No matter how much I wish I can see him again.”

Remy’s eyes dart to your hands.

“Y’kno’, chèr,” he begins, something spirited in his tone. “In the world of cards, each a’ these and they suits hold a meanin’.”

He flourishes his deck, hypnotisingly smooth with every elegant cut, fan and spring. Every shuffle cascades as smooth as liquid in the sleight of his hands.

“Some of my folks back in New Orleans I remember, they learned me to read ‘em. Now, outta the whole deck? What you got there; the Nine of Hearts is also called the Wish card.”

The small laugh that punches out of you is bell-like. “Really?” 

It’s warm. Bright. Musical to his ears. It washes over him, and he can’t help but hang on to the peal. He wanted to hear it again. 

“Yes, Ma’am.” Remy clicks his tongue as he shoots you a sunny look. “Would never lie t’you, chèr.”

The cracks in your soul don’t disappear, but they surely lighten as you look gently at him. “Huh. Well, I guess I got my wish, didn’t I?” 

He chuckles. 

“Mais, I ain’t your Gambit but—” 

He leans. Reaches out behind your ear with an empty palm, playfully revealing a gilded card from seemingly thin air with a sharp flick of his wrist:

Another Nine of Hearts. His. He hands it over to you, by way of meaning—  I’m here, now.

New beginnings.

You take the card with a smile.

[1percentcharge]

Are we ever gonna get a full list on the students of Horror High and their parents? Cause sometimes I’ll be looking at your art and think: “who dat?”

ah sorry hahaha! I should really make a more organized (and updated) place for character info. ill probably work on that once i get a little more free time.

[mixelation]

I would love to see you rank Akatsuki by how shippable they are with Kakashi

oh my god. called out. but i will answer. CRACKS KNUCKLES

tbh this was kind of hard to write because even though i love akatsuki ships AND i love kakashi ships, there's not a lot of.... like..... easy/natural chemistry going on here??

least to most shippable

9. Zetsu - Does anyone ship Zetsu? No. Get out of here, Zetsu.

8. Pein - I think the connection here would be like. Similar Traumas (tm) and I know some people like this but I don't LMAO. That or missing-nin!Kakashi joins Akatsuki because he likes what Pein is selling philosophically, and it turns into one of those "loyal follower sets themselves apart in order for leader to notice them Romantically" which is another dynamic I know some like but I don't.

7. Kisame - Kisame is Chill For An Evil Villain and I think he'd admire Kakashi's philosophy of ninja who abandon their comrades being less than trash. He'd be annoyed but not lose his mind over some of Kakashi's more annoying traits. But, idk, this ship doesn't really have enough Spice for me.

6. Itachi - I like the fanon that Itachi and Kakashi were friendly in ANBU, and for a long time I liked the idea of them running into each other years later and reconnecting in a more shippy way. But I have rotated and rotated this and I cannot make it work in a shippy way. I've read some fics and they else seem to just not have.... a spark? a Spice? There's something missing. I just like them more with a platonic dynamic.

5. Sasori - There are some interesting parallels and contrasts and vague plot connections between these two, but oh my GOD is it hard to fit them all together in a compelling way. There's probably something in "Your father killed my parents and it fucked me up for life" vs "Yeah well, then he also killed my father and fucked me up for life" but you will have to work so hard to extract it. Sasori and Kakashi are antisocial weirdos in opposing ways and GETTING them to the point where you can do anything is so hard.

4. Kakuzu - Despite fighting each other, canon failed to produce any emotional connection at all between Kakuzu and Kakashi, which is unfair to us all. Kakuzu is ranked here because he's the first person on this list I can see getting into bed with Kakashi without the writer having to do a shit ton of work. Kakuzu fucks. Kakashi fucks. I think under the right circumstances they'd fuck each other. If I wrote it, I'd have a Catfishing AU where they're both trying to lure the other one out to collect Dat Bounty but they're doing it via the lonely hearts section of a newspaper. Anyway their public personas don't impress each other but once they switch to private letters they both realize they're both weird kinky freaks. Kakuzu WAS trying to catfish you in that he lying about his age and name and sent a fake photo, but somehow he was not lying about the tentacles.

3. Hidan - I think Kakashi and Hidan would make eye contact across a bar and then go hook up. I just think they're both like this. Maybe they run into each other again later and are like, "fuck it, why not?" It's a very straight forward relationship and both somehow miss all the ways the other one is completely unhinged. ALTERNATIVELY, Hidan thinking Kakashi's suffering and wallowing is so, so beautiful.

2. Deidara - Okay. Do you remember his "sees Itachi for the first time" face? I think Deidara would make this face at a raikiri. And as we all know, Deidara is at his cutest when screaming because someone is actively trolling him, and Kakashi loves trolling people. I don't think Deidara would be very impressed with Kakashi's dedication to a never ending mourning period, BUT I think there's room for interesting character growth on both sides here. Also I just think Kakashi should fuck him. As a little treat

I. Konan - Okay. Listen. My ideal Kakashi het ship is "weird damp man and woman who would crumple him up and wring him out like a paper towel." This is them. Kakashi literally only knows how to take care of his loved ones by going out and killing their enemies and Konan thinks this is so sweet. She doesn't NEED him to, but he does go out and kill people she hates and he's not even weird about it. Kakashi murdered more specific enemies of the Ame or Akatsuki than the Akatsuki. Very cute. Also they'd look good together. ALSO the pairing of her blank, judgmental stare and his trolly grin. Excellent vibes all around

BONUS RANKINGS:

Orochimaru (between Deidara and Konan) - They would hook up specifically for the psychic damage to everyone they know.

Obito (True Number One) - OBVIOUSLY. Rivals to friends to enemies to lovers! The mutual obsession! Bonus identity porn!

[idkhowtoname]

Commission details

but idk how to price things and render (help)

very long list C:

Traditional comms:

bust - $2

waist up - $4

full body - $5

(+$2 for color)

Digital comms:

Sketch

Bust - $5

Waist up - $7

Full body - $9

Line art:

Bust - $10

Waist up - $12

Full body - $15

Colored:

Bust - $14

Waist up - $16

Full body - $19

(+$2 for some shadows and highlights)

Extra stuff:

+$5 for every extra person

Flat color - free :D

Pattern/glow around character - $2

Gradient - $3

not too detailed background (like a simple sunset or smthn) - $7

(can't do too detailed backgrounds sorry :C)

Small / simple props (cups, mics, etc.) - $1

Big / complex props (swords, scythes, etc.) - $5

Will do:

blood

ship art (non-controversial or problematic)

people!! (I'll try my best to draw chubbier fellas :D)

Won't do:

mecha :[

NSFW

anything to harrass or discriminate people

no proshipping. if you're a proshipper get the hell off my blog.

Unsure (ask):

suggestive

gore

animals (depends)

PAYMENT!!! MONEIII!!!!

not very familiar with paypal but I'll try my best :]

and *maybe* tf2 keys but you'd have to help me with trading a bit since I don't really do dat,,,,,,

Communication:

You can dm me on tumblr or discord but discord is prefered since I will be able to respond sooner because of notifs! My discord is the.eeper

DISCLAIMER!!

I CAN refuse service to anyone I wish. The reason may be: it is too difficult for me, out of my skill set, out of my comfort zone, goes against one of my personal commission rules, etc. I will make sure to tell you if that is the case.

If you would like updates on the drawing/s I will send them to you as soon as possible! And I will try to respond whenever I can whether it is dming me for a drawing or asking for updates!!

And remember to not be shy! I also get scared of strangers but I will be more comfortable the more we talk or know eachother! (I may be nervous if you're popular/I find you cool and stuff like that)

Let me know if I should fix anything on the sheet! I will always try my best to improve and make sure you like your drawing! Thank you! Have a great day/night silly goober!! :D

[noxiatoxia]

ok i do think ive talked abt this here before maybe ? either way here i go again. i actually do really like hinanami. my top 5 hajime ships (dont make me order them ill kill myself) are hinamiki, komahina, hinanami, kazuhina, and hinadam and i like em all for very very different reasons. and in different ways. but im soooo ngl hinanami is the hardest one for me to explain bc the way i enjoy that ship (and by proxy komahinanami) so soo complicated n nobody i think shares my very weirdly specific idea.

to me. chiaki has aspd. and i wouldnt say is asexual just sex with other ppl is not on her top 20 most important things list. she is aromantic tho. ok this is where the noxia projection stops but to me hinanami is like....hajime maybe gets a crush on her. ok. hes attracted to her bluntness and bc shes an emotionally stunted woman and if youve read up on the hajime lore its clear hajime has some psychosexual freudian thing happening where he is exclusively into women who express the desire/ability to harm or abuse him. so chiaki's being ASPD queen is like. hajime mental illness fetishizer number uno 🇧🇷 and chiaki likes hajime fine enough. hes kind of pathetic to her but its in a cute puppy way. hes easy 2 talk 2 and hang with. and idk i wanr her to dominate him leave me alone. but also i think like longterm this shit would not work out bc hajime would realize oh my god i am turning my trauma into fetishes and chiaki would honestly i think get irritated with hajime at a point like.........hes very emotional and empathetic..........only so mucy of dat she can handle..........so shes like i think we should just be Friends and hajime is hurt but accepts it we move. but in komahinanami chiaki is the friends w/benefits slash cuckchair fujoshi except she doesnt even care abt hajime and komaeda fuckijg she would be playing resident evil in the background. but shes like their support animal they keep around bc she keeps them in fucking check. and sometimes hajime wants to get freaky (WHO CAN BLAME HIM !??!) and komaeda idk he's chill im sure they kiss sometimes maybe if they're bothered enough to. idkkk..........also dr3 isnt canon 2 me for Reasons (froths at mouth) so im just saying this is all based off of sdr2 lads. weesnaw

[nokomiss]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Thanks for passing this to me, @secretlystephaniebrown! This was SO HARD. I went with current faves, since all-time favorites was too difficult. I've written way too many fics, just picking out five was a real challenge, and I didn't even touch on some major fandoms or some fics that were really important to me. But here's my list!

The Startling Secret Identity of The Batman - (10k, T, Gen) In-universe Buzzfeed Unsolved accidentally stumbles on Batman’s secret identity. The Batfam reacts.

I wrote this fic so fast, like it just suddenly appeared on the screen, and I'm still delighted with how it turned out.

The Haunting of Wayne Manor - (31k, T, Steph/Cass, Gothic horror AU) Stephanie Brown arrives at Wayne Manor to be governess to Bruce Wayne’s young son, Damian. Once there, she begins to suspect the manor is a place shrouded in darkness and secrets, where the shadows seem to follow her, where doors lock mysteriously and questions go unanswered. And most dreadfully of all, her own secrets are just as likely to catch up to her and bring her to ruin.

All my love for gothic horror was thrown into this fic, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

in this town of halloween - (3.8k, G, Gen) The Riddler takes ten-year-old Steph trick-or-treating, and Steph honestly has the best time ever.

Okay so I had to limit myself to ONE fic centered around Stephanie Brown's Unconventional Childhood, because that is absolutely a theme I keep going back to. There's just so much untapped potential! But this is the one I ultimately chose, because it's light and fun and I just loved the mental images that inspired it.

those wild charms for you - (5k, T, Steph/Jason) “So you’re saying we should go on a fake date and catch a serial killer so that we can have the moral high ground over Bruce,” Jason said. “Just to be clear. That’s what you’re suggesting.”

listen i love this pairing so much. I have so much fun writing them. And this one has the bonus of being one of my favorite tropes!

our lips are sealed - (B99/MCU crossover, 5k, T, Gina Linetti/Steve Rogers) When Gina started talking about how Captain America moved in next door to her, complete with a rap breakdown including the lines, "with his glorious American-made booty, it's a star-spangled thing of beauty," and how she was initiating a five-step plan to tap dat, the precinct just assumed that Captain America was a nickname for whatever unfortunate hottie made a real estate blunder and ended up her neighbor.

This fic has the honor of being one I can reread without cringing, and it even makes me laugh. I feel like I got the voices right, even though this is my only foray into B99 fic.

[ludi-ling]

how do you think remy reacted when he first found out about rogue being caught in terrigen mist and when he realized rogue wasnt in a good place mentally when she was in avengers?

Sorry it took so long to (at least half) respond to this. I needed to wait for the creative inspiration to strike, so to speak. Covid over the holidays is great for sitting round and waiting for your muse to rock up.

I hope you still get to see this anyways, anonymous asker. Merry Christmas. 🎄

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

Next-of-Kin

               Avengers Mansion, dead as a doornail, quiet as a mouse. Everythin’ packed up and ready to be sold or auctioned off. Anythin’ here worth stealin’? Maybe, probably. Very likely.

               It’s only out of respect for the person I’m here for that I don’t go rootin’ around to find out.

               I turn a box-lined corridor and who should I see but Deadpool, lackadaisically standing guard outside the door I’m supposed to go into.

               “You’re an Avenger?” is the first thing that comes to my mind, and I can’t help but say it.

               At the impromptu greeting, he pushes away from the wall, arms spread.

               “Me? An Avenger? Pfft, naw. Who’s dumb idea would that be, to make me an Avenger?”

               “My thought exactly,” I respond as I draw near.

               “Yeah, well… Stark’s gone bankrupt,” Deadpool shrugs. “Not enough money in the game to make it worth my while.”

               “I hear that.” I glance at all the boxes, ready to be moved out. “How the mighty have fallen. Or somethin’.” I run a hand through my hair, expecting the worst, hoping for the best, wanting this to be over with either way. “Thanks for callin’ me,” I say; but he just waves me off.

               “Don’t thank me. This was Cap’s idea. Said you were on her next-of-kin list. Told me I should call you.”

                ‘Next-o’-kin’? I don’t like the sound’a dat. The past few months all I been doin’ is playin’ sympathetic-ex-boyfriend to whatever the hell she sees herself right now, and this feels like an extension of those duties. If she’s put me down to be the executor of her will, I’m gonna be real pissed.

               “Is, ah… Is Cap in there?” I ask nervously, figuring Wade doesn’t need to know a damn thing about my current relationship with Anna.

               “Don’t worry, Gumboid,” he replies. “The old man said that since you have a warrant out for your arrest, it’s best if he ain’t around if you happen to turn up.”

               Whew. Thank fuck for that. Don’t think I could handle Captain Boy Scout hovering over my shoulder at a moment like this.

               “Thanks,” I say, reaching for the handle. “And by the way. There are at least 5 warrants out on my head.”

               I lean into the door, and I’m just about to open it when he stalls me.

               “Hey, Gambit. While we’re on the topic, you know a guy named Chalmers?”

               I pause. I level him a look.

               “Deadpool, dis ain’t the time for dis kinda shit…”

               “I know.” He grins. At least I think he does behind that mask. “I’m just sayin’. You’re a thief. There’s a fun li’l gig lined up for you, if and when you can squeeze one in-between your ‘next-of-kin’ duties.”

               “G’bye, Wade,” I shoot acerbically at him, and let myself inside.

               I ain’t prepared for what I see on the other side.

               Rogue, lookin’ like shit.

               I shut the door behind me quietly. I let out the breath I’ve been holding in. I walk to her bedside and see just what the Terrigen Mists have done to her.

               “Oh, Anna,” I murmur to myself. “Whatchu gone done to yourself, chere?”

               She can’t hear me, hooked up like she is to all this equipment, in what I can only assume is an induced coma. The fact that she can’t hear or see me is the only reason I’m here. We laid out some ground rules for one another after all. I gave her permission to walk away, and she took it. I’m your home, your harbour, I said to her in one of my rare, earnest moments. You’ll come to me when you know that. But don’t come to me before. Which means – for now – don’t come to me at all.

               I scratch the back of my head awkwardly at the memory. Those words had felt unnecessarily harsh at the time, for both of us – but it had obviously been what she needed to hear. She had never come back to me. Not once. Sure, we’d run into one another, now and then. Traded kind words, smiled. Hugged. Perhaps even flirted now and then. But she’d never come back in the way that mattered, in the way I wanted, or hoped for, or both.

               Y’know, I hear things. I know about Mags. I know about Johnny Storm. Can’t keep things hidden for long wit’ the X-Men. S’like livin’ in some podunk town in the middle of nowhere. Everyone knows everybody, secrets will out. Jubes loves secrets.

               I’m a big boy, but there are some secrets I wish I didn’t haveta hear.

               I dunno how contagious this disease is, but I’m all gloved up, so I reach out and touch her blistered hand. It’s a simple thing, but how many times has she pulled her hand away from mine? How many times have I only been able to touch her like this? Gloves on, skin covered? The moment she gained control of her powers felt like the moment she started to withdraw from me, like she wanted to try to touch everyone and everything that wasn’t me. That smarts. It stings, when we’re both here, and I’m touching her like this.

               I draw up a chair beside her and sit. Again I think about how I’m breaking some sort of rule in being here, this understanding we have, the one I don’t want. The one where I step aside and make way for her to live her life. Where I wait for her to figure out I’m the one she wants.

               Fuck that.

               “I get it, chere,” I murmur into the quiet, half resentful, half helpless. “You want me when you’re on death’s door. You put me down as your next-o’-kin so I turn up by your side when you’re so fucked up you don’t even have to be conscious to know I’m there. You trust me with your life. You just don’t trust me with your love.”

               It’s infuriating. It’s infuriating to know that’s how it is, despite everythin’. I didn’t make no grand sacrifice, voluntarily stepping away from her, for purely altruistic reasons. I did it because I knew she wouldn’t choose me. I knew she’d choose Mags. And I just hadn’t wanted to be there to see it.

               And this is the prize I get. Havin’ the privilege of bein’ with her again when she’s like this.

               I link my fingers with hers, raise her hand to my cheek. Careful our skin doesn’t touch. Conscious of how we’ve both played this game before. Don’t touch!—her perennial warning. Me, pushing the boundaries, so damn hard, all the fuckin’ time. All I ever wanted was this. To feel her warmth.

               “Guess I should be flattered you put me down on the list of people you wan’ around when you’re dead or dying,” I tell her. Am I sounding bitter? Maybe a li’l. “They tellin’ me they’re workin’ on a cure, that Hank and Stark are optimistic, that you’ll pull through. They don’t need to hide it from me though. They’re worried. Real worried.” I slide her a weary smile. “They dunno how often you and I danced dis tango though, do they, chere? You, on death’s door. Me, sittin’ here by your side, willin’ you to wake up, be strong, get better. And you always do.” I laugh softly, squeeze her hand. “Y’know, for someone who’s ‘well-nigh invulnerable’, you don’t half end up in a coma often, mon amour. Why is dat?”

               She don’t answer. She might look like a hot mess right now, but that pretty li’l face of hers don’t even twitch in reply. The soft blip of the heart monitor is the only response I get. I’m used to this. Not gettin’ answers from her. Her, runnin’ away when shit gets real.

               Shit’s real now, chere. They tell me you could die. And if you do, would all’a dat runnin’ been worth it?

               Not dat you’d be alive to care.

               But I’d be. I’d be.

               The harried smile drops from my face. I take her lifeless hand between both of mine. I press my lips to my knuckles, cos I can’t press them against hers.

               “Lissen, chere. Word is, you could die from dis. Too early to tell yet, nobody knows what dis M-Pox thing means. Me, I think you’re too much of a fighter for this to end you. I know you, chere. But if you don’t… if you don’t get past dis… I want you t’know somethin’. I love you. I put a space b’tween us knowin’ I could deal with it because you were out there tryin’ t’be happy. But if you weren’t out there… if the space between us means you ain’t never comin’ back… I don’t think I could live with it. Livin’ in a world wit’out you wouldn’t be worth livin’, chere. I mean it.”

               I pause. As always, no answer.

               Go figure.

               “So you live, girl. Live, so we continue to get that chance we might never take.”

               I gently rest her hand back down by her side. I don’t think there’s anything more I can think of to say. I stand. I give her hand one last squeeze.

               “Love you, Anna Marie,” I say, before I leave.

               I’m surprised to see Deadpool still standing sentry outside the door.

               “You still out here?” I ask.

               “Hey, Cap said I should keep a look out for her while you were here. I hear things about you, y’know, Gambit. I know all about your weird kinks!”

               I raise an irritated eyebrow at him. Why the hell Cap’s lettin’ him run wit’ de Avengers is beyond me.

               “Yeah, well, takin’ advantage of my comatose ex-girlfriend ain’t one of ‘em.”

               I turn to leave.

               “You goin’ already?” Wade asks.

               “Yeah. She looks stable. I’m trustin’ Stark and Hank will take care o’her better than I could. Just make sure you call me again, if things look bad.”

               “And if they look good?”

               I stop, think about it.

               “Yeah. Lemme know. Just don’t expect me to rock up again. She won’t appreciate it if she wakes up and finds me there.”

               “Huh. She wants you there when she’s about to kick the bucket, but not when everythin’s all fairy dust and unicorn farts. Sounds like my kinda woman.”

               Ugh. I’m outta here.

               “G’bye, Wade!” I nearly holler at him.

               I’m halfway down the hallway when I think of something. I halt, spin round.

               “By the way. That Chalmers job?”

               “Yeah?”

               I grin.

               “Deal me in.”

-END-

[olddirtybadfic]

You Got Played: This Wouldn't Have Happened if They'd Brought Their Duel Disks (Part Four of Five)

All the drama in this fic and not one card game. Did teen!me even understand this show?

Part one is here. Part two is here. Part three is here.

This fic contains: Teen!me laboring under the delusion that Bandit Keith is the same age as Yugi and company; song lyrics inserted into the prose; mpreg; Bandit Keith being a prick; all the characters are kind of idiots; author’s notes to give track listings; cheating; Noah Kaiba somehow being alive and bizarrely invested in his brother’s romantic life; Yami/Atem is corporeal for some reason; Yugi and friends go all Office Space fax machine on Bandit Keith; the 2004 is strong with this one

-O-o-O-o-O-

The next day, Mokuba noticed that Kaiba didn’t seem to be “completely there.” It was as if Kaiba was under a trance of sorts. He barely spoke, slept or ate.

And he didn’t smile. Not even a trace of a smirk could be seen on his face.

Noah hadn’t noticed because he was out, trying to get rid of his anger toward Keith.

Mokuba entered Kaiba’s room. “Seto, what’s wrong? You haven’t been yourself lately.”

“Nothing. I’m fine,” Kaiba said, coldly.

“Seto, I know something’s wrong and it has to do with Bandit Keith. I’m gonna find out sooner or later, so you might as well just tell me now.”

Kaiba sighed. “Noah was right. I couldn’t tell that Keith was cheating on me. But now I see how he did it. We only went out during the night, so he could cheat in the daytime. When we did go out, we went to places where there weren’t a lot of people, so no one would see him cheating. He also made me keep it a secret so no one would know and be able to tell his girlfriend.”

“So, when are you gonna break up with him?” Mokuba asked.

“That’s the problem. I can’t,” Kaiba answered.

“Why not?”

“I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?”

“I just can’t, Mokuba!”

“You have to dump him because he cheated on you, Seto! Why won’t you tell me why you can’t?!”

“I can’t because I’m pregnant with his child, Mokuba! I can’t dump him while I’m having his child!” To Mokuba’s surprise, Kaiba’s eyes started to tear up.

“Seto….You never cry,” Mokuba said, shocked, while Kaiba wiped his nose.

“Who says I’m crying?” Kaiba punched the wall and began wiping his eyes.

Mokuba started to hug Kaiba as Kaiba continued to cry. “Don’t worry, Big Brother. Everything’ll be all right, somehow.”

Meanwhile, Noah was taking a walk. He was still fuming about Keith’s actions.

“How could he do that to Seto?! He was the perfect boyfriend towards Keith. How could he hurt my little brother like that?!” Noah thought angrily.

It just so happened that Yugi, Joey, Yami, and Tristan were walking down the same street as Noah. Yugi and Joey had told Yami and Tristan about what Keith had done to Kaiba and they were just as pissed.

Noah met up with the four other boys.

“Keith is a sorry-assed cheater,” Yami declared.

“Yeah. He’s the lowest of the low for playing with Kaiba like that,” Tristan added.

“We should make him pay,” Yugi said in a low, ominous voice.

“Y’know, Yuge, you don’t sound so freaky sayin’ dat anymore,” Joey commented.

As they were walking down the street, Keith came along and practically pushed them all down, saying, “Outta my way, bitches!”

“Hey! You can’t just go around, knockin’ guys ova like dat!” Joey yelled. “And we’re not finished cussin’ you out ova Kaiba!”

Joey, Yami, Tristan, and Noah dragged Keith into a deserted alley while Yugi followed them slowly and eerily, like a stalker following his victim.

“I already said stay the fuck out my business! It’s none of your business whether I cheat on Kaiba or not!” Keith shouted.

“Actually, it became our business when Yugi and Joey told us how they caught you making out with that girl,” Yami said.

“It became my business when you decided to toy with my little brother’s heart!” Noah yelled.

Keith stepped into Yugi’s space. “What about you, little Yugi? When did this become your business?” he taunted.

“The minute you laid your disgusting hands on Kaiba.” Yugi’s voice was eerily calm.

“What does my touching Kaiba have anything to do with you? He was nothing but a whore to me. He was just someone to do when I got bored with Kyra,” Keith sneered.

Yugi was enraged.

“You hurt Kaiba. Now you must pay,” Yugi said.

Yugi, Yami, Noah, Joey, and Tristan descended upon Keith the way a flock of vultures descends upon a carcass and began to beat him like a rented mule. Both Joey and Tristan tackled Keith to the ground. As he tried to get up, Noah kicked him in the shins and knocked him down again. Both Joey and Tristan began to smack and backhand Keith upside his face. Noah started to punch Keith in one of his arms. Keith was now on all fours. Yami began to kick Keith’s butt—literally and repeatedly. Yugi began to kick Keith in his thighs, screaming.

“Seto Kaiba is NOT YOUR WHORE!! HE IS A HUMAN BEING WITH FEELINGS AND YOU HURT THEM! I HATE YOUR STUPID ASS!! I HOPE YOU GO TO HELL!!” Yugi screamed, beginning to punch Keith in his other arm.

Kaiba had decided that he should take a walk to clear his mind. He was walking through the streets of Domino when he heard Keith shouting and Yugi screaming, along with the others.

He stealthily dashed into the alley, following the screaming. At the sight of the five boys beating Keith down, his blue eyes grew wide with horror.

The five boys (and Keith) stopped carrying on and looked up at Kaiba in pure shock. They didn’t expect him to come and find them like this.

Kaiba looked as if he was about to shout, but they couldn’t get a closer look because as swiftly and as quietly as a young deer, Kaiba ran out of there.

“Kaiba, wait! We’re sorry!” Yugi tried to call, but Kaiba only kept running, his long, white trenchcoat flowing behind him.

The other four boys only looked at each other, then continued to beat Keith down.

“WAIT!” Yugi cried out.

The boys looked up.

“This isn’t right! We shouldn’t be hurting Keith,” Yugi said.

“But, Yuge, he hurt Kaiba. We hafta get him back,” Joey said.

“And I have to avenge Seto,” Noah said.

“But two wrongs don’t make a right; we need to help Kaiba through this, but not stand here and fight,” Yugi said.

“That sounds vaguely like Dr. Seuss,” Yami commented.

“Guys, did you see the look on Kaiba’s face? We only upset him even more by doing this.”

They all looked at each other, reluctant to agree. But soon, they realized that Yugi was right.

“All right, Bandit Keith. You can go now. But if I ever see you lay your filthy hands on Seto again, we’re just gonna end up here again,” Noah warned.

Keith walked (or limped) out of there.

Meanwhile, Yugi had run off to catch up with Kaiba.

“If I had known this was wrong earlier, I wouldn’t have encouraged it,” Yugi thought. “Now all I wanna do is tell Kaiba how sorry I am.”

‘It’s like I missed a shot, It’s like I dropped the ball. Damn, I’m sorry. It’s like I’m on stage, And I forgot the words. Damn, I’m sorry.’

Yugi could see Kaiba’s tall, white-clad figure walking toward the rich neighborhood that he lived in.

‘But I’d apologize a million times before, I’d apologize a million more. So here it comes again, For all the wrong I’ve done. So get ready, babe, Here’s one million one.’ (author's note: Sorry 2004 - Ruben Studdard)

“Kaiba, wait up!” Yugi called.

Kaiba slowed down, but he didn’t stop.

“Kaiba,” Yugi said, catching up, “I really need to talk to you.”

“I can’t talk right now, Yugi.” Kaiba continued to walk.

“But, Kaiba, I need to talk to you about what I did.”

“I saw what you did.”

“Kaiba, I wanted to say that I’m sorry for it. I got mad about what Bandit Keith did to you. I let my anger control me and…and that’s it.”

“I can’t talk about it right now, Yugi. I have to go home.” Kaiba almost sounded tearful.

“But, Kaiba, Keith called you a whore!” Yugi didn’t even realize that he said this until it was too late. “Now I’ve done it,” he thought.

At this point, Kaiba could no longer stand it. He broke into a run. Yugi couldn’t catch up to him.

“Kaiba!” Yugi called, but to no avail. “Great, just great. Now I’ve done it.”

At the mansion, Mokuba was sitting around, doing nothing until he heard the door slam. He went into the foyer, just in time to see Kaiba stomp up the stairs.

“Damn…what happened to him?” Mokuba thought.

In his room, Kaiba sat, feeling confused and angry.

“Why would Keith say such a thing? I don’t go around sleeping with everyone…I hate this whole situation..I wish I had never seen Keith cheating..”

‘I don’t wanna know. If you’re playing me, keep it on the low. `Cause my heart can’t take it any mo’. And if you’re playing games, please don’t let it show. Oh, baby, I don’t wanna know….’ (author's note: I Don't Wanna Know - Mario Winans feat. Enya and P. Diddy (wow what terrible timing))

-O-o-O-

The next day, Kaiba woke up with a new goal: Get Keith back.

“I’m not going to take this lying down. I’m going to get my man back,” Kaiba said as he put on his trenchcoat. Noah was standing just outside his door and he heard Kaiba’s plan.

As Kaiba was walking past the door, Noah said, “You really shouldn’t, Seto.”

Kaiba turned around. “Nobody, not even you, can stop me, Noah.” Then he walked out the door.

He found Keith hanging out in a deserted alley. He snuck up on Keith and cornered him.

From the look in his eyes, Keith could tell that this was not the same Kaiba he had slept with and deflowered. “More Agreeable Kaiba” had reverted back to “Creepy, Cold-Ass Kaibitch” in the few minutes it took him to find Keith. He almost completely reverted back to the way he had been before he made friends with Yugi and company—cold, irritable, and just downright unpleasant.

“So, Keith, how’s your girlfriend? And when did you plan on telling me about her?” Kaiba said in a low, threatening voice. He had Keith pinned to the wall. Keith could feel Kaiba’s fingernails digging into his shoulders.

Keith tried to charm his way out of it. “You’re really feisty today. Did mean, nasty Yugi piss in your cornflakes?” Keith grabbed Kaiba’s ENORMOUS buttcheeks.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY ASS!!” Kaiba hollered in Keith’s face. Keith grabbed Kaiba’s shoulders and flung him onto the ground.

Mokuba had followed Kaiba into the alley because Noah had sent him to make sure that Kaiba didn’t get hurt. He ran out from where he had been hiding and yelled, “Hey! You can’t handle Seto like that! He’s-”

“Stay out of this, Mokuba!” Kaiba interrupted. He got to his feet and turned back to Keith. “So why’d you lie to me, Keith?! Why’d you cheat on me after what I’ve done for you?! Do you know that I’m carrying your child?! I know you don’t because you’ve been ignoring me ever since we did it! How could you cheat on me after we had sex?!”

“Listen, Kaiba, it’s nothing personal, but Kyra’s a lot more experienced than you. She’s also a hell of a lot more satisfying,” Keith said.

“So, you’re just going to dump me because I used to be a virgin and because I’m no good in bed. You disgust me. I can’t believe I ever let you lay your filthy hands on me!” Kaiba shouted.

“Will you stop fucking shouting?! Your voice grates on my nerves like sandpaper!” Keith shouted.

Kaiba hauled off and slapped Keith across the face. “That’s for swearing in front of my little brother!” he shouted.

Then he slapped Keith again.

“And that was for getting me knocked up,” Kaiba said quietly. “Come on, let’s go, Mokuba.”

Mokuba followed Kaiba and his long white trenchcoat (and huge butt) out of the alley.

-O-o-O-o-O-

Moral of the story: Instead of violence, solve all your problems with card games.

[lily-blue]

own fic rec game

recommend 5 or more of your own works that you would rec to someone asking what they should read first & explain a little bit about the work. these can be the most popular, the ones you think are underrated, or your own favorites! then tag five other writers!

tagged by @dat-town​

tagging @twogyuu​

13 reasons why - seventeen, 86,3k (ongoing series)

this series started out at a drabble series. after reading seventeen soulmate aus for days in a row, i was basically wondering whether i could write thirteen different stories in the same universe without repeating myself. i think it’s a success so far, but i still have four more chapters to go. anyway, it’s basically a series of (more or less) light-hearted love stories where each boy gets a happy ending and cameos in each other’s stories. thus, if you’re looking for some good old fluff, some light angst and humour, this series is being written for you

code zero - bts & red velvet, 60k (co-written with @dat-town​)

another series on the list, a finished one this time. we came up with the idea of this futuristic au after we watched train to busan with kathy. it was so much fun building a smart city for our super smart candidates and even more fun coming up with numerous ways a city could kill a person, so we wouldn’t repeat ourselves while writing! if you enjoy reading stories about people fighting to survive against all odds, this is your story! i promise, there will be survivors at the end.

the choices you give » the choices he makes - huang renjun, 22k

this fantasy, especially the second chapter, which was written from renjun’s point of view, is one of my ultimate favourites on my masterlist. the characters have their own secrets and reasons to act the way they’re acting, their relationship might seem a little shallow from the reader’s perspective, but once you get to the second chapter, the puzzle pieces will start to fall into place and that’s what makes it such an interesting journey! if you don’t hate open endings, like reading stories from two points of views and have a weak spot for mysterious boys with a traumatic childhood and a demanding father figure, this story is for you.

come hell or high water - hwang hyunjin, 16,1k

this story is peak comedy. i don’t remember i’ve ever finished such a long story so quickly, but hyunjin demanded all of my attention while i was working on this one. poor guy is so gone for the girl in this story that his one brain cell has major difficulties to function or see the consequences of his actions. he is this close 🤏🤏 to accidentally start a war between his and the princess’ kingdom, but lucky for him, our girl saves his ass with her logical reasoning. so no, it’s not him who starts the war.

blurred lines - jeon woong, 13,5k

this one is seriously one of my most underrated stories, but it was so much fun to write that i couldn’t not put it on this list. the main plot is based on a misunderstanding: woong is certain you’re his secret admirer. do you have feelings for him? yes, you do. were you do one who wrote him the letter? absolutely not. still, he falls for you and you couldn’t be happier… until the real secret admirer demands the credit that’s rightfully hers. despite the inevitable drama, it’s a light-hearted university story with lots of fluff and a pinch of heartbreak. it’s also written from both the reader and woong’s point of view, so if you like these kinds of stories, don’t hesitate to read it or save it for later.

[brooklynislandgirl]

Advent Day XV ~ In the Lane, Snow is Glistening @lalamoon

Beth had promised Layla that they would do American Christmas with all the bells-and-whistles and in the same way she first experienced it, too. It helps that the morning had dawned cold and grey and wrapped in a blanket of thick fog that obscured city streets, the various harbours, and even most of the Verrazzano bridge. Beth wakes up early enough that she has the kitchen to herself. Though she's never made anything edible, breakfast isn't her purpose for being there. She takes down a specific copper tea pot inscribed with runes and fills it part way with water. She sets it on the stove and takes down a small broom made of hazel stave and birch branches for bristles. It radiates the same sweetness of cinnamon as her breath. She dances with it, not actually sweeping, as the kettle warms and only stops when it begins to whistle. A few moments later, the faint rain outside becomes a light snow fall that will continue until the day after Christmas. 'Tis the season, after all, for a little coincidental storm. By the time Layla makes her appearance ~a little groggy and with curls springing everywhere, which if Beth was honest about it, she's completely envious about it~ Beth is pushing a cup of coffee in her hand and smiling impishly. "So here da kine. We gonna start wi' coffee or chai an' pastries a' my hanai-sistah's shop. You gonna love her, really. We been bes' good friends since her freshman year a' Columbia. Mos' of her stuff is Kosher or Halal an' what no is…make you grateful for a small sin," Beth winks as if that is all the evidence needed. "Den I figure we can go shoppin' at Winter Village an' aftah, ice skating! Or we could skate first den shopping, so we don' leave our stuff unattended. Lunch…den more shoppin' at Union Square Holiday Market. We gonna wanna find dat guy dat sell roasted ches'nuts. Gonna wanna narrow down which of da half-dozen soup kitchens we volunteer at, deliver coats an' presents for da women's shelter in da kitchen, an' we're helpin out Sean Casey an' Social Tees animal rescues. Dey doin' free adoption an' spay-neuter program for da holidays. But really we can do dese t'ings in any order ja'like." She pauses as she reviews her mental list, trying to think if she forgot anything. "Oh, den dere's da big sleep. We do a giant cuddle puddle in da livin' room…right dere…" she points to the eight foot tree by the floor to ceiling windows. Some time during the night Andy had moved most of the furniture to accommodate the variety of air-mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags and blankets that they would all be using. She doesn't remember how or when the tradition started, only that it's been a feature all of her life and not one they were about to put the breaks on. "So if you nevah have pyjamas or some kine to wear, we should get you some or you can borrow a pair of sweats from Jay an' a tee-shirt from Panda…I mean…Andy." Beth pauses to take a breath again. "I t'ink dat's it, but really is up to you, ya know. Wanna make dis da bes' good Chris'mas you can have here."

[msmercury84]

"I Double Dare You," "Paris Part 1"

*Author's Note: Bill Guarnere actually went AWOL after getting hold of some black shoe polish and painting his cast to look like a boot. He had the cast removed by doctors and Guarnere underwent painful sessions of running and walking to get his leg in condition to walk. Getting busted down to the rank of private made problems for him after the war had ended. Guarnere's mother's maiden name was DiSabato according to information provided at Find A Grave. My depiction of Bill Guarnere is solely based on the actor's portrayal in the movie.*

*Smut warning. Some of this chapter is not intended for readers under the age of 18.*

***********************************************************************

The Netherlands, early November, 1944.

Dick Winters sat at his desk at Army headquarters, trying to adapt to paperwork instead of leading Easy Company. One of his aides announced,

"There's a Sergeant Guarnere to see you, Sir."

"Send him in." Lewis Nixon remarked,

"Look what the train brought in!" Bill limped into Winters' office, standing at attention and saluting when he stood before his former Commanding Officer.

"I went AWOL from the hospital to get back here, Sir. I hope it don't cause a problem for ya." Winters smiled,

"And would it worry you if this caused a problem for me, Sergeant Guarnere?" Bill smirked,

"Not a bit, Sir."

In mid October, Guarnere decided to borrow a farmer's motorcycle to make a quicker trip to check on his men up and down the line.

A German sniper fired at Bill, knocking him off of the motorcycle and fracturing the tibia in his right leg. Guarnere was sent to a military hospital in England. He learned that he would be sent to a replacement depo, often called a 'repo depot,' when his leg was healed.

Bill wanted to return to Easy Company. He got hold of some black shoe polish, painting his cast to look like a boot. Guarnere made it as far as the nearest air field before he was caught.

He told the MPs that he would go AWOL again because he wanted to go back to Easy Company. The cast was removed and Guarnere was made to walk and run until his leg was close to healing. Bill was also busted down to private for going AW0L. Somehow the paperwork never got through, so he remained a Staff Sergeant.

Winters told Guarnere,

"We both know who is appearing with the Andrews Sisters in Paris. Since your leg isn't completely healed, I am giving you a ten day 'R and R' leave to join Leigh in Paris. I will contact the USO.

When they are made aware of the situation, they should give me the name of the hotel where she's staying, her room number and the telephone number. Once everything is set up, do you want me to tell her you're going to Paris or do you want to surprise her?"

"I'd like to surprise her, Sir."

"Very well, Sergeant Guarnere. I'm going to do my best to get you on the next military flight to Paris. Some of the paperwork will be fudged a little bit, but I'm confident that you can be included with some commissioned officers.

Once they learn that you're visiting your girl, who happens to be the Songbird of the 506th, the same woman who is currently with the Andrews Sisters in Paris, you should be added to the passenger list with no problems. How about checking back with me in a couple of hours, Sergeant Guarnere?" Bill thanked Winters, adding,

"Sir, would ya please get the item out o' the safe that (he pronounced the word as 'dat') you've been keepin' for me? I'm takin' it wit' me to Paris. Thanks for takin' care of it for such a long time."

Winters smiled as he got up from his chair and crossed the room, stopping in front of the safe. He opened it, taking out the blue velvet box containing Bill's grandmother's engagement ring. Dick closed the safe and handed the box to Guarnere,

"Let me be the first to congratulate you on your engagement to Miss Spencer."

"Thank you, Sir." He saluted Winters and left the office. Guarnere went to the barracks and placed two shirts, two ties on hangers, a spare dress uniform and two pairs of trousers in a garment bag. He placed boxer shorts, several pairs of socks and two packs of condoms in his duffel bag.

Bill planned to shower, shave and change into his dress uniform after he had lunch. He had the ring safely tucked away in a pocket of his regular uniform. George Luz and Bull Randleman walked into the barracks. Bull was smoking a cigar. Luz grinned,

"Look what wandered in, Bull. We got Wild Bill back."

"Glad to see you." Guarnere explained how he went AWOL and returned to Easy Company. He added,

"I got a surprise from Captain Winters. He's givin' me a ten day pass to Paris since my leg ain't healed all the way. Winters is gettin' the name of the hotel where Leigh's stayin' an' her room number from the USO. When he tells 'em about my surprise for my girl, they should cooperate wit' him.

Winters is tryin' to get me on the next military flight to Paris. Leigh doesn't know that I'm payin' her a visit. I'm gonna surprise her wit' somethin'." Bill took the blue velvet box out of his pocket. Luz commented,

"Some guys get all the luck. Wild Bill in Paris! The city will never be the same. She'll really like that velvet box. All jokin' aside, congratulations. Ain't a doubt about Leigh accepting your proposal." Randleman took the cigar out of his mouth, telling Guarnere,

"Congratulations, Buddy. 'bout time we had somethin' to celebrate 'round here. Leave it up to you to go AWOL just to get back to us." George asked,

"So, can we see the ring?" Guarnere smiled, opening the box. Randleman commented,

"It's real pretty." George replied,

"That's a gorgeous ring, Bill." Luz smirked, adding,"Won't be long before the MPs bust you for stealin' it."

"Bull, will ya smack him for me?" Randleman grinned and lightly smacked the back of Luz's head. He then returned the cigar to his mouth.

"This was my Nonna DiSabato's engagement ring. Wit' Italian families, the oldest son usually gets the ring. My oldest brother is wit' the merchant marines an' he has no use for it right now. My other brothers are already married.

Nonna left it to me. Before we left the states I asked our former CO if he would keep it safe for me. He kept it in a safe in different Army offices everywhere we've been. I thought it was the right time to propose since we'll be in Paris together." Bull asked,

"Is nonna the Italian word for grandma?" He pronounced the word "Eye-talian."

"Yes."

Guarnere closed the box lid and returned the velvet ring box to his pocket.

"Have you scallywags had lunch?" When Luz and Randleman told Bill they hadn't eaten yet, he said,

"Let's get somethin' to eat, boys. After that, I gotta finish packin' and clean up. I'll probably have a plane to catch." The men went to the mess hall. They wound up sharing a table with Don Malarkey ,Skip Muck and Frank Perconte.

While they ate, Luz told Malarkey, Muck and Perconte about Bill going AWOL to return to Easy Company. The men weren't surprised by Guarnere's actions. George added,

"Wild Bill has been given a ten day leave to Paris, the lucky bastard."

"Since my leg ain't totally healed, Captain Winters gave me the leave. I'm surprisin' Leigh. Boys, I'm also takin' her a gift." Bill removed the ring box from his jacket pocket and opened it. Muck, Malarkey and Perconte congratulated Guarnere. Frank told him,

"I had a feeling you two would wind up getting married. You're not only getting engaged to a nice, pretty girl, she's a damned good cook, too!" Don told him,

"Leigh is a wonderful girl. I still can't get over how she gave me that ticket to the Glenn Miller concert." Skip said,

"I hope your engagement is as sweet as when I proposed to Faye." Bill thanked the men and started to eat lunch.

************************************************************************

At the same time in Paris, Leigh had finished rehearsing with the Andrews Sisters. She was indulging in some shopping. Spencer was in a lingerie boutique. She had already purchased a sheer peach silk peignoir.

Leigh also bought a strapless black lace bra with a matching garter belt, sheer black panties and black silk stockings. She found a bolero length bed jacket made of sheer dotted black lace. The jacket had capped sleeved and was intended to be worn open. It was long enough to cover the strapless bra.

Earlier in the week, Spencer went to a gynecologist to obtain a method of birth control that would be more reliable than condoms. It would also allow more sensation and pleasure for Bill.

Another USO singer and Leigh had become friends while she was in London. Angela Francisco was married and she told Spencer about a diaphragm, which was worn internally.

Francisco said that only married women in the United States could get fitted for a diaphragm, but she had heard that any woman, single or married could visit a doctor in Paris and obtain the device.

Leigh had no problem whatsoever getting her preferred method of birth control. She received instructions on how to properly use and wear it.

Spencer wasn't sure when Bill's next leave would take place since he was in an army hospital recovering from a broken leg. She knew that they were bound to have a very passionate evening when Guarnere got his leave. Leigh intended to wear the black lingerie for that occasion.

Back in Holland, Bill arrived at Captain Winters' office on time. He saluted and asked,

"Do you have any news about the flight, Sir?"

"As a matter of fact I do, Sergeant Guarnere. If you can be packed and ready in an hour, I will send a driver to take you to the air field."

"Thank you, Sir. I'll be ready to go. I really appreciate ya doin' this for me. "

"You're welcome, Sergeant Guarnere. At least try to take it easy and I hope you have a good time." Bill saluted and replied,

"Thank you again, Sir. I intend to have a good time." He gave Winters a cheeky wink and left the office.

Bill quickly showered and shaved. He ensured that everything he needed was packed. Guarnere would keep the velvet box in an inner pocket of his dress uniform. He was certain that Leigh would be unable to feel the box in his pocket when they embraced.

A driver took Bill to the air field where he boarded a plane with some military higher ups. A few hours later, he landed at an Army airfield in Paris. Winters had given him the name of an official to contact regarding transportation, so Bill asked a nearby MP officer the location of the official's office.

Guarnere soon located and spoke with the official. Twenty minutes later, he was in a jeep with a driver provided for the occasion. Bill made small talk with the driver as they made their way to the city.

Once they reached the city, Guarnere gave the driver the address to Le Bristol Hotel. He arrived at the hotel fifteen minutes later. Bill took his duffel and garment bags from the jeep, thanking the driver. The young man told Bill to call Captain Winters when he was nearing the end of his stay to ensure a ride back to the Army base.

Bill looked at the large, white painted structure. Balconies were provided for every suite. He made his way inside, taking note of the marble floor and the elegant decor, thinking,

"They went all out an' sent my baby to a fancy place. I sure as hell couldn't afford to stay here." Bill spotted an elevator on the left side of the busy lobby.

Guarnere entered the elevator and an Elevator Operator in a dark blue uniform asked in perfect English the floor Bill desired. He told the man that he wanted the fifth floor. When the elevator stopped at the fifth floor, Bill tried to give the Operator a tip. The man refused, saying,

"You are helping to fight the enemy. I will not accept a tip.Your service is greatly appreciated, Monsieur." Bill thanked the man, got his bags and entered the hallway. He noticed a large sign posted in the center of the wall. It listed the suite numbers with arrows indicating the location to the right or to the left.

Bill saw that Suite 520 was on the left side of the building, so he turned to his left and walked down the long corridor that was covered in thick beige carpet. Midway down the hallway, he saw brass numbers, 520, above a door on his right. Guarnere placed his bags on the floor and knocked on the door.

He grinned, hearing Leigh replying,

"Just a moment, please, I'm on my way to the door." She was wearing a cornflower blue Wiggle Dress with her usual stockings and black open toed pumps. Spencer opened the door and her eyes widened with surprise as she saw Guarnere standing there. She exclaimed,

"Oh my God, Bill! What a wonderful surprise! Come in, Honey." Guarnere entered the suite's living room. It was decorated in light blue, tan and white. He put his bags on the floor while Leigh shut and locked the door. Bill pulled Spencer close to him, giving her an extremely passionate kiss.

The kiss was so intense that they remained in each other's arms as Bill attempted to guide Leigh to the nearest wall. They narrowly missed falling over a coffee table in front of a white couch. Guarnere almost knocked over a chair as he found the wall and leaned against it.

Spencer had her arms around Bill's neck as his hands moved from her waist to cup her ass and caress it. He deepened the kiss and Leigh sucked the tip of his tongue into her mouth. The kiss went on a bit longer, then Guarnere broke the kiss, looking into Spencer's eyes, telling her,

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Bill." He continued to hold Leigh close.

"You're a beautiful angel. I love it when ya wear a Wiggle Dress."

"Thanks, Honey. I made a few more of these in different colors since you like them so much. How did you get here? I thought that you were still in the hospital. How is your leg?" Bill told her about going AWOL to get back to Easy Company.

"They took the cast off an' they made me start walkin', then runnin' to get me back into condition. Captain Winters gave me a 10 day R&R pass 'cause my leg ain't completely healed. He got your suite number from the USO an' he put me on a VIP military flight that brought me here. Now I can hear my baby singin' wit' my favorite group."

Leigh made a mental note to be sure that there was a VIP seat available for Bill in the theater. Guarnere looked around the suite,

"My angel is gettin' the star treatment. A crystal chandelier an' all o' this fancy furniture. I've missed my sweet baby."

"I've missed you, too. Thank God you're OK. It scared the hell out of me when I found out you got shot. Bill, please, no more stunts on a motorcycle, OK?" He chuckled,

"Captain Winters kinda said the same thing. Baby, where's your bedroom? I need to put my stuff away." He smirked, adding,"That is if you want me to sleep in your bed."

"Of course you're sleeping in my bed, you sexy smart ass. Just follow me, it's right through these glass doors." Guarnere opened the door for Spencer and followed her to the bedroom. A queen sized bed occupied the center of the room and another crystal chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling.

Floral curtains were pulled back to reveal windows and the French Doors leading to the balcony. Bill hung up his uniform trousers, shirts, ties and an extra dress uniform in an armoire to the right of the bed.

He put the contents of the duffel bag into the top drawer of a chest of drawers that sat beside the armoire.

"Sweetheart, is there a way to close those drapes? I ain't plannin' on puttin' on a show just in case anybody can see in these windows when we get busy."

Spencer showed him how the sash of the curtains could be removed, allowing the curtains to cover the windows. Leigh suddenly thought about the lingerie she had purchased earlier and she asked Bill,

" Honey, do you mind waiting in the living room? I bought a new outfit and I thought I'd model it for you, to see what you think of it. I just need to put it on and get fixed up a little bit." Guarnere agreed to wait in the other room. He first visited the bathroom beside the bedroom before returning to the living room. Bill washed his hands after he was finished in the bathroom. He wasn't sure which towel to use, so he dried his hands on a medium sized towel on a rack by the sink.

Once he was in the living room, Leigh opened the door to the armoire on the left side of the bed and she removed the bag containing the lingerie. She opened the top drawer of the chest of drawers beside the armoire, taking out the bag containing her diaphragm and the spermicidal jelly.

Spencer took the bag with the diaphragm into the bathroom. She removed her slip, garter belt, stockings and her panties before carefully applying the spermicidal jelly to the center of the diaphragm before inserting it.

She washed her hands and dried them on the small towel hanging on the rack by the sink. Then she carried the bag and the items of clothing back to the bedroom.

Leigh closed the curtains and removed her dress, hanging it up in the armoire. She placed her slip, garter belt, stockings and panties into a bag for the hotel's laundry service. Her bra went into the top drawer of the chest of drawers.

Spencer put on the black lace strapless bra and the lace bolero jacket. She then put on the see-through black silk panties, the matching black lace garter belt and the black silk stockings.

Leigh took care to ensure that the seams of her stockings were straight and she put on her black open toed pumps. She opened the middle drawer of the chest of drawers, extracting her small cosmetics bag.

Spencer applied eyebrow pencil, eyeliner, mascara, a hint of blush, powder and she also touched up her red lipstick. She brushed her hair and left the bedroom.

Leigh quietly entered the living room and stood in front of Bill.

"What do you think of my new outfit, Honey?" Guarnere put the newspaper on the coffee table and looked up. He was almost slack jawed at the sight of Leigh in the lingerie.

Although another part of his anatomy was responding to what he saw, Guarnere felt as if his brain had frozen. He couldn't find a coherent word to say. Bill had never been tongue tied around a woman before.

Spencer smiled,

"Do I pass inspection, Sergeant Guarnere?"

"Oh, hell yes! Jesus, Baby, you're stunnin'. All the pin up girls in the world ain't got nothin' on you." Bill noticed her black silk panties and said in an almost reverent tone,

"Holy God, those panties are see-through. I can see every perfect inch o' you. Baby, you have the most beautiful...you know what I mean. I don't wanna say anythin' disrespectful."

Spencer felt extremely pleased that Bill was enjoying the new lingerie. She walked closer and straddled his lap, giving Guarnere a very passionate kiss. Bill held her close and Leigh began to unbutton his dress uniform jacket.

Guarnere let the jacket fall to the floor, feeling glad that he stashed the box containing the engagement ring in the chest of drawers instead of keeping it in the pocket of his dress uniform.

Spencer nibbled his ear and she gently sucked on Bill's neck. She noticed that his cock was extremely hard. Leigh ground her pelvis against Guarnere, making him groan softly. Spencer untied his necktie and unbuttoned his shirt.

Bill quickly removed both items, letting them fall to the floor. He had a wicked grin as he used both hands to reach around Leigh to unhook her strapless bra. It fell on the floor in front of the couch.

Guarnere adored the sight of the sheer black lace bolero over her bare breasts. He caressed and kissed Spencer's breasts before he wrapped his lips around her nipples, sucking on them. She arched her back, loving the feeling of his lips tugging gently on her nipples.

Spencer reached down to unbuckle Bill's belt. He removed the belt and she stood up so Guarnere could remove his boots, socks and trousers. The boots were left by the coffee table while the socks and trousers wound up on the floor.

Leigh rubbed Bill's cock through the material of his boxer shorts. He groaned a bit louder when she gently squeezed his cock. She looked into Guarnere's eyes as she licked her lips. This slightly obscene behavior further aroused him.

Spencer straddled his legs again, rubbing her silk covered sex against his engorged cock.

"Baby, will ya stretch out on the couch for just a little bit? We can get right back to this, but I need to taste you. Could ya just take off the panties an' leave on the stockins an' garter belt?"

Leigh got up and sat on the couch beside Bill to remove her garter belt. She unfastened the stockings from the tabs on the garter belt, then she stood up, looking into Guarnere's eyes as she slowly removed the panties. Spencer let them fall to the floor and she reattached the stockings to the tabs on the garter belt and fastened the garter belt.

Then, Bill stood up, allowing Leigh to fully recline on the couch. She opened her legs.

"You look hotter than hell itself, Baby." Guarnere knelt over Spencer, kissing his way up her legs. He paused to suck on the soft flesh above her stockings. Leigh moaned softly, opening her legs a bit wider. Bill told her in a husky sounding voice,

"You're a fuckin' goddess." He lapped at the lips of her sex, working his way up to her clit. Bill wrapped his lips around the small nub of flesh, gently sucking on it. Spencer moaned louder. She tried very hard to not thrust her pelvis into his face as Guarnere continued to suck on and lick her clit.

A few minutes later, Leigh felt an orgasm building and Bill sucked a bit harder on her clit, sending her over the edge. Her pelvis involuntarily thrust up as the orgasm washed over her body.

Guarnere waited until Spencer had finished coming. Then, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, putting her on the edge of the bed. They stripped the bed of the duvet, top sheet and pillows. Bill said,

"I need to take care o' somethin'. "

"I'm wearing something inside called a diaphragm. It's better birth control, plus you can feel more this way."

"I like the sound o' that. Now, what way does my sweet angel wanna make love?"

"Your sweet angel has turned into a horny little devil. I want to ride that magnificent cock." Guarnere chuckled at her remark and he sat up in bed, leaning his back against the headboard with his right leg bent at the knee and his left leg extended.

He watched Leigh approach the bed and he reclined on the bed, grinning as she straddled his hips. Spencer rubbed her sex on his cock. Guarnere groaned as he felt how wet she was.

"That feels so good, Baby." Spencer guided the tip of his cock into her interior. She made a throaty sounding moan as she slid down the length of him.

Leigh slightly circled her hips as she rode Bill. Then she did something she knew that he loved. Spencer moved up until only the tip of his cock remained inside her, then she quickly slid down the length of him again.

Guarnere groaned as she picked up the pace of riding him. He held both of her breasts in his hands. Bill soon reluctantly let go of Leigh's breasts so he could get a firm hold on her hips as he thrust up into her.

This position stimulated Spencer's G-spot and she could feel another orgasm building. Guarnere continued to thrust up inside her. He groaned at the sweet friction. Bill knew he couldn't last much longer, and he reached up to rub Leigh's clit.

That action soon helped send Spencer over the edge. She cried out passionately as she came. Guarnere felt her contracting around his cock. He started to come,

"Oh...fuck, yes!" Bill gently put Leigh on her side and he withdrew from her. He got the sheet and a pillow. Spencer snuggled up with her head on his chest.

Guarnere stroked her back,

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known. Baby, you're perfect at makin' love."

"I never came that hard before. Bill, you've always been perfect at making love."

"I'm sorry it didn't last very long. Bein' able to feel everythin' made me not last as long as I should."

"I'm not complaining, so there's no need to apologize."

"Will ya wear that outfit again sometime? You looked so beautiful an' sexy. " Leigh assured him that she would wear the black lace ensemble whenever he wanted. After snuggling for awhile, Bill and Leigh took a quick bath together.

Spencer put on her dress and clean lingerie plus a clean garter belt and stockings. She went back to the living room to take all of her items of clothing to put in the bag for the hotel's laundry service while Bill retrieved his clothes, a fresh pair of socks and a fresh pair of boxer shorts and got dressed in the bedroom.

Leigh noticed a piece of paper on the floor of the suite's living room. She picked it up and was stunned to see a note in Guarnere's handwriting saying, "Find the address for Lulu's."

Spencer was shocked. She couldn't believe her eyes. Still, there was no denying the fact that Bill wanted the address for the well known whorehouse. Leigh trusted Guarnere completely from the time they met.

She tried to remain calm and rational, thinking,

"There has to be a reasonable explanation for this." A nagging doubt wouldn't go away, and she wondered,

"Have I been played for a fool?" Spencer felt as if her heart would break when she considered the possibility that if Bill was planning on visiting Lulu's, their relationship was over. She would never be able to forgive him.

Guarnere entered the suite's living room.

"Sweetheart, do ya feel like goin' out for supper or do ya want to order from room service?" Leigh got up from the chair in which she'd been sitting. Bill saw the expression on her face. Spencer's emotional pain was almost palpable.

"What's wrong, Baby?" Leigh walked across the room to stand in front of Guarnere. She held up the note Bill wrote to himself.

"This goddamned paper I found on the floor is what's wrong! Why the fuck are you so interested in Lulu's? I know what and where it is. One of the singers I worked with in London, Samantha Meeks, found out that her boyfriend was screwing around behind her back at that place!" Bill was shocked to hear Leigh swearing at him. Spencer added,

"Goddamn it, Bill! I have trusted you completely! I gave you myself and my heart! How dare you do this to me!" Leigh began to cry as if her heart was completely shattered.

Guarnere took her hand and Spencer pulled away from him. She glared as she pointed her finger at Bill,

"Don't you fucking touch me! I'm very close to throwing you out of this suite, bag and baggage." She turned her back on him, walking across the room.

"Leigh, will ya please sit on the couch wit' me. I can explain why I have the name of that place." She sat down on the couch, still sobbing.

"At least have the decency to tell me the truth. Even if it's something I don't want to hear."

Bill got his handkerchief out of his pocket and tried to dry her tears. Spencer took the handkerchief out of his hand and blew her nose as the tears continued to fall. Leigh got up and went into the bedroom. She put the handkerchief in a bag for the hotel's laundry service.

Spencer returned to sit on the couch. Guarnere pulled her close to him, saying gently but firmly,

"Leigh, I need ya to listen to me. Don't do or say anythin' else until I have a chance to explain this to ya. I wrote the name of that place down for 'One Lung' McClung, Shifty Powers an' Bull. I promised 'em that I would find out where it was.

I know it looks real bad where I'm concerned, but you're tryin' and convictin' me for somethin' I didn't do. I kept it quiet 'cause I know Melissa is your friend.

Baby, I would never think of goin' behind your back an' seein' some broad in a place like that. I love you, nothin's changed my mind about that."

"I want to believe you because you mean the world to me." Guarnere pulled her close to him,

"If you can get away long enough to get to Holland, you can ask Bull, Shifty an' McClung. They won't protect me by lyin'. I don't think Bull is treatin' your friend right at all, but that's his business." Leigh moved back enough to look into Bill's eyes and realized that he was telling the truth.

"I should've known better than to jump to conclusions. It looked for all the world that you were interested in that place. Can you ever forgive me for being so stupid?" Bill cupped his hands around her face,

"There's no reason to forgive. Like I said, it didn't look good where I was concerned. I understand why ya got upset." Guarnere had newfound respect for Leigh when she stood up to him. He loved her feisty nature. She embraced him and Bill held her close. He chuckled,

"When you get fired up, ya curse like a sailor. Good thing ya didn't tell me my boot needed to be tied. I have a feelin' that you would've kicked my ass into next week." Spencer laughed at his remark,

"I told you a long time ago that I can curse a blue streak when I'm angry or upset." Bill kissed Leigh.

"Are ya feelin' better now, Baby?"

"Yes, much better."

"Glad to hear it, Honey. Let me tell ya about a crazy thing I did in Eindhoven before I broke my leg. When we jumped into Holland, the Dutch people loved us. Whatever they had, they shared wit' us. They had lots of apples.

We put the apples in our jump suit pockets. Pretty soon, I had about ten thousand apples." Leigh laughed at Bill's comment. He continued,

"All at once," He imitated the sound of German machine gun fire, "what do ya think I did? I got a goddamned apple outta my pocket. I thought it was a grenade, an' I threw it at the Germans. I'm throwin apples after the goddamned Germans! They thought it was a secret weapon. Leigh, ya shoulda seen the look on their faces."

Guarnere wondered if Spencer wanted to go out to eat. Leigh thought it sounded like a good idea. She put on a claret colored Wiggle Dress with three quarter inch sleeves and touched up her makeup and lipstick. Bill was already wearing his dress uniform, so he didn't need to change clothes.

Leigh grabbed her purse. Bill opened the door leading to the hallway, allowing her to exit the suite first. Spencer locked the door to the suite and Guarnere closed the door behind him.

Bill and Leigh found a bistro not far from the hotel. They enjoyed the simple high-quality home style cooking. After supper, Guarnere leisurely smoked a cigarette as they strolled hand in hand, looking at the Eiffel Tower.

The following night, Bill and Leigh returned to Spencer's suite after they had supper at the bistro they visited the night before. Guarnere had his usual cigarette after supper. There was a hint of a chill in the air and the clear sky sparkled with stars.

Guarnere asked Leigh if she would like to sit on the balcony in front of her bedroom. He opened the French Doors leading to the patio and waited for her to go outside first. Bill was pleased that room service had left a bottle of champagne chilling in a silver bucket of ice, two champagne flutes on the table and a vase of red Sweetheart Roses.

Leigh noticed the champagne and the roses.

"Honey, did you order this?"

"Yes, I wanted to spoil my angel a little bit." He wanted to have the perfect romantic setting for what he had in mind.

"Thanks, Bill. They're beautiful." He pulled out one chair for Leigh, making sure she was seated before he sat down beside her.

Spencer smiled,

"You've always been extremely romantic. That's another thing I love about you. There's something about Paris, romance seems to be everywhere.

I'm here with the handsome man who owns my heart. It's a perfect evening." Guarnere poured the champagne into both champagne flutes. He raised his glass,

"To the beautiful love o' my life an' to love." Spencer raised her glass. They carefully touched the glasses together and sipped the champagne. Leigh told him,

"This is delicious. You made a good choice of champagne, Honey."

"I'm glad ya like it, Baby. I gotta confess, I asked the guy downstairs at the desk, what the best champagne was as far as my money was concerned. He told me to order this." Spencer figured out that Bill spoke to the Concierge of the hotel.

"It's sweet that you went to all that trouble to get the roses and a good bottle of champagne. As you would say, you went all out tonight." Guarnere thought,

"I'm goin' all out to make this perfect for my baby. I want this to be a night she'll never forget." Bill got up from the table, saying that he had a small surprise for her.

"Will ya keep your eyes closed, Honey? I'll let ya know when to open 'em." Leigh promised that she wouldn't open her eyes until he told her it was OK to open them. She was extremely curious about the surprise Guarnere mentioned.

When Bill returned he stood beside Leigh. He gingerly got down on his knees, mindful of his healing leg. Then, he got the ring box out of the pocket of his dress uniform jacket and held it in his hand.

"Open your eyes, Sweetheart," Spencer's eyes widened with surprise when she saw Bill on his knees and the blue velvet box in his hand. She had a radiant smile on her face as he told her,

"Baby, I've had this since the day we visited Ma and Pop before we both shipped out to England. Captain Winters has been keepin' it in safes in every Army office where we've been stationed. I've been waitin' for the right time an' place to do this." Bill opened the blue velvet box, showing her the ring.

"Leigh Spencer, will you do me the honor of becomin' my wife?Sweetheart, I love you an' I want to spend the rest of my life wit' ya. I want your face to be the last thing I see before I go to sleep an' the first thing I see in the mornin'. Baby, I promise to love you for the rest of our lives an' I will be a devoted husband.

Leigh felt elated as she bent down to kiss Bill, telling him,

"Oh, Bill, yes! Honey, you just made my most desired dream come true! I love you with all of my heart. Knowing that I will go to sleep and wake up beside you every day for the rest of our lives sounds like heaven to me. I promise to love you forever, and it will be an easy promise to keep. It's a beautiful ring! Would you please put it on my finger?"

Guarnere took her left hand and kissed it before he slipped the ring on her finger.

"It looks beautiful on ya, Honey. This was my Nonna DiSabato's ring. She left it to me in her will. In Italian families, the oldest son gets the ring. My brother Ernest is in the Merchant Marines, he didn't need the ring. All my other brothers, except Henry, were already married when Nonna died. I don't know why, but she insisted that I should get her ring." Bill stood up since kneeling was causing his right leg to hurt.

Leigh stood up and hugged Bill, telling him,

"You picked the most romantic location to propose. Baby, I'll never forget this night as long as I live. I like the sound of Leigh Guarnere, it has a nice ring to it, no pun intended.

Someday, I'll tell our children and grandchildren about how you proposed to me. Bill, I can't begin to describe how much I love you and how happy you've made me tonight. You surprised me and you made me the happiest woman in Paris."

Guarnere gave Spencer a passionate kiss.

"Honey, you made me the happiest man in Paris when ya told me 'Yes.' I know when the time comes, you'll be the sexiest and most beautiful Nonna in South Philadelphia."

I was hopin' you wanted to have kids, 'cause I'd like to have a family someday. 'course I don't want to have as many kids as Ma and Pop had."

"Bill, I want to be the mother of your children and I hope we have a fairly big family, with least one little boy who looks and acts exactly like you and at least one girl.

"You'll have your hands full wit' a kid like me. If we have a little girl, I hope she looks just like her beautiful Ma. I hope she's a singer, too. Is it OK wit' you if we wait until after the war is over before we get married? That way, we can plan a nice weddin' ceremony and include our families an' friends."

"Honey, it's fine with me to wait until after the war is over. It would definitely give us time to get everything arranged the way we want. I don't think a little boy like you would be a problem. Are you sure you want an exact replica of me? I'm not sure the world is ready for another Leigh Spencer." Bill chuckled at her question,

"I wouldn't want our little girl to be any other way. You're perfect, Baby."

"I think you're perfect, too. Let's tell our folks the good news. Due to the circumstance of the calls being made, I don't think the Andrews Sisters will object as long as we don't talk too long."

"That's a great idea, Baby. Is it OK if I call Ma and Pop first." Spencer said that was fine. Bill called the front desk and asked them to place the call to South Philadelphia. He gave the operator the telephone number.

While Guarnere waited, he asked Leigh,

"What time will it be at home?" She told him that the United States was five or six hours behind Paris time. The operator told Bill,

"I have the connection made with the other party. You may speak to them now. Bill said

"Hello."

"Billy, is everything OK?" Guarnere smiled,

"Ma, things couldn't be better. I just proposed to Leigh an' she said, 'Yes!'"

"Oh, that's wonderful news, Billy!" She paused to tell Bill's father.

"Your pop says 'congratulations'. I'm gonna let everybody know the good news. This is probably costin' a fortune to call, so I'd better be goin'. Give my love to Leigh! I couldn't have picked a better daughter-in-law." Guarnere promised to deliver his mother's message to Spencer.

He told her,

"Ma sends her love. She said that she couldn't have picked a better daughter-in-law."

"That's so sweet. I couldn't have picked a better mother-in-law."

"Thanks, Baby. It's great that you an' Ma are crazy about each other."

"I think the world of her, your dad and your sisters. Now, it's my turn to tell the good news to my folks." She got the operator to place a person to person call to the Spencers. The operator made the connection after a few minutes. She told Leigh that she could begin speaking to the other party on the line. She said,

"Hello." Cal answered her immediately,

"Leigh, good to hear from you! What's going on?" Spencer had a brilliant smile on her face as she replied,

"You're gaining a son-in-law after the war is over. Bill just proposed in the most romantic setting, Paris!" Cal teased her,

"And you turned him down." She giggled,

"Dad, you know how much I love him. Bill gave me his grandmother's engagement ring and it's absolutely stunning!" Cal congratulated his daughter.

"He wrote to me a few months ago, asking for our blessings.

Wait just a minute, your mother just walked into the house." Cal told Louise that Leigh was calling from Paris. Louise picked up the phone,

"What's going on? I just got back from my hair appointment." When Leigh gave her mother the news, she replied,

"Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations! When is the wedding?" When Louise learned that the wedding would take place after the war was over, she told Leigh,

"You'll have plenty of time to plan everything just the way you want it. Your father and I are delighted to welcome Bill into the family. You couldn't have picked a better man for your husband." She and Cal promised to write or call soon. Leigh told Bill,

"Mom just said I couldn't have picked a better man to be my husband. I agree with her one hundred percent."

"How about we celebrate wit' a toast?" Leigh agreed and Bill poured a small amount of champagne in each glass. He raised his glass,

"To my angel, may we have a long lifetime o' love." Spencer raised her glass,

"To you, Honey, may we have a long lifetime of love." Guarnere suddenly realized something, commenting,

"Sweetheart, I can't believe that I didn't get somethin' for your birthday an' our anniversary." Leigh kissed Bill,

"This beautiful ring more than makes up for it. You gave me the perfect gift for both occasions. This is something I've wanted for quite some time." Guarnere tenderly kissed her. That night, after making love tenderly, Bill and Leigh fell asleep in each other's arms.

@lizziebitch33 @wontyoutakeitback @alluringmoonlightbabe @bookfansworld @stinkyrat09 @celie-voss @cagzzz107 @ethereal-jumpwings @havaneselover08 @lenabob @leksi-rae @marycorleone @f1-and-shiz @bellewintersroe @softguarnere @vibing-away @theretroloverofmusic @brassknucklespeirs @breadsprinkles @itstheheebiejeebies

[serrurie]

Getting Your Life Together: Day 3- Speech And Dignity

Hello, friends!

I hope you've learned to embrace your smile, based on the last post. Are you feeling beautiful yet? You should. If you don't I'll tell you that you're beautiful, and that isn't coming from some random internet person; through God's eyes, we are all beautiful. Let's get into it.

Today is day three of 'Getting Your Life Together: Day 3- Speech And Dignity'. In the comments of this post, before we even dive deeper, just give me a sentence that sounds like how you talk in real life; NOT how you type on the internet, because this is how people talk on the internet:

'bro I did this when I was like 9 lol'

'oop really'

'dat real bad'

(I'm sorry it's so cringy, forgive me). But, you get the idea, right? We're looking for some real-life treatment. Talk to me like you would in real life, not like I'm some stranger you met on TikTok. How do you see me? As an acquaintance, you'd like to know better? As an opponent getting in your way? As a stranger that's already ticking you off? Please, reflect on your comment! It will be crucial to today's post.

See friends, our words do not simply portray our personalities, or where we're from; they also portray how we treat other people in our lives, how we feel on the on the inside. Do you treat yourself with quality? How about others? These are all things that can be found in our speech. And I don't know about you, friends, but I want to sound confident, and valuable when I'm trying to make a friend. So, set down the curse words and pack away the self-diminishing jokes; you are worth so much more than that. So, here are some tips to dignify others and yourself with what you say:

1) No cussing. Cussing is vulgar, and very far away from elegance. I can't see someone going for a 'pink' or 'soft girl' aesthetic saying words that diminish what they're trying to say with a bunch of things a guy at a pub (in a movie) would say. Even if you are going for a different vibe, such as weirdcore or goth, it's more professional and mature to speak without cussing. That being said, don't sound like a five-year-old by using things like 'poopy-head' or 'butt-sandwich'; that just makes you sound childish. Choose words carefully; there are better ways to express yourself that aren't cussing or toddler speech.

2) Be positive. I know, I know; there's just so much to complain about, right? Well, there's a lot to be grateful for, too! Instead of saying, 'My dumb brother hit his head playing football,' say, 'I'm so glad my brother is okay!' I know that positive people may be annoying, but people are also attracted to those who lift them up! So, be that positive person! Lift other people up with kind words and thankful remarks! I recommend making a 'Gratitude List' of all the things you are thankful for.

3) Don't be too loud or quiet. I'll give you two conversations between you and a person. Let's see which one you like:

  a. You: Hi, Tessa! What do you think you're getting here?

      Tessa: OOOOOooooooHHhhHHHHHHhhh! I think that I'M going to get a SCONE! How DELISH! This place is ADORABLEeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeEEEEEeeeeEE!

b. You: Hey, Marie Anne! What do you think you're getting here?

    Marie Anne: Well...uh..maybe a cookie....i. I dunno...

Who would you want to talk to for longer? If you are a normal person, probably neither. This is why it's important to keep a normal, presentable volume. You don't want to be too over-the-top and throw someone off, but you don't want to tick someone off by being too quiet to hear; being too loud makes you seem oblivious, and being too quiet makes you seem underconfident. 

4) Add emotion when you speak. Being monotone makes people want to DIE of boredom when they listen to you. I used to have a teacher who had a HUGE room that left plenty of space for projection and enunciation, but he instead spoke as if he was talking flatly to only one person. He's a nice teacher, no hate, but make sure your voice has a range of vocals. Make sure to move your face, too. This is a personal struggle for me as well; but it's fine, since we can work through it together!

Now, go back to your comment. After reading these tips, do you think you are hospitable? No one should change themselves, because you are all amazing, but as people, we mustn't throw people off; there is light inside of you, and you need it to shine!

Reflection:

Write down a couple of sentences or as much as you like. See how you sound, and practice your sentences in a mirror. Look at your face; does it reveal your emotions? How about your tone; does it move up and down? These are all things to practice, friends. Remember, I'm here with you, every step of the way; remember when you feel embarrassed that I'm doing it too!

I love you!

-Serrurie

[reinereix]

problems :))

my parents have been fighting continuously over extended familial problems and my mom blames it all on me that bcuz of me they are fighting. my dad blames my mom that she doesnt look after me and cuz of dat i score less marks. they have been extra like super extra pressurising me to study but since July ion even feel like and even if i get 45/50 they scold me! my friend scored 46 and compared me to her... my tution teacher told my parents that i dont pay attention in the class nor tuition just because i yawn... and because of that my parents have been extra pressurising me. i dont even get free time.. of my own.. always telling me to study (im in 9th grade). my mom's getting a lot over controlling now. she asked me to delete ig cuz its a "distraction" when its the only one app which makes me feel like yeah im doing well (tho ik im addicted) In July 2023, i once accidentally posted a meme of my teacher (not made by me) on my story and a bitch snitched on me and told her and the teacher complained the principal and she called my dad! and i got real bad scolding in a very harsh tone by my dad i swear... after dat day i have never been the same. they dont even trust me when i say it wasnt me who made it. i lost my appetite... i lost my energy. I WAS JUST WASNT THE SAME. i almost blacked out in the middle of shopping... my mom tells me she should have killed me when i was born. i should have been born as a cow not human and if i was she would have beat me up in the worst possible way. she runs behind me with a heated pressure cooker and knife etc if we even get in an argument. today she picked up my guitar to hit me. before it was a chair. my parents threaten to rot me, lock me up, break my legs, hands etc. my mom says im not worthy to be a human and when i say her the things which she says me she's triggered and wants to hit me. and i cant even justify/explain myself because that's considered talking back. cant shut the door for gods sake. one time it slipped from my mouth that i might be in depression infront of my mum and all she said was "dats why u gotta study" "what pain/sadness do you have? do you not get food? clothing? shelter? do we not provide you with everything you need" my parents forbad me to take part in any extra curricular activities and forcing me to take part in quizes and what not, like debates? competition regarding intellect which ive absolutely no interest in...plus watching yt explanation videos is also not allowed atm DUDE IM SO DONE.. i cant even visit my friends, nor go out w them... i cant even tell my dad im using insta...i cant even tell them ab my male friends, cant even introduce my male seniors (who are like my brothers) to them, cant invite them over either...its an unending list.. i wished to write more but nvm! thanks for reading :) i hope you are having an amazing day/night <3 with regards - T ps im from India

[d2kvirus]

Dickheads of the Month: August 2024

As it seems that there are people who say or do things that are remarkably dickheaded yet somehow people try to make excuses for them or pretend it never happened, here is a collection of some of the dickheaded actions we saw in the month of August 2024 to make sure that they are never forgotten.  

Better not suggest that bonehead messiah Tommy Robinson is in any way affiliated with the Islamophobic riots across England, as that would be terribly wrong as he's conspicuously hiding in Tenerife to say he can't have anything to do with them

...similarly don't suggest waffling gargoyle Nigel Farage is in any way affiliated with the far-right riots across England, not even when he or his stablemates Richard Tice or David Atherton make obviously inflammatory statements or post patently inflammatory things online in regards to them, after all it wasn't Farage that was misinforming the public it was noted sex trafficker Andrew Tate's fault as Farage was merely repeating what Tate said unquestioningly before deciding an unscheduled trip to Hong Kong might be a good idea

...nor should we blame Sarah Edwards for the migrant-hosting hotel in her Tamworth constituency being attacked by the racist rioters, in spite Sarah Edwards voicing complaints about the migrant-hosting hotel in her Tamworth constituency in Parliament for no logical reason whatsoever, which of course isn't going to be considered a Labour whip-removal offence unlike something truly heinous like voting to feed children

...and don't blame Lee Anderson either, because he says Jess Phillips is to blame for mentioning a migrant hotel which was attacked - while pretending he hasn't been doxxing migrant hotels on his socials for years, though Ashfield was fortunate to not have masses of far-right rioters trashing the place, just like Clacton was fortunate and Basildon was fortunate...

...nor should failed gameshow contestant Katie Hopkins be held to account for anything she did, for example literally tweeting a list of locations across England where by complete coincidence one fascist pogrom after another happened to take place on the dats she posted in the locations which she posted

...and failed nepo baby Lawrence Fox absolutely should not be held responsible for geeing up the neo-Nazi looters, even though that;s exact what he was doing online before suddenly legging it to Ireland for no reason given

...yet according to the BBC social media is 100% to blame, which was apparently news to Lee Anderson when, on his GB News show, he alternated between defending the far-right thugs and cheering them on, which last time I checked puts the blame on traditional media

So now billionaire manchild Elon Musk is adding election interference to the list of ventures he dabbles in but not particularly well, creating a PAC which collects user data from a register to vote form which does not register people to vote, but the form certainly does steal their data

...and soon afterwards billionaire manchild Elon Musk decided to voice his definitely-informed-in-any-way opinion about the gammony riots across England by saying that "Civil war is inevitable" - note the quotation marks, as that's his direct quote

...but wait! Another genius idea by billionaire manchild Elon Musk to fix the broken hellscape that is Twitter just dropped! Removing visible counts of any form of interaction, be they likes, comments, reposts or quotes - which of course not only further removes any chance of saying billionaire manchild Elon Musk got ratioed yet again, but also reduces the chances of people seeing the amount of racist and transphobic material which billionaire manchild Elon Musk interacts with on a daily basis

...and in a strop billionaire manchild Elon Musk said he was going to sue every company which removed their advertising from Twitter when it became a far-right hellhole with the owner of the far-right hellhole in particular doing much to signal boost the most hellish of far-right hellions in order to maintain Twitter's status as a far-right hellhole that nobody wants to advertise on

...and because billionaire manchild Elon Musk loves to prove people who disagree with him tend to be this concept known as "being correct every single time", he looked like a stable genius retweeting Britain First leader Ashlea Simon when they posted a fake Torygraph article claiming Keir Starmer wanted detainment camps for the far-right rioters who smashed up the country while generally being racist, fascist, and generally pathetic. Just like Musk, then

...but wait, then billionaire manchild Elon Musk decided to blame the myriad of technical difficulties that blighted his livestream with registered sex offender Donald Trump on a DDOS attack that never happened, rather than the reality that Twitter Spaces has been unable to handle livestreams with more than twelve people watching them due to Musk fucking up the streaming infrastructure and being unable to fix it due to firing the people whose job it was to maintain Twitter's streaming infrastructure

...soon afterwards billionaire manchild Elon Musk was looking to win hearts and minds with a PR blitz...by gifting a Clustertruck to noted Russian war criminal Ramzan Kadyrov

...and then billionaire manchild Elon Musk responded to a summons from the Brazilian supreme court due to Twitter not having legal representation in Brazil ever since Musk closed Twitter's Brazilian office by posting an AI generated image of the Brazilian supreme court chief justice in prison

...and because billionaire manchild Elon Musk is such a thin-skinned bitch, he then went on an unhinged rant accusing the supreme court judge who shuttered Twitter in Brazil due to lacking legal representation ever since billionaire manchild Elon Musk shuttered their Brazilian office of election interference with the quite remarkable tell on himself that he made these accusations - and then asked if anyone with evidence could forward it to him

Hard centre extremist Emanuel Macron is still refusing to meet with the left-wing coalition which won France's legislative election in June, having already used the Olympics as a stalling tactic, but you know who he has met? Marine Le Pen, because centrists gotta centrist

It appears that Angela Carini learned from being eliminated in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics, coming back to the Paris Olympics to...retire from her bout against Imane Khelif after 45 seconds after being punched in the face a couple of times, which I'm sure has absolutely nothing to do with the transphobic moral panic about Khelif whatsoever...

...and then freelance snuff photographer Logan Paul decided to voice his ignorant opinion on the situation and be a transphobic turd about Khelif, and when informed that they'd be transphobic about a woman for the engagement grift his response was to literally say "Whoopsie!" which I hope isn't his line of defence when Coffeezilla drags his sorry ass into court

...leading to Lisa Nandy forgetting her talk of how culture wars are over to firmly side with the likes of JK Rowling, Posie Parker, Joe Rogan, Logan Paul and other transphobic pieces of shit

...and then Nicola Adams decided she wanted to be the latest example of a former sportswoman who went full-TERF first by mouthing her patently wrong opinion, and after admitting she was wrong she showed growth by...retweeting Ian Miles Cheong signal boosting some transphobic conspiracy theorist who decided that Imane Khelif was a man because transphobes are noted for their ability to admit they are talking bollocks

...but then Laura Woods decided she wanted a piece of the transphobic dickhead pie and repeatedly made the same brainless comments about Imane Khelif, doubled down on those brainless comments when challenged (not least because by this point only an attention-seeking dickhead would wade into the subject and not expect immediate pushback), and then went crying to the press about being harassed, somehow failing to spot the irony of piling-on to somebody who was being harassed

...but isn't it funny how militant TERF JK Rowling didn't tweet a single word for two weeks which definitely had nothing to do with Imane Khelif's threat of a lawsuit and her lawyers telling her to shut the fuck up, before Rober Galbraith himself tweeted some utterly deranged shit about how Khelif should send her gender test result to Rowling so she could dictate whether she was a woman or not. Because, remember, she's about protecting women...

It looks like Rachel Reeves had to make another one of those "difficult decisions" which she claims to hate making yet consistently makes anyway, this time giving Labour donor Ian Corfield a plum role in the Treasury - but don't accuse her or Keir Starmer's Labour Party of cronyism...

It certainly appears that Fox News knowingly and willingly colluded with registered sex offender Donald Trump to stage a wholly fake ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery so they could claim that Kamala Harris did not attend a ceremony to honour nobody at all as the whole thing was fake

Interesting how Ed Balls gave Yvette Cooper such an easy ride when interviewing her on Good Morning Britain, which I'm sure has nothing to do with Balls interviewing his literal fucking wife. Of course, he gives all Labour MPs an easy ride, as evidenced a couple of days earlier where he and Andrew Pierce decided to dogpile Zarah Sultana live on national TV in a way that definitely doesn't beg multiple questions about their sneering, bullying approach

Nobody told Rosie Duffield that the Gender Critical cult had been shown their asses by their gibbering rage at a woman winning an Olympic gold medal in boxing, hence she led a meeting which looked either like a cult gathering or like the rally in The Wall

Used car salesman Richard Tice demonstrated how Reform Ltd definitely aren't a bunch of cranks by saying that Keir Starmer should be arrested for encouraging Covid vaccine takeup. In spite the fact he was in opposition at the time. And Tice posted a video to his socials at the time encouraging his source of funding followers to get themselves vaccinated...

How lucky for Lauren Edwards that she didn't vote to remove the two child benefit cap, as that would have had the Labour whip removed - instead she merely has a history of racist, ablest, homophobic and classist tweets that were apparently an "error of judgment" spanning several years, so she gets to stay in Keir Starmer's Labour party

It's funny that the International Olympic Committee were happy to turn a blind eye to Steven van de Velde raping a 12 year old, let alone how Israel continued committing atrocities throughout the games yet weren't banned (though Russia were), but you know what made the IOC act in a matter of seconds? Uploading Gojira's performance in the opening ceremony to Youtube

I'm sure that Jordan Cooper had images of heroically dropping bombs on refugee camps when he decided to fly from the USofA to fight for the IDF - but instead he wound up as the most pathetic casualty of the ongoing genocide after the IDF killed him not by their usual tactics of firing at one of their own side or driving a tank over him, but by giving him peanut butter which triggered his nut allergy

Alleged news channel GB News had the wholly original idea of threatening to sue any advertisers who removed advertising from their channel. Within a day of Elon Musk threatening to sue advertisers who removed their advertising from Twitter. I thought the point was adjusting the statement you were given so it sounds like you were making it of your own free will, not mindlessly repeating the same script?

Professional victims Mark Lewis and Mandy Blumenthal still haven't left the UK due to antisemitism like they claimed they were going to do five years ago, but they did turn up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to wag their fingers at Reginald D Hunter for one joke before immediately running to Sabrina Miller to quickly dash off a Daily Mail piece which bore no relation to how the events unfolded about how they were being harassed for being Israeli when they aren't Israelis, regardless of the Israeli-sounding pseudonyms Miller gave them

Nothing says "change" quite like Jas Athwal being revealed as a slum landlord whose properties are coated in black mould within weeks of Keir Starmer's Labour Party lying their way into power. Just a reminder, Athwal was parachuted in because Sam Tarry broke the most heinous taboo of joining striking workers on the picket lines...

Pure dystopian horror from Disney as they tried to have a wrongful death lawsuit against them due to somebody's wife dying of an allergic reaction at one of their restaurants tossed out because her husband subscribed to a one-month trial for Disney+ which meant that he had arbitrated all disputes with the corporation

Definitely not weird that Matt Walsh and Mike Lindell infiltrated the DNC in disguises which fooled nobody so they could spend the time stalking the convention floor looking fucking weird

The Olympic coverage from the BBC was the absolute worst of English exceptionalism, best summed up by how their coverage focused on whichever English person who won a bronze medal in one event or another while the person who actually won said event was either barely visible in the corner of the shot or, in some cases, not even named and required a trip to Wikipedia

Andrew Tate's Mini-Me Adin Ross demonstrated just how intelligent he is by violating FEC regulations when gifting registered sex offender Donald Trump a Rolex and a Clustertruck live on stream. So did he learn from this? Of course not, he followed it up by streaming himself offering $1m to dig up dirt on HasanAbi...

Apparently we should blame Ticketmaster for using dynamic pricing to charge absurd amounts for Oasis reunion tickets, but we must certainly not blame Liam and Noel Gallagher for shrugging their shoulders about Ticketmaster using dynamic pricing, as the artists can say whether or not Ticketmaster uses it

Noted rapist Andrew Tate thought it would be a good idea to post a video with him wearing nothing but what appeared to be a pair of bikini briefs - which not only served to demonstrate that Greta Thunberg was right about his small dick energy, but also had Tate's own followers start transvestigating him due to his anatomy being not unlike a Ken doll's

Funny how there wasn't a single End Wokeness tweet for the entire time that Jack Posobiec was livestreaming himself harassing people - but as soon as the livestream finished End Wokeness started tweeting yet again. It's almost like there's a connection...

Once again WWE are booking angles solely to skew Google search results, in this case booking a storyline where Logan Paul kayfabe sues LA Knight - which just so happens to have started a few days after Logan Paul threatened Coffezilla with a very real SLAPP suit for exposing his NFT pyramid scheme. But I'm sure it's just a coincidence, just like the sexting storyline last month which coincided with the latest round of allegations against Vince McMahon from the Janel Grant case...

...though I doubt Logan Paul pushing his dog off a boat into the path of the propeller is going to be a WWE storyline, right? Right...?

Can registered sex offender Donald Trump just admit that he fat fingered Kamala Harris' name so it came out as "Kamabla" and not try and make that a thing to the point that members of his campaign are unthinkingly saying the same thing, because that's what happens when you are members of a cult led by somebody who at this point is either a toddler or merely senile. But hey, at least we're not asking questions about why he's using Jeffrey Epstein's jet or when Taylor Swift is going to sue him off the face of the earth for posting AI generated images of her endorsing his campaign...

[iklees]

The Art Thief / Noah Charney

Uit een kerk in Rome wordt een Annunziata van Caravaggio gestolen en uit het depot van de Malevich Society in Parijs, één van diens 'wit op wit' schilderijen. In Londen koopt de National Gallery of Modern Art op een veiling bij Christie's een Malevich, die kort daarna ook wordt gestolen, net als een ander — onbekend — schilderij dat op diezelfde veiling is gekocht door een particulier. Gespecialiseerde rechercheurs van resp. de Sureté en Scotland Yard doen, los van elkaar onderzoek, en hebben niet door hoe alles met elkaar samenhangt.

Een irritant boek. De plot is ingenieus, maar het is verschrikkelijk slecht geschreven. Zinnen zoals "[She] sat on the edge of her desk, arms crossed, looking unamused and wearing a black suit." De personages zijn plat, op het karikaturale af.

"What we need," said Bizot, "is a Bible … uh … what's it called when everything's linked up, you know, so you can look up one word and find all the examples … " "A dictionary?" Lesgourges looked confused. "No, not a dictionary. You know, where it lists … " "A thesaurus?" "No! Have you ever heard of a Bible thesaurus? What's the … we need a dictionary to look up the word for dictionary … ah! That's it, a concordance." "Oh, right." On the table next to the computer sat a framed black-and-white photograph of Lesgourges, with a full head of hair, his arms slung around a young woman. The photo frame was dustless. Lesgourges manipulated the keyboard with one hyperextended finger at a time. "Now what do we do?" asked Bizot. "We can just type in a passage name and number, and it will find it for us?" "We'll never need to open a book again. What shall I enter?" "Delacloche suggested that CH could be the abbreviation for the book of Chronicles. But 347 sounds like too many numbers for a chapter or verse. We should try all the combinations, and see if any of the passages make sense. Try," Bizot considered, "Chronicles, chapter 3, verse 4." Lesgourges typed, and the screen stirred to action.

En die erudiete Franse kunstkenners proberen dan eerst 3:4, 3:7 en zelfs 4:7, terwijl iedereen met een beetje bijbelkennis weet dat 3:47 of 34:7 de meeste logische opties zijn… Waar ze hoe dan ook géén concordantie voor nodig hebben.