#well i guess i was forced to go to las vegas once for an event and i guess that's sort of close but like.

[unityrain24]

do i live anywhere near new mexico usa? no. not have i ever. but will new-mexican-style open-face enchiladas except eaten more like a taco bc i can't eat that much food always be the most nostalgic meal to me? yes

[bukojuiice]

the wedding booth  — eren jaeger

ೃ pairing: (eren jaeger x  fem! reader)

ೃ after being unwillingly dragged to plan and create a wedding booth for your first university festival, eren accompanies you to a bridal boutique. there, he contemplates about the future and all of the cheesy romantic stuff he wants to do with you.

ೃ genre and warnings: college au, lots and lots of fluff!

ೃ  my nav  →  my aot masterlist

ೃ 1k words

My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Wedding Planner, Wedding Crashers... hell, even Mamma Mia.

If having to be forced to watch these romantic comedies about weddings doesn't give you the sudden urge to get hitched and run away to some tropical island, then you don't know what will.

For your very first uni fair at Shigashina University, your friends had proposed a Marriage booth. To be more specific, three of your friends did. Jean, Sasha, and Connie are the masterminds behind this stupid idea and it's all because of three things:

1. Jean is pining over Mikasa so so bad. So many years have passed and yet he still hasn't found a way to confess. And so, due to his pompous ass binge-watching stupid rom-coms recently, he thinks that if "fake dating" can bring two people together, then having a fake wedding with his unrequited crush of 12 years could finally make her fall for him too. He wants the booth to be as iconic as a wedding straight out of Las Vegas. Problem is, he's never been to Las Vegas, and his terribly unrealistic basis for wanting it to be as iconic as a "Las Vegas Wedding" is that one scene from The Hangover and that episode from Friends.

He was delusional and yet, he wanted to push through with this proposal no matter what. Nothing was going to stop him... not unless it was one of the three seniors whom you would be proposing this project to in the first place.

2. Sasha's goals are much normal. A bit odd, but still normal and not as desperate as Jean's. All she wants is to get Ymir, the captain of the school's soccer team to confess to Historia, the freshman Bio-Chemistry student who works part-time as a library assistant (and whom everyone secretly fawns over for. she's just that damn cute.) However, the real reason as to why she helped [rp[pse this stupid marriage booth to get them to finally confess to each other is anyone's guess.

3. Connie thinks he's gonna get clout from this. Rise up the university hierarchy perhaps? He's treating the entire festival like it's high school all over again. He prays that the marriage booth will become the hottest thing in the festival, then he'll instantly become that cool and bad-ass freshie whom everyone wants to be friends with. Either way, if the booth is going to be a success or not, you know for a fact he's never going to be a part of the "cool kids" (good lord, can you believe people still use that term in college?) and he's gonna be stuck with you and your other friends for the rest of the years to come.

It didn't take long before they finally finished their elaborate PowerPoint Presentation (despite Connie insisting that Powerpoint is boring) that they were going to pitch to three of the principal members of the student council. Namely, Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman, and Hange Zoe.

It was gonna be an automatic no for Levi, obviously. Nothing could ever get past that man. But if they can somehow convince Erwin and most especially Hange to get on board with their stupid scheme, then the booth was good to go.

Now, here you are, in a bridal boutique. Purchasing some simple wedding dresses that will serve as your rent-a-dress service for the Marriage booth.

It wasn't originally a part of the plan. Not at all.

However, Hange would only approve of the project IF the wedding booth was going to be made into something more elaborate and memorable. They didn't want something as simple as printing out fake marriage contracts, cheap tulle fabric wedding veils, fake plastic bouquets, and wedding pictures that came out of a polaroid camera.

Oh no no no. They wanted it to be extravagant. The cream of the crop. The absolute bomb. The best booth at the festival.

Hange saw potential in the idea and with an approved budget by the student council, you could make anyone's wedding dreams come true.

 Fast forward to a week before the event, you are currently on a shopping spree with Armin, Mikasa, and your boyfriend, Eren (because Sasha insisted he had the right proportions for the rental groom outfits. She totally did not ask him to come along so that he can see you try on wedding gowns.) to buy supplies, props, decorations, and everything else needed.

"(Y/N), we'll meet you and Eren at the bridal boutique, okay?" Armin proclaims, looking at the time on his wristwatch and struggling to balance the shopping bags on his other hand.  Mikasa notices how much he's been struggling and offers to hold the bags for him.

"Sure! Don't forget about the list that Jean sent!" You shout back, turning to Eren as his fingers interlace with yours, making your merry way to the boutique whilst Armin and Mikasa go off the other direction.

"Don't get too excited." You joke, nudging Eren on the arm. "I'll just be trying on these dresses for the booth."

There's a particular glimmer in Eren's emerald eyes, chuckling at your quip. "Sheesh. Did you really have to remind me? Of course I know that. Besides, we're too young to even think about marriage right now. What's important is that I'm spending the best years of my life with you."

"Eren Grisha Jaeger, it is too damn early for you to make me a blushing pile of mess with your flirty comebacks." You deadpan, the heat rising up your cheeks as you try to hide your embarrassment from him.

The both of you laugh it off, shuffling into the store. The chiming bells of the shop door echo around the area as you look in awe at the luxurious dresses occupying every available space. The wafting smell of a vanilla pinecone scent and the soft sound of a sewing machine doing its work. There was a homey and rustic feel to this boutique that made you feel like you were sent back in time.

From great flouncy pieces adorned in layers of lace that rolled like ocean waves to more humble designs, albeit of the finest cloth.

This plethora of finery- reminds you strongly of the many genteel ladies depicted in those books and historic romances you used to read and watch. Like that of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility.

Having the opportunity to enter a boutique such as this was a dream.

"Welcome! May I help you find anything?" A seamstress appears from the register. She looks at you from head to toe, as if trying to guess your measurements.

"W-we're looking for wedding dresses. Anything within the 200 to 300 dollar range? We don't need anything extra fancy, though! We'll just be needing them-"

Her eyes shift from you to Eren like she's suddenly a love coach, sizing the two of you up. "Yes, yes, young love! How sweet!" She chirps, breathing out a dreamy sigh. "Of course! For couples on a tight budget, we have-"

"We're looking for wedding dresses that can be used as costumes! Not too short and not too long either. W-we're not getting married or anything." You dismiss the seamstress with a wave of your hand. "I'm sorry if you thought of it that way..."

Although her shoulders visibly drop, the saleswoman still manages to smile. "Oh! I would like to apologize for assuming anything too!"

"Actually, mam, we do have plans sometime in the future." Eren grins cheekily, pulling you close to him. "Not today, of course, but we'll make sure to drop by in a few years!"

The saleslady's eyes lit up at Eren's vow. "Over here are some of our best-selling pieces! Ones that will certainly attract the eye of any groom!" She beckons you over to some mannequins lined up in the middle of the store, your gaze is drawn to the myriad of dresses on display as you walk throughout the space.

You turn back to Eren, studying him closely as he walks a few paces behind you, you thoughtfully wonder if the dresses you would pick out would match his taste.

She leads you to the back of the store to show the other garments and dresses embroidered with simplicity and yet elegance. You then pick two gowns up from their respective racks, satisfied with your purchase and making a beeline to the register to pay. However, the seamstress stops you from your tracks.

"How about this one, dear?"

You turn your attention to her, doe-eyed and curious as to what she was going to show you next.

"It is indeed a wedding dress, although not what you had asked for, the handsome young man did say something about your marriage plans. Perhaps this might help you visualize it? Give you an idea for the future, hm?" She hums wistfully, drawing your attention to the mannequin she placed in front of you. "It would be a shame if you left the boutique without trying anything on."

"(Y/N)?" You hear Eren's husky voice call out for you from the front of the store, "Armin just texted me. They can't find a specific prop in the crafts store so we might have to wait a bit longer for them."

"Okay! We can spare more time in the boutique, anyways." You answer back,  before turning your attention to the seamstress once more.

"Alright. I think I'll try it on then."

"Trying it on" turned out to be more than you had imagined. You thought you could just slip inside the dress and show it off. But nope. You needed a few adjustments to dress, adornments in your hair, and had to wear a wedding veil.

It was almost as if you were actually preparing to be wed.

"Good sir, your lovely missus is ready!" Yup, even the words of the seamstress made you feel like you were living in the 17th century right now. Did she really have to use such fancy words?

"Please, watch your step." The seamstress takes your hand and leads you out of the dressing room and right towards—

Eren who had been waiting in the shop proper.

"Doesn't she look beautiful?" She giggles, glancing at Eren for a response. "Well, I'll leave the two of you here first and bring the dresses you've chosen to the cash register first." In a wink, she's gone and had disappeared into the back almost before the words left her mouth.

The unfamiliar yet elegant garb makes you feel shy and the fact that Eren was gaping at you did not help at all. He was absolutely entranced by your beauty.

You unconsciously lower your head, tucking a strand of hair beneath your ear, unable to bear the thought.

"God, you're not just beautiful. Y-you look breathtaking."

He says in a barely audible whisper, pulling you to him once more.

Placing his hands on your waist, Eren plants a soft, tender kiss on your chest, the low-cut dress affording it easily. In a heartbeat, you feel your cheeks grow hot.

"Heh. Guess I got you again." He grins wolfishly, still admiring your beauty and tracing circles on the back of your hand. "I-I don't deserve you... I really don't."

"If you didn't deserve me, would you be here right now?" You say jokingly, raising your eyebrow.

"I mean it." He buries his face on the hem of your dress, his voice is muffled and soothing. "I can't believe you chose to love me." He looks up at you, eyes practically welling up with tears. "God, I honestly can't believe I'm crying right now, but, yeah... I am. That's how much I love you and how much I want to marry you right now."

You giggle at the expression your boyfriend has shown before you, stroking his hair and burying your fingers into his long brunette locks. "I love you too. But... why so sudden? You already told the saleswoman that we'll be back in a few years. She'd be surprised to hear you change your mind so easily."

"Well, if that's the case, then I better tell Jean to have us first on the list of the wedding booth then. We worked our asses off for this, might as well be the first to be blessed with the luck of that stupid booth."

You giggle once more as he continues to hold you so close. You feel his breath and his heartbeat. Each exhale and pulse brings you to the realization that Eren is the one. The man you want to be with for the rest of your life. The man who will help you through all your faults and mistakes, your burdens and troubles, through all the ups and downs... he will be there.

Just as you will be for him.

Guess those stupid movies centered around weddings weren’t so bad after all

.taglist: @crapimahuman​

[ilovejevsjeans]

Daniel Ricciardo on his passion for combat sports, a walkout song and the time he asked Lewis Hamilton to ‘fight’

McLaren Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, who currently sits seventh in the driver standings heading into this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, is among the world’s best behind a steering wheel. But how would he fare if he swapped his racing gloves for boxing or MMA gloves?

“I’d love to do a charity boxing match or something just to feel that adrenaline of walking to a ring,” Ricciardo said. “It’s on my to-do list for sure. At school I had a few little fights but nothing crazy. Nothing I’d brag about here.”

Ricciardo says he learned the sport of boxing from a friend who fought as an amateur growing up. However in recent years his love of combat shifted more toward mixed martial arts, a sport that is “quite beautiful. It’s an art form and I was just taken by it.”

The Australian — who boasts 4.6 million followers on Instagram — rarely misses a fight night, whether that’s a small card or pay-per-view. Every Monday he gears up for multiple MMA podcasts to hear analysis on what just took place in the cage.

In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Ricciardo opened up about his love for fighting, which driver would make the best opponent and why Lewis Hamilton turned down an opportunity to get in the ring against him.

You’re an avid fight fan. How did this passion for the sport start?

One of my best friends growing up, when he was growing up, he was doing amateur boxing and got very good at it. I was then doing my racing and he was doing his boxing. We were both on a bit of an unconventional path — both individual sports, not really the typical sports the kids at school were doing. We had that in common. Once I started taking my racing more seriously I began taking my fitness more seriously. So I started going to his gym to just train. I really enjoyed doing it. But the truth is — I don’t want to lie to anyone. I’m not a fighter. As much as I would picture beating the bully up at school, it’s not me. But I just fell in love with not only doing it but also watching it.

I enjoyed watching boxing but it was really when I got exposed to MMA … It just had me. It was back in 2011 when I started properly getting into it. It was the quickest sport I had ever been absorbed by. I was all in.

My whole YouTube feed is just all MMA shows, whether it’s press conferences, interviews, podcasts. It’s just full of MMA stuff. I’m a full nerd now.

Being in Australia and traveling a lot, are you forced to get up at weird times for fights?

The beauty was I was in LA when (Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2) was on so it was prime time and I was happy. But normally in Europe, it’s 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., which isn’t as good. Any kind of sporting event that you look forward to, it’s always cool when it’s in the evening because you have all day to get ready and talk about it. If you wake up at 4 a.m. it’s like “ugh,” and then you’re straight into it so there’s not as much of a build-up. But it’s all good.

So do you still train at all?

No. To races, my trainer carries some pads and gloves just to stay a little sharp and change it up. If I’m getting my reflexes with some tennis balls, maybe I throw in a bit of a boxing combination or something. Again, I’m not saying I’m good or anything. But I just enjoy the whole movement part of it.

Boxing was cool and I enjoyed watching it growing up. But there was something with MMA where there’s just so many different disciplines and the matchups … as a contest it was so much more open and for that, exciting. I feel — I know it’s not always the case — you can kind of tell in boxing if someone is getting momentum, the advantage. It’s like “this guy is going to win the fight.” But in MMA, it’s like “this guy is winning standing but if this goes to the ground, it’s back to square one.” So I just loved it. I was really immersed by it all.

Did you have a particular fighter or fight that got you hooked early on?

One of the first events I watched was UFC 116. Chris Leben was on the card and I think he was losing the fight. And then he got a triangle with probably 20 seconds to go in the third round, so that was really exciting. Stephan Bonnar was also on that card and he got a really cool finish on “The Polish Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski. That was a card for me where I was very taken from that. Then I discovered “The Ultimate Fighter.” I just binge-watched all of those (seasons).

In terms of fighters, Leben was a character, I liked him. Carlos Condit. I’d say Condit and Cub Swanson were two guys I got behind early on. Condit, I love his style and the way he carries himself.

Have you been to a lot of cards in person?

The very first one I did was the best for me personally. To this day, it’s my favorite sporting event I’ve ever been to: (Conor) McGregor-(Chad) Mendes. Vegas in July 2015. Obviously McGregor, but he wasn’t yet a champion and still kind of on the rise. It was the energy and atmosphere. It was just wild.

The whole event too. (Robbie) Lawler-(Rory) MacDonald, which had the fight of the year. Every fight on the main card I think was a finish, so I got very lucky at my first event.

I’ve done (Michael) Bisping-(Anderson) Silva in the UK. That was a great contest as well.

There are a lot of great fighters from Australia and New Zealand like Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker. Have you had a chance to meet any of them?

I haven’t met them. A couple of them I’ve had interactions with on social media. But I love Whittaker, obviously Volkanovski is killing it. I’m fairly patriotic to the Aussie fighters. If they are fighting, 99 percent of the time I’ll be supporting them. But one of my good buddies is roommates with Luke Rockhold, so I got to know Luke the last couple of years. I was trying to do some training over Christmas with him but it didn’t end up working out.

I know you’re a big shoey guy. What do you think of Tai Tuivasa doing it after wins?

I’ve had a bit of contact with Tuivasa as well. It’s obviously great. But one thing I can’t get behind is spitting. That’s a little extra.

Plus he’ll grab some random fan’s shoe.

He definitely takes it to the next level. It’s cool that — as disgusting as it is — we have some traditions like this.

Shifting a bit to F1, have you ever gotten into any big fights on the track? What was the worst fight you’ve gotten in?

Earlier in go-karting there was a bit more. Unfortunately in F1, I guess because you’re on the world’s stage, even if you push someone you probably are going to get a fine or get penalized. At times it’s a little too clean. But I’m still waiting for the day that someone confronts me and I just lay them out (laughs).

You also just seem a lot more laid back than a lot of other drivers, so you’d probably not be my first choice of someone getting into a fight soon.

I’m all talk, it would be nice obviously to not have to fight anyone. But no one would expect it from me. Even when I tell people I’m a fight fan, people are like “oh really? You’re into that? You seem too nice to like that.”

But to get where I have in the sport, you need a bit of a killer streak in you. I do have it, but don’t always show it.

What other driver would make the best fighter?

I know some guys have done — for fitness — hit some pads. Randomly, he doesn’t have a seat this year, but Daniil Kvyat started doing quite a lot of boxing last year for his training. I saw a few clips and it started to look like he knew what he was doing. I would say he would be the guy who has the most idea. I’d put him and myself up there. The rest I don’t think stand a chance.

So if you had a charity event, you don’t have anyone in particular you’d want to go against?

To be honest, I actually asked Lewis Hamilton. At the beginning of 2016, he posted a video on his Instagram hitting pads. I was as well at the time, so I was like “hey, let’s do a charity fight.” I asked him in person. But he didn’t bite on that one so I was a little sad.

I might re-ask the question.

What about Max Verstappen? For people who watched the first season of the F1 show “Drive to Survive” on Netflix, I’m sure they would love to see you guys throw down at some point.

That would have been cool as well (laughs). Max would be a good competitor in the ring. The way he drives, he’s quite stubborn. He’d be a hard guy to put away. He’s probably the guy that you’d choke him and he’s going to sleep and not tapping. That would make an interesting one.

In contrast, is there an MMA fighter you’d like to race on the track?

An obvious one would be Conor McGregor. To hear in his Irish accent all kinds of things, that would make pretty good television. And he loves his cars. It’s obvious, but that would probably be the best.

How often would you say you watch fights now? Not just PPVs, right?

Unless I have something like work or another commitment, I’m watching it every week. Mondays I’m getting ready for every podcast. I sound like a real nerd but it’s just an addiction. I love it. Anyone doing that for Formula 1, I’d be like “you’re such a nerd,” but here I am doing it with MMA.

Is it hard to follow everything during the race season?

If I can’t see it live, then 100 percent I’m going to watch the replay or buy it later. But it’s also a good escape. If I’m traveling and I’m in between races, to get my mind away from my competition, I like to watch it. I also try to pick up things as well. Whether it’s from a mental point of view … I’ll look at the walkouts and how they are behaving. I try to figure out if they are really as calm and collected as they are portraying or if it’s a bit of a facade. I’m trying to work out what I can use in my events.

Do you have a walkout song prepared if you were to fight?

I’ve thought about it. The short answer is no. You typically have to have something heavy and fast, but I fell in love with Chris Weidman’s “Won’t Back Down.” It’s not typically a song that will pump you up but it’s so iconic and now it’s his, it’s very fitting.

I’d go for something more lyrically powerful as opposed to instrumental. I loved Max Holloway’s, I think it’s called Mount Everest (by Labrinth). (X)

[nowhereclosetoit]

Pippa and Theo’s Relationship in “The Goldfinch”

(Or: Why Theo believes he’s in love with Pippa when he’s not)

I really enjoyed writing my last shitshow of an essay so now here’s another overly long essay on Theo and His Issues in “The Goldfinch”.

It’s 3,000 words so...good luck!

Pippa and Theo have a close bond, there’s no doubt about that, however, Theo misconstrues this bond in his head. He ends up perceiving the bond he shares with Pippa, on his end at least, for that of romantic love. Interestingly enough, this is not the case – Theo is not in love with Pippa, despite his belief, and Pippa herself understands this too.

One reason as to why Theo may be mistaking their close relationship (even though it’s never that close really) for romantic love is because of the similarities in each of their childhoods. There are many parallels that can be drawn between each of their childhoods, ranging from the death of a parent or guardian to their shared traumatic experience of the museum bombing.

Pippa’s mother, like Theo’s, is dead, as well as her legal guardian Welty (her uncle), who died in the museum bombing - Already they have some common ground through this which is the only established knowledge they have of each other on their first interaction in Hobie’s flat.

Pippa also stays with an adult (Hobie) who genuinely tries his best to take care of her until, right when things start looking up, another, estranged family member shows up to take her away from New York (Her Aunt Margaret who subsequently takes Pippa to Texas, then sending her to the school in Switzerland for “troubled girls”). This reflects the way that Theo was taken away from the Barbours by his father and Xandra to go and live in Las Vegas.

They are both also physically and/or emotionally abused and scarred from this event:

Theo, through his dad (and Xandra) who neglected him and also physically abused him.

Pippa through her Aunt emotionally manipulating her to make her stay at Institut Mont-Haefeli, and the school themselves for not having her best interests at heart.

In the film, Pippa states whilst at a restaurant after seeing a Glen Gould documentary, that “Welty was only with me that day because I was making him take me to an audition”, depicting her guilt – still as an adult – over the death of her uncle.

Theo makes it clear many times throughout the novel and the film how he feels it was his fault his mother died. (If you want an example check the excerpt above.)

How did they deal with it? Why is this significant in understanding their relationship?

Pippa’s grief manifested itself through her physical injuries which had lifelong lasting effects. Her injuries were extremely severe, reflecting the severity of her grief and guilt. (Hobie in Chapter 4 – Morphine Lollypop: “She’s had a bad crack on the head, a skull fracture, to tell you the truth she was in a coma for a while and her left leg was broken in so many pieces she came near to losing it. ‘Marbles in a sock,’ ” he said, with a mirthless laugh. “That’s what the doctor said when he looked at the x-ray. Twelve breaks. Five surgeries. ”)

Contrastingly, Theo was not as physically affected and internalised everything he felt. This illustrates itself through his lack of eating and sleeping due to his dreams that were plagued with nightmares of the day and his loss of his mother (firstly at the Barbours and also depicted in Vegas) and eventual demise into alcoholism and drug addiction (Vegas + the rest of his life dude’s fuckin popping pills – or crushing the pills then snorting them, I guess).

How Pippa and Theo’s grief manifested itself is significant as it foreshadows the later scenes in the narrative and how they each cope once they’re adults and should no longer be grieving. (I say should no longer be grieving as it’s clear that Theo only really lets go of his grief and guilt once his mother visits him in his dream in Amsterdam after the murder - in the book anyway.) By physically showing her grief to the world – by choice or not – Pippa illustrates a healthier way to deal with grief and negative feelings – getting it out there and receiving help. This also allows us to understand, whilst Pippa also never fully recovers too – See: her crying in the restaurant over the Glen Gould documentary - that she was able to deal with it significantly better than Theo did. She even manages to have a somewhat normal and healthy lifestyle as an adult. As we’ve already discussed, Theo’s grief internalised itself as depicted through his physical injuries/symptoms, or lack thereof. Theo chose, though whether he solely can be fully to blame for this, to internalise his grief and guilt through taking drugs and drinking alcohol. (I personally believe he isn’t fully to blame for ending up addicted to drugs because anybody who cared or was supposed to care about him offered him some form of drug or medication and said it would solve his problems, See: Mrs Barbour – sleeping pills, Xandra and Larry – pills for the plane, Boris – literally any drug they did together over the course of the novel.)

Mini Conclusion (for this part): The ways grief was expressed and dealt/not dealt with by Pippa and Theo explains why they behave the way they do, e.g: Theo internalises everything and never deals with anything fully or properly, Pippa on the other hand is better at reacting to things like an actual person as she was able to deal with her grief and guilt.

Why does Theo believe he is in love with Pippa?

I believe that there are four (4) main reasons as to why Theo mistakes his feelings towards Pippa as romantic love.

1. Pippa is the only remaining link Theo has, bar The Goldfinch, to his mother and before the bombing. He desperately wants to return to before the bombing happened - before his mother was killed. Theo met Pippa only moments before the bombing happened which irrevocably links her to Theo’s “Before: When life was perfect and beautiful” view of his life. This is explored, albeit briefly, in the following excerpts:

With Pippa being depicted in the same way as Theo’s mother, we get the sense that Theo associates her, unconsciously, with his mother, and, consequentially, sees her as a link to his mother, thus feeling no romantic love towards her in anyway.

An example of parallels between Audrey and Pippa is through how both of them had to go and live with an Aunt, with whom they did not have an enjoyable time with, in the South. 

Chapter 4 - Morphine Lollypop: Theo was thinking about “my mother after her parents died and she had to go live with her aunt Bess, + the mention of horses in this excerpt and how "the horses [were] sold”.

2. Theo also links Pippa with helping lessen his grief.

E.g: Soon after he first visits Hobie and Pippa, his appetite starts to return,

Theo relates Pippa to easing his feelings of anxiety:

With Pippa helping Theo ease his grief, whether realised or not, she becomes a caring figure for him, this could relate to a motherly sense of caring – which the novel could suggest so with my previous point, but hey, maybe I’m grasping at straws, idk.

3. Theo’s personality is obsessive and all-consuming which is depicted through literally any relationship he has had with anything and anyone for any considerable amount of time within the novel. 

This is depicted through the obsessive amounts he is able to recount about people and the minute detail in which he does so.

It can also be shown through the act of the years’ worth of letters he wrote to his mother after she died, as well as his relationship with The Goldfinch (obsessed with keeping it as it had a link to his mother and his heart etc).

4. (Again, maybe I’m grasping at straws here) He could be mistaking his love for Pippa as romantic as a result of compulsory heterosexuality (Once again, I’m using compulsory heterosexuality in this case as an LGBTQ+ individual feeling that they have to have romantic feelings/relations to people of the opposite gender/sex, and subconsciously forcing themselves to do so - due to the heteronormative society we live in). This can be found within his romantic relationships with women never fulfilling him and his constant depiction of them as cold (See: Kitsey quotes earlier in essay compared to the way he describes Boris in general) + We all know this motherfucker is queer af, if you don’t believe me check my essay out ;)

In conclusion, I feel like Pippa is able to realise that she is not in love with Theo/differentiate the love they have between them from that of romantic love as she is more aware of her issues and has dealt with them more than Theo has. Pippa managed to remove herself completely from a situation that was causing her pain (New York) and is able to see more clearly from doing so, whereas Theo didn’t. Theo was unable to remove himself mentally or physically and is stuck in the perpetual grief he feels for his mother’s death. The only time we get some sense of closure and complete removal of grief from Theo is after Amsterdam. (In the book this is after the dream he has where he can finally face his mother, and in the film, this is once Boris tells him that “[his] bird is back in the world”). Due to Theo being unable to fully receive any sort of ability to even attempt solving his problems, his judgment is clouded and he believes he is in love with Pippa.

[wrestlingisfake]

Double or Nothing preview

Been a while, hasn’t it?

Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee - This will be Moxley’s second defense of the AEW men’s world championship since winning the title on February 29.  Impressively, Mox is already the longest-reigning champion in AEW history, holding the title for an incredible 823 days over the past three months.

The story is fairly basic: on May 6 Lee sent his stable, the Dark Order, to dogpile Moxley before he demanded this match and walked off with the title belt.  Lee has lots of backup, but Mox is too stubborn to back down.

Brodie Lee was formerly known as Luke Harper in WWE, where he was usually a member of Bray Wyatt’s cult, the Wyatt Family.  After a 2018 biceps injury, he was used very sparingly, and requested his release in April 2019.  WWE used him even more sparingly, but finally let him go in December.  In January the Dark Order began teasing an unseen leader known as “the Exalted One,” who was finally revealed to be Lee once his WWE no-compete clause expired in March.

Lee played a cult member for almost all of his WWE run, but it seems like his  strongest impression of how cult leaders act was not Bray Wyatt but WWE chairman Vince McMahon.  Everyone at AEW seems to deny a direct parody--and for all I know it really isn’t intentional--but it’s not subtle how his on-screen behavior resembles accounts of Vince’s off-screen idiosyncrasies.  Which adds an extra wrinkle to the story, given Moxley’s very public, very blistering criticism of McMahon when he left WWE last year.

AEW has claimed this show’s card is mostly what was planned before the pandemic forced them to move from Las Vegas to a closed set in Jacksonville.  Even so, I feel like this would have been a very week title match on any of AEW’s previous pay-per-views, and it’s hard to believe they were really going to headline with this in the MGM Grand.  My gut says that under normal circumstances this match would be given away on free TV.  But these aren’t normal circumstances, so I guess you might as well do this now and save a bigger match for when fans are back.

I think there is zero chance of Lee actually winning the title, so the only question is how much Moxley will have to do to retain.

Chris Jericho & Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara & Ortiz & Santana vs. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page & Matt Hardy & Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson - This is being billed as a “stadium stampede” match.  A ring will be set up in the middle of TIAA Bank Field, the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  I’m guessing the match will start in the ring, but the rules allow the wrestlers to fight anywhere in the stadium, so I’m not sure why it matters.  The match cannot end by count-out or disqualification, and falls count anywhere.

This feud started in October when Jericho recruited Hager, Guevara, Ortiz, and Santana to form The Inner Circle, to help him oppose The Elite (Omega, the Young Bucks, Page, and Cody Rhodes).  The two teams were set for a ten-man “war games” style cage match on March 25, but to give Nick Jackson paternity leave he was “injured” and Matt Hardy was announced as his replacement.  The match was scrapped altogether in light of the coronavirus pandemic.  On May 13, Jericho proposed issued a challenge to the Elite for this match.  Since Cody is already booked on the card, Hardy is subbing for him this time instead of Nick.

Most of the people in this match have wrestled very sparingly since AEW started running closed-set shows on March 18, although the Inner Circle has been back at full strength since May 6.  Part of the intrigue is that Page and the Bucks were off AEW television in over two months, so Jericho is suggesting that the Elite barely exists anymore.  Ring rust will almost surely be a factor, as Matt Jackson hurt his ribs doing a spot in his big return on May 20.  So even though this match features some of the best talent in the world, I could easily see it getting “bowling shoe ugly” very quickly.

It’s almost lost in the shuffle that this is Hardy’s first real big match since jumping from WWE to AEW and reviving his “Broken Matt Hardy” gimmick from Impact Wrestling.  Hardy was originally in this to support his friends, but it became personal when Jericho “killed” his beloved quadcopter drone, Vanguard 1.  It’s pretty clear AEW wants to build to a high-profile Hardy-Jericho match, but the coronavirus situation has probably screwed up their idea of when that can happen.

I’d like to see the Elite finally settle the score with the Inner Circle, but I can’t help but think this feud must continue, and putting the heels over is the easiest way to do that.  However, I suppose the babyfaces could pin someone other than Jericho or Hager without really resolving the feud.

Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Archer - This is a tournament final to determine the first person to hold the new AEW TNT championship.  Cody defeated Shawn Spears and Darby Allin to advance to this match.  Archer defeated Colt Cabana and Dustin Rhodes.  Mike Tyson will present the title belt to the winner for some reason.

TNT is the name of the channel that airs Dynamite in the US, so this is basically a modern take on the old television titles.  In the days before pay-per-view specials, wrestling TV shows were designed to build to big matches at untelevised events, with the idea that you had to pay for a ticket to see the real big shows.  In that business model, televised title bouts were somewhat rare, so a television championship would stand out for being regularly defended on TV.  There’s a lot of nostalgia for the concept, but nobody’s really come up with a good way to make it work in the modern era.  (Hell, I barely understood the point of the WCW TV title 30 years ago.)  I know AEW management feels strongly about avoiding the stigma of a “midcard title,” so I’m curious to see what they come up with here.

Archer has been built up very well as the biggest and most monstrous of the big monster heels.  He really needs to win his first big PPV match in the company to maintain his momentum.  But at the same time, Archer’s manager Jake Roberts has been a huge dirtbag to Cody’s wife Brandi, so that really needs to be avenged.  It’s really impressive how AEW can build these matches up with really simple things that defy one’s “this guy has to win” logic, which makes the match more exciting.  My money’s on Archer, but I have to root for Cody.

Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida - Rose is making her second defense of the AEW women’s world championship.  Shida earned this title shot by winning a four-way match on May 13.

This match feels a little cold to me, probably because both women were absent from TV for about a month.  AEW’s women’s division has always struggled to be relevant but it’s been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.  Between travel bans and wrestlers electing to stay home, a huge chunk of the roster has been unavailable.  Nevertheless, Rose still comes across as a big dominant juggernaut, and Shida still feels like the babyface they’ve been saving for a special occasion, so it’s like everything worked out in the end.

Shida makes sense as the next women’s champion, but it feels too early.  Even though Nyla has held the title since February, her absence in April makes it feel like she hasn’t had enough time to really make it her own.  I have to pick Rose to retain.

Casino Ladder Match - This is a nine-man match, where the winner will earn the right to challenge the AEW men’s world champion.  Like any ladder match, an objective (a casino chip in this case) will be suspended above the ring, and ladders will be provided for the participants to use and climb; the first man to retrieve the objective wins the match.  However, participants will enter the match gauntlet style, with two men starting and an additional man entering every 90 seconds.  In theory, the match could end before everyone has entered, but I doubt it’ll come to that.

The plan a year ago was to make the “casino battle royale” an annual tradition at Double or Nothing, but I’m guessing that wasn’t feasible this year.  Social distancing guidelines and battle royales (battles royale?) don’t go well together.  Then again, neither do nine-person ladder matches, although it’s possible the gauntlet stip will help limit the action to two or three people in the ring at any given time.

Eight participants have been announced: Orange Cassidy, Colt Cabana, Darby Allin, Scorpio Sky, Frankie Kazarian, Kip Sabian, Luchasaurus, and (as a late substitution for Rey Fenix) Joey Janela.  It looks like the ninth entrant won’t be revealed before the show, which is actually kind of exciting considering how many hot free agents are available at the moment.  I’m not saying it will be one of the people WWE recently released, but it makes at least as much sense as using Billy Gunn or something.

I don’t have a strong sense of who should win, because the winner is probably just going to lose to Jon Moxley on a free TV match.  I guess the question is, who would be the best opponent for Moxley in that situation?  I’m leaning towards Darby Allin, but not much.  If the mystery entrant is any good, though, that could change everything.

MJF vs. Jungle Boy - There’s not much of a story here.  MJF was riding high after a big win over Cody Rhodes on February 29, but then he was out for about a month, presumably due to the pandemic.  He claimed he was sidelined by a devastating hangnail, but I don’t know if I buy that.  Upon his return, he was told he’d be facing Jungle Boy here, and he wasn’t happy.  Since then, they’ve been kinda teasing Jungle Boy’s buddy Luchasaurus against MJF’s henchman Wardlow, so we’ll probably get more teases for that.

Listen, I’m not saying Jungle Boy is going to target the pinkie finger that had the hangnail.  I’m definitely not saying Jungle Boy is going to bite MJF’s finger, or that MJF will sell it like he’s been shot.  I’m just saying that would be a really good idea that would be worth the full price of the pay-per-view.

But I have a feeling MJF will win anyhow.

Kris Statlander vs. Penelope Ford - This was originally going to be Statlander against Britt Baker, but Baker suffered a knee injury on May 20.  I’m becoming a big Baker fan (I mean, boo, she’s mean, but y’know), so it sucks that she’s sidelined.  But it’s kinda cool that Ford gets to step up here.  She seems talented, but she hasn’t been pushed too hard except as Kip Sabian’s girl.  Then again, I like Statlander’s alien hijinx too.  Can I just bet that all the wrestlers will have a good time?

Shawn Spears vs. Dustin Rhodes - The entire heel gimmick for Spears is that he hates Cody Rhodes, which isn’t so great since he only fights Cody once every few months.  Anyway, he got eliminated in the TNT title tournament by Cody, and since then he’s been giving Dustin shit.  When Dustin was eliminated from the tournament in a bloody match with Lance Archer, Cody teased throwing in the towel but didn’t.  So Spears is trying to make big deal about Cody not rescuing Dustin, and Dustin being a washed-up has-been.  I’m pretty sure Dustin is just going to beat his ass and that’ll be it.

Chuckie T & Trent Beretta vs. Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen - This is scheduled for the pre-show.  The winning team will earn a shot at the AEW tag team championship.  So I guess that means Kenny Omega and Hangman Page have to do the title match soon, which suggests Page can’t immediately go back to hiding in the woods.  Maybe?  I mean, good for Hangman staying at home.  I’m just saying I don’t have a clue what’s going on in the tag team division.  Anyway, Kassidy and Quen are cool and they’ll be big someday, but it’s pretty clear that AEW thinks “someday” is ways off.  The Best Friends are the clear favorite to win, although an upset isn’t totally impossible.

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.13 (Come Fly With Me)

Lizzie and Miranda are decked out in sixties-inspired fashion

- The episode opens to a 1960′s Rat Pack song playing in the background, courtesy of Gordo. He is starting to get into the whole old-school Las Vegas ‘lounge-style’ culture and this doesn’t seem to really bother his friends because Gordo has always been the kind of person to stay away from current trends. 

- For example, as Lizzie mentioned, when everybody in school was into rollerblading, he opted to unicycle instead. It sounds to me like he is doing all of this for the sake of being different. I think we should just be who we want to be and do the things we like regardless of it being on trend or not. 

- Gordo asks Lizzie if she could pick up a Rat Pack music CD for him after school because he has an appointment with his podiatrist. She reluctantly agrees and before leaving, she advises him to take it easy on the whole Rat Pack thing. 

Getting into Rat Pack

Vince, a one-time character I presume

- After collecting the CD on Gordo’s behalf, a kid named Vince on the school bus snatches it from Lizzie’s hand and makes fun of her and Miranda for absolutely no reason. If you’re going to make fun of someone, you might as well do it right but Vince is just atrocious at it lol. 

- Out of nowhere, Ethan Craft comes to the rescue and intimidates Vince to give the CD back to Lizzie. Because of that, Lizzie crushes on Ethan once again. I thought two episodes ago in Episode 1.11, Ethan was going to leave Miranda during their marriage project presentation because he was being manipulated by Kate. And now she still likes him? I guess they can’t fault Ethan for being an airhead.

Animated Lizzie looks really cute in this sort of Mad Men inspired outfit

- Ethan then starts listening to the Rat Pack CD on his music player (or boom box?) and he actually really enjoys it. Lizzie and Miranda, obviously smitten by Ethan’s liking to Gordo’s CD pretends to act like they actually listen to this style of music and they agree to meet up later to hook Ethan up with more Rat Pack music. 

- At school, Lizzie and Miranda start talking to Gordo in a similar way to how he was talking to them at the beginning of this episode. He feels flattered by them wanting to know more about his interests in Rat Pack and is willing to teach them more about the culture. We also get a funny bit where Miranda points out to Gordo that he blinks his eyes a lot. 

The more you try to not think about blinking, the more you actually blink your eyes. Facts.

Meet Matt’s Best Friend, Lanny

*Please note my review of Matt’s plot-line this episode is compiled into this section.

I’m a little scared of Lanny and so are Sam and Jo

- We cut to the backyard of the Mcguire home where Matt and his silent friend, Lanny are playing netball. They are trying to set the record for the longest netball rally but they are struggling to even be close to beating the current record. So is this all happening when Lizzie’s in school? Shouldn’t Matt and Lanny be in school as well? I shouldn’t think too much about this lol. 

- Lanny telepathically lets Matt know they should try to attempt another world record and Matt starts consulting the World Records book to see what they can do. We then get a montage of them attempting to set a number of different world records and of course, they fail miserably. I don’t even want to get into the specifics of what they were doing in this montage but at least ‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child was playing in the background. 

- In the second half of the episode, Matt is about to give up on trying to set his own world record after 38 attempts. Jo, brilliant as always, comes up with an idea to trick Matt and Lanny into believing they set their own record for ‘Most Consecutive Failed Attempts’. Matt is very excited about this and they go out to celebrate by getting some ice cream.

Lanny likes Pumpkin flavored ice cream by the way

Stop Trying to Make Rat Pack Happen!

How can you not fall for that smile?

- At the school cafeteria, Gordo notices that some people are starting to dress similarly to him and he hopes that Lizzie and Miranda doesn’t turn his interests in 1960′s Rat Pack into another fad at school. Ethan then pops up next to them and he compliments Gordo’s shirt. Lizzie uses this opportunity to invite him to shop with them at this store called ‘Anteater’ (weird name for a store but okay) so that he can get the same type of clothes Gordo’s wearing. Gordo isn’t thrilled about all of this. 

- Presumably a day later, it seems like the Rat Pack trend had caught the eye of the entire school because everybody is dressed like they are in the sixties. Even Kate Sanders is embracing this trend and she goes up to Lizzie and Miranda and compliments them both for making Gordo’s interest in ‘lounge-style’ culture a thing at school. 

How tall is Kate? She is so much taller than Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda. 

- She’s being awfully nice to them and that’s because she needs their help to organize this month’s dance and make it Rat Pack themed. Lizzie and Miranda are very excited about the prospect of being able to help plan their school dance and they both agree to help Kate out. 

- As Kate leaves, Lizzie asks Gordo if they could use his Las Vegas posters as decorations but he doesn’t want to help them because he just doesn’t like the fact that his Rat Pack interests are becoming popular in school. I mean, I do get where Gordo is coming from; I think nobody would actually really like Rat Pack music unless it’s considered trendy. But he needs to not take everything so seriously. Trends do come and go. 

Gordo is having a mini Crisis

Lizzie’s expressions are gold here when Gordo is talking to her about his World War II plane model given to him by his aunt.

- At Gordo’s house (I think this is the first time Lizzie is shown to be in his house), Lizzie mentions to Gordo how everyone at school is excited about the upcoming Rat Pack themed dance. Gordo reveals to her his interest in Rat Pack is gone and he is now into WW2 style airplanes.

- He also lets her know that he doesn’t like it that everybody is now into Rat Pack and that Kate Sanders has turned this whole thing into a “mindless fad” because she doesn’t know the difference between a ‘ding dong’ and a ‘Ring-A-Ding-Ding’. Lizzie feels bad about ruining his hobby. Don’t feel bad Lizzie; Gordo just needs to wait it out.

Planning the ‘Lounging Around’ School Dance

- Kate is holding a meeting with her fellow school dance committee members to plan out Friday’s dance. She entrusts Lizzie to get a list of songs to be played by the DJ and she entrusts Miranda to prepare a list of criteria for the judges to look out for when assessing outfits for the costume contest. And she wants all of this by the next day. 

- Lizzie and Miranda panic and are desperate to ask Gordo for help. Can’t they consult the school computers and library or something? Didn’t they also exist back in 2001 as well?

I’m sure the wardrobe department had a fun time dressing the girls up back then

- They find Gordo playing with his WW2 plane outside and ask him for help but he just isn’t willing to help them this time around because as we all know, he doesn’t like how Lizzie and Miranda played a part in making his Rat Pack hobby a major fad. 

- I touched on this earlier; Gordo has a point in saying that everyone in school now likes Rat Pack only because it is the biggest thing currently. But Lizzie and Miranda also made a good point in saying people are allowed to like whatever they want, regardless of how they came to know about Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra and the sort. 

Time for the School Dance

“Let’s like dance, Ethan”. Kate is just too funny

- We are then taken to their school dance and I have to say, Kate and company did a really good job organising the event. The venue is well decorated and everybody looks amazing in their sixties-inspired outfits. However, Lizzie and Miranda doesn’t seem to be enjoying themselves because Gordo isn’t there with them. 

Best friends gotta stick together

- Luckily for them, Gordo pops up and makes a grand entry into the auditorium, complete with an amazing suit and a suave attitude to match. Gordo admits to them that he shouldn’t force himself to do things just to be different and Lizzie tells him they’re lucky to have someone like Gordo who doesn’t care about what people think about his hobbies. 

- In the end, everything is resolved and the episode ends with a cute trio dance:

That’s all folks

Overall Thoughts

- What I got most out of watching this episode is the idea of seasonal trends and how easy it is for people to catch onto them just because everyone else is. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you actually like those trends. And being different for the sake of being different is something we shouldn’t really hold on to either. 

- Gordo definitely shone in this episode. I really felt his frustration towards everyone who suddenly jumped on his hobby bandwagon and made it a ‘mindless fad’ as he puts it. Good job on the actor’s (Adam Lamberg) part. Miranda and Lizzie also have very identical plot-lines this episode, although Lizzie did more in this episode than Miranda. I think it’s hard for the character of Miranda to really shine in an episode unless she’s one of the main focuses, you know? But that’s just me.

- After having an impressive plot-line last episode, Matt’s plot-line with his parents this time around has gone back to being weightless and goofy. At least we get to see Lanny in person for the first time. 

[badcowboy69]

Unexpected part 4

Gosh, it’s been a REALLY long time for this poor chapter to be coming out.  I have been distracted with many things, good and bad, but it seems as if I’m finally back on track.  Hopefully that means I’ll be able to crank out stories again like I used to.  That being said, this is the latest installment of my little saga.  Hope you like it.  As always comments and asks are welcomed and reblogs are the bests.

Oh and just in case you would like to read the previous chapters if it’s your first time or simply needing a refresher, here’s the links.

Part One     Part Two    Part 3

Story begins under the cut due to the length.  Enjoy!

It was evident Travis could barely contain the excitement that was surging through him.  Giving Riley a crooked grin, he quickly loped back into the bedroom and practically tripped over the doorway threshold.  Picking up on the enthusiasm, Rex bounded eagerly along at his side while yipping and yapping playfully.  “Got an extra wardrobe in here so it’s the perfect place for you to put all your stuff!” Travis called out over the happy, chirpy barks of his cyberdog.

However, Riley had paused his pursuit, suddenly distracted by the trail of discarded clothing scattered along the hallway.  A gentle smile curled his lips as his mind flitted back to last night where a wonderful event started in the elevator then led to the bedroom where it continued for hours.  Even though he was half-serious when mentioning about the fantasy of getting a blowjob inside of an elevator, it came as no surprise that Travis would actually comply.  

While bending to gather up the clothes, Riley happily reminisced about their reunion.  Suddenly, his wonderful recollection was interrupted by a stark naked Travis standing in front of him.  Although he’s seen Travis naked plenty of times, Riley still found his cheeks warm with a blush at the unexpected, but very pleasant sight.  “Hell, Travis, you keep enticing me like this I doubt we’ll be making tracks to the Fort anytime soon,” he jested while adjusting his glasses as his eyes began to wander up and down his boyfriend’s slender frame.

“Huh?  Oh!  Well...maybe...when we get back I can make it all up to you.  I know you can’t resist this bod,”  Travis purred while he ran his hands seductively over his sides only to get shoved playfully by Riley.  “Anyhoo, is everything ok, Riles?  Been talking to you and you ain’t answering.”

“Oh, sorry about that, but yes, that wardrobe sounds great, thank you.  By the way, I can’t seem to find my pack.  I could have sworn we brought it up here with us last night.”

Giving a quick scan around the now cleaned up hall, Travis got a hunch and pushed the call button for the elevator.  The silver doors slid open and there on the floor was not only Riley’s pack and Gauss rifle, but Travis’ own rifle and cowboy hat as well.  “Ah, Hell, looks like someone was in an awful hurry to get out of there to leave all this stuff behind,” Travis jested while he retrieved their items.

Reaching for the weapons, Riley randomly noticed Travis’ motorcycle was leaning close to the wall.  He wondered how he missed it earlier, but there were plenty of other things distracting him since he arrived.  Travis tended to do unusual things from time to time, but having a vehicle in the living quarters seemed a bit out of the ordinary, even for Travis.  “Looks like someone forgot where the parking garage was,” Riley teased back.  

“Ain’t forgot,” the courier replied while rubbing the back of his neck, mild embarrassment in his voice.  “I only got back here a few days ago and was too tired to screw around unpacking downstairs then make like twenty trips back and forth to the elevator.  Figured it was easier to bring the bike up here so’s I could unpack and put stuff away in one shot.  I was planning on taking it back downstairs eventually, but some hot redhead dropping in from Boston sort of interrupted that.  Besides, had too much going on in my mind to really want to deal with chores...or much else.”

“Understandable,”  Riley said softly as he knew exactly what Travis must have gone through.  His own world was quite setback and lost when Travis left Boston only a few weeks ago.  He got through his lonely days by drinking or being with friends, but barely.  

Following Travis into the bedroom, Riley set the weapons against the couch then stood silently in the doorway.  Travis made his way towards a large, dark wood wardrobe to choose an outfit for the day’s outing.  Riley still couldn’t tear his eyes away from admiring the finely shaped, naked form of his partner.  His gaze abruptly halted seeing bright red scratch marks on Travis’ back.  A demure smile curled his lips as memories of last night’s passions flooded his mind and made him long to repeat them soon.

Forcing his eyes to look elsewhere, Riley turned to his left and let out a soft gasp of surprise.  His eyes suddenly widened behind his glasses and he found himself gravitating towards a large bookshelf behind a desk.  He felt an excited jolt go through him while he read aloud the titles of the books.  “Las Vegas: A History. How to Succeed at Hacking.  Cats.  Guns, Your God-given Right.  Building a Robot.  Motorcycle Mechanics.  Sparky and the Flying Securitron.  Texas Red. Damn, Travis, you certainly have quite the mix of genres,” he chuckled as he took out the Vegas book and began flipping through its pristine pages.

“Shucks, got plenty of books in the other rooms and there's a ton more upstairs in the penthouse.”  He snickered hearing the soft gasp escape his partner. “You’ll see everything, don't you worry none about that.  Shit, there’s so much to see in the casino alone to probably last us all day.  Umm...wanna get the ten cent tour of the apartment before we head to the Fort?” “Oh!  Yes, right, the Fort.  As anxious as I am to see your suite, I know you’re in a hurry to head out.  It’s ok, Travis, we can do what you needed first and you can show me around here when we get back.” Riley set the book carefully on the shelf as not to damage the delicate paper dust cover and gave his partner a supportive smile.

“You sure?  I mean I don’t mind showing you around first, but I’ll do whatever you want to do.  This is your vacation after all,” Travis replied while pulling out his traditional red plaid shirt and blue jeans from the wardrobe and tossed them on the bed.  “Besides, I’m only going to the Fort today to drop off my semi-weekly donations and show you around.  Figured I could introduce you to Arcade while we’re there.  It ain’t really crucial we go today.  I can always drop off donations tomorrow.  Ain't like they're expecting me or anything.”

Riley sat on the bed next to his pack and looked up at his broadly smiling lover. “You’re something else, you know that?  Then that settles it.  I’d love to have a quick tour of your place before we leave.”

Travis grinned more and leaned down to deliver a quick kiss on Riley’s cheek. “Great!  Gonna go and get washed up first, though.  Feel free to use the other wardrobe for your stuff if you wanna and make yourself at home.  My casa is your casa,” he declared making Riley chuckle at his attempt of a Spanish phrase.

“It’s me casa es su casa,” he corrected with a gentle smile.  “But thank you just the same.”

As Travis walked out room, Riley caught himself once more staring after the naked vision.  He sighed wistfully and suddenly noticed he was becoming aroused.  Knowing it was best to stifle his urges, at least for now, Riley bit his lower lip and distracted himself by unpacking.  “Well, this won’t take long,” he muttered to himself realizing he had nowhere near as many clothes as he would need for a prolonged stay.  Past experience taught him things could go wrong very quickly with an unexpected visit.  He prepared for the worst, but did hope for the best.  Packing light was a precaution even though deep down he knew wasn’t necessary.  

Gathering up the meager armload of clothes, Riley headed to the wardrobe on the opposite side of the bed.  It was identical as the one Travis was using right down to the almost pristine condition.  Resting atop of it was some sort of helmet with ruby colored eye lenses.  Next to it was a skull from some kind of animal that Riley could only guess was a brahmin.  To his surprise a small Sentry bot action figure he had given Travis back on the day they first met was also there.  A pleasant warmth spread through him as he remembered that day with tender fondness.

Opening the double doors Riley was mildly surprised to find a small assortment of clothes already neatly arranged inside on hangers.  Riley set his things down and curiously began to sift through the impeccable assortment of slacks, polos, and solid colored button down shirts.   He pulled out a baby blue colored polo and absently held it against himself to check the size.

“Don’t mind the clothes.”  Travis had silently padded into the bedroom and was already pulling on his jeans.  “Grabbed ‘em out of the dressers up in the penthouse where Mister House used to live.  I was hoping they’d fit me, but they’re all a bit too big.  If they fit you, you can have them and hell...you can probably have all of what’s still up there.  House sure as hell don't need ‘em.  All sorts of suits and ties and stuff up there ...stuff you would probably really like.”

Grinning broadly Riley turned back to the wardrobe and began examining the garments with more interest.  He put the blue shirt back and pulled out a black polo with a wide green stripe around the middle.  “Travis, these are all in such amazing condition,” Riley said in disbelief.  Taking it off the hanger, Riley pulled the shirt over his head.  Much to his joy it fit him perfectly.  “Travis, this...this is wonderful!  Are you really sure I can have these?” he asked as his partner sauntered up to him.

“A’yup.  What am I gonna do with a bunch of clothes that don’t fit me?  I was originally gonna take them to camps around the Mojave and donate them, but never had the chance.  Reckon it’s a good thing.  Shirt looks really great on you, Riles.  Cain’t wait to see you out of it later either,” Travis purred while nuzzling against the freckled skin of Riley’s neck.  Sliding his arms around Riley’s waist, Travis pressed close to him and sighed.  “I still cain’t believe you’re here and I cain’t wait to get back after the donation run.  Maybe we can take a swim in my pool before heading out for dinner.”

“Swimming and dinner?  Man, Travis, you’re going to spoil me.  You really don’t have to take me anywhere tonight.  In all honesty it might be more enjoyable to stay in and relax with you.  I’m sure there’s plenty here for you to show me,” Riley softly replied as he leaned against his partner with a contented sigh.  “I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and right now I just want to enjoy being back in your company.”

“Whatever you'd like to do is fine with me!  Reckon we’ll play it by ear.”  Travis gave Riley a few tender kisses which quickly became heated.  Fighting his own eager urges Travis reluctantly pulled back.  “We best get going afore I find something better for us to do,” he panted with a smirk.  Riley nodded in agreement and they separated to continue getting dressed.

Afterwards, with his arms open wide and welcoming, Travis walked around the room.  “Well then, as you can see, this here is the master bedroom.  I keep lots of my personal and most treasured things in here.  Ain't all I got, though.”  He then motioned for Riley to follow him and led him towards a room that was between the master bedroom and dining area.

“Reckon this is more my collection and game room.  Got all kinds of cool stuff I found in my travels,” he proudly announced while placing his hands on his hips.

Riley slowly wandered around the room which was considerably larger than the master bedroom.  In the center of the room was a pool table with way too many balls scattered on top of it.  A Sunset Sarsaparilla soda vending machine was against one wall next to an almost perfect Nuka Cola machine.  Next to those was a fantastic jukebox, it’s glowing colored lights and bubbles instantly drew Riley to it.  As he flipped through the selection markers he asked,”Does this thing really have these tunes and does it really work?”

Travis couldn’t help but give a toothy grin.  “A’yup!  Sure does!  Hell, pick a song and push the button, I sure don’t mind.  I really lucked out with this find up in Black Mountain.  They got a big storage building that was untouched in probably forever ‘cause of the Super Mutants that used to guard the place.  Plus there's a buttload of radiation there that'll get ya if precautions ain't took.  Gotta tell you that story someday.”

Arching an eyebrow, Riley picked a random song by Frank Sinatra and pressed the white button.  The machine made a series of clicks and other sounds while Riley watched in anticipation as the record he chose moved into place and the player’s arm dropped down onto it.  After a few pops and static sounds, All of Me began to play much to Riley’s delight.  Overcome with the pure joy of hearing a long forgotten song again, Riley pulled Travis into his arms and did a quick, impromptu dance with him around the room.  

Seeing the two humans engaged in what he thought looked like fun, Rex began to loudly bark and jump up and down vying for their attention hoping they’d dance with him too.  Travis began to laugh at his cyberdog’s antics as well as the handsome redhead’s sudden burst of enthusiasm.  

Riley stole a quick kiss and released Travis with a laugh.  “Shit, it’s been far too long since I’ve heard that song!  Oh, Travis…” he sighed and trailed off realizing that he danced them all the way to the other end of the room.  Adjusting his glasses, Riley gave Travis a wink and directed his gaze towards the tall shelf unit that seemed to be screaming for his attention.

On each shelf was a different sort of collection all neatly arranged to show off each coveted piece.  Much to Riley’s delight, one shelf was dedicated to more books.  These ones all were various novels, mostly westerns and science fiction.  Knowing he’d have a chance to look over them more thoroughly later, he bypassed them, setting his sights on a different shelf.  

The bottom most one had a selection of pre-war toys.  There was a baseball and glove, a few tin cars, a checkerboard, and a few different style teddy bears and dolls.  Most of the toys were in pretty rough condition, but they were still in great shape considering their age.  Riley spotted a baseball bat and golf club leaning against the shelf as well as what appeared to be a half of a bowling ball.  It was a perfect, smooth cut and Riley made a mental note to ask Travis how it got that way at another time.

Right now he was distracted by what dominated over two of the remaining shelves.  Travis loved collecting Nuka Cola merchandise and had voiced that quite often while he was in Boston.  One shelf was glowing brightly with a variety of Quartz and Quantum while the other shelf had bottles of Victory.  Riley looked them over and gave a low whistle.  “Looks like you’ve been rather busy scouring the Mojave to get this kind of collection,” he commented while picking up a small sheriff badge made out of tin.  “Now I understand why you were so excited to get those rocket shaped bottles in Boston.”

Travis grinned while crossing his arms in front of his chest, obviously proud of his little collection.  “A’yup.  I still got them in the bedroom, though.  Like I said I wasn’t too keen on unpacking when I got back the other day.  Maybe I’ll put them up later tonight.” “Glad to see they’ve gone to a good home,” Riley chuckled as he carefully picked up a large, metal toy Nuka Cola delivery truck complete with tiny soda bottles.  “Man, this stuff is amazing!  I know a few people back east who would be rather envious of your collection.  Maybe not so much the bottles, but these cool premiums like your trucks and pin-up girl figures would really drive folks wild to possess.”

“I’m sure this ain’t nothing compared to what I heard some people got, but considering Sunset Sarsaparilla is the dominate drink out this way I am pretty lucky I got what I got,” Travis replied while pulling a small chain hanging from a neon Nuka sign that looked like he ripped it directly off a store front.  The glass tubes flickered a few times before lighting completely.  “Got this at a pawn shop in Freeside a while back.  It was tucked behind some old washing machines, but I somehow spotted it.  Traded for a few shot guns and ammo.  The owner thought I was nuts, but I had to have it.  Didn’t work, but I talked to a buddy of mine and he helped me get what I needed to get it to light up.  I think it’s my fave of all my collection, well, besides the glowy bottles.”

“It’s really something else, Travis.  I can’t wait to hear some of the stories behind your collections.”  Giving the shelf a final look and making sure nothing was on the floor for him to accidentally step on, Riley wandered towards a marvelous display unit near the room’s door.  It was similar to something one would find in a gift shop as it showcased all kinds of snow globes.  They all featured Vault Boy in some sort of scene depicting where the globes might have originated from. “Hoover Dam, Goodsprings, The New Vegas Strip....how did you even come across these?” Riley asked while picking one up and giving it a shake, amused at the white plastic flakes inside the water swirling about like a mini snowstorm.

“Eh, some were actually in this place and a few came from general stores out and about.  Got some from Vault 21 as well.  You might like that place a lot. Used to be a real pre-war vault, but it's a hotel and small casino now.  It’s all set up to what I think your time might have looked like.  They’re really big on that nostalgia!  They even got tons of pre-war stuff stored in a few of the rooms.  I've done a lot of trading with the folks there for a few things I liked.  The manager wanted any Vault suits I might find in my travels.  I found lots and exchanged them for some of the metal signs I got hanging around here and other parts of my casino.”

“Sounds like an extremely good system you got going.  Bartering is so much better than using caps I think.”

“Okies I got one last room to show you then we can get a move on to the Fort!” Taking Riley by the hand, Travis eagerly led him down the hall and to the room across from the bathroom.  “I don’t give this room much mind, but I reckon it has its uses.”  

The room was obviously once a guest bedroom with two neatly made full sized beds complete with satin sheets, comforters and throw pillows.  One even had a few teddy bears resting on it.  However, that’s where the bedroom look stopped and instead seemed more like a storage area.   A makeshift gun rack was against the wall with about ten metal ammo boxes stacked next to it.  The rack had everything ranging from shotguns to rifles of all different calibers.  A small footlocker rested next to the rack, its lid open, revealing the contents of various explosives like mines and hand grenades.  

Riley smirked at the small arsenal and shook his head surprised there wasn’t more.  “Your supply of these are a little low,” he jested while giving a nod to the explosives.

“Nah, got more down in my workshop.  Didn’t want to keep that kind of stuff up here in big piles, you know?”  Travis casually replied as he bent to pick up some casings that were scattered on the floor and tossed them in one of the ammo boxes.

“Yes, that uhhh... makes sense.” Riley paled, suddenly feeling nervous thinking of the entire casino blowing up because of of Travis’ passion for explosives and fires.  

A few metal cases stacked against the wall housed flamethrowers as well as a grenade launcher.  The weapons looked like they were used quite often and Riley could only imagine the mischief his partner got into with them.  Riley was thankful not seeing anything that launched mini nukes or the like.  Even Travis must have his limits when it came to destruction.  

However, there was one weapon that got Riley’s curiosity and he tugged at Travis’ sleeve to get his attention.  “What in the world is that thing?” he asked, pointing to what looked like a motorcycle gas tank with an iron sword attached to it by a cable.

Travis twitched his moustache and grinned broadly while picking up the sword. “This is what’s called a shishkebab.  One of my fave pyro weapons.  The sword flames up.  I’ll have to take you out later and show you it in action!  Some of the trees out in the desert are dry as dust and man you should see them burn up when I slash ‘em with this!”

Riley inwardly groaned seeing Travis’ crystal blue eyes light up with excitement while showing off the sword.  “I’d love to see, as long as you are careful.  I’m sure more than just trees catch fire easily here.” “Oh man, you ain’t kidding!” Travis excitedly responded while putting the shishkebab back down and went back to his task of picking up the casings.  He heard a soft groan come from his partner over his comment and he quickly added, “But don’t worry, I only set shit on fire in secluded areas where they won’t go out of control and cause more trouble.”

“Great,” Riley grunted as he glanced at the single wardrobe in the room.  Its door was ajar revealing some articles of clothing that looked like military uniforms and dusters.  More guns were leaning against the furniture along with more ammo boxes.  Off in a far corner of the room was a small metal platform and on it Travis’ robot ED-E was resting on it.  No doubt it was a charging station of sorts.  

However, like in the previous rooms, what really captured Riley’s attention was yet another large bookshelf stocked not only with books, but interesting items such as a space helmet, globe of the world, and what appeared to be some kind of blaster from a science fiction movie.  

“Interesting choice of books you have here, Travis.  I didn’t expect you to read these sort of things,” the redhead remarked as he looked over the book titles that ranged from business operations and government to mathematics and science.

Travis snorted and shook his head.  “Nah, ain’t read those.  I glanced through them and they’re boring and filled with words I can’t even understand.  Some got nice pictures at least.  I  got them there for looks and maybe give to someone if they’re interested.  Hell, if you like them by all means please read them”

“I was anticipating some history books, actually.  Do you have any of those?” Riley asked hopefully as he carefully flipped through the pages of an astronomy book, marveling at how bright and crisp the photos inside were after all the centuries.

“Oh, sure!  Got plenty of those upstairs in the penthouse!”  Travis couldn’t help but laugh seeing Riley’s face light up hearing the news about history books. Slipping his arms around Riley’s waist, Travis leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “Trust me, Riles, my apartment is only the beginning of shit for you to see in this place.  Anyways, was this a good enough tour for now?  You ready to mosey on outta here?”

“Yes, the tour was perfect and I look forward to exploring and experiencing it more as the days go by.  Thank you, Travis.”

“Great!  Let’s make tracks then!”  Stealing another quick kiss, Travis entwined their fingers together and briskly led him towards the elevator.  “Gotta stop and pick up some supplies for the Fort first.  Can't exactly make a donation run without donations.”

Right as the metal doors began to slide shut, Rex decided at the last moment to join the couple.  He gave a startled yelp as the doors closed, barely touching him.  “Dumb dog!”  Travis groaned as the doors re-opened to allow the cyberdog entry.  “Hit the button with a T,” Travis directed to Riley while he pushed his dog into the back of the elevator and out of the way.

Riley searched over the panel of buttons and realized the vast majority of them weren’t numbered properly or numbers for that matter.  Furrowing his brow as he looked for the T button, he asked, “Ummm...Travis, what’s with these numbers and...letters?  They’re all so... randomly placed.”

“Well, it helps make things easier to remember where things are.  Six is me, so my suite’s button is six as you found out last night.  C is for casino.  P is for Penthouse.  L is for Lounge.  T is for Treasure.  W is for workroom.  B is for basement.  S is for Sub Basement…”

“Ok Ok I get it,” Riley chuckled and pushed the T button.  “It’s a good method as long as you understand it.  Do you do anything with the other floors not designated to a specific number or letter?”

“Nothing really.  They’re there for whatever.  Storage I reckon.  All still got nice beds, sheets, furniture, clothes...almost like Mister House had this place gussied up and evacuated afore the bombs hit.  It's also why I have an endless supply of sheets and clothes...got lots of liquor too,” he snickered.

“Sounds perfect,” Riley grinned.  “I can’t wait to see all of your special floors, but this one we’re going to...T for Treasure, really sounds interesting.” “Ain’t no big deal for me, but for the folks I help out...well...you’ll see.  Used to be one of the business suites or some shit,” Travis said with a dismissive shrug right as the elevator came to a halt at its designated floor.

The doors slid open and an over enthused cyberdog bolted out.  “Ain’t never seen him this excited, but I reckon he’s picking up on my feelings,” Travis drawled as he followed the dog leaving Riley to stand blushing in the elevator over Travis’ compliment.  Realizing Riley wasn’t at his side, Travis halted and turned around.  “You coming?”

Riley cleared his throat and nodded.  “Yes, yes of course.”  He stepped out of the elevator and gazed up and down the hallway.  The carpet had a checkered pattern of different shades of reds and still looked as it might have 200 years ago.  Various pictures were on the wall showcasing scenes of the pre-war New Vegas and Mojave areas.  Other than that the hall was completely barren and disinteresting.  One lone door was at the far end to their right and that was where Travis was headed.  

“Got all sorts of crap in this place,” Travis casually remarked while they walked.  “Plus during my travels I find lots of stuff and salvage it.  Been in this place almost seven years and pretty much went through all the floors.  I gathered up certain things and organized them for later distribution.  I sure don’t need it, but plenty of folks out there do.”

Opening the door, Travis beckoned for Riley to follow him inside.  Entering the suite Riley was taken aback by what he saw.  The entire suite reminded him of what pre-war shopping mega-centers or warehouse type of stores looked like.  Tall metal and wooden racks lined the walls stocked with various goods while large boxes were on the floor and filled with things too bulky to store on shelves.  

As Riley gazed around the room he eventually realized that everything was sorted and organized according to purpose.  One shelf had small boxes filled with syringes with labels marked stimpack or med-x.  Piles of rad-away along with bottles of rad-x occupied another shelf.  Piles of crutches and canes were stacked in a corner, propped against the shelf.  Boxes of gauze and bandages were lined on the bottom shelf according to size.  Various other medical supplies were scattered on a wooden table where some brown doctor bags were resting.  

Where the medical supplies ended, linens began.  Riley wasn’t sure how many or what size, but there was plenty of nicely folded bedding materials stacked neatly on their shelf.  Stacks of towels were also on the shelf along with what looked like cloth napkins and tablecloths.  After that a row of boxes filled with teddy bears, dolls, cars, and other various toys were set on the floor in front of the shelf.  A smaller display case, almost similar to the one Travis had his snow globes on, had a variety of carved wooden figures.

The remaining shelves were stocked with varieties of food preserved in jars as well as candles, ropes, lighters, electronic parts, and many other things.  All necessary supplies, but not so vast where they needed their own separate area.  Three large wardrobes with their doors removed were also lined against the wall.  Inside were various clothes for men, women, and children, but it looked as though those supplies were rapidly being depleted.  

Giving out a low whistle, Riley slowly browsed through the supplies, amazed how much was actually gathered here.  “You have quite the hoard, Travis.  Are you sure you aren’t secretly a dragon with all this wonderful treasure?” Travis snorted as he grabbed a brown medical bag and began hastily stuffing random supplies into it.  “Ain’t no hoarder...but what’s a dragon?” he asked, suddenly pausing from his task, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy.

“Well...a dragon is a mythical beast that was found in many cultures around the world.  Generally they were depicted as a large lizard or reptile, usually with wings, and quite often were known to have vast hoards of treasure like gems and gold.  It also wasn’t uncommon for them to breathe fire.”

“Oh!  We got dragons here in the Mojave then!” Travis exclaimed excitedly and turned to face Riley, his blue eyes shining.  “We call them Fire Geckos, though.  They’re about as tall as you and they breathe fire!  No wings, though, but they do run awfully fast.  I wonder if they have treasures?”

Riley paled slightly hearing about the beasts and frowned as his body instinctively tensed over Travis’ last remark.  “Please don’t tell me you want to go finding that out?”

“Nah, I don’t make a point out of going after critters for no reason other than for food.  If we happen to find them and they attack, yeah, different story.  Don’t worry, your man ain’t no ruthless killer bent on mowing anything down that moves especially over material goods.”

“This I know,” Riley gently replied as he stepped over to Travis, watching him gather supplies.  “Honestly, I’m surprised you even still have this big of an inventory.  I mean, I wouldn’t think there’d be so much good and salvageable stuff out there in the wastes.  I also would think you’d run out of supplies in time, especially since you’ve been doing things for what...like...seven years now you said?”

“Yeah, everything’s pretty much picked over in the Mojave,” Travis said with a dismissive shrug.  “But shit’s never-ending for the most part here in the casino.  I also don’t send out donations every day or even every week.  If I didn’t ration things I’d run out of supplies right quick and then probably’ll get bitched at for not helping anymore.  It’s so stupid that the folks you sometimes help take advantage of ya or ain’t thankful for what ya do give them and they want more.”  Travis snorted as if remembering such a case while he began to add empty syringes inside of the bag. Riley smirked knowing about thankless individuals all to well.  He witnessed first hand and personally experienced that behavior many, many times in Boston where the more help you offer to people the more that is demanded.  You would think people would be more grateful especially in these hard times.  He sighed and gave Travis a pat on the shoulder.  “You’re a good guy, Travis.  Do you need any help packing supplies?” “Sure,” Travis replied as he began gathering up a few handfuls of bandages.  “Grab an empty sack and round up five teddy bears, some cars and dolls, and maybe a few of the wooden animal carvings.  Might as well give the younger residents at the Fort something during this visit.”

Nodding, Riley walked over to the toy area and began filling the sack with Travis’ request.  “Did you make these figures by any chance?” he asked seeming to recall a time when Travis mentioned he liked to carve things in his spare time.  The wooden carvings were very well made and he was impressed with the variety of dogs, yao guai, and deathclaws as well as some animals he didn’t recognize, but figured they were typical to the Mojave.

“Yeah,” Travis replied as he shoved a final handful of Rad-X in the bag and zipped it up.  “One of the little talents I discovered I had a few years ago.  Don’t know where it came from, but I reckon it’s probably some kind of long forgotten memory.”

Riley nodded solemnly while he looked over a carving of a deathclaw which was quite different in looks compared to what was in Boston.  He remembered Travis talking about the differences, but that didn’t make the beasts any less threatening.  Putting the figure in the bag, Riley began to meander around the suite amazed at Travis’ accomplishment.  “It’s nice to see you also have books to offer to people,” he commented while looking over a small selection of literature lined neatly on a shelf.  “I’m glad to see that you pass out written works like this.  Some of these sound pretty interesting and I might have to borrow some one day.”

“You keep finding the books, don’t ‘cha?”  Travis snickered as he closed up the medical bag and made his way towards the door to leave.  “The Boomers really like books.  They can be next on the donation drop-off list if you’d wanna pay them a visit with me.  Gotta take the motorcycle, though.  It’s a ways off past Hoover Dam.”

“The Boomers, eh?  I seem to recall you mentioning them.  They’re the folks with the functioning war planes, right?”  Riley asked as hoisted the bag full of toys over his shoulder and joined Travis and who were waiting patiently in the doorway.

“Yeah, they’re really self-sufficient and got crops and stuff.  I usually only take them things like scrap and weapons, but they also really like tech books.  Maybe when we go I can convince them to take us for a ride in the B-29 they got.  Barter with ‘em...books for a bomber ride.  Maybe they can fly us to that Mile High Club you mentioned last night if it ain’t too far.  I know I’d sure love to check it out if you remember how to get there.”

Bending to set the bag down on the floor of the elevator, Riley paused hearing what Travis said and bit his lower lip as he felt his cheeks warm with a blush.  “Umm...well...that might not be the best thing to ask them, babe.  You see, it’s kind of like a private club.  I’ll explain it all to you on the way down to the casino,” Riley said with an alluring tone to his voice and gave a wink as the elevator doors slid shut.

To be continued...

[narrymusings]

prompt: “will you marry me?” thank u!!!!

Niall and Harry, ex-lovers, accidentally drunkenly get married in in Vegas upon attending Louis’ bachelor party/weekend get-away. This is how it happens:

Niall stares at the silver band around his finger. There’s a heaviness in his stomach and an emptiness in his chest. He twirls it around his finger, watches the way it shines and glimmers in the sunlight.

It doesn’t belong there. It doesn’t belong there, on his finger, and yet it feels… Right. Like it fits. Like it’s supposed to be there. And he doesn’t want to take it off. (Even though he should have taken it off already.)

Six days ago, Niall hadn’t heard from Harry in two years. Hadn’t properly seen Harry in three. (Hadn’t kissed Harry in four.) Had had a bit of anxiety over the knowledge that when he walked into Louis’ LA home, the probability of Harry being there would be high, given that he’d heard (from Liam) that Harry had already been in LA and Harry is nothing if not early for every event he attends — especially weddings, which includes bachelor parties.

[Harry was, in fact, in the kitchen mixing drinks when Niall had walked in, backpack slung over his shoulder. Louis had greeted him with a massive bear hug, Liam had just about broken every rib in his body with the force of his hug, and Harry, well- Hugging it out would have made it awkward for everyone in the room — including Louis’ other friends, who were out in the backyard — so Harry had settled for a simple smile and a nod over the blender before promptly turning it on.]

Five days ago, they’d arrived at the hotel in Vegas and Niall had been fine all the way up the elevator, even though there had been too many people — and Harry, maybe, might have, moved people away to give him a bit more space. He’d been fine. That is, until he realized that his room was right across from Harry’s room; until he’d found himself alone in his room to drop off his bag. Because then he’d found himself sitting on the edge of the bed, thinking about how his 20 year-old self would have simply just ignored his own room for Harry’s because they both knew — they all knew — that he’d wind up there anyway. That, in turn, makes him think about how much has changed, since then. Some for the better, like his career, and some for the worse…

Five days ago, they’d spent the whole day on the town, seeing places they’d never been able to go in previous years they’d been here because very, very few people knew they were even here. Niall had stuck to the likes of Louis and Calvin and a few of Louis’ other mates, because the idea of getting stuck anywhere with Harry, even with other lads around, was not an idea that he’d liked.

[They’d all agreed to keep the partying to a minimum that night, because the following night, and the one after it, were the nights. So they’d retired to their rooms at a decent time — if you can call 1 o’clock in the morning, after hanging out at the hotel pool all night, decent. Niall had tossed and turned for hours, though, before he’d finally been able to find sleep. And he’d never admit it to anyone, barely even wanted to admit it to himself, but it’s because he’d had a nearly unbearable urge to be in the room across the hall.]

Four days ago, Niall had woken up with a stiff neck and a kink in his back. (It happens when he sleeps while he’s stressed out, and the bed being one that wasn’t his own definitely hadn’t helped.) There had been a knock at his door just as he’d been getting out of the shower and he’d struggled, after calling for whoever was on the other side to ‘hold on’, to pull on a pair of pants before answering the door. It had been Harry. Harry, with a tray of food he’d had ordered to his room. Harry, who had said that he thought they could eat breakfast together before meeting the rest of the blokes downstairs at the bar. Harry, who had sprawled across Niall’s bed as if four years hadn’t gone by since the last time they’d been alone together in a hotel room. (Harry, who looked just as beautiful as he always had — with his wild hair and his bright green eyes and his stupid fucking dimples. Harry, whose very presence still brought butterflies to life in his stomach.)

Four days ago, Harry had broken whatever tension was between them by bringing Niall breakfast. He hadn’t fixed anything, no, but the awkward tension was gone. Replaced, instead, with the sort of easy friendship they’d always had, before they’d gone and mucked up by falling into bed together. And who was Niall to fight that, for just a few more days? He’d missed it, after all. He’d missed Harry.

[Niall had gone to bed alone, that night. Drunk and alone — and willing Harry to come to him so that Niall wouldn’t have to. But Harry didn’t come, and Niall didn’t go. It was probably for the best, he’d remember thinking come morning.]

Three days ago, they’d all started drinking by noon — and everything after seems like a blur. There are moments, though. Moments that he remembers, despite the fog clouding his brain. Moments like Harry, begging him to take a Tequila shot with him. Harry, hanging all over him like they were 18 years old again. Harry, gazing at Niall overtop his mimosa and telling him that he misses him, misses them. Harry, pulling Niall into an empty stall in the men’s loo before dropping to his knees, all too eager to get Niall’s cock out.

Two days ago, he remembers waking up, face buried in the back of Harry’s neck, legs tangled with Harry’s, arms full of Harry. Remembers pulling himself away, stumbling out of the bed to get to the loo. Remembers splashing water over his face, because what the fuck did he just do? Remembers catching a glimpse of something shiny in the mirror before letting his gaze settle on the bit of silver wrapped around his ring finger on his left hand. Remembers his heart stopping and his stomach sinking before he’d fallen to his knees in front of the toilet — because what the fuck did he just do?

Two days ago, or maybe three — depending on the time, not that it matters, they’d gotten  themselves married. Niall had no recollection of it. Neither did Harry. Neither did Louis, nor Liam — but they’d both laughed, and laughed, and laughed because of course it was “something they’d do.”

“Can barely talk about your feelings for each other, but getting married isn’t a problem at all,” Louis had snickered. Except it was a problem. It was a huge problem.

And, unfortunately for them, the chapel that married them wouldn’t un-marry them. They wouldn’t even do some sort of shot-gun annulment for them, said they’d have to go through the courts just like everybody else.

One day ago, Niall filed for an annulment. Requested that it be rushed.

He can’t go back to London- Can’t go back home being married to Harry. He can’t.

And yet, he’d still been unable to take the ring off.

+

This is the fallout, where we pretend that certain things can actually happen this quickly in a court of law:

He hears him, before he sees him. Hears his presence, even, before he hears him speak.

“So… Today’s the big day, huh?” Harry asks as he leans a shoulder against the wall next to where Niall’s standing in the middle of the family room, looking himself over in the mirror.

And Niall knows that he’s talking about the wedding, that he’s talking about Louis and Eleanor finally — finally — getting married, after all this time. He knows that. But the most selfish part of him, the part that is a horrible friend, can’t stop thinking about them even at a time like this- About how today is the day their annulment is supposed to be finalized.

“Yeah,” Niall mutters. “Today’s the day.”

“Can I ask you something?”

Niall glances at him through the mirror as he fumbles with his bowtie, and tries not to think about how good Harry looks. “You’re going to even if I said no, so- Go for it.”

“Is it weird to you that we’re getting an annulment?”

Niall blinks. “Why?”

Harry shrugs, sort of looks small as he does it. “I just- I know we didn’t plan on it, obviously. It’s just…for a while I always thought that we would get married, and now we are married and- It just- It feels weird, to me.”

Niall feels as if his breath has been knocked out of him. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“Felt what way?”

“Like you wanted to marry me,” he mutters, swallowing hard around a lump in his throat.

“We were 21,” Harry whispers.

And, Jesus. Fuck. That feels like a punch to the gut.

Harry sighs. “Niall, I-“

“Please don’t,” Niall whispers, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Please don’t make this harder than it already is for me, okay? Just-“

“What- Harder?”

“You walked away once,” Niall continues. “Just- Just do it again. One more time.” He plans on being with someone else, the next time one of them gets married. He’s working on it, anyway. Might even have someone in mind.

“I wasn’t the only one that walked away,” Harry says.

And a laugh erupts from Niall’s chest before he can stop it. It’s sarcastic, a bit bitter, and a lot disbelieving. “I walked away because I got tired of waiting, Harry.”

“You got tired of waiting? What about me?”

“What about you?” Niall asks, incredulously. He whirls around, then, to face him properly. It’s what this conversation deserves. “You broke up with me- What exactly were you waiting for?”

“I got tired of waiting for you to give me more,” Harry mutters.

“More what?” Niall sighs.

“More of you,” Harry hisses. “More… Just- More of you, Niall. More of us.”

Niall blinks, taken aback. His chest feels tight, suddenly. “Is this- Did you break up with me because I wasn’t ready to come out?”

“No,” Harry mutters. “I wouldn’t have done that. You needed your own pace, and I understood that, but-“

“But what?”

“But I needed my own pace. I needed to be who I was. I needed to be able to be me. I couldn’t hide anymore. I couldn’t- Pretend like I wasn’t over the moon for you, so…”

“So you broke up with me,” Niall finishes.

“You needed to protect yourself, and I guess I felt like I needed to protect myself too,” Harry whispers. “It wasn’t the smartest move I ever made, but it was the only thing I could do.”

Niall wants to be mad. He wants to be furious. And four years ago, three years ago, two years ago – he was mad. He was furious. And he was hurt. But now, hearing it like this, it sort of…makes more sense. It still hurts that Harry couldn’t wait for him, but he gets it now. Mostly. (Which is probably why he finds himself playing with the ring around his finger.)

“I don’t want this to be over, Niall,” Harry says softly.

Niall’s brow furrows in confusion. “The paperwork is already underway. My lawyer-“

“Not that,” Harry says, shaking his head.

And- Oh. Oh. He means in general. “It’s been over, Harry.”

Harry quirks a questioning eyebrow. “Has it been, though?”

“We literally haven’t spoken in-“

“You married me,” Harry points out.

“I was drunk,” Niall says. “You were drunk.”

“Exactly.”

Niall sighs heavily, closes eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose. And his own words – drunk words are sober thoughts, which is what he’d told Harry five years ago after Harry had confessed, drunkenly, that he was in love and whilst he’d tried to explain it away by saying that he was ‘just drunk’. “Haz-“

“You know I’m right.”

“Stop-“

As if on cue, the back door slides open and Liam walks in. “Oi, lads! Hurry up, will ya? El’s about to make her grand entrance and Louis will literally kill you if you’re not out there when she does.”

And, just like that, the conversation is over. And just like that, Niall has some serious thinking to do.

+

It’s late. It’s so late. So late, in fact, that it’s nearly morning.

Harry had disappeared inside the house ages ago, and Niall finds him in the kitchen — accompanied by two piles of clean dishes, of course. He’s wiping down the island counter, when Niall walks in through the back door.

“Really, Haz?” Niall laughs, closing the door behind him. “It’s a wedding.”

“He can consider it my wedding gift.”

Niall snorts, because they both know that Harry had already given the happy couple his gift. He saunters up to the island, slides into one of the stools on the opposite side, watches Harry. “So, my lawyer got back to me.”

“So did mine. Our marriage has officially been annulled. Perks of being stupidly famous, he said.”

Niall hums, runs a hand over his face. “I have a proposition for you.”

Once he’s binned the wet paper towel he’d been using, Harry folds his arms over the countertop and looks at him. “I’m listening.”

“I’m willing to try, if you are,” Niall says. “I’m willing to see how it goes. But you need to give it some time, Harry. If we’re gonna try to do this properly, then I need some more time.”

Harry nods. “Okay. Done.”

“And- We need to talk about it. Like- After this, after today — we have to have a real conversation about this. We have to make sure that we’re on the same page.”

“I agree.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yeah,” Harry whispers. “Yes, I promise.”

“Okay,” Niall whispers back. “Okay. I’m gonna- Head back out there,” he says, hooking a thumb over his shoulder towards the door. “You should join us.”

“I will,” Harry smirks.

Niall feels lighter, now. Better about, well, everything than he did six days ago. He isn’t at all surprised, for some reason, either. It feels as if this was always the way it was going to go; things would be awkward, they’d fight, and then they’d make up. Granted, the shotgun wedding was a bit dramatic, but- When in Vegas, right?

“Hey, Niall?”

He tosses a glance over his shoulder, and whispers, “Yeah?”

“Will you marry me for real, some day?”

Niall rolls his eyes, despite the smile tugging at his lips. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

[teddy-bear-surprise]

Chapter 4: Filling in The Blanks

|| Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 Part 1 || Chapter 7 Part 2 || Chapter 8 || Almost The End || Chapter 9 ||

WARNING: Mentions of violence, blood, police, alcohol, stalking, car crash (not the main character), and bondage (non-sexual).

Author’s Note: This is an alternate universe situation set around the time of seasons 13 and 14 but I kept Hotch and Prentiss because they're some of my favorite characters. This fic does not follow cannon occurrences so please keep this in mind.

Ophelia sat on her couch moping over Cat's disappearance. It had been two days since Cat left. She wouldn't pick up her phone, which Ophelia did not know was broken, and Ophelia thought she was ignoring her. In reality, however, Cat was trying to reach Ophelia by payphone but could not remember her number. Barely ten minutes had passed since ten in the morning, and Ophelia was already nursing her third beer of the day. Her motivation to do anything, to be anything, had completely disappeared.

She lazily clicked through the channels before settling on the news. Now, Ophelia was not one to regularly check the news, but this station had a particularly handsome reporter that she loved to watch. In her mind, he was the only viable man left in Los Angeles. Her aptitude for stalking and predating did not end with her victims and was a driving force in all aspects of her life. According to her standards, he checked out: a clean digital history, a clean social presence, good financials, no unhappy exes, and most importantly he was single.

Today, however, Ophelia was less than pleased with what he had to say. "The FBI has landed here, in Los Angeles, this morning to investigate the mysterious murders of five young and famous men. They are working in conjunction with the LAPD and are searching for answers. More on this after the break–"

She rolled her eyes and crossed him off of her mental list of "viable LA men" which now held a whopping zero names. Her hand reached for the remote and clicked off onto another channel, hoping for something a bit more light-hearted.

On The Jet Earlier That Day

The BAU's luxurious, white jet had taken off only moments earlier and was flying quickly from Quantico to Los Angeles. Hotch looked at his team, all eagerly waiting for his instruction, before addressing them, "We're dealing with a very experienced killer here and they might even have a partner based on the amount of physical strength that it would take to restrain men of this size. The M.O. has been consistent since the very first case and there were no trials and no errors, meaning that we found no similar attacks in the Los Angeles area that occurred before these. They started attacking right off the bat and we need to find out why. Garcia will fill you in on the details."

The screen above Hotch's head was now occupied by a perky blonde, "Garcia here! Ready to rock and roll? Yeah? No? Okay, tough crowd. So, first up we have Rick Garza, twenty-eight years old and living in Glendale. He's not the most famous actor, but he is definitely on Hollywood's radar... should I say 'was'? Not important... Last year Mr. Garza started working in sideline films like Danika's Delight–a great movie by the way–and worked his way up to major ones like Begum's Trial which was supposed to finish filming next month. He doesn't have many enemies in the industry, a pretty well-liked guy, for the most part. He did have some disputes with the financial department on set, but that happens all the time so I don't think it was a contributing factor. Uhhhh... his wife, Maci Garza, said she was out shopping with friends but when she came home and went to her room to put her new, shiny things away, she found Rick like this–"

A photo of Rick flashed onto everyone's screens. He was hogtied with his legs and hands tied together behind his back, an apple occupying his mouth, and big bloody letters covering his back that read 'suck on this, you bastard'. Rick's body was laid on its stomach, so his hands and feet were in the air, and based on the images, he had been positioned to face the door, almost like he was waiting for someone to walk in.

"Yeesh, if I were to die like that, I don't think I would want to have been born at all," Rossi tried to lighten the mood with his snarky comment and his jokester reputation never disappointed.

Garcia rolled her eyes at Rossi and continued, "Agreed, not the best way to go out. Moving on to vic number two, we have Simon Boyd, thirty-two, and also living in Glendale. He was a very, very popular chef, you all might know his restaurant, 'Boyd & Boyd'. It opened up ten years ago and has gotten an impressive three Micheline stars. According to co-workers, he's a 'nice guy with the worst anger-issues in all of LA', that is a direct quote, by the way. Kind of contradictory, kind of confusing, didn't help me that much."

"So, I did a little deep-dive into his online presence, he seems pretty clean, but looking into his wife's life is where it gets weird. Back in the day, Daniela had a massive online presence, like massive. There was not a day where she did not post about her friends or life updates. But about three years ago she was living in a pretty bad part of town and then she met Simon. After that, she stopped working, stopped going out, stopped posting, all that jazz. She essentially disappeared from the face of the earth and only went out when there were events for Simon's restaurant. Kind of sketchy if you ask me. Also, they got married like two months after meeting and he immediately put all of her assets in his name. Basically, he owned her."

Garcia took a moment to find the rest of her notes, "Daniela was actually on their house property when Simon was killed. She was in their backyard, swimming, and when she went back inside he was dead. So as Hotch said, very experienced killers. Simon also left almost nothing to Daniela so take that as you will. As for the M.O., it looks pretty standard, the same as with Garza."

Garcia pressed a few buttons and some photos of Boyd's crime scene appeared on their tablets. This time, it was Emily who spoke up, "Garcia, you said that Daniela didn't get a lot from Simon in his will, so who got everything?"

"I am so glad you asked, Emily!" Garcia bore a wide smile, "All of Simon's assets went to an Eric Matteo Bowes, but the problem is, there is no Eric Matteo Bowes. He doesn't exist. And the only one that does, lives in Puerto Rico and has never been in the same state as Simon. So basically he left his entire life to a mystery man."

"Why would he do that? Is it possible that it's some kind of pseudonym? Maybe it means something else?" Replied Emily with a confused expression.

"Already there, my love. I called Boyd's lawyer and he said that while he could not give specific details, he did confirm that Bowes does not exist. Yet another mystery to solve, we just have to see if this is related to Boyd's death or not."

They went on like this for the next hour, bouncing around ideas and debating if certain occurrences had any significance in the cases. Once all of the cases had been discussed, Reid raised his hand to speak, still resembling the quiet kid that Ophelia knew, "Guys, I think the unsub is female. Look at the amount of rage," he pointed to the photos of the men's' slit throats, "this is a very up-close kill and it indicates that there may be a personal motive too. That's something we see a lot in female serial killers, it tends to stem from trauma that they feel they cannot let go of. And it's definitely a duo, two of the victims were athletes, indicating that at least two unsubs would be needed to restrain them, especially to get them on top of the bed after. But not more than two, bigger killing teams are more prone to mistakes and disorganization, I'm not seeing any of that here. My guess, is that these two bonded over their hatred of men, as indicated by the message written on the victims' backs, and somewhere along the line they decided to put their message out there through violence. Garcia, we need to start looking into females living in the greater LA area who have filed reports for domestic abuse against males within the past five years, cross-reference that with females whose mothers were either missing, dead, or not involved."

"Give me one second, pretty boy." Garcia's painted nails clacked loudly on her keyboard and they all watched as she typed at an alarming speed with her pen still in her hand.

"Anndddd done! We have seventeen lovely ladies here, one of them passed away a week ago and three have recently moved to other California cities. So we're down to thirteen now. Up first we have Miss Daniella Olson, twenty-three, and worked as a sales clerk for Knight's Knives up until two months ago... hmmm. Possible unsub? Oh wait, she stopped working at Knight's because she sustained debilitating injuries from a car crash. That's unfortunate. Up next is Kiya Driscoll, thirty years old and living in eastern LA. Geographically she doesn't look like a match, but let me see what comes up when I dig a little deeper."

After less than a minute, Garcia had managed to take a deep look into Kiya's life and left no stone unturned. "She's squeaky clean, moving on. Belle Jones, twenty-five and also in the hospital. Hmmm... change of plans, my lovelies, I will get back to you when I have a list of possible unsubs."

They discussed the case while Garcia looked into each of the girls' backgrounds.

Hotch's deep voice suddenly boomed through the jet, "These unsubs are experienced, they have likely experimented in other states, which would explain how their kills were so clean right off the bat. The only problem is that when I looked into it, there were no similar cases except for one case in Las Vegas from nineteen-ninety-nine. There was only one suspect, Darla Sutton, but there was never enough evidence to convict her. Our current case also profiled that we would be dealing with a team of young killers, Darla is already in her late sixties. We could be dealing with copycats or even an apprentice of some kind. Garcia, can you change the search to include anyone who has ever been affiliated with Darla Sutton?"

"Yes, Sir, already ahead of you!" Chirped Garcia. "Allow me to introduce you to Miss Ophelia Sutton, Darla's daughter. Thirty-seven years old and she has not worked in four years, but lemme tell you, this girl is rich. Like, buy a house on the moon rich. She graduated from MIT when she was seventeen and went straight into huge engineering companies like Z-Tech and Cormac & Robles, she was able to reach the top by the time she was twenty-one and she's made enough money to sustain several families for at least fifty yea–"

Spencer's eyes widened in shock and he completely zoned out as Garcia droned on. How was it possible that the girl he knew so well as a child was now their prime suspect? She had been his best friend, stuck with him through thick and thin, yet here he was staring at a photo of her and not recognizing her in the slightest. He could see the evil in her eyes, but it had not been there when they were friends. Back then, he saw everything good in the world swimming in her smile, that was all gone now. He blamed himself for this, he did not fight hard enough for Ophelia's friendship, if he had, they might not be in this position.

Of course, it was not Ophelia's fault that Garcia had now found her, but rather Cat's. Cat had gotten a bit lazy while designing their M.O. and copied Darla's almost to the tee because she thought it made the most sense. This was, however, a detail that Cat never disclosed to Ophelia. It was the reason why she had insisted so adamantly that Ophelia had to leave, why she had been so worried that Spencer would catch them both. If anything happened to Ophelia, it would all be because of her mistake. While Cat did modify a few things, it clearly was not enough to keep the BAU from noticing the connection. Maybe prison really had damaged Cat's once perfect abilities, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

Spencer drew his eyes away from the screen and tried to hide his feelings of disappointment, but JJ always seemed to notice. She whispered into Spencer's ear, "Hey, Spence, what's wrong?"

He jumped, frightened by the nickname she used. She was the only one besides Ophelia that ever called him Spence, "Oh, it's nothing JJ, I just got worried for a moment, I thought I had forgotten to call the institution where my mom is staying to ask if I could visit her after the case. Nothing serious."

"Whatever you say, Spence, I'm always here to talk." JJ looked at Spencer worriedly and tried to take his explanation at face value, but she could tell that he was still hiding something, especially since he never forgets anything.

They wrapped up their briefing and Spencer remained quiet, worried about what to do. He was not close with Ophelia anymore, they had not spoken in over two decades, but a part of him wondered if he should excuse himself from the case. Eventually, he decided to stay on the case and not say anything to Hotch because it was just an old friendship. Ophelia did not have an eidetic memory like him and probably would not even remember him. Spencer found solace in this thought, essentially ignoring that he would have to arrest his only childhood friend.

When they landed in Los Angeles, Spencer thought of how ironic his situation was. He hoped that Ophelia's name coming up was just a false alarm, that they had pinned the case on the wrong unsub. But so far, all of the signs were pointing to her and they would definitely need her to cooperate to find her partner.

On their way to LAPD's headquarters, Spencer fidgeted with his hands, still debating telling Hotch about his relationship with Ophelia. He figured that it could go one of two ways: Hotch would kick him off of the case and berate him for not speaking up sooner, or he would be used as bait to extract an emotional response from Ophelia, that is if she remembered him at all. When they got to the station though, Spencer was immediately cut off by the Chief who insisted that he needed to give them a thirty-minute guided tour of the station.

He walked at an excruciatingly slow pace, slowed even further by his co-workers stopping them every few steps to ask about the case. They were shown the kitchen, the bathrooms, his office, the garage, and literally every room except for the one where they were supposed to set up. By the time that the tour was over, there was not even enough time for Reid to have a quick talk with Hotch. They were now twenty minutes behind schedule and had to grab everything from the cars and rush to set up their space. Prentiss and Reid worked together to set up the computers, connecting them to Garcia, while Rossi worked on printing and pinning physical copies of the crime scene reports and photos. Hotch and JJ were running between the cars and the conference room trying to get everyone's belongings inside as quickly as possible since it was beginning to rain and they would be unable to get their stuff out later without wetting it.

As soon as everyone was settled in, they jumped straight into working on their game plan, plotting how they would approach Ophelia. They figured that their best bet was to send one team to search the apartment, and another to search the house. Rossi, JJ, and Reid were being sent to the house, whereas Hotch and Prentiss were going to check the apartment. It was a solid plan and only took a few calls to execute. They had just arrived in LA and they were already on the verge of a breakthrough. It all seemed to be moving so quickly, too easily, and Spencer felt that they were being drawn into a trap of some kind. But since they were employing the help of a S.W.A.T. team, he figured that there was not much to worry about and carried along with the plan. In two hours Ophelia Sutton would no longer be a free woman, and she was not going to go down easily.

[mynewsblog21]

Gold Shows Midas Touch at WSOP

Just name him Goldfinger, the man with the Midas touch  188xoso Just approximately the entirety Jamie Gold touched the beyond week became to, properly, gold -- $12 million really worth.

The 37-year-vintage Hollywood talent agent ran roughshod over a discipline of eight,773 players, which includes a number of poker's brightest stars, in winning the 37th World Series of Poker's $10,000 buy-in Texas No-Limit Hold'em occasion at Harrah's Rio Hotel and Casino.

Gold, who received the day's first pot in addition to its last, claimed his title within the wee hours of Friday morning after busting out seven of his 8 warring parties on the Final Table and 16 of the ultimate 27 survivors.

En course to the championship, he methodically constructed the largest chip stack in WSOP records, at times greater than doubling the stack of his closest opponent.

By the time he and runnerup Paul Wasicka of Westminster, Colo., who accrued $6.1 million, entered their abbreviated heads-up consultation, Gold had eighty five percentage of the chips unfold out in front of him.

"Phenomenal," "exceptional" and "stupendous" were only some of the adjectives observers showered on Gold.

"Unbelievable," become Gold's preference of phrases.

The first aspect an exhuberant Gold did after hugging friends, circle of relatives and lovers was name his father, who suffers from Lou Gerhig's Disease and couldn't be present.

That caused apparent emotional strain as Gold reduced his head into his arms, his temper all at once turning into reflective.

"He'd gladly deliver lower back the $12 million if it would therapy his father," confided considered one of Gold's buddies

"What I need to do in lifestyles is make brilliant amusement," stated Gold, whose client list reads like a Who's Who in Hollywood.

"Otherwise, all I want to do is play poker.

"I'm supposed to be in rate of a prime production right now, but I got two weeks off because they (his friends) knew how a great deal this intended to me and that they believed in me."

It took extra than 12 hours for the primary 5 finalists to bust out, but less than ninety mins for removal of the opposite three, which include two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Allen Cunningham of Las Vegas, the participant many felt might face Gold in heads-up play.

Cunningham, to his utter dismay, completed fourth, earning $3.628 million.

A large crowd of fellow execs had became out to lend their guide, inclusive of Daniel Negreanu, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Robert Williamson III, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and Jennifer Harman.

"I need Allen to win due to the fact a number of people don't recognise what a amazing participant he is," Harman stated.

Three-time WSOP champ Johnny Chan, alternatively, served as Gold's primary advisor, huddling with him frequently to offer guidelines.

The handiest expert on the Final Table, Cunningham changed into so distraught at losing what may be his handiest actual shot on the championship, he declined to be interviewed via ESPN, which turned into taping the event, and stiffed a massive assemblage of reporters from in the course of the world who had collected within the media center.

In removing Cunningham, 0.33-vicinity finisher Michael Binger of Atherton, Calif., raised to $1,a hundred,000 from the cutoff.

Gold known as from the button and Cunningham moved all-in for $6.5 million from the large blind.

Binger folded and Gold made the call.

Cunningham confirmed the ten of golf equipment and 10 of hearts, even as Gold turned over the jack and king of diamonds.

The board got here ace of spades, king of spades, eight of hearts, 7 of golf equipment and 3 of spades.

Binger, winner of $four.1 million, accompanied Cunningham out the door forty five minutes later.

Gold limped in from the button and Wasicka from the small blind.

Binger raised to $1.Five million from the huge blind.

Gold and Wasicka each known as and the flop came 10 of golf equipment, 6 of spades and and five of spades.

Wasicka checked, Binger guess $three.Five million and Gold moved all-in.

Wasicka folded and Binger known as, showing the ten and ace of hearts.

Gold turned over the 4 of spades and 3 of golf equipment for an open-ended directly draw.

The turn become the 7 of clubs and Gold made his instantly.

The river become the queen of spades and it was found out that had Wasicka no longer folded, he could've gained the hand with a flush.

The consensus opinion turned into the Coloradan surely changed into eyeing a runnerup end at that point and wanted to get Binger out of the manner., some thing which Wasicka denied for the duration of his press convention.

The 2006 WSOP have become records approximately 40 mins later.

Gold raised to $1.7 million and Wasicka referred to as.

The flop got here queen of clubs, eight of hearts and 5 of hearts.

Wasicka wager $1.5 million and Gold went all-in.

Wasicka referred to as and grew to become over a pair of 10s, whilst Gold showed the queen of spades and nine of clubs for a pair of queens.

Fourth Street became the ace of diamonds and the river changed into the four of golf equipment as Gold's ladies held up.

Despite his document-shattering performace, there has been vast murmuring that Gold, whose preceding income totaled simply $92,000, had failed to win the honour of most experts.

"In poker, you have to earn respect," media relations director Nolan Dalla said.

"Money isn't respect.

"There are many flashes inside the pan who come and go.

"I'd never heard of Mr. Gold earlier than.

"He was an unknown within the poker international.

"It's form of like the Kentucky Derby.

"You have a new champion each year.

"But what number of Triple Crown winners have we had?

"They're the extraordinary ones.

"What Jamie Gold has carried out is without a doubt wonderful and the winner merits appreciate.

"He can be one of the fine, but in poker you have to pay your dues and that means prevailing a couple of event."

Gold's Final Table opponents were not into dissing the champ.

"I've in no way seen some thing like it," said Rhett Butler of Rockville, Md., who fell victim to the excessive price of blinds and antes.

"He forces people to make performs."

"He's a superb participant who plays the large stack well," Binger introduced.

"He's like a vacuum cleanser and he can capture the bluffs."

Daniel Nassif became the first to bust out at the Final Table.

[ramblingthoughtsofayoungadult]

Thick of It-Juice Ortiz Imagine

Requested: Yes

Warnings: flashbacks of violence, swearing, some sensuality

A/N: It’s a continuation of my Sons of Anarchy series and I finally decided to make the pairing between the reader and Juice. Let me know if you want a final part :)

     When Y/N woke up, the first thing she noticed was Juice sitting in the chair next to her bed, eyes trained on her. The second thing she noticed was how well the morphine that Tara gave her worked.

     “There she is,” Juice muttered with a small grin.

     “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the other guys?” Y/N’s voice was husky and laced with fatigue.

      “They’re working on finding the bastards who put you in this hospital bed. Opie and I are playing bodyguards right now.”

       “I feel so much safer,” Y/N teased.

       Juice didn’t seem to appreciate her joke as the line between his eyebrows deepened and he pressed his lips firmly together. “You know I would kill for you, right? Same as Ope, maybe even more.”

       “Yeah, I do know, it’s just...making fun of it ‘s nice way to cope with it.” Y/N placed her hand over Juice’s and stroked his knuckles. It was one of the few ways she tried to relax him when they were alone outside of more intimate, strenuous activities.

        Juice sighed and leaned forward. “I wanna tear him apart and I will as soon as we catch him.”

        “Get in line, I think I deserve first punch,” Y/N said.

        Juice shook his head. “You didn’t---couldn’t see how you looked when you first came in. All bloody and beaten----you looked dead and...and I was so f-cking scared. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I can’t stand the thought of-of you being taken away form me.”

        There were tears in Juice’s eyes and Y/N almost gasped at the sight. He was always strong, albeit a little dim at times, but he always maintained a tough exterior. Seeing him so vulnerable in that moment made something stir in the heart that Y/N didn’t know she had. Over the past year they had been secretly seeing each other, he had never been too vulnerable around her, but Y/N had never been extremely vulnerable around him either. He did have his moments of being super romantic, like their first Valentine’s day together when he got her a nice box of chocolates and two dozen roses because he couldn’t decide which she’d like better. It was the first time Y/N told him she loved him and about the fifteenth time Juice confessed his love for her, but that was just how their relationship worked. No one in SAMCRO knew about them partially because no one would expect Juice’s stupid charm to win over the tough, independent Y/N. He flirted with her endlessly when Y/N first started bar tending and ignored her many threats of beating him up or stabbing him because he knew she wasn’t serious. Then, after a particularly wild night at the bar, Y/N and Juice had an intense, whiskey-fueled conversation about the deeper things in life. Seeing Juice be so thoughtful made him extremely attractive in Y/N’s eyes and after he took her home, she thanked him with the best kiss he ever had. Keeping the relationship a secret was her idea since Juice was more than happy to make her his old lady during their first week of dating. Y/N thought it would make things complicated in the club and so far, keeping the relationship a secret was only complicating things. Juice would have to hold himself back when someone tried to get frisky with her and Y/N would have to bite her tongue and keep her hands busy whenever some croweater tried to flirt with her man.

    Y/N moved her other hand to cup the side of Juice’s face. “I can’t stand the thought of you being taken away from me either, that’s why I fought so hard to stay.” She slid her hand down to wrap around his neck and pulled him close. 

    “Y/N,” Juice whispered.

    “Please,” Y/N whispered against his lips.

    Juice hesitated before kissing her as gently as possible. As far as he was concerned, Y/N was a porcelain doll that could break at any second. He knew she was strong and tough, but she looked so weak in that bed. Y/N kissed back stronger and more passionately, quickly losing herself in it. She was nearly stunned when Juice pulled away and rest his head against her chest. His hand came up and grazed her collarbone, making her shiver a little bit.

    “I want my crow right here,”  he said. “When all this is over, I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

    “Collarbone tattoos hurt like hell, though,” Y/N muttered.

    “You can take it.” He kissed the bone and pulled away a bit. He couldn’t help but be surprised that Y/N agreed to be open about their relationship. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she had nearly died.

    Someone knocked on the door and Tara walked into the room a second later. Juice snatched away from Y/N at the first knock so Tara didn’t suspect anything. 

    “How are you feeling?” she asked.

    “Groggy and pissed,” Y/N dead-panned. 

    “Understandable.” Tara looked at the monitors that were to the left of Y/N. “Your vitals look good, we just have to change your bandages and give you some more pain meds.”

    “Morphine,” Y/N said with a wide grin. 

    “Don’t get hooked on that stuff. Last thing we need’s a bartender hooked on morphine,” Juice said.

    Y/N rolled her eyes and Tara smirked. “You’ll be fine, Y/N.”

   “I’ll be even better when someone gives me a gun.”

   “Not happening,” Juice said.

   “A nurse will be in to change out your bandages and give you food and meds,” Tara said.

   “Thanks.”

   As soon as Tara left, Y/N sighed. “Are the guys making any progress?”

  “Based on what you said last night, I think they’re doing okay.”

       In Vegas, Clay, Tig, Jax, and Chibs were in the clubhouse with Adam and the rest of the Las Vegas chapter. There was a grim tension in the air due to the severity of the meeting.

   “All right, we got some new information on the man who attacked Y/N,” Clay said. “She said it was a redneck who she ran into outside of a bar.”

   “There aren’t any rednecks in any of the gangs in Vegas, but we did just learn that there was a gang visiting from Shreveport around the time Y/N and her friends were there, call themselves Louisiana Locusts,” Adam said. 

    “Never heard of ‘em,” Tig said.

    “Because they’re into small time stuff, move cocaine once in a while from Alabama, dabble a bit in extortion, and from what we’ve gathered in Vegas, they are not above attacking women,” Adam said.

    “Where are they now?” Clay asked.

    Adam smirked. “For some reason, they thought it was a good idea to stop in Reno for a couple of days.”

   Clay glanced at Jax. “Maybe we’ll go over and give ‘em an old Charming welcome?” 

   Jax nodded in agreement. “Did anyone find out exactly which one put their hands on Y/N?”

   “No, only person who would know that is Y/N, sorry,” Adam said.

   “That’s all right,” Clay clapped the man on the back, “you’ve been a great help.”

    Tig stood from his seat. “Let’s go show those Locusts what happens when you mess with one of us.”

    The rest of the Sons yelled in agreement because they knew that once the boys from the Charming chapter caught up with the Locusts, the rednecks were nowhere near prepared for what would hit them. 

    “Can you describe what happened to you, Miss Y/L/N?” Unser asked.

    Unfortunately, as much as Juice, Opie, and Tara tried to keep the cops away from her, Unser forced his way into Y/N’s room and the young woman was less than pleased to see him. She picked at the cherry Jell-O in front of her, tossing the occasional glance Unser’s way.

     “I was in a bar with some friends---”

     “Were you drinking?”

     “What’s the point of being in a bar if you’re not drinking?”

     Unser’s grip tightened around his pen as he took down notes. He decided to write “Miss Y/L/N was drinking at the time of the incident”. “Do you think this inhibited your perception of the events?”

     “It’s pretty difficult to misunderstand being beaten to a pulp and then dropped outside of a hospital,” Y/N seethed.

     “So, you were beaten? Was it by one or more assailants?”

     Y/N shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s kind of a blur.” 

     “Very well then. One last question, Miss Y/L/N: do you believe that your attack has anything to do with the motorcycle game known as the Sons of Anarchy?”

     Unser gave her a warning look that he truly didn’t need to give her. Y/N had spoken to the Charming police plenty of times to know just how to wriggle her way out of any situation and stall until one of the guys got her out of there. 

     “No, not that I can think of,” she said.

     “Thank you, Miss Y/L/N, my associates and I will do our best to apprehend the people responsible for this,” Unser said.

      “I hope you do.”

      As soon as Unser left, Gemma stormed in, carrying a large white paper bag and looking as though someone keyed her car.

     “I’m guessing it went okay if you’ve got that look on your face,” Gemma said.

     “Yeah, what’s in the bag?” Y/N asked.

      “Real food, better than the crap they serve you in here.” Gemma tossed a distasteful glance at the Jell-O and plate of turkey with gravy and green peas on Y/N’s bed table. She grabbed the tray, threw it in the trash, and set the white bag of food on the table.

      Y/N grabbed a corn beef on rye sandwich out of the bag as well as a bag of plain Lays and a granny smith apple. “At least you tried to be a little healthy.”

      “Real food actually feeds you, eat up.” 

      Y/N began nibbling at the sandwich and chips, grinning like an idiot at the taste of some of her favorite foods. “Clay call you yet?”

     “No, I just know he, Jax, Tig, and Chibs are in Vegas. You have nothing to worry about, though, they’ll catch the people who got you in this hospital.”

     “I don’t doubt that they will.” Y/N sighed. “This just had to happen when I took some time off.”

     “Could’ve been worse----you could’ve gotten knocked up.”

     Y/N snorted, which made both she and Gemma laugh even harder. Unfortunately, Y/N had to stop because her ribs were beginning to get sore due to her laughter.

    “I can’t even laugh without some pain,” she said with a groan.

    “It’ll pass, honey. Have you talked to your parents?”

    “No, but according to Opie, they’ll be here by tomorrow along with all my brothers. Did we have to tell them what happened?”

     “Course we did, they’re family. If we didn’t, your mom would tear everyone a new one, especially me.” Gemma ran her hands through Y/N’s hair. “You know, we always thought that you and Jax would end up together.”

     “No, you didn’t.”

      “Yes, we did. We thought it was sweet how you would try to fight him and he’d never really fight you, but if someone messed with you and you couldn’t beat them up, he and Opie would do it for you.” Gemma sighed as she reminisced. 

      “Good times.”

      “Simpler ones. Plus, your crush on Jax was extremely adorable.”

       Y/N groaned. “That was ages ago, why can’t you let it go?”

       “Because it was so precious. Besides, I know now that both of your are grown up and have different tastes.”

       Y/N paused from taking another bite of her sandwich and looked at Gemma as a chill ran up her spine. She felt the way she imagined rabbits felt when they were cornered by a wolf. In that moment, Gemma’s mouth may as well have been filled with razor sharp fangs as she grinned at Y/N. There was no way she could possibly know about Y/N and Juice, Y/N needed to play it cool.

       “What do you mean by that?” Y/N asked.

       “Well, he prefers stuffy, pretentious doctors like Tara while you seem to drift more towards the other rugged bikers, am I right?” 

       “I wouldn’t say Tara’s stuffy or pretentious....” 

       “I guess you wouldn’t.” Gemma stood. “Well, I hope you enjoy the food. Just call me if you need anything.” 

       “I will.”

       When Gemma left, Y/N hesitated to breathe a sigh of relief. On one hand, the last two people she dated before getting with Juice were other bikers who were allies of the Sons so most people could guess she liked bikers. On the other hand, Gemma had an eerie way of knowing about everything and maybe Y/N’s relationship with Juice wasn’t an exception. 

[god-hunter]

Secret Empire #10

This issue let a lot of people down.  Frankly, it mostly confused me.  They definitely went places I wasn’t exactly expecting.  And the resolution wasn’t as strong as I would have hoped.  I think that bothered a lot of people.

This was the grand finale folks.  It all came down to a big showdown between Hydra Cap, overpowered by the Cosmic Cube and our heroes.

[SPOILERS]

Oh.  And our Consciousness Cap.

[Wait, what!?  But how!??]

Let’s go through everything from the get go.

Right away, Steve tells everyone to stand down.  [With the face lid down, he really looks stupid.  It was such an Iron Man knock off costume after all, and I really didn’t like that.]

Even Spidey says right away, “You must be pretty mad. I mean, he kinda stole your whole Shtick.”

Tony A.I just says, “You have no idea.”

Beyond that- Hell no are they going to stand down and listen to him.  Fuck this guy.

“This is for Nat, you son of a Bitch. Avengers-- ASSEMBLE!!!” Clint Barton rallies the call, which is awesome to see.

They all gang up on him, which ends in an instant, because he has the ability to warp reality with a single punch.

And that’s exactly what he does.  Suddenly as he smashes the ground, the World redesigns itself in Hydra’s image.

It’s awful.  We see altered newspapers touting that Fantastic Four was originally Hydra, the X-Men were never a thing, because Charles and Erik were executed...  The original Avengers were formed by Hydra...  and that’s how Spider-man was created too...

Fuck man!!

The damaged White House was turning gold, the Lincoln Monument turned into knight armor with a  snake like helmet, rather than his suit.  That disgusted me the most.  I hated this.

Oh yeah, and all of the heroes that fought him for 3 seconds were wiped out of existence.  Save for Sam Wilson, (because he flew Jane to safety, remember?).  Oh, and Bucky & Giant Man are still around too, somehow.  They must’ve been hiding in the back.

There’s a panel that forces us to compare Sam’s stand against Hydra Steve to the Original Captain America’s stand against Thanos.  [Hardly.]

Sam Wilson pulls the old bait and switch by kneeling to him, offering up the cosmic fragment and uttering the words, “Hail Hydra.”

But it’s all a ruse.  All a part of Bucky’s grand plan..

Steve takes the fragment and his shield back.  [It was sad to see Sam give it up.]  Then Steve absolutely powered up into a full God-like light form, “But as quickly as the power came--it slipped away.”

The narration takes us through this moment as Steve is instantly depowered and caught off guard, confused along with the rest of us.

“W-where is it? What have you done?”

Suddenly, Giant Man and Bucky peer out of a portal, along with Kobik and a special guest.

But before going further, they went ahead to take us back to moments earlier and explain what just happened.

Giant Man and Bucky shrunk down deep as Steve grabbed the fragment.  They flew right for it, while Giant Man gave Bucky a disc to go microscopic.

This allowed Bucky entry into the Cosmic Cube, which would give him the ability to bring Kobik back to the mortal plane, which was his plan all along.

[They took us to Days Earlier to explain that plan, but I won’t].

I did actually like Bucky’s jump into the cube.

One moment, Consciousness Steve is trying to figure out stuff with Kobik, who is hiding out at a Daycare center feeling sorry for herself.  The next moment, Bucky calls out from the sky, “STEVE.  STEVE.”  Conciousness Steve holds onto Kobik, recognizing the voice.

“We’re coming, Buck--”  He reaches out to the light and his best friend grabs him by the hand.

“It’s okay-- I’ve got you.”

I really liked that.

And now we’re back!  Everything’s back too, by the way. (sort of).  The damaged White House, the Lincoln Monument..  our heroes who were wiped away for a minute...

“NOOOOOO!!!” Hydra Cap cries out.

And along with Bucky & Kobik came a formation of the ideal memory that was Captain America.

That’s right.  Consciousness Steve was made, whole, and he donned the ever impressive, original Captain America Uniform.

And this is how it came down to a battle between Good Steve and Evil Steve.

...and it was cool.  The fight was blow for blow, and evenly matched.  Apparently it was televised, so the World got to see it too...

Steve got his shield back from Evil Cap, and to quote the narration - “Our champion did not falter.”

Eventually, a beaten and desperate Hydra Steve ran for the Hammer.  Which had been changed from ‘if he be the strongest, shall possess the power of Hydra’ back to ‘if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”

Evil Steve can’t pick it up anymore. He struggles and struggles.

“Here-- Let me try.”

Good Steve grabs it, picks it up and smashes evil Steve’s armor off basically.

It was awesome to see Hydra Rogers get what was coming to him.  Only... that’s the Original living breathing, corrupted Cap.

You’re left with this weird feeling in your gut that something just ain’t right.

But in the immediate moment, Tony A.I and the rest were really glad to have him back.

Good Conscience Steve walks over to Sam and says that, “...this didn’t belong to him. It doesn’t belong to me, either.”

So Sam got his shield back.  That was really kind of awesome to see.

“And neither does this.”  He throws the hammer over to Jane, who catches it and becomes Thor again.  [...Not as awesome.]  {I would’ve liked to see it go to Odinson, but I bet there would’ve been a lot of backlash for that.}

[All they had to do at this point was have this Consciousness Cap fade away, ghost-like and float back inside Hydra Cap’s body.  Then have our man wake up all sad and sorry for himself.  ‘Oh God!  What have I done???’]  - But no...

I think the World would’ve accepted that way better, but no.  Memory Cap is whole and here to stay.

And with Kobik completely whole too, she decided to restore the corrupted history, back to normal, but leave the scars off this event in tact.  So Las Vegas was still wrecked, and Black Widow and Rick Jones were still dead.

[The fuck!?]

Then, a select few heroes were given a “Vanishing Point”, which is complete forced garbage to cross-promote the ‘Marvel Generations’ issues that are circulating right now.

As the narration explains...  “...for some of us-- The ones who stood for what was to come, our Future -- she gave a gift... A journey of Discovery...  Through the Vanishing Point.  And when we returned, we were restored.  Reborn.”

...Yegh.

And with that, I’m not exactly interested in finishing this review.

There was a short epilogue, explaining what happened with the Inhumans, and showing a little bit of rebuilding to D.C and whatnot.  There is a quick, tiny panel confirming that Black Widow is indeed dead, and that she was mourned...

The Barf guy was allowed to leave the prison he was holed up in if he signed something. And I don’t really care, because we didn’t see much of him unless you got certain tie-ins.  So there’s that..

He reunites with his kid, and we see that his house was all graffiti’d up with Pro Hydra sentiment and “Die Inhuman” racism all over the place.  It was TP’d too.

But he finds help in his supportive Inhuman Community, and we see that his kid is playing with a  Captain America doll.  Only, it isn’t a Steve Rogers doll like before.  [I believe he wanted a Steve Rogers lunch box??]  Now it’s a Sam Wilson doll.

-The End!-

::farts::

What was that epilogue?  Seriously?

I guess you needed something, but I would’ve been fine with the two page panel that said that they were once again “...Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

But if you want a better epilogue or more of an aftermath to make sense of things, well that’s what Secret Empire: Omega is for.  And I absolutely bought that one last week.

[thisweekingundamwing]

Weekly Recap June 24 - July 1

It’s everyone’s favorite day of the week! The day of the week where you get all kinds of Gundam Wing content linked in one place!

Remember to show these amazing creators some love.

Also, I listed the links next to the title as well since some people were having trouble accessing them embedded links. 

Fanfiction:

Just as a quick side note, if there aren’t warnings listed below be sure to read the warnings listed on AO3 before reading!

@amberlyinviolet​

Knife in Hand  - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6068848 

When Duo learns there's a hit out on him, he turns to the only person in Chicago he believes capable of helping him. But will the cost of the Broker's help be too high? Pairing: 2x3. Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Consent Issues, Organized Crime, Assassination, child trafficking, Past Abuse, Federal Agents, Abuse of Power, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Gender Issues

@anaranesindanarie and @rhysgalentalcernunnos​ 

The Maxwell Twins: Shi and Duo - http://archiveofourown.org/works/11026149/chapters/25320114

They didn’t know anything about their parents or if they were even related, but they couldn’t deny the fact that they looked alike. Or the fact that they only had each other. Warning: NSFW, twincest, 2x2

@the-notorious-bhg and @morbidbirdy

Something About Us - https://archiveofourown.org/works/11333262

Five Years after Operation Meteor the fragile peace between Earth and the colonies is once again threatened when a beloved prominent political figure is assassinated. The former Gundam pilots come together again for a new mission, which forces unexplored feelings to arise between Heero and Trowa. 3x1. Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Slash, Post-Endless Waltz, Post-Canon, Action & Romance, Missions, Mobile Suits, Preventers (Gundam Wing)

Cedechan

Within the Nexus - https://archiveofourown.org/works/11362980

By the end of AC 197, Zechs has returned from Mars broken and alone. His world as he knew it has been destroyed and in his attempt to move on, he dives back into the world from which he though he'd escaped.Unexpectedly, he finds himself partnered with Wufei Chang and one of Doctor J's former wards and life starts to become normal again, despite the battle with his inner demons. But when tragedy strikes again, he must rely on their help to find the assassin, because he can't do it on his own. Warnings: Major Character Death, Zechs Merquise, Chang Wufei, Original Character, Angst, Action, Murder, Justice, Friendship.

@chronicwhimsy

Saudade (Chapter 1) - http://archiveofourown.org/works/11352189/chapters/25407183

Duo and Trowa travel through Europe with the circus during the summer after the Barton uprising. Mentions of underage sex and drinking, unhealthy coping mechanisms. Pairings:  3x4, 2+3 bromance.

Co-Star

Desire told in colors - https://archiveofourown.org/works/11227302 

"There were kisses printed all over his shirt, some playfully smeared, some carefully stamped, some surpassing touching his collarbone, too many for not being remembered. With a swift movement, he pulled off the shirt and found a message written on the back, the lipstick so red it made him think of blood: 'Call me.'" A 2017 Summer of Zechs submission. Color prompts. Warnings and Pairings: Zechs Merquise/Lucrezia, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Navy, From Sex to Love, Smut, Canon Het Relationship, Heterosexual Sex

DarkBluePhoenix

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legacy – Gundam Invasion - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10464375  

A Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Fighter G Gundam CrossoverIt’s a Gundam! *RANDOM EXPLOSION!* The cast of Gundam Wing meet our young heroes and befriend them in this tale of how those who understand, those who fight, those who doubt, and those who pass by, can claim victory against the forces of evil reborn. Mission Accepted. All systems go! Gundams… Evangelions… Launching!

@kangofu-cb 

Mission: Redacted chapter 9 - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10872516/chapters/25325301

2x5, 3x4 - they are getting the band back together!

Just Lucky I Guess -  http://archiveofourown.org/works/11298693

Final installment of the ‘Just’ 'verse. Wufei and Duo are getting married! There’s a little bit of drama, some smut, and overall a good time is had by all. 2x5 wedding fluff, with some post-wedding smut!

luvsanime02, 

Standby - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10852965/chapters/24098613

Heero goes in front of the Board of Professional Review, and now she has an important decision to make. This is the fifth story in Navigation, a fem!Heero series.

@noelleian,  

Put Up Your [Daisy] Dukes - https://archiveofourown.org/works/11338821

Quatre is a small-town, southern boy with aspirations that don't include spending the rest of his life as trailer trash, but for now, he's forced to wait tables at a dive in rural Georgia until he can save enough money for college. Though with a hot new bouncer on the payroll, maybe things are finally looking up. 3x4

ShenLong

High Rolling - https://archiveofourown.org/works/6614992 

Duo is a multi millionaire having made his money in computer games and is working himself into the ground. Hilde, his secretary and best friend convinces him to take a vacation – to Las Vegas. Parings: 1x2 and 3x4. Warnings: Fluff, Yaoi, Lemons, Limes, Angst, sap, ooc, AU, Gambling

The Manwell

May Demons Rest: Shinigami Sleeps 2017 - https://archiveofourown.org/works/10944786

A re-write of my 2004 fanfic "Shinigami Sleeps"To find and free Duo from his demons, Trowa leaves his uneventful life at the circus for the mean streets of an obscure colony in L2. 2x3. Warnings: Trowa POV, Duo POV, POV Alternating, POV First Person, First Time, Male Slash, Male Friendship, street gangs, acrobats, Clowns, Circus animals, Family, Canon-Compliant, EW-compliant, Post-Endless Waltz, Dreams and Nightmares

Twilight_Angel, 

[Podfic] Lollipop -  https://archiveofourown.org/works/11294784

Coffee was what got him going in the morning. What kept him going through the rest of the day was the boy that got on the train at Twelfth and Highland. Pairing: 1x2

@weiclown, 

Dead End?  - http://archiveofourown.org/works/11312295

Trowa and Quatre are sent in on a simple ‘infiltrate, get the data, and get out’ type of mission. Someone at Preventers was grossly misinformed, and things go FUBAR pretty quick. Will they be able to get out together, and in one piece? Warnings: Post-Endless Waltz, Attempted Rape/Non-ConBrief mention of attempted rape, Violence, Murder, Major Character Injury, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Preventers (Gundam Wing), Dark, Wilderness Survival, Forests, Blood and Violence, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner - No pairings  

Cosplay:   

 @shinigami-of-excellence

Treize Khushrenada  - http://outofworkshinigami.tumblr.com/post/162402987842/more-photos-of-treize

Calender Events:

@chronicwhimsy​ - Gundam Wing End of Summer Block Party!

https://gwblockparty.tumblr.com/

WHAT? A fanworks celebration of all things tropey and cliche in the Gundam Wing fandom. Friends to Lovers? Sign me up! Coffee Shop AU? I’ll take a large to go. Sex Pollen? Bless you, and thank you. Nothing is too overdone - indulge yourself!

WHO? Everyone! All content for all ships is welcome! From canon to crack, from OTPs to Giant Pilot Polycules! Come one, come all, come everyone (if you’re doing it right - wink wink). By the end of this event, the master list should look like my high school algebra homework - only this time, there’s no such thing as a wrong answer.

WHEN? To celebrate the end of the season (depending on Hemisphere!) the suggested posting dates are 1st - 4th September! Let’s see Summer off with a bang! Or see Spring in with several bangs, depending on your preferences.

WHERE? If you share on tumblr, tag this blog or message us the link and we will reblog it! We will also create a collection on AO3, and a Tumblr master post at the end of the event.

HAVE FUN! BE SHAMELESS!

Thank you all for a wonderful week!! =D

[stone-man-warrior]

September 30, 2018: 6:59 pm:

September 30, 2018: 5:08 pm:<br><br>The information contained in the FEMA ale...

StoneMan .Warrior

-

2018-09-30T20:55:05-0400

- Updated: 2018-09-30T21:59:00-0400September 30, 2018: 5:08 pm:

The information contained in the FEMA alert message being promoted on the Department of Homeland Security Twitter feed is astonishing.

This promotion tells me that all over the USA, on October 3, 2018 at 2:18 pm EDT, there will be a test of a Emergency Broadcasting Campaign that will send a message to every cellular telephone that has the capability built in to receive such broadcasts.

How am I supposed to interpret this news? I cannot use a cellular phone to contact anyone who will respond to terrorist threats that include the use of poison gas by terrorists that are killing the population of the USA.

I'll tell you what I think this is based on many years of being subject to terrorism.

First, understand that tomorrow, October 1st, is the one-year anniversary of the successful terrorist attack in Las Vegas that included the fear associated with fake presentation of a shooter at a music concert, and the reality of the terrorist attack and take-over of the Desert View Hospital there. Also, understand the anniversaries are very important to the Screen Actor Guild Seventh Day Adventist Terrorists who are killing and replacing the population. Anniversaries such as tomorrow's celebratory news of the "Tragedy at the music concert", are repeated yearly in celebration, not necessarily as a means of providing any useful "News" to the people of the USA. Then, understand that the use of numerals in terrorism provides a communication language useful for terrorist operatives to understand what is asked of them.

The time of the advertised "Emergency Broadcast" is essential for understanding that it is bullshit. Why not do it at 2:20? or 2:00? How about presenting the "Emergency Broadcast" at a time of day that the most people can actually use the information presented, like, say, 6:00 pm EDT? It is standard procedure to air live television programs at 6:00 pm Eastern time so that the most people will be available to view live television broadcasts.

The reason it is not happening at 6:00 pm Eastern time is to provide information to the terrorist operatives. If it was done at 6:00 pm Eastern, there would be nothing to say, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to see. The notion that this "Test" is happening at 2:18 pm Eastern is the same as saying to terrorists "Hey... look at me!".

Once the terrorists who are trained to act in some way see that the information presented here indicates that they need to have a closer look, they see that the time of the event is 2:18 pm. Eighteen is the next bit of information being communicated to terrorist operatives. Eight plus one equals nine. Nine in terror talk is "NO". "No" in this communication is "pay no attention to the eighteen". That leaves the 2. October 1, plus two is the third of October. The important day here is the First of October. The instructions are specific for terrorist operatives to know that the First of October is the anniversary, and the third of October is the Emergency Test that follows the anniversary.

I don'y have sufficient training or knowledge to find other, supporting, instructional terrorist communication for what is about to occur, however, I am certain that this is a "Throw before the toss" terrorist maneuver. The throw is the anniversary of the Las Vegas event tomorrow, October 1, the toss is what follows. On October 3, there will be something that is terrorist specific that will be triggered by something that will occur on the first of October, tomorrow.

I have already seen enough communication on Twitter at the DHS feed and on Mike Pompeo's feed to be confidant in the idea of the eighteen minute designation part of the"Emergency Test" is to be added as a "one plus eight equals nine". The indicators for this are subtle, but they are there. References to German news or ideas were presented somewhere, I don't recall where. There was a math problem presented somewhere else. These small details are exactly the kind of thing that terrorist soldiers and operatives are trained to see, intemperate, and apply in order to know what there instructions are.

I am interpreting the little bit of this communication to terrorists that I understand, as a message that basically reads "the plan is a GO... this is not a drill, we are live, and everything is in place". Had the Emergency test been done at 6:00 pm EDT, there would be no event. The indications I get, are suggestive that there will be an event. That is all I understand about it except for the notion that all of the indicators are coming from DHS and Mike Pompeo. There are no other sources that I have looked for or seen indicators of any kind. I will keep looking for indicators.

There is one other indicator that is also very small. Secretary Nielsen is showing too much outward interest in the sinking of a World War 1 US Navy Ship, the TAMPA. One-Hundred years have past. The Secretary has made an announcement today that there were 131 crew members aboard the TAMPA. One, Thirty-one. October has 31 days. October 1st is the anniversary of the Las Vegas event. Secretary Nielsen continuously Ignores the requests made to her for help. She refuses to acknowledge the use of the Nitrous Oxide Versed airborne gas mixture, and looks to me as if she is intentionally mocking the notion of the use of the gas outwardly in her statements. I do not believe that woman speaks English and in fact is behaving like the terrorists who use Partners for their communication such that those who do not speak English speak to others with the aid of a US Citizen that is being forced to use electronic communication to aid their terrorist captors in speaking the English Language. That is one of the most common uses of "Partners". If she is using a "Partner", there will be one nearby, inside of the trunk of a car or something similar for confinement, nearby her all of the time. The woman reeks of treason.

This explanation will not ever be taken seriously by anyone, especially those who are employed as counter-terrorist agents because they are trained only to consider Muslim's when looking for terrorist communication. No one in national security is interested in stopping terrorists who are associated with Christianity, despite two thousand years of murdering the Christians have done to anyone who will not convert to Christianity. Counter terrorist personnel, it seems, have never been taught anything about the Crusades.

Something is going down with the anniversary of the Las Vegas taking of the Deseret View Hospital, in association with the upcoming "FEMA Emergency Broadcast" to be done on the Third of October at 2:18 pm EDT.

Here is the promoted advertising campaign artwork as promoted on Twitter.com, at the Department of Homeland Security feed.

September 30, 2018: 5:08 pm: The information contained in the FEMA alert message being promoted on the Department of Homeland Security Twitter feed is astonishing. This promotion tells me that all over the USA, on October 3, 2018 at 2:18 pm EDT, there will be a test of a Emergency Broadcasting Campaign that will send a message to every cellular telephone that has the capability built in to receive such broadcasts. How am I supposed to

(4-6-2019: Authors Note: Again, this is an example of Google truncating and deleting the information. There is no way to ever get that information back. It’s gone forever.)

Shared with: Public

StoneMan .Warrior

- 2018-09-30T23:56:00-0400

September 30. 2018: 8:51 pm:

I just noticed the information on the advertisement for the Wireless Emergency Test indicates that it was "Postponed", and the October 3 date was not the preferred or originally scheduled time slot.

Now I am wondering when it was originally supposed to happen? I'll guess... October 1.

StoneMan .Warrior

- 2018-10-01T00:32:55-0400

September 30, 2018: 9:03 pm:

Well, had I been paying closer attention I would not have written all that about the Emergency Alert. The notion that the alert is being done on the back-up date rather than the primary date pretty much makes everything I wrote in the first entry null and void. It all still is associated with the October 1st anniversary, however, the thing happening on the back-up date is more indicative that there was a signal for an event of some kind to be a go, now looks like either a "No Go", or, is beyond what I can interpret without doing a whole bunch of reading and head scratching.

I still believe there is a "Throw before the Toss". The emergency alert, as far as I can determine, is scheduled to be a "Presidential Alert", rather than an Amber Alert or Weather Alert. What I know to be true is that the President has been advancing armies over the television, and those advancements  are repeated on the internet. With the Presidential Alert, it appears, that the technology will advance as it has been doing. I am under the impression that a phone equipped with readiness to receive emergency alerts will be subject to Presidential Alerts without ability to opt-out. The weather and amber alerts are optional. If these Alerts are geographically specific, and a nationwide alert goes out, how would citizens know if the alert received on the West Coast is the Same as the one on the East Coast in the event that terrorists are controlling the cellular communications of regional cellular connections... such as the way Oregon has been made useless as a means of communicating with a  cellular phone. In what ways can a StingRay Surveillance device interfere with the WEA? In what way could one-hundred StingRay Surveillance devices interfere with WEA over a wide regional area?

I guess it really does not matter. The cellular telephones do not work for communication in Oregon. Only the illusion that the cellular telephones reach those we call is in place. The reality is that none of the calls I make go where I actually call without a third party listening and manipulating the calls. Most of the calls I make and receive are manipulated to the extent that everything that is said is either used to hurt me, or to hurt my family members that I used to call and receive calls from. Now, the people who call from a family members telephone are not the people who own the phone, they are not my family members, but rather are impostors who gain information by pretending, and they also provide terrifying stories and accounts of what they experience such that I cannot determine who these people are. With the notion of a "Presidential Alert" on the kind of telephone system we have in Oregon, I can only imagine that the cast of Green Acres will be instructing me to climb the nearest cellular telephone tower in order to receive the news necessary to save my own life.

The Presidential Alert will be used to advance the Seventh Day Adventist armies. That could provide geographic specific instructions rather than blanket statements made on television as is happening now.

Throw before the toss. The throw is still on the first of October, if not a throw, than a party for the Guild will happen.

[rmuldrake-blog]

Twin Peaks Part 14 Coffee Time

Well here we are we are now 4 hours away from twin Peaks finishing “the return” story, the pile driver punches just keep coming.

So the episode kicks off with Cole calling the sheriffs department in Twin Peaks he is returning Frank Truman’s call, Truman is providing Cole information on the missing page of Laura’s diary. There a wonderful little scene between Lucy and Cole. I can only imagine was Lucy and Andy’s trip to Bora Bora would of been like.

We stay with Cole and the team for an explanation of the first Blue Rose case

Olympia, Washington, 1975

2 field agents investigate a murder in Olympia, Washington. (Cole and Jefferies)

They arrest Lois Duffy at a motel.  They kick the door in after hearing a gunshot, there are 2 women inside. One on the floor dying the other holding the gun then drops it whe  the agents entewr

The wounded women is Lois Duffy on the floor she speaks

“i’m like the blue rose” and then smiles then dies and disappears

The other woman is also Lois Duffy she doesnt have a Twin sister Albert comments. 

While awaiting trail Lois Duffy swears she didn’t commit she hangs herself.

Tammy is asked what question should she ask she returns with 

“whats the significance of the blue rose”

“blue rose does not occur in nature its not a natural thing, the dying woman was not natural, conjured,  whats the word a tulpa”

Tulpa (Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་པ, Wylie: sprul-pa), nirmita (Sanskrit: निर्मित), or thoughtform, is a concept in mysticism of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers. The term comes from Tibetan "emanation" or "manifestation".

“Good” Albert retorts.

This scene plays out very much like X files, so its probably why I liked it so much, The tulpa has also appeared in X file law in season 6′s Arcadia (the one where Mulder and Scully play house) and in season 10′s home again (the band aid man)

Cole enters the room with his thumbs up  Coffee time

Diane is on her way but before that we get the window cleaner, Moving on quickly...

Then we get the bombshell, On the last night that Diane saw Cooper did he mention Briggs Cole asks, she doesn’t want to talk a bout that night, but Cole pushes her. She confirms that he did, Albert then spells out what has happened to Briggs and the ring that was found

The next part I was shouting at the screen over and over again in Doctor who fashion.

Diane’s half sister is Janey-E and is married to Douglas Jones everyone calls him Dougie. Shes estranged but last heard they were in Las Vegas.

So my initial thought straight away hit me, Cole Albert and Tammy have now asked about Vegas, Diane got that text basically asking as much, We don’t know which side of the fence she is sitting on but she did seem genuinely shocked when they asked about Janey-E could it be that things are starting to make sense to her now the pieces are falling in line?

Cole calls the Vegas office there are 23 Douglas Jones in the area, (why did they not mention Janey-E is anyones guess surely that would of narrowed the search a bit.)

“How are we going to find the right one”

“WILSON HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THIS IS WHAT WE DO IN THE FBI” 

Brilliantly funny my x file fandom also struck a chord albeit in a slightly different way.

““Thats why they put the I in the fbi” Xfiles pilot.

So were no more than 15 minutes in wow, so much stuff to mull over already,

After Diane leaves we get Cole bringing everyone up to date with the missing pages of Laura’s dairy, with the revelation of 2 coopers but after Cole’s first case I can see now why this may be more low key than I imagined it to be, A footnote in another Blue rose case. There are 2 coopers we now know what we are dealing with, but suspicions were probably already there this acts more of a confirmation to them, 

Monica Bellucci dream, “Oh boy” Albert sighs and Tammy... well her look say’s it all.

So the dream:

Paris Cafe, the music is deliberately tense and suspenseful. Cooper was there but no face could be seen only his chin, 

Monica was pleasant and had brought friends. While having a Coffee Monica quotes the phrase 

“We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives inside the dream, .... but who is the dreamer”

Monica looked beyond Cole while he was feeling VERY uneasy. As he looks back we see scenes from Fire walk with me.

Cooper says it 10:10 February 16th. Cooper was worried about the day because of his dream, Jefferies appears and points at Cooper asking 

“who do you think that is there”

Cole and Albert both hadn’t remembered that. Its seems to be a running theme I am picking up on at the moment. more on that later.

I don’t want to theorise too much but dreams are a kin to the lodges, are we seeing a guiding force to the final act or a we seeing some very timey wimey stuff going on.

So back in Twin peaks the boys are getting ready to go into the woods, sandwiches are laid on the table and Andy is having just cheese, Reinforcing the fact that he is a simple standard guy very plain non corrupted. well thats the way I see it especially with what happens shortly, 

They arrest Chad and I can pretty much imagine the whole fandom punching the air, screaming yes. I did. I can only assume that because they all were leaving for the mountain that they wanted him out the way now.

Up in the mountain I had a very uneasy feeling, we had the hum but we also had Andy at the back and a bit behind them in a couple of scenes while they are walking, it gave us milliseconds extra screen time but it did feel like something was about to happen. 

The listening post is gone Bobby remembers lots of machines and then we arrive Bobby laughing on seeing Jack rabbits palace. One thing to note here 

The pan up the trunk is VERY reminiscent of the purple place before we see the Giant/Fireman and the birth of the golden Laura Orb.

253 yard due east with soil in their pockets we find Naido, Andy comforts her a vortex appears and he ends up sitting across from what we now know is the fireman. Andy is basically shown the entire history of the twin peaks story the explosion, Convenience store, GOTTA LIGHT, Laura’s death, Coopers ganger and even some future events (Lucy being shown something by Andy it would be funny if this was only a self fulfilling prophecy and there is nothing to the scene whatsoever ) Also included is the post where the kid got killed and the number 6 I have a feeling this post has been in the show before i’m guessing fire walk with me but not sure.

I feel that Andy must of been picked as he like cooper is not corruptible he is pure, plain like the sandwich no additions just who he is.

We return to planet earth, Andy is as confident as we have EVER seen him, he now has a purpose and he will do everything he can to complete his destiny. Naido must be protected and no one must know where she is. 

Truman and Hawk are struggling to remember what happened, its a running theme throughout then whole show with Cooper, Cole, Diane, People in the bar, anyone who may of been close too or in contact with the otherworldly beings or supernatural vortex's etc, 

We get an Andy and Lucy scene in the cells, a dog got lost and Lucy must have stayed the night Andy remembers that night too, Please don’t tell me Wally was conceived there Ha Ha.

Chad gets a lecture from Andy and we get a really bizarre guy mimicking everything, With blood or some other substance coming from his mouth, its a genuine WTF moment. I need to know more. 

We find ourselves at the Great northern with Freddie cracking nuts with his distinctive green glove and finding out its James birthday.

It appears James is after another married woman (sighs), Renee, could that be the girl who was at the bar when he was singing. Also I have had the thought that is this scene prior to our first bar scene, James doesn’t know who is on. Surely you would know if Lissie was on? No?

We then get the green glove Iron fist story, Where did he start bleeding? it must of been terrifying to the doctor  We also hear a lot of what the fireman had said, he has never spoken so much (off screen obviously), Freddie says London Town, when was it last called London Town the Victorian ages?? The fireman tells him that he will possess:

“the power of an enormous pile driver” we get the Jobsworth story and the cockney slang (i’m not a fan) of snapping his Gregory, (Gregory Peck=Neck), There is also a red card metaphor just in case you didn’t realise he is English, The fireman tells him to go to Twin Peaks to for fill his destiny.

James heads down to the furness’s we get the same noise down hear from up above in Ben's offices and a door, The whole scene seems to call back to Bob we see him in an area very much like this one i think in Fire walk with me if memory serves me right.

SOOOOO we come to Sarah Palmer, I can only guess it leads on from her boxing scene, no more drink needs one goes to bar. 

An obnoxious guy tries to hit on her, which turns out to be a HUGGE mistake, once Sarah takes off her face we get spikes clawing out of her face a hand which has a blackened spirit finger (as discussed on the plane by Cole to Tammy) and then a smile worthy of the cat from Alice in Wonderland, once the face is back on we get a devastating chomp on his neck. Is Sarah aware is she possessed or is she in complete control, does she have that creature in her from episode 8, is it as i have been educated recently Babylon from the box has it taken her over, Is it even Sarah soo many questions its left deliberately ambiguous. Her final remarks, “sure is a mystery huh” is just chilling.

So we are back at the bar another 2 random people talking about getting high, (Twin peaks seems to have a really big drug problem), Then we come to Billy, This girl is supposedly the last one to see him, she goes on to tell the story in the kitchen she thinks her uncle was there she is not sure, Billy jumped over a 6ft fence got into the kitchen blood coming from nose and mouth, he’s looking really strange, they don’t tell anyone? (did they remember it at the time my guess is it just left there mind as these things keep happening.) and we also find out that he has been having a relatioship with her mom TINA, The moment we get her name ominous music comes over.  The girl looks down and then asks “and then he just ran out again” its almost as if the previous question didn’t happen like she forgot, its all links in thematically. She also now doesn’t know if her uncle was there, where as before she thought he was. 

There are Probing questions here “have you seen Billy”

“ive heard you were the last person to see Billy”

“Whats your moms name” 

All these questions feel deliberate the others are lighter in tone. 

To me this probably was the most intriguing part of the whole episode. what an episiode it was.

Who is Billy? Is he having multiple affairs, Audrey, Tina etc, Who’s the dreamer, Is it Cooper, Is it Audrey in a COMA, Whats that thing in the CELL near Naido and Chad? Who’s after Naido is it the experiment? Whats happening with Sarah? Is she polar opposite to Laura now? Is the fireman creating a force to protect the white lodge? There is a plan in place it seems.

We have a lot to get through in 4 hours, and its going to be glorious.