#Let's ignore the fact that Xmas was two days ago.

[susartwork]

* Took Wiz's glasses and smashed them on the ground

Tilex sans : Hey Wiz! You are a weakling against me, of course I have grown a little, but it seems you are so weak and stupid, what will you do to me? You can't do anything to me... Only if you don't lock me up somewhere and torture me..

I think he's tired of Tilex's games :/

#ask answered #dastra-night #cascadesans #undertale #undertale au #utmv #underwizard #uw alternative timeline #uw hopeless timeline #sans #hopeless uw!sans #the roleplayed timeline #He's just joking... probably. #Let's ignore the fact that Xmas was two days ago. #Hmmm I want to animate his magical sparkles rotating around him!! #And Pap's sparkles too! Yep Pap can sparkle and has blasters and SHORTCUTS

[seasonofthewicth]

must have been the mistletoe

modern Feysand au involving an office xmas party and a sprig of mistletoe. 1.8k

These things are always an interesting time to sit back and observe. 

She doesn’t often see her co-workers so at ease and unleashed, but Feyre supposes the office Christmas party is nothing more than a façade and an excuse for the hundred or so lawyers at the firm to drink. 

It’s not like she isn’t drinking either. 

Her boss doesn’t scrimp, and the champagne they’re handing out by the bottle is sweet and tingly as it slips down her throat glass after glass. Her glass is empty now and she seeks out a table to dump it on and locks her gaze in on her next target. 

She only has to make it across the room without being stopped and she’ll be able to sit instead of stand. Her heels are gorgeous, but they’re killer. Even through the champagne induced numbness she feels the balls of her feet crying. 

Feyre makes it across the floor of the hotel function room that the firm rented out without interruption and gasps as she slinks onto the seat. She doesn’t mind most of her co-workers, she gets along fine with most of them, but she’s been here a while now and can’t wait to get back to her soft carpet and loose pyjamas. 

She allows her eyelids to drift shut for a second, and basks in the sound of Mariah Carey being almost drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. 

“I thought you would have been well on your way home by now.” 

Her eyes fly open. And then narrow again immediately. 

“Nope,” She says, her lips curling up around the words. “I’m still hanging around here to haunt you.”

Rhysand gives her his usual infuriating smirk, and her blood boils. 

He is the reason she can only say she likes most of her colleagues. 

Him and his stupid smirk, the stupid cologne he wears that she can smell every morning in the elevator. Him and his stupid business cards that read the title of the promotion he beat her to two years ago. Him and his stupid dark hair that flops down across his forehead and his piercing blue eyes, so deep they’re almost purple. His stupid broad shoulders and rumbling voice that sends vibrations through her core every time he speaks. 

She’s off topic. 

He’s watching her in a way she can’t place, and she thinks maybe it’s a Christmas miracle when he takes his place on the stool next to her. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and she doesn’t know where his tie or jacket have got to, but she thinks if he looked like this in the office everyday she’d probably get a lot less work done. 

His usual attire consists of a wide array of black suits, always immaculately pressed and cut perfectly to fit his body. Feyre thinks he might look better like this, if it’s even possible.

“An empty chair isn’t an invitation, you know.” She says, tracking her eyes around the room looking for the nearest table of champagne. 

Rhysand only taps the knuckles of his left hand against the table in front of them and lets out a slight laugh. “Sure, Feyre, darling.”

“Whatever, Rhysand, darling.” 

It’s not her best comeback, in fact it might be one of her worst, but she’s out of creativity. 

“Original,” He snarks. “And clever. I know how you won that Hybern case last month now. And please, as always, call me Rhys.”

She whips her head to him and arches a brow. 

“Maybe if you were as smart as me you would have won your last case.”

She needs a glass of champagne in her hand, now. If only to stop her from reaching out and touching the tanned skin of his arm he has displayed against the table.

He only watches her, still wearing his usual smirk, and she knows he’s seeing far more than he should. She’d probably roll her eyes at the sight if it wasn’t so sexy. 

She likes to mess with him, even if he doesn’t often get flustered. She can’t deny it’s always an element of what she does in the office, why she always makes sure to wear her tightest skirts the days she knows they’ll spend all day in the boardroom together working on a case. 

“Why are you here?” She asks after a beat too long spent staring at his face. She caught his eyes dropping to her lips. She ignores the twisting in her stomach the moment hers had dropped to his. 

Rhys laughs, and she ignores how delicious the sound is. “You don’t even recognise your own boss?”

Feyre just rolls her eyes, uncaring whether or not he catches the action. 

“Why are you here?”

He breathes out, stepping down from their most recent confrontation before it really even starts and says, “Maybe I came to give you a present.”

Feyre hums, a sound of disbelief. “A present? Are you leaving the company?”

Rhys only shakes his head, with a soft laugh. “In your dreams.”

“Yeah, actually it is.”

“I didn’t know you dreamed about me.”

He’s so much closer than he was before, and the heat of his breath curls down her neck and tickles the shell of her ear. Feyre shudders, and she knows Rhys notices. 

He laughs, and it’s a dark sound that has her toes curling in her stilettos. 

“I dream about stabbing you,” She taunts. 

“Kinky.”

She turns away from him to look back out across the room full of their colleagues. 

He’s fucking unbearable. He’s still sitting too far away. 

“The idea does please me.”

Their arguments are often heated, escalating to a sharp battle of hurled words, but they’re normally at work. Somehow the Christmas party feels different. They’re tucked away in the dark corner and his breath is still against her neck, and his thigh is pressed against her own and his hand has made its way along the back of her chair. 

Feyre doesn’t let her gaze slip back to him and stares determinedly at the tinsel and glitter on the table. 

She lifts her gaze back to his, and he takes a breath to respond to her. She knows it would be something that would only have her leaning in closer to him, something that would have heat pounding inside her, but they’re interrupted. 

“Guys.” Mor, Rhys’ cousin and head of the finance department, hovers by the table in front of them. She’s giggling, clearly beyond tipsy at least a few drinks ago, and Feyre blinks across at her. 

“Hey, Mor,” Feyre manages stiffly. She didn’t mean for anyone to catch her in a position like this with Rhysand, especially not Mor. He’s still pressed so closely against her, and his free hand has crept onto her thigh beneath the table, his other still gripping the back of her chair. 

It’s a bold move, but she shifts her leg slightly into his touch as Mor speaks again through a hiccup. 

“You guys are sitting under the mistletoe.”

Feyre blinks, and looks up. She feels Rhys do the same at her side. 

It’s a funny looking plant, the thin green leaves and bright white droplets gathered in the center. There’s a string of red ribbon dangling it from the ceiling, and it finishes in a bow wrapped around the sprigs of the stupid Christmas tradition. 

“So we are.” Rhys’s voice is low and still too close to her ear. She arches her back ever so slightly. 

“You have to kiss.” Mor giggles again. 

“No,” Feyre laughs. She is nowhere near drunk enough for this. Hopefully Mor will be drunk enough to not remember this encounter. 

“Kiss!” Mor’s exclamation is too loud, and Feyre wants to avoid any of their other co-workers hearing. 

“Okay,” Feyre says in a whisper too close to a hiss. “Okay, we’ll kiss. For the mistletoe.”

She turns to Rhys and his head is cocked, his stupid, infuriating, attractive smirk is plastered on his face. 

“Kiss me then, Archeron.” His cocky tone lights a fire inside her and she almost forgets about his cousin still standing at the table beside them. 

Feyre rests one hand on his chest, his skin is warm beneath her, even through the cotton of his shirt. She leans in even closer and takes a deep breath. He shouldn't smell this good. 

There’s a catch in his breath as she pauses with her lips barely an inch from his own. His hand is frozen on her thigh, but her movement slides it marginally higher until his fingertips are pushing up underneath her skirt. 

Feyre closes the gap, pressing her lips to his in a surprisingly tender brush. She lingers for a second before pulling back and his bright purple eyes are staring back at her, dark and heavy as he stares her down. 

Feyre looks away to the side, and Mor is nowhere to be seen. 

-- 

In her defense, your honour, she didn’t set out to hook up with him in the bathroom at the office Christmas party. ‘He started it’ is not a defense that would work in a courtroom. But it’s all she has. 

She’s not even convinced it’s true.

His mouth is on her neck, pressing hot and open-mouthed kissed down the line of her throat. He nips at the skin in a way that she knows will leave a mark but she doesn’t have it in her to care. Not when his hands are making their way up her thighs, her thighs that are wrapped around his hips as she sits atop the cool porcelain of the sink. 

He grinds his hips into her own and she groans as she feels him gasp against the skin of her neck and Feyre tugs him up by the sable strands of his hair to press a dirty kiss to his lips. All tongues and teeth and gasping breaths. 

He pulls back for a moment to catch his breath and Feyre can’t help but smile. 

“Is this the present you came to give me?” She teases. 

“Not yet,” He purrs and she shivers. He lifts his hands to her hips and wraps his fingers through the sides of her underwear and tugs it slowly down her legs. He slings it somewhere into the corner of the room and drops to his knees in front of her and Feyre almost moans at the sight. “Here’s my gift.”

Feyre would snort at his terrible line, but he presses his mouth to her right where she needs him and her mind empties out. 

-- 

Later when they sneak out from the bathroom, she’ll catch sight of the mistletoe. It’s far too cliché, and she can’t believe she was sucked into the stupid tradition. But Rhys has his fingers linked through hers and it’s a ten minute ride to his place. His other hand is slipped into his pocket along with her underwear.

She doubts next year’s Christmas party will be as interesting as this one.

#feysand #acotar #feyre archeron #rhysand #feysand au #I don't normally vibe with these two in an au setting #but this came to me #initially the dialogue started as rowaelin #and I was like nope #this is feysand #also can you tell i read the hating game recently

[patchwork-panda]

“I won’t do anything. Probably.” (BSD OdaSaku x Reader. Part 1/3)

Title: “I won’t do anything. Probably” Genre: Comedy/Romance/smut Rating: Part 1 is sfw BUT Part 3 will 18+ (aka nsfw) Reader-insert is written as afab/femme/shorter than OdaSaku and 20+ Plot: You are a member of the Port Mafia who has been sent on a “cleanup” job with Oda Sakunosuke, who you have a crush on but won’t admit it. You don’t finish the job until very late at night, at which point, you’re forced to check into a hotel. But there’s just one problem: There’s only one room left. And only one bed.

Mini Fic is written in 2nd person. AO3 link for fic: HERE

Inspired by the [OdaSaku] art of Tsumugi (@tumugi1 on Twitter). I saw this picture and my brain latched onto the whole, “I won’t do anything. Probably.” bit. And wrote a whole fic for it as I was falling asleep on the 24th and amazingly, KEPT writing it when I woke up on the 25th. So, here it is. Call it a belated Xmas gift bc it feels almost like Old Saint Nick dropped it into my head like a filthy piece of coal.

“You’re kidding me.”

The guy at the front desk shakes his head apologetically.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he mumbles, clearly looking every bit as remorseful as he sounds.

He shoots another nervous look at the gun holstered on your hip before catching himself and quickly looking back into your eyes.

He gulps.

Audibly.

“But there really aren’t any more rooms.”

You sigh and take your arm off of the counter. You’d considered draping it over the receptionist’s monitor in an effort to look more intimidating, but when you’d realized your arms were a little too short for that, you’d settled for the counter instead. Luckily for you, though, that one simple motion had been enough to reveal your gun.

Even now, the receptionist looked like he was going to pee himself, but even though your intimidation attempt had been successful, it still hadn’t gotten you the results you wanted.

Oh, well.

At least Nakahara-senpai would be proud of the way you’d conducted yourself just now.

The man you were with, however...

“Well?” you call out, tilting your head back slightly to look at him. “You heard what he said. What do you think we should do?”

You frown.

“Oda-senpai?”

The tall redhead looks up from his phone at last.

“Well, that depends,” he said, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

His sapphire-blue eyes find yours.

“How tired are you?” he asks.

You stop stifling your yawn immediately.

Today was a weird day. Even by your standards. And you were a teenaged runaway who’d gotten picked up by the Port Mafia several years ago.

Ever since that fateful day when you’d made the stupid decision to steal from that convenience store (how were you supposed to know a dump like that was a front for the Port Mafia?), they’d taken you in, given you a place to stay and a purpose. And that purpose was “doing whatever the hell it was they wanted you to do.”

Today, that was one of their infamous “clean-up” jobs.

You’d been on these sorts of jobs before so you didn’t think of it as a big deal at the time. But then they’d handed you the list. Which was a lot longer than it usually was. And then, they’d given you the location.

You hadn’t been sent this far out of Yokohama since that one time Nakahara Chuuya himself had requested you for backup. And even then, it had been an exception. Unfortunately, unlike that time, today’s job wasn’t quick. In fact, it had taken far, far longer than you had expected and you’d ended up working until late into the night.

So late into the night that all the trains back to Yokohama had long since stopped running.

And then it started pouring.

You are now effectively stranded for the night.

You sigh.

There was one bright spot...

You eye the man standing across the lobby, who takes his phone back out one more time in hopes of locating a cell signal.

At least they’d sent Oda Sakunosuke along with you.

“I’m okay,” you say, ignoring the fact that you’d just been yawning not two seconds ago. “Really.”

“Uh-huh,” Oda responds, his bright blue eyes flicking away from his phone once more to scan your face. “So you’re not here to see if you can find a place to rest for the night? You just wanted to get out of the rain until the first train comes?”

It doesn’t quite come across as sarcastic but you’re really not sure what else to call his tone. Humorless, perhaps? It’s hard to tell. Oda is pretty stoic on a normal day and you’ve almost never seen him smile. For one wild moment, you begin to wonder if he’s actually teasing you.

But then you remember you are talking to Oda Sakunosuke.

This is nothing more than a simple, honest question.

He puts his phone away and approaches the counter.

“Either way, walking into this hotel wasn’t a bad idea,” he says, reaching into one of the many pockets in his pale, yellow coat. “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to camping under a bridge in this weather.”

You note the big, muddy footprints his shoes leave in his wake.

The receptionist behind the counter can clearly see them but he looks like he’s still too scared to say anything about it.

Oda leans onto the counter next to you.

“I think we should stay here,” he says. “There’s no way we’re getting back to Yokohama any time soon and besides...”

He lets out a massive yawn. You think you can see a tear glistening in the corner of his eye.

“I’m tired too.”

“But you heard what he said,” you press, as the receptionist jerks away from you (and your gun). “There’s only one room.”

“Yeah, so that means there is a place we can take a nap here,” he says, already pulling out his wallet. “And the fact that there’s only one room here means we can save some money. I know what it means for those of us who get sent out on jobs like this.”

He picks out a card.

“It means we can stand to save a few bucks. Anyway, don’t worry about it.”

He lays the slate-gray piece of plastic against the counter.

“I’ll pay for tonight, okay?”

For a moment, you’re struck speechless.

“Th-that’s not the problem,” you stutter.

Oda just looks at you.

“So, then what is?”

You wonder if one of the hits he’d taken on today’s job had actually done something to his brain.

How could he not see it?

Having a man pay for your hotel room was already bad enough. But the implications of a tall, broad-shouldered, sexy man like Oda Sakunosuke paying  for a shared a hotel room with you??

You swallow dryly, hoping against hope that your cell phone wasn’t bugged and that if it was, there was no signal here.

If word got out that you spent the night in a cheap hotel with Oda Sakunosuke, a man who had the kind of rugged charm that would put Clint Eastwood to shame, you would never hear the end of it. You could already see Ozaki Kouyou smirking at you from behind one long pink kimono sleeve the minute you got back to headquarters.

And “I’ll pay for it tonight” he says?!!

As if this whole thing couldn’t SEEM any more suspicious!

You shoot a menacing glare at the receptionist, as if to say “don’t you dare get any ideas.” But the message appears to go right over his head when he sinks just a little further below the counter in abject fear.

“The problem is,” you elaborate, stunned that you even have to say it out loud. “That we’d be sleeping. In the same room.”

Oda continues to just look at you.

“So?”

You make up your mind to ask the Boss to check Oda for brain damage when you get back tomorrow. Mori used to be a doctor, right?

Oda sighs.

“Listen,” he says, sliding his card towards the receptionist, nodding kindly to the young man as if he were a timid baby bird instead of a grown human being. “I know what you’re thinking. And I thought about it too.”

He what?!

Without meaning to, you flush but Oda doesn’t appear to take any notice.

“But it’ll be fine. No matter how you look at it, we’re clearly just a couple of colleagues--”

“Clearly??”

“--who got stranded away from home while out on a business trip,” he finishes, taking his card back from the trembling receptionist. “So, like I said. It’ll be fine. I mean, we’re just sleeping right? We’re both responsible adults. I think we can handle just sleeping next to each other in the same room.”

He looks at you.

“Don’t you?”

You stiffen. Your eyes dart to the key card on the counter that the receptionist is now inching further and further away from. You’d think it was radioactive from the way he was acting...

“I--”

Oda raises an eyebrow.

“Unless...”

Oda inclines his head back towards the windows, where you can now see the rain lashing against the thick glass in the gale.

“You want to camp out under a bridge? Because if you do, I can go with you--”

“No, I definitely don’t,” you tell him, sweeping the key card up in one hand.

Out of the corner of your eye, you watch the receptionist take another step away from you as you move. You roll your eyes.

“Let’s just go. It’s late, it’s raining, we’re both tired and you know what, you’re right. As long as you stay in your bed, on your side of the room, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem.”

And as you march down the hallway towards the elevators, you suddenly hear the receptionist calling after you.

“Ah, wait!”

The young man suddenly sounds alarmed.

“There’s only--”

“Hah?”

You turn and shoot him a look and he immediately clams up again, quailing behind the counter.

“N-never mind,” he mumbles, twiddling his fingers as he tries (unsuccessfully) not to look at your gun.

He shoots you a watery smile.

“H-Have a pleasant stay...”

#odasaku x reader #bsd odasaku #bsd odasaku x reader #bsd oda sakunosuke #odasaku x y/n #bsd x reader #odasaku #oda sakunosuke #only one bed #one bed #port mafia reader #port mafia #bungo stray dogs x reader

[turtletotem]

If he wanted you, he'd ask for you

A/B/O fic for Cherik Week! Set post-XMA, or... almost-post-XMA. A little over 2k words.

Erik thought things had been going well.

He, Charles, Jean, and a team of architects were elbow-deep in plans to rebuild the mansion, with certain enhancements; it would all happen very quickly once it began, but had to be planned down to the centimeter, first. All the students who could be sent home safely had gone; the remainder, along with Charles and Erik themselves and a smattering of other adults, were staying in a camp of startlingly luxurious tents down the hill from the mansion site, alpha and omega students kept separate by the larger section of betas in the middle. No one had commented on Erik and Charles sharing a tent; everyone was sharing with someone, and if Hank McCoy had muttered something under his breath about keeping enemies closer, Erik had chosen not to hear it. He knew he had plenty to make up for.

But he was making up for it, he thought, in some small way. Helping with the students, helping with the mansion, helping Charles. It wouldn't bring back the entire city of Cairo, but nothing else would, either, including his death. Those were Charles's exact words, over a chessboard in the privacy of their tent, when they talked about the diplomatic efforts Charles was making on his behalf, and the scars inside Erik's mind where Apocalypse had used some form of persuasion power to steer Erik, Storm and the other horsemen in the direction he wanted them to go.

Erik had thought that too much had happened between them for him and Charles to ever return to the easiness, the deep understanding and connection they had once had, before everything went wrong. Instead, he was shocked speechless sometimes by how much of it was still there—and how much more of it he could feel waiting, behind scars and defensive walls, inaccessible now but still there, if they could find a way to bring it out of hiding again. They slept in their separate beds on opposite sides of the tent, but small touches were beginning to reappear—fingers that brushed as they passed a dish, hands clapping shoulders to celebrate a good joke or small breakthrough. Three days ago, Erik had dared to swipe his palm across the newly bald expanse of Charles's head and call him Professor Eggsavier. Charles had laughed and pushed him off, letting their hands linger together.

The next day, Charles moved into another tent, alone.

He hadn't explained it beyond a casual mention that they had a spare now that the Letson twins had gone home after all. He hadn't reacted to Erik's surely visible dismay and hurt, had acted like he didn't hear his stammered questions. He had simply disappeared into the other tent, and not come out since.

"You don't think someone should check on him?" Erik demanded, at the little outdoor kiosk that mostly served as Hank's office.

"He's fine." Hank sounded baffled by Erik's anxiety. "He's keeping in touch," he gestured at his temple, "any time I need him. He just wants a day or two to himself. Heaven knows he's earned it."

"Of course he's earned it, but you don't think it's out of character? He's not the kind of man that just takes a day or two to himself, he's always up to his eyebrows in everything that's going on—"

"What would you know about it?" Hank said irritably. "When have you ever been in his life for more than a month at a time? Leave him alone, Erik. If he wanted you he'd ask for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to get done."

Talking to Raven was just as frustrating.

"Let me get this straight," she said, barely looking up from the math tests she was grading, because somehow lessons had to go on. "The man you've nearly killed multiple times, who is putting his neck all the way out trying to get you pardoned by multiple governments for the unforgivable shit you did in fact do, and that we can't prove Apocalypse manipulated you into doing—this guy has made himself somewhat less accessible to you, and you consider that some kind of emergency?"

"He's not 'somewhat less accessible,'" Erik snapped, "he's basically disappeared! He hasn't come out of that tent in three days now, not for anyone or anything. Not for Storm's nightmare, not for Carlo's broken arm, not for a potentially disastrous supply problem with the construction—"

"You make it sound like he's ignoring everyone! We've heard from him whenever we needed to." Telepathically, she meant. And they had, everyone had. Except Erik. Erik hadn't heard a word. "Leave him alone," Raven said, pinning him with a gold-eyed glare. "He'll come out when he's ready. You're the last person in the world who should push him."

She was probably right. But Erik was an old hand at ignoring good advice.

The fourth night, he dreamed that Charles was calling for him, calling for help. When he woke, there was nothing—no psychic echo, nothing—to indicate that it was anything but his own dream. He got out of bed anyway, and slipped through the camp to Charles's tent.

He felt resistance as he approached, a telepathic shield trying to turn him away. But Erik was too accustomed to the feel of Charles's telepathy; he wouldn't say he was immune to it, but he had the ability to question it, counter it. He clenched his teeth and pressed forward, into the tent.

It was silent inside. Erik stood still, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, more complete here than out under the stars. Nothing seemed strange or out of place; the tent held all of Charles's expected belongings, his wheelchair waiting by the bed where Charles lay still and peaceful.

Too peaceful. Too still. Absolutely nothing unexpected. And telepathy was still buzzing at the edges of Erik's mind.

"You're altering my perceptions," Erik said. "Stop it. I don't know what you're hiding, but I'm not leaving until I find out."

"I could make you leave." Charles's voice, his physical voice, hoarse and strained; so the image of him asleep in the bed was definitely an illusion.

"Do it, then," Erik said, and waited.

After a moment, he heard a sigh—half-agonized, half-relieved—and the illusion melted away.

The tent was a shambles, Charles's books and papers randomly piled if they weren't thrown around the floor. The bed was a mess of tangled sheets, Charles sitting up against the headboard with his face flushed and chest heaving, and everything was heavy with the smell of—

"You're an omega," Erik breathed, staggering back against the wall of the tent.

He had never once considered that Charles might be an omega—and wasn't that strange in and of itself? Charles clearly wasn't an alpha like Erik himself, but Erik had always assumed he was a beta; betas were more than twice as common as either alphas or omegas, and his scent had never hinted at anything else. It wasn't as if Erik really cared. His feelings for Charles would have been the same, beta or omega or fellow alpha, and anyone who wanted to argue about it could meet the sharpened point of Erik's favorite paperclip. It didn't matter, but—some deep instinctive alpha part of Erik was thrilled beyond words, was already thinking about things like bonding and scenting and children, they could have children—

"I once hoped that my paralysis might at least mean being spared this," Charles said, panting and dashing sweat irritably from his eyes, "but it only makes it harder to ever—be satisfied."

"You're in heat."

"Yes, thank you, I am an omega in heat," Charles snapped, "do you have any other obvious facts to share with the class?"

"Why did you hide it? You've hidden it all this time—or do the others know?" They'd been so unconcerned with his withdrawal into solitude…

"Only Raven," Charles said. "I keep the rest from suspecting…" He tapped his temple. "As for why I hide it, I think you have enough of a brain to speculate."

"There are certain disadvantages, yes," Erik said slowly, stepping closer almost involuntarily, "but to go to these lengths…?" It had been hundreds of years since omegas were treated as chattel, decades since they faced serious prejudice. One might still encounter the occasional tasteless joke or even raging bigot, but that hardly seemed like enough to make an out-and-proud mutant live a lie.

"These lengths," Charles said bitterly, "ensure that no one tries to take advantage of my heat. No one can abuse what they don't realize exists."

Erik stopped, only a few steps away from the bed now. Charles's scent, sweet and smoky, was intoxicating—but his words had a dampening effect on any desire Erik felt. "Take advantage," he repeated. "Charles, who took advantage of you?"

Charles didn't answer, not aloud, but images flickered in Erik's mind of a stocky, brutish young man with greedy eyes. Erik had never seen him, but if it was who he suspected, Charles had once described that young man as having a mind that had never once thought of anyone but himself, in all his life.

"Your stepbrother," Erik said.

"He was an alpha," Charles whispered. "He knew what I was before I did. Only my powers kept him away—mostly. Usually."

"So you learned your only safety was in hiding." Erik didn't realize he had come closer again until he saw his own fingers trail across Charles's hand. He tried to pull back, but Charles caught his hand, held it tightly. His skin was fever-hot, and Erik's body wanted desperately to answer that fever with his own. He swallowed, forcing himself to stillness.

It was still incredible to him that he'd never known this. He'd shared Charles's bed for weeks, before Cuba—but an omega experienced heat only two to four times a year. Luck, good or ill, had kept Charles out of heat during that time, and during their brief reunion in Paris a decade later. His scent should still have given it away, but Charles was uniquely situated to disguise that, not in physical fact but in everyone's perceptions of it.

"So you've never had anyone," Erik said, "to help you through a heat? No one?"

"No."

"That sounds miserable."

"It is." Charles laughed blackly, writhing half-consciously against the headboard. He was, of course, naked—Erik couldn't imagine his skin tolerating clothing right now—and in a state of arousal intense enough to make Erik wince even as the sight made his mouth go dry. How much could Charles feel, there, now? He knew Charles did have some little sensation in that area, and with the increased sensitivity of heat…

"You're staring," Charles said.

Erik forced his eyes away. "Yes. I'm staring because you're beautiful."

"Beautiful? This is beautiful?" He had never sounded more bitter and broken, not even in the plane on the way to Paris.

"It could be." Erik looked down at their joined hands, where his thumb was stroking the back of Charles's hand, gentle as breath. "You have someone to help you now. If you want me."

"If I want you? You could be anyone right now and I'd want you! You understand that, don't you? Of course I want you, someone, anyone—but I can't trust anyone—"

"I can't do anything to you that you don't want," Erik said, tapping his own temple. "Everything's in your hands, Charles. You can even wipe my memory afterward. You could even wipe my memory right now, send me back to my bed with no idea this conversation ever happened."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't."

Because you took my hand. It was too delicate to say aloud; Erik knew Charles would hear him regardless. You let me see the truth, and you let me take your hand.

Charles pulled him down and kissed him.

 In the morning, Erik woke sore and exhausted and contented down to his bones, at peace in a way he couldn't remember ever feeling before. The windows in Charles's tent were tied shut, but sunlight peeked around their edges and glowed faintly through the material of the tent itself, giving the space a sepia haze of morning. Charles was breathing slow and even, nestled against Erik's chest. His heat had peaked and broken, sometime during the frantic passion of the night. Charles had been overwhelmed enough to cry with sheer relief. That had never happened before, apparently; he'd always had to endure days of the heat slowly withering and trailing off, unsatisfied.

Thinking of it, Erik couldn't help tightening his arms around Charles and brushing a kiss against the crown of his head. He hated that Charles had suffered so much, so unnecessarily. Hated that he might suffer just as much again, next time, without Erik…

"That's up to you, love," Charles said sleepily, and Erik looked down in surprise.

"What?"

"Whether you're here next time," Charles said. "That's up to you."

"You're not going to wipe my memory and send me away?"

Charles snorted. "I don't think it would work now even if I wanted to. Or haven't you noticed we're bonded?"

"Is that what that is?" He could feel it now, the subliminal hum between them, the way their scents mingled together, the deep rightness of Charles's skin against his. Bonding wasn't the be-all and end-all that the poets tried to paint it as, Erik had known that for years. But… everyone agreed it was nice. If this was what it was, it felt nice.

"Look at that smile," Charles murmured, tracing fingertips over Erik's mouth. "I wasn't sure I'd ever see that smile again."

"You can see it anytime you want," Erik said, and drew him in for another kiss.

#cherik #my fic #CherikWeek2020 #tw: referenced noncon

[eleanor-writes-stuff]

a language that i never knew existed before - Day 5

For @lightaroundthecorner, who asked for “a Reylo modern AU ficlet with a HEA+fluff+Xmas theme”.

I tried my best to hit all three of those notes, so hopefully this will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. Thanks for the prompt!

If anyone else would like a holiday ficlet, get yours here today!

25 Days of Reylo Also available on AO3

Rey is eighteen the first time she realizes she’s homesick.

It’s her first proper Christmas ever, thanks to her roommate’s generous invitation to spend the holidays with her family. They’ve only known each other for three months, but Rose Tico does not hesitate when she realizes Rey has nowhere to go and no one to celebrate with; we’d love to have you, really, Rey, she insists the week before winter break, and that’s that.

On Christmas Eve they camp out on the Ticos’ porch, cradling hot cocoa while the rest of the family sleeps. They’re only two hours away from their college town of Takodana, but it feels like a whole different world here, a million stars dancing across the sky and a blanket of snow making everything look straight out of a movie.

It’s beautiful, and Rey is just about to say so when Rose lets out a heavy sigh and says, “I miss home.”

“But…” Rey turns to her, completely lost. “Isn’t this your home?”

“I mean, now it is, but I miss my actual home, you know? The one with that creaky step you couldn’t avoid no matter what, the one with the bed my parents used to tuck me into, the one with the wall that we used to track how tall we were getting,” Rose smiles but it’s the saddest expression she’s ever seen on her roommate’s face, and something in Rey recognizes the hopeless longing in her voice. “It’s all gone now, of course, but… but I keep thinking it’s out there somewhere, that someday I’ll be able to go home.”

Home for the Ticos, Rey belatedly remembers, used to be a small mining town called Hays, one which made headlines even in Jakku when the entire place collapsed into the ground, the earth under it hollowed out by irresponsible and rampant mining. She sets down her cocoa, pulls Rose into a hug made awkward by the fact that she’s still not quite used to hugging.

“I know,” Rey says quietly in an attempt at comfort, but it’s not until the words escape her that she realizes how much she really does. She doesn’t remember anything about her home before the desert, before her parents abandoned her, but there’s this feeling that hits her sometimes, a sense of warmth and comfort and safety that couldn’t possibly have come from Jakku. Maybe it’s a fragment of a memory, maybe it’s a dream she’s mistaken for reality, but Rey thinks that’s what home is and suddenly she longs for it just as fiercely as Rose longs for her old house in Hays.

So they sit there, with Rose’s head on her shoulder, staring up at worlds they’ll never know, thinking of worlds they’ll never return to.

A year later they’re back on that porch again but this time there’s Finn and Poe to keep them company, and Rose only sighs at the sky once, and Rey thinks maybe they’re making a new home, the lot of them. Over time she learns to draw warmth from their affection and comfort from their support and safety from the knowledge that they’ll always be there for her, and tells herself that that’s close enough.

There’s a part of her, a very small part, that insists it’s not as good, it’s not the same, but Rey ignores that little voice in her, that lonely girl forever longing for something out of her reach, and focuses on the life she’s built, better than any she’s ever known before – especially when Ben from down the hall finally asks her out the summer after junior year.

When they graduate a year later, he sits her down and tells her he doesn’t want to lose her, shows her his grad school offers and asks if she’d consider joining him in any of these places so that they can build a life together. She’s received job offers of her own, and two months later they pack up their things, leave their friends with a promise to visit during Christmas, and head off to Coruscant where a new life awaits.

The apartment doesn’t feel like home at first, not after three years in that tiny house she shared with Rose, Finn, and Poe, but Ben’s there and that’s all that matters. When December finally rolls around he surprises her with a tree and a box of decorations, and together they make the place a little warmer, a little more theirs.

Now she turns from her spot in Ben’s lap to look at their tree, with its slowly flickering lights casting shadows on the wall, and sighs as Ben runs a hand through her hair.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it back for Christmas,” he tells her, even though it’s no fault of his that they’re currently weathering the worst snowstorm the state has seen in a decade and all travel has been banned.

Rey opens her eyes, looks up to find his face shadowed by concern. “I know you were looking forward to it, and that you miss your friends–”

“Hey,” she cuts him off softly, pulls herself up and sits cross-legged to face him. “It’s okay, really. Rose and the others understand, and… it might be nice, just the two of us for our first Christmas here.”

Ben returns her smile, but there’s still a hint of worry in his eyes. “I’m sure it’ll be, sweetheart, but I know how much you wanted to go home for the holidays, and if we’d just left two days earlier like you wanted to–”

The thing is, Rey has spent the past four months looking forward to this trip. When they first left Takodana it was only the promise of going back for Christmas that had lightened her heart, and all these months of trying to navigate a foreign city have only been made bearable by the thought of going somewhere familiar for the holidays. Up until three days ago, Rey really had been looking forward to going home.

But now she looks at Ben, the man who surprised her with decorations even though he’s not a big fan of Christmas, the man who’s taken it upon himself to feel responsible for the weather, the man who refused to let life get in the way of them and sat down with her until they found a way to stay together, and realizes–

“Ben,” she smiles at him, dives into the warmth and comfort and safety of his arms, “Ben, you’re my home.”

He wraps his arms around her, holds her tight in an embrace that feels just like the one from an old dream of hers. “You’re my home too, sweetheart,” he whispers in her ear, words hushed and heartfelt as he brushes his lips across her temple.

Outside the storm rages on, burying the city in snow and trapping its residents for the foreseeable future, but Rey doesn’t mind.

After all, there’s no place like home.

Hiraeth, which you might recognize as my username over on AO3, happens to be my favorite word and one that I feel neatly sums up my life. I associate it with a bone-deep longing for something I'll never find, tempered by bittersweet dream-memories of that very thing.

But hey, it's the holiday season and the prompt asked for fluff so here, have a happy ending for our favorite lovebirds!

As always, thank you for reading and please don't hesitate to like/reblog/comment if you enjoyed it!

#reylo #reyben #kylo ren/rey #rey/kylo ren #rey/ben solo #star wars #rey #ben solo #kylo ren #ficlet: language that i never knew #my fics

[fuck-customers]

scandal - cliques and sex

**i really love my manager, he was the manager at my store about 3 years ago before i transferred, he then left and then came back about a month or so after i transferred. i've came to him with so many problems - both work related and personally due to various things such as the death of a family member, mental health and even because i wanted time off to do some silly uni assignment last minute. he let me leave 45 mins early one day because i looked upset - he's a gem. and its not just me that he does this shit for - its everyone. i get on with him personally as we have similar interests. he's a pretty good boss most of the time, and he's never been an asshole to me.**

this is kind of a fuck-managers, fuck co-workers thing but anyway my work has broke into proper scandal recently. 

ANYWAY, its highly likely my boss is fucking one of my co-workers, let's call her becky so i don't refer to her as "this girl" 24/7. shes 25, hes 30. 

it's a huuuge story and we basically need to speak about it all for it to all make sense. (and believe me this is the cut version) 

when my boss become the store manager for the second time, everyone was happy cos he's amazing but there was a lot of giggling like, "oh becky will be happy, she loves him" blah blah blah all that bullshit. anyway, she had a boyfriend at the time and he was in a pretty serious long term relationship. i never thought anything of it, cos he is a pretty man and he seemed to be her "type". 

flash forward to about a year later, late 2016, she gets promoted to keyholder. she did a lot of opening shifts - often with my boss. again, i see no problem with this. she's full time and she gets on with everyone. progression. good for her. 

but this is when shit gets nasty! she becomes friends with these two part time girls - obviously there's nothing wrong with this but they form a pretty brutal clique. they managed to get shifts together and just sorta stood and spoke for the whole shift, had their lunches together and did no work whilst hating on everyone else for not doing work, idk whatever. they have this whatsapp chat, where they added pretty much every girl apart from me, a girl we will call "sally" (who similarly, fucked our old supervisor but thats a different story and they date now so its not as bad), the xmas temps, the other full time girl and the mature student whose part time. i cared at first but i got over it pretty soon. 

becky became very nasty to sally, basically because sally seen through her shit and called her out for being a bitch. becky managed to turn most of the girls away from sally, apart from those not in the chat and one of the girls in the groupchat ("emily") who never contributed. sally spoke to my boss about it because she was feeling really shitty, and he just kinda swept it under the carpet - very not a him thing to do. sally couldnt take it and ended up quitting - which is a shame, because sally was probs my closest friend at work.

i spoke to sally about this at a later date when we met up and she said that when she opened with becky and the manager they ignored her and made her do stupid tasks whilst they did really minor jobs together. she said it reminded her of what her and her now boyfriend used to do at work. this opens my eyes a lil, and i noticed anytime i am working with them that they talk a lot, and go on lunch together - my boss normally takes his lunch alone when shes not in and he used to drive home and eat it with his girlfriend - or he'd sit in a cafe.  

jumping a little bit, i was on a shift and was on the phone to a manager of another store, he asked to speak to our manager, and i couldnt find him anywhere. when i finally find him i just hand him the phone, not saying anything because the store was really busy. it sinks in as i walk away from him that i caught him crying. he doesn't properly bring it up again but he asks me and a few other people "what would you do if you saw me crying" - i feel mega guilty but act as if i honestly didnt see, cause its awkward. idk if i mentioned it before but he has like major depression, possibly bipolar but hasnt confronted his doctor on this (i dunno how many people know this) and like, i think some things get to him. like if him and the area manager disagree, or if him and his girlfriend fell out or if he fucked something simple up. hes quite reserved during the xmas period, and very unlike himself. i mention this to a supervisor im very good friends with a few weeks later and they tells me that hes been having problems with his girlfriend and she got rid of their pet dog, for no apparent reason.

so thats...really shit.

at some point becky and her boyfriend break up, im not sure but i notice after a facebook stalk at the start of 2017. this is around the time my manager starts to act more like himself and work feels more normal.

and this is when shit gets more obvious and more weird. 

there's a shift im on with the manager, emily and one of the boys we work with. one of our other managers is getting married and my boss recommended him his friend to be the photographer. so we're all talking about weddings and getting married and children. when we ask our manager about this, he acts flakey and says he doesnt want to get married. its left there but im in with the same people (excluding boss) and becky the next day and the conversation picks up - becky says she really wants to get married but doubts it will happen because she'll "probably fall in love with someone who doesn't want to get married".

my boss starts using his phone on the shopfloor, snapchatting and texting, it gets to the point that our area manager BANS him from using his phone. myself and other staff members notice that he's snapchatting becky a lot. emily tells us when she went on a night out with "the girls" (from the groupchat) becky wasn't off her phone, snapchatting him with "the girls" but then hiding her phone and texting him when she thought nobody was looking. obviously, her little clique seen nothing wrong with this, or blindly ignored it but by this point emily was sick of her shit. 

we win a staff night out. long story short, they go off together for ages. 

another time, she goes over to his house (that he shares with his girlfriend) with the shitty excuse that he was gonna fix her laptop, cos "he can fix them". 

i hear from the same supervisor that told me before about his relationship problems that his girlfriend was looking for jobs in another city without really consulting him. so things are pretty bad. 

emily (bless her) left the groupchat after too many bitching sessions. they start targeting this poor younger gal at work that becky decides to randomly argue with on facebook. they all claim they dislike her because "theres just something about her". i think the gal knows that becky despises her for no apparent reason and is sick of it so she blocks her. they dont really work together anyway, so idk, its a bit drastic but i suppose its fair. emily defends her and leaves. the next day at work, she shows us the whatsapp chat. 

becky screenshots a conversation between her and boss that has statements like "tbh i only hired her because she was hot" and him making a meme of her. its HORRIBLE. its so out of character and weird. and it seems even more fishy that becky is stirring it by showing a large chunk of the work group. personally i feel like becky knows exactly what shes doing, idk, i feel like shes took advantage of the pretty good nature of our sometimes unstable manager and make him like this. i have no idea, i could be biased cos i really like him - he could be using her as a bit on the side, taking advantage of the fact she always had a crush on him.

someone tells other management about the whatsapp, cause y'no... its sick. and emily shows the other managers the picture, and they call him up on it. he seems to be pretty apologetic about it but idk. becky sends emily passive aggressive texts about the whole thing saying she trusted her and whatever blah blah blah... i dont care. its a lot of shit.

someone at my work calls my manager on the way he is with becky and apparently just breaks down into tears and says he left his girlfriend last night and slept in his car. about a week later, someone else calls him out on it and he says he knows he's "been a dick" and kinda ignores the confrontation. i think hes back in his house now, no idea about his girlfriend.

beckys girl posse dont know anything about it, or claim not to, not even the two who shes closest to. i go to the same uni as one of them and one day we meet for lunch, it comes into conversation and she says "well its not any of my business" i try and remain neutral and say if they are doing anything its not fair on either of them and she says: "no its not fair on becky if he doesnt want to date her and only wants to fuck her", goes bright red and changes the subject. 

a few days later, emilys brother who works in a takeaway where becky lives sees both becky and our manager ordering (emilys brother comes into our work a lot - just before the "how did he know who they were" bullshit). he tells emily, and says to her just to say that he saw him, apparently he went bright red about this and quizzed emily on when this was (obv because he knew he was getting caught in this scandal) but she said she wasnt sure. 

so, this week, becky and my manager were caught coming to work together, when they live in complete opposite directions of eachother. i think someones reporting him and i think becky might be transferring to another store.

this is all confusing and a clusterfuck but it feels like something that would happen in a soap opera and its something that i thought i should share.

if there's any updates on either

- the clique being more bitchy

or

- manager/becky relations

i'll keep y'all posted!

#submissions #embarrassing #fuck coworkers #fuck managers #submission

[punkscowardschampions]

Tommy & Ali

Chatting ‘bout Christmas, boy troubles, pregnancy AND THE FACT THE BABY IS TOTALLY NOT DREW’S LOLLOLLOL

Tommy: Oi! 😼 What you gettin da cos like even I feel cheeky considering socks for 2 years running Ali joined the chat 3 hours ago Tommy: I was gonna go full rivers of whiskey cept I'd probs drown myself in it before the bottle was in the bag 😂 Ali: So you should, elf on the shelf! Socks should only ever be an add-on prezzie, even if they're DEAD comical, like. Ali: Speaking of elf on the shelf, would you be willing to come round mine every day at the crack of dawn (aka JUST before the kiddos will arise like horrible demon krakkens from the depths) so I can arrange you in comical positions and situations? Ali: They love that shit. I on the other hand want to murder the CEO of whatever company/the high-key mum mafia that made this shit popular again. Ali: I've got me thinking cap on for the old man for ye...Hmm Ali: (and how rude to get cuffed for the season and not even get to the part where you get a bomb-ass present/someone to tout around the family functions...rude. You not actually at the bottom of a bottle quite yet though, yeah? Doing the obligatory welfare checkup here) Tommy: Excuse you miss money bags! 💰 just 'cause you're one of the rare artists who ain't starving like! some of us don't have boyfriends who cook or paying audiences Tommy: so yeah obvs! Gotta keep in shape just in case don't I? catch me pirouetting across your patio bitch Tommy: Green's my colour these days and red's always been signature Tommy: I'm alright (love you for asking!) how's you? Tommy: Genuinely Ali: Oh yeah, 'cos father will flip his shit if the price tag ain't AT LEAST three figs... 😏 Silly billy, and oi, oi! My student loan ain't kicked in yet ...I'm on a gap yaaaaaah though, darling, I've simply GOTTA act like a frivilous rich bitch. Deal with it, you're still the shady bitch of the fam, okay? 😘 Ali: Yaaasss, you're gonna have to drop a couple of pounds to fit in that teeny costume but a day in the life of a TRUE star init, babe? I believe in you Ali: Bet you didn't come here to be called fat, did you? How fucking cheeky is that forreal Ali: Colour of luck boy 🍀🍀🍀 Ali: Hmm, ngl I'm in a bit of a...situation, and I ain't talking I've forgot to order a turkey Tommy: Imagine...jog on old man just 'cause went for the quantity with the sprogs doesn't mean you'll get quality back soz Tommy: try it but good luck trying to get your little uns to deal with you being the spoilt one 😂 Tommy: well since I got the 🍀 its 🤞 Tommy: feckin hell has caleb forgotten kids are for life not just chrimbo again? Tommy: I'll deck his halls if he's being a prick Ali: That'll show him! That's what you get for bringing me into this world, whole lotta backchat and not an ounce of grattitude, take that! Ali: Join me 'cos I'm sure that's what mum feels I've got her Ali: We did Rio's first Xmas morning, and 2nd, at home! It really is Caleb's fams turn Ali: I can't help that its Junie's first, evidently I ain't planning this shit woman! Ali: #contraceptionwhomst? #pulloutnhopeforthebest #itswhatgodwouldwant Ali: And it ain't like we're not coming over for a second dinner, we fat as hell, get wid it and pass the gravy Ali: Catch me in the tesco throwing tantrums with Rio on the reg tbh #twocanplayatthatgamehoney #childrenraisingchildren Ali: Nah, although loving all the macho threats of violence when my honour is at stake as of late...Is my drama letting you live up to your full brotherly potential? Welcome... Ali: TMI, give a shit, but I'm late on and I've thrown up a few times, not from the mother's ruin, like Ali: hahahahahama'sgonnakillmeisn'tshe Ali: whatthefucklike Tommy: Who you kidding you're the blatant fave & lbr if the lord's got his specs on should be even more so for following her shining example like Tommy: honor thy father and mother and all that Tommy: who doesn't love a mini me Tommy: especially one who can sing every sperm is sacred with perf pitch Tommy: Amen! this aint 1850 pass the roasties gdi! Tommy: all we want for christmas is carbs Tommy: OH MY CHRIST NOT AGAIN Tommy: 😧 Tommy: I know you're on your gap year but no need to be so literal Ali: Ha, please! Not Tess Vickers' fave. Da's, obviously, as he is mine, (babe). You and Joe are the momma's boys, always have been, you needy little babbas. Ali: A woman who doesn't love herself...damn, too deep, reverse, reverse! Ali: You'd be surprised how annoying an all-singing-all-dancing constant reminder of all your best and worst bits is Ali: Usually the best, which is happy-making magic, but when its the worst...GOOD LORDT. Plus its a reminder of the same in your other half, and we all like to overlook that shit now, don't we? *sips tea* Ali: God I am gonna go HAM with my 'cravings' this Chrimbo...what timing! Maybe I did plan this after-all Ali: but no, I did not Ali: But yeah...this is a thing I'm processing, thought I'd drag you down with me 🤷 Tommy: I was gonna be all like not with him probs dead in a ditch and me one audition away from getting cosy in a cardboard box but I better swerve too dont wanna spend the season with the samaritans on speed dial Tommy: you and fraze are the success stories savor it Tommy: honey I've got a mirror Tommy: and near constant feedback from them in the know Tommy: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Tommy: that's calebs chrimbo gift sorted then yeah? Ali: Lordy, I know we're Irish but there's no need to be that fuckin' maudlin, Tommo Ali: Oh, you wanted an idea for Da but that is SO Fraze's prezzie Ali: Just tell him that, all day. Money can't buy that kinda happiness Ali: The spirit of the Holidays Ali: Them in the know don't know shit Ali: I mean...gift or curse? Ali: We've only just got back on track, this is probably going to derail the whole damn caboose Tommy: everyone's a critic and there's only one shane macgowan I hear ya Tommy: I reckoned you meant a mirror for a sec I was like uh huh he's got that one covered love 😏 Tommy: Hey! That's mine covered 🙋 just repeat that back to me Tommy: those clueless cunts Tommy: Nah he'll be buzzing esp if he gets another girl Tommy: there's only one Rio but he's shameless ha Tommy: leave the cursing for ma she'll be doing plenty once she's done stuffing your stocking with contraceptives Ali: Mhmm, save it for the improptu karaoke when we're all feeling merry on the day, like Ali: Lmao, he'd live in a 360 degree view changing room if he could Ali: How millenial of us! Lets just gift each other with positive affirmations Ali: Maybe...Gah Ali: Whatever, whether he deals or doesn't, doesn't change the fact I am with child again and yeah, Caleb's reaction is the least of my worries Ali: I'm going to be going to Uni abroad with 3 kids...damn Ali: If I don't get locked away for my own good, of course Tommy: 😇 Will do Tommy: I reckon that's the goal when he 'makes it' Tommy: scrawl it on my personalised starbies cup and have done babe Tommy: You're grand it'll just be one hell of a plane ride Tommy: 🍀 & 🤞 Tommy: OH SHIT WAIT Tommy: the whole Caleb reaction thing has me thinking...not to be rude but Tommy: it is his yeah? Ali: It better be Ali: Aside from the Drew incident I didn't shag anyone else Ali: and we used a condom Ali: I mighta been several sheets to the wind but I hadn't lost my whole goddamn mind Tommy: thank christ for that Tommy: imagine trying to play happy families with that twat Ali: Amen Ali: Yeah that isn't the life I've signed up for Ali: Bitches forget I already got a ring on my finger, like Ali: Legal or otherwise Tommy: Beyonce is here for your union Tommy: good enough for me Tommy: low key proud of ya not to be an enabler but like Tommy: I'll happily hooray you getting Drew to put something on it too god knows where that fuckboy's been Ali: Thank you! I will take that hooray because I literally had to mum Ro's arse and tell her to do the same every time Ali: AND had to do it in such a way it didn't sound like I was saying as much, like, your boyf is a cheater and we all know it sweetie Tommy: ugh 😷 glad you did though I hear your next door nemesis had to get herself to the clinic sharpish & i don't reckon she'd spread gossip that'd make her out to be riddled Tommy: 🦀🐛 Ali: 🤢😤 Unsurprised on both their behalf there but low-key furious Ali: he knows how that bitch treats Ro, and always has done Ali: there's being a cheat with any random hoe and then there's that...is it me or is that next-level careless? Ali: To the point it looks like he's doing it to hurt her, I'm sure he's just ignorant but, like, what the fuck?!!? Tommy: RIGHT? Tommy: like I don't doubt she ain't telling him all the ins and outs of her childhood drama but still Tommy: even with more brains than biceps he's gotta have a clue or two Tommy: OOOPS ACCIDENTAL COMPLIMENT Tommy: I'm offended on my own behalf Tommy: almost as cringe as once thinking he was hot 🤓😳 kms Ali: Yeah but it ain't like he's not been here...and she's still a cunt to Ro now, so Ali: Tries to be to me but who's listening, Bitch I'm deaf all of a sudden??? Ali: Hahahahaha Ali: He's attractive, to the point its kinda fact more than opinion so I don't think you're alone on that score Ali: If the notches on his bedpost are anything to go by...and I fucked him so can't be judging, consider your sins absolved, no hail mary's needed, maybe a few bloodys when I next pin u down for an IRL debrief? Ali: Oh wait, a bitch can't...I'll make it a Virgin Mary...WHEY! Tommy: True and I know he ain't got a bitch muted 'cause I aint rn either 👀 & my specs are on when I'm scrolling Tommy: I see what I see Tommy: 😞 Tommy: Fuck it lets go dancing Tommy: bounce that bump while you still can Ali: 'Course not, gotta 'low the bitch to slide into dem dms on the reg, if for nothing else than the ego boost Ali: 😒 Ali: I need that, lets go lets go lets go, its been TIME since I got to go out and not take the bubs Ali: I'll have to see who can have 'em though... Ali: Can't be mum, really selling how responsible a parent I'm gonna be to 3 by throwing 2 at her and fucking off to partay Tommy: SAMSIES...not that I'm going out with 2 kids on the reg but y'know Tommy: we on it 💃 Tommy: Dial up their daddy Tommy: he'll step up while we step out I'm sure Ali: Sure, just the one, like #oosh! toosoonforbants? Ali: Can but try, I'll get back to you when he replies Ali: Ooh, what are we gonna wear Tommy: I've got my elf cossie if I can only squeeze in Tommy: you could pin a red letter on if you've got something that won't clash 🤔 own that guilt like a good catholic 📿 Ali: Ooh, festive AND appropriate for my situ, I like it. Tommy: A for advent sweeties 😘 Tommy: can you cut my hair though I looking like the grinch if he was a blonde blue eyed dreamboat Ali: And Awesome! And Ali! And Ass! 😎 Ali: Obvi, you never could rock the long hair look, remember that dark period in time 😂 Ali: Can I try something slightly new tho? 🤔 Tommy: why the feck not gotta at least look ready to mingle like Tommy: 💔😂 Ali: Dubo not gonna know what's hit it and ya mans gonna know what he missing when I'm done with you! Promise Tommy: I'll hold you to it Tommy: no pressure Tommy: oooh maybe we could go shopping 😀 Ali: You know I'm winning boys back like its my business Ali: well, boy singular but that's enough, right? #greedybisexual Ali: I am always down for killing time snapping up killer #lewks, lets do it man Tommy: yaaaaaaaaaaas Tommy: careful I might hold you to that too #tipsfrommybabysiskms Ali: baby be wise tho 💞 where u at i'll come get u Tommy: about a lot of things yeah 👍 nws I'll come at you I need the exercise #aintforgotyoucalledmeafattylike Ali: alright well, RUN FORREST RUN Tommy: 🏃

[valerie]

TWITL – week fifty-two – when you don’t know what day it is

It’s that time of year when you’re not sure what day of the week it is. Or at least for me. I decided that instead of one whole big chuck of time off during winter break, I’d make two long weekends of five days each. As I begin this, I’m at the first day of my second long weekend.

Xmas trees at the park

I last posted on Christmas, which was a lazy sort of day that ended at one of our locals for drinks and dinner. Going in to work the next day was odd but I had plenty of time to do my work. I worked a half day on Friday, which was even odder. We were pretty much a skeleton crew both days and it was nice and quiet in my building. After work on Friday, I went to see a movie!

Knives Out – I very much enjoyed this movie. I love murder mysteries and trying to figure out what actually happened. The performances were all stellar and of course, I loved watching Chris Evans. I used to have a big thing for him and now it’s quite settled. I still think he’s dreamy and in this movie, he was rather dreamy. Lovely Chris Evans aside, the movie was a great watch and a definite recommendation…

my latest piece from 1888 Design

Much to the chagrin of the hubby, I went on a sort of online shopping spree during this winter break. Among my recent purchases: another lovely piece from 1888 Design (I cannot resist a sale), a Tyler Rich t-shirt (to complete my current collection of Tyler t-shirts), a t-shirt and tour book from Jack Whitehall‘s online store, a new computer, a pendant that’s The Witcher themed, and Bath and Body Works stuff. The first three orders were made before Christmas and the first two arrived before the holiday (joyous!). I didn’t expect the Jack stuff to arrive too soon because they were coming from Great Britain and I had no idea how long it would take to get to me. I had no way to track the order, having only gotten notification when it was sent off. So imagine my great surprise when the mail arrived on Friday afternoon and my Jack stuff was one of the deliveries!

new stuff

The t-shirt fits nicely and the tour book is super lovely. It’s bound like a graphic novel and the pages are thick. I was so delighted for the delivery and it arrived sooner than I expected, which was a wonderful surprise. The tour book is a fun read, filled with pictures from Travels with My Father and other things, an interview with Jack, and writings from his parents.

something new

RANDOM FANGIRL THOUGHTS

I never did post that “break up” letter to that one Listworthy of mine. Do I just not want to post that kind of negativity? Has my regard finally turned to a sort of indifference? I’m not sure. Maybe so. My better nature has finally soothed away enough of the bitterness and I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t care if my former Listworthy has decided to trust a backstabbing hypocrite. Okay, maybe I haven’t quite gotten over it.

The following resonated with me (emphasis mine):

“I don’t need to tell anybody here, we live in a moment where everything immediately seems to default to outrage,” Abrams continued. “There’s a kind of M.O. of just either ‘It’s either exactly as I see it or you’re my enemy.’ … It’s a crazy thing that there is such a norm that seems to be devoid of nuance and compassion — and this is not about Star Wars, this is about everything. Compassion and acceptance … We knew, starting this, any decision we made—a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision—would please someone and infuriate someone else.”

JJ Abrams responds to criticism of The Rise of Skywalker, says you can’t please everyone

I know the notion that I fangirl over shows and artists can be considered an odd thing at my age but I’ve accepted the fact that this is what I am. So I do understand when fans are protective over the characters or stories that they love. What I do not understand is the venom spewed by these so called “fans” when an adaptation or plot course has deviated in some way from their own personal vision of the characters or stories. Do they think the version they conjured in their head is the only true version? Do they think that others cannot have just as valid a version? What if the actual creator of the stories actually approves of the adaptation, do the fans dismiss and disregard this? I understand a thoughtful debate on quality and comparison of source material vs an adaptation. What I don’t understand is the default to outrage and the blind insistence to not see another side.

And then it’s hard when you love something someone you know has decided to hate.

I’ve found myself self-censoring my social media and to some extent my blog in regards to showing love towards something new I’m fangirling because someone I know has been vocal to hating it. I don’t directly engage but I’ve been trying not to post too much about loving it in consideration of this person who quite vehemently and quite venomously HATES this new thing that I love. I feel that if I post this thing that I love, the person who hates it will take it as a personal attack when it’s not. It’s just me loving this new thing. The hateful venom saddens me but I don’t take it personally. So then why don’t I just share my love? Why am I putting so much thought into not offending this one person when this one person obviously doesn’t care who is offended?

Jack in Brighton

WRITING

“I’ll Dream of You Again” – The re-write is going SLOW on this story but it is plodding along. It’s a bit hard to add new bits and then try to re-write previous bits that end up contradicting the new bits. I still love the story A LOT so I’m going to keep writing it. Maybe I’ll even let people read it someday. It’s utterly ridiculous so it might just be for me for awhile…

already time for a re-watch or at least lots of screencaps…

RANDOM OTHER THOUGHTS

It’s a little strange to think we’re heading in to the 20s. When I was growing up, I used to think, “How old will I be when 2000 hits?” or “How old will I turn in 2000?” Now, it’s very strange to realize that 2000 is nearly twenty years ago. I can’t remember every turn of the new year but I do remember what I was doing when it went from 1999 to 2000– I was walking down the hall to leave work as I had to work swing shift that December night, 1600 hrs to midnight. A few weeks later, I’d be in Pasadena for a Hercules/Xena convention and I’d meet Ryan Gosling again. It would also be the last time I’d see Kevin Smith (“Ares”). Twenty years ago seems like a long time and then not…

Kevin Tod Smith… such a beautiful man…

What adventures await in 2020? Will I finally declare Jack Whitehall a Listworthy? What story will I write for November? What concerts will I attend and will I get a photo with someone I adore from afar? Will Tyler Rich get that number one song? Will I finally get my next tattoo and if so, what will it be? Will I finally post that “break-up” letter? Will another fella catch my eye?

I’m not one for resolutions but this time of year, I do take the time to assess where I am in life and what I might want to adjust to achieve better balance. Even though there’s an abundance of negativity out there and reality is a bit of a crap show, I believe there is enough beauty and light out there to see us through and that’s my focus. I’ve learned not to react or engage directly with certain things, instead opting with venting privately with people who are of the same mind. When I post on social media, I prefer to keep it light and happy and loving. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not aware. I am. I just choose to ignore it because life is too short to dwell on other people’s negativity. It’s fun to talk shit about it but those are for private moments. Just because someone wants to spew venom doesn’t mean I must engage. So I don’t. I turn instead to the things that make me happy…

Rey & Superman – last ones standing…

If you made it this far, cool beans! Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts. Now go on and do something that brings you joy. Here’s to a lovely end to 2019 and a 2020 filled with amazing adventures. CHEERS!

from TWITL – week fifty-two – when you don’t know what day it is

#TWITL – week fifty-two – when you don’t know what day it is

[eastbridge-sb]

EFL Championship Match Previews – 11th December Wednesday

Nottingham Forest v Middlesbrough

We’re now very much entering the thick Christmas period in the EFL and every Championship side will return to action either on Tuesday or Wednesday. One advantage Nottingham Forest hold is that they played on Friday, meaning they’ve had longer to prepare than Middlesbrough. However, Boro go into this following a much-needed win, whilst Forest conceded late to draw at Millwall.

Sabri Lamouchi surprised practically everyone with his team selection at Millwall when deciding to field a 3-5-2 formation. Even more of a shock was to see Joe Lolley and Lewis Grabban named among the substitutes. The former Rennes boss clearly has an eye on the Xmas schedule and wants to get rest into certain players when possible.

He himself acknowledged it was a mistake to play this formation as they were heavily second-best at half-time and should have been even further behind than they were. The fact that Grabban scored within mere moments of coming off the bench proves how much of an impact he has. He will be restored to the starting eleven on this occasion, and a return to their usual formation is anticipated.

Middlesbrough are enduring something of an injury crisis and Jonathan Woodgate can only wish he even had the choice of resting certain players. Whilst he welcomes back Paddy McNair and Marvin Johnson from suspension for the trip to the City Ground, it looks as if he’ll have to do without key striker Britt Assombalonga through injury, and possibly for a period of time.

Woodgate has been under intense pressure it would appear following a bad run of results. However, Chairman Steve Gibson hasn’t been making any such noise and Boro have now won two of their last three, losing just one in five and two of eight. When everyone is fully-fit they should start to climb the table.

Knowing this is the Christmas period we know that neither side will be firing on all cylinders in one respect knowing that players will have to start playing through knocks etc. I would not be shocked to see this be a very close encounter, even if the two teams are at opposite ends of the table.

Under 2.5 Goals will be our fairly confident play. 11/19 of Forest’s matches has done so, and 13/20 for Middlesbrough, too. Lamouchi’s team has seen their home games average a very low 1.875, whilst Woodgate has only seen his team score eight away goals, three of which came in one single game.

Asian Total Goals Betting Recommendation: Under 2.50 goals at 1.800

Leeds United v Hull City

We have a Yorkshire Derby on the midweek Championship card and it is a game which promises so much, and let us all hope that it can deliver. A relentless Leeds United take to the field once again after winning another big derby on Saturday against Huddersfield Town, and square-off versus a Hull City side who resumed winning ways at home to Stoke City last time out.

Whilst Leeds eventually got the job done in a fairly professional manner against an injury-hit Huddersfield on Saturday lunchtime, they were troubled. The absence of the suspended Kalvin Phillips made them weaker in the midfield, but usual centre back Ben White did a decent enough job as stand-in. Danny Cowley’s team especially threatened on set pieces, but Leeds overall just had too much class on the day.

Marcelo Bielsa is getting a fine tune out of his team. He himself won’t admit it but they are already starting to look quite menacing as we start to approach the halfway point of the campaign. Of course, there is still a long way to go, but they and West Brom already looked Premier League teams in waiting.

Grant McCann by all accounts has done a good job since taking the job over the summer, having previously been in charge of Doncaster Rovers. They find themselves in mid-table, highlighting a lack of consistency, but they’re more than capable. Wins over Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Preston proves that, but losses to Barnsley and Huddersfield suggests there is still work to be done.

Hull have been the definition of inconsistency away from home as they have a won three, drew three and lost three record. The fact of the matter is they’ll need a display similar to that when winning 3-0 at Fulham, and then more, if they’re to triumph at Elland Road. Leeds are likely to dominate the ball, but McCann won’t be upset knowing his team will likely have to rely on counter attacks knowing they’ve got the pacey Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki in their ranks.

These two sit in positions one and two in terms of the Expected Goals (xG) tally in the league. Both teams therefore create plenty of chances and I’m expecting that to continue here. Playing on the break will suit Hull well, whilst Leeds are always a threat, especially at home. Hull’s games are averaging around three goals, and whilst Leeds is closer to two, three of their last five contained Over 2.5 Goals. That will be our selection knowing the offensive strengths of the two teams on show.

Asian Total Goals Betting Recommendation: Over 2.50 goals at 1.620

Wigan v West Brom

A game featuring clubs with contrasting emotions at this moment in take play one another on Wednesday night as struggling Wigan Athletic entertain top of the table West Bromwich Albion. Wigan suffered yet another agonising late defeat at the weekend when going down to Luton, whilst West Brom smashed Swansea 5-1 in front of the TV cameras.

As mentioned, Wigan are shooting themselves in the foot far too often in terms of conceding late goals. No other team in the Championship has let in more goals than the Latics have done from the 76th-minute onwards. To make matters worse for Paul Cook, his side are now eight without victory and have slipped into the relegation places.

Some comfort will come for Wigan knowing that they are at home in this one. Well, that could have been said more comfortable about a month or so ago as they’ve now lost their last three at the DW Stadium, having won three in a row prior to that. Still, 13 of their 16 points won this season came in home games, so this is their best chance of causing a shock.

WBA however are the definition of momentum at this moment in time. When they play, they win. The Baggies have won six matches in succession and have tasted just one league defeat all season, which came away at Leeds United. Slaven Bilic now very much knows the squad he has at his disposal and they can seemingly do no wrong at present.

There is however something quite interesting about WBA this season. To determine that, we have to compare their home and away form in relation to goals. Eight of their ten home league games has featured Over 2.5 Goals, but that is in stark contrast to them on the road as only two of ten has done so. Bilic therefore clearly sets up his team differently at home compared to away, and whilst they won 5-1 on Sunday against Swansea at home, don’t necessarily expect them to wallop Wigan away.

The DW still remains a tough place to go and Wigan are a wounded animal right now. They’ll have had a day extra to prepare compared to their superior opponents, and the unpredictable nature of this league means I’ll swerve any outright line. I will however happily take on Under 2.5 Goals as we’re bound to get some good value considering West Brom just won 5-1. We just cannot ignore their away numbers, and they will respect Wigan enough to again repeat these tactics as they look for yet another win. Wigan only have nine home league goals this season anyway, so they aren’t the most clinical despite their reliance for home points.

Asian Total Goals Betting Recommendation: Under 2.50 goals 1.980

Preview by: @JamesOR1.

Entering the thick Christmas period in the EFL, who will be getting their campaign on a great note? Go put your Wigan v West Brom, Leeds United v Hull City, and Nottingham Forest v Middlesbrough punts to test, visit VOdds trading platform!

The post EFL Championship Match Previews – 11th December Wednesday appeared first on Eastbridge.

source https://eastbridge-sb.com/efl-championship-match-previews-111219/

#sports #sports news #football #european football #english football

[airadam]

Episode 126 : None More Black

"These evil streets don't sleep..."

- Pharoahe

Here's an idea I've been holding for a while - an episode showcasing Hip-Hop tracks that took a rock sample or influence! I thought it'd be an interesting one to select and mix without reaching for the most obvious standby picks, and we've got tracks spanning almost thirty years at the extreme ends. Don't worry, the guitars come along with plenty of bars and beats!

Links for the month... Michelle Grace Hunder - wicked music photographer!

The Flyest Xmas party on Dec 20th, featuring The Soul Twins

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Ice-T ft. Jello Biafra : Shut Up, Be Happy

One of those tracks that seems more relevant now than ever, this was the opener on Ice-T's underrated 1989 album "The Iceberg". A great marrying of elements, as Jello Biafra of the punk band Dead Kennedys delivers a totalitarian announcement (based on his own "Message From Our Sponsor" over a Black Sabbath loop. I couldn't put this anywhere but as the intro to the episode!

Camp Lo : 82 Afros

Kicking the pace up a touch, we move straight into a killer Camp Lo cut from the "Black Hollywood" LP, with Ski cooking up a banging rock-based beat. The kick and snare are straight boom-bap, but the toms add an unexpected extra element on top of the distorted guitar and vocal sample. Cheeba and Geechi might be known for their smooth styles, but this is just one demonstration of the fact that they can get busy over any kind of beat.

J-Zone : Moonwalk / Gel N' Weave Remix (Instrumental)

I was struggling to find just the right instrumental for this spot, but went back to "The Headband Years" to find this beat from a producer who could make a beat our of almost anything. He's full-time on his funk drumming now, but has a great catalogue of Hip-Hop that can't be fronted on.

Kobaine : Ko.Bain

This is an artist I know very little about, as as far as I'm aware this is his only release to date, a nice little contribution to the 2002 "Subway Series Vol.1" compilation on Major League Entertainment. I got this on digital release which had no credits included, so I'm not sure who produced it - I can imagine it being a Nick Wiz or Tribeca track though.

Agallah : Ag Season

Brownsville's Agallah has often channelled the rockstar vibes in his career, and this woozy-guitared track from "Bo : The Legend of the Water Dragon" sounds entirely natural for him. Self-produced as always, it's short, rock solid, and to the point.

Fabolous : Breathe

Fifteen years old, already? This was a huge single for Fabolous, taken from his "Real Talk" album, and is one of his best-known tracks even after all these years. Just Blaze laced him with a beat based around Supertramp's "Crime of the Century", and got a surprise when Fab told him he'd written his lyrics around the "breathe" vocal sample on the track...because that's not what it said! However, on hearing the bars, Just went back and made some changes to align the audio with what Fab thought he heard!

Ras Kass ft. Killah Priest : Milli Vanilli

Ras Kass' "Quarterly" was collection of tracks he released once a week, finally brought together in late 2009 - and there are some great cuts in there. Here's one, with Veterano's beat sounding like a cybernetic heavy metal group trying to destroy the speaker stack! Ras cuts through it regardless, and special guest Killah Priest (fellow member of THE HRSMN) matches him bar for bar as always. The hook of course channels the then-recent Lil Wayne track "A Milli", which was a heavily-used beat for freestyles around this time.

Body Count : C-Note

This was one of the shorter and gentler tracks on the debut Body Count album, but was always one of my favourites - Ernie C makes that guitar cry for real. Ice-T's metal project was waved off by some doubters in the beginning, but the music was solid from their first appearance on the "OG: Original Gangster" album and they're still killing it to this day.

Bumpy Knuckles : Swazzee

This one is so aggro, you have to love it. Seriously, you'd better. Bumpy Knuckles is in fine form on this guaranteed weight-training motivational track from "Konexion", taking out sucker MCs, snitches, haters, and pretty much everyone else. The hook is reminiscent of an old Sly Stone cut, and Knockout's beat is ferocious - precise, measured drums with the harsh guitar over the top. Bumpy might be the king of the third verse but a track like this lets you know he can handle the first two just fine!

Public Enemy : Go Cat Go

The "He Got Game" soundtrack was unfairly overlooked by too many heads, but is an absolutely worthy entry in Public Enemy's long and storied discography. Chuck D's political awareness and love of sports (he actually wanted to be a sportscaster at one point) combined for a really interesting listen. Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto and Danny Saber of Black Grape cover this one in heavy guitars which would drown out most MCs, but not Chuck! As the album subtitle says, this one is about the game behind the game...

Boogie Down Productions : Ya Slippin

It's hard to think now of BDP being a crew with a future in doubt, but this is how it was back in 1988 as "By All Means Necessary" was released, not long after the murder of founding DJ Scott La Rock. KRS might be young here but he rhymes with the confidence of someone who left home as a child to become an MC, survived homelessness, and achieved his goal. He scolds weak MCs like "The Teacha" he is, and gets down on the production too - the rock heads will recognise this guitar sample a mile off!

Pharoahe Monch : Got You

Shout out to Vicky T for reminding me of this tune! The lead single from the "Training Day" soundtrack is one where I think the radio version (as heard here) surpasses the original. Monch perfectly encapsulates the essence of Denzel Washington's character, who is one of the classic movie villains of modern times - and strikingly, is based on real police.

[J-Zone] Boss Hog Barbarians : Celph Destruction (Instrumental)

Zone again, and while it one didn't come to mind immediately, the aggressive sonics of this instrumental get it the nod here. The Boss Hog Barbarians (J-Zone and Celph Titled) album is an absolute tribute to ignorance (intentionally), but if you can deal with that then it's an excellent addition to your collection.

LL Cool J : Go Cut Creator Go

Another 80s classic hard rocking track, from LL's "Bigger And Deffer" album. It's the kind of track we don't get now - the MC just bigging up the DJ. DJ Cut Creator was with LL from the very beginning, and was the one who actually helped him to get him name known, so it's nice to hear the appreciation. The scratches still stand up today and cut through even the loudest of the guitar samples on the track!

Sly Boogy : Fatal Mistake

Sly may not have put anything out for a while, but the San Bernadino native did drop a few nice tracks in the early 2000s. This one has him totally disregarding the common standards of Hip-Hop song structure, opening up with a thirty-two bar first verse just to show he's not playing. DJ Revolution provides the cuts, and production is courtesy of a then-emerging Jake One. This actually doesn't have a rock influence, but is here because of how well it goes with the next instrumental...

[Rick Rubin] Jay-Z : 99 Problems (Instrumental)

The combination of this and "Fatal Mistake" is one I discovered while doing a mix years and years ago, and wanted to bring out again when the opportunity arose! You probably all know the vocal version of this track, which appeared on Jay-Z's "The Black Album". While working with the legendary Def Jam co-founder and producer Rubin, Jay said he wanted something like the flavour he used to give to the Beastie Boys and this was the result - a meshing of several ideas that came together perfectly.

Public Enemy : She Watch Channel Zero?!

Let's be real - the sexism is heavy on this track! It'd be entirely reasonable to argue that spending all day watching sports on TV isn't any better than soap operas, but that's just my opinion :) 1988's "...Nation of Millions..." yields this song which had an interesting connection - sampling the group Slayer, who were produced by Def Jam founder and major PE supporter Rick Rubin. 

Lacuna Coil : The Game

Going pure rock on this selection from this veteran Milanese gothic metal band! I actually learned about this group from "Guitar Hero" of all places, and "Our Truth" led me to the 2006 "Karmacode" album that included this track. It always reminded me a little of "Channel Zero", and while the guitar riffs are definitely fire and the drums bang, it's the combined and contrasting vocals of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro that can't fail to grab your ear.

RJD2 : Exotic Talk

Prog rock meets Hip-Hop sensibilities as RJD2 twists and turns, chilling things out in parts before bringing the thunder crashing back in. Definite standout from 2004's "Since We Last Spoke".

Z-Trip : Rockstar

We close with a standout track from the "Return of the DJ, Volume II" compilation, with Phoenix's Z-Trip putting together a masterpiece of DJ/producer song construction. The sample list is long, and since I don't know what was and wasn't cleared, I won't give anything away here!

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

[stillunusual]

LEEDS UNITED 3 MILLWALL 4 Leeds United: Wiedwald, Berardi, Jansson, Cooper, De Bock, Phillips, Vieira (Pennington 37), Alioski, Hernandez, Roofe (Dallas 74), Lasogga (Shaughnessy 82). Subs not used: Lonergan, Anita, Sacko, Cibicki. Since my last visit to Elland Road before Xmas, Leeds United's season has taken another nosedive, and it's amazing how many times we've contributed to our own downfall in subsequent games - of which this rollercoaster encounter against Millwall is a perfect example, in that we were forced to play most of it without Liam Cooper, who was shown a (slightly harsh) red card in the first half. Leeds currently have the worst disciplinary record in the Championship and this was the third match in a row in which we've had a player sent off.... The holiday period actually started on a positive note with an away victory at Burton on Boxing Day. However, this was soon followed by a 1-0 defeat at Birmingham and a disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Nottingham Forest on New Year's Day, in which Luke Ayling was seriously injured to the extent that he will miss the rest of the season after an operation on his ankle. We were then knocked out of the FA Cup by lowly Newport County - Thomas Christiansen predictably fielded a much changed team against them, but after scoring an early goal it looked like we'd get away with it, until a Conor Shaughnessy own goal gave Newport some hope and they ended up scoring a last minute winner. Worse still was the fact that Christiansen needlessly brought on Samuel Saiz as a late substitute and his main contribution to the match was to be sent off for spitting - for which he earned himself a 6 match ban. Our appetite for self-destruction continued into the next fixture, in which we dominated Ipswich Town for most of the first half, until Eunan O'Kane stupidly headbutted one of their players and we were down to 10 men again. Ipswich finished as 1-0 winners and O'Kane was banned for the next 3 games.... There has been some good news on the transfer front since the window opened - we finally signed a left-back called Laurens De Bock from Belgian club Brugge (after which the disappointing Cameron Borthwick-Jackson returned to ManU) and a much needed central midfielder, Adam Forshaw, from Middlesbrough. His transfer is significant in that he's English, has experience of playing in the Championsip and Premiership and cost £4.5 million - the most we've paid for a player since we crashed out of the EPL nearly 14 years ago. We also completed the signing of Yosuke Ideguchi, but as expected he was immediately loaned out to Spanish side Cultural Leonesa for the rest of the season. We also made a few more additions to the development squad. De Bock made his debut against Millwall but it's hard to assess his performance in what was an absolutely crazy game. After Pierre-Michel Lasogga had missed a couple of early chances for us, Millwall dominated the first half with some great movement on and off the ball, and used their aerial advantage to good effect from set pieces. Striker Steve Morison (who was absolutely shite when he played for Leeds) suddenly looked like a worldbeater and did everything he possibly could to wind up the home crowd. Millwall had a goal disallowed prior to scoring their opener, then hit the bar and generally kept Felix Wiedwald busy, while we ran around like headless chickens. Things went from bad to worse when Cooper was sent off for a reckless challenge and just before half time the visitors scored their second goal. There seemed to be no way back for Leeds, but amazingly enough we scored within a minute of the re-start when Kemar Roofe delivered a perfect cross for Lasogga to finish from just outside the box. Ten minutes later we were level when their keeper fumbled a cross and - after a prolonged goalmouth scramble - Roofe managed to poke the ball into the net from close range. Soon after that a quick break finished with Pablo Hernandez feeding Lasogga who scored again with a superb strike from 25 yards out. Both teams had chances after that, but in stark contract to our terrible first half display we were much more organised and solid, despite being a man down, and with Elland Road at fever pitch it looked like we would hold out for an unlikely win. But then two substitutions turned the game in Millwall's favour once again - Christiansen ignored (or didn't notice) the fact that Lasogga had picked up a knock and was clearly limping, took off Roofe instead and replaced him with Stuart Dallas. A few minutes later Lasogga was unable to continue and was replaced by Shaughnessy, leaving us with no strikers on the pitch. For the last 10 minutes we sat back and soaked up the pressure, which proved to be fatal. Millwall equalised with 3 minutes of normal time remaining and got the winner in stoppage time, after Dallas had needlessly given the ball away.... There are some positives we can take from this game - the fantastic comeback and team spirit in the second half and two excellent finishes from Lasogga, who showed what he can do if he gets some service. But that can't compensate for the fact that we threw away another three points at home and our ongoing disciplinary issues. In addition to Cooper's straight red card, which has earned him a 4 match ban, Kalvin Phillips was booked for kicking the ball away after a free-kick was awarded to Millwall, and as this was his 10th yellow card of the season he's been banned for the next 2 games, meaning that we now have 4 first team regulars unavailable due to suspension. Leeds have slipped down to 10th place in the league and it appears that despite all the changes at Elland Road over the last few months, our fundamental problem is still the same, ie we're not good enough to challenge for promotion. We brought in a lot of new players over the summer but the quality of the squad has not improved and some serious mistakes were made. In goal, neither Wiedwald nor Lonergan are as good as either of last year's keepers who we let go seemingly without a second thought. Not bringing in an experienced centre-back to replace Kyle Bartley has cost us dearly and starting the season without a recognised left-back was extremely foolish. In central midfield we sold our best player - Liam Bridcutt - and no matter what combination of O'Kane, Phillips, Viera and Klich has been used this season, we've looked totally lightweight in the middle of the park - and up front we've failed to find a quality replacement for Chris Wood. We're trying to compete with teams that generally have bigger budgets than ours and if we fail to progress, some of those big spenders are bound to come in for our best players when the season's over - and who could blame any of them for leaving?

Nevertheless, there are 18 games left to play so anything can still happen....

#leeds united #soccer #football #championship #thomas christiansen #andrea radrizzani #elland road #leeds #united #ticket #2018

[justchui]

As you all may know, I was very recently diagnosed with Epilepsy, which is defined by 1 or more seizures with recurring abnormal electrical activity in the brain; I could have another seizure at any possible time standard or perhaps even fatal. 

So far I have had two EEG scans, one of which came back with the results showing abnormal activity in my brain, which means that my one seizure in all my life was not in fact just a one off like most people have in their life time. Last week I had a second EEG and an MRI scan that followed a few days ago and I get my results back tomorrow. I like to make light of situations like this, I’m always looking for a silver lining or a bad joke to make at my own expense to show that on the surface I’m just fine. However I feel like right now, the day before, is the best time to release some of the pent up frustrations I’ve been dealing with the last 3 weeks in this rare personal blog post. I realise that usually I just post rustic/nerdy/selfies and other pictures, little statements and poorly put together jokes (being an adult now I’ve learnt to appreciate all those terrible xmas cracker/dad jokes, I know, I’m enlightened haha - see, I’m doing it again) but I also feel like not a lot of people follow me to actually read what I write. So at the same time as releasing these said frustrations just because I feel like sharing them with nobody, I also wanted to share them because I’m now more aware of the other people around the world going through the exact same thing as me. And if you find any help or comfort from this post, please feel free to message me or ask questions and we can talk it out, anonymous or otherwise.

The day I found out that I have epilepsy I was pretty annoyed to learn that I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol anymore, as I was going to a pretty big party the next night with a super cheap bar and all my friends were going to be drinking as well - my two shirley temples were rather disappointing. And I don’t drink often, so when I do it’s for special occasions or big events, like a treat to myself. I also already can’t drive, I’ve tried to learn on several different occasions but my anxiety really gets in the way, I have massive panic attacks behind the wheel and then I have to take medication which is illegal to drive on anyway. But now that I’m not allowed to drive unless I can make it two years seizure free I’m frustrated because at least before I had a choice to combat my fears and now I’m just not allowed to at all. I can no longer take the medication that helps me calm down during a panic attack (which I only save for the bigger ones anyway) but it’s literally only a dose of 1mg to be taken as and when needed, because when I feel run down afterwards it could possibly induce a dangerous seizure.

I’ve also noticed that in the days reaching up to scans and results I have been very irritable towards things that wouldn’t usually bother me at all, or people who ask the same questions over and over again, or assume that it had anything to do with my antidepressants or sleeping pills. It has been confirmed that it had nothing to do with the medications that I am taking, however to prevent the weakening of my seizure threshold I have been asked to come off certain weight neutralising meds and my anxiety meds. It has not been confirmed what brought this about, although my doctors believe it could have been their my whole life and it’s only now that it’s reared it’s ugly head. I just keep finding myself so angry with my body and how it’s chosen to work despite there being nothing I could have done about it until now. I already have a series of mental health issues to deal with such as PTSD and night terrors, of which both can lead to high stress situations causing panic attacks, that could possibly induce potentially dangerous seizures either from the sudden high stress signals firing off in my brain, or feeling exhausted and run down after the fact. Not to mention all these maybes, possibly’s and potentially’s and might be’s.

Previously I have been very interested to know what exactly the activity in my brain looks like, so I always wanted an opportunity to get some kind of brain scan to see it and study and research it myself, but now I finally understand the phrase “not knowing is part of the fun” and sometimes ignorance really is bliss. I have been advised that I shouldn’t take a bath or shower without my husband being in the house, if I’m cooking that I should only use the back of the stove top, that I need a bracelet that lets people know why I’m having a seizure and who to call if I have one when I’m alone in public, that I shouldn’t go out by myself and that I should definitely try to stay away from the stairs when I’m home alone. Tomorrow I get to go through an entire list about what the rest of my life is going to look like and apparently it’s a life without beautiful stairs in my house. Or a life without living in a tree house which has always been a dream of mine and now I can’t do it in case I have a seizure and hospitalise myself because I was on some stairs, cooking too close to my body or falling from a great height; I’m not allowed to use ladders anymore.

So I guess, wish me luck for tomorrow? 

#mental health #depression #anxiety #ptsd #night terrors #abnormal #wizard #magic #epilepsy #angry #pissed off #not allowed #helpful #message #ask