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britswriting · 2 years

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Unbroken (24)

Unbroken Masterlist

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Warning: This chapter jumps around a little bit, like changing scene wise, because it's deleted scenes from chapter 21, along with the deleted date night scene from deleted chapter 22.

They're a part of the storyline, and needed right now, but it's a little "choppy" due to taking out what originally happened between Leigh & Colby that I deleted and rewrote. I didn't want to rewrite these scenes over again, when they are already how they should be.. sorry lol

*Leighton's POV*

The date today is June 3rd and I am almost 14 weeks pregnant, and I was honestly starting to understand why everyone complained during pregnancy.

I had gotten even more "symptoms" so that was fun and totally not a pain in my ass at all.

I had a date tonight, and I was honestly feeling extremely nervous, especially since I had gotten these amazing new symptoms.

Not to mention that I had a real bump now.

It was honestly hella cute, and I loved looking at it whenever I could.

One morning I just woke up with a b u m p. Like it wasn't some pudgy little bloating, but it had actual form to it.

It didn't change in size like it used to, unlike how when Colby saw my bump after I drank all that water and it was mostly bloating. It stayed its shape and was starting to round out quite a bit which was cool.

I've started getting round ligament pains which has been fun. What that means is the sides of my belly like to hurt because my womb is expanding to fit my little baby. I've also started getting some pretty intense headaches. My boobs were still sore as fuck and I've just accepted that I'll be spending 9 months of my life with boob pain, and then whatever happens when the baby is born.

My boobs have definitely grown, which meant I needed to buy more bras. Definitely something a broke bitch wants to do, right?

My pants were also starting to get tight which did not at all help my body image issue at the moment, or my bank account.

I was extremely nervous as to what the third trimester was going to be like, if I ALREADY had to go buy new jeans.

I figured I would be one of the women who's milk comes in before the baby is here, and I was conflicted if I was looking forward to that.

I read that your colostrum can start coming in as early as 16 weeks, which meant I needed to invest in a pump pretty soon if that was the case.

I also needed to figure out if I wanted to freeze my breast milk or donate it, if it did in fact come in early.

Surely I won't need MONTHS in advance of saved breast milk before the baby even gets here, right?

I knew I needed to keep the colostrum for when the baby was born, but I wouldn't need all that extra milk, right?

Another cute perk of pregnancy, is it ruins your underwear. Which meant I lived in period underwear, only adding to my body image issues.

Nothing says sexy like period underwear.

You thought period discharge was bad? Wait till you're pregnant.

I wasn't even sure what I was going to wear on this date tonight. I didn't want to ruin my nice cute underwear all because being pregnant is a bitch, but also didn't want to show up to my date wearing granny panties.

I kept hearing how wonderful pregnancy was, and so far it wasn't bad. Nothing insane has happened, just slight inconveniences to my life. When I was 13 weeks pregnant, when the discharge had started, I had a mental breakdown in the bathroom thinking I was bleeding, my brain telling me I lost the baby, when in reality I had a gush of discharge leave my body.

I was still emotional, but it wasn't as bad as it was in the first trimester. I felt a little more like myself. I was still taking my iron medication and working on lowering my blood pressure.

I now had a reminder alarm for each morning to take so many vitamins, because another thing no one told me about.

You don't just take prenatal vitamins. I swear my bedroom is a walking pharmacy.

I was laying in bed last night after I had finished texting Aaliyah and googled what was going on with my baby and it only led to crying.

I wanted to know before I wrote in my baby journal, but I hadn't even gotten to open the journal before my eyesight was completely blurred.

My baby was growing hair on its head, eyelashes and eyebrows. It was gaining more of an identity and the idea of all of this going on whilst I was laying in bed made me very overwhelmed.

So much was happening without me even knowing it. The idea of just a tiny little baby growing eyebrows inside my stomach whilst I cried on the couch or ate a brownie in the kitchen was quite the weird feeling.

You honestly feel pretty insignificant once you kind of just sit there and think about how much is going on inside your stomach whilst you're lounging on the couch watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

I was currently at my parents house, waiting for my brownies to finish baking in the oven, before I was going to go over to Gabriel's apartment so we could talk about the baby, and what we were going to do.

I was working really hard on the art piece for Sam and Colby, along with making sure the house stayed in order whilst my mom was recovering.

She's gotten a lot better recently, but brain surgery recovery is no joke.

It sucks watching her suffer, but it's nice to know she's at least getting better, and will hopefully be back to the woman I used to know.

I haven't seen Gabe in a while, and we only texted a few times which made this whole situation a lot harder.

I knew he really was trying, and that he was super busy with work.. it just sucked to know I couldn't roll over and snuggle him in the middle of the night or bitch to him at 3am when I was in too much pain to sleep.

Aaliyah and River had come over last week to help me figure out a plan to keep this baby, because every time I thought about giving away my little baby, I felt my heart get torn apart, so I knew I couldn't. Which meant it was game time.

I needed to figure this out, and I needed to figure it out now.

River suggested opening up an art shop, but I didn't feel like handling the stress of managing the orders, and the business pages, but I still needed a job which meant we were back to the drawing board.

No pun intended.

After a couple hours of going through things I could do whilst pregnant, my dad suggested a teaching job, but there was only one problem, most teaching jobs need a college diploma, which I didn't have.

My dad and I spent a while looking online for teaching jobs, and we came across one for a High School part time art teacher, which sounded too good to be true.

It wasn't too far from Sam and Colby's house, it fit my hours for Target, and it didn't seem like it would be insanely stressful to where it would be bad for my blood pressure.

We looked more into it, and I submitted my resumé and artwork to them, hoping to God they wouldn't want a diploma, or I was screwed.

Target paid okay, but it definitely wasn't enough to support my bills and a baby.

I would be lying if I told you I wasn't getting nervous as to what I was going to do when I was too pregnant to work, but since I was under so much stress right now, I figured that was an issue for another day.

I jumped when the oven beeped, taking out the freshly baked brownies when my brother's boyfriend walked into the kitchen.

"Those smell good Leigh!" Braxton complimented and I thanked him, setting them down to cool.

"I'm not a good baker, but I'm good enough to fulfill my cravings. This baby is going to make me gain weight like nobody's business" I laughed, touching my very prominent little bump.

"It's good to gain weight when you're pregnant Leigh. You're growing a baby" Landon reminded me, and I knew it was because of my pizza night meltdown, but I chose to ignore that.

I had finally figured out what I wanted to do for the birth of my baby, which was exciting. I watched a lot of videos of people's Storytime videos and what they went through. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't insanely nervous to talk to Gabe about what I had decided. I really wasn't looking for another fight, so I hoped he'd just trust me and go with the flow, but knowing him, that would be far from the truth.

We had talked over the phone about the adoption idea, and he was completely against it. So I guess that all worked out since I wanted to keep this baby anyway, I just needed to figure out how I was going to do that financially.

He also said I needed to remember about the income I'd also be getting from him to help pay for the baby. I knew his income would be helpful, but definitely not enough. I honestly did keep forgetting that he is a part of this baby's life since he hasn't been very active in the pregnancy. I haven't even considered that I would be getting a portion of income for this baby from him. I was kind of stuck on the idea of doing it all alone and it was all I could think about. I was trying really hard to remember that he was also working, plus he had a fresh new relationship to care for.

Like a flower. He had to water it, give it sunlight and I just prayed he didn't fertilize it too.

I wanted to rip his flower apart, but I knew I had to be a grown up about it, but that didn't stop me crying about it at 1am every night when I felt lonely and stressed.

Speaking of being lonely, I haven't heard from Aryia, and honestly, I didn't want to. It was a mistake, and I knew it shouldn't've happened. I was horny as fuck, but I should've used better judgment, and I wish I could take it all back.

I knew I had really hurt Colby, even if he wouldn't admit it to me. I was honestly just tired of unintentionally hurting him. I wanted to be his friend, but all I managed to do was disappoint him. It felt like every time I tried to take a step in the right direction, I was just one step closer to falling off the cliff, or maybe even being pushed off.

It was the same exact feeling I felt in High School, and I had no idea how to fix it, let alone where to even start. My old way of coping was to smoke and do drugs, but I couldn't exactly do that now that I was pregnant.

I'd be lying if I told you that the past few weeks, I haven't been insanely nervous that I will be kicked out. I knew Colby said he forgave me, and has even hung out with me and been super helpful for Landon... but that didn't change the fact that I still think he has hurt feelings over the whole being lied to situation.

Yeah Colby and I have been on good terms, but that doesn't take away the fact that we were both avoiding having a super in depth conversation again of what had happened.

Every time I tried to, he seemed to not want to talk about it. I honestly just wanted to clear the air, but it seemed like he just wanted to forget about it.

I just didn't want to just throw another Skelton into my closet, because at some point it will come tumbling out and be blown up in my face, yet again.

I was currently apartment hunting alongside job hunting, but I haven't told Sam and Colby that.

I had no intentions of moving out right now, but I at least needed this stuff on my radar the closer I got to giving birth to this baby. I didn't want to bring my baby home for the first time into my roommates house. I had already inconvenienced their life enough as it is, I didn't want to add a baby on top of that.

One of the issues I was running into was a lot of places wanted a record of your work in the sense to make sure you could afford rent and most places wanted you to be working somewhere for two years to even consider you as a renter, which made things a lot harder.

It doesn't help that living in LA made everything insanely expensive and I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't have fleeting thoughts about moving back home to Minnesota.

At least their rent would be a lot cheaper for a lot nicer of a place.

I would also be lying to you if I told you I didn't have a plan to tour some places I had found in Minnesota when I was going to visit my Aunt and Uncle.

I wanted to figure out what my best option was for my price range, and what place would give my baby the best chance of growing up with a good life.

"Leigh, when are you leaving?" I heard Landon ask, watching him wrap his arms around his boyfriend, hugging him from behind.

"Um.. shit I should've left five minutes ago!" I yelled, quickly grabbing a lunch baggie and shoving two brownies into it.

"BEING PREGNANT IS A PAIN WHEN YOU NEED TO LEAVE! I WANT TO EAT THESE BROWNIES BUT I NEED TO PEE!" I yelled, setting the baggie down and going to the bathroom.

That was one thing I was looking forward to being over with. Using the bathroom so often.

I couldn't leave the house without using the bathroom, and the inconvenience was extremely aggravating.

I have at least learned I have to pee less the less I move around, which gave me another excuse to lounge on the couch whenever I could.

I was convinced I was having to pee more than I should be at 15 weeks, but what I learned is it doesn't matter how far along you are as much as it does where the baby is sitting. I also thought I had a UTI, which is common when you're pregnant, but I went in and was all cleared, so basically I just get to suffer by almost peeing my pants every day.

When I arrived outside of Gabe's door, I could feel my heart race out of anticipation for the conversation that was ahead of me.

I slowly knocked on the door, holding my breath as I heard the click and watched it open.

"Hey, how are you?" Gabe asked, hugging me.

"I've been better. I'm warning you now, I will be leaving in a hurry to pee very often" I grumbled, wishing my baby would move. Worst case it was my uterus's fault for growing, but I was trying not to think about having this problem, this bad, for so long.

I had googled ways to move your baby, but none of the positions had worked so far, which only made me feel frustrated and disappointed.

Gabe and I had small talk for a little bit, trying to figure out how to bring up the topic of the birth.

I knew it was inevitable, but I was still afraid. I decided to bite the bullet and just go for it, hoping it didn't bite me in the ass later. "So... I was thinking about the birth" I trailed off and he tilted his head, shifting his seating position.

"What about it?"

"I don't think I want a hospital birth" I spoke quickly, not wanting to chicken out.

"WHAT?! What do you mean you don't want a hospital birth! What, are you just going to have our child on the fucking floor?!" He yelled, startling me.

"Why are you yelling?"

"YOU'RE TALKING CRAZY! A hospital is the safest place for a baby to be born!" He exclaimed.

"I understand that, but research shows that home births are just as safe. Yes, there is fear of complication, but if I die I'd rather die in my own home"

"Okay but if our baby dies because you wanted a home birth, do you know how we would both feel?!" He shouted and I could hear in his voice how blind sided he was, making me feel bad.

"Don't say that" I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes at the idea of my baby dying.

"THAT IS REALISTIC LEIGHTON! THE BABY COULD DIE! A hospital birth is the safest for the baby!"

He made me feel extremely guilty now, like I was a horrible mother just by making this one decision on my own.

"THE BABY COULD DIE AT THE HOSPITAL TOO! Can we stop talking about our baby dying please?!" I sobbed, unwanted visuals filling my thoughts.

Gabe sighed, running his hands over his face in frustration. "Why do you want an at home birth?" he asked, sitting back down.

"I can have a home birth, a hospital birth or there are birthing centers" I told him, feeling anxiety creep up.

"Why would you want to put not only yourself, but your baby at risk like that? We both know the hospital is the safest route! Why would you want to pick anything other than the safest for our baby?" He asked, sounding judgmental and I felt myself get defensive.

"I'm not! I understand that the hospital is the safest place to give birth in, but what about comfort? I don't want to be in a white room with beeping machines as I push around strangers, sharing our moment with people who don't care. I want to be able to have my baby without being stared at. Without feeling like a science experiment! I don't want to be a study! I want to be a mother!" I felt myself get choked up and I heard him sigh.

I knew what I meant to get across wasn't happening the way it was supposed to since I was extremely emotional right now, and certain pin points were sounding irrational, but I was feeling upset that he would accuse me of not wanting the best for my baby.

All I could think about is what was best. It's a thought that controlled me twenty four seven. If I wasn't thinking about what the best for my baby was, I would've done a lot of things differently.

"Okay, well let's talk about it. I'm sorry for yelling. You know where I stand, but I'm willing to hear you out as to why you want a home birth" He said and I nodded, taking a deep breath and wiping at my tears.

I got up quickly and blew my nose then peed before coming back, seeing Gabe was on his phone.

I rolled my eyes and sat back down.

"Really?" I asked and he looked up, his eyebrow furrowed.

"What?"

I shook my head and decided to let it go, getting comfy on the couch.

"I want to birth my baby in the comfort of my own home. My own space, people I trust. With people who have our best interest. I don't want to be in a bright sterile room with a million strangers. I did a lot of research. I'm not just having this idea out of the blue. Death rates are no lower at home than they are at a hospital. You have a trained midwife who is basically like an OBGYN, I'm not just popping out a baby on my own. They do the same process a hospital does Gabe. It's basically the same, just it's in our own space. I'm not saying this is a deciding factor for me, but it is a perk that it's cheaper. You don't rack up a hospital bill from staying. You don't have the drive home. You're already home. I give birth and go to bed in my own bed. The idea of being home, staying home, and having everything for the baby here, makes me feel a lot of comfort. Laying our baby in their bed right away, and not in a plastic bin... everything about a home birth sounds more humane. I know it sounds silly... but wouldn't you rather look at our newborn laying in their bed than in a plastic box on wheels?" I asked, wiping at my eyes.

"I understand why you think this way, but I'm thinking along the sides of, what if something goes wrong? I don't mean to get dark again, but what if the baby isn't breathing?"

Gabe bringing up the baby dying once again, made it extremely clear to me that this was one of his biggest fears. That he thought about this an awful lot to where it was clouding his thoughts, and opinions.

"We call 911" I said and he shook his head, seeming frustrated.

"What if it's too late? You don't have everything you need right down the hallway Leighton! I really don't think this is a good idea" He shook his head at me and I was feeling cornered.

It was my baby, my body, my decision.

He wasn't the one pushing a bowling ball out from his vagina.

Before I could reply, my emotions took over again and I just started crying, feeling extremely overwhelmed, having no idea what to do.

I came in with a plan, and I felt like it was being torn at the seams.

I completely understood where Gabe was coming from. His fears and concerns were extremely valid... but the idea of doing everything at home just seemed so peaceful and relaxing.

I felt like he didn't think I was afraid.

I was deathly afraid.

I felt like I was doing everything wrong twenty four seven.

Like no matter what decision I made, it was always incorrect.

I was the one who had to carry this baby for nine months, all by myself.

That's a pretty big ask, and to have someone think you're being reckless just feels like a kick in the balls.

I knew the hospital would be the safest, especially since it was my first baby, but something about a home birth just felt so magical.

Gabe and I did research on home birth versus hospital birth, talking about the risk, the logistics and what we would do if there was an emergency.

I tried really hard to hear his side of the story. Hear out his thoughts, and not let my impressions be clouded by me wanting to do the home birth, because I did understand his concerns. I had the same concerns, and I was trying really hard not to let my reasons make me mad at his.

"You're only thinking of the worst case scenario! What about the best case scenario? I'm comfortable, the baby is safe, we are in our own house-" I rambled and he shook his head, his hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

"Whose house is that going to be Leighton? Your new roommates?" He asked harshly and I frowned. "I live in an apartment, Leighton! I highly doubt you want to give birth in an apartment and you don't even live here anymore!"

"I don't want to give birth in their house. I don't want to inconvenience them" I sighed, taking three of my fingers and rubbing my eyelid, feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and tired.

"So then where do you plan to do this whole home birth thing? We don't have anywhere to do it. The hospital makes the most sense. I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk, but having a home birth sounds like a bad idea in many ways"

"What about a birthing center?" I asked and he groaned

"Leighton!"

"WHAT?!" I yelled, tiredness taking over my rational thinking and reactions.

"You're not listening to me" He shook his head, pacing in his living room.

"I AM LISTENING TO YOU! You're not listening to me! I completely agree with you if that was the worst case scenario, but what if it isn't?! What if we have this magical home birth and not one where our baby fucking dies?!" I yelled and he clenched his fists before unclenching them and shaking his hands out, putting them in his jean pockets.

"I understand the best case scenario, but you need to also go down that road of what if! A hospital has the best trained doctors to help the what if's! I love you and I hear you, but I don't think a home birth or birthing center is a good idea"

"But what about the best case scenario?" I fought and he rolled his eyes. "I don't want to do an epidural. I can't, so I don't need a hospital for that, which is really the only perk to going through the hospital" I informed him and Gabe shook his head.

"Leigh, this is going to hurt a lot. It's there to help you" He tried to explain but I shook my head.

"I know what a fucking epidural is dumbass. I don't care if it's going to help my pain, I don't want to start recovery again!" I shook my head and I stared at me.

"Leigh, you don't have to restart recovery. You're not taking it because you want to feel high and numb. You're taking it to push out a baby! That seems like a pretty valid reason to take a drug!"

"My body was made to do it naturally" I argued and he tilted his head, his eyes narrowing at me.

"And how many people in the 1800s survived labor? Huh?" He asked and I glared at him.

"That has nothing to do with the fucking epidural!" I yelled, feeling anger build up in my chest.

"Leighton, I love you but you need to think clearly. I'm not trying to bully you or pressure you into the hospital choice. I'm sorry if it's coming off like that, but all I can think about is the what if something went wrong and we aren't at a place that can help us immediately? What if the baby dies on the way to the hospital? I'm sorry for being so morbid, but I can't help it. Do you know how often I think about something happening to you or the baby? Do you know how badly it kills me that I'm not right by your side all the time? I don't regret breaking up, but I do regret having a baby when we aren't even together. It's so hard to know some other man is loving up on my ex-girlfriends or that her roommates know more about my baby then I do!"

"You're not even trying! You don't visit, or plan to hang out with me! You constantly miss appointments, you've barely shown interest!" I argued and he shook his head, sitting back down.

"I'm trying just as hard as you are to prepare for the future, which means I get to spend less time focused on the present. You have to know that as much as it kills you, it kills me. I would love to see my little baby boy or girl on the screen, to hear the heartbeat, or feel the baby kick, but that isn't realistic. Do you know how expensive it's going to be to not only pay child support, but also buy stuff to keep here. We have to buy two of everything!" He exclaimed and I pouted, forgetting he also has to care for this baby.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked and he sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry if you feel like I'm lacking in the baby daddy department, but I'm trying to figure everything out just as much as you are."

"I've looked into picking up another job as well" I decided to tell him, but before I knew it he was angry again.

"YOU SHOULDN'T BE WORKING THIS MUCH LEIGH! YOU'RE PREGNANT!"

"We need money, Gabe! You even said so yourself!"

"But you don't need a second job Leighton!"

"I DO! MY TARGET JOB AND YOUR CONSTRUCTION JOB ISN'T GOING TO SUPPORT OUR BABY! IF WE CAN'T SUPPORT OUR BABY, OUR BABY WILL BE TAKEN AWAY GABRIEL!"

"WHY DO YOU THINK I'M WORKING SO MUCH!? I know we need money! You're bitching at me that we don't have money and that I'm not doing enough for the baby, WHEN I'M TRYING. I'm sorry I can't be around you twenty four seven because I'm picking up more shifts at work and helping out where I can so you don't have to take the second job! It's not good for you to be on your feet that much, let alone be even more stressed than you already are! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL OUR BABY LEIGHTON!" Gabe yelled and my eyes widened, shaking my head and standing up to slip on my shoes.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" He shouted.

"HOME!" I yelled, grabbing my keys and slamming the door behind me.

"I'm so nervous!" I whined, a towel wrapped around my body, my hair dripping down my back.

"It's going to be fun Leigh!"

I was currently in my coworker's apartment, anxiety burning my insides alive.

"He's seen my picture right? Like I'm not going to show and he's gonna be grossed out right? He knows I'm pregnant?" I rambled and she laughed nodding.

"He knows you're pregnant. He's seen your picture. He knows you have tattoos. Can we get you ready now? He's going to be here in two hours" Aimée asked and I nodded.

I spent the rest of my afternoon with her, and now I was getting ready for my date tonight.

I tried to distance myself from Gabe and I's argument to have a good time tonight, but certain parts were still screaming at me in the back of my head, no matter how hard I tried to turn it off.

I dropped my towel and slid on a lace bra that was white and had pretty details on it, along with a white thong. I sighed when I looked at my thighs and ass, seeing the cellulite litter them.

What if he hated the cellulite on my thighs?

Was my ass too small?

"Your boobs look good in that bra" She said and I smiled, shaking my head. "You're wearing that white shirt dress I have right?" She asked and I nodded, remembering our conversation over text.

Sam, Colby and Jake were out visiting their friends' new place, which meant I was all alone. When Aimée learned this information, she decided now was the perfect time to get ready for the date.

She said we had the whole afternoon to get myself feeling like a million bucks, so I was holding her to it as she paid to get my nails done, including a pedicure.

I haven't had a pedicure in so long, that I swear I was going to orgasm from it.

I now understand why pregnant people love having their feet rubbed when they're in their third trimester.

I'm barely in the second, and it felt like pure heaven.

I had befriended a couple people from work, but I wouldn't say we were best friends or anything, but I could definitely see it happening. She was super nice to me on my first day of work and she's been by my side since.

"You have so much hair to play with! I miss this!" She laughed, brushing my hair out for me whilst I brushed my teeth

"The shaven look, looks so good though! I don't have the balls for that" I giggled and she grinned.

"I thought the same thing, and then I finally did it, and I've loved it since!"

Aimée had stunning dark skin that complimented her buzzed head and a couple pretty piercings. She also had a few tattoos, but no more than I had. Her clothing hugged her thicker body type that I was honestly envious of. I loved the way her jeans clung to her hips and the way her boobs looked in her tops.

When I was in High School, I had a weird body type that was basically thick and thin in all the wrong places. Now that I'm out of High School and pregnant, I'm kind of getting that body everyone wants, but it still looks weird in certain places. Now I had a bump which meant I didn't have that slim stomach everyone was looking for. I've never had a slim tummy, even at my lowest weight, so the hope for that has gone out the window.

We put on some music and got to work drying, and straightening my hair.

"HEY HEY YOU YOU I DON'T LIKE YOUR GIRLFRIEND" She shouted in the bathroom, laughing at ourselves in the mirror. "NO WAY NO WAY I THINK YOU NEED A NEW ONE!" We yelled at each other.

"You're so fine I want you mine you're so delicious" We practically moaned, our backs arching against each other as we used whatever we were holding as a microphone, laughing.

I grabbed the makeup to start prepping my face." I don't know how you don't have an Instagram" Aimée grumbled and I shrugged, knowing we already talked about this.

Aimée had a private Instagram and wanted me to follow her, which led to the somewhat dreadful conversation about how I didn't have any social media.

"HELL YEAH I'M THE MOTHERFUCKING PRINCESS!" We yelled and I saw she was filming making me laugh.

"SHE'S LIKE SO WHATEVER I THINK YOU CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER!" We jumped and I started laughing.

"SO COME OVER HERE AND TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO HEAR, BETTER YET MAKE THAT GIRLFRIEND DISAPPEAR I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HER NAME EVER AGAIN!" We yelled

"In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger" I stuck up my middle finger, waving my hand. "Cause I can, cause I can do it better!" I stuck my tongue out throwing up both middle fingers as she took my photo and I laughed harder, watching her take the end of a makeup brush

"I KNOW THAT YOU LIKE ME, NO IT'S NOT A SECRET!" Aimée sang into the makeup brush.

"But you become somebody else around everyone else!" We sang and I saw my phone was ringing with a FaceTime call seeing it was Katrina. I had gotten my face primed and foundation laid on, and I answered it.

"TELL ME! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO GO AND MAKE THINGS SO COMPLICATED!" Aimée scream sang

"Hey! I see you're having fun!" Kat laughed and I smiled, nodding.

"I hear you guys are too! We are having two very different parties" I giggled and she grinned, nodding.

"What are you doing? Why are you in your underwear?" She laughed and I grinned.

"I have a date! We're getting ready" I grabbed the concealer and drew two triangles under my eyes, grabbing my beauty blender

"You have a date!? Since when!" Kat gasped and I giggled, feeling the warm piece of hair fall down my back.

"HE WAS A BOY, SHE WAS A GIRL, CAN I MAKE IT ANYMORE OBVIOUS!" Aimée yelled, straightening my hair, skipping the last song.

"HE WAS A SKATER BOY SHE SAID SEE YOU LATER BOY!" Aimée danced, making me laugh.

"Since yesterday. Aren't you supposed to be with Sam and Colby?" I asked and she nodded, flipping the camera around to show Sam was in front of her, talking to some girl and guy I didn't recognize.

"Send me pics when you get dressed!" Kat told me and I agreed, grabbing my eyebrow pencil.

"Aimée, this is my roommate's girlfriend, and my friend Kat, Kat. This is my coworker and now friend Aimée" I introduced, letting them talk for a minute so I could focus on my brows.

"I haven't worn full glam in so long" I breathed out, leaning closer to the bathroom mirror to see how they looked.

"Remember Leigh, Sisters, not twins!" Aimée reminded me, watching me intently inspect the hair above my eyes.

"Has Colby ever seen you in full glam?" Kat asked and I shook my head.

"He's seen me in like, slight glam from the day I let my brother do my makeup, but I haven't done date night glam in a couple years. I was a little uh.. preoccupied to care about my looks to be honest" I muttered.

"You should def take pics and send them to me!" Kat yelled over the music. I could see this little get together turned into a house party, so I knew the likeness of either of us coming home was slim.

"Hey Leigh!" Sam said and I gasped, dropping to hide behind the counter.

I grabbed the towel and covered my body, popping back up.

"KAT!" I yelled and she giggled.

"I wish it would've been Colby" Kat spoke and I glared at her.

"SAM YOU CAN'T JUST POP IN LIKE THAT! I WAS IN MY UNDERWEAR!" I yelled, clinging the towel to my chest.

"It's no worse than seeing you in a bikini. I'm very happy with my girlfriend, I could care less" Sam explained, kissing Kat's cheek.

"Gross, and I care! I don't need you seeing my date night underwear!"

"Ohh! Is someone planning to get laid?" He asked and I flipped him off making him laugh.

"Anyway, how's the party?" I asked, letting Aimée finish straightening my hair.

"It's alright. Colby's getting black out drunk with some friends, so one of three things will happen. He's going to end up in bed with some girl, annoy Sam and I on the way home, or be extremely stupid with his friends" Kat shrugged and I laughed, remembering some of the drunk Colby stories I've been told. I've never seen him drunk, but from what I've heard, it's quite the experience.

I talked with Kat for a little bit before she went to go hang out with some friends, leaving me and Aimée to finish.

"It looks good!" I complimented, watching my hair do a swoosh movement as I spun to the side.

"Your makeup looks good too! I would do just a nude or light pink lip or something" She said and I nodded, digging through her lipsticks.

"So who's Colby, and why does your friend want him to see you in full glam?" Aimée asked and I sighed.

"He's my roommate. Her boyfriends, best friends. They keep teasing about us getting together" I shrugged and Aimée raised an eyebrow.

"Is he cute?" She asked and I smirked, tilting my head at her.

I showed her his contact photo and she grinned so big that her eyes squinted.

"How haven't you hit that yet?" She asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Please he's always mad at me and there is more to being with someone than them just looking hot. They need a good personality and attitude dumbass" I grumbled, tired of people saying I should fuck Colby or date him.

"Oooo, cute rough makeup sex" She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I narrowed my eyes at her, shaking my head.

"Okay but enemies to lovers is so hot!" She practically moaned and I rolled my eyes.

"It's not cute, it's troubling and cliché. All those dumb enemies to lovers books, the relationship is shit and someone always ends up heartbroken"

"Ohhhh, so you're looking for a relationship?" She smirked.

"Aimée, we are literally getting ready for a date that YOU wanted me to go on!"

"OH YEAH LET ME GRAB YOUR DRESS!" She yelled, running out of the room.

Aimée walked in with the outfit draped over her arm, heels in hand.

"Put your cute flats in your bag just in case" She said and I nodded. I had worn some white flat sandals to her place, and I was glad the bag I brought was big enough to fit them.

I slipped on the cute dress, looking at myself in the mirror.

"I'm going to spin, make sure you can't see my ass" I twirled a couple times and she said I was all good, so I slipped on the heels.

"We got half an hour to take some bomb ass pics!" Aimée cheered, grabbing her phone and polaroid camera. I snapped a quick pic and sent it to Kat.

We spent the next 15 minutes taking photos, and she showed me the ones with my bump.

From the side, you could see the very tiny little bump poking out, but I flattened the dress against it so it peaked out more, and I was obsessed.

"I might make you take my maternity pics" I spoke in awe of the imagery.

"What does he look like again?" I asked, inspecting myself in the mirror again.

It's been a long time since I've gone on a proper date, and it would be my first actual date after my break up, so saying I was insanely nervous would be an understatement.

She handed me her phone and I swiped through a few photos, nodding.

I took a deep breath and shook my hands, trying to get rid of the jitters.

"Put your phone on the charger till we leave. I can text you the photos"

Before we knew it, there was a knock at the door, and Aimée was opening it, letting the stranger into our safe space.

"You look beautiful" He spoke and I gave a small smile, glancing towards the floor.

"Thank you. The navy blue collar shirt and dark jeans is drool worthy" I accidently said and my eyes widened. "Wait- no! I'm sorry!" I quickly tried to recover but it was too late.

He chuckled and nodded. "Thank you" he smirked and I wanted the floor to collapse.

"I'm sorry! It's my first date in a long time! I might keep saying stupid shit" I covered my face with my hands, but I felt his hand grasp my wrist and pull my hand off my face, my eye peaking open.

"Don't hide. It's cute" He reassured me and I shook my head.

"It's not cute! It's embarrassing! I understand if you don't want to go out with me now-" I quickly spoke and I watched his forehead wrinkle.

"Why wouldn't I still want to go out with you? You basically just said you found me attractive and liked my outfit. As far as I'm concerned, this date is already off to a good start" He winked and I blushed, playing with the ring on my finger.

We put in some studs and a couple rings on my hands, and now I was kind of regretting the rings.

I knew it was a nervous habit, so I was starting to question if I should take them off and leave them here. Maybe that would prevent my fidgeting, or maybe I'd just replace it with something else....

"I can't believe I did that!" I groaned, crouching on the floor with my head in my hands, except in what I thought would be a graceful crouch, my little bump hit my knees and down I went on my ass, the palms of my hands bracing the fall on the floor.

"Woah! Are you okay?!" He spoke frantically and I nodded, taking a deep breath. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry.

He offered me his hand and I took it, letting him help me up and steady me on my feet.

"You know.. if you wanted to see me shirtless, all you had to do was ask. You didn't have to spill your water down the front of me" He teased but my hormones decided to not take it as a joke, and I just started crying.

"Fuck! I'm so sorry!" I sobbed, already knowing I'll never see this man again.

"Hey! It's okay!" He cooed and I frowned, feeling like a baby.

I quickly walked out the restaurant door, tears rapidly falling down my face as I cursed myself out over and over again.

I made a fool out of myself!

I stopped walking and leaned against a wall, hearing my name being called out.

I opened my contacts and tried to quickly decide who to call.

I didn't want to let Aimée down, and I didn't want to worry her since he had done nothing wrong. Kat, Sam, Jake and Colby are at a house party. My brother is out of town picking up their new dog.

"Leighton!" He yelled and I heard running coming towards me.

"No it's okay! I'll find my way home-" I started but he shook his head, stopping in front of me.

"Are you okay?" He breathed out quietly.

"No! I fucked it all up! I've said and done so much stupid shit it's embarrassing!"

"Hey, we all do stupid stuff here and there. The water was an accident, don't beat yourself up about it. I've said dumb stuff too, but I promise I find it cute. It's cute that you're all worked up and nervous that you're fumbling over your words and saying weird stuff. It makes you human. I don't need the world's perfect girl. I need my perfect girl, and as far as I'm concerned, I think I've found her" He smirked and I frowned.

"It's the hostess isn't it?"

He rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Can I do something stupid?" He asked and I narrowed my eyes.

"Like what?"

"Can I kiss you?"

* * * *

Okay I've read through this so many times pre editing, I don't want to do it again. If you find any mistakes, sorry. It's pure laziness again.

Imagine reading through this chapter like 10 times. You'd get tired too lol

The January stuff is cause I used stuff from the deleted scenes lol

Wrote on: January 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20, 21st, February 5th, 13th 2022

Word Count: 7672

Part Twenty Five

#colbybrock #sam golbach #sam and colby #unbroken #writing #creative writing #fanfiction #colby brock fanfic #katrina stuart

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thanksjro · 3 years

Text

More Than Meets the Eye #29 - The One Where Everyone Gets Super Shiny

Our issue opens up with Swerve laying down the Story So Far in the Exposition Dimension.

Fantastic, you funky little man.

If Swerve looks like he’s been tossed through the car wash a few dozen times, it’s because this is where our new colorist comes in! Everyone, please say hello to Joana Lafuente- known for her love of gradients and attention to light sources, this actually isn’t the first time we’ve run into her. Lafuente worked on colors for several issues of The Transformers (2009), Last Stand of the Wreckers #3, and a few issues of MTMTE Season 1. However, she was matching the styles of her co-colorists on a majority of these, so we haven’t seen her style properly until now.

Getting into the story proper, Cyclonus is busying himself with staring out the window at a PNG of space, as he is wont to do, when he hears the tell-tale sound of tires squealing down the hall towards his room. Oh, goodness, whoever could that be?

Nearly forgot about him, didn’t you? Yeah, it’s a little difficult to follow up on things like a character’s recovery from a horrific disease when you’ve got comic event contract obligations to deal with.

After getting tackled by Tailgate, who reminds us all about the time he stuck his dirty little fingers into a dude’s brain meat, Cyclonus takes the little nerd on a walk through the ship.

You’re not going to convince me to reread “Dark Cybertron”. I don’t care how much of a marshmallow you are, it’s not happening.

They’re passed by Megatron and a bunch of crew members carrying that coffin we saw at the end of last issue down the corridor, Tailgate has a moment, and we get a taste of Cyclonus’ distaste for the Autobots as a whole. Tailgate is mildly offended by this, as he gropes his chest in distain, showing off his shiny new Autobot badge- a gift for not dying a terrible, gruesome death.

Good job, Tailgate. Proud of you.

They’re also passed by an absolutely blitzed Jackpot and Mainframe, the former singing Tailgate’s Tyrest-stopping praises as the latter carts him over to the Medibay to deal with the almost alcohol poisoning he’s got going on. Cyclonus remarks that Tailgate was missed, though Tailgate can’t help but wonder if that’s really true.

Y’all like slowburn romance, right? Because these two dumbasses have been roommates for two years, and we’ve just gotten to the point where physical contact can happen without one of them needing to be dying.

Anyway, it’s been a good day for Tailgate so far. Let’s hope it stays that way for the little dude.

...And that’s a series wrap on Tailgate! Let’s give him a hand, folks!

Hopping back in time to Megatron’s trial, things get underway, as Optimus Prime takes a nap in the judge’s bench as Gripper- whose name you don’t need to remember, as he’s not actually important- tells everyone about how brutal the Decepticon Justice Division is, even to Autobots. Which isn’t really supposed to be their deal, given their, y’know, name, but I suppose nobody’s perfect.

Up in the stands, in an… opera box, I guess? Rodimus is watching the proceedings, when Atomizer walks in. Which I guess you can just do in a Cybertronian court case. Sure.

Atomizer, in case you forgot, is the dude who has a bow and arrow, and used to be an interior designer.

Say, didn’t Whirl has a bow and arrow in the last issue when he attacked Megatron? Mighty curious, that.

Rodimus and Atomizer briefly reflect on the DJD, recalling the horror that was Vos- not that Vos, the other one. Rodimus would really just rather this all be over with so the Lost Light can get back to finding the Knights of Cybertron, and it’s at this point that Atomizer breaks out a thing he really ought not have- the count for the vote on whether or not Rodimus should stay on as captain. Rodimus doesn’t want to look at it, because it was supposed to be anonymous for a reason, and tells Atomizer to destroy the list entirely.

Hm, that’s not a terribly determined face there, Rodimus.

Back in the present, specifically in Swerve’s, Groove is threatening to break Streetwise’s arm, as we get the downlow on just what exactly our Legislator buddy’s deal is. Turn’s out, Swerve got one of the things reprogrammed, so that he follows not the Autobot Code, but something else entirely.

Hey, Swerve?

I don’t expect you to know this, because I don’t think you were present when they revealed this information to the readers, but… your new bouncer is made of people. He’s a dude made of other dudes, namely the Circle of Light. There’s a chance that you reprogrammed a sentient being, my good bitch.

Anyway, Swerve’s in a fucking mood because his shoulder hurts, someone’s stealing his shit, and Megatron has joined the narrative. Over at a nearby table, Skids, Nautica, and Riptide take a gander at the tabloids. Trailcutter, who is positively smashed, to the point where he’s just leaking booze out of his face like it’s his job, isn’t terribly interested in that, however.

What an astute observation, Riptide. And people say you’re stupid!

Trailcutter wants to drink some more, because it’s very likely he’s got a problem, but the mention of “Megatron’s super fuel” makes him feel like it’s time to stop hounding Swerve and start performing crimes.

Back during the trial, we get to Starscream’s testimony. He’s wearing his crown. He’s acting like a self-righteous asshole, as he defends Megatron.

Well, “defend” in the technical, legal sense, I suppose.

But really it’s more about him insulting Megatron’s intelligence, strength, and courage, in front of a LOT of people, while also trying to make himself look better in the war crime department. Megatron doesn’t appreciate this very much, if his murder-face is anything to go by.

Megatron lets Ultra Magnus (his defender, if you’ll recall) know that he wants a private word, and court goes into a brief recess.

Back in the present, Nightbeat’s busy looking at a pin-up of Rung’s alt-mode, when someone knocks on his door. That someone is Chromedome, who’s trying to solve the mystery of The Missing Declaration of Love. Not that he says that specifically out loud.

You two were married, why- okay. No point in yelling at this digital copy of a comic book.

Anyway.

So, the whole screaming thing only happened the one time, and everything was back to normal on subsequent plays of Rewind’s message. Nightbeat seems to be leaning towards the depressive isolating getting to Chromedome, which Chromedome responds to by telling him to get the fuck out. Alas, someone’s blocking the door!

YO WHAT THE FUCK-

Back with Trailcutter’s subplot, our drunken friend is in the middle of breaking into the Medibay. Our trio of cool-colored pals watch him from back at the bar, by way of a laptop that looks like it was built the same year I was born.

As Trailcutter attempts to commit a crime, Megatron, Ultra Magnus, and Ratchet pass by, trying to figure out how to handle the whole coffin situation. Trailcutter’s about to punch the locks off a door, and Nautica decides that this is where she’s going to draw the line today, leaving the gaggle of fools to their shenanigans. Then Tailgate glomps Skids, throwing the computer to the ground and breaking it, as Trailcutter finds the door to the Medibay magically open.

If you don’t know what glomping is, there’s a 60% chance that you’re not old enough to vote in the US.

Trailcutter sneaks into the Medibay, we get a reminder that Ambulon is super dead, and Trailcutter commits theft from a food bank. What a guy.

This is the point where security shows up, armed with a great deal of guns, one of which is Megatron himself. Trailcutter, instead of feeling super powerful, actually feels positively awful after consuming Megatron’s rations of “super fuel”. Because he, as an Autobot, doesn’t want to be within 50 yards of Megatron, Trailcutter breaks out the forcefields the moment the guy approaches him. And oh, what a doozy this one is.

Trailcutter’s gotten himself a fancy new trick- this forcefield he’s broken out lasts for a solid half-hour, and he can’t turn it off. I’m sure that won’t bite him in the ass at any point in the near future, no-siree!

Back in the past, Rattrap is commending Starscream on playing the field and getting the public slightly more on his side, but Starscream’s too busy patting himself on the back to really pay attention. He knew damn well that Megatron wouldn’t like what he had to say on the stand, and now things are finally looking up for ol’ Screamer.

Over with Optimus Prime, Slamdance is showing off how the general public is really into this whole “folks being held accountable for their actions” thing.

In the present, Chromedome and Nightbeat seem to have remembered they have alt-modes and are driving down the hall back to Nightbeat’s room- wonder what the speed limit for the Lost Light is?- and discuss just what the hell happened. The current theory is that the Rewind they saw was a Data Ghost- a collection of information so dense, it had a not-quite-physical presence that wasn’t 100% removed when he died.

Which is a little fucked up, but let’s see where this goes.

Nightbeat undoes the 40,000 locks on his door while Chromedome bleeds guilt all over the shag carpet over the fact that he hasn’t been looking for Dominus Ambus like he said he would.

C’mon James, gimme that Chromedominus endgame.

Nightbeat finally opens the door to find a small problem.

Hm. That’s… not normal.

Over in the Medibay, Trailcutter’s bubble has burst, allowing Megatron to slap him in the back of the head. This head-slapping induces his FIM chip permanently, making it so that he can never get drunk again.

Weird party trick, Megatron. Kinda shitty, really.

Megatron then gives Trailcutter the job of director of security, because he needs direction in his life. Trailcutter just sort of takes what he’s given, because I suppose you can’t really argue with a guy who can literally slap you sober, and also threatens to destroy you if you fuck up even once. Nice, Megs. Nice.

MEGATRON THAT’S BEEN SITTING LIKE THAT FOR OVER HALF AN HOUR YOU FUCKING WET NOODLE

So, since there’s mystery juice all over the floor and no one’s died, Megatron assumes that the coffin ought to be fine to crack open.

Please note that Megatron is not a medical professional, and his views are now peer reviewed by medical professionals. Megatron is in no way endorsed by the WHO.

Anyway, Rodimus is in there.

Pretty fucked up.

Back in the past, recess is over, and Ultra Magnus comes bearing bad news- Megatron wants to change his plea to “innocent.” This gets about the reaction one would expect from just about anyone.

Well, except Rodimus, who’s too busy reading that list that he wanted destroyed. He’s very sad about it.

I know, what a bummer!

#transformers #jro #MTMTE #world shut your mouth #issue 29 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing

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mage-and-the-tantrums · 3 years

Text

Excerpts from a book I will probably *try* to write

333 Days home.

333 days ago exactly. August the 5th, 2020, I took my final return flight, from Istanbul to Tunisia, after 5 years of expatriation. After graduating quietly, on my bed while wearing shorts, I found no reasons to stay in Turkey, and no reasons to not come back home, in a world torched by a global pandemic.

Upon returning home, and within a month, I discovered how badly my family failed and grew apart. I never thought it could happen to us. My sister helped wake me from my stun. "They just behave for a couple of months, when you were here for vacations, and also whenever we called you on messenger. It's broken", she said, with an acceptance that should be forbidden to her age.

I was led, mystically, to discover some dark secrets. I refuse to talk or write about them here. Only one person besides me knows the whole truth.

The bitch and a half about knowing something that you cannot divulge to anyone, and I mean absolutely not a living soul, is that it detaches you from the world. It leaves you questioning your two best friends with whom you thought you would discuss anything. You charge and trial "in absentia" them, and you find them guilty without them actually doing anything. It has been an education, to discover what loneliness truly meant. I felt corrected, back to school, as harshly as possible, just because I thought I was alone when in Istanbul. Life showed me, in the span of 30 days, how much I could be alone, while within my family, my friends, and the country that I love and missed beyond words.

I would sit next to my friends, in the backseat of a car, listening to autotuned american rap (which I disdain), while they converse about girls, cars, and the eventuality of marriage with the inexplicable costs that it imposes in our country, and how one should escape this sorry corner of the world to Europe. I would hear scribbles and syllables, as if I shrank and sank 6 feet deeper into myself. The only thought swimming in the pool of my brain is "how little do they know about the dilemma tearing me apart. They are here, they have known me for years, they are practically the family I chose for myself. And yet, and yet, we're oceans apart. Nothing would be the same ever again. How many secrets could a person hold while sitting next to you ? We're all strangers to one another.

I truly discovered how loneliness could snatch someone from their settings, to dictate its own terms and draw an existence, in pale shades of grey for that someone to dwell in. At some point, I realised that, no matter how shockingly and frighteningly true my thoughts were, there were equally dangerous and self-destructive. Looking into what felt like a void is fun and instructive and intellectually probably sexy, until it begins leaking into your life, which it does pretty often. I was as alone as I permitted myself to be. I figured that I needed to create a breathing gap between me and some shit in my life, that, in the end, is none of my business. Some persons decided and acted, while apparently thinking so little to none about the consequences. It is not, nor it will ever be, under any pretext, my problem. I kept repeating it, slowly, breathing it into my lungs, and holding to that breath, in the corner of my room, during some long ass nights, and I realised that I really needed to believe that. I needed to find a formula to market that idea to my brain which kept feeding on the void. Truth can be a very subjective and useless concept. So I turned to another, more pragmatic concept; priorities. I asked the primordial, narcissistic question: "What about me ?". No one was asking that question, so I did.

From there, I cruised my way to restore some inner peace after a chaos that was served to me, and before I could speak, crammed down my throat. If I could reduce it down to a words, it would be this: "Everyone thought of themselves. Nobody thought about me, so why the fuck should I lose sleep over it ? I'll think of myself as well, because if I don't, no one will".

Friendships are another big, juicy topic. Tough love all the way, and if you don't like it, then you're overly sensitive. Tough love wrapped by layers and layers of selfishness and a critical lack of any notion of emotional intelligence. But at the end of the day, I think that I am privileged to have a circle of people with whom I can ride and spend time. It could have been a lot worse.

The food is awesome. I genuinely think that Tunisian cuisine is criminally underrated. It never got properly marketed on a global level (nor it ever will). It is very hard to not gain weight here, and I am regularly (although with a shy frequency) I go out to run.

Financially, I am leeching off my Mom, since I am still working on establishing an eCommerce platform with a friend. She gladly helps, and I feel so grateful for her support. She has been my guardian in these difficult times.

Do I think about expatriation again ? I honestly do not know. Tunisia has been sinking for quite some time, and everyone is looking for a way out. I am convinced that we should stay here and fight. No matter how little the effort, we should grab the situation by the reigns and ride our way, no matter where. But I understand those who believe in the "personal salvation". Everyone should aspire for a financial and a moral dignified life, which is becoming harder by the day here. The social tissue is more like a bikini now, with the bra being the wealthy who got wealthier (upper), and all of the rest including the middle class who are sinking deeper into the pit of bank credits. Want to get married ? that would be this huge amount that would never be able to pay for with 2 salaries and a 10 years saving account. Want to purchase a house ? how cute. Mathematically and financially impossible, even with the most elaborate and strict saving measures. But hey, all is possible with a huge, fat, juicy credit bank that would suck nearly half of your salary (if not exactly half) for 1 to 2 decades.

Being back home is re-calibrating your tongue, your digestive system and your daily habits. It is a constant rewiring, and an eternal effort to make things better, because we know better now. Being back home is struggling to find your place again, because everyone is so used to your absence they often need to be reminded you're here now. Being back home is the choice to actually stress-test your relationships, and see if people would bother to grant you once again, access to their lives. Being back home is the shocking resolution that most won't bother to call, and that most relationships are as random as the circumstances. In a parallel reality, you wouldn't even be friends. Being back home is very far from being the solution to anything. But being back home feels like recharging. It feels once again that I am alive.

#excerpt from a book i will probably write #writers thoughts #thoughts of a writer #writers on tumblr #writeblr #poets and writers #home #thoughts of a mage #mage #spilled thoughts #spilled inks #spilled words

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kazoo5480 · 3 years

Link

Series: Part 2 of Breaking Down For Smee @anothersworld

A companion one shot of Breaking Down- from Augusts POV

August dropped that son of a bitch off at Boston PD and headed to Emma’s. He parks his car in her empty spot, taking the elevator up to her floor. He jingles his keys, a smile on his face, and wonders what kind of shambles Emma left the place in.

He opens the door surprised. For once, it’s tidy, and he nods in approval. Emma was the sloppiest person he had ever known, eating out of the dishwasher, as dirty plates stacked up in the sink. He missed her, and he knew that this time felt different, she did.

He dropped his bag in her room and hopped in the expansive shower. He slips on his pajama bottoms and heads towards the kitchen. Tapping his lips, “Now where do you have the snacks Duckling” he asks as he rifled through her cabinets.

Bingo. Chips Ahoy, Doritos, Swedish fish, Kit Kats, gummies. All the good snacks. He even eyes her beloved Belgian hot cocoa mix, doubting she has milk.

He opens her fridge and pulls back assaulted by the stench. “What the fuck is that smell,” he says looking at containers, Chinese food, pizza, “ugh” he shakes his head and promptly empties her fridge.

“You are a swine” he grumbles as he empties her fridge of perishables, and things he isn’t even going to open. He tosses it all, condiments, anything not in a bottle with a lid on it.

He knew she wasn’t coming back unless it was to get her stuff, he could tell.

Something had shifted in her, something he had never seen, and to spare her neighbors from thinking there was a rotting corpse in this apartment, he promptly threw the bag of garbage down the shoot in the hallway away from the apartment.

He ordered their favorite Indian food, sprawls on the couch with Netflix on, pulls up her shows, and tucks into the cookies. He smiles and sends a selfie of him to Emma, eating her cookies on her couch.

“3, 2,1” his phone buzzes to life, he smiles.

“I knew you would call. I ate them all and they were delicious. You always have the good snacks.”

Emma pouted, “You’re an ass, stop eating my snacks!”

He laughs at her, “Why? You aren’t here, they need to be eaten, I threw half your groceries out, disgusting Swan.”

Emma is quiet for a moment, “You’re on speakerphone Aug, and I am not alone.”

August grins, oh this would be interesting, she had never let anyone meet him- let alone speak to him.

“Oh. Hello mystery man, I am August, Emma’s much better half of our platonic friendship and semi-family.” August heard a deep laugh and an accent, Irish he would guess if he had to bet.

“He is funny,” the man said.

August smiled at that, and then Emma interjected.

“Don’t encourage his ego, Jones” Emma barked.

August grabbed his laptop and opened his programs waiting for them to say something he could use to search.

“Hi August, Killian Jones, single, male, Caucasian, about 178, Irish, smoldering good looks, and besotted with the keeper of your snacks.”

August laughed at that, he was funny, Emma needed funny. He typed in all that information, and certainly there he was, Killian Jones. Augusts’ eyes widened when he clicked his Maine driver’s license, he had to hold back a Jesus Chris because this guy was a god.

“I see why you are thinking Em,” he said to Emma through the speakerphone. “Anyways, I dropped that asshat off at BPD, put the cash in your account, and I plan to head out tomorrow. What do you want me to drop off or send?” he asked his sister.

“Everything” Killian shouted, and he heard the telltale slap of Emma hitting Jones, and a grumble from the man.

“I don’t know, can I call you tonight?” Emma said quietly, and he could tell she was having a moment, she was going to run or was considering it.

“Of course, I will have found your secret stash of candy by then,” August said in reply.

“Don’t go through my drawers!” Emma shouted, almost like a plea.

“See, you make it too easy!” August laughed and shook his head. She hung up the phone. “Now let’s see who you are Killian Jones,” August said flipping through the reports.

His driver’s license, bank account, a deceased brother, August saw his Auto Repair shop linked and that account which held a quite sizeable sum as he flipped through it, he didn’t need money from Emma- that was a good thing.

His business seemed fairly profitable for such a small town, population just over 1400, so he was alright on that end.

He noticed that Killian Jones owned the business and building alone, no outstanding mortgage or bills, or addresses, he would guess he probably lived above his shop.

His two credit cards all at a low balance, one personal, one for his business. The credit score was not perfect but pretty good. August saw no aliases, or red flags, certainly nothing he would warn Emma about. This guy seemed normal, maybe completely perfect for Emma.

August sat there perusing all the files, he looked into his brother’s death- was in the Navy, an accident a few years back. Curious, he went back through Killian’s bank accounts and noticed a hefty payment deposited a few months after the brothers’ death from the US Government.

August trailed that and connected that Killian used the settlement payoff to buy his business outright and stashed the rest in his savings. Jones wasn’t a frivolous spender, his receipts and business expense all parts and supplies. Nothing was giving him any red flags.

He went to social media and saw an Instagram account, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in some time. He scanned the pictures, mostly were tagged from a RedRidingHood.

August would also bet that the brunette in most of the photos linked to that account would be her, but he saw mostly just group photos, and she had tagged Jones, who was indeed a handsome man.

He looked through the DMV, he smirked when he saw that jones had a motorcycle and a car registered.

“Emma does love a man on a motorcycle” he laughed and decided that was enough digging for now.

@anothersworld

#emma swan #august booth #ouat

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honeytea8 · 4 years

Text

@redbeanb0i, @fyre23, and @pun-in-ten-ded asked for Morioh next, so you know I had to deliver the goods! Stardust Crusaders HC’s here, in case you missed it.

✨The Morioh Crew and Their Song Picks✨

(based off SOME of my playlists/tastes)

Yukako Yamagishi

Honestly, her music reflects her pretty well for the most part. She’s got unapologetic bad bitch vibes (and I highkey stan)—she’s also a girl in high school with big simp energy (for Koichi lmao) and it can make her a little crazy. Yukako is like a sour piece of candy with a sweet center—she a little feral, kinda chaotic but also has a cute side you can’t help but like.

Maneater — Nelly Furtado

Freak — Doja Cat

Sorry — Beyoncé

Moonlight — Ariana Grande

ocean eyes — Billie Eilish

Smack a Bitch — Rico Nasty

Okuyasu Nijimura

Ca$h Money Okuya$u gives me cool hip-hop vibes with a bit of alternative and pop on the side; he’s surprisingly cultured. I can totally see him as one of those people constantly wishing for the “old Kanye”. He has pretty diverse music taste, but don’t bother asking him for recommendations. His shit is so disorganized, because he likes everything so his music is literally all on one giant playlist and it’s hella chaotic (like 300+ songs and over 1000 hours of music on one playlist, sickening!!! 😭)

G.O.M.D — J. Cole

Kill Your Heroes — AWOLNATION

Hey Ya — Outkast

Through the Wire — Kanye West

I’m Not Famous — AJR

Ride — twenty one pilots

Koichi Hirose

I feel like his taste can go several different ways. Koichi is that timid guy steadily growing into a more confident person, but then his stand is all “let’s kill dat hoe beeeetch” like literally that’s his soul talking. For him, I’m just going to go with chill rap/nerdy rap, and then some alternative. Koichi and Okuyasu could probably rock the same playlist, but Koichi’s music would be more lowkey where as Okuyasu’s is more mainstream.

Rigamortus — Kendrick Lamar

Stressed out — twenty one pilots

Check the Rhime — A Tribe Called Quest

Hurt Feelings — Mac Miller

EARFQUAKE — Tyler, the Creator

Soul Food — Logic

Josuke Higashikata

Josuke is a sap if I ever saw one! Besides groovy pop music (or Prince’s whole discography), his playlist is mostly RnB love songs lmao (I fully believe Josuke has all of Usher’s music on CD and I take no criticism!!) He’s a romantic at heart so I think some of the music he listens to reflects that quite a bit.

Let Me Love You — Mario

We Belong Together — Mariah Carey

Take Care — Drake

That’s What I Like — Bruno Mars

U Got it Bad — Usher

You & I (Nobody in the World) — John Legend

Bonus: If I Ain’t Got You — Alicia Keys (Josuke would cry like a baby to this song and then vow to play it at his wedding, no, I’m not joking)

Rohan Kishibe

His nutty ass probably doesn’t even listen to music while working. It’s just silence. Rohan is attracted to powerful voices that evoke a lot of feeling, poignant lyrics are his weakness, they hit different and he loves it. He’d probably stan tf outta Adele or Lady Gaga. Essentially, when he listens to music, he wants to be impressed.

Skyfall — Adele

Young & Beautiful — Lana Del Rey

Hearts A Mess — Gotye

Movement — Hozier

Shallow — Lady Gaga

Midnight Mischief — Jordan Rakei

Chandelier (piano ver.) — SIA

✨Extras✨

Yuya Fungami

Hella rap, hella turn up. Master of the aux when it’s time to get hype! Dude has a chin tat, yakwtfgo 😂 Yuya’s like that one guy in the neighborhood with cleanest fits/sneakers, has hella hoes, does forex, drives a hellcat and wakes everybody up with his car and loud music whenever he leaves for work at 6am 💀💀 (some of y’all know what I’m talking about)

Flex — Polo G

High Fashion — Roddy Ricch

Topanga — Trippie Redd

Suge — DaBaby

Bank Account — 21 Savage

Walk It Talk It — Migos

Dior — Pop Smoke

Reimi Sugimoto

Easy! Reimi’s a sweet, friendly, cheerful, young sixteen year old girl. So I’d say her playlist is mostly pop music; bubbly, upbeat dance music. Lots of boy bands, girl bands. I can see her probably being a really big kpop and jpop stan too.

One Thing — One Direction

Sugar — Maroon 5

Work from Home — Fifth Harmony

Black Swan — BTS

Boy Meets Girl — Rude-a

Only One — BoA

Sunny Girl — Awesome City Club

Toshikazu Hazamada

Hazamada’s lowkey (highkey) a troll! The type to boldly say 6ix9ine is the best rapper in the game with a straight face and it gets everybody upset (especially Yuya and Koichi), wears all black air forces, rages while playing 2K. Probably wants a girlfriend so bad, but they always go for guys like Josuke and it makes him upset.

All Girls Are the Same — Juice WRLD

SAD — XXXTentacion

XO Tour Llif3 — Lil Uzi Vert

Falling Down — Lil Peep

Messages — The Hxliday

I Fall Apart — Post Malone

Y’all want Bucci gang next or nah? 👀

#yukako yamagishi #koichi hirose #okuyasu nijimura #josuke higashikata #rohan kishibe #yuya fungami #toshikazu hazamada #reimi sugimoto #diamond is unbreakable #jojo #jjba #jojo’s bizarre adventure

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sincerelyasomebody · 4 years

Text

Bound To Happen || Jose "Sad Eyes" Guzman

(GIF Credit: @merakiaes)

A/N: A requested piece! My first requested piece, which I hope lives up to your expectations. Mrs Turner's name will be Lynn. Unsure if it's been mentioned in the show. Also the text exchange has been included in the word count - the lesser amount is if it were not included. Hopefully, that makes sense. Apologises for grammatical errors. Feel free to let me know about any corrections I need to make with the Spanish translations, thanks!.

Pairing(s): Sad Eyes x Turner!Reader ▪︎ Jamal Turner x Sister!Reader ▪︎ Turner!Family x Turner!Reader

Requested: By @briannab1234

Summary: Relaxation comes in different forms.

Warnings: fluff, language, mentions of 19th Street incident with DJ's, playlist of songs, slightly smutty?, steamy make out, talks of murder,

Word Count: 1423 ¤ 1409

- ♤ -♡ - ◇ - ♧ -

(Y/N) bopped her head along to 3LW's Playas Gon' Play echoing through her portable speaker as she carried it and her phone into the kitchen. Carefully placing the two on the counter she searched through the fridge, trying to find the food she had hidden in a container at the back. As soon as (Y/N) heard the theme song for The Goonies cut through the second verse, she didn't need to see the name on the screen to know who was calling.

She disconnected her bluetooth, pressed the green button and put it on loud speaker, and answered, "hey."

"A sum of thirty five dollars is owing on your account, please transfer funds effective immediately. Thank you."

At the sound of a beep, (Y/N) stared at her phone for a few seconds before laughing. Her brother was something else. She logged into her (bank) app and made the transfer. Thankfully they were with the same bank. Once it was finalised, she sent a confirmation message.

(Y/N)

Owing balance has been cleared.

She then proceeded to reconnect her phone to the speaker and clicked shuffle on her most recent playlist. She grinned upon hearing Love Like This by Faith Evans playing. Swaying her hips, she grabbed the container and popped it into the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Feeling a familiar pair of arms wrap across her body, she laughed, "was I away too long?"

Jose kissed the top of her head, "yes."

"So needy," she giggled and turned to face him, reaching out and pinching his cheeks, "such a needy baby," she puckered her lips, "beso."

He snickered, but gave into her demand. His hands wandered down her back, deepening the simple kiss. They eventually found their way to her ass, giving it a squeeze. (Y/N) allowed him to take control as her own hands wandered up and down his solid body. The kiss lasted a lot shorter than she anticipated, causing a whine to fall from her lips.

"What's the matter, mi amor?"

She pouted, "nothing."

Laughing, he squeezed her hips, "aw, looks like somebody's a needy baby," he moved his hand to tilt her chin up, "who's a needy baby?"

She huffed, "I'm the needy baby," she was given a peck to the forehead, "but you love me."

"Always, baby."

They held each other close, enjoying the calm atmosphere surrounding them. They had the house to themselves and were going to take full advantage of it. (Y/N) only removed herself from the embrace when the microwave beeped and TLC's No Scrubs hit a blimp.

She glanced over at her phone and pressed her messages.

Jamal

Enjoy the rest of your day.

"Who's on watch?" She asked, popping open the microwave.

Since the 19th Street attack on her dad and his business, Spooky had Santos members watching the house. The image of her father on that night is something (Y/N) would never forget. She was relieved to know that he, as well as the business, would recover but she was upset at the way 19th Street tried to assert their dominance, now that the Prophet$ were out of the picture.

The only thing stopping her from beating up a couple of punk ass bitches, was her conscious reminding her that igniting a gang war wouldn't be the answer. The upside to the incident was getting time off from the hospital to take care of her father (she temporarily moved back in) as well as spend time with Jose. When she came clean to her family about him being her boyfriend, Jamal had leapt off the couch in the living room; did his victory dance and practically shoved his hand into their parents faces.

(Y/N) couldn't believe that they had a betting pool about her and Jose, but they simply shrugged her off and claimed it was bound to happen - she had fallen into the 'best friends who become more' category. But, it was a place she was more than happy to be.

"Joker," he said, bumping his hip with hers, grabbing a tea towel and placing it on her hands, "quit doin' that shit."

She had a habit of grabbing things out of the oven or microwave without anything protecting her hands. With an eye roll, she accepted the tea towel, "okay, okay." he watched as she covered her hands and pulled out the container. Before he could grab some plates, she put a fork in his hand.

"Maldito perezoso."

"Shut up," she replied and shoved a forkful of the stir fry into her mouth, "if you wanna wash more dishes, go ahead."

He gently tapped her cheek, "don't talk with your mouth full," he clicked his tongue, when she opened her mouth wider to show off the chewed up pieces of food, "(Y/N)!" She laughed, but her laughter turned into a coughing fit. Luckily, Jose knew that was bound to happen and held out a glass of water for her. (Y/N) gulped it down, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned happily, "you're the best."

Shaking his head, he helped himself to some of the stir fry, "and you're something else."

They continued to eat and chat about different topics; their families, Santos business (they had a non-disclosure agreement), and a few of (Y/N)'s gossiping coworkers. When they were done, they quickly rinsed their hands off in the sink and wiped them on the tea towel. (Y/N) then dumped the empty container and their forks into the sink. Dip It Low by Christina Milian started to play, which gave her an idea. Her hands trailed up and down his chest, Jose groaned as they wandered lower. She giggled at his reaction and turned around, moving to grind on him. Feeling him getting hard, she continued.

"Si sigues con esto, ya sabes qué pasará," he groaned, gripping her hips.

(Y/N) turned back around and stared up at him, her eyes innocently peering into his, "is it too soon for round three?"

Without a second thought, he lifted her onto the counter. (Y/N) caressed his head with one hand, while the other switched off the music. He moved to suck on her collarbone, earning a moan of approval. She tugged on his shirt and admired his toned body when the shirt was thrown off. Jose smirked, as he connected his lips with hers, helping her to get rid of the tank top she was wearing.

He watched as her boobs bounced, before cupping them both. Taking a nipple in his mouth and fondling with the other, sent (Y/N) into a state of bliss. When Jose turned his attention to the other nipple, she clutched the back of his head.

"Baby," she moaned.

The sound of something dropping followed by a shout of, "OH HELL NO!" is what alerted the couple that they weren't alone anymore. (Y/N) pushed Jose off her, throwing on her tank top and hopped off the counter. She hid herself behind him, peering around his arm to see the bewildered expressions on both her parents faces. Although, her dad looked like he wanted to murder Jose.

Like the smartass she was, she blurted, "mum said no cussing in the house." As soon as she said that, she hid herself fully behind Jose.

"(Y/N) (M/N) Turner, front and centre." Dwayne called out to his daughter, when she followed through he continued, "you're sanitising everything in this kitchen," his eyes trailed over to Jose, "you're helping her, and the next time you're both feeling… frisky - just… you're gonna, you know… you understand me?"

Lynn stepped in, "we understand the sexual desires -"

"No, mum, please, don't."

"I know it's an awkward subject to discuss -"

(Y/N) cut her off, "especially in front of my boyfriend."

"And father," Dwayne chimed in.

"- but, it's completely natural." She continued.

"Okay, mum thanks for that," (Y/N) wanted to crawl underneath a rock, "anyway, we've got some stuff to do," noticing her father's watchful eye, she laughed, "non-sexual stuff, dad."

Dwayne wasn't convinced.

Lynn pulled her husband towards the hallway, "come on, let's leave them to it." As they walked off, they could hear Dwayne telling his wife that he was right to be suspicious of the skinny kid who offered his daughter a toy car to play with back in the first grade. Once they were out of view, (Y/N) wrapped her arms around Jose's waist.

"Round three in the shower?"

- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ -

Spanish Translation(s):

Beso - kiss

Maldito perezoso - lazy ass

Si sigues con esto, ya sabes qué pasará - if you keep this up, you know what's gonna happen.

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lumiolivierlithium · 3 years

Text

The Good Old Days Chapter Four: I Quit!

ICYMI: Chapter Three: Abuela’s Food Truck

A/N: Hi, friends! Here we are. Another day. Another week. Another chapter. And this one is 100% turning point. And it’s beautiful. So, as always...Feedback is appreciated. A like...A reblog. Just a little something, something so I know this isn’t a waste of time? Please? K, bye! x

Later that night, it was that time again. Time to walk into the fire. We could manage. If all else fails, I’m sure there’s a cool guy willing to buy us drinks again. But since there’s money in our bank accounts again, we could probably stand to buy our own. Regardless, it was yet another night at the salt mines. And a little positivity could go a long way. If we go into this pissed off and bitter, people are going to pick up on that. And I don’t need to bring that kind of energy. I didn’t hate all of the staff. Most of them weren’t exactly on my good side, but not all of them were terrible.

Then, I got to my first table of the night. And they weren’t assholes. I’ll take that as a win. My next table? Not miserable. Ok. Things are starting to look up. But then…Toward the end of my shift. There they were. Again. They came back. And they were in my section. Fan…fucking…Tastic. Still, I slapped on that fake ass smile they wanted to see. Because god forbid I come off like I’m pissed off to see them. Of course not. Of course I’m happy to see you. Because you coming in here means I get paid. That correlation fucking sucked.

“Oh…” she got one look at me and instantly turned her nose up. Awesome, “It’s you.”

“It’s me,” I confirmed, “Welcome back, ma’am. How may I help you?”

“Can you find me a new waiter?” she scoffed, “One that’s a little more competent than you?”

“I am competent, ma’am,” I kept my cool. Don’t let her piss me off. Don’t let her piss me off. Don’t let her piss me off.

“If last night was any evidence of that,” she rolled her eyes, “I wouldn’t say so. If you were in one of my restaurants, I wouldn’t have hired you in the first place.”

“I’m sorry.” That you ever crawled out of the primordial ooze, “Now, other than a new waiter, how may I…?”

“I want a new waiter.”

Santa Maria, Madre de Dios. Ruega por nosotros pecadores. Ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerté. Amén, “You were seated in my section, ma’am. I’m sorry, but I can’t get you a new waiter.”

“Then, we’re leaving.” Good fucking riddance. She says she’s leaving, but she didn’t even move. I wasn’t stopping her. If that’s the case, then what the hell was she doing? Other than terribly bluffing.

Then, as if the night couldn’t have gone further downhill, my manager came over, “Is there a problem here?”

“I want a new waiter,” the woman stood her ground, “I don’t care where I’m seated. I want a new waiter.”

“Of course, ma’am.” Spineless prick, “Frankie, can I see you for a moment?”

“Sure,” I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I followed him into the kitchen. Oh, shit. This can’t be good, “What’s up?”

“This is the second night in a row I’ve gotten complaints about you.” Taking me over his knee in front of everyone would’ve been less demeaning, “And from the same person!”

“She’s a prime example of the customer not always being right,” I bit the inside of my cheek in attempts to not blow right the fuck up about her.

“That’s not part of our job, Frankie,” the manager scolded me, “Our job is to keep them happy and keep them coming back.”

“It’s not part of our job to become their best friend,” I grumbled.

“If it was,” he went on, “I would’ve fired you by now.”

“Look,” I swallowed my pride, “I need this job. Don’t let this one customer be the deciding factor.”

“You got one more chance, Frankie,” he sighed out, “If I hear one more peep out of that woman because of you, you’re on your ass. I don’t care how bad you need this job. I want you to buddy up to her like your life depends on it. Because by the sounds of it, it does.”

In that moment, I wasn’t sure what snapped in my brain, but when I opened my mouth again, what I intended to say was some sort of empty apology and to go back out there. However, that wasn’t the case, “I quit.”

“What?”

“I quit,” I spoke a little firmer. That felt kind of good. I untied my apron and dropped it in his hand, “I fucking quit.”

“I thought you said you needed this job.”

“I thought I did,” I beamed, “But I don’t. It sounds like you need me more than I need you. I fucking quit! I don’t have to stay and deal with this bullshit anymore. Fuck her. Fuck you. Fuck everyone here I don’t share blood with. Later, bitches!”

And just like that, I walked out. I was done. My last shift was over. And I was done. I had a feeling that if I were to come within a hundred feet of this place ever again, it’s going to be a police escort off the property. I didn’t care anymore. I was done. I didn’t have to deal with the bullshit anymore. I was free. When I slipped into the alley to wait for César and Tony to finish up for the night, I put a quarter in the payphone outside and pulled out that business card.

“Hello?”

“You gave me your number, Old Man,” I couldn’t wipe the fucking smile off my face if I wanted to, “The least I could do is call, so you’re not waiting for the phone to ring.”

“Frankie!” he chimed on the other end. Oh, that just put a good feeling back in my heart. The only thing that would make it any better would be if Abuela’s truck came by. But this would do, “How you doing, kid?”

“I’m in,” I told him, “I’m so fucking in.”

The other end was quiet for a minute. Ok…Good feeling slowly going away. Say something, Old Man. You told me to call you when I was ready. Just fucking say something, “And your brothers?”

“Not sure about them yet,” I admitted, “But I know I’m in. And…Uh…Before I’m completely in…”

“What is it, Frankie?” he worried, “Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine,” I wasn’t sure how true that statement was. I did just quit my job. Out of pure anger and a snap decision. But I also had this in my back pocket, “Are you busy tomorrow night?”

“Can’t say I am,” the Old Man told me, “Why?”

“My…” This was going to sound so stupid. But whatever it takes, “My mother wants to have you over for dinner.”

“That’s not a problem,” he allowed, “What time should I be there?”

Holy shit. I wasn’t expecting that to go over so well, “Uh…Eight o’clock?”

“I can do eight o’clock,” the Old Man confirmed, “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Ok,” I nodded, “See you tomorrow night.”

Slowly, but surely, I hung up the phone. What the fuck just happened? Hold on, Frankie. Back track here. One minute, you were dealing with the woman with the stick in her ass. She wanted a new waiter and you weren’t having it. Mostly just to piss her off because you’re occasionally petty. Then, your manager pissed you off even more. You quit your job because of you being pissed off. You called the Old Man. And…Now, you’re having dinner with him and Mama tomorrow night. My head hurts. I needed painkillers. And a lot of them. We’ll start with aspirin and work our way up to morphine.

“Hey, Frankie?” César came out first, “You alright, hermanito? You seem like you’re about to kill someone. Or like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“A little bit of both actually,” I sat on the back steps, “Watch your asses in there. I just quit.”

“Are you serious?” he gasped, “Frankie, why would you do that?”

“I wasn’t dealing with it anymore,” I did all I could to keep myself from crying, “Fuck this place, César. I’d love nothing more than to watch it burn to the ground, but I don’t have to deal with it anymore. It was either I quit or I get fired because of the same woman that was trying to get me fired last night. And I’ll be damned if I let her get the satisfaction. I called the Old Man. Everything should be fine. He’s coming for dinner tomorrow night.”

“So Mama can meet him,” César figured, “Did you tell him you’d take the job?”

“I don’t have much of a choice now,” I shrugged, “It’s either unemployment or employment. I don’t know about you, but I got a good feeling about taking the job with the Old Man.”

“We’ll see what Mama has to say about him.”

“The hell are you two doing out here?” Tony joined us, throwing on his jacket.

“Waiting on your slow ass to get out here,” I jabbed.

“Are you alright, Frankie?” he wondered, “I heard people say you were blowing up on the manager and that you walked out.”

“I quit,” I filled him in, “I got something better lined up anyway.”

“The Old Man?”

“Hope so.”

Just like any other night, the three of us hopped the subway and headed home. I’m not going to miss this. Not in the least bit. If the Old Man lets me work in the Narrows, I’d be spitting distance from home. No more subways. No more buses. No more public transit. I wonder if the Old Man would let me take his town car every now and then. That’d be pretty cool, too. Now, I just needed to tell Mama we were having company tomorrow night.

“Mama?” I went in first and did a quick look around, “We’re home. And on time.”

“Welcome home, mijos,” Mama greeted us from the living room, “Cómo te fué en el trabajo?”

“Long,” Tony threw himself into the armchair.

“Tiring,” César took the other end of the couch.

“It’s funny you ask, Mama,” I bit the inside of my cheek, “Do you remember me telling you about the man from the restaurant? The one we had drinks with last night that wanted to help us?”

“Si.”

“I talked to him tonight,” I went on, “Is it alright that he’s coming for dinner tomorrow night?”

“That’s fine,” she allowed, “I’m glad you took my advice, Francisco. I’m glad one of you listen to me.”

“We listen to you, too, Mama!” Tony whined.

“Antonio,” Mama hushed him, “I know you do. But sometimes, tu hermanito listens a little better. Isn’t that right, mijo?”

“I do what I can,” I kissed her cheek, “I’m going to head to bed, ok, Mama?”

“Ok,” her hand immediately went to my forehead, “You’re not getting sick, are you, Francisco?”

“I’m alright,” I assured her. I knew better than to tell her not to worry. She’d beat me senseless for saying something so stupid. But I digress, “Good night.”

“Good night…”

Today really did kick my ass. And it went by in a blur. I still had a hard time believing I quit the restaurant. I didn’t realize it’d be that easy. Fortunately, I had something else lined up. As long as Mama liked the Old Man, I’d be golden. If she didn’t…Well…What Mama doesn’t know won’t hurt her, right? And as long as he came through on our deal. Tomorrow couldn’t get here fast enough. So, I shut my eyes and hoped for the best.

The next morning, I got up bright and early. I knew Mama would be up, too. She didn’t have to work today, so we had all day to do as we pleased. Although, I knew I’d have to break the news that I don’t have a job anymore to her eventually today. She’ll start to wonder why Tony and César are going to work, but I’m sticking around home. There’s no way I took tonight off just because the Old Man was coming to dinner. She might kill me for it, but I’m sure the new job will be much better than the old one.

I looked over at my brothers’ beds and sure enough, they were still sleeping like babies. Aww…Every part of me was wanting to wake their asses up, but they had a long shift to put in tonight without me. Instead, I covered them both up a little better and quietly closed the door on my way out. And they seem to think I’m the one that needs to be looked after. Sometimes, I do, but nine times out of ten, these two would both be dead without me. I seem to remember a time when I had to stop Tony from walking into oncoming traffic. Regardless, I walked into the kitchen and found Mama already at the stove. I love her.

“Buenos dias, Mama,” I kissed her cheek and got the coffee pot going.

“Buenos dias,” she gasped, “You’re up early, Francisco. I would’ve thought you’d sleep until at least noon.”

“Guess I’m just up early,” I shrugged, peeking over her shoulder, “What do you have going on?”

“You said we were expecting company tonight,” Mama reminded me, “I thought I’d get an early start.”

“You wouldn’t want a little help, would you?” I offered. It didn’t matter what age I was. Cooking was one of those things that always came naturally to me. Why? I don’t know. But I didn’t care. Because I could still cook like a dream. That’s something that would never go away. And Mama knew that.

“I’d love a little help,” she allowed, “While you and your brothers were shopping yesterday, I should’ve had you get some rice. We’re completely out.”

“Really?” That never happened. Ever.

“Nothing,” Mama showed me the end of the big ass bag of rice. With no rice in it.

“I’ll go get you some, if you need it.”

“No, no,” she stopped me, “I’ll go get. You stay here and keep an eye on things. Make sure nothing burns.”

“Got it,” I let her go off to the store and stayed behind to watch all the pots boil. Oh, Mama…You overdid. I mean, I understand you want to go all out with your cooking when we have people coming over, but you didn’t need to go this hard. Bless this woman. May no misfortune ever befall her.

By the looks of it, she’s got churro dough started. Muy bien, Mama. Muchas gracias. I know what I’m having for breakfast. All it needed was to be piped. The oil was hot enough. Why not? I scooped the dough into a piping bag and started squeezing the dough into the oil. Sweet Jesus…There were few things as satisfying as the first churro in the oil. And Mama’s churros rarely disappointed. She had something secret in the dough and she’d take that secret to the grave with her. Even I didn’t know it and I knew all of Mama’s cooking tricks. Her churro recipe, though? Way too coveted.

“Buenos dias, hermanito,” César stumbled into the kitchen, still half asleep and admiring the small accumulation of churros cooling off to the side, “Hell yeah, Mama made churros.”

Just as he went to reach for one, I immediately slapped the back of his hand, “No.”

“Ow!” he nursed his hand, “What the fuck, Frankie? You still have a whole fucking bag of dough yet.”

“You know damn well Mama knows exactly how many this dough is going to make,” I shoved my finger in his face, “If one goes missing, she’s going to be pissed. Do you want to throw off Mama’s rhythm?”

“God no…”

“Alright then,” I went back to making churros, “Besides, those are still probably pretty hot. They just came out of the oil a couple minutes ago.”

“Speaking of Mama,” César sat down at the kitchen table, “Where is she? There’s no way in hell she’s still in bed.”

“She had to make a grocery store run,” I told him, “Apparently, we were out of rice and no one knew it, so she went to get some.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to come home from work tonight,” César swooned, “The best part about us having company. Mama cooks. And cooks more than what the four of us could possibly eat. We eat like kings for the next week.”

“Or your lazy ass learns to cook,” I teased him a bit.

“Why would I do that,” he retaliated, “when you’d do all the cooking for me anyway?”

“Because you wouldn’t do it right,” I rolled my eyes. Both Mama and I had a thing when it came to the kitchen. No one dares use it other than us, “I wouldn’t trust you ten feet in front of a microwave, let alone actually attempt cooking.”

“Thanks, Frankie,” César made his coffee, “Love you, too.”

“If I didn’t love you,” I argued, “Would I be doing this? Would I have beaten you for the sake of you not burning yourself on churros?”

“Valid point,” he gave me an appreciative nod.

“Good morning…” And there’s the other one. I was wondering how long it would take them to wake up once Mama started cooking.

“Morning, Tony,” I grabbed a cup for him from the cabinet and handed it off.

“Bless you.”

“I do what I can,” I went back to the churros on the stove. Mama always said to keep cooking them until they float. Then, take them out of the oil.

Oh, tonight was going to be a night. I could feel it already. My bones wouldn’t lie to me.

#The Good Old Days #fan fiction #fan fiction prequel #mafia au #switch #for the family #OC backstory

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babycapell · 3 years

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new york’s very own baby capell was spotted on broadway street , with a striking semblance to courtney eaton ! you may know them as @capellbabyy or hitting the front page of tmz as natasha fox, suspected con-artist infamously identified as baby, unanimously declared innocent on charges faced in california . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-fourth birthday bash . while living in nyc , you’ve been labeled as being heartless , but also ambitious . things that would paint a better picture of you would be a cluster of designer shopping bags, tan limbs tangled in silk sheets, a heart shaped sucker dangling between glossed lips. ( cisfemale + she/her ) + ( saxon , twenty-six , she/her , cst )

Out Of Character

Guess who’s back again? Honestly I don't know how this is going to go because this is a very new character and quite different from anything I’ve played but I’m incredibly excited to bring her to life! As always, we stay very open to connection ideas and plotting so please do not hesitate to hit me up because me and my child are here for the chaos and drama! <3

Basic Information

Full Name: Natasha Wren Campbell-Fox. Baby Capell.

Nickname(s): Nat. Baby.

Birthday: January 6th.

Orientation: Pansexual.

Language(s) Spoken: English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.

Background

TW: cancer.

At just eighteen years old, Lucia Campbell left New Zealand and moved to England in hopes of pursuing a career in ballet only to unexpectedly end up pregnant just months later, putting a pause on both her dreams and her future.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her at the time of conception, the child’s father was a married member of the British Royal family - albeit fifteenth in line for the throne, the fact that he had stepped out on his wife and had a bastard child was scandal that could not be afforded.

Although the man tried repeatedly to coerce Lucia into getting an abortion, assuring it was what was best for both of them, Natasha Wren Campbell arrived in the world Jaunary sixth, nineteen-ninety six.

In order to keep the situation under wraps, her father stopped by once a month to ‘check in’. For Natasha and her mother, these events felt less like visits with family and more like important interviews where their every move was under harsh scrutiny, the check he gave them at the end of his visit enough to make sure they were able to get by, money that assured that his secrets were kept safe.

Every memory Natasha held of the woman who raised her was a beautiful one, a woman she considered so good and ethereal that it almost made sense that she didn’t get to stay in their world for too long.

When Natasha was just fourteen, her mother began experiencing fatigue and pain too serious to brush off, diagnosed within a week with stage four pancreatic cancer, the illness seemed to arise out of nowhere and progressed rapidly, leaving her unable to work and therefore unable to provide for them.

Natasha waited desperately for her father’s next visit, asking for help with growing bills and the hopes of finding a better doctor but he refused, deeming such beyond his concern and leaving them with the same check he had in every visit prior.

With no way to make money to care for her herself or her mother, Natasha turned to the only thing she could think of, thievery. What started as sneaking into restaurants and fancy events in order to steal food soon became grabbing expensive items left sitting on tables, selling them for cash that would keep the lights or the heat on even a month longer.

Still, within eight months, her mother was gone and Natasha was alone - without a job or a place to go.

The teenager adapted the only way she knew how, using the same tricks that she had before but this time in order to get into hotels. She used her father’s name and position in order to get their attention and if asked, used the pet name her mother had used for her when asked in order to avoid being caught, Baby.

Soon, she realized that showing fearlessness and confidence could get her almost anything - whatever hotel she could manage soon became the most lavish she could find and just having a bed to lay in at night became enjoying the high class service and catering offered to her.

One night, while enjoying dinner in the hotel restaurant, she was approached by an arrogant teenage boy who was clearly eager to flaunt the wealth his parents held. Rage flooded her but instead of lashing out, her mind pulled her on a different route. She played into his every word until he was obsessed with her and then she used it, doe eyes and sweet voice pleading for what his money had to offer her for three whole months. His interest - or rather his family’s interest in finance and technology was his ultimate downfall, giving her every bit of information she needed to drain his bank account and disappear.

Natasha quickly became aware of just what kind of power she held and she planned on using it, starting with the man whom she deemed, in some way, responsible for the loss of her mother.

The teenager arrived on her father’s doorstep and played every bit of the confused and mortified girl finding out that her father had a whole life that she and her mother had been unaware of. It was while his wife asked her to wait upstairs as they fought in the living room that she found his study, making quick work of getting every ounce of information she could in order to ruin him financially later.

Unexpectedly, however, she found an account that was depositing the same amount that he had been paying out to her and her mother monthly. She followed the lead in hopes to meet her possible half-sibling and found a true family instead. A half-sister, Tali Fox (who reminded her greatly of her own mother) and her mother who all too happily took her in and adopted her as if she had always belonged.

Still, the world of lavish living and conning men whom she felt deserved it had piqued her interest in a way she couldn’t explain and she wasn’t ready to give up. She became a chameleon of sorts; spending nights going out to special venues, catching the eye of a rich male and playing the role of their dream girl - she’d use them for months, allowed them to shower her in precious gifts until she grew bored, draining their accounts and disappearing from their lives.

Six months ago she was arrested in California on multiple charges of larceny, fraud and forgery and had been awaiting a trial that finally began at the end of August and concluded just last week with a unanimous verdict of innocence, due to both a lack of evidence and witnesses. (aka; this little b*tch is good at what she does, no evidence and most dudes won’t even come out to say anything against her because they’re either still in love and/or don’t want to admit they got played by this angel face)

Now that she is out, she has arrived in New York to spend some quality time with her sister and perhaps, lay low for a while.

Personality

Look, there’s no way to sugarcoat it, this girl is the sugar baby supreme okay? She wants your attention and your love and your money and that’s it. She doesn't feel nothing for you anyway, but she feels even less if you don’t adore her, dammit.

She’s not a bad person, she’s really not - she pry donates all her clothes to the women’s shelter once she’s worn them even once and donates more than half of the money she steals to charity but like...she’s just very very angry and hurt and thinks all rich men deserve to suffer for being the type of man her father was which like - are you going to tell her she’s wrong? And she’s in too deep now, she just can’t stop.

A true personality unknown though, tbh? She basically has been playing chameleon for so long, she doesn’t know who she is or how to be? Just adjusts to make you happy. Literally the fakest.

Also she’s totally pansexual but like...way too focused on scamming men because they’re dumb and shit so like, definitely pry fucks around with females/nonbinaries from time to time but always finds herself going back to the hustle.

Desired Connections

A childhood friend who knew Natasha before the loss of her mother who hasn’t seen her since before that happened?

A childhood friend who’s known Natasha the whole time and maybe worries about her and her mental health?

The child of someone she conned? Honestly give me someone who’s dad Natasha hustled and they either hate her for it or just seriously respect her because they didn’t like him anyway? Or maybe even a sibling or an ex that she conned?

For males? Past scams? Current scams? Future scams? Let this bitch play you, please. We can decide details as to how long or how serious it got, they could hate her or be secretly still obsessed/in love with her or both at once? Literally anything, okay! If you want someone to fuck up your guy in the past or future - this is your girl!

For females or nonbinaries? Give me someone who was maybe genuinely interested in her? Someone who wanted/tried to have a relationship and she was just like nah and it fucked them up a little bit maybe? Honestly maybe even a female/nonbinary she conned because even though she usually doesn’t, she thought they were an ass and deserved it?

Someone who perhaps she actually started falling for a little, realized she wasn’t actually scamming them, that she was just chilling and she was like excuse??? And left without even scamming them? Or did just to prove to herself that she didn’t actually care about them? Kslflaks;sa I don’t know, she’s messy as hell, y’all.

#wealthyhq:intro #ooft this took too long and i still don't know if i care for it but it should get the gist across #cancer tw #also #cigarette tw #for the gif

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lovelyirony · 4 years

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This Might as Well Happen

“So let’s let things come out of the woodwork/I’ll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies” Homemade Dynamite, Lorde

Tony was a curious little shit ever since he could remember. He remembers trying to sneak into the meeting rooms when Dum-Dum Dugan and Peggy Carter would meet with Dad. (He failed at this because he never really learned how spies actually gathered information.)

His knowledge was highly encouraged by tutors that could never keep up and Jarvis, who would buy him the most obscure books he could.

(“Jarvis, this book is in Japanese!”

“Are you saying you can’t figure it out?”

“Well, no...”)

And now this has royally screwed him over because he’s still figuring out how he’s hacking into shit and he just found...something.

The thing about computers and him is that Tony understands computers on a level most don’t. Hell, he’s built most of the systems that he knows to be better than the commercially available ones.

This is how he figures out that there’s a hit out on his parents. For the night that he said he wasn’t going to go to because “it was super lame” and the fact that Howard’s already disappointed in him and he’d rather not try to awkwardly bond with him in public because that’s what people expect from him.

But now he has to go.

Which sucks, by the way. Because he’s not telling his parents that they’re going to be killed because that’s just...Howard wouldn’t believe him and Mama would probably wring her hands out of their sockets and ring up the president or some shit like that.

Besides, it’s easy to change what’s going to happen, even if he is only a young adult or however you categorize a twenty year old.

He simply updates the file. It’s not like anyone can tell, especially when the system that the organization is using was mainly designed by him with minimal input from other sources.

He says that the Stark family will be leaving at midnight, even though the function carries on much later and his parents often like to stay out quite a bit later than midnight.

Tony then tells them that he’s decided to go.

“Why?” Howard asks suspiciously. “You said it yourself that this was supposedly ‘the most boring thing you would ever be doing’.”

“Teenagers change minds all the time,” Tony says with a shrug. “And it’s not the most boring thing I could be doing. I could be asking Beatriz in accounts how she files paperwork.”

Tony’s not even surprised that his dad doesn’t know all of his employees. He hires a lot of people, but still.

“Please wear the shirt I’ve laid out on your bed,” mama pleads to him. “Please. Don’t let it be like last time.”

“And here I was thinking you liked that I wore a rock t-shirt with a suit.”

“You looked a mess, darling.”

“That’s a trend now, mama.”

“Not for my boy.”

“Okay, fine. I won’t wear it. By the way, I’m taking a separate car. Just don’t want to be stuck there when you and dad decide to talk to someone for, like, three hours.”

(He still wears plaid pants. His mother hates him for it.)

As he’s watching the party, he’s kind of amazed at how much he knows.

Mama and Howard are having a good time at the gala. So good, in fact, that they don’t notice at midnight when Tony switches keys and takes Howard’s car.

He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing, honestly. He just knows that Howard drives like he wishes he was a turtle and his mama refuses to drive anywhere.

There’s a motorcycle behind him, and Tony counts on them thinking that he’s Howard.

And then he turns left.

Hydra doesn’t know what the hell is happening. They’ve gotten too confident--no one was in the gala or investigated Howard before any of this. He should never have made a left turn

But Winter Soldier is hunting him down. And Winter Soldier never misses a target.

...right?

Tony’s currently panicking and also the Beatles are on the radio--which is weird, by the way, it’s not even a well-known song--and he’s trying to outmaneuver a motorcyclist who has a gun and has fired it once, the bullet whizzing into the front glass and cracking it.

He has a crazy idea. Well, it’s not the craziest you could have. He could’ve flown the car off a ditch and tried to jump out the window. But he can’t keep turning forever and he can’t keep ducking his head to try to avoid shots that are a little too close to his head to ignore.

He brakes and he brakes hard. The guy runs into the car, falls, and Tony gets out and runs for it.

That’s stupid. Very stupid. And it wasn’t supposed to happen.

None of this was supposed to happen.

Disoriented and confused, Winter Soldier sits up and tries to refocus on the target.

Even if he just smashed his head against a bumper and shit, was that a dent? That was definitely a dent, Winter Soldier knew one thing: that that wasn’t the target, and somewhere along the way something got messed up.

Hydra didn’t know that Howard and Maria were safely exiting the gala at two in the morning and grumbling about taking Tony’s entirely-too-showy vehicle that had the volume blasting and music that was too vulgar for both of their tastes the only sort of music that was programmed into the radio stations or on the CDs of music that were stuffed in the passenger side-door.

Hydra didn’t know that they were going to have to deal with, mainly because Tony’s a gigantic asshole who knows more than them but also doesn’t know how he’s going to break the news to his parents that they might die?

He honestly might just make himself a target for them.

But he also needs to figure out how to shut down Hydra because clearly Cap going down into the ice didn’t just automatically fix it all.

This involves going to SHIELD. And then as he approaches the building, realizing that the only reason he found out about Hydra is because he hacked into SHIELD databases mainly because he just wanted to see what it was like and if he could get into the deeper encryption is because they were probably a part of the organization.

Tony sighs to himself. This means changing literally everything about his life.

Honestly, he wishes he hadn’t even discovered this because he has this sense of “something needs to be done” and he just does not care for that shit at all.

Except he does.

So instead he calls Rhodey.

“Only you could ruin Christmas,” Rhodey grumbles. “I’ll meet you at the coffeeshop. I hate you for this.”

“I know, love you too,” Tony says. “Fate of the world depends on it or whatever.”

Rhodey has no idea why he’s friends with this crazy fucking millionaire kid, but they meet at a coffee shop and Tony’s wearing plaid pants, the shirt is dissheveled, and he says that he ditched a car and took the subway.

“Wow, good for you,” Rhodey teases. “Taking the subway like us commoners.”

They don’t say anything for a beat.

“Get your coffee. We’re taking a walk.”

“At three a.m.? Seriously?”

“Short walk. Don’t be such a baby about it.”

They get coffee and start walking. Tony links arms with him.

“So you remember learning about Hydra when you were a kid?”

“Eh, somewhat. Something about being an offshoot of Nazism?”

“Not...exactly. They were more of supportive of the Nazi agenda and the Nazis were chill with that. No, they were more proactive on world domination and making sure that they also overpowered the universe or whatever. Yeah, they’re still here.”

“...fuck. Well, what do you want to do about it?”

That’s what Tony appreciates about Rhodey. He’s just ready to kick ass whenever.

“I can’t talk to SHIELD about it. So I’m gonna try to do it with some people outside of it. You ready to infiltrate Stark Industries with extra employees?”

“Oh my god, so you’re actually gonna take the company at twenty-one instead of letting Obie do it?”

“Yes, unfortunately. Our trip to Cabo will have to wait.”

“To be completely honest with you, I didn’t want to go anyway.”

“Rhodey, you bitch. I even had a good place to stay and everything!”

“Doesn’t matter now, sweetheart,” Rhodey says, smiling. “Now we have to hire people before SHIELD does.”

It takes a while. Tony has to go to MIT and take business classes for credit (barf) and look at other, scarier parts of the internet.

He and Rhodey also keep practicing fighting after-hours and Tony’s pretty sure that he could create a flight-suit if he so desired.

(And if his projects for engineering would Stop Being Due All the Time, things would be better.)

They meet a girl named Pepper Potts who’s trained in ballet, could kick God’s ass and have God apologize, and was looking at recruitment at SHIELD or joining a sorority.

“Or, there’s a better option,” Tony adds. “Taking down an organization that’s a conspiracy thread on Reddit with surprisingly solid evidence.”

“You’re making this sound worse,” Rhodey says with a snort. “Listen, Pepper. We’re going to take down an organization that people say doesn’t exist. Tony survived an attack from an assassin that technically probably should be dead. It’ll go on your resume and you legally could never be fired ever or else it would be all over the news and you would ruin a company without contributing to it. Join or lose the opportunity.”

“I’m in.”

“Rhodey, I hate you,” Tony pouts.

Rhodey is barely over twenty-one and trying to figure out how to tell his superior officer that he should stay at home when he had expressed overseas interest, Pepper’s just celebrated her twentieth birthday and has five cents in her bank account, and Tony’s only nineteen and forgot how to spell ‘experience’ on more than one occasion.

They’re gonna take over the world.

#lovelyirony writes #listen: i want #tony stark #pepper potts #rhodey #they're gonna take over the world babey!!!!!!!!!!!!#i love them! he!#anyway this came over me and i had to write it

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lilywhittaker · 3 years

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Righting The Wrongs | Self-Para

who: lily whittaker, elise whittaker, ian whittaker when: november 7th, 2020 where: whittaker estate, sunstone beach

I have to do this. Aside from telling him that she loved him, those were the last words she’d whispered to Bash that morning before leaving him in bed as she began getting ready to meet with her parents. Her family-affiliated bank accounts had not been frozen, which she took as a good sign - and all her mother’s doing. Elise Whittaker would only ever cut her daughter off if it was a last resort, no matter how much prodding she faced from her husband. “I have to do this,” Lily repeated to herself as she drove through the gates of her family estate, a place that had once been home feeling like a prison as the guards closed the gates behind her and told her where to park. Thanking the butler as he directed her to her father’s study, Lily didn’t even bother knocking - she simply opened the doors and strode in, seeing both of her parents sitting behind the desk. “Mother, Father. I trust that we have a lot to discuss,” she greeted curtly, heels clicking against the wooden flooring before she reached the desk, not sitting down as she didn’t want to feel complacent and small. Standing firm and tall, she felt as though she could hold her own.

You insolent little bitch. You cost this family our reputation as well as your own, and for what? Some petty criminal who gave you an ounce of attention, whispered empty compliments in your ear? Ian’s words stung, but Lily held her ground. “The ‘petty criminal’ has a name. You should get used to it, actually. You’ll probably be hearing it a lot now,” the woman challenged, crossing her arms across her chest. “I cost this family their reputation and set my own on fire. For what, you ask? Because you and I both know that Bash didn’t do anything, and telling the truth was the right thing. I didn’t do it out of hope that we’d reconcile, I did it because it was what was morally right. Is that a feeling you’re familiar with, Dad?” Poking the bear was dangerous, especially since she had witnessed firsthand what Ian Whittaker did to people who upset him. But she didn’t care; Bash may not have been with her, but she was angry for him. “At the end of the day, I can live with the decisions I made. I can sleep at night knowing that I put myself in an uncomfortable position, but I did what I thought was right. Can you both say the same?” Lily asked, her voice eerily calm as her eyes darted between her mother and father, almost daring them to disagree with her.

So what, Landry is your boyfriend now? He’ll leave you in two months once he gets bored of you trying and failing to make him into husband material. Trying to make him into something he’s not. And you’re biting the hand that fed you for thirty years, and the one that’d feed you when he inevitably breaks your heart. “You almost ruined his life,” Lily sneered, gripping the back of the chair in front of her as she glared at her father. “And for what? Because you didn’t think he was good enough for me? I was born into this world, and yes I worked my ass off in school and for event planning. But someone who didn’t have the privileges I have, that person would need to work twice as hard to achieve what I did. I’m grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been given, but let’s not pretend that I earned them all. Bash wasn’t born into wealth, with options to achieve his goals by whatever means possible. It’s not fair to say that he’s beneath me just because of this.” Neither of her parents had said it, but Lily knew them well enough to know that they saw him as nothing more than a liability at their daughter’s side, a man without a degree from a reputable university or a profession that they would love to brag about him being employed in. “But yes, he is my boyfriend now. He didn’t graduate from an Ivy League, doesn’t work in law or finance or the medical profession, doesn’t have much money to his name, has a criminal record. But you know what? I am aware of all of this, and I’m still making the choice to be with him. I choose him, and I’ll stand by it.”

“First, you release a public statement that clears him of any wrongdoing. Apologize to him in it, and personally when he’s ready - it’s safe to say he doesn’t want to see either of you right now, and I don’t blame him one bit.” Bash’s reputation wouldn’t be one hundred percent safe, but it was the best option for now. She knew that he could file a civil lawsuit, but she didn’t want to make those decisions for him. “And I know you set him up,” she accused, pointing at Ian before her attention shifted to Elise. “And you knew about it and didn’t do anything to stop it - which is just as bad, in my opinion. Or you tried to, but it was too late. Either way, Bash would’ve paid the price for an issue you had with me, and that’s not okay. The knowledge I have, I could ruin us all. We’d be where the Hawthornes were up until earlier this year,” she almost threatened, unsure if she even would’ve gone that far to get her revenge. “My accounts remain untouched. I’ll keep up the charade of ‘simply needing my space and moving into a home of my own’ for the public, but we both know the real reason I bought that house in Goldfinch earlier this month. If you keep up your end of the deal, I never mention this to anyone,” Lily promised, waiting to see if her family agreed. Had she gotten cut off entirely, she would’ve been able to live a comfortable middle class life on her event planning salary but she didn’t want to do that just yet. As much as she was working on unlearning her own internal biases when it came to socioeconomic factors, Lily was also scared to step outside of the comfort zone that she’d known for so long.

Your mother already said we’re not cutting you off, if it was up to me you’d have been on welfare already. You’re done acting like a petulant teenager whose cell phone got confiscated yet? The fact that her father was trivializing her anger pushed Lily even further; she wasn’t yelling just yet, but her voice had raised a few notches and her mother asking her to keep her voice down had the exact opposite effect on her. “Keep my voice down? I think we’re far past the point of decency here, a man almost went to prison because of your bias,” she shot back, letting her biting words hang in the air for a few moments. After years of maintaining a level of decorum and docility around her parents, Lily threw caution into the wind and was not at all concerned. “In fact, I decided to help you out with your road to redemption. The Innocence Project has received ten grand in your name to help fight injustices. They’ll do a lot with that, I’m sure, making sure that innocent people in prison get the help they need to clear their names.”

Once the three Whittakers had finished their heated discussion, Lily handed them her keys to the grounds. “I don’t need these anymore, you can keep them. Bash and I will be in touch about anything else,” she finally concluded, getting up from her seat and pulling her coat on. You’re making a huge mistake, Lilian. You’ll be back here before you know it, begging us to be there for you. You’re destroying the Whittaker legacy, sympathizing with a criminal and going against your own family. What about your own children? Silence hung in the air as she considered those words, giving her father a saccharine smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

“Oh, Daddy, I’m not destroying anything, I’m reinventing our legacy. Reinventing what the Whittaker name will be known for: kindness and compassion. And that’s the world I’m bringing my future children into. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to be on my way. We’ll talk soon.” Leaving both of her parents speechless as she exited through the French doors of her father’s study, Lily felt a surge of pride amidst some guilt. She had just taken a stance against them, one that she believed was right. But there was no doubt that the measures she’d resorted to could be considered blackmail. Something that she associated with her parents, and not with herself - not only demanding something in exchange for not releasing incriminating information, but feeling triumphant as she did it. Was this what good people did?

Was Lily Whittaker now the villain in the story?

#this was written like a week ago but i needed to make it better #this is the best it's gonna be but just an update on keeping up with the whittakers #verbal abuse tw #just in case but it's very mild #(self para.)#time to yeet myself ok bye

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in-tua-deep · 5 years

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Ok so imagine that instead of running away as a kid, Five stays. However when Ben is supposed to die, it's Five instead and so Ben lives but Five's now a ghost and only Klaus can see him. What do you think would be the reason Five ends up dying, and how do you think the others would react?

OOF you just come into my house?? and hit me with that?? absolutely illegal

So Five stays. Five stays and they’re what, fifteen? They go on a mission, and one of them doesn’t come home.

It was supposed to be Ben. It wasn’t.

Five can jump through space, can warp into position, he’s frightening adept at it since he abandoned time travel and focused entirely on improving everything else he could about himself. He’s very very good at his job, and he’s the only one that notices something is about to happen

Maybe Ben has lost control of his powers, and Five is the only one to notice. Five sees Ben tearing himself apart and realizes that he’s the only one who can get close enough to knock Ben out, so he jumps and he manages but he’s not quite fast enough and Ben is out and the tentacles are retreating but not before one can grab him and hurl him into the wall with a sharp crack and then - darkness.

Maybe it’s not Ben’s powers at all. Maybe it’s a bank robber they didn’t account for, one who is frightened and has a gun and who has seen these terrible frightening children murder their fellows and they have a spouse and children and they don’t want to die here over money so they pull up their gun and they take the shot (at Ben, at the biggest danger) and Five sees them from the corner of his eye and without even thinking about it he - jumps. In front of Ben. He takes the bullet because Ben is the best of them, is the kindest of them, and he doesn’t have a single consideration for his own life only for Ben’s.

Maybe it’s something different, but no matter what it is the facts remain the same: Five sees a danger, Five is the only one who can reach his brother in time, Five acts without even thinking, Five dies

Five pops up again, gasping and realizing very quickly that he’s dead. He’s incorporeal, he’s standing at the scene of his own murder, people pass through him when he tries to get attention. But it’s established in the show that they can use their powers as ghosts so Five does what he does best: he jumps. He goes home. He realizes that one of his siblings can see ghosts, and he finds Klaus.

And Five isn’t Ben. He isn’t soft, he’s always been hard angles and sharp words - so when Klaus hesitates to tell the others about Five, Five offers proof. Various pieces of blackmail he’s gathered on the others over the years just in case, things that Klaus would never know. He bugs Klaus into calling a family meeting without Reginald and makes Klaus translate his comments because he’ll be fucking damned if Ben blames himself for Five’s choices. That’s not allowed to happen.

“But Klaus, I thought you couldn’t see ghosts when high?” One of them ask, because they aren’t blind and they know Klaus does drugs to deal with his powers.

“I mean, it’s Five.” Klaus says despondently, looking at where Five is waving his hand through Luther’s head with a fascinated stare, “If anyone could decide to defy all the rules it’s fucking him.” and they accept that because of course they would

and because this is me and i make the rules in my aus I say that this brings them closer together as a whole because Five isn’t Ben, he isn’t content just interacting with Klaus. He doesn’t stick to Klaus’s side by glue, he’s floating through the halls of the manor and then pops up in Klaus’s room like “Hey bitch go to Vanya’s room she’s sad and I want to give her the book on music theory that’s under my bed so up an’ at ‘em you get to me my legs”

“what if i don’t want to?” Klaus asks, only once

“then you get to hear the dulcet tones of me singing the song that’ll get on your nerves until you do” Five threatens, with a look that says it is NOT an empty threat so Klaus hops to

Five pushes at the boundaries of what he can do as a ghost. Ben can pick up books in the show, right? Five pick up books and throws them. He shakes cabinets when he’s angry. He’s basically a weak poltergeist with a very limited ability to interact with his surrounding - maybe he can only interact with objects he had a connection with in life? But in the mansion there are plenty objects he has enough of a connection with to manipulate SO the whole family gets to deal with shit being thrown at them by an irritable Five

Five debates haunting the shit out of Reggie but Klaus begs him not to, because then their dad would just make Klaus try control Five or blame him for it, so Five deals with just making sarcastic comments whenever Reginald is talking and also petty shit like,, giving him bunny ears or sticking his limbs through Reginald’s chest or hell even just gently breakdancing while Reggie is lecturing and Klaus has to really fucking try to not bust out laughing which is its own issues

Klaus gets special training in the mausoleum, and Five gets to go with. Five doesn’t know how to help with this, and maybe in another world Ben curls up next to Klaus and tries to softly comfort him but that’s never been Five’s style. He yells. He’s gonna be the SCARIEST FUCKING GHOST FIRST OF ALL HOW DARE THESE GHOSTLY LOSERS TRY AND FREAK OUT HIS BROTHER. Five is gonna find out whether a ghost can kill another ghost by being a a rabid chihuahua at these ghosts. He’s going to sing backstreet boys songs at the top of his fucking lungs to drown out these weirdos and make Klaus laugh. Maybe he jumps out of the room and jumps back with a flashlight or a book or something else in the manor that he can interact with, to keep Klaus entertained

Five has always had the attitude of being proactive about these things

Five goes on missions with them, Luther makes a dumb fucking plan and gets shivers down his spine and is immediately like “Klaus tell Five to stop sticking his limbs in my body” “Five says he will when you stop having little bitch ass plans” “I’m pretty sure he didn’t say that” “Actually that was a direct quote and also he’s flipping you off right now”

They get older. Klaus gets taller. Diego’s voice drops. Luther packs on more muscle. Five stays the same.

He’s dead, of course he wouldn’t grow.

That doesn’t stop him from yeeting books off the shelves in a tantrum when he realizes that he’s doomed to be the shortest of the siblings except for Vanya for all eternity.

(”Klaus what the fuck is wrong with Five now?” Diego asks. It’s the middle of the night. Books are flying off the shelves. Klaus is so tired, so very tired. “Five has realized that he is dead.” “…Yes?” “Dead people do not grow.” “Just say it Klaus.” “Five has realized he’s not going to get taller and is permanently fifteen and is angry about this.” “…alright well good luck with that, I guess.”)

They’re on a mission. They’re on a mission and Five is the ultimate lookout because he isn’t stopped by little things like walls or people seeing him or whatever. Five sees something about to happen, and he yells and something happens and Klaus’s hands are blue and Five zips through space and reaches his sibling (let’s say Diego why not) and he pulls even though he knows he’ll go right through but the guy is right there and he can’t watch his brother die and -

Five does not go through Diego. Five pulls Diego to the side and the blow that should have killed him misses, and Diego lives, and Five touched him.

(Five is the scariest ghost around, and the other ghosts haven’t been bothering Klaus - so he’d been weaning himself off of the drugs for a while now, Five often needed him to do things that were difficult to do when drugged out of his mind and Klaus figured it was an even trade for Five scaring off the other ghosts so - he’s sober)

Diego has a knife, and he killed the guy, but his eyes are locked with Five’s the entire time because he can see Five.

the whole family is shocked, even when Klaus gasps and the blue from his hands vanishes and so does Five to everyone but him. they look at each other and just stare.

“tell luther if he tells dad i’m going to flood his bathroom again” five says, just a little hysterically. “what the FUCK klaus” says the rest of the family

they get home, and somehow Reginald finds out and he has a whole speech about Number Four’s potential and shit and the fact that he can summon Number Five and how perhaps it wasn’t as much of a loss as he thought if Five was still around as a ghost and later they all gather in one of the rooms which has become a commonplace occurrence when Five wants a family meeting and he’s always been willing to pull the ‘dead’ card

(before they gather, Klaus and Five sit in Klaus’s room practicing making Five corporeal and the first thing he does is hurl himself into Klaus’s arms and hug him. Because he’s still 15, he hasn’t touched anyone else since he died and his inability to touch his siblings hurt no matter how many times he poked fun of it by walking through them)

so they have a meeting, and blue glows across Klaus’s hands and Five is visible and the first thing Five says to his family in years is - “Me and Klaus are leaving, who’s coming with?”

Because they’re almost eighteen now, close enough to leave and not have it look too suspicious. And maybe Five didn’t run this plan by Klaus first because Klaus is shocked but Five doesn’t even blink because - Dad knows. Dad is going to want to train Klaus further and experiment with his powers and if that fucking mausoleum is any indication then Reggie has no idea how Klaus’s powers work or how to train them without hurting Klaus. And also Five has spent years now being technically out from under his dad’s thumb, there’s no way he’s sliding back under it

maybe luther protests, but Five is just like “Look, if Dad makes Klaus make me corporeal in his vicinity i’m going to snap his neck simple as that. I’m a vengeful ass ghost, okay? What’re you gonna do about it? Kill me twice?”

and they’re closer than in the original timeline. Five has floated through the halls and seen every instance of them being sad and made Klaus intervene - everyone in this room has had Klaus pull them close and hug them or listen to their problems or give them company or provide them with random books that Five probably picked out - and and and they all care for each other and know each other more than before. And Five includes Vanya, so she’s always there and Five WILL pull the dead card to keep her there because he wants her there and -

they all agree. Diego is instantly in, he was planning on ditching as soon as he turned 18 anyway. Ben is in, because he’s close with Klaus and with Five. Vanya hesitantly pledges her support, because she’s so tired of Reginald calling her ordinary. Allison shrugs and says she’s in because it’s not like she wasn’t also planning on leaving when she was old enough, okay? Luther is shocked they’re all willing to ditch so easily but… at the same time… Five and Klaus have, over the years, opened his eyes to more than one glaring issue with their father so… tentatively he’s like “okay, i guess someone has to be the leader”

and they gather what they can, and they leave, they leave reginald a note which basically lets him know they’re leaving willingly and not to look for them or anything since they’re almost 18 anyway etc etc. and they go out into the world

they get jobs! they support each other! and maybe the shitty apartments that are all they can afford are too small for 8 people to share, but at least rent goes 7 ways (and it’s not like Five eats or anything) and they can shove blankets and pillows on the floor in front of their shitty TV and eat their shitty pizza and laugh as they watch all the movies they were never allowed back home

Luther gets a job as a mechanic, because he’s always been good at things like that. He remembers wanting to be an astronaut as a kid. He remembers studying rocket ships with wide eyes and putting together model planes and he’s good with his hands and strong and he’s surprisingly good at it. His boss definitely knows Luther is a runaway but has a soft spot for him and is full of gruff advice and gentle praise that Luther flourishes under.

Diego decides to try for the academy with the support of his siblings behind him, and he doesn’t drop out. He meets Eudora and the others all tease him about it. There has been at least one occasion that Five followed him to the academy without Diego’s know how and then told Klaus all about Diego’s awkward flirting

Allison gets into the theater scene and tries out for parts that she gets without even rumoring anyone. Because at the end of the day, she’s good - she’s a good actor. She ends up getting some small parts in movies as well, and the others proudly go see her in theaters and have any movie with her as even a background character in a place of pride on their shelves.

Klaus isn’t ambitious like the rest of the siblings, but he ends up working in a yarn shop run by several old ladies who he’s pretty sure adopted him the moment he said about not having parents in the interview. They teach him know to knit and let him do it between customers at the register. Five likes to run around the yarn shop and try bat balls of yarn off the counters like an asshole cat in between suggesting patterns and critiquing Klaus’s yarn choices. Eventually, Klaus sets up Five with his own set of knitting needles and the old ladies look at the needles clacking and apparently knitting by themselves and Klaus ends up telling them about his dead 15 yr old brother because I mean. He’s from the Umbrella Academy it’s not exactly like he’s an unknown with his powers, and that means that the old ladies absolutely fuss over this child ghost and help him with his technique

(that year, all of his siblings receive knitted socks and hats and scarves from Five on their shared birthday and Five is so pleased to be able to contribute something to the family again, even if they’re all still at a loss of what to give their ghostly brother)

Ben ends up going to college and going on to medical school because he deserves it and he gets scholarships to help out but all of the siblings chip in to put the siblings who want to through school, and Ben gets a part time job as a barista or something between his demanding classes but at the end of the day he wants to help people (he doesn’t want to be useless, like he was the day that Five died, wants to be able to save lives instead of just taking them - because the Horror doesn’t define who he is, and it never has)

Vanya goes to school as well!! She’s a violin prodigy! and they leave without telling their dad beforehand so she goes to get her pills refilled only to find out that they don’t have these pills actually what the fuck are they I’m assuming they’re special and Reginald supplied them somehow idk, and it’s not like the family can afford medication in THIS economy anyway so maybe she just stops taking them and hopes she can handle her anxiety without

and that’s how they find out Vanya has powers oops

OH you know what Vanya absolutely trains her powers with Five and Klaus making him corporeal because, as Five so eloquently puts it when they drive into the countryside, “What’s she gonna do? Kill me twice? as if” and that’s how Vanya learns how to control her powers and she still gets to go to school and she gets to join the orchestra and be first chair because fuck it she’s a goddamn prodigy and passionate about her craft and i love her, she deserved the world

they all grow and they change and they stick together as well as they can with all their varying schedules. they grow, except for Five who is still fifteen years old and who managed to save his family at the cost of his own life.

But it’s okay. He hands Luther wrenches at his work and freaks out the other mechanics. He talks to ghosts for Diego so that Klaus doesn’t have to (because Klaus has always has a weaker stomach for blood and things than Five, and Five is dead he can see ghosts too that’s a thing). He haunts Allison’s sets until she puts her hands on her hips and scolds him about messing with her co-workers. He knits in Klaus’s shops and shows off socks and scarves to little old ladies with a pride he isn’t sure what to do with. He helps Ben study by holding up flashcards even if he isn’t visible. He goes to all of Vanya’s rehearsals and prods at the harps and pianos with curious ghostly fingers.

He’s a constant presence in their lives, and they love him. And he loves them.

Five doesn’t leave. Ben lives. Five dies. Everything changes, but the one thing that will never change is that they are a family. No matter what, they have each other - in life and in death.

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monicalorandavis · 4 years

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MTV’s ‘The Challenge’ is still quite good

If you are a person in your early 30′s (like me) who grew up watching Carson Daly’s TRL and got AIM around your 11th birthday, you know ‘The Challenge’. You also know that Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar are Hollywood’s stealthiest romantic success so please keep your voice down when you whisper their sweet names (they deserve our support).

You might remember ‘The Challenge’ of yore, way back when it used to be called ‘The Real World Road Rules Challenge’. Oh how Veronica would yell at anyone! We had fun. And guess what? It’s still a good time. Even Veronica herself still pops up from time to time. She’s much older and out of shape but that’s the thing with aging reality stars, they’re just like us. Let the record state, I love my veteran players. But V just didn’t make the cut this season. It was a Veronica (and Shane!!!) free season. And you’re wondering if that left space for the realest ‘Challenge’ competitior of all time, the one, the only...Chris Tamburello aka CT aka dad-bod CT aka the highlight of the whole season. This season, though it didn’t look like it was going to, belonged to Chris Tamburello. But we’ll get there later. For now, let me sing the praises of this season’s ‘Challenge’ and drop some serious *spoilers*. Proceed with caution if the finale means anything to you.

First, a teensy bit of backstory. ‘The Challenge’ is in a very interesting global iteration that has really livened up the brand. Not like it needed livening up. I eat this shit up with a spoon. But, perhaps for the sake of international brand partnerships, it’s broadened its appeal and recruited some UK talent. Fine MTV, you might know a thing or two about business...

At any rate, it’s successfully brought in international reality stars and the show has been on an uphill climb ever since. For those of us British reality aficionado’s this has been a major win. While you’ll still gladly root on your longtime faves (Johnny Bananas, Wes, Jordan and yes, CT), you might be glad to see Theo from Love Island and Georgia from TOWIE fame. There are other international folks on the show who have no significance to me. But they make for interesting television (sometimes). For instance, Rogan’s slimy ass swindled his beefy thighs into a ‘Challenge’ final through sex appeal (and pathological lies) alone! You might argue that that sounds base and stupid and you’d be correct, sir. But what are you, the Queen of England? Why are you reading this blog?? Don’t you have a whole country to serve and more hats to buy??? Get out of here! Leave us commoners with our feeble minds (and bank accounts) alone!

I think the British contestants inspired a little British tangent there but the show does benefit from having the Brits on board. The set-up for the season was US v. England and it was not as tidy of a us versus them as you’d think. The man of the hour, CT himself got shafted and stuck on the British team from the beginning. It seemed like his weight gain and poor attitude had officially relegated him to a stud of the past. He was “dead weight” and Jordan and Paulie made the cutthroat (of many) decision to pass him over for eternal hothead, Turbo. Yes, his name is Turbo. He’s from Turkey and he’s hot. Deal with it.

That first decision by the US team to eschew loyalties and “trim the fat” set the tone for the shadiest season of all time. But the US had too many leaders and would corrode quickly. In the first episodes of the season, big time favorites Wes and Johnny Bananas got the boot. Cara and Paulie made for a weird Slytherin bid at alliance leadership and, unfortunately for everyone at home, succeeded in building the strongest team that crossed over party lines. They had swindled Rogan and his hair-brained buddy, Joss, into working for them and cutting the strongest players from the Brits’ team. All of that is well and good but it’s not actually the most interesting part of the game. The interesting part is the final episode and you have to dig through the weeks of broken promises and hook-ups to get there. And for a messy bitch like me, I’ll do it.

So fast forward, it’s the end. The US has a stupidly bloated team left of mediocre players that stayed true to the alliance and earned protection from being voted off. The Brits are Jordan, Tori (a now-engaged US defected pair) plus CT (early US cast-off), Rogan (slimeball) and Dee (Australian spineless could’ve been shero). The British team ended up being a weirdly streamlined and athletic powerhouse while the US quickly crumbled and Paulie started physically breaking down on the first lap of the final. It seriously felt as though all of his backstabbing shittiness crashed onto his shoulders and attacked his muscles. It was strange how fast he folded while everyone (even the very, very un-athletic slew of women he protected) looked on at him with growing contempt. Cara Maria, the world’s most annoying girlfriend, kept pleading for the team to wait up and let Paulie regain his will to live while Kam and Leroy (another romantic pair) made it their mission to push through. And let’s pause and discuss Leroy for one moment.

This was Leroy’s 11th season. He’s never won a final and wanted it so bad. He even patched things up with Kam as if to buoy him up spiritually. And yet, I hate to say it, we all knew this still wasn’t his year. He just doesn’t have it - the ego, ruthlessness, whatever you want to call it - to win. He’s too kind, too good-natured for the show. All his pep talks and volunteering tired him out quick whereas Ninja’s sorry ass was full of vim and vigor in the last puzzle challenges. It never pays to play the nice game. Ever wonder why Ashley and Cara do so well? They’re heartless.

Which leads us to C motherfuckin’ T. Oh baby, I saved this for last and I’ll make it quick because I could go on and on about that boy (just like the blue of his eyes seem to go on and on like an ocean...) CT played a scared game up until the episode before the final. It was uncharacteristically tentative. It was as if his early rejection had scarred him. He wasn’t the same boisterous, and frankly, terrifying man we all remembered. But as the show progressed, and UK players kept getting cut, I wondered how much longer he’d be able to vote against his team. The writing was on the wall. The final was coming but nobody knew exactly when. The British team had been decimated. All of their best players were kicked off because they threatened the US’ odds at a sure win. So when players realized that the final had to be the next challenge, their true colors emerged. Jordan and Tori plead their case. They had defected to the UK team out of spite (Cara and Paulie really made it their mission to punish them in a weird, old-world Catholic vengeance king of way) and they were sick of losing. Plus, the US couldn’t protect all their alliance members. Somebody was going to be collateral damage, but who? As soon as it was final time, it would be team versus team, just as Jordan and Tori had suspected. It was time for CT to protect himself and vote with his team and against the alliance. And up until the last second, he pretended to be a loyalist. Then, at the final elimination he voted against Cara and Paulie and boy, were they mad. Even host TJ had his wig snatched. CT, ‘Challenge’ champ and Diem’s former beau (RIP), came through with a fabulous ‘et tu Brute’ moment and Julius Caesar himself would’ve been like, “Oh shit, son...you did that.”

You might assume, incorrectly, that I keep up with MTV’s other programming but I do not. I make a strict exception for ‘The Challenge’. You surely won’t catch any ‘Floribamashore’, ‘Catfish’ or ‘Wild ‘N’ Out’ viewing around my way. I have some modicum of class left from the last season of ‘Jersey Shore’ (because of course I watch the roommies!). I hate ‘Ridiculousness’. I tried ‘Are You The One’ and it has its moments but it’s just so sad and the people are so vulnerable and clingy, and quite clearly in need of therapy. So, ‘The Challenge’ is it for me. Say what you will. I regret nothing. CT forever. Paulie is whack. Johnny Bananas is a Republican.

Peace.

#mtv #the challenge #CT #chris tamburello #johnny bananas #tj lavin

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