#catfight five round one

[irlcats-bracket]

Bracket 5 Round 1 Poll 9

Toby vs Opal vs Cupcake Jones

TOBY

A grumpy old man who needs to be held and loved at all hours of the day or he'll complain

OPAL

She’s never met a person she doesn’t love (although she was NOT happy when submitter let their brother watch her and he put her in clothes…) and she is so vocal!! Always got a meow ready for new friends

she just tried to jump up on the windowsill but the window was closed so she bonked her face on the glass and fell down. She often loses the red dot when chasing it. But she always politely uses her paw to request pets and snuggles, then gently pushes your had away when she is done. And! She is the only cat in the world submitter is not allergic to! She's so special and snores when she sleeps all curled up next to them and they just wish everyone could have the chance to cuddle this little kitty cat

CUPCAKE JONES

Adorable and very small for an adult cat, who submitter met when she was a foster kitten and found a secret passageway in the place she was staying in! She loves chasing springs and little foam balls and sometimes she licks submitter's hand which makes them explode into hearts and sparkles.

CATPAGANDA (toby and opal)

TOBY

OPAL

#polls #cat #cats #catfight five #catfight five round one

[heraldofcrow]

Also imagine Aldrich and Laurence starting a catfight on Twitter but after like 2nd message both just call their swordsmen simps to defend them sdjdshfd (Sulyvahn and Logarius. no Ludwig didn't come because he is too busy cleaning his sword using his kisses instead of a towel. Logarius is number one simp for Laurence's ideals tho.)

Aldrich: Imagine being so cringe you have to rely on questionable substances to round people up to your church. Like bitch I ate orphans and still have a cult of simps that all look exactly like me. Skill issue fr.

*five minutes later*

Laurence: lmaoo i can’t believe ppl are actually mad that i DONT fuck w/eating orphans and actually can cure cancer with glorified cranberry juice like??? um stay pressed??? idgaf what u losers think.

*enter quote tweet Aldrich*

Aldrich: Yet clearly you do care, and it shows. Your fragile ego betrays you with every word. You claim you can “cure cancer” but your ignorance in this line of work has consistently displayed itself after your results emerge poorly. Your “glorified cranberry juice” is nothing more than thinly veiled werewolf sauce. Even still, you refuse to admit your faults and even revel in them. You should be ashamed of who you are.

*enter Laurence’s epic response*

Laurence:

*five minutes pass again*

Aldrich: @therealpontiffsulyvahn ratio this twink

Laurence: @maybelogarius i want this mf suspended

#there lol #i did it #fgbhndjmk #you happy now katy? #lmao #soulsborne #dark souls #bloodborne #aldrich devourer of gods #laurence the first vicar #pontiff sulyvahn #martyr logarius #soulsborne memes #asks #mutuals

[revengeoftheantichrist]

From Eden

Warnings: Harems, Mentions of miscarriage and pregnancy, obsession

AO3

Chapter 1

It had been five years since the Apocalypse. Michael had finally defeated the witches; now nothing stood in his way. He could now reign from his Sanctuary as the King of the new world. A world built in his father’s image. All was going according to plan, the remnants of humanity were all under Michael’s control, too lost in their own pleasures to question too much. The sanctuary’s repopulation programme was in full swing, with a high success rate. A high success rate for everyone but Michael himself. Michael was matched with ten women with genetic compatibility. Devout Satanists that the Cooperative was sure would give their king a healthy heir. Michael was hesitant at first, having a ‘harem’ of sorts, but he’d learned to give into the pleasures of life. Yet every single pregnancy had failed, nothing lasting beyond 4 months. Testing was done again and again, every single result returned clear and healthy. No one could figure out why there was no successful heir. No matter how much Michael asked his father for guidance on the issues, he was always met with silence. //// The Sanctuary was split into 9 floors, Satanists were suckers for symbolism. The 9th floor belonged solely to Michael, furthest away from the radiation outside; no one went in or out without his or Ms. Meads permission. The Harem was on the 8th floor, those at the top of the cooperative, the most important members resided there. The harem was an interesting place, one would think they were outside. But modern technology allowed the use of artificial sunlight, real plants and beautiful fountains. The people that resided in it were interesting too. The women were to be treated almost like royalty as one of them may become the mother to the future of humanity. The petty drama and cattiness made for excellent gossip. Greys all the way up to the first floor looked forward to hearing the new drama of the day, one entertaining story after another. Michael knew of these stories and some did make him chuckle too, but they did not bring his hopes up about the prospective mothers. With this on his mind, Michael made his way up to the harem for some stress relief. As he reached the corner before the entrance, he stopped at the sound of a giggle. He had never heard a sound so beautiful before. It wasn’t like the fake laughter he had been surrounded by for the past five years, there was genuine joy he hadn’t heard in a while. He waited in the shadows to see if he could catch a glimpse of the person it came from. Around the corner came a grey carrying an empty fruit basket, still giggling with her friend; not noticing Michael around the corner. Who was she? Michael had never seen her before he was sure of it. She wasn’t one of those brought from the outposts, nor was she a regular staff member on the lower floors. The fruit baskets gave him a clue. This grey was one of the unlucky few on the upper floors, probably one of the scientists in the biomes and hydroponic gardens. These individuals had the important job of keeping the Sanctuary fed. But they rarely came down to the lower floors, living and working separate from the more important members. Michael did not like being in the dark about the details and the personnel of the sanctuary. He didn’t know how this individual with the blinding smile had slipped under is radar. Turning back around, Michael now had a new mission, find out more about this little grey. //// Y/N had no idea how she ended up in the Sanctuary. One day she was on a University trip to Kineros, and the next the apocalypse had begun, and she was in an underground complex with the last dregs of humanity. Her background in biology meant that she would stay on the top few floors, to learn about and maintain the Eden system. The Eden system was the name given to the biomes and hydroponic gardens that maintained natural plant life. All sorts of plants and specimens, for food, medicinal use and for recreational use. Y/N never thought she’d spend her early 20s hand picking fruit for the rich and famous, or testing soil samples daily, or putting herself at risk of radiation poisoning on a daily basis. But here she was, the last remaining member of her family, surrounded by people she never met, tasked with a job she wasn’t yet qualified for. Y/N argued that life on the upper floors was better than that of the greys further underground. Her life didn’t revolve around serving the whims of others. A simple daily checklist and routine, only the head of the science department to answer to and she was surrounded by what was left of nature. It was peaceful in Eden as they called it. The sounds of the artificial streams and the bright colours of the year-round fruit put one at ease, reminding her of her father’s garden before the world had ended. She was as content as one could be in these circumstances. Y/N knew she served a king but to her he was a faceless entity. She had never met him or seen his face as she did not spend long enough on the lower floors to ever bump into him. Only staying long enough to exchange her fruit baskets for empty ones and catch up on the harem gossip. She had heard rumours though; everyone talked about his beauty and the women of the harem spoke about his ‘performance’. Y/N cared more for the fights than she did about a King she will never meet. The most recent catfight had really tickled Y/N, making her laugh all the way to the elevator up. She did not notice the King, nor that fact that his eyes were glued to her, she’d unknowingly become his prey.

Next>>>

#my writing #michael langdon #michael langdon x reader #FE1

[ernestsinclairs]

All American - Chris Powell x MC

Chris Powell x MC (Jena diRetta)

*So I realized that if Chris really does go pro like PB says he does, we never got to see a draft night or celebration or something. So . . . I wrote one up

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

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

The words came out quickly in an unexpected burst. As soon as they had left his mouth, Chris reddened, dropped his gaze, and suddenly became very interested in his tie.

Behind them, the hotel’s television blared loudly with all the news of NFL draft night. A bright flash, and Chris’s face popped up.

“Donna, we’re talking about one of the brightest prospects of this year: Chris 

Powell. He’s the quarterback of the Hartfeld Knights, led them to their first ever National Championship -- I mean, this guy’s got it in the bag. I’m predicting a first round pick for him, if not top 10.”

“Oh definitely, I mean let’s take a look at his stats for a moment . . .”

Jena grabbed the remote and promptly turned the television off.

“None of that right now,” she soothed, running her hands over his already perfect lapels and patting his shoulders. “We don’t need that.”

“I don’t know what I need,” Chris admitted. For the millionth time that morning, his voice wavered.

“But I know what you want, and I’d say that’s more important,” Jena said softly, cupping his cleanly shaven cheek. Chris sighed and leaned into it, worried eyes closing for just a few moments before popping wide open again.

“No, no, relax,” she whispered, dropping her voice even further. “Listen. I’m here. We’ve been through it all -- four years of college, car accidents, murderous frat houses. This is just another thing we’ll get through.”

He didn’t reply and Jena took the chance to press a quick kiss on his lips. He stayed stiff at first, then melted, reciprocating even harder, arms wrapping around her waist and scrunching the fabric of her dress.

“Right . . .” Chris said. “There’s nothing big about this at all. Just, you know, being drafted into the NFL with everyone seeing if I succeed to burn out. No pressure.”

“No pressure,” Jena swore. Her hand snaked up to his well muscled chest and felt his fluttering heartbeat underneath that tailored suit. She didn’t say anything and just looked back up at Chris’s face for a good five minutes. Finally, the heartbeat began to slow.

“Together,” she whispered, taking his hand when he tried to stroke her face and kissing it.

“Together,” Chris promised.

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

The entire auditorium was awash in a flurry of colors and lights. Giant airhorns and sound effects boomed from the speakers, sending waves of vibrations through Jena’s chest. A grip on her thigh tightened and she knew Chris felt it too.

“If they don’t take you, they’re full of shi-” AJ pouted before her horrified mother clapped a hand over mouth.

“AJ, where did you even learn that?” she scolded. “Didn’t I raise you better than that?”

“He did!”

AJ pointed to the next table over where a rowdy Ohio State linebacker was laughing with friends and family.

Jena glanced over at her fiancé. Chris hadn’t noticed a single thing, and remained oblivious to the new catfight that had broken out between his mother and sister. His mouth was set in a gray line, and only his eyes betrayed how nervous he actually was. When his little brother groaned with impatience and threw himself over his lap, Chris lifted a shaking hand to try and pat him before giving up.

“Look at me, Chris.”

He drew a rattling breath and looked into her eyes for exactly one second before looking away.

“Chris.”

“. . . I’m listening.”

“Good. Listen to me, not them, not the crowd, not the commentators. You have a good chance of being chosen. And if not, you have another dream you can follow. This isn’t the end of the world. Just the start of a new one.”

The handsome young man smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, lingering as if he didn’t want to look up and face the blasting music and glowing lights again.

“I’m here. What could go wrong?” Jena teased as she stroked his cheek. The taut muscle worked, then relaxed. Gently shifting to face her properly, Chris took her hand and kissed the little diamond ring from that last night at Hartfeld. 

“Alright, alright, I guess you’re right,” he said, breaking out into his first genuine laugh all that week. “NFL or not, we still have this, and I mean . . . what more could I want? Right?”

“Exactly,” Jena giggled and reached up to poke the tip of his nose. “There we go.”

Suddenly, a loud roar swept over the auditorium, and Chris’s head popped back up. The moment was gone and another was taking its place.

The NFL commissioner walked across the vast stage, a tiny card in his fingers. Chris reached for Jena’s hand, and she gave it willingly. Lacing his fingers in hers, he squeezed her hand tightly. 

The commissioner waited for a few seconds to let the rancor die down, then looked down at the card with a simple little smile.

“And with the third overall pick in the first round,” he started. Once again, he stopped for another agonizing few moments to let the cheering die down.

“With the third overall pick, the California Nightingales select quarterback Christopher Powell, Hartfeld University.”

Chris crumpled in his seat. With a gasp, Jena fell, pulled down by his weight. When he finally lifted his head, tears glowed in his eyes.

“Go, go get what you deserve,” Jena whispered as he leaned in to kiss her. With a tight, happy nod, Chris embraced his siblings who had already jumped on his shoulders, hugged his mother, and disappeared into the crowd.

Jena watched his head bob through as pride overtook here. It had been a long road for him, full of pitfalls like an absent parent, a juvenile record, and four long years juggling every responsibility possible, but he had made it. They had made it. In a few short weeks, their new life would begin. 

Chris strode onto the stage and took a Nightingales cap from an aide. With it securely on his head, he shook the commissioners hand vigorously and held up his new jersey. On the back in neat white letters was P O W E L L .

At last, they had done it.

As he exited the stage, their eyes met and time seemed to slow down. Despite the din of the entire room, Jena could clearly hear what he was mouthing to her from across the entire crowd. 

“I love you!” he mouthed, sparing a few extra waves for his mother and siblings.

She could do nothing but smile back, wiping a tear off her face and sitting back in her chair, suddenly lightheaded.

Jena shook an errant piece of confetti out of here, then caught it as it fell out. No, she would save it as a memory of tonight. She would go home and glue it onto cardstock and frame it and do whatever else she needed just to keep the present alive for a little bit longer.

But the future? Oh, she just couldn’t wait for the future.

#chris powell #chris x mc #chris powell x mc #the freshman #the senior #pb fanfiction #playchoices #choices #choices fanfiction #chris choices #chris playchoices #the junior #the sophomore

[tabloidtoc]

Globe, December 7

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Hillary Clinton health crisis 

Page 2: Up Front & Personal -- Larsa Pippen in a bikini in Fort Lauderdale, Olivia Culpo wrestles with recycling outside her L.A. office, Shia LaBeouf ditches his face covering for a phone call in an L.A. market 

Page 3: Pete Wentz plays tennis, Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe outside the Dancing with the Stars studio, Sean Penn hits the beach in Hawaii 

Page 4: Barbara Walters was sharp as a tack when she grilled the world’s biggest leaders but ravaging dementia has now tragically turned the 91-year-old into a prisoner in her own bed 

Page 5: Pistol-packing Elvis Presley was so gaga over guns that he’d even take a firearm to bed with him 

* Ringo Starr’s childhood bout with appendicitis at age six caused him to fall into a coma and spend a year in the hospital to recover then five years later he contracted tuberculosis and spent two years in a sanitarium where he discovered drums as part of the hospital band 

Page 6: If it’s true that Gentleman Prefer Blondes Marilyn Monroe was the perfect star for the flick because she dyed her carpet platinum to match the drapes -- beauty guru Kenneth Battelle suggested Marilyn change the color of her pubic hair after a jerk spilled champagne over her sheer dress at a party showing everything because she didn’t wear skivvies so the guru ran to the hotel drugstore and got some dye and told Marilyn to go in the bathroom and bleach 

Page 7: Celine Dion has turned into a frightening bag of bones leaving friends worried she’s headed for a catastrophic health crisis -- now down to a gaunt 96 pounds the star is driving herself to the brink of collapse with a diet and exercise plan to prepare for the relaunch of her hit world tour and she starves herself in her drive for perfection and to maintain the stick-thin look that helped turn her into a fashion icon

* Julianne Hough confesses feeling she didn’t deserve the A-list life she enjoyed while dating Ryan Seacrest where she was on private planes and yachts and living in a very well-off house and her life was pretty different from where she grew up -- she left Ryan in 2013 after three years because she wanted to create that for herself because she felt like she didn’t deserve it 

Page 8: Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson is searching for the Fountain of Youth by working out with Pierce Brosnan’s trainer -- the ex-wife of disgraced Prince Andrew is following a grueling exercise regimen in hopes of joining people who are said to be biologically younger than their true age 

Page 9: Disgraced Prince Andrew has been kicked from the royal family and now Prince Charles plans to boot his sister Princess Anne from his inner circle once he becomes king -- while the princess has carried her share of official engagements Charles plans to shrink the monarchy after his mother Queen Elizabeth passes and the phrase slimmed-down royal family constantly keeps coming up and the royal family will evolve with Charles coming to the throne -- Anne will be on the chopping block mostly because of ambitious Duchess Camilla who is Charles’ wife and who has carried out a ruthless dirty plan to be queen for decades and she wants no one else taking the limelight and that includes Charles’ sister

* Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle dissed his dad Prince Charles with a surprising public snub as the couple failed to publicly wish Charles a happy birthday when he turned 72 -- Queen Elizabeth and Prince William and Duchess Kate all sent birthday wishes to the future king on social media but Harry and Meghan took a pass even though Harry popped up on the British TV show Strictly Come Dancing that night to wish a pal good luck

Page 10: A nuclear-sized catfight has exploded in North Korea where dictator Kim Jong-un’s baby sister and his pop star lover are battling to claw their way to be top gal -- while sister Kim Yo-jong seemed to be running the nation after Kim vanished and was rumored dead he popped back up with old galpal Hyon Song-wol on his arm and his current wife Ri Sol-ju nowhere to be seen 

Page 12: Celebrity Buzz -- Mario Lopez wearing a clear mask (picture), Lauren Simon of The Real Housewives of Cheshire in the U.K. claims to have had sex with an actual ghost, Kaley Cuoco has a theory about shooting those sexy big bangs with ex-boyfriend Johnny Galecki that the pair’s sneaky sitcom boss got a kick putting the real-life former lovers under the covers, Reese Witherspoon lost her beloved dog Pepper to cancer and returned to her ole Southern roots when picking a name for her brand-new puppy: Minnie Pearl, plagued by seemingly endless allegations of being mean and ignoring a toxic workplace Ellen DeGeneres is now plugging a Be Kind subscription box valued at $270

Page 13: Kristen Taekman tops of her gas tank in L.A. (picture), Jeff Goldblum feeding a parking meter in L.A. (picture), Hilary Duff gets primped and primed on the NYC set of Younger (picture) 

Page 14: Reclusive ailing widow Yoko Ono finally loosened the reins and is handing over her $800 million empire to Sean Lennon her only child with Beatles legend John Lennon but John’s eldest son Julian Lennon was left out of the hitmaker’s will but Julian managed to eke out a $25 million settlement okayed by Yoko after he dragged his famous dad’s estate to court, Kelsea Ballerini snapped at a nosy fan for rudely asking if her rounded tummy was a blossoming baby bump

* Fashion Verdict -- Lara Spencer 9/10, Laura Veltz 2/10, Lauren Akins 3/10, Lauren Alaina 4/10 

Page 16: Michael Jackson’s baby mama Debbie Rowe reveals getting pregnant was no thrill because she was artificially impregnated -- Debbie met ex-husband Michael when she was working for his dermatologist and she insists the couple never had sex and a sperm donor fathered the pop star’s two kids she carried in her womb -- son Prince Jackson is rumored to have been fathered by Debbie’s doctor boss Arnold Klein -- British actor Mark Lester claims her could be Paris Jackson’s father -- Debbie is unsure of the paternity of Michael’s youngest son Blanket who now goes by Bigi Jackson

Page 17: Fans gaga for Dr. McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy got a super thrill on the season 17 premiere when Patrick Dempsey returned to the hit hospital drama after departing the show five years ago -- Dempsey whose character Dr. Derek Shepherd died in a car crash came back in a dream sequence reuniting with star Ellen Pompeo’s Dr. Meredith Grey on a beach -- Dempsey split from the show to spend more time with his family and pursue his auto racing hobby but he’ll return to the show several more times 

Page 19: 10 Things You Don’t Know About Emma Corrin

* Reba McEntire reveals she turned down The Voice gig that went to Blake Shelton and now she regrets it big-time 

* Nip/tuck junkie Dolly Parton says she plans to keep freshening her face by going under the knife and crows she’s gonna look like a cartoon and she’ll look as young as her plastic surgeons will allow her 

Page 20: True Crime 

Page 21: Former soap stud Cody Longo was socked with a domestic abuse charge following a jealous booze-fueled attack on his dancer wife Stephanie Clark -- Cody played Nicholas Alamain on Days of Our Lives from 2011-2012 

Page 23: Meredith Baxter felt booby-trapped by her enormous breasts and confesses she welcomed breast-reduction surgery after getting cancer -- the Family Ties star reveals her former 42-inch bust was the plague of her life

* Weatherman Al Roker has a secret weapon in his stormy battle to recover from prostate cancer surgery which is the love and support of his wife Deborah Roberts who is keeping him happy and positive doting on him day and night plus they talk about everything and make medical decisions together so there’s no fear or anxiety entering their world 

* Jennifer Lopez kicked booty when a federal judge dismissed a $40 million lawsuit brought by a former stripper who claims she inspired the hit movie Hustlers -- Samantha Barbash claims she’s the real-life model for J.Lo’s pole-dancing swindler Ramona Vega and insisted the movie ruined her rep by implying she did drugs around her kids but the judge tossed the case because Barbash’s name or portrait or picture or voice wasn’t used in the film 

Page 24: Cover Story -- Hillary Clinton has tragically packed on nearly 100 pounds since she vanished from the spotlight four years ago and is struggling to breathe and walk and now a medical expert is warning the 73-year-old is facing a health crisis as she tips the scales at 247 pounds -- Hillary has a history of broken bones and shocking collapses 

Page 26: Health Report

Page 30: Country girl Carly Pearce’s divorce from Michael Ray has gone from bad to ugly and he’s now parading his romance with Travis Tritt’s daughter Tyler Reese Tritt -- Carly was all for taking the high road but now she’s taken off the gloves -- they’re bad-mouthing each other far and wide and Carly’s tossed everything that reminds her of Michael 

* Southern Charm belle Madison LeCroy has been flashing a pic of her newest charms which is a set of bigger boobs 

Page 36: Diva Mariah Carey’s demanding ways are driving her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka bonkers and the couple of four years may be headed for Splitsville unless she changes her ways -- Mariah treats Bryan like an assistant instead of a lover and it’s giving him fits and he’s been so patient with Mariah and he loves her but she’s wearing him out with her incessant orders like she has him drawing up her schedule for online greets plus she’s ordering him to do all her holiday shopping for friends and be in charge of everything from decorations to food prep 

* Emma Roberts confesses being pregnant makes her weepy and she’s hit the point where like halfway up the stairs she has to sit down sometimes and maybe tears roll down a couple times a week but despite that Emma says she feels grateful and lucky to be expecting her first child

Page 38: Real Life 

Page 40: Phil Collins’ embarrassing court battle with third ex Orianne Cevey is casting a pall over his daughter Lily Collins’ wedding plans -- Lily is desperate to tie the knot with Charlie MacDowell but the dirty charges flying back may force her to put the happy day on hold and it’s hard for Lily to concentrate on making wedding plans when her father is caught in an ugly public fight -- Orianne is battling over Phil’s $38 million Miami mansion where they lived after reuniting in 2018 

Page 44: Straight Talk -- NXIVM cult is warning to us all 

Page 45: Treasure hunters have launched a frantic search for a $150 million stash of gangster gold hidden by mobster Dutch Schultz in Upstate New York after two sleuths recently discovered coins they believe are linked to the stash -- following a long list of cryptic clues Canadian fortune seekers Steve Zazulyk and Ryan Fazekas uncovered gold coins dated 1903 a few miles from the Prohibition Era beer baron’s hangout in the Catskills town of Phoenicia and their find triggered a race against other prosecutors seeking a two-by-three-foot steel box filled with diamonds and gold coins and $1000 bills and $7 billion in World War I Liberty Bonds and the hoard has an estimated value of $150 million today 

#tabloid #grain of salt #tabloid toc #tabloidtoc #hillary clinton #barbara walters #elvis #elvis presley #ringo starr #marilyn monroe #celine dion #julianne hough #ryan seacrest #duchess sarah ferguson #prince charles #princess anne #prince harry #meghan markle #kim jong-un #debbie rowe #michael jackson #prince jackson #paris jackson #bigi jackson #patrick dempsey #grey's anatomy #emma corrin #reba mcentire #dolly parton #cody longo

[darkjanet2]

Drusilla's Soul Chapter 8 Part 1

Seven Years Later

Raven Bar, San Francisco, Ca -

It was loud music as people were dancing in the nightclub. And the rest of them were drinking alcohol and socializing.

This is the rhythm of the night

The night, oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life, oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

It was a dark haired woman who wore a dazzling black dress dancing on the dance floor. Drusilla was having so much fun and was very sociable.

You could put some joy upon my face

Oh, sunshine in an empty place

Take me to turn to, and babe I'll make you stay

Oh, I can ease you of your pain

Feel you give me love again

Round and round we go, each time I hear you say

This is the rhythm of the night

The night

Oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life

Oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

Drusilla was swaying her hips as she danced with her eyes closed and she swung her arms. She got the best moves.

Won't you teach me how to love learn

There'll be nothing left for me to yearn

Think of me burn and let me hold your hand

I don't wanna face the world in tears

Please think again I'm on my knees

Sing that song to me

No reason to repent

I know you wanna say it

This is the rhythm of the night

The night

Oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life

Oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

This is the rhythm of the night

The night

Oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life

Oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

This is the rhythm of the night

Oh oh oh

This is the rhythm of the night

Oh oh oh

Rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of the night

The night

Oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life

Oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

This is the rhythm of the night

The night

Oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life

Oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

This is the rhythm of the night

The song had finished, Drusilla walked to the bar counter and sat on the stool. There were a couple sitting on the stools.

“Nice moves you got there.” said a woman with a short, blond bob hairstyle, wearing a pink crop top, black leather skirt, black heeled sandals, and accessory with a ruby teardrop necklace.

“Thanks.” grinned Drusilla.

A handsome man wearing metallic silver button down shirt and black leather pants, black shoes and accessory with Rolex. He was holding his girlfriend’s waist.

“So, you seem to have a lot of fun, huh? Care for a drink? I’m Brittney. And this is my boyfriend, David.” said Brittney.

“Hey.” said David.

“Hi. I’m Drusilla. You two have a very good couple. When do you guys meet?” Drusilla asked.

“Oh, we just met on Tinder.” said Brittney.

“Tinder? Heh, I’m sorry, what exactly is Tinder? I don’t know what that is.” said Drusilla, she had no idea what Tinder is.

“It’s a dating app. Where you meet many people, and go on a date with that person." David finished explaining.

“That’s right, when you see the picture below these icons. Tap the heart button if you like them and tap the cross button if you don’t like them. Or you can swipe the screen left and right.” said Brittney.

“Oh, I see. Does it work? Did you talk to each other on Tinder?” Asked Drusilla.

“Oh, yeah, I’m the one who tapped the heart button and me and David were matched, and we did our conversations. We started on a date a while ago.” said Brittney.

“Wow, Tinder sure does work.” said Drusilla.

“Of course it does. You can try Tinder, it’s a smart technology.” said David.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not just that type of girl.” said Drusilla.

“C’mon, don’t be shy. I’m sure those guys got hot on you.” said Brittney.

Drusilla furiously blushed, “Hey, come on! I told you I’m not that kind of girl who is looking for a date. I mean, why do you want me to try Tinder?” she asked.

“Because I know you’re single and you will install this app on your phone.” said Brittney.

Drusilla sighed, “Alright, fine, I’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll uninstall it.” She picked out her iPhone X from her purse and she installed the Tinder app and created her new account.

After she finished it, the bartender gave them drinks. Drusilla drank raven cocktail. Brittney and David drank maple cocktails.

Brittney and David said goodbye to Drusilla and exited the bar. It was dark outside. The night was still young as Drusilla made her way towards her Lamborghini. She entered her Lamborghini and closed the door. She let out a sigh. She was about to leave till she started to have a vision of Brittney and David being attacked by a group of vampires. She had to get over there quickly.

Brittney and David were walking down the empty street, they were a bit buzzed from drinking and giggling. They couldn't stop kissing each other as they weren't paying attention to their surroundings. Five of these people smirked at the couple.

"Well, well, well. Look who wandered into our turf. The little lovebirds seem that tonight is our lucky night." The leader said as he circled the couple.

“Hey, who the hell are you? What do you guys want?” demanded David, he was defending his girlfriend.

"Awe, look at the little pup trying to defend his princess. How adorable.” said a female now licking her lips.

"Come on, sis. You know the young ones are never good." Said the male twin.

"Please leave us alone, or else I’ll call the police if you get in trouble. Now fuck off!” yelled Brittney.

"The little lamb thinks she can threaten us. That’s so cute. I wonder what she tasted like." Another male entered with a slight British accent.

"Okay, it's time to feast, ladies and gentlemen." The leader said to them and they started to transform. Their eyes changed to yellow, their face started to morph into the vampiric visages. And their teeth turned into the sharp fangs like knives.

"What the actual fuck?!” screamed David.

Brittney screamed as she started to hide behind her boyfriend.

“Well, let's see who wants to be eaten first?" The leader grinned evilly.

"How about my fist!?" David shouted and threw his fist at the leader.

"Welp, it seems we got a volunteer." The leader said and caught David's fists and snapped it backwards.

David let out a loud scream in agony as he walked backwards crying looking at his girlfriend.

"Run, Brittney!" David shouted and slowly tried to ignore the pain.

Brittany was going to run away until she bumped into a vampire.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the muscular vampire smirked evilly.

He grabbed her head and slammed her head on the brick wall. She fell over with her forehead bleeding as the blood dripped on to the floor. The male licked the blood off the pavement and smirked.

His mouth wide open and had his fangs inches away from her neck. The vampire felt his head being kicked away from Brittney’s neck.

"Okay, assholes, back away from them." demand Drusilla, stancing in fighting style.

“Who the hell are you?” asked the muscular vampire.

"Your worst nightmare." Drusilla replied normally and she started attacking the muscular vampire.

The muscular vampire tried to punch her, she dodged his fist. She struck her knee to his rib, swiftly kicked to his face as he stumbled backward and crashed the trash cans.

“Holy shit!” shocked the young male vampire.

“That chick knows how to fight!” said the female vampire.

“I’ve heard of her before. She’s a vampire with a soul.” said the leader.

“A soul? Heh, so the vampire has gone good? What a joke." The female vampire said as she walked toward her.

“I’ll make her one on one cuz this isn’t going to be a catfight."

She struck a punch to her face, but she dodged her blow. Drusilla tried to kick her to the head, but she defended her with her arm, and she swirled a kick below and made Dru fall.

“C’mon! Is that all you got?” she taunted.

Dru got up and rolled her shoulder and smiled.

“Not on your life.” Dru replied and she transformed her vampiric face and charged at her. Dru clawed her cheek as the black haired vampire shrieked painfully. Dru smirked and grabbed her and threw her against the wall.

Drusilla sank her fangs to her neck and drank her blood as the vampire exploded to a dust.

“Jill!” the twin vampire cried to his twin sister.

Drusilla turned to the rest of the vampires.

“You bitch! You killed my sister!” yelled the twin and charged at Dru. Dru calmly grabbed a broken plank from the trash and staked him to the heart as the vampire exploded to a dust.

“I got her, boss. I’ll handle this bitch.” said the long haired vampire as he charged at her.

He kicked her to the gut as she held her belly painfully, then she felt another strike to her face and bled a little.

“Get ‘er, Alex!” shouted the muscular vampire.

Alex was grinning madly as he was about to finish her. Dru could not lose, not like this. Just remember when Blade taught her how to fight.

Dru reached something from her holster leg, she picked out EDTA and threw a syringe to his chest as the long haired vampire yelled in pain. His body began to swell up enormously and exploded causing the blood splattered on the wall and on the ground.

“What the fuck was that!?” shocked the leader vampire.

“Why don’t you come here and start doing yourself?” asked Drusilla.

“I’ll get her, boss. She’s mine!!” the muscular vampire yelled and charged at her. Drusilla took out a glaive and released the button to reveal the twin blade and threw at the muscular vampire by cutting through his throat, separated from his body and dusted. The glaive returned to Drusilla’s grasp.

The leader growled angrily. “Well, just look at you. You may be a vampire, but I don’t have a soul. I’m the most evil vampire in the world and I shall perish you for killing my comrades. And so, who taught you how to fight, huh?” he asked.

Drusilla smirked, “If you wonder who taught me, I was trained by the daywalker, Blade.”

“Who??”

Then Drusilla attacked the leader, but he blocked her blows just in the knick of time, the leader jabbed to her face but she dodged to the right and roundhouse kicked to his ribs caused him to be sent sailing into the wall.

“You’re gonna pay for this!” enraged the leader charged at her.

He tried to punch her but she dodged every strike and then she brought her knee up into his stomach and hit him on his back with her elbow. Drusilla withdrew a silver stake and stabbed him in the back causing the dust exploded.

Drusilla sighed that the threat was over. Brittney slowly walked toward Drusilla.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, Drusilla turned around to see Brittney’s cut on her forehead leaking blood down to her eye. The sound of blood pulsating that Drusilla could feel the hunger through her. She resisted and backed away from Brittney.

“Get away from me.” said Drusilla. Brittney hesitated.

#drusilla #Blade #daywalker #crossover #digimon fanfiction #btvs fanfiction

[xsixxx]

Bad Influence, Chapter Five

Authors note: Sorry this one took a while, I’ve had a hectic week with work & stuff, I’ve barely had time to breathe 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’m sorry if there are mistakes, it’s 3am & I’m too tired to proof read it 100 times like I normally do 😂 Feedback is always welcome 🖤

Warnings: Language, catfight, tiny bit of smut but not really, like there’s a hint

Tags: @triplehaitches @freddiessmallnipples @queen-crue @scarecrowmax @lovesick-heart0 @littlesunnymoon @80sheart-strings @cranberribread @inthebackofmycarlaytheirbodies @deaconsroger @zoenicoles @crazysaladchopshop @ggorehorror @lunamadhatter99 @justtryingtoovercome @chaoticvybe @you-know-im-a-dreamer @eightiesrockbaby

The sunlight filtered in through the broken blinds & bathed my bare back in warmth as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings & my brain tried to piece together the night before. I turned my head to look around me, trying to figure out where I was & was confronted by a tangled mess of blonde hair, snoring softly.

Oh great. I’m a fucking groupie.

I groaned as the memories from last night came flooding back, accompanying the pounding sensation I had going on in my head. This hangover sucked. Guess that’d be the coke for you. Fuck.

I slipped out of Vinces bed, or rather mattress on the floor, & onto the filthy carpet, scanning the room for my clothes. I heard someone move about outside the door & quickly grabbed the closest thing to me & threw it on in a sorry attempt to cover what was left of my dignity. The tshirt, it turns out, didn’t offer much coverage at all, just about covering my ass. I pulled it down & I waddled awkwardly over to the door, dodging the scorch marks & charred cockroaches on the floor, opened it fractionally to peer out & check the coast was clear, before darting across the hall & into the bathroom. I stood with my back against the cool, wooden door, trying to collect my thoughts & even out my nervous breathing. I’m not prepared for this. We established last night that I’d never had a one night stand, I don’t know the fucking protocol for this kinda thing, let alone when the one night stand is with the notorious, womanising, front man of Mötley Crüe. Oh great, I’ve only gone & fucked up that friendship group. Just when I was starting to like them. Nice going, Beth.

I looked at my disgruntled, disheveled reflection in the mirror. My wavy blonde hair fell in a tangled mess down my back & yesterdays mascara was sitting lazily under my tired eyes. I sighed & looked around the bathroom to see if there was anything I could use to at least wash my face with. Frustratingly, hygiene didn’t seem to be a top priority when you’re a rockstar & the bathroom was significantly lacking in soap. All that sat beside the sink was a hairbrush, a can of hairspray & some black face paint. I grumbled as I grabbed the hairbrush, removed, presumably Nikkis, matted up black hair from it & tried my hardest to tame my hair before washing my face as best I could with just water. I looked back at my reflection in the cracked, hair dye stained mirror & ran my fingers nervously through my hair. I looked slightly more fresh faced than I did before, but I wasn’t planning on sticking round long enough for anyone to see me anyway. I put my hand on the bathroom doorknob, took a deep breath & prepared myself to run across to Vinces room, quietly find my clothes & leave in the shortest amount of time possible. I gritted my teeth, opened the door & ran. Straight into the bare chest of Nikki Sixx.

“Well, well, well, maybe my little angel isn’t so angelic after all”

My jaw tensed. I almost didn’t want to look up, knowing that that smirk was waiting for me. I lifted my eyes slowly to meet his & they flashed wickedly, that shit eating grin sitting largely on his face.

“I’m not your anything.” I bit back at him, placing my hand on his chest to shove past. Through my irritation & hideous awkwardness, the feel of his skin under my touch still managed to send a surge of electricity through my body, causing my cheeks to immediately flush pink. I scowled at my impulses & quickly snatched my hand back, attempting to barge past Nikki, but his tall, toned frame didn’t budge, blocking my way. I took a step back, frustration evident on my tired, bare face, rested one hand on my hip & glared at Nikki, wordlessly, with all the anger my hungover body could muster.

“I gotta say, you look damn good in my tshirt.” He spoke, looking me up & down, his dark, hungry eyes resting momentarily on the tops of my thighs where his tshirt was riding up. I fumbled awkwardly, yanking it down to cover my modesty.

“My bad, I thought it was Vinces.” I mumbled, embarrassed.

“Nah, your boyfriend doesn’t like Kiss.” He chuckled lightly. “Fancy some breakfast?”

“Um no thanks, I’m not really hungry.” I replied, smartly choosing to ignore Nikkis comment.

“Good, because we don’t have any food. I meant, did you want a rockstars breakfast?” Nikki produced a little bag of brilliant white powder from the pocket of last nights leather trousers that he was still wearing, before walking over to the kitchen area & cutting it up on the work surface. “It’s an incredible hangover cure.” He winked mischievously, offering me a rolled up note. I shook my head, my thoughts in a far more rational state than they were last night. Nikki shrugged before bending over & vacuuming his mess up. I rolled my eyes, turning back towards Vinces room, when the door to, I had presumed, Nikkis room, swung open & out walked the girl Nikki was all over last night, in nothing but a lacy pair of underwear. She flashed an almost territorial look in my direction as she stalked past me & over to Nikki, draping her arms around him. He looked bored as she ran her fingers through his matted, black hair & didn’t even flinch when she grazed her teeth along his earlobe.

“Come back to bed baby.” I heard her whisper in a low, sultry voice.

“Not with you dollface.” Nikki said bluntly, shrugging off the stunning brunette, making her stumble back slightly. “Get your shit, you can leave out with window.” He waved his hand in the direction of his room as if he was hoping to magically wave her away. She didn’t take to well to that.

“You asshole!” She yelled, storming away from him. “What about this bitch, huh? Why doesn’t she have to leave?!” She shrieked, stopping next to me & pointing rudely,

“Not my fuck, not my problem.” Nikki shrugged, letting out a amused laugh. I shot him daggers, which only made him chuckle more. “Plus, she’ll be leaving out of my window in an hour or so, rather than out of Vinnys.” He smiled devilishly, that hunger returning to his eyes once again. I felt myself grow hot, momentarily lost in my lust. That was until a sharp pain seared through my head, snapping me out of it, as the half naked brunette grabbed a fistful if my hair & dragged me down towards the putrid carpet. I let out a wail as I instinctively started swinging my arms towards her in any sort of attempt to get her off.

“What the fu-” I started to yell, breathlessly, as the pain increased as her nails dug deeper into my scalp. I felt one of my flailing fists come into contact with flesh & suddenly the vice like grip on my hair was released & I dropped to the ground. Everything had gone blurry as I fought back the tears of pain & panic & I struggled to navigate my way back into a stranding position, until a rough hand was extended towards me. I grabbed hold of Nikki as he pulled me back up. I stopped & took a few deep breaths, trying to work out what just happened. I turned to look at the half naked groupie, clutching an angry red mark on her cheek where my fist had caught her.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I screamed at her, frantically trying to smooth out my hair over my throbbing scalp.

“He’s mine, you fucking wannabe slut.” She spat back at me, her tone full of venom & eyes full of hatred. Nikki let out a sharp, loud laugh.

“Bitch, I’m not anybody’s.” Nikki chuckled, almost enjoying the situation.

“But I thought we had something..” She started to say, her face pink with anger & embarassment.

Nikki cut her off, seeming bored again. “Clearly you don’t know me very well. Sweetheart, you’re the same as all the rest, a fun way to end a show.”

My head snapped round to face Nikki, disbelief & disgust flooding over me. I’d heard him use those words before. I looked back towards the woman in front of me, looking utterly humiliated, trying her hardest to cover herself as she turned & ran towards Nikkis room, presumably to leave the same way she came in, through that window that was quickly becoming infamous. I watched her go & I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She was stunning, tall, toned, with flawless skin & a face most women would die for & yet, with those few words, Nikki had managed to destroy any confidence she had, shame her & break her heart, all at the same time. The same way he did to my sister.

I looked at his smug face & shoved him with more anger & force than I realised, sending him stumbling back before falling flat on his ass. “You fucking asshole, Sixx.”

“What the fuck, Beth?! Is crazy bitch fucking contagious or something?! He shouted, sounding genuinely stunned.

“How can you treat women that way?! Fucking use them & throw them out like they’re not worth a damn thing. Have you got so little respect for us?!” I screamed, Nikkis face growing darker & angrier with each word I hurled at him. But suddenly, he stood himself back up & his anger melted away, revealing that notorious smirk in its place. He had a ice cold look in his eyes that sent a shiver down my spine &, for some reason, a flash of fear ran through me.

“Oh Princess, it must be hard work up their in your ivory fucking tower, looking down & casting your fucked up, hypocritical judgements on us unworthy people.” Nikkis voice was as smooth as silk, but his words were cold & razor sharp as he started taking steps towards me. “What do you think happened last night, Angel? Because if you think my boy Vince is going to come out of that room full of romance & kisses & offer to buy you breakfast, you’re in for a nasty fucking suprise.” His voice oozed arrogance but his eyes stayed cruel, fixed on mine as he continued to walk towards me. “You’re just like the rest of them Lizzy. You drink our booze & you sniff our drugs & you fall for our charm &, for one night, you serve a purpose to us. You fuck us because we let you believe you’re worth something, we make you think we care. But here’s the truth baby, we don’t. You don’t mean shit to us. You’re a gullible, cheap way to get our dicks wet & as soon as that’s done, we’ve got no fucking use for you. You’re a slut, Princess, just like the rest of them. Just like your sister.”

I felt the hot, humiliated tears creep into my eyes & spill down my cheeks. Nikki smirked as he watched them fall. “Did I upset the little privileged, rich girl? Better run home to Daddy.”

I looked into those harsh, green eyes, wondering how I’d ever felt any kind of desire towards him. Anger filled my veins, anger towards Nikki & anger towards my own damn idiocy. I knew this was who he was, I knew he was a bad person. So why did this cut me so damn deep? I’d let myself get played by him & he knew that as well as I did. He was the Devil himself & I’d been stupid enough to let him tempt me. I looked at his full, pink lips, the lips that, just last night, I had craved on my skin with a fierce desire, now twisted into a cruel grin that seemed to be enjoying my humiliation.

“I never wanted to be one of those girls.” I whispered, finally finding my voice at last.

“But Princess, you are one of those girls, why else would you be here?”

“I don’t expect anything from Vince, I don’t want anything either. I used him last night as much as he used me.” I said with more conviction, determined not to let Nikki win. “I wanted sex, so did Vince, it was a mutual thing,” I shrugged. It was true, I didn’t want anything more from Vince than what we’d had last night & I needed Nikki to know that he was wrong. I needed to pretend his words didn’t hurt me.

Just then, the door to Vinces room opened & out he walked with his tangled mess of blonde hair & just a off-white, grubby looking sheet tied around his waist. He frowned as he scanned the room, seeing me practically against the wall with Nikki in my face, assesed the situation & tried to figure out what was happening.

“Sixx, maybe leave it a few hours before going after my leftovers, yeah?” Vince winked at me. “We got any blow?” He asked with a yawn. Nikki tossed him the little baggy of coke & I left them cutting up lines whilst I went to go find my clothes & get dressed.

*Nikkis POV*

That stuck up bitch was really starting to get on my fucking nerves.

“So when’s the next chick arriving Vin?” I asked, loud enough for Beth to hear as she walked off into the bedroom that Vince & Tommy shared, although fuck knows where T-Bone ended up last night. Vince shushed me as he looked towards the bedroom, before shooting me a look. “What?!” I chuckled, “it’s not like she doesn’t know you’re a single-use kinda guy.”

Vince scoffed, nodding his head. “True man, true.” He smirked. He glanced over to the bedroom door, almost longingly, for a brief second. “I tell you what though, man, it’s the ones you don’t expect that end up being the fucking filthiest. She’s a damn good fuck.” He laughed, winking at me.

I rolled my eyes, my irritation towards her growing. “That’s probably because she’s never been fucked before, you know what those snobby, rich chicks are like, they like being roughed up when all they’re used to is ‘making love’ in fucking missionary.” I sneered, trying to make fun at Beths expense.

“That’s probably true man.” Vince laughed, snorting up his last line. “But honestly, I don’t give a fuck why, that chick is a freak & she’s got a mouth like a fucking angel.” I watched him bite his lip at the memory.

I felt a momentary surge of jealousy course through me as my mind inadvertently wondered towards what it’d be like to have havs Beths lips around my cock, those big, doe-like brown eyes staring longingly up at me as I fucked that pretty mouth of hers. The slam of the bedroom door snapped me out of dirty little day dream & little Miss Too-Good-For-You came storming out of the bedroom, her face still evidentially seething.

“Have a bump with us, dollface.” Vince cooed, grabbing Beth by the waist & pulling her over. I smirked at her, knowing full well she wouldn’t break Daddy’s rules sober. She looked me & I watched the determination wash over her. She smiled smugly at me as she took the rolled up note Vince had extended to her & snorted up the last line of coke. I felt my jaw tighten in annoyance.

“Wow, you’re one of the lucky groupies that gets to steal our drugs after she’s served her purpose.” I drawled, condescendingly, trying my damn hardest to get to her again.

“Ignore him babe. Sixx tends to be an asshole when I pull someone he fancies.”

That blonde prick, I fumed.

“If I wanted her, I could’ve had her.” I shrugged with enough confidence to mask my growing anger.

Beth let our a sharp laugh. “That’d require me to actually fancy you back, you arrogant piece of shit.” She said boldly. I honestly didn’t know whether I wanted to scream at her & throw her out or bend her over my knee & make sure she never fucking spoke to me like that again. Who does she think she is?!

“Come on baby, lets go back to bed.” Smirked Vince, wrapping his hand around the nape of her neck & pulling her in for a kiss. I was stunned. Vince never fucked a girl more than once. His motto was hit it & quit it. If they weren’t out the window by sunrise, he made it very fucking clear they weren’t welcome there any longer.

Vinny took hold of Beths hand & lead her back to his bedroom as she giggled like a schoolgirl. I watched her slink off, her skirt riding up slightly so her ass peeked out from beneath the material as she went. She must’ve felt my eyes trailing along every inch of her because she turned & blew me a patronising kiss before slamming the door shut.

I hated her. Beth was everything I couldn’t stand about people. She was stuck up & came from the sort of family that looked down on people like me. She was so self assured & judgmental & she had an ability to piss me off like no-one I’ve ever met. I hated her with a passion & yet, I fucking wanted her just as badly.

Through all of my anger & hatred, as I heard her sweet moans of pleasure drift from Vinces bedroom, I couldn’t help but wonder what she’d sound like moaning my name.

#motley crue #motley crue fanfiction #motley crue imagine #the dirt #the dirt imagine #the dirt fanfic #nikki sixx #nikki sixx imagine #nikki sixx fanfic #vince neil #vince neil imagine #vince neil fanfic #tommy lee #tommy lee imagine #tommy lee fanfic #mick mars #mick mars imagine #mick mars fanfic #douglas booth #daniel webber #machine gun kelly #iwan rheon

[moonbelt]

»mind over matter

↳ neighbors to lovers au

⇢ pairing: jaebum | reader

⇢ genre: fluff + slight angst + sexual themes

⇢ word count: 9.704

⇢ description: as it turns out your cat loves your neighbors apartment more than yours. consequently it happens to belong to the new neighbor dude that’s stuck comforting you after a measly break-up.

author’s note: born out of this request, and the sheer need to read a neighbor au fic haha. i hope you enjoy it anon! i really hope i did this justice!!

It takes only a moment for your life to change right before your eyes. And although you had never been one to abide or listen to corny quotes ripped off the internet, your step-mother had framed more than half of them around your apartment. In an attempt to bring "life" into your dingy residence. You hadn't even realized that they could, in fact, be true. Actual facts.

You had long since accepted the fact that there were always greater things at work. You were in control of your life but not that of others. Everything had a cycle, a plan, and that didn't by default make it any fair. Nothing in life ever was, your mother had drilled into your head, but that didn't stop you from resenting it.

You resented the things you could not change and loathed the things you could. Like how you could've prevented this whole shit-show from happening if you'd opened your eyes a little wider and seen all the thorns beneath the roses. The thorns being your ex-boyfriend. Major emphasis on the ex because you wouldn't be caught dead crawling back to that bastard, Theo.

Theo. It all led to him.

Well not necessarily everything, more like anything that had to do with your romantic and, in a long round-about, extended way, your social life. A deep shudder racks through your body as you begin to think about him. Oh God, you wanted so badly to run out of your apartment and back to his and smack his head so hard he saw the stars all the way from the Upside Down.

So maybe you're being a bit overdramatic when you say: All the moments that have happened so far in your life were, inevitably, leading to shit. But in no way are you not entitled to say it.

Your boss had nitpicked everything you'd done all day, creeping steadily up your already tensed nerves. One of your colleagues — René — was always within earshot when this happened, like glue you couldn't scrape off no matter how hard you tried. Always ready to throw a sly remark your way every time your boss had something to complain about. The only thing stopping your fist from connecting firm with her jaw was the fact that you prided yourself on having more class than her.

This decision that you wrongfully, and albeit naively, made came back to bite you deep in the ass.

Reason one as to why you're cooped up in your small apartment alone on a Friday night. Keyword in that sentence is: alone. You suppose that the blame doesn't lie with René alone. It's more eighty percent Theo and twenty percent René. Theo. Even his name begins to remind you of quickly decomposing poop. You would never have guessed him to be a cheater, but then again you had been blinded by whatever the heck it was you'd seen in him.

You shudder for the nth time that night as you bring your blanket closer to your chin and sigh into your chest. This whole situation is stupid and you're positive that in three months you'll look back at it and laugh. But not now. Now you'd rather throw yourself into watching your favorite French melodrama titled Piégé.

At first, you'd only started watching it in a bid to get more accustomed to the language as you were taking a French course in college and you did not want to fail. But it had been approximately eight months since you'd graduated university and you were under no obligation to be watching it anymore. In fact, you have no idea how you even got into Piégé in the first place, but at least it's helping you attempt to forget what a shitty boyfriend Theo had been. Never mind that the series is filled to the brim with unnecessary drama. But, hey! You'd rather watch the drama about other people's lives than dwell on the drama brewing in yours.

Turning your attention back to your laptop that's gingerly placed on your lap, you try to get immersed back into the film. The main character — Alphonsine Vernoux — is saying, no screaming, at her boyfriend to get out of her apartment because she "can't be with him because our parents would never approve." Her boyfriend, a man named Jean-Louis refuses and long story short — because there's a lot of back and forth squabbles that ultimately mean the same thing; Alphonsine and Jean-Louis have really hot make-out sex.

The scene though is disrupted by your phone beeping off with the arrival of a new text message. It's from Youngjae, your best and only friend from work. For a moment, you're tempted to ignore it and watch Jean-Louis push Alphonsine up against the wall in sexy frustration. But alas, you decide against it, Youngjae probably has a really good reason for seeking out your companionship, even if it does come in the form of a text and my actual speaking.

Youngjae: Did you know a Tarantula spider can survive for more than two years without food?? [9:32 pm]

You fight a laugh as you think of an answer. And you'll admit, you had no idea this particular breed of spider could survive that long. You figure he must be watching another documentary because this is a reoccurring theme. Almost every(?) night, Youngjae sends you threads of rapid-fire texts narrating the things he found out from animal documentaries, that he's definitely already watched a thousand times but still is beyond fascinated by. Usually, you also sent him texts about Piégé but today you weren't feeling it.

You: really??? thats cool. maybe i should hope to be a tarantula in my next life? [9:33 pm]

Youngjae: lol who says you even have a next life? might be ur last one right now [9:36 pm]

Youngjae: oh hey, i was gonna ask you. are you and theo down to go watch a movie tomorrow? that new horror movie you were wanting to see is playing [9:36 pm]

You stare at your phone for a good ten minutes wondering what exactly you should send as a reply, berating yourself for having not yet told Youngjae about the things that transpired between you and Theo. That you caught Theo in bed with René roughly a week ago and you doubt you even want to tell him.

You know he won't pity you, Youngjae would most likely feel saddened by the events but not pity directed at you. Maybe pity directed at Theo? Because he damn sure lost the second-best thing that happened in his life, the first best thing being Ara, your cat. And it's not like you're heartbroken and devastated by what happened, you feel more sad about it than anything. Sad and tired. Five months with that dude and it all amassed to absolutely nothing.

The only thing that seems able enough to break you out of your trance state is the loud blaring of your alarm clock as it reads you the time. Nine forty-five. Time for you to feed your cat. Your cat that always seems to magically disappear once you get home from work. You groan. Ara had always been fonder of Theo than you, after all, he had been the one to pick her out. You had wanted a dog but as always, Theo had convinced you. And even though at first, you'd hated how Ara scratched almost everything in sight, she'd grown on you and now you wished she'd done the same.

Pushing yourself off the sofa, you make your way to your apartment searching for Ara. Usually, she likes to hang in dark places, ergo your closets, but after you make two rounds of opening and closing every drawer or door without finding her, you begin to think that something has gone amiss.

Alphonsine Vernoux is still going on whatever new drama has befallen her. She talks in rapid French that you don't understand completely because of the lack of your trusty subtitles. Well not talking, more screaming than anything. She always seems to do more screaming than actual talking, but maybe that's just you.

"Merde!" She cries now, and if the broken understanding of the language is anything to go by. Fuck! is the translation.

Fuck it really is. You can't lose a cat. Correction: you can't lose your cat. You love Ara too much and although the love isn't reciprocated in the same way you want, you can't be responsible for the death of a good ole cat.

Okay, so maybe the 'good' is an oversimplification but you don't want the blood of anything on your hands, with a little exception for Theo, you're not above getting into a catfight with him (which you technically already did, although the damage was mainly done with words.) Calling Theo a bloody bastard and airing out all his dirty laundry (mainly his nauseating habits that you'd pushed to the side) to dry in front of his new fling, René was as much metaphoric blood you were willing to have sprayed on your hands. Maybe you were being more influenced by your dramas than you thought?

But back to the real point at hand, you do not want ill to befall anyone (apart from Theo). And especially not your cat.

You're so far gone with searching every nook and cranny of your little apartment for a hint of Ara that you don't notice the incessant knocking that has started tapping up your door. Quickly, you drop the pile of clothes you'd thrown out of your wardrobe, as you had raided to look for Ara, and head over to your front door.

Peering up through the peephole, you try to decipher who's there. Hopefully not Theo. He'd tried stopping by twice since you broke up with him and it always ended in you telling him to get the hell out and he claiming to have made a "grave mistake" and all that jazz that you do not believe which leads to you yelling at him to leave again. Jesus Christ, you were turning into a miniature Alphonsine, the only thing missing was the hot sex. Which you weren't getting any time soon and even if you were, it sure as fuck wasn't coming from Theo.

But regardless of this new discovery, you're still in no mood to see him today. You already have to deal with him every day at work and you'd rather not bring that hell of a mess home.

So, when you pull the door open the door, you're somewhat already preparing yourself to clash face-to-face with your ex. Ready to send him away again because, for the love of God, you're not going to hand him a second chance even if your life depends on it. But instead of Theo, it's someone completely different. Someone that's holding a sleepy Ara in his hands, scratching her head lightly.

"Oh my god," you say, reaching for Ara and taking her cautiously into your arms. You know better than to try and disrupt her sleepy state. "Thank you so much. I had no idea she even left the apartment."

The man waves away your gratitude with a shrug, smiling in a blithe manner. "It's no problem at all. I'm not sure if you noticed but she likes coming to my apartment a lot."

This is news to you but you don't want to seem as incompetent as you feel in front of this stranger, so you force a smile unto your face and try to relax the tensions in your shoulders.

"Really? I'm sorry but I have to ask, who are you?"

A look of embarrassment washes over his features as he soaks in your words. Maybe you were too harsh, calling him out like that? But you truly didn't know him at all. There was no way you'd ever forget a face like his, you don't think. He didn't have rough around the edges, rogue looks like Theo (or any of your exes, to be honest) but he had a sort of laidback and soft vibe with black locks falling short off his shoulders in smooth bouncy waves.

Clearing his throat, he replies. "I'm your neighbor, Jaebum. You can call me Jae for short. I moved in about four weeks ago? Sorry I wasn't able to introduce myself earlier, but yeah, your cat likes to come over to my place and at first I really did think she was a stray, that's why I've been taking care of her anytime she showed up but had I known, I would've never tried to impose on you like that, that was—"

You have a feeling that he's not going to stop rambling unless you do the honors of helping him. So, you interrupt.

"It's okay, don't worry about it... Jae. She can do that sometimes. I really should get her a collar or something."

Since she'd mostly stayed at Theo's place and not yours, you hadn't thought about getting her one before. Theo didn't want it on her and you hadn't really thought about the possibility of losing her. Mainly because the events that surrounded you bringing Ara to your place had been unnerving. You'd found Theo in bed with Rene and subsequently, you had stormed out of there (after giving him a full piece of your broken mind) with Ara in your hands and your car keys already fumbling with trying to open your car.

"What's her name?"

Jaebum — Jae — is the one to shake you out of your thoughts, looking genuinely curious to know the answer to his question. You figure there's nothing wrong with telling him, especially since he'd been kind enough to take care of her in your negligence.

"Ara," you finally say, giving him a dry smile. "Thank you for taking care of her for me in my absence."

He shrugs again, running his hand through his hair and you watch as Ara meows as she stretches her body towards him. You still in your movements of scratching the top of her head. She never does that. At least, she's never done that to you, she'd always craved Theo's attention and now you see, she craves Jaebum's.

Maybe she's going through a phase where she only wants male attention?

You think it'll be rude to send him on his way without making small talk so after a while of restraining Ara in your arms, you fix your gaze back to him and say:

"So... do you have any cats?"

"Yeah. Three but one is staying over at my sisters for the meantime."

Wow. You don't think you could ever be responsible for more than two lives, you could barely remind yourself to have three meals a day and had to set timers to feed Ara because, god willing, you are bound to forget to one way or another. So, for that reason alone, you begin to hold this neighbor of yours on a higher pedestal. Taking care of three cats doesn't sound as comfortable or easy, you admire him for that.

"You must really love cats then," you snort to yourself at how obvious you're being. Of course, he loves cats, he has three.

He nods his head, probably realizing that this is his cue to leave. "Cats are amazing. Anyways, it was nice meeting you..."

"y/n," you fill in for him.

Jae smiles at your name as he continues on. "It was nice meeting you, y/n. If Ara ever needs to hang out with other cats or anything like that, mine seem to love her more than me."

Oh, how you can relate. Ara seems to like everyone else on the planet but you, her caregiver. You frown. Maybe you're feeding her food she doesn't like? You make a mental note to research more on cat food before you turn in for the night.

"Nice meeting you too, Jae. Hopefully, we see each other sometime."

Against your own words, you do not, in fact, see each other sometime after that. If not for the fact that you're mainly preoccupied with due dates from work, you think you would have gone out of your way to make sure it happened because contrary to what your heart was telling you, you thought he was kind of cute. Well, not kinda. You really thought he was cute.

And if it had been of your own will, you would've long ago tried to ask him out on a date because hell, your single and ready to move past your ex. But your boss has ridiculously been on your case the past few weeks and by the luck of your fate, you've been paired, for the latest project, with René. René that refuses to let a day go by without rubbing into your face the "amazing" sex she's having with Theo, not that you even care. Fuck, you really want to deck her. How can someone be so un-classy about having your sloppy seconds? You'd never know.

Either way, René doesn't seem to be any help with the project. You've tried to work with her, although you really want to shove a stiletto heel through her eye for always going on and on about your fucking ex, she is adamant on not being productive or helpful. You wonder how she even got her job as a secretary in the first place. If you were the boss you'd never hire her. But in any case, you're stuck with her unhelpful ass for the next two weeks until the presentation to pitch a new update would be held.

"Ugh," you sigh to yourself as you lay on your living room floor, staring idly at your laptop. "This isn't going anywhere."

True to form, René had forgotten to send you the age demographics of people that had been using your company's app in the last six months. And without that vital information, you were stumped with how to prepare your speech. You wish you could call her and ask her to email it to you ASAP, but you know from experience that she would either ignore it or send you something completely irrelevant. What did you ever do to warrant such unprofessionalism from her, you wonder.

Flipping on your back, you stare absentmindedly at your ceiling. Maybe you should go out? It is a Wednesday night and you're almost certain that you're not going to clubbing today but you want to get out. So, after minutes of deliberating, you decide that you would go jogging. It's been a long time since you'd done anything active, you preferred to stay inside and watch stuff. But Piégé isn't scheduled to release a new episode until tomorrow, and you're bored.

Quickly, you go back to your room and try to find your exercise clothes that are hiding behind more used clothing. When you open your closet, you're met with the piercing blue eyes of Ara and your skin jumps off your bones.

"Oh my god, Ara," you say after catching your breath. "Why do you always do this."

These days she seems to be sulking. Maybe she's finally realizing that Theo is a no-show and you're all she's got. She refuses to allow you to carry her anymore and you think she's going through some kind of withdrawal phase. The only time she comes out of her dark places is to eat or to sit in front of the front door. Waiting for what? You don't know. But you guess she might be waiting for a long time.

Gingerly, you lift Ara up and make fast work with finding your clothes. Once you do, you strip out of your pajamas and change into your athletic leggings, a long-sleeved shirt and tie your shoes. Ara has made her way to the living room and once again has resumed her spot in front of the door. Christ, maybe you should call Theo and have the two of you work out details about the rearing of Ara.

Maybe two weeks with him and then two weeks with you? But then again, he hasn't actually asked about Ara at all since the breakup, so you wonder if he even cares that she's gone. You check to make sure her collar is on her neck before you grab your phone, keys, and earphones. Even though you're sure she won't care, you blow Ara a kiss right before you close the front door and lock it.

As you're walking past the apartment next to yours — room 321, to be exact — their door opens and out comes Jae. He has a leash connected to two collars that are respectively connected to one white cat and another black one. You still have at least a few seconds to dash down the stairs without him seeing you but you find your feet remaining where they are and you find yourself saying:

"Oh, hey!" There's so much excitement in your voice that you inwardly cringe at it. "Long time no see."

He makes a loud noise of surprise when his gazes rests on you, his hands reaching out to clutch his chest. "Shit, that scared me."

You laugh at him. His hair is hidden behind a gray beanie and it helps you see his face clearly and you notice the little black dot above one of his eyes, it's cute — you think.

"Sorry," you say, not sorry at all.

He knows this and his mouth breaks into a low smirk. He makes a move to run his hand through his hair but stops halfway when he remembers that he cannot because of the beanie. "Are you heading out?"

You nod your head. "Yeah, this body isn't going to work out itself."

"I'm taking Kunta and Odd for a walk, mind if I join you?" He points at each cat when he says their name and they perk up when he says it.

You suddenly feel like going back to your apartment and hugging Ara, but you know she'd probably scratch your face against the skinship. So, you grit your teeth and focus on the cats in front of you instead.

"Not at all. Do you have a route you usually take?" You ask as the two of you walk down the stairs, Kunta and Odd in Jaebum's arms.

"It's a pretty simple one. From here to the park and back."

Fucking hell. The park is at least thirty minutes away by car, imagine how far it'll be by walking? You groan at the thought. This is the first time you're going jogging in months and by god, you need to take it slow or else you'll end up passed out before you even make a round trip. Jaebum must realize your distaste about the prospect of making a fifty-minute walk because he offers to cut it short. Faster than you'd like, you agree to his adjusting. Maybe in a few weeks, you'd be able to, but right now in the state that you're in, you doubt you'll last.

Outside the August air is not as hot as you thought it'd be so you're thankful that you had enough sense to wear a long shirt because if not, you'd be tempted to run back inside your apartment and watch reruns of Piégé in the comfort of your bed. Jae sets his cats on the ground, oblivious to your internal turmoil, and begins to lead the way. Easily, you fall into step with him.

You find out that he's a very fast walker as you try to keep a conversation going. You ask him about his job and find out that he owns a pizzeria, to your astonishment. You'd always wanted to be your own boss, sadly that was a bust. He tells you that running his own place is pretty fun minus a few exceptions but it was a family business so, once he graduated college his father passed it on.

He asks you about what you do for fun and you tell him about your obsession — love — for Piégé with a pride in your voice. Although you tell him that you can't really watch it without subtitles since your French is still lacking, he seems blown by it regardless and you feel satisfied for some reason. Like you've impressed him a little.

After almost a good fifteen minutes of keeping the same pace and you feel as if you're finally getting the hang of things, he breaks into a run. You think you can keep up, you're not that out of shape but before you know it, you're struggling to release a breath and you're about ready to collapse on the concrete ground in defeat. Even his freaking cats have better stamina than you, damn.

"You okay there, y/n?" Jaebum asks when he catches a glimpse of you almost knocking your knees against each other. Fuck, this is embarrassing.

Struggling you manage a response. "Definitely. I'm a just a little... peachy."

Jaebum snickers at you, folding his arms across his chest and halting his steps to allow you calm down. "Really? Wouldn't have guessed."

You're tempted to throw him the finger because you know he is mocking you but instead, you squat down and place your head in between your hands. It hasn't even been thirty minutes and you already want to quit, how the hell is he doing it? You raise your head and give him a once-over. In his black t-shirt and matching basketball shorts, you think, he definitely looks the part of a healthy runner.

"Are you checking me out?"

Whoa, you are most definitely not. Okay, maybe you are. But it's not like you can help it. He has pretty defined muscles and his smile sort of does something to you, you're not exactly sure what, but you'd be a fool to deny how sexy he looks. He doesn't come off as cocky or overbearing. His looks are more soft and easy on your eyes, a good kind of feeling.

"So, what if I am?" You cock an eyebrow at him.

He doesn't expect your reply. You know this because, after a few seconds of him looking out of his element, he clears his throat and says:

"I was not expecting that."

You scoff lightly at him, standing back to your full height and dusting imaginary dust off your leggings. He's cute, you think for maybe the second(?) time that night.

"I'm ready to continue if you are," you pull your hair strands together and tie them into a ponytail.

"You're telling me," Jaebum laughs softly at the smirk dancing on your lips. "Bet you'll need another break in fifteen minutes."

Rolling your eyes, you pat his shoulder playfully. "Try me."

And try you he does. If you thought he was running fast before, he turns into damn sonic in front of your eyes. Holy shit, he's fast. You know now that he's toying with you, making you eat your own words. You kick yourself in the shin because of this, if you had kept your mouth shut, none of this would have happened and you wouldn't be begging for another rest-stop not even ten minutes later.

Jaebum guffaws at you as you crash with a heap onto a wooden bench littering around the plaza. Your muscles are crying for help, you think you might need to order an Uber to take you home because this running thing just isn't going to work out.

"Try me," he repeats your words but with a mocking undertone. "You're way too cute, you know."

Apparently, you don't know because you can feel your ears getting hotter by the second. Keep it together, y/n! You scream to yourself. You're not some high schooler. You've successfully graduated university; you are an adult. Being called cute should not get you lightheaded, goddamn! But your words fall on deaf ears because your body is still heating up, you effectively blame it on the lack of oxygen reaching your head and nothing else. Of course, nothing else.

"Shut up," you mumble mainly to yourself but he hears it and breaks into another fit of laughter. "I'll have you know, I'm usually a good runner. I'm just not in the mood today."

Jae raises his hands up in faux surrender. "Hey, hey. I believe you."

You want to chuck your sneakers at him but restrain yourself because you know there has to be something that he's bad at and when you find it, by gods, you would never let it go. You laugh to yourself. Yep, all you have to do is survive this one embarrassing moment and you're sure the world would be kind enough to repay back for your deed.

After all, life was all about the moments. And contrary to how the moments in your life were adding up about two weeks ago, this time the moments in your life, you were sure, are going to lead to you getting sweet, sweet revenge on Jae. He can have his laugh right now but you know in the end, you'll be the only one laughing... you hope.

It takes a while for him to sober up but when he does, he squats down and gives his attention to Kunta and Odd. He treats them tenderly and talks to them in a voice akin to what someone would use on a baby. You're not paying any mind to what he's saying until you hear your name fall from his lips. Much to your dismay, he is telling his cats all about your blunder and how he thinks you'll probably "pass out any minute now."

You huff out a breath and repeat your mantra to yourself. The universe was going to slip up and let you see the thing he was bad at, but until then you resign yourself to instead try your best at catching your breath.

You watch Jaebum interact with his cats and a small portion of your resolve fades away. You can tell that he really does adore them and for a moment you long for Ara. She's soft and cuddly whenever she allows you to hug her, you feel at peace thinking about it. Definitely one of the only good things that came out of your past relationship.

Contrary to the laugh bubbling in his chest, Jae is the one to suggest that the two of you head back to the apartment building without completing the route. You guess he's taking pity on your exhausted state because you simply can't do it anymore. The walk back is better and you're somewhat thankful that he doesn't start running halfway through.

He asks you, tentatively, about your job and it takes you several moments before you decide to tell him about your position as a management and research officer at a fashion wear company. The brand is considerably popular and you've seen more than a handful of people wearing the outfits your company produces. It fills you with joy that you're able to work there, although these days that joy has been replaced by laced displeasure, courtesy of Theo and René.

You don't tell him about them though, it's not like you want to air out all your problems, but you tell him about Youngjae — your silver lining of sorts. You tell him about the days where Youngjae is the only thing that keeps you smiling with his new discoveries from animal documentaries. Youngjae and you have been friends since your freshman year at college and you think it's a miracle that the two of you managed to get accepted into the same workplace.

Jaebum points out his favorite coffee shop as you near the apartment complex. It's a big one, the biggest store on the block, and you know this because you pick your late coffee fix from there when you're heading to work every morning. He likes his coffee black, no sugar and you gag over-exaggeratedly.

"What? It tastes good," he says incredulously.

You shake your head remorsefully, appalled by his lack of quality coffee taste. "It tastes like liquid shit and you know it."

He concedes. "Okay, maybe it does. But it keeps me awake at least."

Smiling smugly at him, you revel in your win. "Still tastes like shit."

The two of you keep talking about seemingly irrelevant things; his favorite genre of music, your love for ice cream in the winter, his favorite author — which happens to be William Shakespeare. You were tempted to laugh at him and call him pretentious until you saw the admiration glowing in his eyes; it was enough to make you reevaluate and let him go on a full expedition of his favorite works by him.

You don't realize you've been listening to him describe this love for at most eight minutes until you're in front of your apartment door and it's time to say goodbye but you kind of want to keep listening to him. It's something he really cares about, you can tell and for a reason, you don't know, it fills you with a sort of contentedness watching him talk about Shakespeare with such fervor.

Leaning on your apartment door, you're about to pitch in your own opinion to something he's said when your gaze catches someone walking up behind Jae. Oh, fuck shit. Groaning, you close your eyes. This cannot be happening. Not now, not here. You aren't starring in a melodrama, so why does it feel like you've been assigned the role of the main character?

"y/n!" The last person on earth that you want to see says with so much excitement in his voice you want to hurl yourself at the sun.

You can sense the confusion rolling off Jaebum in waves. You don't want him to be caught in the crossfire that's bound to happen between Theo and you. You're not very good with confrontations, blame Alphonsine for teaching you it was best to scream it all out when push comes to shove. You peel open your eyes and focus them unwaveringly on Jaebum.

"It was really nice hanging—"

"y/n! It's me, Theo," he repeats, coming closer and sidling up to you. "I came with flowers."

And what the fuck are flowers supposed to do? Flowers aren't going to keep his dick from finding the nearest trash can and dumping his load in it. God, you wonder, whatever you had ever seen in him?

Jae furrows his eyebrows in concentration, trying to piece who Theo is to you. Kunta and Odd are quickly becoming restless, wanting nothing more but to go into their home already and you take this as your cue.

"It was amazing hanging out with you Jae," you offer him a smile, ignoring Theo. "But I have to go now. We should hang out soon though, yeah?"

You don't wait for an answer, instead, you grab Theo's wrist roughly, because you're furious at him, and drag him into your apartment. You're about ready to pounce on him, ask him why the hell he's here — you thought you'd made it clear that you didn't want anything to do with him, apparently not clear enough.

"Jae? Who's Jae?" He asks once he's in the solace of your apartment.

"That's what you're asking me?" Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable this fucker is. "How many times do I have to tell you that I fucking hate you?"

"You don't hate me, y/n. Right now, you're angry, I get it. But we can work through this—"

You can't bear to listen to the bullshit that's coming out of his mouth. The way he says your name like you’re some kid that's throwing a non-deserved tantrum, makes you clench your fists at your sides. How, the ever-loving heck, had you dated him for five months? You can barely stand him now.

"Shut up! God, just shut up and get out. Why do you keep embarrassing yourself? Go back to René. The two of you deserve each other."

"I love you," he says and you know he's pulling out all the stops tonight directly out of his ass.

"Oh, fuck your love," you push his shoulder and direct him to the front door. Suddenly you're very angry, boiling even, and you can swear a vein in your neck is about to burst. "Go. I'm not playing Theo. If you don't leave, I'll call security."

There's a shift in the air and suddenly Theo is too close. You've never been afraid of him before; Theo's all talk and no bite. However, right now the feeling that slithers through your body is unadulterated anxiety. You're not backed against a wall but you feel like your safety has been compromised and you want him out. Out of your house, out of your hair, out of your life.

"Get out. We're done." You manage to say without your voice shaking, but your heart is pounding furiously in your chest. "I don't want you here."

"But you want Jae?" His already rough face contorts to something uglier. "What does he have that I don't, huh?"

For starters, he hasn't cheated on you, not like there's much competition there. Theo isn't the smartest cookie in the box, he thinks more with his sexual body parts than he does with his brain. You could swear that if you knocked on his head a shattering hollow sound will echo out, can't say you'd be surprised.

Alphonsine Vernoux, you think to yourself, watch me and be proud.

"His dick is pretty impressive, not going to lie."

Even when you're shaking in your boots, you can't really resist the urge to engage in a catfight with him. Your step-mother had always told you to go down screaming and by god, you are not going to allow Theo to intimidate you for something you don't need to feel bad for. Because you don't.

"You are a fucking slut!" His voice is loud and you can't help the incredulous laugh that falls from your lips.

"Me? Newsflash Theo; we're not together anymore. I can do whatever the hell I want."

He doesn't deserve an explanation because it doesn't matter. If he can do it when he's in a relationship, what's stopping you from doing it when you're not?

"It hasn't even been a month, y/n," he says this like it would matter to you if it has been a year or three. He doesn't own you, he ever did and he never will. Moreover, did he expect you to wait a fucking month to get over his sloppy ass?

"Are you seriously saying this right now? You're the one that screwed somebody else when we were dating! Are you fucking stupid or what?"

Theo blinks a dozen times a minute, not quite understanding what you're saying. A pig, that's what he is. So, he was allowed to go around sticking his small as fuck dick in anyone he pleased, but god forbid you do the same? (let's not even put into consideration the fact that you're single as a circle sure as hell isn't straight.)

Oh, how you want to reach up and smack him so hard he fades to dust on the spot but you're not crazy and you don't want to abuse him, you just want him to leave you alone.

"You know what? Just get out." Without waiting for him, you pull open your door and push him out with as much force as you can gather. "If we're not at work, I don't ever want to see your sexist, disgusting ass ever again. Take your stupid flowers and go give it to a bitch that cares because it sure as hell isn't me."

And then you slam the door with so much fervor it shakes on its hinges. You pull at your hair, agitated and tired because you hate him so much. Why did you even think it was a good idea to date him? The selfish prick only thinks about himself and must be some different type of delusional to think flowers were going to do anything to salve your relationship. Christ, you'd basically left Jaebum standing like a fool outside and for what?

You are pretty sure that he probably heard all that just happened. The walls in this apartment complex are thin and it's not like you weren't screaming at the top of your lungs. Ugh, you doubt he'd even talk to you again but you truly can't bring yourself to care anymore. All that you want to do now is sleep. Sleep and forget about everything. Never in your life have you ever felt so humiliated. If you could go back in time and erase meeting Theo from your history, you wouldn't even bat an eyelid.

Furiously, you punch the air and imagine it's Theo's face. It feels good to do it, like your dishing out his own medicine. You truly can't believe he thinks you were going to turn celibate because you dumped him, did he really have no sense? You keep going at it, punching the air until it feels like you've connected with his jaw because frankly, it's helping you release all your pent-up tension and annoyance.

A set of knocks proves to be the only thing able to bring you out of your punching galore and without missing a beat you yell:

"Go away, Theo! I mean it when I say I'll call the police. Don't try me."

"It's not Theo."

Indeed, Theo, it is not. Scrambling, you rush over and jack open your front door for the third time that night and through your eyes you see a glassy and blurry silhouette of Jaebum standing at your doorstep. Oh, he's not what you're expecting.

Clearing your throat, you attempt to correct your previous words. "I'm sorry about that. You're obviously not Theo and I'm sorry again for being so rude earlier, I don't—"

You're not really sure where you're going with your apology because even though you know what you want to say, the words keep mangling and choking up in your throat before you can say them.

"You're crying," he states softly and you realize now how wet your cheeks have become and why your vision is all muddled up.

"I'm not," you lie because dammit, you shouldn't be crying over that douche. You hastily try to wipe the tear marks away with the back of your palm but oh boy, they keep on coming.

He hesitates for a second before he raises his palm up and uses his fingers to rub at the tear stains. "You are. I heard what he said earlier."

You stomp your feet in annoyance because this is so unfair. How dare your ex just waltz in here and make you regret one of the best nights you've had in a long, long time. How fu—

"I for one, think your ex is the dumbest donkey on the planet. Not that I meant to eavesdrop or anything because I'd never do that but fucking hell, does he really have no filter? I've never been more inclined to use my fists and punch the light into someone as much as I want to do it to that dude. He deserves it, I think."

You crack a smile at his ramblings. God, it's endearing when he goes off tangent. Especially when you can see that he's trying his best to stop you from crying — he's doing a phenomenal job because you've been reduced to irregular sniffling.

"I'm sorry that you didn't get to finish what you were saying about how Shakespeare should be treated in modern society." You refer to your earlier conversation before everything had blown bigger than you could contain it.

"y/n," he sighs out your name. "I honestly don't give a flying shit about that right now. Your ex-said some really rude things and I hope you know it's not true."

"I know. I don't even know why I'm crying, I guess I'm just frustrated because I should have known he wasn't the smartest or the loveliest. God, how could I have been so blind?"

Jae shakes his head slightly, releasing your cheek and instead grabbing your elbows to keep up grounded. "What's done is done, so it doesn't matter but I just couldn't stand to listen to him degrade you like that. You're an amazing person y/n."

"Thank you," you say and you mean it. "I probably would have gone and cried myself to sleep if it wasn't for you."

Truthfully, you think you still will. At this point, you want to rush to your bed and collapse into a deep sleep for at least ten years. Like you've said again and again; you're not devastated. But you're so tired. Tired of it all.

"Or you could show me that French TV show you like. I wouldn't mind staying up with you and watching it if it means that you won't cry yourself to sleep... obviously, don't do this if you don't want to. I mean, I wouldn't hold it against you. Your stupid ex just came in and ruined your night, I don't want to impose on you and make you uncomfortable or anything like that because uh, you know that would suck. So—"

Watching him ramble on, you imagine the gears in his turning. On one hand, you could take his proposition as a move on a very vulnerable person but on the other you can take it as someone, a very nice someone that your body and mind seem to be keen on keeping around longer than you want, trying to console you. And you don't know why, but you think it wouldn't be a bad idea to allow him to do that.

"It's okay. You can come in," you cut him short as you step aside and push your open door wider, flashing him a watery smile. "I'm not exactly sure if you'd enjoy Piégé though. Loads of drama."

His eyes flicker between your face and then the floor, you believe he didn't quite expect you to accept his offer. But then he shoots you a slow smile in response. "Good thing I love drama then."

It is because it turns out that Jaebum loves Piégé more than you. Gradually but surely, it becomes somewhat of a ritual for the two of you to go for a run (something that you definitely got better at) and come back home to your apartment and watch the newest episode together. Something you never thought would be happening when you first met him.

You don't know when exactly the switch came but it did — slowly. You couldn't really deny the sexual attraction brewing between the two of you, not you wanted to, but this time you didn't want to build a relationship only on the physical. This time you wanted to actually know the person you were becoming accustomed to. And although we, as humans, can never know all there is to know about another person because we do not even know all about ourselves, you at least want to try. Especially since he lets you do it.

Finding out that Ara becomes way less irritable when Jae is around is a golden opportunity that you don't miss, and hence use it to keep him at your apartment longer because screw it, you feel something with him.

So, it comes as no surprise to you when he texts you in the middle of your workday — three weeks later — telling you that he has successfully binge-watched the first four seasons of Piégé in two days and he finally was up to date on the happenings of Alphonsine Vernoux and her love, Jean-Louis, so by association, you were finally able to gush and rave about the newest additions along with him and god, that was a good feeling.

It's not the same kind of feeling you had with Theo or Seongwon or any of your exes. This is different. It's calm. Being with Jae is calm and relaxing. It's more of a slight-tingle-that-washes-all-over-your-body-until-you-can't-think-straight kind of feeling. It's not explosive or counterproductive and it doesn't make you want to tear your hair out by just thinking of it. Instead, it makes you want to flow with the waves and enjoy the seasons because you know no matter what, you feel warm.

He makes you feel warm. When he remembers that your favorite time of the year is Halloween and hence helps you prepare two months in advance so the two of you can coordinate costumes for Youngjae's annual Halloween party. When he listens to you rant on and on about how much you hate René for making some otherwise snarky comment about your love life and when he rejoiced with you when she finally! packed her bags and moved five states over to marry the dude you hope will last with her for a long time because you know nobody else on this goddamn planet will.

When you introduce him to your rather small friend group and he makes it a sole duty to try and get in their good graces, which to be honest wasn't hard. He makes you feel warm when you listen to him talk about his dreams and his hopes or when he listens to you talk about the new things your attention has latched onto.

He makes you feel proud whenever you stop by his pizzeria and watch him handle his business in a cool, organized fashion. Most times trying to impress you and most times you leave there fully impressed. You listen to him talk about how much his dream of wanting to write and get something — anything, published. His parents had been against it. But then you encourage him to do it because fuck, life is too short to not do the things you love. And you can tell he loves it; in the way, his eyes light up every time you ask him about it.

"It's all about the moments," you tell him as you pretend to not see the corny grin lacing his lips as you do so.

He pushes you over the edge when he challenges you to do the things you're too afraid to. You never admit your fears but somehow, he knows them and proceeds to drag you out of your shell. You would say you hate it, but not really. You hate how he knows you like the back of his hand. You're not sure how you feel whenever his arms wrap around you at night and pull you closer to him, filling your emptiness with something more.

There's so much to be said about the way he holds you. Like you were made for him. He tells you he believes "loving one person for a long time is enough." And as the days add up to weeks that add up to months, you begin to believe them too. Being with him makes you believe in the corny quotes ripped off the internet that your step-mother has ingrained into you. It makes you wish you'd believed in them sooner.

He makes you feel content with everything every time his lips come in contact with your skin. It wraps you whole and makes you want to choke out "I love you," again and again until he believes it and burns it in his mind because it's true. When he doubts whether he is enough for you because he believes you're too good for him, you want to scream it aloud at him. Oh, how you want to but, you're scared. It's been months — eight to be exact — and you're not particularly sure if it's enough time for him to believe your words.

But after several weeks of trying to get Jaebum out of this stalemate that he's in, of him thinking that you deserve better than him when really all you ever want is him, you decide that you've had enough.

You corner him after work. A few hours after you've already gone back to your apartment to grab Ara for her nightly jog, you'll be damned if you allow her only to sit on her ass and eat all day, and left her to fall asleep soundly in the living room.

He's wrapping up the last things left to do at his store — telling one of his workers, a girl named Haru, to leave for the night and that he'll close up — when you find him. Instead of walking in like you'd usually do, you wait outside.

You're nervous. More nervous than you've ever been in your entire life. You've known for quite some time now that you love Im Jaebum. You love him so much that it seems almost stupid to not let him know. You know he loves you back, if not for the fact that the two of you have been dating for the past eight — almost nine — months, his little nickname for you "my love," was enough to tip you off. And at this point, you don't care. You just want to let it all out.

When he comes out of his store, wrapping a scarf tightly around his neck, you think to yourself: this is it. Looping your arm through his, you watch as an affectionate smile automatically slips onto his face. God, this is so incredibly corny but you feel your stomach do flips.

"How was your day?" He asks you first, maybe because he can tell how nervous you are. "Anything happen?"

You shake your head. "Not really. I did pitch in this really good idea though and my boss actually liked it. I thought I would cry."

"Bet you did," he chuckles out, wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

"Did not. I would never cry in front of that woman. She'd probably fire my ass because of 'disruption or negligence of duties.'"

Jae snorts at that but doesn't say anything in response. Instead, his fingers rub slow circles on your shoulders and you think maybe he knows something is up with you. You know it's not that big of a deal, truly. You've told him how much you love him by your actions every day since the day the two of you got together but it still feels oddly different trying to get the words out because you feel like they'll come out wrong.

It's not till you reach the big coffeehouse, the one Jae adores, that he finally stops to ask you:

"Babe, what's wrong?"

And before you can stop yourself or even think through your next actions, you throw your arms around his neck and flush your lips against his. For a moment, he's stunned into stupidity but soon enough he's clasping one of his hands around your back and threading the other one through your hair and you're sighing into you him. "I love you." He laughs into your neck because it's so obvious.

"I know."

"No, no," he doesn't. Not in the way you're trying to say it. You break away, dazed. "I love you. I love you no matter what. I love your stupid bets to get me out of bed in the evening to go running with you, I love your writings and the little post-it notes you have stuck everywhere in my apartment. I love how you don't make me feel weak for crying when I get so frustrated, I love you for attempting to sing a lullaby for my niece that one time but instead made her cry the whole night.

"I love you for always knowing what you want to do but never trying to force it on me. You don't understand, Jae. I love you. And I hate that you think I deserve someone else because you're the best possible thing that's happened to me. You're my best moment and fuck, I hate seeing you doubt yourself so much and—"

"I know," he says again and this time you think, he really does. "I know and you don't have to force yourself to say it when you're not ready. I know you love me and I'm sorry for making you think that I didn't believe in it otherwise."

Without much words, he laces his fingers through yours and rests his forehead against your own. You think you finally understand why your step-mother went/goes through so much trouble to remind you that the moments you make in life are beyond important. They make you. They teach you about love. Not the love you thought you had or knew about but real love. The kind that fills you up and makes you a better person. The kind of love that's just waiting to consume you.

With his breath fanning against your skin, you feel everything at once. The connection you have with Jaebum, the guy that you were blessed to have as a neighbor. You suppose you should be thanking Ara for the two of you being where you are today. But then again if fate really wanted the two of you together, it would have happened with or without Ara's help anyway.

You can hear your heart pounding ridiculously loud but you take a deep breath and say it again.

"I love you."

And this time he doesn't say he knows, he says it back. "I love you too, y/n."

You wonder what passersby are thinking about the two of you. Two grown adults professing their love for each other on the street like they've run mad.

He raises his head and looks at you, eyes so intense and burning, like he'd been waiting for you to say it in this way. Not in a rush to get all the words out because you and he have all the time in the world, but slow and understandable. You squeeze his hand tighter.

Regardless of the moments that led up to the two of you being here together and the circumstances that surrounded it, you're thankful. So, fucking thankful, because it means more to you than you'd ever thought possible.

"So, I was thinking," Jae's lips tilt up after several moments. "Do you want to move in?"

A/N: hey! it would be super cool if people gave me feedback on this :) i hope you liked it! thanks so much for reading !!

⇢ masterlist

©️ 2017 kai, moonbelt [aka high-on-food]

#got7 #jaebum scenarios #got7 scenarios #got7snet #kpoptrashtag #got7 jaebum #got7 jb #jb scenarios #jaebum fan fic #jaebum fluff #jaebum angst #got7 imagines #jaebum imagines #im jaebum #igot7 #im jaebum scenarious #jb #got7 smut #jaebum smut #im jaebum fluff #got7 fake texts #kpop scenarios #kpop fic #jaebum x reader #kpop smut #got7 fanfic #neighbors to lovers au #high-on-food #mine

[johnnymundano]

Catfight (2016)

Directed by Onur Tukel

Written by Onur Tukel

Country: United States

Language: English

Running Time: 96 minutes

CAST

Sandra Oh as Veronica

Anne Heche as Ashley

Alicia Silverstone as Lisa

Ivana Miličević as Rachel

Peter Jacobson as Carl

Myra Lucretia Taylor as Donna

Amy Hill as Aunt Charlie

Damian Young as Stanley

Tituss Burgess as John

Jordan Carlos as Howie

Giullian Yao Gioiello as Kip

Dylan Baker as Doctor Jones

Ariel Kavoussi as Sally

Stephen Gevedon as Tom Ferguson

Annie McCain Engman as Christie

Marisa Vitali as Debra

(Mea Culpa: I couldn’t take screengrabs so all images are stolen from Rotten Tomatoes.)

Catfight is an oddball kind-of-arty black comedy about two women, materialistic dipso trophy wife Veronica (Sandra Oh) and pretentious untalented artist Ashley (Anne Heche), who, having lost track of each other after college, reconnect and find fighting is the only way they can communicate. The core joke here is to present a middle-class comedy of manners where the character conflicts are addressed in the same way as the conflicts in ridiculous action movies. So, instead of shouting and screaming at each other, but basically adhering to the basic codes of civilised conduct, Heche and Oh lay into each other with all the testosterone fuelled gusto of a Jason Statham laying into a Steven Seagal to save somebody’s daughter from French people, or to stop the President’s arse blowing up, or prevent brown people hurting kittens or what have you. Unfortunately for Oh and Heche’s characters the second layer of the joke is that these comic book slobberknockers have actual physical effects, unlike the action movies their fights ape, which merrily ignore the fact Jason Statham would have a collapsed lung five minutes into any of his movies and have expired messily before the first CGI lens flare faded. It is a very funny joke, complete with overblown sound FX a la Tom and Jerry so that everyone gets the joke, but it isn’t the only joke.

There is witty dialogue galore, black comedy by the bushel, sacks of satire and some low, low blows to round it all out. It’s even a little emotionally affecting at times too; sometimes the knockaboutery ceases long enough for the human cost of violence to kick in, and then ding! ding! it’s on again. The core gag, the real load bearing beam, is definitely the emotional confrontation/physical devastation slapshtick and it is repeated quite frequently. But then repetition is built into Catfight thematically (Ooo! Get me!). Actually the movie is quite keen that you “get” it so scenes are repeated almost verbatim but with the character focus flipped from Oh to Heche and vice versa. There is something very basic and very funny about this repetition (particularly when it involves the colossus of deadpan, Dylan Baker, as the doctor with the lower intestinal issues) but beyond the belly laughs, all of the violence and the repetition feed into the Serious Point being made about violence. Mainly that it’s habit-forming, achieves nothing and quite easily becomes an acceptable, if not addictive, part of life. (Also, fart jokes.)

Obviously Catfight will change nothing about human behaviour, but it’s always fun to be reminded of our species’ stupidity. Particularly when it’s so wittily written and perfectly performed by all parties. Catfight is set against the backdrop of a war being waged somewhere hot far away, characters worry about their loved ones fighting abroad and then pause to laugh at the TV where a man in a nappy makes fart noises with his mouth, and the war goes on, their kith and kin come back in body bags, but there’s always the TV and the mouth farting nappy-man to make it all worthwhile. And the wars go on. Catfight is a work of fiction and any similarity to reality is entirely intentional. Prrrrrrppppppppp!!!!

#catfight #movies #weird on top #onur turkel #sandra oh #alicia silverstone #dylan baker #comedy #anne heche #united states #2016 #2010s

[irlcats-bracket]

Bracket 5 Round 1 Poll 5

Lucky vs BEYLA vs Mocka

LUCKY

She's a menace. She and submitter's dog team up to steal submitter's food. She begs them to take her outside and then when they do she gets scared and begs to be let back in.

BEYLA

Beyla is submitter's lovely 6 year old pastel tortie! She is FIV positive, asymptomatic, and very very sweet. In the 3 years they've had her she's never once bitten or scratched on purpose, and if she doesn't like something she prefers to just.. walk away or turn the other direction. She spends most of her time sleeping next to submitter (which she is doing as they're typing this) and only likes to be held belly up so she can look at the world from an upside-down perspective. Submitter loves beyla so much she is their light their shining star precious baby their cat special interest is very happy she is around

MOCKA

Shes a brown tabby cat with white in her belly, paws and tail. Shes semi-mute (cannot meow correctly, only a weird cough like murmur), clumsy but energetic, lovely cat! Shes a stray that submitter's family picked up from the street. She has a very tragic backstory. She had problems, a serious one. Her organs weren't in the correct place to be, and were stuck against the skin instead of well, were they are supposed to be! When they took her to the doctor for that, she was also in age so they requested also a castration. Somehow, she already didn't have an uterus. Weird, right? After all that and much money spend, shes here! Alive and well. A very strong cat from all shes passes through. Shes also honorary silly in the silly competition.

CATPAGANDA

BEYLA

#polls #cat #cats #catfight five #catfight five round one

[ladylynse]

The Cemetery:  Ten years after Hawk Moth’s defeat, Adrien is happily married to Marinette–to Ladybug–but even after all this time, it’s still…hard…to visit the cemetery. (grief, references character death, in which Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth, technically an epilogue to my fic Broken but can be read as a one-shot)

“It’s time, minou.”

Adrien looked up from his book, realizing he had been staring blankly at it for quite some time. Marinette stood in front of him, already wearing her coat and holding out his. A lot had changed in ten years, but time could not steal away the love from Marinette’s eyes as she looked at him, could not touch her kindness or her concern. Sometimes, he wondered if he deserved her after everything that he had done, but despite the occasional catfight, she had never given any sign that she regretted accepting his proposal.

“Are you sure you should go out in your condition?” he asked, closing the book to avoid taking his coat.

Marinette gave him a look that told him she knew exactly what he was trying to do. “I’m pregnant, not contagious. I’ll have swollen ankles and an aching back even if we don’t go, so we might as well go now. Come on.”

“I could go by myself,” he offered as he finally stood to take his coat.

Marinette snorted. “And go off to visit Nino instead, no doubt. What?” she added as she read his expression. “Did you think Alya doesn’t tell me anything anymore?”

“I just don’t want you to push yourself.”

“And I don’t want you to use me as an excuse not to go. I know how hard this must be for you, but it’s important. And…and I need to go out anyway. You know that.”

Adrien closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten, even for a moment. “Of course. Are we meeting up with Mom?” Even after five years, it sometimes felt odd to call Marinette’s mother that, but Sabine had insisted. And it felt good to be able to call someone by that name.

“Not until this afternoon. I didn’t want her deciding to tag along with us in case you had something you wanted to say to your father.”

Adrien’s breath hitched. Sometimes, ten years wasn’t nearly long enough.

“I know,” Marinette said. And she did know, but sometimes, it still felt like she didn’t know enough, even after all he’d told her. Because it was still different for her, even if she understood now better than she ever had before.

Besides, he’d known she’d planned to go today. It was la Toussaint. All Saints’ Day. They always went today. And next year, they’d bring little Hugo with them.

Marinette plucked two bouquets of chrysanthemums from the vase by the door as they headed out. It wasn’t until they were waiting to board at the metro station that he really looked at the bouquets and realized they weren’t the same; while both had white and yellow mums, one bouquet was interlaced with hyacinth. Marinette had picked up the flowers yesterday, but she would’ve needed to ask for these beforehand; the purple flowers were out of season, meaning they’d have had to have been ordered in—grown in a greenhouse, mostly likely, and probably flown in from somewhere else. Even if she didn’t admit it, she had been planning this for a long time.

Ten years was a milestone of sorts, he supposed. But there were still some nights he could close his eyes and remember it as if it were yesterday. He tried not to get up and roam the apartment when that happened, not wanting to wake Marinette, but he had a feeling she always knew despite his efforts.

The flowers were looking a little bedraggled by the time they got off at Raspail. They were far from the only people to do so, but most people were turning right off Rue Émile Richard; they were going left, to the petit cimetière. The Cimetière du Montparnasse was one of the oldest cemeteries in Paris. Adrien wasn’t sure when his father had bought the family plot there, but it had been purchased in perpetuity, so his father would remain there as long as the family cared for the plot. He and Marinette would come with Hugo, and one day Hugo would come with his family. But when that day came, he might be coming to visit more than just his grandfather.

Adrien stopped for a moment to close his eyes. He was rather glad his father was buried here; he didn’t think he would have been able to stand being in the same room as his father’s urn. Nathalie had still asked, but she hadn’t even needed to hear his answer before making the necessary arrangements. He was still grateful to her for that. But sometimes…. Sometimes, when he thought about this, he’d think about his mother—

Marinette touched his arm, and Adrien opened his eyes and nodded, letting her lead the way. He followed silently, nodding to those they passed or exchanging small smiles. He didn’t see anyone he recognized, but that didn’t matter; most were carrying flowers of their own, and they shared an understanding of what this time meant.

It took about fifteen minutes to reach the grave, and Adrien felt his heart clench when he finally saw it. Marinette took his hand and squeezed it tightly. She didn’t speak, but he knew what she was saying. I’m here, Adrien. I’ll always be here for you.

He took a shaky breath, decided he didn’t dare try speaking right now, and stared at the stone instead. It was shorter than its neighbours but still rose up about two feet. Nathalie had chosen the design, opting for something simple and elegant, all rounded edges and polished facing, with plenty of room for names to be added below. She’d attempted to get his input, but even months after the funeral, he had tried to change the subject whenever she’d brought it up. He couldn’t remember what he’d finally told her. Probably that it didn’t matter because it wasn’t going to change what had happened anyway.

He hadn’t handled it well. He could see that now, but back then, he’d been too busy trying not to drown in a sea of guilt and grief to worry about anything specific. Really, Nathalie was a saint for handling everything as she had. She was a saint for still putting up with him now.

She’d probably come here today, too. For all he knew, Marinette might have invited her to join them and had simply told Nathalie to meet them at a slightly later time so he’d have some privacy first. But if she were coming now, Marinette would have said something. More likely, Nathalie was giving them space to grieve privately as she had so many years before. She was family to him now, but sometimes she withdrew, and he could never seem to convince her that wasn’t necessary.

Marinette passed him the blended bouquet and stepped back. He knelt to place the flowers in the holder by the marker. “I still regret that this happened as it did, Father,” he whispered, “and I hope that you forgave me.” He glanced over at Marinette, smiled weakly at her, and turned his attention back to the stone. “Marinette and I are getting on well. I think you would have been proud of her; she won the LVMH graduate prize this year for her designs, something I know you would agree was no easy feat. She’s really looking forward to working with a design team, but she’s been through a lot this year, too, and the coming one won’t be any easier. I’m sure Marinette sneaked off to tell you months ago, but if she didn’t, we’re expecting a boy. We’re going to call him Hugo. Hugo Gabriel.”

Adrien tried to swallow the lump in his throat, couldn’t, and straightened up. “I love you,” he murmured as his fingers traced the words on the stone. “And I miss you.”

Marinette was beside him again, one arm curving around his waist. She still held her own bouquet with that hand, and the other reached to touch the headstone as well. She leaned against him, supporting him as much as he was supporting her. “Thank you for watching over us,” she said, and he knew she was speaking for all of them.

Adrien took a deep breath, held it, and pulled her into a hug. When she began crying, trembling like a leaf, he held her tighter still, but he couldn’t keep his own tears back. “You were right to make me come,” he murmured into her hair, “but we shouldn’t have come here first. It’s too hard on you. I should have come by myself.”

“This is important.” Despite the quaver in her voice, she sounded defiant, as if she expected him to contradict her. “He’s family, and family is important.”

“But you—”

“I need to get used to this anyway,” she said, pulling back and forcing a smile on her face. “Hormones.”

It almost hurt to see her hiding behind the mask of humour, but he knew that if she didn’t make light of the situation, she’d see the same depths of darkness that he had, and that was the last thing he wanted for her.

He bent to give her a quick kiss, tasting salt, and let her dab at her eyes. He didn’t argue when she handed him a tissue so he could do the same. “Maybe we should—”

“I forgot the candles!” Marinette suddenly squawked, pulling away from him so she could rummage in her pockets—to no avail. “I knew I was forgetting something, but I always have that feeling now, and usually it isn’t so important…. I don’t suppose you remembered?”

The thought hadn’t even occurred to him, and he shook his head as she began tearing up again. “I’m sorry, minou. I meant to bring them, I really did. I’m just forgetting everything lately, and…and….”

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Adrien soothed, pulling her close again. “It doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. Father would be happy with the flowers.” Gabriel had never appreciated great shows of sentiment, anyway, but Marinette had liked the idea of lighting candles, and Adrien had been happy to make it part of their tradition. “And we’ll phone Mom to make sure she brings some candles when she meets us. We can do that once we stop to get something warm inside of you, okay?” There was hardly a breeze, but it was easy to feel the chill in the autumn air when you weren’t moving, and he worried about her. Besides, it was still threatening rain.

“I don’t know how you did this, Adrien,” Marinette mumbled. “You were so young, and—”

“You’ll get through this,” Adrien said firmly, tightening his grip around her. “We can get through this together. That’s what you told me, remember? It was true then, and it’s true now, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

Something that might have been a laugh escaped his wife. “I don’t know how you were so strong. I feel like I’m going to fall apart.”

He hadn’t been strong. He’d barely been able to hold himself together at the seams. Most of the time, it felt like he hadn’t even been able to do that.

“Let’s just get some food inside you first, all right? You need to keep up your strength.” This time, he led the way. He might not have been strong when he had lost his father, but he could be strong for Marinette now. He knew how lost she must feel. If he could keep her grounded, she might have a slightly easier time of this.

Most places were closed, given the holiday, but he finally found a small café in a more touristy part of town that was open. He sat Marinette down, took the flowers from her and put them on the table, and was able to order two bowls of soup and a warm baguette. 

And two cups of hot cocoa, even though memory would make them bittersweet.

Marinette hung up her mobile as he sat down. “Mom says it’s fine,” she reported. “She’ll meet us there in an hour.”

“Will you last that long? I’m sure she won’t mind if you want to go home and rest first.”

“I’m fine,” Marinette said firmly, and Adrien didn’t argue even though he thought she looked exhausted. She wouldn’t appreciate him saying that right now. And he could count the times he’d won an argument with her on one hand.

Marinette did have a bit more colour to her by the time they’d finished and were ready to head out again. She hadn’t commented on his choice of drink, so he wasn’t sure if she wished he’d chosen anything else or had appreciated the gesture. Considering that after he’d ordered it, he had feared she might burst into tears when she first smelled it, silence seemed acceptable. Unfortunately, he was much too aware of everything silence could hold to be entirely comfortable with it.

Still, he didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to make things worse for her.

The Dupain family had a plot in Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. Sabine was already there when they arrived, waiting for them by the main gate. Marinette dissolved into tears on her mother’s shoulder, and Adrien put his arms around both of them. They stayed like that for a long moment until Marinette finally moved, pulling back to wipe at her eyes and nose. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I just miss him.”

“We all do,” Sabine said, pulling her daughter in for another hug. “There’s no shame in that.”

They walked slowly, Adrien keeping a tight hold on Marinette’s hand and giving it an extra squeeze whenever he felt her tremble. He wished he could lead and let Marinette and Sabine walk together, but he hadn’t been here often enough to be able to find the grave. He knew the general area—he’d gone with Marinette before when she went to visit her grandparents, and of course he’d been out here for the graveside—but he didn’t want to turn down the wrong row by mistake.

Beside him, Marinette murmured something. He glanced at her; her free hand was cradling her stomach. “Is he kicking?”

“He’s certainly awake,” she answered softly. “I just wish that he would have been able to meet his grandfathers. Mom will spoil him to bits, I know it, but Dad….” Her voice broke. “He would have been Dad’s pride and joy.”

“He still will be, unless you think your father isn’t about to brag about his grandchildren where he is now.”

Marinette smiled weakly. “He’ll be telling anyone who will listen,” she agreed. “Just like he was when we got engaged.”

Despite the situation, Adrien chuckled. “Do you still remember the look on Chloé’s face when he told her?”

Marinette began to laugh, too. “She looked like I’d just spat in her pastry before serving it to her.”

“It was my fault,” acknowledged Adrien. “I was going to call her. I just hadn’t expected her to drop by before I’d gotten off the phone with Nino.”

“Actually, I think that was Alya’s fault. She told Chloé we were having a sale on macarons, and those are her favourite.”

Adrien blinked. He’d never heard that before. “So you knew she was coming? And you didn’t warn me?” And then he realized what else Marinette had said. “Alya had Chloé’s number?”

“Of course. She’d had it for ages. Chloé had hoped Alya would be able to get in touch with Ladybug, and she didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to meet her hero.” Marinette’s tone sobered again. “But that was a long time ago now.”

A long time ago.

Or a blink away.

“We’re here,” Marinette said, tugging on his arm when he didn’t immediately turn to follow Sabine. And, sure enough, he could see it now, the polished black stone that belonged to the Dupain family. His eyebrows rose when he read it, though; he hadn’t realized Tom’s name had been added.

“Just got it back last week,” Sabine said, not missing his reaction. She knelt to place her flowers, and Adrien handed their bouquet to Marinette, who joined her mother. “I’m glad they finished before today,” continued Sabine. “He would have understood, but it looks proper now.”

It looks official. But Marinette must have known; she didn’t look as ashen as she would have otherwise. Still, Adrien could understand Sabine’s sentiment, even though he was surprised; he would have thought it would be months before there was time to add Tom’s name to the headstone.

Thomas Charles.

Adrien had never heard anyone call him Thomas.

1969 – 2027.

He had died too young. For a man with such a big heart, it shouldn’t have given out on him. Marinette had been devastated, and poor Sabine had been in shock as she’d been the one to find him that morning in the bakery, but little Hugo had given them both reason to carry on. Adrien had suggested naming Hugo after Tom, but Marinette had shaken her head, saying Louis could take Tom for a middle name, just as Hugo would have Gabriel. It was only right, she’d said.

Adrien hadn’t argued, as he knew Marinette had her heart set on three children and it was possible that they would have another boy. But he still wished it hadn’t happened. Not yet, not now. Not before Hugo was born, let alone old enough to remember Tom.

But wishing had never changed anything, least of all something as irreversible as death.

“Did you want to light a candle, Adrien?” Sabine asked quietly. Two small candles were already burning brightly at the foot of the marker, and she held out a third towards him.

Adrien took it and the matches. “Thank you,” he said, kneeling next to Marinette. Then, to Tom, “Thank you for everything you have done for me. For us.” He lit the candle, watching the flame flare before settling down. He blew out the match and wrapped it in the wet tissue he’d been using to dry his eyes earlier. He already needed another one; it was hard to force his words out. “You welcomed me into your life and into your family. You trusted me to take care of your daughter and now your grandchildren, and I’ll always….” He swallowed. “I’ll always remember you. And your advice. It was worth much more than I ever paid for it.”

Marinette giggled. “Dad always did have the best advice.”

“And no qualms about offering it,” Sabine agreed, smiling herself. She stood, and Adrien followed suit, helping Marinette up. They stood in silence, watching the candles burn and remembering the light Tom had brought to their lives. Adrien hoped that, wherever he was, he was happy.

He deserved happiness.

They all did.

And perhaps, once little Hugo was born, they’d see some of Tom’s light reflected in him. No one was truly gone while memories of them lived on, but sometimes a piece of their spirit seemed to show up in those who didn’t carry those memories with them. If Hugo fell in love with Grandma Sabine’s kitchen, Adrien would always encourage him to visit and learn. And if not, then he’d see that Hugo found something he loved to do just as much as Tom had loved to bake.

He wished he had asked Tom for more advice on parenthood; one night’s visit wouldn’t be nearly enough. But he’d take what Tom said to heart and try to be the best father for little Hugo that he could. He would always tell him he loved him and encourage him to learn, teach him to be kind to others and to put himself in their shoes so he could understand how they saw the world, and allow him to make decisions and take risks and to accept the mistakes and consequences that came with that, trusting his judgement and supporting him. It would be hard. Adrien knew that. It would feel impossibly hard once the time came.

But he wanted to be a good father for his little boy. His son. His Hugo.

The idea of parenthood still terrified him—he’d been responsible for people’s lives before, but this time it would be for a tiny little boy he’d helped to bring into this world, and that felt infinitely more frightening—but he already loved Hugo so much he thought his heart would burst, and he hadn’t even really met him.

But he’d heard his heartbeat and felt him kicking, and that had been enough.

Life was a gift. With Hugo, it would be celebrated at birth, when he entered their lives, and it would be celebrated at death, as Tom’s had been, as a life well lived. For Tom had lived well. Quality over quantity, he’d quipped more than once in Adrien’s hearing. Gabriel had shared the same sentiment. It was one of the few things they’d had in common.

And it was something Adrien would always remember about them both.

(see more fics)

#ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #adrinette #future fic #adrien agreste #marinette cheng #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #grief #my writing #snippets #ml snippet #ladylynse #broken #I'd probably tweak this a bit before using it as my actual epilogue #but you get the idea #fic request #text #long post

[wheelwithitblog]

The problem with The Bachelor

ABC's smash hit The Bachelor follows a group of women competing for one guy's heart. The women competing will go to any length to win the guy's heart. They'll catfight, sleep with him at the drop of a hat and God knows what else. On top of that, the show features over-the-top dates, such as a helicopter ride over Aspen complete with dinner at a five-star restaurant. I didn't watch the show much growing up, but when I did, it wasn't only the cat-fighting that drew me in (cmon you know you secretly love it), It was also the fantasy of it all. The fantasy that I’d be swept off my feet (or wheels) by a ridiculously and unrealistically buff, rich, perfect guy. That over-the-top dates would become our everyday life That he’d spend every minute or every day googley-eyed over how much he loved me. News flash: most reality TV has absolutely nothing to do with reality. REAL relationships take work REAL relationships are feeling comfortable talking about things that I won’t repeat on this blog because you both have the same medical condition. REAL relationships are laughing at the most inappropriate jokes you tell each other. Let me begin a fascinating case study of the show using one of the most infamous Bachelors. Juan Pablo On the surface, Juan Pablo seemed to be what the show dreams of in a star. Tall, handsome, six-pack abs, and to top it all off a Spanish accent and from the looks of it, an excellent kisser. Oh yeah, he was also a single father to a kindergarten-age daughter. In short, he was SEXY AS HELL. He turned out to be the show’s worst nightmare. He was a sleazebag, and that’s putting it politely. He would talk to the women as if they were kindergartens and crudely describe sexual encounters with other contestants to the contestant he was currently trying to get in bed with. It was so bad that fans actually applauded contestants for quitting. Juan Pablo’s season was also the only even somewhat realistic season in the show’s history because the women stood up to his BS. In an excellent article about the nightmare that was Juan Pablo, Juan Pablo Is the Worst Bachelor in History the author describes a particularly telling trait. The author writes: And while The Bach has always involved a strong undercurrent of Madonna-whore complex, Juan Pablo has made it more apparent than ever before. On group dates he’ll dry-hump one woman in a hot tub while the others look on, then turn around and tell other women he won’t kiss them because he has a daughter and must be careful. Fatherhood — the very thing that must have made him look like an appealingly domestic Bachelor candidate — has actually made him seem even more despicable since his child is most often treated as currency to help him get what he wants out of women. She also tells of the crudeness described earlier, writing: Another contestant, Andi Dorfman, preemptively dumped Juan Pablo: She couldn’t abide his general shallowness after their overnight date in Saint Lucia. For the uninitiated, an overnight date includes an invitation to the Fantasy Suite — where the final contestants get the chance to spend a one-on-one night in a hotel room with the bachelor and without cameras, for a night of “whatever.” Historically, the contestant will walk out the next day glowing with post-coital bliss, jabbering on about having the best night of their life and how they have never felt more complete or connected or certain that this man (who is scheduled to hump two more women in succession in that same suite) is THE ONE. Dorfman, a feisty 26-year-old assistant D.A. from Atlanta, emerged from the suite with a forced smile, a chilly peck, and declared it “the worst date she had ever been on.” She added that Juan Pablo had spent a considerable amount of time bragging about his previous night with Clare. Subsequently, after Dorfman was informed that she had “barely made it to the final round,” she told JP he was an asshole and left the show. Twitter erupted in support. I use Juan Pablo to say two things: If a guy seems too good to be true, he probably is. If

a man treats you like that, he’s total BS. Call him on it.

[kadobeclothing]

Celebrity spats of the decade from Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden to the Wagatha Christie row – The Sun

THE New Year is almost upon us and a new decade is about to begin – so what better time for warring celebs to kiss and make up? From the recent ‘War of the Wags’ to Katie Price picking a fight with pretty much everyone, the 2010s have thrown up their fair share of showbiz spats. 21 Rebecca Vardy and Coleen had the mother of all falloutsWho can forget the epic showdown between Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher – that nearly ended in a punch up – and the bad blood between Katie Price and Katie Hopkins? As 2020 dawns, here’s a reminder of the top celebrity feuds from the past 10 years – some of which are still going strong.Rebekah Vardy vs Coleen Rooney 21 Coleen’s Wagatha Christie act led to a very nasty fallout21 Coleen’s post made headlines after she accused her fellow WAGThese WAGs undoubtedly take home the prize for most heated celebrity spat of 2019. It started when Coleen Rooney took to Twitter, accusing Rebekah Vardy of leaking stories from Coleen’s private Instagram account to the press. Coleen revealed that she had blocked all of her followers, barring one, to find the culprit. “It’s ……..Rebekah Vardy’s account” is now etched into the celebrity feud history books forever. Rebekah replied by saying she doesn’t “need the money” and was “disgusted” by the accusation. The ‘Wagatha Christie’ war has since calmed down, with a source telling Closer that Coleen wants to bury the axe. Amanda Holden vs Phillip Schofield 21 Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden had a humdinger over her presenting slot on This Morning21 Phillip Schofield was upset by Amanda’s commentsIn second place for this year is Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and ITV presenter Phillip Schofield. It started in November, 2018, when Amanda was preparing to fill in for Holly Willoughby on This Morning, but lost out to singer Rochelle Humes. A source told The Sun that the choice to ditch Amanda had been “heavily influenced by Phil”. Phillip denied the allegations, and the following summer Amanda confirmed the feud on her radio show, telling co-star Jamie Theakston that an “olive branch” had been offered via text. Apparently, Phillip never replied. Gemma Collins vs Jason Gardiner 21 Jason came under fire after giving the GC a tongue-lashingIn January 2019, Gemma Collins revealed that someone was selling stories about her “diva” behaviour on ITV’s Dancing On Ice. She later accused the show’s judge, Jason Gardiner, who told The Sun that the reality TV star is “lazy” and “mediocre”. He also compared her to a refrigerator, to which Gemma retaliated by screaming “you’re boring”. It didn’t end well for Jason. In August, with rumours that ITV bosses “were secretly plotting to replace him”, the 47-year-old announced that he was leaving after 13 years on the show. Gemma reignited the feud earlier this month, telling Celebsnow that Jason is a “bully”. Piers Morgan vs Little Mix 21 Piers Morgan and Little Mix fell out over the album cover for Strip21 Piers lashed out at Little Mix in a tweetPiers Morgan is no stranger to celebrity spats, having picked fights with everyone from model Emily Ratajkowski to actress Jameela Jamil. His feud with Little Mix began in November 2018 when the Good Morning Britain host accused the girlband of using nudity to promote the release of their single, Strip. Little Mix responded in an interview by claiming they have no time for Piers, to which he tweeted: “I can’t hang out with those foul-mouthed, talentless, clothes-allergic little dimwits? Gutted”. Little Mix reignite feud with Piers Morgan as they mock him and use footage of him on their tour Ariana Grande then joined in, slamming Piers for his comments, saying that women can be “naked and talented”. The war continued in 2019, when Little Mix threw some not-so-subtle shade on stage during the opening number of their world tour in Madrid, by airing clips of Piers demanding an apology. He shared the video on Twitter and accused the band of using him to “make their tour a success”. But Little Mix called his bluff, saying that both Piers and ITV had signed off on the footage. Charlotte Crosby vs Vicky Pattinson 21 Charlotte and Vicky went from pals to enemiesThey started out as fast friends, partying and bedding co-stars on MTV’s Geordie Shore. But when Vicky Pattinson left the show in 2014, she criticised it by saying the experience was “toxic” during a podcast interview with Jaime Laing and Francis Boulle, called Private Parts. Charlotte Crosby, who left in 2016, defended the show, and the aftercare that she had received. The spat continued when Charlotte dated Vicky’s ex-boyfriend, Stephen Bear in 2017. Both of the stars also released workout DVDs in 2018 – and each criticised the others’ work – with Vicky accusing Charlotte of “emulating parts” of her career. Fences were mended in January 2019, when Charlotte came out in support of Vicky after the 32-year-old was body-shamed online. The pair now appear to be on good terms.Katie Price vs Katie Hopkins 21 The two Katies have a long-running feud which dates back to Celebrity Big Brother21 Katie Hopkins referred to Katie Price’s boob jobs in this catty tweetCredit: TwitterIf there’s a celebrity known for her catfights, it’s Katie Price – with Jodie Marsh, Kelly Brook and ex-husband Peter Andre all featuring on the list. But few will forget her most epic showdown with long-standing enemy Katie Hopkins, which started when the pair appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015. Price called Hopkins “two-faced”, while Hopkins mocked Price for naming one of her five children “Bunny”. By the end of CBB, they appeared to have patched things up, but in 2017 an explosive Twitter spat ensued, with Hopkins saying Price’s calendar shots looked “photoshopped”. Fast-forward to present day, and the feud is still going strong. Just last month, Price criticised ‘vile’ Hopkins for her behaviour back on CBB. Danny Dyer vs James Jordan 21 Outspoken stars Danny and James had a war of words2121 The two men exchanged insults over social media in 2015Back in 2015, Danny Dyer and James Jordan started a feud that was more akin to two lads picking a fight after too many pints in the pub. James tweeted about Danny’s appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, where the EastEnders actor was supporting his co-star Kellie Bright, saying “Is Danny Dyer on Strictly???” This was followed by a series of insults flung back and forth about the others’ career, as well as Danny calling James an “irritating c***”. James then decided to kick things up a notch by bringing up Danny’s former drug use. Then, just as quickly as it had happened, it was over.One Direction vs The Wanted 21  21 Zayn Malik hit out at Max George in a series of digs21 Furious Max gave as good as he got in the rowCredit: TwitterIn 2012, the battle of the boybands ensued between One Direction and The Wanted. It began with a seemingly innocent comment from Zayn Malik about Max George being a “geek”, to which Max retaliated, tweeting: “I was just starting to like you and your RnB songs, too”. Then Zayn’s bandmate Louis Tomlinson jumped in to throw some insults of his own, but the situation didn’t really heat up until Zayn tweeted “alright chlamydia boy” to Max. Subtle shade about hairstyles and exes followed, and at one point there were even chats about meeting up for a “boxing” match, to settle the argument once and for all. Liam Gallagher vs Robbie Williams 21 Robbie challenged Liam to a boxing matchIn 1995, Robbie had a blossoming friendship with Oasis brothers Liam and Noel, but by the noughties things had soured, and this is now one of the longest-standing feuds in celebrity history. During the 2000 Brit Awards, Robbie asked the crowd “Would anybody like to see me fight Liam?” At the time, the Oasis singer was dating Robbie’s ex fiancée Nicole Appleton. The public attacks continued, with Liam calling Robbie a “fat f***ing idiot” after the former Take That singer insulted his brother, Noel. 21 Liam and Robbie squared up over social mediaCredit: TwitterIt continues to this day; during his Las Vegas residency in March 2019, Robbie asked fans to start a hashtag for “Liam Gallagher was s*** tonight”. It almost resulted in real fisticuffs – with Robbie planning to book a professional boxing match and promising to “knock him out in the third round.” But wife Ayda called a stop to the whole thing when she publicly labelled the spat “embarrassing” and “lame.” Cheryl Cole vs Cher Lloyd 21 Cheryl turned on her former protegee over ‘live’ singing jibeFrom bickering with fellow X Factor judges Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell to catfights with former Girls Aloud bandmate, Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Cole has been in a lot of feuds. But her spat with Cher Lloyd, the budding singer who took part in series 7 in 2010, is one of the most memorable – because Cheryl was the budding singer’s mentor. Two years after appearing on the show, Cher launched an attack by saying Cheryl “doesn’t sing live”. Cheryl retaliated with a warning via Twitter: “Be careful who you kick on your way up… They kick you twice as hard on your way down… #UnappreciationIsUgly.” The mother-of-one also did an interview with GQ magazine, saying that Cher has a lot left to learn about manners in the music industry. This story is one of few on our list that has a happy ending. During an appearance on Loose Women in 2016, Cher said the pair had “made up ages ago”. 21 Cheryl hit out at ‘unappreciative’ CherCredit: Twitter  Holly Willoughby dismisses Phillip Schofield feud claims as she shares video of them singing and hugging WHAT HAPPENS IN A YEAR? Hollyoaks shock as flash-forward episode shows a DEATH on NYE Mystery solved Gavin and Stacey fans convinced they’ve worked out Nessa’s ‘real age’ ExclusivePOSH LOSS Victoria ditches chauffeur & offers to slash her pay as fashion line loses £12m GOOD GORD! Gordon Ramsay sends fans wild with shirtless Baywatch pic with his sons Final score Robbie Williams had sex with his DRUG DEALER on the night he met wife Ayda ECONOMY ANDY Andy Whyment flies family to Dubai in Economy after sinking beer at airport  

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[leahcaughtup]

TM Speech 6: Vocal Variety

The aims for this speech project are to use your voice to complement your message by enhancing your:

pace,

pitch,

power, and

pauses.

Your voice is the best tool in your delivery toolbox. You must learn to use it effectively to enhance your presentation.

Tips and Techniques

1. Plan Around the 4 P’s: Pace, Pitch, Power, and Pauses

Be conscious of all four major vocal variables, and work all of them into your speech.

Pace — One of the easiest ways to incorporate variable pace is to slow down through key statements.

Pitch — A convenient way to hit different pitch points is to play with different emotional content. A sad voice takes on a different pitch than a content voice, which is distinct from an excited voice, and so on. Stories are good speech building blocks for many reasons, including how they bring a speaker’s voice alive through different emotions.

Power (Volume) — Don’t overdo it with changes in volume. Again, align your variations in volume with emotional content. Anger or joy tends to bring out a loud voice. Fear or sadness calls for a quiet voice.

Pauses — There are a multitude of ways to incorporate pauses in a meaningful way (watch for a future Six Minutes article dedicated to pauses). For this speech, keep it straightforward. Make sure you’ve got short pauses following every sentence, and longer pauses at the ends of paragraphs or transitions within your speech.

2. Be Deliberate (Keep Score if You Have To)

“Your voice is the best tool in your delivery toolbox. You must learn to use it effectively to enhance your presentation.”

Don’t just write a speech and try to incorporate vocal variety on the fly as you deliver it. You won’t get any value from this speech project if you take that approach.

As you write, edit, and rehearse your speech, select words or phrases where you will consciously vary your voice in each of the four P ways. As you grow as a speaker, you’ll hit all four of these unconsciously, but when you are learning, it’s okay to be a little more deliberate.

Consider annotating your speech with colored pen to highlight vocal variation opportunities.

You might even consider making a “scorecard” in the margin of your page, and giving yourself one point for each vocal manoeuver. Shoot for a score of at least 3 for each P.

3. Align Your Voice with Expressive Gestures

One of the best ways to bring out your most expressive voice is to use expressive gestures, particularly facial gestures!

If participate in teleconference calls or webinars, you may have learned this trick. Even though nobody can see you, it really helps to stand up in your office and give body, hand, and facial gestures as you talk on the phone. Your voice will naturally come alive, as if synchronized with your gestures.

The same trick applies to face-to-face presentations as well. If you are expressive with your face and other gestures, your voice tends to naturally align.

4. Ditch the Notes, Keep Your Head Up, and Project Your Voice

Maybe you have used notes for the five previous Competent Communicator projects, but now is a great time to break free of your notes.

When you glance down to read notes, your neck and throat bend and can get contorted. Your voice tends to be low, or poor quality, and low volume.

Without notes, you’ll be able to keep your head up high and your eyes on your audience. With your head high, your neck and throat will be stretched out, and the quality of your voice will be much more resonant.

5. Exaggerate Words

“If you are expressive with your face and other gestures, your voice tends to naturally align.”

If your speech allows, find some words where you can play with the pronunciation to add some vocal spice to your delivery. For example:

Instead of saying “The car was a long way from the beach,” you could say “The car was a looooooong way from the beach”.

Instead of saying “The hamburger was delicious,” try “The hamburger was deeee-licious.”

6. Don’t Speak About Vocal Variety

When choosing your topic for this speech, avoid the temptation to speak aboutvocal variety, like this guy (who admits he “cheated”). If you do, you are missing the point of this speech project.

Your objective for this speech project is not to educate your audience about vocal variety. Your objective is to incorporate vocal variety to enhance your delivery.

Backstory: 

When I was writing my story, I was not intending it to be a speech, para sa blog dapat but I saw its potential to be a speech while looking through the speeches I have yet to take because of the screaming bit and the dialogues. 

I’ve written it months back but I haven’t written a decent closing. I usually write with a story telling format so it would always be SMG. E lagi naman akong walang maisip na gain. Like my BSP 5, I wrote the closing last minute. Kinakabahan rin ako because I really didn’t have time to practice. On weekdays, busy sa work and the officers and I had a working lunch on the day of the program. I can’t back out because I’m ze prez and I should be an example ganern. But naitawid naman siya so I’m happy pa rin. 

Title: Black and Blue

I’m a clumsy person.

Tell me to walk in a straight line and I would run into a wall.

Tell me to  stand on a flat ground and I would manage to land on my butt.

Tell me to just chill near an electric fan without a cover and my foot will hit its blade. That’s the story I’m going to tell.

It happened on a good Friday and that Friday wasn’t good at all.

Since I lack the coordination, grace and height of a top model, Asia’s Next Top Model fascinated me. I was watching some episodes on my phone while lying prone on the sofa. It was a hot summer day so I had an electric fan switched on. It didn’t have a cover and to me, it didn’t matter if it had any, I was after the air it could supply.

An episode would run for a round 45 minutes. After 2 episodes I wanted to stretch out my legs.

*Scream*

I heard a scream.

Asia’s Next Top Model girls tend to scream out of excitement, out of frustration or when caught in a catfight. But that scream wasn’t from my girls. It was from me.

As I stretched out my right leg sidewards and upwards, my foot made contact with the blade of the fan.

After the shock subsided, I checked my foot. I had cuts but the worst hit was on my biggest toe. There was bleeding under the nail. So naturally, I checked WebMD about what should I do.

Blood had to be drained because the blood collecting under the nail would cause pressure. The pressure would cause throbbing and the throbbing would be uncomfortable, if not painful.

To drain the blood, there must be a hole on the nail. I read, it could be cauterized. An electric needle would pierce a hole so the blood could rush out. As a home remedy, I could get a paper clip, straighten it out, put it under the flame to get it nice, hot and ready, then press it on my nail to make a hole and just the same, the blood would rush out.

Since I was at home, I thought of doing the latter option but somebody else should do it for me.

I called my sister, ever so adventurous, “Teh, favour naman. Tusukin mo lang.”

She responded with a glare “Ew.”

I asked our kasambahay, ever so helpful, “Manang, patulong naman.”

She answered , “Ay ayoko nga.”

Then I found my mom, ever so selfless, with my most paawa face I begged “Maaaaaa, masakit na siya.”

She looked at me with concern and said, “Sabihin mo sa ate mo punta tayong ospital.”

We went straight to the emergency. The doctor told me they didn’t have the equipment for cautery. The only recourse was to take my toenail off.

WHAT?!

I was planning to wear a pair of sandals to the District Convention! I bought them just the day before and at the time I had every intention to attend the DisCon!

I felt weak on the knees and proceeded to sit. A nurse came by and explained the blood would be absorbed back by my body. What wouldn’t be absorbed would grow out with the nail. In her professional opinion, I should leave my toe nail, black and blue, to just be.

I went with that.

For days, I let the throbbing go on.

For weeks, I wrapped my toe nail in bandages.

For months, I would only wear closed shoes.

Half a year later, the nail has grown out.

I learned through this experience that information may be available to us 24/7 but this does not replace people who have trained and specialized in their respective fields. If I went through the home remedy, my toenail would’ve been worse off. 

Everyone, if any irritation or pain occurs, please consult a specialist. 

--

Feedback:

My evaluator was Sir Ed, VPE of Manila Bay TMC who are always with us in meetings and we are always grateful to have him. He said that I was satisfactory across the board. 

I’ll take that. Because I know that right now, what I’m gunning for is total comfort in public speaking, not necessarily to be the best at it. In time that will be the goal, but for the time being, I’m okay with small victories such as being better than my I was on last speech. 

He said I have a bedroom voice. 

And man, of all the things to hear that was unexpected. 

He said, I may not have tried to check my range of voices so he’s recommending that I do videoke. 

 Then when we were on our way to the wake of one TM’s father, may extrang evaluation portion, he said that my speech had the making of a humorous speech. 

Sir, that’s what you inferred? I thought I had implied it. HAHAHA char lang po.

“You talked about your toenail. No one does that!”

Yes, sir. I was thinking of a backlash, really. Baka di na bumalik yung guests because of being grossed out. Ganito pala sa TM, the president talks of a toenail? 

But hey, it’s an unexpected material. It’s ingenious!

Or I’m ingenue. I’ll take either.  

#toastmasters

[bsly007]

Epics of the Wrestling Castle II. Catfight/wrestling. Demo Clip from Alexander Akimov on Vimeo.

The new edition of "Epic of Wrestling Castle" contains three videos, like the previous one. Two new matches and one - "from the cellars." The first battle is Anarchy vs Candy. Catfight/wrestling match, where there were throws, grabs, strangulation, head and body scissors, slaps, hairpulling. Three rounds of five minutes of a dynamic and interesting fight. The second battle - archive video. Dallas vs Morgana. Two bouts of three rounds. In the first match, girl need to pin the rival to the mat, in the second - to force to surrender. This was Dallas' debut in this kind of fight. The third battle. Five mini-fights on unusual rules for us. Lilu vs Sesile. 1.Legwrestling (To win, rival's legs need to be pressed to the her chest) 2.Light Sumo (To win, must completely push out the opponent from the area) 3.Chest to chest (Girls pushed chests and should push out one's own their rival) 4.Butt to Butt (Girls pushed butts and should push out one's own their rival) 5.Hands and knees butt to butt (Girls pushed butts, on knees and hands, and should push out one's own their rival) We think you will like our classics and new trends!

[irlcats-bracket]

Bracket 5 Round 1 Poll 1

Submitter's Neighbour's Fluffy Little Baby vs Deborah Gary vs Ellie Smoit

FLUFFY LITTLE BABY

she is so so sweet she loves everyone she is fluffy. she is small. she is tortieshell. she has the highest pitched little meow. she loves submitter's cat. their cat hates her. queen

DEBORAH GARY

Gary is a black cat with a few sparse white hairs on her chest, and a black mole on the roof of her mouth that can only be seen when she yawns. She and her sister Kevin are a bonded pair, but since they love fighting submitter figured they would submit them separately. She enjoys watching people shower, meowing loudly so you wake up at 2am, and scratching people who try to pet her, even though she asked to be pet.

ELLIE SMOIT

This is Ellie, submitter's beautiful, sweet, and amazing kitty. She's a thirteen-year-old Russian Blue with soft blue-grey fur, white paws, and three triangles of white down her stomach. She has the most vibrant green eyes, which people have asked if submitter has Photoshopped when they're seen pictures but no, those are just her real eyes! She is very pretty! She is also sharp, with her claws being nicknamed Death and Murder, and she expresses affection by biting submitter, which hurts but it's okay because they love her. She once brought them a live mouse, which was the happiest moment of submitter's life, they were very honored. She's also an Emotional Support Animal who helps them with their anxiety, though she also has anxiety. Submitter has over 1000 pictures of her on their phone. She is everything to them, they love her so much they cry sometimes. They hope you love her, too. Have a good day. 💜

CATPAGANDA (yes it's below now. deborah gary and ellie smoit)

DEBORAH GARY:

plotting

seconds before the smack

her birthmark :)

ELLIE SMOIT

#polls #cat #cats #catfight five #catfight five round one