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cinnajun · 10 months

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ᵕ̈ ೫˚∗: keep it quiet | ktr

summary | after an encounter with your best friend’s brother in the middle of the night, you can’t help but falling in love with him—and, perhaps he can’t help falling in love with you, too.

genre | kim taerae x fem!reader, university!au (but over the summer), best friend’s brother!au, y/n is an international student from the united states (sorry for all non usa people)

warnings | alcohol, i plagiarized business proposal, mentions of sex but not explicit

wc | 3.6k

a/n: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAERAE!!!!! i’ve always felt like he was so best friend’s brother (+ hanbin is brother’s best friend in case u were wondering) so here’s my best friend’s brother taerae manifesto (@taerrrrrae asked to be tagged)

ft. kep1 members (dayeon is taerae’s sister), billlie members, lsfm members

i. silencieux

The moment you wake up, your head is spinning and you know you’re not drunk enough to throw up, but you sure feel like you’re going to. Kazuha is asleep with her head on your stomach, and you don’t remember when she ended up there (when you fell asleep, you know she was still playing Monopoly in the living room). To your right, Dayeon is asleep face down on the floor, snoring loudly, and to your left, Sheon and Tsuki had made it up to Dayeon’s bed.

The room is dark, which is disorienting, given you fell asleep when the fluorescent overhead light was still on. As best as you could, you removed Kazuha’s head from your stomach, trying to push yourself up off the floor. A glance at Dayeon’s Hello Kitty-themed, digital clock tells you that it’s 4:34 in the morning, which means you slept for around five-and-a-half hours.

During that time, you’d slept off a lot of the alcohol, but you were still feeling slightly buzzed—the buzz wasn’t enough to keep the hangover away, though. You must’ve drank your weight in vodka, which was not good for you, but Kazuha had insisted on you showing them what an American college kid party was like. And, since you’d been to a single frat party during your senior year of high school, you’d been able to pull it off to an extent (you ordered red solo cups and called it a day).

Deciding you needed to drink some water, you stumbled over Dayeon and emerged out into the hallway, nearly knocking into the wall as you did so. The house was empty as far as you were aware—her parents had gone on vacation, which was why you’d been able to drink all day in the first place. According to Dayeon, though, her older brother was supposedly getting home that night.

You assumed he would probably be asleep by now, so you continued on your conquest to the kitchen, practically falling down the stairs because you didn’t turn the light on. But, once you made it to the bottom, there was nothing in between you and getting your water.

Except for a boy sitting at the island in the kitchen, a mug in one hand and a phone in the other. He’d dimmed the lights in the room, which you didn’t know could happen, and he was blissfully unaware of your presence. At that moment, you registered the quiet sound of bossa nova playing as well, which meant he probably hadn’t heard you stumbling down the stairs.

You froze the moment you saw him, immediately weighing your options—you could either go back upstairs and search for water in Dayeon’s room (or just drink from the tap, which you didn’t want to do but would sacrifice if need be) or you sucked up the anxiety and got a huge cup of ice water.

You didn’t have time to decide, because he turned his head towards you, seemingly confused as to why you’d stopped. “Oh, I thought you were Dayeon,” he said, and you practically swooned.

You didn’t know Dayeon’s brother was point-blank beautiful. His voice was deep too, and you briefly wondered if he’d somehow stepped straight out from a k-drama. He was dressed like he was in a k-drama, too, wearing a black t-shirt and baggy, red sweatpants with a pair of wire-rimmed glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose.

“Um, sorry,” you replied, feeling a bit stupid. Your voice sounded foreign in your ears, and you were praying to the gods above that you didn’t sound drunk still. Taerae shook his head, offering you a reassuring smile. You nearly passed out as a dimple bloomed on his cheek, and you began to wonder how Dayeon had never told you that her brother was perfect.

“No, go ahead and do whatever you need to do. I don’t think you were expecting me to be here.”

You nodded haphazardly, taking a few steps toward the cabinets. Taerae went back to scrolling on his phone, where you quickly realized he was reading a book. You picked up the pace, rushing past him and towards the cups that were on the counter. Grabbing one, you quickly filled it with ice and water, suddenly forgetting who was sitting behind you.

Hurriedly, you chugged the glass, practically rejoicing as the ice-cold water flowed down your throat. With a content sigh, you let one of the ice cubes fall into your mouth, and you began crunching on it.

“Are you the one that’s going to be staying with us this summer?”

You choked on the ice, panic flowing through your entire body. You practically swallowed the rest of the cube whole, spinning on the ball of your foot to face him. In your drunkenness, you’d forgotten that you were going to be living at this guy’s house for the rest of your summer and hadn’t even tried to make a good impression.

“Oh, yeah, right. That would be me, yes. I’m [First].”

“Taerae,” he replied. “If you ever need anything, let me know. I have a car.”

It took everything in you to keep your jaw from dropping. The more you learned about this guy, the more insane you felt—whenever Dayeon talked about him, she spoke like he was the biggest loser on the planet. But, right now, he seemed like the farthest thing from a loser.

“Well,” you said, clearing your throat. “I’m going to go back to sleep.”

He smiled at you again, nodding. “Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. If you’re up before me, the hangover medicine is in the mirror cabinet.”

You felt the warmth rush to your cheeks when he said that, and you rushed to put your glass in the sink and disappear from the room. “Thank you,” you mumbled, speed-walking around the island. Then, as if he was a psychic, he put his hand on the edge right as you walked into it, protecting you from the stabbing pain of a rock-hard corner. With much more fervor than the last time, you choked out another “Thank you!” before practically running up the stairs and back into the sweet escape of Dayeon’s bedroom.

ii. silencio

A couple of days into your stay at Dayeon’s house, you and Taerae found out that you both went to bed late and woke up early. As a result, your most active times were around the same time; so, the both of you often found yourselves sitting with one another.

Every night, it would be the same set-up: Taerae reading a book and drinking tea, which you found out was chamomile, while you sat across from him, working on the homework for your summer class. Then, at around 3 in the morning, you would pack up for the night. You’d then wake up before him and much before Dayeon, make your breakfast, and while you were eating, he would emerge in the morning.

You also quickly learned that Taerae had, quite literally, no flaws. Once, he sat next to you at the dining table, and he smelled like fresh laundry. On top of that, his breakfast of choice had been a piece of toast with raspberry jam which, for some reason, made you even more enamored with him.

During the day, Taerae didn’t go out much. If he did, he was going to see friends, and Dayeon seemed to be in love with one of his friends (his name was Gyuvin, and he was younger than her, which she didn’t like). She often told him to bring his friends over, but Taerae would just laugh at her and leave with car keys dangling from his hand.

He also restated his offer to take you anywhere you needed to go several times, though it was often directed to both you and Dayeon. You found that very sweet, especially for an older brother—a lot of things about his relationship with Dayeon were picturesque. If you’d had a sibling relationship like theirs, you figured you’d be a very different person.

All in all, he was very kind, which was fatal to anybody with a conscience (especially paired with his face). If the word “beautiful” was a person, you were half convinced that Taerae would be him.

You’d be, quite frankly, utterly stupid if you didn’t try and grow closer to him. So, that’s exactly what you did—at night, when Dayeon was fast asleep and you two were the only ones left alive in the house, you would emerge from the guest bedroom and sit with him. You never spoke unless he spoke first, and generally left him to his own devices, hoping somehow that just sitting in the same room as him would make him fall madly in love with you.

Soon enough, the two of you fell into a routine. You’d sit at the kitchen counter on one of their high stools, either studying or playing random games on your computer while you listened to a podcast. Taerae would read and drink tea, listening to various types of music (from jazz to trot, which you found entertaining).

Then, you made a bold move—instead of sitting at the kitchen counter, you sat yourself down at the table, in the opposite corner. Taerae looked at you for a brief moment but didn’t say anything, which made you feel decently impressed with yourself. In your delusion, you were convinced your plan was “working,” even though you had no proof that he viewed you as anything but Dayeon’s friend.

And then, it happened. One night, Taerae was out with his friends later than usual, and you’d felt a little discouraged in pulling your little scheme to hang out with him. But, you figured that, if you didn’t go sit down there at least for the hours you usually did, you’d look suspicious (and fall behind on your schoolwork). So, you set up shop, spreading out your books and papers across the table while you compiled them into your notes.

When he got home, it was around 1 in the morning, and you could tell he was drunk from the way his cheeks were flushed (and the fact that he didn’t hang his car keys—in fact, his keys were nowhere to be found). He nodded at you as he walked to his room, shuffling his feet and yawning. You nodded back, suppressing the smile you felt itching at your lips. A moment later, he came out, wearing the same red sweatpants and black sweatshirt that he loved so much.

You then realized that you’d never been able to watch him make his tea, so you found yourself staring at him the entire time he did—from getting out the tea bags from the cabinet to him adding a plethora of little ingredients, like honey and a single drop of cream.

Then, he turned, and you immediately averted your eyes, staring at your computer screen. Taerae sat next to you instead of sitting on the opposite side, still leaving a chair in between you two. You felt yourself tense up but tried to give the illusion of being as relaxed as possible in hopes of keeping your silly crush a secret.

This time around, Taerae didn’t read a book and sat drinking his tea. He put his music on as usual, settling on the same samba jazz he’d been listening to the night you first met. He leaned back into his chair, and you continued to fight the urge to stare at him from the corner of your eye.

“You want to know something?” he asked, a little slur to his words. You looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Depends on what ‘something’ is.”

“We barely talk,” he began, laughing at himself. “But I think about you all the time. When we’re not sitting here together, I almost feel miserable. You live in my house and I still feel like we don’t spend enough time together.”

“Woah,” you said, eyes wide. “Are you sure you want to be saying this when you’re drunk?”

“When else would I say it?” he snorted, brushing his hair out of his face. He took another sip of his tea. “I’ll probably regret it in the morning, but at least it’s off my chest. Don’t tell me how you feel. Just go back to your work.”

You cleared your throat, buffering for a moment. Then, you did as he asked, and went back to furiously typing away at your study guide. About fifteen minutes later, Taerae got up and put his mug in the sink, disappearing deeper into the house—but he left the music playing.

iii. silentium

You didn’t see Taerae until the next night. He didn’t come down in the morning, and you noticed his shoes were gone from the rack next to the door. When you asked Dayeon when she emerged from her bedroom at nearly 1 pm, she said she’d gone to get his car and ended up deciding to spend the day with his friend Matthew.

You found it hard to keep a straight face in front of Dayeon for the rest of the day, wanting nothing more than to spill out all of your feelings to her, as she was your best friend. You also knew that she would likely be less than pleased that your stupid plan to get her brother to fall in love with you worked, so you kept your mouth shut.

It was also out of respect for Taerae, too, as he was probably dying of embarrassment while he was out with his friend. And, as you expected, he arrived back to the house well after Dayeon had passed out, eyebags prominent under his eyes.

You were sitting at the dining table playing Tetris, listening to a random podcast that talked about random items and events that piqued the hosts’ interest. He didn’t go into his room or make his tea this time, just sitting down next to you (with one seat in between, of course).

You took your AirPods out and paused your game, leaning back into your chair. “Sorry,” he said, drumming his fingers on the table. “If I made things weird, that’s not cool for you, ‘cause you don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ll probably be out and about more when my parents come back.”

You stayed quiet, devising a plan in your head. Part of you was exasperated that your stupid sit-in-the-same-room tactic worked, and the other part of you was screaming in your head, banging on the walls, and giggling maniacally.

You slid into the chair that separated you two, feeling your heart pounding in your chest. Then, before he could turn to look at you, you planted a quick kiss on his cheek. You felt like a middle schooler doing that, but it was the only thing you could come up with before Taerae gave up and left you alone.

He turned to face you, eyes wide and cheeks red, like they’d been last night. For a moment, you stared at each other, not saying a word. Then, you got an idea that made your head spin at just the thought of it—it was cliche and straight out of a movie scene, but you couldn’t help but want to actualize it.

Taerae seemed to have the same idea, as he leaned over and kissed you with a sort of fervor that you weren’t expecting. You couldn’t help but return the kiss, putting your hands on the sides of his face and pulling him closer to you. He pulled away for a second, tugging his glasses off his face and practically throwing them on the table.

Taerae’s lips were soft against your own, plump and perfect to kiss. You were close enough now that you could smell his cologne, which was light and airy, and you felt like a thousand flowers were blooming in your chest. Taerae ran a hand through your hair, which nearly made you swoon (if you weren’t already swooning.

You must’ve made out for a good ten minutes (at least that’s what it felt like), hugging him close to you like if you were to let go he would disappear in a second. The only thing that managed to draw you apart was the loud sound of Dayeon’s bedroom door opening, which caused you to practically shove him away from you. You nearly fell out of your chair as you rushed to get back to your original seat, patting your hair down and shoving your AirPods into your ear.

Taerae grabbed his glasses, pushing them on carelessly while he stood from his chair and nearly ran to where he kept his tea mugs. He began making his nightly tea, although you could see his hands shaking as he filled his electric kettle with water.

Dayeon skipped down the stairs and over to you, wrapping her arms around your shoulders and leaning down to hover her head above your shoulder. Then, she plucked out your earbud, putting her phone in front of your computer screen.

You prayed to every god that she couldn’t smell Taerae’s cologne on you, trying to focus on her screen. It was a wall of texts, the contact being easily identifiable as Taerae’s friend, Gyuvin. You scanned every word, bringing your hand up to scroll through them.

“He asked you out?” you blurted out, not thinking about the implications of saying that right behind her older brother. It was a panic reaction, a last-ditch attempt to get her away from you so she wouldn’t find out that you’d made out with her brother in her living room. Taerae spun around, and Dayeon detached herself from you immediately, staring at you with betrayal in her eyes. Taerae looked at her with betrayal in his eyes, too, and you suddenly realized that he knew that she had a thing for his friend.

“I knew Matthew wasn’t telling me something,” Taerae scoffed, causing Dayeon to shrink into herself. “How dare you date one of my friends? In what world is that legal?”

“Do you want a free pass to date one of mine?” Dayeon argued back, which caused you to look away with guilt filling your veins. “I’ve had a crush on him for years, I deserve this!”

You hoped that she never found out about you and Taerae.

iv. quiet

It was the night before Dayeon’s parents got home, two weeks before your dorms opened back up, and Dayeon had gone out with Gyuvin, one of his friends, and a couple of your friends. You’d been invited, but you lied and said you weren’t feeling well, thinking of the opportunity to spend the entire night, alone, with your now boyfriend.

Then, he went and ruined it. You stared at your neck in the mirror in absolute horror, looking at the red mark that was blooming on your skin. Taerae sat on the counter, watching you search through your plethora of makeup bags for the green concealer you’d bought back home.

“I can’t believe you did this to me,” you said, finally finding it in your bag of eyeliners. You immediately began dabbing it onto your neck, picking up your beauty blender and trying your best to blend it out.

“This is not my fault,” he shot back, frowning. “I barely even sucked that hard. This is on you. If you didn’t bruise so easily, we wouldn’t be here.”

You shivered, picking up your normal concealer and beginning to spread that out on the green blob you’d created. “Never phrase it like that again. And, for the record, you bit me. I felt it.”

He huffed, hopping off the counter and walking behind you, wrapping his hands around your waist. You blended out the normal concealer as well, letting out a sigh as it (mostly) disappeared. “The night before your parents come home and you do this to me. How cruel is that?”

“Maybe it’s a good thing. Then we won’t have to sneak around for two weeks, right?”

“I would rather die than have your parents assume that I’m having sex with their son, but okay,” you replied, sighing. You stared at him in the mirror, now, putting your hands on his arms. He stared back at you, putting his head on your shoulder. “Either way, I don’t like hickeys. My friends used to show up to school with them all the time, and sometimes they’d end the day with one they didn’t have at the beginning. It always grossed me out.”

“Then it’ll never happen again,” he replied, squeezing your middle. “Promise.”

Taerae kissed your shoulder, humming. “Dayeon’s getting home soon. We should go to bed.”

“Is she coming home?”

“Gyuvin texted me that he and Kazuha are bringing her back. He said she doesn’t feel well, and that she thinks you got her sick.”

“Awkward,” you giggled, nearly frowning when he let go of you. You turned to face him, and he put his hands on the counter, trapping you in between him and the ledge.

“Good night, my love,” he said, pecking you on the lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Be ready for our two weeks of hell.”

“I wouldn’t dream of anything else.”

thank you for reading !

#cinna.zb1 #zb1 x reader #zerobaseone x reader #zb1 scenarios #zb1 one shots #zb1 fluff #zb1 imagines #taerae x reader #kim taerae x reader #taerae fluff #taerae scenarios #taerae imagines

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batsarebetterthanpeople · 6 months

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I tried so hard not to be parasocial about it but this letter thing is fucking me up, man. I've written a few overly flattering letters to evil government officials before myself. but how did someone convince all these reasonable-seeming people (strangers that I do not know) to publicly sign this centrist-ass letter? I understand they probably got Taika Waititi and Jack Black with the everyone can share, peace and love on the planet earth wording, but Jordan Peele? what. how did that happen. it makes no sense to me.

Ok I'm gonna front load my position on the Israel-Palestine conflict before I answer this ask so that no one can accuse me of shit I didn't say. If you want to see what I have to say on the letter itself, scroll to the big font. I'm as anti-zionist as they come I don't think that governments should even exist at all, I consider Israel to be an illegitimate state the same way I consider the country I live in (USA) to be an illegitimate state. I think that if we're going to have countries at all, which we shouldn't, that country should be Palestine and individual Jewish people certainly should be welcome to move there for whatever reason they want, including religious, but that the people who already lived there shouldn't be displaced because of it. And if they wanted me to support Israel on the basis of Jewish people needing somewhere to go after the Holocaust, they should have put Israel in Europe in 1945 instead of in the Arabian Peninsula in 1918. I tend to think the hard core zionists who aren't Jewish are trying to deport diaspora Jewish people somewhere based on the way I have heard other goyim speak about Israel. I am sympathetic to Jewish people who believe this has nuance but ultimately I cannot condone the displacement of Palestinians. That position might lose me followers but really I don't care.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way

(This first paragraph is for everyone who's out of the loop and has only seen the Tumblr posts about this issue, Anon does seem to know what I'm about to say) I do also think this whole thing with the letter is being blown out of proportion a little bit? That's not to say it's a good letter, it does contain language which blames Hamas for the conflict which is the western propaganda line so that countries like the United States and Britain don't have to admit that they caused and are funding this whole operation because they hate brown people. However celebrities are rubes who fall for government propaganda all the fucking time. What the letter itself actually calls for is Biden to facilitate the release of Israeli hostages. I consider this letter to be the vaguely Zionist equivalent of that time all those celebrities got on zoom and sang imagine because COVID was happening. I certainly doubt that the man who produced Get Out and Us supports the genocide and I also question whether the man who directed Reservation Dogs does either. Most likely they were asked "will you sign a letter calling for the release of Israeli hostages?" And they said "well releasing hostages sounds nice."

(this paragraph is for anon) Despite the fact that I think "these 70 celebrities condone Palestinian genocide" is incredibly reductive I would encourage you to see these people as human beings, and more specifically idiot millionaires who are out of touch. I believe that Taika Waititi understands the Maori struggle and generally tries to be a nice liberal but ultimately he is a man who grew up in the 80s with a lot of money who has an interest in keeping that money. His gaff transphobia tweets (which I didn't think were that bad considering he made it in 2013 and wasn't even talking about trans women, but they were still transphobic) and his pearl clutching during the BLM riots made this abundantly clear (both of these incidents are Taika Twitter originals that people have sent me trying to get me to hate him and I saw both of them and was like "that's what I thought you'd say old man"), and the fact that he married Rita "blackfish" Ora. I'm way less plugged in to what Jordan Peele is doing because I've never had an anon send me his call out post but I'm going to assume that the same thing is true of him: he understands the struggle of black people in the United States, despite this moment of basedness I probably politically disagree with him on many many counts. As for Jack Black he donates to autism speaks so he's coming for me and the Palestinians. Although that said so does Gaga and I'm still very much a fan of her.

I've basically had to come to terms with the fact that no celeb that I like the work of agrees with me about politics because all of them are rich and I am a communist. That's not going to stop me from liking their work, it's not going to stop me from bothering some of them at cons when I get the chance. Because again they're just guys. And most guys are idiots. I am an idiot about a lot of things. We don't expect Taika Waititi or Jordan Peele to know about every conflict in the world we expect them to make entertaining and perhaps insightful movies. I am not here because I think Taika agrees with me on all things. I am here because I want to watch a rom com about gay men who murder people, one of whom is just like me for real.

Anyway do your research

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punk4ndisorderly · 11 months

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light on

The one where Y/N is the daughter of a legendary Team USA coach and used to attend the development program with the boys. 8 years after they last saw each other in person, a reunion brings Jack and Y/N back into each other’s lives... and hearts.

if you keep the light on, i'll keep the light on

I II - something about the way you look tonight III

“Coach Jr., you look great!”

Y/N laughed as Alex got closer to give her a hug.

“How long has it been?”

“Too long, you dick. How’s the missus?”

“Rehearsing. Stressing. Driving herself crazy because of tiny details. The play is premiering in a week and she is so happy I swear she’s skipping around like he’s in a fucking prairie… I love her so much.”

“You guys are so cute, I swear to god… I wish I would be able to make it but I’m so happy she’s finally doing musical theatre!” she beamed, looking past him to see Jack walk through the door, clearly being nagged by Trevor, who was almost jumping up and down around their friend, not ever shutting up.

Alex looked back to see where her attention had been diverted to.

“You two really need to just get it out of your systems.” he stated simply, with a blank expression.

Y/N’s jaw almost hit the floor at her friend’s crude comment, but she couldn’t say she was surprised, he had always been one to be forward when it came to speaking his mind.

“Turc!” she scolded. “We are polar opposites who happen to be good friends and…”

“Sweetheart, you’re rambling. You and Jacko have always had a weird chemistry, and I mean that in a good way. It wouldn’t hurt to bite down on that apple. Also, I’ve already been recruited by the drama queen to fix you two up, so…”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Trevor.”

She stifled a laugh, shaking her head and rubbing his arm up and down.

“Alright, Alex, thanks. I’ve got to go, though. I’ll see you later?”

“Count on it!”

Jack waited alone in the media room Coach had arranged for the photo ops to take place in, leaning against the wall, going through his Instagram feed. Apparently, his former commander in chief had already posted the famed picture they had taken earlier and everyone was freaking out over it. The duo did look couple-y. He smiled when he got a text notification: Y/N had forwarded the picture to him.

We’re too cute for words, Hughes! xo it read.

He wondered if she’d ever see him as anything other than plain old Jack from camp. Trevor was right, he did have a huge crush on her. How could he not? She was gorgeous, kind, funny and extremely talented. He couldn’t get enough of her. He never grew tired of her presence. Something about her had a stranger hold on him.

His relationship had become tiring and dull so when his girlfriend told him she wanted to end things he was torn between feeling heartbroken and being relieved. Even though he felt a heavy weight inside his ribcage, he wasn’t reminded of it as often today because her presence eased his mind, soothed his heart.

Y/N walked in, rolling up her sleeves and moving to stand beside him.

“We’re a hit.” she announced, showing him her million-dollar smile.

The brunette man returned her grin, shrugging.

“I’ve always known we were epic.”

Soon enough, in came the mini tornado known as Y/N’s father, followed closely by the kids who had earned their picture with hard work. They took a couple of photographs before a young girl, brought as one of the boys’ plus one, requested they’d pretend they were gazing adoringly into each other’s eyes while she stood aside looking annoyed.

The doctor wrapped her arms around his neck and did as she was asked. Jack’s blue eyes burning into her own, his intense gaze making her feel something she couldn’t quite explain. He had a way of always making her feel special just by looking at her.

“I think you two should date.” the teenager blurted out. “People would go wild.”

“I’ve been hearing that quite a lot lately.” Y/N replied, avoiding to meet Jack’s eyes as she waved the girl goodbye.

Jack didn’t say a word, burying his hands in his pockets as he tried to act casual.

The photo ops were finished and both were looking forward to their well-deserved break. They walked side by side down the hall back to the improvised green room assigned to the star athletes.

“They went with formal wear for the benefit dinner, Tkachuk told me his team only did casual wear last year… I guess they really wanted to milk the whole glamorous superstar deal.” Y/N pointed out, breaking the silence that had settled between the pair.

“I’m hardly an example of what glamorous stands for.” Jack chuckled, scrunching up his nose.

“Oh, no, I meant Trevor. I wonder what he’s wearing.”

He stopped on his tracks, pretending to be deep in thought.

“That’s actually a pretty good question. He is known for making bold choices.”

“That’s one way to look at it.” she snorted, instantly covering her mouth with her hands.

“Did you just…”

“Don’t!” the smaller woman pleaded.

Jack erupted into a fit of laughter and Y/N groaned, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Not for a second, Messier.” he winked, finally managing to stop laughing, noticing the frown on her face. “Oh, come on… I promise I won’t mention it to anyone, alright? It was kinda cute, actually.” the brunette man joked as he placed his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly against his side in an unexpected moment of bravery.

“Yeah, yeah…” she rolled her eyes lightheartedly and opened the door, only to find the room empty. “Where is everybody?”

“They let about ten minutes or so ago to get ready for dinner.” an older woman explained, as she entered the room to restock the refreshments table for the next day.

“Shit, Alex and I were supposed to share the car we rented for the weekend!” Y/N grunted.

“I was stuck with Z and Cole.” Jack said, checking his phone for any texts or calls letting him know he was on his own. “Unbelievable.”

“Guess I’m calling a cab.” she sighed.

“We can share one if you’d like.” the brunette man offered. “Where are you staying?”

“The mighty Saint John’s. Courtesy of the boss.”

“They really booked us all to stay in the same place, hu? I’ll call for a car.”

The cab didn’t take long to arrive. As the gentleman he was, Jack opened the door for Y/N to climb in, joining her and letting the taxi driver know where they wanted to go. When they got to the hotel, Y/N saw the time on her phone, mumbling something about not being able to get ready on time, tapping her foot impatiently while they waited for the elevator to come down.

Jack chuckled to himself as she checked her watch time and time again while they went up.

“This is not funny, Hughes… I thought we had more time!” she whimpered, just before the familiar ring let them know they had arrived.

“I don’t know why you’re worried about that, you’ll look great even if you have had less time to get ready.” he stated, matter-of-factly when they stepped out into the hall. “I have seen you sweaty, red and disheveled before.”

Y/N scoffed, looking for her room key, hidden somewhere in her purse before halting in front of her door.

“This is me.”

“I’m staying right down the hall. Do you think they managed to book the whole floor?”

“Knowing the boss and how much of a control freak he is, probably, yes. He knows Turc and Z are way too rowdy together and didn’t want to disturb other guests.”

“They did try to drag me out of bed to get pizza at 4 am the last time the three of us where in the same place.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Y/N pondered, turning her back to him to open the door. “Go get ready, unfairly handsome man. We’re supposed to be meeting downstairs in twenty, right?”

Jack simply nodded, taking in the way she had called him handsome once again and waiting until she closed the door behind her to walk down the hall into his own room.

Y/N took a shower, wrapping a towel around her body and rushing back and forth her neat room, looking for the dress and shoes she had packed specifically for that night, laying the satin fabric carefully on the bed before she put on her lingerie.

She heard a knock on the door and hastily grabbed the first thing she found to put on, going to answer it.

“Hey, birdy!” Alex greeted her sheepishly, waltzing into her room in a dark blue suit.

“You look good, Turc.” Y/N smiled, tying the fluffy robe around her body.

“Hey, hey, hey! Is that how you’re going to show up at the benefit? You little rebel, disrespecting the dress code, I like it!” her bubbly friend gushed, sitting down on the bed.

“Haha, very funny! I’m still pissed you left me at camp without saying anything.” she pointed out, turning on the hair dryer, missing Alex’s reply over the noise.

The man got up, grabbing the device from her. “Let me help you with that.”

“Thank you.”

“I see you brought the red dress. Nice!”

“You and your girlfriend did threaten to pinch me really hard if I didn’t.” Y/N snickered, closing her eyes while Alex picked up a brush and the dryer.

“We have our ways…” he shrugged. “So… Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room, or…?”

“What elephant in the room?” the doctor questioned, turning to look at her friend.

“Well, you know, the whole Jack-is-single-and-you-should-totally-take-advantage-of-that situation.”

“Did Trevor set you up to this?”

“Maybe…”

“He just broke up with his girlfriend, Turc. They had been dating for a while, according to the press. He needs to grieve and figure his life out before you nerds try to set him up with someone else, you know that…” she shook her head, looking down at her hands.

“You would make an adorable pair, though… Just putting it out there.” Alex mumbled as he finished tying Y/N’s hair in a low bun, leaving out some strands to frame her face. “Voilà!” he cheered triumphantly, satisfied with his work once he saw a small smile creep up on his friend’s face.

“You do have some weird fairy godparent hands… I trained you well. Can you pass me my make-up from the bedside table, please?”

“Your wishes are my command.” he grinned, handing her the beauty products.

“Thank you so much, Turkey. How late am I, right now?” she asked, spraying her favorite perfume on her neck and the back of her ear, before getting up and picking up her dress.

“You still have time, don’t worry. I’ll go down right now and tell them you’ll be ready in a minute.”

“Just do me one last favor and zip up my dress, please.”

Downstairs, the group had been divided into two, so they could fit into the large taxi vans parked outside. Jack adjusted his suit jacket, looking around the room from time to time, checking if she had come down yet.

Alex walked out of the elevator, smirking once he recognized the disappointed look on the brunette man’s face when he realized he wasn’t the one he was so eagerly waiting for.

“Hey, beauty.” he greeted him.

“Hey, Turc.”

“She’ll be down in a minute.”

“What?” he mumbled, snapping back to reality, having clearly missed the suggestive tone of his voice.

“You don’t fool anyone, Hughesy.” his friend winked, leaving him alone to join Cole by the front desk.

He pretended he didn’t understand what he meant, leaning against the pillar next to the large couches in the main entrance, going through his social media feeds for the tenth time in half an hour. Nothing new.

His older brother had texted him to let him know he had seen the picture Coach had shared and that he “totally approved” but had “dibs” on her since he had known her for longer than he did to which he had replied with a middle finger emoji.

“Finally!” Trevor chanted, throwing his hands up in the air as he approached Jack by the pillar. “I was beginning to think I was going to have to get you ready myself!”

Jack looked up from his phone, being left speechless at the sight of her. He knew she’d look amazing, but he had no idea that, ten years later, she could still knock the wind out of him.

Y/N had chosen a beautiful red A-line dress with a generous square cleavage that accentuated her tiny waist. She could only be described as a fallen angel. He bit down on his bottom lip, clearly too distracted by her beauty to be more subtle about checking her out.

“Okay, beauty, you can breathe now.” Alex came up from behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. “Come on, everybody, Coach Jr. is here. Let’s go.”

At the sound of Alex’s voice, Y/N glanced in their direction, locking eyes with Jack. She smiled softly, scrunching up her nose the way she always did. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Alex linked arms with Y/N, leading her outside and leaving him standing there, completely dumbfounded.

“Dude, did you just choke?” Trevor asked, trying to hold in a cackle.

“Shut up.”

#jack hughes x reader #jack hughes blurb #jack hughes #jack hughes fanfiction #fanfic #trevor zegras #hockey boys #hockey blurb #team usa #cole caufield #alex turcotte #y/n x jack hughes #hockey

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punkeccentricenigma · 7 months

Note

Hello, I saw your requests are open. So I decided to send something.

Could you write a few headcanons for the rise boys with a reader that’s from another country. And could you leave it open from where? And reader has a different native language, English would be their second language. It would be kinda funny if the turtles (or one of them) doesn’t realize reader is a foreigner at first.

I‘m not from the USA and would love to see something with a foreign reader.

Thank you and have a nice rest of your day. :3

Rise!Boys with Reader from different country

Relationship status: platonic/romantic

Reader prounouns: They/Them

TW: Some grammatical errors because english is not my first language.

Author's note: I apologize for the long wait for this order; a lot has happened in my life. Not only did many of my childhood idols turn out to be bad people, but also my mom told me to leave home after we argued, and I poured out all my grievances to her. So, well, soon I probably won't have a place to live because my savings are too small to even rent a room. Plus, my mom took away all my painkillers, and the migraines haven't disappeared, so I'm in pain all the time.

But on the bright side, with the help of my friend, I managed to create a CV, and tomorrow I'm going to submit it to a company where I can work :D Unfortunately, I'll have to wait over a month for the tests, but it will be the first step in overcoming my fear of people.

But anyway, thank you anon, have a nice day/night too!! :D

Leonardo

◇Do I really have to state the obvious as if it weren't clear? Leo is a goof; not a single thought crossed his mind that you might be even more different than him.

◇Even if April dropped subtle hints about your nationality, it just didn't register. Comics with Jupiter Jim are too captivating for him to bother with trivial facts.

◇It only hit him when your phone rang during a shared skateboarding session. When you answered and started speaking in your language, the guy literally had a Pikachu's surprised face.

◇After that, brace yourself for a million questions from the curious turtle. You'll be happy to answer.

◇Leonardo has a knack for learning languages, even if it's just basic words.

◇Thanks to Sr Hueso in his life, he's picking up Spanish. So, what's stopping him from learning your language too?

◇Btw, praise him every time he says something right; he needs that.

◇He'll also be eager to learn about cultural differences between you two. You might not seem very different, but a deeper look might reveal significant distinctions.

◇Ohohoho! National costumes? He'd gladly try them on.

◇But expect him to tease you by intentionally mispronouncing a few words or judging you based on stereotypes about people from your country.

◇If it makes you cry or get angry, he'll make sure never to do it again.

◇He likes food from your country but more as an occasional thing. If he could, he'd probably just eat pizza all the time.

Raphael

◇Raph, despite not being as dumb as Leo, suspected from the start that something was up with you that you hadn't mentioned.

◇But it never occurred to him to ask.

◇He ultimately found out from his father. Indirect, but still.

Raphael sighed throatily, rummaging through his kitchen cabinets. Your ears lightly twitched at each muffled or not-so-muffled clatter of things in those cabinets.

"What are you looking for?" Their voice carried both curiosity and a hint of irritation as she added more pepperoni slices to the light pizza dough. The turtle sighed again, this time softer, closing another cabinet to look at Their.

"I can't find any cups or glasses anywhere," his gaze expressed annoyance. "Probably those idiots kept taking new dishes instead of washing theirs, and now they're hoarding a mountain of dirty ones like hamsters."

"You complain about them, but guess whose kitchen I found a bunch of dirty plates breeding a new species in?" Their laughter started to grate on his head, but despite his efforts, a smile appeared on his rough lips.

"That's different; I, um... I'm the oldest, I'm allowed!"

"Ohohoho! [Y.N], my dear!" Splinter entered the red kitchen excitedly, appearing right behind the teenager using his ninja skills. "Are you making your delicious [Most popular dish in your country] again? My mouth waters at the mere thought!"

"Er, what?" Raph had a slightly puzzled expression, hearing about such a dish for the first time. What is that even?

"Oh, unfortunately no, just regular pizza," [Y.N] replied with an apologetic look, placing the last slice of meat. "But don't worry, maybe I'll bring that tomorrow, sounds good?"

"Oh, yes, definitely!"

◇Shortly after that incident, he asked about that dish.

"Oh? That's one of the dishes from my country."

"From your country? I didn't think America had such food to offer."

"Raph, I'm not from America."

"... What?"

◇Less surprised than Leo, but still.

◇Since then, you've been explaining everything about yourself and your country to him.

◇The biggest fan of dishes from your country, especially the way you make them.

◇Raph has a simple mind, so it will take a long time before he grasps the basics of your language, but he remembers many words that he tries to use at the nearest opportunity.

◇He loves it when he says a word correctly, and you pat him on the head as a reward.

◇As for clothing... sorry, but he's too big for that.

◇BUT, you'll make him bracelets in the colors of the flag if he insists.

◇There won't be jokes about your origin; Raph is too respectful turtle for that.

Donatello

◇He's not dumb (usually), and I think he'll be the first to ask if there's anything you haven't told him.

◇Of course, what is life without a bit of fun? You denied it.

◇Thanks to that, it was a game of cat and mouse for two weeks.

◇Eventually, Donnie hacked into one of your social media accounts where you clearly stated which country you're from. If not, he just had to check the login history in different countries.

◇Of course, he got a smack on the back of the head.

(And it's very possible his brothers put him in isolation overnight, you know, that place when Splinter had a fever? Who knows.)

◇You think he won't quickly learn the basics of your language? Dude, he taught a squirrels sign language, what can't he do?

◇Thanks to that, you can talk about various topics that shouldn't be brought up around his family in your native language.

◇And as a fun fact, wanting to surprise him, you asked Shelldon to teach you binary code. The guy was amazed, and Leo wanted to perform exorcisms on you.

◇Maybe he's not as intrigued by your culture, but he wouldn't want to offend you, so if you start talking about it, he won't stop you.

◇On the other hand, he really appreciates national costumes, maybe even doing that scene with you like they were hypnotized? You won't have to ask him for long.

◇Not a big fan of your national dishes, maybe because of the consistency? Or the unusual taste?

◇He'll likely tease you about your origin, but they'll be harmless jokes.

Michelangelo

◇Silly kid. Just a silly kid.

◇Nah, kidding, it just never crossed his mind that his friend is from a different country.

◇And you found it amusing to some extent.

◇Eventually, you told him about it when he got fascinated by a painting from your country.

◇Surprised Pikachu face ver.2

◇Probably the most excited about learning your culture, even if he doesn't understand it and it differs significantly from what's prevalent in America.

◇If your country has an unusual drawing style, he'll beg you to try it together. How can you refuse such an angel? (Not really an angel, especially when Dr. Rude comes into play)

◇He'll be the first to want to try on national costumes, both male and female.

◇He'll also want to, this time by himself, cook some dishes from your country.

◇He burned the kitchen.

◇A total failure when it comes to learning languages, so either you give up on teaching him, or you'll need a lot of patience.

◇Relatively supportive turtle, but he won't be as mindful of your origin afterward; it'll be like it used to be with the extra toppings.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rise donnie x reader #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt x y/n #rottmnt x you #rise leo x reader #rise mikey x reader #rise raph x reader #rottmnt x reader

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fickes · 4 months

Note

hiiiiii

as a pre top surgery transmasc i adore your art so much. it makes me so happy and gives me hope that someday i too will be able to get top surgery!

okay so i like asking peoples personal experiences, so what were the most interesting things about getting ready for top surgery, the surgery itself or the recovery process in your eyes?

also how long did it take to get off of the binder after the surgery? thats the part i worry about the most bc i cant wear a binder bc my lungs are inept (affectionate) so i worry how thatll go but i mean itll be worth it obviously.

anyway whatever you are comfortable sharing about the surgery process, id love to hear it!!! have a great rest of your day

Thanks so much :) I'm answering this publicly in case other people find this information useful, but let me know if it's a problem and I'll take it down right away. Also feel free to message me with any follow-up questions.

I should let you know a lot of my comics are a bit dramatized for comedic purposes. I don't lie at all but sometimes I phrase things to be funny, not accurate ;)

Let's get into it - first of all, speaking as someone who needed top surgery but felt it was a pipe dream for soso long, I'll say a) it was well worth the wait and b) it wasn't nearly as hard as I expected it to be, both logistically and physically. I had the advantage that I live in a pretty liberal state in transgender law and financial aid, but the disadvantage of having a few medical conditions that I expected to make the surgery pretty hard on me (and that blocked me a little in terms of getting medical permission). If you live in the USA, I may have more specific legal guidelines for you if you want it.

In terms of the binder! I actually have a chest deformity that made wearing a binder extremely painful and probably damaging. I usually had to opt for sports bras etc., and this was a big concern for me, too, in terms of the binder that you have to wear after surgery. The vest the hospital gave me was problematic because it didn't fit me right and was causing a lot of pain. I'm not sure if my deformity had to do with it or not. But the point is: I told them the problem, and they gave me the option of just going out and buying Under Armour compression sportswear. This SAVED me, and it was FAR less painful than any binder or binder substitute I've ever worn. I could wear it 24/7 and barely even notice the pain, and it was only about $20 online. This is definitely worth asking about ahead of time to any potential surgeon. Even if this particular solution doesn't work for your case, they probably have others. There are a lot of us with bad lungs/ribs!

I was required to wear the compression shirt for 6 weeks. After that, I've chosen to continue wearing it on and off because I still have a little swelling. They expect that to be done by 6 months.

The worst parts were the vest (before I replaced it with the sportswear) and the drains. The worst part about the drains is they do hurt, and if the tubes shift at all you can feel it inside your body (BAD feeling). Unlike everything else, they were gradually hurting more the longer I had them. I got them out after a week, and after that recovery was no problemo at all. The drains are the hard part - I think most people agree with me on this one. Some people experience pain getting them removed, too, but for me it just felt a little weird.

The most interesting thing to me was the result itself. The wound, the bruising, the stitches, the glue, and the scars. Watching my own skin heal itself into a new shape was fascinating! I was allowed to change the dressing on day 2 and it was a pretty gruesome sight, but it also felt RIGHT. I was expecting a difficult adjustment. Even with the gender euphoria, a lot of trans people say they felt woozy or strange when they first saw the results. It can take a long time for your brain to adjust to your new shape. But for some reason, for me, it just immediately felt right. It's already hard to imagine my chest having ever been different.

#ask #top surgery journal #wishing you the best possible care :)

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communist-ojou-sama · 2 months

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What's like the point of insisting that black people in the USA (&probably Europe but that's not what the discourse is about) don't benefit from imperialism other than feeling good? Like when they annoy bloggers for generalizing people of the USA the topic of discussion is most of the time either actions of the state itself or dominant culture. Demanding people to specify "white" is somewhat obnoxious to non-Americans, but it doesn't change the points in the slightest (sometimes it's even fair when it comes to say settler mentality, probably also when it comes to religion).

Black people constitute 13(?)% of USA population and are in fact mostly poor, so even if we completely ignore their participation in imperialism it doesn't change things, so it's not even meaningful sabotage.

I am not American so I probably don't know how it affects movements inside, but it really feels pointless.

(In fact the only people whom I saw be really offended by it are black people not from USA, so like. Also by obnoxious I meant that I saw them accuse of racism for not specifying "white Americans" people who are not white in the first place, because it feels like "you have to know the internal complexities of my country while I can not know anything about your")

I understand the well-meaning nature of this ask, so I'm going to try my best to reply in kind in the spirit of good faith. First and foremost the thing that people need to get updated on is that most black USians are not poor. Less than 20% of black people in the US live below the federal poverty line, a little over 17%. That is in fact about twice the poverty rate of White USians, and the federal poverty line certainly does not represent the increasing hardships brought upon Especially black people by the de-industrialization and precaritization of the US economy, but even adjusting for that, the fact of the matter is, most of us Are Not Poor. Poverty is widespread enough in our communities that there's almost no one among us that doesn't know someone in our family or social circle that does live in crushing poverty, but that is not the reality of Most of our day-to-day lives. And that's the thing that makes me mad, instead its the laundering of the suffering of people we See in our lives that is being used to win internet arguments and be petty bullies. Perhaps excluding the very richest Black USians, blackness is absolutely something that leaves us potentially marked for execution at any time and within the US we face constant institutional abuse and deprivation, most notably in medical settings; there's no denying we're at the rock bottom of the US's vicious and brutal racial caste system.

However, where is this reality any different for black people? If you compare the PPP-adjusted GDP per capita of Black USians to, for example, Black Ayitians, Black Jamaicans, Black Brazilians, Afro-Latinos, and indeed Black Africans, the reality is that while we're still black, we're by far the richest black community in the world, and how did we get so much richer than other Black communities? It's through our bitchass "community leaders" who have done nothing for decades but push class collaborationism and "black capitalism" in the community, collaborationism with global white-supremacist fascism, in the wake of the systematic destruction of the radical Black liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

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ausetkmt · 7 months

Text

Calls for justice filled Bay Street Sunday afternoon as dozens of people rallied on the steps of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office headquarters after a video went viral showing the arrest of 24-year-old Le'Keian Woods.

Woods' arrest on Friday was caught on video by a bystander showing multiple officers standing and kneeling over him. At one point, an officer picks Woods up and slams him onto the grass.

Moments later, officers lifted Woods up, revealing bruises and blood across his face. Woods' family accused the officers of punching him during the incident, causing his facial injuries, although this isn't shown in the arrest video.

The family told First Coast Newsthat Woods, his uncle and his friend were pulled over for not wearing their seatbelts as they were on their way to Woods' grandmother's house.

The Sheriff's Office says the incident is under administrative review.

USA TODAY noted the incident is the latest case of alleged police brutality, where encounters with police over traffic violations have turned violent or even fatal. Recent studies have shown racial disparities in policing and experts have said Black people are disproportionately stopped or searched by law enforcement across the country.

During a rally Sunday afternoon, Woods' mother, Natassia Woods, spoke to the crowd describing how hard it's been to get an update on her son's condition. She told First Coast News her son's attorney, Harry Daniels, told her that Woods was going to and from the hospital to be treated for a concussion.

“I’m at a point now that I just want answers for my son," Woods told the crowd. "I want justice for my son. No one should be beaten like that.”

Natassia Woods isn’t the only calling for those things — as she was surrounded by dozens of people with signs and posters.

“We were definitely outraged," said Mary Dennis, who attended the rally. "When I saw the video, I just couldn’t believe that it took that many people to take one person down.”

Woods' mother said she did get a chance to speak with her son, but it was a painful conversation.

"When he called me from the jail, he said, 'Mama, what happened to me?'" Natassia Woods said.

"He didn't even know he got beat like that. He didn't even know that stuff had happened to him. He did not know that he had got beaten that bad."

The Sheriff's Office shared the following statement withmedia on Saturday regarding the incident:

"The agency takes all allegations of inappropriate use of force by JSO officers seriously. As such, this incident is now under administrative review to determine if the involved officers violated any JSO policy. Because the matter is currently under investigation, the agency cannot comment further about the incident until the investigation is completed.”

The Jacksonville Community Action Committee, who organized the rally, called for three things in light of Woods' arrest going viral on social media.

One, for the officers responsible to be held accountable. Two, for the Sheriff's Office to get rid of the gang unit. Three, create a public safety committee made up of community members to review public safety policies.

“Why can’t the city have an institution that can hear the voices of the community in a controlled way that can affect policy in a positive way," said Michael Sampson with the Jacksonville Community Action Committee.

Woods is being held on charges of armed drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and resisting an officer with violence.

Police shooting: Jacksonville state attorney deems officer justified in shooting of Jamee Johnson

Attorney Dexter Van Harris represented Woods in court Sunday morning. Van Harris told First Coast News the judge found no probable cause on two of the six charges he is facing, and his bail on the other four totals about $170,000.

Woods' next court date is scheduled for Oct. 24.

Woods was previously arrested and faced a second-degree murder charge in 2018 for an attempted robbery at a Tallahassee apartment complex where his roommate was fatally shot, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Traffic stops across the United States

A number of high-profile cases of police brutality have begun with traffic violations. Traffic stops are one of the most common interactions civilians have with police and while a majority end uneventfully, experts have said people of color — particularly Black people — are disproportionately stopped by police, USA TODAY reported.

These encounters can quickly escalate into violent, and sometimes fatal, incidents. Hundreds of people, including Tyre Nichols, Patrick Lyoya, Daunte Wright, Jayland Walker, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland and Walter Scott have been killed after being stopped by law enforcement for traffic violations.

Police pull over more than 50,000 people daily and more than 20 million motorists annually, according to the Stanford Open Policing Project. Officers generally stop and search Black drivers at higher rates, the study found.

Daniels said Woods' case "bears a striking similarity" to the shooting of 22-year-old Jamee Johnson in 2019. The attorney represented Johnson's family in a federal lawsuit against the city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

"Johnson was also pulled over for an alleged seat belt violation before being fatally shot by (Jacksonville Sheriff's Office) officer Josue Garriga," Daniels said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday.

Garriga was one of the officers involved in Woods' arrest, according to a newly released arrest report.

#Jacksonville police investigate brutality claim of Black man shown in viral video of arrest #Le'Keian Woods #jacksonville #jacksonville pd #florida #duval county #police brutality #Black Lives Matter #end qualified immunity

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larktb-archive · 2 years

Text

I wanna make one more post about Sarah Z being a dumb white hoe because I'm tired of speaking about the most milquetoast of libs on this site masquerading as radicals but i saw a post she made saying that basic abolitionist tenant is to "not harm those who have harmed you" claiming that doing so is carcarel logic.

As always with the most logged on people online this is about callout posts which to white people who haven't left their gated community in months and clutch their handbags when they see someone two shades darker than a paper bag is the exact same as the prison system and the modern enslavement of millions across the globe and the continuation of chattel slavery in the USA.

Now obviously it's really simple to see that no actually, someone making a post saying that "this person has done x negative things and gets off to these things so be wary of them" is not the same as the state sponsored imprisonment of people for monetary gain and the entrenchment of white supremacy. However they'd argue that the kinda thinking that fuels callouts is the kind that fuels the carcarel system, ignoring both historical societal standards of social conduct prior to the prison system as well as like... the actual real structures that fuel these systems.

There is very much criticisms to be made of shame based societies, but these have existed long, long before prisons or the modern prison system and the continuous misinterpretation of abolitionist work which detail the systems that form the basis of the prison system proves that these people, for all their bluster have not read abolitionist works. If they did, they'd know the problem with the prison system isn't "wanting to harm others who have harmed", it's the enslavement of others and the. To turn common rhetoric on its head because I love to be snarky: it's catholicism. The idea that you need to suffer in silence and turn the other cheek? That's Catholicism. I don't know how many times I heard turn the cheek not 7 times but 77 times in high school but this liberal "we gotta sing Kumbaya" with those who are racist, misogynistic and predatory is very much in line with Catholic conceptualizations of the forgiveness of the other. I don't really believe this, I think it's more to do with American ideas of liberty and freedom to do whatever without any consequence for your actions, but I think it's funny you can turn the "callouts are basically Christianity" on its head incredibly easily.

Anyways what's really the kicker here, and the reason im making this post, is that there are people in the notes saying "oh if there's a pedophile online you shouldn't make a callout you should call the police"... which... like... "we need to stop carcarel thinking with callouts... and instead need to contribute to the actual carcarel system of prisons" is definitely not a take I thought I'd see here but surely is one that has that fresh tumblr "I'm a white person who has never faced adversity in their life please listen to me" smell on them.

I'd also point out that the original callout post that Sarah Z is talking about in these vague diatribes is one that describes a major transmisogynist who gets off on conversion therapy for lesbians and transfems, and as a white person she said that saying the slur abo isn't a big deal if youre talking about omegaverse or what.

#lillypad.txt #just more navel gazing

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amusingmusie · 2 months

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Hello! I'm a big fan of your work "Yours Truly" on Ao3 & your character Penelope, probably like the rest of us here!

So, as we all know, Alastor is someone who is on the asexual spectrum– a real shocker, I know! [/s] But there's a question that's been bugging me for a while, and that is 'what sexuality is Nel'? Because I SWEAR on my life I saw a post saying that she is bisexual, but I cannot seem to find it– so I don't know if that's a fragment of my imagination, and I have entirely made that up... Or that's an actual thing that has been stated and I simply forgot lmao!

I hope that isn't something weird to ask! And, if I really DID make that up, then I'm sorry for bothering you with all those questions!

BUT ALSO, just in case my mind isn't actually playing tricks on me- would you say that Nel is 'aware' of her attraction to women? That she recognizes it as the same attraction she feels towards men, as we see with Alastor– or does she pay it no mind? Not in a "actively ignoring it" way, just a "I've never really thought about it for various reasons"– because we do see Nel being quite open minded in your work, like when she confronts Alastor about the altar for his ancestors without any real judgement! She seems very tolerant and willing to learn about the 'unknown'! Did she have a very sudden realization that 'oh shit, (unspecified lady) is HOT what the hell-", or did her attraction manifest in more subtle ways throughout her life? Obviously, I doubt she would ever put a label on her feelings, simply because of the realities of the times in which "Yours Truly" takes place– similarly to how Alastor (even in Hell) isn't aware of the more 'modern' labels for his sexual attraction, or rather the lack of it!

All in all, Nel is an amazing character, no matter her sexuality– you really made her feel like a real person! She doesn't feel shallow or flat like some characters in fanfiction often do– she has both positive and negative aspects of her character, which make her interactions with the people around her all the more entertaining to read! Especially with Alastor– but I must say, I am also a big fan of her relationship with Grace! I am a sucker for siblings that genuinely care & love each other, but who also can be jokingly mean, and well... Act like real siblings would! I find that most fanfictions follow either the "siblings who absolutely despise each (especially if they are both women, for some reason)" trope, or the "siblings who are sickeningly sweet with one another".

I see that I have written quite a long wall of text– I hope I didn't completely bore you out of your mind! Have a nice day/night, and remember to prioritize your health & mental wellbeing! Toodles! <33

I rub my hands together like a grubby little fly.

You didn't make it up! Nel is technically bisexual (and on the aro/ace spectrum). It's not something I've explicitly written in my fic since she's not even aware of it- that lady grew up in the backwoods in the early 19th century USA. Not saying she couldn't figure it out, she just really doesn't think about it? Like you said, Al is like "huh" when his sexuality is labeled, so is she lol. Eventually she might kinda blink and go "oooooooh" but I don't think it's a big spoiler to say she found her person with Alastor, so while it's an important discovery that's part of her identity, she's happily unhappy with that fucker.

But that's not to say she's unaware of the LGBTQ community or that she's discriminatory towards them! Part of her defining personality is that she is very accepting and if Grace came home with a girl she would not bat an eye. Bonus points if the girl can't get her pregnant lmao. Nel thinks a win is a win.

All in all, I'm a lesbian, and the majority of my OCs have a little sugar in their tanks whether they realize it or not (even if they're unhappily/happily stuck with a stinky deer man) <3

Also, I'm glad you like Grace! I know sibling characters can be hit or miss, but she's integral to the story so I couldn't get rid of her.

Thanks for the cool ask :)

#my asks #hey tag readers fun fact!#grace and I share a middle name #lmao only like 2 people know that #now you do too

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mapsontheweb · 2 years

Photo

Average Petrol Prices across Europe, the USA, and Canada.

by u/LjSpike

I saw this map posted by /u/maps_us_eu, and credit to them it does succeed at a lot of things many maps fail at, but given it's such a comparably simple piece of data to represent, and the fact that this was being heralded in a few comments as an example of a perfect map, I thought I'd quickly smash one together.

It was made using www.mapchart.net with a little labelling in Paint.NET all manually in just an hour.

SOURCES:

For the USA prices, I used this source (https://www.gasbuddy.com/usa) instead, as it let me see all states in a table.

For Canada, I used this source (https://www.caa.ca/gas-prices/) in combination with this source (https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Canada/gasoline_prices/) to make sense of why caa.ca's figures were so high (I assume Canada multiply their figures by 100, for whatever reason).

For Europe I also used cargopedia (https://www.cargopedia.net/europe-fuel-prices) and supplemented it with data for Monaco (https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Monaco/gasoline_prices/), Liechtenstein (https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Liechtenstein/gasoline_prices/), and Montenegro (https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Montenegro/gasoline_prices/) and used a news report to estimate for Kosovo (https://euronews.al/en/kosovo/2022/06/13/price-of-fuels-in-kosovo-reaches-e1-90-euros/).

EXPLANATION OF DECISIONS IN MAKING THIS MAP:

Firstly, the colour scheme is colourblind friendly to all three most common forms of colourblindness (Protanope, Deuteranope, and Tritanope), although tritanope viewers sadly don't get a rather intuitive colour for the scale. It also applies a dark/light/dark scheme (avoiding white) for the colours so as to help improve the ability to distinguish colours and spot extremes easier.

Secondly, I have included all of Europe, because including just the EU is peculiar frankly, and granted /u/maps_us_eu did include data for non-EU countries, but in such a way myself and several others did not even notice them at first, as they're just randomly placed in a little cluster of boxes. Usually you would do that for microstates such as Monaco who would be too small to see, or countries such as Iceland which may be far off the map, but neither of those apply for the UK, Norway, or Switzerland, and Hawaii and Alaska got to be represented with full size and shape of their states (albeit shifted of course in position).

Thirdly, I decided screw it, the US data is going to be inevitably boring without a very granular scale, so I would include in Canada too, because CAN/USA is probably a more relevant comparison than USA/EUR (or USA/EU), this way we've got all three major regions of the "Western World".

The Vatican City (and I guess technically a couple of North African countries) are the only states on the map without data, so the Vatican isn't shown and only a trace outline of North Africa is present.

For other small regions, such as D.C., Monaco, Andorra, etc., a small circle with the appropriate colour is shown at their location.

A different set of thresholds for the key is used, with 6 as opposed to 5 colours, this is to provide a better distinction of what is going on in Europe. If I were to spend more time on this, I'd actually see if I can remain colourblind friendly while adding a seventh category marking "less than EUR 0.9/L", it would better distinguish the US states and show Missouri, Florida, Wisconsin, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas as the cheapest states for fuel. That's a clear oversight on my part.

I intentionally have chosen not to include the exact values, as I suspect slight errors due to currency could've been introduced, and the days for the data in different nations/regions differs a little, plus they are national/state averages anyway, so I think omission of putting on the figures is appropriate and helps make the map less busy.

I didn't include the miscellaneous data of population, landmass area, or a scale bar, this is superfluous to what is being shown.

As for showing the key in $/Gal or CAN/L, then I'd also have to justify why it's not got data in every non-euro country currency, and I'm also being a little lazy, this really is just to showcase a few bits about mapmaking so that hopefully we can all improve our maps a little bit.

ERROR:

I did not notice when making, but caa.ca didn't list data for the three northern territories, and as I did the prices in descending order and many US states were in the lowest bracket, I'd assumed the three Canadian territories were in there too (did not realise until this morning that Canada has territories and provinces), and so I coloured them as the lowest price bracket.

The three northern territories instead have no data, this is entirely my fault and I apologise.

#maps #gasoline #prices #north america #europe

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 months

Text

3rd January >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (John 1:29-34) for the 3rd January (Wednesday before Epiphany) : ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God’.

3rd January (Wednesday before Epiphany)

Gospel (Except USA) John 1:29-34 'Look: there is the Lamb of God'.

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

Gospel (USA) John 1:29-34 Behold the Lamb of God.

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Reflections (6)

(i) 3rd January (Wednesday before Epiphany)

It seems that John the Baptist had an aversion to saying, ‘Look at me’. He was very clear that his calling from God was to make a very different statement, ‘Look at him’, ‘Look at Jesus’. He declares in today’s gospel reading, ‘It was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water’. John was a very impressive figure. Many people went out to him in the wilderness and looked to him. He had his own followers. Yet, he consistently deflected people’s vision away from himself towards the one who, as he states in our gospel reading, ‘ranks before me because he existed before me’. His opening words in that reading are ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. ‘Look at him’, he is saying, ‘Look at the one who is full of God’s gracious and faithful love. Go to him and follow him’. We go to Jesus because, in the words of the first reading, he is the one through whom God the Father has lavished his love upon us. Even though in our culture many people are saying in a very forceful way, ‘Look at me’, and, by implication, ‘Be like me’, the voice of John the Baptist continues to sound forth today calling upon us to look at Jesus, to go to him and to open our hearts to his gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we can become like him. Having looked upon the Lord and gone to him, John the Baptist would be very clear that there is a further step we need to take and that is the step of witnessing to the one upon whom we have looked, to whom we have gone and whose Spirit we have received into our lives. John the Baptist was one of the great witnesses to Jesus. He can inspire us to live lives that in some way or other point to the Lord, lives that witness to the values that he lived and died for, the values of God’s kingdom.

And/Or

(ii) 3rd January

Some of the words of Scripture have become a fixed part of the language of the church’s liturgy. The opening words of today’s gospel reading are a good example of that. The words of John the Baptist, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world’ are more or less the words the celebrant speaks at Mass just before communion, when he holds up the host. Our response to those words at Mass, ‘Lord I am not worthy…’ is a version of the words spoken by the centurion to Jesus when Jesus offered to go to his house to heal his servant. That story is found not in John’s gospel but in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The liturgy has brought together two sets of words from the gospels that, originally, had no connection with each other. Those two sets of words are, in a way, quite contrasting. John the Baptist is pointing out Jesus to his own disciples and saying to them, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God, go to him’. The centurion is saying to Jesus ‘Don’t come to me, because I am unworthy’. Both sets of words express a truth. We are all unworthy of the Lord’s coming to us, and yet we are invited not only to receive the Lord when he comes, but to take the initiative to go to him. Our unworthiness is not an obstacle to the Lord’s relating to us or to our relating to him. The Lord does not ask us to be worthy; he asks us to be open to him, and to keep seeking him out, like the followers of John the Baptist.

And/Or

(iii) 3rd January

The opening words of John the Baptist in today’s gospel reading are very familiar to us because they have become part of the text of the Mass, ‘there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. John the Baptist was bearing witness to Jesus before others, pointing them in the direction of Jesus. People like John the Baptist needed to witness if other people were to come to Jesus. We have all come to the Lord through the witness of others. We don’t come to the Lord on our own. We can probably all name people whose witness had an influence on our own relationship with the Lord. Their witness may not have been very explicit or even very self-conscious on their part. Yet, we sensed that their faith was central to their lives and shaped who they were and how they lived. Without their necessarily saying anything, their faith-filled life influenced us and helped our own relationship with the Lord to grow. We can never underestimate the influence of our own faith life on others. If we are seeking to grow in our relationship with the Lord, the Lord will work through us. The fruits of the Lord’s working through us may not always be obvious to us. We may be disappointed that our own quiet witnessing to our faith is not having more of an impact on others. Yet, if we create a space for the Lord in our own lives and open our hearts to his Spirit, we can be certain that those we encounter will be opened up to the Lord. As we grow in holiness our lives will be quietly proclaiming, ‘there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.

And/Or

(iv) 3rd January

Some of the words of Scripture have become a fixed part of the language of the church’s liturgy. The opening words of today’s gospel reading are a good example of that. The words of John the Baptist, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world’ are more or less the words the celebrant speaks at Mass just before communion, when he holds up the host. Jesus came among us, according to John’s gospel, to take away the sin of the world, the sin of us all. Yet, John’s gospel shows that Jesus could not take away the sin of those who had no awareness of their sin. In the story of the man born blind, the religious leaders reject Jesus and the man whom Jesus has healed. They consider they have nothing to learn, nothing to receive, from either Jesus or the man he has healed, because, as they claim in the course of that story, ‘We know God spoke to Moses’. That is all the light they need; they are not open to any further light. That is why at the end of that story Jesus says to them, ‘Now that you say, “we see”, your sin remains’. Jesus could not take away their sin because they had no sense of their own need. The Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world. We need to acknowledge the ways in which we have been tainted by the sin of the world, if we are to experience the enlightenment and the freedom that Jesus has come to give.

And/Or

(v) 3rd January

A section of today’s first reading is often read at a funeral Mass. It contains one of the many different ways that the New Testament speaks about eternal life, ‘we shall be like him (God) because we shall see him as he really is’. This verse speaks of a vision of God which is truly transformative, changing us more fully into the image of God, ‘we shall be like him’. Elsewhere in this letter, the author says ‘God is love’. The letter as a whole suggests that to see God as he really is amounts to seeing God as Love, and this seeing, this experience of God as Love, makes us more like God, more loving. Our ultimate destiny is to become the image of God who is Love. We cannot see God as he really is in this earthly life. Yet, God has sent us his Son as the fullest expression of his love in human form. We can look upon God’s Son with the eyes of faith in this life. Yet we need people to reveal Jesus to us if we are to look upon him. That was the role of John the Baptist. He says in the gospel reading that it was to reveal him to Israel that he came baptizing with water. He witnessed to Jesus as the Chosen One of God. We continue to need John the Baptist figures today, people who can reveal Jesus to us, who can witness to him for us, so that we can look upon Jesus, the risen Lord with the eyes of faith. The Lord needs each one of us to be a John the Baptist for each other, so that we can all see the Lord as God’s love made flesh, and, thereby, anticipate that final and full seeing of God who is Love in eternity.

And/Or

(vi) 3rd January

There are many ways of speaking about eternal life in the New Testament. In the gospels we find the image of the many roomed house of God the Father and of the banquet at which people from north, south, east and west gather, to mention just two. Today’s first reading speaks of eternal life as that eternal moment when we shall be like God because we shall see God as God is. Elsewhere in this letter, Saint John writes that ‘God is Love’. In eternity, we will see God as God is, as Love, and we shall become as loving as God is loving. It is a wonderful way of speaking about eternal life. In the gospel reading, John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the full expression of God’s love working to reconcile all of humanity to himself. Jesus is the fullest revelation possible of God’s love for the world. The closest we can come to see God as Love in this life is to look upon Jesus as he comes to us in all of the gospels. In eternity we will become as loving as God is loving but each day we are called to grow more fully into Jesus, God’s love in human form. Something of our eternal destiny can become a present reality when we grow up into Christ and allow him to live in and through us. According to the gospel reading, Jesus came to baptize with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God’s love. Jesus gives us his own Spirit to empower us to become as loving as he is and, thereby, to anticipate in the here and now our glorious destiny to be as loving as God is loving.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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shirayuki7 · 28 days

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Ok your tags on the reblog were very cool, would love to hear more about this project. Also, this is entire based on vibes of just existing in or near PA and having incredibly revisionist (and religious) history books, yeah. Sounds right.

Yeppppp! Get ready for a long answer cause i am in the thick of it! I'm pretty much a complete outsider to this topic. USA history doesn't interest me as much as ancient history does. The whole theme of the project is religious in/tolerance, and I picked Pennsylvania because my in-laws are all in Pittsburgh and I thought getting to know the state more would be fun! I've already got a pretty good background in religious history, so most of my research has been contextual colonial history. But the primary source I'm basing my project on is AWESOME. It's "Gottlieb Mittelberger's Journey to Pennsylvania" (free in the Library of Congress btw) and it's just so full of amazing information about colonial PA and how it was viewed by outsiders at the time (for Gottlieb, it was pretty godless and not worth the hype despite how beautiful the country is. He lived in Lancester county for about 4 years before returning to Germany).

The basis of my research is that in Europe, most Protestant sectarians (Quakers in particular) were seen as anti-state/anti-authoritarian. Being a dissenter was the same as being a treasonous terrorist because religion was the basis for most if not all laws and public policy within a country. So dissenters like William Penn were heavily discriminated against based on their beliefs and punished by the state as tho they were public enemies number one (spiritual danger = real danger). So quite frankly, because the America's were the place for criminals to be sent anyway, it kinda made sense to let dissenters leave and rotten themselves and their communities else where. So William Penn gets permission from his buddy King James 2 to create Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" for liberty of conscience (and Quakers) to go. Penn advertises in England and Germany for the most part about this land of religious freedom and opportunity. With a little censure from the crown about how he sets up the colony, Penn makes it law that people can believe what they want and therefore worship and do what they want (within reason). From the outset of the colony, we have a very diverse environment full of very diverse people. No single people's settled PA, despite Quakers being a majority for a time and even when they weren't the majority they still held most of the power in the colony.

Anyway, all the secondary literature I've read all say the same thing: Penn's holy experiment was a success. Religious tolerance helped make PA economically and politically successful and set up all the American colonies for an equally successful revolution. But I've noticed that they're all ignoring, or just plain forget because 'MURICA, that the colonies were not completely separate entities from their parent country and are enabling the narrative of usa supremacy and individualism that DID NOT EXIST at the time. Individualism sure as hell did exist, but not in the sense of "im an american." It was "I'm an English Quaker" or "I'm a German Lutheran" or other ethnic or religious identification. These historians make it sound like everyone thinks PA was a great thing... but here we have over 100 pages of a German immigrant's travelog that heavily criticizes Penn's colony, telling his fellow Germans that it's just not worth the risk and they're better off at home. Obviously there's a ton more nuance to the account than I'm giving here, but the whole book is him saying "here's this bad thing, here's this good thing but here's the dark side of the good thing that isn't immediately obvious but I will explain it to you for your own good, and here's another bad thing." Most of the negativity he gives about PA in particular is religiously based: anarchy and atheism (exaggerations, but it was how he saw it as a faithful Lutheran). He tells stories of women running the show (heaven forbid!) And how the courts and laws are so lax that everybody does what they want even if theyre sued! These are seen as bad things to him, but obviously to a modern person (and to many a modern Pennsylvanian) it sounds like libertarian paradise. The idea of "success" is what I'm challenging with the Gottlieb account; we as historians are always needed to challenge the narrative. Complicate the story. The 13 colonies as a melting pot and overall success story is a good story and we use it to reinforce murican values in our public schools (something i greatly disagree with but it is what it is). But it's not the whole story and never will be. We've got the puritans in New England doing their thing and the Quakers in PA doing theirs, but what did that actually mean to people at the time? Did they see it as success? I should probably stop now haha! This is getting long. Thanks for asking about my project, it helps me articulate it for my prospectus due in a few days. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

#pennsylvania #colonial history #colonization #william penn #history

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punk4ndisorderly · 11 months

Text

light on

if you keep the light on, i'll keep the light on

XIV XV - i do, i do, i do, i do, i do XVI

The grey curtains that kept the room dark after dawn were pulled back abruptly, revealing two sleeping bodies. The tiny woman had her back pressed to the much larger man’s chest, not even an inch of space separating them. His hand rested on the outline of her hips, over the covers.

“You need to get up. Now!” Cole pleaded, turning his back to the groggy pair and leaving, running down the hall knocking on Quinn and Alex’s room door.

Y/N practically jumped out of the bed, the lack of the warmth her body had provided giving Jack the encouragement he needed to push himself out of it as well, following her to their friends’ weekend accommodation.

“What’s going on?” the foctor asked, crossing her arms over her exposed chest as Cole pulled Quinn out of bed.

“River went rogue.”

“What?!” the foursome half-shouted, now completely awake and shocked.

“I slept with him downstairs because he wanted to follow tradition and Trevor stayed with David and Leo. When I woke up, he was gone. I’ve looked for him everywhere.” he explained, every bone in his body trembling with anxiety.

“If River doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be found.” Alex stated, yawning and stretching. “It’s useless to look for him.”

Y/N stared at them, still processing what was happening. River must’ve been really freaking out if he had fled the location on his wedding day. Something wasn’t adding up.

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do: you…” she pointed to Alex. “Shut up. Jack, would you mind closing the doors David doesn’t find out his fiancé is MIA.”

The Devils' player obliged to her request, waiting for her to disclose the plan to recover the missing groom.

“We’re checking every room in this house. Cole, I know you did that already, but maybe he came back in the meantime. Then, we search for the Runaway Groom in our surroundings. Our last resort will be taking the cars and drive around the community.” Y/N instructed, certain her plan was bulletproof. “I think my brother didn’t go far.”

The five friends split, checking each division at the cabin before heading outside. An hour later, there was still no sign of River, which made them freak out even more.

“Oh god, what are we going to tell David?” Alex cried, running his hands through his hair.

“Turc, it’s going to be okay. You guys will get the cars and I’ll stay here doing damage control. They’re not up yet. Trevor could probably sleep through the end of the world, Leo was exhausted and David was sprawled all over the spare mattress the last time I checked.”

“Okay, so you just tell them we all went to look for Ginger because she ran away. We’ll take her with us, she’ll be our alibi. It’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this whole mess.”

Jack listened intently to Y/N, who was attempting to keep everyone calm in the middle of a crisis. She always found a way to make things better, even when she was only making use of her words to do so.

He liked her but, above that, he respected and admired her strength and grace. Never had he met a woman that could quite compare to Y/N. His Y/N.

“The hair and makeup team will be here at noon. It’s currently a few minutes past eight. We need to get him here by eleven thirty, tops.”

“Got it. We’ll get Ginger.” Quinn offered, picking up his car keys and sunglasses.

“Aw, why do we have to get the dog?” Alex wailed, walking right behind him, dragging his feet.

Cole hid his face in his hands, muttering something under his breath before perking up and putting on a smile.

“Do you think this will fool them?” he asked, trying his best not to look stressed out.

Y/N pressed her lips into a tight line, a sympathetic look on her bare face.

“It’ll have to do. Jack and I will keep you updated, don’t worry.” the doctor assured her friend, holding him by the shoulders. “This wedding is happening.”

Cole simply nodded, wanting to believe her words more than everything, prompting the pair to begin their search.

Y/N put her sneakers on, throwing the man right behind her his car keys.

As they drove down the dirt road, the hockey player saw how worry was etched on her angelic features, taking his right hand from the steering wheel and squeezing hers.

“How much do you want to bet someday we’ll be laughing about this whole mess?” he said, earning a half-smile from his partner. “Hey, it’s just like you said: it’ll all be okay. River is probably just winding down somewhere and…”

The brunette man stopped himself mid-sentence, his face lighting up in realization. Y/N turned to him, her eyebrow raising, as if to ask him to voice the thoughts that were going through his head.

“I think I know where he might be.”

Pulling up to a quaint waffle house, Jack squinted, trying to locate the missing bride inside. He spotted him easily, sat in a booth, surrounded by empty plates and having yet another one set in front of him.

“Oh my god, there he is!” the doctor gasped. “I need to call Cole.” she added. “How did you know where he'd be?”

“There’s two things you need to always keep in mind when we’re talking about your brother: he has had the words to The Piña Colada Song stuck in his head ever since he first heard it and, when he needs to think, he finds the nearest place that serves sugary breakfast food and eats until he figures out what he's going to do… Or, you know, until be's stuffed.” he explained. “I lived with him for a while when I accidentally flooded my apartment, remember?” the Devils' player chuckled.

“Yeah, but that was like straight out of high school, I wasn’t expecting you to remember these kinds of details.”

“I never forget the tiny things about the people in my life. I still know the name of the perfume my first girlfriend used to wear.”

“You’re a rare finding, Hughes.” Y/N smiled, marveling in how endearing his personality was. “Alright, I’m getting our Julia Roberts. If he makes a run for it, tackle him. Not too hard though, he can’t be bruised or toothless on his wedding day.” she warned, swinging the door open.

“No, let me.” he requested.

“Are you sure?” Y/N checked, wondering how he was planning to deal with the situation.

“Yes. If I screw up, you’ll have to be the one to tackle him, though.” Jack joked, climbing out of the car.

River saw him the minute he walked in, taking another forkful of the insane amount of waffles he'd ordered into his mouth, giving his friend a thumbs up.

“Old habits die hard.” he grinned, sitting in front of him and grabbing the fork from his hands, stealing a portion of the chocolate covered delight he had yet to finish devouring.

“Seems like it, you still think I’m willing to share my food.” the designer smirked, snatching his fork back. “What are you doing here, doofus?”

Jack took a deep breath, fidgeting with his fingers and avoiding eye contact with the groom.

“Listen, I’ve been thinking long and hard about this and…. I think we should be together.”

The eldest Y/L/N got up immediately, reaching over the table to pinch his biceps the hardest he could repeatedly.

“What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. You?” River growled in between pinches.

“Ow! Ow! Jesus, stop!” he begged, the groom's assault leaving small red marks on his skin.

“I’m getting married today to a man I love unconditionally, I’m not going to leave him to be with you! Are you insane? This is exactly why you should never invite men to your wedding, or anywhere really, you never know when they strike with shit like this!” the designer rambled, fuming. “Unbelievable! You’re one of my oldest friends! Did you hit your head? Jack Rowden Hughes, you fucking dumbass!”

“Calm down, I was only joking!” Jack protested, rubbing his sore arms. “I just wanted to make sure you were still going through with it. Damn, you sure are stronger than you look.” he laughed.

“This is not funny, Jack! What gave you the idea it wasn’t happening and why in the world are you in pajamas in public?”

“Didn’t really have time to change. You left while everyone else was asleep, didn’t tell a living soul where you were going and you’re sitting here eating a ridiculous amount of food by yourself, only a few hours away from one of the most important events of your life.”

His friend stopped chewing, coming to his senses. It did sound like he had cold feet.

“My mother told me she spent her entire wedding reception going around talking to the guests and barely got anything to eat so I just figured I’d get as much food in my stomach as I could while I had the opportunity.” he confided, drinking the rest of his coffee. “Plus, Cole is like a human furnace, I couldn’t take spending another hour lying in bed with him using me as a body pillow.”

Jack let out a hearty laugh, imagining River trying to sneak out without waking up their friend. He smiled in response, signaling the waitress to bring him the check.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” the hockey player asked, reaching for the bill, taking his wallet out to pay.

“I know you remembered my stress eating habits.” he replied. “You’re a really good guy, Jack Hughes. Never forget that.”

He looked up at him, returning his sincere grin and placing money on the table.

“Thanks, Riv.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome. If you tell anyone I will deny it.” River joked. “Oh, and I am paying for my food, thank you very much.”

“Nonsense. I kind of forgot your wedding present at home so… I guess the heavy breakfast will have to do for now.”

“You don’t…” he began to protest.

“I know, but it’s my treat. Now, let’s get out of here. Brace yourself for a magnificent set of lectures from two very stressed people. Possibly three. Quinn's not happy with having been awoken by a frantic Cole.”

The minute they arrived back at the cabin, Cole grabbed River, almost choking him in a tight embrace, doing his best to keep her voice down so he wouldn’t catch the attention of the three men who were kept in the dark about the whole situation.

Ushering the groom inside, the blond man made it his mission to guard him.

“I made breakfast, it’s on the table. Hurry up, people, we’ve got a wedding to get ready for.” he yelled from upstairs, closing the master bedroom’s door behind him.

Jack sat Y/N Alina at the table, where David, Teevor and Leo had been eating for about ten minutes before they all walked in. The duo immediately treated themselves to the French toasts Cole had made, their stomachs growling with hunger.

“Did you find Ginger?” the groom asked, genuinely worried.

The pair glanced at each other, trying to decide what to say.

“Mmm… Yeah, Quinny and Turc found her.” the doctor said, clearing her throat.

As if on cue, the two friends made their grand entrance, with Quinn holding the pup in his arms.

“Did somebody call for the dog whisperers?” the curly-haired man crowed.

“I thought we agreed that sounded corny.” Quinn said through gritted teeth.

“Can I go pet Ginger now, uncle David?” Leo requested, still chewing his food.

“Take your plate to the kitchen first.”

“Thanks!” the little boy chirped, speeding up to the kitchen and quickly making his way back, taking the docile dog from Quinn. “She’s the best!”

“I want you to be upstairs for your shower in ten. Your mom and dad will be here in no time.” David warned, giving his nephew his pretend stern look.

“I know, I know.”

“Well, I should head up. I’m supposed to help River with the outfit and the stress.” Y/N chuckled, getting up and picking her plate up as the dog catchers relished in the deliciousness of the homemade breakfast. “Wait, the dishes still need to be done.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got plenty of time to do that.” David assured her, taking the piece of porcelain from her hands. “Go see my man.” he smiled.

“Alright, I’m off. Keep in mind once I step foot in that room I’m no longer your friend, I’m the maid of honor and I will act accordingly.” the coach's daughter joked, squeezing Jack's shoulder lightly.

The Devils' player resisted the sudden urge to cover her hand with his, not wanting her to leave but knowing full well she had to. After all, she had been entrusted with one of the most important tasks at a wedding: groom duty. Who was going to hold the bouquet? Y/N. Who was going to make polite conversation with family members to help the newlyweds escape them so they could mingle with other guests? Y/N. He knew how crucial the beautiful woman’s part was on her brother’s special day, so he couldn’t silently beg her to stay and talk until it was time. If only.

* The clock struck a quarter to four. Cars continuously arrived at the cabin, some having to park along the dirt road that had led them there. Chatty guests started filling up the seats reserved for them in the multi-tiered wooden amphitheater nestled in pine trees, overlooking the lake.

It amazed Jack how breathtaking the venue was. Weddings weren’t normally his thing. Crowded, potentially award events always made him uneasy. Except for this one. The Devils' player wasn’t thinking about an excuse to cut his stay short after the ceremony, not this time. At that precise moment, as he stood in the aisle, his hands buried in his pockets, he was wondering what the beautiful woman he had known for a decade was doing. Probably containing a scary version of the usually calm and collected River Y/L/N, he thought to himself, chuckling.

“I think you can only walk around with your bow tie undone during the reception. Wedding etiquette.” Y/N spoke from behind him, as if she had magically read his mind and decided to grace him with her presence.

Turning around, much like the eager groom as his bride arrives at the altar, Jack felt the wind being knocked out of him.

In a beige, gold-tone and multicolor silk blend fill loose coupé floral dress with a deep V-neck, sporting her hair in a cascading half updo that perfectly framed her face, Y/N Y/L/N smirked up at her friend, oblivious to the way the brunette man’s chin had almost dropped to the ground.

The short, sleeveless design, featuring a drawstring waist with a hanging tassel and pleated details, was nothing short of astonishing. Accentuating her natural curves and glowing skin, it seemed like it had been made specifically and exclusively for the doctor to wear. Now the image of that magnificent woman in that dress, under the afternoon sunlight that bathed the clearing where they currently stood, was permanently engraved into his brain.

“How do I look?” she inquired, goofily spinning around. “If I were at home getting ready for a party or something, Joey would be begging me to do the princess twirl.”

“You look… Hmmm…” he stuttered, struggling to find words that wouldn’t completely give him out as the dumbfounded mess he was.

“River demanded I’d wear something that would make me look ethereal, which I find to be totally subjective. Heaven doesn’t look the same to everyone, right?” I am totally rambling right now, but - ”

“You look mesmerizing, Y/N.”

The four words slipped off his tongue easily and they were both surprised at the smooth tone of his voice, exponentially steadier than it usually was around her. He couldn’t have said truer words even if he had tried.

Blushing slightly, the petite woman looked away, giving him a peek of the diamond rose gold asymmetric ear cuff she wore on her right ear. The sweeping wing motif evoked an enigmatic blend of fantastical creatures and angels, which only seemed appropriate for the occasion and the landscape surrounding them.

“What’s up with the bow, though?”

“I can’t tie it.” Jack admitted, his shoulders slumping down in shame.

The doctor shook her head, reaching up to grab both ends of his ow tie and starting to fumble around with the piece of fabric.

“How’s the groom?”

“I think my mom and dad might be freaking out more than he is. It’s funny, actually, I-”

“Y/N Y/L/N, where were you? You should be placing the baggies with the rose petals under the chairs! You know the wedding planner completely forgot about them.” Cole reprimanded, holding a basket full of what seemed to be small golden antique satin pouches in his arms.

“Don’t people usually throw rice or something?” a very confused Jack asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

“Not anymore. Apparently, it’s bad for the birds, so I guess we’re just going to have to make it through with the rose petals.” Y/N mocked, teasing Cole.

“There’s no time to joke around, young lady. And what the hell are you doing to the poor man’s bow tie?”

Jack merely looked down, seeing how Y/N had been merely trying to do the bunny ear trick to get the fabric in place. Their friend handed the basked full of bags to the doctor, fixing the mess she had made and signaling for her to follow him once he was done.

“I thought you knew what you were doing?” he shouted as she walked away.

“I never said I did.” Y/N shrugged, winking at him. “Buckle up, Hughes, we’re getting this show on the road.”

“Please be seated. Yes, I am talking to you two youngsters in the second row. Come on.” the officiant, Mr. Brennan, scolded jokingly, waiting for the dynamic duo to stop arguing over who got to sit next to who so he could begin the ceremony. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God, surrounded by family and friends, to join together River and David in holy matrimony.”

Jack stared down at his knuckles, remembering the years he had spent seeing a band much like the one he had seen Sean, the groom’s brother, store in his pocket a few minutes before, in Y/N's hand, in pictures he saw on social media or at their friends’ homes.

“If anyone can show just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, speak now or forever hold your peace.” the septuagenarian declared, looking around to make sure no one spoke or got up before he continued. “Very well, we’ll proceed with the ceremony then.”

Daring to catch a glimpse of the most beautiful maid of honor he had ever seen, the brunette man licked his lips as his eyes locked with Y/N's, managing to steal a cheeky smile from her.

“Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller; memories are fresher; commitment is stronger. Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new experiences and new experiences and new ways of expressing love through the seasons of life. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth; love bears all things, endures all things; love never ends.”

Y/N took in the priest’s words. Love never ends, but it suffers somewhat of a metamorphosis. We never stop loving someone, the love we feel just fits into another category. It turns into a different kind of affection. She’d somehow have feelings for Charlie, but she wasn’t in love with him anymore. She hadn’t been in many years. That was the difference. The doctor gazed at the wonderful scenery around her: it was perfect, something she could only assume had come out of one of Joey's fairytale books.

“Your relationship will take more than love. It will take trust, dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even when it’s difficult to do so. And faith, to go forward together without knowing what the future holds for you. While love is our natural state of being, these other qualities are not as easy to come by. They are not a destination, but a journey. Marriage is a give and take between two personalities. You are mature enough to know the difference between dreams and reality. You also know that good times are sweeter when shared and that difficult times are less harsh when borne by two. Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys, but today is the day it all begins.” the officiant proclaimed, motioning for the couple to join hands.

Her warm eyes laid on the man that, in just a matter of weeks, had come back into her life and filled it with excitement, fun and, most of all, joy. The doctor knew something had changed between them but thinking about navigating through feelings she hadn’t experienced intensely in a long time scared her to death. Letting someone in scared her to death.

“These are the hands that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever. These are the hands that will countless times wipe tears from your eyes, tears of joy and sorrow. These are the hands that will help hold your family together as one as you overcome adversity. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.”

Jack remembered the times his hands had held Y/N's, the way hers fit into his as if they were simply the last two pieces of a puzzle he had been waiting all his life to assemble. The Devil's noticed how her hands were shaking slightly as she held on to the bouquet.

“David and River, from this moment on, you will never be alone. You will carry with you the love of another person, giving you a renewed lightness. May your life together be immersed in love and excitement. May you strive to enrich each other in every possible way.”

“Yes! Go River and David!” Trevor hooted, pumping his fist up in the air.

Quinn immediately smacked his friend in the back of the head, placing a finger over his lips to get him to shut up.

“Thank you, young man. These two are very lucky to have you cheering them on.” Mr. Brennan chuckled, along with the couple and the rest of the guests. “With that being said… David, do you take River Y/L/N as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse; for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do.” the groom replied, surely, as a nervous grin grew on his handsome face.

“And do you, Rover, take David Sawyer as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse; for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do. I do. I really do.” the eldest Y/L/N stuttered, radiating happiness with a smile so big you could almost see the teeth in the back of his mouth.

Y/N let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, taking her hand to her chest as she internally cheered for the couple while Jack gave her a thumbs up from his seat.

“Now, I understand the grooms have a few words to say to each other.” the septuagenarian divulged, turning to face River. “Go ahead, kid.”

Everyone’s eyes were fixated on the groom once again, but his bore into David’s, wanting him to know she meant every word she was about to say.

“We met at a time in my life where I had pretty much given up on the idea of finding you. You, a kind, smart, extremely funny man, who loves me endlessly. David, you took a man circumstance had turned into a skeptic and made him believe he could fall in love again without having to worry about the possibility of having his heart broken. You took the shattered pieces scattered over my chest and put them together with so much patience and love… I could never thank you enough for that. But I can try… And I will, for the rest of our lives.”

David drew a shaky breath, trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. Not because he was ashamed of crying, but because he still had his vows to proclaim and he knew once the first few droplets fell, he wouldn’t be able to speak.

“River…” he croaked, clearing his throat after as the blushing groom reached up and wiped the sneaky tear that had escaped his right eye. “Thank you for loving me when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m annoyed and when I’m obnoxious, when I can’t stop talking about things I like and things I can’t stand. Standing here with you today, in the presence of our closest friends and family, I do not regret any of the time we spent together, not even the dumbest fights or that week we decided to break up a few years ago. In the end, we always ended up clinging onto each other, saying we’re sorry. No matter what, we always bounced back. Together. It was all worth it. The good, the bad and the ugly. We’re here. We made it, baby. I solemnly swear to never question your very questionable eating habits, or the reasons why you know the lyrics to every cringy song in the books. I vow to cherish and appreciate you as long as you’ll have me… And long after that because I love you more than words can say. Believe me when I say I do.”

“Beautiful, beautiful words.” the officiant noted. “Now… The rings.”

Sean pulled out a small black velvet box from his blazer’s inner pocket and Y/N looked at her thumb, where the ring that she had been entrusted with rested.

David’s brother handed him the open box, letting him take the stunning wedding band from it.

“Repeat after me as you place the ring on your groom's finger: with this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring, I thee wed.” David almost whispered, reluctantly letting go of his soon-to-be-husband's hand for her to get his matching gold band.

“River…” Mr. Brennan motioned to the designer with an encouraging smile.

The doctor took the band from her thumb and quickly gave it to her brother, grinning like a happy fool, letting out a tiny squeal only Jack seemed to hear, as he covered his face with his hands to stifle a laugh.

“With this ring, I thee wed.” River said in a sing-song voice, eager to hear the officiant's concluding words.

“By the power invested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may now kiss the groom!”

David stumbled back as his groom flung herself into his arms, kissing him passionately, while everyone around them cheered, clapping enthusiastically. You could feel the love that irradiated from the married couple and that brought happiness to their friends and family.

The maid of honor hurried to straighten up River's jacket he walked down the aisle with his husband, white rose petals falling over and around her beautiful figure. She looked… What was the word? Ethereal. Y/N was a fallen angel. Jack's heart sped up its pace when she looked his way and smiled, for the millionth time that day, scrunching up her nose the way only she knew how to.

He couldn’t keep it in anymore. He was undeniably infatuated with a woman he often held up on a pedestal. He had to say something.

In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.

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