#people are really going at it for sam's new year sale

[traumxrei-archive]

I was so surprised that Jamil went lower than AZUL of all people!! kjhgfghj While Azul is there going 50 times in the line to buy again, Jamil did THAT kjhgfghjkl

HELP— you're right T^T both of them interfered in some way with the mystery shop and made kalim n deuce's lives harder......

azul made a separate fake line to reduce the competition for those who are lining up for the bags. but ofc he ended up having to line up for at least two times to get multiple mystery bags. so he tried to cheat the line but not the mystery bag system.

meanwhile jamil had his dorm mates look into the bags and tag the bag with the tickets, which only required him to dangle sandwiches in front of adeuce's noses (tbh. i would also fall for this trick bc it's jamil's cooking my guy...) and then he only had to get in line one time. so he tried to cheat the mystery part of the mystery bag system, but not the line.

but. in the end. azul is the one that'll probably go back in line 50 times, like you said, just bc he's desperate for the ticket vs jamil sitting there like "oh well, i got truffles n caviar at least"

#/trau replies #/anonnie #people are really going at it for sam's new year sale #like riddle ?? cutting in front of people in line ???? #and then ofc leona tryna shove people out of the line so he doesn't have to wait #and then. azul. and his endless mystery bag addiction (real) #and finally jamil actually stooping low enough to peek into the bags jskfjsdfk #jamil viper #azul ashengrotto #twisted wonderland #sam's new year sale

[rebelfell]

the return of gym!eddie — or the neighbors AU that nobody asked for… cont’d from here. 1.9k 18+, MDNI

eddie munson x fem!reader (implied plus size)

Eddie was shit at checking his mail.

It was partly due to the fact that his apartment was tucked away at the back of the property, while the mailboxes were up at the front by the clubhouse and the pool and the leasing office. So the only time he checked it was if he made a special stop coming in or out of the complex.

Except if he was going somewhere, eleven times out of ten he was running late. He’d breeze right past them, telling himself it made more sense to check on his way back anyway. But then by the time he was headed back, he’d have forgotten all about it—his brain too fried, or too distracted by an epic solo performed on his steering wheel.

He wouldn’t even remember his mailbox existed until he was already at home, all settled in on the couch and lighting up a bowl while Gollum, Sam or Frodo dozed off in his lap. And he sure as shit wasn’t going to interrupt that just to fetch some junk mail and overly busy sales flyers.

Normally, he was pretty good about grabbing it after he’d finished up at the gym. But with the new year had come scores of new gym-goers all making good on their resolutions. Which was great and all, good for them, blah blah blah.

But it meant his usual quiet, alone time was suddenly...not that.

And he’s just not like Steve, you know? He doesn’t get off on people seeing what he can bench or strutting around in his sweaty tank and green shorts so everyone can take a good, long look at him. Reaching around the back of his own head and grasping at the hair there, squeezing it at his dampened roots until the tendons in his arms flex and his muscles bulge.

No. All Eddie wants is to sit quietly and do his reps in peace and (relative) solitude.

The only person he’s ever wanted to share the gym with was you…but it had been weeks now since your accidental meeting. And he was really hoping the only reason he hadn’t seen you around lately was because you too were also avoiding the resolutioners, and not because you were dodging him after your conversation.

He’d been playing it on a loop in his brain ever since. Not like, obsessively, or anything…

Okay. Maybe just a little.

He couldn’t help it, though. You could have set a world record by now with the way you’ve been running through his mind. Even little, silly things like eating his Cocoa Puffs in the morning has him wondering about you and what kind of cereal you liked. He imagined someday stocking it in the pantry and pulling it out as you emerge from the bedroom, rubbing sleep from your eyes, smiling and sated after a night of carnal bliss where he made you come like fifty times.

(It’s a fantasy, okay? Can’t a guy dream?)

Of course no part of his fantasy would ever come true if he never got to see you again. 

Maybe he’d freaked you out? Maybe you’d given up on the gym completely because he was such a creepy, weird, weirdo and you were avoiding it to avoid him? Maybe he’d already ruined it.

That thought in and of itself was devastating, but Eddie couldn’t even bring himself to entertain it for too long. Because ultimately, he still felt like everything had gone pretty well.

He knew your name now, and you knew his. He knew you had lived here about six months and that you worked from home just like he did. He knew you had one cat and there were five dogs you walked at various times during the week, but the two he hadn’t seen lived in the complex next door. He also knew you used mango body wash, but not because he asked about it.

Eddie actually felt like he’d been kinda-sorta charming? Maybe? You’d smiled a lot—Ozzy help him, he’d started counting how many times he’d made you do it. And you’d laughed at some goofy little thing he’d said which truly, genuinely, nearly sent him into cardiac arrest.

These thoughts and about a million others all swirled in his head as he opened up his mailbox.

He grumbled softly to himself as he flipped through the underwhelming stack just to be sure he didn’t miss a postcard from Wayne or some overdue bill. He was so distracted, he didn’t even notice the footsteps of someone walking up to lean against the wall behind him.

“Anything good?”

Normally, Eddie didn’t scare so easy. Maybe it was because he was still on edge after his work-out with the way the big hulking dude next to him had been huffing so loudly, snorting and grunting like a bulldog doing blow. Maybe it was because he’d been so wrapped up in thoughts about you, he wasn’t remotely ready for you to just appear like he had conjured you.

Wait…had he conjured you?

Whatever the reason—he jumped violently at the sound of your voice. His head whipped around and pain radiated in his skull as it connected with the sharp corner of his open mailbox door. Your eyes widened in horror as you watched his face screw up in agony, wincing along with him as he let out a loud and not remotely manly yelp.

“Oh, shit! I’m so sorry!” 

As you swooped in, the stinging pain in Eddie’s head was instantly tempered. Probably because his brain was now too filled with you for him to remember he was injured.

Holy shit you were so close. Holy, holy, holy fucking shit you were touching his forehead.

The brush of your fingertips along his brow, gently lifting his scraggly bangs—why had he not trimmed them in anticipation of this impossible to predict set of circumstances??—had his heart melting into a puddle in the center of his chest, as did the smile that spread across your lips.

“I just wanted to say hi,” you lamented. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Oh, no—you didn’t scare me,” Eddie’s lips vibrated with the raspberry he blew. “That, um. That was on purpose. I do it all the time. It’s like parkour…for your face.”

The laugh that burst out of you might as well have been made of gold, it felt so precious to Eddie. It filled him with a shimmery kind of feeling like on the rare occasions when he drank champagne or that one Fourth of July he watched the fireworks over the lake and they reflected in the water.

“Well, you’re very good,” you said, the words still tinged with your giggle.

It made Eddie grin all big and stupid in spite of feeling like a little bit of a loser. And, hey, maybe he was. But if you didn’t mind, he sure didn’t.

Your eyes then darted downwards and he felt that same familiar surge of excitement as he had the last time you checked him out…until he remembered what he was wearing.

He crossed his arms across his chest, filled to the brim with regret he’d chosen today of all days to wear one of the long-sleeve compression tees he’d gotten for Christmas from Steve. Because even with his chest and arms technically covered, the material was so thin and fit him so tight, it left virtually nothing to the imagination. You could probably make out the raised ink lines of his tattoos if you looked close enough.

Christ, she can see my nipples, he thought miserably as he tightened his grip on himself.

“Headed to the gym?” you asked, with something he dared to believe was hope in your eyes.

“No,” he said, deflating even more. “I just finished. You?”

“Nah,” you shook your head. “It’s been too crowded. Lots of people made resolutions for the new year, I’m guessing. I’ve been going at sort of weird times trying to avoid them.”

Eddie nodded in agreement, fingers now digging into his bicep. Fuck. What was a not-creepy way to ask what those weird times were? Or to ask if you wanted to run away together? Or where to go on your honeymoon? Maybe he’d find out if he could just open his fucking gob and ask.

The realization about his shirt had made a wave of self-consciousness wash over him and even though his brain was moving at about a hundred miles an hour, his mouth was frozen shut. His silence, as well as his abrupt shift in demeanor, had annihilated any undercurrent of flirtation.

“Well, I should get going. I’ve got a dog to walk,” you said when the silence went on just a smidge too long. “I’ll see you around, hopefully.”

Eddie made a sound somewhere between the word yeah and a grunt. You gave him a little wave and started to walk away, the sinking sun behind your body surrounding you in light like a fucking goddess. Eddie seriously considered bashing his head into the mailboxes on purpose. Was he seriously going to blow this again?

“You know…”

Eddie nearly choked on his heart as it leapt into his throat. You did a little spin on your heel and turned back towards him, your eyes glinting fierce with mischief and a smile curling across your lips. Lips that formed the most beautiful words he’d heard since, I just wanted to say “hi.”

“I was thinking,” you said, shifting slightly from one foot to the other. “If I’m ever at the gym and it’s not super crowded, I could let you know. Like…if I had your number?”

Oh, boy. Be cool, be cool, be cool, be cool—

“Are you, uh, asking me to ask you for your number?”

Eddie grinned at you, a little smug in spite of himself as he did. He could only hope his façade of confidence was enough to hide the fact that he was literally jumping up and down clicking his heels with glee on the inside. You smirked back at him, just as smug, if not a little more.

“I don’t know,” you said. “Are you asking me to ask you to ask me for my number?”

The both of you tittered at that, and suddenly he didn’t feel so bad about being kind of a loser. Because it seemed like you were kind of a loser too. He beamed as he put his hand up to lean on the wall, giving you a practically cartoonish once-over as though he was about to lay down the smoothest, most panty-dropping line of his life.

“Well, are you asking me…wait, what?”

Eddie’s brain stalled as he tried to repeat what you’d said and he looked away, glancing down at his feet, thwarted by his own hubris. But it made you giggle again and he thinks it might be his favorite sound in the whole fucking world. He wished it could be his ringtone, his morning alarm, the signal on his dryer—

He’s yanked out of his thoughts by the sight of your extended palm, motioning gimme with the fingers he can’t stop picturing laced with his.

“Let me see your phone, dork.”

@tomtomslongdong that shirt is just for you, bb 🥳

#eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson stranger things #eddie stranger things #gym!eddie #modern!eddie #neighbors!au

[ruggiezz]

— CHRISTMAS SPIRIT : twisted wonderland

[synopsis] they couldn’t go back home for the holidays, so how do they spend them with you?

[characters] ace, riddle, kalim, vil, malleus

[content warnings] food is mentioned

★﹕ACE TRAPPOLA — building a snowman

The streets were decorated with colorful lights, lamp posts had ribbons wrapped around them, and kids were running around playing with the snow. You could tell it was Christmas season from a mile away just by looking at the huge Christmas tree that decorated the park.

Even if it was around 7 pm, the streets were full of people shopping at the last hour. The windows of the stores were all advertising discounts to get more sales, from expensive items to affordable ones. 

Ace had already bought your gift weeks ago. It was something you mentioned you wanted once, you probably had forgotten about it, but he had saved for months just to see the smile on your face when you opened it.

While walking to a cafe Cater recommended, you saw some kids making a snowman together in a nearby park while their parents chatted while sitting on a bench. Grabbing Ace's hand, you rushed to a spot in the park and rolled some snow to make the body. He protested at first but he got to work almost immediately.

Helping you decorate it was the fun part. He collected some pebbles while you continued molding it. As he decorated the face so it would look like it was frowning, he laughed at you for protesting about the facial expression. Ace said it was ‘the best snowman in the park’ and that you both ‘won against those kids’. You grabbed your scarf and wrapped it around the snowman, claiming it was so it wouldn't 'feel cold'.

Sadly, you forgot the weather was below 0°; but before you could even say something or complain, you felt Ace wrapping his red scarf carefully around your neck.

“Sheesh, I’m your boyfriend, and you’re favoring a snowman over me. I'm going to freeze now, you know? …I'm just teasing, let's go or we won't find any tables available.”

★﹕RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS — decorating a gingerbread house

Usually, Sam makes Christmas sales in the Mystery shop around December, but this year it made a huge fuss because of the new items he added. The students that stayed in school grounds were buying almost everything, so you thought you could check it out. 

All the items were eye-catching, but a particular gingerbread house set stood out the most. It was selling fast, and you wanted one, so why wouldn't you buy one to decorate with your boyfriend?

Riddle couldn't say he was surprised when you showed up in his room with a box of frosting sleeves and gingerbread walls. A few Heartslabyul students who stayed too bought some sets and decorated them in the common areas (and that got them collared, which made them have to go to their own rooms or the cafeteria tables). He thought about it and decided to give it a try, since he wanted to spend time with you and he already finished his book of crosswords.

His side of the gingerbread house looks neat, exactly like a model a company would use in an advertisement, following the instructions carefully paid off. Your side looks slightly messy, with the frosting dripping on the sides and some of the candy falling off. The best way to describe it would be like an earthquake happened, and it only affected half the house. But Riddle still liked it; he could see the effort you put into it; you could even say he felt fond of it.

Riddle had a lot of fun decorating and spending time with you. You handed him the colorful chocolate candy package as he gave the final touches on the ceiling.

It wasn't the perfect house, but it was one made by the both of you.

“It isn’t tidy or neat, yet it has a certain charm to it... Don't put frosting on my face!”

★﹕KALIM AL-ASIM — singing christmas carols

He really likes spoiling you, and you could tell that he was planning something big due to how big his grin had been since December started.

Kalim promised to walk you to Ramshackle after the end of your classes, promising to spend the rest of the day with you. He even finished his homework for the end of the break early so Jamil couldn't object!

The second the bell that indicated the start of winter break rings, Kalim rushes out of the classroom, going straight to the stairs so he could go meet you on another floor. Jamil had to yell at him from a distance to not walk too quickly or he would slip and fall off the stairs. Kalim looks like an excited puppy waiting for you in the hallway, wanting to receive that kiss you always give him as s greeting, it's the best part of his day.

He grabs your hand and starts walking to Ramshackle, excitedly telling you about his plans for the both of you for the winter break, talking about the gifts he will send to his siblings, and about the meal you can both have on the 25th. When the both of you run out of conversation topics, Kalim just hums the melody of a carol, swinging the arm, holding your hand back and forth, and walking as quick as he could.

Kalim looks back at you, giving you the brightest smile he can physically make, and asks you to sing along with him. He'll teach you the lyrics. Or maybe, if you want to, you can both sing carols from your world.

He's just a big fan of carols; he even tells you about how Jamil and he sang them together every Christmas when they were kids. He would love the idea of being able to sing with you together; he wants to know more about you and the traditions in your world.

“Come on, let’s sing together! We can be like a duo; it’ll be so much fun!”

★﹕VIL SCHOENHEIT — watching christmas movies

As soon as he found out you were staying at the school grounds during the holidays, he invited you to stay in Pomefiore. Vil can't have you getting sick or getting your skin dry; the coldness of the environment wasn't good for anyone's skin.

Vil arranged a room for you with all the necessary things you could need, even preparing a set of expensive pajamas he bought for you as an early gift, yet you still sneaked at night to sleep in his bed. It's not like he was complaining; it helped him sleep better at night. You are made to go to sleep early anyway, sleeping is important to maintain your natural beauty.

The second day you opened in your laptop the huge catalog of the (expensive) streaming service you bought especially for the holidays. You asked Vil to watch some Christmas movies with you and he agreed. He knew you weren't familiar with this world's iconic movies, so he would act as your guide.

The both of you made it a habit to sit in his bed a few hours before bedtime and watch some Christmas movies. You played a movie he recommended or that caught your eye, got comfortable, laid your head on his shoulder, and he got to speak about his thoughts on the actor's performance. This was the routine you both followed every day. But one particular movie caught your eye—one he starred in months before entering NRC.

It was good; it was a rom-com where he starred as a side character. You found yourself watching it multiple times, even in his absence. It was a movie with a good plot, your boyfriend starred in it, and he got to talk about the behind the scenes. It was a win-win.

“Did you enjoy my performance, hm? My acting is always on point; expect nothing but the best from me.”

★﹕MALLEUS DRACONIA — sharing hot chocolate

Since Malleus stayed behind because he wanted to spend the holidays with you, that meant the rest of the Diasomnia family did too, so they were all invited to a Christmas sleepover at Ramshackle. And he could never decline an invitation, especially from you.

Sebek was delighted to drink something sweet, just like Grim, who was happy to be able to eat whatever he wanted. Lilia was reminiscing over old memories of when they were younger, like a proud father would, and Silver was listening and adding more to what Lilia was saying.

There was something comforting about the heat coming from the mug he was holding and the sweater you bought specially for him. Malleus has never been sensitive to the cold weather, but the warmth he felt in his heart seeing how well you got along with important people in his life was more than welcomed. It was simple—nothing like the fancy celebrations at his castle back home—just the six of you spending time together while chatting about anything.

It wasn't a foreign feeling; he often felt this way around you, but he could never get enough of it. He smiled at you as you refilled Sebek's mug, who was discussing with Silver about their childhood memories, while you listened intently, clearly interested. Lilia noticed Malleus staring at you and teased him about it, but Malleus only smiled proudly at him and kept drinking from his mug; some of the marshmallows you added to his cup sinking to the bottom.

If any other student witnessed it, they would be speechless over how Malleus Draconia, the scary prince nobody wants to anger, was so content drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows in a snowman mug. But they would be even more speechless if they saw the tender way he looked at you.

“This night has been nothing but delightful; you surprise me more and more every day. I want nothing more than to make more memories like this with you.”

#twisted wonderland #twst #ace trappola x reader #ace x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #riddle x reader #kalim al asim x reader #kalim x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #vil x reader #malleus draconia x reader #malleus x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader

[leounderthemoon]

A rant and theory

It’s really long, but I think I make some valid points.

Supernatural was on for 15 years. There have been interactions with the cast, some crew, some producers, directors, writers, etc. due to the ongoing conventions and the existence of social media. Writers will talk about changes to scripts, actors will talk about filming, directors will talk about why they chose a certain angle.

Given that most of the fans/stans do not personally know any of the people involved or personally know anything about the things that are/aren’t going on, it’s weird the way some fans/stans speak so confidently about what happened with SPN behind-the-scenes, production, writing, casting, you name it! 

Especially when it comes to PrequelGate. People will state with their whole chest, that their version of events is absolutely correct. One J is an asshole, and one J is an innocent baby. Which J is which depends on who is talking. It can be either or both. The only thing that all fans who have theories have in common is that there is a definite good guy and a bad guy.

But the Js are still friends. They say they got over it and forgave. Since no one has given any details, I thought I’d join the bandwagon and come up with a theory of my own. One where there is no good guy/bad guy. So here goes.

I fully believe that the story of The Winchesters was not meant to be an AU. It was supposed to take place between 15.19 and 15.20, with Dean and Sam finding out about their parents.  They had to switch it to the AU version because of the leak, a new timetable, and the fact that Jared was no longer available. There is also a recent podcast (I don't have a link) where a writer from The Winchesters said that Robbie Thompson, the writer and show runner for The Winchesters, kind of knew that they were only going to get 1 season because of all the mergers/sales of the networks and studios.

Robbie Thompson said in an interview (https://tvline.com/news/the-winchesters-recap-season-1-finale-dean-heaven-multiverse-jensen-ackles-1234942742/)  “There was the spot that takes place in between Episodes 19 and 20, when what happens to Dean happens to Dean… So there was an opportunity to tell stories there, but that just didn’t work for me because we wouldn’t have access to Sam in that way, in a way that we could easily explain or at least emotionally explain, and that just didn’t feel like it was a story that certainly I wanted to tell and none of us did.” (Underlining mine) They wouldn’t have access to Sam because Jared could not be involved. Not because no one wanted him, but because he just couldn’t.

The reason I believe this is because of the following.

It starts with Virtual Con (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADYwrZ787a0) held in March 2021. In the video, the question about Chaos Machine projects starts at around 23 minutes. Watch Jared’s face throughout Jensen’s whole answer. He’s nodding along, looking at his screen, and not even showing the slightest surprise in what Jensen is saying. He doesn’t because he already knows. To me, that is the face of someone who already knows what the other person is talking about. Jared already knows which projects Jensen is working on. He knows which alum he is talking about. So he just sits there and lets Jensen answer.  His quip at the end that he will also be acting in it is just that, a quip for the fans.  Because (supposedly) he is bound by a 5-year contract to CBS. He can not legally get involved in Jensen’s project with WB. He can acknowledge that he knows about it, but he has to show that he is absolutely not involved. 

Next is the announcement of The Winchesters in June 2021 by Deadline. There were tweets by Jared that said he was upset that he didn’t know about it and that he wasn’t involved. There was also a tweet directed at Robbie Thompson calling him a back stabber that was later deleted. And, silence from Jensen, because he was unable to come online and address anything because he was on set in Canada. 

Things were set in motion that were not meant to be put in motion for a while. I don’t think Chaos Machine was ready to start casting/filming yet. I think Jensen and Jared were trying to make it work with CBS so that Jared could be involved in the prequel. But those talks weren’t finished, or possibly even started yet. But the leak by Deadline, the WB/Discovery merger, and Mark Pedowitz leaving, combined to put pressure to do the show sooner, while Pedowitz was still in charge. If they waited, then nothing might come of Chaos Machine’s deal with WB once the new owners came in. Maybe they were waiting for Jensen to finish shooting The Boys to get together and talk about all this, but they still hadn't.

And this is what Jared was upset about. He thought there was time before the show would start, so was surprised that it was announced without him knowing. It also explains why he thought Robbie Thompson back-stabbed him. Because he was going to be a part of this show, and now he couldn’t. He couldn’t even say he had been part of the development from the beginning because it would be against his contract with CBS. He can’t even say wants to be a part of it now, because again, it would be against his contract with CBS. He’s upset, because he hasn’t had any communication from Jensen about this going through, and Jensen was also unreachable. So he vented online a little.

Once this narrative that Jared was never involved, and would not appear in it, spread, all of them had to run with it. Jensen apologized for not telling Jared. He said he was superstitious. He wanted to tell Jared, but he didn’t have his phone. That he was on set. That Jared couldn’t participate because he was busy. Etc. etc.

But, when Jared spoke with Jensen, and was (possibly) made aware that the news came out because it was leaked, and that they didn’t have time to clue Jared in, and (possibly) they were thinking of doing the show sooner because of WB, Pedowitz, Zaslav, etc., and that they were still in a holding phase, Jared forgave Jensen.

All of the above explains the inconsistencies and “lies” and “tantrums” and finally the forgiveness, and moving on. 

I choose to believe that neither Jared nor Jensen are entitled assholes. They do not owe the fans any BTS details.

I’m sure people can tear this apart, but their theories don’t hold up either. 

#jensen ackles #jared padalecki #spnfandom #spn #prequelgate #supernatural #the winchesters #supernatural fandom

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

OC questionnaire

Thanks to @elsie-writes here, @mysticstarlightduck here, @riverkaplan here, and @somethingclevermahogony here!

My previous questionnaires:

Robbie, Gwen, Maddie, Noelle, Jedi, and Kelsey here.

Carmen, George, Akash, Sam, Lexi, and Ash here.

Gabriel, Carla, Parker, Rose, Alex, and Ewan here.

Liam, Hye-Jin, Wendy, Wade, Issa, and CJ here.

Below the cut I will do: Teo, Niri, Jazlyn, Anathi!

#1- Teo

Do you believe in the paranormal?

“Sis, my boyfriend literally can heal a broken arm in seconds. You would not believe the shit I've seen Parker do just because Wade can heal him. Oh yeah, and Parker literally is an airbender. How can I not? If a vampire walked into the school I wouldn't blink.”

What oddly-specific T-shirt would you wear?

“This shirt that says ‘born to shit, forced to wipe,’ I want it so much you don't understand.”

Do you usually cry at sad moments or happy moments or both?

“Definitely sad moments. I mean, I would not put it past me to cry when happy, but I can't make it through sad movies, man. Not at all.”

#2- Niri

Where is your favorite place in the world?

“I have an easy answer to this. Carla and George have a quiet room in their house. I can go there if I feel too overwhelmed or if I want to be alone for a bit. The room also has good lighting. I like it if someone joins me, though usually just a few people at the same time. Otherwise my reason for going into the room is ruined. [He smiles slightly.] I like everyone in the Aequales. Although there is a lot of people.”

What food do you hate the most?

“I dislike pasta. Pasta is not bad. It tastes good. But the texture really bothers me. I cannot eat spaghetti.”

Do you like watching sunsets or sunrises?

“Yes. I 100-percent love sunsets and sunrises. I am an artist. Maybe that's the reason. I feel inspired. New day, too.”

#3- Jazlyn

If you could only wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?

“I would wear a tank top and shorts, easily. Why? Well, I think it would be fun, definitely make me stick out among the modest Utahns I'm forced to interact with. But also they show off how good of shape I'm in. And girl, I'm in good shape. It's hard to find pants for me, since I'm mostly legs. So why not show them off? I'd probably wear cute sandals, the necklace Ewan gave me, and my gorgeous hoop earrings.”

Who's the person you trust more than anyone else in the world?

“Obviously, Ewan. He is the kindest person I know. He would never do anything wrong.”

What's your dream job?

“I would actually find sales fun. I plan to get a marketing degree when I go to college next year. It seems fun to convince people what to buy.”

More Jazlyn: OC interview

#4- Anathi

Who in this world do you trust most, and why?

“... I guess Tyler. Kinda by default. He actually listens to me. Always kept promises, too. I relied on him for many reasons.”

What was your favorite place in the world when you were young

“The park. Where I could hang out with other kids. Before my powers kicked in.”

What is your favorite memory?

“When Tyler and I first met, we talked for hours. I would like to experience that feeling again.”

I haven't written for Anathi yet so this was probably only okay. Shorter responses are intentional tho

Your questions:

Tagging @writernopal @aziz-reads @mk-writes-stuff @romances-not-tragedies @little-peril-stories

@evilgabe29 @maggiekwest @chauceryfairytales @pluppsauthor @willtheweaver

@winterandwords @melpomene-grey @i-can-even-burn-salad @mysticstarlightduck @talesofsorrowandofruin

+ ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS

How do you make decisions? Long deliberation, or impulse? Logic or emotions?

What is the best thing that could happen within five minutes after waking up? Does it signal that the entire day will be good?

Is there anything that you find difficult that you feel should be easy?

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy

#the secret portal #teaspoon #tsp #my ocs #oc tag game #oc questionnaire #writing tag game #teo nguyen #niri shyaka #jazlyn nyambura #anathi makeba #writers of tumblr #writers on tumblr #writing community #writing on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community

[thedreadvampy]

My housemate is moving out in January

She told us this a week or two ago, when she sat down and, after sitting with us watching TV for over an hour, said "hey so I bought a house and I'm moving out. We agreed on 2 months notice so I won't move until the end of January."

The last time she talked in the immediate terms about buying a house was in 2021, when the sale she was working on fell though and she was unemployed so it was a "when I'm back in a position to look I'll start looking again." Since then I've occasionally asked her how she's doing on the house buying front and she's been like "oh I'm getting there financially" but hasn't mentioned anything concrete.

She didn't tell us she was looking at places. She didn't tell us she had put in an offer. She told us when the offer was finalised. A week AFTER she emailed the letting agent about getting out of her part of the lease. And, it increasingly feels like, only because the letting agent's response was that we had to agree to change the lease.

The letting agent's response (which our housemate obviously didn't copy us into; we had to follow up separately and they copied us into the email chain) also includes that when we change the lease, they're empowered to change the rent, quote, "no cap". Rent was already going up in January - there's no possibility of Sam and I paying her share of the rent.

The really fucking upsetting thing is we're not strangers. This isn't a casual "housemate we found on flatshare" thing. She and Sam have lived together literally their entire adult lives. Me and her have known each other well over a decade. I lived in her and Sam's flat when I was homeless. We were the first people she came out to as trans. We're not super close but I thought we were fucking friends. And she's literally gone out of her way to not talk to us about this for what must have been months while the sale completed - which means she's lied to my face at least once cause I've asked her about her finances in that time (cause she's in a job she hates that she only took to get the house money, so it's like. when we've been commiserating about work stuff I'm often asking 'are you almost free?'). she literally went out of her way to talk to the letting agents before talking to us about putting us in a situation where we could lose our fucking home.

And she keeps. trying. to pretend nothing's happened. Every time I've seen her since then she's not mentioned anything or apologised or anything, she just keeps chatting away and offering hugs and fistbumps like nothing's happened. Like we're still fucking friends.

All it would take for us to still be friends and to be happy for her would have been one fucking sentence in the groupchat like "hey, just put an offer in on a house" or "I'm looking at properties, just so you know, that might happen in the next few months". Like nobody begrudges her for buying a house! It's very cool for her! She's 31 she's worked really hard to get the money I would love to be happy for her! Unfortunately she decided avoiding conflict is more important than giving the people she fucking LIVES WITH (who btw fronted her a month on the rent here while she was unemployed and agreed to take on a larger proportion of the move-in cost back in 2021, if we're still holding ourselves to shit we said 2.5 years ago), so no, you are not entitled to our friendship or to going back to normal.

like if she'd been honest with us it would have been something to process but we'd have had time to figure out our next steps. instead she's left us in a position where we have to find a new roommate before she gives her one month notice, which means finding someone by the end of December, which oh look that's the middle of the fucking Christmas holidays. and she didn't tell us anything until the START of December, or copy us into her conversation with the letting agent, meaning we still don't know what the rent on that space will be so we aren't yet in a position to advertise it. Has she offered to help find a roommate? Has she fuck. Has she offered to help out by moving her move-out date? Nah, she's moving as soon as she gets the keys because, quote, "that means her finances won't have to change". SOUNDS LOVELY. NOT HAVING YOUR FINANCES SUDDENLY CHANGE. I THINK THAT SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY REASONABLE FUCKING GOAL.

Thirteen fucking years she's lived with Sam. Four fucking weeks over Christmas she's left us to figure out a way to not turbofuck our living situation. And she's got the fucking nerve to try and pretend we should be interacting like nothing's changed. Jesus Christ. What a fucking unhinged way to treat...anybody, honestly. never mind the friends-your-entire-adult-life part. literally cannot imagine a scenario in which I would buy a house without telling the people I lived with.

(haha actually this is what my parents divorced over so apparently it's not unusual. although at least my dad had the decency to tell the woman he shared finances with at the point he put in an offer not the point the fucking sale went through.)

Like we'll be fine. It's a huge city centre flat with decent rent and queer housemates, hopefully even when the rent goes up it'll be an easy sell in a city with a huge housing shortage and big queer community. We've got a couple of people interested already, sight unseen - worst case scenario we have to live with someone we don't get on with. And it's given Sam and me a push to look at our own finances and as of today, we've got a mortgage decision in principle and can start looking at flats in the area - mind, we'll be transparent upfront and tell any prospective housemates that yeah, we're looking to buy and move out in the next 6-12 months, and we'll tell them if we put an offer in, because we're decent fucking people who aren't going to spring that on someone out of the blue.

But it's been I think 2 weeks and I'm so fucking angry I could spit. It's such a fucking betrayal. And frankly you know selfishly like. I just had a breakup a couple of months ago, I'm in the middle of moving jobs, both me and Sam have a history of housing instability and this has been the first decent, stable, safe, not-mouldy not-freezing home I think any of us have had, and this is so fucking triggering and upscuttling I could just start biting. like I was talking to my friend about it last week and it's just like. Can I have One Fucking Thing of the three main tentpoles of survival - home, work, relationships - that are fucking stable right now? because shit has been In Flux lately. and at least the work and relationship stuff has changed because of my decisions. going through all that work to make myself short-term unstable to gain long-term stability has been really hard and draining and then just as I was reaching the crisis point with work stuff BOOM, IT'S HOUSING INSTABILITY WITH A STEEL CHAIR. fuck. seriously fuck this and fuck her. we're going to make something good come of it but what a deeply, unbelievably shitty thing to do.

#red said #the other thing that bugs me about it is. ok and again this is old shit dredged back to 2021 when we moved in together #but i had my housemate. and Sam had her. and each of us were really close pairs who'd lived together a long time #and we tried looking for flats as a four but a) a flat with 4 good sized bedrooms in Edinburgh is hens teeth #and b) my housemate was pretty happy to live with me and Sam but increasingly felt like a 4 man flat was going to be a lot for him #and so in the end we talked about it. and through a combination of that and same housemate being in a pretty #unfavorable position housing wise. cause she was unemployed and had shit credit at that moment. #we agreed she'd move with us and Joe went and found a one bed #and in the end that's been really great for him tbh he's a lot happier and more confident and we were pretty sick of each other by then #and so we get on much better now #but at the time it was a real heartache i felt like I'd let Joe down i felt like our friendship was over #and honestly I have never been a huge fan of living with our current housemate. even before we lived here #like when i was staying with her and Sam too. she's incredibly messy and takes up a lot of space in conversations #I've always liked her as a person but she's exhausting and often unpleasant to share space with #and there's a bit of me that's like. we bent over backwards to accommodate you when you were precarious. #like it would have been WAY easier for us to look for a 2-bed during 2021. and if it was a 3-bed I'd have rather stayed with Joe. #but we moved with her for her sake. and she left Sam to clean up their old place (and there were Literal Rats) #and she got really pissy about driving the moving van even though a) that was her idea and b) she's the only person with a license #and c) i walked all MY shit over by hand anyway and the only reason she hired the van was to move her tv #me and Sam found all the core furniture. me and Sam sorted out all the viewings. me and Sam did all the planning. Sam set up all the bills. #we spotted her for rent!we took a bigger share of the costs! because we fucking cared about her and wanted her to have a fucking home! #and she can't even do us the courtesy you'd offer a fucking lodger you found on fucking gumtree

[justanotherfanfolks]

I've got Sam's New Years Sale on the mind and I am now subjecting you to my wild card theories.

Sale Take 1:

Sale Take 2:

Sale Take 3:

A few things I want to preface this partial prediction with. Based on the trends, I think every boy is getting a New Year's Attire. Yes, even your fave. They started with 2 cards (Kalim and Deuce) and since then have released 4 each year. If this trend continues, I would expect 3 more New Years Sale events with 4 cards each, 2 SSRs and 2 SRs. The only thing that throws me off is... him (glances over to Leona). This is a lottery students sign up for. He would NEVER sign up for it willingly, but let's assume the stars align and the man is forced to be here. There's also King of the Introverts Idia Shroud, but I'm sure there's something he'd get out of it that makes him set out on the service worker quest. He and Sam have a bit of an understanding, I'm sure there's a valid reason he can make an appearance as a card in the event.

Now as for who is getting paired up and who is appearing this year, I have a theory. Looking back at the combinations of the past 3 events in terms of dorms, the first was Heartslaybul (H) and Scarabia (Sc). The second was Savanaclaw (Sa), Diasomnia (D), H, and Pomefiore (P). The third was H, P, Ignihyde (I), and Octavinelle (O). So far, no combination has had two members of the same dorm at once. Therefore, I think in each event, the 4 will all be from different dorms (that also makes it more fun when the dorms come into the shop if only one of them is a worker). So if you think of the next groups as breakdowns of 4, that means two of the three will have an H boy (Ace and Riddle), and all of the upcoming events have a D boy (Silver, Malleus, Lilia). So that would like

H D

H D

D

Not in that particular order, but you get the idea. Now as for who will be in this next event specifically, I have another theory. So far, we have had an Sc, Sa, D, H, and P SSR. The fact they don't repeat a dorm is this order is something I find interesting. Based on this trend, I believe in this next event, the SSRs will be an I and an O. Because Ortho is already in an event, I think this year we are getting an SSR New Year's Attire Idia (or at the very least at some point, fair is fair, every dorm should get at least on SSR), which would make this a stacked year for Idia as he already has Tsum SSR but I still think this is right. And folks. IDIA IN CUSTOMER SERVICE! THINK OF THE VIGNETTE. As for O, it could go for either Floyd or Azul. Both are spectacular candidates for that vignette and I'm not really leaning towards any, but mark my words one of them is getting an SSR.

"But didn't Ortho and Jade JUST appear last year" yes they did. But I don't think that'll be an issue because in event 2, Cater and Vil appeared as SRs and the following year Trey and Rook appeared as SSRs. O and I for this event should still work.

And if we go with my previous prediction, that puts a D boy in there as well. Which of the three still available it will be, I'm not so sure. Probably depends on who would Duo the best with those I predicted (and based on my prediction I know EXACTLY which one many people are going to manifest). As for the fourth person, I actually don't know. We could be in the set that either includes an H or doesn't. There's a 2/3 chance of one appearing, but that would be 4 H boys in a row. I don't know if they are pumping them all out as quickly as possible or if they'll stop and put another dorm in. That fourth person could literally be almost any other dorm (P (Epel), Sc (Jamil), Sa (Leona or Jack)) Also, there's nothing against two dorms appearing together in two events (case: H and P both appearing in two events). This is probably another case of the Duo logic, except Duo predictions don't tend to make sense to me especially since they can repeat, so I don't even try to make sense of them. They turn me into that one dude with the whiteboard meme (Actually that image matches most of the nonsensical theories I spout).

At the very least, based on my model an O and an Sa should appear with an H and D, either in the same event or different ones. In the one with Sa, D, and H, the 4th just won't be Epel because that's just event 2 in another font.

So that also leaves 4 other SSRs to wildly speculate about. Now, this becomes less of a theory and enters more personal desire territory. I want Jack to be one of them. BREAK HIM OUT OF R JAIL, HE DESERVES A WIN, GIVE HIM ANOTHER SSR YOU COWARDS! Um, yeah hopefully Jack gets one, man is long overdue. I REALLY want Silver or Malleus to get another one, they both only have, well, one. Actually, Malleus is getting another one with Tsum, so Silver is more so lacking. And Silver is my boy, so of course I want it to be him. But, just IMAGINE the Malleus in customer service vignette. It's too tantalizing to not want. I doubt both could get one because Sebek has one, so it has to be one or the other (watch it be Peepaw, coming in with a steel chair to steal the SSR from his sons). Throwing it out there: Diasomnia SSR is after this one. Based on the conspiracy theory I have I won't elaborate on. Ok now as for the other two, I'm going to say NOT Jamil. Funny enough, I predicted him getting the SR in Tsumsted 3 and he was an R wildly enough (a true win for One SR Trey), so I don't have a good track record predicting Jamil cards (Tapis Rouge baffled me). Anyway, this is based on the fact Kalim already has one and if the whole dorm has one it'd be giving favoritism. Also, I have no idea where a vignette could go from there. (Gosh, I don't know WHY they don't give the SRs vignettes anymore, Deuce got one and I love it). Using that same logic for Leona. The favoritism thing, not the vignette. That vignette would be hysterical. Man, customer service Leona is going to be so funny. It's just if I bank on Jack, then Leona should be an SR to keep the peace (Please let it be Jack, LEONA HAS ENOUGH (no hate to Leona btw)). That leaves me with 2 more SSRs and 4 contenders. I think Heartslabyul can spare another since there's just Trey so far, so there's a good chance Ace or Riddle could get an SSR. Perks of being the biggest dorm. So I guess that leaves an O boy and Epel. Since I think one O boy is getting it this year, that means the other is in competition with Epel to snag two SSRs for their dorm. That'll be interesting to see.

Ok, now watch me be completely wrong.

#so anyway what quartets/SSRs/vignettes/duo magics do you want to see from these events? #twisted wonderland #twst #wow imagine reading this whole thing #i ramble too much! #i just started thinking and writing this instead of the thing i SHOULD be writing but oh well #anyway sam's new years sale is such a genius event concept and I can't wait to see how it goes down this year!

[reigningqueenofwords]

Mother's Day

Pairing: John x Reader Word count: 1,130

Read on AO3

John rolled over, ready to pull you close and wish you a happy mother’s day. It was your first together, and he was excited to spoil you for the day. However, he was met with you already out of bed. The more he woke up, the more the smell of breakfast registered to him. He quickly got out of bed, worried that Dean was trying to cook you something. Again. He was thankful that his 8 year old adored you, but would rather him not get hurt by cooking. 

“Baby?” John furrowed his brow when he saw you in the kitchen cooking. You were already dressed, and you already had your favorite apron on. Sam and Dean were already in the living room watching cartoons. “Why are you cooking breakfast? And what time are the girls getting here?” Your two daughters were at their father’s that weekend, and he assumed they’d be joining for mother’s day. 

You looked at him, confused. “Why wouldn’t I be making breakfast?” You asked him, shrugging a shoulder before you flipped a pancake. “I make it every morning. And I get them tomorrow after school, as always.” 

He glanced at the calender. Was it not mother’s day? “I’m supposed to make you breakfast with the kids today. It’s mother’s day, so why wouldn’t the girls be here?” He started making his way to you to take over the cooking. “How about you go relax?” 

“That doesn’t change anything.” You tried to shoo him. 

“Yes, it does. You take care of me, the boys, and the girls when they’re here. Let us take care of you for a day. I get you’ve been single the past few years, but you’re not anymore.” He rubbed your back. 

“Whether I’m single or not changes nothing. It’s just another day. I’ll get breakfast made, eat, get the dishes from breakfast done, sort some laundry, read a bit, make lunch, clean up after lun-” 

“What the fuck?” He snapped, making you jump and look at him. “You’re telling me you’ve been a mother for 11 years and you’ve never had a mother’s day off? You’ve never gotten to relax while other people take over? You’ve never had someone make you your favorite dinner?” He didn’t like that one bit. 

You shook your head. “I’ve gotten a card once or twice. Or when the kids were younger they’d bring home something from school.” You’d stopped caring, honestly. “I pick what I’d like for dinner, and I buy what I need beforehand.” 

He pulled out his wallet. “Go get yourself a manicure, a nice new dress, whatever, sweetheart.” He handed you a few twenties. “Relax, get pampered. Me and the boys are going to make this one hell of a mother’s day.” You opened your mouth to protest, but he raised an eyebrow at you, making you shut it. “We love you, and this is the first mother’s day they’ve been able to celebrate in years.” He said softly, knowing that would mean more than him telling you that you deserve it. “It’s Sammy’s first ever.” He added. 

Nodding, you handed him the spatula, and took the money. “Okay, okay.” You said softly, chuckling. “I’ll go.” 

John’s face lit up. “Good girl.” He winked, smirking as you blushed. 

You’d done exactly as John told you. You’d gotten a manicure, found a cute dress on sale, a lollipop for each kid, a box of brownie mix to make John, and a couple things for the kitchen you’d been really wanting. “I’m home!” You called out, toeing off your shoes.

“Yay!” Sammy came running to hug your legs, making you smile. “Did you have fun?” 

“I did, but I’m happy to be home! I got you something.” You crouched, setting down the bags as the other two Winchester men came in. “A lollipop for you, sweet Sammy.” You handed it to him. “And a lollipop for you, dear Dean.” You held it out, smiling when he rushed over for it. “And after these two are in bed, I got dessert for us.” You told John, standing. 

John grinned, happy you’d been able to take time for yourself. “The girls will be here about dinner time.” He informed you. “I called him and explained today is Mother’s Day, and you should get the girls for at least part of it. He finally agreed.” He left out the part he told your ex he’d give him money to take out his new wife as a treat. What could it hurt being civil? 

“Oh, John!” You hugged him. “Thank you!”

Hearing a knock at the door, John went to get it, leaving you to continue playing cards with the boys. A moment later, your 11 year old and 9 year old came running in. “Mom!” They yelled happily. 

“Girls!” You gushed, holding them both closely. “Let me finish this round of go fish with the boys, then we can all play something.” You beamed. 

“I’m gonna go start dinner, sweetheart.” John smiled from the doorway. He fell more in love with you every day, watching you with the kids. 

That night, the pair of you had made the boxed brownies, and enjoyed them with ice cream. “Thank you for today, John.” You laid your head on his chest as the pair you got into bed that evening.

“You deserve the world, sweetheart.” He kissed the top of your head. “But I was wondering if there was something I could have with you. Two things, really.”

Shifting so that you were lying on your stomach, you had an amused look on your face. “I’m sure I could agree to that if you’re thinking the same way as me.” You flirted, making him laugh.

“Oh, shit, sweetheart. I got lucky with you.” He said happily. “Not what I had in mind, but I’ll take that, too.” He licked his lips.

“So, what does my dear boyfriend wish for?”

“For starters, I don’t wanna be called your boyfriend anymore.” He started, making your face fall. “Kinda hoping I could be called your fiance?”

It took a moment for that to sink in. “Yes!” You gasped, all but jumping on him to kiss all over his face. “Wait, what’s the other thing?” You asked, sitting on his thighs, your hands on each sighed of his head.

“How’s about we have a baby of our own?” He rubbed over your thighs. “Sammy is about to start school, and I wanna see you with a little one we created.” Hell, he didn’t know if you wanted more kids, but he sure hoped you did.

You couldn’t help but smile lovingly at him. “I’d love nothing more than to have a baby with you.” You cupped his cheek, rubbing your thumb over the stubble. 

#john winchester x reader #john x reader

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Ruggie Bucchi New Year's Attire Personal Story: Part 3

"You can only try it here!"

(Part 1) (Part 2) Part 3

[Beside Mister S's Mystery Shop]

―After opening

Ace: I wonder if there's any good deals going on for today's New Year's Sale―

Deuce: Hm? There's some kind of crowd in front of the shop...

Ace: Wh-What's that!? There's a bunch of snow heaps in by the shop!?

Deuce: Oh, there's a hole in those snow heaps. And hey, there's people inside!

Ace: You're right! And they're totally just lounging around. Looks kinda cold, though...

Ruggie: You'd think. But it's actually pretty warm inside.

Ace: Ah, Ruggie-senpai! What's with those snowbanks? There's so many of them...

Ruggie: Those are called ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ.

Ace/Deuce: ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ?

Ruggie: Yep! Think of it like a little house made out of a dome of snow.

Ruggie: You pile up the snow while pouring water on it here and there, then make a huge hole in the center of it, and you're done. Easy-peasy, don'tcha think?

Deuce: Ah, now I see a lot of the other guys carrying around shovels. Guess they're all making these ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ.

Ace: There's people eating stuff inside those ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ too. Eh, is that... marshmallows and... mud?

Ruggie: NO, IT AIN'T MUD!!

Ruggie: That's a super tasty treat. Look at how they all like it.

Epel: What's this 'ere food... IT'S DELISH!!!

Rook: Pairing together this chewy dango with this rich and sweet soup... Aah, how très bien this is!!!

Ace: You're right, they all look like they love it. But it still looks... I mean, the color of that broth is weird, man.

Ruggie: That's called "oshiruko" and it's a dish from a country in the East.

Ruggie: The soup's made out of these red beans that's been stewed in sugar, and you eat it with these things called "dango."

Ace: Eh, stewed with sugar...? So it's sweet beans!? And that color is super black... Don't think it's for me.

Deuce: Me neither... But Epel and Hunt-senpai look like they're really enjoying it, so I kind of want to know how it tastes.

Ace: I mean, I guess I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit curious too...

Ruggie: Oh, and by the way, only people who make a ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ get to buy the oshiruko. That means...

Ruggie: YOU CAN ONLY TRY IT HERE!! NOW!! THIS LIMITED-TIME ACTIVITY!!!

Ruggie: It'd be pretty cool to chow down on a unique dish in a unique setting like the ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ, huuuh～?

Ruggie: There's a limit to how much we're sellin' each day, so I don't think you can afford to pass up this opportunity.

Ace/Deuce: Gulp...

Deuce: I'd like to try it!

Ace: Guess I'll try it out too. Bet the others'll be jelly when they hear about this.

Ruggie: Okaaay, a setting for two coming right up～ And you'll be ordering the oshiruko as well, right?

Ace/Deuce: Yes!

Ruggie: Shishishi, thank you very much～!!

Ruggie: Here, you can use this shovel. If you need help on making your ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ, you can come ask!

Ruggie: Once you're done, I'll bring some hot oshiruko over to you. Have fun～!

[Mister S's Mystery Shop]

―After closing

Sam: Good job today, my little imp crew!

Sam: Thanks to all your hard work, that was the busiest we've been recently.

Sam: I truly appreciate how you improved on the ＨＡＧＯＩＴＡ battles, as well as the idea to sell the oshiruko!

Sam: Let's all keep up the good work tomorrow!

Vil/Sebek: Yessir!

Cater/Ruggie: Yeah!

Sam: So, there's still a little bit of the oshiruko that Ruggie-kun made, so let's eat some together.

Sebek: Huzzah! I would like a large helping!

Ruggie: Sebek-kun, you were eyeing the oshiruko earlier while you were working, but I didn't realize you wanted to try it that much...

Cater: But hey, Ruggie-kun. That was amazing that you knew how to make the oshiruko.

Ruggie: Remember how I told you this morning I once worked part-time at a ski resort?

Ruggie: There was this staff member who came from an Eastern country who taught me the recipe.

Vil: You came up with the suggestion for the ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ too. Your previous experience really did come in handy today.

Ruggie: Yeah, man, it's great that I've done a ton of things to draw ideas from!

Ruggie: And also... Shishishi.

Ruggie: Thanks to all the customers makin' their ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ, all the snow around the shop was completely cleared away!

Ruggie: The customers all got to have some fun, and we didn't have to do so much manual labor. It was super brilliant, if I do say so myself!

Ruggie: ...But hey, Sam-san. About that other thing...

Sam: I know.

Sam: You're talking about my promise to give you "30% of the oshiruko sales amount" in exchange for giving me the recipe, right?

Sam: Don't worry, I'll give it to you later.

Ruggie: Awesome, Sam-san! I can't wait!

Sam: You're really a shrewd little imp, aren't you?

Sam: Well, I guess you put all that initiative into teaching everyone how to make the ＫＡＭＡＫＵＲＡ, so...

Sam: And the oshiruko was a big hit, too. I'm really grateful.

Ruggie: Glad I could help!

Ruggie: Since I helped increase the profits this much, that special bonus is as good as mine.

Ruggie: Shishishi, this is gonna be the best start to a new year!

(Part 1) (Part 2) Part 3

#twisted wonderland #twst #ruggie bucchi #cater diamond #vil schoenheit #sebek zigvolt #ace trappola #deuce spade #epel felmier #rook hunt

[writernopal]

Joy List

I was tagged by @callahanscorner for this one, thank you so much! See his post here!

RULES: Make a list of all of the things that have made you happy recently! Then, tag as many people as you want that you think may need it to keep the positivity going ✨

My loved ones!

My new WIP! I'm having so much fun with those little characters 🥺

My new standing desk space for work. Listen I know that's a little lame but my little space is so cute and nice now and it makes having to be there a little less sucky!

Deciding on the subject of the companion material that will be coming out with AASOAF 3 next year 👀 (it's HUGE I'm so excited about it!)

I got my car washed the other day so big fan of that because now you can actually tell what color my car is instead of thinking it looks like a giant dirt clod LOL.

I got a really cool mirror tray from an estate sale the other day that I still don't know where to put but wherever it ends up it's going to look cool!

I organized all of the board games in the house onto a neat little shelf in a pleasing way so that's nice to look at when I walk by!

Tagging (gently): @mister-writes @sam-glade @crowandmoonwriting @sugar-phoenix @thewardenofwinter @thatndginger @oh-no-another-idea

#tag game #joy list tag #personal

[silverknightpiece]

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 ： 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 ： 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞/𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Listening to the students through the grapevine of gossip, yelling, and fighting throughout the day has led the bodyguard back into the circle of extroverted students who explained far too quickly what the commotion was about. Usually, the sight of the Diasomnia outfit would give the masses pause from dragging him anywhere, but spirits were far too high to dampen the moods in the crowd.

Boots and sneakers squeaked on the polished wood of Sam's store, and Silver can barely believe he's in a fray like this again. The students piling the counters and the shelves were not as bad as the New Years sale, but if some of the tomes quality was to be assessed properly, items today were of high value and very sought after.

Not because of much you can resell一unless you get something as durable as a book or as fine as a locket一but because of the holiday you the people at the gates had gushed about as Silver wondered who his coffee run had been prematurely halted.

"Sam's got the best Valentine's Day gifts on the day itself, you can't go wrong spending a bit!" ： "I got a girlfriend back home, and you can't tell me something from Sam's won't amaze her." ： "Oh, your from Diasomnia too! Quick, help us hold our place for the Valentine's sale."

If this wasn't familiar, Silver might not have been so suspicious of his fellow Diasomnia members dragging him into line. Asking them upfront what this was about had bolstered no real clues except the obvious, so he had to ask the more blunt question on his mind.

"What is... Valentine's Day?"

If Silver being one of Malleus's personal guards hadn't killed the atmosphere, it seems that this question had. First, in was like they hadn't processed what he had said in their jolly mood. Secondly, followed the down turning if smiles and confusion set in. If Silver wasn't serious about not knowing, he wouldn't have felt awkward for hushing for jolly talk.

Silver crossed his arms and awaited the answer from someone, because he honestly didn't know. Another human holiday he hadn't properly been taught about was not new to him, but it was indeed strange he hadn't heard anything before the big day itself. Don't these things take planning and time?

"Sir... You really don't know?" A freshman he recognizes asks him with indignation.

Silver answers with honesty and a flat tone. "Yes. I don't recall hearing anything about this before today, much less anytime yesterday. When was this set-up?"

"Sir, it was set-up yesterday for pre-orders or special persons. Today is for the whole student body to just shop." The freshman continues, still being aghast that Silver was out of the loop.

A slightly older Diasomnia student steps in for Silver, and to his credit, he does look as shocked anymore after connecting something in his head. "It's only natural that Silver wouldn't know about Valentine's Day, or the sale yesterday. He's not from the central grasslands or the Queendom of Roses, so it's natural he probably hasn't heard of it on a regular bases... or at all, really."

"But, why wouldn't he know about the sale or the promotional material?" The freshman asks before Silver can inquire the same thing.

It was quickly answered with a small wince of the upperclassmen. "Silver fell asleep before clubs even began, and some Diasomnia members had to take him from class because of how heavy he was sleeping. I hear Silver didn't wake up till after the Sports Club helped San decorate and pass fliers out, around dinner."

Silver felt his throat tighten and his jaw clench at the explanation of his passing out yesterday, and couldn't refute the claim at all. He had seemed to have a gap in his memory where he couldn't remember his last class, or clubs, and hoped it had been the side effect of a shorter, rougher nap. No. It had been the doing of a dizzy spell so harsh it knocked him out for three hours, and through getting carried. Silver could recall dinner clearly, but nothing about Crewel's final period. Not again.

"Oh." Answers the freshman, and the skittish sophomore beside him helps them push forward in the line to keep their spots.

The silence was thick between the Diasomnia students until the upperclassmen finally came back to the topic Silver had wanted to discuss previously. Apparently the Queen of Hearts used the day to celebrate her husband and loving marriage, and genuinely spread the cheer all around the cities nearest the Kingdom for one day only. Another upperclassmen of Diasomnia, a silent and large type, also brings up another myth of the Goddess of Love, born from the Isles worshipped near the Underworld. Apparently, thus Cupid was a distributor of affection by forceful means and weapons.

Silver was lost the second more then one myth lead to a controversy of the past, but ultimately he settled for at least understanding the central meaning of this Valentine's Day...

To share a gift from the heart so someone knows you've appreciated their efforts in your life.

The freshman almost wanted to correct him, but his upperclassmen shook their heads and made motions of axing their necks. It was best to just leave Silver be, especially since they lost him after discussing a holiday policy change from a nation Silver didn't live in. At least they had a determined soldier on their side, ready with a plan for his time in the store, and they all waited for the line to decrease.

…

…

…

An hour and a half of waiting, and barely twenty minutes to find gifts as fast as he could, and it still wasn't enough for what he had planned. Silver, left arm carrying all his merchandise and items he had acquired, had never seen a time so short outside of New Years Sales. He always forgets that in the moment, he does not enjoy the hassle, but for some reason the thrill doesn't deter him from a later perspective. He guesses that's why shopping was mentioned as an addiction by Crewel once...

As he heads back through the campus and onto the track to Diasomnia, he couldn't avoid the ironic nature of this college. Hearts... being given away through thoughts or actions or gifts... in a school so unlike Royal Sword, it almost made Silver wonder how universal joy was...

Later, he thinks, you have gifts to wrap.

…

…

…

"I know it isn't much, but I could only think of this when getting you a gift for this Valentine's Day." Silver had brought the gift for you with him all day just in-case he'd have a faithful run-in sooner or later. And just his luck, he can give his gift without the hassle of further chase (he hopes).

#𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 #𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐆𝐨 #Adding... #𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲 #Extra... #... #Twisted Wonderland #TWST #Silver #TWST Silver #Valentine's Day

[redwineconversation]

Ellie Carpenter The Australian Article (June 30, 2023)

I'll be honest, I was - and to be frank, still am - in two minds about posting this, because I feel there are certain passages which invite nutcases to harass Carpenter and/or van de Donk, and I don't want to be responsible for enabling that kind of behavior.

On the flip side, there's also interesting facts / stories in here, and I think it provides an insight on a player that if we are still being honest with each other, we don't really know that much about.

Blah blah not associated with The Australian, if OL Comms wanted to chip in for my AC bill whom am I to say no to that, etc etc.

ELLIE CARPENTER THE AUSTRALIAN ARTICLE

It's the biggest game of her life but Ellie Carpenter is being carried off on a stretcher. The replay is a sickening sight, causing groans among the 32,000-strong crowd. Her left knee has buckled beneath her, leaving the 22-year-old thumping the ground in agony. Her Women's Champions League final is over and maybe so much more.

Waves of pain from her ruptured ACL make it hard for the young Australian to think clearly as she is lifted off the field after only 13 minutes playing for her club Lyon against Barcelona in Turin on May 21 last year. And yet, at this moment, she is focusing harder than she has ever thought possible. The girl from Cowra, the former child prodigy of Australian soccer, wipes the tears from her eyes and stares straight up at the sky as if in a trance.

"Count," she tells herself as her stretcher makes its way out of the stadium to the applause of the sympathetic crowd. "Count the months."

"I was thinking, 'Oh shit, what month is it?' Carpenter recalls. "It's usually a 12-month recovery [from an ACL injury] and I needed to count the months until I could play again. So in my head I was going like 'June, July, August' and then I'm like 'YES, YES, YES, I'll make it. I'll recover in time for our World Cup."

Almost exactly 12 months later Carpenter, now 23, bounces into a cafe in central Lyon, France, with her blonde hair in a bun, wearing a T-shirt and shorts and a grin on her face. It's a wet spring day, but the sun is shining again for Carpenter after a horror year. She is back on the field, playing again for Olympique Lyonnais, the best women's team in the world. Off the field, she is happy and in love. She has bought a house just outside Lyon with her partner and teammate, Danielle van de Donk, one of the best footballers on the planet, who also plays for the Netherlands national team.

Across the English Channel, the superstar captain of the Australian Matildas, Sam Kerr, is kicking goals and doing backflips for her club Chelsea. For Carpenter, who is as important to the Matildas' backline as Kerr is to the forward line, the stars are finally aligning for Australia's tilt at the biggest women's sporting event, the FIFA Women's World Cup. "I don't think I'll realise how big it's going to be until I walk out for that first game," she says, cradling a hot chocolate. "We have a team that could do something really special, we have great players who are in form and we are playing in front of our home crowds. It's gonna be massive. I think we have a really good chance but I don't want to jinx myself," she says, tapping the table for good luck.

If the rapid-fire ticket sales are any guide, Carpenter may be underestimating the reception that awaits her and the Matildas.

The World Cup, to run from July 20 to August 20, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, will see an estimated 83,000 watch Australia's opening match against Ireland at Sydney's Accor Stadium - more than double the Matildas' previous high attendance of 36,000. The opening match was moved from the 42,5000-seat Sydney Football Stadium to the 83,000-seat Stadium Australia (known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes) to meet the surging demand for tickets. At least 15 million people are expected to attend the games in Australia and New Zealand with an estimated worldwide audience of two billion. FIFA predicts the World Cup will encourage up to 400,000 girls to take up soccer in Australia.

"It's crazy now, women's football," says Carpenter. "I've seen it go from here to here," she says, moving her hands towards the sky.

Marketing surveys show the Matildas have overtaken the men's Wallabies rugby union in popularity, something that would once have seemed unthinkable for a team that only formed in 1978 and for years had to play on substandard ovals. The small crowds that came to watch them play in those days were mostly family and friends.

"it's incredible to see where this team has come from to be one of our biggest sporting brands ... so many players have paved the way for this moment," says Heather Garriock, who played 130 games for the Matildas between 1999 and 2011.

For years Matildas players were paid a pittance, having to hold down second jobs while playing for the national team. In the early days one player recalled how a teammate called the coach before an international match to say she would be late because her shift at Woolies didn't finish until 530pm. In the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Matildas were so desperate to secure sponsorship and public support that 12 of them posed naked for a calendar to get attention. Fast forward to today and the Matildas are a household name, and Kerr is arguably the most recognizable Australian sports star in the world. In May, wearing a sharp black suit, she carried the Australian flag into Westminster Abbey for the coronation of King Charles II.

But it will take more than Kerr's soccer royalty of the Matildas to realise their dream of winning a home World Cup.

On a cold spring evening in London on the eve of the coronation, Kerr is playing to script, slamming the winning goal for her team Chelsea against Liverpool with just minutes to go. As she leaves the ground I ask her what she thinks about having Carpenter back with the Matildas for the World Cup. "Ellie is one of the best players in the world," says Kerr, who described Carpenter as "irreplaceable" when she injured her ACL last year. "We've missed her and she's a great personality to have on the team... I'm feeling good, I'm feeling excited [about the World Cup]."

A few days later, Carpenter is sprinting up the right wing, weaving the ball around her teammates during morning training near the Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium on the outskirts of Lyon. It is just over two months since she made her comeback from her injury and the previous weekend she was one of the team's best players in their 3-0 win over Dijon.

She calls out to her teammates in French and jokes with them in French, but if she makes a mistake on the field, the word "shit" rings out across the ground in an Aussie twang.

Her bilingual world in Lyon, a French foodie capital crammed with UNESCO World Heritage sites, is a reminder of just how many lives Carpenter has squeezed into her 23 years. "It all started here," she says, pointing to a tattoo on her ankle that shows the outline of Cowra, her hometown of 12,500 people in the Central West of NSW. "it's one main street, two sets of traffic lights, a place where we knew everyone and everyone knew the Carpenters."

Looking back, Carpenter's unlikely rise from the streets of Cowra to international soccer star was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because she lived the real-life sporting fairy-tale. This was the tell in which a determined young country girl becomes a prodigy of the game, shattering every barrier in her path to find herself playing for Australia at the age of just 15 and then at the age of 16 at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the youngest ever female footballer in the world to compete in an Olympics.

The curse was that she was so good, so early, that she was a kid playing among adults, being thrust into the spotlight aead of her time, before she was ready and before she had the to grow up. "I hated it sometimes," she says. "I was always the youngest. People would say, oh, you're the youngest ever Olympian or you're the youngest ever to score a goal, the youngest thing, the youngest that. I was playing with people who were 10 or 15 years older than me and you had to mature very quickly. It was hard with the pressure, the spotlight, the critics... I wasn't prepared for that at the time."

"I've been in the public eye since I was 15 and now people think I'm 30 but I'm still just 23, one of the youngest on the team."

Belinda Carpenter still scratches her head about how her daughter fell in love with soccer. "She was highly energetic, she never sat still but she did all sports - a bit of athletic, AFL, soccer, cricket, even triathlon, cheerleading and trapeze," she says. Belinda and her then husband Scott, who were Physical Education teachers in Cowra, encouraged Carpenter and he older brother Jeremy to dabble in any activity that took their fancy. "Ellie also did ballet, so she would play football in the morning and then go to ballet with muddy knees under those pink stockings," Belinda recalls.

"I think I always knew I would be a sportsperson, because ever since I could walk I was running," says Carpenter. "I think I could have done any sport really because I was also good at swimming and athletics. I was a tomboy. I didn't really have a normal childhood. I never went to parties like other girls, I just wanted to play sports."

She played soccer from an early age but her path as a serious player began by accident when, at the age of about seven, she watched her brother Jeremy train with the NSW country soccer team. "I was just on the sidelines waiting for him, juggling the ball on my own, when the coach came up and said that I could join their next session. I was the only girl and the boys were much older than me. I don't remember this but apparently I was like, really good, smashing all the boys."

Belinda and Scott decided to give both Ellie and Jeremy the chance to compete in competitions across the state. This required a brutal schedule of long drives for training and games. "Honestly I can't believe they did that for me," Carpenter says. "From Cowra we used to drive to Canberra every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which was more than two hours there and back, and then sometimes we would play in Sydney which was four hours there and back on the same day. I would spend so much time in the car, doing my homework or making up quizzes and things just to pass the time."

By the time Carpenter was 12, it was clear that she had natural talent but could no longer be nurtured from Cowra. So Belinda quit her job and moved with both the children to Sydney so they could attend Westfield Sports High School in Sydney's west, which had a specialist sports program.

It was a big school in a big city, a culture shock for a country girl. "It was a huge change, I became this small fish in a big sea," she says. Not long afterwards, her parents divorced, a time which she describes as difficult and sad.

The following year, aged 13, Carpenter went to watch the Matildas play in Sydney. "I think there was a maximum of 1000 people there but I watched the national team play and I was like 'Oh, sick, I want to be that.' Then two years later, I was on that team. It was crazy."

Carpenter's precocious talent turned heads in the soccer world at that time, and things unfolded quickly. She broke into the "Mini-Matildas" under-17 team at the age of 14, and when she turned 15 signed her first professional contract with the then W-League club Western Sydney Wanderers. The coach was so impressed with her that she didn't even need to trial for the team.

Carpenter's ambition was such that although she began her career as a midfielder, she volunteered to be a defender when the Mini-Matildas said they needed defenders only because she didn't want to be cut from the squad. "I was like, I want to be in the team so I will play wherever."

In March 2016, when she was still just 15, Carpenter made her debut for the senior Matildas, playing in a 9-0 victory over Vietnam.

Not long afterwards, she was playing for Australia in the Rio Olympics, the first of the strong of "youngest ever" firsts that she would soon tire of. "Obviously I was so young - I think I was the youngest in that team by five years," she recalls. "So I guess I was kind of on my own. Some players were 30 years old and some of them were a bit like 'Who is this 15-year-old who has come into the team?' and some people don't want you there because you might take their spot. So some didn't like me being there, but you've just gotta keep going."

After the Rio Olympics, Heather Garriock, who was then coaching, says that she noticed that the 16-year-old Carpenter was struggling. "I could see she wasn't doing well with the massive comedown after the hype of the Olympic Games. So, you know, I just put my arm around her - and since then I've always put my arm around and taken her under my wing. She just wanted to be the best and to get better every day.

"She is so driven to win and yet she's got such a nice nature, a humble kind of girl who will always give you her time."

Carpenter says she was forced to grow up quickly, but with the help of people like Garriock she eventually found her rhythm and adapted to the ever-growing public glare of being a Matilda. "I think it took me a couple of years, until I was about 17, to come out as Ellie," she says.

In Year 10 Carpenter dropped out of school to pursue her dream of being a full-time footballer. "She wasn't at school very much anyway," says Belinda of her daughter's busy soccer schedule. "I just told her, 'Go do it, because if it fails and you don't get to where you want to go in soccer, we will go back and figure out the education route'."

When Carpenter was 17 she was pursued by the US National Women's Soccer League team Portland Thorns, in Oregon on the US west coast. She signed with them but, in those days, women were not allowed to play until they turned 18. The club was so keen for her to play that she signed a contract literally on her 18th birthday, and played the following week, racking up yet another series of "youngest evers." "That's why I was the youngest ever player and the youngest ever person to score a goal in the NWSL at that stage," she says.

Carpenter says life in the US was a shock "because it was so different to Australia." Belinda recalls that her daughter would often FaceTime her during dinner just to have a companion to speak with. "Until she found her feet I would often hang out with her on the phone while she was having dinner at a restaurant or something when she didn't really know anybody.

"Even though Ellie is really outgoing, with a wicked sense of humor, I think she is also a bit guarded about who she lets in."

Even so, Carpenter says she enjoyed her two years in Portland where she regularly played in front of crowds of 20,000. By this stage she had become a fixture of the Matildas team, playing in the 2019 World Cup in France where they made it to the round of 16 and then the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where the Matildas made it to the semi-finals.

By the time she turned 20, Carpenter was being pursued by the strongest women's team in the world, Olympique Lyonnais. She recalls the moment she learned that Lyon wanted to recruit her. "I was like, 'Are you serious?' It was Lyon and I was like, 'Are you sure they want me?' I mean, if Lyon calls, you go to them wherever you re because they are the best in the world." This is no exaggeration - the team has won eight Champions League finals in the past 12 years, including give in a row between 2015 and 2020.

But Carpenter's arrival in 2020 wasn't so easy. "It was the time of the COVID pandemic so the city was shut. I didn't know anyone, and I didn't know French," she says. So she began her life anew yet again, throwing herself into French lessons and making friends at her new club. She impressed local fans by trying to speak French at press conferences, albeit with an Aussie twang. She also fell in love with Lyon itself. "I love it, it's beautiful - not as nice as Sydney but it's still beautiful." As soon as she arrived, she also saw why her new team kept winning championships. The fitness, the training, the skills were next-level, even for Carpenter. "She called me up and said, 'Um, Mum, these players are really, really good," recalls Belinda. Initially she found it hard to break into her new team, and she won her first European Championship with Lyon in 2020 without taking to the field when she was on the team as an unused sub.

"I don't think many people understand what it really takes to be a football player," says Carpenter's teammate and partner Danielle van de Donk. "You win trophies and everyone thinks it is a high but no one really knows about the lows." Van de Donk, who has been going out with Carpenter for about two years, says she has the rare ability to lift the team's morale singlehandedly. "She is the most energetic person I know, she is very, very positive, and off the pitch she just brings a different kind of energy to the room - even when she was injured the coaches were saying to her, 'Bring your energy to the team, we need it,'" says van de Donk. "She is already a star but she is just going to get bigger and bigger. She is only 23."

Van de Donk says she's attracted to Carpenter because they are "similar people in life", adding "It's kind of wild, she is from Australia, I'm from the Netherlands, and we are buying a house in Lyon - it's very cool."

After that tricky start at Lyon, Carpenter became a regular in the team - until the 13-minute mark of last year's Champions League final. "It was just sickening to watch her go down," recalls Belinda, who was watching the game live in the middle of the night from her home in Wamberal on the NSW Central Coast. "I actually said when I watched it, 'She does not go down and she does not stay down'."

Carpenter's injury came in two parts. The first came when she was tackling an opponent near the corner post and her left knee twisted in the tackle. Carpenter hobbled off in obvious pain. But she was desperate to come back on, and tested the injured knee in front of the team's medical staff. "I remember being on the sideline and they were testing me and I was like, 'Is it strong, can you feel my ACL?' And they were like, 'Yeah I think it's fine, so you want to go back on?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, it's the Championship Final.' So I ran back on and then I was like 'Oh, something's not right'."

Back in Wamberal, Belinda was horrified to see her daughter run back onto the pitch. "We were like, 'No, no, no, don't do it," she recalls.

Moments after returning to the field Carpenter moved to intercept a long pass. But as soon as she changed direction her knee gave way completely, severing her ACL and sending her to the ground.

Van de Donk, who was watching from the sidelines as a substitute, had torn her own ACL as a teenager and knew what lay ahead. "I saw her go down and instantly I knew it was wrong," she recalls. "It was horrible to watch."

But once Carpenter counted the months and realised she could still potentially play in the World Cup in Australia, her mood lifted. Lyon won the match 3-1, giving Carpenter her second championship and yet another first as the only Australian to win two Champions League medals. After the match, despite having her injured leg in a splint, Carpenter joined her teammates in the celebrations on the field, swimming precariously on her crutches and then hopping on her one good leg as she held up the Champions League cup. She then flew back to Lyon with the team and continued the celebrations. "I was in so much pain, so I just took lots of painkillers but then we went to a restaurant and partied in Lyon drinking champagne until 5am."

The next morning Carpenter woke with a hangover to the bad news she had feared. She needed a full knee reconstruction and would be out of the game for up to a year. Recalls Belinda: "The first thing she said to me on the phone was, 'I'm getting an operation, I'm going to get better and I'm going to play in the World Cup.' It was all about the World Cup."

That has been Carpenter's singular goal ever since. In those early months after her injury when she could not run, she followed her rehab plan like it was Holy Writ - long hours in the gym keeping the muscles working followed by swimming, physio, massage and the hardest of all: patience.

"I had to learn a lot about patience because I am impatient," she says. "When I was finally able to take my first jump again I actually cried with happiness." At times Carpenter wondered whether she would be the same player when she returned, but mostly she says she kept her mental demons at bay.

"It was a long journey for her and she was a bit insecure in the beginning, she struggled for about three weeks," says van de Donk. "But after that she was OK, she just powered through - and now I think she's much stronger than she was." Carpenter, for her part, puts a gloss on the whole saga, saying she believes it gave her a much-needed break from the game she'd been playing almost non-step since she was a child.

Today, Carpenter's football routine is very full-time. She goes into the club from around 9am to 4pm most days to do a mixture of training, gym recovery and sponsorship. Then she plays on weekends, often traveling. She works with a nutritionist and also a psychologist. She estimated she gets one day properly off each month. Such is the profile of the team in Lyon that she now gets recognised in the street, and after three years here she says she is now fluent in French.

"Ellie has always known the path that she wanted and she has just followed it completely. That is pretty incredible for a 23-year-old," says former Matildas player Garriock. "She is already one of the world's best players and her energy and leadership are crucial for the World Cup. She has achieved things at 23 that others wouldn't achieve in their whole career. I have no doubt that she will be the captain of the Matildas in the future. She has all the leadership qualities and the big game experience."

Carpenter is now on the home stretch of her quest, hoping to stay in form and avoid injury until the World Cup begins in three weeks.

Although she loves playing for Lyon, she says there's nothing like going home to play with the Matildas. "It's like going back to your family." she says with a grin. "We've all known each other for years. Everyone is so close, We can all laugh at ourselves and we look after each other. It's such a good, strong group. I don't know how to explain it but I have a special passion when I play for the Matildas, it's unique. For me, this World Cup is the top of the top it's probably the best thing I will ever experience."

So how far can Carpenter and the Matildas go in this World Cup?

"We've never seen an Australian team like this," says Garriock. "This core of players like Ellie Carpenter, Sam Kerr and Caitlin Ford have played together in World Cups and big tournaments since they were 16 years old. They are in their prime and this is their moment. It is written for them."

#all good love stories start in the rain #ellie carpenter

[stinkysdiner]

About your most recent thing (about Gunther and stuff)

I'm not incredibly invested in Sam and Max anymore but i wanted to give my two cents: i think it'd be REALLY funny if stinky found an outside friend group through slightly unconventional means.

Like, imagine she begrudgingly joins a dumb group. Like a bowling gang or book club or something. She really just has no interest in it but after a while she realizes 'hey these people are actually Kinda Normal. Maybe this isn't that bad.'

Bonus points if the people are that weird unhinged brand of 'normal.' Like cigarette moms or oddly violent high school girls

Also hi i love reading all your analysis stuff and little headcanons they're great

first of all you’re so sweet thank you! that means a lot! :D

and second of all. trust me i would love more than anything for stinky to make some outside friends in hell; god knows she can only spend so many minutes listening to brady and jurgen argue over music while hugh tries to mediate it. and it’s not like she’s looking to hang out with skun-ka’pe or satan any time soon.

she’s not really the type to join something like a book club or sports team unless forced to, but i could 100% see during her break one day she just walks around the city of hell, not really paying attention, maybe finds some little cafe or something and goes in to get a much-needed break. there she notices a group of older women, all around a table having some big discussion that she’s not interested enough to eavesdrop on……….until they see her (the only other person in the cafe besides the demon barista) and ask for her opinion on their matter. as it turns out, they’re a group of hardened PTA moms, damned to hell however many years ago for their…..unsavory methods of running their bake sales.

stinky is. unwilling at first. mainly because she’s not the most amicable towards complete strangers, but once she learns of their problem (another bake sale, this time for the academy in hell), stinky can offer some advice from her own time running a questionable business. the ringleader of the moms writes down the date/time of the bake sale and tells stinky to stop by—she’ll save some of her snickerdoodles just for her (“they’re to die for, hun!”)

and at first stinky thought nothing of it, but then the next time she sees brady and jurgen and hugh again (the first two have patched things up since last time and are now loudly making out on the couch while hugh asks if she wants to hang out) and suddenly Yeah She’s Gonna Go (and she’s not telling them where).

so she goes to the bake sale. she looks out of place. clearly not a parent to anyone at the academy, too old to be a student and too underdressed to be a teacher, so the moms easily spot her and excitedly bring her over. they tell her all the gossip at the school, their personal beefs and the dirty laundry of pretty much everyone in the PTA, and tell her about the next time they’re gonna get together at the cafe—they could really use someone with stinky’s expertise. she kinda agrees without thinking, mostly still trying to process what exactly was happening. but regardless, over time she’s kinda found herself ensconced into this new friend group—these devious, chain-smoking, petty drama-loving PTA moms.

and yes, the snickerdoodles were delicious.

#asks #crowliphale #my art

[llondonfog]

These 2023 Sam's New Year's Sale translations are making me lose my mind

I love you Sebek, I have way too much in common with your character than I'd like to admit, BUT PLEASE WHEN WILL SOMEONE FINALLY GET ON HIM FOR HIS 'HUMAN' NONSENSE

Like I get it's a running joke at this point but really?? Lilia's going on and on about human-fae relations and is just pleasantly standing by while his charge is insulting night and day that very race of people he's trying to work together with his own?? Not to mention his own adopted son like 90% of the time???

This better be addressed or resolved in chapter 7, I really would like us to tackle his feelings of inadequacy and understand his family life better/how humans are really treated in briar valley

#twst spoilers #this isn't main story spoilers but still tagging #anyways these little slice of school life events are Precious and i treasure them greatly #i know theres been discussion of having too many events in twst BUT I LOVE THEM #i love seeing the boys put in outside circumstances and just generally being messy ok i love seeing their friendships and rivalries at play #outside of the school environment

[365days365movies]

31 (Films) to Life: Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - Recap and Review

Based on a true story time!

Well, this review’s coming a little late for Pride Month, but who cares? Every month is Pride Month, or Black History Month, or International Women’s Month, etc. for me. SO, let’s talk a little bit about New York City in the 1970s. It...it was really, really bad for basically everybody. New York was a crime-ridden, X-rated, terrifying hellscape for a lot of people. Both of my parents grew up here during this time period, and they constantly told me how dangerous New York City was. If you’re going there or would like to go there today, don’t worry! NYC is one of the safest cities in the world nowadays. But back then? Well...

Sex workers were all over Times Square and Central Park, with the latter being one of the most frequent areas for muggings and sexual assault. And for the record, I’m not saying that sex workers were the problem themselves; they were instead indicative of a failing economy and people in desperation for some kind of income. Also indicative of that financial destitution is the record number of homeless and drug dealers (pre-crack epidemic) in the city at the time, combined with police corruption and thriving crime families. 

So, why was money so hard to come by at this point? Simple: the city was too big. Well, OK, not simple, but I’m not an economist. NYC’s spending vastly outweighed its budget, and the city was going bankrupt as a whole. They couldn’t borrow more money from the government, and bad accounting meant that they vastly underestimated how much money they actually needed. And this may actually explain the attitude of some boomers today in terms of things like wide healthcare and free university education. Yeah, really. Higher education was free, and there were better medical benefits for residents of the city. And look where that got them, I guess? Again, though: bad accounting and other decisions caused those issues, but try telling that to some boomers.

Things changed fast, as the city attempted to bandage its hemorrhaging funds, but nothing they tried really worked. They shook down unions, instituted layoffs, turned sales tax into state tax...and then President Gerald Ford refused to give them a loan. Shit. SHIT! By this point, it’s 1975, and we have problems, especially considering what’s on its way.

In the summer of 1976, the city is gripped by a whole new kind of terror: serial killers. David Berkowitz, also known as the “Son of Sam”, is rampaging around the city killing young white women with long dark hair, killing them in parked cars all throughout the summer, as well as the following year. At the same time, Richard “Times Square Killer” Cottingham has been killing people in the city since 1967. Not to mention gang violence, rape, muggings, and...

Before I get into this part, I need to remind you guys of something: none of this stuff I’ve been talking about, NONE of this, is even mentioning race and sexual orientation-based prejudice and disparities. And part of that is because so much crime in those sectors probably wasn’t reported, but it’s also because shit was bad for EVERYBODY at the time in NYC. But it’s important before we move on to talk about LGBT rights in the city in the 1970s. Oh, and I am a straight cissexual male, just to be clear.

While all civil rights in the city is a complex and intricate topic for another time, LGBT rights was especially present in 1970s New York City. One year before the decade began, in 1969, the police executed a routine raid on the Stonewall Inn. And I say routine because gay bars and LGBT-friendly institutions were targeted at the time purely out of institutionalized homophobia. I mean, that’s not even a conspiracy, it’s just true. Officials considered homosexuality a perversion that ruined the image of the city. ‘Cause, y’know, as I’ve been pointing out thus far, their image was sparkly clean at the time. This hypocrisy drove them to perform “sweeps” for gay people, mandating “gender-appropriate” clothing and enforcing the firing of people who were suspected as non-heterosexual. Horrid.

Back to Stonewall, 1969. On June 28, 1969, the cops raided the Stonewall Inn, which was indeed an LGBT club that served alcohol...without a liquor license. To be fair, that system was also rigged against gay clubs for the same reasons, and had previously paid off corrupt cops (with a payment called the gayola, which is admittedly a fun word to me). Their patrons were white, black, and Hispanic members of the LGBT community, and it was the most important gay bar in the city. So, when the cops raided it that morning...it didn’t go well for anyone.

I won’t go into all of the details of the raid, because some of them are...gross to read, but I’ll cut to the most important part. The time came for the police to arrest the patrons of Stonewall. They started by arresting members of the Mafia who were there (it’s just a normal thing for the time period), which was understandably received well. But once the LGBT crowd became the targets...well, all hell broke loose. Stuff starts getting thrown, the cops react violently (because some things never change), and the fight was on! As people started fighting for their rights and shouting “Gay power”, even the local women’s prison supported them from afar, shouting “Gay rights, gay rights!” out of the windows. And at this point, deep into the Stonewall Riot around 2 AM, is when Marsha P. Johnson shows up.

Yeah, despite what Big Mouth and a lot of people think, Marsha wasn’t there at the very beginning. That’s not to downplay her role, though. As a prominent black trans woman in the community (which barely existed at the time), Marsha soon became the figurehead of the movement. When she arrived at Stonewall, the place was on fire. Some say the cops started it, some say the protesters started it, some say the mob started it...it’s fuzzy. But one she got there, the riots raged through Christopher Street, and the cops were getting chased off the site.

By the morning, the street was wrecked and the club was history...literally. Property was destroyed, people were injured...and the Riots weren’t over yet. Night two, and thousands of people show up on Christopher Street. This time, Marsha P. Johnson was front and center, climbing a lamppost and throwing a bag through a police car windshield. More fires, more fighting, more fury. The protesters formed kick lines (yes, kick lines) against the police lines, and there was a massive standoff between the groups. By the end of it, gay rights was here, and was here PERMANENTLY. Which, y’know, is extremely good, obviously. Please look up Marsha P. Johnson for more info, because her story (and the story of her tragic and mystery-shrouded death) are extremely important to LGBT history. She really was Martin Luther Queen.

So, once we hit 1972, trans people are a known quantity in and outside of the LGBT community of NYC. And with that, FINALLY...we can talk about John Stanley Joseph Wotjowicz. And, since I’m actually about to tell you the plot of the film, for the most part...

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

John Wotjowicz (named Sonny Wortzik and played by Al Pacino) was a Vietnam veteran who was married with kids in 1969. But that year, the same year as the Stonewall riots, the two separated. Two years later, John met and married Elizabeth Eden (named Leon Shermer and played by Chris Sarandon in the movie), a trans woman. Now, granted, it’s 1971, so gay marriage wasn’t legalized, but they still had a public ceremony. The balls, seriously! They even got news coverage over it, and didn’t receive any major repercussions.

However, Elizabeth had a nasty case of gender dysphoria, which is obviously not surprising given that she was a trans woman. In her case, though, she attempted suicide multiple times because she couldn’t afford gender reassignment surgery. And yes, this is a GREAT example of how that kind of healthcare saves the lives of countless trans youth and adults every year, but that’s a different topic for a different day...kind of. It’s actually very relevant, because Elizabeth needed the surgery, and John needed the money. And money’s tight in the 1970s for previously stated reasons, sooooooo...

In 1972, Wotjowicz enacts his plan to rob a bank, which is the point where the film begins. After a few botched attempts, he eventually chooses a Chase Manhattan in Brooklyn. Now, common rhetoric then and now says that John did this to get the money for Eden’s surgery. However, to be completely and comprehensively accurate, he may also have committed the robbery on behalf of the Mafia to pay off a debt he owed them. Wotjowicz never confirmed which motive was more important to him, so let’s assume it may have been a combination of the two.

Along with partners Sal Naturile (John Cazale) and Rob Westenberg (named Stevie and played by Gary Springer in the movie), John entered the bank on August 22, 1972, and it immediately went badly for him when the cops got wind very quickly. He held seven bank employees hostage for fourteen hours, and was quickly abandoned by Westenberg, who saw the cops as they were entering the bank. Over the course of the siege, John was in correspondence with the police, and got pizza for himself and the hostages. They negotiated for a car to take them and the hostages to the airport, only for Sal to be shot while in the driver’s seat of the car at the airport. John surrendered, and was taken to jail, where he served 5 years. 

And...yeah, that’s the plot of the movie in a nutshell. Yeah, there’s some stuff about an early raid, talks with cop Eugene Moretti (Charles Durning) and FBI Agents Sheldon (James Broderick) and Murphy (Lance Henriksen), as well as a call with wife Angie (Carmen in real life, played by Susan Peretz). But in terms of the broad strokes, that’s basically it. Well, except for one famous scene, but I’ll get there in a minute.

So, John’s been arrested. While John was in prison, Eden got the surgery...then divorced him and found another guy. They stayed friends and Eden got the surgery, though, so still worth it? ALSO while he was in prison, director Sidney Lumet, who had previously directed 12 Angry Men, and would later direct Network, decided to put his considerable talent into making a movie about the event. And he INTENSELY dramatized the events. John, understand, was happy about Al Pacino’s performance as himself...and was upset with basically everything else.

See, he rightly felt that he was undercut for selling his story for the screenplay. Which, given how successful the movie was, is totally fair. He was also upset at the portrayal of his ex-wife in the movie, which portrayed her as an annoying overweight woman whom he kinda hated. And she wasn’t that at all, and John was an honorable guy, it turns out. Still, despite John’s grievances, the movie is an American classic, as well as one of the first movies to prominently feature an LGBT person as the main character. It’s important in multiple ways, is what I’m saying.

John Wotjowicz died in 2006 at the age of 60, while Elizabeth sadly died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987, after getting the virus from a blood transfusion. Which, damn, that’s horrible. It’s honestly a fascinating story, and I get why it was made into Dog Day Afternoon. That said, though, there is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed here. And that elephant’s name is:

See, this scene is loosely based on famous photos taken of the robbery. This actually was a huge deal at the time, and scenes of John outside wearing this exact shirt-pants combo were famous. Crowds gathered to watch, just like in the movie, and it was a huge deal. But, uh...the Attica thing? Never happened. See, in the movie, Sonny riles up the crowd by shouting “ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!” Getting the crowd to join in. This was a reference to the Attica Prison Riots, which took place a year before. 43 men died in the riots, making it the deadly riot in US prison history, and it was a step in the prisoner’s rights movement of the day. So, invoking this is kind of a big deal. And Pacino improvised the whole thing.

Yeah, this didn’t actually happen! Pacino made this up himself, stoking the crowd’s memory of injustice enough to rile them up and make this scene memorable. And yeah, the crowd was improvising, too! They weren’t even extras, they were just people who wandered in off the street to watch the movie shoot! And they were also really good at being a crowd. They cheered on cue, they booed on cue, they moved on cue, they were...frankly, they were incredible. But yeah, this is technically not true.

That said, there was a crowd there at the time, and they really did cheer and jeer throughout the day. An addition that the movie makes, though, is the addition of LGBT crowd members that protested for gay rights. And while I can’t find a lot of proof of this happening (there is some proof, just not much), it wouldn’t be a big surprise, given what I talked about earlier. Three years after Stonewall, the topic was still on everybody’s consciousness, so having crowd members there does make sense.

Sidney actually called members of the Gay Liberation Movement and Gay Activist Alliance, organizations that were born directly as a result of Stonewall, so that they would be members of the crowd. And one of those members that showed up?

Yeah. A teenaged Harvey fuckin’ Fierstein. Awesome.

So, yeah, this movie was a big deal for LGBT rights and representation, because the event itself is an interesting footnote in LGBT history. So with all of that said...how was the movie itself? Well...

Review: 90%

Um, it’s a really fucking good movie. Is that a surprise, though? I know I normally talk through the movie more, but I don’t think I really needed to this time around. The original story and its background is fascinating. But yeah, the movie absolutely rules, don’t get me wrong. Let’s break it down a bit!

Cast and Acting - 9/10: Unsurprisingly, Al Pacino is stellar. But in truth, everybody’s pulling their weight here. Outside of a few bit parts that don’t work perfectly (mostly in the hostages, sorry Carol Kane), this story is wonderfully portrayed. Also, fun fact, one of the main hostages was played by Penelope Allen, who was actually sort of Pacino’s surrogate mom early in his career. And then they got to act together, which is super sweet! I loved the acting in this one.

Plot and Writing - 9/10: Even though it’s not perfectly accurate in a lot of ways, the movie is damned engrossing in terms of story. Written by Frank Pierson, it’s a story about a sad sack bank robber and his paranoid friend who commit a pretty brave robbery for the time period. It’s a movie where the audience and the characters actually sympathize with the robbers, and it successfully puts them in a sympathetic light. And this is a man in love with a trans woman in 1972. How on Earth did Lumet get this to work as well as he did? Seriously, this is a great story, and very well-written besides.

Direction and Cinematography - 9/10: And yet one more for the 9/10 column with direction by Sidney Lumet and cinematography by Victor J. Kemper. This movie feels like you’re there, like it’s happening right in front of you. And you’re thrust into this impossibly stupid plan, that you can’t help but hope succeeds somewhere deep down in your soul. The immersion that this movie possesses is genuinely impressive, and Lumet is very good at his job. There’s a reason the Attica scene is one of the most famous in cinema.

Production and Art Design - 10/10:Look...I really like this movie. And that immersion I mentioned in the last category is only partially direction. The rest of it? Pure and unadulterated design. Pacino IS Wotjowicz, and that’s down to appearance as much as it is acting. This movie looks great and puts you square in 1972 New York. Which, sure, it was only filmed 3 years later in NYC, so that makes sense, but still; it really felt like I was there.

Music and Editing - 8/10: And finally...wait, this movie had music? It...doesn’t. Oh. OH! That’s why I don't remember any music here. And that was...noticeable, in both a good and a bad way. In a bad way because some scenes got a little draining without it. But in a good way because...to be honest, music was entirely unnecessary. The diegetic sound was the only source of sound in the movie, and it...worked. It really made the whole thing more real and immersive. But that said...sound editing was a little dodgy sometimes. Sure, it’s the ‘70s, with ‘70s film sound quality, but it was still noticeable when Sonny went from inside to outside, just saying. It’s really the only criticism I’ve got, so I’m sticking with it.

So, there you have it: a fantastic movie, and an opportunity to talk about NYC and LGBT history! Neat, huh? If you read this whole thing, then...wow geez, thank you for that. For the next one...let’s hang out in NYC for a while. I’m watching crime movies, and something tells me that this place is lousy with the stuff. We’ll be here for a little while.

Next: Taxi Driver (1976); dir. Martin Scorcese

#dog day afternoon #f:dog day afternoon #film:dog day afternoon #roman polanski #al pacino #john cazale #james broderick #charles durning #chris sarandon #penelope allen #sully boyar #user365 #365 days 365 movies #31 to life #31 films to life #crime film #crime movie #lgbt film #userkeanu #userstream #filmedit #adaptationsdaily #melisgifs

[leiajoydesign]

Sam Mellor - Interview

Tuesday 16th April 2024 - Interview

Today I conducted an interview with Sam Mellor, the head of marketing for Strawberries & Creem Festival.

Interview Questions & Response

1 - Tell me a little bit about yourself, your role at strawberries & creems, and what is strawberries & creems.

I'm Sam Mellor, head of marketing for strawberries & Creem, working with a small team of about 6-7 people. Seasonal nature to the work, but overlook the marketing, PR, digital content, along with branding, logos, visual identity. I've also been heavily involved in all the projects at Strawberries & Creem that you are currently looking at for your project, especially the gender equality within the festival.

In a 2022 BBC article that highlighted only 13% of UK festival headliners in 2022 were women, despite a pledge to ensure 50/50 gender equality among UK festival headliners, Strawberries & Creems was highlighted as one of the only festivals to achieve a 50/50 line up.

2 - What is the importance to strawberries & creems on having a diverse line-up?

Fundamentally it's the right thing to do, there is a lot of female talent out there and across the festival industry it is remarkable non-diverse and incredibly male-heavy, maybe this could be down to genre but I find that to be an incredibly weak excuse. Some will try to argue that there isn't enough female talent or that they don't bring in ticket sales, but I believe that to be nonsense when some of the biggest names in the industry are women. We strive for diversity and also providing a platform, not just for established artists but also new emerging talent. Working alongside Girls I Rate, who have a 50/50 pledge, which there is a slight problem there because it excludes non-binary artists, but the mission was to get more non-male performers generally, which for the most part was women. We also did the Keychange pledge, which we signed, so between those two pledges we have made sure to hit that 50/50 threshold each year. We also understood that gender equality didn't just stop at the lineup, linking to Safe Spaces we wanted to ensure that those values spread across the whole of the festival, providing a safe spaces for all genres but definitely making sure that the women felt safe and comfortable at the event. The ethos of gender equality really championed the festival, and hopefully made other events understand the importance.

3 - How do you go about selecting the artists for the festival? Do you make a conscious effort when curating the lineup or does it come naturally?

I think mainly naturally, but you do need to make a conscious effort as well, which I think is important to note, because you want to make other promoters decide to do what were doing, as much as it feels natural because there's all this female talent and artists that are woman, it's like when someone says they're colour blind and don't see gender or race but it's probably not true because everyone has subconscious biases, I think it's important to highlight that proactive nature of those decisions and yeah make a conscious decision.

4 - What impact do you think having a diverse line-up has on your audience and attendees? What kind of environment does it create? Or what kind of audience does your festival bring in?

Definitely has made a positive impact for the festival, primarily antidotally use walking around the festival we can tell a difference for the way people behave, but there was a lot of data we received back in 2022 that stated that people felt safer, it was the friendliest festival they had ever attended, there was a lot of focus on vibe and atmosphere and that had a major impact on the attendees and their experience of it. I don't think that is a coincidence I think that it is linked, by making it a safer space, it felt friendlier and safer, that people were able to enjoy themselves creating a better environment for all.

5 - It’s great to see a festival that is able to hit the 50/50 lineup pledge, but what does strawberries & creems work force look like? Does this idea of equal opportunity and diversity go behind the stage? Or is this something you’re working towards as an event?

It is something that we need to work towards absolutely, we have 2 female members of staff and then it is 4-5 men among the workforce. It is something we are focusing on, our newest hire was a woman and we really are focusing on improving that balance. We do work with our contractors to ensure there is equality among the workforce, and because the industry has been so male-focused for so long it is slowly starting to see that change, but we are always actively trying to find ways that we can improve.

6 - What does the future of strawberries & creems festival look like? Is there any information you can give on what's on the cards for Strawberries & Creems 2024?

I can't say anything concrete just yet but there will be more information being announced in a couple weeks time, but I can say it will be slightly different this time, with the price of booking artists rising and the cost of everything increasing and people not having as much money we're really considering how we can make an affordable and accessible festival for all.

#fmp