#sporty character tournament

[sports-character-tournament]

Semi-Finals

Yuuri Katsuki (YURI on ICE!!!) vs Meguru Bachira (Blue Lock)

Yuuri Katsuki

Sport: Figure skating

Description: Black hair, brown eyes, Japanese, gay

Propaganda: do I really need to explain yuri on ice to tumblr users

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

Meguru Bachira

Sport: Football

Appearance: Black/dark brown hair with yellow under-dye. Yellow eyes. 176 cm. Japanese.

Propaganda: Because soccer is his livelihood!! Ever since he was a kid he was incredibly passionate about it which drove other kids to find him weird and bully him ): He developed an imaginary monster friend who he played against until he found someone who was like his monster in how he plays football <3 Then he ditched his monster for a while until he found a way to reincorporate it in his play style. He's everyone's first favorite character and he's impossible to hate.

#character tournament #tournament #sporty character tournament #tumblr tournament #blue lock #yuri on ice #meguru bachira #bachira meguru #yuuri katsuki #katsuki yuuri

[oc-poll-tournament]

OC Poll Tournament Round 1 Poll 6

Propaganda below the cut:

Eddie Alfaro (she/her) @calicohyde: Eddie Alfaro, she/her. Eddie is the third person narrator of my horror WIP Curse The Messenger, about her and her sibling Fred using their clairvoyant abilities to solve a paranormal murder. Eddie has premonitions in her sleep, where she dreams from the point of view of someone else as they die. She has severe PTSD and Survivor's Guilt from this! Because of that, and because of her grief for her missing parents, she struggles with alcohol dependence.

Normally, Eddie and Fred only solve the typical kinds of Private Investigator cases - theft, infidelity, etc. They are mistrusted in their community because of their gifts, as other witches tend to think clairvoyants are mentally unstable and dangerous. In the novel, they get their first - and only - murder case when Jessica Hase, a secular (non-magical) femme fatale, brings them the very weird case of her girlfriend's death. Throughout the novel, Eddie falls in love with Jessica, starts attending an alcoholics' support group, learns to use her gift to see the positive aspects of death, and tentatively starts to repair her strained relationship with Fred. And solves the murder, of course.

Eddie is Latina, 24 years old, and a butch lesbian. She likes sporty punk fashion, cuts her own hair, and doesn't shave or wear makeup. Her favorite color is red and her favorite flavor is cinnamon.

Chess (she/her) @concealeddarkness13 (the picture for her is made by the wonderful @drabbleitout, and she is the person on the left with the prosthetics in the picture): Chess is a special character, and I hope to show how special and awesome she is! She’s extremely distrustful, but she’ll trust people who even treat her with an ounce of decency, and she’ll protect the people she cares about with her life. She’s flirty and confident, but underneath, she has an abysmal amount of self esteem and thinks she’s a monster that will never have love or friendships. She is my blorbo who has been rotating in my mind for the past two years, and I hope you can love her as well! Someone described her in one of the AUs I’ve done as oscillating “between being a poor, wet little meow meow and a fierce feral protective lioness being held back by the scruff of her neck because she is still little”. (credits to @ratracechronicler)

She did start out with a loving family, but like all good protagonists, her parents were murdered when she was 10, and she was left alone. Especially because the society she lives in ignores violent crimes and the victims of those crimes, erasing them all from society as if they never existed. So, she technically didn’t exist in society’s eyes, so she couldn’t get a job or own property or anything. The people around her helped her for a few years until she was old enough to take care of herself, and then she learned to steal.

At twenty years old, she was kidnapped and forced into prosthetics experiments that gave her fire magic that hurts her, from her prosthetic right arm and left leg now. She has a magic fire in her lungs that flares up during physical or mental stress and burns her throat and makes her cough up smoke. Aeflin, the person running the experiments, believed her to be very strong (because she snarked at Aeflin so much and didn’t let her see her pain as much as possible), so she decided to make Chess into her weapon.

She changed her name (since Chess’s original name was Ezra) to Chess, and she put her through even worse torture. Finally, Naivi, the other person running the experiments, got Chess her own team and sent her out into the world to do what the experiments were for and to get her away from Aeflin.

Chess tried to escape that, but a random person found her and took away her memories and brought her back into the enclosure, where most humans are trapped. And she realized right away that the humans inside the enclosure found she was from the experiments and hated her and hurt her and called her a monster because God forbid women do anything (just trying to survive). She learned that the only way that she could get a warm place to sleep (not an alley) was to make herself attractive to people and flirt. She liked sleeping with people, but she mostly did it to have a warm and somewhat safer place to sleep. And even then, she’d have to stay alert because her partner could wake up and try to hurt her.

That’s where she is at the start of her story! She will get a found family and someone or someones to love! She’s pansexual and polyamorous and flirty, and she loves physical touch! She just wants people to treat her decently, and if she has to, she’ll fight to protect her boundaries. And she loves punching jerks in the face with her prosthetic! And we love a woman who loves to fight, right? Thanks for reading!

#oc poll tournament #round 1 #oc: Eddie Alfaro #oc: Chess

[mactiir]

So you want to learn to swordfight.

The most common question I see in historical fencing forums and on social media is "how do you get into HEMA?"

If you're like "what's HEMA?" -- that's Historical European Martial Arts -- it's the study and recreation of historical martial arts through weapons manuals written at the time! Many people take a scholarly approach to it -- focused on reading and recreating martial systems -- but many take a sport approach, because martial techniques are designed to be used martially! This means we're fencing -- swordfighting! Think Olympic fencing with bigger swords and slightly different rules, and more colorful gear. In this post, I will be more focused on how to get into the sporty, competition-focused side of the hobby.

Historical Fencing is a martial art! This is a really common confusion from folks who are more familiar with more well-known sword-loving communities. It's not LARPING (though I love a good LARP) -- we aren't playing characters or scenarios, and we don't dress up (usually-- rapier fencers love poofy pants, lol). It's not stage combat or SCA (although there's some community overlap)-- most of us are less interested in recreating periods or aesthetics from history than we are in learning to fence, and compete, with our weapons of choice. Although LARPing, SCA, and stage combat are all cousin hobbies to WMA, the closest analogue to Historical Fencing as a hobby is... Modern Fencing! Kendo and blade-focused Eastern Martial arts, like Kenjutsu, are also much more like historical fencing than SCA is.

Whether you're considering starting longsword fencing because your favorite author uses it as a reference, rapier fencing because it's the coolest weapon in your favorite video game, or just because you think it'd be sick as hell (it is), here's a (noncomprehensive) FAQ for becoming your very own sword lesbian/broadsword bisexual/greatsword gay/spear queer.

I don't know if there are any classes near me, where do I look?

The best place to start is the Hema Alliance Club Finder. You can use it to look up classes and sparring groups in your immediate geographic area.

2. The Club closest to me doesn't offer the weapon I'm interested in. Should I still go?

Yes. Most clubs are "longsword" clubs, but it’s really rare to find a historical fencer that exclusively fences a single system or weapon. Even if nobody at the club fences the system you're interested in, you can 1) probably talk them into it and 2)fencing not-your-weapon will still make you better at your-weapon. My club is a "longsword" club, but we have fencers who regularly do saber, rapier, rapier and dagger, messer, messer and buckler, side sword and buckler, katana, broadsword, spear, and even montante (greatsword). Just ask!

3) The nearest club is too far away. Can I learn just by studying manuals online?

Yes and no. I don’t recommend doing lots of solo practice without having attended a class. It's a good way to engrain bad habits, as well as avoid fencing altogether ("i cant spar yet, my form isn't perfect/ive learned bad habits" or worse, "i don’t need to spar, i know all the manuals inside and out"). This is a really important point: LEARNING TO MOVE A SPECIFIC WEAPON IS LESS THAN 30% OF FENCING, and you will be moving through guards and forms like a pro with only a few months of intentional practice. Your cut form can be picture-perfect and you will still get wrecked in a bout if you don't have experience. Most of fencing is understanding timing, distance, your psychology and your opponent's, and knowing from experience which positions you can get to from what other positions. You can only learn to fence by... fencing. Now, if your thing is studying arms manuals and replicating them picture-perfect, which some people are into, more power to you! But it won't be winning you any tournaments, and I am writing this assuming you want to do the sporty/swordfighty side of things.

4) wait, there are books on swordfighting?

Yes. Check Wiktenauer. Most of them are free. My club does Joachim Meyer; Fiore and Lichtenauer are also fairly common for longsword.

5) I really can't get to classes, though. Am I just out of luck?

Is there an Olympic fencing group nearby? How about lightsaber fencing? No, seriously. Kendo? Boxing? All of these things train the exact skills that are difficult to learn in HEMA fencing -- distance, timing, reaction speed, fight psychology. Some of the best beginners I've ever sparred came from lightsaber, or kendo. If there is no group nearby at all, pick up a copy of Meyer's art of combat and a 12-inch length of steel pipe (it's the same weight as a longsword) to learn how to move the sword (do NOT hit people with this, oh my god), go to kendo for a few months, and you'll be in decent shape for WMA sparring when you can get to a group.

The reason HEMA is fun is because of the community! Even if it's a really intense commute, try to make it to class at least once or twice. You will enjoy it more, you will learn more, and you will fence better. Don't just do it all on your own! Most of the people in these groups have fallen into the common mistakes so YOU don't have to. Utilize them!

6) What do I do if there are no people to spar with nearby?

Why don't you start a group? Purpleheart armory sells foam swords for like $50 each. Get some friends, get everybody a mask and a boffer and get to it! This is how HEMA as a hobby started -- people messing around with foam trainers and a copy of a 16th century arms manual.

6.5) I'm sparring outside of a club -- should we use synthetics, wood, or steel?

Dude, just use foam until you can get a complete steel kit. Keep in mind: synthetics can be as dangerous as steel, wood is MORE dangerous than steel, and steel requires full safety kit for full speed sparring. Don't break your fingers because you wanted to look cool. These things HURT, and can cause serious injury unless used with intention.

7) should I buy a sword?

If you're with a HEMA school, they will have their own cadence for buying gear, and the sword is usually the last thing you get. You should only buy a federschwert (training sword) once you know your style and sword preference. If you're not following a club cadence or planning to attend a tournament, Do Not buy a steel weapon. A full steel spar kit costs like $800 dollars, and without a full safety kit all you have is a $300 wall ornament nobody can use.

And don't buy a blunt, please. Beginners love blunts because they look like "real swords". They also break bones. Federschwerts are standard in the community and nobody is going to think you’re cool for showing up with a weapon designed to snap someone's humerus in half. If you're that twisted about it, Sigi forge sells schiltless feders that look like "real" swords (a feder is a real sword, but I digress).

8) what safety gear should I buy?

Every club and tournament has its own recommendations. Look at the Mid-Continental HEMA Open rules for a very standard list of gear reqs for a reputable tournament. Generally, in this order, it's:

-mask (don't point a sword at anyone without one of these on)

-chest plastron (for preventing unfortunate accidents that might send shards through the lungs)

-gorget (rigid or semi-rigid)

-hardshell gloves (don't do lacrosse gloves or other soft gloves for longsword, you'll break your fingers)

-puncture-resistant jacket

-forearms/elbows

-shins/knees

-back of head protector (concussions bad)

-pants/skirt

-sword

I probably missed something but these are the most common questions-- fellow HEMAists or interested parties, lmk if I missed anything! Happy fencing!

#Historical Fencing #Hema #Historical European martial arts #Longsword #Two hander #Western martial arts #Longsword fencing #Fencing #Rapier #Rapier fencing #Sword and buckler #Swordfighting #Real swordfighting #messer

[polahusband]

Project Sekai Character Tournament - Round 5

Minori Hanasato

When Minori was a child, she would often have bad luck. After one particular day, when she dropped the baton during a race at school, Minori stayed home out of guilt and fear that her classmates would be angry at her. She then saw Haruka from ASRUN, singing solo on TV. Minori was encouraged by Haruka's words that "Tomorrow will always be a better day", and has been a fan of Haruka ever since. Like her longtime inspiration, Minori also set her sights on becoming an idol. She has tried her hand at over 50 auditions, but failed every single one. Despite this, she never gave up and continued to try in order to achieve her dream.

While practicing on her school's roof, she met Haruka, who, along with Airi and Shizuku, help her train to become a fully fledged idol. Thanks to Minori's positive and hardworking nature, she inspires hope in the other former idols and they form MORE MORE JUMP! together.

Minori has a younger brother who is currently in elementary school. She also owns a pet Samoyed named Samo-chan.

As a first year, Minori was classmates with Shiho and Kohane in class 1-A and a member of the Animal Care committee. As a second year, she is part of the Miyamasuzaka's credit course alongside Haruka.

Haruka Kiritani

Haruka is very charismatic, formerly being the most popular member of ASRUN. In Minori's words, she is "the kind of idol who is able to give everyone hope for a better tomorrow". She is a strict and dedicated person, working in regular routines of rigorous workouts to stay at an idol's standard. However, due to her overly diligent nature, she has difficulty relaxing and giving herself a break. This dedication applies to her studies, as the VIRTUAL SINGERS mention her excellent grades. She restricts herself on sweets and pastries, which, in response, causes cravings. She is attentive to the schedules and specials of pastry shops.

Haruka is composed yet bold, unafraid to talk back and tease her friends. She is rather sporty, liking basketball, and as a child she was quite competitive. She also loves penguins, owns a ton of penguin merch, and sometimes gets emotional when receiving penguin merch as a gift.

#project sekai #pjsekai #pjsk #proseka #prsk #hatsune miku colorful stage #colorful stage #tumblr polls #more more jump #mmj #hanasato minori #minori hanasato #kiritani haruka #haruka kiritani

[crownedtargaryen]

modern!got/hotd. - character building

(a/n): this is my own interpretation of modern!au got and hotd. if you disagree with me on some ideas, I truly do not care. this post can be used for story ideas and references for modern!au fics. if you’d like me to add a specific house, I will do so! this can be changed into a college!au as well. all notes are appreciated. tag list: @hopelesswritergall @twizzy123 @daenerysapologist @clairacassidy

The Stark family is well known for being extroverted and friendly individuals who love outdoor activities, sports, and almost anything that gets their blood pumping! They're known to show unreasonable amounts of loyalty to their passions, peers, partners, and family; sometimes being described as almost dog-like. They're proud owners of the Winterfell Wolf Sanctuary, where they teach the wolves who cannot move out into the wild to adapt to humans, their new environment, and even other animals. Each Stark is bonded to a wolf pup at age 10, raised alongside the beast and learning to love them as family and not just a pet.

main characters.

Cregan Stark, Jock: Adopted Cousin, taken in by Ned Stark. Co-Captain and proud defense player of the Iron High hockey team alongside Jacaerys. He's often been described by his peers as ambitious and family-focused, very territorial and defensive of his blood. (Demiromantic, Demisexual)

Robb Stark, Jock: Star quarterback of the Iron High football team. He's often been described by his peers as a playful and tough-loving individual. He shares his territorial sense with his cousin, Cregan, defending his name with pride while also befriending anyone, no matter how different they are from him. (Demiromantic, Demisexual)

Jon Snow, Middle-Grounded: Step-brother to the Starks, apart of the Iron High poetry club. He's often been described by his peers as mysterious and mildly-aggravating. To be honest, he dances around clubs and tries to find an after school activity that "speaks to him." He knows nothing about poetry, but he continues to go to the meetings merely to seem edgy, “deep”, and mysterious, which pisses off Aemond Targaryen. (Straight)

Brandon Stark, Nerd: Organizer of the Iron High eSports team. He's often been described by his peers as self-reserved and passionate. After losing his ability to walk, he needed to feel involved in something. He Twitch streams in his spare time, mostly practicing for tournaments with his friends on the team. He grows insecure over his loss of feeling in his legs and feel mildly pathetic, but can't bring himself to admit it. (Straight, Demisexual)

Arya Stark, Sporty: Star batter of the Iron High softball team. She’s often been described by her peers as competitive and passionate. She finds herself making small things a competition, urging to win and prove her worth to those around her. Though, underneath it all she’s struggling with romantic feelings, trying to identify her true sexuality and self. (Bicurious)

Sansa Stark, Popular: Running for student body president against Rhaena Targaryen. She’s often been described by her peers as sociable and kind. Though under her kind facade, she can be quite judgmental and catty when it comes to certain people. Definitely two faced on occasion. (Straight, Asexual)

The Targaryen family is well known for their sly and intelligent bloodline, that also ties into the Velaryon line. They’re a mix between sociable and lacking desire for social interaction with those around them, tending to go about tasks that test their smarts rather than their athletic capabilities. They’re said to start arguments that they know they can win and play games of wits to get what they please, which causes them to butt heads with the Lannisters. They can be seen as almost snake like. Each Targaryen child owns their own reptile, mostly based on personality. Their parents saw it as an outlet to keep responsibility and build emotional connections since most Targaryen children are neglected by their parents, and they can be seen as undesirable from time to time, which makes them lack friends.

main characters.

Aemond Targaryen, Mildly Popular: Though he isn’t apart of any specific activities or extracurricular activities, he can be seen with his siblings on most occasions. He’s often described by his peers as sly and cocky. People think they’re friends with him, but he truly as no interest in them and doesn’t remember their names. You can find him with Helaena, helping her with tutoring students, or with Aegon as his designated driver. He spends his time studying when not looking after his blood. When he was younger, his cousin had accidentally cut his eye while they were hunting, which had sent him into a entirely different personality, and Lucerys into disciplinary action and house arrest though the action was not intentional. (Demisexual, Demiromantic)

Aegon II Targaryen, Player Jock: Left-Wing hockey player on the Iron High hockey team. He’s often described by his peers as flirtatious and manipulative. He was hit the most by his parent’s neglectful ways, drowning himself in sexual relations and alcohol at they parties he goes to. You can often find him feeling up women at college parties, kissing on their necks and trying to get in their pants to feel some sort of relief in his life. Though, he holds terrible commitment issues and leaves the men and women he messes with immediately after getting what he needs from them. (Bisexual, Demiromantic)

Helaena Targaryen, Popular: Hosts tutoring for those who need it at Iron High. She’s often described by her peers as shy and gentle hearted. Her fascination with the outside world and aesthetics is both strange to most but can also be seen as admirable. Though she doesn’t go out of her way to talk to those around her, she seems to have accumulated an abundance of friends in the years of attending school. (Biromantic, Demisexual)

Daeron Targaryen, Social Butterfly: Though he has no true social status at Iron High due to being in the shadow of his brothers, sister, and cousins, he’s still known by quite a few. He’s often been described by her peers as exciting and adventurous. He holds deep insecurity for his lack of popularity like the rest of his family, but he continues to try to be open and exciting. He loves to go out with his sister, Helaena, during lunch and feed the small bugs pieces of fruit. (Biromantic, Asexual)

Rhaena Targaryen, Popular: Running for student body president against Sansa Stark. She’s often been described by her peers as kindhearted and easygoing. In her days of making friends, she tries to involve herself with every group without discrimination. She’s very well known for her genuine kindness and playfulness. (Straight, Demisexual)

Baela Targaryen, Sporty: Proud member of the Iron High pole vaulting and weightlifting team. She’s often been described by her peers as prideful and feisty. She is openly bisexual and close with her cousin Helaena and Arya Stark. She’s very open about herself and presents herself honestly, a powerful and passion driven young woman. (Bisexual)

Daenerys Targaryen, Popular: Distant cousin to the Targaryens, she’s well known for her beauty and kindness in competition to Cersei’s. Her peers often describe her as emotion driven and a pacifist. Wildly loved by all, but spited by some, her kindness spreads within the walls of Iron High and her aspirations drive her and others toward their future goals, attempting to motivate and befriend those around her. (Demiromantic, Demisexual)

The Velaryon family is well known for their ambition and balance in situations, enjoying the outdoors and physical activities unlike most of their cousins. They’re very kind souls, open to new things that’ll test their limits. They tend to become competitive at times, striving to please and be the best they can, though sometimes they can’t control themselves and sometimes people can get hurt. You often see them around the Stark kids, usually play wrestling with one another. Though, the Velaryon boys are products of a cheating scandal with their mother and a man named Harwin Strong, who soon ended up becoming their stepdad. Though, she holds a love for another who most speculate is Daemon Targaryen.

main characters.

Jacaerys Velaryon, Studious Jock: Co-Captain with Cregan and goalie on the Iron High hockey team. He’s often described by his peers as easygoing and loyal. A dedicated man to his work, you can often find him studying in his cousin’s study group to try to balance his grades with his sport. Though, occasionally he’s at parties trying to find a relaxation point between his schooling and constant training. That dedication makes him a ladies man, even though he’s merely kind to them and hasn’t intentionally tried to make anyone swoon. (Demiromantic, Demisexual)

Lucerys Velaryon, Extroverted Sporty: Goalie for the Iron High soccer team, he’s not very passionate about the sport he’s pursued in and is hoping to join his brother on the hockey team once the season rolls around. He’s often described by his peers as exciting and innocent. Girls tend to flock around him since he’s quite the small cutie, and he doesn’t seem to enjoy the attention too much. He’s very focused on his brother and protecting him from the other people who are eyeing him down, not understanding completely why so many girls take a liking to the two. (Straight, Demisexual)

The Lannister family are well known for their pride and riches, their children spoiled rotten and blessed with beauty as well. Though they aren’t very physically active, they make up for it with their manipulative and convincing personas. It’s known that if you challenge an Lannister to a battle of wits and cleverness, you will come out a loser. That is, unless you’re a Targaryen. It’s hard to match the passive aggressive personality of a Lannister as well as their ability to masterfully lie to those around them. Though, the Lannister children face abandonment issues and a craving for their father’s approval after their mother’s passing. So, it leaves them lashing out on those around them.

main characters.

Cersei Lannister, Popular: Not involved in many activities after she had stopped cheerleading due to suspicions of her and her brother Jaime being TOO close, she’s mostly seen painting her frustrations away in the art room during lunch. She’s often been described by her peers as two-faced and defensive. She has many friends and is well known for her beauty within the school, but no one is safe from her rumors. No matter how close you think you are to her, she will never find you desirable and will talk lowly of you at any moment. (Bicurious, Demisexual)

Jaime Lannister, Jock: Linebacker for the Iron High football team, he’s very passionate about the role he plays in this school. He’s been often described by his peers as “the good Lannister” and awfully cocky. Some people find his self confidence bothersome and distasteful, while others find it endearing. Though, he spends quite a bit of his time near his sister, which makes people raise questions on how close they REALLY are. (Bisexual with female preference.)

Tyrion Lannister, Party Animal: Much like Aegon, the drinks and women are a way to bury his deep feelings. He’s often described by his peers as witty and sly. When short guy season comes around, you’d be surprised by the amount of women that are on him. Though he tries to remain humble, as he puts it, by keeping his body count a mystery. (Straight)

#hotd modern au #game of thrones modern au #hotd #hotd fanfic #hotd aegon #hotd season 1 #house of the dragon #rhaenyra targaryen #otto hightower #viserys i targaryen #larys strong #asoif/got #game of thrones #got #sansa stark #daenerys targeryan #a song of ice and fire #ned stark #house stark #robb stark #arya stark #catelyn stark #house lannister #joffrey lannister #tywin lannister #cersei lannister #tyrion lannister #jason lannister #jaime lannister #house targaryen

[feridsluver]

I was a bit bored and I thought which owari no seraph characters (vampires) in what twisted wonderland be. These are my headcanons so not facts or anything :3

(Husband) Ferid bathory = diasomnia

The entire dorm is about dark nobility as well as it has a goth vibe that I think suits ferid well. Additionally I think ferid would be good in every subject because bro remembers everything.

At first I thought maybe octavinelle because they are vicious because ferid blackmails Krul but on the other hand it doesn't really match ferids personality and aura.

Krul tepes= diasomnia

Idk she is a literal goth icon so quite self explanatory.

crowley eusford= Savanaclaw

Bro is definitely friends with jack howl. Also I see Crowley to be incredibly sporty.

Rene Simm= Heartslabyul/ ignhyde

One thing I remember him as is that he follows ferids orders and doesn't question them. I kinda remember vaguely that lacus didn't do it properly and rene criticised him for it.

(He gives me the vibe that he would also be a techno expert because he's quite smart)

Another runner would have been Scarabia because he seems to be quite intelligent and also

Lacus Welt= Octavinelle

The guy is quite intelligent and also he's so morally grey he suits the dorm well. Tbh I also think he would def take advantage of the fact that you can have human "servants" when they pay off their debt.

Horn skuld= pomefiore

She's quite loyal to Crowley and she also seems to be acting kind to the people she values. So I can imagine if she's given a task she would be quite ambitious to complete it which is a pomefiore trait.

Chess belle= Savanaclaw

She's quite hot tempered and I think it would be funny if she'd be practicing martial arts with Crowley. Also I feel like her hot temper would be amazing for the tournament.

#owari no seraph #ferid bathory #ons #seraph of the end #終わりのセラフ #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x owari no seraph #chess belle #Crowley eusford #Krul tepes #Lacus Welt #rene simm

[scotianostra]

Happy 65th Birthday Scottish Golfer Sandy Lyle born on  on February 9th 1958.

Born Shrewsbury, England but considered Scottish, Lyle was one of  Europe’s top golfers during the 1980s. He is one of the golfers credited with breaking American domination of golf on the world stage.

Lyle was introduced to golf as soon as he would walk. His father, Alex, was a teaching professional at Hawkstone Park GC and had his son playing with miniature clubs from the age of 3. Lyle had an outstanding amateur career culminating in victory in the English Amateur Stroke Play championship in 1975 and 1977. He also served on the Walker Cup squad twice.

He turned professional in 1977 and was nominated Rookie of the Year in his first full season a year later. His first professional victory was the 1978 Nigerian Open. As a player, Lyle is renowned for his cool temperament and focus. However, his form is not always consistent and tends to play either exceptionally well or exceptionally bad.

Lyle won his first Major, the Open, in 1985. Perhaps the highlight of his career was victory in the 1988 US Masters. He was the first non-American to win the event, a victory made sweeter because of the intense competition between America and Europe in all aspects of golf. Lyle has also played on 5 Ryder Cup squads and represented Scotland 3 times in the World Cup.

On a personal level, Lyle has an amiable character and is modest despite his success and stardom. He enjoys Chinese food and is somewhat of an expert. He is also a keen enthusiastic of motorbike scrambling. In 1989, Lyle’s form began to slump. His last victory was the Volvo Masters in 1992 and since then has quietly retired from the main tour.

On turning 50 in 2008 he played on the Champions Tour and the European Senior Tour winning his first tournament in 19 years when he captured his first European Senior Tour title at the 2011 ISPS Handa Senior World Championship, held in China.

Sandy was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in May 2012, he now lives in Scotland with his wife Jolande and children Lonneke and Quintin

In 2014 Sandy won the World Hickory Open Championship, an open tournament for amateur or professional hickory golfers. Hickory golf is a variation of golf played with hickory-shafted golf clubs.  Part of the attraction of playing with hickory clubs is that they reintroduce ‘feel’ to the golf shot. Proponents also claim that hickory golf allows golfers to play classic golf courses as they are meant to be played    “I’m delighted to have won my fourth Major,” joked Sandy afterwards.

As a former winner I would have thought Sandy would get an invite to play in majors, but not so, last year in the run up to the 150th Open at St Andrews he was forced to retire injured commenting;

“When you’re pushing on the age that I am now, injuries are always sort of around the corner and you’ve just got to be careful what you do.”

Lyle’s withdrawal came after just one hole of the second round – a double-bogey six at the first.

Earlier in 2022 Sandy became the first Scottish golfer to play in 100 majors, a remarkable feat in itself, although  Lyle was completely unaware that he created history. It came in his 41st appearance at Augusta National and the 1988 winner said after missing the cut for the eighth year in a row that next year will be his last.“I was not aware, no,” said Lyle when he was asked about his major milestone by The Scotsman after carding a second-round 76 for a 14-over total at the Georgia venue.

“No-one has ever mentioned it to me. Does that make me feel better? A little bit,” said the two-time major winner. “But I suppose that is pretty sporty and something I can tell my grandkids in years to come.” he added.

Sandy went on to say;

“I think probably next year might be the end of the Lyle attack on the golf course,I think my older son (Stuart) is coming out and a few of his buddies, and I think my younger son (James) is probably coming out, so we're going to be a full family, I think, so I think it will be the end of the day.

I think he will continue to play in invitations and the senior tour. 

#Scotland #scottish #golfer #champion #major winner #open champion #sport #sporting history

[richincolor]

Book Review: Daughters of Oduma

Title: Daughter of Oduma

Author: Moses Ose Utomi

Genres:  Fantasy

Pages: 368

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Review Copy: ARC by publisher

Availability: Available now

Summary: 

Eat. Dance. Fight.

This is the life of the girls who compete in the Isle’s elite, all-female fighting sport of Bowing. But it isn’t really Dirt’s life anymore. At sixteen, she is old and has retired from competition. Instead, she spends her days coaching the younger sisters of the Mud Fam and dreading her fast-approaching birthday, when she’ll have to leave her sisters to fulfill whatever destiny the Gods choose for her.

Dirt’s young sisters are coming along nicely, and the Mud Fam is sure to win the upcoming South God Bow tournament, which is crucial: the tiny Fam needs the new recruits that come with victory. Then an attack from a powerful rival leaves the Mud without their top Bower, and Dirt is the only one who can compete in the tournament. But Dirt is old, out of shape, and afraid. She has never wanted to be a leader. Victory seems impossible—yet defeat would mean the end of her beloved Fam. And no way is Dirt going to let that happen.

Review: *Sigh* I really wanted to fall in love with this book as I found it an interesting premise for a debut fantasy novel. It seemed very different from the typical “hero’s journey” type of story that has the chosen main character on some journey to save the world. In “Daughters of Oduma” Dirt’s chosen family is her world and she must save them. I expected a very different type of fantasy and I definitely did, but to me there was something missing. I initially could’t figure it out as I was reading as I struggled to connect to the story. It was later as I realized what took me out of the novel so many times was that the world building felt incomplete to me and I was struggling due to not having these answers. 

Daughters of Oduma was set on some island country(?) on some world where children were split into groups of four communities (the Bower Girls, the Butterfly/Mosquito Girls, the Pusher Boys, and the Flag Boys). There is only one adult (Antie Yaya) who seems to oversee all of the groups (I think) but definitely knows more than she lets on. The Bower Girls are the sporty girls of this society and the novel focuses on the biggest tournament of their year, the God Bow Tournament. As you can see, I had some confusion about location and the structure of the society. Also, my teacher instincts kicked in and I was very troubled that there were no other adults around. The ages of the girls in Dirt’s fam range from 4 to 16, with no adult taking care of them according to what I understand of the societal set up and I couldn’t help but worry about the kids. This one concern kept taking me out of the story as I wondered “who initially taught the children to survive?” “Who taught the children all the rules of the God Bow tournament?” “Who built all the structures described in the story?” “How did a world without adults come to be?” I feel like this is where world building broke down because there was no mythos introduced that would help us make sense of this world; it was if we were dropped in a moment of time in Dirt’s life and we were expected to know the same information that Dirt did. And while that idea is usually true, in many fantasy novels establishing mythos is usually told through beliefs or stories to help orient the reader to the world of the novel. I feel like Utomi could have slowed down some of the action of the novel to establish his world more clearly. 

On the other hand, Daughters of Oduma moved at a brisk pace. There were definitely some gut wrenching moments, specifically the event that has Dirt realize that in order to save her family she must come out of retirement to compete in the tournament. The relationships with the sisters was lovely and really showed why Dirt was willing to do anything to save her family. The stakes were truly very high for Dirt as she had two weeks to get herself in shape in order to compete, but also had to overcome her mental blocks, which I felt were the strongest aspect of the novel. Dirt was happy in her “retirement” because she really didn’t enjoy Bowing and to find herself in the position of having to fight or else is not just a physical battle but an emotional battle and the journey that Dirt goes on was written beautifully. There were many times where I felt with and for her as self-doubt can really harm us and hold us back. I was with her when she had to fight her inner demons, or the Whispers as they were called in the novel, in order to stand for her family. To me, Dirt’s inner life was the strongest aspect of the novel. 

Overall, while I didn’t fall in love with the novel I do not see it as time wasted. I was into it at many points and connected with some of the characters. The story moved well and there were many wonderful moments that I truly enjoyed. 

#book review #weneeddiversebooks

[myfaveisfuckable]

Rants!

Sharon/Alice: Immediately thought these bitches gay, good for them and went online to see that No One except for maybe the author agreed. Entranced by these girls before I even knew I liked girls and the only ship art was by the author who created them in the first place. You simply have to love unassuming bad bitch x bad bitch assuming just a little guy

peppermint patty x charlie brown: look, just... one of peppermint patty's important traits is to contrast charlie brown's romantic difficulties. she's blunt and forthright, and charlie brown doesn't really reject it or accept it, he's just baffled into quietly ignoring it.

however, because peppermint patty's a sporty tomboy with a strong friendship with marcie, everyone goes for the obvious 'hurrhurr, they're lesbians' interpretation that ignores the character complexities and does both peppermint patty and marcie dirty. stop insisting a character that breaks the rules of traditional femininity must be gay. let human experiences be represented as a variety of traits, not low-hanging stereotypes.

and, i don't i know, i like the idea of the two getting older, bonding over baseball, and charlie brown maturing and realizing that the idea of the red-headed girl is nothing to the reality of a best friend who's real and likes him, wishy-washy nature and all.

#poll #tournament #pandora hearts #the peanuts

[ffsg0jo]

MATCHUP NO. 14 @melsuki <33

SHOKO :: you and shoko would be that hot, lowkey intimidating couple. everyone looks up to you and they're stuck between wanting to be you and wanting to be with you. she defo shotguns you (with your permission and consent because consent is hot af) while she smokes because she just loves the intimate and almost peaceful nature of it. at first she kept your relationship a secret because of how nosy and annoying gojo and geto could be, but one day she had enough of it being a secret and slowly started getting used to pda. she's still not too big on it, but she loves kissing your forehead and your cheeks <33

KIYOKO :: no one expected you two to be together. and when they found out they all lost their shit because the last time they checked both you and kiyoko were single. it was funny how they found out though because it was the only time they saw kiyoko lose composure. they were at a tournament and some random guy from another school came up to her and started flirting with her. usually she would've kept calm but she hadn't seen you in nearly 2 weeks and she missed you so much. kiyoko slammed down the bottles she was filling up and sternly and scarily turned to the guys and told them she already had a partner that she loved a lot. the karasuno boys overheard and they were all in shock desperate to find out who it was. they didn't have to wait long though because as soon as they returned and kiyoko saw you she ran into your arms and kissed you. it was out of character for her but she just missed you so so much

BAKUGO :: bakugo is constantly seeking your touch and your warmth, whether it's through holding your hand, securely in his or if its through having your thigh pressed against his while your lounging on the sofa together. you two would be the sporty couple that helps and supports eachother towards each other's goals. katsuki helps you out in the gym, to become stronger and you help katsuki make sure he's taking care of himself properly and not overdoing everything. you both balance eachother out and it's really sweet. he's such a simp for you, and only you

© ffsg0jo 2022 — do not plagiarise, repost, modify, or translate any of my work, in any way shape or form; i will piss in your cereal if you do. all work belongs to me and me only.

#🌻.lija's summer matchups #🌻.melsuki #🌻.beloved moot<33 #you're genuinely so hot #like in the most respectful way possible #youre just so so beautiful and hot #like im speechless #everytime i see your face my jaw drops to the floor #im in awe of your beautt #y #everything just suits you so so well #like your hair the way its styled and dyed #your makeup #your facial structure #your features #just everything

[sports-character-tournament]

Round 1

Peso (Octonauts) vs Haiji Kiyose (Run with the Wind)

Peso

Sport: he conpetes in the penguin version of the triathlon

Appearance: Small penguin

Propaganda: He's a nurse who's never done sport before but his little brother believes in him so hard that he has to try, he does a whole training montage. When he competes he gets mocked the whole time by the big arrogant fan favourite but when he has the chance to win the bully gets hurt and trapped underwater and his nurse instincts win out so Peso goes back to help him and they get joint first. Very sweet guy, very clumsy, very funny I love him

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

Haiji Kiyose

Sport: Track

Appearance: Hair color: Brown Eye color: Brown Height: 170 cm Nationality: Japanese

Propaganda: Wanting to participate in in Hakone Ekiden, a famous Japanese University relay marathon that has runners run 219 km over two days, Haiji spends his university years gathering a ten man team. Despite his injury from his school days and the fact that his team isn't the most athletic (yet), he doesn't give up! He works hard so that he and his team can qualify for Hakone Ekiden!

#character tournament #tournament #sporty character tournament #tumblr tournament #octonauts #run with the wind #peso #haiji kiyose #kiyose haiji

[myloveforhergoeson]

That's All She Wrote - Chapter 11

Chapter 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10

Find me on wattpad and ao3

Show: Big Time Rush

Pairing: James Diamond x Original Female Character

Chapter 11: 9 to 5 (1.11) ~ 14k

“Okay, the first one to race around the Palm Woods and ring the bell at the front desk wins the Palm Woods 500 Invitational All-Terrain Disc-Cathlon Classic!” Kendall excitedly declared, stretching his arms behind his head as he laid out the rules for the challenge he and the other band members had created. 

His friends were gathered in their living room beside him in a straight line, all dressed in workout gear and running shoes - ready to take the race by storm. 

When Roxy received the invitational text in the morning, she was more than happy to roll out of bed and show off the new athletic outfit she had bought to join Jo at the gym. While she was excited to spend more time with her sporty friend, she had ultimately determined that the most important aspect of working out was looking good while doing it. Especially when most of their workouts ended with Roxy getting slammed down onto the workout mat during the Judo sparing matches Jo was so fond of. 

Maybe we should just try the treadmill one of these days…

Knowing she didn’t stand a chance in a competition against her four varsity athlete friends, the writer had still made her way through their connecting door and into the boys’ living room. 

According to the band, Carlos was the fastest runner of the four and would easily win a traditional footrace, so the others had decided to give him a bit of a challenge - he had to run the entire marathon carrying Roxy on his back. It was an excellent way to include her and to even the odds of the race. 

“And the Super Champion of the World!” James chimed in, sporting a pristine white sweatband around his head.

From the door, Katie held up a handcrafted trophy. It was half her height and covered in shiny silver tinfoil, a silver colander taped to the top. The name of the tournament was written around the stem and base in metallic colorful letters. “And wins the Palm Woods 500 world cup.” 

Roxy’s teammate pointed to it, Logan copying his actions as they both proclaimed, “You will be mine!” 

The pair erupted into a slapping match before the assistant had to reel Carlos back in. 

“We’ve got this.” She whispered to him with a wink, placing her hands on his shoulders. He bent down, ready for her to hop on to the young girl’s signal. 

Katie began the countdown. “On your marks…”

Everyone placed one knee on the floor, arms out in front of them in the starting position, save the writer positioned behind her teammate. 

“Get set…” She opened the front door. 

Under her fingers, Roxy felt Carlos begin to shake with excitement.

“Go!”

Before the preteen had even finished her words, Roxy jumped onto Carlos’ back as he shot off. Though her landing was a bit shaky, he tightly looped his arms around her leg to hold her in place as she balled the material of his sleeves between her fingers.

There was a chorus of shouting from the guys behind them, but the runner and his partner ignored them as they raced down the hall. As Carlos’ speed began to increase, Roxy’s hair fluttered into her face as she quickly glanced behind her. No one else was in sight; they had already taken the first place spot.

Passing the door to 2-H, the writer noticed a large bouquet of flowers had been placed on her doormat. 

“Carlos?”

“...Yeah?” He pushed out, doing his best to respond in a timely manner while chugging along down the hall.

She pointed back towards her room, half-joking and half-confused. “Did you buy me some flowers?”

“Nope!” He called as he flung the door to the stairwell open and charged down them, Roxy bouncing with every step. Echoing footsteps on the carpet behind them let the two know their opponents were swiftly catching up.

Reaching the bottom, the teens piled out the back door into the alleyway that separated the hotel from the shopping center in the lot next door, avoiding bags of trash and hotel residents throwing out their garbage. 

Slowly the other three runners overtook Carlos, but it was Kendall made the mistake of getting a bit too close to the helmet wearer. Trying to shove him to the side, Carlos expertly sidestepped his opponent’s maneuver, allowing Roxy to reach out one of her hands and grab onto the back of the blond’s shirt. Yanking it back toward her, it caused him to stumble, nearly falling over as he slowed down to catch his balance and allowed her teammate to move up one rank. 

“Nice try!” She laughed as Carlos began to weave in and out of the silver garbage bins the boys had set up before the run in order to give themselves a bit of an obstacle course. Her teammate jerked to the right, causing her to lose her balance with a yelp.

“Sorry!” He gasped, gripping her legs a little bit tighter. “I… won’t let you… fall!” Grasping her fists tighter on his jacket, she leaned into his back as the group entered the pool area. If he slipped on the water on the edge of the deck, it would be one nasty fall for the two of them and easily earn them last place in the race. The end was now in sight and the thrilling prospect of winning caused Roxy’s chest to tighten with every one of her partner’s steps.   

As they rounded the corner the girl felt a hand lightly fall on the small of her back. Whipping around, she was quick to untangle one of her hands and smack it off, noticing James grinning behind her. He had closed the gap between himself and Carlos and had been trying to push the two of them down. 

With the same hand that smacked him, she shot him a wicked grin before reaching out and pulling on the white sweatband on his forehead. With a snap it shot back and covered his eyes, slapping his face while also obscuring his vision, causing him to trip over a lounge chair. To catch up he would need to hop over all of the others on the way into the lobby.

From here, the front desk was in even clearer sight. Katie stood in front of the structure with Bitters obliviously eating a bowl of spaghetti behind. Once the man noticed the onslaught of teens charging towards him he dropped his fork with a panicked scream and ducked. 

As they grew closer and closer, Roxy knew the race was going to be tight and there was nearly no way for the boys to stop without slamming into each other. Looking behind her in hopes of making a quick escape, she noticed a small gap between James and Logan as the four hurtled towards the finish line.

Using this space, once she felt Carlos reach for the bell on the front desk, she hopped off his back, making a very unsteady landing on the hotel carpet. Once she caught her balance, she was able to turn around just in time to see the four boys pile over the desk - knocking all of the contents off the countertop - and landing on top of one another behind it.  

Standing back with Katie, Roxy took inventory of the lobby while the ear-splitting sound of the crash reverberated in her ears. By now, a small crowd had formed at the commotion and when the boys popped up, Carlos had the remnants of the desk plant on his head, a large flower in his mouth. While beside him, James and Kendall had only managed to get the petals stuck in their hair, though a ping pong ball had lodged itself in each of their mouths. At the end of the line, Logan was wrapped up with the curly phone cord, drumming his hands on the hardwood desk in anticipation of the young girl’s final decision. 

Pausing for dramatic effect, Katie let a few seconds of silence go by before yelling, “It’s Carlos!” 

Once her words registered, the helmet wearer screamed in victory as he hopped over the desk to claim his prize. He practically tore it out of the girl’s hands, giving it a dozen or so kisses before racing over to grab Roxy’s hand and throw it up in the air. 

Teammates joyously danced around in victory while the rest of the boys grumbled and began to shuffle out from behind the desk.

The celebration Roxy and Carlos were enjoying was short-lived as Bitters let out an earth-shattering scream from behind them, one to rival Gustavo’s, huffing and puffing all red in the face as he looked between the five teenagers. He had been tangled up in the computer keyboard and mouse, one of the lenses of his glasses shattered, while the remnants of his spaghetti dripped down his hair and clothing. 

“You are all going to pay for this!”

Big Time Rush looked among themselves in fear before turning to face their assistant. 

With a sigh, she cleared her throat while trying to put on her best Minnesota nice impression. “Sure, Mr. Bitters. Total up the damages and I’ll go grab my credit card.”

To be fair, it wasn’t her credit card, it was the record company’s, but what Bitters didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Before the manager could yell even more, Roxy quickly vacated the lobby. Trudging up the stairs, the band followed her as they mumbled out a smattering of apologies. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” The girl waved her friends off. “Just don’t tell Gustavo about this, he rarely checks his bank statements.”

Logan coughed as he climbed the steps, still trying to catch his breath. “What?”

Stopping in her tracks, she whirled around and poked his chest, “Don’t get any ideas! He doesn’t need to know about the magazine subscriptions this card pays for.” 

“Yeah because Pop Tiger and A-13 are such important costs.” Scoffed the frontman.

That statement earned him some nasty side-eye from the writer, who made her way onto the second-floor landing

“Don’t you need me to keep up with the latest trends to write you relevant and radio-ready songs?”

The four boys stopped talking after that. 

Rounding the corner to her apartment, Roxy remembered the floral arrangement she had seen earlier as Carlos had carried her down the hallway. Walking a little faster, she ended up at her doorstep and picked up the large bouquet, the paper encasing it crinkling under her fingers. 

The scent of a dozen fresh roses filled her nose as she inhaled their sweet, earthy scent. Wrapped up in a beautiful, pale green paper and a few stems of white baby’s breath mixed into the flowers, the girl noticed a card wrapped around a red and white polka-dotted ribbon. 

One of the boys whistled behind her.

“Someone must be really sorry…” James mumbled. “Can you just hurry and grab the card before Bitters kicks us out?”

Roxy shook her head, ignoring him and taking another sniff of the flowers. With shaking fingers, she undid the ribbon and caught the folded note. Peeling it open, it revealed a white card with red foil lettering.

Sorry I couldn’t make it last night.

I hope this will do until I can give you a real apology.

See you soon,

Dak

Though flattered by his display of affection, she was still pretty upset at the boy she was crushing on. 

Would it have killed him to send a text message?

“Ugh,” She scoffed. Moving to pull her key out of her pocket, she passed the flowers off to Carlos. “Just when I had forgotten all about that…”

           She hadn’t forgotten, not in the slightest, though she wasn’t interested in venting all her boy troubles to the guys.

Pushing the door open, she walked into 2-H and made a beeline to her bedroom. Loudly shutting the door, she changed into work-appropriate attire before grabbing her purse and guitar. After she’d sort out the situation with Bitters, the band would have to head to work, so there was no use in making a trip to her apartment twice.

Stepping back out, she noticed the raven-haired boy had placed her flowers in a large glass of water.

With a “Thank you!”, she stepped out into the hallway.

“We’re gonna change and be down in a second,” Logan informed their assistant who happily trotted down to the lobby by herself. 

Reaching the front desk, she noticed that Bitters had been able to contain some of the damage. Most of the stray parts had been wiped off the surface of the wooden front desk and larger, unbroken items had been placed back where they belonged. The only thing missing was the nice potted plant that had once adorned the left-hand corner closest to his computer. 

Buzz buzz

The girl stopped in her tracks as she felt her phone ring. 

Incoming call: Dak Zevon <3

Sighing to no one but herself, Roxy stepped to the side of the lobby towards the assortment of indoor palm bushes. As she pressed the accept button on the screen, she did her best to get out of Bitters’ sight.

“Hello?”

“Hey, babe. How’s it going?”

Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ‘Hey, babe’ me. You know how it’s going.”

His chuckles rolled off the speaker. “I know. I’m sorry. You got the flowers right? They’re red, your favorite.”

“Yes, I did. Thank you.”

There was a moment of pause as neither of them said anything. He had to know that she was upset with him; she knew that if she ran her mouth she would end up telling him off.

“How about I make it up to you this week? Movie night, your place?”

“Inviting yourself over is a bold move after last night, Zevon.”

“Ooh,” He breathed. “Last name treatment.”

Roxy didn’t say anything, though she had a quick mental debate as to whether or not she should forgive him so easily. It’s not like they were in a relationship, so for him to skip out on a function she invited him to really shouldn’t be as big of a deal as she was making it out to be. Besides, he had already apologized twice. Even if it wasn’t face-to-face, the flowers were still a wonderful surprise.

“Seriously, Roxy. Picture it. Me. You. Movie. Alone.”

A few thoughts swirled around her head as her cheeks began to heat up at his insinuation. Before she was able to internalize and analyze her thoughts on his invitation, her heart spoke for her. “Sure, on one condition.”

“And what would that be?”

“Cook me dinner.”

“What?”

“Cook me dinner. I don’t care what it is.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea-”

“Dak.” She stopped him, noticing that the boys had just gotten off the elevator and were heading toward the front desk. She rushed over to stop them, setting her guitar down and waving her free hand around to catch their attention as she continued to speak into the phone. “No dinner, no date. Deal?”

The reply on the other line felt strained, “Fine. Text me when you’re free. Can’t wait to see you again.”

Pressing the call end button, she put her phone back in her pocket and faced her friends. 

“Ready?” She asked, holding up the plastic, black card between her fingers.

Each of them nodded as they marched up to the front desk. 

Bitters only looked towards Roxy, who slid the credit card across the desk. 

Picking it up, the man examined it as if he were trying to memorize the serial number and security code on the backside. After a moment he slid it back over to her.

“This doesn’t belong to you.”

She bit back a nervous laugh, grip tightening on the handle of her guitar case. “Sure it does. Has my name on it and everything.”

“No.” He affirmed. “It reads ‘Rocque Records.’”

The man was right, but Gustavo and Kelly had told her the card was hers to use on any necessary expenses in Hollywood as long as it related to Big Time Rush. This seemed like a related necessary expense. 

“Maybe you need to take a trip to the eye doctor. It says ‘Roxanne Robin.’ Easy to mix up I suppose.” She lied, hoping that would be enough to get him off her case. 

Behind her, she felt Logan shuffle his feet uncomfortably. 

At least it was enough to distract the older man. “Your middle name is Robin?”

“According to my birth certificate, yeah. Now run the card.”

She pushed it across the table again. 

“Roxanne Robin!” Carlos whispered. “Like the song, ‘Rockin’ Robin,’ Tweet, tweet, tweet…” 

Still outright refusing her form of payment, Bitters pushed it back. “I think I need to pay a visit to Gustavo Rocque to discuss your recent behavior in the place he currently pays for.”

“No, you don’t.” Roxy stood her ground, holding the card back out. Apparently, the four tall boys looming behind her weren’t enough to intimidate the manager into running her card.

“Oh, yes I do,” The slimy man grinned. “And if you don’t take me to him in the next 20 minutes, I’m going to evict you from the Palm Woods.”

***

Squashed onto one of the white leather couches in the Rocque Records lounge, the band and their assistant sat in front of Gustavo and Kelly who were currently going over the bill the hotel manager had complied with all the damages from the morning’s race. Off to the side, Roxy could hear Bitters snickering as the other two adults took in the grand total. 

“Two thousand dollars?” Gustavo yelled in their general direction, gripping the invoice so hard it crumpled in his grasp. Even Kelly looked shocked at the charges the teens had managed to rack up.

“And 30 cents.” The manager added. “They destroyed the Palm Woods’ computerized registration system, two lamps, three vases, and my pants. And this one tried to commit credit card fraud.”

“It’s my credit card!” She bit back before Gustavo shushed her. 

“And I won the Palm Woods 500 World Cup!” Carlos gushed, holding up the silver trophy he had brought all the way from the hotel. 

Looking between the teens and Bitters, Kelly opened her ledger and scribbled out a check for the damages, easily ripping it out and handing it to the greedy man. “Here you go. Roxy’s credit card would’ve worked just fine, but whatever.”

Even the talent scout seemed fed up with the situation. 

Kendall clapped his assistant on the shoulder, “Well, guess that settles it.”

Standing up from the plush cushions, the five moved towards Studio A, ready to start their recording session. 

“No!” Gustavo stopped them with a shrill shriek. “Because I am sick and tired of you dawgs, and Roxanne, breaking stuff!” 

There was immediate protest from the band. “We don’t break things!”

Roxy thought back to the times she and Kelly had cleaned up the bands’ messes. “Well, there was the time you used the lounge swing in the studio as a wrecking ball and punched a hole through the wall, which Kelly paid for. And the time Kendall knocked James’ smoothie all over our recording equipment and Kelly paid for it. Plus, the time you crashed the Palm Woods golf cart into the cabana that I paid to repair. That gave me a mild wrist sprain too, so I had to pay for the visit to Doc Hollywood.”

An apologetic look crossed the band's faces for a moment, but she had known them long enough to know it was just a ruse to get out of trouble. 

“Okay, so we do put a little wear and tear on things from time to time.” The frontman conceded. 

“Sorry!” Added Logan and Carlos.

James was the only one who didn’t offer any sort of remorse for their actions. “But that’s showbiz, right?”

Taking in their words, Gustavo looked horrified at their answers, his top lip curling into a mean snarl. “Wrong! And it’s time you take responsibility for your actions by paying me back my two thousand dollars.”

The man walked off into Studio A, finally ready to start the scheduled recording session, plugging his ears as the band raced after him, begging him to reconsider. 

“Isn’t there a cheaper way to learn responsibility?” Questioned Logan. “Like a goldfish.”

This didn’t feel like a situation the band could charm their way out of no matter how hard they tried. 

Finally catching up to her boss as he sped off, Kelly sighed and shook her head. “Guys, Griffin’s cracking down on us for overspending, and Gustavo’s right. This has got to stop.”

Moving in line with the older woman, the assistant nodded in agreement with her statement. 

“Roxy…” The talent scout sighed. “This includes you too. Part of your job is making sure the band doesn’t pull stunts like these.”

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at the band before she crossed the studio floor and stood with them. Arms crossed, she listened to what their producer had to say next.

“Until you pay me back, you will not dip a toe into your beloved Palm Woods pool.” 

That certainly was a good threat, one that made the writer’s blood boil. The pool was arguably the best part of the Palm Woods, especially when the days were beginning to grow warmer. She even had a pool date with Jo and Camille tonight to talk about their most recent auditions. If she ended up having to miss that she just might stop writing songs for the band. 

As the realization sank in among the teens, Gustavo turned to the piano behind him and played out the chords to the opening of “Big Time Rush.” That certainly spelled trouble for the teens.

Carlos stomped his foot, the sound echoing on the wood floor as he pointed to their boss. “You cannot keep us away from the world’s greatest pool!”

The man nodded, “No. But Freight Train can.”

Gustavo’s new hire quietly popped up from behind the band. He was dressed in a red overcoat, with swim trunks, a sun visor, and a whistle in contrast to his normal blacked-out suit. All signs pointed to lifeguard. 

“You guys are on my ‘no swim’ list.” Freight Train informed the teens to their dismay, showing off the clipboard he had in hand displaying all five of their names. 

While Roxy was lucky enough to have full access to the money she had made while working at Rocque Records, the band did not have the same luxury. Their funds were locked away in a savings account until they turned 21, as dictated by their parents. At least being an assistant came with a different job contract.

It would be no problem for her to pay their boss back on her next paycheck, but it could be years until the band saved up enough birthday or holiday money to reach their expected total.

“Gustavo, two thousand dollars?” Kendall cried, pausing to do a bit of mental math. “That’s four hundred dollars apiece!”

Kelly laughed, letting out a low whistle before saying, “Ooh, Kendall’s good at math.”

It elicited a giggle from the assistant as well; she was trying to make the best out of their situation. Even for her high pay rate, four hundred dollars was a lot to casually drop. 

“Well, I guess you guys are just gonna have to get jobs.” The talent scout continued.

At the thought of this, the boys gasped as if it were some unrealistic and unattainable goal. 

Why this shocked them, Roxy didn’t know. Though they hadn’t told her much about their life back in Minnesota, she knew at the very least Kendall had a job at a grocery store. It wasn’t unrealistic to assume the rest of them had held some sort of job as well. Even she had some experience working at the radio station. Getting a job wasn’t the end of the world like the boys were making it out to be. 

“In fact,” Gustavo added. “One of you can work off your debt for me right here at Rocque Records. Who wants to be my production assistant? Step forward.”

The four boys looked at Roxy. 

“Pass.” She simply stated, walking to the back of the studio to grab her checkbook from her bag. 

Logan, James, Kendall, and Freight Train, stepped back, leaving Carlos at their boss’ mercy. The poor boy didn’t even have a chance to protest before Gustavo called out his name, solidifying his role for the time being. 

While she did feel for the boy, maybe a taste of what she had to deal with every day would give him some newfound respect for the assistant position. Not that he was the band member that needed it the most. 

If I could volunteer James, I would.

“Now, the rest of you go get jobs and get me my money!” The producer screamed as the boys scrambled off to do as he said.

Reluctantly, the girl stepped forward and handed her bosses the check she had written out to cover her part of the damages. At least now she could look forward to a day off.

Gustavo took it hesitantly, examining the sheet of paper. 

“Hmm,” He mumbled, slipping it into his pocket once he deemed it satisfactory. “Watch after the dogs today, make sure they don’t break anything else and I’ll consider giving this back as a bonus.”

“What?” She asked, trying to hide her shock. Anything for her 400 dollars back. “I mean, yes, sir.” 

Quickly, she raced out of the building hoping to find her friends before they made any stupid, reckless decisions. 

***

Back at the Palm Woods, she sat on the orange sectional in 2-J while the remaining band members searched for jobs. Flipping through her new edition of Pop Tiger, she was more excited to read their breaking news feature but was easily distracted by the conversation the boys were having. James and Kendall were searching the ads in the back of the daily newspaper, while Logan was typing away on his laptop looking for anything of note.

“Bio taste tester… Volcano cleaner… Dentist?” Kendall rattled off in confusion.

Roxy huffed, “Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.”

A few more seconds of searching led the long-haired boy next to her to shout. “Job found! Russian translator! Pays twenty bucks an hour.”

 The girl didn’t even dignify that with a response as she held her magazine vertically to admire the centerfold - a double-page spread of the Jonas Brothers. 

Thankfully, Logan talked him out of it. “You know you have to speak Russian, right?”

Somehow this hadn’t occurred to him and James crumpled the newspaper he had been looking through, throwing it to the floor. “This is not fair! All you and I have ever done for work is shovel snow.” 

“We shall never swim again.” The boy on his laptop sighed, looking towards the ceiling helplessly. 

Instead of sharing his friend's melancholy, the wannabe leaned over Roxy’s shoulder to check out what article she was reading.

“James!” The blond yelled, throwing his pen from the other side of the couch. “We’re supposed to be looking for jobs, not at Roxy’s lame teen magazines.”

“Might I remind you, you were in this magazine?” His assistant said, waving it around in front of him. 

The other boy scoffed behind her, “It’s not a lame teen magazine.”

“It says Pop Tiger on the cover!” Logan cut in, annoyed as well.

Against her will, the magazine was ripped from her hands as James waved it around and around. 

“Where? Where?” He mocked as he continued to move it out of the girl’s grasp, twirling it around every which way. “I can’t see it. I mean, where does it say it, hmm-”

“Sign spinners!” Kendall yelled, pointing over to the magazine James was still waving around. “I heard the best ones make, like, twenty bucks an hour.”

Roxy cocked her head to the side, “From who?”

While James was distracted by his friends, she grabbed one end of her magazine back.

“Which means we can make money fast,” Agreed the boy on the laptop, though he ignored his assistant’s question. “And be back in the pool in no time!”

The pair quickly threw their items down on the table and made for the door, excited to get started on paying off their debt. Halfway, Kendall turned around. 

“James! Roxy!” He called back. “You two coming?”

The long-haired boy scoffed, taking one end of Roxy’s Pop Tiger as she held up the other. “No. I’d rather find a better job that doesn’t involve work.”

“You are so lucky you’re pretty.” The assistant scoffed, trying to wrestle her magazine out of his hands. Looking up at her two friends, she shook her head while trying to keep the flimsy pages from bending. “I’m still on the clock and my only instructions were to keep you four from breaking anything. I trust the two of you have learned your four hundred-dollar lessons?”

“Yup!” Logan called, running towards the door with Kendall in tow. “We’ll be careful!”

With a slam of the door, her two friends disappeared from the room, leaving her with one person to watch over as he job-searched. Giving up on her new edition of Pop Tiger she sighed and let James have it, picking up the Persons magazine laying on the table. 

The pair sat next to each other on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through the articles of their respective reading materials. While Roxy was reading a particularly interesting article counting down the days to the release of Twilight: New Moon she felt an arm lazily drape itself over her shoulder. Glancing to the side, she caught James’ eye, a wicked smile gracing his features. 

“So… you think I’m pretty?” The boy drawled, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. 

“No, James-”

He clicked his tongue a few times, cutting her off. “Oh, no, no, no. No denying it, we all heard you say it.”

“That’s not what I-”

Leaning in a bit closer, the assistant felt his breath tickle her ear. “I won’t tell Dak if you don’t…”

Before he could go any father, the girl grabbed the magazine from her lap and spread it wide open. The double-page spread was then pushed into his face with a smack causing him to let go of her as he fell back into the couch cushions behind him.

She held it down on his face, leaning over him with an evil laugh bouncing off the high apartment ceiling. Making sure to smush it down for good measure, the writer tried her best to ruin his sweeping bang hairdo. He was struggling beneath her grip, but she knew full well he was far stronger than she was; it was only a matter of time before the battle turned in his favor. 

A muffled cry came from under the magazine as his right hand shot out, encasing one of her wrists that had been holding down the magazine. With the other, James was able to peel the magazine off of his face, throwing it down on the couch beside him. 

Roxy attempted to reach out for the pages with her free hand, only for it to be captured as well. No more tricks up her sleeve. 

“Well, that wasn’t very nice.” James teased, still holding onto her, looking over to the girl's weapon. The magazine faced upwards, a full-page ad taking up the right-most page.

Quickly, he let her wrists fall as he scooped up the magazine and read the title aloud, “‘Are you the new face of ‘Cuda?’”

Scrambling off the couch, the wannabe placed himself in front of the full-length mirror to the left of the swirly slide. It was a decorative addition the assistant had added after Gustavo had installed a closet door mirror in her room. Mrs. Knight was more than happy to include the piece in their living room. 

While he was across the room, Roxy tried to catch her breath. Scooping her original magazine off of the cushion she held it up, obscuring her face as she sneakily watched the boy in the mirror's reflection. 

So what if I think he’s pretty? 

“You bet you are.” He told his reflection, shooting a finger gun at the mirror. 

Lowering his voice, the boy pouted his lips a bit and asked a question. “Look at yourself. Who’s handsomer than you?”

Roxy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, “Who are you talking to? Because if you’re talking to me you won’t like my answer.”

James looked over his shoulder, giving the assistant a displeased look at her comment before answering himself in the mirror. His voice went back to normal. “No one.” 

Watching from the couch in shock, Roxy heard the boy ask another question in the same gruff voice.

“Who’s got more style than you?”

The reply was the same as the last. “No one!”

That’s it. He’s officially lost it. The girl figured, keeping her findings to herself as the back-and-forth continued to unfold. 

“Who’s smarter than you?” 

This time, the girl had to interject, “Lots of people.”

He whirled around and pointed an accusatory finger at her. “But that has nothing to do with being a model!”

As if on cue, Katie emerged from the hallway in an adorable little business suit. The fake glasses and portfolio she was holding really sold her look and there was just one person in Hollywood dumb enough to make a 10-year-old their business partner. 

“Sounds like somebody needs a manager, and I only charge 40% for all your earnings!” 

The try-hard model looked back at his reflection. “Tell her it’s 50-50 or we walk.”

Unable to handle her friend's idiocy any longer, Roxy grabbed her belongings and made her into her room. 

Between Katie watching out for James, Kelly watching out for Carlos, and Kendall and Logan watching out for each other, there was finally a free gap in her day to sit down and focus on a song. There were many pages in her journal with simple phrases, chord progressions, or even little doodles of ideas that popped into her brain. Even a few minutes of focus could turn any one of these things into a hit song for the band. 

Plopping down onto her bed, Roxy reached for her acoustic guitar.

 Buzz

Without looking at the message, she switched her phone to silent. There was no room for distractions if she was going to write another song for the band. A few strings were plucked before she strummed out a few chords, playing a handful of warm-up scales to get in the writing mood. 

I wonder if Gustavo is writing anything right now. She thought, absentmindedly beginning to play the chords to her last song.

After the incident with “Any Kind of Guy” the girl had been hesitant to share any of her song ideas with her boss, even if their “Halfway There” collaboration had been a pleasant experience. Understandably so as she was afraid he would try and pass off one of her songs as his own. She knew logistically that he was just trying to teach her a lesson about the music industry, but the entire experience left a bad taste in her mouth.

He had been very gracious to her and the band, so she had to give him a few points for that. Besides, their boss was taking just as much of a leap of faith as the teens were. For that, they owed him a lot - more than Roxy could ever give back to him in a song. 

Placing her guitar down, she grabbed her book and made her way over to the keyboard he had bought for her. Their piano lessons were going quite well, Gustavo was ecstatic that she caught on quickly, so she figured it was time to thank him by writing a melody in a language he understood.

Journal propped up on the stand at her eye level, Roxy played some of the warm-up scales she had written out. Unlike the ones on her guitar which came naturally, these required concentration and focus. It annoyed her to miss a note or have her finger slip off the key, yet she played each scale a handful of times. That was more than enough to loosen her fingers for now. 

She flipped through the pages of her book, waiting for one of her ideas to pop out at her. As she turned another page, a sentence she had written caught her eye. Someday, we will work it out

It was a thought that popped into her head the morning of the Bad Boy Off while the band had been practicing their new track, “City is Ours.” Initially, it had been written down with the intent of being as good a songwriter as Gustavo was but after all the band had been through in the past month and a half, the phrase held a new meaning to her. 

The five teens were officially signed to Rocque Records, it was only a matter of time before the boys grew into their impending fame with their assistant cheering them on in the background. Their journey was only beginning, but besides “Any Kind of Guy” being on the radio, the band was very low in notoriety. While fame wasn’t high on Roxy’s list, it certainly was for the guys; she hoped they wouldn’t become discouraged without immediate results. 

This line of thinking was all the girl needed for a verse to swirl around in her brain. Picking up her pen, she grabbed her book and laid it out on the keys for some semblance of a flat surface as they let out a few sour notes at the pressure. 

We all have times, times we wonder, 

“Will the spotlight shine on me?”

I don’t let the waves go and pull us under

Or miss the opportunity

Who the “I” in the song was, she didn’t know but allowed another verse to flow out of her once more. 

I don’t look down or look back,

It’s not that far to go

‘Cause if we never try then 

we will never really know

This set of lyrics came with a melody that was quickly scribbled out on the page. She would transfer the notes from guitar chords to piano chords later, but she was starting to believe forcing the keyboard onto this song might be a mistake. There was a bit of edge to the lyrics, an edge that might only be able to be captured by electric guitar. She would have to consult her boss about it later.

Pleased with her progress, she decided to take a break and head down to the Palm Wood’s cafe for a celebratory smoothie. Maybe she’d find some inspiration from the wannabe’s down at the pool. 

I love fieldwork.

Grabbing her phone and her keys, the girl headed downstairs. When she checked her phone, she had a myriad of messages from her friends. Should they have even been texting on the job? 

The first set was from Carlos.

C: Hey roxy, how do u use the C.A.L. 

C: nvm i got it

C: he’s kinda cool

C: Very foamy

C: He’s mean tho :(

The girl had no idea what the first message was talking about but was very glad he figured it out on his own. Being Gustavo’s assistant wasn’t all that bad, he was just a bit snippy sometimes. 

After the helmet wearer’s messages, there were a few from a new group chat she had been added to with Logan and Kendall.

K: Roxy take my moms car keys and meet us at hollywood and vine

K: We need to bring revenue into this car wash or we’re fired

L: Our spin skills are not as good as we thought. 

K: Logan knocked over a biker

L: No I didn’t! You did after you cut him off when your sign flew into the hedges.

She was not shocked that they were struggling with their sign-spinning job after having no prior experience but continued reading on. 

K: Um you can cancel the joyride

L: Kendall got us fired. 

K: It wasn’t just me :/

The rest of the messages were the pair fighting back and forth about who caused them to lose their job. Roxy scrolled through them as she sipped her smoothie. Kendall’s quips were no match for Logan’s extensive and colorful vocabulary, leading the girl to determine it was Kendall’s fault they lost their jobs. There was now an 800-dollar gap in the teens’ bill. 

As she walked back into the lobby to sit by a window indoors to avoid Freight Train, she bumped into the two bickering boys who wordlessly grabbed her by the arms and dragged her back up to their apartment. All the while, still fighting.

Once they were in, they dumped her on the couch and handed her one of many local newspapers and a big, black Sharpie. Though they could’ve just asked for her help politely, she didn’t have any reason to protest as she started looking through the classified ads for a job that would suit them.

“Crime scene clean-up…” Logan began listing off everything he could find.

Their assistant gulped, “Too gory.” 

“Sword swallower…”

Roxy heard a thump on the window behind her as Kendall pressed his forehead to the glass, gazing down at the pool he desperately longed to swim in. 

“Too sharp…” She responded as she scanned her own pages, circling her newest find, “Bee farmer?”

There was a squishing sound coming from the window now. 

“Chicken inspector?” Sighed Logan, tapping the newspaper with his pen. 

More squeaking. Roxy finally turned around to see the frontman with his face smashed against the glass. 

“How much do you think we could get for our kidneys?” He asked in an incredibly serious manner. 

“Absolutely not!” She butt in, throwing her pen at the back of his head. 

As it hit him, he sighed, not even having the energy to fight back. It was clear the pair were growing desperate. She rolled up the newspaper to take another shot at him, hoping to wack some sense back into him.

Knock knock knock

The boys whipped around to face the door, sprinting over to it to see who was there. 

Opening the door, a young blonde woman and her son stood in the hallway. The mother looked to be in a panic as her eyes darted back and forth between the three teens. After a moment she scanned the background, seeming as though she was looking for someone. Roxy recognized them as Mrs. Walters and Wendell from 2-B. 

Placing her hands on her son’s shoulders, Mrs. Walters spoke quickly, words matching the worry on her face. “I’m sorry. Is your mom here? My babysitter fell through, and I need someone to watch Wendell!”

Seeing this opportunity unfold in front of her, Roxy tried to mentally will her friends. Babysit! Say you’ll-

“Uh, no, she’s not here right now.” Kendall began wearily before the dots connected in his brain. Turning to Logan, the blond beamed. “But we can watch him!”

The raven-haired boy affirmed his friend’s comments with a nod. 

Mrs. Walters was more than delighted to oblige. “Would you? What do you charge an hour, ten dollars?”

Their assistant watched in shock as the boys turned to each other, eyes wide. “Ten dollars an hour?” 

“Oh, you’re right.” Mrs. Walters sighed as if her original statement was ridiculous. “How's fifteen?”

Roxy coughed from the couch, trying to hide her comment before her friends could respond. “Higher!”

“Okay! Twenty! But that’s as high as I ever pay for a babysitter!” The woman was flustered, yet out of options as she practically begged the boys to watch after her son. Either boy couldn’t say anything, still shocked at the offer of twenty dollars an hour each to watch over the young kid. “Ah, you’re lifesavers.”

As Mrs. Walters said goodbye to her son, Roxy grabbed her things and moved off the couch. Heading to the door connecting the apartments, she offered the boys a small wave goodbye. 

“Woah, woah, woah!” Logan held his hands up in an attempt to catch his assistant’s attention. “I’ve never babysat before! What do we do?”

Roxy blinked, letting the comment sink in as Wendell ran over to the orange couch in the entertainment area. As the young child began jumping up and down, she finally responded.“You’re not just asking that because I’m a girl, right?”

The boy lowered his hands, eyes wide as he looked over to Kendall for some assistance. 

“No! He didn’t. At least, I don’t think he did?”

Eyes darting back and forth from the girl to their new responsibility on the couch, it was clear that even with a little sister Kendall had no babysitting experience either. 

“Look,” Sighed Roxy, crossing her arms. Reaching back into her memories, she tried to remember the instructions her dad often told her neighbors when he would drop her off at their houses when she was too young to stay at home by herself. Those were the days she hated the most, staying with strangers while he drove off to the mines. Thankfully it had taught her a bit about self-sufficiency. 

Something about, food, fun, foolproof… “Just give him some snacks, do some arts and crafts, and make sure he doesn’t kill himself. Pretty simple stuff. Now if you’ll excuse me-”

As she moved a bit closer to the hallway the two band members blocked her path. Logan’s “Please stay!” was barely heard over Kendall’s “Help us!” as the boys clasped their hands together, looking over at her expectantly.

Ignoring them, she called Wendell’s name as she turned around with her arms crossed. 

The young boy responded quickly, “Yeah?” as he cocked his head to the side. 

“Have you ever played horsey-back ride?” There was a noticeable shift in the octave of her voice. It came out a bit higher, airer, openly inviting his response. 

“Yeah!” He cheered, launching his arms into the air as he hopped off the couch. He ran to her feet excitedly. “Are we gonna play?”

Kneeling down in front of him, she placed a hand to the side of her cheek as if she was telling a secret. Making sure the boys could hear, she spoke in a light tone once more. “My friend Kendall’s never played that game! Wanna show him how?”

There was no verbal response, just Wendell running over to the blond and pulling on his sleeve. 

“Wait, hang on!” Logan interrupted. “At this rate, we’re still not gonna pay Gustavo back anytime soon.”

Glancing at each other, the boys looked back over to Roxy. Immediately, she figured out their grand scheme. 

“No! Do not leave me here with him-”

“Thanks, Rox!” Kendall called, running out the door with Logan in tow. “We owe you, big time!”

***

Eventually, Roxy was able to slip out of Big Time Daycare under the guise of needing some alone time. Kendall and Logan’s brilliant plan had been to watch as many kids as possible at their 20-dollar hourly rate, leaving the Crib an awful, child-ridden mess. It just happened that during her 5-minute break, Katie had called her from ‘Cuda headquarters needing some assistance with her picky client. Between dealing with a herd of sticky, disgusting children or dealing with James Diamond, she figured - after heavy debate - the latter was the lesser of two evils. 

Once she arrived at the ‘Cuda building, she met Katie in the lobby and exchanged some pleasantries before the young girl promptly ran off, not after bumping roughly into the assistant and jostling her mini backpack, to speak with the woman at the front desk. From then on, it was up to Roxy to locate James somewhere in the massive skyscraper.

Thankfully, she noticed a large “Auditions this way!” sign to the right of the lobby and took her chances. There were more and more notices that led her through what seemed like a labyrinth of winding, beige halls. Every once and a while, she’d pass a cute boy around her age; after a smile and a wave from the writer, they would gladly point her in the right direction. 

Rounding what felt like the hundredth corner of the building, she finally spotted her friend through an open door to a green room. He was adorned in his lucky white v-neck which had been paired with a plain black vest and a stylish pair of jeans. A team of three stylists fawned over him - one lint rolling his clothing, another setting his hair into place with a can of hairspray, while the final women touched up his facial features with a spattering of makeup.

“Hey,” The girl stated hesitantly as she tried her best to read the room as she entered. Katie’s phone call had sounded urgent, and like James was pushing her around, but he seemed to be completely content as the women continued to do their jobs around him. “Katie called, everything okay?”

Completely glossing over her comments, the long-haired boy grinned. “If you missed me that much you could’ve just FaceTalked me. No need for made-up stories.”

A bit flustered at his words, Roxy crossed her arms. “Do you need my help like she said or not?”

“I didn’t ask Katie for anything.”

The pair looked at each other for a moment before turning their heads at the sound of light footsteps pattering into the room. In the doorway stood James’ little manager, who was very obviously hiding something behind her back. 

“Katie…” James began, putting two and two together. “Where did you get the money for these clothes and the styling team?”

Walking over to him, the girl revealed her surprise. A black, leather folder was dropped in the boy’s lap, no doubt filled with all of his headshots, to distract him from asking any further questions. 

Running his hands over the cover, it seemed as though James was distracted for a moment, “My new portfolio…”

The young girl quickly reassured her client, trying to change the subject. “It’s my job to worry about the money and your job to be pretty.”

As she wiggled her fingers down her face, imitating the wannabe, Roxy coughed into her fist before holding out her other hand to the manager. 

Shrugging in defeat, Katie fished the assistant’s black credit card out of her blazer jacket and silently placed it in Roxy’s hand. It was a good thing she knew when she was beat. It was slightly humiliating that the writer had been pickpocketed by a ten-year-old, but now she had an excuse to use the company card to purchase a better and more secure wallet. It was dangerous in the wrong hands.

“Now, which two headshots do you want to go with?”

Katie’s voice drowned out Roxy’s thoughts as she glanced into the portfolio. It was filled to the brim with images of James, as she had suspected, all in his ridiculous costumes for different acts. He absentmindedly flipped through the pages examining each image with much scrutiny. 

“Hmm…” He mused. “Let’s go with… Sassy speed skater and greasy mechanic!”

Unprompted but still wanting to give her two cents, Roxy reached down and flipped the pages back to find one he had skipped by, pointing to her favorite image. “Make that first one luscious lumberjack.”

With a nod, he hopped out of his chair - finally ready to get to his audition. “Let’s show them some handsome.”

Wiggling his hands down his face, he began to walk away after giving Katie a fist bump for all of her hard work, even if it had been at Roxy’s expense. Passing the assistant, he turned back to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for coming.”

Is he… sincere?

She gripped the strap on her bag a bit tighter as she looked up at him. “No problem, I’m always here for you. Now…  you need to work off two debts, so you better hope you get this job.”

If he understood what she meant, he made no indication of it as he walked off with his manager toward the audition room.

Not wanting to head back to the Palm Woods just yet, Roxy took a seat on the couch in the green room and pulled out her phone. Figuring it was best to wait for James and Katie so they could carpool back to the hotel together, she skirted her assistant duties by scrolling ScuttleButter for a few minutes before a FaceTalk alert popped on her phone.

Buzz buzz

Incoming FaceTalk: Logan Mitchell

Pressing accept, she held her phone up with a smile as the video came into view. “Hey! How’s everything going?”

“Great!” The boy offered, flipping the camera around to show off the apartment-turned-daycare. It was flooded with children running this way and that, enjoying the large space of 2-J’s renovations. Everyone looked to be enjoying themselves and no one seemed to be in immediate danger, so Roxy took it as a win. “I was just calling to make sure everything was okay. You left pretty abruptly.”

In return, she showed off the green room before answering his question. “Katie tricked me, she called me down here saying James was in trouble but she just wanted to steal my credit card to pay for modeling fees. Now I’m trapped in Cuda-Limbo waiting for him to finish his audition.”

“Hey, who’s on the phone?” A familiar voice asked as Kendall’s face popped on screen; a little girl she didn’t recognize was hanging off his hip. He looked a bit haggard, probably only used to looking after one kid at a time. “What’s up, Rox?”

“I’m letting James live his out dreams.”

He nodded, slightly confused, as the toddler slowly reached up and pulled on his hair. “Ow!”

The phone was quickly passed back over to Logan as the frontman set the girl down, rubbing his head gingerly.

“Do you have enough kids to meet your goal?” She asked, worried all their trouble might have been for nothing. 

“Well, eight kids times 20 bucks an hour means we’ll have all of Gustavo’s money and be back in the pool in two days.” 

Before she was able to congratulate them on their work ethic, there was a shout from the background, and Kendall, Logan, and his phone went flying to the floor with an “Ooh!”.

Giving the boys a few seconds to collect themselves, she listened to the children’s laughter before asking, “You’re confident you can handle eight kids, right?”

“What? Are you kidding?” The blond joked, poking his head over his friend’s shoulder. “It’ll be easy, all thanks to the power of two little words I learned from my Mama-”

In the background, Roxy thought she saw the door open and close, but chalked it up to a trick of the light. She was pulled from her thoughts as Kendall yelled, “Nap time!”

From her view, Logan and Kendall stared blankly at the children as the commotion ceased. Unlike the noise lingering in the back of the call earlier, screaming, laughing, crying, it was dead silent. She could only assume the children were staring right back.

“Guys, they’re not babies.” She cautioned, but her comment was lost on the pair as Logan began to smile.

“Nice!” He punched his friend in the shoulder.

The last thing the girl heard was intense screaming and the sound of small shoes hitting the hardwood floor before the screen went black. 

Whatever those kids ended up doing to her friends was probably deserved, but they’d be able to wrangle them up eventually - or so she told herself in order to not go blind with worry. 

Buzz buzz

Incoming FaceTalk: Carlos Garcia

Without a second thought she picked up the call, she sure was popular today. 

“Hi-”

“Help! Roxy, please, help!” Her friend on the screen screamed, leaving a slight ring in her ears. She could hear an electric voice in the background saying something she couldn’t quite make out but could tell by the small, white walls and cabinets that Carlos was in the Rocque Records kitchen. 

Her brows furrowed in worry as she looked a bit closer, noticing a white bubble-like substance covering the floor and sections of the boy’s clothing. “Carlos, what is going on?”

Closing the door behind him, the makeshift production assistant slid his way over the mess yelling, “No more foam, C.A.L.! No more foam! I just want to make 400 bucks!”

This went on for a few more seconds as Roxy singsonged his name, trying to capture his attention after he forgot he was even on the phone with someone in the first place. 

“400 cups, coming up!” The electronic voice repeated. Sending Carlos spiraling even further.

Remembering to check his phone screen, he wiped off a dollop of foam covering the camera. “There’s got to be a way to turn this thing off!”

“What even is it?” She wondered aloud, hoping the boy could hear her over the beeping of the foam maker.

Carlos swiped over the foam on his phone, revealing a clear image of his surroundings once more. “The coffee maker, C.A.L.!”

While the name didn’t ring a bell for the assistant, and she had made Gustavo plenty of lattes in her first month in California, she did recall Kelly mentioning a new RCM/CBT/GlobalNet/Sanyoid product would be introduced to the kitchen. The products coming from the business were always overly complicated, but how hard was it to mess up a coffee maker?

Roxy’s solution was simple, “Have you tried unplugging it?”

Quick to take her advice, Carlos scrambled over to the outlet and unplugged everything he could while the robotic voice filling the room grew deeper and slower as if it was shutting down. He sighed, holding up the phone as he wiped his brow. “Thanks! Don’t know why I didn’t think of that-”

“Switching to reserve power.” The voice returned.

Carlos screamed again, this time loud enough to scare her, causing her to drop her phone onto the tile floor below. Now, there was the telltale sound of glass cracking mixed with shrieking. 

Too scared to pick it up and assess the damage, she listened to the rest of the call. After hitting the robot a few times, it sounded like the coffee maker activated self-defense mode and a sloshing noise emanated from her speakers as her friend cried even more. Eventually, the sounds ended and she assumed he had hung up, but as she picked up her phone she realized the problem was on her end. 

“Damnit!” She hissed, examining her cracked screen. The front was completely shattered and as she turned it around, the battery powering the device crumbled out into her hands. “Stupid piece of junk…”

Now I’m the hypocrite for breaking something.

A shuffle in the doorway caught her attention as James, finally back from his audition, made his way in. The cheery, confident manner in which he usually carried himself had vanished as his shoulders slumped and his eyes cast downwards. Walking over to the couch, he practically rolled onto it, head narrowly avoiding Roxy’s lap. 

The two sat like that for a bit before James sighed, crossing his arm over his eyes to block the bright lights of the green room. When she didn’t say anything, he sighed again

“What, James?” She bit, more concerned with her current phone problem at hand. 

He removed his arm and looked up at her, “Everyone at the audition looked just like me. From the white v-neck, to the black vest, to the straight hair, and perfect, perfect-” He wiggled his fingers in front of his face. 

Comforting people wasn’t really a strong suit, but she did her best to try and calm him down. Absentmindedly placing a hand on his forehead, she sighed as well. “It’s just one audition. I wouldn’t worry too much. Besides, out of everyone in that room, I’m pretty sure you’ll end up the most famous.”

“You think so?”

Blinking a few times, she looked down at him before removing her hand. “It’s my job to make that happen and I think we’re doing pretty well for ourselves.”

He took in her words, just nodding in agreement. “I wanna go home.”

“Sure,” She agreed. “I’ll just need to borrow your phone to call a car.”

***

After the two teens, Katie in tow, made it to the Palm Woods, James and Roxy beelined to the cafe. There was nothing better than a cool drink after a particularly rough afternoon. 

James nearly downed his smoothie right there at the cafe counter before his assistant grabbed her iced tea and dragged him into the building so they could hang out a bit longer. There was an open table in the back right section of the lobby where the two were able to drink in peace. Neither of them said anything, they just enjoyed each other’s company for the time being. 

Finishing his drink, James, now clad in a pink smoothie mustache, looked longingly towards the pool. Freight Train was guarding the door ahead of them, just in case either one tried to make a break for it. As Roxy gave him a quick wave in place of a monetary bribe, the man shook his head. It appeared her charm only worked on guys her age. 

“Oh, who cares?” James pouted at the interaction, crushing the styrofoam smoothie cup in his hands with a pop!

Next to him, Roxy handed over a few napkins. The mustache was starting to get annoying.

Before he was able to accept them, Katie ran up to them, still in her managerial outfit. She slammed James’ portfolio onto the desk in front of him with an angry glint in her eye. 

“What are you doing? We have auditions to go to!”

James didn’t even look up at her, he just took another sip from his now oddly shaped cup. “What’s the point? In Minnesota, I was the face.” Weakly, he wiggled his fingers down his face. “Now, I’m just a face.”

“Aw,” Roxy sympathized, swirling the drink in her hand. “Don’t be like that, you’re more than just a face.”

Ignoring her compliment, the boy lamented on, “I’m just a handsome grain of sand on an extremely beautiful beach.” 

Katie slapped her hands on the desk, looming over her client. “Okay, so you didn’t get the ‘Cuda Man job, but are you gonna let one little failure stop you?”

James seemed to take her words to heart as he slammed his broken cup down and stood up, still mustachioed. Confident demeanor returning for a split second, he looked down at Katie with a smile. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Sitting back down, his face twisted into a frown once more before he returned to sipping what remained of his smoothie.

Roxy glanced over to the young girl, who shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what to do next. When the writer was sure James wasn’t looking she mouthed “lie” to the little manager and went back to sipping her tea. 

Katie seemed to catch her drift, whipping out her phone and pressing a few buttons to let out some obnoxious beeps.

“Well, according to this text, your manager - that’s me - just landed you a modeling job.” 

The wannabe perked up.

“But…” She continued. “I guess I’ll tell them you don’t want it.” 

Snatching the napkins off the table, James wiped his upper lip and reached his hands out to try and grab the girl’s phone. “No, I want it! I want it! Show me the text!”

Katie was able to pull it just out of reach, “No time. Now, hit the shower, get your face on, and let’s move!” 

Like a shot, the model took off towards 2-J to freshen up in time to make his next audition. Hopefully, Katie would be able to figure something out to cover herself and not let James catch onto her scheme. 

Placing an affectionate hand on Katie’s head, the assistant thanked her. “It’s so weird to see him depressed like that.”

“Well, he’s about to be a lot more depressed if we don’t book him a job.”

We?

From behind the two, a deep voice caught them off guard. “You didn’t book him a job?”

Freight Train, who had overseen the entire conversation between the three, was shocked. 

“Nope…” Roxy trailed off, moving towards the stairs. “But Katie is good at getting what she wants, I’m sure she’ll figure something out.”

The manager caught her arm before she could go any farther. “Help me book him something!”

“Maybe I would’ve if you didn’t steal my credit card earlier.” The assistant deadpanned. “Good luck.”

With that, she shrugged Katie off of her and hopped up the stairs. 

It’s for her own good. She told herself, trying to hide the twist of guilt in her gut. It wasn’t like her to leave a friend hanging, but she had bigger issues for now - making sure the band hadn’t destroyed anything while she was gone. 

Once she reached 2-J, she slowly entered the apartment trying to make as little noise as possible to not draw any children’s eyes. Expecting to find rampant chaos from the daycare, she was very pleased to discover the boys had taken her suggestion: Arts and crafts.

Each child was occupied with their own popsicle stick and pipe cleaner creation, sitting down in their seat and quietly working away as Logan and Kendall oversaw the activity. 

Her two friends sat at the head of the table helping some of the kids with their creations. Assisting in the fact that they were the crafts. 

Logan sat to the right, held down by a young girl gluing a smattering of colorful strings to his face in a beard-like fashion. The multicolored facial hair sprouting from his chin reminded Roxy of a crazy, reclusive wizard. Something the child failed to notice as she moved on to her next art installation - his hair - was the insane amount of glue she was using to stick the string to his head. That certainly wasn’t going to be fun to pull out.

To the left was Kendall, trapped in by a  few toddlers who were generously gluing polychromic pieces of macaroni to his gray clothing. 

Art truly is beautiful, she thought as she tried to contain her laughter at her friends’ situation. 

“Thanks for the suggestion, Roxy!” Logan called bitterly as he spotted her moving along the edge of the kitchen island. “At least they’re occupied.”

“But I can’t take another day of this!” Whined Kendall. 

One of the boys across the table threw a handful of pencils at his babysitter.

The frontman looked over to his assistant, “There has to be another way to make even faster money.”

“We all checked the papers together. Aside from me writing another hit for you four, this is all you can do for now.” She said in a jovial tone, misreading the situation the pair had found themselves in.

“Then sit down and write us a song!” 

Roxy’s eyes widened. Taking her songbook out of her bag, she walked over and bopped him on the head with it. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just demand that.”

Kendall fell silent, eyes cast down.

“If it’s so easy, you try it.” The assistant huffed as she made her way out of the apartment. 

Before she completely exited, she lazily turned her head and called, “I don’t think Kendall has enough stuff glued to him!” 

There was a small chorus of chattering from the kids sitting at the table, and by the time the door had closed, she heard Kendall let out a frustrated groan from all the way down the hall. 

They can be so clueless sometimes. 

With that, she took a nice, long, calming walk through the streets of L.A. as she made her way to Rocque Records. Hopefully, someone there would be looking for her help. 

***

Her walk ended once she reached the front doors to the studio, pulling the headphones out of her iPod that had been playing a new Jordin Sparks song she had heard on the radio earlier in the week. A love of boy bands was getting hard to foster the longer she worked for an unappreciative one. 

“Hey, Kelly!” The girl greeted her boss, who was awaiting news from Gustavo about the week's upcoming events. “Need any assistance from the world’s best assistant?” 

As Kelly turned to look up from her Blackberry, a giant splash of white foam fell from the ceiling, hitting her ledger. “What the…?”

How did I forget…

No other words were spoken as the pair turned to each other with fearful glances and ran out of the studio, out into the hallway to try and find the source of the leak before Gustavo discovered there was an issue. A figure racing down the hall almost clipped the assistant before it slowed down, revealing her favorite helmet wearer.

“Hi, Kelly! Hi, Roxy!” Carlos yelled as he ran by, pants completely covered in globs of foam. If the helmet he was wearing and the bat he was carrying were indicative of anything, he was still in trouble with the coffee maker.

He tried to run off alone to face his problems as he rounded the corner, but the assistant and talent scout were hot on his tail in order to figure out the issue. Hopefully, they could put a stop to it before anything was majorly wrong. Passing by Studio B, the break room, and the lounge area, the three finally made it to the kitchen. 

Nothing could have prepared them for what lay behind the door. When Carlos opened it, it became clear that the entire kitchen had been filled to the brim with white foam. A mountain of it slid down to about waist level once the door had been opened and a shrill, electronic voice rang out from somewhere inside. 

“You cannot stop me, Carlos. Humans are futile!”

Roxy blinked, assessing the situation as Carlos dove headfirst inside. “Griffin made a coffee maker with a superiority complex and is testing it on us, huh?”

Beside her, Kelly shrugged as if this were a common occurrence. “You should’ve seen the sentient CD player. I’ve still got a scar on my leg from where a rogue, flying disc cut me.”

“So not cool.”

The two watched the boy for a minute and let the reality of the situation sink in. Roxy grabbed a spare mic stand from storage as a weapon and waded into the kitchen to help her friend. Behind her, Kelly did her best to keep her panicking quiet so as to not alert her boss to any issues currently occurring inside Rocque Records. Though, she wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings, and a small scream began to leave her lips.

Inside the foam, Roxy bumped into Carlos, but he pulled her back out into the lounge to cut the talent scout off. “No, no, no! Don’t scream! Don’t scream! I’m just making coffee!” 

Kelly watched, speechless as the machine spoke again.

“I will cover the Earth with foam. Bow to my foamy powers!”

The helmet wearer let out a little shriek as the assistant gripped her weapon tighter. He was running out of options.

 “We have to destroy it.” The assistant offered, seeing this as the only solution since unplugging it didn’t do anything helpful.

“No!” Countered Kelly, “Gustavo said you can’t break anything else.”

Roxy groaned, “He’s already going to kill Carlos, what’s another thing for him to scream about?”

The voice of C.A.L. spoke once more, “Kelly is dumb. Roxanne is insecure. Women are weak.”

How the hell does it know my name?

That was enough to switch up Kelly’s attitude as her, “Oh, what did he just say?” crossed over Roxy’s “What the f-”

The machine cut the assistant off. “You heard me cupcake.” 

Roxy passed Kelly her mic stand as she grabbed a pool cue off the wall from the display in the lounge. 

The trio looked among themselves before yelling, “Oh, it’s on!” 

Rushing the room, they cut through the foamy haze and swung their weapons at the counter with reckless abandon. It was a major safety hazard, but that was something that could be dealt with after the evil coffee maker was destroyed. A crack let the girls know Carlos had made the first hit and they used the sound to aim their own attacks. 

With each hit the robot let out a cry of agony and Roxy wondered if robots could feel pain. She hoped this one could. 

In a matter of seconds, the mechanized screaming died down suggesting that the machine had finally been beaten to death. Reaching out with her hands, blindly, Roxy was able to drop the pool cue and latch onto Carlos’ arm as the two made their way into the lounge in a coughing fit. Kelly followed soon after, trying to wipe the foam off her face to no avail. 

Outside, the back of the lounge had been completely covered in foam in addition to all of the surfaces of the kitchen. Equipment ruined, floors soaked through, vents occupied with frothing dairy… this was going to be incredibly hard to explain to their boss. 

“I’ll call a cleaning crew before Gustavo finds out.” Kelly pushed out through labored breaths. 

“Yeah.” Carlos agreed as the girl nodded in appreciation. “By the way, do I get a lunch break?”

Kelly nodded as she walked off and the new production assistant plopped himself down at the head of the break room table. “I could go for some coffee right now.”

***

Roxy mentally praised her boss for putting showers in the costume department of Rocque Records. As her friend was on his lunch break, she was able to freshen up and pick out a new pair of clothes, foam-free, to wear to the impromptu meeting their boss had called. 

Ringing out her hair with a towel, she caught up to the band in the hallway who were making their way to the meeting with Gustavo. Hopefully, the guys had all raised enough money to meet their goal and she would be chilling poolside tonight with Jo and Camille. 

At the end of the corridor stood Gustavo, Kelly, and Freight Train - all ready to find out the results of the day’s hard work from the band.

Anxiously, Roxy stood next to Carlos and as far away as she could from Kendall as everyone handed in their various bills and checks to be counted.

Starting with the assistant’s check, he counted $400 and began to add in the cash from the Big Time Daycare.

“$1,100, $1,150, $1,200?” The last number came out in the phrase of a question. 

How they ended up earning that much, Roxy had no idea, but whatever Logan and Kendall had done ended up with an extreme payout.

James raised his hand, “Plus my $400 from my modeling job.”

“Plus Carlos’ paycheck!” Kelly tore the note out of her ledger and handed it over to Gustavo. 

The producer took it with a shaky hand, “That’s $2,000.”

“Oh!” Kendall butt in, digging a few coins out of his pocket. “And… 30 cents.”

“I have to say, I’m very impressed.” Gustavo praised the teens, though his tone of voice still had a hint of anger lingering on his words. “I hope you guys have learned your lesson.”

The five nodded in agreement, raising their hands in oath. “Lesson learned.” 

From behind their bosses, Freight Train crossed their names off of his list. “You’re free to swim!”

“Time to get out of here!” Roxy whispered, looking to leave before any more trouble was caused. It had been a long, hard day and now she wanted nothing more than to lounge around and sip on a cold smoothie by the pool.

Tugging on Carlos’ sleeve with the rest of the band in tow, they set off down the hall. Before being chased right back down it by an angry mob of adults screaming, “There they are!” 

Backing behind the raven-haired boy, Roxy peeked over his shoulder as Bitters began to yell at their boss.

“Who’s paying my bill for Palm Woods towels, soap, and a fine from the city for running an illegal daycare center?”

Gustavo was too stunned to speak as Kelly took the bill out of his hands and began to add up the numbers on her phone.

Next was someone she’d never seen before, but he was covered in a white substance and carrying a pitchfork so she had a pretty good idea he was part of the crew Kelly had discreetly called. “And here’s the bill for foam clean-up and new pitchforks.”

“And this coffee machine!” A short man yelled from the back of the crowd. Roxy winced, gripping tighter on her friend’s jacket sleeve. “It was a Sanyoid prototype! It costs $8,000!”

At the sight of all the bills in Kelly’s hand, Gustavo growled in anger. 

“All this adds up to a grand total of… $14,089.” The scout reported. 

The floor began to shake as Gustavo turned to look at the five, very clearly enraged. 

Kendall held a finger up, trying to save them from any more yelling, “Which is a small price to pay for such a valuable lesson.”

“And!” Roxy called, trying to aid in alleviating their producer’s anger. “We didn’t break anything that wasn’t misogynistic! It’s a good thing if you think about it!”

Her comment fell on deaf ears as Gustavo yelled so loud she thought her eardrums might burst. Watching him closely, her eyes followed him to the small lounge area outside of his office.

“You know what? This is great! No, no, no! This is good!” He continued to shout. “I mean, who needs a lesson in responsibility? Let’s just break more stuff!”

Stepping forward and tugging Carlos’ baseball bat out of his hands, Gustavo began to laugh maniacally. 

“I mean, how about this lamp, huh? That’d be fun? Right?” 

Bringing the bat back behind his head, their boss lined up his shot and swung at a fancy black lamp sitting on one of the couch side tables. The lampshade went flying along with pieces of ceramic with a crack. 

The group watching winced as he moved on to the next item, still laughing.

“Oh, this is fun! How about this vase? This vase is too new. Let’s hit this vase!”

Another swing and the vase and the pink flowers it contained were splattered all over the red and white glass-painted walls. A few days ago, Roxy had bought those for Kelly and made a mental note to buy her a newer, bigger bouquet before work tomorrow. 

He continued, mowing down everything in sight. “And while we’re at it, why don’t we just bust up my whole studio? I mean, it’s just money! Right?”

Crash!

Sending the bat flying through one of the white window panes, the man smashed it back and forth within the frame eliminating all of the glass from the square feature. 

“Oh-ho!” He yelled triumphantly, holding his arms out in a show-offy manner. 

Roxy noticed two figures pop up in the window behind Gustavo, in clear view to see all of the damage that had been done to the studio. The pair assessed the carnage and waited for Gustavo’s next move. In an attempt to keep the inevitable bill low, the girl spoke up.

“Hi, Mr. Griffin. Hi, Mr. Obdul.”

Griffin smiled at the assistant, “Hello, Miss Somerset.”

His kind demeanor changed very quickly as he turned to face the producer. “Gustavo, what did I tell you about breaking things?”

“I didn’t break anything.” The man deadpanned, surrounded by a myriad of items he had broken.

“You have a bat… In your hand.”

It was quickly thrown across the room, shattering another glass feature in the studio. 

“Okay,” Gustavo laughed. “So we might put a little wear and tear on things from time to time.”

“But that’s showbiz, right?” Kelly cheered as the two adults copied what the teens had said earlier in the day.

The CEO shook his head, “No. And it’s time you take responsibility for your actions by paying me back $14,089.”

Oh, how the tables turn. It was hard for the girl to keep the look of glee on her face. Now their boss would know the hell he had put them through earlier. 

Or so she thought. 

***

Team Big Time Rush stood outside of the Palm Woods hotel running a makeshift car wash to pay off their debt to Griffin. Kelly and Gustavo were on the street in front of the hotel, waving around large, blue signs advertising their services while the band and their assistant were in charge of the actual wash. 

Standing around in their swimsuits and coverups, the band was tasked with their first job: Washing Griffin’s jet-black Jaguar.

Tossing Roxy his keys, the CEO nodded to her. “Be sure to buff out the rims. I want them to shine like a pirate’s boot.”

Roxy flipped her red, star-shaped sunglasses off of her head and over her eyes, “You’ve got it, Mr. Griffin.”

Walking away, the man entered another car and left. The writer turned the keys in her hand before slipping them into the pocket of her swim shorts. Just how many cars could one guy own?

“It’s not the pool, but…” Kendall trailed off behind her. “It’s wet.”

Taking the hose at her feet, Roxy sprayed the car down a bit. “Watch your words there. It’s only damp right now.”

He watched as she stepped backward and aimed the hose point blank at his chest and fired. No matter where he ran in the parking lot, she followed soaking him from head to toe by the time he reached the Jaguire once again. That felt like payback enough for what he had said to her earlier.

“Now it’s wet.” She giggled, dropping the hose and picking up a rag, beginning to wash one of the driver’s side doors. 

Not long after, she felt someone wrap their arms around her waist and pick her up, pulling her closer to where they had their supply of water buckets, soap, and rags.

“Hey!” She protested. “Put me-”

Woosh

An entire bucket of water had been dumped over her head, splashing her in the bitter, cold liquid and completely destroying her cute top knot. Still trapped, once the water cleared from her eye she could see Kendall in front of her holding an empty bucket, nearly doubled over from laughter.  

“20 on Roxy!” James, who was holding her, called before he let her go.

“Roxy!” Bet Logan, leaving Carlos to throw his hat in the ring for Kendall.

Once the frontman had finished finding amusement in the girl’s torture, she twirled the towel she was holding, placing it in prime towel-whipping range. 

“Kendall Knight…” Roxy threatened. “You are so dead!”

#thats all she wrote fic #big time rush #btr #james diamond #james maslow #kendall knight #kendall schmidt #logan mitchell #logan henderson #carlos garcia #carlos penavega

[dimetro]

lucky egg, exp share, power gem

exp share: your first pokemon game & when you played it

SO EVERYONE WHO KNOWS ME HAS HEARD THIS STORY but my first ever pokemon game was pokemon leafgreen, i played it when i was four years old ago (i am twenty as of answering) on my dad's gba. because he told me if i could prove i could read the strategy guide he'd give me a pokemon game. so i learned to read to play pokemon and now i've been into pokemon for ~16 years smile

power gem: favorite rock type(s)

nihilego, glimmora, and aurorus. i know glimmora is new but i both love how fucking weird it looks and also its (shows up) (shits poison spikes everywhere) (dies) gimmick is genuinely THE funniest thing in the world to me. honestly its just like me fr. instant big winner

putting lucky egg under a readmore because it got really long lol

lucky egg: your gym theme/team

i've put way too much thought into this so.

naturally. i am a fairy type gym leader. while there are other types i could build teams for (psychic and grass spring to mind) i feel like, vibes wise, i am a fairy type gym leader, when i did the monotype tournament a while back i was fairy type, like. it's just how i am as a person

my team IS

alcremie (salted cream, love sweet), alolan ninetales, mimikyu, tinkaton, hatterene, togekiss

i think. this was not the exact team i used (partially because it was a gen 8 tourn and tinkaton didn't exist yet) but like...that pokemon was made for me, so........once again balance is dumb and its about the vibes.

do you remember back when sw/sh came out and everyone was making like, gym leader sonas? i made one too! this is really old art but i've made an imgur post here. since i was trying to keep in line with the sportiness of the theme, i themed her after cheerleading. i don't really think her design holds up that well and there are certain things i'd probably change if i were to redesign her (maybe i'll do that soon..? but i might just want to make a new character at this point). she ended up almost identical in personality to klara, who i swear to god was not announced at the time i designed her this keeps happening to me please trust me.

HOWEVER. if i were given absolute freedom to theme my gym however i want and i weren't working from a specific concept...a royalty kind of vibe, maybe..?

SO EVERYONE WHO KNOWS ME HAS HEARD THIS STORY but my first ever pokemon game was pokemon leafgreen, i played it when i was four years old ago (i am twenty as of answering) on my dad's gba. because he told me if i could prove i could read the strategy guide he'd give me a pokemon game. so i learned to read to play pokemon and now i've been into pokemon for ~16 years smile

power gem: favorite rock type(s)

nihilego, glimmora, and aurorus. i know glimmora is new but i both love how fucking weird it looks and also its (shows up) (shits poison spikes everywhere) (dies) gimmick is genuinely THE funniest thing in the world to me. honestly its just like me fr. instant big winner

#eve.ask #long post #this reminds me that ive been wanting to revisit and redesign most of my old pokemon ocs

[lawv-no]

New desing for my main pokemon oc, Bianca.

#pokemon #pokemon oc #trainer oc #pokemon trainer #pokemon original character #oc #trainer #viserleague #viserleaguetournament #tournament #new design #cute girl #sporty #jock #girl #aesthetic #anime girl #manga girl #pretty lady #grass #grass type #clip studio paint #art #artist #desing #Character Design

[mach-speed-spin]

My opinions of every Beyblade season so far

Season 1: Beyblade has always had both sports and fantasy elements. The first season is the in-between of both. It’s not as fantasy-heavy as MFB and not as sporty as Burst. It has five arcs, with each one focusing on one character (Qualifiers-Tyson, Asia-Ray, America-Max, Europe-Tyson, Russia-Kai). If you showed someone whose never watched Beyblade the Asia arc, they’d think Ray is the main character. The villains were good, with the Dark Bladers improving the Europe arc a lot and the Demolition Boys being amazing final opponents. Overall, a solid foundation for the original series that establishes all the Bladebreakers really well (which makes G-Rev much better). That said, the art wasn’t perfect. The beys lacked the detail that made the real toys so appealing

V-Force: I have problems with this series. Besides the artstyle change (which I did eventually get used to) the cg beys didn’t age well (I still prefer them over the 2d beys in season 1). Hilary was a bad addition, at least in execution (she has 0 knowledge or experience in blading and still lectures the world champions). The story itself also has problems. While the main plotlines are great (cyber bit-beasts, Zeo), there are too many underdeveloped one-off villains (same problem I have with part 3 of jjba, where the main/ recurring villains are great but the rest aren’t). I admit some of the one-off villains were cool (Dark Emperor Bat) but they were too few and far between. Also V-Force has the worst episode in all of Beyblade in The Power Half-Hour (episode 20). However, I’d say V-Force is worth it for the Battle Tower (mainly Tyson vs Kane) and the team tournament. Plus the Saint Shields prevent the blander arcs from being too stale

Fierce Battle: Decent introdction to Daichi, but pales in comparison to the manga. The plot was fine but when compared to the somehwat similar plots of parts of the metal saga, it’s not as good. The villains were forgettable but had cool designs. The only really good thing Fierce Battle had was Daichi’s flashback, but even then it was better in the manga

G-Revolution: Building on season 1, each of the Bladebreakers get to shine individually, but this time as each other’s opponents. The first half is great with both returning and new characters making it enjoyable. The BEGA arc is one of the best arcs in all of Beyblade, and the return of Boris was both unexpected and welcome. My only complaint would be how underutilized Mystel was, but that is a small complaint that doesn’t change how good G-Rev is

Metal Fusion: Beyblade Moses. That’s it. Beyblade Moses perfectly encapsulates not only Metal Fusion, but the whole metal saga. It’s big. It’s fantastical, and there is a bey that steals sould that was sealed in a volcano before the villains stole it and killed the guardian (who was the main character’s dad). There is a serial killer that talks to crabs. There’s a vigilante who uses his bey like a sniper. There’s a fortune teller who gaslights you into thinking you’re being set on fire. It’s amazing purely because it pulls no punches

Metal Masters: Metal fusion but now there’s a world championship. We have martial artists, astronauts, a bodybuilder, and a mad artist. Amazing. There’s also a guy that’s possesed, a guy that turns “go to hell” into a literal command, and a nuclear reactor that stops time (Za Warudo moment). This guy plans on selling nukes to the highest bidder and broadcasts his auction by hijacking the broadcast of the world championship

Scorching Hot Invader: Climate change causes Atlantis to sink and generations later a descendant of Atlanteans wants to use the power of the sun to melt the ice caps and flood the rest of the world. He of course will survive because he’s recreating the story of Noah’s arc (complete with the animals). Also they go to space

Metal Fury: Remember how the world was supposed to end in 2012? Metal Fury did, because the Mayans predicted the revival of a Greek god that would consume the planet. Also Anubis is there for some reason. There’s a giant hamster ball rampaging through New York City. The effects of a Chinese civil war 2,000 years ago come back and mess with the Greek god. The Russians claim to honor privacy agreements with the Americans. The Moai on Easter Island wear beyblades as hats. The Tower of Babel is destroyed

Shogun Steel: Not as ridiculous as the rest of the metal saga, but still fun. It’s shorter than most seasons so characters can be underdeveloped (especially with how many new characters we get). The villains are fun. Captain Arrow and Kikura Gen are incredible. Doji becomes Arnim Zola in the shape of a giant beyblade (he is also driven mad by sensory deprivation because his robot body lacks touch and taste)

Beywheelz: Like Shogun Steel, it suffers from underdeveloped characters, but also like Shogun Steel, the villains are entertaining. The heroes are ok, but the villains really carry it, especially Jake and Odin, with David and Gigante also being pretty good. Also the villain’s plan is amazing (use the power of beys and astrology to open interdimensional portals and also he’s an imperialist)

Beywarriors Beyraiderz: Beyblade but it’s an isekai. The setting is by far the strongest part, taking place in a desolate world that is scarcely populated. Kaiser Gray was a decent villain, but I wish he had more develpment. Also Jin now has superpowers with no explanation. Armes carries the season until Kaiser starts battling himself. Sadly, the small cast of characters doesn’t allow for many interactions and despite the high stakes the story feels small

Beywarriors Cyborg: I’ve seen 2 episodes because it’s all I could find (seriously if you find the whole season message me). On a desolate planet, a handful of people decide to make it their new home. They form 5 city-states, being Lightning (democratic state and home of the main character), Sunburst (aristocratic monarchy), Flame (military dictatorship), Stone (not much is shown in the first 2 episodes, but it’s a mining town), and Hydro (isolationist and has a monopoly on water). There are themes of nationalism and classism as each city-state fights for control of Sanctuaries, which house massive energy supplies that make terraforming easy (allowing for more farmland and thus, more food). From the little I’ve seen, I love it

Burst season 1: Burst takes the fantasy aspect of Beyblade to a minimum and the sport aspect to a maximum. Really, it’s a slice-of-life sports anime with slight fantasy elements. It still has the things that make Beyblade as whole great (large cast of interesting characters, cool battles). While it’s far from my favorite season, it’s still enjoyable

Evolution: Takes the sport aspect to an even higher degree, with beyblade leagues and teams scouting bladers from across the world. Really, there are 2 main plotlines, the first dealing with how BC Sol has become too reliant on a single blader and the second dealing with the Snake Pit and Shu’s dissapearence. It’s a good season with some great moments (the Requiem Project and Free in the International Bladers Cup). Overall, while not in my top 3, it’s probably in my top 5

Turbo: Turbo ups the fantasy elements higher than previous Burst seasons (and adds a tiny bit of psychological horror). There’s still the sport aspect (like title matches), but it delves deeper into the connection between blader and bey, represented by the bey talking to the blader and vice-versa. There’s a possession plotline, possible aliens, and a ghost that one time. The new characters are pretty good, and the returning cast is used pretty well (except for Lui). It’s my favorite Burst season due mainly to how good the possession plotline is

Rise: Far more lighthearted than Evolution and Turbo. Rise feels like a smaller, self-contained story, because it is. It’s not about being world champion or stopping the apocalypse (except for the bey, Prime Apocalypse). The new characters range from ok to pretty good, and the battles are great (Blindt’s battles after the Battle Island arc are hilarious, and Joe is really fun to watch). And while I loved Arthur as a villain, I do get why most people didn’t. Overall, it’s not stellar, but it’s pretty enjoyable in it’s own right

Surge: Terrible plot and the new characters are very bland, but the battles are the best they’ve ever been and returning characters make up most of the cast. The heavy use of 2v2 battles (previous seasons used them, but never this much) allows for some really cool combo attacks. Surge has very little character development of its own, but the returning characters build off previous seasons and their interactions are top tier (especially Lui and Dante)

Dynamite Battle is still ongoing so I won’t give my opinions on it yet, but it’s pretty good (not as much as Turbo, but above Rise)

#beyblade #mfb #beyburst #beyblade burst

[oops-i-wrote-it]

Did someone say school sports headcanons?

No? That's fine, but I'm gonna write them anyway! Here are my headcanons for the characters in a sporting event! It's a three-way tournament between schools partaking in the exchange program! For the sake of fairness, all use of magic and extra limbs such as tails, wings, etc are banned.

Lucifer

Man's competitive, we all know. If someone loses, he'll act like it's fine, and make his classic snide remarks. But it's eating him up inside.

He's not a cheater... But he's not above a nudge here and there in the wrong direction. Lucifer? Lucifer Morningstar? Tripping up a member of the opposing team? Of course not, he's simply having some difficulty breaking these new shoes in and misplaced a foot or two. He would never.

Cheers so loud, but only during the most intense moments, or when he knows the team needs it. He could be silent one moment and out of his seat yelling the next. He's so damn proud of you, and can't contain himself when you score a point for the team.

Mammon

He loves it. He loves it so much. Banned from soliciting bets, but finds a workaround every time. May or may not have a hand in skewing the odds in his favour.

He's the kid that acts like he's in the Olympics every sports lesson, of course he's having the time of his life! He's competitive sure, but nowhere near as much as the others. He's just having a great time all round. He'll sulk if his team loses, but it won't be for long, since he signed himself up for everything he could.

Cheers the loudest for MC, it's borderline distracting. He's determined to drown all cheers for the other team out, and isn't above heckling the other team's players. He wants you to win so bad, and he's gonna be so proud of you regardless of the outcome!

Leviathan

Ew. Outdoors. But cheering for MC? ... he'll make an exception. He's got a lot of excitement to give, but he'll need some warming up first.

He's forced to sign up for something, and complains all the way there. He could be using this time to watch anime! But once the adrenaline and the first taste of victory hits... That's where the envy kicks in. His team better win, cause he is going to sulk so hard if they don't.

He's so ready to cheer everyone on. He comes armed and ready with so many ideas, and knows the score. He brings emergency water bottles, first aid kits, snacks, dude goes to concerts, he knows the drill! Screams your name so loud, and is so close to summoning Lotan to sabotage the other team.

Satan

Oh, you wanna talk competitive? He's the avatar of wrath. He all but invented competitive. He goes full balls with everything he signed up for, and god forbid anyone on the other team sets even a toe out of line, cause he will yell at the referee.

He might not give off a sporty vibe but he's ready to give it his all. He plays fair, but that's not gonna stop him from blowing up when he gets too into it. Needs several breaks, but his face softens when he sees MC. He's so determined to get that win for you, and make you proud.

When cheering for his team, he's never in his seat. He's almost backseat coaching at this point. He's gonna be so proud of you, win or lose, he's so fired up! But it's in a good way

Asmodeus

There's no way in hell he isn't cheer captain I mean look at him. He signs up for one or two of the other sports, but all his energy is going into cheer, and of course he loves the attention.

He might not be in the thick of the actual game, but he's a damn good distraction, even when he's banned from using his charming powers. It's not his fault if he's so gorgeous the other team can't help but state at him! What do you mean "You're not allowed to customize the uniform"?

He's so excited to cheer everyone on! He has signs prepared and everything! Nothing will stop this man from hugging you and kissing every inch of your face once you're back from the game, he just LOVES watching you in action!

Beelzebub

Man's built like a brick shithouse and plays competitively on the reg, he can unnerve the other team with a single look. But he's so excited he finally gets to take part in a game alongside everyone else!

The fairest player, sticks to all the rules, and will often pull his own teammates back, and ensures they're kept in line. He's the captain of numerous sports teams, he knows how to deal with them.

He's in so many of the events he's not often cheering other people on... But because he's in so many of the events he knows exactly how to motivate the team, and leads everyone in the cheers. He's so proud of you, and is making plans to treat you to a meal out afterwards a week in advance.

Belphegor

Ew, sports. Ugh, fine. If he has to. He signs up for the least exerting role, and that's IT. He plays fair, but only because he knows it'll upset Beel if he doesn't.

Surprisingly good at it. He's picked up a fair bit from Beel, and actually enjoys himself a little, though he's loathe to admit it. He takes up a keeper/catcher type of role and stops a lot of points being scored by the other team, even though he'd much rather sleep on the field.

He cheers the loudest for Beel, he knows how important this stuff is for him. He'll cheer for you too, I guess... (Lol he's out of his seat and yelling for you)

#obey me #obey me headcanons #headcanons #obey me swd #obey me luficer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie