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hah-studios · 6 months

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Wish Rewrite

Okay so I got this outta my system. I'm in no way saying this idea is better than the movie. But at least I'm getting my Star Boy fix!

Prologue read via old timey story book:

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was an island called Rosas. While beautiful, Rosas became terrorized by a monster. The brave, good people of the island tried to slay it, but they were beaten each time.

Then, out of nowhere, came a powerful sorcerer named Magnifico; with his abilities he slayed the beast and freed the people. Rosas was so grateful they named him and, his his beautiful wife, Amaya, king and queen.

The new king would go on to prove how generous and good he truly was: by using his magic to grant wishes…

We are introduced to Asha, who was reading the history of Rosas to her baby goat, Valentino. Several books are surrounding her at home, one of which Valentino is trying to eat. Through talking to the small goat the audience learns more about Asha, while intelligent and hard working, she is shy and a workaholic, always studying and offering tours to visitors. Today is the day she applies to be the apprentice to King Magnifico, like the rest of Rosas she idolizes him and believes following in his footsteps will give her a sense of self. She will look at a picture of her late grandfather who raised her, promising that she will help make wishes come true in honorof his that was never granted.

She goes to guide the newest tour (Welcome to Rosas, with an added on segment talking about the love the king and queen share) where we learn of how King Magnifico and Queen Amaya benevolently rule the island. When citizens turn 18 they offer their wishes to Magnifico who will protect the wish until it is time for it to be granted.

After the tour Asha goes to the royal kitchens were her best and only friend Dahlia is a royal baker. They talk about Asha’s application. Dahlia reassures Asha that she will get the job, and admits she hopes it’ll give her a boost of confidence to maybe make some new friends. Asha says she already has Dahlia and doesn’t need anyone else. It is then Queen Amaya (holding her skinny tabby Lulu) arrives to escort Asha to the king. This version of Amaya feels untouchable, her voice calm and collected as she tells Asha to not waste time, don’t ask to see the wishes, and yes they had received the several letters Asha sent asking for an interview.

Asha is then left in a study where she notices a peculiar door, but Magnifico arrives before she could examine it. He is a charming man, his presence seeming to fill the room as he carries a staff with an emerald tip. Asha is clearly intimidated but he’s polite as he introduces himself, even offer his condolences for her grandfather’s passing-knowing she’s an orphan. Trying not to trip over herself Asha praises the king for his hard work and shows off her knowledge of magic and Rosas. Magnifico is impressed. And after Asha passionately tells him how her ‘wish’ is to help protect Rosas, it’s people and wishes, Magnifico decides she’s worthy to be his apprentice and they’d have the announcement that night.

The people crowd before the castle that night, Asha hurries to tell Dahlia the good news. But Gabo overhears her announcement and makes a snide remark about her overworking and ‘sucking up’ to the king and queen. He is quickly shushed by Bazeema who looks almost afraid of Asha now that she has such a high status. But she returns to the stage to witness Amaya whisper in Magnifico’s ear. He then announces the person to have their wish granted that month; a woman who wants to be a professional dress maker. After using the staff to grant the wish he makes a joking comment that she can now make his wife hundreds of beautiful dresses. He then summons Asha forward to announce her as his new apprentice. Asha happily exclaims how excited she is to help the people, but she is given a frosty reception, murmuring about how they find her weird, are resentful for failing their own applications, and don’t know how this shy girl who never engages with the locals outside tour duty, could become someone as great as their king. Asha takes the doubt but once she can she leaves the stage, tripping in the process and embarrassing herself further. She runs off with Valentino into the forest (This Wish) and ends up noticing one of the brighter stars. She remembers hearing how once upon a time, wishes came from stars. Not seeing any harm to it she wishes to become a wonderful magic user and become as great, if not greater, than the King himself.

The star suddenly seems to glow brighter and get bigger, Asha realizes too late it’s because it’s getting closer. She is knocked into by a human sized ball of light, rolling across the grass before kicking it away from her. It’s to her great shock that the ball of light was…a boy. A handsome boy he glows faintly, his hair a pure golden color that flows like he is underwater, he dusts himself off as he hovers off the ground. They have an awkward but cute introduction, the Star not understanding personal boundaries and getting right up into Asha’s face, giving her a too enthusiastic hand shake when offered and floating around as if there’s no gravity. Asha quickly deduces he’s a star that came down when she summoned him. Her hypothesis is further proven when he tosses some dust on Valentino who then starts to speak. (He is not voiced by Alan Tudyk in this rewrite, instead he will have a voice that better fits his character design. He will be a mixture of Olaf and Jiminy Cricket in terms of personality/role in the story). Asha asks Star to give her the same dust so her wish will be granted, but Star shakes his head. He is mute and tries to explain using sign language, but that’s one book Asha hasn’t read yet. She decides to call him Star before leading him back to the city, he can stay at her house until she figures out what to do with him. On the way he fonds over the animals, hitting them with a few clouds of golden dust (ex. A brown squirrel turns red, a bird’s nest gets an upgrade).

The next morning Asha brings Dahlia over and shows her Star (both he and Valentino would be hiding out in the chicken coop). Dahalia is at first concerned her friend has a man hidden away, but after Asha explains they agree to take him to King Magnifico to see what he has to say. However they want Star to stay under the radar and not get noticed by the townspeople. This is when Star reveals he’s a shapeshifter, transforming into a copy of Valentino, the only different is his eyes are still gold.

The four arrive into town and while things go to plan at first, Star’s natural curiosity has him running off to explore the town, Asha and friends trying not to lose him. He comes across Simon who looks miserable and exhausted at an outside table. Empathetic, Star discreetly puts some star dust in his cup of tea. When he drinks it he’s suddenly energized and is flabbergasted. He turns around just as Asha appears and picks up Star, he asks her if she’s already learned magic from Magnifico, even stating he had just been wishing he could take something that would make him less tired. Asha is awkwardly silent, not wanting to take credit but also not wanting to reveal what Star is. But Simon pays no mind and drags her to his friends so he can show them he’s no longer tired. There is then a montage of the seven dwarves based characters showing off their problems and Star uses his abilities to grant these small unspoken wishes (he gets a jar of honey for Safi to help with his allergies, a chicken coop so Dario can have his own chickens, dancing shoes for Hal, a stress toy for Gabo, Bazeema’s secret introverted hide out, and even a bag of a very rare ingredient for Dahlia so she could make a special recipe she mentioned at the beginning of the film). Throughout this scene we see Asha opening up a bit more to the characters, starting to form friendships. While in Bazeema’s new hideout they talk of having a little party with dancing and treats and in his excitement Star accidentally drops his disguise and reveals his true form. The group is shocked and Asha is forced to explain who he is, though when Gabo tries to accuse Asha of tricking them Star immediately puts himself in front of her, defending her from the accusation. The other characters also come to Asha and Star’s defense and Gabo relents, though snarkily asks if they should tell the King there’s a wish granting, shapeshifting guy from space in Rosas. Asha will go alone to ask, leaving Star with the others.

She arrives at the castle, King Magnifico and Queen Amaya are surprised to see her so soon as he hadn’t summoned her but lets her in. Asha, feeling uncomfortable to just out and say what had happened, asks Magnifico what he knows about stars. The king looks momentarily surprised but quickly shrugs it off, he tells Asha that many years ago stars would grant peoples’ wishes, but only so they could have the human indebted to them. They were malicious creatures pretending benevolence so they could control the masses, one of the worst things was granting evil wishes and having people turn on the ones who wouldn’t make wishes. Amaya retells her how her parents were oppressed by stars after merely asking for food and a roof. Eventually it was decided that the newer generations would never wish on another star, and Magnifico dedicated himself to learning magic so he could help good people have their wishes granted without having to pay him back. And, unlike stars, he has a moral compass, so he would not grant any wishes that would harm people. He then looms over Asha and asks her if there’s something she needs to tell him. Asha looks visibly torn, her respect and admiration for Magnifico clashing with what he told her. Star is not at all like he had just told her, and Asha ends up reassuring him that no, she has nothing to tell him.

She returns to the hide out feeling like a traitor, wanting to talk to Star alone. But the group is already starting their party, dancing and making music. Star, spotting Asha, immediately pulls her onto the dance floor. The group cheers her on as they dance around, and Asha’s anxieties melt away as she’s swept up into the dancing. A spark is lit.

Asha, Star, and Valentino return to her house and this time the two go to her living room where he admires all her books and notices the picture of her grandfather. She tells him how much she loved the man, how he had taken care of her after her parents died, how much she missed how, how she wished his wish could’ve been granted. Star comforts her in her grief and she feels safe enough to tell him about what Magnifico said. Star reassures her the king is lying and Asha finds herself believing him, and yet the King is a great man who has done so much for Rosas-why would he lie to her?

It is Valentino who suggests they go do some snooping (not him though, he’s going to eat a cook book as soon as the two leave).

Star carries Asha into the sky, unable to resist showing off to her first. Asha let’s herself enjoy the feeling of being in the air, feeling like she could reach out and touch the star or hold the moon. They slip inside via the highest balcony, Star transforming into a mouse and riding on her shoulder as Asha sneaks through the castle. They are only spotted by Lulu who tries to eat Star before Asha reaches the study and slams the door, the cat slamming its face into it.

Said study is empty and at first Asha thinks to skim through the books for answers but Star notices the door. Transforming into a flea he slips under the door and opens it from the other side. It leads down a dark stair case with a golden light at the bottom. The two share a glance before starting to go down-only for green light to envelope them both and drag them back up the stairs into the study.

The King and Queen are standing there, Lulu on Amaya’s shoulder, clearly the one who had warned them of the intruders. Magnifico tells Asha she didn’t have to sneak in to deliver them a star, the young girl immediately puts herself between her friend and the king. She tries to tell them he’s not like they think, he’s a good kind person who helped people grant wishes without asking for anything in return. But with his staff Magnificio wraps the green energy around Star like chains and Amaya drags Asha away from him. They call Asha a fool if she thinks they’d let one little star ruin the years of work they’ve put into maintaining their kingdom. That they picked what wishes are to be granted. That the people worshiped them. Asha is forced to realize the kind rulers she wanted to be like-are a lie. Magnifico comments to his wife that Star’s power could be very useful to them. In an act of desperation Asha kicks out, knocking the staff out of the king’s hand. Amaya, not expecting Asha to lash out, looses her grip on her. Once the staff hits the ground the green chains evaporate and Star transforms into a giant golden bird, grabs Asha and flies out of one of the study’s high windows.

Magnifico is furious that they got away but Amaya calms him down, reminding him that the people of Rosas would not believe those two over their loving rulers. She remarks that maybe it’s time to grant Lulu’s wish. Magnifico agrees and his magic mutates the cat into a sabortoothed giant tabby that runs out of the room to go hunt down Asha and Star. The king and queen reprise the segment of Welcome to Rosas dedicated to them, now in a minor key with new context.

Asha and Star escape into the forest, where they first met(they are next to a lake). Asha is crying, heartbroken and scared over what will happen next. Her whole goal in life was built around a lie. How will they stop people as powerful as the royal couple?

Author’s note here; this is a part where I’m not sure how to go about it. My idea is Star comforts Asha and it will lead into a duet, because the demo version of At All Costs is heavily romantic-coded and is perfect to show how much the two have grown to care for each other. But my version of Star is mute so I haven’t figured out how to work around that besides the song being sung over them instead of being sung by them. So please hold that thought

The two share a romantic scene, flying in the sky, dancing among the clouds and coming this close to sharing a kiss.

They are interrupted by the arrival of Lulu who tries to attack them, Star transforms into a giant cat as well, putting himself between Lulu and Asha. But before the Queen’s cat can attack them, Dahlia and the others suddenly appear via carriage and accidentally knock the giant cat into the lake. Lulu splutters out of the water and runs back to Rosas.

The gang tells the two they saw Star flying away and then the king and queen made an announcement that Asha is a traitor and trying to usurp them and ruin Rosas. The news not sitting right with the group they decided to follow, worried for the two. Asha is grateful for their help and touched when they point out its what friends are for. But now they must go hide because the whole town will be looking for them.

On the way back Asha tells them what had happened. Like her they are shocked the king and queen could be villains, but they also don’t think Asha and Star are liars. So they have to make a plan to figure out what the two are hiding and, if necessary, defeat them. (What I Know Now, which adds in a segment for the king and queen ‘lamenting’ that their people don’t know what’s best for them). There is a short moment during this song where it’s revealed Valentino knows sign language, having learned to read from Asha reading to him-and making a point to read books before he eats them. Asha tells him there’s a saying she’d like to learn but the scene cuts before we learn what it is.

The plan is that Star will dash the group with some dust to make them glow and they’d run through the town and forest ‘pretending’ to be Star. This would serve to distract the king and queen long enough for Asha and Star to go back to the study and go through the door. Star also gives Asha a stick and blesses it with his magic for her use. The plan is going off without a hitch, Asha while trying to find information in the study comes across a small journal. She reads it aloud as they open the secret door and go down the stairs:

Years ago, Magnifico wished for magic. A star came down to grant his wish, admiring his ambitions. However Magnificio turned on the star and trapped her, now absorbing her power to grant peoples’ wishes. They reach the bottom of the stairs to see an older woman chained to the ground; the star from the journal. Asha and Star are horrified by this revelation, but before they could free her Magnifico appears having expected them to come back.

Asha accuses him of lying about the stars being malicious, and the king instead says the stars were too scared to risk coming down to grant a human’s wishes. “Except that one, it seems.” He glares at Star and tells him that he would be his new battery and help lead Rosas to even more triumphs. In fact, why stop at Rosas? He could grant wishes of people all over the world, they’d be so grateful they’d do whatever he asked.

Furious Asha lunges at him but Magnificio stops them with his staff and drags them back upstairs to where Amaya is waiting. He offers Asha to his queen, not needing her. Amaya then reminds the young girl of the history of Rosas, how there was a monster that terroized the people…Asha watches in horror as Amaya transforms into a large dragon-esque creature. She is able to escape the study and Amaya chases after her. Star, furious and terrified transforms into his own version of a golden dragon-esque creature and manages to escape Magnifico’s grasp.

Asha is chased outside, nearly killed by Amaya before Star arrives and knocks her away. While the two giants fight Asha hurries back inside to deal with Magnifico.

We cut to a scene of Dahlia and co being surrounded by the villagers, but the townsfolk are starting to waver having seen how much happier the group is thanks to Star granting their wishes. Lulu then appears, prepared to eat them. Valentino, leading an army of the animals Star befriended, chases the big cat off into the woods. Disillusioned the townsfolk follow Dahilia, Valentino, and co back into town to witness the rest of the battle.

Asha, still brandishing the wand Star gave her, witnesses Magnifico dragging the star out of her cell and absorbing so much of her magic that the woman loses the rest of her glow and falls to the ground. Asha tries to attack him but the king teleports the two of them to the roof, ready to throw Asha off and strike Star with his magic. Asha is able to use her wand to keep him from hurting her or Star, but eventually he is able to snatch the wand from her and break it. Desperate, Asha tries to physically wrestle the staff away from him.

Suddenly there’s a scream, Amaya having bit down on Star’s neck. Magnificio moves to fire at Star to finish him off, but Asha with her own hands still on the staff is able to redirect it and the blast hits Amaya instead. She is evaporated and Magnifico cries out in horror and rage. However the damage is done for Star, transforming back into human form he floats up to Asha slowly losing his golden glow. He holds her cheek for one moment before falling on the roof, completely gray and presumed dead. Asha cries and hugs him, unable to believe this is how the story ends. But then Magnifico grabs her with his magic and drags her away, Asha desperately trying to fight against it, only able to hold onto Star’s hand. The king summons storm clouds to completely cover the sky, vowing revenge against the entirety of Rosas, against the entirety of the world for killing Amaya.

All seems lost, yet Asha starts to softly sing (This Wish (Reprise)), and after a few moments her friends and the townspeople below start singing along, wishing for Star to be revived. We have a short scene of the star woman waking up and hearing the singing from outside. But everyone's sincerity in the wish allows Star to be revived, glowing brighter than ever. Asha, relieved and full of hope, gets up to face against Magnifico. He tries to shoot her with magic but Star’s glow serves as a wall of protection for her, and as she slowly walks toward the man he gets more frantic and desperate, unable to see because of Star’s bright light. He continues to step back until he reaches the edge, loses his balance and starts to fall, Asha grabs his staff as the man vanishes into the roiling ocean below. She then shatters the staff on the roof. The magic shoots out into the sky, wishes given to Magnifico returned to its owners and the star woman brought back to her full strength.

Star is flying around the sky, ecstatic. Asha calls his attention and we see her sign/say the words: “I love you.” (having learned them from Valentino). It is like a firework goes off as Star happily picks her up and twirls through the sky with her, Asha laughing gleefully before finally kissing him.

When the two return to the ground they receive a group hug from their friends. They find the broken stick Magnifico had tossed and Asha apologizes to Star for breaking it, but he simply puts it back together. Dahlia comments that her magic use was pretty impressive considering she had had no real experience. Valentino smugly saying she was greater than the former king. It’s then Asha realizes that Star had helped grant her wish-she just needed to meet him halfway. He winks at her when she makes this realization.

The star woman then appears, stepping out of the castle, looking poised and formidable. Asha tells the townspeople what Magnifico and Amaya had done to her and the people are filled with shame that she had suffered right under their noses. Asha gives her a formal apology and after a moment the star woman nods and smiles kindly, having been impressed by the goodness in these humans. She had thought they would all be vile like the king and queen.

She starts to float, planning on going back to the sky. She looks expectantly at Star, expecting him to come with. Asha is stricken at the thought but reassures him she wouldn’t be like Magnifico and force him to stay. In response Star holds Asha’s hand and gives the star woman a resolute look. She blinks, looking a bit surprised, but then nods and even gives them a small curtsy as if they were royalty. She then shoots upward to become the brightest star in the sky.

At the epilogue Asha and Star are learning all they can on how to lead Rosas, the town wanting them to be their new king and queen. She is getting better at her magic and signs fluidly. They have Dahlia and co be a sort of council for them. With Star’s encouragement people are doing their part to make their wishes come true. Valentino is in charge of Lulu who is going through a program to be nicer, it’s a work in progress.

The final shot is Asha and Star standing at the balcony, sharing a kiss as the scene pans up to show the night sky. The stars look brighter than ever.

Credits roll.

#disney wish #wish rewrite #star #asha #asha x star #fan writing

529 notes · View notes

oreolemur · 9 days

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Okey so here's my request...

reader working at a strip club.... She is poor And needs financial so she is working as a stripper....So one day the gojo goes to the club and ask to get a private dance by reader So reader starts doing her job like twerking on him..and gojo gets hard...he isn't allowed to touch her cause it's the rules...soo after the 5minutes of doing her job on him he asks for her number but she declines...and like her forces her for her number and she calls security..... Gojo knows he's strong enough to kill those security then and there but he didn't and went out... she continued doing her job...closing time she went out and started walking later she saw a black car and ignored..gojo exited the car and called her she saw him and ran..he chased her and got her..and took her in and thts when the things happens (it's a Noncon request 💕)

Keep sending more requests loves! ❤

“I’m so sick of this job”, you sighed, staring at yourself in the mirror. You applied makeup to your face as you got ready to start another day of work. “At least my fit today is cute”. You were wearing a short blue skirt that exposed your ass cheeks and a see through crop top that showed cleavage. You admired yourself some more, before being rudely interrupted by your boss. “Y/n! Get your ass out here and start making these customers happy”, the man yelled. You rolled your eyes, gathering your stuff to head to the preparation room. “I really need a new job”, you muttered. Once inside, you were happily greeted by your coworkers. They all had on similar clothing as you. “I guess blue is today’s theme”, you said to your friend.

She looked at you and nodded. “Yeah apparently the heir of the Gojo clan is coming today”, the woman mentioned. You were confused. “Who exactly?”, you questioned. She slightly hit your arm. “You don’t know Satoru? He comes in often carrying a lot of cash”, she said. “His birthday is today so we all have to wear blue to celebrate”. Raising your eyebrow at her, you still didn’t know who she was talking about. “Yeah…he’s not ringing a bell”. As the two of you chatted a while longer, you heard your name being called on stage. “Shit! How do I look?”, you asked your friend. “Like a stripper”, she laughed. You giggled at her comment, “Duh bitch, but seriously…how do I look?”. She tucked your hair behind your ears. “You look like someone who’s gonna get out of here soon. Make that money, save it, and never come back”, she said. You gave her a kiss on the cheek, proceeding to head out.

❤~On Stage~❤

It was mostly a crowd full of men, some women here and there, but mostly males were present. They all showered you with money as you worked your hips, dancing around that long silver pole you hated so much. The light from the ceiling beamed on you, revealing everything you were doing. “Isn’t she lovely?”, the man on the speaker said. Your body moved with ease as you slid down the pole, spreading your legs. The people went wild as they saw your black thong. You then got on the floor, crawling to the customers in front. You made eye contact with some of them as they put money in your skirt. “You deserve my whole savings”, one of the men said. You continued performing, until your time was up. “All right ladies and gentlemen, get ready to meet our next beauty”.

Heading off the stage, you were pulled to the side by a bouncer. “You have a private dance to attend to”, he said, guiding you to the private area of the club. “Do I have to?’, you pouted. The bouncer ignored you as he opened the door to one of the rooms. “If he tries anything you let me know”. With that he closed the door in your face. You stood there, sighing, facing your back towards your lucky customer. “Don’t look so sad”, he said. You turned around, seeing a tall white haired male with blue eyes. “Come over here”, he gestured. You put on a fake smile, approaching him. “Dance for me”, he demanded. Doing exactly what you do on stage, you begin to dance your hips, hands roaming all over your body.

“So…what’s your name?”, you asked, trying to make small talk. “Satoru…Satoru Gojo”, he smiled. Your eyes lit up in shock. “This is who she was talking about”, you thought. The man kept his eyes on you, observing the way you moved. “You have a nice body”, Satoru complimented. He let you dance in front of him some more, before patting his lap. “Come here”, he whispered. You walked over, sitting on him. “Such a good girl”, he said, resting his arms behind his head. He spread his legs, making sure you were lap dancing directly over his cock. “Am I doing ok?”, you asked, twerking on him. Satoru nodded, “More than ok”, he smirked. You continued to dance, feeling him slightly move his hips upwards as he got hard. “Can you stop that?”you asked, getting annoyed.

The man chuckled, “Fine…but can I have your number? I would be glad to have a beautiful lady like you as a gift”. You stopped moving, looking back at him. “Sorry, hun”, you said. “I’m not interested”. You started to dance again, wishing that the time he had left would be over. “Come on, darling”, Satoru grinned. “Don’t you want to get to know me? I’m a very interesting guy”. You rolled your eyes, “Not interested”. He chuckled again, “But why not? I can give you everything you ever wanted. Money…sex…you name it”. Satoru leaned forward, whispering into your ear. “Be a good girl and accept my offer”. Feeling his hand touch your waist, you yelled for the bouncer, getting up quickly. “Hey! Get him out of here”. The large man came in, ordering Gojo to get out. “Times up, man”, he said.

Satoru stayed seated. “No fair, I still have time left”. The bouncer got close to him. “Get out or I’ll throw you out myself”, he threatened. The white haired male looked at him, finding the man funny. “Do you really want to go there?”, he asked, standing up. The two men glared at each other. You watched from the doorway, getting nervous. “Just leave”, you told him. Satoru looked over at you, “Ok, princess”, he said, walking to the door. Before he left out, he stopped, turning his focus on you. “I’ll see you soon”. You felt it in your gut that he wasn’t lying. “What did he mean by that?”, you wondered. The bouncer tried to reassure you. “Don’t worry, y/n. I’ll make sure that bastard doesn’t try anything”. The man walked with you out of the room. “I can’t believe that just happened. What a creep”, you said to yourself.

❤~Time Skip~❤

You spent the rest of your shift, hanging out with your coworkers as you tried to forget what occurred between you and Gojo. “I heard you got to dance on Satoru”, your friend said. “How was it? Did he leave you a tip? He usually does”. You told her what happened. “For real?”, she said. “That does sound creepy, but don’t take it to heart. He’s usually a jokester”. You didn’t like how unserious she was. “Be serious! What if he kidnaps me or something? You know how desperate these customers can get”, you said. She shrugged her shoulders, telling you that Satoru has a different vibe. “He’s not like that…and besides if he does…you’ll be rich”, she joked. You laughed it off with her, trying to get over it. “All right girls time to go home”, your boss said, closing up the club. The bouncers kicked out any remaining customers, most of whom were bummed out drunk. “About time”, you yawned, stretching.

You went backstage to change and gather your stuff. “What a day”. Waving goodbye to your coworkers, you left out the back. The night was cold. All you had on were uggs, a crop top hoodie, and leggings. “Why is it so fucking cold?”, you shivered. “I should’ve brought a heavy jacket”. You walked home, hating the fact that you didn’t have a car. “I really need to get a car”. 10 minutes into your walk, you stopped at a convenience store for snacks. “Damn, I’m starving”, You sat at a nearby bus stop, chomping down a bag of chips and some cookies. “What has my life come to?”, you thought. You reflected on life, thinking about your financial situation. Stripping made a decent amount of money, but it wasn’t enough to support everything you needed. “I really need a new job”, you whined. After you were done stuffing your face, you got up, proceeding to head home again.

As you walked past a nearby church, you knew the alley you hated was coming up. It was dark and barely had any lights. You knew another way to go, but this way was quicker. You pulled out your phone, turning on the flashlight. A bunch of cats scattered around as they saw you. Trash was littered everywhere and a few cars passed you by. Just as you were about to turn a corner, a black car pulled up next to you, rolling the windows down. “It’s nice to see you again, princess”. You looked to the side, noticing it was Satoru. “Leave me alone”, you said, walking faster. He drove slowly, following you. “It’s cold out here. Why don’t you get in so I can give you a ride?”, he suggested. You ignored him.

The man sighed, feeling himself getting irritated. “Come on, baby. Don’t be like that. I’m trying to do you a favor”. You kept ignoring him, walking even faster. You were so distracted by him bugging you that you didn’t notice yourself turning the wrong corner. “Fuck! A dead end”, you said. Satoru smiled, taking this opportunity to block you with his car. You turned around to try to walk the other way, but you saw his trap. “What the fuck?”, your heart started to beat fast as fear filled you. “Well, well, well”, the man said, getting out of the car. You backed away, seeing him walk close to you. “Get the hell away from me”, you said. Gojo shook his head. “No can do, princess”. He pulled a white cloth out of his pocket.

“Get in the car”, he demanded. His usual smug look was gone. You could tell he was being serious. “N-no”, you said. Satoru sighed. “If you want me to be rough with you then just tell me”. He was now getting closer and closer. “This is your last chance”, he warned. “Get. In. The. Fucking. Car”. Seeing an opening, you made the brave decision to run past him. But before you could even make it, he put you in a headlock, smothering you with the cloth. “Just relax”, he said, feeling you struggle. You tried to fight back, kicking him in his leg. “You’re so cute”, he chuckled. Within minutes, you passed out. “Sleep peacefully, princess”. He picked you up, placing you in the trunk of his car. “We’re gonna have so much fun together”.

❤~An Hour Later~❤

You began to wake up. “Ow”, you groaned. Your head was throbbing from the drug Gojo used to knock you out. You blinked a couple of times, scanning the room he put you in. “Looks like my pretty princess is awake”. You noticed Satoru standing in front of a dresser. He had nothing but a blue silk robe on. “Did you sleep well?”, he asked, smiling. “Why am I here?”, you questioned. “Take me home now!”. He didn’t like your tone. “You’re so feisty, y/n”, he chuckled. You were shocked. “How do you know my name?”. The man walked over to the bed you were sitting on. He sat down, reaching for your face. “D-don’t touch me”, you slapped his hand away. Satoru stared at you with a blank expression, tilting his head. “You know…”, he paused. “Your defiance is really starting to piss me off”.

You scoffed at him. “You think you’re starting to get pissed off? Fuck-”, before you could finish what you were about to say. Gojo slapped you. Your back hit the mattress as you laid there crying. “Don’t test me”, he said. The man got up from the bed, taking off his robe. “Get undressed”, he ordered. You continued to lay there, holding your face. “Now y/n!” Satoru raised his voice. You leaned up, taking off everything but your bra and panties. “Take those off too”, he said. You shook your head, “C-can I please keep these on?”, you asked, voice breaking. “No”, he said simply. The two of you stared at each other in silence. At this moment…you started to realize how serious the situation was. You took off the remaining clothing, making him smile.

“Good girl”, he said. Gojo walked up to you, grabbing your face. “Don’t cry”, he cooed, seeing the mascara run down your cheeks. He gently laid you down, getting on top of you. “All you have to do is behave and I won’t hurt you”. He kissed your lips, slipping his tongue in your mouth. His hand roamed your body, reaching for your pussy. “Hmm?”, he moaned, pulling away from the kiss. “You’re wet already?”, he smiled. “Did me hitting you turn you on?”. He slid his fingers in you, thrusting deep into your cunt. You gasped, feeling his long digits explore inside you. Satoru chuckled, “I can make you feel so good”.’

He curled his fingers, hitting your g-spot. “N-no”, you moaned, reaching for his arm. The man grabbed both of your arms, pinning your wrists above your head. “Don’t do that, princess”, he kissed your neck, leaving wet sloppy trails. You blushed, slightly moaning. You could hear him laugh in between each kiss. “You smell so good”, he licked your skin, before roughly biting it. “Ow”, you whimpered. He left a red mark on your flesh, kissing the bruise. His fingers fucked you faster, feeling you clench around him. “That’s it, doll. Cum for me”. Your moans began to get louder and more high pitched. “Fuck”, you whined. Within seconds you came, making Satoru proud. He pulled his fingers out, sticking them in his mouth. “Mmm”, he grinned.

You breathed heavily, trying to recover from your intense orgasm. “Wasn’t that fun?”, he teased. His hand wrapped around his cock, slowly stroking it. You looked down at it, seeing precum leak from his pink tip. He slapped his dick against your cunt, causing you to twitch. “God, you’re so wet”, he grunted. Without warning, he shoved himself in you. Your walls stretched open. You cried out in pain, begging him to pull out. “P-please pull out. It hurts”. Satoru caressed your face, wiping away a tear that fell from your eye. He sadistically humped you hard, making you whimper even more. “Please”, you squealed. He ignored your begging, continuing to fuck you. The man was rough as he slammed himself into you. “You take me so well”, he groaned.

The more you cried, the sooner your voice began to die down. Gojo had you flipped on your stomach, his hand restraining your arms behind your back. You sobbed quietly into his pillow, waiting for him to be done with you. The man was fucking you harder now, making your ass clap as his pelvis kept hitting it. He moaned louder, feeling his orgasm arriving. “Fuck…you’re…s-so tight”, he grunted. With a few more thrusts, he spilled his seed into you, filling you up. “Damn”, he huffed. He pulled out of you, watching cum leak down onto his blanket. “You were so good for me, princess”, he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

You laid flat, feeling disgusted. “Can I go home now?”, you asked. He laid beside you, staring into your eyes. “Why do you want to go back?”, he questioned. “You should stay here with me. Like I said sweetface… I can give you anything you want”. He leaned into your face, kissing your lips. “You really want to go back to being a broke stripper?”. You knew he was right. You hated your job and the idea of being with someone with status and money could help you live a better life. “So what do you say?” Satoru asked. You looked at him and nodded. “Ok… I’ll stay with you”.

#jjk smut #tw noncon #jujutsu kaisen #gojo x reader #gojo satoru #jujustsu kaisen smut #gojou satoru x reader #jjk gojo #jjk fanfic #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jujutsu gojo #gojo noncon

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oncomingnight · 11 months

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Yandere! Barbie Girl ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

poc reader ᧔𐓪᧓˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the chance to watch the most recent Barbie movie but I will be seeing Oppenheimer tonight :) very excited. This post was inspired by Margot Robbie as the original Barbie but I didn't make the setting of this piece the Barbie movie, keep that in mind :)! Please feel free to talk to me and request works in my ask box, I love speaking with all of you.

She was absolutely beautiful, always making sure she was properly groomed. $79 glittery pink glass on her plump lips, french tip acrylic nails, gorgeous locs of honey blonde hair falling down her back.

Barbara was a self-made woman. She earned a diploma in international business before becoming the chief executive officer of her own company. Thanks to not only her job but knowledge, she earns enough to set you both for life. Because of the morals her father raised her with, she knows how to treat a wornan, and takes full advantage of this to take care of you.

She is the personification of the quote Dolly Parton made about being an entrepreneur. "You know, I look like a woman but I think like a man And in this world of business, that has helped me a lot. Because by the time they think that I don't know what's goin' on, I then got my money, and gone."

Barbara spends her hard-earned money mindfully. She' donate to her choice of charities, gift inventory to soup kitchens, give away basic needs to shelters, she particularly enjoys fostering animals with you.

Another thing she enjoys using her money for is to show you the beauties of the world. Flying to Istanbul to taste the delicious flavors of a Turkish breakfast, taking you shopping in New York, London, Paris, Dubai and having a hot springs spa day with you.

You're outrageously spoiled and doted on by her. It's HER job to show you exactly how thankful she is for you, it fills her with undetainable rage to think about someone else trying to make you happy and take you away from her. Of course, you'd never leave her for anybody else, she just can't help but overthink.

Because of her severely accomplished corporation, she's expected to attend specific events. Does she have the money to hire a top tier tearn to help ready the two of you? Yes, but she can help you herself. She will zip your dress up. She will apply makeup to your soft and beautifully crafted face, she will be the one to kneel and apply the shoes she carefully selected to your feet.

She will be the one to take your hand in her perfectly manicured one in front of all the cameras.

Soon, your hand will have a ring with a pink sapphire settled on one of your fingers. She'll make sure the proposal goes absolutely perfectly.

She takes you on the loveliest dates and some of them are stay-in nights. She'll take out your matching silk pajamas out of her walk-in closet, place bunches of pillows and plushies onto her couch, prepare your favorite snacks + beverages and get your most favored movie/shows onto the TV.

Every time the two of you go for a day out, you find at least one of her arms wrapped around your waist. Barbara will hug you from the back while settling her face onto your shoulder, either standing in silence or talking to you mindlessly.

"whatcha doin' :)?" "I had a plan for what we could do tonight." "While I was at work today, I was thinking about where we could go for our honeymoon."

She'd admit (without shame) that she's a clingy wife. You could be preparing dough for some baked goods and she'll be hugging you tightly from behind, being shoulder to shoulder with you, holding your hand no matter what you're doing, asking to bathe and shower with you (in a sweet way) so she can help wash you but she just enjoys being near you.

Obviously.

She goes all out during Christmas, anniversaries, holidays, etc. On the morning of your birthday, she'll wake you up with dozens of kisses on your face, presents wrapped in pastel colored paper, your favorite foods that she cooked herself, homemade baked treats she learned to make from her parents, she'll also quickly mention that she booked a cabin and how your flight is set for that exact day.

Better hurry and get ready, babe! :)

Christmas is her absolute favorite holiday as it is for millions of people but no one celebrates like her. The whole house is decked out in decoration, inside and out. A white tree accompanied with ornaments, each painted with individually unique designs by the two of you. She doesn't set out some of the more special presents under the tree because she wants to keep you guessing in the best way. Each present meant for you will have a tag on them that has writing about how much she adores you.

Winter is the best season to cuddle with the one you love. She takes that to her advantage as well! Barbara will set you down onto her pink satin couch that has multiple blankets on it to cuddle in front of the fireplace with you, old timey Christmas music on the record player.

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this, it was supposed to come out earlier today but Tumblr was being a bit difficult so I had to make some changes but , hopefully, it still pleased some of you. I'll post some more tomorrow and I will let you know how I liked the Oppenheimer movie :).

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demontobee · 9 months

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Parallels between Lord Jim and Good Omens (2)

I have rewatched GO2 at least 10 times now (still counting, obvsly), and every time I notice new easter eggs that emerge from the massive web of intertextuality that Neil Gaiman created for us here.

So today, I wanted to focus on the way Aziraphale came up with the “undercover” name “Jim” for Gabriel. He read it on the spine of a book: Lord Jim.

That book was written by Joseph Conrad (a Polish-British writer with dubious ideas about colonialism) and published in 1900. The plot basically follows the life of a young idealistic seaman called Jim who has to defend himself in a trial that concerns a sinking ship which he and other members of the crew abandoned in a storm, leaving it and the helpless passengers to their fate. The ship did not sink in the end, and he was the only member of the crew who was held accountable for his deeds by stripping him off his naval certificate. The trial is where he meets the narrator of the story, Marlow, who is strangely intrigued by the young man, who seems to be engulfed by guilt and shame over his morally wrong decision to leave the boat. The narrator tries to help Jim to his feet and lands him a job as a post manager at some remote colonial outpost. There he becomes a hero by capturing a local bandit. Later he falls victim to a scheme against him, and a pirate raids a neighbouring community and kills the son of their chief, Jim’s close friend. Jim then goes there, and the chief shoots him as a revenge for his son.

I mean, the most obvious parallel is that Gabriel gets named after Jim. He, too, abandoned his ship (Heaven; and the question here is, did he know it might be a sinking ship as well?) and was put on trial and lost his position as archangel before he came to Aziraphale for help. But that’s not all there is to it.

Let us start with the formal (concerning style and structure) aspects:

narrative structure:

“Marlow has complete control over the story … and he exercises his power in increasingly complicated ways. Time is broken up: in a single paragraph of narration, Marlow will reference the past, the present, and the future. By manipulating the flow of the narrative, Marlow is able to create juxtapositions and contrasts that highlight particular aspects of the story. He is a master at withholding information …” (Source: Sparknotes)

As I have already discussed in another post, this is more or less how narrative structure works in GO, too (S2 maybe more than S1, but this still applies to both). We get minisodes from the past that directly reference and juxtapose situations in the story that takes place in the present. Take, for example, the Job minisode, which gives us information about the development of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship, but we also see how devastating and hard it was for Aziraphale to realise that sometimes he had to lie (or do something considered wrong in heaven) to do the morally right thing. This sequence is juxtaposed with the relative ease he exhibits in the present day when he has to lie to heaven on a regular basis (in this case, about the miracle and hiding Gabriel, which is kind of a big lie, too). The show also plays with our understanding and expectations of how time works, as S2 starts with a scene that takes place “before the beginning,” which undermines dramatic structure as it has been known and accepted since Aristotle. It is also interesting to note that in S1, we have a strong sense of an almighty narrator, since god herself is narrating the whole time and she sure lets us know that she is playing her own ineffable game here. In S2, however, we don’t have a clear narrative voice. This might make it seem like the narration is more neutral or less meddled with, but in reality, it just makes things even less reliable and situations more ambiguous, as we have no single voice to interpret them for us. Someone is definitely “withholding information” here, and I guess we’ll have to wait for S3 to get the full picture.

language/style:

“Marlow constantly ponders the "message"--the meaning of Jim's story. His language is dense with terms like "inscrutable" and "inexplicable," words that denote imprecision and indecipherability, but which also possess a certain quality of uncertainty in themselves, as words. He struggles to name things, and is often reduced to wondering if there even is a meaning to Jim's story and his fascination with it. Sometimes he concludes that the meaning is an "enigma"; sometimes he decides there is no meaning to be found at all. Words are constantly being contested in this novel; at least three major episodes center around the misinterpretation of a single spoken word.” (Source: Sparknotes)

I mean, “inscrutable” and “inexplicable”? Why not just call it “ineffable”? I also love how Crowley seems to wonder about the meaning of things (especially the distinction between “good” and “bad”), as one of the first things we here him say in S2 is something like: “Do you ever ask yourself what’s the point. I mean angels, demons, heaven, hell … it all seems a bit … point … less.” And obviously, the whole show is full of misinterpretations of words (e.g., “what does your exactly mean, exactly? I feel like my exactly and your exactly are different exactlies”), or, as we are all painfully aware, a whole way of communicating with one another (“aim for my mouth, but shoot past my ear”).

Now for some similarities concerning informal (aka content) aspects:

moral balance and “naïve heroism”:

“Even more tortured is the analysis of idealism and heroism that lies at the center of Lord Jim. Jim is a young man who enters the world motivated primarily by fantasies of daring and noble deeds lifted from cheap novels. His ideals break down, however, in the face of real danger; they are, in fact, untenable when applied to any form of reality.” (Source: Sparnotes)

That sounds like both Crowley and Aziraphale in a way. They both set out as naïve idealists, and both of them learn (Crowley earlier and faster that Aziraphale) that their (heavenly) ideals do not hold in the complex reality of life. A lot of what we see in S2 is Aziraphale coming to terms with accepting that doing the “right thing” on earth often involves breaking his heavenly rules and allowing for “shades of grey.”

struggling to comprehend own identity and moral consequences of own actions:

Both the narrator, Marlow, and the protagonist of his tale, Jim, are trying to figure out their identity. Marlow seems to tell the story mainly to kind of make sense of identity itself but also of him personally, while Jim tries to make amends for his morally wrong behaviour and tries to manifest his identity (as a hero) through action.

In GO2, we have a lot of identity struggles and questions of “who am I?”: Jim the amnesiac angel is the most blatantly obvious case, but we also have Aziraphale negotiating his identity constantly, e.g., in the Job episode when he asks “Then what am I?” after having lied to heaven for the first time . And I mean Crowley is just on another level of liminal identity entirely, isn’t he?

As a bonus (and I am probably going overboard here, but well), this is the description of Jim’s death:

“Then with his hand over his lips he fell forward, dead.”

The imagery reminds me of something…ahhh yes:

Feel free to add your thoughts in the tags or comments!

#good omens #good omens s2 #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #crowley #go2 #good omens 2 #good omens meta #neil gaiman #crowley x aziraphale #meta #lord jim #go2 meta #jimmmm short for gabriel #thank you neil gaiman

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yourlocaltrashcan657 · 4 months

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Mental Hospital AU! Yandere! Attack on Titan x Female Reader. Prologue.

“Cmon Y/N! We’re going to be late for our first day at this shitty job!” Ymir said fixing her uniform.

”Ymir! That’s 50 cents in the jar.” Krista exclaimed quickly turning back to fix her makeup.

”Fine.” Ymir said only to quickly shout. “Oi! Sasha stop eating all of the food!”

”Lets go now. I’m all ready.” Y/N said grabbing her bag and slipping on her shoes.

The four girls have been friends since they were young so it was no surprise when they all moved in together at an apartment and got the same job.

Whilst walking to your new workplace Krista talked about how we should be careful about this workplace due to the accidents and how we should carry around pepper spray just in case.

That soon led to Ymir laughing and saying how Sasha would just drink it all. The four of them giggled before finally reaching the workplace.

It had a faint smell of cherry which was different from the last time you came which was to give your resume and to do an interview in which you all succeeded.

Y/N led them to a room in which they signed in and got their land yards to open locked doors around the hospital.

“We have 10 minutes to spare.. let’s just stay here like everyone else.” Krista said as she sat down on a chair.

“Which ward did you guys get?” Ymir asked as she plopped down onto the couch in the lounge room. “I got ward 6 and it’s all the way on the other side of this crappy building!”

”I think there’s a reason you got an easy ward, Ymir..” Y/N said, earning a scoff from the freckled woman.

”Yeah Ward 6 is for slightly unstable people.. I got ward 4 and I think that’s for children who need help..” Krista said before sulking at the thought of children being in a mental hospital.

”I got Ward 3! I’ll be able to see Krista every now and then so it won’t be that bad.” Sasha said making Ymir groan in annoyance.

”I got Ward 1.” Y/N said bluntly making the whole room go quiet. “What?”

”Y/N, Ward 1 is where all the crazy shi- I mean uh stuff happens.” Ymir said. “Before we applied for this crazy job, so many doctors have died just by taking care of one patient in Ward 1”

”Ymir! Stop scaring us like that!” Krista said.

”It’s true! I’ve heard that one of the guys in there is so crazy that he just stares at you and you’ll want to die!” Sasha exclaimed scared.

”Sasha! S-stop it!” Krista exclaimed. “Y/N if you ever need to swap Wards I think you can ask the boss or some higher up.”

”I’ll be alright.. I think I got placed there due to my grades and experience.” Y/N explained with a smile.

”I heard only experts work in Ward 1 so good luck with those people.” Ymir said.

*RING* *RING*

“That must be the bell for us to start working.. see you later Y/N.” Sasha said before waving goodbye and walking off with Ymir and Krista who also did the same.

I made my go Ward 1 only to be greeted by a tall, blue eyed man and a and goggled, brunette woman.

”You must be Y/N?” The tall man asked reaching out to shake her hand. “We are in charge of Ward 1.”

”Yes. I’m working in Ward 1, it’s a pleasure to meet you” Y/N said shaking his hand.

”I’m Erwin Smith and this Hange Zoe. I’ll be accompanying you for today to see how it goes.” Erwin said smiling.

”If you ever need me I’ll be in my office, pretty gal.” Hange said before smirking and walking off.

”Let’s begin, shall we?” Erwin said.

#aot x y/n #yandere erwin smith #yandere aot x reader #yandere jean kirstein #yandere aot #yandere levi ackerman #yandere shingeki no kyojin #yandere reiner #yandere levi #yandere jean #yandere erwin #yandere #yandere eren yeager #yandere armin #yandere Connie springer #Yandere Bertolt #ymir #christa lenz #sasha braus

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weightofkiszka · 7 months

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𝒮𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒟𝒶𝓌𝓃~𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓇 2

Warnings: angst (anxiety, jealousy, overthinking)

word count: 2,133

"Daniel?" You turned and saw him, your heart stopping but also racing at the same time.

"Oh my god Birdie it is you!" He practically jumped over the counter to get to you faster. He embraced you in a tight hug. "Gosh I've missed you, how have you been? Sammy why didn't you tell me she was in town?"

From the outside, the exchange would've looked like the two of you had been in a long distance relationship and you had just surprised him. You had your arms around his neck and face buried in the crook of his neck, while he had his arms around your waist and was spinning you around. While that was certainly not the case, Sam couldn't help but notice how Daniel's face lit up when he saw you. The two often spoke about their feelings towards you. Sam only ever seeing you as a sister after knowing you since you were only five. Daniel however saw as you as much more than a friend. He'd known he loved you since freshman year but only thought of it as a friendship type. Until your junior prom when he desperately wanted to be your date rather than your boyfriend at the time.

"She just got back into town a couple hours ago. Her mom caught me at the grocery store yesterday and told me she would be in town for a while.", Sam said while Daniel placed you back on the ground, making sure you were steady before letting go of your waist. "Well, either way I'm glad you're back, Birdie. It's been way too long."

"I agree, it has been way too long. I'm actually here to stay though. I'm not leaving town any time soon. In fact I actually applied here earlier today." You watched as his eyes lit up, his smile growing bigger. "Don't worry Bird, I'll make sure you get the job."

You blushed every time he said the nickname he had given you in freshman year. You weren't quite sure when or how he came up with the nickname but you loved it. He was the only one to ever call you Birdie but you didn't mind at all. It quickly became the only thing he called you, choosing to not use your real name at all. You missed hearing it so often.

"Thank you Danny. I missed you way too much. I'd be happy to work with you."

🕊️🕊️

After two weeks of being back in Frankenmuth, and it felt as if no time had been spent away at all. Every night since you got back you had dinner with either Sam or Daniel. Or even the both of them. But today the three of you decided to do brunch at Honey Bee's instead as Sam had to be in the studio working on an album he had been producing that evening. It would also be your first day working at New Moon. Although Daniel was not there, the owner was and showed you how to work the register, where everything was and where everything goes. You were told that you would do mostly tarot readings for now but once you got comfortable and could work by yourself you would be running the store on your own two days out of the week.

Lilith showed you to the room you would be doing tarot readings, it was small space just big enough for a small table a shelf and some smaller decor. "You're free to decorate in here however you like. Just make sure you have multiple tarot decks." You nodded, making a mental note to search for some decor once you got home. "Oh and we have a free roam cat here. Her name is Greta, I take her home on weekends so she's not alone. You're free to dress her up if you'd like." Lilith gave you a warm smile before asking you to restock the herbs.

Once you were home and ready for bed, you began scrolling instagram when a notification came through,

danielrwagner has requested to follow you

He had never been one for social media in high school, or at least rarely used it. You approved his follow request and followed him back before he messaged you.

danielrwagner: Heyy! Me and Sammy are gonna hang out tomorrow afternoon, and I wanted to ask if maybe you wanted to come over a little early and spend some time together?

morningbird: Hii! I would love to spend some time with you! What time should i be there?

danielrwagner: Umm around 2:30ish I'd say would be a good time. Sam won't be here until four but that still gives us plenty of time :)

morningbird: ill be there for sure!

The only notification you received from him other than his address was that he liked the message. You looked through his profile, seeing as it was a different one than the one he had in high school. His most recent post was from three months prior. "Spent the night with a lovely lady<3" It was a picture that seemed like it was taken during a date, but what you didn't realize you felt was jealous. Jealous of a girl he met while you had been away at school. It's not like he liked you, right? Thats what you told yourself. You decided it was best to go to bed at that point. Setting your alarm and putting your phone on do not disturb, you quickly found yourself slipping into slumber.

"Hey! You made it.", Daniel told you with a shy smile on his face. "Birdie, theres umm...there's something I wanna talk to you about." He was anxious. You could hear it in his voice, but why was he so nervous. "What is it Danny? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine don't worry. Can I get you something to drink? Or a snack?" You smiled and nodded wondering why he was so nervous. You went over all the possibilities of what it could be. Did he not wanna be friends even after how excited he was to see you? Or was it that he was moving away and wanted to make sure you would be okay?

Daniel retuned momentarily and was a little more collected. He brought you a glass of water and some strawberries. "Just a heads up Sam's on his way. He got out of work early. But Bird, I wanna be completely honest with you about something. I don't know how to say but I...Birdie I-"

"Hey Dan! Will you help me with the food? I stopped and got all of us something to eat since I wasn't sure if you or Y/n had eaten yet today." Sam called from the front of the house. Danny looked visibly upset at Sam for walking in, but why?

DANNY'S POV

"Damnit Sammy, I wanted to talk to her. Before you got here." you spoke quietly enough so Y/n wouldn't hear. You were nervous enough as it was. "I'm sorry, would you like more time? I can step out."

"No I'll just take her to dinner a different day or something. I'm so scared to tell her. I mean what if she doesn't have the same feelings towards me?" Sam gave you a sympathetic look. He knew something you didn't. "Do you guys need any help?", Y/n stood at the door. "No, we've got it. Thank you for offering though.", Sam gave her a smile and walked past her. Given the opportunity she took it. "What were you gonna say, Dan?", she looked up at you. Her big green eyes seeming like you take a dive in them and get completely lost forever.

"I'll tell you at a better time, Birdie. Why don't we talk tomorrow over dinner? I'll take you somewhere nice out in Detroit.", she smiled and nodded. You could sit and stare at her smile for all of eternity as long as it meant you would be the cause of that smile.

The rest of the night was full of laughter, but you couldn't help your anxiety when you thought about telling Y/n how you felt about her. You wanted it to be perfect but also feared she wouldn't feel the same. All you could do was hope for the best.

🕊️🕊️

The drive to her house seemed to take forever, although it was only a ten minute drive. She was waiting on her porch when you got there. She took your breath away once you saw her, wearing a light purple sundress and sandals. So simple yet she made it look so elegant. "Hey Birdie. Are you ready?" She nodded and smiled. Once again you felt nervous. After helping her into your jeep, you got in and picked up your phone. "I made you a playlist. I'm not sure what you listen to anymore so I have absolutely no clue if you'll like it."

"I'll listen to anything. I'm sure it's amazing since you're the one who made it."

The hour and a half long car ride was filled with her singing and giggling. In that moment it felt exactly like she had never left. You reached to turn the radio down before speaking. "Bird, I'm gonna be completely honest right now. I really like you." She was silent. You bit your bottom lip waiting for her response. "Danny, I like you too. You're my best friend." She giggled and turned to the window.

YOUR POV

You turned to the window as you realized what you said. 'You're my best friend'. It kept replaying in your head as he was silent the rest of the drive. You felt so stupid. You missed your chance to tell him how you had felt about him for years. You weren't sure if he was upset or if thats how he had meant it.

"Alright we're here. Ready?" You looked at him and nodded, before watching him get out and come around to your door and opening it. He held his hand out for you to take. You were zoned out as he led you into the restaurant and told the host he had reservations. Maybe he hadn't meant what he said in the car. This was just two friends getting dinner together. Definitely not a date, although the restaurant was very nice and upscale.

You told him about how and why you dropped out of school. Telling him the exact same thing you told Sam. He told you about he was a journalist but mostly worked at the apothecary. The two of you shared stories and enjoyed each others company. Then he looked nervous again.

"Birdie what I said in the car wasn't very clear. I-" He was interrupted by a girl saying his name.

"Daniel! Hi! It's been a while how are you?" You immediately recognized her from the photo on his instagram and felt your heart drop. You felt your jaw clench as he stood to hug her. You were never someone to be jealous but this was different. "Y/n this is Nikki, Nikki this is Y/n." You smiled at her as he introduced the two of you but quickly looked away as she went for a hug.

Looking back momentarily you saw the glare she was giving you. Almost like she was telling you to back off. You got the vibe that maybe Nikki liked Danny a little more than what was friends. "How have you been? You haven't been answering my messages. I was beginning to think that you forgot our plans for tomorrow." The way she said it seemed like they were possibly dating.

"Nikki, I'll message you later. I gotta get Y/n home." His use of your name and not his given nickname felt like a punch to the gut. Even when introducing you to past girlfriends he used your nickname. Maybe he only saw you as a friend and you would just have to be okay with that. Daniel payed the check, while you zoned out once more. You were overthinking everything. Getting your hopes up without even thinking that he would most likely have a girlfriend.

After he dropped you off, you watched him leave through the living room window before getting a message.

danielrwagner: Here's your playlist if you wanna listen to it :) Listen to the first two songs carefully ;)

danielrwagner: We are the morning birds that sing against the sky

The name of the playlist stuck out to you, so you saved the playlist but put your phone on do not disturb and went to bed rather than listen to it. That was the first time you had ever cried over him and you promised yourself it would be the last time.

taglist:

@profitofthedune @sunflwerfangirl @gvf23

#dannywagner #greta van fic #greta van fleet #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #danny wagner x reader #greta van fluff #greta van smut #josh kiszka x reader

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kslenvs3000w24 · 3 months

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The Last and Final Blog

Over my past 4 years here at the University of Guelph, the environment has been at the center of my focus. Immersed in this for 1460 days has truly shaped me into who I am as a person and defined what my ethics and values are. For every job I applied to, the question I always got asked was, Why is this something you want to pursue? My answer is always the same; By being a student who is immersed in this knowledge and knows the complexities of the environment down the molecular level, I feel that it is my moral duty to relay this information and educate others. As an interpreter, my personal ethics encourages me to help educate people on ways they can learn about their impacts and how to help. It is important to look back on the daily decisions you make to see how you are either contributing or helping the environment. Some situations can be exempted. For example, they say you should buy electric cars, however, CTV News reported that the average price for an EV vehicle has reached 73,000$ (Bickis, 2023). When the price of a car is this high, you cannot blame individuals for using their gas cars to get to work so they can put food on the table for their families. Understanding that not everyone is as privileged to live a fully eco life is one step closer to stopping the blame and a step in the right direction for education on how you can become environmentally friendly with your living status. Being taught about the imbalances in the environment as a result of human disturbances and the effects they can have is very scary. Constant exposure to this kind of content every day can seriously impact your thoughts and beliefs about life and the world. In my case, it became very motivating. It drives me to want to help educate others and contribute to organizations that are focusing on the preservation and conservation of our earth.

This course has been a very pivotal experience for me. Although I love taking courses about the environment which includes biology and chemistry, this course forced me to look beyond just these numbers and the analytical lens. It forced me to think more intuitively regarding interpretation and environmental science. Understanding the needs of our earth and how much we impact it starts with admitting to yourself that there is a problem whether created by you or someone else, and that it needs to be addressed. Today, there has been lots of greenwashing which tends to turn people away from wanting to advocate for the Earth. There is such a divide between the general public knowledge and students/scientists. I can't tell you how many people have said to me “Oh, so you want to save the Turtles” when I told them I was in environmental science. This statement right here goes to show the lack of understanding between preservation and protecting the planet. Environmental science falls under a huge umbrella. It encompasses so much that goes beyond just implementing reusable or compostable straws.

When I have conversations with people who are out of touch with reality, I feel nothing but sad for them. That they are not as fortunate to know what I know or that their motivations might be driven by something else. But I cannot blame them, knowledge is power but it's also money. I believe it is my right as someone who holds this kind of knowledge, to help people understand and become engaged and involved with the environment. However, I do also believe as people of this earth, it affects us all, and doesn't matter what your social status, race, gender, etc. is, it is something we should all be working towards understanding. Let's just put it this way, a hurricane doesn't care if you're a billionaire with a nice house. Beck et al. (2018) state that there are immense educational benefits associated with acquiring knowledge that can result in “an enjoyable and enriching experience” encouraging a more meaningful relationship with the topic of interest. It doesn’t matter who you are, you will be affected directly or indirectly and therefore I believe we all have an innate calling to preserve and protect the earth not only for us but for the generations to come.

Nature has been a huge component of my life whether it was in the classroom or my own personal outlet. I was taught from a very young age to appreciate nature in all its glory. Over the years I have become increasingly empathetic towards the environment. When I read about things in the news I can’t feel anything but sad. It's so disheartening seeing our earth become hurt and have to constantly rebuild itself. I constantly ask myself when. When will we learn? How long does it take for us to make a change? What brutal disasters need to keep happening for us to stop? Going back to first-year environmental science, we talked about nature having intrinsic value and I couldn’t agree with this statement more. Just like we learned in this course, even if we do not gain any materialistic value from nature and it does not directly or indirectly benefit us, it still has a purpose and is still valuable on its own (Rea & Munns., 2017). Many people are motivated based on economic return and unfortunately, the environment is at the centre of those decisions. The understanding of intrinsic value is based on an ecocentric standpoint which is developed from having a serious concern for the environment, something many people lack (Rea & Munns., 2017). This concern can come from upbringing and experience that shape how one views the world. For people who are struggling to put food on the table, the state of the environment is not typically their biggest problem. Effective interpretation as described by Beck et al., (2018) involves building new knowledge, values, and beliefs. Being open-minded to adopting new concepts can truly work wonders.

Finally, I feel it's my responsibility as an interpreter to educate. Social media is a very powerful tool in today's age and being able to raise awareness about situations regarding climate issues is a great way to expose the general public. I just hope we can create a sense of unity when it comes to caring for our planet and that it gets the attention it deserves because we only have 1, but 1 is enough if we do it right!

Thanks, everyone for a great semester I enjoyed reading all your blogs!

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, (pp. 42).

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, (pp. 91).

Bickis, I. (2023, October 22). EVs are getting easier to find -- but with price tags out of reach for many Canadians. CTVNews. https://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/evs-are-getting-easier-to-find-but-with-price-tags-out-of-reach-for-many-canadians-1.6612044

Rea, A. W., & Munns, W. R. (2017). The value of nature: Economic, intrinsic, or both? Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 13(5), 953–955. https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1924

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lennies-blog · 1 year

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New Mick Interview 🤩

Translation: Mick's interview with Sky Sport Germany at the Bahrain Testing

Source: Sky Sport Germany

Translation under the cut 😊 (it's quite long 😂)

I: „Mick! Thanks for taking the time for us! Testing is, of course, a whole different and special experience for you. You are spending a lot of time in the garage – how much of an information overload is it that you are receiving there?”

Mick: “Yeah, if it’s getting too much I’m also leaving for the track to watch it there, at least it’s quiet there. But no, it’s definitely a completely different experience in comparison to last year, yet very interesting and a good position for me to develop further, to learn and to see what the engineers do next to the racetrack and to yeah, absorb everything that I can.”

I: “Now regarding the tests: Was there anything yet what has been discussed or what you have discovered yourself where you were like ‘Oh, that was really interesting and that’s something that I can take with me for my future career!’”

Mick: “Yes, definitely, that was already the case on the first day and it goes on and on! I learn something new about the car every day, but also how the team works and a lot of that I can hopefully apply in the future.”

I: “What are the differences like? While I can imagine every team works differently, some processes are probably the same? Can you give us a little insight on how it compares?”

Mick: “Well the difference is (it’s) a big team. Processes are different, yes, but in a way.. especially the meetings are very long. Very long meetings, a lot of information and in particular what (information) will be fed back to the factory, kind of. It’s so we have the direct exchange with the simulator – they continuously test – to have the correlation there.”

I: “You now have a good insight here what the team has planned – we have already seen it from the outside that it did not go that well today – could you explain to us what has been the plan for testing and what may need to be postponed or what might have been cancelled entirely?”

Mick: “There is, of course, a set plan that has to be adjusted at some stage and today we had to adjust it. Nevertheless, we learned a lot, learned a lot about the car. Regarding the speed it is always hard to tell how it goes at testing – everyone’s always a bit careful with the information, also with what you hear in the paddock. It was quite a difficult day for us but still a good day to learn.”

I: “How is your contact, your collaboration with the other two drivers?”

Mick: “Of course a whole different feeling to the years prior, but really interesting! Naturally, Lewis (with) a whole lot of experience – to work with him is… exciting/interesting if I can say it like that. And of course, George, a lot of experience, did a great job here last year, therefore a place where I can learn a lot from the two of them.”

I: “Now we’ve previously seen there was a hydraulic issue, George Russell had to retire. You have been very close there, right at the centre of it – how does communication work there?”

Mick: “..In which way? I mean, of course, the driver says there is a problem and then the team either says we can bring it back to the garage or we have to stop on track and in this case we had to stop.”

I: “Could there be an immediate information from an engineer who might be sitting in the back like ‘Oh that could be that and you can’t do this and that!’ or...?”

Mick: “Well I think at first it’s always the same. You have to see that you don’t switch gears which could present a hydraulic issue and yeah.. try to not break as much as possible. Ehm.. and if it really is borderline then you have to stop it at the side of the track and get it back (to the garage) that way. And yeah, the engineers then tell you (as a driver) what to do.”

I: “There isn’t that much time left until the weekend, the first race weekend – what is your schedule until then? Are you staying here or a you jumping back into the simulator? How does that work?”

Mick: “At the moment I’ll probably stay outside, it’s actually nice weather here and quite nice and warm, so I can continue training here. So, we’re staying here. I think some of the engineers are staying as well so I can continue working with them and prepare for the weekend.”

I: “Great! Then thank you for now and we keep or fingers crossed and talk to you soon!”

Mick: “Yes, thanks!”

#mick schumacher #mick translations #sky sport f1 germany #mercedes amg f1 #some weird questions tbh😅#and my suspision was right that they will milk the hell out of him even if there isn't really anything to talk about😂#mick is a pr dream

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thingsidrawgohere · 1 month

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Book Progress 05: Today is a pretty substantial failure point. Marrying the red to the black but, you know, well. I should have put a new blade in my xacto but this is how we live. Like animals. This to this.

I want the assemblage bone dry, thank you. If there's any moisture left from the glue when I apply the heat transfer vinyl, the board has a tendency to warp. Ask Me hHoW i KnNo.

Anyways. I cut and glued the spine and back boards. Remember, the board for this project is half thickness so needless work! Hooray! I also cut and weeded the remaining vinyl appliques. This is not a very photogenic portion of the build.

So let's talk about that glue. That Motherfucker. I've worked with a lot of Son Of A Bitch glues and this shit is right up there with PVC cement. Not its toxicity. You could prolly eat this stuff and simply be no worse than a weirdo. But God, it goes tacky QUICK. It's the nature of working with papercraft but Shit, Man. It doesn't like waiting and it Really doesn't like repositioning, so one needs to move with confidence. Dry placement and seeing where pieces Should fit helps me tremendously but Damn. She's rough.

To that end, you can see I did a no-good job affixing the back board to the cloth. A Terrible wrinkle made all the more prominent by the harshness of my work lamp. It doesn't look Quite so bad in normal light but I'm so cross. I'm blaming the glue. Because I don't want to blame Me, the rightful wrinkle-maker. I think I can still soldier on but damn, the Frailties are mounting.

#book #bookbinding #fanbinding #ficbinding

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fellowshipofthefics · 1 year

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Welcome to the masterlist for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Collaboration! Under the cut you’ll find all of the works in the collection in alphabetical order. Mind the tags and ratings, and be sure to kudos and comment on any works you’ve enjoyed! Thank you everyone for participating!

The Apartments by snowmissus (soul_of_blaze) and SunnyRose Thorin and his siblings have always maintained a certain dynamic - it has always been the three of them. Just the three of them.

And then Dís went and messed that all up. Thorin had absolutely nothing at all to do with that. Nope.

Bottled Up by Heilith and sandwich11213 How do you pay for a thing you didn't want? For the prompt "Musical Bards and Their Heroic Muses".

Ghosts of a Rainy Night by daughterofshadows and MulaSaWala There for a moment, but gone the next second. There are many creatures hiding in Mirkwood, but few are as elusive as this one. Have Tauriel and Beriathal encountered a ghost?

How Long Shall We Mourn in the Dark by Previouslyonjuicifer and tinnurin When they were crafted, Orcrist and Glamdring knew that they would see battle one day. But they didn't expect that the valiant Elves that wielded them would ever be defeated. Nor did they expect the arduous journey that happened to them afterwards.

I can't stop this feeling deep inside of me by Moongazer12 and calliosaura "It's not unusual for political marriages between young heirs to occur to unite kingdoms, but...I don't even swing that way!"

I Wanna Name a Drink After You by Blueberryrock and mattimeous At White Stag Tea, Bard has found somewhere he can settle in to write, keep cozy with a delicious cup of chai tea, and listen to the dreamy tunes playing over the speakers. Oh, and pine after the handsome shop owner working behind the counter.

The Importance of Family by freshVanilla and brglhobbit A gallery of Bilbo and Thorin's relationship over the years.

Labor of Love by Scyllas_revenge and BlueberryHobbit Eager for some peace and quiet from the dwarves, Bilbo goes exploring in Rivendell and comes across a moody, awkward young Estel, who's fallen head over heels in love with Lady Arwen.

Despite never having talked to her before (and despite being all of ten years old) Estel is determined to write her a love letter before she returns to Lothlorien. Can Bilbo snap him out of it?

Lessons by BiSquared and FiannaRain Five times Thranduil got parenting advice and one time he gave it.

A Little Victim-less Crime by SplinteredEmotions and StarDryad a maia escapes from what was meant to be their tomb in the depths of Moria and stumbles upon a dwarven caravan.

Midnight Ride by I_did_not_mean_to and peppermintError Peaceful Days at the Last Homely House

Moments Between by bluecaeri and nottoolateforthegame Bilbo and Thorin's budding relationship as seen through the eyes of the company. For prompt "more time during the quest for company bonding".

The (Moving) Company of Thorin Oakenshield by miztes and pralinebaggins "The Company is Middle Earth's best cross-continent moving company. Call Bilbo Baggins for a quote today!"

Bilbo Baggins applies for a new job. Things aren't exactly what he expected.

A (not so) Perfect Shot by Guardianofrivendell and trickster_goddess Kíli and meetings don't go together. After a long line of endless negotiations in Mirkwood he has enough and demands a free afternoon. Wandering through Mirkwood, he sees someone practicing with a bow and arrow. They're not very good at it and Kíli being Kíli, he doesn't spare them. Enter teacher Kíli.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou by BRose87 and Frosticenow In which an injured Prince Frerin finds himself in an unlikely position with his memories gone and surrounded by peculiar creatures with large feet and a fondness for being kind.

The Quest Through Europe by highlynerdy and SwanFloatieKnight In hindsight, maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to start a quest as important as this one on the 13th of April. Thirteen meant bad luck, and that was something they definitely never really ran out of during their whole journey.

The company's trip through Europe as Kíli's travel journal.

Retrieving Mr. Baggins by CuervoDeErebor and highlynerdy Thorin had been so pale the last time Bilbo had seen him. Lying bruised and barely lucid, in the healing tent at the foot of Erebor. He looked impossibly small. It wasn’t pleasant to see Thorin reduced to such stillness. Bilbo had held back tears then, wanting to reach out to him. But in the end, he'd kept his hands to himself, knowing full well that Thorin wouldn’t welcome his touch or pity. Bilbo was technically still banished after all - no matter what had happened on Ravenhill. He would never push for more than Thorin was ready to give.

Before Bilbo could get too lost in these melancholy memories, he heard the kettle whistling and the distinctly heavy footsteps of his guest coming down the hall.

“So,” Bilbo turned with a slightly forced smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure of having the King of Erebor in Bag End again? Not that I’m not very pleased to see you, of course!”

Our favorite Dwarven King makes a surprise visit to Bag End. And Bilbo is not quite sure what's happening.

Secrets and Heirs by hellsite_user_writes and midearthwritings Everyone in Ered Luin is keeping a secret, and young Kili is getting annoyed.

A Series of Unexpected Adventures by daughterofshadows and Zhie The Old Took's birthday is coming up and everyone is busy with the preparations. Join Bilbo as he collects berries for his papa, finds his way through the corn maze and plays a round of hole-in-one golf. Play along and find out where the story takes you!

A Smial for One's Own by a_boar_named_barry and SwanFloatieKnight Bilbo Baggins definitely had his hobbit hands full caring for his the grandest smial in Hobbiton, and his home, Bag End. And caring for the grandest home meant fighting off those no-good solicitors looking to take Bag End for themselves. But since when did the solicitors get this handsome?

Song as Old as Rhyme by I_did_not_mean_to and Dimdiamond Ori - a popular but elusive author - is invited to a reading in a small bookshop. He's nervous to be perceived by his audience and thankful that his best friend Fíli accompanies him, backed-up by his stern uncle Thorin.

Meanwhile, Bilbo Baggins - proud owner of the said bookshop - can't wait to surprise his employee and friend with a reading from her favourite author. How will all these people fare when their most intimate longings and their jealously guarded secrets of loneliness and existential fear starting clashing?

(Take Me Back To) The Night We Met by LordOfTheRazzles and MiraHerondale On a night when The Green Dragon Inn is out of vacancy, Bilbo Baggins opens up his home to a trio of displaced and rain-soaked dwarves. The two children of the bunch are happy to have a temporary home away from the rain, but their uncle, Thorin, sees it only as a debt to be repaid.

A Thief's Plan by Jana_CaisdeShips and Sunshroom42 Bilbo and Thorin have been married about a year, but their relationship is passing throught some issues. Bilbo is missing his king, and Thorin is overworking himself because Erebor is finally being repopulated. Nori and Dwalin are tired of this situation and do something about it.

Three Bracelets and a Loaf of Bread by Frosticenow and Ragsweas Dis works hard with and for her people. Even if little dwarflings are being spoiled by their adad (father).

A Total Knockout by CullenDraws and lukarian Dwarven Culture/Customs that confuse other races, in which Bilbo gets to experience a dwarven greeting firsthand

The Trouble with Little Hobbits by thehufflepuffhobbit and sandwich11213 Bilbo and Thorin accidentally agree to watch four young hobbits at once. They are not prepared for the chaos.

The Unexpected Collaboration of Bilbo and Lobelia by Milliethekitty27 and StarDryad When Bilbo hears someone talking shit about his husband and nephew, he has to work with the one person he’d never thought he’d work with again to get rid of them.

Well, at least Lobelia might stop stealing his spoons.

#the hobbit fic #thauc22

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brunchbitch · 8 months

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thought i would do an update since it's been a while!

9/27/23

things are going well with settling in to seattle! i'm doing lots of wedding stuff - got measured for my dress and had a makeup trial last week so it's starting to feel real! 10 months from today! next steps are sending out save the dates and deciding on catering, which will be fun bc we get to taste test everything.

a is doing well! he is taking a creative writing course that starts this week, and hockey starts this week as well. the seattle kraken have an adult league with over 100 teams (!!). he had tryouts (i almost wrote auditions lol) a couple weeks ago and got placed in the second highest division! i'm excited to go see some games, but the first one is tomorrow night at 10:45!!!! so if that's any indication of average game times, maybe i won't make it lol.

it has been raining every day for about five days now... it's reminding me of one of the hardest parts of living in seattle. i need to invest in a happy lamp and get some vitamin d.

as for the job front, i'm feeling frustrated and, before calling the DOH this morning, very confused about my path towards being a licensed independent clinical social worker (licsw). the requirements are pretty different in seattle. you start out getting licensed as a social worker associate advanced (lswaa), which basically means i have the necessary education but haven't gotten required post grad supervision to apply for the next level, which is a licensed advanced social worker (lasw). i'm required to obtain 3200 hours of supervised experience under an licsw which, full time, would be about a year and a half. then i apply to be an lasw, and once i'm approved i can take my sw generalist exam. THEN to become an licsw, i need 4000 additional supervised hours (~2 years full time). so 3.5 years working full time before i can get my licsw, and then have to take the clinical exam. in ma, it would've taken 2 years to get my licsw. i'm not sure why wa state requires so much more, but it explains why the pay ranges have been higher than what i expected.

i've been studying for the exam, bc that's what would be the next step in boston. so that was wasted time lol. hopefully some of it will stick in my brain so i'm not starting from square one when i start studying again in ~a year and a half. so now i really need to just focus on getting a job. i've had one interview and they never even got back to me. i probably would've turned down the job anyway (not exactly what i was looking for - a lot of independent time and not much of an ability to collaborate with other social workers, which i think is important being a new grad), but it still would've been nice to be offered the job lol. i've been getting so discouraged but trying to remind myself that something will work out eventually. even if i hate the job, i can stick it out until i get my supervised hours at least. and then i can look elsewhere.

i have a screening today for a job that is pretty close by my house. it's a primary care center that serves a lot of people who have high resource needs. i was hoping for a more acute setting (like inpatient hospital), but it does seem some of the patients would be pretty acute. so we'll see how the screening goes.

mental health is good - i've really appreciated being able to see L again. still smoking a shit ton, which concerns her, but trying to do better this week.

luna and lia are good - they've definitely adjusted. lia is sleeping on top of her cat tree right now hehe. unfortunately luna is getting a dental done at the vet right now and she had to have two tooth extractions :(. she's had several extractions before due to resorptive lesions, but the last few years her teeth have been good so i was hoping they wouldn't have to take any out. so she'll be on pain medication for a few days, but she's been through that before. i'm going to shower her with love when she gets home!

#update #personal #l #a #social work

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thepaintedlady00 · 1 year

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Nightshade

Chapter 1: The Tigers Stripes

OC Intro | Chapter 2

Hi! So sorry for the extra long wait for literally everything. 😂 I was getting back on track after the holiday and then immediately got sick so I’ve been struggling to edit and whatnot. But, I’ve been feeling better so hopefully I’ll be able to hop back into the swing of things. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy the first chapter! 🥰

Aldo credit for restaurant name used goes to @anastacia-lynn. They've got their own Sweetbitter fic that is amazing so far, so go check it out! ❤

TW: Mentions of cancer treatments & hospitalization, language, drinking, vague mentions of drugs.

This city was the most beautiful when it was bathed in rain. Something about seeing the lights distorted by the heavy drops of liquid, the colors reflecting in the puddles and pools that formed on the pavement, just made New York seem so ethereal. I’d lived here most of my life, moved around a few times when I was younger but I always seemed to end up back in the city. It was hardly perfect, always loud and busy with that big city smell, but it was home. Though it’d been difficult to get by most of the time, the opportunities the city had to offer kept me and my brother rooted here, for the time being at least.

“How’s the weather today?” A weak voice asked from behind me. The faint beeping of the machines pulled me back to the small, sterile room. Through the hospital window the city looked smaller, much less like the ethereal place I’d been imagining in my daydream and more like a cage of buildings and strangers and noise.

“Rainy,” I answered, turning around to offer the man in the hospital bed a smile. Half conscious and buried under a pile of thin white hospital blankets my brother smiled back at me.

Peter shook his head and chuckled. "That'll be fun for you to get home in."

Rolling my eyes I sat down in the chair beside him. "I'm sure I'll manage."

"You've been through worse," he agreed, looking back at the older TV, hospitals didn't exactly have the best options when it came to entertainment, but I supposed we were lucky to have a room with a TV at all.

Time moved so sporadically it was odd to think of just how long we’d been in this place… staring at the same old TVs, but coming across old episodes of Pete's favorite renovation shows always managed to remind me. It had been four years since our dad died. Three since I dropped out of college and come home. Two since Peter was diagnosed with leukemia and one since he'd started being in the hospital more than out of it. Life hadn't been easy, even with the modest savings both of us had and our dad's half of a fairly well off bar. Peter and I never admitted it, but losing Dad was a tipping point of bad. Ever since it happened we both were just thrown to the chaos of life, chaos this city thrived in, and told we could either sink or swim. Lately we’d been sinking, but that was all about to change.

I held the small card in my hands, running the edge of my finger over the slight indentations of the writing in black pen. 22West was one of the most upscale restaurants in this city. It was a place I was well familiar with and so it was rather easy getting an interview with the manager.

Howard smiled widely as he greeted me at the door with a firm handshake. “Lena. It’s good to see you! Right this way, we’ll be speaking in my office.”

Most other potential employees would have been interviewed in the main area, but I wasn’t exactly like most people applying for a job here so Howard happily led me past the bar and towards his office. I could feel peoples eyes on me as they continued setting up for the long night of service and was thankful when the office door closed behind us.

“The place looks great, Howard.”

“Thank you,” he said as he sat down. “I have to say, I was surprised you called and more surprised when you asked me for a job.”

I shrugged. “It’s been a while since I had a steady job and I kinda need the money right now.”

Howard’s kind smile faded as he fussed with his pocket square, clearly anxious about bringing up this next part. “I heard about your brother's condition, I’m sorry you’re both going through so much.”

“Where did you hear about him?” I asked, only to receive a pointed look. With a scoff I nodded. “I should have guessed.”

“But, a job. I’m afraid I don’t have any server positions open currently.”

“I’ll take anything Howard. Fuck, I’ll even do dish.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I think we can do a bit better than that. You have the skill for any of our positions, why don’t we just play the field a bit?”

“Play the field?” I asked with a laugh. “When did you start getting into sports talk?”

“It’s a recent development, one I am finding I’m not very good at.”

“So, you want me to just find what needs done and jump in?”

Howard nodded. “Yes. You’ll mostly be back in the kitchen, but if there’s an opening up front I’ll be the first to offer it to you.”

“I think I can handle that. When do I start?”

That had been a week ago and now tonight was the night, the beginning of the real test. "What time do you need to go?"

I looked up at my brother's pale face, his tired eyes moving from the TV to look over at me. "Not for another hour."

"You should head home. You know, shower and and fix your hair, all that fun shit."

"And leave you here all by your lonesome?" I asked rubbing the rainbow beanie covering his patchy head. "Never."

"Lena," he sighed with a smile. "Go. I'll be fine on my own for a night."

"Seriously, Pete, I'm good."

"You're freaking out." He stated. I hid many things well, but never from him. "This is a lot, everything considered… You want this, Me, you've wanted this for years before all this shit."

He wasn't wrong. He hardly ever was. Finally I looked at him and nodded. "Fine, but call me if you need me. Please?"

He ruffled my hair. "Promise. Now get out of here. And tell Isaac I said hi!"

I pressed a quick kiss to his head and hopped out of the chair, grabbing my coat and bag before making my way to the nurses station. Lisa, one of the regular nurses on my brother's rotation, smiled at me. "Finally taking a breather?"

"Got work to get to now." I gestured to his room. "If anything happens, call me?"

"Of course," she assured me with a light squeeze of my hand. "Now relax Lena, and have a good night!"

I laughed as I started off toward the elevator. "I doubt it'll be any worse than usual."

Rain slid down the windows of the cab as we slowly made our way through New York traffic to my apartment building. It was sort of an in between place at this point. I rarely stayed there longer than a night or two when Peter was in the hospital and even when he was out I usually stayed at his place, just in case he needed me. I paid the cabbie and ran up the steps, trying not to get drenched in rain. I waved to the landlord as I passed by and quickly unlocked my door, wincing at the loud creaking noise it made when it opened. The pungent smell of dust and vague cleaning materials filled my nose instantly, making my head swirl with the suddenness of it. I tossed my bag onto the couch and hung my leather jacket carefully off the back of it, my fingers tracing the worn stitched on letters as I moved to my bedroom and quickly stripped to shower.

The hot water took a minute to kick in, but once I stood beneath the blistering spray of it my tense muscles finally began to loosen. Sleeping on hospital pull outs or in their old chairs was never comfortable, and my body certainly felt it. I tried not to think about the worst case scenario that tonight could turn into as I dried my hair and rummaged through my clothes for the appropriate attire that the high scale restaurant demanded. Not thinking something was difficult when you were about to walk face first into it, wearing clothes that fit too well and left no room to hide among the fine fabrics.

I didn't look like me, I decided when I looked into the mirror to pull my hair back. I looked like someone else… Someone that I might have been a long time ago but now… I shook my head and took a deep breath. There’s no time to turn back now. I reminded myself. Wrapping my leather jacket around my shoulders, breathing in the faint cologne and musk of alcohol and smoke, I let the nervous doubt fade. Peter was right, I wanted this… I'd studied and worked for something similar once. It was time to sink or swim, and I sure as hell wasn't going to sink now.

Jake hated the rain. He hated the way it smelt, hated how it lingered on every sidewalk and street, hated how it soaked through his clothes making him feel even more smothered than he normally did. He rode his bike quickly through the alleyway and nodded to his coworkers as they all huddled near the door smoking. Scott smirked at him and tilted his head to gesture to his pants. “Not the best weather for riding.”

“No shit,” he replied, grumpily as he swung the bike over his shoulder and shoved his way past them into the kitchen. Prep was in full swing, white coats weaving around him and yelling profanities and complaints as he passed by. Normally he’d slow down, take his time to really piss the cooks off with his big bike and sarcastic attitude, but he wasn’t in the mood for it today. Instead he walked up the stairs quietly and plopped his bike into the spot he always did, stripping in the back room and throwing his locker door open.

Light footsteps echoed behind him as he tossed his wet clothes inside and grabbed his work attire. The steps stopped beside the door and a soft sigh, one he knew far too well, filled the room. “You’re early today.”

Jake gave her a quick glance. Simone was ready for work, of course she was, her blonde hair tucked neatly into the ponytail and her clothes pristine, not a wrinkle in sight. It was her stiff face that made him roll his eyes and return his attention to his task. “You’re the one always on my ass for being late.”

“I’m just making an observation, Jake,” she replied, voice soft but he could pick up on the scolding in her tone.

“Well fuck off and go observe someone else.”

Simone set a hand onto his shoulder, the action one that should have made him melt… that had always made him before, but today made his body stiffen. “I’m worried about you. Ever since… You’ve been acting differently.”

The knot that had settled into Jake's stomach tightened as he shook her hand off. “I’m fine.”

Her silence was cold, bringing an uncomfortable shiver up his spine. "Is this about Tess?"

At the mention of her name Jake felt a rush of emotions fill him. Frustration, regret, anger. He looked at Simone and laughed. "Jesus, not everything is about that."

"Jake-"

“I said I’m fine.” He snapped. The silence was deafening for a moment before he sighed. “I’m fine, Simone.”

She nodded, a sadness filling her eyes that made him open his mouth to apologize, but she spoke first. “I know that things have been strained between us since she… Left, and I know you’re probably angry with me for my part in it." She shook her head, clearly frustrated. "I’m just looking out for you, like I always have and always will.”

“I’m not angry with you. She went behind both our backs and tried to get you fired. What happened it's on her. I'm just…” If he were to tell the truth Jake didn’t know what he was anymore. It had been simple before, all of it. He would work this uptight job, he’d keep his coworkers at arms length, he’d be with Simone if she that was what she wanted and if not he’d find some stranger to pass the time with, he’d get fucked up and go home and then do it all over again. It had been enough for him before and then something had happened. Something had changed. He sighed and buttoned up his shirt. “I’m just tired.”

Simone merely watched him for a moment before she, wordlessly, helped him with his tie. She smiled at him and stroked her hand across his cheek. “You can always talk to me. You know that right?”

“Of course I do.” He answered, leaning into her touch, hoping to feel the comfort and calm it usually brought him.

Jake watched her walk away, the knot growing as she vanished from sight. He felt nothing. No matter how much he drank or smoked, no matter how much attention Simone or anyone else gave him it never changed. He was numb. Numb to the city that once entertained him, numb to the things he once took some small measure of pleasure in and most of all numb to the reality of what it meant. He slammed his locker shut and ran his hands through his hair with a sigh. Pull yourself together.

Nicky greeted him as he slid behind the bar and grabbed a rack of glasses to clean. “Ready for a long night?”

He shrugged, putting on his normal unbothered uninterested front. “Always am."

“Well, if the gossip floating around today is true it's going to be real interesting.”

“Howard got more bullshit up his sleeve?” He questioned with a huff.

“Don’t know how much of it will turn out as bullshit, but we’re getting a new friend today.”

Jake’s hands paused in their movements as he glanced up at Nicky with a raised brow and a smirk. “New friend? He actually hired someone then?”

Nicky nodded. “Remember that girl from last week?”

"The one he took to his office?"

"Yeah. He said she was more than qualified."

He hummed quietly as the quick glance he’d gotten of her replayed in his mind. He hadn't really had a chance to get a good look at her, but those that did, Sasha mostly, raved about how she looked like fun. “She must've been real impressive for him to hire her on the spot,” Jake joked. “What time does she get in?”

Nicky looked at his watch. “Any minute now.”

“This’ll be fun,” he replied, with a grin. Maybe that was all he needed to get rid of whatever his fucking problem was, something fresh and fun to toy around with. The kitchen doors opened and a flash of red filled his vision as the unfamiliar figure slid out into the open, pausing by the bar to look around. She was short, wearing professional looking attire, but the way she held herself was different… interesting. Her head turned and their eyes locked.

Most people would have looked nervous, scared even, on their first day in such a prestigious place, but not her. There was no hint of fear in her glimmering green eyes, nothing at all save for a mild annoyance he assumed was directed at him. She looked bored. Jake’s smirk widened as he watched her turn away from them and walk toward the noise of the rowdy family meal. This was exactly what he needed.

Isaac leaned up against the wall in the half covered alley, making light conversation with a few of his coworkers, as I approached. He looked away from them and smiled widely, opening his arms and practically swallowing me in them. “Lena! Took you long enough! I’ve been waiting forever.”

“Sorry,” I answered. “Had to dig these shitty clothes out of my closet.”

He chuckled, dark curls of hair twisting out from beneath his bandana. “Well you look fantastic!”

I gave him a look and rolled my eyes. “I look like a washed up pianist or something.”

Isaac bit his bottom lip to hold back his loud chuckle. “I think you look more like an unsuccessful magician but maybe that's just me."

“Shut up.” I swatted his shoulder and followed him inside, forcing my breath to remain deep and even as the familiar excited chaos of the kitchen raged around me.

It had been years since I’d heard the clamoring of voices and the sharpness of the knives and felt the heat of the industrial ovens and stovetops in full swing. I’d missed it far more than I thought. Isaac led me to the back room and knocked on one of the lockers with a smile. “This one's yours.”

Examining the empty space I tossed my bag inside and carefully shrugged off my jacket, hanging it up. “Where’s my shirt?”

“Howard has it.” I raised my brow at him, earning a quick shrug. “Don’t ask me why, I never know what he’s got going on in his head.”

“Great,” I muttered, closing the locker and turning on my heel, running into a solid body. Every inch of me tensed at the feel of an unfamiliar hand grabbing my arm.

“Careful,” the man said, steadying me. I looked at him, perhaps a bit too coldly, noting his neat brown hair and his wide dark eyes as he held his hands up innocently and gestured to the locker beside mine. “Sorry, I was just trying to squeeze behind you.”

I forced out a hot breath and shook my head. “It’s fine, you just startled me.”

He held his hand out to me with a smile. “I’m Will.”

“Lena.” I replied, shaking his hand firmly. “You Howards manager trainee?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“I’ve been trained to identify management,” I replied with a modest shrug.

He chuckled and nodded to Isaac. “She your trail?”

The burly man laughed loudly and shook his head. “Nope.”

Will's eyebrows scrunched together as he looked back at me with a tilt of his head. “Wait, you're not trailing anyone?”

“No, at least I don’t believe I am.”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Okay, well I… uh… I guess I can show you around, help you learn the ropes?”

I offered him a pat on the arm. “I’m good, but thank you for the offer. Do you know where Howard is?”

“He’s, uh, downstairs overseeing the family meal.”

“Thanks Will,” I said, sliding past him. “I look forward to working with you.”

I made my way through the kitchen and out the doors leading into the lobby. Everything looked so elegant and at the same time so boring. Nothing had changed about the posh space, not the tablecloths or the chairs or the glassware. It was all frozen in time, everything but the flowers. My eyes settled onto them for a moment, taking note of the tiny speck of new before I turned my head toward the bar, or more specifically the pair of blue eyes burning into me from behind it.

The man was tall, lean with messy dark hair and a cocky grin. He was attractive and he obviously knew it judging by the way his eyes unflinchingly took me in. I should have expected at least one cocky bartender, I thought to myself as I turned away from him and followed the noise deeper into the lobby. A long table was surrounded by the staff, all of them chattering over their plates of food telling jokes and bitching about how tonight was going to go. Everyone was too preoccupied to notice me, everyone but one woman.

Her eyes watched me closely, the plainness of her face revealing nothing outwardly while also telling me everything I needed to know about her. She would be a problem. Her blonde hair shifted as she tilted her head to the side, observant eyes trying to gather as much information on me as they could. She made herself look occupied by swirling the glass of her wine, looking at the liquid for a moment before looking back up at me with a soft smile. Soft and kindly as she appeared I knew better than to fall into such an obvious trap.

"Oooh, what's this?" A thickly accented voice cooed, pulling my attention away from the scrutinizing gaze of the blonde woman. The man was tall, bald with a long face and wide grin, two women moving to stand beside him, studying me with a similar look. "A baby tiger looking to earn her stripes?"

"This one already has stripes," Howard stated, moving toward the group quickly and handing me a neatly packed shirt. The group murmured among themselves, eyes darting between me and each other as Howard pulled a chair out for me and told them to take their seats.

The bartenders wandered back and took seats at the table where plates had already been made for them. The dark haired man sat beside the blonde woman and they shared a few hushed whispers before his blue eyes settled onto me and that shit eating grin returned. I rolled my eyes and focused on Howard as he began the quaint little meeting. A cocky bartender and a competitive shrew. Fucking great.

“It's good to see so many of you looking prepared for another night of excellent service." Howard regarded the group with a sarcastic look as he folded his hands behind his back.

"Is tonight not some kind of special occasion?" The light voice echoed from the blonde woman as she took a gentle inhale of the wine before taking a modest sip with a smile. "I highly doubt you'd bring out such an extravagant bottle for nothing."

"Excellent observation, Simone. It's a welcoming gift from the owner." Shit. Howard smiled down at me and poured me a glass of the rich crimson liquid. "As you are no doubt aware, we have a new member to the family. I trust we'll all be putting our best foot forward to show Ms. Harrow how things are around here."

I smiled politely, quickly examining the wine before taking a drink. "Thank you, Howard. I trust you’ll pass along my thanks to the owner as well for such a gracious welcome."

The woman, Simone, hummed quietly. "A bottle of 2002 Château Lafite Rothschild is quite a gift. I don't think I remember anyone else getting something so… Generous."

Yep. She was definitely going to be a problem. "2000 Château Lafite Rothschild. The 2002 is more acidic than this, fruity but a hair bitter. The temperature of the season resulted in riper grapes and thus the richness of this particular vintage."

"You know your wine," she said with a smile.

"I know enough," I replied with a modest smile. "There's always more to learn."

Howard cleared his throat and resumed control of the gathering, but Simone never took her eyes off me, not even when her companion turned to whisper something to her. I didn't let it bother me, not when I had bigger fish to fry. If the owner knew I was here, then there was a higher chance this whole thing could lead to far more horrifying individuals learning about my newfound job. It wouldn't come to that though, not if she kept her lips sealed, which she would… She'd give me that much respect.

After he’d finished his speech Howard set a hand on my shoulder and I could feel Simone’s eyes drinking the action in. “You’ll be in the kitchen tonight.”

“What does your chef think of that?” I asked cautiously, the last thing I wanted was to piss off the kitchen.

“He’s not exactly… excited, but I’m certain he’ll come around once he sees you in action.”

“That’s a risky play.” I smiled to myself. “It’s a good thing I’m so pleasant to be around.”

Howard only smiled as he turned to attend to his duties before opening, leaving me sitting at the table with the rest of the staff as they all murmured to themselves. I kept my head down, listening to the conversations going on around me before the man from earlier moved from his seat and dropped his dishes in front of me. I looked up at the now smug and smiling face giggling down at me. The Russian slid from his tongue smoothly, naturally, “Wash these, dish bitch.”

I looked back down as his friends piled their dishes on top of his, clearly amused by his antics. With a soft hum I finished the wine in my glass and stood, grabbing the dishes as I did, smiling at the stranger. “Since you asked so nicely.” The crude amusement dropped from his face the second he heard my reply in his native tongue. I gave him a pat on the cheek as I passed. “I’m a bitch with lots of tricks.”

As I walked toward the kitchen I could hear the loud ruckus of shock and awe behind me as the bald man reacted to the little I’d given him. The kitchen doors swung open, revealing Howard speaking to a very angry looking asian man whom I could only assume was the chef. I slid past them and toward the back jumping into washing the dishes I’d been carrying. The young man beside me regarded me with wide eyes as he held his hands out for the pile. “I can wash these.”

There were plenty of dishes already sitting in the sink, a pile that would only grow when everyone else decided to clean up after themselves. “Between the two of us this will go by quickly.” I smiled, diving into the dish pile. “Are you fast?”

“Fast?” He asked, nervously curious as he began tensely working beside me.

“At washing.”

The man chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

“Want to race?”

He nodded and for a few blissful minutes of nothing but simple dish washing and a low stakes wager I felt a spark, old and long dwindling, pulse to life in my chest. I’d really missed this. Being part of a kitchen wasn't unlike being part of a family, and though I had a family, blood and not, a part of me had been longing for this specific kind of closeness.

When there were only a few dishes left the man held his wet hand to me. “I’m Santos.”

“Lena,” I replied, stacking my last dish and shaking his hand. “It’s been a pleasure washing dishes with you.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “You didn’t have to help, but you did and I…” he smiled. “Just thanks.”

I bumped his shoulder with mine. “We’re a team, aren’t we? Teammates help each other out, even when they don’t have to.”

“So, you gonna be back here often or are you one of the servers?”

Looking back at the still pissed off chef I sighed. “Guess I should go find that out, huh?”

He glanced at the chef and made a face. “Good luck.”

Moving through the bustling kitchen I stood across the table from the chef and smiled. “I’m-”

“I don’t give a shit who you are,” he said, harshly. “Howard is insane if he thinks I’m just going to let you hop on the line and fuck up my shit. Are you even qualified to work in a kitchen?”

“I am,” I assured him, straightening my back. “You can put me on vegetables or something low risk until you think I can handle it but I promise I’m not here to slow down service, Chef.”

The man hummed, watching me closely with narrow eyes before he nodded to an open station. “You start there, but don’t get too comfortable because I’ll be watching. One mistake and you’re out.”

“Yes, Chef.” I moved to take my place, examining the workstation and the knives to make sure they were sharp and ready for the long night of fast paced service ahead. I took a deep breath, anticipation settling into my gut. Time to swim.

Jake was paying far more attention to his surroundings than he usually did. On a normal night he’d only really pay attention to the bar and the suckers that sat at it looking to drown their sorrows or be wowed by some flashing handwork and a decent drink. Anything beyond the long counter of bottles and ice was practically dead to him, but tonight was not a normal night, not anymore. Jake watched the kitchen doors, his head turning every time they opened hoping to see that flash of red hair and that bored face, but he never did.

Nicky chuckled at him the fifth time he turned. “She’s in the kitchen tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” Jake asked softly. “She on dish?”

“Line,” Nicky replied, meeting his expression of disbelief with a nod. “Apparently she’s killing it too.”

Jake smiled, serving his drink and moving past Nicky toward the kitchen doors. “This I gotta see. Cover me?”

“You got it.”

This girl was either a great liar or she was more experienced with the environment than he thought. He slid into the kitchen, quietly moving out of the way of servers and a few cooks as he moved to get a view of the redhead. She was chopping vegetables at an intensely quick speed, head down and eyes focused on her task. Scott watched her closely for a minute with a slightly impressed expression as she interacted with the rest of the kitchen with ease. This girl was absolutely in her element here and it only made Jake’s curiosity peak more.

When Scott barked some order at her she began moving toward him, an opportunity finally presenting itself. He let her slide past, keeping his head down as he slid directly behind her forcing her to turn into him when she moved to return to her work. Green eyes burned up at him as she stepped away from his chest with a low, surprised noise. “You should be more careful about where you walk, Lana.”

She responded quietly, “It’s Lena.”

“Right,” he said, taking a step forward, pushing her back into one of the counters as he slid past. “Sorry, it’s a hard name.”

He couldn’t see her face as he moved back toward the bar with some random rag, but he could feel her eyes follow him out the door. For the first time in weeks he felt alive, this Lena would do the trick. He’d have some fun and life would go back to normal. Soon the heat from her eyes faded under a new, colder gaze. Simone watched him from across the lobby, her face set in the expected smile and softness of a server, but her eyes held something Jake couldn’t quite place. Not jealousy, not anger… concern maybe.

The night dragged on for hours, and with each passing one Scott, the chef, pushed me harder and harder in an obvious test of my skill and limitations. As the service began to slow he settled in beside me, plating the last dishes with finesse and ease. “It seems I underestimated you.”

“I don’t blame you,” I admitted. “New additions to a well functioning kitchen are always a bit hard to navigate.”

“Where’d you study?”

I shrugged. “A bit of everywhere, I was part of an… extensive program.”

He nodded, the not answer one he thankfully chose to ignore. “Why here? With your skill you could easily find a place with a higher position available.”

“I didn’t finish my schooling,” I said. “Most places hiring for back of house positions want the whole shebang of experience.”

“Why’d you drop out?”

A lump caught in my throat as I sighed. “My dad died.”

Scott paused in his plating to look over at me with a knowing look. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, he lived a good life.” I smiled, fond memories filling my mind for a moment. “But, after he died there was a lot of stuff to work out and I just didn’t have time for both.”

“Well, I don't really know you, so I can’t really say much about your character or work ethics, but you didn't suck tonight.”

I laughed and nodded. “High praise, Chef. You gonna let me stick around then?”

“Eh, why not?” He teased before turning to the rest of the kitchen. “Alright everyone, that’s the last plate. Let’s close it down!”

I cleaned my station quickly, sliding back into place beside Santos and silently washing beside him. Isaac eventually joined us, leaning beside the sink and making light conversation while we worked. “You staying for drinks?”

“Fuck no,” I scoffed looking at him with a raised brow. “The last thing I need tonight is to play twenty questions with people.”

“Oh come on, Lena! Live a little!” Isaac smirked. “Tell her Santos!”

The man beside me shrugged, clearly shy. “I mean they open the bar up. You can get some pretty decent drinks.”

“Decent drinks,” Isaac agreed. “Come on. Please?”

“Not tonight, Isaac.” I wiped the water off my hands.

My friend whined but nodded. “Tomorrow?”

“Maybe.”

“I’m taking that as a yes!”

Santos and I walked to the back room together, changing in relative silence before he cleared his throat and offered his hand to me. “Have a good night, Lena.”

I shook it. “You too, Santos. See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

It was easy to sneak out the back door and grab a cab back to the hospital. Usually they didn’t let people in, but given the particular circumstance the nurses let me pass with smiles. “How’d tonight go?”

Lisa grinned. “I was gonna ask you that. He had a good night, though he’s being an absolute pain about resting.”

“Figures,” I joked.

“How was your first day?”

“Good,” I said simply. “Work is work.”

“Don’t I know it honey.” She gave my shoulder a squeeze as she passed. “Try and get that brother of yours to sleep!”

I smiled. “On it Lis!” The room was dark, save the light from the TV, still playing renovation shows, and the dim lights from the city outside. Peter sat up in his bed, eyes tiredly watching the TV as he repositioned his pillows. I knocked on the wall, alerting him to my presence. “Lisa’s pretty pissed at you for being up.”

Peter smiled. “She’s told me as much.” He patted the bed next to him, scooting over to make room for me. “How was work?”

“It was fine,” I said as I moved to join him in the bed. “The place hasn’t changed at all.”

“Figures. Maddie’s always been a bit set in her ways.”

“She knows I’m working there,” I said quietly.

Peter only nodded. “She is the owner, if anyone was gonna know it’d be her.”

“Yeah, she made a big show of it this morning.”

“Give ya and expensive bottle?”

“Oh yeah.”

He chuckled. “I bet everyone loved that. Did you make any new friends?”

I made a gagging noise. “New friends? Fuck no!”

Peter rolled his eyes and looked at me. “You gotta start being more friendly or you’ll be stuck playing scrabble with me every night.”

“I like scrabble.”

“You know what I mean,” he insisted.

“I've got friends, Pete.” I answered. “Prue and Quin, Isaac and Ozzy and all the others.”

“Work friends, Lena. People you can relate to about your fancy new job.”

“It’s not that fancy.”

Peter flicked my forehead. “Not the point dumbass. Just, try to make friends okay?”

I rubbed the now throbbing spot on my head. “Why are you so adamant about me getting all buddy buddy with people?”

“You’re gonna need connections in a place like 22West. I know it and so do you. It’s not the most cutthroat you’ve dealt with, but it’s still a competitive environment with plenty of people out to assume control.”

My mind flashed to Simone and her mumbling companion. “Point taken. I’ll try to be even more friendly tomorrow.”

“That’s all I ask.” He sighed, finally relaxing into the stiff mattress. “Now, how was your day?”

I smiled. "You were right. I did enjoy it a little bit."

He chuckled. "A little bit? Yeah right! Tell me about it, I'm all ears, little sis."

We only talked for a while longer before Peter dozed off beside me. Lisa poked her head in and gave me a thumbs up. As I lay beside my brother, watching the old episodes of his favorite shows I couldn’t help but smile. It was nice, being back in the swing of a kitchen… nice being reminded that life was more than hospitals and treatments and fear. I snuggled deeper into Peter's side, pulling his blankets up higher and closing my eyes. “Sweet dreams, Pete.”

The next day began much like the others. I stayed next to Peter for a while then I went home and freshened up before heading to the restaurant. This time when I entered people greeted me, the cooks were still not totally sold on the newcomer but they recognized me as someone that could at least do the job. Santos gave me a friendly wave as he prepped for a long night of dishes and grime and Scott gave me a nod as I passed by and headed up the stairs to get changed. A post it note was stuck onto my locker with Howards familiar and over the top handwriting telling me to help prep front of house this morning.

I donned the shirt and quickly made my way down to the lobby, ignoring the way everyone still stared at me as I polished glasses and began setting up the salt shakers at the tables, polishing each pair before moving to the next. Soft footsteps moved swiftly behind me and the tall blonde woman, Simone, reached over and grabbed one of the shakers to polish it. The stiff silence sent a chill of anticipation up my spine, but eventually she spoke, “You seem to be quite familiar with the intricacies of this place.”

A classic probe for information, I thought to myself as I remained focused on my task. “I have experience with this line of work.”

“Yes, Howard’s told me as much.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “What confuses me is why you’re here at all. We aren’t short staffed and truthfully Howard only interviews people for the fun of it. It’s rare that he actually hires someone, even more so that they’re hired on with no trails.”

“If you’re going to ask me what makes me special you’ll be sorely disappointed.” I replied with a soft laugh. “I’m not special at all. I’m just like everyone else that works here.”

Simone shook her head. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. Howard and the owner have expressed some kind of gratitude for you being here, that means something.”

“I know what it means,” I assured her.

“Then perhaps you could enlighten me?” Her tone was sweet, almost sickly so as she tilted her head at me.

I sighed. “Listen, I understand that my sudden appearance has disturbed the normal day to day of this place. People are bound to have questions, but I am not bound to answer them. I don't know you and honestly I am not exactly feeling inclined to pour my heart out to you and let you in on my deep dark secrets. I’m here to do the job I was hired to do, that’s it.”

She smiled, a gesture that was now clearly tense. “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“You don’t need to figure me out to do your job.” I replied. “And I don’t need to be coddled to do mine.”

“Alright then,” she said calmly, coldly.

“Thank you for your help,” I said as I took the now empty tray back to the kitchen and set it down on the counter.

The alley was not exactly the most comforting spot to sit in, but I needed a breather and it seemed like the quietest place. Simone wasn’t unique, she was actually incredibly textbook when it came to places like this. She banked on her knowledge and position in the hierarchy of the restaurant to get her what she wanted. What that was would be more unique to her rather than some generalized whole, but given what little I could gather from her in our short conversations she was looking for control. The only question that remained was why. Control for comfort or control for power?

"Tiger!" The bald man from yesterday sang, as he stepped out into the alley with an already lit cigarette, the two women from yesterday following him close behind. "I’ve finally cornered you! Did you think you could just speak Russian at me and disappear?"

“I was hoping.”

“You speak Russian?!” He shook me with a manic giggle.

"Among other languages," I replied in Russian.

His face lit up and he put a hand over his heart. "It feels like I am home again! You sound like my mother!"

I grinned. "A compliment I hope?"

"Absolutely!" he said, waving his cigarette dramatically. "My mother is the best person in the whole world!"

“Still think I’m a bitch?”

“Oh I’m certain you are,” he laughed. “I am Sasha.”

“I'm Lena.”

He shook his head, blowing a puff of smoke out of his pursed lips. “Too plain!” He pointed to me with his middle finger and smiled. “You are Tiger Bitch now.”

I laughed and shrugged. “Beats dish bitch I guess.”

Sasha wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gestured to the two women smoking beside him. “These lovelies are Ari and Heather.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, offering up my hand.

The first woman, Heather, shook it with a kind smile. Her tight curls bounced as she shifted on her feet. “You sure know how to make an entrance.”

The second laughed. “I will never forget the look on Simone’s face when you told her to fuck off.”

“She didn’t say that,” Heather said quietly.

“No, but we all knew that's what she wanted to say,” Ari argued. “Simone certainly read between the lines.”

I breathed out a soft sigh. “I’m guessing she’s not going to just let that go and leave me alone now?”

They all laughed and Sasha shook his head. “No, she’ll likely pester you twice as much now to try and get her little know it all prissy claws into you.”

“Great, that’s just what I need.”

“Oh don’t pout Tiger Bitch,” he cooed, stroking my hair. “If I had to bet on anyone being able to go toe to toe with her, it’d be you.”

“You just want to see a fight.”

He shrugged, mischief shining in his eyes. “I’m Russian. We always enjoy a good fight.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “It’d hardly be a fight. Simone has too much of a hold on things here. Sorry new girl, but I doubt you’d make a dent.”

“I think she’d get a few good hits in at least,” Ari added, digging into her pockets. “Need a pick me up?”

“No thanks,” I answered, the now distant memories of the rush whatever pills she had on her burning in my mind. “I’ve kicked shit like that.”

Ari groaned. “God you’re just like Sasha!”

“You’re sober?” I asked the bald man beside me as he snubbed out his cigarette.

“I am!”

“It’s only been like three months!” Heather reminded him.

He slapped her arm. “It still counts! How long have you been sober Tiger?”

“A while.”

Sasha hummed, examining my face closely. “You look like the type with some really fucked up past.”

I smiled. “Takes one to know one right?”

“You’re a cunt. I love it.”

Will’s head popped out of the back door and he sighed. “There you all are. Service starts in thirty minutes, let's get a move on.”

“Bossy bossy!” Sasha hissed, embracing Will in a tight hug. “Loosen up a bit or you’ll end up like Howard!”

“Or worse, Simone,” Ari said with a snicker.

Will rolled his eyes. “Well at least they’re not wasting time smoking and gossiping.”

“You love to gossip,” Heather chided as she moved past him.

“Not when we have service to prep for.” Will sighed at the crowd and nodded to me. “Don’t let these idiots get you into trouble.”

Each of them made offended noises as we moved through the back hall toward the lobby. “Thanks for the heads up, they seem like real rabble rousers.”

Scott had the kitchen in full swing by the time I’d washed my hands and gotten ready to hop into whatever position Scott wanted me in. He nodded to me. “You’re with me tonight, newbie. Try to keep up.”

I smiled. Finally something somewhat challenging. “Yes Chef.”

It was amazing how it had been years since I'd spent this much time in the fast paced chaos that was a professional kitchen yet my mind and body still remembered every step, every skill and ingredient that it needed to. All those years of study, all the years of sweat and tears and pain that I survived just to have this second chance of sorts… It was all made worth it when that tiny spark began to burn brighter in my chest. It was worth it as I finally began to feel how much I loved this. That was why I was here. Sure, I needed to start making steady money again, but I could do that anywhere… I wanted to be here, wanted to find this passion again.

The night was busy, just like the one before and likely the one to follow, but I kept up with the rush of food and orders and plating. I kept pace with Scott, who never outright praised my work, but looked over everything I did with an approving him. This was where I belonged, a hot and crazy kitchen putting my eager and skilled hands onto the food and sending it out to a crowded lobby of rich assholes willing to blow hundreds of dollars on anything we have them.

As soon as everything was cleaned up I snuck away to my locker, changing into a more comfortable T-shirt and holding my jacket tightly. My fingers ran over the peeling letters. Jack & Ozzy's. I smiled to myself. "Hope you're proud of me big man."

"There you are!" Isaac shouted from the doorway as he stormed towards me. "I was promised drinks."

"I made no such promise!" I reminded him as I pulled my jacket on. "You convinced yourself of my acceptance."

He shrugged. "Same thing. Come on, you're staying for at least one drink."

I signed and let him tug me into step beside him. "One drink. Then I'm outta here."

"Yeah yeah," he mocked. "Could you lighten up just a little?"

"Never." I smirked. "That'd make your life way too easy."

The first night Jake had been… Disappointed. It wasn't often he stuck around too long after service, he had far better places to be of course, but he did. All to see the new girl. He wasn't desperate, not in any sense of the word, if he wanted he could go to a random bar and pick up any girl he wanted. But he wanted this one. He wanted to get that bored look to twist into something more fun, wanted to pull that red hair into his hands, wanted to see just how much she'd give up.

When she hadn't come out with the cook that seemed to be closest to her he felt an irrational sense of frustration rise up into his chest. She'd not even bothered to show up, not even bothered to grace the waiting crowd with answers to their endless questions. It was impressive, or it would have been if he hadn't been so pissed off. He had to spend that whole night listening to them talk about her, the cook giving away nothing to any that asked. Even Simone couldn't seem to stop talking about her. This girl… Lena, was something else and Jake was fucking curious.

So when she slid out of the kitchen doors with the cook on her arm he smiled. He stayed off to the side, observing her as she sat down beside Sasha and gave the group her attention. Simone had already left with Howard like she always did and so now was the perfect time to see what the redhead was really made of. He pushed himself away from the dark corner and moved around the bar, giving Nicky a pat on the shoulder as he passed.

He practically shoved her cook friend out of the way and leaned toward her with a flirty grin. "What's your drink?"

I looked up into those pretty, shallow, eyes of his with a scoff. Who the hell does he think he is? He leaned forward, the chain around his neck almost dangling as he grew closer. I shrugged, giving him my best set of doe eyes. "What can you make?"

That smug, self assured smirk grew wider. "Anything you want."

"I'll just take something simple."

From behind him Isaac rolled his eyes at me. "Something simple then."

Sasha downed his drink and slid his glass toward the man with a smile, "Make me one too Jakey."

I leaned forward against the bar, if a game was what he was looking for I'd play. It'd been a long time since I'd seen a man like him humbled. "Jake? That's your name?"

He looked up at me, self assured and smug still, but his pupils flared when I spoke his name. "Yeah."

"Where'd you learn how to mix drinks?"

"Here and there. It's all about time and practice," he said coolly. "Most people struggle more with the attitude than the actual drink making."

"But not you?"

That smile grew. "Nah, I was born for this shit."

"Hmm."

“What?” The man asked, the cocky look on his face twisting into a challenge.

“I dunno, I just don't think it’s as impressive as you say it is,” I clarified sweetly.

"Maybe not, but this takes a lot of skill, and a bit of charm for good measure. Plus you gotta be good with your hands.” He winked at me.

I resisted the urge to laugh. "You think quite highly of your skills.”

The bartender beside him rolled his eyes and served Sasha another drink. "You can say that again."

The flamboyant Jake simply continued. “I'm very good at my job.”

"How good?"

His eyes flashed to mine, drinking in the shy body language I'd molded. "Is it a show you're hoping to get by batting those lashes of yours?"

I hummed softly. “I'm just curious. Maybe we could make a bet.”

“A bet?”

I stood from my seat, Isaac shaking his head in the corner as he fought against his laughter. I moved around to join them behind the bar and looked up at Jake with a fake look of innocent curiosity. “You make a drink, I’ll watch and then I’ll make it the same way, maybe even better.”

The challenge shined in his eyes as he leaned down closer to me. It was obvious he expected me to back up, to yield at least for a moment, because when I didn’t his smile faltered for a split second. “What will this prove?"

"How complicated bartending can be, and how good you are at it."

"What do I get when I win?”

“Fifty bucks.”

“A fifty dollar drink?” He questioned with an amused noise as he mulled the offer over.

Sasha rolled his eyes. “I’m bored! Take the bet and give us a show!”

Everyone else cheered and Jake’s smile widened as he stood up straighter. “Better pay attention, I won’t slow it down for you.”

“I think I’ll manage,” I assured him, leaning against the bar and turning my eyes to his hands as he gathered up his materials and got to work.

He was a skilled bartender, the fluid movements of his hands reminded me of Ozzy in his prime. Jake’s technique had an extra flare of elegance that I could only assume he’d adopted while working here to give the rich guests a bit of an extra show. His hands curled around each ingredient he used, every drink and garnish being added to the cocktail with finesse and precision. The drink itself was one I’d made a hundred times, the technique was simple enough to replicate. I looked up at him as he shook the drink with a wide grin and a quick wink before he poured it into the glass and added the final touches.

He picked it up and handed it to me, far too cocky and overconfident. “You want to just give me the money and save yourself the embarrassment?”

I took a sip of the drink, light and fruity with a decadent aroma. “Not a chance.”

Jake chuckled and moved around the bar, sitting in my vacated seat beside Sasha. I smiled at him, sliding my jacket off the shoulders, slow and deliberately timed. His eyes shamelessly rolled down my body, fixing on the tiger tattoo on my arm with a curious smirk. Isaac gave my shoulder a squeeze as he moved past with a quick and quiet, “Try not to embarrass him too bad.”

This was going to be fun.

***

Jake settled in his seat, fixing his attention on the new girl. His curiosity rolled around in him like an ever growing ball the more she spoke. Howard had hired her on the spot, something that happened, well, never, and judging by the way she confidently jumped into the fast paced position she knew what she was doing. Still, with all that restaurant knowledge she seemed to have, she was just as innocent and easy to win over as the other women before her. This was his turf and he certainly had an easy win in the bag.

He watched her slowly remove her jacket, knowing full well the play she was throwing out, but still he looked anyway. She was attractive, soft looking skin and big doe eyes, certainly the type he was used to drawing in for some fun. The tiger tattoo was a bit surprising, bold against her skin and large enough that it was certain to be seen. She gathered the same ingredients together, and then flashed him a smile, her eyes shifting from the slightly bored and innocent to confident and fierce in a blink.

As soon as she started to make the drink he was shocked. The way she moved was mesmerizing, everything deliberate and sensual, drawing everyone's attention and praise with complete ease. She was fast, hands moving through the steps with unfaltering grace and what she lacked in finesse she made up for in her charisma and flare. This was not her first time making a drink.

“I think this is what they call a hussle,” Scott observed with a laugh as he settled into the seat beside him.

Sasha was overjoyed. “Oh I like this bitch more and more every minute!”

Once she began shaking the drink Jake couldn’t help but glance at the way her tits bounced beneath her deep cut T-shirt, and when he managed to tear his eyes away from them he was met with a wide grin and a playful wink. Fuck. He thought as an unfamiliar feeling washed over him. Sure he was impressed with her, but it was more than that… something that he hadn’t felt in a long time, a spark that could easily turn into a wildfire if he left it uncontrolled and that was something he absolutely refused to allow.

She slid the drink across the bar to him, leaning over to give him a generous view down her shirt. Jake silently took a drink, the sweetness of the cocktail washing over his tongue in an instant. Fucking… She held her hand out, batting her eyelashes as she waited. “I believe I’m owed a crisp fifty dollar bill.”

He fished it out of his jacket and shook his head with an amused scoff. “Where’d you learn how to do all that?”

With a modest shrug she folded the bill delicately as she replied, “I'm a woman of many talents.”

"And mysteries."

"Especially mysteries."She smiled again bright and mischievous, placing the money between her teeth as she pulled her jacket back on.

God damn. “It’s hardly fair to hussle a coworker on your second day.”

“Yeah, or maybe you just need to be more careful about who you bet, Jerk.” He chuckled at her use of his own words against him.

“It’s Jake.”

She clicked her tongue and held his money in between her fingers. “Right. Sorry, it’s a tough name.” The audacity of this woman… He was impressed, infuriated as well but impressed. She turned to Isaac as he walked back out of the kitchen and waved the cash around. “Dinners on me tonight. Or, I guess, it’s on the master bartender.”

Isaac shook his head. “You gotta stop hustling people you delinquent.”

"If you're gonna be uptight about it I'll share dinner with another delinquent."

Sasha's hand shot up. "Please, Tiger Bitch! I am a delinquent, take me in and let me suckle at your victorious teets!"

The new girl rolled her eyes but grabbed Sasha by the jacket and pulled him with her out the front door. Isaac hurried after them. "Wait, I take it back! Please buy me dinner!"

Jake looked down at the drink in front of him and scoffed. "Fuckin bitch."

Nicky laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day a woman kicked you down a peg. I think I'm starting to like the new girl."

"She certainly makes things interesting."

"Heading home?"

"Later," Jake said, downing the rest of the drink and standing. "I gotta brush up on my tiger taming."

Nicky shook his head as he began cleaning the bar up. "I hope she tears you up."

"Me too."

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