#finally trudeau also got some love | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Mobile US users spent an average of 115.8 minutes on Tumblr app monthly.

#finally trudeau also got some love

venussaidso · 2 months

Text

who tf do ketu men frequently date? 🧍🏼

so i decided to check the charts of ex/current partners of some selected well known ketu men.

See, Timothee Chalamat having dated Rahu and Jupiter girls kinda validates my theory of Ketu men going for these planetary archetypes. I also see Moon and Mercury nakshatra women.

He dated Shatabhisha ASC, Vishakha Moon Lourdes Leon. Was with Eiza Gonzalez who has Shravana Sun & a possible Purva Bhadrapada Moon. His iconic pairing with Lily Rose Depp who's Rohini Sun & Swati Moon and Vishakha ASC. And finally Kylie Jenner -- Ashlesha Sun, Swati Moon.

Avan Jogia, who is Ashwini Moon, is dating Punarvasu Moon Halsey -- and she also has Hasta Sun AND Swati ASC. He's also dated Zoey Deutch who is a Vishakha Sun. He dated Swati Sun Cleopatra Coleman. He had a thing with Vishakha Moon Miley Cyrus 💀

Ben Barnes, who is Ashwini Moon & Magha Sun, dated Ardra Moon Tamsin Egerton. Then Shatabhisha Moon Felicity Jones. And also Vishakha ASC AND Hasta Moon Julianna Hough.

Possible Magha Moon Robert Sheehan with his long-time girlfriend Revati Sun Sofia Boutella.

Idris Elba's -- who's Magha Moon -- current wife is a Punarvasu Sun AND a Jyestha Moon mwahaha.

Ashwini Moon Benedict Cumberbatch's wife is a Purva Bhadrapada Sun AND Rohini Moon.

Ashwini Moon Michael C. Hall's first wife had Revati Moon, name's Amy Spanger. Then he married Jyestha Sun Jennifer Carpenter who ALSO has Punarvasu Moon and a Hasta ASC.

Ashwini Moon Matt Dillion had dated Vishakha Moon Denise Richards. Also Punarvasu native Cameron Diaz. And I believe his recent partner is Vishakha Moon Roberta Mastromichele. He'd dated Ashlesha ASC, Swati Moon and Shravana Sun Heather Graham.

Magha Moon Paul Wesley was married to Hasta Moon Torrey DeVitto. He was also engaged to Punarvasu native Phoebe Tonkin.

Ashwini Sun Machine Gun Kelly (who also dated Punarvasu native Halsey), was with Ashlesha Moon Megan Fox. Daniel Day Lewis' wife is a Revati Moon. Cilian Murphy, who I also believe to be Ketuvian, is married to a Jyestha Moon woman. Christian Bale's -- who's Ashwini Moon -- wife may have Revati Sun (she may also be Ashwini Sun if she was born past noon).

And Ketu men also go for Ketu women. Justin Trudeau's wife is an Ashwini Sun. Machine Gun Kelly dated Ashwini native Amber Rose.

Ashwini Moon Milo Ventimiglia's wife, Jarah Mariano, is a Jyestha Moon. He's dated Ashwini Moon Alexis Bledel and also Hayden Panettiere who's also an Ashwini Moon with Magha Sun.

Ashwini Moon Boris Kodjoe's wife, Nichole Ari Parker, is a Mula Moon with a Hasta Sun.

Magha Sun Andrew Garfield was with Magha ASC, Swati Sun and Hasta Moon Emma Stone. He also dated Mula Sun Shannon Woodward. He'd been with Ashwini Sun and Vishakha Moon Phoebe Dynevor. Also Ardra Sun Alyssa Miller. He got on with Ashlesha Asc & Purva Bhadrapada Moon Rita Ora too.

Mula Sun, and confirmed Ashwini Moon, Jared Leto, had dated Vishakha Moon Scarlett Johansson. Then Ashley Olsen who is literally a Magha Moon with Ashlesha ASC. He'd been with Punarvasu ASC Cameron Diaz. He was also linked with Ardra Sun Lindsey Lohan. Had an iconic love struck moment with Shatabhisha Sun, Hasta Moon Lupita Nyong'o. I think Valery Kauffman too who's Rohini Sun and Shravana Moon. Reminder that he's a Krittika Asc, he's a Sun nakshatra and my god he's got a running list of hookups I can't deal with right now so Valery is where it ends. It's honestly giving Leonardo DiCaprio lmfao who's also a Sun nakshatra (can't stand solar males💀).

If I stumble on more Ketu men, I'll probably keep editing this post. But there's a pattern here. It's Rahu, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Ketu nakshatras that frequently pop up in the women they date. Honorable mentions are Sun and Mars nakshatras. Seriously, I find this fascinating.

129 notes · View notes

richincolor · 3 months

Text

New Releases for January 30, 2024

The four new releases we found this week are filled with poetry, murder, romance, and a little more murder of the fantastical variety.

Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology edited by Amber McBride Taylor Byas, & Erica Martin HarperCollins

Starring thirty-seven poets, with contributions from acclaimed authors, including Kwame Alexander, Ibi Zoboi, and Nikki Giovanni, this breathtaking Black YA poetry anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin celebrates Black poetry, folklore, and culture.

Come, claim your wings.

Lift your life above the earth,

return to the land of your father’s birth.

What exactly is it to be Black in America?

Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it’s grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.

Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.

Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.

Edited by Taylor Byas, Erica Martin, and Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner Amber McBride, Poemhood will simultaneously highlight the duality and nuance at the crux of so many Black experiences with poetry being the psalm constantly playing.

Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill

Delacorte Press

Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Amir never gets an answer to his question, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch downstairs—and Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of the murder of a rich white girl? All of New Orleans agrees, the case is open and shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, it doesn’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but his half brother knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving Amir’s innocence will repair the rift that’s always existed between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

Just Say Yes by Goldy Moldavsky Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Jimena Ramos had no idea she was undocumented.

Now she’s seventeen, and she needs to figure out a way to stay in New York City, the only home she can remember. There’s only one possibility that will get her a green card quickly enough: Jimena is going to find an American to marry her.

She’s got one excellent candidate: Vitaly, her next-door neighbor and friend, the only person she trusts with her secret. But Vitaly’s got his own plans for the future. He’s a definite no.

So Jimena tries online dating. She decides to approach this marriage like a business transaction. She figures out a plan that just might save her and make her a citizen at last.

But of course, she can’t stop thinking about Vitaly.

These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

A teenage sorcerer’s apprentice must solve her boss’s murder in order to prove her innocence in this twisty, magic-infused murder mystery perfect for fans of Knives Out and The Inheritance Games .

Being an apprentice for one of the world’s most famous sorcerers has its challenges; Tabatha Zeng just didn’t think they would include solving crime. But when her boss, the infamous fortuneteller Sorcerer Solomon, predicts his own brutal death—and worse, it comes true—Tabatha finds herself caught in the crosshairs.

The police have their sights set on her and Callum Solomon, her murdered boss’s youngest son. With suspicion swirling around them, the two decide to team up to find the real killer and clear their own names once and for all.

But solving a murder isn’t as easy as it seems, especially when the suspect list is mostly the rich, connected, and magical members of Sorcerer Solomon’s family. And Tabatha can’t quite escape the nagging voice in her head just how much can she really trust Callum Solomon?

Nothing is as it seems in this quick-witted and fantastical murder mystery.

#young adult books #new releases #book lists

24 notes · View notes

dearest-painter · 11 months

Note

Yandere Johnny Vincent, Jimmy Hopkins, Beatrice Trudeau and Pete Kowalski dating a deaf reader

Okay I got you, mind you i am not deaf or hard of hearing so if I accidentally stereotype something tell me. Also I’m sorry if you were waiting long I just checked my inbox.

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship, abusive behavior, abusive relationship, Some are platonic and some are romantic, Reader is deaf but I am not so these are based off of all the things I’ve seen or heard from others while trying my best not to make stereotypes, Jimmy and Johnny threatening people, Johnny and his gang beat the shit out of someone, all of them are separate, already established relationship, it’s not specified what type of sign language it is but it’s ASL bc I think Bullworth is in America in the game, if I need to add anything please do tell me

Johnny Vincent

-He loves you all the same but he learns sign language for you. It takes some time but he learns it just for you, he also makes the other greaser learn sign language as well since your now his lover.

-He sometimes forgets your deaf but he immediately remembers after he tries to talk to you, he knows you can read lips he just feels very bad about it so.

-He’s sorta pleased that you can’t hear because he can say all the obsessive things that you don’t understand since he does it while you two are cuddling.

-If anyone tries to make fun of you for being deaf he and the other greasers are going to jump them. No one gets away with insulting you.

Jimmy hopkins

-At first he found it annoying but he quickly got over it as this was your life so he learnt sign language. It took him VERY long to understand but he got the hang of it, he still messes up every so often

-He will stab or fight a kid for you, just sign to him that someone made fun of you and their apologizing their best in sign language while sobbing with Jimmy behind them. NO ONE disrespects you.

-Gary can’t even say a joke about you without Jimmy punching him in the fucking teeth. Gary just rolls his eyes at you because at least he doesn’t get his ass best for that.

-He’s a pretty calm Yandere so he doesn’t mind you not hearing him but sometimes he wishes you could hear him, he knows that their really isn’t anything he can do but wish but he’s content with using sign language.

Beatrice Trudea (She’s platonic)

-She already knew sign language so it wasn’t hard for you to talk in sign language.

-She can’t do much as she’s a nerd but she makes sure you don’t feel bad about it. She does get some revenge in the middle of the night for you though.

-The nerds are okay with you but they get annoyed since you can’t hear them, though she will beat all of their asses if they insult you. Even if their her only friends she’ll make sure they respect you!

-She pays Jimmy to fight people for you as she wants to make sure the people who attacks or insult you understand that you don’t get hurt.

Pete Kowalski(Platonic)

-he takes so long to actually finally understand sign language. He doesn’t mean to be rude but it just because he forgets.

-He knows that he can’t do anything so he pays someone else to do it. He doesn’t want you hurt in anyway.

-Gary bullies you but Jimmy bitch slaps him. Jimmy just protect you because he feels bad for you since your deaf. Pete is happy that Jimmy will protect you.

-Usually he uses notes to talk to you but he also uses sign language of course, he just finds notes more easy and also he forgets how to use sign language time to time.

#yandere #please don’t do this #obession #unhealthy #platonic yandere #yandere platonic #gn reader #romantic yandere #✉️mail arrived✉️#genderfluid enity answers!#yandere bully #bully game x reader #x gn reader #yandere x gn reader #gender neutral y/n #yandere x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader

26 notes · View notes

moregraceful · 2 years

Note

in honor of gsw winning the championship …. may i ask for spare librarian!steph au headcanons

for u anon, anything. also congrats to the dubbies for pulling it off, every photo of steph crying got me in my 🥺 feelings and i would have reblogged them all but my brain was liquifying so i had to go to bed.

very important headcanons:

steph has librarian drip, which means he theoretically WOULD look cool if he were not also an upstanding government employee so instead he just looks super nerdy while wearing colorful clothes. regardless, when he goes to like ala annual or cla or something, all the honeys and the homies are like 😍 😍 😍 bc librarians are thirsty but he is like slightly clueless abt it bc he’s too busy arguing abt the stringent nonpartisanship to nazis feelings comfortable in your librarian pipeline.

bc of his librarian nerd drip, he ends up on a librarian thirst insta (i don’t know if these actually exist as i stay away from librarian insta bc they are all insane but i assume someone has ranked the library journal movers and shakers by how hot they are at some point or another. maybe it is like. a government employee thirst insta like back in the day when tumblr used to get in their feelings about trudeau/obama lol wow this parenthical went on a tangent). ANYWAY he’s on a librarian thirst insta and people are like oh my god,,,,,,,, but he’s dumb and gay so he doesn’t understand why people keep trying to hit him up on his bookstagram where he posts pictures of his programs and lil book reviews

klay obvi also does not get it bc he is so fully offline except to constantly post insta stories of how happy he is to be out in the great pacific ocean, his mother and his reason for living, while doing zero things for engagement otherwise, but he also kind of gets it bc he thinks steph is hot. like steph is a nerd but klay is so gone on him, the like constant exhaustion and trying to persist in living a joyful life despite having to attend city council meetings and seeing how the government fails its most vulnerable citizens again and again is very attractive to klay tbh

klay takes steph out on his boat one day and he posts a pic of steph lying in the sun and it is ACCIDENTALLY a thirst trap (for klay primarily but also other people) but it gets like 900 likes and klay like doesn’t even notice bc he’s so wildly offline. instagram is for boat pictures ONLY

buster posey sees the photo and all the comments bc he follows klay i guess and he thinks it’s a deeply funny photo and that all the comments are hilarious. he screenshots many of them to embarrass steph with and forwards the post to idk kevin gausman over in toronto bc kevin appreciate a good librarian thirst trap. and kevin thinks it’s very funny and shows it to all the guys working in his library, who are the youthful and joyful toronto raptors, and they go nuts

and that’s how steph curry, noted librarian, becomes an international sex librarian symbol

i hope this satisfies anon!!! congrats again to the golden state gays for winning the final — that’s what love and friendship gets u babey!!!

#🎶 i lost my head in san francisco waiting for the fog to roll out but i found it in a raincloud it was smiling down 🎶#noted librarian steph curry #unfortunate birdcage fanfictions #i will put this under a cut momentarily i am just writing this on my ipad and have not yet figured out how to add a cut on the app lmao #anon #rpf tag for ts #ok it's under a cut thank you for your patience!!

6 notes · View notes

junikshanasar · 3 years

Text

bnha chapter 317 thoughts

haha b o i

did I speak too soon?

I spoke too soon. Also, yay! nagant is alive (barely)

mm well Deku has officially turned dark, like for real dark, buuuuuut in a way that is actually a natural progression of his character, because if you remember Horikoshi loves parallels, and what’s more obvious than the fact Deku has been trying to walk down the same path as All Might ever since he was told to ‘show himself’ to the world back during the School Festival arc, and then again with All Might’s famous “You’re next” line.

It was a while ago when I read it, but I believe it was in vigilantes where we understand what All Might means by “You deserve to rest” and that he understands. I won’t go digging for that specific chapter lol, but in basically in the spin-off series bnha Vigilantes, we get glimpses of All Might in his prime.

In particular, we see that he really never stops to rest, constantly flying off to save as many people as he can because it’s a job “only he can do”. We even see Sir Nighteye (who is still All Might’s sidekick at the time) upset at the fact that All Might doesn’t even sleep, and while it’s somewhat played off as a gag aside from Sir Nighteye’s worry, we can see now that Deku is doing the exact same thing.

In any case, Deku’s believed since the War arc that as the wielder of One for All, its burden is his to carry, especially with the added pressure of the fact that he’s been told he may be the last user and must defeat AfO himself (because only a quirkless person may receive OfA without dying early, and quirkless-ness is very rare now)

There was no clear turning point, not really. It’s more that Deku is sinking himself deeper and deeper into his duty, to the point that he can’t see past the next job. He won’t eat like we see him do heartily earlier, he won’t even, in All Might’s words, look back at his mentor anymore.

AfO really managed to get under his skin with that video, and if there’s a way to describe Deku right now, it would be “staring straight ahead blindly”. He’s marching forward without thought for his surroundings, including his own self. In the previously ideal and bright hero world, this made All Might look heroic. But now in this grey, doubtful world:

Deku is, literally and metaphorically, tearing himself apart. His hero costume gets more and more worn, and thus so is his image as a hero. On a side note, he looks super badass, but more importantly he looks like a dark version of All Might - like some sort of skewed or twisted version of the hero who always comes to save the day.

Aside from Deku, we get a little more insight on the status of heroes, namely the mass retirement. I actually sympathized with Death Arms, even though I saw some comments that he wasn’t a real hero. To be fair, what the heck is a ‘real hero’? Sure, a lot of heroes retired when the going got tough, you could say that the ones ‘in it for the money or the fame’ were weeded out, but what was Death Arms real reasoning for leaving? Yes, it got tough, but on top of the fact that it got tough, being a hero suddenly went from something of good status to a cursed position.

This pretty much sums up the state of the hero world right now, which is that ‘heroes are humans’. This mass retirement was bound to happen, but what makes it troubling is what’s going on with Deku amongst all this. I don’t need to explain it, since the pro-heroes explained everything in that meet-up scene about how the media is closing in on Deku and a reveal of OfA would shove Deku into the cycle of negativity. So yeah, the fact that AfO hasn’t revealed OfA himself means he still has plans for Deku, ‘cause he doesn’t care about All Might anymore. All I can really imagine is AfO trying to get Deku on his side, or stealing OfA, I can’t wait for the next chapter so we can get some more insight.

Anywayy on a less serious note:

Mount Lady is lookin super fine with that scar, but more than just aesthetic purposes the addition of scars and messier/dirtier costumes/settings is to keep with the more serious and dark tone. It allows us to take her seriously when before she was portrayed as a flirty/image-conscious hero. I kind of love of small design choices like that can change a character’s entire demeanor. Uhhh the closest example I can name in real life is when Canada’s prime minister Trudeau grew a beard. Lemme tell you, it did wonders in making him appear more serious and reliable during covid, as opposed to his earlier washy playboy looks.

Also, Stain is back! That weirdo. Uhhh he sure seems happy to see Deku still jumping to the rescue. Or maybe he’s just glad to see All Might, we all know he’s lowkey a fanboy. Urk, well in any case it’s definitely foreshadowing that there will be a potential confrontation between him and Deku.

aaaaand finally,

lol how the turn tables, it’s Endeavor ghosting Shouto now. Also it’s lowkey cute how he immediately checks his phone whenever he hears a notification, man’s excited for any sort of communication with his son. Mmm but yea I was excited to get even a mention of Shouto, I hope we get to see what the Class 1-A kiddos are up to soon.

54 notes · View notes

jazy3 · 3 years

Text

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X15

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Wow! A lot happened in this episode. It was billed as Jackson’s goodbye episode, but it turned out to be so much more than that. Meredith got discharged and was reunited with her kids, Tom decided to move to Boston to work for Jackson, and we got the show’s first Indigenous doctor and patient storyline! I honestly think Jackson’s farewell was really well done! While it’s true he could do the work he wants to do just as easily from Seattle everything else about his exit makes sense to me. He’s tired of sitting on the sidelines and he wants to make real change where he can.

I loved his conversation with Meredith and how he was the one to sneak her out. I loved Meredith's voice over for this episode and how it followed Jackson's actions and the flashback montage set to music. I thought it was fitting. I would have liked him to have said goodbye to Ben because they were the Plastics Posse until he left to become a firefighter but apart from that I was happy with it. The character has come such a long way during his run on the show and I feel like this episode reflected that.

The editing was really well done too. Especially the shot of him overlooking the lobby. That transition was seamless. I loved his goodbye scene with Meredith. It made me so emotional. I love that Meredith tried to lighten the mood by making a joke about how she won because she's the last one standing. That scene when she hugged the pillow after he left because she misses him and everyone else really got me. I also really liked the conversation he had with Bailey and Richard.

I'm glad he said a proper goodbye to Jo although I didn't find it super emotional. In addition to Ben, I would also like to have seen a goodbye with Maggie. I'm surprised they didn't do that. Maggie was so focused on Meredith's recovery that it's not clear if she even knows that Jackson is moving to Boston. They also could have done a big emotional scene with Catherine. On a lighter note, I am so happy that Meredith is doing better for real this time and has been discharged! I've been waiting for this since the mid-season point.

I loved the scene where she was reunited with her kids and Amelia was panicking about the state of the house and Meredith told her it was fine and that was just how she liked it. Meredith getting Jackson to sneak her out of the hospital felt very in character to me. As her voice over says Meredith isn't one for tradition or big hullabaloos which is why I think the others tried to keep it a secret. I'm not surprised that she ducked out early. While I get why the other characters wanted to do a big send off for her, I feel like they should know by now that's not her style.

I loved the scene where Amelia and Link found out Meredith might be coming home, and they hugged and then Link said he had to go to work and Amelia started crying and then asked why he was still there. Link was so confused and then Amelia told him she’d be crying off and on like that all day to get her emotions out and that she’d be fine and he needed to go to work. That is so Amelia! But in a good way. Post-tumour and with her addiction under control even in a pandemic Amelia is now able to express her emotions in a healthy way so she doesn’t relapse or spin out of control. That is such huge growth for her. I loved the scene at the end with her and Meredith.

The smile that they share. The look between them. You could see early seasons Private Practice Amelia in that look but also mature and stable new Amelia. I loved that Amelia was all worried about the state of the house and Meredith was fine with it being a mess because as a working Mom she knows what it’s like and all she wanted was to be at home with her kids in her messy house.

At the end of the episode we find out that Tom’s near death experience with COVID has caused him to re-evaluate his life. He feels lucky to have lived to have been spared and he wants to help Jackson make real change in Boston. On the one hand I was surprised by Tom’s exit, but on the other hand I wasn’t. I love Tom and will truly miss his character, but ever since the affair came out and he and Teddy split and she started working on trying to repair her relationship with Owen, Tom hasn't had a lot to do.

I'm sad they didn't do more with him because he's such a great and complex character and I know some people had speculated they might pair him up with Mama Ortiz which could have been interesting. I'm sad we didn't get to see him say goodbye to Amelia, Link, Teddy, Catherine, or Meredith. Tom and Amelia are old friends, he trained her, he took out her brain tumour, and she rushed to the hospital when she heard he had been admitted for COVID-19.

Tom and Link seemed to be getting along as of late and Tom was ready to be a father to Teddy's baby before she got back together with Owen. He found her the perfect apartment and he built a crib for a child that wasn’t biologically his that he was so excited to meet and be a Dad to. All this after his own son died and his marriage collapsed as a result. He treated her like gold and she’s done nothing but treat him horribly for no reason. I don't think I’ll ever forgive Teddy for that.

Catherine and Tom are also old friends that go back even farther. She appointed him as Chief Medical Officer of the Fox Foundation. She told him about DeLuca’s death and took him to the Memorial. When Richard was sick, she told him she wanted him to take over the Foundation in her absence. Tom and Meredith had such an emotional scene earlier this season and he's been praying for her every day. Does she know that? Does Meredith know that Tom has been praying for her and worrying about her? I was expecting a follow up scene to that, so I hope we get one.

I found the patient storyline that Tom, Levi, and Indigenous intern James Chee had really moving. Grey's has never had an Indigenous patient or doctor on the show before and while the dialogue did feel heavy handed at times, they brought some really important issues to light and were trying to make up for lost time so that’s understandable.

Robert I. Mesa who plays Dr. Chee is Navajo Soboba and the patients that they treat at Coast Salish whose traditional territory encompasses the province of British Columbia, Canada and the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States. It’s really great to see an Indigenous actor bring stories about Indigenous characters to life in a realistic way for the same reason that it’s important to see black, brown, Asian, latinx, and LGBTQ+ actors bring stories about characters like themselves to life. It brings authenticity and ensures sure that white straight cisgender people aren’t taking roles away from people within those communities.

When I found out through Twitter that the show had cast its first Indigenous doctor, I was very excited. I work for an Indigenous organization currently and so Indigenous representation is an issue that is very near and dear to my heart. The first thing that came to mind for me was the Coast Salish artwork you see in the background of so many scenes of the show. From the show’s earliest seasons, you can see beautiful art pieces in red, blue, and black depicting fish, birds, and other animals on the walls of the hospital and in people’s offices.

Yet it is never addressed or mentioned that that is Coast Salish artwork. In order for it to be there someone from the art department must have travelled to Seattle to buy some local artwork to put up around the hospital. While that’s great for making the hospital look authentic to the area by not mentioning its origins or the fact that Indigenous people exist for 16 seasons does all Indigenous people a disservice. Indigenous people are not stereotypes or tokens or simply makers of pretty pictures.

Every group has their own culture, artwork, language, and traditions. I’m glad that Grey’s Anatomy is finally acknowledging the existence of Indigenous Americans and the fact that Indigenous people exist and continue to exist despite repeated ruthless attempts to murder and assimilate them. This is a huge problem in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other nations. While in the last few years Indigenous issues have gotten greater coverage in Canadian media there isn’t as much media coverage of Indigenous issues in the United States.

I love that Tom and Levi treated both the pregnant woman and her grandfather with respect and dignity and didn't dismiss their concerns or mock their traditions. I love that Tom actually had some knowledge of smudging ceremonies and that he referred to Dr. Chee respectfully when needed and allowed him to perform a smudging ceremony for the grandfather. When the pregnant patient’s husband thanks them and says that in the past they haven’t had great experiences in big hospitals that is unfortunately a sad reality for many.

Like other people of people and other marginalized and oppressed groups the concerns of Indigenous patients are often not taken seriously, and they often encounter racism that leads to poorer treatment and death. When the pregnant patient talks about how their centres are under resourced and that they were sent body bags instead of medical supplies that is a real thing. The Trump Administration actually did that in the States and the Harper Government here in Canada did that during the H1N1 Epidemic.

Thankfully, here in Canada the COVID-19 Pandemic response of the Trudeau Government has been worlds better. No sending of body bags and instead medical supplies and lots of relief money has been given to Indigenous organizations like mine to help real people. Indigenous Canadians have also been given priority status for vaccinations and as a result people are alive today that would have died previously. Now that’s not to say things are perfect here. There are still so many issues that need to be addressed including police violence, discrimination within the justice system, and the rate of missing and murdered Indigenous women. But at least some progress is being made.

The fact that they wrote Tom off reminded of an old adage about Grey’s Anatomy that I heard someone talking about at the start of this season which is that if there isn’t anyone significant for a character to date and you’re not an original character your days on the show are numbered. The fact that they wrote Tom off after putting Teddy and Owen back together makes me even more sure that Meredith and Hayes are going to end up together and that their relationship will be a key plot point of Season 18.

If that wasn’t the plan, I don’t think Hayes would still be there. There have been episodes this season where he has been very prominent, episodes where he’s been completely absent, and episodes like this one where he has a few short scenes. He wouldn’t still be there hanging around in the background if the plan wasn’t to set him up with Meredith. To me the only explanation that makes sense is that they are going to put Meredith and Hayes together hopefully before Season 17 ends.

Side note, I bet all of the actors who passed on being Meredith’s love interest or backed out for a movie or tv role on a newer show probably feel real dumb right now. Grey’s is about to go into its 18th season and Richard Flood who plays Hayes is getting paid mad bank whether he’s prominently in the episode or not! Plus, he slays that role. While the path they took to get here was bumpy I’m so glad that we got Hayes as a character and we’ve gotten to see his relationship with Meredith develop.

I would have loved to see more of Hayes this episode. I was expecting a scene in which he visited Meredith and I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get that. I get that the focus of the episode was on Jackson’s departure, Meredith being discharged, and Tom’s epiphany, but it would have been nice to see that. The scenes we did get were great! I love his dry sense of humour and his comments about Jo’s terrible handwriting.

My favourite moment of the episode was hands down when Hayes came to clap out Meredith with everyone else and then Perez came out and they realized that she had snuck out early and Hayes laughed and said, "Nice one Grey, Brillant!" And then he wished everyone a good night and headed out. If Meredith isn't there, he's out. He’s not even trying to hide his feelings for Meredith anymore. It’s an open secret that he likes her and is clearly smitten. Hell, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the janitors have a group chat about it.

I love that he laughed about it like it was some big cosmic joke they were both in on. He knows her so well. Everyone else was confused and her sisters were worried when they didn’t hear from her, but Hayes wasn’t worried because he knew she’d snuck out the back and that someone must have helped her. Speaking of romance, I’m guessing that next season they will bring in a new Head of Plastic Surgery for Jo to date. I feel like they will have more luck finding someone than they did when they tried to hire a new love interest for Meredith over the last few years because right now work is scarce.

Also, in the romance department Teddy and Owen are back together. I'm happy for them, but other than that I don't really have any strong feelings about it. I am happy that they seem to be good and that the fighting and long-drawn-out drama is over. I've never been a ride or die Teddy and Owen shipper, so I don't feel an emotional rush seeing them back together. I loved Tom and Teddy together so I'm sorry that ended especially since Teddy and Owen have always been such a mess.

I think that they should have spent less time fighting and more time rebuilding their friendship before getting back together. We spent the first half of the season watching them fight non-stop and Owen made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Teddy ever again. Teddy treated Tom like crap while trying to win Owen back who clearly didn’t want her. While I’m glad they have reconciled, and the drama appears to be over I wish they had spent less time on the fighting and more time on exploring Teddy’s trauma and having them rebuild their friendship if that was the route they were going to go.

We also get more details about Maggie and Winston’s wedding this episode. I posited on Twitter a few days ago that I thought Maggie might ask both her dads Bill and Richard to walk her down the aisle as she'd want to include both of them in the ceremony. I think having Bill walk her down the aisle and Richard officiate is lovely. It reminds me of when Bailey stepped up to officiate Callie and Arizona's wedding.

I’d like to see more interactions between Meredith and Winston and Meredith and Link in the future as both men have become a part of the family largely while Meredith was sick so it would be great to see them get to know each other and bond. I really loved the scene between Winston, Link, and Owen where Winston was trying to figure out if Teddy and Owen were back together and Winston and Owen were teasing Link about the Sister House. It’s nice to see them all bond. It would be even better if they would all have more scenes with Hayes and for them to bond as well. I hope to see more of that next season.

I get why Link wants to get out of the Sister House, but I think he was a bit unrealistic about the situation. Meredith just got discharged. Amelia and Maggie aren’t going to want to leave her side until she tells them she’s ready and it’s okay for them to go and take a step back. I foresee them going with a hybrid approach next season where Maggie and Winston move to his place following the wedding and Link, Amelia, and Scout move to Link's place, but they still spend time at Meredith's house frequently. I imagine after being away from her kids for so long at some point Meredith is going to want her house back and to spend time alone with her kids.

I'm interested to see Meredith talk about her time on the beach in the upcoming episodes. Richard and Bailey were struggling to figure out how to tell her about DeLuca’s death but we the audience knew that Meredith already knew he had died. When she coded previously, and Ellis Grey passed away the first words out of her mouth were about her mother being dead. But here we see something different. When Meredith wakes up this season the first words out of her mouth are about how much she and Derek love Zola. She uses the word ‘we’ so the audience knows what she’s talking about, but the characters don’t.

It appears that at least a week has passed since the previous episode possibly two and we learn that Meredith hasn’t brought up her time on the beach or her visits from the dead to anyone. I think that she’s keeping that to herself for a few reasons. She didn’t want to leave the beach and telling that to the people who just spend the past three months trying desperately to save her life would probably come across as suicidal and upsetting. The conversations between her and Derek were personal and private, and she may not be ready to share them just yet.

Her conversations with George, Lexie, and Mark were also pretty personal so she might not be ready to talk about that either. In this episode we see her tell Bailey and Richard that DeLuca is okay because he’s with his mother. The scene cuts away, so we don’t know what else she tells them. Hopefully we’ll find out next week. My guess is that the first person she’ll talk to about the beach in the following episodes will be Hayes because he will understand her desire to stay because of how he lost his wife.

He won’t see her desire to stay on the beach as suicidal or crazy because he would probably think about doing the same thing if given the opportunity. We saw Meredith be really vulnerable with Hayes when she first got sick about her fears of dying and falling asleep. They’ve talked at length about their spouses and their past relationships in a way she hasn’t with other characters. I feel like he is the perfect person to talk to about what happened on the beach because he won’t judge Meredith or take her desire to stay personally.

They’ve already established that Hayes is a supportive and understanding person who is happy to sit there and listen to Meredith talk about her experience of dating after death and past relationships and so I think he’s someone Meredith can open to about what it was like to see Derek again, what it was like to realize her ex-boyfriend was dying, what is what like to get closure with George, and gain wisdom from Lexie and Mark. I’m hoping that will happen in next week’s episode and if not in the finale.

We saw Helm having a tough time this episode. I think Helm moving in with Levi and Jo is a good idea. I think it will give Helm the support she needs and I'm glad Levi is there for her. We haven't seen Jo and Helm interact much so far, so I'm interested to see how Jo is going to feel about her moving in. Also, where is Helm going to sleep? Jo and Levi live in a one room loft where Jo sleeps in a large bed and Levi sleeps on the couch. I would have liked to have seen more scenes along the way building up to this as Levi and Helm haven't had a scene all season and now right at the end you see him trying to help her. I also really miss Parker as a character. I wish they brought him back as well as Helm.

Something I didn’t like was that they seem to be focusing on DeLuca, his death, and his absence more than they should. I get that the writers and people behind the scenes liked the actor who played him, but the character himself was pretty widely detested by the other characters for seasons 15 and 16 so having them talk about him like he was such a great guy that everyone was super close to and that they all miss feels hollow to me and kind of annoying.

DeLuca and Meredith were not that close. They weren’t friends and rarely had a scene together prior to Season 15. They stopped talking entirely after he broke up with her in Season 16 and they weren’t friends when he died. So, talking about how he would have been so happy for her and one of the first people to cheer her on is strange. Also, I felt like Jo’s comments to Carina were out of place. I get that when someone dies its customary to say nice things about them to their family and Carina is mentoring Jo and she’s grateful for that, but DeLuca was god awful to her.

They become really good friends after Alex attacked him but then they stopped being friends when she got back together with Alex. They stopped having scenes together after that until he took an interest in Meredith at which time Jo and Alex both made it abundantly clear to his face and behind his back that they disliked him, and they hated the idea of him and Meredith together. All he did was antagonize both of them during seasons 15 and 16 for absolutely no reason and then after Alex left DeLuca walked up to Jo at the Emerald City Bar touched her without her consent and attempted to kiss her and get her to sleep with him to the point that she wound up throwing a drink in his face to get him to leave her alone.

He then told the bartender she was crazy after she told him to get some help. That’s sexual assault and attempted rape and DeLuca should have gone to jail for what he did. Instead we never see it addressed, he never apologizes, and they don’t share a single together after that. My hope is that they will finally moving on from talking about DeLuca and his absence next season. It’s getting a bit ridiculous at this point and it’s time to move on.

Onto next week’s promo! We don’t get a lot of information from this one. We see Bailey talking about how she’s losing surgeons left, right, and centre and she can’t afford to lose anymore and Meredith talking about how she can’t operate if she can’t stand on her feet. She’s worried she might never get back to operating, but this is Grey’s Anatomy so we know she will. Link talks to Amelia about wanting more children which considering that Scout is only a few months old and they couldn’t wait to get out of the house full of children just last week is a terrible idea. Link finally calls Jo on the fact that she clearly wants to adopt Luna who promptly codes! Yikes!

Until next time!

27 notes · View notes

spine-buster · 4 years

Text

t h e c o l o u r o f a c o n s t e l l a t i o n | elias pettersson

Summary: Life comes at you in moments. Elias and Svea are on solid ground now. Back in Vancouver after an idyllic time in Sweden, they are faced with personal decisions that will affect their future together – both on separate and different paths professionally, though personally their connection is stronger than ever. Many things are up in the air, but one thing that Svea and Elias know for sure is that they will always be together. So how hard could those decisions be?

Word Count: 15k

A/N: This is the final part of “The Space Series” although there will be an epilogue (because this bitch loves an epilogue). It’s a bit more piece-y than I wanted it to be, but at the end of the day I’m still proud of it and I hope you enjoy! We need more Petey love around here!

PART ONE - MADE OF OUTER SPACE // PART TWO - LIPS LIKE THE GALAXY’S EDGE

Svea got the text message from Grace while she was in class. I’m here to pick you up. Don’t ask questions. And don’t check your notifications.

Svea did as she was told, but that didn’t mean that her heart wasn’t beating out of her chest as she left her seminar room and saw Grace’s Porsche at the bottom of the steps of the building. When she approached, Grace reached over and opened the car door. “What’s going on?” she asked, sliding into the passenger’s seat and clutching her messenger bag against her chest.

“The stupid media picked up your stupid boyfriend saying he has a girlfriend on a stupid camera, and now it’s everywhere,” Grace explained in an annoyed voice, signalling to rejoin the road. She was very clearly annoyed, judging by how fast she rejoined the other cars and by the rev of her engine. “You know, for such a quiet guy he’s got a big mouth.”

“And how do they know it’s me?” Svea knew how stupid that question sounded the millisecond after it left her mouth. She and Grace gave each other the exact same knowing look, one that said absolutely everything that needed to be said between the two of them. It began happening as they grew closer, and now, it happened almost all the time. “Never mind. Why can’t I check my notifications?”

“Because God knows what’s going on in your DMs right now,” Grace warned. “Anyways, what do you want to do? Go shopping? Go for a manicure? How about we go for a manicure so you can’t check your phone.”

Svea couldn’t help but laugh. She knew Grace was protective – had been since that night she came over to Elias’s place with Pippa and Svea was making sausage stroganoff – but this was taking it to a whole other level. “Do you think it would be that bad?”

“If it’s anything like what I got from Brock’s fan club, then yeah, it’s pretty awful,” Grace said. “And I’m serious – manicures? You’re going to have to start getting them regularly if you want to be a hot shot lawyer,” she winked. “Or, I don’t know, the speechwriter for Chrystia Freeland or Justin Trudeau. Whatever you choose.”

***

When Svea walked into hers and Elias’s apartment later that day, after she’d been pampered with some Starbucks, a manicure, and a pedicure, and even a cheeky mimosa by Grace, she found Elias lying down on the couch scrolling through his phone. She put down her bag in its usual spot before walking over to him and lying on top of him without warning. After an entire day without him, she wanted to get close to him, to feel every inch of him.

Elias smiled as she nestled into him, ditching his phone and paying complete attention to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. When he kissed her, she sighed into the kiss, knowing that she was home and in her favourite place: the place where she felt the warmest, the most protected, the happiest she ever could feel – in his arms, of course. And as they continued kissing on the couch, not bothering to stop for air – because really, who needed air when you were kissing the love of your life? – Elias shifted their bodies so Svea was on her back, and he was on his side perching himself up with one arm while the other snuck under her button-up shirt. With his hand gliding against her bare skin and his tongue down her throat, Svea moaned slightly. Elias took the opportunity to start unbuttoning her shirt to expose her bra.

“Elias…” she breathed out.

“Shhh…” he kissed along her jawline and down her neck. His hand groped her breast. He pushed the fabric of the cup down and began kissing along the curve of her breast until he reached her nipple, sucking on it gently. Her back arched up to him. “I missed you,” he finally hummed.

“I was gone for eight hours,” she huffed out as she felt his tongue slip along her skin. Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt him move towards her other breast. She was gone at least a few hours some days because of classes, so it wasn’t like her absence was out of the ordinary.

“Too long.” He sucked on her other breast. When he heard her moan again, he kissed a trail back up to her lips. Eventually, he grabbed at her wrist – the one wearing the bracelet he got her in Stockholm – and placed a kiss on the inside of it tenderly. She was trembling by the loss of his lips on her skin, but she smiled at the gesture. “Hello pretty girl,” he cooed playfully.

“You’re the worst,” she huffed again, annoyed this time.

“How was your day?”

She couldn’t believe she was sprawled out on their couch with her shirt unbuttoned and her bra pushed down with her breasts exposed and Elias was asking her how her day was. He was playing a game and she knew it. “Besides the fact that I still don’t know what I’m doing with my life? Fine,” she said. “How was your day? I heard microphones are really strong these days.”

Elias closed his eyes and groaned. He buried his head in her chest and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot sometimes. Brock told me that for such a quiet guy I have a big mouth.”

Svea snorted at the reference. For all that Grace and Brock liked to say Svea and Elias were the same person, she and Brock were astoundingly similar as well. “Grace said that too.”

“Well, you know how they are,” he said, resting his chin against her chest, in the space between her breasts.

Svea ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s fine, Elias.”

“Is it though?” he asked, worried. “I don’t want anybody to bother you. Not now, not ever. But especially this year when you have so much to figure out.”

“They’ll just be noise. They’re not a part of my life,” she assured him. “Not like you.”

Elias sighed, moving up and nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. He inhaled sharply, smelling her scent that he loved so much. She smelled like everything he loved about her – flowers; vanilla; lavender; the saltwater waves of the Baltic Sea crashing again the Swedish shore; the crisp Swedish air during an early morning, though now it was later in the day and they were in downtown Vancouver. She was magic to him, made of the moon and stars, and he wanted to keep her safe and happy as much as possible now that it was out in the open, however unwillingly, due to his big mouth. “I love you,” he mumbled.

“I love you too,” she said easily. Easily because she knew – it was the only thing she was certain about in life these days. “Can you do me a favour?”

“What’s that?”

“Can you keep using your tongue, Elias?” she asked boldly, a small smirk playing on her face. She was getting more confident with all of this – not just their new situation, but the activities that accompanied their new situation. She felt safe and listened to and respected and catered to whenever she was in bed with Elias, always satisfied. Elias, for his part, was also getting more confident with everything.

“Oh?” he arched his brow at her words. “Keep using my tongue, eh?”

“Eh? Canada’s really getting to you.”

“Mmm,” he mumbled, kissing her chest. “Let’s git er done,” he put on an accent.

Svea burst out laughing, shaking her head and pushing him away like she was disgusted with him as he tried to continue to kiss her. She began wiggling to get out of his grip. “Nooooo no no no no, not after you said that with that accent!” She knew his teammates were responsible for that bit of lingo coupled with the accent, and while it was hilarious, she wasn’t exactly happy with it. She knew Elias would use it constantly now.

“Come ooonnn!” he begged, laughing and grabbing at her body so she wouldn’t wiggle away.

“We lost the moment the second you put on that accent!”

>< >< >< >< ><

Svea loved the UBC campus. It was so beautiful, with enough old buildings to make it feel regal but enough new buildings to make it feel modern. And the trees – God, the trees – the campus was full of lush trees, so many and so close to the water. When she was stressed, she could always take a walk down the coast and admire the Pacific Ocean, the mountains in the distance, and the crisp British Columbia air. After being at UBC for going on four years now, she understood why her mother loved it here so much; why it was so hard for her to give up when she moved to Sweden to be with Svea’s dad; why she constantly talked about it growing up, like it was some magical place not fit for the real world. Svea understood now. She thought the same things. She didn’t think she’d ever be lucky enough to experience the things that her mother did growing up in Vancouver, but she did; she got that experience now, in university, with her own love of her life.

Despite all the stress in her life and the looming decisions she had to make, she at least had that: Elias, the love of her life.

As she grabbed her coffee from the barista and made her way to the seminar room, where she’d spend two hours learning about global uprisings, she thought about the decision she’d have to make this year. On the one hand, she could go to law school – another three years of school, articling, and then pass the bar (all hopefully in British Columbia), and then she could join a firm or open her own. She was already prepped and signed up to write the LSAT. On the other hand, she could apply to the Masters of Public Policy and Global Governance program – another year and a half of school, gain her Masters, and then hopefully work in politics, but in the background, like a chief of staff or a senior advisor or even a speechwriter. She had all the prerequisites and knew she could get in.

But which one did she want to do?

Svea settled into her seat beside her friend Devansh, greeting him with pleasant conversation while taking out her laptop, notebook, and textbook, flipping it open to the chapter that she knew the professor would be lecturing about. Her big decision seemed to be the only thing she thought about these days besides Elias. But the more she thought about it, the more stressed she got. And the more stressed she got, the more—

“So, like, you’re dating Elias Pettersson?” her friend Francesca asked as she plopped down into the seat beside her dramatically. Instead of grabbing her notebook and laptop out of her bag like she usually did, she was intently focused on Svea who was sipping on her coffee innocently.

“Wait – Elias Pettersson, like from the Vancouver Canucks?” Devansh perked up once he heard the name being tossed around. “That can’t be…that’s not…no.”

“Wow, Dev,” Svea deadpanned.

“Wait – you are?” his eyebrows raised.

“H-How did you know?” Svea focused back on Francesca, still perky, still not taking out her laptop, still not taking out her notebooks.

“So apparently Petey said something on camera? And this journalist from the Vancouver Sun, like, scoured his Instagram and his tagged photos and found your profile kept popping up tagged in pictures with him, so the two and two were put together, and there’s an article about it on their website today! It came up as a notification on my phone!” Francesca held up her phone as if it was still there. It wasn’t – it was full of Snapchat notifications, but the point still stood. “I mean, they’re right, aren’t they? Svea Nilsson…you are dating Elias Pettersson?”

Svea was mortified. Elias had the common sense to just say he had a girlfriend out loud, not broadcast her name for the microphones to pick up too, but they’d found her profile anyway – by stalking his, essentially. She thought things would die down, especially because her profile had always been private, and though she did get some intense DMs like Grace knew she would, there wasn’t a bombardment and she’d just deleted them all without looking at them. Now that her name was published in a newspaper, she had an entirely new problem on her hands.

She noticed Dev and Francesca were still waiting for an answer. “I…yeah, I’m dating him,” she said meekly, not wanting to say too much.

“How did you even meet him?” Francesca asked. “I mean, no offence, but you don’t exactly come out with us a lot.”

“He’s my childhood best friend,” she said, immediately putting an end to the notion that she’d met him at some bar. “I…I grew up with him. We’ve been best friends since we were three and he essentially followed me to Vancouver because I came here first. He’s the person I live with and—”

“Wait – you live with him?!” Dev was shocked at her revelation. Svea was always pretty secretive of why she never moved into a place near campus after first year, and always eluded questions as to how she was able to afford a pricey apartment in Yaletown. Now he knew. “You live with him and that’s why you live in Yaletown?”

“Yeah. We…” she stopped herself, not wanting to reveal too much. “It’s…I’m dating him, okay?”

“Svea, this is huge,” Francesca’s tone was a mix of serious and excited.

Francesca said it as if Svea didn’t know how much of a big deal it was that she was dating the biggest star on the Vancouver Canucks. Svea knew how much of a big deal it was. Clearly. If people from newspapers were stalking Elias’s profile to see who she was, it was a big deal. It was just that, Elias, as a person, wasn’t a big deal to her. He was her best friend. He wasn’t the star first line centre. “Yeah, I know.”

“Massive,” Dev commented too. “Well I’m happy for you if you’re happy, Svea.”

“Secure that bag, girl,” Francesca quipped.

Before Svea’s jaw dropped, and before her brain could function to say anything to Francesca, their professor walked into the room and greeted the class loudly, thus ending their conversation. He almost immediately started lecturing.

Svea began typing, and Francesca was scrambling to get everything out of her bag.

>< >< >< >< ><

“It’s ready, pretty girl,” Elias called from the kitchen as he finished stirring the pasta in its sauce. He looked over at Svea sitting at the dining room table, head in a giant textbook that looked menacing to him. She looked so concentrated and focused on what she was reading, but when she heard his voice, she looked up momentarily. She let out a loud sigh.

Elias remembered back to the summer, back in Sweden, when they went to Emma Gardner’s dinner party and he was intimidated by Soren’s supposed ‘smarts’ and how emotional he got by it all the next morning. When they came back to Vancouver and Svea began her last year of university, he wanted to change things. As much as they resolved the issue right then and there, he knew he needed to do more – and he was willing to do more. He was making a big effort to be in the know – not exactly to understand everything she was studying, but to at least know what it was. Now that he was with Svea, he wasn’t the most important person in his life anymore – it was her. He needed her to know that. He made sure to show it to her every day, through his actions, his words, and his priorities when he was away from hockey.

When he brought the plates over, he wouldn’t set hers down in front of her until she kissed him. The textbook was cleared by then, off to the side where she didn’t have to look at it while she ate with him. When they came back to Vancouver and she began her last year of university, she wanted to change things. She made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t be distracted by school work during meals, especially meals with Elias. She could tell Elias was making a huge effort to know more about her studies, and she wanted to reciprocate. There was no way she wouldn’t put in the same effort he was into the relationship. Now that she was with Elias, she wasn’t the most important person in her life anymore – it was him. She needed him to know that. She made sure to show it to him every day, through her actions, her words, and her priorities when she wasn’t engaging with school.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he settled into his seat across from her after their kiss.

She nodded her head. “Just reading about the Cuban Revolution.”

“Is it interesting?” he asked.

“Interesting enough,” she shrugged. She began digging into her pasta in vodka sauce. Now that Elias had finally mastered the art of cooking some pasta, and didn’t over or undercook it every time, she could enjoy him making dinner at least once or twice a week now. Though the first time he cooked ravioli was an absolute fucking shit show (there was spinach and ricotta floating everywhere in the pot because he left them in too long and they all burst open), he’d gotten the hang of penne, spaghetti, and fettucine. “How was the gym with Brock?”

“Same old,” he answered, eating his pasta. “Grace told him how much you were screaming at the game the other night.”

Svea snorted. She’s almost embarrassed herself by how much she was screaming and swearing. She didn’t know what came over her. “It was pretty bad. I’m surprised she left with me, to be honest. She wasn’t even that loud, and you know how she gets.”

“I can’t believe it took Vancouver to get you to scream at my games,” Elias quipped.

Svea laughed, but the comment panged her a little bit. Growing up in Sweden, she was always at his games, but her head was, as Brigitte so lovingly put it, ‘always in a book instead of in his lap’. It wasn’t that she didn’t care – because she did, she knew how much hockey meant to Elias – it was just that she had different interests. But she was always there; she always supported him. Suddenly, she wondered if that was enough. “Did…did that make you mad?” she asked softly.

“Did what make me mad?”

“Me being quiet at your games growing up. Me having a book in the stands and reading in between periods,” she said. He knew because the girls told him as a means of gossip. “Like, did you hate it?”

“Of course not,” he furrowed his brows. “Why would I hate that?”

“I don’t know…”

“Svea, I hate nothing about you,” Elias said. “Not even the fact that you’ve started to talk in your sleep sometimes.”

“I do not.”

“Yes you do.”

“Then what do I say?”

“Oooooh, Elias, right there.”

She kicked him underneath the table, but he was ready for it, grabbing her foot with his free hand. “You’re an ass,” she sneered.

“So you don’t have wet dreams about me?”

“You wish,” she stuck her tongue out like a child, causing him to smile and laugh.

“For what it’s worth,” he began, trailing his hand up her leg, “I didn’t care about any of that. You reading at games or whatever. You’re your own person, Svea. I don’t care what anybody said. The fact that you were there was enough for me – like, the fact that I could see you in the stands with my family or whatever. When you made it back to Vaxjo after flying in from Vancouver, and you watched me score that game winning goal and then surprised me on the ice – Svea, that was, like, one of the greatest moments of my life. And it wasn’t because I’d just won the championship. It was because you were there for it.”

Svea smiled. Elias knew to say all the right things, but what was better than just saying them was knowing that he meant them, fully and completely. “I love you, Elias.”

“I love you too, Svea. More than anything,”

There was a comfortable silence between them as they ate dinner, Svea’s foot still propped up in Elias’s lap after she’d tried to kick him. “Are you going to be able to come to the game on Saturday?” he asked once they were almost finished.

She nodded. “I’ll finish this reading tonight easily and I’ll be back yelling in no time.”

“Good,” he smiled. “I like it when you’re loud.”

She kicked him again.

***

“Brock reminded me that Grace is setting the date soon for the next Parkinson’s gala,” Elias said later that night, after dinner and after clean up and Svea finished her reading and after they cuddled on the couch and after they watched a few episodes of Jeopardy at Svea’s request like an old married couple. They’d gotten themselves ready for bed and Svea watched as Elias fluffed up their pillows while she pulled the covers back.

“That’ll be fun,” Svea said. “Every time we’ve gone it’s been a blast. I can’t wait.”

“And we have Dice and Ice again this year too. I wonder if they’ll make me play Family Feud again,” he mused as they both got into bed.

Svea giggled. “Maybe this time you can announce to six hundred people that you finally have a girlfriend – oh wait, you already did that a few weeks ag—HEY!”

Elias pulled her into his body in one quick tug and wrapped his arms around her, peppering her face with kisses as she began to laugh at the sensation. He flipped her around so she was beneath him. “Yeah yeah, I’ve got a big mouth, I know,” he mumbled against the skin of her neck as he bit down on it gently.

“Mmm,” Svea hummed, enjoying the feeling like she always did. “How about you remind me what else you can do with that mouth.”

A low chuckle erupted from deep within Elias. “With pleasure,” he smiled devilishly. Almost immediately, he shoved her old t-shirt (technically, his old t-shirt) up and over her head and moved down her body. He hooked his fingers into the hem of her shorts and pulled them off too, watching as he saw a smirk appear on her face. “What’s got you smiling, pretty girl?”

“You,” she purred. “I’ll always regret waiting so long to be with you. We could have had so much more time together.”

Elias brought himself back up, placing a tender kiss on her lips. “Don’t regret that. We have the rest of our lives together, pretty girl. We always did.”

Svea smiled, pulling him down by the neck to kiss him again. The universe knew that them being together was always endgame; it just took them longer to realize. She liked Elias’s optimism – not focusing on what was in the past, but instead focusing on the future. “Elias…” she mumbled in between kisses.

“Hmm?”

“Show me I’m yours,” she whispered. She knew it would set him off completely, just like it did the first time, just like it did subsequent times since. “Show me I’m yours, Elias.”

He audibly groaned, slipping his way back down her body before forcing her legs apart and lowering his face between them, lapping and sucking so expertly that Svea was squirming within no time. Her pants and callouts of his name only fueled him as time went on, and when she ran her fingers through his blonde hair and tugged on it, he let out his own groan.

“Fuuuuuck,” she breathed out, tugging on his hair even more. “You’re so…your tongue is so good Elias.” He moaned at the sound of her voice, the vibrations causing her to squirm even more. He brought his arm around her thigh and held her hips down. It made her huff out in slight frustration. “Elias.”

His only response was to push down harder. Her response was to pull his hair as tight as she could and squeeze his head between her thighs. All the while, he kept up his movements, looking up at her with his striking, beady blue eyes. “You taste so sweet, pretty girl,” he mumbled against her wet lips. “So sweet for me.”

“Elias—”

“Are you gonna cum on my face, pretty girl?”

Svea nodded her head fervently. “I’m so close.”

“Mmmmm,” he hummed, the vibrations yet again making her squirm. “Cum for me, Svea.”

Svea arched her back, and after a few short moments, she was screaming out his name, squeezing his head in between her thighs even tighter than before. Elias kept lapping until she calmed down, sucking up the last of her juices before looking up at her again. “I could taste you all day, pretty girl,” he mumbled against her lips, the last thing he did before moving up her body and placing open-mouthed kisses and dragging his lips along her stomach and up to her breasts.

“I need you inside of me right now,” she said, her breath hot and frantic as she moved to wrap her legs around him.

“So impatient,” Elias mused.

“Fuck me, Elias. I can’t wait anymore.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. When she felt him enter her, quickly and in one swift movement, she dug her nails into the skin on his shoulder blades and almost immediately rocked her hips against his, trying to get him even deeper. “Svea…” he groaned out, feeling how deep he was inside of her. “Svea…fuck, you’re desperate, aren’t you?”

She nodded. She couldn’t help it. She was desperate. She was always desperate for him. Desperate for his voice, his touch, the sound of him, his smile, his laugh, how he filled her up, how he felt above her and beneath her – everything about him. “You like it when I’m loud, right?” she asked.

Elias’s eyes bulged for a moment. “Y—Yes.”

“You want me to be loud?”

His pupils dilated. “Yes.”

“Let me ride you.”

Svea wrapped her arms around Elias so he would stay inside her before he turned onto his back. She quickly got comfortable, adjusting slightly, and Elias brought his hands up and their hands intertwined, letting her lean against his elbows so she had something to brace against. When she began to rock back and forth slowly, he let out a groan. “You feel incredible, baby,” Svea said as she quickened her pace slightly.

“You do, too,” Elias said quickly. She began to moan loudly, like she knew he wanted and liked, and she could see his eyes practically roll to the back of his head. Elias liked knowing that it was him who made her feel this way. As she continued her noises, he didn’t know where to focus – her hips, her breasts, her eyes, how his cock had disappeared inside her – but he knew that everything felt good. He was left speechless by everything.

She led his hands to cup her breasts, but he had other ideas. Instead, he used his arms to push himself up so he could kiss them instead, his hands on her back. He remembered back to their little rendezvous at the lake during Midsommar, what she’d done and the quiet confidence in which she’d done it. He had obviously never done anything like that before. “When we get married these are going to be all mine,” he mumbled against her breasts, licking at the space on her chest where he remembered his cum covering her.

“They already are,” Svea mumbled, lost in the feeling. She brought her hands up to run through his hair so she could tug on it and so he could look her in the eye. When he was, she said what she wanted to say – what she knew he wanted to hear. “I’m all yours.”

Elias smiled. “I’m yours and you’re mine.”

“I’m yours and you’re mine,” Svea repeated.

They kissed, wet and sloppy, and Svea could feel herself getting close again. She dug her nails into the skin at the nape of Elias’s neck. When he felt her walls tighten around him, and heard her cries of pleasure at the feeling, he came completely undone as well. They clung on to each other, riding out their highs for a long as they could until they finally settled down, their breathing laboured and shaky, their chests heaving less and less as the time went by. Neither let go of each other. There was no need to.

Elias slipped out of her slowly, and Svea whimpered at the loss of feeling him fill her. He wrapped his arms around her as he fell back slowly, laying them on the bed. They stayed close, wrapped in each other, giving each other quick, soft kisses. “I love you,” Elias mumbled, his voice tired.

Svea smiled slightly. “I love you too.”

>< >< >< >< ><

An advertising executive must schedule the advertising during a particular television show. Seven different consecutive time slots are available for advertisements during a commercial break, and are numbered one through seven in the order that they will be aired. Seven different advertisements – B, C, D, F, H, J, and K – must be aired during the show. Only one advertisement can occupy each time slot. The assignment of the advertisements to the slots is subject to the following restrictions: • B and D must occupy consecutive time slots. • B must be aired during an earlier time slot than K. • D must be aired during a later time slot than H. • If H does not occupy the fourth time slot, then F must occupy the fourth time slot. • K and J cannot occupy consecutively numbered time slots.

Svea read over the logic puzzle three times, breathing harder every time. She wrote the requisite lines and letters. She moved on to the first questions.

1. Which of the following could be a possible list of the advertisements in the order that they are aired? a. BDFHJCK b. CJBHDKF c. HBDFJCK d. HDBFKJC e. HJDBFKC

Svea tried not to panic as she tried to work out the first question based on the parameters presented to her. When she took at her answer, then at the options, none of them matched. She tried again. No match again. She tried not to panic irrationally, but when she tried a third time, she still couldn’t get the right answer. She felt her cheeks heat up and her eyes start to well. No. No. There’s no crying in doing logic puzzles. She moved on to the next question, seeing if she could at least solve that one, but she couldn’t. Okay, back to question one. She tried a combination one more time and finally, finally found a match, so she circled the option.

She checked her time. Six minutes had passed, and she had five more questions to answer based on this logic puzzle alone. On the LSAT, they got about eight minutes per entire puzzle and four puzzles, for a total of around 35 minutes for this section. So she was severely behind. Like, severely. She looked at the note in the margins of her book.

This is generally considered one of the easier questions.

Svea whimpered. Audibly. She felt a few tears falling down her cheeks as she tried to move on to the second question, realizing it was now predicated upon the answer from the first. Seven minutes. And based on the wording of the question, her answer for the first one was wrong. It wasn’t even possible.

She let out a sob.

Eight minutes. She’d officially already failed this section of the LSAT.

As she tried to wipe her tears away with the backs of her hands, she heard the lightest knock on the door. As she looked over, she saw Elias’s head peek through the doorway, a bowl in his hands. “I brought you some raspberries,” he said softly, closing the door behind him. “How’s it going?”

Svea shook her head and started to cry again. “Elias…”

“Heeeyyyyy hey hey,” Elias cooed, rushing over to her and putting the bowl on the desk. He pushed out her chair, moving it so she was facing him, and knelt down in front of her. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Elias, will you still love me if I fail?”

“Svea—”

“Be honest,” she interrupted. “Will you still love me if I fail the LSAT and don’t get into law school and don’t get into grad school and just become a bum? Will you?”

“Svea, don’t say stuff like that,” he said, running his hands up and down her thighs trying to sooth her.

Svea shook her head fervently. “I’m dumb. I’m so dumb,” she whimpered out.

“You know you’re not dumb, Svea—”

“But I am!” she exclaimed. “I couldn’t even do this logic puzzle in time. I had eight minutes and I couldn’t do it. And it’s one of the easier ones! Imagine me sitting in that room trying to write the LSAT and I can’t even get past the logic puzzles!”

“Shhhhh,” he cooed, bringing his hands up to cup her face. He began wiping her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, still kneeling in front of her. “Svea, you know that I love you more than anything. I’ll love you no matter what.”

“Even if I fail?”

“You won’t fail. But even if you fail, yes, I will still love you,” he nodded, knowing it was what she needed to hear right now. She wouldn’t have dropped it if he didn’t say those words.

“And here you are, bringing me raspberries like a good boyfriend and I can’t even get a log—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Elias warned. “Svea, it’s fine. You’re probably just very tired. You had a day full of classes, then homework, now this. I bet when you have a fresh and well-rested brain tomorrow, it will be much easier for you.”

Svea whimpered again, wrapping her arms around Elias and squeezing him against her chest. He was such a good boyfriend, always bringing her snacks or water or tea without her even having to ask, and she was just being a blubbering mess. She’d missed some of his games lately due to her studying and she felt horrible about it, and it all led to this: he was the one still comforting her about the long-term goal of why she was even studying in the first place.

“And Svea?”

“Hmmm?”

“You know I’ll always love you. You know that you’re going to be successful. This is just a little bump, that’s all.”

She took a moment to consider his words. She knew he was right, but it took her a while to digest. She hated that it did – that it took her so long – but her mind was off right now, overtired and overworked from a full day. “Maybe I should go to bed,” she mumbled as her head rested in the crook of Elias’s neck.

Elias didn’t even have to say anything. All he did was move to pick her up, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and her legs wrapping around his torso, and he carried her across the apartment to his bedroom, now their bedroom, with her face still tucked. He could feel her tears on his skin, and when he lay her down gently on the bed, he made sure to wipe the rest of them away before he began undressing her, helping tug her shirt off and pulling off her jeans, leaving her in just her underwear. He did the same quickly, stripping down to his boxers before climbing into bed and pulling the covers over them.

They gravitated towards each other in bed like they always did, Elias wrapping an arm around her and Svea tangling their legs together. He began running his fingers gently through her hair and could hear her sigh, like she was letting out all her frustrations, all her nerves, and all her stress. “I love you, pretty girl,” he said softly as he continued his motions, knowing that it would soothe her, calm her down, just like it did for him when she did so. It was one of the best feelings in the world, when he thought about it.

“I love you too, even when I’m in my own head too much,” she responded, her voice soft and almost a whisper, but there was enough there. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

>< >< >< >< ><

Back in her global uprisings course, Svea took a moment to stretch as the professor gave them a five minute bathroom and coffee break. She debated on whether or not to go down to the main floor and get a coffee and croissant, or just stick it out until lunch time. She made sure to save her notes before she closed her laptop.

She’d finally gotten the hang of the logic puzzles and was doing them like crazy now. She’d seen advertisements on the bulletin board on the main floor for LSAT prep classes, and she wondered if she should take another round of them, even though she’d taken them last year as well. But then she had the fact that she needed to finish her application for her Master’s. There were a few more things to do on the supplemental application and some other things she needed to perfect before submitting it. She’d need someone to look it over. She needed to make sure the professors she’d asked to be references actually wrote their letters. She needed to—

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Francesca asked suddenly, snapping Svea from her thoughts.

“I’m thinking about the LSAT,” Svea decided to be honest with her. “The LSAT and my application to grad school.”

“The LSAT? Grad school?” Francesca asked like it was the most absurd thing that Svea was continuing her education and applying to these programs. “What’s the point, Svea?”

Svea furrowed her brows. “What do you mean what’s the point? I want to work in law and politics. You know that.”

“I mean, what’s the point when you’re with Elias now?”

Svea’s body stiffened at Francesca’s words. “What do you mean? I have to make a living, Francesca.”

“Do you? Do you really? Isn’t Elias gonna be signing, like, a huge contract at the end of this year? Do you honestly think you’re going to need to work to support yourself for the rest of your life when he’s going to be making, like, ten million dollars a year? Minus endorsements? I mean doesn’t he already support you?”

Svea was taken aback by Francesca’s line of questioning, and, to be honest, deeply hurt by it as well. Did Svea give off the airs and graces that she was fine with being a kept woman? Had she ever made it seem like she didn’t want to do anything with her life? That she didn’t care? She didn’t think she did ever. But for some reason, Francesca was bringing it up. “Francesca, I can’t let my boyfriend support me for the rest of my life.”

“You can’t? Because I can,” she quipped. She said it in a joking manner but Svea knew she was completely serious. The next line of questioning confirmed it for her. “I mean, does Elias have any teammates? Brock Boeser maybe? Or is he still with that Gillespie girl? The billionaire?”

Svea furrowed her brows. She didn’t like the direction this conversation was going, and she didn’t want Francesca anywhere near Brock or Grace. “They’re still together. He’s madly in love with her,” she mumbled before turning away from her and back to her laptop.

“Damn. Should’ve told me you were dating Elias earlier so I could’ve jumped at the chance.”

“Hmm,” Svea hummed, just to acknowledge what she said. She began typing something so Francesca would leave her alone.

When class was finished, Svea took out her phone and immediately texted Elias.

I’m going to be the most horrible housewife on the planet

Svea wtf are you talking about

Francesca said today I didn’t have to apply to law school or grad school because now I have you to take care of me It was the stupidest thing I think I’ve ever heard

Not even thirty seconds later, her phone began to ring. When she picked it up, Elias didn’t even greet with any formalities. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, too,” he said. “I mean, who says something like that?”

“Someone who wishes she was kept, I guess. I mean, she asked about Brock afterwards and I had to break her heart and tell her that he’s still madly in love with Grace.”

“What do you mean kept?”

“It’s a saying. It’s like a girl who has a nice and lavish lifestyle because of a rich man,” she explained.

Elias was silent on the other end trying to understand what Svea was explaining to him. “Did she just call you a prostitute? Or one of those sugarbaby things or whatever?”

Svea snorted. “In her own way, probably. I mean, when you think about it…” Svea tried to joke, seeing the humour in the situation, finally. Elias did pay for most things and Svea did enjoy a nice, comfortable life because of it – an apartment in Yaletown, access to a luxury car, an $8000 gold bracelet screwed onto her wrist…

But that didn’t mean she was kept. They were equal partners in their relationship. There was no power dynamic. Elias didn’t do those things and provide her with what he did because he wanted to control her, or because he wanted to have sex with her, or because he wanted to keep her at home all the time doing nothing besides looking pretty and being ready in bed for him. He did it because he genuinely loved her, because she was his best friend, his soulmate, his sun and his moon and his stars, and because he could, because what the hell else was he going to do with all this money? Spend it on himself? He already did that and there was a ton left over. Who better to spend it on than Svea?

“What is it with everyone trying to get into our business? We’re happy this way. It works for us. What the fuck does it matter?” Elias asked. “And why is everybody so obsessed with money?”

“It makes the world turn, Elias.”

She heard him huff on the other end. “Just…don’t worry about what she says. It doesn’t matter. You’re going to law school or grad school or you’re doing what you want to do and that’s that.”

“Why did I have to love debating in high school? Why did I have to like law and politics? Why couldn’t I have loved to bake and like…I don’t know, opened up some hipster coffee shop here or in Stockholm and just made coffee and cake and cookies all day?”

“Because then you wouldn’t have been Svea,” Elias said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You would have been someone else. And I don’t know who that someone else is, but it’s not you.”

And he was right. He was so fucking right that Svea was taken aback by the simplicity of his words but just how deep they were; how they hit the nail right on the head and how they were just so…right. She wouldn’t be the same person if she never debated, if she was never a precarious kid checking out books at the library. She wouldn’t be the same person if she had baked cakes and cookies and opened some hipster coffee shop with vegan treats made exclusively from organic ingredients. She wouldn’t be the same Svea. She wouldn’t be the Svea Elias loved. She wouldn’t be the Svea her friends loved. She wouldn’t be the Svea her family loved, that Elias’s family loved. She almost teared up for how right he was. “Thank you, Elias,” she said softly, not knowing what else to say.

“For what?”

“For loving me the way I am.”

She could practically hear him smile bashfully on the other end. “I love you for the way you’ve always been, too. And the way you’ll be.”

She knew he would. That was the best part.

>< >< >< >< ><

Svea clicked send.

Your application to the University of British Columbia’s Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs has been received. You will receive a confirmation email with your application number shortly.

She took a deep breath. Now she waited.

***

Svea clicked send.

Your application to the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia has been received. You will receive an email shortly confirming your application.

She took a deep breath. Now she waited.

>< >< >< >< ><

“It would be chic to wear black, right?” Svea asked Grace as they scoured through the racks of dresses at Holt Renfrew, the iconic upscale Canadian department store, looking for something to wear to the upcoming Dice & Ice fundraiser the Canucks held annually. Grace loved to shop, and she was good at it, so Svea was confident they’d find something to wear.

“Well, it’s always chic to wear black,” Grace said as she pulled out a beige coloured, skin-tight dress. She took a good, long look at it before deciding it wasn’t the one and pushing it back in. “But you need to spruce it up a bit.”

“Spruce it up?”

“You’ve got a great body and you need to show it off. You’ve been wearing your knit sweaters for so long that I’ve forgotten what your boobs look like, Svea.”

She snorted. Leave it to Grace, the professional dancer with the near perfect body, to mention her boobs. “Grace, I barely have boobs.”

“Doesn’t matter. You can still show off your figure. It’s to die for. And I’m sure Petey would love it.”

Well, that was true. Svea kept that in her mind as they continued to look through racks and racks of dresses, never quite finding the right one, though they pulled some to try on just in case. Grace always had something to say about the dresses Svea pulled – “You’re going to look like my uncle’s fourth ex-wife if you wear that” or “That looks like something a retired art teacher would wear”. Svea couldn’t help but laugh. She was thankful to have Grace along for this ride since Grace had a sense of style and what would look good on her body; if she wasn’t here, Svea wouldn’t probably end up picking a dress that made her look like a 17th century peasant woman from Croatia ready to milk the cows. As Grace would say.

They verged into the designer departments. Grace picked out a dress from Dolce and Gabbana, and handed one from Gucci to Svea. They checked in Yves Saint Laurent and Versace but there was nothing. Chloe. Louis Vuitton. Celine. Miu Miu.

“What about this one?” Svea asked, pulling out a gorgeous dress from the Miu Miu rack.

From down the line, Grace looked up. “It’s black.” Svea took it off the bar completely, holding it against her body, showing its crystal-studded top. “Ooooooooh,” Grace’s jaw dropped at the detailing. She immediately let go of the dress she’d pulled out and walked over to Svea. “Now that’s a good one.”

“You think?”

“Mhm,” she nodded her head fervently. “Let’s go try these all on now. I need to see that dress on you.”

The first few dresses Svea tried on and modeled for Grace didn’t “work”, according to her. There was something off about them – a hemline, a cut, the fact that it made Svea look like a nun – that sent them back on the hanger. But when Svea put on the Miu Miu dress she pulled, even just seeing herself in the dressing room with it half on, she knew it would look good. “Um…I think I’m going to need to take off my bra for this one,” she called out to Grace is the dressing room beside her.

“Then take it off.”

“There’s gonna be a lot of side-boob. I’m not sure that’s appropriate for a gala raising money for children…”

“Nothing a little double-sided boob tape can’t fix,” Grace retorted. “Now get out here so I can see.”

Svea pulled back the curtain. When she did, Grace’s jaw dropped. Grace was standing in a beautiful dress of her own, but she didn’t even care – her full attention was on Svea now, and the dress she was wearing. “Oh…my…God,” she gave Svea a complete up-down, a giant smile forming on her face afterwards. “This is perfect. This is it.”

“But what about this?” Svea moved to show Grace her side profile.

“Like I said, boob tape. But we’ll bring it to a tailor as well. We want this thing pinched in and showing off that body.” Grace approached her, moving them so that they stood in front of a mirror together with Grace behind her. Svea could feel her hands on the low backline of the dress. Grace tugged on it. “See?” she said, getting Svea to look in the mirror. Even just the simple pinch covered up some of the side boob – enough that Svea felt more comfortable and more appropriate. “Now imagine what my tailor can do. This thing will fit you like a glove when he’s done with it.”

Svea nodded her head. She did look good. And she had a feeling Elias would like the open back and the fact it would be tight. Elias liked her in anything but her dressing up did something to him. He would treat her as a present he needed to unwrap. “Is there any point in trying on anything else?” she smiled.

Grace smiled back. “No way.”

***

“D’you ever think about marriage?” Grace asked suddenly as she and Svea ate lunch at Coast, raw oysters in between them arranged perfectly on a platter.

Svea was taken aback by the question, which was posed out of the blue. She thought anybody would be, all things considered. “Uh…sometimes. Why?”

“I just think of you and Elias a lot. And Brock and I, obviously, but more so you and Elias. Because, like, we both know you guys are going to get married one day. I mean, so will Brock and I…but…I don’t know. Do you ever just think of what marriage will be like?”

Svea knew what Grace was trying to get at. In her own roundabout way, she was expressing a deep-rooted fear. Not of marriage in and of itself – the act of it, of getting a legal document and signing it and being attached to a person through marriage – but the dynamics of it instead. How to make it work. Communication. Trust. Traveling. Schedules. Children. Her parents notoriously didn’t speak to each other after their horrible divorce and used her and their lawyers as pawns. She got along well with her step-brothers and all was well and fine now, as an adult, but divorce traumatizes kids. “I do.”

“What do you think your marriage with Elias will be like?”

“Comfortable,” Svea said without any thought. She felt the need to clarify. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I just mean that like…I think it will be easy. Easier. We’ve known each other our whole lives and our relationship is already strong. I don’t think that signing a document and becoming husband and wife will drastically change anything in our relationship.”

“Because it’s bound to happen,” Grace said.

“Exactly,” Svea nodded her head. “Like I know it will change, but not by much. And Elias and I talk about what we want and what we want to do, and we sort of just, like…already know. So it’s not going be this, like, seismic shift. He’ll still be Elias. He’ll just be my husband, Elias.”

Grace nodded her head. She thought long and hard about what Svea was saying. She envied Svea, somewhat, because she also had good role models in her parents to base a marriage off of. Grace didn’t really have that luxury – though she had her mom and her step-dad now, but that was different. Because after everything that happened in the divorce, Grace couldn’t look at marriage the same way. “Do you ever look to your parents and what they went through?”

“Somewhat. I mean my mom uprooted her whole life for my dad. She moved to a foreign country and learned the language and brought up two daughters in a small town…I don’t think they would have lasted if she didn’t know my dad loved her unconditionally like Elias loves me now,” Svea explained. “I mean they obviously weren’t perfect but they provide a great example. Same with Elias’s parents. I think they provided a good example for him.”

“When I think about my mom and dad, and what happened with them, it doesn’t make me scared about Brock and I, because I know we’re different,” Grace began. “But what gets me scared is, like, the possibility. Like there’s always a possibility we could end up like them.”

Svea shook her head. “You can’t wage your happiness on a possibility, Grace,” she said sternly. “If we go by that logic, of possibilities, that means there’s a possibility that Elias would cheat on me and break us up.”

“That would never happen. Elias would never do that to you.”

“Exactly,” Svea said. “You and Brock are nothing like your parents. So let me ask you the same question. What do you think your marriage with Brock will be like?”

Unlike Svea, who answered with one word in a heartbeat, Grace thought about it for a while. It wasn’t because she wasn’t confident in their relationship – she was – and it wasn’t because she couldn’t see herself married to Brock – she could – but it was more so because what she had with Brock was indescribable. It had all happened pretty quickly, but everything about it felt right, and felt like it was supposed to happen. Marriage would feel the same way. Having kids would feel the same way. “Comfortable,” Grace repeated Svea’s word. “Because he gives me a sense of comfort than no-one else has. He makes me feel safe and happy all the time. And because we want the same things. We always have.”

Svea smiled. “See? Comfort isn’t a bad thing. Not everything has to be a rollercoaster.”

Grace nodded. She knew Svea was right. She just wished she didn’t have such bad examples to base a marriage on. Svea was wise and knew these things because she had good examples. “Has Elias ever brought up marriage?”

Svea smirked slightly, grabbing her water to take a sip so she could avoid the question. Grace wiggled in her seat excitedly, knowing the answer based on her response. “In passing, mostly. We were in bed once, too.”

“Oh God, did he propose once when you two were having sex?”

Svea snorted. “No, thank God. Nothing awkward like that. It was more so, like…” she trailed off, wondering if she should even say anything. She told Grace pretty much everything these days. “When we get married, so and so…” she mimicked Elias’s voice.

“Ah, I get it,” Grace nodded. “I once gave Brock a blowjob so good he called me his wife afterwards.”

Svea burst out laughing, which caused Grace to laugh as well. Both of the girls had to wipe away tears and take a drink of water before they could resume talking. “Brock would totally do something like that,” Svea commented.

“I know. He’s so predictable,” Grace rolled her eyes playfully. “Is it weird these things happen with our boyfriends during sex? I swear they only share one brain cell.”

“They definitely do, but we love them for it.”

>< >< ><

“Do you want to marry me?”

If Svea was a dog, her ears would have perked up like someone was opening the treat bag. She and Elias had finished dinner and had been cuddling on the couch when Svea thought they needed a snack and went to go microwave a bag of popcorn. The question didn’t make her nervous because she knew the answer. If anything, she wondered what exactly it would lead to. “Of course I do.”

“Now or eventually?” he asked again.

“Eventually,” she answered.

“Why not now?”

Svea poured the popcorn into the bowl. “Because I don’t know what I’m going with my life yet, and I think it’s important to establish that before I get married.”

“So if you establish it, we would be able to get married?” he asked, using her logic.

“Eliiiiaaaaas…” she elongated his name, taking the bowl and bringing it back to the couch. He sounded like a four year old with all of his questions. “What’s this about?”

“I’m just wondering when we can get married,” he said like it was so simple.

“Why are you wondering that?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Elias, we’re only twenty-two,” Svea said. She wanted to turn the tables. “And besides, do you want to marry me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my soulmate,” he said automatically. “Because I love you more than anything. And we waited long enough to get together, so why wait to get married?”

“Elias…” she whispered. Instead of sitting down by his side like she had been, she straddled his lap. It brought them much closer, of course, and Svea could look at him face-to-face. She brought her hands up to cradle his face. “Listen to me. I love you. I want to marry you. There’s no doubt in my mind about that, okay? None whatsoever. But there are a lot of things happening this year between me and my future and you and your contract,” she said. “I feel…I feel like once all of that is…I don’t know, settled, then we can start seriously think about getting married. And I can’t do that when everything is up in the air with me.”

Elias moved into her touch, eventually nodding his head. He looked so cute and his lips were so pouty, Svea felt like kissing him right then. But she knew she couldn’t until they finished their very serious conversation. “I just don’t want to wait. I’ve already waited too long for you, you know?” he asked.

“I know. But I’m not going anywhere.”

“You better not be,” he mumbled, leaning forward to rest his head against her chest. She moved her hands so one was still cradling his face while she ran her fingers through his hair with the other. “I hope you don’t think I’m pressuring you or anything.”

“You’re not.”

“I just really want to marry you. I really want you to be my wife. I know it’s probably stupid of me but I don’t care how young we are. I would’ve married you at eighteen.”

Svea smiled. “If we hadn’t denied our feelings for each other we probably would have been dumb and done it,” she laughed. “But you’ve gotta get me a ring first.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I’ll make sure the ring is bigger than your eyeball.”

“And you still gotta kneel. I want the whole kit and kaboodle. I don’t care that I know it’s happening. You still have to kneel and ask me.”

She felt Elias smile against her, giggling slightly. “I plan on it. I meant it when I said that time in Stockholm wasn’t the last time I would kneel in front of you.”

“Good,” Svea smiled.

“But we can still get a pet, right?”

Svea snorted. She was very, very, very well aware of how much he wanted a pet. With Diesel, Whiskey, and Tequila far away in Sweden with Fanny and Emil, he had limited access to animals. And after spending practically the entire summer with them, he was desperate for some animal contact. Grace bringing Pippa around was always nice, but it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t cuddle with Pippa whenever he wanted. Pippa wasn’t at his home. “Elias.”

“What if I brought home an iguana one day?”

“No,” she said loudly, pulling away from him so his head wasn’t on her chest anymore. He had a cheeky smile on his face. “I told you to stop sending me reptiles to adopt.”

“But what if—”

“If you bring home an iguana or a reptile or God forbid a snake, you’re not allowed to marry me anymore.”

“Whooooooaaaaaa whoa whoa hey hey hey, let’s not get crazy here,” he held up his hands. “Okay, I’ll stop sending the reptiles. But that means I can send you more dogs.”

“Okay, deal,” she smiled, finally getting her opportunity to kiss him. “You’re lucky I’m already crazy for you, because you’re gonna drive me crazy.”

“Hmmm,” he hummed happily, snaking his hands up her shirt. “I’m crazy for you too. And I can think of a few crazy things we can get up to right now.”

>< >< >< >< ><

“Elias—”

“—Svea—”

“—Elias we’re already late—”

“—Pull up your dress—"

“—Eli—oh, oh Jesus,” Svea felt herself getting pushed against their bedroom’s glass window. Elias was behind her pulling her dress up and bunching it around her hips. She could hear the buckle of his belt clink as he rushed to get it unbuckled. “Elias—”

“Bend over.”

She let out a hot sigh as she did what she was told, trying to grip onto the glass as she bent over slightly, her ass sticking out and grinding on Elias’s already hard member. She could feel his hand on her ass, slipping her lace panties to the side. She’d bought them specifically for tonight. No set, because she wasn’t wearing a bra (only boob tape, as per Grace and her tailor). She’d planned on surprising Elias after the gala but he apparently had other plans. She felt his fingers play with her folds, letting out a mewl at his teasing to get her wet, eventually slipping two fingers inside of her, causing her to cry out. “That feels good, Elias,” she whispered, looking back at him.

“You like that?” he asked, to which she nodded her head. “You think looking that sexy in this dress wasn’t gonna make me do this?”

She smiled slightly. “I knew it would. Just thought you’d be able to wait,” she smiled devilishly.

“Nuh uh,” Elias shook his head, curling his fingers and making her visibly shiver. “No waiting. Can’t wait.”

“Then fuck me already.”

Elias entered her with such force that they crashed together against the glass. Svea let out a loud moan as he filled her up, feeling his hot breath right behind her ear as her own hot breath fogged up the glass in front of her mouth. She absolutely loved the feeling of him filling her up – always had, always would – but this was different. This was hot and fast and raw and rough, and she liked it, God did she like it. “Fill me up, Elias,” she breathed out. “Fill me up and fuck me.”

He crashed into her hips again, and she sent out another shout. His body pressed up against hers gave her little room to move but she liked it. Another crash. Another shout. Another crash. Another shout. On and on and on, the more shouts and moans escaped her body without her having any control over them. On and on and on, she got louder with each passing one. He could see her knuckles turning white from trying to grip the glass unsuccessfully. “You like being fucked like this?” he mumbled into her ear.

“Yeeesssssssss,” she nodded.

“How much?”

“So much,” she breathed out. “I love it when you fuck me hard, Elias. I love it. It’s so good. It’s so fucking good.”

It wasn’t meant to last long – rendezvouses like this never did – and so with a bite of the neck and an arch of the back and a slip of Elias’s hand around to her core, rubbing and teasing, Svea came undone, coming loudly and shaking as she tried to keep her balance. She could feel his breaths shorten, and soon after, he came inside of her, hot and wet and causing her own orgasm to last longer. As they tried to catch their breaths, Svea could feel Elias’s lips on the open skin of her back, placing soft, tender, loving kisses along it as they came down from their highs.

Elias’s lips moved from her spine to her shoulder blades and along her neck. “I love you,” he whispered softly, placing a quick kiss on her jawline.

The fact that he was still inside her made it that much more tender to her. With her skirt still bunched up and the heat still pulsating in her core – evidence of what they’d just done – it was a nice bring-me-down, a return to reality for Svea who had just been seeing stars thanks to her boyfriend. “I love you too.”

When he softened and he finally slipped out of her, she whimpered as she always did at the loss, though she knew that more would be waiting for her later. She adjusted her underwear upon hearing Elias’s belt clink again. After rearranging themselves, they looked at each other to see the other perfectly well-kept, as if Elias didn’t just fuck her against the window. Elias had a smile on his face – a proud one, not one filled with lust like minutes before. “We should get down to the car,” he said, though neither of them bothered to move. “You do look beautiful,” he added.

“We clean up well,” Svea smiled back. She stepped forward to help him arrange his tie and collar.

“I can’t wait to see you in a wedding dress,” Elias said, looking down at her.

Svea looked up. “Yeah?”

He nodded, clasping her hand in his. “Yeah.”

***

“Svea, you look fantastic!” Jacob Markstrom smiled as he bent down to hug her. Almost the entire team and their significant others had sad variations of the same thing to her as they saw her, so she knew she had picked the right dress. She and Elias were one of the last couples to arrive, but it seemed like things were running slightly behind schedule anyway because of people trying to find their seats in the giant room. It saved them, really.

“Thanks Jacob,” Svea smiled. “You look quite dapper yourself. A change from the scruffy bear you turn into when we’re back in Sweden.”

He let out a hearty laugh before moving on to greet Elias. Svea looked around the room to see it already almost full of people mingling. The stage was lit up in blue and green lights, and the DJ was playing music in the background of everything else that was happening. There were already food stations open in the middle of the room. Svea wondered if the boys could eat before they had to go their designated stations – she knew Elias and Brock were going to be set up in the photobooth part just like last year. That meant she and Grace could gossip and get a good talk in before dinner, where they would inevitably be separated at different tables.

About five minutes after Svea and Elias arrived, Brock and Grace did too. They made their rounds with the team. When Grace approached Svea, she gave her a good up-down. “You look phenomenal,” she said before going in to hug her. “Was Petey able to keep his hands off you?” she whispered in her ear.

Svea giggled. “No.”

Grace nodded knowingly as she pulled away from the hug. “Brock wasn’t either.”

Soon, the boys were called to their “stations” and Grace and Svea found their tables before going to the bar. A lot of people were approaching Grace because they recognized her from her father, and they asked questions about her and her initiatives and her uncles as Svea stood awkwardly with her, barely acknowledged or subtly acknowledged with just a nod of the head. Grace knew how to work a room, so it was fine, and she tried to include Svea into the conversations as much as possible, but people weren’t interested in her as much as they were interested in Grace. It was fine. Grace came from a prominent family of billionaires who were famous in Vancouver for their philanthropy. Svea was just…Svea. To be honest, she somewhat liked it. She could never be in the “limelight”, so to speak, as Grace was. That’s why if she went into politics, she’d be an advisor. There was no way she’d run for public office, even though she could debate better than the best politicians.

At one point, Svea and Grace unfortunately got stuck with quite the…character. Young, brash, and somehow invited to a gala that benefitted children, he was making jokes left, right, and centre. Most of them inappropriate. Both girls wished he noticed their awkward laughs and buzzed off, but such was not the case. He just had to chat up the daughter of Hamish Gillespie.

“You girls having a good time?” Brock’s voice was heard suddenly as he crept up behind them, putting his hand on the small of Grace’s back. Elias wasn’t far behind, smiling slightly.

“Whooooa ho ho! Brock Boeser!” the man exclaimed, doing one of those slap-shaking of hands boys always did with each other – if they were friends. Brock had no idea who this man was. “What’s up, Boes? Just talking to your girl here about where the Gillespie’s are donating money next.”

“Hmm, really?” Brock said, eyeing Grace and seeing the look she was giving him. “You’re talking to Grace about it?”

“Yeah, your girl.”

Elias watched as Grace rolled her eyes. “I was just about to say it’ll probably be another arts centre somewhere,” she said curtly.

“And what about you?” he nodded his head towards Svea. “Raya, was it?”

“Svea,” she deadpanned.

“Svea’s looking to do public policy and work in politics,” Elias interjected, saying the information proudly.

The man laughed out loud. Like, actually laughed out loud upon hearing the news. “You gonna be a political husband, Petey? The Good Husband? Like that TV show?” he joked.

“I don’t get it,” Svea interrupted before Elias could respond. She knew what she had to do: she had to use the technique of playing dumb and not understanding the “joke” in order to have someone awkwardly explain why they thought their racist/sexist/misogynist/ableist “joke” was funny, thus shining a light on their horrible character. She could bask in the awkwardness of them stumbling over their own words and seeing how truly ridiculous and stupid they really were. “Can you explain that to me?”

She watched as the man’s face fell slightly. “Oh, you know,” he tried to play it off. “It’s just a joke.”

“What’s the joke?”

Now his face really dropped, but he still tried to keep a smile on his face, which just made him look completely like that Chrissy Teigen meme. “It’s just…you know…”

“I don’t know.”

The man shifted awkwardly on his feet. “Petey doesn’t need his girl working in politics,” he said. “What are you even gonna do in politics anyway? How’s Petey gonna feel about that? Having his girl running around with a bunch of politicians?”

“I’m not exactly sure where you’re going with this,” Svea said. She couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. “What exactly are you trying to achieve? Please explain to me how having a successful wife is so threatening to a man’s ego?”

“Does he need the trouble?” he continued. “You can’t be out there…you…I mean, shouldn’t you just do what all the other wives and girlfriends do? Be with the kids and tend to the house like a good wife? Petey is the important one here.”

Svea was so shocked her jaw didn’t drop. She closed her jaw, curtly, and closed her mouth, curtly, out of fear of saying something she might regret. It was Brock who had to intervene. “I think it’s best you leave now,” he said as calmly as possible.

“I—It’s not—”

“Leave,” Grace stressed.

The man scoffed and walked off. Svea could feel Elias grab her hand and squeeze it. He had an angry look on his face, understandably, as he watched the guy walk off, back to his table and back to his group. Elias would make sure to walk by the table to see the company they came from so he could make a complaint. “What a fucking asshole,” he mumbled.

“What a crock of shit,” Grace piped up even louder than Elias. She looked up at Brock. “Can we kick him out? I’m serious. Can we go speak to someone so he’s thrown out? Let’s go.”

“It’s fine,” Svea said.

“But Svea—”

“Honestly, it’s fine,” she stressed. “I’m going to be a woman in politics. This won’t be the last time somebody is going to make a comment like that.” Grace was still visibly mad. So was Brock. But they listened to Svea’s wish and didn’t pursue it any further. “Let’s go sit.”

***

Despite the man’s horrible comments, Svea forgot about them for the duration of the gala and had an amazing time. There were some hilariously funny moments that the organization put the players through, and Svea was laughing almost the entire night. She had some great talks afterwards, as well, with Jacob and Troy and Bo and Holly, and when the night ended, she was tired but happy as she and Elias made their way back home. Grace suggested they go for late-night pizza but Svea was too tired. They promised Grace brunch the next morning instead, which was readily agreed upon.

“I appreciate that you don’t expect that life from me,” Svea whispered as she stood in their bedroom in front of their mirror, Elias behind her unzipping her dress. She’d already been to the bathroom to wash off her makeup.

He knew exactly what she was talking about. He honestly wondered when she was going to bring it up. They’d been through this discussion months earlier when Francesca made her comments. He couldn’t believe they had to put up with them again. “I know you do,” he said from behind her.

“I just…I haven’t gone to university and pursued a life and career in public policy or law just to be called your girlfriend and become…become a…a trophy wife! A wag!” her anger was coming through now. “And I know I shouldn’t be angry and—and I’m not, I swear, because I know how ridiculous he was, but I…still.”

“I get it. It’s okay,” Elias said as he finished unzipping her dress. “You know I’d never want to dull your shine, Svea. I never want you to settle for anything you don’t want because I know you don’t want me to do that either.”

“You don’t…” she stopped herself, thinking if she should even ask the question, since he posed the same one to her when they were in Sweden after the entire Soren debacle. “You don’t think I’m holding you back, right?”

“How would you?” he asked, his tone showing he thought it was the most absurd idea on the planet.

“From like, doing stuff with your friends. Going out, having fun…I don’t know Elias. Normal guy stuff. Normal hockey guy stuff,” she clarified.

He’d been shaking his head since her first word. “No,” he said definitively. He dress fell to the floor, leaving Svea standing in front of the mirror in just her lace underwear. “I see what some of my friends and teammates have gotten up to on the road and I don’t want that for me. The only things I want in my life are my family, hockey, and you. There’s nothing else I need.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” he nodded. “You keep me grounded, Svea. I don’t need to do that shit when I have you at home.”

“I just don’t want you to miss out,” she said.

“I’m not missing out. Trust me. I still have my fun but I have it on my terms.”

Svea internalized his words and nodded her head. She turned around and began helping him undress, undoing his tie and the buttons on his dress shirt before moving to his belt, the clinking of the metal reminding her of their previous activities just hours ago. “I know that you love me. And you know that I love you. I just want to make sure you’re living the life you want because I know you want me to live the life that I want. Which is why I’m comfortable with telling you the next thing I’m going to say.”

“Which is?”

“If we get married, we’re not having kids anytime soon. I’m not even entertaining the idea,” she said, looking him straight in the eye. “Like, it’s not on the table. It’s not an option. I’m going to school and I’m working. And when I’m ready, we’re having kids.”

Again, Elias was nodding from the beginning of her first words. “I’m fine with that. I—yes, I’m fine with that.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive,” he kept nodding as she pushed his dress shirt back with her hands, letting it fall to the floor as well. “There’s no way I can even think about taking care of a kid right now anyway, so there’s no way I’m gonna do that to you. I wouldn’t put that on you while I go live my dreams. You have to live your dreams too.” He bent down slightly to give her a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

That night, as Svea was on top of him, under him, on her hands and knees for him, spooning him, and everything in between; as every orgasm coursed through her body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes like a tidal wave, leaving her a shaking, moaning, mewling, whimpering mess, she was shown time and time again how much Elias loved her, how much he adored her, how much he would do anything for her; and she was shown, more than anything, that they were in this together.

>< >< >< >< ><

Dear Miss Nilsson,

Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you acceptance into the Peter A. Allard School of Law…

***

Dear Miss Nilsson,

Upon review of your application, we are pleased to offer you acceptance to the University of British Columbia’s Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs…

>< >< >< >< ><

“Stella! Stella! Speak!”

“Brrrrrrrraaaaark!”

“Gooood girl, Stella!” Svea gave her a treat. “Okay, now twirl!” she did the hand motion, and Stella spun around and sat down when she was finished. “What a good girl you are, Stella!”

“RrrrrBARK!”

Svea watched as Elias came up behind Stella and picked her up in one swift movement, swooping her up in his arms as he brought her up to his face. He snuggled his face into hers, her wet nose tickling his skin before she started licking his face. Svea laughed at the sight, and soon Elias was laughing too because Stella wouldn’t stop. “You’re just like mommy, Stella.”

“HEY!” Svea opposed, pinching him on his side and causing him to wince. “That’s not very nice.”

“It’s true though.”

“So what if it is,” she mumbled as she watched their puppy continue to lick his face. “We should put her harness on her now if we’re going to take her to the park.”

“But before that,” Elias said, placing Stella back down on the floor before walking over to their fridge. He bent down to open the freezer and took out a bottle of champagne. Stella waddled over to him, trying to see what else was in the freezer. “What’s that?” Svea asked as he set the bottle down on the counter. It was an expensive bottle too – he’d really gone all out.

“You didn’t think I’d just give you that necklace to celebrate you getting into your programs?” he asked with a smirk on his face. He took out two champagne flutes from a cabinet and set them down on the counter.

Svea touched the necklace sitting pretty around her neck – the Cartier Love necklace in yellow gold with diamonds, of course to match her bracelet that she hadn’t taken off since. “Elias…”

“And I know you still have to think about which one you’re going to choose,” he said as he took the foil off the top and began to uncork the bottle, “but we’re still going to celebrate. Because you’re my Svea, and I love you more than anything.”

Svea bent down to pick up Stella and cradle her in her arms as Elias poured the champagne into the flutes. “I did choose,” she said softly. “I came to the decision mentally, like, half an hour ago and I was going to tell you at the park.”

“Oh yeah? And?” he asked as he finished pouring.

She took a deep breath. “The Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs.”

Elias smiled from ear to ear, handing her one of the flutes to hold. He stepped towards her and wrapped an arm around her, cradling her and Stella against him. “To you, my pretty girl,” he said softly as he looked down at her. “My moon, my stars, my Svea.”

>< >< >< >< ><

@ThomasDrance: BREAKING: Elias Pettersson has signed a contract with the Vancouver Canucks. More to come shortly.

@ThomasDrance: Sounds like a long-term deal. Elias is staying. Canucks fans rejoice.

@ThomasDrance: Somebody on the media beat just screamed. Another danced. One is just smiling as he’s staring down at his phone. Just in case you were wondering how happy the people of Vancouver are.

>< >< >< >< ><

“You guys want to meet up on…let’s say Saturday?” Svea asked Grace on the phone. She was lying on the couch with Elias giving her a foot massage and Stella sleeping on her chest.

“Yeah, of course. Pippa down!” she asserted. “What were you thinking?”

“We kind of want to go super-fancy,” Svea said, knowing that Grace would be able to help with that. “Like, really nice outfits. And I want Brock in a suit.”

“I’ll make reservations at Hawksworth,” Grace said like it was the easiest thing in the world – because it was for her. Everyone else would need to wait weeks. But not her. “And I’ll stuff Brock too-many-cookies-gut into a suit, no problem.”

“Make the reservation for 1:30 in the afternoon. But can we meet at 11?”

“Of course…” Grace said. “Why so early?”

“For Stella. We need to show you something with Stella.”

>< >< >< >< ><

Elias waved Brock down outside once he noticed his car. Elias was dressed in his best suit, one he’d know he’d never wear again from now on. He watched as Brock parallel parked the car on the street. Grace got out first, wearing a very pretty and fitted yellow dress with a boatneck and cap sleeves, looking especially elegant. Her hair was sleeked back into a low bun, and she had a pair of high-heeled sandals on to complete her look. Brock followed behind her, wearing one of his particularly well-tailored and fitted black suits, shiny new shoes and a skinny tie.

“Why’d you make me dress up?” Brock asked as he approached Elias, adjusting his jacket so he could button it up.

“You know I like seeing you in a suit.”

Brock winked. “I do, but you see me in one almost every other day. Why my best suit?”

Elias didn’t have the opportunity to answer, because Svea came up from behind him to hug Grace and Brock. They both bent down and kissed Stella as well. “Do you guys mind if I leave my jacket in your car? It’s getting a bit hot out,” she asked as she began unbuttoning her trench coat.

“Yeah yeah, of course,” Brock nodded, moving to open the backseat door for her.

When Svea handed the handle of the leash to Elias and took off her trench coat, she had everybody staring. She revealed the dress she was wearing: plunge V-neck, frilled outline, sequin-embellished waistband, flowy skirt.

White.

“Wait…” Brock held his hand up, not bothering to close the backseat door even though Svea was finished throwing her jacket in the back. Finished and waiting. He had a confused look on his face. But then it suddenly hit him. “Are you guys getting fuckin’ married?”

Svea smirked. When Grace saw, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Brock looked at Elias, who was now smiling and laughing at Grace’s reaction. “Are you fucking joking?” Elias shook his head. “You guys are getting fucking married?! Right now?!”

“Yup,” Elias finally nodded his head. “You and Grace are our witnesses, and you may or may not need to FaceTime in our parents and siblings.”

If it was possible, Grace screamed even louder before jumping up and down and lunging herself at Svea, who was ready to catch her and hug her. Brock and Elias watched as she kept changing “ohmygodohmygodOHMYGOOOOODDDDD” over and over again before she finally had the wherewithal to grab Svea’s left hand. When she did, she saw Svea’s ring: a beautiful yellow gold pave ring with a sapphire halo around the centre diamond – a giant round cut that took up most of Svea’s finger. She gasped at the sight of it. “Oh my God this is stunning,” she said, inspecting it before turning to Elias. “You picked this out?”

“Wow Grace. You don’t have faith in me?” Elias smiled.

She turned to Svea. “Our men have no taste. You have to tell me who picked it out.”

“HEY!” Brock protested. “I have taste!”

“We went to the jewelry store together. I chose the diamond and he said to get it bigger—”

“—Good—”

“—and then I wanted the pave band. But it was Elias who actually suggested the sapphires in the halo.”

Grace nodded. “The sapphires make it. They truly do.” She gave Elias another look. “Good job Elias.”

“Thanks Grace.”

“So are we gonna do this thing or what?!” Brock asked, clapping his hands together. “Let’s get married!”

***

The picture was simple, and taken by Brock. In it, Elias and Svea stood on the steps outside Vancouver City Hall. They stood side by side, and were holding hands. Svea held her bouquet by her hip, and in Elias held the leash for Stella, who was sitting in front of them, smiling at the camera. They were smiling, too. Formal smiles, mostly, but in Elias’s unabashedness, and in Svea’s absolute pure joy.

Elias posted a simple caption.

💒

***

@of_pettersson: The Church of Pettersson could have married you!!! Alas, we bestow best wishes to you and your bride!

@peteyfan40: pettersson married? What a way to ring in his contract!

@canucklehead406: gotta love that the first thing elias does after signing a contract is get married. Remember that ice and dice when he said he’d never had a girlfriend? What a change

@vancitybaby: ok, so I’m not the only one who think elias looks super cute with his new wife and puppy, right? Like I basically sobbed.

@ThomasDrance: Signs a contract, gets married. Bride is childhood best friend Svea Nilsson. Congrats to Elias & Svea. Bright things are in their future.

@BBoeser16: So happy for my two best friends and to have been there with them <3

@gracegillespie: I love love. Congratulations to Elias, Svea, and Stella.

>< >< >< >< ><

Elias and Svea cuddled on the couch. Svea was in Elias’s lap and Stella was sleeping in hers. Elias placed a kiss on Svea’s temple. “I love you so much, Svea.”

She smiled. “I love you too Elias.”

For at least a moment, everything was perfect.

199 notes · View notes

oldguy56-world · 3 years

Text

Romancing the Stone

How was your weekend? Mine was different as I had a few firsts in my life. First time I called 911. First time I rode in an ambulance, and first time I had a kidney stone. It was a hat trick of fun. Let me back up a bit. I was in the kitchen getting some things ready for supper when it felt like I was stabbed in the side. I got the chills and the sweats at the same time and I couldn’t stand up. We made the call and the EMT’s arrived very quickly. (here is a tip for while you are waiting. Don’t look up your symptoms online. It will not make you feel relieved at all. Based on what I was experiencing I could have had 1 of 20 things. Each one worse than the one before. The only thing I ruled out was ovarian cysts. Unless there is something my parents never told me) They did a fantastic job of asking questions and calming the situation down. There were a couple of things though:

- Asked me if I was having trouble releasing gas. When I have gas the longest I have ever gone is 37 seconds. After that it gets ugly, so the answer was no.

- They asked me if someone had dumped water on me. When I said no they looked at each other. This caused my blood pressure to go up which was the next thing they tested.

- I was disappointed and relieved with my ambulance ride to the hospital. They didn’t put the siren on and run red lights. The good news was this told me I couldn’t be in too bad a shape. (they also watch you very closely in the back. I am not sure if it is to make sure I am okay or that I am not pocketing all the neat stuff they have in there)

Now we are at the hospital. What a joy this was. Did you know hospitals are full of sick people? Here are some things I picked up on while waiting. (Yes even in EXTREME pain I wanted to use the moment for good and teach others from my lessons).

- No matter how bad you have to do it don’t pee until they tell you they need a sample. I made that mistake. Took them a while to get more out of me.

- Pick where you sit very carefully. You want to make sure you are not beside the crazy one and it is hard to tell by looks alone. I lucked out. The guy who came in after me did not. He sat near a guy who looked normal enough. I saw the ‘normal guy’ lean over before saying “does this look right to you” and he lifted his shirt. I couldn’t see what he showed the guy but the doctors had to add vomiting to his chart.

- The magazines are old. I did however learn that Trudeau was just elected Prime Minister. Pierre Trudeau.

- As the wait went on I got to thinking about all the medical TV shows we watch. If there is any truth to the shows I am no doubt waiting while the doctors are having sex in empty rooms with each other, nurses, patients, or maybe stray sheep.

- They build up false hope by moving you into the next room. You think that means you are getting close but not so. I was moved 5 times.

- If you want to kill time start playing ‘what does that person have’ in your head. Not out loud. Apparently people waiting for psychiatric help are in the same waiting room as you are. Play the game but make no eye contact. Trust me on this one.

- If you listen to the other people in the waiting room on the phones with their families you will hear that they are worse than anyone else in the room and should go next. Are you kidding me? I could not eat my supper. Do you know how bad off I have to be to miss a meal. I should have been at the front of the line.

I finally get to the last waiting room. A woman comes out dressed like a scientist from one of those movies where there is a deadly virus breakout. She asks me if I am there for an MRI X-ray or CT scan. How the #%*& do I know. She is the first person since the EMTs to talk to me. (except for that woman who kept scratching herself in the first waiting room. I tried to block her from my memory but the sight is still in my head)

Anyway, All is well I just have to wait for the stone to pass. You will know when it does as I am sure you will hear me scream like a little girl no matter how far away you live.

side note: this was also tough on my wife as she was not allowed to come with me due to Covid restrictions. It is important to keep those who care in the loop.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Always take care of yourself and your loved ones. You all deserve it.

2 notes · View notes

phoebehalliwell · 4 years

Note

so apparently my brain will not let me rest until I figure out the Prue/Roger dynamic, so: Prue's right out of college when she gets hired at the museum and she gets partnered with a senior curator, Roger. Roger flatters Prue first professionally, then personally, and when Prue is hesitant because he's married, he spins some line about how his marriage is over in everything but name. Prue, young and only having one real relationship before, falls for his charm and they start sneaking around 1/?

at the office. at some point Roger does divorce his wife, he and Prue are together publicly, and then he proposes. somewhere in there, he makes a move on Phoebe, who rejects him. Phoebe immediately goes to Prue, but Roger insists that she's lying, "Prue, don't you think I love you, I left my wife for you." Prue, habituated by years of this kind of emotional manipulation, chooses Roger over Phoebe. This pretty much destroys her relationship with her sister. Prue and Roger continue plans for the wedding until Grams dies, at which point Roger calls off the wedding because he didn't sign up to be anyone else's emotional support. Prue, spends her days angry at Roger, Grams, and Phoebe for abandoning her, and spends her nights secretly wondering if there was anything she could have done to keep any of them with her.

hmm an inch resting yarn you have spun here but i’m gonna offer you another one: pure was popular in high school she was like really fuckin cool and she could very easily have been any man of her choosing. there was no settling for her, she was prue motherfuckin halliwell. so she went for what her heart always wanted and dated her childhood sweetheart andy trudeau. and like,, they were the It Couple in their heyday and it was definitely that passion head first our love will never die dramatic but also just kinda silly love. and that sorta sets the bar. then she’s off to college presumably at this point still trying to pursue a career in photography and she’s like having fun she hangs out with the artists and free spirits and people who were misfits in high school and draws them in with her undeniable queen bee energy but like. she knows her stuff. she doesn’t get by on looks and popularity, she’s really good at what she does. so now we bring in college boyfriend no. 1 who cupid name checked as alan, and we’ll say this really is a relationship of two artists and they’re both amazed by each other’s work and the soul and heart and spirit in it and in them it’s definitely the most pretentious of prue’s relationships but it’s like the kind where they “break into” the local art gallery after hours (alan works there and has a key, so it’s not like it took a lot of masterminding) and like slide around polished hardwood floors until they fall down laughing that type of vibe. but now we’re encroaching on prue’s blue period. for starters, piper’s get ready to y’know apply for college this that and the other and like grams is all concerned about how much college costs blah blah blah with paying for both prue and piper and the same time yada yada yada and prue sorta realizes how sorta tight the money situation is what with the cost of education and the house and this that and the other and she’s starting to realize that this photography career is Not the move bc like this house needs a breadwinner if they want to keep it blah blah blah so life already blows when she has to go pick up phoebe from a party which she’s not like happy about but like you know at least phoebe isn’t drunk driving maybe this is a chance for them to bond as sisters for prue to impart some wisdom on her chaotic younger sister but no of course not of course they have to get in a huge argument and prue doesn’t hit the breaks in time and the car gets totalled and phoebe lands in the hospital and like now prue’s sorta spiralling and she like wants to quit photography and she feels horrible about everything and alan who is again i must harp on pretty pretentious is like no u can’t quit ur family doesn’t understand you it’s not about the money it’s about the art use this pain to make something amazing to which like sorry king,,, but it is about the money. the manor has been in the family for decades and prue can’t lose it. and with piper’s college, phoebe’s hospital bills, and grams’s failing health... it’s 100% about the money dude. and fuck turning your pain into art fuck glorifying suffering and fuck you. so now prue’s p cut off she’s pretty isolated she’s all down in the dumps blah blah blah she changed majors to whatever major it was she needed for like museum jobs bc at least this way she can make bank but she’ll still hold a piece of art close to her and she like drowns herself in her work like she’s not just gonna be this major (art history?) she’s gonna be the fuckin best she’s gonna be the top of her class blah blah blah yada yada yada. but y’know flash forward an amount of time and her roommate’s like hey babe. i get like life’s shit i get u got to be the very best like no one ever was but like. you have not left the apartment in four months. you haven’t smiled in probably twice as long so like. idk do something?? that makes you happy maybe???? and prue’s just like :/ bc what made her happy was like photography but now she has very mixed emotions around that and her roommate’s like what did you do for fun in high school like what did you do after school and prue’s like idk cheerleading practice and her roommate’s like word well then go to cheerleading tryouts time skip we really see prue return to all her old glory and climb up the lil cheerleading ladder blah blah blah and in this renaissance of hers she also scores a new love interest who’s basically the opposite of alan enter tom peters the star wide receiver. and i think this relationship for prue was really just like fun it was tipping her toes back into the water it was learning to smile again it was just like a good time fun simple no concerns about the future just like vibing right then and there and then that ended just sorta naturally and they both graduated and it’s time for prue to leap into the professional world and she’s never left california so when she gets a job offer in london she jumps at the chance blah blah blah she’s working she’s having fun she’s defining herself enter eric from london who i’ll say is like a Business Man he’s like a this that or the other idk maybe a museum investor like the young son who just took over his dad’s business that sorta vibe and like eyes meet breath catches there was just this click but it like took them months to get together it was just this dance this game of cat and mouse until prue finally like took the bull by the horns and just like went for it and i think that would be her like most “adult” relationship like dates were going out to fancy dinners not breaking and entering or picnics on the empty football field these were like two professional adults like dating but you know they hit a year and then some and we’ll say like prue is maybe like 24 25 and this guy’s maybe 29 or whatever and they’ve attended friend’s weddings bs they’ve hit that era where everyone’s getting married and suddenly this cloud’s hanging in the air like baby are you my forever girl like is this it fifty years from now to i still come home to you put you know what let’s push that to the back of our minds but now eric’s like 30 and his family’s like dawg,,,, r u gonna be like a spinster or something are you gonna put a ring on it or not and prue (after many many international phone calls to piper) has decided yes she’d do it she’d stay her and be with this man she loves and eric decides prue’s just not the girl for her. so uh. ouch. blah blah blah prue’s had her fun in the uk but it’s like time to return home piper’s just graduates college or whatever and found a job in the city if prue follows suit they could room together which is when she gets the job at the museum where roger works at. and blah blah blah prue’s like amazing as always and of course she catches roger’s attention bc how could she not and he’s constantly pursuing her and prue keeps turning him down at first bc she’s not really interested and then like he’s her boss and then like it becomes a sort of game but now all her friends from high school are getting married and marcia from homeroom has a baby look and the lil pumpkin on her christmas card and fuck what am i doing so you know what yes roger i’ll be your date to the new years party and here’s the thing roger knows prue is really impressive like she’s amazing at her job and she’s a total babe like he shows her off all the time and prue’s like you know receiving this really high praise and you know roger also has cash to spare so it’s like it’s not bad and she doesn’t well love him but he clearly loves her so she can be satisfied and you know her high school reunion is this year and if there’s one thing she would love it would be to write (nee halliwell) on her nametag, to show she got the job, she got the guy, and she’s living pretty in pac heights. so when roger proposes, she says yes. and piper’s happy for her and phoebe thinks roger’s a sleaze and grams is lukewarm but what does grams know about a long lasting marriage and what does phoebe know about anything so blah blah blah she goes to that high school reunion with a big ol rock on her finger and this that and the other and like to be perfectly frank coming home to roger is not like the highlight of her day there’s not this comforting glow when she falls asleep next to him but it’s like. she’s committed. she’s gonna see this through. besides, they’re already working on the guest list and venue and everything like she’s in it now there’s no turning back now and it’s fine like roger’s fine he’s perfectly palatable and she’s encroaching on 30 so. well whatever prue and roger host an easter party and it’s so cute she’s in a darling floral dress dazzling roger’s stuck up parents and eating finger sandwiches when she hears voices coming from the bedroom and is like gonna pretend to ignore it when she catches piper’s eye and piper has that uncomfortable look on her face and she realizes she can’t find phoebe anywhere and Where Is Roger and she busts in on the two of them looking disheveled and phoebe’s like prue- and prue’s like i don’t want to hear it and roger’s like baby- and prue’s like not now and she turns to phoebe like i think it’s best you go and she looks at roger like we’ll talk about this later your parents are wondering where you are so piper drives phoebe home and phoebe’s telling her about how she went to confront roger on being a whore and also like a spineless sleazebag and she was gonna tell prue when he totally started hitting on her and trying to kiss her and then prue broke in and piper’s like uh huh uh huh bc like. she doesn’t like roger all that much. and she agrees with phoebe. but still this thought sorta lingers at the back of her mind like could phoebe have done something? purely to get back at prue? no she wouldn’t. probably. meanwhile roger’s like your sister was totally hitting on me blah blah blah and prue’s like we can talk about it later right now we’re hosting a very nice party and i’m not going to have you ruin in and roger’s like see that’s what i love about you and prue’s like yeah cool and now whenever she comes home to roger she’s just like 🙄 and she’s like complaining to piper about how like she like doesn’t really want to marry him but it’s like too late now the venue’s booked and the save-the-dates have been sent out and piper’s like it’s not too late until you say i do. do you really want to be married to that sleazebag? and prue’s like :| and piper’s like you can call off the wedding and prue’s like :| and piper’s like i’m just saying and prue’s like does he remind you of dad? and piper’s like what? and prue’s like i think roger’s just like victor. i think i’m about to make the same mistake mom made. god, i always wondered how she could have married such a douchebag and here i am about to do the exact same thing! and piper’s not really commenting bc she doesn’t really remember dad but what she does say is you haven’t made that mistake yet so prue’s like you’re right. and that night she calls of the engagement.

#charmed #prue halliwell #prue x roger #💌#margaretsminiessays

11 notes · View notes

quicksiluers · 4 years

Note

Hello!! I love reading your comics and all the excerpts of books you post about Grant and Sherman on your blog, and I was wondering if you had any recommendations on books to read to learn more about them and other generals/ the western theater in the civil war?? Thank you for all that you've already shared btw, I've learned so much from it!!

awww this is so great!! ah yes, the western theater! full of some really interesting stuff! I have so many books...but I’ll try to give you some of my top fav recommendations! And also thank you so much regarding my comics, that’s so nice of you to say ;___; I have fun with them!

For Grant and Sherman specifically, together, there is a fabulous book by Charles Bracelton Flood called: Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won The Civil War (it is one of my FAV books, a bit of a minibio for the two of them but it really focuses in on their relationship which is....just SO MUCH GOODNESS)

For Grant specifically, you can’t go wrong with some of these books (btw I haven’t listed all my favs but these are some good places to start):

Grant’s Memoirs (just....amazing, I absolutely love them, Grant is a fantastic writer and the book has touches of his kind of dry humor which is A+)

Grant by Ron Chernow (this was my first Grant book and I loved it. It’s a little of 1,000 pages but it spans his whole life, which there was a lot going on)

Grant’s Final Victory by Charles Bracelton Flood (this is about the last year in Grant’s life when he is writing his memoirs and at the same time slowly dying of cancer and I will guarantee it will make you cry cause I know I did!)

Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller (this book is FANTASTIC, the Vicksburg campaign is my favorite and I think one of the greatest campaigns in US history. It’s long and kinda complicated and Miller does a fabulous job walking you through it cause there is a LOT going on)

My Dearest Julia which is a collection of letters written from Grant to Julia and they are JUST....delighful and really show you how much he adored her.

Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Advcersity, 1822-1865 by Brooks D. Simpson (another personal fav of mine, this focuses mainly on Grant’s early life and through the Civil War. Brooks has a great insight into Grant and he had a great sprinkle of humor in the pages)

Campaigning with Grant by Horace Porter (Porter was on Grant’s staff all through the Overland campaign, they actually met in Chattanooga, and they stayed pretty close after the war and I just....love it so much)

As for Sherman, here are some other ones:

Sherman’s Memoirs (which I haven’t read yet, I’m going to be buying them soon but I’ve heard they are very good. Sherman has a certain way that he writes which is very quotable. I believe @tipsywench has read them? Correct me if I’m wrong on that!)

William Tecumseh Sherman: In The Service of My Country by James Lee McDonough (I’m currently reading this now and am really enjoying it, I believe it touches on all aspects of his life)

Fierce Patriot by Robert L. O’Connell (not my fav book but I did really enjoy it and it shows all these different aspects to Sherman and his life that is very interesting)

Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea by Noah Andr Trudeau (this focuses specifically on the march to the sea, it does not involve his campaign to Atlanta. But it’s fantastic, I recommend all of Noah’s books. He’s got a great way of writing)

Citizen Sherman by Michael Fellman (this one I have on my desk to read but I’ve heard it’s very good!

As for other generals and just some general stuff on the western theater!

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (it’s a general Civil War book but McPherson just goes into some great detail...it’s long but! worth it!)

I have them in my cart but I’ve heard books by Timothy B Smith are fantastic. He’s written stuff about Forts Henry and Donelson (which Grant captured), Shiloh, and specific parts of the Vicksburg campaigns.

I have a book by William Glenn Robertson about the Chickamauga Campaign which I haven’t read yet but am very excited to get into it!

I don’t have any specific books on other generals but I’m sure you can find books about George H. Thomas, who got the nickname “The Rock of Chickamauga”, Phil Sheridan (who started out in the western theater), James B. McPherson (no relation to the author lol tho I don’t know if he does have a book...he died during the Atlanta campaign sadly), and a handful of others.

I also highly recommended reading Jeff Shaara’s books on the western theater, if you like the ones about the eastern theater! There are four of them and they cover Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and The March to the Sea. I love them and really like the way he writes them, specifically Grant and Sherman are A+, if they aren’t talking and smoking at the same time then what’s the point lol

Those books are called: A Blaze of Glory, A Chain of Thunder, The Smoke at Dawn, and The Fateful Lightning

#replies #all the books should have links to amazon if you want to check them out!!#i'm sorry this is so long #bardengarde #if anyone else has recs don't hesitate to same them! if i listed them all...we'd be here a bit

9 notes · View notes

another-mexico-oc · 4 years

Text

💖 What your favorite Mexico´s ship/OTP says about YOU ...

Spanish version —> AQUÍ

Hello everyone! The month of love is finally over, but before that, inspired by the “What your Favorite Hetalia ship says about you” and related; and since Mexico is one of the most shipped countries (at least by the Hetalia and Countryhumans latin fandom), I decided to make this in collaboration with my cousin. If you are not familiar with this, basically it is a recopilation of facts some people share when they ship Mexico with another country.

WARNINGS AND NOTES BEFORE WE START:

- This post is for both, Hetalia and Countryhumans fans. I clarify that in this blog we don´t discuss which one is better than the other, we enjoy the healthy part and avoid the toxic part.

- This is just for fun, and IT SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. Think of it as a horoscope, you can share some of the facts, maybe not. The main purpose is to have some fun.

- We are aware that not all the ships will be here, or that not all of them will have the same extension. We tried to gather all we could.

- This is an extra warning for the English translation: This post may contain a lot of mexican and latin american modern references. Also, the best known historical periods are going to be mentioned, so if you are not familiar with the history of Mexico, we invite you to watch this video, and to consult other articles and media.

Without further due, let´s begin:

FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS ONE OF THE POSSIBLE REASONS YOU SHIP MEXICO WITH ONE, IF NOT, MORE COUNTRIES:

- You are mexican, I don´t have a doubt. You have a Mexico OC and you make fanarts and write fanfics about him/her with your favorite character.

- You are latino, and you came from the Latin Hetalia fandom, or you are from the latin fandom of Countryhumans (obviously, Miss Sherlock Holmes).

- You are neither mexican or latino, but still you like Mexico.

- If you are from Hetalia, you are still waiting the day Himaruya publish the official design of Mexico, so he/she can interact with your favorite character.

OKAY, NOW LET´S GO WITH THE SHIPS:

IF YOU LIKE 🇺🇸 USAMEX (USA X Mexico) 🇲🇽

- Favorite fanfic genre: Angst.

- Your guilty pleasures are the toxic love, the impossible love or the unrequited love. Or perhaps you like stories about people who fall in love with their chilhood friend. Or you like the phrase “From hate to love...”

- If you are from Hetalia, (also applies to Countryhumans) probably you also like FrUK (France x UK) or SpUK (Spain x UK). Or you simply don´t support USUK (USA x UK).

- If you are mexican, probably you are from the North, and you love the North and South Mexico OC´s. (And obviously, you ship North Mexico with USA).

- If you are mexican, you probably have visited the United States or your have relatives living there. Going further, you are chicano.

- You love the states personifications of both countries, and you are fascinated by the idea that Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California are the USA and Mexico kids.

- If you are from Hetalia, you like cowboy America, and you also like Mexico dressed as a revolutionary or adelita.

IF YOU LIKE 🇷🇺 RUSMEX (Russia x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You hate USAMex and surely you don´t like United States if you are mexican.

- Your favorite historical event: the Cold War.

- Favorite word: Tripaloski.

- You like couples with a lot of height difference. Lil Mex is the most adorable thing in the world.

- If you are a Countryhumans fan, probably you also ship Perú with USA.

- You like love triangles stories. (Cough… cough… USA x Mexico x Russia)

- You have seen Youtube videos of “Rusos Reaccionan a…” (Russians react to), and of mexicans in the Russia 2018 FIFA.

IF YOU LIKE 🇨🇦 CANMEX (Canada x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You like fluffy ships.

- You think Canada is a better suitor than the toxic USA and the distant and cold Russia. (Or if you are from Hetalia, you think Russia is too mad and unstable for Mexico)

- If you are mexican, you have visited Canada, you want to work or study there, or you have relatives living in Canadá.

- If you´re from Hetalia, it is likely that you don´t like CuCan (Cuba x Canada).

- Also, if you´re from Hetalia, you got excited when in the anime and the manga, Kumajiro mentioned Mexico, and then you got mad because he/she was never showed up!

- If you´re mexican, you were into the memes of Peña Nieto and Justin Trudeau.

- Like Russia case, you adore the love triangles, but in this case you like stories about brothers who have a crush on the same person.

IF YOU LIKE 🇪🇸 SPAMEX (Spain x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You like sugar daddies. (Daddy Spain 😏)

- Your guilty pleasure are stories about possesive couples and couples with secret lovers. (Okay, that´s not healthy...)

- If you´re from the Hetalia fandom, you do not like SpaMano (Spain x Romano), and if you are mexican, you will never accept (or you ignored) that canonically, Romano received better treatment than the rest of Spain colonies.

- If you are mexican, you like when Mexico (or New Spain) is represented as the spoiled kid, as daddy´s little princess, and as the best colony of Spain. (Sorry, the other Spain former colonies.)

- Your favorite Mexico periods are the Conquest, the New Spain colonial era and the Independence.

- Probably you not only ship Mexico with Spain. Actually for some reason you like Mexico cheating Spain with another country, either England, France, a latin country and, why not? with the United States.

IF YOU LIKE 🇫🇷 FRAMEX (France x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You like to live the expensive life: Eating in gourmet restaurants, buying brand clothes, expensive trips with a five-star hotel stay. Or if you had money, you would love to live the expensive life.

- You like fashion and architecture.

- Favorite Mexico period: The Porfiriato. If you´re mexican, you think that outside of the bad things, Porfirio Díaz made great contributions to the country, and his remains should return to Mexico.

- If you are mexican, you live in the capital, or/and you love to visit Mexico City downtown.

- You like stories about characters who made the casanova to fall in love with them, or stories about the stalker gaining his crush´ heart. (Creepy...)

- If you like male Mexico, you like him to be a flirt and gallant. If you like female Mexico, you like her to be very femenine and dressing pretty outfits.

IF YOU LIKE 🇬🇧UKMEX (England x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- If you are from Hetalia, obviously you like tsundere characters.

- You are fan of Harry Styles, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Queen, the Beatles, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, or any other english celebrity.

- You´re a big fan of gentlemen like Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice or Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre. In fact, you have readed a lot of books from that period and from that genre.

- You like black humor, wordplay and double entendre phrases.

- You hate Spain and you think England would have been a better sugar daddy. (Why would you think that?)

- You think England would have been a better colonizer than Spain (Why would you think that?)

- If you´re from Hetalia, you like pirate England.

IF YOU LIKE 🇩🇪 GERMEX (Germany x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- If you´re from Hetalia you think Italy doesn´t deserve Germany. In other words: No GerIta.

- You like dogs, and you want to adopt Paco from Countryhumans.

- Favorite historical period: WWI and WWII.

- You are one of those who think the Zimmerman Telegram was a love confession letter from Germany to Mexico.

- You think England and United States are the worst for intervening on your OTP.

- You like stories Romeo and Juliet´ type: Two people who are from opposite groups who fell in love with each other.

- Also if you´re from Hetalia, besides you like the Doitsu, you like his BDSM side. (Fifty Shades of Germany, coming soon to your nearby bookstore)

IF YOU LIKE 🇦🇹 AUSMEX (Austria x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- If you are mexican, you think Maximilian I of Mexico would have been better governor than Benito Juárez.

- If you´re mexican, you think Mexico should have been an empire since it´s independence.

- You like stories about arranged marriages, or stories about a poor character who marries a rich one, like in telenovelas!

- If you are from Hetalia, probably you prefer PruHun (Prussia x Hungary).

IF YOU LIKE 🇮🇹 ITAMEX (Italy x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- Congratulations! You are 1000% unique and different. Oh, and you are alone in your fandom too. Barely there´s someone who shares your ship.

IF YOU LIKE 🇯🇵NIMEX (Japan x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You´re mexican and you are 100% otaku.

- You are tired of Mexico being shipped just with europeans, latinos and north americans. Asians also deserve time y admiration.

- You love cats. (You may be also in the furry fandom)

- If some of the previously mentioned ships have this feature, with this one you confirm that you like complete opposite couples.

- You love long distance relationships.

- If you´re from Hetalia, you like Japan quiet, shy, inocente tiene la mirada… 🎵 🎵 🎵Le tomo la mano, y siente algo extraño … 🎵(Okay, i´ll stop singing)

IF YOU LIKE 🇨🇳 CHUMEX (China x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You don´t like neither USAMex or RusMex.

- Or maybe you like the Rusia x México x China love triangle. You can add USA, and now you have some kind of love square.

- You have seen the Chumel Torres on HBO videos, specially those that are titled: “Mexicanos al Grito de Trump” and “Latinos Enemigos”.

- You like the apps Wish and Tik Tok.

- Unlike those who ship FraMex, you prefer to save money by buying good, pretty and cheap things. You have bought in Miniso and in other Chinese low-cost variety stores.

- You like couples with a lot of age difference (If you are an Hetalia fan, you know what I mean). In other words: 🎵A mí me gustan mayores, de esos que se llaman señores … 🎵

- You prefer Huawei rather than Iphone.

IF YOU LIKE 🇰🇷 South Korea x Mexico 🇲🇽

- It is more likely that you came from Hetalia than Countryhumans, and you think Korea needs more recognition alongside China and Japan, even more when this character was censored from the anime.

- If you´re mexican, your ship started when: “Hermano coreano, ya eres mexicano”. (Korean bro, you are already mexican)

- You like K-Pop.

- You have seen videos of El Coreano and Coreano Vlogs on Youtube.

IF YOU LIKE 🇧🇷 BRAMEX (Brazil x Mexico) 🇲🇽, 🇦🇷 ARGMEX (Argentina x Mexico) 🇲🇽, 🇨🇱 CHIMEX (Chile x Mexico) 🇲🇽, 🇵🇪 MEXRU (Mexico x Peru) 🇲🇽, or ANY OTHER LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY X MEXICO.

- IN GENERAL:

- If you are from Hetalia, obviously you are from the Latin Hetalia fandom. If you are from Countryhumans, obviously you are mexican and/or latino.

- Your favorite characters are without doubt the latinos, and you prefer that all stays in family. In fact, you don´t like to ship Mexico with first world countries, or you use these last ones to create love triangles, love squares, or any other love geometric figure.

- You like Mexico being the dom of the relationship.

- BRAMEX: If you are from Countryhumans, you are most likely to be a fan of @torakashu. You don´t like Argentina x Brazil, or maybe you like the Argentina x Brasil x México love triangle. You also ship Argentina with Chile.

- ARGMEX: You don´t like Argentina x Brazil, or maybe you like the Argentina x Brasil x México love triangle. You also ship Brazil with Uruguay.

- CHIMEX: You live with roomies. You love tsundere characters like those who ship UKMex, but maybe not too tsunderes. And people who don´t like your ship, you smack´em with your guitar! ( 😁)

- MEXRU: If the people who ship RusMex like lil adorable Mexico, you think that Peru (who is even more short sized) is the most mega super 1000% kawaii thing in the universe. Probably you also like the Rusia x Peru x USA x Mexico love square.

IF YOU LIKE 🇺🇦 UKRAMEX (Ukraine x Mexico) 🇲🇽 or 🇧🇾 BELMEX (Belarus x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- Your favorite historical event: the Cold War.

- You think that RusMex is very overrated, and similar to the CanMex case, you think Russia siblings are better suitors.

- You don´t care to ship countries which do not share a lot of history and interactions compared to others.

- If you are from Hetalia you are a Belarus fan,and you ignore or hate her canon personality in the manga and the anime.

IF YOU LIKE 🇳🇱 NEDMEX (Netherlands x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You are from the Hetalia fandom, without doubt.

- Favorite Mexico Historical Period: The New Spain Colonial era.

- You like mysterious guys and with aura of "bad boy" but romantic on the inside.

- Eh… you like tulipans???

IF YOU LIKE 🇵🇭Phillippines x Mexico 🇲🇽

- Favorite Mexico Historical Period: The New Spain Colonial era.

- More probably you are from Hetalia than Countryhumans.

- You like dom Mexico.

- Is probably that you ship, both Phillippines and Mexico, with other countries, since this two have their own harems.

IF YOU LIKE PRUMEX (Prussia x Mexico) 🇲🇽, 🇵🇹 Portugal x Mexico 🇲🇽, Scotland x Mexico 🇲🇽

- You are an Hetalia fan.

- PRUMEX: You don´t like GerMex.

- PORTUGAL X MEXICO: You don´t like SpaMex.

- SCOTLAND X MEXICO: You don´t like neither UKMex or USAMex.

- IN GENERAL: You don´t like popular Mexico ships, and you prefer to ship Mexico with the siblings of the popular countries.

IF YOU LIKE 🇲🇽Mexico x Any other country which is not on this post 🌎

You like random ships, you are unique and different, or you simply are a mexican who has visited or likes certain country.

IF YOU LIKE 🇲🇽 Mexico x Mexico 🇲🇽

- You are a 100% patriot mexican.

- You like the North, South, and even Central, Mexico OC´s.

IF YOU LIKE 🌎THE MEXICO HAREM (Everyone x Mexico) 🇲🇽

- You are mexican without doubt.

- You like submissive Mexico, or you like the flirty Mexico OC´s.

- You think Mexico is the best country in the world and everybody should know it.

- You get excited everytime a foreigner speaks well about your country. You often read the news about Mexico and it´s negotiations and agreements with the other countries.

- You have thoroughly investigated the history of Mexico and its relations with other countries. You've watched the YouTube channels of MainWatchers, Yolo Camotes and The Nopal Times Tops

- You are studying or you are interested on the next careers: International relations, History and Languages.

- If you´re a fan of Hetalia, you like all the male characters and you fantasize about them.

————

We finish! If you like it and you had fun with it, I invite you to reblog it with this emoji: 💟. We also invite you to reblog it so you can share it with more fans :)

I still have a lot of work and it seems it will get more hard, but I´ll do my best to keep active. Without anything more to say, see you all on the next post.

56 notes · View notes

pinkvetstudies · 5 years

Text

a brand new school year

hello! it’s been two months! the hiatus was accidental but I’ve had a summer of placement and thinking.

I started off with five weeks of placement in a small animal practice near my house, and IT WAS AMAZING - I was initially meant to be there for four weeks but when my friend wasn’t able to come the week after I left, I was thrilled to be able to stay on! I learnt SO much in those five weeks, and I enjoyed it way more than I expected given that small animal medicine is not my main area of interest.

the only real low point of my time in that first place was Results Day. my exam results were not wonderful. I passed both of my resits, but I failed two of last semester’s modules. since I’m now carrying fifteen credits, I’m not allowed to fully progress to Stage 4. ultimately, that means that I won’t be graduating in May 2021 as planned, but instead I’ll have to take an extra year and graduate in May 2022. it’s not the end of the world, but I did spend pretty much my entire summer trying to work out what my next three years will look like. my college has been fairly useless - I was scheduled to have a meeting with the Student Progress Council in July, but I was abroad so I was told that it would have to be rescheduled. it now has been rescheduled - to next week. it’s been painful! anyway, it’s all going to work out, I just wish that this summer had been a little simpler.

next in my summer schedule was one month in Canada. I had a blast! we flew in to Pierre Trudeau in Montreal, then spent two weeks with my boyfriend’s family in rural Quebec. after that, I took a bus and a train via Toronto - hot, sweaty, busy - to meet my aunt and uncle in western Ontario. I spent two weeks seeing practice with a large animal vet. now THAT is what I want to be when I grow up - I totally fangirled over the lifestyle. he has a lot of Amish and Mennonite clients, which was a real eye opener for me. it’s a very different way of life, and they were all very different people: some of them were very open to a female veterinarian, others wouldn’t even meet my eye.

my time in Canada flew by and it was bittersweet coming home. I obviously really missed my family and my animals, but I felt like I found my place in the world in North America. it was like slipping into a well worn pair of slippers: I just fit. one thing I did notice when I came home was how tall I felt, including compared to my dogs 😂

I had a week off to recover when I got back, and then I started my final placement of the summer. it’s in a rural mixed animal practice close to me, and it’s been good fun. I’ve also managed to snag myself a job out of it, which is exciting. however, the most exciting part of this last placement was doing my first solo surgery! it wasn’t anything major, just a descale and polish on my own baby girl, Ash. it was nerve wracking, particularly putting her under, but all went swimmingly and I got a massive sense of accomplishment out of it.

college starts back up next week, and now that all my modules are sorted it should go swimmingly. there are seven new modules, but I’m only taking five of them plus my two repeats. hopefully, this will finally be the semester where I get my life under control. I’m going to have to be really strict with myself, but I think that I’ll be okay with it. the annoying thing is that I feel like I’m not struggling as much with the newer modules compared to the ones in first and second year, but the snowball effect has caught up with me now so I have to take the extra year to graduate.

I hope that you guys all had an amazing summer, and that you’re all excited to start college again! let me know if any of you are new vet students!

love always xx

#pinkvetstudies #vet school #veterinary medicine #vet student #fresh start #placement #small animal practice #large animal practice #personal #studyblr #new school year #summer break #solo surgery #dental #Canada #semester X

3 notes · View notes

clownvoy · 2 years

Text

Convoy donors: "Thank you truckers for uniting the people of Canada"

Pro-democracy hackers have turned up lists of donors to the convoy protesters' GiveSendGo fund. I can't tell you how much money the convoy has raised because, by some "coincidence", the US site is down for "maintenance."

In the meantime, the kindly hackers have made a donor spreadsheet available here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XIvJLXOV45GkfA5qxaX9R0ab4MzQRJTsX4RIX4cSh_w/edit#gid=1230702402

Feb. 16th update: This link seems to work only intermittently, due to the heavy traffic and large file size. If the above link doesn't work for you, try copying the URL and pasting it into your browser. Seems to work about 50% of the time.

Be careful if you go browsing through these listings. You may see the names of people you know - and learn how much they contributed.

You may see how disproportionately our American neighbors have been financing a protest designed to mess up Canada.

If you search for your postal code (or zip code), you may find which of your neighbors support extremists.

And if you want to get in touch with any old friends, the list includes the donors' email addresses.

I was surprised to learn just how much money people are donating. My estimate is that at least half of these donors have contributed US$50 or more - one more sign of just how strongly they believe that harassing others equals freedom.

The spreadsheet also lets you read the inane silly optional comments provided by many donors.

Here are just few of their moving messages:

From Glendale, AZ: "I wasn't going to donate till the Canadian PM said he was going to persecute those that donated. Go ahead and prosecute me Trudeau. I'll be waiting down in Arizona."

Karen and Michael from Vancouver said: "This is three times my GoFundMe donation."

From Phoenix: "We got you! Thanks for standing up and saying NOT today, NOT in our lifetime!"

Santa Clarita, CA: "So grateful for you all standing up to tyranny and defending our freedoms. God bless all of you!!"

Laredo, Texas: "Stand up and resist!"

Tucson: "May all be safe and God provide the abundance, peace and patience necessary."

Wilsall, Montana: "Go baby go, but stay peaceful but persistent."

Detroit: "Thank you truckers for uniting the people of Canada and the world. We are ever grateful for the food, clothing, fuel, and raw materials that you deliver every day. Godspeed."

Mendota Heights, MN: "The road to victory is paved by the feet of the faithful!"

Lansing, NC: "You are making the world a much better place! So proud of all of you."

Livingston, Texas: "Everyone needs to support our brothers and sisters in Canada! Much love from America!"

Palm Springs, CA: "Freedom. Free from evil Klaus Schwab and NWO."(New World Order.)

Las Vegas: "Liberte!"

Huntsville, Arkansas: "Just a drop in the bucket, but one drop at a time can fill it. We must defeat these tyrants that want to impose their will upon the citizens."

Glenn from BC, who seems like a lovely man: "Great effort. Low-income senior. Good live feeds on YouTube. Sadly the foul language will dilute the effectiveness."

Two separate donors from Jacksonville, FL:

"Accept nothing except unconditional surrender from tyrants."

"David versus Goliath: we know who wins! The god-hating baby-killing Communists are on the run. We are not going away! God bless you."

Finally, from Roseburg, Oregon, a prediction: "Thank you Convoy 2022! Stay strong. It will likely get worse from here on out."

And from Homer, Alaska: "Thank you for what you were doing. Stay salty."

Thanks for reading. Stay safe. Stay vigilant. Stay salty.

#GoFundMe #truckers #canada #donors #FreedomConvoy

0 notes

shigironki · 6 years

Photo

~BIO FOR MY BULLY OC, VICTORIA CLAIRE KENNEDY~ i feel like i left too much out for my baby girl, and also changed so much of her. :B ALSO I FINALLY GOT OFF MY LAZY ASS AND MADE HER A FULL BIO, GO ME!!

Biographical Information Name – Victoria Claire Kennedy Age - 17, sophomore year Birthday – September 7th Astrological Sign - virgo Gender - female Ethnicities Distant Descendants: none that she truly knows currently.

Dominant Descendants: American Physical Description Hair Color – hazel/black hair, very wavy and curly, never has it straight Eye Color - Hazel Weight – 165 lb Height – 5′5 ft Figure/Build – Is an hour glass figure, thighs are big, is 37 C cup, curvy waist, and has slight chub onto her stomach, face is chubby as well. Distinguishing Features/Scars/ or Birthmarks – There are scars (very light; you can’t see them unless you look very close) on her right wrist that are medium sized, very light. has a scar onto her knee from when she was little. Has stretch marks on her hips that are very deep, and also on her breast, arms, and knees. She does have freckles, on her face, shoulders, and crotch-area. Tattoos: none Piercings: has two little piercings on her ears, and a nipple piercing

Frequently Worn Jewelry: She tends to wear rings on her middle finger, does wear chokers (mainly black, but sometimes pink as well).

Typical Clothing Wear: Victoria tends to wear her school uniforms more often, but out of school she tends to wear cutesy clothes; pink shorts, “kawaii” dresses/skirts, formal shirts. She does also tend to wear one of Johnny or Gary’s shirts (ones they gave to her) With a pair of leggings. Never wears jeans unless they’re shorts.

Personal Information

Current Living Arrangements - Currently lives in a two story home in towards the forested areas of Bullworth.

Traveled Territories – She currently has only traveled from Florida (last home) to Bullworth.

Hobbies - Writing, knitting, playing games, drawing, and sleeping a lot.

Fears – Abandonment, overcrowded places, the dark, father, and abandoned places.

Religion/Beliefs – Currently has no idea.

Why?: She was raised in a non-religion family household, her parents nor grandparents never really got her into religion

Health Behaviors

Physical Ailments/ Disabilities/ Issues – Currently has PTSD, MDD, anxiety and Bipolar Disorder. She has has loss of feeling in her pinky on the right side of her wrist.

Addiction(s) [Sex, Drugs, Smoking, Alcohol, Other]: She currently smokes pot, and has trouble saving money and spending it on important stuff

Why?: Smoking pot helps her calm down, and it was sorta forced onto her at a young age (13 years old) and she never really tried quitting, along with money, she never fully had anything so spending it on stuff she immediately loves is “always the right thing”

Any regular medication taken? – Antidepressants, and nighttime medications.

Chronological Information

Profession – A waitress for a local diner

Likes – Pastel clothes, cute stuff animals, animal crossing, Word Of Warcraft, G&G, and reading, along with smelling candles and perfume

Dislikes – Anyone who’s a dick, bullying, toxic people, and acne

Goals/Ambitions – Currently wants to be a nurse for a children’s hospital

Most Instructive/Painful/Memorable Experience – Mainly her childhood; as she was bullied to the extreme, she turned off her emotions and stopped caring for others. Along with her father being put into jail, she grew with her grandparents and with her two sisters. This caused her to go into a mental meltdown, soon cursing and getting extreme mood swings, and with getting into violent situations, she grew hating everyone and everything, and never letting anymore get close to her.

Weapons/Equipment – Mainly uses her fist and feet for combat, also carries a rainbow pocket knife for protection. (She also has a Hello Kitty bat in her dorm room in case).

Personal Attributes

Personality - Victoria’s personality can be summed up with two words; asshole, and caring person. As she grew with showing nor feeling any emotions, it takes her awhile to understand which emotion she’s currently feeling, which ends with being a bitch towards others in defense, and even being sarcastic towards those she feels are gonna toy with her or use her. She’s very hard to get used to, or even close to, but once you do, she’s a very gentle and sweet girl. She truly cares about those that have shown her love and kindness, and sometimes gets too trusting and stops caring for herself, just to love those who have shown her politeness and love. She gets carried away too much, and sometimes overreacts to stuff very quickly, but once you get close, she will truly love you for who you are and accepts you instantly.

Strengths - Quirky and very funny, knows a lot about science and math, knows how to fight, very good at talking out of sticky situations, persuasive to the maximum, and knows how to copy someone else handwriting very quickly.

Weaknesses - Very angered easily, low self-esteem, her PTSD makes her scared of being hurt and yelled at, cannot be in the same room as a male adult, trust too easily, cries nearly about everything.

Good Habits – Tries to be there for everyone, helps when needed, charismatic, drops everything for others.

Bad Habits – Doesn’t watch her language as often, eats waay too much, gets upset and irritated instantly, makes everything into a joke about herself, (Doesn’t do this anymore) uses pain as a way to help her emotions onto herself.

Fetishes/Strange Behaviors – No fetishes, but does bite her ear bud cords, shakes her legs hard, bites her nails and sweater sleeves.

Stereotype – With wearing cute clothes and looking very sweet, she certainly does not fit the stereotype. She’s a potty mouth, bluntly tells the truth, and makes sure people know not to ever mess with her.

Ratings on Personal Qualities

Physical Strength: 7/10 As good as she is with fighting, she currently does feel pain a lot more than normal, as in one good punch to her and she’s down to the ground.

Attractive: 7/10 her outfits put people off instantly, but people seem to admire how she looks in a lot of pastel colors.

Honesty : 4/10 As much as she wants to tell the truth most times, she sadly can’t bring herself to tell the full truth about someone. She cares more about the person than the harsh truth.

Rule Abiding : 3/10 Lmao, rules? They don’t exist much to Victoria. She does break a lot of school rules, but makes sure to never break her home rules or grandparents.

Sociability : 8/10 She truly is the social butterfly type. Cliques don’t matter to her at all, she likes you? She’ll want to be your friend instantly.

Bullworth Academy Information

Victoria has attended Bullworth for two years, for freshmen and now sophomore. As she dropped out of middle school to get her life more stress free, she had to repeat 8th grade in order to go into high school. And with all the troubles she had caused in Florida, Bullworth was the only academy to accept her.

Knowledgeability

Language(s) – English, and French.

Schooling Level – Sophomore(??)

Expertise – languages

Reading Level – above average

Relationships Statuses

Trusted Companions

Closest Friend(s) – Beatrice Trudeau

Even with Victoria not so big into math or any subject, her and Beatrice have been extremely close since Freshmen year. They both have a close friendship, and are there for each other 24/7, no matter the situation. She doesn’t like some of her best friends choices, but she makes sure she’s okay and safe and sound. ((When her and Jimmy “had a falling out” Victoria was there for her all night, helping her and making sure she was okay)).

Friend(s) – cornelius johnson, algernon papadopoulos, peanut romano, lola lombardi, petey kowalski, jimmy hopkins

* cornelius johnson: They both enjoy musicals, and science most of the time. She tends to go to him for the latest update of a musical that’s going on, and they both can giggle and cry over anything like Romeo and Juliet. They’re good friends for sure, and never really hang outside of school.

* algernon papadopoulos: As much as the two never see eye to eye, they usually have a good time during G&G, him joking about her “Edgy” characters she plays, and make jokes about the campaign. She never bothers to get to know him, as she never has the energy to handle his excitement, or usually understand what he’s talking about.

* Peanut Romano: He’s her first ever real friend when she had gotten to Bullworth, and nothing makes her happy than to hear about what Lucky or Ricky did that was stupid. She sees Peanut as a brother type of person she can trust, she tends to go to him when she feels like Johnny’s out of line, or what to do when he’s not okay. They both really enjoy each other’s company.

* Lola Lombardi: They both didn’t see eye to eye after her and Johnny broke up, and Victoria began to date him. Of course, with some small talk and hanging out, they both became good friends instantly, with Lola showing what type of clothes could get Johnny going, or helping her with make up tips. Lola is a type of friend to listen to Victoria talk about anything and just nod and agree.

* jimmy hopkins: As much as he isn’t okay with her dating both Gary and Johnny, he’s still there for her a lot of times. They have a weird friendship, at times they wouldn't’ speak to each other for weeks on end, then the next time they’re talking non stop and making a fuss in the classroom. *Pete kowalski: Victoria was really the one to never call him a dork or a loser, she actually enjoys hanging out with him, playing video games and talking about drama of the school. She does love his comebacks to Gary a lot of times, and always is there for him no matter what.

Hated Rivals

Worst Enemies – The Jocks, she truly hates them all due to constant bullying they do with the nerds.

Intolerable Students –

* Mandy Wiles: With her constant putting down on Beatrice, she truly cannot stand Mandy for the dear life of her. The constant joking and poking fun at her best friend, it made her hate her instantly as soon as she had gotten there.

Tolerated Students – She doesn’t tolerate much people, either she likes you, dislikes you, or just doesn't talk much to you.

Tolerated Townsfolk - No one currently

Hot Encounters

Hinted Attractions - Gary Smith, Johnny Vincent (before they all had began to date)

Crush(es) - none

Lover(s) - Gary Smith, Johnny Vincent.

She wasn’t fond of Gary at first, but given that they started to tolerate each other, she began to learn more and more about him, understanding where he’s coming from as she had parents who didn’t care for her, or wouldn’t try to. They became friends with benefits at first, as she was hypersexual and he wanted a stress relief, but as soon as they made it a normal thing, he began to develop a crush for her, hating it ever so much as she got into a relationship with Johnny. As she brought up that she could date both of them, with their consent of course, Johnny wasn’t okay with it at all first, as that was his girl and only his, but as she began to stress more and more about this, he caved in and gave it a try. It was all very stressful and full of fighting until Johnny began to try and get close and get used to his presence. They’re all fully comfortable now, still some annoyance from both boys here and there, but it’s easily resolved.

Ex(s) - Unless you count people who dated her for a day, then no

Extra Information

Eating Habits

Omnivore/Carnivore/Herbivore – omnivore

Favorite Food(s): Bagel Bites

Favorite Drink(s): Soda, red bulls, smoothies, and orange juice

Disliked Food(s): peas, Brussels sprouts, and tomatoes

Disliked Drink(s): tea

Added Information

Scent – Lavender, and/or honey

Favorite Color: black, pastel colors

Favorite Season: summer

Favorite Animal: frogs, chickens, bunnies, and cats

Favorite Music Genre: kpop, 2000′s pop, 80′s, 90′s, and death metal

#art taggy #bully oc #canis canem edit #bully scholarship edition #cce #self ship #self insert #victoria kennedy #this took so long jfc

16 notes · View notes

wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog · 6 years

Text

Curvy model Hunter McGrady believes 'women are to be respected whether they're naked or if they're fully clothed'

Hunter McGrady at the 2018 Sports Illustrated swimsuit show at Paraiso Fashion Fair during Miami Swim Week at the W Hotel South Beach on July 15 in Miami. (Photo: Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated)

Upon meeting model Hunter McGrady, you instantly feel her warm, kind spirit and infectious smile. It’s no wonder she has been able to champion so many women around the globe to embrace their curves, stretch marks, and cellulite. At just 25 years old, she is already a seasoned Sports Illustrated model and fashion designer, and she’s also a newly engaged woman. McGrady is on a mission to change perceptions of what it means to be beautiful.

McGrady is part of a growing number of curvy models who are making a big splash in the swimwear space, alongside household names like Ashley Graham and Tabria Majors. Recently, McGrady joined Christie Brinkley and Kate Upton in Miami to help with Sports Illustrated‘s model casting call during Miami Swim Week at the Paraiso Fashion Fair. The casting resulted in a spectacular, diverse runway show featuring women of all body types, including Paralympian Brenna Huckaby and a model who breastfed her baby on the catwalk.

These moments are monumental for the body-positive movement, and McGrady says they allow women to think, “‘OK, I am beautiful as I am, and I am worthy, and I am enough,’ and I think that’s so powerful.”

But as a plus-size model, it’s equally important to work with the right partners who champion diversity and inclusion, like Paraiso Fashion Fair and Sports Illustrated. “Paraiso and its partners are committed to empowering people to feel good about themselves no matter what color, shape, size, background, height, sexual orientation they are,” Sam Ben-Avraham, Paraiso Fashion Fair’s founder, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “We used our stage to make the statement about who we are, how we see the world, and to scream to the world that we are living in times of inclusivity.”

@danielle_herrington_ and @bren_hucks lead the final walk of the #SISwimSearch x @paraisofashionfair runway show! ❤️

A post shared by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@si_swimsuit) on Jul 15, 2018 at 8:07pm PDT

“This year’s representation of models in the Paraiso fashion show was a continuation of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit [issue] messaging that diversity in beauty is very real and very important to represent,” MJ Day, editor in chief of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “It’s something that we believe in passionately, and where better to celebrate that than on the runway in swimwear, where it makes so much sense to our brand!”

But beyond a few supportive brands and partners, there needs to be more significant changes in the societal mindset of what constitutes beauty, McGrady says. “I think that we need to continue growing still. … You know, we’ve always been told as plus-size women that we can’t wear certain things or we can’t show our skin, [but] I’m the first person on the beach in a little tiny string bikini,” she says.

McGrady’s level of body-confidence and positivity appears to be second-nature at this point, but her road to self-love didn’t happen overnight. She began her career modeling at 16 years old as a “straight size model,” she says, a size 2 and 6 feet tall. One day, her whole world changed. “I got turned away from one of my jobs for being too big. And so I … took four years off to really just grow into my body, eat healthy, [and] nourish myself because I was so unhappy before. And during that time, I really learned to honestly and truthfully tell myself positive affirmations because our mind is so important and it’s so powerful.”

Favorite photo I took in 2016 for @treatsmag by @jamesmacari hair: @riadazar9 makeup: @christinecherbonnier stylist: @jenpatryn wearing @zanabayne thanks @steveshawphotos for breaking a mold and letting me be the first plus model in your magazine! 😘❤️ I'm ready 2017. Let's do it. 👊🏼

A post shared by Hunter McGrady (@huntermcgrady) on Dec 30, 2016 at 10:00am PST

These positive affirmations were central to McGrady’s success in achieving self-love. She says she would look in the mirror and say, “‘Hunter, you are loved. You are worthy. You are powerful. You are beautiful. You are heard’”

But not every day is easy. “I still wake up … when I don’t want to go get out of bed. I don’t want to do anything.” According to McGrady, on those days, the most important thing you can do is “renew your mind and really make it part of your thought process.”

Ok Body! 👆🏻 cute little lacy set by @shopcosabella 💕 p.s. ladies, you’re totally allowed to appreciate yourself. Don’t forget that 😉💋

A post shared by Hunter McGrady (@huntermcgrady) on Mar 1, 2018 at 3:31pm PST

After taking a few years off, McGrady returned to modeling at 19 years old as a plus-size model, signing with the agency Wilhelmina Models on the spot. Since then, McGrady has landed covers for Sports Illustrated and a campaign for Icelandic Glacial, and even launched her own plus-size bathing suit line. McGrady is proud of her body and all of its “flaws.” “The thighs that I once was so nervous about and that touched, they’ve traveled me around the world,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The stretch marks that I have signifies growth.”

When I was graciously given the opportunity to share my truth and voice with the world through this shoot, I chose my words deliberately, thoughtfully, consciously and responsibly. I know and understand from experience the power of words to hurt or to heal, to hold back or to inspire, to criticize or to embolden, to deliver or to bind. As spoken and written thousands of years ago, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” I wrote an Essay about this incredible project “In Her Own Words” the link is In my bio!

A post shared by Hunter McGrady (@huntermcgrady) on Feb 18, 2018 at 8:20am PST

Earlier this year, McGrady posed nude for Sports Illustrated, covered in positive words of affirmation like “worthy,” “confidence,” and “fearless.” Some were critical of the photo shoot in light of the recent #MeToo movement, but for McGrady, the story signified something much bigger. “Women are to be respected whether they’re naked or if they’re fully clothed. … And that is, I think, the most feminist thing you can say.” She adds, “I never posed nude because I wanted anything more than to make women feel good about themselves and feel empowered because I felt empowered. And I felt sexy. I feel more comfortable naked than I do with clothes on. And I deserve the same respect … as anyone else.”