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#if you think I'm kidding you have not seen the nine tabs I have open for this weekend
notbecauseofvictories · 11 months
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getting ready to leave a job and intensely regretful that I can't bring the team with me or express my feelings in any articulate way: I am....going to bake you guys so many treats.
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titoist · 4 months
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childhood memories
the librarian reads us a story about how you shouldn't feed a bear because it will come back & expect more food. i find it fairly upsetting. i want to be kind to animals. i feel sort of intensely personally upset with the librarian
i discover cracked.com & open dozens upon dozens of tabs, reading the junk food voraciously. once i see a scary picture on one & have to huddle in the corner of the couch for hours staring at the hallway so i know it's not coming out of the hallway until someone gets home. hours crying
when i'm home alone, i am always so deeply powerfully intensely petrified by the idea of going past my room. there's too many doorways. i'm afraid of mirrors. i'm petrified by the mental image of a ghoulish woman sprinting out of a doorway, towards me, screaming
i go on omegle when i'm about nine & use manycam to show people a picture of a mutilated penis. i'm sorry
i go on omegle when i'm about ten & meet someone who claims to be a girl named jade. to make a long story short, it turns into this weird... knifeplay, rape, forced sex change, roleplay, thing. where if you read the chatlog i am very obviously using the mannerisms & emoticons of a ten year old & "jade" seems unconcerned by this. i saw, said, & did a lot of gross things on the internet but this seems to come back to my memory the most often, like it's emblematic of the rest i save the chatlog. some time later, days? weeks? months? years? i don't know. i walk into the living room & glance at the laptop on the counter connecting it with the kitchen. my father has somehow discovered the chatlog & is reading through it. i don't react or say anything. i don't know how much he reads. he never says or does anything
my father is friends with a happy married couple who live in a big house. one day while visiting them i ask the husband if he wants to see something frickin' messed up!!! he watches me play happy wheels for awhile out of obligation. he just keeps going "… hhhhuh."
in second or third grade, a girl - i don't remember her name, retainers & glasses, blonde - has a crush on me. i never hear this from her personally, but she was bad at concealing her mannerisms. & after awhile, i was openly solicited by the other kids in my grade to help them torture & mock her about it. the way i understand it, she was deserving of ostracization for having a crush on an overweight child, while i had skirted by on account of never being seen as part of the ingroup in the first place. the mocking would have no stakes.
my mother works for a theatre company. this means she has to go up the stairs in that concrete behemoth & beyond the byzantine hallways to practice her roles in productions for hours at a time. she takes me along, & doesn't restrict me to the lobby or supervise me. this means i have the fantastic opportunity to run around various storage room with miscellaneous props, CDs, &, by god, puppets, for hours on end, unrestrained. i spend a lot of time there, alone, & i think it is the contributing factor in me developing a low-intensity interest in puppetry later on in life. once i start talking with one of her colleagues & spend a while parroting nationalist conspiracy theories from my father. my mother comes over eventually & he tells her i'm one of the most articulate & perceptive children he's ever met. it's absurd. i know this is absurd
once, in fifth grade english class, our teacher has us write all sorts of verbs on the whiteboard, trying to guess what a character in a story is about to do. someone intends to write "wrapped," but writes "raped." i watch the teacher notice this & quietly fix it. i saw, i knew
in my bedroom one night i realize a bunch of existential dread stuff for the first time & cry hysterically
early in fifth grade, i miss my bus stop. i tell the driver i missed my stop. an older girl comes up from the back of the bus & starts heavily involving herself in the situation really unnecessarily. then she takes a brief look at me & concludes that i'm autistic. she says her brother is autistic, so she can recognize it. she talks to me like a dumb puppy dog. i get home & tell my mother about this, then go "i'm not autistic!" while going into my room & crying
when i was around seven (?) years old, i went & looked at my birthday on wikipedia. later, i believe my father & i were talking about stuff that had happened on our birthdays in various years, & i clearly remember going up to him & saying, "Gerard died on my birthday" Gerard was a medieval Count of Auvergne who married one of the daughters of Louis the Pious, who was himself son of Charlemagne & Co-Emperor of the HRE. i expected my father to know who i was talking about because at that age i had no grasp of what bodies of knowledge i could expect to be commonplace among people. i figured that maybe everyone knew whatever was on wikipedia, generally.
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imaginesbymk · 4 years
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PINK + WHITE.
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—chapter nine ; with heat & wet skin.
summary: teresa’s permanent resignation from the peaky blinders leads her to a whole new chapter of working in an art museum. but little did she know her best life would be butchered some time later when her former lover tommy shelby gives her no choice but to return to the peaky blinders after they make new enemies, with the leader, of all people, being the man teresa fell in love with one night after a wedding reception back in post world war; luca changretta. 
pairing: luca changretta x OC x tommy shelby
tags in this chapter: swearing, implied nsfw, drinking, mentions + drug use
[ chapter index / meet my oc / wattpad link ]
MASON was quick on his feet when he was given the slightly odd request Teresa had asked him to do last minute. It had nothing to do with the gallery or with separation of last minute business meetings to be scheduled in the margins of the diary. It was just that he had to safely track down a dangerous man. Luca Changretta was still in England, hot-headed with a plan.
Teresa loved fur shawls. Though she detested how the cheap ones she could afford wore out from time to time, from the "fur" falling out like leaves from a tree in autumn, or even its colour turning from new to depressed (and even she grew so envious over the women who wore the luxurious, expensive ones at parties). Tommy Shelby never bothered with buying her what she wanted, which she was fine with, but one man with the Italian genes spoiled her with one that she kept in her closet. A grey-ish white. Teresa often takes one look at it, before sliding it over to reach the silky see-through shawl when she is simply relaxing in her home. At parties she debated even thinking of taking it out, but then there was the other shawl that was made of black fur, and it closed together with a silver clip to keep her shoulders warm.
The fur shawl was just like the painting she avoids at her own work. Both were so beautiful and timeless, both sharing personal meaning. But tonight, it finally saw light from staying in the wardrobe closet for too long. Teresa held it out in front of her, then clutched it in her arms.
The bar was built together with grey walls, none sound-proof. On the other side you could hear the jazz band playing music for the party, or footsteps from the owner or a bartender heading out back for more stocking of gin. If you were on that side, you'd hear the giant doors spring open from the doorman that allowed Teresa to enter inside. The man at the counter watched as her dress fell all the way down to her heels, not too long so she wouldn't trip. Her hair was in its curls once more, and wrapped around like comfort was the fur.
She reached a booth and set her purse on the table. "White wine."
"Ma'am-" the server goes.
"A man will be joining me very soon." Teresa made a smile, as the unescorted woman if Luca were to not show up. Had she imagined if Luca burned the invitation letter she mailed to his hotel, or simply tossed it away, in future to be used as scratch paper, or even as a roll up (if Luca is one of the many people that did snow), she may have just wasted her time getting dolled up just to not be served at her booth.
"Last time I met up with a woman at a bar, she proposed a deal, and lied straight to my face."
She shot her head up.
Those eyes.
Looks like her night wasn't going to waste after all. "Are you talking about Polly?" She watches as Luca Changretta helps himself on the other side of the booth, the same server coming over to Teresa with her white wine.
Teresa waited while staring down at Luca's own glass being poured with four fingers of whiskey. Luca glanced at Teresa's outfit, not answering her question. "You're wearing the shawl I got you? I can't believe you still have it."
"What, like I got rid of it? Why would I give it to someone else who would treat it like a rag?"
"Hm." Luca took a sip. "So, why did you summon me here? Actually, I know the answer to that one. You're a businesswoman, as we both know. You invited me here to propose some kind of deal, eh? Like I got the time to spare one more fucking thing before I go do what I came to England to do?"
"I know about the vendetta, Luca." Teresa began. "And I know the deal you made with Polly, which was a lie, by the way. I know about that. What I also know is that you don't just plan on crushing the Peaky Blinders. You have more on your mind. You're so greedy that you would want to overthrow Alfie Solomons as well. If he were to betray Tommy with the deal you made with Mr. Solomons, you know you and your men would come after him as well and take over his business."
Luca nodded. "I had a feeling you knew. I had a feeling Tommy Shelby brought you back to Birmingham, no?"
"I know your patience is wearing thin, and you're done giving people more time. But then there's me."
"Right, forgive me," Luca places a hand on his chest. "Why not talk about the royalty in front of me as well? What could she possibly request for this time?"
"I wanna know why I was never sent a Black Hand."
Luca laughs, trailing his fingers around the rim of his glass. Whatever Teresa said or did, she definitely wasn't laughing. Nothing seemed funny to her on her end. She did, however, miss that laugh of his. It was more of a chuckle, but she loved it like it was honey in hot tea. "Let me tell you something. It's best to stay out of this, right? Since you resigned, messing with us is like throwing stones at the devil."
"I'll play in the snow with the devil to prove you wrong."
Luca scoffs harshly. "So you're one of those people that snorts white lines just to feel good?"
"That was just my own figure of speech, Luca. I don't do Tokyo," Teresa replied. She cringed at the habit Arthur and Michael carelessly picked up on. "It's everyone's thing now, but not mine."
"That makes two of us." He took another sip. "I'm doing you a favour here, Miss Griffith. Stay out of this and do your own thing."
"There's no need for you to call me that," she comments.
"Why the hell not? Formalities are a thing of the past now?"
"You're talking to me as if we just met. We had something together."
"Yeah, had."
Teresa gave a glare, grabbing her wine. Luca smirks. "All right. Whatever you say. Jesus, kid. You're so fuckin' difficult."
"Kid," she scoffs at his remark. "And Ada Thorne is on your list and she doesn't get her hands covered in blood. So why wasn't I included?"
"You feel left out?" Luca snickered.
"I just wanna know why. I know damn well you haven't forgotten about me. Even if what we had to you was just for pleasure, you found out that I was once a Peaky Blinder."
Luca stares. "You wanted out because you felt like it would devour you forever, so I respected your wishes. You told me why you threw in the towel. And I know you're not a Shelby, you don't wanna be a Shelby."
The server comes up to them. "Sir? Ma'am? Would any of you like to hear the specials tonight?"
"No, thank you." Teresa smiles.
"More whiskey," Luca says. "And for the lady, she'll have more wine." Teresa raised her brows. She didn't mind more wine, would she care so much about knowing her limit before it was time to wince at the tab?
"I forgot you love whiskey," Teresa points out.
"Italian whiskey," Luca made a hand gesture. "As I was saying... have you thought long and hard about this, as to why I'm here? As to why I want Tommy Shelby dead, how I now want everyone dead?"
"Your father." There was a pause between the two. The jazz band transitioned their music to a much slower song this time, and it started easing the nerves in both the former couple's systems despite the volume of alcohol consumed. "Arthur Shelby killed your father. John Shelby killed your brother Angel."
"If things didn't happen the way it did, my men and I would be cozying up in New York counting stacks by stacks."
"And I wouldn't be seeing you here," Teresa added. "Almost ever again," Teresa thanks the server for the excess wine refilling in her glass, then Luca's. "Now can we talk about the giant elephant in the room?"
Luca furrows his brows.
"I know why you left, Luca. I know it's been five years, but you really just packed up and left. I've never seen you so frantic until that day when you were running to the train." Not even an eye bat. "I grew miserable ever since."
"Can I say this?" Luca leaned forward, placing the cuffs of his tailored suit that it laid flat on the tablecloth. "Whatever emotion you saw in my eyes on that day, whatever it was, it was for the sake of being alive for my family. Someone's gotta help keep the business up and runnin'. None of it works if I'm not there."
Teresa stares at Luca. This man wasn't wrong. It wasn't like he was running everything in his family all on his own. His father led the family in Birmingham that Angel was a part of, even his mother lived with them, but what makes New York so important and comforting to Luca must have felt like a whole outlet of anything he ever accomplishes, how many Tommy guns he can hold and keep in his home like picture frames, how many men he has to hire from Sicily and America just to help kill one family. All of that was justified when he boarded that train to the Liverpool docks.
"Oh," Teresa straightened her back. "So much for being the big, bad capo."
"Be careful," Luca warned, pointing a finger at her. "Don't question a gangster's honour."
"You know I crack jokes here and there," Teresa's lips curled into a smirk as it reached the rim of her glass.
"So do I," said Luca.
She looked down at his hands that rested on the table. His experienced, non-scrawny hands that had a black hand tattooed on his wrist, one with a crown, and maybe some other new ones Luca got over time. She used to kiss all of them, even the one on his neck that was a cross. His right hand was wrapped with big, gold rings on two fingers, except he only kept his ring finger free of anything, that was something she wanted to bring up. "You got all those rings on your fingers but not a wedding ring.
"Not like you got one on yours, either. Unless you took it off before coming here," Luca jokes.
She shakes her head. "I've been too busy to fall in love with another soul. But you? You didn't tie the knot with Viviana back in New York?"
Luca scowled, knowing Teresa hadn't forgotten about that woman as he did. "No. I still see her occasionally."
"Yet you haven't done anything with her? Never bothered to find anyone to satisfy your mother?"
"My mother says any woman from New York or even from the old country would do."
"What did you say, after?"
"Mamma, you're killin' me.'" Teresa had to chuckle at that, Luca smiled at her. He then looked around the bar, seeing how more of the guests had gotten up to dance with their dates as the jazz music cranked up their higher tunes like a machine. "Don't tell me we're gonna be sitting here all fuckin' night. You wanna dance, Miss Tour Guide?"
The nickname he gave to her the first time. Did he really sit in front of her and tell her he couldn't remember everything they had, then? "I'm a little rusty," Teresa declines.
'We gotta stretch our legs somehow. I ain't even see your whole getup for the night."
Teresa had no problem getting up from the booth. She stepped out so that her heels were shown as well, and she placed the fur shawl down on her seat so her shoulders were out. The dress wasn't purchased by Luca, but by her, and she felt like a Grand Princess, like a little girl playing with their mother's dresses and makeup. She was never too insecure about her looks since it never bothered her, but she felt beautiful, and she wondered if Luca will still ever see her as beautiful whether or not she is clothed in front of him.
Luca kept on staring. "Then perhaps we can head somewhere else," he suggests. "Somewhere we're both quite familiar with."
How and why didn't matter, the young man who looked to be around Arthur Shelby's age paid no second thought to his surroundings as he aggressively snuffed the thick lines of cocaine that formed on the ledge up his nostril. He begins wiping away any excess off his face, exiting the balcony seats just as the Italian mobster escorts Teresa inside the dark theatre to their respected spots.
"You're a lover of theatre," Teresa spoke quietly as the show resumed to its first act.
"If you dress like one, you are one." Luca hooked his leg over the other, folding his hands on his lap.
It was silent, not the awkward or tense silence, but silent to respect and see the performance. Silence or absolute noise, the stage was the latter. The good kind of noise. The skimpy dancers twirled with batons, the man and woman playing the perky main lovers belted the note they must have spent days and nights rehearsing over and over.
Luca knew there would be performances every night back in New York City. There was always something to do and somewhere to go, otherwise you'd be glued to your chairs at home.
The show was about to end, and Luca, for the first time in God's glorious mysterious time, took Teresa by the hand and curled them together on his lap, his eyes were fixated to theatricality in front of the hundreds of people.
Teresa reacts, slowly looking down. It was nearly dark, but she could feel the giant, lumpy rings from his fingers bump into hers. He always held her hand during a show, and would only let go to join the applause when a number came to its big finish, or when the grand finale brought hypnotic joy and bliss in each audience member's senses like himself that he just had to give the standing ovation.
But just as the audience erupted in deafening applause, cheers and whistles, Luca and Teresa remained the only two members seated, their hands still holding.
HIS hotel room was neat and tidy before he left, now the sheets on the giant bed wrinkled like aged skin when Luca held Teresa down to remove her stockings. She missed his touch. The feeling of being pinned on a bed as he dominated over her, practically tearing what she wore for the occasion just to see her underneath as a sight for his sore eyes, it was definitely there, and her heart pounded.
"Luca," she breathed out a moan. He kissed her softly, now only responding with pacing movements, from positioning her to grabbing the protection from the nightstand drawers. Though he was careful with the dress and fur shawl that was set on the office desk he sat in earlier, within seconds her brassiere was tossed on the floor. With the help from Teresa, she managed to undress Luca from head to toe by just sitting up, and he was now unclothed from the fresh tailored suit his uncle made back in Mott Street.
They kissed again, and Luca went in.
+ me writing "smut": 🧿👄🧿 but ooooo shiiiit their “business” meeting was quite a night lol.
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