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strniohoeee · 6 months

Note

oooh i have a request. Chris and y/n get set up on a blind date but they’ve been enemies (?? or just like lots of annoyance towards eachother) since high school and haven’t seen eachother since they blew up on yt so it’s been a minute. they try to make the night fun but can’t seem to shake the annoyance but Chris invites her back to his place and she reluctantly agrees. He starts feeling some type of way and yk the rest hehe (SMUTTY SMUT SMUT pls, lots of “baby” “Princess” “always knew you would be such a slut for me” 😇)

Corrival

Pairing: Chris Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Y/N is sent on a blind date by her friend, but what happens when she recognizes the guy….will she pursue him, or will she let the memories of her past control her decision🗣️

Warnings⚠️: This is so long I FORGOT WHATS IN IT, but there SMUT🤭

Song for the imagine: I hate everything about you- Three Days Grace

⚠️This is an 18+ imagine, so minors do not interact, or do??⚠️

“Chloe…IM NOT GOING ON A BLIND DATE” I spoke loudly into the phone

“Stop being annoying, and literally go out! Like give him a chance he’s a great guy” she said on the other line

“You don’t understand my taste….you pick the worst guys for me” I told her putting my laundry away

“I promise you! You’ll be thanking me after this date”she said

“What makes you think this?” I asked her

“Because I know the guy, and he’s really nice. I immediately thought he would be perfect for you” she said

“Fine whatever. What day, what time and what’s the place” I asked her rolling my eyes

“Yayyy! Okay so it’s Thursdays night, over at the restaurant in downtown I can’t remember the name, and at 7pm” she said

“You’re sending me to downtown Boston…ALONE” I asked her

“Would you relax, it's a Thursday at 7pm, and you’ll have the guy to protect you. Also the restaurants called Foxtrot” she said

“Fine, and if this date suck you owe me so much money” I told her before hanging up on her

It was now Thursday, and I was getting ready to meet this mystery man at Foxtrot. The restaurant seemed nice but not anything fancy, probably similar to a chain restaurant . I decided on wearing black wide leg cargo pants with a fitted cropped black shirt that said screw you on the back in red with red screws on the front, and my red and white air Jordan 11 retros. It was simple but it was hot. I flat ironed my hair and did my makeup. I took some pics for instagram, and posted them, and I posted one to my close friends on instagram

“Going on a blind date wish me luck, thanks @chloethedawn 🙃”

I had ubered to the restaurant, and got out Chloe had texted me before I got there, that the mystery man was sitting in the last booth all the way in the back on the right hand side. I went in and told the hostess I was meeting someone, and she allowed me back

I walked towards the back, and all I saw was someone with a hat with their head down, and when he lifted his head, my mouth dropped….. I’m going to kill Chloe.

Flashback

I had just moved to Boston sophomore year of high school, and didn’t have any friends. That was until I met Chloe and Nick who then introduced me to Alana, and then they introduced me to Nicks brothers Chris and Matt.

I became really close with Chloe and then Nick, but Chloe was my best friend. I even considered her a sister. She was always with Nick, so it would always be Chloe, Nick, Alana and I hanging over at nicks house

Slowly I started talking to Matt, and him and I became friends, and I tried to talk to Chris, but he was such a fucking dick all the time.

He was rude to me at school and outside of school. What sucked was that I really started to have a crush on him, and I tried to be as nice as I could. I think he realized I had a crush on him, so he started to be extra mean to me.

Chloe knew how much I hated yet loved him at the same time. She didn’t understand how I could like someone I hated, but I told her my brains fucked up

As we moved into junior year of high school my feelings for Chris never ever went away. In fact they got stronger day by day. I was still hanging out with all them, so it didn’t help that I saw his face every single day

We all had the same lunch, so we all sat together everyday as well. Everything was decent until one day we were chatting at lunch

“How much money to date y/n” Alana asked everybody

“Alana what the fuck” I said laughing at her

“To date four eyes? I’d rather kill myself” Chris said laughing

I think that was the day I truly started to hate myself, and how I looked because the comment Chris made meant he truly took in my appearance before saying anything.

That day was the reason I started to stop hanging out with them. I hung out with Chloe always, but rarely ever with Nick or Alana.

Towards the end of junior year I made a few new friends, and sat with them at lunch. Chloe understood, but she still felt bad that I let Chris words get to me

When senior year rolled around the triplets started to get a following on YouTube, and everyone at the school wanted to be their friend. I still talked to Nick and Matt, but I mainly stood friends with Chloe and Alana.

Senior year I started wearing my hair down, and I got contact lenses. Some boy started to notice me, but Chris was still a dick. He sat behind me in 7th period, and always called me four eyes, or made fun of me to his lacrosse friends who were near us. He would put stuff in my hair, click my hair and poke me. But I just ignored him no matter how much he pissed me off.

After senior year I went to community college, and only kept in contact with Chloe. The triplets started to get even more famous, and we just all grew apart. I went two years of no Chris, and slowly my feelings faded away.

Flashback over

Why in the fuck Chloe sent me on a date with this asshole was beyond me. It had been a little over two years at this point, of knowing nothing about Chris and his brothers.

Seeing him sitting there made me so angry, but nonetheless I walked over, and sat down across from him

“Hi” I said looking at him

“Hey” he said looking up and putting his phone down

He stuck his hand out for me to shake which I did

“Why do you look so familiar” he said after I shook his hand

“You don’t remember me Christopher?” I asked him

“Are you Chloe’s friend?” He asked me

“Yeah, and Alana’s….and I was Nicks….and Matt’s” I said waiting for the light bulb moment to happen

“I don’t recall” he said scratching his neck

“7th period history….senior year” I said looking at him

“Holy shit….youre four eyes” he said all giddy

“Im so glad to see that things never fucking change” I said rolling my eyes

“Sorry. Sorry I meant Y/N” he said shaking his head

“Yup….” I said rolling my eyes

“It’s been so long” he said taking a sip of his Pepsi

“Yeah, and I really wish it stood that way” I said looking for the waiter, so I could order myself a drink

“You left us” he said

“Gee I wonder why” I said smiling at him

“I wonder too. Nick was so sad when you stopped coming around” he said

“You wonder? Let me jog your memory. Junior year, lunch table, you called me four eyes, and said you’d rather kill yourself than date me” I said scoffing at him

“Oh…it wasn’t that serious though” he said waving his hand at me

“Wasn’t that serious…wow Chris you’re such a fucking airhead. Literally nothing has changed since high school” I said as I locked eyes with a waitress and waved her over

“I never meant for it to hurt you” he said

“Yeah well it did” I said crossing my arms over my chest

The waiter came over, and took my drink order, and also took our food order

“So uh…” he said trying to break the awkward silence

“What?” I asked him with an attitude

“I’m not sure what’s the attitude about, but I’ll ignore it” he said

“Christopher I don’t fucking like you, you were such a dick to me in high school, and seeing your face brought back all those terrible memories” I told him taking a sip of my root beer

“I’ve changed you know” he said rolling his eyes at me

“Still doing nothing with your life?” I asked him

“Actually, no. Nick, Matt and I got into the social media game and stood with it. We have over 5 million YouTube subscribers and over 7 million tik tok followers, and we just got back from tour” he said smiling at me, now I felt like the idiot

“Oh….even though I hate you I’m happy for you” I said trying not to smile at him

“Thanks! And how about you?” He asked

“Well um I finished my two years at college, and I’m a makeup artist right now, and that’s about it” I said shrugging my shoulders

“You know I’ve seen your work on instagram. I follow your makeup page. You’re really good” he said to me

“You follow my makeup page” I asked shocked

“Well yeah! I might’ve been a dick to you in high school, but I didn’t hate you” he said in a matter of fact way

“Oh….well thanks” I said, and at the same time our food came out

We started to eat, and not really chatting, just exchanging glances here and there.

“I saw you went to a Nardo Wick concert a few weeks ago” Chris randomly brought up

“Man I didn’t know you were watching me. I wouldn't have removed you off of social media” I said laughing a little bit

“Like I said I didn’t hate you” he said taking a sip of his drink

“But uh yeah I went to Nardos concert” I said

“Didn’t know you liked that type of music” he said

“Christopher…I moved here from New York I love hoodrat music like that” I told him

“I forgot” he said shaking his head

“What’s your favorite song?” I asked him

“Only if we can say it at the same time” he said

“Fine on the count of 1” I told him

“1,2,3 WICKED WITCH” we both yelled

“NO FUCKING WAY” we both said and started to laugh

“Alright Y/N I see you” he said nodding his head

“I guess we do have a lot in common then” I said looking at him

We spent the rest of the dinner laughing and catching up. I was starting to hate that him and I had a lot in common

“Man Chris if you were like this in highschool we would’ve been best friends” I told him

“I was an ass in high school” he said laughing

“You were, but it’s okay you’ve grown up” I said nodding my head at him

He looked at me for a split second like he was contemplating something

“Hey…wanna come to my house?” He said

“Ummm I’m not too sure Chris” I said

“Nick and Matt will be there” he said

“Yeah, but I don’t know” I said back

“Oh come on” he said

“Uhhh fine I guess” I said giving in

The waitress came back with the bill, and Chris immediately took care of it. Wow what a gentleman

After paying we got up and left walking out the door and to the right

“Where’d you park?” I asked him

“Park?” He asked confused

“Do you still not drive?” I asked rolling my eyes

“Nope!” He said all proud

“You really are a loser” I told him laughing

“Do you drive?” He asked me

“Yes, but I Ubered here. My car got totaled a month ago” I said

“Oh god!” He said shocked

“Yeah…drunk driver crashed right into my PARKED car….she was nice too. It was a Kia K5 perfect amount of sport car, and perfect amount of sedan” I said shaking my head

“Damn that sucks. Look who’s the loser now” he said laughing in my face

I rolled my eyes at him, and he ordered an Uber, and we ubered back to his parents house. It was a little after 9 now, and he said his parents would be sleeping, but Nick and Matt would be awake

When we got into his house we heard both boys in Nicks room. Chris walked to the door first, and opened it

“Yooo” he said

“How’d the date go?” Matt asked

“It went well” he said

“What was she like” Nick asked a little frightened

Chris moved back to allow me to enter the room

“NO FUCKING WAY” Nick screamed and ran over to me hugging me so tight

“NICKKKK I MISSED YOU” I said hugging him harder

“Dude I fucked missed you more. How the fuck did you guys land up on a blind date together” he asked

“Yeah yall fucking hated each other” Matt said

“It was Chloe” I said

“Fucking Chloeeeeee. Sneaky bitch” Nick said laughing

“I’m so glad to be seeing you guys again, and I’m so sorry I drifted from you both” I said

“These things happen, but I’m so glad you’re back here” Nick responded

We chatted for a little but before Chris asked if I wanted to go to his room, and I agreed

We went up to his room, and I sat on his bed. He shut the door

“It’s exactly the same” I said to him

“Well we live half here and half in LA, so there’s not much to do here” he said, slipping his sneakers off. I did the same

Chris and I were sitting on his bed just talking and laughing

“You’re so pretty” he said

“Thank you Chris” I said blushing

“You’ve always been pretty, but now you’re just so mature, and it’s hot” he said

“You know I used to like you in high school, and I thought you were so hot, but now….youre like a Greek god now” I told him

“Oh baby…don’t boost my ego” he said laughing

“It’s the truth…I don’t know your face not just looks more carved out, and you just got this look in your eyes now” I said staring at him

“ IM A MAN NOW” he said smacking his chest

“Oh god” I said laughing at him

“I’m just kidding baby” he said laughing with me

“I really want to kiss you right now, and I’m not sure if I’ll regret this or not” I told him looking down at his lips

“Come on princess, come kiss me” he said raising his eyebrows

I leaned forward, and started to kiss Chris. All those feelings I had for Chris in high school came rushing back. I felt like I was making my 16 year old self proud.

Chris slowly started to slip tongue into our kiss, and it became such a hot make out. Our tongues fighting for dominance and our teeth clanging together. As I pulled away I pulled Chris’ lip lightly

“Fuck baby that was so hot” Chris said looking at me through half lidded eyes

“Are you down to fuck” I asked him

“I’m down if you are, but this isn’t why I brought you here, and don’t feel forced to do anything you don’t want to” he said to me

“Chris I have wanted to fuck the shit out of you since I was 16….I AINT BACKING DOWN” I told him

“Oh princess I’m about to make your dreams come true”

He said

I got up and straddled Chris’ lap immediately smashing our lips together. Nothing but teeth and tongue as I started to grind down onto him

I pulled my shirt off, and unclipped my bra allowing my breast to fall free. Chris took his hat off tossing it to the right, and then pulled his shirt immediately connecting our lips again

“Fuck baby” he said pulling away and kissing my neck down to my chest, and then taking one breast into his mouth while massaging the other one

“Fuck Chris” I moaned out throwing my head back

Chris looked up at me with lazy eyes, as he moved to the other breast. Swirling his tongue around my nipple

He then started kissing down the valley of my breast, and lifting me up to kiss down my stomach.

With a flat tongue he licked from my stomach all the way back up to the valley of my breasts, up my chest, to the side of my neck, and then immediately met my tongue in another sloppy make out session

“God Chris you’re such a fucking slut” I said moaning

“Only for you baby” I said as he kept massaging my breasts

He let me stand up so I could remove my pants and under wears for him

My pussy was at mouth level to Chris, and he pulled me in closer lifting my left leg up to go over his shoulder, and immediately attached his mouth to my pussy

“OH FUCK” I said pulling onto his hair, and trying to stabilize myself

Chris was lapping at my pussy like it was water, and I was trembling barely able to moan because I couldn’t even believe what was happening right now

His nose was bumping against my clit in a way that was making my knees weak

“Chris I’m going to fall over” I said pulling his hair harder

He pulled away, and his mouth, nose and chin was covered in my arousal

“I need you so badly” I said rubbing my hands through his hair

“Whatever you want princess” he said

I got onto the bed, and Chris took his jeans and boxers off immediately hovering over me

“You gotta be real quiet princess” he said

“I promise Chris I’ll be good” I told him nodding my head

Chris make me like his palm so he could jerk himself off before fucking me

Chris was kind of leaning back on his knees, and he had my legs draped over his thighs. He thought his cock to my entrance and slowly started inserting himself into me

“Fuckkk” I whimpered as he slid all the way in

“Fuck baby you’re so tight” he said rubbing his hand from my stomach up through the valley of my breast, and lightly wrapping his hand around my throat, but not squeezing me

He started to thrust into me and good thing he didn’t have a traditional headboard because everybody would’ve known we were fucking

“Oh Chris” I moaned shutting my eyes

“Fuck baby you’re taking me so well” he said as he kept thrusting into me

His hips were smacking into me and his dick was hitting every single spot

“I need more” I moaned out

So Chris started pounding into me harder and faster, moaning and grunting and sweating. God this was so fucking hot

He snapped his hips into me, and I swear his dick kissed my cervix

“CHRIS” I yelled out

He immediately put his ring and middle finger in my mouth

“Shhhh baby” he said thrusting into me at a harder pace

“I always knew you’d be such a slut for me” he said as I sucked on his fingers and moaned around them

“Is my princess going to cum?” He said

“MHMM MHMM” I said around his fingers

“Good come on baby, cum for me” he said as he brought his other hand down to rub my clit

I was moaning on his fingers and thrashing around

Within seconds my hips came off the bed and my body started to shake as I came so hard on Chris’ dick

I was whimpering and trembling as he helped me ride out my high

He took his fingers out of my mouth and then pulled out of me. Taking his cock into his hand and jerking himself off

“I’m gonna cum” he said

Suddenly his jaw fell slack and his lower abdomen twitched, he came all over my stomach

“Fuck fuck fuck” he said as he came

We caught our breath, and he put his boxers back on, and ran to his bathroom to get tissue to clean me up

He came back and cleaned me up, and I slid my underwear back on, and he gave me one of his shirts to slip into

“God Chris….who would’ve known you were such a slut” I said as I laid down in his bed

“What’s crazy is my body count is only 1, well 2 now….you brought out the slut in me” he said laying down next to me and looking at me

“If there’s more of that, then I want it” I said

“You can have whatever you want baby” he said kissing me

Suddenly my phone started to ring, so I got up and walked over to grab it. It was Chloe and she was blowing my phone up

“Hello” I said as I put the phone on speaker

“BITCH WHAT THE FUCK YOU NEVER ANSWER ME I THOUGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED” she said yelling at me

“Im sorry…..we were busy” I said to her

“Busy doing what….” She said

“We were fucking” Chris yelled across the room

“CHRISTOPHER” I yelled

I took Chloe off of speaker

“Chloe I’ll talk to you tomorrow, and explain everything, but for right now I gotta go” I said and we hung up

“Come on baby, come lay with me” he said patting the side next to him

I ran over and laid with him, and we eventually fell asleep.

The End

Ouuu chile this was a lot to write, I really enjoyed writing this so whoever requested this I hope you enjoyed 🥰

-J💅🏽

A/N: I’m a cancer🦀

#sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo smut #Christopher sturniolo smut #sturniolo triplet smut #smut

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countrymusiclover · 2 years

Text

17 - Can You Keep A Secret??

Everything Changed At 21

Part 18

Tags @abaker74 @bvbwestfall

It doesn't feel like it's been a few months since Luke changed my life but apparently that's what happens when you're on tour you lose track of time. Luke was scheduled to do a recording session with Jordan Davis for their new song they had written together. So he agreed to meet us in Austin, Texas. Laying on the bed in my hotel room Chlo bursts inside squealing with some tickets in her hands. Closing my notebook on my lap she bounced down onto the bed. "Holy crap. Rodeo tickets. How is this even possible!" I gasped snatching them from her hands. She shrugged her shoulders jumping up and down on her knees giddy over this. We had always wanted to go to a rodeo in Texas but didn't think our schedules would ever work until now.

"Wait we can't go Chloe. I told Luke I would go to his recording session with him today. Maybe you should just go without me." I dropped my hands in my lap. She crossed her arms over her chest getting up and tossing my phone to me quickly. "Call him right now. I think he will understand. Besides it's not like we're missing one of his concerts. Now please please call him." She gives me the puppy dog eyes begging on her knees in front of me on the floor. Pushing hair from my face I sighed dropping my shoulders at her in this moment. Typing his number I hit the call button pressing the phone to my ear feeling her gaze fixed on me. "Hey darling, what's up?" His southern accent asked through the phone. "Hey Lukey, so Chloe and I got Rodeo tickets but I remembered I agreed to help you-" He cuts me off making me smile even though he couldn't see it. "No go with your friend. I've got Carter with me. It's all good have fun." Chloe hung up the phone for me tugging me towards the closet to find outfits.

Chloe chose to drove this time since the last time we went on a girl trip was to party with Luke. She was wearing torn blue shorts and a white flower shirt. Plus some light brown boots that went to her ankles. She was wearing my cowgirl hat since she managed to steal one of Luke's baseball caps. I decided to wear some torn blue jeans and my boots. Tying the end of a orange flannel up so you could see the white shirt underneath. One of the bull riders manages to stay on for eight seconds so everyone starts cheering. Chloe reached into her pocket typing something on her phone but I didn't think anything of it. She was probably texting Carter for their date tonight. "Oh my gosh. You're Luke Bryan's girl!" A random girl screamed beside us making me whip my head around. "How did a girl like you get with him?" Another one asked in an annoyed tone a few rows above us. Looking down at the ground Chloe draped her arm over my shoulders pulling me back to the fun we were having. In the pit of my gut I was still concerned with my Luke and I were together.

Luke's POV

"You can buy dirt. And thank the good Lord for it. 'Cause He ain't makin' any more of it. So buy dirt. Find the one you can't live without. Get a ring, let your knee hit the ground. Do what you love but call it work. And throw a little money in the plate at church....Add a few limbs to your family tree." Jordan and I were both singing until I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. Pulling out my phone it was a text from Chloe with something I had asked about her best friend. "I emailed you her address. We're at the rodeo now. Text me how it goes afterwards. I won't say a word." She sends a wink emjoi underneath. Running a hand through my hair I smiled the biggest grin I have since I met Y/n that night. "What has you smiling ear to ear?" Carter broke me from my trance sitting on one of the stools. "I'm heading to Y/n's parents place later tonight. To ask for their permission."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

#Everything Changed At 21 #luke bryan fanfiction #luke bryan fic #luke bryan songs #luke bryan #country music #country #muscician #writer #x reader #wattpad fanfiction #ask box is open for feedback #comments really appreciated

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daily-hayley568 · 2 years

Text

“i should have seen it coming”

title: “i should have seen it coming.”

summary: in which the reader confronts fred’s infidelity and the aftermath.

warnings: ANGST, ANGST, A N G S T, swearing, mentions of sexual content

[1] [2] [3]

“I should have seen it coming.”

“See what coming?” He pivoted on his heel, turning to face me. He was almost out of the door. Why didn’t I just let him leave? Leave our home, leave this relationship, leave me.

I scoffed at his question as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Instead of answering the question, I dodged it by walking to the apartment studio’s kitchen island leaning against the cool marble to look at him.

“I thought I was intelligent, but I guess I’m not, if I didn’t see this coming.” I rolled my eyes, folding my arms over the graphic ACDC tee-shirt that once belonged to Lee Jordan, whom I stole it from.

“What in the fuck are you talking about?” He seethed, beginning to lose his temper with me.

Why was he angry with me? I didn’t do anything. If anything I should be angry with him, but I felt numb. I didn’t want to feel anymore. My family always said feelings make you weaker, and now I finally understood why.

“The only thing we’ve been talking about!” I was in love with someone dense as a rock.

“Well, what do you want me to say? You want to tell you I love you when I don’t? Do you want to hold you and comfort you while we pretend this didn’t happen? Do you want me to act like I’m not in love with someone else? What, what do you want, Y/N!”

“I wanted to be loved! And obviously that’s not you, Fred! You’re in love with her, whoever she is. I kept quiet because I loved you, heck, I love you! That isn’t good enough for you and you know that. I know that. And you know what I also want? For you to leave!”

“Gladly.” Fred turned around again slamming the apartment door closed. It shook the flat or so I thought. As the door shook, it was the last rattle against my walls and I fell apart.

I fell to the floor. My heart was torn, it felt as if Fred Weasley ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It felt as if my heart was laying in front of me pooling all of the blood and love was seeping onto the hardwood dripping on the old lady’s couch that was the next floor down.

Well, that was a long time ago. That book in my series in my life was sealed and placed away in a glass case where it couldn’t be opened even by the nosiest onlookers of my life.

Ginny had found me that night and she, Luna, Hermione, and Pansy Parkinson had stayed for that entire weekend. The girls had left their children with their own men and cared for me.

Even if Fred was her brother, Ginny was furious with him. She told me she would ignored him for months after our breakup. The only time she did talk to him was when she used her bag-bogey hex.

When Ginny told me that story I laughed even if it was just a small one.

But after our breakup, I didn’t mope. I moved on with my life, sort of.

So for those wondering; am I still in love with Fred? Absolutely. In my world, you never stop loving someone even after what they did. Fred did me very wrong and I would probably never take him back but I still loved him.

It was November, months after Fred and I split. According to Ginny, Fred was still seeing Chloe, the girl I was left for. She was everything I wasn’t but if Fred was happy, I was happy (I wasn’t okay but I could pretend).

Now, I sat at my desk staring at the mannequin in front of me. My first fashion line went viral after Ginny wore it to an interview for the Daily Prophet. Even Rita Skeeter wrote only good things about it!

I stopped thinking about Fred as much as I did when we were dating. I didn’t need a man. A man needed me.

I looked down to my blank sketch book and groaned, slamming my head into the desk. The door swung up and I looked and saw my best friend Ginny Potter with a huge grin on her face.

“Are you busy tonight?”

“Yes I’ve got to finish this new design.” Ginny leaned over on her toes and saw my blank page.

“Yeah…. Real good work, babes.” I narrowed my eyes at her and she gave me an innocent grin. “Anyway, Harry and I are having dinner tonight and you, my precious girl, are going!”

“I’m not 15th wheeling, Ginny.” I frowned, blinking at her.

“I’ve already got that sorted! Remember Cormac Mclaggen, oh yes of course you do, he’s your date.”

“You’re infuriating, Ginerva.”

“All I’m hearing is; Oh Ginny, thank you I’ll be there and I’ll bring my cupcakes that everyone loves!”

“Fine, I’ll go, but only because I’ll get to wear my dress for a sneak peek of my new line. By the way, my newest line for you is in that closet right there.”

“Oh, I’ll wear one tonight, see you!” Ginny grabbed her new dresses and outfits and apparated away.

I was a fashion designer, for Salazar’s sake, and I couldn’t even pick out an outfit. Currently standing in my walk-in closet I couldn’t pick out the perfect outfit. Then I finally decided on a sheer black polka-dot bodysuit and a simple black spaghetti strap dress that stopped a few inches above the knee. Accompanying the dress was a pair of black strappy heels and a black clutch.

After the apparition to the Potter’s manor, I slipped inside not bothering to knock. I made my way to the kitchen where the food was set and I placed a batch of cupcakes on the island. Surprisingly, the kitchen was empty and I took my time placing the cupcakes to make them give a sense of perfection.

“Those look ravishing, darling.” I tensed at the male voice, obviously expecting to be with myself alone.

I turned around and smiled sheepishly at Cormac Mclaggen who was now in front of me, closer than I’d like. “Thanks, they're my special recipe!”

Cormac pulled a piece of my hair letting it run through his fingers. My eyes shot to the shoulder where he dropped the strand of hair before glancing back at him. He was taller now than he was when we were in school. He had scars littering across his face, from the second wizarding war, no doubt.

“Would you like to join the others?” I nodded, leading the way out of their kitchen into the living room.

Cormac followed behind me, and I grinned as all my friends turned to look at me.

“Y/N, my beloved!” Pansy shouted, happily running up to me bringing me into a hug.

“Hello, Pans. Blaise.” I waved to her fiancé who stood behind her in an Italian suit that I could spot miles away.

“Hello, Viper,” Blaise smirked, pulling me into a hug next. I rolled my eyes at his silly nickname. Draco, Theodore, and he made that nickname for me after I grabbed a viper in our fifth year at Hogwarts.

Theo was on the couch across from me with Luna Lovegood curled up by his side who gave me her classic dreamy smile, “Hello, Y/N.” Luna grinned. Theo gave a wave with his free hand and I returned the gesture.

I sat down on the loveseat with Cormac taking his spot next to me, throwing his arm around the back of the couch. Draco and Hermione were sitting in the armchair next to us with Draco sitting on the armchair and Hermione in his lap. Hermione smiled brightly at me in greeting and Draco sent a Slytherin smirk in my direction.

After listening to Ginny, I learned that all the kids were sent to the Burrow to hang out with Molly and Arthur. Molly was probably ballistic with joy and I could just imagine Arthur showing the young ones muggle objects.

George and Angelina entered the living room with their fingers intertwined and I caught the sense of hesitation from the Weasley brother and the quick whisper to Angelina, who suddenly brightened at the sight of me.

After George, only moments later the other twin came in with his top four buttons unbuttoned and fresh lipstick smeared across his neck and behind him came a blonde fixing her tight dress that hardly covered the curve of her butt. If Fred was interested in her, obviously I was not the one made for him. I had a sense of er, modesty, per se. I wasn’t meaning to shame her clothes but, seriously, what did she have that was so good to cheat on me? Chloe obviously had it all.

Then she turned her face towards me and it clicked. Chloe Argen, my own damn secretary. She had quit before the line had even gone viral, actually, she quit a few days after my split with the Weasley twin. I turned my face to Cormac,

“How classy of them.” Cormac breathed a chuckle, sending me a brilliant smile.

Fred and Chloe took the seat adjacent to Cormac and me. Cormac probably knew what happened between Fred and I, and I assume that’s why he scooted closer, dropping his arm around my shoulders and not behind the back of the couch.

The couch was a five-seater, but it seemed Chloe was too thick to realize it as she placed herself in the lap of Fred himself and began slurping across his neck as if he was a slurpee.

“What are we fifteen?” Ginny Potter’s voice harshly broke through the silence and Chloe looked up to see the girl and smirked.

“Sorry, but your brother is so pleasing in bed, I can’t help but keep my hands off him.” Chloe pouted and Ginny rolled her eyes.

“It’s a thing she has to do, Gin, if her hands aren’t on him whose hands are? We all know Fred gets distracted easily.” Cormac snickered in my ear as Ginny broke out into a wide smile.

“Who let this slut in here?” Chloe growled, turning towards me.

“Please stop talking to me as if I’m a mirror, Chloe.” I rolled my eyes.

“Now it’s crystal clear why Fred cheated on you!” The blonde yelled, beginning to stand up in front of me.

Fred looked like he was about to kill someone, me or her? I couldn’t tell you. “Let’s chat?” Fred stood finally talking for the first time this night, latching his arm around Chloe’s upper arm.

The couple left and I glanced at Ginny who was burning holes through the back of their heads while they left.

“Five galleons that they fix their problems by sex.” George called placing the galleons on the coffee table.

“Five galleons she manipulates her way out of it.” I dropped the galleons on the table and smirked at George.

“Five galleons that they break up.” Harry Potter entered himself into the bet by dropping the five galleons onto the table.

“I’ll watch the money.” Hermione offered transfiguring the Witch Weekly magazine into a glass jar and putting the fifteen galleons into it.

—

A year later, I was still single. Cormac and I just wanted to be friends and now Cormac was happily with Lavender Brown. All my friends were happy. Blaise and Pansy had gotten married, Theo and Luna got engaged, Harry and Ginny had their second child, Ron and Astoria were expecting, Hermione became Minister of Magic, and Draco and Blaise opened a new business.

The sun baked on me while I sketched different patterns of scales into my fashion sketchbook. I wanted my line to be something totally different and I found the perfect thing; dragons. Of course, I wasn’t going to poach dragons for designs, but I was going to design dragon scales into this new line.

A baby dragon that hatched only hours earlier rested on my shoulder peering down at my sketchbook. Romania was wonderful and Ginny helped me get a place to stay which was with her brother, Charlie. Charlie and I never really met even when I was with Fred. He visited a lot but we never got the chance to actually bond like we were now. Then, I was just a kid to him, but now we were inseparable.

He showed me all the different types of dragon patterns and I had to know more. So, now, I sat on a large boulder drawing the precise pattern of the Hungarian Horntail.

“I’ve got lunch!” Charlie grinned holding up two paper-sacks and I laughed taking one from the older Weasley brother. Charlie took a seat next to me on the boulder and sighed, “Did you hear?” He asked softly, and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion turning to him.

“Hear what?”

“Fred’s engaged,” My heart that was trying to bandage the glass up just dropped and shattered. I swallowed the large lump in my throat. Why couldn’t I just get over him? Why? Why did I have to be in love with someone who I wasn’t good enough for? “-to Chloe.”

“Oh,” I murmured softly, picking at the crust of my sandwich, suddenly feeling not hungry.

“I just wanted to tell you, before you get back to London.”

I nodded slowly, “So him and Chloe, huh?” I looked up to watch the dragon.

“I always thought it would be you two, you know? I thought you were perfect for him. Turns out you’re just perfect.” Charlie softly smiled, turning to face me.

“Oh, Charlie dear, I’m far from perfect.”

“Well, I don’t think Fred deserves you, but I do want to get under his skin. Whaddya say?”

“What are you going on about, Char?”

“You came to visit Romania, you finally got to bond with me, and instead of going back single you’re madly in love with me.” When he realized I still didn’t get it, he explained more, “We’re going to fake-date, pretend we’re madly in love with each other, and anger the hell out of Frederick Gideon Weasley.”

“Oh, love, sounds wonderful.” I leaned forward pressing my lips against his.

We were in my manor since Charlie decided to visit for a month. We told all of our friends about the elaborate plan and we only had to act as a couple at the Burrow and in public. For some reason it was easy. This was easy. He was easy.

“How do I look?” I stepped out of the closet in a red sundress for the July weather.

“Gorgeous, my dear.” He smirked and linking our arms and apparating to the Burrow.

When we landed in the field, Charlie wrapped his arm around my waist and I couldn’t ignore the butterflies that set aflame in my abdomen.

Just not used to being touched was probably it. Butterflies aren’t in our stomach, just so you know.

When we set foot inside Molly wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug, “Darling, Y/N! So good to see you. And Charlie you too, my dear.”

Tonight was the night we were going to reveal that Charlie and I were ‘seeing’ each other. George said Chloe and Fred were going to be here as well, so it was perfect. Charlie and I decided that we would announce it at the dinner table to make sure everyone was listening.

“How was your Romania trip, Y/N?” After the Weasley mother hugged her son she turned to me.

“Wonderful,” I flicked my glance to Charlie’s, before smiling at Molly. “I finally have my next line’s pattern ready and I just need to start designing!”

“I’m just glad that you’re happy and so determined to make a future happen, even after everything.”

Of course, she was referring to Fred and I. It was a new drama then, of course everyone knew. I gave her a tight-lipped grin before turning my attention to the living room, “Molly, who’s all here?”

“Hermione and Draco just arrived a few moments before you two, Ron and Astoria came through floo earlier, and Ginny and Harry apparated here a little bit before Hermione and Draco.”

“Perfect!” I walked off leaving Charlie to chat with his mother, and I took a seat happily beside a Harry Potter who was looking through old pictures.

George, Angelina, Chloe, and Fred all entered. George shot me a drained look as he threw himself in an armchair.

Chloe seemed to learn some restraint since this time she decided to sit next to Fred instead of straddling him like a year ago. The room now felt off with Fred and Chloe in it. It felt as if the happiness was drained from the room and replaced with tension.

Chloe Argen was my personal dementor.

“Who invited her?” Someone needed to teach Chloe whispering talents.

As if he was my saving grace, Charlie walked in with a smile on his face and took a seat next to me.

“Hello, everyone.” Charlie greeted throwing his arm over the back of the leather couch.

“Charlie!” Fred smiled. “It’s great to see you. Have you met my fiancé, Chloe?”

“I’ve heard of her, that’s for sure.” He glanced at me with a smirk and I let a laugh out of my nose.

Everyone greeted Charlie and most gave him hugs and then Molly called us for dinner. Bill and Fleur, and Remus and Tonks were already seated at the table. Tonks stood and her and Charlie shared a long hug of reunion. Charlie took the seat directly across from Tonks and I sat next to him, Remus in front of me.

The food was served and everyone was chatting. Chloe was showing her ring off to Molly who looked highly displeased, Ginny, Remus, and I were discussing quidditch, Tonks and Charlie were speaking of the Aurors, Ron and Harry were talking about Godric knows what, and Fred and George were making some kind of joke between them, Angelina and Astoria were speaking of kid, and Bill, Fleur, and Arthur were talking about Gringotts and future possibilities for security.

“Charlie, when are you ever going to get a girlfriend?” George joked, a slight smile on his face.

“I’m curious, Charles, are there any lovely girls in Romania?” Molly perked up. The side conversations had stopped and everyone was listening intently to the now, main conversation.

“Well, one.” Charlie shrugged casually taking a bite of his breadstick, “But she was only visiting to get ideas for her fashion line.” The Weasley grinned down at me and I looked up with a sheepish smile.

Molly paused then let out a loud gasp, “You and Y/N! How perfect!” Molly clapped her hands.

Charlie winked before kissing me on the lips and turning back to his mother, “When she was visiting, I just knew she was perfect.”

“Who knew right? Me, a fashion designer, falling for the gruff dragonolist.”

“I’m more dashing than gruff.” Charlie rolled his eyes playfully.

“Sure, darling.”

After dinner, everyone had split up for the summer evening. Bill, Remus, Tonks, Fleur, Molly, Chloe, and Arthur went into the living room playing classical wizarding music. Everyone else sprinted outside to play a game of quidditch, I walked myself out on the porch watching the quidditch game, mostly Charlie, from afar.

“Had to get a Weasley somehow, huh?” Well, obviously, I wasn’t alone like I thought I was. Sadly, I knew that voice all too well.

“I don’t get how my life bothers you, Fred.” I sigh, never turning my head towards him. “I was happy for you when you and Chloe got together, maybe I give you too much credit where it’s due.”

“Don’t pull that card on me. You told me to get out.”

“Fred, you told me you didn’t love me anymore and this is still my fault?”

“Of course it is your fault!”

I left him heading towards the quidditch game. I couldn’t deal with it

That night after Charlie bid me goodnight, I kicked the wall in my room. Stupid Fred Weasley, his stupid jokes, his stupid smirk, stupid brown eyes, stupid ginger hair. Stupid me for being in love with such a man.

What was so wrong with me that I didn’t deserve love? The best I could do was be in a fake relationship with Charlie Weasley. Ugh, ugh, UGH! I kicked the wall again out of frustration. Why did he have to talk to me? Why couldn’t he just make out with Chloe, or better yet, couldn’t he just have left? Leaving for him was quite easy.

Fuck Fred Weasley.

Wait shit. I’ve already done that.

Anyway.

Part two?

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muffledcries · 3 years

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Jahmil French (July 29, 1991 – March 1, 2021)

We worked together on Soundtrack, and every single time you entered the room we all felt it get brighter. You were shiny, magnetic and so so kind. RIP and fly with the angels Jah. – JENNA DEWAN Really hate that this is real. @JahmilFrench you will be missed my friend. Thank you for your talents that pushed me, your energy that kept our little family on @soundtracknetflix glued together. I’m happy I was able to get to know you. Our work together def made an impact on me & You and your Mom felt like family back home. Today and everyday we will remember you and continue to be inspired to live and be great for you. Rest In Peace Jah. – CHRISTINA MILLIAN Honestly been at a loss for words since I heard the news. This doesn’t feel real. Jahmil, was one of the most talented actors I’ve ever worked with. One of the funniest kindest people I ever met. The life of the party, every room he would walk into he would always be dancing and making people laugh and smile. Too many good memories. Thank you Jahmil. Rest In Peace King. – AJ SAUDIN Heartbroken over the loss of our friend Jahmil French. We started on Degrassi the same year and I’ll never forget the day I met him. Jahmil was so full of energy and absolute joy to be around. The video on the last slide is how I always think of him, always dancing. He was such a special person and I’m so grateful for the memories we made. I still can’t believe it. Gone way too soon. He will be so missed by us all. – ANNIE CLARK My heart is so heavy.. Truly one of a kind. Rest In Peace. – CRISTINE PROSPERI I’m sick with the news of Jahmil’s passing. He performed Dave with such sensitivity and thoughtfulness and could make me laugh so easily. It was a pleasure to work with him and he will be missed. This is a real loss. Rest In Peace. – STEFAN BROGREN Jahmil had such talent and charisma that it would have been intimidating were he not also a real gentleman. He would show up to my house-parties with a crew of dancers and they would elevate the mood immediately. When life got messy he would handle himself with grace and levity. He was precocious. And his love for music (and dance) was contagious. He showed me Section 80 by Kendrick Lamar, made me appreciate Drake’s Houston sound… Wish I’d gotten the chance to catch up with him one more time, hear where his mind/dreams were at. – SAM EARLE Jahmil, your talents and energy will never be forgotten. One of the best smiles with the most beautiful soul. Jahmil, you will always be such a bright light in this world. – SARAH FISHER This one really hurts. Jahmil French was a truly kind soul and one of the most talented actors around. He inspired me with his confidence and support from the first day we met and will continue to do so forever. Thank you for everything you gave to this world through both your art and your humanity. Rest In Peace my friend. – CRAIG ARNOLD Much love to the entire Degrassi family on this difficult day. It was a complete honour to write for and work with Jahmil, an incredible actor and talent gone way too soon. – RAMONA BARCKERT An extraordinary talent and a bright light on and off screen. Rest in peace, Jahmil. – MICHAEL GRASSI So sad to hear about the passing of Degrassi cast-member Jahmil French. An endlessly talented & charming performer who was always fun to write for. Last time I saw him, he was nominated for a CSA for his work in the movie Boost and I was certain he was only getting started. RIP. – MATT HUETHER Jahmil was always such a kind person. My heart is heavy for him and his family. Thanks for all the good memories Jahmil, you really had an impact. I’ll cherish all the fun we had dancing at basement parties all those years ago. Still in shock. Jahmil will be missed. He was an integral part of the Degrassi family and certainly a huge part of my degrassi days. He always wanted to make people laugh and smile, a true joy to be around. Rest in Peace. – CHLOE ROSE Rest easy, my friend. Your talent, kindness and shining bright light will never be forgotten. – JESSICA TYLER Wanted to pay my respects to an incredibly kind, funny, and talented individual; Jahmil French. One of the first people I met on Degrassi, he immediately made me feel welcome. He disarmed you with a smile and his confidence and energy was infectious. You’ll be missed, brother. – DYLAN EVERETT Jahmil was one of the most gifted and effortless performers I’ve ever met. His vibrant personality lit up the room. Rest easy my friend. – MUNRO CHAMBERS I am heartbroken to hear about the loss of Jahmil. Jahmil was an extraordinary talent and a bright light on and off the screen. He was a joy to work with on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He brought an authenticity and burst of life to every scene he was in and infused his character ‘Dave’ with an airy lightness. Off screen Jahmil would always make me smile. He will be deeply missed. – LINDA SCHUYLER My heart goes out to the entire Degrassi community., but particularly of course to those who were closest with Jahmil. We have lost one of our own. Jahmil was kind, intelligent, extremely talented, and just a wonderful person. He was also of course an incredible dancer, and since I am the exact opposite we had a running joke that I had taught him all his dance moves. When I would completely ineptly do the Moonwalk, Jahmil would cheer me on, while everyone else would beg me to stop! RIP Jahmil French, your soul and presence are sorely missed. – STEPHEN STOHN A sad day for the Degrassi family. With a heavy heart I thank you for all the times you made me laugh, taught me dance moves, and gave me confidence as Adam. Thinking of all the memories we shared on and off of set. - JORDAN TODOSEY Thinking of Jahmil French & the entire Degrassi family today click here for the full post - LYLE LETTAU This one hurts me deeply. When I found out yesterday I refused to believe it! I wouldn’t except it and to be honest I still don’t quite believe it’s real. I love you and the energy between us was always genuine. Working with you was always a blast and you were always the coolest man in the room. Till we meet again my friend. – CORY LEE Terribly sad to hear about Jahmil’s passing. Whether I was his scene partner, or just a viewer, I was in awe of his sheer talent. A room was brighter because he was in it. A true performer, a great guy and a huge loss. #RestInPeace – JUSTIN KELLY I’m so shocked and saddened to hear this news about Jahmil. Jahmil was and is such a kind, fun loving, hilarious, full of life, hard working and professional person. He was my first real scene partner on a series I got to be a series regular on. I remember the day my agent sent me the casting for Degrassi. It said I would be playing Dave Turners love interest. So the first thing I did was pull up the good ol IMDB machine and find out who Jahmil French was. The same day as my audition a few mere hours later I got the call that the role was mine (pretty rare in this industry) I went in to do my fitting and thats when I met Jahmil, Spencer and AJ for the first time as they played an iconic trio on the show. They were all super friendly and nice to me and made me feel very welcomed to be joining the cast. I was nervous and 15 at the time. Jahmil was the integral glue that held the circle together and its would lead to an amazing friendship that I got to have with Spencer. I had only been slated to do 3 episodes on the show but I believe it was the on screen chemistry Jahmil and I had that lead me to stick around for longer. Jahmil always had a smile on his face. I would come in at 5am for our call to do prep and be so tired, but there he was hanging out in the green room dancing so full of energy and life. Jahmil LOVED dancing and he was really good at it too. And I’d ask him “How do you even have this much energy this early LOL” and he’d just laugh and smile. Any time we went down to block he’d be word perfect on his lines, hit every mark and bring such an amazing professionalism to the set it was mesmerizing to watch. He played every scene with a new beat that always kept it interesting and fresh. Jahmil was and still is such a kind hearted dedicated person who eventually really went on to flourish in his career and he will be deeply missed. Heaven really gained a new angel today, Rest In Peace and say hey to all the other pals up there. Spencer and I will pour one out for you - ALEXX BENOIT Rest in peace my guy. An amazingly talented actor who had such a presence on and off screen. – DEMETRIUS JOYETTE Jahmil was such a wonderful person to be around. so funny, so charismatic, so talented. and my god he loved his work. I’m devasted. Sending my love to his friends and family. In a year full of grief, it’s hard to comprehend how there can be room for more. And yet. Jahmil French was an incredible person, so full of talent and passion for his work. He lit up a room with his energy and dance moves. An easy smile and a natural charisma. He will be so missed. My heart is broken. I feel strange, announcing these things I wish I had told him more often. Reached out more often. The regret is acute. He deserved his flowers when he was here. I hope he knew how much love & admiration there was for him in this world. – AISLINN PAUL One of the most talented, kind hearted, funny spirits I’ve had the pleasure of building a friendship with. Jahmil is an icon. My love for him runs deep. Jahmil you will always hold such a special place in my heart. Thank you for being one of the most talented, compassionate, kindest, funniest friends I have. You were so loved. I’ll miss our dance offs. #Bhandurner forever. Jah literally won the title of most competitive goofball. What joy he brought to my life and to so many. So grateful for memories and deep convos with you, beautiful angel. Blessed that we got to be part of a big dysfunctional family together. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world. I just hope you knew how loved you were. I learnt so much working with this talented dedicated soul. Please send a prayer for his soul to go directly toward the light. – MELINDA SHANKAR Such a beautiful soul & a light to everyone around him. Rest in Paradise Jahmil. – JOELLE FARROW This moment will live in my mind forever. A beautiful soul, thank you for the years of memories and laughter. You’re a light my brother and I’m so happy we got to experience this crazy life together. I’ll always remember you dancing down the halls of the green room. Rest In Peace. – LUKE BILYK I’m devasted. My man, I swear I was just thinking about you not even a few days ago when I was making my new demo reel, watching all the old Degrassi episodes. So talented. So unbelievably wise beyond your years. You made one of the best times of my life even better. I’m so crushed. I should have called you. I dont deserve to miss you as much as I do now. I would always say my favourite actor on the show was Mr. Jahmil French. I would always watch his parts when going thru Degrassi material to either study my tech or to cut demos or whatever else. Not 4 days ago was I daydreaming about making some kind of new production with all of those talented people. My hearts broken. – DANIEL KELLY Jahmil was always the brightest light in the room. Smiling, dancing and making all of us laugh till we cried. Rest In Peace you beautiful soul. You will be missed… - ALICIA JOSIPOVIC This is absolutely heartbreaking. While I never worked directly with Jahmil on Degrassi, our paths did cross a few times. All you needed was 5 minutes with him to realize what a beautiful, talented, bright soul he was. My sincerest condolences to his family and loved onces. Rest In Peace Jahmil French. – ANA GOLJA Shocked & saddened to hear of Jahmil’s passing. Loss of such a talented and bright soul. Rest in Power cuz, I’ll pour one out for you, am so wishing this was a dream. – JAJUBE MANDIELA I join thousands of people around the world thinking about Jahmil today. A beautiful, joyful person to be on set with, truly intimidating on the dance floor, an all-around wonderful person to have known, gone just way, way too soon. Sending love to everyone who loved him. Jahmil, I hope you feel it too. – CHARLOTTE ARNOLD I didn’t know Jahmil very well, but in the few times we met, he was so explosively kind, charismatic and truly interested and invested in every interaction. I immediately felt accepted and got a sense of the deep compassion that so many others had expressed was within him. The impression I had always stuck with me and from all I have heard he was such a beautiful and loving person, the special kind that makes everything a little lighter. Thank you to everyone who has been sharing stories of their time with him. Sending love to Jahmil and all of you. – ERIC OSBORNE Jahmil was such a special human. A long-time acting student of mine, & my mentee. He was fearless and brilliant in his pursuit, and I’m so sad we won’t get to see more of his gift. I’m so grateful to have crossed paths with him, and I wish him eternal peace. – SALVATORE ANTONIO So sad to hear of Jahmil’s passing. He was so kind and so funny. I’m glad I had the chance to know him. You will be missed. Rest in Power Jahmil. Gone too soon. Will never be forgotten. – TAYSHA FULLER Even though I only worked with Jahmil for a little while he made a truly lasting impression. I remember when I first came back to set as Tori and I was incredibly nervous those first few weeks, but Jahmil was so welcoming and treated me and the other new cast members like we’d been a part of the cast the whole time. If he gave you a compliment or even said something as simple as “it’s so good to see you” you knew he genuinely meant it. It seems like a small thing but it’s hard to find that kind of authentic honesty in most people. He was an incredibly talented actor and always such a positive energy on set, and I’ll remember him for all those vibrant moments. Rest In Peace. – ALEXA STEELE This smile. This spark. This spirit. Jah I am missing you from this earthly plane we all love you. – MEGAN FERGUSON there never seems to be enough time… I don’t know if words can describe someone like Jah. He really was too special for this world. A true artist to his soul. I was lucky to call him my friend. Rest in Peace and Power Angel. you will be so dearly missed. – PAUL JAMES I guess I thought if I refrained from making a post, it would ease some of the pain.. but the more hours that pass, the more it sets in heavier. JAH. Mi familia. My brother. I am crushed. I have believed in you since the moment we met, and it makes me smile to know the feeling was 100% reciprocated. The purest soul. Always himself no matter WHERE he went. It takes courage to be that way you know? To have that strength. From Antigone to degrassi, to LA to NY you had EVERYTHING in you to shine. All the power, all the talent, all the intelligence the drive, the fearlessness. Your smile made me smile. Sweeterman jah, I miss you so much already. – SHANICE BANTON Dance on, old friend -through the clouds. I will see you on the other side. click here for the full post – SHANNON KOOK

#jahmil french #this took me forever but i wanted to make it pretty #he will be forever missed #:(#edit*#degrassi #idk why the scroll box isn’t showing up sigh I apologize for it being so long #dave turner

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airis-paris14 · 3 years

Text

Wonder What She Thinks 5

Summary: She learns to love herself and he loses the best thing he ever had.

Masterlist || 4 || 5 || Epilogue

I wonder what she thinks of me, when you stay awake. After you make love to her, but I’m still on your brain.

- “Wonder What She Thinks of Me” Chloe x Halle

“It’s time!” Shuri jerked her head up from reading the notification on her phone. The King and Queen both paused their conversation, “Now,” Queen Ramonda clarified, her face breaking into a large smile. Shuri nodded excitedly. “Time for what?” T’Challa frowned as his family members stood from the table and began heading out of the room, his mother handing out orders left and right. “Zoe is having the babies!” Shuri beamed before following her mother out of the room. T’Chaka paused, “Why are you not moving. Let’s go, son,” he urged. “Baba,” T’Challa swallowed the knot in his throat, “I can not go.”

“Son-“

“No Baba. Nakia and I are not in a good space right now. I cannot just up and leave to see a woman, who is not my wife, give birth to her children.”

The king shook his head, “T’Challa those twins are yours as well. Your firstborns I might add. I am more than sure Nakia will understand. Nothing is more important than being there for your children. Nothing.” The king insisted. “Baba, I cannot-“

“No T’Challa. You can go but you are refusing. I know it hurts that Zoe-Iman has moved on, but I thought I raised you better than this. You don’t avoid a situation because it is uncomfortable. You don’t avoid a situation because it is messy. And you especially do not avoid your children because you are upset that their mother found happiness with another after you did not treasure her.”

“I need to patch things up with my wife,” T’Challa deflected. “And she will still be here, and just as upset when you get back. However, the birth of your firstborn only happens once T’Challa.”

“Baba! We have to go so we don’t miss anything. Ayo and Okoye are waiting,” Shuri popped her head back in the dining room. “Are you coming too?” She looked at T’Challa. The prince opened his mouth before closing it and shaking his head. “I will let Nakia know where everyone has gone.”

Shuri glared at her brother and shook her head. T’Chaka sighed and walked over to his youngest. “You will regret this T’Challa. Your children may never forgive you if you decide to enter their lives at some point. Which I truly hope you do,” he shook his head before walking out with the scientist.

The future king watched as his family members walked out and let out the breath he’d been holding. He hated that he couldn’t bring himself to be honest with himself, Zoe, or Nakia. While Zoe-Iman had made it clear where she stood in their relationship, the king knew that his heart still belonged to her.

“Where’d everyone go, and why are you crying?” Nakia lifted her husband's chin. He scrambled to wipe the tears he didn’t know had fallen. “Zoe has gone into labor.”

“You didn’t join them?”

“I figured we should talk about what happened last night and seriously try to fix our relationship.”

“T’Challa-“ Nakia raised a hand to stop him, “the truth please.”

“You don’t think we should work on our relationship?”

“T’Challa it has been broken since the moment we said I do. A woman is giving birth to your firstborn child! And you’re standing here looking like ass!”

“She’s having twins.”

Nakia scoffed, “You are unbelievable! Stop using me and this failed relationship as an excuse to avoid facing your fears. Call me to work on this marriage when you grow the fuck up.” The young bride stormed out of the dining room and ran into a servant carrying an armful of baby gifts “I’m so sorry princess, I just-“

“Please it was my fault. Who are the gifts for?”

“The King and Queen had them created for a friend's baby in the states, but they were accidentally left behind. They just messaged asking for someone to bring them along after them.” The staff member explained. Nakia bit her lip and decided to say her next sentence before she could overthink it, “I will take them.”

“Oh my baby,” Phylicia James rushed into the hospital room and pulled her groaning daughter into her arms. “Hi mommy,” Zoe-Iman smiled after her latest round of contractions passed. The older woman grinned and proceeded to smother her daughter in kisses. “I can’t believe my little busy bee is having a baby.”

“Busy bee?” Michael grinned sitting up in the armchair he’d been half-heartedly following a football game from. “Don’t start with me Jordan,” Iman warned as her boyfriend raised his arms in defeat. Zoe’s mom walked over to the young man and flicked him in the head before giving him a hug. “Be kind to my baby. One day you gonna want her to push your big-headed kids out. So you need this to go as smoothly as possible.”

“Where’s daddy?” The mother to be asked as she waved a hand, signaling for someone to help her sit up. “Probably still trying to find a park.” Phylicia glanced out the window once Michael stood to help her daughter shift in the bed. “It’s gotten crowded?”

“Nope, Geoffrey is just very particular about who gets to park next to old Heathcliff.” Mrs. James rolled her eyes and took a seat on the window sill. Eyeing the way the actor helped her daughter through the contractions that had just set in. He was rubbing her hand and back as she squeezed, breathed, and groaned her way through the birthing pre-game.

“Did you let T’Challa know you were in labor?”Zoe nodded as Michael helped her get comfortable in the bed. “I text Shuri on the way over here. She said they were in their way. It’ll be a couple of hours yet.”

“You’re still not talking to that boy directly?” Phylicia frowned. “He has a wife, mama. He didn’t wanna share his number but the rest of his family wanted to be in contact.”

“So you don’t know if he’s coming?”

Zoe shook her head, “but we’ll be fine either way. I got me and my babies. I got you and Michael and daddy. Their other grandparents and their uncle. They got enough, they don’t need T’Challa.” Zoe’s mother glanced at Michael as he continued to rub her daughter's back. Their glance said it all, Zoe’s face said it all; she was lying. It would crush her if T’Challa missed this. She wanted her children’s father to be there. To hold them and to bond. It was killing her that she had no control over whether or not he would show up.

Zoe tried to secretly wipe away the tears that had gathered as her mother sighed, “Well where are my other daughters?”

“Kenois went to get lunch and Sylia had another patient go into labor too,” Zoe explained. Her mother moved to take a seat at the foot of the bed. “Are you hungry? Did you eat something?”

“Not yet, we were out at dinner when everything started. Kenny is supposed to be bringing me something back.”

“Why didn’t you go,” Phylicia raised an eyebrow at her future son-in-law. “She said I was the only person who wasn’t annoying her,” the actor laughed. “It’s true. I was this close to ruining my friendship with Kenois and I need my job.”

“Girl,” Kenois kissed her teeth as she walked back into the room. “Hey mama,” she hugged Mrs. James before handing the couple their food. “She always over exaggerating. I was just trying to get her to walk around to help with the pain.”

“And I said I wanted to stay in bed,” Zoe mean mugged Kenois as she took the chair Michael was originally sitting in.

“Babycakes, walking could do you and those little ones some good. Help gravity guide them out,” mama James butted in. “Why do you always take Keni’s side? I’m your real daughter,” Iman pouted as her mama held out her hands to pull her upright. “Cause I’m right more often.” Kenois grinned as she stuck out her tongue.

Phylicia shook her head at the girl’s antics, “I swear you two fight like you actually shared a womb.”

“Knock, knock.”

Everyone in the room looked up as the young African Princess and her parents walked into the room. “We didn’t miss anything right?” The teen walked over to give Zoe a hug and her parents followed suit. “Nope it’ll probably be a few hours yet,” Zoe Iman smiled, pulling each member of the family into a hug. She glanced at the door behind them before looking back to the king and Queen. It felt as though the air itself held its breath until the king sighed and shook his head.

“He sends his sincerest regrets that he could not be here. He had an urgent matter to attend to-"

“You do not have to make excuses for him, your majesty if he chooses not to be here. He chooses not to be here. You all made the time and that truly means the world to me, and these children,” Zoe offered a sad smile and caressed her swollen stomach. Queen Ramonda gripped Zoe’s hand and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Tears welled in Zoe’s eyes before Phylicia James cleared her throat.

“Right Mama, this is Her Majesty Queen Mother Ramonda, His majesty King T’Chaka, the brave, and Her Royal Highness Shuri Udaku, of Wakanda. T’Challa’s mother, father, and sister respectively.” Zoe introduced and the two mothers met for a quick hug. “It is so very nice to meet you,” Ramonda smiled. “Zoe talks so highly of you all the time. “Same here, it is an honor your majesty,” Mama James replied. “Please, we are family, No formalities required,” King T’Chaka insisted and Ramonda agreed.

Shuri took a seat at the edge of the bed while the rest of the introductions were made. Soon Zoe-Iman’s father and brother had joined the group and everyone was settled in various places around the spacious private suite. The royal family had made the arrangements as the room needed to be secure for their attendance. Ayo and Okoye stood watch at the door as the hours ticked past. Finally in a whirlwind of screaming, groaning, pushing, and wailing two beautiful babies were brought into the world later that afternoon.

After more hours of cuddling, kissing, passing, loving, and feeding her lovely newborn son and daughter Zoe, and the babies drifted off to sleep. When she awoke again the only other person in the room was King T’Chaka who was now comforting a fussy baby boy in his arms. “I would like you to name him,” Zoe broke the silence a few minutes later, startling the king. He smiled and gently placed the baby back in the hospital bed. “How are you feeling my dear?”

“I am fine. Just a little sore. Where did everyone go?”

“To grab something to eat. Michael just went down to the cafeteria before it closed. The others went to some restaurant Shuri was eager to try. Your mother said she would bring you back something to eat.”

Zoe nodded and the king helped her to sit up. “You were not hungry?”

The king smiled, “My future son-in-law, by proxy, offered to bring me something back. I knew he was tired too so I told him to stay and eat his food before coming back up. It was a miracle to even get him to go that far from you. I like that young man. He is a keeper eh?” Zoe laughed and nodded her head.

“You have made me so proud today Zoe-Iman James. You have given me my first grandchildren. My heart is overflowing and I could never thank you enough. You have made this old man feel young again.”

Zoe smiled, “No thanks are needed. Besides you doing me the honor of naming your grandson.”

“Are you sure, that is his father’s job or your father’s job?”

You are the closest thing here to T’Challa. Probably the closest thing this child will have to T’Challa. You know your son’s heart, and I know you will do his wishes for the naming of his firstborn son well.”

Tears filled T'Chaka's eyes, “Then you will have to give me time to think of the perfect name, my child.”

Zoe grinned. “I have to name them by tomorrow morning for the birth certificate.”

“I shall have a name for you then.”

“May I come in?” Nakia stepped into the doorway before her conscience could stop her again. “Nakia, what a surprise?” The king glanced at Zoe who nodded that she could come in. “I came to bring the gifts you all left behind. For the babies.” The Princess stuttered slightly. Moving closer to the woman who had just given birth to her husband's children. “Thank you, to both of you,” Zoe smiled, hoping to reassure the woman that she was okay with her presence, “this was very kind.”

“I was also hoping that Zoe-Iman and I could talk?”

T’Chaka glanced at Zoe who nodded before he stood. He placed the gift basket with the others before heading for the door. “I’ll join Michael in the cafeteria. Just call if you need anything. Though you are in good hands with Nakia,” the king patted the young bride’s back then took his leave.

The women stared at each other in silence before Nakia spoke, “They are beautiful,” she smiled down at the babies.

“I know. I cannot believe they are mine. Or that there are two of them.” The young women laughed. “I hope there are no ill feelings between us. There are none on my end,” Nakia started.

“There are none on my end either,” Zoe reassured. “You are probably wondering why I came,” Nakia broke the silence that had formed once more. “It had crossed my mind.”

“After they left T’Challa told me that you had gone into labor. I know that T’Challa being here was the best-case scenario but, I know that technically I am the babies’ stepmother and I wanted to be here for them. To support them. I know they have a lot of support already, but I wanted you to know that I am on their team as well. When they see me I will love and take care of them as if they were my own. No matter what T’Challa decides to do.”

The new mother smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks, “Stupid hormones,” she sniffed as Nakia giggled. “Thank you, truly. These children are more loved than I could ever have imagined.”

“And forever that way it shall stay,” Nakia glanced at the sleeping newborns, “forever it shall stay.”

“Would you like to hold one?” Zoe asked as she noticed the woman glancing at the gurgling newborns.

“Oh I couldn’t-“

“Yes you can,” Zoe smiled, “I trust you. I see how you stare at them with nothing but love in your eyes.”

Nakia teared up as Zoe had her pulled the cribs closer so she could lift the babies out. She lifted her daughter and pressed a kiss to her small forehead, “I haven’t told anyone but Michael yet, her name is Ka’aulani.” Zoe rocked the infant before placing her gently in Nakia’s hands.

“That is beautiful.” Zoe watched silent tears fall as Nakia interacted with the infant. “Nakia, are you alright?”

The woman laughed and wiped her eyes, “I just am overwhelmed for I fear I may never have this moment myself.”

“Why do you say that? I am sure T’Challa would not mind giving you a child.” Zoe reassured leaning over to fix the blanket around the baby once Nakia had taken a seat. “I am sure he wouldn’t,” the princess laughed dryly, “however it is me that is not so sure she wants to have a child with him. He has changed. The old T’Challa would move hell and high water to be here. This new prince, he makes excuses to protect himself. Any child we make would not be created out of love. I don’t want him to be there just because he feels obligated because we are married. I’ve only ever wanted to make a child out of love. Like these precious ones.”

Zoe nodded, “I am not sure how much these two were made out of love. It seemed more like alcohol was responsible for these two.”

“What do you mean?”

“T’Challa and I were both drunk-“

“T’Challa cannot get drunk,” Nakia frowned. Zoe laughed at her straight face, “He may want you all to believe that but he was all the way messed up. Stumbling all over the place, rambling about wanting to marry me and everything-“

“Zoe, if he said that, it was not the alcohol speaking. T’Challa can drink enough for 30 grown men and still only feel a slight buzz. I know this sounds crazy but now is not the time and place to explain. Just now that our country’s rulers are given a special ‘miracle drug’ if you will that helps their bodies function better than most humans.”

“So T’Challa was completely sober when that night happened?”

“Yes, and if you were drunk, he knows better than to take advantage-“

“I wasn’t,” Zoe interrupted, turning to hide her face. “You were not drunk either?”

“No, I just said that cause it was easier than admitting the truth. Do you know how it feels to give in to someone who you swore would never get to be in your presence again?”

Nakia nodded and looked up from the sleeping infant in her arms, “I married him.”

The room fell into silence again. “I forget how similar our situations really are.”

“Similar but not the same. He is truly in love with you. I highly suspect he always will be.” Nakia readjusted the baby in her arms.

“There will always be love for him in my heart but I have moved on. I’m starting a new chapter. I am in love with Michael.”

“I can tell, “Nakia giggled, “At the wedding, it looked more like you two were newlyweds. Dancing out on the balcony in your own little world.”

Iman blushed, “He makes me extremely happy.” She reached into the blanket and fished out her daughter's fist that’d she began waving in her sleep.

“I hope that I find something that magical one day,” Nakia sighed, “and finally get to have the family I want.”

Zoe pulled Nakia in for a hug. “These two are here for you to visit anytime you would like. If T'Challa is not treating you how he should, I say leave him. I know it is not that easy and I cannot pretend to know the stress and pressure you are under as a member of the royal family, and it may be the American in me, but you deserve a happy life too.”

Nakia nodded and smiled as Ka’aulani wrapped her tiny hand around her pointer finger and yawned. “I will think about it.” Naki smiled at Zoe before both of their attentions were pulled by Zoe’s crying baby boy.

“Aww baby,” Zoe cooed before another male voice interrupted her. “Aht Aht! You are supposed to be in bed.” Michael frowned as he placed the food bags on the counter. “And what just let my baby scream his lungs out?”

“He just needs him a little Mikey. I got this,” the actor cradled the infant in his arms and rocked him back and forth. “See?” He grinned as the little boy opened his eyes and stared up at the man. Zoe shook her head and scooted back into the bed. “Nakia,” Michael offered a somewhat confused greeting once he noticed the princess cuddling the twin in front of him. “Nice to see you again Mr. Jordan.”

“Likewise, is T’Challa here?”

“No,” Nakia shook her head, “I come alone but I must confess that I did indeed try to persuade him. But it looks like the twins have an amazing father figure already.”

“I will do my best,” Michael grinned and bounced the young boy in his arms. “So when will you make an honest woman out of my friend?” The future queen teased as the young couple broke into laughter. “As soon as she lets me,” the man grinned and Zoe rolled her eyes.

“Oh lord. Don’t get him started. He already told everyone to call me Mrs. Jordan at all of my appointments.”

“I think it’s cute,” Nakia smiled.

“I just wanna be back to my old figure before we even embark on that journey,” Zoe smiled watching her lover and newfound friend cuddle her children.

“I’ll wait as long as it takes,” Michael pressed a kiss to her lips and Nakia felt her heart soar at the fact that Zoe had found someone to love her. At that moment, she knew what she needed to do.

“Nakia?” King T’Chaka called.

“My king,” the princess stood and bent her head slightly to acknowledge the King’s presence.

“May I speak with you in the hall for a moment?”

The princess laid the baby girl in Zoe’s arms and let Michael take her spot on the bed. “Yes, my king?” Nakia shut the suite door behind her.

“I owe you an apology. I pressured myself, your father, and T’Challa into believing you were the only option and robbed you of the chance to a happy marriage. For that, I could never apologize enough.”

“It is okay. I still made the decision to go along with it. Even when I realized T’Challa was not in love with me.”

“You made the choice out of a feeling of duty and responsibility. That is not how you choose a spouse. In three days the 90-day annulment agreement is off the table. If you wish to leave T’Challa and this marriage, I wrote a loophole into the contract. It will be done quietly and you will be allowed to retain all that you have and your place in the royal family if you so choose.”

Tears welled in Nakia’s eyes. She threw her arms around the king and cried, “Thank you.”

The king pulled back, “Go and be happy dear girl. You only have one life to live. Make the decisions that are best for you.”

“My prince,” a servant knocked on T’Challa’s office door and he waved her in. “Your mother is requesting your presence at a hospital in America.”

The man rubbed his forehead, “Please tell my mother I am not planning to join them on this family excursion-“

“But my prince,”

“Please. That is all I have to say on the matter-“

“Forgive me for interrupting but it is your father. He is not doing well. She wishes that you join them to say goodbye, kumkani wam.”

The blood drained from T’Challa’s face when the staff member addressed him as the king for the first time. With those two words, she said everything he needed to know.

“Have Oneka ready a jet-“

“She is already waiting and a bag has been packed as well.” T’Challa nodded and jogged on to the hey as servants paused to bow to him, their first acknowledgment of him as a king.

“Why won’t they bring him here?” T’Challa asked his co-pilot Oneka as they lifted off into the sky minutes later.

“From what Okoye has reported, he is refusing. He wants to spend his final hours with his children and grandchildren. He also is saying that he has unfinished business at the hospital.”

“Unfinished business?”

“No one is quite sure but I am almost positive it has something to do with his new grandchildren.”

“So I assume you know what is truly going on at the hospital?”

“Ayo and Onoye made me aware a while ago at the king's request. I am to be in charge of the children’s security when they are here on Wakandan soil.”

“I am glad, they could not be in better hands.”

The woman nodded, “I am grateful for the compliment but I disagree. The best hands they could be in are yours. Yet you are here with me.”

T’Challa’s face hardened, “That is none of your concern.”

The rest of the hour-long plane ride went by in silence, with the new father staring out of the window. He thanked the warrior after she walked him up to his father’s room. “I am going to go see the babies. Ayo is already inside.” Oneka bowed her head before sheathing her spear and walking off down the hall.

The son took a deep breath before pushing open the door to his father’s room, “Baba?”

“Uyana wam,” the king pushed himself up in the bed. T’Challa rushed to help him up the rest of the way. “Where are mama and Shuri?”

“I sent them back to keep Zoe and the babies company so we could talk alone.”

“What happened,” T’Challa pulled up a chair to his father's bedside, “you were fine when you left.”

“The official diagnosis is a blood clot in my brain, but Bast has visited me and I know that my time is near. I will not walk out of this hospital alive T’Challa, and I want to right my wrongs. My last wrong, being you.”

“What-“

“I gave you the idea that an outsider could never be a good match. But after meeting Zoe-Iman, I am glad to say that I was wrong T’Challa. I am not saying go win her back. I have seen how happy she is and she is like a daughter to me. Therefore I see it as my duty to protect her from knuckleheads who will hurt her, my own son included. You will find another love T'challa. But those children you created, need a father. I would hate to pass on and think my discouragement led to them missing their father.”

“Baba I can’t-“

“You can and you will. As your king, I command it.” T’Chaka leaned back on his pillows and grabbed a letter off of his bedside. “Since you were not present, Zoe asked me to name your son in your place. But you are here now. If you would like to name the baby, then by all means go ahead, but please deliver that letter to Zoe. If you choose not to name the baby it outlines the name I have chosen. Either way. My dying wish is that you join those children’s lives now and love them like a father should. Train them in the Wakandan ways so that you may experience the joy I have had simply holding them as a grandfather.”

The king held the letter out for his son who took it and stared as if it might detonate at any moment. “Take it, I want you to see those babies. Goodbye Uyana wam. Kiss my grandchildren goodbye for me.”

Tears streamed down T’Challa’s face as he shook his head, “Baba please,” he croaked as the king closed his eyes one final time. Nurses, doctors, his mother, Shuri, and guards rushed into the room as the king flatlined. His son’s tears soaked the sheets and Ramonda had to move him away so the professionals could do their job.

Shuri pulled her older brother into a hug as their mother went to kiss her husband goodbye before he was rolled out of the room. Once T'Chaka was rolled out of the room towards the jet for his final flight home she noticed the envelope in his hand.

“What is this?” The queen grabbed the envelope from her son but he stopped her, “He wrote it for Zoe. She asked him to name the babies.”

“I’m going to go say goodbye, so you can see Zoe alone,” Shuri wiped her face stepping back from T’Challa’s hug. “I’m right behind you” the mother turned back to her son, “Make him proud. Be the man he knew you could be.” She patted the new king’s cheeks.

T’Challa thumbed with the flap of the envelope while trailing behind his mother and sister. Laughter caught his attention and he found himself peering through the hall windows into Zoe’s room. The love of his life was nestled in between the legs and arms of another man, his wife was holding his daughter as his mother pressed a kiss to her forehead, and Shuri was rocking the infant wearing a blue cap. His son. Sadness and happiness flooded his heart in equal parts. Before the scene could do irreparable damage he knocked on the door and fiddled with the envelope.

“Challa,” Zoe called, sadness laced the curves of her voice and the king knew that he couldn’t look up and face her pity for too long. “Iman,” the king moved closer in the room. “Before my father passed, he wrote this for you and the babies. I do not know what it says but he was adamant that made it you.”

“Thank you. Did he mention the name?”

“He said his answer was enclosed in the letter.”

Zoe nodded and everyone looked up at the king expectantly. He walked over to his mother, sister, and wife. He smiled, caressed each of the babies' faces, and pressed a kiss to their foreheads before moving back. “Thank you,” he turned to Zoe, trying to fight the frown on his face at seeing Michael kiss her forehead to comfort her. “They are beautiful.”

Zoe offered a small smile. “I will be waiting in the jet.” The king turned on his heel and strolled quickly out of the room. Nakia sighed and handed Ka’aulani to her mother. Shuri placed the baby boy in Iman’s other arm before pressing a final kiss to his small head.

“That was probably the best he could muster. You two get some rest and we will let you know about the homegoing celebration tomorrow.” Ramonda sighed and pulled Zoe into a hug of her own and placed a kiss on her forehead. She ran a finger over each of her grandchildren’s faces before leading the way out to the jet. “Wait,” Shuri poked her head back in the room. Your son, what is his name?”

Zoe waved the letter, “We will have to ask your father.”

“Give me my niece and nephew,” Shuri pulled the week-old babies from their carriers once the family was alone in the castle once more. T’Chaka’s funerals had been a days-long celebration of his life. Wakandans rejoiced at his transition to an ancestor and prepared for the coronation of a new king.

T'Challa was nowhere to be found but Ramonda chose to focus on the little ones her daughter was cuddling close. Her heart hurt for the loss of her husband, but she took comfort in having the babies close as their arrival was on his lips and smile until he took his last breath. “Thank you all for coming,” the Queen Mother smiled. “Of course, we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I am just glad the doctors here were able to get me back on my feet in time.” Zoe-Iman brushed her daughter's hair back. Michael nodded in agreement and pulled his girlfriend in closer. “Did you ever figure out the name situation?” Shuri bounced the babies gently. “Yeah, meet Ka’aulani Akhona Udaku and Meluzmi Bathandwa Udaku.”

What do they mean?” Ramonda smiled at the thought she knew her daughter-in-law and husband had put into the children’s names. “Ka’aulani Akhona means the sacred royal gift. And King T’Chaka said Meluzmi Bathandwa means the beloved who represents home.”

Tears pricked Ramonda’s eyes. “That was almost T’Challa’s name. He always said he would give it to his first grandson,” the queen smiled and Zoe moved over to hug her. “He tried to insist I choose someone else, but I knew he would do my son justice.”

Michael cleared his throat, “he also gave me this letter addressed to the both of you.”

The actor handed the letter to the queen as she frowned. The babies started fussing and Zoe went to feed them in the corner. “Zoe-Iman,”

T’Challa stood in the doorway, “May I talk to you?”

“Sure,” Zoe handed her daughter off to Michael, before following the king down the hall into his office. T’Challa held open the door as the mother of his children and an estranged best friend walked through the door. “It looks nice,” Zoe ran a hand over the upholstered chairs placed in front of the large window. “Thank you.”

“You should put some pictures up. Make it feel more homey.”

“What is wrong with it how it is?”

“It feels stiff. You’re here, but it’s a shell of you.”

“You sound like Nakia.”

Zoe shrugged,” She’s known you for a long time. That’s why you married her right? You two were close as children?” T’Challa took a seat in his chair, “We are getting a divorce.”

“I am sorry, I did not know. How are you feeling?”

“Honestly,” T’Challa slipped off his sandals,” Relieved. I hated making Nakia unhappy. Maybe it is best that I am alone right now.”

“You are never alone,” Iman interrupted, “ We are all still here for you, especially right now during this time.”

“I know, I have a lot to rediscover. A lot to learn, about being a father, an ex-husband, a king, and a better friend. I am truly sorry for how I treated you, Zoe. I should have been there for you as a friend and as the father of our children.”

Zoe nodded, “I know, but like I told you. That was a promise to your children, not me. They need actions, not words.”

“I know, that is why I wanted to talk. I will be publicly claiming the twins as my heirs at my coronation. That will mean that they will have to spend part of the year here, with me. I want them to spend part of the year here with me. I will come and visit now since they are too young but we will have to-”

Zoe teared up and wrapped T’Challa in a hug, “I’ll do whatever it takes. I trust you, and I want nothing more for them to love and know you.”

“Thank you,” T’Challa sniffed when Zoe pulled back from the hug. “Of course, I would never keep them from you-”

“No, I mean...you have no reason to trust me after all the mess I put you through, but you do and I can do nothing but thank you and work to make my children proud. To make you and my father proud.”

“You will, we all just want to see the old T’Challa come back. For you to find happiness again.”

“We will see, but for now, my children are enough.”

“Then you should meet them properly.” Zoe reminded and the king stood and slipped on his shoes. “I know. I had been thinking, and it is okay if you’re not comfortable, but I could give you and Michael a break. For the night before you all head back tomorrow afternoon. The twins can stay here with me. Mother and Shuri helping of course.”

Zoe smiled, “I think that is a great idea, but something is missing.”

“We have a nursery and you can pump-”

“No, but I think you should at least know the babies’ names and hold them before you decide to have them over for the night. Not that I don’t think you will like them or vice versa, but what will you call them when they are crying if you don’t know them and they don’t know you?”

T’Challa frowned, “I hadn’t thought of it.”

“That is why they have a mother and a father. It is all easily fixed if you’d come to see the rest of the family. Everyone is worried about you, isolating yourself.”

The couple trailed out of the office and back down the hall to the living room, “I know, but I was dealing with the guilt of my actions. I just needed some time to wade through and process how I was feeling.”

“It is always hard losing a father T’Challa. We understand and we are just trying to help.”

“I know, but it was just not about my father… I lost the love of my life as well.”

“T’Challa-”

“I am not trying to win you over, I am just giving you an explanation. It was a selfish move, but it hurt so bad to see you happy and in love. To see another man treating you how I should have been doing. However, I am happy you are receiving the love you deserve.”

Zoe nodded, “Thank you. I’m truly happy and that means a lot.”

Taglist: @almostpurelysmut @blackbypurpose @tchoking @sisterwifeudaku @wikiwakanda @royallyprincesslilly @90sinspiredgirl @thedelightfulone @autumn242 @purple-apricots @kumkaniudaku @queertrex @kaciidubs @halfrican-heat @skysynclair19 @dramaqueenamby @gorjiss @leahnicole1219 @kreolemami @mzbritt @derangedcupcake @chaneajoyyy @lalapalooza718 @ororowrites @leahnicole1219 @sarcastic-sunshines @sarahboseman @faatassbitch @lady-love-and-glitter-roses @cxnismajcr @tchallasbabymama

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erin-bo-berin · 4 years

Text

Home Run

MASTERLIST

Happy Saturday! I’m back with a THIRD new fic in a row. I just couldn’t wait to post this one either. Requested by @andiebeaword, this fic was obviously inspired by the baseball scenes from 8x06. This was just so much fun to write and I liked being able to switch it up some and have it be like a huge BAU annual baseball game with past and current agents. It was interesting to be able to write about all these characters together, some of them never even being around at the same time on the show. Also, I had to use this gif cause Spencer’s huge smile in this scene will never fail to make me happy. Sit back, relax and enjoy a nice BAU ballgame fluff piece. Happy reading!

Spencer Reid/Reader

Rating: G (fluff)

Word Count: 2,634

It was the arrival of the annual baseball game that started it all.

Every year, the BAU held what was the most well known event outside the office; the baseball game was held on the first weekend in June, infamous for the most competitive game between all different members of the BAU, past and present.

Past members of the team came back every year to play. It was a nice, fun way to see everyone again.

This year was going to be a little...different.

“Guys, come on! You know why I never take part in this!” Spencer Reid whined, “I had to be exempt from any physical test just to get in the FBI!”

You chuckled at your friend and coworker’s expense. Standing next to you was Derek Morgan, another of your coworkers. Beside the two of you was a baseball cannon, loaded with balls for Spencer’s practice.

“Reid, you know Kevin Lynch can’t make the game this year due to a family commitment. We’re short one player,” Derek hollered back.

“I don’t even know how to play baseball!”

“Which is precisely why we’re here,” you retorted, “All you do is swing, hit the ball and run. It’s easy!”

“Easy for you,” he grumbled, lifting his bat again, “Okay, let’s try it again.”

“Don’t think, just feel it,” Morgan called.

“Feel it, feel it,” Spencer nodded.

The ball went shooting from the apparatus and you saw Spencer trying to follow it with his eyes. You crossed your fingers, hoping he’d hit it.

He swung.

And he missed. Again.

“Reid, that’s not feeling it!”

“I’m feeling like an idiot!” Spencer shouted back, exasperated.

“Come on pretty thang, go show your pretty boy how it’s done,” Morgan nodded to the home plate.

You cut him a warning glance, your cheeks reddening. You’d had a tiny crush on Spencer since the first day you met him.

Derek’s nickname for Spencer was pretty boy. When you’d joined the team, you became pretty thang. It was often his joke that Spencer was your pretty boy, which embarrassed you to no end. He definitely rooted for you two as a couple.

Despite all the relentless teasing, Spencer remained mercifully oblivious. You’d rather not deal with that embarrassment of your crush being exposed. Although if it was up to Derek Morgan, he’d shouted it from the rooftops for you ages ago.

“Kid, come here. Watch how she bats, okay?”

Derek put his arm around Spencer’s shoulders as you took your place behind the home plate, bat raised and ready. Morgan loaded another ball and it flew towards you.

A crack of the bat sounded as you hit it high in the air, watching it soar to the further end of the field.

“All you gotta do is swing your hips and hit it!” you called.

“If I had hips like that, I would,” Spencer retorted.

You knew Spencer didn’t mean anything by the remark, but you still felt a tad embarrassed at his focus on your body.

“Grab a mitt big boy, we’re practicing your catching,” Morgan called, running to grab one for you.

“Can’t wait,” Spencer mumbled sarcastically.

You chuckled, taking the mitt from Morgan and handing him the baseball bat.

“Don’t think I didn’t hear that remark of his about those sexy curves,” he teased you as he took your place batting.

“What’s that? You’re gonna take it easy on us?” you chuckled, purposely ignoring his remark.

Derek was a beast at batting and if he was going to bring his A game, Spencer was surely going to be in for it during his first outfield lesson.

“Oh never,” Morgan laughed.

“Guys you know all my unpleasant childhood sports memories happened like this,” Spencer protested.

“Okay, okay,” Morgan relented, “I’ll take it easy on you.”

“Thank you,” he huffed.

“Spence, since Kevin was right field, you’re going to be in the right field,” you said.

“Which is where exactly?” he asked, wincing.

You chuckled.

“Well, you know which way is right, correct?”

He nodded, pointing to the right.

“Then that’s where you’re heading,” you grinned, pushing him gently in that direction.

“Isn’t the right fielder where a team can hide their worst player without destroying their defense?” Spencer called, walking backwards to his position.

“You know that yet you can’t play baseball?” you asked, mystified.

“I know information about a lot of things I don’t do,” he replied.

“Good point,” you mumbled.

“Watch out pretty boy,” Morgan called, “Y/N’s a beast at playing center field.”

“As long as I have to play as little as possible, I’m fine!”

The ball shooter let loose another ball and Morgan hit it high in the air. Your eyes never left the ball as you sprinted to catch it, the ball falling perfectly in your glove. If it had been a real game, Morgan would’ve been out.

He whistled across the field.

“Now that’s impressive.”

You peered over at Spencer, who was looking at you, mouth agape.

“What?” you flushed.

“I just didn’t expect you to be able to do that.”

“I played a lot of baseball when I was younger,” you explained.

“How do you expect me to play like that?” Spencer asked, still stunned.

“We’re not expecting you to be a professional, Reid,” Morgan said, approaching him, “Just do your best and have fun. It’s a game for fun anyway.”

“Fun for you guys,” he grumbled.

“Okay, I’m gonna try to go easier on you, to give a little practice on fetching the ball,” Derek said, heading back to home plate.

“I’m not a Golden Retriever!” Spencer said.

You chuckled.

Derek purposely held back, sending the ball in the middle of your area and Spencer’s. He ran for it at the same time you did as you noticed it was close to falling towards the field’s fence.

You weren’t paying attention to your surroundings, only the ball. That was how you ended up running right into Spencer’s chest, falling backwards into the ground. You lost track of the ball, but noticed it fall to the ground a few feet away from you.

“Oh my god, are you okay?!”

He rushed to help you up, but you waved him away, apologizing.

“So sorry about that,” you chuckled, “I should’ve been paying more attention to where I was going.”

Like a gentleman, he offered a hand to help you up, which you ended up taking, trying to ignore the tingling on your skin that holding his hand produced.

“No, I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I’m not that good at this sort of thing. In fact, I suck.”

“Hey, no need to be so hard on yourself,” you smiled, “You’re doing just fine.”

“Unless you two are over there discussing how amazing I am, I’d love for you two to get back to your positions!” Morgan shouted.

“Nah, we were just discussing how we think you’d look in a toupee,” Spencer remarked, making you snort.

Your phone beeped and you reached in the back pocket of your shorts and pulled it out, seeing a text message from team member and technical analyst Penelope Garcia.

“Guys, we’ve got a case,” you announced to the two men.

“Hallelujah.”

Spencer practically sprinted off the baseball field making you and Derek laugh heartily.

“Just you wait, pretty boy!” Derek called out to him, “I’m sure you’ll surprise everyone this weekend!”

•

Saturday was a beautiful day.

The skies were such a clear blue, it almost looked artificial. The sun shone brightly without a cloud in the sky and the temperature was pleasant, without being too hot. Basically, it was the perfect day for a baseball game.

The game day also fell on a great day.

The team had just wrapped up the case that you and them had been called in on earlier in the week. It would be nice to have a relaxing Saturday afternoon with some baseball, good friends and plain ‘ol fun.

“Spencer!”

You waved him over, when you saw him.

“Hey,” he grinned, catching the mitt you threw him.

“We’re first in the field,” you explained, “You ready to play some ball?”

“Stoked,” he deadpanned.

“Oh come on, it won’t be that bad,” you chuckled, reaching up to place his baseball hat on his head.

“You’ll do great,” you assured him, patting his chest as you headed off towards your spot in center field.

Your team was made up of your fellow BAU team members including: Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Luke Alvez, Penelope, Derek, Spencer and of course, yourself.

On the opposing team were friends and fellow coworkers: Matt Simmons, Tara Lewis, Alex Blake, Ashley Seaver, Stephen Walker, Kate Callahan, Jordan Todd, Mateo Cruz and Grant Anderson.

Last year, they had won. This year, you and your team were ready to take back the reigning title.

The crowd was filled with friends and family, here to support their loved ones.

There was Beth, Hotch’s girlfriend and Jack, Hotch’s teenaged son. Rossi’s wife Krystall, his step daughter Portia, daughter Joy—and her husband and son Kai—were also in attendance. Savannah and Hank were there too, Morgan’s wife and three year old son, cheering their favorite player on.

JJ’s husband Will and their two boys, Henry and Michael were in the stands as usual; they never missed this yearly game. All of Matt Simmons’ small tribe were also present and accounted for; wife Kristy and their two sons Jake and David, twin girls Chloe and Lily and their newly one year old final child, Rose Mary. Even Emily’s boyfriend Andrew Mendoza had shown up to cheer on his favorite girl.

Alex Blake’s husband James had come, taking a weekend off of his teaching duties so he could travel to D.C. for the game. Stephen Walker’s wife Monica sat with their two teenagers, a son and a daughter, already whooping and cheering for his team. Kate Callahan’s little family was there too; it was nice to see them since you hadn’t seen them in a while. Her husband Chris was seated with their biological niece turned adopted daughter Meg—who was now 18 and so much older than the last time you’d seen her—and their youngest daughter, now five.

Rounding out the group of loved ones was Anderson’s wife, her belly swollen with pregnancy.

If that sounded like a huge turnout, that didn’t even count the other members of the BAU and other departments of the FBI. The bleachers were absolutely packed. The game really was that big of a deal.

The game started out rather slow, which was pretty unusual for a game between both teams. With two incredibly talented teams, usually someone had scored by now, but in hindsight it also meant the defense of each team was incredibly good as well.

By the third inning, both Morgan and Hotch had hit two homeruns. You’d had a decent hit, but ended up striking out before you could reach third base.

In another inning, the opposite team had tied up.

Poor Spencer up to this point had struck out every time he was at the bat. You could tell he was incredibly embarrassed, but you kept encouraging him.

“Don’t let it get you down, Spence,” you smiled, after he’d struck out again, “You’re gonna hit it when they least expect it and knock them off their feet.”

He offered an appreciative half smile and you found yourself silently cheering him on throughout the entire game.

Surprisingly, his right fielding skills were pretty great. He had caught on quickly and was able to fetch the balls and throw them to any nearby basemen. He had actually struck out Kate, preventing her from almost scoring another point to take the lead.

“Woo! Way to go, Spence!” you hooted, clapping as best as you could with your mitt.

You saw his face flush and you knew it wasn’t all from the heat.

By mid game, the sun had started beating down on all of the attendees causing lots of red faces, sweaty shirts and bottles of water to be consumed. You were hot and sweaty like no other, but you were having the best time.

The fifth inning brought your team a three point lead which you’d contributed one of those points to and you were rather proud. You high fived all your teammates as you ran across home plate and came to the end of the line where Spencer was. He picked you up and spun you around in his excitement.

“Is it my imagination or is someone actually having fun?” you grinned.

“I’m definitely having fun.”

The last inning was the most tense.

It was tied 5 to 5 and Spencer was up to bat next. If he struck out, the opposing team had one last chance to come out ahead and win the game.

Spencer was a wreck, to put it lightly. He’d already struck out once and Morgan ended up calling a time out.

Spencer had been pacing and gesticulating wildly as Morgan talked to him, finally putting his hands on Spencer’s shoulders to calm him.

Whatever Morgan said to him, seemed to work.

You watched from the sidelines as he calmly walked back to the home plate.

Stephen was the one pitching this inning and he had a pretty good throw. But you believed in Spencer.

“Come on Spencer! You can do it!” you hollered.

You watched his posture change from nervousness to more confident. There had definitely been some sort of change in him.

The ball left Stephen’s hand and went flying Spencer’s way. You found yourself holding your breath and you actually flinched at the sudden crack of the bat hitting the ball.

Spencer seemed stunned for a moment as the ball soared towards the outfield, high above everyone’s heads.

“Run, run!” you and the rest of the team yelled to him, snapping him out of his daze.

Garcia was on second base and Rossi was on third. They went running as the other team scrambled to catch the ball in time.

Rossi crossed the home plate, causing loud hoots and cheers from the audience that continued on as Penelope made it home right behind him.

Spencer hit first base and second by the time Matt had retrieved the ball. You noticed Spencer pick up speed and whiz past third base, trying to make it in time before the ball reached the pitcher again.

The cheers grew louder as loved ones shouted their encouragement to Spencer in hopes he made it home.

He slid home moments before the ball met Stephen’s glove bringing the game to an end in a 5-8 win.

The bleachers erupted in screams, as did you and the rest of your team.

Morgan practically tackled Spencer in a hug, Spencer’s grin so big it rivaled the brightness of the afternoon sun.

You were right behind Morgan to greet Spencer. Morgan had just let him go as you ran up to him.

“Spence, that was awesome!” you cried.

In your excitement you grabbed Spencer’s face and kissed him hard, not even thinking of what you were doing until after you’d already pulled away.

He stood frozen and stunned, a smile on his face and you grinned, realizing you didn’t regret it one bit.

Everyone else had been too busy to see it, you assumed, so before the rest of the team swarmed him you called to him.

“You deserved that!”

Just then, the other six members reached him, swallowing him up in their excitement. His smile never left his face and his eyes flicked to you numerous times, an almost shyness to him.

You had assumed no one had seen the kiss until you overheard Morgan’s comment to Spencer.

“Way to go pretty boy! You didn’t just get one home run today, you got two!”

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thehypotensivegrad · 3 years

Text

PP4 - A Story of Us (6/25)

Riff-Off Remix

Chapter Preview:

The other groups weren't easy competition either, but they had less of an impressive history than the other four. Final Frequency, a group of college kids in matching white and blue outfits, won the last three competitions. To the Clef was another all-male group. Stacie wasn't too scared of them. They could sing well, and they were for sure good enough to be in the competition, but the smug look on their faces made her feel like they should be easy chumps to knock out. Then there were Gregor Chants, a group whose members all wore some weird blood-red cloak, their hoods drawn up covering their faces. They stood still, reminding Stacie of mannequins, next to DSM. Stacie wasn't sure how to feel about them. The last two were interesting. Aural Addiction were the only all-female acapella group other than the Bellas. Each member oozed sex appeal, with each member having distinct ranges and vocal chaps to back them up. Stacie wondered if they could prove advantageous to eliminating the all-male groups. Last were the Overtones, a group composed of four middle-aged men and two middle-aged women, who won back-to-back competitions decades ago.

As for the audience, well, Stacie was quiet pleasantly surprised to see the place packed. There were die-hard supporters for each group in the crowd. Bumper had an obnoxiously big banner for Amy, so it was hard not to see him as much as Stacie wanted to ignore him. His presence at least made it easy to find where the Bellas' supporters were, with Benji and the rest of their family and friends with banners for the Bellas next to Bumper's. Stacie smiled when she spotted her parents with Bella right next to Benji. This was her chance to shine and make her daughter proud. The Bellas were going to go through, no matter what.

To no surprise of anyone at all, a good chunk of the audience were Beca's fans. There were even some celebrities in the crowd. A few of them were secret acapella nerds, others former members of acapella teams themselves, but most of them were artists who Beca had the pleasure of working with. The likes of Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Jordan Fisher, Justin Timberlake, Hayley Kiyoko, and Taylor Swift were all in the crowd. Hell, Stacie was sure she even caught a glimpse of Lionel Ritchie somewhere earlier.

The contestants couldn't exactly interact with each other once they got to the stage, and they were kept in separate dressing rooms earlier so that no one could play any dirty mind tricks. Stacie was thankful at the very least that the German she-wolf that led DSM couldn't get Beca to make a fool of herself earlier. That would be bad for group dynamics, especially since Chloe didn't look too pleased with how she was eyeing Beca at the moment. Beca, for her part, stuck with reviewing notes on her phone. Part of having a PR agent meant Beca had someone to help her prepare for interviews. In this case, Rhian, who the Bellas barely interacted with since they got to LA, helped Beca with a list of insults and prepared her for any and all interactions with the fearless leader of their archrival team.

But it's not only the DSM's fearless leader who was eyeing Beca up. Final Frequency members next to them kept trying to sneak a look at Beca who was busy engaged with Aubrey, Chloe, and Emily, drawing up "battle plans" for the riff-offs. Some of the other members of the different groups too, all fans of the famous singer-slash-producer. Stacie overheard one member of To the Clef make a comment about trying to ask Beca out on a date later on, after they make it through the next round. Tough luck for him. Stacie could tell Beca only had eyes for one person in room, and her name was Chloe Beale.

The stage lights soon focused on the different acapella teams on stage, while the rest of the lights at the center died down. The hosts for the night, fellow acapella singers from the Filharmonic, took the stage to greet the crowd. Along with Pentatonix, they weren't allowed to participate in the competition due to receiving funds, financing, and recording and management deals from some of the event sponsors. Lucky for the Bellas, Beca didn't have any conflicts of interest like the members of the other two groups. It wouldn't have been the same competing without her.

Jules, their vocal bass, was first to speak, reminding the audience of the purpose for the night's special events. He thanked the generous sponsors, and acknowledged the judges on the propped up stage not far away from them. Niko, the group's beatboxer, then stepped up to give a schpill on why each of the groups were selected. VJ, one of their tenors, took over to briefly recap the success stories of each of the contenders. Afterwards, Trace, another one of their tenors, reminded everyone that the proceeds from the tickets purchased for the event would all go to a handful of music charities – a mix of groups helping musicians in need, providing music education, health care, and other outreach.

Joe, the most recognizable of their Tenors, then took over, unveiling the wheel of musical categories, some of which reminded Stacie of some popular songs from different decades. He went over the rules, most of which the contestants already knew from the letter they received about a month ago. A category would be selected from the wheel, any team can start and kick things off. To cut someone off, one team just needed to step up and match the harmony of the song that the first team was singing. Each category pertained to lyrics of one of the popular songs coming from one artist's discography. The only songs they can sing in that round must be by that artist.

Simple enough.

But then Jules stepped up again, saying that they won't be saying who the artist was. The teams must know them already from the tiny bit of lyrics used as the category name. All the contestants were, after all, the cream of the crop. "Anyone who makes a mistake of singing a different artist's song is automatically out," Jules then said and the crowd gasped. "Fail to match harmonies, and your team is out. Fail to jump in and sing at any point in the round, and you're out as well. There will be a randomly generated timer per round, it will flash on the screen, and each team needs to sing at least once within that time limit. When time is up, the round is over and we move onto the next category. We are expecting nothing but flawless transitions and every bit of musical perfection."

Things only became more interesting from there. Niko stepped up once again. "The last five teams standing would automatically make it to the finals," he then said, "but life would be boring if five got eliminated from one round alone. So, we have this thing called perks. When we're down to five, the riff-off will continue. The last team standing will get a few special prizes, or perks, as we like to call them. If we get to a point where there are two teams still left standing, we enter a lightning round. Terms of which we will discuss when and if we get there."

"Last thing before we get started," VJ said to calm the audience members who were already getting hyped up. "Because we got a long email with bulleted lists of items for clarification," he went on to say before side-eying Aubrey. Stacie chuckled. Of course Aubrey was being clear on everything. She still hadn't gotten over the loss against the Trebles from a stupid contraction technicality when it came to matching words on a lyrics. "No worries on what word you cut in with, we're focused on melodies and harmonies. And yes, you can jump in with a tricked out mash-up of a song, but only if the song was already used earlier in the same round. Mash-ups must also strictly be by the same artist. If there's any doubt, if anyone makes a clumsy mistake, or if the harmonies aren't perfectly matched, we would be notified by our expert panel of judges. That's why they are here. To keep things fair."

"So if all our teams are ready," Trace then said, looking around at the different acapella teams. They all had their game faces on. Trace raised a hand. Silence. When he smirked, he turned to point at the wheel behind him. "Wheel of musical categories, take a spin!" he boomed.

_______________________________________________________________

More in the links below!

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29141841/chapters/71871765

ff.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13808923/6/A-Story-of-Us

#bechloe #bechloe fanfic #beca and chloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale #Pitch Perfect #pitch perfect 4 #anna kendrick #brittany snow

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doyouever-daydream · 4 years

Text

I’m every woman.

A/N So today is the International Women’s Day and I felt inspired to write something, I tried to incorporate as many women that appeared on Criminal Minds but failed to include them all. I’m going to start writing reader insert imagines for my CM Bingo prompts so SSA y/n y/l makes her first appearance here.

Today I’ll be attending my first Women’s March so that obvioulsy inspired this imagine, if any of you are going to the Women’s March please be safe and thank you for taking the streets and suppporting the cause (the current situation in my country is pretty fucked up so this year is even more important to me to try and do anything I can so women can have the same rights as any human being)

English is not my first language and although I love writing and spent most of my teenage years writing fanfiction, everything I wrote was in Spanish so it took me years to finally decide to post my writing in another language, I’m still super insecure but I want to share it so, apologies for any mistakes (also it is currently 3:00 AM so I am practically writing with my eyes closed), I believe it is important for women to speak up and take actions so they can be heard and there are equal rights so that’s how this imagine was inspired. Also these female characters have inspired me as a woman so I hope you can enjoy this!

Warnings: I mean I don’t think this qualifies as warning but talks of feminism

Word count: 2201

“I’m every woman, it’s all in me, anything you want done baby, I’ll do it naturally.”

It was a Saturday night and Chaka Khan’s song played in the background at Penelope’s and Luke’s apartment, it was a special girl’s night, all of them, even Kristy was there while Matt and Luke baby sat the kids.

“Wine and sign making? This is my kind of girl’s night!” Garcia was ecstatic that all of them were going to the Women’s March.

“I know! Although I’m not sure I’m creative enough to do this” JJ stared at her blank poster.

“Come on, JJ, you can do this! Put feminist AF” Emily was already a little tipsy and was clueless as to what her sign would say but she was excited.

“Actually yeah, I think something like that will be fine, what about you, Tara?” JJ looked at Tara who looked as if she was struggling to decide.

“I don’t know, there’s so much I would like to say but unfortunately I can’t write an entire sermon”

“Same, girl, I’m so torn up, not only about what to write but how to decorate, Garcia here has like a million of art supplies we could use, I’m about to turn up a 9 year old and put glitter on all of your signs.” y/n grabbed one of Garcia’s boxes an eyed the glitter selection her dear friend pulled out.

“YES! Glitter and colors and stickers and ugh, I love you y/n, let’s throw biodegradable glitter as a protest!” Penelope hugged y/n while the rest of the gang decided what to put.

“I’ll need your help with Chloe’s and Lily’s signs! So Penelope and y/n, unleash all of your creativity on her signs” y/n smirked.

“I already know what I’ll write for one of them, tell me what you think, girls just wanna have fun” She paused “…damental human rights”

“I HATE YOU, you should’ve told me to put that” JJ teased.

“I’ll be honest and say that I saw it on instagram but thought it would be cute to put it on one of the girl’s sign.” y/n confessed while she started drawing on her poster.

“She’s drawing already, man, I wish I was as artsy as you are” Tara tried to see what she was drawing but couldn’t make a figure just yet.

“Oh, oh, OH, I got it, y/n will not be the only one using music” JJ started writing on her poster “Check this out” She lifted up her poster that read ‘ok, ladies, now let’s get in formation’.

“I still think you should add my idea” Emily laid comfortably in Penelope’s couch while seeing her friends work on her signs and siping on her glass of wine. “We should’ve brought donuts”

“Oh, I can call someone to pick up some” Penelope already had her phone and was, apparently, sending a text.

“Who else is coming? I thought it was only us?” y/n asked while she kept drawing.

“I invited an old friend but she only just told me she could make it” Now everyone was eyeing Garcia while she smiled proudly.

“Who? Linda Barnes?” Emily’s sarcasm had everyone laughing.

“Nope, but it’s a surprise, let’s continue please.”

“You know what? I already know what I’m gonna put on mine, back when I worked in San Francisco, I had this really annoying co worker, whose name I can’t remember but he was a pain in the ass that constantly went around joking with everyone in the office about how I had the biggest case of resting bitch face, not only did I have to endure that but also his misogynistic jokes” When Tara finished writing on her poster she showed it to her friends.

Resisting

Bitch

Face.

“I’m gonna decorate the shit out of it now” She proceeded to grab cut outs from magazines that Garcia had.

“I love it Tara, and I love being here with you, thanks for counting me in Penelope” Kristy was happy to hang out with these women that she considered her friends.

“Nonsense, you’re part of the girl power gang, we’re family, now, what do you think about my progress?” Everyone turned to see Garcia’s sign, it read: destroy the patriarchy, not the planet.

“Penelope Grace Garcia, you are perfect” y/n stated and everyone agreed with her.

“It’s totally you.”

“Ah, see? Baby girl is a great feminist and ambientalist” Penelope smiled proudly while she painted flowers.

“You know? I’m inspired, I’m gonna start working on that sign, that is until the donuts arrive” Emily sat straight while she put the glass on Garcia’s coffee table and then went to get her poster.

“I finished mine” Kristy said proudly while she held her sign up: ‘women belong in all places where decisions are being made’

“You are a genius, woman” JJ was in awe of all her friends.

“I love it, Kristy” y/n finally speaked up after being very focused designing her sign “I know I’ve told you this many times but growing up I was a tomboy, I loved playing in the dirt, climbing trees, playing I was a spy, I had bunch of guy friends, I loved, I still love baseball with my life, and other sports, I truly believe ‘all clothes are unisex if you stop being a little bitch about it’ and because of that I’ve had to put up with a million comments about how ‘weird’ I am because despite all of that I also like wearing makeup and other ‘feminine stuff’, I grew up being an ‘enigma’ to some people because I like boy stuff and girls stuff and I always hated when they told me bullshit like that, I always refused to accept there were stuff for girls and boys, now after giving you this lecture as if I was presenting my dissertation, look at my sign”

I eat gender norms for breakfast

y/n accompanied the quote with a drawing of a cereal box adorned with blue and pink glitter.

“SLAY” Emily cheered. “I feel you, y/n, I grew up speaking my mind and sometimes that wasn’t well received because I wasn’t a man, it drove me insane, it still does, as much as the brass wants to believe they are ok with having women in charge, they’re not completely convinced, you know?”

“You are a total boss bitch, and we love you” Tara commented while she raised her glass.

“Yes, Emily Prentiss, one day you’ll be THE boss bitch of the FBI, I know it” y/n added as the doorbell rang.

“Ooh, my surprise for you is here” Penelope hurried to the door and when she opened it she shrieked in delight when she saw Alex Blake standing there.

“Hello ladies” She entered the apartment and went to say hi to everyone, introducing Kristy to their former teammate, since she was the only one that did not know her, Prentiss had met her before and y/n was also familiar with her as they’ve worked together when y/n worked for the Crisis Negotiation Unit.

“It’s so nice to see you, Alex, how you’ve been?” JJ asked while offering her a glass of wine.

“Great, I am back teaching at Georgetown, James is also teaching there and we’re very happy to be back from Massachusetts”

After catching up with Alex’s life and the rest of them trying to sum up everything the BAU had been through during her absence time flew by quickly.

“I can’t believe you didn’t joined the BAU when I was there, it would’ve been incredible to work with you Tara, you as well, y/n” She smiled fondly at the two women she had known for the longest time out of the rest.

“It’s known to everyone that has worked with me that I learned so much from the both of you, I can’t believe that now you are my friends and here we are, making signs for the Women’s March”

“Hearing you talk about working together at the BAU almost makes me want to join you, girls” Kristy joked “If only the cases you worked weren’t so dark” They all laughed.

“There have been incredible ladies in that unit” y/n admired the women that had been before.

“I remember when Elle Greenaway joined the BAU boys club and I wasn’t so lonely during our cases anymore”

“I miss Elle so much” Garcia sighed while she reminisced on her friend that grew apart from them.

“I never got to work with her during her time in the Bureau but I heard she was a badass” y/n said wondering what had happened to her.

“She was” JJ added.

“Talking about awesome BAU ladies, the other day I saw Jordan, remember her?” Emily looked at Penelope and JJ.

“No way! I haven’t seen her since she came to our rescue when I was on maternity leave”

“I’ve seen her a couple times, she’s worked her way up, I think she’s also unit chief but I can’t remember which unit, she also has an adorable son, once we bumped into each other and showed me some pictures”

“Ashley Seaver also worked briefly with the BAU, didn’t she?” y/n asked.

“Oh yeah, Seaver! She was nice” Emily said.

“Reid had a crush on her” And as soon as those words came out of Penelope’s mouth she regretted them, she didn’t want to make y/n uncomfortable, not that y/n and Reid were anything but Garcia knew they were pining for each other but were too stubborn to act on their feelings.

“I know her, we’re not friends friends but I like her very much, we have some mutual friends, she’s married now, still working for the FBI at a field office” y/n said making a mental note to call her soon.

“Isn’t it amazing knowing how many women are kicking ass in their jobs and making our country a better place?” Kristy said.

“You’re a part of that change Kristy, you should’ve worked at the FBI”

“Oh no, just one FBI agent is enough in our family but thank you for the trust, now I need ideas for the girls signs, y/n has already helped me with one but I still have one to go”

“What about fight like a girl? Matt has told me how much Lily loves Taekwondo” JJ suggested.

“Actually that’s perfect” Kristy went to write that on the poster her little girl would be holding during the march.

“You know, tomorrow Lily and Chloe will not be alone, Kate is bringing Kelly along with her and Meg.”

“I wished she was here” JJ really wanted to see Kate, it had been a while since she had seen her.

“She had to cancel last minute, poor Kelly has a stomach bug” Penelope lamented their friend couldn’t joined them.

“Alex, do you know what you’re putting on your sign?” Tara questioned.

“Actually yeah, I’ve thought about it all the way here, let me get on with it so we can help you clean and then we continue talking?”

They all agreed and went to finish their signs, after a half an hour later they were all done.

It’s time to ovary-act.

“I’m telling you I live surrounded by incredible women, ugh, I love all of you, mis mujeres” Penelope had learned a few Spanish from Luke.

“I couldn’t resist a little wordplay, after all I’m a linguist” Alex was proud of her idea as the others reassured her it was witty.

“You know what? I’m not that drunk that I actually thought deeply about mine, but I finally got it, and while I’m not that drunk I’m drunk enough to make a speech so prepare” She stood up straight while everyone turned to see her “All my life, no matter where I lived, men have tried to intimidate me just because I am a woman and I’ve always fought against those dicks that try to tell me what I can and can’t do, even when it came to my own fucking body, they felt entitled to give their opinion, it’s time we show them and our next generations that we will not accept being silenced, we have the right to speak and be heard and we’ll rule the world, mes amis.” She jokingly raised her glass while y/n grabbed Prentiss sign so she could show it to the rest of their friends.

Vulva la résistance

The rest of the girls cheered on Emily, they were now standing beside each other, with their arms resting on their friends shoulders.

JJ and Penelope went back as far as 15 years, 14 with Emily and y/n, apart from Tara and Alex, had only met these incredible women a little over a year but she was amazed by the amount of courage they had, she felt extremely lucky to be surrounded by women that did it all. Absolutely all.

Truth was being a woman in the FBI, hell, being a woman anywhere wasn’t always easy, but having a support network like the one they had created made life a little easier, knowing if anything happened all they had to do was look beside them and there would be another woman lending a helping hand.

#criminal minds #penelope garcia #jennifer jj jareau #elle greenaway #emily prentiss #alex blake #kate callahan #tara lewis #jordan todd #kristy simmons #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfiction #reader insert

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viltrumitesuperboy · 5 years

Text

Not Dating (Michael Mell x Male Reader)

This took forever because I forgot about it. Not that many followers of mine are into BMC seeing as I’ve accidentally become a Marvel acc, but I hope you can enjoy it anyway.

Squip group includes Jeremy, Michael, Christine, Brooke, Jenna, Jake, and Rich. No Chloe cause I don’t like sexual assault in my household.

Word count: 1299

Requested by: anon

Heyoooo (: would you mind writing something for Michael Mell (Be More Chill) and the popular jock kinda guy? Like, captain of the football team, supposedly dating the head cheerleader (who, in reality, is just his best friend and is actually really nice). Maybe Michaels starting to feel some feelings and Jeremy is like "dude!!! We're losers!!! He won't even know ur name!" Be ofc they end up together... thanks in advance (:

"Jordan!"

You ran up to your best friend from behind, hugging him around the shoulders as he laughed.

"How is the best cheerleader in the world doing?" you asked, letting go and putting your arm around his shoulders.

"I don't know. You'd have to ask Kayla," Jordan responded, gesturing to Kayla in front of him.

"Stop it, you're the head cheerleader for a reason," she chuckled.

"Well, I am doing great. We've chosen our new team members for tryouts, and I got to torture a freshman. For good reason. He's going to hate me but he's got potential," you informed them.

"Oh, we have some new people too. You remember the whole Squip thing last year? Two of the victims, Jenna and Brooke, are actually really amazing and we think they're going to be great additions. Jenna's plus size and so is a freshman we're considering, but we're working on diversity anyway. I mean, they have me," Jordan said.

"Being a boy and the head cheerleader can't be THAT bad, can it?"

Jordan grabbed you by the front of your shirt with a strength he got only from his years of training and faced you.

"We live in a sexist and misogynistic society. Look me straight in the eye and tell me that one more time," Jordan threatened.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I love you," you mumbled, and he let you go.

He gave you a grin and kissed your cheek, running off with Kayla to their class together. You chuckled to yourself and turned the corner, just catching the eyes of Michael Mell and his best friend Jeremy, who was the source of the Squip issue. You couldn't judge him for how he felt, so you were indifferent to his reputation. Michael, on the other hand, was probably one of the biggest geeks in the entire school. And he was attractive as hell.

You wanted to date him.

You quickly turned into your class without sparing them another glance or saying a word to them. They seemed to be having an important conversation.

"Jeremy, I think I have a crush."

"You what? On who? Can I help?" Jeremy excitedly responded.

"I don't think so. The only reason you're dating Christine right now is that you almost destroyed the whole school and possibly the world, so I think I'm fine."

Jeremy punched him in the arm and they both laughed. They reached their lockers were Christine was waiting.

"Jeremy! Don't forget about our date on Friday," she said, leaning on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

"You did just text me that this morning, and I haven't forgotten," Jeremy laughed. "Hey, any dating advice for Michael?"

"Compliment them, what you're wearing never matters, offer them food, ask to hang out, and just be the weirdo that you are!" she listed off quickly. "My class is across the school, see you later!"

She ran off at lightning speed, fast enough that no teacher could tell her to stop in time.

"Uh... I guess that's helpful," Michael mumbled.

"So who is it?" Jeremy urged, nudging his arm and grabbing his books. "We don't really know that many people personally, so it's someone you don't really know, right?"

"It's the captain of the football team," Michael blurted out. "He likes boys! But he's taken. By the head of the cheerleading team, which means he has high standards and that doesn't include me!"

Jeremy stared at him in shock and Michael leaned his head on his locker door, groaning at the metal.

"(Y/N)? A popular kid? A jock? That's more out of our league than Christine. But at least we know he likes boys. And you can try to be his friend! Don't forget, you gotta listen to your own voice. Advice is just a small part of the whole. You're a geek, use that to your ability," Jeremy said.

Just then, you walked past the two with the head of the cheerleading team giving you a kiss on the cheek and running off with his fellow cheerleader. Michael and Jeremy stared as you turned the corner and met their eyes for just a second.

"Well he saw us, and not past us, so that's something, right?" Jeremy said excitedly.

"Let's just go to class," Michael sighed.

You ended up bumping into Michael at a local grocery store that weekend. You told him you were getting groceries to bring home. He was really flustered, but admitted that he rarely ever came out and was grabbing snacks and drinks for his friends who were going to his place later that day. You of course, with your crush on him, asked if you could join since neither of you seemed to live too far away from each other. He said yes and you exchanged numbers so he could send you his address.

"Hey, you can invite your boyfriend if you want," Michael said, just as you were about to part ways.

"Uh... who?" you asked, tilting your head in confusion.

"Jordan? Aren't you guys dating?" he responded.

"No, he's my best friend!" you laughed. "I can invite him if he's not busy though. I'm sure he'll like you and your friends."

Michael blushed in embarrassment and laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, my bad. I'll see you later!"

You waved and walked home with the groceries. After texting Michael and Jordan, you left a note that you were going to a friend's place for a little bit. You walked to his house (which you mentally recognised the route to) and soon found yourself in a well-lit basement with a group of people you didn't really know well.

"Jordan should be here any minute," you murmured to Michael.

"Well, I'll introduce myself!" Christine exclaimed. "I'm Christine!"

"I know your names. We all went to the same middle school," you chuckled, dropping into a beanbag chair next to Michael.

"It's good that you remember," Michael said. "Nice to know that we aren't forgotten."

The doorbell rang and he moved to grab it. He told you to begin choosing a movie and setting up any video games they wanted to play. Almost instantly Christine and Jake were next to you.

"It seems that our new friend has a crush, even if it's not someone popular," Jake pretended to ponder.

"And I know a lovesick look when I see it! Because Jeremy over there always gave me one," Christine said.

"Hey!" Jeremy shouted in response.

Christine skipped over to him and Jake moved away in his crutches as Jordan and Michael made an appearance.

"Oh my god, I love Apocalypse of the Damned!" he gasped, instantly running to the group near the TV and finding an empty spot.

He seemed to fit in very easily. You motioned Michael to join, and he turned off one side of the lights so it would be easier to see the screen before taking a seat next to you. The entire night was filled with awkward smiles and glances in the other's direction. Halfway through the movie your hand was in Michael's whenever it got the smallest bit emotional. Just as you were all leaving, Jordan turned and shoved you right back through the door and closed it.

"Figure our your feelings, losers!" Jake shouted, followed by laughter.

You turned to face Michael, definitely full-face blushing.

"I'm sure he's joking," Michael awkwardly chuckled.

"I mean, I don't think I would be," you mumbled, finding your feet interesting.

"Are you... saying that you like me?" Michael asked.

"Yes? I mean, you might be a nerd but you’re cool and I’ve liked you for years,” you said. “I wanna ask you out on a date. Can I ask you out on a date?”

Michael laughed and opened the door for you to go.

“Yes.”

#x male reader #male reader #x male!reader #michael mell x male reader #michael mell x reader #michael mell x male!reader #michael mell imagine

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purplesurveys · 4 years

Text

709

Just another names survey, because there’s nothing like looking back at everyone you’ve ever met at 11:28 AM.

Do you know anyone with these names?

Sara: I know a Sarah from my college. She’s kind of a friend-ish? Like I’d say hi to her if we pass each other in the building but I wouldn’t get lunch with her or send her a meme. She also goes by Chloe, her second name. Gabby: Pretty common name. My girlfriend is a Gabie and I had another high school batchmate named Gaby; I also had an old friend from the wrestling fandom whose name is Gabbie. The last Gabbie also goes to UP but I’ve never met nor seen her in the four years I’ve studied there, which is still such a weird thing to me. Rochelle: My Language teacher (it’s basically a subject that taught us English grammar) in the 5th grade was a Rochelle and she was a massive bitch. She is the manifestation of small and cute but terrible, and she didn’t like me and made sure I knew it. I’m glad she aged terribly in the last few years. Alexis: Apparently my Uncle Alex’s full name is Alexis, but I didn’t know until today when I read the obituary for my grand aunt who had just passed. Aurora Summer: I have an orgmate/coursemate named Summer. She’s nice but I think she’s a little lazy and doesn’t make a good co-worker in projects.

Peyton Bianca: Also a common name, but it’s a pretty middle-class/white girl name too. I knew lots of Biancas from high school and all of them are studying in the more expensive university just beside ours. Jordan Eliana: I don’t know Elianas but close enough - we have a current applicant for our org named Liana. Liberty: Eh, noun names like this one aren’t too common at all where I live. Meadow Cheyenne Acacia: Nah. The only Acacia I know is the name of one of the many dorms inside campus. Laurice and Jo used to live in Acacia but their applications got denied this year. Erica: I used to ride the bus with an Ericka but it’s all very hazy - I was only in Grade 1 and I think she moved schools not long after, so I don’t have a lot of memories of her. I had a high school batchmate named Erycka but I never liked her either - just seemed too uppity and had a bit of an attitude for no reason. She used to be Gabie’s friend so when the two would hang out I would fuck off so that I didn’t have to deal with her loud ass. Chantell Shawna: Gabie has a coursemate(?) named Shauna. I don’t know her and I dunno if I’ve met her. I think I have, but I never talked to her. Suzy Maria: I can confidently tell you a good 70% of Filipino girls/women have Maria as their first names. No one uses it as their main name though; it’s usually just given to complement second names. Gretchen: Eh, I know a couple of popular personalities with this name but no one personal. Isabella: I have a second cousin named Isabella but I’ve never gotten to form a relationship with her because she was born and is being raised in Australia. Isabela is also the name of one of Gab’s sisters.

Skye: Someone I went to high school with has a kid nicknamed Sky... Skylar: ...because the kid’s whole name is Skyller. Cecily Paige: Nope but this did remind of the WWE wrestler Paige. Autumn Arielle: I went to grade school with an Aerielle. We lost touch for a bit when she had to drop out for a bit and ultimately moved schools, but we’ve since reconnected ever since she got into UP. She’s taking up journalism too. Brianna: Callo’s third name is Brianna. Her chaotic behavior on social media had pissed me off in the last few months so I cut ties with her. A little sad considering how incredibly close we were in high school, but I just have to remember how annoying she’s been and I feel ok again. Cassandra: I used to go to school with a Cassandra but she moved when we started the 1st grade, so I never actually got to talk or be close to her. Like Aerielle, it turns out she’s also in UP now and she’s in the football varsity too. I see her sometimes but given that we’ve never talked, the most we’ve given each other is a look of recognition of being in preschool together lmao. We also had a batchmate named Kassandra but she lives in Singapore now. Small, sweet, and just the nicest girl. Cassidy Sierra: Aya’s second name is Ciara, which is pretty close. Some of us say it similarly to Sierra, and others pronounce it as Sha-ra, so it varies. Cheri Shariah Savannah Greta: My sister had a batchmate named Greta and I remember her mostly because she’s the daughter of my high school’s old theatre manager/director/I never actually found out what his position was called, but basically he used to produce all of our school productions. Leandra Lauren: I went to grade school and high school with a Lauren. We were close as kids but she changed crowds in like the 6th or 7th grade and we lost touch from there. Austin Samantha: Lots of Samanthas were I’m from; it’s a fairly common middle-class name. I used to be best friends with a Sam; I had a high school batchmate named Sam; I knew someone a high school batch higher with the name; and I also currently go to college with a Sam. OH and I also have a cousin with this name hahahaha. She lives in New York but she visited the Philippines a couple of years ago and I was able to spend time with her then. Shayne: My sister’s kindergarten teacher was a Shane and all I remember is that she was really nice and motherly to my sister who did nothing in school but cry because she had bad separation anxiety. Seth: I have a cousin named Seth, but he lives in New York and I’ve never seen him. He’s the younger brother of my cousin Sam. Scott Ryan: I have a uncle with this name but I haven’t seen him since I was a little girl. He used to live with one of my aunts but I think he has since moved back to our home province. Maverick: One of our org’s alumni is a Maverick but he goes by Mawel. I’ve always thought he was intimidating so I’ve never approached nor talked to him. Dylan: My sister had a batchmated named Dylan which I think is a badass name for a girl. Anna: I had several former teachers named Anna. Two of them taught AP (social studies) and another taught us algebra. Katie: I will sometimes call Kate this, but I dunno anyone who legit goes by Katie. Jessica: Went to high school with one. Was always too boisterous and a little fake for me. She also loved to surround herself with boys as early as when we were 13 and while that’s never wrong I just never vibed with people like her. Lydia: I don’t know anyone with this name but this did remind me of the Breaking Bad character who was always a little bit annoying. Ellery Dakota Epiphany Galaxy Ariana: I think Yumi’s sister is an Ariana, but I’ll never know for sure because she always just calls her Ari. Gabriella: My girlfriend is a Gabriela. Rachel: My math teacher in Grade 1 was Ms. Rachel. I don’t have an opinion on her but I remember one time when our class was too noisy, she got way too pissed off and she spent the entire 45-minute period doing sign language to us to be petty. I never did like her after that. Amy: I go to college with an Aimee but I never get to see her on campus because her whole person screams Ateneo. I have no idea why she just didn’t enroll over there instead looooool, her boyfriend and all her friends are there and she’s always hanging out at their campus it’s so weird. My late grand-aunt Amet was also called Amy by some of her peers. Marissa: This is the second name of Kayla, someone I go to college with. Her schedule is weird though because she went on exchange in Canada two sems ago and she’s supposed to have been back a long time now, but I haven’t seen her at all. I have no idea if she’s still even in Canada or is back in the PH now and is just keeping her whereabouts on the down low. Taylor Rebecca: One of Rita’s older sister is named Rebecca but she goes by Becca. She graduated from my college last year, so I’m pretty familiar with her. We’re not close but I’ve encountered her a few times before and she’s reeeeally pretty and nice. The few times we’ve crashed at Rita’s place she had always greeted us out of familiarity from seeing us in our college building. Ashley: I had an STS class with an Ashley but I didn’t get to know her all that much. Allison: I used to have an instructor named Allison but I think she only taught so she could have extra cash because she’s also taking up her Master’s in the same college, so she wasn’t that good of a teacher. I do remember finding her pretty though. Oh and she also got into a really bad car accident in the middle of the sem and we didn’t have classes for like a month, so there’s that. Madison Abigail: My mom is named Abigail. Zachary: I have a cousin named Zachary but he mainly goes by James. Gabriel: Yep I have an orgmate with this name but we call him Gab. He’s...a bit of a character. Either you can tolerate his presence or you find him plain annoying. Used to play his music LOUD in Skywalk which annoyed the hell out of everybody. I’m still not sure what to feel about him so I just give him a nod when we see each other. Mitchell Joe: I have a friend named Jo but she’s a girl. I don’t think I know any guys named Joe. Corey Shawn: I know a friend of some of my friends is named Sean but we’ve never encountered each other. He’s into broadcasting and has done hosting gigs and I think he’s a junior jock in one of the local radio stations as well. Carly: Carley was my old internet best friend. We first found each other because we were huuuuge Stephanie McMahon fans on Tumblr a decade ago and we’d do edits and read fanfic and reblog photos of her, so a really close friendship blossomed from there. She had a rough life those days with a bit of an abusive mom (who has since passed) and I’d video chat her in the afternoon when I’d come home from school (by then she was preparing for school, since she’s from the US). After a while her schedule turned weird and she’d be offline for months at a time only to resurface for like two days then disappear again. She did this for like 3-4 years until I got tired and just stopped talking to her. She’s still my Facebook friend and she shares a lot of memes, but that’s all to it now. Carmen: I went to school with someone who had a very lengthy name and one of her names was Carmen, but she goes by Pam because she also has a Pamela in her name. She does streetdance and I was classmates with her once but we never really got to talk. Melissa: Eh, sure. Someone from high school. Lazy ass. Stephanie: The only IRL Stephanie I know is this girl who’s supposed to be enrolled this sem and is supposedly a classmate of mine in several classes, but never showed up from January through March. And now the lockdown hasn’t helped her case either. Shannon Selena: I have a cousin with this name but it’s spelled Selina. Also she goes by Bia because her other name is Bianca. Christine: Fairly common name. I know lots of Christines/Christina but I’m only close with one, who’s my orgmate and is the VP for Membership for the org, aka she’s the one in charge of recruiting new applicants for the two sems that she’s in charge of the committee. Paula: I went to grade school and high school with a Paula. She was SO painfully shy and quiet but friendly. She studies in Ateneo now but I wouldn’t know if she’s gotten extroverted in the last few years. Harmony Serenity Tessa: My prof in PR was Ma’am Tessa. One of the nicest, softest people ever who’s always down for anything. I think she’s in her 70s now but she’s definitely still kicking and doesn’t miss a single basketball and volleyball game during UAAP season. Claire: One of my very first guidance counselors was Ms. Claire. I remember her being motherly and she was also the counselor that intervened when I had a fight with one student in third grade that was big enough for both of us to land in the guidance office heh. Ruby Rhiannon Harper Riley Brandon Brayden Mystery Noelle: I vaguely remember going to school with a Noelle in kinder but she only stuck around the school for 1-2 years so I have no memories of her whatsoever. Destiny Darcy Dianne: Went to kinder, grade school, and high school with a Dianne. She was quiet for most of the years but she had a really blooming glow-up in high school, where she was part of the popular clique. Super smart and she’s now in business school in UP; also a terrific dancer. Felicity Grace: I have a grand-aunt named Grace. She’s very sweet and funny and is doting towards her grandkids and her grandnieces and nephews, but she and her sisters have notorious track records in the family for having a bit of an attitude and/or for making scenes, and she’s the pettiest of them all given that she’s the youngest. Despite that, all in all I have a soft spot for her. Hannah: One of my best friends in UP. We first met when she and Macy (my old high school friend) transferred to UPD from UPLB, but in the end Hannah and I ended up becoming closer friends because Macy has since struggled to adjust to the transfer and has pushed people away in the process, including me. ANYWAY I’m glad I was introduced to Hannah because she’s one of the most hilarious people I’ve ever met. She’s also insanely talented and a hell of a performer. I’ll miss her the most when I have to graduate. Kayla: That girl who went on an exchange program in Canada that I mentioned earlier mainly goes by Kayla. I remember her notably because she’s the first EVER person I talked to when I got officially enrolled in UP - we were seated together in the welcoming assembly for freshies back in 2016. It was nothing more than a random encounter though and we didn’t end up becoming close after that. Liam: My cousin Seth is also named Liam. Morgan Natasha: I went to school with a Natasha but we all called her Tashie. She had a bit of a larger build than the rest of us which made her look domineering, but she’s really nice and is a big softie if you get to know her. She posts workout videos from time to time and has since lost a lot of weight in college. Nathan Olivia: My future daughter loljk Bailey Emily Amanda: I have an orgmate named Amanda. She’s mostly shy and reserved and I haven’t really gotten the chance to know her since she’s quiet and always has to head home earlier than the rest of us. Addison Adrienne: An old classmate from high school has had her third kid that she named Adrienne. Molly Siona: I don’t know Sionas but I do know a Fiona, heh. Emerald Chelsea: Yeah Chelsea was one of my close friends in high school. We don’t talk these days but we’ll sometimes react on each other’s posts on Twitter or Facebook which is enough for me. We used to have parties and drinking sessions at her family’s gazebo behind her house, so even though we’ve mostly lost touch I’ll always have fond memories of her. Naomi Bethany: A very very very VERY old mutual on Tumblr had this name but we mostly called her Beth. She lives in the UK and I remember her being a CM Punk fan. Had unique eyebrows but was super pretty and she used to post webcam selfies all the time. Brittany Hope: Someone I went to kindergarten with had Hope as a middle name but she went by Maezelle. Super blurry memories of her as we were never close, but I remember her specifically for her teeth lmao - she had some cavities as a kid so she had a bunch of silver teeth. OK just checked Facebook and it turns out she lives in California now, as do most of my batchmates who migrated to the States as kids. Joy: I know several people who have Joy as a middle name but don’t go by it, like high school batchmates named AJ and CJ. Jade Aaron: Old friend from high school. Like Chelsea, he was a part of our friend group. He studies in UP too and we’ll say hi and hug when we see each other, but we aren’t personally close. Andrew: Coursemate, classmate, orgmate, groupmate in several projects, and now my thesis partner. At first I found him annoying and a bit too invasive and extroverted for my liking, but I gave him a chance and he’s turned out to be a really amazing, loyal, supportive friend. He’s an extremely talented writer, singer, performer, host, and radio jock. Wimpy drinker though haaaah. James: I have a cousin named James. He lives with his family in Vietnam and since his dad is from New Zealand, he’s picked up a bit of an accent as well. Jonathon Zachariah Malachi Victoria: I had a classmate in a polsci elective with this name, but I called her Jillian during that time cos it’s her first name. Judging from social media posts, she mainly goes by JV. Solomon Sorin Celia Heather: Went to high school with a Heather and is actually attending the same course as Jillian ^ in UP now. We were quite close in high school and she used to confide in me about relationship issues, back when she was seeing someone who had plans of transitioning. Heather’s parents were very strict against the idea and went to great lengths to forbid her from seeing him, so yeah that’s what she would rant to me late into the night about. We also bonded over One Direction and Joe Sugg for a time, and those days were a blast. She also got me to be in a Twitter DM thread with Caspar Lee for my 16th birthday which was a HELLUVA SURPRISE lmao. I’ve never forgotten those days with her and I’ll always remember her fondly even though we never talk anymore. Ivy: My prof in feature writing was named Ivy. She’s... a meh instructor at best. She loved telling HER stories and HER experiences and narrating HER interviews with famous people, politicians, celebrities, athletes, etc. but she left a few lessons behind which is really what we all enrolled for lmao, so I didn’t really learn anything from her class. Jasmine: Someone I went to high school with. She was into K-Pop, J-Pop, and anime back then and I think she still is. We were always good friends towards each other even though we were never close close. She’s taking up linguistics in UP now. Jasper Kaylee Anica: An instructor from the broadcast communication department in my college. Nothing much to say about her except she weirdly tags along with one of the other professors ALL THE TIME TO EVERYWHERE, including the washroom. I’m definitely not judging but yeah, it’s what I notice first when I think of her.

#survey #surveys

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resurgence-rp · 6 years

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Under the cut you can check out all the players that have been accepted for their roles. Congratulations! Please take a look at the instructions at the bottom of the page. For those who haven’t been accepted this time around, don’t be discouraged! Send me a message if you want more feedback on your application and I would love for you to re-apply in the future! Congratulations again to all of you and Welcome to RESURGENCE!

✦ Roman, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Heath Arlington & Cormac Newman. You chose two characters that are practically opposites, and yet you managed to bring them both to life. I was completely in love with both your applications! For Heath, I absolutely adored the way you developed the parallels between Cerberus and the underworld, and how much the club means to them. And for Cormac my favourite thing is definitely his identity crisis of sorts, and how he’s trying to solve it actually making it the topic of his thesis. I think there’s so much potential here and I can’t wait to start seeing them in action! Great job! (fcs: finn wittrock, thomas doherty)

✦ Marie, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Elena Lima & Pietro da Costa. Elena and Pietro are trouble in such different ways, but also in the best way. Elena with her almost naivety when it comes to romance, and her need for attention; and then Pietro, this reformed devastatingly charming surfer who’s out to break all of our hearts. It’s not easy to write two apps for two major gods like Aphrodite and Poseidon - but you managed to do it wonderfully! I can’t wait to start writing with you, and see what’s going to happen with them. Amazing job! (fcs: bianca santos, marlon teixeira)

✦ Shannon, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Valentine Wyght. I absolutely loved Valentine’s family history, and how much that impacted on his personality. How is rebellious ways started as a way of trying to belong, and the search for a place he could finally called home basically still follows him around. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to him now that he’s back and he’s clearly seeing things from a different perspective. Is the bad boy attitude over for good? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Amazing job! (fc: sean teale)

✦ Harleigh, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Rhiannon Hébert. A champion returns! Lawful evil Rhiannon? Sign me up! One of the most interesting things about Hera as a goddess is how grey her morals are. Sometimes she’s a hero, sometimes she’s an icon, and others she appears like a true villain. I think your app for Rhiannon reflects just that. It’s hard to portray such a morally grey character in a modern setting, but you did a wonderful job, and I can’t wait to see the queen of Mount Wells in action! Drama is assured! (fc: paulina singer)

✦ Kiki, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Dorian Winslow. One of the things I love the most about Dorian is that he’s such a wild card. The way he’s written, mixed with the Dionysus’ soul component pretty much allows you to go anywhere with him. You saw this change, and took advantage from it flawlessly. From his passion for art, to his predilection for social media, to his commitment when it comes to equality; there’s a lot of potential there and i can’t wait to see him in action! Great job! (fc: avan jogia)

✦ Nat, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Naia Guerrero. What a lovely and refreshing application this was! I’m so glad that Naia is here to complete our trio! I love how determined she is, how passionate she is, her relationship with the ocean since the beginning, how her parents’ divorce affected her, and how she balances partying and having fun with starting her own life project. I think there’s so much potential there, for both development and drama, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her. Wonderful job! (fc: bruna marquezine)

✦ Kat, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Vera Whittemore. I love love love how much thought you put into this application. You just need to read your occupation section to realise you’ve planned everything in Vera’s life to the T, and that’s absolutely amazing to see. You’ve managed to take the info in the skeleton, and give it your own twist, turning Vera into a complex character I’m so eager to see grow here. I can’t wait to write with you and see her in action. Congratulations! (fc: dominique provost-chalkley)

✦ Izzy, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Edith Pratt. There’s a Clover, and also an Edith, and I couldn’t be happier we got our terrible duo complete from the very beginning! I love the extra quotes you added to the app, but my favourite part were definitely the headcanons. The ones about her relationship with her mum in particular. I feel like you managed to keep the “villain” aspect of Edith but at the same time you made her realistic, and that was amazing to read. I can’t wait to see what she brings to the table! (fc: sky ferreira)

✦ Nella, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Nina Campbell & Thea Crawford. When I saw your apps for these characters, my first thought was that it was going to be difficult not to make them similar. Even though their stories and backgrounds are completely different, it would be easy to fall for that trap. However, you avoided it completely! You gave Nina a very defined personality, and you wrote a very misguided one for Thea, which I believe was key for both interpretations. I can’t wait to see what kind of situations they’ll both go through now that they’re making changes in their lives. Great job! (fc: naomi scott, sofia carson)

✦ Dani, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Tristan Santiago. Finally a Tristan! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your application. I absolutely loved how detailed it was. Tristan’s relationship with his family, everything to do with his biological father, and his reaction to this sudden fame he has gained after what happened - everything is so well thought and beautifully written that I could go on and on about all the parts I enjoyed while I was reading it. I can’t wait to write with you and see Tristan develop! Wonderful job! (fc: diego boneta)

✦ Mia, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Dera McClery. I absolutely love Dera. I think she’s one of the most interesting characters of this roleplay, and I’m so glad she has found such a passionate roleplayer to bring her to life. My favourite part of your app were definitely the headcanons. You managed to combine fundamental traits of her character with little things that also paint a perfect picture of who Dera McClery is. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her and her abilities! Congratulations! (fc: saoirse ronan)

✦ Chloe, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Amdeus Minett. We have all of our love gods with us and I couldn’t be happier about that! Pretty much like Eros and Aphrodite themselves, Amadeus and Elena paint such a different picture of what love means, and I’m eager to see how that develops. I love how passionate he is about his art and how his creations seem to be the only true love he can keep (and let me tell you, I also appreciate that you went into so much detail about his art preference). There’s a ton of potential, and I can’t wait to see Amadeus grow as a character! Amazing job! (fc: joe keery)

✦ Caitlin, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of David Arevalos. A starving artist that works as a barista - I read that bit and I was already in love. David is simply adorable, and your application was a pleasure to read. I love his sensitivity, the way he thinks about art, and his interest in divination was such a good addition! Honestly all I could think while I read the app was that I want him as a best friend, please. I can’t wait to see him in action, and all that he’s going to bring to the rp! Congratulations! (fc: tyler posey)

✦ Morgan, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Preston Carver. I was dying for a Preston! He’s definitely one of my favourite characters (maybe because I’m a gamer who plays D&D as well). I love that he’s the go to guy whenever someone is having computer problems (the text to his mum killed me), and on a more serious note, I really enjoyed how you balanced his gamer past with his present - how he enjoys interacting with people and how his personality comes alive when he’s on stream. Also I play a rogue, so much appreciated. Great job! (fc: alberto rosende)

✦ Jane, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Zachary Bailey. I was so relieved when your application came because I was afraid we were going to start without our king of Mount Wells himself! Your interpretation of Zac is basically all that I would except in a modern Zeus, and more. Occupation: rockstar? Depending on his father’s money? Trying to drag his friends around towards every crazy scheme he comes up with? Just flawless. And to conclude, the text messages made me laugh out loud. Amazing job! (fc: michael b. jordan)

✦ Spooky, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Katrin Moreno (soul of Hecate). I love love the whole idea of Katrin. Their relationship with their parents, their grandmother, how they leaned on their friends, the fact that their background was so different from the usual one you’d find in Mount Wells - and yet they persevered and turned that into something magical; honestly I was hooked from the very beginning. I truly believe they will be a fantastic addition to the roleplay, and I can’t wait to see them in action! Congratulations! (fc: danny noriega/adore delano)

✦ Emma, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Clover Wald. This was such a difficult decision! Both applications had very good and different interpretations of Clover. Ultimately what swayed me was the amazing balance of her neutral evil nature. I enjoy a character who isn’t afraid to do morally grey stuff and is proud of it - and that’s exactly what Clover is about. There’s so much potential in her, and honestly I can’t wait to see how exactly she’ll shake things up. Wonderful job! (fc: courtney eaton)

✦ Aaliyah, you’ve been accepted to play the roles of Layla Dunn. Layla is completely and absolutely adorable. I love the fact that she’s very rational and practical, but she’s also got some pluck in her. I also find really interesting that she’s participating in the Science fair to possibly gain some perspective on what to do after she graduates. I feel that was a great way of giving your own interpretation and twist to the info in the skeleton! On a side note, the bit about Pottermore was fantastic; and I’m also addicted to Color Switch. Great job! (fc: jessica sula)

This is what you need to do next:

Follow EVERYONE

Track all of the tags (found HERE)

Make your character account send it in within 24 hours

Open up your askbox

If for any reason you need more time to get your account in, don’t hesitate to message me so I can keep your role open! If I don’t get a message from you then I will assume you’re no longer interested in keeping your spot. Once you send your account, you’ll be provided with the necessary links and we can get started! And of course; HAVE FUN!

#accepted

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ntshastark · 4 years

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smallville lb: part 9 (3x10-3x14)

(part 8)

3x10

dude that thing changed absolutely NOTHING in your face. it didn’t even smush your nose

what’s it with smallville and temporary blindness????

i love him sm :(

the ‘planet’ sticker tho

ooo i did wonder if he already had his super-hearing and they just didn’t delve much into it, or if they were gonna properly introduce it at some point like they did with the x-ray and heat visions

i’m on the same place re: his telescopic vision, so i wonder if they’re also properly introducing it on this episode (or the next one)

this reminds me of that recent panel where clark (or someone in his body i think?) was eavesdropping on bruce and selina, so bruce whistled and clark-or-whomever just. dropped from the sky

...

PETE’S MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCKING FINALLY

i mean, seriously we met literally everyone else’s parents on season 1 (the latest being chloe’s dad on the eight episode. this is the FIFTH-FOURTH)

oh my god this episode, where clark heroes while blind, is from january 2004

the daredevil movie with ben affleck is from 2003

LOOK AT HIM

LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!! AT!!!!!!!!!!!! HIM!!!!!!!!!!!

12 episodes ‘til lois!!!

3x11

THE PLANET!!!!!!

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT THE FUCK

I CAN’T EVEN STOP AND BE SURPRISED AT LOIS BEING CHLOE’S COUSIN BECAUSE EXCUSE ME NOT INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM??????????????????? LOIS FUCKING LANE??????????????????????? THAT WOMAN WAS BORN ASKING THE DOCTOR TO GO ON-RECORD

SHE STARTED WORKING ON THE DAILY PLANET AT FIFTEEN, WHICH WOULD BE UH NOW

SHE SHOULD BE JUST LIKE CHLOE WHEN IT COMES TO JOURNALISM WHO DECIDED ON THIS CRAP

BUT ALSO OH MY GOD THE FIRST LOIS MENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god, imagine poor chloe meeting a multiverse/time-traveller who mentions “lois lane-kent, pulitzer prize winner”........ i don’t think she would survive

RIGHT?!

ian showed up for the second time before paul did lmao

they’re doing a whole Technology Is So Advanced And Scary theme but with stuff from 2003 so like.lmao

I’M JUST SAYING

they’re wasting the reason is you on a background song of a lana/ian somerhalder scene????? brave

also holy shit he’s staying

only 11 episodes until lois actually shows up!!!!!!

WAIT

SHIT

HOLD ON

I WAS SO DISTRACTED BY THE LOIS THING THAT I DIDN’T EVEN REALISE CLARK WASN’T WEARING THE GLASSES ANYMORE

COME ONNNNN

3x12

THE CAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT’S ALL SO BEAUTIFUL

hey clark remember that time you went to belle reve and ran into 3 of your old classmates, who were inmates there because they tried to/actually killed people??? fun times

3x1 on the ian x paul smallville episodes count

1. i love that they’re friends and “coworkers” again

2. y’know how spiderverse couldn’t use ganke much bc the mcu had put so much of him in ned? i kinda feel like smallville did this to themselves with chloe and lois re: journalism, and it upsets me. they already gave chloe the ‘wants to save the world with Journalism, no matter how many enemies she makes in the process’ and ‘woodward to clark kent’s bernstein’ traits, so now lois gets to be “not interested in journalism” and it sucks

wait what is adam doing at the school?? i thought he was of age? considering he hasn’t been assigned foster parents after his real ones died, and so can choose between staying in smallville or “going back to metropolis alone”? granted, i really don’t understand the usa adoption system, but still...

“unfortunately this was a party that jordan wants to forget. especially due to this completely unrelated fact that happened six years ago”

not if the arrowverse has a say in it

i rly don’t like the new sheriff and honestly 80% of it is bc her accent annoys me

i’m... pretty sure that’s a horse, actually

follow me for more smallville/vampire diaries cross-references

VAMPIRE

I KNEW IT

martha is always baking, why is no one in my house always baking, i want cookies

NONONONONONONONONONONO

3x13

OH THANK FUCK HE’S ALIVE

and, now that we’ve cleared that up

ONLY TEN FUCKING EPISODES UNTIL LOIS

(gif by alphalewolf)

ngl seeing ian this much has me missing tvd (and damon specifically) a lot so i just........ followed a bunch of tvd blogs............

this entire show has

the real villain of this episode is low rise pants

THEY KILLED A DUDE AND CLARK’S REACTION IS

FUCKING WONDERWALL

9!!

3x14

why is the CEO giving a tour to a bunch of small-town high school students

clark’s teleporting classmate is absolutely gorgeous so, naturally, i googled her and turns out there’s a big chance i’ve used a photo of her as reference for a drawing before (but only the pose, i needed two people almost kissing)

uhhh am i sensing a romantic subplot brewing

.................................and i like it

WOAH THERE ok, i do not like it anymore, abort, abort

(i don’t care he eventually got into it, he was uncomfortable at first and she kept forcing it - and that’s not even touching the invading-his-house aspect)

oh boy

HE’S SO PROUD OF HIMSELF

i was afraid i was being a prude but no, the girl is, in fact, crazy

“Thanks CS, CK, PR, LL for always sticking by me!” 🥺

i love how lana checked to see if there weren’t two of alicia bc that’s happened before

annette’s hair has been bothering me for a few episodes now but this

this takes the cake

rip ian-in-smallville, i never got to memorize whether your name was adam or alex because i kept calling you ian. you’ll probably be missed by someone. i miss damon.

8!!!

(part 10)

#f: dc #g: dc live-action #s: smallville #mari liveblogs

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esquimaltnanaimo · 7 years

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Royal Rescue Ch.1: Island Morning

It was a spectacular February morning in Nanaimo. The engines of the E&N were all warmed up and ready to roll for the day's work, just poking their fronts out of their shop bays. Abigail's engine burbled, Chloe's air compressor thumped and Jordan's turbocharger whined as the trio awaited the morning work meeting with their yardmaster.

A set of footsteps signaled her approach. "'Morning, engines!" she sang cheerfully, stopping in front of the shop doors. "All set for today?" In turn, the three engines sounded their whistles as an enthusiastic "yes", all smiles. "Alrighty," began the yardmaster. "Abbie, you're on the refinery road-switcher job today. Jordan, you're on the barge run, and Chloe, you're on Comox supplies. Big shipment today, they've got a new log truck on one of the flatcars out there. Plus the usual stuff for the logging camp, of course." "I can handle it!" chimed the blue Geep cheerfully, revving her engine. "I know you can," said the yardmaster with a smile. "That's all, off you go!"

One after the other, the three diesels set about their work. Within five minutes, Abigail was gone south to the refinery, whistling for the crossings through town, and Jordan and Chloe were fetching their respective trains from the yard. Chloe's was twelve cars of mixed freight, destined for the logging camp in Comox. Her load was was quite substantial compared to Jordan's train, which was nothing but eight empty boxcars for the rail ferry. The big SD40 rolled away with them without a care in the world, just as Chloe coupled up to her train.

Suddenly, a portal appeared to the Geep's right, and out rolled a bright blue EMD switcher. Chloe was just about to get her train rolling, and faltered out of surprise with a yelp, her wheels slipping on the rails before she could calm her engine down. She recovered and looked to her right, and smiled with surprise. ”Oh, hey, Ellie!" she said, happy to see her cousin. "What brings you here?" The little switcher responded with a cheerful "Hello!" and a cute smile. "Just wanted to stop by and see if you need any help!" "Well, you have perfect timing," giggled Chloe. "I was just about to get rolling," she went on, looking back along her train. "Ooh! Can I help?" "'Course! C'mon and couple on, you can lead us to Courtenay!" said Chloe, shoving her train back a good twenty feet so Ellie could clear the switches. The little switcher trundled forward, changing to the proper track, then backed down in front of her cousin and coupled on. Her engineer, Duncan, climbed down and coupled the two engines' air hoses together, exchanging greetings with Chloe as he did so. Afterwards, he climbed back up into Ellie's cab and pulled out his guitar, leaning back in his seat. "I'm excited!" giggled Ellie. "I've never led a train on this line before!" "Hey, me too!" said Chloe. "I almost never get to run the supply train, and here I've got my cousin helping me out. Best day ever, you ask me!" "Any day's the best day if I get to help my friends out!" sang Ellie, giggling. "Well, if you're ready, I'm ready. Let's get a move on!" said Chloe, giving her big five-chime whistle a toot. Ellie replied with a honk of her own British-style two-tone horns, and the two cousins revved their engines and got the heavy supply train rolling northwards.

The train passed through town, the two cousins gently pulling it out of the yard. Their Electro-Motive engines sang together as they throttled up, accelerating the train onto the mainline. "So, anything new around here?" asked Ellie, once they passed the first level crossing. "Not really!" replied Chloe, a smile in her voice. "Just business as usual! But Felicia's been saying she's trying to get us more work, and the regular stuff's picking up again, which is great." "That's awesome, yeah!" agreed Ellie, smiling as she led the way. She honked her horns twice and revved her engine, wanting to pick up speed a bit more, and Chloe responded with two honks of her own before opening her throttle. Ellie backed off shortly after, eliciting a giggle from her bigger cousin. "It's forty-five mile-an-hour track here, Ellie! You can open us up more, if you want!" "I know, but this is good for now!" "Well, you're the boss!" "Not really—well, OK, maybe I am this time." Chloe laughed.

The train rocked and rolled along the E&N mainline, scampering north out of Nanaimo along the gorgeous eastern shore of Vancouver Island. Ellie led the train into a loose right-hand curve, and a sign reading "PARKSVILLE" played across her vision. Chloe saw it, too. "Parksville coming up!" she sang. Sure enough, up ahead a small station came into view, and the trees thinned on each side of the tracks as the train rolled into town. The ocean was over to the right, sparkling blue, with the mainland's mountains visible across the Strait of Georgia. Ellie blew her horns for a level crossing up ahead, smiling at the passengers on the Parksville station's platform. Chloe smiled too, whistling a cheerful hello to the ones waving as they passed.

After clearing the station, the train rolled through a large, open area covered in track ballast. A single passing track headed left off the mainline, with a pair of switches leading into a small two-track engine shed, and another single track making a sweeping curve to the west – but just at the edge of the ballasted area, the tracks were fenced over, barbed wire and all. Ellie was curious, looking over as they rolled by. "What's over that way?" "That's the old line to Port Alberni," said Chloe. "We're not allowed to go that way anymore… it's abandoned." "Oh…" replied Ellie. "It'd be cool to check it out sometime with portals! Hey, Duncan?" Duncan leaned forward in her cab. "It's all fenced off, Ellie… jail wouldn't be worth it." Chloe laughed. "It's not illegal! The tracks are just really old, they can't support engines." Ellie perked up. "Then we could go in as humans!" "Oh, good idea! We could!" Duncan's magic had given the two cousins the ability to change form temporarily – both of them had taken a liking to a human-like form, though Chloe had not had the chance to experiment with it aside from first learning how to assume it. Ellie, on the other hand, was quite experienced with it.

The train rolled out of Parksville, still heading northwards. "Chloe, how far are we going?" asked Ellie. "End of the line!" chimed her cousin, smiling. "We're taking this train to the Crown engines up in Courtenay, that's as far north as the tracks go."

The rest of the run, through Qualicum Beach and past Denman and Hornby Island, was uneventful, but beautiful. The train entered the Courtenay yard limit, and the two cousins braked gently, slowing the train. They broke through the treeline, rolling through the sleepy town of Courtenay and into the yard proper, which barely even qualified as a yard. There were only five tracks, and two of them had short cuts of empty freight cars in them. As Ellie lead the train in, she saw a familiar shape through an open boxcar's door, coloured bright orange and white, much like Abigail back in Nanaimo. Chloe saw, too. "Oh, the Crown engine's here already! Awesome, they're probably waiting to take the supplies."

Bringing the train to a perfect passenger-train stop at the far end of the yard, Ellie uncoupled herself from Chloe, pulling ahead to loosen her air hose from her cousin's. "Did I do OK?" she asked, worried. Chloe smiled. "You did perfect! Nice work, cous." Ellie smiled as Chloe went on. "You can go turn on the wye and get ready to head back… I'll shunt the empty cars for us to take with us," said the Geep, uncoupling herself from the train. Ellie trundled off to the end of the yard, finding a wye track. She made her turn, and rolled back through the yard facing south. Chloe was already busy shunting the empty train together, so she pulled to a stop out of the way at the other end of the yard.

A familiar engine sound approached her from the side, accompanied by a ringing bell. It was the orange and white shape from before, rolling backwards along the track beside where Ellie sat. They were an engine almost identical to Ellie, in size and shape. "Hey," they said simply, "I'm sorry to just appear and start talking to you, but your voice sounds really familiar—" they began, coming to a stop in front of Ellie on the next track over, completely losing their train of thought as they saw her. They were an SW7, just like Ellie – complete with freckles. The blue switcher blinked. "…I'm… familiar? I don't know, I can't remember a lot… But my name is Ellie." The orange switcher did a double-take. "Ell… Ellie??" they said, their face lighting up. "Like, ELLIE Ellie? Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in years!!" Ellie looked overwhelmed for a moment. "Oh my gosh, please tell me you remember me! Kelly, from Atlantic Coast! Your sister!!" Ellie blinked. "I… I have a sister?" Kelly's expression fell. "…You don't remember?" She was too excited to hear Ellie the first time. "I'm sorry that I don't. I really wish I did…" Duncan exited Ellie's cab, going onto her side walkway to talk to Kelly. "Don't be too upset," he said. "From what I heard, Ellie was still a baby when she was Atlantic Coast." "Oh, well…" said Kelly, "that's OK. It's been years, anyway." Ellie grinned from headlight to pilot. "I have a sister!" Kelly smiled. "You have lots of sisters, El'!" "I mean… I know there's, like, more SW7s," said Ellie, "but I mean ones who knew me back then. Did I really say 'honk' instead of honking?" "Yeah! And it was the most adorable thing. You never grew out of it, even after me and the others did," Kelly said, smiling in memory. "I'm just gonna stop you for a sec before you go on though, and say I'm really happy you're OK." Ellie looked confused. "Well… when you got sold off to that rail services place, we kinda freaked out. We didn't know if you were gonna get resold, or… worse." Ellie laughed a bit. "Oh, well… They didn't want me after a while, so I got adopted by a preservation railway." "Preservation railway? Wow, lucky you. Which one?" "The Forest Valley. I'm Number 2 on the roster there." "That's so cool… You're better off than me, I'm stuck logging!" said Kelly with a laugh. "These people at Crown are gonna run me into the ground, I swear." Ellie looked worried. "Oh, no… I'm sorry to hear that." "Hey, though, it's all good," said Kelly with a smile. "They keep us in working order, at least." "That's good," said Duncan, leaning on Ellie's handrail. "It's good to be running hard all day, anyway," continued Kelly. "Keeps the oil flowing, after all," she said, with a wink. Ellie smiled. "Duncan checks me over every morning… then he kisses all my freckles," she said, giggling. Duncan smiled. Kelly looked back and forth between her sister and the human for a moment. "So… wait, you're in a relationship with your engineer?" "Yes, since last August." said Duncan, still smiling. "Oh, that's so cool! Congrats!" said Kelly, smiling in return. "Thanks!" sang Ellie.

After a short silence watching Chloe switch the train together, Kelly looked at Ellie. "So, sis, how's the preservation life, anyway?" "Oh, it's great! And I know someone really, really, really important! I mean… besides Duncan." replied Ellie. Kelly looked interested. "Well, she's known around here as the Queen Anne, but I know her as Tillie Senpai. She's so pretty and smart, and nice… and without her I probably, well… I wouldn't be here." "Well… wow. I don't actually know who that is, but that's awesome," said Kelly. "Oh! Duncan, show Kelly a picture of Tillie!" said Ellie excitedly. Duncan did so, pulling out his smartphone and walking over to Kelly, climbing up on her pilot to show her. "Oh, she's a… steam engine. Neat."

Before Ellie could tell her long-lost sister more about her Senpai, another engine sound approached. "Oh my god, is that Baby Ellie?!" said an unfamiliar, deep voice. "Oh, hey Bob! When'd you get here?" said Kelly. "Just did," said the other engine, rolling to a stop in front of Ellie on her track. He was an older model of switcher, an NW-2, painted in the same colours as Kelly. He looked a lot worse for wear, but he was just fine with that. Ellie looked confused. "Baby Ellie…?" Bob gave her a look, then his expression softened. "…You don't remember, do you?" Kelly cut in. "Hey, don't sweat it, B. She doesn't remember me either, and I'm her sister!" Bob laughed. "It's alright. Maybe she can make it up to us by honking." he said, looking at Ellie hopefully. Kelly's expression brightened. "Ooh, yeah, like on ACL! C'mon, say 'honk'. For old times' sake!" "…Alright. You wouldn't want to hear my actual horn, anyway…" said Ellie, trailing off. "Hey, why not? Could be fun to compare horns, see who's got what all this time later!" "It's not right to pester, Kell—" "HONK!" yelled Ellie, interrupting, startling her sister and cousin. Bob recovered, laughing. "There's our Ellie!" "Yes, oh my gosh!" said Kelly, laughing as well. "You even sound almost the same still, that's awesome…" "Ding ding ding!" Ellie sang loudly, giggling with her family's laughter.

Chloe rolled by on one of the other tracks at that moment, tugging a cut of boxcars behind her. "Ellie, what in LaGrange are you doing?" she asked, laughing a bit. Kelly looked over. "Chloe! Oh my gosh, stop for a sec!" she said enthusiastically. Chloe braked, looking over. "She's doing what she did when she was still a brand-new diesel," said Bob. "Heck, she's barely aged." Chloe uncoupled from the boxcars. "Brand-new diesel?" she asked, approaching. "What do you mean, brand-new diesel?" Kelly was all but jumping off the rails with excitement. "Chloe, you won't believe this. Ellie's my sister!!" "Wait, seriously?" asked Chloe, surprised. "Mm hmm!" giggled Ellie, smiling cutely. "Yeah!" said Kelly, excited. "We were part of the same EMD order, like… YEARS ago!" "That's right," added Bob. "She's Atlantic Coast, same as us. Well, former." Chloe looked at Ellie, then Kelly and Bob. "You're kidding… that's awesome!" Kelly started to laugh in agreement, but stopped almost immediately. "Wait. It just occurred to me." "Huh?" said Chloe. Kelly looked to the older switcher to her left. "Bob, you were built at LaGrange, right? Back before GM bought Electro-Motive?" "Guess I was, yeah." "And I know Chloe was, and I was, and Ellie was, too… So this is, like, a family reunion!" Ellie honked her horns cheerfully, smiling wide. "…Wow, that's new," said Bob, surprised. "Oh my gosh, that's so cute! Where'd you get that horn?" asked Kelly. "That's, like… British, isn't it?" "Mm hmm!" chimed Ellie. "At our railway you have to be really kid-friendly and non-threatening… This was a hand-me-down from an engine in Britain. Another shunter, a Class 04." "Huh… no way," said Kelly. "I'd ring my bell, too, but…" "But what? …It's not broken, is it?" asked Kelly, worried. "…Duncan accessed my records," said Ellie. "Apparently I liked to ring it too much, so they cut the power to it…" Chloe went wide-eyed. "…Rails above, and you were leading on the way here. We broke CROR." Duncan was shocked. "Wait, your bell is actually broken? We didn't get it fixed??" "Yeah… why else wouldn't I ring it?" "Excuse me," said Duncan, casting a portal open next to him and pulling an electrician's tool kit from it. Kelly and Bob watched, incredulous. The tall Scot quickly climbed onto Ellie's hood, approaching her bell and opening the metal panel close to it. "…Wait, shit," he said suddenly. "…What is it?" asked Ellie, looking up. "Your bell is air powered… It's not electrical," he said, looking around at the other three engines. "Does anyone here know how to fix a cut air line?" Chloe moved forward a bit. "The shop guys in Nanaimo can fix it!" Duncan was serious. "I need to help my girlfriend. Like, now." Kelly chimed in, choosing to not ask questions about the portal. "Oh, the machine shop in Comox! I can take you there with the supply train, they can fix your bell!" "Wait," said Chloe, "aren't the rails on your branch line super light? I thought only switchers can… wait. Ellie is a switcher." Kelly and Bob shared a laugh.

Meanwhile, Ellie was panicking. "Oh no… Oh no, I broke the law! I broke the rules… I'm gonna go to train jail!" Bob looked at her. "…Ellie, there's no such thing as train jail." "Yeah, it's no biggie! We just gotta get you fixed up, sis," said Kelly, laughing a bit. "But your boyfriend up there might end up paying a fine." said Bob. "Fuck," said Duncan simply. Chloe cut in. "Hey now, that's only if we got caught! And I don't think there's any RAC inspectors on Vancouver Island this week," she said, with a cheeky smile. "We're gonna be fine, so long as it's working by day's end." "…Okay," said Ellie, calming down. "Thanks, guys…" said Duncan. "No worries, friend!" chimed Kelly, smiling. "Nobody's going to jail, yay!" said Ellie cutely, drawing a giggle from her sister.

Bob lead the way to the front of the supply train. "Right then, little Ellie, let's go get your bell fixed," he said. "Then you won't have to say 'ding ding' like the old days." Ellie smiled, following her older cousin. Chloe honked her horn behind her. "Hang on a sec, Ellie!" Ellie stopped, looking back as Chloe rolled to a stop beside her. "Oh, yeah, Chloe?" "I'm gonna get the empties back to Nanaimo, since they have to go on the ferry soon… You gonna be OK to run back on your own later?" "Yeah," said Ellie, "I'll be OK!" "OK, awesome. See you in Nanaimo!"

After a short run down the branchline and what seemed like no time at all in the shop, Ellie's bell was repaired. The shop crew at the Comox logging camp had installed a brand new air line and cleaned out the motor, and now the little switcher's old steel bell rang with a bright, steady rhythm, good as new. After a cheerful send-off from her Atlantic Coast family, she departed south, heading back down the eastern shore of Vancouver Island as light engine.

When she arrived in Nanaimo, she couldn't see Chloe anywhere, but Jordan the big SD40 and Abigail the RS3 were idling on the shop leads. Jordan looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Abigail wore an expression of pure worry. "Oh no… something's wrong." thought Ellie, hurrying over to the shop tracks. "Jordan! Jordan, what's wrong?" she called, concerned as she rolled to a stop before the other two engines. They looked up, the older ALCo surprised to see her. "Ellie…? When did you get here…?" she asked. "Earlier, before Chloe left," replied Ellie. "I re-met Bob and Kelly!" "Oh… the logging switchers, yes… you know them?" asked Abigail, gaining a bit of a smile. "They knew me when I was a baby," said Ellie happily. "Oh, and they fixed my bell!" she went on, giving her bell a few rings. Abigail smiled. "Oh, that's wonderful—" she began, before the bigger diesel to her left cut her off. "Abigail, we have more pressing matters than Ellie's little trip down the Memory Subdivision here," he barked. "Oh… goodness, right, I'm sorry…" apologized Abigail. "Sorry… Okay, what's wrong?" asked Ellie, looking at Jordan. Now that she was closer, she could see the unfolded letter on his pilot. Jordan looked grim. "It's… Fuck. It's Gloria. Over on the mainland,” he said, looking down at the paper. Ellie looked worried. "…What's going on?" she asked. "The steam engine I worked with at Expo, the last working Royal Hudson, they're…" "They're gonna scrap her??" assumed Ellie, looking shocked. "Ellie, don't assume," said Duncan quietly. Abigail sensed that Jordan had just trailed off. "Well… you're half-right, Ellie…" she said, expression falling. "They're going to decommission her.”

#long post #esquimalt and nanaimo #ellie the sw7 #chloe the gp9 #abigail the rs3u #jordan the sd40 #royal rescue story arc #ttte oc

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instantdeerlover · 4 years

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14 LA Restaurant Workers On Reopening During COVID added to Google Docs

14 LA Restaurant Workers On Reopening During COVID

Servers, line cooks, bussers, hosts. Sous chefs, food runners, sommeliers, bartenders, and the almighty dishwasher. Anyone who’s ever worked in the service industry knows that these are the people who not only run your favorite restaurants, but ensure their success - not celebrity chefs or big name restaurateurs.

So when the only people who are given a platform to talk about the “state of the restaurant industry” aren’t on the floor or in the kitchen, a crucial part of the story is erased. And during a time when many are considering returning to restaurants, despite the fact that COVID cases continue to rise, that erasure isn’t just lazy, it’s dangerous.

We spoke with 14 restaurant workers in LA about what it’s like to be an “essential worker” during the pandemic. All interviews were kept anonymous, unless indicated otherwise. Photos do not reflect the people or restaurants mentioned.

Rachel, Server For 8 Years

Furloughed since March

“The restaurant I work at has not felt safe reopening. As soon as it was announced that we were allowed to reopen our dining room, they sent an email to the entire staff saying ‘This seems crazy to us, but at some point, we’re going to have to reopen. What’s everyone’s degree of comfort? What would that look like for you?’ I love the restaurant that I work for - I’m very fortunate that they care enough about us to do that.

“The biggest concern for me has always been about the patrons. Right before everything went into lockdown, my roommate, who also works in a restaurant, said that people were licking their plates before handing them back to her. And it’s just stuff like that. There’s no faith in the guests to fully understand the severity of our situation. We weren’t trained for this. We weren’t trained to be essential workers. A lot of the people I know are changing industries. They’re just like, ‘I don’t know when this will feel safe for me again.’”

Kyle, Industry Professional For 10 Years

Turned down his restaurant’s job offer

“I feel like there’s a silent fight going on in the hospitality industry right now, between employees and restaurant owners. And no one’s talking about it, even though I know a ton of people who are dealing with the exact same set of problems.

“When it was time for my restaurant to reopen, there was a lot of speculation. I saw a screenshot that said management wanted to do 350-400 covers a night (basically on par with what we were doing pre-COVID). Someone else said that if you turn down the job offer, they would report you to the Employment Development Department. But I think what made me the most concerned was the lack of support. Before they reopened, it was three months of them being absent. There were zero resources. Zero messages being like ‘Hey guys, I hope you’re all still alive.’ So we had to figure it out ourselves.

“Honestly, I don’t demonize restaurant owners for opening their dining rooms, and trying to make money. But if your priority is money over the health and safety of your staff, I can’t be a part of that.”

Erica, Assistant Manager

Restaurant reopened for dine-in

“I think we definitely opened too soon, considering the second wave of cases. And although I feel safe, since our restaurant enforces all of the CDC guidelines and we have face shields and masks to protect us, there’s always a risk. People don’t take our safety precautions seriously - and it’s scary. The best way to support us and our restaurant is to just be respectful, patient, and kind. We’re all working really hard, and we know it’s a sensitive time, but we just ask for our guests to be understanding. And please don’t come out if you’re not going to take the safety precautions seriously.”

Ryan, Employee At His Family’s Restaurant

Quit a full-time job to support the business

“My family owns the restaurant, so when the lockdown hit, it was a real call to action for my mom and I, who both don’t work in the restaurant industry.

“Over the last few months, it’s become more visible who supports us. There’s a lot of people volunteering, giving their time, and just really showing up. We’re extremely fortunate to have our community, from neighboring small businesses to non-profit organizations, to the greater community of LA. I believe that there’s a silver lining for everything - sometimes it’s just hard to find it. For me, one silver lining is how it’s brought my family together. My mom’s been sharing stories from when she was growing up, when her father used to work in the family store seven days a week. She tells us about how he spent so much time there. And now I’m doing the same thing, with my family, and in the same neighborhood, only blocks away.”

Minh Phan, Owner Of Porridge + Puffs

Temporarily closed her restaurant

“Pausing operations was a big decision. I’ve always stood the line that I don’t want to open the doors until we have a vaccine. If I had a few million dollars in the bank, and could make these awesome, circulating vacuums, with really cool walls with UV lights that could sterilize everything, I would do it. Because I want to feed people. My livelihood is feeding people in a dining room and giving them joy. I love doing that. So it hurts me to not be able to. But I will not do that at the risk of any human life. I’m going to stick with my gut - I’m not going to let people in until we’re ready. Period.”

Zander, Restaurant Employee

Restaurant reopened for dine-in

“I personally don’t feel unsafe at work, but I can totally relate to other people who might feel uncomfortable. Like if someone told me they were uncomfortable, I would completely understand.

“So far, my guests have been pretty polite. Actually, they’ve been more polite than they were before the pandemic. With all of the new guidelines they have to follow, they understand that it’s not personal, I’m not trying to single them out if I ask them to do something. And naturally, with the way our company is run, if I did have someone being unruly, I could just defer to a manager. Which might not be a particularly cute moment, but since the restaurant I work for does care about following the rules, pretty tooth and nail, if something did get to that point, I’m sure a manager would be able to handle it.”

Jordan, Restaurant Owner

Closed her restaurant due to COVID

“I literally had a tickle in my throat. And then one night, I just felt super-exhausted. So I started getting paranoid. And it’s like, ‘I know I’m working every single day and I’m working so much, so it’s normal for me to feel exhausted, but I can’t take that risk.’ So I went in and I took the COVID test on a Saturday. Two weeks go by. Nothing. The whole time I’m at home, I haven’t returned to the restaurant. So I called them back and was like, ‘Hey, I’m desperately waiting on my test results, it’s literally been two weeks.’ And then they’re like ‘Oh, you’re positive.’

“I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. We called the Health Department and immediately reported it, which I think other restaurants, who are scared of closing down and having their businesses dissolved, won’t do. But we were like, ‘No, we’re not going to be sh*tty humans, we’re going to immediately take action.’ So we call them, and they were like ‘Oh, just get the place cleaned, and you don’t have to announce it to the public.’ So we called in a professional cleaner, and they disinfected the whole restaurant. Then everyone went to go get tested, and we’ve been closed ever since then. To be perfectly honest, it’s just been kind of nightmare.”

Chloe, Server For 13 Years

Left the restaurant industry because of COVID

“Back in March, when everything was starting to get shut down, I told my boss that I wasn’t comfortable working. I have asthma, I don’t want to risk myself just to go to work, and she said, ‘Yeah, that’s totally fine.’ I’ve been pretty fortunate to have a boss who understands the severity of this virus. She hasn’t forced anyone to come in, she just asks if anyone wants to. My friend, however, who tried to voice his own concerns about working in a packed restaurant back in March, was told by his manager that if he mentioned it again, he would get written up.

“I just don’t agree with anything that’s happening right now. I definitely feel like capitalism is the root of this problem. Not many restaurant owners really care about their staff, even though they love to claim that we’re ‘all a family.’ They’d rather make money than have their servers and staff be safe. It’s just kind of sh*tty that servers have to decide between paying rent and risking their lives. It’s a non-essential job, you don’t need to be at a restaurant right now. We’ve been quarantining for like four months now, you should have learned how to cook by this point.”

Mariana, Bartender

Restaurant reopened for dine-in

“The separation of classes has become so apparent in this pandemic - it’s all very elitist. Black and Latinx people are the highest demographics in the workforce getting COVID, and why is that? Because we don’t have a choice but to work for money. We can’t make the choice to protect our lives. And as a Latinx woman, it’s just been aggravating seeing that the majority of the people being impacted by this, and that don’t even have a choice, are from my background.

“When we reopened as a restaurant, it was alarming. We felt like we didn’t have any say or control over our own lives. We were all wearing face masks, face shields, and were constantly changing our gloves, but a huge percentage of the people coming in at night wouldn’t even wear a mask. People feel very inconvenienced by having to wear this mask. And a lot of them have reacted by saying things like ‘Well, how do you expect me to eat?’ But it’s not about you anymore. It’s about us, and our safety. My little sister works with me. And she lives with my parents, and I don’t want her to infect my dad, who’s above 65. I don’t know. It just makes us feel very small. It makes me feel like a valueless servant.”

Jennifer Lee, Owner Of Aloha Cafe

Opened her restaurant for takeout and pick-up

“We never opened for dine-in, even when we were allowed to. We just didn’t feel like it was time for us, our staff wasn’t feeling the safest. But it was super overwhelming. Because at the same time, I was worried, like, ‘Oh, people want to come eat.’ And I do feel like because we never opened our dining area, we lost a lot of business. Because once things started opening up, we were getting phone calls daily - ‘Are you guys open for dine-in?’ I actually had a person ask me, in a not-so-nice way, ‘Well, why aren’t you open? That’s probably why you’re slow.’

“I really appreciate people just coming by and picking up food. I’m just thankful for anyone who comes through our doors, even if they just came in for a drink. Or customers who come in and say ‘Hey, how are you guys doing? I’m glad you guys are here.’ Those words always remind me that it’s OK. That we just gotta keep going, we’re going to get through this. We all just have to keep positive. Which is easier said than done, but I mean, how else are we going to get through it?”

Susan, Restaurant Co-Owner

Currently open for outdoor dine-in

“Right in the beginning, I was calling the governor’s office and the mayor’s office every day. Of course it was just a machine, but I didn’t care. I would just vent to the machine and say ‘You gotta help us with rent.’ It was like, ’You said we had to close, and you were right. We should close, but we need help. And not this - excuse my language - bullsh*t about we’ll defer payment until all of this over.’ Because then what? I owe three months full rent? Where am I supposed to get that from? We’re at half capacity! So you think I can pay three full months of rent? And all of a sudden it’s a lump sum? They could have and should have helped small businesses. Not just the restaurant business, but all small businesses.

“All of this could have all been handled so much better. Then people wouldn’t be so focused on ‘Well, I got to go back to work, and jeopardize my health and the health of others.’ Because at the end of the day, it’s human life. Let’s say that my business thrives - what good is that to me if I’m sick? What good is that to me if I make my mother sick? It makes no sense. I lost my father on March 9th. My mother is now 94. And now I’m working with the public. So I can’t really go see her, can I? What if I give it to her? It’s just a sick situation, and I think about it every day when I have to go to work. I’m like, ‘This is all just for money.’”

Kory, Industry Professional For 19 Years

Laid-off in March

“It was a borderline panic. Back when the lockdown started in March, it almost felt insurmountable because so many people lost their jobs in one day. I got laid off back in the Great Recession - I was working as a bartender at the time, and everything got shut down. But even then, it wasn’t this bad! It was a slower progression - the economy slowed to a halt, rather than something breaking the wheel.

“I’ve been looking for jobs, but with very little hope. There’s not many restaurant jobs available, and even for the ones that are accepting applications - I talked to a restaurant manager, and for every job that they list, they receive thousands upon thousands of applications. Which is crazy. It’s already hard enough to get a job as a food server in Los Angeles without knowing someone, but now it’s impossible, with over 50% of the hospitality industry out of work right now.”

Lydia, Cashier

Restaurant currently open for patio dining

“Much like being a teacher, or a nurse, you go into a workfield because you have a desire and passion for it. You shouldn’t get a job begrudgingly. And I enjoy hospitality. So working at the place that I work at, and getting to be outside with the patrons, it’s awesome. The owner supplies us with unlimited gloves, face masks, and any other high-quality sanitation supplies that are needed to keep the restaurant clean. So to be honest with you, it’s been great. I have nothing negative to say.”

Aidan, Industry Professional For 10 Years

Left the service industry

“My restaurant furloughed all of its employees back in March, and until two weeks ago, it was radio silence. Apart from a few letters regarding my health insurance and confirming my termination, I hadn’t received a single email from my manager. No texts, or check-ins to see if I was doing OK. Then, in late June, I got a call from my manager’s private cell phone. Which can only mean one thing - they’re reopening the restaurant.

“Apparently, management hadn’t contacted the entire staff, but rather cherry-picked a few of their employees. And sure, in one world, you might feel honored by that. But in another, you realize that they’re leaving behind staff members. They’re leaving behind the discussion, or even a choice. They’re skipping all of these steps to just be like, ‘Here’s your helmet. Here’s your rifle. We’re going into battle.’

“And in the meantime, no one’s calling me, or asking me if I’d feel safe. No one even asked if I’d even be interested in coming back. Returning servers were expected to work five days a week, open to close, with limited breaks. And since they’d be running on such a thin staff, they weren’t going to honor any requests for time-off. They couldn’t tell us if they had a plan if one of their workers got sick, or what the new sections were going to look like. They couldn’t even give us a flowchart of the restaurant.

“We signed up to work in restaurants because we understood that job. Now you’re asking restaurant workers to become frontline health care workers. None of us are trained in that. And no amount of PDF files given out by the CDC is going to actually ensure that we’re working in a safe environment. And the proof’s in the pudding - over half of the restaurants in LA were found as non-compliant with the CDC’s guidelines.”

via The Infatuation Feed https://www.theinfatuation.com/features/los-angeles-restaurant-workers-on-reopening-during-covid Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://trello.com/userhuongsen

Created July 9, 2020 at 01:42AM /huong sen View Google Doc Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xa6sRugRZk4MDSyctcqusGYBv1lXYkrF

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oselatra · 5 years

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2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

Meet the best and brightest high school seniors in the state.

The 2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team, the 25th team the Times has honored, is made up of coders, musicians, scientists and championship athletes. There's rarely a B on the transcripts of these students in not just this, their senior year, but in any year of their high school careers.

Back in 1995, the Times created the Academic All-Star Team to spotlight what we then called "the silent majority — the kids who go to school, do their homework (most of it, anyway), graduate and go on to be contributing members of society." Too often, we argued then, all Arkansans heard about young people was how poorly they were faring. Or, when students did get positive attention, it came for athletic achievement.

As you read profiles of this year's All-Stars, it should be abundantly clear that good things are happening in Arkansas schools and there are many academic achievers who deserve to be celebrated. You should get a good idea, too, of how these stellar students are busy outside school, with extracurricular activities, volunteer work, mission activities and more.

They'll be honored April 26 at a ceremony at UA Little Rock's new River Market campus with plaques and cash awards.

Many college plans listed here are not set in stone, as students await information on scholarships and acceptances.

MOHAMMED ABUELEM Age: 16 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Pulaski Academy Parents: Tarek Abuelem and Shireen Khalaf College plans: Harvard University

What accomplishments can a 16-year-old lay claim to? Mohammed Abuelem has earned prizes in competitions in science, essay writing, History Day projects, Spanish, math. He's studied DNA sequencing at Harvard; researched the effect of radiation on soybeans; aced all his classes at Pulaski Academy. But this teenager, two years younger than his classmates and fluent in Arabic, can also point to work with Syrian refugees in camps in Jordan for two summers running. After his sophomore year, Mohammed volunteered at the Zaatari refugee camp in the northern part of Jordan, where 60,000 people have taken refuge. There, he interviewed families and visited the medical clinics. He listened "to their stories and how their life is at the camp. ... I got the chance to see how medicine is practiced toward people who are part of a diaspora." He returned to Jordan after his junior year and distributed food and supplies to Syrian refugee families in the capital, Amman. "So many of the refugees are relocated toward urban areas, and don't get as many benefits" as those in the camps, Mohammed said. Mohammed decided to bring the lessons of the crisis home: "I wanted to involve local people here." So, he organized a benefit piano recital where he and others played (he performed a piece by the Greek composer Yanni) and raised $5,000 from the audience. Half the sum went to the Syrian Emergency Task Force and the other half to his Boy Scout Eagle project, building first-aid and hygiene kits for Syrian refugees. Because the Middle East is his passion, his senior thesis (in an elective class at Pulaski Academy) is on the Arab Spring and, because he is fluent, he was able to use primary sources in Arabic. As he heads to college, Mohammed is unsure of exactly where he'll put his considerable brain power to work. Though keen on many subjects, Mohammed's favorite is biology. His father, a neurosurgeon at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary, "has emphasized that he wants me to choose the right path for me," rather than mirror his father's career, Mohammed said.

CHLOE BOWEN Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Springdale High School Parents: Yancey and Ginger Bowen College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville or University of Alabama

The last thing most high school students want to do just a few weeks before the start of their senior year is switch schools. For Chloe Bowen, though, the decision to transfer from Fayetteville High School, where she'd gone since ninth grade, to Springdale High School for her final year wasn't particularly difficult. Many of her friends had already graduated, and Chloe's burgeoning interest in engineering drew her to Springdale High's Engineering and Architecture Academy. "I was ready for a change — [a] new challenge," she said. She's certainly found it. Chloe signed up for four engineering classes, one of which has her working with a group of engineering students from the University of Arkansas to design a device that will allow one of Chloe's classmates, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, to walk across the stage at graduation. "Getting to collaborate with them has been a really great experience," she said. Chloe traces her interest in engineering to a human geography class she took in ninth grade, where she learned about urban development and city planning. She's not sure what type of engineering she'll settle on — for now, it's all about exploration and learning about a career that will draw on both her math-loving analytical side and her artistic interests. Chloe has flourished in Springdale's engineering and architecture academy. She's a National Merit Finalist, ranked first in her class with a 4.27 GPA, and she's developed a tight-knit group of new friends who share her interests. She recently helped run a STEM day for younger students and has represented the engineering and architecture academy at area junior highs.

Chloe is also active in her church youth group and has a part-time job working in another church's nursery. That doesn't leave much time for other hobbies. "I used to play volleyball, but I don't anymore," she said. "I've been pretty busy with homework and projects lately."

JORDAN ERICKSON Age: 18 Hometown: Hot Springs High School: Lake Hamilton High School Parent: Mandy Farmer College plans: Baylor University

Jordan Erickson is the big man on Lake Hamilton High School's campus. He's the class president, the valedictorian and a National Merit Semifinalist. He's also 6-foot-10 and was the captain of the basketball team, which went 25-3 and won its conference. "It meant a lot [to be captain] because I'd been playing basketball with these guys since fifth grade," Jordan said. While this season marks the end of his basketball career, look for him in pick-up games at Baylor University, where he'll be a University Scholar, a competitive program that generally accepts fewer than 2 percent of incoming Baylor students. The Scholars program will allow him to pursue an individualized course of study. Jordan is planning on studying one area in science, likely biology, and one in the humanities, likely Spanish. He plans to be a doctor and figures that knowing Spanish could be beneficial. He doesn't know what sort of doctor he wants to be, but has gotten some experience working with seniors with neurodegenerative diseases as a volunteer with The Caring Place, a day center for patients suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. "The people there were just absolutely loving and caring, the staff as well as the patients," he said. "It was heartwarming and heartbreaking as well." Jordan's mom, Mandy Farmer, is a nurse practitioner. He resisted following in her footsteps for years, he said, but as he's gotten older he's realized what an inspiration she's been. She instilled in him a motto that he's obviously applied: "There is no penalty for overachievement."

KATE FREYALDENHOVEN Age: 18 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Tim and Mary Ann Freyaldenhoven College plans: Rhodes College in Memphis

Kate Freyaldenhoven is competitive. Ranked second in her class at Conway High School, she said she was driven to "achieve the highest grades" in all her courses by the same ambition that earned her spots on the school's varsity cross-country and track teams. She has a 4.42 grade point average, and she said it's this "kind of tenacity" that earned her the perfect score of a 36 on the ACT. After two attempts that earned her a 33 and a 34, Kate said, "I pushed myself to do the best that I can do, and I'm very glad that I took it again." She's taking this tenacity to Rhodes College in Memphis, where she recently signed to run on its cross-country and track and field team. Kate said she decided on Rhodes because she knew she wanted to run in college, but her education was most important, and she wanted to go to a school that "was great with balancing academics and athletics." She said Rhodes felt like a "great fit" for her, and she'll be able to grow "not only as a student, but as an athlete." Another crucial part of her decision to attend Rhodes is the "plethora" of community service organizations the school offers. Kate said that as a kid, her mother took her along when doing service work for nonprofits, and since then, volunteering has been "a really big part of my life." Two summers ago, Kate also participated in the Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service program at Conway Regional Hospital, where she "witnessed firsthand different aspects of working in the medical field." She said she's interested in pursuing a medical career, perhaps as a physician, so she can use her "passion for science and math to contribute something beneficial." Kate said she's looking forward to research and internship opportunities in Memphis and to the "close-knit community" she said she felt on Rhodes' campus.

MARY JIA Age: 17 Hometown: Stuttgart High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Parents: Melissa and Yulin Jia College plans: Undecided

Mary Jia knows what she wants to do, and what she wants to do is study rice. "Rice is so amazing!" she said, with an enthusiasm so genuine she'll make you excited about rice, too. She said it's a model genome to study in plant science, and she's particularly interested in the "biological sciences and the numerology behind rice." Mary has applied to 16 different schools, but her top choice is the California Institute of Technology, where her favorite physicist, Sean M. Carroll, works as a professor. She said she plans on studying rice by pursuing an M.D.-Ph.D., a combined doctorate of medicine and philosophy, which can take between seven and nine years to complete. "With an M.D., you learn a little bit of everything, which is basically my goal in life," Mary said. "And a Ph.D. is more specific." Mary's research at the Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center earned her a semifinalist spot in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. She's the only finalist from Arkansas. Her project studied the blast disease resistance of three strains of rice, a process through which Mary said she hopes to find "resistance genes" to help keep farmers from having to use fungicides on their rice crops. During a recent trip to visit family in China, Mary was able to appreciate the opportunities she's had to study her passion. "I really want my family to one day be able to enjoy the same things that I do, to go out in the world and realize they can be whatever they want," she said. Ranked No. 1 in her class at Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Mary is also a member of the school's Grandma Club, which teaches "relaxing" skills such as knitting — Mary's specialty — and origami to the "future grandmas of America."

ISABELLE FLORENCE JONES Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: The Academies at Jonesboro High School Parents: Robert and Mary Kay Jones College plans: Boston College

Isabelle Jones has been called "Dizzy Izzy" since she was a little girl, thanks to the energy she displayed in trying to keep up with her two big sisters. But Izzy, as she likes to be called, could also be called "Busy Izzy" because of the many school leadership positions she holds — student council president, National Honor Society treasurer, Spanish Honor Society president, to name a few — and other academic honors. She's No. 1 in her class. She swims, she runs cross-country. She volunteers at St. Bernards Hospital and the Hispanic Center. She's known, she said, as "that liberal person" at school because of her progressive views on gun control. Izzy said the most significant achievement of her high school career was organizing, as head of the local Students Demand Action chapter, the March for Our Lives last year. Calling "Show me what democracy looks like!" into her bullhorn, Izzy and other organizers led 200 people from Jonesboro High to the courthouse. The speakers included a survivor of Jonesboro's Westside Middle School shooting in 1998, in which two boys shot and killed five people and injured 10 others. Izzy spoke, too, about those who would shift the conversation away from guns and onto mental illness. "I spoke to the fact that someone who suffers from mental illness is more likely to be a victim" of gun violence than to cause it, she said. "People use it as a scapegoat." Because the Students Demand Action members were too young to get a permit for the march, the local Moms Demand Action helped out. "The Moms were so amazing; they let us take control of what we wanted to say," Izzy said. If you are an activist in a "big city," Izzy said, you can "talk to your elected officials and not get the door shut in your face. Here, to talk about gun control, it's a nonstarter, because people think it means you're going to take their guns away." So, Izzy's group focuses on having a community presence, participating in fairs and writing letters. Izzy is ready for big-city life and wants to pursue studies in global health, which is why she applied early decision to Boston College, which plans to offer a major in the field. Boston College has offered Izzy a Gabelli Presidential Scholars scholarship, which is a full-tuition award and goes to only 15 incoming freshmen every year. After college, the plan is med school and, someday, travel to help people in need of medical care with Doctors Without Borders.

JEREMIA LO Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Fayetteville High School Parents: Hsiaowen Cho and Wenjuo Lo College plans: Undecided

Jeremia Lo found her high school niche with Connotations, Fayetteville High School's annual literary magazine, where she serves as design director. When she joined the staff as a junior, she discovered a community of people who enjoy writing, art and photography as much as she does. Digital art has been a passion ever since her dad installed Adobe Photoshop on the family's computer when she was 10 years old. "Years of practice — setting aside time on the weekends to do photostudies and learn color theory — eventually turned jagged lines and irregular proportions into realistic portrayals of faces and creatures," Jeremia wrote in her Academic All-Stars essay. "Via the versatility of digital art — a medium that easily allows me to dabble in design, animation and drawing — I've been able to practice my communication skills by analyzing how details and the big picture work together to convey meaning to viewers." In the short run, thanks to those skills, she's made some spending money doing commissioned portraits and seen the designs for clubs and classes that show up all over the school. Longer term, she's considering a career in UI/UX (user interface/experience) design. To that end, she's planning on majoring in cognitive science or psychology to help her think about how people process design. But art isn't her only passion. While maintaining a 4.37 GPA and a No. 1 rank in her senior class of more than 500 students, she also found time to serve as publicist for the World Language Club and to co-found the Fayetteville High School History Club, realizing "that there are many important events in history that are often overlooked in our curriculum." She grew up in a Mandarin-speaking family, has taken five years of German and is studying Japanese on her own. Spanish, French and Korean are on her to-learn list.

TYLER MERREIGHN Age: 17 Hometown: Greenwood High school: Greenwood High School Parents: Ty and Josie Merreighn College plans: Undecided

When Tyler Merreighn auditioned for "Jeopardy!" last summer, he was coming in with over seven years of trivia experience: He's been on a Quiz Bowl team since he was in third grade. He's now captain of Greenwood High School's team, and in 2018 he led it to a second-place finish at the 6A Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association. While he didn't make the final cut for the game show, he said he would definitely try out again, and next time he'll be "a little more prepared." He'll have to find time to do that while majoring in biomedical engineering on a pre-med path. He hopes to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he's applied for the prestigious Bodenhamer Fellowship, which awards a select group of students $70,000 scholarships over the course of their education. During an educational trip to Peru with his high school in the summer of 2017, Tyler said he visited a community in Cusco and loved "seeing [the children's] faces light up when you could do something so simple for them," like playing a game of soccer. This experience helped him realize that "whatever I do, I definitely want to be able to help people." Last summer he attended the two-week Medical Applications for Science and Health program at Baptist Health in Fort Smith. MASH requires participants to complete 40 hours a week of shadowing in a hospital. Tyler said the experience affirmed his desire to become a physician, as he "really loved the atmosphere of the hospital." He took the ACT seven times in order to get a perfect score because "I just felt like I could do it, and if I didn't get [a perfect score], then I just felt like I was letting myself down."

KENDON MOLINE Age: 17 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Rebekkah and Corey Moline College plans: Brigham Young University

Kendon Moline said he has always liked learning how things are built, and as a child, he once spent an entire afternoon watching his neighbors get a new roof installed. A self-described "musician, math nerd, bowler and engineer," he's now third in his class at Conway High School and plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in the fall to study civil engineering. He's particularly interested in transportation planning, so civil engineering "falls right in line" with that passion. Kendon is so interested in engineering that he received the top possible score on his AP Physics C exam — a class his high school doesn't even offer. While he said he's "not the best at studying," he put in "a lot of effort" for the test because "if it's something you're passionate about, you'll commit to it." Kendon is also committed to his faith, as he'll only be attending BYU for a semester before he leaves to take part in his two-year mission as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's looking forward to his mission, during which he'll be able to "share my beliefs, the Gospel, to help others and to grow." While many young men begin their missions immediately after high school, his parents encouraged him to do a semester of school first in order to "get out of the house and be more independent," so he's not "too shocked" when he does venture out on his own. He said he plans on returning to school after his mission. Kendon also plays the trombone in his school's marching band, bowls for the school team and is working toward earning his Eagle Scout badge.

ANNA OPPENHEIM Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: Bay High School Parents: Tim and Lisa Oppenheim College plans: Columbia University

A conscientious leader, Anna Oppenheim uses her voice to make fellow Bay High School students heard. Her community-driven work ethic has come through in her service as student council president and senior class president. She's also used her voice as editor of the school newspaper to connect students and tell their unique stories, such as the feature she wrote about an eighth-grade boy who rescued his family — including his young siblings and stepmother, who had a broken leg — from their burning house. As a learner, Anna has always been interested in taking things apart and reassembling them. As a child, she was fascinated with the human skeleton and memorized every bone. "I know that sounds weird," she said. But her natural aptitude for science and medicine blossomed at an orthopedic surgery program through the Perry Initiative for women in medicine, where she performed a mock orthopedic surgery. After being handed a bone model, a bone saw and a few screws and rods, she was told to break the bone model, then figure out how to put it back together. Anna credits her success in that orthopedic exercise to her background in art, explaining that her artistic disposition helped her creatively place the rods and screws into the bones. Anna hopes to become a doctor, but said art will always be a part of her life. "Throughout my life, art has been a unifying thread, and I never want that passion to die," she said. She's auctioned her artwork to benefit various charities, like the Northeast Humane Society, the American Heart Association and the St. Bernards Health and Wellness Institute.

FELIPE MORALES OSORIO Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School Parents: Felipe and Norma Morales College plans: Undecided

Felipe Morales Osorio has a knack for learning on his own. He taught himself pre-calculus, so he could skip straight to calculus. When his world history teacher became ill and had to leave the class mid-year, he worked on the subject independently to earn a 4 (out of 5) on the World History AP exam, meaning he's likely to receive college credit for the course. He's made a habit of turning to Khan Academy, the online collection of free academic courses, to augment or supplement his studies, and it shows: He has a 4.42 GPA and is No. 1 in his class at Parkview. Perhaps his proudest learning achievement came during a Central Arkansas Library System JavaScript coding class he took when he was 12, considerably younger than most of his classmates. He struggled, but studied hard and by the end of the summer he'd created a small version of the original Nintendo "Legend of Zelda" game. He's done grander coding projects since then, but the flash drive that stores that game sits on his bedside table as a reminder of what dedication and perseverance can mean. Felipe is considering computer science as a career path, but he's been leaning toward becoming a research mathematician. "I think math is very beautiful," he said. "There's math everywhere around us. It's in the weather. It's in the seashells. It's in almost everything. It's useful in a wide variety of fields. Science is always changing. But in math, it's more concrete and more absolute. When you prove something, like a theorem, you're proving it using logical arguments. Once you prove it, it's absolute. That really appeals to me, that it has a solid foundation."

JACKSON PARKER Age: 18 Hometown: Paragould High School: Paragould High School Parents: Melanie Parker and Jonathan Lane College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville or Yale University, undecided

Jackson Parker speaks in a measured and self-assured tone that usually only comes with older age. He's good under pressure, evidenced by his many performance-based academic accolades, including scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT, winning the Arkansas State Spelling Bee in 2015, and earning Most Valuable Player in the Arkansas State Quiz Bowl in 2016. Concentrating for long stretches of time will serve him well as a heart surgeon, which he hopes to become one day. "I like the hands-on approach of surgery," he explained. It's an approach Parker has taken to further many of his interests, including his favorite subject, chemistry (he's an alumnus of the summer health program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences); music (he plays flute in the high school band and is a student of music theory), fine art (he draws inspiration from 19th century American landscape painter Thomas Cole) and architecture (American Gothic is his favorite style). "I want to apply myself toward everything I care about like a true Renaissance man," Parker said, adding a personal philosophical view that the arts and sciences, when paired, are fundamental to "understanding the greater physics of the universe." He is a burgeoning Renaissance humanist: While many high school students would rather follow the norm, at least socially and politically, Parker doesn't hesitate to sit at the empty table. Inspired by his grandmother, he's been active with the Greene County Democratic Party, which is so small, Parker said, "it can be hard to feel like you're making a difference." He continues to volunteer with the party because "it's important to start somewhere. You need to have the other side of the moral compass present." In fact, Parker expects to have a career in politics in some way, although he's not sure how. He just knows that "politics affect our lives daily, and if we want our problems to be solved, we have to play an active role."

NOAH BLAKE RABY Age: 18 Hometown: Newport High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Parents: Jennifer Raby, Angela Lawson and the late Jerry Raby College plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Last summer, Noah Raby spent six weeks in Chengdu, China, as part of a National Security Language Initiative for Youth program. He'd decided to take Mandarin at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts because, of all the foreign language options, it was the one he "was most uncomfortable with." That willingness to throw himself into the unfamiliar served him well while living with his host family and being served rabbit skull, with its brain, tongue and tendons that hold the jaw to the rest of skull still intact. "Despite how disgusting that might sound, it was actually pretty good," Noah said. Still, eating in the famously piquant Sichuan province wasn't a picnic for Noah, who describes himself as "not really a man of spiciness." Noah plans on minoring in Mandarin at M.I.T. while he's majoring in computer science. The combo could allow him to score a computer-engineering job with a Chinese company down the line. He got his love for computers from his late father, Jerry Raby, a longtime cable installer for Suddenlink who died of cancer just before Noah enrolled in the ASMSA. Noah remembers spending weekends with his dad working on tech projects: fixing a broken Xbox, making flammable thermite from material they bought on eBay, and doing various computer science projects. Noah built his first computer at age 11. His computer-related innovations have made an impact on ASMSA. His science fair project on texturizing ceramic additive manufacturing inspired the school to buy its own ceramic 3D printer.

ADAM SIWIEC Age: 17 Hometown: Rogers High School: Rogers Heritage High School Parents: Ashley and Tomek Siwiec College plans: Stanford University or University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Adam Siwiec knows there's power in language. When he sits at a computer, coding language lets him create websites, software testing metrics and a laundry list of other things most of us have never heard of. When he sits at his typewriter, though, the language of poetry lets him explore a whole other world — where nature, consciousness and inner reflection dominate the landscape. Adam has pursued both languages with an ambitious determination. He's a National Merit Semifinalist, ranked first in his class, is the All-State Programming Champion, placed second at the University of Arkansas Hackathon and founded his school's computer science club. He's also self-published two books of poetry, the most recent through Amazon's publishing service. "That was a really big deal for me," he said. "I got a box of a hundred books with my name on it sent to my door, and I didn't know what to do with them. So I started handing them out, then selling them. That was fun, adding in the business side of it, too." After he read an article about internet censorship in China, he combined his two interests to create a website that pulled in the poems he had published on Instagram so that people in China, who are not allowed access to the social media site, could read his poetry. Adam plans to study computer science in college and minor in creative writing. He already has some professional coding experience under his belt from spending last summer in Poland working with his uncle's digital services agency. "I think that being a writer, it's really hard to succeed if you're not a New York Times bestseller," he said. "I really want to work for a large company like Google or Apple and do poetry as a hobby."

CLAUDIA SMITH Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: eStem Public Charter School Parents: Will and Sara Smith College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Finding a balance between academic priorities and sports can be tricky, but Claudia Smith manages to do this and advocate for her fellow students at eStem Public Charter School. In addition to competing on the school's soccer and cross-country teams, Claudia and a friend started the Gender and Sexuality Alliance during their junior year at eStem. She did so because she wanted to "have a place for people to meet and feel like they had friends that are facing the same kinds of problems" as they are. The Alliance also works to help the community: It recently finished raising $400 for Lucie's Place, a nonprofit that provides resources and housing for homeless LGBTQ youth. No. 1 in her graduating class, Claudia is heading to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville this fall, where she plans to study engineering. While she's "really into math" and it's her favorite subject in school, she said the engineering program will allow her to do more "hands-on" work. Because eStem is a small school, she's looking forward to being on the UA's large campus with "a wider variety of people and opportunities to pursue [that] will give me more to get involved in." Claudia said she recently took a tour of the campus and was told that the school has several noncompetitive running groups, which she plans to join to keep her cross-country skills up to speed. She said her interest in politics will travel with her to Fayetteville, and she looks forward to getting involved with social justice organizations on campus.

CHASE MARIE SWINTON Age: 17 Hometown: Sherwood High School: Sylvan Hills High School Parents: Rick and Germaine Swinton College plans: Considering Vanderbilt University

Chase Swinton, who plans on studying neuroscience in college, has gotten just about as much hands-on experience in the field possible for a high school student. She learned about neurodegeneration in a project-based learning summer class at Washington University in St. Louis during the summer after her sophomore year. Last summer, she interned with Dr. Antiño Allen at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, working on NASA-funded research concerning "oxygen space radiation affecting hippocampal-dependent memory and cognitive function," as she described it in her All-Stars essay. In October, she was accepted to attend the Harvard Science Research Conference, where she learned about "computational advances in axon and neuron imaging." She's usually been the only African-American girl in such groups. That can be "difficult and lonely and isolating," she said, but as co-chair of the Principal's Council, a group that mentors middle school students, Sylvan Hills' valedictorian has gotten the chance to be an example for younger black female students. "One of my favorite sayings is 'representation begets representation.' If I'm a model for you, you'll be a model for someone else, and they'll be a model for someone else. That's really important in the black community, especially in STEM and for girls," she said. Chase's commitment to seeing things through shows in her soccer career. She was named all-conference as a freshman, but then sprained a ligament in her knee her sophomore year and suffered other knee injuries her junior year. Because of her UAMS internship, she couldn't have surgery to repair the knee over the summer, so she had to miss playing her senior year. But she's still the manager. "I didn't want to abandon the team," she explained.

ETHAN STRAUSS Age: 17 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Episcopal Collegiate School Parents: Noel and Joan Strauss College plans: Dartmouth College

Last summer, Ethan Strauss got a rare opportunity for a high school student. He interned at Forest Hill Capital, a small Little Rock investment firm, and he didn't spend his time there getting coffee and filing documents. Tasked with modeling the financial growth of a construction materials company to determine its investment potential, Ethan "read through five years of the company's quarterly reports and synthesized its income and cash flow statements and balance sheets," he wrote in his All-Stars essay, and then "linked the spreadsheets and used linear regressions to approximate future share prices." He may continue down that path by majoring in economics at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., but he's also considering international relations. He's been interested in geography since he was a child. He loves learning about different cultures. He's drawn to "the complexity of it all and being able to understand how other people think." He's particularly fascinated by unrecognized countries, areas that are self-proclaimed independent nations "and how it would be to live" in one. Pursuing a career in infrastructure investment could be a way for him to combine investments and international relations. He's sure to maintain a healthy dose of pursuits outside of his studies and work: A tennis ace, he's been half of a doubles team that's won the 3A state championship for four years in a row. He's also passionate about pingpong. His Episcopal counselor, Tricia Morgan, said he blushes when school staffers tell him pingpong "could be his Olympic sport." He's also working to share the sport with others. With the profits from a business he started reselling hard-to-find sneakers, he founded Paddle Together, a program that provides pingpong tables to homeless shelters and community centers.

SHAKIAH WILLIAMS Age: 17 Hometown: Blytheville High school: Blytheville High School Parents: Sharon Harris and Africa Wells College plans: Vanderbilt University

Mississippi County's entire population is less than that of the city of Conway. Shakiah (pronounced "Sha-kai-ah") Williams was born and raised there, in Blytheville. Some would say it's a sleepy town. Williams' high school years, however, have been quite the opposite. After school, she'd report to one of her two major extracurricular commitments: practice for the Blytheville High School cheerleading squad, or to practice and conditioning sessions as part of her membership on the Blytheville Chickasaw GymChicks gymnastics team. Add to that her membership in the school's French Club, FBLA, student council and Student Ambassadors; her time volunteering for the local chapters of both the Special Olympics and National Cancer Society; and her work with the annual Blytheville Christmas celebration "Lights of the Delta." "Honestly, this year it became stressful because of all the work I've had to get done, alongside the sports," Williams said. Part of that work, of course, was preparing to leave the high school nest. "College has always been a stressful subject for me," she wrote in her Academic All-Stars essay. "At one point in time I didn't even have the confidence to apply. I just didn't think I would make it." Her transcript shows how unfounded her fears were: Williams has a 4.22 grade point average. Her ACT score is a composite 30. Her language teacher, Lena Pierce, took her to Nashville to visit her dream school, Vanderbilt University. Williams was subsequently accepted, with just "a few thousand [dollars] a year to get covered," she wrote. "This achievement has helped me take some of the stress off of my mom. She is a single parent and having college paid for is just another weight off of her shoulders."

MICHELLE XU Age: 16 Hometown: College Station, Texas High School: Little Rock Central High School Parents: Joshua Xu and Alice Li College plans: University of Pennsylvania

When Michelle Xu found out she'd been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania, she said it was the happiest day of her life. Last summer she attended the university's Leadership in the Business World program, an intensive four-week curriculum of Wharton School of Business classes, during which Michelle's team created a startup business plan and presented it to their classmates. Michelle said she's "liked being a leader" since she was a child, and the LBW program helped her "[connect] the dots on how as a leader you lead by putting aside your ego." She said she aspires to be a "good leader in the business world," She's the first high school member of the Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses. She's also captain of Central High School's varsity Quiz Bowl team; president of its Future Business Leaders of America chapter, president of the Beta Club; vice president of Mu Alpha Theta, the school's math club; and president and founder of the school's Economics and Finance Club. Michelle said she founded the new club so students could learn about economics, rather than the "pure business" focus of the FBLA club. As valedictorian of her class, Michelle said she uses "a lot of time management" to balance her academic workload with her extracurriculars, and has had to make some sacrifices — she danced competitively until her sophomore year and played piano until her junior year, but quit both in order to focus on her classes and leadership roles. Michelle visits her family in China every three or four years, and she said a recent trip to her parents' hometowns helped her realize that "if my parents worked this hard to get to America, I need to work this hard to show them that I will continue their work."

RAMY YOUSEF Age: 17 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Little Rock Central High School Parents: Ziad Yousef and Muntaha Yousef College plans: Hendrix College or the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

One glance at Ramy Yousef's transcript makes it clear that he has good study skills. He's ranked seventh in his class of 550 at Central High School, with a GPA of 4.43 in classes as diverse as art, debate and pretty much every AP class ever taught. But it's a question about attending Arkansas Governor's School last summer that really gets him talking about what he loves about education. "You get to learn in an environment where you don't get grades," he said. "Making friends and just waking up and going to learn every day — it was a fun experience." Ramy's motivation to do well in high school has been, he said, simply to get into a good college and pay as little as possible for it. He's got a loftier goal for when he gets there, though: to study chemistry and eventually put that knowledge to work developing new vaccines. Science is a family pursuit. Ramy's dad is an entrepreneur, but his mother is a scientist, one sibling is in medical school and the other is in college studying biomedical engineering. Ramy does science even in his downtime, watching astronomy videos on YouTube. That interest took him to a first-place finish in astronomy at the 2017 Arkansas Science Olympiad. What's so cool about astronomy? "Just the possibility that life can exist on another planet," he said.

2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

#2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

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