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mermaidsirennikita · 5 years

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July 2019 Book Wrap-up

July was actually a really good month for me! I read a ton of books, and a lot of them were actually pretty good? It’s been a very transitory month for me; and I’m hoping to keep up the momentum as I start a new job. The standouts of the month include War, of my beloved Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series by Laura Thalassa, and Lock Every Door, a creepy, apartment-centric psychological thriller by Riley Sagers.

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. 3/5. Heartbroken by the death of her grandfather--the only parent she really knew--Anne Gallagher travels to Ireland. Ireland was her grandfather’s homeland, she she grew up on his stories of a family she has little connection with. Going out on the lake, she suddenly finds herself thrown back into 1921, in an Ireland on the brink of civil war. Taken in by Thomas Smith, a friend of her great-grandfather--who himself died young in the conflict--she finds a young boy who is oddly familiar, and a group of people she can’t help but connect with. As she grows close to Thomas and enveloped in his political struggles, Anne becomes terrified of her lack of control over the time she’s in, or the future she’s facing. This is a time travel romance, as you’d probably guess. And it’s really not super amazing or much to complain about. There is fluff. There are the necessary “out of time” moments, the tension between the hero and the heroine. It does seem that Harmon did her research on the Irish political landscape of the 1920s--but I can’t verify the novel’s accuracy. To be frank, I think that this actually got in the way of the story to an extent. The amount of time Michael Collins took up in this novel, acting as like... the best friend character? Was a bit awkward. Otherwise, it’s a fluffy, nice read.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. 3/5. Olive and Ethan hate each other, which is awkward as his brother is marrying her sister. But after the entire wedding party--save Olive and Ethan--end up with food poisoning, they agree to go on the honeymoon trip together, to save it from being completely wasted. The plan on avoiding each other the entire time; but when Olive encounters her future boss at the resort and tells what seems to be a white lie, they end up having to impersonate newlyweds. You can probably guess what happens next! Christina Lauren books usually feature protagonists with a fun, sweet chemistry, and this novel is no exception. The beach setting and Olive and Ethan’s angsty, unresolved sexual tension makes most of this book a super fun read. The only reason why I didn’t give it 4/5 is that the last twenty percent or so really annoyed me. There is a very typical twist, which wasn’t the problem--how our male lead reacted to it was. It didn’t ruin the book, but it did make me much less likely to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. 5/5. After losing her job and breaking up with her live-in boyfriend, Jules is desperate for money and a place to stay. As luck would have it, she stumbles upon an opportunity that offers both. The Bartholomew is an old building, populated by the wealthy elite; and Jules has long idolized it as the setting of one of her favorite childhood books. When the apartments are in between owners, their inherent value makes them targets for thieves--which is why the building’s managers employ apartment sitters. Jules is offered $12,000 to live in an apartment for three months; and despite her wariness, she can’t turn that kind of offer down. But when her newfound friend and fellow apartment sitter Ingrid goes missing, Jules sets on to a horrifying search for answers, which yield far more than she’s bargained for. It’s official: I really do love Riley Sager books. He’s 3/3 so far, and this one just may be my favorite. Sager isn’t shy about drawing from classic horror tropes, and this novel is no exception--it owes a good bit to Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining. But of course, another totally out there twist is thrown in, making the story his own. I can’t say much without spoiling it. But if you love thrillers and horror, try it. What pushes the book over the edge for me is that it has a real point about today’s class systems, and the privileges of wealth and the victimization of the poor in America.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. 4/5. Following a disastrous breakup, Tiffy needs a flat, and badly. So when she sees the ad posted by Leon, she’s desperate enough to take it. As Tiffy is an assistant editor and Leon is a night nurse, they have different schedules. They live in the flat together and even share a bed--though they sleep on opposite sides--but never see each other, communicating through notes left about the apartment. At first, it’s stiff--but gradually, as they learn more about one another and their separate troubles (from Tiffy’s obsessive ex to Leon’s incarcerated brother) they begin to rely on each other for more than just room and board... This is a really fucking cute, very sweet romantic comedy that touches on deeper subjects than you might think. The way through which Tiffy and Leon connect is pretty unique, and I felt for both of them. They were pleasant without being annoyingly perfect, and I just had a great time with the novel.

War by Laura Thalassa. 4/5. As the apocalypse rages on, Miriam struggles to live in an Israel ravaged by the literal War--that is, the horseman of the apocalypse. When the supernatural warlord stumbles across her in the battlefield, he’s taken aback by her own fury, and declares that she was sent by God to be his wife. Thrown in with War and his followers, Miriam is exposed to the true horror of the battlefield--while also learning that there may be more to War’s purpose, and her connection with him, than she thought. This is the sequel to Pestilence, and part of a big fat series about women falling in love with the four horsemen of the apocalypse. And I love them. War is a surprisingly endearing hero, though Thalassa never shies away from how brutal the horsemen are--which I so appreciate. You never forget that War isn’t a human, however you may love him. Miriam is another fun heroine, and one of those lovely characters who is honestly quite softhearted but still aggressive and never weak. It’s a cheesy romance novel, and it’s exactly what you should read right now, immediately.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. 3/5. Elisabeth is a foundling, raised in the Great Library of Austermeer to take care of its magical grimoires. When the library is attacked and its most powerful grimoire unleashed, Elisabeth is implicated in the crime. Sent to the capital to be dealt with, she becomes wrapped up in a conspiracy, with only a suspicious sorcerer to rely upon. I adored Rogerson’s first novel (An Enchantment of Ravens), and I wish I’d loved this one more. It was well-written, and the characters were interesting, but I just found the story a bit hard to get caught up in. Honestly, I think this had less to do with the plot itself and more to do with the pacing and length of the book. It took way too long for things to get started, and things just moved too slowly for my taste. However, I do think that tons of people will LOVE this book--if sorcery and slow burns are up your alley, go for it!

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves. 2/5. Thirty-year-old Anna is happy to take a dream teaching job--she’s tutoring the nearly-seventeen year old T.J. as his family vacations over the summer in the Maldives. Flying separately from the rest of the group, Anna and T.J. are thrown off course when their pilot has a heart attack and crashes into the sea, leaving the two of them trapped on an isolated island. As the years pass and Anna and T.J. survive together, they come to face the reality of a new world--and their changing feelings. I had to read this for the what the fuck factor, basically? To clarify, nothing happens between the leads until the guy is almost nineteen, and by then they’ve been alone for so long that it’s honestly pretty understandable. I feel like this could have been great, trashy fun and it still kind of was, but the writing was so........................................ Not great? It was really clunky and really awkward, and the characters kept repeating things to each other that didn’t need to be repeated. The dialogue took me out more than anything else. But I don’t know, I wasn’t disengaged? It’s a spectacle of a book.

The Royal Secret by Lucinda Riley. 3/5. After the death of acting legend Sir James Harrison, reporter Joanna is set to cover his funeral. There, she meets a mysterious older woman, who sets her on a path to uncover a secret that has been hidden for more than seventy years--connected to the royal family. I don’t have much to say about this one. It intrigued me because it was actually published a little over 20 years ago, but due to the timing--it was written when the royal family was at a peak low in terms of popularity, but published right around the time that the popularity took an upswing--it did rather poorly. It was an interesting enough read, but never grabbed me. The characters felt disconnected and bland, and ultimately the thriller aspects were pretty light, or maybe just not the types that I enjoy. It’s not a bad book, but it’s also not for me.

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo. 2/5. This non-fiction book follows three women throughout the years, focusing on their varied sex lives. This just wasn’t for me. Other people will love it, but I was looking for something less... intentionally poetic. I wanted it to be more honest and upfront and analytical.

The Last Leonardo: The Secret Lives of the World’s Most Expensive Painting by Ben Lewis. 4/5. An account of the history of Salvator Mundi, the allegeded Leonardo da Vinci work sold for $450 million. Lewis writes in an engaging manner, revealing both the painting’s history and the case for and against it being a Leonardo--and what I really love too is his examination of the questions surrounding its value even if it is a Leonardo, considering the painting’s extensive restoration (which could have arguably taken away from the artist’s original hand) and its general quality compared to other works by Leonardo. I’m not sure if people who aren’t into art history or at least history would be into this, but I found Lewis’s skepticism and reserve regarding the topic weirdly refreshing. I have a lot of feelings about Salvator Mundi, and I appreciated the way he communicated his.

The Descendant of the Crane by Joan He. 4/5. After the death of her father, Hesina is left as the heir to the throne. The issue? She thinks that her father was murdered--and in her pursuit of the truth, she seeks help from a sooth, one of the magic-users forbidden by the Eleven, the wise people who restructured the kingdom years ago. She is then set to work with Akira, a thief who’s meant to represent her in court as she struggles to find the killer--but ends up on a path that will reveal more than she’d bargained for. It’s hard to not spoil this one? It has many twists and turns, to the point that it did get kind of convoluted (and the ending is far from resolved, though there’s no guarantee of a sequel). But I admire He’s ambition and the scope of the story. I hope we do get a follow-up!

#books #book recs #book roundup

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connywrites · 5 years

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Synonyms

also on [ao3]

“It’s ninety-two degrees and overcast outside,” the voice stated to Carl, notifying him of the weather as soon as Leo had drawn the curtains.

“Sounds like a great day to stay in bed,” Carl muttered as he rolled onto his side, closing his eyes while he felt himself doze back into unconsciousness. Leo settled beside him on the bed, gently grabbing his shoulder with a soft nudge.

“Come on, Carl. It’s time to take your medication. You know we can’t skip that. It’s important.” Lifting faded gray eyebrows, Carl sighed, turning back over so he was on his back and held out his arm for the typical routine. Leo fetched the device needed, planting the needle carefully into Carl’s arm while it automatically dispensed the chemicals.

“I won’t be here forever, you know,” Carl brought up.

“What will you do when you have the house to yourself?” Blinking, the blue ring on Leo’s temple rotated with a few times while it considered the question.

“I don’t know. Look after things, I guess. I could rent it out for a roommate, maybe,” it thought out loud, glancing out the window to the cloudy skies. It looked like a nice day to paint, it mused.

“Honestly I thought you were gonna sell the place, but maybe there’s no point.”

“Oh, no, they want to turn it into a museum,” Carl said with disdain in his voice, face lengthening as he griped.

“I’m not having my home become a display case, though. They can do that with my art, not with my house. I want you to have the place. Markus can, too, if he ever comes home.” Always quiet about the subject, Leo nodded once.

“Has he called?”

“No, Carl. Want me to call him?” With sadness in his eyes, Carl glanced away, covering the part of his inner elbow that had been nicked with the needle as he waited for the sting to dissipate.

“No, thank you. I need to use the restroom and I’d like breakfast.”

“You got it,” Leo responded, standing up to scoop him out of bed and begin the sequence of chores.

“I don’t have anything for you here,” Carl snapped, doing his best to keep a civil composure. Markus’ hands were on the sides of his head, feeling the pinpricks of unshaved hair poking out from his scalp and face that cast a shadow over his cheeks that made him look a bit older and much more tired.

“Don’t lie to me, you know that’s not the truth,” Markus said with dismay, walking over to grab one of the nearby canvases and tuck it under his arm.

“Some would say it’s impolite to steal from your dad,” the android quipped from its place, standing next to Carl with a downcast glare in Markus’ direction from its position.

“Oh, shut up, you picture-perfect little prick,” Markus said with a surprisingly smooth tone. His anger was but a flickering flame, generally tame unless you added to the fire, but it could flicker and consume with fury given the chance.

“You’re just another rich people expense that’s taking advantage of the markets and utilizing the situation of poverty for the sake of another multi-millionaire company.” Turning to look at his father, he frowned.

“I expected better. I know you didn’t want me around, but replacing me? And with one of those?” He gestured to Leo with his other arm, setting aside the canvas as he redirected his attention to the argument he decided was now at hand.

“I’m surprised it doesn’t have blonde hair and blue eyes, you superficial asshole.” Carl sighed.

“We’ve had this conversation, Markus. It isn’t about that. I needed a caretaker and you know I don’t have any immediate family to rely on. You certainly haven’t done your share in helping me after the accident, either. I know you would be upset with me no matter what the android’s skin color was, anyway.” Glowering, Markus acknowledged that he was right, and he didn’t like that. When he went to reach for the art again, Leo stepped up to him, holding a hand out to signal him as it put itself between the two of them.

“Sorry, but I’m not gonna let you do that. Leave Carl’s stuff alone and get out of the house before I call the police.” Vision darkening, Markus took one more step forward, analyzing Leo as he stared down at it with looming green eyes.

“Easy for you to say, when the protection is on your side,” he said with long-festering hatred in his tone. Being a poor person of color in the light of bright privileged white men’s flashlights was never a beneficial angle, and he’d make sure it was never forgotten as long as he lived.

“Get out of Carl’s house. This is your last warning.”

“You’re lucky you’re not scrap metal. I could make more money selling you. Not to mention blue blood goes for a nice price these days,” Markus underhanded, prompting a particularly hurt glance from his father.

“Don’t be gruesome,” Carl told him.

“Joke’s on you, father. I know you like to think these assholes bleed and all, but it’s just advanced oil, really.” Casting Leo a sideways glance, he sneered, shoving it away by the chest in one rough motion.

“Bettering our society…by what? Replacing humans with these dolls?”

“Androids have been useful for a variety of things and are particularly handy in cases like mine, with disability,” Carl repeated yet again, slowing his words as he wondered if they ever get through. Markus sighed, rolling his eyes.

“I’m poor too, dad, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine to just cast me aside and get one of these things instead!”

“What am I supposed to do? A human nurse will tire out and be left just as miserable as I am watching me wither away, and there’s no need for that. Leo has taken great care of me,” Carl explained with more care than he knew his son would appreciate listening to.

“I don’t expect you to understand that, Markus, but please respect the situation for what it is, and not what you don’t like about it.” The wisdom cut deep as Markus folded his arms, shifting his weight and leaning back on one leg. Leo’s eyes never left him.

“I’ll respect these mannequins as soon as I get the respect I deserve first,” Markus snapped. The way Carl and his android both stared him down made him feel uncomfortable, so he backed away and turned around to leave.

“You can’t act like a victim in the shoes of an opposer,” Carl warned him with keen words he knew Markus would hear, understand, and remember. Predictably, Markus froze in place, even with the paintings under his arm and fury beneath his skin.

“You don’t know what being a victim is, you spoiled son of a bitch,” Markus spat with poison in a voice that weighed memorably under his breath, ashamed to be speaking such words from his own mouth to his father of all people before they so much as left his mind. As if awoken from an unidentified stillness, Leo shifted into motion again, having stood idly by while the two had their exchange and it felt no need to intervene until the situation became particularly heated.

“Get out of my way,” Markus warned it between clenched teeth.

“Not ‘til you hand over the art,” Leo responded.

“Please, Markus,” Carl agonized, leaning back in his wheelchair.

“I’ll give you a hundred dollars, but that’s it. I want you to leave. I don’t want to see you on my property again, son,” he said with heartbreak in his voice, but kept his tone somber.

“But you’re not selling my art to buy drugs with.” Markus, while looking for an ultimate gain in his quest of money and material items, ironically hated when Carl bargained so easily. There was no way to win when he tried to remain neutral and meet halfway, and no way to lose. Always on a mission to outsmart his father, it often hurt his ego to fail.

“Your art’s worth way more,” Markus argued simply.

“I want a grand.” Carl scoffed, closing his eyes and turning towards to Leo, ensuring it was safe where it was; watching and listening quietly but always prepared to step in if need be.

“That’s ridiculous,” Carl denied. Temper flaring, Markus tossed aside the painting, thrusting it to the ground and stepping over the wooden frame so it snapped beneath his feet. Leo stepped forward, stopping him in place.

“Last warning, pal,” it remarked with a yellow flash of its LED swiftly turning red once Markus cast it a particularly dark glare.

“Take it or leave it and get out.” That was it. He went to shove the machine, only to find his vision blank and a loud ringing in his ears.

“I’m sorry, Carl. I didn’t mean to-“ Leo’s hands were pressed to the sides of its head as it froze in place, trying to decide what to do with a turn of its heel before it began to pace.

“Get out of here, Leo,” he warned gravely under his breath, looking up at the android with a solemn gaze in his eyes.

“They’ll tear you apart. Go!” The gunshots were the last thing Carl heard before a tightness in his chest swept him away from consciousness.

Waking up with his heart thrumming heavily to the sound of beeping monitors was one thing. Hearing the newscast about his own father nearly dying of a heart attack while he and the android were right there on the scene was another.

The words didn’t immediately register for what they were, but his memory was good enough they echoed in his mind crisply so it was stored for later, when he could think over it all again when his head didn’t hurt. Coughing, he felt his breath catch in his throat, turning to stare down a trash can and vomit into it.

The next thing he realized was the blood dripping down his face from his forehead, fingers grazing over the wound with an upward glance of disgust. It wasn’t too bad; he’d suffered worse, and if they didn’t wrap it up, it probably wasn’t anything to worry about. Still. He took a moment to question whether he was left in the ICU, a familiar scene settling in once he took a look around him.

“Not again,” he groaned out loud to himself, rubbing a hand over his forehead with a sigh as disappointment welled in his chest and nausea tugged his stomach tight. He’d gotten high again, he recollected, thinking back to his time before the ‘visit’ to Carl’s house. Running his hands over his pockets, he checked to see if he had his phone; he did. Pulling it out, he glanced over his recent calls, squinting through the blurry vision as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the screen.

Carl tried to call once, no voicemail left behind. Checking the time from three hours ago, he sighed, deleting the notification and carelessly tossing the phone onto the plastic stand next to him. In the process of the device clinking over the furniture, he heard the rattle of a pill bottle and the sound of shaking dishware, glancing over to realize someone had left him a small meal and some medication; probably to help with the withdrawal symptoms. Without an appetite, he felt no real drive to eat, but chewed away at half of the sandwich and a portion of the peach fruit cup sitting nearby. Swallowing down the glass of water in halves, he took the medication in-between before laying down in his side in case the nausea caught up with him again, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

“Dad’s worried you’re dead.” The way it said dad settled illy on his ears.

“Well, now you can tell him I’m not,” Markus said flatly.

“Is he going to come visit me or not? He could have called me himself instead of having his android do it,” he murmured. Leo’s voice held no audible difference in reaction.

“Only if you agree to sober up.” Regret formed a knot in his throat, and he felt like his entire head had gone numb.

“For how long?”

“I dunno,” it responded, and the aspect seemed strange to him that an ever-intelligent android didn’t know something.

“That’s not a fair bargain, if he doesn’t even set the terms,” Markus stated stubbornly in a low tone.

“It’s not up to me,” Leo responded. He sighed.

“You didn’t get taken to the scrapyard, huh?”

“I did. I pieced myself back together and left,” Leo replied simply. Markus narrowed his eyebrows in confusion, squinting at the screen of the hospital TV as he tried to digest the news. Nothing was really settling in through the headache from his fall.

“That’s…freaky,” was all he thought to say, and hung up the phone, setting it aside on the nearby nightstand with a sigh. It was time to make some big decisions for himself.

#detroit: become human #so....... guess who started a new project lmao #dbh: markus #dbh: leo manfred

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saintaugustinerp · 5 years

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Congratulations Julia! Your OC has been accepted, with a title change to the name of The Callow with the faceclaim Manu Rios. Please be sure to check out the accepted applicants checklist! Also be sure send us a link to your blog within the next twenty-four hours. Welcome to St. Augustine!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name/alias: Julia

Age (18+) : 24

Gender/Preferred pronouns: She/Her

Timezone: CST

IN CHARACTER

Character Label: The Déraciné (Or The Disenchanted, The Somatic, or The Ardent)

Character Name: Arlo Loveless

Age (18+): 19

Gender/Pronouns: He/Him

Desired Faceclaim: Manu Rios

Home Town: Los Angeles, CA

Three Positive Traits: Affable, Altruistic, Idealistic

Three Negative Traits: Guarded, Restless, Tender

Major: Performance

Year: 2nd

Quote: “Before we can see properly we must first shed our tears to clear the way.”

Character blurb: If his smile was any more radiant, he would have soaked the prism of colors of the train station and coaxed its deep rays into a nimbus around his chestnut crown. The anxious flicker of his gaze cemented his nervousness and the grip on his Tumi bag brought his knuckle bones to the surface in anticipation, kissing delicate flesh with each shift of his grip. Arlo Loveless was molded by the callous fingers of a sculpture and brought to life with an offering of heart shaped truffles blessed with prayer, but perhaps such a description was far too generous; he was alone, after all, and resorted to his embarrassing habit of fiddling with the gold necklace on his neck during times of self conflict. Eventually, the words dotting the tip of his tongue dissolved like sugar as his gaze on a boy occupied by his phone drifted back to the tiny patch of concrete he’s temporarily claimed as his own– he will find his voice eventually, but for now, he waited to be retrieved by his chauffeur unaccompanied.

Developed Head Canons:

He was born into the lap of luxury, the personification of Americana: His mother’s maiden name is Luciana Ruiz, daughter of a Spanish immigrant. After becoming the successful leading lady in a handful of Broadway productions, her fame doubled after being featured in her first Blockbuster romantic movie Fields of Violet with Harrison Loveless. Their convincing chemistry was fueled by offscreen romance and they married soon after, with every detail plastered on the gossip tabloids. They stayed there through Oscar nominations, memorable controversies, and the birth of their two children– with Arlo being the youngest. Currently, their net worth has easily exceeded the hundreds of millions and their lavish lifestyle has reflected such. Arlo was never taught to budget, why would he have to? There was money to burn, and with the disconnect from the idea of ‘cost’ diminishing each passing year, he’s grown quite fond of the game ‘how much is ____?’ each time he visits the little market at St. Augustine.

His parents are highly involved Scientologists: The organization fed off of rich, eager celebrities like his parents. Millions of dollars donated meant he was treated like royalty at every gathering and his naivete attitude towards the malpractices of its leaders continued up until the age of 14, when he walked in on a disciplinary hearing of a member. From then on, the smiles seemed less genuine and the hologram of pure bliss associated with Scientology began to crack.

He is a paranoid heart and a lonely doll: Because of his parent’s world renowned reputation, he has always been under the paparazzi spotlight. Every social media, no matter how anonymous he’s tried to be, has hundreds of thousands of followers. Scientology has a habit of keeping track of their members as well, wanting to contain them in a snow globe of cultlike utopia. His school was filled with peers bred from Scientologist families. His tutors, his nanny, everyone he’s been in contact with all have some tie to the religion. Because of his status, Arlo grew up friendless– children thought him as vain and selfish while parents were intimidated of allowing their children to play with someone who can bring harm to their spawn with a mindless negative comment. When his parents heard about his loneliness, Arlo suddenly found himself with a best friend– alas, upon his discovery that Leo was planted in his life like everyone else, he became more wary.

His acceptance into St. Augustine was not without protest: Coming from an acting family created a window of opportunity for him to follow suit. His first performance was in a movie when he was three years old. With a few scattered appearances, Arlo has become quite good at faking confidence as an actor from his self conscious real life. At 13, he became fixated with art instead, particularly oil paints. With the pressure of his revelation over Scientology clear in his mind, he applied to St. Augustine for art and Julliard (under his parents’ insistence) for performance when he turned 18. He got accepted into both, but in his desperate plea for independence and freedom, he succumbed to his parents’ bargain of allowing him to study in St. Augustine, but for performance instead.

He is desperate– a songbird who sings praises and a hawk who demands Good: Arlo has already deemed himself as paranoid; he knows he’s a fretful person, and he tries his hardest to hide his fear so he won’t screw up his chances at real friends. Hungry, he called it, hungry for friendship to the point of buttering his words with compliments and little white lies with the purest intentions. Maybe he sounded manipulative, but his intentions are pure and his desire to good will not ever waiver. Arlo’s nervous temper personified itself as a nibbling sense of inadequacy; he doesn’t think he’s worth the trouble, but he desperately wants to be worth something. Sheltered, oblivious and naive– but ready to explore, if not for the forsaken need to take his first step shutting down his body system.

Love; love is all you need: And he craves it. His mother’s films created little snapshots of things that could happen, may happen, will happen. They’ve been quoted by lovesick girls and red eyed heartbreakers and her own son has been captured by the allure. His parent’s love for each other proved the existence of soulmates, but Arlo’s blind faith has been jeopardized by his desire to throw himself into the depths of the ocean and wait for someone to pull him into safety. He anticipates that he will drown, but for now he teeters on cliff’s edge, waiting for the lifeguard to take their seat on their tower before he jumps.

Plot Ideas:

Although Arlo excels in performance, he still placed himself in a few art classes because he enjoys them. He hopes to make friends in both concentrations, maybe some who show the same passion he has.

The New Reality gives him a lot to explore, particularly with people who aren’t around him for a simple purpose. His pursuit of happiness, friends, and a detox from all that he’s learned about his religion will give him a lot of whiplash. He will need an anchor, and in return, he hopes to be a statue of comfort for those who need him.

Once the slip up from Scientology happened, the blemishes began to shine. He’s been a witness to violence just a room away and a bystander to unabashed verbal thrashing. Arlo worries that he appears cold for not batting an eyelash at death or its friends, but violence doesn’t hold the same levity for him than it does others. If anything, the death of the Good Samaritan brought curiosity and a guilty desire to eavesdrop on the gossip circling it.

His search for love is neverending, but he prays whoever captures his heart will be gentle with it. He shatters easily, particularly so when his romantic vulnerability is open to one person at a time.

He grew up with privilege like the Mad King and the Golden Heir, but their popularity makes him nervous, as if one wrong word will condemn him to mockery.

The Reveler and The Purveyor intimidate him because he doesn’t think he’s cool enough or sharp witted enough or ready to dive deep into sinful indulgences like they do.

The Guileless and The Wallflower are possible friends due to their gentle nature; he is in need of confidence, and perhaps they can patch up his slowly deflating self worth with a pep talk and some warm cookies.

The Meteorite and The Analyst provide intelligence he knows he does not harbor, but their diligence in trying to uncover the truth is admirable to him.

Writing Sample:

When he first stepped foot into his human anatomy art class he didn’t expect to be met with an extremely handsome Italian eating an apple, dressed in an open robe and an extremely tight pair of sky blue trunks. Arlo’s eyes quickly zoomed around the room in a desperate attempt at locating the farthest seat away from the model, but to his dismay, his classmates have beat him to it. Intimidation, it seemed, was universal; some of the students looked amused, others discomforted, but most were making small talk that he wished he could partake in one day. This was only the fourth class; it’s normal to not have any friends still, right? Or was a pathetically revealing of his piss poor social skills– yeah, that was probably more accurate. So, without further ado, he shuffled to his seat right up front, placed his bag down and began to load his sketchbook upon the isle with a gentle bat of fuzz off of the creamy pages.

Arlo was preoccupied with taking out his charcoals when he heard the professor introduce Mario, bringing a chorus of hellos from the students. Once he looked up again, he realized that the man had even less to wear– in fact, he was completely nude. Nude and poised with his body draped over the leather couch in the center of the room like an olive skinned Rose, ready to be drawn like one of his French girls. Hiding the flush on his cheeks with a weak wipe of his sleeve upon his face, he cleared his throat and focused on sketching the figure starting with geometric figures. The classical music his professor put on didn’t help his nerves, nor did Mario’s gaze every single time he peeked over his sketchpad to inspect the curve of his jawline.

After about an hour, he noticed his Burnt Ember color dwindling on its last legs. Arlo quietly snuck a glance over to the girl on his right to see if she was using hers at the moment. Cautiously, he wiped his cheek again (streaking himself with a thin line of charcoal in the process) and conjured up a small, shy smile.

“May I..um.. borrow t-that one, please?”

She didn’t know her smile in return would make his entire day and her gentle push of her charcoal tin towards him prompted the most beautiful sense of pride welling in his chest. For now, he bit down on his bottom lip and focused on adding a bit of ember to Mario’s cheekbone, trying to contain his grin.

Other:

Muse inspo !

poetry

insta 1 ;; insta 2

album ;; Actual Playlist

#callow #rp #rpg #roleplay #accepted

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ellanainthetardis · 6 years

Photo

And on and on we go! Only 5 chapters left!

[ff] or [ao3]

75. 22 Months & 10 Months (4)

Haymitch heard the distinctive footsteps of his wife coming toward the living-room with something akin to relief. He usually liked Lyssandra and Leo well enough but having to be in the same room as Lyssa while she got over-excited about the ball at the Presidential Mansion was a little too much even for him. And that was without taking into consideration the fact that they had both poured themselves a drink of Tadius’ best liquor.

And had offered him one.

Which he had obviously declined.

“Oh, Effie, do hurry!” Lyssa squealed, barely glancing away from the huge TV. “Here they come!”

Effie walked into the room with less flair than usual. She had changed out of the green dress and into something a little more casual – well, if silk red pants and a white sweater with a sweetheart neckline could be considered casual, but then again her sister was wearing an evening cocktail dress for what they had agreed would be a quick dinner so… Effie was exhausted, it was written all over her face, and he simply opened his arm when she sank on the couch next to him, not surprised when she immediately leaned against his side, company be damned.

Her blue eyes darted to the various bottles of alcohol on the coffee table and she pursed her lips. He rubbed her shoulder with his thumb, letting her know he was fine. Well… Fine might be a big word for it but he was doing alright with the temptation.

“They’re sleeping?” he asked quietly while Lyssa exclaimed at the cars stopping next to the red carpet on TV.

He had offered to put the kids to bed but she had insisted on doing it herself, probably needing some family time after that dreadful day. The speech that morning had left her tired and it hadn’t gotten better in the afternoon. Her parents’ house had literally been besieged by the press. They had had an agreement with Plutarch about that but, to be fair, after what had happened and what Effie had revealed, none of them expected the former Gamemaker to keep his word. Haymitch had braved through the crowd at some point after noon, because Snowball needed a walk and because they would never let go until someone had made some sort of official comment on their behalf.

It had been empty words, of course, because Effie had always been better at handling that sort of circus but it had given the press something to chew on for now. It didn’t mean they weren’t still camping in the street outside. It was the whole reason the curtains were drawn and the kids had had so much trouble falling asleep.

“I don’t think they will stay asleep all night.” she sighed in answer, placing the baby monitor on his lap.

“I cannot believe you chose to stay here instead of going.” Lyssa commented. And, right on cue, Tadius and Elindra stepped out of the car that had been sent for them, Haymitch’s invitation in hand.

The next car would be the kids’, and the one after that Jo’s and Annie’s.

They couldn’t all miss the ball without it being turned into a political message regarding Hummingbird Operation and Paylor’s involvement but they had decided that Effie’s absence could be put on the day’s conference and that Haymitch would simply stay behind with his wife as a good husband ought to do. That was their official stance on it.

The truth was Effie had begged out and Haymitch hadn’t wanted to go without her so they had offered their spot to her parents – if only to watch Elindra get flustered at the thought of going to a ball at the Presidential Mansion.

“I had enough excitement for the day.” Effie replied casually, smiling when Katniss and Peeta exited their own car. “Don’t they look dashing?”

They did.

Katniss was wearing an orange-red dress that vaguely reminded him of fire – the whole point, he figured – and her dark hair was up. Her burn scars were exposed but she didn’t seem to care. She never did. She looked radiant and the boy looked really good in his dark suit. They waved at the crowd, forced smiles…

Everything they didn’t have to do anymore.

The picture of two perfect victors.

“We shouldn’t have come back.” Haymitch said in a low voice.

Lyssa was too engrossed in the live feed to hear but Leo shot him an understanding look.

Effie simply leaned harder against him. An agreement, he knew.

A visit to her parents would have been fine. He truly thought they could have handled that but being in the spotlight again, playing roles they had all long shed…

“Are you still going to do the campaigning work for Paylor?” Leo asked.

Haymitch rubbed his face with his free hand. Nobody had been in touch about that. He had been happy to schedule a couple of interviews in support of Paylor because he truly believed she was the best candidate but now he wasn’t sure they wanted him anywhere near a camera in case he decided to follow Effie’s example and leak more state secrets.

“If they still want me too, I guess, yeah.” he shrugged.

“This is all my fault.” Effie shook her head. “I do not know what came over me. I am so…”

“Do not dare say you are sorry.” Lyssa huffed. “They have been lying to us for years. We have a right to the truth. I am proud of you for what you did.”

Effie stared at her sister for a few seconds and then swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

“If you want my opinion, you did Paylor a favor.” Leo observed. “Her transparency policy gave her a boost in the polls.”

“Smoke and screens.” Haymitch grumbled. “Always fucking smoke and screens.”

“Politics.” Leo remarked in a fatalistic tone.

After a short debate between the two sisters, they agreed to have dinner in the living-room instead of moving to the big dining-room. Haymitch couldn’t help but smirk, watching them giggle to themselves because apparently having a relaxed dinner on the couch in front of the TV was a big no-no in that house and Elindra would have had a fit if she had known. It was good to see Effie relax and have some fun.

He had honestly thought that press conference would go worse than it had. He had been fully prepared for her to have a panic attack up there on the podium. Talking about what had happened to her, about the torture… It wasn’t easy when it was the only two of them so in a room full of people… All in all, she had handled it well. Blurting out state secrets wasn’t the worst that could have happened and he did see her point. They advocated truth but kept the secrets they wanted to keep.

Truth be told, he was glad the truth was out.

Not only because there was some justice in that but because now people might stop calling Katniss insane for having murdered a war hero. Coin was no hero. Thirteen’s candidate could deny all he wanted, call out Effie’s credibility into question and accuse Paylor of lying… It didn’t change the fact people had already decided what to believe.

And when all the former victors stood on one side of the equation…

Effie barely touched her plate and she ignored all his pointed looks about it. He kept his peace because she did finish her chocolate mousse and as long as she was eating chocolate, she couldn’t be feeling that bad.

They all grew a little quiet after dessert. They watched the live feed from the ball, trying to glimpse the kids and the Trinkets… Haymitch wasn’t really interested but Lyssa’s running commentary got a few snorts out of him. Effie was starting to doze off, he could feel her sliding a little down the couch, her head falling on his shoulder only to pop back up…

He was about to suggest they called it a night when he noticed Leo’s staring.

He liked Lyssandra’s fiancé but he didn’t like men staring at his wife with that sort of thoughtful look.

“What?” he challenged.

His tone was a little aggressive and the women both startled and looked at them both in turn, puzzled. Leo blinked as if he had been distracted and then shook his head.

“My apologies. I was simply thinking…” The Capitol winced. “I am sorry if it is a sensitive subject but… It is common knowledge your bank accounts were frozen and seized during the Purge…”

“It wasn’t exactly during the Purge.” Effie corrected. “It was well after Katniss’ trial. Well after Haymitch was gone. Peeta had already gone back to Twelve too.”

“So, after you were officially pardoned?” Leo insisted.

Effie glanced at Haymitch who shrugged.

“Yeah.” he confirmed. “I got her pardon secured weeks before Snow’s execution. I bargained it against…” He hesitated. It wasn’t a time he liked to revisit. In the end he rolled his eyes. It was all done. In the past. “Coin was holding Effie over my head. She wanted her to be tried but it was just a way to control Katniss through me. I threatened her to tell everyone about Hummingbird Operation if she didn’t pardon Effie. She refused to cave but… It ain’t like she had a choice. Plutarch did the rest.”

“I see…” Leo frowned. “And… Pardon me for asking but how much would you say your fortune amounted to, Effie?”

“Well…” She let her voice trail off and bit down on her bottom lip, probably trying to make calculations. “It wasn’t just my bank accounts. They took my apartment and everything that was in it. It had been ransacked so there wasn’t much left of value inside. My jewels were gone but there were still some haute couture pieces and… All in all… I would say…” The amount she announced was such that Haymitch regretted taking a sip of water at that precise moment. He almost choked on it and coughed hard until she patted his back with a worried expression. “Are you alright, darling?”

“You never said it was that much.” he croaked.

“It did not seem to matter. Suddenly I had debts everywhere.” she said defensively. “Bills that were scheduled to be paid, purchases, groceries…” She closed her eyes and waved a hand. “You remember how it was.”

He remembered because he had paid out almost all of it.

But at no point had he thought she had owned that much money. He had known she had been wealthy. Of course, she had been wealthy. Escorts were rarely poor. But…

“Didn’t know you were that loaded.” he admitted. Mostly because she was the spending kind.

“Life was expensive and I was not particularly careful.” she confessed. “But between my escort salary, the modeling jobs and the money I got for featuring in various magazines or TV shows… Besides, people often sent me free stuff in hope I would use it and do free advertisement for them. Dresses, shoes, furs, jewelry…”

“It adds to the estate.” Leo nodded. “And you did not try to protest when…”

“I was not given a choice to protest.” she cut him off, wrapping her arms around herself. “They showed up at my apartment at dawn, handed me a piece of paper with the government’s seal and they kicked me out with one suitcase full of clothes they declared unsuitable for auctioning.” She licked her lips. “I tried to book into a hotel but my credit cards were blocked. I had some cash in my wallet they hadn’t thought to check… I tried to find a job but nobody in the Capitol would… I managed for a few weeks and then I had too many debts to deal with, I was so tired, I… I tried to come here and… Well, Mother said I wasn’t welcomed. At that point, I just… I just couldn’t do it anymore.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I left for Twelve.”

Haymitch covered her hand with his, brushing his thumb over her new ring. She flashed him a poor excuse of a smile.

“Oh, Effie…” Lyssa whispered, sounding genuinely hurt for her sister. Or maybe guilt because it was her fault her parents had kicked her out the door.

“When was that?” Leo asked.

“A year after I came back with Katniss.” Haymitch answered. “I remember ‘cause I thought it was almost to the day. What’s with all the questions?”

“I’m sorry, professional quirk.” the Capitol apologized. “I was just wondering because… Based on what you said today at that conference and what you just told me… I do not see what legal grounds they had to seize your assets.”

“They called it compensation for my war crimes.” Effie said.

“You were pardoned for your war crimes.” Leo argued. “So unless it was made part of the agreement when they officially pardoned you…”

“No.” Haymitch shook his head. And then he frowned. “You’re saying…”

“I am saying that a few months after the war, Panem’s finances were at an all-time low and that they were desperate to get money anywhere they could find it.” Leo confirmed “They tried to do that to a few Capitol companies but we are talking about empires here. They fought back. Some lost, of course, once their association with Snow was proven. That’s how I met Lyssa, actually. When the government turned on Tadius’ company. But in Effie’s case… It looks very straightforward to me. Didn’t you have a lawyer?”

“He died in the war.” Effie whispered. “Half my friends were dead and the other half wouldn’t associate with me. Father… Mother made it clear Father would not associate with me either so…”

Lyssa was upset, that was plain to see. Leo reached out to pat her leg but his attention was fully on Effie.

��You have a lawyer now.” the Capitol declared. “And I truly believe if you take them to court, you can get your money back. Perhaps not the entire amount, understand. It might be difficult to prove you owned anything you do not have legal paperwork for but… What was on your back accounts and the value of your apartment… Those should be easy enough to trace back.”

“Take them to court?” she repeated, a little faint.

Haymitch made a face. “After this morning…”

“Precisely because of this morning.” Leo insisted. “They had no legal grounds and now that the opinion is favorable to Capitols… It would be the right time.”

“Hummingbird Operation was top secret.” he retorted. “If she takes them to court and they decide to retaliate…”

“They can’t legally retaliate about Effie disclosing that without painting themselves as hypocrites.” the lawyer declared. “Paylor stepped on that stage right after her and swore Effie had done it because she had given it her blessing in the spirit of transparency.”

“You think I can get my money back?” Effie cut in and she sounded… odd. A little distant.

Haymitch studied her, wary of a possible flashback or…

“Let me dig around.” Leo requested. “As your lawyer, I will demand to see the case they made. But honestly… Yes, I think we can get a good portion of it back.”

“It would be public though, wouldn’t it?” she insisted. “A trial?”

“If they want to go all the way there, yes. I believe it would be a big trial.” the Capitol man conceded. “If they based themselves on your alleged war crimes…”

“There was nothing alleged to them.” Haymitch said quietly, not to be mean but because he had never lied to her on that front. “She was an escort. She reaped the kids. She willingly participated in the Games. She made money out of that.”

Effie’s jaw clenched but she didn’t protest.

“Yes.” Leo granted. “But she was pardoned.”

“Look, sweetheart…” he winced, squeezing Effie’s hand. “It’s your money so it’s your call but… You want my opinion, it’s not worth reopening that can of worms. They’re gonna play dirty and…”

“I agree.” Effie cut him off. “I do not want a public trial. I do not want…” She closed her eyes. “I am tired of my life being exposed like this. I just… I want to go home with my children.”

“I understand.” Leo offered. “Still… Given the current climate, even the threat of a possible case against the government… Look, let me poke around. Would that be alright? If I am right and they had no legal grounds… We might not even need to go to court, they might agree to settling this with an arrangement.”

“I don’t know…” Haymitch insisted. “I feel like we’re poking the bear and the bear’s a good friend.”

“A good friend who stole your wife’s money and would have made her live in the streets.” Lyssa objected.

“Yeah, well the bear wasn’t the only one responsible for that, was he?” he snapped.

She had the good grace of lowering her gaze in shame.

“Please, don’t fight.” Effie begged, rubbing her forehead.

“It isn’t right.” Leo insisted. “They had no rights to…”

“But Haymitch is correct. I am guilty.” Effie insisted. “Perhaps they had no legal rights but they did have the moral ones.” She shook her head and stood up. “My apologies but I am awfully tired. Good night.”

“Think about it, at least.” Leo urged her.

“I’m gonna head to bed too.” Haymitch declared. “Night.”

He followed Effie in silence, not commenting when she stopped in the nursery to check on the children. They were both sleeping. April was on her stomach, her blond hair wild around her head, and he adjusted the blankets so she wouldn’t be cold. Aidan was on his side, clutching his stuffed giraffe to his chest. And Snowball was sprawled on the rug at equal distance of the two beds and barely lifted his head when Haymitch scratched his belly.

He had a feeling Effie would have stayed there to watch them far much longer if he hadn’t placed a hand at the small of her back. She didn’t look at him when she left the room and headed straight to their bedroom. She didn’t look at him either when she sat heavily at the foot of the bed and took her head in her hands.

He sighed and dropped next to her.

“What the fuck did I think I was doing today, Haymitch?” she whispered.

His lips twitched. “Language, sweetheart.”

She shot him a glare but it was tired and weak. With a sigh of her own, she started unpinning her hair from the weird braided hairdo Katniss had done it in.

“It could have gone very badly.” she insisted, her voice rising in anger. “I was stupid. What if… People could have rioted. Isn’t that why it was kept secret in the first place? It was pure dumb luck it went as well as it did. It was… I could have started another war today and then where would we be? We have peace and Panem is flourishing and here I go and almost wreck it all and just because…” She shook her head. “I could have wrecked it all and our children would have been in danger and…”

“Effie.” he said firmly, grabbing her shoulders.

She shrugged him off and stood up, pacing the length of the room back and forth again and again. Her hair wild and crumpled from having been pinned up all day.

“I am stupid. This city makes me stupid.” she ranted. “Plutarch was right. This was reckless and…”

“It was brave.” Haymitch argued, because he believed it.

Yes, it could have ended worse than it had but… Really, right then, the chance of another rebellion happening were slim. Snow’s loyalists had been eradicated. The only potential danger came from Thirteen and, after that little revelation, he supposed it was now safe to think this threat was gone as well.

“No, it was not!” she shouted. “I was supposed to tell them about me, about… I wanted to be able to tell them. I wanted to be strong enough to…” She shook her head. “This was easier, do you understand? I made it all about dead children because it was easier. I used dead children again. It was not brave, it was the utter form of cowardice and I…”

The sob shook her whole frame and Haymitch bolted from the bed in a flash. He hugged her tight, not leaving her a choice to keep her pacing, coiling a hand around her nape.

“You did tell them about you, sweetheart.” he reminded her.

“No.” she denied. “I…”

“Effie, you did.” he interrupted, drawing back to look at her. “You don’t remember?”

She stared back and, after a few seconds, she shook her head no. “I… I lost time. Everything is blurry in my mind. I…”

“You told them, sweetheart.” he promised, planting a kiss on her forehead. “And I’m fucking proud of you, alright? Yeah, talking about Hummingbird was reckless and, yeah, it could have ended badly but… I’m fucking proud, alright? I’ve wanted to do that for ages.”

She still looked a little uncertain but she allowed herself to relax. The tension slowly left her shoulders and she brushed a hesitant kiss against his lips. He answered to it eagerly, using the hand that was still around her nape to deepen it.

Her fingers were quick when it came to undoing the buttons of his shirt so he lost no time in slipping that sweater over her head. The kiss turned violent, her hands demanding, and the frenzy of the embrace got to his head.

He wasn’t really sure how they went from there to him pinning her against the wall but by the time he had her naked and her left leg wrapped around his waist, he had scratches all over his back from her nails. He bit down on her shoulder in retaliation and she hissed, coiling her fingers hard around him in warning. He groaned his defeat, licking the abused patch of skin in apology. It didn’t stop her from pumping him at a punishing rate, leaving him to knead her breasts and stroke her between the legs with jerky angry moves because this wasn’t what he wanted.

He wanted her.

He wanted to be inside.

He wanted…

“Fuck me.”

The order whispered in his ear was all the permission he needed.

He batted her hand away and propped her leg higher, slipping into her in one powerful thrust that made her jerk her head back. It hit the wall with a thud. The angle wasn’t awesome but he didn’t want to try and lift her up completely. He was pretty sure his right knee would buckle. After a few thrusts he grew frustrated because she wasn’t getting off on it as much as he wanted her too and so he slipped out and turned her around without leaving her much of a choice. She braced herself against the wall and bent a little, offering herself up in an invitation he had never been able to resist.

He tangled his fingers in her hair, pulled a little so her back would arch and then he let himself grew wild, only spurred on by her whimpers and mewls of pleasure.

It had been a very long time since sex had been so… rough.

She cried out and, after a few more thrusts, he came too, resulting in the two of them collapsing on the floor, out of breath.

Haymitch felt… weird. He glanced at her, not really surprised to find her staring at the ceiling.

“You’re okay?” he asked when he saw her rub the shoulder that had been hurt during the war. It always hurt her if she strained it too much. She couldn’t play her violin too long, she never complained but he knew that carrying the kids around did a number to it, and the cold was by far the worst.

“Yes.” she answered, a second too late. She turned her head to look at him, a frown on her face. “This was…”

She let her sentence trail off.

“So not us anymore…” he finished.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t enjoyed it but he had always been careful with her since her rescue. It wasn’t that they were all vanilla and strictly missionary either now but they were never… It was never about power plays anymore, it was never about pinning the other to a wall or fucking each other brainless…

It was always more…

Loving.

“Yes.” she whispered, closing her eyes. She didn’t voice what she was really thinking but he heard it anyway. That had been the mentor and the escort. That had been who they used to be. That had been… “Today was awful.”

“Oh, yeah.” he agreed. “Though your mother had her moments.”

“You are a mama boy.” she accused him with a snort, hauling herself up and outstretching a hand to help him to his feet. “Although I do admit it was a little fun to watch her chew Plutarch’s head off.”

“She defended you first.” he pointed out.

“I noticed.” she hummed. “Bed?”

He nodded but didn’t bother putting on pajamas before climbing between the sheets. He was only happy once he was spooning her, an arm wrapped tight around her waist.

“We don’t need the money.” he said. “Ain’t worth a public trial. They’re gonna drag you in the mud.”

She was silent for a long moment and then he heard her lick her lips. “What if Leo can get them to agree to an arrangement?”

He hesitated. He wasn’t in favor of that plan. At all. But… “Your money, your decision.”

“I could pay you back what I owe you.” she murmured.

“You don’t owe me shit.” he rebuked, irritated. “We’ve had that conversation how many times now?”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “But still… Some of that money… Some of that money I won fair and square. It’s not tied to the Games. If we could get back at least a fragment of it…”

“You could open a shop.” He figured that it was what she had in mind since it was what she had been saving her dressmaking earnings for.

“It would help.” she agreed. “But, truly, what I was thinking was… I would open saving accounts for April and Aidan.”

“You father already did that.” he reminded her.

“There is never enough money, Haymitch.” she countered. “What if they want to go to expensive schools? Or build a house when they settle down with someone? Or just… It could help them.”

“There is something like too much money.” he argued. “What if they become spoiled brats? They get to access those accounts at eighteen. I don’t know about you but I wasn’t the most responsible guy at eighteen.”

“You have always been a responsible person.” she denied. “I was not. But I was also never careless. I valued my independence.” She sighed. “I do see your point though. Then perhaps… Perhaps we keep the money on a different account until the children truly need it. We can judge if it is for a good thing or if it just youth.”

“You’ve already made the decision.” he lamented.

She didn’t answer. He didn’t really need her to though.

He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, nuzzling her hair a little, wishing they could just…

“I didn’t like where we left things with Plutarch.” Effie told him. “He has his flaws but he is right when he says he has always been a good friend and… I didn’t like how it played out.”

“Me neither.” he agreed.

“I do not like who I am in this city.” She covered the hand that was resting on her stomach, entwined their fingers.

“I don’t like who I am here either.” he snorted. “This place just makes me…”

“I know.” she hummed. “Can you believe I have been craving a cigarette ever since we landed? I swear I haven’t thought about cigarettes in months. Perhaps not even since I learned I was pregnant with April.”

“Oh, I can.” he chuckled. “If you knew just how badly I want a drink…” He shook his head. “Ain’t gonna happen though.”

“No.” she promised. “It won’t.”

“No way we can just cut this trip short and go home, right?” he pleaded.

She hesitated and her voice was apologetic when she answered. “My parents see the babies so rarely… They were really looking forward to spending time with them.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t want to punish Elindra and Tadius for their own problems. “Guess we better get in touch with Plutarch. Clear the air.”

She reached behind her and awkwardly wrapped her hand around his nape, turning her head so she could draw him down for a kiss. “What we should do is get some sleep before…”

The baby monitor he had tossed on the bedside table crackled to life.

Aidan or April, it didn’t matter. Whoever it was would wake the other.

Haymitch groaned against her shoulder. “You or me?”

“Both of us.” she decided.

He didn’t dispute that. They were always stronger together anyway.

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #april showers

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dotshiiki · 7 years

Text

the AU from left field wtf where did this come from.

I cannot believe I went and wrote this but it wouldn’t leave me alone and I had to get it out of my system so I could go back to writing, you know, stuff that I’m supposed to be writing, anyway Grey’s Anatomy!AU or for those of you who don’t know the show it’s basically surgical-intern!Annabeth and patient!Percy with a side of douchebag-attending!Luke in a completely messed up triangle (and Annabeth thinks she’s so going to hell for all of it). Just your average rip-off of the GA pilot (I can’t believe that show is still going).

(Rated T for swearing and non-explicit sex. It wouldn’t be Grey’s without the swearing and sex. Read at your own risk. :P)

The first time she meets Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase gets groped.

To be fair, he has no clue what he did. She can't very well fault a patient when his flailing limbs land in an unfortunate spot when he's in the middle of a grand mal seizure. She just happens to be the poor intern leaning over him, trying to hold him steady.

Anyway, it's just one more annoying thing in what has already been an exhausting day. She's into hour twenty-five of her first-ever shift at Olympus General, and she's already dealt with explosive diarhhea, uncontrolled vomitting, and seventeen rectal exams. (She swears Dr Ramírez-Arellano must hate her guts.) Getting groped by an unconscious patient should be routine by now, right?

Besides, it could be worse--he could be some smelly old man rather than the fit twenty-six-year-old car crash victim with a ripped body (hey, she's the one hanging on to it for dear life while Dr Ramírez-Arellano yells for two milligrams of chlorazepam and a wide bore IV, after all). And he is kinda cute, if you ignore the matted blood on his forehead and the fact that his eyes are rolling back in his head.

Great. Now she knows she's really tired, if she's actually checking out bloodied car crash victims.

They finally get him stabilised and up to CT, and Annabeth rests her eyes briefly as she leans against the wall outside the room, wondering for the tenth time since her shift began why it was so important for her to join the game anyway.

The speech the Chief of Surgery gave this morning (yesterday morning? Time doesn't really have much meaning after twenty-five hours on your feet) comes back to her: The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You'll be pushed to the breaking point.

Right now, Annabeth thinks she may be at one of those breaking points Dr Brunner was talking about. She can't think of a single reason she should be a surgeon, but she can think of a thousand reasons why she should quit.

'Hey. Hey!'

She blinks at the lab tech who's waving the scans in front of her to get her attention.

'These yours, right?'

'Uh--right.' Annabeth stifles a yawn, grabs her scans, and heads off to find her resident.

Twenty-three more hours to go.

OoOoO

The next time Percy Jackson gropes her, it's another accident. She's adjusting his IV drip in the ICU when he wakes up, reaching out blindly. His fingers brush her breast and pause in confusion. Annabeth freezes as well--is this guy serious?--and then she realises that although Jackson's eyes are open and staring at her, they also have the blank look of someone who can't see.

'What--' Jackson croaks. His fingers move hesitantly against her chest--and she regains enough presence of mind to move quickly back, out of their way. 'Oh my god, did I just--what's going on?'

'It's okay,' she says soothingly. 'You're in the ICU. You were in a car accident. You're gonna be fine.'

'I was--oh gods, Mom! My mom--is she okay?'

Annabeth vaguely remembers two passengers who came in at the same time. She thinks Will Solace took care of the older woman in the pit ... ah, yes. Minor injury. 'She's fine,' Annabeth reassures him. 'Got away with nothing but a sprained shoulder. Didn't even have to stay the night.'

'And Callie? Where's Callie? Is she okay?'

'Is that your girlfriend?'

There's no reason her heart should rise a little when he shakes his head. It's of utterly no concern to her whether her patient is attached or single, even if those glassy unseeing eyes are melting her heart (it's sympathy, pure sympathy). The irises a striking shade of green, and she can only imagine what they'd do to her if they were clear and lucid.

'My friend Leo's. Poseidon, Neptune, and Porcys, he's gonna kill me.'

Annabeth bites back a smile at the funny cursing. She's never heard anyone swear on the names of ocean deities of an ancient polytheistic culture. At least she thinks they're ancient water gods? It's been decades since Middle School history or Latin or whatever that class was that they learned about them. And she wonders what on earth Percy Jackson does that he'd be up to speed on ancient Greek culture. Maybe he is Greek. He has the looks or it, mmm, Mediterranean skin and thick lashes--okay enough, Chase.

'I'm pretty sure she's fine, too.' She closes her eyes and tries to recall the other woman in the ER. Short, long-haired? Did anyone take her case? No, because she--'Got away without a scratch. She was one lucky girl.'

Jackson relaxes visibly. Annabeth frowns a little. This 'Callie' might be his friend's girlfriend, but he does seem awfully concerned. Maybe he has a thing for her, too.

And no, she doesn't care if a guy she doesn't even know is crushing on his friend's girl. He can like whoever he wants. He's just her patient.

'Can I see them?'

'After your surgery,' she says. 'I just need to check you over now. Can you follow the light, Mr Jackson?' She already knows before she does the pupillary response test that he won't be able to, but it's all procedure and she has to go through it.

'Percy,' he says.

'Sorry?'

'My name's Percy.'

'Percy, then.' She shines the pen-light in his eyes. No response. Hopefully it's only temporary--a pinched optic nerve, maybe, something that can be fixed in surgery.

'And I don't see anything.' He swallows hard. 'Am I--' The way his Adam's apple bobs tremulously, like he's already trying to come to terms with the bad news she hasn't yet delivered tugs at her heart.

Damn it.

She can just hear her mother's voice in her head--'Personal feelings get in the way. You have to be able to detach yourself if you're going to be a good surgeon.' Yeah, her mom's a pro at the art of detaching herself. She's done it for years and years, and not just with patients.

'We may be able to fix it in surgery,' Annabeth tells him. 'It should happen tomorrow. We needed to make sure you're stable before we get you in the OR.'

'Right,' he says. 'Are you my surgeon?'

'I--uh, no, I'm just an intern.'

'Oh.' Percy laughs nervously. 'You know, the last time I ended up in hospital--'

'A regular, are you?'

His grin is sheepish. 'Not really. It's just that I sprained my ankle a couple of weeks back and the doctor said it was fine and I wouldn't need to come back. I don't think he bargained for car accidents.' Percy frowns. 'I can't remember how that happened.'

'Don't worry about it. Short-term memory loss isn't uncommon with head traumas.'

She finishes her examination--other than his eyes, Percy seems well enough for a guy recovering from a grand mal. It's funny--that shouldn't really affect his sight, but there's clearly something more going on in his brain that the neuro attending will definitely need a closer look at. She could've sworn his scans were clean, though.

'I'll let you get some rest.' She rolls up her stethoscope and hangs in around her neck.

'No, wait--don't go.' His hand reaches out feebly, thankfully nowhere near her chest this time. 'I--sorry, you must have stuff to do.'

She does--there's labs to deliver and other patients to check on, and her shift is just about up, at long last--but Percy Jackson is the main case she's been assigned. Her responsibility.

She takes his hand. His fear is palpable; she can feel it in the cling of his trembling fingers.

'It's okay,' she murmurs. 'You're gonna be fine.'

'Thanks, Dr, er--'

'Chase. Annabeth.'

'Annabeth,' he repeats. 'That's a pretty name. It suits you.'

'You can't even see me.'

'I can tell from your voice.'

Although she knows it's probably the pain meds talking, and he probably won't remember a word of this conversation the next morning, Annabeth gets a little flutter in the pit of her stomach anyway. Percy's unseeing eyes blink at her. They are nice eyes, almond-shaped and slightly slanted, like they're sending her a personal wink. And god, how unfair are those thick lashes on a guy?

'I bet you say that to all the girls.'

'Only the cute ones.'

'Again, you can't see me.'

'Then you'd better fix my eyes because I'd like to.'

Her heart does a little tap dance. 'You're--you're flirting with me. You can't flirt with me.'

His lips quirk. 'Why not?'

It's the pain meds, and the fear of surgery, she tells herself. He's probably one of those guys who flirts when he's terrified. (She can totally understand that.)

'I'm your doctor, for one.' She should probably let go of his hand if she's going to seriously rebuff him.

But if this is helping him stay calm, that's not a bad thing, right?

'Well, that's good. I thought you were gonna say you're already taken.'

She freezes, thinking guiltily of the messy friends-with-benefits situation she's got going on with her not-boyfriend at the moment (she never knows what to call Luke) that just got more complicated this very afternoon.

Percy must feel the ice that's running through her hands then. 'Oh,' he says, and starts to let go. 'Sorry, I didn't mean--'

She should let this go. Let him go. But her fingers hold on to his of their own accord. 'No, it's not--I mean, it's complicated. I'm not--argh, I'm single, is what I mean.'

'Huh. So flirting's a go?'

'Yes--no! I'm still your doctor!'

He laughs. 'Damn, you're a lot smarter than the tour groupies.'

Tour groupies? Oh god, he's probably a rock star or something. She's flirting with a rock star--no, he's flirting with her, and when was the last time someone like him flirted with someone like her? She wonders what it'd be like to date a cute guy who isn't all tied up with her career and her mom and the train wreck of her romantic history.

Good gods, what is she thinking? She can't date a patient.

Percy mistakes her silence for confusion and clarifies, 'I'm a surfer. You know, surfing champs and all that?'

Oh. Well, she got that one wrong. 'Like Kelly Slater?'

'Funny how that's the only surfer anyone ever knows.'

'I know other surfers,' she replies automatically, although she doesn't really. She's barely even been to the beach all her life. It's not like they're far from the water, but when has her mom ever had the time to take her? And once you enter med school--well, that's kind of like kissing your social life goodbye.

'Oh? Name one.'

'Percy Jackson.'

He laughs so hard, she's afraid he might burst an aneurysm in his brain. He has a great laugh--it bubbles up from deep inside him and fills the whole room--and it's so infectious, she can't help but join in.

She really has other stuff to do, but she ends up sitting there with him, holding his hand and bantering about stuff she doesn't even remember later (but still feels like the silver lining in her crappy first day of work) until he falls asleep again.

She tells herself it's just patient care.

It's what any good doctor would do, right?

OoOoO

It's at least five hours after her shift officially ends when she stumbles into an empty on-call room. She's supposed to be going home, and she knows that putting off the moment will only make it worse when she finally faces her mother's interrogation of her first day as an intern, but she's going to avoid it anyway. And if there's one excuse Dr Athena Chase can't argue with, it's being tied up at the hospital.

God knows she's used it enough times herself.

Luke finds her, of course, right when she's ready to crawl under the thin hospital-issue sheets (would it really kill them to spring for something a little more comfortable for weary doctors? She's not asking for much, maybe just something soft instead of crisp and sterile) and lose herself to the world.

'Annabeth,' he says, with that smug arrogance that he carries everywhere with him. Once upon a time she thought it the sexiest thing ever, was incredibly flattered that her mom's up-and-coming young resident took an interest in her.

Right now their relationship--if you can even call it that--is a time bomb that might explode in her face any moment.

'Dr Castellan,' she says stiffly.

'Dr Chase,' he mimics. 'What happened to Luke?'

'Did you even think to tell me you were coming to work here?'

He chuckles and turns the lock in the door. 'I thought it'd make a nice surprise.'

'A nice surprise?' she hisses. 'I had to find out that my--my--whatever this was--is my attending from my resident!' She can't forget the humiliating moment when she brought Percy Jackson's scans to Dr Ramírez-Arellano, only to be told to deliver them to the new attending--Dr Castellan. She'd frozen completely at the sound of his name, until Piper McLean, her fellow intern, had elbowed her sharply in the ribs.

'Thought you'd be happy to have one attending who won't be riding you. Well, maybe in a different way.' He leers at her suggestively, leaving no question about why he's come looking for her.

'We can't.'

'I don't recall any objections last night.'

'First of all, that was two nights ago, and B, that was before you became my boss.'

He steps into her space and places a hand on the back of her neck to draw her face towards his. 'Lighten up. You're off duty now, aren't you?'

'We really shouldn't.'

'Nobody needs to know.' His hand is hot and heavy on her stomach, finding its way to the waistband of her scrubs and tugging them down.

They really shouldn't--this could blow up in so many ways--but she lets him, because it's Luke, and this is a dance they've been doing for years.

And okay, she needs something to get her mind off Percy Jackson, whose smile and voice and touch is lingering in her brain more than she cares to admit. Sleeping with Luke may be flirting with disaster, but fantasising about a patient--a patient, for Christ's sake, talk about breaches of ethics--is so much worse.

(Except that when Luke touches her, it's the accidental brush of Percy's fingers against her chest that she thinks of, and the echo of his laughter that rings through her head in place of Luke's moans, and how much more fucked up could this get?)

When it's over and Luke is snoring next to her, Annabeth gets up quietly and drags herself into the shower. She turns up the heat and lets the near-scalding spray scrub her raw, but the ghost of Luke clings to her like a second skin.

(Yeah, you can all send me to Tartarus now.)

#grey's anatomy au #percy jackson au #percy jackson #annabeth chase #luke castellan #percabeth #totally messed up lukabeth because you gotta admit that relationship was always fucked up #intern!annabeth #patient!percy #doctor!annabeth #attending!luke #mortals au #wtf i still can't believe i wrote this #can i just get back to writing-as-usual now?#percy jackson fanfic

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 9/13/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Friday, September 13th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).

PROJECT DELAYS WORRY MONITORING COMMITTEE –BERT is staying ahead of the curve.The special monitoring committee of the Barbados Economic and Recovery Transformation (BERT) programme is still concerned about the delay of a number of projects that were intended to boost the economy. During a press conference held at Solidarity House yesterday, co-chair of the committee, Toni Moore, said the group would be paying special attention to those projects, and the effect any further delay could have on overall growth. There have been delays in the Sandals Beaches, Sam Lord’s Castle, Blue Horizon and Hyatt Centric Hotel projects. Moore, the general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, said the group was otherwise extremely satisfied Barbados had met all targets for the period April to June, as set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Yesterday’s report, the third by the monitoring committee, showed the country’s foreign reserves were a healthy $938 million, way ahead of a target of $893 million. In addition, Government’s primary balance stood at $253 million, yards ahead of a proposed target of $125 million, while this administration had only spent $88 million on transfers to public institutions, way below the $104 million allowed, and the arrears of public institutions stood at $185 million, leaving plenty of wiggle room from a target of $284 million.(WN)

BUSINESS LEADERS NOW RUN CBC –In an apparent shift in corporate direction at state broadcaster CBC, two business figures have replaced former CBC broadcasters as chairman and deputy at the helm of a new board.David Leacock, scion of business pioneer Leo Leacock is the new chairman, appointed by the Minister for CBC Senator Lucille Moe, Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs. Leacock, senior director in the Leacock family group of businesses, succeeds Melba Smith, a former CBC general manager who returned to the corporation as chairman in June 2018, after the Labour Party’s election victory. Smith lasted just a year of her three-year term, resigning last June. The new deputy is Sharon Christie, a Certified Management Accountant, and CEO of the Kensington Court Group, a distributor of food, frozen products, and office equipment. Christie replaces Sharon Marshall, a former director of news and current affairs and television news anchor, resigned as deputy chair in July. Leacock and Christie’s appointments took effect on Tuesday. The other members of the board appointed by Senator Moe are Sonia Mullins, Peter Boyce, Brian Clarke, Government Senator Dr. Crystal Haynes, Lee Rose, and Paulette Royer. Chief Telecommunications Officer Clifford Bostic and Sandra Phillips, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs are the Government’s official representatives on the board.(BT)

FOUL PLAY –With tensions rising among dissatisfied workers at the Grantley Adams International Airport over not being given the five per cent pay increase accorded to public workers last year, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has requested an urgent meeting with the airport management in an attempt to have the matter settled. This morning, Deputy General Secretary of the NUPW Wayne Waldron revealed that his members were becoming increasingly restless and that both sides needed to get back to the bargaining table soon before things escalated. “We made the request last week and we are anxiously waiting for a response. The workers are in a bad mood and they are at the stage where they feel that they will demonstrate how they feel. They are really being frustrated but I can’t tell you they are going to strike tomorrow or next week. What I can say is that they are at that breaking point,” said Waldron, confirming earlier reports by Barbados TODAY that the workers were considering industrial action. Last month one source close to the development explained that while the workers are under a statutory arrangement, to the best of their knowledge, all employees of Government-owned entities are entitled to the increase, yet they have been “unfairly omitted”. However, a credible source explained that GAIA Inc is not a statutory corporation but rather a company constituted under the Company’s Act, which happens to be owned by Government. In addition, it was revealed that airport workers have received several increases within the last ten years, during a period when public servants received no pay hikes. It was also noted that given the airport’s plans to privatize its operations, workers were already asked to “hold strain” until that process is completed. “Within the last ten years, workers at the airport have received 21 per cent increase, during a period that the public service was not given any. So, you can’t have a case where you are getting increases when government workers are not and then demanding the increase when they are,” the source said. However, this morning Waldron contended that persons were conflating the two issues and in fact, any increases that the workers have received were monies owed them for a long time before. “People don’t understand the history and apparently somebody is of the notion that they [GAIA workers] have gotten more than the public service. But they only got what was owed to them and because the airport was late in adjusting the amounts over the years, the impression is that they got something extra. It is simply a lagging process but somebody is not understanding and came up with this idea now that they don’t deserve the five per cent increase,” he said.Waldron further argued that the GAIA administration is conveniently using the company argument, as over the years airport workers were never allowed to negotiate separately from Government workers. “When we tried in the earlier years to negotiate separately from the public service, which would justify even higher increases, they always tell you that you can’t give the airport workers more than what the government workers were being offered, although it is a company. Now they want to change it and say they don’t want to deal with what the Government is offering. So they are moving the goal post all of the time. When the company is making a big profit, they don’t want to pay increases above Government and when things are now tight, they want to constrain the worker,” said the NUPW spokesman. He further stressed, “They are discriminating against these poor airport workers. When you compare the salary of an engineer at the airport to one at the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW), the one at MTW is better paid. It is discrimination pure and simple.”(BT)

WATER EASE – As the country continues to battle a severe drought, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has turned to Ionics Freshwater Limited to increase its water pumping capacity by 50 per cent. Additionally, Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams today revealed that a new pumping station has been commissioned in St James to help carry water to the dry taps of Barbadians in the northern parishes.During a press conference at his Country Road, St Michael headquarters this morning, Abrahams admitted that the BWA was grappling with drought conditions, which have led to several water outages across the island. And with a forecast for lower than average rainfall for the remainder of the year, the Minister disclosed that the prohibition period which was scheduled to end next month had now been extended to November 30. He acknowledged that the island-wide water outages being experienced were as a result of aging infrastructure, a lack of maintenance and the prolonged drought, which had served to form an “a perfect storm”. Abrahams said he was especially disheartened to hear about the complaints from Barbadians regarding the regular outages and the level of discomfort they were causing. He revealed that the state-owned entity had joined forces with Ionics to help provide a better service to households. “To address the water issues and the water shortages we have had to commission some more water from Ionics’ desalination plant. So Ionics is now supplying an increased amount of water into our system,” Abrahams said. “This started a couple of months ago, but it is not a matter of simply flicking a switch. Infrastructure had to be put in place to get the water from Ionics to where it needs to go. We had to change certain valves, we had to employ and install certain pumps [and] we had to upgrade pumping stations. “If Ionics down Spring Garden produces twice as much water as it produces that is all well and good, but that water needs to get from Ionics at Spring Garden into the same reservoirs that are being affected and then on to the customers,” the minister added. Dr. John Mwanza, the technical advisor to the Board, said Ionics was contracted last May. He said while the existing plant capacity was 27 000 cubic metres per day, or around six million gallons a day.“[Capacity] has been expanded by an additional 50 per cent so we’re getting an additional three million gallons,” Dr. Mwanza revealed. Minister Abrahams said the newly commissioned pumping station at Trents, St James would help in pumping some of that water to several communities including Kewland, Redman’s Village, Melrose, and Welches in St Thomas; White Hill and Mose Bottom in St Andrew and Chimborazo, Lammings Housing Area, Braggs Hill, Sugar Hill and Spa Hill in St Joseph. However, he warned the BWA was expecting bursts with the increased water being pumped through aging pipes. “This station will improve the volume of water flowing to the taps of residents along Highway 2A…Now we are commissioning this today, this is at the end of a long period of installation and testing and retesting and trying to balance so from today that water is going to go in the system with the intent of alleviating the areas I just mentioned. “I just want to warn the public [that] if you start to send more water down old pipes, the pipes are going to burst. We expect that we are going to have some bursts in the initial phases as we try to rebalance the water,” Abrahams said. He also disclosed that four new pumps would be made available to handle the added capacity. At the press conference, the minister also gave his assurance that the BWA’s Customer Service department would be improved. Abrahams said it had been brought to his attention that some persons had received shoddy treatment from the BWA’s customer service personnel as they sought to report complaints. He said a four-hour meeting was held yesterday to address the issue and he was confident persons calling into the BWA would see improved customer service.(BT)

CLEANING STARTS AT SHERATON – Less than 24 hours after being shut down by the Ministry of Health officials, the food court at Sheraton Mall was abuzz with activity. But instead of a busy flow of patrons purchasing food at lunchtime, employees and hired workmen were hard at work as the first day of a mass industrial cleaning exercise got underway. Food stalls in some cases were totally disassembled, cleaning agents were all over the food court and the restaurant apparatus was out of place. General Manager of the mall, Kelly Stoute declined to comment on the developments or to provide more clarity on the nature of health issues or indicate when the mall’s food court would be reopened. In addition, Barbados TODAY was informed by management that media workers would not be allowed inside the food court. Health officials have also been silent on the matter since Wednesday and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kenneth George directed Barbados TODAY to a press release issued today. The decision to close the popular food court was reportedly taken in response to mounting violations that mall management had left unattended after continuous environmental checks by the Environmental Health Division since September 4.(BT)

DOUBLE DIVIDE –Two vendors who ply their trade at the Parkinson Memorial Secondary School have protested the Board of Management’s decision to erect a double perimeter fence, claiming it separates them from less-well-off students. Grace Lovell, who told Barbados TODAY she has been selling snacks and beverages to the student body for eight years, claimed that the students who do not have the means to buy from the school canteen turn to her for their lunch. She said: “Some children come to school with $10 to pay bus fare and still buy something to eat. “So, the canteen provides a service for the children, but they are too expensive.“They are only looking at one side of the story, probably about getting rent or whatever the case may be, but every time we come to sell at lunch they put up a double fence, as you can see. “The children complain and they go to the headmaster and complain about the prices. “So, when we come they do not want us out here at lunchtime, but you still have to look at the children.” Lovell said that she sometimes provides free meals to students who do not have the means. She said: “I gave a child breakfast and lunch for a whole term which is three months. “Sometimes they come to me for bus fare, they want something they are short of money. “So, you have to look at the average child, a poor child because every parent [does] not have money to give a child to pay for that lunch which is $15 or $11. You can get a doughnut for $2 and a drink for $1.50.” The vendor said she discussed the matter with the board chairman. Despite having to ply her trade outside the compound, she boasted of being an insider at the school of 1,000 students. “I had spoken to the chairman. He stopped here last year September and told me he heard about Grace because I donate to the school when they have graduation although I am outside. I do anything and I am not on the inside, I am outside. “I spoke to him and I explained the same situation to him about the students not having enough money to buy lunch. I told him if he put up the double fence if she could [speak] to him because [he had] to look at all the vendors and the canteen and see what the canteen selling and what the other vendors selling and then we could work with something like that. He did not say anything. “I spoke to him last week when the double fence went up when term started back and he told me you have to look at the person that is in there that is paying the canteen fee and have the contract; and furthermore, the persons that inside may have to come out and he was not interested. “So, you would have to do what you got to do when you have children and bills.” But Lovell said she will follow the school’s wishes not to sell at lunchtime. She said: “I sell on mornings and evenings, but it is the lunchtime period that I would not be able to sell because they have up the double fence.” The other vendor declined to be named but joined Lovell’s comments and said she even offered to pay the school to sell on the premises. She said: “I offered to go and pay them a little something to be in there and they still did not agree with that. They never got back to me, they never said anything.” I am willing to pay something, donate to a club, a game – netball, anything – [to] no [avail].” The vendor, who told Barbados TODAY she has been plying her trade at Parkinson since 2000, also claimed she provides free lunches to disadvantaged students at the Pine high school. She said she should be allowed inside the school to sell meals, snacks and drinks to the student body. She, too, said she would follow the school’s request not to sell anything at lunchtime. But she added: “If we have to keep running around so all the time what sense does it make? We should be inside everyone can make a living. “The canteen cannot provide for 1,000 and some children in an hour, it is a waste of time.” Parkinson Memorial Principal Ian Holder gave Barbados TODAY a tour of the double fence around the school compound but declined further comment.(BT)

BASELESS – Wild and silly imaginations. That is how Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir has described concerns by the Democratic Labour Party that acres of plantation lands formerly owned by defunct insurance company CLICO, would be sold as residential property by Government. In fact, the Agriculture Minister has said, that those lands and many others would be dedicated to agricultural development as Government attempted to reverse ten years of DLP “inactivity” in the vital sector. “I don’t know how you could turn agricultural land into a [residential] development without first involving the Ministry of Agriculture. We have a Chief Agricultural Officer who is highly trained and makes informed decisions on these things before they even reach Town Planning,” Weir told Starcom Network’s Down to Brass Tacks’ Wednesday programme. “If the information is being skewed in any way that the CLICO land is being sold and people are going to subdivide them and all of that, I think the conversation is way ahead of what it should be, because the worst thing we would want to do as a people is to make wild and silly imaginations and come to conclusions on things on which we have no basis.” On Wednesday, the DLP’s spokesperson on agriculture Andre Worrell expressed “deep concern” about the recent announcement that the lands could be used for infrastructural development at a time when the country desperately needed to reduce its food import bill. “We are urging the Government to have some discussion and to be open and transparent with the people of Barbados on their plans for the CLICO plantation lands in St John, St George, Christ Church, and other areas. We are urging farmers not to sit idly by and let these lands be sold,” he said. In response, the Minister noted he was always keen to engage the public but did not have an ‘appetite’ for people who “have a belief and are attempting to turning it into reality”. Instead, he declared Government was preparing to revive lands which are currently growing ‘river tamarinds’ in the Belle, St. Michael, Harrison’s Point in St. Lucy and the Scotland District to significantly improve the bounty of the sugar industry and other crops. “I am simply giving the calm assurance that we are doing everything we can to bring the lands under the BAMC under production. We are also working with the private farmers… of every single type and class, so that when we look to bring back agriculture to its rightful place in Barbados, we will have a situation where all of those lands that are currently growing river tamarinds will be back into production and the process is starting this month,” Weir declared. “We are starting by cleaning up Harrison’s Point and going to the Belle where we are going to remove those river tamarinds and put it at Port Vale Factory to be used as burning stock when the factory is grinding during next year’s sugar harvest and we are planning to start the crop on time next year.” He stressed that part of reviving sugarcane production would coincide with the restoration of eddoes and increases in yams and sweet potatoes. “I am trying to reverse this whole ten years of inactivity and inertia and only God knows how I feel about having to say this, but it is the reality. This isn’t one, two or three years of work. This will equally take us all of ten to 15 years,” Weir said.(BT)

CHARACTER CERTS HINDERING JOBS – The closure of the Police Certificate of Character Office is causing headaches for several Barbadians, in some cases hindering them from finding work. And what is adding to their woes is that no one seems to know when it will be reopenedCruising Island Musicians is contemplating its next move after being unable to get the certificate for ten musicians.Stephen Cox, one of the managing partners, said the company recruited musicians from all over the world to work on cruise ships.“Currently, I have ten crew members from Barbados who have been offered contracts to work on board cruise ships to start in three weeks. They made the appointments, which were confirmed, and they went, only to be told that the Police Certificate of Character Office is closed until further notice,” he said. When contacted on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce said they were encountering system problems, but were working assiduously to have them rectified as soon as possible. He asked the public to bear with them.“Everything has gone computerised now, so we’re working on everything. One thing leads into the next; it is not a one-off operation you have to do. It is a holistic operation that involves different steps. Even if you try to correct one [issue], another step has to go which is not functioning correctly; so that is the problem. We hope to get it resolved any minute now,” he said.(WN)

TWO CHARGED –Two St Andrew men have been remanded in connection with this island’s latest murder as well as a number of other criminal charges. They are 24-year-old Kevin Andrew Haynes, of Jordan Road, Belleplaine and 20-year-old Nathan Anthony Gaskin of Walkers.The two are accused of murdering 22-year-old Rahim Ward between August 23 and 30 as well as causing serious bodily harm to 21-year-old Deshawn Ricardo Clarke on August 23 while at Walkers, St Andrew. Haynes and Clarke are also facing charges of possession, possession with intent to supply, possession with intent to traffic and cultivation of 76 cannabis plants on August 24. The accused appeared before Magistrate Ian Weekes in the District ‘D’ Magistrates’ Court today where they were not required to plead to the indictable charges. They will make their next court appearance on October 9. (BT)

SENTENCED REDUCED – The Court of Appeal on Wednesday set aside a 15-year sentence imposed by the High Court on manslayer Toneal Omar Walrond for the death of 60-year-old Evans Burnham. Burnham, formerly of Black Bess, St Peter died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on July 8, 2011, following an altercation in which he sustained a fractured skull and other injuries after being hit in the face several times with a piece of wood. Walrond, of French Village, St Peter was charged with the murder which is said to have occurred sometime between July 1 and July 8, 2011. In February 2016 he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. In June 2017, using a starting point of 20 years, Walrond was sentenced by Madam Justice Michelle Weekes to 15 years in prison. However, after being credited with the five years 334 days spent on remand prior to sentencing, he was ordered incarcerated for another nine years and 21 days. Through his legal counsel Marlon Gordon who appeared with attorney-at-law Kashka Mottley, the manslayer appealed his sentence on the basis that it was excessive. In handing down a decision this morning in the No. 1 Supreme Court, Acting Appeal Court judge, Madam Justice Margaret Reifer said while the three-member panel who heard the appeal is of the view that the sentencing judge took into account the relevant principles and facts, “We are nonetheless in agreement with counsel for the appellant, that all the circumstances of the facts of the case were more in line with a starting point of 15 years.” Outlining reasons for the decision the judge stated that the mitigating features of the case “dominated” the aggravating factors. She pointed to early guilty pleas which she explained are in the public’s interest since they avoid the need for a trial and save victims, witnesses and often family of the victim, from having to give evidence of “often traumatic events or from reliving the events” and achieving closure. “The appellant’s early guilty plea, co-operation with the police, sincere expressions of remorse, the acceptance by the court and the parties that there was no evidence of planning or premeditation, the fact that the appellant was not armed with a firearm or intrinsically dangerous weapon, but in the face of aggression by the deceased, armed himself with a piece of wood that he found within reach, provide powerful mitigating factors,” said Justice Refier. The Crown, she said, did not appear to accept self-defense as a complete defence but it was still a consideration in the sentencing. In a statement to police Walrond said he went to Burnham’s home to collect some money. Instead of paying him, Burnham, he said: “Take up a chair and hit me”. The two men then fought and it was during that time that Walrond took up a piece of wood and hit Burnham, “round he faces more than once”. Burnham fell and Walrond said he helped him into the house, got ice from the refrigerator and handed it to him. After that, he said he panicked and left the house by car. “It appears that the Crown accepted on the facts outlined and the analysis of the aggravating and mitigating factors, that the deceased was the aggressor, but their case was, that the force used was disproportionate and excessive,” said the acting Court of Appeal judge who added that the evidence of self-defense even if it was rejected by the jury was still a mitigating factor “There is no evidence that the trial judge considered self-defense as a mitigating factor even if excessive force was used. “It is against the backdrop of all the matters reviewed . . . that we are of the opinion that the sentence was excessive and find a starting point of 15 years more acceptable than one of 20 years. “In view of the premises, the appeal is allowed. The sentence of 15 years imprisonment imposed on the appellant is set aside. The court substitutes a sentence of ten years . . . to run from the date of the original sentence . . . full credit for time spent [on remand] of 2,161 . . . given,” Justice Reifer said as Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, Court of Appeal judge Madam Justice Kaye Goodridge and Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis, who appeared for the Crown listened on. (BT)

MORE TIME ON REMAND FOR MAN ON GUN CHARGES – The man who allegedly shot through a woman’s bedroom window, at Beckles Avenue, New Orleans, St Michael three weeks ago injuring her in the right hand, has been remanded for a further 28 days. Raheim Colin Forde, of 10th Avenue New Orleans, St Michael appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today, two days after Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch remanded him to HMP Dodds. The 26-year-old bar owner is alleged to have caused serious bodily harm to Sheron Matthews on August 23 with intent to maim, disfigure or disable her. It is further alleged that on the same day he unlawfully and maliciously engaged in conduct that placed Jumaane Matthews-Ifill in danger of death or serious bodily harm. Forde is also facing charge of using a firearm without a valid licence. He was not required to plead to those indictable charges nor to a charge that he dishonestly assisted in the retention, removal or disposal of a motorcar worth $28,000 belonging to Ross Clarke between December 5 and 12, 2018 knowing or believing it to be stolen. He will make his next appearance before the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on October 10. Also appearing in that court on that date before Cuffy-Sargeant is 36-year-old David Omar Norville, also of 10th Avenue New Orleans. He is alleged to have unlawfully assaulted Jumaane Matthews-Ifill on August 23. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and remains on $1,000 bail. (BT)

BURGLARS PLEAD FOR MERCY – Two St Thomas women who robbed an elderly couple in their home while armed with a piece of wood and a knife have pleaded for leniency in sentencing and even offered to pay thousands of dollars in compensation to the complainants. While attorney-at-law Samuel Legay urged the High Court judge to be as lenient as possible in sentencing his client, Tiffany Cortia Arthur, the convicted burglar’s co-accused Carol Ann Veronica Roett pleaded for the same consideration. Arthur, 34, of Content Land and Roett, 41, of Dunscombe, are currently on remand awaiting their fate on a December 28, 2010, aggravated burglary charge. They had pleaded guilty at a previous sitting in the No. 5 Supreme Court to entering the house of Ian Pickup and stealing a camera, wallet and a handheld video game belonging to him as well as three necklaces, a lighter and two rings belonging to his wife Donna Marie Henderickson. At the time the burglars were armed with a piece of wood and a knife. In making sentencing submissions before Madam Justice Pamela Beckles recently Legay disclosed that his client was a “vulnerable” young lady at the time. He said a statement to police, indicated that her mother had passed and she had been burdened with a funeral expense bill and she also had a young child to take care of. “Not knowing at the time . . . how to deal with this mountainous bill and dealing with her child, she became desperate,” Legay revealed. “I believe that in dealing with issues of death it affects persons differently, and Arthur was no different and she sought, by any means, to get this bill paid,” the defence attorney added. He said her guilty plea and her cooperation with police were in her favor. “Her intention [was] to get this matter over and done with because on reflection, a great mistake had been made. And so as a result of that she became very remorseful, she wanted to apologise to the virtual complainants. “With that background, I want to appeal to the court to be as lenient as possible towards Arthur because I do not see the name Tiffany Arthur synonymous with criminal activities,” Legay told the High Court judge. He further submitted that if it was the position of the court that a custodial sentence should be imposed, “And I am not asking for that, at least, the very least of the sentence would be my humble submission.” Legay put forward a starting point 18 months to two years in prison. “Given the passage time, things have changed. My client has been consistent. She has not gotten herself involved in anything else and therefore I believe she needs to be given that opportunity to remain in that light,” he added. The defence attorney said: “From then up until now the accused has no previous convictions. She has kept herself clean. The accused is not a criminal; this which she did is out of character, but out of bad company back in 2010 she has found herself before this court. Therefore my submission is that the court is very lenient towards her. “I don’t believe Arthur is a criminal,” he said adding that Arthur was willing to pay the complainants $15, 000 in compensation but needed time to pay the amount. Roett, who represented herself, also urged the court to show her leniency saying that she had not been in trouble with the law for over a decade and had a young child. She too submitted that she was willing to pay compensation in the sum of $15,000 if given the time to do so. However, Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis told the judge that a starting point for the sentencing of the convicted women should be 16 years. She pointed to the aggravating factors saying that the offence was planned and took place at night while the property stolen was both high in value and sentimental. The prosecutor also reminded the court that substantial force was used during the commission of the offence, which resulted in significant injury to the victim Ian Pickup, and that a weapon was also involved. “This offence has had a negative mental effect on the [elderly] couple. When everything is considered the mitigating factors of Arthur will weigh heavier and result in a lower sentence than the sentence of Roett but the Crown submits that the starting point should be 16 years and the appropriate deductions be made,” Davis stated. The two women will reappear before Justice Beckles on November 21 for sentencing. (BT)

GUYANESE ON INDECENT ASSAULT CHARGE REMANDED – Strong arguments by attorney-at-law Mohia Ma’at that the grounds put forward against bail are “all without merit” were not enough to keep his client from spending 28 days on remand. The submissions, came after Dhanpaul Dudhnauth, a 48-year-old farmer, from Industry Hall, St Philip was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge that he indecently assaulted a minor. The accused, who is a Guyana native and has been living here for the last 26 years is alleged to have committed the criminal act on May 9. Prosecutor, police constable Victoria Taitt put forward the serious nature of the offence as the main ground for her objections against bail stating that the child allegedly involved was six years old. That minor, she submitted, needed protection from the accused. Constable Taitt added that there was a likelihood that the accused may re-offend if granted bail. However, Ma’at stated that his client was a good candidate for bail as he had never been before the law courts of Barbados and was a father of two. “He has been here since 1992 and has never been charged . . . walks the straight and narrow . . . and as it stands now the allegation before the court is just that, an allegation,” Ma’at told Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant. The defence attorney disclosed that Dudhnauth had surrendered himself to the police after getting a phone call. “Yes, it is a serious offence . . . but this matter is in the District ‘A’ jurisdiction and the accused resides deep in St Philip,” said Ma’at who argued that the chances that the two parties would cross paths were unlikely. “The likelihood of any interaction between the minor, father or mother is virtually non-existent given the proximity. He is in the east and she is in the west, so interference is null and void. “The likelihood that he will re-offend has no merit. He has not reoffended, he has been charged. He received immigration status, he would not have gotten that if he had [a record], so that is a testimony to his character,” Ma’at said. “The grounds put forward are all without merit,” the attorney added as he urged to court to grant bail with any conditions it saw fit. That application was denied and the accused was remanded to return before the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on October 9.(BT)

POLLARDS CHOICE A BACKWARD MOVE – Fast bowling legend Sir Andy Roberts has questioned the timing of Kieron Pollard’s appointment as white-ball skipper and argues that sacked one-day skipper Jason Holder was not at fault for the West Indies’ wretched one-day form in recent years. In fact, the outspoken Antiguan believes that neither Pollard’s appointment nor the acquisition of a new head coach will have any impact on the Caribbean side’s fortunes, as the fundamental problem lay in the dearth of quality players available.“A captain is only as good right now as the players he has,” Sir Andy told the Mason and Guest radio cricket show. He added: “I have no issues with what they’re (Cricket West Indies) trying to do but I’ve always said that the least problem we have is the coaching, our biggest problem is to find players. “It doesn’t matter who you have as head coach – if you could bring the best head coach in the world today with the players that we have you’ll be getting the same results because the coach does not go on the field.” CWI announced Monday that Pollard would take over from Holder and Twenty20 skipper, Carlos Brathwaite with immediate effect. Also, the regional governing body said it had formally begun the recruitment process for a new permanent head coach, to fill the role currently being performed by ex-West Indies batsman Floyd Reifer on a temporary basis. It was Pollard’s elevation to the ODI captaincy, however, which made the headlines. Age 32, the Trinidadian has not played a single one-dayer in the last three years. Further, he boasts an unflattering batting average of 25 with the bat from 101 ODIs with three hundreds, while taking 50 wickets with his slow medium at nearly 40 runs apiece. “He’s [32]. [When] the next ODI [World Cup] comes around he will be 36, 37. We should be looking to get good players [around 23]. As usual, we’re always looking backward,” Sir Andy pointed out, adding that Pollard should have been given the captaincy five years ago when Holder was appointed. “They should have made him (Holder) understudy to Pollard [back then]. Once they gave him (Holder) the captaincy and they stuck to it, then I don’t see the reason to go back to Kieron Pollard now.” Holder failed to win a single series during his tenure and also oversaw West Indies’ worst-ever showing at a World Cup last July, when the side finished ninth of 10 teams with just two wins. Sir Andy said CWI should have persisted with the 27-year-old Holder but afforded him the benefit of an experienced coaching staff. “What are they basing Jason Holder’s captaincy on? Results or tactics on the field? If we’re going to be building and looking towards the future, I think you should stick with a younger captain who is in there for three, four years,” Sir Andy contended. “What they should have done is give him (Holder) the experience that is required with the coaching staff. That’s what they should have done. Are they blaming Jason’s captaincy for the results we’ve been having? If we don’t have good cricketers, those are the results we’re going to get. It doesn’t matter who is in charge as captain or who’s in charge of coaching. “I think our problem is that we’re not developing good cricketers – there is not enough pressure placed on players for personal development and I’ve been saying that for the last 10, 15 years. If these guys don’t take the opportunity to develop themselves, we are going to be stuck where we are.” (BT)

BOXING LACKS PUNCH – One of this country’s most decorated amateur fighters, Junior Greenidge, says boxing is down and almost out and the Barbados Boxing Association (BBA) has run out of ideas. Greenidge, 39, the winner of a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in Manchester in 2002, told Weekend Sport that boxing was at an all-time low and he is willing to spearhead a revival, but the corporate sector has to come onboard.“Boxing badly needs help and it hurts me to see that little is happening in the sport. I am looking to target the blocks because those boys can be easily trained. I know amateur boxers cannot receive monies but can collect development funding so they can buy their vitamins and gear.“The standard of boxing has sunk and I think someone like me has to play a role in reviving it because I know what it takes to win medals and produce champions,” he said.A passionate Greenidge said that if a facility came to fruition, he could have former world-rated boxers Floyd Mayweather Sr and Roy Jones Jr coming to Barbados as technical advisers to launch the fight programme here.(WN)

WELL DONE – Festival Designer of the Year Kevin Small’s Fifth Element Mas walked away with the lion’s share of prizes at Saturday’s Crop Over Awards Ceremony. The band leader and his team took home nine prizes at the end of the event held at the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre, Queen’s Park. The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) presented more than 100 prizes to top performers and contributors of this year’s festival. Band leaders, masqueraders, senior and junior calypsonians, visual artists and volunteers were all recognised for the roles they played in staging a successful festival. Awardees, along with specially invited guests, were treated to an evening reminiscent of the major moments of the season. There were live performances by Junior Monarchs Quon, Shontae and The Mighty Bit Bit; Calypso Monarch Classic, Tune of the Crop winner Leadpipe and a video presentation of Mikey’s winning Soca Monarch performance since he was overseas. Video clips of all major events for the festival starting with the Bajaramas to the climax on Grand Kadooment Day were also shown. Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sport John King congratulated the awardees and thanked corporate Barbados for their continued support of the festival. “A celebration of this nature at the end of every season is paramount as we take a moment to acknowledge, reward and laud your commitment to this festival and the aspiring journeys along the roads to success. We applaud you…” he said. Chairman of the NCF Board Glyne Harrison who played on this year’s slogan Crop Over Correct said it was a successful season since there were a number of areas in which they got it “correct”. “By the end of the festival, we were pleased to say we got the buy-in from young to old, saying they were Crop Over Correct … We also got our coverage correct this year and we were able to take our stories and our news to the wider world. It’s something that we need to continue to do because Crop Over is bigger than Barbados,” the chairman said.(BT)

POMP & PAGEANTRY - The Miss Universe Barbados 2019 pageant was awesome! The entire production was flawless, swift and highly professional. At 10:33 p.m. on Saturday night at the Hilton Barbados, a beaming Shanel Ifill was crowned Miss Universe Barbados 2019. The 20-year-old University of the West Indies student won the hearts of both the judges and the crowd to beat a field of eight other delegates. Shanel was impressive throughout the night both in her swimwear and her beautifully designed and fitted evening gown. Her smarts came to the fore as she answered both questions posed to her on the big night. The deciding question asked to the top three contestants was: “What current global situation would you lend your voice to as Miss Universe and why?” Shanel’s response: “There is so much going on in the world right now but I would definitely have to lend my voice to the fires that are happening in the Amazon. Some 26, 000 fires rage on in the Amazon and that is literally 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen system not only decimating the forest itself but there are tribes that live within the forest that has been completely decimated. They are like gone. They can’t be found; it caused genocide on some of the tribes. So I feel as though, for me, that would be where my purpose would lie…” The crowd erupted with cheers and screams of approval both during and by the time she had ende She graced the stage with her presence for the announcement of the winner as the top three contestants stood nervously awaiting the final result. Prior to pageant night, all nine delegates would have been interviewed one on one and those marks would have contributed to the final score. First, runner-up went to Beviny Payne who well-deserved to be in the top three. She looked splendid in her green evening gown as well. Payne is the perfect choice to perform the duties of queen should Ifill be unable to do so. The second runner-up was Hilary Williams who also won the People’s Choice Award.That award was well justified as the crowd clearly loved her. The Top 3 were chosen from a field of a Top 5 which was named earlier in the night after a question-and-answer segment. The other two contestants in the Top 5 were: Alexandra Ortiz and Jeunessa Banfield. Miss Photogenic went to Kristen Asha while Jeunessa Banfield copped Miss Congeniality. The pageant production was nothing short of excellent. There was full use of multi-media throughout the night. Presenter for the night Media Specialist Gaynelle Marshall did a fabulous job keeping things flowing. The Director of Media Relations and PR made comments and smart remarks that were clearly designed to keep the contestants calm and focused. The pageant was held before a packed audience that included Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Santia Bradshaw and other dignitaries. All on the Miss Universe Barbados team, led by National Director Brian Green, should take a bow for what could only be described as a top-notch, world-class show staged on this small rock. (BT)

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