#yes i know she was in jonas but CHELSEA
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me every time Kameron is onscreen: do they even know that's chelsea kane THE chelsea of the summer set's iconic hit single Chelsea???
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Lucy bronze one where r doesn’t wanna her up for training some fluff. Thanks
I just want to take care of you (Lucy Bronze x reader)
Lucy had promised you she was fine and she said her knee was fine. This was a lie because 4 days after the Chelsea game your girlfriend was in the hospital having surgery.
Before now you trusted her explicitly and for the most part you still do. When it comes to her injury though, you didn’t believe a word that came out of her mouth. You attended every physio appointment and made notes of her progress. You knew what her road to recovery would entail and you knew when she would hopefully get the greenlight.
“Can I join you on your run?” Lucy was moping around the kitchen as you got ready.
“No Lucy, you can’t. You’re on track and I won’t be the reason that changes. I’m meeting Alexia afterwards so I’ll meet you at the training ground” you place a quick kiss on her cheek.
She hated lying to you about her pain and discomfort but she wanted to be the strong powerful person she knew you loved. The reason for the dishonesty was fear and she knew it.
You and Alexia were running a little bit late to training. By the time you get to the pitch, the whole team is already out there. The whole team including Lucy and Frido.
“Love, I know you miss it but you can’t be here. You haven’t been cleared yet”
“I have” Lucy was telling the truth.
“No you haven’t. You aren’t due for clearance until next month”
Lucy grabbed your hand and walked you over to where the physios were speaking to Jona.
“I told you she wouldn’t believe me. Please tell her”
The physios go on to explain how Lucy passed all her tests this morning and that they have cleared her for team training. When you question it they promised that they would keep an eye on her and monitor every move she made.
Training is normally your happy place but not today, today you were filled with worry. You were trying to focus on your own performance but your mind kept straying to Lucy and how she was playing. It was during one counter attack that things got intense. Mapi did a clean tackle and got the ball. Any other day you would praise her but with the speed Lucy was running down the wing, Mapi’s tackle sent her flying.
“Lucy!” You are by her side in seconds “medics!” You begin to panic but Lucy brushes the grass off her knees and stands up as if nothing happened.
“I’m fine, im fine”
There was that word again. Fine. She said that one before.
“Get checked out. If they say you are fine then you can continue”
“Y/N”
“Captains orders!” You snap. It wasn’t a malicious snap but one of concern.
Lucy does in fact get cleared but your head is all over the place so you sit out and watch the team strategically.
Very little is said on the way home and that doesn’t change once you are in your shared apartment.
“Here. Ice it. I’m going for a shower”
“No” Lucy takes the ice off you before pulling you over to the sofa “we are going to talk about what happened today”.
You let out a huff of frustration. You really didn’t want to talk about it, not while you were this worked up. You placed Lucy’s leg on the foot rest and make sure her knee was iced before you started talking.
“You got cleared ahead of schedule. You went down and I panicked. There, end of story”
“There’s more to it than that. You’ve seen me injured before, this time is different”
“Yes, it’s different. Last time you were honest with me. You told me when it got bad and we dealt with it together. This time you lied. You told me you were fine and then you were in the hospital again”
Seeing your girlfriend laying in a hospital bed was never a welcomed sight but this time things felt weird between the two of you.
“It was a small surgery. I didn’t want to worry you”
“Right because look how great that turned out”
“I’ll admit I could have handled it better but I didn’t want you to see me weak”
“Weak? Lucy you are one of the strongest people I know”
“But I wasn’t a few weeks ago. I was hurting and I thought the way for you to still see me as strong was to lie to you” Lucy tried to explain how her mind worked and her reasoning for withholding the truth.
“Let’s get one thing straight. Lying to me is never the answer”
“But—“
“No buts. I don’t like not trusting what you say Lucy. This” you run your hand over her knee and gently stroke her scar “is important and I want you to be honest with me about it. Please please be honest with me Lucy”
“From this moment on I will always tell you the truth, no matter what. Pinky promise” you hold her pinky finger out and waits for you to accept it.
You look at her as if weighing out your options. When you see the look of panic of Lucy’s face you know you’ve waited long enough. You hook your pinkies.
“Now, you said something about a shower” your girlfriend raises her eyebrows playfully.
“How about a bath instead” you suggest.
“Even better”
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Clothing Swap (Leah Williamson x Reader)
warnings: none
a/n: based off this request here
prompt: in which leah accidentally takes the readers chelsea pants one morning.
Leah had had a few embarrassing moments, some on the pitch, some off the pitch. But nothing compared to the morning of March 11 2023. Nothing.
You woke up to the song of the london birds and soft, warm sunshine. But the best part about the atmosphere was Leah’s body next to yours. You had fallen asleep after watching a few episodes of Sherlock, you in Leah’s hoodie, and Leah in yours. You turned over and noticed the clock said 8:00, which meant you had 30 minutes to get ready, and then 30 more to get to Cobham in time for the 9:15 training session. You knew Leah would sleep in, considering her training had been pushed back to 10:45.
You propped yourself up on your forearm, looking down at her peaceful body. Gently, you traced shapes on her toned stomach, her hoodie having rode up during the night. You pulled her hoodie back down, covering her up and then gently used your index to push back blonde strand of hair that were scattered on her face.
Her eyes fluttered just as you went down to kiss the tip of her nose, and when you pulled away, her eyes were open, barely, and tiredly, but open. "Hey, baby. I need to go to training," you said gently. "Mhmm… don’t leave," she said, lifting her arm up to rub her thumb over your cheek. "If I want to keep my place at Chelsea, then yes, I need to leave. Can’t be late," you told your girlfriend.
Secret girlfriend.
"But we don’t want that. We want you to come to Arsenal," she said, watching you stand up and pull off your hoodie. "No, you want that. I’m a blue through and through. It’s like if I asked you to come to Chelsea," you laughed, pulling on your white nike sports bra.
Leah made a disgusted face, making you laugh and throw a pillow at her. "Be nice!" you grounded her. "I’d never ever put on something with a Chelsea logo. Ever," she said. "I know, I know," you said.
You pulled on your training jersey and then shorts under the watchful and sleepy eye of Leah. "Don’t miss the next alarm, my love," you said.
You leaned in to kiss her before walking out of the room to grab a quick breakfast.
Soon enough, you were out the door, having peaked into Leah’s room to see if she had fallen back asleep. She had.
You had your own apartment, yes. The one that you hung out with your Chelsea teammates at, the one that they thought you lived in. Every time they came over, you would mess up the bed a little, and move things around to make it seem as though it had been lived in, when really, you only came here to do laundry because Leah’s dryer was broken. Leah’s apartment was home… no. Scratch that, Leah was home.
Leah woke up not one, but two hours after you had left, having slept right through the alarm you had set for her. It was now 10:15, and she had to be at training in 30 minutes. The training ground was 20 minutes away, leaving her relatively no time to get ready. She jumped out of bed, wrapped her hair in a bad messy bun with a hair tie that was on the beside table. She quickly found her Arsenal shirt and her black track pants that were lying on a chair in the corner.
"Shit, shit, shit," she grumbled, pulling on her runners without any socks on. Luckily, she packed her training bag the night before and simply had to grab it and run out the door.
Leah stumbled down the stairs to the parking garage and then found her car, driving off quickly.
She arrived two minutes late, meaning she was the last one in the locker room, and that all eyes were on her.
"Sorry, sorry. Late night, bad morning," she said, rushing into the locker room. "All good, Jonas isn’t- oh Leah…"
This was Kim speaking, as the sort of mother of the group, she was a natural comfort to everyone. "What?" Leah asked, walking to her cubby. "Holy shit! Williamson is wearing Chelsea joggers!" Katie basically screamed, making everyone’s attention draw to the pants Leah was wearing.
The english skipper looked down at her pants. Surely enough, the Chelsea logo was embedded on the left side, and on the right, in white letters, showed the number 29. "29? Who’s number 29?" Gio asked, smiling cheekily.
The girls thought for a second, Leah panicking and not knowing what to say. "Wait… 29 is the Canadian winger who’s been with them-" Beth started saying. "Fleming?" Viv asked. "No! Y/l/n! She has like 35 goals for them in 57 games or something," Beth said.
"You’re fucking y/n y/l/n? Really, Leah. A blue?" Manu said, jokingly pushing her friend. "Don’t say it so loud! Geez! Yeah we’re… together," Leah said, slipping off the Chelsea pants and stuffing them deep into her bag. "Hmm… y/n Williamson. Sounds good. Or would you take her last name? I think Leah y/l/n is pretty nice too honestly," Rafa said, making Leah scowl at her.
Leah had thought everyone was here, but there was one last late comer who made her way into the changing room. She wasn’t actually late, just talking with Jonas.
"Sabrina! You missed so much," Katie said excitedly. "No!" Leah yelled, trying to pounce on Katie. "Leah’s dating your teammate!" Katie said quickly, as a split second later, the blondes hand was covering the irish woman’s mouth. "What? Who?!" The keeper exclaimed.
Leah had thought she would have annihilated the threat by shutting Katie up, but Gio took over for the defender. "Y/n y/l/n," she said, shrugging. "GIO!"
"Everybody grab pinnies. Three teams please." Jonas said.
Leah grabbed a purple one randomly from the pile and slipped it on. "Hey, Leah! Look my pinnie number is 29! Get in bed with me?" Katie said, walking up to Leah and pretending like she wanted to give her a kiss. "Want me to call up Ruesha? We’ll see what she says about this!" Leah said, scowling at the girl. "No, no, no! I’m sorry," she said, quickly rushing back to her group.
"Good job girls, 20 minute break… be here for… 12:29," Jonas said.
"Okay who told him! You’re all doing it on purpose!" Leah exclaimed.
Jonas looked horribly confused, most girls were trying to hold in their laughs while the older ones looked around with stern faces. "C’mon, Leah," Kim said, gently grabbing Leah’s shoulders and guiding her inside.
"We’re just teasing you, you know," Beth said, gently placing her hand on Leah’s back. "I know. But you’re acting like you don’t like her or something. I really love her. And your opinion matters to me," Leah said, loud enough for some of the girls to hear as she walked into the changing room. "Leah… you’ve been… sad, the last couple of months. And it would be a lie to say that the last three of those months have been completely different. If she puts a smile on your face then… well we love her," Jen said, looking around for the gunners approval. They all nodded at the woman’s words. "We’re just happy you’re happy," Katie said gently. "And don’t tell Rue I teased you because she’ll kill me," Katie said, basically pleading.
That day, when Leah got home, you were passed out on the couch. The training today had been intense, and you couldn’t help feel as though something was different, throwing you off your game a little.
Leah dropped her bag a little louder than she had meant too, making you spring up quickly, your heart pounding. "Hey, hey. It’s okay baby. It’s just me," she said, walking over to you and sitting down beside you. "Sorry. Tough day," you said, gently pushing her down onto the couch to lie on top of her. "Tell me about it… your day, I mean," Leah said, brushing her fingers through your newly cleaned hair. "Mhm… I don’t know. It was intense but I felt weird the whole day. Like someone knew something about me that they shouldn’t. It’s stupid. I know," you said, fiddling with Leah’s necklace. "Well… um… it’s not actually. Because I accidentally wore your track pants to practice today and now my whole team knows about us," Leah said, slightly scared of your reaction.
You lifted your body up quickly, placing your hands on either side of her and propping yourself up. "Really?!" you said, a slight smile on your face. "Yeah… i’m sorry-"
"No! It’s okay! Unless they hate me and they want us to break up. Oh my god do they hate me? The tackle against Rafa was an accident last game I swear. And Katie got me riled up I didn’t mean to call her the lucky charms mascot it just slipped out and-" you started ranting, panic spreading through your body.
"Hey! Hey. No. It’s okay. They’re happy for us. They’re happy. And i’m happy… and you’re happy… right?" Leah said, gently pushing your head back onto her chest.
"More than I’ve ever been."
#woso fic#woso imagine#woso x reader#woso#leah williamson#chelsea fcw#arsenal fcw#canwnt#katie mccabe
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big sigh. i’ve blown off some steam (played a fifa match and won 8-0 against chelsea) and have decided to just blow off even more steam sooooooo
i think it's clear that this wasn't our best performance by a long shot. what we should have done to have this game in the bag and make the most of our home advantage was to score early and rattle chelsea early on. and we almost did that when we had a chance in the early minutes where chelsea was still working on getting organized, but we fucked it because caro slipped. and then it all went downhill from here.
the ray of sunshine on a cloudy day was ingrid. she, as always, put in an absolute shift at the back, but we still messed up and conceded that cuthbert goal (honestly, chapeau to chelsea because that was a good goal, but i'm too pissed to acknowledge it). paredes made one too many unnecessary challenges and gave me a heart attack, and our fullbacks were too slow. their passes were sloppy most of the time and overlaps failed (also because our midfield wouldn't use the flanks), and so our defence was too weak and chelsea maximized on it. i doubted lucy being subbed on for ona, but ona was having a bad game and lucy has a more attacking mind, so it was a good call and she made some good advances forward.
our midfield was the most under pressure. aitana was being marked to hell and back, and so she could barely get some touches on the ball. patri made a few bad passes and wasn't at her best, but her shot on goal (which was blocked by buchanan's hand and should've been a penalty because salma was not involved in the play so it didn't matter if she was offside and the referee is so fucking stupid and i may have cursed her entire bloodline) was somehow one of our decent chances. alexia being subbed on saved me, but jona honestly fucked it up by subbing off ingrid honestly. i think she should've stayed on. but anyways, alexia's last chance broke my heart because it would've been perfect, and she could tell that it was the missed opportunity. final kick of the ball and one of our only cohesive attacks, so i get her frustration (i shouted joder insanely loud. if i get a noise complaint i won't be surprised).
anyways... speaking of missed chances... here's the tl;dr version of what i want to say about our attack today…
salma has had an absolute STINKER of a game. she missed a bunch of good chances that were handed to her on a silver platter, and she made bad decisions when she was advancing towards the box. mariona decided to ball out and channel her inner lamine yamal and failed drastically, and caro wasn't taking any shots. all we did was cross, cross, cross, and cross, even if it was so painfully clear that it did not work. at all.
generally, this was just a heartbreaking game. we got robbed of a penalty and the ref made some questionable choices, yes. but that doesn't take away from the fact that we were just not there. it's over now and it hurts like hell, but we need to bounce back and prepare to take revenge at stamford bridge. at the sake of my mental stability, i still have faith in our chances and i know we have it in us to come back from this and get to bilbao. la teoría del rombo is alive and well still!
ALSO JUSTICE FOR PINA YOU WERE GREATLY MISSED YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THAT PITCH YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
#if i remember anything else i'll make sure to add it#or if anybody has something to add feel free to!#hestia's basic boring stupid 'analysis'#fc barcelona#barca#fc barcelona femeni#barca femeni#fcb femeni
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we're back at it because barça stressing me out man so...
my optimal barça line-up and game plan (v ch*lsea)
warning: controversial BUT i justify all my choices
yeah i forgot to change keira's number and made a typo in paralluelo sorry
My Game Plan:
Okay, first of all, if Graham Hansen is not fully healed. I want and need this instead and because I cannot have a conversation with medical staff, I will be justifying both of these line-ups.
The Wings:
Left: Ona Batlle and Salma Paralleulo
I think one of Jona's big mistakes last weekend was not having these two on the same wing. It has been deadly all season down that left-hand side for both Spain and Barcelona. It is better on the left but I also will take it on the right-hand side, especially, if Graham Hansen is injured and Rolfö is playing in place of Bronze.
The combo of both their speed is almost impossible any defender to handle and if you think about the Ch*lsea back four that H*yes is likely to put it, their speed combination will be difficult for Charles or Carter to handle as their speed historically has not been able to match the speed of Paralleulo and Batlle. Ultimately, Barcelona's best chances on the weekend came from fast counter attacks and speed getting into the box and, from the past, we know that is something that Paralluelo and Batlle can reliably combine to do either down the left or the right (down the right if Rolfö and Pina are playing)
Right: Lucy Bronze and Caroline Graham Hansen (if fit) / Fridolina Rolfö and Claudia Pina
Honestly, the primary motivation for picking Bronze and Graham Hansen as the preferred starting players is because I would prefer to see Batlle and Paralleulo on the left, however, I am pretty flexible on this wing and would like the fittest players to play and it's obvious that Graham Hansen has been dealing with some sort of injury. If Bronze and Graham Hansen start, I want to see them subbed off for Rolfö and Pina and vice versa.
Ultimately, Rolfö and Graham Hansen did not link up well on the wing last weekend and due to injuries they haven't had much time to gel. The better partnerships and pairings in my opinion are Rolfö and Pina and Bronze and Graham Hansen. Bronze was one of the best players as a sub on the weekend and has a lot of experience in these situations and against Chelsea, I think it would be good to use her.
The Defence:
Goalkeeper: Cata Coll
The obvious choice, clearly, the stronger Barcelona goalkeeper at the moment. Confident with her ball at her feet and a good ball-playing keeper with the ability to come out of her goal and act as an eleventh outfield player to overload a Ch*lsea midfield and progress play down the pitch.
Centrebacks: Irene Parades and Ingrid Engen
Taking Ingrid Engen off the pitch at the weekend was a crime, she was the best player and I think if she plays like that again, the only way she is coming off the pitch is surrounded by a medical team. I am serious, she is so fucking good and underrated. Her and Parades are also the strongest centreback pairing that Barcelona has put out all season, there is no doubt in my mind about this and judging my who Jona is resting and playing, there is no doubt in his mind either.
The Midfield/Forwards:
Defensive Midfielder: Keira Walsh
Solid for club and for country in every match. Most underrated player on the pitch and one of, if not, the best defensive midfielder in the world in terms of her ball recovery and blocking the passes. It was clear that Ch*lsea's tactic was too partially mark her out of the game and she needs to be brought into the game more likely by Engen overloading the midfield as an extra player with some forward movement out of the backline.
Central: Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey
Alexia and Bonmatí were two of the best players on the pitch on the weekend. They have so much combined experience and talent and are a deadly midfield pairing in the centre of the park. Alexia should've started on the weekend, she changed the game when she came on but there is only so much one player can do. Both she and Aitana have a bad match and come back better and fighting. They live and breathe Blaugrana and seemingly contrary to popular belief play really well together. Their combined fluidity allows each other to have a lot of freedom in the midfield.
Mariona is the strongest choice in that central position. She is best placed as a nine or false nine other than the wing that Jona had her play on the weekend. That position can also be fluid with her ability to drop into the midfield and Alexia's talent or playing that false nine position. She is better at being in the box and finishing chances than anyone else on the team and has a talent for creating space.
I would like to see Patri, Brugts and Vicky come on into the forward/midfield line as subsitutes but given the match could be 90 or 120 minutes, I don't want to apply exact timing as to when those substitutes should be made as that would depend on how the game is going and how it needs to managed.
Due to the fact, I will be in the stadium (in the home end (undercover and still firmly hating Ch*lsea)), I will not provide updates about the subs I think should be made. Only the friends who will likely regret going with me will hear my wonderful commentary and yapping on a level that has the ability to compete with Mapi Leon. But I am taking my camera so you will be all be blessed with some pics (if they are any good).
#luca commentates#fcb femeni#barcelona femeni#fc barcelona#barcelona women#alexia putellas#ingrid engen#lucy bronze#ona batlle#keira walsh#aitana bonmati#claudia pina#fridolina rolfö#cata coll#mariona caldentey#woso#caroline graham hansen#salma paralleulo
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9-1-1 Season 6 Episode 4
Buck
WHY NO UNCLE BUCK MOMENTS
I’m weary of this say yes thing.
This meal seems awkward.
OH THATS WHATSHERFACE!! Uh…Chelsea something I think. I know she was on the Jonas Brothers show.
Ooooh I don’t know about this Buck. You’ll get attached and the whole point is to let go.
Buck you got so fucking lucky
Damn his eyes were especially blue just then.
Who’s at the door? Oh him.
Yes there is a correct way to ask that question.
Don’t do it Buck. I feel like it would be a bad idea for you. You would always wonder.
Oh drunk Buck is not the one to make this decision.
No you are not capable of walking away Buck. I can not stress this enough, DON’T DO THIS BUCK
“We sure are.” “It’s five o’clock somewhere”
Please don’t do this Buck. I don’t think this would be good for you.
I don’t like this turn of events.
Eddie
I’m with Chris. If it’s not the right brand, it’s just not right. It goes to waste cause nobody wants it.
He is cute Eddie. You made a cute kid.
SKIPPING SCIENCE CLUB?!
You have a teenager now Eddie.
LMAO EDDIE IS SO DONE WITH BUCKS ANTICS
Eddie….talking to his dad….this is weird. I mean I’m glad they’re in a better place but still. It’s odd.
Um….since when has Eddie treated him like a baby? He’s always pushed for Chris’ independence.
You may be older Chris but you definitely still need protecting. At all costs.
Hen
Bobby is not asking about work and you know it. That man goes for the deep stuff.
It wasn’t Bobby’s fault! She asked for the position.
Yeah do the opposite of Buck! Say no to stuff!
Hen why are you there?
See even Bobby wants to know!! GO HOME!
LMAO The house is too quiet? Play music then!
LMAO not the deep clean.
😂😂 the fitted sheet.
Her face!
You’re gonna kill it Hen!!
Bobby
I really miss Harry.
I thought Athena would be the one with the surprise but Bobby took the dog in!
Emergencies
Why is he watching them like a creep?
Why is he standing right next to it? A tree that’s downed like that looks like danger.
Oh damn he’s stuck under it.
Biker guy is kinda cute.
Chim really? The force is strong?
WHAT THE FUCK why is he just driving off?
It’s time? It’s time for what? Oh I don’t like this.
Oh Maddie. I don’t like this.
It’s a dog! HOOVER LIKE THE VACUUM
Awe happy ending for the mom and daughter!
Miscellaneous
Who are all these random on the scene? LMAO You can tell they just needed bodies for the tree scene
LMAO WHY MY MAMA THOUGHT CHIM AND MADDIE WERE MARRIED? She was talking about the guy driving drunk and was like “look dude him and his wife just got back together, don’t kill him please”
#9 1 1 on fox#911onfox#season sex#evan buck buckley#eddie diaz#christopher diaz#bobby nash#henrietta hen wilson#howard chimney han#maddie buckley#season 6 episode 4#season 6#episode 4#athena grant nash#Hoover the dog
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Emma is a great coach but games like this and among others especially the UWCL final tell me that she is not anywhere near with all due respect best coach in the world takes that she gets from the media or some fans. I feel like tactically sometimes she can be inept at times
Yeh boiii. I too acknowledge that she's a quality manager who knows her stuff but the praise she gets can definitely be overstated (certainly that FIFA one 🤪).
The problem is that when we're then asked to name who else exactly is head and shoulders above her, not many names come to mind.
Also, people love pointing this out (especially Arsenal fans 😂) but having a large budget and the best players to choose from helps her immensely. It's different from the men's game, PL for example, where the player quality isn't so drastically uneven hence every team is highly competitive and what a coach does really influences the margins between victory or loss significantly. Same goes for Jonas Eidevall, who hasn't impressed me all that much either.
The tactical part, I get it too. Idk if I've seen a tactical masterclass from her where it was a really close one but her managerial aptitude specifically made the difference for Chelsea. The recent FA Cup final? Not to wholly take away credit from her but idk, but we also well and truly self-combusted in that one so...
All in all, does Hayes have a lot of factors going for her that make it easier for her to be a top manager? Yes. So does she deserve her plaudits for carrying out that job well and unquestionably so far? Also yes. However, the often-excessive worshipping of the ground she walks on and the purring in my face? Nobody wants to see that, please and thank you.
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Pack Gathering
here’s some actual plot for once! Quarantine gave me enough time to finish this beast of a snippet. This is kinda long, but I hope y’all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! -
The Kincade manor had to be the richest house I have ever seen in person. It was probably big enough to be considered a castle. Jayde was right about one thing, it was a ridiculous flaunt of wealth. With its white marble steps and columns, dazzlingly intricate windows that reflected the sunlight, and granite wolf statues guarding the grand entrance, it was impossible to dispute that the owners didn’t think of themselves as royalty.
Not only that, but nearly every single person in that mansion right now is a werewolf. Very prestigious and powerful werewolves. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel safe, Jayde promised she would be by my side no matter what, it’s the fact that I was starting to feel unprepared for this. I was only human after all, I honestly didn’t know what to expect from everyone in there. I tried to focus on the other prominent emotions I was feeling to distract me. Like my excitement for entering a completely different world. The Lodge was filled with werewolves that I’ve grown accustomed to, but this place already felt different and I haven’t even stepped inside yet.
Jayde’s hand fit into mine before we set foot on the steps, “You’re nervous.” she stated quietly, moving closer to me.
Jayde’s version of dressing up was throwing on a black blazer over a white shirt that had an artistic graphic of some kind, tucked into sleek black jeans with Chelsea boots to match. It was very simple and didn’t really come off like she put in much effort, but she admittedly still looked extremely attractive. Especially with the sleeves of her blazer rolled up to her elbows and her stylishly unkempt blonde hair brushed over to one side.
I was relieved by her proximity and leaned into her, “A little.”
“I should warn you,” she began, taking me off to the side of the stairs while people passed us to enter the party, “These wolves, they’re very old fashioned. Alphas, mates, all that crap is really important to them. And the most important of all is being a purebred, so don’t be surprised if they act weird around you.”
Her words didn’t really help my unease and I glanced up at the manor again, even more unsure of myself, “Is me being here going to cause problems?”
Jayde took a second before she answered me, like she was struggling with a response. Then she nodded, “Yes. But don’t take any of it to heart.”
“Don’t take the fact that my human existence is offensive to them to heart?”
A brief smile tugged at the corner of her mouth like she just realized how that sentence sounded, “I won’t let any snide comments slide.” her brows furrowed with another thought, “Are you… comfortable with me calling you my mate?”
“Your mate?” I asked curiously.
“Yeah,” Jayde replied, looking down bashfully. She started to fiddle with the necklace she gave me, slowly readjusting the chain, “Werewolves usually mate for life and when we find the right person, that’s what we call them. Or more accurately, claim them. My parents didn’t really care for most of the old world traditions, but they did claim each other as mates. It’s sacred. If I tell the people here that you’re my mate and I’m yours, then there’s a chance that would get them to back off a bit.”
The explanation didn’t surprise me at all. It actually kind of appealed to me, but I sensed some aversion from the emphasis on claim. “You don’t like the idea?”
Jayde gave a half shrug and once the clasp was at the back of my neck, she ran the tips of her fingers along my skin for a moment longer than necessary when she pulled her hands away. I missed her touch as soon as it was gone.
“No, I do. Or the main gist, I should say.” She finally met my gaze, her demeanor exuding some embarrassment, “It’s just that wolves can be so territorial. You know, like, possessive. That’s the part I don’t like, you thinking that I’m trying to take possession of you, because I do have that instinct. And the people in there will definitely see it like that. Especially since you’re human.”
“I don’t care what the people in there think of us.” My hands went to her waist to reassure both her and me, “I know what your intentions are. I know you’re not trying to own me or anything, so I don’t mind you calling me your mate. And not just here either.”
There was something comforting about Jayde calling me her mate and me calling her mine. I was content with girlfriend, but mate felt like a bigger, better word. Like it carried more weight and meaning. Using it every now and then definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing.
She smiled at me, her shoulders slackening with relief, making me think that she felt the same about it. Her index finger came up to tap under my chin while she leaned in to kiss me. We didn’t let it become more than a long peck considering we were in a public place. Jayde wasn’t too fond of people watching us, and I can imagine these werewolves taking any interest in our intimacy would annoy her even more.
“You ready?” she asked once she pulled away.
“I’m ready.”
Jayde looked me up and down fondly, “You look gorgeous by the way.”
Skye helped me pick out the dress. It was elegant, yet simple overall. Skye thought that the navy blue color went well with my hair and skin tone, which I couldn’t argue. The sleeveless lace bodice didn’t constrict me or make me overheated from nerves. The flowy skirt reached my knees, giving me enough movement to feel comfortable, and the flats I was wearing wouldn’t kill my feet too badly. I didn’t wear dresses very often, but I always enjoyed it when I wore one like this.
I blushed at Jayde’s praise and accepted the arm she held out to me as we ascended the steps.
The inside was just as grand as the outside. Perfectly spotless tiled floors that I could see our reflections in led to a grand staircase that curled around the whole foyer. People were mingling about with fancy glasses of various alcoholic beverages, dressed like they were trying their hardest to promote their status to each other. As soon as Jayde and I entered the foyer, gazes landed upon us, followed by quiet murmurs. Curious and even scornful gazes, I noticed. My flushed expression turned to slight embarrassment from all the attention and I instinctually moved closer to Jayde, clinging to her arm and trying to hide my nerves. No doubt they could all sense it anyway.
“Let’s go get something to drink.” Jayde suggested, leading me away from the prying eyes in this particular room. As we walked by a couple looking me up and down very carefully, she growled at them, making me smile to myself.
This was going to be an interesting day. “It’s gonna be a lot of that, I’m guessing.”
She groaned in agreement, “If Skye hadn’t asked me to go to this damn thing for her, I wouldn’t have come within a hundred miles.”
I remembered all the stories Jayde told me about coming here with her family when she was a kid. I gathered that if her father hadn’t been such close friends with one of the alphas, they wouldn’t have even come here at all. It sounded like every visit was painful for both families on account of their opposing views. I was dreading the inevitable moment I meet the alpha female, Miranda. She sounded like a very strict and uptight woman, which made me fear that she was the one who was going to have the biggest issue with me.
The open bar was in the next room, filled with even more werewolves of high status. Strange looks continued to come our way, which I ignored as best as I could. “They can all tell that I’m human right away, can’t they?”
She nodded, “Most of them, yeah.”
“Am I the only human here?”
“I haven’t caught any other scent besides yours.” she answered, quickly asking the bartender for a whiskey and a glass of champagne. “Your scent is pretty distracting though.” she added with a small side-grin.
I accepted the glass of bubbling liquid that was being handed to me, offering my thanks to the bartender before I replied to her, “I hope not too distracting.”
Jayde took a generous swig of her whiskey, “Not distracting enough, actually.”
We stood quietly for a few minutes while Jayde surveyed the crowd, her shoulders slightly tense like she was preparing for an attack. I tried to commit some profiles to memory too, in case I recognized anyone from the descriptions that Jayde had given me earlier, but every time I looked at someone for more than a second or two, their gaze found mine like they somehow knew I was watching them. Can werewolves sense people watching them? The idea was a little unnerving considering how many times I’ve stared at Jayde before we got together. Did she know I was staring at her all those times? And she didn’t think I was a psycho?
“Jayde,” a man called as he approached, pulling me out of my embarrassing thoughts. He must’ve been about thirty years old or so. Kind looking face, clean shaven with his light brown hair combed perfectly.
“Jonas.” Jayde greeted back with a nod.
“You got roped into this, huh?” Jonas asked with a hint of humor.
“Just when I thought the torture was over.” she said somewhat sarcastically.
Jonas smiled, then noticed my presence beside Jayde and eyed me curiously, though I noted it wasn’t judgemental. It might’ve even been concern. “Who’s this?”
“This is Nadya.” Jayde put an arm around my waist, “My mate.” I watched his eyebrows shoot up in surprise while she addressed me next, “Nadya, this is Jonas. He’s Miranda’s first born son with her first mate, Arthur.”
I recalled Jayde telling me that the previous Kincade alpha male, Arthur, had been killed by hunters when Jonas was very young. “It’s nice to meet you.” I said, reaching out to shake with him.
Jonas’s grip was firm, but gentle when he took my hand. I realized from his expression that he was offering respect, which wasn’t something I thought I would receive so easily here. “It’s lovely to meet you too, Nadya.”
“I’m…” I started nervously after letting go of his hand. I probably should’ve left it, but I felt like I couldn’t, “I’m sorry about your father.”
His expression softened, “It’s alright, it happened a long time ago. Truth be told, I barely remember him.”
“He seemed like a good man, from what I’ve heard.” I said sincerely, “I’m sure he would be proud of you.”
Jonas studied me quietly for a moment while he swirled the drink in his hand absentmindedly. He didn’t look me up and down like a lot of people were, he just kept his gaze right on mine until the corners of his mouth tugged up in a smile. Then he nodded and said, “Thank you.”
I smiled and nodded back, but was slightly unsure if that offended him or not. “Of course.”
The moment passed with Jonas standing up straighter and taking in a breath, “Well, I won’t hold you up any longer, I have a couple toddlers to track down. You know, make sure they don’t get into my mother’s closet upstairs. You two enjoy the party.”
“See you around, Jonas.” Jayde said, shaking his hand like an old friend before he went to walk away.
He got a couple steps, then halted and turned back to us, “Oh, Jayde?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s good to see you.” He had an almost familial fondness in his eyes, “Alive and well.”
Knowing that he must have been referring to the fact that he hasn’t seen her since before she was captured, Jayde’s eyes sparkled with gratitude and she smiled, giving him a meaningful nod, “Thanks.”
Once he disappeared in the crowd, I asked Jayde, “Was that okay? What I said.”
“You have a way with words, Nadya.” she answered, lovingly caressing my arm, “I don’t think anyone besides his wife has told him that his dad would be proud.”
“Really?”
She nodded, “Miranda didn’t take it too well when he told her he didn’t have any ambition to be the next alpha. She thought that was disgracing Arthur’s memory.”
I suppose that kind of made sense for people like this, in a twisted way, but that still wasn’t fair to Jonas. “Well, he seems to be doing pretty well for himself.”
“He has the family he’s always wanted. A mate. A couple of kids. Miranda might not think that's ambitious, but I do. Jonas sought a more modest life, and when you’re a werewolf, that can be more difficult than just staying in a large pack.”
This subject sounded familiar. “Your dad did that, right?”
She hummed in confirmation, “The Thatchers were another major purebred pack. My dad loved his family, but he also wanted something of his own. When he met my mom, he just wanted it even more. It’s never easy to break away from a big pack to form your own. There’s a lot of bravery in that.”
“You and Skye are the only Thatchers left?”
“Us and you.” Jayde told me with a smile, “And Toby. Even though he’s a Cortez, I call him both. You know, we might run into his siblings today.”
The fact that Jayde basically called me a Thatcher caused an incredibly light flutter in my stomach, “It’ll be interesting to meet them.”
“Celina has a bit of a stick up her ass, but she’s good people.”
As I was about to reply, there was a loud and booming voice shouting, “Thatcher!”
When Jayde saw another man approaching us, she swore under her breath, “Fucking Christ, here we go.” and downed the rest of her whiskey, turning around and motioning for a refill from the bartender. “It’s Garret.”
Apart from Miranda, Garret was one of the Kincades I was hoping I wouldn’t meet. He sounded like the worst type of frat boy and all the times that Miranda tried to push Jayde and Garret into a relationship, basically grooming them to eventually become mates since they were small children, made me extremely uncomfortable.
Now that I could see him in person, with his arrogant smirk surrounded by patchy stubble and overly gelled dark brown hair that was slicked back and cropped close at the sides, I wanted to be in any other room besides this one. There was a pendant around his neck that suspiciously looked like a bullet. Specifically a silver bullet. I wasn’t sure if it actually was one, or just for show, but it didn’t exactly match his tailored suit. The fact that he wore it so blatantly made me think it was a trophy of some kind.
Garret carried himself like he owned the place, but it almost came off like he was trying too hard. Once he sauntered over to us, he gave Jayde a long once over and it was difficult to keep my expression neutral. “Wow, you really did make it out, huh? I mean, shit, look at you.” he motioned at her dramatically with his hands, taking a special interest in her most visible scars, and let out a chuckle, “Maybe a little worse for wear, but I guess it’s kinda badass.”
“Okay, you said hello, you can go now.” Jayde said dryly, letting all of the amber liquid in her glass fall down her throat while glowering at him.
“Still playing hard to get after all this time?” Garret asked with a cocked eyebrow.
She wasn’t amused, “I was never playing your game, Garret, I just genuinely can’t stand you.”
“Oh, come on,” He groaned dramatically, “You’re being rude to the next great alpha? Under his own roof?”
“I’m actually being pretty civilized.” Jayde remarked, motioning for yet another refill of whiskey, which was starting to worry me a little, “You’ll know when I’m being rude.”
Garret looked like he wanted to say another snappy joke, but then he focused on me. The look of surprised interest on his face made me realize he literally just noticed my presence. His pale blue eyes slowly looked me up and down, glittering like a kid in a candy store, and I felt Jayde stiffen beside me. “What’s up with the human?” he asked her nonchalantly without taking his eyes off me.
“This is Nadya.” Jayde answered through clenched teeth, barely holding back a snarl.
“What’s she doing here?” he finally looked to Jayde for an explanation, “What, we just gonna have fun with her later?”
While I wasn’t entirely sure I knew exactly what his assumption entailed, my mind did go to a few possibilities. Like how it was a full moon and the participants of this party were invited for a hunt during the night. The way Garret had been looking at me started to make sense now. It made my skin crawl.
A brief sparkle of yellow shimmered across Jayde’s dark blue irises, I only noticed it because I was standing so close. She tensed up further, scowling darkly, an opened her mouth to say something, but I spoke up first because I had had enough of Garret’s comments making both of us uncomfortable, “Jayde and I are mates.”
He locked eyes with me again like he was shocked I had the ability to speak, “What would you know about that?” he snapped.
“She understands it a lot more than you do.” Jayde said calmly, not taking her dangerous glare off of him.
Garret addressed her with a scoff, “So, being tortured for years gave you a sense of humor?”
“No,” Jayde shook her head patronizingly, “Just gave me some perspective.”
“Pretty twisted sense of perspective, if you ask me.” he grumbled.
“We didn’t ask.” I pointed out. He shot a look at me again, this time looking furious that I had the audacity to speak to him like that. Maybe I should have held my tongue or used a little more caution with a werewolf like Garret, but something about him made me especially impatient and unwilling to just let his behavior go unchecked. Not to mention I hated the way he was talking to Jayde. “Why does it matter to you anyway?”
“Because my big brother cannot stand it when he can’t get what he wants.” Replied a girl that suddenly appeared next to our disagreement with a glass of wine in her hand and a giant grin, “Isn’t that right, Garret?”
The beautiful young woman was around my age and had the Kincade family resemblance for sure, though she also had a smirk that was familiar in a different sense. It was the same mischievous smirk that Skye wore on a daily basis. It wasn’t hard to recognize this girl as one of the twins that taught Skye everything she knows about being a troublemaker.
“Amara,” Garret glowered at his sister, using a clear warning tone, “Go away.”
“Do you have to be such a sore loser?” Amara replied and shrugged, “I mean, Hell, after all this time Jayde still won’t fall for your shitty flirting attempts. Learn to give up, you’re just embarrassing yourself.”
Garret’s face took on a reddish hue, either enraged, embarrassed, or both. The siblings stared each other down in a tense silence to the point that I was worried about it ending violently, but then Garret drew in a long breath before releasing it slowly. Without another word to any of us, he trudged off. He threw me a quick glare as he brushed by me and I noticed that he had reached up to grab his pendant, the silver bullet now lost in his clenched fist. I frowned. If that really was a silver bullet, that must be burning his hand.
Jayde must have noticed it too, “What’s the deal with the stupid necklace?”
“Oh,” Amara snickered, “He killed a hunter a while back and took the loaded silver bullet out of the guy’s gun. Now he goes around showing it to people and saying, ‘This was the bullet that was gonna kill me, but I showed that hunter bastard how a real man fights!’” She scoffed and shook her head, “I swear he becomes even more of a douche after each day.”
I shook my head, mumbling, “You don’t say…” into my glass of champagne, not at all surprised.
“Some things never change.” Jayde remarked.
Amara fully looked at the both of us, “You do. Strolling in here as one of the last surviving members of your family’s pack with a human girl on your arm. Kinda wish I could’ve thought of something like that to drive my mother crazy.”
“Nadya really is my mate.” While there wasn’t any full-blown animosity in Jayde’s voice, she was still being assertive, “I didn’t bring her here as a joke. Sometimes werewolves realize they don’t have to stick to archaic pack beliefs. It is the twenty-first century, after all.”
“Wow,” The Kincade wolf stated slowly, her perfectly manicured eyebrows arched in surprise at Jayde’s intensity, “Is it hard to hear me up there on your high horse with your little human?”
“It is a bit windy, yeah.” she replied sarcastically.
The energy between the two was different than with Garret. It wasn’t like they were overly fond of each other, but I could tell there was still some respect, as well as amusement with the other’s presence. The banter was also interesting. Almost sibling rivalry-like. Then I realized that it was exactly that because these two had a long history of growing up together.
Amara chuckled at Jayde’s retort and looked to me, “Well, if she really is that important, then I guess I should introduce myself.”
I accepted her extended hand, “I’m Nadya.”
“I gathered.” she replied with that smirk, “I’m Amara.”
“I gathered.” I said, mirroring her tone cheekily and releasing her hand.
“Oh, she’s got a little bit of sass,” Amara grinned at Jayde, “I like her.”
Jayde gave me a soft and proud smile, reaching out to briefly brush the back of her finger against my jaw. The small touch was both comforting and energizing. “So do I.”
“Well, this has been fun, but my main source of entertainment went that way.” Amara pointed in the direction that Garret went, “Mitchell and I are shadowing him all day and whoever makes him flip his shit in front of everyone first wins.” she leaned in as she passed us to wink at me and say, “Don’t let these wolves scare you.”
I grinned back at her and nodded, “They’re more bark than bite.”
Amara let out a hearty laugh, walking backwards and pointing at me, “You’re funny.” Then she disappeared into the crowd to go annoy her older brother with her twin.
When I looked back to Jayde, I saw that she was watching me very intently and I wasn’t sure why. “What?”
“Come on,” She said, setting her glass of whiskey aside and plucking my nearly empty flute of champagne out of my hand to place it down as well. Before I could ask why, she grabbed my hand and began leading me through the main bustle of the party.
I uttered a quiet, “Excuse me.” whenever we closely passed guests and offered a few sorry’s as well to those that I couldn’t avoid while Jayde pulled me along. We eventually broke through the crowd and made our way down some nearly empty hallways. This place was so big that even if I lived here, I was sure I would get lost on a daily basis, so I was impressed with how Jayde seemed to know exactly where to go.
We took a couple more turns, until there was no one else in sight, and I finally asked, “Where are we go-”
Jayde suddenly stopped, her hands going to my waist, and I was cut off by her mouth crashing into mine as she pushed me back against a wall. It left my head buzzing with disorientation for a second, but I quickly recovered, reaching up to grab her shoulders and eagerly return her kiss. Her hands squeezed my hips, drawing me completely against her until there wasn’t even an inch between us. Within the span of a few fluttering heartbeats, I was totally overtaken by the sensation of her lips moving against mine, the taste of whiskey on her tongue, the sudden flooding of warmth that went throughout my limbs.
She pulled away, allowing me to catch my breath in flustered pants. “Sorry,” She murmured, resting her forehead against mine, “I just really had to do that.”
“I’m not complaining.” I said, laying my forearms on her shoulders to play with her hair, “What was it for?”
“I was about two seconds away from knocking Garret’s teeth out,” Jayde explained and leaned back to smile at me, “Then you talked back to him like that, wiping his stupid fucking smirk off his face, and I swear I fell in love with you all over again.”
Having had no idea that my actions had that effect on Jayde, and feeling rather proud of myself because of it, I pulled her in again. This was exactly the kind of break I needed after the few interactions we’ve gone through already and I sure did need something to get me through the rest of the inevitably uncomfortable meetings. Jayde indulged herself too, deepening the kiss for a few breathtaking moments before letting her lips trail down my neck. Her teeth teased the sensitive skin along my pulse and one of my hands gripped her upper arm in encouragement while the other tangled in her hair. A harder nip caused my nerves to spark and crackle like lightning, making me suck in a sharp breath.
An excited gasp escaped her lips, tickling my skin, and then her mouth was on mine once more. I could feel we were both getting lost in this, perhaps too much, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. Not when she felt this good. Not when I knew I wouldn’t get this again until we left this place.
Then there was a noise close to us, a door being slammed shut, and Jayde broke away from me with a startle. She looked over her shoulder, as did I, and we saw a woman had come out of the bathroom that we failed to notice we were right across from. The strange werewolf simply stared at us and we stared back, me sheepishly wiping at my mouth with a blush since Jayde and I had gotten a little intense just moments earlier. After a few awkward moments, the woman shook her head in bewilderment like she was trying to shake herself out of a hallucination and continued on her way.
As soon as she was gone, Jayde made eye contact with me and we immediately burst into laughter. Her head fell against my shoulder and I buried my face in her neck to muffle my giggles. It felt like we were teenagers getting caught making out in the hall during class. After a few moments or so, we regained some composure and Jayde took my hand again to lead me somewhere else.
“There’s a room I used to go to as a kid when I wanted to get away from these people. No one besides my dad ever found me there.” she said with a grin.
A thrill went through my body as I laced our fingers together and followed her. I couldn’t deny the excitement I felt sneaking around with her like this, and the implications of going someplace more private intrigued me too. Then I remembered the senses that werewolves have. Everyone would pretty much be able to tell immediately if we went further. It was already uncomfortable enough being stared at for being human, but if the people here also sensed that Jayde and I sneaked away for a quickie, I can imagine that would only increase the level of awkwardness.
I realized that couldn’t have been Jayde’s goal because there’s no way she would want the wolves glaring at us more than usual. But taking us someplace where we could have a proper break from the party and indulge in some passionate kisses appealed to me just as much as the former idea.
As we continued on, I brought Jayde’s hand up to brush my lips against the back of her hand, giving her a sweet smile. The heated expression that came across her face when her eyes met mine made me think that she didn’t really care what the other werewolves ended up sensing. Well, if she didn’t have a problem with it, then neither did I.
We reached a closed door and Jayde quickly pushed it open. I was so focused on her, and distracted by the anticipation of contact, that I didn’t notice someone else was already in the room until Jayde stopped in her tracks. She let go of my hand and held out her arm to prevent me from taking another step and I was puzzled by the sudden seriousness in her expression. That is until my line of sight followed what she was so intently staring at.
There was a young woman, nicely dressed in a black dress with gold trim, sitting on one of the lounge chairs. Her dark curly hair, that was intricately braided on one side, rested on her squared shoulders, tensed up in a specific position to keep her spine straight.
I could tell from here that she wasn’t a Kincade wolf. At least not part of the main family, but there was something about the air around her that made me think she was more important than a subset of the pack. The young werewolf’s eyes were closed and I realized she must be in a meditation of some sort. Then her eyes snapped open, immediately finding Jayde, and I saw the telltale glow of her wolf surfacing.
While Jayde’s wolf eyes were a deep golden, this girl’s were a pale yellow. She silently regarded Jayde’s presence, then mine and that’s when I heard a soft growl beside me. When I glanced at Jayde, I saw that her eyes had shifted too, her growl a light warning to the other wolf as she was unsure of her intentions. As far as I could tell, the girl wasn’t being aggressive. Still, Jayde remained alert, her arm still held out over me protectively.
Finally, the girl’s eyes shifted to a more human looking gray, and I felt Jayde relax a little. Then the girl spoke.
“You don’t see many of your kind these days.”
I could only think that she recognized Jayde as one of the very few remaining Thatchers.
“We don’t give up too easily.” Jayde replied.
“I can tell.” Her voice was calm, almost soothing, but there was a hint of strain buried underneath.
“Elaine, right?” Jayde asked, lowering her arm and taking a couple steps further into the room, “Reinhart?”
“That would be me.” Elaine confirmed flatly.
So this was a werewolf from another old purebred pack. I started inching my way forward too out of curiosity since Jayde had a lot of respect for the Reinhart pack, but then Jayde’s arm went up again to halt me. She didn’t want me near Elaine for some reason, which confused me. The other werewolf seemed very relaxed in our presence.
“I’ve heard things about you.” Jayde said.
Elaine shrugged, leaning back in her seat nonchalantly, “Probably all true, albeit a bit exaggerated.” her eyes briefly drifted over to me again before settling back on Jayde, “I’ve heard things about you too, but nothing about a human girl.”
“I can be full of surprises.” Jayde’s arm still hadn’t lowered and I was getting impatient with it. It seemed like a rude gesture, even if she was only trying to protect me. But she ignored my touch when I set my hand on her arm to urge her to lower it. “I’m sure you’re full of them too.”
Elaine gave a slightly bitter smirk that nearly looked like a snarl, “Not the random maulings of humans type of surprises anymore, I assure you.”
That made me hesitate. Jayde being so unyielding made sense now. Elaine isolating herself and seemingly practicing meditation suddenly made sense too. She must have been using it to help with control. Though I knew enough about werewolves to know that a purebred struggling with control like this wasn’t a common thing. Even Garret didn’t show signs of it. That only made me more curious about Elaine.
“That’s why you’re here then?” Jayde started sarcastically, “Tucked away in a back room because you have control now? It’s a full moon tonight, how are you feeling?”
“Jay,” I scolded softly, unsure why she was being so rude.
“I know it’s hard for you to understand, but being this was never easy for me.” Elaine said slowly like she was explaining something complicated to a child, “I never wanted to hurt anyone. I exiled myself from my pack for years because of it. I sure as shit wouldn’t be back here if I thought I couldn’t handle it. Though, I will admit that I believed it would just be wolves.” Yet again, Elaine met my expression. It was hard to read her, but I could tell my presence was making her uneasy.
“I’m sorry we interrupted your meditation.” I told her sincerely, “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Then I spoke to Jayde. “We should probably leave.”
The smile Elaine gave me was small and brief, but actually genuine. “You’re fine. Besides, it looks like we interrupted each other.” when she looked back and forth between us knowingly, I realized with a hot flush to my cheeks that we had been a bit obvious with our intentions in coming here. Thankfully, she shifted the topic before I became too embarrassed, “What’s your name?”
“Nadya,” My first instinct was to go up and offer my hand, but I wasn’t sure she would be entirely comfortable with that, “I’m part of Jayde’s pack.”
“That makes sense, considering,” she eyed Jayde and noted how her body language was still defensive. While she had finally relaxed her arm, Jayde was still positioned half in front of me. I knew I wasn’t in any danger, so I stepped out from behind her to stand beside her and offer Elaine some trust. Jayde looked over at me like she wanted to argue, but Elaine spoke up, “I promise she’s safe around me.”
Jayde didn’t take her eyes off me while watching my expression very closely. As soon as I nodded, silently agreeing with Elaine, she backed down, trusting my judgement. “I hope so.”
“I wouldn’t have let this conversation go on this long if I wasn’t sure.”
“Guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“I do usually keep my word, if that makes you feel any better.”
Jayde nodded, “It will once I see the evidence for myself. I hope you don’t take any offense.”
Elaine seemed to soften towards Jayde in understanding, “I get it. It’s hard enough for a normal werewolf to trust others. If I had gone through what you have, I wouldn’t trust anyone.”
“It’s gotten me this far.” Jayde said with a shrug.
“Trust has too.” Elaine nodded at me, “You have a human at your side. And here of all places. That’s a shocking amount of trust.”
Jayde blinked at Elaine with a subtle tilt of her head like that hadn’t ever occurred to her. I smiled to myself, remembering how we met. How Jayde was forced to trust me as I was forced to trust her when neither of us knew each other at all. We both had to depend on the other to save lives. It worked, and here we are now. Together like family and in love. It was pretty funny to me.
“Good point.” Jayde answered.
“We can leave you, if you’d prefer more alone time.” I offered, knowing how overwhelming a crowd like this could be. It must be especially overwhelming for Elaine. “I could go get you something to drink or snack on.”
Her smile towards me became warmer, but she politely shook her head, “No, that’s alright. I should be rejoining the party anyway. My parents will be wondering where I am. This was supposed to be a test to show them how much I improved, and I snuck away instead.”
“Don’t feel too bad, we did the same.” I reassured her as she stood up, “But less innocently…”
That made Elaine laugh. She moved closer to us, but gave me a wide berth, probably to keep Jayde, who had tensed ever so slightly again, comfortable, “I’m a bit envious of you guys, if I’m honest. It must be kinda fun to sneak away like that.”
“It is,” Jayde confirmed, “until you get an earful from someone responsible later.”
She gave us a lopsided grin over her shoulder on her way out of the lounge room, “That’s the worst, isn’t it?”
Elaine almost ran into someone in the doorway, sidestepping at the last second. The new arrival offered her his apologies, bowing his head. The overly formal greeting made me think he was a lower level wolf because he addressed Jayde in the same fashion. He folded his hands behind his back and bowed in a way that was more submissive than respectful, keeping his eyes on the floor when he spoke.
“Miranda would like to speak with you.”
Speaking of getting an earful, I thought.
“Oh, I’m being summoned now?” Jayde asked.
“You are in your alpha’s home.” the young werewolf stated carefully, “You should show some respect when she calls for you.”
Jayde rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow her. “My alpha…” she grumbled under her breath like that was the most ridiculous joke ever told.
“She’s waiting for you in her office.”
“I know where.” She replied without looking back.
Elaine offered us a quiet, “Good luck.” though the look on her face made it obvious that she was beyond glad she wasn’t us right now.
Jayde’s demeanor completely changed. I’ve seen her like this before. She was gearing up for a fight. Whether it was physical or otherwise remained to be seen, but she wasn’t expecting a warm welcome from the Kincade alpha female. I could tell that Jayde was preparing for every possibility and I was worried that it was all because of me. I never should have come here. It’s caused too much trouble already.
The office was apparently on the other side of the mansion, which made that lounge room Jayde took me to more appealing. I guess that’s why she would escape there as a kid. It was as far away from Miranda as possible without leaving the house. We had to go through the main bustle of the party again and I couldn’t help but feel like Jayde was heading towards the chopping block. Was all of this really that big of a deal? I guess so, if the way people were looking at us told me anything. I frowned deeply, linking arms with Jayde protectively. She had to know that the opinions of these werewolves didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. We still had a proper home to go to.
A middle aged man was waiting for us on the outside of what must have been the door to Miranda’s office. He smiled at Jayde as we approached, though there was pity in his eyes. I was surprised at how much this man looked like an older version of Garret. This had to be his father. The Kincade alpha male and Jayde’s father’s closest friend back in the day.
“Hey, kiddo.” Logan said sheepishly, “Wanted a proper hello with you before you head on in.”
“‘Cause it isn’t going to be pretty?” Jayde asked.
“She was really banking on you being…” He started, but drifted off and shook his head, “Well, she’ll tell you. It’s really good to see you. I can’t tell you how relieved I felt when I heard you had made it out alive. Tristan would be glad that his legacy continues on with you and Skye.”
Jayde fixed him with a level stare. “Is that what this is about? His legacy? Or hers?”
To my surprise, Logan couldn’t hold her gaze. I would’ve thought an alpha of a large pack like this would be more confident, but I was getting the impression that Logan was mostly an alpha in name only. It seemed like he was bowing to his wife’s will quite easily, no matter how he felt about it. Then he looked at me, the only emotion I could gauge from his expression was indifference.
“You should probably stay out here.” He said, “Miranda only wanted to speak with Jayde.”
Jayde turned to me, “Do you want to?” she asked sincerely, giving me an out if I wanted it.
I wasn’t overly fond of facing off with an alpha like Miranda, but I didn’t want to just abandon Jayde to that. “I want to stay with you.”
She smiled at me, in both relief and pride. I had no doubt that she could have handled this without me, but that didn’t mean she had to. “She’s coming with me.” she told Logan firmly.
He didn’t argue, but sighed and nodded us on, “Okay, go on in. And be careful with your words, please.”
Jayde didn’t reply to him, only stepped forward and opened the door.
Miranda’s office was highly decorated in both modern and historical items. Medieval weapons hung on the walls above bookshelves that were full of very old and worn looking books as well as clean and crisp ones, all perfectly organized. I had to resist the urge to go over and browse the spines. There were deep red velvet curtains on the windows that could drown out all the sunlight if they were pulled closed, but thankfully they were open and allowed the sun to illuminate the entire room. I would’ve felt trapped if they weren’t. The desk had all of the most modern necessary technology equipment, though the desk itself looked very old and grand with intricate carvings. I also noted a large crest hanging on the wall above the leather office chair. It was a wolf sat on his haunches on the face of a shield with a crown around its neck and a dagger in its mouth.
The Kincade alpha female, Miranda herself, stood with her arms crossed in front of the desk. She bore a resemblance to her daughter, though with lines along her forehead and around her eyes and mouth to show how she had held this stern expression for who knows how many decades. Streaks of gray ran through her long dark hair that had been stylized perfectly for this event. Or maybe she put in that amount of effort into her appearance no matter the occasion. Her light blue eyes showed no warmth or sympathy, only a demand for order and respect.
She hadn’t been waiting alone in this room. Garret stood close to her with a large grin on his face like he had won a prize. It didn’t surprise me that he had gone crying to his mother after our encounter with him.
The office was silent for a long time as Jayde and Miranda faced off with each other. Logan had entered the room too and closed the door behind him, though he kept a distance back and started wringing his hands nervously. Miranda paid him no attention, just kept her eyes on Jayde.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Miranda finally asked, breaking the unbearable silence.
“Excuse me?” Jayde asked with a scoff.
“Jayde, I have always been patient with you,” the alpha said, ironically with little patience, “because I respected your parents and I greatly admire your bloodline, which is even more precious now, but you have truly crossed a line.”
“Could you be more specific?”
Miranda raised her eyebrows, “Do I need to be? When you have her by your side?”
I looked down in shame. This really was because of me…
Jayde grinded her teeth in frustration, “You invited me here and I came because I owe you thanks for taking Skye in when my family was lost. That’s a debt I can never repay, but that doesn’t mean you get to judge me for anything.”
“I don’t get to judge you?” Miranda scoffed incredulously, “I don’t get to judge you for parading a human around my home and claiming that she is your mate to my son's face!? You have a duty to your lineage! We are being hunted to extinction and you want to play around like a child with a human girl?”
As much as I wanted to chime in and defend Jayde, I also knew that speaking or talking back in any way would not help this situation. I was the problem. All I could do was watch on in silent suspense.
“Your father would have wanted something better than this for his legacy.” Miranda added bitterly.
Jayde advanced on Miranda aggressively. Both Logan and Garret tensed, taking a step towards their alpha in case she needed aid, but Miranda didn’t so much as flinch.
“Don’t ever talk about my father!” Jayde said furiously, “You don’t know a goddamn thing about what he wanted for me! You do not speak for my dead family!”
While I have seen Jayde mad before, this felt different. The Kincade struck just the wrong cord and the twitch of Jayde’s muscles told me that she was using all of her willpower to not attack the rival werewolf in front of her. Miranda’s eyes began to glow an inhuman pale green, and I knew that Jayde’s eyes were golden without seeing her face.
“Someone should, since you are clearly incapable of doing so.” Those terrifyingly cold eyes landed on me and I don’t think anyone has ever given me such a hateful look without even speaking to me at all. Then she focused back on Jayde, “You disgrace your kind.”
“Nadya is my mate.” Jayde continued with a fierce growl, “She is my part of my pack. You will treat her with respect.”
The fact that she was fearlessly defending me in front of an intimidating alpha made me stand a little taller. If she could be this brave, then so can I.
Miranda looked angry as ever, but she somehow kept her terrifying calm, “Why should I? You’ve never afforded me even the most basic level of respect before. As your alpha, I should have received as much from the very first moment you walked through my doors.”
“You are not my alpha!” The younger werewolf stated with her fury rising again, “You never were and you never will be. I don't have an alpha.”
That last sentence made the room go very still. Miranda regarded Jayde with a new expression, like she had witnessed her setting the whole house on fire.
A few incredibly tense moments passed with Miranda staring Jayde down with a glare almost as scary as the ones I’ve seen on Jayde. “Are you declaring yourself?”
I didn’t know what that meant, but the entire room held its breath. That question was clearly a huge deal. Even I went as rigid as the others, waiting on a knife’s edge it seemed.
“Yes.” Jayde answered, her growl so low that I almost didn’t catch it. She directed her glare at Garret next, actually making him shuffle back. Then looked back at Logan, who avoided her eyes again. Her amber irises settled back on Miranda once more, but the woman didn’t seem to have anything else to say, so Jayde shook her head and turned her back on her.
Jayde caught my hand when she came to me and started pulling me out of the room. Once we left, we saw three young werewolves scrambling away from the door, clearly having been eavesdropping. One of them was Amara, and the guy to her right had an uncanny resemblance to her, which must have made him her twin, Mitchell. The third was a slightly younger boy that I guessed was the last Kincade child, Declan. Miranda’s children had been listening intently to the drama and looked both overly entertained and shocked about what they heard.
“Enjoy the show?” Jayde asked as she continued our path away.
“It was better than I could’ve hoped for,” Amara answered with her brothers snickering, “Alpha.”
We left them behind and after what I witnessed started to really sink in, I whispered quietly, “So, what exactly just happened?”
“I uh…” Jayde sounded distracted and when I looked at her, I saw her furious golden-eyed expression had been replaced by bewilderness. Her own actions hadn’t hit her either until now, “I think I just declared myself an alpha in front of Miranda Kincade at her own gathering.”
“That’s a big deal, right?”
“I would say so, yeah.”
The rest of the party that we passed through didn’t seem all that interesting anymore. It went by in a blur as we retraced our steps out of the building. Even the looks and murmurs didn’t really register. We were both quiet until we got back in the car and started driving away from the manor house, putting its great columns and statues in the rear-view mirror.
“I didn’t mean to cause all that trouble.” I told her after I spent some time staring at the trees we were passing by and spacing out.
Jayde glanced over at me, shaking her head, “No, Nadya, that wasn’t because of you. That was a long time coming.”
“Maybe, but I definitely didn’t help the situation.”
“That would have happened whether you were there or not.”
I went quiet again, watching the road in front of us for a minute. She was probably right, but I still felt bad.
“Look, I’m not an alpha,” Jayde explained patiently, “I had to say that because I knew it would be the only way to stop Miranda’s bullshit. She doesn’t care about my bloodline, she wants to claim it. I’m pretty sure she didn’t feel all that bad when my family's pack was wiped out because she had Skye; what she thought was the last of a respectable bloodline to strengthen hers. Then I came back and she invited me here so Garret could shoot his shot. It wouldn’t have gone her way even if I wasn’t with you. So don’t put any blame on yourself at all, this mess was because of her.”
Her explanation helped me make some sense of Miranda’s behavior. It also lifted some of the guilty weight on my shoulders. I still kept quiet for a bit, trying to process everything she said and everything that happened. Then I looked over at Jayde and smiled, “You sure acted like an alpha.”
She chuckled, “It is in my blood, I guess. You’d be surprised by how easy it was for me.”
“I think you’d be a good one.”
Jayde sat up a little straighter at my words and gripped the steering wheel a little more firmly, “You know what?”
My brows furrowed in curiosity, “What?”
“We’re dressed nice,” she pointed out, “and there’s still some hours left in the day. Let’s go somewhere and have some fun.”
My smile was broad, “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” her smile was just as big and absolutely gorgeous.
There was a bar we ended up going to that had delicious food and a live band playing. The dance floor had hardwood floors that reflected the beautiful string lights hanging from wooden beams, giving the whole place a cozy barn vibe. Everyone was laughing and dancing with each other even though they were mostly strangers. These people were just happy to be having fun with good music and drinks. I dragged Jayde out to dance with me and she didn’t even complain once, only let herself enjoy the fact that she was here with me, far away from the Kincades and their backwards ideals.
The band took on a more slow tune, their instruments and voices becoming soothing and reverberating through the bar. I fell into a slow dance with Jayde, one of her hands on my waist while the other held my hand as she made us sway to the beat. I watched her silently, appreciating all of her features, even the scars, loving every inch that my eyes traced. When I focused on her lips, I saw the edge of her mouth curl up and looked up to see that she was studying me the same way.
“I’m proud of you, you know. For what you did.” I told her, softly adding, “Your dad would have been proud too.” I didn’t care what Miranda said, I knew in my heart that I was right.
Jayde lightly bumped her forehead against mine and I closed my eyes, listening to her hum along with the song. “Thank you.” she whispered before leaning in to gently press her lips to mine.
That filled me with such an indescribable feeling. Amazing in every sense of the word. I kissed her back, letting that warm feeling carry me up into the stars. Making the entire bar disappear except for her and us, holding on to each other and moving to the music.
#original characters#original writing#original story#ocs#werewolves#My writing#yall want some fucken uhhhh werewolfery up in here?#i gotchu#plot? on my gay ocs side blog? its more likely than you think#pls enjoy i am tired now#my ocs#Jayde#Nadya#a billion other character intros that I'm too lazy to tag#Nadya pov
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We wont have any of the olympic girls back by the friendlies in early August, think the group games dont finish until the 27th so any players out after the group games wont be back until prob 29/30th earliest and they'll get a few days off. Chelsea are also missing loads of players though, they have barely any defenders and doesnt look like theyre starting preseason until at least next week either
Yes that’s why I said although we’d technically have them back it would not be good to play them unless players like lotte get no playing time in the group stage 🤷♀️. Yep they still haven’t started pre season which is risky but Emma Hayes knows what she’s doing hopefully jonas does too
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100 MUST-READ HILARIOUS BOOKS
Mara Carlyle’s senior year goes as usually as might be expected until—we-bam!—fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes throughout playing period pre-calc. Katelyn is that the 1st, however she won’t be the last juvenile person to increase unexpectedly or clarification. because the seniors still pop like balloons, sensible and humourous Mara narrates the tip of their world as she is aware of it. however, inside associate degree, explosive year punctuated by romance, quarantine, long friendly relationship, and also the hope of creating it to graduation lies a funny, super honest, and moving story of being a teen and also the sorrow of claiming auf wiedersehen.
There’s virtually nothing I like quite a literate comedy. If you, like me, fancy each an excellent book and a deep belly-laugh, I’ve compiled an inventory of must-read books only for the U.S. (in no explicit order as a result of they’re all hilarious).
I know you’ll have felt regarding this list, as a result of all book lovers have felt regarding book lists, am I right? Let ME grasp what I incomprehensible, what you're thinking that I got wrong, and what you're thinking that I got right.
1. Is everybody Hanging Out while not Me? (And different Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
2. Has Anyone Seen My Pants by wife Colonna
3. Neil Patrick|St. Patrick|Apostle|patron saint} Harris: opt for Your Own life story by Neil Patrick Harris
4. The transient Wondrous lifetime of honor Wao by Junot Bartholomeu Dias – This one has each mirth and poignancy, therefore it’s a small amount a lot of mixed than another title on this list.
Crazy wealthy Asians5. Crazy wealthy Asians by Kevin Kwan
6. A enter The Woods by Bill Bryson
7. symptom by Nora Ephron
8. Varano by César Aira – Translated from Spanish, it’s got a small amount of Monty Python-esque shtick hidden in beautiful prose.
9. My Man Jeeves (Jeeves #1) by P.G. Wodehouse
10. Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
11. the way to Be Black by Baratunde Thurston
12. mindlessness by Horatio Castellanos Moya
13. Texts from Jane Eyre: And different Conversations together with your Favorite Literary Characters by Mallory Ortberg and Madeline Gobbo
See You Next Tuesday14. See You Next Tues by Jane Mai
15. Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey
17. solace Farm by Frank Stella Gibbons
18. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
19. Go the Fuck To Sleep by Adam Mansbach
20. to mention Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis
21. Misconceptions by Blu Daniels
22. Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
23. The poor Diaries: The fully True and humourous Misadventures of a decent woman Gone poor by Angela Nissel
24. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
25. a foul plan I’m on the point of Do: True Tales of Seriously Poor Judgment and spectacularly Awkward journey by Chris Gethard
the lake affair by opaque gem Fforde26. The lake Affair by opaque gem Fforde (a whole awing series!)
27. The blue blood Bride by William Emma Goldman
28. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by easy lay Brooks
29. the way to Be a lady by Caitlin Moran
30. Blonde Bombshell by Tom Holt
31. The perfidy by Paul Beatty
32. exaggeration and a 0.5 by Allie Brosh
33. I speak Pretty in some unspecified time in the future by David Sedaris
Lamb34. Lamb: The Gospel consistent with Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Saint Christopher Moore – the sole Good Shepherd comedy I do know that's beloved by nonbelievers and Christians alike.
35. The Cry of the Sloth by Sam Savage – This book honestly had ME in stitches. If you liked A Confederacy of Dunces, browse this one.
36. The company by easy lay Barry
37. You Can’t bit My Hair And different Things I Still need to justify by Phoebe Robinson
38. the color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett (You don’t even have to begin at #1 in Discworld; I believe I started with #33 and it was extremely pleasurable. There’s a graphic here that outlines the various sub-series and their 1st books, just in case you wish to leap around.)
39. smart Omens: the great and correct Prophecies of Agnes oddball, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
40. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by The Little Giant Adams
41. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Such a fairly Fat42. Such a fairly Fat: One Narcissist’s Quest to get if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look huge, or Why Pie isn't the solution by Jen Lancaster
43. Don Quixote by Miguel Diamond State Cervantes Saavedra
44. Home Land by Sam Lipsyte
45. Typical Yankee by Gish Jen
46. The Importance of Being Earnest by writer
47. I used to be Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
48. life story of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a fake Adulthood by Laurie Notaro
49. The Regional workplace Is beneath Attack! by Manuel Gonzales
50. trendy Romance by Aziz Ansari
Adulthood may be Myth51. Adulthood may be a Myth: A “Sarah’s Scribbles” assortment by wife Hans Christian Andersen
52. What If Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd hypothetic queries by Randall Munroe
53. somebody may Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First-Century parentage by role player Magary
54. The Adventures of Holly White and also the unimaginable Sex Machine by Krissy Kneen
55. Killing aunty by Andrzej Bursa
56. I'm Not thespian by Percival Everett
57. Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
58. The Grass is often Greener Over the storage tank by Erma Bombeck
59. Shrill by social dancing West
60. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
61. Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
62. the net may be a Playground by David Thorne (side-splittingly funny)
63. A summer solstice Night’s Dream by a poet (SHAKESPEARE IS HILAIRE)
64. Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett
65. Let’s fake This ne'er Happened by Jenny Lawson
I Hate Fairyland66. I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young
67. Mother, are you able to Not? by Kate Siegel
68. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
69. The Misadventures of Awkward Black woman by Issa Rae
70. saint Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
71. It Gets Worse by Shane town
72. Octopus Pie by Meredith grandmother (fave webcomic ever . . . perhaps favorite comic ever)
73. Redshirts by John Scalzi
74. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
75. Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut
76. ar You There, Vodka? It’s ME, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
77. Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed by Lance Carbuncle
78. The completely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
79. vocalizer and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
80. I'm America (And therefore will You!) by author sauce
Dora A Headcase81. Dora: A Headcase by Lidia Yuknavitch
82. the space by Jonas Karlsson
83. American state Roadkill by Tim Dorsey
84. associate degree simple Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington by Karl Pilkington
85. The Gun merchant by Hugh Laurie
86. The unabridged Devil’s wordbook by Ambrose Bierce
87. I’m judgment You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi
88. Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
89. The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Clown Girl90. Clown woman by Monica Drake
91. this is often wherever I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
92. biscuit by Fran Ross
93. The Sugar opaque Nutsack by Mark Leyner
94. part Blues by patron saint Wensink
95. The Road to Wellville by T.C. Boyle
96. The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria by Hector Hevodidbon Hernandez
97. a woman Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
98. Job: A Comedy of Justice by Henry M. Robert Robert Anson Heinlein
99. Ella cyprinid fish Pea: A increasingly Lipogrammatic epistolatory Fable by Mark Dunn
100. Super unhappy True story by point of entry Shteyngart
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Kim-Chi & Richard's Bi-Coastal Tom Ham's Lighthouse Wedding
Kim-Chi & Richard's Bi-Coastal Tom Ham's Lighthouse Wedding
Of all the San Diego wedding DJs calling America’s finest city home, Kim-Chi & Richard chose me to DJ and MC their Tom Ham’s Lighthouse wedding on Shelter Island on Saturday, May 25, 2019. The following write-up is based on San Diego DJ Staci’s crazy organized & detailed outline for this Tom Ham’s Lighthouse wedding.
THE TOM HAM’S LIGHTHOUSE WEDDING CEREMONY
Prelude ➔ Piano, Vitamin String Quartet
Processional ➔ Latch by Simply Three Bride
Processional ➔ “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” by Haley Reinhart
Recessional ➔ Brighter Than The Sun by Colbie Caillat (cue to 30 seconds/first chorus)
THE COCKTAIL HOUR & DINNER MUSIC
While San Diego DJ Staci offers couples pre-set cocktail & dinner playlists to choose from, Kim-Chi & Richard opted to hand-select their background music for their Tom Ham’s Lighthouse wedding.
Cocktail/Dinner Music ➔ Taylor Swift – ….Ready for it?, Rita Ora – Let You Love Me, Beyonce– Halo, Calum Scott & Leona Lewis – You are the Reason Duet Version Ariana Grande – No Tears Left to Cry, ZAYN & Taylor Swift – I Dont Wanna Live Forever, Rita Ora – Anywhere, Major Lazer – Light it Up, Sara Larsson & MNEK – Never Forget You, Fifth Harmony – Down ft. Gucci Mane, Sia – The Greatest, Nick Jonas Nicki Minaj – Bom Bidi Bom, Fifth Harmony – Work from Home, Katy Perry – Dark Horse, Chain Smokers – Dont Let Me Down, Justin Timberlake – My Love, Jason Mraz – Im Yours, Martin Garrix Khalid – Ocean, Ed Sheeran – Photograph, Pussycat Dolls – Stickwitu ft. Avant, Ellie Goulding, & Diplo – Close to Me, Cashmere Cat Major Lazer – Miss You, MAX – Lights Down Low feat. Gnash, Nick Jonas – Close ft. Tove Lo, Jason Derulo – Marry Me, Maroon 5 – Sugar, Jason Mraz – Lucky, Ed Sheeran – Perfect, Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love, Mariah Carey – Always Be My Baby, The Greatest Showman Soundtrack – Rewrite The Stars, Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are, Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud, John Legend – Love Me Now, Far East Movement ft. Ryan Tedder – Rocketeer, Bruno Mars – Grenade, Truly, Madly, Deeply – Savage Garden
(c) San Diego DJ Staci, the Track Star
THE TOM HAM’S LIGHTHOUSE WEDDING RECEPTION
MC Welcome ➔ “Good evening! Welcome to Kim-Chi & Richards wedding reception!!! I am the Master of Ceremonies, DJ Staci. Please take your seats so we can officially welcome our guests of honor. Be sure to post your photos today with #KCGotRICH and #FinallyFoundChiu. If you need to charge your devices, I do have a mini charging station up here including some universal chargers. Also, there is a basket of flip flops up here for the ladies later when they– or really & we-are ready for some comfortable kicks after dinner 🙂 Ladies & gentlemen, please put your hands together for the introduction of the wedding party…”
Grand Entrance ➔ Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk
1. “Give it up for Richards family…his sister Jenny & his parents, Kwong & Lye!!!”
2. “Show some love to Kim-Chi’s family…her brother Vin, his wife Chelsea, & her parents, Chin & Trah-Doe!!!”
3. “Please welcome Bridesmaid Tina & Groomsman Nash!!!”
4. “Give it up for Bridesmaid Key & Groomsman Chris!!!”
5. “Show some love to Bridesmaid Krystal & Groomsman Mike!!!”
➔ “Far East Movement” – Turn Up the Love ➔ “They met in February of 2016. Together they enjoy outdoor activities like snowboarding, hiking, & snorkeling, watching superhero movies, & traveling. Together, they’ve visited Belize, Guatemala, Bermuda, Vancouver BC, New Hampshire, & Vermont. Ladies & gentlemen, get on your feet to welcome–for the FIRST TIME EVER–Mr. and Mrs. C—!!!”
➔ Newlywed Brief Welcome/Thank You Speech ➔ yes
7:35 ➔ Meal Served: Buffet/Food Stations/Etc ➔ Dismiss tables: Banquet Captain
➔ Shoe Game (Avoid questions like: Who wears the pants in the relationship? What makes more money?)
➔ Toasts ➔ champagne pour ➔ “Ladies & gentlemen, I hope you are enjoying your meals. While Mr. & Mrs. C are both huge fans of MacCallan Whiskey, tonight we are going to be toasting them with champagne! Please welcome our first speaker:
➔ “Kim-Chi’s closest guy friend since 5th grade, Day”
➔ “Groomsman Nash”
➔ “One of Kim-Chi’s friends since high school, Bridesmaid Key”
➔ “Groomsman Mike”
➔ Formal Cake Cutting ➔ Liam Payne & Rita Ora – For You
➔ First Dance ➔ “Say You Wont Let Go” (feat. Madilyn Bailey) – Joshua David Evans ➔ fade early: no ➔ “On August 8, 2018, Rich decorated his apartment with flower petals, pictures of him &Kim-Chi together, & balloons. He played their song Over You & put an origami flower she had made for him on their 2nd date in a treasure chest. When Kim-Chi got home & saw all of this, he got down on one knee & asked her a very important question. I think we all know how she answered because we are about to welcome Mr. and Mrs. C— to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife.”
➔ Group Photo on Dance Floor
➔ Open Dancing
➔ Surprise Choreography ➔ “Turn Down for What (Remix), feat. Juicy J, 2 Chainz French Montana”
10:00 PM ➔ photographers/Videographer Leaves
11:10 PM ➔ Last Dance
(c) San Diego DJ Staci
KIM-CHI & RICHARD’S DANCE MUSIC RECIPE
Dance Music Rating ➔ PG-13 early on then some R/X-rated as it gets later
Play A Lot ➔ 90s, Top 40/Pop, Hip Hop/RB, Electronic Dance Music
Play A Few ➔ Rap, 2000s, Trap
♥ M U S T – P L A Y S ♥
1. Avicii – Levels, 2. John Legend – All of Me, 3. Usher – Yeah, 4. DJ Snake Selena Gomez – Taki Taki, 5. Lil Jon – Get Low, 6. Jay Z ft. Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind, 7. J Balvin – Mi Gente, 8. Macklemore – Cant hold Us, 9. Flo Rida – Low, 10. Pitfull Christina Aguilera – Feel This Moment, 11. Justin Bieber Luis Fonsi – Despacito, 12. Timbaland Keri Hilson – The Way I Are
♥ P L A Y I F Y O U C A N ♥
Misc: Major Lazer – All My Love, Beyonce – Girls (Run the World), Ciara – 1, 2 Step, Tove Lo – Talking Body, Over You – Dyrisk & FlyBoy (*song Rich used to propose), Far East Movement – G6, Major Lazer – Powerful, Boom Boom Pow – The Black Eyes Peas, Havana Brown & Pitbull – We Run The Night, Usher Beyonce – Love in this Club (Remix), Jason Derulo – Tip Toe EDM: David Guetta – Light My Body Up, Summer – Calvin Harris, David Guetta Nicki Minaj – Hey Mama, David Guetta Showtek – Bad, David Guetta, Sia – Titanium Trap: Fetty Wap – 679, Fetty Wap – Trap Queen
♥ D O N O T P L A Y S ♥
Disco, Oldies, 70s/Classic Rock, Country, Tween/Children, Rihanna – Work, YMCA, Chicken Dance
TOM HAM’S LIGHTHOUSE WEDDING FLOOR PLAN
SAN DIEGO WEDDING VENDOR LIST
Here is the amazing team of San Diego wedding vendors I had the pleasure of working with on this Tom Ham’s Lighthouse wedding on Shelter Island:
Venue Contact/Caterer ➔ Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant
DJ/MC/Lighting/Photo Booth ➔ DJ Staci, the Track Star
Photographer ➔ Heather Lee Photography
Videographer ➔ Timecode Media
Officiant ➔ Donna Ross
Cake Bakery ➔ Extraordinary Desserts
Florist ➔ DIY
Again, I was honored to be the one and only San Diego wedding DJ Kim-Chi& Richard trusted with their Tom Ham’s Lighthouse wedding. Thank you!
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The Sequel - 887
An Hour And Two Halves
André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)
original epic tale
all chapters of The Sequel
“Show you what I can do, and you know it’s true, when I dance with you,” Christina sang along quietly with the song on the radio while she chopped carrots for her stew. It was a Joe Jonas song she didn’t even particularly like, but it was upbeat and bouncy and she was in a great mood. The vibe got bigger and louder as the chorus approached, and she was so ready for it. The rider dropped her knife on the plastic cutting board and dramatically flung her hand out at her sous chef, who was cutting green beans. “”Oh-oh-oh-oh, give me your haaaaand,” she sang loud and proud and with a silly face. “Oh-oh-oh-oh, I’ll be who I aaaaam. Oh-oh-oh-oh I ain’t no...Michael Jackson, but give me one chance, one chance to daaaance. Give me, one chance, one chance, to daaaance.” Juan didn’t offer his hand, so she just hopped around him in her energetic, extremely-non-Michael-Jackson-esque way. Her stew-making process was riddled with work interruptions for dancing and animated singing. Despite the midfielder’s disinterest in letting her drag him around his kitchen dancing to Top 40, he found her behavior amusing, and hilarious even at times. Her dramatic and extremely relevant interpretation of Justin Bieber’s “Friends” had him doubled over laughing. When it was over, they agreed that they were evidence for broken up couples everywhere that they can’t still be friends. Christina stopped singing and dancing to make out with him after the third “But we had something so good” line, so it really was pretty self-evident.
“What’s next, cariña?” Juan asked when her dancing took her back to her knife work and he was finished with his.
“Nada. Everything is finished. We put the potatoes in in an hour, and then the rest of the veggies half an hour after that, and then half an hour after that, we eat.” The beef was already simmering away in a big pot of stock, wine, herbs, and onions. He laughed at the chef when her eyes had the typically bad reaction to chopping all the onions too. Their whole cooking project was mostly Juan laughing at Christina, and Christina loving it.
“What do you want to do for an hour and two halves?”
“I’m not really sure, but I know I want to go for a walk after dinner. I miss the smell of London on a fall night sooooooo bad.” She turned her bottom lip over in an exaggerated pout and used her big knife to slide the carrots into the bowl with the beans. “Do you have any ideas?” The Spaniard took both the knife and the small cutting board to rinse in the sink with the ones he used.
“One.”
“Your penis is never going to be in my colon.”
“I want to read a poem to you, from the book.”
“Oh jesus,” the Olympic medalist groaned at the Olympic failure whose token of failure she kept in her book as a reminder of his belief in her ability to avoid failure. There was an unrealized connection between all of those things. The two athletes borrowed a variety of types of strength from each other, and they cultivated that borrowable strength in their own ways- alike, but different. The rider collected takeaways from her history books, and fed her imagination with her mysteries. The footballer collected food for thought from more abstract texts, like the collection of poems she gave him. Books and mutual intellectual stimulus would always bind them.
“It’s very good and you’ll really...relate to it.”
“Is it going to take an hour and two halves?” Christina asked, reluctantly consenting with her body language if not her actual language.
“No.”
“Fiiiiine. I want to hear the end of this Mikky Ekko song though.” She turned around and backed herself up to the small island counter, preparing to hoist herself up on it. Sometimes she was too lazy or tired to do it all on her own, and opened up a big bottom cabinet to step into for a boost. Then she could use her foot to close it again once seated. Juan always complimented her creativity in the matter. She intended to do it on her own on Sunday, and clamped her hands on the counter. He noticed as he was drying his hands, and dropped the towel to lend some help. His hands grasped her waist and lifted her the extra couple of inches she needed on top of her little hop, and he kept them there even after her butt landed safely. He held onto her to keep her from sliding back, so that she had to spread her legs to make space for him in between, and so that she was right up close to his body.
“I lied before.”
“Bout what?”
“I have two ideas for the hour and two halves.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I hope the second idea involves dragons,” the girl in leggings deadpanned to the boy between her legs. She also casually hung her wrists over his shoulders and passively kicked the backs of his thighs with her heels.
“I can’t wait for your birthday. I’m going to give you the biggest dragon-themed party anyone has ever seen,” the Spanish player laughed, with the same delight in the glint in his eye that had been there all through her dance-cooking. “Every little boy will be jealous.”
“Can it be a costume party? Will you be dressed as a knight? Or is this a Thrones-type dragon party? You would totally be a Stark.”
“We’ll have to see. I have some time to plan.”
“What’s your other idea for an hour and two halves?”
“I want to photograph you- exactly like this,” Juan hastened to add the second Christina’s face turned disapproving. “Exactly the way you’ve been here all afternoon. Just for myself, not the walls, or your Instagram, or a magazine.”
“Aww.” Spanish Teddy Bear is the sweetest, she cooed to herself. I thought he meant naked, and that he was going to try to say he wanted to do a “tasteful” thing instead of something pornographic, which is just what dudes say when they want you to feel classy and glamorous about being pornographic. It’s nice of him too to acknowledge that he recognizes how done I am with being photographed for other people right now, and even for my own social media. I haven’t posed anything with myself in a couple of weeks, because I’m sick of looking at myself, to be honest. I’m sick of hearing about myself too. One of the nice things about weeks and weeks without horse shows is not having to hear about me. I’m so fucking sick of me. Last night was too much about me. I want to crawl back under my rock until Doha. But I can be photographed for him, because that’s adorable. Especially since I don’t even look cute right now, I don’t think.
“Hopefully you don’t think too hard after I read the poem,” he snorted. “That would ruin the picture.”
“Ugh, do we have to?”
“Yes. I’ll go get the book.”
Juan didn’t have far to go. Much to Christina’s surprise, her gift to him was right on the footstool-table next to the chaise by the window. That meant he was actively reading it, at least part-time. That was where he kept the current book when it wasn’t traveling with him for a match, or when he wasn’t reading it in bed. She figured he was reading a novel that he would have taken to Chelsea Harbour with him on Friday night since she didn’t notice him put the Frank Bidart poems in his reading nook after the game on Saturday. On occasion, she had a “travel” read and a “home” read going on at the same time too- a practice she learned from the player. He said it helped him get his head into the right lane. The “travel” read, regardless of type, was for shifting focus away from everyday life to the match. He told Christina that it was especially helpful during the busy parts of the season when the team played every 3 or 4 days. The “home” read signaled the shutoff of football and the time to relax and recharge. The first kind tended to be more inspirational, like an autobiography, and the second variety was most often a work of fiction.
They met in the middle. Christina sat sideways on the sofa, Indian-style, and then collapsed backward to enjoy the stretching that position provided and also the offered focal point- the ceiling. Looking at the matte white ceiling was definitely preferable to making her expression available for his purposes during or after the reading of the poem. He sat by her legs and put his socked feet up on the coffee table. Without preamble, he began the poem.
“Advice to the Players. There is something missing in our definition, vision of a human being: the need to make. We are creatures who need to make. Because existence is willy-nilly thrust into our hands, our fate is to make something- if nothing else, the shape cut by the arc of our lives. My parents saw corrosively the arc of their lives. Making is the mirror in which we see ourselves. But being is making: not only large things, a family, a book, a business: but the shape we give this afternoon, a conversation between two friends, a meal. Or mis-shape. Without clarity about what we make, and the choices that underlie it, the need to make is a curse, a misfortune. The culture in which we live honors specific kinds of making (shaping or mis-shaping a business, a family) but does not understand how central making itself is as manifestation and mirror of the self, fundamental as eating or sleeping. In the images with which our culture incessantly teaches us, the cessation of labor is the beginning of pleasure; the goal of work is to cease working, an endless paradise of unending diversion. In the United States at the end of the twentieth century, the greatest luxury is to live a life in which the work that one does to earn a living, and what one has the appetite to make, coincide- by a kind of grace are the same, one. Without clarity, a curse, a misfortune. My intuition about what is of course un-provable comes, I’m sure, from observing, absorbing as a child the lives of my parents: the dilemmas, contradictions, chaos as they lived out their own often unacknowledged, barely examined desires to makes. They saw corrosively the shape cut by the arc of their lives. My parents never made something commensurate to their will to make, which I take to be, in varying degrees, the general human condition- as it is my own. Making is the mirror in which we see ourselves. Without clarity, a curse, a misfortune. Horrible the fate of the advice-giver in our culture: to repeat oneself in a thousand contexts until death, or irrelevance. I abjure advice-giver. Go make you ready.”
“It’s remarkable how you managed to conjure a poem that hits on me missing my family at the same time as my need to figure out what’s next in my life and then also the way you’re “making” with the mirror, with Common Goal,” the very impressed rider commented after giving all the words a moment to land. Every stanza felt immediately relevant to her, and she wanted to make sure Juan understood that she got it all. “My parents were the work to not work people, and they tried to make a business and a family, and never made their own likeness, or what they truky wanted to make. Like, I think my mom would rather have owned her own knitting store than been who she was. You and I are the lucky ones who get paid to make the thing we want to make, or our likeness, mirror image, whatever. But then we kind of grow out of that and we realize what we need to make is actually bigger than football and riding. For you, it’s Common Goal. And the weirdness and equilibrium I experience on and off right now is me trying to figure out what exactly it is I want to make next. And at the same time, I think you and I are kind of making our combined mirror reflection together too...” It all came out so quickly as her mind linked the ideas for the second time, and as she got more excited about them. “Did you think of those things when you first read it, or did it stay with you for a little while and the relevance came later?”
“Right away. From the title, I thought, “This is an important thing for me to read. This is about me, in some ways,” and then I read on and I thought, “This is Chris’ parents, and this is why their relationship was how it was, and why her mum resents her so much. Chris makes the thing she needs to make from inside. Mrs. Martin made the thing she thought she was supposed to.” And I liked the repetitive lines. “Without clarity, a curse, a misfortune.” I try now to have clarity when I make decisions. No lies, no confusion. You’re right,” he smiled as his friend peeked over at him from the flat of her back. “I do feel like I’m making the right thing now, besides football. I like this poem very much.”
“Thank you for sharing it,” she smiled back. “Sorry I objected. I should know to trust you by now,” she chuckled. He grabbed her wrist when she lifted it for help, and pulled her back up and forward so that she could reward him with a sweet kiss in the middle of his lips. They could have dissected the poem together, quite happily, for the two hours before dinner. It just wasn’t necessary. They didn’t need to talk each other into believing their take, or dissect it. Knowing that was sort of novel. Christina appreciated it.
“I have enjoyed the book a lot. It was a good choice, cariña.”
“I enjoy your face a lot.” She put her hands around the back of the player’s neck, paused to watch for the flattery’s impact to arrive in his beautiful blues, and then pulled on him until he got the message that she wanted him to lie beside her, not just be annoying and hang on his neck. He went pretty willingly, and she got more of her arms around his head when they found a comfortable spot together, and she rubbed her right leg on his bare ones until it pushed her leggings up her calf a little. “I know you want to take pictures of me acting like I live here,” she teased knowingly. “But I’d rather be a lazy bum on the couch.” Juan’s nose was captured playfully between her teeth until he kissed her chin. He found an unexpectedly ticklish spot, and took advantage when Christina’s shiver-like reaction brought her midsection even closer to him. He hugged her waist tight with one arm.
“We’re getting closer to the part of the season when I’m a lazy bum on the couch a lot,” he told her while she played absently with the hair at the back of his head, well below the thinning spot. “I hope you’re joining often.”
“I want to stay here for most of the week of the horse show. Schü and Lukas are coming for the Sunday and Monday, and Tuesday, after, so we’ll stay at a hotel, but I’ll be here for 6 days before that. I don’t know if you want an extra bum on your couch for that long.”
“It’s a sexy bum, so I want,” the Chelsea man smiled, squeezing her butt.
“I might want to come for New Year’s too, but I dunno yet. I have no idea, really.” I also kind of want some magical night with Schü. I owe him that, and I want it anyway. I want special with him. We never have that anymore. We have nice nights ended early because of dead goldfish, and then two nights of crying until midnight because of the dead goldfish. How dare the goldfish go and die when it knew Lukas liked to watch him in the light from his nightlight when he wakes up in the night and can’t sleep? How dare he leave him with no soothing thing to watch. IIIIII didn’t know he did that, but surely the goldfish knew.
“You’re always welcome with me, baby girl.” Juan rubbed his nose on the rider’s and then kissed her, long and low-energy, and perfect for the moment. He was finally able to shed the longstanding feeling that their time together was limited, so he was no longer hastening to get his fill of her, and get “through” everything he wanted with her before her next departure. There was a new calmness- a change in behavior dictated by the realization that the clock wasn’t running anymore. Christina was always coming back to him. They didn’t need to have sex in 6 different positions on the first night, or hurry to get from couch-cuddle-flirting to more serious foreplay to actual sex. “Hurry” was relative, of course, because the player’s imperative was subtle, but it was noteworthy by its absence. She watched him for a second, the side of her thumb resting lightly on his cheek, and reflected on that change. I wish I had his ability to settle down in something and believe it’s going the way I want even when I know it will probably change. Thinking too hard about anything was unpalatable in that moment of closeness, and shared breath, and soft pads of fingers on highly personal skin. The equestrian star took her turn to kiss her favorite Blue, mostly on just one side of his mouth because getting to the whole thing would have required her to move her head a little and that was too much. The exact position she was in- literally and figuratively, physically and emotionally- was too perfect to alter either by movement or consideration. His lips were perfect- warm, unblemished by dryness or cracking or even a wrinkle, tense just enough to hold the kiss together, still enough not to interrupt the transfer of love and comfort through that most import line of communication. A kiss like that was practically nothing and almost everything simultaneously. And it was, afterward, symbolic of a cornerstone in recent memory.
“I think I want to tell you something,” Christina whispered after her smooch. Her regular conversational voice was small enough to fit in the very small space between them without even breathing too much air in Juan’s face- something she often took into consideration when snuggling close with anyone- but that voice came with full conviction and confidence and those weren’t the preconditions for what she wanted to say, so all that came out when she opened her mouth was a sweet whisper.
“What?” the Spaniard whispered back teasingly, with a grin, almost like stage-whispering.
“I used to really hate the person I was with you- like because you made me want to do things that hurt Schü, and our relationship has, at times, made it very difficult for me to look after my responsibilities and ride my best, and do the right thing. I loved being with you, but I hated who I was for that,” she explained with a bit more surety. “Now I feel like I’m actually growing and improving myself- I don’t want to say because of you- but with you, together. I’m making decisions that feel good, and I’m finding it easier to be happy and content wherever I am, physically and in a moment. I don’t know- Maybe it’s because the Olympic hurdle is in the rearview now. Maybe that was the big difference. I just don’t think it was. I think it’s you. I’ve said in the past that we are the worst thing for each other. I don’t think so anymore. I think you’re the best thing for me right now.” I didn’t really mean to get so into this, the rider realized, pointer finger on Juan’s chin, which she was staring at instead of the receptive blues she looked into while she talked. I wasn’t going to say that much. I hate when I start trying to tell someone a small thing, or a short thing, and it gets me thinking, and then I can’t stop talking. Now I’m rambling to myself because...who knows. Anyway. “I’m glad you’re coming to Doha too,” she finished after reaching for some kind of period for the declaration, or something to take up some more airtime since Juan wasn’t saying anything.
“I told you we could be happy together and that we can do more than be miserable together. Not miserable together because we’re together, but be together because one or both is miserable about other things. You know what I mean,” the footballer laughed. He was recalling a conversation they fought through years back, right after Lukas was born. Christina didn’t think they could ever be a couple because all of their experience together was when one or both of them was in bad shape because of their other relationships. They were always closest when their lives were the most tumultuous and generally unhappy. “And now you understand how I feel with you,” he added, more sincerely. “I feel good about myself, and happy with myself, with you. I always have, more or less.”
“I think it’s more for you now though. Ever since we stopped lying.”
“That could be.”
“Okay I feel too grown up and in touch with my feelings now. Give me something stupid and immature to talk about.”
“Can I tickle you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Can I go get the camera and take pictures of you?”
“Can I do goofy poses?”
“Yes.”
“K. I need another kiss first though.”
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Tobin might still carry a niggle anon here -
Oh crap I can't believe i didn't think of Mana when discussing Jonas's subs against Chelsea! Apologies to you who is evidently quite the fan of Mana-san😅
Ok yes she should have gone on, but I didn't consider the Stina benching, Viv being restored to her CF position to allow for Mana.
At the same time, I suppose actually Mana does do the winger thing too even if the midfield is occupied as she's been on the other side of Beth a few times in the forward line so that could have been the swap instead of Keets at 72 mins.
Maybe it's about how much she had trained with the team beforehand so at this match Jonas didn't want to risk it? Think she'll be used a lot more after international break because Japan's done for a bit so she can rest and hopefully if there any residual effects of covid she would have shaken it off by then.
One thing I'll say about Mana, and I hope you don't mind my perspective. She started off very strong for the team and I feel, lost a bit of her holding ball abilities. Still has her very quick feet and micro movements that disarm her opponents but sometimes the ball doesn't stick to her as well as it use to with her fancy footwork and gets overturned by opposing players. So like it's risky sometimes. Do you know what I mean?
PS: 5 for Jonas. Ok. 👍🏽
Haha hey! No probs, Mana is one of my favourites but my bias for players doesn't supersede the team's strategy so I actually only want them to play when it's good for the team lol.
The subs example I put wasn't specifically to allow for Mana (could've very well been Jordan) but just the best way I would've done things to inject some change into the game. And yup, I guess at this point anyone else on the wing rather than Keets would've been preferred 😅
Oh and I pretty much agree with you about Mana. I don't really think she "lost" her ball retention skills per se, but rather it's been an area that she's just been generally weaker in. She isn't used to playing in a midfield role as deep as this one (has been a forward for Japan and most of her career), and her small size is inevitably a disadvantage when it comes to jostling for balls. But I get where that “losing the ball” image comes from, it was the Spurs game in the FA Cup where she scored that absolutely filthy slow-mo nutmeg goal but was pretty questionable the rest of the game when she kept messing up even the simplest 5m passes lol 😂
Also mighty sorry I took so long to finish up this convo! I think I’d finished typing out the reply but got called away before I could press ‘post’ and it just ended up sitting in my drafts until now 😭🙏
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