roll tide

[bearaldrich]

anniefishers‌:

“Oh, I know almost everythin’ about you, Bear. Your middle name, your birthday, your favorite color. Your grandmother gave mine a pretty impressive dossier,” Annie laughed as she took her seat opposite him. “Why have a first date when your grannies can compile more information than a round of 20 Questions?” She smiled, but inside, her nerves were a jumbled mess. Annie wasn’t particularly good at the whole dating thing. “I do, indeed. Flowers are always welcome. I love ‘em,” she offered. 

bear laughed. “yeah, that sounds about right. yours about to set a dowry to get you off her hands, too?” he shook his head. “but i have to say, i got some of the finer points, too. your favorite movie. a story about the time your nana had to pull your head out of the stairs railings.” he thanked the waiter as two glasses of wine got flown in, though he looked a little confused. he certainly hadn’t ordered yet. “...i used to help my dad with a booth at the county fair,” he said. “for the boy scouts. uh... you won... it was a teddy bear. bigger ‘an you. you were eight? probably? definitely don't hold not remembering me against you.” mostly, he was proud of himself here for not already having started talking about the importance of bald-faced hornets to the local ecosystem.

[bearaldrich]

xcvierbell‌:

“I guess that’s fair. But I wish they’d stick to canning and bingo and leave the animals out of it.” He noted, reaching a hand down to pet the dog beside Bear. “I see your guy is still trying to beat the heat. I feel you, brother.” His last words were directed to the retriever as he gave one final pat to his head. “If you do end up dressing him up, I’d go with a hanging chad – feels right up your alley.”

“hey, you know, life doesn’t just end when you hit sixty-five. or at least that’s what i’m hoping, anyway.” he was halfway there, and he felt like he hadn’t even started yet. what he did have was radar, who was chasing after xavier’s hand with his tongue. “a hanging chad?” he had to laugh. “haven’t heard that one in years. am i that big a nerd?”

[bearaldrich]

ettvaldrich‌:

She focused on dipping her fries into her chocolate milkshake, a habit she couldn’t kick when she was back home at the diner. “What girls?” Her curiosity sparked because beside herself and Remy, she couldn’t think of too many that would be as passionate about getting something together. “So why aren’t you in the big game, huh? Sittin’ it out ‘cause dad can’t play too?”

it was hard for bear not to pull a face at the condiment choice. years ago, he would have teased her, slapped them playfully out of her hand. now, he didn’t feel like either of them had the right to tease each other, even if he was fighting impulse. “all these farmers’ daughters. the ones that were pissed they never got to play on a team.” his face changed, though, his jaw set. “you don’t know how hard that’s been on him. so we’re gonna just watch it together.”

[bearaldrich]

anniefishers‌:

“The one and the only.” Annie held our her hand –were you even supposed to do that on a date? She’d been raised to be too polite for her own good. “Annie Fisher.” Her cheeks flushed. Of course they’d met before. Everyone knew everyone in Frostford, especially when their grandmothers were friends. “Well, that’s embarrassin’. For what it’s worth, it’s nice to formally meet’cha. Guess our grannies thought we’d be a good match,” she laughed.

bear didn’t seem fazed by it, or he was too polite to show it, and he shook her hand before re-taking his seat. “bear aldrich. but if your family’s anything like mine, i’m sure that you know that.” his hand was fidgeting on the tablecloth, not sure what to do with it. “yeah. i’ve heard a lot about you. you work down at the busy bee’s, right? i didn’t know if bringing flowers would be... weird.”

[anniefishcrarchive]

@bearaldrich

Don’t ask, sweetheart. Just go. Annie’s grandmother’s words rang in her ears as she crossed the threshold into Fox & Hare. It wasn’t that she was nervous about dating –it was the fact that is was yet another blind date, orchestrated by none other than her good ol’ Grammy, who couldn’t seem to fathom that her granddaughter wasn’t in any rush to marry herself off so quick. Wearing her favorite polka dot printed dress, the brunette scanned the restaurant for the man who’s photo she’d been shown countless times before she said yes –and once she spotted Bear, she had to admit that her grandmother had good taste. “Hi there,” she chimed, once getting close to the table. “You must be Bear –and if you’re not, this is gonna be embarrassin’.” 

[bearaldrich]

bear wondered, sometimes, why people bothered introducing themselves in frostford. even if people didn’t know each other personally, they had a friend in common, or they were second cousins, or they’d grown up within a few blocks of each other. bear had only met annie once, and he’d had to be reminded by his grandmother before he had put two and two together. he stood up from where he’d been sat. “hey. yeah, that’s me. and you’re annie, right?” it was a formality-- in the old days, he’d have to look his dates up on facebook. now, his grandmother printed out profiles and handed them to him. “we’ve met before, actually.”

[bearaldrich]

go-to karaoke song?

m'i tryin' to impress someone? brick, by ben folds five. doin' this for fun? senorita, by justin timberlake.

favorite frozen custard flavor from custard’s last stand?

maple spice. don’t know why anyone would get anything else.

favorite wing flavor at bootleggers?

half orange-glazed and half thai-glazed. mix all that up.

bama or auburn?

i know my name’s bear bryant, and i’ve got a stick ‘n’ poke of big al, and i went to bama and i go to every game i can, but, you know what? i think auburn put together a great line up this year, and-- oh my god, could you imagine, though?

middle name?

don’t have one. bear bryant is fully my first name.

drink you order at the bars around town?

rum and coke, and then i get made fun of for not drinking straight liquor like it’s water.

movie do you wish the galaxy would play?

i trust the staff they got down there. there’s a good circulation.

what position do you sleep in?

flat on my back, but splayed like a starfish.  only complaint i’ve gotten in bed.   

favorite mary kate & ashley movie?

the one where they’re soccer players who switch teams? what was the point of that one again?

celebrity crush?

“tessa thompson is... the perfect person.” 

harry potter patronus?

probably ambystoma bishopi. they’re really cool, semi-aquatic, flat-headed...

biggest bargain you’ve ever bought?

i got my arc'teryx bora ar 63 pack secondhand for $60. best thing i own.

high school superlative?

i didn’t get one, but i was most improved between ninth and tenth grade.

prospective name for your first (or next) child

you know, it’s time to break the cycle. just a normal name. tim. darla.

pop, soda, or coke?

it’s a coke. look at any regional map. any of them are valid, sure. round here, we say coke.

[bearaldrich]

libbymathis‌:

when libby heard the firm knocking at the door she was half expecting it to be a few neighborhood kids trying to sell some cookie dough or maybe even raffle tickets for a school fundraiser. imagine her surprise upon opening the door to find a man and his dog, no cookie dough or baked goods in sight. “yes, this is libby- ”. before she had time to finish her sentence he was already going on about some sort of petition that ended up going right over her head. waiting patiently for him to finish, libby furrowed her brow. “i’m sorry, what did you say your name was again? and what’s uh, section 42-91?”

bear laughed a little, and he glanced down at the clipboard. “yeah, sorry, i got a little bit ahead of myself there. my name’s bear. and this here is radar.” radar, realizing that they weren’t immediately going to be turned away, was already lying belly up on the porch, little paws curled in the air. “section 41-9-291 concerns the exploration of our public waters. basically, anything that’s found in the water becomes the property of our state’s heritage foundations under the proposed legislation, and our county is looking to block that, and keep the found objects the property of their discovers.”

[bearaldrich]

bear had been going door to door with his clipboard all day in the alabama heat. by this point, he was a little fatigued, but his dog had been loving the exercise, and, of course, all of the petting from the various townspeople. next on his list were the mathis’s, and, if past experiences were reliable, a sure thing. he was surprised when it wasn’t them that opened the door, but their granddaughter. still, though, he smiled and started his spiel. “hey... it’s libby, right? i’m trying to gather signatures on behalf of our county residents. our board of supervisors is currently trying to block section 41-9-291, code of alabama 1975, relating to the alabama underwater cultural resources act, to amend the definition of cultural resources to delete the  language that includes items that are eligible for, or listed  in the alabama register of landmarks and heritage.”

[bearaldrich]

ettvaldrich‌:

She’d take whatever in she could get and the easiest transition was to bring up this weeks’ festivities. Unamused, she had to stop herself from the normal quip knowing she was always one slip away from having a foot in her mouth. “QB? I’m more of a free safety,” she corrected, only feeling mildly insulted. “Yeah, for the students. Unless, I mean, do you think they’d let anyone do it?”

bear took a drink from his coffee, unable to deny that she would be right. both about her position and about how it was unjust that they didn’t have a powderpuff game. “...’f you gotta champion a cause, you could probably get pretty far with that one. i know a coupla girls that’d be all over it. ...don’t know if you could talk Coach into a quasi-alumni ladies’ game, though.”

[xcvierbell]

“Did I miss some kind of early pet-Halloween memo? Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs as much as the next person, and sure, sometimes they look cute all dressed up, but it’s not cold enough for all that yet. And it’s September. One walk down Main Street and I saw a beagle dressed like a hot dog, a pitbull with a rainbow on its back, and a little yappy chihuahua wearing a teeny tiny witches hat. Am I missing something? Are y’all alright?” @frostfordstart

[bearaldrich]

it definitely was not cold. the sun had set, but it was still at least eighty degrees outside, where bear was walking his retriever. it was hot enough that the dog had shoes on to protect its paws from the pavement, and maybe that was what had brought up the discussion here. he laughed. “people around here don’t have anything better to do,” he said. “it started as one person’s weird hobby, now it’s a whole cottage industry.”

[bearaldrich]

ettvaldrich‌:

“Been sayin’ it for years. I’m all for this alumni game, well– for the most part ‘cause I swear, some of those guys never give up and end up walkin’ off the field lookin’ like they’re about to have a Billy Bob/Lance Harbor kinda situation, but hear me out. We’ve gotta be the only school in the state without a powderpuff game.”

bear had agreed, reluctantly, to meet his sister down at the star diner. it was a soft open, he knew it, one that stayed away from anything heavy. even seemingly designed around a common interest. “for the students? or is your ancient ass gonna q.b.?” he wasn’t smiling, but it was a concerted effort to hold it back.

[bearaldrich]

[ grant gustin, thirty-one, cismale, he/him ] ━ did y'all see [ bear bryant aldrich ] walkin’ into [ up in smoke? ] they’ve lived in frostford for [ thirty-one years, ] and you can catch ‘em around town working as a [ water and sanitation engineer ]. I reckon they’re pretty [ hard-working & loyal ] but I hear they can also be kinda [ overprotective & stubborn. ]

so, one of the things about having parents that are eighteen years old is that sometimes they name you after a football coach.

 bear bryant aldrich, b. june 4th, 1988. his father did not, in fact, achieve his dream that having named his child this would earn him lifelong season tickets, but bear doesn’t think that he regrets it.

see his sister’s bio for a very comprehensive early life, but the short story is

his parents were young, the math around his conception and their wedding is pretty sketchy, but they were a family. etta is three years his junior.

when bear was five, his mother had an affair with someone staying down in the b&b. rather than continue to be a part of her family, she ran off with this man and left their father, now 24, to raise him and his sister.

bear was an average-to-good student in school, a cornerback on the high school football team, and got his degree in civil and environmental engineering from UA.

granola as fuck. will happily tell you all about which lichen are invasive and what that means for the county’s groundwater anytime you stop him to talk

loves his family more than anything in the whole world, which right now means his father, because his sister is a dirty traitor who went off to live with their mother at eighteen. 

a regular at up in smoke & hogtied tavern bc he never learned how to feed himself.

connections!?

his lady-friend. if you’ve got any single pringles around here, i’m open to going completely wild on a plot here. are they married with two kids? sure! first date was yesterday? sounds great to me.

friends. he’s thirty-one, which is just about the average age of a frostford citizen. i’m sure he had tons of classmates, football teammates, and the like.

cousins and family friends. the aldriches are generational in frostford, and everyone knows their business.

other ones! you know, ones that aren’t these.

[666adhd]

*eyes snap open at 3:47am* i’m unlovable

[mrchandlerbings]