#I gave him a grail yesterday and he was so happy that he got a super success right to level 85 instead of 82

[altblock-tm]

Sorry I just wanted to draw him with a biggol’ smile

under the cut is an alt where I thought I could be cool and color it with highlighters but just ruined it by accident

#doodle doodles #fate series #fgo #fate grand order #Diarmuid ua Duibhne #traditional art #saber diarmuid #Sabermuid I love you…… #I gave him a grail yesterday and he was so happy that he got a super success right to level 85 instead of 82

[mcheang]

Secret Santa Clause

This is a rough draft but it is basically a salty Christmas fic...at least I think it counts as salty?

The class is holding a Secret Santa event on their class group chat. Knowing Chloe, Caline states the following rules:

1. The budget for each gift is 20 euros.

2. You must give a present once a week.

3. The present must be thoughtful. (This was aimed at Chloe since last time she just gave out her photos, hand me downs and autographs.)

Imagine Marinette’s surprise when she receives Lila’s name in her secret Santa email. Groaning, Marinette is silently grumpy for a while until she hits an epiphany. The presents have to be thoughtful, but the receiver doesn’t necessarily have to like them.

And Marinette can use this loophole to her advantage.

Marinette has Alya swear secrecy because she only hates Chloe and Lila so the suspects for who she has to give presents to were obvious once Alya noticed Marinette’s sour mood on the phone. In return, Marinette promises to give nice gifts and will even let Alya inspect them.

1st week: Lila received a commonplace but newly released Ladybug purse. She feigns joy but Marinette knows Lila hates Ladybug even more than her. So while Lila is cooing over her ‘BFF’ merchandise, inside she is really....

Lila suspects Alya, Ladybug’s #1 fan might be her secret Santa. She doesn’t suspect Adrien because he knows she doesn’t like Ladybug and is too nice to give her a gift she wouldn’t like. Lila doesn’t suspect Marinette because if she would give Lila a piece of clothing, it would be really cheap but the ladybug purse cost about 20 euros, so yeah.

Meanwhile Marinette receives colourful beads she can use for her designs.

2nd week: Marinette gives Lila an experiment of her Dad’s baking that she vetoed for Christmas sales because girls like Chloe would scream at the sight of it. It is a tin of one large, sinful fudge brownie stuffed with caramel and marshmallow.

Marinette gives Alya a small piece and the latter approves. Marinette knows Lila can’t trace the dessert to her bakery because they don’t sell it. Alya gladly provides Marinette with the nondescript brownie tin. When Chloe and Adrien smell the brownie, one runs away from carbs and fats while the other bangs his head on the table and reminds himself of what he cannot eat. Lila just munches on it without care. Again she doesn’t suspect Marinette because she thinks her rival would just get her cheap chocolates, not a rich dessert.

Marinette herself gets beautiful hair ribbons. Like seriously...are these really below the budget?

3rd week: a cheap silver pearl bracelet that matches her earring. It seems harmless but Lila is still irked at being turned into a clam. She hates seafood and pearls because it reminds her of her third failure and humiliation. This time Lila can’t hide her initial reaction. She shied away from the pearls. Upon noticing her classmates’ confusion, she claims she thought the pearls were real and didn’t want to be the cause of so much monetary loss.

Marinette receives Christmas roses and wonders if her secret Santa is a secret admirer.

Christmas Eve: time for the reveal. The class meets up at a party in the park. So when Lila looks around for her secret Santa, she turns around to see a smirking Marinette saying, “Merry Christmas, Lila.”

Lila is surprised and feigns pleasantness. “Oh Marinette, you're my secret Santa?” Lila starts going over her list of presents. Marinette knew she was a liar and somehow found out she hated Ladybug- probably via Adrien. And the brownie was super rich which meant now Lila had to work out like crazy if she wanted to lose the excess fat. Plus, everyone knew about the clam incident. All along it had been Marinette spitefully giving her those “nice” presents.

“Yup.”

“Where’s my present?” The grand finale that Lila would have to grit her teeth and smile over. Oh Marinette will pay for this.

“Look behind you.” Alya was beaming at her friend, so proud Marinette made an exception during the holidays. Lila is suspicious of Marinette’s wide grin.

“Hello, Ma Bella.” Mrs Rossi smiled at her Daughter.

“Mum?” Lila gaped. Uh oh.

“I managed to convince your mom to spend a few hours off work to spend more time with you. I hope you like your present,” Marinette explained, barely hiding the smugness Lila knew she was feeling.

After talking it over with Alya, Marinette learns Mrs Rossi is constantly absent. She also knew Mrs Rossi was the perfect person to expose Lila.

Lila was panicked, she had to get her mother out of here before her classmates started asking about her work. She can claim to want some alone time with her Mother. Revenge against Marinette can wait.

But before Lila could usher her mother away, the latter spots Adrien and goes “Oh you must be Lila’s Boyfriend. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Cue silence... then Chloe’s screech of fury.

“WHAT?”

Adrien looked surprised and horrified. “What?”

Marinette covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. “What?”

Lila laughs nervously. “I may have exaggerated that part, Mama.”

Mrs Rossi blinks. “Oh. Well then, thank you for keeping in touch with my Daughter when the school was shut down. Honestly, the incompetence of Ladybug and Chat Noir to have let the akuma run rampant for so long...”

Lila was aghast, silently plotting Marinette’s gruesome murder.

Caline was shocked. Shut down? What was Mrs Rossi talking about?

The classmates were furious. Incompetent? Their saviours? Who did Mrs Rossi think she was?

Adrien was denying the accusation of checking up on Lila, AND clarified he had only ever talked to her before her return to school via facechat, with the class, during school, when she was travelling to Achu with her Mother.

Mrs Rossi pauses, stunned, then turns to her Daughter. “Lila?”

Marinette: I should have brought chocolate popcorn.

After the whole exposure was revealed, Caline escorted the Italian Mother and Daughter to the principal’s office to discuss the ramifications of Lila’s lies. She asked the class to continue their festivities without her.

The class was silent from the event. Their Friend has been lying to them for months, had taken advantage of their kindness.

Marinette watched Nino comfort Alya, her face unreadable.

“Hey.” It was Adrien’s voice. Marinette turned to him.

“Hey yourself.”

“You planned this whole thing, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t plan Mrs Rossi to come at first. I was just going to ask Jagged to make a surprise visit.” And expose her for not knowing the rock star at all.

Marinette held Adrien’s gaze. She would not regret her actions. Lila had gotten her expelled, had gotten Kagami akumatized, and was a downright bully.

“Good.”

Marinette startled. She did not expect that answer.

Adrien rubbed his neck, “After she framed you, I made a deal with the devil. Either she got you back in school, or I end our friendship.”

Marinette felt a smile tug on her mouth. “You couldn’t find a way to prove she was lying either?”

Adrien shrugged. “I admit she is a master at lying, so I refused to play that game with her. I’ve been hoping she would slip up but that didn’t happen at all.”

Marinette grinned now. She kissed Adrien’s cheek on her tiptoes. “Well, thank you for helping me get back into school.”

Adrien cheeks were red. So cute. He stuck his hands out. In them was a worn sketchbook. “Merry Christmas Marinette, from your secret Santa.”

Marinette was the one blushing now. “You mean...you were secret my present? I mean, you were my Secret Santa?”

Adrien smiled softly at Marinette. “I was really happy to be the secret Santa for our Everyday Ladybug.”

Marinette’s smile was painfully wide now. She took the offered sketchbook, opened it, and saw rough sketches of outdated clothing. Wrinkling her brow, Marinette flipped through the pages, wondering why Adrien was giving her this.

Then she came to a certain page and saw a certain signature.

The shrill scream she emitted was louder than Chloe’s.

“An original Gabriel Agreste sketchbook?” Marinette looked at the old thing like it was the holy grail.

Adrien laughed. “Yeah, he didn’t mind giving it up. Of course, I had to find it in the attic first but the effort seems well worth it, given your reaction.”

Marinette took a deep breath, regaining control of herself. She looked up at Adrien again and, before her nerve failed her, asked, “Would you like to grab hot chocolate with me?”

Adrien beamed. “Nothing would make me happier.”

They walked out.

The class was left staring after them. In the previous silence, they heard the entire conversation. Marinette had been right all along and she had been a victim of Lila’s. Only Adrien successfully helped her get back to school.

Alya sobbed, guilt eating her alive. She was a terrible Best Friend.

The others were feeling horrible too. How could they ever make it up to her?

Nino took charge. He consoled Alya but said in a loud voice for them all to hear, “We’ll make it up to her. Someday.”

The rest nodded. Only Chloe was somehow silent before they realized that Alix had knocked her out when the blond looked like she was going to start screeching at Marinette for asking Adrien out.

Cue Sabrina starting to wake her BFF up.

Caline returns and informs the class that Lila has gone home. She does not mention the punishments the liar had gotten but insists they continue the Santa Claus event.

when school reopens, Lila is revealed to have been expelled.

Before that, Alya and everyone else but Chloe apologies to Marinette. She forgives them all.

Marinette finally breaks down the spite behind her gifts to Alya. Her BFF is so proud and even shrieks when Marinette admits her hot chocolate Friend-date yesterday ended in a mistletoe kiss.

Adrien meanwhile has a dreamy, rosy look on his face and doesn’t respond when Nino waves his hand up and down in front of him.

I kind of feel bad that their Christmas Eve was ruined, but oh well. For the record, the hair ribbons are costly because they use real silk and Swarovski crystals, but Adrien didn’t spend a dime on them because he just got them from free since their are Gabriel accessories. Gabriel doesn’t care.

For the record, Adrien’s secret Santa was Max. Lila gave pink stuff to Rose.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #adrienette #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #lila karma #lila bashing #lila gets exposed #lila is exposed #lila salt #alya salt #salt! mari #salty mari #salty marinette #ml salt fic #ml christmas salt fic #mrs rossi

[thepancakeboi]

An Unexpected Growth Spurt

So it barely took five minutes before this idea by @hetyra sent me down the rabbit hole of getting ideas and hyperfocusing on it rather than my current stuff. Whoops? No regrets. These types of fun reactions, where Ren is being such a goddamn menace towards Goro, are among my favorite to write. I will disclose this right now: I know very little about the storyline of Persona 5 Strikers outside of “sequel set in the summer after Persona 5 events″. As a result, it’s only there as a timing thing and a reference, but it’s fine. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this writing that gave me dopamine and serotonin in spades!

01/01/2018, 10:39 AM > Ren: Meiji Shrine it is! I can’t wait to see you.

I keep looking at that last text over and over as I stand here by the torii, awaiting Ren’s arrival. It’s been over a year since I last saw him. I’m lucky I was even able to get in touch with him, but...was coming here a mistake?

I’m not the type to get nervous, but I never thought I would see him again. With everything that happened between us, he shouldn’t even want to meet up with me. That and he probably assumed I was dead. The last time I saw him was in the engine room of Shido’s Palace. That place should have been my grave, yet somehow I had survived. I hadn’t told anyone. Truth be told, I hadn’t wanted anyone to know I was alive.

I...simply wanted to disappear.

Even now, I have the urge to leave before I can potentially reunite with Ren. Whatever had come over me last night, in that spur of the moment decision to text Ren after a year of silence, is gone. This whole idea is a mistake. He has much better ways to spend his time than wasting it on me. He’s probably been with his precious friends doing who knows what. There’s no way he needs someone like me in his life. He’s got all the people he could ever want. That’s it. I’m leaving now, before-

“Goro? Is that you?”

I freeze. His voice is a little deeper than I remember, but I would know it anywhere. I turn around, my heart leaping in my chest at seeing Ren. Although he’s not wearing his glasses this time, he hasn’t changed a bit. Even his hair is as unkempt as ever. It’s almost like I went back in time, to days where I wasn’t his (attempted) murderer. There are so many things I want to say, but all I can manage is a simple, “Hey, Ren.”

And he grins. Yet another thing that hasn’t changed: that beautiful smile. I can tell he’s barely stopping himself from running and pulling me into a hug as he approaches. I’m thankful for his restraint. There’s no telling what my reaction would have been. “Hi, Akeppi.”

I huff, shaking my head. “I was hoping you forgot that damn nickname.” And me as well, some small part of me silently adds.

“You know you like it.” Smug as ever, the menace. “I missed you. Where have you been? You never told me.”

Straight to the point, I see. I had very purposefully avoided the dogged questions about how I was alive or where I’d been. It didn’t seem like the type of thing to discuss through instant messages. This needed to be a face-to-face conversation. “I was at a rehab center, believe it or not.”

“You were?”

Nodding, I force myself to continue. He deserves to know what happened. “It’s outside of Tokyo...and it’s where my mother would go. I went there on Christmas Eve without an appointment, but they accepted me anyway. The only time I had left between then and now was when I heard word that you were being detained.”

“Oh?”

“I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. After all, you did change Shido’s heart for me. So, I helped your friends track down the woman in your assault case.”

“Wait, did they know you were alive and didn’t tell me?”

“No, nothing like that,” I reassure him, letting Ren know that his friends hadn’t kept my survival a secret from him. “I gave them what information I could find, anonymously, of course. They probably wouldn’t have accepted it if they knew who it came from.”

“Come on, give them a little more credit than that.”

I don’t think I can, especially when two of my victims had been Futaba Sakura’s mother and Haru Okumura’s father. “Either way, what about you? You’re a third-year now, yes?”

“Yeah. A lot’s happened since...” He stops for a moment. Something tells me the reason he stopped isn’t pleasant. Could it be he was about to say “since our last fight”, or something of that caliber? He quickly snaps out of it, though, beaming once again as he continues. “Oh, I saved Christmas by summoning satan to shoot god in the face!”

If he were any other person, I might have figured him insane. Even so, I can’t hide my surprise as I stammer, “You...what?”

“We went into the depths of Mementos to find its treasure. Never want to go there again. And then we fought the holy grail, which was really a god who was controlling everyone. I summoned this huge Persona, Satanael, and we shot god in the face!”

I chuckle at that. It all sounds so impossible, yet anything’s possible in the Metaverse. “If only I could have seen such a sight.” Upon seeing Ren’s melancholy look, I quickly add, “What else happened after that?”

“I went back home in March.” He doesn’t seem too thrilled about that detail. I know he preferred living at Leblanc over with his own parents, who never seemed to contact him while he was on probation. “And then I came back for summer vacation with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. But then the Metaverse came back, and these places called Jails were showing up, and...well, it’s a long story.”

“Perhaps for another time. Your life certainly has been interesting.”

“I wish you could’ve been there, but I’m happy you’re still alive. I...didn’t know what happened to you. Everyone else thought you were dead, but I just couldn’t believe it. I kept hoping that you weren’t. I really did miss you, Goro.” And I believe it, somehow.

“I apologize for not contacting you until yesterday. I know I should have. I cannot imagine what you must have gone through, and-”

“It’s okay!” he replies, a little too quickly. It makes me wonder how he handled my supposed death. I won’t pry. If he wants to tell me one day, it’ll be when he wants. He finally pulls me into the hug he’s likely been waiting for this whole time, gently running his fingers through my hair. “Your hair’s shorter than before.”

“Is that a problem?” I know it’s only a simple observation, but I can’t help but assume he doesn’t like it.

“No. I just noticed. That’s all. You look cute with short hair.”

“I’m not cute,” I immediately retort.

“Are too.”

“Well, you haven’t changed a-” I pause. Some small detail is pulling at my attention, but what is it? “Wait a minute. Did you...?”

“Did I what?” he asks, clearly as confused as I am.

I move out of his embrace to back up a few steps, looking at his footwear. He isn’t wearing heels, which means... “Have you...grown since we last saw each other?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, a little. Why?”

“How much?”

“I dunno, five centimeters?”

“Damnit,” I hiss. “Who said you were allowed to have a growth spurt!?”

Clarity lights up his face as he realizes the reason for my irritable reaction. “Oh, right. You hated when I was taller as Joker. Does it bother you that I’m taller than you now?”

“Shut up.”

He laughs. “I love it. It’s nice seeing you as the smaller one.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

He fake gasps. “He swore! Are you angy, my adorable little detective?” he asks, his voice sounding all cutesy. Goddamn menace.

“What do you think!?”

He is obviously smug that he’s now taller than me by two centimeters. His grin only widens as he pats my head. I try to smack his hand away, but he moves it away before I can. “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Even more so since I’m taller than you.”

“Infuriating as ever,” I snarl, my patience running thin. He’s being so cocky that I want to fucking strangle him. “I should wear heels just to be the taller one.”

“I don’t think you could.”

“Is that a challenge, Ren?”

“I dunno.” He shrugs, but I see right through the gesture. He knows exactly what he’s doing. “You tell me, detective. Is it a challenge?”

“I think it is, and I don’t intend to lose. I can and will wear heels. Watch me.”

“Even if you did, I could just wear heels as well,” he replies with a shit-eating grin to match his tone, “and run in them, too.”

I sigh in frustration, crossing my arms. I hate that I know he’s right. The Metaverse is enough indication of that. “You little shit.”

“You’re the little one, not me.”

“Shut up, Ren.”

“Make me,” he says as he gets right in my face, smirking as I instinctively lean back. “You could always kiss me into silence.”

There’s no hiding my flushed reaction to his suggestion. “You fucking wish, you idiot,” I snap, trying to ignore just how hot my face feels.

“Yeah, I do, my little tsundere pancake.”

Oh, of course, he had to mention the pancakes. Of fucking course. “I hate you so much.”

“I still don’t believe you. We both know that’s a lie.”

“Damn you and your two centimeters,” I say right before I recklessly kiss him on the lips.

I can see the ever so slight surprise on Ren’s face. He hides it well. His mirth at the unexpected kiss is clear as he asks, “Now, was that really so bad?”

“Yes.” No.

“Why’d you do it, then?”

“To get you to shut up.” I’ve been wanting to for a while now.

“Sure, sure,” he laughs. “Hey, would you want to get some lunch together? My treat.”

I’m glad he asked first. Truth be told, I wanted an excuse to spend more time with him. I’ve missed Ren more than I care to admit. “Sounds delightful. You can choose the location, but I’m paying.”

“Hey, no. I’m buying lunch, and you can’t stop me.”

“I’m paying, and that’s final.”

“Okay, how about we leave it up to chance? Whoever ends up with the bill pays. Deal?”

“Very well. You have a deal.” I’m still not letting him pay, though, even if it means resorting to more...underhanded methods.

He takes my hand in his, the small gesture of affection almost causing me to tear up. No one’s cared about me like Ren has. I don’t deserve it, but I doubt arguing that with him would get anywhere. It would be fruitless. All I can hope is that he’ll be happy around me.

And, for the first time in a year...I smile.

#akeppi writes #p5 #persona 5 #p5s #persona 5 scramble #persona 5 strikers #persona 5 spoilers #p5 spoilers #goro akechi #akechi #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #akeshu #shuake #ren is a menace #i also kind of worked the unused rehab thing from royal into this #i just really needed a reason why goro wasn't around in strikers/scramble #plus i just have a soft spot for that unused event

[jayascorner]

life isn’t that bad

~part 1

josh dun x reader

•

•

•

(past flashback thing i guess..)

i leaned on the small, brown piano as i listened to my boyfriend play beautiful sounding chords on it. i watched his fingers glide across the keys, something about his fingers playing made me feel happy. then he starts singing.

“you know...

i’ve always been collected, calm, and chill.

and you know...

i never look for conflict for the thrill.

but if i’m feelin’...

someone steppin’ towards you, can’t describe just what i’m feelin’..

for you.” he stopped.

“that’s all i have so far.” he smiled up at me.

i always loved his voice and how he had a natural talent. but this song, it’s like he wrote it for someone. i mean... i am his girlfriend.

“that was beautiful!” i beamed.

he smiled shyly. “thanks. i uh.. i wrote it for you.”

“that’s the cutest song i’ve ever heard.”

he smiled and stood up. he came towards me to lean in for a kiss.

that was a good day. but sadly, i never heard the rest of the song.

••••••••end of flashback••••••••

(6 years later)

obviously this is not like how most stories go. no, tyler and i never ended up happily ever after. no, we didn’t end up getting married and having a totally problem less life. life definitely isn’t perfect. and things happen, like my first relationship not lasting forever. crAzY rigHT?! wrong.

it’s really hard to get over someone that seems like ‘the one’ to you. when it turns out wrong, it’s like your whole world flips up-side-down. tyler did seem like he was the one, but i guess he wasn’t. in fact, i bet he’s already married now, he is really good looking.

i did end up getting over the fact that i broke up with a perfect guy eventually. but he is still fresh in my mind. i know, we were young. i was only seventeen. of course it didn’t work out. it took me a long time to get over it, though. even though that was six years ago, i still remember it fully as if it just happened. weird, huh?

yes, i’m still single, and haven’t found anyone, really. it’s kinda sad. well, actually

i’ve found someone. his name is josh.

it wasn’t until later that night, or should i say morning, i got a call from josh.

i picked up my phone to answer the call. it was strange he was calling me at 12 in the morning, so something must’ve been up.

“hey jish. why are you up so late?” i asked through the line.

“sorry y/n. i just wanted you to know that my band made a new album.”

oh yeah! he’s in a band! twenty one pilots! i forgot!

i’ve listened to stressed out, but not anything else really. only because it’s been on the radio a couple times. but the lead singer’s voice sounds very familiar.

“oh. ok... what’s it called?”

“oh it’s called trench.” he said.

“did y’all just now release it?” i asked.

“yup. i bet our fans are going ballistic. we haven’t released an album for a long while, ” he said, chuckling. i laughed “they probably are.” “well, i’m telling everybody in my contacts and i guess you were the first person i thought of.”

i could feel that he was smiling through the other line. “really?!” i asked, all the sudden feeling really happy.

“yeah...anyways, sorry for bothering you.” he apologized.

“no no you weren’t bothering me. i’m wide awake.”

“oh good...are you bored?”

well..i mean...kinda. ok yeah. i’m bored now that i think of it.

“yeah i am bored, actually. i have nothing to do.” i said.

“ok do you want to come stay with me? i’ll just be contacting all my friends about the album.”

how could i say no? he’s offering me an opportunity not to be bored out of my mind! yay!

“yes. anything to make me not bored. uh...you have food right?” i asked, suddenly feeling hunger in my stomach.

“yeah? why?” he asked, confused.

“i don’t know...i’m hungry for some reason.”

“you like pickles?”

“I LOVE PICKLES DO YOU HAVE THEM?!” i asked, pure joy coming out of my voice.

“yeah actually, i have a huge jar of them. i got it from a friend. i’m pretty sure it was a joke, but you can have some.”

“OH MY GOSH REALLY?? THAT IS ACTUALLY A LIFE SAVER. PICKLES ARE LITERALLY MY HOLY GRAIL!”

apparently that was funny to josh because he started cracking up. but really, i was being serious.

“okay then— you-you can have the pick-pickles” he said in between laughs.

“YESS THANK YOU!! okay so i’ll come over right now. we can listen to the album.”

“okay sounds great.”

“‘kay, bye jishwa.”

“bye (y/n/n).”

i ended the call. i’ve always like the nickname he had for me. like, it’s unique. only he calls me that. if someone else calls me that in front of josh, he’ll be like ‘nope. get your own nickname for her’ or something like that. is pretty amusing. he’s also protective over me, and i really appreciate that.

“LET’S GO WOOOO!! I DON’T EVEN CARE THAT IT’S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!! WOOOOO!!!” i shouted to myself as i grabbed my keys. i tossed them and caught them like a cool person and walked out the door.

“wait.....” i realized i literally had a tank top and shorts on. AND NO SHOES. “i do not look presentable, do i?” i said to myself.

later when i put better clothes on, like a t-shirt and leggings, i slipped on some tennis shoes before finally walking out the door with my keys.

~lil time skip~

*knock knock knock*

i waited for the door to open.

the door opened with josh in a t-shirt and pants. somehow, the man still seemed to attract me.

“hey! that was fast.” josh said, a big smile spread across his face.

“you know me.” i said, josh making a way for me to come in. i spread my arms out so i could hug him. i don’t know...i just really felt like getting a hug from josh. he wrapped his arms around my torso. i rested my head on his shoulder. “how was your day?” he asked. “good so far, it just started.” i smiled.

“oh that’s right. well how was your day yesterday?” he pulled away.

“it was alright i guess. nothing really happened much, but i can tell you that today will be great.” i said, while making my way to a nearby couch. y’all sat down together on the end.

“i know my day will be awesome . it starts with you.”

“thanks. anyways, enough with the cheesies now i want to hear the album.”

“okay. now you can do whatever you want while i contact people.” he said. i nodded in response.

then i remembered that he had a whole jar of pickles, and then suddenly got really hungry. but little did i know, there weren’t pickles so pleasing to my eye. meaning, there was only one.

“oh yeah...so you have pickles?” i ask, a smile creeping on my face.

“oh uh...about that...i got a little hungry.”

he says, looking down.

“YOU ATE MY PICKLES?!!” i shouted standing up. i marched to the fridge.

“well technically they’re not your pickles. they’re mine. i was gonna let you have them.”

“why did you eat them then?!”

“i didn’t eat all of them. and besides, i was hungry.”

i managed to find a jar of pickles, or should i say jar of pickle. i looked up and gave him a death stare. “how much were there originally?”

“um...i forget.” he said, but i could feel he was lying.

“oh really?”

he sighed. “no.”

“that’s what i thought. now how many were there?”

“...” he said. he SAID. dOT DOT DOT.

“wow you just said ‘dot dot dot’. but seriously how much. i won’t be mad.”

“...fine. about six.”

“YOU ATE FIVE?! I THOUGHT YOU DIDNT LIKE PICKLES!” i shouted. i wasn’t mad, i was just shocked.

“there was nothing else to eat.”

“why? i thought you have a lot of food.”

“i’m....on a.....diet?” he said, more a question.

“yeah. a pickle diet. not to mention, i saw you eating ice cream two days ago.” i stated.

“that’s because...“ he paused to think of some made up excuse. “i just started my diet today!” he triumphantly said, probably happy that he found an excuse that i would possibly buy. wrong. i didn’t buy it.

“whatever you say josh. anyways, it’s fine i’ll just have this pickle. i need to go on a diet, too.”

“i’m sorry for eating your pickles y/n.” he said, shamefully.

“it’s fine josh. don’t sweat it. i totally understand though, pickles are amazing.”

“they’re okay i guess. i mean, i have similar foods that you might like.”

i stop mid-bite in the pickle.

“...”

“like what?” i asked, out of curiosity.

“um..let’s see.” he looks in the fridge. “i have cucumbers.” he looked back at me. “if you like those.”

“do you have ranch?” i asked, because like cucumbers, but they’re even better with ranch in my opinion.

“uhm, what kind of ranch?”he asked.

what kind of ranch?? what is he talking about. uhh yeah i’ll have some chocolate ranch. thanks.

“what do you mean?” i asked, because i’ve only heard of regular ranch.

“like flavors. i have chipotle, coleslaw, buffalo, and jalapeño ranch.”

oh.

ohhh.

i’m so dumb.

now i know what he’s talking about.

“can you put samples in bowls so i can taste test them? ‘cause i don’t know what they taste like.” i ask, walking in the kitchen where he was.

“yeah.” he said.

with that he got three small bowls out and put each type of ranch in it. “this one’s homemade.” he pointed to the jalapeño ranch.

“so it must be good.” i said with a smile.

“i don’t know, do you like spicy?” he asked. i shrugged “depends on how spicy it is.” i dipped a cucumber in it and took a bite. i stopped and my eyes widened. i looked at josh like ‘seriously dude? you MADE this?’

he quickly noticed and chuckled. “is it good?” he asked.

“holy crap dude. why haven’t i tried this ranch before? this is amazing!”

josh smiled at me. “so, you want that one?” he pointed to the dip you were using.

i nodded, dipping more cucumbers in it, as if i couldn’t get enough of it.

“okay.” he got some more of the ranch into a bowl that had enough for me to eat.

now lemme say something, josh is really nice. i don’t know if he’s nice like this to everyone, or if he has- well, um...feelings for me. which i don’t think so. and i don’t know how to feel about him, whether he’s a friend, or more. i would only like him if he liked me back, y’know, that sort of thing. of course he’s attractive to me, but i need to wait to see if he would possibly feel the same. but there’s just one thing, i don’t want to ask him in person or anything. so yeah, there’s that. phew! i got it out of me.

after a while of silence, nothing but me crunching on my cucumbers, i hear this voice in a sing-song way say something that vaguely sounded like ‘cover me’.

and then this really awesome bass line kicks in, followed with a drum beat.

i start bopping as i feel the music. josh looks over at me, and smiles at my sudden liking for this song. “this is jumpsuit. the first song on the album.”

“it’s catchy.” i said, a grin finding its way to my face.

“oh, just wait until the words are sung.” he said.

and that’s when i heard the first line. yes the ‘i can’t believe how much i hate.’ and for some reason, the voice is strongly familiar...

“why do i know that voice?” i mutter to myself, but josh seemed to hear.

“um, stressed out was on the radio a lot. you might recognize the voice from that.” josh says, confused.

“yeah i’ve heard that before, but that sounded familiar, too.” i said. i totally knew the person, he was just on the tip of my tongue. “w-what’s his name?” i asked, my nerves picking up as if i had known this guy before.

“his name’s tyler.”

hey guys, so apparently this was too long so i had to cut it in two parts. i hope you liked this first part :))

i will be updating the second part shortly, if you’re wondering :)

—yaya

#josh dun #tyler joseph #twenty one pilots #tøp #pickles #trench #josh dun x reader #tyler joseph x reader (backstory)

[imjustthemechanic]

Natalie Jones and the Golden Ship

Part 1/? - A Meeting at the Palace Part 2/? - Curry Talk Part 3/? - Princess Sitamun Part 4/? - Not At Rest Part 5/? - Dead Men Tell no Tales Part 6/? - Sitamun Rises Again Part 7/? - The Curse of Madame Desrosiers Part 8/? - Sabotage at Guedelon Part 9/? - A Miracle Part 10/? - Desrosiers’ Elixir Part 11/? - Athens in October Part 12/? - The Man in Black Part 13/? - Mr. Neustadt Part 14/? - The Other Side of the Story Part 15/? - A Favour Part 16/? - A Knock on the Window Part 17/? - Sir Stephen and Buckeye

Jim needs help - and the gang get another possible idea about where they’ll be heading next.

Since Sir Stephen had put the chair down, Jim pulled it over and sat on it – backwards, leaning his elbows on the back of it.

“I don’t know my name,” he said.  “You asked and I said it was Jim, but I didn’t know it – when I try to remember it, there’s nothing there.  I know I’m an art student, and I’m here to see the museums, but I don’t know what school I go to, or what airline I took to get here, or where I live.  I know I was following you around because Mr. Neustadt told me he’d pay me to, but if you asked me about anything else I’d have to make something up.”  He ran a hand through his hair.  “I don’t know my parents’ names, or whether I have any siblings. You don’t think about this stuff minute-by-minute, especially when you’re focused on something else, but now that I do think about it, it’s not there.”

Like Barnes on the train, Natasha thought.  Allen had asked him where he was from and he’d said Brooklyn, but he’d had to think about it.  Had he had a moment of crisis like the one Jim seemed to be having now?  Or had he simply dismissed it and moved on?

“I asked Mr. Neustadt if it were true that he’d, uh, made me,” he went on, “and he said yes… that they’ve got these bacteria, I guess, that take up traits from other living things instead of having their own DNA.  They can make a person, but they don’t live very long.  I didn’t believe him, and he said if I didn’t then I could test it, and he gave me this.”

Jim took out a pocket knife and unfolded a blade from it.  “It took me a while to get up my nerve to do it, but…” He put the blade against his palm, gritted his teeth, and prepared to drive it in.

Sir Stephen stepped in and took the knife from him.  “There’s no need to do that,” he said.

Startled, Jim reached to get it back.  “It goes right in and it seals back up!” he said.

“We will take your word for it,” said Sir Stephen, folding the knife back up. He handed it back to Jim with a warning look.

Nat cocked her head.  Sir Stephen was a warrior – he’d killed people, up close and persona, using a sword or a spear.  She knew he wasn’t squeamish.  Was it just because Jim looked so much like his old friend?

Jim put it away.  “So… yeah. Apparently I’m not human, and I’m going to die in a week or so.  And you guys have met other… ones… of me… before?”  He was dreading the answer.

“We have met other men who looked like you,” said Sir Stephen.  “Upon their death they vanished into piles of ash.”

Jim shivered.  “Right. So… I don’t want that to happen, obviously,” he said awkwardly.  “Mr. Neustadt said he can’t help me live longer, although I don’t know if he meant it or if he just doesn’t care.  At dinner, though he said something about Perenelle being more into biology than he is?” He looked up hopefully.

“We don’t know,” said Nat honestly.  “We only just learned that any of this is possible at all.”

Sir Stephen, however, got down on one knee to be on eye level with Jim, and put a hand on his shoulder.  “Your name,” he said, “is James.  It has always been James.  Your family called you Buckeye, as did I.  You were the son of a Cornish knight, a thousand years ago, and you died in battle with Count John the Red Death, a treacherous ally of William of Normandy. Your body fell into a crevasse, and it was there that this Neustadt found it and used it to make homunculi to do his bidding.”  He gave the shoulder a gentle squeeze.  “I am Sir Stephen of Rogsey, and you are my friend.  You have been my dearest friend for a very long time, and never failed to help me when I needed it.  Now I will help you.”

He stood up again, and turned to look at Natasha.

“Neustadt spoke of the Philosopher’s Stone as an engine that can transmute matter into other forms,” he said.  “Do you think it could transmute this elixir into human flesh?”

Natasha hadn’t thought of that, and she had no idea whether it was possible or not. “I don’t know why you keep asking me. I don’t know,” she said.  She was unavoidably reminded, though, of how she’d worried that both Allen Jones and Sir Stephen himself would disappear when the group got rid of the Holy Grail that had created them.  Jim had it even worse, in that he’d come with a ticking clock already hanging over his head.

“Madame Desrosiers must know,” Sir Stephen decided.

“Doesn’t mean she’ll actually do anything about it,” Natasha noted – Neustadt had said she was selfish, and they knew she’d healed Clint only because he got hurt trying to help her.  “We’re waiting for her,” she told Jim, “but if she hasn’t turned up by the morning, we’ll have to go.  We need to figure out which of these two alchemists is the one who destroyed that mummy, and have him or her taken back to the UK to face charges.”

Jim nodded, disappointed.  “Can I wait with you?” he asked.

That would allow them to keep an eye on him, at least.  “I guess,” said Nat.  “We don’t know for sure she’ll turn up, though.”

“That’s fine,” said Jim.  “Thank you. Even if you can’t do anything, thank you anyway for trying.  I don’t want to die.”  He sighed heavily.  “I don’t know if I really want to live when I don’t even know who I am and it sounds like I’m not anybody but… but I know I don’t want to die, and that only leaves so many options.”

“To live is always better,” said Sir Stephen.  “But if you must die, die gloriously, and not ignominiously falling apart.”

Jim raised his head and gave Sir Stephen a sideways look.  “Do you always talk like that?” he asked.

“He does,” said Natasha.  “He’s a knight from a medieval poem, brought to life by the Holy Grail, so he hasn’t quite caught up on the twenty-first century yet.”

“Oh,” said Jim, unsure what to do with this information.

“I’m a former Russian spy,” Nat added with a smile.  She wondered if he believed her.  “Now I teach archaeology at a university in Scotland.”

He just blinked at her.

“We’re weird people,” she said.

“I can kinda tell,” Jim said carefully.  “What about this Buckeye guy?  What was he like?”  He turned back to Sir Stephen.

Sir Stephen’s face lit up in a smile – he loved to talk about his old life, and particularly about the people he had known then.  “Buckeye was my friend from when I was very small,” he said.  “I Still have a lock of his hair that I keep.” He’d once had it in a medieval pendant, but had since bought a modern locket.  He pulled it out of his shirt and opened it to show Jim the curl of hair inside. “You see, I grew up in an Abbey. My mother had fled her husband and put out to sea, hoping to reach Wales…”

Nat shook her head.  Sir Stephen would be going on half the night now, but it would make him happy, and Jim was already nodding eagerly, hoping to find something he could latch onto as an identity of his own.  For however long this lasted, Nat’s own presence would be irrelevant.

“I’m gonna get us a pizza,” she decided.  “I’ll be back in maybe twenty minutes.”

When she came back, Sir Stephen was telling Jim about a time Buckeye had carried him back to the Abbey after Stephen had stepped in a rabbit hole and twisted his ankle.

“He joked that were I to wax any heavier, he would have to set me down and cut my throat as he’d do for an injured horse,” Sir Stephen said.  Nat noticed that his grammar had gotten a little more formal again, the way it had been when he’d first showed up.

Jim was startled.  “That’s a horrible thing to say to your friend,” he said.

“It was a longstanding jest between us,” said Sir Stephen.  “I knew he would never have proposed it seriously, unlike some of the crueler boys.”

Jim shrugged one shoulder.  “Go on,” he said.

Sir Stephen talked until long past midnight, when the pizza was gone and several bottles of sparkling water had chased it down while they waited for the evening to cool – which it never did.  While the men talked in the bedroom, Natasha went and sat in the living room, waiting for Desrosiers, or whoever else Neustadt had been expecting, to arrive.  Time passed. Nat could go a long time without sleep if she had to, but she was out of training.  Besides the murmur of voices in the bedroom, the only sound in the apartment was that of traffic on the streets outside, which was a noise she’d always found soothing.

If anyone had tried to come into the room during the night, they would have woken her – but Natasha slept curled on the floor until she woke in the morning to her phone telling her she had a text message.  She opened it, and found it was from Sharon.

Our stuff is here, it said.

A moment later, a second line appeared.  Some of it.  Apparently what are referred to as Newton’s ‘apocalyptic’ writings were bought by a Polish guy named Maslanka who has spent the last ten years or so in Santorini.  You know, the island with the blue domes.

Natasha did know the name.  Santorini, or Thira, was the Greek island that appeared on all the postcards and calendars.  She texted back.

Sounds nicer than Kotor.  We’ll head back and take a look.

Having learned their lesson yesterday, Nat, Jim, and Sir Stephen took the bus back to the hotel.  They arrived to find the rest of the group having breakfast in the dining room, and passing around several books.  One was a modern, softcover-bound facsimile of the Voynich Manuscript.  The others were a biography of Sir Isaac Newton, and one called Alchemy According to Newton, a summary of his magical and alchemical beliefs.

“Hi, guys,” said Nat, sitting down next to Allen.

“Morning,” said Allen.

Sam swallowed his mouthful of ham and cucumber sandwich and pointed at Jim. “What’s he doing here?” he asked.

“He is a man in need of help,” said Sir Stephen.  “He came to us in the hope that we can provide it.  I will not turn him away.”

“Because it’s not like the last two or three of him tried to kill us or anything,” Sam observed.

“Actually, the ones on the train only fought back when we tried to stop them,” Nat pointed out, “and Neustadt said the one at Guedelon was only after Desrosiers, and attacked us when it thought we were protecting her.”

“I’m not going to hurt anybody,” Jim said.  “At least, I don’t feel like I am.  I don’t want to.”  He looked worried.  It seemed to have occurred to him that maybe Neustadt could control him from a distance, or had perhaps implanted some kind of hypnotic suggestion.

“We won’t let you,” Nat told him.  She noticed Clint rubbing his side again.  “If you try, Neustadt did tell us how to stop you.”  Pressure on the hyoid bone, she thought, could inhibit the vagus nerves, stopping the heart.  It wasn’t reliable in most people, though… apparently it was in the homunculi.

“If you’re a product of alchemy, yourself, maybe you can shed some light on this.”  Sharon handed him a packet of the papers Fury had sent them.  “Whether we’re going to Kotor or Santorini or somewhere else, we need to do some research first.”

#fanfic #steve rogers #natasha romanov #bucky barnes #sharon carter #clint barton #sam wilson

[mingyus-noona]

Serendipity, chapter 3 (J-hope)

Title: Serendipity Member/Pairing: J-Hope/Hoseok  x Reader Fanfiction type: Genre: Angst, romance. Chapter: 3 Word count: 2,738 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 ============================= The next day, you woke up earlier than usual, which surprised you because Hae-won had kept you up talking on the phone about Namjoon last night. She thought he was cute, but lots of people thought that. Other than that, she didn't know him too well, so you didn't think she would have really thought about him romantically before. He did end up helping her with her math homework, and they watched a movie and had pizza at his place too. She said he seemed kind of flirty, but not in a creepy way. She admitted to flirting back a bit as well, and she said he seemed really charming and charismatic—she didn't think he was a weirdo anymore. It wouldn't bother you if they got together. It's not like he was your brother or anything. When you got to school, you headed straight to your locker to sit and wait until the bell rang. You still had some homework to finish, so it was good that you woke up early and decided to not sleep in any longer. After finishing a couple of questions, you took a quick break to eat the snacks you’d picked up at a convenience store on the way to school. Okay, it definitely wasn't the most nutritious breakfast, but it was better than having nothing at all. Just as you were finishing up the last of the cake, you saw Hoseok enter the hallway, presumably to go wait by his own locker. "Oh, good morning, Y/n," he said, stopping by your locking instead. "Good morning. What are you doing here?" He chuckled. "School." "Early, I mean," you clarified. "I knew what you meant." He sat down next to you. "I get here early sometimes. Not often enough though, since my homeroom teacher yells at me a lot for being late." You laughed. "You live closer than I do." "Are you stalking me?" "No. My dad's taken you home after practice before." "Sure." He flashed a smile. "Math?" he said, looking down at the worksheet in your lap. "Are you any good?" "I'm okay." "You could get Namjoon to help you if you aren't. You talk to him, right?" You nodded. "Yeah. I'll probably talk to him more now since he'll always be benched due to his clumsiness." "Yeah, never a dull moment with him." "He'll probably be busy helping my friend though. She's not good at math and he has a crush on her. You do the math. Literally. No, literally do my math homework for me, please. It's only the second week and we have so much already." "My brain's still in sleep mode. I woke up before my alarm went off. But I can help you after school if you really need it." "Really?" He nodded, then pulled out his phone to check something. Probably his calendar. He clicked and swiped at a few things before answering. "Yeah, today's Wednesday, so I'm free." "Cool, thanks. And as repayment and to express my thanks, I now offer you the gift of the best breakfast food in the world." You pulled the other cake out of your bag and held it up like it was the Holy Grail. He raised an eyebrow. "Breakfast cake?" But he took it after shrugging. "I didn't eat anything anyway. Thanks." You just nodded. "Did you get a good night's sleep? I know you said you were tired yesterday." He shrugged again. "I guess. I was able to get out of bed, even though I woke up early. So, not tired to the point of me not wanting to do anything. But since when is anyone not tired when they first wake up in the morning?" "True. If you get tired, you can fall asleep on my shoulder." "Thanks," he said, laughing. You turned your attention back to your math homework, hoping you'd finish before 8:00, when school would start. * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ When you got to math, you had one problem left to complete. Because Hae-won had hung out with Namjoon yesterday, her worksheet was all filled out, so she let you copy her work. "Thanks," you said, handing her back her paper. "I was working on it this morning. And guess what? Hoseok was here early too. He offered to help me with it after school today." She smiled. "That's kind of funny. Namjoon helped me with my math homework. Hoseok is going to help you with yours. We could go on a double date and it will all be thanks to math," she joked. "But after yesterday, I'm actually getting what we're doing in class. I could show you during lunch. Besides, if we get our homework done early, you can just hang out with Hoseok today. Doing homework would take too much time and it's not that interesting." "I guess. Wanna work on it during lunch?" She nodded. "Mhm. Namjoon will probably be happy. We're supposed to meet up to work on it today, but I don't think he'll have a problem with doing something else." "Something else, huh?" You wiggled your eyebrows at her. "Just kidding." "He is nice though. And he has pretty good taste in music. And his smile is just adorable." You started humming the wedding march. "Again, kidding. But, yeah, you could like someone much worse." "So it's not weird? Whatever this is?" "No. Go for it, if you like him." "Okay." Then she sighed as she saw that the teacher had arrived. "I'm so glad we have science next, so we'll at least get a break from math before we have to do the homework during lunch." You nodded in agreement, then put your homework on the corner of your desk so your teacher could see that you'd completed it. * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ You were going to wait for Hoseok to approach you so you wouldn't seem too eager. Or he could have forgotten. Or maybe he wasn't really being that serious when he offered to help you with your homework. You assumed that maybe he would say hi again, but he'd shown up a little late, so he apologized to your dad and went straight to following his orders. He seemed pretty focused for the rest of practice, probably in case your dad would scold him. After grabbing a drink, he walked over to you to say that he was going to change his clothes, then he walked off quickly. "Hey," he said when he was done. "Ready to work on your homework?" The two of you stood up and started walking towards the parking lot. "I actually finished it during lunch. My friend showed me what to do." "Oh," he said. "I can give you a ride home then, if you want." "Um, sure," you said. Hey, if he didn't suggest hanging out, you definitely weren't going to bring it up. You followed him to his car. On the drive home, he hadn't brought up hanging out, so you didn't say anything either. You didn't see him again until after practice the next day. By this point, Hae-won had already begged you for details about what happened yesterday. But you obviously had none to give, because you only talked to him for a minute or two and then a little bit on the way home. But she quieted down once she saw Hoseok heading over to where you guys were sitting. "Hey," he said. "I thought I'd see you this morning. I got to school early again." "Oh?" Had he been looking forward to it? Then, feeling bold, you said, "Well, if I had your number, I could have told you I was planning on sleeping in later today." You wanted to blush at the cheesiness and the fact that if he wanted to give you his number, he probably would have done it by now. But you didn't think he would turn you down, since people gave their numbers out to people they just met sometimes. And you knew Hoseok way better than a stranger you'd just met. He chuckled. "All you had to do was ask." He took his phone from his pocket and handed it to you. You did the same so he could put his number in your phone, then you switched phones again. "At this rate, you'll have the whole team's numbers in no time." "Huh?" "I saw that you had three already. Namjoon, Seokjin, and Jungkook." "Oh, yeah. I know Seokjin and Jungkook went to my middle school, so that's how I know him." "Ah. I think Seokjin mentioned you before. He said you were really nice." "And?" "What?" "Do you agree with him?" "Yeah, you're nice." He laughed. "What about me?" "Yeah." You both laughed this time, though yours was certainly more out of nervousness. "What else am I supposed to say?" You got a text, so your phone made a noise. "Sorry," you said, picking up your phone to check who sent you a message. It was from Hae-won and all it said was hi, even though she was sitting right next to you. You texted back what? Her response was: It might have been heading into awkward territory haha. Had to save my girl. You almost said thanks out loud, but then you quickly sent it as a text instead, then went back to talking to Hoseok to make sure you didn't come off as rude. "So, the first game's tomorrow. Good luck." "Yeah, good luck," Hae-won added in. "Thanks. It's kind of mean to say, but maybe we'll do better now that Namjoon has a replacement." He cracked up laughing. At the mention of Namjoon's name, Hae-won said, "What's wrong with Namjoon? Is he bad at baseball?" "Not bad, necessarily. He's just clumsy." "How many times do I have to tell you? It's baseball's fault, not mine," Namjoon said, coming up to where you were sitting. "Still hanging out today?" he asked Hae-won. "Mhm." She picked up her bag and, after saying goodbye to you and Hoseok, followed Namjoon off the field. "Are they dating?" Hoseok asked. "I don't think so. She would have told me if they were. They've hung before. He was helping her with her math homework. But, like I said yesterday, he likes her. So, who knows? Maybe they'll be dating soon. She seems to like him too." "I assume he'll take her to the party after the game tomorrow then." "Yup." You wanted to ask if he was going, but then it might seem like you were trying to see if he was going with anyone, so you decided against it. "So, is my dad having another team dinner today? Since the game is tomorrow and all." "Seokjin's having a few people over at his place, since his mom wanted to make something for us. But your dad didn't say anything about having one. He normally would have had it the day before the game, but I think he did it the other day instead because it was Yoongi's birthday and he made us practice in the cold. And I wouldn't expect him to have another one, especially so soon after the last one." He chuckled. "I apologize if your Christmas or birthday or whatever sucks because of us. I know we can eat a lot." "No, it's okay. I mean, I was thinking the same thing, actually. But it's not like he always does it. There are still a little over two months until my birthday, so I think things will be okay." "Oh, when is it?" "May 17th." "Oh. Sort of close to mine. The date, I mean. Mine's February 18th." In your head, you were saying I know, but for a response, you just nodded. "Did you do your math homework again during lunch today?" "No." "You said your friend showed you how to do it though, right?" "Yeah." "Uh...." He bit his lit, trying to think of something to say. "Hey," Seokjin said as he approached Hoseok. He turned to you. "Hey, Y/n." "Hi." "Still coming over later?" Seokjin asked. Hoseok nodded. "I'll see you later?" he asked you. "Yeah. Good luck tomorrow," you said to both of them. * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Hae-won headed over to your place after she hung out with Namjoon. She wanted to brainstorm some outfits for the party tomorrow, especially since Namjoon said she should go to the party. You wouldn't have expected her to even go to the game, since she didn't know too much about baseball. But she said she was going to go. It would seem a little weird if she didn't go to the game, but showed up at the party that was held in celebration of said game. "He won't even be playing," you joked. "Then he can sit with us and watch it." "Are you going to be one of those couples that does everything together?" "Hey, we're not even dating. I like him and he flirts with me and stuff, but I don't know if he likes me like that. Or if he'd be into anything serious. Besides, he's a senior. He's probably not looking to graduate with a girlfriend. And we've only hung out a few times." "He does like you," you admitted. "How do you know?" "He told me." You snorted. "I knew before you guys even hung out that first time. And besides, even if a guy hangs out with you when he doesn't have a crush on you or anything, it's on his mind anyway. I mean, I think girls kinda do that too." "Since when are you an expert on guys? Did Hoseok text you or something after you guys exchanged numbers?" "No. We talked for a little bit after you left, but then Seokjin came up and said hey, so I left. But, yeah, Namjoon likes you. You don't have to worry." "Well, at least I don't have to go through that awkward 'does he like me?' thing. Unless he takes a while to say anything about it." "I don't think he will. He was flirting with you from day one. He already wanted you to come to the party before you hung out. His crush is so cute." "I know someone else's crush that's so cute." "Stop. Namjoon knows I like Hoseok. He wanted me to convince you to go to the party and was saying he would find some excuse to get me and Hoseok talking." "Maybe he likes you." "I don't know. I think he just likes me as a friend." "But didn't he expect you to be at school early? As in, he was looking forward to it? And you guys were supposed to meet up to do homework? I mean, even though that didn't happen and it's been mostly school-related stuff, I wouldn't completely rule it out." "Let's pick out our outfits." You wanted to change the subject. You really weren't sure about Hoseok. He was probably just being friendly. And it's usually easier to see the signs of attraction in other people's relationships, since you got to look at it with an unbiased perspective, as someone who wasn't swept up in the emotion of it all. With dating (or "hanging out"), people were constantly worrying about embarrassing themselves or coming off as weird, wondering whether it was a just friends kind of thing or if the other person felt some sort of attraction, wondering if they were just trying to have some fun or if they wanted to pursue a relationship. You were just glad that it probably wouldn't have to be as frustrating for Hae-won. "Okay. We can pick out your outfit first since we're at your house and we actually have your clothes right here." She went straight to your closet and started to browse. In no time, she had a few outfits put together, which she laid out on your bed. Sometime during her explanation of why she thought each outfit was a good option, you got a text from Hoseok that said hey. You texted back: Hi. Hoseok: What's up? You: Hanging out with my friend Hae-won. What are you up to? Shouldn't you be sleeping? If you fall asleep tomorrow, my dad will kill you! Just kidding. :) Hoseok: I know, I know. I'm going to sleep soon. Just wanted to say hey to have a conversation going since I feel like people exchange numbers and then never even text or anything since they forget. You: Haha true. Hoseok: Well, good night. Sleep tight. :p You: Thanks, you too. "Who are you texting?" Hae-won asked. "Hoseok. He just wanted to say hey." "Hey? Anything else?" "Just hey. He said he was going to bed soon. And we should too. You don't want to have bags under your eyes tomorrow." You helped her put the clothes back in your closet, then you two got ready for bed as you talked about what kind of outfit she could wear for tomorrow. But, of course, you didn't head straight to bed. She talked about Namjoon some more and brought up Hoseok a few times as well. But you started to doze off, so you don't know how long she continued to talk.

#mine #bts #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan #jhope #j-hope #hoseok #jung hoseok #multi-chapter #v #taehyung #jimin #jungkook #jin #rapmonster #suga #bts blog #kpop #tumblr #fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #entertainment #blog #serendipity #love yourself her #love yourself

[slapmeagain-blog]

COVID-19 Life

26 March, 2020. Thursday.

Transfer of life to Kingston moved up, again, to yesterday instead of Friday.  Worried about travel ban.  But those rumors are less rampant today than they were just after Cuomo’s press conference trying to hammer home the dire straits that NYC is in and how the Federal Government is withholding resources.  Though I read that the government was sending some of the chloroquine phosphate that killed the man and left his wife seriously ill after taking it on Trump’s recommendation at a press briefing!!  Thanks.

Congress did finally pass a $2 trillion ‘relief’ package, though both parties are still blaming the other for it’s many imperfections.  And today, jobless claims hit 3.3 million.  Previous record was in 0.7 million in 1982.  Just for some perspective, the usual numbers are in the 0.2-0.3 million range.  My nephew was laid off this week, and though M and I won’t count as unemployed because we don’t draw salaries, our income has gone to zero.  So, a lot of small businesses will fall through the cracks and be gone when this passes.    

And Trump, so convinced that his fortunes are tied to the stock market rather than the health and safety of the people, has decided that this will all be over in three weeks so we should all go back to work, that the churches will be filled by Easter, and the economy will be fine. Meanwhile, virtually all the medical experts, even those in the administration are, to one degree or another, saying that it’s simply not possible unless we are willing to tolerate a couple of million deaths among the most vulnerable in our population.  So now the debate is raging over moral/ethical issue of sacrificing the old and sick to benefit the young and healthy (the economy, stupid).  The Republican Lt. Governor of Texas said he’s will to make that sacrifice and is sure many other Texas grandparents are as well.  Excellent.  And then, it was reported on NPR yesterday during our drive up, that a congregation of 1800 evangelicals got together in church for prayer and for a ‘laying on of hands’ to spare them from the virus!  Perfect.  Now Trump is encouraging his base to congregate, spend money, go shopping, go back to work!.  As more and more of them heed that advice, his chances of re-election should hopefully shrink as his base of older conservatives and evangelicals kill themselves through willful denial at the altar of Mr. Trumps holy grail, the stock market.  Yay!!!  I’d say that’s not a bad Darwinian outcome.  Those who prefer the word of Trump to that of Science, will be winnowed out!  Win, win.

So, yes, Marco and I finally made the move out of NYC yesterday, two days earlier than even our modified schedule.  The housekeeper, Griselda, came in to do a good sanitizing clean yesterday a.m. before we got here, then M pulled out the bleach and cleaned all the touchable surfaces again -- handles, knobs, countertops, appliances, chair backs and rails, remotes..... then wet-mopped the floors.  Did smell a bit like a soup kitchen after a good clean.  Had the fans on high and the back door open to keep from asphyxiating ourselves.  

We bought all the food stores we’d been putting together for a couple of weeks.  Mostly , pasta, grains, canned good flour.  Matteo, in Tuscany, asked a cashier what people were mostly buying.  She responded, flour, yeast, and booze.  Can’t imagine what’s would happen to all of us alcoholics if they had closed the liquor stores like Pennsylvania has!  Whiskey wars again?

We are hoping to invite a few friends who we trust to have been self-isolating for at least two weeks, will be able to join us up here as well, to get them out of small apartments/rooms in the city.  And as the weather warms up, I can start planting my veg patch to help feed us all.  Last year we had plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers, squash, zucchini, herbs, and kale.  

Mom, 91, has decided to stay in the city.  Well, the new twist is that we’ve decided to stop fighting her on it.  She’s happy where she it, self-isolating, and wants to have at least modest control of her life.  If she were to move in with some of us, she’d be a guest, yet again, like after Sandy, and then again when they were moving house year before last.  She has her things, her TV, can do what she wants in the kitchen she is familiar with and not worry about being in anyone’s way, or vis versa.  We need to respect her wishes, even if we don’t believe it’s the safest way forward for her.  Her very kind neighbors, a young Hispanic couple, slid a note under her door offering to shop for her and provide any other help they can.  I met the husband briefly yesterday when I dropped off groceries at her place before we left the city, and gave him my phone numbers to call if they had any concerns. 

H is up here this week with F.  He has been having trouble with his knees.  So mom is alone all week in Brooklyn.  Cole is in town though, so at least he can get to her in any emergency.  My biggest concern all along has been that H was going to work every day on the subway and interacting with people along the way which could have led to infection of mom.  So, if mom is going to stay in the city, it’s best she be alone if she can’t be with someone else who is self-isolating.   

[peterkayscarshare]

FANFIC: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow by OvertheRainbow

NOTE: This fic is NOT by me, Ikkleosu. I was very kindly asked if I could host this fanfic for another writer who wanted to contribute to the Car Share fanfic cache. And once I’d read it, BOY, was I ever honoured to host this fic. I love it! Lots of feels people, be prepared.

(I will TRY and post updates daily, but I have a busy week so it could be a couple of days between updates)

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow – By Over The Rainbow

Chapter One - "It"

7am. The alarm clock heralded the start of another day by belting out Beyonce's Bootylicious. In one fluid motion, Kayleigh swung her arm across her body and hit the off button with a satisfying smack. For a few blissful moments as she came into wakefulness, it was as though "it" had never happen. As though the world was still filled with the exciting possibilities of newly found love, of secret hopes, of unspoken feelings...of what could be...but now never would. Before "it" happened, she'd sit on the edge of her bed first thing every morning, looking at her heart shaped novelty lamp on the windowsill. The morning light, causing it to cast a warm, soft, rose tinted glow. She'd ponder its infinite meanings and possibilities, like its plastic held the secrets of the universe. All to the never-ending soundtrack of Steve reviving his f'ing bike outside the window of her tiny little box room. She'd shower with one foot on the door, dress, fix up her hair and apply her make-up, have a quick jeuge of Jade Goody's "Shh", then make her way to the kitchen for the daily ritual of fighting for space to grab some toast and a quick brew. She'd become adept at dodging an ever frantic Mandy, issuing orders to a disinterested Chloe and Alfie, as they wander about aimlessly, glued to their phones like zombies. All this while PE kits are handed out and tuna sandwiches and PomBears are stuffed into backpacks. Morning Mandy was like some strange creature, half Mum, half octopus. By 8 am Kayleigh would linger in the hallway and the little red car that held all her hopes and dreams would slowly come to a stop outside. Some days she'd see him arrive, on other days she'd hear his voice first, chatting to Steve and laughing at some daft joke. She always took a moment to check her hair and lippy in the hall mirror one last time, take a deep breath, shout her goodbyes to Mandy and the kids, then head out with her heart beating faster, filled with excitement, like a teenager on her first date.

 Today was different though. Tomorrow would be different too. Life was different now....all because "it" had happened yesterday. There would be no more little red car. A text sent from the back of a taxi before she'd switched off her phone, removed any lingering doubt that she intended to make her journeys alone from now on. The novelty heart lamp was now in a black bin bag under her bed. She'd taken it down in a cloud of tears the night before. What had for so long been her touchstone, sat there taunting her, reminding her of her foolishness, of her naivety, of her aching loneliness. Like a block of Kryptonite to Superman, it's mere presence seemed to weaken her ever more with each passing minute. She'd thrown it in the waste paper basket in her bedroom. Then taken it out with a view to throwing it in the wheelie bin downstairs but Steve was still out tinkering and she couldn't bear the interrogation, or worse, the smart arsed comments. Abandoning the momentary thought of burying it in the back-garden like a cursed artefact, finally, in desperate need of a solution to her pain, she'd gone to the kitchen in a quiet moment and grabbed a bin bag....along with a full packet of Maryland Cookies...and some Babybels. Sleep eluded her and this time she couldn't blame the curtains. YouTube offered no solution, just salt for a gaping wound. By the time Beyoncé was insisting, "I don't think you're ready for this jelly", Kayleigh wasn't ready for anything and "jelly" was the least of her problems. She had a full day ahead of her and was facing it with an empty, broken heart.

 She must have looked as bad as she felt this morning. Mandy had paused in her usual flurry of activity to say, "Christ sis! So much for an early night. You look bloody awful!" Kayleigh replied with a half-hearted, weak voiced, "Thanks". Other than to decline dinner and make her excuses while heading up stairs the night before, it was the first words she'd spoken in more than twelve hours. Perhaps it was the tone, perhaps it was the universal language of sisterhood but it stopped Mandy in her tracks. "Seriously Kayleigh....are you alright?" For a second she wanted to scream "NO! I'm not ALRIGHT! I'm anything but! I get woken up at dawn by your bike obsessed fella, your screaming kids are driving me mental and why can't you get a lock on the bathroom door?! Oh and I got my heart ripped out of my chest last night by a man I thought might just be the love of my life and my future...and my happiness...and my whole bloody world, so NO I'm not ALRIGHT and I don't think I'll ever be ALRIGHT again!"....Instead, she said, "Yeah. I'm fine" then turned and left the kitchen and headed down the hall to her sister's suspicious gaze burning a hole in her back and the strains of Chloe shouting, "Give it back Alfie!....MUM!!!!"

 Yesterday, Today  & Tomorrow – By Over The Rainbow

Chapter Two -  "Hello darkness, my old friend"

6.15 am. The alarm didn't go off. It didn't need to and not  just because he didn't need the extra 45 minutes anymore. He got the text  while he was still stuck in traffic. "I'll make my own way from now  on". That's all it said. "I'll make my own way". He'd turned  off the radio in the car and spent the rest of the journey home in silence.  The final glimpse of the taxi heading off into the distance was burned on his  brain and kept replaying to the point of torture. By the time he got home,  his Nana was snoozing in his armchair in front of Emmerdale. The parcel,  which had seemed so urgent and yet was now so redundant, was sitting on the hall  table. Ignoring it, he decided to let her sleep for a bit. With legs like  lead, he went upstairs into his room, closed the door, sat on his bed and  cried. He cried like he hadn't cried since his Dad passed. Cried like somehow  it would make a difference. That it would be enough to make it stop. Then,  when he felt he couldn't cry anymore today, he got up, dried his eyes, washed  his face and went back downstairs.

He'd called out to his Nana as he went; concerned that he  might frighten her with his sudden appearance. She was awake and responded,  "Is that you our John?" her tiny crackling voice echoing up the  hall. "Yeah Nana it's me. You were asleep when I got in. Did you get  your tea?" She'd had the quiche. She was tired now and wanted to get  home. Get the curtains drawn. He drove her home, through quietened streets  while she told him the latest news about Paul and the holiday he'd booked and  how much Ben and Sophie were looking forward to it and what a good Dad he was  and how busy he was with his job and on...and on..and on..until it wasn't  words anymore just sound. He'd switched on her television and checked that  the back door was locked. She was paranoid about that back door. Then he'd  kissed her cheek, assured her he'd bring her a Dairy Box at the weekend and  left. Strangely, he thought as he sat in the car, she never did acknowledge  that simple gesture. Never did say thank you. He said it every time; he did  it every time and yet nothing. He couldn't remember the last time Paul called  round. At least, when it wasn't a flying visit to leave Ben and Sophie, to  "See their Nana"/get a bit of free babysitting. Maybe that's what  happens when you've got a wife and kids. Your priorities change. Then again,  it wasn't something he needed to think about. It wasn't going to happen to  him. He'd made absolutely sure of that.

In that moment, he couldn't prevent his mind drifting back  to when he gave Kayleigh that heart shaped lamp. She'd looked like a kid at  Christmas. You'd have thought he'd handed her the world, not just a plastic  novelty lamp. He remembered her talking about it. A casual aside in a stream  of chit chat. It was on offer in non-foods and she'd buy it if she had a few  quid left over at the end of the month. She wanted to cheer herself up.  Hearts always cheered her up. He'd hated seeing her so sad. There was  something profoundly wrong about Kayleigh being sad. He wanted to fix that.  Something inside him told him he needed to fix that. By the time he headed to  non-foods in pursuit of the lamp, it was sold out. His mission to locate one  then felt essential. Like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. That lamp was  his Holy Grail. He finally found one in Preston and by convincing Tom Ackerly  that a customer had requested it and he'd buy him a drink at the staff party,  it had arrived with the Tuesday morning delivery. He'd just hand it to her he  thought, not make a fuss. Then he'd found himself buying a gift bag. It would  make her smile. How he missed that smile. How he loved that smile. There was  that pain. He'd driven home, stopping briefly at the Co-op late shop for a  meal for one.

He hadn't slept that night. At least not in any useful  sense. To spare himself the piercing tone and in a final admission of defeat,  he'd turned the alarm off hours ago. He'd just lay there ever since. Not so  much staring at the ceiling as tunnelling through the darkness...only to  discover there was no light to be found, just more layers of darkness. It was  gone. The light was gone from his life. Now there was a thought to conjure  with. Not so much "gone" this time eh John, as thrown away. When  did he become such a coward? When he lost Anna? When he lost  Charlotte?....When he lost his Dad? He didn't want to think about it. Then  again, he never did. He knew he was falling in love with her. Knew he had  fallen in love with her. She was like no one else he'd ever met. Funny,  joyous and optimistic. Never letting the past get in the way of the future.  Naive and yet at times, strangely wise. So beautiful to his eyes and yet so  self-conscious and self-critical to her own. She made him happy. Stupidly.  Intoxicatingly. Completely, happy. Why the Hell did that frighten him so  much? Why didn't he stop himself?! Why didn't he stop before it hurt so  much?!...and God did it hurt. Worse still, there was no relief from it. It  was relentless. It was as though pain and loss was filling every part of his  body. That a dam had burst in his heart and he was drowning. It had been  twelve hours and yet in some ways it felt like twelve minutes and in others,  like years. The thought of her was like a knife in his chest. So he tried not  to think of her. That only made him think of her more....and round and round  it went until he was punch drunk. A substantial part of him wished he was  literally drunk. He always valued the control of being stone cold sober but  right now he longed for the oblivion of being shit faced, leathered.

This pain was new and yet in some ways it felt like an old  friend. Looking back, what hurt with Anna was the sense that he couldn't  compete. He wasn't smart enough, or cool enough or edgy enough....or anything  "enough". He was a kid with some vague notion of going to music  college one day and a part time job stacking shelves at Tesco. It was  inevitable that it would come to an end. In many ways it made his life  easier. Not least of which was that he had a few extra quid in his pocket at  the end of the month. Anna never did like paying her way and he was too much  of a gentleman to complain...or maybe he just wanted to avoid the  confrontation. When it came to fight or flight, he'd taken off more  frequently than EasyJet. It worked too in fairness. He'd never once felt the  loss of her. It was the same with Charlotte. He felt embarrassed by what  happened. He felt guilt. He felt sorry that he'd unintentionally hurt someone  he cared for. Someone who didn't "deserve" to be hurt. He wished it  all hadn't gone so far. That he'd allowed himself to be boxed into a corner  and had made promises he couldn't keep. That he'd "gone along with  it" to please everyone but himself. His father was so ill at the time  and he just wanted to make him smile, to make him happy. His Dad really loved  Charlotte. He would have adored Kayleigh. There was that pain again. For a  time after Charlotte left, he'd felt alone and part of him even missed the  companionship...and the regular sex, let's be honest... but that soon passed.  Like Anna before her, he'd never once actually felt the loss of Charlotte.  This was what was new. He felt the loss of Kayleigh. The sound of her voice,  her laugh, her smile, her eyes. Her presence in his car and in his life. That  his heart would beat faster every time he saw her. That being with her felt  right in a way that nothing else ever had or ever would again. He wished he'd  never said the things he'd said, not only because he'd caused her pain but  because he didn't mean a single word of them. Not a single word. Ironically,  the words he had meant, she'd never heard.

#peter kay's car share #carshare fanfiction #fanfiction #john & kayleigh #over the rainbow

[musingsfrommeaux]

Paris

HI went to Paris yesterday. The only complaint I really have is that unfortunately I was alone, so doing all the touristy things was a little lonely, but that’s okay. 

At around 8 I ate breakfast with the family. Nothing special. We always have a variation of baguette, Nutella/jam, and tea (my family doesn’t drink coffee because they’re super active and tea is better for the body, they say). After the kids left for school and the kitchen was cleaned, I met Maria, the cleaning lady. She was extremely friendly and told me how good my French is “for an American.” 

Afterwards I did my makeup and got ready for my first day in Paris. I left the house around 11:20 with Hervé. He showed me how to get to the train station and how to buy a ticket. I’m glad he went with me because otherwise I fear I would still be wandering Meaux aimlessly. As soon as I got to the station and Hervé left, a man stopped me to ask if this train was going to Paris. It still makes me happy that people talk to me in French (well, Paris is different, but I’ll get to that). The train ride took 25 minutes. That’s about the same as my daily commute to school when there’s traffic. In Denton, after 25 minutes, I’m still in Denton. But here, after 25 minutes I’m in Paris. 

The arrival in Paris was...shake. I arrived at Paris Est, and I didn’t realize that the metro, the RER, and the Transilien were all in one building, so I left the station and started walking. I suppose I don’t mind too much because it gave me a chance to see Paris for what it is and not just a tourist trap. It’s like New York--only older, prettier, and somehow better. About 2 minutes after leaving the station a man catcalled me in the street. I guess Paris isn’t a complete fairytale after all. 

After about 10 minutes of walking I found the Metro. I walked around Paris Nord for a few minutes before I remembered that I downloaded an app dedicated to the Paris subway. I really need to thank Hervé for showing me it because without a doubt I would be tired, hungry, and alone in Paris still if it weren’t for the app. I typed in my location and my destination (Champs de Mars, Tour Eiffel), and it gave me the trains I needed to take. I briskly walked directly to the train I needed to take and felt like a pro. Except I wasn’t. I missed the train I needed to take 3 times because I didn’t realize I needed to take the train towards the end of the line, and not just towards my destination. An hour wasted in the subway where more men catcalled me, people begged me for money, and three more people asked me how to get somewhere like I hadn’t just watched the train I needed leave. Three times. Without me on it. 

Finally, I arrived at the Eiffel Tower. To be honest, I’m not entirely impressed. I didn’t go to the top, because why would I want to see the Paris skyline without arguably the most important and culturally known attraction in Paris? Instead I sat in the grassy area beneath it and marveled at its size for roughly 4 minutes. Maybe if I had been with some friends I could have had a picnic under the tower, but really all it is is some aesthetically pleasing steel. I found much more beauty wandering Paris once I left the tourist spots. 

From there, I walked, trying to find a place to eat. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast at 8 and it was now about half past 2. Now, in France, restaurants aren’t just open all day like in the United States. People eat at fixed hours and restaurants close between lunch and dinner. Luckily I found a little place near the Eiffel Tower that was open for tourists. I looked at the menu to see if anything sounded good. I obviously was not going to eat  bœuf bourguignon at a random corner restaurant. While looking at the menu, the waiter came over to me and made hand gestures and said “eat?” like I was completely clueless. I ended up ordering a sandwich au poulet crudité (chicken and vegetables). (some of these pictures are snapchats so they won’t be as good quality and have dumb commentary...sorry!) Also it isn’t wine I just wanted people to think it was. It was water in a wine bottle. Oops. 

After I ate I looked at my app to see where I should go next. I considered Nortre Dame and Montmartre, but I decided to go with the Champs-Élysées and l’Arc de Triomphe. I started walking in direction of the RER I was going to take, but apparently the entrances are a little...hidden. So I just kept walking and walking and walking. I passed over the Seine and eventually found my way to Les Champs-Élysées. My God I have never felt more poor in my life. Fendi. Dolce & Gabbana. Prada. Louis Vuitton. I could feel myself drowning in poorness as stylish people waltzed into stores that had armed guards standing idly by. 

Eventually I found the “real” Champs-Élysées. The sun was beating down on me and it was about 82. Not too bad by Texas standards, but still not great because of the enormous amount of people. I just started walking and walking. I found the infamous Five Guys, and I can’t even begin to describe how it feels to see American capitalism on the most famous, classy street in Paris. 

After the Five Guys, I found it. The holy grail of makeup. The biggest Sephora in the world. Sephora is actually a French company, for those of you who don’t know. It is owned by LVMH. Going in there was magical, and I had to convince myself not to buy anything because no Sydnie you did not come to France to buy more makeup you can get at home. It was only 3km from the Eiffel Tower to l’Arc de Triomphe, but it felt like 60 miles in the heat and crowds. Finally I made it. 

I decided to “splurge” and get a ticket to the top of l’arc de Triomphe. You have to go underneath the street to get to it. The line for tickets to go up wasn’t too long, only a couple minutes. When I got to the counter, I exchanged niceties with the man and handed him my money. He looked at me and asked (in French even though we were at a tourist spot!!) if I was older than 26. “uh...no?” I responded a little offended that he couldn’t tell that I am not 26. He told me that if you’re under 26 you can get in for cheaper if you have an identity card. So I showed him my drivers licence and was on my way. 

Okay. SO you know how they say French people aren’t fat? well. I can see why after four hours in this city. I walked so much and climbed so many stairs. So many. As I made my way up to the top I grumbled to myself. At least the Eiffel Tower had an elevator I could have ridden. It was only 284 steps, but it felt like way more because I had spent the entire afternoon climbing stairs in the metro. It was worth it once I got to the top though. 

It was kind of magical to see all of Paris (even if you can see Tour Montparnasse, the worst thing to happen to the Paris skyline...ever.) After l’arc de triomphe I had to return home. My phone was almost dead, and what’s a trip to Paris without pictures? And also without the app I would be as good as dead. Getting home was much easier, though. Maybe by the end of the summer I won’t even need the app to go to Paris. 

(Here’s a gratuitous selfie with the Eiffel Tower from the top of l’arc de Triomphe  where you can see me heavily squinty because the sun is literally right there)

A plus!

#study abroad #france #paris #eiffel tower #tour eiffel #l'arc de triomphe #arc de triomphe #metro #selfie

[mediocrereview]

Some of my favorite minifigures: showcase and review

by Simple Cash

Ok, two posts in a weekend? That’s what I call productivity. 

So, I finally sat down to write this post that I had been wanting to write for a while now. This post contains my favorite minifigures that I own, along with a small review of each and what makes them special for me. They are not in any particular order, I’m basically writing this as I grab them off my shelves.

Wrestling suit Spider-Man

Ok, I’m aware that there’s a huge amount of people that didn’t like the suit in the movie. I guess I’m part of the smaller part of the population that actually like it, specially in LEGO form. 

I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I got the “Spider-Man’s First Chase” set, but I remember that my parents gave it to me as a  gift from the Tooth Fairy for having met two front teeth extracted, as it was pretty awkward for me at the time. It’s crazy to see how expensive the set has become over the years, and also this particular minifigure. I love it, it’s definitely on of my favorites (I guess we could call this #1 if we were making a countdown here) and it brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. I am lucky enough to have him in perfect conditions today, and it’s definitely on of my most precious minifigures.

Classic Boba Fett

Unlike the wrestling suit Spider-Man minifigure, I didn’t get this one as a kid, I actually got it back in 2015. Star Wars sets were particularly expensive where I live, so getting the set Boba Fett came in wasn't feasible back in the day. I’m not a huge fan of the newer versions of Boba Fett, for some reason. I mean, it looks great, but I don’t like it as much as this one. Being a huge Star Wars fan and Boba Fett aficionado, I had to get this guy for myself. 

Deadpool

As of today, this is the newest addition to my collection, and probably my most sought after minifigure. I love Deadpool, and you can read more about that on yesterday’s review. 

I absolutely love everything about this minifigure, I think it was executed perfectly, period. Deadpool is one of my favorite characters, mainly because I can relate to him because of my ADHD, which makes him a really likable character. I’m really glad that I managed to add him to my collection as we could call this minifigure my personal Holy Grail.

The Green Goblin (Movies)

While many complain that this version of the Green Goblin is aesthetically unpleasing (and I’m talking about the movie version as well, not just the minifigure), I really like it. Maybe because of the memories it brings back (you’ll see me write that a lot), I remember being frightened by him when I went to see the movie as a small kid. 

While it may be true that the newer version found in the Ultimate Spider-Man sets is more comic and cartoon accurate, I don't like it. I don’t know why; I think it’s a great minifigure, with enough detail and I like the color combinations, but I would never pick that Green Goblin over this one. 

Doctor Strange

Ok, I may be a little biased here since I’m actually a medical student.

What makes this minifigure so great, in my opinion, is the high level of detail. The torso printing, which of course features the Eye of Agamotto, continues down the legs to create an excellent gown. While the hair isn’t particularly accurate to the one in the movie (from which this minifigure is based off), the minifigure itself is Benedict Cumberbatch-y enough. Look, I just made up a word!

Vulture (MCU)

I may get a lot of hate for what I’m about to say, but honesty before anything else: I don’t like the Ultimate Spider-Man iteration of the vulture. Sure, it’s based off the classic comic version of the Vulture, but I don’t like it. If you have read the blog before, you probably know that I’m a diehard Spider-Man fan.

This version of the Vulture, on the other hand, wow. Ever since I saw the concept art for “Spider-Man: Homecoming” I was hyped to see the Vulture onscreen, mainly because of his awesome aviator-inspired look. It gave it a more realistic feel, kind of like if you had the right gear, that could be you! I can’t tell you how many days I spent googling “spider-man homecoming lego sets” until one marvelous day, pictures were uploaded from the NY Toy Fair. Wow. I must admit that this minifigure and its incredible back built wings are one of the key factors that made me buy the “Beware the Vulture” set. This is, definitely, one of my all time favorites and it will continue to be. Forever and ever.

Carnage

Carnage has always been one of my favorite Spider-Man villains, and I can’t tell you how happy I was when I found out this minifigure was being released along with Miles Morales. 

As a kid, I always tried to make custom Carnage minifigures to play with my Spider-Man minifigure, but always failed miserably. I guess I really like it because it reminds me of those simpler times, where my biggest frustration was not being able to make a decent Carnage minifigure. Man, these reviews are getting deeper and deeper!

Red Hood

Ok, this minifigure is one of those “kill two birds with one stone” type of situations. Under the classic red dome, we have Jason Todd’s mask. Inception makes more and more sense now, doesn’t it?

This minifigure is perfect because at first glance, we get to see the Joker’s version of Red Hood when he turned to crime after a failed comedy career, and under it, and that’s the main reason I like it so much. It reminds us that “all it takes is one bad day”.

Spider-Man (MCU, Homecoming)

Ok, I won’t put the Civil War version as well because it seems pretty redundant to me, even though we have previously stablished that they are very, very different in a previous post. 

Watching Spider-Man in both Civil War and Homecoming sent me way back to my childhood, and I loved the feeling. I’m crazy about the detailing in this minifigure, specially the eyes, although I think you don’t really get to see the silver details of the lenses in this picture, even though I tried. This may be, by far, the most detailed and spot on minifigure LEGO has produced to the date. I hope they keep making this kind of minifigures in the future.

Indian Chief

Man, has this minifigure stood the test of time. I’m 21, and got this as a gift from my mother when I was around 5. Yeah, that’s quite a while.

First, let’s get into context: back in the day, LEGO didn’t produce many detailed minifigures. The level and quality of printing on the torso, legs and the headpiece is amazing today as it was back then. This is a very dear minifigure to me, as it was a gift from my mother, picked by her.

Mechanic

This is the mechanic minifigure from the collectibile minifigure series #6, and I left it last because it is the most meaningful to me.

When I was 16, my father was diagnosed with cancer. Luckily enough, it was diagnosed at an early stage and was operable. The day before his surgery, he gave me a CMS blind bag, and this guy came inside. 

Surgery was a success, and here we are 5 years later, cancer-free. This minifigure brings back never felt before feelings, mainly uncertainty, and I don’t think anything else needs to be said.

Well, that’s it for the weekend guys! I hope you enjoyed, and soon enough I’ll be doing another post like this one. Take care!

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