#I feel like this will just bring down many Imogen fans on me cause she is popular but idk

[beawake]

Catching up on campaign 3 finally. And Sam jokingly telling Laura “you’re the main character”. Laura immediately being like “don’t say that! don’t say that”. But like isn’t she? Cause she feels like it. And Taliesin, way early even said that they were a party of npc’s except for Imogen.

And I’m not Imogens biggest fan, I have a lot of trouble getting very invested with many of the c3 characters, but Imogen always feeling so centerstage is definitely one of the reasons why I have trouble with her.

It’s not Laura’s fault, but it’s definitely a lot of things surrounding it, like Fearne being Ruidusborn but it rarely getting mentioned and nothing being done with it. Why make her ruidusborn then? FCG also has had to put some stuff sideways for the whole arc now that while it involves so many people, like Fearne, like Orym, just keeps being focused on Imogen and sure it’s a big part of her backstory, but it’s not only about her, and people seem to forget that at times.

And we’ve barely seen anything about Ashton, Chetney only had a small part. And I know Chetney will get more in the coming episodes, FCG probably too, but the others aren’t really.

[skyecrandall]

A Choices Halloween - Choices Fic

Books: Features characters from many different books

Words: Around 3000

Genre: Comedy

Summary: Kenji Katsaros is hosting a Halloween party where other influential persons like Thomas Hunt, Kamilah Sayeed or Sloane Washington are attending. Unfortunately things do not turn out as the hero hoped to.

"Hello everyone! I hope you guys are ready for the best Halloween party of the world!" Said the man coated in bronze, generally known as Talos to the general public. "Yeeaaah!" Yelled the crowd gathered on the dance floor. "I would just like to thank all of you for coming to this event! It is all thanks to you that this party will be considered as such! After all, how can you make an awesome party without super awesome people! Am I right?" Said Talos. "Yeah!" Echoed throughout the crowd. "I won't hold you guys down any longer! However let's just have a souvenir selfie!" Said the superhero as he turned his back to the crowd and lifted up his phone so that it could capture him and part of the crowd. "Everyone say Spooky Socks!" He said as he clicked the selfie. "Now... Party hard everyone! Just try to not break anything!" Said Talos as he got off the stage.

'We are having an amazing party here! Totally not missing you two!' He typed in the picture before sending it to Eva. A few seconds after the seen marker pop up but no reply, even after five minutes. 'At least reply if you've seen it!' Typed Kenji and after a few seconds Eva replied with a photo. The photo's content was her in the corner of the frame and the main target being Alex, in a very revealing demon outfit. It also had the caption: 'Sorry can't speak to you right now. There is someone more worthy of my attention 😏' This caused Kenji to nearly throw his phone away when a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head around and saw cute girl in a regency era costume.

"I am Imogen Wescott and I would like to personally thank you for hosting this amazing party!" She said with a bright smile. "Ugh thanks? But how did you get to the backstage? Weren't you on the dance floor with the others?" asked Talos. "It is too early to head for the dance floor. Plus too many sweaty people out there currently, maybe later. Moreover I wanted to thank the host personally," said Imogen brightly. "Thanks! And yeah, I should have probably looked for somewhere with a better dance floor?" Replied Talos. "Also I'm wondering do you have any superhero buddies who works around Pine Springs or Westchester? Weird stuff have been happening in the region lately," she said. "Not really, but we will see if we can come by someday," said Talos. "Sweet. Now if you'll excuse me, I saw a butler with really cute snacks on it," said Imogen as she waved to the bronze clad superhero before chasing after the butler who were serving certain pair.

"Oh my god Zack! Look how appealing these snacks are!" Squealed Madison at the skull shaped mimi-muffins in her hand. "They are so well done that I'm getting willies just by looking at them," frowned Zack before throwing the cake away while no one was looking. "I know right. Thanks again for coming with me Zack! Nobody wanted to come with me to the party," said Madison. "No problem. I'd be a fool to miss out an opportunity to have fun with someone like you! I wondered why you didn't take Becca instead with you," asked Zack who was dressed as a pirate. "She has an important assignment for her courses later this week and preferred to prepare herself instead of coming with me. She is working really hard for it and I respect her choice. She even got Sarah to come around to help her. I also couldn't get anyone from the Sorority since they are having their own party," explained Madison as she munched down the skull. "With Sarah around, I doubt she'd be able to focus much," smirked Zack. "Maybe," smiled Madison.

"Oh my god look at that girl! She looks just like you, except maybe a few years older," said Zack as he pointed towards two woman who just entered the party. One of them was wearing a green swamp monster outfit while the other blonde one was wearing a skin tight cat outfit. "Oh wow, you are right! And look at their outfits! We have to go and introduce ourselves!" Beamed Madison. "But they are across that massive crowd," said Zack shocked. "It will all be worth it! Come on!" Said Madison as she dragged Zack by the hand towards the crowd.

The two women those two were talking about were none other that Sereena Patel and Brooke Williams. "Yes! This party looks so fun! And all those wonderful costumes!" Squealed Brooke. "Wonderful costume? Most of the outfits that I have seen would probably have the sexy adjective stuck onto them. Modern Halloween is just an excuse for the patriarchy to be able to look at women in revealing out-" said Sereena before she was lightly slapped by Brooke. "Listen Sereena. This is a girl's night out. We are here to have fun and unwind ourselves. Especially you need to do so after stressing out so much these last few days. Plus if we went to Cole's party instead, I'm pretty sure a skimpy outfit would be obligatory..." said Brooke. Sereena was angry that her best friend slapped her, but deep down she knew Brooke was right and that she'd rather be in any other party than Cole's. "It is just that I'm losing my mind every time I'm seeing something sexualised. I mean do you know how many sexy nuns I have seen today! Wasn't The Nun a horror movie? Not a sexy romance one? And aren't nuns supposed to represent chasit-" argued Sereena before she was slapped yet again by Brooke. "You. Me. Have Fun," said Brooke threateningly. Sereena was going to blow up when suddenly a girl a Starfall outfit and a guy in a pirate outfit came.

"Wow your costumes are amazing!" Said Madison. "Am I already drunk? Why do I see two Brookes? "More important is that a Starfall costume? It looks so good! If Ben was here with us he would be so proud!" Said Brooke. "Wait you know Ben Park! I'm such a fan of his artwork for Venus Corp?" Squealed Madison. "Yes! He's part of our friend group! Oh, I'm Brooke by the way!" Replied Brooke. "And I'm Madison! Come over! I think we'll have a good time together!" Said the other blonde as the two of them walked away, deep in conversation.

"I guess it is just the two of us now," said Zack amazed by how the blondes got along so quickly. "And before you even try it, I'm not interested in you," said Sereena, annoyed that her partner left her alone with another guy. "Why would I even try to flirt with you? I'm only interested in guys. Maybe if you looked like Talos it would be another case," said Zack. "Oh sorry. It is just that I'm tired with men coming to me and flirting," apologized Sereena. "I can feel you. Heteros and their hetero bullshit assuming everyone is straight like them," added Zack. "I like you. My name is Sereena," smiled Sereena before reaching over for a handshake. "And I'm Zack! Let's go have a drink! We have to talk more," said Zack as both of them started walking towards the bar. As they walked towards there, Sereena noticed an odd trio consisting of two women and an old man in Santa outfits. They seemed really familiar but she'd rather focus on the man she just met.

"So guys, what do you think of this party?" Asked one of the women of the trio. She is known as Priya La Croix and is one of the most famous fashion designer currently. "It is nice but the host baited me hard with his 'Bloodwine'. I expected real blood in it, not a blood red wine with hints of pomegranate in it," said the Baron as he took a sip of his drink. "He is not really a vampire, so it is not really surprising that his appetizers do not really appeal to us that much. Still it is a rather decent party," said Kamilah. "We should host our own party and get him to taste real Bloodwine. Can you imagine his face when he discovers that he actually drank real blood," said Priya. "We should replace the human blood by rat blood instead. It would be even more fun," joked the Baron. "We are not going to ruin such a fantastic drink by mixing it with cheap rat or chicken blood. Furthermore, we should very likely not talk about this out open in the public eye. We do not want to look suspicious," said Kamilah. "No, I think we are good. If there is anyone suspicious out here, it is those two by the corner there. They look fishy with those electric blue lines on their face yet they are wearing a medieval outfit," said Priya.

The persons Priya was talking about were the Elara siblings, Pax and Eos who came back to the past. "That was cool of you for inviting me on your trip to the past Pax. I'm glad you are trusting me more," smiled Eos. "The only reason I brought you was because that would prevent you from telling Nova about my machine. Trust me, I'd rather take Holmes with me that your ugly ass," said Pax a little annoyed. "For your information, I have a nice ass. Zekei can attest to it. Also are you sure this medieval outfits will help us blend in?" Asked the elder brother. "I think they will do good. It is a Halloween party, so even if we came in our regular clothes is would be okay," replied Pax. "How did you get hold of these anyway?" Asked Eos. "Oh these outfits? I went back in the past as a test run and brought these as souvenirs," said Pax. "Wait! You used it without consulting us? What if you got stuck back then? How the hell would have we been able to bring you back to our era??" Exclaimed a shocked Eos. "Shut up! Someone is coming," said the younger sister as she noticed a woman approaching.

"Wow! Your costumes of Val Greeves and Will Jackson are so good! And I'm also a fan how you decided to give it a more sci-fi look with those blue bands. Oh sorry where are my manners. My name is Imogen Wescot," said the woman. "I'm Eos and this is my sister Pax and we are hapoy that you like our costumes" said Eos. "What are you doing in such a remote corner though! You guys should be strutting out your amazing costumes! You guys deserve more attention," said Imogen. "Uh this what we are trying to avoi-" continued Eos before Pax secretly elbowed him in the gut. "Oh I know your type! You want to be part of the fun but also don't want to be in the spotlight. How about you guys come with me on the dance floor? At this time it is not that crowded and people will barely notice you. So how about spending some time with me?" Asked Imogen. "Why am I getting the feeling that we will have to pay 20 diamonds to be able to do that?" Said Eos but he was ignored. "Sure! We'd love to!" Said Pax with a smile as she started following Imogen. Eos quickly walked towards Pax and whispered in her ear, "Shouldn't we try and stay hidden? What if we cause a time paradox?" "Its okay Eos. Time paradox only occurs in sci-fi movies. Plus Nathaniel Hoealot already debunked this stupid mytho. It does not exist. Let's just have fun," said Pax. "Why do I feel something bad is going to happen later on though," sulked the elder brother.

Eos was not the only one a little worried. By the entrance, a certain highschooler was also anxious. "Are you sure we are at the right party Micheal? I can't really see anyone we know here," said Maria Flores. "I think they might just be friends of Payton's sister. I heard they once invaded Autumn's party," said Michael. "Still, I'm not sure Payton would have been able to get us such a grand place for the party," argued Maria. "If you are that worried, why don't you just call her?" Said Michael as he started walking towards a nearby snack table. "Good idea. Aw come on! I forgot my phone! Let me use yours," said Maria after digging through her purse. Michael took out his phone and then shrugged. "Looks like we have the worst luck ever. My phone just died out. No battery," he said. "Ugh. Is this karma for when I returned an application half an hour late," replied Maria. "Listen.I'm sure it is her party, let's go deeper inside. The group will be there," continued Michael. "I don't know... I think I'm just going to wait outside for a little bit," said Maria as turned around, nearly bumping into someone in a black ghost outfit.

"Oh my god, Micheal. I don't know what to do. They are kinda scary," whispered Maria into his friend's ear. "Let me take care of this," whispered Michael back. "Hey there! Sorry for the little incident," said Michael in a friendly tone to Redfield. "Your costume is so good! It almost feels real!" He added as he went closer to the spirit and tried to grab what he believed was cloth, but his hand ended up going through the spirit's whole body. "Wh-wh-what the hell???" Said a panicked Michael. "It's not a p-p-person, it's a real ghost!" Yelled Maria as the ghost's face suddenly lit up in flames. "Maria! Run!" Yelled Michael as they both started running away.

Redfield using his levitation power lifted the table and tried throwing it at them, fortunately missing the highschoolers. However this caused the a mass panic at the party. The noise from the screams caused Redfield to grow more angry and attacked the persons closest to him. He took Thomas Hunt before throwing him across the room. He then grabbed Sloane Washington and then threw her on the snacks table. His gaze then soon trailed onto Drake Walker. "Me choke you, ugly man," said Redfield as he grabbed Drake by the neck. "But...Riley said...I was...gorgeous" said Drake as he tried escaping the ghost's grip. "She lied! You look... like a rotten potato!" said Redfield when Talos tried to kick him but ended up passing through the ghost. "No one is getting choked in my presence. Even ugly people," said Talos as he jumped back to his feet. "Go away!" screeched Redfield as he threw Drake like a slingshot on Kenji, knocking both of them unconscious.

"Should we not try and stop this ghost from killing those humans?" commented the Baron before sipping on his drink. "Since it seems to be an immaterial being, I doubt we will be able to accomplish much," said Kamilah. "The how about we ditch this party and crash another. I heard some high school students are hosting one nearby,"said Rpiya while checking her phone. "Seriously? High school students? Didn't you say that you had standards Lacroix?" commented the Baron. "That's where the fun is at. We will crash the party and show them how to really have fun! We'll even bring in some Bloodwine," suggested Priya. "Hmmm Let's go!" said Kamilah and the group of friends started walking towards the exit while dodging the flying furniture.

"Oh my god, we need to do something?" said Pax. "Eat that!" roared Eos as he fired his plasma gun at Redfield but that only succeeded at making the ghost more angry. "When I said that we needed to do something, I was talking more about running away! Wait? where did Imogen go?" yelled Pax. "No time to think about that! Let's go! That thing is now coming towards us!" yelled Eos as he activated the time travel device and they both disappeared back into the future before Redfield could get to them. Imogen was actually hiding in the corner texting Tom. "Hey Tom, big problem here. Ghost like monster. Immaterial black body," she typed and very soon after Tom replied. 'Redfiled? What is he doing there? Listen Imogen, find a safe place and remain hidden there and in absolutely no instances play any games with him!' typed Tom. "Why can't I have any parties without any monsters," she mumbled to herself.

Confused by the sudden disappearance of his pray, the spirit looked around and found two persons who seemed to be still having fun. It was Sereena and Zack who were in one of the private isolated booths. Somehow these two were so deep in conversation that they did not notice the carnage outside. Red field barged inside, scaring both occupants. "What The H-" was Zack able to say before Redfield swatted him away.

"What the hell are you doing!" yelled Sereena, angry again. Redfield was going to grab her when Sereena raised her voice again. "Don't you dare touch me!" she said. Redfield decided to roar at her but his attempts to make the lady scared were in vain. "So this is how it is eh? I'm not scared of people who think they can scream their way," she said. Redfield was going to grab her yet again but Sereena didn't let him. "I said, no TOUCHING!" she said as she grabbed her drink and threw it on the ghost's face, somehow making it wet. "I'm sick of your bullshit. Now I am going to talk and you are going to listen. I had finally found something redeemable in that party, something being Zack and you probably got his a ticket to the hospital. I was already angry that I was forced to come in this party where most persons are sexualised from head to toe. This is especially nerve wracking since a majority of those are women outfits but then now you come in and decide to make me even more angry? This is just wrong and rude!" she yelled as she now took Zack's drink and threw it on Redfield's face again. "You know what you are? Just a petty little bitch. People like you try to showoff how much of an alpha they are. But deep down they know that they are just a puny little bitch inside. They try to act tough thinking this will hide their insecurity but oh boy they are transparent," said Sereena as she tried reaching out for her glass. "God dammit, I'm out of drink thanks to you now. Why do I have to be sober right now, ugh? Anyway ghost dude, I want you to take your trashy little ass and get the fuck out of my way before I get really angry and let me tell you that me being angry is the worst thing that can happen to people understood. I don't care that you can fling people around because I know that deep inside you a just a little bitch who throws temper tantrums around to sound interesting however you end up being really rude and become an attention whore. What are you going to do now? Try to fling me around too? But I bet you have no balls to do so and you will just end up running outside to cry," added Sereena and as she said, Redfield ran towards the exit with a distorted cry.

"Wow, Sereena... you scared an actual ghost away," said Brooke who slowly crawled towards Sereena. "What? It was a real ghost?" said Sereena shocked and Brooke replied with a slight nod. 'Anyway can we just go some place where we can get some alcohol? I don't think this party will be serving now," proposed Sereena. "Let's go to Double Tap . My treat," said Brooke as the two walked away. "With your sphere of prettiness we will likely get those for free, but I don't really mind," smiled Sereena.

------

3 Hours Later

"Don't Worry Imogen! I'm here and I brought some friends along!" said Tom with an ax raised behind him. Along with him were also the rest of his Westchester friends. "Looks like Redfield is looking for more ass kicking," said Stacy. However the group were shocked to find the villa free from any ghosts or people. "Oh hey guys! Sorry, no after party this tie. Can't really party with broken limbs," said Kenji who just arrived from the noise, in his crutches. "But what about Mr.Red? Where is he?" asked Lily. "The ghost? It ran away crying like a child after a woman berated him. A really scary one," said Kenji. "Oh--okay... Let's go then guys," said Lucas.

---

Finally managed to rewrite the whole thing after I forgot to save the draft the other time. BTW I hope you gus had fun reading this. :3333

Tagging: @choiceslife and the neutral squad @wlwkateomalley @teamtomsato @lovethemarshalltwins @nuttatulipa

Read my other fics here

[jos-corner-of-the-world]

Unexpected  (2)

Part 1 --  Part 1.5 

Instead of going home, you went straight to the studio. You had planned on working out your frustrations the only way you knew how. Dancing.

After verifying with Clara that she would be dropping off Lily in a little while, you set about getting the studio ready for your night classes. Imogen, the Secretary and scheduling coordinator usually set everything up, but you were hoping keeping busy would keep your mind off losing your potential investors.

After everything had been set up, which took about 45 minutes, you walked into your office and changed out of your business clothes.  You put on a pair of leggings, a sports bra, and thrown a large flannel on over it all.

After you’d plugged your phone into the radio equipment, you’d got into position to start on the choreo for Fire.  You knew you needed an intensive workout so you picked the most physical choreography you knew.

You didn’t know how long you replayed the song and danced, tweaking choreo every time.  You had to tweak it because it’s choreography for a group of 7, and you were just one.

You had just finished dancing on more time and when you heard pitter patter of little feet on the hardwood floor.

“Momma!!” you heard from directly behind you.  You wiped the sweat off your face and turned towards your daughter.

“Lily Bug, look at you!! You look so beautiful!” You smiled at your daughter and her new tiara.

“Ms. Clara and I went to another Princess Tea Party at the club Momma! It was so much fun! Ms. Clara bought me this crown because I didn’t bringed mine with me today!” Lily said, stroking her tiara fondly.

“I see that.” you said, smirking at Clara.

“Hey Lily bug, go change into your workout clothes so we can practice some before classes tonight.”

Lily took off running towards your office, while you walked over to Clara.

“How much do I owe you for the tiara?” You asked her.  You didn’t really have the extra money right now, but you didn’t like being given handouts.

“Y/N, how many times have I told you that I’m doing this as much for you as I am for myself.  All of my kids are grown and out of the house and with no grandkids, it’s kind of nice to have the company, and have someone to spoil.”

You had met Clara immediately upon arriving in Chicago.  Her husband was a hot shot realtor and sold you the space where you now house your studio.  He introduced you to his wife, and it was basically family at first sight for all of you.  Clara was the kind hearted mother figure you hadn’t had in a long time, and her husband served as a strong male role model for both yourself and Lily. Being a housewife, Clara had asked to babysit Lily whenever you needed, free of charge.

“Just, next time tell me when you’re taking her to the tea party so she can wear her tiara and you don’t have to buy another one!” you said, hugging Clara.

“Alright dear, I think I can do that.  Lily honey I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” Clara said before leaving.

Lily came running out of the office a few minutes later.  She wore leggings, much like your own, and had a tank top with a loose hanging t-shirt on over it.  You looked at her face and immediately starting laughing.

“Lily, baby, what are you wearing?” you asked, laughing.

“Momma, don’t laugh! How can I rap like Suga or sing like Kookie if I don’t have a microphone?!” She said, pointing towards the headworn microphone.

You laughed a little and shooed her off to pick what song she wanted to dance to.  You were proud of your daughter when you thought about how good she was at dancing.  A lot of the choreography you did with her was BTS, but it was for the slower songs.  She would practice next to you during songs like Fire, or even Exo’s Monster, but her little limbs could only move so fast.

The song “For You” starting streaming through the speakers and you smiled.  This was definitely one of Lily favorites.  You had both worked together in creating alternative moves for the song because there were a lot of lags where when someone was singing, the dancers weren’t moving.

During both Namjoon and Yoongi’s parts, you continued to dance while Lily mumbled the words into her mic while staring at herself in the mirror, adding a little choreo of her own in.

Once it ended, Lily exclaimed how tired she was and went to get a bottle of water.  You laughed at her daughter's antics before switching the music over to Paper Hearts. You took your flannel shirt off and tied it around your waist before going to the middle of the floor.

One of your intermediate students had decided the class should make a contemporary dance to this song. While the dance would be performed at the showcase to Tori Kelley's version, you liked dancing to Jungkooks version more. His tone and accent in the song was much more calming to you.

You were towards the end of the song, and the choreo called for a one handed back flip. Right as you started the flip, you heard your daughter scream from the doorway. Startled, you ended up falling and smacking your chin on the floor.

“Lily, what the hell kid?” You asked, laughing at yourself, still laying on the floor.

“Momma, it's Suga! It's Suga!”

Having thought your daughter finally lost her mind, you turned your head towards the doorway. What you saw had you jumping up in surprise.

Standing behind Lily was all of BTS.

What the actual fuck is happening you thought to yourself.

“Um, well..wow.” You said, picking Lily up as she ran up to you.

“You know who he is, but do you know the rest of us?” Namjoon asked.

You smirked at the guys, knowing Lily was about to blow their minds.

Lily went and stood in front of Jungkook, who was standing on one end of the line.

“You’re Jungkook, but Momma and I call you Kookie.  That’s my momma right there. I'm Lily.” She said, pointing at you over her shoulder, and then to herself. She then moved down the line.

“You’re Tae but people call you V.” She said.  Tae gave her a wide smile and bowed slightly. Lily followed suit.

She continued down the line.

“You’re Jimin, but I watched a video and Tae called you Chim Chim, I think that’s cute.  You’re Namjoon and my momma says you’re the best leader in music.  You’re J-Hope and momma calls you sunshine.  You’re Jin.  You’re really pretty!” Lily said, smiling shyly at him.

“No, you are pretty miss Lily.”

Lily giggled to herself and walked to stand in front of Yoongi.

“You’re Yoongi, but go by the name of Suga.  Momma calls you Yoongs sometimes, but I also hear her tell Imogen that you’re cute.”

“Oh my god, Lily, can you not!?” you asked, face flushing bright red.

“Momma, you said to never lie!” Lily defended.

“Bug, you weren’t asked a question!...Just...nevermind” you said.

Lily took a step back and grabbed your hand.

Namjoon counted down.

“Hello, we are BTS!”

Lily jumped up and down while clapping her hands.

“Can you watch Momma and I dance? I don’t know why you’re here, but since you are can you please watch us?” Lily asked.

“Lily baby, I’m sure they’re busy and don’t have time to watch us dance.” You said, hoping they didn’t feel obligated to watch you guys.

“Of course we have time.  We have no schedules today.” Namjoon said.

You glared at Lily, who just stood there smiling at the guys.  She ran over the stereo and turned it back to For You.  She affixed the microphone on her face and got into formation.  The guys took the seats at the back of the room and watched.  Lily kept watching them in the mirror and peeking behind her as she was dancing.  Throughout the song she become more and more dejected.

Once the song finished  Lily turned towards the guys. Jungkook was laughing along with Tae and Jimin. Lily walked straight up to the trio.

“Why are you laughing at me? Did you not like it? Was we bad?” Lily asked, hurt lacing her voice.

“No! We loved it. We were just laughing because Jungkook said that you could replace Namjoon huyng because you're a better dancer. Also, your movements match Yoongi hyungs very well.” Jimin said, feeling sorry he hurt her feelings.

“Really? You liked it? But if you did, why is Yoongis face all red and he's staring at the floor?” Lily asked.

Upon hearing his name, Yoongis head popped up. He smiled at Lily, looked at you, and immediately looked down again.

You were confused as to what was happening when you heard Lily giggle beside you.

”Momma, I think it's cause you're not wearing a shirt.”

You looked down, horrified. You indeed were still in your sports bra, having tied your flannel around your waist when Lily went to get a water.

As quickly as you could, you untied the shirt from your waist and threw it on your body.

Trying to alleviate your embarrassment any way possible, you asked them what they were doing here.

“Namjoon text me that he met a pretty ARMY today and wanted to come see your dance studio. He said you and your daughter were big fans. I must admit though, I expected you to be quite a bit older.” Jin admitted.

“Hyung! Namjoon hyung says it's impolite to make such statements to a young woman!” Taehyung said.

You had to snicker a little as Tae threw the words at Jin that were used on him this morning.

“But my momma IS old!” Lily exclaimed. “She has two numbers in her age. That makes her old. I only have one number, I'm young.”

All the guys laughed, knowing Lily also considered them old.

“Momma, I need some food.” Lily said suddenly, still standing next to you.

“We should be going. We wanted to stop by and meet you. Your mother told us you're a big fan!” Taehyung said, standing.

“Momma!! You met them and didn't tell me?!” Lily asked, stomping her foot at you.

“Lillian Harper, don't be rude. I met Yoongi, Namjoon, and Tae this morning. I got an autograph for you but I was going to wait until tonight to give it to you.”

“Wait!” Lily exclaimed quickly. “You guys don't have to go! Stay and have lunch with us! Sometimes we order take out and eat in the conference room. There's a karaoke machine and everything.”

“Lily, if they said they had to go, then they have to.”

“Karaoke huh? I could be up for that.” You heard a quiet Yoongi say.  The rest of the guys nodded their head.

Lily, child of mine, why do you hate me? You thought to yourself as you went and grabbed take out menus.

Part 3

[thetravelprinter]

Swims, dives, horses, climbs, bites and uncomfortable bikes

After a few days of hustle and bustle in Havana, we made our way to the highly recommended town of Viñales to discover a bit of life in the Cuban countryside. Initially we tried to take a Viazul bus but it was fully booked days in advance (there is only 1 per day) so we opted for a street negotiated ‘colectivo’ (shared, carpooling type, unofficial taxi) where we met two guys from Cataluña. Turns out our first attempt at Cuban bargaining didn’t go too well as their seats cost distinctively less than ours (we did get much better at this as time went on though!).

It is no surprise that Viñales comes highly recommended; a quaint little country town with an array of colourfully painted casas surrounded by green hills and mountains where cycling, horse trekking and swimming in waterfalls in the jungle are the top attractions. It did, however, feel like a town that had suddenly realized that it could cash in big time from tourist dollars. Every single house, literally every one, had the ‘casa particular’ sign out front saying rooms available and there was a constant stream of people offering excursions and activities to the throngs of tourists that had clearly also been told that Viñales was the place to be!

We opted for staying in Villa Pitín y Juana, but it seems like their Lonely Planet mention has gone to their heads slightly as it is more like a hostel or mini hotel now. We booked our horse trekking with our two new Spanish friends in their casa (as we knew they’d only settle for the lowest price!) but this did not go down well with our host. Even though we booked to have breakfast and dinner in our casa, we were definitely made to feel more than a little pressured to arrange all our activities there too.

Cabbbaalllllllllooooo (caballo = horse in Spanish) is a word everyone who has been to Viñales will recognise as we found out this is obviously the Cuban horse whisperers call for making any horse in their country move in the desired direction. I can’t think of the English equivalent but I’m pretty sure its not hoooooooorrrrssse, although this is indeed a term of endearment used between my Irish friends and I in greetings and for direction changes on a night out! The horse trekking through a muddy forest path to some beautiful view points was a great day, and made even more fun for Immy and our Spanish amigos since my horse (Caramelo) was clearly built only to hold a child of no more than 10 and also because he was the campest horse I’ve ever encountered; twinkle toe side stepping any little puddle or body of water with elegance and trotting (or should I say strutting) in a manner that most Divas or Dragqueens would happily show off in a Pride parade! Both Immy and the Spanish lads, had equally original, imaginatively named horses in ‘Mojito’, ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Coco Loco’ although theirs were decidedly more ‘horse like’ in their actions in comparison to Princess Caramelo!

After a day trip to the stunning beach of Cayo Jutias (bring your mosquito repellent though), we left Viñales and made our way back South in another sweaty colectivo packed with turistas to ‘Playa Larga’. Most people had decided to bypass this quiet, fishing village by the coast, which was a big win for us as there were notably less white sunburnt faces around. Our casa particular this time was a much more positive experience with our lovely host, Libby, in Casa Gran Cañon. She made us feel part of the family and provided us with a monstrously huge Cuban breakfast every morning (breakfasts in Cuba are enormous, as you can see in the photo). We spent a day scuba diving but it was a little disappointing as it felt a little like a ‘get in, get out, give me money’ exercise.

Before heading back to Havana to catch our flight to Mexico we spent a few days in both Cienfuegos and Trinidad. Our casa particular in Cienfuegos was a beautiful, colonial house run by two extremely charming and accommodating Doctors who had opened up the top floor of their house to tourists to supplement their income. Throughout our trip, we met Cubans in a similar position - taxi drivers and waiters who worked for the Government as teachers and civil servants for 20+ years but who had packed it in to work in tourism… and you can see why, with the average monthly wage of 30CUC (around €25) being equivalent to what they can earn by letting out a room for one night.

Both Cienfuegos and Trinidad consisted of lots of walks and hikes (in sweltering heat)… up hills and Church towers to look out points and along coastal roads, and some really great music. Music is simply everywhere in Cuba and its almost always exceedingly good. During dinner bands, after dinner salsa and even including a mini rave in a cave in Trinidad, which we thought would be a total tourist trap but in fact there was a great mix of locals, other latinos and pasty Europeans all dancing and jiving together. We had heard the Teatro deserved a visit so we eagerly bought tickets for the only show that was on while we were there. A Flamenco group performance in Cuba has got to be entertaining, right? Well it was, but mostly because it was a kids show with 13-14 being the average age of the ‘performers’ and the entire audience made up of proud parents except for the eejit tourists at the back (of which we were thankfully not the only ones).

On our way to Trinidad we stopped off at El Nicho, a beautiful set of waterfalls and rock pools in the Cuban forest, this time sharing the taxi cost with two Italian guys we picked up at the bus stop! Unlike many other Spanish speaking countries I have visited, in Cuba things run on time. We thought our Italian friends were going to live up to their stereotype when 20 minutes after the meeting time in the morning, there was still no show from them but bleary-eyed and sleep deprived, they made it just in time. Turns out they had only got to bed at 6am after using that Italian charm to end up on some beach, miles out of town, with some lucky young ladies the night before… I guess some stereotypes (positive ones in this case) ring true!

Trinidad itself is a pretty place with cobblestone streets, beautiful church plazas and open squares but don’t expect to be away from the crowd here as it is definitely on most tourist itineraries. It seemed like each of our casa particular experiences was becoming more family oriented than the last and in this one, Casa Jorge, we had breakfast at their kitchen table while Amanda, Imogen’s newest and biggest fan, insisted Immy make her a plait in her hair in the same way her own was done. Amanda’s cuteness went further into overdrive when Immy asked her how old she was and she proudly replied “dos” while holding up her hand to show 5 fingers, in case we were visual learners.

Trinidad’s music also didn’t disappoint, or so we thought, when we stumbled upon a big open air Spanish hip hop DJ set packed with people in the main square. As we pushed our way through the crowd for a better dancing position we were both happily gloating how cool this was because there were literally no other tourists there; until, as we neared the front, we realized we were a good 15-20 years older than everyone else and this was clearly a big quinceñera (15th birthday party) or something similar. Sheepishly, we danced our way out of there as quick we as got in, with many staring teenage eyes on us wondering ‘what are these two creepy old tourists doing here’. 

Our faux-pas’s did not end there though… we also made the wonderful decision to rent bikes (at 11am when the sun is approaching its hottest and all the good bikes have already been rented) and go on a 36km cycle to La Boca. The breeze helped with the heat as we pedalled away and we did manage to stumble upon a stunning little private beach on the way to the main strip where we spent most of the day but nothing could help with what felt like a giant steel rod poking through the saddle for all 36 of those kilometres in the 35 degree heat. An experience? Yes. Could I walk or sit down for the following 24 hours? No. No, I could not.

We had heard mixed reports about Cuba but we genuinely loved the place. Not because of the usual traveller checklists like the beaches and the food but because of its uniqueness. Even things like wifi work in their own Cuban way; there is wifi and internet access but only in public places with a prepaid card (or in the lobby of 5 star hotels). Its almost like Cuba is saying “right, you can have wifi but we’ve seen what people get up to on the internet and the problems it has caused so yes, you can have wifi, but you’ll use it in public where everyone can see”. It is just so different to anywhere else I have been in so many ways but it is a special place like no other. If you manage to learn a bit of Spanish before you go, the experience will certainly be greatly enriched as most Cubans speak little or no English but they are the nicest, warmest, friendliest of people who are just dying to chat to you and wax lyrical about their own country, customs and culture. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend going but maybe avoid renting rickety old bikes at midday.