#I realise France would probably have won either way?

[icypiece]

Here’s hoping Morocco win tomorrow, so that they can win the whole thing, and that Croatia can get semi-avenged by winning the bronze over France, at least.

[inky-duchess]

History Bites: Worst Marriages

In History Bites, I pick the best moments of history and the antics historical figures in order to give you inspiration for your WIP. Think of History Bites like prompts, only juicer and 90% accurate (results may vary).

Marriage is a battlefield sometimes. History is patterned with thousands of terrible husbands, murderous wives and backstabbing. Naturally it is in us as writers to explore the drama and shed a light on marriages that would probably benefit from a trip to the Jeremy Kyle Show.

George I of England and Elector of Hanover was married Sophia Dorothea of Celle, in an effort to enrich his impoverished family. The marriage was extremely unhappy as George slept around and paraded his youthful mistresses before his wife. Sophia, lonely and isolated, began an affair with Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, a Swedish count. But with the double standard, George was incredibly wroth about his wife being unfaithful. He beat Sophia and divorced her, keeping her imprisoned in Hanover whilst he went to England to rule. He also had Königsmarck murdered for good measure and kept Sophia's children from her so she never saw them again.

George IV only Caroline of Brunswick because his father made him. George was repelled by her the first moment they lay eyes upon her and she didn't like him either. George was drunk for their wedding ceremony. On their honeymoon, they managed to sleep together twice which proved just enough. Caroline fell pregnant with Princess Charlotte. The couple lived separately him hating her and her hating him. A minister once told George that his greatest enemy was dead and George's reply was "God, is she?". When George became King, he barred Caroline from being crowned. She was hammering on the door of Westminster Abbey the entire time he was bringing crowned. She died three weeks later.

The parents of Prince Albert, Enrst of Saxe Coburg wed Princess Louise. Ernst was a bit of a fuck boy and had dozens of mistresses but like George I didn't like his wife finding love either. Though Louise gave him two sons, Ernst did not love her. When Louise took a lover, Ernst cast her out and forbade her to see their sons ever again. She died without ever seeing them.

Mary, Queen of Scots had been raised in France and married to a French King but when he died she returned to Scotland. Immediately, royal matches began to vie for Mary's hand. Mary chose Henry, Lord Darnley to be her husband as he was an heir to England as she was and she like how he looked. It wasn't long before Mary realised how much of a spoiled brat Darnley was. Mary refused to sign a document that would entitle him to rule as monarch after her death. Darnley eventually conceived a child with Mary but some say that he wasn't pleased as the child pushed him away from the throne. Darnley joined a coup of men aiming to drag Mary down. In an effort to paint her as an adultress, they fell upon her secretary the Italian David Rizzio in front of the pregnant Queen. Though the event was shocking, Mary managed to give birth to her son James. A few months later, Darnley paid for being the worm he was. While he was staying at a house at Kirk o' Field, somebody tried to blow up the house. He survived the house blowing up, but not the assassin who strangled him to death. Mary might have been involved.

Isabella of France was only a child of 12 when she married the English King Edward II. It was meant to be the pinnacle of the Anglo-French alliance but it was a disaster from day one. Edward spent the wedding chatting and giving his wedding gifts to his favourite, Piers Gaveston. The triangle of Queen, King and favorite went on for a while, with Edward and Isabella popping out a few children. Isabella was mainly sidelined in her early marriage on account of Edward's relationship with Piers but after a coup by the nobles, Piers was murdered. In the few years after, Edward and Isabella found common ground and had a few happy years. Then came Hugh Despenser, a tall hulking knight who Edward immediately befriended (or boned, in my opinion). Hugh and Edward brought the killers of Piers to justice and began terrorizing the nobility including Isabella, whose children were stripped from her. Isabella had a trick up her sleeve however. When Anglo-French relations deteriorated, Isabella volunteered to go negotiate with her brother the French King. While negotiating she asked that her eldest son be sent to her so that he might meet the French. Isabella jumped to action the first moment her son arrived. She dressed in mourning for her husband and raised an army to depose him with her son as replacement. Isabella invaded England along with her lover Roger Mortimer and won the crown for her son. She had Hugh Despenser executed and imprisoned Edward who died mysteriously in prison.

Henry VIII is probably the worst husband. He went out of his way to marry his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon who saved his kingdom while he was off playing soldier in France and struggled to birth an heir, giving him only a daughter. Henry's eye wandered and he set his sights on Anne Boleyn. He abandoned Catherine and took up Anne as his wife. The vivacious and challenging nature of Anne soon began to tire Henry as well as Anne's two miscarriage and her birthing of a daughter. He arranged for his councillors to frame Anne for adultery with notable courtiers including her brother. Anne was executed. Henry then married Jane Seymour, who was Anne's opposite. But when Jane dared to ask mercy for rebels, Henry threatened her by asking her whether she recalled what happened Anne. Jane died giving birth to Henry's long awaited male heir. Henry cast his net about Europe to find a bride and set his eyes on the young German noblewoman Anne of Cleves. On New Year's Day 1540, Henry tried to surprise Anne by bursting into her chambers in disguise, one of his favourite tricks. Anne was understandably appalled at the sight of the fat, balding man trying to kiss her leading Henry to storm out and began shouting about how ugly she was and how she smelt. He tried to stop the wedding but the contract was binding so they married. Henry likely couldn't perform in the bedchamber but blamed Anne for being appalling. He divorced Anne and married the teenage Katherine Howard. Though he was smitten with her, it did not stop him from having her executed because she had had previous sexual relations (which very well may have been abuse by male authority figures) and had begun an affair with one of his gentlemen. Henry soon turned to Katheryn Parr, who had her eye on another marriage. Katheryn agreed to marry Henry and for a time they were happy. Henry soon got jealous of Katheryn's literary accomplishments and disliked her intellect so he began proceedings to have her arraigned for heresy. Katheryn talked him out of it and narrowly escaped execution. Henry died living four wives in their grave and two thankful to be alive.

Though the marriage of Philip of Spain and Mary I of England was politically successful, it failed on a personal level. Philip hated living in England and wasn't exactly happy to be wed to a woman a decade older. Mary however was in love with him. She believed she was pregnant twice but each case turned out to be a phantom and false alarm. Philip left Mary to tour his lands in Europe, staying away as long as he could. Mary was distraught without him and often wrote him letters asking him to return to her. Philip proposed marriage to Elizabeth, Mary's sister whilst his wife was dying. Mary died broken hearted without her husband at her side.

Catherine the Great was only a minor German Princess when she wed the heir to the Russian throne. Peter was scarred from smallpox, under the thumb of his overbearing aunt, ill-mannered, obsessed with playing soldiers and torturing animals. Peter got so drunk at their wedding that he could not consummate the marriage but they soon did. Peter kept a mistress and continued to dislike his clever wife. He would order his regiments to get out of their beds and march at his command as well as his wife. Catherine lived in fear of her husband. Peter's aunt the Empress Elizabeth permitted Catherine to have affairs so that she could conceive an heir and Catherine soon gave birth to her son Paul. Peter ascended to the throne but lost it after six months to his wife who may or may not have had him murdered.

[race-week]

I actually disagree with that fan voted thing a lot and I think it tells a lot about the perception of drivers...and okay everyone's biased I'm biased as well. But I don't think Max and Lando should have that much advantage. Max is performing well in the probably best car of the season. Most of the races he's won are the ones where he just drove away and there were almost no battles for leadership (save maybe france). Lando's had an okay season so far, couple of good races (podiums) couple of average races couple of bad races. They're both performing the quality of their cars I think (personally)- and honestly part of their success if because the Mercedes is lacking this year and especially bottas has had problems with the car i think. I don't think Carlos should be this high because although, yes he's performing well for someone who switched teams but part of it is the private testings he got to get more comfortable to the car, so I think he has an unfair advantage over Checo who's races are either hit or miss, Seb as well or Dan who's had a difficult season. I think Stroll should be in that list because he's performing better than most people realise (tyre management king), antonio too just for keeping Carlos behind as long as he did in Baku. Alex should be on the list even if he's not driving, because listening to him and looking at his sim work has gotten Red Bull the quickest car around.

I do think Lewis should be higher. He's outperforming that car week after week after week, much like sharl and george do (or the other way around? anyways) and I feel like he's so far down on that list because let's face it the main demography who's voting those things aren't us f1blr babes who predominantly don't fall victim to sports racism but the dudebros who love drivers like carlos, max and lando who just want lewis to lose because they can't stand the thought of a black man risking a white man's record in a white people sport. Also the dogwhistle propaganda from the red bull ranks.

Sorry this turned out to be such an essay, I just have emotions about this

Also I think Mick and Nicholas should be on the list because they are the kings of consistent backmarker battles and I love them (but that's the heart talking not the critical thinking skills)

Hi anon!

I’m interested to see what races of Lando’s you think were bad races, other than a DNF his lowest result was a P8 at a track that him or the car have never really been strong at, just let me know.

Obviously Lewis should be higher; personally I’d put him second, the car isn’t that much worse than the Red Bull especially after France, but Lewis has made a few blunders this season and I’m saying this as a Lewis fan whilst Max has been relatively error free and this is easily his best driving we’ve seen.

On the fact that the Merc isn’t as bad as people claim, at most tracks it’s performing about the same lap time as last year plus or minus 2 tenths of a second, but other teams have found gains of half a second in some cases (on certain tracks)

Just a note the testing Carlos (and Charles) did was in a 2018 car or older which would have handled completely differently to the 2021 car and Charles has even said so himself, it’s more of a way to practice procedures rather than getting used to the car.

Ideally you’d be able to put all of the drivers on there and the teams as well but this is just the way it is and front running and midfield cars get more attention.

[shini--chan]

a part 2 on,"Allies with a small country s/o with rare gems and species"well can you do it again,but this time the s/o shows the world why their gems and species are so rare.There all magical.With that being said, they go into straight magical girl mode.Like no shit before the boys can get their or attack,the s/o is already destroying-No demolishing the enemy.And when their done they shine this independent aure that says,"I my be small but I can still kick ass!"Turns out they don't need the boys

Sorry (not sorry) if this you imagined something different, I’m just not into writing somebody just swooping in and reaping a Sailor Moon-style victory. I guess I can’t help but imagine just how complex the situation would actually be.

Yandere Hetalia

Firstly, if you have magical gems and metals, then you can bet your life that there is more of that distributed across the world. You would just happen to have the most or the other countries exhausted all their resources. Even if said magical ores came via asteroid, it would have to be a very large one so that you would have that many resources. And larger asteroids tend to either be chipped away upon entry in the earth’s atmosphere, or splinter upon impact so that they cover a larger are.

Secondly, you would only manage to keep it under the wraps if you were isolationist for all your life and didn’t have any trading partners, which in this case you do. Because ally = trading partner in most cases.

Thirdly, the invader would very likely know about the magical properties and have prepared for them. You beating them back so easily would have just been to deceive you. Or they didn’t know it at first but now they would since you gave them such a wonderful demonstration.

Yandere America

He would emerge at the scene, clapping his hands as if this were just a good Hollywood Blockbuster while letting out a low whistle at all the havoc you created. Once he would reach you, he’d be greet you with a goofy grin all while he congratulated you for your victory and rambled about you being so awesome.

Oh, America would be laying it very thick with the sweet talk, so much so that you wouldn’t notice the calculative grin in your eyes.

Did you really think he wouldn’t know? Did you really think he wouldn’t have concluded that something was off due to the strange energy levels your trade goods emit the first time you sold some of those ores and gems to him? Do you really think he is that stupid?

Oh right, you do. Alfred has become terrific at playing dumb after all.

Nevertheless, bask in your glory as long as you can, it is not as if the whole world knows of your magical abilities due to the television crew that he certainly didn’t bring with him. Besides, Alfred is very keen to find out how you’ll react when you have your own weapons turned against you. Bet you wouldn’t be so chipper then.

Yandere Canada

This would be the point where he would take his glasses off and massage his temples as if that could relief himself of the stress headache that was impending. Not because you reduced his chances of obtaining you, quite the opposite since you would have even enhanced them. No, in his mind he would already be imagining all the paperwork and negotiations that would succeed this.

Just how could you be so tactless? While demolishing the enemy you obliterated half of yourself. Using such powers on enemy territory would have been all fine and dandy. But here on your own turf you inflicted so much damage on yourself.

And this would mean a lot of negotiations with anxious neighbours, dealing with the immediate fallout of your thoughtless actions, whole new regulations on your products whereas before he would have gotten, they without any hassle and for a fair price. Not to mention all the new laws that the UNO would impress upon you.

You thought you didn’t need him? Wrong! You would need him even more than if this was just ordinary warfare. And just because you can’t think your own shit through you clearly need his guidance and protection. Of course, he would ensure that all the pieces would fall in his favour so that you would be dependent on him – forever.  

Yandere China

Yao would be completely unimpressed and would encounter you with a stoic expression as he nonchalantly lighted himself a cigarette with one of the many fires littering the battlefield. Calmly he would congratulate you, remarking on how he had only expected such grand displays of power from you and would say that you really are an eyecatcher.

Unknowest to you, he would actually be insulting you.

Anybody with common sense would know better to teach their art of war to their enemy and show all their tricks to their allies, something you just did. Additionally, you put your one trump card on full display and now you would have no more aces up his sleeve. Not that it was a secret to begin with.

You’re forgetting that during his long life, China would have seen almost everything the world has to offer, so magic would be nothing new to him. Indeed, he’d probably know far, far more about your own capabilities than you.

Magic would require a healthy and capable person to wield it, so what would you do if a strong, potent poison would severely weaken you? You should go to Yao then; he would protect you and take you in.

With your powers, you would represent a potential threat and Chinas reactions to such matters would either be total annihilation or total assimilation.

Yandere England

Arthur would sneer at just how crass you were. You had to flaunt all your powers, in the process being an even bigger show-off than his darling son.

One quick glance in his telescope would tell him that the invader was regrouping for a secondary assault along with a few new toys that would negate your powers. Just how easy are you tricked? Although, he would humour you and let you prance about.

Foolish little child, you won only half the battle.

When the enemy would reappear and you would confidently brag about how you would be able to take care of this yourself, he would let you and watch as despair would overtake you.

Because you’re a stupid little grasshopper that doesn’t have a clue about tactics and strategy, and whose go-to plan would be hit-it-until-it-dies, you would fail miserably. Completely dependant on your magic, you wouldn’t know what to do if it didn’t work suddenly, nor would you consider even trying new moves. Not to mentioned you wouldn’t have even thought about conserving your energy and would have blasted it all away during the first wave of attack.

England wouldn’t storm to your aid if he saw you losing in this scenario. He would make you beg for his help instead. Then he would sweep in total victory and then he would subdue you in your vulnerable state with a subtle magic trick of his own.

Yandere France

Your lack of tact would make him shriek and in a very bad, ear-drum bursting way as well, He would count down your mistakes in a persuasive and tactful way, successfully making you feel as incompetent as you actually would be. You would realise that you actually just made things worse for yourself.

It would take a while for France to calm down and even then, he would still hole you with questions that would guilt-trip you.

Why didn’t you go after them and crush them completely? They would be regrouping now to conduct an even better assault. Where you even thinking about the repercussions that your actions would have? No, you didn’t. Did you even consider that you were hurting yourself more than you were hurting the enemy? No, again! Why didn’t you try a more subtle way of using your magic? If you would say it was easier that way, then Francis would smack you.

You’d be dependant on him to help you with the aftermath and he wouldn’t let you have any say in those matters. You would have already proved yourself to be less than competent, after all.

Yandere Russia

If anything, be would be intrigued. Like America, he would already know either through scientific analysis of your trade goods or spying or both. Russia would have already had his own brands of magic back in the day, but it would have been so long since he saw somebody else display it.

Of course, he would have tried his own hand on the magic that your ores and precious stones generate, always careful, always cautious.

With your unrestricted use of it and lack caution, you would become his experimental guinea pig. Ivan would constantly prod you with questions, prompting you to try new thing. Through that, he would learn the limits of your power and the breaking points in your own character.

He would look forward to see your expression when you would realise that you had choked on your own hubris, when he would have you in his grasp due to a subtle attack that would be akin to a knife in your back.

After all, it would be your own fault if you remained narrow-minded and didn’t expect him to know and didn’t except an indirect attack. Russia would just be there to exploit your idiocy and use it for his own ends

[idunnoficsorsumthing]

How is everyone okay with this?

I was thinking of maybe making this a series of like cute hogwarts moments of parents moments from George and Y/n especially with kids at hogwarts.... Let me know.

Also something that surprises me is how can everyone say goodbye to their children and just send them to boarding school but also I get. Just ditch the kids on that train and have ten month vacation? YES.

“They’ll have to go to Hogwarts sometime.” George said, you shake your head. As a muggleborn you had never understood how parents could send their children to that god awful school. The stories Harry told about his first year, and then second all the other years had made you decide you would not be sending your children there. “No!” you said angry. The two of you had this discussion many times when they were younger. George had let you go your way when it came to the kid’s education, he would sit with either of them at the kitchen table and help with  math problems, and you’d teach them at home because every sneeze from Ophelia meant that every nose turned turquoise in her vicinity. Or, every class toad would be released by Alfie without so much as a glance.  You couldn’t let them out on their own because they had no control of their magical abilities in quite an extraordinary way. They were only eight year old when Mcgonacall was first offered to let stay at Hogwarts after Neville discussed the twins with her. You thought they were too young, and instead you kept them home from school, and the two of you taught them yourself. Which meant the two of you were very lenient when it came to travelling. They came with the two of you when you went to Romania for a few weeks to visit Charlie, they came along to America, France, Vietnam, and many other countries the four of you traveled to. But, now your babies were almost eleven, and you knew that stupid letter would arrive. “They are  so young, George. Our babies.” you argued. George chuckled. “We cannot keep them forever. They need to learn magic.” George said, you looked at the ground, and you knew he was right. He stepped closer to you, putting his fingers under your chin to force you to look at him. “She’ll do great.” he said: “Just have faith in them.” he said, with a smile. “But, I’ll miss them too much.” you pouted. George laughed, he put his arms around you for a hug. “You’ll appreciate them more in the summer vacation.” he said, you couldn’t help but feel sad, the two of you never had any more children than the twins, only now you understood why Molly had seven. 

You stood at the platform with tears in your eyes, as George went off to put the kid’s trunk in the train. “Forget that owl your dad gave you. Here I have my own gift for you.” you said, taking out two iphones for the kids. You had saved some money so you could each buy their own. You didn’t agree with giving kids phones but you felt desperate to keep in close contact with the two. “Just call me whenever you feel lonely or text.” you said, she had a smile on her face. “Mum, I’m not sure they’ll have cell reception at Hogwarts.” Ophelia said she was confident for her age. Something she definitely got from George. “Keep your sister out of trouble.” you tell Alfie. He was the spitting image of George. Although in his opinion he looked more like Fred. Teddy and Victoire said they’d let them hang out if they got lonely and Neville, who was your Hogwarts best friend, said he’d keep an eye out, and the feeling of wanting to keep them here was so strong within you. You couldn’t understand how all these parents could do it. You wanted them to be happy to go to school so you hold your tears. George came back, and Ophelia hid her cellphone in her jacket pocket. “Are you ready to board the train?” he asked. Ophelia nodded. You give her a hug, and a kiss on her cheek. Next was George, who was beaming with pride for his daughter. He held her a little too long as she tried to wriggle herself out of his embrace and he ruffled her curls. You hug Alfie, and whisper that you loved him, giving him a kiss.  “Dad!” Ophelia said, when George was still hugging Alfie. “Alright. Have fun and don’t let me get a letter about your mischief.”  They hurried to the train only looking back once, leaving the two of you standing there. You unconsciously held your breath as the train started to move. All the other parents waved at the children who each had their hand poking out of the window to wave. You suddenly burst into tears because your babies had left. George held you in his embrace. “They are going to be fine.” he mumbled. 

The phone rang around ten. You pick up the phone, you and George were watching a movie. “Hello Sweetie. How is Hogwarts?’ you ask. You turn on the phone on speaker. “What house are you in?” George asked. You look at your husband and even though you knew it was important for him to know which house they were in, it wasn’t so much for you. “I’m Gryffindor, dad.” Ophelia said he wouldn’t let her know if he was disappointed if she was in any other house. But, you could just tell he was glad she was Gryffindor. “THat’s bloody brilliant, darling.” he said: “Are you having fun?” you pause the movie to listen more intently. “Oh yes, I already made a friend. Ellis Wood, he is a Hufflepuff.” she said, George chuckled. “Oh yes. I used to play quidditch with his father.” George said, you just listen to your husband reminiscing about whose children are in her year. “You should go to sleep, it is going to be a long day tomorrow.” you tell her before the two of them gossip through the night. “Goodnight mum. Bye dad.” Ophelia said, hanging up the phone. When you realised she hadn’t handed the phone to Alfie. You dial the number, it only went over a couple of times before he picked up. “Mum?” he answered. “Hi honey.” you said, you heard soft sobs, and you thought you heard your heart breaking. “What is going on?” you ask. He was probably just homesick. “I want to go home, mum.” Alfie cried. George gave you the look, like you had raised a momma’s boy. “Can we go?” you whisper to George. He raised his eyebrow, and hesitated. “Fine, kid. We’ll just have a chat with uncle Neville.” George said to Alfie. “Just stay put.” he added. He hung up the phone. You had a smile on your face. “What are you laughing about?” he asked with a devilish smile. “At Least one of our kids misses us. Don’t you find that a bit enjoyable?” you ask. He shook his head, with a laugh. 

Not an hour later you were sitting in Mcgonacall’s office chatting with her while Alfie was sitting in the hallway. “Well it is normal for the young students to feel a bit homesick, and it is highly irregular for parents to come to the school in the middle of the night.” She said, she had a smile on her face though. “He is a hufflepuff at heart like you, Y/n.” She said: “But, the sorting hat put him in Gryffindor.” you could tell George was happy with it. “And you Mr. Weasley, how dare you hand those children the attributes to cause trouble even before they entered the train?” She said stern, you could tell George knew more of this by the look on his face. “I have no idea what you are referring to.” he said, innocently. “Can we just talk to him?” you ask her. She nods. The two of you get up, and George was already out of the room when Mcgonacall said this: “I suspect young Alfred asked the sorting hat for Gryffindor, but I can only assume he is too sensitive at heart.” without looking up from the papers in front of her. 

The two of you sat down next to Alfie either on one side of your son. “Can I go home?” He asked. You shake your head, George put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “You don’t have to be scared, bean.” George said, Alfie looked up at you with the same brown eyes as his dad. “Please mum. These people already gave me detention!” he said, you locked eyes with George, and it was like he won. Alfie wasn’t homesick; he and Ophelia just got in trouble. “Yes, I heard about it. Do you want to tell what happened?” you ask. Alfie looked at the ground. “Ophelia and I replaced the taffy on the trolley with dad’s puking pastilles.” Alfie confessed and the two of you laughed expecting the other to be serious. “Way to go little man” You said, George held up his hand for a high five. “You’re not mad?” Alfie asked. You shrug. “Let me tell you the good part about Hogwarts.” George said: “you’ll get punished here enough.” He looked at you and even though the two of you knew that wasn't exactly the case. The two of you just didn’t want Alfie to feel even worse on his first day. Alfie laughed because he didn’t know the two of you weren’t joking. 

The two of you said goodbye to Alfie, as the two of you walked down the corridors of Hogwarts. “Remember we shagged in the astronomy tower?” George reminded you. You look at your husband with a laugh. “We also shagged in that cupboard. Where are you going with this?” you ask. You gestured at the cupboard. The evil smirk vanished from his face. “We should just go home.” he said, George pecked a kiss on your lips. “What was that for?” you ask. He had a smile on his stupid face. “I am glad your hufflepuff genes didn’t ruin our kids into goodie two shoes.” he said, you glared at him. “I also don’t like Ophelia hanging out with Oliver Wood’s kid.” he said, you laugh. “He always was an idiot.”  you chuckle, putting your hands around his neck and kissing George.

Christmas break, and you were excited for the train to arrive at the perron. “Calm down they’ll be home in a bit.” Bill laughed. He had Victoire already at Hogwarts, with Louis, and Dominique at home with Fleur waiting for their sister to return. “She has the entire christmas break planned. Because she wants to do a muggle christmas.” George made fun of you. You stick out your tongue at your husband. You look amongst all the children in black robes, when you saw Teddy, with Victoire on his arm, with Ophelia, Ellis, and Alfie following them. “Mum!” She said, ran towards you. “I’m her favorite.” you said, sticking once again your tongue to George. He scrunched his nose, you hugged Ophelia when she reached you. “I missed you, bean.” you said, kissing her all over her face. She rubbed away the kisses on her cheeks with the back of her hand. George patted her over her head. She had grown so much. Or, maybe that is how you felt after you hadn’t seen her in months. The other reached you too, and you pulled Alfie in for a hug. “Mum stop!” he said embarrassed. But, you didn’t care. “My babies are back” you cooed. “I am sorry you have to witness this.” Alfie turned to Ellis, who was laughing. “I have to go find my parents. Have a nice break, Weasleys” he said to the twins. 

Tagged: @enchantedcruelsummer

[mautadite]

april book round up

20 books this month, which i didn’t see coming. i had more free time than expected, even with working from home and *makes vague hand gestures*. i still have a scribd membership so almost all these books came from there. also i’m putting some thought into reviewing on netgalley, so a couple from there as well.

american fairy tale - adriana herrera ⭐️⭐️⭐️ contemporary m/m romance in herrera’s dreamers series that follows immigrants and children of immigrants. this second book was fun, a kind of fairy tale romance as the title suggests. a rich guy/poor guy situation which isn’t usually my cup of tea, and the domineering, throw-money-at-every-situation personality of the rich guy got on my nerves, and i wasn’t totally sold on the way the conflict was resolved? but i enjoyed it. herrera’s books just have this down to earth vibe that i love.

unfit to print - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ historical m/m romance. vikram, a young lawyer doing a lot of pro-bono work in the indian community in london, lost touch with his childhood friend gil years and years ago, is pretty sure he’s dead. so imagine his surprise when he comes across him in an unlikely occupation in an unlikely place. this was a charming, touching novella, really interesting historically, with a lot of cool titbits about porn in the 19th century. very sweet romance-wise.

american love story - adriana herrera ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ another dreamers novel, this one about a black professor and political activist and a white ADA who had a fling a while back and are now living in the same town. and same apartment building. lol. it did get into real world politics, which i know some people don’t like, but i honestly thought it well done? there were some great bits in this, good insight, one really harrowing moment, and just really great chemistry and character moments.

wanted, a gentleman - k.j. charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ more historical m/m romance from k.j. charles, which i always like, but this one i REALLY liked. which surprised me, because it’s a novella, and with novellas you never spend enough time with characters to really know them and their story and get attached? but that’s exactly what happened here. a well-to-do ex-slave and a poor gazette owner team up to untangle a young love affair. i seriously loved this, the characters are so good together. T__T

far from the world we know - harper bliss ⭐️⭐️ contemporary f/f romance about a young widow with a traumatic past who moves to a tiny new town to take care of her ailing aunt, and slowly falls into a relationship with the owner of the local newspaper. the premise was good, but this honestly felt like every single harper bliss book i’ve ever read, except it had nothing to recommend it. ask me why these characters even like each other. i can’t answer! 

the hound of justice - claire o'dell ⭐️⭐️ the second book in a series that re-imagines the sherlock holmes universe, except as near-future scifi set during a civil war, and both holmes and watson are black lesbians. i LOVED the first book (with a few caveats) and i’ve been looking forward to this one for so long... but it was disappointing. in terms of the writing, in terms of the direction the characters took, in terms of the plot... i have to wonder if i read the first one with rose-tinted glasses. :/ won’t be continuing this series.

the vintner's luck - elizabeth knox ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ *CLUTCHES MY CHEST WITH BOTH HANDS* in my goodreads review i said i didn’t know how to talk about this novel, and i still don’t. but i ADORED IT. so completely. in early 19th century france, the young son of a winegrower climbs a hill on his father’s property, and there, meets an angel. this is the story of them falling in love, but also about family and friendship, love and death. it’s written SO beautifully, and i’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

the family fang - kevin wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ OOOF. i went into this knowing that several friends loved it so i knew i probably was gonna too and i DID. it’s about two siblings whose parents have been obsessed (since before the birth of their children, and until the present day where they’re both grown) with the idea of creating perfect art, and how the kids survive that. i actually didn’t enjoy reading many parts of this, but only because it was so well written, if that makes sense? like, it took me right in there with some of the shitty emotions and just made me feel. OOOF.

mrs. martin's incomparable adventure - courtney milan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a VERY sweet and charming historical f/f romance between a wealthy 74-yo widow and the cute young 69 (nice) yo landlady who comes to ask for her help. and then they have an adventure! i read it at a great time, because i was beginning to feel really bummed out about how people are trivialising and discounting the lives of older people in this crisis, and there was a really great message of like... life not being over until you SAY it’s over, living like you have 20 more years left. i loved it a lot.

his convenient husband - robin covington ⭐️⭐️ m/m contemporary fake marriage story, about a russian ballet dancer and the widowed american football player he marries to get citizenship. and then they fall in love for realsies. i love fake marriage as a trope, it can be so cute but this was very meh. if a book is gonna handle racism/homophobia in such a shallow way... i’d honestly prefer if the book just pretended those things don’t exist lol. :/ it’s also very very rushed and not well plotted at all. alas.

once ghosted, twice shy - alyssa cole ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ alyssa cole is like my good luck charm, because starting here, i read a bunch of lesbian romance novels that i really liked. this one is part of a series about reluctant royals, and follows the dapper assistant to a prince as she falls for a girl who seemingly ghosts her, and then meets her again months later. it’s a novella, and sort of relies on the fact that you would have met one of the characters in a previous book (which i did read). but i really really liked it, thought it was super cute, and the mcs had great chemistry. it was almost insta-love, which i really don’t like... but i still like this book so much. also best cover?? BEST COVER. 

who'd have thought - g. benson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ now THIS is fake marriage done right!!! f/f contemporary romance about a struggling nurse who comes across an ad offering a chunk of money in exchange for one year of marriage... and the person on the offering end turns out to be the cold, stuck-up but brilliant doctor at the hospital where she works. this was the perfect slow burn, with great character writing, really good set-up, very believable arc as they slowly fall in love. it got me so emotional at times. definitely gonna make sure i read more from this author.

three reasons to say yes - jaime clevenger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ f/f contemporary about two women who strike up a romance while on vacation in hawaii; one an overworked professional, one a doctor-mom of twin girls. another winner for me. just an extremely cute, very genuine butch/femme romance. it’s funny because i definitely nitpicked on a lot of things in this book, but i only remember the parts of if that made me so fond.

we set the dark on fire - tehlor kay meija ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ f/f YA fantasy in a world deeply divided by class. in the upper echelons of society, girls are trained either to become one of the two wives of upper class men; the primera and the segunda. the story follows a girl who has faked her social class becoming the primera of a very powerful man, getting involved with revolutionaries, and developing a surprising relationship with her husband’s segunda. really interesting world-building, some lovely writing, a really heart-felt core. i had my nitpicks with the plot but i still super enjoyed it, really want to read the second part.

a tale of two mommies  - vanita oelschlager ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ netgalley book. a cute children’s story about a kid with two moms. <3

crier's war - nina varela ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ more f/f fantasy YA, this one with the added benefit of being about something that i ADORE reading about in fiction: artificial life. in this fantasy world, automae were created, perfected, became aware of their place in society, fought a war for their autonomy... and won. the story opens up 50 years later, in a society ruled by robots, where humans are subjugated. it follows the current robot ruler’s created daughter and a young human rebel whose one goal is to kill said daughter. i loved this SO much, the enemies to lovers trope was peeeerfect. i wish the writing was tighter, and some plot elements could have used cleaning up, but i enjoyed this so much. the ROMANCE especially was... gah! <3 the second book comes out soon, but i want it like, now.

second dad summer - benjamin klas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ another netgalley book. a fun and charming primary/middle school story about a kid spending the summer with his father, and his father’s new boyfriend, who he doesn’t quite get along with. over the summer he makes new friends, nurtures some plants, learns some lessons. i thought this was well-written, touching, and does a pretty good job of telling kids about queer stuff. 

tempting fate - sloane kennedy ⭐️⭐️ contemporary m/m novella (short story honestly) about two ranch hands realising their feelings for one another. it was fine, i read it because i was in the mood for a quick HEA and i got that, but it was also kinda flat and there were several kinda irksome things about it. i reeeeeally don’t like overly possessive characters, lol.

all the reasons i need - jaime clevenger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ more contemporary f/f romance, this one about long time friends who have been in love for ages, slowly coming to a place where they can finally admit their feelings and try to embark upon a relationship. again, while on vacation! this was a lot more sombre than the previous clevenger book, as it deals with past abuse and eating disorders. but i also found the writing to be better in general, and the relationship between the two women was just... so great. the writing definitely isn’t pulitzer prize-winning or anything, but there are so few good butch/femme books out there, i ate this up, and will def. be reading more from this author.

interpreter of maladies - jhumpa lahiri ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ speaking of pulitzer prize-winning authors... i’ve had this author and this book specifically at the back of my mind since secondary school; one of my literature teachers really loved it and would bring it up all the time. i really enjoyed it! it’s a collection of stories about the indian diaspora in america, as well as life on the subcontinent. i really like her writing (very simple, very precise, but very evocative) and there were a few really striking stories.

and that’s it for april. look at me, actually writing this entry on time, lol. for may i’m just gonna... keep reading whatever catches my eye on scribd i guess. i remember vaguely saying that by this time of the year i would have moved on to reading the books on my physical bookshelf that i haven’t gotten to yet but... i go where the wind takes me etc. currently reading silver moon, about women who turn into werewolves once they hit menopause? absolutely metal.

[misssophiachase]

Mini prompts, yay!! How about some celeb KC??? Whatever trope floats your boat!! :D

Thanks Morgan, luv! Celeb KC is always fun to write….Hope this works.

The Amazing Race

“When is the next boat out of here, Senor?” Caroline demanded, articulating every vowel as she said it. If there was anything she hated it was general disorganisation and losing competitions. “And, by the way, whomever invented siesta needs a lesson in economics.”

“You realise they speak English, right?” Her frustrated partner muttered at her side. She was trying to ignore just how good he smelled and ignore that stray dimple he insisted on flashing all too often. “And it’s not siesta because this is Gibraltar not Spain.”

Choosing to ignore him as usual, Caroline gave her best smile to the boat operator before saying. “Don’t mind his grumpy ass, and if we need to throw him overboard to get to Spain, I don’t mind.”

“You realise this is a team game, right Forbes? Like, you don’t win if you kill me in the process?”

“I never was good at team sports,” she admitted, still refusing to meet his steady gaze. “We didn’t all spend our childhoods chasing after some ball.”

“Some ball?” He growled. 

“Soccer, right?” She could hear the low growl he emitted, happy she’d managed to annoy him given it was exactly what he deserved. 

Klaus Mikaelson was a former football superstar in the UK, his career coming to a crushing end by way of a debilitating knee injury. It was obvious given the past two weeks that his personality hadn’t improved much since but the money was obviously too good to resist. 

“Says Miss Congenital.” Caroline bristled refusing to let him get to her. After all, she was the North Carolina finalist of Miss Teen America two years ago and winner of Miss Congeniality, not a birth defect as he liked to assert. Things had steadily digressed since then and having a reality television show offering to pay to travel the world was too tempting to refuse.

“It’s okay, I know you were hit with a few soccer balls and most probably dropped on your head as a baby so I’ll let that mistake slide. Now, monsieur, s’il vous plait..”

“This isn’t Spain or France, princess, and if you want to get off this rock I suggest you cease with the cultural insensitivities.”

“Something you’d know a lot about, Mikaelson,” she snorted. Before he could reply the boat operator spoke in a stream of fluent Spanish and from his limited high school knowledge he was blaming siesta on the other end for the delay. “What was that? Oh, that’s right Spanish. Where are your cultural insensitivities now?” 

“Are you sure it’s not French s’il vous plait?” By the way her creamy cheeks were tinged with pink, Klaus knew he’d made his point. “You know, If they told me I was going to be paired up with some beauty pageant wannabe…”

“At least I won something,” she growled, unable to help herself, seeing the hurt on his face hit Caroline harder than expected. “Maybe it’s time you stop blaming people and start getting your head in the competition. If there’s anything I hate more it’s losing.” 

He smiled, something she’d rarely seen and given the way it made her knees almost buckle on the spot, Caroline was glad.  “Finally, something we have in common, love.”

“So, let’s agree to stop arguing and win this whole damn thing,” Caroline said. “Agreed?”

“If it means I don’t have to deal with your bad directional sense ever again then you’ve got yourself a deal,” he smirked.

“Says the guy who doesn’t know where north is on a map,” she scoffed. “But fine, you have a deal.” As soon as their hands made contact time seemed to stand still, the silence between them was palpable. 

The only thing that could interrupt the moment was their boat approaching port and the Spaniard employee informing them of that fact. 

All they needed to do was get through this competition and never see each other again but given the chemistry between them Caroline and Klaus knew it would either end in a violent death or hot and heavy sex in some hotel room along the way. They didn’t know it then but the choice was fairly obvious.

[tkmedia]

Will England have failed if they lose to Denmark?

It’s England v Denmark time. And the mailbox is here to ask whether defeat would be seen as failure. Send your mails to theeditor@football365.com Forza Italia Itza coming Rome! Calvino …Cometh the hour, cometh the Mancini. Chris Hardy (sorry, not sorry) …What a game. Was watching thinking England are going to struggle against either of these if we make it to the final. I expect Italy to win now to be honest. So looking forward to thisevening. I really hope we make it to the final. Also to the guy who was talking about co-commentators… I much prefer Jenas to Murphy. I really can’t stand listening to him. James EFC …Credit to Italy for making it to the final. They gave up so much of the ball in the first half but barely gave up chances on goal. I think it was always their intention to let Spain have the hall and I think they had the confidence that they could contain whatever came their way. In some respects they possibly should’ve done better because Spain should be knackered having already played 120 minutes twice in the past week. I actually thought Italy would look much worse without Spinazola and Emerson definitely took away some of their flexibility in terms of what positions he took up when Italy were on the ball but they were still threatening. Chiesa and Barella are stand out players. Unai Simon clearly hadn’t done his homework for the shoot out because he fell for Jorginho’s hop thing. I’ve literally never seen a keeper fall for that and the only explanation is that he didn’t know it was coming. Italy are probably the worst opponent for England to face in the final, should England qualify. Tactically so astute, some wise old heads and some really attacking quality. Minty, LFC Scouting report Just on my way back from the match; we can take ‘em! Come on England! Andrew, Banbury If we lose to Denmark… If we lose to Denmark tonight, would it be seen as a failure? When we went out of the World Cup to Croatia in the semi-finals of the World Cup three years ago we missed a great chance to get to our first final since 1966 but it wasn’t viewed as a failure because we had gotten further in the tournament than we were expected to and done better than fans and pundits thought we would. But this time with ‘home advantage’ at Wembley and playing a team we are apparently fancied to beat if we were to lose in a semi-final would it be seen as a failure? Dan Factor, London Fanmail for Andy Andy starts his dismal grunt of an email by claiming he doesn’t want to piss on anyone’s chips. Andy, why lie? The only thing you set out to do was exactly that, I’m not sure why you want to pretend otherwise. However if you genuinely do not want to soak the collective tatties may I suggest you f**k off with your rubbish opinions and keep them to your grim self? Thanks. Jesus, I thought I was a miserable c**t. Well, I know I am. I just didn’t realise that I’m also a ray of sunshine piercing through the grey world of Andy. thayden Fanmail for Paul I read your e-mail regarding the Euros and England. Its true you must be Irish because that e-mail was dripping the colour green. I was going to write some classy comeback but then I thought, why bother. Instead… GO F*** YOURSELF!!! Paul Norris …Paul (Dublin) in the afternoon mailbox is just one of many who has made the claim that England have had the easiest run to the semi-finals. Is this really true? For starters Spain had an easier group – Sweden, Slovakia and Poland is a much easier set of opponents than England had in their group and then had Croatia and Switzerland to dispatch on their way to the semi-finals. Am I going crazy or is that a much easier route to the semi-final? Denmark had a group with one titan but also had Finland and Russia and then faced Wales and Czech Republic in the knockout stages- is that really a tougher set of fixtures than England have had? Italy did have a tough quarter-final but had an easier set of opponents in the group stages and had Austria in the round of 16 while England was facing Germany. Hmm, I wonder which team had a tougher assignment. What am I missing here? Turiyo Damascene (PS: I hate the use of the word ‘easy’ in this context but it’s the only way I can properly engage with the people making this argument), Kigali, Rwanda Easy draw? Really? Mailers are consistently using the ‘easiest draw ever’ argument to quash any shred of optimism around the England team’s route to the semi-finals – but I have to wonder the point of this criticism. In sports like football, once you’ve actually won something people – specifically fans – rarely seem to linger much on how you’ve done it. In this spirit – are any tournament wins generally rated above others due to the quality of opposition faced? In Euro 2016, Portugal surely had an unbelievably easy run until meeting France in the final – with group stage draws against Hungary, Austria and Iceland, then knockout games against Croatia, Poland and Wales. All teams that, on paper, they should have beaten easily – and only scraped by in the majority. Not sure if they care. The ‘easiest draw ever’ argument is proactively critical of England in case they do win the Euros. It seems based on the expectation that people will assume that a team that wins a tournament is the best team at that tournament. This is of course not always the case. From my perspective football is as much a celebration of luck as it is of prowess – about narrative and emotion rather than a process to find out the objectively best team in the tournament. CR7 would probably punch me in the head for saying this but maybe winning isn’t necessarily about being the best. Portugal could barely beat a team in Euro 2016 and would unlikely be considered a particularly good side from that era. Wigan wasn’t the best team in England because of their FA Cup win – playing Bournemouth/Macclesfield/Huddersfield/Everton and Millwall on the way to the final. These wins are more about things going right at the right moments – quality and fortune in the right measure. Celebration of victory isn’t necessarily celebration of dominance/prowess – it’s just about being happy to be there at the end with a nice shiny bit of metal to take home with you. Basically, if England lose to Denmark these criticisms don’t matter – because they lost anyway – if they win the tournament then who cares – because they’ve won. I don’t know if I’d prefer England to win by steamrollering the seven top-ranked teams in the tournament 5-0 each (I definitely would) – but there’s something about that which seems a bit joyless.

I don’t consume a massive array of media but the sense I get is that not much of the optimism around England’s performance in this tournament is based on them being objectively the best team in Europe. Hoping you can win a tournament and liking a team isn’t necessarily the same as thinking you’re better than everyone else. I get how pretty harmless things like the emotion around winning a football match can be used/exploited by more nefarious forces – and would cringe at the prospect of a gloating British establishment on the off chance that England does go all the way. But it seems pretty innocuous at this point. (Anon) Just chill out F365 weirdos Wow some of the recent mailboxes have been strange. From being torn about wanting England to win in case Boris does something annoying, to the group of people complaining about English arrogance, it’s all very weird. Aside from the fact that people are just having a laugh as our team is performing vaguely well for once, have these people considered that the fans chanting might not actually think it’s necessarily coming home, but they actually just enjoy singing the song? Nobody was complaining at fans claiming Will Grigg was on fire and I’m pretty sure about 20 different clubs sing ‘we’re by far the greatest team the world has ever seen’. Just chill out and enjoy the scintillating show of attacking football England are providing us all… Louis (I thought football was meant to be fun?) A message from Germany My name is Nik and I am writing to you all to say, just enjoy it. The negativity, as well as the positivity have both been brought to the fore, but it is now time to just enjoy yourselves. A semi-final of a European Championship or a World Cup does not come around too often. Take it from a German who before 2018 and 2021 thought a semi-final was more of a formality, it is not. I am already looking forward to our next (whenever that may be). Southgate, the Players, the media, everyone just needs to enjoy this game. Win or lose. No one is to blame for failure. Everyone to laude for success. Enjoy it. Us Germans have not been able to enjoy one for five years. Nik (Hansi Flick is going to win in Qatar though isn’t he? won everything else…), Munich Spotting the w**kers You know that action film you really like, that one someone told you was crap and not as good as the 1970s black and white French masterpiece they liked? You know that album you said you like but someone insisted you were an idiot because it wasn’t as good as their first one when only they liked them? You know when you thought that someone was a wanker? They are the same people who are trying to argue that England aren’t any good and cant be enjoyed because they aren’t 1970s Brazil. And you were right, they were a wanker then and they still are now and you can enjoy this England, this manager and this team as you please. Sykes Read the full article

[all-about-wannaone]

Coffee Shop Love [Part 1]

Words: 5155

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst 

Characters: Park Jihoon x Reader (Y/N = Your Name) 

Plot: This might sound like your typical Korean drama scenario (cue coffee prince) where a barista finds himself falling heads over heels for a customer and vice versa, or at least that is what Y/N thought. Who knew that she might actually have met her first love in a place as simple as a quiet coffee shop off the streets of Hongdae? 

A/N: Yup, I am back with another fully written one shot this time around! At first, it all started with the picture above that I had found on Instagram and a scenario just formed in my head right then and there. This took me about 3 days to write and proof read and I decided to gift this to all who have followed me despite my lack of activity or have liked and reblogged my content, despite the many other great scenario writers out there for Wanna One. :’) I shall not hold you back any further and happy reading! ^^

Warning: Side character death, Lost of a “loved” one 

PART 1 | PART 2

“Good afternoon! Welcome to Angelinus Coffee House! What would you like to have today?” The cheerful looking teenager asked with a huge smile on his face.

Despite the cute greeting, it seemed to me that it was just not in his character to be so enthusiastic. However, I would not have asked it any other way. In fact, it was clear that he was one of the factors as to why this cafe was so popular in the area. Apart from the fact that they did have genuine coffee (as what my best friend claimed), but knowing her, there was definitely another side to the story and as far as I knew, it simply meant baristas who were, by her standards, “drop dead gorgeous”.

I did admire him for a bit, but snapped out of my reverie quick enough to focus on the menu instead and throw off some suspicion that I had been probably stared endearingly. Unfortunately, the menu encompassed a total of 5 boards, ranging from the usual coffees to teas to frappes and to smoothies. It was confusing to say the least and it did not help that there were at least 5 different types of coffees such as a Brazilian coffee, African coffee and many many more.

In fact, if one thought the variety was confusing enough, the teas were even worse. It probably had 10 times more items than the coffee menu, ranging from the traditional English Breakfast to exotics like a certain Earl Grey Lavender tea, ingredients imported from France and England.

“You seem a little confused,” the barista spoke again and I felt my cheeks getting a little warm the moment he pointed out my obvious confusion, “I’ll help you then!”

“First thing’s first, coffee or tea, or even something more on the frappes and smoothies?”

“Uh… I-I like sweet stuff so perhaps a f-frappe?”

Oh no Y/N, why the hell did you just stutter?

“Oh, that’s nice! I love frappes too! So would you prefer caffeine based ones or would you like some fruits to freshen up and spruce up the up and coming summer season?”

“Caffeine based would be good. I’m here to meet a friend to study actually and I hope that’s okay. My friend’s a regular, but she’s not here yet, so I figured that I would come in and order a drink first. For her, she would like the Vanilla Latte!”

The barista nodded his head with a smile and tapped in the order immediately with his fast and adept fingers into the cash register. I was not sure whether it was the exhausted me talking but he actually did look good when he was focused on his job.

“And for you, I have one last question for you,” He continued, making eye contact again, “Would you like something that tickles your taste buds or would you like a safe bet instead and see how the cafe fairs? You have not been here before so it’s only right if you try something that you are familiar with. We champion for comfort and satisfaction!”

I laughed at the last sentence, probably a bit too loudly, and he chuckled too with a cute smile and he looked as if he was grinning from ear to ear while his ears got redder and redder.

“Now that you mention it… Perhaps I will try the Vanilla Mocha Frappe! I just realised how much I drink those at the usual cafes so I shall have that!”

“No problem! You made an excellent choice and it’s usually the one which coffee critics come back for and oh, would you like a cake to complement your orders? Simply top up 4000 won each and you can earn yourself a cake, cupcake or even a brownie topped with some homemade artisan ice cream!”

“Thank you very much, but I think we would put that on hold first. Personally, I’m still a little stuffed from lunch…” And after I said that, I felt myself blushing once again and cringing at how much information I had spilled to this stranger of a barista. Yes, I was known to babble a whole lot but not this much to a stranger! Any more information and he would probably have known where I came from, which school I attend and probably what I wanted to be when I grow up.

“No problem! That will be 12,100won and please take a seat! I will attend to your order right away!”

And that was what I did, I paid him the exact amount and took my place at a booth seat in the corner of the cafe. I would not call it a quiet corner, considering that it was right next to a floor-to-ceiling window panel facing the street, but it was surely conducive for learning.

The sunlight was about right and perfect for Instagram pictures of food, treats and drinks. Furthermore, it had just the right music; chill with a little summer vibe to it, and it had just the right level of noise. It was not filled with endless chatter like the chains of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, combined with the endless whirring of the coffee machines and loud discussions of projects by both college students and businessmen. Here, they only had the latter, coupled with a few students who were either going to study or catch up with friends and should I say a visually attractive barista too?

I proceeded to take out the work that I had brought from my bag, laying it out on the table neatly, but I took notice of the barista again and this time, he was preparing my a Vanilla Latte for my friend who would be coming in later. He was already finished with my drink, to my surprise, and all that was left was the whipped cream that was said to be imported from Japan.

It was obvious that he knew what he was doing and handled the complicated machine skillfully. Based on what I had known from the Angelinus branch here in Apgujeong, they had invested in a handmade coffee machine. It had a chic and simple design with lots of different buttons and mechanisms (that I was probably bound to destroy if I was the one making them). In fact, he made the job of being a barista seem like he was also an artist, and that was also shown when he put his skills into making the perfect coffee art for my friend. To me, it was not clear what it was and all I saw was his hand moving in a smooth zig-zag motion at first, before ending off the entire demonstration with a straight line down.

Once finished with the finishing touches and the whipped cream, he placed the drinks on a tray and was ready to bring them to me before I heard an extremely loud and boisterous call, “Y/N-ah!! Wow, you sure are early. Sorry for the wait and hi Jihoon-sshi!!”

I buried my face in my hands laughing, as all the other patrons shot her looks of surprise, with some snickering, but she did not seem to bother and just walked straight for the booth seat before sliding in and taking out her stuff immediately.

“I’m sorry I took so long. There was a train delay at my place but I’m glad it wasn’t like the major one where lines 1,4 and 6 broke down. Trust me, if I wasn’t wearing these stupid shoes, I would have ran here. Hope we can get some stuff done today and have a productive one ahead. Wow, I’ve missed you and it’s been so long?? I’ve not seen you since… January? Or perhaps even Christmas?”

“Hi Y/F/N! Here are your drinks. One vanilla latte for you and one vanilla mocha frappe for you.”

That was obviously Jihoon, and he laid the drinks neatly towards the edge, so we would not have any chance to hit it away, together with some brown napkins and a straw next to mine. When we glanced at one another, he shot a smile and gave a small bow, saying, “Enjoy!” before heading back to his station and entertaining the rest of the customers with the same enthusiasm that he had greeted me with.

“Dude, could you just stop being so obvious? You’re literally shooting heart eyes at him.”

I blushed immediately at the comment and looked at my friend, only to realise that she had raised an eyebrow while shaking her head. However, her lips only curved up into a mischievous smile and said, “I know he’s adorable and let me just be really honest, he reminds me of you sometimes so hit me up if you want me to be your cupid!”

She gave a wink and I returned a glare, telling her to focus on her work instead as I turned on my laptop while she took her textbook and opened to the right page in order to attempt a History assignment (or at least that what it looked like) that she had been given. According to her, it was going to be graded and it was clearly an assignment that had probably caused her to pull her hair out at times. Then again, despite her playful tendencies, she was hardworking and incredibly intelligent so I believed that she would have no problem, if she stopped worrying.

“Alright, let’s focus, shall we? We’ll do it in blocks of 45 minutes, take a break and who knows, we might be able to purchase some cakes later too!”

After the rather productive study session, I found myself going back almost every single day. Sometimes, I did not come back just to study, but I found comfort in the ambience of the place. Jihoon was still there, skillful and attracting all the teenagers as usual, and I managed to catch some other baristas as well. There were quite a number and it was clear that they were pretty good friends and their names were Hwang Minhyun and Ong Seongwoo especially, who seemed to cater more for the college students and fresh graduates.

Sometimes, there were live music performances by the two baristas, Kim Jaehwan and Ha Sungwoon, who belted out hit after hit and it was not a surprise if all the patrons who sat there questioned why they would become baristas instead of pursuing careers to be a singer or an artiste. Apparently, Jaehwan had a couple of busking gigs in Hongdae, Ewha and Gangnam, and was pretty well known.

Indeed, it was almost like my third home when I just needed some quality me time. When I needed to study for a test the next day, discuss group projects or when I just needed to seek some comfort from all the CSAT stress, it was a perfect place to relax and unwind. Occasionally, I would nod off as I buried my head into my jacket that I had placed comfortably on the counter. Of course, there were times I felt like they were going to chase me out soon (these handsome boys definitely had peak hours) but it never happened.

In fact, when I did wake up, I would be greeted with a drink and a muffin or a cookie, depending on whether my drink was hot or cold. It could range from Americanos (which I did not like very much) to fruity, refreshing smoothies to matcha lattes to frappes or even hot chocolate. However, when it was a cold drink, there was always a note on a receipt which had my supposed order with encouraging messages and notes.

“There is no rainbow until there is a storm so hang in there!”

“I know school’s tough and it might not always go your way but keep pressing on, work hard and let’s walk through the path of flowers together.”

“H.O.P.E = Hold on, pain ends.”

Indeed, it never failed to bring me a smile to my face and sometimes the occasional giggle when the lines looked like it was something off a Tumblr dashboard. However, it baffled me on who could have given me the drink. It was impossible for me to order because I was in my beauty sleep and despite asking the baristas at the cash register, they would just shrug and shake their heads, but I did catch a glimpse of a smile once, but put it off because that would be impossible.

I tried to stay awake once to see whether this Mr Mystery Coffee Buyer would show up again, but it turned out to be different baristas whenever I went. There was no pattern and there were no repeats of the same drinks. Sometimes, it was also considered to be the “Secret Menu of the Day”, which was only meant for members of the branch. My friend had conspired all sorts of theories, including one that it might just be the baristas, but I played it off because to me, that was only a scenario which was too good to be true.

It either happened in romantic comedies, sappy Korean dramas and fanfictions. Sure, it might have been inspired from a real life encounter, especially for the writers, but it was a rare case and I surely did not want to think about any of that right now. Jihoon was only an eye candy, I would tell myself, but perhaps my body was telling me a different thing; my heart flutters when he smiles, together with the formation of butterflies in my stomach and there are times when time does not seem to matter as he puts his artistic talent in gastronomy to good use.

There was a day, however, when I had received a Chemistry test back, only to realise that I had barely passed it. I studied hard, I really did, but the results clearly did not have anything show for it. I did not cry in front of my classmates, but I sure felt like my heart had been smashed into smithereens, impossible to repair. I had wasted sleepless nights, experienced cram school programmes and even night studies, only to get such a score.

And once again, I found myself back at Angelinus Coffee. Jihoon was there, together with Minhyun, Jinyoung and Woojin. When Jihoon did wave though, I did not wave back due to the many thoughts that surrounded me. It was as if a yoke were on my shoulders and it did not help that the CSATs were a mere 3 months away.

It determined our future, our lives and where we would end up in. Friends around me were doing pretty well, scoring As and Bs and here I was, scoring Ds and Es. I did not really know what was in store for me anymore, but what I do know is that I could just use some pretty good me time; all on my own in the quaint little cafe which had grown to be a part of this difficult high school journey and I took my usual seat at the corner of the cafe, not facing the street this time around but the wall and as I placed my head onto my jacket, I could feel the tears threatening to fall and it did. There was no will in me to fight it and perhaps it would be better to let it all go.

Little did I know that I would fall asleep, and I was soon awaken by a soft tap on my shoulder. It was gentle, light and I almost did not feel it, but when the taps continued, I opened my eyes and squinted to get used to the dim light around me but I was greeted with a blanket around my body, a takeaway cup and a barista in front of me with a broom in his hand and face inches away from mine.

Yup, that was Jihoon and why would I be expecting anything different right? I nearly jumped out of my skin and I’m sure he got a shock when I woke up too.

He cleared his throat a little, before stuttering and telling me that the cafe was going to close for the night. I furrowed my brows and took a glance at the clock on the wall, only to realise that I had been sleeping for the past 5 hours, packing my stuff in a hurried manner and was about to leave with my steaming hot drink in hand and my books.

“Wait!!” A shout was heard and I turned around, only to see that Jihoon had changed out of his attire and also looked like he was ready to go home. Now that I looked at it, I could not help but chuckle a little at his quirky fashion out of his usual work attire. It was stylish in terms of the pieces that he had put together, but the colours were pretty striking to say the least. He had a pair of black sneakers with mismatched neon shoelaces, a yellow mustard shirt, black pants (the only normal thing in the outfit) and a red and white plait with some streaks of brown and grey.

“I-it’s late and I’m sorry for not waking you up earlier so that you could go home before the sun set. Don’t worry, I’ll walk you home.”

“I-it’s alright Jihoon-sshi. I’ll be fine!”

“I’m not sure how well you really know this place Y/N but it really isn’t safe. Trust me, there’s a reason why we close at 9.30pm.”

Looking at his expression, it was clear that he was serious and this was unlike the Jihoon that I knew, serving drinks and serving customers with a bright smile on his face. For some reason, I could see the slight sorrow in his eyes as he spoke, but he quickly turned away and told me to wait for him while he went to the back and packed his things.

“Let’s go!” He said in a chirpy tone once again, and he was back to the cheerful Jihoon I knew.

Once the cafe was locked up, we took a relatively quiet walk to the nearest bus station. I was walking on the side of the road initially, but Jihoon told me to switch places, saying that it was truly not a safe place around here in the night. In fact, it was clear to see why; the street lights were quite dimly lit and it was full of dark alleys which seemed to lead into nothingness and mystery. In addition, the only activity around were bars and late night eating places.

Drunken shouts and laughter could be heard in the far distance and Jihoon placed his hand on the small of my back, pushing me forward slightly. As we walked, we started to talk and I found out a little bit more about him, which was surprising to say the least.

He was a 3rd year student in the prestigious Seoul School of Performing Arts and he was apparently taking Chemistry (the same as I did), Math, Geography and Literature, while majoring in modern dance as an art form. I then proceeded to ask him how he was able to balance his work and school life, considering that he was not around only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He further elaborated that he was surprised he could even pass the years and I found out that he was a smart and intelligent boy, only scoring As and Bs for all subjects, including his art form. He said that he liked to listen to music too (which we found out we had similar tastes in) to relieve the stress and visit the arcade occasionally during the holidays with his supposed best friend, Jinyoung.

“Which bus do you take Y/N?”

“8604! My home is about 5-6 stops away from here!” I replied.

“Oh I take the same bus! We can go home together then!”

I smiled and nodded as we continued to sit there in comfortable silence and he continued to scroll through his social media, while I sat there and did the same, responding to the encouraging messages that my friends had sent to me. It was already late, but it still managed to brighten up my day and I was probably smiling subconsciously as I read their messages and jokes that they had sent to me in order to make me laugh.

Unfortunately, there was a question nagging me at the back of my mind. When I looked at Jihoon, he had already put his phone back in his pocket and continued to admire the city lights and the night scene around him, occasionally glancing to the right to look out for the bus. He had an aura of sadness around him, like he was actually carrying an invisible weight on his shoulders.

The once comfortable atmosphere became a little tense and sad. There was no other words to describe it other than tense, awkward, some stress and sorrow.

“Hey.. You alright?” I asked and Jihoon’s shoulders jumped a little.

“Y-yeah.. I’m fine. Just thinking, you know??”

His smile was a sad one, like something that he was trying his best to keep on his face to throw off any form of thinking that he was suffering on his own. I turned away to look for the bus, before glancing worriedly at my watch. The bus was usually fast and frequent but it did not seem to be showing up at all, and it was impossible that we had missed the last bus.

“Do you want to know why I was so worried Y/N? I know you were a little uncomfortable when I had insisted on bringing you home. Trust me, I’m not a stalker.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it! I’ve just never had anyone been so insistent, and don’t worry, with a face like yours, there’s no way that I would have suspected you to be a stalker.”

Wait, why the hell did I say that?

He actually laughed at my statement, before asking in a joking tone, “You know you should never judge a book by its cover right? Now I see why I needed to accompany you home, especially when you seem to be naive and gullible.”

“I-I’m n-not.” I stuttered and I felt my face going red for the nth time that day. I did not know what was it about Jihoon, but he sure had the talent for making a girl’s heart flutter and skip a beat with his gentle and soothing voice.

“I was just kidding,” he laughed before continuing, “Anyway, all jokes aside, I feel like you deserve an explanation as to why I was so… protective back there, especially since we have not known each other very much.”

My eyes turned to face him (after I had got over my embarrassment) and gave a nod, signposting for him to continue his story and whatever he needed to tell me.

“His name was Kwonhyeop and he was my high school senior. Not only did he have a unique name, but he was also unique in terms of his personality too. We came from the same neighbourhood, went to the same school and eventually became pretty good friends. Sometimes, he was not just a close friend, but also an older brother whom I could rely on in times of need. When I needed help in my Math homework, he would help me solve them and when I needed some money for lunch, he would provide it for me, without asking for anything in return.”

“He was a smart boy, and it was pretty clear that all the teachers loved him for just being himself. Girls chased after him occasionally, but he had made it clear that he wanted to focus on his academics first before thinking about the next phase of life and where it would lead him.”

Jihoon took a deep breath, as if he was trying to control his emotions and continued, “We walked here together once, after our interview at Angelinus Coffee, where I work now. Unfortunately, who would have thought his life would have ended so shortly? We were simply walking to the nearest bus stop and we just had to bump into a bunch of drunkards who drank so much they reeked of alcohol and smoke especially.”

“They told us to watch where we were going, but we ignored them and walked faster, but it was to no avail before one of the guys grabbed Kwonhyeop all of a sudden and pulled him into the alleyway. I tried to follow and even fought with the burly men in order to attempt saving my friend. I was not strong enough, and that served as my biggest disadvantage, because the last thing I saw was a wooden plank coming straight for my head.”

And at this point, I could hear the slight sniffle and how his voice has become more airy, showing how much choked up emotions he had stored within him, “And when I woke up, I saw him sitting opposite me, but his head was down and he had obviously been beaten up into a pulp. When I stood up, the world started to spin and I felt a certain warm liquid cascade down my temples but I ignored it, more concerned for my friend who now sat beside me.”

“Indeed, he was barely breathing and had clearly suffered multiple stab wounds in his back and he also had a gaping hole in his stomach. God knows if I let out a strangled scream but someone walking past did hear me and called the relevant authorities, but everything had passed by in a blur as the passer by told me to calm down and that everything would be alright. As the time ticked by, I knew better.”

His sniffles were more obvious now and soon, Jihoon was letting out choked up sobs. He did not need to say any more because it was clear that his friend, Kwonhyeop, did not make it through the ordeal. The latter was clearly someone whom he had depended on and looked up to, but he was taken away from him in the most tragic of ways. Hence, it justified his story pretty well and I could see the fear in his eyes as he relived his memory for the sake of providing closure.

I did not know what to do, so I followed my natural instinct and grabbed his neck, putting his head on my shoulder as the tears continued to roll mercilessly down his cheeks and his breath got more and more shallow. I felt like my blazer was going to be drenched soon with his tears, but it did not matter anymore. Jihoon had protected the naive me from the cruelty of the world out there by protecting me physically, and it was only right if I did the same, except that his was to protect his vulnerability and moments of weakness; more on the emotional side.

Of course, I provided him with tissues and he took it sheepishly before apologising, saying that it must have been awkward for me to hear such a traumatising story, but I shook my head and proceeded to rub small circles into his back as a form of encouragement and comfort. It was clear that he needed someone to be there for him, but apart from his “family” of baristas, I suppose he needed someone different for a change and it was probably too personal to go around sharing with anyone without any solid reasoning.

“Oh, the bus is here.” He said, wiping the remains of his tears and flagged for the bus. I, too, did the same and we boarded the bus together, smiling at the bus driver who greeted us with a bright and cheerful smile.

And we were back again sitting in comfortable silence, but I did not realise that Jihoon had, in fact, fallen asleep; probably exhausted from crying. Suddenly, I felt something hit my shoulder with quite an impact and I turned to look, only to be faced with Jihoon’s auburn brown hair. It was weird definitely, because he was actually taller than I was when we stood up and my shoulder must have been quite a distance from his head if he wanted to sleep just like that. I adjusted my shoulders a little bit and he adjusted his head, finding the most comfortable position and rubbed his head against my shoulder.

Also, it was only then that I had noticed his “god-given” features. He had doe shaped eyes, long eyelashes, a small (and adorable) nose with heart shaped lips that seemed to be tinted with a light peach coloured lip balm. He had good skin too and it was probably as smooth as a baby, to the envy of all girls.

When they said that God was fair, I suppose it did not really apply for Jihoon, apart from his tragic past. It must have been hard for him to go through such emotional stress, but he still put on a smile and seemed like the happy-go-lucky and adorably awkward barista that the town probably knew.

I did wake him up at my stop, and he was surprised to see that he was actually sleeping on my shoulder, blushing slightly and apologising that his head must have been heavy. I shook my head, and subconsciously went to ruffle his hair and he blushed even more with his ears and cheeks becoming the colour of a cooked lobster.

He walked me home anyway and we engaged in small talk with an easy going nature. It was clear that he was finally at peace and I could not have been more thankful that he was back to the Jihoon that I knew. I would not say we were exactly friends, but we knew each other to joke around, laugh and just enjoy each other’s company. Furthermore, I suppose the fact that we were the same age really did help to get to know each other better.

“I’m home,” I said with a smile on my face, “Thank you Jihoon-sshi for bringing me home. It was great getting to know you better and thank you for the hot chocolate too.”

He only nodded and smiled while scratching the back of his neck and walked off, before asking, “Wait!! Can I…. uh… have your number?”

“S-sure,” I replied and God knew why I was still stuttering, “No problem at all!”

“Y/N-ah,” and I hummed while typing my name and my contact into his phone, “Thanks for listening to me. It’s been a long time since I opened up my feelings like that and I really appreciate it. It makes me feel a whole lot better and hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

PART 2 IS OVER HERE! 

[agents-of-france]

With Good Intentions [from the archives]

June 17th 2016. Somewhere in the bowels of F.R.A.N.C.E

Now that he was working at the agency, things had changed, but not that much. There were still things that went unsaid. Days that went unobserved. It had always been like that, though. Even when he was a little kid. Eponine had taught him how to not care about these kinds of things. She had always said that it was just better to be grateful that things hadn’t gone wrong instead of hoping for things to get better. And while it was that kind of bleak state of mind that made life seem grey, it had served them both well. So when the 17th of June came and went without any incidence, he didn’t think anything of it. He didn’t need a birthday anyway. He was doing just fine without it.

There were a lot of things that Courfeyrac was quite good at. Being punctual was not one of them. His life before FRANCE had mostly been his timetable - when he arrived, things got started. Since coming to the agency, he’d gotten better about time, but sometimes things got away from him. First it had been the mission, and then they had sent the wrong size and he had had to go into Paris to acquire the right one, and then he had realised that he had forgotten to get a card, so he had gone to bother Musichetta for one. So now it was almost 10 at night and he still had not given Gavroche his birthday gift. Fail.

Courfeyrac finished wrapping the gifts (everything folded and stacked nicely in a box to protect it, and then covered in iridescent paper), and stood, hefting the box. Now he just had to find Gav. Setting off into the hallway, Courfeyrac hummed quietly to himself, excited to give his friend the gift.

[continue reading below the cut]

There was no reason for him to not work late that night. It wasn’t even a friday, he didn’t have plans, and the base was quiet. Usually if there was at least something going on in the common room, he’d hang out there, soak up the conversation, maybe beat Bossuet in another round of Jenga. But tonight just wasn’t one of those nights. He hadn’t been keeping track of time, and he definitely didn’t know that it was nearly 10 as he carried a stack of boxes up the stairwell to the main floor storage room.

Not finding Gav in the dorm, in the common area, in the girl’s dorm, or in the kitchen, Courfeyrac frowned. It wasn’t like Gav to go out this late. Maybe he was still in the archives? No, it was his birthday, he wouldn’t still be working. Gavroche was dedicated, sure, but someone would have dragged him out of the office before it got this late. Still, it was probably best to check. So Courfeyrac made his way towards the staircase, where he could hear someone coming up. “Hello?” He called, not wanting to startle whoever was in the stairwell.

Goddamnit did he ever hate stairs. Seriously. It was late, there wasn’t going to be anyone in the elevator to tell him off. He should’ve just… Regardless, it was too late now, and he was already a couple flights up. When he heard the voice call out it took him a second before responding, seeing as he was holding one of the boxes in place with his face. Hey, it wasn’t ideal, but it got the job done. “Yeah? It’s just me. I’m on my way up, please don’t block the stairway, I can’t see what I’m doing with my feet.”

Recognising Gav’s voice, Courfeyrac set the gift down around the corner where Gav wouldn’t see it. “You need a hand?” He asked, opening the door to the stairs to find Gavroche with a pile of boxes that ended above his head. “Gav! That’s not safe. Here let me help.” He ran to take some of the boxes from the other.

Gav’s sigh was audible. Like blatantly so. “Dude. Seriously. No, like, I’m good. You don’t need to-” He was cut off by the top box leaving his arms and his face being uncovered. “Nevermind then. I was fine, Courf. Totally safe. I mean, I made it this far. What’s another hallway after three flights of stairs?”

“Do not sass me.” Courf said, managing to keep a straight face for all of 30 seconds before bursting into giggles. He pushed the door to the hall open with his hip and held it for Gavroche before allowing it to swing shut. “Anyways, it's like 10. What were you doing downstairs?”

He shrugged as much as a man carrying three boxes can shrug, before passing right by him. “I dunno man. Sometimes I just like to carry boxes around for fun. You know. Work on my biceps and stuff. Also, bullshit, it is not ten. Last time I checked it was like, 6.”

“Mhmm.” Courfeyrac shot him a look. “Its ten. Don’t they have clocks in the archives?” He set the boxes he was carrying down and then stole the boxes Gav was carrying from him. “Close your eyes.” He said, his excitement creeping into his voice.

“No, they don’t. Well, they do, but they don’t work. I think it’s some sort of productivity thing or something…” He trailed off, as the other took the boxes from him. He didn’t know where this was going anymore. Some would’ve called it confusion, but Gav didn’t do confusion. Just doubt. “You know, if you wanted to be like helpful, there are other ways to do it than like, taking control of a situation I’m perfectly capable of managing, right? Like I appreciate it, but I’m good…” When he finally looked at Courf’s face, he trailed off again (it seemed to be a constant thing tonight). There was no getting through to him, was there? He had a mission, and Gav knew that he didn’t have a say in stopping it. So, begrudgingly, he closed his eyes.

Courfeyrac grinned delightedly when Gav complied, even though he knew the other couldn’t see. He went around the corner to get the present and then placed himself directly in front of Gavroche. “You can open your eyes now!” He said happily.

Something about the over-enthusiasm in his voice made him raise his guard just the slightest bit. He had heard the same intonation right before a glitter bomb erupted. It was iconic, but not a particularly a good sign. He opened his eyes slightly, coming only face to face with Courf. No glitter, thank god. It took a couple more seconds before he realized that the box in his hands wasn’t one of the boxes he had brought up from the archives. “What’s that?”

“It's your birthday present!” Courfeyrac had expected that to be obvious. “Happy Birthday!” He held out the box to Gav, still grinning like an idiot.

“My…. Birthday present…” On a scale of one to ten, he was pretty goddamn positive that he hadn’t mentioned his birthday to anyone, and he knew that Ponine wouldn’t have either. She was above that. So then how… He frowned. “Um, thanks? I think. You really didn’t have to do, like, anything though. It’s no big deal.”

“It's your birthday! Of course it's a big deal!” Courfeyrac was very confused. Birthdays were for celebrating and sharing with friends. True, it had taken him so time to find out exactly when Gav’s was, but he had managed. “Gav you’re my friend. I wanted to get you something! Plus, I think you’ll really like it.” Courf’s voice had regained its enthusiasm after its momentary dip into confusion.

Gav’s hand found it’s way to the back of his neck, fingers catching in the shaggy hair poking out from under his beanie. He really didn’t know how to react to this. He couldn’t turn him down, but at the same time he didn’t want to accept it… Despite the rush of guilt, the latter won out. “Really, thanks, but I uh… I can’t take this. S’not my jam, if you know what I mean.”

Oh. Courfeyrac imagined this was what puppies felt like when they got put out on the street. He didn’t understand why Gav didn’t want the gift, but he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable either. “Umm . . . well gosh Gav I- I didn’t expect you to turn it down. I did not plan for this. Umm, it doesn’t have to be a birthday gift! It can be a ‘sorry that I ran away from you and then you put the base on lockdown and we both had to go talk to the director’ gift?” Courfeyrac looked at him hopefully.

Gavroche sighed, again, audibly. Courf looked like someone had just kicked over his sandcastle. And as much as he just wanted to walk away, pretend it hadn’t happened, go on with not celebrating his birthday, he couldn’t. Well not in good conscious. Maybe Ep could’ve gotten away with it- she had always been better at things like this- but Courf was still his friend. He couldn’t just be a dick to him and expect things to be fine. Sometimes you had to compromise for friends. “I uh, well… Yeah I guess that’d be okay.

“Awesome!” Courfeyrac lit up, lifting the box back up to its fully extended position. “Here, I am sorry that I ran away from you and then you put the base on lockdown and we both had to go talk to the director.” He giggled, “Open it!”

He took the box from his hands, tearing through the wrapping paper as easily as one could with one hand. Setting the scraps aside, he opened up the box to find… Some cloth? No. Wait. He pulled it out carefully, the first of a couple items revealed itself. “A… Sweater?”

Courfeyrac did not understand that Gavroche was not delighted, so he shrugged, still smiling. “Yeah. Your current one is wearing thin around the elbows, and it's so cold in the archive room because they never turn the air conditioning off. Plus, it's super soft and you can dress it up or down. Should last you a good long while too, it's well made.”

Gavroche smiled slightly. This was definitely not what he had been expecting. Granted, he hadn’t been expecting anything, like, at all, but that was besides the point. Obviously Courf had put a lot of thought into it, which was weird… But also kind of sweet at the same time? He didn’t know how to feel about that. “Oh, well, um… Wow, yeah, it is pretty soft. Thanks man.”

“You’re welcome. I’m really glad you like it.” Courfeyrac was unconsciously bouncing up and down on his toes. He noticed and forced himself to stop, knowing that it was kind of a weird habit. “There's more.” He encouraged softly, excited to see if Gav liked the rest of the gift.

Of course there was more, Courf didn’t do things halfway. Reluctantly, he kneeled down on the ground and set the box in front of himself. There was no point in trying to stay standing if he already knew there was more than he could carry. Plus, it was just Courf, he wouldn’t care. Ponine, on the other hand would’ve never let him live this down. He looked like a damn child. Anyway- setting the sweater aside, he recognized the material under the next layer of tissue paper. “Courf, did you get me a pair of jeans? Not that I don’t like them, I’m sure they’re great and all, but why..?”

Courfeyrac happily plopped down next to Gavroche. “All of yours have holes in them. I didn’t want you to be cold. Plus, they’ll fit really well. Again, something you can dress up or down.”

Gav tried not to stare, he focused instead on the package in front of him. A sweater, the nicest pair of jeans he had ever seen, it was… It was… Overwhelming, in a word. Gav hadn’t wanted to accept the gifts purely for this reason. He knew that it’d be jarring, most things that you had never gotten accustomed to were. He replied, but it came out more like a whisper. “That’s… Really considerate of you… Wow… Um… Thank you.”

Courfeyrac smiled softly, “Anytime, Gavroche.” He had lowered his own naturally exuberant voice to match Gav’s whisper. He was just so happy that the other had accepted the gift. He worried about Gavroche sometimes, he worked so hard, didn’t ever put himself first. In a way, he was the best of them - and then they all went and made his life hard. He didn’t want to overwhelm the other so he said nothing about the other things in the box, letting Gav process.  

It was overwhelming, yes, but despite the flurry of emotions he was able to pick one out. Anger. Not towards Courf, though, but rather towards himself.  He hated this. He hated all of this. Something so simple shouldn’t fuck him up so badly. Little kids were able to accept gifts. Babies smiled and laughed if you gave them something, and yet there he was. A goddamn 17 year old who didn’t know what to do in the face of a fucking stupid, harmless, well-meaning box. It was his birthday for crying out loud, he should be able to roll with that. If everyone knew that you got gifts on your birthday, then why was this so hard?

Of course he knew the answer to that question, but he refused to think about it. Get in control. Work through this. He took a deep but shaky breath. “Courf, I don’t… I can’t take this, man. It’s really… Like, seriously, it’s really great, and you’re really sweet, but I just-” His nails pressed into the palm of his hand, focusing him on the situation. ��Like, I can’t. Can’t do it.”

Oh dear. Courfeyrac didn’t understand exactly why it was happening, but he saw some of the same signs in Gavroche’s body language that he felt when someone inevitably dragged him to medical, and he would not wish that on anybody. “No, no. It's ok Gav, it's fine. Really it's fine, please I didn’t mean to upset you.” He pressed his lips together, really unsure what to do. Normally when Courfeyrac freaked out, Feuilly would just hug him until he calmed down, but Courf wasn’t sure if Gav would react well to that. He ended up hovering awkwardly, unsure of everything.   

You’re overreacting Gavroche. Stop being such a baby. Toughen up. Boys don’t cry. Stop that. Go to your room. Despite the years of pushing it away, he could still hear their voices. He could still imagine exactly what they’d say. It made him angry, angrier, but it didn’t make anything any easier. He focused on the ground. Not the box, not the gifts. Just the ground. Constant and regular. “Look- Look. Man. I’m gonna level with you. I-I don’t, like, I can’t. I just.” It was hard for him to put it into words. He had no reason to not accept the gift. He certainly needed the clothes, but at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It felt inherently wrong. It felt like the start up to some sort of sick joke. It felt like it was something he had dreamed up and that then he’d blink, and it’d be gone again. It felt like too many things to try to understand at once. “I just can’t.”

Courfeyrac knew enough to know that there was something going on here that he wasn’t seeing. He also knew that now was not the time to ask. More than anything at that moment, he wanted to protect Gav from all the terrible things that seemed to haunt him, always carefully hidden away. “It’s alright Gav, it’s alright if you don’t want them, and it's alright if you do. I might not understand, but even a fool could tell that I was an ass for making you accept it. I should have left it alone.”

And just like that, he had fucked it up entirely. He couldn’t even control his own emotions for long enough to not alienate his friend.  Way to go, dumbass. He breathed, in and out and in and out and in, just long enough to get a full sentence out. “No, really you’re, you’re okay. Thank you, Courf. Seriously.” And that was about as far as he got before he stopped again. Focusing on the floor, the memories waging on inside his head. “Don’t feel bad.”

Except Courfeyrac did feel bad, because he should have known when Gav didn’t announce his birthday to the whole base that it had bad memories or something. He should have seen the signs. But instead here he was and he didn’t know what to do. Bad memories were different for everyone, and pulling people back to the present was hard. “Do . . . do you want to talk about it?” He asked after an awkward pause.

Over the years, one of the things that Gav had found to be really effective for coming back from situation like these was to just shut down completely. Focus on the floor. The hum of the air-conditioning. The cars passing by. The work in front of you. It always did the trick. Courfeyrac’s voice barely made it through. “I don’t think I can.” He couldn’t. Not unless he wanted tears. Perhaps even a panic attack, although it had been years since the last time he had had one of those. Ponine had taught him to see them coming and block them out before they could even start. It was all about being quiet. You made yourself quiet, and small and then it just washed over you, and before you knew it, it was over. Just like that. You took a nap and moved on with your life,

Nodding, even though Gav couldn’t see it, Courfeyrac frowned to himself. His one plan on how to help hadn’t worked. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked, not quite sure if Gav wanted to vocalise or not right now, but not wanting to miss some way that he could help.

“I don’t know, man. The moment I figure out a fucking magic cure-all for these things I’ll let you know.” That was probably a bit too harsh. He couldn’t help it though. In the tiniest bit of reality he could cling on too, he felt like shit, and he was angry, but Courf didn’t deserve that. He didn’t. Gav did. But not him. “Sorry. I… Sorry.” He had pushed down the panic, and the feeling of being overwhelmed and the dread. He made himself quiet and small and assured himself that it would pass. It wasn’t very hard to do anymore. He had a lot of practice. It would come back eventually, but for now, he could at least function. He had to be able to do that much. “I don’t… Think there is. No… I’m pretty independent in that respect.”

Refusing to let Gavroche’s words bother him, Courfeyrac sat quietly. He had a fair idea of what the other was going through, and he had no intention of doing anything to make it worse. He said and did terrible things when he let his past consume him, and he always regretted them later. He certainly wasn’t going force his assistance onto Gav. “It’s alright, Gav. You don’t have any reason to apologise to me. I just want you to be alright, OK?”

“Not fucking likely, but I appreciate the concern… I guess.” Just asshole your way through delicate situations, why don’t you? That always works well. He sighed. “I’m good.. I’m alright. Just, like, you know, not used to these… Things.” He prodded at the feeling he had just encountered. Taking one step further than he probably should have, for the sake of an explanation- albeit a shitty one. His breath came out shaky. “I guess. I don’t fucking know.”

“It’ll be alright, Gav. It might not be right now, but it will be.” Courfeyrac understood that Gavroche didn’t really do feelings. He had learned that from the years they had lived together. “You don’t need to explain it to me, I know how hard it is to explain.” He wished he could offer more reassurance, but it wasn’t like he handled his own traumatic past particularly well.

“Yeah… That’s it…” This was weird. He hadn’t wanted this to end in some shitty pity party on the floor of a hallway. It wasn’t his jam. It certainly wasn’t Courf’s. But he supposed that that was what happened when you couldn’t process something as simple as a gift. “Was that like, all that there was? In the thing, I mean.”

“Well, there is one more thing, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I don’t want you to open it, alright? My pride is certainly much less important than your mental health.” He should never have tried to get Gav anything. This . . . this was the very definition of a disaster. He had just wanted to make Gav’s day, and instead he had hurt him.

He sighed. One more thing. He could deal with one more thing. The night was still young, there was still time to hole up in the archives. “Could you just tell me what it is?” That seemed like a reasonable middle.

Courfeyrac smiled a little, he could do that. “It’s . . . maybe it’s stupid. I got you a pair of heelys.” He blushed, waiting for Gav to laugh at him for buying such a weird gift.  

Gav’s brow furrowed. “Like, the… The shoes with wheels in them? Seriously?”

Well, there it was. “. . . Yeah. I dunno, I saw them and they reminded me of you, so I bought them for you. . .”

“That is… That’s um…” He snorted, not that he’d ever acknowledge it. “Pretty cool, actually. Um. Thank you.”

Courfeyrac was a little surprised by this turn of events, but also delighted. “You’re welcome!” He said, not loudly, but with joy. “. . . Do you want to try them on?” He asked hesitantly.

He paused. “I do, but I don’t think I should. Like, erm, not right now?” He wanted to actually be able to enjoy them, which was just not something he could fathom being able to do right now. “Can I get a rain check?”

“Of course!” Courfeyrac wished he could help Gav, but he understood that the other simply needed time. “You can take as long as you want.” He said softly.

The corner of his lips quirked up into a smile. “Will you show me how they work?”

“It would be my genuine pleasure.” Courfeyrac said, laughing lightly. “Although I must warn you, the first time you put them on, you will probably end up on the floor.”

He rolled his eyes. “Maybe you did. But I plan on mastering these from the get go.”

Delighted by Gavroche’s confidence, Courfeyrac giggled. “And I’m sure you will. I’ve never known anyone more suited for shoes with wheels.”

“Well, I can’t deny that.” This was good. This was better. Not angry, not overwhelmed, just a little bit fuzzy, but still okay. He paused for a moment, finally taking the time to look around himself. At the hallway. At the box. At Courf. “Hey. Seriously. Thanks.”

Pushing his worries about Gav aside, Courfeyrac smiled at him. “You’re welcome. It’s my pleasure, really. I’m sorry I made you upset.”

“It’s fine. You didn’t know… I guess we’re kind of even, after the whole chasing you through the vents things.”

“Yeah, I guess. I shouldn’t have run away. Or hid under the desk. Or tried to jump out the window. But you know.” He shrugged, “I’m still not going though. I hope you know that.”

He shrugged right back at him. “That’s fair. And I’ll continue to not celebrate my birthday. I hope you know that.”

“Fair enough.” He said with a laugh, before falling serious. “I won’t tell anyone. I hope you know that. Your secret is safe with me.”

He nodded slightly. “Um, yeah, thanks… That’s great…” Finally standing up from where he had been sitting, he brushed himself off and grabbed the gift box, stacking it on top of the other non-gift boxes. “So I’m gonna… Like, go now. You know, work to do and stuff.”

Standing as well, Courfeyrac crossed his arms. “I get it if you need to be alone, but it’s like 11 at night. You don’t need to do anymore work. Get some rest, please.”

He cracked a cocky smile as he slowly crouched down to grab the stack of boxes. “Mhm. Sure thing mom. I’ll get right on that.”

“Don’t sass me!” Courfeyrac said, pretending to be flabbergasted and putting a hand over his mouth to mimic a shocked expression.

“Goodnight, Courf.” He started, along with his journey down the hallway. “I’ll try not to immediately ruin the jeans.”

Courfeyrac leaned against the wall. “Goodnight, Gav. Take care of yourself.” He smiled contently and whispered a very quiet “Happy Birthday.” Hoping that this would be a good year for Gavroche, and for all of them.

[inky-duchess]

Court Archetypes: The Pretender

There are always those who want the throne. They carve it, they need the power it gives... or else somebody behind them wants them to do it. Pretenders add a threat to any throne as well as interesting subplots for your WIP.

The Successful

These were all pretenders in their times but they won their throne and kept it for a number of years.

Stephen I of England: Henry I had one son and a daughter. His son died in a shipwreck, leaving his daughter, Matilda or Maud to take the throne on his death. During this period, England's empire straddled the Channel. Matilda was in France when her father died and pregnant as well. In her absence, her cousin Stephen seized the throne. So ensued a bloody war for the throne which Matilda was winning at one point, entering her coronation but was chased away by Londoners. Matilda gave up the war on the terms that her son Henry would become King when Stephen died, which he did.

Richard III: I like Richard. He suffered from scoliosis, remained loyal to his brother and had a fairytale-like elopement with his wife. In 1483, Richard's brother died leaving a twelve year old heir. Richard had agreed to act as Regent but after putting off the prince's coronation for months, arresting the boys maternal uncle and half brother, executing his dead brother's best friend and imprisoning his brother in the tower with him, Richard seized the throne. There is murkiness about whether Richard had the boys killed. The boys did vanish but whether it was Richard or another power, we can never know for certain. Personally, I think Richard was acting in protection for the realm which would have been endanger from civil unrest, the commons resented the Queen's family and there were other pretenders. Richard was a tested battle commander and the strongest hope to keep the country stable. I think he had good intentions if he went the wrong way about it.

Edward IV: Edward was the son of another pretender, Richard of York. When Richard of York died at the hands of Margaret of Anjou along with his young son Edmund, Edward took up the mantle of kingship and ousted the House of Lancaster from the throne, installing the House of York.

The Exiles

Some royals were thrown out of their homeland by either a coup or another pretender. Sometimes they're the hero, other times they are not.

Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie): I have mixed feelings about this man. He doesn't deserve the grand legend attached to him nor the kindness history gilds him with. He was a drunken fool who led thousands to their death like his shithead father. But his claim is just. The only reason barring him from his throne is his religion. His story should have been a fairytale, the prince riding to reclaim his family throne. But he died a poor beggar, drinking and lamenting past glories.

Charles II: Charles II was exiled from England along with his mother and younger siblings after the monarchy was overthrown. Charles was technically a pretender while Oliver "Dickbreath" Cromwell ruled England. He shot his shot when Cromwell died and restored the monarchy.

Henry VII: Henry had no chance at throne. Born of a legitimized bastard line and a Welsh line, Henry was not the first person people thought of when considering heirs to the throne. During the mess of the Wars of the Roses, he got closer and closer to the throne which meant he was a threat to the Yorkist line. He escaped to Brittany and then to France, where he waited for his chance. His mother helped orchestrate his two invasions of England, his second being successful at Bosworth Field.

The False

Some Pretenders are not pretenders at all. Some Pretenders are charlatans or mad men or perhaps greedy fools. Some are even almost successful

Perkin Warbeck (Richard Plantagenet/ Richard IV?): Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Tournai boatman, invaded England in 1495 under the guise of Prince Richard Plantagenet, Prince no. 2 in the Tower. He went to Scotland to garner support, winning a wife from the Scottish King. He rode south toward London, the country divided in opinion over his legitimacy. Was he the lost Prince of York? Real or not, Warbeck was defeated. Henry VII chose to be merciful offering Warbeck a place a court which he accepted. But the plots kept swirling about the mysterious pretender. In order to secure an alliance with Spain, Henry was finally forced to kill the pretender. Was he really Prince Richard? Some historians say no, some say yes. As for me, I am open to the theory that he is but I rather liked to think that if Prince Richard did survive the Tower, that he found safety somewhere far away and forgot all about crowns and thrones. Of course, that's just wishful thinking....

Anna Andersen (Anastasia Romanov): In 1918, the Russian Tsar, Tsarina, Tsarevitch and four Grand Duchesses were executed by rebels. Once that terrible murder happened, rumours began to spread that one daughter had escaped when they were burying the bodies, helped away by a young scared soldier. The rumours allowed pretenders to come forward pretending to be the youngest daughter, Anastasia. The remaining Russian royals met with several promising ones but they all cons. In Germany in the 1920s, a young woman began claiming to be the Grand Duchess. A few members of the royal family met her and believed her along with her childhood friend, Gleb Botkin. There was some evidence, her signature was the same, she knew somethings about the Grand Duchess's childhood and had similar birth marks. By the time DNA testing came about, Anderson was dead. They tested her remains and it was clear that she was a pretender. I don't like Andersen but I think that she did believe in the lie, she was emotionally disturbed person with a history of mental illness.

Yemelyan Pugachev (Peter III of Russia): Pugachev was a Cossack who led a rebellion against Catherine the Great. He convinced a great number of Russian serfs that he was the dickweed Peter III, who had died months after his wife Catherine kicked him off the throne. She may or may not have known about the assassination plot against his life. Catherine's armies obliterated the rebellion and Pugachev was beheaded, drawn and quartered.

The Puppet

Some Pretenders are just innocents who troublemakers gather about in order to gain power. The puppet pretender is always a sympathetic figure in literature.

Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick: Edward was a simple-minded child whose great misfortune it was to be born into the House of York. The son of the Duke of Clarence, the brother to two of England's kings, he was named heir to the throne by his uncle Richard III when his own son died. Edward was imprisoned in the Tower when Henry VII came to power. But though Edward was likely incapable of ruling, Yorkist rebels kept rebelling in his name. In 1499, he was executed at the behest of the Anglo-Spanish treaty. He was a harmless man killed for a throne he likely didn't even realise was his by right. It is probably the one of the only events of history that I hate.

Lambert Simnel: Lambert Simnel was a pretender to the throne during the reign of Henry VII. He was a schoolboy who was placed at the head of a Yorkist rebellion for the resemblance between he and the Princes in the Tower. He was put forward as the Earl of Warwick, who people believed had escaped the Tower. When the rebellion was quashed, Henry VII was merciful and had the boy placed in the kitchens as a spit boy. Years later, he went on to become a royal falconer. Nothing else is known about his life.

Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England: Jane Grey was named Queen by her predecessor and cousin Edward VI. This was mainly due to her being Protestant as Edward VI was a Reformer. Jane had not wanted to be Queen, claiming that it was her Catholic cousin's throne not hers. In the name of faith, she was pressed to proclaim herself queen, in which the heralds had to explain who she was and how she could be queen. People had trouble with the claim for a few reasons: the succession had never included her only the king's two sisters, her mother who she drew her claim through was still alive meaning her mother was ahead of her by rights and nobody knew who she was. Jane's ascension had been a grand plot hatched by the Dukes of Suffolk and Northumberland. Northumberland wed Jane to his own son only months before. But Jane was no shrinking violet. In her nine days, she told her husband that he would never be king only a duke, she wrote her declarations signing herself as queen and ordered Northumberland to head her armies in place of her father. When Mary I ousted her from the throne, Jane was glad to give up the throne but not her Protestant faith. After failed rebellions to put Jane back in power, Mary I had no choice but to have her executed.

[heartsoftruth]

Okay but from now on can SOMEONE ELSE win the Ballon d’or!? Messi and Ronaldo both got eliminated on the SAME DAY if that is not a sign that is time for new talents to rise and win I don’t know what is 🤷‍♀️ and i know I know they both are “greatest of all time” and blah blah blah....

I don’t think any of them will win it tbh. I would put my money on Modric or Mbappe, but Modric would be my fave. 

Anonymous said:I know that the France vs Argentina game was weeks ago but I am so happy that it was Argentina who got eliminated.

haha. Just asking: but why are you so happy they won against ARG? Any particular reason or just becauseeee. Again: I’m just curious haha. It feels like a long time ago already… The World Cup in total tbh. BUt I remember it since that was also one of the matches I saw in a café with ARG fans on one side (where I stood bc my friend was pro ARG) and FRA fans on the other haha (tho they were quite rude as I’ve also said). 

Anonymous said:Mbappé won a World Cup before Messi…. he truly is a rising star 💫

He’s a great talent. Truly has a great future ahead of him and I hope he stays as humble as he is now. I mean we all remember that run of Kylian vs ARG where he was so fast they just had to tackle him?

But let’s not forget the difference in other players for FRA and ARG. You can’t compare the team of FRA with ARG. In almost every position - besides Leo - they have better players.

Anonymous said:It’s sucks that he wasn’t nominated because stats wise he had a phenomenal season at PSG. The amount of goals he scored and assists he made imo is great. With that being said the WC just ended and even though he did a lot to help on the pitch that won’t be what many will remember about him. I feel like If FIFA were to put him in I’m afraid that people would tear FIFA apart again (like when they put him in the best of the tournament) and start attacking him againAnonymous said:I’m the Anon who just sent the last ask, I want to add something on. It’s sad to not see him on the list, but I’m happy to see Mbappe and Salah on the list though. And I won’t name the names but there are a couple on the list that threw me off lol

Yeah but I think for things like BDO - and this one too probably - they rate the Ligue 1 lower that the PL, Liga etc etc. So winning it and doing ok is cool, but he needs to go the extra mile. I think the topscorer for Europe boot they also rate Ligue 1 lower. 

I mean we are used to seeing Ney’s name in these kind of lists so it’s weird not to see him in it. but he didnt have a best season internationally so that’s very important also during a WC year. 

Yeah really happy with Kylian being on that list and Modric to in all honesty! They deserve it. 

Yeah a few threw me off as well haha. 

Anonymous said:I love ney, but i hope that now that hes not in the bests list and with all the wc memes he realises that his attitude on the pitch needs to change. Its ok to have a dribble football, we love to see that, specially brazilians, but he falls and acts way too much, and it doesnt help him or his team, its not possible that he doesnt see that. And its so boring the way he cant handle criticism, its always someone elses fault.

Yeah the dribbles and tricks he never has to stop with for me. I love those. But indeed I hope the drama after he falls goes away. Of course he falls when he goes down, but not the rolling etc. 

Anonymous said:What a mistake to have left Barcelona like this and so fast, he ended up with an injury, his image dirtied, a failed CL, a bad World Cup, he is not even nominated for The FIFA Best Player, he will surely not be in the 3rd place for the Ballon d’Or this year either and he is now stuck in a club where the League is weak and then nobody takes him seriously anymore, even RMA prefer Mbappé and Hazard now. This is really sad for him he must focus on himself and have a big relfection on his career..

*sighhhhh* Will we ever get over the fact that he left Barca? I don’t think I will… I dont think I will ever understand it either… I wonder if if he retires we will get the real story on this transfer… 

[chanaheimbach-blog]

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[bforbookslut]

ARC Review: Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais

This book was provided to me by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This review edition is an ARC and may differ from the printed edition.

I have given this book ☆☆☆☆☆.  It belongs to the Young Adult Contemporary genre. Pushkin Children's Books publishes it. It will be published August 8, 2017.

The blurb reads: “Awarded the Gold, Silver and Bronze trotters after a vote by their classmates on Facebook, Mireille, Astrid and Hakima are officially the three ugliest girls in their school, but does that mean they’re going to sit around crying about it?

Well…yes, a bit, but not for long! Climbing aboard their bikes, the trio set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris, their goal: a garden party with the French president. As news of their trip spreads they become stars of social media and television. With the eyes of the nation upon them the girls find fame, friendship and happiness, and still have time to consume an enormous amount of food along the way.”

“I don’t know. Maybe ugliness makes you wiser.”

Verdict:

If only this book existed during a time when I was struggling constantly with my identity, particularly my “lack of beauty” and overall fat-ness, it would have helped me understand that it’s not all about being beautiful or skinny no matter how much you’re bullied.

Perhaps, Piglettes is the best example of what a YA contemporary novel about coming-of-age should be like. It was first published in 2014 as Les Petites Reines and has won the 2016 Prix Sorcières, the biggest French prize for children’s books! So, you can imagine how phenomenal this book is. In fact, as Edelweiss informs me, film rights have already been sold.

It is funny and witty in the way only a French novel can be. As they say, French humour is strange. But it’s also evocative and along the way, you really root for these three girls. And it’s more than just about the competition. Mireille struggles with her relationship to her mother and step-father, fixated on her birth father’s identity. Astrid is the quintessential teenager, obsessed with meeting her favourite band and introducing everyone to them. Hakima and her brother, Klaus are politically-inclined. While bullying plays only a small role in the book, its influence is massive. It’s exactly what bullying is like. It seems inconsequential, brushed off but it has a massive impact. Piglettes describes and paints it in a positive way, how victims can reclaim themselves.

Without giving away too much, it’s about puberty, realising your place in this world and embracing yourself in every way possible. It is about the power of social media and how you can control your voice in the press. It’s about feminism and challenging patriarchy. It’s about falling in love, how the right person can help you become your best self. It’s about sacrifice and leadership. It’s about freedom, the ability to be and express yourself. It is about the hardiness of youth and how powerful the young can be.

[may contain spoilers]

You can tell how much I loved Piglettes.

Long story short, Piglettes is about three girls, Mireille, Astrid and Hakima who are ranked in the top three in a vicious and humiliating competition for the ugliest girls in their high school. The girls are ranked based on their looks and weight, two things that everyone struggles with particularly in school. The top three are called Pigs/Piglettes.

While Mireille is a repeat winner, both Astrid and Hakima are new to the high school and have never won before. Driven by a strange compulsion to make sure the two new girls are okay after this horrendous ranking as she herself was broken down over it when she was first ranked gold, Mireille makes it a mission to visit both Astrid and Hakima, particularly the latter as she is the youngest at thirteen. Driven by their own individual reasons, the three young piglettes make a plan to invade the heart of Paris and a very important party for very important people. With Mireille as the most confident and most outspoken one and Hakima’s brother acting as chaperone, they plan to cycle across France, hitched to a trailer and selling sausages as a way to fund their trip. Get it, they’re piglettes so they sell sausages. Along the way, they meet very colourful people who help them. And, the press gets wind of the journey.

The Bad:

I felt that Hakima was a token POC character because certain things Mireille says that I won’t repeat seem to poke fun at Middle Eastern people. But, again, French humour and all that.

Nope. I don’t have any other gripes with this.

The Good:

1. Piglettes really addressed coming of age in three different stages.

Hakima represents the ones who are just stepping into maturity. There is even a whole entire section dedicated to Hakima and the first time she has her period, how the older girls teach her about hygiene and take care that she probably has religious rituals when it comes to periods.

Astrid represents those girls who are just on the cusp of turning seventeen and eighteen, the time just right before you get responsible. It’s a time when you’re no longer a fresh teen but you’re not just an adult either. There’s a sense of carefreeness to how Astrid is written. It’s as if she’s just absorbing the world.

And Mireille represents the older girls, the ones who are moving on from their high school years. She’s confident in her own skin, extremely vocal and unapologetic for whom she is. She’s learnt how to transgress her bullies and the trash talking. She’s learning to be a leader and to care for those under her wing.

2. Whoever who did the English translation has kept the magic and lyricism in Beauvais’ writing. I’ve never read anything French nor do I know the French language but there’s always this pervasive idea that the French are more romantic in their writing. It shows through.

Here are some gems. They may be different in the printed and final edition:

“Astrid pushes me and I walk into the flat, breathing in deeply, since I’ve just fallen in love, after all, with the number one star in our solar system.”

“What’s magicial about a bike is that it’s a broomstick—a flying broomstick that punches holes through the air, obeying your merest thoughts; it responds to your fingers, your feet, your groin, you don’t need to tell a bike where to go, it knows—it’s a flying broomstick.

What’s magical about a bike is that it’s also a horse. A proud, athletic horse—that hurts its hooves sometimes, that whinnies and grinds its teeth when it stumbles into a pothole; you have to stroke a bike and talk to it. You really must—it’s a horse.

What’s magical about a bike is that it’s a clickety, metallic machine, a mechanical wonder; look at its gears and marvel.”

Conclusion:

Piglettes is a phenomenal read about coming of age and social issues. It seems like just another contemporary YA novel but Clementine Beauvais is a genius in how she has weaved so many complex issues about identity, feminism, family, adulthood and teenagers into one very entertaining, very well-paced novel that every girl should have in her arsenal and shelf.

[sportsleague365]

ENGLAND escaped Scotland with a point when it seemed they were going to win through sub Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s strike. Two Leigh Griffiths free-kicks stunned Gareth Southgate’s side before captain Harry Kane popped up with the late equaliser. Gareth Southgate…stunned by Leigh Griffiths’ two free-kicksEPAChief football reporter NEIL ASHTON looks at the big issues from this World Cup qualifier. JOE HART-BREAK TAKE a blow, Joe. Keeper Hart cannot be counted on after a string of high-profile errors in pressurised situations for England. It is admirable of boss Gareth Southgate to absolve Hart of blame for Leigh Griffiths’ free-kicks but England’s head coach must look seriously at alternatives. England’s friendly in France on Tuesday gives Fraser Forster, Jack Butland or Tom Heaton the chance to prove they are better. With World Cup qualification within reach, Southgate has time to bring through another keeper in time for next summer, or at the very least to put some serious pressure on his current No 1. Joe Hart conceded two late free-kicks from Leigh GriffithsRex FeaturesBut Hart absolved himself of any blameGetty ImagesHart has been traumatised by tournaments, with Gareth Bale’s long-range effort squirming past him at Euro 2016 followed by another disaster against Iceland. And England legend Terry Butcher reckons it is now time to axe him. He said: “Joe’s positioning was very poor for the free-kicks. “I’m disappointed someone of his size never got a glove on them. I think there is a case now for Butland to get a chance.” Neither Hart, nor Southgate, felt he should be blamed for either free-kick but a truly great keeper would have saved at least one. Hart said: “You set your wall up but sometimes there’s nothing you can do. The truth was Hart should probably have saved at least one of Griffiths’ strikesNews Group Newspapers LtdVideo preview: Scotland v England“He’s produced two bits of quality, he put it over the wall and the ball then picked up pace. “He took one with about a minute to go at Wembley and used a different technique. “It’s a free shot from 25 yards and his training has paid off. “We would have needed four or five Peter Crouches in that wall to make a difference.” Southgate said: “Joe has shown great leadership and much more composure before matches and that has been important. “For me the goals were two moments of quality but we will look at them.” When he does, he will realise it’s time for a change. GARY CAHILL — CHELSEA CAPTAIN NOT ENGLAND CAPTAIN GARY CAHILL must be miffed at being overlooked for the captaincy, with Harry Kane preferred. He skippered Chelsea to the Premier League title when the belief was he needed John Terry to hold his hand through matches. Instead Cahill emerged as a leader, scoring important goals, too. Gary Cahill...gave away a costly free-kickRex FeaturesHe was England’s most assured defender for 87 minutes on Saturday but will not be happy with the mis-timed challenge that led to Scotland’s equaliser. Neither was Southgate. He groaned: “When Germany won the World Cup they hardly conceded any fouls in their third — it is part of seeing the game through. We have to avoid conceding free-kicks to make sure they do not have the opportunity. “Great respect to Leigh Griffiths because they are great strikes but there are players with other countries who do that every time.” RASHFORD THE RIGHT WINGER SOUTHGATE was so desperate to shoe-horn Marcus Rashford into the side that he played him in the alien position of right wing. Given that Adam Lallana can operate in any of the three forward positions behind the No 9, it is a wonder Southgate did not start Rashford on the left. Although his first-choice position is up front, he made his mark at Manchester Unitedwith bursts down the left wing. Marcus Rashford...less than impressive against ScotlandNews Group Newspapers LtdJose Mourinho also used him there before promoting him to play in Ibra’s central striking role. Southgate said: “I don’t think it’s important for him to be pinned down into one position. “He has ability to play wide and central. It’s a good opportunity for him to learn the game. “The reality is who knows what his best position will be? We all feel it will be as a nine but he can beat players from wide areas. I don’t see it as a problem.” Not sure about that, Gareth. CENTRAL MIDFIELD MINEFIELD ERIC DIER and Jake Livermore will be expected to smother, say, Iniesta, Koke and Illarramendi (Spain), Marchisio and De Rossi (Italy) or Kroos, Khedira and Ozil (Germany) in a World Cup semi-final. It is not going to happen. England are struggling for top players in central midfield and Southgate is running out of options. Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson and Danny Drinkwater are all injured, which is the reason Livermore got another chance in the boiler room against Scotland. To be fair to him, he grew in authority as the game wore on. Southgate recognised that. Jake Livermore...rave review from SouthgatePA:Press AssociationHe said: “Jake was excellent. We asked him to fulfil a specific role and he did a disciplined job.” Beyond that pairing, Southgate is struggling. He added: “There’s no one else. You are talking about Michael Carrick and Gareth Barry, so it is a concern in terms of numbers and that is part of the challenge. “The task cannot be under-estimated. We hope some of the young players in the Under-21 or Under-20s can add to that.” DELE DILEMMA SOUTHGATE set England up so Dele Alli could play in his favoured position off club mate Harry Kane, but somehow it malfunctioned. He was a passenger for most of the game and England’s head coach was right to take him off. Dele Alli...didn't hit his Premier League heightsEPADele’s reaction — ambling towards the touchline — is not a good look for such a young man. He is a player with so much potential but he must accept it will not always go his way on the international stage. #GarethSouthgate #JoeHart #EnglandNo1

[remember-my-name-16]

This particular month’s version of the mostly samey questions I like to re-answer every now and then because perspectives change or whatever.

1: 6 of the songs you listen to most? Sad Dream - Sky Ferreira Right Where It Belongs - NiN We Should Be Together - Pia Mia Keep Running - Tei Shi Where Is My Mind - Pixies Realiti - Grimes

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? Someone willing to give a stranger in need lots of money.

3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17. I’m too depressed to move, that’s why I’m even doing this question thing again. All my books are on my bathroom shelf. Fuck.

4: What do you think about most? The unceasing dissatisfaction I have myself, I don’t know. With happy thoughts though: it’d have to be Joe. If he wasn’t here I wouldn’t be either.

5: What does your latest text message from someone else say? “Upstairs toilets Hun xx”

6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on? Depends how warm it is and what company I have.

7: What’s your strangest talent? Honestly couldn’t tell you. I’m pretty strange but not talented.

8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence) Girls love their daddies; Boys have healthy relationships with their parents

9: Ever had a poem or song written about you? No, but for my birthday this year a girl I was seeing gave me a framed poem by E.E. Cummings

It was adorable. She was adorable. Fuck.

10: When is the last time you played the air guitar? Yesterday, it was a nice day. A good send off.

11: Do you have any strange phobias? Commitment

12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose? Not to my knowledge. But that could just be the brown crayola sticking in my frontal lobe talking.

13: What’s your religion? Orthodoxy for those sweet stability events, local unrest and missionairy strength bonuses yea my EU4 bois know what I’m talkin’ about.

14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing? Sitting down and taking in whatever scenery there is, enjoying a warm or cold breeze and breathing relatively fresh air. Bonus points if I have a glass of old mout on the rocks.

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? Depends how vain I’m feeling at the time.

16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band? The Birthday Massacre, I don’t listen to them all that much but fuck me I love their aesthetic and atmosphere SO FUCKING MUCH.

17: What was the last lie you told? “I’ll pay you back with two drinks hun xx”

18: Do you believe in karma? I believe that shit people will be seen for what they are because eventually everyone’s actions catch up with them.

19: What does your URL mean? It’s a reference to Breaking Bad, one of my favourite TV shows, and used that play on that theme of the show to reference my will to be well, remembered.

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Most likely the same thing: I think too much.

21: Who is your celebrity crush?

Maisie Williams, this world doesn’t deserve such a cutie

22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

Nah

23: How do you vent your anger?

idk I go out and drink with ppl or something

or I don’t vent at all and bottle it up and break down after a year or something

24: Do you have a collection of anything?

I have kept some stuff that has emotional significance to me. Mostly from ended friendships and relationships. Things they gave me, or things I owned at the time and reminds me of the way I felt at the time, and how they felt about me. It’s a sobering thing to keep around.

I recently had a pretty bad few days because I lost something like that, I lost a necklace that a girl I was seeing this year left at my place so she had an excuse to come back to my place the next time she was around, when I ended things because I wasn’t ready to commit to a relationship with her, I knew she would get more attached, and she was too sweet for me to hurt. Although I probably did anyway, I kept the necklace and wore it almost all the time to remind myself of what I did and why I should always be sure about what I want before I get someone else who’d care about me invested.

Drunk me lost that necklace, hopefully it’ll come around, but knowing me. Yeeeaaahh I doubt it.

25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

If it’s with my girlfriend, video chatting. But other than that the phone is much less stress.

26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

Yes and no. It’s hard to explain how I feel about myself, but I feel experienced and weathered. I like my sense of humour, I like my level of emotional maturity for the most part, I’m certainly better than most. But I’m not really doing anything with my life, and I’m in a very bad place. I’d go into more detail honestly, but it’d be like trying to untie a ball of wrapped cables.

27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

The sound of a fork scratching a plate, seagulls yelling. And I love the elegant and refreshing sound of a drink being poured onto ice and fizzling up against the glass. Failing that a girl getting fucked moaning.

28: What’s your biggest “what if”?

What if I got good grades in school, and passed my A-Levels?

or

What if I managed to keep the people I loved when I wanted them?

29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Ghosts no Aliens sure

30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first?  Do the same with your left arm.

An empty bottle of cider I drank with my pizza just hours ago. It kinda sucked, but I needed something to wash down the pizza.

The pizza box.

31: Smell the air. What do you smell?

My aftershave, I put it on before I left to go out with Adam an hour or so ago.

32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

A half destroyed doctors office in Spain.

33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast?

East Coast, Californians are cunts.

34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?

Taylor Momsen xo

35: To you, what is the meaning of life?

Europa tbh

36: Define Art.

Europa tbh

37: Do you believe in luck?

Worst mechanic please remove from the fucking game why does god france with Elan get to have an extra +25% Manpower recovery speed are you fucking kidding me like fuck off I work for hours to build up a fair fighting chance to beat these big blue wankers and I lose a war I absolutely should’ve won because BEH FRANCE LUCKY BEH fuck off cunt no I don’t believe in luck

 38: What’s the weather like right now?

Nice ‘n’ Warm

39: What time is it?

3:55 AM

40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

Nah

41: What was the last book you read?

Fight Club

42: Do you like the smell of gasoline?

Yeah it’s nice

43: Do you have any nicknames?

God Hands

44: What was the last film you saw?

...Fight Club

Look, it’s a good story fuck yourself

45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

Almost lost my hand to a stray van door being shut on my wrist with pretty extreme force.

46: Have you ever caught a butterfly?

I’d be too worried for it’s safety tbh

47: Do you have any obsessions right now?

Caramel Ices Frappes and Tequila.

48: What’s your sexual orientation?

I’m part of the Bisexual master race, yes.

49: Ever had a rumour spread about you?#

Prolly

50: Do you believe in magic?

Magic must fucking exist because I don’t understand how Spain can defeat my clearly superior naval fleet outmanning them with at least 56 galleys in an inland sea. Must have a fetishist cultist cursing my ships or some shit like gtfo cunt.

51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

Only if they’re a megacunt.

52: What is your astrological sign?

Pisces

53: Do you save money or spend it?

T R E A T    Y O   S E L F

54: What’s the last thing you purchased?

Caramel Iced Frappe

55: Love or lust?

If you don’t have both yous a beech

56: In a relationship?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha kill me

57: How many relationships have you had?

3 that count for something

58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

Ye

59: Where were you yesterday?

DRIVIN’ WITH THE BOIS

it was really nice I haven’t had a day like that since I was 17

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

My sheets have flowers on them

61: Are you wearing socks right now?

Mhmm

62: What’s your favourite animal?

H U S K I E S

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

Revealing my inner demons and hoping they aren’t turned off by that.

64: Where is your best friend?

Sleeping next to his wife-tier girlfriend. kill me

65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr.

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

They’d all be porn blogs.

66: What is your heritage?

English with a tad Spanish.

67: What were you doing last night at 12AM?

Waiting for my fucking job to pay me so I could order something at the bar.

68: What do you think is Satan’s last name?

OSMANOGLU

69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

WORST MOST BORING OVERUSED QUESTION EVER FUCK ME

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

Sure

71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

If it’s a chihuahua I’m going to work lmao

72: How are you in the bedroom?

Only going from what I’ve been told I’d say I’d rate me at like an average of a 7.5/10 fuck

73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love.

P A R A D O X I C A L    Q U E S T I O N    T B H

74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Black Betty

75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

I actually don’t know but I cba to check

76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

Good Tea, Good Talk, Good Sex.

77: How can I win your heart?

Give me attention, a reason to go outside and blow me.

78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?

“Is water wet?”

79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

Dating Hannah, mostly because I realised I was good at sex, met Joe and went into a personality changing depression that made me a jaded cunt that barely takes life seriously.

Also as uncomfortable as I feel saying it now she was so lovely when we were actually infatuated with eachother so I experience the idealised “love” they show you in movies before I left my teens.

Mostly Joe though, best person I know.

80: What size shoes do you wear?

9′s I think?????

81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

”The last person who blew me gets all my stuff”

82: What is your favourite word?

Cance

83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

Something I desire quite a lot.

84: What is a saying you say a lot?

Kill me

85: What’s the last song you listened to?

See Me - Tei Shi

86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours?

Whatever colour cuck blood bleeds

87: What is your current desktop picture?

It’s been like this since I broke up with Natalie. It’s weird that I remember that specifically but yaknow

88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

Holy shit. So many choices.

89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

I don’t think I have one, there’s no point in hiding the truth when it always comes out in the end, even if it’s tough to stomach facing. That and I don’t really have any loose ends.

90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

Jerk off and see how they react.

91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

The ability to heal anyone I touch, with the added bonus of being able to control it.

92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

That one time Heather was fucking me so good and trying to make me cum so badly that she almost passed out from loss of breathe and I told her she should stop just in case she was in danger and she wouldn’t for like five minutes but eventually couldn’t take it anymore and I made her stop.

Seriously, ignoring the fact that she was actually the nicest sweetest little thing, and the perfect girlfriend, I will forever hate myself for even slightly hurting that girl, she had the iron will of a sex goddess.

93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Freddos going up in prices AGAIN

94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

Sky Ferreira or Pia Mia

95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

The Sun

96: Do you have any relatives in jail?

a guy in my dad’s side of the family got a life sentence for butchering his wife

97: Have you ever thrown up in the car?

I could have gone my whole life without being reminded of how bad I felt the one time that happened thx whoever wrote all of these questions

98: Ever been on a plane?

I’m a lower middle class western white guy...

of course

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?