#Spent 3-4 hours stuck in Wonderland one time

[trickstertox]

I deserve financial compensation for trying to play Kingdom Hearts.

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Ain’t Sayin’ She’s a Gold Digger: Part 4

Pairings: Sugar Daddy!Negan x Sugar Baby!Reader

Warnings: Sugar baby relationship, swearing

Word Count: 7,963

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the four months between getting the tickets, and heading to Burning Man, Jeff added seventeen countries and almost double that in states to deal with hotels that were going through the summer with bad ratings and numbers to your travel list. And while he worked, you worked with your new, temporary Burning Man assistant and your friends to organize everything you would need. It was chosen by the group, that now included Matt and Stacy, to join Kenzie and Stacy’s usual camp, which was actually a collection of make your own camps, to get the full Burner experience, and despite the fact that you felt like you were going crazy with Kenzie, who was the other natural organizer in the group, the trip came up before you knew it.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Jeff laughed as he finally drove his RV into Black Rock City behind the 26 foot U Haul filled with your contribution to camp- thousands of dollars worth of water, Gatorade, mini and regular sized liquor bottles, beer, snacks, granola and power bars, and a thrift store find stand up piano, that Matt was driving for you.

“Oh, it’ll be fun.” You giggled as you waved at someone Kenzie had been yelling out the U Haul window at.

“Did you forget, I’m an old man, sweetheart?” He asked with a glance over at you before turning to the right to head down to where your camp, Island Time was located.

“Did you forget that we decided you are seasoned, not old?” Kara asked as she held two of six boxes of decorations in place on the dinning room table.

“We definitely agreed on seasoned, your Majesty.” Dana called out from the back bedroom, where she was responsible for keeping the dozen solar powered coolers of ice in place. Your boyfriend groaned as your smile grew even more.

“Oh, I’m never going to let you live this down.” You giggled as you reached over and pat his thigh.

“Yea, and you’re just making me wanna call an Uber.”

“They have an airport!” Chelsea called out as she sat up from the couch, where she was holding a rope that connected the three massive shade tents, also named Costco Barns, that would make up your themed camp.

“Don’t encourage him.” You scolded as you turned in your seat to look back at her. “He will leave.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” She laughed as she sat up completely, as Jeff parked the RV on the left side of your camp site, and beside the U Haul that would turn into a ‘fishing pond’ for all the snacks it held. “Alright, let’s get unpacked.” You pat Jeff’s thigh once more as the girls in the back got out to start setting up.

“Just let go, sweetheart.” You told him as he set the emergency brake. “You are allowed to take a vacation and the company won’t crumble in your absence.”

“You are the only person I would agree to this for.” He said honestly as he dropped the keys in his cup holder and picked up your hand. “I love you, (Y/N). I need you to know that.”

“I love you, too, Jeff. So, so much.”

“Are you two gunna help, or are you just gunna sit there all day?” Dana asked as she grabbed one of the decorations boxes to carry out. You muttered ‘shut up’ and gave Jeff a chaste kiss before getting out to begin the long day of work. Kate, who was the mastermind behind your camp’s theme, started directing instantly, transforming the square of desert into a tropical wonderland. 

Your group had thought of everything, from a had painted directional sign that pointed fellow Burners to coffee, the Playa, the Deep Playa, City Center, the bathrooms, and of course, the Burning Man center piece and The Temple, to a bunch of tropical themed pool rafts to be used by whomever as seats. You had a blue tarp on the ground and the dyed canvas covers above you that Chelsea had painted to look like waves, and dozens of starfish, jellyfish, and fish toys zip tied anywhere they could go so they didn’t become missiles in a dust storm. 

There were four fishing poles laid against the U Haul, which had giant handmade banners on each side to promote your camp, and they were set up for ‘fishing’ with baskets on the end of the 100 pound test line that Jeff swore would hold up for what you needed it to. And the piece de le resistance of your camp was an inflatable palm tree cooler, that would have ice cold drinks for anyone passing by that needed one, that would sit directly in front of the piano you had brought to play as yet another contribution to the Burning Man community.

“It’s perfect.” Dana said with a proud smile as you on Jeff’s shoulders, and Chelsea on Matt’s strung up the last strings of blue lights in the canopy.

“I would hope so.” Kate said with a nod. “I busted my ass to figure out this design.”

“Hey! Beach girls!” A guy called out as he rode by your camp on his bike. “Nice idea!” You all yelled thanks as Jeff kneeled down so you could climb off.

“Damn, it’s hot.” He sighed as he sat down on one of the couple chairs you had brought. You nodded in agreement and used your already dust covered shirt to wipe off your face.

“I need a shower.”

“Get used to being dirty.” Kenzie said as she just took off her shirt and tossed it on a chair on her way over to grab a the reusable water bottle with her name on it so she could fill it up from the sink on the outside of the RV.

“So are we getting ready to open here or what?” Matt asked as he helped Chelsea dump ice from one of the solar power coolers into the palm tree cooler.

“Yea, someone throw up the fishing sign.” You said as you two pulled off your shirt and headed inside to get dressed. “I’ll go get ready.”

——

“Oh, do you know ‘Piano Man’?” A girl asked as she skipped up to your piano with a champagne slushy from a few camps down. You glanced up at her and nodded as you set down your mermaid patterned water bottle, that was currently filled with rum and coke and adjusted your shell patterned bikini top.

“I wouldn’t be a piano playing mermaid if I didn’t!” You cried as your fingers moved from playing a random melody to the newest request. You started playing over the cheers of a man, who had gotten a mini bottle of Jäger and a bag of Goldfish in his fishing pole bucket, as the girl in front of you cheered and started singing with you, and the group that had collected in your tent at some point since the sun went down. You glanced over at Jeff, who had decided months ago that he was going to be on whatever shift you were on, and gave him a slightly knowing smile, since his only job was to make sure ice was being made in the ice genies you had filling your freezer, and that the ice that was melting was draining into a new one to make more ice as needed. 

He’d spent most of his evening simply watching you, and holding up polite conversations with people that had come in to your tent and had some how slipped past Matt, and Stacy, who were on an entertainment shift with you in the main part of your camp, while Dana played ‘fish’ in the fan filled U Haul, and the other girls rode around to check out some of the rest of the camps. You couldn’t help but fall even more in love with him like you had every day for the past couple months. He was just entirely too good for you, and you didn’t ever want to be away from him.

“Alright, guys, I’m gunna take a break for a few hours.” You said when you saw Kenzie and Kara on their bikes. “Put requests in the fish bowl!”

“We’re switching out?” Matt asked as grabbed a beer from the palm tree.

“Yea, we’re gunna go burn a while.” You said as you adjusted your mermaid scales bottoms on your way over to the U Haul. You yelled your intentions to Dana, who was going to switch places with Kenzie for the second shift of fishing, and grabbed your heavily decorated with bright neon blue LED battery power lights beach cruiser.

“You know, I don’t know if I remember how to ride a bike.” Jeff said softly as he grabbed his matching, mixed color bike from next to yours.

“I’ll make sure you don’t fall or embarrass yourself, my love.” He leaned over and kissed your temple as you grabbed your alcohol filled bottle and a water filled one as well and stuck them in your basket. “Alright, let’s…”

“Hey wait!” The girl that asked you to play Piano Man said as she came running out to the road. She smiled at you and held out a pair of pills. “Thank you. For my song.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to…”

“Take them.” She giggled as she grabbed your hand and put the two pills in your palm. “Happy Burn.” You nodded at her and looked over at Jeff with a smile.

“Just don’t think.” You said as you put a pill on your tongue, grabbed the back of his head, and kissed him roughly. You could feel him tense up the slightest bit as you pushed the pill between his lips with your tongue, but after a moment, he loosened up, and let you give him the ecstasy. 

“What kinda bad influence are you?” He laughed as you popped your pill in your mouth and followed it with a swig of your drink.

“One that you love.” You cooed as you straddled your bike and put your feet on the pedals. “You coming?”

“I guess I am.” He sighed as he got on his bike and briefly wobbled after you before he gained his confidence and pulled up to your side. “Thank you for not letting me back out.”

“Well look at it this way now.” You said as you grabbed your head lamp from the basket, switched it on, and put it on your head. “I just did ecstasy and am headed out to la Playa at prime time in Burning Man time in a bathing suit.”

“Yea, and if you walk more than five feet away from me at any point in time, I’ll take you to Europe, steal all of your things, and leave you there for a week to fend for yourself.”

“Oh, that sounds dangerous.” You teased as you pulled into the center of Black Rock City. You rode over to where a group of bikes and parked yours in the line with the rest, making sure to lock the wheel to the frame just in case someone drunkenly confused your bike with theirs.

“I don’t dance.” Jeff yelled at you over the music.

“You don’t have to.” You laughed as you laced your arm with his and pointed the farthest camp on the edge. “How about we start there and work our way down the line until the E kicks on?” With a nod, he reached out for your hand and laced his fingers with yours to walk with you. It only took about an hour for the drugs to kick in, and in that time you had been gifted a rubber bracelet for the event because you had pretty hair, a few glow stick bracelets and necklaces which made you realize you forgot yours in the RV, and more than a few shots and drinks. And as you were talking to someone about your time in Juilliard, and disagreeing with them on why your Burning Man nickname should not be ‘Keys’, you realized that Jeff was lost in his roll and the softness of your skin on the back of your neck.

“You OK?” You laughed at him when you had a moment break in the conversation.

“Why is your skin so soft?”

“Because you’re high, baby.” You laughed before saying a quick ‘see you later, come see us’ so you could hunt down your bikes before you got lost in the sensation, too.

“You’re back quick.” Dana said as you pulled up to the campsite and got off your bike.

“Yep.” Kenzie, who was sitting right next to her took one look at you before sitting up and turning to the group.

“OK, someone needs to turn the music up right now so we don’t have to hear them fuck!”

“God, you’re impossible.” You laughed as you headed in to the RV with Jeff’s hand in yours, while the people under your tent cheered for you. The second the door closed behind you, you kissed your boyfriend and walked him back to the king sized bed, closing the door only a couple seconds before your clothes hit the floor.

“Fuck, baby girl.” Jeff sighed when he got you completely undressed, and laid out on the blankets. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You know, I’m honestly surprised you lasted the entire week.” You admitted to Jeff, as he held the door to room one of four suites so you and your friends could shower off and have a good night sleep before you flew home. He huffed at you as your friends all tiredly headed into their rooms beside and across the hall from you to shower and wash off the six layers of dirt and catch up the dozens of hours of missed sleep.

“That is only because I wasn’t leaving my gorgeous girlfriend alone in the desert with that many drugs, and that many naked people.” You snorted a laugh through your nose, dropped your purse on the floor just inside the door, and kicked off your shoes in opposite directions on the way to the shower. “Hey, who said you could go first?”

“I will kill you if you think you are getting in before me.” You growled as you pulled off your clothes and got into the shower. “Get in here and help me.” You whined as you stood out of the way of the shower spray and turned the water on.

“So needy.” He huffed as he stripped out of his clothes and stepped in the shower in front of you. With a content sigh, you wrapped your arms around his waist and rested your head on his chest.

“This is all I need in life anymore.” You told him as you watched dirty water wash through and around the soft hairs on his chest. You adjusted your cheek and sighed once more as he grabbed a bar of soap and washed you off in lazy circles.

“Move in with me.” Those four words made your stomach flip as you looked up at the first man that had ever made you feel worth while, and nodded your head without needing to give the proposition any thought otherwise. 

“I’m taking a long nap first.” You replied with a smirk as you laid your head back down on his chest.

“I think that can be arranged, baby girl.”

The next two weeks of your life was a complete whirlwind as you packed up all your belongings, moved across Central Park to Jeff’s Upper East Side home, and helped Chelsea move out of the four bedroom hell hole she lived in with 3 total wack jobs and a horrible landlord since she spent half the time sleeping on your couch as is, and into your old room. But just as you were getting everything settled, you caught some kind of stomach bug that turned out to be something way more serious.

Jeff stood pin straight still, and dead silent, as you both stared at the door of the hospital room you were in- a trip you made because he couldn’t take one more night of you throwing up and writhing on the bathroom floor in pain. You had no idea what he was thinking, but then again, neither did he. You were both just absolutely terrified.

“Are they OK?” You both asked the second the doctor walked into the room.

“Let’s just take a look, OK?” He said with a reassuring smile. You couldn’t bring yourself to believe him as every single drug you took in Black Rock City ran like a bad movie in your head. You reached out for Jeff at the same moment he took a step toward you, as the doc grabbed the ultrasound wand. You actually held your breath as he located the two side by side blobs and nodded his head.

“They look fine.” You exhaled forcefully and burst into fear and joy fill tears, as Jeff sat down in the chair next to you in relief. “Two healthy babies.”

“We did a lot of drugs.” Jeff said as he worried your hand between his as he stared at the monitor. “And a lot of drinking at Burning Man...” 

“And all I can say on that is get in touch with an OBGYN, and disclose everything. I won’t lie to you, there could be some consequences, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I’ve seen drug addicts who used everyday of their pregnancy and had perfectly functioning, otherwise healthy babies. I’d just refrain from any and all alcohol consumption and drug use.”

“Oh absolutely.” You said with a nod as you took the two photos he handed you and held the delicately in your hands. “I’ll do everything by the book.”

“Just don’t worry to much about what you did. Focus on what you can do for them now.” You nodded your head and took the paper script from him, which Jeff took from you right after. “Something to help with the nausea. And I’ll have the nurse bring in a list of some OBGYN’s in town for you as well.”

“Thank you, doc.” Jeff said with a nod as he stood up and shook the man’s hand. “We appreciate it.” With another nod, the doctor left the room to go about his day, and you looked up at the father of your children and started to cry.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” He shushed you softly and shook his head as he leaned down to wrap you in a hug.

“It’s ok, baby girl.” He whispered as he held you to his shoulder with his hand on the back of your head. “I’m not mad. It’s OK now. We’ll all be OK.” You nodded for a second before your stomach rolled, and you practically shoved him away to grab the vomit bag the nurse had given you to get sick in. “It’s OK.” He repeated as he gently rubbed your back and picked up the ultrasounds from your lap to look at them in complete disbelief. “We’re all gunna be alright.”

——

Jeff didn’t speak to you for three days after you got home, other than to check to see how you were feeling, and to remind you he loved you every night as you walked out of the living room to the master bedroom without him, which was unusual for him, since you usually went to bed together. On the fourth night, you got fed up with laying in his bed, waiting for the man that you had fallen head over heels in love with, the father of your children, and grabbed your pillow and the blanket to head down to the guest bedroom. You made it almost all the way to the door, when it opened toward you. Jeff stopped for a moment and looked at you with eyes full of concern, as you hiked the blankets and your pillow up a little more. 

“No.” He said simply with a shake of his head, as if it were the answer to all of your problems.

“No, you no!” You snapped back as tears welled in your eyes. “I’m going…”

“I always wanted kids.” He sighed as he stepped in front of you and pulled the blanket out of your arms to put it back on the bed. “Hillarie couldn’t conceive. And the few times she did, we miscarried before the end of the first trimester.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you know that fear doesn’t go away?” He asked as he walked you around to your side of the bed. “Fear that you’re going to blink and everything is going to be ripped away from you, that doesn’t just go away.” He sighed as he pulled off his shoes and carefully laid you down on the bed so he could get in behind you. As if you were China doll about to break, he scooted up behind you as close as he could, and gently wrapped his arm under yours across your chest. 

“(Y/N), I’m so sorry I’ve pulled away from you. It is absolutely not your fault, or the fact that you are pregnant. I love you so fucking much and I need you with me every fucking day for the rest of my life. And now I need our kids just as much, but I’m fucking terrified. I can’t… I can’t…”

“I’m scared too.” You whispered as you pulled his arm even closer to you. “What if I fucked them up?”

“Then we will figure it out together, baby.” He sighed as he hugged you a little tighter. “I’m sorry I pulled away. I needed a minute and I never should have taken it silently without telling you what I was doing. That was not fair to you. I’ve just never been good at handling hard life shit.” You shook your head in agreement and sniffled as your tears fell on his arms and your pillow. “I’m sorry. Forgive me…” You nodded your head and rolled over to face him, and he held you to his chest as his own tears welled in his eyes.

“Just tell me it’s gunna be OK.” You sobbed as you held on to his shirt so he wouldn’t leave when you voiced your insecurities. “Tell me I didn’t kill our babies at stupid fucking Burning Man or that they aren’t going to end up blind, or with only one limb between them….”

“No, shhh…” He tried with a shake of his head as he realized that you were dealing with different versions of his same fears about the situation. “Our babies are going to be just fine. Unless they’re boys… then we’re both screwed.”

“No, I want boys!” You whined as he leaned back enough to kiss your forehead and wipe away your tears for you.

“Then we are going to have two, healthy boys, that have all ten fingers and all ten toes each, in their right places, on the right babies. And they’re gunna be smart, and handsome, and funny, and…”

“Perfect?” He nodded his head as he moved his hand to your stomach with as big of smile as his nervous self could handle.

“They will be perfect.”

——

“OK, you understand that I’m supposed to be peacefully resting at home, right? Not looking at new houses…”

“You’ve taken over my closet.” Jeff laughed as he held the elevator door open on the fourth floor of the millionth condo you had seen in the past six week. “And it’ll only be a matter of time before you start taking over the one in the guest bedroom. Besides my place is more of a bachelor pad still. It’s not really kid friendly…”

“I know what you’re doing.” You said as you stopped in front of 4B and turned around to look at him as you put your hand on your back and cocked your eyebrow at him. You pointed at the bump that officially stuck out past your boobs and shook your head. “We made it to the second trimester. You don’t need to distract yourself...”

“But we still need a bigger house.” He chuckled as he leaned towards you to knock at the door. “One that you can decorate for our family and not my assistant for my tastes.”

“Whatever.” You huffed as you turned toward Jeff’s real estate agent, Mark. “So? Let’s hear it.”

“Four beds, three and a half baths.” Mark started as he walked backwards into the living room. “Thirty five hundred square feet, and washer and dryer in the unit.”

“Big kitchen?” You asked as you curled your lip at the hideous purple painted book shelf in the study to your left off the living room. “Eww…”

“Big kitchen.” Mark agreed as Jeff followed you around, taking mental notes about the things he would need to change for you to make this the house you wanted to start your family in since he didn’t mind one bit where he lived as long as you were there with him.

“God, who designed this place?” You asked as you turned around and looked at weird, bell shaped light on the far side of the open concept room in what had to be the dining room. “Schools?”

“7, 2, and 8 out of 10.” He said as he looked at his notebook to get the answers to the questions he knew you were going to ask since he had been working with you for a few weeks. “The building was built in 1906 and was last coded in 2019. Been on the market five days and it’s already seen three people.” You shook your head as you peaked into the half bath and the walk in pantry across the way, before heading into the absolutely gorgeous white and grey kitchen, thats only blemish was the colored cushions on the bench in the breakfast nook in the corner, and more of the same strange gold bell lamp shades. 

“This could be a play room.” Jeff said as he looked at the den that backed the kitchen.

“You have another closet back there. And the laundry room with a sink is over there.” You nodded your head and glanced down the hall that lead to the bedrooms, as Jeff came up behind you with a smirk.

“You are poker facing awful hard, baby girl.”

“Other than paint, and changing light fixtures, I love it, but I’m not telling him that.” Your love huffed and nodded his head as you walked over to look at the actual laundry room with a sink, cabinets, and counter space, and the large walk in closet.

“It also has 3-zone central AC, a humidification system, and radiant-heated floors in the bathrooms. And it has a part time doorman, a live-in super, more added storage, and a bike room. The walk score is 98, and transit is 100. Now I think is the cutest part of the house is this room right here. I know Mr. Morgan said you were having twins, and this is perfect already if they are girls, or it can be painted for boys…”

“Oh, wow.” You said as your facade slipped for only a moment when you saw the built in bookshelves on one wall, and the already built in bunk beds next to the long closet on the other. You glanced up at Jeff with a smirk you couldn’t control, and he kissed your forehead in silent confirmation.

“What are they asking?”

“$5,375,000.” Jeff whistled as you looked at the similar room across the hall, that had the same bookshelves on one wall but a small ensuite on the other wall. 

“HOA?”

“It’s a little higher than the rest.” Mark said as he followed you and Jeff through the second to last bedroom, and the bath that it shared with the room with the bunk beds. “$5,018”

“Can you give us a minute?” Jeff asked as you stepped into the last room, the master bedroom.

“You may not have enough room in this closet either, baby.”

“Finally found one you like?” You finally let your smile show, and nodded your head as you turned on the wood floors that ran through all of the bedrooms toward him. He sighed and put his hands on your hips with a small smile that made your heart melt and your stomach flip. “Do you want it?”

“Do you?” He nodded his head and searched your eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“I’m gunna say the same thing I said to Hillarie when I bought our first house. This house will be our house, until the day comes when you don’t want me here anymore, which hopefully is never. But if that day comes, this house will still be yours, and our kids, for the rest their lives… unless you cheat on me, or if you attempt to steal money from me, which yes, it is possible, because I watched my ex-wife try to do it. Not saying you would, but I still need to lay the rules out…”

“Wait… you’re giving me a house?”

“No.” He chuckled as he moved his hands to the small of your back to hug you. “I’m buying us a house, that I’m going to put your name on as well, so that we both know that you and our children will always be taken care of. Because you are the real love of my life… and I need to know that you are safe.” You couldn’t help yourself but to start crying, and his smile simply grew more as he leaned down and kissed your forehead. “Wanna walk through it one more time to make sure you really love it?”

“Yes…”

“Well go on then.” He chuckled before giving you a chaste kiss. “I’m going to talk price and see if I can get them to do a short sale so we can get in here and get that purple book shelf painted…”

“Eww and change those horrid light shades, please!”

“We can find some new light shades, sweetheart.”

“Hey baby!” You called out before he could walk out of the room. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“Anything for you, baby girl.” You blew him a kiss and turned to look at the small white and bronze accented bathroom, that would have to have to be redone in some actual color, before heading back over to the bedroom with the bunk beds.

“This is gunna be your room one day, babies.” You whispered as you rubbed your bump and looked down at your babies as the reality that they would never have to live the life you did growing up caught up with you. You started to cry again as you looked up at a giant giraffe stuffed animal the owners kids owned, and choked on your tears with a laugh. “God, and I promise I will never buy you two something so tacky.”

——

“OK, this is just not fucking fair.” Dana said as she walked into your new, freshly painted, co-decorated, slightly remodeled home for your gender reveal. “This place could fit my house like ten times over!”

“She looked at about a million and one to find this one.” Jeff teased as he took the giant basket she was carrying from her.

“What’s in the basket?” You asked as you pushed the front door closed and took a step toward your boyfriend, only to have him turn away and Dana step in front of you.

“You can open it later.” She laughed as she turned you around and pushed you into your living room. “Now show me around. Be a good hostess before everyone else gets here.”

“Oh, Jesus I can’t even… You’re so needy!”

“Oh, I know! It’s so hard to be a good host.” She laughed back as she followed you to the kitchen, where you had dozens of finger foods and desserts in pink and blue.

“OK, wait. You have to place your vote.” You said as you pointed to the dry erase board you had borrowed from her office. “Two boys, two girls, or one of each. And then you have to wear the beads.”

“Oh, I like it!” She said as she lifted the two strands of blue beads from around your neck. “You want boys?”

“Oh, I need boys.” You said as you held out a few dry erase markers for her to choose. “Dana, we’re girls. Do you remember how much trouble we got in to?”

“Yea, but so do boys.” She pointed out as she drew a mark under the one boy, one girl column and picked up one of each necklace.

“Yes, but boys listen to their mothers.” You reminded her as you want over and grabbed a glass of blue raspberry lemonade and a blue straw from the table of the breakfast nook. “Come on, you have to see the boy’s room.”

“What if it’s one and one?”

“Then I guess I’m just going to have to recreate the room on the other side? I don’t know. I do know that I’ve grown to hate this purplish pinkish bleck shade they had in here…”

“Oh, that’s really cool. But I see about the color, this is awful.”

“So this one shares a bathroom with the one next door. And the one across the hall has an ensuite so it’s the guest room. And our room is next to that…”

“Oh, let me see the remodel you did with that. You changed the bathroom, right?”

“OK, so first, you have to see the final product so I can show you how we changed it because the way they set this up is just asinine.”

“What did they…”

“Who makes a master bathroom five feet wide and thinks that’s OK?” You asked as you stepped into the master suite and pushed open the bathroom door. “So this wall stopped here and we pushed it out into one of the two closets the undecided room had and doubled the size. And then I added the tub because I needed it.”

“I like this color.” She said as she touched the dark teal accent wall behind the mirror.

“I used the same one on the bookshelf in the study because I liked it so much.” You said with a nod. “We also pushed this wall into the walk in because Jeff still has his closet space out here and I didn’t need that much space, so that few feet gave us just the amount of room we needed.” Dana nodded and turned toward you with a smile.

“Are you happy, (Y/N)? Like not because of the physical possessions… does he make you happy?” You smiled and nodded your head as you put your hand on your 20 week along bump.

“Dana, I’m pretty sure I would die without him in my life. I have never loved someone the way I love Jeff.” Her smile grew as she stepped forward and put her hands on either side of your stomach.

“Then I know I made the right choice in calling you back that day.” You nodded your head as Jeff called your name from outside the door, and you looked over at him with a smile.

“My mom just got here. Are you done touring?”

“Where did your beads go, mister?” You asked as you turned toward him and followed him out of your room. 

“Mom votes with me that they are both girls so I gave them to her.” He laughed as he reached out for your hand just long enough to pull you to the side to put his hand on the small of your back.

“And you know I’m going to keep giving you shit until you put them back on, Daddy.” You cooed as you grabbed two pink bead necklaces and held them out to him. “Or you can sleep on the couch, far far away from Mommy and the boys.”

“See, I like her already.”

“Thanks Mom.” Jeff laughed as he put his necklaces on and turned you around to the food covered island. “Sweetheart, this is my mom, Sandy. Mom, the love of my life, mother of daughters…”

“Sons.” You laughed as you stepped forward to the grandmother of your children. “(Y/N). It’s so nice to finally meet you, Sandy.”

“Oh, please. It’s Mom.” She said sweetly as she gestured to your bump. “May I?”

“Absolutely!” You laughed as you reached out for her hands and pulled her a step closer. “You’ve got the soccer player down here, and the long jumper that uses my ribs as a jumping board up here. I say they have to be boys because like two nights ago, they got into what felt like a slap fight against my bladder and I feel like only boys would be that rude to their mother in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She laughed as she rubbed your bump through the knee length blue and pink splattered, off the shoulder dress that was tight against your body and had a long, loose ruffle around the top. “If they are boys, I hope for your sake they are nothing like their father because he was a wild child.”

“Oh, really!” You squealed as you refilled your cup and picked up a pink chocolate covered strawberry, while Jeff whined ‘Mom’ on his way to go get the door. “Please, I am begging you to tell me more.”

“Oh, honey I will never run out of stories about my Jeffrey. Like this one time…”

“Mom!” Jeff said as he walked back into the kitchen behind Chelsea and Kate, and couple of Jeff’s friends that you had only meet a few times before. “Don’t start!”

“Oh, I’ll start alright.” She laughed with a shake of her head. “I have to pre-warn her what she’s getting into with Morgan boys.” You laughed with her as Jeff simply shook his head and went to get the door again, and Dana quickly jumped on the train to get more stories about the father of your child with you. Since you had no representation of family, you shared your own embarrassing childhood stories as your friends and his came together to celebrate the lives you created. You played cheesy games, and ate probably way to many sweets, until Jeff’s assistant, Rebecca got there a little late with two large black balloons for Baby A and Baby B.

“OK, let’s see what the final vote is before we pop these suckers.” Jeff called out over the slight hum of voices in the living room and kitchen as he pointed to the two balloons Rebecca was putting in the arch way between the living and dining room. One of the men that worked in Jeff’s New York office, Jason, grabbed the white board for you and carried it out to the dinner table, where the presents that people had brought to make the last couple months of your pregnancy a little more enjoyable were.

“So we have eight for boy boy.” You said as you looked at all the tallies on the board. “Which is the right team, by the way…”

“Thirteen for girl girl, the winning team.” Jeff interrupted with a playful glare.

“You are are just mistaken.” You giggled. “And fourteen for both. So Baby B is the one up by my ribs, and Baby A is right now down by my left hip. So we’ll obviously start with A. Thanks, Bex.” You said as you took the balloon and a sewing needle from her. “You wanna?”

“No, pop away, my love.” Jeff said as he moved the balloon between you so that you could both be in the photos Kenzie had been taking for you all afternoon. You and your party guests counted down from three, and hesitated for only a second before hitting the black latex with the sharp tip. You cheered excitedly as blue confetti rained down on your head and floated down on your hardwood floors.

“Ok, so this one better be a girl.” Jeff mockingly complained as he took the string from you and traded it for the next balloon.

“If it is a girl, she’s a badass with the way she’s beating up on her brother.” You laughed as you handed him the pin. “But it’s gunna be another boy.”

“Wrong.” He laughed before starting the next count down. You actually held your breath, hoping in that moment that it was a girl for his sake, and you shrieked happily when the destroyed latex released its pink confetti over the blue.

“We got one of both.” You said with a smile as Jeff cupped your jaw with his hands.

“A Daddy’s girl and a Mama’s boy.” He said with a nod. “We’re both screwed.”

“Yea we are.” You laughed as you stood up on your tip toes and kissed him softly. “A boy and a girl… sorry baby, we gotta do even more painting.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, God, is this really necessary?” You whined as you stepped in to a white and black polka dot sleeveless, halter gown to go to a charity event for one of the foundations Jeff was a part of.

“I’m sorry, but it is.” Jeff said with a nod as he pulled your dress up to your hips where you could reach it without bending over around your substantial 32 week along bump. “It’s a once a year dinner that I have to go to, and you said you wanted to go…”

“Yea, I know.” You sighed as you turned around so he could zip you up. “But I was obviously delirious, running on more sleep, and probably half the size I am now.”

“And you still look just as beautiful to me, baby.” He said sweetly to keep you calm like he usually did as he turned you around toward him with a smile. “I love you… and I know Jett and Jace are both thankful you are carrying them…”

“Yea, I know you think that.” You huffed as a small smile pulled at your cheeks. “But I think these two are ungrateful, hate monsters that can’t keep their arms and legs inside the moving vehicle.” Jeff laughed whole heartedly as he knelt down and slipped your wedge sandals on your feet for you.

“You’re almost there, baby girl. 36 weeks was your goal…”

“Just make it go faster.” You sighed as you put your cell phone on silent and handed it to him to carry so you didn’t have to bring a purse. He put it in his inside jacket pocket with your tissues (because everything made you cry now a days), your lip gloss, and a bag of goldfish in case you got hungry before dinner was served.

“Make it through dinner, and we’re one more day closer.” He said in a sing song voice as he turned you toward the door and gave you a gentle push in that direction. You grumbled at him under your breath as you adjusted your belly band under your dress, and headed down stairs. “It’ll be over before you know it, sweetheart.” He placated over your continued grumbling when your car pulled up in front the Ritz in Manhattan. With one last grumble, you lost the pout and forced a smile on your face as he and his driver, Jonathan, helped you out of the car.

“Oh, you look so big!” “When are you due?!” “Twin’s, that sounds like a lot of work!” “Oh, you have to use cloth diapers, they are so much better for the babies.” “A tiny thing like you is going to have a lot of fun pushing those babies out.”

“OK!” Jeff said quickly before you knocked the woman that was reaching out for your bump on her ass. “Let’s go find our seats and get you off your feet.”

“Why do people think it’s acceptable to touch me?”

“Because people are weird.” He laughed as he guided you around a chair that had been left pulled out.

“Jeffrey Dean!” You stopped walking as a woman stood up on the far side of the table in front of you, and Jeff’s hand gripped the back of your dress when she started walking toward you.

“Hillarie.”

“The Hillarie?” You asked with a glance back up at him. He nodded his head and rubbed your back as he cleared his throat.

“What can I do for you, Hillarie?”

“Oh, nothing, I just… oh! You’re… pregnant.” You nodded your head and put your hand on your bump as she smirked between you and her ex. “You finally caved and went with a sperm donor…”

“Good night, Hillarie…” Jeff tried as he gave you a gentle push to the right, but his ex side stepped and blocked your path.

“No, I’m sorry. That’s rude of me.” She giggled with the fakest smile you had ever seen. “You seem like a nice young thing. I bet you found a man to knock you up and went after Jeff for the money, didn’t you?”

“Excuse me?!”

“That’s enough, Hillarie!”

“I mean you are huge and, let’s face it, we both know Jeff’s sperm are way to old to be a viable option…”

“I’m sorry.” You interrupted as your whole body started to shake. “I think I missed the memo saying that your opinion about my children and their father mattered to anyone but yourself.” She cocked her eyebrow at you as you reached back for Jeff’s hand with a very forced smile. “And I’m even more sorry that you decided to cheat on him and pass up on mind blowing sex. Not that it’s any of your business, but I can promise you that he is responsible for my huge stomach. He’s responsible for making me happy, and he’s responsible for making me forget my own name every night.” Hillarie looked shocked at your retort as you stepped back the other way and up to her side with a smile. “Oh, and thank you for talking to him. Now I know I’ll go to bed wore out as we both attempt to forget you are still in Manhattan and so he can welcomingly remind me the seasoned man he is and exactly who fathered my babies.” You took a step back and smiled at her once more as the exhausted vindictiveness washed over you.

“And I’m sorry that you weren’t capable of getting pregnant. But obviously… that’s not Jeff’s fault.”

“OK, let’s go find our seats, baby girl.” Jeff said quickly as he stepped between you and his ex with an uncontrollable satisfied smirk on his face. “Good night, Hillarie.” You heard her growl behind you as you were led away, and you glanced up at Jeff for a moment. “You did fine.” He chuckled before you could even ask.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my place… really, they’re starting with salad.”

“Just start with the salad so you don’t rip anyone else’s head off.” He laughed as he pulled your chair out at the first table in the middle row of the room.

“And for that, I’m eating yours too.” You huffed with a smile as you put your napkin on your lap, and turned your attention to the rest of the people at the table, who were thankfully people that you knew from Jeff’s New York office that had attended your gender reveal, or would be attending your baby shower the next day. “Growing babies is tough work. Can’t be done on just greens.”

[ivory-sunflower]

Arty Art Things ✨

Hellooo!

I've decided to post some of the arty things I've done either recently or in the last few years, well the pieces I'm somewhat proud of at least. All my posts tend to be a lot more wordy than they need to be but hey it's what I do here!

Conchúr White

Anyone one who's been on this blog for a bit will have probably have seen me talk about this lovely Irish fella. The pencil drawing is actually a year old as of yesterday, I only know that because screenshots of me flipping out about Conchúr following me on twitter popped up in my memories yesterday. I think I'd sent it to him at about 3 in the morning (I was not in a good head space at that point in time), so probably not what he was expecting to see when he opened his phone in the morning aha

The biro version is much more recent: I got bored while sat at my desk and doing research about university courses, saw a biro, saw my old drawing of Conchúr, had an idea. I revisited my GCSE art techniques and here we are. Again, I put this up on Twitter and now (at the the time I'm writing this) when you google "Conchúr White" it's the third top image of him which is a bit mad really. I think I spent all of about 20 minutes on Conchúr but another 45 minutes on the words behind him. The words are the names of the songs on his EP 'Bikini Crops', he doesn't just really love the idea of Channing Tatum driving him around at night in a daisy print bikini... Well maybe he does but what he does in his spare time is none of my business...

TechDif

So I mentioned that the pencil drawing of Conchúr came from a rough patch in my mental health and this one is no different! In fact this one came from an even worse circumstance so we love to see it. I had a bad, bad time in July and this started as a way of distracting myself from what was going on in my head. Without it, I can't honestly say I'd still be here so even if the final product of this had been a terrible mess I would still love it for keeping me alive. However, it did not turn out to be a terrible mess!

Now that the origin of this is out the way, where do I start with TechDif? Unlike Conchúr, I haven't really talked about them on here (unless you count one brief post about Citation Needed) before so I guess I'll do it here. The Technical Difficulties are a wonderful group of 4 British fellas who have had their fair share of fun online and even before. They did a radio show at university together, which went on to become their Reverse Trivia Podcast, later moving on to a panel show called 'Citation Needed': and a game called 'Two of These People Are Lying'. All of which I would thoroughly reccomend, they're one of my go to things when I'm having a rough time. All 4 of them are excellent! Tom Scott (red top, blue jeans on the picture) has his own YouTube channel which does content aside from TechDif. If you're quite nerdy and like science, linguistics, computers, or any number of other things you may enjoy Tom's channel. He is probably best described as "The Moderator" of the group, much like a tired teacher he tries desperately to keep everyone on track with what they're meant to be doing, but usually it does not end well for him. Then we have Matt Gray (space top, holding an ice cream) who also has a channel away from TechDif stuff, he does techy electronic things and has a series called 'Will it Soft Serve?' where he puts all kinds of strange things through a soft serve machine. Matt brings a very specific energy to TechDif and I can't fully describe what that vibe is but I love it. Matt and Tom also share a YouTube channel where TOTPAL is posted and they had a series called 'The Park Bench'. Moving on to everybody's favourite Gary Brannan: Gary Brannan (SATIRE hoodie, glasses) and can I just say, what a fella he is! He's just excellent! He is the one that will argue and rip into Tom the most (not in a malicious way) and hilarity ensues. There are some episodes where he is absolutely on it, getting all the points and others where he very clearly has no idea and that's where some of his funniest quotes come from. Given how badly I was doing at the time I made this, his response to it on Twitter was so so lovely. I specifically remember one tweet where he said I'd made him happy and although it was probably a flippant comment, it just made feel alright for a bit. Yeah I might be feeling awful right now, but I've made someone else happy so that's a nice feeling. Then last but certainly not least, we have Chris Joel (buffalo check shirt, beard)! I would be lying if I said he isn’t my favourite... His sense of humor is the one I vibe with most, he can get rather dramatic in parts and can chat bollocks like a champion. He has absolutely no online presence away from TechDif and, like Rens from Temples, I fully believe he’s a cryptid and lives off in a tree somewhere. 

The picture took me about 4 days to complete, well 4 nights because I did most of it between the hours of 12 a.m. and 7a.m. - I remember watching the sun come through my window each morning. It’s made up of lots of little pieces, all cut out and stuck on; even the sky and hills are made of separate pieces of paper. Nothing was actually drawn on the piece of paper it’s all stuck on, it’s not how I usually do things but if I messed up one little but I could just redraw it rather than ruining the whole thing. The most tedious parts to make were Chris’ shirt because I had to draw each square individually and then join the as well, and cutting out the ban-hammer in the bottom right was surprisingly hard. Every single detail of the picture is a reference to the podcast/shows, I still have the plan sketch and reference list knocking about somewhere. I listened to a lot of true crime videos while making it to the point that certain parts remind me of different cases: the brandy now reminds me of Peter Tobin, and the big spiral thing reminds me of Tim McLean (very harrowing case) - sorry that fact is a bit morbid but interesting nonetheless. 

I did post this for a little bit back in July, but I received some rather awful messages so I took it down. Generally, Tom Scott/TechDif fans are lovely but there’s been a few that have taken a disliking to me for some reason so I’m hoping they don’t resurface again. I’m in a better head space now though, so even if they do I’m more equipped to deal with it this time.

Hozier

This was a quick sketch I did in April, I was getting bored with lockdown and decided to summon the bog man himself. There’s not really much more backstory than that, no poor mental health story, no fun twitter story - he’s just here. He’s vibing. I will say I’m particularly proud of his nose, I just think it’s one of the best noses I’ve ever drawn. His hand is okay, but I think that the hands on my Conchúr drawings are better. So there is the Hozi-Boi...

The Corpse Bry

I’ve talked about Bry on here before as well, I love him, he’s excellent, top lad. He is a living Tim Burton character, he’s 6′6, very skinny, and his legs are longer than my will to live. I was watching ‘The Corpse Bride’ a few weeks ago and suddenly had an idea and so ‘The Corpse Bry’ came to be. I gave him a little panda friend because the panda has always been his animal - he used to wear a panda beanie all the time and his album had a panda on the cover. Again, there’s not really a fun story behind this one, I guess it’s somewhat fun because it’s the first art I made after finishing my psychology exams in October so it was nice to actually have the time to draw.

James Bagshaw

Ginger talking about Temples for the third post in a row? it’s more likely than you think! I did this one last week, I’d had a bit of a wobbly day and had group therapy on Teams in the evening and I just couldn’t concentrate on what was going on and I ended up doodling Mr James E. Bagshaw, the glitter crying fraggle man himself. It’s a bare-bones drawing that I could definitely work into more but I’m happy with it as it is to be honest. I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit and add the individual bits of fringe to his jacket, just thinking about doing that makes me tired. Maybe I’ll get around to drawing the whole band at some point...

Alice in “Wonderland”

This one is from about 5(?) years ago, it’s not my typical style and was a “study” based on another artists work (basically i just had to copy this fellas work). I’ll be honest, this one has a sketchy backstory that I won’t go in to because it’s not exactly a nice one, and because of that I also won’t say who the artist is that it’s based on. Despite this, I’m still really proud of this one and I’m so sad that I never got this piece back after I got taken out the class. I’ve considered trying this style again, I’ve even joked about doing another Conchúr drawing in this style as a nod to my progression through GCSE art, eventually leading to Conchúr drawn in ink on music manuscript and stained with neon paint and dyes - it would be quite the project!

So this has been quite a lengthy post so apologies about that but life goes on. Similar to the vinyl post, I’ll probably add to this as and when I make more art. Even if no one is reading these posts, I’m enjoying making them so that’s the main thing. It’s just nice to document things and the feelings that go with them. 💕

~ Love Ginger xx 

29/11/2020

[babyleclerc]

Mimi’s Masterlist (Fics/Imagines/One Shots)

Key:

🥰 = Fluff || 💥 = Smut || ☠️ = NSFW ||🌪 = Angst ||⚡️ = Tough themes/Mature content || 🧸 = Author’s Favorite || 🍒 = 1K notes || 🎉 = 2K notes || 🎈 = 3K notes || 🌶 = 4K notes

Updated 8/3/19

Series:

Chris Evans x Reader

🌪⚡️Always Remember Us This Way {IN PROGRESS - CURRENTLY ON HIATUS} - You’ve been friends with Chris since College, but as you’ve gotten older you’re getting tired of the on again/off again dynamic of your relationship. This time, you’re actually breaking up. For good.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four {COMING SOON}

🌪⚡️Much Too Much {IN PROGRESS - CURRENTLY ON HIATUS} - With big brother Sebastian Stan by your side, you never needed much else in life as you navigated raising your three-year-old son as a single mother. That is, until Chris Evans comes crashing into your world – bringing laughter and joy with him, but unknowingly digging up every secret you’d tried so hard to bury.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Sebastian Stan x Reader

🥰Hope for the Hopeless {ON HIATUS} - While in town visiting your best friend during the IW press tour and screening, you end up spending lots of time with her fiance, Tom Hiddleston, and through extension the rest of the MCU cast. A certain shy but confident, Sebastian Stan can’t help but notice you - and the whirlwind starts from there.

Part I

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Change Is Gonna Come {COMPLETE}

Part I - You find out you’re pregnant while abroad for work, and tell Tom after a month of being apart. 🥰🍒

Part II - After experiencing severe stomach pains and rushing you to the hospital, you and Tom find out heartbreaking news about your baby. 🌪⚡️

One-Shots/Imagines:

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

The Way You Look Tonight - Tom has always been one to spoil you, but on your second wedding anniversary you want to be the one spoiling. So after a romantic evening dinner, you take Tom to the theatre to see his favorite play & ice cream afterwards. 🥰

If I Didn’t Have You - Studying isn’t so bad when you’ve got an adorable Tom Hiddleston by your side. 🥰

Love Her Madly -  After probably the worst day of your life, you find yourself stood up at a nice restaurant by your date. To make things worse, you also run into your ex - who sees you there alone. Who better to save the day than the one and only Tom Hiddleston? 🥰🍒

Lips On You (NSFW) -  During your honeymoon, Tom wakes you up in the middle of the night seeking some… attention. 💥☠️🍒

Slow Hands (NSFW) -  In an effort to get you to relax after a long week, Tom offers to give you a massage. Which leads to other things… 💥☠️

An Honest Mistake -  Not wanting to jinx your new relationship, you and Tom keep your relationship under wraps - no one knows except your family. But while on a mini getaway in England, Tom runs into a family friend and introduces you as ‘just a friend’, which leads to a fight. 🌪🥰🍒

Honesty Hour -  It’s your turn to host Friendsgiving, and all your closest friends are attending – Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans, and of course, Tom Hiddleston. After a whole lot of booze, the conversation steers into the boys asking your ‘FMK’ (Fuck, Marry, Kill) opinions - which leads to honesty hour with Tom. 🧸🥰🌪🍒🎉🎈🌶

Favorites - Tom asks you a few Marvel questions, which leads to an interesting revelation about his coworkers. 🧸🥰🍒🎉🎈

Rules -  You’ve got some explicit rules for watching Marvel movies with Tom, specifically ones that he’s in. But he has other plans. 🧸🥰🍒🎉🎈🌶

Just Wait - A sad Tom doesn’t want you to go out of town for work, which leads from an argument to a much bigger, more important question. Small mention of jealous!Tom over Chris Evans. 🌪🥰🍒🎉

Sebastian Stan x Reader

Fix You -  Feeling unworthy of Sebastian Stan’s affections, you look to him for comfort and reassurance in a brief moment of insecurity. 🥰

Into You Like A Train (NSFW) - You can’t resist asking Seb a question that has been on your mind all morning - even at the most inappropriate time. 🥰💥

Chris Evans x Reader

Tequila Sunrise -  You’ve known Chris since you were twelve. He’s always been a constant for you, never a romantic interest. But will the summer heatwave, humidity and pool time get to your head and change the way you feel about each other? Includes Anthony Mackie! 💥 🧸 ☠️

One Sweet World - In preparation for Chris’s 37th birthday, you’ve got a big surprise for him that he just can’t contain his excitement for. 🧸🥰 🍒

Morning After - After seeing Infinity War, you have questions for your boyfriend, Chris…who clearly can’t confirm or deny your many theories. ;) 🥰 🍒

Something’s Gotta Give (NSFW) - You’ve been filming Infinity War over the past 8+ months and for whatever reason, you cannot stand the sight of Christopher Robert Evans. But on a cold winter’s night, stuck in a cabin for “mandatory bonding”, you and Chris work out your issues…physically. Includes cameos of our favorite super-dorks Seb, Tom, Scar & Mackie! 🧸🌪⚡️☠️🍒🎉🎈

Steve Rogers x Reader

Afterlife -  Immediately after The Snap, Steve has yet to hear from you, causing him to assume the worst. Did you survive? 🌪

My 1K+ Story A Day Challenge 2k17:

Day 1: Winter Wonderland (Chris Evans x Reader) 🥰

There’s no better way to spend Christmas Eve than with your best friend, Chris Evans. Hilarity ensues while Chris attempts to make Christmas decorations. Wonderful, feelgood, holiday fluff.

Day 2: My Favorite Things (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) 🥰

Just a cold, wintery night with our favorite Tom Hiddleston, complete with blanket fort and dinner next to the fire. Fluff, fluff, fluff.

Day 3: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) 🥰

In which you try to hang the Christmas lights by yourself and Tom watches you fail hysterically.

Day 4: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) 🥰

Just a quick blurb about decorating the tree with our favorite boy, Tom Hiddleston.

Day 5: Cold December Night (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) 🥰

You’re attending Marvel’s annual Holiday Party rather begrudgingly, and the night seems to be a lame one until you realize that a certain Tom Hiddleston has made you a stocking with all of your favorite things inside. Small cameo by ScarJo & Chris Evans.

Day 6: You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) 🧸🥰

A beautiful Christmas Eve spent with the one and only Tom Hiddleston. And it wouldn’t truly be Christmas unless he popped you a serious question, would it?

Day 7: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Tom Hiddleston x Reader) 🧸🥰

Christmas morning spent with Tom isn’t so bad, after all. Features daddy!Tom and lots of fluff. :)

[rachel1987]

GWCFT Part 3

Get ready to run some errands! Hatter and Hare get their steps in on this update as they run around Wonderland getting ready for June to arrive. Hare continues to have a nervous breakdown and Hatter can’t help but be an adorable pain in the ass.

xposted on ao3 and FF.net

Part 3:

A few hours later, Hatter pushed the bedroom door open with his elbow, a tray in his hands. Hare stirred, groaning as he flopped around in bed, tangled up in his sheets.

The tall man entered the room and crept to Hare's side of the bed, placing the tray on the bedside table as he took a seat. Reaching a gloved hand out, he touched Hare's shoulder and shook it softly. "Hare… Hare, it's time to get up." Hatter's palms itched as he sat there, forcing himself to remain calm. His instincts were making him want to body slam down on the bed and squeeze Hare till he woke up.

Feeling the touch on his shoulder, Hare opened his brown eyes slowly, looking around with blurry vision. "What time is it?" he muttered, voice dry from sleeping with his mouth open. He flipped over onto his back and sat up, reaching out for his glasses. His hand clanked against a teapot, two cups with saucers and a plate of reheated breakfast rolls.

"Might be a little past breakfast, but it isn't too late for lunch," Hatter said with a smile, reaching out and nabbing the glasses from the table, handing them to Hare.

"How long have I been asleep?" Hare yawned, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. His hair was frazzed out (more than usual) and he still looked tired, but he was at least coherent. It seemed the caffeine had worked through his system too.

"Only a couple hours, nothing to worry about," Hatter soothed him, filling one of the cups with hot tea and passing it to his friend after adding some sugar and lemon.

Hare gave him an uneasy glance and took the cup, sniffing it before taking a sip. "Camomile…" he smiled, taking a larger swig.

Hatter waited till the cup was mostly empty before speaking again. "I put everything away out there and did one final check of the house, it's all in order. You don't have to worry about cleaning anything else today."

Hare moved to protest, but Hatter gave him a 'you'd-better-not' look, so he sat still, finishing up the tea before helping himself to more.

"I also took the liberty of airing the place out and watering your garden," Hatter beamed, very proud of himself in taking charge. He had omitted the fact that he had found an old diary of Hare's and read it while laying the wrong way on his sofa.

"Thank you," Hare replied, stirring more sugar into his cup. "You've been a busy Hatter this morning."

"Anything for you, old buddy," Hatter shrugged, brushing some imaginary lint off his sleeve before also helping himself to some tea. "Now all we need to do is get you showered and packed and we'll go back to the Hat house for a day of relaxation."

Hare snorted and choked on his tea, trying not to spill any of it as he placed his cup back on the tray. "Go to the Hat house? But I've still got things to do here! I haven't cleaned out the fridge or the basement and-"

Hatter shook his head and put a finger to the Hare's lips to shush him, giving him a stern look. "Your mother won't look in the fridge and we'll lock the basement door so she won't go into it."

"But-" Hare started, Hatter's finger still against his front teeth as he tried to speak.

"Hare, your house is clean and, to be frank, I don't trust you on your own anymore after that stunt you pulled last night."

Hare crossed his arms in an imitation of Rabbit and leaned back against his headboard. "I hate it when you try to be Frank… I prefer when you act like John if you can't be the Hatter."

Hatter rolled his eyes and scooted closer to the Hare, offering him a breakfast roll as a peace offering. "Yes, well, I can't be John all the time."

Hare took the roll and nibbled at it, only realizing how hungry he was after he gobbled it down.

"Anyway," Hatter waved a hand. "We'll get you showered and pack you a bag and you'll stay at my place till your Mother shows up. That way I can keep an eye on you and we can finish all the party planning. And you can figure out what you'd like to do for the magic act."

"Oh, right… that," Hare said, losing his appetite again as he placed his third roll back on the plate, half eaten. In the hustle and bustle of last night, he had forgotten that he'd agreed to the talent show and a magic act for his mother.

"I've already asked everyone and they've all agreed to perform," Hatter announced. "Well, I've spoken to everybody but Alice, but I don't think she should be a problem. She always likes to have fun with us no matter what we're doing."

"Too late to back out now, huh?" Hare said aloud, more to himself than anybody else.

"Now don't be a killjoy," Hatter said, patting Hare on the knee before getting to his feet. "I'll start getting these dishes done, why don't you go take a shower? You smell like dish soap and Pine-sol."

Hatter left Hare to himself, who pouted a little and sat alone in his room for a few minutes, listening to him the kitchen. He sat there till he heard a crash and then a soft "damn" from a husky voice, making him shake his head.

"Oh gawwwwd…" Hare rubbed his eyes and caught a whiff of himself, deciding that he did need a shower after all.

--

"Don't forget your magic trunk too!" Hatter said, laying across the bed with his feet up in the air, a Rubik's cube in his hands as Hare packed his duffel bag.

"Already got it," Hare said absently, folding up another yellow shirt and placing it neatly in his bag. He only needed a couple days worth of clothes, but he was packing more than he needed because he never knew when he'd need to change at the Hat house. They usually got up to some mischief that ended in someone getting filthy and the idea of having to do laundry wasn't overly appealing. "Maybe I should just do my juggling act… or play my tuba. I don't know if magic is such a good idea."

"Naw, your Mom has seen you do those things," Hatter said, tossing the Rubik's cube onto the floor in frustration. He'd managed to get three sides done, but the last three were proving to be more difficult. "Or fit those into your magic act."

The Hatter seemed stuck on seeing some magic performed by the Amazing Hair-raising Hare, so he supposed that's what he'd have to do. Scrunching up his face, he opened his magic trunk and threw his bowling pins, juggling balls and tuba inside.

"Where'd those doves go?" Hatter asked, leaning over and peeking into the trunk. He reached an arm in and swatted around blindly, fingers brushing against objects in the darkness. Hare shook his head and was about to say how there weren't any birds inside when four more flew out. "Aw, nuts… sorry."

"It's okay, I'll get more…" Hare muttered in astonishment, taking another look deep into the trunk.

"Well…" Hatter said loudly, pushing himself up off the bed and onto his feet, planting the landing like a gold medal gymnast. "Anything else or are we ready to go?"

"Uh, I don't think so. I'm ready."

"Righty roo," Hatter said, linking his arm with the Hare and leading him through the house and out the front door.

--

The rest of the day was one of forced relaxation. Hatter took Hare back to the Hat house and insisted that they do nothing the entire rest of the day. They'd bring in dinner and watch television or read comics and just laze around. They had spent the past few days doing nothing but cleaning, they deserved a little time to not do anything. There were a few times when Hatter caught Hare straightening up and whatever he was doing was taken out of his mits and he was forced to return to the sofa and watch another television show. By the 4th episode of Dodo's Do The Strangest Things, he thought he'd go crazy.

Of course, they did have their usual tea party at 4 o'clock, that was non negotiable. Alice and the Tweedles decided to join them and after the tea party they threw a softball around the tea table and spoke about nothing in particular, which was nice.

June's visit was specifically not mentioned, for fear that it would aggravate Hare. Therefore, Hatter made a special effort to squash any mention of her, in the most exaggerated fashion, of course. Hare thought he was overreacting, but also secretly appreciated it. Truth was, he was really tired from the past few days of hard labor. He had overdone it and did need a break. So, while he pouted and huffed and puffed about everything, he was hiding how much he enjoyed being doted on.

They brought in Chinese food for dinner (with oolong tea and miso soup) and ate it with chopsticks. They fought over who would get which fortune cookie and made fun of what the paper slips said inside. More tea was brewed, they watched Some Like it Hot and argued over who would make a more attractive woman if they were in the starring roles of the film.

"No, I would," Hatter argued, pulling his pajama pants leg up and resting his bare limb onto the low coffee table. "Look at these gams! They go on for miles!"

"No no no no," Hare shook his head and wagged his finger a little. "You may have the legs, but I have much more vavoom in the rear end department."

"How true that is," Hatter said, wiggling his eyebrows provocatively after craning his neck back and taking a look, causing Hare to laugh out loud and throw popcorn at him.

When they finally made their way to bed late into the evening, Hare couldn't wipe the smile from his face. After all the work and trouble he had put Hatter through, this was the day he didn't know they'd needed. He had almost completely forgotten about his mother coming and the talent show that he still had to plan for. Everything felt like it had returned to normal.

He cuddled into the Hatter and smiled very contentedly as they fell asleep wrapped up in one another.

--

The next morning Hare decided it would be a good idea for him to go for a jog to clear his head and get his focus back. He was honestly thinking of signing up for the Wonderland 5K and he thought that maybe going for a bit of a run would do him some good. It would be good to dust off his running shoes and see if he still had it in him.

He raided the attic, making sure to leave the room just as clean as when he had found it. Honestly, he was surprised that the Hatter had avoided the room as well as he had been. The place was still pretty spick and span, even a few days after cleaning. After a little bit of digging, he found one of his yellow sweatsuits and a pair of running shoes in a trunk.

Hatter was in the kitchen rummaging around for a clean kettle to start brewing the morning tea when Hare appeared in his jogging suit.

"Oh…" Hatter gave him a once over with some interest. "Going for a run, huh?"

"Yeah, I thought it'd be a good idea. Help me clear my head." Hare said in the most nonchalant way he knew how, taking a seat at the kitchen table to lace up his sneakers.

"You want me to come with?" The lack of enthusiasm was noted in Hatter's voice, it sounded like he'd almost rather wash all the dishes he had in his house than go for a run.

"No, you don't have to," he replied, wiping a scuff off his sneaker before leaning back into his chair a little. "It'll just be quick, only a couple miles. I'll be back in fifteen minutes, tops."

"Okay…" Hatter drawled, filling up the kettle and setting it on the stove, clicking the burner on underneath it. "I'll have breakfast ready for you when you get back. Anything sound scrummy to you? I think I have some eggs in the ice box."

"Eggs would be nice," he agreed, getting to his feet and lifting onto his toes to give Hatter a smooch on the cheek. "Time me?"

"I'll, uh... count the seconds," Hatter said, altering his voice and trying to sound as gushy as possible.

Hare rolled his eyes and made his way through the OUT door. He paused at the stone gate, using it to prop his leg up as he stretched a bit, planning his route for the morning. He'd start around the Hat house, through the forest to the Palace, maybe see if Caterpillar was around…

After stretching, he bounced on his feet a little, trying to warm up some before taking off at a smooth pace.

He tried to keep his head as clear as possible as he ran, attempting to take in the scenery. It was too early for him to really run into anybody, but he could sense the signs of life within the various dwellings he passed. He could hear the music coming from the Tweedles house, knowing they were probably up and doing their morning dance routines. He could smell breakfast being cooked when he passed the palace, the scent of bacon and waffles making him want to stop and reach his hand in through the kitchen window to grab some.

"Wouldn't Rabbit be surprised?" he thought to himself with a laugh.

He made sure to weave his way through the Caterpillar's mushroom forest, hoping that he wasn't too early to catch him awake. He was lucky today. The large insect was already up, packing books into a fabric bag to be returned to the library. It seemed he was on his way out.

"Good morning, Caterpillar!" Hare huffed as he jogged up, slowing down a little upon approach.

"Ah, Mr Hare. Good morning. Out for a morning run, I see." The Caterpillar was only marginally interested, which was usual.

Hare nodded and bounced around in place to keep his heart rate up, having worked up a sweat from his trek through the forest. The Caterpillar glanced at him silently, just the look of this bounding bunny making his bulky form feel tired.

"Can I help you?" Caterpillar finally asked, after a long awkward pause.

"Oh, right," Hare stopped hopping around, taking a seat on a large mushroom. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something if you aren't busy. I need your help."

"I'm always busy, I have many things that I do that get no attention whatsoever," the six armed insect said, waving all of his right hands at the wrist at once. "But let's see what I can do for you. What's on your mind?"

"Well, as you know my Mother is coming to visit and I'm worried about impressing her. She expects me to be perfect and I just don't think I can deliver. I'm afraid she won't like my lifestyle choices."

"Well, you do live an… alternative lifestyle," Caterpillar droned, emphasizing the word alternative. "But everything you've said in the past about your mother has always been quite positive. What makes you think she won't approve of what you do?"

"Well, she expects me to be perfect all the time," he replied with a shrug. "I don't want to disappoint her."

"Do you think that maybe your mother doesn't expect you to be perfect, but believes that you are in fact perfect as you are?"

Hare paused and laughed at this notion, shaking his head. "If only that were the case!" he explained from his spot upon the mushroom. "She's always pushing me to do more, not to back down… and I'm afraid that I'll mess up and she won't be proud of me."

"Hmm. I see…" the Caterpillar put a gloved finger to his lips, nodding. "This does seem to be a tricky situation for you."

"You wouldn't happen to have a story to tell me, would you?" Hare asked reaching out and peeking into the bag of books the second pair of hands were holding, only to be slapped away.

"No, I'm afraid I don't…" he replied. "But I do have some words of wisdom that may help you."

Hare sat up at attention, listening eagerly.

"A wise man once said, 'A mother's love endures through all'," the Caterpillar said, waiving a finger around in the air as he spoke to punctuate his point. "I think you should be yourself, let your mother see the real you and let her love you for it. Because, after all, you are the only person who can be you."

Hare's shoulders drooped in disappointment, though he tried to hide it. He had wanted a different answer. "So, you're saying that I'm worrying for nothing."

"Precisely," Caterpillar said with a smile.

Hare huffed a little and stood up, brushing himself off as he thought to himself. "Thanks for the help, Caterpillar. I'll have to think about it some more."

Caterpillar watched Hare jog off through the mushroom forest, disappearing behind a tall purple fungi before speaking aloud to himself. "I pray for that woman and what she might experience in that house."

--

"25:40!" said a voice as Hare stumbled into the Hat house, sweaty and a little out of breath.

"What?" Hare asked, his glasses a little foggy as he looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice.

"You're time," Hatter said, checking his pocket watch again with a nod. "Yup… 25:40."

"Man, I'm out of shape…"

"I think you're the perfect shape," Hatter said aloud with a smile.

Hare chortled and waved a hand at the Hatter, stumbling his way to the kitchen table and taking a seat. Hatter might have seen a blush on his partner's cheeks, if he wasn't already flushed from running. "I stopped and spoke to the Caterpillar for a little," Hare explained, wiping his glasses on his sweater before replacing them.

"Did he tell you a story? Please share," he said with a smile, dishing up an egg and tomato omelet, bacon and hash browns onto a plate for the Hare and sliding it his way.

"No, not a story. Just some crummy advice."

"Well, that's no fun," Hatter pouted. "What's the fun of visiting the Caterpillar if you don't get a good story out of it?"

Hare shrugged and tucked into his meal, partaking in some toast and strawberry jam with it. He'd asked for some coffee, but was firmly denied any, and settled on Raspberry tea with sugar.

--

Later that day, the pair were outside at the tea table enjoying the nice spring weather. Hatter had his guitar on his knee and was tuning it, strumming the strings and adjusting the tuning keys as he worked. Hare had his magic trunk out and open, its contents spilling onto the table. He had his EZ Magic Tricks book open and was reading through it, trying to find just the right illusions to add to his act. His nerves were getting frayed again and he was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Hatter noticed this and rested his hand on the guitar, watching Hare flip through the same five pages of the magic book. "You know…" he started, making him jump a little at the sudden sound of his voice. "I can help you choose, if you want help."

Hare wanted to resist the help, but accepted it. Hatter laid the guitar down on the table and scooted over, pushing cups and plates to the floor to make room for himself. He laid on his side so he could look through the book from the same direction as the Hare.

They flipped through the pages, looking at all the Ez detailed images. "Rings would be a nice touch…" Hatter pointed out.

Hare nodded. "And I've practiced the cuff trick. I can try that one again."

"Your mother hasn't seen that one, I guess it'll be alright… you need a big finisher," Hatter said, rotating the book a little more toward him and scanning through the pages quickly. Hare sat back a little, watching Hatter zoom through the book before stopping. "Eureka!"

"My what?" Hare asked in surprise, gazing down at the book.

"This is the one, Hare! Your big finisher." Hatter pointed a finger into the book and tilted it toward him, giving him a good look.

"Oh, Hatter…" he grimaced. "I, uh… I mean…"

"Come on, Hare! It'll be amazing! Can you imagine the look on your mother's face when she sees you pull that trick off!?"

Hare took the book in his hands and looked down at the instructions, scratching his head a little as he read. The trick seemed complicated… and they'd need to build some things in order to do it.

"You sure this belongs in the Ez book?" he muttered to himself.

Gazing up, he saw the excitement in Hatter's eyes and couldn't find it in his heart to disappoint him.

"Okay…" Hare breathed. "What have I got to lose?"

"That's the ticket!" Hatter celebrated, kicking his feet out a little and sending dishware to the ground with a smash.

"The book says we'll need a plant…" Hare rubbed his chin in contemplation. "You think I should pick one from my garden? I have a beautiful bluebell plant that is just about to bloom that might work."

Hatter pursed his lips and leaned back over, looking down at the book again with a furrowed brow. "No, not a plant like a flower! A plant like a helper. Someone in the audience who can help you who knows how the trick works. See?" He pointed to an illustration in the book with a gloved finger.

"Oh, right, I knew that," Hare chuckled nervously, reading the specifications of the type of 'volunteer' he'd need. "I bet I could get Alice to do it."

"She'll probably be around for tonight's tea party. You can talk to her about it then!"

Hare felt a little better about it, he knew he could trust Alice to be able to perform. He'd just have to worry about all the things he needed to do to get the trick to work out right. Flipping to the appendix, he started pulling diagrams and plans out of a hidden compartment in the back of the book, laying them out on the table to read over them. The strumming of the guitar started up again as Hatter began to play.

--

"We need to pick up the dry cleaning," Hare said as they got off the Wonderland bus the next day. "I dropped some things off for us earlier this week and I'm sure they're ready by now."

"Oh, well that's nice…" Hatter smiled, holding onto Hare's hand as they walked. "Where else are we going on our little trip into the city?"

"Just the Market. Alice said she'd be by early today to help with practice so we don't really have time to mess around." Hare was looking down at his grocery list in his free hand, making mental notes as they walked.

Hatter pouted, glancing around at all the shops he'd have liked to wander through. He stopped to peer in the window of some thrift shop and looked into it longingly, holding Hare back a little. "But I love messing around…"

Hare laughed and shook his head, pulling Hatter along to the Market. They walked in through the automatic doors and grabbed a shopping cart, pausing a moment by the self-serve Olive bar as Hare flipped through his grocery list.

"Don't forget, we need to get the usual stuff too," Hatter said, leaning on the cart with his feet up on the bar of the bottom basket. He watched Hare start to walk away before calling out. "Hare! Pull me!"

Hare looked up at him, a little annoyed already, but rolled his eyes and returned. "Fine, but only if you pull me later…" he griped, grabbing the front of the shopping cart and tugging it along behind him.

They made their way down the various aisles, grabbing the things they needed and tossing them into the bin. Hatter got caught up in the jam isle, trying to decide if he wanted to get more lemon marmalade or orange rhubarb jam for the table.

"Hare, you should learn to make jams and jellies and things…" Hatter said aloud, taking the orange rhubarb and placing it in the cart. "I bet you'd be good at it."

"I used to make wild berry jam with my Mom from the berries we had in our garden when I was young," Hare shrugged from inside the shopping cart, checking off items from his list. He was laying in the big basket and had his legs scrunched up, his feet hanging over the side as Hatter pushed him. "I can teach you sometime."

Hatter agreed. "That sounds pretty fun! Let's schedule that for three weeks from Wednesday."

"Noted!" Hare said, jotting it down in his calendar.

They continued to shop, making their way to the produce section when a tall white bunny came into view. Hatter and Hare stopped, glanced at each other with wicked grins on their faces, and made their way to him. They snuck up behind him as he was sniffing some carrots, looking very hungry.

"Nice day, Rabbit," Hatter said loudly from Rabbit's right, causing him to jump a little, almost losing his balance on his skates. He had dropped all the veggies he had in his hands though, sending them scattering on the floor. His brow was furrowed as he looked to the source of his freight, his shoulders dropping a little.

"What are you two doing here?" Rabbit said, flustered. He looked like he had already had a very long day and the last thing he wanted to deal with were these two dingle-berries

"Why, shopping of course!" Hare chuckled from the basket of the cart, struggling to pull his body out of it. He flopped around a little, cans and groceries falling in on him and keeping him in place. He eventually gave up and reached his arms out to Hatter, giving a small whimper.

"The Queen busting your balls today, Rabbit?" Hatter asked as he lifted the Hare out of the cart, helping him to his feet.

"No more than usual-" Rabbit started, but stopped himself and shook his head a little. "Why are you two bothering me? Don't you have things to be doing right now? Hare, isn't your mother coming tomorrow?"

"Oh, Rabbit, can't we come say hello to you when we run into you in public?" Hare asked, a goofy smile on his face as he put one hand on his hip, the other on Rabbit's shoulder. Rabbit grimaced and lifted the yellow hand from his body, looking at it like he didn't want to know where it had been.

'It's almost like you're ashamed to know us…" Hatter remarked, shaking his head.

"I'm on a time crunch and I don't have time to mess around. The Queen is expecting a full spread for dinner tonight and she wants me to give her a mani pedi while she watches The Bachelor tonight. And that's on top of everything else I have going on." Rabbit had stooped down and picked up the produce he dropped on the ground, placing them in a hand basket as he spoke. He was picking up an onion and placing it in his basket when Hatter pounced on him.

"What a coincidence! We're on a time crunch too!" He had a bright smile on his face as he wrapped an arm around Rabbit's shoulder, pulling him in close and almost off the ground. "How about we shop together and help each other out? It'll save time and be much more efficient."

"I can help you pick out some produce!" Hare offered, reaching out to the apples with an eager hand. "I'm good at picking out the fresh ones."

Rabbit's face puckered and he shook his head, remembering the last time he'd taken them with him to the grocery store. "No… I believe I can manage. Thank you~."

"Well, don't say we never tried to do anything for ya," Hatter said indignantly, a fake pout on his face.

Rabbit dusted himself off and shook a little, maybe to vent some frustration. "Now, if you don't mind-" he started, only to be stopped by Hatter again.

"So, did you think about the talent show at all? What are you going to do for your act?"

Rabbit put a hand to his temples, just wanting to get along with his day and away from this duo's shenanigans. "I told you already, I am far too busy to participate in something as trivial as a talent show. Unlike the two of you, I must work for a living. And the Queen is a very demanding woman."

"Oh, come on Rabbit! Don't be a spoiled sport." Hatter said, scrunching up his lips in mock disappointment. "Everyone else will be doing an act. You'll be left out if you don't do something."

"Yeah, and my Mom will be there," Hare added. "Wouldn't you like to show off a little for her? Maybe you'll get lucky. She's single..." he jabbed Rabbit in the ribs jokingly, giving him a playful wink.

The Rabbit grimaced and glanced at the Hare with what would almost be described as a look of complete disgust. The last thing he would ever want to do, would be to 'get' with anyone that this thing came out of.

"Even the Caterpillar is participating," Hatter added, looking in the Rabbit's basket and removing the carrots and some other vegetables, putting them back on the shelf unnoticed. "You'll be sorry…"

The Rabbit just wanted to be out of this duo's company "Alright!" he snapped, causing both Hatter and Hare to look at him with alarm. "I'll think about it, are you happy!? My carrots! All…" he looked down into his basket, noticing that it was half empty. "My carrots? Where are my carrots? And my celery? And the jicama?" His attention had been taken away from the pair and he was now looking around the produce department for his lost veggies.

"Oh, and now we're being ignored! Real mature, Rabbit! We can take a hint!" Hatter said, waving his hands in the air. "Come on, Hare. We have more shopping to do anyway." He then took hold of the handle of the shopping cart and stood on the bottom basket bar, Hare gripping the front of the cart and pulling him out of the produce department.

It took them five minutes to realize they hadn't gathered any fruits or vegetables and returned to the department, but dashed around to try to stay out of sight of Rabbit. He, of course, knew what they were doing and tried his best to ignore them. It was hard when he passed them with their heads lined up among the pineapples, trying not to be noticed.

When they were done squeezing oranges and sniffing cantaloupes, they made their way to the checkout line. Hare took out his envelope of coupons and had them at the ready when they got to the cashier. Hatter peeked into Hare's wallet and saw that it was mostly filled with photos of the two of them (and one of his mother), a barber shop punch card and his Movie Land Video membership card, as well as a blood donor card that said his blood type was O+. After adding a last minute purchase of two candy bars to their order, they loaded their arms up with their bags and set out on their way to the dry cleaners.

"Were you really insinuating that Rabbit should try to impress your mother while we were talking to him in the store just now?" Hatter asked, munching on his chocolate bar. At the time he hadn't thought it strange, he was in doofus mode and was mostly trying to give Rabbit a hard time, but thinking about it now it left a weird taste in his mouth. And it wasn't the chocolate he was nibbling.

"I was just yanking his chain," Hare shrugged his shoulders, brushing it off. "I mean, it's not like my Mother would be interested anyway. This is Rabbit we're talking about. He isn't really her type."

Hatter considered this and bobbed his head a little in agreement before scarfing down the rest of his candy bar.

--

Hare laid in bed later that night, staring at the yellow walls, the Hatter snuggled up against his side as he slept. He knew he'd be up half the night because of his nerves. The past couple days had been relaxing and smooth enough to take the edge off, but he still had that pit in his stomach. Something would go wrong, he knew it. It always did.

He ran through all the plans in his head, calculating what he could do to minimize mistakes. In all honesty, he wasn't worried about the tea party. They had prepared all the tarts and they were in the deep freezer in the basement, waiting to be baked up fresh tomorrow. All the makings of the sandwiches were in the fridge and they'd pick up their order from Just Add Sugar tomorrow on the way to the train station. It was the magic act he was more worried about. He'd only managed to do half the tricks correctly when he and Alice had practiced them and got so nervous that he handcuffed his wrist to his ankle somehow. And the big showstopper he never managed to get right! Oh, why had he agreed with the Hatter to do this?

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he looked at the round alarm clock next to him on the bedside table, squinting his eyes to read the time. It was late he really needed to sleep.

Wiggling down a little, he burrowed into the covers, causing Hatter to stir a little beside him.

"It's okay, Hare," he mumbled, half asleep as he gave the bunny a squeeze. "We have another jar of pickles in the fridge."

--

"Hare, you need to take a seat and try to relax," Hatter remarked, watching his friend pace around the tea table once again. "You look like you dug into the caffeine again."

"My Mother will be here in," Hare paused and looked at his watch, nose twitching. "Two hours, fifteen minutes and 12 seconds. How can I not panic?!"

Hatter rolled his eyes and stirred his morning tea lazily, adding another cube of sugar to it. "Just calm down and breathe, it'll be okay." He was focusing on the tea so much he didn't notice when the Hare took a harmonica out of his pocket and started to breath in and out of it, filling the air with the shrill sound. Hatter watched him silently, a brow cocked, sipping from his teacup.

The Dormouse peeped out of his teapot, tiny hands gripping the rim and head swirling around. "What is that noise?"

"The Hare is having a breakdown," Hatter mentioned casually. "Give him a couple minutes and he'll calm down."

Dormouse blinked and glanced at the Hare, who was still wheezing into the harmonica. "If this is going to be a regular thing, I might have to look for another teapot. If the hills are alive with this sound of music, I don't think I'll be able to stand it."

Hatter nodded. "How true that is," he said as he got to his feet, striding up behind his friend and reaching around to pluck the harmonica out of his hands, tossing it over his shoulder into the bushes. "Don't worry so much. The house is clean, your place is all prepared, and this afternoon's tea party will be a success. Everyone already told us they were going to be here early, so all you have to do is bring your Mom." Leaning forward, he gave his Hare a peck on the cheek.

The Hare sighed, his shoulders dropping a little as he scrunched his face up. He knew he was overreacting but he couldn't help it. "My Mother expects a lot out of me, only the best. I just want to make her proud. And I want her to approve of us."

"And she will," the Hatter patted him on the shoulders, giving them a squeeze before letting them go. "I think you need some camomile tea and a little sit down. Maybe if you're good, I'll let you help me set the table with your cups and saucers for tonight."

"I do love camomile…" Hare managed, taking a seat and grabbing a scone, not fully intending to eat any of it. He had too many butterflies in his stomach and none of them were hungry either.

After managing to get some calming tea in his system, Hatter decided he'd let the Hare help with setting the table. All the gifted tea sets had been washed the night before and were gleaming in their boxes as they were brought out.

"Now to just clear the table," Hatter announced, lifting his arms up to swipe the current settings onto the ground.

"Hatter, no!" Hare threw himself over the tea table, covering the cups and saucers in the process, hearing a few of them crack under his weight.

Hatter dropped his arms at his sides, brow furrowed. "What's the problem now?"

"What would my mother think if she saw you being careless with your things? She'd find it unnecessarily unruly!"

"How true that is," Hatter said, putting a finger to his chin as he considered it. "So, no throwing things. Anything else?"

"Just…" Hare heaved, getting up from the table and dusting himself off. "Try to keep in control. Don't get too crazy. My Mother likes order and discipline. If she sees you acting wild, she might get the wrong idea."

"So, you don't like me acting crazy now?"

Hare stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide as he realized what it sounded like. "No no no, I love you being crazy! You're my Mad Hatter and I don't want you any other way. I just don't think my Mother will appreciate it as much as I do."

The Hatter tried to look offended but he simply couldn't. He knew the Hare meant well and just wanted to impress. Plus he looked so cute when he was wound up tight as a drum.

"I'll try my best, but I make no promises," he joked, giving his Hare a peck on the lips. "Were you like this when your mother met all your other partners, or am I just lucky?"

"Oh…" Hare's face went red as a nervous laugh slipped from his lips. "She didn't exactly meet too many of them. Not that I've had many."

Hatter smirked and shook his head, not surprised in the slightest about his answer.

--

Hare stood on the train station platform, his shoes shined and his suit pressed, holding a bouquet of pansies from his own garden, tied together with a yellow ribbon. He kept bouncing on his toes, a bundle of nerves. Hatter felt that it was a good thing he had decided to come with him to the station, he was pretty sure his pal was going to take off like a rocket if there wasn't someone there holding him down. He was seated on a bench on the platform, a couple pink boxes from Just Add Sugar next to him as well as a box of handmade chocolates. "Hare, why don't you take a seat? The train is only a few minutes late."

"I can't sit, I'm just too nervous!" he squeaked, biting at his thumb as he looked up and down the track. "Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"Because if we're going to take our relationship to the next level I'm going to have to eventually meet your mother. And now is as good a time as any." Hatter reached his long arm and grasped Hare's hand, holding it to try to calm him down a little. It didn't seem to work. "Come and sit."

"I think maybe a year from next July would be a better day," Hare wheezed and moved to dash off the platform when a loud whistle made the pair jump. They turned to see the train pull up to the station, steam streaming from the smokestack. The train pulled in to a stop, pausing and then jolting forward once before the doors flung open. Hare stood there, fidgeting, waiting to see his mother come out of the double doors. When she didn't, he looked at the Hatter with a worried expression and dashed in to search for her.

It didn't take long before they appeared on the landing, June holding the bouquet of flowers in her gloved hands and the Hare dragging her obscenely large amount of luggage behind them.

"How was your trip?" The Hare asked his mother, attempting to lift her bags up onto his shoulder.

"It was marvelous, very relaxing," she crooned in her squeaky voice. June was fussing over him as they walked, adjusting his bow tie and pushing his bangs away from his eyes. "Although the guard kept harassing me for my ticket every stop. He was very rude."

The two approached Hatter and paused, looking up at him expectantly. He had gotten to his feet and met them halfway down the landing, holding the boxes of sugary goodies in his arms.

"Mom, this is the Mad Hatter."

Hatter could definitely see the family resemblance. She looked exactly like the Hare, only with a grey hairdo and lipstick. It was almost off putting.

"June!" Hatter beamed, thrusting a box of chocolate covered carrots in her direction. "So nice to finally meet you!"

June Hare smiled at the Hatter. "Oh, Hatter. Yes, it's lovely to finally meet you too. I've only ever spoken to you over the telephone." She seemed to give him a quick once over, her eyes scanning him for any imperfections in his dress or demeanor. She didn't give any indication that something was wrong, so the Hatter figured he was in the clear. "And thank you for these, I'm sure they're delicious."

"Hare and I made them ourselves," Hatter beamed, looking at his buddy. "From your family recipe, I believe."

The Hare looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown, but he was keeping it together. He kept balling his little hands up, fidgeting with his fingers behind his back. Hatter thought he looked adorable.

"That's very sweet of you," June mused, tucking the box under her arm as the group left the station and walked their way to Hare's house. About halfway there, Hatter took some of June's luggage from his boyfriend to give his arms a break.

June seemed charmed by Hare's little home. She thought the garden was impressive and oohed and awed as they entered the tiny abode. They settled her in Hare's guest room, leaving her bags there as they gave her a tour. Hare thought he'd faint when he saw her do a glove test on the top of some of his bookshelves, but it seemed he had passed her test because she didn't say anything.

About halfway through the tour, Hatter took out his golden pocket watch to check the time. "I should probably get home and get the tea brewing," he whispered to Hare as his mother stepped out of the room.

"Okay…" Hare whined, not wanting to be left alone. He was still a bundle of nerves, constantly afraid his mother would find something out of place for him to fix.

Hatter smiled and gave his hare a kiss on the cheek to calm him a little. "She got here safe, she seems happy with everything… try to relax."

"I'll try," he huffed, managing a weak smile. "I'll bring her over in about an hour."

"I'll see you then," he replied with a wink before speaking out loud. "I'm going to head home and get the tea started, June. I'll see you there in a bit."

"That will be nice," June replied from the next room. They found her in the kitchen standing on a chair, rotating all the cans in the pantry so their labels faced forward.

"Oh no…" Hare moaned. "Mom, stop. Leave those…"

[arickert93]

Five Things I Love and Hate about Japan

Hello, y’all! I know it’s been a while! I’ve been living my life, and I even went home this summer! While I was home, I got a clear idea of how my life has changed while living in Japan for two years, and I thought I would share some of those insights with you!

And, as nothing is perfect and I am a very negative person, I will be sure to always share my little caveat of pessimism for you. You’re welcome.

1. Public Transportation

Love: This is definitely the most talked about “pro” that people describe in Japan, so I won’t bore you too much, but of all the places I have lived, Japan is the only place where you can just show up at a train station with little to no preparation and make your way across the country. Every city has at least one train station and those stations are connected across various private and public railways, most of which allow you to pay using a universal IC card system. Just top off your card with plenty of cash and full speed ahead!

HATE: While the train timetables are usually absurdly reliable, delays can and do occur, and train service ends rather early (between 10 pm - 1 am). I have spent three hours once stuck in the middle of nowhere because of a train delay, and if you miss the last train, good luck, because buses are shit (basically just ways to get from one station to another more slowly and expensively). Taxis here are also extortionately expensive, and taxi alternatives like uber are illegal, or not allowed to charge less than other taxis. 

2. Food 

Love: I can’t deny that Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines in the world! It offers all the fried, heavy foods that satisfy a hearty appetite while still stocking lighter fare for the health-conscious. Sushi, tempura, hot pot, and grilled fish are just a few of the things that make me salivate.

Hate: Ever hear of “too much of a good thing?” While Japanese food is amazing, it can get a little repetitive after a while if you’re not going out of your way to spice things up. The ingredients available to make western dishes, like lasagna or Thai curry, for example, are much harder to find, and expensive. I go out of my way every so often to keep from going crazy, but an American can only take so much!

3. Service

Love: Service in Japan is usually friendly, efficient, and painless. But, more incredible than that is you don’t have to tip! In fact, it’s even considered rude! I once went to a hairdresser who spoke fluent English and had worked in New York for ten years. The whole experience was so pleasant and my hair looked so great in the end, I couldn’t help but offer her a little extra to say thanks. However, to my surprise, she pushed the money back in my hand and assured me “This is Japan. We DON’T tip.” Of course, this is probably because servers are paid better wages (usually), and in fact they might even be a little overworked, but hey!

Hate: While the service is usually “friendly,” I would have to fault it for being a little impersonal. Talking to a cashier is like using a script. They welcome you, take your things, announce the prices of each item, ask you if you need chopsticks or a bag or whatnot, and tell you the final balance. If you go off script, you can almost see the gears turning in overdrive behind their eyes.

I actually think the impersonal nature of customer/server interaction helps make it easier for shyer servers to provide good service. Not everyone is good at making small talk or improvising conversations, and so polite language smooths things out a bit for both parties. Not to mention, most Japanese people don’t usually say more than a few words to their servers in the first place. It’s not a place to make friends, let’s just say that.

4. Water Temperature

Love: This is something that threw me off when I was back in the U.S. for the summer. In Japan, all water heaters have a thermostat that is usually near the bathroom. You can use it to adjust the temperature (I usually keep it in the high 90s) and even turn of the heater overnight or during the day to conserve power. This means that you can run the hot water from the faucet and it won’t exceed the temperature you set.

However, in the U.S., the water is either ice cold or scalding hot, and the faucet controls the ratio of each to control the temperature. I burned the crap out of my hands more times than I can count while I was back in the U.S. because I forgot to run some cold water along with the hot.

Hate: The countless times my guests took showers in my apartment, not realizing the hot water was turned off, and meekly told me about their cold shower later. They must have thought I was the worst host in the world! Also, getting into a cold shower in the middle of winter only to realize you creep out into the freezing air and turn on the heat...

5. Clothes

Love: I can’t explain what a life-changing experience it was for me to move to Japan and finally live in a country where I am the average size. Suddenly, I can go to all stores and find clothes that fit me! This sounds a little braggy, but being a small person in the U.S. is actually quite stressful. A bit reason why my confidence was so poor in school, I think, was because most of my clothes didn’t fit me very well. There was a reason I had to go scene: it was the only style that consisted of tight-fitting clothes!

Hate: Not everyone experiences the clothing wonderland that is Japan. Women especially, many of whom already have screwed up body images, will probably be horrified upon arriving in Japan and realize that everything is made for walking sticks.

Bonus Positivity! Vending Machines!

I just love vending machines here. They are so cheap, and everything costs between 1-2 dollars. Vending machines in the U.S. JUST PLAIN SUCK. They only carry super sugary crap, or plain water, and they are always expensive and difficult to find.

[oscarwintersworld-blog]

Days 4-6

Day 4

After a western style breakfast of fruit, toast and eggs, the group and I travelled to the 1200 year old Rinnoji Temple and Toshogu shrine which is the burial place of the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The coolest part about this place was getting to see the original "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys which were smaller than I thought. As we made our way up the mountainside we were constantly greeted by the friendly school children that were on excursion to the shrine. For lunch I ate a bento from the local convenience store. I think this time it was a Lawsons. I also bought some pokemon cards and decided to collect some while in Japan. After lunch the group took the bus to Edo Wonderland. A theme park centred around the Edo period of Japan and had many cool attractions including a high-paced ninja show, a water magic show as well as a large maze (which had wasps), a tilted house and a ninja training dojo. We also got to do archery to win prizes. I only stuck 3/5 of my arrows but Ben managed to get 4/5 and took home a coin jar. The park was amazing and one of my favourite parts of Nikko. I'd definitely love to go back some day and spend a full day there. For dinner we all went to Gyoshintei, a traditional restaruant which served shojin ryori (Buddhist cuisine). The food was served by kimono-clad women and the food itself was definitely an adventure. All of the dishes were unique and had some interesting flavours but it was fun trying them all. While we were there we also experienced our first mini-earthquake in Japan. It just felt like someone had fallen over.

Day 5

Our time in the quiet city of Nikko was over and now it was time to embark on our biggest travel day yet. After a final breakfast at Turtle Inn, we travelled to the JR station by bus and took the Shinkansen North to Hokkaido, going through the worlds largest underwater tunnel in the process. After arriving in Hokkaido we travelled on a series of trains and one bus to get to Noboribetu. We stayed at the huge Daiichi Takimotokan Hotel which is famous for its natural hot spring Onsens. Before dinner, myself and the rest of the guys made our way to the onsen and the experience was unforgettable. The different variations in the baths all provided a different sensation. We also drank some sake while soaking in the outdoor bath. Afterwards we went to the buffet dining hall for dinner, eating a range of dishes from the huge selection. My favourite was the steak pieces. After dinner we explored the hotel, finding the gaming corner, the gift shop and listening to a drum show. Afterwards I went to the family mart down the road and bought some more pokemon cards and a couple asahi beers before playing some videogames in our hotel and eventually going to bed.

Day 6

Unfortunately we were only able to stay in Noboribetsu for one night and were back travelling again the next day. In the morning we had a buffet breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, miso, coffee, and various other dishes that caught my eye. We left our bags in the lobby and took a short tour of Jigokudani which contained steaming craters that spat out enough sulphur to last me a lifetime. The yellow stained rocks and steamy clouds were very cool to look at and it was a fun adventure to make before getting back on the road. After departing I took the shinkansen to Hakodate, a city renowned for its fresh sea food and rich history. We checked in to the Toyoko Inn before catching a tram to the Former British Consulate where we were served a high tea with some delicious biscuits and western tea. Afterwards, on our way to the cable car to Mt.Hakodate, we stopped by at a Russian Orthodox church and the Motomoachi Roman Catholic Church. The exteriors were gorgeous and the western designs stood out like a sore thumb. Afterwards we took the cable car to Mt. Hakodate where we got to enjoy the view of the whole city. After taking a thousand photos we went back down the mountain and walked to the Hakodate Beer Hall which was a western style restaraunt with an asian-centric menu. I had a pork cutlet with a pasta dish of some sort underneath as well as a nice cold beer. Part way through the dinner I noticed we were being stared at from across the room by two gentlemen who seemed to be entertained by the horde of foreigners. They both seemed very friendly and I wish I had the speaking ability to talk to them. After dinner we went back to Toyoko inn and I spent the next three hours with some other students in the lobby drinking and talking about our lives as well as some more rounds of Smash Bros. before bed. Easily one of my favourite nights so far.

[darling-i-fancy-you]

A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Kiss Me - Part 5

[A/N: Okay so here is the penultimate chapter! This includes the teaser that was posted last week! Quite angsty but things are only going to get better from here. The next chapter is the final one and the resolve, I’ve already got it all planned out and I already love it so I hope you will to! Thank you for reading this fic, hope this part was worth the wait!]

Word Count: 1615

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

Jughead didn’t return back to his home that night at the drive-in, he spent the night wandering the streets of Riverdale until a text from a certain Kevin Keller caught his attention.

As his phone buzzed in his pocket he tried his hardest not to hope that it was Mo, he knew that if he did he would be sadly mistaken.

The information contained in the text however was just enough to distract him from crushing thought that maybe he’d never receive a text from her again.

Kevin: Jug, you up? You’ve got to come down to the lake, I’ve found Jason’s body. Quick before my dad gets here.

With that information Jughead sprinted through the street and towards Riverdale Lake, it was a hard feat considering he could only breathe through his mouth, but he had to see this with his own eyes.

-

Jughead managed to spend a few minutes looking down at the body of Jason Bloom, water-bloated and decaying with a bullet-hole straight through his forehead, before long he could hear Sheriff Keller and the rest of squad making their way through the leaf terrain.

Jughead made the smart move to hide out of sight; he wasn’t supposed to be here and looking the way he did right now, with a blood stained face and clothes, it could raise some questions from the cops.

-

As the day began to break and Kevin’s and Moose’s texts got read by their friends, and their friends-friends, and their friends-friends-friends, more people began to turn up to the clearing at the lake and Jughead revealed himself from his hiding spot.

From across the way he spotted Archie, standing alone, their eyes caught each other and Jughead wasn’t sure how he looked but Archie appeared concerned for him. He nodded his head in a way that suggested he wanted Jughead to come over; Jughead was considering it until a small raven-haired girl dressed in black strolled up from behind him and linked her arm through his.

Archie he could forgive, but Veronica and Betty? Well that was going to take some time.

Jughead slunk off into the darkness of the trees and out of sight of the red-haired boy and brown-haired girl. Jughead watched as Archie tried the scan the crowds, but to no avail, he couldn’t see his friend. Jug continued to watch from behind the leafy green as Veronica marched up to Betty, she was speaking animatedly but that wasn’t Jughead’s focus. Standing just behind Betty was Mo, she was wearing his green hoodie -one that he’d left at her house months ago and she swore she couldn’t find it.

His eyes were transfixed on her, her anxious face scanning the crowd, was she looking for him?

He barely noticed the other people surrounding her until they were all turning to leave. He watched as Betty, Veronica and Kevin linked their arms together. His eyes flickered back to Mo, just in time to witness Archie sling his arm around her shoulder and look at her warmly, he whispered something into her ear and she smiled.

Jughead’s heart dropped.  

-

You had made it back to Archie’s and after the last twenty four hours only awkward silences could fill the space of his room.

You sat on the floor with your back resting against the bed, Betty and Veronica sat side-by-side on the bed, and Kevin sat in Archie’s computer chair spinning idly around. Archie was downstairs preparing some snacks, whilst Betty and Veronica flicked through Netflix – unable to agree on any of the others suggestions.

‘You guys bicker like an old married couple,’ Kevin quipped, ‘You’re so cute.’

The two girls smiled at each other and then continued with the argument with what to watch. You had to be honest you had completely zoned out, you had been focusing all of your attention on the string of your hoodie. So when you felt Veronica’s stocking clad foot tapping the back of your head, calling your name, you had no idea what she asked.

‘Huh?’ you sighed, turning your head back to look at girls.

Veronica tossed you a sympathetic smile, ‘I said Santa Clarita Diet, should we watch that?’

‘Uh, yeah- whatever.’ You muttered uninterested.

Kevin looked at Veronica and Betty from across the room, he pouted his bottom lip and used his eyes to point towards you in a gesture of pity, telepathically he was asking the girls what they were going to do about you.  Despite the subtlety of it all, it did not go unnoticed by you. You loudly sighed in frustration and gathered yourself from the floor.

‘I’m going to see what’s taking Archie so long with the snacks,’ you grumpily announced, ‘and when I come back – less of the pity party, okay?’

You left Archie’s room and began to descend down the stairs, you could see from the stairs that doors to the kitchen were open, a bowl of chips and guacamole lay abandoned on the countertop and the kitchen looked empty.

‘Archie?’ you called out half way down, ‘I was getting bored of the pity party that the guys were subjecting me to, so I came to see what was taking so lo-’

The words caught in your throat as you stepped around the staircase, stood at the end of the hall was Jughead Jones. Archie had Jug’s arm held behind his back, his strength forcing the small boy to stay in his place.

Jughead looked awful, his faced was streaked with dry brown blood, purple crescents formed under his eyes and his lower lip quivered violently. In fact his whole body shook aggressively, the fingers on his free hand trembled and his legs wobbled at the knees.

‘Let him go, Arch.’ you croaked.

With your command Archie released Jugs’ arm and it swung limply down to his side. Archie nodded, asking you if you were going to be okay, you confirmed with a small sharp nod and the tall redhead side-stepped past Jughead and moved towards you. He lightly patted your arm as he walked past you and headed up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time.  

You both stood awkwardly on either end of the hallway, above you could hear the creaking of Archie’s floorboard as undoubtedly the people above you pressed their ears to the floor.

‘Maybe we should go outside and talk?’ Your voice was hoarse and your tongue felt thick in your throat.

Jughead shakily nodded and made for the back exit, you wished he hadn’t. The time spent in Archie’s backyard was filled with happier times: in the days before Kevin and Veronica, the four of you – Betty, Archie, yourself and Jug, would spend your days lying about in the backyard. You’d cloud-gaze, play childish games, see who could swing over the bar of Archie’s old swing-set – it was always Jughead.

You didn’t want to tarnish those times with such a glum conversation, however Jug had already taken a seat on the old rusting swing-set. Hesitantly you took the swing next to him. Your hands wrapped around the copper metal chains, they were cold to touch but you didn’t mind. Your feet slowly scuffed at the dirt and you swung yourself lightly forward and backward.

Jughead’s seat swung slightly from side to side, the bars of swing-set creaked and groaned under the pressure. You could hear Jughead’s lip parting and then closing again, short words caught in his throat but he could form nothing substantial to say. A small droplet of rain hit your forehead, you could have laughed at the cliché-ness of the moment.

You turned to look at Jughead, the light wind stuck his hair against his skin and the light rain began to dampen it. He looked sorry, he just couldn’t say it. You sighed taking in the sight of him, the memories of the backyard and days at Pop’s flooded into your brain, the laughs, the smiles and touches. You knew despite the foolishness of it all that this would never be the end of your friendship with Jughead Jones. Of course things would never be the same but-

‘I’ll forgive you, you know.’ your voiced wavered slightly.

Jughead shot his head up quickly at you, his eyes looked uncertain.

‘Not today,’ you continued, ‘and not tomorrow either.’

You kicked at the small stones that laid buried in the dirt.

‘Someday though.’

‘Do you hate me?’ he almost whispered.

‘Right now, yeah, a little bit.’

He took in a large deep breath and then exhaled, his eyes closed and his lips curled in towards his teeth. He opened his mouth and began to stutter.

‘I- I- I’m-’ sorry, the words went unspoken.

‘I know, Jug.’ You got up from the swing, the wind started to violently pick up and the swing rocked in your absence, your hair whipped around your face and the light rain drizzled on your cheeks. Your eyes stung with a light sheen of unshed tears, but you refused to let them fall in front of him.

‘I think-’ you took in a breath, ‘it would be- be for the best if I didn’t- if we didn’t see each other for a little while.’

Jughead looked up at you, the knuckles curled around the rusting chain were white with tension, he chewed at his bottom lip before giving you a weak nod. Your shoulders deflated and your lip trembled, a rogue tear betrayed you and broke free. You took a step back to make your way back into the house, Jughead could leave through the backyard gate, slowly you turned and made quick steps back into the safe house of Archie Andrews.

@lostinpercyseyes @every-day-is-wednesday @mysticmurder @assonanceambiance @murderyoursoul @fuck-i-dont-care-anymore’t-care-anymore @satanwithstardust @itsjaynebird @phanofmydreams @pendletonthethird  @doktorswho @frickflop @kingpendleton @an-enigmatic-avenger @captainjacksparkles @casismyguardianangel @lost-in-wonderland-x @the-winter-imagines @multiversegalaxygirl @lumiele @ineedtoorganizemybookshelf @florenceivy @yazminmcd @wishingtobelost @gottalovetheapocalypse @keepcalmandflywithtoothless

[boyhasnohometown]

Introduction:

It is a moderately difficult trek (around 55 Km). The trek is 8 days, Kathgodam to Kathgodam. The weather in the month of June was a mix of rain and cold with beautiful sunshine in intervals. It rains heavily and it’s a zigzag which would render all your protections useless.  As the altitude increases, the weather becomes very moody. The trek is famous for the bones found in the high altitude lake. Another highlight of the trek is high altitude meadows (Bedni & Ali Bugyal).

Roopkund Trek Itinerary (Himalayan Trekker Group, 24th June Onwards): Day 1: Kathgodam to Lohajung Day 2: Lohajung to Didna Village Day 3: Didna Village to Bedni Bugyal Day 4: Bedni Bugyal to Pathernachni Day 5: Pathernachni to Bhagwabasa Day 6: Bhagwabasa to Roopkund back to Bedni Bugyal Day 7: Bedni to Lohajung Day 8: Lohajung to Kathgodam

Day 1 Kathgodam to Lohajung: Sleep deprived, excited and hungry I reached Katgodam station around 7 A.M. The weather was pleasant and adrakwali chai with Parle-G set the mood for rest of the day. Fellow trekkers started assembling near the vehicle. Most of us were working professionals who had come on parole from the corporate life. After stacking luggage atop the vehicle, we commenced our journey. We took pit stops for breakfast and lunch. We feasted on the local variety of cucumber on the way. Most of us were half asleep in the vehicle. We finally reached the Lohajung town. I was surprised to see my college friend sitting & sipping tea at a stall. Small world!  He was there for the trek too! He came a week early. His intel regarding the terrain and weather was useful.  In the evening, our trek guide Mahipat gave us a briefing on what to expect during the trek and how to keep ourselves fit during the trek. After a tasty dinner, we crashed for the day in anticipation of a beautiful tomorrow.

Day 2 Lohajung to Didna Village: We woke up to a misty morning and a drizzle. Some of us were worried about trekking in the rain and some really excited by the view. We started trekking after breakfast. The next stop was in Didna village.  It was a sunny morning and we started sweating. There are limited water sources on the way, so we had to fill up the bottles. Our bodies were getting used to the toil and some of the group members suffered fatigue on the steep climbs and had to take multiple stops. Huffing puffing we reached the Didna village. Homemade lunch was waiting for us. It was a quaint village with farms. The dormitory was comfortable and the view from the porch was as soothing to the tired eyes. It started drizzling in the afternoon and we retreated in dorms to play indoor games. The peaceful surroundings have a meditating effect on me and after dinner, I don’t know when I fell asleep.

Day 3 Didna Village to Bedni Bugyal: I woke up at 5 AM. It must have rained heavily in the night. The whole landscape was damp and misty. It was chilly but not very unpleasant if you wear proper layers. After breakfast, we packed our lunch and started trekking to camp on the high altitude meadows. None of the previous batches had clear weather on the meadows and the view was lost in the mist and rains. The nature Gods smiled on us. We had a beautiful sunshine for 4 – 5 hours. We enjoyed a game of cricket at one of the pit stops.

The first sight of Ali Bugyal reminded me of Windows wallpaper with green grass and blue sky with white clouds. Horses and mules were grazing against the blue sky. There was something very tranquil about the view. We had lunch sitting on the green grass accompanied by the sunshine and cool breeze.

After the lunch, we started trekking and the weather changed drastically. In few minutes, we were literally walking through clouds. They transformed the beautiful meadows into a mystical landscape where you only get glimpses of the beauty through the cloud cover. It started pouring down and we all covered ourselves in ponchos. We reached the campsite with wet shoes and clothes. The hot tea was like an elixir. The rain passed the sunshine came back. We started a fire to dry our shoes and socks. We could see snowclad mountains from the camping site.  In the evening, herds of sheep started returning and it was a whimsical sight from a distance. The sunset was beautiful and we could see the Id ka Chand.

The nature Gods smiled on us. We had a beautiful sunshine for 4 – 5 hours. We enjoyed a game of cricket at one of the pit stops. The first sight of Ali Bugyal reminded me of Windows wallpaper with green grass and blue sky with white clouds. Horses and mules were grazing against the blue sky. There was something very tranquil about the view. We had lunch sitting on the green grass accompanied by the sunshine and cool breeze. It felt like sitting on a green carpet. After the lunch, we started trekking and the weather started changing. In few minutes, we were walking through passing clouds. They transformed the beautiful meadows into a mystical landscape where you only get glimpses of the beauty through the cloud cover.

It started pouring down and we all covered ourselves in ponchos. We reached the campsite with wet shoes and clothes. The hot tea was like an elixir. The rain passed the sunshine came back. We started a fire to dry our shoes and socks. We could see snow-capped mountains from the camping site.  In the evening, herds of sheep started returning and it was a whimsical sight from a distance. The sunset was beautiful and we saw Id ka Chand. Hot and delicious Gulabjamuns were the highlight of the dinner. The night was cold and we retreat to our tents. The sleeping bags were cozy and we fell asleep to the faint sound of ringing bells tied to the mules.

Day 4 Bedni Bugyal to Pathernachni: It was a wonderland moment. We woke up to a rainbow over the mountains. There was cloud cover on one side and clear sky on the other. The Sun was shining on the snow-capped peaks. It was a sight you will describe from the land of the elves. Everyone was enjoying the view and leisurely getting ready to move to the next campsite. The distance was not much but the gradient was tougher. We started moving and reached the campsite with little effort. Everything was camouflaged in the cloud cover. We settled down and started with a game of frisbee after lunch. The cloud cover moved and we could see a beautiful waterfall right in front of the camping site. The view did not last long and a curtain of clouds was drawn. It started raining in the evening. It was muddy all over the place and everyone retreated to the comfort of the tents.

Pather Nachni Camping

Day 5  Pathernachni to Bagwabasa: After a gloomy evening, we woke up to a brilliant sunrise. The sun came up from behind the mountains and we could see the grand view lazily sitting in our tents with a cup of tea.  This was a tricky stretch, as the altitude was going to increase. Few of us were suffering from AMS and were really struggling to keep up. We were helping with their backpacks and motivating them to keep moving. One person had to return to Bedni Bugyal due acute AMS. We started around 8 am and the target was to reach as soon as possible.  The day was chilly with hardly any sunshine. After a while, we started walking through clouds. Now, the temperature had dipped sharply and the road was getting lost in the fog. We could make out the mules coming from the sound of the bells tied to them and would make way before they get too close. The trick is to always move to the mountainside and not the valley side. The increase in altitude was taking a toll. We could see a lot of members sitting to catch their breath. My group also split into two or three divisions.  I was the first to reach Kalu Vinayak temple and surprisingly met a group from Maharashtra. The Bhagwabasa campsite is stony and it’s a tough experience to sleep on the uneven floor. We spent the stormy afternoon in the tents. The evening was sheer bliss. The sky was crystal clear and we could see 360 deg. clear view. The mobile network is available in Bhagwabasa at certain points and you can charge your camera batteries for 100 bucks on a diesel generator.  Next day we had to start at 2 AM and so we called the day early.

Misty Mountains.. On the way to Bhagwabasa

Bhagwabasa Base Camp

Bhagwabasa Camoing Ground

Day 6  Bagwabasa to Roopkund to Bedni Bugyal: I was told, the night was crazy and tents were completely squashed under the wind pressure with the roof almost touching us. I was fast asleep and frankly, I don’t remember anything. When I woke up around 2 o’clock, my fellow trekkers congratulated me for sleeping through the storm. We were told one of the kitchen tents was wrecked by the winds. We all were worried if we are going to the Roopkund lake or not. Finally, we were told that we were. It was exciting. Everyone got ready super fast. We started climbing in gleam torch lights. We were slow and steady, circumspect of the dark and terrain. The dawn broke and we could see how far from the camp we had come. Now we could see the valley and the beautiful mountain ranges. There was slight drizzle. We reached to a spot where we saw first snow on the trek. This trek has few stretches that are tricky to cross. The fresh snow from last night had made the path even more slippery.  Finally, we reached the lake around 6 AM. It was ecstatic movement.  The lake looked dreamy with a thin layer of ice floating on top. After clicking the landscapes and group photos, it was time to climb down. Climbing down was tricky and we had to use crampons to get grip on the slippery portions. We came down and a light lunch at the base. There was a short time to gather our strength and we started going back towards Bedni. We had the luxury of avoiding the rain till this point but not on this stretch. Heavy rains lashed us and the path was also lost in the fog. The group also got scattered and we stuck with the person who was near, motivating each other to finish the trek. Ponchos were useless and we were completely wet. We reached the camp late afternoon and it was a relief.  Everyone was tired and wanted to rest. The day ended quietly.

The Frozen Lake

On the way to Roopkund

Bhagwabasa Base Camp

Day 7   Bedni Bugyal to Neelganga to Lohajung: It was the last day of the trek. After breakfast, we all started. The group again split as people found it difficult to trek downhill. I wore my raincoat pants and shamelessly started to slide through the mud. It was fun. We had our lunch at Neelganga river and spent some time soaking our tired feet. We got our pick to Lohajung and reached the civilized world. Everyone was back to receiving calls from office and home, checking emails to see what conspired at work. Evening meal was chicken, rice, and whiskey. We shared our experiences and laughed at the funny moments. Exchanged email addresses to share photos. We all knew it was a wonderful week but it was time to get back to real world.

Essentials for Trek:

Heavy woolen might be required depending on your tolerance for the cold. A good pair of trekking shoes and raincoat are a must.

Carry torch or headlamp with spare batteries.

Keep additional batteries for the camera as the cold makes them drain faster. Keep the batteries warm by keeping near to your body.

A good pair of trekking shoes and raincoat are a must. Carry torch or headlamp with spare batteries.

Take water purifier bottle with you. It is useful to avoid stomach upsets.

Medicines (Stomach,  Painkillers, ORS, Cold, First Aid, Pain relief spray)

Eyewear and hat

Power bank

Toiletries

  Roopkund Trek Journal Introduction: It is a moderately difficult trek (around 55 Km). The trek is 8 days, Kathgodam to Kathgodam.

[wikitopx]

I recently spent a few days escaping the winter by heading south to the desert of Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.

The sun was bright, the desert was warm during the day and the scenery was spectacular. I spent three nights camping, hiking and exploring with friends, but I wish I had more time there. There are just so many things to see in Joshua Tree! I’ve put together a list of must-do things for you.

1. Check out the Joshua Trees

In fact they aren’t technically trees since they have fibres instead of growth rings – they are part of the yucca plant family. The early Mormon settlers thought the trees looked like Joshua from the Bible raising his arms to the sky in prayer, hence the name: Joshua tree. And like snowflakes, I think no two are exactly alike. I spent hours taking photos of Joshua trees on my trip and I’m sure you’ll want to as well. Best Place to See Joshua Trees: Stop your car at any of the pull outs along Park Drive – the Joshua trees are pretty much everywhere in the northern section of the park.

2. Visit the Unique Rock Formations

If you’ve watched a western film or been on the Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disney, you’re familiar with the cartoonish landscape of piled round rocks. The park is covered in unique jumbles of rocks. Some of them are famous enough to have their own names and are tourist attractions! You can see it right from the park road. Arch Rock near White Tank campground is also cool, and it’s the only a half mile walk. Split Rock is a giant boulder with a split running through it (they named it well). You can drive right up to it.

3. Go For a Hike

There are tons of options for hiking from short nature walks to long treks so there’s something to suit every fitness level. Make sure to bring lots of water, a hat and sunscreen as the desert weather can be harsh, even in the winter. This 1.5 mile loop goes past a dam and some pictograms and takes about 45 minutes. For a longer and more challenging hike I liked the trail to the Willow Hole. It’s an out and back trip of 7 miles that leaves the desert on the Boy Scout Trail and heads deep into the Wonderland of Rocks to a subsurface oasis of willows. There’s lot of interesting vegetation, plus you might see wildlife.

4. Try to Spot Some Wildlife

While the desert can look uninhabited, it’s actually home to lots of wildlife. You just need to slow down, be quiet and know where to look. On my visit I saw a gray fox, coyotes, lizards, cottontail rabbits, Jack rabbits, ground squirrels, chipmunks, a golden eagle, hawks, quails, hummingbirds and bats. There are also rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas and mountain lions in the park, but I wasn’t enthusiastic about running into them. If you camp in the park you’re likely to see some of the more common animals that hang around the campgrounds. These include rabbits, ground squirrels and chipmunks. You might also hear bats chirping or coyotes howling at night. Your best chance to see big horn sheep and other more reclusive wildlife is to venture into the Wonderland of Rocks on the Boy Scout Trail or the Willow Hole Trail.

5. Camp in the Desert

You can imagine the desert as being bathed in sunlight, but you experienced it until you saw it at night when the stars appeared and the heat of the day disappeared. The best way to do that is to camp. Most of them have no water or flush toilets, so camping is a rustic experience. But it is worth it. Camping is popular so book in advance or plan to arrive early to try to get to the first place first served. For more adventurous, you can also camp in the park.

6. Watch the Rock Climbers

Climbing is one of the most popular activities in Joshua Tree National Park and climbers travel here from all over the world. Many climbers will spend a few weeks here each winter, enjoying the mild weather and living in their trucks. There are more than 8000 hiking routes set up in the park! See climbers can be really entertained as they climb seemingly impossible cliffs. The best places to see rock climbers in Joshua Tree National Park: There are plenty of hiking areas in the park so you can see people climbing or pebbles in almost everywhere.

7. Visit the Cactus Garden

The cactus garden is full of cholla teddy cactus. These seemingly faint cacti are also nicknamed Jumping cactus because if you rub them, the parts of the cacti will break and stick to your skin or clothes. There is even a first aid kit chained to a post near the entrance because so many people accidentally got cactus spikes stuck in it! There are also a lot of other desert plants in the cactus garden, but there are just LOTS of cacti that are hard to see.

8. Check out the Panorama at Keys View

Position the drive up to 5185 feet to the View key for panoramic views south. From there you can see Palm Springs, the Salton Sea and even the Signal Mountains in Mexico. You can also see Indio Hills, as a result of the movement along the San Andreas fault. It is one of the few places you can actually look at San Andreas Fault, next to a plane. Wear binoculars if you have them.

9. Go Star Gazing

Joshua Tree National Park has a very low level of light pollution, making it perfect for stargazing. They even hold the Night Sky Festival in January. My advice for stargazing at Joshua Tree National Park: Even when the desert is warm during the day, the temperature drops at night so please wear warm clothes. Choose a cloudless night and avoid the full moon. If you want to take photos of the night sky, you will need a tripod and a manual mode for long exposure photography.

10. Drink a Date Shake

Shields Date Garden in Indio is where it all started. It’s a 40 minute drive from the Cottonwood Visitor Centre at the southern edge of the park to Shields. If that’s too far to go, don’t worry. They’re delicious!

The above are places we think will bring you unforgettable experiences. Hope that makes you happy and above is. Wish you have a memorable and unforgettable trip, do not forget to follow us on Wikitopx for updates on the latest and best articles. Here are top 10 things Joshua Tree.

                                      From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-joshua-tree-702266.html

[dashinberlin]

First week

MONDAY 26 NOV Jan comes over again and we finalize details of what we want to do with the room. We get bikes and head to the hardware store about 20 minutes away which is next to Berghain. Jan tells me once he came here on a Friday night and the queue was by Hardware store. I couldn’t even see the kilometersish long road that it originated from nearby, let alone Berghain at the far end of it. fuck me. 

We have a really nice time walking around the hardware store. I spend 116 EUR on varnish and loads of bits of metal which are going to hold the whole thing in place when it finally goes up. There are lots of hot German guys in the shop. I giggle with Jan about the staff “man: hello there, i’m looking for some chain, LED strip lighting, and steel scaffold for a frame can you help m- ____ Staff: ffs yes, we do. the gay men building slings and dungeons area is over by aisle 12, all you need is there i promise, now go away.”

He buys me a coffee and we part ways about a third of the way home on bikes.  after getting home I pop into Blackstyle *finally*  which is about 4 minutes walk from my house. My man Bjorn is there and there is no one in the store. I think my story must be a little bit of a thing at that place because he fully knew I was coming!! He told me he had seen my 13 minute long video on facebook explaining my whole story of what I had been up to over the last year!  I was amazed cosnidering the guy isnt even on facebook and i dont have his number either. He even knew that I was living on Wicherstrasse which is actually closer than any other member of blackstyle staff!! We were pissing ourselves giggling at how exciting that is- i guess martin had told him (my primary contact there). He advised me on working there- now Blackstyle do not actually hire non german speaking members of staff, but he said basically can you make a portfolio of everything  you have made and some drawings of ideas you have had, and send that and your photography stuff to thomas and he’ll help you out with some kind of an interview. Exactly what position you’ll get i’m not sure, but we might be able to find something for you to fit in to.

Other Convos: He knows my friend Liam, and I told him about how under store conditions and regulation there was that sexy time where he couldnt get into jeans and they were super tight and i tried to hep and I just ended up sucking his dick! haha 

Pretty much I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Alis. I really like her. I can tell we’re starting to form a close friendship.   spoke to Karyn a little over WhatsApp and showed her pictures of the weekend, she super loved them and we’re all so excited to have her back from her nuts south America traveling trip. I fear writing diary entries about her cos this is all far too qualitative as it is before adding me feeling and thoughts over Karyn and the conversations and adventures we are bound to have. 

TUESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 

(TODAY) CAN I Have a medal for writing all of that, please??!?! 

So this morning I get up and tidy up my room. And at about midday SIMULTANEOUSLY  Jan  w/ Timmon arrives with all the Timber AND  my removals van full of my shit from the UK arrives. The entrance of my building is FULL of wood and boxes ALL for MY room. and omg those stairs are a cunt on the best of days.  First, it was just me and Jan, while Timon parked the car, and then it was all three of us working on getting my shit up like 8 flights of big stairs. there are two flights that separate each floor and some of the wood and boxes were seriously fucking heavy. Over the course of the day, I think I climbed the stairs about 11 or 12 times (there were shopping trips included in there too)  and my legs are still killing from it, I'm so glad I have cycled so much over the last year or i may have died.  

There were three parts of the day, part 1 was getting all the shit in and starting construction. 

PART 2 was the BURGERAMPT!!  We cycled about ten minutes down the road to the Town Hall of Prenzlauer berg. We went into this old building covered in scaffolding to the burgerampt where we sat for about 15 minutes before being seen. I swear all the old buildings in Germany are massive, the cielings are all about 18 feet high. The meeting was with really sweet blonde woman, who as per my expectation, did not speak very good English, so I was immediately glad that I brought Jan with me to translate.  Everything went smoothly, the contact Karyn emailed me was all they needed and my passports. Jan translated everything, at one point the woman asked if I had a religion and I was like no.... aber Berghain ist mein Kirche! and she giggled. She also did a really nice bit at the end which I didn’t understand a word of, but basically, she gave me ein Herzlich Willkommen zu Deutschland. 

Part 3- basically we went back and continued to construct the fuck out of room. it’s looking immense now, I am so excited. It’s costing about double what I had planned to invest though and it’s not even near finished yet. there’s still the big desk and the photo studio part to do. The shelves and the first part of the frame for the folding bed are in though. Alis calmed me telling me I have enough to survive for like 5 months until I found a stable job. I was grateful to her for calming me down there. 

Just before Jan left around 5 or 6 we had a little bit of well-deserved play time. ;)  We had a kiss and a cuddle and then our shirts were off and he was on top of me with my arms stuck behind my back with his cock in my mouth. GRRRRRR. It finished with it being the other way around, I was on top of his chest, jerking off while he sucked my balls, and before I knew it I felt the warm spray of his jizz all up the welcome patch just above my ass crack. He must have been horny cos that was pretty far too shoot- I’m hovering just above his face remember!  So yeah that’s it for now. Other notes i need to add is that i’m trying to use all the German I have whenever I can and it’s proving useful here and there. I gave a sentence or two at the burgerampt to the woman and she full on spouted german at me as if I was fluent! :D ....aber vielleicht dass spichtst mehr uber sie dann uber mich.  I’m so glad i did lessons and studied all year. I don't have a lot but I have something, and it is FAR better than nothing. 

WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER

Jan came around today and basically, we proceeded to almost complete building the whole of the bedframe and shelves in my room. I haven't been sleeping properly since moving so was a bit of a zombie. 

despite feeling dead, in the evening Jan persuaded me to head to Schoneberg for my first time since moving to Berlin. I was invited round to dinner with his bf beary Timmon, this sweet Canadian cub guy called Arjhan and this huge daddy called Malcolm and his partner ...who i cant remember the name of :p timmon made a three-course meal of thai flavorings.  Notable conversations included a gay bar called Schwartz, what Berlin was like after the wall came down (apparently there were food shortages for ages), and Brexit shit.  We went out to Prinzknecht after dinner where it’s happy hour on Wednesday. I had a bit of a moment outside the bar before going in, after all, Prinzknecht is pretty much where this all began 4 years ago. When I came in 2014 for Folsom and the place was PACKED OUT far into the street even, with LeatherMen from all over I was gobsmacked. I thought I was in wonderland. It’s amazing this city is finally my home.

 While I was there I made friends with a ginger Irish bloke called Keith who I talked to about various animes for ages. My tummy was feeling rough and I couldn't drink very much, it was icky, I was burping and farting loads. ufff. Anyway, we finished off the night at Woof! for one more drink before heading home. I’d been giving Daddy Malcome eyes all night and finally, he put his hands down my pants to my ass and revealed he wanted to fuck me. Ufff sadly that wasn’t the night for it though.  I went home on the U2 subway. I’m glad I have a direct line straight from my house to Schoneberg!

THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER

In the morning me and Jan headed out to the local flohmarkt to find a beam for my bed (cos i accidentally put my foot through one the day before, eek!) and also a ladder to access the highest shelves of the thing. The flohmarkt was gigantic, I can't remember seeing anything like it in the UK and apparently, this wasn’t even a big one. They sold everything you could need for a house, from doors and beams and pots to fine furniture, and more glassware than I’ve ever seen in my life. There were rows and rows and high shelves of it outside all gathering dust. Jan and I both agreed it was a dangerous place cos you could very easily spend a lot of money on some nice things in there. We found a ladder and a beam and went home and finished the work.  With the shelves, complete Jan went home and I had a nap.

THE HOUSE OF RED DOORS [CONSULT SEPARATE POST]

FRIDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2018 

Flo Left at about 1 and I got up about 3.30pm. I can't remember what happened this day so im guessing not much. I definitely needed to recover. My night before was so insane I think i was just telling everyone about that all day. II told Karyna nd Chaim about it and they were pleased.  I stayed up late sanding my room and went to bed about 1AM

SATURDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2018

Cleaned the flat with Alis in the morning for the first time. Got to Jan’s about midday to collect a coffee table from him and forgot all about looking for fabric at the Turkish market to cover all my storage with. Me Arjhan and Jan borrowed bikes and checked out the Market. It was great, all pretty self-explanatory, I got black, white and green curtain fabric for like 30EUR. Also bought a new frying pan, some olives and some lemons. When cycling home we rode past the dungeon that me and Michael had spent time in on the most amazng weekend of my life here in 2017, and then straight past Vikotria Luis Platz, which is also another sacred location for me. I had tears in my eyes for sure. my backpack opened the fuck up whle cycling in that moment and i had to move on from that moment. When we got back I enjoyed some tea at Jan’s. He’s leaving on Monday to head back to Amsterdam for the next few weeks. he’ll be back again in late December. I’ll have to varnish the room while he’s away.

Had a stressful time getting the table back on the Ubahn. 

Went out with Alis and Aldina this evening. We drove to a shisha bar out east and had a drink and a puff there before heading to Suss War Gestern nearby afterwards. Sweet was yesterday is a three floor club bar, filled with cigarette smoke.  It had a techno dancefloor with cool led ceiling light display, a chill top floor and a cheese fun floor in the basement which is where we all spent the whole night dancing on a bench on the side of the wall. I actually didn't have an amazing time for most of the night. There was this nineties raver DJ set that made me lose the will to live.  I went to get a drink and eat something and when I came back they had switched to eighties electro pop classic and I was like thank god, cos im about to detonate. it really cheered me up cos so many of those songs were on my Berlin soundtrack and were songs that helped me shape the vision of what I thought moving here would be like. Not 99 luft balloons though. That will emerge at the right point I know it.  Aldina and Alis continued on to Kater Blau at about 5am but I was dead and went home. Fucking Ost Kreuz has platforms coming out of platforms and I nearly fudged getting home. 

SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER

The main event of today was the Leather Social in Schonberg. I’ve been to this once before when I was here in may visiting for Michael.  It’s a 6 floor flat and this time it was filled with about 20-30 sexy leathermen. Mickael had invited me and I had a really nice time. Mario who I had met at Qaulgeist in April was there and I had a sexy kiss with him and we agreed I need to see the inside of his playroom sometime soon. Oink! The man looks like a dirty sexy older piggy, you know he can do some remarkable things with his hands. the other cutie I got the recon of was a hot beary german skinhead called Stefan, and he’s into bondage and similar activities to me. I met a fashion photographer there called Alex [from birgmingham] and he was telling me about working for Zolando. He gave me his instagram and basically said to message him with any questions. There was this drunk idiot called Simon who wanted to be all dom toppy to me but ended up knocking over my fucking beer (i put the next one on his tab (asshole)) and also he half kicked over a coffee table while throwing me around. Uff I'm getting bored of drunk “dom tops” they just make a fucking mess.  Connected with my lovely mate David who was one of the leather friends I was really looking forward to reconnecting with when i got to Berlin. I also Spoke to the host of the party about photography and before i knew it I had a decent iPhone and was coralling people into groups to take photos for the social media. 

We all took a short walk to new action later and drunk some more. Prakash, the host said it was funny that i appeared to do photos because in the group meeting they had they were just deciding they needed a photographer to help advance the social. We spoke of magic, and i told the story of how my ex-overdosed at my leaving party and the real magic was that no one else was there to be traumatised or take his bullet. Towards the end of the night, I grabbed the bartender’s attention and said something like “I have just moved to Berlin, and I guess I have always wondered what it would be like to work in one of the leather bars here. soo are you looking for staff?” and he said basically yes, they are always looking for new people and you don't have to speak amazing german. 

[ashafriesen]

Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin Trail: Backpacking With Kids In Europe

Backpacking With Kids In Europe

When we were planning our holidays last year I wanted to take the kids on a small cabin trek in Austria and my husband wanted to keep it less stressful and show kids some history. Finally, we agreed on a concept of backpacking with kids through cities in Europe and travel by Eurorail between cities, stay in decent but inexpensive accommodations. This was followed by research on accommodations, areas safe to stay, chalking on an itinerary( If you go to the Eurorail site they already have a few marked itineraries to choose from), booking air tickets in advance to ensure cheaper flight tickets, looking at things to do and prebooking some sightseeing if required(For eg going to the top of Eiffel Tower, which I found very overrated so we didn’t book it in advance). The idea was that kids don’t only get the experience of moving from one city to another but also experience what a doing a budgeted trip feels like. So small changes to our usual family outings were explained to them; shopping was struck off the list but momentos were allowed, eating in and cooking our own meals with everyone pitching in was a part of the deal and more such rules were chalked out.

Our itinerary was simple:

Fly into Paris- Stay there for 4 days.

Take a train to Amsterdam- Stay for 3 days.

Head to Berlin by train and stay for 4 days.

Take a flight out of Berlin back  to Mumbai

Paris: 

Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to visit the fashion capital of the world. When I did get to Paris last year with my family, Paris turned out to be way more than the stories of romance, Eiffel tower, and fashion make it. It is a modern city that has history embedded in every corner. Paris reminded me of Rome in many ways. We stayed in this comfortable apartment which was walking distance from the Louvre. I love the idea of apartments over a hotel room when we travel with kids because of the space and convenience of cooking whatever we want and my kids are fussy about food when we travel. This is what we did and I totally recommend in Paris.

Beautiful setting in the Seine river cruise.

A walk through Champs Elysee gazing at all the designer shops and if you are feeling adventurous and generous enter a few and fill your bags. My hubby made sure we reached when the shops were shutting down.

The Louvre was just hanging there for me to discover.

The catacombs or underground tombs are mysterious and if you are not a weak heart then definitely worth a history walk, however, there is a  really long queue for Catacombs( I reached an hour early and still stood for 2 hours). It was an eerie experience. There were skulls, skull decorations, algae and water dripping in with horror movie effects in the Catacombs to spook you.

The Eiffel tower is one of the most iconic monuments but I felt it has been hyped. It is just a tower after all. You do get beautiful views of the city from the top but there is a long wait to get there and too much crowd even on a weekday. I didn’t find anything romantic about it. In fact, the evening Sienne river cruise with the views of the Eiffel tower is way more romantic.

Do head to Musee de Orsay which is a superb place and relatively less crowded than the Louvre. Here you can find from a  Van Gogh to a Monet and works of many other famous artists.

A walk through galleries Layfette( it looked like any premium shopping mall), sorry couldn’t get what the fuss is all about. Maybe also because most of the things were way beyond my pocket ;).

Also, would completely recommend booking Lido De Paris show is you have the time.

As you can see, Paris was more about us than the kids. We skipped Disneyland on purpose.

We travelled by Thalys train to Amsterdam and it’s a lovely train.

 Amsterdam: 

Popularly known as the city of canals can be rated as one of the friendliest cities in Europe. There is a certain vibe in the city that is very infectious. We stayed at the Menninger hotel here which came closest to the backpacking with kids kind of experience that we had planned for.

After overloading the kids with museums in Paris we decided to treat them to Ripleys Believe It Or Not Museum and surprisingly it was good fun.

  At the Ripleys Believe it or not. This African tribe has women wearing plates so that invaders don’t rape them �

Then while hubby babysat the kids I did the famous Red light district walk. It was a very matter of fact tour nothing to be scandalised about. The sex workers coexist in the most prime area of Amsterdam like any other entrepreneurs and pay taxes like them. Here I also saw the only statue in the world dedicated to respecting the sex workers.

Here I saw, The Belle, a statue that represents pride and respect for sex workers. Probably the only such structure in the world.

Day 2 was spent: Learning about Microbes in Micropia(a little offbeat but again the kids chose).

An absolute must and my highpoint of the trip was to visit Anne Frank house which has been converted to a museum. Learning all about this little girl and the times she lived in makes you realise how lucky we are to live in a free world. You need to book this visit in advance or with the kind of crowd that gathers around, you might not end up entering even after standing for hours.

The canal cruise in Amsterdam is lovely too. One experience I missed having but would love to try is staying in the houseboats. Apparently, you can rent these like the regular B&B.

Day 3, we headed to the Keukenhof Tulips Garden which is 45 min-1 hour away from Amsterdam by bus or car. It has featured in many Indian movies for its picturesque scenery and rows and rows of tulips. There are a few play areas for the kids too, where you can cool off while your kids play and some animal petting areas as well. This will need at least 1/2 a day if you are planning to visit.

  Berlin:

Berlin was the last phase of our trip and so we decided to end up in a slightly more luxurious apartment. I was very impressed with the city and the food. After Paris and Amsterdam, I found Berlin to be most reasonably priced cities in Europe. You walk through history while walking past any street in Berlin and the pages turn back to reign and terror of Hitler.

The Germans don’t believe in small portions when it comes to their food and drink. Do try their currywurst and doner kebab.

We ditched the Berlin history and went for the Natural history of mankind. Then for the love of cars, we headed all the way to Classic Remise which is a wonderland if your boys are interested in cars. From antiques to the latest sports cars you see them all under one roof. You can test drive them and also buy them( of course we stuck to just window shopping.

The trendy and high-end vintage cars at the Classic Remise

At the end of day 2, I decided it was high time we all had a brush with the history and I went online and booked us all a 3-hour walking tour of Berlin history. It was a cold chilly morning but our guide Ken discourse on history kept us engaged throughout.

Top Things To Do In Melbourne With Family

                                                          Our Irish guide Ken taking us through the German history

It was all about walking through the history of Berlin, Jewish Synagogue, the post office, memorials, Holocaust. Experiencing the reign and terror of Hitler, seeing his Chancellory quarters and his bunker site which is not even marked as Germans want to forget him. There are memorials of millions who died because of him all over the city.

A big part of Berlin history. Remains of the Berlin Wall.

To our offbeat trip, I made sure to still add touristy like getting a must-have-picture at Checkpoint Charlie.

The brush with history had me wanting for more and while on Day 3, hubby and kids decided to camp in the B&B, I headed out for yet another tour to the underground Bunkers. This is an eye-opening experience and a must do.

Entry point

Exit point at a metro train station

In the reign of the Nazis, Germans created these underground bunkers spending millions of dollars for a contingency like a nuclear explosion. Luckily no nuclear war happened and the bunkers still exist in spic and span condition. Interestingly, you can enter them through the underground path and exit in a normal train station. It gives you the goosebumps. Would highly recommend this tour. They don’t let you click pictures or shoot this.

Finally, what happened can’t be called a classic backpacking with kids kind of trip but the kids still coped very well. My hubby at the last minute ditched his backpack and stuck to his suitcase. My kids and me, on the other hand, moved around not only carrying our backpacks around but adjusting to different time zones, different kind of accommodations, eating whatever was available, walking around a lot and still managing to monkey around. Luckily we didn’t get any stares, only compliments on how well behaved they are, these monkeying incidents happened only when they don’t see anyone around.

We would reach a particular city and once we settled in we would book tours and decide our Plan of action. The adults got to take in the beautiful sights, the kids got their brush their history and places like classic remise got them excited, plus the whole excitement of hopping cities, staying in all kind of accommodations and experiencing the culture of three different countries in a short span of time.

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Just to summarise:

This kind of trip needs advance planning. Luckily we didn’t need different visas and Shenzhen visa worked for all three countries. Also, once we had decided what our itinerary was we booked our flights tickets in advance to get cheap flight tickets and also the same goes for the train tickets.

Buying a  local sim can be tricky if you planning to move to different countries during your trip. We used the Lebara sim.

Since we were staying in apartments, food was not an issue. Also, stuff like bakes and pizzas are available everywhere.

Uber works everywhere and also their metro network is well connected so travel within the city is not an issue. Only in Amsterdam, we had to take the tube to go to the city centre and from there we could roam around on foot.

Hope this post will help you plan and also inspire you to take such family trips. Signing off for now.

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[evodex]

Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin Trail: Backpacking With Kids In Europe

Backpacking With Kids In Europe

When we were planning our holidays last year I wanted to take the kids on a small cabin trek in Austria and my husband wanted to keep it less stressful and show kids some history. Finally, we agreed on a concept of backpacking with kids through cities in Europe and travel by Eurorail between cities, stay in decent but inexpensive accommodations. This was followed by research on accommodations, areas safe to stay, chalking on an itinerary( If you go to the Eurorail site they already have a few marked itineraries to choose from), booking air tickets in advance to ensure cheaper flight tickets, looking at things to do and prebooking some sightseeing if required(For eg going to the top of Eiffel Tower, which I found very overrated so we didn’t book it in advance). The idea was that kids don’t only get the experience of moving from one city to another but also experience what a doing a budgeted trip feels like. So small changes to our usual family outings were explained to them; shopping was struck off the list but momentos were allowed, eating in and cooking our own meals with everyone pitching in was a part of the deal and more such rules were chalked out.

Our itinerary was simple:

Fly into Paris- Stay there for 4 days.

Take a train to Amsterdam- Stay for 3 days.

Head to Berlin by train and stay for 4 days.

Take a flight out of Berlin back  to Mumbai

Paris: 

Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to visit the fashion capital of the world. When I did get to Paris last year with my family, Paris turned out to be way more than the stories of romance, Eiffel tower, and fashion make it. It is a modern city that has history embedded in every corner. Paris reminded me of Rome in many ways. We stayed in this comfortable apartment which was walking distance from the Louvre. I love the idea of apartments over a hotel room when we travel with kids because of the space and convenience of cooking whatever we want and my kids are fussy about food when we travel. This is what we did and I totally recommend in Paris.

Beautiful setting in the Seine river cruise.

A walk through Champs Elysee gazing at all the designer shops and if you are feeling adventurous and generous enter a few and fill your bags. My hubby made sure we reached when the shops were shutting down.

The Louvre was just hanging there for me to discover.

The catacombs or underground tombs are mysterious and if you are not a weak heart then definitely worth a history walk, however, there is a  really long queue for Catacombs( I reached an hour early and still stood for 2 hours). It was an eerie experience. There were skulls, skull decorations, algae and water dripping in with horror movie effects in the Catacombs to spook you.

The Eiffel tower is one of the most iconic monuments but I felt it has been hyped. It is just a tower after all. You do get beautiful views of the city from the top but there is a long wait to get there and too much crowd even on a weekday. I didn’t find anything romantic about it. In fact, the evening Sienne river cruise with the views of the Eiffel tower is way more romantic.

Do head to Musee de Orsay which is a superb place and relatively less crowded than the Louvre. Here you can find from a  Van Gogh to a Monet and works of many other famous artists.

A walk through galleries Layfette( it looked like any premium shopping mall), sorry couldn’t get what the fuss is all about. Maybe also because most of the things were way beyond my pocket ;).

Also, would completely recommend booking Lido De Paris show is you have the time.

As you can see, Paris was more about us than the kids. We skipped Disneyland on purpose.

We travelled by Thalys train to Amsterdam and it’s a lovely train.

 Amsterdam: 

Popularly known as the city of canals can be rated as one of the friendliest cities in Europe. There is a certain vibe in the city that is very infectious. We stayed at the Menninger hotel here which came closest to the backpacking with kids kind of experience that we had planned for.

After overloading the kids with museums in Paris we decided to treat them to Ripleys Believe It Or Not Museum and surprisingly it was good fun.

  At the Ripleys Believe it or not. This African tribe has women wearing plates so that invaders don’t rape them �

Then while hubby babysat the kids I did the famous Red light district walk. It was a very matter of fact tour nothing to be scandalised about. The sex workers coexist in the most prime area of Amsterdam like any other entrepreneurs and pay taxes like them. Here I also saw the only statue in the world dedicated to respecting the sex workers.

Here I saw, The Belle, a statue that represents pride and respect for sex workers. Probably the only such structure in the world.

Day 2 was spent: Learning about Microbes in Micropia(a little offbeat but again the kids chose).

An absolute must and my highpoint of the trip was to visit Anne Frank house which has been converted to a museum. Learning all about this little girl and the times she lived in makes you realise how lucky we are to live in a free world. You need to book this visit in advance or with the kind of crowd that gathers around, you might not end up entering even after standing for hours.

The canal cruise in Amsterdam is lovely too. One experience I missed having but would love to try is staying in the houseboats. Apparently, you can rent these like the regular B&B.

Day 3, we headed to the Keukenhof Tulips Garden which is 45 min-1 hour away from Amsterdam by bus or car. It has featured in many Indian movies for its picturesque scenery and rows and rows of tulips. There are a few play areas for the kids too, where you can cool off while your kids play and some animal petting areas as well. This will need at least 1/2 a day if you are planning to visit.

  Berlin:

Berlin was the last phase of our trip and so we decided to end up in a slightly more luxurious apartment. I was very impressed with the city and the food. After Paris and Amsterdam, I found Berlin to be most reasonably priced cities in Europe. You walk through history while walking past any street in Berlin and the pages turn back to reign and terror of Hitler.

The Germans don’t believe in small portions when it comes to their food and drink. Do try their currywurst and doner kebab.

We ditched the Berlin history and went for the Natural history of mankind. Then for the love of cars, we headed all the way to Classic Remise which is a wonderland if your boys are interested in cars. From antiques to the latest sports cars you see them all under one roof. You can test drive them and also buy them( of course we stuck to just window shopping.

The trendy and high-end vintage cars at the Classic Remise

At the end of day 2, I decided it was high time we all had a brush with the history and I went online and booked us all a 3-hour walking tour of Berlin history. It was a cold chilly morning but our guide Ken discourse on history kept us engaged throughout.

Top Things To Do In Melbourne With Family

                                                          Our Irish guide Ken taking us through the German history

It was all about walking through the history of Berlin, Jewish Synagogue, the post office, memorials, Holocaust. Experiencing the reign and terror of Hitler, seeing his Chancellory quarters and his bunker site which is not even marked as Germans want to forget him. There are memorials of millions who died because of him all over the city.

A big part of Berlin history. Remains of the Berlin Wall.

To our offbeat trip, I made sure to still add touristy like getting a must-have-picture at Checkpoint Charlie.

The brush with history had me wanting for more and while on Day 3, hubby and kids decided to camp in the B&B, I headed out for yet another tour to the underground Bunkers. This is an eye-opening experience and a must do.

Entry point

Exit point at a metro train station

In the reign of the Nazis, Germans created these underground bunkers spending millions of dollars for a contingency like a nuclear explosion. Luckily no nuclear war happened and the bunkers still exist in spic and span condition. Interestingly, you can enter them through the underground path and exit in a normal train station. It gives you the goosebumps. Would highly recommend this tour. They don’t let you click pictures or shoot this.

Finally, what happened can’t be called a classic backpacking with kids kind of trip but the kids still coped very well. My hubby at the last minute ditched his backpack and stuck to his suitcase. My kids and me, on the other hand, moved around not only carrying our backpacks around but adjusting to different time zones, different kind of accommodations, eating whatever was available, walking around a lot and still managing to monkey around. Luckily we didn’t get any stares, only compliments on how well behaved they are, these monkeying incidents happened only when they don’t see anyone around.

We would reach a particular city and once we settled in we would book tours and decide our Plan of action. The adults got to take in the beautiful sights, the kids got their brush their history and places like classic remise got them excited, plus the whole excitement of hopping cities, staying in all kind of accommodations and experiencing the culture of three different countries in a short span of time.

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Just to summarise:

This kind of trip needs advance planning. Luckily we didn’t need different visas and Shenzhen visa worked for all three countries. Also, once we had decided what our itinerary was we booked our flights tickets in advance to get cheap flight tickets and also the same goes for the train tickets.

Buying a  local sim can be tricky if you planning to move to different countries during your trip. We used the Lebara sim.

Since we were staying in apartments, food was not an issue. Also, stuff like bakes and pizzas are available everywhere.

Uber works everywhere and also their metro network is well connected so travel within the city is not an issue. Only in Amsterdam, we had to take the tube to go to the city centre and from there we could roam around on foot.

Hope this post will help you plan and also inspire you to take such family trips. Signing off for now.

The post Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin Trail: Backpacking With Kids In Europe appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

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[a-mindful-marie]

The Endless Battle

Starting something that you never really finished is hard as hell. I have been trying to get on a healthy lifestyle for some time now, and I seem to keep falling behind. I get distracted or I get comfortable. To comfortable and I ruin all the hard work that I put in before. The first time around the inspired me to create this blog was the fact that I was borderline diabetic. I had just finished talking with my doctor where she informed me that if I didn't make a change in the way that I was eating than my chances of becoming a diabetic were great. I was at a point in my life where I didn't know what I wanted to do or become. Being in high school there was a huge pressure for me to be the best. I had to pull in good grades, while keeping in mind to what I wanted to do. At that time I did have an idea. I wanted to be an Actress, I wanted to act on tv. Being myself was so hard that I wanted to be someone else, even if it was only for a short while. I suppose thats why I worked so hard on it and got so good at it. But little did I know that this factor would harm me more than help me. In the beginning it was motivation enough for me to wake up and go for a run, and do online workouts because I could not afford a gym membership. I joined a sports team, and changed my diet completely. I tried to convince myself that I wanted to be healthy and part of it was true. I wanted to be able to go to the doctor and not fear the scale. I just wanted to go to one check up where everything would be okay and everything would turn out okay. So I cut out junk food, I went cold turkey which for me wasn't that hard. I wish now I could do that, but what can I say I love my cheese puffs. Moderation then was not something that I knew then. But I did reward myself. After I completed workout, I was allowed to watch 3 episodes of Gossip Girl, and yes I hopped on that train pretty late as well. But instead of using food I used something that wouldn't add calories to my day. I was loosing weight and I do believe it was In a healthy way, but despite the number on the scale going down, the confidence I had for myself was still very low. Ya girl was single as a Pringle and had the hardest time trying to mingle. Because I felt the boys at my school were not into me, I was more into the online dating vibe. But even here I had a hard time finding someone who was right for me. So I continued to be single and my poor confidence withered away along with the fat. This time in my life is so important to the describe the woman I am today, because I can look back and see that I was truly unhappy. Yes I was exercising and loosing weight but what for? When I started college I put the weight back on and then some. My heaviest weight I am ashamed to say was 215lbs. This may not sound like a lot to some people but it was my heaviest and I knew that I had to change. There in particular was one thing that really sparked my weight loss journey or I should say one person. He is my current boyfriend of 1 year and counting. We (hold on to your socks folks,) meet online! (Bet ya didn't see that coming) he was hot and that was the first thing that caught my attention. But you know when you see someone online that is super hot and they like you, you can only think that they want one thing (But he never asked for it). He thought I was beautiful and at the time I had gained some confidence, my hair had grown some, and my makeup game was stronger than ever, so yes I was somewhat feeling myself. It was when we carefully made arrangements to meet that I realized that I had to change. I wanted him to be able to pick me up and hold me in his arms and at the heaviest 215lbs I was NOT feeling myself. So I starting going to the gym everyday that I could make it, but at the time I was working at my colleges Starbucks and Girlllll what a challenge. I was just staying the same because I would drink 3-4 drinks a day and do a small little workout. That summer of which I spent half of babysitting my nephew I lost 10lbs. Everyday I took him to the pool and we swam for hours, and I would come home and eat a small dinner and be done. I had researched this thing called intermitted fasting, and I absolutely love it. I can't do it when I'm at school because I would starve, but I do love doing it at home, its a great way to keep track of what I eat and give myself a limit. So I stuck with that, my goal was to be somewhere in wonderland before I meet my boyfriend in person. so at the beginning of the school year I was 205lbs and I was feeling good. but I hit a pot hole where I got let go at Starbucks, which now that I look back at it was a blessing in disguise. since I didn't have to work, after classes I went to the YMCA on my campus and just starting working out. soon I got hired and I literally get paid to work out. from that day to this I have lost and additional 13lbs. I would like to be around 170-160 but I do understand that its about how you feel and not the way that you look. when I meet my boyfriend finally for Christmas, he was amazingly sweet and of course because he was ripped he was able to pick me up which was the most amazing feeling in the world to me. It may seem like I was loosing weight for him, but I know that it was for me. I want to be comfortable with myself, and I want a nice bod to match this fire ass personality that I have. Who knew that loving yourself would be the hardest and easiest thing to do. I am getting better at it everyday and surrounding myself with positive people and images in my life. This is just the backbone of my journey, the true fun has yet to begin!! 

[fatrat66]

Full Train Log - Toronto to Vancouver

- For the first 12 hours of my train ride, I moved between my seat downstairs and the 'Dome' car, a viewing carriage that offers a 360 degree view of the surroundings, which juts out higher than the train's roof. I read some of my book (an indie title called The Arena Mode saga, which I picked up for cheap on Amazon kindle), and I ate some frankly terrible ready meals from the on-board cafe. I also stared out of the window for many hours, enjoying the views. That's why I opted for the train in the first place, after all. It was beautiful, we wound our way at a steady pace, passing green farms, and fiery orange trees still showing off their autumn colours. There were lakes, hills, and many small towns with railway crossings that ding and beep as we crossed in front of the waiting traffic. Once the sun went down and I could no longer see much outside, I watched 4 episodes of The Expanse on my laptop, and at around 10.30pm, I curled up in my chair under a blanket to get some sleep.

- It's now about 6.30am on Thursday, and I'm at Nakina, wherever that is. That's what the sign outside says. We will cross our first time zone soon and gain 1 hour.  We must have just stopped. A freight train is going past, its wheels howling their ghostly noises as they pass by my window, a sound that has haunted some of my dreams this past night as I slept here in my chair. THERE IS SNOW OUTSIDE! A fair bit of it too. We're on the move again, and the trees are dusted with it, thick clumps of powder cling to their branches. We're still in Ontario but Winter is suddenly here.

- The views outside now remind me of an episode of Planet Earth where David Attenborough describes the 'Tiger Forest'. These trees look similar to that, tall and thin with evergreen needles and snow hanging off their branches.

- It's now 1pm (although my watch says 2 because I haven't changed it yet), which means I've been on board for 26 hours. We just stopped for another 10 minute break at some place called Sioux Lookout, a typically small northern Canadian town covered in a layer of snow. I ran to a nearby store and bought a box of 90 chocolate bars. Yes, 90. They are bite-size, admittedly. But this'll keep me going for the next 3 days.

- At 4.40pm on Thursday 26th October, I have crossed into the province of Manitoba. My views outside the train look frosty. We are cruising through a winter wonderland, although the lakes are still liquid. Ever since setting out from Toronto, starting just outside the city, I have seen powerlines following the train tracks just off to the right. But many of the posts are broken, bent and leaning over ready to topple. Sometimes, the cables themselves droop low, touching the ground, or support fallen trees. These lines probably used to provide phone or some other form of communication, but are now clearly abandoned. I wonder how long they have been like that. There's something sad about the way they still remain, dipping and snaking through the trees, an endless line of broken sentinals, now standing in snow upto their midpoint. Sad, but strangely mesmerising, my eyes are always drawn to them as they zip past my window one after the other in a seemingly endless array.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN5J-48dayc

- The land is flattening now. This must be the start of what they call the 'prairies'. I've been told to expect a vast flat plain of farmland that seems to go on forever.

- We have stopped just outside Winnipeg, and are apparently blocked in by a freight train that cannot move yet. We're going to be stuck here for 2 hours, unable to move forwards. This must especially suck for the crew on board, who are due to get off and switch out with another crew at Winnipeg station. I feel sorry for them, as they've been working for 4 days straight now, doing very long shifts with hardly any sleep. Lucky for me, I'm in no rush to get to Vancouver and any delays are simply part of the experience of travelling by train.

- We finally left Winnipeg at about 2am last night. As the train's crew tagged in and out, we had 1 hour to kill in the city, so me and my seat buddy went for a run in search of a Tim Horton's for a late night snack. We finally introduced each other after already having a bunch of conversations, his name is Michael and he's from Germany. Luckily, he spends most of his time either in the Dome or the cafe, so I tend to have these double seats to myself, even during the night, which is especially handy because i can stretch out a little bit. Out midnight jog proved fruitless, as everywhere was closed. We had only 45 minutes to find something and get back to the train for re-boarding. After giving up, we ran back towards the station and found a pub right across the street serving until 4am. I got myself a steak poutine and devoured it back in my seat on the train.

- 8.30am on Friday 27th October. I wake to my first real glimpse of the prairies. A thin fog covers the expansive field on either sides of the train right now as we wait for more freight trains to clear a path ahead of us. I just counted 147 carriages on the last one that went by, and that actually felt like a smaller one than others I've seen. These trains are enormous. I'm not expecting much of a view between here, right through Saskatchewan and partway into Alberta, but I still hope the fog clears.

- At 1pm, the sun has come out and its a beautiful bright day. We are cruising through Saskatchewan. I just watched Snowpiercer (a movie set entirely on a train, in case you didn't know) which I found very immersive, given my circumstances. Our train is now running 17 hours behind schedule, apparently. Our new head-host is a guy called Fabian who has been working on these trains for over 30 years. He gave a passionate speech last night at 1am, after taking over from the previous guy, and told us how the government sold off the train lines to private businesses. This is what causes the trains to frequently become late now, because whenever a freight train approaches a junction ahead of us, we MUST give way to it. The freight trains always take priority, and that leads to moments such as last night where we had to wait 2 hours for the freight train ahead of us to move out of the way. 

- The current view from the train is brown and flat, though there are at least some undulating hills and lots of little blue ponds. There are shiny metal grain silos in the distance, and each settlement we pass by is obviously home to farmers. This is an enormous region of agriculture, farmland as far as the eye can see.

- 9.45am on Saturday morning. I got my first glimpse of the rockies when I awoke this morning. And now, on the south western edge of Alberta, the mountains loom in the near distance, filling the horizon. We are travelling straight towards them, like a gigantic natural snowy wall. I can physically feel my spirits lifting the closer we get to them. Next stop, Jasper.

- Jasper was nice. I would like to go back one day. I only had time to run to a cafe and eat a delicious toasted sandwich, then we had to get back on the train.

- It's now 6.45 (the clocks went back another hour as we crossed the final time zone into West Coast Time or whatever its called). Holeeee-crap, I knew the views would be good as we entered British Columbia, but it still was utterly breathtaking to finally see. I have spent the majority of the daytime sitting up in the dome, admiring the views. The sun has now set so I've returned to my little seat-camp to watch some more movies as its too dark to see much outside any more. Throughout the day, I've been treated to stunning views of forests, rivers, forests, rolling hills, hills covered in forests, snow capped mountains, forests, and the occasional forest. Did anyone ever tell you that Canada has a lot of trees? Because it does. Riding in comfort on a lazy train across the entirety of Canada has been a truly unique experience. I don't think a ride on any train will ever feel long again, after this. I've now been on board for over 50 hours, and there's still another 12 to go before we reach Vancouver. The sheer quantity of freight trains that we are sharing the tracks with has meant that we've managed to add another 10 hours onto our already 13 hour delay. So, we will be getting into Vancouver almost a full day late. Any extra delays during tonight will guarantee we break the 24 hour late barrier. I'm still not bothered by this in the slightest though. To compensate us, we've been given free food for today, which is nice. I have 3 nights booked at a hostel, before getting on a bus to Fernie where I will be spending my winter. 

- I wish it was daytime!!! This is the final stage of this truly epic journey across Canada, and somewhere outside my window is the last of the Rocky Mountains but its too dark for me to see them! The train rumbles on through the darkness and I am nearly arrived at my destination.

- And we made it!

Some final thoughts: 

- VIA Rail staff are excellent. I have nothing but admiration for the people who work on that train. They were entertaining, helpful and patient with us all. They are all fighting a losing battle against the private corporations who throttle their service and force them to become late. 

- 4 days on a train is very uncomfortable for your legs. I recommend stretching regularly... I did not do this enough.

- The food was good after Winnipeg when a chef joined us. Before this, I was living on terrible microwavable ready meals. The chef cooked us some roast beef, pasta and made good cheese and ham toasties.

- I really, really stink... The first thing I do when I get to my hostel is have a shower and change my clothes...

- The train beats the plane every time. It may have taken 4 days, compared to 6 hours. But the views were amazing, and it was such a rewarding experience to connect with the journey by being on the ground for the diration of this truly epic voyage. I've said it before, but it seems relevant to say again - CANADA IS ENORMOUS!

[erraticprojectjunkie]

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Used to Love (and Maybe Need to Read Again)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, created due to a fondness for lists. Each week they post a new Top Ten topic. After that, it's bloggers UNITE! Participate with your own Top Ten post, have fun, and get to know your fellow bloggers. Today's topic is a throwback freebie... Ten Books I Loved During the First Year I Started My Blog, Favorite Books Published 5 or 10 or 15 years ago, Ten Older Books I Forgot How Much I Loved, etc. etc. Tweak however you want! I'm not going to lie...I'm mildly brain-dead today. Thus, this is bound to be a bit of a rambling post (sorry). Yesterday I spent the majority of my time processing beets. It was like a crime scene in my kitchen. I wound up with 17 pint jars of sliced beets, 3 half-pint jars of pureed beets, and 28 cubes of puree. And that was only half of the beets we grew. Gary had actually given half of the crop to the pigs. Thank goodness.  After those many hours of fun, I then tried to sleep. It was a mild failure. I was up at 1, 5, and 7 with the baby. And in between that, the dogs decided they needed to go outside at 3. It was like a series of crummy power naps. I could easily lay down and pass out right now. The plan for today was to work on the farm website and the blog. This is me starting that...at 3pm. Ugh. After getting my housework done and attempting to get the baby to nap (that failed), I had to check on Pippa and her new piglets, give everyone some water since we're apparently getting an Indian Summer with bonus humidity, and then locate the cows since Legacy decided to run around bellowing like she had lost her calf (she hadn't). It's a freaking zoo around here on a daily basis. So (finally)...here's my plan for today's freebie post... Ten Books I Used to Love (and Maybe Need to Read Again) There have been several books that have captured my attention over the years. I've found love for many different kinds of books and many different authors. My tastes have changed and wavered depending on where I've been emotionally. These are the ten that I remember feeling most powerfully about...the ten that most likely deserve a reread. The ten that, should I find myself in a reading slump, could likely reinspire me to love reading again. But...I found that I couldn't narrow it down to 10. So...we're doing Top Twelve today. Ready? 1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst Alexander is one of the first books I remember loving. I think I read it somewhere around first grade and I was enamored. I'm pretty sure I read this one from cover to cover more times that I could count. Now that I have a son of my own, this is one of the books that I'm looking forward to sharing with him. 2. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Charlotte's Web was one of the first chapter books I ever read. This one takes me back to second grade. I'm sure there are many who have similar memories of reading this book, but it has stuck with me through many years. There's just something so sweet and innocent about it. And silly as it sounds, this book now seems like it somewhat reflects the life I'm currently living. 3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll I have always had a love for Alice. This is the only book in this list that is out of order. See...I loved Alice based upon early exposure to the movie versions. But the concept of Alice is one that has stuck with me. I read the book later in life when I was feeling a bit lost, much like Alice herself. It pulled me up and made me feel comfortable with the chaos and the change...made it seem okay to be looking for my way.  4. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle A Wrinkle in Time was one of the first books I clung to. I mean clung to. I read it multiple times during my preteen years. I loved the imaginative writing, the fantastical beings. When I started this list, it's the book that first came to mind. And if any book on this list deserves a reread...this is the one. 5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte I know many look at this book and think, what? I get that Jane Eyre seems dry and boring for some, but for me...it's inspiring. I love Jane's strength...her perseverance. Jane is one of my favorite characters of all time. And regardless of the fact that this book was written oh so many years ago, it's still so incredibly relevant. I have reread this one a few times over the years, but it still deserves so many more. 6. A Time to Kill by John Grisham Most readers of Grisham tout the mastery of The Firm, but for me A Time to Kill was his best. I had read mysteries and thrillers before, but this one just spoke to me somehow. It resulted in a complete shift in my reading habits and I found myself reading all of his books as they came out, obsessed with hoping that he would give me something more. 7. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Oh my. All the feels. I loved this book. LOVED it. I talked it up to anyone who would listen. In a time when I wasn't reading much, The Time Traveler's Wife brought me back. It made me want to sit down and read everything, to find all the other books out there that could fill my heart and hold me captive as well as it did. This one will always be a love. 8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Wow. Seriously. Wow. The Night Circus flung me back to fantasy. It was beautiful, magical, and just wonderful. It was one of those books I never wanted to end. And now, I find myself forgetting it. I still love it, but I no longer know it. That's definitely a sign that a reread needs to occur. 9. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Thirteen Reasons Why. Before the controversial Netflix series, there was the book. It was amazing and heartbreaking. It was real. I know there are many who despise this book and feel that it glamorizes teen suicide, maybe even inspires those who are troubled to seek out such a terrible and tragic end. But...I feel the opposite. Even after watching the Netflix version, I still feel very strongly that it is something that teens need. It's real life and it isn't sugar-coated. It doesn't provide a picture that everything is always going to work out right. It is full of pain and struggle and yet it is beautiful. Hannah was beautiful. Reading this made me understand her and feel so much hurt at her decision. In my mind, those who read it while so struggling could be better able to comprehend the after effects of such an action..to see the whole picture...a reality that maybe would pull them back from doing something that would hurt so many and resolve so little. 10.  Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson   Amy & Roger was another book I just couldn't shut up about. I loved Matson's use of playlists. I loaded them into my Spotify and felt like the music truly did work to connect to the story. I loved her characters, loved the ease of their interaction and how it felt as if you were right there in the car. It wasn't anything prophetic or life changing...it just made me feel good. 11. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins The Library at Mount Char just came out of nowhere for me. I was enthralled, I was confused, I was mystified, and I was consumed. The world Hawkins created was amazing and his characters were just so larger than life. This book blew me away. I very much craved more when it ended. I would love a sequel...though the author hints at no intention to do so. There is so much wrapped up in this story, so much intricacy and fantastical imagination. It just left me awestruck. 12. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George To read The Little Paris Bookshop is to feel like you're living the book. It's just so beautifully written. That book you want to snuggle, to hold tight and squeeze? This is it. It left me content and swooning. Sometimes you just need a book that loves you back. It's a book that makes you love books. Looking back at the books I've loved through the different parts of my life, there were many that were there just when I needed them...that kept me moving and loving to read. Some that inspired me and kept me...well...for lack of a better term, sane. The magic and promise of a good book. Isn't that what makes us all such devoted readers? This post originally appeared on Erratic Project Junkie and is copyrighted by Elle. Find EPJ on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads