#This is probably very regional but I would love to hear about your country’s parking lot bird

[great-and-small]

Just curious about everyone’s thoughts on this as I’ve been thinking about urban wildlife a lot lately

[fayeimara]

Meant To Be || One For Every Billion

6. By My Side | Pt 5

It takes you just a moment to understand his last message but you're already looking up as the dots are being connected and there he is, walking towards you with a real smirk on his real face.

So when he reaches you, you immediately say, "Definitely cute." and watch his mouth drop as he blushes.

Pretty boy didn't think you'd say it, did he? People should really know better than to dare you.

Although he gathers his composure pretty fast, responding after a beat, "Not cuter than you."

You laugh and shake your head, finishing the rest of your drink before standing, "Do you want anything?"

"I'm good, I just had a milkshake from the snack bar on the corner."

He moves to let you pass by him, following your lead as you move to exit the lounge and comment, "That's how you got here so fast. Where are the others?"

"Decided to do their own things, I guess. I think Maki was tired. I don't know what Iwa-chan and Mattsun are up to."

"Uh huh." You had a pretty good idea. They're probably busy being some of the best wingmen ever. That or Toru just ditched his friends, but you don't think he'd really ever do that.

But he'd also be complaining a little more that they ditched him if he didn't have some sort of idea so... you don't know what to think. Which is becoming a constant issue in his presence but it doesn't feel bad or scary.

At this point, you're not going to question it. If everyone is okay and happy, then you're going to focus on the now. Toru is really good at bringing that out in you, you realize as you come to a stop in the warm night air.

Turning to face him with a smile, you ask, "So, then, any requests from the birthday boy?"

His eyes light up with excitement and he responds, "Yes, but it's a surprise!"

"Okay, but.. shouldn't I be surprising you?" You question as he starts to lead you away from the lounge entrance.

"You already did! Now I know we have all night to enjoy the rest of the park."

"Or at least until it closes in a couple hours."

"Then we can gather anyone who's still up and have a party in my room!"

"Yeah, that's real ambitious. We'll see on that but- what's first?"

He stops briefly when he sees a cotton candy stall and answers in his sing-song manner, "First, something sweet for my angel."

Oh he's so cute. Seriously. But you let him buy it for you before prompting, "And now?"

"And now," he looks over at you with a satisfied smile, "we enjoy a ride down a river in a boat." He reveals, just as the two of you reach the entrance to the small, peaceful dock.

"Don't they close the river rides after dark?"

"In ten minutes, actually. So we should hurry because it'll drop us off to our next destination."

You look at him in surprise as you both join the relatively short line. Did he have this planned for before, when he thought you were going to leave? It's a little bittersweet because that's really thoughtful but, it also makes you sad to realize that would mean that maybe he thought the two of you wouldn't see each other again until the next time you visited. It also made you question... Were you unintentionally pushing him away when you visited?

Or you're just overthinking as per usual and he just puts this much effort into it every time he's spending time with a girl he might like. Right.

The two of you reach the front of the line in just a couple minutes and listen to the instructions from the staff member who tries to hand you down into the automated boat. You say 'try' because Toru's hand cuts in between and he helps you instead, giving the guy a pretty condescending smile. He's not even threatened, just.. acting like there was no other possibility because, well, it's not even a contest. You can't lie, you like it.

You settle down and he gets in after you, pretty steady himself as he elegantly plops down into the seat next to you, his arms stretching forward for a brief moment before leaning back into the seat, shifting his legs forward, and placing his hands in his jacket pockets. And whatever he just did there.. that's pretty hot too.

As your boat moves away from the dock, you're struck by the romantic atmosphere of the ride. The quiet melody of the water you're gliding through, the trees dotting the sides of the river that sway with a breeze every so often, their branches reaching towards the water like the leaves are looking for a cool, gentle place to lay. You and Toru, under the stars that are peeking slightly out of the sky, like shy observers to your secret little adventure.

He isn't saying anything either, studying the environment and in his own thoughts you suppose, but you don't mind the silence. You do, however, offer him the cotton candy, tilting the base of the cone you're holding so it's angled towards him. He pulls a hand free from his pocket to reach out and grab a tuft of the cloud-like candy before popping it in his mouth with a smile.

"Do you think about where you want to be in the future?" He's looking up at the sky, head tilted back against the seat, when you look over at his question.

You bite your lip, considering what he's asking. You think way too much about it sometimes, you suppose. "How far in the future?"

He looks over at you in surprise, like he expected a quick answer instead of your clarifying question. Now it's his turn to think. "I guess in a few years, after graduating. What do you want to do?"

"What I want to do is probably very different from where I might be, I think."

"How so?"

You're both looking at each other, lost in another bubble together, so you try to be as honest to yourself as you want to be with him, "In an ideal world, I would either write or play volleyball. Realistically, I'll end up tied to... my family business more than I'd like. Which means I likely won't have the time or energy left to do the things I love."

His eyes are wide, you think he's realized he just turned a mountain, not a rock. Maybe even you wouldn't know what to say in response to someone who just said what you did. But then he surprises you yet again, "If you know what you want to do, what stops you from making sure that's where you end up instead, no matter what?"

"You know," you smile at him softly, "That's exactly the battle I'm currently fighting. So we'll see how it turns out, I guess."

"So," his voice turns teasing, "will you pick writing or volleyball, when you win?"

"Probably writing," you answer with a laugh, releasing the weight that just took a break on your shoulders.

"Why?"

"You love volleyball, right? So much that you can't see yourself doing anything but that for the rest of your life?"

He sends another shocked, wide-eyed look your way but you're surprised he doesn't realize how clear that is to read on him, how easily you figured it out really early in the course of your correspondence this past year. You tuck that away for another day and continue your answer to his question.

"I love both like that and, the way I see it, I'm lucky to be able to love more than one thing at a time. And because I do, they'll both always have a place in the future I want. So it's not really that I'm making a choice between one or the other, I'd be incapable of that. Volleyball will always be in my life, even if it isn't the same way it is now. It's just that I'll pursue writing as my vocation while continuing to enjoy volleyball however I can."

"So you won't go pro." He doesn't state it as a question but it sounds like there's still one in there somewhere.

"I don't think so. That's... a little more complicated."

He shifts to turn more towards you, pulling another piece of the cotton candy you're holding between the two of you and encouraging, "I've seen your videos, Y/n. You're as much, if not more, talented than either of your cousins."

You laugh again, "Aren't you a little biased, Oikawa?"

"Sure, but I'm still telling you the truth as I see it. You've already filled the gaps they lack as players, you almost seem to have none. You're part of the powerhouse teams in your region, even country. And you can only improve from there."

"Yeah. But it's not talent or skill or even anything about volleyball itself that makes me so sure about its role in my life."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I promise, I will another day. But I know it'll be a long discussion and I want to hear your answer."

"My answer?"

"Where you want to be after you graduate."

"Don't you already know?" His lips pull up into a confident smile, "Because you said it, Y/n-chan. I can't see myself doing anything but playing volleyball for my future."

"No matter how you get there?"

"No matter how I get there." He confirms, watching you with a tilt to his head, "But I will get there."

"Of that, I have no doubt. I've seen you play, too."

And like that, his smile twists into a satisfied smirk, "Just on video, huh? You still have to come to one of my games in person, though."

"Oh, I do, do I?" You're grinning as the two of you fall back into lighthearted teasing.

"Of course. I think there's still a thing or two I could teach you."

"I'm sure. Without a doubt."

By the time the boat reaches the end of its line, the cotton candy is completely gone, much like any space between you both. The two of you are just short of leaning into each other, your sides already pretty much pressed against each other for most of the fifteen minute ride,��as you and Toru talked and joked about various things with only the blinking stars and swaying trees as your witnesses.

You take a deep breath in as your boat approaches the dock, starting to pull away from him slightly, but you also catch the now-familiar scent of some product Toru uses and it smells divine. It's the sort of scent that makes you want to lean into his chest or neck and just relax while he holds you.

Oh my god. You need to slap yourself. That was pathetic, right? And after just one romantic boat ride, holy shit. You still have another hour and a half to go unless you completely bail on him. And for what? Because you caught yourself slipping? Again?

Ugh. No. You're here to be a good friend. And okay, take it slow and see what else could be between the both of you. But that shit wasn't slow.

You've pulled away, physically and metaphorically, by the time your boat docks but you still accept his hand as he helps you off, blocking the attendant yet again. He doesn't pull away though and neither do you, so you're still holding hands as you and Toru walk to your next destination.

Just taking it slow. Right... Shit.

Turns out your next destination is the carousel. You two keep switching horses, messing around until you're politely removed. After which you hit up some of the rides like the one that spins really fast so that you're pressed back against the reclined wall, or the one where you sit in a claw that swings you up, down, around, etc.

Following that, it's mini coasters and then upgraded back to some of your favourite thrill coasters from earlier in the day. You tell him it's a completely different experience at night. After the first one, he agrees. So you two hit up four more.

By the time the two of you get off the last one, teasing and laughing about who was screaming louder (it was him, obviously), you only have a little over twenty minutes left before the park closes. So your hand finds Toru's, your fingers lacing together with ease and electric familiarity by now, and you pull him along in order to run back to the hotel through the remaining crowd.

"Why are we going back?" He's barely even out of breath as he easily catches up to race beside you, but you guess neither are you. Thank you, conditioning.

"It's a surprise!"

The concierge barely startles when he sees two teens just run through, raising his hand to call out before lowering it in defeat. You're already gone anyways. You reach the elevator bay and hit the button for your floor, thankfully the door to the middle one opens immediately with a smooth tone. When the two of you get in for the ride up to the top floor, the pace steadies and you're just looking at each other while you each catch your breath, then you burst out laughing again.

"Okay so you're still not going to tell me?" There's a little bit of mock attitude in his tone but it's washed away by his genuine smile.

"Just wait."

The elevator dings as it reaches your floor and you're pulling him out with the doors barely open. The two of you reach your room and you swipe the card over the lock, opening the door, pulling you both through and closing it in swift motions before letting go of his hand and running to the balcony.

"Come on!"

You look back to encourage him forward as you open the double doors and he strolls up to your side before you both step out together. Just as you reach the rail, faint music starts to drift up from the park's speakers, getting louder and louder until you can hear its strains clearly, playing the orchestral melody that indicates the park will be closing in fifteen minutes.

It's what you can see only from up here that you wanted to show him. Because with the music that plays, there are lights quite literally at every inch of the park that turn on in an incredible show.

Many people gather on the streets or at particular locations for the ground level view. But those are always crowded and honestly a pretty limited view of the show's true scale. It's the guests who have park facing rooms and know to stop for the view from their balconies at this time that experience the true and complete nature of the stunning spectacle.

"Wow." He barely says it, it's more like a word he releases with his breath, but you're so happy knowing you were right.

This is the perfect ending to an incredibly special day that deserves no less. You and Toru stand there, side by side for the full fifteen minutes, still under the carpet of stars that seem a little closer from up here. The two of you hold hands, arms and sides pressed against each other as you both lean on the balustrade and listen to the crescendos and decrescendos, glancing at each other with smiles and the occasional comment. Sometimes pointing to a corner or edge of the park laid out beneath you to pull the other's attention with a tug on your linked hands.

And when the music starts its final rise only to move into its final descent, you look instead at Toru and find him looking back at you. With your hands still linked, you lean into him further to place a soft kiss on his cheek, mirroring the one from a year ago, this on his other side. Then you lean back to look at his flustered but happy face with a soft smile and add your wish for him to your blessing-

"Happy Birthday, Toru."

Prev | Next

Masterlist

Behind The Scenes!

-ngl but that moment when Toru takes a seat in the boat was fully inspired by my memory of him at the Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa match, just after Iwa hops over the seat like wow, but then the way Oikawa stretches out from his previous position... just more wow. Sorry, I can't explain it. I love that scene (and the others with those two that follow) and I don't know if I'm the only one it stuck with like this...

A/N: Okay...time for the vent... I will be the first to say that I love Kuroo and Suna primarily, and both the Miyas are a close second.. but I DO NOT KNOW HOW OIKAWA KEEPS PULLING THIS ON ME like... this whole episode really got away from me again. I mean, I did like Oikawa as a close second to Kuroo (who's been my steady the whole time, js, it's unwavering) for a LONG time before being intro'd to Inarizaki but... then Suna just came in and turned my head until I was like.. Oikawa, who? But maybe this just goes deep, so I didn't know he was always still in there. He IS incredibly lovable after all, you can't change my mind about that, and I really respect him as a complex character and okay, yeah, I honestly can't remember who was my first between him and Kuroo at this point because I was simping for them both before I really even remembered their names (and was trying to avoid being teased by my bf for rewatching scenes with them since he had to bribe me to watch the show in the first place). Anyways, I don't know what I'm saying anymore since I desperately need to go to sleep, maybe for a whole day, so I hope you guys like this one! Because.. just, yeah. Toru <3 I guess

Taglist: @delusivist, @prettyinblack231, @kac-chowsballs, @sakusasimpbot, @hawkthekinnie, @poppi144

[lil-tachyon]

I’m loving your solarpunk drawings and the world you’ve been building around it - even though most of the captions imply a decline in civilizational cohesion from our present condition, it’s reassuring to think ‘well, we’ll muddle through it somehow, we always do, and maybe the world that will follow might even be less shitty than our present one’.

That being the case, I want to pick your brain about more traditional sci-fi societal elements, especially in light of your saying that you don’t think mega-towers or arcologies or whatever you want to call em’ would take off (and I think you’re right):

1. Is armed conflict still a thing? On a national or tribal scale? And in a world with new constraints on resource scarcity, how effective is it at achieving organizational goals? On that note, if the old national-capitalist hierarchies are dinosaur-levels of irrelevant, what’s taken their place? Thinking about the militarization of national parks, the establishment of powerful firefighters’ unions - I guess I want detail on more stuff like that.

2. Does the internet still exist in any meaningful sense? I can see cellular towers going down with the grid, but do satellites still spin ‘round the earth for people to bounce comms off of? Perhaps one of its great features is exchanging material solutions, blueprints for 3D printers or something like that - or are 3D printers economically nonviable in the kind of solarpunk you’re imagining here? (I keep thinking about Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway on one hand, and Raymond Kurzweil’s concept for Atomically Precise Manufacturing and the Radical Abundance he says such technology would bring about on the other.)

3. How stark is the difference between urban and rural areas? Are there even relevant urban areas anymore? (I think there would be, relying on vertical or suburban agriculture to keep themselves independent of the country folk the city folk so fear and despise. But it’s your universe.)

Just thoughts. Really looking forward to seeing more of this rough-and-tumble solarpunk ‘verse in the future!

So glad to hear you’re liking it! I’m having a lot of fun drawing and writing this stuff and it’s really cool to hear people’s reactions to it. I’ll try to answer your questions the best I can.

1. I would imagine large-scale armed conflict with up-to-date weapons can only be conducted by global superpowers that can afford to requisition the oil and electronic components to manufacture modern weapons of war. In this scenario, that would probably be the US with access to most of the world’s oil and China with access to most of the world’s rare earths. They would probably engage in proxy wars over resources. Smaller powers would vie for support from American or Chinese “military advisors” in local or regional conflicts. Combatant states try to avoid total war so as not to completely deplete reserves of military resources, resulting in small conflicts that are feints-within-feints-within-feints of large economic conflicts.

I think empires will always be around, although how well they maintain control over their constituent components will vary. Tian gao, Huangdi yuan. With decaying infrastructures, both physical and electronic, large nation-empires will probably become less cohesive as communities further from the centers of power become harder to reach. The US will go back to being “These United States” rather than “The United States.” But the empires will try to hold on to power regardless. Smaller nations would probably see more overt changes. Resource scarcity and general global instability would likely cause revolutions all over the place (with each one being clandestinely contested by global superpowers). You’d see the emergence of new regimes that could be described as socialist, ethno-nationalist, monarchist, theocratic, democratic, communist, etc. The breakdown of global social order would be fertile breeding ground for new governments, for better or for worse. (I’ve been mostly focusing on tech stuff for the Inktober series as I’m really not very knowledgeable about geopolitics, but I can try to do more of this kind of cultural stuff if it’s what people find interesting. I like it too!)

2. The internet still exists, but for many people it is a public utility rather than a private luxury. Computers and phones are expensive and hard to repair, power outages are recurrent, and the infrastructure supporting the internet is expensive and difficult to maintain. Localized peer-to-peer file sharing networks are common and these networks connect to the broader internet when that connection is available. You’re right, many people in this scenario use the internet to find material solutions to difficult problems, I mentioned that a little in this post. So the internet is still around, it’s use just isn’t as ubiquitous as it is in our day and it’s typically reserved for important information exchanges rather than just web-surfing. 3D printers would actually probably be pretty viable. The difficult part would be obtaining components allowing for precision axial movement but stepper motors probably would still be pretty common and I’m sure you could make power screws with 19th century tech. And I don’t think the computing requirements are super demanding but I’m really not an expert.

As for radical abundance, nanotech, etc. I’m basically writing this whole setting assuming that their aren’t any “miracle technologies” that are going to save us but I can’t really rule that kind of stuff out. Maybe nanotech will become cheap and usable, maybe fusion power will as well. Who’s to say? (My gut feeling is that nanotech, when it comes, will result in some kind of epidemic of toxic nanoscopic trash and that fusion power is a long long way from viability yet, but those are literally just my feelings, they’re not based on any facts.)

3. I’m going to let you in on my dirty little secret: cities are very hard to draw which is why I haven’t drawn many urban scenarios for this project. That said, yeah, urban areas would definitely still be important. I think the key here is that the important urban centers of the future will be the ones that can protect themselves from wildfires, sea-level rise, and food shortages. So cities would probably be rife with greenery, have draconian fire-safety laws and would be equipped with flood mitigation infrastructure to rival or exceed the shutoken gaikaku hōsuiro. They would have more reliable access to 24/7 power and most of the rich would probably live in cities. I don’t see suburbs in the modern sense making it into the future. It costs too much to upkeep. They’d have to become much more self-sufficient to keep from falling apart in the face of food and resource scarcity. Rural areas would likely become self-sufficient communities unto themselves, repairing what they have, doing their best to keep the lights on with wooden wind turbines, providing communal light and heat from heliostat arrays etc. The only thing coming in to rural communities would be data from the internet, and the only thing going out would be food to the hungry cities. 

I hope this answers your questions! Feel free to ask more or suggest ideas. I’m not an expert on any of this stuff, I’m just trying to learn more about ways we might meet the challenges of the future.

Peace

[katehuntington]

Title: In Bad Waters - part seven Word count: ±5570 words Episode summary: Still in possession of the Winchesters’ belongings, Zoë meets up with the hunters on her next case. When it turns out to be a little more complicated than anticipated, she accepts their help in order to make an important deadline. Part seven summary: Zoë goes undercover to find out more about the murder she saw in her dream. Little does she know, that Sam and Dean do the same. Episode warnings: Dark! NSFW, 18+ only! Descriptions of domestic violence/child abuse. Drug use/addiction. Angst, gore, violence, character death. Description of blood, injury and medical procedures/resuscitation. Swearing, alcoholism. Supernatural creatures/entities, mentions of demon possession. Descriptions of torture and murder, drowning. Illegal/criminal practices. Mentions of nightmares and flashbacks. Author’s note: Beta’d by @winchest09​​​​ and @deanwanddamons​​​​. Thanks, girls!

Supernatural: The Sullivan Series Masterlist

S1E02 “In Bad Waters” Masterlist

     Confident, Zoë bends down in order to fit under the yellow ‘crime scene - do not cross’ ribbon. She takes out her federal agent ID and flips it open before the officer guarding the perimeter can ask her about it. He steps away respectfully and lets her through. 

     It’s about 10 AM and the sun is already out on this relatively warm November day. Marching up the driveway with her heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete, Zoë unbuttons her black suit jacket to let in some air. The Stars and Stripes hasn’t been taken down yet and still flutters from the top of the mast, located in the center of a perfectly landscaped garden. The fallen leaves drape parts of the neatly mowed lawn in different tones of orange and brown. Not only does this particular estate look amazing, the entire street is brochure perfect. It is obvious that the families living in these homes on Reynolds Park Road, are wealthy ones. However, the ambulances and police cars blocking the street and the officers scanning the area, indicate that something is terribly wrong. What would seem like the last place on earth for a murder, is indeed a gruesome crime scene.

     Two officers are having a conversation by the front entry. They pause the discussion once they notice the unfamiliar face approaching them. She captivates them instantly. Determined strides, head held high, clearly a woman who stands her ground in the men’s words that is law enforcement. There’s not a single trace of doubt noticeable when she flashes her ID once more.      “Agent Evans, FBI,” she states.

     “Detective Lee. This is officer Sanchez,” a tall man, with a serious case of a receding hairline, introduces his colleague a little reluctantly, clearly not happy about the presence of a fed. He holds out his hand anyway and Zoë makes eye contact, giving him a powerful handshake.      “I didn’t know the Bureau was involved,” he comments with an Upper South accent, common for the region.

     “Well, if you had paid attention while investigating the crimes in your own county, detective,” the specialist returns without missing a beat, facing the two man with enough arrogance to shut them down immediately, “- you might had noticed that there has been a murder similar to this one, making this a serial killing.”      “Still don’t make this a federal case,” Lee returns, standing his ground.      “What does, is the fact that there’s a whole string of deaths leading from Alabama up to your lovely little town.”

     Of course she just made that up on the spot, just to back up her reason to be here, but no one would be able to tell without doing some solid digging first. She is so convincing that the two men fail to counter her.      “Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. If you could be so kind to show me the way, that would be neat,” she requires, throwing them a fake smile while narrowing her eyes.

     The two officers glance at each other, it being clear as day that the detective is not amused by the way he’s spoken to. Nonetheless, he gestures to the FBI agent to get into the house. She seems like a person not to be messed with.

      They enter the villa with Zoë in tow, who nods approving while taking a look around. She glances up to the high ceilings, which are decorated with beautiful alto-reveilo, carved into the white plaster. Roman pillars support the level above, and in the back two staircases circle up to the second floor. Every square inch of the floor underneath their feet is made from marble. Renaissance paintings, portraying country sides in the 19th century and battles from the Civil War hang from the walls, a gold plated chandelier floats overhead. Flower pieces, amongst them an expensive bouquet placed on the mahogany round table in the center of the main room, gives the house a finishing touch. Zoë knows the lifestyle of the rich and famous, but this place looks more like a palace than a principal’s home in a town called Paragould.

     “As you can see, Mr. Van Dyke lived the good life. His father owned a Dutch shipping company and made millions,” Officer Sanchez explains, having noticed the federal agent’s impressed expression. “We believe the fortune he passed on to his son might have something to do with Van Dyke’s death.”

     As they climb the stairs, Zoë chuckles, but doesn’t say a word. These oblivious bastards... they have absolutely no clue, do they?      “You think something else is going on?” Lee questions, noticing the sarcasm in her little laugh.      “Money is not the motive,”  she returns, curt.

     An awkward silence follows and Zoë can feel the hostility between her and the two police officers. She has experienced it before, especially in smaller communities. Most cops despise the feds, simply because the cases they work quite literally hit close to home. The FBI is no stranger to barging in and taking over entire investigations, without sending a ‘thank you’ card. A lot of hard work for the local coppers, without any credit. Zoë can’t say she blames the police for being reluctant.

     “This way.” Sanchez beckons them after climbing the stairs to the second floor, where he turns left on the vestibule.      The closer they get to the crime scene, the more crowded it gets. The Crime Scene Unit has already arrived and forensics dust for prints, take pictures and search for evidence. When Zoë enters the room and finds Mr. Van Dyke, she frowns. 

      In the corner lies a man, probably in his mid fifties, half into a shattered exhibition case, his eyes open, death evident. It’s not the first time Zoë has seen a dead guy, but she wasn’t expecting such a violent killing committed by a ten year old. Apparently his head got smashed into the showcase; glass is scattered all over his body. He has bruises and cuts on his arms and face, but most peculiar is his probable cause of death. His neck is broken; the head at a 90° angle. 

     Zoë scans the room, which shows several signs of a struggle. One thing is certain; Van Dyke really got his ass kicked before he died. As she takes a look around, a woman wearing white latex gloves updates Lee and his partner. Zoë glances over, notices the CSU logo on her jacket, and walks over to tune in.      “- time of death was between 6:30 and 7 AM. No prints found so far,” the forensic states.      “Look at this place. There must be something,” Detective Lee ponders, his gaze panning over the crime scene.      “Not even a fiber,” she sighs. “I have to admit; I’ve never seen anything like this.”

     “Seems like the suspect has left no trace,” Zoë intervenes, mixing into the conversation.      “Someone just did a good job covering up,” Sanchez scoffs, not finding her remark relevant. “We’ll find something.”      Dude, you have no idea, Zoë thinks to herself, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement. She doesn’t cut in on him, although she has about a dozen smart curve balls ready. Never get too smart around cops, who knows what she might need them for later on.

     “There’s one thing, though, but it adds more confusion than it clears up.”      The forensic walks over to the body of Mr. Van Dyke and points out the way his sweater is pulled down. It uncovers his left shoulder, the sleeve seems too long at the end by the force that was used.      “Looks like someone pulled him down. As if the killer wanted to level his victim with him or her,” she clarifies.      “The murderer was shorter than the victim,” Lee concludes.      “Not just a little shorter, I’m talking about round 4 ft. 5 here, looking at the angle and location of the bruising,” the forensic adds up.      “About the height of a ten year old, right?” Zoë fills in, as the clues sum up.      “Yeah, that would be correct, but that’s impossible. Even if a ten year old could be capable of doing such a thing, they wouldn’t have the strength,” she rules out.

     Impossible isn’t in Zoë’s dictionary, but she has seen enough. The forensics might be on a dead end, Zoë is a hundred percent sure of who Van Dyke’s killer is. She is dealing with one furious ghost child here, but two questions remain unanswered: why isn't Laura at rest and how is she able to relocate?      A cursed object is the first thing that comes to mind. Being on the clock, Zoë decides to leave and have a talk with the family.      “Thanks very much, I’ve got everything I need.” She gives both the forensic and the members of the PPD a nod, before she exits the room.

     While Zoë walks down the corridor towards the staircase, the undercover huntress goes through the things she just learned. It almost seems like Laura is trying to put her victims through the same horror she experienced before she died. She simply shows them who’s boss, just like her father used to teach her. It’s violent, not suited for viewers under the age of eighteen, and yet a girl of only ten years of age, is behind these murders. 

     Back on the first floor, Zoë can hear soft wailing coming from the dining room. For the third time this morning she shows her ID, this time to the officer guarding the shielded off private space. The door is slightly ajar, when she pushes it open further in order to enter, the investigator finds the Van Dyke family, gathered together. A woman in her early fifties with blonde pixie hair has her arms around a teenage girl, who Zoë presumes to be the principal’s daughter. The son, a few years younger than his sister, stares outside, his empty eyes gazing out over the lake, quietly grieving in his own way. Instantly, Zoë feels sorry for the family. She wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.      “Mrs. Van Dyke?”

     The woman looks up with tears in her eyes and lets go of her daughter, but not before sweetly stroking her hair. Zoë shows Mr. Van Dyke’s wife her identification.      “I’m Special Agent Evans, you can call me Sharon. I would like to ask you a few questions if that’s alright.”      The mother of two nods her head as she wipes away her tears. “Of course.”      “Your husband’s passing took place between 6:30 and 7 O'clock this morning. Where were you at this time?” Zoë questions calmly.      “I was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast,” Mrs. Van Dyke replies, having crossed one arm over her chest, her hand covering her mouth as she breathes out with a shudder.      “And you heard nothing?” the huntress wonders, her voice gentle, not wanting to upset the poor woman even more.      “Not a sound,” she shakes her head. “Heather was in her room next to Bill’s office, she didn’t hear a thing until the dog started barking, that’s when she found him.”

     Zoë nods at that, aware that dogs have a better sense of the supernatural than humans have. She glances past the woman before her, noticing the kind Australian shepherd, who has laid his head in Heather’s lap, watching up at her with worried eyes while trying to comfort his owner. The dog seems calm now, a good indication that Laura isn’t anywhere near.      What the huntress does find strange, though, is that their daughter didn’t hear a thing. The article in the newspaper yesterday about Robert Shire’s murder comes to mind. His family was home during the incident as well.

     “That will be it for now, thank you for your time,” Zoë notifies, smiling sympathetically. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”      Mrs. Van Dyke turns back to her family with half a nod, still in complete shock after this morning’s events which turned her world upside down. Zoë would like to take more time to talk to the children, but she simply doesn’t have a minute to spare. Hastened, the huntress exits the house, stepping out into the warm sun as she takes out her shades and puts them on. 

      It all makes sense now. Laura isn’t just getting even with the people who are directly or indirectly connected to her death. She’s recreating how she died. What Zoë remembers from her flashback, the poor girl was a punching bag for her father’s fist on a daily basis, but it’s not just that. No one around heard a thing, not even a single sound, like the victims were isolated from the outside world. The vision of Laura’s mother stoically continuing her dinner while her older brother watched TV. As if they couldn’t bear the abuse and therefore shut out the sounds that came along with it. 

     Pondering, Zoë strides down Reynolds Park Road, back to her bike, which she parked near the water. Unlike the police, the huntress is everything but stuck, she knows exactly where she needs to go. Next stop; The Shire residence.

     “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

     Dean has been complaining ever since they pulled away from the In-N-Out, when Sam came up with his newest masterplan. Their usual jeans and several layers of plaid have been replaced with black suits, the sharp dressed men now approaching Arkansas Methodist Medical Center, leaving the Impala in the parking lot.

     “We are doing this, so get used to it,” Sam returns, getting tired of his brother’s whining. “You have the ID’s?”      Dean takes out two leather wallets and flips them open, showing him the fake identification. Sam stares at the ID’s, his jaw falling open.      “FBI? Are you nuts, Dean?”      “Dad and I do it all the time. No sweat,” Dean shrugs, not that worried about getting caught.

     “What if they look up our badge numbers? This is suicide!” Sam hisses, keeping his voice down when they pass people at the entrance of the hospital.      “You wanna know what’s suicide? Meddling with Zoë’s case,” Dean counters.      Sam huffs. “Oh, come on. How bad can it be?”      “You should have seen her in Rochester when she found out we rang Cliffer and blew her cover. That wasn’t even intentional, and now you actually choose to get involved?” Dean argues.

     He gives his brother his new identification, which Sam studies carefully as he mumbles his fake name. Dean watches his brother closely, curious if he will detect the little gimmick in their aliases, them being Angus and Young. But Sam doesn’t know enough about rock music to notice that the two names combined is the full name of AC/DC’s lead guitarist. Nonetheless, Dean is proud of the inside joke.

     “She might get a little annoyed, but she won’t get mad. We’re helping her,” Sam assures, hoping his brother will stop being dramatic.      “Exactly! I’m dressed like a fucking penguin while I know she won’t ever thank us, even if we have a major breakthrough.” Dean loosens his tie a bit, smothered by the tightness of his collar.      “Look man, we can sit on our ass and waste this day or--”      “- I prefer that actually,” the oldest intervenes.      “Or--” Sam continues, sternly, “- we can do something useful.”

     With that being said, he walks through the revolving doors of the governmental facility, followed by Dean, who mutters something unintelligible; stubborn fucker. Dean might be the older sibling here, but when Sammy has got his mind set on something, he can’t be reasoned with.      Heading straight for the main desk, the Winchester brothers get into character. Sam especially looks somewhat young to be a federal agent, thankfully his height makes up for that. They both need to sell this in order to gather new information on the case.      Confidently, Dean flashes his FBI identification to the woman behind the counter. “Agent Young, this is my partner Agent Angus. We’re here to see a dead body.”      “You came to the right place,” she comments, apparently not impressed by their badges.      She calls for an older physician in a long white coat who just passed by.      “Dr. Hughes? Could you escort these two agents to the morgue?” she asks him.      “Of course, I’m heading over there anyway,” he agrees, beckoning Dean and Sam to walk with him.

     The hunters follow the doctor through the long hospital hallways. White ceilings, mint green vinyl floors and random photos and Picasso rip offs on the walls every now and then; the typical hospital decor the Winchester brothers are more familiar with than they would want to be. They’ve been inside medical centers plenty. To investigate a case, but also as a visitor whenever someone in their close circle got hurt on the job, but also as a patient. Hunting isn’t just a profession prone to injury, it’s worse than that. It’s a profession prone to death.

     Dr. Hughes eventually breaks the silence when they reach an elevator. “Who are you here for?”      “Ronald Shire,” Sam informs.      Unpleasantly surprised, Hughes looks up at the tall agent. He halts by the elevator, calling it down to the first floor. It takes a second to arrive, the doctor uncomfortably shifts from one foot to the other. Dean and Sam have noticed it, however, exchanging a look.

     “I’m sorry,” the physician apologizes when he realizes how his behavior might come across. “Ronald was a colleague of mine, but he was also a close friend.”      “Our condolences,” Dean says, knowing all about Shire’s death after Sam filled him in earlier.      Hughes pushes the button to call the elevator down, accepting the sympathy offered by the agent. “Unbelievable, isn’t it? We see death every day and yet when it hits close to home, you never see it coming.”

     Wise words, applicable to everyone. He has been there on many occasions when the final hour struck; of hunters, of people they were trying to save. One would expect all this experience to give him thick skin, since he’s used to the violence and killings. But when Jess was murdered, it hit him harder than a wrecking ball.

     The younger Winchesters train of thought is interrupted by the sound of the bell, announcing that the elevator has reached their level. He clears his throat and directs his attention to the doctor again. “Do you have an idea what happened to Mr. Shire?”      “I did the autopsy myself; it left me stunned,” Dr. Hughes tells them as they enter the elevator.

     Again the doctor presses a key and the doors close. As they slowly move down to the basement, Dean tries to find out if Hughes knows more about the case then he’s willing to let go at this point.      “We think his death might have something to do with the murder that took place in the Van Dyke residence,” he fills in.      “I heard about that on the news. CSU is still on that, though”, the physician says.      “We have one of our agents at the scene,” Sam returns, with the short statement explaining their suspicion.

     The doors open and the three enter the morgue of the hospital. It’s cool in this section and an unpleasant scent fills the area, chemicals almost masking the lingering smell of the dead. The doctor walks over to the furthest wall of metal drawers. He pulls out one of the many trays and puts on a pair of latex gloves before he zips open the body bag.      “What’s so stunning about this case?” Sam wonders.      “See for yourself.” Hughes unfolds the bag and both boys raise their eyebrows.      “Ouch,” Dean comments.

     The body of Laura’s father is badly bruised and battered, as if he got beaten up by a street gang in a bad neighborhood. His jaw is demolished, his neck broken; this is some serious abuse. The ‘Y’ shaped incisions on his torso indicated that a full autopsy has been performed on Ronald Shire, but the large stitches barely stand out between the black and broken skin.

     “That’s not all,” the doctor adds as he takes out the file. “I searched every inch of his body on the in and outside, but there is not a print, not one single fiber on him that  could point you fellas towards a suspect.”      Dean gives Sam a look without the physician seeing it. Dr. Hughes might have never seen this before, the hunters certainly have. Ghosts never leave any trace on their victims, unless they want to.

     “This caught my attention, though.” The doctor points out the bruises. “See how they run out upwards? That indicates that these injuries were caused from a lower angle. Or the killer was on its knees - which would be most unlikely - or the injuries were inflicted by someone shorter than 4 ft. 7. Someone with a growth defect, dwarf syndrome. That’s the only way I can clarify this.”      “Have you considered a child?” Sam questions, carefully.      “I have for a brief moment, but it’s theoretically impossible for a child to throw punches like this, even when it would use an object to create some kind of leverage, which I found no indication of,” the doctor explains. “Honestly, I’ve never seen damage done like this, not even by trained fighters. The evidence doesn’t add up in the slightest. This shouldn’t be possible.”

     The boys exchange another glance; the evidence adds up just fine for them. Sam tilts his head and nods to the door, giving Dean the signal that they are leaving.      “Thank you for your time, doctor.” he rounds up their visit. “If there is anything else, let us know.”      “You’re welcome, I hope you’ll get this one,” Hughes mentions while he cleans up.      “We’ll do our best,” Sam ensures.

     The two hunters leave the morgue and step back into the elevator. As soon as the doors close, the oldest of the two turns to the other.      “Laura, definitely,” the youngest brother states, determined.      “Unless this town is haunted by two frustrated mini spirits, yeah, it’s Laura.” Dean agrees, watching Sam take his phone out of his pocket as they arrive at the first floor again. “Who’re you gonna call?”      “The other Ghostbuster,” Sam replies, as he looks up Zoë’s number and presses the green button as soon as they step outside the hospital.      “Shouldn’t we get to the bomb shelter first?” the oldest suggests, snarky.      “This information could be useful”, Sam replies, but before Dean can respond to that, Zoë answers her phone.

     “Sullivan.”      “Hey Zoë, it’s Sam. Listen, I’ve got some info on Ronald Shire for you,” Sam cuts to the chase.      “Why would you have info on Laura’s dad?”      Sam cringes slightly, detecting the suspecting tone in her voice. Oh well, here goes nothing.      “We went to the Medical Center to see Shire’s body.”

      Complete silence, but Sam can almost hear Zoë’s blood boil on the other side of the line. Dean pulls his sleeve and gestures at him, frustrated.      “What are you including me for?” he hisses, making sure Zoë can’t hear him.      Sam waves him away, without making a sound he hushes his brother to be quiet, turning away from him in order not to get distracted. He takes a breath, gathering his courage. 

      “Zoë?”       “I’m sorry, I think I misunderstood you. Did you just tell me that you deliberately messed with my case, even though I told you VERY clearly not to get involved?”      The huntress’s voice trembles with anger, Sam can hear she tries to keep calm.      “We figured we could spare you some time by going ourselves--”      “- You FIGURED?!”

     Sam cowers, her voice so sharp and loud that he doesn’t have to put her on speaker for Dean to pick up on the conversation. He did move closer to his brother, invading his personal space in order to tune in.      “Better take cover,” Dean advises his brother.      Annoyed, Sam pushes his brother away and focuses on Zoë again.

     “We didn’t mess anything up if that’s what you’re worried about”, he states defensively.      “I wouldn't give a flying fuck if you solved the fucking case! You didn’t listen!”      “You’re not my boss!” Sam makes clear, not having her raging attitude, no matter how intimidated he feels by the fiery woman.      “I am the boss when it comes to MY cases, damn it! This is not a fucking candy store I’m running, Sam! You can’t go do my job without telling me, you almost got me killed last time!”      “It was an innocent morgue visit!” Sam exclaims while making a wild gesture, even though Zoë isn’t there to see it. “And honestly, would you have said ‘yes’ if I asked you first?”

     “No of course not, you fucking asshat! That’s the fucking point!” she returns, clearly furious. “I swear to God, Sam, if you and your brother cross my path again…”      “What? You’ll kill us?” Sam huffs. “Listen, Zoë. Ronald Shire was attacked by Laura, without doubt. He was a mess, his jaw was wrecked and his neck was broken, all injuries inflicted from a lower angle. That’s all the info I’ve got for you, you do with it whatever the hell you want.”

     Before Zoë can return an answer, Sam ends the call. It’s only now that he notices Dean opposite of him, his arms crossed in front of him. He nods, appreciating.      “No more Mr. Nice Guy. I like it,” he comments, then continues his way to the Impala.      Without responding to his notification, Sam follows and catches up with him, still angry with the ungrateful attitude of the huntress. He cannot believe he saved her at least an hour and a half and this is what he gets in return; so much for gratitude. 

     Together they walk over to the classic Chevrolet without speaking about it further. Yet Dean can’t help but  smile as he opens his door. Sam notices the grin and rolls his eyes.      “Just say it,” he mutters.      “Say what?”      “You know what.”      Dean looks at him over the top of the black Chevrolet and ponders, still deciding if he should say the words which he longs to say. He can’t help himself, he has to enjoy the moment and rub it in.      His smirk grows even wider. “Hate to say I told you so.”      “No, you don’t,” Sam sighs, sits down and closes the door.

     Dean does the same and turns the key, starting up the Impala’s V8 engine, which lets out an enthusiastic roar. People Are Strange by The Doors is playing on the radio while Sam stares through the windshield, still bummed about the call.      “Why doesn’t she just drop the act?” Sam wonders.      “I’m not sure if it’s an act, Sammy.” Dean checks in both directions before steering his precious car onto the road. “I sincerely think her soul is pitch black.”

     But Sam shakes his head, not buying it. “This can’t be her persona. You said it yourself; she was different when you first met her.”      “So? People change,” Dean simply declares, shrugging his shoulders.      “Maybe, but this is just stupid. We’re in town, bored out of our skull while she is working her ass off to finish up on time. It can’t be that hard to accept our help.”      “Apparently she’s socially disturbed, Sam. Let it go already. If she can’t appreciate a helping hand, she’s not worth the effort,” the older brother suggests, not wanting Sam to be bothered by the matter. “Let’s go to Texas and hunt some wolf, huh?”

     He considers the advice for a moment as they drive by Linwood Cemetery. As soon as he spots the place, he glances across the road at the Hampton Inn, but there is no sign of Zoë; she must be at the crime scene.      As they pass through, he decides he wants to stay. “No. We agreed to stay in town till tonight. Zoë will leave, case closed or not. It’s almost midday, so what difference will it make if we leave now or tonight?”      “Half a day,” Dean answers smartly.      “Denise? Or did you completely forget about the fact that you are meeting up with her later?”

     The driver of the black car raises his eyebrow at that, contemplating, because Sam is right; he did forget about his ‘date’ later today for just a second. Dean doesn’t like to admit it, but Denise is a very big plus to stay in town just a little while longer. A silence follows after Sam’s mention while his brother thinks through his options.

     “Point taken,” he gives in. “But I’ll tell you one thing. Zoë is not gonna come around.”      “She will, believe me. She’s not as bad to the bone as she pretends to be,” Sam states, sure of his words. After all, last night she was friendly for letting him crash in her room and transferring all that lore to his computer.      “I know her better than you do,” Dean weighs up.      “I don’t believe that's true,” Sam counters, shaking his head.      “Wanna bet?” Dean looks aside as the argument is starting to turn into a ‘do not, do too’ fight. “Burgers for a week.”      “I rarely eat burgers. How’s that gonna benefit me?” the younger sibling brings to mind.

     “Okay, well… If I win, you buy me burgers for a week. If you win, I won’t give you shit for ordering a salad in every fast food joint we eat at.” The green eyed hunter wiggles his eyebrows, his arrogant grin confident, spread wide on his lips.      “I’m not settling for that.” Sam huffs and shakes his head. “You can buy me whatever I order for the next seven days if I’m right.”      “Deal.”

     Before Dean can assure him that this is a bet he will win, his brother’s Blackberry rings. Surprised, he checks the screen for the number, his long chestnut hair falling in front of his eyes when he looks down, then he raises his eyebrows and smiles. Victoriously he shows the screen to Dean; it’s Zoë. Sam picks up his phone and puts her on speaker.      “What?” he snaps, still mad at her.      “What are you up to?”      The youngest of the Winchesters isn’t sure if she’s asking him if he’s still intending to mess with her case or that she’s asking if he has some spare time.      “Depends,” he answers, curt.      “You said Shire broke his neck, so did Van Dyke.”      “So?”      “Might be something.”

     Sam keeps his mouth shut, warning Dean to do the same with only a look and a slight shake of the head. An unpleasant silence follows. Obviously, it irritates Zoë.      “C'mon, Sam. Knock it off!”      “No, Zoë! We’re helping you out and this is what we get?” Sam returns.      “You two nosey dickwads went behind my back! How can you expect me to be--”

     They can hear her sigh and swallow down the rest of the sentence as she collects herself, trying to keep her temper in check.      “I don’t like working with others and I certainly don’t want to abandon this case. I’ve never passed up a job, it’s not my style. But if I don't finish up by tonight, I don't have another option.”

     “I get that, but wouldn’t it be better if we just work together now and make sure that you’ll make your deadline?” Sam suggests, calmer than a moment ago, now that the woman on the other end of the line has done the same.      “Look, Zo,” Dean interrupts, adding his two cents. “I know you’re not particularly happy about teaming up - and hey, neither am I - but you’ll be able to cover more ground that way. You can’t expect us to leave town knowing you might have to face a dilemma. The sooner you close this case, the sooner we can go our separate ways.”      “I don’t know...”      Again a sigh while Zoë considers her next move. Sam allows the silence, granting her the time to think it through. The way he sees it, she doesn't have much of a choice. The Winchesters are the best option she’s got.      “Okay, fine,” she eventually gives in. “But this is still my case. I call the shots and might we stumble on trouble, we stick to the plan. I can’t settle for anything less.”      Dean has already opened his mouth to object, but Sam elbows him hard, shooting him a warning glare.      “Agreed,” the youngest quickly answers, ignoring the quiet muttering from his left.      “Dean?”

     The older Winchester brother grinds his teeth. Shit, he does not want to bow down to her, because he knows the second he does, she will without a doubt step up to become Evil Queen Bitch. He’s never going to live it down. One case, he tells himself. One fucking case and he will never have to deal with her again.      “Fine,” he utters, barely audible.      “One other thing. I need to leave town tonight, case finished or not. We have to try or take care of this today, okay?”      “We will,” Sam assures. “And if we run into trouble and can’t manage to wrap up, you don’t have to worry about this case. We’ll make sure to have it covered and that Laura will be put to rest.”      “So, do we meet up or what?”      “Yeah, sure.”      “Where are you at?”

     Before Sam answers he checks the name of the road they are on.      “W. Kings Highway, going west. We’re staying at the Ramada Inn,” Sam tells her.      “Shit motel.”      He scoffs a chuckle, glad the tension has lifted. “Tell me ‘bout it.”      “I'll see you at In-N-Out,” the huntress decides. “I want an Animal Burger.”      “Have you had that 4x4 burger?” Dean says, his mouth watering. “The amount of meat, hmm.”      “Are you kidding me? I grew up in California; In-N-Out is my jam!”      “Their food is fuckin’ amazing, ain’t it?” Dean agrees.      “Oh my God, yes! How they grill their cheese—”

     Stunned, Sam stares from the phone to Dean and back. Did the unthinkable just happen? Did Zoë and Dean actually agree on something? Remarkable, but truly, here is the one subject they can’t fight about; food.      “Zo?” he interrupts.      “Yeah?”      “See you at In-N-Out.” He chuckles and hangs up.

     The Ramada Inn shows up in front of them and Dean pulls up into the parking lot, turning off the ignition once he has found a spot close to the entrance. Before he gets out of the car, he registers Sam, who’s wearing a boyish grin on his face. His eyes sparkle through the curtain of his bangs, his pearl white teeth on display; it’s clear he’s very much amused.      “Hate to say I told you so,” Sam nags victoriously, and pushes the passenger door open.

     With a confused expression upon his face, Dean gets out of his car himself. He then glares at younger Winchester over the top of the Impala, the words sinking in. Fuck, he lost a bet; Zoë came around.      “No, you don’t,” he mutters, following his sibling inside. Looks like he’s going to have to live through the embarrassment of ordering and paying for salads the coming week. Oh well, at least he doesn’t have to eat them.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate every single one of you, but if you do want to give me some extra love, you are free to like or reblog my work, shoot me a message or buy me coffee (Link to Kofi in bio at the top of the page).   

Read part eight here

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

Anything in the world

(Yandere Giorno Giovanna X reader)

You had never really met your father. It wasn't because he was a dead beat that didn't care about you, it was quite the contrary. He loved you to death but him being a mafia boss would put you in terrible danger. So at birth you had two identities, Marie Alice Sallustio, who your mother delivered as a still born and then their was you 'a girl born from an under aged woman who was adopted by your mother'.

At the age of eight your father had sent you and your mother out of Italy. He had paid your mother enough to live in the most luxurious suburb of your country, to get the best education and to buy the most expensive clothing on the market.

🐞🐞🐞

"It's a pointless pursuit boss, Mr Sallustio's daughter died at childbirth eighteen years ago" a man argued.

"I don't think so, Sallustio's ex wife left him before the child's birth and when that child died she adopted the child of the woman next to her..." A young man in a royal blue suit said while sitting on a recliner as he flicked a few stray strands of hair out of his face.

"Both were female born on the same day and time, both same weight, Hight, blood type. Coincidence, I think not" he continued.

"But how can you be so sure sir?"

"Why do you think that he's been sending so much money overseas, I don't see it as a very effective way of money laundering"

"Ten years ago his ex left Italy and that's when he started sending all of the money over" he continued.

"But how are we supposed to take her from there to here?" the man asked as he pointed to on the map.

"She's booked five nights at a hotel close by, which means she'll be in Italy"

"So I want you to go and bring her to me... Unharmed, understood?"

"Yes boss"

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On 2005 your eighteen birtday had arrived and boy did your father go all out on costs, a cruise trip all around the Meditation region. It had been amazing. The food, the culture, the experiences. The trip had been a blast.

You had arrived at the docks of Italy, your last stop. Tonight you were supposed be heading to the airport to go home but you had different plans. You were going to stay behind for a few more days to reconnect with your homeland.

You waited for your limousine at the car park, you looked at the time. 10:15pm, they were late. You sighed as you tapped your shoes in announce. A few minutes had passed before the limousine arrived you walked up to the driver's side.

"Your twenty minutes late" you said with irritation in your voice.

"Sorry ma'am, I won't charge you" he apologized as you hopped into the back with your luggage.

"Take me to the Santino hotel please" you said.

"Of course ma'am"

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You poured yourself a glass of wine and looked out the window, you realised that something was wrong. None of these buildings and structures were on the way to the hotel.

"Umm, sir your going the wrong way!" you yelled. you saw the driver window slowly lower. There was two people in the front and the passenger pointed a pistol at you.

"Listen, comply and you won't get hurt" he said as he undid his seat belt and climbed into the back.

"What do you want from me?" You asked as a shiver went down your spine.

"We need you to answer a few questions, Marie Sallustio" he said.

They knew, this was bad. You sat in shock for about a minute or so before you bolted to the door and opened it. A lightheaded feeling began to stir as you looked out, the limousine was probably going at about 60km/h. You looked back at the man who was now holding out his hand towards you.

"Come on, sit back down... Nobody has to get hurt, we just want some answers" he said in a concerned tone. You felt a skull splitting head ache pounding your head and you lost your footing as the world around you fell into an inky abyss as you landed on the tarmac.

"Pull over!" The man yelled to the driver as he saw your body rolling across the road. The car came to a hault and the two ran over to your body, they looked in shock as they saw your body. Cuts everywhere, blood trickling down onto the tarmac and a piece of glass stabbed through your eyeball.

"Do you think the boss could fix this?"

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"I told you to bring her unharmed" the blonde haired male hissed in irritation.

"But she was already going to get beaten" one of the men argued.

"No, we were going to keep it civil" he sighed.

"She has nothing to do with the Mafia" he continued.

"I can't believe you two couldn't complete that simple task..."

"But... But" the two stuttered.

"Get lost,you two are useless" he said as he gestured them to leave.

He looked over you your form.

He brushed his hand through his hair.

'hopfuly it won't take long to heal her wounds' he thought.

Thou his main reason of having you brought to him was a tactic to get your father to surrender, an alternative motive had began to sprout in his mind a few months ago. He was just so interested in you as an individual. Their was just something about you that seemed to attract him to you.

After healing all your wounds he could help but admire you even more. You looked even more beautiful in person, but he couldn't admire your sleeping form for much longer, the sleeping powder that had been slipped in your wine wouldn't last much longer.

🐞🐞🐞

You groaned as you eyes adjusted to the harsh morning light of the sun. You looked around. You didn't know where you were, from the looks of the place it seemed to be type of flat, maybe a rent out accommodation. You got out of the comfy bed you were laying on and looked out the window. Grape vines as far as the eye could see. You were most likely in a vineyard.

You heard a click, then a slight creak. You instantly turned around to see a young male in the door way.

"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't startle you" he spoke in a smooth tone. He had long blond hair, mesmerising blue eyes and wore a rather expensive looking blue suit. You would be lying if you said that he wasn't attractive, however there was something unsettling about him.

"Where am I?" You asked.

"I can't really tell you that right now" he responded as he locked the door behind him.

"Then could you at least tell me your motives?"

"Certainly, Marie" he replied.

"That is not my name" you snarled.

"But... You are Sallustio's Daughter right?" He asked. You let out a small sigh.

"Yes I am, but Marie is not my name... Marie is in a coffin buried under the ground in some cemetery" you said.

"I only know myself as (Y/n)" you continued.

"Alright (Y/n), but as I was going to say" he said as he walked to a small table in the centre of the room, he pulled a chair out and guestued you to sit down. You complied and he pushed your chair in before sitting on the other.

"Do you know what your father does for a living (Y/n)?" He asked you.

"To a degree, I know he is a mafia boss" you replied.

"Well he runs a relatively successful drug ring, and I want to get rid of it" he explained.

"Why, because you want to make more profit from your own" you said as you huffed and rolled your eyes.

"No, it's because I want to stop the drug epidemic from taking the lives of innocence people" he stated passionately. That had perked you up a bit, hearing that he wanted to stop drug rings as a whole.

"I've tried to resolve this matter with him directly but that hasn't seemed to have worked... So I had to move to more drastic measures" he sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I promise that my men and I won't hurt you, you have no dealing with his gang" he reassured you. A loud knocking could be heard along with a muffled voice that you could only just make out.

"Hey Giorno! All the preparations are done!"

"Ok Mista I'm coming" he yelled back.

"So you name's Giorno?" You asked.

"Yes, Giorno Giovanna" he said as he got out of his chair and kissed your hand in a gentlemanly matter before going to the door and unlocking it.

"Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?" he asked before leaving and locking the door once again.

🐞🐞🐞

As a young child your mother had planted seeds of fear in your mind when it came to the Mafia. She had told you about every gang and what they did but one group always sent a shiver down your spine. Passioné.

"If you ever get caught up with any gang be patient, tell them everything you know and be composed and compliant" you mother told you as she sat at the end of your bed.

"Unless your dealings with Passioné, then you must try to escape at all costs" she said.

"But you said that if I try to run away... then they'll... Hurt me..." You sobbed in fear.

"Yes but Passioné are... Different... Very different, inhuman" she said, her face became pale.

"They can do things that are unimaginable... Indescribable, the thing they will do to get their way is truely the stuff of nightmares"

🐞🐞🐞

Days had passed and you had never left the room. Giorno had brought you food whenever he could. He told you what the plans were. Send your father a recording of you telling him all the details and then you would be brought to the designated area where the deal would be made and after that you would be free. So you complied and made the recording.

🐞🐞🐞

"Giorno" you said just as he was about to walk out the door.

"Yes (y/n)?" He asked.

"Umm I just wanted to thank you for not hurting me"

"Now why would I want to hurt you" he asked as he walked back to you.

"My mother always told me that if I was taken by the Mafia then they would" you mumbled as you looked down. He lifted your chin lightly.

"I would never let that happen to anyone, especially not you" he said as he looked straight into your eyes.

"Especially not me?" You said in a confused tone.

"Yes, especially not you" he replied. You felt a light uneasy due to his close proximity and the the tone in his voice.

"Giorno!" You heard the same voice as the other day.

"Ok I'm coming!" He he yelled, irritation in his voice. He walked out the door and locked it again.

You could just hear them talking to each other, curiosity had got the best of you and you walked right up to the door to listen to them.

"If he refuses my second request Mista, then I want you to kill him" you heard Giorno say.

"Yes, but what about (Y/n)? She'll see it won't she?" The other male said.

"She'll be asleep in the limo a few metres away" Giorno responded.

"From Sallustio's response he definitely is on edge by the fact that his daughter is being held hostage by Passioné"

Your heart skipped a beat, you were being held by Passioné and they had plans of killing your father.

You went into a frenzy and Started packing up your backpack with the essentials. Purse, passport, one set of fresh clothes and you backup cell phone which had been hidden in the lining of you suitcase, hopefully it had some charge in it. You noticed that the balcony doors hadn't been locked. You took out your chunky earrings and put them on the dressing table. You couldn't take everything with you. You could always get more clothes and jewelry when you got back, you had to escape, this was you chance.

You grabbed the bed sheets off of your bed and tied them together and tied them to the railing before throwing it off and slowly climbing down them. You let out a sigh as you touched the ground but the task Was nowhere near complete. You had to run now and try to find an exit.

🐞🐞🐞

You ran beside the drive way for what seemed to be forever. Your lungs were screaming for you to stop, you legs felt like they were turning into jelly and your chest was aching. You sat down between two of the rows of grapevines that surrounded you. You opened your bag and grabbed your phone and pressed the on button. You prayed for you phone to turn on. A feeling of pure euphoria washed over you as you heard the start up tone of you phone and as soon as it was on you went through your contacts before calling you mother. Hopefully one reception bar was good enough.

One ring...

Two rings...

Three rings...

"(Y/n) are you- where- ou?" Your mother voice yelled, despite it being disjointed and glitchy you could still piece together what she was saying.

"Mom, I'm alright... I don't know where I am thou" you weesed.

"What?"

"I've been kidnapped by Passioné" you yelled into the phone. You could hear you mother sob and cry.

"Mom please listen to me... They plan to kill father during the hand over"

"Huh? They plan to mill flour during the what?" She asked. You sighed in frustration.

"Mom they are going to-!" you were stopped by the feeling of something wrapping around you. You screamed in horror as you looked to see what it was. A constrictor python was wrapping it's long body around you.

"What's wrong!" Your mother screamed.

"A python is wrapped around me" you screamed.

"What's -ed around you!" Your mother yelled.

"A python!" You screamed as you thrashed around, trying to get it off of you.

"What's a - doing in Italy!" She hysterically screamed.

"I don't know!"

"Get it off of-" was the last thing you heard before your phone shut down.

"No, no, no NO!" You screamed.

"Fucking piece of shit!" You continued as you threw the phone at the python, it hissed at you as it's wrapped itself tighter around your form. You felt something hit you but nothing had.

You looked at the sky, you only had a few minutes of light left.

"(Y/n), where are you?" you heard Giorno call out.

You looked through the vines and saw him, probably only 3 metres away. You grabbed the python and forced it off of you, it flailed in your hand as you held.

"Over here!" you yelled before throwing it at him and making a mad dash to the road that was in sight. You felt yourself getting closer and closer to freedom with each step but then you tripped, a vine was wrapped around your leg. It grew rapidly, climbing further up your leg. You let out a scream, uncertain of what was happening. You then saw a pair of rusty sheers, they must have been left from the last season.

You tried to grab them but the vine pulled you back. You got on your knees and made a desperate leap to grab them, you were successful and tested them. You could only just use them.

"I wouldn't suggest using those to do what I think your about to do" Giorno voice said. You looked behind you with the python around his shoulders. You didn't listen to him and attempted to cut the vine but as you did a pair of deep cuts formed on you leg. You let out a pain filled scream.

You tried to continue but the wounds got deeper. To stop you he quickly snatched the sheers off of you and in front of your very eyes it turned a crow and flew away.

"What... Are you" you cried

"What do you mean?" He said as he knelt beside you. The python loomed only inches from your face, he quickly pulled it away from you and it turned into one of the earrings that had taken off.

"How...can you do that?" You said as you tried to back away.

"I have my secrets" he lightly chuckled as he summoned another vine which wrapped around your arm, making you lose your balance and fall to the ground.

"Now I want to know why you escaped?" he asked as he moved closer to you.

"You're going to kill my father, I can't let you do that!" You cried.

"That's only if he doesn't he doesn't comply with what I ask" he said.

"What's the second request then?" You asked as the last ray of sunlight disappeared. He ran his fingers through your hair.

"You shouldn't worry about that" he cooed as he gave you a small smile.

"Now come on let's head back, I'll help clean your wounds" he said as the vines disappeared.

This was all part of his act. He pretended to be nice so that you would follow his commands but you weren't going to fall for it this time. You made a sprint to the road but after a few seconds you weren't getting any closer. You then relized that you were moving backwards, like you were in reverse and you ended up back on the floor, just like before. Giorno had a blank expression on his face but you felt very intimidated.

"I won't let you get away from me" he said as he pulled you up but you just couldn't stand, you were almost lifeless. Even just blinking was a struggle. You just passed out.

🐞🐞🐞

You woke up in a dark room, you tried to rub your eyes but your hands were tied to the frame of the bed you were laying on. You then felt something next to you. You could only make out a few details with the dim moonlight that entered past a set of curtains, but you could tell it was Giorno. He let out a small groan as his eyes opened. You pretended that you were still asleep.

"I know your awake" he said but you kept up the act.

"Your breathing is rather fast for somewho is supposedly sleeping" he continued as he trailed his soft fingers up your leg. You wanted to kick but your leg still hurted from earlier. Tears started to well up in your eyes as his fingers drifted up your upper thigh, you opened your eyes to see him ontop of you. You began to cry in fear. He then stopped and got off of the bed.

"I wouldn't do that to you, as I promised I will not hurt you" he said.

"But if it were someone else... They would have continued, no matter how much you would pleed" he continued. You continued to cry, just out of uncertainty of what was going to happen.

"(Y/n) please stop crying, it really does hurt me" he said as he leaned down beside you and wiped your tears before kissing your forehead.

"Just go back to sleep, you need your rest" he whispered.

"Why... Why do you say and do thing like this to me?" you asked, he then leaned in again, this time his lips ghosted on your own.

"Because, I love you"

🐞🐞🐞

"Why do you like that girl so much?" Mista said as he watched Giorno playing with strands of your hair.

"There's just something about her, I just can't quite put my finger on" he said.

"It's not long until we get there, you know your gonna have to let her go" Mista said.

"Who said that I was going to?" He said.

"He has two choices. To give her to me as any respectable father would or I'll tear her out of his dying grasp. Ultimately it's his choice"

[discoverafricasafaris]

Matthys’ Top Three Favourite lodges In Botswana

A Botswana safari is synonymous with the Okavango Delta but I think that so many people don’t know how diverse the country is. Botswana has such a variety of different animals and different eco-systems, just begging to be explored. Here is a list of Matthys' favourite three lodges in Botswana. 

Chobe Game Lodge

Location

Chobe Game Lodge, in my opinion, is a very nice entry-level luxury lodge and is situated inside the Chobe National park, many people believe that the Park is overcrowded but still would like to experience the magic of seeing the large elephants swim and play in the Chobe River. It is a sight that few places in the world could even dream to better the experience. The lodge is situated about 30 - 45 minutes drive inside the park with no other lodge in close proximity and also allows for game activities an early start and late return giving you the opportunity to avoid the bulk of the normal crowd as you can reach places in the park otherwise impossible for day visitors to reach and still make it back to the gate in time before the park closes. 

Matthys' Game viewing experiences

I’ve been privileged enough to experience Chobe in all its glory, we went for an afternoon cruise on the river and encountered a massive number of elephants in the river and on both the Botswana and Namibia side of the river running towards a thunderstorm brewing in the background. There were elephants everywhere, probably over 300.

What makes this Lodge unique

Besides the location of the lodge inside the National Park with no neighbours close by, it will be the fact that this lodge tries its best to stay as green as possible with a very small carbon footprint. The lodge’s 4x4 vehicles and boats are electric which gives a very unique game viewing experience and you get to hear the bush and the river with no to very little noise coming from the electric motors.

How to get there

The easiest entry points would be Kasane Airport but also easily accessible from the Victory Falls. The drive from Kasane takes about 45 minutes in one of the lodge’s game-viewing vehicles. Should you decide to add Chobe to your Victoria Falls itinerary or visa-versa then you are looking at an approx. 2-hour road transfer depending on how busy it is at the Kazungula border post.

Savute Safari Lodge

Location 

The Savute Safari Lodge is also a good entry-level luxury lodge with all the creature comforts that you would like. The lodge is located in the Savuti region of Botswana, next to the dry Savuti River canal. The lodge has a watering hole that caters to all the animals in the region. The waterhole is one of the biggest deciding factors for this camp but more about that later. The location is often overlooked by people going to Botswana as time is the crucial factor but I hope that you would consider this gem of a region after reading this article.

Game Viewing

I am in love with this region because of the magical experience that I have had, there were so many unbelievable sightings that the entire stay was just fantastic. The Savuti region is famous for the Savuti Marsh Lion pride, which is around 22 lions strong the last I heard. We saw the pride feasting on a wildebeest that they took down just a couple of minutes before we got there. It was such a primal and exciting experience and was just amazing to see how the alpha male lion was so patient with the cubs, all trying to get their fill. This only lasted for a couple of minutes before the male lion removed the cubs from his piece of wildebeest. You can also expect to encounter wild-dogs and hyenas amongst the mix if you are interested in the predators.  

What makes this Lodge unique

As mentioned before about the watering hole, we could have sat there the entire day because of the vast amount of animals that came down for a drink and to cool down, at one stage there were about 80 - 100 elephants congregating around the waterhole with small baby elephants playing in the mud with no worries in the world, and there were quite a few elephants that stayed at the waterhole until late the evening. We also saw a leopard in the evening which probably caused some unrest. The few elephants that stayed until very late the evening were clearly unsettled because they kept on trumpeting until very late, I have never again experienced that until date.

Getting there

I would highly recommend taking a small aircraft flight, there is an airstrip close to the lodge and the transfer is done in an open 4x4 game viewing vehicle, the drive itself can be considered as a game-drive. You can access the airstrip from Kasane Airport, Muan Airport, and even other Lodges as part of a larger itinerary.

Camp Okavango

Location 

Camp Okavango is a brilliant luxury lodge that is situated in the heart of the Okavango Delta. If you want the perfect spot then this is it! The lodge is perched on stilts and offers sweeping views of the flood plain. The wooden decks are in pristine condition and the rooms are next to heavenly, the decor style offers you understated bush luxury with all the comforts that you can think of such as double showers, etc.

Game Viewing

The camp focus on water-based activities which include motorboat trips and “makoro” cruises. The makoros are “dug-out” canoes with a guide at the back with a long poll, pushing you along in the shallow waters of the delta canals. Experiencing no engine noise while slowly making your way along the water in the middle of the Delta is something that words can’t describe. You also get morning game walks on one of the closeby islands, this is done by 2 guides and you don’t have to worry too much about pace as this can be done at a pace that you are comfortable with, as long as you are comfortable walking around. This was where I’ve encountered my first experience in the wild on foot. You are so much more aware of what is happening around you and seeing elephants in relatively close proximity will give you such an adrenaline rush, I should add that the guides that do the walking safaris are extremely knowledgeable and knows how to read the animals and the situation. I never felt scared or unsafe. Game walks are only allowed for people over the age of 16 due to obvious safety reasons.

What makes this Lodge unique

I think what made this Lodge unique for me was not just the location, or the magnificent decked boma dinner area overlooking the floodplains, the luxurious warm accommodation, the high standard of game viewing vehicles, the staff were extremely friendly and warm-hearted. The guides are fantastic and knowledgeable. Camp Okavango comes highly recommended and worth your time, perhaps even spend an extra day just to wake up a little bit later and enjoy the room and facilities.    

Sure there are many other fantastic lodges that offer an incredible safari experience and caters to various budgets. Credit should also go to these camp’s staff members which had a huge influence on choosing these three lodges, the staff members were always happy and all always willing to make the experience memorable, from the general staff, the guides and the camp managers. The best would be to get out there and explore the natural wonders of Botswana has to offer. 

Botswana Safari

[yoon-ing]

Crowned

Prince!Jimin x Reader

Word Count: 11.7k

A knock on the door invites your boyfriend into a new world of royalty and riches, but there is more in store for him than he anticipates.

The day is still young when there's a knock on the door. You look up from your laptop to meet Jimin's eyes, as if asking if he's expecting anyone. A shrug of his shoulders tells you he doesn't know who it can be and he puts aside his own laptop to head to the door.

“Are you Mr. Park Jimin?” the unannounced man asks once Jimin has swung the door open.

“Yes, and you are?” he questions uneasily, having never seen this man before.

Your ears perk up, your curiosity getting the better of you as you listen in.

“I am Royal Secretary Cha Gong, the King would like to see you,” he authoritatively informs.

“The what,” Jimin says, not sure he heard correctly.

“King Kim Sejun,” the man says to clarify.

“I'm sorry, we have a king?” Jimin asks, baffled.

Your reaction mirrors his surprise and immediately you begin googling away on your computer, needing answers rather than just trusting this man's word.

“Yes,” Cha Gong replies, “and he is not a very patient man, so if you could please come along.”

“Okay, which of the guys sent you, because this is obviously a joke,” Jimin asks, and you can practically hear him roll his eyes.

“This is no joking matter,” he says in a serious tone and you decide it’s time you intervene.

Coming up behind Jimin, you give the Royal Secretary a polite smile before asking him to excuse you two and you pull Jimin away for a minute.

“I think he's legit,” you quietly whisper once the door is shut. “I looked it up and apparently we do have a monarchy?” you say, as if questioning your own words.

“Are you serious?” Jimin asks.

“Yeah, look,” you tell him as you grab his arm to drag him to your laptop.

His eyes scan the page briefly before he looks back up at you, “but how do we know this guy is who he says he is?”

“He should have a pin like this,” you tell him, pointing at an image of the Royal coat of arms.

The two of you rush back to the door and open it a sliver to peer out at the man; on the left lapel of his suit jacket, he has a small emblem fastened onto the fabric that looks just like the one you pulled up on Google with golds and reds intertwined on a shield with flags and symbols you don't quite understand.

Without saying a word, Jimin shuts the door and turns to look at you. “He has it, what do we do now?”

“I guess you go with him?” you respond, still unsure yourself.

“What if I get executed or something?” Jimin irrationally questions, beginning to feel nervous.

“I'm pretty sure that's illegal in this country,” you try to point out.

“We clearly don't know a lot about this country considering we didn't even know we have a king!” Jimin exclaims in a whisper-yell.

After convincing Jimin there's no harm in at least hearing the king out, he informs the man still waiting at the door that he'll go with him under the condition that you come too. The secretary doesn't seem reluctant at all and the two of you follow him out to the car once you've both changed into something that isn't your lazy day sweats.

The drive is a long one and although Cha Gong forewarned you it would be a 45 minute ride, it feels to go by even slower in the stifling silence of the darkly tinted car that must be the latest model with the interior still smelling of new leather. Conversation feels awkward, so you and Jimin settle for texting each other back and forth, mainly freaking out and making absurd theories about what the king would possibly want with commoners like yourselves. Once the time passes, you find yourselves in a small town on the outskirts of the region, a town you've never bothered to visit before with nothing to offer with a population only a fraction of the size of the metropolitan where you've spent your entire life.

Coming up to a large wall, if seems to span for miles as the car drives along it, creating an obvious separation between the town and what you presume is the residence of the country's royal family. There are extensive security measures coming up to the entrance; cameras, gates, and men in uniform. The iron gates are drawn open and your eyes widen in awe as the car proceeds through the property. A long driveway winds up an acre of land, with lush grass, flower beds and century old trees, and it feels like you're in the botanical gardens. The greenery thins out when you approach a mansion, or palace rather, decadent and large with architecture so surreal, you're sure you don't know enough to fully appreciate the finer details. Jimin is in as much awe as you with wide eyes rounded with wonder.

When the car comes to a stop, the doors are opened for you and you feel so small stepping out in front of the grand entrance. Instantly, you flock to Jimin's side in an attempt to ease the nerves that course all the way to your fingertips, but you two are both nervous wrecks and your anxious energy bounces off of each other. It's overwhelming to say the least, and it's far too much to take in as you focus all your attention on reeling your jaw back in from where it hangs to the floor. Everything is so posh and pristine, looking like it all belongs in a museum and you can't help but feel shabby in your get up of dark jeans and a blouse. You don't have much time to dwell on your appearance because the corridor that the secretary has been leading you and Jimin down comes to an end and you are brought to large double doors.

You're escorted into a private library and the secretary announces that you and Jimin will have to part ways here, Jimin needing to continue through another set of doors where you can only assume the king awaits. He seems hesitant to leave your side, but you give him a reassuring smile and tell him that you'll be waiting right here for him and that seems to set his heart at ease as he turns to walk away.

“Sire, I present to you Sir Park Jimin,” you hear the Royal Secretary say when he guides Jimin into the room, and the secretary reappears before you, after having shut the door.

You are left alone to examine the books on the shelves, the secretary giving you permission to do so before he steps out to attend to other business, letting you know that someone will be back to escort you two back home. The collection of books lining the walls aren't exactly your taste, most of them dating back to before you were born, covering subjects such as politics and war and you find yourself more immersed in the decor of the room rather than the contents.

“I have some books in my room that might be more of your taste,” a voice says from behind you, startling you away from a tall vase you were just tracing the pattern of with your eyes.

You spin around to meet the owner of the voice, the man scanning you from head to toe once you're facing him and you can't complain because you do the exact same to him. He's tall and slim and he stands leaning against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest. His attire is loose but elegant, a long silk robe flowing down to his ankles that are swallowed by wide-legged patterned pants almost brushing the floor where he stands in slippers that are probably the most expensive pair you've ever been within the same vicinity of.

“Kim Taehyung,” he says introducing himself when your own words fail you, “and you are?”

“Y/N,” you tell him and he takes a few steps towards you to hold out a hand.

You raise your own hand, thinking he's going in for a handshake, but instead, when his fingers wrap around yours, he brings your hand up to his lips to press a soft kiss to your knuckles.

“It's lovely to meet you, Y/N,” Taehyung says in a voice that is deep but smooth. “And what brings such a fine young lady to our humble abode today?”

You feel your cheeks get warm at the flattery and you have to pull your hand away from him, not used to such casual compliments. “I'm actually here with my boyfriend,” you manage to say, “he was summoned by the king.”

“Oh? And is your boyfriend of royalty?” he questions, intrigued.

“Jimin? Royalty?” you say mostly to yourself, amused by just the thought. “Him and I are probably the most regular people you'll ever meet.”

“Hm,” Taehyung hums, “I see. Well it was a pleasure talking to you, but I must be off now.”

“You too,” you barely get out before he disappears as quietly and quickly as he appeared.

You stand there stunned for a moment until you hear a door click open and Jimin is exiting the private study in a daze, looking like he has so much to say but at the same time not knowing where to begin. He assures you everything is alright when you rush to his side with worry lacing your words and you barely have a moment to speak alone before you're being escorted out of the palace and back to the car. The ride home is just as silent as the first, but instead of silly texts and private conversation, you're bursting with curiosity for what Jimin has to say, telling you that it's way too much to explain within the presence of another person.

-

“You're a what?” you question in bewilderment.

“A prince, apparently,” Jimin repeats to you.

You two have been home for only a few minutes, Jimin speaking non stop since the moment you walked through the door, retelling the story that the king, whom you didn't know existed until this morning, told him just earlier today.

It’s a complicated family history of generations ago when Jimin’s great grandmother was just a young woman and ran away from the kingdom, tired of the royal life and going into hiding for years on end. The king’s men spent sleepless nights looking for her, but to no avail. The disappearance of the princess remained as the kingdom’s biggest secret, never revealing to the public what had happened, and even keeping it quiet within the family. The most recent queen learned of this tangled history when she fell ill and was under constant care of nurses and staff that have been working for the royal family for decades. At first she dismissed their stories as useless gossip to pass away the time, but her curiosity eventually got the better of her and after having her secretary look into it, their stories were found to be true. Unfortunately, the queen was unable to survive her ailment, but her only dying wish was to restore order to the kingdom and find any surviving royalty that has been strayed from the family. The king, loving her deeply, promised he would make it happen and so with the use of modern technology and private investigators, the purest existing member of the royal bloodline was found to be Jimin.

“I don't know what to say...Congratulations I think?” you say to him once all confusion has been sorted out.

“Thanks I guess,” Jimin casually replies, probably still wrapping his head around everything.

“So what does this mean?” you question, feeling both excited and uneasy about how this will change Jimin's and your life.

“I'm not really sure, he said his Secretary will be in contact with me, he just needed my ID number to add me to the family registry,” Jimin explains.

“Wow, so you're really a prince?” you have to repeat, still unable to believe how different things are from just two hours ago.

“Officially yeah, but he said I don't need to change anything about my lifestyle,” Jimin responds, practically shrugging it off.

“Why aren't you more excited about this!!! You're a freakin prince Jimin! A prince!” you exclaim, unable to hide your own excitement.

“I didn't even know we had a king and princes until today, I'm more excited to be meeting cousins and extended family,” he tells you. “Oh! I have a few cousins, twice removed or something, our age that live at the palace,” Jimin continues, finally sounding more than just nonchalant. He tells you what he's learned about these cousins and it's endearing the way he talks about the family members he'll soon meet, his eyes bright and big at the prospect of having people close to him, something he never had growing up as an only child.

//

“Smile!” you call out, snapping a picture of the awkward looking Jimin who stands dressed head to toe in the finest clothes.

“Are you sure I look okay?” he questions nervously, playing with one of the buttons on his blazer, his fidgeting fingers looking for some place to distract themselves.

“Jimin, you're gorgeous, now just smile,” you urge, hoping he'll be able to shake off the nerves and return to his normal bubbly self.

Your words have blush creeping up his cheeks and you're quick to capture the flushed skin and shy smile on your phone.

“Looking good,” you remark with a wink and a cheesy smile, earning a fit of giggles from the boy in front of you. “Show me what you got! Work it!” you continue with absurd comments you've only ever heard from photographers in movies and TV shows. You’re moving all about now, shooting from every angle, your own body twisting into all sorts of poses with determination to get a perfect picture (although you believe any picture of Jimin is perfect).

You are pretty sure you've captured at least 25 good photos, but your over the top antics have Jimin smiling widely, all nerves and worries forgotten in the moment and he lets the laughter spill from his lips.

And with one last click, “got it!” you exclaim, rushing to his side instantly to show him the masterpiece that is his crinkled eyes and high cheekbones.

“Do I really look okay?” Jimin asks once more with hesitance returning to his voice.

“Yes!” you exclaim for the nth time this night, reassuring him that he looks stunning, his eyes seeming to be doing a poor job of that. “Now go!” You practically push him out the door when his heavy steps try to anchor him down to the floor.

He stops a step outside of the apartment and turns to face you, “are you sure-” he begins before you cut him off with a peck of the lips.

“Jimin,” you begin once you've pulled away, “you are the most handsome man I have ever met in my life, now go and have fun!” you tell him once more with a light smack to his behind.

Jimin only rolls his eyes at you, clearly the less excited of the two of you as you see him off with a giddy heart. “It's like watching my son leave for prom!”

“Yeah, except I'm your boyfriend and instead of going somewhere fun like the prom with a bunch of friends, I'm going to a dinner with my long lost relatives who happen to be of royal blood,” he retorts dryly.

“You have a point… sorry your majesty!” you say with all your breath, puffing up your chest and standing tall to salute him in exaggerated motions.

“I know we're both new to this, but I don't think that's right,” Jimin chuckles, shaking his head. Running out of excuses to stall any longer, Jimin says his goodbyes and you wave from the door until he is out of sight.

It's been just two weeks since Jimin's unofficial welcome to the royal family, but tonight marks his official meeting with the three princes, who live alongside with their father, King Sejun in the palace and although Jimin seemed nervous, you know there's an underlying excitement to meet his long lost family, royalty or not.

The next few hours are quiet for you and drag on longer than you expect, but you don't find yourself minding it; this is Jimin's chance to be part of a family - aside from yours - of his own, with history and traditions and all the things he grew up longing for. He returns when the clock nears midnight and you’re unsure if it’s the expensive wine or long overdue family reunion that has him buzzing with giddiness, his eyes shining as he speaks of the night’s events.

You’ve never seen Jimin this happy and for the next few days he can’t stop talking about his cousins who welcomed him into the family with open arms. It’s not long until Jimin is visiting the palace once more, this time on unofficial business to spend time with his cousins who you realize are quickly becoming like brothers to him. Whenever he has free time, he spends it all at the palace and although the apartment feels empty with him returning late at night or leaving early in the morning, it is endearing to see Jimin getting close to his family and finally feeling like he belongs somewhere.

//

You soon understand the anxiousness Jimin felt just two months ago as you sit at your vanity trying to clasp your necklace around your neck for the third time after having fumbled over your nervous fingers. In 30 minutes, a car will be pulling up in front of the apartment with a chauffeur standing at the door. In 70 minutes, you will be pulling up in front of the palace you've only visited once, but this time buzzing with socialites and royalty gathered in the ballroom. In 80 minutes, Jimin will have begun his rounds as talk of the town, you secured to his arm as everyone lines up for an introduction. In 120 minutes, you will be fully immersed in the high class life of the royal family, sitting at a dining table trying to figure out which fork to use all the while pretending it is nothing new to you.

Your over-analytical train of thought comes to a screeching halt when Jimin's voice sounds from the other side of the door. “The car is early, so if you're ready we can head down.”

His words jumble your thoughts and you're barely able to squeak out a ‘coming’ as you try to slip on the straps of your shoes without tripping over your floor length gown. Your time to mentally prepare is abruptly cut down by 20 minutes and although all you’ve been doing since receiving the invitation for tonight’s ball was tiring yourself out by running every single scenario though your mind until mentally exhausted, the numbers begin to whirl once more and you’re counting minutes while the nerves build up.

“Wow…” Jimin breathes out once you leave the room. He looks you over from head to toe, tracing your body with his eyes as he comes towards you. “You look beautiful.”

“It’s not too much?” you question, feeling awkward in the expensive getup. You’re dressed in a long, red satin gown, hand tailored by one of the top designers in the country to fit your body perfectly. You’re not even sure how much the dress costs, the boutique you got it from so high end that price tags aren’t needed; Jimin has been added to the family finances and even though the two of you are hesitant to dip into the royal fortune, you were given a list of designers who are considered acceptable to wear to the gala because Jimin, and by extension you, are now representations of the family.

“Maybe… we should skip the gala so I can spend the time admiring you instead,” Jimin says in a low voice, wrapping his arms around your waist so his hands can rest on your behind as he brings you closer.

You can see the lust that begins to pool in his eyes and you have to stop him before he can lean down to kiss you. “You’re going to smudge my makeup,” you tell him, earning a groan from him who instead ducks his head to tickle your neck with butterfly kisses. You pull away before his fluttering kisses can become something more and the pout on his lips contradicts the way his hands continue to roam your body. “Come on, we can do this later, didn’t you say the car is waiting for us?”

Jimin raises an eyebrow at you as a smirk tugs at his lips, “is that a promise?”

Rolling your eyes, you remove his hands from your hips and lace your fingers through his. “Yes, it’s a promise, now let’s go before the driver gets annoyed.”

-

Pulling up to the palace this time around feels so much different from the first. When you accompanied Jimin just months earlier, it was quiet and serene, so still and pristine, but this time around, the entire first floor is lit up and music can be heard coming from every room, string quartets playing in unison to fill the halls with a soft melody. The front foyer is bustling with guests dressed just as fancy as you and everyone makes their way into one of the many ballrooms to greet the royals.

Once there is an empty flute of champagne in your hand and bubbly in your belly, you tell Jimin you are ready to meet his cousins you’ve been hearing so much about. You're nervous to be meeting real life princes, but it puts your heart at ease to know one of them you've already encountered.

“Y/N, it's so nice to see you again,” Taehyung greets as he gives a brief peck to your hand as he did the first time you two met. He stands before you with his brothers just a step behind and you don't think you've ever seen such immaculate beauty so up close, each of them having faces of gods with features so prominent that all three of them are equally attractive in different ways.

Before you can reply with a simple ‘you too’, one of Taehyung's brothers speaks up first. “Oh? And how do you two know each other?”

“It was the first time Jimin came to the palace,” Taehyung explains, “I saw a pretty lady and just had to say hello.”

“Taehyung, stop flirting with Jimin's girlfriend,” his other brother, the tallest of the bunch says. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Y/N. I'm Namjoon.” He takes your hand in his and greets you with a kiss and you don't think this is a formality you'll get used to anytime soon.

“The pleasure is all mine,” you respond, curious about the prince named Namjoon after Jimin comes home each time with only good things to say about his cousin who knows so much about the world every conversation is intriguing and captivating.

“Kim Seokjin,” the last, but certainly not least of the trio speaks up. “The eldest of the Kim sons.” As the others, he reaches for your hand and plants a soft kiss to your skin.

You only have a few moments to chat with them, but Jimin seems so comfortable and conversation flows so naturally between them, the four seeming so close already. Seokjin, Namjoon, and Taehyung have to excuse themselves to greet the rest of the guests who they've been groomed to entertain and bid you and Jimin farewell for now, with a promise to catch up later.

The evening is going by swimmingly, you and Jimin are free to wander around the ballroom without the social obligation to engage in small talk with every single other guest as his cousins must, and you two simply enjoy the atmosphere and sway along to the music. It's about a half an hour into the gala when King Sejun makes an appearance, coming out onto a stage that's centered along the back wall of the ballroom. All chatter comes to a stop and the room falls silent as the musicians halt their bows and all attention is directed to the king.

He greets the crowd with a loud, gruff voice, thanking everyone for coming in a tone that is much more jolly than you would expect from the ruler of a country. As he is speaking Secretary Cha finds you and Jimin, giving you a polite greeting before turning to Jimin. “The King has requested your presence on stage,” he tells Jimin before asking you to excuse them and leading Jimin to the front of the room.

Feeling intimidated to be standing here alone in a room of people you don't know, you make your way to Taehyung's side when you spot him just on the other side of the crowd. He acknowledges your presence with a pleasant smile and the two of you turn your attention to the stage where Jimin waits on the side. The king's speech draws on for awhile longer until he is introducing Jimin as a long lost member of the royal family and he invites him on stage, to stand tall next to him. Jimin briefly greets the guests and ask they look upon him kindly and he is received with warmth as everyone starts to buzz with excitement, applause welcoming him to the kingdom. Before Jimin can leave the stage, the king announces that he has one last thing to say before tonight's true celebration can begin.

“As per my late wife's wishes, order in the kingdom will be restored. In the coming months, I will resign from my position and return the throne to its rightful owner; Sir Park Jimin of the Royal Park Family.” His words are triumphant and he smiles proudly at Jimin who stands there in shock, hearing this for the first time.

Your expression mirrors Jimin's and you look up towards Taehyung. “Did you know about this?” you ask him.

“No, but this should be interesting,” Taehyung responds without looking at you. His focus is across the room and you follow his stare to meet Seokjin exchanging words with Namjoon before storming off.

You don't get a chance to ask him what he means by that and he excuses himself to follow his brothers out, Namjoon already one step behind Seokjin. Curiosity bubbles beneath your skin and you can't get Taehyung's words out of your head or the way Seokjin, seeming so put together throughout the evening, lost his composure and practically bolted out of the room. Before you can think anything through, you find yourself leaving the ballroom as well, trailing behind the three who make their way upstairs. You follow the ornate carpet that lines the staircase and you're in a maze of rooms and halls when you reach the top. The second level of the palace is much quieter than the first, all music and chatter muffled in the darkness that thickens as you walk down the long corridor. A stream of light pouring out from a door left ajar guides you forward and you follow it carefully, trying your best not to make a sound. Voices can be heard on the other side of the door as you approach the room and you make them out to be Seokjin and Namjoon having a heated conversation.

“I'm not going to kill him, this isn't the 16th century, we just need to find a way to get rid of him without causing suspicion.” It's Seokjin who is speaking and there's a sinking feeling in your chest when you realize exactly who they're talking about.

“The entire kingdom knows about him now, you'll never get away with this,” Namjoon responds, trying to knock some sense into his brother.

“Not alone I won't, that's why I need your help. Taehyung has already made it clear that he wants no part in this.”

“And what about Y/N? Do you think she'll just stand by when her boyfriend goes missing?”

You feel sick to your stomach, hearing the way they're speaking about Jimin who wanted nothing but to get to know his family. He's so excited each time he speaks of his cousins who he's come to admire and look up to, how could he have been so wrong? You can't bear to hear anything more, it's all crystal clear to you; of course Jimin's new found royalty would cause a stir within the family, especially for the eldest son, the one next in line for the throne.

Needing to get out of there as soon as possible, you take a step back before spinning on your heel, letting out a loud gasp when you bump into something, or rather someone. A hand grasps your elbow to steady you and you look up to be face to face with Taehyung who stares at you with a curious gaze that is almost amused. Your run-in doesn't go unnoticed by the two boys behind the door and immediately they meet you out in the hall with looks of accusations that have you feeling small.

Straightening yourself out, you give them both innocent smiles. “Seokjin, Namjoon,” you greet, sounding upbeat and cheerful although those are the last things you're feeling right now.

“What are you doing upstairs? The party is strictly on the first floor,” Seokjin speaks in an authoritative tone.

“I was actually looking for Taehyung,” you're quick to come up with before turning back to face said boy. “You promised to show me your book collection,” you say to him, hoping he can't see through your words as you refer to your very first meeting with Taehyung.

Seokjin looks over to Taehyung as if to confirm your words and you silently pray that you won't be caught in a lie.

Taehyung disregards his oldest brother and speaks directly to you with a charming smile pulling at his lips. “I told you it's the sixth door on the left, it can get quite confusing up here. I'm terribly sorry, I should have escorted you myself.” Taehyung covers for you and all you can do is wonder why. “Now, if you'll excuse us,” Taehyung says to his brothers and he holds out his arm to you that you take so he can guide you into the room across the hall.

It's not until the door clicks shut behind you that you feel like you can breath and your arm falls to your side as you try to wrap your head around everything that has just happened. Taehyung's demeanor is the complete opposite of yours and he walks with ease across the room to take a seat on the corner of his mattress.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Taehyung tells you, “you'll have to wait this out if you don't want to look suspicious.”

You take a moment to register your surroundings and it's no surprise that his room is decorated as extravagantly as the rest of the palace; all of the furniture looks like it is hand carved wood from the oldest trees and all the linens are thick and heavy. As he mentioned, he has quite the book collection, a bookcase stretching from floor to ceiling along one of the walls, but what catches your attention are the paintings that line the room, the pieces are impressive and must be from artists you've studied in school, they're each perfectly preserved although they're probably centuries old and  look like they belong in a museum. The decor and architecture never seizes to amaze you in the Kim Family home and your feet are planted to the floor as your eyes stay rounded with awe. It's not until you meet Taehyung's gaze that you snap out of your daze, coming back to your senses when he gives you a curious look that is probably judging your commoner-like behavior.

“You act like you've never seen an 18th century Delacroix,” Taehyung comments and you give him a pointed look.

“That's because I haven’t,” you honestly say. “This whole royalty thing is so new to me… to Jimin too,” you add, thinking back to all the times he told you how different and sometimes intimidating life is within the kingdom walls. “Speaking of Jimin…” you continue, although you’re the one who brought him up, “you really didn’t know about this? About him becoming king?”

“I’m third in line for the throne, Y/N, what happens in this kingdom is hardly any of my concern. I won’t be dubbed king in this lifetime so I try not to fret on the politics of the monarchy,” Taehyung explains and you begin to understand his carefree nature that sets him apart from the rest of the family.

“And your brothers? This can’t be easy for them to accept,” you respond, your mind instantly going back to the conversation you overheard.

Taehyung simply shrugs. “All I can say is that Seokjin has been being groomed from birth to be the next king.”

And you don’t have to read between the lines to know that he’s hinting at Seokjin’s obvious displeasure towards the situation, but you can’t bring yourself to ask anymore questions, unsure if you can truly trust Taehyung or any of the Kims for that matter.

The conversation strays to less serious matters and you two do nothing but engage in small talk until a reasonable amount of time has passed and you can join the party without gaining anymore suspicion from the two older Kim brothers. The rest of the evening is rather uneventful for yourself, Jimin on the other hand is being fawned over by each and every guest since he’ll soon be holding all the power. You feel small standing next to him, latched onto his arm as everyone gives him their well wishes and all you can do is politely smile while the evening’s earlier events keep replaying over and over again in your head.

It’s not until dinner is about to be served that the commotion calms down and Jimin has a chance to notice that you’re acting strangely. “Are you feeling alright?” Jimin softly asks as he leans in close to whisper in your ear.

Before you lean back in to respond, you notice Seokjin watching you closely from across the table and you have to swallow the nerves that suddenly creep up on you. “I’m fine,” you try to assure Jimin, but it’s not very successful.

“You don’t look so good, Y/N. Are you sure you’re feeling okay? I can get a car to take you home,” he pushes, concern lining his voice.

“I’m okay, Jimin, really. I think I just drank too much champagne on an empty stomach,” you convince him and you’re relieved that he accepts your answer without questioning it any further.

The rest of the night after dinner goes by rather slowly with the atmosphere becoming more somber after all the excitement has died down and you spend the time trying to keep under the radar and away from Seokjin’s intimidating stares from across the room. You catch him looking at you while questioning Taehyung at some point, but Taehyung’s indifference and Seokjin’s underlying frustration tells you that Taehyung is sticking to the story about his book collection, not outing you for eavesdropping on his brothers. By time it is time to bid goodbye to the Royals, Seokjin still seems wary about you, but it’s definitely less than before he spoke to Taehyung. All facades are kept up as you exchange pleasant goodbyes with all three Kim brothers and it’s not until you and Jimin are tucked away in a car that you can finally breathe after being suffocated by your own thoughts all night.

The car ride is long and you pretend to fall asleep on Jimin’s shoulder, not in any mood to engage in conversation with news so heavy looming over your head. When the two of you arrive home, you’re not sure how to bring it up to him and Jimin takes your less talkative nature as just being tired from the gala and tells you to quickly get ready for bed. By time he is done showering, he expects you to be asleep, but instead, you sit curled up on the bed trying to form the sentences in your head before you need to try them out on him.

“Hey, why aren’t you sleeping?” Jimin asks when he returns to the room freshly showered, his hair still damp and his teeth just brushed.  He notices your expression that looks grim and he comes over to join you on the bed.

“How do you feel about this whole thing?” you question after taking a moment to ponder your thoughts. You don’t have to spell it out for Jimin and he knows you’re referring to the announcement the king made tonight.

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around it all. I’m hardly a prince, how can I be a king?” Jimin honestly says, and you can see his own troubles beginning to pinch between his brows.

“Your cousins were probably surprised too,” you try out, testing the waters to see where he stands with them.

“Probably, but they’re all really happy for me,” he responds and that’s not exactly the answer you’re hoping for.

“Jimin…” you begin, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “How well do you really know them?” you ask in a roundabout way to get your point across.

“What do you mean?” Jimin immediately rebuts and you can hear his tone already becoming defensive.

“I mean… can you really trust them?” There’s no nice way to put it and you know you have to tell him straight.

“Of course I can trust them, Y/N. They’re my family.” The way he says the last word tells you that he is ready to shut down this conversation right here, right now, but you know you need to tell him what you heard.

“Listen, Jimin, I overheard Seokjin talking to Namjoon and he’s not happy about this. He’s supposed to be next in line and he’s willing to do anything to make sure it stays that way.”

“That’s a bold accusation, don’t you think?” Jimin retorts instantly and things go south quickly.

“I heard him, Jimin. He said word for word that he needs to get rid of you,” you say, recalling the spine chilling conversation you accidentally walked into.

“Seokjin wouldn’t say something like that. Maybe you heard wrong. He congratulated me and even told me to come to him if anything,” Jimin says, and it’s clear he’s made up his mind about who he is going to believe.

“Jimin-” you try, but he cuts you off.

“No, Y/N. I’m done talking about this, let’s just go to sleep.” And that is the end of the conversation, Jimin not giving you a chance to say anymore before he turns off the lights and goes to bed with his back towards you.

You get very little sleep that night and when your eyes finally close, the sun is already rising. Barely two hours of rest go by before you’re waking up to an empty bed and you look to the clock to see it is half past 6. It’s much earlier than you and Jimin normally wake up, but you can hear him in the kitchen and you can bet that he didn’t get very much sleep either.

Leaving the bedroom, you’re still frustrated with how you two left things last night, but you manage to mumble out a small ‘good morning’ to Jimin who is sitting at the breakfast bar with a mug of coffee in his hands. He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t even look up, and maybe if you weren’t so grumpy from a night not well rested, you would understand and move on.

But you’re exceptionally irritable this morning and won’t let his silence slide. “You’re ignoring me? Really?”

No response.

“Do you still not believe me?” you ask, with little surprise, you didn’t expect him to change his mind over night.

“Are you still making ridiculous accusations?” he counters, breaking his vow of silence.

“Jimin, I’m not making this up,” you respond, standing on the other side of the counter so you can look him in the eyes. “Do I have any reason to lie to you?”

“Does Seokjin have any reason to lie to me?” he immediately argues back.

‘Yes!!!!!’ you want to yell, unable to stress it enough, but turning this into a shouting match is the last thing you two need right now. “Just think about it. He was promised the throne from the minute he was born, how would you feel if someone just swooped in and took your entire legacy from you?”

“It’s not like that,” Jimin defends, “and Seokjin isn’t like that.”

“How would you know?” you bite back, “you’ve spent like a month and a half with him.”

“Is that what this is about? You think I’m spending too much time with Seokjin and the others?” Jimin instantly accuses, twisting your words.

“Of course not, Jimin! I would never ask you to choose between family and me,” you say and you have to admit that it hurts that he would even think that.

“Are you sure? Because that’s what it feels like.”

“Jimin… I just don’t want you to get hurt,” you respond, and you hope he can see the sincerity in your eyes.

“The only person hurting me right now is you, so I think we should stop talking about this and I think we should spend some time apart…” He doesn’t want to resort such drastic measures, but at this point there’s really no other option when conversation just results in more arguments.

You don’t need to ask him where he plans on going to know that he’ll be at the palace and all you can do is accept it with a silent nod as he leaves his cold coffee on the counter to go pack a bag.

The apartment feels emptier than usual with the way you and Jimin left things, your bed feeling bigger with him missing, having spent almost every night wrapped around Jimin the passed few years. Days go on like this and each morning you wake up after a restless night of tossing and turning with hope that Jimin has returned home. But you are met with disappointment after each sunrise, earning nothing more than a simple text from him asking how you’re doing. Two weeks is when you have to take matters into your own hands; you and Jimin have hardly had a full conversation since he left and this is the longest you and he have ever fallen out.

Making up your mind, you decide you need to go to the palace, if not to sort things out with Jimin, then to talk to someone who can at least help. Pulling up in front of the gates, the taxi driver looks back at you with confusion and a little bit of curiosity.

“Is this the place, Miss?” he asks, probably not accustomed to dropping people off at such large properties.

“Yes, thank you,” you say as you hand him the bills that are more more than you’ve ever spent on a taxi ride. You exit the cab and walk up to the security booth where a guard watches you approach.

“Can I help you?” he questions when you stand before him.

“I’m here to see someone…” you say, belatedly realizing that it probably isn’t so simple for an outsider to gain access to the palace.

“All visitors must be run through Secretary Cha Gong before I can allow you to proceed. Can I have your name?”

“Y/N,” you state for him and he picks up the phone to make a call.

Once he hangs up, you are told to wait a moment and you stand there shifting your weight on your feet until you hear a car approaching from beyond the gates. The iron bars are rolled open and the car comes out to stop beside you. The door opens to reveal Secretary Cha Gong himself who greets you warmly.

“Ms. Y/N, welcome. Are you here for Master Jimin? We would have sent a car if we knew you were coming.”

That would have been nice to know before paying the hefty taxi fee, but the reason you’re here is because you don’t know how else to make contact with anyone within the kingdom walls other than physically visiting.

“I’m actually here to see Taehyung, if he’s available,” you clarify, not needing anyone to notify Jimin that you’re on the grounds, not until you at least have time to get some more information from Taehyung.

“I will inform Master Taehyung that you are here for him, please have a seat in the car,” Secretary Cha says and if he’s suspicious about why you’re visiting your boyfriend’s cousin, he does not say anything, his years of training probably conditioning him not to pry.

The secretary joins you in the car a short moment later and drives up to the main house and you’re glad you didn’t have to trek up the kilometer long driveway on your own two feet. Once inside the Royal home, Secretary Cha asks you to wait in the parlour, only to be interrupted by Taehyung who makes his way down the stairs dressed as he was the first time you met him, in silks and satin that swallow him whole in the form of robes and loungewear. He tells the secretary he’ll take it from here and urges you to follow him back upstairs.

It’s not until you two are secured behind closed doors that he speaks. “Is it safe to assume that this isn’t a social visit?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was?” you ask as you meet him on the couches that occupy a corner of his room.

“Not for a minute,” Taehyung responds with a smug smile playing on his lips. “So what can I help you with?”

“Well… I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that Jimin is kind of living here,” you say.

“Mmm,” Taehyung hums in response. “I have. I take it you two had a falling out?”

You nod as a reply and you can’t help but wonder if Jimin has mentioned anything to him, or Seokjin and Namjoon for that matter.

“And I presume it has something to do with my brother?” He doesn’t explicitly say which brother but it’s obvious that it’s Seokjin he’s talking about.

“I told him…” you begin to explain, “what I heard on the night of the gala…”

“And he didn’t believe you,” Taehyung finishes for you.

“We got into a huge fight and well, he came here instead of trying to work it out.”

“I can’t blame him. Seokjin has been buttering him up since the day we first met him,” Taehyung reveals.

“So Seokjin knew this whole time? That Jimin would be taking the throne?”

“I can’t be certain, but there is hardly anything that goes on in the kingdom that Seokjin doesn’t know about,” Taehyung responds, pretty much confirming your suspicions.

“Do you know what he’s planning?” you ask and you know it’s a long shot that Taehyung will throw his brother under the bus.

“Y/N, I’m fond of you, but you know I can’t betray my brother’s trust…” he says and you’re about to give up. “But-” he continues and there is a spark of hope. “If I needed to get rid of someone, I’d probably take them on vacation and abandon them in a foreign country without any documentation or money.”

The thought alone is terrifying and you know Seokjin definitely has the resources and means to pull something like that off. You’re mind is set on one thing and that is to get Jimin out of this mess, ensure he doesn’t plan to travel anywhere with Seokjin or Namjoon.

“I need to get Jimin away from Seokjin,” you say, thinking out loud.

“I’m not so sure that’ll be an easy thing to do,” Taehyung comments and you look at him as if to ask him why. “You see…” Taehyung easily starts to explain, “Seokjin has this aura about him that draws people in. He’s been like this since he was a child, he hardly has to speak and everyone in the room falls to his feet.”

Taehyung’s words have you thinking back to the gala where you saw this happening with your own eyes and didn’t even realize. Everyone he spoke to was mesmerized by his charms and you have to admit you fell victim to it before you learned of his true nature.

“I’m sure he was planning to use it on you,” Taehyung speaks up once more, “to drive a wedge between you and Jimin, but you guys did that yourselves.”

Seokjin’s scheme is going according to plan you realize and you and Jimin are only aiding him by fighting and fast forwarding the process. “I need to get Jimin out of here,” you say almost in disbelief; never in a thousand years did you think you would be rescuing your prince boyfriend from a conniving cousin who wanted nothing but to end him. “Do you know where he is?”

“Probably with Seokjin, he’s been ‘prepping’ him for his new title,” Taehyung answers.

You can’t talk to him with Seokjin around… and there’s a low probability that Seokjin will allow Jimin to be alone with you when he’s already put in so much work to get his claws into him. It feels hopeless at this point and you know you can’t just waltz into Jimin’s room and expect him to listen to you. Your desperation must be written across your face because Taehyung is offering to help your situation.

“I can try to convince Jimin to go home to hear you out, but that is as involved as I am willing to get,” Taehyung tells you.

You’re accepting immediately, all but bowing at his feet when you tell him how grateful you are. You need all the help you can get at this point and even a gesture as small as that is a step in the right direction. Your visit with Taehyung doesn’t last much longer after that, you already feel bad for taking up so much of his time and don’t want to waste anymore of it with useless chatter and you thank him profusely before he walks you down to a car waiting out front.

By time you return home, it’s late afternoon and you have too much on your mind to be productive. Instead, you spend your time trying to think of ways to convince Jimin that you’re not just making things up and that he’s in danger at Seokjin’s side. The stress of the situation must have tired you out, because next thing you know, you’re being shaken awake from where you got cozy on the couch. Opening your eyes, you’re surprised to see Jimin standing above you and immediately you bolt up. Taehyung works fast, you think to yourself and Jimin tells you that it was he who told him he should come home, even if it’s only for the evening. You’re grateful that Taehyung has done this much, but now it’s up to you to talk to Jimin and you know it won’t be easy for him to let go of his perception of his cousins.

“I’m only here because Taehyung said you’re really worried and I wanted to check in,” Jimin is sure to clarify, “I haven’t changed my mind about anything…”

You need to approach this in a manner that won’t lead to more arguing, but you know it’ll be inevitable with both your own and Jimin’s stubbornity. “I understand. And Taehyung’s right, I’ve been really worried about you.”

“Y/N, I’m telling you there’s absolutely nothing to be worried about. I’m actually doing really well and it’s all because of Seokjin. He’s been teaching me so much and helping me get accustomed to royal life,” Jimin explains and it breaks your heart that the person Jimin has put so much trust in has nothing but malicious intentions.

“You don’t have to believe me,” you say, trying to get through to him, “just be careful, Jimin.”

“I’ll be sure to look out for old ladies with shiny apples and pointy sewing machines,” Jimin sarcastically retorts with the roll of his eyes.

It feels hopeless. Jimin refuses to cooperate and a sick twisted part of you almost wants him to be kidnapped by his cousins just so you can prove that you’re right. “I’m being serious, Jimin,” you level with him. “Don’t give them any personal information that they can use against you and make sure you don’t travel with them, anywhere.” You can’t stress your last point enough and the specifics of your warning catch his attention.

“We have a trip coming up, it’s tradition before being crowned,” Jimin states and your heart drops to your stomach at the mere thought.

Seokjin is really going through with his plan and he has Jimin wrapped around his finger so tightly that there’s nothing you can do to unravel it. “Is there anyway I can convince you not to go on that trip?” you ask Jimin, holding on to what little hope you have left.

“Unless you can give me solid proof that my cousin, who has done nothing but welcome me into the family with open arms, is infact a master manipulator that is trying to get rid of me, then there’s nothing you can say that’ll change my mind about him,” Jimin states and he’s firm on his stance.

“When do you guys leave?” you ask, having no option but to get the proof he wants before he can step foot onto a plane.

“In a week and a half, and until then, I think I’ll continue staying at the palace.” That’s his final word regarding the situation and he tells you he has to get back, the driver waiting downstairs for him.

You’re reluctant to let him go, but there’s nothing you can say that’ll have him staying by your side tonight, so instead you bid him goodbye with a final ‘be careful’ and you watch him walk out the door once more.

A week and a half goes by quicker than you could have ever anticipated, with work taking up most of your days, you hardly get a chance to visit the palace to speak with Seokjin and when you do find time to do so, he refuses to see you. It's the day after your third visit that you receive a letter in the mail, there's no return address nor is it signed by the sender, but when you read the warning that tells you to stop visiting where you are not wanted, you don't need a signature to know who it is from. At first you think this is all the proof you need, but Seokjin is smarter than that; the note is specific enough that it makes sense to you, but so vague no one but you would understand the weight behind the typed words.

There are 24 hours until Jimin’s flight is set to take off and his life is set to change forever unless you do something to save him. Your anxiety levels are higher than ever and you're hopeless, feeling more distant from Jimin than you ever have. Your only option is to track Seokjin and Jimin from the moment they leave the palace, but you know that won't be so easy with the amount of security Seokjin is bound to have. The plan is to follow them and keep close tabs on Jimin until inevitably Seokjin is leaving him high and dry in the middle of nowhere. It's risky, considering you don't know how this scheme has been planned out, is Seokjin going to have Jimin kidnapped and held hostage? Or maybe he’ll ship him out to sea to become a castaway. No matter the method, you have to be there to come to Jimin's rescue, so you pack a small bag with a change of clothes and some cash and you make sure your passport is tucked away safely.

You don't sleep a wink that night, instead you spend your time pacing back and forth around your apartment, wearing out the floorboards with your worries. You attempt calling Jimin, but it's 3am when you dial his number and the rings go unanswered. By 5 o'clock, your eyes feel like they're about to fall out their sockets and all your body wants is rest. At 7am, your patience wears thin and you phone Secretary Cha, asking if he can send a car so you can see Jimin off at the palace. He tells you that the princes aren't scheduled to leave until mid afternoon, but you don't care, you just want to be at Jimin's side as soon as you can, and possibly take the time to scope out Seokjin's security detail for their travels. It's just after 8 when the car arrives, apologies and explanations of morning traffic with everyone commuting to work. You let the driver know it's alright and he tries to make small talk with you, asking if you had a chance to eat and if you'd like him to stop for coffee. The truth is you can't stomach anything with the way your insides are twisting, but you simply tell him you're not hungry and he accepts your answer without pushing any further.

The normally 40 minute drive takes over an hour and you feel like you've gnawed your bottom lip away with the way you nervously bite on it. It's already a quarter past nine when the car is finally pulling up the winding driveway and you jump out to meet Secretary Cha who waits to greet you at the front door. He escorts you towards the parlour, but before you can make it passed the grand staircase in the foyer, a commotion can be heard coming from upstairs and although the palace is a maze of halls, the voice echoes throughout the walls and immediately your attention is on one thing only. There's no mistaking that that's Jimin's voice, loud and enraged as it roars from the second level and you disregard Secretary Cha to run up the stairs as you follow your boyfriend's voice that you've never heard filled with so much anger.

Bursting into the room, you see Jimin being held back by Namjoon as he threatens Seokjin who stands only a few feet in front of him, looking unbothered and arrogant as if Jimin's words pose no danger. Taehyung is on the other side of the room trying not to get involved while he observes the feud unfolding in front of him, but you pay no one else attention as you run up to Jimin and grab his arm to pull his attention away from his cousin.

It's like a switch is flipped and instantly his eyes soften when they meet yours. “Y/N,” he almost wordlessly breathes out as if he can't believe you are here standing in front of him.

Before you can respond, Seokjin takes Jimin's change in attitude as an opportunity to bite back. “A barbarian like you will never be fit to be a king.”

“Seokjin, that's enough!” Namjoon firmly scolds and if you didn't know better, you'd think he is the oldest of the Kim brothers, seeming the most put together and level headed.

Something about Namjoon's authority has Seokjin backing down and he barely gives you and Jimin a second glance as he brushes past you to walk out the door with his nose held high, Namjoon following closely behind him.

“Jimin, what's going on?” you hastily ask when the two are out of sight.

“Y/N, you were right, about everything,” Jimin starts explaining. “And I didn't believe you and pushed you away and god, I'm so stupid, and I'm so sorry,” he blubbers on, “can you ever forgive me.”

“Of course,” you accept and throw your arms around his neck, “I'm just glad you're safe.” And although it stung in the beginning when Jimin chose Seokjin over you, you understand and can't possibly be mad at him for wanting a family.

He wraps his arms around your waist and holds you as tightly as possible, feeling guilty and foolish for so easily disregarding your words when all you wanted was to keep him safe. Jimin was so ecstatic and overcome with joy for his new life, his new family, that his better judgement was clouded and he convinced himself this entire thing would have a fairytale ending, but how could he have his happily ever after without his princess?

Your reunion is interrupted by someone clearing their throat and you pull away from Jimin when you remember Taehyung is still in the room.

“You're welcome,” Taehyung says, fishing for gratitude and realization hits you that it was Taehyung who put a stop to his brother’s scheme.

“Did you-” you begin to ask, but he responds with a simple ‘mhmm’ before you can finish your question.

“Thank you, Taehyung,” you say sincerely, owing your boyfriend’s wellbeing to the prince across the room.

“I was never going to let him get on the plane,” Taehyung says, revealing his intention to help all along.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” you can’t help but ask, it would have saved you a lot of suffering.

Taehyung shrugs in response. “Things get pretty boring around here.”

//

Coronation day comes soon and luckily it’s nothing but smooth sailing throughout the preparations; Jimin keeps his distance from Seokjin and although he can probably get him exiled from the kingdom for plotting against him, Jimin decides to be the bigger person and lets him keep his title of Prince Kim. Taehyung his the only one of his cousins that Jimin can truly trust and he, along with Namjoon who wants to make up for his wrong doings, provide him with the mentorship he needs to understand his royal duties.

Jimin is dressed in the finest clothes, a suit tailored perfectly to his body and shoes handcrafted by a top designer. There is just minutes until Jimin will be walking out onto the palace balcony to meet the people of his kingdom and begin his reign as King Park Jimin, and you feel the nerves bubbling up for the life changing event. Jimin on the other hand is calm and collected, seeming more put together than you would have ever thought possible for someone about to be crowned king and you can’t help but think back to his first dinner at the palace and how much things have changed since that night where he was too nervous to even leave the apartment without a push from you.

King Sejun finishes his speech and Secretary Cha motions for Jimin to get ready to make his entrance. Jimin is introduced and you follow him out onto the terrace with the Royal Secretary at your side, just as you practiced the night before. Cheers erupt from the audience when Jimin greets the kingdom people with a wide smile and you’re in awe at the number of people who showed up for Jimin’s special day. Jimin approaches King Sejun and gives him a courteous bow. You stand off to the side with Secretary Cha and Taehyung, Namjoon, and Seokjin stand opposite of you two.

Once King Sejun introduces Jimin, a king’s man comes out to present the crown that was custom made to fit Jimin’s head and Jimin is asked to repeat an oath.

The formalities come to an end and King Sejun takes the crown in his hands. “I now pronounce you King Park Jimin,” he announces and Jimin bows his head to accept the honour.

The crowd below roars in cheers and excitement and you clap your hands in the ‘formal’ way you were taught just days earlier. You want to run up to Jimin and throw your arms around him in congratulations, but you need to hold yourself back for the sake of keeping it professional. The people of the kingdom quiet down when Jimin takes a step forward and everyone is all ears to hear his first speech as their new king.

“Firstly, I would like to thank you all for coming out today,” Jimin begins, his voice loud and authoritative and you are impressed with how well he has been trained in such little time to speak in front of a nation. “As many of you know, I’ve only recently become acquainted with the Royal Kim family and it has been a great pleasure getting to know them, along with all the people of this kingdom. I am immensely grateful to you all for accepting me as your newest king and making me feel welcomed. However-”

Your heart becomes restless at that word alone and you no longer have any idea where Jimin’s speech is going.

“I am still lacking in many ways and I believe this kingdom deserves someone better equipped to be their leader. That is why, as my first order of business, I am stepping down from the throne.”

The people’s shock mirrors your own and you look over to Secretary Cha and then the Kim Princes to see them as taken aback as you are at this unexpected turn of events, this definitely was not part of the rehearsal and no one knows what to do or say. Gasps and murmurs circulate throughout the crowd and everyone begins to whisper as they try to process what exactly is going on.

Before the audience can become rowdy, Jimin speaks once more. “The crown should belong to someone who has been part of this kingdom far longer than I have, someone who understands what this kingdom values and needs, thus, I am retiring my position to Prince Kim Taehyung, third son of the Kim family.”

Seokjin’s jaw drops at Jimin’s decision and he watches in bewilderment as Jimin urges Taehyung to step forward. Taking the crown off of his own head, Jimin reaches up to place it upon its new owner and the new ruler of the kingdom.

“I present to you, King Kim Taehyung,” Jimin announces and Taehyung is in so much shock he is at a loss for words.

Once the commotion dies down and Taehyung comes to terms with his new title, he makes a short speech to thank the people and especially Jimin before all of you on the balcony are escaping the public eye to be behind closed doors.

“What was that!?” Seokjin immediately presses when you’re all within the privacy of the palace walls.

Although a tad aggressive, it is the same question you have and all eyes are on Jimin as you wait for his answer. “If you wanted to be king so badly, you could have just asked,” Jimin tells Seokjin straightforwardly. “I wasn’t raised in a palace like you three were and this kingdom deserves a ruler who is fit to be a king, and honestly that isn’t me. So it only makes sense to give it to one of you and Taehyung just happens to be the one I trust the most.”

Seokjin is dumbfounded, embarrassed, and enraged all at the same time and his regret for plotting against Jimin instead of just speaking to him is written all over his face when he storms out of the room. Namjoon on the other hand is as amused as he was shocked and simply congratulates his brother on becoming the new king.

Taehyung thanks Jimin again and again and the utter sincerity in his eyes tells you that the dream of becoming king was always somewhere hidden at the back of his mind, no matter how many times he claimed to be nothing more than the third line with no hope of attaining the throne in this lifetime.

“What are we doing just standing around? We have a new king to celebrate!” Jimin exclaims and he slings an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders to guide him out of the room and down to the ballroom to greet his people.

The evening is filled with dancing and champagne and excited chatter as the palace doors remain open for the kingdom’s people to celebrate with the new ruler of the nation. Jimin seems the happiest now than he has in a long while with all the pressure that came with joining the royal family weighing him down the passed months. He twirls you around the dance floor and you two enjoy the moment, lost in your own world feeling carefree.

“You really didn’t want to be king?” you curiously ask Jimin when the initial excitement wears down and he holds you close to sway to the music that has slowed down.

“Not really,” Jimin responds, pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. “Being king is more of a status symbol than anything, there’s very little power behind it,” he explains.

“Then why didn’t you give back the crown to King Sejun?” you can’t help but wonder out loud.

“Because that would put Seokjin back to being next in line, and I’m not that nice,” Jimin says with a crooked smile tugging at his lips. “Besides, Taehyung seems really happy.”

You have to agree with Jimin, in the short time you’ve known the princes, Taehyung has proven to be the most fit to be king, or maybe you’re just biased. “Well as long as you’re happy,” you say.

“I am,” Jimin reassures. “I don’t even get to live in a castle so what’s the point.”

And you can’t help but give him an amused smile at how trivial, but ‘Jimin’ that statement is.

[snommelp]

A City on a Hill

Sermon for today, the fifth Sunday after Epiphany, meditating on Isaiah 58:1-12 and Matthew 5:13-20. Minor redactions to remove names.

Isaiah 58:1-12

Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practised righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

Matthew 5:13-20

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

[[PRAY]]

Great crowds have been following Jesus. They’ve heard about this miracle man, who’s been wandering all through the region of Galilee teaching and preaching and healing all sorts of disease and illness. People have come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, even from beyond the Jordan. They all want to see this man, to hear his teaching, to figure out what he’s all about. One day, on top of a mountain, he sits down to teach. I can imagine being in that crowd, the eager anticipation, waiting to find out what profound teaching he’s going to offer.

He sits to teach, and says to the crowd: “You are salt.”

Um… thanks? I guess? What’s the proper response to that? “Thanks, I think you’re nutmeg”?

“You are the salt of the earth.”

What does it mean to be salt? Well, let me tell you all about one of my earlier adventures in cooking. I decided that I was going to try to cook up a simple chicken and rice dish, and I was going to improvise the whole thing. Now I might have been a novice in the kitchen, but you don’t have to know how to cook to know that chicken doesn’t have a very strong flavor of its own and neither does rice. So I decided to cook it with a little bit of a Mexican seasoning that I had lying around. When it was all done I sat down to eat, and it was bland. I couldn’t understand it. I wondered if maybe I’d just forgotten to use the seasoning, but I could feel the spiciness on my tongue, so that couldn’t be it.

Then I realized I hadn’t added any salt. So I went into the kitchen and shook in just a tiny bit of salt and stirred it up. The very next bite exploded with flavor.

Because that’s what salt does. That’s what salt is for. When you put salt in your food it draws out all the other flavors that you wouldn’t have noticed before. Of course salt also has a flavor all its own, and if you use too much salt that’s all you’re going to taste, but when you use salt right it enhances your food and makes it that much tastier.

What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? It means letting the flavor of your discipleship enhance the world all around you. It means that when you follow the Great Commandment to love God and love your neighbor, it draws out goodness and love everywhere you go, and in that way you help to bring the Kingdom of God.

“You are the light of the world.”

Okay, this one seems a bit easier. On an intuitive level, we understand that light is good. But still, we don’t necessarily take the time to think about what’s good about it. What does it mean to be light?

Jesus tells us: when you light a lamp, you put it on a lampstand, and it gives light to the whole house. I borrowed this lamp from our district superintendent -- I’ll confess when Jesus said “lamp” I was imagining something more like the lamp from Aladdin, but to be perfectly honest this clay lamp is probably closer to what Jesus would have used. This small lamp can give light to a whole house. You don’t need a big bonfire, a small light can dispel the darkness.

I went to college out in Flagstaff, Arizona. If you don’t know a lot about Flagstaff, the first thing to know is that it’s in the Arizona hill country. The city is at a base elevation of 7000 feet, and then there are mountains. And actually, the mountains in Flagstaff are the remnants of a long-dead volcano. Several times in college, I went with one group or another out to one of the national parks, and after a short hike we would come to a hole in the ground. This hole was caused by a cave-in, and climbing down into the hole brought you into a lava tube, a tunnel which was carved tens of thousands of years ago by the lava of that volcano.

Twenty yards into the cave, all natural light was gone. The cave was probably 300, 400 yards long, before you got to another cave-in that even the smallest person couldn’t crawl past. And the tradition was, when you reached the end of the lava tube, everyone in your group would sit down together in a circle. And shut off all of their flashlights. There, beyond the reach of the sun, the darkness was so complete that you could feel it. It was suffocating. Then, someone would pull out a little lamp like this one, or a small candle, and light it. That small light filled the cave, drove the darkness away.

What does it mean to be light? Light doesn’t exist for its own sake. It shines so that others can see. It shines to bring others out of the darkness. A lighthouse shines to guide travelers on a dark and frightening ocean. A city on a hill shines its light out to the surrounding countryside, guiding and welcoming lost and weary travelers. So what does it mean to be the light of the world? It means living a life that constantly shines the light of the love of Christ, dispelling darkness and welcoming the lost and the lonely into the Kingdom of God. Even if you see someone else and think that they’re a big bonfire while you’re just a small oil lamp, let your light shine, for the glory of God.

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You are a city on a hill. Salt and light, which exist for the sake of others. And as I was meditating on Jesus’ message here in Matthew, it struck me just how much it echoes the message of the prophet Isaiah from so long before him.

When the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah, the people had a problem. Two problems, really, but they were two related problems. First, the people were treating God like some kind of divine vending machine. Put prayer in, push the buttons to make your selection, get out your desired result. And in fairness to the people of Israel, that’s how all of their neighbors did it, how the Canaanites and the Assyrians and the Babylonians and the Akkadians all interacted with their gods. Make the right sacrifice, say the right words, do the right hand gesture, and the gods will make it rain on your fields. Do a different sacrifice, say different words, different hand gesture, and the gods will smite your enemies.

It’s how all the neighboring nations did it. But when God led the people out of Egypt, God told them not to be like the neighboring nations.

Second, the people were selfish. Even on the sabbath and the holy days, they served their own interests. They oppressed their workers. They quarreled, fought, struck on another with wicked fists. They would even hide themselves from their own family members just so that they wouldn’t have to be inconvenienced by helping someone.

And God spoke to the prophet Isaiah, and through Isaiah said to the people “you wicked and rebellious people! What do you think you’re doing? Do you really think that you can force me to do your will, with these empty gestures and this self-serving piety? Look at yourselves! Do you really think that this is what I want?”

“I’ll tell you what I want. I want you to loose the bonds of injustice! I want you to let the oppressed go free! Share your bread with the hungry! Clothe the naked! House the homeless, yes even in your own homes! This is what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, to walk in humility! Do this, and when you call I will answer you. Do this, and I will satisfy your need. But do this. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. This is the fast that I desire. Thus says the Lord.”

That phrase has been stuck spinning around in my head for years now. This is the fast that I choose. In just two and a half weeks, we’ll be starting Lent - Ash Wednesday is on February 26. Since at least the fourth century, Christians have been preparing for Easter with this extended season of reflection and repentance, prayer and fasting. Some people will give up chocolate or soda. Others will skip entire meals, or might not eat any meat from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

But it occurred to me that all too often, my approach to Lent is far too similar to the problems that the people of Israel were experiencing. As a child, I would give up chocolate for Lent, and I would focus on how annoying it was, and think about how God was in my debt because of all the chocolate I could be eating. But what is the fast that God chooses? Justice, mercy, compassion; food for the hungry, clothing for the naked.

And so this year my fast is going to be a little different, and I’m inviting you to join me. I am going to monetize my fast, in a sense. I haven’t decided what I’m giving up yet, but let’s use soda as my example. I have a soda with my lunch every day. During Lent, when I don’t have that soda, I will also be setting aside the money I would have spent on that soda. That dollar 75 is gone, as if I spent it. And on Easter Sunday, as we celebrate the risen Christ, we’re going to have a special collection in addition to our usual offering, where we take up the fast that we set aside, and we’re going to give it all to [redacted] here in [redacted].

Your fast might be small, or it might be big. But even a small oil lamp can light up an entire house. Even just a pinch of salt can draw out an explosion of flavors in a meal.

As you leave this place and go out wherever God may lead you, go out to be salt. Be light. Be a city on a hill. Shine the love of Christ everywhere you go, to show the way to the lost and weary travelers.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[scandinaviacroatiaengbergs]

Sunday: Oslo to Gothenburg (Bye-Bye to our Car, for Now!) and on to Copenhagen

There are a few things I wanted to note, just in general, but I’ve been forgetting to do so.  One: there are wind turbines all over the countryside in Norway and Sweden.  Two: the recycling program in Norway is very ahead-of-our-time (or the U.S.’s time, and I know to roll out such programs on a nationwide scale is easier to do in a smaller country than a larger one) and everyone recycles and composts  and the robot-directed sorting of bags of garbage is a sight to see (I saw it in a video that Ryley showed me).  Three: there are sooooooo many Teslas in Norway.  It is an actual fact that there are more Teslas per capita in Norway than in any other country (per my source: Eric Engberg).  Now, you’d think that this must just mean the people are super stoked to protect the environment and have loads of money to spend on buying expensive electric cars, and that is partially true, but Ryley and Roar said that many people spend way beyond their means and the government really incentivized electric car ownership, and Tesla was a huge resulting beneficiary of that.  Electric cars could drive in the bus lane for a while and there were more benefits, too, which I am forgetting.  It is really crazy how many Teslas there are on the road, and aside from that, there are just a lot of new cars, with very few that would qualify as “old” in the central city.  When we drove out of town, we saw more older models, but in the city, nope. I’ve also been thinking a lot about immigration in the late-19th and early-20th century to the U.S. from Scandinavia.  So I will digress for a minute: I know that when countries are war-torn, it makes a lot of sense for individuals and families to leave those regions, when they can (and as we see globally today and throughout history, there are so many tragic regions in which civilians are stuck in unlivable circumstances with no respite from the wars surrounding them). I also know from my own family history that people fled, say, Ireland because of famine, or Lithuania to seek an improved life in the U.S., even before abject ethic and religious persecution made conditions unsurvivable. I need to learn more about the causes for migration out of Scandinavia during the turn of the last century.  But, the lure of the “American Dream” was strong, even when a country wasn’t in a depression or there wasn’t a crop failure (though Norway had a huge potato crop failure that made many people leave, at the same time as Ireland, according to Roar), as far as I know.  And we see that immigrants from the turn of the last century to the U.S. have, by and large, left improved socio-economic legacies for their  descendants. But, when I travel to these areas today, and see some of the beauties of their regions, and size of cities and how these countries are able to develop social systems where there are many fewer people in poverty per capita than there are in our own U.S., I realize I need to learn more about why so many people left in the first place, and what the crises they were fleeing were, or whether they were just leaving to pursue riches in the U.S. when its doors were more open to such waves of immigrants (I mean, I wrote a book about this period, so I know very well the increasingly tight immigration laws of the late-19th to early-20th centuries and what “kinds” of people they privileged).  Anyway, I thought this about my Grandpa Sam too when we were in Lithuania, since he could certainly not have predicted the genocide that would develop there thirty years after he left.  He came to the U.S. alone from his family of two parents and five siblings (all but one of whom perished in the Holocaust), and seems to have traveled with a cousin. I do think about the asylum seekers who I’ve volunteered with in Albuquerque and somewhat like my uncle, they were really going into the unknown, because they hoped that gamble would make their lives better.  In the case of the asylum seekers, they’re often fleeing so much death, corruption, and destruction around them, and they hope that in the U.S. they’ll have a safer home for their children and more viable earning options for themselves. So, I am sorry to go along this tangent for so long, but I really do drive through the countryside here and I wonder why so many people left in the first place – simple as that.  I am sure different people left in different decades for very different reasons. Anyway, our last morning in Oslo was leisurely. We had to go out and find an ATM, though, since I had to leave about $70 for our Airbnb hosts to pay for parking, since we’d agreed upon this. To find an ATM on Sunday, though, was no easy task, so we went on a long walk to get to the nearest one, but that actually turned out very well, because we didn’t have to be out of the apartment at a particular time and we got to see some more neighborhoods that we hadn’t seen before.  We even found a little park right near our place that had a high hill, and we could see quite a panorama from the top. So, around 1, we left Oslo, avoiding by the smallest margin a collision in a roundabout (the Volvo’s brakes work really well, we learned!), and then made it to Gothenburg without much trouble at all. Eric booked our Airbnb in a suburb, and by the time we got in, the kids were ragged, unruly, and wild as hyenas with their squawking and back-talking and general silliness.  It was a mess. It took some stern words and some taking away of things (Rowan’s beloved Blundstone boots) to get them to know that they needed to pull it together, which they did, and we went to the Willy’s grocery store and got some dinner and got back and ate dinner, and the kids ate voluminously. After that, we tried to get the kids to bed, but that, again, was more protracted than ideal, and they weren’t asleep until nearly 10 p.m.  I should mention that the navigation in this suburb called Askim was hilarious and so convoluted; it was like driving from driveway to driveway, on tiny, tiny roads that, before GPS, I have no idea how anyone could’ve given directions to anyone unfamiliar with the area. So, the kids needed one thing after the next at bedtime – a story “from your mouth” (specifically, the serial saga of the cats Pickles and Mr. Pink that I’ve been telling since last summer), a story from a book, some water, to go to the bathroom, it’s too hot, there’s too much light, I want to sleep in with Cece, I want to go downstairs, etc. etc.  It was endless.  But, finally, they both zonked out, and then I couldn’t fall asleep until after midnight. I hope it doesn’t seem like I am complaining about the kids or their behavior a lot, because really, they roll with all of this traveling and moving from town to town pretty well, and they seem to love the adventure, and Rowan even expresses how much he loves it, repeatedly, and how sad he’s going to be when it’s over (though he has his art camp later this summer, and he *is* excited for that). But, our kids really are the loudest kids in any given room and the goofiest, so that is fun for us sometimes, but sometimes we need a knob with which we can dial down their volume considerably. We dropped our Volvo off this morning for its journey home, and while we were there, we saw another family, with two kids ages probably 8 and 6, and they were just sitting at a table with their parents while they waited for their car to be brought out. Our kids, by contrast, were needling each other and I actually heard a scream out of Cece when I was in the bathroom right before we left. Some great things can come out of their energy and curiosity, and we’re grateful for that, but, as I noted, sometimes, a dial would be useful ;)  I guess what goes around, comes around, since my mom once left my brother and I (at ages 4 and 6) with the guard at the front of some Smithsonian museum because we were being intolerable and she wanted to see the exhibit without our annoying behavior, so with the guard we sat.  That was also the day I flat-out insisted on wearing pleather boots and jeans in the humid, insane D.C. summertime weather. Anyway, I guess my kids come by their low points honestly ;) Anyway, so we *did* return the Volvo for its ocean journey home!  And now, I write this from a train to Copenhagen, and we’ll spend two nights there before flying to Croatia, land of my grandmother’s mother and ancestors.  The kids and I know, from Grandma Marion, how to say “I love you!” in Yugoslavian (as she calls it), so we’re ready for our travels there! This train ride started a bit stressfully, a) because we have a lot of loot to get situated on board, and b) there are no seat numbers above all of the seats, so it was a total frustrating guessing game to figure out which seats are ours.  But we did, and since then, the ride has been uneventful, with some beautiful ocean scenery and small towns (and some not-so-small towns) with red houses and intensely green fields. The kids have had some iPad time (Cece is doing a Montessori “hundreds board” right now and Rowan was laughing loud enough for all in our car to hear to Shawn the Sheep).  They are going to be tired tonight in Copenhagen, but we might tow them around in a bike trailer, so we’ll see what develops! More soon!

[chthonicbeekeeper]

The Book of Joseph. Chapter 11

“Those who open their eyes will see,

those who listen will hear, those

whose hearts are pure will join us.”

Sermon from the Project at Eden’s Gate.

We needed a refuge away from the city and away from police harassment, a place where we could thrive and be protected from the terrible events to come.

So we unfolded a map of the country and searched for somewhere our community could call home.

We quickly turned to the mountainous regions in the Northwest, secluded spots that were easy to defend. Many religious and survivalist communities set up camp there to flee persecution and live on the fringes of society.

I examined the map closely, my eyes lingering over Montana — and that’s when I found it. The name appeared in tiny print, a name that I had never heard before, but which was extremely promising: Hope County.

Hope. The hope of giving birth to a new humanity, of creating a purer, fairer, more fraternal society from the ashes of the old. We would go to Hope County, where we would fulfil our destiny. I knew it at the very core of my being. I pointed to the name and told my brothers that I knew where we were going. We set off a few days later, determined to spread our message along the way. Our mission was as much to recruit faithful followers and grow our family, as it was to reach our sanctuary. I couldn’t tell you about every single person who joined us over the course of our travels, for there were a great many of us by the time we reached Hope County.

If you listen to your heart and it is pure, you will join us. You will know us all, for you will harvest crops alongside us, you will train alongside us, and you will sing and pray alongside us. But I can tell you about a few of them — like our brother Matthew.

I was giving a sermon, as I later often would, in a supermarket parking lot. The security guard made movements to intercede, until he caught Jacob’s eye. He must have done a quick comparison of the peanuts he earned and the potential risk involved, shrugged and chose instead to patrol the other end of the parking lot. It was a wise decision on his part.

Thus, with a simple microphone and speaker attached to the roof of our van, I delivered my message.

Most of the supermarket’s customers walked by without listening. They were more concerned with their carts overflowing with purchases, half of which would probably go to waste. Maybe they would think back on this scene when the end times came. Which would haunt them more: not having listened to me, or the bygone days of abundance?

On that day, my words resonated with only one person. He was a very thin young man. He wasn’t grocery shopping, but looking for spare change that distracted customers might have dropped on the ground. At the time, the young man was named John Kennedy. People found his illustrious name hilarious, and he endured pitiless, mocking laughter because of it. Today, he goes by Matthew, and he is nothing like the man he once was. That man no longer exists. And soon, neither will the people who laughed at him. Nor will even the memory of presidents, kings, and prophets of yore.

But the man that Matthew once was had felt empty inside. He felt incomplete, but didn’t quite know what was missing. He felt filled with a fetid breath, as if he were nothing more than a balloon inflated by a chain-smoker. And as often happens in such cases, he pricked himself with needles to try to make himself pop faster. Because the money that John Kennedy sought in grocery store parking lots, in trashcans, and in gutters was money for a hit of heroin.

But that day, the young man no longer felt empty. On the contrary — for the first time — he felt fulfilled. The drugs he once took to forget his life gave way to the incomparable light of the revelation. He heard my message and understood it. He became Matthew, and he will be saved.

Like a few — very few — others.

Many have joined us since then. I love them all equally. They have become new beings, freed from the burdens of their pasts, absolved of their sins. They are pure.

In their previous lives, they were homeless tramps and police officers with nothing in common. Today, they are farmers and soldiers, but above all, they are family, equals, all serving our grand plan under a father’s benevolent eye.

We were also joined by Peter over the course of our trek. In a past life, he had been one of the most well-known geneticists in his field, but he had been kicked out of the medical association for conducting an experiment that proved fatal for a terminally ill patient.

It now seems so trivial to us, we who know that all of humanity has been sentenced to death — all but a handful of chosen ones of all ages and backgrounds.

Having become a pariah of Chicago’s high society, Peter tried to kill himself by crashing his car into a wall. Despite the impact he was spared by providence — but a fire that began immediately after the crash left his face severely burned. After that, he emerged only at night, hidden beneath a scarf. When he answered my call, I asked him to reveal his face to all of us. And we accepted him as he was.

As horrifying as his scars were, they were nothing compared to the invisible wounds that many of the chosen ones in our large family had to live with.

Others followed. The larger we grew, the louder our voice became, like a choir whose volume swells as its membership grows.

We were the choir of an invincible army.

We soon became a veritable cortege, a caravan on its way to conquer the Wild West — only we weren’t driven by a gold rush, but rather by our faith. We found and fixed up some old school buses to transport those who didn’t have their own cars. We obtained tents and makeshift shelters. Wherever we went, good Samaritans let us camp in their fields, their yards, and sometimes in their houses. Some of them joined us; others did not. May they experience a quick and painless death.

Soon, the police and even the FBI began circling us like vultures, and helicopter flybys, snapping photos of our convoy of chosen ones, became more frequent.

They arrested us and searched our vehicles more than once.

But they never found a thing.

We had our brother Luke to thank for that. Luke was probably the handiest man in all of America. With his own two hands, he built a weapons cache under the seats of one of our buses. The work was exquisite and undetectable. For additional security, Jacob spent most of his time sitting on it, and it was rare that someone dared ask him to get up.

We met Luke at a bar in Tennessee. Unfortunately for him. as was common among those who joined us, the feeling of emptiness in his heart had left him a shaky man. It was eight o’clock in the morning, and while we were drinking coffee, he was on his fifth beer. Despite all his talent, he had lost his job as a carpenter and become a permanent fixture at the bar. He spent his days drinking, a friendly barfly.

First he drank through his bank account, then his car, and finally his house. At least he didn’t have a family to drink through, like Old Man Seed had back in his day.

When I began my sermon at the bar, his glass of beer was half-full. He never finished his drink and hasn’t had a single sip since.

Such is the power of my message. Its mere breath rescues the flotsam and jetsam of humanity that society has condemned; the drug addicts and alcoholics whose futures have been shattered by war or by mistakes they have made. There is nobody I cannot save and offer a new life. And when we finally arrived at our destination, there were hundreds of us.

[sterek]

Fav long fics?!

Since I don’t know exactly what long fics are to you, here’s a list of my fave 50k+ fics in no particular order :)

Kaleidoscope by Vendelin [E, 54k]

Stiles spends a year before college working at the all-night coffee shop in town. It’s nice and quiet, until one dark and brooding Derek starts coming in every morning, ordering coffee so strong that it should not be fit for human consumption. Ever. Stiles tries not to be affected by the mystery guy, but it’s not like anything else happens around here, so really, what did you expect? And when he’s already in too deep, he realises he might even be in way over his head…

Safety in Silence by Survivah [M, 66k]

It’s perfectly understandable. Even Derek wouldn’t want to be Derek’s soulmate.

Easy Trouble by Survivah [M, 55k]

Derek+Stiles+fairies = love spell

“Make love to me,” Derek demands.

What.

The Boy and the Beast by Dira Sudis (dsudis) [M, 116k]

In which events in Beacon Hills go rather differently from the start, and a Beauty and the Beast (ish) story ensues. (Scott is not a teacup and no one sings about their feelings.) 

Stand Fast in Your Enchantments by DevilDoll, Rahciach [E, 76k]

“Stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf.” An AU in which Derek is feral, Stiles is magical, and they eat a lot of fast food.

Trust Fall by Stoney [E, 144k]

Stiles is fairly certain that a case could be made for every bad thing in his life coming back to Peter Hale. This time it’s pissing off a powerful witch, who retaliated by swapping Stiles and Derek a la Freaky Friday, because sure. That makes sense. Um, there are GPAs on the line, not to mention the whole thing where his dad wants to shoot Derek on sight. Except who he sees as Derek is actually Stiles, and Stiles did not sign up for filicide.

Great. Wait…does this mean he’s the Alpha until they figure this out? Holy. Shit.****

Derek had stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a few minutes trying to control the panic as he saw himself as Stiles. As the loud mouthed human friend of the pack. He was going to kill Peter. He was going to kill the witch, then he was going to kill Peter. Maybe even resurrect him again just to kill him all over.

They were going to have to play this cool. They would have to stay calm and focused. Which is of course why the universe threw him into this situation with someone who physically couldn’t be calm and focused.

Of course.

Settle Down by wearing_tearing, whatthehale [E, 153k]

Stiles is a struggling author barely making ends meet.

Derek is a successful architect whose biological clock is ticking.

Enter a surrogacy agency, two packs, and a particularly sticky and toe curling heat week and you get a match made in heaven.

Important Things by suzvoy [M, 71k]

Stiles learns that even with werewolves, giant lizards and psychopathic hunters on the loose, life can still find other ways to screw with you. Case in point: everyone keeps assuming he and Derek are a couple. What the hell?

We Got Something Magic by alisvolatpropiis [E, 50k]

Scott is never bitten, so Stiles never meets Derek or learns about werewolves. He is, however, since a young age, captivated by a recurring dream of a beautiful, red-eyed wolf that he comes to hold dear to his heart. After college, he moves to Seattle and decides to get a tattoo to acknowledge his dream Wolf, finding a lot more than he expected at Triskele Tattoo.

In which Derek is a tattoo artist and a good alpha, Laura is alive, and Stiles and Derek share each other’s dreams.

Prince Among Wolves by tylerfucklin (Zimothy) [E, 101k]

Looking for full day/evening sitter. 2 twin boys age 4. Must have exp. w/werewolves. Must be human. No pedophiles. No teenage girls. Pay negotiable.

Gravity’s Got Nothing on You by zosofi [E, 83k]

“Three weeks,” Derek says.

“Still don’t want to,” Stiles says.

“I’ll pay you,” Derek says, and that… that has Stiles interested. Alf’s Antique’s may be a great job, but it’s not a high-paying job, and half of Stiles’s tuition is coming from financial aid, so…

“How much,” Stiles asks, “are we talking here? Because I know your family, dude. And it’ll be kind of awkward after.“

“My family thinks you’re some sort of fucking gift to the world,” Derek seethes, like he’s jealous, “they’ll probably be pissed at me when we break it off, so don’t worry about that. Five hundred bucks.”

“A thousand,” Stiles says, because screw ethics. Also, the Hale family is loaded. Derek can deal.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation by grimm [E, 118k]

There’s something weird about Beacon Hills that Stiles can’t quite put his finger on. The way everyone in town knows his name the day he arrives. The way they insist the melancholic howling that echoes through the forest every night is just a dog. The way his dad denies getting a dog, even though Stiles comes home to find one sprawled across his bed, some big black thing whose eyes gleam red in the right light. The way that massive oak tree out in the woods vibrates under his touch, pulsing with sickly life.

There’s something weird going on in this town, and Stiles is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Cornerstone by Vendelin [E, 83k]

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

Move A Mountain by ZainClaw [E, 69k]

Stiles goes camping with his friends in New Mexico after graduation where they befriend a biker gang led by Derek: a guy whom Stiles can’t decide if he will be either relieved or devastated to never see again once their week is up.

Stiles’s Story Time by trilliath [E, 125k]

Where Stiles is a librarian who is in charge of the kids’ reading hour and such. And Derek is 6-year-old Scott’s adoptive dad. And Stiles has his own take on Stories and Scott loves wolves and Derek tries not to admit that he likes the way Stiles’s face looks in those glasses.Or something like that.

Enemy Lines by qhuinn (tekla) [E, 149k]

This is the story of werewolf Derek Hale and human Stiles Stilinski: two people who grew up in the same town but completely different worlds, their realities split by the war between men and wolves.

Years later when Derek returns to Beacon Hills, he does it as Alpha of a military pack on a mission to capture those responsible for the region’s resistance. With his main objective, Sheriff Stilinski, out of sight, he settles for the next best thing: his son, Stiles.

Neither of them suspects they’ll need to trust each other if they want to make it out this alive.

Play It Again by metisket [T, 63k]

In which Stiles goes along with one of Derek’s plans and ends up in an alternate universe as a result. He should’ve known better. He did know better, actually, and that means he has no one to blame but himself.

“Laura wants to lure the kid in with food and kindness and make a pet of him, like a feral cat. Derek wants to have him arrested for stalking. They’re at an impasse. (And the rest of the family is staying emphatically out of it in a way that suggests bets have been placed.)”

A Desperate Arrangement by mikkimouse [E, 115k]

“I’m sorry, I believe there’s something wrong with my hearing,” Stiles said. “Because I could have sworn you just told me you set up a betrothal agreement with the Hales. A betrothal agreement involving me. Me.”

Scott smiled his easygoing smile and nodded, which told Stiles no, he hadn’t misheard a damn thing.

After seven years of lengthy negotiations, the treaty between the Hales and the Argents has fallen apart and the two countries fell into war.

Months later, there’s an uneasy truce, thanks to the intervention of King Scott McCall, but it won’t last. In a desperate attempt to maintain the peace, the Hales sign a treaty with the McCalls to marry Prince Derek to Prince Stiles Stilinski, King Scott’s brother.

In the history of the world, there have been many better ideas.

Tiny Houses by ohmyjetsabel [E, 77k]

“So this is what Stiles does. He lies in Scott’s bed and waits for Melissa to say she’s found someone to get it out of him, to cure him of the wrongness and the bad, and he dreams.

God, he dreams.

He dreams of fire and swollen bellies and that scene in Alien, of giving birth to jackals through his urethra, the whole horrific nine yards. His head is a terrible place to be, he can’t imagine his stomach is much better, why anyone would want to put a thing inside of it.”

With or Without You by KouriArashi [T, 62k]

Derek thinks that the mating rituals are overly romanticized bullshit, but claiming a mate and defending them from challengers is something werewolves do, and his pack can’t afford to appear weak after the fire. Especially not when Deucalion and his friends are in town for the rituals. Enter Stiles Stilinski, who offers to let Derek claim him so he won’t be overrun at the ceremonies. Nothing goes as expected.

Specialized Technical Intelligence and Logistics for Earth and Space (S.T.I.L.E.S) by Yiichi [NR, 73k]

“What the hell kind of a name is Stiles?” he asked.

“You know, a series of sounds spoken in a particular sequence that represent my identity, primarily, referring to me?“ the AI – Stiles – answered cheekily, crossing his own arms in front of his chest, mirroring Derek’s position.

“Ooh, this one’s feisty,” Peter smirked.

[Sleep]Walking After You by relenafanel [M, 56k]

Derek is a sleepwalker who keeps wandering into his downstairs neighbour’s bedroom.

Stiles is pretty sure the hot guy from the park is going to kill him in his sleep. He knows he shouldn’t have been so obvious about objectifying the guy’s really fine ass.

Too bad it turns out Derek is easier to get along with when he’s sleeping.

According to Plans by eldee [E, 72k]

Five times Stiles and Derek pretend to be boyfriends, and the one time they didn’t have to pretend at all. (Or: in which Stiles’ plan for senior year is completely ruined by a supernatural creature stalking him.)

There’s Monsters at Home by calrissian18 [E, 83k]

“How did you get past the wards?” Derek had put them up, with Peter’s grudging assistance, after the Alpha pack had made themselves at home a few times too many.

The guy pulled a face. “You mean the wards a five-year-old girl with the mental ability of a goldfish could deconstruct?” He blinked wide eyes at Derek. “Gee, I don’t know. It’s bound to go down as one of life’s great mysteries.”

Derek despised him.

Don’t Speak by fatale [T, 68k]

The Alpha pack has systematically attacked Stiles and his friends for months, testing their strengths and weaknesses. When one of the Alphas goes after Stiles, he awakens in the hospital and realizes that something’s wrong. Very wrong. All sounds seem to hurt him, he can’t understand what anyone is saying, and when he tries to speak, it’s gibberish. How is he supposed to deal with the fact that he’s lost the ability to communicate with his dad and his friends?

Without his ability to talk, his sarcasm, and his wit, what does Stiles even have left? Enter Derek, the only one who seems to make it better.

I Know Where Babies Come From, Derek by DiscontentedWinter [M, 51k]

Stiles finds a baby on the porch.It looks exactly like him.Well, this is awkward.

the broken radio is playing suicide by decideophobia [E, 73k]

Stiles only wishes they could actually be safe. They haven’t been for nine months now.

Little Wild Animal by DiscontentedWinter [E, 61k]

Derek Hale finds a feral human on his pack’s property.Humans are supposed to be extinct.But then, Stiles is full of surprises.

Shot Through The Heart by LunaCanisLupus_22 [E, 64k]

All they’ve given him is the guy’s head shot. And it’s terrible because now he is ridding the world of one more ridiculously attractive, instant pants dropping- take me now, if you please- regulation hottie.

Even if he has a scowl to rival Kristen Stewart.

Or the one when Stiles and Derek work for rival assassin companies and are sent to kill each other. It definitely doesn’t go as planned.

Sell Your Body to the Night by Dira Sudis (dsudis) [E, 121k]

“No,” he repeated impatiently. “I’m not a cop. I’m someone who wants to exchange my money for your sexual services. I was told you were in that line of work.”

“I, uh, yeah, sorry,” Stiles said. He glanced around again and then up–the full moon was almost directly overhead. Just one of those nights, maybe. “Yeah, I am. I do that.”

a mountain to climb by grimm [E, 126k]

“Don’t do it,” he mutters. “Don’t do it, please, don’t do it.”

But there it is, a soft pink line appearing right next to the control. Stiles’ legs give out from under him; he sinks to the bathroom floor, hands shaking, his entire body shaking. It’s hard to breathe, his vision blurring around the edges. There’s a knock on the door behind him and then it opens and Scott sits down next to him.

“I’m fucked,” Stiles gasps, tears prickling at his eyes. “I’m fucked!”

here comes trouble by grimm [E, 105k]

All Derek wants is one day where he can sleep without worry of being woken by gunfire, without the threat of death hanging over his head. He wants a full stomach and no pain clinging to his bones, no ache in his feet from months of running. He wants a shower, a safe place to put his head. He wants his family, the healing comfort of pack. He’ll never have any of that again.

A Devotion by TroubleIWant [M, 77k]

There’s a boy exiting the doors as they approach. Where Derek is tan from hours outside, the boy is pale except for a few beauty marks on one cheek. He’s dressed in fine riding clothes, and flanked by a guard wearing the sign of the royal house. A noble, then. He’s younger than Derek, but, considering his higher station, a bow would be appropriate. Despite that, Derek can’t help looking curiously at the boy, who’s looking back at Derek with just as much interest. For a moment, their eyes meet - the boy’s are a deep amber in the sunlit courtyard, ringed by long, tawny lashes.

A gloved hand smacks the back of Derek’s head and he instinctively flinches away, hunching his shoulders. He loses track of the other boy as they pass one another, and as he turns to get another look, the knight grabs his shoulder and marches him forward into the stable.

“Keep your eyes to yourself,” the knight instructs. “And next time, show the proper respect to Crown Prince Stiles.”

Or: A medieval AU that’s a little Princess Bride, a little bit more Game of Thrones, and a healthy side-serving of gay erotica.

Kindred Spirits by Stoney [E, 104k]

Stiles is the adopted son of the Sheriff, brought to Beacon Hills to hopefully stay for good. A family, a best friend, school, Jackson as Josie Pye (because who else could he be?) and the mystery of a dark haired, green-eyed boy which leads Stiles to discovering a secret within himself.

The Circus at the End of the World by mikkimouse [E, 91k]

Three hundred years ago, the world ended not with a bang or a whimper, but with magic.

Since then, magic has been outlawed, and the world has clawed its way back to some kind of stability, with people and shifters alike divided between living within the walled safety of the Havens, or the small, less protected outposts dotting the frontier.

Derek Hale and his sisters, Laura and Cora, are the proprietors of Hale’s Circus of Magic, Monsters, and Mystical Wonders, known colloquially as the Circus at the End of the World. They and their ragtag pack ride the rails between the outposts and the Havens, performing for those who can pay (and some who can’t). Their circus is a small haven in and of itself, a place of safety for those who have nowhere else to go.

It’s a quiet life…until Stiles Stilinski joins the crew.

The circus has something Stiles needs—a ticket into the Haven of Santa Francesca. His father has been abducted, and Stiles is determined to get him back no matter what he has to do.

But Stiles has another secret, one that puts him and every member of the circus in danger. And if he’s not careful, it could get them all killed.

Pack Wars by miss_aphelion [M, 158k]

Scott liked to call it the Great Pack Divide of 2012.

Derek liked to call Scott an idiot.

(Or the one where Derek kidnaps Stiles to teach Scott a lesson, and ends up learning a few things himself)

(Sacred) In the Ordinary by idyll [E, 78k]

The Pack, after college, graduate school and the starting of careers, comes back to Beacon Hills. Nothing’s gotten less complicated after all this time.

Based on a kink meme prompt that grew legs and got serious.

Note: This is a whole lot of pack!fic with a very slow build Derek/Stiles.

In Other Words, Baby, Kiss Me by primroseshows [E, 61k]

Stiles has simple goals in life. To successfully complete his secret radar project without getting fired, to get a cottage on the Moon, and to untangle his mess of feelings for Moon Station 3 deputy, Derek Hale. Heck, he’ll even settle for two of the three.

Hunger by DiscontentedWinter [M, 55k]

Beacon Hills.Two lost souls.A homeless boy, a lone wolf, and people who will stop at nothing to destroy them both.

Put Down in Words by paintedrecs [M, 203k]

“Oh,” Stiles said, his voice coming out low and breathy, “fuck me.”

“I don’t think that’s on the syllabus, but we can check to see if there’s a spot open in any of his classes,” Scott said, grinning.

“This isn’t an actual professor, though,” Stiles insisted, unable to resist brushing his thumb over the sharp line of the man’s bearded jaw. He was laughing at something off-camera, the shot taken in three-quarters view, his coat collar casually rumpled and opened to reveal a sliver of a simple grey t-shirt. The whole thing was deliberately calculated to lend him a more accessible feel, and god help him, Stiles was falling for it.

*

When Stiles signed up for Dr. Hale’s intro to history class, he had two goals: knock out the credits his advisor was bugging him to complete before he graduated, and spend a few hours a week daydreaming about his sexy professor’s salt and pepper beard.

Derek, a few months away from turning forty and not sure when his life had started feeling so damn lonely, had never encountered someone like Stiles before. Bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, determined to throw Derek’s carefully cultivated world into disarray…and absolutely the last person Derek should be falling in love with.

The Fox & The Wolf by Dexterous_Sinistrous [E, 79k]

The war between the fox and wolf clans has raged for centuries, ignited in a time before anyone can remember. Now both clans—tired of the bloodshed and hate—are searching for a way to end the war.

Crowned prince Stiles Stilinski—heir to the fox clan—has agreed with his father to meet with the Hales, the ruling royal family over the wolf clan. Under the counseling of the Druids, both clans are presented with a solution to the war: unite the Stilinski and Hale clans through marriage. To quell their people’s anger, both Stiles and Derek—eldest living Hale Alpha—are urged to accept the other as an equal; as their mate.

For the sake of their people, both houses make the ultimate sacrifice by choosing duty over love. But, out of what was first assumed to be compromised, quickly turns to be a better match than either could have hoped for. But not all is easy for either clan, as some members refuse to believe that the war could end so easily.

One life stand by Vendelin [E, 84k]

Stiles is used to selling himself to make ends meet. But it’s getting harder to keep those ends meeting, and there’s only so much of Stiles to go around. Until a too-fancy car shows up in his neighborhood, and he meets Derek Hale.

All Derek wants is Stiles’s time, someone to stay on his arm for events and smile for the cameras. It’s the easiest job Stiles has ever had, the best-paying one he’s ever had, and he’s more than happy to sign up.

Derek is everything and nothing Stiles expects him to be, with his tailored suits, sharp mind and his quiet way of caring. But it’s just a job and Stiles never meant to fall in love.

No Homo by RemainNameless [E, 84k]

Stiles’ sophomore year starts something like this:3 FourLokos+ 1 peer-pressuring cat- 1 best bro to end all best bros= 1 Craigslist ad headline that reads “str8 dude - m4m - strictly platonic”.Derek is the fool who replies.

Cross our bridges when we come to them by RemainNameless [M, 103k]

The five times Derek called the Sheriff “Dad” on accident and the first time he did it on purpose.

[covid19updater]

COVID19 UPDATES: 03/21/2020

Quote for the day: "Right now, ladies and gentlemen, I think we have to face the very real possibility that we are on our own." ---Stephen King, UNDER THE DOME

US: Fox Business host Lou Dobbs in self quarantine after staffer tests positive for Covid-19 - Hill

California: New Los Angeles San Fernando Valley, Sylmar, CA Tents and Security up and running at OliveView Medical Center in front of ER it is a drive in tent then another decontamination

US: Could Trump declare national coronavirus shutdown? Momentum is rising. LINK

US:  #NEW: President Trump has declared a major disaster in #NewYork State due to #coronavirus; orders federal assistance. - BNO

California: #California: L.A. County gives up on containing #coronavirus, tells doctors to skip testing of some patients

RUMINT: Tennessee: Picture supposedly of part of parking deck at Vanderbilt Medical Center converted over to bed space. LINK

RUMINT (Mississippi): Evening! Have to go back to work tomorrow after 5 glorious days off. Been getting reports from my coworkers that they are being refused masks when taking care of possible CoVid pts. Um, no. I LOVE my job, but I'm not down to die for a company that will replace me before I'm in the ground. We've had a positive patient who was on the floor for 3 days before the test came back positive. Nobody wore any PPE other than the standard gloves. Numerous staff were exposed, one is in her 3rd trimester and one told the hospital they'll get her badge in the mail. Her 4 yo has pneumonia and now they think it could be CoVid that her mom may have brought home. Please, please, please raise hell wherever you are in the world for your healthcare workers to get the proper PPE as YOUR life may depend on it. I mean from EMS on the streets, to the docs in the hospital and everyone who works in a hospital. It takes all of us to run it, not just doctors and nurses. Stay home, wash your hands and pray for us on the front lines, including those in trade jobs who are busting their asses to keep us healthcare workers in business!

Massachusetts: 60 people quarantined at a assisted living facility on Cape Cod in Massachusetts after a resident tests positive.

NYC: Majority of NYC’s coronavirus cases are men between 18 and 49 years old LINK

RUMINT (UK): Morning from Southern England! It's cold but there's sunshine for today and most of the coming week. Still have a consultant job (work from home) for the next four weeks at least. Might have been exposed 9 or 10 days ago, the person I sat with in Germany (he's from the UK) in the office for two/three days is now very unwell (and his wife has become sick) with what appears to be COVID19. They aren't testing most people unless they need a hospital admission, so he hasn't been tested yet. By the sounds of it, he will need admitting to hospital. None of us, his work colleagues are sick (yet). Got an email yesterday from the Taxman (HMRC) for my business. They are throwing the kitchen sink at this. Suddenly after years of austerity under Cameron and May (all false looking at things now), they can pull a couple of trillion pounds (and yes, since this has just started with 350 billion, it will probably take a couple of trillion) out of thin air and basically most people don't need to work. Starting to look like the cycles of boom and bust were fake, engineered to keep most of us poor. Anyway, I basically don't have to pay tax this year (personal or corporate), even the quarterly payments of VAT I collect for the government (equiv to $11,000 every three months) don't have to be paid. There is no interest on any loans. In summary, the government APPEAR to know that this is the end of the UK (and the world) if they don't throw everything at this. The speed at which this has been organised is incredible. They know if they don't pay people out of their pockets, then the country would descend into anarchy and they would be just as fucked because society would break down, no supply chain for anything and EVERYONE would be dead in weeks except for the few in the UK like us who are armed and have six months of supplies. They are managing to keep everyone on the same page in the UK for now with these financial arrangements. The people of this country don't realise how VERY close to the edge everything is and just how VERY bad things are about to get. The virus is now everywhere, in every town and the main vector will be supermarkets now. These next two weeks will see all hospital overwhelmed as they go past surge capacity in the next three days.

Germany: BREAKING - The number of young #COVID19 patients is on the rise in Germany. "The youngest symptomatic patients are in their early 20s. We see the entire demographic age spectrum, whether in the normal ward or ICU," says Chief Physician of the Infectiology at a Munich clinic.

Spain: +233 deaths and +3.355 cases. So 24.926 cases and 1.326 deaths in Spain!

RUMINT (Hong Kong): ..... it’s complete madness right. HK largely on lockdown since end Jan. It looked like it was stabilising so some people started going back to working then the numbers just spike again. No idea how it ends

Russia: Footage of ambulances lined up bringing COVID19 patients to hospital in Moscow. LINK

China: A 26-yr-old woman surnamed Huang in South China's Guangxi Province was retested positive for nucleic acid 31 days after discharge. Huang was confirmed on Jan 30, and was treated in hospital. After being cured on Feb 10, she was retested positive in hospital on Mar 12.

New York: #BREAKING US STATE OF NEW YORK REPORTS 3,254 NEW CASES OF CORONAVIRUS, RAISING TOTAL TO 10,356 CASES - GOVERNOR

New York: Younger people listen up: 55% of NYS #Coronavirus cases are ages 18-49.Young people aren’t invincible. You can get this and you can give it to someone older you love. You shouldn’t endanger your own health & you certainly shouldn't endanger other people's health. #StayAtHome

New York: NY Governor Cuomo: "You have to expect at the end of the day, 40% to 80% of the population is going to be infected. So the only question is how fast is the rate...and can you slow that rate so your hospital system can deal with it."

New Jersey: Top New Jersey health official Judith Persichilli says everyone will get coronavirus.  New Jersey’s top public health official says everyone, including her, will eventually contract the coronavirus. “I’m definitely going to get it. We all are,” Judith Persichilli told NJ.com. “I’m just waiting.”

Italy: CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL IN WORST-AFFECTED ITALIAN REGION LOMBARDY RISES BY 546 IN PAST 24 HOURS TO 3,095 - OFFICIALS

New York: UPDATE: NYC Covid-19 cases rise to 7,530 approximately 1,300 higher than Cuomo announced an hour ago with 45 deaths - NBCNY

Eugene Gu, MD: The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat the coronavirus has not been proven safe and effective through large scale clinical trials. There is only anecdotal evidence from case reports in countries overseas. Promising them as miracle drugs gives false hope.  I know this is an emergency and we are desperate. But as a physician, I took a solemn oath to “first, do no harm.” That means not testing off label drugs on human patients that may have side effects like vision and hearing loss, heart problems, and death for an unproven benefit.

UK: Rioting and looting have already started in London. LINK

Georgia: View of the TSA security line at Atlanta’s airport. LINK

Italy: BIG BREAKING: Italy reports 6557 new cases of #Coronavirus and 793 new deaths.Total number of Confirmed cases reach 53,578 and Total death toll reaches 4825. Fatality rate= 9%

US: John Bolton declares China 'responsible' for coronavirus outbreak, says world must hold them 'accountable' LINK

UK:  CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL IN THE UK HAS REACHED 233 AFTER NHS ENGLAND SAID A FURTHER 53 PEOPLE HAD DIED IN ENGLAND AFTER TESTING POSITIVE

US: BREAKING - US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife will be tested for #COVID19 this afternoon.

UK: Frontline NHS staff risk "cross infecting everybody" because they are not getting the recommended protective equipment, a consultant has warned.The face mask, short gloves and apron worn by NHS staff is far short of the World Health Organization recommendations, Dr Lisa Anderson of St George's Hospital, London, said. Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the government to "sort this out". LINK

US:  BREAKING: Ground stop now in effect — all departures stopped — for JFK, LGA, EWR due to positive covid-19 tests. Other regional airspace sectors halted through key “gates” through NY air traffic areas. -Sources

World: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide has surpassed 300,000, an increase of 50,000 in one day

Europe: - France: 1,847 new cases, 112 new deaths - UK: 1,035 new cases, 56 new deaths

US: Mark Dice’s commentary on celebrities and COVID19. LINK

New Orleans: A Medical worker describes his experiences treating COVID19. LINK

US: USA + 4759 new cases = 24,142 cases + 32 new RIP = 288 RIP

Israel: Official statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry was just posted, calling on all Israelis worldwide to return to Israel before a full lockdown is imposed and cancellation of all flights.

Ukraine: 10 new COVID19 infections registered in Chernivtsi region, 1 in Zhytomyr region, 2 in Kyiv region, 1 in Donetsk region, 2 in Ivano-Frankivsk and 2 in Kyiv city. Total 47 confirmed cases in Ukraine

Florida: FL Gov. DeSantis says the test results coming today "are coming from the last two weeks." South Florida "is a challenge now" he says in terms of COVID-19.

US: Newsweek: Inside the Government Continuity of Operations Plans. LINK

US: Newsweek: Inisde the Military plans to stop civil disturbances from COVID19. LINK

US: To help put the size of the Navy's hospital ships into perspective, this is a photo of USNS Mercy alongside the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. LINK

[the-panam-experiment-blog]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, or: WHAT A BIKETRIP IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT

This is probably our most honest and important blog entry so far. Grab a coffee, take a seat. In the following lines we try to answer some of the questions that we hear so many times...

1.) Is it like you expected it to be? NO - and that is good! If it would be exactly like we expected it to be, we would have missed out on a lot of surprising encounters and experiences that are very essential to make this journey interesting. To be honest, in the beginning we brought much more expectations with us as we assumed. Most of them were not fulfilled. On the other hand, we experienced situations and met people, we could not even have thought of. The last six months showed us, not to expect anything - to be open for what so ever may happen. We took off to meet countries, people, cultures. This only happens with a big portion of openness. "The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see".

2.) Do you like Canada/USA/Mexico...? Yes and No. How should you summarize the complexity and diversity of a whole country in a few sentences? A few sentences that in addition satisfy the questioner? There is way more to a country than national parks or pretty historic centers or nice beaches. There often is a lot of tristesse, poverty, social inequality. Trash, smog and reek. Potholes, so big you could bath a child in there. For day long stretches pedalling can be incredibly exhausting. Feeling hungry, thirsty, patching flat tires in the midday heat of the desert or on the side of a busy highway is not fun at all. Even though you feel absolutely miserable during many of those situations, they in the end are also essential experiences. Those situations are part of the game, to round it up, to really "see" a country/region. They are at least as important as the "everything is so great, I love this" moments. You need those contrasts, to be even more able to enjoy the beautiful and nice moments. If not, the journey would probably be boring very fast. Almost like a two week all inclusive vacation at the beach. Nice to relax for a few days, but after ten days at the latest you are done and can´t wait to go home soon. All of us can only preceive contrasts, no absolute values. "Nothing is harder to bear, than a row of good days."

It increasingly seems like that describing the positive AND the negative aspects often surprise and overstrain some listeners. "You gave up so much to do that journey, and now THIS?". Even travelling is part of our success-driven society. If you do not love and enjoy every second, there is definitely something you are doing wrong, right? This leads to a lot of unhonesty and concealment. We follow/ed quite a few blogs of other (bike) travellers, and soon it is obvious who is reporting about reality and who is not. Who is trying to satisfy followers/sponsors/friends at home. People want to see the nice and pretty beaches, and not those that are full of trash, the friendly smiling local people, not those that try to rip you off, a cristal clar mountain river, not the rotten smelling brown creek. Success and efficiency is not just part of our daily lives, we also take it with us on our vacations/journeys. We are expected, and also expect from ourself, to maximize our time, to pack in as many amazing moments as possible. To see as much as we can as fast as we can, enjoy every minute and every day has to be nothing but awesome. If not, or if you even admit that you do not like some aspects of a culture/country/whatsoever, it must be your own fault, and you should adapt accordingly. Reality often is "awesome" and "beautiful", but many times it is not.

3.) You are way too fast! Why are you rushing? This is not a vacation in order to get away from the daily routine and to relax from a stressful week at work. This IS our daily routine now, but in different aspects. The way is goal. "Easy riding" take turns with absolutely energy sapping stages. Further, our motivation changes a lot - from "I can not do this anymore" to "I want to do this forever" and everything in between within a day. We do not rush at all. Sometimes we are dependent on some circumstances though. Water, food, shelter are quite essential. And not everyhere to get. Also, a look at the milage after a long hard day is quite satifying, too. And the feeling of being exploited. We definitely do not know problems with falling asleep! The impression that we are moving too fast seems to be quite prelavent within our friends and family. And, yes, sometimes it surprises us too how far you can travel on a bike within a few months, from Vancouver to Oaxaca, 7.000km! Compared to many other cyclists we met on the way, we actually are travelling pretty leisurely!

4.) Why don´t you stay longer at a place, enjoy and relax more? That´s exaclty what we do! Without taking breaks, relaxing our bodies and our minds, we would have quit a long time ago! Regeneration is so important. Curiosity is one of the main motivations for continuing. What´s behind that mountain? What´s that village over there like? But often it is also the necessity of something to eat or a place to sleep that makes us going further, although we are tired and exhausted. If you are in the middle of nothing, there are some more kilometers to be coverd even if you do not want to anymore. Even more you enjoy the pleasure of a (maybe even warm) shower at the end of the day and a good meal!

5.) Where will you be for Christmas? When in Costa Rica? And when do you come home? No idea. And we like it that way! Of course we have a rough plan. Of course we have to / want to follow the (dry) seasons. But there are so many reasons for changes that make the trip longer or shorter. You get some tips of which you did not think of before, are in a region where you do not like it and just want to get away, or some regions may just be dangerous. Others are so nice, you stay much longer than expected. Not having a plan feels good, gives freedom!

We hope this gave a slight insight in the life on a bike, what we are confronted with, how we feel. Things, especially time, have a totally different significance here. We started off with a certain goal, cycling from Canada to Argentina. This goal has now, after half a year, not so much of prominence anymore. And even if we should "not make" it all the way to Tierra del fuego, we would not see it as a personal failure. Many times already we went out of our way, changed the route. And never have we regretted it. It´s about openness for whatever comes along the way!

Vorweg: Dies ist kein Reisebericht, dafür der bisher wahrscheinlich ehrlichste und wichtigste Blogeintrag. Nimm dir etwas zu trinken, setz dich, und pass gut auf. Denn heute beantworten wir Fragen, die uns so oder so ähnlich schon unzählige Male gestellt wurden.

1.) Ist es so, wie ihr es euch vorgestellt habt? NEIN - und das ist gut so! Denn wäre es so, wie wir es uns vorgestellt haben, wo wären dann die überaschenden Erlebnisse und Begegnungen, die das Reisen erst wirklich aufregend und interessant machen? Wir haben mehr Erwartungen und Vorstellungen mit auf die Reise genommen, als uns selber klar war. Die meisten davon wurden nicht erfüllt, im Gegenzug haben wir Dinge erlebt und Menschen getroffen, die wir uns nicht einmal annähernd hätten vorstellen können. Die letzten sechs Monate haben uns gelehrt, nichts zu erwarten, dafür aber umso offener zu sein für das, was uns begegnet. Wir sind aufgebrochen, um Länder, Menschen und Kulturen kennenzulernen, und dies gelingt nur mit einer großen Portion Offenheit. "The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see."

2.) Gefällt euch Kanada/USA/Mexiko? Die Antwort ist klar: JA und NEIN. Wie will man denn auch die Komplexität und Vielfalt eines ganzen Landes in ein paar Sätzen beschreiben, die dann auch noch denjenigen, der fragt, zufriedenstellt? Länder bestehen aus mehr als schönen Altstädten und Nationalparks. Es gibt oft genug Tristesse, Armut, soziale Ungleichheit. Dreck und Gestank. Schlaglöcher, die groß genug sind, um ein Kind darin zu baden. Oft ist es unglaublich anstrengend, man ist unterzuckert, das Wasser geht aus, oder man flickt in der hochsommerlichen Nachmittagshitze der Wüste Arizonas am Straßenrand bei 47 Grad Celsius einen Patschen. Auch wenn das im Moment alles andere als angenehm ist, ist es eine Erfahrung mehr, die einen bereichert. Die anfangs oft nicht willkommenen Situationen runden das Bild des bereisten Landes/der Stadt/der Region ab. Nicht nur dies - man BRAUCHT diese Kontraste sogar, um die schönen und angenehmen Momente besser wertschätzen zu können. Andernfalls wäre es schon nach zwei Wochen langweilig geworden, wie ein Badeurlaub mit Halbpension. Am Anfang scheint es paradiesisch zu sein, aber nach 10 Tagen freut man sich schon wieder auf zuhause. Der Mensch nimmt nur Kontraste wahr, keine absoluten Werte.  "Nichts ist schwerer zu ertragen, als eine Reihe von guten Tagen." (Goethe)

Mit zunehmender Dauer der Reise ist es aber auch immer klarer geworden, dass Menschen durch eine Beschreibung der positiven UND negativen Aspekte (zumindest im ersten Moment) oft überrascht und überfordert sind, nach dem Motto "ihr habt so viel aufgegeben für diese Reise, und jetzt DAS?". Diese unausgesprochene Erwartungshaltung beim Rezipienten führt zur Situation, die wir jetzt unter anderem in den sozialen Medien vorfinden: eine ausufernde Unehrlichkeit, gepaart mit dem konsequenten Verschweigen alles Negativen. Wir folgen vielen Blogs anderer (Rad-)Reisender, und bald kristallisiert sich heraus, wer offen berichtet und beabsichtigt, Sponsoren zu gewinnen/behalten oder seine Reise auf eine andere Art und Weise zu vermarkten. Letztere sind auf möglichst hohe "Follower"-Zahlen angewiesen und gut damit beraten, nur Traumhaftes, Wunderschönes, Unglaubliches zu posten. Man möchte seine Follower schließlich nicht mit Bildern von vergifteten Flüssen und Müllbergen vergraulen. Diese sitzen nämlich gerade zuhause bequem auf der Couch und möchten unterhalten werden. Das gesamtgesellschaftliche Phänomen der zwingenden Erfolgsorientiertheit wird viel zu oft überhaupt nicht mehr hinterfragt. Es ist in uns so tief verankert, dass es von vielen als Misserfolg bzw. als Scheitern angesehen wird, wenn man auch über die negativen Aspekte ungeschönt berichtet. Analog zum Diktat der Gewinnmaximierung und des Effizienzdenkens wird auch von Reisenden erwartet, dass sie das Maximale aus ihrer Zeit "herausholen", alles andere ist ein Versagen. Ein Umdenken ist hier längst überfällig.

3.) Ihr seid doch viel zu schnell! Warum stresst ihr euch so/fahrt ihr so schnell? Eine Radreise ist kein Urlaub, der dazu dient, sich vom Alltag zu erholen. Eine Radreise IST Alltag, aber eine andere Art von Alltag. Der Weg ist hier tatsächlich das Ziel. "Easy Riding" wechselt sich mit kräfte- und nervenzehrenden Etappen ab, genauso wie unsere Motivation sich ständig ändert. Von "ich kann und will nicht mehr" bis zu "das könnte ewig so weitergehen" ist alles dabei. Oft sogar innerhalb ein und desselben Tages. Wir stressen uns nicht, sind aber auch an die Umstände gebunden. Wüstendurchquerungen müssen nach den Möglichkeiten, Wasser und Proviant besorgen zu können, geplant werden. Da kann man oft nicht trödeln, sonst wird's unter Umständen gefährlich. Außerdem verschafft nach einem Tag des Radelns der Blick auf den Radtacho, auf dem weitere 80 Kilometer verbucht sind, eine gewisse Befriedigung, genauso wie das Gefühl des angenehm Ausgepowert-seins. Einschlafprobleme kennen wir nicht! Der Eindruck, wir seien zu schnell unterwegs, scheint unter unseren Familien und Freunden ziemlich weit verbreitet zu sein. Es verblüfft uns oft selbst, welche Distanzen im Laufe einiger Monate mit dem Rad zurückgelegt werden können...in knapp einem halben Jahr sind wir von Vancouver nach Oaxaca gefahren, 7.000 Kilometer weit! Verglichen mit vielen anderen Radreisenden, die wir bisher getroffen haben, sind wir sogar recht gemächlich unterwegs!

4.) Warum bleibt ihr nicht länger an einem Ort und genießt es einfach und entspannt euch mal? Tun wir doch! Ohne uns immer wieder zu entspannen und nicht nur unseren Körpern, sondern auch unserer Psyche regelmäßig eine Pause zu gönnen, wäre diese Art des Reisens überhaupt nicht möglich. Regeneration muss sein! Neugierde auf die Welt war und ist aber der Hauptgrund und die Hauptmotivation für unsere Reise. Was ist hinter dem Berg? Wie sieht das nächste Dorf aus? Zum Großteil treibt uns die Neugierde an, aber wir müssen auch essen/trinken/schlafen, wordurch wir gewissen Zwängen unterworfen sind. Vorräte müssen besorgt, Wasser nachgefüllt, Schlafplätze gefunden werden. Wenn man gerade mitten im Nirgendwo ist, muss man dann halt oft noch den einen oder anderen Kilometer hinter sich bringen, auch wenn man eigentlich keine Lust oder Kraft mehr dazu hat. Umso größer ist danach aber der Genuss einer (vielleicht sogar warmen) Dusche und eines ausgiebigen Abendessens!

5.) Wo seid ihr zu Weihnachten? Wann in Costa Rica? Und wann kommt ihr nach Hause? Keine Ahnung. Und genau das ist das Schöne und Gute dieser Reise. Natürlich haben/hatten wir einen groben Plan. Natürlich müssen oder wollen wir uns an die Jahreszeiten, bzw. in nächster Zeit vor allem an die Trockenzeiten halten. Doch die Route kann durch unzählige Faktoren verändert, verlängert, verkürzt werden. Man bekommt Tips, man hat genug von einem Gebiet und will weg, ein Gebiet ist schlichtweg zu gefährlich, oder man findet einen Ort, der zum Verweilen einlädt.

Wir hoffen, es ist uns gelungen zumindest einen kleinen Einblick in das Radlerleben zu geben. Womit wir konfrontiert sind, wie es uns ergeht. Auf dieser Reise haben die Dinge einen ganz anderen Stellenwert als im "normalen" Leben. Wir sind los gefahren mit einem bestimmten Ziel, von Kanada nach Argentinien zu radeln. Dieses Ziel stellt jetzt, nach einem halben Jahr, keine so große Wichtigkeit mehr dar. Und sollten wir es im Endeffekt nicht "schaffen" bis Feuerland, würden wir es auch nicht als persönliches Scheitern ansehen. Schon oft sind wir von unserer initial erdachten Route abgewichen, und kein einziges Mal haben wir es bereut. Es geht darum offen zu sein für alles, was sich auf dieser Reise ergibt.

[arthurxgda749-blog]

Aluminum Stock Pots: Yuletide's Best Present Suggestion

"I believed I would certainly share a few of my outdoor camping experiences with our participants and also viewers. Perhaps to advise myself of my outdoor camping days as a child, or just to provide you a little more insight right into the ""globe of camping"" in South Africa.

I've been camping and caravanning for the better part of my life, and love every minute of it. I started caravanning with my parents when I was 9, and have been doing it ever since. Nevertheless, when you're that young and also your moms and dads inform you that you're going to start outdoor camping (as it is typically described in South Africa, whether in a tent or a caravan) as a household, you have no suggestion what that will involve ...

You get on your way to your very first campground, as well as have no idea what to expect. When you eventually arrive after concerning a 2-hour drive, a view you have actually never ever seen prior to meets you, and you are surprised. White campers are parked everywhere, all with a pitched canopy and also various different ""devices"" on screen out the front.

The weekend zips prior to you recognize it, as well as you appreciated every min of it ... making brand-new close friends as well as satisfying more unfamiliar people because one weekend break than you possibly have your entire life. It only takes one weekend break, as well as before you understand it you're addicted. Camping ends up being a dependency, and force of habit to you.

In short, that's what my very first outdoor camping experience resembled, as well as one I am not most likely to forget anytime soon.

Camping in South Africa is a fair bit different than it remains in the UK for example. In the U.K., regardless of where you go, there is always a fish and also chip shop near by or a bar where you can go to get some dinner or a pint. Not in South Africa ... Since the nation is so large and vast, everything is miles far from where you camp. You can not just enter your car as well as go for a quick bite to eat nearby, or have a fast pint of something to consume alcohol. Which in my point of view is half the fun of it as well as makes outdoor camping a lot more than simply a ""pajama party weekend break"".

You need to pretty much fend for on your own with regard to food and also beverage for the whole time you're camping ... whether for a week or just a weekend. You have to take all your food in addition to you for the time you will be camping along with any type of juices, carbonated beverages, as well as occasionally even consuming alcohol water, you might desire, as not everywhere you enter South Africa has drinkable water.

We prepare all our own food at the caravan/ camping tent on gas stoves and also occasionally BARBEQUE's (with timber or charcoal - not gas). When we go camping, my papa constantly makes this outstanding ""stew"", as the British would call it, in a black cauldron on a gas cyndrical tube (as can be seen on among the pictures). This was a standard food preparation technique used by our predecessors, the ""Boers"". On the side of their ""Ox wagon"" they would certainly have a small consisted of fire in some type of container, and over this fire hung the cauldron. As they were constantly on the move, they would certainly assemble a ""stew"" in this cauldron early in the early morning, and by the time they reached their location that night, their dinner would certainly be prepared and also all set to eat.

This tradition has been carried on as well as passed on with the years, and is to now a popular cooking method in South Africa, especially when one goes camping. The very same principle uses ... you start your ""stew"" early in the early morning, and also leave it to prepare and also marinade for the remainder of the day. By the time night falls, your supper is ready and also you can loosen up with a glass of red wine by the fire.

As can be seen on a few of the pictures, not every one of the camping areas have lawn or anything near to resembling grass. The most you may locate on some websites is red dust or ground. However once again, my experiences of outdoor camping would have not coincided if it were all high-end as well as neat cut ""lawns"". I think it's sometimes a good idea to be ""revived"" closer to nature.

A lot of the camping areas in South Africa have toilet and also shower room centers on website (or a shower block as it is called right here). Some may be a little more glamorous than others, as everything depends on the ""star ranking"" of the particular camping site. In general, I need to admit, that they are quite basic, but at least have the necessary amenities you will certainly need for your individual hygiene.

Quite a few of the camping areas would certainly lie inside a wild nature get, which is fairly an experience. The camping site would certainly be totally surrounded by an electric fencing to maintain the wild animals out.

There was never ever factor to be concerned, as the fence was kept track of every day by the campsite's game warden, to search for any kind of damage or to establish if it had been breached in the evening by any one of the animals. To be fair, the fence will undoubtedly not keep out things like serpents, which my papa was most unfavorable to come across in a campground's ""shower block"" already.

It may appear frightening to some, yet envision if you will, a silent summer's night, you're resting by the fire and all you can hear are the cries of the Hyenas, or the noises of the Zebra's as they resolve close by for the evening. That is something you have to experience for yourself, as no quantity of words can catch that magic.

As I recognize it, camping in the U.K. is mostly a ""one man"" point, where it would be just you and your family going camping and also not a big group ... unless it is some arranged event or event for some rally, show or exhibit as an example.

In South Africa, the majority of the ""camping country"" belongs to ""SACA"", which means ""South African Campers Association"". Within that association are smaller sized groups that develop your provincial (or region if you will) teams, each with it's own group president.

When every month (whether it's Summer Season or Wintertime) there would certainly be a prepared camp at a certain website in South Africa, for each rural (region) group. You did not need to participate in if you did not desire to, however we pretty much went regularly. In some cases (once again, as can be seen aware) a group of friends would certainly arrange to assemble somewhere as well as drive to the camping area together in convoy.

At some of these events there would go to least 180 caravans going to in one weekend, which I make sure would certainly be rather an impressive facade to somebody that has actually been a ""solo"" camper for the majority of his/ her life.

I can take place for web pages and also pages about all my camping experiences ... to lots of people it would certainly most probably be a plain read, but to those who have outdoor camping in their blood like I do, it's something you can never ever truly clarify theoretically, however an impressive journey in life you would certainly need to experience on your own."

[littledonkeyburrito]

Some lint

1. Have you ever punched someone and broke their nose? Haven’t broken their nose but I’ve certainly hit a few in the face bc karate

2. What is the longest time you have gone without sleep? Forty-something hours without even a nap

3. Have you ever been someplace tropical? Several places

4. You see an ant on the ground, do you squish it? If it’s in my house, yes.

5. Have you ever baked a pie? I don’t think so.

6. What is your favorite social networking site? Instagram probably

7. Has anyone in your family fought in any of the wars? Dad’s dad was in WW2. Dad fought in Belfast in the 70s I think

8. Would you make any changes to your current bedroom? Yeah, I would like $100,000 to magically appear under my mattress.

9. Has a stray dog ever tried to bite you? Playfully. I stop playing with strays when they get boisterous bc rabies

10. When riding a bus, do you prefer to sit up front, down back or the middle? Middle-back generally

11. Have you ever been on a cross-country train ride? Yes, in a few places. I freaking love sleeper trains, I think they’re so fun with a group. On one of the sleeper trains I went on in China we accidentally taught the guy with the food/drink trolley the english word for beer because we bought more every time he went past.

12. Is there currently any caffeine in your system? No

13. Look around, are things organized? Yes, I keep my apartment very tidy.

14. Is there any TV show that ended that you wish hadn’t? Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23

15. Know what you’re planning to do after this? Attempt to kill time for a couple of hours until I can go to bed

16. How often do you update your Facebook status? I don’t really do statuses, just post photos from my instagram.

17. Do you even wear any jeans other than skinny anymore? All my jeans are of varying levels of skininess. From slim-fit to practically painted on.

18. Are you sensitive to caffeine? Yes. I would have a rum and coke right now but 1) I don’t have any coke, and 2) if I drank any it would take me a long time to get to sleep.

19. How do you usually get around? Walking or metro

20. Which languages do you wish you could speak fluently in? It would be nice to be fluent in spanish but if it happened magically overnight it wouldn’t be fun because I like the challenge. It would be cool to magically become fluent in arabic and/or mandarin.

21. Have you ever been accused of being too clingy? No

22. Can you speak any French? No.

23. Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Dozens. I travel a lot.

24. What is in your pocket? Some lint.

25. Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents? There are certainly some details of my life that I have omitted. Such as some experiences with sex, drugs and alcohol.  

26. Who was the last person to smoke a cigarette in your presence? People from that office I briefly worked at. Or probably more recently just random people on the street.

27. Have you ever lived with a friend? Yeah, a few.

28. What are a few of your favorite tv shows? iZombie, Brooklyn 99, Jane The Virgin, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Club De Cuervos, Parks and Rec 29. What kind of socks do you like to wear? Brightly coloured ones with wild patterns 30. Do you have your own house key, and how often do you actually use it? Whenever I need to get into my apartment. (This question must have been written by a teenager)

31. How often do you eat chocolate? Not actually that often. I don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as I did when I was younger. 32. How often do you wash dishes at your house? Every 1-3 days depending on how lazy I am.

33. How much sleep did you get last night? ~7 hours 34. When was the last time you went to a cemetery and why were you there? Last year on halloween myself and a few other drunk people from the party I was at decided to go wander around the nearby cemetery. 35. What were you doing when you heard about the attack on the twin towers? I don’t remember specifically hearing about it. I was only 7 so I wouldn’t really have cared anyway. Mostly what I remember is that they took cartoons off tv to play non-stop news for at least a week. 36. Doesn’t John Mayer suck? I have no opinions on him. 37. When was the last time you saw the sun rise? When I was in Colombia. One night in Cartagena I stayed up with a swedish and a colombian guy chatting in spanish while we watched the sun rise over the river. Then the cops came over and told us to leave.

38. What was the last picture you took? It was of my DS because I started playing pokemon in spanish and I was sending the picture to a couple of friends to say that the pokemon names are still the same in this language.

39. Are there many traffic incidents in your area? I don’t drive anymore so I don’t pay attention. 40. Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck? Probably at some point during travels. I’ve done a lot of weird shit 41. Are you currently downloading anything? No. 42. Does your father have any facial hair? No

43. Have you ever played golf? My mum attempted to get me into golf when I was a kid (maybe young teen?) and I absolutely hated it. It was the most infuriating game I’ve ever played.

44. What was the last tv show you watched an episode of? The Defenders 45. Do you like beer? If so, what’s your favorite brand? Beer is fine. I’m pretty used to Moritz and Estrella Damm because they are common local brands. The fucking worst beer is Balboa in Panama. God it was so awful. Also not a fan of San Miguel which is common across all of spain. 46. Do you feel bad when you throw food out? Yes 47. When was the last time you waxed anything on your body, if ever? I’ve never waxed. I just shave. 48. What’s your favorite fast food place? I don’t have one. I don’t really eat takeout here. 49. When was the last time you went out for a meal? A few weeks ago. 50. Have you ever been in a car accident? A few minor ones but not while I’ve been driving. 51. What colour shirt are you wearing right now? Navy blue

52. Have you ever had a bonfire on the beach? Y’know I actually don’t think I have... I should get on that.

53. Are you skilled when it comes to working in the kitchen? I don’t burn anything. That’s a skill, right?

54. When was the last time you went to a campground? That would have been back in April, camping in the Sahara Desert.

55. Do you listen to music while driving? Yes, and I sing along Very Loudly.

56. When was the last time you hung out with people younger than you? I have absolutely no idea. 

57. What is the closest blue object to you? Box of tissues on the coffee table.

58. How much did you spend on your last shopping trip? Probably about 25 euros at the grocery store

59. Have you ever gone over your cell phone plan by accident? I used to go over my data limit pretty regularly at my old job.

60. Can you honestly say you’ve been drunk before? Very, and many times. (this question must have been written by a teen)

61. Where did you get your last bruise from? Probably that mystery bruise I got in my armpit in central america. I’m pretty sure I got roofied that night so I don’t remember anything at all but I am still sooooo curious how I got that bruise. Nobody I was with knew how it happened either but then again they were all pretty trashed anyway so even if they saw they might not remember.

62. Are you a person that likes to take chances? Depends. Sometimes I take calculated risks.

63. Would you consider your life to be great right now? Right now it’s pretty mediocre but a month ago it was freaking awesome.

64. Do you remember the dream you had last night? Not exactly but I think it involved me getting tattoos on my arm

65. Do you get emotional easily? I don’t really have emotions tbh

66. Do you get obnoxious when you’re drunk? Nah, I get fun when I’m drunk

67. Who was the first person to ever give you flowers? I’m not sure anybody has ever given me flowers.

68. What was the last thing you heated up in your microwave? Chicken and veggies to go with my baked potato the other day

69. Were you born somewhere other than a hospital? No.

70. What was the last flavor of ice cream you had? Mango. It was homemade by a woman in Comuna 13 in Colombia 71. When you go out drinking, what do you prefer to drink? Beer or rum and coke 72. Is there a trash can near you? Yeah

73. When and where was the last time you took a picture of yourself? I think I took a selfie in my kitchen a few days ago 74. When was the last time you stayed up throughout the entire night? Cartagena, Colombia. ~8 weeks ago. But I stayed up until 2 or 3am a few times after that.

75. Have you ever considered a foreign-exchange program? No, I just fucked off overseas on my own accord.

76. Are sex and sexual activities something you enjoy? Yep 77. What’s an interesting fact about the state in which you were born? I know literally nothing about the region I was born in.

78. What’s one aspect of your life that did not turn out as you expected? Well I definitely didn’t expect to learn spanish 79. Is there a subject about which you know a great deal? Probably, but nothing immediately comes to mind 80. What was the last thing that you put off doing? I should probably vacuum and mop my apartment 81. What did you do instead of that activity? Anything else.

Before and after: 3 years ago, today

82. What size is the last bed you kissed on?  - Double.  - A single bed in a twin room in a hotel. Tbh I probably could have swapped to a double room but at that point I didn’t realise he’d be staying with me

83. When was the last time you were sick? - I got the flu pretty bad in 2013. Probably should have gone to hospital but instead I only took 2 days off work. - I had a mild cold when I got home from my last trip. 84. Do you have any summer plans yet? - I ditched summer in favour of going skiing in Japan - Summer just ended. I don’t know whether my next summer will be here next June/July, or back in Aus in January. Will depend on whether I find a job 85. When was the last time you shaved your legs? - Probably within 2 weeks - Earlier today 86. Is there someone you wish you were closer with? - I think I had just started developing a crush on a guy that I later dated briefly and then he cheated on me, lied about it and broke up with me by facebook message while I was on holiday overseas. So, not the best idea really. - I’m all g. 87. Do you tend to waste a lot of money? - I made 1 or 2 poor decisions with money but I was earning enough to cover my ass. - It’s not a waste when it’s something I actively want to spend the money on. 88. What did you last drink? - Probably pepsi - Orange juice 89. Have you ever received an injury from a hook up? - Uhhh no? - Not unless that’s how I got that mystery bruise in my armpit. 90. Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex? - Yes - Yes, the same ones 91. When was the last time you had a crowd at your house? - Probably around this time 3 years ago was my housewarming - I have never had more than 2 people visit this apartment at a time. Last time I had a crowd would have been my moving out party (from the place I just moved into 3 years ago) which was a bit over a year ago.

92. How many cell phones have you had? - 5 - 7, if you include the work phone I had 93. Where do you get all your clothes? - JayJays - H&M, C&A, Mango etc 94. Have you ever regretted kissing someone? - Nah - Nah 95. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? - No. - I got one just under 3 years ago 96. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone? - Alone - Depends. Sometimes I wouldn’t mind having someone here 97. Do you think age matters in relationships? - To an extent - Not really 98. Have you ever lived with a girlfriend/boyfriend? - No. - No 99. When will your next kiss be? - Probably the next party I went to. I made out with a lot of people that year - No idea 100. Add up all the digits of your cell phone number. What do you get? - 40 - 50 101. When you lost your virginity, do you honestly feel like you were ready? - I didn’t regret it but I probably wasn’t emotionally ready for it. - Same as above I guess. You only lose it once.

102. Was the person you lost your virginity to younger or older than you? - Older. - ^^

103. Were you sexually experienced whatsoever when you lost your virginity? - Not at all - ^^

104. Have you had sex with more than one person? - Yes - Yes by a larger amount

105. Have you ever had sex with the lights on? - Yes. - Yes

106. Have you ever had sex on a floor? - No - Yes

107. When is the last time you had sex? - Probably like at least 6 months before - About a month ago (can’t believe my trip ended so long ago)

108. Do you care for that person? - Eh - I guess

109. Is this your boyfriend or girlfriend? - No - No

110. The first time you got drunk, how old were you? - 16 - ^^

111. Where were you located the first time you got drunk? - The afterparty of my highschool formal. It was in the backyard of a girl in my grade - ^^