#essentially had this finished months ago and then completely forgot about it (whoops)

[inspisart]

"it's time to find batman"

[whathappenedtomyweekend]

It’s Just A Spark Ch. 9 - Night Shifts

Gobber couldn't believe his eyes. What had originally started as a casual glance out the window had spiralled and now consisted of him staring down at the sight on the street in front of the fire department in parts fascination and parts complete and utter disbelief.

There he was, his colleague who might as well be his own son, the boy with the gapped front teeth and the scraped knees, the young man who was so busy reading that he forgot to eat sometimes, and the man who had told him, only a few months ago, that if his fate was to become an old cat lady it would be fine with him - beaming at the young woman facing him. She had blonde hair, tied up to a ponytail and was dressed, similarily to him, in sports clothes. They were still talking as they came to a halt in front of the building, both smiling at each other.

And of course, Gobber knew that this was Astrid Hofferson.

He watched Hiccup - Hiccup - grin down at her and gently press his lips to her cheeck (Gobber almost had a heart attack), then shortly hug her and turn around to walk up to the building, still grinning from ear to ear.

Well. Gobber remembered the first time the young woman had set her stove on fire. He remembered the exact expression Hiccup had had on his face and the way his eyes were flickering to the side when he'd mumbled something about his ears only being "this red, Gobber, because we were just near a fire, it was hot in there" after they had already been outside again for at least five minutes.

Gobber tried to act normal as the door opened and closed with a click.

"Morning!"

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up to work!"

Hiccup placed his phone and headphones onto his desk, ducking away from Gobber's prosthetic arm.

"Sorry, I got held up."

"Yeah, I could see you getting held up alright - in the arms of a certain young blonde, I believe?"

He watched Hiccup's cheek flush and laughed, giving him an enthusiastic pat on the back.

"Was about time, boy! You were one arm and three cats away from becoming me."

Hiccup snorted, "Yeah, right. Don't think having a girlfried will deter me from adapting that lifestyle."

There were not many things you could get past Gobber without noticing. And words, no matter how fast- or low-spoken were definitely not on that list.

"Girlfriend now, eh?"

"I, uh - I mean - oh, man."

Hiccup looked at him, a bewildered expression on his face as if he'd only realised this for himself just now, his hands already flying up to his hair.

"Ooh my God, Gobber, she's my girlfriend. She's my girlfriend," he repeated as if this alone had been something he had never thought to actually be possible.

"Oh, boy," the older man chuckled upon seeing Hiccup's disbelief change to surprise to complete and utter joy.

"Astrid. Hofferson. Is. My girlfriend."

"Yeah, how'd you do that? I'm surprised you're able to hold up a conversation with that vocabulary you've got yourself, boy."

Hiccup had not really thought about this earlier when Astrid had accompanied him back to work instead of his apartment, but now, standing in front of his locker next to the bathroom, his only options for the monthly meeting with the mayor and comissioners a crumpled-up old shirt with Toothless' handiwork at the hem and gym shorts, he regretted not having stopped by at his apartment prior to this.

The young man uttered a curse on his breath but knew he didn't really have time to explore any further options.

So he quickly grabbed the shirt, returned to the bathroom and pulled it over his head, stepped out of his towel and put the remaining clothes on.

He couldn't wait until this day was over. The morning run had energised him, but a nine-hour response-shift ahead and a two-hour meeting were already pretty high on the list of things that would use up that energy.

Thinking about said run - or rather, its aftermath- , however, sent his heart spiralling and made him grin at his reflection in the department's bathroom mirror.

She'd said yes. To being his girlfriend, essentially. Or had she? Had she misunderstood him and had only agreed to an extended status of "just dating"?

Oh, God. Suddenly Hiccup didn't feel all that confident anymore.

"Okay," He leaned on the edges on the sink and stared at his ruffled, still wet-haired reflection. "Stop it. Get it together. Just ask her tomorrow, just to clarify."

Yes. Just to make sure they were on the same page.

His thoughts went - in an effort to take his mind off the question of their 'status' - over the preparations left to be made for their date. He'd have to sweep the flat over before 15:30, and clean the bathroom thoroughly. Also maybe dust off the shelves. Get something to wear - oh, no. He remembered his last confrontationnwith his wardrobe situatuon.

This was their fifth date.

He was out of shirts.

Shit.

"Hey, Gobber, you ready to-" Hiccup broke off when he saw Snotlout at his desk, waving at him.

"Yo."

Hiccup stepped in further, furrowung his brows in confusion.

"Where's Gobber?"

"Went to get lunch."

"What? The meeting's in five minutes, and we're already running late! When did he leave? Did he say anything about when-"

"Woah, take it easy, cuz," his cousin interrupted him lightly and spun his chair around. "Gobber's been late to these meetings since they exist."

Hiccup exhaled and chuckled, sitting down next to the dark-haired man.

"Okay, true. How's your morning been?"

"It was okay. Pretty chill. I took Hooky out for our morning walk - did you know Fish is out of town?"

Hiccup's head perked up. "He is?"

"Yeah, the café's all closed up."

"Huh. No, he didn't mention," Hiccup leaned on his desk and squinted his eyes at his cousin. "He usually always lets us know."

"Maybe something urgent came up and he's not ready to talk about it yet?" Snotlout wondered aloud and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. "I hope he comes back soon, I could kill for a plate of his waffles."

Hiccup smirked. "He'd kiss you again if you told him that in person."

He knew his cousin would never admit it if he asked, but it was quite obvious, even to Hiccup. Snotlout himself blushed, grumbling,

"It happened once, okay? And it obviously didn't mean anything to him, since he never brought it up again. SO," he pushed himself back and reached for his water bottle, fiddling with the lid with some degree of suppressed fury. "I'm not going to either."

"Alright, sorry."

His cousin sighed, his mood lightening up again. "It's okay. Just don't … tell him."

"You have my word."

"Speaking of which, you finished up those reports from last night?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Yup. I'm back on track." His cousin smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Despite being 'busy'?"

"Shut up."

He laughed. "Come on, nobody ever tells me anything anymore."

"Good," Hiccup shot back indignantly but grinned. "I'm not really keen on all of Berk knowing about it."

"So what's 'it'?"

"Honestly? You think I'm that unattentive?"

"When you're drawing, yeah."

Something about the smirk that was plastered on his cousin's lips seemed fishy to Hiccup. He did not like this grin.

"Scott," he drawled. "What did you do?"

His cousin's grin widened. "Oh, I did nothing. I just *sat* there. Listen, all I'm sayin' is, that maybe you should pay more attention to who else is in the room in the evening."

Hiccup blushed immediately as he remembered being in the common room in the evening, reading until he had absentmindedly started sketching - a pair of eyes, grey on paper but blue in memory, lips, just slightly parted, outlines of a face - "Oh, God," he spluttered. "I - it wasn't - I mean."

Snotlout laughed and nudged his cousin's shoulder. "Hey, I'm not judging."

He offered Hiccup an amicable smile and grinned when his cousin slumped his shoulders and returned the smile.

Who'd have thought? Seven years ago he'd have never even dreamed of sharing the same job with Hiccup and spending most of their shifts together, let alone having normal, amiable conversations and sharing jokes.

Gobber's voice from outside interrupted the dark-haired man's thoughts.

"Come on, Hiccup, we're gonna be late!" Gobber suddenly shouted from the hall, making Snotlout laugh and offer Hiccup a fistbump.

"Alright, I'm coming, just - stay where you are!" Hiccup shouted back rolled his eyes at his cousin, who only grinned and shrugged.

"Alright, I think we're done here, everyone. Dismissed," Stoick Haddock concluded and closed his folder, nodding at the men seated around him.

Hiccup sighed inwardly. The monthly check-in was something that had to be done, he knew that, but these meetings could be both lengthy and boring.

He'd tried to excuse his attire and had only got a few amused looks and some raised eyebrows; 'Could've been worse,' Hiccup thought and got up. At the sight of his father gathering up his files he remembered his post-meeting-agenda and quickly tapped his father's shoulder, lowly asking, "Dad, can I … talk to you for a sec?"

"Of course," Stoick nodded at the other men and led his son off to the side. "Excuse us."

His eyes met Hiccup's expression. The young man leaned in and murmured, "Hey, Dad, listen, um. I need you to do me a favour, please."

His father raised his eyebrows but Hiccup didn't fail to notice the faint smile playing on his lips. He sighed and inhaled deeply, shortly raking a hand through his hair.

"Oh man, I can't believe I'm actually saying this - Dad, I need a shirt."

"You need a … a what?"

His father looked at him, speechless. Hiccup nodded sharply and elaborated, "Yes, a shirt. Any colour, I just need - listen, Dad, Astrid is coming over tomorrow and I've run out of shirts, and I can't just wear the same over and over again, so - please. I just need a shirt or two, button up or down, you decide, I'm desperate."

To his suprise and utter mortification, his father let out a whoop of laughter, starting him and the other men in the room.

"She's really got you bedazzled, aye, son?"

"I - what?"

"I thought I'd never see the day you'd ask me to help you with your shopping!" his father bellowed, still laughing. "Oh, this is great, son, I've been waiting for this my whole life-"

"Dad, don't you think you're … overreacting, a bit-"

"-and I will not waste this opportunity. Consider your wardrobe situation saved."

With this he strode past him, muttering something about "my boy's finally getting his life together" and "wrapped around his finger, completely head over heels", leaving an abashed Hiccup and chuckling collegues behind.

"Well, you did it," Gobber laughed and patted his back, making Hiccup stumble forward involuntarily. "he will not rest until he's got you a month's worth of clothing."

Hiccup groaned. "What have I done, Gobber?"

"Made him the most excited I've seen him in years, you did," Gobber smiled, his expression gentle now. "Come on, let's get back to the department, lover-boy."

"Please don't call me that."

"Romeo?"

"Tragic death and stupid as fuck."

"That a yes?"

"No."

It hit Hiccup like a bolt of lightning. He'd forgotten to fill up Toothless' bowl when he'd left the house this afternoon.

"Shit. Shitshitshitshit," he spat through gritted teeth as he frantically searched for options. He couldn't leave the department now, he was the only one in.

Okay. What else? Call someone. It was at times like these Hiccup wished his entire support system wasn't built on people working in the administrative departments.

And Fishlegs was out of the city.

Then it dawned on him. The only person he could hope to be home.

His hands had already picked up his phone and clicked on the number.

"Hiccup?"

He exhaled. "Oh, thank God. Astrid, do you - do you have time? Are you at home?"

Her answer was hard to make out over the background-voices and music.

"I'm on my shift, why?"

His heart sunk.

"Okay, nevermind then-"

"Hiccup? Hello - hang on, I'll go outside, just give me one sec."

The noise faded.

Her voice got clearer as she grumbled, "You'd think people'd wait for a Friday 'til they hit the bar."

He chuckled. "I'd honestly love to be somewhere else right now, so I can't blame them."

Astrid snorted and finally there was nothing blocking out her voice anymore. "Trust me, you don't wanna be here. Anyways, what's up? Something wrong? You never call this late."

"Oh - yeah, I actually … Astrid, can you do me a favour?"

She didn't even hesitate and her answer let a wave of warmth and affection wash over him.

"What do you need and where should I be?"

"At my apartment. Or rather, first here and then my apartment."

Astrid furrowed her brow, for a second asking herself if this was some kind of disguise for something else but quickly discarded that thought as Hiccup continued quickly, "I forgot to feed Toothless when I left today and I locked everything, so he can't go out to hunt. Could you pick up my keys and feed him, please?"

She hummed. "Yeah, of course."

Hiccup sighed and smiled. "Thanks, I really owe you one."

Astrid laughed breezily and was apparently making her way back inside. From what he could hear, Pink's 'Raise your glass' was playing and people were screaming.

"No problem," he heard her say over them. "I'll think of something."

He chuckled and leaned on his desk.

"You have until tomorrow."

"Oh, so now there's a deadline for favours?"

"Only for that one."

She laughed again. "Well, maybe it's a project that can't be done overnight."

"Am I still talking to Astrid or Ms Hofferson who just pulled the ultimate teacher-joke on me?"

"Both. Hang on a second."

The sound was muffled since she seemed to be pressing the microphone against herself to block out the sound, but he still heard her distinct voice shout, "Heath, can you tell Al I'm taking my break? Be back in 45."

Another voice answered, loud but friendly, "Sure, don't worry. Gotcha, Stellar!"

Stellar?

The sound was back in its full intensity and so was her voice.

"Alright, I'm heading out. Be there in ten."

"Okay. See you."

Astrid smiled up at the sky. "You know, this isn't even a favour I'm doing you. You're doing me one."

Although she had called it multiple times, Astrid had never been inside the fire department of Berk before.

It looked a bit intimidating in the dark, and she only saw one big window with lights on inside. She squinted her eyes up and into the darkness and registered movement.

A slim figure approached the window, waving at her, chasing a smile across her lips as she waved back. Hiccup's sillhouette disappeared.

Astrid herself made her way into the building and up the staircase to the second floor, where she was greeted by a dark hallway.

A door was pried open, a small ray of light emitting from the crack.

"Astrid?" His face was stuck out of the open door.

"Hiccup? Why's it so dark in here?"

"We're saving up energy."

He was leaning out of the door, supporting his weight by the frame.

Astrid smirked and came to a halt in front of him. He didn't move, just stayed with his eyes fixed on her.

The young woman felt a weird sensation rushing through her stomach as she remembered her dream from a couple of nights ago, which had started just like this, opening a door and -

"You wanna come in for a sec?" he asked and interrupted her thoughts.

Astrid nodded, smiling. "Let's make the workplace situation even."

He laughed and led her inside. The building itself wasn't that big, but the headquarters seemed pretty spacious. There were only three desks inside with multiple screens, and by the wall stood an unsafe-looking plank bed.

"Welcome to my job where we get Sicca Syndrome and a bad back trying to sleep on these," he joked and ran a hand through his hair.

Astrid sat down on the plank bed, wincing as it squeaked and bent violently, making him laugh as he sat down next to her.

Without giving herself much time to hesitate, Astrid leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do we have enough time for me to ask you what your day looks like?"

He chuckled and gently wrapped his arm around her, trying not to let on that he was shaking slightly, thankful she still had her eyes closed so she wasn't able to see his blush.

"Maybe. We could save that conversation up for tomorrow, though."

She opened her eyes and moved to get up, but Hiccup tightened his grip around her shoulders and grinned lopsidedly.

"That wasn't me trying to tell you to immediately get up. It's …" he hesitated, his blush deepening. "It's, um, really nice sitting like this. With you."

Astrid chuckled lightly and leaned back into him, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck.

"You're really trying to outdo yourself today, huh?"

Her voice was muffled against his skin, her breath sending sparks down it.

"Is it working?"

Astrid grinned against him. "Yeah."

The young man laughed and tried to calm his heart yet again. To think that only sitting with her head on his shoulder, her lips making direct contact with his skin when she spoke was enough to turn him into a flustered mess. And they hadn't even KISSED yet.

"I'm beginning to regret this."

He froze, his heart dropping immediately. Regret what? This? Her decision from earlier? Being alone with him? Out of a sudden? Somehow?

Of course, his logical side knew better than that and patiently waited for Astrid to continue - his worry got the better of him.

"Why?"

"Because now going back to my shift is going to be really fucking hard."

'Oh. Oh, thank God.' He exhaled and relaxed again.

"Why?" he repeated, feeling stupid.

Astrid closed her eyes again. "Because I'd much rather be here and spend the night with you than going back."

Aaaand there it was. His pulse was sky-rocketing. And she was so close she might actually hear. His blush had deepened even more.

Astrid continued after a pause, "Or you know, I could just crash at your apartment and cuddle with Toothless."

He rasped out a laugh. "If you let me in tomorrow."

Astrid opened her eyes and pursed her lips to hide her smile.

"We'll see."

Hiccup really wanted to kiss her. He wanted to so bad it almost hurt.

Yet, there was something holding him back - the question from earlier. But he didn't want to bring this up now. Especially not since-

"Speaking of Toothless, I should probably get going now."

"Oh, y-yeah! Uh," he uncurled his arm from around her and jumped up, stumbling towards his desk. "Let me just … find the key … uh. Should've probably done that earlier."

"Let me help. I've got a knack for finding things."

She joined him at the desk and grinned when he shot her a short, amused glance.

"You do?"

"Oh, yeah. I found you, so that's one."

Hiccup chuckled and watched her pull out his keys from underneath the printed draft of the day's report and hold it up in front of him, grinning smugly.

"And you say I'm trying to outdo myself?" he muttered, making her laugh.

"Well, now we're even."

He shrugged and grinned. "True. You remember the direction?"

Astrid nodded, leaning against the desk.

"Good. Ah, and uh, mind the door, it always gets stuck, so it's a bit hard to open. Just, uh, throw your entire body weight againt it. At least that's what I do."

She nodded again and smiled up at him. "Jot that down. Anything else? Where's the food?"

"Second left cupboard by the window on the floor. You know, the one with the scratches?"

She snorted as she remembered which one Hiccup was talking about - and it seemed like he was either very forgetful or had a cat that loved to eat.

"Alright, got it."

"Thanks again, Astrid."

Somehow they had ended up facing each other, his hands on her arms.

Hiccup's gaze fell down on his hands and his first instinct was to let go, but Astrid smiled and put her own hands on his arms, squeezing lightly.

"You're welcome. But - by the way, where's everyone else?"

"Oh, Gobber's already home and Scott went for a quick nap down in the living area. He complained that my typing was too loud for him to sleep."

She snorted. "Well, at least you've got the place to yourself, right?"

His hands subconscuiously had wandered to her waist.

"I'd rather not. But I'm a bit picky about the company."

"That so?"

He hummed, his eyes dropping to her lips ever so shortly. He looked like he was almost going to lean down and kiss her - but there was something in his eyes Astrid knew well by now.

Hesitation. Something was holding him back.

Astrid smiled and pulled back slightly.

She'd give him time.

Until then … she stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek.

"I'm gonna get going now. Don't wanna keep Toothless waiting."

She grinned up at him and was relieved when he returned it.

"Yeah."

She turned to leave but was held back by his voice softly calling out her name.

"Oh, and … Astrid?"

She hummed, turning around, already halways out the door.

With a few steps he had closed the distance between them. His eyes were warm as he gently wrapped his fingers around her left wrist, tugged her closer and pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead.

Astrid's eyes fluttered closed at the contact.

"Stay safe tonight," he whispered, his lips barely grazing her skin before he pulled back.

Astrid opened her eyes again and was met with his open expression and small smile.

She returned it tenfolds and whispered back, "You too."

Then she turned around and took the stairs downstairs.

Fires and people had a lot in common, but most people could be either reasoned with or at least punched (which was her own interpretation). Then again, her boyfriend was not the type to underestimate a thing like a fire.

Astrid stopped, her hand on the doorhandle. Boyfriend. She'd thought 'boyfriend'.

The air was a tinge colder when she stepped outside, but still had the distinct warmth of a summer night.

Well, he was, wasn't he? It was what he'd asked her this morning, wasn't it?

Astrid smiled to herself and maybe the sky, Hiccup's keys clinking in her pocket.

This was a very girlfriend-thing to do, after all.

[feliciasink]

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme originally from Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things I have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on my blog.

Hey you all, I’m so sorry for being absent these past few weeks. I haven’t been in my writing mood for a couple of months, but I been completely absent the past few weeks… So I’m gonna give you a recap of how these past 3 weeks have been for me…

So I started the week, 3 weeks ago, with going back to my speech therapist again. Yes, I stutter and yes, it will never go away completely… No big deal for me, but the techniques I learn there, help me in my daily life. I also went to the doctor’s for the pain in my right calf muscle.. He didn’t see anything, gave me painkillers and said it would go away… I got a bit irritated again, because it was blue, swollen and that’s the answer I almost always get.

School that week wasn’t very excited, I didn’t have a model so I had to train on my exercise head again. Did break my own record in doing a perm. We have to roll a complete perm in an hour max, and I did it in 50 minutes, my record was 52 =]

Thursday I had my last Taekwondo training before my exam on Friday. It was good to go over everything I had to do like kicks, techniques and walking my daeguk. Afterwards we went for a drink in town. It was really fun to socialize with the group and build my friendship with them. They told me the sweetest thing!! They said I was a really good and fun addition for the team =] To hear that makes me feel really good. I’ve lived in this area for three years now and still haven’t got any friends. So it really did do me good =] I’m happy to have found that group of people and really like them =]

So Friday was the big day for me. My first Taekwondo exam. It was really tough on my stamina hahahahah… I did make a few dumb mistakes. Like with the sparring part, I don’t have any protection yet, so I kicked against an elbow, it hurts like shit, and guess what… a minute later I kicked with my other foot against the other elbow.. So it gave me two very blue feet, a few bruises on my arms and shins and the worst part to tell you guys… Before sparring I had to show kicking techniques on pillows my friend [she’s a black belt] held up. But she held up two for a jumping kick and because of my calf muscle I calculated my jumped kick to land on my left leg. But in the heat of the battle I had to do a double jumped kick aaaaaannddd landed on my right leg… So I have a tear in my MCL- or more commonly known as my inner knee ligament [just found that out last Tuesday by the way] – I felt it snap and had to spar after that… whoops… But all in all it was worth it and I passed!! Check out the picture above!!

That weekend we visited mu aunt and her wife. I was sore, bruised and tired, but most of all sad… It was the first time being there and Simba not greeting us… She was their dog and child.. She was 14, but 4 in spirit… I got the news while doing groceries the weekend before. It broke me, I grew up with Simba. Think about it she was 14, I’m 24 years… So that was a weird and emotional weekend….

After this busy week it got boring and painful… I couldn’t go to Taekwondo for a while [that while ain’t over yet, sadly] and that made me miss my friends and my two occasions of getting out of the house in the week… It also screwed my schedule.. I just got used to working out twice a week, and that made me feel good.. Now that’s gone for a while and that makes me sad and restless.. I feel stuck in my house, especially with my knee… So no Taekwondo, a lot of job hunting and school this week was with my exercise head again. This wasn’t for the fact I couldn’t find a model, but because we got a colouring demo and a test run with water mixed with a hair mask on our exercise heads…. It was a lot of information, but exciting to start colouring other’s hair =]…

Then the real fun began.. Hello to having a fucking fever for four days =/ it was good for my bingewatching as you can see from Thursday through Sunday hahahahaaa… So that wraps up the first two weeks…

So last week was kind of exciting for the family. On Monday my father-in-law got a new pacemaker. That’s always a tricky thing in my opinion… But it went very well and he’s doing better after having the surgery.. So the rest of the week was me limping, me job hunting, me doing a mini makeover with a haircut on my model [and she’s going for another haircut and a perm in april woohoo], me giving my father-in-law a haircut after the hairdresser didn’t do a great job and asked me to do it. He was happy with it and so was I. I haven’t had training in cutting a man’s hair [will cover it in the second year] and he was my first male haircut =] I’m glad I can learn from the saying ‘Monkey see, monkey do’ hahahaha..

Today was a slow day. Had a tough night sleeping.. Because of the stinging pain in my leg and my bf woke me up twice. He couldn’t sleep so the first was because of the light of the TV [my mask had slipped from my eyes] and the second time because he felt like eating Oreo’s and ripping the package. And I can guarantee you, plastic ain’t silent xD So I had a tough time falling asleep again after the Oreo incident and that kept me up for 45 minutes again… Finally fell asleep and got some more hours luckily.. But I’m still tired as shit and so today wasn’t a very quick day… Watched some Grimm episodes, prepped some review posts to finish them – hopefully tomorrow – and made fresh tomato soup… Guess what.. I forgot my soup veggies =/ the most essential ingredient… So I had soup with meat and pasta today and will buy the veggies and add them tomorrow hahahaha… I am glad I finally caught up with my blog again and have the motivation to write my reviews again… Not in the same speed as before, but I’m getting there..

So I hope you have had a great time and will have in the coming week =]

XoXo Felicia

So because of all of the above, no posts since my last Sunday Post =[ But I’m trying very hard to do some posts next week and catch up with my Top Ten Tuesdays. I hope I can do them all, but I’m not going to promise anything. My game hasn’t been good the last few months and it’s taking me a while to get it back. I hope you will forgive me for posting so little, but as I’ve explained in the Life section of this post, life ain’t easy these days…

Coming next week – in no particular order of reviews or memes and such:

#73 First Year.

#74 Non-Heir.

#75 Apprentice.

#76 Caraval.

TTT#21  Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books I’ve Read In The Past Year Or So.

TTT#22 FREEBIE.

TTT#23 All about the visuals: Top Ten Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics or Ten Comics on My TBR or Top Ten Favorite Picture Books.

TTT#24 Top Ten Books I Wish Had (More/Less) X In Them.

TTT#25 All About Romance Tropes/Types.

TTT#26 Ten Books I Loved Less/More Than I Thought I Would (recently or all time).

Most Anticipated Releases January 2017.

January Haul.

January Wrap-Up + February TBR.

I did do a lot of reading these past few weeks. =] Good books will keep you reading on hahaha… So I finished Carve the Mark on January 29 and The Tales of Beedle the Bard on February 4. Since then I’ve read The Gender Secret and The Gender Lie by Bella Forrest, Haven by Katherine Bogle from a review copy, Caraval by Stephanie Garber and First Year, Non-Heir, and Apprentice by Rachel E. Carter. I’m really excited by and in love with The Black Mage series by Rachel E. Carter =] It’s sooooo good!!!!

My next reads will be Candidate, and Last Stand by Rachel E. Carter, Passenger, and Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken and if I make it this month The Gender War by Bella Forrest… The Gender Secret series is also really, really good!!!

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2017 Update: 18/100 books

The Backlist Reader Challenge 2017 Update: 9/50 books, 0 reviews yet

What are you reading??

Monday Jan 30, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E11: Ted

Monday Jan 30, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E12: Bad Eggs

Monday Jan 30, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E13: Surprise (1)

Monday Jan 30, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E14: Innocence (2)

Tuesday Jan 31, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E15: Phases

Tuesday Jan 31, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E16: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Tuesday Jan 31, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E17: Passion

Tuesday Jan 31, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E18: Killed by Death

Tuesday Jan 31, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E19: I Only Have Eyes For You

Wednesday Feb 1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E20: Go Fish

Wednesday Feb 1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E21: Becoming (1)

Wednesday Feb 1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E22: Becoming (2)

Thursday Feb 2, NCIS S2E1: See No Evil

Thursday Feb 2, NCIS S2E2: The Good Wives Club

Thursday Feb 2, NCIS S2E3: Vanished

Friday Feb 3, NCIS S2E4: Lt. Jane Doe

Friday Feb 3, NCIS S2E5: The Bone Yard

Friday Feb 3, Brooklyn Nine-Nine S2E2: Chocolate Milk

Monday Feb 6, NCIS S2E6: Terminal Leave

Monday Feb 6, NCIS S2E7: Call of Silence

Monday Feb 6, NCIS S2E8: Heart Break

Monday Feb 6, NCIS S2E9: Forced Entry

Monday Feb 6 NCIS S2E10: Chained

Monday Feb 6, NCIS S2E11: Black Water

Monday Feb 6, NCIS S2E12: Doppelgänger

Tuesday Feb 7, NCIS S2E13: The Meat Puzzle

Wednesday Feb 8, NCIS S2E14: Witness

Thursday Feb 9, NCIS S2E15: Caught on Tape

Thursday Feb 9, NCIS S2E16: Pop Life

Thursday Feb 9, NCIS S2E17: An Eye for an Eye

Thursday Feb 9, NCIS S2E18: Bikini Wax

Thursday Feb 9, NCIS S2E19: Conspiracy Theory

Friday Feb 10, NCIS S2E20: Red Cell

Friday Feb 10, NCIS S2E21: Hometown Hero

Friday Feb 10, NCIS S2E22: SWAK

Friday Feb 10, NCIS S2E23: Twilight

Friday Feb 10, NCIS S3E1: Kill Ari (1)

Friday Feb 10, NCIS S3E2: Kill Ari (2)

Friday Feb 10, Grimm S4E1: Thanks for the Memories

Friday Feb 10, Grimm S4E2: Octopus Head

Friday Feb 10, Grimm S4E3: The Last Fight

Friday Feb 10, Grimm S4E4: Dyin’ on a Prayer

Friday Feb 10, Grimm S4E5: Cry Luison

Friday Feb 10, Grimm S4E6: Highway of Tears

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E7: The Grimm Who Stole Christmas

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E8: Chupacabra

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E9: Wesenrein

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E10: Tribunal

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E11: Death Do Us Part

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E12: Maréchaussée

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E13: Trial by Fire

Saturday Feb 11, Grimm S4E14: Bad Luck

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E15: Double Date

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E16: Heartbreaker

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E17: Hibernaculum

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E18: Mishipeshu

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E19: Iron Hans

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E20: You Don’t Know Jack

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E21: Headache

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S4E22: Cry Havoc

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E1: The Grimm Identity

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E2: Clear and Wesen Danger

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E3: Lost Boys

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E4: Maiden Quest

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E5: Rat King

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E6: Wesen Nacht

Sunday Feb 12, Grimm S5E7: Eve of Destruction

Tuesday Feb 14, Grimm S5E8: A Reptile Dysfunction

Wednesday Feb 15, Grimm S5E9: Star-Crossed

Friday Feb 17, Grimm S5E10: Map of the Seven Knights

Sunday Feb 19, Grimm S5E11: Key Move

Sunday Feb 19, Grimm S5E12: Into the Schwarzwald

Sunday Feb 19, Grimm S5E13: Silence of the Slams

With the bf:

Tuesday Feb 7, Last Man Standing S1E1: Pilot

Tuesday Feb 7, Last Man Standing S1E2: Last Baby Proofing Standing

Tuesday Feb 7, Last Man Standing S1E3: Grandparents Day

Sunday Feb 12, Last Man Standing S1E4: Last Halloween Standing

Sunday Feb 12, Last Man Standing S1E5: Co-Ed Softball

Sunday Feb 12, Last Man Standing S1E6: Good Cop, Bad Cop

Sunday Feb 12, Last Man Standing S1E7: Home Security

Wednesday Feb 15, Life in Pieces S1E1: Pilot

Wednesday Feb 15, Life in Pieces S1E2: Interrupts Prison Breast Movin’

Thursday Feb 16, Last Man Standing S1E8: House Rules

Saturday Feb 18, Last Man Standing S1E9: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Saturday Feb 18, Last Man Standing S1E10: Last Christmas Standing

Saturday Feb 18, Last Man Standing S1E11:  The Passion of the Mandy

Sunday Feb 19, Last Man Standing S1E12: Moon Over Kenya

Sunday Feb 19, Last Man Standing S1E13: Take Your Daughter to Work

In case you’ve missed these:

Sunday Post #26. January 29

Sunday Post #25. January 22

Sunday Post #23 & #24. January 8 & 15

#72 The Diabolic.

TTT#20 Top Ten 2016 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn’t Get To (But TOTALLY plan to).

Sunday Post #27 & #28 & #29. February 5 & 12 & 19 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme originally from Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share News.

[smoothshift]

If you question whether or not a miata is a reliable daily, let me tell you a little tale.. via /r/cars

If you question whether or not a miata is a reliable daily, let me tell you a little tale..

So here’s the story, about a year ago me and my dad were hunting for a vehicle to race in the annual shitbox ice race we had been participating in for the past few years. For about 12 months I had been keeping a very close eye on the car ads in my province searching for a shitbox we could dominate with on the frozen lake when I see a dusty red automatic miata for purchase for about $1500. It had a hard top, a big ol’ dent in the fender, and an absolutely banging stereo. It was perfect. In about a weeks time we were at the guys apartment picking up the little red turd for $1200 cad. When we drove it home that night we started to learn about the “charms” this vehicle had to offer. For starters the headlights absolutely bit, I had my head out the window guiding my dad through the construction that littered the streets back to our house. This was an easy task because there was absolutely no passenger window. No passenger window in the wintertime meant it was colder than a witches tit on the drive back. We also discovered that the previous owner had emptied an entire box of “Mr.Noodles” into the vehicle and it was getting ground to a fine snortable powder under my buttocks as I sat in the passenger seat. We somehow managed to make it home without causing any major accidents and we began the task of preparing the car for the jankiest racing event ever invented. For the next couple weeks I would spend my weekends trying to scrub all the hepatitis and layers of crust out of the miata. At some point we figured it needed googly eyes and a boso style straightpipe exhaust with supertrapp disks on the end. The exhaust was basically made up of 20 different sized pieces of piping that were laying around the shop but it seemed to do the job of making it the most obnoxiously loud car you will ever see. We slapped some studded tires on it and basically decided it was ready for 4+ hours of absolute ice racing abuse. The night before the test day at the frozen lake it snowed about a foot which eliminated any chance of us actually driving the car to the track so we ended up strapping it to a trailer and towing it there instead. When we arrived at the track we unloaded the turd and off-roaded it down to the lake track (which was still being “carved” at the time). We cranked up the Alice cooper on the stereo and we started to haul major ass. Now the car actually did something that surprised us both, it was very very very good on the ice. Not once in a million years would we ever consider a miata to be a world class vehicle on a ice track. However we couldn’t really say the same about snow banks because the whole front end of the vehicle pretty much siezed up when it got snow packed into it. After we did some spirited crashing and a handful of laps and we much called it a day and parked the miata back near our trailer. The following day we would return to see the fleet of cars brought by our competitors. The most notable ones being a rainbow ball of metal which you almost couldn’t believe was running (or was even a car at some point for that matter) and a caged dodge omni. Now that I think of it there was even a lancer participating at some point. The MX-5HIT would really have some stiff competition. The drivers gather around to discuss the rules. The rules were simple. 1. You must be able to reach the beer cooler in the back seat. 2. When someone bins it into the snow barrier outlining the track we would all come to a stop to pull him out (this ended up keeping the racing extremely close for multiple hours). 3. On the final laps it would be “prison rules” where anything goes and nobody would be rescued. 4. Pee breaks would be held periodically and we would stop to eat food somewhere in the middle of the race. Personally I think this ruleset is flawless and every form of Motorsport should adopt them. Anyways, all the road hazards line up to the start line and take off in a plume of impending mechanical disaster. Immediately the MX-5HIT squeezes its way to the front of the pack behind some caged neons. The sheer racket this straightpiped turd was making was an absolute spectacle. We roared down the straightaway at over 120kmh with no foresight to how we would eventually slow down, but it didn’t matter, this car was starting to show its true colours as an ice racing beast. At the halfway mark in the race a handful of cars had already been “eliminated”. Remember that rainbow ball of metal I referenced? I guess it turned out to be a corolla (or what was left of one). The driver hit the snow bank so hard that it send snow about 70 feet in the air. The impact caused the transmission to completely empty itself of any sort of fluids. I also believe the lancer retired early as well due to similar mechanical issues (as the car mysteriously vanished part way through the race). Honestly if I was a betting man I wouldn’t be counting on the miata making it either. At that point it had been at around 6000rpm steady for about 2 hours yet it still showed no signs of wanting to through the towel in. After a short break we resumed the antics of thrashing some junkyard rejects around the frozen lake for another mildly uneventful couple hours. A flag was waved and we returned to the start/finish line to prepare for the final prison rule laps. The race starts and once again the miata stutters its way back into the lead (I forgot to mention this entire time the car had a catastrophic misfiring issue either due to a bad AFM or coil pack so it was basically running on 3 until it reached over 4K rpm so we had to keep the revs high for the whole race). Halfway through the prison laps we almost got sandwhich between 75% of a Ford Explorer and an ice barrier but the small miata slipped through like a wet bar of soap. Coming on the last laps we had essentially secured podium somehow. The outcast miata had beaten the odds. Not only was it a compatible ice racing vehicle but it also held together at 6k rpm for the better part of a 4-5 hour endurance race with absolutely zero problems. We cross the finish line sideways blaring eurobeat as loud as it would go and then we pull into the pits where we get to assess what the racing ended up doing to the car. As we peel ourselves off the hot seats we notice that the 30 year old seat fabric is steaming. All the hepatitis I had convinced myself that was absorbed within the dirty seat fabric had now gone airborne. Other than that the car seemed absolutely flawless, the only difficulty we ended up having is cleaning up the snow in the engine bay because the bottom is completely sealed off which meant snow could just fill the engine bay completely. We also found out that the hot engine had basically turned the snow into an ice cocoon for the bottom half of the engine. Other than that the persistent MX-5HIT had saved itself from an impending future of being crushed at the local scrap yard.

After the race the MX-5HIT pretty much sat dormant in a shed rotting away for 8 months until I decided to try to “repair” the mangled soft top roof. Now I would like to say some words of advice, never never never never ever ever ever ever think you can repair a miata soft top. It’s absolute hell. From the disassembly to the re assembly it’s an absolute pain in the ass. I somehow managed to get a completely new top fitted and the old one removed in a total of about 2 days. With my new soft top fitted I try to latch the roof onto the car to make sure everything fits right when i hear a ripping sound. I glance over to the drivers side of the vehicle to see a 7.5 inch tear along the edge of my brand new soft top. Honestly if I wasn’t such a calm individual I have no doubt I would have probably thrown whatever I was holding right through the side of the car. After that the car just sat around for another month until I decided to fix the misfiring problem. A coil pack was ordered and I made it my goal to instal it in the least botch way possible. I fired the car up and it still ran like shit (I guess it’s called the MX-5HIT for a reason right?) so I do some very very brief online browsing and somehow my brain came to a conclusion that I need to “clean the MAF”. Now there are a few problems with that. The first being that my particular miata never came with a MAF, it came with a AFM. The second of the problems was that I didn’t bother taking the time to look up what a miata MAF actually looked like. So me being stupid I decide to unscrew the plug on the side of the AFM (oppose to just unplugging it) and I sprayed MAF cleaner inside. Little did I know that when you unscrew the side of the AFM instead of unplugging it and pull on the cable, it’s the equivalent to when a bee stings something and the stinger rips its guts out making it die. had killed my miata. The car wouldn’t start or anything. My brain slowly puts the puzzle pieces together and I realize that I am a fool. When my dad discovered that the eye sore of a car would be a semi permenant decoration in his shop until another AFM was ordered he said that he wanted to strangle me Homer Simpson style. We managed to saw the top of the AFM off and do some open heart surgery to all the connectors I had obliterated. The car now ran and I saved myself from getting an ass whooping of the century.

Somehow I had convinced myself that it would be a smart idea to bring the hurt car home and use it as a daily driver. Boy was I a big dummy. The first clue that something with the car was wrong was when I took it for a rip an it momentarily hesitated when I touched the throttle. I thought it was odd but thought nothing of it. A couple days later the car passes away yet again but this time in my school parking lot. Out of all the things that killed this relic it ended up being me. The open heart surgery on the AFM just didn’t hold. Andddd the miata spends yet more time sitting around. Eventually a new AFM was ordered and installed the right way (live and learn I guess right?). It was during installation I found a special pool of liquid forming within the engine bay, scratch that, two pools of liquid. The first being the master cylinder which decided that it only wanted to leak everywhere and take the paint off the car instead of Hold fluid. The second was the fluid reservoir for the windshield wipers which leaked worse than a bucket with no bottom. The car is an absolute cursed dangerous pile of shit but for some reason I couldn’t bear seeing it part with my family. I actually got curious one day and decided to do some looking into on the previous service history and accident reports on our little racecar (since the car came with absolutely zero papers saying it was ever serviced) and by golly it hadn’t been touched a Mazda employee since the day it was built in Hiroshima back in the late 80’s. It turns out it wasn’t missing service papers, it just didn’t have any. And this was the same vehicle that spent 4-5 hours in the red with all 90hp screaming at 6000rpm. I’ve convinced myself that this car deserves a second life that isn’t the junk yard. Sure it may be the rustiest slowest miata in the continent but it’s one tough bastard. And I’m not sure if I’m the only one but I had zero interest in owning a miata until I actually got the chance to drive one. Even the shittiest miata of them all still ended up being a good ass car.