#everyone saying nice things to me or about how they like trains and maps: i am kissing you on the mouth

[mashkaroom]

Hehe I'm glad people are liking this. Here is the chart for the pattern in case anyone wants to recreate it! If you want to skip the making-a-sweater part, you could just stitch this onto an existing sweater.

You could also go to the trouble of making a full sweater using basically any pattern. I made this one in as basic a way as possible. It's knitted bottom up in 2 rectangular panels (no increases or decreases) and i googled how to shape a neckline and followed the advice of the first video. Once all the pieces were sewn together, i picked up the neckline stitches and knit the collar in the round. If i was doing it again, i would make the actual neckline hole much narrower and also make sure to bind off as loosely as possible, bc thats the least stretchy part. I started the sleeves from the bottom up as well and increased every 3rd row. To be honest, i wasn't exactly scientific in my approach -- the front panel ended up a few inches shorter than the back. One sleeve is somehow substantially wider than the other, despite the fact that they have the same number of starting stitches. But none of that affected wearability or aesthetic! All this to say, don't be daunted by sweater knitting if you're not the most precise knitter -- it's a remarkably forgiving garment (more forgiving than a hat, for example).

Thank you everyone for your kind words :)), and I'd be happy to answer questions if anyone has them, though i make no promises for helpful advice

Hey guys wanna see something sooo cool and hot

My first sweater done!!!!

For those who don't recognize it, it's the Boston MBTA map :) started over a year ago, so it doesn't have the union square extension lol. I used duplicate stitching for the pattern.

[smoooothoperator]

What Was I Made For?

16: Slow It Down

childhood enemies, forced proximity, accidental pregnancy, enemies to lovers (👀)

Warnings: imposter syndrome, someone you loved made a little comeback

a/n: HELLO!!!!! How is everyone going??? I don't know if this is a good chapter, i kinda feel that it's a filler one, but I needed to write it and post it to take this out and continue with the story

if you want to play a game and ask things about Dafne

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Every way of feedback is very welcomed

Charles Leclerc is a good lover. He knows how to soothe my worries, taking care of me in ways that make me feel cherished. At night, he wraps his arms around me, his hands warm against my belly. His soft kisses trail along my skin, each one a tender reminder of his love. As he holds me close, whispering sweet nothings, I feel a deep connection that goes beyond the physical.

He shows me every minute of the day what our future can look like.

And still, my mind was playing me tricks.

The day we announced the pregnancy, the internet went crazy. Not only because of the pregnancy itself, but because of what it meant: my retirement. None of us wanted to see our socials, deciding to erase the apps from our phones and focus on the present, focus on the last days he had to spend here before he had to leave to get ready for the new season. We barely got out of the property, not going to the village in case more paparazzi were around to take pictures of us. 

"Are you sure you don’t want to come?" he murmured, lying next to me and resting his head near my belly. "The hotel's got a pretty nice spa. You could treat yourself all day."

“I know, I know…” I sighed, brushing his hair. “It's just… I hate going to the snow”

“Oh? Why?” he frowned, looking up at me, rubbing my belly softly.

“You don't remember?” I asked, surprised. 

“No? What happened?” he frowned, sitting on the bed next to me, moving to wrap his arms around me. 

“O-oh” I smile weakly, taking a deep breath. “In my second year in Haas, Mick and I decided to go to a training camp in the snow. Everything was going fine until one day our trainers suggested we take a walk outside. And those stupid ones apparently didn't know how to read maps, nor the weather radar. Well, they made us get lost and we were caught in the middle of a snow storm. We were out all night, frozen because of the snow. I had a pneumonia for a few days”

“Oh shit” he gasped softly. “I… I didn't know about it. How come you never told me?”

“Because at that time I hated your guts? And I thought you knew it, we were in the news” I laughed. “It was funny, actually. But after that I only go to the snow if I know I'll go just to have fun throwing snowballs and then going back to a safe place”

I nodded, letting go a long sigh and she held.me close to his chest. He rubbed my back softly, and I could hear his heartbeat, going fast.

“Say it” I sighed, rubbing his chest.

“During that time…” he sighed, and I closed my eyes, biting my lip. “You were with Mick when that happened?”

I sighed, swallowing thickly. He remembers… He remembers what I told him the morning after we woke up in that hotel room. 

“Yeah” I sighed. “But we never dated. We were only friends with benefits. We…”

“Yeah, I understand” he sighed, nodding. His chin was on top of my head and I could feel the slow movement of his head. “You two were teammates in Formula 2, both in the Ferrari Academy. Spending time together leads to other things”

“Are you jealous?” I teased him, trying to erase the sudden tension that was in the air.

“He knew about my feelings towards you, Dafne” he whispered. “Jealousy is not the world. It would be betrayal, maybe” 

“Oh…” I sighed. 

“Mick and I share a few things” he sighed, playing with my hair. “I lost my father, and he feels like that too, even if his is not dead. We know what it is to not have our fathers in the garage supporting us. And it made us be friends, somehow. But… Yeah, maybe that's why he distanced himself, cutting ties”

“I'm so sorry, Charles” I mumbled, looking up at him. “I… I never knew. We only did it to erase the tension and stress of the races…”

“Hey, you really don't have to explain it. I understand it, I promise” he smiled weakly, but I just shook my head and cupped his cheeks. “Dafne…”

“It was because of me that you lost a friend” I sighed.

“The past is the past, Daf” he smiled weakly. “Now I have you. And I'm happy with that”

I smiled weakly, leaning closer to him and pressing my lips on his. 

There was a little voice in my head, reminding me of everything he has done. A voice that tells me every sad thing, all the times he made me cry. A voice that reminds me that I'm not the only one that he had in his bed. A voice that counted slowly, reviving in my mind all the girls he had brought to the races.

“Remember how he humiliated you at your first win” a voice says. “How he called you a whore in front of everyone. You shouldn't trust him, he ruined you”

I tried to push away that voice, not listen to it. I tried to forget everything, to look at the present and think about the future. 

“I have to get my suitcase ready” he groaned, but still kissed me deeply. 

“You can do it while I make dinner” I whisper, moving closer to him, sitting on his lap. 

“Yeah? What do you have in mind now?” he whispered, holding my hips. 

“Taking care of my man” I smiled, feeling the little jump of my heart when I said those words.

“Your man?” he chuckled, looking into my eyes.

“I-I mean… Yeah?” I swallowed thickly. “I… Well, we… We are together, right?”

He smiled and nodded, kissing my lips again, showing me all the feelings he has deeply in his heart. 

“Of course we are” he whispered against my lips. “What I wrote in my post was real, Dafne. I always wanted you”

I looked at him with a smile, feeling my heart melt slowly. 

But again, that voice creeped into my thoughts, sounding like nails scratching on a chalkboard. I hugged him, hiding my face into his neck before he could even see how my smile got weaker. 

“He might say that he always wanted you, but he still had many models in his bed” it said, with an evil smile. “Who knows, maybe he never changed. Maybe he still talks with those girls”

I hugged him tightly, closing my eyes and trying to think about his touch. As I watched Charles, a mix of emotions churned inside me. I wanted to trust him, to believe in the love he professed, especially with our baby on the way. But doubt lingered, like a shadow I couldn't shake. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that we were in this together. For the baby’s sake, I needed to find a way to trust him.

I sighed, pressing soft kisses on his neck, biting his skin softly and hearing him moan softly. 

“Of course, mark him. Make sure the girls he brings to his bed know that he is taken” that voice laughed, making me feel shivers. “He's a cheater. A cheater. A cheater”

I pulled away, gasping softly, blinking slowly. Charles looked at me frowning his eyes, holding my hips. He was confused, just like me.

“I… I forgot I had to feed Athena” I said quickly, moving away from his lap and getting out of the bed. 

“W-what?” he frowned.

“I had… I have to give Athena a pill” I lied. “I… Yeah”

I swallowed thickly, walking out of the room and calling my cat, somehow praying to be alone for some seconds.

I walked downstairs, standing in the middle of the living room. I took a deep breath, then another, then another. 

I have to trust Charles. We were going to start again, we are going to raise a child together. He said he loved me since he was a kid, since the first time he saw me. 

“That's not true” the voice smirked. “He's playing with you. Don't trust him”

I took a deep breath, gasping, trying to get away from that spiral of negative thoughts, of that impostor syndrome trying to come back to my mind.

“Dafne?” Charles frowned, making me swallow thickly and turn around slowly. “Love, what's wrong?”

I swallowed thickly, hearing the way he called me, watching his worried eyes scan my body. He walked towards me, placing his hands on my shoulders and moving them to hold my hands, squeezing them softly.

“I…” I sighed, closing my eyes when I felt his hand on my cheek, making me lean on his touch. “I just…”

He sighed, nodding slowly. I swallowed thickly, trying to read his face, his mind. 

“Dafne” he sighed, smiling weakly.

“It's just… I want to be ready. I want to be ready to be with you. But I don't know if I am…”

“Oh, love…” he sighed, nodding. “L-look, I… I didn't want to rush things. I told you I was going to wait for you and I was talking seriously”

“I know” I whisper, nodding. “I don't want you to think that I don't trust you. It's…”

“You need to think. Alone” he sighed. “Okay”

“Okay?” I mumble, feeling scared. “W-what do you mean?”

“A week” he smiled weakly, bringing my hands to his lips. “I'll be in the training camp for a week. And you have a week to be alone, to think, to relax, to have time for yourself. It's partly my fault, I was attached to your hip this last month and maybe that's what rushed this situation”

“But…” I mumble. “Charlie…”

“My love” he smiled softly, making my heart melt. “This last month was the best month of my life, and I know we can work as an amazing couple. I love you, I really do. And I know you are working on it and I will wait patiently to hear you say those words too. A week is nothing, right?”

"He'll cheat on you," the voice in my head insisted, relentless and cruel. It echoed with every doubt, every insecurity, each word like a dagger. I tried to silence it, to focus on the love I felt, but the fear lingered.

“Yeah” I sighed.

I bite my lip and hug him tightly, breathing in his scent. His clothes smell like the fabric softener I use on the laundry, his skin smells like the shower gel of my bathroom. He smells like home.

“Help me make my suitcase” he whispered, kissing my neck. 

“Hhmm” I hummed softly, closing my eyes and leaning on him. “Sure”

He held my hand tightly, walking upstairs and going to his bedroom, one he barely has been using since he started sleeping in my bed every night.

I sat on the bed, smiling softly when I saw Athena jumping on it to lay next to me. Charles grabbed his suitcase and opened it on the bed, chuckling when my cat jumped inside of it to get comfortable.

I followed Charles with my eyes, watching him fold his clothes and place them in the suitcase. And somehow, that made my chest ache and my eyes water. Something about this made me realize that every week will be like this: watching him pack a suitcase and go to races, while I had to stay here and be pregnant and alone. 

“Are you okay?” he frowned, looking at me with worry, probably when he saw the tear that rolled down my cheek. “Dafne, hey…”

“Y-yeah, yeah” I swallowed thickly, rubbing my eyes. “Don't worry”

“Talk to me, come on” he whispered, sitting in front of me and holding my hand.

“No, it's stupid” I sighed, looking down at my belly, rubbing it. “I feel… I feel that my life is going to be like this for the next few months”

“How?” he smiled weakly.

“Watching you make a suitcase to go to the races while I have to stay here” I sighed.

“You can come to the races, Daf” he sighed. 

“There will come a point when I'll have to stop” I sighed. “I'll get bigger, my legs and back will hurt, doctors say that is not safe for me or the baby…”

He clenched his jaw and looked at me, placing a hand on my belly and rubbing it softly.

“Our baby will come in June” he whispered. “And I will be either in Canada or Austria. I… There has to be a way… I want to be in the last months with you, Dafne…”

“Charles…” I sighed holding his hand.  “Fred is annoyed enough with us… I can't let you get into more problems because of this. I can't let you lose your job…”

“If he dares to fire me then that's his problem” he laughed. “There are more teams that are dying to have me with them”

“But Ferrari…”

“Ferrari is my dream, yeah” he nodded. “But if they don't respect my family, why do I have to respect them? If Fred gets angry because I ask him for a few weeks to be with my family, then I can tell every media how he acted”

I looked at him, swallowing thickly. How can he be so calm with this? How can he be smiling like this?

“Don't trust him. He will abandon you. He will leave you for a model”

I closed my eyes, biting my lip and taking a deep breath. 

I have to stop it, I have to stop that voice full of venom.

Alone, again.

Just me, my cat and the silence. 

The day Charles left, he woke me up with kisses all over my body, whispered sweet words in my ear and my belly, promising to come back.

That morning, I saw him leave with my car, letting me keep his big car in case I needed it for other things. 

That was three days ago. Three days I spent alone in the house, playing the piano, walking around the field, observing my own belly moving slightly with soft kicks and recording it.

Everytime I stand in front of a mirror I look at myself, scanning my body with my eyes, taking mental notes of how much it has changed. How much my breasts grew, how my belly is getting round, how swallowed my ankles look.

Charles keeps saying I'm the most beautiful woman he ever saw in his life. 

“How many girls might have heard the same? He's prince charming, he flirts with all of them with sweet words”

I closed my eyes tightly, groaning. 

At this point, I'm going crazy, paranoid.

A week. A week to think. To be alone. Literally alone.

My sisters listened to me, and with my recommendation, they found a place in the F1 Academy, ready to help young female promises of the sport. And now, thanks to that, they are busy working and getting ready for the upcoming season.

My parents, both of them working. My dad, traveling around the world thanks to his career as a pianist, and my mom working as a CEO in Monaco.

Sometimes I asked myself how my life would have been if I followed their steps, if my sisters and I followed their steps. I could have been a musician like my dad, since he always said that I had the talent for it. And my sisters, if they didn't follow me into my career, would have been working with my mom.

But now the one that is jobless is me, the one that inspired them to study something that could help me. The one that changed the path of our lives.

“Stupid. Stupid Dafne”

The basement of the house was warm, thanks to the sun that lights the living room. I looked at the kitchen, smiling softly when I fixed my eyes into the pictures that decorated the fridge, the first scanner we have of our baby, and the envelope that keeps the gender.

We didn't talk about a gender reveal again. He said he was going to talk with his brothers and his mom, but never talked about when we could make it. 

“He doesn't want to do it, idiot”

“Stop” I groaned.

I heard her laugh. That laugh, my laugh. That laugh from when I didn't know I was pregnant. When I was happy, when I was untouchable. 

I need to breathe. I need to get out of this house.

I had my breakfast out of the house, sitting on the couch and looking at the landscape, bringing memories into my mind.

I was happy back then, without worries, without trust issues. I knew what I wanted and how I wanted it. I didn't have to worry about guys, about dating someone, about him being loyal or not. 

I was free. Free to do whatever I wanted.

And now, with 27 years, I am everything I didn't want to be. Pregnant, with trust issues, not knowing if I can trust the man I share a bed with.

“How pathetic” the voice, the old me, scoffed. “Look at you. That's what happens when you get your walls down. Stupid Dafne”

I closed my eyes tightly, taking a deep breath, shaking my head trying to avoid that devil in my shoulder.

I sighed, grabbing my phone and looking at all the messages, all the calls.

My friends called a few times. My mom, my sisters and my dad called too. Charles sent a picture of the views from his hotel room. 

Sebastian sent a text. 

“Everything would have been better if you stayed with him” she scoffed. “Sebastian was loyal, he never cheated. He even said he would buy a house with you. He would have done more things than Charles”

I swallowed thickly, reading the texts, trying to not answer them. 

“I am loyal. Loyal to Charles. To the father of my kid” I said to myself, repeating it like a mantra, trying to fight that inner voice.

“Fuck” I gasped when I noticed I was calling him, panicking when he answered.

“Yes, go with him” the voice laughed. 

“Dafne?” 

“S-Sebastian” I mumbled, swallowing thickly. “I… I didn't want to call, I'm sorry”

“No, it's… It's okay” he sighed. “How are you? I mean… How's the pregnancy going?”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, laying on the couch and rubbing my belly.

“Yeah… Good” I sighed. “We saw the baby the other day for the first time”

“You know the gender?” he asked, making me bite my lip.

“No, no… not yet”

“Oh, okay” he sighed.

“Seb…” I whisper. “I… God, I don't even know why I'm calling you. I'm going crazy”

“Why? Hey, talk to me” he sighed. 

“It's just… I'm trying” I sighed. “This month he has been staying in my house, and at the start I only wanted to put a pillow on his face while he was sleeping. But now…”

“Now you are giving up” he sighed. “Look… When he came to the hospital the day you had the crash, he looked really bad. He was panicking, Dafne. He was so scared of losing you and he was ready to fight whoever took you out of the race. He probably did it before going to the hospital”

“He wouldn't do that…” I sighed.

“He would” he laughed. “He would do anything to have your attention. God, he was even ready to fight me because I didn't let him get in your room! That man is head over heels for you, so what's the problem?”

“The problem is that I have this annoying voice that keeps repeating to me that he will cheat” I whispered. “That he won't be loyal, that he's just playing to keep me out of Ferrari”

“Did he do something to make you think that?”

“N-no… I guess” I sighed.

“Then? That's the imposter syndrome, Dafne” he said. “You can't accept your own happiness, even if it's with someone that hurt you? That man loves you. Just… Trust him. Trust Charles”

“Im trying” I sighed. 

“Look, Dafne. I really appreciate you. You have been someone I cared for so much and for a moment I saw a chance for us. But he is your endgame. He always was” he sighed. “You two are meant to be together, no matter how many times you argue or fight. You two will find a way to be together”

“Seb…”

“Just trust him” he sighed. “Let your heart work for once. Give your heart the control of your decisions and stop making your brain work. I'm sure everything will be okay”

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and feeling little tears.

“I don't regret meeting you” I whisper. “I don't regret the time I had with you…”

“Me neither, Dafne. But he is what you need” he said, making my heart break a little. “I wish you everything good. Goodbye, Dafne”

I closed my eyes hearing the beeping, biting my lip.

Why can't I enjoy the present? Why is the past torturing me?

The day was warm. February started with a sunny day and birds flying around.

Today Charles was coming back home.

After some days of internal battle, I called him, trying to explain to him how I was feeling, trying to put words to my thoughts, opening my heart for him.

“I just… I'm so tired” I smiled weakly, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to fall. “You are giving me all that love, all that time and space… And the only thing I'm thinking about is if this is temporal. There's like a voice in my head making me doubt every move you made, making me remember everything you did to me”

“You know I never wanted to…” he sighed, and I could see the disappointment on his face. 

“I’m losing control, Charles” I whisper. “I don't know who I am anymore. And this changes that happened so fast…”

“It's making you take steps back” he nodded. “Please, don't push me away…”

I looked at him, taking a deep breath. His mind was working, I could tell because he was chewing his lip nervously and sighing.

“I want my life back, Charles” I whispered. “I want my confidence. I'm looking in the mirror and I can't find myself anymore. I'm tired all the time, my feet hurts and my back too”

“My love…” he smiled softly, and again, the way he called me made my heart melt. “You are pregnant. Carrying a baby. Our baby. And I know this is happening right in the best moment of your career, that none of us are ready for this”

“We are not” I sighed, shaking my head.

“But we are working on it” he smiled. “Dafne, you are a strong woman. The strongest I ever met. You never let anyone step on you, what changed now?”

“That I'm letting my guard down, Charles” I sighed. “That the woman that loved to tease everyone, to joke and play was just a mask”

“But the little girl I fell in love with wasn't like that” he said. “The little girl was honest, and passionate about what she loved. She never gave up when something didn't work how she wanted”

“Well, I can't find her anymore” I whispered. “I feel that I'm drowning. And I'm so pathetic, because I started to feel this way right when we were okay, kinda. I let you lead me through this new life and now that I'm alone I feel that I'm going to lose control of everything”

“Dafne, take a breath, hm?” he smiled weakly, taking a deep breath. He laid his back on the head board, with a pillow on his back. “Breathe with me”

“I'm trying…” I sighed, closing my eyes.

“I'm going to tell you what we are going to do next, okay?” he said softly. “Tomorrow morning I'm leaving the camp. I'll go to Monaco because I want to cut my hair and my mom will do it. After that I'm going to go by plane to the nearest airport from the village”

“What about my car?” I smiled weakly. 

“Your car looks so good near my car” he chuckled softly. “So in that way you can try my new car and come to pick me up to the airport”

“Charles…” I sighed, shaking my head. 

“Let me talk, silly” he laughed. “Anyway, what I was saying… Ah, yeah. Well, I want you to go to the village this afternoon with the envelope of the gender”

“What?” I gasped.

“You heard” he smiled, winking at me. “I want you to go to that cake shop you always talked about and give them that paper. And when tomorrow we come back, we are going to stop in the shop and pick up the cake, bring it back home and then have our own gender reveal”

“But what about our families and friends?” I frowned confused.

“We can do that another day” he smiled. “But I can't wait anymore, Dafne. I couldn't stop thinking about that damn yellow envelope in the fridge door, about wanting to know the gender of our child…I even bought baby onesies here, you know? Oh, and one of those things the babies suck”

“A dummy” I smiled.

“Yeah, that” he chuckled. “And a beanie with ears”

“Oh Charles…” I smiled softly.

“Tomorrow we are going to have a date, okay?” he smiled. “So I want you to dress pretty with blue or pink, I'll do the same. You'll come to pick me up and we are going to find out together if we are having a little Charles or a little Dafne, yeah?”

I blushed, and somehow the panic that filled my veins for the last few days started to disappear.

“Idiot” I laughed softly.

“You can have all the fears you want, love” he smiled. “I'll be with you to help you go through them. I'll be the lifesaver you need to not drown”

“I don't deserve you” I sighed.

“No, Dafne. I don't deserve you” he sighed, smiling weakly. “After everything I have done… But I'm trying my best, I'm trying my best to redeem myself”

“You are doing a good job” I nodded.

The pink floral dress still fitted me. Thank God it was elastic on the chest.

Yesterday, after I ended the call with Charles, I did what he asked me, going to the village to leave the envelope to the baker and agreeing to go pick it up the next day.

Charles was landing soon in the Florence airport, only an hour away from the village.

I had everything ready, my bag was ready on top of the table. I cleaned the table from the backyard before getting ready.

Everything was looking good. I was less stressed.

“Athena, I'm leaving!” I said to my cat, hoping she would come before I leave. “Come on, you've been hiding all morning”

When I woke up this morning, I didn't see her. Normally she's sleeping in my bed or in Charles’. But she wasn't there.

“Thena!” I frowned calling her, walking around.

This is not good, the house was suddenly too silent.

“Thena, baby, where are you?” I called her again and again. “It's not funny, I really have to go pick up Charles”

 No answer.

“Fine, sleep all you want” I sighed. “I'll come back soon”

I grabbed my bag and the keys of the car, walking out after looking back. 

But there was something that wasn't right. Something, call it instinct, was telling me that there was something wrong.

taglist

@racinggirl @elisysd @alltoomaples @ssprayberrythings @rach3164 @yvonne-dump @deliciousfestsalad @janeh22 @hc-dutch @ninifee1802 @kakorrhaphiphobia @ssararuffoni @itsjustkhaos @scaramou @tapedeck-hearts @apollosfavkiddo @sltwins @glitterquadricorn @ladystardust05 @theseerbetweenus @vizzzashley @auawdo @leah-also-known-as-creatoronwp @leptitlu @green-thots @caterinemirandax_ @mid5nights @harrysdimple05

[xxxnightcorequeenxxxv3]

The Curse of Magical Girl AU 13 + Bonus

Here, we have the Robins explaining how they got their hair streaks, which is part of the cost of healing from a fatal or near-death/ debilitating injury. But the curse is not going to let them go that easy; as they say, there are worse things out there than death, and this curse is one of them. If you get hurt, everyone on your team will feel that hurt. Also, I mentioned the last bonus about a choice of characters I hadn't finished, but here they are;

P.S. I can't recall if I mentioned Carrie. But anyway, if I did, take it with a grain of salt regarding more Robins. We tried to expand things behind the curtains. As I got a couple of nice people helping me out, and one of them has jumped on the train with me to AU town and now has free rain over Bludhaven. So yeah, we've been mapping and the like behind the curtains. I'm a bit quicker on the draw, though. So please sit tight as we figure things out. I have a couple of researchers on my hands to ensure we deliver you the best version of the charters for the AU. As we got more in the works.

[rose-of-the-grave]

The Great War: Chapter 4

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle x Reader

Hey everybody! I know it's been a while but here's chapter 4!!! As always I'm the author (please don't repost)

Masterlist Series Masterlist Read on Ao3

Warnings: mentions of past friendships, chess, "princess"

Word Count: 1924

Description: Y/N gets invited to study with the Slytherins, plays chess with Ron, and discovers she and Mattheo have a class together.

Taglist: @sylveryfire, @undercover-smutlover, @relminnie

“So, for the project we need someone to do research on the origins of crystal-gazing and someone to talk about famous examples. I can do the famous examples?”

“That’s fine with me, I’ll do the origins.” There was sure to be a book or two on it in the library Y/N thought.

“Great.” Pansy said, “We’re all meeting up in one of the abandoned classrooms to study after lunch. If you’re free, we could work on the project then.”

“You sure about that?”

“It’ll be fine. We need as many girls as we can get. It’s mostly boys so the testosterone levels are off the charts.” She stook out her tongue in faux disgust. Waltzing off ahead, her robes swishing behind her.

Y/N walked over to the Great Hall like everyone else while Pansy seemed to be heading outside. The weather, she remarked, was nice. Bright blue skies with not a cloud in sight. Turning away she walked through the massive doorway, spotting her friends already seated. Dropping onto the bench next to Ron she set her bag down beside her, her stomach rumbled. She hadn’t had time for breakfast in the morning.

“Hey!” Hermione greeted her. A relieved look on her face. Glancing at her other friends’ faces she noticed how stormy they looked. As if they were engaging in a silent argument.

“Can you tell Harry that he needs to stop spying on Malfoy on that bloody map?” Ron asked suddenly, his gaze still trained on Harry whose eyes were boring into his plate, using his fork to move the food around. “He’s bloody obsessed with that thing!”

Harry looked up at him, a fiery look in his eyes. “I’m not obsessed!” He denied.

“Then what do you call staying up until all hours of the night watching his every move? If he were a Death Eater Dumbledore would know.”

Forever the mother hen, Hermione looked at him sharply. “You need your sleep Harry. Let Dumbledore handle it.”

He sighed, “I know.”

She looked at him, skeptical, but didn’t say anything else.

When they finished eating, she stood up ready to find Pansy so they could work on their project.

“Where are you going?” Hermione asked, puzzled. They usually hung out outside with Hagrid or went up to the common room after lunch.

“Group project for divination. See ya!”

“Bye!”

After leaving the Great Hall she headed to the library to get a book on crystal gazing before leaving in search of the classroom Pansy had told her about which was completely empty, save a few people. One of them turned around to look at her, his eyes piercing her soul. He looked slightly amused, a smirk on his face.

“Are you following me?” Mattheo drawled.

“What? No! Pansy invited me.”

“I doubt that, princess.”

Before she could assure him that she was indeed invited by Pansy, the girl in question flounced into the room and quickly approached them.

“Are you behaving?” Not waiting for a response she turned to Y/N. “I swear he’s like a dog, always snarling at outsiders. He won’t bite though. He’s really just a big softy.” She ruffled his hair. He playfully snapped at her hand causing her to laugh before taking a seat at the table.

When Y/N also sat down he leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I won’t bite. Unless you want me to.” She jerked away, scooting her chair a few inches to the left. Disgust causing her cheeks to flush. Laughing he got up and walked out of the room.

Shaking her head, Pansy turned to the task at hand. Taking out a piece of parchment Y/N began writing down some details from the first section of the book she had grabbed, ‘Crystallomancy: The Ancient Art of Crystal Gazing.’. It wasn’t long until she had some of the basics about its origins and the first practitioners of it.

At the table across the room a few Slytherins she didn’t recognize were huddled together, discussing something in hushed tones. None of them were from her year she realized, they were all second or third years. Confused, she asked the raven-haired girl sitting across from her, “Pansy?”

“Mhmm?” She didn’t look up from whatever she was doing.

“Where is everyone else?”

Pansy looked up, her eyes narrowed in confusion, “Everyone else?”

Trying not to seem too interested she responded, “Yeah, I mean where’s Malfoy and Nott?”

She shrugged. “Probably with Mattheo. Outside”

“Don’t they need to work on the project too?”

She smirked self-deprecatingly, “You’re talking about the two Slytherins who are top of the class constantly. Right up there with your mudblood friend.” She spat the word out like it was a curse.

“Don’t call her that.” She retorted but there was no heat to it. She knew how purebloods viewed muggleborns, especially those who were once Death Eaters like a lot of her parents’ friends. Y/N couldn’t bring herself to hold it against her.

Pansy shrugged and continued to work. After a while it was nearing dinner time so they all left, eager for nourishment after hours of studying.

“Same time, tomorrow?” Y/N asked.

“Sure.” The Slytherin replied before making a beeline for her friends.

When she sat down Hermione turned to look at her, “Hey, where were you?”

“Studying.”

Hermione hummed, seemingly unsatisfied with her answer but let it slide, turning to face Ginny who had asked a question. Y/N leaned in as well, curious to hear what was going on between her and Dean. They had been on the outs for the past few days and yet earlier, between classes they had been spotted all cozy in the common room. Luckily Ron hadn’t seen them. It was already awkward enough having to share a dorm room with his younger sister’s boyfriend, he did not want to hear about it.

“So what’s going on with you and Dean? Have you made up yet?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah, he finally apologized for his remark, explaining that it was meant to be a joke but that he realized he took it too far.”

“That’s good, I was getting a little worried there for a second that you two were over.”

Ginny smiled, “Nope, not yet at least.”

Too bad, Y/N thought, they were getting to be kind of toxic. Not that she would say that out loud.

After dinner they all went back to the Gryffindor tower. Once in their room alone Hermione asked, “So who were you studying with?”

“Huh? Oh, um Lavender and Parvati. Why?”

The curly haired girl shrugged, turning to her stack of homework that she was still finishing up. “You go on ahead of me, I’ll come downstairs later.

“Mkay.”

Y/N changed into more casual wear before heading back down to the common room.

“Oh, look who it is! Just in time for a game of wizard’s chess!” Ron called from where he sat by the fireplace. His favorite game had become a ritual, every night they would play at least one or two matches while the other two observed. Over time Y/N had gotten better, managing to beat him a few times.

Weaving through the other Gryffindors who were also hanging out together she sat down across from him, awaiting his first move.

“Pawn to E4.”

And so the battle began, going back and forth, taking each others’ pieces until they were nearing a stalemate.

“Ready to give up?” She taunted.

Ron grinned, “Not yet.” Before smoothly moving his last piece, save the king. “Checkmate!”

“Wait, what? Oh.” In her pursuit to win she had left her own king open for the taking. Shit.

“Better luck next time!”

“Yeah, yeah. Stop gloating.” She told him, pretending to be hurt but not fully hiding her smile so he would know that she wasn’t.

“Rematch?”

Shaking her head, “Not tonight, find someone else to wipe the board with.” Y/N stood up and wandered over to the stairs. Hermione still hadn’t come down. She wasn’t too worried though because her best friend had a habit of getting sucked into her homework, completely disregarding the time.

When she did make it upstairs Hermione was lying on the bed, her notes covering the bed, some partially tucked under her.

Knowing that she wouldn’t want to go to bed without brushing her teeth, the occupational hazard of being the daughter of dentists, she gently shook her shoulder.

“Hey, wake up.”

Her brown eyes opened, blinking owlishly. After taking a second to readjust she reorganized her notes before going to brush her teeth.

The next day she made it through Alchemy before retiring back to the dorms to take a nap in preparation for the late night ahead. Why did she think that taking Astronomy was a good idea? She barely knew anyone in the class. That question kept circling in her head as she walked up to the Astronomy tower once it got dark.

The rest of her classmates were there, mingling. Some were already at their stations. Picking an empty one on the end she gazed out into the distance. The moon was especially bright, its silvery glow washing over the ground below.

“Mr. Riddle. I see you finally found your way after a month of classes. Join Ms. Y/L/N on the end.”

The Slytherin sauntered over to her station. “Well, well. Imagine seeing you here princess. Twice in two days, you must be obsessed.”

“Says the one who came here after me. If anyone is the stalker here, it would be you.” She retorted, her finger pressing into his chest punctuating her last few words.”

“Fair enough.” He admitted, grabbing her hand before she could pull it away. “And yet, you can’t keep yourself from touching me.”

Yanking her hand out from his grasp she pulled out the star chart and began that assignment.

After a few minutes she looked over to see that Riddle wasn’t doing anything.

“Why’d you even bother coming if you weren’t going to do the work?”

He shrugged, teasing her. “Maybe I came to annoy you.” Before giving her what she could only describe as puppy eyes. He had the most beautiful brown eyes that just made you want to trust him. But she couldn’t.

“I’m flattered,” She deadpanned, giving him an unimpressed look she continued working diligently, studiously ignoring his deadly gaze.

“Well, this is boring,” He said, grinning over at her, “Wanna see something fun?”

Shaking her head in despair she turned away. Before she knew it there was a crack and something heavy fell from the castle and onto the ground below.

“Mr. Riddle!” The teacher yelled, “Detention. And 200 points from Slytherin!”

One of the other Slytherins nearby groaned, probably upset that his house had just lost so many points.

When he didn’t move their teacher came over and told him to leave, she would see about his detention task in the morning.

The troublemaker shrugged nonchalantly, slowly getting to his feet. “So long princess.”

Rolling her eyes, she shot him a look of disgust before turning back to her work, definitely not watching as he walked away.

She spent the rest of class pushing out thoughts of him. He’s just a mission. He’s a Death Eater. He’s Voldemort’s son. His dad killed Harry’s dad and has repeatedly tried to kill Harry. His friends have made her life a living hell. The devil may wear a beautiful face but an ugly soul lies beneath.

Y/N hated Riddle.

Chapter 5>>

[stars-n-spice]

The Dad Batch™ as things my dad has said/done:

Hunter:

asks questions about things and immediately answers himself like he knew the answer already or someone suddenly possessed him to answer himself

the only Korean movies he's ever shown us are war movies that are depressing as FUCK

had a Temu phase and for Christmas bought EVERYONE a blanket from them

explained his relationship with my mom to a coworker as "I live with her"

Mixed up my name with the dog

Had nice, long, beautiful hair but recently got it cut so short that he was depressed and moping for like a day about it even though HE wanted to cut it short

changes his age every time he tells us about when he came to America (he was either 14, 15, or 16)

Echo:

always sings "A Whole New World" for his karaoke song

apparently lied to the Korean embassy about going to America to "study" (has not been back since outside of visits to family)

my mom sent him a grocery list and he responded with "asking too much"

does not understand the words "bruh" or "huzzah" - along with all the other Gen Z slang (that even I don't understand sometimes)

would let me play Candy Crush on his phone but would take it away because I wasn't able to finish the levels and he didn't like me wasting his lives

calls my mom's cat "the baby"

got a PhD in his second language

Wrecker:

snores like a motherfucking freight train and sneezes like he's trying to break the sound barrier

learned how to cook/grill via YouTube (and is actually REALLY good at it)

wanted to show off his taekwondo skills (of which he has NONE) in elementary to a girl and said he'll kick a water bottle off her head - instead he ended up kicking the girl right in the face

Is married to a Mexican and thinks Taco Bell is the best (for some reason???)

Loves opening up presents more than the actual present itself (he'll always say that he doesn't need anything around Fathers Day, his birthday, or Christmas but then when he DOESN'T get anything, he gets upset)

takes a selfie and sends it to the family group chat every time my sister's cat comes to sit with him

Tech:

after his first date with my mom, he bought her a whole case of bottle water and left it at her dorm room door with no note or anything because he noted that she "drank a lot of water" during the date and thought she really liked water

was excused from mandatory Korean military service because his eyesight was so fucking awful, just absolute dogshit (and this was AFTER surgery)

asked if anyone needed to use the restroom on a road trip right before the exit and my younger brother said he needed to and my dad responded with "too bad" and kept driving

While we were watching Lord of the Rings every time I gasped or something during battle scenes or when Legolas did something cool, he went, "Don't worry. I think it's all CGI. That's all computers. It's not real."

Somehow knew his way around Texas the first time he was there after he was sent on a grocery run by my Tíos for a party they were having - y'know, before gps and google maps and shit

Crosshair:

frequently forgets my name and birthday but remembers that my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip

when my mom asked him where her birthday gift to her from him was one year all he did was cover his face and then did like a "peek-a-boo" motion to claim he was the gift

as a kid he got so upset at dinner once that he flipped the table over and got into so much trouble (claims he doesn't remember why he was so upset)

will ask the cats about their day before asking my mom or my siblings and I about our days

sits in the dark and plays COD on his phone at full volume as a way of unwinding

[canirove]

Rice, Rice, baby | Chapter 11

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

“Welcome to St. George's Park, Olivia.”

“Please, call me Liv.”

“Liv, perfect. I'm Emily, but you can call me Em.”

“Nice to meet you” I smile.

“Now, let me show you around and introduce you to everyone else.”

I did it. I said yes to their offer and here I am, at England's national team headquarters. And it doesn't feel real.

I can't believe I've just been welcomed by the girl I always see on those arrivals videos, that I am crossing the same doors and walking through the same hall the players always do, that I am about to basically live with the national men's team for a week. 

“Did you receive the email with the schedules and all the rules?” Emily asks me.

“I did, yes.” The rules. Like, for example, personal relationships inside the facilities not being allowed. 

“Perfect. Here is your room key and your credentials” she says, giving me an envelope. “I've also added a little map of the building in case you need it during the first few days, this place can be a bit of a maze” she laughs. 

“Oh, thank you. That's very kind of you.”

“You're welcome” she smiles.  

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“And this is your room” Emily says after we are done with all the introductions and she's showed me around. “141.”

“Nice number” I chuckle. “Thank you for accompanying me.”

“No problem. If you need anything just call me. You have my phone number, right?”

“I do.”

“Great. I'll leave you so can get changed and chill for a bit before the craziness starts.”

“Thank you. Again.”

“Welcome to the team, Liv” she says, giving me a quick hug before disappearing through the corridor.

“Ok. Let's go” I say to myself before opening the door.

The room isn't the biggest one, definitely nothing compared to the one I was able to enjoy in Paris. But it looks pretty cosy, a big window at the end of it that leads to the training grounds. Maybe I'll be able to watch them from there. And like Emily told me on our way here, my uniform is waiting for me on the bed.

“I told them to give you a pair of leggings but also some joggers, there are days when we like to be more comfortable than others. And you also have a hoodie, a jacket, and a pair of different t-shirts so you can pick whichever you prefer” she said.

But what I wasn't expecting to find next to my clothes, was a bouquet of flowers and a Cadbury chocolate tablet. 

Welcome to the team, Liv! - Your favourite boys ⁠♡

Cute.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Here she is! My favourite barista!”

“Hello, Madders.”

“I'm so happy you said yes to this, Liv” he says while giving me a hug.

“Let's hope I don't end up regretting it.”

“You won't, you'll see. Did you get the flowers?”

“I did, yes. Thank the boys for me.”

“The boys?” Madders says with a confused look. “It was just me and Declan.”

“What? I thought that my favourite boys meant the whole team.”

“No, no, no” he laughs. “Those flowers are just from me and Declan.”

“And the chocolate?”

“There was chocolate too?”

“That was all me” someone says behind me. Declan. “Hello, Liv. Welcome” he smiles as I turn around.

“Hi” I say, getting once again lost in his eyes.

“I think I'm gonna go see if Chilly has arrived. I'll leave you alone so you can catch up… lovebirds” Madders says, whispering the last word and running away before I can hit him.

“He is so annoying.”

“Yeah” Declan chuckles. “So, how are you feeling? Ready to have to see us 24/7?”

“Yes… and no. There are players I want to see 24/7, and others that I don't want to see. At all.”

“And in which category do I fit in?” Declan asks with a cheeky smile, taking a step forward. He is so close now that I can smell his perfume all around me, and that always is so dangerous. 

“Pick a guess” I manage to say.

“I think that, for example, a certain City player with a questionable haircut and big calves fits the not seeing him at all category.”

“As if his haircut was the only questionable thing about him” I snort.

“So mean, Olivia” Declan says, closing the space between us a bit more, now making me focus on his lips. On how much I want to kiss them. “You can't do that here.”

“Uh?”

“Kiss me, Liv. Not here.”

“I wasn't thinking about…”

“Of course not” he laughs. “But there is a place where you can do it. No one goes there.”

“Declan, I can't break the rules on my first day.”

“No one will see us. Come” he says, starting to walk away.

What do I do? Do I go with him? Do I run in the other direction? There is no one around, but what if…

“Liv, are you coming or not?”

“I… Ok” I say, taking a deep breath and following him. Following him and losing him all at the same time. “Declan? Declan, where did you go?”

“Here” I hear him say before a hand grabs my arm and drags me inside a room I hadn't seen, closing the door behind me and pushing me against it. “I've missed you, Liv.”

“I…” But I'm not allowed to say that I've missed him too, those lips I've been dreaming of kissing just a minute ago finding mine. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Declan… Declan, you are gonna be late.”

“Just one more kiss. The last one.”

“You said that five minutes ago” I laugh.

“Sorry” he smiles before kissing me again.

We've been at St. George's for a few days now, and every time neither of us is busy, we find ourselves meeting in this random room that is kind of hidden and making out, telling each other about our day between kisses.

“Ok, enough” I say, managing to stop him. “Those are enough kisses to wish you good luck for the rest of the season.” Because that was his excuse to meet today. That he needed me to wish him good luck for the game. 

“I beg to differ.”

“Declan… no” I say, putting a finger on his lips when he moves forward once again.

“I'm going to eat you.”

“Declan!” I laugh when he bites me.

“You taste so good, Liv.”

“What doesn't taste good is the bench, which is where you will be if you are late to catch the bus.”

“Urgh, fine” he says, finally giving up. “But you have to promise me something.”

“What now?” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Don't fall asleep until I'm back.”

“No, not happening. The moment the game ends, I'm gone. I have an early morning tomorrow because I have to make sure you lot have your coffee ready.”

“Well, that's a shame. Because I know I am scoring tonight, and that when I'm back I'm gonna want to celebrate” he smirks.

“You…” I'm pretty sure that what he has in mind to celebrate that possible goal, isn't having a drink together. 

“You and I, Liv” he whispers, caressing my cheek. “If you want to, of course.”

“I… I do. But here?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes” I nod. 

“Then wait for me awake” Declan says before kissing me again.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Don't fall asleep, Olivia. Don't” I say to myself. But it is impossible. 

The game is a snoozefest, no one has scored, and Declan won't be doing it since he was already subbed off after feeling something on his hamstring. But even if nothing happens tonight, I want to be awake and call him after the game is over, ask him how he is feeling. Will I manage to do it?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I’m so sorry about last night, Declan. I didn't manage to stay awake and I didn't hear my phone when you called me.”

“It's ok, don't worry” he smiles. A tired smile that, mixed with his bed hair, makes me want to cuddle him until he falls asleep again. He's never looked cuter.

“How is your hamstring feeling?”

“It doesn't seem to be anything serious.”

“Oh, great.”

“But see how all those kisses weren't enough? Now we have to reschedule our date.”

“Shh!” I say, looking around. We are at the cafeteria, half the team already there waiting for Southgate.

“They are busy drinking your wonderful coffees, Liv. They don't care about us” Declan chuckles.

“Just in case. If there is something I've learnt this week, is that you guys love gossiping.”

“Heard anything juicy?” he asks, arching an eyebrow. 

“See? You just proved my point” I reply, making him laugh, some of his teammates look our way. Great, just great. “You should go join the others.”

“I prefer your company.”

“Declan…”

“Ok, ok. But don't forget about you know what.” It is the only thing I've been able to think about since he suggested it, so I think I won't be forgetting about it, no. “I personally can't wait” he winks before walking away and leaving me holding onto the counter as if my life depended on it. 

How can something so simple turn me on so much? Urgh.

[82mitsu]

{18Trip} The 18 Questions Corner - Kinouchi Tao

This is a translation for the 18 questions interview uploaded on the official Youtube channel. I suggest to read this translation alongside it!

Note: P stands for "Player", this series has a voiced male & female character for the player. The interviews are conducted by the male player in this case.

P: 18 questions for the Tourism Ward Mayors! We look forward to your cooperation!

Tao: Yeah, nice to work with you.

What’s your name?

It’s Kinouchi Tao. 

How old are you?

I’m twenty.

Tell us about your occupation!

Just doing work for HAMA tours at the moment. Still considering my options though.

What’s the first thing you do when waking up in the morning?

Nothing interesting, just washing my face. 

Anything you’re particular about with lunch?

Not exactly… I just go with whatever I feel like that day. 

What pops up in your mind when it comes to “evening”?

Gotta be the bell after school.

What’s your routine before bed?

Anigun… Ah, it’s a fully immersive FPS. Been addicted to it lately. 

Where do you start with washing your body?

Good question. From the shoulders…? to throw a guess. 

What’s essential when leaving for a trip?

I’d say shoes. The durable ones do the job.

What do you check before traveling somewhere?

Hmmm… pubs and all? Since I got old enough to drink alcohol.

What’s your favorite method of transportation for traveling? 

…Um, as long as it’s not the train, anything will do. 

What’s one item you’d bring to a deserted island?

Let’s see… a handheld gaming console. 

Please give us some fanservice! 

Fanservice… fanservice? Ha, Thanks for Coming, Here’s A Big Welcome to You? -like that… nonevermindactually- 

Who’s someone you’d lean on for support? 

Right. I think it’s Raito-san. He is our leader. 

Who would you swap bodies with for a day?

I think Noon Squad’s Nanaki would be nice. 

What would you want to do as them?

I like to sing, so thought like, maybe it would be cool to that while playing guitar… something like that.

Pass on a message to your roommates!

Chihiro. Thanks for playing Anigun with me every night. Let’s bag that master duo rank! 

Tell us from the heart, what’s a “journey” to you? 

A new map expansion… it’s just something fun no matter how I look at it.

P: Thank you, those were all 18 questions!

Tao: Oh, already over? Nice job!

Tao: HAMA’s 13th Ward Mayor, Kinouchi Tao here. Don’t have any merits worth mentioning but, I’ll do my best to be useful to everyone.

[senka-mesecine]

Girl gimme a ficlet about Bobby (Barnes 🩷) not being able to sleep after receiving a letter from a girl he left at home ages ago, finding him and checking up on him 💌 😩

love ya,✌🏻 thanks if you do this 😘

Bobby.

Robert Barnes x (Indirect) Reader.

@woman-with-no-name

-

Suck up O'Neill brought him a letter that morning with the words 'Heya, Bob. Thinkin’ this is for you.’ and twelve hours later, the envelope was still precisely where Barnes left it. That was the way of things.

Next to the poker stack.

In the company of Budweiser cans and emptied ashtrays.

People just didn’t have the habit of touching his things. Didn’t have the balls, more like. So, he could put stuff exactly where he wanted to put them and expect to find them there, not even an inch moved, however many hours or even days later. Was a little test he tended to conduct and the result was always the same. Things intended for him remained where he wanted them to remain and he supposed why he put off reading this particular bit of correspondence was precisely due to who and where it was coming from. Letters made Barnes comfortable, that was the truth of it. He could admit that to himself, couldn’t he? Nobody would hear him in his own head, now would they? Not that he’d ever say it or even talk about the subject but in these four years, the only mail he’d receive was the allotted provisional parcel every limpdick in this platoon got by default. Waterproof matches and cigarettes. Reminders that the outside world existed as such — it tended to give him a whiplash he’d rather cut down by the root so it would cease growing especially when the letters were from you. He recognized the address in an instant, just by throwing a careless glance at it. After all, a no-name hill hamlet former mining settlement not appearing on a map had only two houses. One he grew up in and another, the neighbor’s family down the dirt road. He thought how you’d have to find a way to travel out to Cottage Grove thirty two miles down the nearest highway just to send this fucker.

And now, ten thousand miles away on the other side of the world, he was putin’ off readin’ it. You sack of shit, he thinks, to himself, about himself, biting the bullet, tearing up the envelope, using a knife to cut the glued in paper open.

Read it and get it over with.

‘Bobby.’

The first introductory word hits him like a speeding train and something coils up inside of him.

When was the last time he was called that? Childhood?

Seemingly, in a time that bypassed memory or reason by now.

‘I know you don’t like letters much but I’m of the firm opinion everyone should receive nice words from home every once in a while and I know that approximately a few weeks from now, if everything goes well, you’ll be holding this in your hands and the thought makes me happy because it’ll be like a hug or a long overdue ‘hello’; touching across distances through a piece of paper I had in my hand and that you have in your hand right now seeing as how the biggest event this tiny neighborhood has had in years, maybe even decades, was the day you were deployed and the biggest event is the hope you’ll be tired of fighting and come back. Nothing’s happened since. Not much happens here ever. Life moves slowly. Except thoughts of you. We grew up together, fence against fence, roof against roof, so I’m allowed to say that. You’re missed out here, Robert. Do you know that?’

Barnes looks away, just about ready to crumple up the damn thing and stop reading, paused in his intent perhaps only by the passage about touch and the thought of your fingers holding the pen, the imaginary phantom of your presence lingering like a shadow and he envisions you there, squeezing your hand. Sap. You were always a sap. What were you doing, waitin’ around for him, not living your own damn life? He was tempted to take to the paper himself, feeling like some sort of snot nosed brat wasting time on civilian correspondence, just so he could write you a scathing reply that orders you to move on with yourself and quit deluding yourself. Find a man, he thinks only for the notion to immediately perish once he feels his jaw tighten and he concludes that no — no, the thought of that didn’t feel good at all. Not as effective of a retort as he felt it would've been. You were never a walkin’ back home like a couple, you were just the neighbor’s kid and not much else, but something about you being given away to someone felt like giving away his gun and the last bullet in it. Naked. Stripped. Disarmed. 

Jealousy.

Felt like jealousy. Cold and murderous.

He places his arm as a rest under his head instead of a pillow so it would tempt him away from grabbing a nearby bottle and chugging it dry. He keeps reading, fingers squeezing the paper so hard he leaves dents behind. Angry at you, both for waiting around and at the very idea you'd be with someone else. Why he didn't like letters. Precisely for this reason. Did something to his insides.

‘We heard you were wounded a couple of times in combat but as you never write us, we worry. We worry constantly. More so when you kept re-enlisting and extending your contract. I don’t begrudge the lack of letters. I can’t imagine it’s easy writing out there. Can’t imagine a person has the tremendous desire to. It’s a different world; different habits emerge. So I wrote you instead to let you know that I know. I know why pictures don’t ever arrive either. I want you to understand I don’t mind and it changes nothing for me. What kind of friend would I be if it bothered me? I care about you. I love you. I think I always have. Ever since we were kids. That’s so much easier to confess in written words than it is in person although I think I’ll be swallowed up by the floor while just holding the pen. Funny how that works. Getting second hand embarrassment like this. Everything feels so formal and grand in a letter, yet so far away and distant, like writing an imaginary someone. That’s how long I haven’t seen you. Seems a lifetime and a half.’

In a sudden flash of unease, Barnes touches his own face, the scarred part, feeling himself, somehow self conscious even though he was down in the foxhole all by himself, laying down on mattress away from sight, in the shade. In his mind's eye, though, your eyes are right there, so kind he could blind himself purely not to look at them looking at him. Yeah, so? You heard about how many times he was shot? Heard about this face? Heard about how many stitches they needed to pull him back together? What now? Want a medal for it too? He sits up from his bunk, angry, angry at everything and not even sure at what exactly out of the whole goddamn bunch, and then it hits him; he was angry at your acceptance because it was like a limp, soft thing that he could crush in his hand and not even blink. He remembers you as a child. You were sweet then too. The same now as well. The world hasn't changed you. Ruined you in any way. Which is precisely why you should never write here again if you knew what was good for you.

The final lines of the letter traced by his thumb get lost under his touch.

He loathes admitting he wishes there was more.

About anything. Any topic at all.

The weather, how it affected you and whether the crops were good this year.

How many inches you've grown since he's last seen you, if at all.

‘But, Robert — You don’t have to respond, even now. Toss this into a fire once you’re done. Tear it up. Step and spit on it. Just understand that there’s always a home to come back to. And someone who’d receive you with open arms once you do. That’s the point of all of this, ultimately. That you’re so very dear to me.’ With all the love in the world — your cherished friend.

Your words come to an end and all he's faced is a momentary blank, thinking about that concept, there always being a home to come back to, that he was, what'd you say, dear to you? Dear to you. Dear. Dear. He measures to word carefully, testing it, scrutinizing it, head falling back until he's looking up at the earthy ceiling held up by wooden pillars. He wasn't clueless. He knew there was a place to go back to in the technical sense. Walls. A roof. Windows. A patch of soil. But, the thought you were actually waiting? That you loved him? He wanted so badly to label you as stupid, a time-waster, idle and someone throwing away actual years and for what, finding he couldn't do it. Yeah, he loved you too. Just thought you'd wisen up and move on so he could be relieved for once. Relieved that you'd cease holding out and suffering. Unwittingly, perhaps for the first time in years, he imagines himself being there. He sits down at the same dining table as you and the world's suddenly worth a damn again. He folds up the letter, neatly, slowly, and tucks it into the first pocket he can feel up once he hears footsteps, turning eyes towards the root of the sound.

Red.

-"Hey there, Sargerooney? Letter, huh?"-

O'Neill bumbles, a half-smoked cigarette hanging from his mouth, seeming fidgety and nervous, like he was expecting praise for a job well done but Barnes almost finds he can't be profoundly pissed off at the guy. Not today. Maybe some other time, just not exactly now. Feeling, perhaps, internally grateful. For bringing him this. Bringing him you. Having the good sense not to touch you. Open you up. He says nothing in response, humming, at best, as a retort, deciding to give Red a good, hard stare instead. He felt that was more than sufficient, still pondering you and reaching out across that table where you'd write your letter to hold your hand. The hills of East Tennessee are frozen and as cold as a dog's bone in his mind, cooling off the searing humidity of the jungle; the war's over and he stays there with you in a snowfall that never ends, cutting off all roads to everywhere and anywhere. It's you and him. Nobody else in the mist. Barnes doesn't sleep that night by choice, hand pressed over the pocket containing your torn envelope. You're right there, sleepin' with him.

Tomorrow, he decides he'll go back to reality.

[chirpybirdy]

hboww2 rewatch prompt 4! im sorta happy with it lol i did exactly what i meant to do tho like alex has a "artists will love your body like youre a painting" vibe and buck has more experience because im on team all-austin-butler-characters-sleep-around

ANYWAYS no warnings, just gentle kissing. also included below the cut:

Alex had been thinking things with Major Cleven were going much better than could be expected when a hand lands on his knee. “Is this that kind of… since there’s no women around? That…?”

“You think you’re that pretty?” Buck teases.

“I think everyone thinks you're that pretty. Not that I’m calling you a woman, Major.” Alex winces. “Sorry, Major.”

Buck laughs it off, “Don’t worry about, Lieutenant. 'Sides, I don’t really mind about that.”

“I suppose you don’t have to.” Alex breathes out.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Alex?”

“It’s all good things,” Alex evades. He eyes Buck, wondering if the major will let him drop it, and it seems he will. “Hey, Buck,” Alex starts.

“Yes?” Buck hasn’t moved his hand from Alex’s knee since he placed it there, but the heat has spread faster than a prairie fire.

“You were suggesting, uh,” Alex laughs, “I don’t think I can say it.” Buck’s hand reaches over for Alex's. With a jolt, Alex drops the charcoal he was using and instinctively mourns the mark it leaves on his paper.

Buck helps him forget. He draws Alex’s hand up to his mouth and gently guides him to brush his fingers against his bottom lip. Charcoal dust shades in his five o'clock shadow.

“You don’t have to pretend I’m someone I’m not, Alex. Tell you the truth, I’d rather you kept looking at me the way you are now. No hiding your good-looking self, either.” His tone is serious and his face is warm.

Alex nods slowly and tries to remove the nerves from his smile. “Am I looking at you like I think you’re really pretty?”

Buck grins almost like he’s shy. Almost. There’s a dash of smugness that Alex would look forward to trying to capture with charcoal.

“Alright,” Alex bites his lip and plays the flirt, “I can do that.” He moves his hand to the back of Buck's neck, sketching a thin line across his cheek as he does so. Buck lets go of his hand real fast to hold Alex’s neck, and they pull each other close.

“I’m not trying to hide,” Alex tries to admit.

“If you do, I’ll hide with you.” His mouth brushes over Alex’s and his tongue slips daintily across his lip. The action buries the rush of excitement of getting out of the Stalag with excitement of a different kind. “Sounds nice.”

Buck keeps Alex tight to his side but gives Alex the power to deepen their kiss at his own pace. To touch and be touched, to be the one who toes the line and the one who decides where the line is. Alex kisses Buck like he’s learning how to draw a woman’s curves. Moving his hands to know how to define her waist. Mapping the shapes of muscles and give of skin with careful, physical study. “Where are we going to hide?” Alex asks, in the short moment where Buck’s tongue isn’t in his mouth.

“Gotta figure that out, don’t we?” Buck’s hand travels down to his hip and encourages Alex closer. Alex throws his leg over Buck’s thigh and this no longer counts as sitting side-by-side. Buck’s arm winds around Alex's shoulders and the other hand moves further down his hip to rub up and down his leg. Alex holds Buck's face in his hands and thinks, This is new. The man appearing in his sketchbook whenever Alex wasn’t wary enough, drawing Alex onto his lap.

“Your sweat smells good.” Alex pants. He feels Buck’s fingers trail up his side and he thinks about how this will make his art better.

“Mm, used to be complimented on my aftershave.” Buck sighs.

“They didn’t know any better. Not as smart as me.”

Damn, Buck seems to like his confidence, “That’s right,” he pants, “know that about you, Alex.” He nips at Alex’s lower lip and licks it better in the same moment. Tentatively, Alex finds Buck’s and matches his action with a bite and a lick of his own. Their kiss rises in intensity yet the passion can’t come close to the volume of discovery that rushes out between them.

"Saw a woman dance once," Buck whispers. "In a dark bar in the early morning, smoke from last night had finally sank into the walls and our clothes. You know how it hangs in the air? Anyway, she was dancing like she was born from the smoke and dark and didn’t care about her parents. No agony of birth, either, just the songs they sang that night. Running her hands all along up and down her body. Turning slowly like how you turn the page, all careful of what she’d done before, and trying something new. Sketching herself a body so sexy." His lips are wet from both their tongues as he presses them against Alex's firmly for a moment. "Think about her sometimes."

Alex observes that Buck takes things slow with no frustration in sight. Kissing him is like floating with someone nice in calm water on a warm day; touching him is like making ripples that go on for miles with not an answering wave in sight. "What were you doing a bar that early?" Alex asks, and immediately wonders why he asked—might as well have asked what he was doing in the Stalag. “Don’t guys usually move onto something else by now?”

Buck’s answer is breezy but not dismissive. “You understanding why I fell in love with the B17s?”

Alex chuckles. He shifts in Buck’s lap. “I get why you flew point. You like leading men on, Major Cleven?”

“Oh, you’re quick.” Buck grins. “Yeah, I like taking my time. What about it, Alex?” His grip tightens around Alex’s waist despite that. Those P51s are a tight fit with a small seat—and all skills are transferable. His experience lends itself well to grinding on Buck’s lap now. Something clicks right and when Alex lets out a gasp, Buck is right there with him. They both start breathing a little faster as Alex moves. The air thins between them. Buck spreads his legs a little and Alex shifts up to let him do it.

Looking down at Buck, Alex thinks men weren’t meant to get this high this fast—not even fighter pilots. He gets deep when his mouth dives down to meet Buck’s. His tongue plummets into Buck’s mouth and his hands are as rough in Buck’s hair as Buck’s hands are on his ass. His dick presses against Buck’s stomach and Alex wants to know, “You want me?” It was tough work to get his mouth free to ask, and Buck doesn’t take the chance himself. His refusal to make his agreement possible seems to be the only way he wants to give it.

Alex’s undershirt is removed, slowly, like it’s a silk negligee. His dirty shirt feels sensual as it slides off his skin and Alex moans with the sensation. The usual chill of the stale library air is now foreign to their corner. It smells of Alex and Buck only—and it’s warm. Buck breaks away from Alex’s mouth to kiss down his neck desperately to his chest. Alex hasn’t been here long enough to lose all his weight, and Buck is eagerly taking advantage before it’s gone. Gripping Alex’s bare skin like he’s a gift. When his hands loosen, just for a second, Alex wriggles back.

“No, let me hold you," Buck reaches for him, begging.

Alex smiles, amused and proud. "You’re shaking," he notes. Buck’s hands do tremble slightly as they hang in the empty space Alex created. “Here I thought you only like me for my maps.”

Buck lands his shaking hands on Alex’s thighs. “Don’t say that.” Alex had been about to say he was joking but Buck continued on. “You told me what it’s like out there. I like knowing.” He pauses. Gets a contemplative look on his face. “Guess I just like knowing.”

A bell sounds and Alex wrinkles his brows trying to recall what it’s for. Buck sighs, giving Alex’s thighs one last fondle before letting him know that was the dinner bell.

“Not sure I’m hungry.” Alex huffs ruefully as they stand to leave.

“Eat.” Buck orders. He trails his fingers across Alex’s waist, following the guidelines of his belly hair to his treasure trail. “Don’t miss meals.”

Alex feels his face heat up under the attention. “Yes. I won’t.”

Buck nods at this, and now it seems his Major Cleven persona is fully back on. “Don’t dally, Alex.” Alex is about to say yes-sir but Bucks stops him with a quick kiss. “I’ll be looking for you.”

[ezlebe]

if ur still up for prompts: tom & greg are forced to take the subway/tube/metro/underground

Rome

“Greg, buddy,” Tom says, looking up at the jamb of the subway car with a highly cocked brow, mouth slipped into a sideways grimace, as he raises a brow over his shoulder. “I think this may be another one of those things they build without you in mind.”

Greg nods a few times into his chest, staring at his feet; he is quite aware, and pretty sure he’s ridden more trains than Tom, too, at least recently. “The, uh – the upstairs was nice, though.”

“Rome?” Tom clarifies, sharply, then barks out a laugh while straightening his coat and grabbing at a pole for balance. “Yeah, bud, Rome is pretty damned nice.”

Greg tries to tuck his elbows in closer, inhaling a shallow breath while more riders shove in around him. The train starts to move, a few moments later, and he finds himself grabbing around Tom for the same pole, and then trying not to think about how close they’re standing together.

“It does make me feel like I’m on the run from something in a Bond film,” Tom says, gesturing briefly with both his hands around the pole in front of him, as the train attains speed between stops. “The Italian announcer on the speakers, the terrifically dressed public, the sideways stares everyone and their mother is sending you like you’re in here with a gun to your head.”

“Why can’t we have a car?”

“We do, Greg,” Tom says, mouth flattening and nose flaring, as he looks up to Greg with a cock of his head. “But Hosseini and Furness are quietly strangling all the fun out of being a C-level by only giving us one and stealing it from us.”

“No, I-I mean, you know… just get our own?” Greg says, leaning in a bit closer to Tom, trying to ignore a whole group of teenagers who are, for sure, openly gawking at him. “You have a credit card?”

“You have a credit card,” Tom repeats, mockingly, as his eyes peek briefly to the announcement over the door with a twitch at the corner of his eye. “Why the fuck didn’t you volunteer this bright idea three stops ago?”

Paris

Greg runs a hand through his hair, looking over his shoulder at the platform, then in front of him at the wall.

“You should ask,” Tom says, his voice rounding around the words in a distinctly taunting manner. “So I can… watch yet another snooty Parisian frown at you like they understand as well as me.”

“It’s, like… just an accent, you know,” Greg says, lifting a hand and scratching his nails along one of his brows, as his eyes trace dubiously from… He thinks this is the tunnel with the – Fuck, could this station have multiple like levels? He glances quickly to Tom, who is, in addition to being really unhelpful, faintly rosy cheeked and loose-limbed with wine. “I-I think they just don’t hear it a lot.”

Tom scoffs under his breath, muttering a mocking taunt. It abruptly leads into an odd sort of hum, attention plainly shifting, as he elbows Greg in the side. “You know that can of worms everyone is always talking about?” He whispers hoarsely, lurching forward and jabbing a finger toward the rail map and tracing down a red line with his fingertip – one that is for sure, at least, not in this station. “This is where they dumped it out.”

Greg exhales a weak laugh, tilting his head in agreement. He looks sideways at a tickle at the back of his neck, catching a flat-mouthed woman about a foot and a half shorter than him glaring at Tom; he presses his own mouth into a tense smile when she peeks toward him. It just earns him a harsher frown.

Tom offers a goofy, spooky sort of hum, grabby hard at Greg’s bicep. “If you stare at it long enough, the lines feel like they move.”

“You’re so drunk, Tom,” Greg mutters, giving up and pulling out his phone, which he probably should’ve done before they even walked down into the tunnel. “And we’re, like… like, so lost.”

Tokyo

“It’s short for everyone, Greg, don’t whine,” Tom says, ducking under the barrier, then pointing at the kanji above the yellows and black padding on the wall. “See this? It says watch your head.”

“This whole like station is short for me,” Greg mutters, reaching up and scratching at his nose with a harsh breath.

Tom raises his brows, slow, glancing up and down Greg with a click of his tongue. “Oh, have we hit the threshold?”

“What?” Greg says, dropping his hand, tucking it under his opposite elbow, as he begins to hunch.

“Are you finally so hungry that you’ve reached pitching a fit levels of surliness?”

Greg rolls his eyes with another near-scoff.

Tom slips his hands into his pockets with a slow tilt of his head.

“But it’s just really – ” Greg makes a pinched, pouting expression, now lifting both hands to hard through his hair. “We didn’t have to go to that like super old hotel, you know? I felt like a-a freak, Tom.”

“It was a piece of history,” Tom says, a bit curious to what point Greg is going to begin to pace; he gives it about thirty to forty-five seconds.  “We should start staying at three hundred year old hotels everywhere to expose you to more culture.”

Greg is quiet for a few beats, then his feet move a step back, then forward, which is nearly a pace. “I-I’ll just stay home. Whatever.”

“You liked that hot spring – stayed in it long enough to make yourself a bit of Greg-stew,” Tom says, feeling a grin curve the edge of his mouth with a quiet huff. He had almost thought Greg had drowned. “That was a good time.”

Greg exhales a deep breath, shoulders visibly slumping, blinking down at the floor. “…Yeah.”

Tom furrows his brow. “What now?”

“You never came down,” Greg mutters, looking up at Tom, then back away, and his bad temper seems to have shifted from broad-spectrum to pretty damned pointed.

“Oh,” Tom intones, as he wets his lips, glancing down the length of the tunnel. “I… didn’t get a chance. Busy, busy.”

Toronto

Greg leans into a pole, arm wrapped around it and hand in his pocket. “It just smells like home.”

“I want you to say that to your mother,” Tom says, from where he’s sitting sideways on the seat, as he sweeps a hand back and forth. “Even she would be offended.”

Greg shakes his head, looking down at the scuffed lines on the floor. “No, I mean, uh – we used to ride it a lot. She like the… I don’t know, but doing it made her feel better?”

“Oh?” Tom says, raising his brows with a sharp tut.

“We used to get off and walk around at random stops, too,” Greg says, turning his head toward the window, watching the tunnel lights whiz by alongside the track. “Grandpa would like send people to get us, sometimes… The one I liked best was this one near a park… Like, Jack Park, or something.”

“Rewind a bit there; you would –?” The train slows to a slightly uneven stop, and Tom jerks up and forward, as Greg loses balance, reaching up and steadying with hands on his waist when he threatens to fall. “Hey, now! You could crush someone, there.”

“Sorry,” Greg mutters, feeling faint heat flush up his neck.

“You good?” Tom asks, peering up with a furrowing brow. “Not finally succumbing to vertigo?”

“Yeah – I mean, no,” Greg says, leaning a little into Tom, who doesn’t seem to notice, nor does he let go. “Just, uh… wasn’t watching?”

Stockholm

“The trains here should be like… bigger?” Greg says, as people pile into the car seemingly without end, truly making the train feel like a sardine can. “Right? They’re a… a larger people.”

Tom rolls his eyes in a glance to where he has an arm wedged along Greg’s back, as the only thing between him and some other big bastard. “I think that might be the problem.”

Greg mumbles something low and unintelligible, then exhales a raspy yelp, as he’s shoved, promptly turning in closer to Tom with his chin practically in his ear. “The, uh – it’s rush hour?”

“Seems that way,” Tom says, tucking his arm more deliberately, holding Greg against him and the pole and acting as balance for both of them. “Would probably help of you were less addicted to that thing.”

Greg blinks down at Tom, then further down at the phone clutched between them in his folded hands. “I’m reading the news.”

“Sure, sure,” Tom says, eyes rolling, looking toward the windows with a low huff. The dumb little puzzle game is literally right under his nose. “What’s the headline then?”

“Uh,” Greg intones, and tucks in somehow impossibly closer, head ducking, as his thumbs swipe plainly to another app. “Uh… The gift-card conundrum: Convenience with an environmental cost.”

“That does sound like your kind of headline,” Tom says, dry, “That a hint – no gift cards for Gregory? You only want diamonds and cashmere?”

Greg huffs slightly, heavy against Tom’s chest, and rubs at his face with the back of his hand. The train lurches and he grimaces, thumb fumbling in the phone. “The sweater from, uh –”

Tom exhales a snort; he knows exactly the one. “Leret Leret.”

Greg looks up with a nod. “– I like that a lot; it’s, like… visually interesting?”

Tom pats with an awkward turn of his squished hand against Greg’s back. He ignores the sideways frown of the other rider that he accidentally elbows in the side. “More cashmere it is.”

New York

Greg frowns down at his phone, sweeping against the street between the stop and the – He swallows a weak yelp, as a hand grabs his ass, and he is a little resigned at himself for the fact he doesn’t even suspect it’s some mystery groper, let alone really flinches away.

“Hey, no –” he mumbles, grabbing Tom’s wrist and tugging the hand away from his ass. “You, like – it’s like super public?”

“You’re the one who wanted to go to this ‘fancy donut’ place,” Tom says, lifting his voice and playing at aloof, wriggling his fingers in Greg’s grip, and tugs his arm in a way that’s plainly more to draw Greg off balance than jerk away. “The least you could do is let me have some cake.”

“Tom,” Greg hisses, feeling his face heat, playing into the movement, like he’s reluctant, while leaning into Tom’s shoulder with his other hand. “Shut up.”

Tom could a brow. “Skipping out on a work day.”

“You’re like the boss,” Greg says, feeling his face heat worse at the sight of a fellow rider plainly bobbing their brows at the comment.

“Does that still apply when I’m following you around?” Tom demands, but it’s teasing, tugging Greg down a bit further, and chin lifted while a toothy smirk curls his lips. “You’re the reason we’re in this tin can instead of a car.”

“It, uh – it’s like quicker,” Greg insists, though he’s not really sure of that this time of day; he just knows the donuts are just a few minutes across from the station. He also – he just… Okay, so he knows Tom gets sort of extra touchy on the subway. He doesn’t ever like lean along Greg’s whole body in a car. “You know?”

“Sure, uh-huh,” Tom says, looking past Greg for a brief moment; he clicks his tongue, then nearly unbalances Greg for real, standing up from the seat while the train slows to a stop with a mechanical whir. His other hand reaches around and finds Greg’s ass, again, at the same time he bodily urges him toward the doors with a check at his hip. “I think you’ve just tricked yourself into liking these little tastes of a hell of man’s own making.”

“I guess, if you mean trains,” Greg mutters, a bit flat, feeling his mouth twitch with a smile when Tom glances up with a narrow look. “Sure.”

[bleachbleachbleach]

For the fanfic ask game! (14) If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? (and also which medium) (17) What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? (30) Ask anything! Who is your current favorite character to write?

Fic Writing Meme

(14) If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? (and also which medium)

I have strongly considered making a graphics package for REVERSE THE BONE that’s just like, all the material culture ephemera Hinamori collected over the course of the Train Job—Kira’s map, packaging and flyers from Iwatobi, a tourism map of East Rukongai complete with stamp rally, the Takenoyu business card… I love that kind of in-universe graphic design, and I’d already made the train tickets. Buuuut if I made more graphics, it would take that time away from writing.

Other than that, I always think of D O N K I in visual terms, because Hitsugaya spends so much of that fic being overstimulated by Worm TVs and weird cups and fast trains and, of course, Don Quijote itself. It’s a fairly melancholy fic, but the visuals that attend it all are so absurd I feel like it would be cool to see in a visual medium that could really play with that contrast. Maybe one of those books where you can pull new elements into the scene via pull tab, or open little doors, or initiate fancy pop-ups! THERE’S A DONKI AT THE END OF THIS BOOK:

(Kyoto May 2023) "That's just the aesthetic of any dollar store" YEAH but you can buy perishable prepared foods inside this one somewhere! (By the socks.)

(17) What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

I wrote a post-TYBW fic that involved spending a lot of time burying bodies in mass graves, because the only divisions that got mentioned as cremating their dead were the 11th and the 4th. The body burying happened for the ~vibes and because it didn’t occur to me to think about it, and it wasn’t until after writing it that I had the thought that like, oh hm, why wouldn’t everyone be cremated? Because in my mind Japan is a country of cremation. So I assumed for years that the whole fic was based on a flawed premise, and oh well, it’s Soul Society so it does whatever I want it to, I’ll live with that.

But then when writing the Train Fic, I looked up how bodies might be transported, and what kinds of receptacles were used. And I was like, well, it’s really not going to be the same visual if it’s just a bunch of boxes of ashes, lol. But in my reading, I learned that the dominance of cremation in Japan is super recent! Like mid-20th century recent! And my perception otherwise is a very Buddhist bias! After that, I ended up starting research in the Yayoi period and working my way forward, because I figured I’d get the full historical picture and then decide how I wanted to imagine Soul Society’s version of that swathe of history, since I figured 1) lifespan difference might result in some pre-Edo holdovers when it comes to the basics, and 2) Soul Society wasn’t going to have the same socio-historical pressures driving change, so in those instances where they were choosing to model things they did after the Living World, they probably also just cherry-picked whatever they vibed with lol.

Anyhow, this was a cool, short, pretty cute video about ancient burial practices and burial jars!

(30) Ask anything! Who is your current favorite character to write?

HAHA realistically, whoever’s feeling collaborative and is willing to be nice to me. 🥺 But in the extremely *likely* scenario where someone puts a gun to my head and says "you have to write a Bleach fic right now, while we watch, or we shoot you!" I’d probably choose to do it with Matsumoto.

Because she’s patronized one Junrinan confectionary at least one time, and was excited about Orihime’s cooking, and loves shopping and celebrations of all kinds, and learned traditional dance despite obviously not growing up in The Scene, my mind has kind of spun Matsumoto into someone who sees a lot of value in experiencing and learning about different cultures (which in her context primarily means Rukongai districts), and it’s fun to write her interfacing with all these things. She doesn’t seem to have strong ties to the district she came from, necessarily, but I feel like she has strong values around recognizing Rukongai at large as a real place with infinite cultural particularities—particularities she wants to honor and know about—not just a blank slate waypoint.

Closer to canon, she has so many interesting relationships with people all across the board, you can kind of bring her into any situation and she’ll probably have some kind of generative connection to it. I also love that even though she’s open to conversations that might be really difficult OR down to clown, she also has a private core that she doesn’t share, and it can be really fun to play with that dialogism when narrating from her POV. She’s just a really good time all around!

[pbandjesse]

It was wildly windy today. Scary at times! But it wasn't a terrible day. I was just very tired.

I fell asleep easier last night but waking up was very tough. I let myself sleep in until 730. And I left late but it was okay. I was moving really slowly. James was getting ready to go for a bike ride and I gave them a big hug but I really didn't want to leave so I didn't let myself wait for them to leave with me and left as soon as I was ready.

My lip is much more swollen but doesn't hurt as bad. Keeping it covered is helping and I found cutting a fabric bandaid seems to be the best way to cover it right now. Eating with a bandaid on my lip is impossible but I didn't have to change it as many times so I'm happy about that.

The ride in was fine but the wind was very strong. I didn't notice but Alexi had texted us that schools were opening two hours late so she would be in later. So that meant everyone came in later. Except me because I didn't notice it. Ah well.

I got to camp and had my bagel and read for a while. Jess asked me to make a ride wish list for Disney. So I did some research and figured out what rides I would like to try for. I'm not a big rides person but there are a few boat based ones I think I will enjoy. And it was fun looking into everything and the possibilities.

We are changing the order of the parks because the travel agent has been kind of useless and didn't tell us that Magic Kingdom is closing early the day were planning on going so now we are probably ending the week with Magic Kingdom instead of starting it. That's okay. I'm just excited to go with Jess.

Eventually people started coming in. And I was given a few small tasks. But I also just spent time reading and doing little things in the computer.

Heather trained me and Sarah on the camp registration website and how to see the wait-list and so because we could do that we could start helping to answer emails from parents. It turns out registering can be a little confusing so I made a reference sheet for parents with a step by step guide and hopefully it will help.

Celia came in to talk to Alexi. And it was nice to see her. I would have my lunch and went for a little walk. I was surprised that there were more downed trees from the storm but the ground was very very soft. It was nice walking around even if it was still to windy.

Nurse Joan came in today and I was able to give her the Christmas gift I had for her. She was very excited about the tiny "Nurse Quaktitioner" I had for her. Made her laugh really big. Love Nurse Joan.

I also have her and Nurse Becky some vintage maps of camp for them to decorate the infirmary once it's fixed up. I was happy to help.

We would have a big meeting about the counselor in training program this afternoon. Where we are trying to sort things out for when the contractor John comes next week. I was glad I had made all the different documents that I printed last week because I swear no one else really has anything ready. Like there were ideas and catching up and getting on the same page but I had actual programs and documents. I felt very ready. Which was nice. It's hard though when I say well I do this... Talking about specialty stuff for the summer and Alexi goes but you are so on top of things and preplan and prep! And I'm like yes. But everyone should be living up to my standards!!! Plus I've done a lot of the planning for the other specialties.

I would have some new ideas for our counciler in training program though. Including making a quiz to figure out what you would best be suited for. Which was fun to make and then I made everyone in the office take it to see if they got placed in different things and it worked really well honestly. Not perfect and I'm sure I'll change the questions a bit but I think creating a personality test for the job is a fun way to help figure out where each kid can go.

I had a few more things to make today. Including a staff survey about your favorite things. I tried to make it more interesting then just what's your favorite color. And it lead to a really nice conversation about what snacks would make our day better. I said a cinnamon soft pretzel. Heather said sushi! I was very surprised and that's why I thought it was a good question! I learned something about her. And we got to talk about the best pretzels we've ever had and that lead to more stories and that is the whole point. To learn more about each other on a deeper level.

I got ready to go right around 4. And I was so stupid tired. It hit me all of a sudden and driving home sucked. It didn't help that people were driving stupid. But despite others best efforts I made it home in one piece.

When I parked a nice man was walking on the sidewalks and we had a nice conversation about the weather. And it put me in a really nice mood.

But this did not last long. I got up here and immediately got overstimulated because there is just stuff everywhere. I tried to start moving stuff but I was just very very overwhelmed and didn't know what to do and then I found my cup in the dishwasher that I have asked a few times not to be put in there and I just absolutely melted down. I felt so tired and so upset. I texted James a million times explaining why I am upset. But I just felt very low.

I have basically been in bed since then. I am exhausted. I did go have some cereal but I may go eat something more substantial. James had the extended hours at the museum tonight so they should be home in another hour or so. And hopefully I can sleep faster and feel better tomorrow.

I hope the wind dies down. And I hope tomorrow is beautiful. Sleep well everyone. Until next time.

[raxistaicho]

Are we not Engaged? Part 4

Spoilers under the cut!

-Why won’t these people let me sleep T_T

-Alear’s room is quite pretty but ye gods that draft

-How does poor Framme keep ending up as the opponent in the arena, lol.

-Still on chapter 6

-Okay I need to try to continue the main story lol

-Alear Louis C: More of his spying on people. That said his odd philosophy surrounding his weird habit is interesting at least.

-Framme Chloe B: Oh this is literally just a continuation of the previous support scene. Chloe’s excitement over the bizarre eel sandwich was pretty cute.

-Alear Celine C: T E A. Also a weird legend about a spirit that drives off interlopers from Firene Castle with tricks. That said, Celine’s dedication and love for the peaceful nature of her kingdom is pretty endearing.

-Alear Chloe C: Chloe’s watching Alear sleep @,@ She apparently does this a lot. She wants to sleep in Alear’s room lol.

-Sommie is apparently “tall as a loaf of bread,” and weighs “2 peaches”. Okay.

-Finally continuing the story!

-Sparkle hair thief. She’s very bad at hiding. Oh, fake tears lol. Alfred falls for it, Alear seems unsure.

-Oh no it’s another boobie character.

-”Hiya Papiya” Yunaka is very annoying.

-Yunaka had the Emblem Ring it seems.

-”Holy Brocc-oly” jesus christ she’s just annoying.

-Oh okay she’s less bad when she’s not faking being cheerful.

-Micaiah has arrived :D Two of the best Lords were among the earliest Emblems.

-Micaiah can grant the ability to use staves. Those things she was famous for using in Radiant Dawn :p

-Hmm, it seems the attack has to do damage to poison. Louis stonks continue to climb.

-Etie’s grown str on 4 consecutive levels roflmao.

-Okay Yunaka’s actually quite good gameplay-wise.

-Chloe got MVP again. She had Sigurd this time so she spent a lot of time flying around and sniping people.

-Pretty good fog of war map, and those are often bad. The map was better-built around it than Chapter 3 of Three Houses was.

-Micaiah got Yunaka to turn her whole life around. She always was pretty incredible :p

-Alfred actually improving a bit seeing through Yunaka.

-Oh, Yunaka’s voice actress is Laura Post, knew she sounded familiar.

-Oh hey it’s Veyle again. She’s looking for her sibling. 100% it’s Alear.

-She’s carrying a red stone bearing Sombron’s sign roflmao.

-Alear bandaged Veyle’s leg, that’ll 100% identify her later. Also I notice Veyle has red and blue markings on her dress.

-Nosferatu, famously wielded by Micaiah XD

-I don’t know if I just got lucky, but it seems like cooking is BUSTED in this game. There’s way more to it than in Houses, too.

-Oh, so farm animals give you extra resource drops per map, very nice.

-Alfred Alear C: Alfred trained hard. Shame it doesn’t reflect in his use as a unit. He’s a bit eerily chummy.

-Celine Chloe C: Celine wants to go to a tea farm. They’re both sad about the war.

-Celine Jean C: She thanks him for the tea his town producers.

-Louis Chloe B: More bonding over spying on people, lol. Louis says he likes watching her because she makes a scene better.

-Alfred Yunaka C: Yunaka’s bugged that everyone’s accepted her so easily. She actually just seems bothered at the poor information control in Alear’s outfit.

-Anna paralogue time!

-She hid in a treasure chest wtf lol

-Oh jeez Anna looks terrible. Sad capitalist just can’t catch a break.

-Anna’s paralogue was super easy

-Vander Clanne C: Vander’s devoted and stuffy, Clanne’s bitter about running errands. Another SUPER short support.

-Alear Boucheron C: Alear’s stressed, Boucheron suggests stress-relief techniques.

-Etie Alfred C: These two are talking very awkwardly to each other but they’re not in-frame together, there’s a kinda split-screen dividing them lol. Where are they in relation to each other, I wonder. Oh, they were holding cups? The fuck, weighted tea cups??? That’s bizarre DBZ level shit.

-Skirmish time!

-That Sommie dislike T_T

-Alear Etie C: She’s super confident. That’s it.

-Chapter 7 time!

-Alear almost got sniped.

-Wait, how are Alear and co. “sneaking over the border” if Eve sent word ahead of them. Does Brodia not have soldiers watching over their border?

-Alcryst is a sensitive boi. I expect the people who disliked Bernie won’t treat him the same.

-Wait wait wait what the fuck they KNEW we were coming and just took a shot at people approaching without identifying them first?

-Lapis: This is the kingdom of warriors. If you can’t dodge one arrow, you’re not worthy to enter.

-Uhh, hey? Dumb bitch? YOU ALMOST KILLED THE DIVINE DRAGON. THIS GOES WELL BEYOND “HURDUR WE STRONK KINGDOM,” YOU COULD’VE IGNORANTLY GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO A WAR WITH SOLM AND FIRENE WHEN YOU’RE ALREADY MIXING IT UP WITH ELUSIA!

-Christ this fucking game went and got really stupid again.

-Oh my god, Lapis is still trying to pick a fight, this bitch is an idiot.

-Also “the weak feed the strong,” watch Edelgard detractors go “Hahah, Adrestia in shambles!”

-I take it back, Alcryst is the only sane man of this group and his retainers both suck.

-Alcryst needs a hug :(

-Ah, guess Roy’s up.

-Elusia took the bridge :U

-Oh hey it’s Hortensia.

-Oh my god, stop talking, Hortensia. Stop talking right now.

-Alcryst found his spine again \o/

-Hmm, Brodia’s been pushing around Elusia. Did Brodia push them into their current aggression?

-Jesus christ Rosado and Goldmary are both strong

-Hortsenia corrupted Lucina :(

-I do like the way defeated by retreating enemies go through the start of their death animation but recover into a normal low hp animation. That’s nifty.

-A gross old man keeps Lyn’s ring in his room? X_X

-One big problem I have is that the characters’ bond fragment post-battle quotes take precedent over normal ones, so characters I use in every battle are just always giving me canned dialogue.

[merbear25]

What they think of you for @vinsmoke-lover

I only wrote for the ones you left comments for, so I hope you like it

Allies

• America: Dude seems like they know how to have a good time! We match each other’s energy pretty well, but sometimes they get all amped up about history and kinda lose me. But you know, everyone has their hang ups! And btws they told me my world map was wrong, which just straight up isn’t true.

• England: They seem to have a good head on their shoulders, although they can be a bit too energetic when around certain countries. That being said, I can have a decent conversation with them. They appear to be quite fascinated in my glory days, so I quite enjoy sharing my stories with them. I’m sure it’s far more interesting to learn about them straight from the horse's mouth.

• France: They are such a clever thing and I must say they’re so adorable when they get enthusiastic. I heard that they’re interested in learning the language of love. Well, I’d consider myself to be the best tutor, so if they’ve got any questions, I will welcome their curiosity.

• Russia: I can’t say I like them. They’re just there for me to stare at. They can be too loud at times, especially around the countries I really hate, but they don’t bother me.

The Nordic 5

• Denmark: What a fun person! It’s always a great time when I’m around but with them it’s so much better! I think everyone else’s ears start bleeding when we’re together, but it’s no matter! They just got to know how to have more fun.

Axis

• N. Italy: Oh, they’re nice~ It’s so nice talking to them. Whenever I sneak away from training, I like hanging out with them. Sure I get scolded for leaving training early, but that happens anyway.

• S. Italy: My idiot brother really likes them, but I couldn’t care less. And yeah, I do know that they prefer me to him but guess what? I don’t care! (He’s blushing madly right now with his arms crossed)

• Prussia: What a cool person! They’ve got so much energy that we can bounce off each other’s personalities pretty well. We have fun playing the flute together, but of course, they could never be as talented at it as me! Ksksksks

The Baltics

• Estonia: Oh, they seem pretty nice, actually. They can be a bit energetic around others but can tone it down. Apparently, they enjoy my song! That’s such a nice compliment.

• Latvia: I don’t think Mr. Russia likes them very much, but I appreciate how much they’re willing to stand up for me and want to protect me.

• Lithuania: I’ve caught them staring a few times… Maybe I’ve got something on my face?

Misc

• Hungary: They seem pretty nice. I don’t mind at all when they stop by to visit. We can have lovely chats and I kind of like how excitable they are.

• Turkey: They don’t seem too bad! We could have a fun time together, I bet!

• Spain: A lot of energy but I like it! It’s never a dull moment when they’re around. Sometimes they’re too pessimistic and need to open themselves up to the brighter side of life. Maybe my cheery attitude will rub off on them some day.

• Austria: I enjoy playing with them, and they’re not bad to have for regular conversation. However, they snicker at some of the things I say and I can’t really figure out why. No matter, at least they’re not nearly as infuriating as that demon douche Prussia.

[cosimomarraffa]

Podcast with Patrick Little - Transformation Coach & PQ Mental Fitness Trainer

English: Transformation Coach & PQ Mental Fitness Trainer

Website: https://www.soberoasis.org/

PQ Landing Page: https://www.pq-mental-fitness.com/

Academy: https://www.marraffatrainingacademy.de

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cosimo.marraffa

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marraffatrainingacademy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosimomarraffa

…to download 6D's Skript, whatsapp to +49 1719430074

Geman Video: https://youtu.be/Xf1skgP87nA

German Audio: https://shows.acast.com/cosimo/episodes/podcast-mit-patrick-little-transformation-coach-pq-mental-fi

Welcome everybody, this is Cosimo Marraffa, Marraffa Training Academy and this morning we are all together with Patrick Little.

Patrick, we are very honored that you took some time out of your busy schedule and uhm are here with us.

and depth. Can you introduce yourself for the listeners? Yeah, thank you very much for the invitation My name is Patrick Little, I am speaking to you from Cologne in Germany where I live.

I grew up in Ireland as the fifth of ten children in the sixties and seventies. And then I came to Germany as a student for six weeks and forty years later I am still in Germany, now living in the Rhineland, previously living in southern Germany in Franconia for many many years where my children grew

up. I am very delighted to be with you here today. I am a transformation coach and a mental fitness trainer and I train people in both areas of personal development and professional development.

Love it. Thank you for sharing. If you look back on the past and uhm maybe take a challenge you had, what is one of the challenges you wanna tell us right now and how you overcame this?

Okay, so I can remember my father who left us far too early, 40 years ago, but his ethos was to leave the world in a slightly better condition than that in which we found it.

So there was always this family ethos of somehow improving the love of humanity and that is something that I absorbed very early and as part of that process I think a second aspect is uhm learning from our mistakes.

So as human beings we all make mistakes, the mistake is only really of value if we are willing and able to learn from, from it.

And so that is a skill that I have been developing over the years in my own life of course. And helping other people around me.

So I think those are the two things. This gradual improvement and learning from mistakes. Sounds good and sounds like an experience that you will use effectively to honor your fathers.

Mission statement, if we want to say it like this. If you want to share with the listeners one desire you have for the future.

And by the way, for everyone who today is the first time here, this is the 6D podcast. We go through 6Ds from the You Are Here map to the girl.

And 6Ds are basically uhm 6 words starting with DESIRE. The second is after you know your desire, what's the decision you take about this desire you have in your side, inside you.

The third is the DECLARATION. Making some kind of a vision, mission statement, declaration statement. The 4th D is the DEVOTION because every mission statement without action is like a nice shower but not more.

And the 5th D is the DEVOTION. Developing, after you have action steps maybe you see hey there needs to be an update.

You need to develop them and the 6th D is this view of the mountain where you deliver your desire. And you are there and enjoy the fresh air and the view and the view.

Then you achieved what you are about and what you are inside. So Patrick, what's your desire for the future that you want to share with the listeners today?

Well my desire you know I'm in my early 60s now so I have plenty of time to look back on that.

My desire is to make a meaningful contribution to uhm meeting the existential challenges that humanity as a species faces. Interesting.

What is the decision you are taking to realize this, make this a reality, this desire? here. Yes, so the decision that I made some years back was to dedicate my life to this purpose, to not be distracted by uhm Sideshows, which appear to be entertaining or uhm interesting.

Meaningful, uhm but to dedicate my life to actually engaging with individuals and organizations, uhm and doing my own inner work, so that I am better positioned to, to make such decisions.

Such a meaningful contribution. If we go on your homepage, do we find a mission statement, a declaration or something like this that would uhm incorporate all of this?

Yeah, so the name of my business is Sober Oasis and that's using sober in its most general sense of having a clear view of things and the tagline to my to my on my logo is learning to live the lives we love.

So my goal is to do that for myself in doing so to help other people get to a point where they are really happy.

Be living the lives that they love. Sounds good, okay. And uhm what are the devotion statement after your desire is clear, your decision is clear, your declaration statement?

What are, how do you devote, how do you, uh what are your action steps? Okay, so, so if we, if we want to get the kind of clarity that I refer to, we need a certain level of uhm what I would refer to as meditation.

So in our world today, there's a lot of distraction, there's a lot of chaos, there's a lot of uuuh uuuh there's a, somebody used the term recently, the weapons of mass distraction, which I thought is a really powerful word.

So what happens there is that we we we lose we lose contact with our inner herself. and it's it's only in the inner self where I can really get clarity around my values, what are my values here.

So the the the the declaration is to to do what is necessary to get the clarity around my values and then to begin aligning my thinking my feeling and my actions around my values to get this coherence between the inner values and And the outer behavior and so in order to do that I am a practitioner of

various modalities of mindfulness and awareness and mental fitness on a daily basis which allow me or help me to achieve and maintain that clarity going forward.

Interesting and umm everybody knows that there is umm the biggest room in the universe the room of improvement. So the fifth step is about develop.

How do you use to develop and to update your actions to really reach your desire? Okay. So that's a very good question and I think that if we want to uhh want to be of service, if we want to be, have an impact, we need to keep growing every day.

And just as in the realm of physical fitness, and I have uhh I'm very keen on physical exercise, running marathon, cycling, swimming and so on.

So just as in the realm of physical fitness, we need a regular daily practice. And we experience that. If we take a week off or two weeks off or for ill or whatever, then our level of fitness falls back.

In in the mental area it is it is exactly the same. So what I need is I need a daily practice of mental fitness.

And I- I engage in such a practice and I've trained in the positive intelligence or so called PQ mental fitness modality.

And this is what I use with my clients to achieve and then to develop further a umm, level of mental fitness.

We which helps me to uhh not to uhh react impossibly to all of the impulses that hit me as I go through each day but to be able to uhh go inside into this quiet place.

And to uhh connect with my values and on the basis of my values to respond to whatever situation I find myself in.

Interesting and uhhm wow it sounds like something that uhhm depends what we believe. If it seems a little bit uhh specific but uhh yeah I can imagine it works uhhm very good and I see you pretty chill.

So let's. I love it. And 60 is about. But deliver. Deliver is when you are on the top of the mountain.

Tell us your picture you see when you, when this, this idea gets reality. Yeah and I think umm the delivery is really walking, walking the talk.

Right, so I believe that any leadership is, is based on not on ideas or on statements but on actions. So whether we are leading in a, in a corporation or whether we are the parents of children or whether we are.

In a voluntary organization, if we want to motivate any people towards the goal, then it is the most important thing is how I myself behave.

To model the behavior that I want to see in a- in those around me. And that I think is the- is the most important factor.

Uh, other skills of course, communication skills and so on, very important. One skill which is very underestimated I think in our world is the- the capacity to listen, to read this- to people.

Umm, to- another is to tune into our own, um, emotional world. Uh, many of us, uh, find ourselves called off from our emotions at some point in life.

But the really important one is to model all the behavior that we wish to see in our families, in our certain friends, in our family.

In our workplaces, essentially. Thank you. It seems that, um, this is a very huge need for the whole world and, um, a very nice desire and deliver view that you have for your s- self and for the one around you and your clients.

If you would give to the listener one last piece of advice. One last gift around and um at the top of the hour of- What is uh podcast?

What would this be? I would say to find a way of engaging with silence. To go deep within. To tune in to uh the core values that each of us have.

You every day and to develop the capacity of aligning our our thoughts our feelings and especially our actions with the values that we find within ourselves.

Thank you, Patrick. This was an amazing podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank Thank Good night. I'm sure the listeners will uh keep commenting down uh or there where the thing to comment even is and feel free to connect with Patrick.

Feel free to connect with uh our training academy so you get the script of the 60s and for now I wish you all the best and for all the listeners a wonderful day and talk to you soon next time bye thank you very much bye bye bye Okay, let's head off.

For the whole transcript write to marraffa@web.de

DEUTSCH Für das deutsche Transkript bitte email an marraffa@web.de

[apexart-journal]

Mvelo Mahlangu in NYC, Day 16

Today, I looked forward to speaking with Sonia again, which I did not think was going to happen until I saw it scheduled in my calendar. I think this time, I felt a lot more prepared in asking some of the questions I had. I guess the first time we spoke, it was more about getting to know one another and the places we were in. This time, I wanted to find out how this program was going for her in terms of the difference in pace of her life in NY vs. Uruguay, and share what we both thought of the program itself.  Like me, she’s definitely been struggling to keep up with the daily journaling, which we shared a laugh but encouraged each other to keep going. She also did mention that she notices the difference in pace, being in Uruguay where people are a lot more slower paced - to the point where she sometimes finds herself walking too fast on the heels of someone haha! I will agree and say, NY is quite fast paced and everyone is on a mission to somewhere. 

As we eded off our call we realised there’s an overlap between her arriving back in New York, an me still being here. So we thought it would be nice to also physically meet up. 

My next activity was going to the transit museum with Nia and it was such a hidden gem! The entrance to the museum looks exactly like a subway entrance, so I'm sure a lot of people either miss it, or people walk into it confused. As we walked in, Nia mentioned that the museum was an old train station that still has an active line. Reading on the history of the subway system and finding out about all parties involved in the construction of it, I would say I have a new-found respect for something that is seen as ‘mundane’ or normal. I think it would be an appropriate moment to use the phrase “they ran so we could walk”, but in context to our daily use of the subways. I appreciate some of the activities I’ve had from the previous day because they’ve added wider context to some of my other activities. For example, I'm glad I went to MOCA and the labor studies with Barrie as they both added context to my comprehension of the labor unions that were created during the construction of the subway system. Less work hours, and higher wages. 

One thing I also really liked about the transit museum was the documentation of anything and everything related to the subway. This meant, the evolution of train route maps, the evolution of advertising in the train cars, the transition of turnstiles when entering the subway, and lastly the overall aesthetic of trains through the years. Nia and I discussed some of the design choices we observed regarding the evolution of interior design elements such as cushioned & fabric seating as opposed to the current plastic seating. We then made a comparison to other subway systems around the world. Which also made me realise that everything is a design choice based on the functionalities, needs & efficiency of the era and environment its been created in. 

Straight afterwards, I quickly grabbed some Onigiri to eat, and realised that the transit museum was right opposite the Quaker prayer centre/ church. That felt comforting knowing exactly where I was, cause most times it feels like I'm constantly ‘lost’ in a new place. I then made my way over to the NY Public Library. Definitely not like many libraries I know, it was designed well, with open space planing on the ground floor allowing people to work on one side but then on the other side was a gathering spot where people could meet and chat. I made my way up to the floor where the Spanish class was happening and when I looked at my calendar again, I realised it was an Intermediate Spanish class. I just remember thinking, “oh no! I’m considered basic, how will this class treat me?”. Regardless, I was looking forward to interacting with Spanish as I tried learning it a couple years ago using Duolingo… Its definitely much more different when hearing it in person. 

As I walked in, we had to introduce ourselves as well as share our opinion on a famous quote by Andy Warhol on his thoughts that everyone should have the right to 15 minutes of fame. This was asked in Spanish, and we had to reply in Spanish. I tried pulling my phone out for google translate but could only say “Hola, my name is Mvelo. Apologies, I’m new to this so don’t have much vocabulary”.  I was warmly welcomed and advised to be open to listening as everyone went onto introduce themselves around the circle. We then went through a power point presentation on famous people and the awards that they were given. Everyone in the circle took a turn to read paragraphs and translate it. Because there was a lot of repetition, I started understanding what was written on the slides and also took note of words and their meanings. So when it was my turn to read and translate, I knew what to do. Its like it clicked in my brain. At the end of the class, I realised I could understand some of the questions that were being asked on the presentation as Spanish is not too far a foreign language from English. The sentence structure was also easier to catch onto unlike other languages. I made an acquaintance, Damani, through the class who shared some tips on learning Spanish and some materials I could look into. We followed each other on instagram and realised that we have a mutual friend! It's funny how the world can be small at times and clearly, in one way or another, we are all connected somehow. 

I made my way back home and along the way, walked passed Grand Central. I definitely got hit with the same feeling like when I first saw it: So Alluring and Grand on the outside when looking at the central statue. Once I got to the apartment, I went into prep mode for my trip to Washington DC the following morning. I’m so excited!