#it's been totally renovated and it has a cute little back garden

[becca-e-barnes]

I'm not really feeling like myself today so I'm gonna indulge myself a little.

I don't remember the last time I talked about anal on here but more specifically, I'm imagining Lee and his little innocent wife again (I know you've all missed Lee as much as I have 🥵)

I think anal would be something she wouldn't often ask for because I always imagine she's quite shy about asking for what she wants but anal becomes one of their mutual favourites very quickly.

The way Lee would dote on you before anal just makes me melt. He's not nearly as reckless and rough. It's all gentle praises and soft kisses, trailing his thick fingers against your soaked sex until they're well enough coated in your arousal that he can slide two into your ass.

He'd be so mesmerised by the way you enjoy it; watching the sweet, innocent woman he married begin to explore her own sexuality and slowly start to indulge in fantasies she'd never admitted to anyone else just does it for him.

Lee's not a stranger to toys in the bedroom but nothing makes him hard like the memory of the first evening he came home from work to his wife, a couple of days after he'd got you a cute little princess plug.

He's usually greeted with a brief kiss when he comes in the door but that night, you couldn't tear your mouth off his if you tried. He tastes faintly of the toffees he keeps in the car but his mouth is so warm and distinctly his, it's addictive.

"What's gotten into you, sweetie?" You've pressed yourself flush against his body, standing on your tiptoes to kiss him while your fingers hook his belt loops, pulling him closer.

" 'm sorry. I need you." You've been worked up all day, imagining how your husband will touch you when he gets home and now he's here, you don't want to wait. The dinner can burn for all you care.

You notice how warm his hands are as they shift from your waist, reaching down to squeeze your ass and when you whimper against his mouth, it all clicks for him.

"Livin' room, sweetheart." That's exactly where he wants to be right now, instead of cramped in your tiny little hallway and when you don't make a move, he scoops you up and carries you there before sitting down in his armchair.

"Turn around. Bend over." They're clear instructions. Your feet are planted between his as you follow his lead. He pulls the skirt of your dress up and your underwear down your legs.

"God, do y'have any idea how wet you are?" The sparkling end of the plug sits neatly between the cheeks of your ass but it's hard to miss the way your slick arousal seems to almost glisten on your skin in the dim lighting.

Your breath catches in your throat feeling your husband trail his thick fingers from your neglected clit, back to tease your soaked entrance. Your body resists him pressing into you though. Having one hole filled at a time is more than enough for you for now.

"Thought I'd try it this mornin'. Slipped it in before I started the cleaning." You might feel embarrassed at how exposed you are if you weren't so turned on. "Couldn't even think straight by noon."

"Such a good girl for me. Shoulda called, honey. I'd have come straight home" He taps the base of the plug rhythmically and even that's enough to make you squirm. With his other hand, he's palming his own cock through his work trousers but that's not his main focus in that moment.

"Let me take the edge off for you. I'll take real good care of you after dinner, how does that sound?" His fingers circle your clit with the kind of ease that only comes with practice while he taps the base of the plug with the fingers of his other hand. Your body flutters around the metal inside you, offering a pleasant reminder of how full you feel and you're quite sure nothing will compare to the evening you have ahead of you.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

I can't believe that this tiny looking 1870 shotgun house in New Orleans, LA is a 3 family tri-plex. It has a total of 4bds, 3ba, and the price is $589K.

This would be the 1st unit. The home has been renovated into 3 separate apts., but they did leave some elements of the original architecture like the floor and the fireplace in this room.

This does look like a cute older shotgun home.

There's a new eat-in kitchen with so many cabinets. This kitchen is a simple white with wood countertops.

This bedroom is large enough for a canopy bed without looking crowded.

And, there's also an original brick fireplace. With 4 total bds., there are two 1bd. apts. and one 2bd.

Nice new bath.

The double doors on the side of the house are the entrance to the 2nd unit and it's also a 1bd. apt.

When you enter, the cute small blue kitchen is on the left.

The is the living room with a lovely fireplace painted white.

The bd. has a fireplace and it's pretty large for a shotgun house.

And, it has a renovated, small 3pc. bath.

The back doors, furthermost down and the last doors on the side of the house, are the entrance to the 3rd and largest apt. Then entrance isn't that attractive b/c the laundry is right there.

But, this is a lovely living room. It has a large fireplace with a decorative mantel.

The kitchen is cute. It has an exposed brick fireplace wall, white cabinets and wood counters.

The reason that this apt. is the largest is b/c it also includes the 2nd fl.

Bathroom #1 is a little narrow, but it opens up a little toward the back.

It has a new toilet and sink.

Bd. #1 is a cute little room with a nice fireplace.

Of the 2 bds, this is the primary. It has an original fireplace too.

This unit has access to the 2nd fl. narrow wraparound porch.

The largest unit has its own yard, but the entire yard alongside the house is in need of a cleanup and new landscaping.

And, this is the yard for the middle unit. The house is in a kind of neglected shape, but it's cute.

The front apt. also has a side door entrance and it opens out to the first yard that is allotted to that particular unit. It has a garden and is the nicest out of the three.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2704-Burgundy-St-New-Orleans-LA-70117/73801409_zpid/

[magalidragon]

Okay drabble #2 for @lalacristina18 ‘s ask! Hope you like this one! It’s a little silly and kind of Fixer Upper Fanfiction ( @nlights37 is that a thing? I’m doing it) meets my drabble “wet paint.”

Enjoy!

haunted house | 30. “You better watch yourself”

It was the dumbest thing she had ever done.

Except she felt like she had to do it.

How else was she going to get the cute handyman to ask her out?

"Just ask him out!" her best friend shouted, as she took a crowbar to the siding on her house, prying up the nails. Missandei was used to most of her antics, but she knew this was going too far. She watched, amazed, slightly terrified, and in awe, muttering, "You have gone mental Daenerys."

Maybe she had gone mental, but she was also put off by how attractive the handyman was. He was incredibly sweet. A little goofy; he apologized one day when he showed up in thick black glasses, saying he'd forgotten to put his contacts in before he left the house. She had wondered why someone would apologize for that, but she soon learned that Jon Snow, Handyman Extraordinaire, apologized for quite a few things that were in no way his fault or under his control.

Like when he couldn't get a part in time to fix her hot water tank, because it was a weekend and the store was closed. "No problem, guess I'll see you Monday," she had simply said with a smile and a cheerful glee, because she knew they were closed on the weekend and he'd have to come back Monday.

Or when she had purposefully yanked out some sort of fuse in her car so it wouldn't start and he had apologized that it had gone missing. "Not your fault at all!" Because it's totally my fault and then she'd pretended to find the fuse on the ground. "Will this fix it?"

He frowned at the tiny piece of place and wire. "Um, aye, that's so weird..."

Today she was going to claim there was something wrong with her siding and it needed to be replaced. She dropped the crowbar, wiping sweat off her forehead, and placed her hands on her hips, glancing at Missandei, who was shaking her head side-to-side. "What?"

"Just bloody ask him out! I'll do it for you. You're destroying your house just to get him to come over." She smirked. "He has to know what you're doing. He's just taking your money and knowing you're using him which is wrong, or he's really bloody stupid and that's not great either."

"You haven't met him yet."

"What guy could be so attractive and cute and sweet and all that for you to resort to this!?" Missandei waved her hands at the splintered wood at her feet. She sighed, closing her eyes. "Dany, love, you are my best friend but..."

"Good morning!"

Dany threw the crowbar into the bushes, spinning on her heels and beaming at the man who had poked his head around the open fence to her back garden. She waved. "Hello Jon! Good morning to you!" She rounded on Missandei, who stared at him and smirked knowingly. "You're a little early."

He turned pink, coming around the corner holding onto his toolbox. "Aye, sorry about that, I thought I might get you a coffee..." he trailed off and politely smiled at Missandei. "Oh I am sorry, I would have gotten another....here, you can have mine if you want."

To her best friend's stunned silence, he removed one of the two takeout coffee cups from the tray in his other hand and passed it to her. Missandei swallowed hard, clearing her throat. "Thank you, that's...so nice of you."

He smiled again in his shy, half-smile way that Dany absolutely bloody adored, and turned his face to her. "You called last night and said that your bathroom pipes were leaking again? I don't know what is going on, I mean..." He scratched his hair, brow furrowing, and gazed up at the old-as-shit house she had purchased with intent to completely renovate. "I swear I just fixed those..."

"Oh you did, I'm sure this place is cursed."

"By a Valyrian dragon," Missandei mumbled under her breath.

Dany stepped on her foot and crossed her arms, grinning. "And would you look at this? This siding is rotten, I think we'll need to replace it."

"Um, yes of course." He knelt and picked up some of the wood, shaking his head. "You must have an angry ghost Dany, this looks like someone took a crowbar to it." He was immediately concerned, jumping to his feet. "You should file a police report, someone could be vandalizing your property!"

Missandei sipped her free coffee and mumbled again, not so quietly, "Hmm, someone with silver hair I think."

"What?" Jon asked.

"Ignore her, she's mad." She forced another smile. "It's fine. I...thank you Jon, perhaps look at those pipes first and then we can look at the siding."

"I have wood," he blurted out.

Missandei choked. Dany flushed bright red. "Oh?"

"Hmm, in the truck. Be right back." He turned on his heel and walked away. Dany elbowed her best friend, who stared now at his retreating back.

"Oh my."

"It's beautiful. I just like to look at it."

Missandei patted her arm. "Daenerys you are my best friend, but if you don't ask him out by the end of the day, I'm going to tell him everything you've been doing and only because I'm scared you might set your house on fire just to watch him come running in with the fire hose."

Dany hummed. The idea was appealing, but arson was certainly not an option.

Yet.

---

It was the end of the day; she'd tried her damndest to get him to ask her out. Missandei had left, becaus she claimed she couldn't watch it any longer, proclaiming them both "stupid idiots" and Dany had to agree. She was a stupid idiot, trying to get him to look at her as something other than the crazy lady in the haunted house. She'd worn her bikini top while gardening, she'd broken her siding, and stuffed leaves in her gutters.

And Jon Snow still didn't bloody get it.

Maybe he was stupid, she thought, and watched him bent over some exposed pipes in the hallway leading to the master bedroom. A himbo or something. Except she knew he wasn't, because she'd seen that he had a stack of books in his truck to return to the library, one of which happened to be her brother's boring ass tome on Targaryen History, and he'd eagerly chatted with her about it.

"So why are you a contractor?" she asked. She kept referring to him as a handyman, but reminded herself he was more than that. He ran his own business and lumber yard up in Winterfell. "Do you just like fixing things?"

He shrugged, reaching his arm down into the pipes. "I do like fixing things, but when I got out of the military, nothing really appealed to me. Didn't want a boss again and I like building things. Working on my own terms."

"I like that too." It was why she moved up North, a freelance journalist, and needing a safe quiet space to recharge and focus between assignments. She got up and cleared her throat. "I'll be downstairs if you need me." She was halfway down the stairs when she heard a strange sound. It was a yowl.

It sounded like Drogon, she thought, turning towards the wall. "Drogon?" she called.

He meowed again, pitiful. She moved closer towards the wall and knocked. Her voice trembled, calling once more. "Drogon?"

A light scratching and more yowling.

She screamed, realizing with horror that Drogon was inside the bloody wall. "DROGON!" She banged on the wall, running up the stairs, crying out. "Jon! Drogon's in the wall!"

"What?"

"I think he must have crawled in when we were talking and not looking, oh my gods, Drogon!"

Jon frowned at her, still not moving. He narrowed his eyes. "Drogon's in the wall, huh?"

"I think so."

He cocked his head and got to his feet, sighing hard. "Dany, I...I think I know what's going on and..." He turned bright pink. "I really have to confess something..." He shifted on his feet and blurted out, really fast, his Northern burr thick. "I...I know that not everything here is breaking and...and I'm fixing it and stuff, but...well...the store was open and I didn't get hte part because I wanted to come see you and...and I may not have cleaned the gutters all the way so I could come back and...oh gods, I haven't charged you at all because I'm just...I like you!"

Her eyes widened, too terrified for her cat to process what he'd just admitted to her. "But...I...I'm sorry, but he's really in the wall! Listen!"

They both were quiet and after a second, heard the pathetic howling of a trapped cat.

Jon moaned, mortified, shoving his face into his palms. "Oh my gods! I'm so sorry! I thought...oh fuck, forget what I said!"

"No I can't forget it because I like you too!" They could have this conversation after they saved her damn cat.

It took awhile, of her trying to coax the damn cat out from the opening in the floor, to Jon carefully searching and finding a space in the wall to knock through with a sledgehammer so he wouldn't hit Drogon or anything unsafe. Bits of drywall and debris scattered, "You better watch yourself," she warned him, when Drogon began to hiss and pant, terrified as they drew closer to him. "He might attack!"

"He's just scared, he'll be alright."

A couple hours later, her entire hallway and stairwell covered in broken bits of drywall, plaster, wood, and insulation, her very dirty and ashy cat enveloped in a blanket in her arms, Dany finally looked up at JOn. He hadn't said a word to her about his confession of not really fixing anything because he liked her and wanted ot keep seeing her.

She ducked her head, whispering, "I know it was wrong of me too, to keep breaking things...I just really liked you too."

"I'm not good with women," he admitted.

"Clearly, I was walking around in my bikini and you didnt say a word."

"I was trying to be professional!"

She giggled. Drogon whined in her arms. She scowled. "Hey! You didn't think I was serious that my cat got stuck in the wall!"

"I thought it was another thing like when you called me to say that your pipes were clogged at ten at night." He arched his brows. "Come on Dany."

"Alright, that was a ruse...but he really did get stuck!" She let go of Drogon, who raced into her bedroom to hide under the bed and lick his wounds-- more like his pride at having to be rescued by humans of all things. She looked up at Jon, sitting on the step just above her and grinned. "Can we agree to just...kind of start over?"

he nodded and licked his lips; she shivered. "Start over at dinner tonight?"

"Yes, dinner is perfect."

"And I'll be the first thing in the morning to start working on..." he gazed around at the chaos surrounding them, sighing. "This."

"Sounds good."

Turned out he didn't have to show up early at all the next morning, because he was already there, fast asleep in her bed, both of them exhausted. Dinner had been merely an afterthought.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Making omelettes at an egg farm

Annika has an egg farm, e-i-e-i-o... On this farm she has a bunch of chickens, e-i-e-i-o!

Literally the first thing that popped in my head when Annika posted about buying the farm. I still can't believe the place is hers - and Kaisa's too - like it was totally unexpected but with how things are turning out now, I can't imagine it happening any other way!

Running an egg farm was pretty much an accidental thing. Old Mr. Elmhearst built the place about fifty years ago, becoming known as the egg and poultry man for nearby towns. Then about a few years ago, he had to go into semi-retirement for health reasons before fully retiring last year. He then sold the farm and moved away to live with family. A neighbor took care of the chickens in the meantime while waiting for someone to buy the place.

It was the neighbor, Vint, who planted the idea of Annika running the egg farm through an offhand comment. Being a farmer himself, as well as the owner of the local produce stand, keeping up the egg farm on top of that is just too much for him. He's been helping Mr. Elmhearst find buyers but it turns out that egg farmers are a niche market. Of course, Vint's willing to keep running the place on the side for as long as it takes to find a new owner, but he can only do so much.

He mentioned the dilemma to his friends, who have also been helping out in terms of keeping up and looking for potential buyers. Annika and Kaisa were hanging out at the diner with a friend when Vint approached them and the guys got to talking about the egg farm. Annika and Kaisa were aware of the situation so Kaisa offered to pass the information along to her colleagues at the hospital.

What caught Annika's attention was the money. When Vint mentioned how successful Elmhearst was in terms of the money he made, Annika was all ears. Over the next several days she did a lot of research and asked Vint about the place. No one had any idea what she was thinking - they all thought she was just curious.

Let's just say that when Annika announced that she was going to buy the egg farm, no one believed her. Even Daisy Jane and I were questioning it when she posted about it online. It's not that we didn't think she could do it - more like why would someone with absolutely no background in farming want to take on something as big as running an egg farm? Given how at the time Annika was going through a bit of a rough time, it seemed like an impulse decision. Can't blame her though, as I too would've hopped on to the first opportunity to break out of a rut no matter how out of left field it was, especially if it fell straight into my lap.

Using her life's savings, Annika bought the egg farm. She had to do some poking and prodding to get Vint and Mr. Elmhearst to sell it to her. Reluctantly, they accepted her offer, cutting the price in half and saving half that money in case Annika changed her mind. Kaisa wasn't too crazy about the idea either, but she supported Annika on this new venture, offering to help out when Vint was unavailable.

As expected, Annika had a rough transition. Up until then she had never done anything related to farming or raising chickens. She never even had her own garden or took care of more than one plant at a time. Everything was brand new to her!

No one would hold it against her if she gave up. There were many times when she wanted to throw in the towel but she said that a little voice in her head kept telling her to get back up. Annika figured that a year was enough time to figure out whether or not running an egg farm's her thing - the others weren't sure if she was going to last a few months. Again, it's not that she can't do it, it's a question of whether is this something she really wanted to do.

Fast forward about six months in and everything's changed! Things still aren't 100% smooth, but it looks like Annika's found her footing. Just when she was about to admit that raising chickens wasn't for her, she decided to give it one last go. It's still a lot of work but Annika's finally starting to enjoy it. Big plot twist, right? From finding a routine that works for her to getting more comfortable working with chickens, Annika found that running an egg farm isn't too intimidating once you finally know what you're doing.

It also helps that she has loyal customers - mainly friends and family at the moment - so that's been keeping her afloat. Even when she struggled with the farm, she managed to break even with the profits and upkeep, which is actually pretty good. Obviously she's nowhere near how Elmhearst ran the place at its peak, but if she keeps this up, maybe she'll get there in a few years. For now she's happy that she's making a profit, and that buying the farm wasn't for nothing.

Seeing the quaint little farm in the countryside with the chickens and pastoral scenery, I can see why Annika was charmed by this place. It's one thing to read about her posts about the farm online, it's another to see her run the place. Annika's always been a fast learner, but being able to pretty much run an egg farm with no experience is an impressive feat! And of course, Vint helps out whenever he can so that makes things a little easier. Annika hopes to fully run things by herself once she's got everything down.

The house is in the process of renovations since it's pretty old. Elmhearst managed to fix up the place as much as he could before selling, but there's still a lot that needs to get done. Fortunately most of what's left to be fixed isn't really anything big, but now with Kaisa in the process of moving in with Annika, she wants to make sure the house is in tip top shape before she settles in.

That's part of the reason why me and the campers are visiting here. Aside from wanting to meet up with old friends, of course. I'm always accumulating on craft materials so I try to use them up rather than let them sit in my inventory because you can only store so much stuff at a time.

Along with building stuff for the house, we also got to help Annika out on the farm. She has six chickens, nicknamed the Spice Girls because of their names - Ginger, Cinnamon, Pepper, Cayenne, Anise, and Nutmeg. Aren't they cute names? I have never been in a chicken coop before so it was an interesting experience. Still getting used to being around them - I don't know why but I'm afraid of getting pecked or bitten by them. But for the most part they're pretty tame and friendly. I can see why Annika became attached to them once she got used to them.

Yeah, I don't know how Annika does it. Honestly, I probably would've given up as soon as the chickens started acting out. Farm life just ain't my cup of tea so anyone who can run one all by themselves is impressive in my book. I'm so proud of Annika and her accomplishments!

Kaisa stops by often to drop off some of her stuff and help out around the farm. I think her moving in with Annika is for the best. She's a nurse at the hospital, working the night shift - something that her dad and brothers aren't happy with. Basically they're early birds while Kaisa's a night owl - and the guys often make fun of her for sleeping in and such. Like, no offense to those who like waking up early but why do some of them feel the need to flex on that? I'm a night owl myself and why some people see that as a flaw that needs to be fixed is a mystery to me.

Like I said, Kaisa works the night shift from 7PM to 7AM. Being a new nurse, most of the entry level positions are for nights, so you gotta take what you can get. Working nights isn't bad though, things are a bit more quiet and you get paid more. Plus it's not like Kaisa's become nocturnal - she only works three days a week - so it's not like the job's taking over her life. In fact, the night shift works out perfectly for her and she loves it!

Literally the only reason why her family doesn't like it is because it's inconvenient for them. By inconvenient, I mean it goes against what they believe. Kaisa's dad has been pushing her to switch to days now that she's been working for over a year, which Kaisa has no desire to do. It also doesn't help that her family sees the night shift as a "lesser" position because patients are usually asleep at the time despite the fact that she is just as busy and gets more benefits from the job. Now it's getting to the point where Kaisa's finally fed up with them trying to push their standards on her that it's time for her to leave the nest.

I honestly don't understand people who feel the need to push their own ideals into others. They're the kind of people who act like their way is the best and if you aren't like them, then you need to be fixed. Although a good number of them do mean well sometimes, it's just exhausting trying to get them to understand that not everyone functions like they do.

Vint also drops by from time to time to help out and check in on us. Annika credits him for being the reason why she kept trying on the egg farm. Had she been running it all by herself, she would've given up after a few days. Kaisa says he's a good guy, but has a tendency to spread himself a little too thin. Although the three of them grew up together in the same town, it wasn't until Annika became neighbors with Vint when they really got to know each other. So in a way, he's become Annika and Kaisa's mentor/older brother figure. I'm looking forward to getting to know him some more in the next few days.

In between renovations and tending to the chickens, we got to looking up egg recipes like omelettes, quiches, custards, and more. Today we made omelettes as Vint gave us a big box full of fresh dairy and produce. I'm not an expert at making omelettes so it was good practice! Though, to be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of omelettes - they're a bit heavy and eggy for me so I can only enjoy them once in a while. But I have to say, using fresh eggs and veggies really do make a difference!

Since we were feeling creative from all the building and interior decorating, we kinda threw together an omelette contest. It's always fun to come up with new recipes and share them with friends!

Pancetti made an arugula, salmon, and goat cheese omelette over toast. I don't know why I never thought of having an omelette over toast - it's genius! Plus the goat cheese and salmon balance each other well while the arugula adds a nice contrast to the flavors. I think this is my favorite out of all the omelettes we made today.

Erik's creation is a pizza omelette, a creation that's fun to put together. It's basically a pizza but the crust is a cheesy omelette. Drizzle marinara, add some cheese and other toppings and voila - pizza omelette! I made mine with mozzarella, ricotta, onions, peppers, and sausage.

Plucky threw together an omelette salad topped with a creamy ranch dressing. The omelette's made with caramelized onions and chopped up into strips. For the ranch, she made some buttermilk, added a bunch of herbs and seasonings, and drizzled it over the salad. For some reason I don't like eggs in my salad but this is an exception - especially with the dressing.

Claude went for a dessert omelette, an interesting twist that turned out great! You'd think it would end up tasting like sweetened scrambled eggs or a custard gone wrong, but it's not. It's kinda like a pudding in terms of texture, but not overly sweet thanks to the cream cheese. To add to the dessert element is coconut sticky rice, which pairs well with the cream cheese omelette.

It's been fun helping Annika and Kaisa out on the farm. Like I said, none of us ever imagined Annika, out of all people, to run an egg farm. There's still a lot that she has to learn, which she's looking forward to. It's a lot of work, but she's been enjoying it a lot. Now that I've seen it for myself, I can't imagine her doing anything else. I can't wait to see where this venture will take her!

Tomorrow's more of the same - renovations, collecting eggs, and tending to the chickens. We're also gonna make puddings and help set up for the Apple Dumpling Festival, where Annika's running an egg stand.

[thewriterofmanythings]

And They Were Roommates

Day 5 of Widojest Week-There’s only one bed, or Alternate Universe

Nott and Yeza's apartment is undergoing renovations, and the cute foreign grad student Jester has been crushing on needs a place to stay. What could go wrong? Super happy with this fic. You can also read it on AO3. As usual big shoutout to @3fling for all the love and support, especially this time because I wouldn’t even have a plot for this otherwise!

Working at the local coffee shop had a lot of benefits. Free coffee of course, free pastries at the end of the night, listening to whatever music the employees wanted, and the flexible hours that worked with her school schedule.

The cute redhead grad student that came in everyday was definitely a plus too.

Jester had been working at Cool Beans for four years and had seen all manner of people come through the door. As a college town it wasn’t a surprise; people came from all over and stayed a few months to a few years while they studied. Some of those people stayed but most left to go back to wherever they came from or even off to new places. Jester herself dreamed of leaving one day, venturing out into the world and discovering what was out there. But for now she was here, working towards an art degree and making the best of her situation.

The redheaded grad student was a foreigner from Germany. He spoke excellent English though his accent was a bit tough to understand at times, especially if he ever got frustrated. His name was Caleb and he had come all the way from his home country to join one of the world’s best linguistics programs. He came in every day at exactly one p.m., ordered a sandwich and an americano with an extra shot of espresso, and sat down to study for two hours before neatly cleaning his table and heading out.

Jester enjoyed people watching, trying to analyze people from the way they walk, the things they did, how they interacted with other people. Even before she had a full conversation with Caleb she noticed he was quiet, polite, and had a dry sense of humor. His wardrobe was full of earthy tones, lots of boots and plain button up shirts, adding in jackets, scarves and hats when the weather began to turn cold. On the rare occasion he came in when it didn’t seem he was studying he still carried a simple black leather notebook. He often pulled the top part of his shoulder length hair into a sort of bun, exposing the pen he regularly kept behind his right ear. Ink marks and scratches along his hand indicated he did a lot of writing and, Jester would guess, he owned a cat.

Of course, it wasn’t all just staring from a distance. Jester had begun to build a friendship with Caleb thanks to a strange change of relationships. Most often at the shop Jester shared her shift with Clay and Molly; the three of them made a trifecta of hair colors and piercings that gave the warm shop an unexpected punk vibe. Clay was a gardener of sorts and had made friends with Yeza and Nott, the lovely couple whom Caleb was staying with during his time in the States. Molly was in a band with two women named Beau and Yasha and the group usually played in a newer dive bar downtown on Saturday nights. Jester and Clay went every week to support their friend, and one day while picking up a new plant Clay had told Yeza about the shows. Knowing it was unhealthy for Caleb to spend all his time in the house studying, Nott and Yeza had immediately booked a recurring sitter for their young son and dragged Caleb down to the bar to hang out with others. The eight of them had begun to get closer, but Jester still found it difficult at times to put herself out there and really engage with Caleb.

Today however was Jester’s lucky day.

“Caleb!” The small bell chimed through the coffee shop as Nott slipped in, shutting the door quickly to keep the cold wind from freezing the customers out. The woman was on the shorter side but no one ever noticed because her personality more than made up for it. Her sense of humor among the friend group was unrivaled and she could easily drink them all under the table.

“Ya Nott, is everything all right?” Caleb looked up from his laptop where he had been hyper focused on a paper. His brow was furrowed with a mix of worry and confusion.

Jester busied herself with straightening the pastry display, which was conveniently close to Caleb’s table. She could be particularly nosy at times due to her curious nature, but now she mostly wanted to make sure everything was okay with Nott’s family.

“I’m all right Caleb, but I’m afraid I do have some bad news. The renovation plans have been moved up by two whole weeks!”

“Oh, that means…” Caleb’s voice trailed off, his face turning into a frown.

“Yeah exactly! Yeza’s mom said she can take Luke, and we have another friend we can stay with, but she only has one extra room.”

“I see. So I suppose I will need to find a place to stay in the meantime since Clay will not be back until the end of the month.”

“I’m really sorry about that Caleb! I’ll help you look, surely we can find something soon. Maybe you can stay with Beau or something?”

“He can stay with me!”

Jester fought the urge to clasp her hands over her mouth. Wow, smooth move Jester. Inviting your little crush to live with you? There’s no way this is gonna go well, she thought to herself. She hadn’t even stopped to consider the ramifications of what she had volunteered for.

Something glinted behind Nott’s eyes and she nodded her head frantically. “Yes! Yes that would be perfect! You’re just the best Jester.”

“Oh, I… I would hate to impose, Jester, that’s very kind of you…” Caleb stuttered, his hands nervously fidgeting with his scarf.

“I think it sounds like the perfect plan.” Molly emerged from the back room where he had apparently been listening to the whole conversation. “Jessie might bring you out of your shell, Mr. Caleb, and Jester, well…. You could learn some tidiness habits perhaps.”

What a wingman, Jester thought, rolling her eyes at her purple-haired friend. He smirked, twirling around and walking to the register to help another customer who had walked in.

“Don’t you have a dog? I do not know if my cat would like that.”

“Oh that’s okay! Nugget doesn’t mind cats, he won’t bother Frumpkin!” Jester smiled at Caleb, trying her hardest not to blush.

“Well, I suppose it would be the best offer I could get on such sort notice.”

Nott beamed at the two of them. “Sounds like it’s settled then! I’ll help you pack up Caleb and we’ll be right over!”

***

“Soooo, this is my apartment. It’s nothing crazy you know, but it’s nice and has a good view and a lot of spaaace….”

Jester could feel herself beginning to ramble as she opened the door to her studio apartment. It was extremely nice for college student standards; her mother wanted her to be comfortable so she paid for Jester’s rent, but she also wanted her daughter to learn the value of hard work, meaning Jester was responsible for her own tuition and school supplies, as well as any other necessities. All things considered it was a pretty nice arrangement.

The living room was a nice open space with a gorgeous window overlooking downtown. The kitchen and living room were decorating in bright colors with unique art sculptures spaced around. In the center of the open area close to the window sat a large easel displaying a half finished painting. A number of half-dead attempts at plant keeping were littered about the area as well.

“You have a very nice place, Jester.” Caleb was huffing a bit as he carried in a large box of his belongings. Jester herself had Frumpkin’s cat carrier and a bag of cat supplies. There was still a fair amount of stuff to bring in but this was a good start.

“So I don’t have a second room but the couch is a fold out and it’s totally comfy.” Jester sat Frumpkin’s carrier down and unlatched the door. “Here, kitty kitty kitty!”

After a second Frumpkin lazily made his way out, beginning to inspect the strange new space. The two of them watched as he began to sniff the couch, marking the edge with his scent glands.

“You are an artist?” Caleb asked, gesturing toward the easel.

“I do! I’m an art major but I don’t get to do a lot of painting stuff at my level so I like to practice it here.”

“I look forward to seeing you work.”

Jester tried not to let Caleb see her blush as she began to help him unpack. The rest of the day was spent moving boxes to make sure everything was out of Nott and Yeza’s apartment in time for the renovators to begin their work, taking only a small break for Chinese food. The conversation was timid at first, the two of them dancing around each other the way acquaintances interact at a party when their mutual friend goes to visit the bathroom. But by the end of the night the two had sunk into a comfortable rhythm. As Jester went to sleep that night, she played over the day’s event in her head, giggling every time she thought about how she had made Caleb laugh. If she didn’t have a crush before, she was certainly deep in one now.

***

“Jester, look out!”

Caleb’s frantic voice came from inside Jester’s room. It had been a week since Caleb had moved in, and Frumpkin and Nugget hadn’t gotten along as well as Jester had assured him they would. He had spent the last hour trying to coax his cat out from under her bed and it seemed like the persuasion had taken a turn for the worse.

Jester glanced over from her position at the easel. She was enjoying her Saturday morning routine of hot tea and painting, listening to Regina Spektor ring out through the apartment via her wireless speaker. Her trance like state was broken as she saw Frumpkin shoot down the hallway, followed by Nugget’s large body. The cat turned sharply, but the poor dog was caught unaware and his attempt to switch directions was nowhere near as smooth, throwing himself right into Jester’s easel. Thanks to Caleb’s warning however, she was able to stabilize the workspace, only losing a bit of her paint to the tarp underfoot in the process.

Caleb ran out, his red hair a frazzled halo around his head. He frantically darted into the kitchen, trying to corner Frumpkin around the island, but the cat was wise and jumped up onto the counter, knocking over one of Jester’s plants in the process.

Catching wind of what Caleb was trying to do, Jester ran to try to intercept him, but the cat was too fast and she ended up tripping over Nugget instead. She braced herself for a fall onto the hardwood floor, but felt hands attempt to catch her. Unfortunately in his rush to help, Caleb himself was off balance, sending both of them tumbling to the floor.

Jester felt her face redden at being so close to Caleb. She could feel his breath on her face and his eyes were just inches away from her own. Her mind scrambled to think of something to say, an apology or excuse or anything, but her brain was short-circuiting.

“Paint,” Caleb said, pulling her out of her panicked haze.

“Wh-what?”

“Sorry, you uh, you have paint on your cheek.” 

She felt Caleb’s thumb rest on her cheek, gently wiping away a fleck of color. He still lay there though, holding her in his arms, inches from her face. She knew she ought to pull herself away, get up and clear her head, but she had to admit there was no place else she would rather be. “Thank you,” she said, barely daring to whisper.

“Your freckles are quite beautiful.” Caleb spoke breathlessly, his thumb still stroking her cheek softly. His eyes seemed transfixed, glancing over every bit of Jester’s face. She could feel his heart beat underneath her hand.

It’s now or never Jester, said the voice in the back of her head, and before she realized what she was doing she had closed the distance between him. Her lips touched his, quickly and softly before backing away. “I’m sorry Caleb, I don’t know why-”

Her voice was silenced by the sudden presence of Caleb’s lips on hers. He had kissed her back, but his held intent. Something about him was hungry, as if he had been waiting for this for months and he was going to enjoy every moment of it. She moaned into his mouth as her tongue slipped into hers and she moved her hand to the back of his head, intertwining her fingers through his hair.

Caleb suddenly moved away and Jester moved after him, craving more before realizing he had something to say. “I did not know this was a perk,” he said, chuckling lightly before kissing her again.

Jester in turn pulled away, laughing as well. “Only for really special roommates.”

***

“Caleb, the rennovaters are all done! You can move back in whenever you want to!”

Nott’s voice came across loud through the phone speaker, forcing Caleb to turn the volume down. It was seven in the morning and the sun was barely beginning to peek through the window of his apartment. He looked down at the woman next to him, still asleep with her blue hair splayed out across the bedsheets.

“Thank you Nott, but I don’t think that will be necessary for now.”

“Really?”

“Ya. I think things have worked out just fine.”

[writers-leir]

prince!jeonghan

prince!jeonghan

aka part two of prince!vernon

should probably be named “in which jeonghan finds his nap buddy”

he’s lowkey still salty about his nap buddy leaving him for vernon

but he’s happy for them so he lets it slide

he tried to get chan to be his nap buddy but chan flat out rejected him

after that he went to seungcheol who was like l o l i know i’m your second choice don’t try to fool me

awihgskjlfsadgxcbn he tried

ANYWAYS he naps alone for now cause he doesn’t like any of the women (and men because,,,,have you seen jeonghan he’s such a pretty person) who like,,,,,throw themselves at him SO

introducing: you

you’re a simple gardener at the palace

by simple i mean the only gardener because his parents trust you like 999% with their garden and unless you also trust someone 999% you refuse to let them hire a helper for you

so you’re super busy

you rarely see any of the other people who work at the place much less the prince

jeonghan’s mom is always like ;~; we’ll hire the nice lady who works at the flower shop in the town you trust her right? cause she’s so worried you’re gonna work yourself to death at such a young age

but you’re like no,,,,i only trust her 998% with my flowers,,,

and like while you know what jeonghan looks like you’ve never actually seen him so you,,,,,don’t realize who he is when you find him sleeping on one of the flowerbeds

all you see is this ONE IDIOT WHO IS RUINING YOUR HARD WORK

the work that you put your literal blood sweat and tears into

you can’t even count the number of times you’ve cut yourself or almost fainted from the heat trying to make the flower bed perfect

one time it rained really hard and the left side of the tarp ripped open and half of the flowers were destroyed and your heart broke

you refused to do anything for the next week while replanting all the flowers

the rest of the palace staff felt so bad for you during that week they kept bringing you freshly baked bread or that really good tea secretly

and while jeonghan’s parents knew what the staff were doing they didn’t say anything because they loved you like another child

(and they lowkey would wish that jeonghan would propose to you someday BUT THAT’S A STORY FOR LATER)

anyways back to jeonghan sleeping in the flowerbed

those flowers are basically your children

and so you can’t even beGIN to describe the horror you felt when you saw this one LANKY IDIOT NAPPING IN THEM

honestly you didn’t even realize he was wearing a very expensive white dress shirt and black slacks that CLEARLY looked royal

plus his family emblem was on the blazer thrown to the ground beside him

you’re sooOOoooO ready to give this flower killer a piece of your mind

and as the gardener of course you’re carrying a bucket of water and you’re just,,,,,,SO ready to go fight this person who’s destroying your children

and how else but to dump all the water on him?

at first jeonghan’s like kSDHGAKLJDS what the

and then he looks at you and he just kinda,,,,,,,,,,,oh what,,,,,,,,,,,,

and now you’re like kAKJSDHGAKJSDHG because did you really just pour like three liters of water onto the PRINCE

and jeonghan WANTS to be angry because now he has to go back to the palace to change and the time he has for his naps has been reduced

but he just,,,,,,,,,,can’t seem to get angry because you look???? so scared asdkhgkasd

you immediately get on your knees bowing like asdkjhgkljsHDAGSD IM SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS YOu and you’re rambling on about how you got a lot little annoyed at how someone was ruining your hard work without a second thought

jeonghan’s like IT’S OKAY i’ll just go get changed pls get up;;;;;;; i didn’t realize how important these flowers were

your eye twitches because,,,,,,,,,did he just imply that those flowers are unimportant,,,,but you don’t say anything because you already almost lost your job

jeonghan knows all the palace staff by name and face so,,,,,he felt pretty disappointed in himself when he realized he couldn’t put a name to your face

he asks his mom about you that night and she’s just kind of like celebrating with his dad because  F I N A L L Y they meet

(jeonghan in the back: what)

she tells him that you’re the only gardener so you rarely have any free time

she also mentions about you being childhood friends with butler!joshua

jeonghan almost runs joshua down the next time he sees him but joshua’s like I’M HOLDING YOUR MOM’S BEST TEACUPS D O  N O T  TOUCH ME

when jeonghan asks joshua about you during his break joshua’s just like //insert suspicious face// why do you want to know

and then when jeonghan tells him about what happened josh’s like LOL you called their flowers unimportant man rip your chances with them

jeonghan: but they’re????just flowers/???????

joshua: don’t say i didn’t warn you

joshua advices jeonghan to offer you some help (even if you might reject it,,,cause it’s the thought that counts right????)

at first jeonghan’s like,,,,a little hesitant because his already limited break time is being cut even shorter and he knows like,,,,,nada about gardening

and the suspicious look in your eyes didn’t help his confidence at all

you end up agreeing anyways, and to start off, you have him fetching water for you

he’s like lowkey shocked at how heavy one bucket of water is but you’re just?????carrying two with no problem (and he swears that there’s a skip in your step like,,,,where do you find the energy to do this all day???)

his parents are also like !????? because a) that’s the crown prince,,,,,,following behind this gardener carrying buckets of water and b) did you really just,,,,,,agree without hesitation or putting thought into it????

they’re supportive of it though

like you’d think that the king and queen would be super against the crown prince doing any manual labor?

but no. not jeonghan’s parents. they’re super supportive because!!!!!their favorite (only) gardener can finally take it a little bit easier!!!!

at first you honestly feel like jeonghan’s not going to do as well as you expect because your expectations are sooooo high but then???? by the third week he’s able to start naming the types of flowers and their meanings, or even knowing exactly how much water the flowers beside the oak tree need (and by exactly i mean to the millilitre)

eventually you allow him to actually start managing the flowers (pulling out weeds, planting more, etc…)

and his parents are,,,,,,quite shocked to say the least

jeonghan actually finds himself enjoying every second he spends working on the garden (it’s totally not because you’re there)

he’s not going to lie, the first week was Stressful seeing as you refused to take your eyes off him

but he also lives for those moments when you thank him for helping you out or when you compliment him on his knowledge on gardening

in reality, he actually goes to joshua every evening for a lesson (but since joshua’s knowledge on gardening is limited, he eventually hired florist!jihoon from the town to help him out)

when seungcheol found out he straight out laughed in jeonghan’s face, telling him that he was super whipped for this person he barely knew

“i am not whipped!!!!”

“you’re literally taking an hour every day out of your rest time just to learn about gardening to please this person. are they that cute?”

jeonghan’s ears are turning red because yes you are that cute

of course his old nap buddy finds out too since they are childhood best friends

his old nap buddy was like a w e when they found out because “does jeonghan have a crush??”

“we’re not in middle school p l e a s e”

it’s highkey cute though because he eventually becomes comfortable enough with you that when he sees you he literally c r u s h e s you into a hug (you don’t complain because 1: it’s the crown prince asdkgjaskdf and 2: you may or may not have a crush on him,,,,,,,)

after the first time you allowed him to do something other than carrying water you forced him to get older clothes that no one cares about getting dirty

but,,,,,,he didn’t have any because they threw out his old clothes as soon as they became too small so he ends up going to joshua who was like i,,,,,,literally have only my uniform and these jeans and a shirt,,,,,you can go ask seungcheol though?

he ends up going to the town to get some stuff and accidentally binged out and bought four bags worth of clothes

so you and jeonghan end up getting into this routine where he joins you after lunch to work on the gardens and then leaves again in the evening to go eat dinner and do his work

you two don’t spend a lot of time together (the most having been 4 hours), but you get to know each other a little bit from that limited time

you find out who his former nap buddy was and you’re like o h my god. that’s the person who killed their succulent plants every time they got a new one

jeonghan: that’s the one yep

jeonghan actually starts enjoying the time he spends with you so much that he sometimes ends up skipping lunch and dinner (and then at like 8pm when you ask why his stomach has been growling non-stop for the past half hour he’s like NO REASON nope none at all)

he just really likes spending time with you like he doesn’t even care that he’s getting mud under his nails, or scars from the thorns on the roses

“scars are manly!!!”

“jeonghan you cried for half an hour and refused to use any bandaid other than the spongebob ones that joshua carries around”

you always feel really bad because now jeonghan refuses to let you do the hard work but you’re just like jeonghan i’m the gardener this is my job i get paid to do this work

suddenly though jeonghan just stops??? coming???

you think that maybe he’s just sick but after a week you’re like ?????????????

they even closed off one section of the garden and you’re like ))): because that was the section that you had wanted to save until you could decorate it to your own style and now they’re going to renovate it ))))))):

except no they’re actually not

it’s actually a surprise from jeonghan for you because he knows that you wanted to make that section your own little personal garden but you just never have time

and the past two, three months that he spent with you was enough time for him to figure out what you wanted

he recruits the help of seungcheol, chan, jihoon, and joshua (when they’re not busy) and the five of them are spending literally hours upon hours trying to perfect it

when jeonghan placed the orders with jihoon he almost fainted because !!!!! it’s literally impossible to find bird of paradise flowers in this part of the world

but jeonghan was firm with what he wanted and he told jihoon to just place the order under the king’s name (to which his dad was like “why did i receive three truck loads of flowers yesterday???”)

his dad was okay with it though,,,as long as jeonghan paid for it

you kind of,,,,,give up trying to find jeonghan after the second week because the rare chances that you did see him he literally sprinted the other way and you were like,,,,,,what,,,,,

you tried asking joshua about it but he refused to tell you anything and you were like!!!!!i grew up with you what do you mean you CAN’T TELL ME JOSHUA HONG DON’T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME

a month later you’re approached by seungcheol and joshua and you’re like ( ≖.≖) at joshua who’s just like LISTEN you gotta trust us

you follow them outside and towards the area that was closed off and you’re like ???? why were they building a glass -oH THAT’S A GREENHOUSE

and you’re sooo confused?? until you get inside and realize,,,it’s a mini palace

literally because there are ROOMS for each of the types of plants like,,,there’s a room for the tropical ones where the humidity is kept higher than those that need a drier environment

you’re like watching joshua and seungcheol try and hide their smiles and you’re just like teLL me what’s going on aksdhgaklsdf

they lead you through the maze of flowers (you swear that it did not look this big from the outside) and you get to the end and jeonghan’s there

and he’s like,,,,,,,dressed up as if he’s at a party

and you suddenly feel super underdressed cause,,,,you’re wearing an old oversized shirt and muddy overalls,,,

seungcheol and joshua leave you two and you’re just like ??is something the matter

jeonghan tells you that he knows how much you wanted to make your own little garden but you never have time so,,,,he decided to do it for you

and at first you’re like aksdhgkjSHLGADSGJ what and he’s like oh,,,,did you want to do it yourself????? )))):

but you’re like nooo!!!! that’s not it,,,,i’m just shocked,,,,

you’re just like a mixture of confused and also lowkey kinda touched because,,,,,he really paid attention to the details and he remembered what flowers you liked,,,,and went out of his way to get them too

you ask him why he did this and he turns red like his ears are so red that you could literally hold a tomato up beside it and it’d be the same color

for a minute it looks like he’s trying to find the words to say and you’re like,,,,,is something the matter?

but then he says “will you be my nap buddy from now on?”

and you’ve known jeonghan long enough to understand exactly what he means by that so you’re like alksdhgakljsdhgKJLSDHAGLDS i would,,,,love to,,,,,except you know i can’t actually take naps,,,,,,right?

and throughout the entire conversation jeonghan just seemed really tense

but as soon as you said yes his entire body just relaxed and he smiled reaaaally really wide like y’know that really pretty smile? yeah that’s the one

when you see that smile you’re like “even with all these flowers, you’re still the prettiest”

and jeonghan’s so red he’s literally STEAMING at his ears asdhgkajlsdf

the next day when you run into joshua he’s like grinning really wide and you’re just like i’m still mad at you >:(

the king and queen hear about it like that very day because,,,,,it’s not like they had to deal with the massive amount of flowers that were ordered or anything,,,,,

jeonghan basically forced you to let him hire jihoon to help you out with the garden because “i can’t be having my future spouse dying early”

despite jihoon having been one of the people who originally helped jeonghan with the greenhouse, he’s actually not allowed to help with taking care of the flowers inside it

it’s kind of like yours and jeonghan’s little secret (even though it’s not a secret but it still feels,,,,nice to have that one spot for just the two of you)

and o f course jeonghan,,,,managed to sneak in a mattress and some pillows and a blanket to put in the corner for the two of you to nap at

when you officially meet jeonghan’s childhood best friend (aka vernon’s partner), you give them a giant book titled “Easy Plants for Beginners” and a ten minute lecture on how not to kill them (you even had notecards and everything prepared)

jeonghan on the side: that’s the love of my life right there

even though you keep telling jeonghan that you refuse to take naps during work he still manages to convince you to take a 20 minute nap

which ends up turning into 2 hours

he’s honestly willing to do anything for you,,,,i mean he gave up sleep to build you an entire garden askdghaskldf how much softer can someone get right?

[ever-since-harrystyles-blog]

Peaches (Part II)

Here it is, earlier than expected! Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think of it! /Kass x

A mini series about a first meeting between Y/N and Harry, and maybe a start of something great…

Part 1

Word count: 1800

Warnings: None, so far...

Y/N looked up at Harry with defeat in her eyes and she suddenly felt so small. She felt mortified. THE Harry Styles had seen her fall, face first onto the hard concrete. Everything was just so embarrasing. Y/N was so ashamed that she didn’t even notice the raw pain in her right foot and the burning sensation in her right hand, which was the first of her limbs to touch the ground. With her other hand, she grabbed onto him and he helped her to steady herself by holding onto her arm. Once he saw that she was somewhat okay, he led her to the side and sat her down while he went after the fruit which was spread out all over the side walk.

”Uhm, it’s alright, you really don’t have to do that you know… I think I can manage myself actually…” Y/N said and let out a small, nervous giggle. She stood up and went towards him, but as soon as she got there she slowly slid down to the ground again with an almost inaudible scream. Her foot had abandoned her.

”Oops, careful there. ’R you hurt?” , he put the brown paper bag with fruit next to them as he got down on his knees to see where the pain was coming from. Tears were burning behind Y/N’s eyes, but she told herself sternly NOT to cry.

”Yeah, uhm my foot kind of hurts. But it’s okay. Thanks for your help.” She didn’t want to meet his eyes once more. He had the kind of eyes you could get lost in, and she feared she might not be able to stop looking if she were to begin to. Harry took Y/N’s foot in his hand and tried to bend it, and she quickly winced from the pain.

”I can’t leave you here with a sprained ankle. I don’ live far away, lemme’ take you back to m’ place and we’ll get this sorted out? ’M really good at dealing with sprained ankles. Had them everytime as a kid.” He flashed his perfect, white teeth with the most beautiful smile Y/N had ever seen.

”Well, I guess I would be a total dingbat to say no to that then?” she said and looked him in his friendly, emerald eyes even though she promised herself not to. Harry laughed and it was like music to her ears. Y/N wasn’t mortified anymore. How could she feel so safe with someone she hadn’t ever met? And why would he, a world famous mega-star, take time from his life to assure himself that she was alright? Her thoughts were interrupted by Harry.

”A dingbat, ’eh? Haven’t heard anyone saying dingbat befo’, but I guess that’s what you’d be saying no to this.” He looked down at your foot and smiled before standing up and once again offering you his hand. He’d have to stop this, she thought, until she’d become spoiled with holding his hand. He gently put one of his hands around her back and with the other one he put your arm around his neck for support.

” ’S this okay? It doesn’t hurt?”

Y/N shook her head and hugged the fruit bag. She lied, because it still hurt quite a bit. But maybe she didn’t lie after all; because she knew she’d never felt better then right then and there with his arms around her.

When Harry said that he didn’t live far away, he surely hadn’t been lying. They walked for about three minutes and then there it was. A rather big, beautiful brown house with white ornaments on the front door and the window frames. Y/N noticed a big, leavy apple tree in the garden. Why did this remind her of home?

”So, this is where I live!” He raised his hand in a ”Voíla” kind of motion, and Y/N couldn’t help but to smile at how dorky and cute Harry looked. When they entered the house, Harry took her coat and put it on a hanger and placed her shoes next to his by the door. The first thing Y/N could see was pictures of Gemma and Harry from when they were kids. Harry caught her staring at a picture of them from when they had been on holiday. Harry couldn’t have been more than four, she reckoned.

”I liked it. I remember m’ sister didn’t. Was sick the whole week, hence the face.” Y/N nodded understandingly, and noticed that in most pictures, Harry was found smiling.

”Seems like you were a happy child?” She smirked at him and he smiled and looked down at the floor.

”Yeah I guess. I think m’ sister kind of hated the fact tha’ I was so happy all the time to be honest” He said. Before she could reply he remembered why he even brought Y/N here in the first place.

”Uhm, let’s move in to the kitchen and I’ll help you with tha’ ankle then?”

”Yeah, right…”

Y/N said, a bit scared that she had snooped a bit too much in his private life.

The kitchen was lovely, and it looked newly renovated. He pointed at the kitchen island and she sat down on it.

”I didn’t even notice your knee was bleeding. And yeh’ hand!” He said while going to a little cabinet for patches, band-aid and some chlorhexidine to wash the little wound with.

”Yeah well it’s alright, it actually doesn’t hurt that bad.”

”Well, prepare yourself ’cause this might.” He said with concentration in his voice while taking a cotton wool with chlorhexidine and gently cleaning the scraped knee. She once again winced from the pain and he assured her that he was done. He slowly pulled a patch out of the packaging and put it over her knee. He gently went over the patch with his finger and looked at her badly bruised knee, and stayed like that for a bit longer than normal. Soon, his eyes wandered up to meet hers instead. Y/N felt butterflies in her stomach by the way he was looking at her. In that moment, Y/N could swear that there was something between them. She couldn’t point out what, but there was this connection.

”Uhm, let’s do the foot” Harry said while coughing a bit. He took the band-aid and cut it long enough to be able to wrap it around the foot a few times. He gently grabbed her foot and wrapped it up, nice and steady.

”All done.” He said while getting up on his feet to face her at her level.

”Thanks” Y/N said, although it sounded more like a whisper. There it was again. The feeling, the tension between them. Harry put his hands on both sides of her and looked her square in the eyes.

”I should..”

”Do you wa..”

They looked at each other, both a bit embarrased.

”Ehrm, do you want me to call you a taxi?” Harry asked her while he took his lower lip between his thumb and index finger.

”Uhm, yeah maybe… It’s getting late and all…”

He helped her down from the kitchen island and reached for his phone. Y/N went out in the hall to put on her coat and when she turned around she saw Harry, still with the phone in his hand.

”Unless… You maybe wanna stay for dinner..? I mean, there’s a lot of food left from yesterday’s cooking and it would be nice with some company.” He looked so vulnerable standing there. And the butterflies in Y/N’s stomach were back, that was for sure.”I… I’d love that!” She said smiling and put the coat back on the hanger. Harry’s face lit up and they went into the kitchen. The dinner was all she could ever ask for, and more. She hadn’t had this much fun in such a long time. They sat there for hours and it felt like they had known each other for ages.

”I promise, I ’ave never learnt to tie m’ shoe laces correctly!” Harry laughed while taking a sip of his white wine.

”How come? Every kid knows how to do that? You learn that at the age of, like, five?” Y/N said, partly laughing, partly stunned by the fact that this man was almost 24 years old and didn’t know the right way of tying his shoe laces.

”I was sick the week they taught us tha’ at pre-school!” He said while looking somewhat defeated. Y/N coughed on her wine and burst out laughing. She laughed until she cried, probably because of the alcohol, and Harry couldn’t help but laugh at her. Midnight was starting to approach and Y/N thought it was time to go home. She didn’t want to, but she had to.

”As much fun as this has been, I think I have to head home now. My flat mate is probably wondering what took so darn long.” Harry smiled at her. She loved seeing those dimples. She wanted to see them all the time.

”It’s been my pleasure.” he said. She went out in the hall and heard Harry putting away the dishes in the sink and calling for a taxi. She quickly reached for a note pad and a pencil and scribbled down her phone number and her name, and put it in the pocket of his coat. She felt dumb. Why would he call her back? Oh my god why did she do that? Just as she was done he came towards her.

”Thank you, for everything. I really appreciated it.” she said, and she genuinly meant it.

” ’M the one to thank.” He said. They stood there and looked at each other with warmth and curiosity for a while, until they heard a honk from outside.

”Oh, uhm, I guess that’s my taxi.” She really wished it hadn’t been. She didn’t want to leave. She pulled the door handle and then Harry remembered something.

”Erhm, don’t forget your fruit!” He reached over and gave it to her.

” ’Think the peaches are a bit bruised, but I wouldn’t judge them fo’ it. They’re probably perfect despite of it.” Y/N couldn’t think straight, the butterflies were distracting her, all she could say was:

”Yeah. Let’s hope they’re good enough.” She said, looking him square in the eyes. Both of them were fully aware of what they were talking about, and it wasn’t peaches.

”Oh and, uhm… I never catched your name?” Harry looked a bit ashamed over the fact that he never asked your name.

”It’s Y/N” she said, with a wide smile on her face.

”What a lovely name! ’M Harry.”

She looked him up and down and finally, with a smirk, she said,

”I know.”

She pulled the door handle, and just like that; she was gone.

Thanks for reading, loves! stay tuned! xx

[lareinesophie]

HELLO darlings!! I had originally intended to get this blog on a good start by posting a sober, scholarly (and as yet unfinished) essay on the intricacies of Lady Lesso’s character, but then I got a much better idea, that is—

Repost this prompt with your own response: Write that one thing you really desperately wish will happen in the second SGE trilogy, but which in all likelihood won’t, and CHALLENGE: COME UP WITH THE CRAZIEST, MOST CREATIVE, MOST OUTLANDISH, MOST ABSOLUTELY MENTAL EXPLANATION as to how it just might be possible, even as it’s highly improbable.

Mine is that Lady Lesso is the character resurrected, because “who ever heard of a witch that really died? You can always get them back.” (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Chapter XII). I’m not talking about a zombie!Lesso literally being brought back from the dead, tho I wouldn’t put it past Hester to sneak to Lady Lesso’s grave/probably-still-unburied coffin in the Garden for Good and Evil and attempt necromancy or whatever serious black magic that Rafal had performed to reanimate the Old villains. (Tbh Hester totally would bc she’s such a huge Lady Lesso fangirl; look at how she shamelessly appropriated Lady Lesso’s life advice to Sophie as her graduation quote in the Ev-Nev Handbook. I bet she reads The Tale of Sophie and Agatha again and again just for the bits in which Lady Lesso appears and cries heavy black mascara tears and spooks Anadil’s rats with this Overwhelming and Uncharacteristic Display of Sentiment.) But anyway, my pet wacko theory is: So we know that Lady Lesso had appointed Sophie her successor as Dean and gifted her her sharp-shouldered purple gown before tying Aric up & freeing Professor Dovey & all that, but what if she had also… *dramatic pause*… enchanted all the mirrors in the School for Good and Evil and saved fragments of her eternal soul in them (like with Horcruxes), not bc she was afraid that Aric would kill her, but rather she wanted to keep an eye on Dean Sophie and continue to guide her from beyond the grave!!

“[…]I’ll always see you as my student, Sophie. And when you lose your way, I’ll be there in the shadows, your Evil fairy godmother, pushing you towards your destiny like a wind behind a sail. Even when you lose sight of what that destiny is.” Sophie could see there was more Lady Lesso wanted to say, but she was holding back. Instead, they just gazed into each other’s eyes[…]”

The Last Ever After, Part ii Chapter 29. “Who’s Helping Who?”

Everyone knows about Sophie’s obsession with mirrors and that she spends all day preening in front of one, doing her make-up instead of her schoolwork. It’d make perfect sense to observe Sophie thru a mirror and it’s certainly the most effective method of spying on her. Also, although mirrors were more plentiful in the Good castle, they’re really an Evil artefact associated with vanity and with the greatest villains. For instance, the “Enchanted mirror belonging to Leandra of Frostplains (aka The Frost Queen)” is displayed in the Exhibition of Evil, and Little Snow-White’s Evil stepmother famously owned a rather opinionated talking mirror that basically mansplains her and makes her insecure about her body image, and in horror movies and the “Bloody Mary” urban legend the ghost always passes into the mortal realm through a mirror. Given her deep knowledge of fairytales and of everything Evil, Lady Lesso would have been very familiar with the magical properties of mirrors. Furthermore, having been a “sensational” witch back in the day (TLEA), she would have been well-versed in “the art of life-extension”. Indeed, being both Dean of Evil and Professor of Curses & Death-traps, she must have been until her death the most powerful and knowledgeable witch in the Woods; notice that she was revered even by Evers for her prowess in casting spells—the magical purple-tinged shield she cast in over the Schools for Boys and Girls could withstand the continuous onslaught of the entire prince population in the Woods. A life-preservation spell involving soul fragmentation & a mirror is likely child’s play for her.

[..]the two boys watched more feral princes climb through the hole in the broken shield. “You must be quite the magician to crack it,” said Tedros finally. “Lady Lesso cast that shield herself.” Aric didn’t reply.

A World without Princes, Part II Chapter 13. “The Supper Hall Book Club”

In short, Lady Lesso could and would cast a spell preserving part of her consciousness within a mirror/several mirrors; she had both the means and motivation for doing so. But — and things get even more FANTASTIC from here on — a tiny caveat: Remember that mirrors are more plentiful in the Good castle? In fact, practically all the mirrors in the School for Good and Evil are found exclusively in the Good castle; in Book 1 Sophie had complained about not being able to find a single mirror in the Evil school and had resorted to improvising one in her dorm by flooding the floor, and when she did get a proper mirror it was the one Agatha had removed from her dorm in the Good school. Professor Manley’s Uglification classroom did have “desks with rusty mirrors”, but you’d bet Dean Sophie had those thrown out in one of her first acts as Dean and replaced them with very classy and very expensive antique mirrored stations ordered from Putzi, much like those in Professor Anemone’s Beautification classroom (AWWP), Manley’s protests notwithstanding. (“BUT THEY’RE PRICELESS ANTIQUES!” “SO ARE MINE! AND MINE ARE ACTUALLY CLEAN AND FREE OF TRACES OF TADPOLE GUTS!”). And there’s the Ice Queen’s Enchanted Mirror in the Exhibition of Evil, which Lady Lesso did not touch due to it being a priceless artefact from Evil’s glory days and a token of Evil’s greatest triumphs (and for sentimental reasons too — The Frost Queen was her “favourite tale of all”), and which in any case was still languishing under a thick layer of dust in the tiny broom closet that housed the Exhibition, because Dean Sophie had evidently not seen fit to move the Old Evil relics to more dignified settings. Or rather, there simple was no room for them in the new museum (the ‘Temple de la Gloire de Sophie’) that housed all the items from her fairytale, and seeing that she was the only Never to win a fairytale in centuries, there wasn’t any point in making room for the remains of losers; it might demoralise new Nevers to see that their greatest heroes were this rotting vine of thorns (Vera of Woods Beyond) and a bunch of dead stuffed animals. And lastly, there’s probably a mirror in the private living quarters of the Dean’s office, given that Lady Lesso admitted she had “a vanity that is rare among Nevers”, but Sophie had taken up residence in the School Master’s Tower and set about renovating it into a five-star hotel, and decorated it not with massive jewelled mirrors from the Good School but with the finest silver-backed floor-to-ceiling mirrors ordered directly from the Putsi Metal Shop, the same company that supplied the chair-and-mirror stations for the new Evil Groom Room.

Sooooo mirror!Lady Lesso has had absolutely no opportunity to catch up on Dean Sophie’s doings and gleaned zero intelligence on what’s going on in the Evil School, and worse, is subject to a constant, unending barrage of vain, vapid Evers preening in front of the mirrors every spare moment. And she’s regretting her life decisions terribly and at first she vents by haunting the Evers but then feels bad bc the frightened Evers go crying to Professor Dovey who has to comfort them lest she receive angry letters from their haughty royal parents inquiring about “a POLTERGEIST in the GOOD SCHOOL?! WHAT HAS THIS SCHOOL COME TO? FIRST YOU LOSE EVERY COMPETITION, THEN YOU STOPPED HOSTING SNOW BALLS ETC. ETC.” and these missives are often laced with threats to sue the school for criminal incompetence.

BUT THEN Dean Sophie decides she wants to throw an Evil Snow Ball for Christmas, with the exact same winter wonderland aesthetic as that of previous Snow Balls, but as she invited the whole School and not just the Nevers, she needs more entertainment venues to ensure there’s room for everyone and that everyone has a good time, so the dungeon is converted into a carnival of wintry amusements, AND SHE TURNS LADY LESSO’S ICE CHAMBER CLASSROOM INTO AN ICE-SKATING RINK. Aaaand for final touches, as the dungeon walls are a little bare and gloomy for such a joyous occasion, Sophie convinces the Evers to loan those massive jewelled mirrors in the Good castle to Evil for a night, so as to pretty up the place and brighten the rooms by reflecting the dancing fairylights. And the Evers carry a whole lotta mirrors, practically every mirror in school, into the Evil castle, and Lady Lesso, who’s trapped within these mirrors, sees what Sophie has done to the Evil castle and FLIPS OUT, LIKE, WHY ARE THERE EVERS IN THE EVIL CASTLE!!??? IN HER CLASSROOM??! SOPHIE HAD DONE WHAT TO HER CLASSROOM?? AND WHY WAS EVERYONE GLIDING ON…KNIFE BLADES?? HOW TRIGGERING ESPECIALLY SINCE SHE HAD BEEN STABBED TO DEATH WITH ONE OF THOSE THINGS… Then Sophie pirouettes in and stops before a particularly handsome mirror (and mirror!Lesso) to admire her cute little ice-skating outfit and matching silver skates, her long golden locks swept elegantly upward and pulled into a tight dancer’s bun, and intoxicated by her own appearance, she leans in so close that her face is barely an inch away from the mirror and her eyelashes graze the mirror’s surface in a butterfly kiss, and she croons dreamily “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,/ Who’s the fairest of them all?” And she opens her eyes to find…Lady Lesso glaring back at her, face literally white as snow (and thus fitting in perfectly with the ice decor) bc of how angry and horrified she is at what Sophie has done. Now, Lady Lesso had never shivered in her frozen classroom, but then and there during the Evil Snow Ball, she trembled uncontrollably with rage.

[janeykath318]

The Princess Uhura Diaries

June 6 This girl is a college graduate!!! Woohoo! So happy to have my degree at last. Harvard is no joke, believe me. Even Grandmother almost smiled at me when I saw her after the ceremony. I may fall short in the social graces, but she can't doubt my brains! Celebrated with the girls, then said goodbye and Scotty the Royal Terrier and I are now on the plane back to Genovia. I'll miss my school sisters big time, but duty calls. I'm being groomed for queenhood someday and Grandmother wants me back there for more tutoring in the ways of being royal. Sigh. 

June 8th Landed back in Genovia yesterday and found a couple big surprises. Grandmother renovated and updated a new suite for me. It's mind-blowing luxurious. The walk in closet is to DIE for. That'll come in handy for my extensive shoe collection. The bathroom is larger than my whole bedroom at Mom's and the bed.....well, it's every princess's dream. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised me. When I went in to my giant closet, who should pop up but Gaila, my bestie from New York!! There was lots of squealing and catching up after that. She came all the way over here for my party, bless her heart. June 15th I survived the party, thanks to Gaila and the cute guy I almost ran over on the dance floor. Yum-yum. It started Off like any other royal bash, me coming forth in my fancy gown introduced to a crowd of nobles and diplomats and forced to dance with a motley assortment of stuffed shirts. Ugh. The Pimply French kid was the worst. Then there was the awkward Swedish prince who stepped on my toes three times. I was so relieved to get away from him, I ran smack dab into some poor guy just standing there minding his own business, stepping on his foot even. He kind of doubled over for a second and I apologized as profusely as I could, dying with embarrassment at my perpetual clumsiness. Then he looked up at me and I met the most stunning pair of blue eyes I'd ever seen. He was kind of surprised himself I think, before he recovered and I made a joke about insurance information to which he smoothly replied in kind. It was almost flirting, but I was so relieved to finally meet a decent guy, I agreed to a dance almost before he'd finished asking. June 16th So much for a decent guy. Turns out he's gunning for my crown!! Today Gran had an uncomfortable meeting with parliament and they brought up the old law that requires a female to be married in order to inherit the crown!! I thought they'd done away with anachronistic, sexist rules like that. Evidently not. So, I've got to get myself a man before my next birthday or this James Tiberius Kirk brat gets a chance to lay claim to the throne. I don't know how, but his Uncle, the Viscount Mabry, said he should get the throne because he's more familiar with the Genovian society. Then, he brought him over to live here for the summer! When I saw who it was, well, I was steamed and disappointed. Let's just say, this time, when I stepped on his foot, it wasn't an accident. Gran said afterward, "As a Queen, I cannot condone it, but as a Grandma, I say RIGHT ON!!" I love that woman. June 22 Ever since HE moved in, I feel on edge everyday, like they're looking for reasons I shouldn't be allowed to rule. The Viscount is always sneering and sniffing at me and James is trying to pretend like he's not a lying scumbag. If it weren't for Gaila's refreshing presence, I'd have ripped out my hair by now, or thrown myself in the duck pond. First there was the embarrassing episode with the runaway chicken. I admit, it was stupid of me to open the clucking basket, but James looked way too tickled by my mortification. Then there was the inspection of the guard and I had to ride sidesaddle past the whole company without looking like I was in mortal fear of falling to a terrible demise. Of course, the supposedly calm horse spooked at something and knocked me on my rear anyway. Needless to say, my humiliation was complete, AGAIN. I saw Joe looking very grim and somewhat menacing at the Viscount, but I have no idea why. James had the goodness to keep his mouth shut for once. June 27 Gram is dead set on finding me a husband now. She loathes the Viscount and his schemes to get his nephew the throne. So she and Joe started vetting possible candidates and last night Gaila and looked through the options. It felt creepy. Who wants to pick their husband like he's a dinner option on a menu? But Parliament would have to abolish the longheld law with a two-thirds vote, and The Prime Minister says there isn't enough opposition  to get the required votes. I can tell that bothers him, but his hands are tied. So, we scrolled through various young lords and princes until we came to a nice looking Vulcan by the name of Spock. He's tall, dark, and very handsome, with cute pointy ears and looks very calm and logical like most of his species. I gave him the thumbs up and Gram declared she would invite him to visit Genovia immediately. I'm not promising to marry the guy, but I need something to keep me from thinking about those blue eyes!!! (Darn them) James still keeps trying to convince me our lie dance wasn't a lie and he really did enjoy it!! July 1st. Today was the Founder's Day Parade. As the princess and heir to the throne, I am obligated to sit on a float and wave at the crowds beside Grandmother. It's totally not my thing, but necessary for public relations. So up I got, pleased that James had to experience the same discomfort with his pompous windbag uncle. Despite my dislike of him, I have to admit he was pretty smooth at the mingling with the masses part and not nearly as uncomfortable as I'd hoped. I forgot about that when I passed the girls from the orphanage and saw the wistful expression in those eyes. Impulsively, I got down from the float and invited the girls to walk with me at the front. After all, in my view, every girl deserves to feel like a princess even if they never see a tiara. It ended up being the best part of the day and Gram didn't even really scold me. Even James told me sincerely it was a sweet thing to do. July 8th Spock arrived and we met in person for the first time. Let's just say he's even more handsome in real life and has those dark brown eyes that aren't hiding any nefarious designs! (Unlike some) We get along well, if it was a little awkward at first. Vulcans are very literal and logical and don't always get the jokes, so I try not to get too punny around him. Turns out he's WAY into science and stuff, founded a special scientific institute in his country even. July 12th. Been on several outings with Spock. He's quite a conversationalist once you get him talking. We took some long walks around the coast, played badminton, and several chess games, at which he royally kicked my butt. Of course, the whole thing is being blown up by the media and turned into a soap opera, which is really annoying.  The Viscount though, is really grumpy about it, much to my satisfaction, and James gives me odd looks sometimes, which I find highly unsettling for no reason at all! July 25th The Garden Party started out well, and ended in me doing something monumentally STUPID!! How could I let it happen? HOW?? I hate his guts so much right now!! James arrived at the party looking all smug and dapper as usual, with a knockout blonde on his arm, whom he introduced as Carol. She seemed like a nice girl, but it looked more like Jim was just trying to get me jealous, which is totally ridiculous because I don't even like him!!! Anyway, somehow, Spock and Carol got talking on some deeply technical scientific stuff and James and I were left alone. He started making suggestions that I'm only using Spock to keep my throne and of course I told him off for that, the hypocrite. "I loathe you!!" I yelled finally, getting right up in his smarmy handsome face. "I loathe YOU!!" He yelled back, staring at me intently. Next thing I knew, he'd yanked my face to his and was kissing me!! I should have slapped him for that, but instead I kissed right back. I can't believe that happened. Only you, diary, will ever know that James T. Kirk is really good at kissing, much as I hate to admit it. Then we started arguing again, and somehow ended up in the fountain. I embarrassed Grandmother again. Thankfully, Spock didn't see that indiscretion, being deep in discussion. Aug. 17th Well, James has been a lot less obnoxious lately, seeing how serious Spock and I are getting. In fact, he's been downright nice, even giving me archery tips as I practiced for the test I'll undergo the night before the coronation, which involves shooting an arrow through a ring, an Old Genovian tradition, I hear. I tried to ignore the fluttering in my stomach when he laid his hand over mine while correcting my stance, but wow, he seems to have really gotten under my skin. Ugh. Spock has been so sweet about this whole thing and probably being married to him won't be such a bad thing, but I just can't seem to be quite as happy as I thought I would with such a perfect man.... Sept. 3rd Spock proposed. I said Yes. The kingdom is going nuts at the prospect of a wedding.   It's kind of nice, actually, being engaged to him, but I never thought I'd feel so calm about impending marriage. Gram smiles approvingly a lot, Gaila still looks at me questioningly and Jim seems down in the dumps. He mostly keeps to himself now, seems to always have a book in his hand. He and Carol have double dated with us a couple times and she's great company, but it always ends up with her and Spock doing most of the talking and Jim and I avoiding each other's eyes. I think he's changed his mind on me being a fit ruler finally. I wonder if he'll have the guts to stand up against the Viscount uncle, who's more bombastic than ever. March 5. I haven't written in forever, but wedding planning has taken over my life right now. The dress, the flowers, the table settings, the cake, pleasing the families and all that jazz is pretty exhausting. Spock's been really kind and helpful in his own way. He's great at subtly telling people when enough is enough. It's very comforting and I ought to be head over heels by now, but I'm not and that saddens me. Should I really go through with this? Is it worth losing the kingdom and hurting Gran? Should I really cave to this sexist law? Gaila told me she'll support me no matter what I decide, and it's comforting to know that. For now, everything is going ahead for an April 3rd Wedding. March 30th Had a delightfully unconventional "shower" last night. We invited princesses of all ages to the palace for a giant slumber party, including mattress surfing down the main staircase. It was a riot! Even Grandmother joined in, looking dignified while doing it. It was nice to let myself go and just be a regular girl again. Pretty soon I'll be in charge of a country and fun time? Well, Buh-bye. April 2nd I caved to temptation last night and snuck  out with Jim to the lake for a moonlight walk. I should be strong enough to resist him, but those eyes just DO things to me and he seems to be much more than an insufferable, cocky rich guy. We really talked this time and I learned about his life and growing up with no parents and I told him about New York and Gaila and my Mom and how awkward it was learning to be a princess. "You're doing a pretty fantastic job, in my opinion," he told me. "You really do care about the people and the country. My uncle is so wrong." "You really think so?" I asked (He was holding my hand at this point). "Sure do." He smiled at me and my heart did a flip again. Shoving the guilt aside, I stayed with him. We danced in the moonlight and curled up under a tree and dozed off. Bad idea. Next thing I know, there come the paparazzi and I'm running away in rage and panic, wondering if it was all a set up by Jim to create a scandal and wreck the wedding. I really need to make better choices. April 3rd Well, there was a wedding today, but not mine. I couldn't go through with it, not after searching my own heart and realizing I'm in love with someone else. It's not fair to Spock, logical as he's been about the whole thing. When Joe told me that James had NOT planted those paps to ruin me and he believed the young man was besotted with me, well, the was the finishing touch. I went out there and told Spock I couldn't go through with it. He was very gracious as usual and I think I detected a faint trace of relief on his part. Then the good ole Viscount got up and started haranguing me again and how he wouldn't stand for this. After he stormed out in a huff, the Prime Minister came up and told me now was a good time to convince Parliament to change the rules. "They're waiting to be convinced. Go after them and tell them what's what. Don't back down." I always liked the Prime Minister. Lord Pike is a good man. Up I got and explained why women are perfectly capable of ruling a country without a husband. Most of them seemed to be receptive, but one old fellow had to ask "What does the other heir think?" There was a silence, and James stood up, much to my surprise. I certainly didn't expect him to be there after everything that happened to be there. He looked like he'd had a bad night, but what he said warmed me through. He backed me up completely!! Even said he utterly refused to be king because he felt the crown was mine and I would be a great queen. "Plus, she'll look lovely on all our postage stamps," he added saucily, with a smile at me. Once he'd finished, he turned and left without further ado, leaving me both grateful and puzzled. The Prime Minister called for a vote right then and there and the law was overturned. That wasn't the end of the surprises, though. Grandmother stood up and declared it would be a shame to waste all the bridal plans, so she and Joe would be filling in as the happy couple. It's very unlike her to be so impulsive, but the two of them together has been a long time coming and I gladly played bridesmaid as they were united in marriage. What a day!!! April 16th I passed the archery test with flying colors and the coronation will proceed tomorrow as planned. I'm really nervous about it, but this evening something wonderful happened. I was lounging in my drawing room, Scotty beside me on his little doggy throne, when Jim appeared and knelt before me. "What is your dilemma, young man?" I asked him playfully. Those big blue eyes were looking at me so intensely, I thought I would drown in them. "I am in love with the queen to be and am inquiring as to whether she loves me too." I admit, I launched myself at him in a very unqueenly manner and we held each other tightly, finally giving in to the electricity between us. Then he whispered "Nyota!" In my ear in a longing, loving tone and I kissed the daylights out of him. How I love that man. Scotty was annoyed at losing my undivided attention and stalked off in high dudgeon, yipping, but we were too busy to care. I'll make it up to him. April 18th The coronation went off with much pomp and circumstance. I now understand what they mean when they say "heavy is the head that wears the crown". Not only is it a huge responsibility to be ruler of a country, but the crown is literally HEAVY. My head was sweating the whole day. Between Grandmother, Joe, Gaila, and Jim, I was subtly encouraged by my loved ones and made it through the long ceremonies fairly well. Grandmother bustles around looking proud, Joe kept the throng from getting too big, Gaila smiled, and Jim looked dazzled and proud and utterly gorgeous. Even Spock attended with Carol sticking to his side. I think those two might have a thing going...... (Skips over a year of entries until the next June) June 6th I married Jim yesterday. It truly was the best day of my life and Mom got to be there, which was wonderful. I'd felt weird wearing the same dress that I'd originally picked out to marry someone else, so the original was auctioned for charity to support the orphanage. My new gown was a simple long white satin with elegant sheer sleeves and delicate crystals scattered over it. It moved beautifully as well, and Jim seemed to like it judging by the countless times he's told me how gorgeous I am. He's no slouch either, rocking that royal uniform with confidence and style. Joe walked me down the aisle, which made Grandmother very happy. (Was that a tear I saw in her eye?) Jim's eyes were just glowing as we exchanged vows and I hope I was able to convey my own love and joy so perfectly. "How does it feel to be a prince?" I asked him when it was over. "Not as good as being your husband," he answered softly, kissing my hand regally. I swooned inwardly. Who could help it? Just as we started our first dance, he looked down at his feet with feigned anxiety. "Are my toes safe today?" He asked, the rascal, bringing up our awkward first two meetings. I laughed. "You bet, baby." Well, Jim is starting to stir beside me and I think I saw one blue eye open a bit, so I'd better stop for now. I will say, he has totally cute bedhead! I think I'm going to ruffle it up some more.

[pierre-antoine]

Shanghai walks - my guide to the Paris of the East.

Few weeks ago I wrote this mini Shanghai guide for my CEO as he was spending a week in the city.

You can access to all the links recommended links here.

Hi Ije, Shanghai is one of the most interesting city I’ve had the chance to discover. The ever changing city fabric can leave you dizzy, a urban vertigo combining history and future perspectives of the World.Your five senses will be challenged (often in an unpleasant way), however if you look a little deeper, walk a little further, you might discover mini treasures which will change your perspective on this city and China. Best way for me to discover is to get lost, so rather than give you an itinerary, I’d rather giving you multiple starting points across neighbourhood and you will see where you get to!

Don’t be afraid to walk into courtyards and compounds, with a big smile a simple “Ni Hao” and “Xie Xie” you can go further.

PEOPLE’S SQUARE Tomorrow square, that’s where you’re staying. Make sure you visit the top floor, they should have a good brunch there with an amazing view on the city Centre. On your way to the park you will notice an elegant 1930’s building with a Big Ben like clock on top, it is the former Shanghai Race Club’s clubhouse. People’s Park next door used to be a horse racing track. Symbol of the city’s decadence for the Communist power it was turned into a public garden. They used to have a nice rooftop restaurant in there so might be worth checking out. It is actually worth visiting People’s Park  人民公园  next door, you might see old men playing Mah Jong, Parents speed dating to find a good match for their kids or other public dance and martial arts. The Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Arts or MOCA is also worth a visit At the end of the Park you will reach Nanjing Lu (road) one of the busiest shopping street in Shanghai.

If you feel like it you call walk all the way down to the Bund or WaiTan 外滩 in Chinese, Shanghai famous boardwalk by the Huangpu river.

THE BUND 外滩 Here you can admire the past glory of the city (HSBC history building, Americans hotels) and the future as you look across the river with Pudong and the financial district of Lujiazui. Here I recommend to visit The Peninsula Shanghai hotel, one the most exquisite comeback. Their founder Sir Ellis Kadhouri, an Iraki Jewish immigrant who had to leave the city during the Japanese occupation. 60 years later he came back to build this contemporary art deco master piece. This is one of my flagship projects in Shanghai. The hotel has a grand lobby with traditional high tea, a pretty little Spa and a great Chinese restaurant. You can also visit Salon de Ning bar in the basement You may ask to visit the aviation lounge and platform as well as there are quite a few good stories to discover. Behind The Peninsula there is a strip of 1930’s heritage building dating back from the American occupation. Try to get to visit some of them like the Lyceum Building – it is full of history and I’ve worked with the Rockefeller group to renovate them as well as the RockBund Art Museum. The former Union church is also really cute next to this street. If you cross the Waibandu bridge you will discover 2 hotel from the 30’s that haven’t changed much: Broadway Mansions and the Astor House 上海浦江饭店 – take a sneak peak in the Astor House to get a taste of The Pearl of the East. Now you’re really close to the Hyatt on the Bund 上海外灘茂悅大酒店 – it is the perfect spot to admire the view overlooking the Bund and Pudong. Go to the rooftop bar – ideally at dusk. Going back to the Bund you should also visit the Peace hotel 和平饭店北楼 and its old Jazz lounge 费尔蒙和平酒店爵士吧.You have a good selection of restaurant and lounge bars on the Bund, here is a list of favourite if you want to spend the evening in the area: Mr and Ms Bund: contemporary fine dining Bar Rouge: expats trap with a view N˚6 on the Bund: secretive lounge bar and great Japanese restaurant Sun with Aqua N˚3 on the Bund: M on the Bund restaurant, lounge with a view Mercado, POP and Nougatine restaurant next door. Huang Pu Hui: Chinese restaurant

PUDONG Not much history here, just an ever growing forest of skyscrapers built on a swamp. Tallest is the Shanghai Tower, built to overtake the Japanese Mori Building, build to overtake the Jin Mao tower and its 88 stories. If you fancy, take a look on the top floor of one of the towers – mind boggling!

YU GARDEN 豫园 To get a taste of Chinese imperial era, you can visit the touristic Yu Garden, it is quite busy yet a good flavour of Ming Dynasty pavilions, ponds and arch bridges and it is a good starting point to get lost in the old Chinese town (Dafeng Road, Sipai Road, Guang Qi Road). No recommendations here, just follow your flow and get lost in the meander.

FORMER FRENCH CONCESSION Good to start at Xintiandi 上海新天地南里, so you can see what a worker’s Shikumen style brick house quarter looks like. This one has been fully renovated into an up-scale shopping centre. You can find good Cantonese Dim Sum restaurants here like Crystal Jade.

Then head to Fuxing Park – here you’re are entering the former French Concession and all of the mid-century mystery – Think of Lust Caution when you when in the alleys. Here you can visit the former residence of Sun Yat-sen the great Chinese revolutionary.

Go down the beautiful Sinan Road where you will pass by old Mansions – that are being renovated. Towards the end of Sinan Road you can reach another worker’s district called Tianzifang 田子坊 with a totally different flavour from Xintiandi, here local residents mix with artists and little cafés . Going down on Jianguo Road you will reach Bugaoli Lane or Cité Bourgogne 步高里, a perfect example of Shikumen houses preserved in their 1930’s style, 500 families live in the little cité. Right in front of it you’ve got a great hand pulled noodle Lanzhou style noodle restaurant.

That’s already a good start! I can recommend the following Chinese restaurant if you want to try some real Chinese food:

Lost Heaven refined Yunnan Folk Cuisine Southern Barbarian Yunnan cuisine rough on the edges Sichuan citizen Sichuan spicy food Guyi Hunan Mao favourite’s food from Hunan – spicy as well Crystal Jade good Dim Sum

If you like Jazz, make sure you get a drink at the Cottons Club and you can always get a good hot pot at Hot Pot King next door for a late night meal. Have fun and keep walking!

[restmark22-blog]

Our Small Bath Reveal! (+ How We Created a Spa-Like Shower System)

This post is in partnership with Lowe’s.

It’s bathroom reveal day, and we couldn’t be more excited! We’re excited to show you, we’re excited to have the ​​​​​​​last untouched room in our Chicago home completed, and we’re excited to have heated floors. Heated floors! We worked with a team of people to help us get from point A to B… to C to D to Z. Our favorite local designer and contractor got us off and running, and Lowe’s helped us with the tools needed to execute the sweetest little bathroom we could imagine. The entire process took close to 3 months, with the majority of that time being spent fine-tuning the details. (I’m a perpetual fusser.)​​​​​​​

Our small bath is located just off of our dining room (we’ll call that Chicago-old-house charm), and it’s the room used by our guests and friends. It was virtually untouched since the day we moved into this home – 6 years ago! – because we couldn’t bear the thought of spending an ounce of energy on a space that functioned so poorly. The toilet was almost 6″ off of the wall, the floor was several inches higher than the adjoining room, the drywall had holes in it(!) and the shower leaked like a sieve. The before-and-afters of this room may be one of our very favorites, so let’s get to it!

Our Small Bath | Before

Our Small Bath | After

A Closer Look | Before

A Closer Look | After!

medicine cabinet | vanity | black + white hexagon tile| subway tile| sconce | toilet

Perhaps the reason we waited so long to renovate this room was because Scott and I were in disagreement over how we wanted it to function. Initially, I was very against keeping a shower off of the dining room, and I was adamant that a half bath would make much more sense. He disagreed wholeheartedly, saying that a home with two full baths was more valuable, and, well, guess who won? (He was totally right, by the way.)

We struggled with a layout that would allow us to change the shape of the old corner shower, which only furthered my argument that this room was simply too small for a shower. I’ll admit I was being very shortsighted, and now I can’t imagine this room without a shower! Eventually, this will be Lucy’s bathroom, and all of us sharing one shower could’ve created challenges down the line. So we compromised; the shower would stay if we could make the room larger by stealing space from the shared wall of the workshop.

The Shower | Before

The Shower | After

Creating a Spa-Like Shower System

Pushing back that wall changed everything! Essentially, the new floor plan gave us the depth we needed to enlarge the shower, and while we were at it, we also moved the vanity to the same wall as the toilet. This allowed for us to have the shower span the entire back wall, which was an immediate upgrade in scale and possibilities. The transom window is a piece of frosted glass, bringing more light into the bathroom while maintaining privacy.

After landing on the Cassidy line of fixtures from Delta Faucet, the rest of our decisions tumbled into place seamlessly. We initially used the Cassidy faucet in our garden bathroom renovation, and we loved it so much, we knew the same line could have a happy home here, too! Lowe’s offers online and in-store curated collections from some of our favorite bath brands (think: Delta and Kohler), and we loaded up our virtual shopping cart with everything we needed. We purchased every last fixture, plus our Kohler toilet, allen + roth vanity and lighting online, and we had it all shipped to our home for free with our MyLowe’s account. (All items are linked at the bottom of this post for you!)

Tip: Every purchase you make online and in-store saves to your MyLowe’s account, making returns and exchanges super simple. With a whole-room renovation, this became an invaluable resource for us!

We paired our rain shower head + arm with this handheld sprayer, and we had them streamlined with this diverter. The diverter has a thermostatic valve that allows us to keep our favorite temperature set, as well as the option to choose the shower head, the sprayer, or both!

Our glass shower wall and door was custom cut by a local contractor, and in this small room, we wanted to keep things feeling as open as possible. Because of this, we chose a small chrome ball knob (on a door that swings in or out!), and we asked that the glass be taller than the height of the shower arm (our final glass height was 90″). The taller glass keeps most of the steam in the shower, which feels very spa-like and has been such a treat.

The shower curb was fabricated from stone remnants, which was a big cost save. Our contractor gave us the final measurements, and we took those numbers to a fabricator near home and asked if they had marble-like quartz remnants that could work. A few options were given to us, and we fell in love with Noble Grey by Cesarstone quartz option:

We carried the same quartz remnants into our shower niche and wall ledge, and we think it looks so beautiful against the subway tile! The niche placement, long and low, is tucked onto the same wall as our Delta Cassidy fixtures, which conceals it nicely from view when you walk into the room, we think.

Problem Solving the Soffit, Lighting + Vents

Perhaps a photo of the ceiling isn’t exactly expected, but this is a before and after that made a massive impact on our small bathroom. Let me show you where we started and where we ended up, and then I’ll get into those details:

The Ceiling | Before

The Ceiling | After

Our contractor realized that the soffit for our furnace vent could be removed completely, and the vent itself could lay flush on the wall! Hip, hip! With the new layout, we also moved the exhaust fan to the center of the room, and we flanked it with two recessed lights – one for the shower, one for the main area. We also added a sconce above the recessed medicine cabinet, and finally, we couldn’t resist the Jaxson sconce as another pretty detail. Can one room have too many lighting options? We think not.

Note: The Jaxson sconce is currently unavailable, but this one is really similar! We also considered this handsome globe sconce, which is a steal.

Upgrading the Vanity and Toilet

We recently shared the install of our vanity and toilet, and we’ve been so pleased with our choices. The marble-top vanity is solid and beautiful, and it’s especially sweet when topped with our widespread faucet. And because all of our plumbing fixtures are polished chrome, we did a quick swap of the hardware and added these. (The original hardware was stainless, and while nice, this was an easy fix and better suited to our bathroom!) Another trip down memory lane is in order, don’t you think?

Vanity | Before

Vanity | After

We chose this Kohler one piece toilet for it’s sleek lines and smaller footprint, plus, it’s easier to clean! I realize this is a small detail (wait, is there such a thing as a detail too small?), but the flush handle is awfully cute. We like to think that she’s winking at us.

Adding Art + Greenery

We knew that our Libby silhouette would be an adorable addition to this room, especially because Lucy loves her so, so much. It’s a nice contrast on an otherwise empty wall:

Atop the wall ledge, we gathered up fresh greenery and layered them with this small greeting card. (I’m forever using greeting cards as art prints!) Something that Scott and I have vowed to each other, is the promise to allow Lucy to feel. This print is a subtle reminder that, yes, it’s okay.

And see that small bud vase below? That’s an old Pine-Sol bottle that we found hidden in the walls during the demolition phase of this renovation! We soaked off the label, and now it’s a tiny reminder of this journey.

Customizing Tile for a Vintage Feel

The tile in this room has come a long way (baby)! Prior to us, it had been layered so many times that you had to take a physical step up into the bathroom. (If only we had a nickel for every time someone tripped – oops!) We were excited to peel back those layers and create a custom rosette design by mixing these black + white hexagon tiles, and – this is so exciting – we sprung for heated floors! The tile in this bathroom was always so painful in the winter against bare feet, and we can’t wait to test them out this year as the weather starts to cools down.

Flooring + Tile | Before

Flooring + Tile | After

While the floor tile has a vintage look, we opted against traditional subway tile, and instead, we chose this Cloe tile in white. It has a lot of variation, which is impossible to capture in a photograph, and yet it’s so stunning in person! Because there was already a lot of movement in the wall tile, we chose bright white unsanded grout, which we think allows the subtle color pattern to really shine.

Mixing Metals Adds Interest + Warmth

While all of our plumbing fixtures are polished chrome, you know that we can’t resist mixing metals whenever possible! Our wall sconces are a warm brass, and we think it adds a touch of whimsy – especially when paired with the pink board and batten. Because there’s a lot of metal tones in the room, we kept the mirror simple with this frameless recessed cabinet, which almost blends away.

Follow This Renovation from the Beginning!

As a reminder, you can view this (or any room) renovation from start to finish at any time, post by post! In our menu bar, go to ROOM MAKEOVERS, choose OUR CHICAGO HOME (or any of our properties) and then click on the room you’d like more information on. This was a highly requested feature that we hope brings value to this blog, while also providing you with the encouragement to take the next step. And the next one. And the one after that! Renovations take time, and it’s always worth it to cross that finish line.

A huge thank you to Lowe’s for supporting our pink, black and white bathroom vision, and all the virtual hugs from us to you for giving us a boost in the thick of it and cheering us on along the way! Any questions? Leave them in the comments, and we’ll be happy to answer.

Our Bathroom Sources:

recessed medicine cabinet | marble top vanity | widespread faucet | vanity hardware | black hexagon tile | white hexagon tile | Cloe subway tile| rain shower head + arm | diverter valve | handheld shower | Jaxson sconce | one-piece toilet | vanity storage solution | heated floor thermostat | recessed lights | LED bathroom fan | framed print | cat silhouette | round sconce | toilet paper holder | quartz curb + ledge were remnants from this local fabricator

Source: https://www.yellowbrickhome.com/our-small-bath-reveal/

[sl-c]

thoughts (9.6.17 - UK)

I really hope the aches are growing pains, I would love to get taller & everything else seems to be growing or have grown recently (boobs, hair)

was doing really well abating my homesickness, but it’s come back the last 2 days & it’s tough. I’m missing everyone & everything quite badly

almost 1/3 of the way through the trip; thank god

it’s weird, I was talking to my mum on the phone yesterday about how I’ve been feeling homesick & she said something like “well now you’ve been gone a while you do realise why the trip is worth it though”, which I immediately responded with I know the trip is amazing it’s just I miss home & then I realised that to be honest, as amazing as the trip is I actually could’ve remained quite happy without it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful & loving it, but if I really reflect it’s not something (so far) that I would feel I could not live without you know what I mean

man I love lingerie; spoiled myself to this outrageously expensive baby doll set & I am obsessed, but it makes me miss him even more 

about to go lingerie shopping at an outlet I drove past which I’m so excited for omg

I am obsessed with the little room I’m living in at the moment; it has the sweetest, most comfortable couch/bed that is perched right below the windows where I get a lovely light & I’m surrounded by mess & books, but I actually like it

so keen to get a car when I’m back, sort out renovations, get back into working more, finally make the content I’ve been dreaming about, get serious about my health & fitness, get my soul back into the ocean & just back with all my loves

I’ve really been missing the feel of a foreign country which is something I thought I was sick of by the end of Japan; keen to head off to Scandinavia in a week

been really obsessed with youtube lately; Eva is so cute, particularly with her boyfriends, what sweethearts 

the UK countryside is amazing, but it’s also made me realise how I genuinely feel unbalanced without the ocean; how it’s not just nature that balances me, but the ocean in particular 

my phone is full & it’s screwing everything up & it’s so annoying

I’m tired

It’s not good, but I sort of just want to be totally numb & sleep for like a week, I just feel kind of out of it & all weird

need to drink more water

still feeling nothing but frustration by the fact I am the only thing stopping me from achieving my goals, but I can’t seem to push myself enough to do what I need to

I’m so blind wow

this english life is reminding me of how badly I want my own vegetable garden

need to be ready in 2 minutes & I’m sitting with a hoodie over my head & basically just look like I got out of bed & hit by a train simultaneously

I just miss him & feel shit because I don’t think it’s mutual & I just don’t know what’s going on & I just want to get shit sorted but i can’t because I’m travelling & it’s just frustrating & everything is making me feel romantic which makes me feel lonely here & just ah

gonna go cause now i need to be ready in 30 seconds & this girl needs some lingerie retail therapy

[kaynamiteineurope]

Day 12: A Successful Day of Looking at Art and Not Getting Smited Day 12 of our trip, the second Friday, we got to sleep in a bit later and meet up for the bus into the city at 10:30am. I struggled, as I usually do, and took a 10 minute shower and dried and put my hair up in a ponytail, choosing to wear my yellow dress for the Vatican (with my leggings rolled up underneath). At first, I thought I looked kind of cute. Then, I nearly immediately decided that I actually just looked rough. And whale-like. So that was a great way to start the day. We went down to breakfast a bit before 10 and ate some peach halves, pastries, and scrambled eggs before getting on the tour bus that was set to drop us off near Piazza Navona for the day. We started off looking at a shop near the center, 4 Rivers, fountain and picked up some great stuff--an ornament for Natasha and a magnet and gift for my mom for me and a keychain for Carolina--then we tried to find a dress shop we had remembered passing the night before on the walk to the bus. We didn't, however, end up finding it and instead walked around for an hour or so, ducking into other shops to no avail. After we gave up on that, we bought fruit cups for a snack and decided to head back over to the Trevi Fountain so Natasha could get a video of her throwing a coin into the fountain since mine had turned out so cute compared to the pictures we had already taken. By now, my sandal-ed feet (or tour director had recommended sandals for those whose feet were hurting in their shoes) were starting to itch and burn at the same time from all the walking, and the sun was pretty high in the sky, so my entire back was basically all sweat (sexy, right?). We wove our way through a massive amount of people on a couple main streets, before finally turning off to the smaller ones to reach the fountain. Right before the Trevi piazza, we passed a line of street artists and stopped to check out some of their work. Unlike Venice, where the mode of art was usually oil, Rome seemed to be a lot of watercolors--which is tough because watercolors, especially those on mattes, are very easy to do prints of and pass them off as originals (we saw another couple from our group who bought prints, though I'm not sure they knew it). So we had been very vigilant with our browsing to make sure what we were going to get was original work. We decided to circle back after the fountain because we were on a tight time-frame (we had to meet back up at Piazza Navona at 2 for the bus to the Vatican City). We fought our way through to the fountain, where I took an adorable video of Natasha throwing a second coin into the fountain, and then we took forever in the Trevi Bar (a place the nice couple from Indiana had recommended) for some gelato. There was a tour there of Asian tourists getting their gelato, and when one of them asked for pineapple and apple, the guy behind the counter started singing the Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen song, so it's been stuck in my head ever since. Which is mega annoying. I got a small with raspberry and lemon (my favorite), and then I navigated us back toward the art. There was one guy with larger works that both of us really liked, but they were going to be 50 a piece, so we went over to a second artist who had smaller pieces for a lot less money. Natasha ended up getting a medium-sized piece and I got three wider-rectangle pieces (15 euro total!) that were of different historical sights in the city that I think will look awesome together in a collage. We got to the Piazza Navona just in time to meet up with the group, and then we walked a few blocks in the sun over to the public bus stop where we hopped onto a bus to the Vatican City. Do you know how amusing it is to watch a group of 44 people scrambling to pack into a bus? Or how subsequently amusing it is to watch the expression on other people's faces as they realize they're either trapped in their seats or won't actually be able to get on without sardining with us? Quite funny. Quite funny indeed. (Less funny for my aching feet, though, since we barely ever manage to get actual seats.) We took a small break on the steps directly across from the entrance to the Vatican--during which most people seemed to struggle against falling asleep--as we waited for Alexandra to meet up with our tour guide for the afternoon. Once we did, we started the process of going inside, walking through metal detectors and having our bags scanned. We made our way up onto the second floor where we picked up the Vatican-approved lime green and blue radios (the earbud was super big and my radio was extremely temperamental. The channel would change itself every 15 seconds and I kept having to fiddle with it the entire time just to hear our tour guide talk about the history of the city and its buildings). Then, we walked out into a courtyard area and sat down while she explained about different parts of the city we would be seeing. She explained a lot about the Pope and how even though the Pope is a lifetime gig, the current Pope was elected after the previous one resigned, which hasn't happened since the 12th century. She explained that since the only way a Pope is supposed to exit his position is through death, they still held a funeral ceremony for him and he was flown out of the city, and subsequently brought back in where he now lives on the grounds near the gardens in a private home that they renovated for him. She also said that on a tour two weeks ago, she actually saw the Pope himself walking around! In the Sistine Chapel, there aren't supposed to be photos (because it's copyrighted) and you're not allowed to talk. But she also explained that the Chapel is open to the people who live in the Palace. Michelangelo, the famous painter of the Sistine Chapel, originally wanted to be a sculptor, but while his first piece--of the Virgin Mary holding her dead child for the last time, a piece in St Peter's Basilica--was the piece that got him noticed for the first time, it was his painting that made him famous. He lived until he was 90 (whereas Raphael only lived until age 30). The Chapel itself was built in the 1400's, with Michelangelo decorating it with his masterpiece from 1508-1512, and the wall frescos were added in the 1530's (frescos are made when you have to transfer your design onto fresh plaster and then paint it to make the heat seal in the color, while is why the Chapel's art is so well preserved). The ceiling itself isn't very deep, but since painters have to lay on their backs on super tall scaffolds to paint it, Michelangelo complained a lot in his letters that it hurt his back a lot to paint the Chapel ceiling (which I totally get!). While Michelangelo was originally from Florence, he vowed he never wanted to "go back to the city that disappointed him." Unfortunately, his body was stolen from Rome and is now housed in Florence, which would have been his biggest nightmare. After all of that, and a ton more information, we walked through the Vatican's museum. A lot of it was statues and sculptures, with a pair of coffins, a giant marble bathtub, and plenty of vases. They also had painted maps, more fresco walls and ceilings, and giant tapestries. The entire thing was really interesting and fun to go through (more fun if my feet hadn't been screaming), but, of course, it was the Sistine Chapel everyone was waiting for. By the time we wound our way through the museum, and down the stairs to the chapel, there were a ton of people inside. The Chapel was smaller than I expected--especially after seeing Saint Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace in Venice--but every inch of it was covered in Michelangelo's masterpiece. Each of the people were shadowed in a way I'm not sure I'd ever be able to figure out, and they were massively impressive. Weirdly enough, my first thought was "Ooooh, this is so cool! It's even got the gated off section near the back that they had in the Da Vinci Code!" ...Yup. After our ten minutes in the Chapel, we headed out and over to Saint Peter's Basilica. Saint Peter's is the largest Catholic Church in the world. According to our tour guide, all other Catholic Churches actually have an agreement with the Vatican that they can't construct a church bigger than that of Saint Peter's. It was massively impressive. And, thankfully, we were allowed to take pictures here. They were even starting the evening rosary because services started at 6 and we were there just before it at like 5:45pm, which I'm sure my grandma would have loved. Afterward, we headed outside and our guide pointed out where the Pope lived, and that the guards who stand by the gate to his house have intricate uniforms that cost about 1,500 euro (where as the ornate Pope shoes are 5,000!). Then we walked a million miles down the street toward the store where we could purchase Vatican souvenirs which would have the opportunity to be blessed by the Pope's priests. I picked out a beautiful pearl-y looking one that has a bit of Vatican holy water in it, and had them bless it, and then our group split into two for the night. One group went off to the hotel and the rest of us took a bus back near Piazza Navona to have our 35 euro (originally 55) 5-course, 6-wine Italian dinner. It was held at a place called Buddy's and it was delish! We had a veggie plate, bruschetta, a meats and cheeses plate with the best bread I've had in Italy, then they brought out a traditional tomato pasta, pork slices, and then a dessert of these little shortbread sticks. I ate until I was full and drank a bit too much, so I was a little giggly and introduced myself to one of the guys on the trip, Gus, who I hadn't talked to until that day. He told me about how he's nicknamed "Vanilla Gorilla" and I talked about how I needed a cool nickname like that (yeah, I know. I was quite tipsy though, so it's fine). We walked a while to get to our tour bus and then our tour guide spent the entire drive back drunkenly talking on the mic about how we all needed to get together at the hotel and keep drinking. Then she started passing around the mic to the other girls of whom she actually knows the names of, joking and laughing with them. Then they used a girl's phone and put it up to the mic to play music. Our. Poor. Bus. Driver. Not only were we 40 minutes late from the time he thought he was picking us all up, but then he had to deal with a bunch of drunken college kids and an even more far gone tour director. That man deserves a raise. So we got back to the hotel and she told us to meet back in the lobby in 10 minutes and that she would buy wine and treat us all to a last drink in Italy. Natasha and I decided since we'd pretty much opted out of all of the longer nights that we'd join and get to know people. So I changed into a PJ top and touched up my make-up (though it didn't really help) and then we headed back down, where they had already broken into the wine. Alexandra finally noticed we were there, told us to get a glass of wine, and then told Natasha she loved her ancient Grecian dress and that she loved how put-together and pretty I looked with my winged eyeliner. She said "I love you guys," and then held my hand for a bit and then promptly forgot we were there. So we got kicked out of the lobby for being too loud, so we went outside and set up there. Here we drank some more wine and Alexandra had us go around the group and say what we thought would happen on the trip and what actually has happened. A lot of the girls talked about how they thought they wouldn't get along with anyone (bull) and how it hadn't been the case at all and how much they loved "literally everyone here" and that they got "along with everyone" (also bull). Natasha and I headed back up to the room around midnight and once we were back, we realized that we had both had the same thoughts. They didn't mean it. They didn't even know all of us. Barely any of them had tried to get to know us, let alone Carolina. The quieter, culture-driven girls were pushed off to the side. We weren't there for the wine and the partying or the boys (though it wouldn't hurt to get a guy along the way!). We were there for the architecture and the mythology, the culture and the experience. It was just a huge shift. And Alexandra said how we were our favorite group and she loved each and every one of us and how we were so wonderful, but she doesn't know Natasha or my name--only those of the girls who were loud and drank a lot. The entire thing was just a sort of shift in the trip. I drank too much wine (I'm sure any of you could have called that--those of you who know my minuscule drinking habits), so I spent the next hour propped up in bed thinking about how nauseous I was. I fell asleep and then from 1:30-2am, I sat in the bathroom hoping I would just puke and get it over with. But when that seemed like it wouldn't ever happen, I went back to bed and slept through the night. ...Or at least until my alarm went off at 5:50am and then it was time for GREECE! And, of course, the ESCAPE FROM THE INSECT ROOMS OF DOOM! FINALLY!!!! Ciao, Horrible "Club House Hotel" of Doom! I shall never return and absolutely never miss you!

[sechens-moved]

hi, can u please recommend me some fics?

yes sure i’d be more than willing to help!!! so uhhhhh of which pairing do you want to read about? if you’re looking for xiuchen fics, i have some of them under the cut since i’m going to assume that’s what you’re talking about bc this is basically a xiuchen trash blog sakjdfhkjash but if not then you can def come back and tell me which pairing you’re talking about :)

Because Self-Control is Hard by chens / pg-13 / 1.2k+ words / Jongdae can’t stop staring at Minseok and everyone is freaked out by it. one of the first and fluffiest xiuchen fics i’ve read it’s so Cute and i wanted to Die

how to: find love (a ten step guide to romance) by minseokness / nc-17 / 10k+ words / side!layhan and seho / kim minseok is a virgin and that’s totally okay. lu han’s the overzealous best friend bent on changing minseok’s life. and uh, jongdae’s just there for the ride.

pretend for me by layonmyunicorn / pg - 13 for language / Minseok doesn’t really like girls, but sadly, girls like Minseok. Give it a lonely coffee shop visit and a girl to flirt with him, and in his books it only equals pain. Thankfully there’s a more than attractive waiter that can get him out of this kerfuffle. (i’m not really a huge fan of fics from aff but this is really good)

paper terms by fluho / pg-13 / 3.4k words / Xiumin has to hand in his term paper in two days but there are a million other things he’d rather do. Like Chen. Unfortunately that privilege has been revoked until further notice.

hint juleps / pg / 2.7k words / Jongdae keeps dropping hints and Minseok just Doesn’t Get It. (pleaaaase clueless!minseok is the cutest and this is one of the fluffiest fics i’ve read aksjdfhkjs scream with me once you’re through pls!!!!!)

coasting by sinisterkids / nc-17 / 8.2k words / Jongdae hosts an indie radio channel. Minseok works 5 days a week and tunes in on his morning drive. 

half moon by sujuhigh / pg-13 / one-shot / Sometimes it gets hard to remember that he’s in love—that they’re in love. (A N G S T)

pillow talk you into it by staygame / pg-13 / 1k words / “After months of non-stop trips in and out of airports, performances, and being made a fool of in various languages, a week’s respite doesn’t provide a nice break as much as it sort of makes them go stir crazy. In theory, Minseok should use this time to brush up on the Chinese he’s still very much afraid of, but instead he spends a lot of it bugging Jongdae.”

we’ve also been blessed by a xiuchen fic exchange on livejournal called chenceforxiu and you can check out the masterlist here but here are my favorites from there!!!!

black & white by acatwhowrites / pg-13 / 5.6k words / past!xiuhan / Jongdae’s class project is as much an investigation as an analysis. (this is very very beautiful beautiful and for some reason i cried)

of cold days and warm hugs / pg-13 / one-shot / Jongdae likes everything about Minseok. (tooth-rutting fluff i s2g akjdfhkjas)

garden’s dish / pg-13 / one-shot / side!taoris + ot12 / warnings: heavy mentions of food / The restaurant was a cute little home, a renovated house in the suburbs of Seoul.

counting heartbeats / pg-13 / one shot + epilogue / warnings: character death / A cliché love story of yesterday, today and tomorrow. If only time permits. Jongdae and Minseok coexist in matter and time. Not necessarily in that order. (some points on the plot can be very confusing but it’s a really nice fic overall!!!!)

so uhhhhhh yeah that’s pretty much it?????? you can come talk to me or Scream At and With Me about the fics because they’re all reaaaaaally good!!!! also i’m sorry this took long i typically reply fast but my laptop was bitching at me and won’t load some links aksjhfkjashjkas but i hope you enjoy these fics as much as i did!!!!!!

[july-19th-club]

The Expanding List of LGBT+ Books that I Found While Organizing the Young Adult Section At Work

i work at a library.

i weed the books. every Thursday, i go back to my ongoing project sorting through, organizing, and weeding the YA section, which my fiction floor boss has graciously allowed me to do at pretty much my own discretion, because she has enough to do already and is occupied with the entire general fiction collection (we're renovating this year. it's gonna be a big move. unfortunately this necessitates us deleting a lot of books that don't circulate as well, but them's the breaks, because we're also getting new material in all the time). the books that we don't get to keep on the shelves, we sell at our yearly book sale, so they go to a good home.

every week i make a list of all the queer lit I've found. so far, I only had two books, but this week I hit the jackpot, and so while I have not (yet) read all of the books I've found, I plan to, and I have vetted them thoroughly (read: spoiled the final chapters for myself) so that I can tell you in confidence that they have good, non-bury-your-gays, endings. i also have a policy that i don't delete gay books, no matter how long it's been since they've circulated. if need be, i check them out myself, because they're in short supply as is. ...without further ado!

Week One:

I’ll Get There (It Better Be Worth the Trip) - John Donovan 

MLM coming-of-age novel. Published in a time when it was very rare to see stories like this avoid Bury Your Gays - the book either had to be a cautionary tale, or it had to include some death and destruction. This book does neither of those things, and that in and of itself is a success. I used the original cover because it’s kinda cooler (in a strange, 60s-novel-cover way) than the 40th anniversary cover we have at work. It hadn’t been checked out recently, so I checked it out myself so we could keep it in circulation. It doesn’t have a happy ending in the sense of everything being sunflowers and blue skies, but the characters are alive, and aimed at being together, and that’s an amazing thing.

Plot-wise, I found it a little dull, unfortunately, but that could just be my personal interest in more fantasy/adventure type stories, rather than two kids in real life doing real life things like going to school and having high school relationships. It reads with an unfinished, rambling tone, like a teenager wrote it, which is intensely endearing, and there’s an entire chapter where the kid just plays with his dog, who’s name is Fred. It’s cute as hell. Read this book for the history and the novelty of having actual, irl, vintage gay lit. TW for death (not of the main characters) and some homophobia on the part of other characters.

Week Two:

Annie On My Mind - Nancy Garden

WLW coming-of-age classic. It blew my mind that I’d never even HEARD of it before last week. Nancy Garden (certified grade-A sapphic author) wrote this book in 1982, so it’s another denizen of the Dark Ages of queer teen lit, and again, in an amazing twist of fate, it escaped burial for a beautiful, rainy-afternoon finale (spoiler: the last scene does in fact take place on a nice rainy afternoon). Annie and Liza are two high-school girls who fall for each other, and not to give too much away, but they have a pair of sapphic high-school teachers who are, frankly, the SHIT, and who look out for them when things start to get rough. The teachers are my favorite part - Garden not only shows young love, but also a happy, healthy wlw relationship between two adult women who’ve been together for years - something that publishers at the time would have certainly discouraged. It’s a lovely, soft, wintery book, and it totally captivated me. Read for a well-thought-out relationship and some hardcore validation from one of queer fiction’s first out authors. Garden really hammers home the idea that the girls should not have to be ashamed, and that they deserve safety in an environment that continually tries to undermine them. TW for some homophobia on the part of Liza’s school. 

Week Three: 

I’ll make a longer list once I’ve READ them, but the books I saw with LGBT+ content or main characters today were: 

Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher 

Ask the Passengers - A. S. King

The Cutting Room Floor - Dawn Klehr

The Porcupine of Truth - Bill Konigsberg

You Know Me Well - Nina LaCour & David Levithan

[our21stcenturyodyssey]

Magmarvelous Nicaragua

Itinerary:

Day 1: Land in Managua, transfer via private driver to Granada

Day 2: Walking tour of Granada and evening tour of Masaya Volcano

Day 3: Isletas boat tour and visit to chocolate museum

Day 4: Transfer back to Mangua for flight

Our Odyssey:

Nicaragua was our second trip as part of our winter escapes to Central America (our first was Belize, back in January and our third, to Guatemala, is coming up next weekend!), and even though Belize and Nicaragua are very geographically close, we found the countries to be surprisingly different from one another! Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America, and, though it is also the safest, it looks and feels a bit rougher than Belize. Nicaragua is also predominantly Spanish-speaking, while Belize is English-speaking.

Nicaragua was also much, much cheaper -  for $80 per night in Caye Caulker, Belize, we got a small apartment with one bathroom, one bedroom, and a living room. For about the same price per night in Granada, Nicaragua, we got what was essentially a mansion - several bedrooms, each with a bathroom, an expansive living room with vaulted ceilings, an open air courtyard area served as the kitchen, and in the center was a pool (yes, a pool in the kitchen). Upstairs we had a terrace with a garden and views over the city and nearby Mombacho volcano. Basically, we were living like royalty, and while we loved getting out and exploring the city and surrounds, we also really loved hanging out in our lavish apartment.

Yep, that’s a swimming pool in our apartment!

We got in late Thursday night to Managua, the country's capital and home to the major international airport. From there we had a transfer to our apartment in Granada that our Airbnb host arranged for us. We stayed up for a bit exploring our new digs and settling in, then picked one of the bedrooms to sleep in.

The next morning, we naturally woke up early and decided to venture out for a walk around the city and a bite to eat. We walked to the Central Park, where the famous Granada Cathedral is located. One thing most people don't know about this park is that it actually used to be a cemetery, and all the bodies were moved across town. I wonder if it's haunted…

Nicaragua Cathedral

Being out just as the city was waking up for the day was so peaceful and lovely - something we would later see is a stark contrast to the city at night. We found a lovely little restaurant with fresh juice and a big traditional breakfast of rice, beans, eggs, cheese, plantains, bread and fresh coffee. We fell in love with Granada just sitting there people-watching, eating, and loving on the cute stray dog nearby.

After breakfast, we headed back to our apartment, where a guide would be meeting us at 9:30am for a tour of the city. Normally, I like to find self-guided walking tours for cities we visit, but being only $20/person for several hours, and not having a guidebook to the lead the way, hiring a guide for the morning was the best way to make use of our brief time in Granada.

Open air courtyards in the middle of colonial homes in Granada were (and still are) an important way to keep cool air circulating within the homes.

Our tour started at the Xalteva Cathedral, a colonial-era church that sits across from a lovely park that used to be the site of one of the early markets. We visited a second church - the Iglesia la Merced, which dates to the 1500s but has been destroyed and rebuilt several times since. The church has a bell tower that visitors can climb up, affording a fantastic view over the city, from the volcano to the iconic Granada Cathedral.

Xalteva Church

Iglesia la Merced

Atop the bell tower of Iglesia la Merced

We then proceeded to the Central Park and Granada Cathedral, already much busier than it had been earlier. During our tour we also learned about some of Nicaragua's post-colonial history where the US engaged in some not-so-kind behavior (backing cruel and corrupt dictatorships, invading and occupying for several years, for example). Our tour also took us to a museum at the Convento San Francisco (an old monastery). We were really happy to have a guide with us at the museum, since there was not a ton of information available in English.

After the museum visit, we had a bit of a surprise - a horse-drawn carriage was waiting for us outside the museum. This wasn't great for us, since I feel uncomfortable using animals this way, and Tim is allergic to horses. But we got on, because what else could we do? We rode around the city and got to see the old fortress, train station and the second hospital in Granada (which is dilapidated and being renovated for another purpose). Horse-drawn carriages are very popular with tourists in this city - you can find them lined up waiting all around the Central Park. But they are also used by locals for transportation and carrying farming materials. I had conflicting feelings about this - somehow, it felt okay to me to use these horses as part of the livelihood and transportation for a family, but exploitation by tourists felt frivolous and excessive. But at the same time, the people who earn a living giving these rides to tourists are as reliant on it for their livelihood as those for whom this is their main transportation. I saw contradictory emotions within myself on this topic, and they are feelings I haven't yet resolved.

After the tour we had some downtime to go to the grocery store and grab items to make lunch. It was a leisurely afternoon lounging in our apartment before being picked up for the most adventurous part of our weekend - visiting the very active Masaya Volcano.

Volcanic haze 

The volcano was about 40 minutes away, and due to its popularity, visitors are permitted up to the rim of the caldera in groups and are allowed to stay for up to 15 minutes before departing to make room for the next group. Though we had to share space with many others overlooking into the caldera, it was one of the most memorable and mesmerizing sights I've ever witnessed. It is second only to the northern lights. From 400 meters above the surface of the lava river, we could witness the powerful sight, smell and odor of red, gurgling magma. I love our photos from this experience, but have to admit they don't do it justice.

Me and Tim at the Masaya volcano

Later that evening, our throats were scratchy and chests congested - we realized that just 15 minutes breathing in those toxic fumes had us feeling pretty ill - I can only imagine how this impacts the rangers at the national park who stand up there daily for hours.

Upon returning to our apartment and showering up, we ventured out for dinner. There was a free concert going on in Central Park, which we stopped to watch for a few moments before heading down the main street towards Lake Nicaragua. Near the end of this road, too, was another free concert. It was really exciting to see this city coming alive with free art events for the community.

We ended up stopping for dinner at the same place we had had breakfast - breakfast had been so delicious, we felt it was a safe bet. Unfortunately, the peaceful, serene scene of the morning had given way to the chaos and crowds of the night. What was worse, though, were the young boys who came up to our table asking for a bite of our food. We'd been casually tossing scraps to the dog we had met earlier that morning, and I felt awful sitting there with more food than we could heat and saying no to giving any to the young boys. I was overwhelmed - while Tim and I had been in impoverished countries before, it had been a while since we had been confronted with this level of begging from children. We'd read that the humanitarian groups in the area discourage giving the beggars food, since in most cases they are being exploited by adults. Sure enough, we later saw one of our begging boys taking something intravenously with a group of young men. My heart broke for this poor boy and the awful situation he's in. I knew then that it wasn't mere food that he needed, but instead a total way out of his current situation.

My mood was pretty low after this experience, so Tim and I went back to our apartment (we also had an early morning the next day).

At 6am on Saturday, a bus arrived to drive us to a ferry where we cross part of Lake Nicaragua to reach Ometepe Island. After about an hour on the road, however, our guide told us that due to strong winds, the ferry was not going to be running and that the tour would be canceled. We were disappointed but weren't going to let it ruin our time, so we inquired about other tours they could offer us for that day instead. Once back in Granada, we were signed up for a late-morning motor boat cruise of the isletas of Lake Nicaragua - small islands off the coast of Granada that were formed when the Mombacho volcano blew off most of its cone thousands of years ago. There are 365 of them, most privately owned, many converted into Swiss Family Robinson style jungle homes.

During our ride, we saw many species of birds, including one resourceful egret who was riding on a bull's back along the shore of the lake. We also saw a very sweet, active monkey, and were heartbroken to see he was tethered to a leash. Again, I was confronted with my discomfort of seeing animals used for human entertainment, but at the same time could not succeed in reconciling my discomfort in this situation with my relative comfort with seeing dogs on leashes. We did, however, come upon a "Monkey Island" which is home to many spider monkeys. Our guide gave us each a small cookie to feed them, which, yet again, made me wary. With the number of tourists coming through each day offering these wild monkeys manmade food, it must not be good for them. Tim and I opted against feeding cookies to the monkeys, but did enjoy getting close with our boat to observe their sweet faces and swinging bodies through the tree branches.

Spider monkey

Our boat also stopped at an old Spanish colonial fort on San Pablo island which was  built in 1789 to protect against pirate attacks. Now, since the island is in a large lake, you might be wondering how the pirates were getting there. There is actually a river that connects the Atlantic Ocean with Lake Nicaragua, so pirates would sail in that way.

Mombacho volcano as seen from Lake Nicaragua 

It was a nice, easy-going tour and we were back at our apartment by the early afternoon. After lounging around, playing card games and watching some TV for a few hours, we decided to venture out on one last Granada walk. We looked at Trip Advisor to see any places that would be interesting to us that we hadn't already done yet that were also open, and saw that there was a chocolate museum near the main square!

We walked to the museum and were greeted by a very enthusiastic young man who worked there. He said he could give us a free tour of the museum that would include free samples at the end and we could just pay a tip. Although the shop was going to be closing in about an hour, this man did not have the waning energy of someone who had been working all day. He was so excited to tell us about chocolate in Central America!

After the tour, we had samples (the best part) - a chocolate tea (we bought two bags), a brownie (we bought one of those too), and about 5 shots of various chocolate liquors (we bought a chocolate mixed drink and a chocolate beer). From the free samples plus the two drinks we bought, we were pretty tipsy by the end! Admittedly, we did not expect to spend our time at the chocolate museum getting drunk!

Goodies at the chocolate museum! 

That evening, back at our apartment, we cooked dinner and relaxed- the next morning would be back to the airport and onward to Atlanta and the normal work week!