#jurassic world paleontologist reader

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

The Birdcage

Jurassic Park: It's Ironic, by Meig of A-Dinosaur-A-Day

What follows is a retelling of the Jurassic Park story, mainly based on the 1993 film, with portions of the original novel used to supplement the story. The main point of divergence occurs when the park is unable to find workable nonavian dinosaur genetic material for cloning, since - as in the real world - dna degrades much too rapidly. Instead, the park consists only of extinct dinosaurs that can be brought back - birds from the last 2.5 million years. What happens after that is, as Ian Malcolm would say, an emerging pattern.

Infinite thanks to beta readers @plokool, @killdeercheer, and @otussketching! And extra thanks to @i-draws-dinosaurs for the killer logo! Happy 30th anniversary of the JP Film!

Link to the masterpost of chapters

Chapter One: Magallanes Basin, Chile

It was frigid at the dig site, with sharp winds battering everything they could, knocking over rocks and tools and even people. Some folks were shouting over the wind, while others were hurrying to protect precious material. The chaos was almost too much to deal with, but Donald Gennaro had work to do, and needed to consult with the dig site leader, Juanito.

Dig site leader was, honestly, not descriptive enough. Juanito Rostagno was one of the most respected paleontologists of South America, and he oversaw all the dig sites run by International Genetics Technology Incorporated, otherwise known as InGen. And it was precisely because of his competence and knowledge that Gennaro had made the trip so far south.

Magallanes Basin was as far south in Patagonia as you could get, near Tierra del Fuego. The freezing winds and icy temperatures prevented it from being inhabited in most locations, with only a few population centers popping up here or there. The dig site was near the sea, among the rocky crags and crevices, far away from the more famous Patagonian steppe. Snow was common, which made the dig perilous – at any point, the material could be lost forever. As it was, a miracle must have prevented the material around them from being swept out to sea.

“Hola Juanito!” Donald greeted, finally finding the scientist among the others, reaching out to shake his hand as he tripped over a few rocks.

“Hola! Bienvenido!” Juanito shouted, gesturing for Donald to follow him across the rocky terrain. He was dressed in khakis and a thick flannel shirt, not bothering to wear a hat for fear of the wind blowing it away. Donald had lost his own hat about fifteen minutes ago. But among the researchers and workers dressed more similarly to Juanito, Donald felt quite out of place in his business suit.

“So Hammond is back at the island?” Donald asked, trying desperately not to trip over another rock. In the distance, a group of penguins walked by the workers, to their delight as they attempted to talk and interact with them. Donald had been brushing up on his knowledge of local wildlife, and was pretty sure they were Magellanic Penguins, a small variety similar to the African or Humboldt. They were really very cute. Sometimes he could really understand the appeal of Hammond’s vision.

“No, he had to go back to California early. He sends his apologies,” Juanito explained, grimacing slightly as the pair made it to one of the sturdy tents tucked away against the side of the mountain. It was significantly warmer here, both protected from the wind and supporting a small space heater.

Donald bristled but kept his voice even as he responded, “We are facing a twenty-million-dollar lawsuit by the family of that worker! And you’re telling me Hammond can’t even bother to see me?”

“He wants to be with his daughter, she’s getting a divorce,” Juanito said, picking up a bone fragment and examining it.

“I understand that, but we’ve been advised to deal with the situation now. The underwriters feel that the accident has raised some very serious safety questions about the park. This makes the investors very very anxious. I had to promise to conduct a very thorough, on-site inspection.”

Juanito looked up from the bone, frowning at Donald.

“Hammond hates inspections, they slow everything down.”

Donald fought the urge to laugh as he responded, “Well I need to or they’ll pull the funding. That’ll slow him down even more.”

“Juanito! Juanito!”

Both men looked up to the tent mouth to see a young graduate student waving them outside. Donald grit his teeth and followed them, bracing himself for the wind as they ambled down the hill towards a more secluded spot. The rocks were tucked against the mountain, with a pit a few feet deep so hidden Donald almost fell into it.

“Qué tenemos aquí?” Juanito asked the student, as they both began talking in rapid Spanish. Donald had learned Spanish, of course – hard to consult with a company that did most of its business in Latin America if he hadn’t – but he still could not follow the native speakers as their words flowed seamlessly like rivers between them. He could pick out the occasional world – something about a skull, dirt, and a new specimen.

“A ver muéstrame, muéstrame,” Juanito finally said slowly enough for Donald to pick it out, following them down into the pit carefully. Donald tripped into it, as he had almost predicted, steadying himself against the side of the rocks.

“Watch your footing!” Juanito warned as they came into the main center of the pit.

“If two experts,” Donald continued, determined to move past the fact that he couldn’t walk down here, apparently, “Sign off on the island, the insurance guys will back off. I’ve already got Ian Malcolm, but they think he’s too trendy – they want Alan Grant.”

Alan Grant and his research team had been early consultants on the project, though they never really knew what they were consulting about. Now they were just on Hammond’s digsite payroll – always looking for that one in a million chance that, maybe, his original dream could still happen.

“Grant?” Juanito snorted, “You’ll never get him out of Montana.” He picked up a skull fragment and looked at it excitedly, calling for the students around him to come over to examine it with him.

“Why not?” Donald asked, irritated.

“Because Grant’s like me,” Juanito explained, smirking, “He’s a digger.”

“Well what about Spinoza, down in New Zealand? She was hired for consultancy when the project changed direction.”

‘Changed Direction’ was the official wording for the major speedbump that had nearly thrown the entire enterprise out the window. Even mentioning it made a small frown appear on Juanito’s face. Donald didn’t like even mentioning it, given how much of the original investment had been lost chasing impossible dreams. They had kept as much of that original idea as they could, of course – even continuing to consult with Grant, Sattler, and others, when their work was no longer particularly relevant – but there was no getting around it. Hammond’s big dream had to be downsized. The laws of nature were against him.

“Spinoza?” Juanito continued, “Maybe. I do know she returned to the States recently for a conference, so she may actually be available. But she’ll insist on Grant and Sattler coming, too.”

“Why?” Donald asked, eyebrows raising towards his receding hairline. He had not even understood why they kept them on the payroll.

“Because she’s Grant’s former student, and none of them know that Grant and Sattler are no longer our chief experts,” Juanito snorted, “This is the price of all our secrecy, is it not?”

Donald sighed, “I suppose. So, what, in the middle of this lawsuit and the investors getting nervous, I’m supposed to fly down a whole spread of experts, regardless of their actual relevance, to check out this park?”

“Sattler is still relevant,” Juanito pointed out, “And beyond that, Grant is one of the strongest researchers in behavior we have. He will still be helpful. If you can get him to leave.”

“Any idea how I can do that?” Donald laughed.

Juanito helped his students start to prepare the specimens before them for transportation. He turned to look at Donald, frowning.

“Well...” Juanito paused, taking a deep breath and looking Donald straight in the eye, “Funding for us diggers. Nearly impossible. As always.”

Donald sighed.

It always came back to money.

“Since he couldn’t be bothered to join this meeting, I’ll have John sell it. His boisterous enthusiasm and cavalier attitude towards money will make it more enticing, anyway,” Donald said.

“Certainly is a better salesman than you,” Juanito laughed. Donald couldn’t help laughing with him.

“Unfortunately I cannot come with,” Juanito continued, frowning apologetically at Donald, “After all, look what we have here.” He gestured to the new material, which looked just like more bone scraps to Donald. But he wasn’t an expert.

“Think that’ll be a new species we can add?” Donald asked.

Juanito shrugged, walking back up out of the pit and helping Donald with him, “Well, we’ll find out, won’t we?”

Donald wasn’t confident enough that the project would move forward to answer.

[starryeyes2000]

Weekly Digest: 1/15/2023

Fic Posts/Updates for the previous week and a few extras. Hope all have a great week!

Trust Love One More Time: Chapter 13 * McCoy x OFC (Cara) 🌟 Read on AO3 or FFN

(Yep, I was hit last week with post-holiday work overload as well as the usual post-holiday blues. No much writing, my bad.)

Blast from the past: Dating Advice * McCoy & Kirk & Spock, McCoy x Reader 🌟 As McCoy begins dating again, Kirk and Spock are there to offer helpful advice - whether McCoy wants it or not. Most of this fic centers around conversations between our favorite trio.

Story Masterlist | OCMasterlist | Author Masterlist

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New Blog: Check out @darsynia!

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Edged In Silver * @wordspin-shares 🌟Read on FFN | AO3 When Minas Tirith is evacuated during the War of the Ring, Idrin, sister-daughter of the Steward Denethor, remains in the city to continue serving at the Houses of Healing. With her work as a healer and her duties in the Citadel left nearly unaltered, things feel as familiarly quiet as ever. Yet, oftentimes the occurrences that touch one’s life are rather unassuming and not always noticed when they take place.

Anthem of the Angels: Chapter 7 * @darknightfrombeyond 🌟Excerpt: [...] my fingers tracing the hard ridges of scars cut deep into his skin. My heart thudded at the sight of them. Whiplashes. A puckered star low on his abdomen, half hidden beneath the sheets folded over his hips . . . was from a bullet . . .

Series: Jurassic World AU: Anything That Can Go Wrong - @themaradaniels 🌟 Eleanor Scott, Jurassic World's lead paleontologist and a former student of Dr Alan Grant, is tasked with showing 19 year old Joan Grant, the daughter of Alan and Ellie, around the park for the week. Masrani leaves Joan an all-access pass to enjoy the park at her leisure, including the parts normally forbidden to tourists, in the hopes that it might convince Dr Grant to endorse the park.

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon @ocappreciation @ocappreciationtag @bardic-tales @chickensarentcheap @themaradaniels

[deliriousgeek]

She’s the Alpha (Owen Grady x Reader) .10

Masterlist:

Chapter 10

“That was a close one.”

“You open the gate, I’ll go in.” Owen hurriedly stated once he and Y/n came to a stop at the raptor enclosure. Without a moment’s hesitation, or a reply from Y/n, Owen began sprinting towards the gate. The concrete walls of the open enclosure did little to nothing to hide the snarls coming from within. Owen could hear Echo and Charlie calling to their older sisters, hopefully in an attempt to chide them away from ripping at each other’s throats. The sound carried over the concrete barriers, through the barred gates and into Owen’s ears. His heartbeat quickened and he felt his chest clench at every growl made. He could only imagine the damage Blue and Delta could have done to each other, praying to whatever higher being there was that he was wrong. 

The visceral sounds of the two sisters fighting could be heard from the car where Y/n stood.

Letting out a gasp of surprise at the threatening screeches, Y/n slammed her car door shut. “Are you crazy?” She shouted while running towards the man who was already putting protective armor to go inside the enclosure, “They might be babies, Owen, but they’re still raptors.”

Owen stopped putting on the armor for a brief moment to glance at Y/n, as if to contemplate her words before one of the raptors let out another snarl, a reminder of his needed urgency. 

As soon as the protective gear covering his arms, legs, and torso was completely strapped tight, Owen swung the first gate open and stepped inside. 

Y/n’s eyes widened as Owen locked the gate behind him. His eyes shot up to hers.

“To get all of us out of here safe, you need to do exactly as I say. Got it?” Owen’s brows furrowed.

Y/n wasn’t used to Owen’s gruff, stern voice. He had only ever spoken to her with a joking manner. In all the time they had known each other, Owen had never used such a commanding and serious tone. His voice dropped to a sound that Y/n could only describe as a deep chest voice. She supposed that would happen in a dire situation such as this. Stunned by the use of this new type of speech Y/n could only stare into Owen’s eyes as the noise of Blue and Delta fighting grew louder. 

She had taken a moment too long to reply.

“Y/n!” Owen snapped. 

His chest was now heaving with adrenaline. His girls were in there, fighting for goodness knows how long. Every second he spent out here could be a drop of blood, a tooth, a piece of skin or even a life lost. 

Y/n blinked at his voice raise. 

“I need all your focus right now. Can you do that?” Owen spoke again, this time with the same urgency but in a different, more gentle, tone of voice. 

A silent moment of understanding passed through them.

Y/n nodded. The adrenaline of the situation was now kicking into her veins. A new feeling of determination settled into her frame. Owen nodded a thanks before barking out the plan.

After quickly turning on the main lights, Owen could see the damage Delta and Blue had left to the enclosure. Dirt was kicked up, plants were crushed. Echo and Charlie could be seen in their respective cages, barking towards the center of the area. Following their line of sight Owen could see Delta and Blue circling each other, snarling, teeth bared, and snapping.

Blue had multiple scratch wounds on her haunches. They were bleeding and fresh. A bite mark could be seen just above Delta’s shoulder. It didn’t seem too deep, which brought a small ounce of relief to Owen’s vast pool of worry.

Owen stepped toward the main gates that led into the enclosure.

“On my count okay?” He called back to Y/n.

Y/n stared at the two sisters fighting, worry pooled in her eyes. “Okay.” She answered, in a just as determined tone.

“1,” Owen readied himself to run. “2,” Y/n let out a shaky breath as Owen counted down. “3!”

Y/n opened the gates and Owen ran into the enclosure, blowing a whistle and waving a piece of meat he had grabbed from the raptor’s feeding area. The two sisters halted their fighting upon hearing the ruckus coming towards them, turning their heads to look at the spectacle in front of them. 

The plan was that Owen would go inside the enclosure, distract the girls, then use the meat to lure them into their respective cages. Owen was now ten feet away from the adolescent velociraptors, their attention no longer on each other.

He let go of the whistle to grab another piece of meat from his utility belt. “Hey! Yeah that’s right, eyes on me.”

He began waving the two pieces of meat in the air. “You want some of this right? Not each other? C’mon, you can have it.”

The sisters looked at each other, before turning their bodies towards Owen. They began slowly slinking their way towards him, much like a cat would walk as it hunted its prey. 

Despite the fact that Blue and Delta only measured in about three feet in height, they still held an air of danger around them, and Owen had to remind himself that if he took one misstep, it could be the end of his life. 

“Alright girls,” Owen slowly led the raptors around their enclosure, back to their cages. “Okay, look at me Delta,” He waved the meat in front of her, “This is for you,” then he tossed a piece of meat into her cage. 

Delta’s eyes followed the movement of the meat from Owen’s hands to the floor of her cage before going inside after it. Y/n closed Delta’s gate as soon as her tail was in.

Owen’s eyes never left Blue’s. “Your turn now Blue,” Blue cocked her head to the side, “Work with me here okay? This one is yours.” Owen waved the meat, Blue’s eye flitted to the movement. “You want it? Go get it.” Owen tossed it into her cage. 

Blue immediately ran for it, instantly ripping the meat apart as soon as it touched her lips. 

Owen let out a sigh of genuine relief. The hard part was over. For now his girls were safe. Owen began walking towards the exit, at ease now that Blue and Delta were safe again. 

Y/n pushed the button to close Blue’s gate once she had run in. Once Y/n heard the machinery working to close the door, she let out the worried breath she was holding. She stepped away from the door control panels to smile at Owen, but her smiling dropped once she looked behind him. 

The noise the machinery had been making had stopped, which would normally indicate that the Blue’s door was closed. Only this time, the noise had stopped, yet Blue’s gate was still open. The anxiety that had left Y/n returned, and her eyes widened in dread. Blue had finished her snack, turned around, and fixed her eyes on Owen. 

Noticing Y/n’s change of expression, Owen arched a brow. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Y/n’s expression turned into horror as Bue began trotting out of her cage, then started to run. 

“Owen run!”

“What?” 

“RUN!” Y/n exclaimed again, rushing over to the door panel. 

Seeing the look of pure terror on Y/n’s face, Owen didn’t dare look back, but started sprinting towards the exit. Owen could hear the crunching of dried leaves under his feet as he ran. The trees lining the enclosure meshed into a canopy of green as he dashed by. He could hear the other velociraptor’s calling to each other. The sounds only egged him on to run faster. Owen’s heart pounded in his chest and its beating filled his ears. His heart beat mixed with Y/n’s screams and the look of pure terror on her face caused a surge of adrenaline to rush towards her and the gate. 

“CLOSE THE GATE!” He yelled once he was almost 10 feet away.

Y/n shook her head fervently. “Are you crazy?” She shouted back, brows furrowed and eyes wide.

“Just do it!” Owen replied as he almost neared the open gate.

Y/n’s eyes flitted between Owen and the gate button. She took in a quick breath, then pressed the button to close the gate. The gate then lowered as Owen neared, about 5 feet away. Y/n could still see Blue behind Owen. Blue was reaching her neck out, trying to close the 3 feet distance between her and Owen.

Owen calculated the distance between him and the nearly closed gate before deciding to jump into a dive. He tucked his legs inward as he hit the ground, rolling under the gate just in time for it to shut and keep Blue from biting him. Owen sat up, trying to calm his breathing. His back faced the shut gate. He could feel Blue’s let out irritated huff on the back of his neck, which sent an involuntary shiver of fear down his spine, before hearing her turn around and walk away.

Turning so his back was now facing the solid wall, Owen slumped against it. 

He closed his eyes, breathing in and out deeply before speaking, “That was a close one.”

Y/n pressed her back against the wall too, closing her eyes and copying Owen’s previous actions, “Yeah. No shit.”

[dramaticl0vers]

Fear, Trauma, and Chaos Theory (Husband! Ian Malcolm x Wife! Reader)

(Let's imagine that Ian's children are yours, and that you were the only "Mrs. Malcolm", I'm too lazy to write)

You were an expert paleontologist who had met Malcolm early in college.

At first, they both hated each other and couldn't even stand to see each other, given the fact that their ideas contrasted terribly.

But after a while, they realized that they were an exceptional team on the science side, before realizing that they actually liked each other.

That's how you ended up married to Ian Malcolm, a handsome scientist and mathematician who's obsessed with chaos theory.

After a while, you two had your three children.

Elizabeth Jones Malcolm, age 8, Luke Jones Malcolm, age 5, and finally, Jeremy Jones Malcolm, age 2.

Your husband and your children were without a doubt the things you loved the most in this world, but your love for science and the dinosaurs meant that you couldn't refuse Hammond's invitation to go to Jurassic Park.

And everything was going great, in the helicopter they both sat next to each other, and they even held hands during the Hammond documentary.

But the problems started when your husband started flirting with Dr. Sattler.

You just looked at Alan, who gave you a look of embarrassment and understanding.

But the seriousness of the matter began when you told Ian how you felt, he accused you of being: "Tantrum and Childish", so you got out of the car and got in with Tim and Lex.

Oh, what a bad decision.

The T-Rex attacked, you and Tim fell down the ravine into the tree, and Malcolm ended up passed out with a badly injured leg.

During the entire stay in the bunker, Malcolm prayed to God for your well-being, blaming himself for your disappearance.

And this is how it is now, you were limping as fast as you could to the convertible with Tim, Lex, Ellie and Alan at your sides.

-"Y/n!"-

Your husband yelled to see you walking with difficulty, being helped by Alan.

-"Ian!"-

When you got in the car, you hugged him as tight as you could, avoiding not rubbing his wounds.

Tears ran down both cheeks as they kissed each other desperately.

-"I'm sorry, my love, I'm so sorry, everything that happened to you was my fault"-

He told you while joining their foreheads, you sobbed.

Without separating their joined foreheads, you wrapped your arms around Ian's neck.

-"Mhmm, Mrs. and Mr. Malcolm, we are here, we are childrens please"-

Timie said, you laughed and looked at him while still hugging your husband. you patted the heads of both children.

-"I know Timie, I know"-

[boldlyvoid]

Amoreena | Chapter two

Chapter Two

summary: Heaven is a real place and it's located exactly 14.6 miles away from the FBI, Quantico Headquarters. Off behind a small park, under a fantastical willow tree surrounded by wildflowers, in every colour young minds can imagine.

Don't forget, heaven also comes with angels.

Warnings: fluff, hurt/comfort, depressed spencer, reader has a daughter, falling in love, strangers to lovers

word count: 6k

a/n: this is set May 2021 in my brain just in case anyone was wondering while reading it !! here is the pinterest board and the spotify playlist for the fic too!

from the beginning <3

They were sitting on the steps of the Smithsonian when he arrived. Y/N was a vision in a yellow blouse and blue jeans, basking in the sun's rays when she looked more like sunshine herself, throwing seed at the birds with Amoreena.

He took a deep breath and smiled, waving to get their attention.

“Spencer!” Amoreena cheered, running down the steps and into his arms. Almost knocking her hat off as she leapt into his arms.

“Oof,” is all he can say as he makes sure to catch her, surprised to get this sort of reaction from someone.

She fixes her hat and leans back in his arms, “do you like my outfit? I’m the old man from Tarzan and mom is Jane!”

He sets her down then, watching her stick a foot out so he can get a good look at her olive-coloured jean shorts, button-up shirt and blue bowtie and brown boots. She went all out for her adventure today, making his heart burst.

“I looked into that Milo guy,” he says, showing off his own outfit. Pushing his glasses up and adjusting his red bowtie.

“You look just like him!!!” She was beyond excited, turning to Y/N who was all smiles on the steps.

She stood as they walked towards her, “mom look, he’s Milo!”

“You look great,” she complimented him, that twinkle in her eyes back as she blushed.

“Thank you, so do you,” he said softly. “Both of you are dressed for the right adventure today.”

“What do you have in store Mr. tour guide?” Y/N teased, taking Amoreena’s hand and walking into the museum.

“Dr. Tour guide,” he corrects her softly, making her smile and shove him lightly.

“Sorry,” she teased him, “Doctor tour guide, what is your plan for today?”

“I bought 3 tickets ahead of time,” Spencer admits, taking three lanyards out of his jacket pocket and handing them each one. “We have special access today, just show the guards these and we can go almost anywhere.”

“Are you sure you don’t work here? Not even undercover?” Amoreena interrogated him, narrowing her eyes as she watched his response.

He laughed, “I promise, I helped them on a case once, and my old boss knows the curator, they owed me a favour.”

“Old boss?” Y/N catches it.

He nods lightly, “he quit a while ago to have a family.”

“Smart man.”

“I sent in my letter of resignation last night,” he adds, “if you’re still looking for a literary historian?”

She beamed at him, reaching out an arm to tuck under his and pull him in close. Following him through the doors with Amoreena’s hand still in hers. “I’ll arrange an interview this week.”

The rotunda was one of the coolest parts of the Smithsonian Museum of National History. A beautiful African Bush Elephant greets them in the centre, tusks extending out towards them as Amoreena gasps.

“Wow,” her small voice whispers.

“Cool, huh?” Spencer leans to look at her expression, she’s absolutely gobsmacked.

It makes him smile, that beautiful glimmer of amazement spreading across her face as her small brain tries to understand what exists in the world outside of her mind's grasp. It was priceless, he loved every moment.

“So, I was thinking you could look around and whenever you’re ready, we have access to the Student Centre. You’re going to get to look at some special bones and fossils, and even dig some up!” He was so excited to share the plans with her.

She let go of her mom's hand to flap her arms wildly, excitement coursing through her veins as she shook, grinding her teeth together as she smiled, it was how he remembered feeling as a child when something good happened. Pure joy, excitement level 1000.

“Sound good?”

“Spencer,” Y/N placed her hand on his shoulder, taking over for the speechless child, “that sounds perfect, thank you.”

“The Dino’s are this way,” he leads them down the corridor, through a set of doors towards a large swirling sign,

“Journey through deep time!” Y/N read the sign, smiling at Amoreena as she ran towards it, touching the swirl as she read all the words to herself.

“It’s so sad they died,” Amoreena says so matter of factly that it makes him bite back a smile.

“Yeah,” he agrees with a small laugh. Y/N's shaking her head with a sigh of pure love. “What kind of dinosaur is your favourite?”

“The Jurassic era,” she responds, standing closer to the sign and reading all the words. “Did you know the earth used to be mostly desert? There was a massive heatwave, that’s why they believe dinosaurs were most likely scaled but thanks to the melting ice caps as we recover from the ice age and move back towards being tropical, we’re discovering dinosaurs frozen in ice with feathers and fur!”

It takes his breath away, seeing someone so much like him with a mother who loves every single word that leaves her mouth. Pride on her face as she looks at her little genius and back towards Spencer, waiting for his response.

“So you’ve been a paleontologist this whole time and you never told me?”

She laughs and swats the air, “no, I just read a lot of books.”

“She can read really fast, like Matilda,” Y/N bragged.

“I do too,” Spencer knelled down in front of her. “It’s a very wonderful thing to have a brain as big and magical as ours, never let anyone tell you otherwise okay?”

“Never, I’m the smartest in the kingdom,” Amoreena smiled.

“Yes, she is,” Y/N smiled again, placing her hand on Spencer's back as they continued to walk around the exhibits.

He felt like he had a family, like one of those couples who would go to Ikea and pretend they lived in the sets. This was the most perfect make-believe day of his life, leading a child just like him through a world of things she loved.

Y/N was quiet most of the day, watching them interact with a soft smile and sad eyes. Spencer noticed it but let it slide, he’d ask her about it later when she could be honest with him. He didn’t want to profile her, it wasn’t fair to judge her before he knew her, nor taint the fantastical thoughts he already had about her.

They had lunch in the butterfly exhibit, sitting at the seat by the fountain, Amoreena asking nicely if Spencer could sit in the middle so they could both talk to him. It was adorable, Amoreena was so intrigued by his mind she couldn’t stop asking him questions.

Y/N made him a sandwich and brought him a water bottle, as well as bringing some apple slices and grapes, goldfish and juice boxes for when Amoreena got hungry on the way home. Like a true mom, her purse was full of napkins and hair ties, random books and toys. Rocks, pine cones, everything a young mind would find exciting.

She was like Marry Poppins, pulling everything and then some out of her purse as she searched for something specific. “I brought you something, I’ve had it sitting around the house just moving it to different spots over the years, and thought you’d like it.”

It made him giddy to know she was thinking about him, he couldn’t sit still as he anticipated what it was. She pulled a small metal pin out of her bag then, taking the backing off and clipping it to his pocket.

“Best tour guide ever,” she whispered, reading the words to him with a smile.

“We haven’t even gotten to the best part yet,” he shrugged, pushing down the butterflies in his stomach as they were swarmed by the beautiful creatures.

“It’s like animal crossing in here,” Amoreena said to herself as she looked around, kicking her feet as she sat on the bench, tilting her head back and forth absentmindedly as she took it all in.

He wasn’t sure when he stopped doing that; when he started to mask his true self so much that he no longer felt free in public, taking a moment to copy her movements and just enjoy the moment. Making her smile as she noticed him copy her with adoration, not to tease her in any way whatsoever.

“Can we talk when she’s looking at the fossils?” He asks Y/N softly, knowing that she’ll be the most open when Amoreena’s tiny ears wouldn’t be there to remember everything she says.

“Yeah,” she nods with a small smile. “How about I throw out our garbage and we head to that surprise?”

Amoreena jumped off the bench, tugging Spencer towards the door as Y/N cleaned up, following them eventually.

—

They had the classroom all to themselves and Amoreena was still for the first time all day. Standing in the middle of the room as the lights adjusted, changing the glow from blue to amber as they warmed.

The walls were filled with posters and informative signs, there were glass cases showcasing all the finest fossils and bones known to man. And a sand table in the middle of the room, smocks and brushes for archaeology all set up and waiting for her.

“Once you get all suited up, and we’ll get you a little mask so you don’t breathe in any of the dirt and dust, you can dig up whatever is hidden in there!” Spencer announced.

Y/N helped her into a smock, handing her the brushes and asking her to be extra careful with the plastic chisel and hammer. She was beaming from ear to ear the most toothy smile he’s ever seen.

Y/N stopped to take a photo of her then, holding her instruments in front of the sand table, “get in, we’ll tell everyone that Milo took us on a special tour today.”

Spencer kneeled close to Amoreena, she leaned in and wrapped an arm around him to get him in closer, always being the one to choose how much contact she made with Spencer. He would never want to overstep with someone else’s child.

“Beautiful!” Y/N cheered, locking her phone and slipping it back into her jeans as Amoreena turned to the table of sand, dirt and clay.

She got right to work, not skipping a beat as she leaned in and started to dig. Spencer stepped back with Y/N, knowing Amoreena was going to be in her own little world for as long as they left her alone.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m great, I’m just a little surprised,” her voice is soft, low enough that it stays with him. “You’re really good with her for a fed.”

He laughed, nodding his head as he registered her joke. “Ex fed, and I have a 12-year-old godson, Henry.”

“Ahh, so no kids of your own?” Her voice was small, she took a look at his hand to avoid eye contact and he understood.

“None, no wife, no love children hiding out there in the world that I know of, it’s just me, I promise,” he tried his best to ease her anxiety about introducing a new man into her child’s life.

She nods slightly, “you seem too good to be true sometimes.”

He huffed out a small laugh, pressing his lips together as he looked at her, “pretty sure I’ve been dreaming since I saw you.”

She shoved him as she laughed, “would you like to come back to our place for dinner? I know it’s a little weird, believe me, I know, but we live on my parent's land and my mom’s making enough shepherds pie to feed an army.”

“Yeah I’d love to, I’ll get a cab home after,” he felt a swirling in his stomach, nervous and excited all at once.

“Okay,” she whispered, “or we can get to know each other, and then you could sleep on the couch and I’ll bring you back into DC in the morning? I have to drive in any way.”

He licked his lips and nodded his head, wondering what other kind of invitation this could be. If it was pure hospitality, wanting him to be safe for the night instead of inside some stranger's car, or was she wanting alone time with him.

The thoughts turned around in his head over and over making him dizzy, “okay, yeah I’d love to,” he managed to slip the words out without falling over them.

She smiled, tight-lipped and small. Looking up at him with a new look he hasn’t seen on her yet, one he’s only seen in a few faces in his time, and yet he believed her’s the most.

She was smitten with him as much as he was with her.

He sighed, smiling back at her just as soft. She reached her hand out to hold his, walking towards the table with him in tow. Leaning over Amoreena’s shoulder as she unearthed her new most prized possessions.

—

Amoreena was the funniest kid to drive with, He sat in the passenger seat of Y/N’s car with her in a car seat directly behind him. She was singing, cheering, pointing out the window to show him all her favourite things on the way to her house.

Telling him stories about the make-believe people she created to live in the houses, the trolls under bridges and the names of every cow in the field along the long driveway of her grandparent's farm.

“Bob and Linda are an interesting pair,” she warned him as they pulled in closer and closer. Dirt flying up behind the wheels as she drove fast, knowing every bump and turn from memory.

“They will be asking you every question in the book and if you’re going to be looking at the animals they will insist on putting you in flannel and a cowboy hat, it’s a tradition for visitors,” she explained it in a way where he knew she wanted him to think she hated it, but actually she looked excited to do it to him.

“I can’t wait,” he smiled.

“Amoreena has already told them all about you at dinner last night, so they are expecting her to drag you here tonight,” she pushed the blame onto Amoreena, downplaying her affection for him in a self-conscious way he could feel.

He didn’t want to profile her, but it wouldn’t turn off. He was desperate to know her more, to know if she felt the weird tugging in her heart that made him think soulmates might be real. A pain so intense that if he had to explain it to a doctor, it was like his heart was a negative charge and he was being drawn to her much more positive one.

“We have 16 cats, 46 cows, 13 chickens, 4 ducks, 50 sheep and 1 horse, her name is buttercup,” Amoreena informed him, stealing the attention once again.

“Wow, who’s your favourite?” Spencer turned to her, watching her kick her feet as she looked out the windows.

“Probably Alfonzo our fluffy show cow, or Rufus, our dog,” she said softly. “Sometimes nanny lets him sleep at our house.”

“That’s so cool, I’ve never had a pet.”

“What?!” Amoreena stopped, pressing her lips together as her eyes shot wide open, thinking it was the most absurd thing anyone has ever said.

“My mom was sick when I was growing up so I spent my time taking care of her, I didn’t have time for a dog,” he said softly, saying it in a way that wouldn’t scare her.

“I’m sorry,” Y/N said softly, reaching her hand out to pat his knee as she kept her eyes on the road.

Then she was pulling in past a big house, around the bend behind it, past the garden and the trail to the barn towards another house. It was big and white, probably big enough to have 4 bedrooms. Many levels, with multiple build-ons from years ago ageing to match eventually.

It was covered in vines, ivy and flowers. It was just like miss honeys. He felt something unspeakable, opening his mouth softly to breathe as his eyes trailed up the siding to the shingles.

He couldn’t believe it.

“Home sweet home,” her wonderful voice brought him back to reality. Saying the word that matched the feeling in his chest.

“Wow,” he whispered. His mouth moved to say words, not a single one slipped through the cracks, his lips touching with fake syllables as he stared at it.

“It was my grandma’s, it’s the house she raised my dad in,” Y/N explained as she put the car in park.

“Mommy had me as a gift for GG,” Amoreena added from the back.

“Her great-grandma,” Y/N nodded with a soft smile, biting the inside of her lip as she fought her feelings. That was a touchy subject that he was going to pry into, later on, wanting to know every single thing about the most exceptional women in the world.

There was a cat sitting on their front step, introduced to him as toothpick because he was the smallest in the last litter. And then the name of every single cat on the way back up to the main house.

Simon and Gar-funk-field twin orange brothers, Alaska the all-white one, strawberry shortcake had a red heart on her butt, oven-mitt for comedic effect obviously as if they others weren’t funny enough, as well as shovel and Catrina… all 16 of them had a name and Spencer was not going to forget a single one.

“Welcome! You must be Doctor Reid,” her father was a very large man, it shocked Spencer slightly.

He was like Santa Clause, it was more than a bit of a shock. Thick grey beard, bald head, red flannel and dirty work jeans, probably in his late 60’s. He was what you imagined Santa to look like outside of Christmas, on holiday with his wife.

He looked like a man who lived a long and happy life, he had a wife who cooked good meals for him, he probably didn’t mind sitting back with a beer most nights. There was definitely going to be sports memorabilia inside and a million photos of Y/N and Amoreena, and the purest energy known to man. Family love.

He hated how fast he profiled it all in his mind, trying to drop that aspect of his inner monologue moving forward.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Sir,” he said softly, nodding lightly as he placed his hands in his pockets. Letting it be known he didn’t touch people, and weirdly being respected.

“Please, it’s Bob or Poppy Clause,” he laughed, shifting his attention to Amoreena as she climbed the stairs towards the porch.

“How is my lovey?” Bob asked her softly, “may I have a welcome home hug?”

“Ah,” he smiled and nodded to himself. He was used to it, asking permission for her sensory issues. Spencer was impressed, and a bit emotional at the fact someone his age was respecting a way of life many didn’t care to understand.

Amoreena gave him a hug, throwing herself into his arms, “no beard tickles,” she instructed, holding onto his shoulders as he kept his face away from her.

Y/N placed her hand on Spencers back, “I told you they were a lot, my mom is worse.”

“I feel very comfortable here, don’t worry,” he assured her.

“I should worry,” she laughed, “you’re one of them, oh god.”

“One of who?”

She tilted her head at him, shaking her head, “eccentric, full of life, bursting with weirdness that would probably be a strange purple goo if I could see it.”

He pressed his lips together as he thought about it, nodding softly in agreement. “There is nothing wrong with that, it just means I’m having fun and living my best life from now on.”

“Welcome to the family,” Bob added, a simple saying that invoked a feeling of pride he long yearned for.

—

Dinner was lovely, he’s never had shepherd’s pie before. Learning it was ground beef, beans and potato casserole, and somehow there was also corn in there… he wasn’t sure why it was so delicious but he enjoyed it a lot.

It might have simply been the ambiance that made it so good.

Her mother was the sweetest woman, she made everything from scratch. Including bread that he was obsessed with and a pie for dessert, she was overjoyed to have an expected yet unexpected guest.

Knowing there was a possibility he’d come, but not setting a place for him at the table unless he showed. She wrapped him up in a big hug when he arrived as well as after dinner when he helped her move the plates to the sink.

Her dad offered him a beer after dinner, taking him to the front porch to talk while the ladies cleaned up for the night. Amoreena had a strict bedtime routine to stick to, and it wasn’t his place to witness nor get in the way.

“So,” her dad started the interrogation easily. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be here if Y/N didn’t trust you. And she doesn’t trust many people.”

“I can promise you I’ll never hurt either of them,” he said with the utmost confidence. “It’s been two days and they’ve brought me more joy than I can explain, and I’m never going to take that for granted.”

“Good answer,” he smiled. “Now, farmhouse rules are as follows; you can roam where ever you please, just ask permission before using any equipment, we’re more of a petting zoo than a farm now so the animals are overly friendly, try and keep them inside the gates.”

He was a bit flustered, computing the fact that he just trusted him like that. Maybe he was Santa Clause, making a list and checking it twice, and Spencer happened to cross off every box to land him on the nice one.

“Sounds good,” he smiled. “Thank you.”

“Believe me, sonny, I know what it’s like to want to impress the old man, but it’s all about Amoreena,” Bob warned him. “If she loves you then so will Y/N, and she falls fast.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m the same way.”

“That’s what Y/N was saying, I think it’ll be good for Amoreena to know someone like her, we try our best to get her out there and making friends, she’s smart enough to move up some grades but she’s a kid, y’know?” Her father basically describing his own childhood back to him.

“I graduated high school at 13,” he presses his lips together, hoping it doesn’t come off as a brag. Taking a sip of his beer to take the edge off how awkward he felt.

“Do you regret it?”

“No,” he smiled at Bob, who was smiling right back, “it led me here.”

Bob hummed in response, taking a sip as well as he sat back in his rocking chair, watching over the cows in the field as the sun began to set. It was picture perfect, unbelievable.

Wet feet on the hardwood floor caught his attention then, Amoreena was in her PJ’s as she ran towards the door. Putting on her rubber boots and swinging open the screen door.

Her hair was wet, falling into her eyes as she pushed it out of the way, “are you joining the parade and dance party?”

He acted like he knew what that meant, “sure?”

“Yes!” She cheered, “hurry up mom!!”

Y/N walked down the steps slowly, shaking her head as she laughed. “You are so impatient, the animals aren’t going anywhere.”

“No, but Spencer will!”

It made his heartache, the thought of leaving.

“Come on,” she slipped back into her shoes and joined them on the porch. “Off we go, see you later dad.”

“Be good, make wise choices,” he teased her.

“Okay old fart, sleep well,” they had a friendship that was admirable.

Spencer followed with glee as Amoreena said goodnight to all the animals, parading down the path towards their house as she made sure to talk to everything on the way there.

“Every night we pick 2 songs to dance to, it gets all the sillies out and rewards us for a day well spent so we can bless our bodies with a good sleep,” Y/N explains as she unlocks the front door.

A cottage full of books in the middle of the woods, that dream he always had, coming true as she ushered him inside. The smell of coffee drifting towards him as he noticed the brown candle on the mantle surrounded by photos of Y/N and her family.

She placed her keys beside it, kicking off her shoes and making sure Amoreena did the same. In the living room, she connected her phone to a set of speakers, letting the little one pick out 2 songs, queueing them up to play as she bounced with anticipation.

“Tonight’s selection is today was a fairytale by miss Swift, and Anne Hathaway’s cover of somebody to love, form the cinematic masterpiece that is Ella Enchanted,” Y/N announced like she was hosting the grammies, pretending her phone was the mic before hitting play.

He knew somebody to love, the Elton John version, it was a song that Penelope and Emily sang at karaoke when they reached 11 shots each, so not very often. But enough to have him remember the words, singing along with them as they danced.

It was a better workout than Derek had ever put him through, they held hands and jumped around, he twirled Amoreena around, pretending to do the tango with Y/N. Waving their arms in the air, it was the most carefree he has been in ages.

The songs fit the situation more perfectly than any of them seem to realize, he’s falling head over heels in love with this family that he met yesterday. Something in him saying that he needs to stay, that this is where he was supposed to be.

Getting Amoreena into bed was more difficult than Y/N imagined, she didn’t want to stop talking to Spencer. Only finally agreeing to sleep when she learned he would still be there for breakfast in the morning.

“Can you read me a book from your brain?” Her sleep-deprived eyes blinked as she asked him softly.

He looked at Y/N from the doorway, she nodded, patting the bed for Spencer to sit on the edge.

“Any book?”

“Any book.”

“Bedtime for baby star,” he says softly. Remembering all the late night’s he’s heard JJ whisper it on the back of the plane, in the corner of a police precinct in the middle of nowhere, in a twin bed beside his as they shared a hotel room.

“Once there was a baby star, she lived up by the sun. And every night at bedtime, that baby star wanted to have some fun,” he recited the words in an exciting tone, just low enough to soothe her into sleep. “She would sine and sine and fall and shoot and twinkle, oh so bright, and she said ‘Mommy! I’ll run away if you make me say goodnight.’”

Y/N looked at her with a fake stern look, leaning in enough to rub their noses together. “And then her mommy kissed her sparkly nose and said, no matter where you go,”

Y/N kissed her on the nose, “no matter where you go,” she repeated.

“No matter where you are, no matter how big you grow and even if you stray far,” to which Y/N repeated. “I’ll love you forever because you’ll always be my baby star.”

“Goodnight my sweet Amoreena,” Y/N kissed her head softly and stood, Spencer, joined her by the door.

“Can I have a hug?” She asked him softly, he looked at Y/N for approval once again.

She placed a hand on his back as she nodded, watching him lean in and hold Amoreena softly, “goodnight, I had a fun day today.”

“See you tomorrow,” she smiled, closing her eyes for the night.

Y/N replaced her lamp light with a night light, closing the door on the way out of her room as she blew a kiss towards her baby, “love you.”

“Love you more,” Amoreena whispered back.

Spencer was nothing but smiles in the hall as she looked at him, “I’m going to pour myself some wine and sit in the garden, are you interested?”

“Ecstatic actually,” he replied, following her towards the kitchen and letting her pour him a glass.

Behind her house, she had an overgrown garden, every area of her life had a reference to a book somewhere, a story someone else told that she’s now claimed as her own. Living in the world she always wanted, inviting Spencer to stay a while.

She let out a deep sigh as she sat down on the outdoor couch beside him, dropping her head on his shoulder softly, it was more contact than he was expecting. She had barely touched him.

“You should know that I like you a lot,” Spencer spoke softly. “I don’t want you to think I’m just some creep trying to get close to you and your kid, I genuinely think you’re wonderful and Amoreena is magnificent.”

“I trust you, I googled you and everything, don’t worry,” she laughs. “I wouldn’t invite you to the museum and let you give my kid a hug without doing research.”

“Not everything is on there you know.”

“I think you are very wonderful as well,” she said softly, “but I know it’s just the fact that you’re so darn cute that’s making me feel like I should drop everything and invite you into our life.”

“I understand,” he replied. Waiting for her to tell him that this was the last time she’d see him, it was inevitable at this point in his life. Nothing good lasted for long.

“So I need you to know all about me and I need to know all about you before you decide you want to stay because I can’t handle bringing you into Amoreena’s life for you to just leave her,” another deflection.

“You might want to hear mine first before you decide if you want me to stay around her,” it sounded scarier than he planned.

“Alright then, you go first,” she insisted with a small smile, eyes darting past him towards the cows in the field. Not ready to be vulnerable with him.

“I worked with the FBI for 15 years, I’ve helped catch some of the worst people in America, and some of them have vendetta’s against me. As far fetched and insane as that sounds,” he pre-warned her, watching her face drop as she understood the weight of his words.

“I have been framed and sent to prison for three months, I was kidnaped, tortured, drugged, and assaulted, not to mention shot a few times. I have more trauma than you can imagine. So that’s something you have to consider in a future with me,” he whispered so she wouldn’t hear how ashamed he was of himself.

“And the fact know that I can’t always keep myself or you safe, no matter how far disconnected I am from the FBI. It doesn’t matter if I change my name and hide here for the rest of my life off the grid. There are some fucked up minds out there that don’t want to let me experience true happiness. But in all honesty,” he finally stops his long-winded rant. He bites his bottom lip as if he is holding back someone worse than all the things he just said.

“I’m willing to die tomorrow if it means my last day on earth was this fucking perfect.” Tears welled in his eyes, “I am so tired.”

“It’s okay to cry, I would be too,” she says softly, a frog in her throat as she nodded. Tears welling in her eyes as her face scrunched.

He blinked and a tear escaped, slipping down his cheek and being swiped off by her thumb in an instant. She kept her hand on his cheek softly, he leaned into it.

“I’ve been running for so long,” he whispers because then the words don’t really exist. They’re secrets only for her to hear and then they’re gone. “I was basically groomed for the FBI, I was their personal computer and they didn’t give a single shit about the wear and tear on me.”

He started to sob. She cradled his head against her chest in one swift motion, holding him close and rubbing his back. Shushing him softly as he cried into her shoulder.

“You know that Katy Perry song?” she changed the subject as he calmed down, understanding his pain and accepting his warnings, but continuing down the path anyway.

“Summer after high school when we first met,” she sang like an angel. “It was like that, I thought I met the love of my life after I graduated, we got engaged a year later, then he died in a car crash and I was single for a very long time.”

“Then my grandma got sick and she made a bucket list. Number one was to become a great grandma,” her words became whispers as she tried to stop the tears, following Spencer’s tactic even though it failed so miserably.

“I said fuck it. I’m going to have a baby and make my own family, one person I can truly care for and never lose. She’s my world, she was the light of my grandma’s life until it burnt out, she has changed my world in ways I can’t even explain.”

It fell silent as they absorbed each other’s explanations of their issues. The root of their problems, the core of their soul were the most hurt was kept locked away, opening the doors and swapping scrapbook snapshots of terrible memories.

“I think,” she says, finally, like music to his ears. “I think that I’m okay, I’m positive actually that I want you in my life like this. All of you is fine with me, you’re not that scary, and I’m tired of waiting for the right moments because it means losing the people over time missed. I want to live my life fully, I’m at peace with the unknown and with you.”

Peace.

“Not to quote Taylor Swift at you or anything, but she does have a point in that song,” she laughed lightly and he felt her chest jump. Life bursting through her as she made light of an incredibly touchy subject.

“I don’t know the song,” he whispers.

She gasps, “oh that’s the line, I finally found it. Our first fight can be whether or not you like Taylor Swift, don’t even think about how upset Amoreena will be if you’re not, I’ll kick you out.”

He can't stop laughing then, digging his face into her neck as he holds her closer to his chest. Breathing her in as she finishes his laugh in a giggle, rubbing her hands down his back as she presses her cheek to his head.

“I haven’t had the time to listen to her this year I know she’s been busy releasing music,” he admits, “but I’m sure I’ll love it.”

She shifts awkwardly on the couch to take her phone out of her pocket, opening her music and playing the song she was speaking of.

He simply rests his head on her chest, both of them laying back onto the cushions together, finding a comforting spot for their arms as they listened to the words, silently.

He absorbed it all, every word she said bringing forth a feeling he’s never felt before. True understanding, like someone, gets him. Gasping audibly when she says ‘robbers to the east clowns to the west, give you my sunshine, give you my best.’

He wasn’t alone.

[lordjohngreyreadingnook]

New Event: Lord John AU Bingo!

Happy March, Friends!

Your curators are pleased to announce our next event: the Lord John AU Bingo! Who doesn’t love a good AU? This event is open to writers and artists alike with two ways to play. 

Here’s the important information:

Posting/reblogging runs from 15 March - 15 May 2021

Tag @lordjohngreyreadingnook​ during the posting period so we can be sure to reblog your work!

Works must be new for the event, though multi-chapter stories do not necessarily have to be complete, just never-before-posted

Send us an off-anon ask for a mini bingo card (with no penalties) or participate the ultra-casual route with no card, or both!

All stories/art must feature Lord John as a main character

All ships (or no ships!) are welcome

Any AU goes! Bring us your coffee shop AUs, your space adventures, your cowboys, semi-/modern military, tattoo artists, rock stars, creature fics, crossovers, fusions, the sky is the limit!

The only works not permitted are RPF and “canon-verse” (either canon compliant or canon divergent). 

What about that bingo thing?

You can start requesting cards now through the end of the event

Bingo cards are 3x3

There is no penalty for not completing a card, but bragging rights (and more exposure) if you get a bingo

Send an ask (off anon please) to @lordjohngreyreadingnook​. Please make sure you let us know what username you’d like on your card.

You may request one remake if you just hate your card (please let us know what AUs you want us to avoid and we will try to accommodate)

As before, we have more info on the Events page (if you’re on desktop), below the cut, and also on the (totally optional) AO3 Collection.

We’ll post more info about the collection and how to make sure your work gets reblogged by the Reading Nook as we get closer to the Ides of March.

Event Rules:

All entries must feature Lord John Grey (he should be the main/focal character)

Stories/art should be NEW for the event (for NEW multi-chapter fics, only the first chapter of at least 500 words is required to be counted)

All entries must be set in an alternate universe (fusions and crossovers are permitted; canon divergence is not)

Minimum word count is 500 (there is no maximum)

RPF is not permitted for this event

Triggers and ships should be properly tagged

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I get a bingo card? >Send an ask (off anon) to Lord John Grey Reading Nook. Please include any AUs you absolutely do NOT want and we will try to accommodate you. We will answer these asks privately with your card as an image.

I got my card but I kinda hate it. Can I get a remake? >Yes, we will replace your card one time. Send an ask off anon to Lord John Grey Reading Nook. Please make sure you tell us the problematic square(s) and any other AUs you definitely don't want.

Does my piece of fic or art need to be new? >Yes. However, a completed first chapter of a WIP or multi-chapter fic is sufficient for this event. In other words, if you start a (new) multi-chapter for this event, you do not have to finish it before 15 May, just the first chapter. However, a WIP you have already started posting will not retroactively count. Can I double up with another event? For example, can I check off an AU bingo square and an Outlander Bingo square for the same story? >As long as the other event rules permit this, yes. In this specific case, the Outlander Bingo does permit combining with other events. So yes, this is allowed.

What rating or ship dynamics are allowed? >Any! G-E; M/M, Gen, Multi, M/F, F/F. As long as Lord John is at the center of it and it's center in an alternate universe, go for it. Do I have to register anywhere? >Not necessarily. If you'd like to take the super casual route, you're welcome to submit any AU fic/art featuring Lord John to the collection (optional) and/or tag the Lord John Grey Reading Nook on tumblr to be included in the final rec list. >If you would like a bingo card, yes (sort of). Please send an ask (off anon) to the Lord John Grey Reading Nook on Tumblr to request a card. Please tell us any AUs that you absolutely do not want on your card and we will accommodate you as best as we can.

Can I participate with both a bingo and on the super casual route? >Absolutely! The more fics and art, the merrier!

Is there a word count requirement? >The minimum is 500 words, but there is no (serious) maximum.

Can I mix art and fic? >Absolutely! As long as it meets the requirements, mix and match to your heart's content!

Any content restrictions or requirements? >Lord John must be a/the main character and it must be an Alternate Universe (for our purposes this excludes canon divergence). That’s it! Please be courteous to your readers and appropriately tag your fic/art, especially with potentially triggering content.

What's the difference between canon divergent, alternate universe, fusion, and crossover? And which of these are permitted? >Canon divergent is a story that mostly fits into canon, but changes one or more things (diverges from the timeline). Fix-its fics, some "missing moments," or generally stories set in the canon universe even if they don't fit neatly in the source material. For this event, these are the only ones that are excluded. >Alternate Universe (AU) are works that take your characters and plop them in another universe. So, Lord John is a cop in 1963, or a soldier in 1945, or Prince Charming in a fairy tale. >Fusion is more or less recasting one work with characters from another. So Jurassic Park, but instead of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum's character) you have Dr. Grey, with his new paleontologist friend Dr. Fraser (Grant) and the paleobotanist Dr. Beauchamp (Ellie Sattler). All the Jurassic Park characters are now Outlander characters. ...Actually this is a good idea, someone please write this. >A crossover is when worlds collide. For example, John Grey and Jim Kirk are classmates at Starfleet Academy. >The key is to change the universe that Lord John is in.

Can I post early or late? >Please post any time during the event period (15 March - 15 May) for the maximum exposure. Posting in this window ensures that we reblog you on Tumblr and that the (optional) AO3 collection is open for you. Can I promo my own post? >Certainly! We will load up the queue, possibly with some duplicates depending on participation. Please just tag @LordJohnGreyReadingNook one time, however.

Are there prizes for bingos and blacked-out cards? >Not exactly. Bragging rights, and more exposure on the @lordjohngreyreadingnook​ Are there penalties for not completing a bingo card? >Nope, not at all!

Can I get a bingo card and also do the casual route (in other words, do I have to stick to just the card or can I post extra AUs too?) >You can do both! You can get a bingo card, fill as many of those prompts as you want, and also post AU stories that meet the event criteria.

If I post to the AO3 collection, do I retain ownership of my fic? >Yes. We will only reblog your Tumblr posts or link to your work. We will never repost without your permission. That said, the AO3 collection is 100% optional.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

Mesozoic Monthly: Gryposaurus

The Late Cretaceous-aged (~75 million-year-old) large-nosed North American hadrosaur (aka duck-billed dinosaur) Gryposaurus by ginjaraptor on DeviantArt.

Anyone who frequents the Pittsburgh area is familiar with ‘Pittsburghese,’ the regional dialect given full voice in what was once voted America’s ugliest accent (a fact that does not diminish our pride for it). One of my personal favorite Pittsburghese words is “nebby,” which translates to “nosy” for any non-local readers. “Nebby” can be used in a variety of contexts: the distant relative asking prying questions about your love life at Thanksgiving dinner is nebby, the pet cat trying to crawl under the bathroom door to see what you’re doing is nebby, and even the statue of Carnegie Museum of Natural History mascot Dippy the Diplodocus, silently judging your driving on Forbes Avenue, is nebby. We can assume other dinosaurs were nebby too, since so many had huge noses to stick into things. One of the biggest noses in the fossil record belongs to Gryposaurus notabilis, the star of this edition of Mesozoic Monthly.

Gryposaurus belongs to a group of dinosaurs called hadrosaurs, which are commonly referred to as duck-billed dinosaurs. Hadrosaurs were herbivores that got their nickname from the flat, toothless, somewhat duck-like beaks at the tips of their jaws. These beaks were used to bite through tough vegetation so that it could be ground up by the numerous teeth embedded in the rear half of the jaws. There are two main groups of hadrosaurs, both of which are featured in CMNH’s Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition. Probably the more famous group is the Lambeosaurinae, known for their distinctive head crests that housed extra-long nasal passages. Virtually everyone can recognize the incredible backward-curving crest of Parasaurolophus (featured multiple times in the Jurassic Park franchise), and visitors to CMNH will also know the helmet-like crest of Corythosaurus. The second group is the Saurolophinae (traditionally known as the Hadrosaurinae), which typically lack bony crests. You can find a simulated carcass of the saurolophine Edmontosaurus (lovingly known to those of us in CMNH’s Section of Vertebrate Paleontology as “Dead Ed”) between the two imposing Tyrannosaurus skeletons in Dinosaurs in Their Time.

A gallery of hadrosaur heads. Top left: the lambeosaurine Parasaurolophus at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago (photo by the author). Top right: the lambeosaurine Corythosaurus at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (photo from Wikimedia Commons). Bottom left: the saurolophine Edmontosaurus at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (photo from Wikimedia Commons). Bottom right: the saurolophine Gryposaurus at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City (photo from Wikimedia Commons).

As a crestless hadrosaur, Gryposaurus was a saurolophine. Despite its lack of crest, its skull still had pizzazz: its nasal bone arched dramatically, giving the impression of a ‘Roman nose’ (which is very noticeable if you compare the skulls of Edmontosaurus and Gryposaurus in the image above). The name Gryposaurus notabilis means “notable hooked-nose lizard” in homage to this feature. G. notabilis is the type species of Gryposaurus; type species are typically the first ones to be named in a genus, and therefore become the reference to which all new specimens that may belong to that genus are compared. The other species (such as G. monumentensis, shown in the photo montage above) are similar enough to the type species that they can be referred to the genus Gryposaurus, but they differ in too many ways to be assigned to G. notabilis itself.

Occasionally, paleontologists will revisit a fossil species or genus and decide that it is either too similar to another to justify its own name or that certain specimens are too different to be grouped under the same name. Kritosaurus, another saurolophine with a ‘Roman nose,’ has fallen victim to both of these circumstances. It was originally considered its own genus, but was subsequently revisited by paleontologists who decided that it was so similar to Gryposaurus that the two genera were lumped together under the name Gryposaurus (when combining taxonomic groups, the first name that was published is the one that gets used). However, later paleontologists reviewed the evidence again and split a single species of Kritosaurus back out of Gryposaurus. The famous sauropod (giant long-necked herbivorous dinosaur) Brontosaurus underwent a similar series of changes over the years: originally, it and Apatosaurus were considered different animals, but after a review they were lumped together under Apatosaurus. Recently, the two were split apart again and the name Brontosaurus was revived (to the delight of fans of that name around the world).

It is not uncommon in paleontology for species to be lumped or split based on new or revisited evidence. When you consider that the decision to name new fossil species is often based on fragmentary, highly incomplete skeletons, you can see why it might be difficult to get things right the first time! These changes sometimes give people the impression that paleontologists “can’t make up their minds” or “contradict themselves,” but we must remember two things. First, that science is meant to change based on new evidence. Second, there have been thousands of paleontologists over the course of history, and every one of them is an individual person who can draw their own conclusions based on the same evidence. Although the resulting changes can disappoint fans of a specific animal or hypothesis, revision is normal and beneficial for the field as a whole. Scientists are supposed to be nebby – it’s how we make new discoveries!

Lindsay Kastroll is a volunteer and paleontology student working in the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum staff, volunteers, and interns are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[bi-ologistofthehills]

Jurassic World + My oc

@mcnicholas1172

Here you go.

My Jurassic World story, just with my oc (canon compliant)

My friend’s oc does appear in here, but she’s not on any social media. Besides, she’s kinda my editor/beta reader...

         Emily Grant, daughter of Alan Grant and survivor of Jurassic Park, sat down on her couch with a contented sigh. She took a sip of her coffee and switched on her TV. The local news station was in Spanish, but she wasn’t intending to watch it. The paleontologist simply wanted background noise.

The 32-year-old kicked her feet up on the coffee table and reached for her book, intending to get some reading in before she went to work. Unfortunately, her phone chose that moment to ring. Sighing, she lowered her feet to the ground and answered it.

“Dr. Emily Grant speaking. How may I help you?”

         “Dr. Grant, this is Claire Dearing.”

         “Claire! Nice to hear from you,” Emily Grant set down the cup of coffee she’d been sipping and switched off her clunky little TV.

         “Yes, well, Mr. Masrani has a request that I’d like to pass along. We’re planning a series of public speeches for next week and would like you to give one on Friday.”

         “Uh, one moment. Let me check my schedule,” The paleontologist reached across her coffee table and pulled her calendar toward her, flipping it open to the correct day, “What time do you have in mind?”

         “Sometime that morning preferably, since we have other speeches later that day.”

         Emily frowned, “Can I get back to you later today? I’ve got a couple things I’ve got to sort out.”

         “Certainly. You’ll be getting an email about it too, I believe.”

         “Thanks Claire.”

         “No problem.”

         Emily hung up and set her phone down on the table with a sigh. Ever since she’d been hired as a consulting paleontologist for Jurassic World in 2013, she’d been living in her little one bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow on Isla Nublar. Recently, with the sharp increase in the species of dinosaurs on the island, she’d been extra busy.

         Her job involved checking up on the dinosaur’s well-being, ensuring they were happy in their environments and ensuring those environments were accurate and met all the needs of the dinosaurs. Supposedly, the park had recently hired paleo-veterinarian to assist her with the first part of her job, but she had yet to meet the man.

         With yet another sigh, Emily got off her couch, coffee cup in hand once more, and crossed the living room to her bedroom door. Once inside, she set down her coffee and peeled off the sweater she’d worn to bed the previous night. She swiftly exchanged it for a gray tank top and dark blue flannel, which was probably completely unnecessary, given that it almost always ended up around her waist by the end of the day. A pair of jean shorts, tallish socks, her usual pair of hiking boots and the classic Grant fedora were added to complete her look.

         A quick stop in the kitchen to put her coffee in a travel mug and another stop at the coffee table for her phone, calendar and customary messenger bag had her shutting the front door behind her.

         Emily swiftly went down her front steps and made a beeline for her jeep, which was a dark green, and park issued.

         “Emily!” The paleontologist glanced around, her blue eyes landing on her neighbor, Elizabeth Greene.

         “Lizzy! What can I do for you?” Emily tossed her bag on the passenger seat and jammed her mug in the cupholder. Shutting the door, she turned to face her friend of two years. They’d met when Emily had first moved in and though Lizzy had been a bit of a fangirl, the two women had quickly warmed to each other and struck up a friendship.

         “Today’s not a paddock day, right?” For the past year, Emily had been dividing her time between the researching at the raptor paddock and working with other dinosaurs. It had been a bit of a struggle to be so near the animals that had traumatized her so much, but Emily had worked around it, and it wasn’t as bad anymore.

         “No, I’m on brachiosaur duty today. And I gotta say, the jungle they’ve got there is horrid for walking through.”

         Lizzy laughed, “Alright, you’re stopping by tomorrow though right?”

         “Of course. I might be a bit late, depending on if my groceries come tomorrow or Wednesday.”

         “Sounds good. I’ll let Owen know,” with that, the raptor trainer jogged back across the gravel driveway that they parked their jeeps in and vanished into her bungalow.

         Emily hopped into her driver’s seat, turned the key in the ignition and drove off to the brachiosaur paddock.

        =================================================

         Emily peered over some type of fern, Ellie could likely tell her the exact species, and jotted down yet another thing in her small notepad. The brachiosaurs were recovering from a bout of Bracken Fern Poisoning, and it was her job to check on how they were doing. Emily was then supposed to report her data to the lab for analysis. So far, nearly two thirds of the herd had recovered, and all appeared to be doing well.

         She flipped her notepad closed. If she hurried, she’d have time to work her way around to the other side of the herd before noon. And Emily was starving, so lunch break was sounding better and better by the minute. She quickly finished up and started to trek back through the jungle. After a few minutes, she reached the admittance gate and one of the handlers let her through.

         “How do they look?” the handler was a middle aged, enthusiastic woman by the name of Mary-Anne. Emily didn’t know her very well, but always found her to be a pleasant woman.

         “Wonderful. I can email you my notes once I’ve got them organized,” Emily opened the door of her jeep, which she’d parked nearby, and set her bag and notebook inside.

         “That would be lovely! Did you get a chance to all of them?”

         “Yes, it looks like some of them are still recovering, but the rest look perfectly healthy. And I didn’t spot any more Bracken Fern.”

         “Lovely! Thanks again dear!”

         “It’s a pleasure Mary.” Emily hopped into her jeep and headed for Main Street, intent upon getting some lunch and starting the process of organizing her notes into something comprehensible. A short while later, she was parking her jeep in the employee parking and making her way down the street, dodging tourists as she went.

         The only benefit of having been only 9 during the horrifying ordeal in 1993 was that hardly anybody recognized Emily as an adult. Most of the world knew her as a small, bandaged and terrified child, hiding from the press behind her father, or clinging to Ellie. And Emily was perfectly happy to keep it that way.

         In the next ten minutes, Emily had grabbed a cheeseburger from Dairy Queen and found a secluded, air-conditioned spot to go through her notes. She took a sip of her pop and began transferring her notes to a larger notepad, organizing as she went. In about half an hour, she’d finished her lunch and finished about a third of her notes.

         Satisfied for the moment, Emily began packing her stuff up, only to stop when someone called her name. Looking around her eyes finally landed on a young, Hispanic man in a suit jacket and dress pants with tousled black hair and tanned skin.

         It took her a moment to realize why he looked familiar, “Sam?”

         “I thought I recognized you!”

         In college, Emily had done an English project with Sam, and though they’d been friends all through college, they’d fallen out of touch afterwards. Though she’d never admit it to anyone, she might have had a small crush on him.

         Smiling, she stood to shake his hand.

         He returned the gesture, “What on Earth possessed you to come back here?”

         Emily laughed, “A job offer.”

         “Well, that’s the same reason I’m here. What job did they rope you into?”

         “Consulting paleontologist. I thought you couldn’t decide on your major?”

         “Well, I finally did. As of last week, I’m officially a consulting              paleo-veterinarian,” he puffed up a little, obviously teasing Emily.

“So you’re the person who’s supposed to be helping me!” She shook her head in mock exasperation, “Much help you’ve been though!”

“I’ll have to get started then. It’s been kind of hard to track you down though.”

“I’m a busy woman. I’ll be at Paddock Ten at about eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Hmmm… eight’s a bit early for me, but I’ll try to make it. What sort of dinosaurs they got at paddock ten?” Sam sat down on the bench.

“Raptors,” Emily resumed her packing.

“What?!” he sat forward, his jaw hanging open in disbelief, “You seriously… I can’t believe you’d work with them after what happened!”

Emily sighed, “It wasn’t easy, but they’ve got this fascinating relationship with their handlers and-”

Sam cut her off, “You couldn’t keep your nose out of it?”

“Well,” Emily laughed, “Yeah, I couldn’t keep my nose out of it.”

Sam was grinning as he said, “Well, I’ll leave you to what looks like a pile of notes. I’ve got to pick up my groceries anyway.”

“Alright. It was nice to see you. Do you still have my number?” Emily wasn’t quite sure what prompted her question.

“Yeah, somewhere in the depths of my contacts. I’ll see you around Grant,” With one final smile, Sam stood up and walked down the hallway. As Emily finished her packing and strode quickly in the opposite direction, she found that she could barely contain her grin.

[josomeister]

“Kyochuu Rettou: The Island of Giant Insects X Jurassic Park” a fanfiction story. Enjoy;)

Prologue

A 17-year-old boy named, Sutaki was busy flying on a airplane, flying on it for the first time, soaring through the wind, enjoying the view, until something went wrong unexpectedly, and everything faded total darkness.

Name: Sutaki Tachikawa

Hair: brown

Eyes: teal

Hobbies: reading dinosaur stuff, watching movies, hanging out with friends, surviving, watching documentaries about dinosaurs, being optimistic, and staying positive

Other Names: Dinosaur Boy

Friends/Classmates:

- Oribe Mutsumi

- Naruse Chitose

- Matsuoka Ayumi

- Miura Mami

- Kai Kazuhiko

Background:

When John Hammond, the founder of Jurassic Park, flew out of Isla Nublar with the surviving members of his endorsement team, the entire face of the company changed. There was no longer a plane to manufacture the animals and housed them in a tropical Costa Rican safari park. Now, the company became dedicated to covering up its losses while it hid itself away to lick its wounds. Jurassic Park became a huge disaster; an expensive failure that couldn't pass its first real inspection, InGen was in real trouble. They'd invested millions of dollars into bringing these extinct animals back to life and now all of their hard work had seemingly amounted to nothing more than two islands with large amount of secret dinosaurs that they couldn't even profit off of. They couldn't even talk about the animals without making some sort of big fuss, thanks to the deaths that took place in 1993. And so forth, Jurassic Park was forever abandoned. But Isla Nublar wasn’t the only island.

27 Years Later...

On a foggy day, there was an airplane flying by during a takeoff, and it came from an airport located on the east of central Tokyo in Narita, Chiba. It is called "Narita International Airport." Sutaki is going on a big school trip with his friends & classmates. While Sutaki on a plane, he was watching the sky at the window. He is with Oribe Mutsumi.

Oribe Mutsumi; an adorable, well-endowed brunette with a love for all things creepy-crawly. She is passionate about insects with a wide knowledge in their biology and behavior. She wore a green camouflage jacket over a white shirt and dark blue skirt with black stockings, and lastly, a brown trademark cowboy hat atop her head. Though it's obscured by her hair, she also carries around a blue and white backpack that has a fish design, named 'Gomaotto.'

Oribe was currently sitting to Sutaki’s right at the window seat and sleeping, her head leaning on his shoulder, she was drooling a little.

Sutaki has a childhood friend, named Naruse Chitose. Who is another very attractive and well-endowed brunette. She was sitting to your left, reading a book. Naruse is the class's chairman, and a Straight-A student. Recently, she joined the kendo club.

Naruse was one of Sutaki’s closest friends, her pushing him and tutoring him was probably the only reason Sutaki had transferred into Houshou Private High School. She was also the one to bring Sutaki and Oribe together after he had his nasty break up with your ex-girlfriend, Jinno Misuzu.

She's a slim young woman with a generous bust. She has long copper-red hair that matches her eyes. She wears a white, long-sleeved button down shirt with a black tank-top, tiny navy blue shorts and black boots.

One time, Naruse caught her cheating on Sutaki with his homeroom teacher, and told him shortly after. Revelation was shortly followed by a confrontation with your ex, which included a lot of shouting, screaming, and slamming a door...It wasn't pretty at all.

Naruse introduced Sutaki to Oribe as one of her friends since high school started, and actually got along pretty well since he thought her love of insects was pretty awesome. She filled Sutaki in on a lot of cool bug facts and he shared his amount of archaeology he gained from dinosaur facts from paleontologist, Dr. Alan Grant. She finds it interesting of what he had learned about archaeology and dinosaurs.

Needless to say, Sutaki and Oribe have bonded pretty quickly.

Even more so after the nasty break up and he fell into a sort of depression in which Naruse convinced me to go with Oribe and a rather hot entomologist by the name of Enoki Inaho, to a field survey. Enoki was the one who made Oribe interested in insects. She is Oribe's mentor and familiar with the ecology of insects. It was fun, Sutaki got along well with Enoki, she liked his corny jokes. One time, Sutaki saved Oribe from an unpleasant guy that the Tama no Moriyama City Forest Office decided would be our guide, thought he could try and assault Oribe. So, Sutaki had knocked him down with a black eye and a bloody nose, along with being tied up from a tree and left for city hall, that taught him a lesson.

After that, Oribe and Enoki kept dragging you along for further field surveys. As the trips continued, or those two just asked you to hang out, he slowly forgot about his ex-girlfriend, and started bonding a lot more with Oribe. And it escalated until you started dating, and she became his new girlfriend.

Now Sutaki’s friends are relaxing while flying, until something bursts from the clouds, a large flying reptile, it was a Pteranodon. This single attacker is followed by 15 others, a gorgeous and terrifying sight. They attacked the plane and one of them smashed its windows in an instant. But the overeager pteranodon was too close to the jet turbine, trying to fly away, but the turbine of the plane was so strong it pulled the pterosaur in, and gets decapitated by the blades. Soon the whole aircraft was destroyed as a few passengers screamed as they fall out, now the aircraft comes falling out of the sky as it was making its way to a crash landing.

Moments later...

Sutaki had woke up to see what happened and he sees that he is on a deserted beach area, seeing parts of the airplane around him damaged, and noticed that he crashed on an enormous island that appears on Costa Rica. A more hazardous island, it is apart of the Five Deaths island chain. This island serves as the primary setting for the aforementioned series.

Isla Muerta (Island of the Dead)

Site C

16 Miles South of Isla Matanceros

Well that is it for now, hope you guys enjoy the introduction for this new story and more chapters will come. This will be a different story compared to the ‘male reader’ story. The plot will remain the same, but some things will change. The intro inspiration came from Klayton Fioriti, which he explains about what happened after the incident of Jurassic Park from the movie. (despite The Lost World)

Other than that,

Kyochuu Rettou (aka The Island of Giant Insects) belongs to Yasutaka Fujimi, REDICE, Shu Hirose

The "Jurassic Park" Franchise belongs to Universal Studios, Amblin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg, Michael Crichton, etc.

I'll still be open if you have questions, or want to suggest ideas about the story, I'll be glad to hear it. Anyways, see you guys on the first chapter of this new story, and as always, take it easy :)

#kyochuurettou #kyochuretto #jurassicpark #fanfiction

[gotboredwrote]

Amareangelusops // TM!JFM

Pairing: Tim Murphy x Fem!Reader Word Count: 3.2K Style: One-Shot Warnings: Fluff, sexual implications (nothing explicit) Summary: Tim has been on a dig for weeks and comes home with incredible news, but keeps it a secret. Permanent Author’s Note: To clarify, I write because I get bored. Nothing is meant to be professional in any way, nor is meant to offend, cause anxiety, cause anger, cause sadness, or promote disagreement among readers in any sort of (semi)permanent way. A/N: I SWEAR THE NAME OF THIS STORY WILL MAKE SENSE JUST GO WITH IT LMAO. Like everyone else on this site, all inspiration for character traits comes from Rowan’s ( @dr-tim-murphy / @gardnerlangway ) headcanons because she is the supreme Tim stan and no one compares honestly, so thank you, hon! (also if you read this and actually even think its 0.04% good I would cry the happiest tears)

Masterlist

~

Five weeks. That is how long it has been since your angel Tim was physically in your presence. Sure, there were things scattered around your shared apartment that were his, that reminded you of him, or just made you think of him. But the actual Tim had not been able to hold your hand, hug you, love you for five weeks. The closest you came were the phone calls. At least one a day, more if he could manage it. The time difference did not help the situation, and you missed each other a desperate amount. There would even be days that it got so bad for you that you would go to the museum just to sit in his office and take everything in, the staff understanding the slight separation anxiety since they had seen it with other paleontologists and archeologists. Other days you would lounge around at home, throwing on one of Tim’s sweatshirts or blazers just to get some feeling of him. A smell of cedar and old books. It eased your nerves. You chose one of these sweatshirts and practically raced to the airport the day Tim was due home. You had gotten there an hour early, and when you saw him walk out of his terminal, you were not waiting for him with a sign or flowers like most people in the movies do. Being your dorky, supportive self, there you were with the small tyrannosaurus-rex skull replica Tim had gifted you randomly lifted above your head. Neither you nor Tim cared about the looks people gave you because all that mattered was that your love, your angel, was back with you. The reunion hug was euphoric, feeling his arms around you, and his smell entering your body.

“Timmy… I missed you so much.”

“I missed you more, angel.”

~

Once Tim had found his suitcase, the two of you made your way to your car, talking back and forth at one another about everything. He caught you up on the details of the dig, you told him about work and everything you did while he was gone. Normal stuff, like you two had not missed a day without each other, despite it feeling like you had not seen each other in years. Tim was waiting for you to ask the one question he was afraid you were going to ask. He managed to go the entire ride home from the airport dodging the question, but the minute you two were upstairs beginning to sort through his suitcase for dirty clothes, toiletries, and other small things, you asked him.

“So! You know I need to know; did you guys find anything special on the dig?”

“Not really.” He was lying, but you were not about to know that any time soon. “A couple of small drinking vessels, or at least what we think are small drinking vessels. And I think Rory found a piece of what could have been a hieroglyphic of some sort.”

“You mean to tell me you don’t consider that stuff amazing?”

“I mean, it is! Don’t get me wrong. It’s just been a while since our museum team found something extraordinary. The rival museum finds something on practically every dig. It can just be… frustrating.”

“Well, I for one think those idiots are faking it. I mean, I only know about the things you’ve taught me, Tim, but it doesn’t seem possible to find half complete dinos on each dig, ya know? I’ll take a small cup over a fake dinosaur any day, especially if my guy found it!”

You leaned to the edge of the bed and pecked him on the cheek. You were sitting in the middle of it while he was placing all his belongings around you, not even bothering to tell you to move even though he needed the space because you were just too adorable to not be in his sight. He flushed a little bit at the contact. He normally flustered easy around you, despite how long you two had been together, but especially now. It had been five weeks since he could be physically connected to you, and it killed him. He wanted every bone, atom, and molecule in his body to absorb the feeling he got from your lips on his skin and drive him mad for you, but as you did this, he had been looking down into his suitcase at his palms. Upturned. He had gotten a lot better about not feeling a certain way about the way they looked, especially if he was with you. You never paid any mind to the scars littering his body, unless that was your intention in certain instances. However, his mind began to flood with the memory of one of the earlier days of the dig, and his body tensed.

“What is it? What’s bothering you? You were happy not three seconds ago, love.”

“It’s nothing. Really. I just remembered something from the dig.”

“Wanna talk about it? Or would you rather just unpack and sleep?”

“Remember I told you this dig was with the usual crew with one exception?”

“Yeah, vaguely. I remember you mentioning something about a grad student but I don’t really remember anything else. Why?”

“He asked about them. Wanted details.”

Tim was referring to Garrett, a grad student from Yale who had been invited to join Tim and his team on the dig. The kid wanted to be an archeologist, but to Tim, it was for all the wrong reasons. He imagined himself becoming the next Indiana Jones. He was partially interested in the history behind the artifacts, but he was more concerned with bulking up muscles because of some digs being more laborious than others, and being able to say that he is a world traveler and knows stuff to attract the attention of girls. While Garrett was a nice kid, he had a few traits Tim did not like, the obvious one being that he was a user. He did not like the way he treated the people who crossed his path, especially women. Did not respect them at all, really. It made Tim’s blood boil because he could never understand how someone could disrespect a woman for any reason. Another trait Tim was not fond of was his forwardness. You were forward, but in a way that Tim found attractive. You know where limits and boundaries are in certain situations, but otherwise you do not beat around the bush. It made you bold, and being the shyer one in the relationship, he felt it was a good balance. Garrett, meanwhile, had no filter. No understanding that there are things that need to be treaded carefully. Tim was told that Garrett would have been informed by one of his professors or at least someone on the dig leadership team that he should not ask Tim about any marks he may see on Tim’s body. Especially his hands. Either no one told him, or he was informed but still questioned anyway. Tim would place his bets on the latter.

[flashback start]

Cairo, Egypt, 11:24am

“Yo, Dr. Tim!”

“Hmm? Yes, Garrett?” Tim had been leaned over a small cutout in the ground lightly dusting away for Rory while he went to grab some water.

“What’s the deal with your hands?”

Tim froze his motions and stared emotionlessly and expressionlessly at Garrett, dumbfounded at the young adult and the way he phrased his inquiry.

“I got hurt. It was years ago, Garrett. Go work on your section.”

“No way, Dr. Murphy. You’re going to tell me what happened now or I will do no work for the rest of the dig and just follow you around and annoy you.”

How old was this kid? He had the maturity of a ten-year-old. Tim sighed, blowing a little bit of dust around his face, causing a light cough to leave his throat. Then he cleared his throat and began to tell the story of Jurassic Park all those years ago, still burning bright in his mind like the way the fence lit up on his hands. Telling the story to anyone else, he would have already been in tears. Except with Garrett, he held them back, shaking slightly in his seat but not enough for someone to notice. He was experiencing some feelings of PTSD, sure, but he was more so enraged at Garrett for being so forward. With a shuddering breath, he raised his head and eyes to look at the boy, who had a look of interest and fear plastered onto his face.

“Does that satisfy you?”

“Y-yes, sir. I’ll-I’ll go keep working.” And Garrett scurried off, hardly speaking to Tim for the remainder of the dig.

[flashback end]

Unlike the Tim in the story, present-day Tim sitting in front of his girlfriend was crying by the time he finished telling the story. Now the crying was a mix of PTSD as well as letting out the frustration he felt at Garrett that day. He had his hands gripped on the footrest of your shared bed, heaving over it with tears rolling down his face. You suppressed the feelings you had for Garrett and lunged forward to your love, gripping him tightly around the torso. You stood up on your knees so Tim had space to shove his head into your neck and cry to his heart’s content, and he did just that. You rubbed his back with one hand, mixing your motions between deep presses and light scratches with your nails, the other hand coming up to rub his neck and lightly play with the ends of his hair. Quietly shushing him, you could feel the tears start to deplete and his breath calm. It took a while this time, how long it usually takes if he has an attack because of the rain. This situation really got to him, and you could not help but feel like there was nothing you could do for him besides give him your undivided attention like always.

“Timmy, you don’t have to worry about him anymore. He was only coming on one dig, and I find it hard to believe that no one else on your dig heard or saw that conversation. Someone will speak to your supervisors about it. I can’t even begin to imagine how getting that question all the time must feel and what it must do to you, but that kid was just plain stupid. How he got into grad school will forever elude me.”

Tim chuckled lightly at this point. You knew you were getting your Tim back. A little bit more coaxing and you would be there.

“And besides, another thing he doesn’t realize is that your hands and what those marks mean don’t define you. Dr. Tim Murphy – paleontologist extraordinaire.” Tim was beaming up at you, eyes now glistening with adoration instead of tears. “I need to know that you understand that, Tim. You need to tell me that you know those scars don’t define you.”

“I know. I know that because of you.”

“Good. You’re my angel, Tim, the love of my life. I want to hit Garrett over the head with a seven-foot-long dinosaur bone, but for now I just need you here.”

Tim leaned up and kissed you sweetly on the lips, his way of saying ‘thank you.’ He was not an overly-big-gesture kind of guy, so small motions like that had become somewhat of a secret, second language for the two of you. Just like what you did afterwards. The hand that had been around his torso still came around to the front while you leaned back to sit on your calves, eyes half shut looking down at his stomach. Your hand came up right to where his heart was and, using your nails, you lightly grazed your hand down his chest to his lower abdomen, then turning around and going back up. Not making eye contact with him, you spoke quietly, not seeing that the adoration in his eyes had turned into something darker, but you heard the light whine move past his lips at your touch.

“My clever boy…”

The neat piles on your bed from his suitcase were long forgotten, and you both cursed yourselves in the morning when you woke up and there was hardly anywhere for you to walk.

~

While you two were eating breakfast the next morning, Tim casually brought up needing to run to the museum for something.

“My boss told me that at some point today, I need to make my way over to the museum to fill out some paperwork and double-check one of the displays. The stuff we found has been put up, and he just wants me to make sure it all looks okay and fix what doesn’t. Would you care to join me, love?”

“I wouldn’t mind at all. I love going to the museum, you know that.”

The rest of your morning was spent getting ready and making sure your guy’s cats had some food, treats, and toys to play with while you were out. Tim offered to drive, and you two eventually walked into his office where his paperwork would be situated. He told you that it should only take him about ten minutes to fill it out, so if you would not mind waiting for him, he would appreciate it. Normally, if he had paperwork, he did not care if you wandered around looking at the exhibits. When he was done, he would just text you and ask you where you were so he could come find you. Today was different. While it was true that his boss had told him to go fill in his paperwork, the part about him needing to check up on an exhibit was not as truthful. He really did mean that the things that were found on the dig were already up on display, but he had not told you the crowning jewel of the dig. Something that has not happened for the museum in years, and he wanted to show it to you. With his paperwork now complete, he took your hand and the two of you made your way to the Egypt section of the museum where the display was. It was an in-progress display, so some of the things that were in there you had already seen. Those were not the things you paid attention to. You looked for the couple things Tim had mentioned they found, the cups and the piece of hieroglyphic. Easily spotted toward the bottom of the display, you gave Tim a light nudge in the arm showing him just how proud you were of him and his team. Then your eye caught something else. There was another thing in the display that you did not remember seeing before. A fully intact skull with a few bones lying next to it. You looked at it with confusion, not recognizing the shape of the skull as a dinosaur Tim had ever talked about. You turned to him with your confused expression and he just looked back at you wide-eyed.

“What?”

“That skull, Tim. That wasn’t there before, was it?”

“Which one?”

You pointed to the skull and he took a look at it and then proceeded to the plaques in front of the display.

“Read… ah, this. I think this is where it is. Read it out loud, I’m going to continue looking and checking the display, love.”

You began to read.

“The skull of an Amareangelusops, alongside some bones considered to be part of the body. This omnivorous creature, based upon location found and bone structure, is considered to be a shyer species, one that would have only been about ten feet long and eight feet tall.” You continued to read the facts that the museum had established after DNA testing. Then you saw it. “This newly found species of dinosaur was discovered by Dr. Timothy Murphy—oh my god!”

Tim was now turned to face you, beaming wildly at you and trying his hardest not to laugh at your reaction. Your outburst had quieted down your section of the museum.

“Tim, did you not tell me about this? Did you find this on the dig you were just on?”

“Yeah, I wanted to surprise you. I thought you would be proud of me.”

“Proud doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling, Timmy! I can’t believe it! You discovered a freaking dinosaur! A new dinosaur! Wow, I might faint.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Y/N.”

“Except it is, Tim! You told me yourself when we first started dating; it is every paleontologist’s dream to have that moment where you find something and can name it yourself and feel proud that you contributed to world history! And you did that!” Then it dawned on you. “Wait… does that mean you picked the name? Amareangelusops?”

Tim smiled sweetly at you and nodded his head, it was clear to him you did not understand the name.

“You don’t get what it means, do you?”

“Not in the slightest, Tim.” You started laughing, making Tim laugh.

“Well, it’s actually pretty simple. But before I explain it, let me give you the context. You and I had just gotten off the phone, you were about to go to bed and I was already working, having no luck. Broke a brush right before calling you, too. Then I heard your voice, sleepy and ethereal. It made me so happy. You wished me luck before hanging up, and not an hour later, while I was still hearing your voice and seeing your face in my head, I found it. So, I chose a name that reflected what I was thinking about when I discovered it. The name can be broken down into three parts; amare, angelus, and ops. Ops is basically paleontologist talk for face, and I had your face in mind when I found it, remember? The other two parts are Latin words. Amare means love, and angelus means angel. You always call me your angel, and we call each other love all the time.”

“You… you’re saying you named a dinosaur after… me?”

“Yep.”

“I… don’t know what to say, Tim.”

“You don’t have to say anything. This is my gift to you for putting up with all my antics over the years. I love you.”

Your eyes were welling up with tears, and you felt Tim snake his arms around your waist and pull you tightly into him and kiss you on the top of your head.

“Thank you, Tim. I love you so much. You’re such an incredible scientist, and that Garrett kid is stupid and will never achieve something like this.” All of your words spilled out through choked-back sobs. You were so moved, and you could not help but wonder if his bosses asked him about the name.

“Did they ask you why you named it that?”

“Yeah…” He looked like he was getting embarrassed.

“And?”

“They called me a dork.”

You two laughed uncontrollably because while neither of you disagreed with Tim’s bosses, you were both so happy in the moment that nothing else mattered. You were happy to have your angelic dork right by your side as you made your way home.

[prince-aziraphale]

JP: The Lost World (Novel) Timeline Reference & Info:

This is a short list of various information from Jurassic Park: The Lost World novel. I use it for a writing guide, and may add on information down the road (as needed). This is simply for my personal use, but if you find it useful, you’re free to reblog/reference it as well!

Small text = Speculation based on canon information to help fill in the gaps; information can vary based on interpretation.

1989 – 1990 - Jurassic Park Incident / Detained  ≈ 1 year

1990 – 1993 - Normal Life / Ian’s Surgeries / Novel Starts in 1993

1993 – 1995 - Break/Time Skip - Picks up in 1995

1995 – Site B

Ian Malcolm had been a consultant to International Genetic Technologies of Palo Alto in the summer of 1989 and was sent to Costa Rica for them, which is how he ended up in Jurassic Park.

InGen, as compensation, paid two years worth of medical bills for Ian.

Ian spent 6 months in the ICU. 

This leads to believe that he probably spent more time in the hospital after leaving the ICU. Maybe roughly 2-3 months. If he was there almost a year, that means even after discharged, he was still being detained on Costa Rica with the other survivors including Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant. However, none of this is specified.

Ian meets Sarah shortly after returning to the United States (around 1990). He is asked to serve as an outside reader for her doctoral thesis at Berkeley. She is on a 1 year sabbatical and aids Ian in his recovery through his multiple surgeries before she returns to Africa.

Ian and Sarah drift apart after she returns to Africa due to a lack of contact from  both ends, ending whatever romantic intention they previously had.

Ian lectured at Sante Fe Institute around 1993 about extinction. That is where he first meets Richard Levine.

In 1995 (right before Site B):

Ian Malcolm (42 years old): Is taking a visiting lectureship at Berkeley in the biology department. He teaches mathematical models of evolution.

Note: Ian has a lot of religious undertones when expressing his skepticism in the first book. It is possible that Ian may have religious affiliation - to some degree - in Christianity or Judaism. However, specific religious terminology or imagery is never used.

Sarah Harding (33 years old): Originally a poor scholarship student at the University of Chicago she is now an animal behaviorist working as an assistant professor at Princeton. Currently doing field work in Africa.

Richard Levine (Early 30s): A paleontologist/paleobiologist teaching Junior High at Woodside (by court order) after getting arrested for driving 125mph in a 15mph school zone.

Alan Grant (44-45 years old): A paleontologist at Montana State. However, at this time, is on leave of absence and in Paris, lecturing on the latest dinosaur finds. 

Note: Alan was previously married. However, his wife passed away an unspecified time before the events of Jurassic Park.

Ellie Sattler (30 years old): (Married name: Reiman) Remains a botanist/paleobotanist that lectures part time at the University. She marries her fiancé (engaged pre-Jurassic Park) who is a physicist at Berkeley and has a young son and daughter. 

[hell-yeahfilm]

THE RISE AND REIGN OF THE MAMMALS

Dinosaurs fascinate everyone, and Brusatte, professor of paleontology and adviser to the Jurassic World film franchise, has named more than 15 new species. However, mammals are his first love, and this delightful account will convert many readers. According to the popular belief, dinosaurs ruled the Earth until they were wiped out by a meteor strike 65 million years ago, whereupon mammals succeeded them. This is correct except that mammals not only succeeded dinosaurs; they existed alongside them back to their beginning. In fact, both share a common ancestor that appeared perhaps 325 million years ago. This small lizardlike creature evolved into two major lineages, one eventually becoming reptiles (including birds), the other mammals. Readers who remember high school biology know that mammals have warm blood, hair, and mammary glands that produce milk. Such true mammals did not appear for 100 million years, and these features do not fossilize well, but Brusatte excels in explaining how paleontologists figured matters out. Only mammals chew; most have complex teeth. Birds and reptiles swallow food whole; their teeth, when present, look alike. Mammals have three tiny bones in their ears, which allow them to hear better than other vertebrates, which have only one. Ancient mammals and pre-mammals were small. Their surviving bones were fragmentary and their teeth nearly microscopic, so early paleontologists sifted tons of dirt to detect minuscule fossils until the present century, when new sites, especially in China, have revealed spectacularly complete skeletons, often including hair, feathers, and embryos. Many readers consider humans the most interesting mammal, closely followed by extinct behemoths such as mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Brusatte, however, gives humans “about the same attention as horses and whales and elephants. After all, we are but one of many amazing feats of mammalian evolution.” Throughout, the author employs lucid prose and generous illustrations to describe the explosion of mammal species that followed the disappearance of dinosaurs.

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/uoDJgKx

[kazashiniwielder]

Here’s why I will never like Jurassic World anywhere near Jurassic Park:

Jurassic Park: not only contributed greatly to dinosaur readers h for realism but so good of a movie that it helped encourage a whole new generation of Paleontologists in the world. Practical effects were beautiful and the entire movie was fascinating to see especially because the main character brought some of the top scientists in their field to the island and they went from mystified to realizing the true issues in just a few hours. Three said experts explain the very real issues and lawyer and rich man are like ‘I hear what your saying and I understand you are at the very forefront of your science disciplines but for the sake of the money I will get out of this, I’m just gonna ignore you’. There was very real suspense, the characters were likable and honestly the music was not overused either.

Jurassic World: cash grab. Nothing to allow me to invest in. Clings to unrealistic versions of dinosaurs, the whole ‘no feathers because it looks dumb and we want to be ‘cool’’. Honestly not a whole lot of suspense and not really that invested in the characters. Also the dinosaurs both do very unrealistic shit (what creature is going to be hunting for food or just…posing? When it’s in a life or death situation?) and very clearly almost entirely CGI which looks like shit

Say what you will, and have your own opinion please, but O have seen all five movies and I honestly can barley remember the new movies. I can’t tell you any of the characters names, in fact the only character I remember is Blue. The original trilogy… I remember all the characters and the plots.

[deliriousgeek]

She’s The Alpha (Owen Grady x reader) .9

Here’s chapter nine lovelies! Sorry that it took so long to finish, but it’s here! Also, idk if anyone pays attention to the lore or actual timeline of the Jurassic World franchise but in case anyone does, I will not be following that timeline. The events in this series will be different from that of the actual canon series. There are probably typos since I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible so I heavily apologize for that. Any who, enjoy!

Masterlist

Warnings: fluff?

The synthetic, white light illuminated the creation lab in a haze. No computers beeped and no screens flashed. The few movements in the room belonged to the lights flickering off in the nocturnal specimen containers, slowly rousing them from their day time slumber. The sun had set outside, but there were no windows in the lab and so the white overhanging lights gave no indication that any time had passed at all. If one stood quietly in the middle of the room, they could hear the wake up songs of croaking frogs and tweeting good nights from birds, each in their respective containers. One could look around and see the blinking eyes of lizards and watch as a lone paleontologist observed a substance as it dripped into a beaker. 

Yn’s eyes narrowed as she watched the amber toned liquid flow through the tube. Millions of years in development, 10 years of research, and a grueling year’s worth of testing flowed into a glass beaker. The action itself seemed too underwhelming for the labor and effort put into it. Her studies in Jurassic World would finally come to fruition if this one test worked. After tweaking experiments and hypotheses, it would all rely on this serum. 

It all relied upon the inspection of this serum. One look under a microscope was all she needed to confirm her suspensions. Due to staring at the beaker Yn failed to hear approaching footsteps outside of the laboratory doors. It wasn't until three raps on the glass door disturbed the incessant sound of dripping liquid, did she notice she wasn't alone.

"Uh, should I leave you with the beaker or should I go?"

Letting out a chuff Yn swiveled her chair to face the door.

"Sorry Owen, I didn't hear you come in."

He rolled his eyes and leaned against the door frame. A brown, paper sandwich bag with the Jurassic World logo printed on it was in his hands. He lifted a brow and impishly smiled. "Yn you're working too hard again. Do you know what time it is?"

Blinking her eyes and readjusting to turning so fast, Yn rested her hands on her knees and leaned back. Eyes flicking to the clock she sighed. 

The clock face stared back at her and read 10:30 pm.

"Damn."

Letting out a relinquished sigh as her hand slid down her face. For the past year Yn had been working as a paleogeneticist for Jurassic World. After her first initial visit to the park, which went smoothly, she returned home and endorsed Jurassic World. Shortly after the endorsement was published Jurassic World attendance skyrocketed. Mr. Masrani had reached out to Yn once more, but this time with a job offer. His hooking line that convinced her to leave the traditional paleontology world was “You won’t have to study dried out and dusty fossils. Instead you’ll be able to work with them in the flesh.” With an offer such as that, she couldn’t say no. Yn was elated when she had finally made her decision. However, her joy did not extend to her father, or any of her other extended family. Each shared their concerns and worries, much like the first time she traveled to the park, but once again they were met with Yn’s hard researched evidence on the park’s safety and personal confirmation that she would be fine. After that, they couldn’t say no. Three weeks later she was hugging her father goodbye and hopping on a private helicopter to Jurassic World. This time she was taken to the Hammond creation lab not as an endorser, but as a respected colleague. 

Now, Yn was on the brink of connecting something big, something that would revolutionize everything the world knew about dinosaurs. 

“Yeah, ‘damn’ is right. Now, are you going to stay locked up here all night or join me for a couple beers?”

Yn smiled at Owen’s offer, but she knew her answer. “I’d love to, Owen, but I really need to finish this. I’ll be outta here soon. Don’t worry about me.”

 This time Owen’s eyes slightly narrowed and his arms crossed, “You’ve been working late like this for the past month. What are you working on anyway?” He inquired as if trying to figure out what the purpose of the experiment was by analyzing the liquid. 

“Just confirming some stuff Dr. Wu theorized. With the late nights I’ve been pulling, I’ve actually gotten a lot further than what I expected.”

“Hmm.” Owen stepped back and let the paper bag drop to his side. “Well that’s great. Uh, okay well. I guess I’ll be off then. Want me to leave you a beer?” 

A laugh escaped Yn’s lips. “Nah. If someone came in and saw it I’d be immediately fired.” She was about to end the conversation there when a thought came to mind, “but if you’re still awake in say, about an hour? Would you still be down to share a beer and a late dinner?”

Hearing her suggestion Owen perked up. “Sure, I’ll be up. Meet at my place?” 

Yn nodded. “Yep.”

Turning on his heel with a slight jump to his step he shouted down the hallway, “See you then!”

Yn shook her head with a fond chuckle. She could always count on Owen to cheer her up. Or remind her when it was time to go home. With a made up resolve that she had done enough for the night, Yn began to clean up the lab and head to Owen’s trailer.

The test tubes were cleaned and put away to dry. All the tools she used were put back in their respective places. Now all that was left to do was save the research she had completed. Yn sat down in front of the computer, typing in the last details into the report. Then with a few clicks the file “Indo.Genome.2” was saved. 

With a satisfied sigh Yn closed up the lab and began her journey to Owen’s trailer. Upon arriving and exiting her car, Yn smiled. “Did I miss a celebration?” She observed the strings of light that hung across the open space between Owen’s trailer and the trees. A table set for two sat in the middle of it all. Owen occupied one chair, grinning with a teasing smile.

“Oh no, you didn’t miss anything.”

“Then what’s all this?” Yn gestured to the lights as she took her spot across from Owen.

He reached for his beer bottle and shrugged. “Can’t a man do something nice for his friend?” 

Yn laughed. “You can, but you usually don’t decorate unless we’re celebrating something.” She mused.

Placing the bottle down his teasing resolve softened. If Yn didn’t know any better she would think he looked sheepish. Owen didn’t answer after a few seconds so Yn took that as her cue to drop the interrogation.

“Got a bottle opener?”

“Oh right.”

Owen took the bottle from Yn and opened it, handing it back to her.

“Thanks.” 

Yn took a sip and sighed. She always preferred Owen’s place to hangout over hers. Yn looked out into the lake. It’s inky black surface reflected the white light of the moon. The lake was beautiful and quiet, encompassed by local foliage and the soothing noises of the jungle. 

Contrary to her condo in the park that was surrounded by late night bar attendees and bustling guests. It was peaceful here. She enjoyed that. 

Observing Yn take a sip of her beer and see her shoulders visibly relax gave Owen a sense of triumph. A few minutes of silence passed between them as they observed the lake before Owen spoke up. 

“Actually n/n, there is a reason for setting this all up.”

Switching her attention from the lake to him Yn turned. “Oh?”

“Yeah, uh,” He had a little trouble finding his words. “Actually uh, I’ve noticed the way you’ve been acting the past two months.”

Yn tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Leaning back into the patio chair Owen spoke. “Every time I’ve come to check on you, I find that you haven’t eaten. You’re the first person at work and the last one to leave. I hardly see you during our lunch break. To top it off you stopped coming by the paddock at the beginning of the month. The first couple times I noticed these changes I didn’t say anything, but now seeing as nothing’s changed I’m a little worried.”

Yn stared back at Owen with wide eyes and a mouth slightly gaping. Hearing all the differences in her routine surprised her. Had it really been that bad? Taking in a breath at her realization Yn reclined into her chair. What made it worse was that she had made Owen worry and fret over her. Now it made sense that he would check on her late at night in the lab every so often. He was worried about her well being. 

Taken aback Yn replied, “Wow. I’m sorry Owen. I didn’t mean to worry you. Honestly, I’m okay. I’ve just been really distracted with this project.”

“That’s the thing Yn. I know how much of a workaholic you are, but this is a new level.” Owen stated, a little displeased. 

A chuckle came out of Yn. “It’s not that bad.”

“Oh really?” Owen dead panned. “When was the last time you got a full eight hours of sleep?”

Yn quirked a brow. “Oh please. I got a full eight hours of sleep just last,” Her brows knitted. “Last,” Her memory must’ve been foggy because she specifically remembered that on- “Last..” Huh. She couldn’t remember. “I don’t know.” She replied.

“Exactly.” Now Owen’s brows tightened. “Why are you working yourself so hard?” 

“Psh Owen it’s not that bad! I’m seriously okay-”

“Yn.” Owen’s tone held no room for rebuttal. His shoulders tensed and face hardened, then his posture loosened. “Are you sure you’re okay? The last time you threw yourself into your work something bad happened. I can’t have you go into that dark place again.”

Touched about Owen’s worry for her, Yn softly smiled. Reaching across the table to his hand that rested across from her, she placed her palm on top of his closed fist. Looking into his eyes Yn spoke, “Owen. I am okay. I can promise you that I am one hundred percent mentally and emotionally okay. Nothing bad has happened. All that’s kept me busy is this project. I can’t really talk about it other than that it’s something I’m really proud of. If something did happen or I wasn’t feeling like myself, I would tell you. Okay?” She squeezed his hand for an extra bit of sincerity. Looking into her eyes Owen confirmed she was being serious. Letting go of his resolve he nodded. “Okay. I just needed to make sure.”

Yn gently smiled, retracting her hand. “Thank you Owen. I really appreciate your concern for me.”

“Hey, I’m not the only one,” His playful side coming back. “The girls miss you too.”

Yn laughed. “I miss my raptor babies too.” “Uh no no, they're not your raptor children, they’re mine.”

Yn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

Owen laughed. His eyes widened in remembrance. “I forgot, your sandwich is in the fridge. I’ll go get it.” He stood and headed into the trailer.

Yn smiled and uttered a “thank you” before he disappeared behind the trailer door. Looking back out into the lake, Yn was grateful. She and Owen had come to develop a special friendship. She would go as far to say that they were best friends. Without him, Yn probably wouldn’t have made it through the first month of working at the park.

Just as she was about to take another sip from the beer bottle Owen came out from the trailer; his phone in one hand and Yn's sandwich in the other. “Hate to cut this dinner short but there's trouble at the paddock.”

Standing with alert Yn began walking towards her car. “What happened?” “Delta’s fighting with Blue.”

Yn nodded, already opening her car door. “Get in, I’ll drive.”

Tag List

@littlegangrel @thebadassbitchqueen

Constructive criticism is welcomed!  If you want to be added to the tag list, please don’t be shy. I don’t bite :3

And to my followers or anyone that is reading this, if you’re going through something and hurting please know that there are people to talk to. If you’re stressed or overwhelmed, let me remind you to take breaks. 

Don’t be like “Yn” and not take care of yourself. You are loved! You are valued! Please treat yourself like how you would treat someone not taking care of their own needs. 

Sincerely, DeliriousGeek <3

[mysongfortheasking]

Disturbing Children’s Books

In her speech “Dare to Be Creative,” author Madeleine L’Engle starts off by referencing a question originally presented by TS Eliot: “Do I dare disturb the universe?” L’Engle admits that is a daunting and difficult question—do we dare disturb the universe? And how do we do that? She says: “I believe that good questions are more important than answers, and the best children’s books ask questions, and make the reader ask questions. And every new question is going to disturb someone’s universe.”

Children’s books, she says. Not grown up books. Not classic literature. Not self-help books or deep commentaries. Not ancient texts or old legends or myths or any other type of reading material. Children’s books. Something we (myself included) might be prone to dismiss.

I am currently working on my Master’s in English, and this summer, decided to take an online summer course. I chose “Picture Book” class because I thought, “How could a class focused solely on picture books be that hard?” (The answer, I discovered, is that it can be that hard when you cram an entire semester’s worth of work into a five-week express course. I made it, but I didn’t sleep much during the month of June.) Despite my lack of sleep and insane amount of coffee consumption during that time, the class changed my life. I could write an incredibly long and never-ending post about all I learned from that class or the valuable materials we received (which I might do at some point or another), but that’s not why I originally started this post. Today, I want to share some disturbing children’s books. But disturbing in a good way.

Since there are countless “disturbing” children’s books, I decided to just share four good ones I’ve recently read. I also decided to narrow it down to a “theme” for this post: these books are all focused on female empowerment. But just because I say, “female empowerment,” do NOT think these books are just for girls. These books are for everyone. These books will interrupt the mainstream narrative and say, “Hang on, let’s think about this.” These books that will make you ask questions. These books might tell you something you needed to hear—they might even make you say, “Wow I never thought about that.” These books will open your eyes, challenge your thinking, and speak to your soul. I’ve attached Amazon links to them all in case you think “Wow I need these in my life!” (Because I promise you, you will.) These books will certainly disturb your universe, if you allow them. Let the disruption begin.

1) MY Rules for Being a Pretty Princess written and illustrated by Heath McKenzie

The protagonist in this book is an unnamed little girl who “more than anything else in the whole wide world,” wants to be a pretty princess. Her wish comes true when a real princess arrives and tells her the rules of being a princess: wear a pretty dress, always have perfect hair and makeup, attend dainty tea parties, dance gracefully, and finally, wait (literally, just stand there and wait) for a handsome prince.

Our sweet little protagonist is quickly bored and uninterested in the rules of being a princess, so she makes her own. She decides that to be a princess, you simply have to be yourself. You wear FABULOUS (instead of uncomfortable) dresses. You have AMAZING (instead of “always perfect”) hair and makeup. You attend DELICIOUS instead of dainty parties. You simply dance, instead of always having to dance gracefully. And (my personal favorite part of the whole book) she scraps the rule about waiting on a prince entirely, and in a beautiful closing illustration, dresses up like a knight and becomes her own hero.

This book is a simple one only in the sense that it doesn’t have a lot of words. It’s more of a “comic-strip” style with pictures and speech bubbles. There isn’t a complicated plot or storyline, but despite being minimal in nature, this book is still radically “disturbing.” Even though I saw the name on the front cover, I didn’t think twice when I assumed a woman wrote the book for other young girls. When I finished the book and flipped to the blurb about the author on the back, I was surprised to see the photograph of male author Heath McKenzie, and even more pleased to read the explanation of why he created this book: “Before Ava [Heath’s daughter] was born and before he knew she’d be a little girl, Heath began wondering about what might happen if he had a daughter,” the blurb says. “He wanted to make sure she knew she could be anything she wanted to be when she grew up! Because she can!”

You could say that Heath wanted to “disturb the universe” on behalf of his little girl, and this book certainly does that. He wanted to tell his little girl something that ALL little girls (and honestly, all people) need to hear: “No matter what anyone says, YOU can be whatever you want.” And while there isn’t a complicated plot line in this story, the closing illustration subtly sends the message: “You don’t need saving and you don’t have to wait around for someone to come and get you—you can be your own hero.”

2) Dinosaur Expert written by Magaret McNamara and illustrated G. Brian Karas

This book is about Kimmy, a young girl who loves science, especially dinosaurs. She is excited to share all of her knowledge on a field trip to the dinosaur museum, but one of her classmates named Jake says, “Girls aren’t scientist.”

Kimmy sees all “boy names” in the list of accomplished paleontologists and gets discouraged. Maybe, she thinks, Jake is right—she shouldn’t talk anymore about dinosaurs because, after all, she is a girl. But when her teacher, Mr. Tiffin, shows her all the work done by female paleontologists, Kimmy realizes that Jake is all wrong: girls can be contributing scientists too.

While this book has a lot more words (there’s some big science words that even I struggled with), it teaches the same thing that Heath McKenzie wanted to show in his book: you can be anything. I love that they picked a “male dominated field” like paleontology to demonstrate this, but I think there’s also an extra layer in the use of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are usually a “boy thing”—boys get to play with dino toys, boys get to watch Jurassic Park, and boys get to be paleontologists. But Mr. Tiffin helps Kimmy (and the readers of this book) realize that it isn’t a “boy-girl” thing: girls can love dinosaurs too. There’s also an extra “bonus” in the back of the book where Kimmy presents readers with seven different female paleontologists from all over the world and all different stages of life. (My personal favorite is Daisy Morris, a four-year-old who discovered the fossil of a new species of dinosaurs, which is now named ���Vectidraco daisymorrisae” in her honor.)

There’s so much educational information about dinosaurs in this book, even I learned a lot from it that I never knew. Personally, I think this book is one that is most powerful, because it’s not only educational, but also shows children that science and dinosaurs and being accomplished isn’t just for one gender: anyone can love and do and be whatever they want to.

3) I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark written by Bebbie Levy and illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley

This book is obviously a nonfiction biographical book about Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s life from childhood to present day. It’s illustrations are amazing, and it shows beautifully how Justice Ginsberg encountered lots of difficulties—social things like racism and sexism, but also things like the death of her mother and raising a family while going to law school and pursuing a career.

While it focuses a lot on the aspect of female empowerment, it really is a book about standing up for right and injustice in general too.

Even though it’s probably the wordiest of all the books I mention here, that is not at all a bad thing. It has a lot of historical information and even teaches children vocabulary (specifically the terms “dissent,” “concur,” “object,” “protest”—lots of legal and activist terms), and adults can easily find a way to communicate the ideas to young children. I read this to one of my students (a six-year-old girl), and I had to find ways to “shorten and simplify” it a bit for her attention span and understanding. But when I asked her what she learned from the book, she looked up at me, smiled and said through the gap in her mouth where her front teeth should be, “Girls can do ANYTHING.” So I’d say she got the point.

4) The Princess and the Pony written and illustrated by Kate Beaton

I go to the library literally every day for work, and a librarian approached me a few weeks ago and said, “Have you read The Princess and the Pony?” I am SO glad she suggested it, because it’s become one of my favorites.

The Princess and the Pony tells the story of Princess Pinecone, the smallest princess who wants desperately to be a big strong warrior. But Pinecone feels she is too “cute and cuddly.” “Warriors get fantastic birthday presents,” Beaton writes, “Things that make them feel like champions. Princess Pinecone got a lot of cozy sweaters. Warriors do not need cozy sweaters.” Pinecone tells EVERYONE she wants a strong warrior horse, but instead they give her a round little pony whose eyes sometimes look in two different directions, who eats things it shouldn’t, and farts way too much (not kidding, that’s in the book).

Pinecone tries hard to teach her pony to be a warrior horse, but the little horse just can’t quite get it; nevertheless, she enters a battle and hopes for the best. But instead of fighting and being “awful brutes,” the other warriors fall in love with Princess Pinecone’s cute little pony. They all stop fighting and gush over how cute the pony is. (My favorite is when Huge Harold, who also has eyes that sometimes look in two different directions, exclaims, “Aw, he looks a bit like me!”) When Pinecone says, “This is not how a battle usually goes!” another warrior responds, “You’re right, but we warriors don’t often get to show our cuddly sides.”

Pinecone realizes she can help them get in touch with their cute and cuddly sides, and all of the warriors work together and learn that being a strong warrior doesn’t mean you have to always be “very big and very tough.”

I love this book for a lot of reasons. First of all, this book is HILARIOUS. The illustrations are colorful and well-drawn and comical (especially the pony), and the details in the story itself are so funny. But I also love the subtle representation it offers. For example, Princess Pinecone’s parents are clearly drawn as an interracial couple: her mother has dark hair, skin, and eyes while her dad has light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Pinecone herself is a mix of the two with dark eyes like her mother’s, blonde hair like her father’s, and skin that is a shade in between the two. The warriors themselves are all different shapes, sizes, and colors (in fact, in one illustration, there is a dark-skinned, female warrior in hijab subtly included in the fight). Even Harold’s little remark about how the pony “looks kinda like me” is representation—Harold sees a unique (not bad or funny, but unique) aspect of himself in a way perhaps he’s never seen himself before.

Another thing I love about this book is that unlike the princess in McKenzie’s book or Kimmy in Dinosaur Expert or even the great Ruth Bader Ginsberg herself encountered, there isn’t a clear outside force here: no one tells Pinecone she can’t be a warrior. Her parents support her completely, the warriors never question or make fun of her. The battle Pinecone struggles with is in herself. She thinks she is too small. She thinks she is too “cute and cuddly.” She thinks warriors don’t have the things she has, like cozy sweaters and fat ponies. She thinks these things make her weak. The struggle in Pinecone being a warrior is not one with the world outside of her: it’s an internal struggle with her own self-doubts.

Thankfully, Pinecone learns that warriors don’t have to be what she thinks. And, the other warriors learn this too. They all think that warriors have to be “a bunch of brutes,” as Beaton describes them. They (Pinecone included) think warriors have be tough and rough and always fight in some type of battle. But through Princess Pinecone’s silly little pony, warriors learn they can be cute and cuddly. Warriors can love cozy sweater and chubby ponies. Warriors can be small or big, male or female, and can appear rough or cute. And while I genuinely don’t believe there’s such thing as “girl and boy books” (all books are honestly for everyone), I do think another thing this book is especially good for disturbing the universe of toxic masculinity. It shows that to be strong, you don’t have to be a big tough brute who always fights angrily. It shows that it’s okay to be a warrior and be in touch with your “cuddly side.” It’s okay to wear a cozy sweater. It’s okay to gush over something that’s cute. It’s okay to feel. Through a story about a tiny princess and a farting pony, Beaton illustrates that being a warrior isn’t about your gender or your size or how many battles you partake in: it’s really just about being strong and accepting yourself just the way you are. And that’s a message that everyone needs to hear.

All of these books disturb the universe. These books make readers ask good questions. They cause readers to reevaluate their own ideas and the narrative around them. And they do it as children books. McKenzie’s sweet little princess helps us realize, “Hey, I don’t have to follow a set of rules and be perfect.” We learn along with Kimmy that girls can be scientists too (or whatever else they want). I Dissent shows that there is power in standing up to injustice and teaches toothless first graders “Girls can do ANYTHING.” And The Princess and the Pony shows that there is strength in both the tough and the tender. As I said earlier, these aren’t books just for children. These are messages and themes we all need to hear. All of us, regardless of our age, race, or gender should read these books and allow them to disturb our universe.

[leaves-of-three]

Day Eleven || So Impressed

Connor Murphy x Reader

Word Count: 2674

Summary: Enlisting the help of Connor to cheat on homework. [This is part of an in progress series. You can follow along here.]

Author Note: Nothing will ever top the build up to that Connor kiss last time. Everything will be downhill from there. I suck at life I’m sorry I’m trying my best. Writing is hard sometimes tho. It’s 5 am why am I awake. Help me. 

When you were just six years old, you were adamant on becoming a veterinarian. You performed countless surgeries on your stuffed animals with the plastic doctor’s kit you had received for Christmas. It wasn’t until you realized that actual surgeries would be done on living animals and involve real blood that you allowed that dream fade away. When you were twelve, you were certain you were going to become a paleontologist. You had dug a moderately sized hole in your backyard searching for fossils. Then your dad let you watch Jurassic Park for the first time and the thought of finding dinosaurs suddenly became a terrifying profession. At sixteen, you dreamed of traveling the world and visiting far off lands. You bought travel books at your local book store with your babysitting money and made detailed plans in your journal on the places you’d visit. Then you began calculating the costs of such elaborate trips and, as the money grew, your dreams sank. 

At seventeen and your start of senior year, all you wanted was to disappear. You had no dreams. You had no hopes or plans for the future. You just wanted to be erased from history. But like life had been teaching you all along, those things were bound to change eventually. Last night they had. Life gave you Connor and you no longer wanted to disappear. Quite the opposite, in fact. You wanted to be seen. By him. You were one hundred percent lusting over that mysterious boy. In your typical fashion, when you started to fall for the idea of something or someone, you fell hard. There was no holding you back. You gave them everything. It had been a curse in the past and cause for some serious heartbreaks. 

This time you wanted to play it safe. You’d been hurt too much. You had trusted too many of the wrong people. Recent events had broken you down to nothing. As much as you wanted give Connor your heart on a silver platter, you knew you had to resist. Your heart had been butchered over the summer. You were still in the process of trying to sew it back together but there were so many pieces and you were getting so tired. Even if you wanted to, you knew you couldn’t give Connor half of what he deserved. It didn’t stop you from day dreaming though. Living out fantasies inside your head was harmless enough. You could trick yourself into being happy. 

You sat at your desk, staring out your bedroom window, with your laptop opened in front of you. Connor kept dancing through your thoughts. You were supposed to be working on an English paper about 1984 by George Orwell. You had forgotten to keep up with the reading and were going off Spark Notes to get the paper done. You bet Connor had read this book before. He’d probably already gone through all the classics they made you read for school. You smiled dreamily to yourself at the thought. Maybe you should text him to see... 

Y/N: Today 1:22 pm: Have you read George Orwell’s 1984? 

You placed your phone down beside you and waited for a reply. When it didn’t come as fast as you hoped, you forced yourself to turn back to your laptop. The open word document was still blank apart from your name written in the corner. This paper needed to be five pages and you were struggling to even get out a single sentence. You yawned. How was it possible that you were still tired after getting a full 9 nine hours of sleep last night? It had been one of the best sleeps you had gotten this week too. For once, you had gone to bed with a smile instead of tears. 

You lazily smiled now as you remembered the events of yesterday. You could still feel Connor’s hands tangled and gripping onto your hair, his mouth zealously attacking yours, the way he had pulled you so close him like he had been waiting so long for this moment to happen. You had never felt such passion in a single kiss before. Your stomach fluttered with excitement as you remembered and you felt yourself blushing alone in your room. It had been perfect. 

Your phone vibrated over the wooden surface of your desk. Your eyes shot open at the sound.

Connor: Today 1:54 pm: ya it’s one of my favs y? 

Y/N: Today 1:54 pm: I’ve got to write a report on it and I forgot to finish the reading. I was wondering if I could steal your thoughts on the book and pass them off as my own ;)

Connor: Today 1:55 pm: wats it bout 

Y/N: Today 1:57 pm: Analyze the Party's level of power over its citizens, specifically through the lens of psychological manipulation. Name the tools the Party uses to maintain this control and discuss their effectiveness.

Connor: Today 1:58 pm: lol face time me i’ll help u out

Your heart started to race. Facetime? Shit. You leaped out of your chair. You hadn’t showered today, you had on no makeup, you face was breaking out, and you had been living in your pajamas all afternoon. This was not a cute look. Connor may have seen you go through some shit but the stakes were higher now. Before you had been in the friend zone...now you needed to step up your game. You wanted to impress him with how naturally casual and beautiful you looked lounging around by yourself on a Saturday afternoon. That involved makeup, better lighting, and a lot of exaggerating the truth. 

Y/N: Today 2:00 pm: K one sec 

You grabbed a bottle of dry shampoo off your dresser and sprayed it into your hair before pulling it up into a cute, high ponytail. Then you rushed to throw some foundation and concealer onto your face to cover any breakouts. You were used to rushing through your make up on days you slept through your alarm for school anyway. All those late mornings had been practice for this. A little lip gloss, a hint of mascara, and a change into a fresh t-shirt set the look. You kept your pajama bottoms on. The camera wouldn’t reach that far down. Then you opened your curtain a bit higher to let in more natural light and sat back down at your desk. You propped your phone up against a box of tissues and checked your appearance through the camera. Yup...natural and casual. You totally woke up like this. You adjusted a few loose strands of hair that had fallen from the ponytail in your rush then clicked on Connor’s name. 

It rang three times before he picked up. 

While you had worked to center yourself a good distance from the camera to make yourself look better, his entire face took up the screen. He was obviously holding the phone as it had trouble focusing in his shaky hand. A smile grew on your face when you saw him, “Hey, what’s up? Are you ready to become my personal Spark Notes?”

From what you could tell, he was lying on his back on a bed. An off white pillow was under his head and his hair was fanned out over it. He brought the hand not holding the phone to his lips. Between his fingers was a half smoked joint. He took a long drag, held it in his lungs for a second, then let the smoke billow out through his chapped, swollen lips. “I’m better than any Spark Notes. Trust me,” his voice was relaxed and his eyes were bloodshot. “I remember everything,” he paused. “Except the question. What was the question? ...What are we doing? Do you want to come over?” 

Okay, so he was clearly high. You shook your head, “No I don’t want to come over. I have to write this paper. You said you’d help. Do you want me to read the essay topic again?” 

His face was looking worse than it had yesterday. When you saw him at at the lake, his bruises were still red and puffy. They had been fresh. After sitting and stewing on his skin over night, they had now turned an awful dark blue and purple color. Underneath his right eye and over his cheek bone were swollen, the side of his bottom lip was twice its usual size, and the skin along his jaw had been scraped off into a red mess like someone had dragged his face over pavement. It looked horribly painful and it made your stomach squirm to look at him too closely. You couldn’t blame him for wanting to get high. It probably helped the aching pain he must feel. 

You had been right. Connor had gone after Justin the morning he left your house. When you finally entangled yourself from the kiss, the two of you had sat side by side on the swings. He watched the water while you watched him. The sound of the creaking, rusted swing chains rocking back and forth accompanied his timid voice as he told you about what had transpired. Connor had found Justin in the school parking lot. He claimed he hadn’t been actively searching for him but that something had just drawn him straight there. Connor wasn’t a fighter but he had been angry. Anger can drive people to do things they never imagined. He told you he hadn’t even said a single word to him. He just walked up and started punching him. It didn’t take long for Justin and his friends to pull Connor off and finish the fight. Three against one didn’t leave good odds for Connor’s poor face. He had turned to you and smiled at you then. Through the pain the movement had obviously caused him, he still smiled at you. He told you that it was worth it. That he would have done it again in a heartbeat but that he was sorry he had left you so suddenly. He felt bad for running off. He said that you had deserved better, after what you had gone through, that he shouldn’t of let his anger get the better of him. That was when you had pushed your swing closer and kissed him again. It was a salty, wet kiss. You had been crying while listening to his story. No one had ever put themselves in harms way for you. You thanked him with the kiss. You never wanted to forget the feeling of his lips against yours. 

But then that was it. Eventually you went back home. Connor was still sitting on the swings when you left. You don’t know how long he stayed there for. You never discussed what would come next. You had both been too drained to think that far. You had no idea what the next step was after a day like yesterday. Apparently to you, it was to open your school work and attempt to catch up. To Connor, it was apparently to lay in bed and get high. So far it seemed to be working well for both of you. 

“Y/N?” His voice floated through your thoughts. 

You blinked and focused back on the screen, “Huh? What? Sorry...”

He smiled but then winced, “My face feels like I got hit by a fucking train. You were using me to cheat on your homework. Remember?”

You gave him an emphatic look but then a playful smile, “Sorry I got distracted at how gross you look.” He snorted a laugh. “What did you parents have to say when they saw you? Did they freak out?”

Connor shook his head. “Nah they haven’t seen me yet. I got home late. I stayed at the lake for a while and I’ve been in my room since. Usually if they smell pot, they stay away and leave me alone. Third joint since I woke up,” he held it up to the camera as if to prove a point. “Cheers,” Then he placed it back between his bruised lips. “Now give me the question again. Come on, I want to show off how fucking smart I am. You’ll be so impressed.”

You giggled and read the question off the paper to him, “Analyze the Party's level of power over its citizens, specifically through the lens of psychological manipulation. Name the tools the Party uses to maintain this control and discuss their effectiveness.” You looked back up. “See that all sounds like gibberish to me because I literally only read the first chapter.” 

“You’re missing out. It’s a damn good novel. George Orwell was on some next level shit.” He groaned dramatically as he rolled off his bed. You watched him wonder over to something, you assumed his bookcase, and scan around for the book. You caught little glimpses of his bedroom behind him whenever he moved out of frame. You wondered if you’d ever get to see it in person some day. 

He waved the book at you when he found it and jumped back onto this bed. He flipped through a few pages until he found what he was searching for. “Alright, you’re gonna want to start out with the book’s slogan phrases which is ‘War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.’” He glanced back at his phone and raised his eyebrows expectantly when he looked at you. “Well? I don’t hear you typing. Keep up, kid. We gotta a lot of work to do. Professor Murphy doesn’t have all day.”

You jumped to attention and began to type out the things he was saying, taking his thoughts and translating them into more elegantly written sentences. He described the ideas and meaning of “doublethink” to you, he talked about “telescreens” and the “thought police” keeping watch over everyone’s thoughts 24/7, how children were called “junior spies” and brainwashed to spy on their own parents for unorthodox thoughts or practices, and how it all leads up to the climax of the book which was Room 101 and the horrors that take place inside as a way for The Party to induce psychological fear into their citizens for total control over them. He would stop to smoke between each point and flip through the pages of his book to find you good quotes to back up each statement. 

After a solid two hours, you had finally reached the full five pages needed. It was definitely one of the better essays you had ever written. Hearing Connor speak so passionately about the novel made you want to actually sit down and read it now. It sounded fascinating but maybe that was because it all coming from him. Without a doubt, if he had read it to you, it would have instantly became your new favorite book. You finished off the paper. He made you read the entire thing back to him to make sure it all made sense. When you finished, he nodded contently, “We make a good team. I sputter off a bunch of high nonsense and you spin it into gold. If we don’t get an A on this I’m dropping out.” 

You saved the paper and closed out of the word document. You picked up your phone, standing up to stretch, then rolled onto your bed. You laid on your side and propped the phone up against a pillow so the camera was still pointed at you. Connor watched and then did the same. You smiled softly. It was like you were both laying in bed together. “Thank you. I would have probably failed if you didn’t help me out,” you said. 

He half heartily shrugged, “You can make it up to me by letting me take you out to dinner tonight?” 

Your stomach exploded with butterflies at the thought but you kept your face neutral, “Only if it’s at Burger King. I won’t accept anything less than the finest establishments.”

That got a laugh out of him, “Deal. Pick you up at 7?”