#now i finally get to marry a big farm guy. he loves his chicken. thank god. LOOK AT HIS TAN LINES.

[skunkes]

What's the game you just posted? Looks cute!

fields of mistria out now for early access 🗣

here's more men for u to look at

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

The Farmhouse

Summary: The reader has been quietly dating the Ackles for close to two years now. When a bad day gets even worse, she questions what she’s doing running around with a married couple when she can’t even say who she’s dating…

Pairing: Jensen x reader x Danneel

Word Count: 5,500ish

Warnings: language, angst, eventual fluff

You were fuming by the time you finally, finally got home. Your car got a flat tire on the highway, about ten minutes from the brewery and you’d figured the roadside assistance guy would be there in twenty minutes tops. An hour later he called to say he was going to be another hour. You’d tried to call anyone left at the brewery but there was no answer, not that you were expecting anyone to be there after the brew had finished.

Jensen was flying back into town today, Danneel wasn’t answering your calls and your phone had to go and die on you. Eventually the road guy got there, only to tell you he didn’t have a spare in that size. You were pretty sure you growled as he called for backup, another guy arriving half an hour later. Finally, you were back on the road, pulling into the driveway close to eight.

“Where were you?” said Danneel when you stepped inside, wearing a nice dress, Jensen in a dress shirt and jeans. “You know Jay and I were having a date night.”

“Well excuse me,” you snapped, Jensen pouting at you.

“Hey, it’s been like a month since just De and I went out,” he said.

“Just go on your date,” you grumbled, walking past them for the bedroom.

“What’s got you in such a bad mood?” said Danneel back, a little too sharply for your taste.

“Answer your freaking phone next time,” you said, Danneel frowning at you.

“Girls,” said Jensen, holding up his hands. “Just take a breather. Y/N, there’s no need to come in with an attitude.”

“Go on your date,” you snapped, narrowing your eyes.

“Well the kids are over the Padalecki’s since you weren’t home,” she said. You kept on walking for the bathroom, slamming the bedroom door shut after you. “You’re such a child sometimes, Y/N!”

“Don’t talk to me anymore!” you shouted back, locking the door after you. You heard the front door shut after a moment and the car pull out.

You hopped in the shower to try to cool off but your anger only turned to being upset.

Neither one of them brought up the fact that you weren’t home. You could have been dead in a ditch and they hadn’t as so much bothered to ask why you were so late. They were just upset they were late for their date because you weren’t home to babysit.

Again.

They were the one’s that were married after all. They were the one’s that’d been together for years and years and years, the ones that had kids together.

You’d met them helping them set up the brewery and that’s how you got involved. Two years later though and you’d never even been on a real date with the two of them. No, out in public you were the third wheel, a super close friend. If you and Danneel went out, you were friends grabbing a bite. There was no holding hands ever, no kisses. Nothing beyond fast hugs which even then were mostly reserved for the two of them.

You understood, you really did. This was not a normal situation and you didn’t want them to get any crap for it.

But they got to actually show that they were in love and talk about each other openly and you were just there in the shadows.

The babysitter for date night. The one that’d never once gone out with Jensen just the two of you. The one that was treated almost like you were a nanny when other people were around.

Their parents didn’t even know. They didn’t even know you lived with them.

What the hell were you doing dating two people that would never love you the way you wanted to be? Maybe it was selfish but you just wanted so badly not to be the one that was brushed off or forgotten or hidden away for once.

It would always be that way too.

You got out of the shower and dried off, changing into jeans and a shirt, going to the closet and grabbing your suitcases and a duffel from the bottom. You slid all of your bathroom stuff into one, your clothes fitting in the rest. Everything else was theirs. Nothing in the house even really belonged to you. It was all the Ackles’.

You’d never be one of them, even if you’d fallen for them both.

You packed up your car and wrote a fast note, saying you were leaving and asking them not to contact you.

Ten minutes later you were on the highway, determined to get the hell out of Austin.

You pulled into the driveway about 2am, after driving aimlessly for a few hours, ignoring the phone calls and texts you kept getting alerted to. You left all but one of your bags in your car, knocking on the door quietly.

“Y/N?” yawned Nate as he pulled open the front door. “Sis, what-”

“Can I crash here tonight?” you asked. He nodded and let you inside, stumbling back up the stairs with you on his heels.

“Uh, there might be some boxes and crap in your old room,” he said.

“That’s okay. Thanks for letting me stay,” you said.

“This used to be your house too,” he said. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

You woke up groggy, Nate already up and about from the sounds of it. You padded downstairs, Nate sliding a dish of bacon and eggs in front of you.

“Mmm, thanks,” you said, grabbing a fork from the drawer and diving in.

“So...what brings my kid sister all the way up to the old family farm in the middle of the night?” he said with a smirk, taking a seat across from you.

“I quit my job,” you said, shoveling some food in your mouth. “I’m done with Austin. I was thinking of working the farm. You could use the help and I could split bills with you.”

“That does sound appealing but why’s smartie pants who couldn’t wait to get out of here want to suddenly come back?” he asked. “You were making good money at that brewery place.”

“Issue with the owners,” you said, chewing on some bacon.

“Big brother gotta kick some ass kind of issue?” he asked.

“No, Nathan,” you said with a smirk. “I don’t want to work there or be around them anymore is all.”

“So you quit your job and are moving because you don’t want to work with your boyfriend and girlfriend anymore...the whole coming here in the middle of the night thing is making a bit more sense now,” he said.

“You always thought I was a freak for dating two people at once anyways. What’s it matter to you?” you said.

“I was surprised when you told me, yes, but I never thought you were a freak. Everything you ever told me about them...you always lit up. You were in love. Of course I want you to be happy, whoever it’s with,” he said. “Hey, I knew you were into boys and girls before you did. I’m the one that helped you talk to mom and dad about it you were so scared.”

“Nate,” you said, squeezing your eyes shut. “I just wasted two years of my life on people that will never be able to love me the way they love each other. The worst part is I still love them. I feel like a little kid throwing a tantrum.”

“I don’t think the fact that you want to have an open relationship with your partners is a crime, Y/N. I think you should be a little selfish when it comes to love. Mom and dad showed us what a good relationship is. Your partners aren’t taking care of you like they should be,” he said.

“Sometimes I would get scared that I’m just...something fun to them. Something new and exciting. They asked me to never tell anyone about them. Anyone, Nate,” you said.

“I know. So do mom and dad,” he said with a smirk.

“Because I didn’t want to hide that from you guys. But they hide me and-”

“I know your relationship is different than what people are used to but there’s a difference between not broadcasting something to the world and hiding it,” he said. “And you know what one was going on here.”

“Mom and dad never even met them. You never even met them,” you said.

“Well, mom and dad are in Florida and you’ve never even been invited to these guys Christmas and you know what? Fuck those guys. This relationship has too many conditions on it and that’s not what you want,” said Nate. “You can crash here and help out around the farm for a while but I do think you should try to get back into brewery work, maybe something around here.”

“Thanks, Nate.”

Two Days Later

You were setting down a fresh bag of feed in the chicken coup when you heard a car door open and shut out front. About ten seconds later a body walked around the farmhouse, stilling as he spotted you. He walked over quickly, slowing as he came to a stop a few feet away.

“You shouldn’t have come to your brother’s if you didn’t want to be found,” said Jensen.

“Surprised you remember I have a brother. You better get out of here before another human being sees you talking to me alone,” you said, cutting open the bag and filling up the trench for the chickens.

“What the hell is this?” said Jensen, pulling out the note you’d left. “You don’t call or answer any of our messages. What the hell is going on?”

“Excuse me,” said Nate, patting his gloves together, heading over from the other end of the barn. “I believe you’re on private property mister.”

“You must be Nate,” said Jensen.

“You must be the dick,” said Nate. Jensen’s face flashed with hurt for a moment, his gaze back on you. “I think you should go.”

“Not until I know what happened,” said Jensen. “Sweetie-”

“She ain’t your sweetie anymore, princess,” said Nate, stepping in front of Jensen, letting the few inches and pounds he had on him show off. Jensen scowled up at him but Nate shoved Jensen’s arm. “Leave before I call the cops.”

“I just-”

Nate shoved on Jensen again, Jensen glaring at Nate but all you saw was the sad look in his eyes.

“Y/N. What-”

Nate grabbed Jensen’s arm and yanked him forward, Jensen shrugging out of it.

“What is your fucking problem?” snapped Jensen.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m only treating you the way you treat her. Unwanted and there as a convenience, something pretty to look at it. Why don’t you get your pretty boy Hollywood ass out of here before I knock some sense into you,” said Nate.

“What the fuck are you talking about!” said Jensen. Nate laughed and you went wide eyed, remembering him doing that when he was a teenager about to get in a fight. About two seconds later, Jensen was a few feet back, his hand on his cheek. “Did you punch me?”

“Must not have took,” said Nate, raising up his fist and swinging again, Jensen dodging most of it this time. Nathan kicked out his feet though and Jensen fell flat on his back, Nathan glaring down at him.

“Nathan!” you shouted, shoving him away. “What the fuck are you doing! You’re an adult. Act like one.”

“I politely asked this mister to get off my property and when he declined, I exercised my right-”

“Go away. Now,” you barked. Nate stared at you a moment before he headed back for the barn. Jensen got up to his feet, brushing himself off. “Are you-”

“Do we make you feel unwanted?” he asked quietly.

“My brother starts to kick your ass and that’s what you focus on?” you asked.

“Do you?” he asked. You sighed and grabbed his arm, leading him up to the farmhouse and into the kitchen. You sat him down at the table, finding a first aid kit and cleaning up his cheek while he watched you. “Why’d you break up with us? Was it your fight with De? She’s a wreck. I mean, we sent the kids to my parents and she’s been out to your friends in Austin. We were both trying to look for you and-”

“I don’t fit with the two of you,” you said. He nodded and you turned away to get a small bandage, Jensen hard faced when you turned back but you saw his eyes were wet and verging on tears. “Don’t cry.”

“Why don’t you get your brother to hit me again then,” he said, swallowing thickly.

“I did not ask him to do that,” you said. Jensen bit his bottom lip and stood up, out your back door and marching towards the barn before you could stop him. “Jensen!”

“Nate!” shouted Jensen. “Your sister ain’t talking so maybe you will.”

“Jensen!” you shouted, jogging over as Nate was on Jensen like that, grabbing his shirt collar. “Nate, do not-”

“Do you love my sister?” asked Nate.

“Yes,” said Jensen.

“Love her as much as your wife?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Jensen.

“Then why the fuck does she not know that? Why don’t you take her out on a date? Why don’t you treat her like a partner? I had a partner, asshole, and she got sick and I’d do anything to get her back. So what the fuck would you do to get her back? How far would you go to prove that to her?” said Nate.

“You really haven’t looked at your phone in two days, huh,” said Jensen, giving you a sad smile. You cocked your head and grabbed it from your back pocket. “When you were gone like that...De and I got a little scared and you weren’t technically missing so we made a post.”

You opened up instagram, jaw dropping when you saw the post they’d both put up. There was a picture of the three of you. The one with them both kissing you from New Year’s last year.

“This is Y/N. She’s our girlfriend and she’s missing,” you said, scanning over the rest of the post. “We miss her. Please come home.”

“We were never hiding you on purpose. We were only doing what you asked us at the start of all of this. Keep you out of the limelight. Keep it away from our families like you said. You’re the one that came up with the rules for dates out at first and we always thought you’d tell us if you were ready for more and...” said Jensen. “Honey-”

“That was two years ago. You never even told your family about me and you told me I wasn't supposed to tell anyone either. You aren’t innocent in this.”

“We never said this would be easy. I screwed up. De screwed up. We talked everything out at the start and never talked about it again. We should have kept talking about it, Y/N. Please, just give us another chance,” he said.

“Nate, hold on to him for a second,” you said. Jensen glanced back at Nate and then you, watching you type away on your phone for a moment. “You can let him go now.”

“What’d you do?” asked Jensen.

“I responded to your instagram post. I was your girlfriend as in ‘friend’ and that was all,” you said. Jensen shook his head and you made your face hard. “We’re done.”

“Y/N,” said Jensen, stepping towards you but Nate grabbed him. Jensen didn’t hold back this time and swung hard, Nate pushing it aside and pinning his arm behind his back. “Y/N.”

“Time for you to go, Romeo,” said Nate, Jensen trying to break out of the hold as Nate started to pull him back towards his car. “Stop. She said no.”

The fight went out of Jensen at that, Nate guiding him back to the car and sitting him down behind the wheel.

“Listen. I know you want to make things right but I know my little sister. She’s been too hurt by all this and whatever happened a few nights ago was the last straw. Something beyond a lack of date nights caused this. She always felt second class to you and your wife. Don’t get me wrong, I understand loving your wife but you two never made her feel like she was loved the same, even if you felt it,” said Nate.

“I’m not giving up,” said Jensen, Nate closing his car door on him. “Not ever.”

“She said she’s done,” said Nate. “Respect that.”

“I’m not leaving this town until she knows how much we love her,” said Jensen.

“You just don’t get it buddy, do you? I see you on my property again, I’m calling the cops,” said Nate.

“I’m not throwing away someone I love just because you threaten me. I got my own kid sister so I fucking get what you’re doing but you could beat the hell out of me every single day and it still ain’t going to stop me until she knows that we love her,” said Jensen.

“That can be arranged,” he said.

“Next time I’m back, my wife will be with me. If you even think-”

“I wouldn’t touch a lady. I’ll tell her off but won’t touch,” he said.

“Good,” said Jensen.

“Now get.”

“I know you’re going to ignore this but tell her I’ll be back tonight with De. We need to talk,” said Jensen, closing his eyes.

“No, you won’t,” he said.

“Yes, I will.”

“Boys,” you snapped, both of them turning to face in front of them. “Get out of the car and if anyone throws another fucking punch, somebody’s getting kicked in the nuts, got it?”

Nate held up his hands and moved away, giving Jensen enough space to slip out of his car.

“Nate. I don’t care where you go but give us some privacy,” you said. Nate grumbled but walked around the other side of the house, Jensen just staring at you. “I didn’t make a post.”

“Why-”

“I wanted to see your reaction,” you said. “To thinking you’d really lost me.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I needed to know if you really wanted to try again. I wasn’t expecting you to get dragged out of here by Nate,” you said.

“I will do whatever the fuck you want me to. De and I both will. Just don’t tell us we lost you,” he said.

“Have I ever been a game to the two of you? Just something fun to play with and spice things up?” you asked.

“No. Never,” he said softly.

“You love me?” you asked.

“Just as much as De. You’re both my girls,” he said, glancing down at his feet. “Do you love us?”

“Of course,” you said, Jensen lifting his head up.

“Friday when you were gone so long...you weren’t on a date?” he asked.

“What?” you asked.

“You know those little tile things with the gps we all stuck on our phones in case we lost them? When De got out of the dentist-”

“De was at the dentist?” you asked.

“Yeah. Her appointment got bumped back a few hours,” said Jensen, shaking his head. “When we saw all the missed calls, we looked up the gps since you weren’t answering your phone. It showed you were at that restaurant just off the highway by the brewery for like...hours. We thought maybe the calls were to break up and you were on a date with someone else. When you got home, we were too scared to bring it up and that’s why De was so on edge and...”

“I got a flat tire,” you said.

“I believe you,” he said.

“You thought I was going to break up with you?” you asked.

“Technically I think you still did,” he said. “We thought you were unhappy with us. Everything was so hush hush...we thought you were embarrassed of us.”

“Jensen-”

“You’re beautiful, Y/N. You could snag a guy, a girl, ten years younger than me easily. You could get married properly that way, have someone that was always home and not off in another country working...you can have better than us. We thought...”

“We all need to stop thinking and just start talking,” you said. “We just need to sit down and talk this through, alright?”

“I’ll call De. She’ll be here in a few hours.”

“Nathan,” you said, narrowing your eyes at your brother in the house, Jensen sitting awkwardly on the end of the couch. “Would it kill you to apologize to Jensen for hitting him?”

“What’d he do? Put on puppy dog eyes and suddenly the sun shines out his ass again?” asked Nate.

“We talked. De’s going to be here soon and we’ll talk some more and then I’m probably going to head home in the morning,” you said.

“She’s not a toy to play with you know,” growled Nate.

“Why do you hate me so much?” asked Jensen calmly. “I never asked to fall in love with two women at the same time. I kept it to myself, I felt like an awful person for even thinking it until my wife brought up Y/N one night and we realized we both felt the same about her. Maybe I can’t be what you envisioned for her but I will be kind and good and isn’t that what you want?”

“I want you to shut-”

A knock came at the door, Nate standing and stepping over to it, ripping it open fast.

“Hi,” said Danneel quietly.

“Oh great. Another one,” he said, rolling his eyes. He opened the door and Danneel slipped past him, pausing when she saw Jensen’s face and then you.

“What...” she said.

“De, this is Nate. He sort of fucking hates us so don’t take offense,” said Jensen. Danneel took two large steps away from Nate, your brother scoffing as he went past.

“Don’t worry. Punching is reserved for pretty boy,” said Nate.

“What is your problem?” you shot at him, Nate’s face scrunching up. “You’ve been terribly rude, violent, De’s scared to be near you. I know you aren’t happy with them and we got some stuff to work out but you’re going to respect my partners, dammit. Now apologize for the pretty boy crack or I’ll whoop your ass myself.”

“Whatever,” said Nate, quickly leaving the house, the sound of one of the machines going outside telling you at least you’d have some privacy.

“Sorry about...” you said. Danneel stared at you and quickly rushed over, wrapping her arms around you. “De. De, too tight.”

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, Jensen standing up and peeling her off of you.

“De, honey, relax. I already did the groveling part,” said Jensen. “Let’s sit down and figure out what went wrong and how we’re going to change all of those things in the future, alright?”

You were sandwiched between both of them on the couch, Jensen playing with your hair, Danneel making shapes on one of your arms. A bit of calm and quiet after all the talking had been nice. Things felt good again and the heavy weight you’d been carrying around with you was gone, hopefully for good.

Nate gave you a quick goodbye but didn’t say a word to either one of them when you headed out.

Back at home, you had a few days of just the three of you, of playing together without all the rules this time, of going out to dates. Jensen wasn’t overly affectionate in public in general but he liked to hold your hand now when you walked or give a quick peck on the lips. Date nights were always for everyone from then on out and Danneel said they’d get someone over to watch the kids since you were their mom too and more than entitled to a night off.

Once the kids were back home, you settled into a routine with everyone that left everyone feeling like they belonged again.

Two Months Later

“I’ll get it,” said Jensen, padding out of the kitchen and to the front door.

“I thought everyone we were expecting was here already,” said Danneel, counting off people in the living room again.

“Maybe we got a rebel who didn’t rsvp,” teased Jensen. You saw his smile drop when he pulled the door open, Danneel walking over with a big smile until hers too faded away.

“Hey,” said Nate by the time you got over there, in a pair of nice jeans and a button down, holding a small bag. “You uh, having that engagement party thing for Y/N tonight?”

“Yeah,” you said, stepping in front of them. “I thought you said you were busy.”

“Well, hopefully you only get sort of engaged and sort of married only once,” he said with a shrug. “Here.”

He held out the bag, the top of your favorite local brew back home sticking out.

“So you gonna let me see this fancy house or what? I just drove three hours after all,” he said.

“Nate,” you said.

“You look a lot happier than last time I saw you,” he said softly. “I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise.”

“We’re more than glad to have some of Y/N’s family here,” said Danneel, waving Nate in.

“She really is cute,” said Nate.

“She’s taken,” you and Jensen said, Nate chuckling.

“I guess you could have gotten an uglier mug for pretty boy over here, too,” he said.

“I still owe you one, farm boy,” said Jensen.

“Think you could take me shortie?” said Nate.

“I got the boxing gloves in the gym,” he said.

“I’ll have to take you up on that sometime,” said Nate.

“Boys,” you grumbled, rolling your eyes. “Nate, go meet the rest of the family and be nice, please?”

“Alright, alright. Like I said, best behavior,” he said. Danneel led him over to the kitchen, the room quiet for a moment before you heard the sound pick up again.

“Hey,” said Jensen, tugging you away to the bedroom, giving you a cautious smile. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just wasn’t expecting Nate to show,” you said, shrugging as you looked at the floor. “I don’t know. I thought...things were weird between us once I went home with you guys. I think he thought you guys were manipulating me or something.”

“He loves his kid sister. I get that he wants you to be in a good relationship,” he said. “De and I may have lied about one thing to you since we’ve been back together but we did it for good reasons.”

“What was that?” you asked.

“That day we said we had brewery business, that trade show. We didn’t go. We drove up to your brother’s house and had a talk, the three of us,” he said.

“I see you two lived,” you said. Jensen laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“We explained the situation to him. He still thought we were assholes which we were,” he said.

“It was all our faults. Everyone forgot to talk when that’s the most important thing there is to this thing,” you said.

“I know. But still. It went longer than expected and we were going to drive home but he offered to let us stay the night, said something like you’d never speak to him again if we got in an accident on the way home,” said Jensen. “De got a bit scared later that night. Some stuff he said got to her and she didn’t know how to prove to you that what she felt and what I felt was real and she started thinking we were going to lose you again. I didn’t have an answer. I don’t have an answer. I-”

“Don’t be scared,” you said softly. He smiled, nodding his head. “I know it’s real.”

“We’re not afraid anymore,” he said. “But the walls are a little thin in that old farmhouse and then there was Nate, poking his head in your old room and saying what is it about that bedroom that makes girls cry. I think he meant it as a joke but it pissed me off and I told him to stop and it set him off and then we were outside in the barn and I swear, I thought we were going to duke it out.”

“My brother thinks with his heart instead of his head a lot,” you said.

“I realize that so I started to speak his language,” said Jensen. “I told him we didn’t need him to remind us of our mistakes.”

“So I told this shrimpy little asshole to leave my sister alone,” said Nate, finding his way into the bedroom. “Guy wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Don’t harass people I love, Nathan,” you said.

“Well Jensen here spun it around on me and asked me to stop being selfish because it wasn’t about him or that cute redhead or even me. It was about you. All three of us wanted the same thing. You to be happy. Whatever your decision was, the three of us should respect it, whether that was you staying or leaving. He had a point,” said Nate.

“He ended up apologizing to De and me and we worked things out,” said Jensen.

“Good. I really want you guys to get along. I’d like my big brother to come visit more often too,” you said. “I know you get lonely in that house.”

“Yeah. I’ll be sure to be around more than I have in recent history,” he said. You saw JJ wander into the room, stopping in front of him. “Hi.”

“Are you mom’s brother?” she asked, looking back at you. “He’s bigger than Uncle Jared!”

“Mom?” he asked. She looked back at you again and then at him, like he didn’t get it. “Sorry, sweetie. I forgot you got two mom’s.”

“Can we play?” she asked.

“Yeah, kiddo,” said Nate, smiling as she took his hand. “I can tell you a whole bunch of stories about your mom I bet you never heard. She grew up on a farm you know.”

“Really?” she said. You laughed as they walked off together, you and Jensen heading back to the party.

“I knew sicking the kids on him would be a good move,” said De. “He’s a big softie under it all, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Sarah was good at bringing that out in him. He didn’t want to get hurt again after she got sick,” you said.

“Why don’t we invite him to spend the next few days with us?” she said, Jensen nodding his agreement. “Let him get to know the kids, know us a bit better.”

“It is the slow season around the farm. I’m sure he could swing it,” you said.

“Great. We really want our brother in law to be a part of our family too,” said Jensen. You saw Nate’s ear twitch up, probably subtle enough that they wouldn’t notice but Nate was used to quiet and alone and he’d always been a good eavesdropper. You smiled and looked over at him, getting a nod and smile in return before JJ was handing him a toy.

“I’m pretty sure he wants to be part of it too.”

[sandrawrites13]

my world | | mark fischbach x reader

request:  Do you do Mark x Male! Readers? If so, can I request one where Mark and male!reader go on a small trip together and Mark proposes? Sorry if this is too much! I love your writing a whole lot! 💖

of course mark x male readers are game!! this request warmed my heart so much that i had to go watch proposal videos. and then i cried. and now i’m writing this, and will probably cry again. also thank you so much!! :) 

warnings: YO GUYS IT’S A GIRL!!! Y’ALL ARE FATHERS IN THIS ENJOY :) also bullying and sexuality discrimination from stupid haters :(, but it’s cute i promise :). 

when you and mark both came out to the public, your fanbase took it very well. there were rumors going around before you two came clean, anyway, and it led to a lot of speculation (and hashtags) to trend on twitter, which mostly encouraged your decision to make a video exposing your relationship. 

as usual, however, when there were fans, there were haters. and this time in particular, though there weren’t many of them, the ones that hated on you hated on you. they made fun of every insecurity you had. 

they called you all the names in the book, especially fag**t. that was their favourite, and it filled you with so much anger that people had the audacity to say that to another human being -- but mark was always there to calm you down, by your side, the epitome of taylor swift’s you need to calm down music video. 

you also had by your side ally, who was the love of your life and the love of mark’s as well. you were grateful that no hate was directed towards her, half because you two kept her out of the public (to the best of your abilities), and half because she was only six-years-old and had already dealt a lot in her life. 

her mother, your best friend -- lynne -- had fatally died in a car accident when her daughter was two. she left her only child, allison (who you nicknamed ally), under your care and she grew up with you as her father. 

your hole in your heart was filled with ally, but more of all filled with mark and her combined, of whom you started dating just seven months after adopting the young girl. 

you caught mark multiple times braiding her blonde hair, watching as she glistened proudly in the mirror: “daddy! daddy! look! papa is making me look pretty!”, a giant smile abroad her face. 

there were other times he gave her makeovers. or times where you would walk in the kitchen, examining thoroughly the sight of cake batter all over the floor and walls, flour and sugar over your daughter’s face and a plastic crown on her head. your boyfriend smiled back at you, waving his hand and greeting, “sup, y/n.” 

that’s what made you fall in love with everything -- with the whole situation. your daughter. your boyfriend. nothing could be better. 

except of course, for a very needed vacation and a break from youtube. 

which was mark’s idea originally. he wanted to take you and ally out to see the countryside, driving from california to kansas and staying on a farm for an entire weekend. 

you loved that idea, personally. 

you grew up on a farm when you were little, and you never really wanted to move to the city until you grew up, and adopted ally. after you started dating mark, it became clear that you weren’t going to be going anywhere soon. 

but now, you were finally returning back to your home. to your favourite place. 

ally was especially excited, repeating like a mantra that she was gonna see “horsays!” (on account of her speech impediment you just found too pure to fix for at least another year). 

mark, chuckling from the front seat, wrapped an arm around you while you drove, leaning his head on your shoulder. “you excited?” he asked. 

the man never failed to make you blush, as evidenced by the blood rushing to your face as you peered at him, glancing just from the side at the sudden conversation when you had admittedly been zoning out. “i’m so excited, baby,” you replied. 

“good. because i am with the two people i love so much!” he exclaimed, booming, as he sat back up in his seat. “and we’re going to go see horsays. and doggies. and chickens. and. . . what’re they called again? the ones that go moo?” 

“a cow!” exclaimed ally from the backseat. 

“that’s right,” mark said, pretending to hit himself in the forehead. you chuckled, rolling your eyes playfully, encouraging him to kiss you on the cheek. “and ally, since you’ve been so good in the car. . .” 

her eyes went wide from the back, her mouth agape as she narrowed her eyes. “daddy. . . do you mean. . .?” 

you laughed, already knowing what was about to happen before he replied, as he fished narrowly in his bag, rummaging for a moment before stripping a thin bar covered in a sleek wrapper. 

“chocolate!” she screeched. you jumped in reply, raising an eyebrow to your boyfriend. 

“you’re terrible,” you mouthed, grinning. he merely waved you away, ignoring your critiques to his childish parenting. “mark fischbach, if you give her that--.” 

“thanks, daddy!” she cheered, now opening the bar. you sighed. 

“you know she’s spoiled, right?” you asked. he once again returned to wrapping an arm around you, kissing your cheek softly. 

“oh, handsome,” he argued. “you know you are too.” 

you didn’t respond to him, still in the midst of a blush covering your cheeks as you turned into the secluded farm. 

the darkness was only semi-alluding the lights that were shining from the back of the farm, illuminating the beautiful landscape and the barn behind it. ally, a mouth full of chocolate, stared in awe as, when you approached, you noticed the sight of some tables around and food planted on top of them. 

“they must have had a party,” you muttered, turning behind you. “alright, come on baby one and baby two. we need to go to sleep. we can clean all of this up in the morning.” you walked out of the car, approaching the trunk. “alright guys. i’m just gonna get the blankets.” 

you heard mark mumble silently in agreement, and then his voice disappear as he fell farther from you -- away. you, however, spent your time fishing through the trunk, trying to find the blankets and the pillows you had brought (since ally was too terrified to sleep without ‘blankie’.)

“hey mark, do you know where blankie is?” you asked, pushing some of the other ones you brought to the side to try and find it. “mark?” 

there was no answer, filling you with slight annoyance as you continued to look. ally would just throw a fit if you didn’t have her blanket, and God knows that you would not want to hear it. 

“mark,” you repeated, harsher as you knelt on the side of the trunk opening, trying to get a good look of the entire inside. “mark!” 

still, there was no response, causing you to whip around and narrow your eyes. however, you were numb and frozen when you witnessed the scenery behind you now transformed, all of your friends behind you and mark on one knee. 

ally was by his side, her mouth opened wide in shock as she stared between the two of you. 

immediately, you almost collapsed back into the trunk, your eyes watering with tears as you realized what was happening. jack, felix, and ethan were muttering to themselves with giant smiles on their faces, the rest of your friends doing similar. 

“y/n,” he began, making your heart melt. “y/n l/n, i love you more than words can describe. you are everything to me. you are my universe.” there was a pause as he took a shaky breath, tears now filling his own eyes. “since the moment you came into my life, i’ve learned what happiness was. you made me remember the good in the bad and you helped me learn to love the little things. you are my everything, and i will never be able to give you what you have given to me. ever. but i can try.” 

pulling something out of his pocket, you covered your face as tears rolled down the sides of your cheeks. 

“y/n, the most handsome boyfriend i have ever managed to have, and the most amazing, caring, intelligent father that has ever graced this earth. . . please, make me the happiest man on earth, as cliche as that sounds, and please, please, take me to be your husband. will you marry me?” 

those words came out like a dream, floating together in the air before you collapsed to your knees in front of him, pulling him into a deep kiss and letting your body melt with his. “yes, mark,” you whispered out loud, gasping for air from the amount of tears. “yes, yes! yes, i’ll marry you!” 

cheers were let out, you holding each other, smelling each other’s scent, laughing and crying all in the same time, hearing jack’s loud voice exclaim that bob owed him fifty bucks that mark would pop the question first. 

that was until you heard a tiny voice from besides you. “what does marry mean?” 

when you looked up and were locked with the sight of your daughter, you looked up to your fiance, watching him force a smile on his ecstatic face, wiping his tears. standing for only a moment, you watched him get up only to kneel back down and take ally’s hands in his own. 

“ally,” he whispered quietly, holding her face and instructing her to look at him in a gentle, calm voice. “ally, i need to tell you something, baby.” he paused. “i’m not your biological daddy, okay? and i wasn’t there for you when you were born. your other daddy was.” 

you remembered the day you sat in the waiting room, waiting for your best friend because her shitty of a boyfriend decided not to come. 

you recalled the moment she was born, and you also remembered the day that the will was read, and you were given custody of the young girl. 

“but,” he interrupted. “i need to ask you if you’re okay with me being your real daddy. and letting me be there for you my entire life. being there for both of you. for daddy and you. i’m asking you if you’re gonna let me watch you grow into a beautiful, young lady, and protect you from everything.” 

all of you were now bawling at this point, as you watched him speak to her in anticipation as to what she would say. 

“please let me be your daddy, baby,” he said, the last part hushed. “is it okay if we’re all a big family?” 

ally, unable to say anything, wiped her tears and nodded hysterically, making mark’s voice let out a, “yeah?” and then a following, “yeah. yeah!” before grabbing her and pulling her off the ground, twirling her in a hug. 

you felt yourself collapse emotionally, and before you knew it, you were running towards them too, yanking them in a similar hug and listening to their heartbeats against your head. 

“i love you,” you heard mark whisper in the middle of screams from your friends. “God, i love you so much.” 

“i love you too,” you gently voiced back. and you did. 

they were your family. 

your love. 

your world. 

[reeree1500]

The Return- Part Three

Okay y'all so here it is!! Part 3 of the Return series!!! Ivar and reader relationship developmentttttt💕 Hope you guys like itttt :) Lemme know if you guys wanna be tagged too. And don't kill meeeee pleaseee 😂

Part 1  Part 2 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 part 8 part 9 Part 10

Taglist: @yanii-the-hippie @oceans-daughter-3 @peaceisadirtyword @laketaj24 @amy8220 @cutegyrl927 @camatsuru @cindy-exo @cainismyname @affection-rabbit

Disclaimer: My sucky writing again. Bad grammar and spelling😂 Character death. And bad plot in general.

Your POV

Excitement. Thats all I could say I was feeling at the moment. To finally be back in Kattegat with my family was something I never thought would have happened again. After my father’s grand announcement of my return, the room overflowed with happiness. People were coming up to me, asking me where I had been for the past 6 years and how I had survived. Obviously, I tried to answer everyone’s questions to the best of my ability without giving too much information. For I still didn't know, the true reason as to why I had to leave or who wanted me gone.

The happiness in the hall however did not last very long. Aslaug, the woman who was questioning Bjorn earlier that night. Was actually my father’s wife. “Im sorry? She's your what now?!?!” Aslaug screams of sorrow over my existence could probably be heard all the way in Frankia. My father however, seemed to have very little interest in her reactions at all. He had cast her to the side as if she meant nothing to him. During the course of the next few hours neither my father nor Bjorn left my side. It was as if they thought something would occur to me if I was out of their side for more than a second. “Father, if it is alright with you I would like to go outside for some fresh air.” I tell him, whilst grasping his hand to truly catch his attention. Cupping my face he says “My sweet little girl, you may do anything you please. However, I would prefer that you do not stray too far from here, as I have just gotten you back. And I would not be able to handle losing you again.” With that he gives me a kiss on my forehead and sends me on my way. 

However, I can still feel the overbearing presence of my older brother. “Bjorn, you know Im not gonna run away, if thats what you're afraid of.” I tell him whilst stepping outside. “Im not afraid of you running away. Im afraid of something happening to you (y/n). Plus worrying about you is my job, always has been.” Leaning on one of the wooden beams, I cant help but to stare up at the sky and hold my cross between my fingers. Thinking to myself how different life would have been if I had not left. “ Im only a few steps away shout if anything happens. Okay?” “Okay! And Bjorn... I love you.” At that Bjorn kisses my forehead and walks back inside.

Unbeknownst to me, a certain dark haired man was lurking in the shadows. “Awwww, If I had a heart I would think that was probably the sweetest reunion Ive ever seen.” Turning to the sound of that familiar voice, I see Ivar leaning on his crutch making his way towards me. “I never thought that I would have a sister. And a Christian one at that.” The way that his eyes scan over my body makes me feel a certain way that I cannot quite describe. And the way that his features are outlined by the moonlight really gives a sense of how handsome he is. “Wait, are you implying that...” 

“Well, if all Christians are as slow as you I don't think we’ll have a problem conquering them.” A smirk is displayed on his face, while his eyes show a hint of deviance in them. “Why do you think that Bjorn and Ubbe look so much alike (y/n)?” “Or the fact that we all share similar traits like our eyes?” As Ivar continues to talk down to me as if I were a child, I start to connect the dots. Why it was that Bjorn and Ubbe look alike. The way that they all seem to share the same traits as my father. The four young men that Bjorn introduced me too, are actually my brothers. 

With wide eyes I come to the realization that...“You’re my brother.” “Took you long enough.” At that Ivar seems to crack what looks like a genuine smile. “You know, I always thought that I was the youngest, but now that I'm not...” The genuine smile I had probably imagined was now a devious one. “ Now, baby sister. Why don't you and I go and sit down by those steps down there. And you can tell big brother Ivar, what you've been up to all this time?” Without being able to answer, Ivar grabs my hands and takes me towards the steps. Why do I feel like this night is just getting started...

-----------------------------------------

Ivar POV

Needless to say all of us were in shock to learn that (y/n) was our sister. Especially Hvitserk, who had not only been enchanted by her beauty, but was  already planning how he would take her from Bjorn. I however, knew something was up the minute I saw her in the great hall. She had no scars whatsoever on her body, meaning she wasn't a shield-maiden. And absolutely no callouses on her fingers from when she took the ale, meaning she definitely wasn't a thrall. And Bjorn wouldn't cheat on Torvi, unless he wants his balls cut off. Something intrigued me about her instantly. It was if she had been sent to me by the Gods, her sharp tongue reminded me of mine. The way that she stood up for my mother not even knowing that she had caused Lagertha and Ragnar to break up amazed me. The way she handled herself with grace and dignity was exactly what I wanted. No, what I need for in a wife.

“Ivar, are you okay? You've been staring at me for the past 5 mins without saying a word.” (y/n) places her hand on my knee to draw my attention whilst looking straight into my eyes. “As a matter of fact, Im trying to piece together, how we’re the same age, and we never met before you left.” As she goes to lift her hand from my knee, something instinctively goes over me and I grab her and hold it were it was. The initial shock she and I both had at my actions soon subsided. She let her hand rest under mine. As if we had done this countless times before, our fingers intertwined and they in my eyes fit perfectly. I could see the inner turmoil inside her, on whether these small affectionate moments between us were something that was so wrong, but that felt so right. 

It was not just moments ago that I had found out she was indeed my sister. Blood of my blood. But somehow, something in me told me that we were meant to be. I felt safe and strangely loved by this person in front of me, whom I have never met before. “You know Ivar, we lived on a farm. I was 100% certain that I would be a farm girl for the rest of my life. I was content with knowing that I would spend my life tending to the animals and my family. But, this is just too much.” Looking down at where our once intertwined hands were. I see that she is now staring at the ground playing with the ends of her long braided hair. “Why? Because you feel as if you're not good enough? Look at me for Odin’s sake! Im a cripple!” At that moment our eyes connected and I saw a reflection of myself in her. A scared child who was deprived of a normal childhood. Seeking for acceptance and love from anyone. 

“(Y/n), come inside father wishes to speak to you.” Bjorn says coming out from the great hall ale in hand. Clearly drunk as well. “Sure thing, I’ll be there in a second.” As she goes to stand up (y/n) turns to me and kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you for the pep talk, big brother.” 

I knew that I could not be the only one feeling this way. She had to have been feeling the same about me. And I will go to the ends of the world and face the God’s themselves if they think that for a second I will not make her mine. 

Your POV

What had I just done! I kissed him whether it be on the cheek or not. I kissed Ivar. My brother. Oh lord, forgive me for these sinful thoughts are consuming me. The intense feeling I got from us holding hands and from when he stared into my eyes. I had felt at home. Felt safe, felt something that I should only be feeling for the man I should marry. Not my brother! As I enter the great hall, all eyes turn on me. Remembering what I had just talked to Ivar about, I keep my head up. I shouldn't be ashamed, or feel as if I'm less than I am.

As I make my way to my father through the crowd once he spots me his eyes light up immediately. Sitting on his thrown he extends his hand and makes me sit on the throne beside his. “My beautiful daughter are you feeling alright now?” He says to me a little louder as if to make sure that people know not to mess with me. “Y..yes father Im feeling much better.” I murmur to him. At that moment my eyes trail off as if to find something that would take me out of this position right now. I have never been one to be the centre of attention. And as much as I wanna believe in myself that I can be a good princess to my people, at the moment that is not going to happen. As I scan the room my eyes land on Hvitserk. He’s eating a piece of chicken las if it were his last meal ever. I cannot help, but to laugh at him and that when he notices. He flashes a smile that could certainly melt any lady’s heart.  Without realizing I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and bit my lip. Biting my lip when Im nervous is something Ive always done.

However, what did not realize was Ivar eyeing me from behind him. At that I stop and stare at the ground. As the hours go by, finally the last person leaves the great hall. Leaving only my father and brothers with me. “Sooooo, where is (y/n) supposed to sleep, father?” Asks Ubbe. Coming from behind me Hvitserk puts his arm around my shoulders bringing me closer to his body. “She can sleep with me! I don't mind sharing my bed with her.” At this Ivar scoffs. “Of course you wouldn't, you wouldn’t mind sharing your bed with anything that has a pulse.” I tilt my head trying to figure out whatever he means by that. And all that can be heard is the snickering of my father. 

“I was thinking that perhaps I could sleep with Bjorn. You know since we used to share a room when we were little...” I say wishing that what I feel most comfortable with could be taken into account. “I don't know about that one baby sis, you'd have to ask Torvi. She defiantly doesn't like sharing thats for sure.” as Ivar says this he smirks at me while taking bite out of his apple. “Who’s Torvi?” “Wait! Bjorn didn't tell you? He's married.” 

At that moment a scream was heard throughout the town.

“Oh My God, Mira!!!!” at that moment I shot out of Hvitserk’s arms and ran as fast as I could. How could I have been so stupid that I left my friend by herself in an unknown place. Seeing the people gathered around Bjorn's cabin only made my heart more nervous. Pushing my way past the crowd I make it up the steps in one piece. But what I saw would forever haunt me. There on the floor lied my once best friend and most trusted subject Mira. And on her back was carved the death rune. All I remember is hitting the floor and watching a pair of worried and frantic electric blue eyes.

[i-am-the-hero-alfred-jones]

Fairy Tail’s Fairy Tale’s Chapter 9

((This is the final chapter of my contribution to the Fairy Tail Big Bang by @ft-ez-bb ! I hope you guys enjoy! Please like/comment/reblog/ect. if you did! I’m going to make a master list with all the chapters tomorrow)) 

Wendy smiled and looked in the book again, "This one is silly, it'd be perfect for Natsu!" she said. "Yeah?! Let me check it out!" Natsu looked over her shoulder, "Oh, I know this one! Igneel told me it when I was little!" he said grinning. "A dragon told you fairy tales?" Gray asked. "Yeah, what about it?" Natsu challenged. Gray shook his head, "Nothing." "Come on, Lucy! Let's do the fairy tale!" Natsu dragged her backstage. 

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA

"Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to find a princess- but she had to be a real princess. He met many princesses, but he was never sure if they were real, there was always something not quite right about them. And so he never married. Until one day. . ." Wendy began. 

Natsu sat on a throne in a handsome suit, a crown tangled in his mess of hair. Happy sat beside him on the ground. Natsu whistled, "Sure is a nasty storm, ain't it Happy?" "Aye, sir!" The two looked to the prop door as there was a knock on it. "Who would wanna be outside in this?" Natsu asked. Happy shrugged, "I don't know. Let's go find out!" The two raced over to open the door. A sopping wet Lucy stood on the other side, courtesy of Juvia. "Woah! You look terrible!" Natsu grabbed her wrist and dragged her in. 

"I'm a princess from a far off land, and I've lost my way." Lucy explained, "Can I please stay here for the night?" Natsu shrugged, "Sure. You can go dry off in the other room." "Thank you." Lucy said as she left. "Do you think she's a real princess, Natsu?!" Happy asked, eagerly. Natsu was skeptical, "I don't know. . ." We'll have to test her!" "How?" Natsu paced for a moment. "I know!" he turned to Happy, "We'll put twenty mattresses down for a bed and put one tiny pea beneath them! That'll prove she's sensitive enough to be a real princess!" "Natsu, you're a genius!" Happy praised, hugging him. 

Natsu lead a nightgown-clad Lucy to the door. "Well, this is where you'll be staying tonight. Sleep well!" he skipped off. "Thank you." Lucy tried the knob. It was locked. "Uh, Natsu! You forgot to unlock the door!" she called. There was no answer. "Natsu?! . . . Prince?!" Lucy sighed, "I guess I'm sleeping on the floor tonight. . ." she grumbled, before laying down on the floor. 

"The next morning, the prince was eager to see how the princess had slept." Wendy continued. A bedraggled Lucy stumbled towards a giddy Natsu. "Well, how'd ya sleep?" he asked. "Terrible!" she replied, glaring. "You passed the test!" Natsu cheered, "We can get married! You'll be queen!" Lucy stared at him, ". . . What?" "I put a pea under twenty mattresses to test you! You felt it, you passed! I'll start the wedding preparations!" Natsu dashed off eagerly. Lucy sighed and shrugged, "Why not? This kingdom won't survive if he runs it alone." she followed Natsu offstage. "The two were wed and lived happily ever after! The end!" Wendy finished. 

"Wendy." Carla said gently, "It's getting late." Wendy looked towards the window to see it was already dark. "Oh. . ." "I think we have time for one more story." Carla said, pointing in the book. Wendy looked down and smiled. "Okay! But I want Chelia to be my wife!" Chelia beamed and hugged her friend, "Let's go! Lyon!" "Gray!" The ice mages stopped bickering over Juvia to glance over, then followed the girls backstage. 

ALL'S WELL THAT END'S WELL

Carla began the story fondly, "I will tell you a story I heard when I was young. Each time I recall the ending it seems to get better. There are some stories, like some people, who seem to get better as they grow older." 

"In a farm, lived a couple who owned almost nothing, except for an old horse. One day, they decided to sell it." Carla continued. Chelia and Wendy walked in, wearing peasant rags. "Husband-uh-wife." Chelia giggled, "Take our horse to market. Sell it or trade it. Whatever you do is fine with me." she held out a horse stuffed animal, which Wendy took and began walking in place with, while Chelia left. 

"While the farmer walked," Carla continued, "She came upon a stranger walking a cow." "What a beautiful cow!" Wendy exclaimed, "She must give delicious milk! Sir? Would you like to trade your cow for my horse?" "The man agreed, and the exchange was soon made." Carla said. Wendy tossed the horse into the audience and got a cow stuffed animal in return. Wendy hummed, "Well. . . I have a cow- but I'm gonna continue to the fair to see what else I can find!" She decided, and kept walking. 

"Along the way, the farmer saw a man with a sheep of a rare breed." Carla added. Wendy gasped, "Look at that splendid sheep! Oh, my wife would love that! We can take it in the house in winter! Hello, friend! Would you like to swap?" she tossed the stuffed cow into the audience and got a sheep. 

"Next she came upon a man with a goose." Carla continued. "What a nice creature!" Wendy praised, "And I remember my wife saying she'd like a goose, would you like to trade, Sir?!" she threw the sheep out and caught the good stuffed animal. . . with her face. Carla gasped. "I'm okay!" Wendy assured. 

"Next she came across the tax collector with a chicken." Carla said. Wendy giggled, "What a funny looking bird! Chickens are the easiest to keep. Sir! Would you like to make an exchange?" Wendy threw the goose out and caught the toy chicken- this time with her hands. 

"The farmer decided to go to an inn for some food." Carla continued, "On the way, he saw a man with apple's and traded the chicken for them." Thankfully, they had decided not to throw a bag of apples at the guild's most accident prone member, and simply handed Wendy the bag. "My wife loves apples! She'll be so glad!" Wendy sat at the table onstage and Gray and Lyon approached her in fine suits. 

"What have you got there, farmer?" Gray asked as he and Lyon sat down at Wendy's table. "The farmer told them the whole story." Carla explained. "Wow, you're wife's gonna be mad when you get home." Lyon said. Wendy shook her head, "No she won't. She'll be happy with whatever I bring back." Lyon leaned forward, "Really? I'll bet all the gold on me, she'll be mad." "I'll take that bet." Gray agreed. Wendy shrugged, "All I have to bet is my apples." "We'll take it." the men agreed. 

"The men went home with the farmer." Carla continued. "I'm home!" Wendy smiled and hugged Chelia, "I traded the horse!" "The farmer told the story over again." Carla continued. "Really?" Chelia gasped, "I could kiss you! I love apples!" The two hugged again. Gray and Lyon laughed. "You've won the bet! Our gold is yours!" "That is how I was told the story." Carla finished, "And now you know it. All's well that end's well." 

WENDY'S BIRTHDAY (CONTINUED)

The guild cheered as Wendy hopped down and closed the book. "Thank you guys for making this the best birthday ever!" "Is there anything else you would like?" Carla asked. ". . . Can I keep one of the stuffed animals?" Wendy asked hopefully. Several bodies came forward to thrust the toys into her arms, along with Jellal and Freed's unopened presents. "You can keep all of the stuffed animals." The guild waved as Wendy, Carla, Lyon, and Chelia left. "Bye!" "Have a good night!" "Happy Birthday, Wendy!" "Thank you!" 

Wendy sighed in content as they left, but stopped at the end of the guild's front yard. "They didn't remember my birthday, did they?" The trio gasped and whirled to her. "How did you know?!" Carla exclaimed. Wendy smiled, "I love Fairy Tail. They're my family. . . but they're not the brightest." she admitted, "Especially Natsu." Wendy glanced back at the guild, "But even so. . ." she beamed, "They did all this for me." Wendy sniffled and wiped her eyes on her shoulder, as they were filled with tears of happiness and her arms were filled with stuffed animals and presents. "Oh, Wendy." Carla shifted human to hug her dragon slayer properly. "Thank you, Carla. I love you." "I love you too, Wendy. 

THE END

[talix18]

November 8

(There's a lot of padding in there.)

I have no free time today in front of a keyboard so I should be writing. Or working. Or listing all the things I forgot as I was half-heartedly packing. Or listing all the things I need to do before I leave so Mom isn’t disgusted when she comes to take care of the cats (Clean The Toilet). I managed to overpack without buying anything new but predictably, am not happy with any of it. This is one of my least favorite qualities about myself. Mom always hated shopping for jeans with me but I find my resistance to packing is incredibly annoying. I’m good at making sure the laundry is done so all of my options are open, but terrible at knowing what I will want to wear once I’m wherever.

I also managed to completely overlook shampoo and body wash on my first round of packing, which doesn’t bode well.

Is there some kind of rule against contractions I don’t know about? Word keeps putting blue squiggly lines under my contractions as if I don’t know what they are. I understand that writing all the words out will boost my count, but it’s not how people tend to talk.

Among the amenities at the retreat center where I’ll be this weekend is a working farm with baby animals. Yes, please, I would like to play with all of the baby animals. When life is complicated and ugly, baby animals are easy and adorable. My sister will be jealous when she sees the pictures with which I intend to spam her.

My sister is one of my best friends and I’m grateful for her every day. I’m not sure she would have chosen the way our lives have played out this far, but she is also unmarried and child-free (that part I’m pretty sure she’s okay with). If she dates, she doesn’t talk about it much with me, but I haven’t seen her in a relationship in over ten years. It was a brutal one. First love, first boyfriend, first break-up all in her mid-20s. Although my romantical adventures have been largely, um, unsuccessful, I am glad I got used to the idea of heartbreak young. (Even the song that turned me from a pop princess to a rock goddess was “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak” [MTV was born when I was in eighth grade and was my obsession for the next five years.])

Def Leppard is how I met my first boyfriend! We were in ninth grade, he was in my homeroom (both of our last names start with “H”), and he was wearing a tour shirt promoting the band’s second album. I was entranced. “You’ve seen them?” (Wanders off down a Randy Rhoads rabbit-hole.) I remember the conversation included something about Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads; either he’d seen them or was supposed to right after Randy died. Wikipedia tells me that Def Leppard opened for Ozzy at Merriweather, which is probably where A saw them; Randy Rhoads and all. (Now I am irrationally jealous at missing a show 38 years ago.) That’s probably where he got the shirt that made me talk to him; the shirt I made him leave with me when he moved away.

I should probably blame all my romantic misadventures on Def Leppard. They were a “heavy metal” (The lead singer joked “light alloy”) band that appealed to a slightly rougher crowd than I hand previously hung with. A introduced me to drinking beer in the woods by the elementary school (I was all of 13 or 14). The cops came and we ran to his apartment – his bedroom was on the ground floor and we climbed in through the window. We made out for a while to the Scorpions’ “Lovedrive”. A was a bad boy, and it took me a long time to get the taste for them out of my mouth.

A called every few months and my stomach would do flips at the sound of his voice. Did he ever actually say he was coming back for me or did I just make that part up?

My next boyfriend showed up when I was a senior and wreaked havoc on and off for the next seven years. He was a serial cheater and a pathological liar against which I had absolutely no defenses. I was a goody-goody. Teacher’s pet type. There was a pivotal moment one adolescent summer when the decision I made set the course for the rest of my life. I was hanging out in town with one of the tougher girls and her friends, trying to figure out how to smoke, and noticed it was 9:15. Curfew was 9:30, and I was easily a mile from home. I knew that showing up late would mean trouble. Was I going to say “fuck it” and keep hanging out?

I ran my ass off to make it home on time. Goody-goody. This probably kept me out of a lot of future trouble.

I fell hard for S – he was charming and charismatic and sang “Dixie Chicken” and made me laugh. He went to the Catholic boys’ school and was friends with my friend MB’s older brother. By that time I was solidly British pop new wave with some hard rock on the side (much like MTV itself). For the next absurd amount of years either he cheated on me or with me – he knew I would always be there. Until the night when he told me that he knew I was never going to find anyone who loved him like I did and he was ready to commit, but he had to tell me something first. His ex was pregnant and it was his. That was it for me. Finally. “Dixie Chicken” still gets me, as does the taste of Marlboro Reds and Bazooka bubble gum. (I started smoking when he broke up with me the first time.)

After my first college boyfriend (a good guy who is still married to the woman he dated after we broke up), I decided I wasn’t going to let anyone get close anymore. I was done with love; I was going to be one of those distant women who could never be possessed and never get hurt. I imagined veils and fog. If it was good enough for Stevie, it was good enough for me. At that time the idea of “if you want what someone has, do what they do” didn’t include the caveat of perhaps “asking if it was what they wanted and would they make the same choices again.” (I’m not saying Stevie’s not happy with her life, but 30 years ago she may have gently steered me another way.)

My old team leader just came by to chat and now my roll is slowed. She and I have worked together since I started here 17 years ago. My mind is starting to wander since I’m out of here soon.

I do want a partner – for practical reasons as well as romantic ones. I hate thinking that all the good sex is behind me, for one thing. It would be awesome to have help around the house – to have someone motivated to get something done when I just can’t get it in gear. (Much like this writing day. It was so easy yesterday!) (Five hundred more! Push through!)

I’m already annoyed because I’m not going to get my active minutes in today. It’s hard to be compulsive and unmotivated at the same time. I hate the feeling of being rushed – of not having enough time to get everything done. I want to get on the road before 4:30 because it’s Friday rush hour and I’m going around the beltway but I also want to clean the bathroom, scoop the litterboxes, and collect all of the paraphernalia I’ve forgotten to pack. It will be ridiculous if I have to level up a suitcase to go to a yoga retreat. Which is going to be interrupted by my service commitment, which is my decision, but ugh. I would prefer not to.

I’ve had an absurd amount of coffee today! The ideas should be flying out of me!

But where does a forty-ten-year-old meet people if not at work? There are people in all the meetings I go to but hardly any I’m interested in dating. My current working theory of relationships is that you should to the things that interest you. Whomever you meet along the way will have at least one interest in common. The problem with this theory is that carried to its logical conclusion, I’ve been in the wrong place for the past blah blah years. I must not be doing what I should be doing if I’m not meeting people I’m attracted to.

I mean, I know it’s all a crapshoot and our lives are run just as much by chance as by anything else. I can’t even complain about the cards I’ve been giving because I am way privileged. That’s something it took me way too long to figure out. I am a white woman who has always been housed and clothed and fed. I’m cis, I’m mostly heterosexual, and my body still does almost everything I ask of it. I have very little room to complain. I know that complaining about mental illness is something of a luxury – look at all the things going right that would otherwise take priority.

I have to thank the Internet for introducing me to people I would have never met otherwise. Yes, there are many cons to this big-data-driven lifestyle and I panic when my smart phone stops working. Social media absolutely has its negatives, but the people that I’ve met there are none of them. I met my first collection of Webpeeps thanks to FARK.com, but it was LiveJournal and Tumblr that expanded my world view.

(Does one last sentence complaining about being short on word count count as more words? I feel like it’s been all stops and starts today after the Randy Rhoads rabbit hole.)

(P.S. I’m ready to go - plus one big bag - at 3:50. I am the worst.)

[ifeveristoday]

Buffy Summers’s Diary (X)

So my follower count jumped up by a lot since I posted about the Boom!verse, so I’d like to say hey. I will keep thinking and posting about the Boom!verse because I really enjoy it. Hopefully, my recaps/reactions continue to be amusing/useful to you guys.

That said, this side blog is mainly for me to post first drafts of fic and reblog all! the! gif sets! about Buffy and co. And she’s my favorite so I will not tolerate Buffy Summers slander. But I also won’t shit over the other characters, even the ones I’m not as fond of, because again - they’re someone’s favorite. I’m just here to be snarky and occasionally thoughtful.

On with the latest installment of my pastiche!

 Eating dinner at Tara’s was always an experience. Candles lit, the warm scent of sandalwood in the air – I missed those nights when I was invited over for dinner at her and Willow’s place. Tara had a way of making any place feel like a home – lived in and cozy.

I didn’t want to arrive empty handed, especially after such a long time of not seeing her. It was mostly out of guilt – it was hard to reconcile the idea of Willow, my best friend versus the woman who had recklessly lied and imploded her relationship with Tara. Dawn hadn’t been right when she accused me of choosing sides, but I hadn’t exactly done the best job of supporting Tara, either.

After mindlessly wandering the aisles of the specialty grocery store -ugh, I know. So LA. I found a jar of a locally farmed honey. It was packed in a pretty glass jar and there was a handwritten label pasted on it. I remembered the fully stocked cabinet of tea in Tara’s home – the honey would go perfectly with it.

 Dawn opened the door when I knocked. ‘You came,’ she said, with some surprise.

‘I said I would.’

I handed her the jar. ‘Where’s Tara?’

‘In the kitchen. She’s finishing the last dish.’

It smelled delicious, garlic and buttery and rich. I went into the kitchen, where Tara was frowning at something on the stove.

‘Can I help?’

She jumped slightly. ‘Oh hey, Buffy.’ She smiled, and every worry I had that she would resent me faded away. ‘I’m just steaming this broccoli. I’m doing vegetarian tonight, is that okay? I could make you some chicken – I would just have to defrost it.’

‘No, it’s fine. Vegetarian actually sounds really good. I’ve been eating nothing but junk at work this whole week. It’s like we’re sponsored by Big Carb.’

She grinned. ‘Well, I made eggplant lasagna and tofu salad. The broccoli is just extra veggies. Dawnie took care of dessert.’

‘She did?’

Tara laughed. ‘She bought it from the bakery down the street. It’s safe.’

‘Oh, thank God.’

‘I heard that,’ Dawn called from the living room. ‘You’re just not ready for my flavor combinations.’

‘You have the palate of a six-year-old.’

‘I wouldn’t say that. I would say at least eight,’ Tara mused.

‘Tara,’ Dawn protested.

‘Dawnie,’ she teased back. ‘And Buffy, you can just sit, I’m all good here.’

‘So how’s everything going at the studio?’ I stirred around my salad, picking up crunchy noodles.

Tara brightened. ‘Really good. I’m doing a workshop for a women’s shelter – it’s open to the general public too. It’s about surviving a fundamentalist cult.’

‘Really? That sounds cool. I wonder if Kendra would be interested in that – I’ll email her tonight.’

‘That would be great publicity. I’ll let Lily know – poor thing is running that shelter all by herself, I’m sure extra attention would bring in extra money.’

‘I can’t promise anything,’ I said, ‘but I’ll do my best to pitch the idea.’

‘Oh, I know. I still appreciate it, though. I’m also doing a freelance job, so I’ll have some funds to pass on to the shelter.’

‘What’s the freelance gig?’ Dawn asked.

‘I’m doing a decorating job – it’s only one office, so it’s not too complicated. It’s for a law firm.’

Small bells began to sound in my head.

‘Which law firm?’

‘That big one downtown. Wolfe, Ram and Hurt.’

The bells became a noisy choir. I swallowed, not tasting the sesame dressing.

‘For who?’

‘Uh, let me think. Ah, a Mr. Delaney?’

Dawn whipped her head around to stare at me. ‘Delaney? Isn’t that..’

‘Angel. You’re decorating Liam Delaney’s office?’

‘That’s it,’ Tara said. ‘Yes. He set up the appointment last week. Actually, his assistant did, then he called to confirm.’

‘Angel’s our old neighbor. And Buffy had a big crush on him,’ Dawn announced.

‘Thanks, Dawn.’ I gritted my teeth. ‘And for the record, it was not a big crush. He was my best friend’s older brother.’

Tara nodded in understanding. ‘Well, while he’s not my preference, he sounded pretty hot on the phone.’

‘Eh,’ Dawn shrugged. ‘He’s all right if you like tall, brooding guys. And jocks.’

‘Angel’s not a jock.’

‘Yeah he was. He was on the football team!’

‘For one season. He quit and joined the art club.’

‘He did? Didn’t see that on a plaque at Hemery. Anyway, Buffy’s type is a jock.’

‘No it isn’t.’

Dawn rolled her eyes. ‘Okay, with the exception of Billy, every boyfriend you had in high school was a jock. Then there was Riley,’ her mouth twisted with distaste. ‘I guess that was more work-related, though.’

‘They had other interests. I have other interests. This is a slander against athletes. You’re an athlete.’

‘Touche. So have you talked to him?’

‘We met for coffee. Tara, this lasagna is awesome.’

‘I can give you the recipe after,’ Tara offered. ‘It’s pretty easy to make.’

‘Real smooth, Buffy. Way to be all avoidy.’ Dawn snorted.

‘Liam’s fine,’ I stressed. ‘He’s dating my co-worker. We’re acquaintances. Anyway, it’s none of your business.’

‘He’s dating? Oh. That’s a surprise. I heard from Mom he was kind of a wreck the last time she saw him.’

‘Yes, he’s dating. And not interested in me, because I am also not interested in him.’

‘Sure,’ Dawn said, unconvinced. ‘So the blushing is just a side effect.’

Tara stepped in before I threw my water at Dawn’s head. ‘I believe you, Buffy. And there is nothing wrong with enjoying your own company. Dating can be rough.’

‘There was another guy,’ I said. ‘Something is going on with him – but he’ll probably have to leave soon. He mentioned he had to renew his work visa.’

‘What? You didn’t tell me this!’

‘I didn’t know I had to, seeing how you’re a regular Harriet the spy,’ I said. ‘Like I said, it’s something, but I’m not sure. He was interested, but Liam kind of ruined it.’

Dawn shook his head. ‘It’s so weird hearing you call him that. I think I was twelve when I found out his real first name.’

‘It’s not like it was my personal nickname for him – his family called him that. Kathy would only use his full name when she was mad at him.’

‘Sounds like we’ve got a lot of catching up to do,’ Tara said. She stood up. ‘Help me clear up the plates? And Dawnie, if you can go get the dessert? It’s in the fridge.’

‘Thanks for the save,’ I murmured so Dawn couldn’t hear. ‘Dawn’s super intense with secrets, especially when she thinks I’m keeping something from her.’

Tara smiled gently. ‘I get it. My cousin and I used to be that close too. I kind of envy that bond you two have.’

I shook my head. ‘You’ve been a better older sister to her than I have – the last couple of years….’ I trailed off. ‘Tara, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. It wasn’t right.’

She reached over and squeezed my shoulder. ‘I’m not mad at you, Buffy. I never was. I’m happy you’re here tonight. Don’t be a stranger, you can come around anytime.’

Her eyes sparkled. ‘Do you want me to run recon on Mr. Delaney?’

I laughed. ‘That’s sweet of you to offer, but I think the less I know about him, the better off I’ll be. He’s moved on with his life and I’m trying to do that too. It just kind of threw me – like, I was seventeen again and hearing about him eloping. It wasn’t anything then, and it’s not anything now.’

‘If you’re sure.’ Tara looked at me solemnly.

‘One hundred percent. Besides, there’s the matter of William,’ I said. ‘He’s pretty charming. In an annoying, cocky way.’

Tara raised an eyebrow. ‘William? Do tell.’

‘What about William?’ Dawn entered with a plate of cookies, each one dusted with powdered sugar. ‘Also, who’s William?’

‘The other guy. William Pratt. Also known as –’

‘Spike Pratt?’ Dawn interrupted excitedly. ‘The author?’

‘You know him?’

‘Yeah, his novels are the best to read on long flights. I can’t believe you’re dating him.’

‘We’re not. We’re just getting to know each other, but he’s cooled off. Liam told me to stay away from him, said he was a womanizing playboy.’

‘Oh right, because Angel was a saint,’ Dawn said dismissively. ‘There were always girls going in and out of his house.’

‘Yes, but I know-knew him better than I do William. And people should have second chances. He’s been very respectful with me.’

‘Pe-people can change,’ Tara said. She bit her lip. ‘Sometimes not for the better.’

‘Right,’ Dawn said quickly. ‘Once a cheater, always a cheater, I say.’ She looked at me sharply. ‘Maybe you should stay away from him.’

‘The Summers’s curse is in full effect, nothing is going to happen. And not everyone is going to turn out like Riley. He seems to be happily married now.’

‘Yeah, well if karma was real,’ Dawn said. ‘I just don’t want you to get hurt again.’

I couldn’t help it. I pulled her into a hug. ‘I know. And I love you for that. But I’m a big girl and …I do what I want.’

She patted my back. ‘Yeah, but I call dibs on I told you so later.’

‘I expect nothing less.’

‘Boys are dumb,’ Tara said lightly. ‘That doesn’t really change with age.’ She plucked a cookie off the plate and offered it to me.

‘They really are,’ I sighed. I bit into the crumbly softness, the sugar dusting my mouth. ‘But I’m tired of talking about me. What else is going on in your life?’

Tara looked down bashfully. ‘Well, I think I’m going to adopt a cat, and I finally finished all the seasons of the X-Files, work is going great, Dawnie is helping me with the apps…’

‘What apps?’

‘Dating apps,’ Dawn said. ‘I let Tara see my profile and then set her up with her own account.’

‘You’re on dating apps?’

‘Uh yeah. Everyone is on dating apps, no one meets in the wild anymore,’ Dawn said. ‘Besides, it’s fun.’

‘But – they’re strangers. They could be anyone. Dangerous anyones.’

‘I’m not stupid, I have filters in place. You’re just paranoid because of what happened with Xander.’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Because Xander got codfished. Multiple times. One of them turned out to be an escaped convict.’

‘Catfished,’ Dawn said exasperatedly. ‘And he met Anya on an app. She was nice. Sort of.’

‘I’ve gone on a few dates,’ Tara said. ‘All very nice women. No serial killers in the lot.’

‘It’s perfectly safe, Buffy. Look, I just bypass all the men who have lots of gym pictures, hiking pictures, and golfing pictures. Oh, and if they quote Borat.’

‘That’s like a third of LA. Who’s even left?’

‘Nice guys, I swear. And sometimes,’ Dawn shifted in her seat, ‘it’s not about the dates.’

Tara coughed. ‘I have a book club you could join, Buffy. If you want to meet nice people.’

Objectively, I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised. Dawn was twenty-four years old, I didn’t think she was at home knitting tea cozies. But still. She was my baby sister.

‘I think I need to see your feed.’

‘No way. You have judgment face. You’re just going to say mean stuff about all of them.’

‘I will not,’ I lied. ‘If they’re as nice as you say.’

‘Not in a million years. You can make your own profile.’

‘Ugh. No thank you. I have to have a social media presence for work and it makes me want to burn down the internet.’

‘It’s okay as long as you don’t read the comments. Or check the grammar,’ Tara said helpfully. ‘People generally mean well.’

‘That hasn’t really been my experience. I’ll just have to live vicariously through you two.’

‘Here’s what I’m thinking – if this something doesn’t work out with Spike – you could try the app. Maybe find a nice Joe Normal.’ Dawn shrugged. ‘It’s really not a big deal.’

‘I’ll have to get back to you on that. Can you email me the lasagna recipe, Tara?’

‘Of course. Take some cookies home, there’s too much for me to eat by myself.’

She walked us to her hallway and hugged us both. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, Dawnie. And you,’ she punched my shoulder playfully. ‘You are always welcome to stop by. You’re family.’

I was overwhelmed. ‘Thanks, Tara. I’ll let you know about that article about the shelter. I could volunteer at the very least.’

‘I’d like that. Lily would like it too, I’m sure.’

  ‘Tara’s doing really well, isn’t she?’ 

Dawn nodded. ‘She is. I think she’s moved on.’

‘That’s good. I’m happy for her.’

‘But…’ Dawn said. ‘You have that look on your face.’

‘I thought she and Willow would have made it. After Xander and Anya broke up, they were supposed to be the rock solid couple. I guess that was selfish of me.’

‘Well, you know what I think about Willow. Tara might have forgiven her, but I haven’t. And I don’t like Kennedy.’

‘She’s an acquired taste. And it doesn’t matter what we think – Willow loves her. She sees something in her that is valuable.’

‘She calls you a gringa idiota behind your back, you know.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah. She doesn’t know that I know Spanish.’

‘I just have to remember that Willow loves her. That’s all that matters.’ I clenched my fist. ‘She’s a valuable, worthy person.’

‘If you say so,’ Dawn said doubtfully. ‘I think she’s a rebound and both of them deserve better.’

‘Yeah, but I can’t tell Will that. It’s her life.’

‘Maybe you could just hint at it? Are you still doing those weekend brunches?’

‘Yeah. We have to schedule one soon, she’s been really busy with wedding planning. Do you want to come?’

‘I’ll pass. I have plans for the weekend.’

‘Do they involve sketchy app guys?’

‘Maybe.’

‘You’re being safe right? Mom gave you the talk?’

Dawn grimaced. ‘Yes, and the book and the PowerPoint. Relax, Buffy. I know what I’m doing.’

‘Will you text me when you leave at least? And when you’re on your way home?’

‘Okay. Anything else, Mom?’

‘Mom would have given you Mace to put in your purse – she did, didn’t she?’

‘Yep. It’s millennial pink.’

‘Then we’re good.’

previous entry | next entry

#Buffy Summer’s Diary

[taejinpurple-blog]

ARTISTIC BEAUTY OF LOVE- CHAPTER 11

Fluffy Romantic Story about two guys who became friends and blossomed into something more.

*Mature Scenes later on.*

Trigger Warning: Speaks about sexual abuse in later chapters.

I did my best with editing. Sorry in advance if there are any mistakes. But I really tried to make sure there were not many. Please enjoy

Previous Chapter: https://hopeless-taejinstan.tumblr.com/post/172587487215/artistic-beauty-of-love-chapter-10

Miyeon pulled Jin from store to store. Jin glanced up at the street clock and saw it was now noon. He was going crazy. He didn’t know if Tae made it home or not. Miyeon and her mother woke him up in a hurry this morning that he left his cell phone on the bed.

Miyeon and her mother had a full day planned for the family. First, they were going to do some last minute Christmas shopping, then visit a winery her grandmother owned, after that they were going to have dinner at a famous restaurant that Miyeon’s father sponsors.

There was no telling what time he was going to get back to his phone. Even though he knew Tae’s number by hard, he couldn’t get away from Miyeon long enough to ask someone to borrow their cell. He felt he was going to crazy with worry soon if he didn’t find out Tae’s location soon.

~~~~*~~~~

“Oh wow, Seokjin you are very handsome.” Miyeon’s grandmother smiled at him.

He gave a polite bow. “Thank you very much.”

Korain walked over to Jin and handed him a small glass. “Have some scotch.”

Miyeon’s grandfather chuckled. “I hope you’re not a lightweight, the men in this family are big drinkers.”

“My father and brother are the same, my tolerance is high.” He said making Korain and Miyeon’s grandfather smile.

Miyeon’s grandmother giggled. “You shouldn’t have told them that. They will put you to the test now. Let’s get them some food to soak that liquor up.”

Misun walked over to her grandfather.

“Grandpa, can I go to the barn and play with the animals?” she asked.

Miyeon looked at her while turning he nose up before the elder man could respond. Eui looked at her.

“Absolutely not Misun! After we leave from here we’re going to have dinner and I will not sit at the dinner table with someone who was touching animals! You gotta think better sometimes! Go play the piano or violin or something.” She snapped harshly. Misun looked down. Jin glanced at the sad girl.

“But no one ever listens when I play the violin or piano,” she mumbled as her mother, sister and grandmother walked away.

Jin walked over to her.

“Misun.” She looked at him. “I would love to listen to you play. Which is your favorite?”

“The piano.”

“Can you play for me please?”

Her face flushed a deep red but she nodded.

She sat at the piano staring at the keys. She pressed some keys to see if it was tuned. She loved that her grandparents kept their grand piano in great shape.

She took a deep breath before playing. Jin’s eyes widened for a moment before smiling. She was amazing. Korain looked at his youngest daughter, he had no idea she could play the piano that well.

“You’re playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata movement 3 in C-Sharp Minor,” Jin stated and she stopped playing whipping her head in his direction.

“You know this piece?”

“Oh yeah!” He laughed. “I did piano concertos while in high school.” He placed his glass on a coaster and sat next to her. “You’re really good but you’re little sloppy. You gotta play tighter for the sound to come out stronger. How old are you?”

“Thirteen.”

He nodded. “Okay, you still have ways to go so don’t worry too much. But if you play the way I show you, you’ll be a pro by sixteen.”

Her eyes widened, she moved off the bench and waited for him to play. Once he started playing her heart pounded against her chest. Korain and Miyeon’s grandfather nodded their heads, they both agreed this young man was what they needed in their family.

Miyeon returned with grandmother and mother and they gasped when they saw Jin playing the piano.

“Wow Seokjin, you can play the piano?” Eui asked.

He stopped playing and looked at her. “Yes, I’ve played for a long time. I played a lot of instruments while growing up.”

“Like what?” Misun gave him her full attention.

“The piano, violin, oboe, piccolo, French horn, cymbals …the harp but that was kinda hard so that was short lived.”

She smiled widely. “Which one is your favorite?”

“The acoustic guitar. I just love it.”

Misun smiled while nodding.

“But there’s really nothing beautiful or elegant about the acoustic guitar though,” Eui said as Misun looked down. Jin nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot which is why I don’t play it anymore.” He decided to change the subject before his face soured.

He looked at Miyeon’s grandfather. “You have a barn with animals? What type of animals do you have?”

“We have a farm actually that gets taken care of but there’s a lot of animals, horses, pigs, chickens, rabbits …a lot.”

“Can you give me a tour please?”

“Of course come on.”

Jin stood up and Misun looked down.

“Would it be okay, if Misun came on the tour with us?” He asked Eui who smiled at him.

“Of course, I don’t mind.”

“I’ll make sure we wash up before going to dinner.” He looked at Miyeon. “Do you want to come with Miyeon?”

“No thank you, I don’t like animals.”

He nodded. "Come on Misun."

"Okay!" She happily ran after him,

~~~~*~~~~

After they left Eui’s parents house, they made their way to the restaurant. Jin sat next to Miyeon and across from Misun. He listened to Misun talk about her school. He was glad to see her happy, he could tell she was passionate about music and animals. However, he knew her parents weren’t going to let her major in either. She reminded him of himself at that age, but the only difference was he deliberately rebelled to make his point.

“Misun, you’re talking too much.” Eui scolded her. “Don’t overbear Seokjin with all your school stories.”

“I’m sorry Mom. I forgot my surroundings.” She bowed her head. She fell silent again as she stared at her plate.

“Seokjin.” Eui began and he looked at her. “Korain and I were talking, and we were wondering if had any plans on marrying our daughter and when?”

Misun’s eyes widened as she looked at the suddenly uncomfortable Jin. He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

“Um …you know I would like to leave that up to fate. Miyeon and I are both still young so we have plenty of time. Also, before I take a wife I would like to make something of myself.”

“Aren’t you going to inherit your father’s company with your brother?” Korain asked.

“There’s a possibility that I will but there’s also a possibility that I may want to do my own thing.”

“Son, let me give you some insight into the world you were born in. You were born into the smallest society of the world and you’re fortunate. You don’t want to mix the majority with the minority. They don’t mix well together. So, if your father has a business with your name on it, take it without a second thought.”

He nodded his head. “Thank you for that insight.”

“Do you have a dorm room like Miyeon?” Eui asked.

“No, I stay off campus. This elder man was renting out some rooms, he has eight bedrooms and it was just him in the house. So, he offered it to college students who needed a place to stay.”

“Oh …” Eui said. “Does your parents pay for your room?”

“No, I have a job, so I pay for my own expenses. I told my father I wanted to experience the world for what it was.”

Miyeon looked at her father who shook his head. Misun smiled at him.

“That’s brave. Was it hard in the beginning?”

“I struggled a lot my freshman year of college, but Grandpa helped me and gave me a lot of advice on how to survive on my own. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

The rest of the dinner was uneventful, he could tell her parents didn’t like how he was living his college life, but he didn’t care. It was something that he chose to do, and he was going to finish college like that. He had rather struggle and be free than to be rich and restricted.

~~~~*~~~~

When they returned Miyeon’s parents and Misun went off to the Christmas Party. Jin sighed deeply. Her parents were hard to be around for a long time. He looked at the clock and saw it was seven. He got off the couch and went to his room. He figured he had a lot of missed calls from Tae. He opened the door and Miyeon grabbed his arm.

“My parents are finally gone …are you ready?” She showed him the picture on her phone. He swallowed the lump in his throat and kissed her lips.

“I’m definitely ready for you.”

“Okay, I’m gonna get ready. I’ll meet you in your room when I’m done.” She winked and walked off.

He took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He saw his phone on the nightstand and sat on the bed turning it on. His face dropped.

He saw missed calls from the guys, his mother and even his brother but none from Tae. He called him in a panic, it rang and then went to voicemail. He called again but there was no answer.

The made him frantic. Was Tae okay? He grabbed his jeans from yesterday and went into the pocket. He grabbed the piece of paper and sat on the bed before dialing the number.

“Hello.” He heard a woman answer.

“G-Good evening, my name is Jin and I’m a friend of Taehyung. I was wondering if he was there.”

“Ah yes Jin. Hello. I’m Taehyung’s mother and he’s told me so much about you. Thank you for looking after him it means so much to me.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“But Taehyung called me last week and told me he wasn’t coming. He said his professor was taking him and some other students to meet some professional painters. He said it was a once in lifetime experience. I was upset at first, but I know how passionate he is about art, so I didn’t want him to miss it. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you, he made it seem like he tells you everything.”

He calmed himself down, he didn’t want to worry Taehyung’s mother. “Now that I think about it, he did tell me, and I totally forgot. I’m so sorry to have bothered you on Christmas Eve.”

“Oh no, it’s not a bother at all. My heart feels at ease that someone is watching over Taehyung. Sometimes his head is in the clouds and he doesn’t know where he’s walking so I get nervous a lot with him on his own.”

“Yes, I feel the same. I hope to meet you one day.”

“Me too, have a Merry Christmas.”

“You too.” He hung up and ran his hand over his face. He was about to commit murder when he got back. He went to message him until there was a knock on his door.

Miyeon slowly peeked her head in.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

She walked over to him and pressed her lips against his. She pushed him back on the bed and his hands ran over the lace bodysuit she had on.

He looked at the clock and saw it was eight-thirty.

“Are you ready Jin?” She licked her lips.

“Miyeon …” He whispered.

Next Chapter: https://hopeless-taejinstan.tumblr.com/post/172764297315/artistic-beauty-of-love-chapter-12

[charlinert]

South of the Equator 2/?

New Chapter of South of the Equator....

Summary:  A young teacher from Boston will do anything in her power to ensure that her upliftment project goes ahead, when the ground of a small farm school is threatened to be sold to a buyer who has no interest in her project. Oliver Queen, movie director of Queen Studios volunteers to do a documentary on upliftment work in a small farm town to put as much distance as possible between women, love and his broken heart. Oliver and Felicity’s paths cross 9000 miles from home, when their worlds come crashing in the heart of Southern Africa.

Available to read on AO3

***************

CHAPTER 2 : Team Queen Studios

“I hope you didn’t wait too long.” Dig apologises driving into the parking lot of the auto mechanic where he finds an angry Oliver.

“Let’s just say that Brian better hope I have cooled down by the time his plane arrives.” he gets in Dig’s car and sighs when they finally pull up on the highway on their way home.

“So who is this lady that helped tow in your car?”

“Lady?”  he gives a sarcastic snort. “She might be a woman but let me tell you she’s definitely no lady. She nearly ran me over!”

Oliver can see how Dig bites his lip not to laugh out loud. He is beyond frustrated and definitely not happy about how events unfolded on their first official day in South Africa. He’s really had a tough couple of weeks and this might just push him over the edge. He makes a note to stay away from his team tonight, just to cool off and find perspective otherwise this trip might end before it begins.

“How about you tell me slowly what happened?” Dig’s voice is calm and Oliver knows his friend is just trying to help, he’s just not sure if telling him the story from the top will have a calming effect on his already sky high frustration levels.

He tries to take a deep breath, closes his eyes and slowly starts with his arrival at the gas station.

Dig drives onto the gravel road and stops at the parking bay of the farm house. This whole farm and the buildings remind him of photos he’s seen of the pilgrim era. It’s a breathtaking view with the green lawns and trees and of course the mountains just make it extra beautiful. He quickly becomes conscious of his whereabouts when he hears a still hysterical Dig laughing.

“I wish I was there to film you helping her out of that window man. That would have made us a lot of money.”

“Very funny! I’m telling you it’s definitely not as funny when you’re the person standing with a woman’s butt right in your face.” he explains reenacting how the events went down, but it just adds fuel to the fire and makes Dig laugh more.

He shakes his head at his friend leaving him to catch his breath and walks towards the entrance of the farm house. He stops when he almost reaches the door and sees Heather, the only woman on their team, in a blowup ostrich tube floating in a canvas swimming pool on the farm’s lawn sipping on what looks like a cocktail.

“Hi Oliver!” she calls and waves from the pool, but the movement throws her over the edge of the pool and within moments the whole pool collapses pushing her out on the lawn and a flood of water rushes over her and her ostrich tube now stuck around her waist.

Dig finally catches up with Oliver staring at what’s unfolding on the lawn. They both try very hard not to laugh, but they fail miserably, leaving Heather and her ostrich friend soaking on the lawn.

“Thanks for the help boys!” she sarcastically yells from lying on her belly when they decide to retreat into the farm house.

---------------------------------------

Oliver wakes up to the sound of his alarm. The sun is already streaming into his bedroom and the fresh air seeping through his window gives him the strength he needs to take on this day.

Once he finishes getting ready he heads towards the kitchen where he can hear the bustling of plates and cutlery. He peeps around the door frame before he attempts to walk into the kitchen. Once he’s satisfied that no one is going to murder him with a pan, especially Heather, he enters.

“Good morning all.” he greets high fiving Dig and then is greeted by a cold stare from Heather. He probably deserves it, but she’s never really been all that helpful in his eyes, and since he decided on his new motto after Laurel, I’ll scratch your back only if you scratch mine, Heather….well they are not really on a back scratching basis.

He takes a look at the kitchen counter and it looks like Heather murdered the whole farm’s chicken eggs. Egg shells are scattered all over the counter as far as the eye can see, but he doesn’t dare say anything. Not if he doesn’t want a frying pan against his head.

“Some eggs for you Oliver?” she asks sweetly but he knows better, she’s busy plotting.

“Sure.” he answers and takes a plate holding it out to her to dish up the scrambled eggs from the pan on the stove.

However he gets more eggs than he will ever be able to eat in his lifetime. She keeps dishing until there’s no more space on his plate and then Dig adds two pieces of toast and throws it on top of the pile of scrambled eggs.

He bites his tongue and sits next to Dig who seems very amused by the situation hands him the tub of margarine to butter his toast. He picks the pieces of bread up and starts to butter it in the air since he has nowhere else to put it.

He knows he’ll have to work on his irritation levels and this isn’t helping so he decides to just suck it up and start talking about why they are here in the first place.

“So what exactly are we doing today?” he asks taking a bite of the buttered toast.

“We need to scout the area and have a look at the venue where we’ll be shooting material from the gala dinner for the sustainable development conference on Friday. I think it’s called the *Swartberg, he tries to pronounce the word typed out on the file in front of him, Country Manor. Once that is done then we can concentrate on all the other projects in the area.”

“I’m happy at least one of us is busy learning the native language here in the country side.”

“It’s called Afrikaans man! You need to get your butt into gear and learn a few words too. Most of the people in this area are Afrikaans speaking, so if we show a little initiative we might be able to get a bit more information out of them, you know for a successful documentary.” he glares at Oliver who in return smiles and takes another bite of the toast.

“While you’re busy sweet talking them Dig, can you please organise me some brooms and insect repellent or something that kills stuff, because the size of those cockroaches I saw last night makes me think they might be some evil elf’s love child!” Heather dramatically explains and Oliver merely rolls his eyes.

“We have to go pick up my truck.” Oliver remarks placing his plate in the sink, but is ambushed when Brian enters the kitchen and pinches his butt.

“Hey buddy!” he excitedly greets. Confusion decorates Oliver’s face when he sees Brian is wearing a neck brace. He wants to ask for an explanation, but then thinks better of it when he reads Dig’s body language to stay as far away from the topic as possible.

Without a word Brian leaves the kitchen and both Dig and Oliver look at Heather for an explanation.

“I don’t know all the details okay. All I know is that he did a freelance job for Reuters in Afghanistan and….”

She stops mid-sentence when Brian rushes into the kitchen again and stops behind Dig. He cups Dig’s head and kisses him on the crown of his head, taking a big whiff of his hair.

“You my friend, smell so good.” he says and closes his eyes.

Once he opens them again he looks directly at Oliver. The stare makes Oliver’s skin crawl. Brian’s behaviour is borderline psycho.

“And you,” he points at Oliver, “look really good. I guess marriage suits you well. Congratulations on your nuptials by the way. I’m sorry I missed the wedding.” he points at his neck brace, “as you can see I have a good explanation. I was feeding bears in a zoo….which I probably shouldn’t have.” he laughs at his own joke, but everyone else just stares in shock at whatever is playing off in front of them.

When no one reacts Brian walks over to the kitchen counter and pops an egg shell in his mouth nearly swallowing it whole. He then continues by picking up an empty blender standing on the counter clutching it under his one arm and with his free hand picks up the frying pan with the left over scrambled eggs from the stove. He doesn’t acknowledge anyone and leaves exactly as he entered, like a tornado.

The three remaining team members stare in disbelief when he leaves the kitchen. Oliver can feel the goose bumps of disgust start to form on his body just thinking what Brian may be up to. It takes a while for everyone to come back to reality, each one concocting their own horrible picture in their mind.

Oliver is the first one to break the silence, questioningly staring at Dig. “Care to tell me why you didn’t tell him I didn’t get married?”

“Oliver I couldn’t tell him everything.”

“Well that’s clear!” Oliver sarcastically answers grabbing his phone and heads out the door, followed by Dig, once again leaving an upset Heather to clean up after them.

*Swartberg      directly translated from Afrikaans to English - Black Mountain

Thank you to everyone who’s supporting this fic by reading and commenting and liking and such! You guys are truly awesome!!!

Please let me know if you would like to be tagged or untagged.

Amazing people under the cut:

@aguscha333 // @alemap74 // @all-things-olicity // @almondblossomme // @angelalafan // @angelicmisskitty // @aussieforgood // @ccdimples88 // @cinfos // @coal000 // @competitivefornoreason // @cris101071 // @diggo26 // @dontyou-forgetaboutme89 // @fandomlove130 // @felicity-said-just-in-case // @foggydefendorgiver // @geneshaven // @georgiakblog // @ghostfoxlovely // @hope-for-olicity // @hopeful-warrior // @jaspertown // @jcc04220 // @kajunblueyes // @kebarr // @laurabelle2930 // @lgtwinkie99 // @lou-lou26 // @love2luvyyou // @lovejesusarrowavengersblog // @lucymtz16 // @lynaye1993 // @marytagus // @mel-loves-all // @memcjo // @miriam1779 // @missafairy // @myhauntedblacksoul // @nalla-madness // @olicity-in-the-heart // @olliewer // @oliverfel4 // @pimsiepim // @quiveringbunny // @scu11y22  // @smkkbert // @speakandseethetruth // @storyteller0311 // @tdgal1 // @tinaday3w // @to-dwellondreams // @turnupthemusicandscream // @undercover-sparrow // @victoriapolicity // @wherethereissmoak // @yolandi-l // @yourebeautifuleverylilpiecelove // @yryssss

[touristguidebuzz]

Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt

From tech and coding to design to fixing bugs getting readers books when downloads fail to scheduling social media or running the forums, it takes a village to run this website. I simply couldn’t run the website, write, travel, eat, sleep, or anything in between if I didn’t have the support and help of an amazing group of people – and I think it’s time you formally met them all! So, without further ado, here’s team Nomadic Matt:

Erica

Erica has been working for me for over three and a half years and is my director of global operations i.e. right hand woman. She keeps this ship afloat. In her own words:

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Virginia. During a quarter-life crisis at age 21, I chose to finish my last year of college on an adventure in Qatar! From that moment on, my life revolved around traveling cheaply with the money I earned from waitressing. That budget got me to teach English in Isaan, Thailand, and South Korea; farm on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; and volunteer in rural Zambia. At age 26, I returned home to Connecticut, determined to get a job in travel. Soon after, I met Nomadic Matt at a travel meet-up in NYC, and the rest is history.

I whole-heartedly believe that traveling makes friends of strangers, and the more friends there are in the world, the more peace there is in the world.

13 Facts about Me

At 15, I helped build a schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

Living in a termite clay hut without electricity or running water in Zambia for six months was probably one of the most trying (and simple), exciting (and boring), and perspective-shifting experiences of my life.

I’ve cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, twice!

I once hunted for possums on the island of St. Vincent with a bunch of Rastafarians. We caught four and made soup.

In Costa Rica, I stayed at in a sustainable living community called Rancho Mastatal, where I learned how to farm yuca, make beer out of turmeric, and build a house out of cob.

When I was 15, John Stamos kissed my cheek after I saw him in Cabaret on Broadway.

I taught English in South Korea for 14 months and was able to easily save enough money for 21 months of non-stop travel.

This music video I made used to be one of the top hits when you searched for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Zambia, my friend and I were given a live chicken as a present. We were vegetarians, so we traded it for a pair of second-hand jeans at the market.

I got 19 people (the students and teachers on the FLYTE trip) into an airport lounge for free. I think that’s a travel hacking record!

I’ve attended a Qatari princess’s wedding sporting mink eyelashes.

In Korea, I dated a guy who spoke no English and we basically communicated through drawing pictures and reciting American rap lyrics.

I think Matt spends a majority of his day editing out my exclamation points from my research, emails, newsletters, etc! (Matt says: This is very true.)

Christopher O.

Chris joined the team as the part-time manager of the forums back in 2015. Since then, he’s branched out into the Superstar Blogging program and our soon-to-be-launched community platform, Nomadic Network. In his own words:

I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and spent my formative years listening to punk rock, reading Star Wars novels, and generally getting up to no good. After ditching my lifelong plan to be a lawyer, I decided to give travel a try. I headed to Costa Rica on a whim and have never looked back! It wasn’t long after that trip that I took a break from university (where I was studying history and theatre) to move to a monastery in Japan in 2007. I’ve more or less been wandering around ever since. Some notable adventures include taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and Mongolia, walking the Camino de Santiago twice, and going on a 10-day road trip around Iceland with complete strangers. When I’m not traveling, I live in Sweden and can be found reading, writing, or struggling to improve at chess.

13 Facts about Me

I spent nine months living in Buddhist monasteries.

I lived in a tent for a year.

I was once stalked by a jaguar and chased by a crocodile — on the same trip.

I haven’t had alcohol in 13 years.

I’ve broken all my fingers and toes, and my nose three times, and I’ve fractured both my wrists.

I worked on an organic farm for 11 years.

I co-owned a restaurant in Canada.

I grew up next door to Avril Lavigne.

I once ate an entire nine-course meal (I was the only person there to eat everything!).

I played inter-mural Quidditch in high school and was our team’s Seeker.

I have a Star Wars tattoo.

I’ve been vegan for 12 years.

I have a scar from a fight that broke out over which Norse god was “the best.”

Chris R.

Chris, aka The Aussie Nomad, is a (kinda) former blogger who does all the tech and development work for the website. He keeps it running, fixes any errors you find, and deals with my constantly changing design desires. In his own words:

I’m living the good life in Western Australia by the beach with my amazing family. I got into the world of blogging after quitting my job, backpacking around Europe and, as all Aussies do, undertaking a working holiday in the UK. Like all of us who travel and fall in love with it, nobody wants to go home afterwards.

That adventure got me into creating a travel blog many years ago, which is how I first came to know Matt. I have since repurposed my IT skills from my old life and formed my own business to help out other bloggers with their websites.

13 Facts about Me

I love Belgian beer (and I even married a Belgian).

I’ve worked with Matt the longest out of anyone here. (Take that team!)

I took off to backpack Europe when I was 29.

I’m an advocate for Vegemite and believe all visitors to Australia must try this national treasure.

One of my favorite activities is to take a long road trip, especially with family and friends.

I have no idea how four-way stop signals in the U.S.A. don’t all end up as accidents.

I do not drink Fosters. It’s a terrible beer. No one in Australia actually drinks it.

I like to think of myself as an amateur photographer.

I failed kindergarten as I wouldn’t say goodbye to the teacher.

My first job was working in a supermarket.

I can’t sleep on a plane – no matter how long the flight is.

I can name every Thomas the Tank Engine character thanks to my son.

I don’t drink coffee or get people’s love for it. Tea all the way!

Raimee

Raimee is the newest team member and does all our social media. She schedules posts, tweaks my terrible photos so they look good on Instagram, builds our content calendar, and creates all our quote & Pinterest graphics! In her own words:

When I was just 14 years old, I took my first international trip to Honduras and Belize with my family. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on experiencing new cultures, connecting with people from all walks of life, and learning about myself and the world through the power of travel! After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing from Michigan State University and four years as a digital marketing specialist, I realized that corporate life was not for me. My insatiable need to experience the world beyond a desk led me to search for a job-related to travel. I’ve followed this blog for many years, and now I get to work for it remotely while I strategize, manage, and report on the social media accounts — and I love every second of it!

13 Facts about Me

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I’ve read each book at least 10 times, and, if I told you how many times, I’ve watched each of the movies, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I once “hung out” with Daniel Radcliffe at a Red Wings game in Detroit, and actually kept my cool the entire time.

Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour in London was one of the best days of my life.

My mom was obsessed with the 80’s horror movie Evil Dead directed by Sam Raimi, so she named me after him.

After having visited about 30 countries, Iceland is still my favorite.

My biggest travel dream is to take a road trip around New Zealand!

The most fun I’ve had on a trip was on my first solo backpacking trip through Europe when I used Couchsurfing.

I used to play the saxophone.

I conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff in Croatia — twice!

I love languages and was close to being fluent in German during college.

I’m terrified of flying.

In another life, I would have been a film director/producer. Maybe some day!

My favorite number is 13.

Nomadic Matt

And, finally, there’s me. You probably know a lot about me after nine and half years of blogging (sometimes I forget how long it’s been), but here’s a quick refresh:

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until 2004. That trip changed my life and opened me up to the possibilities the world had to offer. One year later, I went to Thailand, where I met five backpackers who inspired me to quit my job and travel the world. In 2006, I left for a yearlong backpacking trip — and have been “nomadic” ever since.

13 Facts about Me

I love politics as much as I love travel and will debate for the joy for it.

I love to cook — and I’m kinda good at it too!

When I was in high school, I was my state’s champ in “Magic: the Gathering.” I know — super nerdy, right? It got me a free trip NYC with my friend (who came in number two!).

I always worry about the future and often use my time back home to develop skills needed for the Zombie Apocalypse. Shout-out to my prepper friend Vanessa for teaching me about seeds!

I once met Paul Giamatti on the streets of NYC and he was as grumpy as I imagined.

I am an unabashed Taylor Swift fan and can’t wait for her new album!

Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor, and I’ve seen The Usual Suspects twenty times.

I believe aliens exist. It’s mathematically impossible they don’t.

I’m terrified of flying.

I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party.

Both sides of my family came through Ellis Island and you can see their names on the wall where they list all the immigrants.

I used to be the head of a program by the Massachusetts Sierra Club that promoted energy efficiency.

I went to college to be a high school history teacher.

***Also, I’d like to acknowledge our part-timers too: Candice, who helps with admin and research; Richard, our fearless copyeditor (whose efforts I often ruin by changing posts last minute); Keith, our design genius; Brice and Julie, our user experience gurus; and Courtney, who keeps our charity, FLYTE, up in the air with her executive directing wizard ways!

So there you have it! The Nomadic Matt team! It’s weird to think this blog I started to simply be online résumé for freelance jobs now requires eleven people to run. I always thought the more systems, automation, products, and passive income I set up, the easier it would be. I could just sit on a beach. But it seems the more we do, the more we create, the more projects I tell the team we’re taking on, the more help we require. I guess that is the nature of the beast but I would have it no other way. I love what we do here. We help a lot of people realize their dreams.

And a guy couldn’t ask for better co-workers to help make that happen.

The post Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt

From tech and coding to design to fixing bugs getting readers books when downloads fail to scheduling social media or running the forums, it takes a village to run this website. I simply couldn’t run the website, write, travel, eat, sleep, or anything in between if I didn’t have the support and help of an amazing group of people – and I think it’s time you formally met them all! So, without further ado, here’s team Nomadic Matt:

Erica

Erica has been working for me for over three and a half years and is my director of global operations i.e. right hand woman. She keeps this ship afloat. In her own words:

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Virginia. During a quarter-life crisis at age 21, I chose to finish my last year of college on an adventure in Qatar! From that moment on, my life revolved around traveling cheaply with the money I earned from waitressing. That budget got me to teach English in Isaan, Thailand, and South Korea; farm on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; and volunteer in rural Zambia. At age 26, I returned home to Connecticut, determined to get a job in travel. Soon after, I met Nomadic Matt at a travel meet-up in NYC, and the rest is history.

I whole-heartedly believe that traveling makes friends of strangers, and the more friends there are in the world, the more peace there is in the world.

13 Facts about Me

At 15, I helped build a schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

Living in a termite clay hut without electricity or running water in Zambia for six months was probably one of the most trying (and simple), exciting (and boring), and perspective-shifting experiences of my life.

I’ve cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, twice!

I once hunted for possums on the island of St. Vincent with a bunch of Rastafarians. We caught four and made soup.

In Costa Rica, I stayed at in a sustainable living community called Rancho Mastatal, where I learned how to farm yuca, make beer out of turmeric, and build a house out of cob.

When I was 15, John Stamos kissed my cheek after I saw him in Cabaret on Broadway.

I taught English in South Korea for 14 months and was able to easily save enough money for 21 months of non-stop travel.

This music video I made used to be one of the top hits when you searched for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Zambia, my friend and I were given a live chicken as a present. We were vegetarians, so we traded it for a pair of second-hand jeans at the market.

I got 19 people (the students and teachers on the FLYTE trip) into an airport lounge for free. I think that’s a travel hacking record!

I’ve attended a Qatari princess’s wedding sporting mink eyelashes.

In Korea, I dated a guy who spoke no English and we basically communicated through drawing pictures and reciting American rap lyrics.

I think Matt spends a majority of his day editing out my exclamation points from my research, emails, newsletters, etc! (Matt says: This is very true.)

Christopher O.

Chris joined the team as the part-time manager of the forums back in 2015. Since then, he’s branched out into the Superstar Blogging program and our soon-to-be-launched community platform, Nomadic Network. In his own words:

I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and spent my formative years listening to punk rock, reading Star Wars novels, and generally getting up to no good. After ditching my lifelong plan to be a lawyer, I decided to give travel a try. I headed to Costa Rica on a whim and have never looked back! It wasn’t long after that trip that I took a break from university (where I was studying history and theatre) to move to a monastery in Japan in 2007. I’ve more or less been wandering around ever since. Some notable adventures include taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and Mongolia, walking the Camino de Santiago twice, and going on a 10-day road trip around Iceland with complete strangers. When I’m not traveling, I live in Sweden and can be found reading, writing, or struggling to improve at chess.

13 Facts about Me

I spent nine months living in Buddhist monasteries.

I lived in a tent for a year.

I was once stalked by a jaguar and chased by a crocodile — on the same trip.

I haven’t had alcohol in 13 years.

I’ve broken all my fingers and toes, and my nose three times, and I’ve fractured both my wrists.

I worked on an organic farm for 11 years.

I co-owned a restaurant in Canada.

I grew up next door to Avril Lavigne.

I once ate an entire nine-course meal (I was the only person there to eat everything!).

I played inter-mural Quidditch in high school and was our team’s Seeker.

I have a Star Wars tattoo.

I’ve been vegan for 12 years.

I have a scar from a fight that broke out over which Norse god was “the best.”

Chris R.

Chris, aka The Aussie Nomad, is a (kinda) former blogger who does all the tech and development work for the website. He keeps it running, fixes any errors you find, and deals with my constantly changing design desires. In his own words:

I’m living the good life in Western Australia by the beach with my amazing family. I got into the world of blogging after quitting my job, backpacking around Europe and, as all Aussies do, undertaking a working holiday in the UK. Like all of us who travel and fall in love with it, nobody wants to go home afterwards.

That adventure got me into creating a travel blog many years ago, which is how I first came to know Matt. I have since repurposed my IT skills from my old life and formed my own business to help out other bloggers with their websites.

13 Facts about Me

I love Belgian beer (and I even married a Belgian).

I’ve worked with Matt the longest out of anyone here. (Take that team!)

I took off to backpack Europe when I was 29.

I’m an advocate for Vegemite and believe all visitors to Australia must try this national treasure.

One of my favorite activities is to take a long road trip, especially with family and friends.

I have no idea how four-way stop signals in the U.S.A. don’t all end up as accidents.

I do not drink Fosters. It’s a terrible beer. No one in Australia actually drinks it.

I like to think of myself as an amateur photographer.

I failed kindergarten as I wouldn’t say goodbye to the teacher.

My first job was working in a supermarket.

I can’t sleep on a plane – no matter how long the flight is.

I can name every Thomas the Tank Engine character thanks to my son.

I don’t drink coffee or get people’s love for it. Tea all the way!

Raimee

Raimee is the newest team member and does all our social media. She schedules posts, tweaks my terrible photos so they look good on Instagram, builds our content calendar, and creates all our quote & Pinterest graphics! In her own words:

When I was just 14 years old, I took my first international trip to Honduras and Belize with my family. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on experiencing new cultures, connecting with people from all walks of life, and learning about myself and the world through the power of travel! After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing from Michigan State University and four years as a digital marketing specialist, I realized that corporate life was not for me. My insatiable need to experience the world beyond a desk led me to search for a job-related to travel. I’ve followed this blog for many years, and now I get to work for it remotely while I strategize, manage, and report on the social media accounts — and I love every second of it!

13 Facts about Me

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I’ve read each book at least 10 times, and, if I told you how many times, I’ve watched each of the movies, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I once “hung out” with Daniel Radcliffe at a Red Wings game in Detroit, and actually kept my cool the entire time.

Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour in London was one of the best days of my life.

My mom was obsessed with the 80’s horror movie Evil Dead directed by Sam Raimi, so she named me after him.

After having visited about 30 countries, Iceland is still my favorite.

My biggest travel dream is to take a road trip around New Zealand!

The most fun I’ve had on a trip was on my first solo backpacking trip through Europe when I used Couchsurfing.

I used to play the saxophone.

I conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff in Croatia — twice!

I love languages and was close to being fluent in German during college.

I’m terrified of flying.

In another life, I would have been a film director/producer. Maybe some day!

My favorite number is 13.

Nomadic Matt

And, finally, there’s me. You probably know a lot about me after nine and half years of blogging (sometimes I forget how long it’s been), but here’s a quick refresh:

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until 2004. That trip changed my life and opened me up to the possibilities the world had to offer. One year later, I went to Thailand, where I met five backpackers who inspired me to quit my job and travel the world. In 2006, I left for a yearlong backpacking trip — and have been “nomadic” ever since.

13 Facts about Me

I love politics as much as I love travel and will debate for the joy for it.

I love to cook — and I’m kinda good at it too!

When I was in high school, I was my state’s champ in “Magic: the Gathering.” I know — super nerdy, right? It got me a free trip NYC with my friend (who came in number two!).

I always worry about the future and often use my time back home to develop skills needed for the Zombie Apocalypse. Shout-out to my prepper friend Vanessa for teaching me about seeds!

I once met Paul Giamatti on the streets of NYC and he was as grumpy as I imagined.

I am an unabashed Taylor Swift fan and can’t wait for her new album!

Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor, and I’ve seen The Usual Suspects twenty times.

I believe aliens exist. It’s mathematically impossible they don’t.

I’m terrified of flying.

I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party.

Both sides of my family came through Ellis Island and you can see their names on the wall where they list all the immigrants.

I used to be the head of a program by the Massachusetts Sierra Club that promoted energy efficiency.

I went to college to be a high school history teacher.

***Also, I’d like to acknowledge our part-timers too: Candice, who helps with admin and research; Richard, our fearless copyeditor (whose efforts I often ruin by changing posts last minute); Keith, our design genius; Brice and Julie, our user experience gurus; and Courtney, who keeps our charity, FLYTE, up in the air with her executive directing wizard ways!

So there you have it! The Nomadic Matt team! It’s weird to think this blog I started to simply be online résumé for freelance jobs now requires eleven people to run. I always thought the more systems, automation, products, and passive income I set up, the easier it would be. I could just sit on a beach. But it seems the more we do, the more we create, the more projects I tell the team we’re taking on, the more help we require. I guess that is the nature of the beast but I would have it no other way. I love what we do here. We help a lot of people realize their dreams.

And a guy couldn’t ask for better co-workers to help make that happen.

The post Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2w7dY8V

[theladyjstyle]

From tech and coding to design to fixing bugs getting readers books when downloads fail to scheduling social media or running the forums, it takes a village to run this website. I simply couldn’t run the website, write, travel, eat, sleep, or anything in between if I didn’t have the support and help of an amazing group of people – and I think it’s time you formally met them all! So, without further ado, here’s team Nomadic Matt:

Erica

Erica has been working for me for over three and a half years and is my director of global operations i.e. right hand woman. She keeps this ship afloat. In her own words:

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Virginia. During a quarter-life crisis at age 21, I chose to finish my last year of college on an adventure in Qatar! From that moment on, my life revolved around traveling cheaply with the money I earned from waitressing. That budget got me to teach English in Isaan, Thailand, and South Korea; farm on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; and volunteer in rural Zambia. At age 26, I returned home to Connecticut, determined to get a job in travel. Soon after, I met Nomadic Matt at a travel meet-up in NYC, and the rest is history.

I whole-heartedly believe that traveling makes friends of strangers, and the more friends there are in the world, the more peace there is in the world.

13 Facts about Me

At 15, I helped build a schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

Living in a termite clay hut without electricity or running water in Zambia for six months was probably one of the most trying (and simple), exciting (and boring), and perspective-shifting experiences of my life.

I’ve cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, twice!

I once hunted for possums on the island of St. Vincent with a bunch of Rastafarians. We caught four and made soup.

In Costa Rica, I stayed at in a sustainable living community called Rancho Mastatal, where I learned how to farm yuca, make beer out of turmeric, and build a house out of cob.

When I was 15, John Stamos kissed my cheek after I saw him in Cabaret on Broadway.

I taught English in South Korea for 14 months and was able to easily save enough money for 21 months of non-stop travel.

This music video I made used to be one of the top hits when you searched for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Zambia, my friend and I were given a live chicken as a present. We were vegetarians, so we traded it for a pair of second-hand jeans at the market.

I got 19 people (the students and teachers on the FLYTE trip) into an airport lounge for free. I think that’s a travel hacking record!

I’ve attended a Qatari princess’s wedding sporting mink eyelashes.

In Korea, I dated a guy who spoke no English and we basically communicated through drawing pictures and reciting American rap lyrics.

I think Matt spends a majority of his day editing out my exclamation points from my research, emails, newsletters, etc! (Matt says: This is very true.)

Christopher O.

Chris joined the team as the part-time manager of the forums back in 2015. Since then, he’s branched out into the Superstar Blogging program and our soon-to-be-launched community platform, Nomadic Network. In his own words:

I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and spent my formative years listening to punk rock, reading Star Wars novels, and generally getting up to no good. After ditching my lifelong plan to be a lawyer, I decided to give travel a try. I headed to Costa Rica on a whim and have never looked back! It wasn’t long after that trip that I took a break from university (where I was studying history and theatre) to move to a monastery in Japan in 2007. I’ve more or less been wandering around ever since. Some notable adventures include taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and Mongolia, walking the Camino de Santiago twice, and going on a 10-day road trip around Iceland with complete strangers. When I’m not traveling, I live in Sweden and can be found reading, writing, or struggling to improve at chess.

13 Facts about Me

I spent nine months living in Buddhist monasteries.

I lived in a tent for a year.

I was once stalked by a jaguar and chased by a crocodile — on the same trip.

I haven’t had alcohol in 13 years.

I’ve broken all my fingers and toes, and my nose three times, and I’ve fractured both my wrists.

I worked on an organic farm for 11 years.

I co-owned a restaurant in Canada.

I grew up next door to Avril Lavigne.

I once ate an entire nine-course meal (I was the only person there to eat everything!).

I played inter-mural Quidditch in high school and was our team’s Seeker.

I have a Star Wars tattoo.

I’ve been vegan for 12 years.

I have a scar from a fight that broke out over which Norse god was “the best.”

Chris R.

Chris, aka The Aussie Nomad, is a (kinda) former blogger who does all the tech and development work for the website. He keeps it running, fixes any errors you find, and deals with my constantly changing design desires. In his own words:

I’m living the good life in Western Australia by the beach with my amazing family. I got into the world of blogging after quitting my job, backpacking around Europe and, as all Aussies do, undertaking a working holiday in the UK. Like all of us who travel and fall in love with it, nobody wants to go home afterwards.

That adventure got me into creating a travel blog many years ago, which is how I first came to know Matt. I have since repurposed my IT skills from my old life and formed my own business to help out other bloggers with their websites.

13 Facts about Me

I love Belgian beer (and I even married a Belgian).

I’ve worked with Matt the longest out of anyone here. (Take that team!)

I took off to backpack Europe when I was 29.

I’m an advocate for Vegemite and believe all visitors to Australia must try this national treasure.

One of my favorite activities is to take a long road trip, especially with family and friends.

I have no idea how four-way stop signals in the U.S.A. don’t all end up as accidents.

I do not drink Fosters. It’s a terrible beer. No one in Australia actually drinks it.

I like to think of myself as an amateur photographer.

I failed kindergarten as I wouldn’t say goodbye to the teacher.

My first job was working in a supermarket.

I can’t sleep on a plane – no matter how long the flight is.

I can name every Thomas the Tank Engine character thanks to my son.

I don’t drink coffee or get people’s love for it. Tea all the way!

Raimee

Raimee is the newest team member and does all our social media. She schedules posts, tweaks my terrible photos so they look good on Instagram, builds our content calendar, and creates all our quote & Pinterest graphics! In her own words:

When I was just 14 years old, I took my first international trip to Honduras and Belize with my family. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on experiencing new cultures, connecting with people from all walks of life, and learning about myself and the world through the power of travel! After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing from Michigan State University and four years as a digital marketing specialist, I realized that corporate life was not for me. My insatiable need to experience the world beyond a desk led me to search for a job-related to travel. I’ve followed this blog for many years, and now I get to work for it remotely while I strategize, manage, and report on the social media accounts — and I love every second of it!

13 Facts about Me

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I’ve read each book at least 10 times, and, if I told you how many times, I’ve watched each of the movies, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I once “hung out” with Daniel Radcliffe at a Red Wings game in Detroit, and actually kept my cool the entire time.

Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour in London was one of the best days of my life.

My mom was obsessed with the 80’s horror movie Evil Dead directed by Sam Raimi, so she named me after him.

After having visited about 30 countries, Iceland is still my favorite.

My biggest travel dream is to take a road trip around New Zealand!

The most fun I’ve had on a trip was on my first solo backpacking trip through Europe when I using Couchsurfing.

I used to play the saxophone.

I conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff in Croatia — twice!

I love languages and was close to being fluent in German during college.

I’m terrified of flying.

In another life, I would have been a film director/producer. Maybe some day!

My favorite number is 13.

Nomadic Matt

And, finally, there’s me. You probably know a lot about me after nine and half years of blogging (sometimes I forget how long it’s been), but here’s a quick refresh:

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until 2004. That trip changed my life and opened me up to the possibilities the world had to offer. One year later, I went to Thailand, where I met five backpackers who inspired me to quit my job and travel the world. In 2006, I left for a yearlong backpacking trip — and have been “nomadic” ever since.

13 Facts about Me

I love politics as much as I love travel and will debate for the joy for it.

I love to cook — and I’m kinda good at it too!

When I was in high school, I was my state’s champ in “Magic: the Gathering.” I know — super nerdy, right? It got me a free trip NYC with my friend (who came in number two!).

I always worry about the future and often use my time back home to develop skills needed for the Zombie Apocalypse. Shout-out to my prepper friend Vanessa for teaching me about seeds!

I once met Paul Giamatti on the streets of NYC and he was as grumpy as I imagined.

I am an unabashed Taylor Swift fan and can’t wait for her new album!

Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor, and I’ve seen The Usual Suspects twenty times.

I believe aliens exist. It’s mathematically impossible they don’t.

I’m terrified of flying.

I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party.

Both sides of my family came through Ellis Island and you can see their names on the wall where they list all the immigrants.

I used to be the head of a program by the Massachusetts Sierra Club that promoted energy efficiency.

I went to college to be a high school history teacher.

***Also, I’d like to acknowledge our part-timers too: Candice, who helps with admin and research; Richard, our fearless copyeditor (whose efforts I often ruin by changing posts last minute); Keith, our design genius; Brice and Julie, our user experience gurus; and Courtney, who keeps our charity, FLYTE, up in the air with her executive directing wizard ways!

So there you have it! The Nomadic Matt team! It’s weird to think this blog I started to simply be online résumé for freelance jobs now requires eleven people to run. I always thought the more systems, automation, products, and passive income I set up, the easier it would be. I could just sit on a beach. But it seems the more we do, the more we create, the more projects I tell the team we’re taking on, the more help we require. I guess that is the nature of the beast but I would have it no other way. I love what we do here. We help a lot of people realize their dreams.

And a guy couldn’t ask for better co-workers to help make that happen.

The post Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt http://ift.tt/2w7dY8V

[tamboradventure]

Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt

From tech and coding to design to fixing bugs getting readers books when downloads fail to scheduling social media or running the forums, it takes a village to run this website. I simply couldn’t run the website, write, travel, eat, sleep, or anything in between if I didn’t have the support and help of an amazing group of people – and I think it’s time you formally met them all! So, without further ado, here’s team Nomadic Matt:

Erica

Erica has been working for me for over three and a half years and is my director of global operations i.e. right hand woman. She keeps this ship afloat. In her own words:

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Virginia. During a quarter-life crisis at age 21, I chose to finish my last year of college on an adventure in Qatar! From that moment on, my life revolved around traveling cheaply with the money I earned from waitressing. That budget got me to teach English in Isaan, Thailand, and South Korea; farm on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; and volunteer in rural Zambia. At age 26, I returned home to Connecticut, determined to get a job in travel. Soon after, I met Nomadic Matt at a travel meet-up in NYC, and the rest is history.

I whole-heartedly believe that traveling makes friends of strangers, and the more friends there are in the world, the more peace there is in the world.

13 Facts about Me

At 15, I helped build a schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

Living in a termite clay hut without electricity or running water in Zambia for six months was probably one of the most trying (and simple), exciting (and boring), and perspective-shifting experiences of my life.

I’ve cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, twice!

I once hunted for possums on the island of St. Vincent with a bunch of Rastafarians. We caught four and made soup.

In Costa Rica, I stayed at in a sustainable living community called Rancho Mastatal, where I learned how to farm yuca, make beer out of turmeric, and build a house out of cob.

When I was 15, John Stamos kissed my cheek after I saw him in Cabaret on Broadway.

I taught English in South Korea for 14 months and was able to easily save enough money for 21 months of non-stop travel.

This music video I made used to be one of the top hits when you searched for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Zambia, my friend and I were given a live chicken as a present. We were vegetarians, so we traded it for a pair of second-hand jeans at the market.

I got 19 people (the students and teachers on the FLYTE trip) into an airport lounge for free. I think that’s a travel hacking record!

I’ve attended a Qatari princess’s wedding sporting mink eyelashes.

In Korea, I dated a guy who spoke no English and we basically communicated through drawing pictures and reciting American rap lyrics.

I think Matt spends a majority of his day editing out my exclamation points from my research, emails, newsletters, etc! (Matt says: This is very true.)

Christopher O.

Chris joined the team as the part-time manager of the forums back in 2015. Since then, he’s branched out into the Superstar Blogging program and our soon-to-be-launched community platform, Nomadic Network. In his own words:

I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and spent my formative years listening to punk rock, reading Star Wars novels, and generally getting up to no good. After ditching my lifelong plan to be a lawyer, I decided to give travel a try. I headed to Costa Rica on a whim and have never looked back! It wasn’t long after that trip that I took a break from university (where I was studying history and theatre) to move to a monastery in Japan in 2007. I’ve more or less been wandering around ever since. Some notable adventures include taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and Mongolia, walking the Camino de Santiago twice, and going on a 10-day road trip around Iceland with complete strangers. When I’m not traveling, I live in Sweden and can be found reading, writing, or struggling to improve at chess.

13 Facts about Me

I spent nine months living in Buddhist monasteries.

I lived in a tent for a year.

I was once stalked by a jaguar and chased by a crocodile — on the same trip.

I haven’t had alcohol in 13 years.

I’ve broken all my fingers and toes, and my nose three times, and I’ve fractured both my wrists.

I worked on an organic farm for 11 years.

I co-owned a restaurant in Canada.

I grew up next door to Avril Lavigne.

I once ate an entire nine-course meal (I was the only person there to eat everything!).

I played inter-mural Quidditch in high school and was our team’s Seeker.

I have a Star Wars tattoo.

I’ve been vegan for 12 years.

I have a scar from a fight that broke out over which Norse god was “the best.”

Chris R.

Chris, aka The Aussie Nomad, is a (kinda) former blogger who does all the tech and development work for the website. He keeps it running, fixes any errors you find, and deals with my constantly changing design desires. In his own words:

I’m living the good life in Western Australia by the beach with my amazing family. I got into the world of blogging after quitting my job, backpacking around Europe and, as all Aussies do, undertaking a working holiday in the UK. Like all of us who travel and fall in love with it, nobody wants to go home afterwards.

That adventure got me into creating a travel blog many years ago, which is how I first came to know Matt. I have since repurposed my IT skills from my old life and formed my own business to help out other bloggers with their websites.

13 Facts about Me

I love Belgian beer (and I even married a Belgian).

I’ve worked with Matt the longest out of anyone here. (Take that team!)

I took off to backpack Europe when I was 29.

I’m an advocate for Vegemite and believe all visitors to Australia must try this national treasure.

One of my favorite activities is to take a long road trip, especially with family and friends.

I have no idea how four-way stop signals in the U.S.A. don’t all end up as accidents.

I do not drink Fosters. It’s a terrible beer. No one in Australia actually drinks it.

I like to think of myself as an amateur photographer.

I failed kindergarten as I wouldn’t say goodbye to the teacher.

My first job was working in a supermarket.

I can’t sleep on a plane – no matter how long the flight is.

I can name every Thomas the Tank Engine character thanks to my son.

I don’t drink coffee or get people’s love for it. Tea all the way!

Raimee

Raimee is the newest team member and does all our social media. She schedules posts, tweaks my terrible photos so they look good on Instagram, builds our content calendar, and creates all our quote & Pinterest graphics! In her own words:

When I was just 14 years old, I took my first international trip to Honduras and Belize with my family. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on experiencing new cultures, connecting with people from all walks of life, and learning about myself and the world through the power of travel! After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing from Michigan State University and four years as a digital marketing specialist, I realized that corporate life was not for me. My insatiable need to experience the world beyond a desk led me to search for a job-related to travel. I’ve followed this blog for many years, and now I get to work for it remotely while I strategize, manage, and report on the social media accounts — and I love every second of it!

13 Facts about Me

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I’ve read each book at least 10 times, and, if I told you how many times, I’ve watched each of the movies, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I once “hung out” with Daniel Radcliffe at a Red Wings game in Detroit, and actually kept my cool the entire time.

Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour in London was one of the best days of my life.

My mom was obsessed with the 80’s horror movie Evil Dead directed by Sam Raimi, so she named me after him.

After having visited about 30 countries, Iceland is still my favorite.

My biggest travel dream is to take a road trip around New Zealand!

The most fun I’ve had on a trip was on my first solo backpacking trip through Europe when I using Couchsurfing.

I used to play the saxophone.

I conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff in Croatia — twice!

I love languages and was close to being fluent in German during college.

I’m terrified of flying.

In another life, I would have been a film director/producer. Maybe some day!

My favorite number is 13.

Nomadic Matt

And, finally, there’s me. You probably know a lot about me after nine and half years of blogging (sometimes I forget how long it’s been), but here’s a quick refresh:

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until 2004. That trip changed my life and opened me up to the possibilities the world had to offer. One year later, I went to Thailand, where I met five backpackers who inspired me to quit my job and travel the world. In 2006, I left for a yearlong backpacking trip — and have been “nomadic” ever since.

13 Facts about Me

I love politics as much as I love travel and will debate for the joy for it.

I love to cook — and I’m kinda good at it too!

When I was in high school, I was my state’s champ in “Magic: the Gathering.” I know — super nerdy, right? It got me a free trip NYC with my friend (who came in number two!).

I always worry about the future and often use my time back home to develop skills needed for the Zombie Apocalypse. Shout-out to my prepper friend Vanessa for teaching me about seeds!

I once met Paul Giamatti on the streets of NYC and he was as grumpy as I imagined.

I am an unabashed Taylor Swift fan and can’t wait for her new album!

Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor, and I’ve seen The Usual Suspects twenty times.

I believe aliens exist. It’s mathematically impossible they don’t.

I’m terrified of flying.

I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party.

Both sides of my family came through Ellis Island and you can see their names on the wall where they list all the immigrants.

I used to be the head of a program by the Massachusetts Sierra Club that promoted energy efficiency.

I went to college to be a high school history teacher.

***Also, I’d like to acknowledge our part-timers too: Candice, who helps with admin and research; Richard, our fearless copyeditor (whose efforts I often ruin by changing posts last minute); Keith, our design genius; Brice and Julie, our user experience gurus; and Courtney, who keeps our charity, FLYTE, up in the air with her executive directing wizard ways!

So there you have it! The Nomadic Matt team! It’s weird to think this blog I started to simply be online résumé for freelance jobs now requires eleven people to run. I always thought the more systems, automation, products, and passive income I set up, the easier it would be. I could just sit on a beach. But it seems the more we do, the more we create, the more projects I tell the team we’re taking on, the more help we require. I guess that is the nature of the beast but I would have it no other way. I love what we do here. We help a lot of people realize their dreams.

And a guy couldn’t ask for better co-workers to help make that happen.

The post Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Travel Blog – Nomadic Matt's Travel Site http://ift.tt/2w7dY8V via IFTTT

[peterdeep]

From tech and coding to design to fixing bugs getting readers books when downloads fail to scheduling social media or running the forums, it takes a village to run this website. I simply couldn’t run the website, write, travel, eat, sleep, or anything in between if I didn’t have the support and help of an amazing group of people – and I think it’s time you formally met them all! So, without further ado, here’s team Nomadic Matt:

Erica

Erica has been working for me for over three and a half years and is my director of global operations i.e. right hand woman. She keeps this ship afloat. In her own words:

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Virginia. During a quarter-life crisis at age 21, I chose to finish my last year of college on an adventure in Qatar! From that moment on, my life revolved around traveling cheaply with the money I earned from waitressing. That budget got me to teach English in Isaan, Thailand, and South Korea; farm on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; and volunteer in rural Zambia. At age 26, I returned home to Connecticut, determined to get a job in travel. Soon after, I met Nomadic Matt at a travel meet-up in NYC, and the rest is history.

I whole-heartedly believe that traveling makes friends of strangers, and the more friends there are in the world, the more peace there is in the world.

13 Facts about Me

At 15, I helped build a schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

Living in a termite clay hut without electricity or running water in Zambia for six months was probably one of the most trying (and simple), exciting (and boring), and perspective-shifting experiences of my life.

I’ve cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, twice!

I once hunted for possums on the island of St. Vincent with a bunch of Rastafarians. We caught four and made soup.

In Costa Rica, I stayed at in a sustainable living community called Rancho Mastatal, where I learned how to farm yuca, make beer out of turmeric, and build a house out of cob.

When I was 15, John Stamos kissed my cheek after I saw him in Cabaret on Broadway.

I taught English in South Korea for 14 months and was able to easily save enough money for 21 months of non-stop travel.

This music video I made used to be one of the top hits when you searched for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Zambia, my friend and I were given a live chicken as a present. We were vegetarians, so we traded it for a pair of second-hand jeans at the market.

I got 19 people (the students and teachers on the FLYTE trip) into an airport lounge for free. I think that’s a travel hacking record!

I’ve attended a Qatari princess’s wedding sporting mink eyelashes.

In Korea, I dated a guy who spoke no English and we basically communicated through drawing pictures and reciting American rap lyrics.

I think Matt spends a majority of his day editing out my exclamation points from my research, emails, newsletters, etc! (Matt says: This is very true.)

Christopher O.

Chris joined the team as the part-time manager of the forums back in 2015. Since then, he’s branched out into the Superstar Blogging program and our soon-to-be-launched community platform, Nomadic Network. In his own words:

I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and spent my formative years listening to punk rock, reading Star Wars novels, and generally getting up to no good. After ditching my lifelong plan to be a lawyer, I decided to give travel a try. I headed to Costa Rica on a whim and have never looked back! It wasn’t long after that trip that I took a break from university (where I was studying history and theatre) to move to a monastery in Japan in 2007. I’ve more or less been wandering around ever since. Some notable adventures include taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and Mongolia, walking the Camino de Santiago twice, and going on a 10-day road trip around Iceland with complete strangers. When I’m not traveling, I live in Sweden and can be found reading, writing, or struggling to improve at chess.

13 Facts about Me

I spent nine months living in Buddhist monasteries.

I lived in a tent for a year.

I was once stalked by a jaguar and chased by a crocodile — on the same trip.

I haven’t had alcohol in 13 years.

I’ve broken all my fingers and toes, and my nose three times, and I’ve fractured both my wrists.

I worked on an organic farm for 11 years.

I co-owned a restaurant in Canada.

I grew up next door to Avril Lavigne.

I once ate an entire nine-course meal (I was the only person there to eat everything!).

I played inter-mural Quidditch in high school and was our team’s Seeker.

I have a Star Wars tattoo.

I’ve been vegan for 12 years.

I have a scar from a fight that broke out over which Norse god was “the best.”

Chris R.

Chris, aka The Aussie Nomad, is a (kinda) former blogger who does all the tech and development work for the website. He keeps it running, fixes any errors you find, and deals with my constantly changing design desires. In his own words:

I’m living the good life in Western Australia by the beach with my amazing family. I got into the world of blogging after quitting my job, backpacking around Europe and, as all Aussies do, undertaking a working holiday in the UK. Like all of us who travel and fall in love with it, nobody wants to go home afterwards.

That adventure got me into creating a travel blog many years ago, which is how I first came to know Matt. I have since repurposed my IT skills from my old life and formed my own business to help out other bloggers with their websites.

13 Facts about Me

I love Belgian beer (and I even married a Belgian).

I’ve worked with Matt the longest out of anyone here. (Take that team!)

I took off to backpack Europe when I was 29.

I’m an advocate for Vegemite and believe all visitors to Australia must try this national treasure.

One of my favorite activities is to take a long road trip, especially with family and friends.

I have no idea how four-way stop signals in the U.S.A. don’t all end up as accidents.

I do not drink Fosters. It’s a terrible beer. No one in Australia actually drinks it.

I like to think of myself as an amateur photographer.

I failed kindergarten as I wouldn’t say goodbye to the teacher.

My first job was working in a supermarket.

I can’t sleep on a plane – no matter how long the flight is.

I can name every Thomas the Tank Engine character thanks to my son.

I don’t drink coffee or get people’s love for it. Tea all the way!

Raimee

Raimee is the newest team member and does all our social media. She schedules posts, tweaks my terrible photos so they look good on Instagram, strategizes our content calendar, and creates all our quote graphics! In her own words:

When I was just 14 years old, I took my first international trip to Honduras and Belize with my family. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on experiencing new cultures, connecting with people from all walks of life, and learning about myself and the world through the power of travel! After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing from Michigan State University and four years as a digital marketing specialist, I realized that corporate life was not for me. My insatiable need to experience the world beyond a desk led me to search for a job-related to travel. I’ve followed this blog for many years, and now I get to work for it remotely while I strategize and manage the social media accounts and reporting — and I love every second of it!

13 Facts about Me

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I’ve read each book at least 10 times, and, if I told you how many times, I’ve watched each of the movies, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I once “hung out” with Daniel Radcliffe at a Red Wings game in Detroit, and actually kept my cool the entire time.

Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour in London was one of the best days of my life.

My mom was obsessed with the movie Evil Dead by Sam Raimi and named after him.

After having visited about 30 countries, Iceland is still my favorite.

My biggest travel dream is to take a road trip around New Zealand!

The most fun I’ve had on a trip was on my first solo backpacking trip through Europe when I using Couchsurfing.

I used to play the saxophone.

I conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff in Croatia — twice!

I love languages and was close to being fluent in German during college.

I’m terrified of flying.

In another life, I would have been a film director/producer. Maybe some day!

My favorite number is 13.

Nomadic Matt

And, finally, there’s me. You probably know a lot about me after nine and half years of blogging (sometimes I forget how long it’s been), but here’s a quick refresh:

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until 2004. That trip changed my life and opened me up to the possibilities the world had to offer. One year later, I went to Thailand, where I met five backpackers who inspired me to quit my job and travel the world. In 2006, I left for a yearlong backpacking trip — and have been “nomadic” ever since.

13 Facts about Me

I love politics as much as I love travel and will debate for the joy for it.

I love to cook — and I’m kinda good at it too!

When I was in high school, I was my state’s champ in “Magic: the Gathering.” I know — super nerdy, right? It got me a free trip NYC with my friend (who came in number two!).

I always worry about the future and often use my time back home to develop skills needed for the Zombie Apocalypse. Shout-out to my prepper friend Vanessa for teaching me about seeds!

I once met Paul Giamatti on the streets of NYC and he was as grumpy as I imagined.

I am an unabashed Taylor Swift fan and can’t wait for her new album!

Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor, and I’ve seen The Usual Suspects twenty times.

I believe aliens exist. It’s mathematically impossible they don’t.

I’m terrified of flying.

I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party.

Both sides of my family came through Ellis Island and you can see their names on the wall where they list all the immigrants.

I used to be the head of a program by the Massachusetts Sierra Club that promoted energy efficiency.

I went to college to be a high school history teacher.

***Also, I’d like to acknowledge our part-timers too: Candice, who helps with admin and research; Richard, our fearless copyeditor (whose efforts I often ruin by changing posts last minute); Keith, our design genius; Brice and Julie, our user experience gurus; and Courtney, who keeps our charity, FLYTE, up in the air with her executive directing wizard ways!

So there you have it! The Nomadic Matt team! It’s weird to think this blog I started to simply be online résumé for freelance jobs now requires eleven people to run. I always thought the more systems, automation, products, and passive income I set up, the easier it would be. I could just sit on a beach. But it seems the more we do, the more we create, the more projects I tell the team we’re taking on, the more help we require. I guess that is the nature of the beast but I would have it no other way. I love what we do here. We help a lot of people realize their dreams.

And a guy couldn’t ask for better co-workers to help make that happen.

The post Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.