#okay. rant over. back to our usually scheduled program.

[margridarnauds]

Alright, now for the ranty all-caps take on selkies and what they've evolved into on here, for the sake of my temper:

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? THESE STORIES WERE A WAY TO TALK ABOUT THE DANGERS OF MARRYING OUTSIDE YOUR IMMEDIATE LOCAL AREA, A WAY OF TALKING ABOUT ABUSE AND LONELINESS AND UNHAPPY MARRIAGES AND WHERE THE CHILDREN FALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS AND YOU ARE TURNING THEM INTO SOME UWU WHOLESOME THING? NO. THE FISHERMEN IN THE STORIES *STEAL* THEIR COATS BECAUSE THEY ARE ENTITLED INCELS. WHILE THE FUNCTION OF THE SELKIE STORIES COULD VARY FROM TELLER TO TELLER, THEY ARE PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS USED TO DISCUSS UNHAPPY MARRIAGES BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE FOR. DISCUSSING UNHAPPY MARRIAGES IN A SOCIETY WHERE DIVORCE AND SEPARATION WERE IMPOSSIBLE. FUCK OFFFFFFF. STOP REMOVING THEM FROM THEIR CONTEXT OF RURAL IRELAND/SCOTLAND.

[elsfavor1te]

Okokok so I just saw the sleepover thing but literally I have so much to tell you!!! Sooo I have gotten a couple more requests so I might be writing more!! And so that date that I went on all of his friends keep treating my like a literal princess omg. They all whenever we are out show the upmost respect like it is so good. And also I see him tomorrow 🤭🤭. But onto my fictional crushes I’m gonna just lost some of the headcannons I’ve been obsessed w recently

Ellie-

• after she had a hard day she rides ur face or thigh just to get her anger out

• she has you in doggy and then she bends over and pulls you up so your back is against your chest and just plays with your clittttt- like yes pls

•sometimes if one of y’all are sad she fucks you in the spoon position and it’s all sappy with whispered reassurances 🤭🤭

Abby-

•she brings back shit for you from patrolling like one time she found a figurine for your favorite show character and y’all put it on your dresser

• she brings you to the gym with her to just watch her and get horny

•y’all fuck constantly like literally non stop. Morning. Evening. Night

That’s all the hc’s but ok now back to real life how are youuuu? I need to know if your doing ok because I remember you being stressed abt AW so just rant to me. Stay happy, healthy, and take care of yourself! ❤️❤️

hihi!! i’m super excited to see what you write next, i may send a request or two in myself if i remember. aaaaaa!! you literally deserve no less, i’d have a few choice words for them >:|. can’t wait to hear all about tomorrowww, fingers crossed it goes well, love.

THE HEADCANONS DJDHDISKOXSO

first of all i can totally see sub!ellie coming home to you after a hard day all pouty and wanting nothing more than to be relaxed but she just can’t unwind.. untillll you pet your thigh and tell her to use you. (I WANNA WRITE ABOUT THIS SO BAD)

second of all imagine waking up with ellie and it leads to her having your thigh in her grasp and plowing into you gently from behind, whispering sweet nothings

“my sweet girl, hm?” “moan for me baby, don’t hold back.”

AND ABBY!,!?!(&:’hrospsidkwlszk

she totally brings you little trinkets that she finds outside of the walls. she’ll see it and be so excited to bring it to you and see your reaction, trying her best not to show it to avoid any shit from manny.

hell yea she does, she’ll be all humble and nonchalant about it like she isn’t lifting your body weight with ease. if she’s feeling extra cocky she would ask you to sit on your back while she does pushups, grinning when you cover your face with your hands bein all cute and shy.

DUH. she’s huge, hella stamina, no breaks. (unless you need ofc)

okay back to our regularly scheduled program!! besides school being stressful as usual, i’m okay. i finished the AW chap but i still have to go back and edit it. i feel like i’m rushing on some parts but going to slow on others. i don’t know i’m trying my best tho. thank you for coming and talking to be hannah baby <33 love ya. (everyone go follow her!! best person ever and her writing is chefs kiss.)

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

Hey sorry if this is weird but are you doing okay? I hope ur day is nice and ur super cool and write great fanfics!

Hi! No, it's not weird at all, ha. Thanks for checking in! And I'm glad you like my fics!! :-D

(Warning, mini rant up ahead. It's about things that happened months ago, but still. Warning. It also gets a bit long and heavy in places, since this is a bit of a loaded question for me these days, ha.

Also, I'm putting a read more, since this OF COURSE got way too long 😅)

Before the read more, though, I just wanted to say that tomorrow is my birthday and I'm turning 26, which is both terrifying and exciting! :-D Also I like colors. :-)

Now, to answer the question... ehhh. It's complicated. If you'd asked me this back in October/November, my answer would have been a very firm "NO." I was... not doing good back then. It was a mix of things, like an upcoming internship I was terrified of, and my half done thesis that I was constantly putting off, but mainly it was an absolutely TERRIBLE sub supervisor at work who kept changing our schedule then getting mad at me when I didn't know what was going on and got stressed out at the change (since I'm the kind of person who needs a schedule or I flounder). For example, she always wanted us to prep snack for the kids before the program started (I'm an after school teacher), but she wouldn't buy the snack until the day of, and then she'd be late, getting there maybe 5 minutes before program started, which is when I needed to be in my classroom, since I was by myself with like... 20 1st-5th graders. She straight up hurled abuse at me and my coworker because of it. She also got mad at me when I refused to do things that would put myself or the kids in danger, such as leaving me alone with 30+ UTK (preschool)-5th grade students running around a field that was 5 minutes from our usual classroom and at least 2 minutes away from the next adult, all while I was recording the laps they were all running, something that was already a challenge with two people and that I struggled with doing in a good day since I'm an awful multi-tasker.

Now, one thing to note about me is that I take great pride in my work. I've worked with kids for over 5 years now, and have been in a graduate program to become a school counselor for almost 3 years. I KNOW how to be around kids. I am very competent at my job and the kids all respect me (I hope) and I care very, very deeply for all the kids, especially the "older" kids I work with. But I legit wanted to quit multiple times during the 3 months she was my supervisor. If I didn't know she was only a sub, I would have. My coworker did, and while the supervisor wasn't the only reason, it was part of it. I had 2 panic attacks at work alone, struggling not to cry in front of the children, which I never want to do because I don't want to worry them. And of course the supervisor got mad that I had my coworker get the kindergarteners (which, by the by, IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE MY JOB SINCE I WORK WITH THE OLDER STUDENTS, but she forced me to do it anyway, making me late starting in my classroom, which stressed me out more) during one of my panic attacks. Oh, and she also made me walk to the front of the school to pick up kindergarteners (which is a long walk from our classrooms) despite me saying that I had SEVERELY hurt my foot and that walking on it hurt. And she claimed I didn't do my work, despite the fact that I was the only one who was doing my job, it was her who wasn't, which made me unable to do mine.

So... yeah. The beginning of the school year last year was awful, but it got really bad in October, when my coworker quit and I was left alone with this supervisor for a month and a half. And if anyone is curious, I did actually complain to her supervisor after she made me walk on my injured foot and said I "wasn't doing my job" JUST BECAUSE I COULDN'T WALK, EVEN THOUGH I OFFERED TO PICK UP THE UTK STUDENTS INSTEAD. But while her supervisor was very apologetic while I was talking to her, literally nothing happened. Not even an apology. And I'm still working with this woman, though she's not my supervisor anymore. She's the assistant supervisor, but she's been subbing at other schools recently, so I've not had to see her much. Ironically, when she is around, I get along fine with her. That's one of the reasons those several months hurt so much; we were kind of friends beforehand. And we're kind of friends again. I've never been one to hold grudges, luckily. But that doesn't make it hurt less. Obviously, since it's still bothering me several months later. (Oh, and side note, but this supervisor was in her mid to late 30's. So, it's not like she's young and didn't know better.)

But that was months ago. And once my usual supervisor came back (who I'm also friendly with, and who is FAR more competent than the sub) things got a lot easier. I still have my internship to worry about, which is it's own brand of stress, but things have calmed down a lot since then. Not as good as it was before, but... I'm getting there. Oh! Another thing that helped was that I finally finished my final project/thesis, which had been a source of stress for months, since I was almost 6 months late to starting and even more to finishing the project, the whole thing with my sub supervisor making it all worse. But I finished it and turned it in last month, and my professor said I did really well and that I should be proud. I was terrified it was awful since I struggled so hard, and it was so relieving to know that it was good and that I'm done.

Also! Like I said earlier, it's my birthday tomorrow! I'm turning 26, which is... a weird number. Far more than I ever expected. Not because I thought I'd die, no. But just... I never really thought this far ahead as a teen, you know? I was so focused on getting through college, and then grad school, that the passage of time kind of got all wonky. I'm also a little nervous, since my last two birthdays have... sucked. A lot. Last year my dad's appendix burst right after my birthday dinner and he spent several hours in the hospital waiting area, none of us knowing what was wrong with him. And then, after we learned what was wrong, we were worried he would die from sepsis or a complication with the surgery, since my dad is a larger man and is not the healthiest. And the year before we learned we had mold in the wall between my and my brother's bedroom, so we'd have to move out a week later for at least 3 weeks while they fixed it. Which was terrifying, since the reason we had to leave our old apartment was because of mold. They sprayed some mold killer that my mom was horribly allergic to, so we had to move abruptly, and we were all terrified we'd have to abruptly move in the middle of the year, when rent everywhere in my area is stupidly high. We have a good rate where we currently are, since we've lived here 15 years, but anywhere else...? Yeah.

This ended up longer than intended... but I think anyone who follows me here knows to expect that when asking me a simple question by now, ha. Ultimately I'm doing... alright. Not great, not terrible, but... okay. Basically, I was treading water before, but now I'm holding onto a life preserver, if that makes sense. Out of immediate danger, but at risk of falling if things get worse again.

If all goes well, though, I will be done with my grad program by April, and then I will be going on a sort of graduation cruise with my parents during Spring Break, then in May I'm going to Japan with my brother, as a dual graduation, 30th birthday celebration for him (his birthday is March 10th, but he didn't want to go to Japan in March since the weather isn't great. And he didn't want to go in April because it's busy with Golden Week and cherry blossom season). I've been actually planning and budgeting this trip, which is exciting, since I have a lot of cool things planned and I really hope the trip goes as well as I'm hoping it will. I also hope I might be able to find some Danganronpa things while there, since it is more popular in Japan, I think? Not sure if there will be merch for it, since it is older, and I honestly don't know if it was that big in Japan, but I can hope, ha. I'm also excited for all the Nintendo and Pokémon things, since I love Nintendo and Pokémon.

Now, I should end this here or I'll be talking all day, ha. Sorry for the wall of text, but I've not really spoken about any of this on here, since it was just... not easy. But it's getting better. And the fact I'm writing again showcases that. I'm more than halfway done with my next chapter of my Bowuigi fic, Luigi and the Beast, which I feared I was done with for good. I don't know if I'll keep writing after this chapter, but writing anything after months of anxiety and writer's block is amazing.

Finally... thanks for checking in. And I'm glad you like my fics! If it isn't obvious by now, I have a lot of anxiety surrounding my writing, so I'm really glad that people do enjoy it. ^-^

[a-really-good-lawyer-abandoned]

Random Daredevil (TV) thought: it's always struck me as so odd that Karen has a car. As does Ben and, IIRC, Foggy (in season 3).

When I lived in NYC, the only person I knew who had a car was my friend who really only kept it for when she'd drive out to Long Island to visit her parents. I'd go with her to see mine if we happened to go out at the same time, but usually I took the LIRR out. And even when I was living on the island I took the LIRR in. A lot of my NYC friends didn't even have licences - those who did grew up either outside the city like me or at least outside Manhattan.

And my friend ended up hating having the car, because dealing with opposite side parking days is such a pain, especially when it snows and the plows come by and half bury all the cars so you have to dig it out to move it. And lot of times she had to park ten blocks away because nothing was closer, and this was in Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) just 2 blocks from the water, so it was a more residential, low traffic area.

Why anyone would keep a car in Manhattan I just can't fathom. I could maybe see why season 3 Foggy would assuming he was making real bank so could afford the astronomical costs of private parking, but damn.

I feel like we see the characters take a lot of cabs, too, even when they're low on funds, and I know shows set in NYC tend to underplay the crowds and costs, but cabs are expensive, man. Everyone I knew (and I) only sprung for a cab when we were either 1. Too plastered, or 2. We were all going to the same place so we could split it. Even then, we had no problem walking from Union Square to our usual bar on 9th and C.

And taking at least an hour to go anywhere by subway was just the accepted norm since we all lived in outer boroughs, and if it was pouring or freezing we just dealt. Subway service can be scant in the middle of the night, but that just meant waiting however long (45 min, an hour) on the platform. NYC is one of the few places in the states with 24/7 public transit, so that's what we used.

Hell, part of why I decided not to move back to the city when I stopped working is because I know I'd never afford cabs everywhere, and the city's way too inaccessible for wheelchair users who need to leave their neighborhood often like I would for myriad doctor appointments.

Also, last point: Hell's Kitchen ain't that big. And unless someone has a mobility issue, pretty much everyone I ever met in the city considered anything up to about 15 or 20 blocks 'walk it' distance. And yet all that cab taking in the show?

Okay, petty rant over, back to our regularly scheduled programming ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[saundraswriting]

Need Some TLC Chapter 5: Groceries

SUMMARY: Steve and Bucky decide to step in for your health and a third conspirator joins the ranks

WARNINGS:None

Masterlist // Previous // Next

You stood looking at your front door for a moment or two before smiling and shaking you head. Glancing around, you noticed that your kitchen was clean, but the living room needed tidying up and the bathroom, your bedroom and laundry needed finished. "No time like the present." You muttered to yourself, deciding the living room would be a good start and quickest, you got to work. You straightened the throw blankets and small pillows and cushions. the knick-knacks were organized and DVD's were put away, in their proper cases. you bagged up all the trash and recycling and moved on to the next room.

Laundry was started once more, the bathroom scrubbed and you changed your sheets in your room. You cleaned up the dirty clothes in your room, both you not scrub hamper and scrub hamper, and gathered the old dishes and long-dismissed wrappers and protein shake bottles. You put away all the laundry in your clean laundry basket and dusted your hands off. "Done! That's it!" You cheered to yourself. You transferred laundry once more and got a few things ready for work and meals for the next few days. The clock read 8:00 PM. You had near 20 hours until you had to go back to work again, and your apartment was clean and safe and welcoming again, not the pigsty it was hours ago.

'Watch a movie? or Settle in early?' You thought to yourself. As you looked between your TV and bedroom door a buzz in your pocket distracted you.

'You still up for a pizza and a documentary? We don't want to impose.'  The text was sent by a known contact with the name "Bucky". You changed it to Sgt. Barnes. You thought about it and after everything that had happened today, the walls that had come down and the fire and finally being off, you realized you wanted company. 'Yeah, I can go to bed once we are done. Won't be too much later than usual.' You thought.

'Yeah. Come on over! Both of you, you have a key.' You texted him back.

"I nor Steve would abuse this privilege. We won't use our keys willy-nilly."Sargent Barnes replied.

'I only meant that you could let yourselves in. I know you won't abuse it. Jeez, didn't mean to offend your delicate sensibilities.' You send your message with a few smiles to not offend.

'I will be no more offended than you when I tell you that we already have pizza and am currently trying to get into your apartment.'  He replied.

 'Confident?'  you texted back.

"Yeah, a little. Can we watch and ocean documentary? With Attenborough? Please?" Sargent Barnes asked pushing his way through the door, keys slipping into his pocket.

"Yeah, I have a Blue Planet on Blu-Ray and with my TV it is almost like being there. Where did you learn to text? Not to bad Sargent." You sassed at him grabbing plates and cups on the counter, Sargent Barnes brought over the pizza while Captain Rogers looked for Blue Planet in your expansive collection.

I love this documentary. I just turned it on this morning when I got home to listen to, but I fell asleep too quick. Also after dinner cause it late-ish and I want to get a good night's rest, I am going to take my sleep aides. Just some melatonin. I want to be ready for my next stretch." You told the men in your living room. Captain Rogers and Sargent Barnes looked at you, brows furrowed and lips pursed.

"More meds? Is that a good idea?" Captain Rogers paused loading the first disc.

"Melatonin is naturally produced, I am only boosting my supply a little bit. The Advil will help with the sore legs and back I am sure to get. I want to relax cause I have some aide shifts coming up. I always hurt more after aide shifts." The three of you settled with your pizza and drinks.

"Aide work? What is that?" Sargent Barnes asked.

"Yeah, I am a registered nurse. But my job includes helping the aides-or rather patient care techs as they are called now-but sometimes there are not enough aides scheduled for a shift, usually the evening shift, and I will fill in. Aides or PCT's help with the activities of daily living, toileting and dressing and rehab and bandage changing and the like. I personally like doing both jobs cause it makes me appreciate what they do more and help connect with my patients on a deeper level." You explained. Not many nurses shared you opinion, thinking aides and PCT's were below them, they didn't realize that many programs and curriculums required clinical hours before and during the programs to be accepted. Most aides and PCT's were nurses-in-training.

"Oh. So with the short-staffing you really have to do everything huh? That is insane." Captain Rogers' awe was heard in his tone.

"Nope, When I go in for a nursing shift, I have 26 Patients and my 2-5 aides can have 13-15 patients. Also it builds up aide/nurse loyalty and report. You all know what each others knows and needs to keep track off and become a better team for it, give better care for it. It makes me better and them better." You were firm in your opinion, eyes lit with a determination and fire the men did not often see. They could tell this is a fight you have fought before.

"Does not everyone agree with you? That all makes prefect sense to me and Steve. Why would people not agree?" Bucky asked, hesitant.

"NO! They don't. I have too many aides and nurses come through my unit with this...this...chip on their shoulder. Like they are owed something for picking this job. We all work shitty hours and weekends and holidays. We all miss birthdays and parties and recitals. No one is missed for that, especially in healthcare. I don't get how you can go through schooling and testing and lectures and labs and still come out of this expecting something that you won't get. How can you start this career without knowing what you are getting into? Or staying in this field knowing what it is? You are to help people, They don't want to be here any more than you do. I'm sorry, we get paid well but not that well that the money can overcome the cancelled dates and missed appointments." You were ranting wildly, hands waving and hair flying. Bucky and Steve were in total agreement. They did share a look of confusion and empathy, they were unware of your temper that was hidden under all the pleasantness. You noticed and calmed down significantly. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I was ranting. You can start the show. if you need anything, help yourself." You shimmied down deeper into the couch, eyes blinking blearily at the TV.

"No! it is fine. I like seeing you open up to us. You are in the right. We get it too, not like we have great hours either." Captain Rogers said. You blinked at him and smiled. "If you fall asleep we'll close up for you. Okay?" He said it like a question but you knew it was a statement. The men turned their focus to the documentary and knew that for now, you had lost their attention.

You only paid half attention to the program. The warmth of your blanket and apartment, the relief in having it clean and the silent company of people in a shared space lulled you quickly to a fugue state. Partially formed thoughts swept across your mind but disappeared before they fully formed. Thoughts about your schedule and patients; should you make more meals? The fear of a missed alarm pulled you to awareness enough to check you phone.

Minutes passed. The episode ended. Another one started. You still stare unseeingly into the TV, blinks and breaths slowing and lengthening. The calm narration and soft spoken comments from your friends easing your muscles even more.

You fall asleep between one breath and the next, succumbing to you body's demands with one last thought about packing a lunch for tomorrow.

"Bucky looked over to see you curled up on the couch, quiet and still-pardon your rhythmic breathing. "She's asleep. Finally. I am going to put her to bed in a little bit. She needs to sleep. I looked in her fridge, she didn't have much. What little bit she had, she probably meal-prepped it. She neglects herself too much." Bucky said. He was so worried, over the time of knowing them they'd seen your weight drop and skin pale.

"I don't know. We could order some groceries. Have them delivered using Tony's service? I can handle him afterwards. You can cook like a pro, we can freeze it and meal prep for her." Steve suggested. He saw Bucky's hesitance. He shook his head and sighed. "Buck. Please do it. I know for certain she wants someone who will take care of her, and you want someone to take care of. She has been alone too long. You can change that. I will handle Tony. I told you earlier, do something, do anything. This is both." Steve continued.

Bucky smirked knowingly. "You'll handle Tony alright. You tell me to move but you freeze every time he comes near you." Bucky lost his smirk. "I guess this is something I can do for her." Bucky picked up his phone and put a call into the grocery service that stocked the Avengers' Tower and Compound and their private places. They took calls at all times to accommodate their unusual clients. He ordered tons of meats and veggies, pasta, dairy products, deli things, and junk foods too. He ordered and ordered and ordered. He wanted enough to make enough food for three meals and two snacks for two weeks. He also ordered plastic containers for all the meals and freezer. He billed Tony and gave the address for Your apartment.

"They said in an hour, they pulled everyone together that was available to make it happen so quickly. I am going to put her to bed that way she doesn't wake up. Then we are going to make her food. and a lot of it. Hopefully it will last for two weeks if not it should be a good start." Bucky addressed Steve but was looking at you. Eyes lightly brushed over your figure worried his gaze would wake you.

"Very well. Let's finish what we started. Go, take your girl to bed." Steve waved his hand in the direction of your room, seeing Buck blush out off the corner of his eye.

Bucky didn't-couldn't-answer to busy trying gently to pick you up and carry you to bed. He maneuvered the corners careful to not bump your head or feet. You didn't even twitch as he laid you on your bed under the covers, glad you already seemed to be in pajamas.

Upon returning to the living room Bucky saw Steve hunched over his phone shoulders tense and cheeks pink. Bucky rolled his eyes in silence, for all his advice Steve was just as nervous when it came to one Anthony Edward Stark-Iron Man. "Make a move, punk. Any move. Isn't that what you told me?" Bucky commented from the other end of the couch. Steve refused to give Bucky the satisfaction of seeing him flinch.

"I always give good advice, but very seldom follow it. I can't make a move on Tony. That is ridiculous. I will admire from afar, that's all I am allowed this time. Besides Tony isn't impressed by me in any sense." Steve was matter-of-fact in his words, a weariness hung around his shoulders.

"Then you are dumber than advertised. Tony is in love with you as you are in love with him. Just do something." With that Bucky left Steve to stew and played the documentary once more. Bucky watched and Steve split his attention between the TV and his phone for the next 45 minutes.

When a light knock sounded on the newly replaced door, Bucky and Steve went on alert. They silently paced to the door, avoided casting a shadow underneath. Bucky pulled a knife from his boot and Steve shook his hands before clenching them into fists. Anyone who wanted to get through to you would have to go through them.

"Delivery for Stark? Grocery delivery." Bucky looked at Steve and shrugged. They could take anyone. Bucky opened the door for the three men that had dollies full of groceries. And Tony Stark.

"Tony? What are you doing here?" Bucky asked while he and Steve moved to help unload the bags. After the dollies were emptied twice each then men bid their goodbyes and left.

"Well you did just bill me almost 500 dollars worth of groceries not 3 days after your last order. Steve told me it was for a friend, and I became intrigued." Tony spoke to Bucky but his eye kept flicking to Steve every other word.

"Her name is Y/N. She is a nurse. Lately she has been putting in too many hours. She is...amazing. She checks in and bakes for us sometimes. She constantly is working on bringing us up to date." Steve said, soft and fond. "We spend a lot of time with her when we are home. She understands what we do and likes us in spite of that. She is family." Tony froze upon hearing Steve talk about you so warmly. The fondness he had for you froze Tony's breath in his chest. He saw the ease in which Bucky and Steve moved through your apartment, Tony almost flinched but withheld. Bucky saw the hopelessness on his face and stepped closer.

"Tony. No. Please." Bucky murmured in his ear. Speaking louder he continued. "Y/N came home today and we hear her talking through the wall about sleep aides and next thing we know the fire alarm is going off and we had to break down her door cause she was sleeping through it. After fixing it and making lunch and her napping, I was griping at Steve who was teasing me, so I ordered this to help her. I wanted to take care of her, cause she doesn't take care of herself." Bucky had seen the thoughts forming in Tony's mind that you were Steve's girl leaving no room for Tony in Steve's heart. Bucky knew those thoughts had to be derailed instantly.

"Yeah, she is our only non-Avenger friend. She is alone and needed someone in her life. Today proved that. I am just glad we were home. I worry about her day and night. She works too much and to the point of illness. I gave her a key today so she had a place to go since she denied having F.R.I.D.A.Y. installed in here. It was the only way she would accept help, she refuses to burden others with her needs." Bucky continued. He could tell as Tony's shoulder relaxed and smiled softened he was successful in his mission.

Steve and Bucky moved about this stranger's apartment like they lived there themselves. Steve was putting groceries away as Bucky began to trim chicken to be frozen. It was strange, seeing these two giant men creep around your things to not disturb you, trying to do what they could to help what little family they had. "Steve can you grab the skillet? and grill pan? I will cook up some burgers and chicken and freeze them to be quicker meals." Bucky asked.

"Here and here. I am working on scalloped potatoes, they should freeze well. I will work on some salad mixes too. We can vacuum seal them to keep longer." Steve said, handing over the pans while looking for the peeler. Tony felt out of the loop but wanted to help this person who had helped his people.

"Does she have a steamer? I can help with steaming some veggies. We can make and freeze whole meals." Tony offered. Bucky looked up and smiled, thankfulness shining in his eyes. Bucky nodded and jerked his chin to a pantry. Tony went and set it up and began cleaning fruit and veggies. "I can make some fruit salad, won't keep well but I can make a small batch. We would look at high protein meals with low carbs and sugar. She is a nurse? She needed long term energy. We can freeze some fruit like pineapple and blueberries and grapes. They taste good frozen. she can snack on them too." Tony suggested. Bucky nodded emphatically. "You are right, Tony, snack are a great idea." Bucky's tension seemed to lessen with Tony's participation.

Tony picked up his phone and made a quick call, putting it down quickly. "I just called in another rush order. If we are going to do this, then we will do this right." Tony started working on cauliflower and broccoli.

"Tony, no. This isn't necessa-" Bucky started. Tony cut him off before he could finish "If she is your family, she is mine. I am more than glad to help." Bucky other took a quick breath and sent a small smile Tony's way. "Quick, we need to keep moving. I want this done before she wakes up." Bucky said.

The three men did just that. Bucky cooked chicken, burger, steak, pork, sausage. He froze it raw and froze it cooked. Bucky dated and labeled everything, even using up what little was in your freezer already. Steve made several casseroles to be frozen and labeled. Tony made his veggies and fruits and snacks and divided them up for easy access. He did freeze some bags with directions for smoothies, for the days when food would be too much effort.  They also kept some food in the fridge for easy grab and go for the next five days, hopefully they made enough food for her.

"Thank you both. I am glad she will wake up to see that this was done for her. She may just come to understand that she is cared for. Let's clean up and then we can hit the hay." He clapped Steve on his back and pulled Tony in for a hug. "Thank you especially Tony. For everything. Oh, and, remember he has loved and lost one already." Bucky pulled away, nothing on his face giving away what he had shared. Bucky looked around and saw your lunchbox and packed a well-balanced lunch and then some before scrawling a quick note and putting it on the fridge. 'We did as you asked and made ourselves at home. Steve, Tony and I took care of lunches for you and groceries. Everything is dated and labeled. If you have questions, call me. See you soon. ~xo Bucky.'

He then helped clean up their mess and shooed Steve and Tony out the door. Bucky made one last lap to ensure everything was off, cleaned and put away. He walked down towards your room and paused, fingers brushing the doorknob. "Go in, chicken." Bucky demanded himself. He crept in and watched you sleep for a small moment. Gathering his courage, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek and again on your forehead. "Good night, my darling. Rest well." He whispered against your skin. He left your room. He left your apartment. He used his key to double check the lock.

Bucky headed to his room and laid down, ignoring Tony and Steve's smug looks. Bucky listened to you faint breathing as he relaxed. Minutes later he was asleep.

Masterlist // Previous // Next

******************************************************************************************* Okay! That is the last update I have ready. Now, I actually have to type everything out. This is going to be fun! I have a Criminal Minds fic that I also have to post on here but should I have it typed out? It is awfully long...I will ruminate on this. Thanks for the support!

[taergalive]

Time to rant about my boss!

Apparently I can't do under the cut on the phone which is dumb so sorry for long post

Had a meeting with my boss today. So annoying honestly. It was 5pm (I leave at 6) when she said she was finally "caught up on her work and ready for a daily meeting." By this point, I had gotten a lot of work done and was in the middle of a few assignments, but figured okay fine. During the meeting, we basically just recapped what we both did, which seems rather redundant but whatever. Then she brought up interim conferences. She vaguely started mentioning something like how would I like to have them organized, etc. I honestly had no idea what she meant, so I told her "I'm not sure what you're asking me." So she starts explaining that it was her impression that the AD should be the one to prep the conferences and schedule them, etc, and she wanted to get my opinion on what would be a good system for me. I wasn't really sure where this was suddenly coming from. This was something I did in the past mind you, but usually was a very low priority task compared to other things. In fact, she has given me a list of what my priorities are now that I'm only doing like 12 hours of admin. Before I could even say anything, she starts going on about how she's getting so burnt out from all the extra work she's been doing and she needs me to help her with these few task and blah blah blah. I was baffled. I really wanted to say "What do you want me to do about it? You cut my hours." But I didn't. Again, she kept going. She started talking about trying to think of a theme for our summer program, something I would be "more enthusiastic about" since last year I didnt seem that "motivated." That threw me off too because I was giving science demos twice a week for the kids. I asked her what she meant because I honestly felt a little hurt about that. She said "Well, you stopped hanging up the quotes and facts around the center." This time I didn't hold back. I was nice, though. I smiled and said, "Most likely because I was teaching so much." "Really?" She said. "You think so?" In the summer, we are open from 9am to 7pm and have students coming in ALL DAY LONG. I had days were I taught 6 hours straight. I was averaging 43-45 hours a week. This floored me. I was like "yes, dont you remember?"

"Well, how much teaching time do you think is a good balance?" She asked. I told her I honesty couldn't give her a number, that it really depends on what other duties I need to get done. That my priorities are alway daily maintenance, payroll, schedule, and student programs. She genuinely didn't seem to understand that teaching takes away time from those tasks. Which annoyed me because I know for a fact I've mentioned it before. In person and in that email. I even told her how at the other center they used to have me tutoring 20 hours a week and still expexted me to get all of my other duties done, which was part of the reason I left. Because they expected me to do 40 hours of admin work in 20 hours. And I had told her that before!

By the time the meeting was over, it was 6:30, so I packed up my stuff and left. I doubt that what I said really got through to her, but I made it clear that I have a list of priorities, things i NEED to do before I can leave for a day, and if she wants to add to that list, fine, but she has to realize the other things come first and if I'm teaching that will eat up my time. I didn't mention the cut hours. I felt it would be too much by that point. I just don't understand how someone who teaches students about reading comprehension and whatnot cannot seem to fathom simple cause-and-effect relationships. Which to me suggests she's either not that smart (which I know she is) or she's purposely not making those connection

[hanatriestowrite]

Conspiracy Mayhem (Hamradio AU)

This took a tad bit longer to make because I’ve been so busy, but here is a little thing got @srarrynightwanderer‘s Hamlet radio AU.

“And we’re back listeners with Hamlet taking up our usual scheduled program to squeeze in another one of his existential hours.”

“Hey!”

With a glare, Hamlet lightly shoved Horatio. Horatio let out a good-natured chuckle at his friend’s daily antics. They had been working together at the local college radio station for a solid year at this point and friends for even longer. Never in a million years would Horatio ever thought that he would be roped into doing something like this. He was never one for the limelight so when Hamlet asked if he wanted to co-host with him, Horatio was certainly caught off guard. He was hesitant at first, but Hamlet looked so excited. It would’ve been cruel for him to say no. 

A pair of headphones comfortably nestled onto his ears, a soft smile played on his lips as he watched Hamlet fire off into one of his many long-winded rants. The sleep-deprived student flailing his arms around violently as if it would help convey his message. 

“As I was saying, I am not saying that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the same people but have you ever seen Ros and Guil both in the same room together before. Honestly listeners, back me up here.”

Horatio rolled his eyes, taking a sip of coffee. This was getting ridiculous at this point. 

“You can’t see him right now, but Horatio is rolling his eyes at me right now,” Hamlet grumbled, slumping into his chair. “Is there anything that you would like to add, oh wise one.” Horatio brought the microphone closer to him and said, “I would like to say, Hamlet, you are definitely taking a nap after this and-” With quick succession, Horatio snatched the cup of coffee from Hamlet’s hand. Luckily not spilling the drink all over the table. And he slid it down the desk to where Hamlet could not reach like he has done time and time again. Hamlet lunged for the essence of his very existence, knocking over everything in his path. Horatio couldn’t help but wince. He did not envy any of the listeners at the moment. 

Hamlet’s head suddenly jerked back, and the headphones around his ears slipped off of his head. With a clatter, they dropped down onto the desk. A string of cursed escaped his lips, but Horatio was too busy laughing to even reach for the censor button. He would just have to apologize to the listeners some other time. 

"Screw you," Hamlet hissed.

Horatio attempted to stifle his laughter. "You know I'm only doing this for your own good," He said in between breaths.

Hamlet pushed himself up and snatched his headphones from the ground with an adorable scowl on his face. 

"That's a load of BS and you know it."

Horatio raised a quizzical brow. "Oh is it?" He asked, deliberately baiting Hamlet, knowingly. 

"Of course it is."

"So you're telling me that trying to convince the listeners and I that Ros and Guil are the same person for a good twenty minutes is something that a rational person would do?"

"I-"

"Especially since we literally had lunch with both of them yesterday."

Hamlet opened his mouth to protest but immediately closed it. He had gotten him there. "That is one occasion," he protested weakly.

"Do you really want to do this right now?" An amused smile quirked on his lips. 

"There is nothing you can use against me," Hamlet said, the tips of his ears reddening. 

Horatio leaned over and flipped a switch. It was his funeral. "Alright listeners, call in prove my point. What other ridiculous conspiracy theories has Hamlet come up this week because of sleep deprivation."

Suddenly red lights began to light up on their phone line. A grin stretched across Horatio's face. "Would you look at that, the phone lines are all lit up."

Hamlet's face contorted into one of betrayal.

"Do you want to do the honors, my lord?"

"Horatio you are making it really hard not to punch that pretty little face of yours."

“You called me pretty, I’m flattered, My lord.”

Hamlet's face had now become a shocking crimson. He quickly pressed one of the buttons and through gritted teeth, he said, "Line five, you are live."

"And I have a story for you."

Horatio yanked the phone line away from Hamlet before he could press the end call button. He wasn’t going to get out of this one. Hamlet buried his face into his hands, dreading what was to come. 

“Laertes if it wasn’t for the law of the land, I would’ve slaughtered you.”

Laughter crackled into their headphone. “You’re skinny ass wouldn’t even be able to lay a finger on me.”

“Laertes, what story do you have for us today?” Horatio smoothly cut in. It wasn’t every day that Horatio would willingly let Laertes go off to tease and/or antagonize Hamlet, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass. 

“Yes, of course, thank you, Horatio.” To apologize in advance Horatio slid the cup of coffee back in Hamlet’s reach. “So I was just minding my own business.” “Sure you were.” Hamlet took a long sip of his coffee. 

“Oh shut up, My Chemical Garbage,” Laertes hissed. “Like I was saying, I was just minding my goddamn business when I just happen to run into one Oliva Dutchess, and she told me that you had spent a good fifteen minutes trying to convince her that Mercutio was a child of the Fae. She told me that apparently, you were saying that his mom was Queen Mab the fairies midwife or some shit like that. Who the fuck is Queen Mab, Hamlet?”

“Queen Mab?” Horatio asked incredulously. He recalled hearing something about a Queen Mab before then it hit him. “From Mercutio’s acid trip?!”

“What the fuck Hamlet?”

“Benvolio told me-”

“Benvolio? You trusted Benvolio MONTAGUE?!”

“Better him than Romeo!”

Laertes paused. “I mean you got me there.”

“Asshole.”

“Bitch.”

“Okay thank you for calling Laertes! See you in history!”

“Yeah, see you.”

The line went dead and Horatio turned to Hamlet with a brow raised. Another line or?

“Okay, okay I get it,” Hamlet grumbled, “Jesus Christ. Now for our regularly scheduled program.” 

“Finally.”

[yourkeeperoftherunners]

You Sound so Good on Radio (RapMon AU)

Plot: AU You’re a DJ at your university’s student-run radio club and were called in to do a sample show last minute for a tour group of potential students. You caught his attention and he knew that he couldn’t go anywhere else. Especially if it meant he could share the airwaves with you at some point.

Rating: PG-13 (Language, implied cheating)

Characters: University Student!Kim Namjoon/Rap Monster x female Reader, University Student/Radio Club President!Kris (EXO-M), University Student/Fellow DJ!Johnny (NCT-127), and mentions of Seokjin and Yoongi (BTS)

Notes: This is an AU setting – all characters, background content, and storyline are fictional! This was an idea I’ve had kicking around in my head inspired by the writer’s personal experience of working in student-run radio shows at school. (It sat on the back burner until I realized it would be a good fit for music lover and brainy student Kim Namjoon.) Y/S/N stands for “your screen name”, Y/E/N is “your ex’s name”, and Y/DJ/N is “your DJ name.”

Happy Birthday Namjoon!

“Can I ask you to do a last minute show?”

“Uhhh maybe,” you drawled as you pressed your phone to your ear, “when?”

He sucked in a sharp breath and forced a smile as he revealed that he needed you to get over to the student radio booth in 40 minutes. Your eyes widened and you changed direction.

“Damn you Kris,” you hissed as you dug around in your bag, briefly checking that you had the essentials. “You’re lucky my next class was canceled – what’s this all about?”

“Potential students tour,” Kris explained. “Sorry Y/N – they threw this on me last minute too. Admissions wanted to show off the student radio program and they wanted a show playing live when the tour came through. I sort of panicked and didn’t know who to ask.”

“You owe me,” you warned him as you made a beeline for the studio, unlocking the door with your ID card. “Are there any rules Admissions set?”

“No profanity because it’s a daytime show, don’t run over into the next scheduled show’s slot…” Kris trailed off, biting his lip. “Um maybe pick some happy tunes or something? I don’t know – just make it seem cool to join radio, okay?”

“I’ll try. Wonder why they care all of sudden,” you droned as you pulled out your laptop and began pulling songs into a playlist.

“How do you take your coffee?” he asked.

“Make it the largest size available and you’re a godsend,” you said before hanging up. You plugged in the cords from the dashboard and began adding in bumpers that would play in between every 3 songs to promote the studio radio station. Complaints aside, radio was a welcome escape for you whenever you wanted a break from the stress of college. Anyone could apply to have a radio program, as long as they showed up for their time slot, followed the radio airwave rules, and attended the radio meetings that took place every other week.

“You’re listening to a special broadcast of Nocturnal Beats, coming to you live and in stereo from the radio station,” you announced into the microphone. “You just heard music from Halsey, a beautiful cover of Adele’s “Hello” by Alice Olivia, and “Skool Luv” by BTS. Speaking of school love, why not show your support for our talented lacrosse team at this Saturday’s game? Game starts at 7 PM, tickets are $7 at the gate…” You tore a glance at the bulletin board nearby to make sure you were covering all of the announcements posted during your talking break. From the corner of your left eye, you spotted a large group of families coming into the building, led by a student tour guide. Satisfied that you covered everything posted, you wrapped up your talking segment as you teased the next few songs coming up in the hour.

“Over here is the student radio booth – all of the programs broadcast are put on by students for students,” the guide said as she gestured to the booth. “Parents and friends are welcome to download the app or live stream it from your computer or WI-fi enabled devices to listen in as well. We have programs running 7 days a week from 7 AM to midnight, ranging from music, talk shows, and we’ve even had a few radio dramas played during the airwaves.”

You avoided the crowd’s gaze as you slotted in a bumper that announced that they were tuned into the student radio site, before blending it out to the next song – a mellow R&B tune from BIGBANG called “Blue”. You pulled the headphones off and switched the mic to off before checking the volume controls and scrolling through the radio instant chat function to answer messages.

js_giraffe: U cheating on me for daytime?

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes as you typed back to Johnny, AKA your friend who hosted a late night rant/talk show on Wednesdays. Occasionally you put in a guest appearance if he needed someone to banter with on the topics of choice for the shows – most people found your dynamic with him hilarious, especially if he tried to switch accents while you called him out for being a loser.

Y/S/N: ha try Kris needed someone to show off for the tour groups.

js_giraffe: O.o The model DJ…

js_giraffe: I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy!

Y/S/N: STFU

Y/S/N: It’s a one-time deal – get over your damn self!

“Now if you follow me, I’ll show you the mailroom,” the tour guide announced as she gestured to a hallway. Most of the families began to follow her to the next room while one young man lingered behind, tilting his head as he watched you switch between answering Johnny’s IMs and queuing more music for the remaining 15 minutes. He glanced over his shoulder at the group and quickly made up his mind to walk over to the glass separating you from him, tapping lightly on it.

You jerked your head up from looking at your laptop screen and held up a finger as you got up, making your way over to the entrance to the booth.

“Hi, may I help you?” you asked as you stuck your head out.

“Oh um ye-yeah!” the young man said. “How is the radio program here? Do you like it?” he asked with a faint accent.

“It’s a lot of fun,” you said slowly with a smile. “I really like it – this is my second year doing it. I started last spring and I’ve been doing it ever since. You can focus on any topic/style of show you want for the most part.” You frowned when you noticed the tour group was long gone.

“Oh I think you um-”

“I’ll find them – no worries,” he replied. He asked you more questions about the studio equipment, scheduling, requirements, etc. before you realized you were at the final 2 minutes of your program.

“Hang on, I need to close out the hour,” you apologized before running back into the station. You slipped the headphones on and turned the mic on, fading out the last song that was playing. “Looks like it’s last call gang – thanks for tuning into this special edition. I’ll catch you at my usual slot Friday night from 10-11 PM. Until then.” You turned off the mic and carefully unplugged your laptop, turning on instrumentals recorded in the station’s dashboard’s memory to fill the void while you packed up. Once you secured your bag on your shoulder, you headed to the door and frowned when you saw the young man was gone.

“So are you crossing this school off your list Joonie?” Yoongi asked his friend over the phone. “I mean, it’s kind of far and you don’t know a lot of English –“

“Actually I think I’m going to apply,” Namjoon replied with a grin as he leaned against the wall. “Campus is nice, professors seem decent, and I like their student life.”

“Wae?! But you can’t leave meeeeeeee!!!” the other male whined. “You’ll be too far away!”

“I think you can survive without me,” Namjoon chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair. “Besides, we can always call or Skype. Plus I’ll be home for the holidays.”

“But you have to apply first,” Seokjin interrupted, taking the phone from Yoongi. “There’s no guarantee this school will take you. Make sure you have back-ups in case.”

Namjoon snorted as he changed his phone to his other ear. He reassured Seokjin that he’d apply to a few local schools back home, just to be safe before hanging up and heading back to the area where the tour started. It was clear in his mind – he was getting in here no matter what.

“Welcome back,” Johnny greeted you as you took a seat in the auditorium beside him.

“Right back at you,” you replied, dropping your bag on the ground. “How was your summer?”

He shrugged and muttered that he split his time between Chicago and South Korea, thanks to his parents’ divorce. You listened as he described the tension during each stay, as both single parents had expressed their true feelings about one another to Johnny.

“Sorry Johnny,” you said with a sympathetic smile, “hey so, are you doing late night again?”

Johnny nodded and you confirmed that you were in again for another late night slot, as it was your favorite time to broadcast. You weren’t forced to be as strict with the profanity during timeslots closer to midnight and it was a fun way to get hyped for the weekend. Because this would be your third year of radio, you’d get first dibs on timeslots. A few days prior to the start of the new semester, you had gotten an e-mail from Kris asking if you wanted your old timeslot back, which you replied you did.

“All right guys! Can I have your attention please?” Kris called out, trying to regain control of the large group of students chattering away. He waited a few minutes before speaking again.

“Welcome to University Radio Club,” he began, “if you’re here because you’re taking radio as an elective or just because you want to, you’re in the right place. We meet every other week here at 9 PM – attendance is mandatory for those taking this as an elective. If you are brand new to radio, we’ll start taking sign ups for timeslots via e-mail. Please send us your top three choices and we’ll let you know if any are available. Past DJs will get first choice. Any questions so far?”

“The D-bag’s not doing radio anymore, right?” Johnny whispered as he leaned closer to you.

You shrugged, trying to seem indifferent. The “D-bag” in question was your ex, who cheated on you for two sorority chicks during a Greek life party. You swore he purposely chose the timeslot after you so he could saunter in and ruin your good mood with his presence, as his show was after yours for 3 semesters.

“I’ll deal with it like usual,” you muttered as you watched Kris start discussing the history of radio to the students taking this for credit.

“Welcome back to your place for top hits, fresh sounds, and jams to get you in the mood for your weekend – this is Nocturnal Beats!” you said into the mic with a smile. “Hope everyone stayed cool this summer. The bell may have rung but the fun’s never ending – I’ve got some new sounds to share from EXO and Twenty One Pilots so keep it here for this hour.”

Once you switched off the microphone, your phone buzzed with a text from Kris.

Galaxy

I’ll buy you a drink this weekend if you can do a last minute training for the rookie coming in after you.

Sent 10:07 PM

You

Fine.

Sent 10:08 PM

Hang on – rookie? Not Y/E/N?

Sent 10:08 PM

Galaxy

Nah he never answered my e-mail about radio this semester. This guy’s a first year – asked specifically for this slot.

Sent 10:09 PM

Tall, blonde hair in an undercut, name’s Namjoon Kim. He’s doing a rap show.

Sent 10:10 PM

You frowned as you re-read the texts and typed back a simple OK to Kris. Well, you could breathe easy – no asshole ex to deal with this semester. But you were surprised this kid got a prime spot – most first timers weren’t so lucky and would get an afternoon slot or an early morning time. Albeit his radio show content was probably better suited for nighttime versus editing out every curse word and innuendo possible. You’d meet him soon enough.

You shuttled a few IMs to Johnny and tore your gaze away from your laptop to see a tall Asian guy approaching the station, eerily fitting the description Kris texted you. He was busy typing something on his phone as he approached the radio station, walking into the door with a thud.

You blinked as you scrambled to your feet, eyes wide as he staggered back a few steps, wincing and cursing in Korean as he touched his forehead. Without wasting more time, you queued up a few more songs and a bumper before opening the door and checking on him.

“Hey you okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, yeah I’m fine,” he said as he pushed his dark framed glasses up on his nose. He shot you a sheepish smile and put his phone away in his pocket.

You studied him thoughtfully, examining his features. He looked awfully familiar…

“Hey so Y/N right? I don’t know you if you remember me, well I had dark hair last time we met, but um…” he trailed off, a shy smile on his face.

“Hang on, were you the guy who got left behind by the tour group to ask me questions about the radio station?” you recalled as you stepped out of the doorway. “Last semester in mid-March, right?”

He nodded as his smile spread across his face, resulting in the cutest dimples on his cheeks. You blinked as you silently compared the previous image you had of him in your mind to the guy standing before you now. He was cute then but with the blonde color and new haircut, he looked hot. It also sounded like his English had improved and the lingering trace of his accent was barely noticeable. Summer sure was kind to him…

“Wow I didn’t know you got in – congrats!” you replied as you nudged the door open wider, letting him into the station waiting room. “Welcome to university! I can’t believe you decided to take up radio too.”

Namjoon stepped through the doorway and watched as you closed the door to the station. “Well, it’s a funny story,” he began as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “A really chill DJ was doing a special show during my tour visit and she had a really hot voice. I was kind of a loser just staring at her and asking her dumb questions about radio, but she was so patient and really nice. So I felt encouraged to apply – I mean, I liked the classes and the professors too, but hearing this DJ was like the icing on the cake. I wanted to come here and do radio too. Maybe run into her again.”

You ducked your head and smiled, crossing your arms over your chest. “You found me Namjoon,” you replied.

He squared his shoulders and allowed a slightly cocky smile to cross his lips. “Rap Monster. No DJ, just Rap Monster around here.”

You contemplated his moniker and nodded in approval.

“It suits you,” you said. “Well you’ll go live for your first show in 10 minutes – think you’re ready?”

He removed his glasses from his nose and swapped them for a pair of dark wayfarers, pushing them up on his nose.

“Bring it on Y/DJ/N.”

[flanamom]

To Leave, or Not To Leave....

Yesterday afternoon, my two sons (Liam, 10, and Rowan, 8) and I piled in my mother-in-law’s car to go to see the Acapella Jam put on by the local high schools. Rowan just discovered Pentatonix, a group that is famous for singing acapella and having a really cool beat boxer. Rowan has also been very into YouTube, so he had recently had me log into our family account so he could post a video of himself imitating Pentatonix, in particular the beatboxer. I noticed how good he naturally was in catching a beat and imitating sounds. One of my old students saw his YouTube video and sent me an invitation to the Acapella Jam.  She specifically said, “Hey your son Rowan?  He would really like this. You should come!!”  So, we marked our calendars.  

We sat down - Liam by the aisle, then me, Rowan, and the boys’ Mum-Mum -  and a few middle school groups were performing on the stage, prior to the main performances. They were beginning singers, playing around with the harmonies and spitting beats that were slightly to the left and right of the actual rhythm.  Rowan sort of perked his ears up and scooted towards the front of his seat, perching almost. He said to me, “Those guys are kind of good.” I said, “Yeah, they are.” Liam (Rowan’s brother) sat to the left of me, beaming from ear to ear, saying how this group was “SO AWESOME!” in a really emphatic voice, eyes wide with awe.   The middle schoolers left the stage, and the emcee emerged, announcing the official start of the program.  All of the sudden a group called Vocal Point emerged, hushing the crowd into a pulsating silence.  The singers stood in a semicircle, and one voice shattered the silence  - and then all of the voices on stage were one, moving up and down the music scale like rich satin. The background was peppered with the stylish beats of a beatboxer who hummed rhythms with his eyes closed, feeling the music flowing in and out of his soul. His beats were his breaths. I looked over at Rowan, and he sat with his head in his lap, rocking back and forth and side to side. His hands were on his ears and his face was drawn up in distress.

I couldn't tell what he was feeling. Was he in pain?  Was the music hurting him?  Was this his choice, or was this a reflex?  Was he “getting” why we were here - why people like to hear music?  I asked him if he was okay and all he said was,  “I'm hungry,” and then he put his head back down and kept rocking. The applause between the sets sent him driving his fists into his ears, and I asked him if he wanted to leave. He said, “No, but when is the last song?”  I didn’t know what to make of that response.  Is he okay with this?  Does he need a schedule?  Would a program of musical performances have helped?  After a few more songs into the event, he stated that he wanted to go home.  He looked at me, hands cupping his ears, and then leaned over onto my lap.  

As a parent, I'm not sure if I did the right thing.  As his mother, I constantly question myself.  Do I allow him to give into his sensitivity to sound and leave the situation, or do I push him to do what's socially acceptable? Am I hurting him? My mother-in-law sat to the right of Rowan, and she kept looking at me questioningly, asking if he was okay and leaning over to redirect his behavior from time to time.  Should I be disciplining him for this behavior - even though so much of it seemed to be more of a reflex than an intentional desire to disrupt or disrespect?

I didn't know what the right thing was to do, and it’s a stress that’s constantly pressing me. I'm writing this blog post because I imagine parents of autistic children very often work through situations like this alone. We don't know what the right thing to do is, and there's no one to ask but our own intuition.  I feel as if everyone I meet has advice to give.  There are the extremists, those out there who don't believe autism exists. I see them rant on social media outlets, proclaiming that autism is a result of bad parenting. They post videos of children having meltdowns in grocery stores or department stores, and they caption the post with something like, “That boy would be be slapped across the head in my home,” or “This is why my mama spanked me.” I understand the frustration. I've been in situations where children have been misbehaving and parents seem to ignore the behavior, like it's not happening. I have to admit that I have been judgemental before as well - I think the natural tendency is for people to theoretically insert themselves into situations that annoy them, perhaps in an attempt to placate their own egos, proclaiming they could do better. I've heard countless times, “Oh, Rowan is totally capable of understanding what he's doing,” or, “You're going to let Rowan do that?” And I listen.

And usually I'm silent. I don't want to have an argument about my parenting style in front of my son, because that's not my parenting style. To be honest, I’m still in the process of figuring out what my parenting style IS when it comes to Rowan. I feel like I don't know enough. I don't know when to get up and leave a music performance. I don't know when I need to tell him to put his hands over his ears and stick it out.  I don’t know if it’s a bad idea to take him to events in general.   I don't know so many things, and it tugs on me daily. What I do know is that today Rowan reluctantly sat through a performance of young acapella singers and witnessed a competition of beatboxers, many of whom were my former students. He even met one of them after the show. I just wanted to give him some exposure to music culture, because I feel like I so often choose to avoid situations like this and just stay home all day - where it’s SAFE.  

On the way home, I asked Rowan if he had a good time.  He nodded and said, “I will tell you that I enjoyed it and I will actually tell you something in secret when we get home.”  

When we got home, Rowan told me, “Mommy - I.L.M.”  

I said, “What does that mean?”  

He smiled and said, “Well…’I’ is actually the word.  You know, the word, ‘I.’”  

I said, “Yep.  Got that.  What else?”  

He opened his expressive blue eyes and said, “Well, the next letter is ACTUALLY the first letter of another word.”  

I thought briefly, squinting my brows together in over-emphasized concentration.  “Love?” I asked.  

“YES!!  Very good, Mommy. And the last letter is a first word of another word.”  

“Music!” I exclaimed.  

“YES!!” and with that declaration, he spun and zipped into the front room, beatboxing a tune as he went.

I guess - at least this time - my intuition was right.

[yorkulife]

Yes my boyfriend will go to UofT downtown. We’re staying in res because we’re not from Toronto so I’m worried about privacy… We’ll have roommates Also he’s doing computer science, at UofT so I think the workload will be crazy. He got accepted to York too but decided to go to UofT even though he’ll probably have harder classes there :/ I’m just worried, I heard all these things from my family and older friends that usually when you go to college your high school relationship ends unless you’re both going to same college or still living at home maybe. We’re in the same city but looking at the TTC buses and subway, it still takes 50 minutes to get to each other and back, we won’t have privacy in our rooms unless we coordinate with our roommates but I barely know mine and Idk if it would be weird to ask “oh btw can you be somewhere else one night a week so my bf can come over?” :/ I thought about studying together but we’re obviously not gonna take the same courses, he’s in computer science and I’m in psychology. I’m taking mostly gen eds this year and a psych course but almost all his classes are comp sci (UofT didn’t give him a choice, he had a bunch of prereqs to take) Then there’s the competition between York and UofT, mostly UofT students criticizing York “if you can hold a fork you can go to York” I guess it’s sort of true but York is still a good university and to be honest I decided to go there because it’s a good program but not too hard and the social life seems way better than UofT. Plus I’ll need to get a masters degree in psychology so I need good grades which is obviously easier to achieve at York than UofT. But I feel like a lot of UofT students look down on York people, especially when it comes to dating them because they go to an “inferior university”. My bf won’t care but his friends will and it’s just gonna be awkward, and I don’t know how it will affect our relationship so there are multiple factors (some distance, workload at UofT, UofT versus York) I didn’t get into UofT and apparently they don’t take transfer students so I couldn’t transfer there even if I wanted to risk my grades

I’m sorry it’s more of a rant than a question. I haven’t seen many questions about people asking about relationships especially in first year. Did any of you go through something similar (were in a relationship in grade 12 and went to different colleges)? Did you end it? Did you try to stay together and how did that work? Any positive experiences, because all I’ve heard from family and friends has been pretty negative… Like the odds of staying together for more than a semester are low :(

Hi anon, 

Tbh this whole rivalry or looking down on people for going to a specific university is first year/high school type of behaviour and mentality, any upper year or mature students I’ve met at any university never talk like that. I’ve had friends who’ve gone to UofT, Ryerson, UOIT, Waterloo, McMaster, and York, yet we all have the same amount of respect for each other. Just because you go to a university like UofT does not mean you’re better or smarter than anyone else, I’ve met plenty of smart people at York and they can match anyone going to any other university. 

It’s true that a lot of relationships do fizzle out when you make the transition from high school to university, but I think it’s more to do with the fact that people change. University is an experience that forces you to grow and look at life from different perspectives, you’re exposed to different types of people from different backgrounds and have varying opinions, it really opens your mind to other things in life. The type of students who go to York are much more liberal minded then some students who may go to UofT, even the atmosphere is completely different from my pov, however this doesn’t necessarily mean your relationship will dissolve because of it. If your bf doesn’t care what others think then why are you thinking so much into it? Aren’t you being your own worst enemy in this scenario? 

If you and your bf truly want to be together you will take out time for each other, even if it means commuting to a specific destination. So what if you’re in two different programs, why should that stop you from having study dates or spending time together? I personally believe that if you want a relationship to work, even a friendship, you will take the initiative to make it happen. If you make excuses then you will just be met with disappointments. You need to have a conversation with your bf and figure out how you will both manage your time and how to work around your schedule. 

Okay then get an Airbnb if that alone time is important to you. I mean you’re coming up with reason after reason as to why things might fail when you haven’t even reached the point of trying yet. 

York is not an easy university unfortunately, we have to debunk this myth every year to new students who think that, and neither are you in an easy program (I used to be a Psychology major). The masters program in Psychology is pretty competitive at York, you have to get straight A’s to even be considered as they only have 40 spots in their post-grad program, so you’ll have to work hard to get there. I agree, York is a good university even if some people are extremely biased against it, and you shouldn’t regret your decision, you chose the perfect place to study Psych.

Whether your relationship works out or not will be entirely dependent on you and your bf, people’s relationship don’t work out after high school because they grow out of the immature phase and become mature adults who have different priorities in life. If you and your partner can work through things as you grow I don’t see any reason as to why it should end. I have a friend who’s been with her bf since high school, they both went to different universities for both undergrad and post-grad, now they’re getting married - they’ve been through everything together and made it work even when she wasn’t living in Toronto. So, that in itself is a testaments of their efforts. I know plenty of people who make it work because both partners have different career goals, but they respect that and make time for each other whenever they can, while understanding that it’s important for the other to choose a different path. I hope that offers some consolation.

Feel free to send us updates or rants if you still want to talk and hear our perspectives. : )

- H

___________

Disclaimer: I am very blunt and nowhere as nice as H is. I’m still a nice person and still care about your issues but ... I’m blunt as heck.

Lady, you gotta chill. Yea hs relationships don’t usually last past grade 12 because of a multitude of factors:

y’all grow and change, for better or for worse

y’all meet new people on campus, off campus, etc. 

y’all find new interests and they may not align with each other’s 

y’all realize that y’all in a relationship because of proximity (i.e. y’all live close and there weren’t better choices around), and not via actual passion

My advice is to try your best and ride it out, and if it ends up being meh, at least y’all tried. No regrets. 

Canadian employers look at what each school’s trump card is. So yea, York is a liberal arts school (known for education, Schulich’s business, kin, and some political stuff), and U of T is more of a science-based school. It’s totally cool that your dude chose U of T for comp sci… it’s a type of science. I trust that you chose York not because of easy grades (there’s no “easy” courses… if you like it, it becomes easy. A course is hard if it’s not something you’re interested in), but that you chose it because York is known for psych. 

The rivalry between universities is only remotely significant for people in uni, but after you graduate, everyone understands that each school has its own specialty. Similarly, it’d be silly to go to UWO to be a math major or OCADU for English. If his friends are being immature… well, do you even want to be their friend and be associated with them? 

University years are years where you’ll make the most important choices in your personal and professional life. Split with people who are babies, and grow with those who respect you. That’s all I gotta say.

Peace out.

- TC

[confessionxblog]

I am so unbearably jealous and hurt and upset about this situation and I need to vent. I used to have 2 really close friends at school. One was my freshman year roommate and one was a friend I met through my program; I think I introduced them. The 3 of us were always together, always messaging each other, always involved in each other's lives, planning trips, going out, staying in, laughing, crying - everything. My freshman year roommate, C, is still pretty much my closest friend. I know we've got each other's backs, I can trust her with anything, and I know she knows that, too. I'm not worried about our relationship. We're good. But in the past few semesters, I've had a falling out with L. It happened gradually. It started when she signed up to work at my workplace without asking me first - which, okay. I can get over that. Most of my initial anger at that was just a weird, childish feeling of "no, that's MINE." But I kept thinking about it, and even outside of my selfish reasons for not wanting her there, I had legitimate concerns. She tends to put a lot on her plate and then crack under the pressure, and this job requires a good amount of focus, planning, TIME, and emotional labor - I worried she'd either break down about it OR put it on the back burner because it's not a priority for her. I love my job, and I knew i'd feel hurt if she didn't make it a priority, ESPECIALLY if she wanted to talk to me about it. I worried I'd have to comfort her for not liking a job that I absolutely love. I worried she'd want my advice all the time, or worse - I worried she'd refuse to take any advice and dismiss my experience. I convinced myself I was being silly, that my concerns were unfounded, but within a month or two, ALL of those things happened. She talked about how she wouldn't do the job if it weren't for the good paycheck, and scoffed at me when I told her it meant a lot more to me than that. She came crying to me when she thought she wasn't good at the job, and didn't speak to me for days when I told her that there's always a learning curve and that she needed to work at it if she wanted to improve. She dismissed advice I gave her about scheduling with a "no offense, but forgive me if I don't listen to YOU because..." It was humiliating and I was angry. She'd also act like an expert when someone asked about our work, never mind that she'd only been there for less than a few months and still talked all the time about how she hadn't settled in to it yet. Anyway. The job thing was really only the tip of the iceberg. L thinks of herself as a Great Ally - someone who's always there to listen and learn and admit their fuckups - and that's true, to some extent. She's happy to learn and be a listening ear in terms of greater communities + institutional/social marginalization, and I'm glad. I admire her for that. But she does NOT do that when it's personal, when it's with people close to her, when it affects her directly. If a friend - me, C, or anyone else - tells her that she's made a mistake or done something to hurt us, her immediate reaction is to cry and make it about her. I was angry at her once because I felt like she was cutting me off socially on a trip where I was trying to meet people, so I was trying to keep quiet and keep my distance while I calmed down (hard to do, since we shared a hotel room). She could tell that I was upset, and she burst into tears and kept talking about how she didn't want to ruin my night and how she felt like such a horrible friend, and it got to the point where I ended having to comfort HER even though I was angry. It's not that I wanted her to feel sad, or that I didn't want her to express how she felt, but this is a trend with her - I feel like I'm not allowed to have any kind of emotions or to ever be upset with her in any way, because she reacts by making it about how performatively upset she is. This is ALL THE TIME. "L, I was hurt when you left me out of x." "IM SO SORRY I AM SO AWFUL I UNDERSTAND IF YOU HATE ME" "L, thank you for trying to check up on me, but you're not being helpful right now, please give me space." "OH NO IM SORRY I KNEW THAT I KNOW YOU COPE WITH THINGS DIFFERENTLY AND I SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT YOU ALONE I'LL SHUT UP NOW YOU SHOULD HATE ME" and in all of these situations, I end up rubbing her back and telling her it's ok and i don't hate her etc. etc. which is all true - I DON'T hate her - but it ends up minimizing the actual problem and turning it into Comfort L Time. And always, ALWAYS, when the comforting is over and she's calm again, she stops being willing to admit to whatever she did, and starts to play it off as "a big misunderstanding" where "everyone overreacted" and "haha but it didn't matter and we're all good now!" Where in my head, I'm saying ".....no, it wasn't a misunderstanding, no, I didn't overreact, no, we're not 'all good' if you're going to pretend you were never at fault." We've been drifting apart for months. I don't want to pretend that she's the only guilty party; I'm sure I've made mistakes, too, but I have absolutely no idea what I did. If L asks me if I'm upset or if she did anything, I'll pretty much always address why I'm hurting (if that's happening) and what I need. If I ask L if she's upset or if I did anything, she'll say some variation of "what? no! we're fine! you're great! lol" and then go to someone else - usually C - upset about how she and I don't get along anymore or there's "tension," but will absolutely never address anything with ME. back to C. Remember how I introduced L and C? I'm glad they're friends. I was glad when we were all friends! We planned a camping trip last fall together at a beach I'd never been to before, and most of the planning was "omg, she hasn't seen this, let's show her x!" It was silly and fun and I was really excited. We didn't end up being able to go - hurricane season hit - but we decided on a rain check. Well, when spring break was rolling around, L was telling me that she and C had been talking about revisiting the beach plans, and that she "wished I could come" but "knew I'd be busy." When I told her that I actually had a lot of free time that week, she was suddenly dodgy about the whole thing, saying "well, who knows if it'll work out," etc. It was blatantly obvious that she didn't want me there. She wanted to take our planned trip with C, without me. I asked C about it and she told me "no... I definitely told L you'd be free... that's why I was pushing for later in the week when you'd be here, but she kept trying to move it earlier while you were gonna be out of town..." So. It definitely wasn't in my head. She DEFINITELY didn't want me to come, and she also lied to C about it - when C confronted her, L claimed she'd never mentioned the trip to me. Ever since then, I feel like L is trying to "take" C from me. I know C is a person and she doesn't belong to any of us, but she and I are really close, and I hate feeling like someone is trying to keep us from spending time together. I would never try to make her choose between me and L; I know she loves both of us and wants to spend time with both of us, and that isn't a problem. But I know for a fact that L doesn't like it when C spends time with me. According to C, if I'm even brought up in conversation, L's attitude changes and she doesn't want to hear anything at all about things that C and I did together. She's also said a bunch of things to C about how she loves being close to her, and keeps guilt-tripping her and saying how she doesn't feel important or special or like a "priority" and it FEELS like she's trying to get C to ALWAYS put her first, ALWAYS hang out with her more, forget about her other friends because she wants to be The Best Friend. And it SUCKS! I know C can make her own choices, but she's uncomfortable, too. She feels isolated. She feels like L doesn't want to share her and it makes her feel cut off from everyone. I'm hurt by it, too, obviously. I see the thousand pictures L posts with C and I know it's irrational, but in my head, I've worked myself up enough to tell myself she's gloating/throwing it in my face. I haven't spent a lot of time with C recently because I've been in and out of town, and L knows that, and with her posting a bunch of pictures, talking/posting all the time about how much fun they're having and how close they are, and even changing her profile picture to a phot with C in it... I don't know. I think I'm just being bitter and overreacting at this point and imagining intentions that aren't there, but when my feelings are hurt, all of it FEELS like she wants me to see that they're closer now. They actually did end up going to that beach without me. C apologized and planned to take me there another time; L never mentioned it to me at all and posted a bunch of pictures from the trip documenting how amazing it was and how much fun they had together. I guess she got what she wanted, but like... fuck. The jealousy I'm feeling is irrational because I know my friendship with C is solid, and good, and healthy, and no one can really threaten that. So, I'm trying to get over the jealousy. I know it's dumb. But the anger? The anger is real. And I feel like the hurt - at least most of it - is justified. I don't know what to do. I just needed to rant.

[thekimmiandjackieshow]

Spring Break: Sunburns, A Broken Monorail, and A Magical Surprise

Most people probably wouldn’t combine EPCOT and Magic Kingdom in one day, but we decided to for a few reasons. The first being that we definitely wanted to reserve a full day for Universal. The second was that Jackie wasn’t able to be gone the entire spring break because she works as a research assistant for her lab and needed to get back to work. The third is that we had already combined DAK and Hollywood Studios together. And the fourth is that neither of us really care for Magic Kingdom’s attractions so we figured we’d spend most of our time at Flower & Garden and then head over to Magic Kingdom for whatever was left of the evening. It made for an interesting day filled with memories.

I was really excited to take Jackie to Flower and Garden. The topiaries I had seen were phenomenal and I couldn’t wait to go around the world and try everything. 

My goal was to take pictures with all the topiaries and load up a Flower and Garden gift card to try all the food with. For both major festivals at EPCOT, they offer mini gift cards that are worn around your wrist so that you don’t have to continuously pull out your wallet during your journey around the world. I think it’s brilliant, especially if you aren’t staying at a resort with a credit card attached to your MagicBand. Part of me also thinks it’s for when people get super super drunk and can no longer find their wallet, but I doubt Disney would admit that.

We got our gift cards and headed around the world, starting at the Pineapple Promenade for a Violet Lemonade. This was my first time trying Violet Lemonade and it changed my life. Honestly this is something I’d normally stay away from. I’m not one to eat foods that are wild colors and don’t give a clear indication of what they taste like. I mean what the heck does violet taste like? That’s a color, not a flavor. But at the time, I figured, what the heck? Why not? If I had known it would’ve been that good, we would’ve gotten our own. I mean I seriously went back to EPCOT several times just for this. The smooth, frozen, purple drink was hands down one of the best things being served at Walt Disney World.

Our next stop was more for me than Jackie. An outdoor kitchen had found itself right outside Canada, called Urban Farm Eats. They had a watermelon salad that sounded fantastic. I was right, it was everything I hoped it would be. It’s hard to find good lettuce in Florida. That sounds weird but a lot of the lettuce I had was just not fresh, and kind of limp. This was the first salad that had enjoyable lettuce on it, which was nice considering EPCOT was boasting about their fresh foods.

Not every stand interested us. We passed a lot of foods (and alcoholic drinks) that had lengthly lines of people with more sophisticated palettes (or had very little idea of what they were ordering). A few of the things we tried were okay but nothing to rant and rave about. On the other hand, some of the food won me over completely, and became all I wanted throughout the rest of my spring program.

Japan, for example, had some excellent food. We actually went ahead and got every single food item from Japan because it all sounded pretty great. Beef Teriyaki Udon, Frushi, and a chicken edamame bun. I was skeptical of the chicken edamame bun but I figured I’d give it a go anyway.

I was right to be skeptical. I didn’t like it at all. Jackie really enjoyed it but I wasn’t a fan in the slightest. The teriyaki udon was fantastic though and the frushi ended up in my top 3 Flower and Garden offerings. I don’t ever eat sushi but frushi is definitely not raw fish, so I’m all for it. I was surprised how much I liked it though considering I’m not usually a fan of raspberries and this had quite a few raspberry elements. 

China also impressed in some interesting ways. We tried the spring rolls and the candied strawberries.

I didn’t like the spring rolls in the slightest. They sounded good on paper but in actually trying it, it was one of my least favorites. The candied strawberries though were simple and yet very impressive. Basically the strawberries were coated in melted sugar and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It sounds odd but it actually was amazing. Although difficult to eat, the candied strawberries remained in my top 3 throughout the day. 

I’d definitely say that my favorites were the violet lemonade, the frushi, and the candied strawberries. Maybe that makes me basic. Who knows? What I do know is that it’s dang good, and everybody should try them.

Alongside the food offerings, we took pictures with every topiary, even when the characters weren’t our favorites. Overall, EPCOT is really beautiful in the spring. In addition to the topiaries, they add extra floral arrangements everywhere and it just adds a lot of color to areas that are sometimes lacking. My favorite floral additions are the floating flowers in the lake between World Showcase and Future World.

As big fans of Beauty and the Beast, we were really excited by these topiaries. Cogsworth was one of the most impressive to me, seeing as his arms were an odd shape and his tummy was completely see through to make room for his pendulum. They were kind of hidden in a planter back behind Belle and the Beast, which made me sad because they were really excellent. 

France was one of the pavilions with many topiaries as they were also home to Prince Charming and Cinderella. 

Snow White’s design was one of the more peculiar because you couldn’t quite get her and all her seven dwarfs in one shot. It was supposed to be Snow White skipping and the dwarfs following behind her, but it was kind of an awkward shot. I also just wasn’t impressed with Snow White after seeing how well Belle and Cinderella were done. I suppose if you started in Mexico and worked your way around, you’d see Snow White first and be impressed but I really thought they could’ve done her better. But again, I really shouldn’t judge since I’m not actually a florist.

One of our favorites was the Lion King topiary. I’m sure that comes as no surprise to anybody considering DAK was our home, but I just thought the overall design was pretty complex. I mean to have Rafiki holding Simba, and it all to be made of plants... I’m sure there’s some underlying sorcery there but for now I’ll just be in awe of the magic.

There were so many amazing topiaries around. While I had walked around and seen most of them (some of them I had previously walked past), it was really fun to see Jackie’s reaction to all of them. I felt like they got really creative with some of it and I started to think about how plain EPCOT was going to look when Flower and Garden was all wrapped up. 

To give you an idea of how many topiaries there were, this wasn’t even all of them. We had so much fun finding them all and checking them off our passport. One of the most impressive ones was over in the UK pavilion. Peter Pan was clearly causing trouble over there, and it was a fantastic display.

What was even more fantastic was the Photopass photographer over there. He was having a blast posing guests for pictures that went with the topiaries, which was fun considering most of the people we had run in to would just snap a few with a grim straight face and scan our MagicBands while looking elsewhere and muttering something about having a great day. It was refreshing to have someone so into it who was taking the time to make sure we got all the pictures we could’ve possibly wanted.

There was honestly a surprising amount of things to see during the Flower and Garden Festival. We wandered through the butterfly exhibit and saw tons of butterflies. They also had so many hands on learning activities for the kids to learn about flowers, bees, pollination, and the life cycle of butterflies. The other kind of fun thing was the variety of gardens. I’m not the type to garden (although I have recently started growing some herbs in my window) but some of them were really interesting. There was an entire garden of peppers that included all kinds of awesome information about pepper heat and how it comes about. I was interested in finding the Water Wise Garden (as a person who hailed from California, the state that was in a severe drought at the time and yet still had residents insisting on lushes green lawns) and Jackie wanted to find the prehistoric plants garden. We had gone all day without finding them until we wound up in Future World mid-afternoon. The prehistoric plants garden was tucked away, but when we found it we saw tiny dinosaur toys hiding amongst all the plants.

The Water Wise Garden wasn’t far away from that. It had all sorts of tips on how to garden in desert lands so that your lawn could still look great, without sucking out all the water. California isn’t in a drought at the moment thanks to an insane amount of rainfall this past winter, but I still think decorating lawns in smart ways can save gallons upon gallons of water a year. Drought or no drought, that’s a good thing.

Along our adventures around EPCOT, we both got sunburned pretty badly. I was a lobster by the end of the day, which doesn’t usually happen to me. I had failed to put on sunscreen consistently though, and wound up feeling incredibly sick and dehydrated as a result. I needed a real plate of food instead of sharing small snacks with Jackie throughout the day, an air conditioned building, and ice water. We had some time to spare so Jackie decided to make my day by taking me to Nine Dragons.

Nine Dragons was the restaurant I was looking forward to eating at during my family’s Christmas vacation. Unfortunately for me, my work schedule didn’t agree with that and scheduled me to work during that time. I was incredibly disappointed. Jackie wanted to fix all that, so she took me. The restaurant was mostly empty so we walked right in and got a table without a reservation without an issue.

It was perfect and the food was amazing.

Shortly after that we decided we were done with EPCOT and ready to head over to Magic Kingdom. We said our goodbyes and headed out.

The nice part about park hopping between these two parks is that you can just take the monorail from EPCOT to the TTC (ticket and transportation center) and then transfer to a monorail that takes you from the TTC to Magic Kingdom. We thought it’d be a smooth ride over and we’d be in Magic Kingdom in no time. 

We were so very, very wrong.

We walked up the ramps outside of EPCOT and waited at the gates for a monorail to arrive. The standing around waiting for the monorail already felt like quite a bit of time, but I figured I was just being impatient because I wanted to get to Magic Kingdom. By the time the monorail arrived, enough people were waiting for it that Jackie and I were standing. At some point in between EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, the monorail stopped. Sometimes that happens because of traffic delays up ahead. The monorail has to wait for the monorail ahead to clear. All good. Except it was then announced to us that they were having difficulties with the monorail. 

So here we are, stranded high up in the air just a few feet away from the Magic Kingdom parking entrance. I’ve been stuck on rides before. I’ve also been evacuated off rides before. This was probably the one that bothered me the most (and I was stuck on Pirate’s for an hour and a half listening to “Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirate’s life for me! repeatedly at Disneyland years and years ago). Here we were, standing in an enclosed monorail with little to no air circulation, high above the roads, stuck. For at least a solid 45 minutes. By the time the monorail gets up and running again, I barely trust it to deliver me safely to my next destination. I was reminded yet again that Walt Disney World’s attractions are subpar and desperately need to be upgraded.

When we finally got off at the TTC, we were told the monorail to Magic Kingdom was closed and that we’d need to board the ferry. By this point, the sun was starting to go down and Jackie and I have wasted a solid two hours attempting to park hop from EPCOT to Magic Kingdom. Understandably, we were a little annoyed but probably still more patient than most guests would be. I mean we weren’t late to any reservations or Fastpass options. We didn’t even have plans for the rest of the night. We just didn’t expect to have to spend that amount of time enclosed in an outdated monorail that wreaked of stinky tourists. So Jackie decided to kick around the soccer ball she got from World Showcase a few hours before to relieve some stress. This girl played soccer all her life mind you and is pretty dang good at it. She was just dribbling it between her feet as we walked to the ferry when a disgruntled Cast Member tells her that she has to carry it because kicking it is not permitted. This rule was news to us and we chalked it up to him having a really bad day, but we laughed at how utterly ridiculous it was. Here we were trying to relieve some of our aggravation and even that was not allowed. But we listened, picked up the soccer ball and headed towards the ferry.

I’m not going to say we were in need of some magic but... we could’ve used some magic at that moment. We walked into Magic Kingdom at dusk as the lights were starting to set. There weren’t too many rides we had to do but we knew that we’d be missing Wishes to do any of them. That didn’t really phase us but it still wasn’t ideal. As we walked down Main Street I told Jackie I wanted a picture of us kissing in front of the castle. I love kissing photos in places like that, I just think it’s fun and romantic, but I don’t tend to show them off because I don’t think that’s necessary. It’s more just for us and our memories. Knowing this, we decided to stop at one of the many Photopass photographers down Main Street.

We’re not huge on public displays of affection either, so getting this picture is always moderately awkward for us. But we wanted the shot so we stood where the photographer placed us and kissed, waiting for her to let us know she got the shot. There was this long awkward pause that Jackie and I both felt, so we stop kissing and look up, only to find a bunch of our favorite people photobombing us! We had no idea they were walking down Main Street when we were, so it was a really fun surprise. When the two of us started cracking up and hugging the group, the photographer started grabbing pictures. I still wish she had managed to get a picture or two of them photobombing us while we were kissing, but she said she didn’t because she didn’t know if we knew them and didn’t want us to be upset by it. The pictures she did get were wonderful though and some of my favorite pictures ever.

Once again, the DAK PAK was spontaneously reunited. It was moments like those where you wanted time to stand still so nobody had to go back to the real world and we could all run into each other at the parks all the time. 

We said our goodbyes, Jackie and I got our picture, and we headed to ride a few rides. After hitting a few of the mountains, we went to Casey’s for food. Walt Disney World has a terrible habit of closing most restaurants down before the park officially closes, leaving guests with only a few options in usually highly populated areas. Jackie and I were going to have to fight electrical parade crowds to get to Casey’s and we weren’t thrilled. But we made it and were met with a magical moment. The Cast member helping us was from Woodland, CA. I happened to recognize the small Northern California town thanks to my sister and brother-in-law living there. I don’t always make small talk with the Cast Members but this time I decided to mention that I actually knew where Woodland was and had family out that way. She was so excited that somebody recognized her city (almost everybody who sees California assumes everybody either lives in San Fran or LA) that she made a magical moment for us. She grabs a bag of cotton candy from behind the counter and told us it was from the mouse as a thank you for brightening her day.

It definitely made our day too! We raced around Magic Kingdom trying to get things done before finally heading back to Main Street around closing time. I was texting Ricky to try to meet up with everybody one last time. The next day Jackie was leaving to North Carolina and I wanted to make sure we both got to say goodbye to everybody else who was just here on break.

Our final meet up on Main Street was sad and awkward, pretty typical for our little group. Nobody knew how to say goodbye but we all knew it was coming. We all knew that by the end of the week, half the people on vacation would be back home and at the end of just a few short months, the rest of us would be leaving too. Time on the Disney College Program had an odd way of standing still and flying by at the same time. On the one hand it felt like none of us would ever leave and we’d all be making magic in the parks for years and years to come. On the other hand it felt like we’d all be a distant memory at our location in just a few short days.

The goodbye was painful and we all made loose promises to have a reunion again soon. When and where was TBD, but we all knew we had to see each other again at some point.

Despite the sunburns and absolute exhaustion, the vacation was ending on an absolutely perfect note. I couldn’t have asked for a better spring break vacation, even if it was short. I loved being able to take some time off of work to be with some of my favorite people and truly enjoy the Disney parks. I only wish we never had to leave.