#so no there are not good options for shopping in town instead of online thanks

[megansplants]

Frustrating thought of the day: why is it so much easier to find cool colorful men’s socks than women’s???? Are girls not allowed to wear funky eclectic socks???

Also: I was reading reviews for some men’s socks to see if any women had tried them. Someone else had asked if they would fit women, and someone answered “they’re just socks, they’ll fit.” Like ?????? No that is not necessarily true and it’s patronizing to suggest that. Men’s “one size” is actually quite different from women’s “one size” and it’s quite likely that men’s “one size” is going to be way bigger and so if you’re a woman with small feet (ie me) it’s actually a great fucking question whether they would fit.

[zee-writes-and-draws]

Normal world AU where the different buildings are just random groups of people and all of them ended up moving to the small village near the supposedly ‘haunted’ mountain that Samon and Enki grew up on bc property values are low as shit, and all of the minors are adopted by the guards. Qi has basically just grabbed Upa and Liang and ran the hell away from the Chinese mafia. Samon sees this random man dragging two half-dead children with him and this is now the very first time any of the new residents of the village find out the ‘hauntings’ that lowered property values were just a teenage Enki post massive growth spurt and a very small and over-energetic Samon that haven’t been seen in well over a decade.

- Hajime has, unfortunately, agreed to look after Jyugo and Nico while Rock and Uno try to find legal jobs, but it’s a lot on him. He and Seitarou help Uno and Rock fight a case to get custody of the two minors. Yamato is helping Tsukumo get a restraining order against his former agent and various paparazzi, as well as going to therapy so he doesn’t constantly feel the need to put on a persona in front of others. Hajime is a teacher at the local school (since there’s a decent number of local kids and then the building children), Yamato is the school’s coach, and Seitarou sells uniforms/cute festival stuff but is also occasionally seen working with the age 7 and below kids because they’re all very small and nice.

- Kiji is trying to cure Honey of his anger management issues and Trois of his pyromaniac tendencies. His day job is making and testing makeup that everyone buys, like mascara and eyeliner and hair gel. His second in command is working in one of the other small shops, selling everyone clothes (he and Seitarou make the clothing together).

- Kenshirou is only here because some of his dogs are sick and this village has been weirdly good for their health. Along the way he lets Musashi and Hitoshi stay with him because they help on chores and the dogs love both of them very much. He helps with the local stray problem by opening a shelter and rehabilitating most of them (the few who can’t be fixed to near-perfect health are still loved and cared for). Hitoshi bakes lots of food and sells it at Shiro’s restaurant, which is also why his presence is appreciated. Musashi tutors online part-time after Mitsuru rigged up wifi for them. Between all three of their jobs they can afford a place that’s small but has four tiny rooms so each person can a private space. (They sleep in the living room that’s been transformed into the group bedroom).

- Mitsuru is considered the local nuisance in so many ways, but after all of his loudspeakers and amplifiers have been confiscated he’s forced to resort back to regular hand-made instruments, so he at least gets to learn something entertaining as he irritates everyone with his noise-making. He and Momoko live in the same house but there’s a line drawn on the inside and outside that splits the house in half so everyone realizes in all of ten seconds they’re not actually together together, just saving on rent as long-term friends. Momoko works on managing the more official stuff to keep the town from being erased. She’s the unofficial (until the next election of course) mayor of the town at this point. Mitsuru’s day job is rigging up stuff like wifi and helping Hajime with his shop class at the high school.

- Shiro moved here after hearing how wonderful the cuisine is. He approves of being able to gather fresh ingredients on the mountain. Rock is frequently seen at his restaurant, both as a customer and as a worker. Hitoshi was recruited within a week. (Hajime has some mixed feelings but Rock mostly stops acting like an idiot after the first day, so it works out well)

- Inori and Ruka moved here years ago (and dragged the Daisen brothers with them) and are pretty much the only residents who were here before everyone started moving out and the buildings moved in. They’re the only ones initially who know the story behind the hauntings and never shared it out of indifference. Inori works in construction of new buildings/clearing rubble from the old, the Daisen trio help train the different sports teams at the school, and Ruka technically co-owns the makeup business with Kiji but his preferred job is as an unofficial swimming instructor because the two of them don’t get along.

- Samon and Enki bring the village supplies and materials from the mountain and trade this way. Samon has a notable weakness for ice pops, popsicles, and zakuro shaved ice, which he gets to surprise Enki on days it seems like he might want it. The new residents are all pleasantly surprised by how sweet Noriko is. Shiro offers her a job after trying some of her desserts. She bakes on weekends and holidays only to avoid overexerting herself, but the rest of the time her jobs include checking people in, taking orders to Shiro and Rock, and keeping peace if someone starts arguments. Houzuki is the area acupuncture specialist and medic until the Otogi family moves in, but he switches to full time acupuncture and massage therapy after they take up the practice. (they’re better than him at medicine anyways and he’s ok with admitting it).

- Liang and Upa love training on the mountain. Rock joins them frequently, often chatting with Liang as they race up. Qi is marginally less interested in physical activity, but he’s willing to make the hike up with them because of the amazing plant both during the hike and at the arrival itself. In the long run, doing some exercise in this form helps him with his mental health a lot and makes him happier. Tsukumo joins occasionally and talking to Qi helps him gradually come out of his shell.

- Trois takes to the challenge of trying to be constructive in building things instead of weapons and explosives. The downside is he frequently teams up with Mitsuru (who has the most equipment necessary) and therefore there are unique ways of getting around the idea of non-destructive inventions. Honey figures out ways to get Mitsuru his speakers back on the condition that he can use the wiring for his capsules.

- Nico ends up really sad about the lack of wifi so he tries to work with Mitsuru to improve tech, but he’s got a hard time reading the manuals so now Musashi, accompanied by either Uno or Trois depending on the day, can be seen teaching Nico how to read instruction manuals.

- Yamato is still very proud of his Japanese heritage, but he also frequently encourages others to appreciate the culture they live in and the culture they came from. Thanks to him, there’s a small festival hosted each year where everyone brings something like food or games or clothing from their culture and share it with everyone.

- Kiji takes it as a personal challenge to help teach normal world culture to at least one of the Gokuu brothers. Enki is far less willing to go along with the idea that he needs help from someone, so it’s Samon. Inori, who had a similar idea for the last eleven years, is currently trying to teach Samon how to drive. It’s yielding mixed results, but he takes really well to motorbikes. Hajme and Samon have a brief ceasefire whenever the subject of motorcycles comes up.

- No one is allowed to bring up the time that Hajime got lost in the mountain. No  one.

- Kuu comes and goes as he pleases. Mostly he stays at Hajime’s house but sometimes he’ll somehow appear wherever Samon Enki and Noriko are presently staying and lies down in the lap of whoever is trying to meditate. Enki tries to ignore Kuu (and fails), Samon will give him small scritches and complain about Hajime in a quiet tone, and Noriko feeds and pets him.

- In their spare time, many of the adults critique the prison systems they rescued the others from. Kiji, Hajime, and Kenshirou work with Enki to fix things on a bureactraic level, frequently accompanied by Momoko when she isn’t a sole representative in front of various international governments. Hajime knows the prison model perfectly, Kenshirou understands the police aspect that ties into it, and Kiji has several decades of experience serving as a prison guard, and their combined knowledge leads to many of their proposals being pushed pretty far up the ranks. 

- Samon is working on fixing prisons on the level of how each inmate is treated. All the official and formal changes in the world don’t change that there’s also issues with inmates not receiving care, sufficient entertainment, decent things for purchase and not just whether or not they can afford them, all sorts of stuff that slips past the cracks in the paperwork. He’s also the one who’s pushing for  more rehabilitation programs with Kiji and Mitsuru’s help. Between Samon’s knowledge of physical needs of people, Kiji’s balanced addition of general knowledge of what kind of education and paperwork prisoners need for proper rehabilitation to stick, and Mitsuru’s experience in communication, they have a very solid structure. Mitsuru’s ability to middleman and talk to Momoko also helps push their ideas forward.

- Slowly the buildings become more friendly towards one another. Upa smiles more because Nico helped him get out of his shell, there is a photo of Tsukumo laughing as himself for the first time hanging on the wall of Shiro’s restaurant, and Kenshirou’s dogs all adopted different humans to befriend and bond with. Qi gradually gets over his fear of dogs thanks to Musashi and ends up adopting one who works as a service dog for him and keeps him away from panic attacks and self-harming attempts, as well as (gradually) learning how to tell what kind of health Upa and Liang are presently in and alerting the doctor if necessary.

- The time-honored tradition of feuds between the different non-inmates and adults in charge of them continues, but they added in some new competitions. There are now options for multi-building tug-of-war, kids vs adults (and variations) relays, one v one competitions, and general tomfuckery. Most of the time Momoko is the referee, Mitsuru commentates, and although they rarely join in, they tend to tag-team and secure a near-effortless victory. If it’s every person for themselves, Momoko wins unless distracted by Hajime, at which point the rule of funny is frequently used to determine a victor.

[nancypullen]

Oops

Yesterday got away from me.  I ended up organizing a few more boxes (yes, we still have stuff in boxes).  I haven’t put anything away in the grandgirl’s room because it still has to be painted.  I haven’t put anything away in the living room because we’re still waiting for flooring.  The master bedroom has a couple of boxes in one corner, but those will be organized into baskets in the closet - they don’t count.  Most pictures and mirrors are still in boxes because the floor installer requested that anything on the walls be removed.  Our living room furniture will be delivered the 31st so we’re still in limbo there.  We have a few pieces that we brought up from Tennessee and they look sad and lonely.  

Notice the paint samples taped to the far wall.  I have to see them in bright sunlight as well as evening shadows.  The left is Comfort Gray, the right is Sea Salt.  They’re both wonderful, calming, blue-green-gray tones.  Sea Salt is my favorite, but in strong light can look downright minty and that’s not my goal.  Also, neither looks great with the cabinet and the cabinet stays. Dare I chalk paint it?  Hmmm. Anywho - I processed a couple of boxes, then ran up to the grocery store for a few items, then puttered in the yard a bit. I chatted up the tomatoes, letting them know that they’re in good hands.  I’m already seeing blossoms.

Looks like they handled the transplant process okay, so I’m hoping for a bumper crop. I scattered a few sunflower seeds and a handful of zinnia seeds on the lavender hump/grave.  It’s not the perfect location for either so we’ll see what happens.  Zinnia has a way of powering through adverse conditions, so I may have some cutting flowers out there. I didn’t pop into the library, turns out you just register online and then they zip you a message when your card is ready.  I filled out and submitted the form and they’ll check my ID when I pick up the card.  Pretty sure I don’t need an appointment for that.  I hope. Better call. I’m really loving getting to know our new town. Downtown on Market street there are shops, businesses, and restaurants.  I’m looking forward to the patio dining at Caroline’s of Denton.  The menu looks tempting.  For casual dining there’s a very popular “Irish Public House”.

BUT, the place that I’m most excited about is The Foundry.  It’s an art gallery that hosts weekly classes for all sorts of things - everything from painting to sculpture to weaving.  I signed up for a beginners mosaic tile class tonight!  If I have a knack for it I’d like to attempt a pretty bird bath.  The Foundry is in an old building with interesting art just outside the doors.

I’m excited about getting involved with the artsy folks here - I can learn so much! Down by the Choptank River sits Steamboat Wharf which is home to the heritage center 

and a really neat store called The Denton Mercantile at Steamboat Wharf.

I didn’t have a great photo of the place, so here’s one I swiped from their Facebook page.

Looks like autumn, just pretend that there are hanging baskets of flowers instead of cornstalks.  Anyway, that store has everything from antiques to local artisans stuff, pretty kitchen items, gourmet groceries, you name it! You can get a darling tote bag or local honey.  You could also spend hours exploring.   Because Denton is so small, just about everything is 5minutes from our house.  My class today starts at 5 o’clock.  I can probably leave home at 4:45 and still have plenty of time to check in and get settled.  I love it.  There’s a Food Lion and a Super Walmart on opposite sides of the street, just 1.5 miles from our front door.  Plenty of unhealthy food options as well - McDonalds, Taco Bell, Dunkin’, Burger King, and so on.  We’re very fortunate to have a good-sized North Shore Medical facility less than 2 miles from us, as well as U of M Shore Regional Health.  All we lack is a Sephora and a Home Goods and for that Mickey is probably sending up a prayer of thanks. So, this is day 13 in our new spot and I’m feeling very good about our choice.  Did I mention that we’re surrounded by farm stands where the goods are picked and sold within hours?  I’m already putting a dent in the local strawberry crop. I took this screen shot the other day when I was checking to see if we’d be seeing any rain.

We’re the blue dot. Seems that, just like in Mt. Juliet, bad weather seems to break up and go around us. Is it because of the bay? Maybe the Choptank River? Or was that just one lucky instance? Both nights that storms were predicted we didn’t get more than a few sprinkles.  Interesting. Alright, time for me to work my way through a box or two and see if I can get some stuff put away in the grandgirl’s room without messing up the painting plan. Settling in, making this place a home, looking forward to a sweet summer.  Fingers crossed! Stay safe, stay well, take good care. XOXO, Nancy

[bbangsoonie]

tangerine guesthouse

member: haknyeon genre: fluff word count: 2,238 synopsis: on a healing trip to jeju island, you meet a guesthouse owner who goes the extra step to make sure you enjoy your stay.

a/n: happy birthday to our jeju boy, juhaknyeon ! 🍊

After impulsively quitting your job, you packed a suitcase and booked a last minute flight to Jeju Island. You wanted to escape but unfortunately didn’t have enough money for an international flight. So you found yourself flying over on a domestic plane.

Everything about this journey was spontaneous. The money you saved up on the side from your tedious 9-5 job was all spent on this healing trip. With nothing but a camera in your hands, you were determined to finally rest and have fun for once. You hadn’t had the luxury to do so in years.

Before you left Incheon Airport, you reserved a room at a random bed and breakfast you found online. “Tangerine Guesthouse”. It had a cute name.

The taxi dropped you off in front of the place and you cautiously walked in with your bag rolling behind you. You peaked inside the building, unsure if you were supposed to just enter.

“Hello!” a chirpy voice greeted you. Startled, you jumped as you turned around to face the person who nearly gave you a heart attack. Seeing him only made your heart beat faster. He was cute. Extremely cute.

“Are you here to rent a room?” he asked.

“Y-Yes, I made a reservation a couple of hours ago,” you pulled out your phone to show him the details.

“Ah, Y/n! Yes, welcome,” he beamed. “My name is Juhaknyeon but please call me Haknyeon.”

You reached out to shake his hand and were surprised to feel how soft they were.

“Allow me to show you to your room,” he said before guiding you upstairs.

The room was fairly small but cozy. It had everything you needed and made a cute space for photos. After Haknyeon left, you began to unpack.

You heard a knock on the door and mindlessly told your guest to come in. You looked up when they entered, surprised to see another male.

“Hello! I’m Sunwoo and I’m staying in the room next to yours,” he introduced himself. “I just wanted to stop by to say hi and get friendly.”

“Nice to meet you, Sunwoo. I’m Y/n,” you smiled.

“The other guests and I are gathering this evening to just chat over beer. Would you like to join us as well? We’d love to have you,” he said.

On a normal occasion, the introvert in you would have declined. However, you were on a healing trip and resolute about trying new things. So you happily accepted the invitation and promised to meet them in the yard at 7.

You had about four hours until then and decided to kill time by exploring the neighborhood. You enjoyed the change in scenery and the fresh air that Seoul could not offer.

You found yourself alone at a nearby beach and embraced the solitude. There were no managers yelling at you about deadlines or coworkers passive aggressively criticizing your work here. It was just you and the roaring waves. Grabbing your camera, you took a few shots of the salty sea. Perhaps you would return to your hobby and pursue photography.

You allowed yourself to consider it as an option as you headed back to the streets to look for a restaurant. You settled for the closest one and were satisfied with your choice when you took a bite of their seafood ramen.

You roamed around a bit more after the meal. You came across a souvenir shop and ended up spending a lot of time—and money—there. You certainly had a thing for cliche souvenirs. Keychains, magnets, mugs. You loved them all.

You came back to the lodging with a bag full of trinkets you knew you would keep instead of gifting. The retail therapy added a bounce in your walk as you climbed up the stairs. You organized them accordingly as you happily hummed.

You looked at the clock and saw that it was time to convene with the rest of the boarders. You threw on a cardigan before going back outside.

Haknyeon was by the grill flipping meat and Sunwoo was busy taking out the drinks from the fridge. You awkwardly stood around, not knowing where to go.

“Take a seat wherever you want,” Sunwoo called out.

Finding an empty spot, you sat down and looked around. The yard was decorated nicely to bring a nice ambiance.

“Hi, I’m Eric and this is Hyunjoon,” the guy next to you grinned.

You exchanged greetings with the two and introduced yourself. You had to admit it was nice to meet such amiable people.

The night went by with the five of you conversing over black pig samgyupsal and alcohol. Haknyeon was a big foodie, Sunwoo was a big tease, Eric was a big dork, and Hyunjoon was a big sports enthusiast. Hyunjoon came to Jeju to enjoy horseback riding and planned on dragging Sunwoo and Eric along.

“If you guys are down for some physical activity, I can destroy you in badminton,” Haknyeon suggested.

“Loser has to down a bottle of soju. Each,” Eric laughed evilly.

To make the teams fair, you were paired up with Haknyeon to play against the other three. He definitely proved his worth as the ace, easily winning 21-12. Sunwoo let out a scream, blaming Eric for his punishment suggestion. The latter tried to run away but was caught by Hyunjoon who handed him a bottle.

They all retreated to their rooms after fulfilling their penalty, leaving you and Haknyeon to clean up. The work was done relatively quickly and you made it back to your bed before midnight.

The next morning, you came out of your room clutching your Ryan doll that doubled as a pillow. You mumbled a “good morning” to Haknyeon who was preparing breakfast and chuckled at your appearance.

“Cute,” he commented on your tastes. You replied with a yawn, still not fully awake.

“The guys are probably gonna be hungover so I’m making some soup. I hope that’s okay with you,” he said.

He rolled up his sleeves before washing his hands. He then grabbed a knife and began cutting the vegetables. Your nose wrinkled at the sight of onions. You had forgotten to mention how picky you were. It was an embarrassing conversation to have as an adult. You had to explain how your childish tastebuds never matured while people let out an incredulous gasp. It was something you had to disclose every time you ate with someone new and it was honestly pretty tiring. People didn’t understand that you didn’t choose to be picky. Your tongue just refused the tastes of a lot of foods. It was more inconvenient for you than anyone else.

Nevertheless, you were excited to try the food made by the self proclaimed food connoisseur. You would just have to pick out the vegetables later.

The two of you decided to just eat together after the guys refused to wake up before noon. Haknyeon took a seat in front of you after he set the table and you thanked him.

To your relief, he didn’t seem so shocked by your childlike palate. He let the conversation end by saying something about respecting other people’s preferences.

Noticing your hair falling in front of your face, he got up to go look for something. He returned with a hair tie which he offered to you. It was just a courteous gesture but it still made you giddy regardless. The hair tie was probably just a spare left by previous guests but to you, it was a token. Something to remember him by.

“So, Y/n, what brings you to Jeju?” he questioned.

You’ve heard your name before many times in your life. Obviously. But hearing it from his voice felt different. The way your name rolled off his tongue made your heart skip a beat.

“Oh you know, just the typical “I wanted to get away from the city” trope,” you hummed.

“Classic,” he nodded.

After breakfast, Haknyeon volunteered to be your tour guide for the day. He showed you his favorite places in town and even drove further out to take you to the photo exhibition you wanted to see. You had a blast, taking a bunch of pictures to commemorate your trip.

When he asked why you used such a fancy camera and why you took photos of everything, you simply shrugged in response. Truthfully, you didn’t know why either.

For lunch, he brought you to a sashimi place where you bonded over a large platter of raw fish. Both the view and quality of the restaurant were amazing. And your company too, of course.

“Do your guests always get such personalized treatment?” you asked, raising a brow.

“Honestly? No,” he laughed. “I’m not that great of a host. Nor do I have the time and money to.”

“Then what’s all this? Today?”

“Hmm… I’m not quite sure.”

You left it at that and let him take you to an aquarium. Haknyeon had more fun watching you than looking at the animals. You were like a little kid in a candy store. Everything was fascinating to you.

The last time you visited an aquarium was for a field trip when you were in elementary school. It felt like you were going back to your childhood roots.

You made it back to the guesthouse in time for dinner. This time, you insisted on cooking. With the ingredients left in the fridge, you made kimchi fried rice. The smell lured the others down to join you two in the kitchen.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful, which you appreciated. You got to relish time just passing by. It was exactly what you came to Jeju for.

Back in your room, you connected your camera to your laptop to browse through the photos. Looking at them, you noticed that Haknyeon was in half of them.

“Maybe it was him I wanted to save in my memory,” you whispered under your breath.

Another week went by and you wished time would flow slower. Hyunjoon was the first to leave the guesthouse and it already felt a lot emptier without him. You hated goodbyes. You hated how all good things had to eventually come to an end.

The feeling made you cherish the remaining time you had left on the island. You spent your evenings with the guys and frequently chatted in the group chat with all five of you in it. You never expected to grow so fond of strangers you barely got to know. Haknyeon, in particular, had a special place in your heart.

He often took you out on what you liked to believe were dates. Under the guise of being your tour guide, he showed you the hidden parts of his hometown. Though he was slightly disappointed that your favorite thing from all the menus you’ve tried was the black sesame frappuccino from Starbucks.

“Really? Of all the things you’ve eaten and drank, you choose something from a chain store?” he had whined.

“Hey, they only have it here. I can’t get it anywhere else,” you defended.

He made it his mission to find you something local that would triumph over your love for the Starbucks drink. A close second was the makgeolli made and sold only in Jeju.

By the time Sunwoo and Eric left, you and Haknyeon had gotten extremely close. With him, it was so easy to open up and just be you. You practically lived in his room. You slept over after late night movies and cuddles.

Neither of you ever verbally defined your relationship. You were both somewhat afraid to ask what exactly you two were. Instead, you focused on each other.

“So you’re picking up photography again?” he asked with your head resting on his chest. The two of you were lazing around on the couch with a random show on for background noise.

“Possibly. It was always an interest of mine. I thought I’d get to have it as a side-job once I started working full time but I never got around to it. Trying to make a living was a lot harder than I thought it’d be,” you revealed.

“You definitely have the talent. I think you should take the opportunity and go for it,” he encouraged.

The idea lingered on your mind as the second week flew by. Your passion for photography had been pushed to the side as you struggled as a paycheck worker. You missed taking up odd gigs for extra cash in college.

On your last night at the guesthouse, you paused in the middle of dinner to stare at Haknyeon. The more time you spent with him, the more you didn’t want to leave. Changing your career path because of a guy was crazy. Moving to an island because of said guy that you only met two weeks ago was even crazier. But he inspired you to do what your heart desires. And that included being with him.

“What if I moved here to start freelancing? Publish that photography book I always dreamed of. Maybe set up my own studio one day,” you pondered aloud.

That proposition had many implications about the relationship between you two. He took a moment to carefully contemplate over it. Your heart pounded waiting for his response.

“If that’s what you truly want to do, I think that’d be nice,” he smiled, making your own face light up.

a/n: wow i was reminiscing my own time at jeju while writing this 🥺 and now, with this fic, i have officially written for all tbz members! :)

[elsanna-shenanigans]

August Contest Submission #17: A Perfectly Normal Prom Night

Words: ca. 2,500 Setting: mAU Lemon: No CW: None

The whole thing started rather innocuously. It was the middle of summer when Elsa and Anna’s parents had dragged them to an outdoor concert for one of those old timer bands. The girls, having just finished eleventh and tenth grade respectively, were not exactly thrilled about their parents’ choice of music, and so pretty soon they wandered off together, eventually finding some relative peace and quiet in a patch of grass and flowers off at the opposite edge of the wide field from where the concert was taking place, where they talked for a while about the things teenage girls typically talk about.

Anna, who was prone to being consumed by nervous energy, busied her hands by picking the nearby flowers and weaving the stems together. When she’d woven enough of them to form a small flower crown, she interrupted whatever Elsa was saying at that particular moment then leaned forward and placed the crown on Elsa’s head.

“Um, thanks?” Elsa said, with a light blush on her cheeks. She was, as ever, rather self-conscious. “It looks silly doesn’t it?”

But Anna shook her head. “No, actually, it looks really pretty.”

The blush on Elsa’s face only deepened.

Elsa wore the flower crown on the car ride home. She wore it around the house for the rest of the weekend. Come Monday morning, by which time some of the stems had started to wither and unravel, she presented the remains to Anna, who salvaged what she could and wove the remaining bits into Elsa’s braid, her facing beaming with pride.

And so it became a ritual for the sisters: Anna gathering flowers and braiding them into various formations, and then placing them in Elsa’s hair until she blushed. Elsa, presenting herself each day for her floral adornment. It was a curious sort of reversal of their usual big sister/little sister roles, and Anna found she rather enjoyed it. In fact, she enjoyed it rather a lot.

The school year started up with no interruption to their ritual. If anything, it brought them closer. It was not uncommon to find Anna fussing with the placement of the flowers in Elsa’s hair during their shared lunch break. Or on their walk home from school. Or while watching TV together on the couch after dinner. And maybe they started inviting each other to hangouts with their respective friend groups more than they had before. All in all, it was a pretty good year.

They were eating two dollar burgers on a picnic bench at the local park when Elsa casually asked Anna to go to prom with her.

“You don’t have someone you’d prefer to go with?” Anna asked, trying to play it cool but feeling a little bewildered.

“I do, silly. I just asked you,” Elsa said before taking a large bite of her hamburger.

“Okay. Sure.” A casual answer for a casual question.

In truth, the prom talk reminded Anna of a fact that she’d done a rather good job not thinking about for the past year, which was that Elsa was going to be going off to college in the fall. Like the flowers in Elsa’s hair, their lives had become woven closer together in the past nine months, and Anna wasn’t looking forward to Elsa being gone.

And so, rather than wallowing in self-pity, Anna resolved to go all out for this prom thing.

The first item was the dress. Some quick internet searching turned up several options online; she went with a long green dress with floral embellishments on the bodice. It wasn’t egregiously expensive, but it would be shipped from overseas and so she had to cross her fingers that it wouldn’t look horribly cheap in person. Luckily it was long enough that she didn’t really have to splurge on shoes, as they would go mostly unseen.

Second was the ride. It took some horse trading with her father, but she managed to get him to shell out for a limo—don’t you want Elsa’s night to be special, Dad?—even if it meant she’d be the one mowing the lawn all summer.

The third, which came together in the last few days before the dance, was the corsage. She’d had to scour every flower shop across town before she found one that would make a corsage of Elsa’s favorite flower, the crocus.

And then there was the last thing, which was stupid and foolish, and conveniently fully refundable if she chickened out at the last minute. Anna wasn’t fully sure which of the two outcomes she would prefer.

When the day came, Anna even did the little ritual of going around to the front door once she was all dressed up and ringing the doorbell. Her father answered the door and gave her a little wink, then turned to call for Elsa to come downstairs, thankfully before he could spot the light blush rising on her face. When Elsa came around the upstairs hallway and descended the stairs, there was no more hope of Anna hiding the bright crimson blush on her face from anyone.

Elsa’s dress was a gorgeous lavender color and surprisingly a bit short, for a prom dress. The bodice was all floral lace, and below that were several tiers of tulle skirts which came down to just below her knees. Her hair was done up in a fancy braid, and woven into it Anna spotted a few of the flowers she’d left on Elsa’s dresser that morning.

Anna thought she had never seen someone so pretty in her life.

If time had seemed to slow for that first glance of Elsa on the stairs, it definitely sped up after that. Anna presented the corsage and pinned it to Elsa’s dress, earning her a dazzled look when Elsa recognized her favorite flowers. Her father took the requisite ‘prom couple’ photos before the limo showed up to take them to their destination. Anna had to repeat several yes really’s to Elsa’s did you really?’s as their parents ushered them into the waiting vehicle.

At the venue they met up with their friends and generally just had a blast. When the slow songs came on they would find each other and catch up on whatever hijinks the other had missed, or poke fun at their coupled friends being sappy with each other. Anna didn’t even mind when they spent the last ‘dance’ snacking on chocolates at the refreshments table instead of on the dance floor.

After the dance came the after parties. Neither of the girls was much of a wild partier, but it seemed apropos to at least see what all the fuss was about. All in all, they had a good time. At one point Anna actually did sneak a shot of tequila when she was offered, for courage. Or tried to sneak; Elsa had somehow noticed and gave her a very judgy older-sister look which Anna only managed to disarm by fussing somewhat dramatically over the state of the flowers in Elsa’s braid.

The night dragged on. At about one in the morning the two sisters found themselves at an all-night diner with Rapunzel and Eugene, sharing a basket of french fries. They’d lost Kristoff when the group had briefly stopped in front of the local gay bar. When the fries ran out, Eugene and Rapunzel excused themselves; Eugene mentioned that it was time to take his girlfriend home, with a very big wink when he said the word home. Anna just rolled her eyes at him. But hey, that was part of the whole prom night thing too, right?

Anna couldn’t help but notice that Elsa looked a bit down when they left the diner. The limo was long gone at that point, so Anna hailed a cab with the app on her phone. Once they were underway, she broached the topic of what was making Elsa glum in that moment.

“We had an amazing night, right Elsa? I didn’t screw anything up?”

Elsa, who had been gazing out the car window, turned to face Anna, eyes wet around the edges but not crying exactly. “Oh, Anna, of course not. You were perfect, everything was perfect. It’s just that—well, I told myself I didn’t want any… entanglements before going off to college, but seeing Eugene and Punz going off to have some, um, special time together—” Elsa stopped abruptly and composed herself a little. “I just kinda don’t want the night to be over yet.”

“So um, about that,” Anna started to say, just as the driver pulled up to their destination.

Anna got out of the car as Elsa scooched across the back seats and then joined her on the sidewalk, just as the taxi pulled away. The sidewalk which was definitely not the driveway of their house.

“I got us a hotel!” Anna announced excitedly, before she could choke on the words. They were in fact, standing in front of a fairly nice hotel near the edge of downtown.

“You didn’t,” Elsa replied, deadpan, though her eyes were wandering up the side of the glass building to the bright blue sign near the roof many stories up.

“We can still go home if you want, I haven’t actually paid anything yet,” Anna offered, but Elsa’s answer was to head towards the front door and into the lobby.

Anna trailed after her, managed to wrangle Elsa along with her to the check-in desk in order to procure the room key. The process of which was somewhat elaborated by the fact that Anna could barely get her words out, suffering a bit of shock at the part where Elsa hadn’t just called up another taxi to take them home. It was definitely the tequila talking when, in the elevator, she grabbed hold of Elsa’s hand. Elsa shot her an indecipherable look, but didn’t let go.

They were still holding hands when Anna keyed the door lock with her free hand, opened the door slightly, popped her foot in the gap to hold it open, and then promptly spun around to face Elsa.

“Turn around,” Anna ordered, and was surprised when her sister complied.

“Anna,” Elsa whined, and the tone in her voice gave Anna a curious boost in confidence.

“Close your eyes,” Anna half-whispered, as she pulled her hand loose from Elsa’s and then raised both hands up to cover Elsa’s eyes. With a bit of an awkward shuffle, Anna managed to guide them both backwards through the doorway, before turning them both in place so that she could guide Elsa forward into the center of the room. And then, with a deep breath, she dropped her hands and let Elsa see.

It wasn’t just that Anna had gotten them a hotel room. That could have been excused as just a fun place to hang out to cap the night off. Anna, god help her, wanted her message to be clear. Which was why the hotel room had only the one king-size bed, completely covered in white rose petals.

Elsa stepped forward tentatively, ran a hand along the edge of the bed, disturbing some of the flower petals. She glanced at Anna briefly, and then back at the bed and around the room. After a long moment that felt like an eternity to Anna, Elsa turned around, kicked off her heels, and sat on the edge of bed with a look on her face that heavily implied that Anna should start talking.

Here, at the crux of all the plans she had orchestrated for this night, Anna found that she didn’t need really need that tequila courage to say what she needed to say.

“I think I’m in love with you,” she confessed. It was a lot easier to breathe like a normal person now that she’d said the hardest part. “I know it sounds absurd, but that’s the only way I can make sense of the way you make me feel. It was just little things at first, and then I started having thoughts and I wasn’t sure—I’m still not sure sure to be honest. When you asked me to go to prom with you, I thought that maybe, maybe you felt something like I do?” Anna paused, hoping the Elsa might respond, but the expression on the blonde girl’s face remained enigmatic. With a bit of resignation, Anna sat down on the bed next to Elsa. “I got this hotel room so that we could—so that I could tell you how I felt. In private.”

Elsa just looked at her for rather a long time, and Anna felt like she could see the various thoughts she must be having go to and fro in her sister’s head.

“And what did you think we would do in this hotel room,” Elsa inquired eventually, with a curious tone in her voice, “now that you’ve told me, if I felt the same way?”

“W-whatever we’re both, um, comfortable with?” Anna responded hesitantly, taking Elsa’s hand in hers once again. “Which could totally be nothing at all, I mean, if you don’t feel that—”

“Can I kiss you?” Elsa asked immediately, before Anna had finished speaking.

Whoa what?

“Uh, yes?”

How was she so unprepared for the very thing she had been hoping would happen?

She felt a little bit like her spirit had left her body when Elsa quickly lifted her free hand to caress Anna’s cheek, and then leaned in until their lips pressed together. Anna wasn’t exactly an experienced kisser; she’d kissed a few girls (and yes, boys), but mostly in the hesitant, high-school way where neither person knows what they’re doing. And still, this kiss with Elsa felt a little odd. It felt, somehow, like Elsa was asking a question, only… Anna didn’t think she was the one who was supposed to answer it. And just like that, the sense of elation from just moments before dropped out of her chest and curdled in her stomach.

Elsa, perhaps sensing the shift, pulled away. Looked away. But their hands were still clasped, and Anna took that as a sign of something. After a moment, she gave Elsa’s hand a brief squeeze of reassurance. I’m still here, she endeavored to say without saying.

“I don’t think I’m in love with you,” Elsa said, and before Anna could fall to pieces, Elsa finally looked back at her and there was something bright in her blue eyes. “But. Maybe you’ve just figured it out sooner than me? Because I do want to kiss you some more. I wanted to kiss you so bad when you gave me the corsage earlier tonight. Wouldn’t that have caused a scene!”

Elsa laughed then, and the sight of it transmuted all of Anna’s mixed up emotions into her own burst of laughter because yeah, Elsa surprise kissing her in front of their parents would have been a whole damn fiasco and who knows if they would have even been allowed to leave the house in that case? And Anna was really glad they had gotten to spend this time together.

“Is that okay? That I don’t feel, um, quite the same thing as you?” Elsa asked, when Anna had mostly collected herself.

“I think so?” Anna replied, rubbing away the streaks from tears that had escaped during her fit of laughter. “We just have to communicate, right? If something changes, it has to be okay for either of us to say something.”

“Of course,” Elsa confirmed. And then she got a particularly mischievous smile on her pretty face.

“What? Elsa, what!” Anna pressed, when her sister still didn’t say anything.

“Well, I did say I want to kiss you some more, didn’t I?” Elsa scooted back on the bed until she was sitting in the center of it, then trailed her hands through the rose petals that still blanketed the sheets. “Your plan worked. You’ve got me all alone in this romantic hotel room with you. What are you going to do with me?”

Anna never once complained about mowing the lawn that summer.

[aion-rsa]

Josie and The Pussycats is the Spinoff Riverdale Deserves

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This RIVERDALE review contains spoilers.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 15

“Our story is about three young women bursting with talent.”

When last we saw Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), she was in New York City trying to make her dreams come true on the ill-fated (and gone-too-soon) Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. Often when characters are spun-off and their subsequent shows fail, they vanish into the pop culture ether — The Ropers from Three’s Company being the textbook case of this phenomenon. But not so for Josie. This latest episode debuts a new iteration of the character, one who has achieved her dreams but still finds herself wanting more. It is a decidedly more mature take on the previously underwritten character, and one that allows Murray’s considerable acting and musical abilities to shine.

In short, it is the Josie that fans have always wanted to see.

But what good is the character without the backing of her Pussycats? Drummer Melody Valentine (Asha Bromfield) and multi-instrumentalist Valerie Brown (Hayley Law) have been estranged from Josie since she blew off the Pussycats for a solo career when they were in high school. Seven years later and the wounds are still raw, even though Melody has since become a renowned author with movie rights optioned by Tyler Perry, and Valerie is a talented artist and actress.

When Josie returns to Riverdale to take stock following the sudden death of her father, she finds herself coming to terms with her past. More than that though, she has found her voice in every sense of the word. She dismisses Mr. Lodge, the show’s big bad in a hilarious kiss off that sums up many viewers’ opinions on the often irksome character. Better still, the episode allows her to get meta to discuss how Riverdale often sidelined the Josie character in her previous iteration on the series. “I didn’t have much to say in old times,” she plaintively declares, commenting on the problem that Riverdale had with diversity in its early seasons. She then accurately dismisses Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead not as old friends but as acquaintances. It’s a bold and surprising scene that takes responsibility for past sins that the series committed, further illustrating that it is aware that it can do better and has been attempting to do so.

After a steamy reunion with old flame Sweet Pea (Jordan Connor), Josie begins the work of reaching out to Valerie and Melody. It is here that the episode goes from great to an all-timer. The chemistry that Murray, Bromfield and Law possess is lightning in a bottle. As old injustices are aired and attempts to repair wounded hearts and egos are undertaken, these actresses embody the old friends they portray fully. But this backdoor pilot, fortunately, has zero interest in having its women of color tear each other down. The characters candidly discuss their shared past, and begin to repair the rift that will — if The Pussycats goes to series — lead them to becoming the global superstars they are destined to be.

Josie, Melody and Valerie are icons. They know it, and the world will soon follow.

Inspired by her renewed friendship with her once and future bandmates, Josie decides to do a concert with the Pussycats that will raise money to help reincorporate the town of Riverdale. It is a performance that highlights each of the women’s musical strengths, even if Josie does steal the spotlight for an emotional rendition of Nina Simone’s “Stars.” Despite being cut short when Toni goes into labor, the concert is enough of a success for The Pussycats to agree to go on the road together — playing in towns where Josie’s late father wanted his ashes scattered. The women consider themselves to be equals now, thus the “Josie and” is jettisoned from the band name. This still being Riverdale, a friend of Josie’s dad appears moments before she leaves town to tell her that her father may have been murdered in New Orleans, and that voodoo might be involved.

With this incredible/ridiculous plot development thrown at us, the full image of what The Pussycats will be as a series comes into view: A mixture of Fame and 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo that celebrates these characters and their comic/cartoon legacy in an unexpected way. (As an Archie comics historian even I was taken off guard by the last-minute introduction of the potential show’s mystery angle, and my mind reels at the possibilities).

Hopefully sooner rather than later a series order for The Pussycats will be announced. There is so much potential here to tell exciting, fun, music-packed stories featuring strong women of color that it feels like a surefire hit. “The Return of the Pussycats” is not only the best episode of Riverdale this season, but a perfect pilot episode. There desperately needs to be lots more long tails and ears for hats in our future, for these are the Pussycats we’ve been waiting for.

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Riverdale Rundown

While nothing has been officially announced as of yet, it feels ridiculous for The CW to not do a full series of The Pussycats, yes? This logo appearing at the end of the episode instead of the usual Riverdale bumper bodes well for things to come. Fingers crossed…

My guess is that this episode didn’t have Alexandra and Josie cross paths due to their Katy Keene past, which had the characters begin as enemies who were slowly forming a friendship before that series was cancelled. By not having them interact, the writers didn’t have to figure out where their relationship currently is — making this a narrative thread that The Pussycats could potentially pull on down the line.

The character of Alan M. briefly appears as Melody’s love interest, which indeed he is in the comics and fondly remembered 2001 movie.

Speaking of the Josie and the Pussycats movie, that film’s ever-growing cult continues to delight me. Thanks to multiverses, there’s no reason why that version of these characters and the ones of The Pussycats can’t co-exist in the same pop culture landscape.

Let’s give a special shoutout to Robin Givens, who not only reprises her role as Sierra McCoy here but also did a terrific job directing this installment.

Melody narrates this episode a la Jughead, except that her writing is bright and full of hope, a sharp and intentional contrast to her brooding counterpoint.

If you didn’t cheer when Josie and the Pussycats took the stage to their cartoon theme song, you are dead inside.

“Entertainment Tomorrow” enters the Riverdale fake product lexicon in this episode (which also includes the returning chestnut “Vanity Flair”).

Toni gives birth to a boy, Anthony.

Expect to see more about the franchising of Pop’s in upcoming restaurants, and Tabitha’s speech about the importance of the Chok’lit Shoppe being a black-owned restaurant in a time when Riverdale had no other such establishments was one of the most powerful scenes this series has ever done.

It’s worth noting that a franchise for real-life Archie restaurants did exist in the early 1970s. However the idea never really took off, and pictures of the three diners that were opened have never surfaced online.

What the hell was up with the Old Navy product placement in this episode, which felt like it was ripped from the Josie and the Pussycats movie, minus the irony.

Kevin’s dancing during the Little Shop of Horrors musical number was, unsurprisingly, everything.

Melody’s book being named Summer Storm is a sly reference to actress Asha Bromfield having a newly released novel called Hurricane Summer that was released in May.

Josie uses the alias Ms. Newmar to check into hotels. Julie Newmar famously portrayed Catwoman on the Batman TV series, which not only plays into Josie’s feline motif, but also is yet another of the show’s near-constant DC Comics references of late.

Mr. Lodge being called a “little bitch” was so unbelievably pleasing to watch. Josie is just SO OVER Riverdale’s bullshit.

In a nice character moment, Cheryl immediately leaps into action to help deliver ex-lover Toni’s baby.

Dr. Curdle Jr. being a Josie and the Pussycats superfan is comedic brilliance (as is the fact that nobody trusts him enough to have him anywhere near Toni’s delivery.

The post Josie and The Pussycats is the Spinoff Riverdale Deserves appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3BQYwym

[etherealwaifgoddess]

Run To You - Chpt.1

Summary: Bucky has had the day from hell and all he wants is to buy what he needs and get home to his sick kid. Enter Steve Rogers in the wrong place at the wrong time and Bucky’s day goes from bad to mortifying.  Master list is HERE :)

Content Warnings: A smidge of bad language, but really ya’ll should expect that from me by now lol

Word Count: 2.3k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! Who’s ready to start a new adventure with me? I knew I wanted to write a kid!fic with Bucky and Steve but I didn’t expect it to go quite this way until I jokingly called a friend “Captain Clueless” and then couldn’t get that name out of my head in relation to Steve. I fell completely in love with this little universe as I went and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. XOXO - Ash

Chapter One

Bucky Barnes is not at his finest. He just got off a sixteen hour shift from his job as an ER nurse and can barely keep his eyes open. The shift should have ended four hours earlier, but a tour bus accident had them overwhelmed on what had already been a busy night. Bucky was looking forward to catching a few hours of sleep while Becca was at preschool but nope, he came home to a frazzled best friend/ babysitter and a sick four year old. It was always something with Becca, her immune system just wasn’t what it needed to be. Bucky couldn’t fault her for that, she had been born premature and that unfortunately resulted in a whole host of health issues for the little girl. He would never regret adopting her, it was the best decision he’d ever made, but some days parenthood wore on him. 

Bucky moves the load of laundry Natasha had started for him into the dryer. It smells clean but there will forever be a slight stain from puke on the ladybug print sheets. He can try his heavy duty stain remover on it later, but he knows there is only so much that can be done for white fabric and bodily fluids. There’s a reason most of his scrubs are black. After checking in on Becca, Bucky begs Natasha to stay a little longer so he can run down to the bodega to pick up a few things for when Becca wakes up. He would have sworn they had an extra bottle of Pedialyte, but apparently they’d used it up during Becca’s last bout with the flu. 

Natasha waits patiently, listening to Bucky complain about his shift while he quickly changes out of his scrubs into a pair of soft grey sweats and an old Blink 182 tshirt. She’s been his best friend since their first year of college when they met in Intro to Biology. The two of them have been inseparable ever since, both even choosing to stay in Brooklyn after college instead of going back to where they were from. Natasha’s family was from Russia but traveled a lot so she was happy staying in the city that felt like home to her, and Bucky would have done just about anything to avoid going back to the tiny town in Indiana where his parents were still selling drugs out of their trailer and making each other miserable. 

Bucky had thought he was free of his family forever when NYU accepted him into their nursing program. It was his way out of a poverty stricken little town that people rarely escaped from. Bucky had left home at eighteen with no intentions of returning, and he probably never would have, but during his last year of nursing school he found out through Facebook that his thirty eight year old mother was pregnant. To no one’s surprise, his mom was still dealing, still with his deadbeat dad, and was too far along when she found out she was pregnant to have any other option than having the baby. It was a repeat of the situation she’d found herself in at sixteen when she had Bucky. Knowing what it was like to grow up in that house, Bucky couldn’t allow another child to be brought into such a toxic environment. As soon as his mom confirmed the news was true, he hopped on the next flight out to Indiana and started the process to legally adopt his sister once she was born. 

When Rebecca Grace Barnes came into the world nine weeks early the doctors said it was a miracle she survived. She was so small, just barely three pounds, and needed to stay in the NICU for just over a month. Bucky had made arrangements with his professors to turn in exams and papers online, barely managing to finish up his nursing degree while biding his time before he could go back to Brooklyn with his baby sister. It had been a wild ride trying to get his nursing career started while caring for a newborn but Natasha had been a life saver. She and their other friend Clint had stepped up in a huge way, helping to watch Becca when he needed to work and daycare wasn’t open. Their schedules had gotten even messier recently when Becca started preschool. Bucky is counting down the days until kindergarten starts so their schedules will align enough for him to only lean on Nat and Clint one or two days a week at most. 

“Are you even listening to me?” Natasha throws a balled up Minnie Mouse sock at Bucky who’s too tired to dodge and instead gets a face full of pink fleece. 

“Yeah, Nat,” Bucky sighs, wishing he could take off his aching prosthetic but knowing he’ll need both hands for shopping bags. “I’m getting you a choco taco and a red bull this time. I got you.” 

Natasha nods happily, completely unphased by Bucky’s eye roll. She’s getting her wake up juice and her crunchy chocolatey sugar, and that is all that matters.

Bucky rushes around the bodega grabbing everything he’ll need to deal with a sick kid, throwing things in the basket without even bothering to check price tags. His bank account will hate him, but he doesn’t exactly have time or options to find the best deals. Grabbing Nat’s items and an iced coffee for himself, he waits in line as an older man chats with the clerk while the teenager rings up his order. The television in the corner is playing the local news, apparently Captain America visited a rec center in Brooklyn recently. There are sound bites from elderly residents and young kids fawning over him, and one of the Captain himself extolling the importance of community and keeping kids off the streets.

Bucky thinks his eyes will get stuck in the back of his head with how hard he rolls them. “This fucking guy.” Bucky grumbles as he places his basket on the counter, unloading his stuff. 

The clerk nods in silent agreement.

“I’m sure he was a ‘bright shining beacon of hope’ back in WWII but he has no clue what’s going on in the real word nowadays.” Bucky continues.

The clerk nods once again and Bucky, feeling particularly exhausted and grumpy, yells over at the TV, “It’s not all rainbows and sunshine Captain Clueless!”  

“Captain Clueless?” A deep voice rumbles from behind him, “I’ve been called a lot of things over the years, but that’s a new one.” 

Bucky sees the clerk's face go pale and the kid freezes, confirming what Bucky feared when he heard that rich baritone behind him. Oh fuck. 

Turning around, Bucky prepares himself for the worst. Instead, he finds an extremely amused looking Captain America holding a bottle of water and a bag of swedish fish. 

“I’m… I… I didn’t mean…” Bucky stammers. He doesn’t know how to politely explain I meant every word but never meant for you to hear it. 

The register pings as the clerk frantically finishes ringing up Bucky’s order, trying to get both men out of the shop before the situation can get any worse. The sound startles Bucky and he turns around to see the green blinking $58.79 on the little box. His stomach sinks, there went grocery shopping for the week. But, he reasons, Becca won’t want much for a few days while she recovers and he’s no stranger to a ramen-only diet. They’ll get by, just like they always do. 

Before Bucky can hand over his last three twenties, a sleek black card taps against the card reader and the machine starts blinking, processing it. Bucky spins around in surprise only to literally face plant into a solid wall of muscle. Muscle that smells like tea tree and mint, yum. Bucky moves backwards in surprise, bumping into the counter but getting himself away from the giant of man who’s also moving backwards after their collision. 

“It’s on me.” Steve tells him with a shrug. 

“You didn’t have to do that.” Bucky insists, “I insulted you.” 

“You were just being honest.” Steve reasons, “I don’t get to hear people’s honest opinions all that much.” 

“That has to be weird.” 

Steve chuckles, “Pal, you got no idea.” 

“Well, thank you. And I am sorry you heard that.” Bucky collects his bags, still dumbfounded by the whole experience. 

“I’d like to hear more about why you said it. Whatever you think it is I’m missing about the twenty-first century. I’m just out for a run so if you don’t mind company on your way back to wherever, maybe we could talk?” 

Bucky shakes his head. The man actually wants to learn how to be a better person after being insulted by a random grungey stranger in a bodega. “You really are Captain America.” Bucky murmurs, still stunned. 

Steve chuckles again; a deep, throaty sound. “Yeah, guilty as charged. But you can just call me Steve.” Steve winks conspiratorially and Bucky thinks he might actually combust. No one should be allowed to be that good looking. 

Bucky waits as the cashier rings Steve up for his things and Steve taps his card again to pay. “I thought it was weird enough getting a card that swiped when I came out of the ice, but now this one doesn’t even swipe. It just taps and poof, done.” Steve says with a faint tone of awe. 

Bucky can’t imagine how many things Steve needed to adjust to after waking up from the ice. “Far cry from what you were used to, huh?” 

“Well, it sure beats keeping coins in old coffee cans.” 

Bucky glances over at Steve as they leave the bodega together, “You do that whole ‘awe shucks, man out of time’ thing really well. Is it real though? No offense, you can’t really be that well adjusted. You’re still human.”

Steve meets Bucky’s eyes for a moment, crystalline blue piercing into smoke grey-blue, assessing him. After a few beats he decides Bucky is someone who can handle the truth. “It’s a lot easier to do that than to curse up a storm every time some piece of tech pisses me off. Plays out a lot better with the whole Captain America image too.”  

“I didn’t think Captain America even knew how to swear.” Bucky teases. 

“He doesn’t, but Steve Rogers does. I grew up in Brooklyn, I know how to curse.” 

Bucky laughs, swinging his bags idly as they walk in silence for a few steps.

Steve breaks the silence, reminding him of why they’re walking down the street together in the first place, “So really, why do you think I’m so out of touch? Because I thought SHIELD did a bang up job teaching me about the world and what I missed while I was out.” 

“I’m sure they did, but SHIELD is still an agency with their own ideas and agendas. I promise you, you got a watered down version of real life. Do me a favor; when you get home look up what they say about The Great Depression and WWII. Do a little research on how we look back at those times. Then think about how it really was back then when you were living it. I would bet you lunch that the two don’t line up.” 

“I never thought about it that way.” Steve admits. “I’ll look it up today, promise.”

They arrive on Bucky’s stoop and he climbs up a step, looking down at Steve instead of up at him. He wants to know what Steve thinks once he does some research but doesn’t know how to ask. Luckily, Steve beats him to it. 

“I’m going to need your number if you’re taking me out to lunch.” Steve says casually, a light hint of teasing. 

Bucky blushes, trying to remind himself that he was the one who threw the lunch bet out there. Steve Rogers would never just ask him out like that. “I… uh… um…” he fumbles anyway.

Steve takes a step back in retreat, his own cheeks flaming. “I’m sorry, that was. I’m sorry. You clearly have a sick kid to get back to, and I’m sure a lovely wife waiting for you too.” he motions at Bucky’s bags. “Thank you, for being honest with me.” Steve turns to hurry off and, thankfully, Bucky’s brain catches up with him.

“Steve, no.” he blurts out. “No wife. Sick kid, yes. But no, um, no one else. If you want my number, I’ll give it to you. My schedule is a little weird because of my job but I do want to know what you think when you get done looking things up.” 

Steve smiles up at Bucky, soft and hopeful and genuine. It isn’t the All American facade grin he uses for the cameras, and it feels all the more special to Bucky because of it. Steve hands over his phone to Bucky so he can enter in his contact info and then sends him a quick text so Bucky has his number too. “So, I’ll call you later then?” Steve tries, sounding a little unsure still.

“Yeah, I’ll look forward to it, Steve.” Bucky looks up at his doorway, knowing he needs to get back to Becca but not wanting Steve to leave quite yet. 

Steve takes the hint and gives him another soft smile and a small wave as he turns and heads off down the bustling city sidewalk. 

Bucky stands there a moment, collecting himself and trying to process it all, before hurrying back upstairs to his little apartment to relieve Natasha of babysitting duty.

*** New chapters will be posted on Sunday and Wednesday nights until the fic is complete ***

[just-my-sickly-pride]

Man on Fire || Roger Taylor x fem!Reader

summary || roger and brian are arguing over who, out of the two of them, is more of a man. which somehow results in roger asking you to peg him. the logic is flawed, but any old excuse, right?

rating || explicit (18+). do not read if you are under eighteen. pegging, very slight sub!rog/dom!reader dynamics if you squint

word count || 7.5k

summary || you know the drill: here’s the link to the try series if you’re not caught up yet. now that the threesome fic is done, i have about three or four of these next chapters lined up ready to go. will i ever write and post something that isn’t from this ’verse? yes. but not right now. also i’m sorry about the title, i couldn’t resist.

masterlist

     We need to talk was never a nice message to receive out of the blue, especially late at night. And when it was received from a friend that you were semi-regularly sleeping with, it was arguably worse.

    No. Definitely worse.

    what’s up? you replied to Roger, your palms already starting to sweat.

    can I come over?

    can u tell me what this is about first?

    something to do with us

    Your palms were certainly sweating now. You were unsure how to reply, and, while you hesitated, you received another message.

    me and brian were arguing about something

    Well, that wasn’t exactly news.

    do u need to talk about it? you replied. what’s it got to do with me?

    can I just come over please?

    You sighed. yeah ok

    Time to wallow in anxiety.

    Roger was at your door twenty minutes later. You could tell he’d just come straight from work at the pub.

    “It’s late, so don’t be too loud,” you said as you let him in. “Lucy’s asleep. And I should’ve been in bed half an hour ago.”

    “We both know you weren’t going to be in bed half an hour ago,” Roger said. He raked his fingers through his hair. He still needed a haircut. You wondered idly if he’d ever get around to getting one, or if he’d just let it grow until he looked like some seventies rockstar. “But this won’t take long, anyway.”

    You crossed your arms. “Well, is this a sit-down sort of conversation?” you asked, shifting from foot to foot. You hoped Roger couldn’t tell how nervous you were. There was no way to predict what he was about to say. Was he suddenly in love with you? Was he suddenly in love with someone else? Did someone die?

    “No,” Roger said. “I’m too pissed off to sit down.”

    “What did I do?” you said. You tried not to be immediately defensive, but you could hear the sharpness in your tone.

    Roger shook his head. “No, nothing. You didn’t do anything. I’m pissed at Brian.”

    “Oh.” You uncrossed your arms. “So why are you here? Just to vent?”

    “No,” Roger said. “Can you just let me explain?”

    “I’m all ears.”

    “Brian made some…” Roger’s lip curled. “…joke about how I’m not ‘manly’, or whatever.”

    You took a moment to process this. “That’s what this is about?”

    “Yeah,’ Roger said, tetchy. “He made a joke about it. Brian. The least manly guy on the planet. And then Fred and Deaks laughed at it. It’s fucking stupid. Freddie literally wears eyeliner sometimes.”

    “You can be manly and wear eyeliner,” you said.

    “You can be,” Roger said. “But Freddie isn’t. Not most of the time. He’s a feminine guy. Which is fine, obviously. But what I’m pissed about is that Brian’s waltzing around with his skinny legs and fluttering eyelashes calling me ‘not manly’.”

    You snorted a laugh. “Fluttering eyelashes?”

    “Oh, don’t laugh at me, I know you’ve seen it, that’s not a weird thing to observe about him.”

    “You’ve got skinny legs too, though, Rog,” you said.

    “These?” Roger marched over to the wall and stuck one of his legs into the air – not very far, he was hideously inflexible – and propped it against the wall. “These legs are thick. With two Cs.”

    “Get your foot off the wall,” you said, and Roger let his foot drop. “And they are not thick. They’re twigs.”

    “Brian’s are twiggier.”

    “Sure, okay,” you said with a shrug. “What’s your point?”

    “My point is, I am not unmanly. I am manly as fuck.” Roger gestured to himself, as if that was supposed to support his argument. “And Brian and I started arguing about it, and started listing everything that makes someone manly, and long story short, you need to do up me the arse.”

    You opened your mouth, then closed it again, then opened it for a second time. “I’m sorry?”

    Roger crossed his arms resolutely. “We need to go shopping and buy you a strap-on so you can fuck me. Just really go to town.”

    “How on Earth,” you said, “did you come to this conclusion?”

    “It takes the fuckin’…” Roger searched for the right word. “The fuckin’ manliest of men to get railed, and particularly if you’re a straight guy, like me, getting railed by a woman. Because I’ve heard that that isn’t easy. There’s a lot of– of preparation involved, and stuff. So. If you fuck me, then I can tell Brian that I’m manlier than him. And I know you still haven’t fucked him yet, because he would’ve brought it up when we were arguing. Am I wrong?”

    You needed a strong drink. “You’re… not wrong about me and Brian not… doing that yet, no,” you conceded. “But I am… struggling to follow.”

    “What’s there not to follow?” Roger said. “So when are you free? This weekend? We can go shopping. Brian mentioned once you two had been to a sex shop just out of town, so it’s nearby. We can get lunch or something afterwards.”

    “Brian mentioned…” You held up your hands like stop signs. “Wait, wait. Can we just hold up for a second?”

    “What?”

    You stared at Roger, slightly disbelieving. He stared at you, disbelieving your disbelief. You took a beat, and then spoke. “First of all…” You immediately aborted, shaking your head. “You know what? I’m not even going to ask you to further explain the reasoning behind this. I don’t understand, and, frankly, I don’t know if it’s worth my time trying to understand.”

    “I already explained–”

    You shushed him. “I’m still talking.” You placed your hands firmly on your hips. “So, new ‘first of all’: do I get a say in this? Did you consider that perhaps I wouldn’t be at all interested in spending money on a strap-on and fucking you?”

    Roger just stared at you, blank-faced.

    You sighed, your hands dropping. “Yeah, okay, fine, you got me there, of course I’d want to do that,” you muttered in defeat. You shook your head. “Rog, do you even actually understand the – mechanics behind all of it? Have you thought about the fact that you may not like it?”

    “It’ll be fine,” Roger said. “We’ve managed everything else we’ve done so far just fine, haven’t we? If I don’t like it, I’ll just say so. But don’t tell Brian I didn’t like it.”

    “When the hell would that come up in conversation?”

    “Oh, he’ll want to know,” Roger said seriously.

    “Then he can ask you,” you said. “I don’t want to get involved in this stupid dick measuring.”

    Roger’s eyes went wide, a lightbulb springing to life. “Good thinking,” he said. “Dick measuring.”

    “What?”

    Roger’s face fell. “Actually, no, I’m pretty sure his dick’s bigger than mine,” he muttered in thought. He cocked his head to one side. “But is my dick prettier than his?”

    He looked to you.

    “I’m not even going to try answering that,” you said, deadpanned.

    Roger waved a hand. “Whatever. We can decide for ourselves next time we have a threesome.”

    You were a little taken aback by the nonchalance of the comment, as if having threesomes was now just a casual Friday night, which it certainly wasn’t. Your first threesome (closely followed by your second, a few days later), had been a few weeks ago now. You’d been talking about getting together again soon, but it was difficult to coordinate such a thing, and, as much fun as it was, it wasn’t high on your priority list. But apparently, according to Roger, it was right around the corner. You couldn’t help but wonder what sort of conversations he and Brian had been having about it behind your back.

    You rolled your eyes, heaving a sigh. “Men.” You started shooing Roger out the door. “Yes, we’ll go shopping on the weekend. Please actually do some research into anal sex, though, okay?”

    “Yeah, yeah,” Roger said, and you knew that there was no way he’d remember to do that.

    You opened the front door, and he hovered. “So when do you wanna… do it?” he said, giving you a cheeky smile that he knew you loved.

    You scowled, trying to smother your own smile, and his smile widened. He could tell. You were terrible at hiding.

    “We’ll figure it out later,” you said. “Can you get out of my house now? I want to sleep.”

    “Can it be soon, though? I want to rub it in Brian’s face as soon as possible.”

    “Fine,” you said. “Next week, whatever. Just text me.”

    “Yes,” Roger hissed in victory. “Thank you! Don’t tell Brian!”

    “Fine, whatever, goodbye,” you said, and he finally left, strutting away.

-

    The weekend shopping trip didn’t pan out. You were asked to head into work last-minute, so instead, after work, Roger came over, and the two of you browsed for options online. You were a little wary that Roger’s eagerness seemed to stem not from actually wanting to be fucked, but wanting to be able to brag about being fucked, but you went along with it. You found a strap-on that seemed fairly basic – you’d never done this before either, so you didn’t want anything overly complicated – relatively cheap, and the reviews seemed promising.

    You and Roger split the payment. Then, while you had him there, you looked up instructional information on anal sex, and forced him to read it. Although, to be fair, you were reading to learn as well. You could see it slowly starting to dawn on Roger the fact that, yes, there would be a large object going into his asshole, and that it would take some work to get it in there. He chewed on his lip.

    You hoped he wasn’t going to back out. If he did, then he did, and that was fine, but then you’d have an entire strap-on that would be going to waste. Maybe you could just use it on Brian instead.

    Then, of course, somehow, thanks to Roger, you ended up watching guy-getting-fucked-by-girl porn, and you took note of the way Roger’s cheeks flushed and his breathing sped up, the way he watched with rapture, his pupils blown. He kept up commentary as well, pointing out things he liked the look of and things he didn’t.

    So it seemed he was genuinely interested in it, after all. Good. You were, too, and watching porn of it only made you more eager for the real thing.

    You noticed Roger having to shift himself every few seconds, adjusting his jeans, so you reached over and began palming him, feeling him harden beneath your hand. The high-heeled woman on screen called the man she was fucking a little bitch and rammed her silicon dick into him, and the man moaned. Roger hissed, “Fuck,” and batted your hand away to undo his jeans, unzipping the fly, so you could wiggle your hand into his underwear. Barely even looking at what he was doing, he pushed your dress up your thighs and returned the favour, massaging your clit.

    Jacking each other off, side by side, while watching porn, wasn’t something you thought you’d ever done before. Roger came first, and as soon as he did, he reached forward and snapped your laptop shut as you reached for a tissue from your bedside table to wipe your hand clean.

    “I’ve heard plenty of those guys,” he said, tucking himself back into his jeans and sliding the laptop out of the way across the bed. He rolled onto his stomach, settling between your thighs. He was still breathing heavily, pink-cheeked and a little sweaty from his orgasm, and he looked gorgeous. “I wanna hear you now.”

    He didn’t even bother taking your underwear off – he just pulled it aside to make room for his mouth.

-

    The strap-on arrived about five days later, and you sent Roger a snap of the box. can u put it on for me? he asked.

    So you did. It took some figuring out, and you were still fully dressed underneath it, which looked a little silly. It felt odd, to have weight at the front of your pelvis where you were used to having none. You sent Roger a snap, pulling a dumb facing and making a peace sign in the mirror, jutting your hips forward.

    not really what I was expecting ngl, he replied, and you snorted. do u like it? feels ok?

    yeah, you said. so when do u wanna meet?

    send me a photo of u wearing nothing but that and I can make time to come over rn

    You laughed. I’m free saturday night

    I got work sat night :((

    till when?

    10-3. AM.

    ew

     ikr

    come over before then, you said. come over at like 7

    u want me to come over to urs and get fucked in the ass then do a 6 hour shift at work

    was that not clear? You bit your lip, then went for the jugular, smiling to yourself as you did so. or are u not manly enough to handle that?

    fuck u, Roger replied immediately. see u at 7 on saturday. DONT TELL BRIAN.

-

    You were half-tempted to tell Brian, just for the hell of it. But you didn’t, even when you and Brian ran into each other at the library the next day, and ended up sitting next to each other, flirting with each other over text underneath the table as your books sat, untouched.

    You and Brian also sat untouched. He had a lecture to get to, and, as tempting as it was to let him fuck you in the library toilets, your ‘no fucking at uni’ rule still stood.

    So by the time seven PM Saturday rolled around, you were feeling a little pent-up. But you swallowed it down as best you could – you didn’t want to push Roger into anything he wasn’t comfortable with just because you were horny.

    When he turned up, he had a glint of excitement in his eye. You knew that glint well – Roger had been fairly vanilla before he’d started sleeping with you, and nothing was more enticing to him than the prospect of trying anything new and a bit left of field.

    “Show me, show me, show me,” he said as soon as he stepped in the door, and he followed you, a spring in his step, to your bedroom, where the strap-on lay on your bed, next to a heavy supply of lubricant.

    “Oh, man,” he said, his eyes wide. He picked it up by the dildo, and turned to you, looking almost amazed. “This is gonna go in my bum.”

    You spluttered out a laugh, and then Roger was laughing too, and both of you were struggling to breathe.

    “Way to ruin the fucking mood,” you said, wiping tears from your eyes.

    “Well, it’s true!” Roger said. A few bubbles of laughter escaped from him, and then he took a big breath and finally let the strap-on drop back onto the bed. “And I have thoroughly washed every nook, cranny, crack, and crevice of my entire body, so I hope it does go in my bum, otherwise that would have been a bloody waste of my time.”

    “Hygiene would have been a waste of your time?” you said, quirking an eyebrow.

    “This was ridiculous,” Roger said. “It was, like, pandemic-national-state-of-emergency-everyone-cleanse-yourselves level of hygiene. I haven’t been this clean since before I was born. And,” he added, swaggering over to you, far too proud for someone who’d just said the word ‘bum’ twice in about five minutes, “I’ve been practicing. So you’re welcome.”

    “Practicing?”

    Roger’s hands came to rest on your hips, and he bit his bottom lip, waggling his eyebrows at you. “Oh, yeah. With my fingers.”

    “Oh,” you said, pleasantly surprised. “How many times have you fingered yourself, then?”

    “Like, three times since last Saturday?”

    “And?”

    “It is… weird and uncomfortable.” Roger shrugged a shoulder dismissively. “But I haven’t been able to find my G-spot, so I imagine when you find it, it’ll make everything way better.”

    “Oh, so it’s up to me now, is it?” you said.

    “You’re the one fucking me,” Roger said.

    You supposed he was right. “And how many fingers have you managed?”

    Roger glanced away. “Uh, two,” he said, a little embarrassed. “It’s kinda hard when you’re doing it yourself.”

    “Wow,” you said, your voice lilting suggestively. “So hot. You’re turning me on so much.”

    “Hey, you asked,” Roger said indignantly.

    “Yes, that’s true. I’m sorry.” You leant forward and gave Roger a soft kiss. “I’ll make sure you’re nice and stretched out for me, okay?”

    Roger nodded, and grinned. “Okay.” His grin brightened. “Brian’s gonna be so jealous when he finds out.”

     You rolled your eyes. “Enough about Brian, Jesus.”

    “All right, all right.” Roger kissed you, and you both quickly fell into the familiar routine of it, the push-and-pull, give-and-take of it. You expected the gentleness of Roger’s kisses now, and it was all too easy to lose yourself in them, undressing each other with ease. You knew to tug on Roger’s hair every now and again; he knew you liked the feeling of his hand pressing on your lower back.

    You found yourself on the bed, wearing only your bra and underwear. Hands were roaming further downwards, kissing were growing longer, needier.

    You paused before things got carried away, rolling on top of Roger and straddling his waist, leaning down to kiss his neck. “How do you wanna do this?” you murmured, ghosting your lips along his skin.

    Roger sighed, languidly rolling his hips up against yours. “The stuff we read said doggy style is easiest for your first time, right?”

    You could feel his throat vibrating against your lips, and you kissed his pulse point, humming in agreement.

    He moaned softly. “But… just doing this is really good too,” he murmured.

    You smiled, and captured his lips in yours again. You ground against him, just a little bit, loving how he kissed you harder in response.

    So you kissed like that for even longer, until your mouth was swollen. You almost forgot entirely why Roger was here, just enjoying the intimacy, but then you noticed you had to piss, and when you sat up you spotted the neglected strap-on at the foot of the bed.

    “Oh, wait, hold up,” you said with a chuckle.

    “What?” Roger said, sitting up beside you. “Oh, yeah, that.”

    You both laughed, and you gave his thigh a light slap. “I’m gonna pee. I want you on all fours when I get back, all right?”

    “Bossy,” Roger muttered, and gave your butt a light pat in return when you climbed off the bed.

    When you returned, Roger wasn’t on all fours – he was inspecting the strap-on, his bottom lip jutting out slightly in concentration, a line between his brows.

    “Nervous?” you asked, and he looked up sharply, surprised at your entrance.

    “A little,” he admitted. He ran his fingers along the dildo, and gave you an anxious smile. “I hope I like it.”

    You shrugged, and fetched one of the bottles of lube. “If you don’t, it’s nothing to worry about. I think it’s great that you’re trying.” You gave him a quick kiss. “All right, hands and knees.”

    He got into position, and you ducked around him to kiss him again, stroking along his side soothingly. You drew back, and settled behind him with a determined sigh.

    “Okay,” you said.

    Roger peered around himself to look at you. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

    “I’ve never done anal, so not really, in all honesty,” you said. “But I have plenty of experience stretching out myself, so I’m gonna go with a similar method. It’s tried and true, after all.” You patted Roger’s arse, and he jumped a little, then laughed.

    “You have such a cute butt,” you remarked, giving one cheek a squeeze. “It’s all round and perky.”

    “Oh my God, stop,” Roger groaned in embarrassment.

    “I mean it!” you said with a laugh.

    “I know you do, that’s why I’m saying stop. And, for the record, I know I have a cute bum, you’re not the first person to tell me that. But I don’t need to hear it when you’re about to – y’know.”

    You grinned. “Sorry, sorry. I was trying to make you feel more comfortable.”

    “Just please get started.”

    “All right, all right.” You pressed a kiss to the base of his spine, then poured lube on your fingers. “Ready?”

    “Yes,” he huffed. “Go.”

    Fingers dripping, you circled his entrance, massaging it. You could feel his whole body seize up immediately, like you’d electrocuted him. You squeezed his hip, and just kept working him open until you could push a finger in.

    “Relax for me, Rog,” you said, rubbing his thigh soothingly. “You’re so tight.”

    “I’m trying.”

    “Stop trying,” you said. “Stop thinking about it. Hey, why don’t I just…” You reached around and ghosted your hand over his dick. He was soft, so you worked to get him interested, lightly jerking him off when he nodded his head.

    “Okay, yeah, that’s better,” he breathed, and already he was relaxing more around your finger.

    “Can you do it?” you said. “Sorry, it’s just a bit hard for me to do both.”

    Roger hummed, and leant down onto one elbow, getting his balance. His fingers brushed yours as he wrapped them around his cock, and you gave him one final squeeze before you let go.

    You could wiggle your finger around now, and you worked a second in, twisting and scissoring, dropping little words of praise and encouragement when Roger began to open up. It made your wrist and fingers ache, but you didn’t care.

    You pushed your fingers in a little deeper, and Roger twitched in discomfort.

    “How you going, you need a break?” you said.

    Roger grunted. “I’m fine.”

    “You sure?”

    “Can we just… switch positions?”

    “Sure.” You eased your fingers out of him, and he fell onto his side, rolling onto his back. He was pink and sweating.

    You patted his knee, and grabbed a pillow, and he lifted his hips so you could slide it underneath him. “We can stop whenever.”

    “I know,” he said. “I don’t want to. I want you to fuck me.”

    You shuddered. “Yeah, okay. How about I suck you off for a bit, take your mind off it?”

    “All right,” Roger said, and you settled between his legs, slipping his half-hard cock into your mouth.

    You were careful not to get him too excited, but he moaned softly, his hand twisting into your hair. “Fuck, your mouth,” he breathed.

    You got an idea. You pulled off with a wet sound, wiping your mouth on the back of your hand. “Rog, curl your legs up to your chest a bit for me.”

    Roger did. “Why?”

    “I’m gonna try like this, okay?”

    He nodded. “Yeah, go for it.”

    You poured more lube onto your fingers, and then went back to blowing him, feeling him swell in your mouth, and made sure to take him deep as you pushed two fingers back into him.

    Roger made a strangled sound, and you paused, glancing up at him, but he blurted out, “Keep going, keep going, it’s good.”

    So you did. You were able to work your fingers even deeper, and then you began searching for his prostate. You knew it was hardly the best blowjob you’d ever given – you kept getting distracted by what your hand was doing – but it seemed to keep Roger’s mind occupied enough to stretch him out.

    Then the pads of your fingers brushed over what must have been his prostate, because Roger stiffened, crying out. “Oh, Jesus, fuck,” he exclaimed. “What the f– Oh, that was my G-spot, wasn’t it?”

    You nodded, mouth still full of dick, drool dripping over your lips, and Roger chuckled at the sight. “Okay, I can see why people like this now.”

    You focused back on your task. You began sucking him off properly, swallowing around him, and he moaned appreciatively. “Fuck, sweetheart,” he said.

    Then you did a bit more prodding, and pressed against his prostate again, and he gasped. “Mm, fuck,” he groaned. “Christ, that feels so good.”

    So you did it again, just massaging the area, and Roger’s dick twitched in your mouth. “Oh, oh, God, fuck, oh,” he blurted, his voice climbing in pitch with each oh. “Ah, fuck, no, I can’t, you gotta st– ah, mm– stop stop stop.”

    You did, pulling off him with a slurp. You kept your fingers inside him, but moved them away from his prostate.

    He was panting, and he scraped his hair away from his face. “Ah, God,” he said weakly. “God, I need to come. Can you fuck me now? Is this what it feels like when I get you all worked up and you start demanding that I fuck you?”

    “I imagine so, probably,” you said. “You just really want to have something inside you?”

    “Inside me, yeah,” Roger agreed. He laughed. “Which is… an unfamiliar need.”

    “I don’t think you’re stretched out enough,” you said. “Another finger at least.”

    “All right, yeah,” Roger said. “Go ahead.”

    “You want me to keep sucking you off?”

    “Not… right now. I need time to cool down a bit.”

    You chuckled. “Okay.” You pressed a kiss to the inside of his knee, and then slid a third finger in. It went far more easily than the first two, and Roger just sighed at the intrusion, his eyes closing.

    There was still some scissoring and wriggling to do, but the only sign of discomfort that Roger signalled was the occasional shift. For the most part, he just let it happen, until you were able to fuck him with all three of your fingers.

    You found Roger’s prostate again, and he hissed. “Mm, God, fuck me,” he moaned, almost obscenely, and you stopped in surprise, laughing slightly.

    “What?” he said, looking down at you.

    “No, nothing,” you said quickly. “Just… wasn’t expecting that.”

    “What?”

    You took half a second to register that he really didn’t seem to know what you were referring to. You didn’t want to make him feel embarrassed, so you said, “Nothing. How do you feel?”

    “Good. Really good.”

    “Good.” You eased your fingers out, and Roger moaned again. “I think you’re ready.”

    Roger sat up on his elbows. “Fucking finally. Get that thing on.”

    You snorted. “All right, all right. You’re welcome.”

    “Sorry. Thank you for fingering me, I know it took forever.”

    You gave him a smile as you climbed off the bed. “That’s okay, I was happy to do it.”

    You put on the strap-on. You were just fiddling with the buckles when Roger crawled over to you, and sat back on his haunches on the edge of the bed.

    “You look really good with that on,” he said, his eyes roaming your body.

    “You think so? Doesn’t look too silly?”

    “Knowing that you’re about to fuck me? No. Not silly.”

    You grinned. “I’m glad you’re so eager.”

    Roger nodded, licking his lips, his eyes wide.

    You went to the lube, and slicked up the dildo. You had to admit, there was something really hot about watching your hand slide up and down your dick, even if the dick was fake. Just the action of jacking yourself off was enough to turn you on. You felt powerful.

    “How do you wanna do this?” you said, turning to Roger.

    “I– I wanna ride you,” Roger said, his cheeks turning redder. “Can I do that?”

    “Yeah, we can try that,” you said. You settled down on your back in the middle of the bed. “I’m ready when you are.”

    Roger took a steadying breath, and then crawled over you, straddling your hips. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” he muttered.

    “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” you said.

    “Oh, no, I want to,” Roger said. “I just never imagined I’d want to. Funny how life turns out.”

    He positioned himself above the strap-on, and you held it steady for him. “Easy does it, yeah?” you said, and he nodded, then started lowering himself down.

    His eyes went wide, and he stopped almost immediately. “Ah, shit,” he panted.

    You rubbed his thigh. “You’re all right, you’ve got this.”

    He nodded. “I know, it just…”

    He took a moment, and then kept going.

    By the time he was fully seated, he was trembling from the effort, his skin glistening with sweat.

    “How does it feel?” you asked gingerly, smoothing your hands up and down his thighs. It felt different to feel the weight of someone seated in your lap. Different, but definitely something you’d be happy getting used to. “You all right? Doesn’t hurt?”

    “I feel… really full,” he said weakly.

    “In a bad way?”

    “N–No. Good way.”

    You beamed. “Good!”

    Roger gave you a wobbly smile back. “I…” He laughed. “There’s just so much of it. I don’t even know what to do right now.”

    “Just start moving,” you said. “Move your hips. Just find out what feels good. Take your time, I’m in no hurry. We’ve got plenty of lube.”

    Roger nodded, and then gave his hips a gentle rock forward. He made a small sound.

    “Yeah, like that,” you said. “Just like that. You’re doing so well.”

    Roger started rocking a little more, and his eyes slid closed, his brow furrowing.

    “You can lean on me,” you said.

    Roger did, bracing himself against your shoulders. “Is this okay?” he said.

    “Perfect,” you said. You wanted to press forward to give him a kiss, but you didn’t want to jostle him too much, so you instead turned your head to press your lips to his wrist, and just kept running your hands over his thighs.

    He started moving with more purpose now, and the look on his face and the sound that fell from his open lips made your core throb.

    “F–fuck,” he whispered, and you felt his thighs clench has he lifted himself up off the dildo and back down again.

    “God, Rog,” you breathed. You moved your hands to his hips, and started gently rolling your hips up to meet his.

    “Oh,” he moaned.

    You fumbled for the lube and drizzled some onto your hand, then started lightly dragging your fist over his cock in time with his thrusts.

    Roger swore, his hips jerking forward into your hand. He sat back and started dragging himself up and down the dildo, experimenting and exploring, and then slowly picked up speed, beginning to bounce in your lap, just shallow bounces, and you pumped his cock, and he started letting out little ah, ah, ah sounds that were somehow both stupidly hot and stupidly cute at the same time. The natural rasp of his voice sounded fucking phenomenal.

    You were in awe. “Shit, you look incredible,” you said.

    Roger smiled down at you, and then he must have hit some spot inside him, because his smile disappeared from his face, replaced by what you could only describe as an O-face, and he stilled in your lap, shuddering. “Oh, fuck,” he whimpered. He leant forward again, on your shoulders, and slowly circled his hips, fucking himself slow and deep, his head hanging down between his shoulders, gasping moans dripping from his lips like honey. You slowed down your fist, swiping your thumb over the head and twisting leisurely, rolling your hips up to his nice and slowly.

    “You’re so vocal for me,” you murmured appraisingly. “Sound so perfect.”

    Roger moaned again.

    “Yeah, like that,” you said. “Feels so good to be so full, doesn’t it? Can’t help making all those pretty sounds.”

    “Yeah,” Roger ground out.

    You could see the tension in his arms, and you used your other hand to card his hair from his face. It didn’t matter, though – his hair fell right back into place.

    He went very still very suddenly. “Ah, fuck, fuck, more lube,” he grunted.

    “On it,” you said. “Wanna hop off?”

    Roger nodded, and you helped him up. He collapsed beside you on the bed, and you poured so much lube onto the strap that it dripped onto the bed.

    “Do you want to keep going?” you said, and Roger nodded.

    “Yeah.”

    “Can I try fucking you like this?” you asked, settling in between his thighs.

    Roger moaned, covering his face with his hands. “That’s so hot.”

    You playfully threw his legs open wide, and he just about squeaked, and then you drizzled some lube onto your fingers and said, “Just gonna put my fingers in you, okay? Get you nice and wet for me.”

    “That sounds gross,” Roger said with a giggle, but he let his arms fall beside him, and his legs more open still.

    You eased a finger into him, then a second, massaging his opening, and he hummed. “It feels so much nicer when I’m not so clenched up,” he said.

    “We got there in the end, didn’t we?” you said. You withdrew your fingers, and Roger sighed.

    “Okay, you ready?”

    “Yeah. You better fuck me good.”

    “You may have to help me,” you said with a slightly nervous grin. “I’ve never done this before.”

    “It’s okay,” Roger said. “I’ve never been fucked before, so we’re both in the dark here.”

    You took one of his knees, bringing it over your hip, and then braced yourself on the bed and took hold of the strap-on again, sliding the tip into Roger.

    “Slower, ah, slower,” he blurted, and you froze.

    “Sorry.”

    “It’s okay,” Roger said tightly. “Keep going. Not too slow, just a little slower.”

    So you did, and Roger didn’t stop you again. You stopped about halfway, and then, feeling a bit silly but hoping you were guessing right, pulled out a touch and thrust shallowly back in.

    Roger’s mouth fell open. “Ah, Christ.”

    “Good?”

    “Yes. Good.”

    You kept it up, going in just a little more each time until you were all the way in. Your thighs burned. You never realised how strenuous this was. You’d have to give the boys more credit.

    Roger looked almost in another dimension, like he didn’t know what to do with himself, his eyes wide and his mouth still open.

    You leant over to kiss his jaw. “You all right?”

    “Yeah,” he said. His eyes flicked to you, and his pupils were huge. “Yeah, I’m– I’m great.”

    “I’m gonna keep going, gonna do a bit more, okay? Tell me if it hurts.”

    Roger nodded.

    You leant back a little, and then started thrusting, trying to copy what you liked on yourself, hoping it translated.

    Roger let out a stuttering moan, and gripped the sheets beside him. “Oh, yes, fuck.”

    So you kept going, hitting him deep. The sounds he was making were unlike anything you’d heard from him before – moans, but loud, punching out of him, and whining sobs. His fists twisted in the sheets.

    Then you shifted, changing your angle, and he very nearly howled. “Right there, right there, please, fuck, don’t stop!”

    Thank God no one else was home.

    “Rog, touch yourself,” you said in a rush. “Come on, I wanna see you come all over yourself.”

    Roger’s hand went to his cock, and he started fisting himself in time to your thrusts. His eyelids fluttered. “Not gonna – last long,” he gasped.

    “Doesn’t matter,” you said. “God, Roger, it’s so hot how much you love this. You look fucking perfect, getting fucked like this.”

    Roger moaned, and he begged you to go faster, so you did, and his hand sped up, matching you. He squirmed.

    An idea sprung into your head, and, biting your lip to try to hide your smug smile – unsuccessfully – you said, “You gonna come on my cock, sweetheart?”

    Roger let out a sound that was half a moan and half a laugh, and managed to get out, “God, I fuckin’ am.”

    “You’re so close, aren’t you?”

    Roger nodded frantically, his face flushed.

    “How close?”

    “S-so close,” Roger whined. “Fuck, ah.”

    You had to pause to shift, and then you started fucking him again, and you must have done something right because Roger’s back was arching and he was begging you to fuck him right there, yes, so you did, and then two strokes of his hand later he came, white splattering all over his chest and stomach, and his chest was heaving as you slowed down, easing him through it, same as his hand.

    You were sweaty and exhausted and unbelievably horny, but it was worth it to see Roger’s face when he’d come. It seemed to take forever for him to come back to Earth, and you just rubbed his thigh soothingly as you waited.

    Then he looked down at you, blinking those big blue eyes, and you couldn’t help but laugh. “You with me?” you said.

    Roger nodded wordlessly, breaking out into a dazzling smile that was equal parts delighted and bewildered, and you laughed again.

    “Holy fuck,” he said. He moved a bit, and then his face screwed up. “Ah, sensitive.”

    “Sorry, it’s– I’m, um, still inside you,” you said.

    Roger shuddered. “Why does that sound so hot? It shouldn’t, but it does.”

    “I’m going to pull out,” you said. “Sorry if it’s uncomfortable.”

    You slowly pulled the strap-on out of Roger, and he didn’t say anything, but his nose was scrunched.

    You climbed off the bed and fiddled with the strap-on, unfastening all the clips and buckles, and letting it pool at your feet, while Roger reached for a tissue to wipe himself down. “I’ll clean this later,” you said, and joined Roger on the bed.

    Roger pulled you in for a kiss. “I think my mind just exploded.”

    You grinned. “Oh, really? I couldn’t tell.”

    “Shut up.” Roger kissed you again. “We need to do that again some time.”

    “We will,” you said. “I own that thing, you know. We can do this any time. Maybe next time we can have a go at me being in charge. Y’know, really in charge, like that time at my place.”

    Roger breathed out shakily. “You have no idea what the thought of that does to me,” he said, his voice rough.

    You wiggled your eyebrows, grinning salaciously, curling into him, smoothing your hand over his chest. “Maybe we can try tying your hands up, really drag it out, edging you for, like, an hour.” Roger’s breathing grew shallow, his eyes darkening. “See if I can make you come just from fucking and fingering you, not even touching your dick.”

    “Fuck,” Roger hissed, and kissed you hungrily.

    You tried to suppress your grin, but it was difficult, and you made a pleased noise against Roger’s lips, coming your fingers through his hair.

    By the time you broke apart, you were aching. “Who would’ve thought you liked being dominated and pegged, huh?” you said, tapping his cheek with the palm of your hand.

    “I’m so glad we started hooking up,” Roger said earnestly. “No other girl I’ve been with has suggested it. Who knows how long I would’ve gone without trying it? Could’ve been years.”

    You chuckled. “What a tragedy that would’ve been.”

    “You’re telling me. Dodged a fucking bullet.”

    You both laughed, and you gave him a soft kiss. “Well, now we’ve done this once, should be easier next time. We can try out whatever you like.” You paused. “Given that we have the time to stretch you out properly, and when no one else is home…”

    “I can prep myself,” Roger said. “Make life a bit easier. But why do we have to be alone?”

    You gave him a look. “Uh, did you hear yourself? You were like a porn star. Uh, yeah, fuck, right there, uh, harder, fuck me, uh.”

    Roger blushed profusely. “I did fucking not sound like that.”

    “You most certainly did,” you said. You squeezed his hip. “It was hot as hell, don’t be embarrassed about it. But unless you want Lucy or the guys to know without a doubt that you’re being fucked in the arse, I’d suggest we wait until we’re alone.”

    Roger grunted, and then yawned. “Ah, God, I could fall asleep right now.”

    “You can’t, you’ve got work,” you said. “In…” You checked the time. “An hour and a half.”

    Roger’s eyes closed, and he nodded sleepily. “I do,” he murmured. “But I’m also so tired.”

    “You’re covered in almost every substance known to man right now,” you said. “You need to shower.”

    “Yeah, yeah,” Roger said. “Can you carry me?”

    You snorted. “In your dreams. You big baby.”

    Roger smiled. “Worth a shot.”

    “Come on.” You rolled off the bed, staggering slightly as your thighs protested. “Man, I’m gonna have to do some stretches or something,” you said. “I swear a pulled a muscle.”

    Roger’s eyes cracked open. “Did you hurt yourself?”

    “No, just my thighs ache like a bitch. Doesn’t that happen to you?”

    Roger hummed, his eyes closing again. “A bit. Guess I’m not as focused on it when I’m trying to get off. You don’t really notice it as much.”

    “Hey.” You picked up the bottle of lube on the bed and threw it at him. “Don’t fall asleep.” It bounced off his ribs, and he recoiled.

    “Ow!”

    “Get up.”

    He moaned in protest.

    “You’re disgusting.” You gathered up your clothes. “I’ll see you in the morning, I guess! Have fun getting fired!”

    “No, no, I’ll shower, I’m coming,” Roger said. He took a deep breath in, and then hauled himself into sitting position, then rolled off the bed. He held out his arms, trying to hide his wincing. “Ta-da.”

    “Well done, you stood up,” you said.

    “Thank you.”

    You couldn’t help but smile as you shook your head. “Stop being cute. Go on.”

    Roger grinned, and headed towards the door. “You think I’m cute?” He tossed his hair over his shoulder. “Someone told me today they think I have a cute arse; would you agree?” He gave it a little slap.

    You raised an eyebrow. “‘Someone’, huh?”

    “Yeah, no one important.” Roger disappeared out the door before you could respond. “Come join me and my cute arse in the shower,” he called.

    “Yeah, all right,” you called back. You dumped your clothes on the floor again, and hurried after him.

    As a thank-you for this evening, he kissed you until you couldn’t breathe and fingered you in the shower until you’d come twice, completely shaking apart, having to lean against him for support, your knees weak. When you eventually climbed out of the shower – both of you now well and truly satisfied – you took one look at the mirror and said absentmindedly, “What if next time I fucked you from behind, facing a mirror?”

    Roger made a sound that was almost a word but not quite, his towel dropping from his hands.

    You turned to him, laughing, as you wrapped your towel around yourself. “What?”

    “Are you serious?”

    “Why, does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

    Roger nodded eagerly.

    You shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, we can do that.”

    Roger surged towards you, kissing you heatedly, gasping into your mouth about how hot you were, about how you’d fucked him so well. You had to slow him down eventually – you could feel that both of you were getting too riled up, and one of you had to be the responsible one.

    But it was only when Roger realised that he was running late that he actually finished getting ready. You were sitting on the edge of your bed, and he gave you a firm kiss on your lips and a quick you’re literally perfect you’re the best friend ever. He had just ducked out of your bedroom door when you called, “Wait, Roger?”

    He popped his head back in. “What, what, what is it?”

    You opened your mouth, and then closed it again. “Nothing. Sorry.”

    “No, c’mon, what?”

    “How would you feel about, uh, me fucking you while Brian fucks me?”

    Roger groaned, lightly banging his head on your doorframe. “Jesus Christ.”

    “Sorry!” you said, holding up your hands in defence. “Sorry, bad idea, I just thought of it and I just–”

    “No, I meant, like, Jesus Christ, I am about to leave for work and you’re giving me a fucking…” He sighed. “I have to go before anything more comes out of that mouth that will wind up with me pouring beer everywhere or smashing a glass because I’ll be too distracted thinking about it. That’s not a solid yes, I don’t know if I’m all that on board for Brian seeing me – like that, but I will still be thinking it over until my brain fries in my skull, so cheers for that. I’m going now, goodbye.”

    “Bye!” you called after him. “Sorry!”

    “Fuck you!” he called back cheerily, and you heard the front door open and close again.

[retrotaurus]

small things you can do to help the world

buy second hand books, from charity shops or online sellers (I like worldofbooks.com)

or, use a library (also helps you to save money)

sell your old stuff (on depop, or other online marketplaces- and please, make sure the prices are fair!)

donate your old clothes (to a family member or friend, or to a charity shop or textile bank)

buy clothes second hand (from charity shops, depop, etc)

try to use amazon less

try to buy from fast fashion shops (such as primark, shein or aliexpress) less

try not to use disposable items (like masks, cutlery, plates, cups, shopping bags)

if you need to use disposable items, try to opt for more eco-friendly options (such as recyclable paper or wood)

invest in a menstrual cup or reusable pads if you are comfortable using these

upcycle old items (like clothes) into new things

get a new phone less frequently (in my experience/opinion they should last you about 2 years)

always recycle your cans, paper, cardboard and such!

when buying fruit or vegetable from a shop, try not to use the plastic bags! you can just put them straight in your trolley, and wash them at home

if a shop offers paper bags, use them instead of plastic ones

if you have a garden, grow a variety of plants (you can find seeds in most supermarkets!)

use reusable face cloths instead of makeup wipes

bring your washed glass packaging to a glass recycling point (these are everywhere- my small town has four I think, you can find them in supermarket car parks pretty often)

tap water should be perfectly safe to drink! where I live, at least, it is exactly the same as the water you can buy in bottles, so try not to buy bottled water (you can even buy a water filter if you don't think your tap water is up to scratch)

cut the strings off your disposable masks before binning them

don't buy makeup products from companies that test on animals

if you send parcels, you can keep the packaging from items you've been sent and reuse it! (although please remember that reusing stamps is illegal)

try using paper bags as bin liners instead of plastic ones (although this may not be a good idea for your kitchen bin- food waste could leak through it)

always use a bin, never litter

share this post :)

just a little disclaimer- I'm obviously not shaming anyone who cannot do some of the things on this list! I understand what it's like to be restricted in ways you can help, whether it's because you live with parents, cannot afford to, or any other reason. if you can't participate, even reblogging this will help others to find ways they can be more eco-friendly. and to everyone who does follow the advice of this post to the best of their ability, thank you so much for doing your best ♡

and, if you have any more advice or education to provide, don't hesitate :)

[searchingwardrobes]

The Convenient Groom: 1/?

Okay, I know what ya’ll are all thinking, and I agree: I don’t need another WIP! However, I woke up this morning with this idea, and I just had to write it. What’s more, I was looking for the perfect gift for @spartanguard​. You see, I missed her birthday last year. I got on tumblr, saw all these birthday wishes for her, and my heart sank. For some reason, I didn’t have her birthday on my list! I hated it because not only is she one of my favorite writers, but she is also an incredibly kind person who I have come to know as a wonderful fandom friend. So, @spartanguard​, I know it isn’t your birthday, but this fic is for you!

This fic has two inspirations: one, the Barenaked Ladies song “Alternative Girlfriend,” but mostly it’s a book I read called The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter. I normally avoid book aus because it feels way too close to plagiarism, but a Hallmark movie was made from the book and it was a HUGE disappointment. They made it an engagement of convenience instead of a marriage and basically got rid of all the steamy moments. It’s been forever since I read it, anyway, and this first chapter that came to me this morning has vast differences already. Anyhoo, I hope you like it @spartanguard​ !

Summary: (Is one even necessary? Haha!) Killian Jones just happens to be there when Emma Swan gets the phone call that changes everything: her fiance is leaving her at the altar. The thing is, it also could mean the end of her career. Convenient that Killian has nothing better to do that day. Convenient that he’s secretly in love with her. Not that Emma has to know that.

Rating: M

Words: 2,000 and some change in this chapter

Also on Ao3

Tagging the usuals: @snowbellewells​ @kmomof4​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @distant-rose​ @welllpthisishappening​ @optomisticgirl​ @ohmakemeahercules​ @teamhook​ @bethacaciakay​ @xhookswenchx​ @winterbaby89​ @delirious-latenight-laughs​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ @vvbooklady1256​ @thislassishooked​ @hollyethecurious​ @nikkiemms​ @jennjenn615​ @stahlop​ @snidgetsafan​ @scientificapricot​ @shireness-says​ @spartanguard​  @wellhellotragic​ @tiganasummertree​ @branlovestowrite​ @let-it-raines​ @carpedzem​ @profdanglaisstuff​

Killian Jones would never forget the first day he met Emma Swan. He’d been focused intently on the rocking chair that the Nolans had ordered for their new baby, and AC/DC’s “Back in Black” was booming throughout his workshop. He always worked to classic rock; it put him in the best creative zone.

Suddenly, the shop was plunged into silence, and he straightened in surprise. Standing there, with the cord to his portable speakers dangling from her hand, was a veritable goddess with anger sparking from her light green eyes. She was dressed in a simple pair of dark wash jeans topped with a cream blouse, yet her trim figure still drew his eyes. He’d never had a thing for blondes, but her golden hair had him re-thinking that. She had caught him so completely off guard, he stood there gaping like a mere boy.

“I’ve got a client upstairs trying to pour her damn heart out, but I can barely hear myself think with this noise rattling the walls.”

Ah, so this was the new tenant in the office upstairs. Killian smirked and sauntered into her personal space. “Well, love, I’ve been told I’m rather good at rattling the walls.”

He hardly knew what had possessed him to say such a thing. Before Milah, he was well known for his charms, but that had been years ago.

The blonde narrowed her eyes at his innuendo, though the blush upon her cheeks sent a far different message. “Not your love, buddy.” She tossed the cords at his chest, and one of them slapped him in the jaw. “Get yourself some damn earbuds.”

She strode towards the door, her high heeled boots tapping loudly on the concrete floor. “It’s Killian Jones, by the way,” he called out after her, “Ms . . . “

“Emma Swan,” she tossed over her shoulder, “and it’s doctor.”

He saw her often after that. It was difficult not to. Storybrooke was a small town, and they shared office space, after all. Their building on Main was also right across the street from Granny’s diner, the only place for a decent cup of coffee and a cheeseburger. Or grilled cheese and onion rings in Swan’s case. They’d crossed paths during their lunch break often enough for him to know her regular order. Yet to say Emma Swan had walls was an understatement, and just casual conversation was a challenge. One he had a rather enjoyable time tackling, honestly.

Yet she never came into his wood shop again. Until one day six months ago, to put in an order. She had stood there in his lobby where he met with clients and rough sketched their custom orders looking uncharacteristically nervous, her hands twisting at her waist. He had noticed the diamond sparkling on her left ring finger early on, and she fiddled with it now. He had never met the man who had given it to her, which he had always thought was odd. Especially considering how passionate Emma was about her career. Even stranger, Mary Margaret had never met him either, and Emma rented the loft from her and David. No one even knew the man’s name. Something was off about that, if you asked Killian. Not that anyone would.

“Can you make a wedding chuppa?” she blurted out.

“Aye,” he said as he leaned against the front counter, “I made one for Marco and Granny when they wed last fall.”

“Good,” Emma breathed out, but then her forehead creased with worry. “Marco’s Jewish, isn’t he? Is it okay to use a chuppa if you aren’t Jewish?”

“Hmmm,” Killian contemplated, rubbing at his chin, “is your fiance Jewish?”

“No,” Emma said with a shake of her head, “but we’re getting married outside, and I wanted some sort of focal point, you know?”

“Well, then,” he told her honestly, “I do think a chuppa has religious significance, so maybe an arbor or archway would be more appropriate? I’ve done those as well . . . “

He had come around the counter then and led her to the sitting area where he brainstormed with clients. He had shown her photos of an arbor he had made for his friends Eric and Ariel’s beach wedding, and several other options online. He found out many things that day: the location of the wedding (the gardens behind the old mansion on the outskirts of town), the flowers (middlemist roses), the color scheme (pale pink and wine red), and the date of the nuptials (late June). Yet he still didn’t know who this mysterious fiance was. Odd.

“He doesn’t like the attention from my career,” Emma had attempted to explain, twisting her engagement ring around her finger, “and I get it. There would be a lot of scrutiny on him and our relationship.”

Killian nodded. Everyone knew about Dr. Swan’s bestseller Seriously, Ladies? which supposedly guided any woman on how to avoid disastrous relationships. Women swore by it, and Emma also had a blog and a podcast. The media was salivating over her upcoming marriage, including the identity of Mr. Right himself.

“And I need your discretion on this,” Emma continued. “The media doesn’t know the wedding date yet, and I -”

Killian placed his hand on hers. “You can trust me, Emma. I won’t tell a soul about this order, much less when or where it will be delivered.”

He had worried that his word wouldn’t be enough, yet Emma had deflated with relief. “Thank you. I know this is a weird situation.”

“You deserve happiness, Swan.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you know that? You know nothing about me.”

Killian had shrugged. “You’re somewhat of an open book, love.”

It was true. Despite her confidence, he could recognize another wounded heart when he saw one. Whoever this fiance was, he wasn’t doing a very good job of healing it, either, at least in Killian’s opinion. Otherwise her eyes wouldn’t still hold that haunted look.

The order meant, for both good and bad, that Killian saw Emma Swan more often. It was good in that he got to know her better, saw her smile, heard her laugh. It was bad for one horrible, terrible reason. For him, at least. Six months was long enough for him to fall in love with her - the woman he was making a wedding arbor for.

Killian sighed, his heart twisting painfully, as he covered the gorgeous arbor of carved mahogany with a moving blanket. Today was the day. For him, it felt more like the day of a funeral than a wedding. This man, whoever he was, better love her the way she deserved. It was all he could hope for now.

“Killian, what the hell do you think you’re doing!” He whirled from the arbor to see Emma marching angrily across his workshop. The scowl on her face was identical to the one almost a year ago when he first met her. “Why did you send the moving crew away empty handed? Please tell me you finished it.”

“Of course I finished it, Swan,” he retorted, unable to keep the bite out of his voice. Wasn’t she supposed to be giddy, flushed with eagerness, floating on air? Instead, she looked so stressed he feared she might give herself a heart attack.

“Then why didn’t you send it to the mansion? Are you being difficult on purpose?”

Killian tilted his head and grinned saucily at her. He couldn’t help it, teasing her was just too much fun. “Though getting you riled up is rather fun, I wouldn’t do that to you on your special day. I just didn’t trust anyone but myself to deliver it.”

“Oh,” she said lamely, biting on her lower lip.

“I was just about to load it up, actually. Want to see it?”

“If it’s not too much trouble . . .”

“Of course not.”

He pulled the moving blanket off, revealing the dark wood with intricate carvings of flowers, vines, and swans. Though the occasion it celebrated tore at his heart, he had never put so much work into a piece. He poured the beauty of the woman it represented into every detail. Emma’s eyes lit up as she ran her hands over the woodwork. The caramel stain brought out the natural beauty of the wood, but it would also make the delicate blush of the roses pop once the florist draped the arbor with them.

“It’s beautiful, Killian,” she told him softly, “exactly what I told you I wanted. More, actually.”

“Thank you,” he managed to tell her around the sudden lump in his throat.

The moment was broken by the ringing of Emma’s phone. She fished it out of her jeans pocket and pressed it to her ear. Killian busied himself covering the arbor and preparing it for transport while Emma paced across his workshop.

“Walsh, are you insane?” he heard her snap, “Our wedding is only six hours away!”

Killian tried not to eavesdrop, but as he glanced Emma’s way, he saw her face grow pale.

“Seriously? You’re doing this to me now?” Though her voice was harsh, her body trembled as she sank to an empty crate next to the table saw.

Killian frowned. He didn’t like how this sounded.

“These are all things you could have told me yesterday!” Emma’s voice rose. “Or better yet, last week, last month.”

She glanced over at Killian, and her face turned bright red. She shifted so that her back was to him. She lowered her voice as she spoke into her phone, but Killian still heard her.

“Is there someone else?”

Killian’s jaw clenched as he saw her shoulders fall and then begin to shake. The bastard.

Her voice was broken as she choked out her next words. “Well I hope you’re very happy together.”

She hung up and dropped her cell phone. Killian winced as it hit the cement floor. She covered her face with both hands and wept silently. He crossed the room and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry.”

“What am I going to do?” she wept. “Oh, God! What am I going to do?” She turned to Killian, her eyes wide and frantic as she clutched at the front of his shirt. “We invited the media to the wedding! It was the only way to keep them from hounding us during our engagement. Now they’ll get an even better story - relationship guru Dr. Emma Swan gets jilted at the altar. I’m ruined! My career is over!”

She was on her feet, pacing the floor, tugging at the ends of her hair. He wanted to tell her she was overreacting, but he couldn’t lie. In this day and age of cancel culture and internet trolls, she would be ruined.

“You’re going to think I’m an opportunist,” she continued, “but my wedding day was also going to be the kick off for my next book. Tomorrow they’re announcing it’s release.”

“I’m not judging you, Swan,” he assured her. “What’s the new book?”

“Ladies, It’s More Than a Wedding,” Emma said sheepishly, “about how to plan for your marriage and not just the wedding.”

Emma groaned and dropped her head against the nearest wall. Killian was silent for a long moment, rolling an idea around in his head. She might shoot him down, call him crazy, but it was worth a shot.

“No one knows who your fiance is, right?”

She looked at him curiously. “No.”

“So . . . couldn’t anyone stand in for him?”

Emma’s mouth dropped open. “Are you crazy? Once the media knew it was a farce, things would be even worse. I have interviews lined up already. A promotion tour for the book. It’s about more than just the wedding.” She barked out a laugh. “Isn’t that ironic?”

Killian leveled her with a steady gaze. “What if it wasn’t a farce?”

She blinked. “You mean . . . like, actually marry someone else? Today?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Emma let out another sarcastic chuckle. “Who the hell would agree to that?”

Killian wet his lips nervously. “I would.”

Emma shook her head in surprise. “You?”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m here, and I have nothing better to do today.”

“We’re talking about getting married, Killian. You know, commitment? Till death do us part?”

“Well,” Killian said slowly, shoving his hands in his jean pockets, “you need to stay married to promote your book, right? What are we talking? Six months? A year, at most?”

Emma’s brow furrowed as if she were contemplating it. But then she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this! It would never work! How would it look if I got divorced in a year?”

“Or an annulment. You could blame it on me. I cheated on you or something. Make me out to be the bad guy.” He chuckled sardonically. “You might even get another best seller out of it. Dump His Cheating Ass, Ladies.”

He managed to get a real laugh out of her at that, and he smiled. Her mirth was short-lived, however. “But why would you do that? Tie yourself to me for a year, let your own reputation be damaged? What’s in it for you?”

I’m in love with you.

“I could use your help. With my family. Professional help.”

Emma narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Okaaay. How so?”

“My brother and his wife. Their marriage is a little rocky.” LIe. Liam and Elsa were relationship goals if he ever saw it. “I think it’s because her sister Anna and her husband Kristoff had to move in with them.” Another lie. They had moved in, but no two sisters were closer than Anna and Elsa.

“So why don’t they just make an appointment?”

“They, uh, have this thing about therapy. They think it’s a sign of weakness. Or an embarrassment. Anyway, but if you were around, you could casually help them out. I think you and Elsa would hit it off.”

“So you want to marry me in exchange for free counseling for your brother and his wife?”

She sounded skeptical, and naturally so. He tried to play it off. “My brother means everything to me. He’s all the family I have left. Plus, my niece and nephew deserve a steady home life, unlike what we had as kids.”

Emma and Killian just stood there looking intently at one another. He held his breath, fully expecting her to call him crazy and walk out the door. Her gaze darted to the arbor, now ready to be loaded onto the trunk.

“It would be a shame not to use that beautiful piece you made.”

Killian tried to hold back his smile and failed. “Consider it my wedding gift to my bride.”

“Okay, groom,” she told him with her hand outstretched for him to shake, “it’s a deal.”

[antman-56]

The Long Night Pt. 27

Today was the day.

This was the first thing on Summer’s mind when she got up.

Make that the first one up.

The twins were snoring and Tai was mumbling in his sleep.

She walked to the shower and gathered the things she would need for today.

All she could think about is if he rejected her. Hiw would it affect them; they sleep in the same room, have some classes where they sit next to each other and when they go back to Beacon.

She slapped herself.

She was overthinking. Just doubting herself.

As she let the water run through her body she let the idea of this working enter her mind.

Laughing at lame jokes, going on dates, and sharing a special moments; one that came to mind; it was at Beacon near the pier on a starry night sky.

She smiled at how it would play out.

They would have first woken up in the same bed. He would kiss her head and make a simple breakfast. They would have a free day from classes and Tai and Raven would be out. They would go out on the town and go to the local dust store with the old guy with brown and grey hair.  Then they would go get burgers from Tom’s Shack right by the pier and just stay their enjoying each others company and watch the sunset turn into a starry night with a full moon. She would lean her head on his shoulders and he would lean his on top of her head. And then they would slowly face each other and -

“SUMMER HURRY UP OR THE HOT WATER WILL STOP!!!”

Summer jumped at the sudden noise and turned off the water.

“SORRY!!”

“JUST HURRY UP!! I HAVE TO GET READY FOR TODAY!”

“CAN YOU GUYS KEEP IT DOWN!”

“GO TAKE A SHOWER TOO YOU FLEA INFESTED RAT!!”

“GO FUCK YOURSELF!!”

“TAI DOES THAT ALREADY!!”

“URGH!!!”

Summer couldn’t make out what they muttered and chose to ignore.

She unlocked the door and Raven  rushed in and locked it.

“I got him to shower for you, so have fun.”

Summer blushed.

“Thanks I guess. But what am going to do?”

“Summer we have a plan stick to it and you’ll be fine. And remember to throw caution to the wind.”

“What if an opportunity doesn’t come?”

“Then make one. Now I need to shower because I’m going to be gone all day with Tai so you and the dumbass have the dorm to yourselves.”

She smiled and Summer was turning more red.

“Now shoo. I need to shower.”

With that she unlocked the door and pushed Summer out.

“I haven’t changed”

“RAVEN OPEN THE DOOR I’M STILL IN A TOWEL”

***Willow’s Dorm***

Terra and Willow were in their pajamas ready to stream movies. terra on the couch and Willow in one of her drawers next to the tv.

“So, what you in the mood for? A cheesy love flic or Christmas movie?”

“Neither. I want this one.”

She took out a samurai movie.

“We’ve seen this one already. the Ronin meets a noble lady who is to marry some famous samurai, they duel and in the end they both die and she kills herself instead on marrying the samurai’s brother who was honestly a piece of shit.”

“But its my favorite.”

“It’s seven hours long!"

“And filled with action, romance, suspense, and the ending is just done sooo beautifully!!”

She closed her eyes and hugged the dvd case.

“I can see why. It hits closer to home now then it ever did.”

She smiled when Willow snapped out of her fan girl state and froze.

“I mean is James or Qrow the Ronin who will save you? But who would the brother be? Oh right! Turbo. Yeah I would off myself too if he was the only choice I had.”

Willow began to blush.

“I mean he asked you out on a date. The man is just soo bold.”

“Okay first off its not a date its just hanging out. I confirmed. And secondly I am going out in a wig so the hyenas don’t eat us. And lastly, your going to be their in case things go bad.”

She enjoyed seeing her friend being a blushing mess but now it was serious. 

“So, just follow you guys around with a the paparazzi bag with some extra stuff.”

“Pretty much and we need to give him something too for Wednesday.”

“So shopping trip?!”

Willow nodded and Terra ran to the rooms to change. Willow caught her collar before she went too far.

“We can do it online with in the hour rush.”

“But...” Terra said with despair.

“But nothing were watching this one.”

She put the dvd in and got her laptop.

Terra sulked before jumping in at the sight of a man being shot by an arrow.

***STRQ Dorm***

Summer was back in the restroom with Qrow laying on his bed.

His sister took Tai on a date and Summer asked if he wanted to explore the city since they didn’t really have a chance till now. 

Now here he was waiting for her to get ready.

“Sum, how much longer.” He said loud enough for her to hear.

“Another 5 minutes.” Summer replied. She heard a loud groan.

She looked herself in the mirror for the last time. 

She was glad to have the one hour rush option in the Schnee clothes line website.

Her hair was parted in the middle, her white short sleeve shirt with a rose on the the stomach, a long black skirt with a small brown belt, fishnet leggings with black and white sneakers. 

She felt bad for not taking the clothes that Raven helped her get but she panicked when Raven spent and hour in the shower. And yelled for Qrow to stay in the bathroom when he finished and Tai to stay under his sheets.

Now she was liking the option she chose.

It was cute and she liked it.

With that in mind she walked to the door and awaited the response.

When Qrow heard the door open he looked up and quickly turned his head. Summer swore she saw his face turn red for a second.

She smiled at his reaction, so far everything was going according to plan.

“So, how do I look?”

Qrow was having trouble answering.

“Uh, good.” Was all he could muster up.

“Thanks now (walks up to him and grabs his hand) lets go.”

Qrow followed her lead and a part of him felt like she was swing her hips a bit more than usual and honestly couldn’t look away.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one.

***Hidden Elsewhere (near Summer and Qrow)***

“Dude what the fuck! You said she was single.”

“I stalked her meSpace and it said single.”

“Who the fuck still uses that.”

Right now Alvin and Lenny were watching the two.

Alvin declared this was the day she would be his and Lenny was here for moral support (mostly to see him fail).

Now he was sulking at the false confidence Lenny gave him.

“Hey this isn’t over yet. I mean we can follow to see if they are dating.”

“Isn’t that weird?”

“Your looking at a guy who stalked her mespace for a week and went through their garbage for a lead.”

“I didn’t ask you for the garbage one.”

“And now we know she likes strawberry juice. Your welcome.”

Alvin was speechless.

“Now lets follow for conformation.”

Lenny began to jump to a closer tree. Alvin dropped his head and let out a sigh. This was going to be a long day.

[kateemmerson]

#LocationFree - How are global nomads coping with their wanderlust lifestyle?

No one has been left unscathed, have we? We have all had to adjust, re-jig, process life, handle loss, and take stock …every single one of us? Same storm, different ship, right?

Amidst all the “stuff” going on globally, I recently listened to my heart and launched my 5th book, titled “10 Lessons for Living #LocationFree.” Originally planning to launch it much earlier, I waited until the time felt right and until I had the right energy to tackle it. I honestly feel that now, more than ever, we need to keep our dreams, ideals and possibilities ALIVE and top of mind.

Even if we are a bit stuck now, our thinking and feeling do NOT have to be stuck.

In the process of writing this book, I wanted to offer readers some varied perspectives and thus set about interviewing 16 awesome folks to get their views on living this lifestyle. When the book was released just 2 weeks ago, I really wanted to check back in and get their updates on living “LocationFree.” We are all between 40 and 60 years old, living our own version of this lifestyle all around the world. Essentially I wanted to see how the year had shaped up for them since our initial interview –  to see if they were more hellbent on continuing this vagabond lifestyle, to understand if something fundamental had shifted for them, or if perhaps world events have made them reconsider lifestyle choices related to all things #LocationFree?

#LocationFree is my preferred term, but it is often referred to as Global Nomad, Digital Nomad, Location Independent, Portable Pro, etc. The name is less important than what we live day-to-day.

I wanted to update myself, too. I have honestly had a profoundly ‘interesting’ year. I’m definitely NOT saying it was easy and straightforward, but that I dug deep and found ways to try and accept and lean into what was going on rather than resist it all. The latter option felt futile and counter-productive in every form. I contracted and tested positive for the covid lurgy back in March 2020 after hurriedly exit-ing South Africa. I was out there to launch my 4th book, “Write your Book in 100 Days,” with my business partner. We had multiple book launches and events, live interviews from some major PR rolling out. It was our chance to inspire and reconnect with all the wonderful South African writers in our community. Plus, all my annual medical appointments were booked for what might have been my last regular visit to South Africa.

As I tuned in and reacted to what was unfolding, I knew I needed to get on a plane fast, to the UK. I was due to travel via Dubai to visit a friend stationed there but decided to hotfoot it directly to the UK, just a couple of days before lockdown kicked in. After all, South Africa was officially no longer any form of “base” for me after the break up with my partner, so I didn’t fancy getting “stuck” there.

I knew I wanted to get to my mum in time for the first proposed lockdown so she wouldn’t be on her own. Well, for sanity, company, and a bit of TLC more than needing to “look after” her – she’s a super strong woman! But before being able to get to her, after testing positive for covid (I only ever experienced mild symptoms, thank goodness), I had to isolate myself for a month before it was deemed safe for me to stay with mum in her presidential home. We then ‘enjoyed’ three months of strict lockdown together. Lucky we had too much TV, laughter, wine, great food, daily walks, and I also celebrated my birthday with her. Zoom Style with friends around the world.

One of the hardest business challenges was letting go of our international Writing Retreats that were booked. It often takes folk at least a  year to decide, book, and pay for one of our retreats. Writers from all over the world were joining Sarah and me in Greece, Italy, and Spain for a total of four retreats and residencies. We had to face cancellations, field the uncertainty with massive deposits we had paid across to secure hotels, and handle the non-refundable deposit challenge. We initially postponed and shuffled dates later in 2020 in the eternal hope that we could still host them later in the year, and had clients ready to hop on planes… and then finally releasing them all in favour of 2021 dates. We “lost” some clients who couldn’t move to the new dates, and have not yet been able to start filling those spaces for 2021. That was my main income revenue down the sink. I know the entire world understands all the drastic financial challenges of the year and I am not alone in that. 

The moment it was “safe” enough to travel, and the world eased open a bit in the UK, I travelled to a wee Scottish island, Iona, for an overdue, personal and significant retreat. I had been wanting to reconnect with Iona to organise a writing retreat, so I was fulfilling two objectives. It is a very sacred isle that offers deep healing and was just what I needed. Mum was happy  (and I guess sad) to finally wave goodbye after three intense months together. The year has allowed me to live what I call a “revised version” of living location free – with restrictions and other things factored in, like everyone. I was planning on spending 2020 starting to look for my next Northern bases, so that has obviously been postponed. My heart is being pulled by the idea of setting up some version of flexible homes in both Scotland and the Mediterranean – but that will need to wait until I can travel abroad to explore that option more fully.

I am just not a ONE HOME type of gal. Any future partner I have in life needs to know that a deep love for travel and adventure is wired into my cells. But I am starting to consider a couple of bases to move between, with loads of side- travel too!

So I relished a much quieter work year. I was already planning on taking time off from running regular online writing mentorships as I needed a break from that intense type of work, and then all our summer writing retreats retreated into the distance. So I took most of the year off to be in the GAP. I stayed in quieter retreat –type mode with myself.

I embarked on an intense, personal retreat process on Iona to recalibrate again. I went offline for 3 weeks and 80% offline for a further 5 weeks. The poor wifi signal helped that switching off process. But this was not about covid. To be honest, it was more related to where I am in my life and business cycle. I needed to do a mammoth, triple-angled closing out process. One was the ending of my relationship after five years, and another was leaving South Africa, and the third closing out a few aspects of what used to make up my business. But all that was happening despite covid’s impact. You can read more about that journey here.

On Iona I also fell headlong into a fantastic new heart-based hobby with the actual “making” of books, learning the art and skill of “Book Binding” or BookArt. I am smitten and have a bag of tools, paper, ink, and waxed linen thread to lug around now. If ever you come on a retreat with me, you will be sure to make your own book from now on!

Uhmmm, yes, the irony is that my motto is #LIVELIGHTELIVELARGE, so excess clothes can get turfed out of the suitcase but my new bookmaking tools will have to stay put for this #LocationFree gal.

I am still 100% pursuing my own version of living #LocationFree, just with the added goal of looking for a couple of places to call a “base” in 2021. Love Kate x

***Here is what some OTHER global Nomads say about how this year impacted their gallivanting lifestyle around the world. All of these amazing folk below have contributed to my latest book to offer their take on being #LocationFree.

* My global nomadship is NOT over yet! Dee Before COVID-19 stopped us all in our tracks, I had been already considering my global footprint and thinking about how I could still travel and work as a nomad, but with more and more respect for the environment by reducing my use of fossil fuels.

Since being “stuck” at my daughter’s house since March 1st, I have had more time to contemplate my next move, and I think I will be much more mindful about the “gigs” I say yes to in terms of length. Instead of jumping from plane to plane and delivering multiple workshops or events in one week, I will spaciously alter my availability and only offer one city a week for short jobs. In addition, I’m considering “putting myself out to hire” to communities for 3-6 month, longer-term projects.

As for this crazy year, I have still felt like a “nomad” because most of my international work has continued online, but I’ve been receiving some “snail mail” at my daughter’s address where I’m staying, and I don’t like it. My daughter and friends tease me, saying, “ooh, look, you have mail!” which I vehemently deny! Haha!

I did join a gym in my daughter’s town but, I made sure it was one of the franchise-type ones that proliferate Australia so that when I’m back on the road, I can still make use of the membership.

I still live out of my suitcase. It’s on a shelf, in the cupboard, in my daughter’s spare room, and I have deliberately done very little extra shopping this year and still buy my suitcase-sized “top-ups.” All my purchases have still been with the thought that I will eventually be back on the road.

As of December 2020, bookings for work in early 2021 have started rolling in, and I’m feeling the pullback towards the actual road (not flights) that will most likely be my future for at least the next 12 months until our international borders and flights are safe again. My global nomadship is not over yet!Yours in Community, Dee

Dee Brooks is a mum of four adults and is a passionate community development practitioner and trainer with over 20 years of experience. She has been an Intentional Nomad since 2015 and has travelled and worked in over 20 countries, creating impact through capacity building and knowledge sharing. http://jeder.com.au

*What is COVID offering US in terms of new perspectives? Martin When Covid struck, all my jobs and activities came to quite an abrupt halt. But organically, other things suddenly needed to be done. My life in a nutshell… Go with the flow, take things as they come, and run with it as best you can.

Pre-Covid, I was housesitting, hiking, travel guiding, and occasionally giving sushi workshops. When all that stopped, for my dad, who lives alone, all his support and social engagements/contacts were terminated as well. So I kind of organically transitioned into being his only daily visitor and part-time caregiver. A foundation I occasionally volunteer at was seeing a huge dip in the (mostly 55+ aged) volunteer availability, so my “whenever I can, I’ll let you know” volunteering turned into a fixed few days a week. With the rest of the time, I worked on my campervan conversion, which I was not really getting around to before Covid. So you could say that just as in life, Covid took but replaced other things in its place for me to make a difference… And no less important, it also gave me space to remember what I was passionate about and the time to work on it as well.

Looking forward, my future perspective has not changed much with Covid. I will keep living as a nomad, primarily housesitting going from place to place, alternated with some hiking travel guiding and volunteering here and there, and being a self-supporting van-lifer the rest of the time. What Covid did do, however, is make me realize how positive and stable this self-supportive lifestyle made me, as when mass-hysteria struck, I accepted it as it came and just took it in my stride.

To me, the best way to approach the whole Covid-situation is to look at what it is offering in terms of new perspectives, rethinking priorities and time away from work, commuting, and stress in favor of me-time. It is pretty much nailed on the head by this little quote by Karen Salmansohn:

You gotta look for the good in the bad, the happy in the sad, the gain in your pain, what makes you grateful, not hateful. And if there is no good in the bad, or happy in the sad, then you are put in that spot right there, right then, to help create it for yourself and the people around you… May you be happy and well, Martin Martin Van Den Berg is a full-time professional housesitter, capable with all animals but specialising in big or “difficult” dogs and packs. Willing to travel. dutch.mountainman@gmail.com       https://www.facebook.com/martinvdberg73


* Will we resume nomadic life? Nancy It was sheer coincidence that we moved into a long-term rental the day that Spain went into lockdown! A day later and we would have needed approval from the police to move, to drive elsewhere other than to the supermarket for essential supplies. My unexpected pulmonary embolism in April 2019 had stopped our travels and, due to ongoing medical treatment, necessitated us staying in Oliva for a while. As we liked it here, at the end of that year, totally unrelated to the pandemic, we decided to stay in the area longer and, in January 2020, found a new home near the sea.

Even if we had booked another Air B&B, ready to travel again, it’s unlikely we’d have been able to. As a new tenant hadn’t been secured for the townhouse we’d been renting, we would have had to stay there longer. This would have been so frustrating! I was always excited when moving-on and to have no choice but to stay would have been very hard. Instead, we could look forward to our new home close to the beach!

My online work continued despite the pandemic, and my weekdays didn’t really alter as I sat at the computer in my home-office as usual. The virus situation has definitely changed our nomadic mindset, though, and now I’m not even sure if we’ll resume our journey!

The pandemic in Europe and ever-changing border restrictions make it difficult to travel, so for now, we’ve accepted it’s necessary to stay-put. Instead of looking forward to exploring new places, we appreciate the opportunity and extra time available to visit our own area, which is very varied and beautiful. We’ve also made some friends here and, in a time when we cannot easily see family in the UK, these relationships are all the more important.

As we’ve not had to pack-up the car to move-on in a single journey, we’ve also gradually acquired more possessions and are making our current rental a ‘home.’ The more we become settled, putting down roots, it’s so much harder to consider moving away. Maybe one day we’ll revise our wanderlust, maybe not. Perhaps we’ll take holidays again instead. We’re just not dwelling on that.

Although we’ve always had a flexible attitude, this year has taught-us that absolutely anything unexpected can happen! We’re OK, and we have each other, our health, an income, and a home, so do appreciate this as never before. Kind regards, Nancy Nancy Benn is a versatile virtual assistant with more than ten years’ experience providing efficient support to clients. Working remotely from her home office, Nancy helps entrepreneurs achieve more time and headspace to develop their business by supporting and encouraging their endeavours by providing outstanding, skilled admin and secretarial support. www.directpaservices.co.uk         
www.nancybenn.com


*Coincidence doesn’t exist. I always believed that! Jan What happened to this digital nomad during the Covid pandemic? I guess the same as with all the others: being stuck in one place and not moving anymore. In my case, I’m stuck in Budapest in Hungary. Coincidentally, as a Dutch citizen, I already had a house in Hungary, and I am a resident in this country. Something that, after the fact, turns out to be a good thing. I will explain, and this explanation shows once more, that coincidence doesn’t exist. It was for a reason that I got stuck here.

In February 2019, I left the Netherlands and started my digital nomad existence. South America, Spain, and South Africa. In April 2020, I ended up in a very strict lockdown in South Africa, and after three tough weeks, I was finally able to return to the Netherlands on a repatriation flight. From The Netherlands, I flew immediately to my home in eastern Hungary. It was a safe haven in these bizarre times. It was also far removed from covid, with only 2 cases known out of the 3 000 inhabitants in the village.

After a few weeks of being in Hungary, a letter fell on the mat from the Dutch authorities. They stated that with retroactive effect to February 2019 (!) I was no longer officially living in the Netherlands, that I was not allowed to continue my business there and that I was no longer insured for medical expenses.

Pay attention! With more than one year retroactive effect!

Panic! What’s next? At that time, there was only one option: I would have to live 100% as a resident in Hungary and build a new company structure with two limited companies: one in the Netherlands containing all the customers and one in Hungary where I am an employee. Subsequently, I was accepted into the Hungarian health insurance system (which is cheap, but not the world’s best) and a perfect private health insurance top-up that will enable me to be anywhere in the world and still have good insurance!

All of this turned out to be a golden solution for me as a nomad. The taxes in Hungary are the lowest in Europe, and even after my retirement in some years, the 0% income tax is Europe’s best! I am currently renting an apartment in the heart of downtown Budapest, and at the weekends I visit my house in the countryside to relax. This is truly the ideal “snob-life’ of all the Budapest-inhabitants!

Coincidence doesn’t exist. I never believed in that. But all these puzzle pieces came together so precisely into one nice new picture. So with all that happened to me, I have to admit: coincidences might just exist!

While I am stuck in Hungary for now, I spend ALL my time preparing for the future! Jan

Jan Van Kuijk has been living partly in the Netherlands and partly in Hungary for more than 10 years. The two countries finally became too small for him, and in 2018, after 15 years of preparation, he decided to travel the world as a Digital Nomad. With his work on WordPress and Joomla websites, he is generating sufficient income to live his dream. https://digitalnomadlifestyle.nl      https://janvankuijk.nl


*Cruising (or not) with Covid – Debbie Well, it’s been an interesting couple of months – thank you, 2020!

From being aboard ‘that ship’ which was disallowed docking in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico, to finally disembarking our guests in San Diego, after 29 days onboard! Our guests got an additional 15 days cruising on the house, and of course, courtesy of corona!

Then, many of us got ill and had to deal with “isolationship,” which in itself added a new dimension to both cruise life, as well and levels of sanity and productivity! Getting the South African crew repatriated back to our own country was another covid challenge, but we finally made it to home soil in June, three months after the break-out onboard our floating home. At this stage, a total of 60 days of “isolationship” had been achieved, and it is no small feat to spending that amount of time on your own in a room that is hard to pace 10 steps without having to stop dead!

Since then, the waiting to return to what we love has taken its toll in various forms, forcing many to find alternative employment sources. I have kept myself busy by doing some ‘self-reflection and tweaking,’ a vital step to recalibrating and accessing what makes it out of the covid crisis with you and what needs to be resolved and rested!

I have decided to study a diploma in HR to be better equipped in my line of work and where I see myself adding relevance; making memories with my family, and building a legacy in my gorgeous granddaughter’s life while watching the world continue to be crazed about vaccines and searching for new normals!

Living life #LocationFree post-covid will have its own set of challenges, but I am hopeful that we will be traveling and impacting more lives in the near future! Remember at this time, to be kind – to those who don’t understand or think the way you do, and it’s OK to be different – after all, that’s what it takes to live #LocationFree. Love Debbie

Debbie Botha courageously leapt at the chance to travel and showcase her training development, coaching, negotiation, and change- management skills within the world of cruising. She now wears officer stripes on her shoulders and a smile on her face as she explores international waters is studying HR, dabbles in Bitcoin, and revels in being a nurturing Nana. linkedin.com/in/debbiebothaglobal        Instagram: @debbiebothaofficial


*Life Has Shifted A Little – Chris and Jillian We had moved places in Morocco a few times. We had decided that we needed our own space after two and a half months in the hostel we were painting in, and we moved into an apartment in Tinghir. Shortly after we moved into our new place, the lockdown was lifted. And even though we were some of the only foreigners around, we weren’t being hassled too much to come and buy things.

We moved out to Rissani after two weeks, which was located at the edge of the Sahara. The roads were now just starting to open up for people to move between towns and cities. After a few weeks there, we read a news headline saying that all foreigners had to leave Morocco by August 10th. We then decided that we wanted to spend some time on the coast, so off we went to Essaouira.

We ended up renting an Airbnb for a really good discounted price inside the medina. There were still very few tourists around, and we were getting hassled by more people to come and buy things. We had booked a flight to leave on the 8th, and a few days before the day, the flight was canceled. We then read more information about needing to leave and found out that it was fake news and didn’t need to go.

We rented the place for two more months, and it was nice to have our own space and work on our own projects. The owner of the Airbnb had upgraded the wifi to accommodate our needs, and we accomplished a lot of much needed online work. The locals’ mood had dropped, and eventually, we had started to see drunk people in the day fist fighting at random times. This was not normal, so we felt that it was time to go.

We booked a direct flight to Turkey, and we travelled to Casablanca to exit the country. There were not many people in the airport, which made the experience one of the easiest times we’ve had travelling. We were told that we would expect to get tested for Covid when we arrived at the airport, this didn’t happen. We were also told that we would expect to get tested when we arrived in Turkey, this didn’t happen either. Turkey was open, and everything was business as usual. In the last two weeks here, the Turkish government has started implementing some restrictions. Restaurants are closed except for takeout, a weeknight curfew of 8:00, and everything except grocery stores are closed over the weekends.

We have no doubt in our minds that this is the only way we can live our lives. Travel has probably changed forever due to Covid, but we will deal with it. We won’t be returning to conventional life, and we find too much happiness in this way of life

Chris de Cap I’ve been an artist my whole life, more than half of which as a tattoo artist. I spent the bulk of my adult life being nomadic, however, mostly in Canada. Now I’ve taken my nomadic habits out into the world. http://www.artisticvoyages.com/        www.instagram.com/artisticvoyages

*Clearing the decks and learning what it means to be resilient I feel like 2020 is the year that we were all forced to stop, take a deep breath, and look at how we are living. The word that kept coming up for me this year was resilience.

Here in Spain, we experienced one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe and in a city like Malaga where we are used to being active and social life quickly started to feel a little surreal. I remember saying to friends that it felt like I was living in a Netflix movie. Deserted streets, no noise or energy.

There is a thriving community of entrepreneurs and freelancers in the city and I organise a co-working meet-up. I remember our last in-person event just before the lockdown happened. I don’t think anyone realised just what was coming! After that, we took the meet-ups online like many events and it proved a great way to stay connected and motivated when we weren’t able to meet up in person. I launched my first retreat in October at an amazing venue called Vega House. This was one of my big goals for 2020 and after nearly a year of putting things on hold, I was determined to make it happen.

I have experienced lots of personal and professional shifts this year and it feels like it has been a bit of a baptism of fire. I know I have learned to be more present in how I live. I have become much more conscious of time and not wasting it this year. This has affected my relationships, friendships and priorities as a whole.

I had planned to do more international travel this year and instead found that there was so much more on my doorstep than I had realised to explore and appreciate. Slowing down and living with restrictions has helped me and I am sure others to find joy in unexpected places. I think I am going into 2021 with a renewed sense of optimism around what is possible for me. I am focusing on staying grounded and appreciating the here and now.

Victoria Jane Watson is a business and media mentor working with female entrepreneurs leading the way in the health and wellness industry. She gets to the heart of what makes her clients unique, showing them how to leverage their story and expertise effectively so they can build a personal brand that supports their business goals. www.victoriajanewatson.com   Instagram: @victoriajanewatson

“10 Lessons for Living #LocationFree” is available on all Amazon stores

Search under the title or by using:

Print ISBN: 978-0-620-90868-9

Digital ASIN: B08P7FQ94G

IN SOUTH AFRICA YOU CAN  ALSO GRAB A PAPERBACK ON TAKEALOT.COM

https://www.takealot.com/10-lessons-for-living-locationfree/PLID71293449

  #LocationFree – How are global nomads coping with their wanderlust lifestyle? was originally published on Kate Emmerson - The Quick Shift Deva

[demaury]

boys online. chapter 2. (social media influencers au)

7916. 124. 10. These are the numbers that define Eliott and Lucas’ relationship, either they want it or not. 7916 kilometers between them, from Paris to Vancouver. 124 days since they first said ‘I love you’ last spring. And nearly 10 hours, until… well, until they meet for the first time. (ao3)

MANON CHATON

vu aujourd’hui à 20:34

i'm so in love

fuck what’s happening to me

😂

i get that you found eliott

i was getting a little worried here

it’s been literally five minutes!!!

sure, jan

so that means your flight landed somewhere in poland

because you should have arrived a whiiiiile ago if you were in paris 😏😂

i was taking five minutes to make-out with my bf

i bet you did 👀

is he a good kisser at least?

the best

i'm so whipped

you’re so whipped

but it’s cute

“Missing home already?”

Lucas looks up from his phone and cranes his neck just as Eliott slides in the seat next to him, carefully setting the two Styrofoam cups he just retrieved from the barista on the table. They’re waiting for the cab Lucas ordered after Eliott showed up and Starbucks seemed like the better option they had at the moment — at least once they stopped sharing oxygen and saliva long enough to get behind that idea.

“Not a fucking chance,” he grins as he locks his phone. He leans closer into Eliott’s personal space and the smile his boyfriend gives him back turns the cheekiest comments he can ever come up with into wobbling knees and fluttering stomach. “Thank you,” he says, punctuating it with a peck on Eliott’s lips.

He proceeds to grab his part of their order while Eliott settles more comfortably next to him — and, Lucas notices, even closer. “I received the text from the company, they said our car should be waiting for us at 9,” Eliott says, checking the text as he speaks. “We should probably get ready to take the commute soon I guess.”

“Guess so, yeah.” Lucas stretches his arms high above his head and scrunches up his face. “I’m beat, the flight was so long.”

It’s been two years since he last came to France, and damn has he forgotten how boring spending nearly ten hours in a plane was. After his parents’ divorce he had only come back a handful of times, generally to spend a few days in Nice with his paternal grandmother when his dad was in the mood to bother forcing him to do stuff, so it wasn’t like he was really used to making 8h+ flights abroad. Mostly he knows he should be thankful because there’s been no assholery behavior and no crying baby or tantrum-y kid.

“Can’t wait to see these eyes without the bags underneath,” Eliott teases, pocking to his cheek playfully.

Lucas bats his hand away just for the sake of it, but it’s not harsh and Eliott knows him too well to even question. “Well, sorry for you, but the bags are rooming with me,” he huffs. “I tried to stay awake last night to sleep during the flight. Worked tremendously, as you can see.”

“They are nice bags,” Eliott decides, shrugging slightly. “I could get used to it, they make your eyes pop in the end.”

Lucas tilts his head to the side, cocking an eyebrow. “You didn’t sound so sappy over FaceTime, I feel lied to,” he says, playing with his cup nonchalantly. “Now I wonder what else is different.”

Eliott seems to ponder his answer, and Lucas stares, obvious and unapologetic. It’s not a big reveal that his boyfriend is even more beautiful in person than he already is in pictures, and it still amazes him even after all this time and an entire day spent obsessing over it that one day they met as friends, last April. Eliott had a family member getting married somewhere near Calgary and it was just too good of an opportunity to miss it. Right after the wedding Eliott had hopped in a plane for Vancouver and they had spent the day hanging out and touring around Vancouver. Well, Eliott had toured around Vancouver. Lucas, for his part, had mostly followed and occasionally taken his eyes away from Eliott long enough to gesture at some place.

“You’re right,” Eliott says, sounding awfully serious. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something that might affect our relationship, but I need to get it off my chest so that you can be prepared.”

Lucas isn’t sure where he’s going with it, but Eliott shifts on his chair to face him without looking like he’s waiting for an answer. His grey eyes meet Lucas’, deep and serious, and it takes Lucas most of his willpower to keep his mind on tracks, when all he wants to do is reach out and touch that perfect jawline of Eliott’s.

“I’ll be the sappiest of the saps,” Eliott declares, ignoring when Lucas bursts out laughing. “I have my boyfriend in town for two small weeks, so you better be ready for all the cheesiness in the world because I fully intend to make the most of it,” he concludes.

Lucas shifts too, facing him. “So that’s not our first date?”, he asks, faking surprise.

“In a Starbucks coffee?” Eliott scoffs. “Please, I have standards. I was just desperately trying to give you a caffeine boost to keep you up on your two feet.”

Lucas cocks an eyebrow. “The cheesiest boyfriend in the world wouldn’t mind picking his boyfriend up, just saying.”

“You want me to do that?”, Eliott deadpans, cocking an eyebrow too.

“Jesus, no,” Lucas huffs a laugh, shaking his head, and Eliott joins him.

He doesn’t really know why he freaked out some 24h ago, when everything seems as simple as it should be. They’re easily navigating between banter and cutesy declarations, and it’s something Lucas always dreamed of finding in a boyfriend. Eliott reaches out, his fingers threading through Lucas’ hair.

“We should get going,” he says, pressing a soft kiss on Lucas’ lips. “Last thing I want is so miss our commute and end up dragging my sleepy boyfriend all the way out.”

Lucas snorts, taking a sip from his coffee. “I’m not a child, I’ll let you know. I can stay awake one more hour.”

*

Lucas doesn’t stay awake one more hour.

Which is totally fine, if you ask Eliott. They’ve been in the car for roughly fifteen minutes when Lucas’ head falls on his shoulder, pretty eyes closed and his grip loosening ever so slightly around Eliott’s fingers.

“Jetlag doesn’t forgive,” the taxi driver says, sententious, as he peeks in the rear-view mirror halfway through a story involving electric bikes. “Where are you guys coming from?”

“He lives in Canada,” Eliott replies, and it’s still a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that this reality, them together in the same town, isn’t one that is meant to last. “I live in the 11e though.”

His attention drifts away as the driver manages to find another topic of conversation involving Eliott’s area of Paris, focusing instead on the soft patterns he traces with his fingers on the inside of Lucas’ wrist. At this point, the only thing keeping Eliott from reaching for his phone to snap a selfie of them both is that he doesn’t have the heart to take either of his hands away from a sleepy Lucas. Hear him out, he can tear his eyes away from him, it’s just that he gets to hear Lucas laugh and smile and angrily venting when things don’t go the way he wants them to go, but sleep is something he’s never been able to witness. And, like, Eliott is completely, utterly in love with Lucas but he knows by now that he can be a real pain in the ass when he wants to be — so seeing him soft and cute like that, he’s not ready to pass on it just yet.

The road from the airport isn’t all that long, given the general state of the Parisian traffic, and when they get to rue Dangeau, where Lucas’ hotel is situated, it’s been around forty minutes since they left Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle. The sleeping arrangement got him thinking, when they were planning Lucas’ trip to France, because they had been together for less than three months, and the last thing he wanted was for Lucas to feel pressured about anything. Granted, it had taken him less time to lose his virginity to Lucille when they were younger, but it doesn’t mean it’s a race either. His boyfriend was still 17 back then, and Eliott distinctly remembers worrying a whole night about all the things he could possibly say that could send the wrong message whatsoever. The good side is that ever since he managed to man the fuck up and confess his feelings to Lucas, things have been (mostly) easy to navigate between them and Lucas has (mostly) been on the same page — he said he didn’t want to rush things either, but simply because they deserved to make things ‘the right way’, which is still a fair point, albeit a bit different. In the end they have both agreed to the hotel thing, and the more thoughts Eliott puts into it, the more natural it felt.

He releases Lucas’ hand as the car parks just across the street on a delivery spot, and it gets him to stir and mumble. “Note to self,” he groans as Eliott unbuckles his seatbelt, rubbing his eyes from his hand, “coffee doesn’t hold a candle to a nine-hour jetlag.”

“Will you manage to walk inside or do I have to pick you up?”, Eliott enquires, barely biting back a smirk.

Lucas squints his eyes. “Look at you making fun of me.” He pouts, and he unbuckles his seatbelt before sliding out through the door he chucked open. “I’ll manage, since you’re so nice to ask.”

Eliott snorts and hops off through his own door while Lucas retrieves his luggage from the driver. The man greets them warmly before getting back in and driving away. The hotel Lucas picked isn’t particularly fancy, it’s actually one of those hotels you’d walk by without really noticing. Despite being three floors high, it’s squeezed between a flower shop and a restaurant selling kebabs, in a narrow one-way street, but Eliott is almost surprised by how comfy it feels as soon as they push past the door of the lobby. Lucas goes to retrieve the key to his hotel room, and he allows himself a moment to check his phone in the meantime, but there’s nothing there that requires his undivided attention like his boyfriend does. A couple of notifications and texts from his friends that he puts on hold for the time being, when Lucas makes sign for him to join as he’s climbing upstairs.

“Home sweet home,” Lucas sighs, dropping himself flat on the bed as soon as they get in.

“It’s a nice hotel,” Eliott observes thoughtfully, closing the door behind him. “And at least you aren’t far from my place.”

Lucas props himself back up on his elbows. “It’s still too far,” he complains.

Eliott snorts and shakes his head. “It’s really not. And you’re literally on automatic pilot now, you need to sleep.”

“I know that.” Lucas pauses. “I just- I don’t know, I just want you to stay. Here. With me.”

“But we agreed that we would take it slow,” Eliott says, frowning a little.

“Of course, yes,” Lucas replies quickly, and Eliott isn’t sure but he thinks Lucas might be blushing. “But I want cuddles.” And he goes on, raising his arms and making grabby hands in his direction.

Eliott takes in Lucas’ tired eyes, his pouty lips, his messy hair and his grabby hands, and it’s not even that he feels himself cave in, because he had already stopped fighting himself the moment Lucas first asked, but there’s literally not a single good reason for him to leave this hotel room now. The first thing he does, before answering even, is kicking off his shoes, then he looks back up and Lucas’ grin is worth everything in the world.

“Let’s cuddle then,” Eliott says.

As soon as he plops down next to him, Lucas immediately drags him in a laying position and worms his way between his arms.

*

Having a sleeping boyfriend in bed he’s trying not to wake up is something Lucas isn’t quite used to, in complete honesty. Jake was his first relationship after he came out, and it hadn’t lasted three full months, so it’s not like he really managed to make his marks as a not-single guy. Point is, disentangling himself from Eliott’s arms has been surprisingly stressful, and he hates his bladder for forcing him out of his living safety blanket, but he hates his brain even more for making him stare pointlessly at an invisible spot for about an hour before that.

Jetlag is a fucking bitch, he thinks grumpily as he closes the lid and flushes the toilet, motioning to the sink to wash his hands. There’s a mirror hanging off the wall above the basin, and the glance he spares it isn’t really helpful. He literally has red circles on top of the black ones now, and it makes a weird Halloween-ish look with his blue eyes — which he’s positive isn’t attractive in any part of the world.

He retrieves his phone from the nightstand on his side of the bed, eyes squinting when he unlocks it, after padding as quietly as possible out of the bathroom and trying desperately to remember how the furniture is displayed so that he doesn’t end up splitting his knee open in the frame of the bed on his way.

“Lucas?”

Eliott’s sleepy voice makes Lucas startle stupidly and he smiles sheepishly in the ray of light emanating from his phone. “Yeah, I’m here.”

There’s a pause and Eliott motions some more in the bed, rubbing his eye from the heel of his hand. He’s wearing his tee-shirt from yesterday and his black briefs are peeking out from where the comforter is thrown back. “Is it morning already?”

“Nah, I just went to the bathroom. Sorry for waking you up.”

Eliott frowns and nods. “Oh. Right. Aren’t you coming back?”

“I can’t sleep,” Lucas admits. “I’ll probably just toss and turn.”

Eliott props himself up on an elbow. “It’s fine. Come here,” he says, voice still a bit rough from sleep and hair a little messier than usual. “We can watch a movie or something.”

Lucas huffs a chuckle. “Eliott, it’s 2.30 in the morning, go back to sleep.”

“So what, I don’t get to have cuddles at 2.30?”

Lucas stares, taken aback. “Fuck, of course you do,” he says, practically throwing his phone on the nightstand as he hops in the bed, and just like that the room is pitch-black all over again. “Let’s keep the movie for another time though.”

They don’t quite cuddle, not like they were before Lucas got up, and not like they were when they first fell asleep. They’re merely facing each other, Eliott’s arm snaking its way around his waist, gentle and light as they pull him just a tiny bit closer.

“It’s fine,” he says, tracing circles on Lucas’ side. “We can just talk.”                

Lucas slides an arm under his head, looking in the direction of Eliott’s voice, almost as if he could make out his features in the night, were he trying hard enough. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know,” his boyfriend whispers, and Lucas feels him shrugging slightly. “What’s the first thing you could think about asking me?”

Lucas ponders the question. Objectively there’s still a whole bunch of things he would want to know about Eliott, simply because he wants to know everything there’s to know, but there’s something intimate and unique about being with him like this, his attention undivided. They have nowhere else to be, no one else to bother them, not a single kilometer between them. It’s just them, in this moment, and he feels emboldened enough to ask: “When did you know you had feelings for me?”

There’s a silence, and Eliott’s fingers stop their gentle dance on his side. “It doesn’t really depict me IN a good light,” Eliott admits.

“C’mon on, tell me,” Lucas says, wriggling a tad closer. “I know it was when you were still with Lucille, you told me that already.”

“Alright,” Eliott says. “The exact moment, uh?” Lucas nods, even if Eliott can’t see it. “I was having sex with Lucille.” Another silence. “I thought about you to finish.”

Oh. Well, he can’t say he’s feeling bad, which he’s simultaneously certain is the opposite of the reaction he should be having. Probably because his boyfriend did not mentally cheat on him while they were having sex.

“I told you, it doesn’t really make me the perfect boyfriend after that,” Eliott mumbles.

Lucas shakes his head, mostly for himself, and he reaches out to run his hand up Eliott’s arm. “Actually, I think you’re doing really great so far.”

“So far, uh?” Eliott muses.

“Yes. So far. Your turn.”

Eliott takes a second to think. “Why did you date Jake if you weren’t all that interested in him?”

“It doesn’t really make me a Saint either.”

The fingers are back to grazing his side through the material of his shirt. “I think I’ll handle it. I think I already know, in fact.”

Lucas drops his gaze, uselessly, he knows, but it’s a reflex he can’t help. “I was in love with you,” he admits. “You had gotten back with Lucille. It was, like, the third time it was happening in the short time we had known each other, I just thought there’d never be a place for me in your life.”

It feels strangely liberating to get it off his chest. It’s not the biggest secret of his life, and it’s not his most bitter moment either. But going back to these few months, where Eliott had managed to occupy so much space in his life all the while being still so out of reach, it still makes his heart clench a little on instinct — like the vague memory of a physical pain.

“The tables turned,” Eliott says and Lucas smiles.

“Kind of, yeah.”

Eliott pulls himself closer, and Lucas shifts a little, welcoming his boyfriend’s frame in his arms as Eliott nestles his face in the crook of his neck. “I’m so happy to have you with me,” he whispers.

*

[ikesenlemonadestandstories]

Level 2

ere we go! Here we go! Guys I don’t think you understand how excited I am for this :) 

Master List here or under the tag Ikesen AFK

Warnings: none

Happy Reading! T~

Level 2

You had started the downloading process earlier this morning before you left for work, in hopes that the file would be close to complete when you arrived back home. Thankfully the gods were smiling on you. After changing out of your scrubs and plugging the system into the TV, you plopped down on your couch and curled into your favorite corner with a water bottle and two sets of controllers, just in case. 

Immediately upon startup, you were thrown into a magnificent CGI cutscene that you hoped would be explained a little better the further into the game you got. After you built your character and typed in your name, another scene began to roll. Your character now found herself falling until she quite literally landed in the middle of town. 

Most people just kept on walking, paying no mind to the perplexed girl in the middle of the square. You had to laugh to yourself a little bit, at least you didn’t get dropped into some random field with tons of monsters like the last game Rose had talked you into joining. This game had that going for it at least. After a few well placed tutorials on movement and interacting, you gave it a go. Starting your exploration of the town. 

There were plenty of shops to check out and enough NPC’s to talk to, but without any particular way to defend yourself, you were stuck picking up delivery quests for an hour until Sasuke was available. Eventually, you were rewarded after finishing a task with a questionable looking lance so you took off looking for a fight. Your item list told you it had been dubbed “training lance,” and you were sure that as far as weapons went, it was garbage. But a pokey stick was better than nothing. Besides, you were happy to see swords weren’t the game’s default, the variation definitely gave it some brownie points. 

You felt your phone vibrate and laughed when Sasuke told you to meet him in the city square near the chicken leg stand. Having failed your assault mission for the fourth time meant you had nothing better to do than head over there and wait. You weren’t waiting long though; in a matter of minutes, an avatar that looked frighteningly like Sasuke wandered over as a speech bubble popped up on the bottom of your screen.

Nin-nin0217 → Hey, I’m alive. Sorry for the wait.

Np! Got some quests done. Found a lance ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Not bad, have you used said lance yet?

Yes, lol did not go well. I’ve just hit my 5th respawn ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → I see. How about I take you to one of my favorite maps to grind on?

Why do I feel like I’m not at the appropriate level for the map you want to take me to? ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → You’re not, but I’ll be there so you should be able to get some good EXP.

Do I have a choice ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Of course you do. It’ll just take you forever to get to the Soldier class at this rate. If you’re okay with that than I am too.

No...let’s give your way a try. ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → That’s the spirit! :D 

Before you could manage to formulate a response, an event bubble popped up on your screen. *Nin-nin0217 has requested you join him on a quest. Do you accept?* After a single exasperated breath, you hit your toggle and pressed yes. Let the grinding begin. 

The map itself wasn’t challenging, the terrain was neutral, and there didn’t appear to be any hazards hiding further back near enemy lines. It also helped that you were playing through it with Sasuke. As long as your character stood within a four-space vicinity, it was nearly impossible to take you out. 

After nearly three hours between two maps, your magic and resources were exhausted, and your poor spear was almost broken. 

I think it’s about time to call it quits. Spears about to go, and I’m not equipped for hand to hand. ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Roger that. Are you good to finish the map? Do we need to end the mission now?

Nope, I can finish ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Good. We’ll get you a new spear when we get back into town. 

Awesome sauce! ← WildCyt0m3try

With bated breath, you finished with a single strike of your lance to spare. Thank goodness, you had been warned early on that fighting with a broken weapon was the absolute worst. Zero damage dealt, and the lower defense did not sound like your cup of tea. Especially without any healing magic or herbs at your disposal. 

The town was still bustling when you got back from your map, it was nice to see people were online at all hours of the day, er well night. Your avatar followed Sasuke’s towards the market street, and you made a bee-line for the armory, making sure to cash any and all in-game currency that had dropped from the monsters you fought all evening. Your eyes nearly fell out of your head when you saw all the zeros. The shop-keeper was offering to give you how much?

On top of the absurd amount of in-game currency you had just procured, you were shocked by the list that opened up to you. Instead of just the training spear you had been granted earlier, an entirely new selection of weaponry was available. With a triumphant yell you decided to drop most of your coin on a single steel lance, and backed out of the shop to follow Sasuke towards the general merchant shop. 

*Nin-nin0217 has sent you a friend request. Accept?* Laughing, you clicked ‘Yes’ and began typing something witty that was sure to be lost on your friend, when he dropped you an item. *Nin-nin0217 has sent you a gift. Accept?*

What did you just send me? ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Open it and find out

I’m not about to open the games equivalent to a glitter bomb, am I? ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Unfortunately, they don’t offer such gifts. This is much better I can assure you.

Fine...thx! ← WildCyt0m3try 

You accepted the gift reluctantly, closing your eyes as you pressed the open command. It only took five seconds for the system to download the present and for a happy chime to play over the speaker. 

*You received a Beginner Seal. Would you like to use this now or stow it in your convoy?* The game prompted you.

Am I supposed to use this now? ← WildCyt0m3try 

Nin-nin0217 → If you’ve got a prompt to use it go for it. The beginner classes are rudimentary, but you should be able to see potential stat growths for each.

As it turned out, seals were used for in-game growth. Assuming you had managed to gain enough experience points you could use one. There were different seals for different levels, and the types of stats you had grown during battle by using specific weapons narrowed down what sort of class you could grow into. You laughed and fired off another message.

I feel like an Eevee, there’s so many options! What do I pick?! How am I supposed to choose? ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → You have 4 options…? Nin-nin0217 → Do you know what type of Master Class you’re aiming for?

Master what now? ← WildCyt0m3try No. Am I supposed to? ← WildCyt0m3try Crap. I guess I’ll just be a soldier. ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → An excellent choice, rationale?

I mean, I just bought a new lance, and it was hella expensive. Probably better to pick a class that can use lances. ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → We don’t have anyone in the group yet that is of suitable stats to become a Falcon Knight. It would add the perfect amount of diversity.

Lol, happy to help. I should probably hit the internet a little bit before I continue tho, I’m gonna log off for the night. ← WildCyt0m3try

Nin-nin0217 → Have a good evening. See you on Monday? 

You too! G’night! Thx for the help! ← WildCyt0m3try

After bidding Sasuke a good night, you saved your progress and quickly logged off. Mentally kicking yourself for staying on until well past midnight. You had to work in the morning. That would be interesting. With a long sigh, you heaved yourself off the couch and put your controller back by the console before turning out all the lights. It was way past your bedtime.

[therosewoods]

Hello!!! I saw in your bio that you are zero waste? If it's not too much of a bother, would you mind explaining how you do it?? It seems like such a daunting task (especially bc I live in a pretty rural area that doesnt have bulk stores close by) but I really want to start getting into it. Any tips for where/how to start? Thank you so much!! I hope you have a lovely day :)

Ahhhhh yes!!! I’m always happy to share my zero waste knowledge.Now, my bio says “zero waste,” but I’m nowhere near being one of those people who can manage to make their trash fit only in a mason jar, so I’m more technically “low waste.” 

I’m originally from a super small town that didn’t really have any bulk stores either. Luckily I’m living in a bigger city now so it’s a bit easier, but I definitely struggled when I was in my hometown. I got started about a year ago and it started with really small steps. I would honestly say that the bathroom is the easiest place to start. Finish whatever products you have first (shampoo in plastic bottles, tubes of toothpaste, body wash if you use it, etc.) so that they don’t go to waste, and then look into waste-free alternatives. You can order shampoo and conditioner bars online and there are tons of different kinds depending on your hair type. Buy bars of soap instead of body wash and try to look for ones from sustainable companies that don’t test on animals. There are tons of different places online (I usually stick with Lush, but I do buy some things on Amazon if I’m in a pinch. They do usually send stuff in plastic wrap and I try not to buy from them often, but they’re cheap and it’s still better than buying the plastic-wrapped alternatives, especially if you’re just starting out.) 

I also swear by Package Free Shop and Lauren Singer, aka Trash Is For Tossers. I ADORE her and she was the one who started my passion for zero waste. She has a lot of really great tips on her blog and Package Free is like the one-stop shop for all things zero waste. It’s a bit pricier, but I do try to look at the things on there as investments, because they will last you a long time and they pay themselves off quickly. As for toilet paper and paper towels, I buy them from Who Gives a Crap (love the name). I bought a box of TP and paper towels a year ago and I’ve only recently had to buy more. I buy sustainable laundry and dish detergent from Dropps. They’ve also lasted me more than a year. For period products I use a diva cup and Knix, as well as reusable cloth pads (not my fav, but if I’m in a pinch they’ll do)

I don’t compost (yet) because I live in an apartment, but I try not to buy more than I need and I always try to bring my own reusable produce and grocery bags when I’m going to the store. If your grocery store has a bulk section (even a small one) get what you can out of it. Try to look for what has the least amount of packaging and go with that. If a product has an option of being packaged in glass/paper, or being packaged in plastic, go with the glass/paper. It’s much easier to recycle or reuse, and plastic is really the core issue here.

I don’t buy a lot of fast food or takeout because I’m a broke college kid and it’s a huge source of waste, but sometimes if I’m starving and in need of a quick bite, I’ll cave and grab something.

Honestly, zero waste is a journey and not a destination. I’ll never ever be one of those people who miraculously fits all of their trash in a jar, and the average person won’t be either. And that’s okay. Doing a little bit and making small changes is enough, and it’s something to be celebrated. It’s admirable that you’re even interested in going zero waste!! That’s a HUGE first step! Don’t beat yourself up over the little things and just try to improve in the future. I still forget to bring my reusable bags to the store sometimes or forget to ask the waiter to skip the straw. We’re all learning and it’s going to take time. But we don’t need a few people doing zero waste perfectly. We need many people doing it imperfectly. All progress is good progress. I hope this helps! Message me if you have any more questions! Good luck!

[evwuniverse]

Animal Crossing New Horizons Beginner Review

Animal Crossing has been around since April 14, 2001, with its first release from the franchise for the Nintendo GameCube. Since then Nintendo has built a loyal fan-based community of individuals who’ve fallen in love with the game. Trying to be non-biased in this review (I’ll try my best!) I’m going to explain the positives and negatives of the recently released Animal Crossing game called Animal Crossing New Horizons which came out March 20, 2020. Every part of the review will be broken up into sections so you can read specifically the part you’re looking for. This is going to be a very long and extensive review covering hopefully everything you need to know about the game and whether or not you should obtain it if you haven’t already.

Animal Crossing Timeline (all of the games from 2001-2020):

2001 - Animal Crossing

Console = Nintendo GameCube

2005 - Animal Crossing: Wild World

Console = Nintendo DS

2008 - Animal Crossing: City Folk

Console = Nintendo Wii

2012 - Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Console = Nintendo 3DS

2020 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Console = Nintendo Switch

Who is Animal Crossing For?

The rating for Animal Crossing is for anyone 3+ and is family-friendly.

The point of the game is to build up an island filled with animals who are your neighbors which later on become your “best friends.” It falls under the category of social simulation. When you’re building up this utopian island you’ll notice it starting from the very beginning with lots of grassy areas, trees, weeds, and some flowers here and there. As you progress forward you get a town hall, market store, clothing store, and a museum. You’ll also, have other animals who want to move to your island so you’ll start to see more houses that you find the placing for in Animal Crossing New Horizons. This is something not yet seen in the Animal Crossing franchise. We were never able to choose where we could put an animal's house. They would just randomly build anywhere. This is a nice feature we’ve been given this time around!

Game Progression Shops and Lore of the Game:

Nook’s Cranny: The Market

During the progression of the game, the Nook’s Cranny ran by Timmy and Tommy two young raccoons that aren’t blood-related to Tom Nook. Both Timmy and Tommy are apprentices of Tom Nook’s Tom Nook considers himself more of a mentor or teacher. He is known for wanting to teach others good economic principles to help them from suffering financially in the future and making the same mistakes he had made. Their names were revealed in Animal Crossing New Leaf and this time around they’ve joined us as the shop owners of Nook’s Cranny in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

You’ll start with basically a wooden shack called Nook’s Cranny and with time you’ll slowly build up to an actual market store almost looking like a cute little town flower shop from the outside. This will continue to change during the progression of the game. However, to be honest I haven’t gotten far enough in the game yet to see the other changes that there supposedly are.

Dodo Airlines and Mystery Island Tours:

Airport Itself:

Dodo Airlines is a new part of Animal Crossing New Horizons this is a more organized way of being able to visit other friends and players islands. Before in other Animal Crossing games such as Animal Crossing New Leaf, you would go into a small building that was a train station. There would be a monkey that would grant you access to leave to other towns. Instead, they have an airport in New Horizons it’s run by two characters Dodo Orville and Dodo Wilbur. This is also where you can invite others to visit your town. From here they’ve added new things such as Mystery Tours which you’re able to take by using a Nook Miles Ticket. This will take you to a random island that contains bug, fish, items, and other resources that may not be accessible on your island. Some islands have special trees such as bamboo, foreign fruit trees, and rare flowers, The foreign fruit trees will always be the same foreign fruit.

I’ll be honest from my experience every time I’ve used a Nook Miles ticket to do the Mystery Island tours I’ve yet to come across an island with resources I didn’t already have on my starter island. For example, the fruit I started with was apples. I’ve only had Mystery islands with Apples and Peaches so far. I currently have both fruits so I only obtain those fruits on the Mystery Island tours to sell them for a small amount of money on my island. So just know it will be possible if you’re anything like me that you’ll keep getting islands with non-special properties. Or maybe I’m just unlucky?

Harv’s Island:

Another thing that’s unlocked at the airport is at a certain point in the game you’ll have access to travel to a place called Harv’s Is; and which is new and specific to only Animal Crossing New Horizons. This is also shortly termed as phototopia and is a photo studio you can go to and take pictures with the animals in your town. Set up rooms the way YOU want them with PROPS, have as many characters as you would like in the photo, and take photos with character summoned via amiibo figurines which are store-bought action figures if collecting those are your style.

Post Office:

Dodo airlines though it is an airport it doubles as the post office. Back in past Animal Crossing games in the franchise, there was its own separate post office you could go too. Now everything is contained in one place which honestly I find nice. Only because I feel it takes up fewer buildings on the island and more room to make your island your own. Doubling as the post office you’re able to send your postcards and letters via a card stand in the airport. When the card stand is accessed via your character the player can choose between multiple designs for their letters. Some of the letters will be marked with “Limited Availability” these are cards that are only available for purchase until the dates that are listed on the card. Sending a letter costs 200 bells and they’re able to be sent to a current resident of the player’s island, your future self, or a player from another town who is on their “best friends” list via the online service on your new Nook phone (which will be discussed later in this review).

Dodo Codes:

Previously in other Animal Crossing versions, you only had the option to invite or go to an island. However, now there’s an added safety precaution if the players want to use it in New Horizons. This option is called Dodo codes. These codes are five-character passwords that allow the players to visit your island or someone else's island even without having to be friends on the Nintendo Switch. The number of characters that can be on a single island has doubled since previous games in the franchise from four to eight people on an island at any given time.

Multiplayer Access and Rules:

A few things that have changed from previous versions of Animal Crossing:

If you go to another person island and you’re not a “best friend” on their island you’ll be unable to use tools such as shovels, axes, watering cans, fishing rods, and nets.

You’re able to move objects inside of your house even if other players are inside the house with you.

Actions that can’t be performed with an open airport gate:

Buying items via Nook Shopping (via Nook stop or the App)

Changing a design pattern

Inviting an animal to your Campsite via Amiibo

Using Island Designer

Visiting another island (Including Mystery Tours and Harv’s Island)

Sending a card via the card stand at the airport

Actions that cannot be performed with visitors on the island:

Picking up, placing or moving any outdoor furniture

Placing (but not removing) fences

Picking up, placing or moving furniture inside your house (unless all visitors are outside the home)

Using the overview mode for designing your house

Donating items to the museum or having fossils assessed

Wisp will refuse to accept collected spirit pieces (something you’ll find out about later on in your gameplay)

Tom Nook and Isabelle don’t provide any services

Island residents don’t accept gifts

Hitting rocks (without eating fruit) doesn’t provide any resources

Balloons won’t appear to use a slingshot on

Misc gameplay changed with visitors on the island:

Fishbait doesn’t work but is consumed

Wasps, scorpions, and tarantulas don’t spawn

K.K. Slider concerts have the music sent by mail the next day rather than in pockets

There is no entry fee for the Fishing Tourney and other rule changes.

As you can see the airport is the main hub for everything you do multiplayer related. This is pretty much the new hub in your game, yes you can consider the Town Hall as your main hub. But only when it comes to single-player actions. Which now brings me to the Town Hall.

Town Hall (AKA Residential Services):

Town Hall is a little bit different then what it was in past versions of the game... It’s gotten a facelift to catch up with the other advancements that have been added. You’ll quickly learn that Residential Services is the most important aspect of building on your island. This is where you’ll learn all of the basics when it comes to crafting in the game and deciding where you build features such as bridges around your island. Most bridges ahead of time cost you 168,000 bells so keep saving those bells and don’t spend them all of the time. You’ll thank me later on in the progression of the game if you decide to buy it. As you develop your island, the services inside and the exterior of the building will change. You’ll start with a tent for the Residential Services which will later become a grand beautiful Town Hall in the middle of your town with cobblestone right out front of it.

What you can do at Residential Services:

DIY workbench to craft new items

Nook stop which is the Island ATM (this is your bank, shopping catalog like sears, and the Nook Miles shop all in one)

Recycling box (you can pick up these items and either sell them or keep them for yourself I’ve gotten materials when I was low and some nice furniture from it)

Tom Nook and the services he provides, an example is paying off your loan, expanding your home, building bridges and inclines, terraforming, moving buildings, and so much more.

The Residential Services building is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. To unlock Isabelle which yes she is in this game which was super exciting for me when I started playing it. She provides information and services to better improve your island and the characters who live on it. Some of the services she performs are as followed:

Island evaluations (as if your real-life work evaluations weren’t enough for ya!)

Changing the island tune

Changing the island flag

The ability to change certain aspects, such as the catchphrase of a villager. (which I have yet to experience but have heard about this feature)

When you upgrade your Residential Services to Town Hall after a few days of playing the game a lot of characters will come to visit your towns such as Label, Redd, Leif, and the skunk who sells the shoes from Kick’s shoe store. They have small little stands in the cobblestone square right in front of the Town Hall. But keep in mind they only come on specific days during the week.

Blather’s Museum:

Yes, I called it Blather’s Museum instead of just Museum just saying the museum is soooo boring! This is where everything you collect such as fossils, fish, bugs, and now artwork go. You’re able to make donations to the museum and visit whenever you would like. At the time of typing this post, it is National Museum week. From May 18th- May 31st there is a stamp collection event at your Museum. You have to play the game to get the Museum on your island. This is also an unlockable place but not hard to obtain just by playing the game you’re able to obtain it rather quickly.

Able Sisters Clothing Store:

This is another place you unlock after unlocking the Town Hall in the middle of your island. Who could forget the able sister's store? the main place for character customization! and let me tell you the clothes so far in New Horizons are worth the game itself. There are so many cute outfits I’ve bought so many and wasted so many bells on clothes I can’t even tell you how much was bought on impulse. This store will be a money sucker in New Horizons. This is unlocked after one of the able sisters visits your island with her tiny kiosk in front of Town Hall. It takes a few days to unlock but it’s easy to do so once you unlock the able sisters you gain more in-game features., One of these features is the return of pattern design and custom content designs. This can also be done via your Nook phone.

Some background information about the Able Sisters clothing shop. The shop is owned and ran by two sisters Sable and Mable otherwise known as the able sisters. The store was run and owned by their parents before they had inherited it after their parents had suffered a fatal sewing accident. Sable inherited the store and also takes care of her younger sister Mabel.

Designs:

Let’s talk about Designs! after unlocking the Able Sisters clothing store in New Horizons you’ll have access to the design kiosk which can be accessed via the Able Sisters store. Designs are player-created patterns that allow the player to create customizable objects that best suit their needs in the game. This can be clothing, headgear, umbrellas, paintings, wallpaper, flooring, and outside paths and landscaping.

PRO Designs:

A PRO design is considered to be a more advanced design. Unlike regular designs, the PRO designs have the pattern on the reverse and obverse on the clothing which means the player can customize the front, back, and each sleeve. PRO designs take up one pattern slot and just like normal patterns can be displayed and used through the Able Sisters store.

Sharing Designs:

When the player first uses the Custom Designs Kiosk in the back of the Able Sisters store once the store is unlocked. They’re assigned a creator code, which can be shared and used by other players to find all of the code owner’s designs. Individual designs are also assigned a unique code when posted. Using this feature requires you to have an active Nintendo Online subscription which is one of the cheapest subscriptions I’ve ever paid for a video game console subscription to use multiplayer features in games. Highly recommend buying if you haven’t already.

Currently from what I’m aware of these are all of the shops you unlock early in the game. I’m sure there are more but as I continue to play I’ll continue to update this post for everyone to keep the data relevant.

Crafting:

In New Horizons they’ve introduced a new game-specific modification. Crafting! this is so different, new, and yet exciting for an Animal Crossing game and this is the first time something like this has ever been seen in the franchise. Crafting in the game can be used to make tools, furniture, and other various items in the game. Crafting is done through DIY Recipes. Your island has a huge flow of natural resources to craft with that can be used to make tools consistently. Trust me you’ll be crafting tools way more than anything else. In this game, your tools get worn out a break after a while of use except for the vaulting pole that has yet to break for me since I’ve made it. This is a nice sense of false security since all of my other tools break consistently. Below are the steps for crafting as explained by the official Animal Crossing New Horizons website.

Lean DIY Recipes: Learn recipes as you go about your day and participate in island activities to obtain them. One way I’ve obtained them through my island is they wash up in little jars with a message. You can get once a day by this.

Gather Materials: The island is abundant in resources such as tree branches, stones, and even weeds.

Visit Tom Nook’s Workbench: With the right materials you need to complete a recipe you just bring them to the workbench click the item you want to make and you’re on your merry way.

And you saw it here folks! it’s as easy as 1,2,3 it’s not super complicated and gives you something to do if you start getting bored in the game. You can obtain crafting resources on Mystery Island Tours as well so clear out those islands of their resources and stock them away for a rainy day.

Overall Conclusion:

Overall, Animal Crossing New Horizons brings to the table something for everyone to enjoy. From crafting, to decorating, relaxing, and talking to your friendly neighborhood animals it’s hard to get bored on the island unless you have completed everything in the one full cycle of a day on your game. Gathering resources takes me about 3 hours to get wood and branches from all of the trees. That’s just one round of shaking trees for branches I’ve notices on my own that the branches respawn so if you wanted you could do that all day long. The crafting is a nice change and adds some challenge to the game. Also, being able to decorate and place items anywhere you please on your island is so. nice when it comes to customization it almost turns this game into an open world creative sandbox. This is something I love in my experience playing. Do I think it’s worth it in my personal opinion? yes and no I think it’s worth trying out and you get a lot of hours of gameplay per day. However, the reason I say no is because based on an opinion if your not someone into a go with the flow not following a full storyline game and want more of an up paced environment this probably won’t be the game for you. If you’re looking for something relaxing that’s a great time waster go for it!