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jedi-anakin · 4 years ago

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2020 – what happened so far

(it’s impossible to include all, but I try my best)

January

January 1 – Palau became the first country to ban sun creams containing ingredients that are harmful to coral and marine life.

January 2 – The government of New South Wales, Australia, declares a state of emergency whilst the government of Victoria, Australia declares a state of disaster amid large bushfires that have killed as many as 500 million animals.

January 3 – A US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

January 5 – Iran pulls out of the 2015 nuclear deal, will not limit its uranium enrichment.

January 7 – 56 people are reported killed and over 200 injured in a crush at the funeral of general Qasem Soleimani in the city of Kerman, Iran.

January 7 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico, island's largest in a century, kill 1 person and destroy 800 homes.

January 8 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by Iran's armed forces shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport, killing all 176 people on board.

January 8 – Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they are stepping back as "senior" royals, will work towards becoming financially independent.

January 16 – The impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, begins in the US Senate.

January 26 – Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant dies in a helicopter crash.

January 30 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the outbreak of the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

January 31 – The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the European Union at 11PM (GMT), beginning an 11-month transition period.

January 2020 was the hottest January in recorded history according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

February

February 3 – Cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3711 passengers quarantined in Yokohama port, Japan after cases of coronavirus found on board.

February 5 – The US Senate acquits US president Donald Trump on articles of impeachment.

February 8 – 20 people dies in a mall shooting in Thailand.

February 9 – Deaths from the Coronavirus overtake those of Sars (2003) with 813 deaths worldwide.

February 10 – More than 30 bushfires put out by heaviest rainfall for 30 years in New South Wales, Australia, helping end one of the worst bushfire seasons ever, 46 million acres burnt, over 1 billion animals killed, 34 people dead.

February 11 – Snow falls in Baghdad, Iraq, for only the second time in a century.

February 23 – First major coronavirus outbreak in Europe in Italy with 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures, locking down 10 towns in Lombardy.

February 23 – China's Supreme Leader Xi Jinping describes the country's coronavirus outbreak as the China's largest health emergency since 1949.

February 24 – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape and a criminal sexual act.

February 29 – Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to make all public transport in the country (buses, trams, and trains) free to use.

February 29 – A conditional peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

March

March 8 – Italy places 16 million people in quarantine, more than a quarter of its population, in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. A day later, the quarantine is expanded to cover the entire country, becoming the first country to apply this measure nationwide.

March 9 – International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the impact of COVID-19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point. Oil prices also plunge by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since 1991.

March 11 – The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic with 121,564 cases worldwide and 4,373 deaths.

March 11 – Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for a criminal sex act and rape in New York.

March 12 – Global stock markets crash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average goes into free fall, closing at over −2,300 points, the worst losses for the index since 1987.

March 13 – The government of Nepal announces that Mount Everest will be closed to climbers and the public for the rest of the season due to concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.

March 14 – Spain goes into lockdown after COVID-19 cases in the country surge.

March 16 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93 percent, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929).

March 17 – European leaders close the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 17 – The island of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, is placed under the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

March 18 – The European Broadcasting Union announces that the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be cancelled due to COVID-19 in Europe, the first cancellation in the contest's 64-year history.

March 20 – The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 10,000 as the total number of cases reaches a quarter of a million.

March 20 – Smoke from Australian bushfires killed more people than the fires - 417 vs 33 according to new study published in "Medical Journal of Australia."

March 22 – A prison riot in Colombia, which was sparked by coronavirus fears, left 23 inmates dead and another 83 injured.

March 24 – Indian PM Narendra Modi orders a 21 day lockdown for world's second most populous country of 1.3 billion people.

March 26 – Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed. American cases exceed all other countries, with 81,578 cases and 1,180 deaths.

March 28 – North Korea launched an unidentified projectile off the coast of Japan. This is the sixth launch in the last month.

March 30 – The price of Brent Crude Oil falls 9% to $23 per barrel, the lowest level since November 2002.

March 30 – The International Olympic Committee and Japan suspend the 2020 Summer Olympics and are rescheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021.

April

April 2 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 1 million worldwide.

April 5 – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to hospital suffering from coronavirus COVID-19.

April 7 – Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, and finalises a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (US$990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's GDP.

April 10 – The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 globally.

April 14 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects the world economy to shrink 3%, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

April 14 – US President Donald Trump freezes funding for the World Health Organization pending a review, for mistakes in handling the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and for being "China-centric", prompting international criticism.

April 15 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 2 million worldwide.

April 16 – 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in 4 weeks (5.2 million in the last week), wiping out 9 1/2 years of job gains.

April 20 – Oil prices reach a record low.

April 25 – The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 200,000.

April 27 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 3 million worldwide.

April 28 – US Department of Defense releases three declassified videos of possible UFOs from 2004 and 2015.

April 30 – British Captain Tom Moore, who raised more £30 million for the National Health Service walking in his garden, turns 100 and made an honorary colonel by the Queen.

May

May 5 – The UK death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe.

May 6 – Irish organisation repays a 170 year old favor, raising over $2 million (to date) for US Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation badly affected by coronavirus. In 1840s Choctaw Nation sent $170 to aid Irish potato famine.

May 6 – Hungary has become the first EU member state to lose their democractic status according to the NGO Freedom House.

May 10 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 4 million worldwide.

May 12 – Gunmen storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies, in Dashte Barchi, a majority-Shia neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.

May 13 – Every African country now has cases of coronavirus COVID-19.

May 14 – The UN warns of a global mental health crisis caused by isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil.

May 16 – 118-year old American department store JC Penney files for bankruptcy.

May 19 – Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when world was in lockdown, in study published in "Nature Climate Change."

May 19 – Two dams on Tittabawassee River in central Michigan breached by floodwaters, forcing evacuation of thousands of residents.

May 21 – Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean.

May 26 – George Floyd, an African-American man dies after he was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds despite he was pleading for breath.

May 26 – Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

May 26 – Twitter adds warning labels to warn about inaccuracies in US President Donald Trump's tweets for the first time.

May 26 – After a recording by a bystander about the arrest of George Floyd went viral the four officers who were present were fired. The same day a demonstrations and protests took place in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.

May 27 – The Chinese National People's Congress votes in favour of national security legislation that prevents subversion, terrorism, separatism and foreign interference in Hong Kong.

May 27 – Spain begins 10 days of mourning for victims of COVID-19.

May 28 – The United States Department of Justice released a joint statement with the FBI, saying they had made the investigation into George Floyd's death "a top priority".

May 29 – Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, becoming the first white officer in Minnesota to be charged for the death of a black civilian.

May 30 – The first crewed flight of the Dragon 2 is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first manned spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil since 2011. The next day the spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS).

May 31 – Since May 26 over a 100 city in all 50 states in the US was held supporting those seeking justice for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and speaking out against police brutality.

May 31 – The hacktivist group Anonymous released a video after remaining silent for 3 years demanding justice for George Floyd.

May 31 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 6 million worldwide.

#2020 #covid19 #coronavirus #black lives matter #politics #history #protest #economy #justice #environment #long post #very long post #text post #I hope some of yall will find something you didn't know of #(I did)#also stay safe and healty!

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rwood2477 · 4 years ago

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Dude has been in office for 3 years.... what has he done? Other than dodging the darts the media and Pelosi have thrown?!?

what has PRESIDENT TRUMP and his cabinet accomplished.....

Here you go.

* Trump recently signed 3 bills to benefit Native people. One gives compensation to the Spokane tribe for loss of their lands in the mid-1900s, one funds Native language programs, and the third gives federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana.

* Trump finalized the creation of Space Force as our 6th Military branch.

* Trump signed a law to make cruelty to animals a federal felony so that animal abusers face tougher consequences.👀👀

* Violent crime has fallen every year he’s been in office after rising during the 2 years before he was elected.

* Trump signed a bill making CBD and Hemp legal.👀👀

* Trump’s EPA gave $100 million to fix the water infrastructure problem in Flint, Michigan.

* Under Trump’s leadership, in 2018 the U.S. surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil.

* Trump signed a law ending the gag orders on Pharmacists that prevented them from sharing money-saving information.

* Trump signed the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” (FOSTA), which includes the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” (SESTA) which both give law enforcement and victims new tools to fight sex trafficking.👀👀

* Trump signed a bill to require airports to provide spaces for breastfeeding Moms.

* The 25% lowest-paid Americans enjoyed a 4.5% income boost in November 2019, which outpaces a 2.9% gain in earnings for the country's highest-paid workers.

* Low-wage workers are benefiting from higher minimum wages and from corporations that are increasing entry-level pay.

* Trump signed the biggest wilderness protection & conservation bill in a decade and designated 375,000 acres as protected land.

* Trump signed the Save our Seas Act which funds $10 million per year to clean tons of plastic & garbage from the ocean.👀👀

* He signed a bill this year allowing some drug imports from Canada so that prescription prices would go down.

* Trump signed an executive order this year that forces all healthcare providers to disclose the cost of their services so that Americans can comparison shop and know how much less providers charge insurance companies.

* When signing that bill he said no American should be blindsided by bills for medical services they never agreed to in advance.

* Hospitals will now be required to post their standard charges for services, which include the discounted price a hospital is willing to accept.

* In the eight years prior to President Trump’s inauguration, prescription drug prices increased by an average of 3.6% per year. Under Trump, drug prices have seen year-over-year declines in nine of the last ten months, with a 1.1% drop as of the most recent month.

* He created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.👀👀

* VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.

* Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.

* Because of a bill signed and championed by Trump, In 2020, most federal employees will see their pay increase by an average of 3.1% — the largest raise in more than 10 years.

* Trump signed into a law up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for millions of federal workers.

* Trump administration will provide HIV prevention drugs for free to 200,000 uninsured patients per year for 11 years.👀👀

* All-time record sales during the 2019 holidays.

* Trump signed an order allowing small businesses to group together when buying insurance to get a better price👀👀

* President Trump signed the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act that provides funding for states to develop maternal mortality reviews to better understand maternal complications and identify solutions & largely focuses on reducing the higher mortality rates for Black Americans.

* In 2018, President Trump signed the groundbreaking First Step Act, a criminal justice bill which enacted reforms that make our justice system fairer and help former inmates successfully return to society.

* The First Step Act’s reforms addressed inequities in sentencing laws that disproportionately harmed Black Americans and reformed mandatory minimums that created unfair outcomes.👀👀

* The First Step Act expanded judicial discretion in sentencing of non-violent crimes.

* Over 90% of those benefitting from the retroactive sentencing reductions in the First Step Act are Black Americans.

* The First Step Act provides rehabilitative programs to inmates, helping them successfully rejoin society and not return to crime.

* Trump increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by more than 14%.👀👀

* Trump signed legislation forgiving Hurricane Katrina debt that threatened HBCUs.

* New single-family home sales are up 31.6% in October 2019 compared to just one year ago.

* Made HBCUs a priority by creating the position of executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs.

* Trump received the Bipartisan Justice Award at a historically black college for his criminal justice reform accomplishments.

* The poverty rate fell to a 17-year low of 11.8% under the Trump administration as a result of a jobs-rich environment.👀👀

* Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels since the U.S. began collecting such data.

* President Trump signed a bill that creates five national monuments, expands several national parks, adds 1.3 million acres of wilderness, and permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

* Trump’s USDA committed $124 Million to rebuild rural water infrastructure.👀👀

* Consumer confidence & small business confidence is at an all time high.

* More than 7 million jobs created since election.

* More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history.

* More than 400,000 manufacturing jobs created since his election.

* Trump appointed 5 openly gay ambassadors.👀👀

* Trump ordered Ric Grenell, his openly gay ambassador to Germany, to lead a global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe.

* Through Trump’s Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) initiative, Federal law enforcement more than doubled convictions of human traffickers and increased the number of defendants charged by 75% in ACTeam districts.

* In 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismantled an organization that was the internet’s leading source of prostitution-related advertisements resulting in sex trafficking.

* Trump’s OMB published new anti-trafficking guidance for government procurement officials to more effectively combat human trafficking.

* Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations arrested 1,588 criminals associated with Human Trafficking.

* Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services provided funding to support the National Human Trafficking Hotline to identify perpetrators and give victims the help they need.

* The hotline identified 16,862 potential human trafficking cases.

* Trump’s DOJ provided grants to organizations that support human trafficking victims – serving nearly 9,000 cases from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018.👀👀

* The Department of Homeland Security has hired more victim assistance specialists, helping victims get resources and support.

* President Trump has called on Congress to pass school choice legislation so that no child is trapped in a failing school because of his or her zip code.👀👀

* The President signed funding legislation in September 2018 that increased funding for school choice by $42 million.

* The tax cuts signed into law by President Trump promote school choice by allowing families to use 529 college savings plans for elementary and secondary education.👀👀

* Under his leadership ISIS has lost most of their territory and been largely dismantled.

* ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed.

* Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.

* Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.

* Trump issued an Executive Order prohibiting the U.S. government from discriminating against Christians or punishing expressions of faith.

* Signed an executive order that allows the government to withhold money from college campuses deemed to be anti-Semitic and who fail to combat anti-Semitism.

* President Trump ordered a halt to U.S. tax money going to international organizations that fund or perform abortions.

* Trump imposed sanctions on the socialists in Venezuela who have killed their citizens.

* Finalized new trade agreement with South Korea.

* Made a deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.👀👀

* Withdrew the U.S. from the job killing TPP deal.

* Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.

* Okay’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.👀👀

* Has had over a dozen US hostages freed, including those Obama could not get freed.

* Trump signed the Music Modernization Act, the biggest change to copyright law in decades.

* Trump secured Billions that will fund the building of a wall at our southern border.

* The Trump Administration is promoting second chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment.

* Trump’s DOJ and the Board Of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work Initiative” to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.👀👀

* President Trump’s historic tax cut legislation included new Opportunity Zone Incentives to promote investment in low-income communities across the country.

* 8,764 communities across the country have been designated as Opportunity Zones.

* Opportunity Zones are expected to spur $100 billion in long-term private capital investment in economically distressed communities across the country.

* Trump directed the Education Secretary to end Common Core.👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

* Trump signed the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund into law.

* Trump signed measure funding prevention programs for Veteran suicide.👀👀

* Companies have brought back over a TRILLION dollars from overseas because of the TCJA bill that Trump signed.

* Manufacturing jobs are growing at the fastest rate in more than 30 years.

* Stock Market has reached record highs.

* Median household income has hit highest level ever recorded.

* African-American unemployment is at an all time low.

* Hispanic-American unemployment is at an all time low.

* Asian-American unemployment is at an all time low.

* Women’s unemployment rate is at a 65-year low.

* Youth unemployment is at a 50-year low.

* We have the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded.

* The Pledge to America’s Workers has resulted in employers committing to train more than 4 million Americans.

* 95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future— the highest ever.

* As a result of the Republican tax bill, small businesses will have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years.👀👀

* Record number of regulations eliminated that hurt small businesses.

* Signed welfare reform requiring able-bodied adults who don’t have children to work or look for work if they’re on welfare.🙌🙌

* Under Trump, the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history.

* Reformed Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs—saving seniors 100’s of millions of $$$ this year alone.👀👀

* Signed Right-To-Try legislation allowing terminally ill patients to try experimental treatment that wasn’t allowed before.

* Secured $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.❤️❤️

* Signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.👀👀

* U.S. oil production recently reached all-time high so we are less dependent on oil from the Middle East.

* The U.S. is a net natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957.

* NATO allies increased their defense spending because of his pressure campaign.

* Withdrew the United States from the job-killing Paris Climate Accord in 2017 and that same year the U.S. still led the world by having the largest reduction in Carbon emissions.👀👀

* Has his circuit court judge nominees being confirmed faster than any other new administration.

* Had his Supreme Court Justice’s Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh confirmed.

* Moved U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.👀👀

* Agreed to a new trade deal with Mexico & Canada that will increase jobs here and $$$ coming in.

* Reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports.

* Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices, has agreed to a Part One trade deal with China.

* Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.👀👀

* Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.

* The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by Trump doubled the maximum amount of the child tax credit available to parents and lifted the income limits so more people could claim it.

* It also created a new tax credit for other dependents.

* In 2018, President Trump signed into law a $2.4 billion funding increase for the Child Care and Development Fund, providing a total of $8.1 billion to States to fund child care for low-income families.

* The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) signed into law by Trump provides a tax credit equal to 20-35% of child care expenses, $3,000 per child & $6,000 per family + Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) allow you to set aside up to $5,000 in pre-tax $ to use for child care.

* In 2019 President Donald Trump signed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act (CARES) into law which allocates $1.8 billion in funding over the next five years to help people with autism spectrum disorder and to help their families.👀👀

* In 2019 President Trump signed into law two funding packages providing nearly $19 million in new funding for Lupus specific research and education programs, as well an additional $41.7 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the most Lupus funding EVER.

* Another upcoming accomplishment to add: In the next week or two Trump will be signing the first major anti-robocall law in decades called the TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence.) Once it’s thelaw, the TRACED Act will extend the period of time the FCC has to catch & punish those who intentionally break telemarketing restrictions. The bill also requires voice service providers to develop a framework to verify calls are legitimate before they reach your phone.

* US stock market continually hits all-time record highs.

* Because so many people asked for a document with all of this listed in one place, here it is. No links provided to remove bias as Google search is easy. Print this out for family, friends, neighbors, etc. I encourage you to drop this list off to voters before the 2020 election too!

*Trump did all of this while fighting flagrant abuse and impeachment charges.

——-please explain to me why you have a problem with OUR president? Because he has misspoke a few times? Tell me when you find a perfect person, please....I’ll wait! I’ll tell you why, because the media has skewed him in such a negative light and unfairly report his accomplishments to undermined those achievements! Why? Because the media is complicit in every single thing this man is trying to undo! Start thinking for yourself!

🇺🇸WWG1WGA🇺🇸

🇺🇸🇺🇸Are you tired of winning yet?🇺🇸🇺🇸

❤️SHARE THIS❤️

#kag #democratsareevil #democratshateamerica

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darker-soft-starker · 4 years ago

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Starker High School AU, Pt.1 (Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4, Pt.5)

tw: enemies-to-lovers, swearing, mentions of fighting

----

Peter’s day started like most others.

The nearby screech of his alarm startles him into the waking world. Without opening his eyes, he fumbles against his bedside table to grab his phone, smacking himself in the face in his haste to silence it.

It’s always a Herculean effort to get up before the sun does, and today is no different. Squinting against the grey morning light, Peter contemplates simply closing his eyes and going back to sleep. The thought is tempting, the pull of sleep still in his limbs.

Instead, he resigns himself to the day and slips out of bed, reaching for his glasses and propping them on his face.

Through finger-smudged lenses his phone say’s five-thirty-four, which in itself is an affront, but he’s comforted that it’s a Friday and respite isn’t far off. This weekend will be spent sleeping, playing video games and eating cinnamon poptarts until he succumbs to a blissful food coma.

He can’t freakin’ wait.

Hearing his aunt rouse the room over, Peter gathers his clothes and hurries to the shower. The November chill bites as his bare feet touch the floor and he shivers, cursing the lack of heating in his apartment. It’s positively freezing.

The hot water is nice while he showers, but it’s much worse when he gets out, still wet as he tiptoes back to his bedroom. Fruitlessly, he bangs the old iron radiator in the hall with his fist as he passes it, because it does little more than encourage a groan from the ancient equipment.

Back in his bedroom, Peter hums as slips on his sweats and sneakers and readies himself for the day against the tune of an awakening neighborhood, spraying himself with probably too much deodorant in the process.

Finished, Peter puts his glasses back on and in the window he inspects his reflection. He smiles.

It’s Friday.

It’s gonna be a great day.

----

To no-ones shock but his own, his affirmation was proving true.

So far, Peter actually was having a great day.

Because it was late November but the sun was shining so splendidly that it quickly froze the frost from the windows. A small miracle occurred when he found a scrunched twenty dollar note stashed in the pocket of his jacket - and with it he treated himself up a packet of Lays, a red bull and a sandwich from Delmars

And for once, he wasn’t late to training.

For the early hour that he arrives, the school is near empty, save for the male locker room which is slowly teeming with a slow drip of weary-eyed boys. Yawning, Peter dumps his backpack and retrieves his mouthguard, sharing commiserative glances with his zombie-eyed teammates. It’s truly an ungodly hour to be at school.

But, despite his drowsiness, Peter doesn’t mind the early mornings so much, probably more accustomed to it than the rest. It sucks, but he’s happy to get the training out of the way -- it makes time for after school priorities like Robotics and chess club.

He slaps Barnes’ on the back when they file out, jogging to get ahead. Like his heater, his friend groans in response.

Coach Danvers is already there when they arrive, her arms crossed over her chest. Peter approaches the field with a growing sense of weariness, augmented by the flat line her mouth forms as they near.

Once the team is assembled, Coach clears her throat loudly for their attention.

“Look alive, boys,” she raises her voice. “Good morning. I’d like you to welcome back Wilson and Rogers, who, as you may recall, were suspended from training for three weeks.”

Suspended completely from school grounds was more accurate, Peter thinks, clapping along as cheers erupt around him, the remarks are met with fervent enthusiasm for their return. Someone whistles and he looks to the source, spotting the two boys in question in receipt of fist-bumps and back-slaps from the team.

Rogers and Wilson rarely did anything in isolation of one another. They were attached at the hip. It was probably the reason that they were both involved in a fist-fight with a couple of other juniors a few weeks prior.

Peter’s happy to see them back. They’re great guys, have always been good to him. And whilst he steadfastly abhors needless violence, Peter finds himself in a grey area to judge the circumstances. He wasn’t there, doesn’t know what the fight was about. What he does know is that they were both damn lucky they weren’t kicked off the team.

It’s probably because the board knows they wouldn’t win another game without them.

Lucky for the team.

“Enough,” Coach snaps. “We play Kingston next week, six days! You look like you want to play hopscotch instead of football. Do you want to play hopscotch?”

“No, coach,” the team settles, echoing in unison. Danvers slowly circles the group, eyeing each of them down as they fall into line. Peter keeps his gaze fixed to the goal posts on the near horizon to avoid her furious gaze.

“Doesn’t look like it. Are you sure?”

“Yes, coach!”

“Well, color me shocked. Maybe you want to hold hands and paint each others fingernails? Well, guess what, boys - I do not care what you want. What I want -- and what you should want -- is to not give Principal Fury a reason why we’ve lost another match. So you,” she points at Rogers, “and all of you juvenile delinquents,” she gestures to the crowd, “keep the violence to the field. Am I clear?”

“Yes, coach!”

“Great,” she brings her whistle to her mouth. “Gassers until I say stop or until you pass out, starting now. Move!”

Her whistle sounds sharply and, at faced with the fury of her stare, the team scatters across the field.

No one more so than Peter, who flees to the hard edge of the field at her command and commences running, feeling every chomp of the frigid, late fall air in his chest.

Coach Danvers was a hardass. But if anyone could convince Fury to not kick two of their best players off the team, it was her.

Peter had well well and truly worked up a sweat by the time the whistle was blown again and the team was split into three to run drills.

He was wishing he hadn’t eaten the whole sandwich from earlier when Quill rams his shoulder into his stomach for the third time, bile rising in his throat. He powers through it but by the time coach blows her whistle again to switch to the next drill, he’s feeling green, sunburnt and sweaty.

Which wouldn’t be so bad, if a small crowd of students hadn’t rocked up early, relaxing on the bleachers to watch the training.

Amongst them were a group of juniors who were smoking and laughing to themselves. They gave Peter the finger when he ran past, but he ignored them.

“You suck, Parker!”

The colour commentary from this particular group wasn’t uncommon, but Peter didn’t care. He’d heard worse from Flash in middle school -- and they were good friends now.

Not that Peter wasn’t paying attention. Because also perched upon the steps was a group of seniors, specifically, a fair-haired boy that made Peter’s heart do funny things in his chest.

As Peter ran his laps, the aforementioned boy descended the stairs. He leans across the fencing separating the seats and the field and smiles at Peter when he looks over.

Peter would blush, were his face not already pink with exertion.

The boy’s name is Thor.

Well, that’s what his friends call him. Peter isn’t actually sure of his full name but he does know that Thor is a senior and an exchange student from somewhere in Europe.

Thor started at their school in September, qualified immediately for their varsity team and is a super sweet guy.

His locker gets stuck sometimes. It just takes elbow grease, but once, Thor noticed him struggling to open it and didn’t hesitate to hurry over to help. He had it opened in a matter of seconds and had smiled just like he did now. Peter has been smitten ever since.

Any lingering doubts he’d had over the summer regarding his bisexuality were swiftly and resolutely confirmed as soon as he saw the older boy striding down the halls, a head taller than anyone else, smile a mile wide, accent like liquid gold.

He’s just so pretty. And nice.

Feeling Thor’s eyes on him, self-consciousness creeps over Peter as he continues his laps. But he channels it, using the opportunity to prove himself, maybe impress the other boy, running faster despite the burn in his lungs and thighs.

Come on, Parker, keep going.

He looks over again. Every time he does Thor is looking at him - at Peter - and maybe it really is his lucky day. He keeps pushing himself to go faster, harder until his heart is throbbing in his ears. The next time he looks over though, Thor is lifting his sweater over his head.

The action makes his undershirt ride up, revealing a tantalising strip of bare, hard skin.

Peter trips, hitting the ground hard.

Motherfuck.

There is immediate, raucous laughter by the bleachers as he groans and picks himself up, body protesting. He spits out grass on the ground, dazedly noticing the smoking kids, Stark and Rhodes, clapping at Peter’s performance.

Setting back into a jog as his face flames, Peter refuses to look over again to see if Thor noticed.

That would be just his luck.

----

By first period a deep, purple bruise is blooming on his chin and knees. There’s a graze on his cheek from the fall and his jaw feels like it did when he first got braces in fifth grade, stiff as hell and sensitive to the touch.

Shuri laughs at him when he sits beside her.

“That bad?” Peter asks, flinching when she takes his jaw in hand to inspect the damage.

“It’s not like you can get any uglier,” she remarks, turning his head from side to side. “It’s fine, just maybe don’t smile at small children. What happened -- did you try to rescue another old woman?”

“No,” he sighs, pulling back, embarrassed. “I fell at training this morning and ate dirt. I got distracted.”

“That’s a first.”

His cheeks heat.

“Yeah, well.” He leans in closer to whisper, eyes darting around the room. “Thor was there. He said hi to me.”

“That’s it? He said hi?”

“Well, kinda. He smiled at me. Like, he looked directly at me and bam, blinded by the light. And then he did this thing with his shirt --”

Shuri’s eyes go wide but whatever she has to say is curbed by the arrival of their teacher. She pulls out her notebook and points at him with her pen. “New low,” she whispers. “What the fuck, PP.”

Peter shrugs.

Her disdain is evident and Peter can’t help but smile, even as it pulls his injuries.

His fortune again turns, receiving top marks for the last assignment and his teacher wasn’t even that mad when he was caught texting during class. Maybe it was the split lip or the sorry state of his nose that inspired pity from the faculty, but he wasn’t about to test his luck.

He clearly wasn’t going to get through to college through his prowess at football, so he pockets his phone, apologises sheepishly and sticks his head into his books.

Maybe he replays the moment in his head as he takes notes, filled with equal measures of shame and giddiness.

At least May would be satisfied that his glasses were preserved from damage and wouldn’t have to buy a new pair.

By the time class ends, his face is well and truly throbbing. He winces when he yawns, prompting Shuri to roll her eyes at him as they head into the halls.

“You’re so embarrassing,” she says, knocking their hips together as they weave through students on their way to the bio labs.

“Pity me. I’m wounded.”

“Oh I pity you alright,” she says distractedly, nodding to the far end of the hall. “Hey, look. Stark and Rhodes are back from suspension.”

Peter looks over.

Stark is talking to some girl, leaning against the lockers while Rhodes tries to pull him away, presumably towards their next class.

Peter shakes his head, recalling their antics that morning. “Yeah, I noticed. Stark should have been expelled. He started that fight.”

“Uhh, don’t even. Rogers threw the first punch,” Shuri reasons, waving to both boys as they pass.

“Semantics.”

“That’s a big boy word.”

“I’m a big boy.”

Shuri pokes his grazed cheek.

“Sure you are.”

----

The next few periods passed without a hitch.

But the best part of all came during lunch.

It was Mac’n’Cheese day. The best day of the week -- well, the only day of the week that Peter can afford cafeteria food, if he was honest, but he sure made it count.

Fortuitously, MJ had gotten there early enough to secure their group a table together and the lunchlady that was sweet on Peter had given him an extra scoop of the gooey pasta, to his delight. Maybe it really was his lucky day, he thinks, taking a spot at the table.

That would be a first.

He’d been riding on the high of his morning, gracelessly shovelling the cheesy goodness into his gullet when it happened.

“Don’t look now,” Natasha says to his left. “Wonderboy is coming through.”

Peter looks up at the exact moment Thor strides past their table, catching his eye.

The other boy grins roguishly at him. His teeth are so white.

“Hey there, Pete,” he waves, nodding to the rest of the table and moving on

“H-Hey, Thor,” he swallow roughly, waving back. “H-Hows it going?”

Thor already having moved on, doesn’t respond, and for the butterflies beating against his stomach, Peter doesn’t even care. He smiles down at his pasta, heart racing a mile a minute. Wow.

“Hey, Thor,” Shuri imitates him.

Peter swallows, ignoring her, cheeks going pink. “He knows my name. Oh my god. He knows my name.”

“Who cares, the whole school knows your name,” MJ says, without looking up from her textbook.

Shuri points her fork at her in agreement. “Yes. Thor’s a meathead. You can do better.”

“No he can’t,” Ned disagrees. "Have you seen that guy? His biceps are like bowling balls.”

Bucky parks himself between Steve and Natasha, throwing an arm around them both. He puts on a high voice, fluttering his eyelashes. “Who, Thor? I heard he’s a model for Burberry.”

“I heard he does Adidas commercials in Norway,” Natasha adds.

“And he’s quarterback of the varsity team,” Flash finishes.

MJ blinks.

“And?”

“He’s got a four-point-oh,” Peter says dreamily.

He stops paying attention, eyes going unfocused as he imagines their next interaction. Maybe Thor will ask him out, god willing. He imagines Thor and himself graduating as Valedictorians in their respective years, throwing their caps high into the sky and embracing. Their classmates will clap as they kiss. Maybe they’ll then spend the summer in Thor’s hometown, wherever that is. Peter doesn’t know, but maybe it has rolling green hills, cute cobblestone roads and snow-capped mountains, maybe they’ll go on horse rides and picnics where Thor will surprise Peter and propose and --

Someone snorts behind Peter, shattering the illusion.

Peter turns in his chair to find one Tony Stark grinning wickedly, apparently eavesdropping.

“What,” he prompts, frowning when that elicits a wider smile from the other boy, his dark and unkempt hair falling across his forehead in front of his eyes.

“Nothin’,” Tony tucks his wayward strands behind his ear. “I mean, well. Just that you said he’s got a four-point-oh.”

“And?”

Tony shrugs. He holds his pinkie up to his face and wriggles it.

“And I dunno, Parker. Gotta say; You seen him in the showers? Four is a little generous, don’t you think? More like three.”

Peter stares.

Tony tilts his head, conceding.

“O-kay, three and a half.”

Peter rolls his eyes. This guy is freaking bent.

“Well, that’s three and a half more that he’s got on you, Stark. Mind your own business.” he turns back around to the table. MJ, across from him, has her lips pursed in an attempt to hide her smile.

“S’gotta be the steroids,” is what he hears Tony say to his friends before they start to snicker. “Seriously -- you seen that guys’ balls? No? Neither have I. Not for a lack of trying.”

Peter ignores him.

Tony Stark is prickly. A smartass, although he’s rarely antagonistic -- unless it’s towards Peter and his team mates, of course.

Peter doesn’t really get why. It doesn’t serve him to spend longer moments of musings on someone who clearly hates him, but thinks Steve and Tony used to be friends before falling out at some point, way before Peter came to the high school and joined the JV team.

Like he does with everyone, Peter had tried to befriend Tony at first, but it quickly became clear that the other boy had no interest in making nice, sneering at every pleasantry and effort. Before long, Peter’s extended hand of friendship became a clenched fist.

Rhodes and Potts, his friends, seem to be reasonable. Cordial that borders on unfriendly, sure, but reasonable.

Tony, however, seems to get a kick out of the perpetual disharmony.

Whatever, Peter scoops up the last of his pasta, chewing it with a pleased sigh. It doesn’t matter. Propping his chin on his hand, he replays the exchange with Thor over again in his mind, heart racing all over again.

This is the best day ever.

Not even Tony Stark can bring him down today.

-----

Peter Parker wouldn’t consider himself a religious person or a believer in a higher power. He was scientific, clinical. Rarely did he attribute his fortunes -- or misfortunes as it were -- to anything other than deterministic chaos.

But there was something called Parker Luck, as his Aunt called it. Whilst evidence of it was purely anecdotal, it was a theory Peter believed in whole heartedly.

He might not have hard proof, but all the trends in his life end in the same answer.

Parker Luck. It’s a thing.

----

Fortune, momentarily swings his way again during History.

Mr Jacobs, their regular teacher with a stiff upper-lip, is off sick and the sub lets them have an independent study period, which is code for doing fuck all.

He doesn’t have any friends in this class so he utilises the time finishing his math homework and doodling in his notebook. If he draws a few hearts with his own initials and those of a certain exchange student, then, well, that’s his business.

By the time he’s in Economics, his final class of the day, Peter is feeling pretty damn good.

He takes his usual seat in the back row next to Natasha, dropping his books on the table with a thud. The noise awakens Jake, the stoner guy, who sits on his other side. Peter offers him a smile as he takes his seat.

This should be good.

While Economics holds no special place in his heart, Miss Ahn is by far his favorite teacher. She’s young, late twenties, Peter thinks, and is one of the more approachable teachers in the faculty. She worked for some big deal accounting firm before she found her calling in teaching and has always been good to Peter.

She watches the kids as they file in and smiles at them as they take their seats. In her hand she’s holding a Met’s cap (another reason for Peter to adore her) which, upon inspection, to be full of folded pieces of paper.

When she has the attention of the room she greets the class and takes attendance. Curiously, nothing is said about the hat afterwards as she walks around the room, offering the hat to each student and allowing them to withdraw a single piece of paper.

Bewildered, Peter watches his peers and their increasing confusion as they open their pieces until it’s his turn.

He takes one out of her hat and opens it with uncertainly.

He unfolds it. It reads: middle-school art teacher.

Peter frowns.

He peers over to Natasha, whose expression mirrors his own.

“Great, that’s everyone!” Miss Ahn nods and returns to the front of the room to lean back on her desk. A slow smile spreads on her face and Peter, for the first time in her classroom, feels dread creep up his spine.

“So,” she claps, “building on our discussion last week we were talking microeconomics versus macroeconomics, I mentioned an assignment. Who remembers?”

The class collectively groans.

“I know, I know, it’s a hard knock life. But, it’s not going to be that bad, i promise. You might find it fun. Mr Barnes, what does yours say?”

In front of Peter’s desk, he watches Bucky unfold his paper, pausing.

“...Personal trainer?”

“Great. And yours, Mr Wilson?”

In the second row, Sam frowns at his paper. “Therapist.”

Miss Ahn seems pleased, pointing at the two.

“Congrats, you two are partners for the next week. You’re married, you have no children. But you holiday twice a year and have a mortgage.”

“I’m sorry,” Barnes glances between Wilson and their teacher. “We what?”

She addresses the class as a whole.

“You two, as you all are once you are partnered, are to prepare an annual budget for your fictional household. This is the microeconomics portion of the assignment.”

“Are you saying I’m fake-married to this clown?” Sam gestures with his thumb, displeasure written all over his face.

Peter snorts as their teacher nods.

“Right! Just for two weeks. I expect your budgets to be detailed, okay? I strongly recommend extensive research into the respective fields you are assigned. Average salary, student loan forecast, the works. Figure out how much you owe and how much you earn. Rent! Bills! This is worth 40% of your semester grade. Do you love it?”

Peter looks back down at his paper, reading it again. The trepidation from earlier comes back as a pit in his stomach.

"Miss Potts, how about your paper?”

The girl grimaces.

“Divorce lawyer.”

“Great. And Mr Rhodes?”

“Colonel,” he reads, tilting his head as he considers his paper. “Cool.”

“Awesome. You two are estranged sweethearts, supporting three kids. You share equal alimony, rent separately, and are set to remarry. Natasha?”

Natasha blinks at her paper. “Executive Producer.”

His teacher hums, tapping her lips with her finger as she circles her desk. “Single. No kids.”

Natasha grins, all teeth.

“Mr Parker?”

Peter reads his paper aloud, smiling as his fingers shake, feeling each pair of eyes of his fellow students as they await his fate.

“And you, Mr Stark?

In the second row, closest to the door, Tony crumples his paper in his hand. The room is pervasively silent. Tony clears his throat, tossing the paper onto his desk with evident disdain.

“Stay-at-home-parent,” his voice so quiet that Peter nearly misses it.

“Excellent. Okay then, you and Mr Parker are married ---”

Peter’s stomach drops.

Oh no.

“-- you’ve just adopted a four year old. You two met at work, Mr Stark is taking time off to care for the child -- figure out your savings, salary, budget for a new family --”

Tony’s hand shoots up swiftly, his fingers waving in the air.

Peter follows suit, arm stretching high. No. This is -- no.

“Miss Anh?” Tony interrupts, bouncing in his seat. “Yes, hi. Tony Stark, that’s me, the guy you just condemned. Just wondering, is it possible to switch partners?”

The teacher pauses,

“No, it's not.”

Peter raises his hand higher.

“Can you make an exception?” he asks, lowering his hand and looking between Tony and Miss Ahn uneasily. “I think that would be best.”

She places her hands on her hips.

“What’s the issue, boys?”

Before Peter can even open his mouth, the other boy cuts in.

“You see Miss A,” Tony interjects, hands pressed together in a fervent plea, eyes closing, as if in prayer. “Here’s the thing: I just can’t work with neanderthals. They bring down my grade average.”

“Anthony.”

Miss Ahn frowns. The entire class turns in their seats to watch the exchange and Peter feels his face heat.

“Well lucky for him, I can’t work with underachieving eighties rejects whose parents pay for their grades.”

“Wow,” Stark gestures to their teacher, “you hear that Miss? You driving that ‘94 Volvo on my parents money? Gosh, I am so sorry. Let me get you an upgrade.”

He turns to Peter, face heating at the attention of the class.

“Shit, Parker,” he continues, gesturing to him. “You really are as dumb as rocks. I mean, don’t you ever get tired of perpetuating your own stereotype?”

Peter shakes his head.

“Do you ever get tired of being an insufferable asshole?”

Tony puts a hand on his chest. “Absolutely. It keeps me up at night.”

Peter huffs. “You’re exhausting.”

“You’re loathsome.”

“Prick.”

“Princess.”

“Boys!” Miss Ahn cuts in, snapping her fingers, her expression positively thunderous. “I don’t know what has got into either of you, but that is enough.” She points to them both. “Unless you have a real, valid complaint, quit it. Right now. You’re going to work together on this assignment or you both of you will fail.”

Peter and Tony share a look.

“Your choice,” she says, pointing at each of them. “Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Tony huffs, turning back to face the front of the room.

Peter crosses his arms over his chest and nods.

“Great. Now, not a word from either of you for the remainder of this class. Scott, your turn.”

Peter fumes silently as Scott unfolds his paper and reads it aloud to the room.

“An entomologist!” He shifts excitedly in his seat, beaming widely. “Wow! Wow. Man, that’s so cool. I love Lord of The Rings.”

Miss Ahn sighs.

---

“Stop laughing,” Peter hisses, leaning in closer to Natasha. “Shut up. It’s not funny.”

The redhead leans against Peter’s locker, hand clamped over her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“You are not,” Peter grumbles, brushing her aside to get into his locker. It sticks when he pulls iy, like it always does, and Peter has to tug to get it open. “This is the worst day of my life. I’m cursed.”

“You’re not cursed.”

“Who’s cursed?”

Peter turns in time to see Bucky swoop in and embrace Natasha from behind.

“Me. I’m cursed. I gotta be, right? I mean, what reason would there be for me to be paired with Tony Stark? Am I not a good person? Have I not suffered enough?”

Natasha opens her mouth but Peter barrels on.

“And what does Tony Stark know about managing money?” he continues, shoving notebooks haphazardly into his bag, despair increasing. “His dad owns a fleet of Ferraris and a private jet. He probably has a diamond encrusted butthole. The guy hates me -- I’m cursed.”

“Wow. You’re so dramatic.” She looks to Bucky. “Are you hearing this?”

Peter poins a finger at her.

“You’re just saying that because you’re going to be a successful single multi-billionaire or something. I have to be married to the stay-at-home dickwad.”

“Maybe you could teach him a thing or two.”

Peter scoffs, shoving textbooks into his backpack, weekend plans obliterated by the volume of homework he’s received.

“What, like how to not be an asshole?”

“Why are you so obsessed with his asshole?”

“Speaking of the devil,” Bucky cuts in quietly. “Your three o’clock.”

The devil indeed, Peter thinks, zipping his bag and closing his locker. He turns just in time for a stony-faced Tony stride towards him.

“Stark,” he greets darkly.

“Parker. Do you prefer Parker or Princess?” Tony waves his hands dismissively. “Nevermind, I don’t care. So, this assignment? Here’s the thing --”

“Let me guess,” Peter interrupts, slinging the straps of his backpack onto his shoulder. “You’re too busy to complete your half? That’s fine, it’d be best if you let me write it. That way you might actually pass. Win, win.”

Tony looks at him, lips pursed.

“Uh, no. No, and then also, no. That’s an awful idea. What are you, like, a C average?”

“Actually, I’m --”

“I don’t actually care. Listen, as much as I would love to be as far away from you as possible --”

“-- Likewise --”

“ -- Miss A will know if we bullshit her. I know you’re intimately familiar with the experience, but she isn’t an idiot. She can spot your mediocre work a mile away.”

Peter folds his arms over his chest, glasses slipping down his nose.

“You’re not actually proposing we do this together, right,” he queries, pushing them back up. The ire from earlier continues to burn in his chest. “Can you even read?”

“Haha, oh my god, you’re like so funny,” Tony runs a hand through his hair, voice going glib and high pitched. His expression goes serious. “Write your address in my phone. I’ll see you there at six.”

“Why at six?” Peter frowns, taking the phone when Tony waves it in his face. He begins typing in his address, pausing briefly to peer at the other boy. “And why my apartment? Am I going to dirty up your mansion?”

“Penthouse, actually,” Tony crosses his arms over his chest. “And because I have better things to do this afternoon that isn’t aspirating on your sweat fumes.”

“You can aspirate on my ass,” he mumbles through his teeth as he resumes typing, chest going hot.

“Tempting, but no thanks. Are you done yet? You type slow. Do you know you type slow?”

“Shut up,” Peter rolls his eyes, locking the phone and returning it to its owner. “Don’t be late. I’m not joking, I’m not waiting around for you.”

“Sure thing, princess,” Tony pockets his phone, retrieving a cigarette from behind his ear and slipping it between his lips. “Don’t shoot on arrival.”

“No promises.”

It goes unheard, however. Tony has already turned and left, headphones secure over his ears.

Annoyed, he turns back to his friends.

“That guy is the worst.”

If he was expecting sympathy or commiseration, which he was, he comes up short on both. Instead, met with Natasha whispering into her boyfriends ear as she casts him a suspicious side eye.

“What?” He pokes her in the arm. “What are you whispering about.”

Natasha shakes her head, poking him back. It hurts.

“Nothing.”

Before he can retaliate, Bucky slings an arm each around Peter and his girlfriends shoulders, smiling easily at them. As a trio, they walk towards the exit, the hallway near empty, save for a few stragglers idling by the doors.

“Don’t worry, Pete. She was just sayin’ one of you will be dead by morning,” Bucky offers, squeezing his shoulder.

“Um, not me, right?” Peter asks, adjusting his glasses on his nose again. “I’m alive in this scenario?”

"No.”

“Hey!”

Bucky jostles his shoulder. “You saw the shiner he gave Rogers the other week. You already look like you fell into a blender.”

His jaw throbs at the mention.

Natasha snorts. “Ha. You’re a goner.”

“No, I’m not. I could fight if I had to,” Peter argues, as they part the double doors at the exit. Descending the stairs, the couple head towards the carpark and wave him off. “I could!” He yells, walking backwards, accidentally bumping into a harried-looking freshman.

It goes without response. The two share an amused look before disappearing, but Peter isn’t even mad. He’s wily. He could totally take Stark in a fight.

Heading out of the grounds and towards the nearest subway entrance, Peter winces as his injuries are jostled during the descent and massages his cheek gingerly. An old woman ascending the stairs gives him an odd look that turns horrified when he smiles to ease her.

By the time he’s swiped his Metrocard and made his way to his track, his hood is covering his face.

Yep, he’s doomed.

#starker #ironspider #high school au #enemies to lovers

637 notes · View notes

khantoelessar · 3 years ago

Text

Hogan’s timeline prior to Stalag 13

The purpose of this meta is to make an attempt at trying to fit Robert Hogan’s timeline pre-Stalag 13 to match something close to that of the actual historical timeline of World War II. I’m not saying this is actual canon, more like suggesting a possibility to stimulate conversation about Hogan’s timeline before being shot down and also an interest in World War II itself.

There are going to be holes in my theory. I’m well aware of this. However, trying to fit Hogan’s Heroes canon timeline to actual historical timeline is like trying to piece it together with baling wire, duct tape and glue. But that is half the fun anyway.

So on we go.

Our first semi-confirmed date for the series is the pilot episode which tells us it is the winter of 1942.

We also have a semi-confirmed date from A Tiger Hunt in Paris that “Frank Dirken” escaped Stalag 13 December 1942. Now America entered the war when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on 7 December, 1941. Roosevelt officially declared war on Germany on 11 December, 1941.

But actual hostilities did not commence right away. There was the problem of getting all those men and material across the Atlantic but also, and I mean no disrespect to the Americans when I point this out, but due to America’s neutrality and non-intervention policy a majority of those in uniform at that time had no combat experience.

What this means in terms of Robert Hogan’s past prior to Stalag 13 is that it greatly constricts the time Hogan would have had to fight if he had first arrived in Britain with the rest of the USAAF. The first of the US 8th Air Force didn’t arrive in Britain until 12 May, 1942. (1) The first joint RAF/USAAF bombing raid was in the Netherlands on 4 July, 1942 (2) and the first solo US bombing raid in Europe was on 17 August, 1942, over Rouen. (3)

This would leave at the very most seven months for Hogan to not only establish his reputation as a bomber commander but also get shot down and then get the Stalag 13 operation up and running. In “Happiness is a Warm Sergeant” Le Beau says:

Le Beau: “Maybe we can tame [Kreb]. If he likes strudel.”

Hogan: “Come on. It took us six months to get Schultz to look the other way.”

Le Beau couldn’t have gotten the ingredients to make the strudel that is Schultz’s main bribe prior to the operation being set up, not from a POW camp.

Then there was the raid on the submarine base in Breman mentioned in “Two Nazis for the Price of One.”

Hogan: “I supposed you’re talking about the bombing mission I flew against your secret submarine base in Breman.”

There were three raids on Breman between May and December of 1942. 3-4 June, 25 – 28 June and 19 November. However there were other raids prior to that. (4)

One more interesting detail that I want to add before putting forward my theory as to Hogan’s timeline is that the first of the B17 flying fortresses saw action in Britain when the RAF used them to bomb Wilhelmshaven on 18 July, 1941. (5)

So here’s my theory. Hogan was flying for Great Britain before the US entered the war. There have been fanfics written on this which I highly recommend. However there is one snag with them. Hogan could not have been enlisted in the US Army Airforce when he did so. Not only was the US officially neutral in the war until 7 December, 1941 but it was illegal for US citizens to fly for Great Britain under America’s neutrality laws. But many did so by sneaking across the border into Canada with false papers, claiming to be Canadian or of other nationalities and travelling to Britain to join the RAF. (6) I think it is worth taking a moment to honour the courage of those men and what they risked. In the beginning the United States did not take these transgressions lightly as this story posted on the Warfare History Network attests.

“As they boarded the train for Montreal, the two Americans tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. They were well aware that if they were caught they would be in trouble. At the very least, they would be sent back to the United States. There was also the possibility that they could be sent to prison, as well as fined more money than they had seen in their entire lives.

At the Canadian border, the train stopped and several sinister looking officials got on board. They wanted to know where the two were going and why.

“We’re on our way to Montreal to see a cousin who runs a fish hatchery,” was the reply. One of the unsmiling officials—probably an FBI agent—wanted to know if they were fliers. “Don’t be silly. Do we look like fliers?”

The officials were apparently satisfied by the reply. One of them opened the suitcases of the two travelers and rummaged through the top layer of clothing. He did not look any deeper. If he had, he would have found what he was looking for—flying helmets, goggles, and logbooks. Instead, he closed the lid and wished the young fellows a pleasant trip.

The two Americans, Eugene “Red” Tobin and Andy Mamedoff, were not smuggling contraband. They were going to Canada to enlist in the air force of a foreign country which, in the early weeks of 1940, was against the law. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation kept a pretty close check on all Americans going to Canada,” Red Tobin later said, “so we had to watch our step.”

You can read the rest of the article here. (7)

The men who chose to go to Canada risked not only fines and imprisonment but also loss of their citizenship. (8)

It wasn’t until 19 November, 1941 that Britain officially revealed that there were three squadrons of American pilots called the Eagle Squadrons. (9)

Another fact the prohibits Hogan being part of the USAAF prior to the American entry is that prior to the war America had start to build up its own armed forces. (10) It began on 15 June, 1940. By 7 December, 1941 they had over 2 million in all branches. (11) This means that the USAAF was in desperate need of competent and skilled pilots to not only lead attacks but also to train new ones in its Air Corp tactical school. (12)

Combine these and I think it highly unlikely that the USAAF would have turned a blind eye to one of its best and most brilliant tactical pilots and officers to go AWOL to fight for a foreign country, especially at a time when the isolationist movement was strong.

There is another route open to Hogan having fought for the RAF and even during the Battle of Britain that I would like to explore here as a possible . . . let’s say, alternative headcanon.

He could have taken the route mentioned earlier by those other Americans, crossing the border into Canada, getting training there and then going onto Britain. I can see Hogan doing something like this. In the face of the news of repeated atrocities being committed by the Nazis and his country refusing to get involved, I can see Hogan taking on a false identity and slipping across the border in order to join the fight.

But this is also the same reason I think that Hogan was not allowed to go AWOL from the US Army. It would have violated Roosevelt’s Neutrality Laws, even though he declared,

This would have crossed to far over that line, to have an American USAAF officer openly fighting with the British, especially after Hogan started gaining fame as a war ace and bomber commander. If he was so feared by the Nazis that Biedenbender was jumped from Colonel to General;

Biendenbender: “You see I am the reason you are now here as a prisoner of war.” Hogan: “Thanks.” Biendenbender: “When the bombing raids of the squadron you commanded started to become . . . oh slightly annoying to the Third Reich I was assigned to study your tactics, to get inside your head, I know everything about you . . . so I was able to predict precisely the planning of your last bombing raid on Hamburg in which you were shot down, and I, hah, I was shot up to a General.”

then his fame would definitely have spread to the Commonwealth and then to America.

This is why I put forward the possibility that Hogan never enlisted in the USAAF. Also, Wikipedia states “None of the Eagle Squadron pilots had previously served in the USAAF and did not have US pilot wings.” (14)

There is the option that Hogan never joined the Eagle squadrons directly but flew for the RAF separately. First of all, according to the Wikipedia site (13) none of the Eagle squadrons flew bombers, let alone B17s. Also, in the episode “Some of Their Planes are Missing” and “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London” we are told that Hogan was attached to the RAF.

If we take this into account when we look at Hogan’s timeline, we get a lot more room for Hogan to have accomplished all that he did. If he snuck across the border into Canada under a false identity prior or during the Battle of Britain which was July through September 1940 (15) he would have over a year of experience, including making his bombing runs on Breman before being finally transferred over to the USAAF and the 504th bomb squadron once America entered the war. The same Wikipedia site quoted before also states that the ranks in the RAF were transferred after some negotiations to the nearest equivalent rank.

There is another detail from the series that supports Hogan’s story links to Britain and the RAF over that of the USAAF and that is the fact that he reports to London, not Washington. Almost all his links to the Allies are British. There are a few Americans, General Barton in “The General Swap”, General Tilman in “How to Cook a German Goose with Radar”, the captain of that submarine in “The Pizza Parlour” and we do see the alliance of the British and the Americans in “Easy Come, Easy Go”.

But other than that all of his contacts and command structure that he reports to are British. There is no mention of the OSS or of Washington. When Hogan is flown back to England for the briefing before D-Day in “D-Day at Stalag 13” the General (we are not given a name) is British, not American and the “old man” they refer to is Churchill, not Roosevelt.

General: “Even to tell you this much this much had to be cleared at the highest level of intelligence, the Old Man himself.”

Hogan could have been one of those Americans who crossed the border into Canada, got false papers there and traveled to Britain to joined the RAF. He didn’t join the Eagle Squadrons (although I can see him qualifying on the spitfires because they were one of the best planes out there) because he’d been transferred to Bomber Command. When America entered the war, he transferred to the USAAF with the equivalent rank of Colonel and put in charge of the 504th bomb group (even though in reality the 504th flew in the Pacific theatre and not the European one and was part of the 20th Air Force) because by then his reputation had long since proceeded him. He was part of the US mass bombing raid on Ploesti on 12 June, 1942 (16) but was shot down after that and was transferred to Stalag 13 just about the same time as Klink, who (I’m assuming was there to solve the massive escape problems) as we are told in “The Kommadant Dies at Dawn”

Hogan: “Are you kidding, before I arrived you had so many escapes they were going to put a revolving door at the front gate.”

Now like I said this headcanon is not water proof. There are some holes that I can’t fill.

Hogan does say that he was assigned to the Pentagon in “Klink vs the Gonculator”

As mentioned previously, I don’t think the Army would have let him go AWOL to fight for a foreign country if he was already an officer.

On the other hand I should point out that he was talking to Klink and was running one of his cons on him. It is also possible that he was assigned briefly to the Pentagon after Pearl Harbour but before he was shot down. His experience and connections in the RAF would have been invaluable. So maybe this possible headcanon of mine still holds water.

There are also other people who could have taken this path to the war and that is Kinch and every other black POW in Stalag 13.

The Tuskegee Airmen, the only black American squadron in World War II were first deployed overseas in North Africa on 24 April, 1943. (17) That’s too late for Kinch and the other black POWs to be shot down and sent to Stalag 13.

But while the American forces were segregated Canada and Great Britain weren’t quite so insistent on it. They couldn’t afford to be. This is not to say there wasn’t discrimination. Both Canada and Britain did have discriminatory practices (18) (19) that limited enrollment to all but the most general positions to those not of white European descent. But in practice a person of colour’s ability to not only enlist but to serve in a role beyond that of support personal depended very much on the recruitment officer as shown in this story.

“In 1939 the so-called colour bar that prevented black people from serving in the British forces was formally lifted, largely because the Second World War meant that the Army, Navy and Air Force needed to recruit as many men as possible.

The lifting of the bar didn’t necessarily mean it was easy for would-be West Indian recruits to get in however.

There were people who would try three or four times to get in, or pay their own passage to come to Britain from the Caribbean.

Another route in was via the Royal Canadian Air Force. Canada may have been freezing cold but it was considered to be a warm and tolerant place for prospective black servicemen.

Billy Strachan couldn’t get into the RAF, so he sold his trumpet and used the money to pay his own passage to travel through U-boat-infested seas to London. He arrived at Adastral House in Holborn and declared his desire to join the RAF. The corporal at the door told him to “piss off.”

Happily however, an officer walked past who turned out to be rather more welcoming. He asked Strachan where he was from, to which Strachan replied “I’m from Kingston.”

“Lovely, I’m from Richmond” beamed the officer.

Strachan explained that he meant Kingston, Jamaica.

Shortly after that, he was training for aircrew.”

He went on to do a tour as a navigator in Bomber Command, then retrained as a pilot and flew with the 96th squadron.” (20)

See this link for the full story.

There were black fighter pilots in the RAF as shown in the links above. Not only that there were women of colour as well, such as Lilian Bader who joined the WAAF and Noor Inayat Khan who was one of the Special Operations Executive’s top agents in France. (21)

This is not to say that there wasn’t discrimination against people of colour in Canada and Britain. There certain were as the websites quoted here show.

But the racism was not as bad or as extreme as it was in the United States. People of colour could fill high ranking and highly visible prominent positions in the Second World War as shown in this article here. (22)

So this is a route that Kinch, Baker and the other black POWs could have taken to Stalag 13. Sneaking across the border, getting fake papers, training in Canada and then heading to Britain.

One of the holes in this possible theory is the issue of their uniforms. Unlike the American pilots who were white the black Americans pilots (if there were any) would not have been have been given equivalent rank in the USAAF or even been allowed to fly in the Eagle Squadrons once they were transferred to the USAAF. America was adamant on segregation, as shown here, (23) something that caused extreme tension in Britain.

While there was racism in Britain towards people of colour the racial hatred demonstrated towards black servicemen by the American G.I.s came as a shock to the British population. (24)

Hogan could have protested segregation all he wanted, demanded Kinch be allowed to fly until he was blue in the face (assuming he and Kinch did know each other as implied in “Prince of the Phone Company” episode).

Kinch: “Hogan?” Hogan: “Robert. Hogan.” Kinch: “Ha Ha! Of course! I went to school with this man in America.”

The Americans would not allow an integrated air force. At best Kinch and the other black pilots would have been sent back to the States to join the Tuskegee airmen.

At this point there are two routes open for Kinch and the other black POWs to have been in Stalag 13 in time to help Hogan start his operation. One, they had been shot down prior to the arrival of the 8th Army USAAF in Britain by 12 May 1942.

The second option is that they remained with the RAF instead of transferring to the USAAF. As this article point out some of the Eagle Squadron members decided to remain with the RAF instead of transferring to the USAAF. (25)

So my theory for a possible route could work for Kinch as well as for Hogan. They could have both snuck into Canada as civilians, got official training and then joined the RAF. Hogan joined bomber command and gained his reputation as a war ace and tactician then joined the USAAF after America entered the war. Kinch was either shot down on a mission just before 12 May 1942 or remained with the RAF and was shot down later. Hogan flew several more missions until Bienderbender overwhelmed him. The Red Cross would have notified Britain about Kinch and the others and Britain in turn would have notified the US who in turn would have had the American Red Cross send the black POWs American uniforms.

This may have led to a reduction in rank for Kinch. The role of navigator (originally titled observer in the RAF) which he fills in “Hogan throws a birthday party”,

was usually filled by commissioned officer, see link (26), but could hold any rank from airman second class to Group Captain. The rank of flight sergeant in the RAF is the equivalent of a Master Sergeant in the USAAF. But if Kinch held a rank higher than that (which seems likely given the skill and high level of responsibility) then his being a sergeant in Stalag 13 would have meant a reduction in rank.

But as I said, this is just speculation on my part in an attempt to try and put the canon of Hogan’s Heroes into something that fits the actual historical timeline. I freely admit that there are holes in my theory.

Which is why I’m saying that this theory of mine is put forward as a possible alternative route that Hogan, Kinch and the other black POWs could have taken to get to Stalag 13 and leave them enough time for them to do all that they did and I hope it stimulates discussion and thought and (not to sound like I’m getting on a soap box here but I love research) a desire to research World War 2 for interest in the subject. Certainly that is what Hogan’s Heroes did for me.

Sources

1. World War II Database: https://m.ww2db.com/event/today/05/12/1942

2. History.net: https://www.historynet.com/first-usaac-raf-joint-combat-mission-july-4th-1942.htm

3. World War II today: https://ww2today.com/17th-august-1942-the-usaaf-makes-its-first-raid-on-occupied-europe

4. Bombing of Bremen in World War II: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Bremen_in_World_War_II

5. World War II Database: https://ww2db.com/aircraft_spec.php?aircraft_model_id=4 \

6. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-British_personnel_in_the_RAF_during_the_Battle_of_Britain#United_States

7. Warfare History Network: https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2017/01/18/americans-in-the-royal-air-force/

8. Royal Air Force Museum: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/americans-in-the-royal-air-force/eagle-squadrons/

9. WWII: The Complete War Report. Directed by Various. Mill Creek Entertainment. 2017

10. Not Even Past: https://notevenpast.org/inching-towards-war-military-preparedness-in-the-1930s/

11. National World War II Museum: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers

12. The US Army Airforces in World War 2: https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329898/-1/-1/0/aaf_wwii-v1-2.pdf (pages 85 & 142)

13. Teaching American History: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/radio-address-delivered-by-president-roosevelt-from-washington/

14. Wikipedia: Eagle Squadrons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Squadrons

15. Britannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Britain-European-history-1940

16. 142nd wing : https://www.142fw.ang.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1211286/redhawk-reflections-on-the-first-american-mission-in-europe-1942/

17. Tuskegee Airman: https://www.tuskegee.edu/Content/Uploads/Tuskegee/files/TUSKEGEE_AIRMEN_CHRONOLOGY12.2011.pdf (page 9)

18. Historyhit.com: https://www.historyhit.com/was-the-raf-especially-receptive-to-black-servicemen-in-world-war-two/

19. CBC.ca: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/black-canadians-second-world-war-1.5793974

20. Historyhit.com: Was the RAF Especially Receptive to Black Servicemen in World War Two? | History Hit

21. Second World War Experience Centre: https://war-experience.org/lives/noor-inayat-khan-soe/

22. Royal Air Force Musuem: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/pilots-of-the-caribbean/across-the-commands/

23. Royal Air Force Museum: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/pilots-of-the-caribbean/answering-the-call/the-second-world-war-1939-to-1945-segregation/

24. Theconversation.com: https://theconversation.com/black-troops-were-welcome-in-britain-but-jim-crow-wasnt-the-race-riot-of-one-night-in-june-1943-98120

25. The National Interest: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/these-americans-flew-royal-air-force-during-world-war-ii-168713

26. Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomber_Command_aircrew_of_World_War_II

#Hogan's Heroes #Colonel Robert Hogan #Sargeant James Kinchlow #Colonel Klink #World War 2 #World War 2 timeline #racism #segregation #Nazi Germany #RAF #USAAF

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newstfionline · 3 years ago

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Thursday, July 29, 2021

Drone strike whistleblower (Washington Post) In 2013, Daniel Hale was at a peace conference in D.C. when a Yemeni man recounted through tears how two family members had been killed in a U.S. drone strike. He said they’d been trying to encourage young men to leave al-Qaeda. Hale, 33, a former intelligence analyst, realized he had watched the fatal attack, which he and his Air Force colleagues viewed as a success. Now he was horrified. It was such experiences, Hale told a federal judge on Tuesday, that led him to leak classified information about drone warfare to a reporter. “I believe that it is wrong to kill, but it is especially wrong to kill the defenseless,” he said in court. A U.S. district judge sentenced Hale to 45 months in prison for violating the Espionage Act, saying the documents Hale disclosed went beyond his “courageous and principled” stance on drones. Hale had shared three dozen documents with a journalist. One document revealed that during a five-month stretch of an Afghanistan operation, 90 percent of people killed were not the intended targets.

3 tech giants report combined profits of more than $50B (AP) Three tech companies—Apple, Microsoft and Google owner Alphabet—reported combined profits of more than $50 billion in the April-June quarter, underscoring their unparalleled influence and success at reshaping the way we live. Although these companies make their money in different ways, the results served as another reminder of the clout they wield and why government regulators are growing increasingly concerned about whether they have become too powerful. The massive profits pouring into each company also illustrated why they have a combined market value of $6.4 trillion—more than double their collective value when the COVID-19 pandemic started 16 months ago.

Mexico’s Cuba aid (Foreign Policy) A shipment of food, oxygen, and medical supplies bound for Cuba is expected to set sail from the Mexican port of Veracruz today, as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador makes good on his promise to provide humanitarian assistance to the island following protests earlier this month. The vessel follows in the wake of another ship carrying aid that left Mexico on Tuesday, and the delivery of 126,000 barrels of diesel fuel from Mexico’s state-run Pemex earlier this week. On Monday, López Obrador called on U.S. President Joe Biden to “make a decision” about the U.S. embargo given that “almost all countries of the world” are against it.

Europeans increasingly frustrated as White House maintains Trump-era covid travel restrictions (Washington Post) European lawmakers and business groups voiced mounting criticism of the Biden administration on Tuesday, after the White House said its restrictions on international travel would remain in place for the time being. Whereas vaccinated U.S. tourists have been allowed to return to much of Europe for weeks, most Europeans continue to be unable to travel to the United States under a ban that was first imposed by President Donald Trump in March 2020. The White House said Monday that the continuation of existing travel restrictions was attributable to concerns over the highly transmissible delta variant. But the delta variant has long been in the United States, already accounting for the majority of new known cases, and many European nations are now starting to outpace the United States in vaccinations: 49 percent of Americans are fully inoculated, compared with more than 46 percent of European Union residents. As vaccinated American tourists are traveling back and forth for their summer holidays in Paris or Rome again, European allies or partners of the Biden administration are finding it increasingly difficult to defend the U.S. stance, which critics say has divided European families and posed serious challenges to businesses.

“Seditious” sheep: inside Hong Kong's crackdown on children's books (Worldcrunch) The Hong Kong National Security Police was on the move again recently, although this time the surprising target was a series of children's stories. On July 22, authorities arrested five people over conspiring to publish seditious publications. The accused are members of the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists, as Hong Kong-based media The Initium reports. The operation against them marks the first time the National Security Law has been used to target stories directed at children. The three books in question center around an imaginary village of sheep. Authorities say the books are "creating hatred and instilling anti-government ideas among children." In a press conference, Steve Li, senior superintendent of the Police National Security Department, said that the images of sheep fighting wolves and of sheep being eaten up by wolves are an attempt to incite violence and hatred against the regime. "Sheep are gentle animals, but highlighting that they can attack is publicizing violence," he said. Li urged bookstores to hand in remaining copies to the police, and encouraged owners of the books to destroy their copies. Teachers, he added, are forbidden from using books for educational purposes. "This isn't about criticizing the government," Li explained. "It's that actions, books and so on, should never make people hate the government."

Kuwait bans unvaccinated citizens from travelling abroad (Reuters) Kuwait on Tuesday said only citizens who have been vaccinated for the coronavirus will be allowed to travel abroad starting on Aug. 1. A government statement said the rule excepted children under age of 16, those with a health ministry certificate saying they cannot be vaccinated, and pregnant women who have a pregnancy proof certificate from authorities. All arrivals will have to be home quarantined for seven days unless they take a COVID-19 PCR test inside Kuwait that comes out negative.

As Tigray war intensifies, Ethiopia parades new army recruits (Reuters) Thousands of Ethiopian army recruits paraded in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to bid farewell before leaving for training, potential future participants in a bloody eight-month-old conflict in the north that continues to spread and intensify. The mayor’s office said 3,000 young people would join the ranks of Ethiopia’s National Defence Force (ENDF). Some recruits spoke of pride in describing their motives. Others mentioned economic need. The conflict between the central government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that controls the Tigray region, is spreading to other parts of northern Ethiopia, and youth from other parts of the country are joining federal forces in the fight. Fighting first broke out in Tigray in November when the government accused the TPLF of attacking military bases across the region—an accusation the group denied. The government declared victory three weeks later when it took the regional capital Mekelle, but the TPLF kept fighting and has since taken back most of Tigray.

Turn off, turn on: Simple step can thwart top phone hackers (AP) As a member of the secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Angus King has reason to worry about hackers. At a briefing by security staff this year, he said he got some advice on how to help keep his cellphone secure. Step One: Turn off phone. Step Two: Turn it back on. That’s it. At a time of widespread digital insecurity it turns out that the oldest and simplest computer fix there is—turning a device off then back on again—can thwart hackers from stealing information from smartphones. Regularly rebooting phones won’t stop the army of cybercriminals or spy-for-hire firms that have sowed chaos and doubt about the ability to keep any information safe and private in our digital lives. But it can make even the most sophisticated hackers work harder to maintain access and steal data from a phone. “This is all about imposing cost on these malicious actors,” said Neal Ziring, technical director of the National Security Agency’s cybersecurity directorate.

#headlines #news

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argylemnwrites · 5 years ago

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Change of Plans - Part 1

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (An It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment universe AU, set nearly 3 years after that epilogue)

Word Count: ~3000

Rating: PG-13 (just some adult language)

Summary: Living in NYC in March 2020 is redefining normal for Drake and Riley. Life doesn’t always go according to plan during a pandemic, after all.

Author’s Note: Ummmm, I tried to avoid writing this. I really did. But as I was sitting down to do some detailed outlines for the It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment sequel, all my brain kept wanting to explore was COVID-19 content in that universe. At first, I just bullet pointed some head canons, hoping that would be enough to scratch the itch. But it wasn’t. The fact of the matter is if you’ve read anything I’ve written, you know I’m all about grounding the Choices characters and stories in the real world to a certain degree. So to write an AU where Drake and Riley live in New York City and not address the horrible crisis that city is facing just didn’t feel true to me as a writer.

That being said, I understand fanfic is often an escape from the real world. I understand that addressing the current pandemic at all might not be your thing, even though I don’t take it to any truly sad or tragic places. So, no worries, this is an AU inside my AU. This will not be an “official” part of the sequel. It’s its own little two-part piece that inches a bit more firmly into the real world than the actual sequel, Why Are We Still Waiting?.

So, tagging all my usual It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment taglists, but no hard feelings if this is just a little too real. I will mention that this does hint at or reference some events from the prologue and the first couple of chapters of Why Are We Still Waiting?, but it does not spoil the core content of the story. Plus, to be fair, it’s not like I write things with big plot twists really. Much like It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment was essentially a Drake character study, Why Are We Still Waiting? is a Riley Liu character study, and I’m not really sure you even can spoil those.

Alright, I’ve rambled in this AN for far too long already. In case you skimmed and missed it, Trigger warning for coronavirus discussions.

Drake glanced up from his laptop as he heard the locks click on the apartment door, Riley and Anderson walking through a few seconds later. Riley unclasped Anderson’s leash and hung it on the hooks Drake had installed, followed by her coat and her keys, before sliding off her shoes and going straight into the kitchen to wash her hands. The space next to their door had become their “dirty zone.” For now, they weren’t changing all their clothing when they got back inside, but Drake was thinking that doing so should probably be their next step.

Taking Anderson out was now basically the only time either one of them left the apartment. With Riley being furloughed from her PR firm on Friday and Drake working from home for all of last week, there really wasn’t any other reason to do so. At the moment, they were doing okay for food and whatnot, but Drake was not looking forward to having to deal with that in the upcoming weeks. He wasn’t sure whether they should switch to just getting delivery that they could safely reheat, but exposing themselves to a new driver every couple of days, or if they should risk making a trip to Foodtown and stocking up for a few weeks just once. Deep down, he knew the latter was the better option, but neither of them had been to a bodega or grocery store in the past week, and he was kind of dreading it now that more people were starting to take this seriously since the schools were closed. Maybe he could pull out the box of five masks he’d bought when he was sanding down and repainting the dresser and see if he had one left for each of them.

For the past four days, with both of them with nowhere to be, they’d alternated who was leaving the relative safety of their apartment to get a little fresh air with the dog. Even before that, Riley was just going to work and coming straight home, and she’d been riding an old bicycle she bought from a coworker to avoid the subway. But now, she had nowhere to be and neither did he. On her first day at home, Drake had been reluctant to have Riley go out at all now that she didn’t need to do so. He’d seen the news stories about the hate crimes popping up against Asian Americans, and it seemed like an unnecessary risk. But he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to convince her to essentially become a shut in while he left the apartment a couple of times every day to walk Anderson. Plus, as she had pointed out, she was still in her 20s and wasn’t a former smoker, so by all accounts, she was medically a lower risk than him. Still, he got nervous every time she left and always felt a little better when she came back.

Overall, Drake knew things could be a lot worse for the two of them. Because of his conversations with Liam, he’d been slowly stocking up on nonperishables for the past month or so. He had not only a permanent job, but one with a law firm that allowed him to work from home. They had a one bedroom, not a studio, so Riley didn’t have to stay silent during his Zoom meetings with his boss or team. But losing Riley’s salary was certainly not great for them. They’d be okay for at least the next month, but going forward, things might get a little tight. Not only that, but Riley was clearly going stir crazy already, with no one to see and nothing to do. Well, nothing to do except send emails and make calls to Texas to postpone their wedding.

In the grand scheme of things, Drake knew that postponing a wedding was a minor loss. In fact, if that was the worst loss that they suffered at the end of all this, they would be very fortunate. And now that the president had banned travel from Europe, there was little chance of the majority of their already small guest list being able to make it. But it still sucked, particularly since they’d already had to postpone last year.

He and Riley had talked about it last week, after the travel ban came down. Even though the wedding was seven weeks away, it had just seemed like the smart call to start cancelling things now instead of waiting until the last minute. The original plan had been for him to make the needed calls and whatnot since he was working from home, but since Riley now had infinite free time, she’d contacted everyone except his mother and aunt, who he had called over the weekend. His mother had been confused at first, saying she didn’t understand why they needed to postpone already and that she was sure it will have all “blown over” by May. Aunt Leona, on the other hand, had seemed pleased by the decision, telling him she was glad he wasn’t bringing that “Chinese virus” down to them from New York. Drake wasn’t sure whose response was more infuriating.

As Riley flopped down on the couch next to him, she let out a loud sigh. When he’d been working out of their apartment and she’d still been going into the office, they’d tried to maintain some distance at home. It had been pretty difficult, though. Although this place was way bigger than her old studio, they still just had the one bathroom, and obviously they were still sleeping in the same bed. Drake had known it had probably been smart of them to spread out as best they could, but he was kind of relieved when Riley had just curled up next to him on the couch this weekend, saying that it was stupid to try and pretend that they were even coming close to effectively socially distancing from one another. Plus, now that she wasn’t going into work, they basically carried the same risk of exposure.

Although she was sitting next to him now, she didn’t make any move to actually touch him. Sensing she wanted to talk about something, he moved his laptop from his knees to the coffee table in front of them. Sure enough, her head landed in his lap not even a full minute later. This had become her habit over the years, to lay down on the couch and put her head across his lap whenever there was something she wanted to talk to him about, usually something serious that she didn’t want to deal with but knew they needed to deal with together.

“So, everything’s pushed back to November 7th,” she said after a couple of moments of silence, “We had to put down another deposit with the florist who was a real asshole about it, but the band, the photographer, and the caterers were really accommodating.” Her fingers traced random patterns across his forearm as she spoke, but her eyes remained closed, almost as if she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye and see their shared disappointment reflected there.

“Thanks, Liu. I’ll call Mom tomorrow and let her know.”

“I did try for October, but the caterers and the florist didn’t have any availability.”

“November’s fine. If the weather’s shitty, we can just have the ceremony inside the barn and the reception in the house. Our guest list is tiny, anyway.”

His statement hung there in the air. There was kind of this unspoken agreement between the two of them to just be matter of fact about postponing. It was a global pandemic. It had to happen. Being upset about it wasn’t going to make things any better. But sometimes, it just hurt, thinking about all their planning and excitement that was just on hold again. The scattered pieces of wedding favors and leftover invitations and the planning binder that Hana had started for them that were visible in every corner of the apartment didn’t help either. They were now mixed in with stacks of dog food, rice, and paper towels, a grim blend of the future they wanted with their new reality.

They didn’t even have any place to tuck the wedding crap out of sight at this point, as their closets and cupboards were filled to the brim with extra supplies. But without a car, Drake had just wanted to make sure they could minimize trips out if… no, when shit really hit the fan. And it’s not like they had that much storage space in their apartment anyway. But now they would have to live with constant reminders that they couldn’t get married and their lives were essentially on hold.

He at least still had work to distract himself with. Now that Riley had cancelled everything, she really didn’t have anything she could focus on to distract herself. He just felt bad for her. “I’m sorry, Liu.”

“For what? None of this is your fault,” Riley said, her eyes popping open and gazing up at him, her hand continuing to trace patterns across the skin of his arm.

Drake sighed, dropping his head to the back of the couch and staring up at the ceiling. “I guess I feel guilty that I didn’t get us to Cordonia when I could.” He had been contemplating calling Savannah or Maxwell and seeing if they could come stay with them for a while. Leave the crazy population density that was New York City. Staying at the palace would mean bad optics for Liam, but he figured at least two of the three adults at Ramsford would probably be okay with hosting him and Riley and Anderson. But while he’d been weighing their options with Riley, Liam had closed all flights into Cordonia except for citizens returning home. Since Riley had never become a Cordonian citizen, they were out of luck. Drake knew that if he asked Liam, he would grant Riley some sort of royal exception, but he wasn’t going to put Liam in that position. The last thing Liam needed on his plate was making an accommodation for Riley.

Drake felt Riley’s head leave his lap, and soon her hands were on his shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Drake, we both were unsure if it was the right call.”

He just shook his head. She could have had Maxwell to spend time with while he worked. Anderson could have gone on walks safely across the grounds and vineyards. But he hadn’t been decisive enough and now it was too late. “I should have seen the writing on the wall.”

“Look at me.” Her voice was firm and carried enough of an edge that Drake complied, tipping his head back to find Riley kneeling next to him on their couch, staring at him with eyes that were somehow intense and sympathetic simultaneously. “We both were concerned about flying right now. We both were unsure about being in a house with both a baby and a toddler and possibly bringing the infection to them. We both wanted to wait to see what would happen. I don’t know why you insist on taking the blame here when we both weren’t sure if heading to Cordonia was the right call.”

“I just wish there was a way to protect you from this.”

She shook her head, “You think I don’t want that, too?”

“I know, Liu. I just feel like…” he trailed off, unable to finish his thoughts. He could have never imagined a situation where he couldn’t take care of her. Keep her safe. But there was nothing he could do about any of this. It just made him feel so powerless.

“Me too, Drake,” she said, tilting her head and sliding her hand down his arm and twining their fingers together. “But nothing else to do but ride this out. Well, that and hope we don’t drive each other too crazy over the upcoming weeks,” she added with a little chuckle. “What time do you think you’ll finish up today?”

“I dunno,” Drake said with a shrug. Since he was a naturally early riser, he’d been getting up and started on his files for the day hours before Riley was waking up, trying to get his work done by mid afternoon most days so that she didn’t feel banished to the bedroom too much. He knew she felt like a distraction to him when he was working, and though he didn’t want to admit it, she kind of was. “By 3:30, I’d guess.”

“Okay,” she replied, letting go of his hand and bouncing off the couch. “I guess it’s time for me to read up on my insurance options. I’ve been putting this off, but it’s probably better to sign up sooner rather than later.”

Drake frowned as she rounded the corner and went down the little hallway to their bedroom. He’d not thought about the fact that her being furloughed might impact her health insurance. He probably should have. Getting way better health insurance when he’d gotten hired as a permanent employee had been a big deal, after all. This employment-connected health insurance thing still just felt strange to him, though.

A thought occurred to him. He minimized the folder of digital files he was reviewing and cataloguing, pulling up instead a search engine. He landed on the city clerk’s website a couple of minutes later, scanning over the requirements, then checking the time. This could work.

“Hey, Liu!” he called out, striding over to the bedroom. Her laptop was in front of her as she lounged on her stomach, Anderson curled up right next to her. She glanced up as he reached the doorway.

“What’s up?”

“Let’s get married.”

She blinked a couple of times and pulled her head back slightly as she cocked it to the side, “Uhh, sounds good, but that was kind of already the plan.” She waved her left hand in the air, his grandmother’s ring catching the light intermittently. “I mean, I’m glad you still want to and everything, but seeing as I did just spend the whole morning rescheduling our entire wedding, I would have been pretty pissed at you if you changed your mind.”

Drake shook his head and rolled his eyes. “No, let’s get married tomorrow.”

Riley’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. We can go down to the city clerk’s office now and get our marriage license so we can get married tomorrow.”

“Where is this coming from?”

Drake walked over and sat down on the bed next to her, pointing toward her laptop. “You were going to go on my health insurance after the wedding anyway, right? So let’s do that now instead of having to pay for shitty coverage for you.”

She gave him a gentle little smile, closing her laptop and sliding up onto her knees next to him. She placed one hand between his shoulder blades, rubbing gentle circles before she spoke.

“You are a very sweet marshmallow of a man, you really are. But I know you. And I don’t want you to feel like we have to rush to do this now. We’ll be fine if we wait for the lovely wedding we planned down on the ranch with all of our friends there.”

He shook his head, “I want to do this. The question is, do you?”

“You don’t actually want to do this.”

“Of course I want to do this! You think I give a shit about who’s there or what we wear or if we have the right flowers or what we have for dinner?”

“Yeah, I do. Drake, you may not be much for pomp and glitz, but this wedding that we’ve been planning for years now? I think it matters to you. I think you want Liam and Maxwell and Hana and your mother and sister and niece and nephew there. I think you want to hear our friends toast us and to see Maxwell make a fool of himself on the dance floor and to have Bartie be the ring bearer and that’s okay. It’s okay to want to celebrate with everyone. We can wait until we can do that. This doesn’t have to just be a... logistical arrangement.”

Drake paused for a moment. She wasn’t wrong, exactly. Those were things he wanted. But right now, they seemed like little, insignificant details.

“Look, Liu. You’re right. The thing that prompted me to think about marrying you right now was the practical reasons. But as everything becomes a total shit show, I just feel like the only protection I can offer you is this one. And in an ideal world - sure, I would want the nice little wedding we planned in Texas. But the world has changed a whole fucking lot in the past couple weeks, and nothing is exactly ideal anymore. And if my choices are waiting almost eight months to have the wedding we planned or to marry you tomorrow, I pick marrying you tomorrow. Because, yeah a wedding down on the ranch with our friends sounds great, but the whole point of that wedding is that I get to be your husband. And that’s all I really want.”

She gave him a warm smile and kissed him deeply, sliding her hand up his back and threading her fingers through his hair as his hands fell to her hips. After a few moments, she pulled back.

“So, you aren’t going to look back with regret and feel like we rushed things?”

“I’ve been ready to marry you for years. This doesn’t feel like we’re rushing. It feels like it’s about damn time. At least for me.”

Riley nodded, glancing down. Drake followed her gaze to her left hand, resting gently on her knees.

“It’s not a rush for me either.”

“So, what are you thinking? Should we get married tomorrow?” Drake asked, grabbing her hand in his, staring at her downturned face for a few seconds before she looked up and met his gaze.

“Yeah,” she said, a wide grin sliding onto her face, “Let’s fucking do this.”

Permatag: @ravenpuff02 @octobereighth @drakewalker04 @kimmiedoo5 @speedyoperarascalparty @mfackenthal @lilyofchoices @thequeenofcronuts @jamesashtonisbae

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir: @kingliam2019 @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @dcbbw @yaushie

Drake x MC only: @jovialyouthmusic @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @riley--walker @notoriouscs @butindeed @addictedtodrakefanfic @drakesensworld

It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment: @wickedgypsymoon @thesumofmychoices @cosigottahavefaith @thequeenchoices @katedrakeohd @feartheendlesssummer @ao719 @ooo-barff-ooo @sunnyxdazed

#drake walker #drake x mc #trr fanfic #trr au #trr au fanfic #tw: coronavirus

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writinginthesparetime · 5 years ago

Text

A place far away pt7

pairing: actor!Park Haejin x student!reader

Warnings: famous!au ; college!au ; litte bit of swearing?

genre: fluff ;

chapters: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

(If needed I will add more warnings and upload the genre tags in next chapters)

Summary:

So that’s how all started.

It was a rainy day in Seoul and I was the new girl in town. Precisely the new girl in college, just moved from europe to study abroad.

Little did I knew Seoul was not the only korean thing I’d fell in love with.

————————————————

21st November

“Lillian! Your caffelatte!”

I looked up from my books just a moment, only to see a girl holding two cups in her hands desperately trying to get her friend’s attention.

This cafeteria in the campus often looked like this: loud and busy. I didn’t enjoy spending my time there to study, but that morning only the idea of staying home made me sick.

I spent the last two weeks studying for three exams, now focusing on the last one of those. Class? Chemical behind the skincare.

I went back to my notes, looking at graphics and formulas well written, trying to revise some useful acids for peeling and the benefits of vitamin c for our skin.

I sipped my coffee and looked at the time. Almost 11 o’clock.

It was so weird to think that the whole campus had the free morning. Someone definitely decided to spend it in bed sleeping, someone just enjoyed their free time and someone, like me, chose to keep on studying.

I never wanted to be the best student, but indeed I wanted to prove myself I could. I just needed to tell myself so, and actually work hard. Luckily, lessons were interesting and I found myself being capable of getting on the top of class.

Even cooking class was satisfying.

In the table next to me, a group of girls were chatting loudly, all smiling and well dressed. They were talking about the real reason why morning classes were cancelled and most of the girls went on campus anyways. The reason they all wore their best dresses and used tons of makeup.

An idol.

Or someone famous.

Again.

Yes, if months ago there were some weird visit by an entertainment company, that morning was the confirmation of a collaboration with the college.

So, an idol in that exact moment was in one of my college’s class filming some stupid advertisement about some stupid product, probably to attract teenagers who are still influenced by whoever is in the commercial.

And it worked just fine.

I sighed lightly reading again the same phrase on my notes. “What’s uva and uvb rays? And how uv sun rays damage our skin?”

Let’s say in the morning, especially on these cold ones, the last thing I think of is putting sunscreen on.

Just waken up then, after embracing a sky full of clouds, that’s definitely not my first thought.

And suddenly I thought about Nana who was surely still sleeping in her warm bed.

I lost every kind of concentration, desolated I closed my books and stopped looking outside the window.

I still had some time before the first lesson started, but it was so obvious that I wasn’t able to keep on revising.

This exam looked infinitely long to study and I still had one to go before the end of the year.

And then I suddenly started thinking about that lesson, one month and a half ago. About that speech the teacher made, about working in a company.

I sank into the chair, trying to make myself as little as possible.

I didn’t know what to do with this information. All my classmates saw the list and picked their favourite company. Some girls, after reading important company names, even started to study more.

And I was the only one in the class who hasn’t choose yet. Well, I didn’t even decided about doing this work or not.

I was one of the best students, suitable for the opportunity, but I was afraid about the whole working and going to classes and studying for exams at the same time. I could have just failed.

Plus, I really couldn’t understand why we had to choose a company, I could really work everywhere they wanted.

I snorted.

I knew my time was almost over, I couldn’t keep on procrastinating. A teacher already stopped me in the hallways to know if I made up my mind. I simply run away.

And then I suddenly thought about the no-boys rule, that has been recently broken by Nana a week ago at a really late halloween party. She kept on saying that she didn’t really broke our promise since she make out with a girl, but we both knew the truth.

On the other hand, I didn’t date anyone, girl or boy. I kinda made friends with other classmates, even ended up in a project group with Jackson, who kept being an acquaintance.

That’s it.

That’s it, like any other Hae-jin story then.

I looked up.

Y/n, stop thinking about him.

Yet, sometimes his kind smile came back to mind.

And even how we never met in the last month and a half, after bumping into each other almost every week.

Slowly the voices in the cafe became quieter and many people left, dispersing in the campus.

I sipped my coffee and I saw myself reflected in the window.

My eyes were tired from the lack of sleep and my cheeks bright pink because of the cold November.

I wrapped myself in my blue hoodie, judging again my morning decision to choose comfort over style. Countless times Nana tried to find any item in my wardrobe to save my outfits, that are so basic to her.

Anyways I did find a trick: just wear an elegant coat over every outfit and suddenly I didn’t look like a mess. Not completely.

I noted mentally to go shopping as soon as my mother sent me some money.

I got up picking my things up and throwing them inside the backpack and, against my will, I exited the cafeteria heading to class to revise the next coming exam. I wasn’t prepared for it, neither for the day ahead.

While i was quickly walking i kept hearing people chat about what was going on in college, and i even saw some people randomly run through the campus, going wherever they heard the idol’s last location was.

And it was just one of those crowds that crushed me. I stumbled, getting hit by thousands hands and shoulders that tried to get me out of the way.

I was almost falling when I ended up crushing a girl, she quickly grabbed me by my shoulders, holding me.

“Everything’s okay?’ She asked worried.

This girl definitely looked older than me, well I could guess she wasn’t going to college anymore. Her neat appearance made me feel ashamed. Everything about her made me think she was one of those girls who really treated herself good.

“I’m fine, thank you.” I said softly and bowed at her. She took a step back, feeling the embarrassment between the two of us.

With her right hand, closed into holding two different phones, she moved a lock of hair with her pinkie.

Only then I noticed she was holding, with her other hand, a big brown leather briefcase. She kinda looked like a business woman, only her windbreaker didn’t suit her style: an huge stuffed one, long ‘till under her knees, with an embroidered word on her chest, probably the name of the company she was working for.

She quickly excused herself and left, not giving me enough time to read that word. I only saw the logo, made by three little triangles that reminded me of the three Giza’s pyramids.

“Y/n!” I heard my name being called while trying to walk in the hallway. “Wait, y/n!”

I turned around to where I thought this voice came, only to see Nana, of course, running to me. In a couple of seconds she joined me and, well, actually she bumped into me, with the biggest hug.

“Y/n-ah, you have no idea how it’s so good to wake up late, i feel so fresh!” Saying so she slapped her cheeks lightly.

“Lucky you.” I looked up.

“Oh my god, what are those? Eye-bags?”.

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” I said shrugging my shoulders.

We walked side by side, in silence. Nana knew my weird sleeping habits, she knew it’s been weeks since I had a proper full night of sleep and, luckily, she knew when was the time to not say a word.

And I didn’t have to tell her more.

In the hallways people kept walking and talking, even louder than any other day, it was becoming annoying.

Everyone was frenetically moving, girls stopping mid walking looking at their phones, little half runs and continuously checking their hair.

I was getting curious to know who was the reason of this whole mess.

“Hold this: I have a concealer that matches your skin color.” Nana suddenly gave me her make-up trousse. We have so differently skin color, even different undertones, but I wasn’t shocked at all: we often tried make-up products together, even sharing them for fun. “If it’s not your color, you’re good enough to make it work it out. I know lately you’re not into this, but your eye-bags could literally scare the teacher.”

I smiled at her, knowing that she was trying to make me feel better and she definitely didn’t want me to look like a zombie.

We left in front of the class door, she headed inside to take seats while I just tried to remember where the closest toilet was.

Needless to say that I didn’t know at all: campus and buildings were huge, every lesson was taken in a different classroom and I still couldn’t orient myself. I only followed the signs.

I found myself walking for the whole hallway and after turning twice, fifty metres ahead, I ended up in a blind alley, with some doors on the sides.

Above one of them, a sign with a drawing of a lady. And behind that same door a group of girl exited the toilet. Coming across, we bowed slightly.

All of the sudden, behind myself I heard a soft sound, getting slowly louder until the rustle clearly turned into quick steps in the hallways.

I turned around confused, but I could only see me and the other four girls.

I was so focused on that sound which was gettin louder and kinda deafening because of the echo on the walls, that I didn’t notice I was slowly going backwards.

And when I turned, I didn’t have the time to clearly see the person I bumped into.

Raising my gaze, I saw some details.

A black button down shirt. A strong arm. Fine jawline.

And then the shoulder I literally crush into.

The man was taller than me so his shoulder was at the same height as my face, and because of my abrupt movement I ended up hitting him.

I got hurt on the side of my face, a strong smack at my right ear.

Suddenly my head started spinning, there was a loud strong whistle that kept shutting my thoughts. I stumbled untill I lied to the closest wall.

Every sound was padded. I brought my hands to my head, I could literally heard my blood angrily pulsing.

I didn’t know what was around me anymore. My vision was blurred, it was hard for me to focus on anything.

I ended up squeeze my eyes multiple times.

The man stopped, and I only knew because I couldn’t hear any close steps.

My legs were shaking and the whistle still there, not letting me think straight.

“Oh.” A manly voice that sounded so far away. “I am sorry.” His cold and formal words made me shiver.

The only thing I was thinking about was to find a quite place to sit, any place.

And then, like someone opened a door with air stream, steps and voices got louder.

The whistle left, letting me finally hear but every little sound now was painful as a stab. I looked up trying to recall the place, feeling the rough wall behind me.

I was so shocked to see a crowd of people coming towards me, and a man I could clearly see because he was taller than anyone. That man. He just run out to another hallway.

I didn’t see more because once I recognised the toilet door I only thought about laying on the little couch each bathroom in campus had.

I moved quickly.

I closed my eyes while sinking on it. Slowly I started feeling better, no more dizziness. My heartbeat was regular now.

Outside, finally the silence.

It still took me a couple of minutes before getting up. I decided to splash my face with some cold water and suddenly I felt a little better, more awake.

I could still clearly see how sick I looked.

Maybe it was time for that concealer to save me.

I quickly applied some makeup, trying to hide my dark eye-bags. I fixed my hair tying them up into a ponytail to look more clean.

“You look awful.” I whispered.

I exited the toilet and redo the same way backwards. Empty hallways and silences.

Only my steps echoing between the yellowish walls.

Three times I bumped into someone that morning. Three differs ways, three different people, three different pair of arms touched me.

Hold.

Loved.

Hurt.

Slightly bent over, I got closer to Nana who took a seat in the middle raw.

I tried to be as quiet as possible and to be the more invisible I could. The teacher already started the lesson and he was writing fast on the blackboard.

“Y/n, what happened?”

Nana asked after looking at the clock on the wall, and then at me. I let myself fall onto the chair, giving back her trousse.

“I don’t think I am feeling good, after class I am going home.”

I was slowly walking through the campus, heading to the exit while thinking about taking a long nap before getting back to study.

I needed to rest.

And i needed a painkiller for my headache.

“Miss. Y/l/n! Miss!” I heard a door slamming and quick steps. Beside me, my history of makeup’s teacher was closing our distance.

“Yes?” I asked. Behind him, inside the hallway people were talking and looking at us.

“I am truly sorry to disturb you, but I needed to know if you decided about the job. As I have already told you, this is the last week to sign up.”

“I am really thankful for your interest, but I haven’t had the time to look at the list, so I think I’ll have t-“ I couldn’t end the phrase because the teacher, after looking up for a folder and finding it inside his briefcase, interrupted me.

“Here it is.” He gave me the folder smiling.

“Honestly, I still won’t have the time to choose, I’m too busy studying for exams.”

“Miss y/l/n, that’s not the first time we talked about this.”

“I am truly sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to study and work and attend classes, all together.”

“Miss, I never thought of you as a lazy person, but you know better than me that classes are ending soon and there are just a few exams to be taken. Do you really want to risk to lose this opportunity?”

“What if I can’t do it?”

“Miss, you’re on the top five of the class, we are positive you’ll be able to make it just fine. And if you won’t, we do not expect you to pass every exam this semester.”

“But it will be humiliat-“

“It will be more embarrassing to lose such an opportunity to work with professionals. I don’t want to force you, but I think you’ll regret this in the future.”

He kept smiling the whole time, trying maybe to reassure me, while his words were sharp.

I really just wanted to go home, forget about everything and sleep. Thinking too much made my headache stronger.

I raised my gaze, ignoring his face. Behind him, I could see some people staring.

“All I ask you is to think about it.”

I grabbed the folder and hold it tight.

I just needed to resist one more week, and wait for the deadline.

But the idea of meeting persistent teachers made me feel sick. More than I already was.

“Are you feeling good?” He asked worried, taking on step closer.

“Not really. Teacher, I don’t really have time to choose between the companies right now.”

“I have a proposal. Actually, you can even meet them now if yo-“ He stopped talking mid sentence. “A-are you feeling good? You look pale, do you need some water?”

“Thank you teacher, I just need to go home and rest.” I quickly smiled.

“Please, think about my proposal. I actually highlighted the company in the list and at the end of the folder I gave you some informations.”

He sounded so noisy.

“Okay okay. I surrender, I accept. Please send me via mail al the papers I need to fill and I’ll gave it back to you as soon as possible. But now, I really need to go.”

I quickly bowed and left, heading to the closest bus stop.

The headache was painful as ever. I found myself crying on my way home.

————————————————

A/n:

I am truly sorry, it took me ages to write this chapter. I keep on revising it because I think it’s kinda dark and sad: it resembles what happened in the last weeks.

AnywaysI hope you still like it, and please dm me if you want to be tagged in next chapters!

Look forwards to the next ones, they’re gonna be gooooooood!!

#park haejin #park hae jin #korean actor #story #park hae jin x y/n #park har jin x reader #park #k actor #kdrama #writing in the spare time #writing #a place far away #original #forest

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mirkwoodshewolf · 5 years ago

Text

An All Hallow Queen’s night; AU! MONSTER Queen x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Hey all well I tried to get this done yesterday but some things came up and I just couldn’t but after putting you all through some haunting Hallowqueen fics throughout last month, I thought I might make it up with a more fluffier fic than my mini series turned out.

I hope that everyone had a good and safe Halloween last night and as we approach the 1 year anniversary of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody coming up in the next day or two (some in England or Europe might’ve already celebrated it, however in America we get some things a week later than ya’ll lucky ducks) anyways I hope that everyone had fun and if weatherwise it didn’t work out for anyone I hope you all still got candy and treats.

Now for this fic there is some haunting elements because this is an AU! Monster fic as you can tell and I first want to give credit where credit it due. Ever since seeing the beautiful Hallowqueen artwork that was done by @amedvleec in honor of the first ever Hallowqueen celebration (and I hope we have more of this in the Halloweens to come, cause this was honestly a LOT of fun for me, hbu?), I was inspired to try and write a fic based off your artwork and what you had made the guys in your drawing. It was hard to figure out where to take it but I finally came down to it. So I want to THANK YOU FOR CREATING SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SEE WHAT ELSE YOU COME UP WITH :)

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@geek-and-proud

@queendeakyy

@precioustyler

@platawnic

__________________________________________________________

It was that time of year again, the time of year where kids can wear their costumes and run amuck. The time of year where houses are done up all horrifying and you can scare the living shit out of some people, yep I’m talking about Halloween. And this year was gonna be the best Halloween ever.

Especially since this year I was hosting the yearly Halloween party for Team Queen. The roadies, sound techs, and of course the band members themselves were all gonna come over to my place and we were gonna have ourselves a little ‘Spook-a-poloza’.

I was putting the final touches to the outside of the haunted ‘maze’ that would be down in my basement and my cousins were putting on the last touches of their costumes and makeup. Once the webbing looked good I stepped back and observed.

“Ohh yeah. Very terrifying.” It was then I heard a clank at my window, almost like someone had thrown a pebble at my window. I walked over towards the living room but I saw no one there. I shrugged it off and went over to check on my gummy ‘cockroaches and caterpillar’ Jell-O cups when I heard the clank at my window again.

At this point I was getting a little scared as I walked right up to the window and turned on the deck light. All was quiet when suddenly someone jumped out and literally scared the shit out of me. I then heard the familiar chuckles and laughter and there dressed in his normal concert all black attire with two black gloves both imprinted with diamond claws, and wearing cat ears on top was Freddie Mercury.

“Damn it Freddie!”

“Did I scare you darling?”

“What do you think you bastard.” He chuckled before heading over to my front door. I opened it up and allowed him in. He grinned and opened his arms out for a hug. I accepted his hug and allowed him inside. “So why so early Fred? Usually you’re the last one to arrive.”

“Well it’s Halloween, plus if it’s your party I’ll always be the first one to arrive. Especially if I get to spend more time with you.”

“Ohh I see, you were just trying to beat Deacy from coming over first.”

“Oh okay fuck it yes that’s the reason why.” He said bluntly to which I laughed.

“Well since you’re here, care to be my taste tester for my ‘cockroaches and caterpillars’?”

“If it’s anything your cooking darling, count me in.” I led him into the kitchen and allowed him to test out my Jell-O creepy crawlies. As he tried a caterpillar I heard the doorbell ring. “Okay get back to me with your answer when I get back. And don’t pig out on them like you did at the Christmas party.”

“No promises darling.” He said as I left the kitchen and went to the door to reveal some of the roadies. I welcomed them in and that’s when I heard a voice cry out.

“(Y/n)!” I turned and soon coming out of the car was Brian along with Roger. I smiled and waved to them. As they got closer I saw that Roger had added what appeared to be spider eyes in a triangle shape on his forehead and he had in fangs and from his fingertips to a couple inches past his wrists were painted black. He also had spider webs wrapped around his arms so I began to think he was a half human half spider creature.

White Brian was dressed in a poet’s shirt (chest exposed of course), black silk pants, and around his eyes was smoky black paint along with some raven feathers.

“Let me guess. Uhh…..Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘the Raven’.” I said pointing to Brian. “And…..a spider of some sorts?”

“A drider, but minimized without the legs. But yes. And how could you get Brian’s costume?”

“Because unlike you, (y/n) is well educated in English literature, unlike you uncultured swine.” Brian said as he came up and wrapped an arm around me.

“What can I say? I had a Poe phase my middle school year. Hey do you guys know when Deacy’s said to come over by?”

“He told us he’d be here my sunset. Wanted to ‘get into character’ as he said.” Roger said doing air quotes. “Why you ask?”

“Just wanted to know.” Truthfully Deacy had called me earlier this morning telling me that he needed to tell me something. But it was the tone in his voice that got me worried cause it wasn’t his usual cheery self that he usually uses around me.

“But until then, your second favorite it here.” Roger said as he came up and twirled me into his arms before wrapping me up in his arms.

“Yeah. He’s inside being my taste tester.” I teased. He gaped his mouth open before tickling my sides which made me shriek and squirm in his embrace.

“You take that back you little minx or the tickling continues.” He threatened. I kept squirming before I finally managed to get out of his arms and said.

“Rog you know I hate it when you do that!”

“Exactly why I did it. Now get back into these arms you cheeky thing.” I shrieked and raced back into the house with Roger chasing after me. I soon met up with Fred in the kitchen and immediately hid behind him then just before Roger could grab a hold of me, Freddie stood between us and he said.

“Hold it blondie! No one messes with my darling witch but me.”

“Sod off Fred this is personal.” Roger teased as he eyed me playfully. I stuck my tongue at him.

As the night grew darker there was still no sign of Deacy but most of everyone I had invited was now in my house. While I was getting some ‘blood red punch’ Peter came up to me and said.

“Someone at the door for you.” I walked my way through the crowd and opened the door but saw no one there. I raised my brow and stepped further outside. I looked around but still couldn’t see someone, that was until I felt two hands grip my shoulders and I squeaked and turned to see Deacy.

“Deacy!”

“Aww c’mon poppet you’re not already scared are you?”

“I’ve already been spooked by Freddie and my dick cousin Cody earlier today, at this rate I’m gonna have a heart attack at the tender age of 16.”

“Well it’s a good thing I’m here then. You know that I’ll always protect you, right? I’m way more scarier than any monster or person that tries to do you harm.” I giggled softly and said.

“I doubt that.”

“Why not? I could only show you my loving side for a reason. But then again you always make me go soft for whatever reason.” He said as he leaned his forehead against mine, a common trait he and I did to show a sign of affection.

I got a better look at his vampire costume. Like Freddie, he wore the very outfit he wore last November at the Rainbow theater, the famed all black suit with white under shirt that exposed his chest. His long hair seemed more wilder than it usually was and he had on fake nails that resembled claws almost.

“Love the vampire look. Seems Fred isn’t the only one sporting his Live at the Rainbow attire.”

“He kinda suggested this outfit would make my vampire look more authentic.”

“Well I like it. Please come in, let’s get out of the cold.” He followed behind me and with that all the guests had arrived. I then got my microphone and had the DJ cut the music as I got everyone’s attention. “Alright if I could have everyone’s attention. Just for a second.” And of course most of the people ignored me.

“Oi listen up you fuckers!” Freddie’s voice cried out throughout my house. He turned back towards me and winked at me.

“Thanks Fred. Okay first I want to thank you all for coming to the 1975 Halloween party. Now I want to avert your attention to the cards you all were required to get the second you all walked through the door. This year’s party will also be centered around a Murder Mystery game. Based on the card you have received, you have been chosen to either be a villager, a police officer, a witch/warlock and finally the werewolf. Now the werewolf, police and villagers are very obvious characters, but if you have been given a witch or warlock card. You have the option for saving a victim or like the werewolf, you can create more werewolves.”

I could already see people getting intrigued, especially the guys. I smiled and continued.

“Now this game will go on for the rest of the night and whoever can guess who the main werewolf is by midnight is the winner. So as the party goes on, be sure to ask questions as your character. Any questions?” Brian raised his hand and I pointed to him.

“So if the villager is attacked by the werewolf, how long should it be for the villager to die?”

“I’d say give it 3-5 minutes. And werewolf don’t go overboard with the killings. Otherwise that’ll make you more obvious. And the way you attack is just tickle their palms for a brief second, but make sure it’s noticeable for your victim to get it.” Peter raised his hand next.

“When the villagers die, where do we go?”

“Excellent question. You have the option of becoming a wondering spirit. I’ve got some sheets prepared those that want in on the fun. You can wonder around but you can’t tell the name of the werewolf who killed you. Any more questions?” No one raised their hands. “No? Great, enjoy the party everyone and remember—be careful out there for this werewolf hunt begins…..now!” The party continued on.

The night went one and soon within 10 minutes, we heard the first scream and the first person to die was Johnathon, Roger’s roadie. And it was then the investigation began. I looked down at my card and saw that I was a witch. So I got into the mindset of my character and just lurked around debating on what to do.

It was then Deacy came up to me and said.

“Excuse me Miss. Just a quick question, you wouldn’t happen to know just who was behind the recent killing would you?”

“I may or may not officer. But you know I think I saw Brian looking a little suspicious. I did notice he was the last one to shake Johnny’s hand before he died.”

“Thank you ma’am.” I grinned as he walked away and I walked the opposite way.

The murder mystery continued on and so far most of the roadies and Peter ended up on the dead list. I looked around and that’s when Freddie came up to me and he said to me.

“Have you any idea who killed all those lovely dears?”

“I wish I knew Fred. I’m sorry about Peter.”

“Yes, I swear whoever killed him will pay for this barbaric betrayal.” We shook hands and that’s when I felt him tickle my palm. Ohh cheeky Freddie, very cheeky. I walked away from him and looked at the time to see that it was 9:25pm. Maybe I could make this even more interesting and maybe do an outside death scene.

I walked out of the backyard but kept the back door opened so that people could hear me over the music playing. I walked along the hay maze my cousins helped me set up when I heard the sound of rustling. I stopped and looked around.

“Whose there?” I asked. I didn’t see anyone else come out here, so either it was those damn squirrels or the neighbor’s dog again, then someone’s snuck onto my property. I grabbed the closest big stick I could find that still had a bunch of branches at the tip to make it look like a daggered stick. It was then coming around the corner was a man.

I quickly grabbed my torch and shone it on him and to my disgust I saw that it was Paul Prenter.

“What are you doing here Prenter?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here for the party.”

“Well there were two invitations I sent out. One to invite, and one not to invite. And I know I put you on the latter list.” I sneered at him.

“On the contrary love, I think I was put on the former list.” And I know this sounds crazy but I swear to god I thought I saw his eyes turn pure black as he grinned at me. “And I think it’s time I gave the hostess my profound gratitude.” He then lunged right at me as he roared an animalistic type roar.

Soon my screams could be heard from miles away. To one who could hear it, it sounded like I was literally getting murdered. I raced through the maze trying to escape from Paul.

*3rd Person POV*

From inside the house, only four people could hear the screams over the loud music. Freddie, Brian, John and Roger all met up with each other and Roger said.

“Was that (y/n)?”

“If it is, then that girl’s got a skill in acting.” Admitted Brian.

“No my darlings, I don’t think this is part of the game.” Freddie said wearily. Deacy sniffed the air and gasped before growling lowly exposing his fangs.

“What is it Deacy dear?”

“Prenter!” he hissed. At hearing his name the other three were in alert.

“That son of a—I’ll kill him I swear I’ll fucking kill him!” growled Roger.

“No Roger dear, leave him to me.” Freddie said as his demeanor changed from stoic to dark on a dime.

*My POV*

I kept running as Paul seemed to be getting closer and closer to me. I could hear his rabid snarling and maniacal, haunting laughter. As I ran a corner and tried to push on, I suddenly tripped and felt this sudden pain in my ankle. I cried out and turned to see Paul finally leap towards me. I ducked away but it was then I heard another snarl and soon hay just shot right over me as part of the wall exploded like a bomb going off.

I could hear what sounded like a tiger’s roar mixed in with either a lion’s or leopard’s low growling. Slowly I lifted my arms away from my head and just lay there in shock.

“(Y/n)? (Y/n)!” It was then Deacy came in from behind me and he knelt down beside me. “Oh poppet, are you alright?”

“Paul—he…his….I….AHH!” I screamed as I felt Deacy take my left ankle into his hand.

“Well thankfully it’s not broken. Just a little sprained. C’mon let’s get you some ice and heal that up.” He picked me up bridal style and turned back the way he came but my eyes were just glued to the broken up wall in the maze.

Back inside up in my room, Deacy was bandaging up my ankle before taking one of my bathroom mini-towels and placing the bag of ice in it before finally placing it on my ankle. I hissed and he said.

“I know it hurts for a while, but it’ll help decrease the swelling.” I really wanted to say something about what happened in the maze, but I knew I would only sound crazy. “(Y/n), poppet are you sure you’re okay?” I look up at him and said.

“I—I probably watched the Exorcist one too many times. That—that didn’t happen, it couldn’t have happened.” I said in denial. But looking up at Deacy, he didn’t look at me with sympathy or like I was crazy. In fact he looked—understanding.

“Poppet, remember when I said I had something to tell you?”

“Yeah. But—what does this have to do with what just happened?!”

“I promise all will make sense, but first I want you to answer me this.” He sat down close beside me, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and continued, “What exactly do you know about monsters?”

“What?”

“Please (y/n) just—just answer my questions.”

“Well they—they aren’t real. I mean that’s what my auntie always said to me when I was little. Deacy what’s going on? Why ask me about that?”

“I promise you everything will make sense. Now tell me; what do you know about vampires?” At this point I was growing not only impatient but more confused. Why was Deacy asking me these questions?

“Deacy please just tell me what’s going on!? I’m not only still shaken up by—well whatever the hell was going on with Prenter out in the maze but these questions aren’t making any sense!”

“Listen to me (y/n). I’m…..trying to ease you into this delicately. Hell we vowed to never tell you this but now—not only with what just happened but we finally came to an agreement that you deserved the truth.”

“The truth about what? Are—did you guys commit murder or something?”

“No, no nothing like that at all. But please just answer my question and I’ll answer yours.” He stroked my cheek softly. I looked up at him before sighing heavily.

“Well—my knowledge of vampires only limits to Dracula and other films regarding Vampires.”

“And what are those things?” he asked me.

“Well they—only come out at night.”

“Well truthfully it’s just no sunlight. Cloud days or stormy days they can come out.” Okay how the hell would he know that? “What else?”

“They uhh—drink blood. And they live forever.”

“Yes. And in a way they can, yes. Anything else you can think of?” I thought about it before saying.

“They have fangs? I don’t know! Deacy please enough questions what the hell is going on!?” I said panicked. He takes a deep breath in through his nose before exhaling and turning fully towards me.

“Okay poppet. I—I want you to look into my eyes.”

“Okay.” I said wearily.

“I mean really look into my eyes.” He emphasizes as he cups my face in both his hands and leaned in very close to me, so close that our noses kept brushing against one another. I kept my eyes on him and that’s when they changed from the bluish grey tone, to blood red.

At that point my heart just stopped and my body tensed up in fear.

“Tell me I’m not dreaming.”

“No, you’re not. And these aren’t special contact lenses either.” At that point I began to panic and it was then as Deacy took out the fake fangs, longer more realistic fangs grew out as he hissed and groaned. “Bloody hell my fangs have such bad timing.”

At this point like anyone should, I began stammering.

“Y-So—so y-you’re…..a-a-a real…..”

“Yes poppet. I’m a vampire. A real one.” And cue the panic and trying to get away. I tried to get off the bed but Deacy caught bot my wrists and tried to calm me down. “No, no please (y/n) don’t run. You’re going to damage your ankle even more. Don’t. Don’t it’s okay. Stop struggling. Please relax.”

“Let go of me! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go!” I begged and pleaded as I kept thrashing around. Deacy kept hold of my wrists and kept trying to soothe me.

“(Y/n) please calm down. Relax. Shh, shh. I’m not going to hurt you. I wouldn’t dream of hurting you. Look into my eyes.”

“No! You’re going to use that freaky mind control and make me your blood slave!”

“Okay you don’t have to look into my eyes but just—look at me. Look at me.” He cups my face again, his thumbs gently stroking my cheeks. “I’m still the same Deacy you know and love. Please love trust me.” I looked at him still in a panic but he kept looking at me with the same warmth and loving look he’s always given me. Even though now his eyes were red. “Breathe for me love.”

I took in a deep breath as he did the same.

“That’s it love. Let’s get your heartrate down. In for three, out for five.” We continued the breathing exercises until I was finally calm. “Good girl. That’s my girl.” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. Okay, getting a kiss from a vampire, never knew that would happen to me.

“So—all this time you’ve been…..”

“Yes.”

“And the guys….are—are they—vampires too?”

“Oh god no. You’ve seen our arguments and fights right?” I nodded. “It’d be—absolute hell if we were all vampires. No I’m the only vampire. But—the guys are also creatures of the night too.”

“What are they?”

“Well. Brian is a shapeshifter, but he mostly prefers to transform into a raven. Freddie is a familiar.”

“A what?”

“A familiar. They’re companions to a witch.” I thought about it and suddenly it clicked.

“So wait is—is Mary?”

“A witch? Yes. But don’t worry, she’s a good witch. A white witch, that means she only dabbles in light magic compared to what most witches are known for.” Okay so the few times I met Mary I’ve been talking to a real witch. “And roger is a drider.”

“A rider?”

“No love a drider. D.R.I.D.E.R. And—you may not like it when I tell you what that means.”

“I might as well know what it is so just tell me.”

“Basically you’ve got your half man half animals right. Like werewolves, mermaids, sirens, all that. Well a drider is a half man, half spider.” At that I shuddered.

“Spiders. Of all the things why did he have to be a spider.”

“Well, be thankful he’s not a naga.” He plainly suggested.

“I’m afraid to find out what that means.”

“Half person, half snake.”

“Oh fuck no! No, no, no, no!” he chuckled, even with the fangs, I could still see that sweet tooth gapped smile he’s always had. “So—monsters are real?”

“Yes. We’re all around. We can blend well with human society, but on All Hallows Eve, our true forms slowly come out till the stroke of midnight when our true forms take full shape.”

“So you—” I trailed off.

“I what? C’mon love don’t be shy. I know this is a lot to take in but don’t be afraid to ask me all the questions that are probably running through your mind.” He stroked my cheek gingerly with the back of his index finger.

“You’re—not going to eat me?” he let out a disbelieved chuckle.

“No. Well I mean…..”

“Deacy!” I whined fearfully.

“I’m kidding poppet. Of course not. I’ve told you time and time again, that I’d never let anyone hurt you. That also includes myself, come here.” He held his arms out to me. I looked at him cautiously but he assured me with those red eyes of his that he wasn’t going to try anything.

So I slowly leaned in and leaned against his shoulder like I always do whenever we hug. I felt his arms wrap around me and he rubbed my back comfortingly.

“Of course I would never eat you. And neither would the lads. We all care about you too much.”

“How long have you been like this?” He hummed and said.

“Wow, never thought I’d be asked that. It seems so long ago, I don’t know if you’ll like the answer. But—I’m around 537 years old, give or take.” I gaped at him. 537 years old? Holy shit! “Compared to the others I’m still the youngest. They’ve been around for millennia’s. Freddie of course is the oldest out of us. Then Bri and then Roger.”

“What else can vampires do?”

“Well, think of us as basically superhuman. We can lift things normal humans can’t. Our senses are sharper, and we can shapeshift our forms. Brian helped me gain control of that ability shortly after I met them roughly 196 years ago.”

“You’ve known them for that long?”

“Yes. Hard to believe isn’t it. Especially when we formed the band just recently. But I was living with them at the time as Queen was being formed.”

“But something doesn’t quite make sense. I thought vampires only drank blood, but I’ve seen you eat cheese of toast. And steak and shrimp. I thought vampires couldn’t eat human foods?”

“Well just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a human meal every now and then. While I can eat it, I can’t taste them as you humans taste things. The only thing I can taste is blood, but that doesn’t mean I have to live solely on blood. I don’t know where that came from.”

“Blame pretty much every vampire movie made.” He bopped my nose playfully and that’s when I grew nervous.

“What is it poppet?”

“Have—have you ever…..and I don’t mean this to be offensive but, answer me this. Honest and truthfully Deacy. Have you—ever bitten anyone?” he sighed heavily and said.

“I think what you’re asking is if I’ve killed anyone?” I looked down shamefully. “What would you think of me if I did? How would you feel if I told you that I—stalk my prey? That when I feed, I drain every last ounce of life out of them?” I grew pale and pushed back from him. “Love don’t worry. I get my blood through a blood transfusion program. It puts less suspicion on us, and saves more of my kind. But I won’t lie there are vampires who freely kill wherever they go. That they see humans as no more than blood bank pets.”

“Do they—live here in London?”

“Afraid so. But like I said before, I’ll always protect you. So will Freddie, Brian and Roger. In fact I’ll let you in on a little secret, come closer.” I lean a bit closer to him but keep a good foot away from him. “Closer.” I lean closer and that’s when he meets me halfway and whispers in my ear. “Vampires are afraid of driders.”

“For real?”

“I’ll admit I was afraid of Roger myself when I first met him, but he—sorta grew on me as the century went by. So you’re well protected especially if Roger is by your side should a vampire try to do anything to you.”

“Guess I’ll need to apologize to him telling how Fred was my second favorite Queen member.”

“Nah let him believe he’s in last place.”

“You are so cruel!”

“They don’t call me the kind of the one liners for nothing.” He bragged. “And you know, I’m quite surprised you never figured it out at least with me. Why did you think I never let you in the loo whenever I was getting ready?”

“So wait, Vampires really don’t have a reflection in the mirrors?”

“That’s the one gag that’s actually 100% true. Due to the silver material mirrors contain, we can’t be shown. That’s why I ask you for final looks before I go on stage on how I look.”

“So all that stuff about garlic and wooden stakes?”

“Completely false. Garlic just smells bad so that means anyone can be killed by garlic just because of the smell, and a stake can’t even pierce through a plate of ribs all the way through, so how the hell is it supposed to kill us? You would need to do repeated stabs in order to even attempt to get to our dead hearts.”

“And staying in during the day?”

“That is true to a degree. It’s only sunlight we can’t stand. But if it’s a cloudy morning then we can survive. But nighttime is the preferred method because our eyes are so sensitive. Driders have the same effect we do when it comes to sunlight.”

“So that’s why Roger’s always wearing sunglasses inside and out.”

“Exactly. Clever girl.” He said as he gently ruffled my hair.

“Now I have to ask. What happened outside with Paul, he’s—is he a monster too?”

“The worst kind of monster there is. A demon. He’s been poking around near us as a way to gain human souls for hell. But you don’t have to worry about him anymore, Fred took care of him.”

“You—you mean that—thing was Freddie?” he nodded. “But he—he didn’t even look human.”

“Familiars in their true form look more like goblins. They have some knowledge of magic but not a lot. And they’re the only creatures that can actually kill demons.”

“And that’s what Freddie did?” I asked.

“Prenter had it coming when he decided to attack you. Especially on All Hallows Eve when our powers are most strong.” I leaned back against his shoulder and asked the million dollar question.

“How did you become a vampire?”

“Hmm, never did I think I would tell that story again. It’s pretty long.”

“Well I’m sure the guys probably sent everyone home so the party’s cancelled. I’ve got all night if you’d like.” He stroked through my hair and he explained.

“Well; long before I met Veronica. Centuries before she was born. I—had another love. To me—she was everything, but to her I was nothing but a pet. A blood bank that would sustain her.”

“Ohh Deacy.”

“I mean—I knew the signs that she was a vampire. Because back then people weren’t as skeptical as they are today. So just from the signs I knew who she was, but—I didn’t care. I loved her. Anyways, one day there was a fire. Our house was in full blaze. A beam fell from the roof and, went right through my chest. I still have the scar to this day, you can even see it today.” He pushed back the left side of his attire aside and there I finally saw the faint lining of a scar that looked like something had stabbed him. “I guess—in her final mercy. She fed me her blood. The next thing I knew, I woke up stronger, condemned, my senses were sharper.”

“And—what happened to her? Did you ever find her again?”

“No. She—disappeared. I never saw her again, even to this day I’ve never found her. Best bet is that she probably got herself into trouble and ended up getting killed by humans. So…..ever since then I’ve been completely alone. Till I met the other three, then Veronica. And finally you.” He softly grinned down at me before brushing my hair aside.

“Is—Is Veronica a vampire too?”

“No. She’s like you. A mortal.”

“Does she know? About you and the guys being….you know.”

“I told her last year. She—caught me in the midst of my transformation. I—I was so afraid she’d leave me and see me as a monster instead of who I was to her. But……god or whoever above bless her, she still accepted me for being what I am. And now we’re raising our own little family together. Sure it may seem wrong for humans and monsters to be together but I don’t give a fuck.”

“I was told that vampires couldn’t procreate, is that also a lie?”

“Yes. In fact—vampires are basically the reigning kings and queen of creating actual life.”

“So you’re quite prolific then, aren’t you?” he laughed and bowed his head shyly.

“Yes you could say that. And at only 537.” He stroked the back of my head and he said, “Are you still afraid of me? Of the guys?”

“Honestly. Not of you. But then again I’m still shaken up at the fact that everything my grandpa said before he and nan died about monsters not being real is a lie. And due to the fact that I was almost killed by a demon. It’s—all too much for me to try and process.”

“And that’s understandable love. Brian said straight up as soon as you got close to us when you became our assistant that we should tell you the truth as soon as possible. But Fred and Roger said we couldn’t do that to you. You were so young, we wanted you to keep that innocence for a little longer. Plus we—didn’t want to lose you because of what we are.”

“I get why you guys kept this from me. But knowing everything now, you guys maybe monsters in a literal, physical sense. That doesn’t mean you’re monsters in the figurative sense. But it—it’s still gonna take time for me to completely accept that the famed band Queen are creatures of the night.”

“Again, I understand. Just know that—even though we are monsters, we are still the same four boys you know and love. And we still love you just as much. We can still love and care just like humans can, we have flaws, we feel lonely. Sometimes even more than what you humans go through when it comes to loneliness. But all the same emotions humans go through, we go through them too.” I nodded and he smiled and hugged me close to him.

He nuzzled the top of my head before pressing a few kisses on top of it.

“How’s the ankle now?”

“Still a bit numb, but I think it’s just due to the ice. It doesn’t hurt as much as before.”

“Let me take a look at it.” He scooted downward and removed the rag from my foot and quietly observed it. He gently placed his hand over it and my cold skin mixed with his slightly cold hand, it sent shivers up my spine. “Well it’s coming along fine. We’ll just need to keep it propped up and iced and you should be able to walk again in the next few days.”

“Thanks Dr. Deacon.” He grinned before turning towards my clock.

“It’s nearing midnight.” I turned to my clock and saw that he was right. It was now 3 minutes till midnight. Damn where did the time go? “Shall the lads and I see ourselves out?”

“Well I mean, if you wanted to, you guys can stay here for the night. My cousins probably long went home by now so it’s just me in the house now.”

“Well I—we wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You’re not. I love having you guys here. Plus I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight after what just happened with Paul.”

“No worries poppet. We can protect you.” He said as he stroked my cheek gingerly. There was a brief moment of silence before Deacy continued, “The guys are on their way up here.”

“Wait—how did…..”

“Telepathic connections love. Anyone that’s close to a vampire can be connected through a telepathic link between each other. So that means I can connect with the guys, Veronica, my children.” ‘And now you.’ I gasped as I suddenly heard his voice in my head.

He chuckled softly as he grinned and I heard his voice again say.

‘Can you hear me poppet?’

‘Yeah. I can hear you.’ I answered in my head. He touched my forehead with his and brought me closer to him when a voice spoke up.

“I see you just extended your telepathic bond with our beloved (y/n).” We looked up and there stood Bri, Rog and Freddie. Bri then spoke again, “How’s the ankle love?”

“Getting better.”

“So—Deacy told you everything huh?” Roger said as his eyes showed nothing but pure shame.

“Yeah. I know the truth about you guys. It’s—a lot to take in but….I think with time I can accept this.”

“And that’s all we can ask for darling. Just as long as you never change your mind about us. See that what we were doing around you was just for show wasn’t an act. That’s who we really are.” Freddie said as he came up to my other side and placed his chin on my lap.

“She’s allowed us to stay here for the night while our full transformation begins.” Deacy told the guys.

“Are you sure lovie? You—may not like what you see from some of us.”

“As long as you don’t destroy my house then I have no problems Rog. Besides sooner or later I’m gonna have to see your true selves. You all have already seen mine when I told you about my parents about to sell me in the black market for drug money had it not been for my grandpa.”

“She’s right Roger dear. It’s only fair.” Freddie said as he sat up and rubbed my back comfortingly. It was then my grandmother’s mini Victorian ‘grandfather clock’ chimed away signaling that midnight had arrived.

Fred and Deacy both got off my bed and it was then the boys began to morph. Deacy’s hair grew longer almost down to his mid back, his fingers grew longer and his nails more sharper to a point. Brian grew about a foot taller and his skin changed from that slight tan color to a greyish tone, his eyes went from hazel blue to purple.

But the biggest change came from both Fred and Roger. Roger’s lower half began to stick together as now 6 spider legs started spurting out. A spider body began to consume his lower half and the three eyes that stood on his forehead finally began to come alive as they moved around till they locked right onto me. And Freddie—well his entire human feature almost disappeared as his legs disappeared into the tentacle like tail that I saw earlier in the maze. His fingers grew longer and longer, and his head morphed almost into an alien shape like bulb.

His eyes went from brown to an amber-like orange, but what was almost haunting was the fact there was this black, magic smoke surrounding him, as well as moths that fluttered around him as he stood there. Another thing I began to notice was that in this form, he had no mouth.

At the last chime from my clock, the guys stood there in their full forms right before my very eyes.

“(Y/n), you—okay?” I’ll admit I’m stunned to see them like this, hell there’s still a part of me that wants to flee for the hills (and I hate to admit it that it was mostly because of Fred and Rog at this point. Out of the four of them, they take the prize for being the most horrifying to look at).

“I—”

‘If it help darling.’ In this form Freddie’s voice was more like a haunting whisper of the wind. ‘I can change into my other form.’ Other form? Oh god what would that look like. Then almost at the snap of a finger, a black cat stood in Freddie’s place.

He was pure black much like his hair was in his human disguise, and he had the orange eyes. He was pretty lean in his cat form and he meowed as he came up towards my bed. I smiled as he hopped up gracefully onto my bed and walked up towards me. He meowed again before making a trilling sort of meow as a motorboat purr came out of him as he nuzzled me.

I picked him up and held him close to me as he licked his lips.

“I guess I can see why you and Mary have so many cats back home. Can you speak to them?” he meowed before nuzzling my cheek and even licked it. I went ahead and took that as a yes.

“He says yes, and they keep him company most of the time.” Explained Deacy.

“So you guys can understand him in cat form?” I asked as I scratched under Freddie’s chin.

“Yes. Soon in time you’ll be able to understand him too.” Stated Brian.

“Dick move Fred, you know that I can’t turn into a cuddly cat or animal to ease (y/n) into this.” At that point I heard Freddie growl. Now I didn’t need to understand familiar tongue to know a growl like that.

“Hey now don’t be ugly Freddie.” I warned him as I adjusted him in my arms. He then squirmed a bit wanting me to set him so I obliged and he rubbed up against my leg before plopping down against it, exposing his tummy. “Okay you’re forgiven.” I then rubbed his stomach like a dog and I heard his purrs grow louder. I think it’s clear to me that he’s the only cat that ever likes belly rubs and scratches.

“Are there—anymore questions that are on your mind about us?” asked Brian.

“I think I’ve been filled enough for one night. I’m still trying to process Deacy’s backstory but in time I’ll ask about you three later.”

“Understandable lovie. We’re sorry again that we never told you in the 3 years you’ve known us. We just……”

“I know Rog. Deacy explained it to me. And to be honest if I were in your shoes I’d probably do the same thing. But…..” I trailed off sadly.

“What is it love? C’mon tell us.” Deacy said as he came up to me and placed his hand on top of my shoulder and gave it a soothing rub with his thumb. I took a deep breath and sighed.

“Are the three of you immortal as well?” At hearing my question Brian answered.

“Yes. We’ve been around for millennia’s.”

“So—that means you four will have to watch me grow old, wither and then die.” At hearing that, the four of them grew solemn that was until Deacy spoke.

“Well love, there—there is one way. But it requires the greatest sacrifice.” I turned to him and at that point Freddie took his leave and morphed back into his true form. “One night during the Sheer Heart attack tour, we all sat down after you went to bed. And we talked about this matter very deeply. Out of all our years of living, you have been the one that made us feel what it meant to be—human. You’ve given us so much that—that we can’t bear to watch you slowly wither and parish with time.”

“You’ve always been there for us. Taught us that it was okay to not be okay.” Brian added.

“To not let the growing media put you in a spotlight that is not true.” Added Roger.

‘That it’s okay to have flaws and insecurities. That you don’t always have to be perfect to everyone.’ Freddie added.

“So—the question I have for you is this.” He took both my hands in his, he looked deeply into my eyes and said the four most dangerous, most trusting words that a vampire can say to anyone. “Let me turn you.”

At hearing those four words, my heart stopped and I stared at him in shock.

“I know it’s unfair for me to ask that of you. We’d be asking you to give up everything you’ve ever known. Leave the remaining family you have and having his curse upon you. But there’s no other way.”

“Isn’t there some magic spell that Mary can use?”

‘Magic can be used to increase a witch’s life force but putting a mortal. A pure mortal like you under one, could have serious consequences. I would not risk it even if Mary were to find a spell to do just that.’ Freddie said. I nodded and thought long and hard about it.

“Will—will it hurt?” There was silence in the room till Deacy asked.

“Is that a yes?” Before I could reply, he cupped both sides of my face and said in a serious tone. “I need you to be 100% certain that your answer is yes. Because if it is, there’s no going back. And there are no do-overs. Once you are turned, that’s it. Now I’ll ask again. Will you let me turn you?” I kept silent as I thought about this long and hard.

Yeah I mean I would leave my cousins behind but we hardly ever saw each other since they are legally adults and have their own lives. I just call them whenever I need help with something or they help keep the mortgage on my grandparent’s mansion since I couldn’t afford it yet.

Plus I don’t want to die while the boys kept on living. I wouldn’t dream of putting them through that grief after all we’ve been through together, what we could go through together. So I gave Deacy my answer.

“Yes.” He exhaled nervously before suddenly embracing me. At first I thought he was going to bite me right then and there, but all he did was stroke down my hair and rock me from side to side.

“I promise love, I’ll teach you everything I know. I can officially be your ‘brother’. I won’t let you fall off the wagon. I’ll take care of you I promise.” Wow I mean I knew Deacy was sensitive but never did I think this much. I actually kinda liked it. At least I knew I wouldn’t be abandoned like he was when he was turned.

A little bit of time passed by and Bri and Fred left the room leaving Roger, Deacy and I in my bedroom.

“So—how exactly is this going to work?” I asked.

“Well there are many ways that a turning can happen, but it all has to come to one common denominator. The turnee has to be at the brink of death.” Deacy explained. Why didn’t that surprise me? “And since I wouldn’t dream of doing something like shooting or stabbing you, I think it’d be more humane to go the traditional way.” I nodded but didn’t say a word. “(Y/n), something’s on your mind love. Tell me.”

“I—I don’t know I just…..”

“Do you regret saying yes?”

“No it’s not that Deacy it’s just…..”

“Just what?”

“What if—what if something goes wrong? Like you find my blood so tasty that you can’t stop. That you just forget about turning me and just kill me right here on my bed.”

“That’s why I’m here lovie.” Roger said as he stepped towards me. He placed his black-clawed hand on my other shoulder and he continued, “As I’m sure he probably told you. Vampires fear nothing except for one creature. Driders. If for whatever reason Deacy’s primal instincts take over, one stern word from me and he’ll immediately back off. Because throughout history our venom is so potent, that it has the ability to kill other immortal creatures, including vampires.”

“Especially since his species of drider is the most dangerous and the kings and queens of all. Roger is a black widow drider.” I turned towards Rog and he merely shrugged.

“I don’t like to brag.”

“Oh please every year you like to show off the famed red hourglass you’ve got.” Deacy rolled his eyes.

“Watch it bat boy just remember who you’re talking to.”

“Okay guys, guys, guys. Human female in the room remember?” They ceased their arguing and Roger apologized. Deacy brushed the hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear and he said.

“I’ll try my best to not go overboard. I’ll only drain just enough to where you can still drink my blood. And like Roger said, he’ll be here in case anything does go sideways. But I promise I’ll try to control myself.” He kissed my forehead and had me lay down on my bed. He hovered over me and he asked me. “Are you ready?” I swallowed hard and exhaled a nervous breath.

“Yes.” He stroked my cheek and whispered in my ear.

“Just relax love. It’ll feel like getting a shot, then some numbness. I’ve got you poppet.” I felt his nose go from my cheek down to my neck. He stopped at the middle section of my neck where probably my veins were more noticeable. “I can hear your heartbeat, and I can smell it too. Relax love. It’ll be more painful the more tense you are.” It was then I felt Roger’s hands take my right one and he gave it a comforting squeeze.

“I’m giving you permission to squeeze my hand as tight as you want to. If you feel afraid or any pain, you can squeeze my hand. You won’t hurt me.” I nodded briefly. I felt Deacy place a kiss on my neck before I felt his fangs graze against my skin.

Then just like getting a shot at the doctor’s (however unlike a little needle, these were two hypodermic fangs) I felt a prick at my neck. I gasped and squeezed Roger’s hand.

“It’s okay lovie. Just look at me, look at nothing but me.” He cupped the side of my face and stroked my left cheek so that I wouldn’t look at Deacy. “Just focus on me lovie. I can share with you some drum solos I’ve had in mind for the Christmas concert we’re scheduled to do.”

I hummed and as he spoke, I felt myself getting lightheaded. Roger was going in and out of focus and my mouth was now gaping out. I felt numb and tired and that’s when I heard Roger say.

“Deacy stop. She’s ready.” But I heard an animalistic growl coming from Deacy. It sounded much like a lion’s growl, maybe even a bear I don’t know. My vision was growing black and I heard Roger snarl. “Deacon enough! You’re going to kill her!” At that point I heard what sounded like a lion mixed with a snake’s hiss as Deacy jumped back from me and I saw the blurry figure of Roger standing over me. “ENOUGH!!!”

I then felt light, faint strokes around my head and Roger’s muffled voice said.

“(Y/n), lovie can you hear me?” I faintly groaned and that’s when Deacy came back into my blurry vision and I heard him say.

“Oh god love I—I’m sorry I-I-I didn’t mean to go overboard I….”

“Just quickly give her your blood before she passes out.” Roger told him. It was then I saw Deacy bite into his wrist and I felt it touch my lips.

“Here love, drink.” I placed my lips over it and at first gagged at the taste of his blood. It was like licking 1000 pennies all at once. “I know love, I know it tastes bad but it’ll pass. Please love you have to drink or else you’ll die.” He cups me behind my head and much like a baby, places his wrist back to my mouth and I slowly began drinking his blood.

It tasted revolting at first but like he said, it soon turned out to be the most delicious thing I ever tasted. Kinda like—my favorite milkshake at Kenny’s ice cream parlor. I don’t know what came over me but I found myself gripping Deacy’s forearm and greedily drank his blood.

“Now, now, not so fast love. Easy. Easy poppet.” He cooed as I let him stroke my hair. I kept drinking and drinking until I had my fill. I separated from his wrist and exhaled. “You messy little thing.” He cooed as I felt a wet rag wipe away my probably bloody mouth and chin.

“D-De….”

“Shhhh, just rest now.” He whispered. Suddenly feeling exhausted I closed my eyes and fell fast asleep.

*3rd Person POV*

As John looked down at her, he couldn’t believe he almost ended her life. Even though he’s had human blood thousands of times from the blood transfer program the hospitals do with vampires, it had been centuries since he got it from the actual source.

It was like—he had been taken over by centuries of natural instincts and he just needed to keep drinking from her. But thankfully Roger was there to stop him. He would’ve never forgiven himself had he killed her.

“Thank you Roger.” He nodded.

“Just don’t scare me like that again. I was literally seeing the life drain from her eyes. Don’t ever put me in the position again.” The two rhythm players of Queen looked down at the young newborn vampire about to be born.

“You can leave now Roger. I’ll stay with her.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. I know what it’s like to not have the one who turned you leave you. I don’t want to damage her psyche like that. I am her brother now. And she deserves to see me when she first awakens.” Roger nodded but before he left, he stroked (y/n)’s hair and nuzzled her head before giving her a soft kiss to her forehead.

Once Roger left the room, Deacy lay down close beside her and held her close to him. He allowed her head to rest on his chest and he protectively wrapped his arms around her. Rubbing her back and stroking through her hair, he knew touch was crucial to her at this point.

About an hour and a half later, she began to stir and the first thing she felt were back rubs and scalp massages. She moaned and curled deeper into Deacy’s chest.

“Morning sister.” She looked up and as he looked into her eyes, her normal (e/c) eyes were now blood red. Her nails were more pointed but not as long as Deacy’s were.

“De-Deacy?”

“Yes sister mine. It’s me. How do you feel?”

“Needy. Why do I feel needy brother dear?”

“Because sister mine, much like newborn human babies, newborn vampires need to have the skin to skin contact with the one that turned them. Unlike the wench that turned me, I won’t abandon you.” She buried her face into his neck and buried her hand into his suit and stroked around his shoulder and even went down his chest to touch the scar he had shown her earlier.

Deacy did the same thing as he nuzzled her head like a lion nuzzling their pride mate and tucked his hand under her shirt so that his hand was now touching her bare back, rubbing soothing circles.

“That’s it poppet. Just cuddle against me. It’ll all be okay. I’m here, I’m here.” He whispered as he continued to bury his face into her hair.

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