#the next one is already on my queue and all set for tomorrow!

[notsosecretlyalesbian]

"Oh, so it's about money? 'Cause I can stretch a budget like a big headed baby stretches a…"

Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti in Abbott Elementary | 02×04: Principal’s Office (1/2)

[thetriumphantpanda]

Delicate - Chapter Two: Maroon

3.7k / pairing: joel miller x f!reader

Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

summary: despite some last minute reservations about meeting Joel, you throw yourself into the date, but it doesn't go according to plan.

A/N: Ahhhhh oh my God - @hellishjoel and I are so excited to bring you the second chapter of Delicate! We're having the best time with this little pairing already and we hope they manage to worm their way into your hearts just like they have with us! We're taking turns in posting the chapters of this - so please make sure you're following both of us to keep up to date!

warnings: mentions of being a single parents, rom-com vibes, foul language, a bestie who is nothing but trouble, Joel being terrible at dating in general, a lil smattering of angst, mentions of food & alcohol consumption.

There’s a flow of peace that settles across you when the door to Noah’s room clicks shut. You love him, he’s the best thing that ever happened to you, and he keeps you afloat every day, but these moments, when he’s finally asleep and you can stop thinking for a minute, are the moments you crave each day. 

You settle down on the couch, mug of tea in hand, with the TV playing quietly, just for background noise more than anything, as you pick up your phone for the first time that evening. There’s a few emails, mainly about shopping sales and holidays that you think you should book but never do - those are quickly deleted to stop any temptation of spending money on something that isn’t essential. There are a few messages from your mom, just confirming that she’ll pick Noah up from school tomorrow, what she’s planned for them to do and what she’ll feed him. You shoot a message off in reply that it all sounds good and that he’s excited for some quality time with his grandparents, because it’s true, and then you set your phone down on the coffee table and try to ignore it for a while. 

You finish your tea and queue up a few episodes of a show you’ve been meaning to catch up on - something mindless that people at work always seem to talk about. So mindless that it actually sends you to sleep. You wake with a jolt a few hours later. The house is still quiet, which means Noah hasn’t decided he’s still got too much energy and needs to burn it off by jumping on the bed or pulling some of his toys out. You sigh, checking the time to see it’s almost midnight. 

You gather your stuff, put the mug in the sink to deal with in the morning before trudging up to bed. There’s a moment at the top of the stairs, where you think it would be so easy to flop down on the bed and forgo the rest of your responsibilities, but you’ve got your mother’s voice in the back of your mind, something about wrinkles and pores and how bad it is to sleep in your makeup, so you turn left into the bathroom, cover your skin in serums and creams and then finally, just after midnight, you fall into bed. 

Knowing it’s bad to look at your phone this late at night, once you’ve set your alarm, you click open the godforsaken Hinge app that Dixie had insisted on setting you up on. So far, after six months, you’d been on a fair few first dates, three second dates and had a God awful one night stand, but nothing had been sticking, no-one seemed to be exactly what you were looking for. You’d promised her that you’d try though, so as had become a nightly ritual for you, you set about giving away your daily likes, not really paying a huge amount of attention until he pops up for you. Joel. 45. From his first profile picture, the exact kind of man you’d been searching for. Rugged, handsome, 

Of the few photos he had on his profile, he was often donning a flannel or a simple short-sleeved shirt that curved around his biceps and broad shoulders. He always wore the same tilted smile, with dazzling eyes and dark hair with licks of silver. He was a handsome lumberjack of sorts. 

He looked to be an outdoorsman, at least two of Joel’s pictures were of him hiking a trail accompanied by a young girl, surrounded by greenery and tall rocks with the sunshine peeking through the branches. His face was glowing and tan from the light, his handsomeness so natural. Beautiful, even. 

Joel’s “Typical Sunday” consisted of a black coffee in the morning, followed by making burgers on the grill for him and his family before settling down to watch a Dallas Cowboys football game. That was a typical Sunday for a man, but it showed how he liked to unwind and that he was a family man. 

First, the mention of a family, plus that beautiful young woman in almost all of Joel’s pictures - a daughter, perhaps? Older than your own boy by quite a few years. He must have been on the younger side of having children if any of these assumptions were even correct. But there was something about knowing he also had a baby to be thinking of felt familiar, comforting, as they would always come first. 

 And it turns out that talking to him is pretty easy too. He’s charming, a slight insomniac like you, and from what you can tell from the slight back and forth you managed to have before you go to sleep, able to flirt a little with you too. It’s why when he asks to take you out you say yes without hesitation, it could be fun, he could be the one, who knows? 

Mornings are always chaos. Half-eaten bowls of cereal on the table, a mug of coffee made with the best of intentions but sat to go cold, a rush of getting Noah dressed and in the car with everything he needed for school and then the annoyance of getting stuck in traffic on the way to drop him off, all coalesce to make you stressed as you help Noah out of the backseat. 

“Remember granny is picking you up this afternoon okay?” You ask, bending down to kiss his cheek as he fiddles with the straps of his backpack. 

“I know, mom.” He groans, using the back of his hand to wipe the kiss off his cheek. 

You smile, ruffle his hair a bit, because no matter how much he might protest, he will always be your baby, “Behave for her, okay?” You warn lightly with a smile, “She’ll bring you back home tomorrow.” 

Noah spots some of his friends across the playground and steps around you to make his way into school. You turn, hold your hand up in a wave and shout at him to have a good day. Noah turns, walking backwards to look at you, waving right back. 

“Have a good day, mom!” 

Underneath the way he’s growing up, he’s still the sweet little boy you knew you could raise on your own. You sit back in your car, picking your phone up to make sure you’ve got enough time to go to the store and stock up on some groceries, when you notice a notification from Hinge. It’s Joel. 

Just checking you’re still okay for tonight? 

For some reason, you sit and stare at it for a few minutes, fingers itching to type something, to confirm, but there’s that usual seed of doubt that appears after all this time that makes you want to tell him something’s come up, you’ll have to reschedule. After months and months of trying to find someone, to failed first date after failed first date, you wonder if it really is worth it, no matter how good of a match Joel Miller seems on paper. Is he really going to be worth getting dressed up for? You sigh, type out your usual message of I’m sorry, I think I might have to reschedule, when the screen is filled with the face of your best friend, trying to call you. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello sexy mama!” Dixie’s voice immediately soothes you, “How are you this fine morning?” 

“I’m okay,” You speak softly, plugging the phone into the car so you can speak to her as you drive, “Just dropped Noah off at school.” 

“How is my favourite man?” She asks. 

“Yeah, he’s good, he’s staying with my mom tonight so I think he’s just pleased to be away from me for a while.” 

“It’s like the universe read my mind!” Dixie exclaims on the other end of the phone, “Do you want to go out and get wine drunk tonight?” 

You stutter for a second, because you could, you could cancel with Joel, go out and drink cheap wine and dance with your friend, but before you can say anything, Dixie picks up on your hesitation. 

“OH MY GOD!” She all but screeches, “Do you have a hot date tonight?!” 

You grumble a little, because how is she always so attuned to you like this? 

“Yeah, although I don’t know if I’m gonna go.” 

“Why not?” 

You sigh again, “I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore?” You offer. 

“Girl, get outta here with that attitude!” She chastises, “Is he hot?” 

You grumble a little again, but you can’t deny it, Joel is hot, “Yes.” 

“Well then,” You can hear her clap her hands in the background, clearly having you on speaker so she can go about her business, “If he’s hot, then there’s no harm in it, forget me and my wine, go out, drink wine with your hot mystery stranger and get fucked, girl!” 

“Dixie!” You screech, “I’m not fucking him.” 

“Whatever you say, girl!” She shouts down the phone, “If you cancel, I’m kicking your ass, okay?” You sigh, once again, something you’re getting more and more used to these days, “Have fun and be safe!” 

And then all you can hear is the dial tone from where she’s hung up on you. You think about it all the way around the grocery store, she wouldn’t know if you did cancel, would she? But you’ve known her long enough to know she’d sniff a lie out of you in seconds. So, when you settle down at your desk, you pull out your phone and send Joel a reply to confirm the plans you made last night, and then spend the rest of the work day trying not to work yourself up about the whole thing. 

You don’t think that the anxiety of waiting for a date to show up will ever get easier. Stood just inside the doorway of the restaurant Joel had chosen, you’re chewing at the skin around your thumbnail. Did you dress right? Do you look okay? When he turns up will he look like his pictures or not? Will he lean in for a kiss on the cheek? Do you give him a hug? You’d like to think of yourself as a seasoned pro at this now, but those first few awkward moments always made you anxious - there was no second chance at first impressions. 

You needn’t have worried about Joel though. When the door opens and he stands in front of you, he is exactly the man you’d studied on that app. Taller than you, broad and big. Scruff, peppered with gray across his face, though it’s neatly kept, just like this hair, although more unruly, it’s still peppered with grays and it suits him. He’s wearing dark jeans, and a flannel that you think must be saved for best. You step closer, open your arms. Joel leans down, and does indeed press a kiss to your cheek, one of his wide palms pressed lightly on your lower back as he hugs you back a little. 

“Nice to meet you, Joel.” You smile when he pulls away. 

“You too, ma’am.” He smiles back at you, and you can tell he’s nervous. 

“What have I told you about that?” You tease as you step towards the hostess, Joel giving her his name, you hope the slight teasing will put him at ease, you remember just what it was like when you started dating for the first time, and as much as you want to have a good time, you want to make sure Joel is having a good time too. 

She picks up two menus, leads the two of you to a table at the edge of the restaurant. Joel pulls your chair out for you, pushing it gently under you as you sit down. The light is low, and there’s a thrum of chatter across the whole restaurant as you open the menu, glancing your eyes over the choices. 

“Do you want to share a bottle of wine?” You ask, finger skimming the list of wines available. 

Joel nods, “Sure thing, darlin’.” 

You smile, looking down at the menu, deciding you much prefer darling to ma’am, especially in that sweet southern drawl of his. When the waitress returns, you both order food and a bottle of wine, which is quickly brought to the table, uncorked, with the dark red liquid poured into two glasses. The waitress leaves the bottle on the table as you raise your glass, Joel following suit, clinking them together before you take a sip. 

You’re watching as he does the same, a smaller sip than you, and then watch as his nose crinkles and he coughs a little. It makes you laugh, putting your glass down to cover your mouth a little. 

“Dunno why I said yes,” He shakes his head, “Fuckin’ hate wine.” 

You can’t help but properly laugh now, hoping that it puts him a little at ease. You reach over the table, lay your hand on his wrist just a touch, “What would you prefer to drink?” 

You don’t miss the way he subtly drags his wrist back from your touch, covering it by scratching at the skin on the side of his hand, but you don’t let it bother you. You’re a touchy person, it’s what makes you feel at ease mostly, but that doesn’t mean it works for Joel, so you fold your hands back in your lap. 

“Usually beer,” He mumbles, flagging down the waitress as she walks past to ask for just that, “Or whiskey.” 

“I don’t mind a beer,” You offer, trying to make light conversation, “But whiskey makes my throat burn.” 

He doesn’t offer much of a reply apart from a short hum from his mouth, his attention moving from you to the room around you, letting the table fall into silence. You look down at your lap, trying to think of things to say whilst you wait for your food. 

“So, Sarah, right?” You ask after his daughter, it’s something the two of you have in common at least, “You must be super proud of her, medical school is incredible.” 

“Yeah,” He says simply, “She’s a very smart girl.” 

You expect him to ask after Noah, ask him a little about what he’s like, maybe what his favourite subjects are at school or whether he’s in any sports clubs or anything, but he doesn’t offer anything else to you, doesn’t ask any questions. 

There’s a lull in the conversation, saved by the waitress dropping your meals in front of you, fresh tomato pasta with chicken for you and steak and mashed potatoes with asparagus for Joel. You swirl your fork through the pasta, scooping some into your mouth as Joel cuts into his steak. Your eyes are trained on him, watching how he eats - it’s one of your big tests, table manners, and to be fair to him, he passes with flying colours - sure he eats a bit fast, but it’s nothing off-putting, and he seems to be able to use a knife and fork properly and chew with his mouth closed, which is a far cry from the last person you’d been out with. 

“You look really good tonight,” You offer, setting your fork down for a moment, “The flannel is very Texas.” 

You think in the dim light you can see him flush a little, and you’ve not said anything that isn’t true, he does look good. Fucking great actually. Joel finishes swallowing, takes a swig of his beer. 

“Thank you,” He tips his head towards you, “You look nice too,” He brings his hand up to his face to motion, “Rosy cheeks.” 

You try not to let your disappointment show, it is a compliment after all, so you put all your focus back down into your meal, the two of you finishing your food in a rather awkward silence - you willing Joel to ask you something, to start a conversation, anything really. You watch as Joel pushes the asparagus around his plate after eating two of the spears, finishing off his steak and potatoes but leaving the rest of the greens. 

When the waitress comes back to clear your plates, she asks if you’d like the dessert menu. You look to Joel, who tips his head in a way to say it’s up to you, but this has quite possibly been the most excruciating few hours of your life, so you drain your glass of wine, tip the last of the bottle into the glass and sit to wait for the bill. 

“Listen,” Joel starts, dragging your attention from the bottom of your glass to him, a look of slight regret on his face, “I ain’t too good at all this,” He tries to explain, “It’s been a long time and I’m a little rusty.” 

You kind of want to wring his ass for it a little, but underneath his apparent disinterest, you can still see the nerves of the guy who first walked through the door, and you get it, you think you’d been similar when you first started dating again, but you don’t think you’d completely lost the ability to think of a single question. 

Joel insists on paying the bill and you don’t fight him for the privilege of splitting it - you think it might upset some of that southern chivalry he has and for someone else they’ll love that. It’s a silent affair as you both stand up, gather your things. 

“How are you getting home?” Joel asks, holding the front door open for you. 

“I can just grab a cab,” You smile, “How about you?” 

He points to a truck, “Only had one so I can drive home,” He explains, “Do you mind if I wait with you for your cab?” He asks, “I’d feel better knowing you get in one safe.” 

“Of course,” You smile, “The hostess called one for me, so it shouldn’t be long.” 

There’s another lull in conversation, thankfully your cab arrives quickly, saving the silence from falling into awkwardness again. Joel beats you to the door, opening it for you. 

“I would say it’s been nice meeting you,” He speaks, “But I feel like I made this real difficult, and I’m sorry for that.” 

Going to step into the cab, you stop, leaning down to put your bag in the back seat, pausing a little before you turn back around to him, meeting his eyes. They’re striking, dark brown and beautiful, and trying to tell you just how much he knows he’s messed up. It makes your heart sink because you feel that sadness too, knowing he had so much promise, that he understood you in a way you thought other people didn’t, without even needing to talk to you, he’s a single parent, he gets it, like other people don’t. It frustrates you, makes your breath catch in your throat and your eyes glass over. 

You bring a comforting hand to his shoulder, “It’s okay,” You add a smile at the end, “It takes some time to get used to this all again, I was the same,” You look down at your shoes,  “It’ll get easier each time you do it, I promise.” 

His head dips, regret flashed across his face, like he wishes he could go back and do it all over but better this time. 

“M’sorry, again,” His tone is low, morose even, then he dips, presses a soft kiss to your cheek, “Get home safe.” 

You flop down on your bed, hand running over your face, wondering at what point it had gone wrong. He’d had so much potential, had seemed like he could be so right for you, so what went wrong? 

No sooner have you sent the ‘home safe’ message to Dixie, do you feel the soft vibrating of your phone. You answer, put the phone on loudspeaker and set it by your head. 

“So, how did it go?” 

You groan, “He had so much potential Dix,” You let out a pained noise, “I don’t know where it went wrong?!” 

“Oh honey,” She coos down the phone, aware more than anyone how much you wanted to be done with dating and finally have someone you could spend time with, “What happened?” 

“I don’t even know!” You exclaim, “Like, I could tell he was nervous, and this was his first date in years, but it was like he’d never spoken to a woman in his life, it was so hard!” 

You can hear her sucking on her teeth on the other end of the phone, “Are you being too hard on him?” She asks, “You always say the cocky men are no good because they’re rehearsed, maybe he just needs time to warm up?” 

“Dixie, I’d need a flamethrower to warm him up!” 

That gets a giggle out of her, “Mama, listen to me,” She goes into serious mode now, “Not everyone is as seasoned as you at this, and if this was his first date in years and he comes face to face with you? Of course he’s going to be nervous, you can’t write him off just for that honey.” 

That’s when your truth really hits out, “But what if I spend all that time warming him up and it’s a waste of time? He could turn out to be no good for me and then I’ve wasted so much time instead of trying to find the right person.” 

“Honey, respectfully, you’re forty, not at the end of your life, I promise that maybe spending some time trying to unravel someone a little instead of writing them off immediately might actually be worth it.” 

“I don’t know, Dix…” You trail off. 

“Just sleep on it, okay?” She offers, “See how you feel when you wake up before you send him the ‘thanks but no thanks’ message.” 

“Okay, I promise.” 

The two of your say goodbye to each other, you stay led on the bed for a while before you push yourself up, plug your phone into the charger, noticing the notification from Hinge when your screen lights up. You can see it’s Joel’s name that sits on the front screen. You sigh, sitting on the edge of the bed, weighing up whether to read it or not. Deciding that if you do read it, you’re likely to make a decision against what Dixie told you, so you leave the notification sitting there, get yourself ready for bed and then will yourself to sleep without going over every second of the date wondering what you could have done differently.

[uniquexusposts]

Her || Charles

Main characters: Charles Leclerc x OC Genre: fanfiction, fluff  Story type: novel  Part: 25/? Word count: 3369 Co writer: @mistrose23

Story summary: Matilde Jørgensen, the new Scuderia Ferrari team principal, faced the nerve-wracking challenge of reviving the team's fortunes and aiming for a championship. Leading a historic team as a 'newbie' and separating her work and personal opinions posed a significant challenge. The big question: is she capable to do so?

Previous chapter

Chapter 23. My Team

Matilde yawned and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. She looked around; was it the Spa Grand Prix if it didn't rain at least one day? The car in front of her moved, driving for five metres, making Matilde join the queue. It was the first time in three weeks she had driven her car. It was the first time in three weeks she had set a foot outside of the UK. It was the first time in three weeks she went back to a race.

"Do you think I can pass them?" Matilde asked her dad and looked at him, he sat next to her.

Living three weeks with a parent after ten years, was odd, somewhat annoying, but also trusted and fun. Matilde and her father were best friends. However, Matilde was looking forward to living by herself again. The summer break was about to start and her entire family would celebrate it in Italy, and Matilde and her father were on their way to Italy now. With just an extra stop, they would pass Spa-Francorchamps, so it wasn't even a question to visit the track during the Grand Prix. Besides, Matilde's father hadn't visited Spa-Francorchamps before, or even visited a race with Matilde as Ferrari's team principal.

"Hmm," her father hummed. "You are Ferrari's team principal."

"Yeah," she sighed.

"But it doesn't mean you can break the rules."

"I know," she agreed. "But at this point, we will get there when the race has already begun." Perhaps, she exaggerated, it was still eight o'clock in the morning, but it was busy and they weren't even close to the track. "And technically, I'm not working, so I don't know if I can follow those rules."

Matilde didn't dare to act like she was the team principal now, so she waited and stayed in the queue.

Her father was looking at his phone. "Thomas can claim tickets for speed skating in Stavanger, Helen will join as well. Do you want to come too?"

"When is it?"

"First of December."

She blew up her cheeks. "It's the week after the last race," she mumbled. "Uhm..." She blinked a couple of times, trying to think of an event she possibly had that weekend. "It's the world cup, right?"

"Ja. We can claim a ticket for you and otherwise we can sell it, or someone else will come with us," he mentioned and said to his friend that he needed to claim a ticket for himself and Matilde. "It will be a standing ticket, though."

"Perfectly fine," Matilde replied. "That will be fun. I will ask Galileo tomorrow if there's something planned, but I don't believe so." When the words left her mouth, she realised something. "Gosh, I'm dependending on my assistant." A disgusted look washed over her face. "This is something I did not want."

A laugh rolled over her dad's lips. "Times are changing."

"Awful." Matilde ran her hand through her hair. She looked in the mirror and a car that was being escorted by some policemen on motorbikes passed them. "If you need help with looking for accommodation or other things, just let me know. Happy to help."

"We will probably go to the same B&B."

"Hmm-hmm, and 'accidentally' brunch in the same hotel as the speed skaters."

They both began to laugh. Last year, also during the speed skating world cup in Stavanger, they had a quick coffee break in a hotel when driving to the ice hall and they bumped into every delegation. It was by accident, they had no idea that it was the hotel that all the speed skaters were staying in, which made things more fun. Every time they went to a speed skating world cup, something ordinary would happen to them. And they visited the world cup almost every year.

"It was a success," her father added. "We're just gonna do it again. They don't know we're there for them. We are just random tourists, we don't know anything about speed skating, everyone is happy."

A shock went through Matilde's body when someone was standing next to her; it was a police officer. He couldn't help, but laugh. Matilde awkwardly smiled and rolled down the window of her car.

"Bonjour, madame," the police agent said.

"Bonjour, hello," Matilde replied.

"Sorry to scare you, I thought you knew I was here," the man apologised. "What are we doing here?"

Matilde's face straightened, the stress flickering through her eyes. Did she do something wrong?

"When passing, I noticed the sticker." He pointed at the special F1 parking sticker on the front window. "And you are aware that you don't have to wait here with a sticker like that?"

An even more uncomfortable smile came on Matilde's face. "Oh. I didn't want to break the traffic rules by just doing something."

"I see. But as team principal you can call us and then we will escort you to the track."

"I know, but I'm not really working."

He nodded impressively, like Matilde was the first one to follow the rules. "Where do you need to go?"

"The paddock."

"Put on your blinkers and follow me." The police officer put down the visor of his helmet and drove away on his motor.

Matilde started the engine of her motor and left the queue, checking if it was safe to go. Her dad quickly put on the emergency blinkers. They passed the long queue.

"Don't be modest," her father smirked.

Matilde's cheek started to heat up. "How am I supposed to know this?" She sighed. "And we can't go casually to that hotel for a coffee between the speed skaters. They will recognise me straight away."

"Oh, my god," her father fangirled.

"Dad."

Laughter filled the car.

After ten minutes, they arrived at the parking of the paddock. Matilde parked the car and stepped out of the car, stretching her limbs. She looked at her father, who was taking in the surroundings. They weren't even in the paddock, but the impressive look on his face made Matilde smile. Matilde walked to the boot and opened it, grabbing her Ferrari jacket and purse.

"Do you want a jacket?" She asked her dad and put on the red jacket.

He was shaking his head. "I will take the cap."

She grabbed her paddock pass and put it over her head. She grabbed the second, personalised pass from her purse and handed it over to her dad. He looked at it, his eyes slightly widened and he widely smiled. They looked at each other and shared a proud moment.

They walked towards the gate. A few photographers noticed Matilde's unannounced appearance and made sure they had her on camera. Matilde's dad walked a few metres behind Matilde, taking some photos from her.

"Mati," he called her.

Matilde turned around and noticed how her dad made photos of her. She felt slightly embarrassed when she looked around and saw people looking at her, but she made sure she looked nice in the photos anyway. Then her dad wanted a photo of himself in front of the gate, and a selfie. A photographer walked up to them and proposed to take a photo of the father-daughter. Other people looked at them catching the proud father moment and they caught the moment with their camera as well. Little did they know that the moment went viral later that morning.

* * *

It was time for the pre race briefing. Everyone who needed to be at the briefing, made sure they were on time in the meeting room. The atmosphere was a mis of anticipation and focus as team members settled into their seats, each occupied with their own preparations. The room buzzed with quiet conversations.

As the designated time for the briefing approached, a collective hush fell over the room. Narciso wasn't present yet. Charles looked at the notes he had made yesterday and then looked around the room. Carlos was drinking a cup of coffee and talking to his engineers. Someone from the team made the decision to postpone the briefing by five minutes, since Narciso wasn't there yet.

Everybody was happy it was the last race before the summer break, but also excited to do one more race; Spa-Francorchamps meant a lot to some people, and others just liked the track.

And most were just happy that it was Narciso's last race.

A soft knock on the door made people look at the entrance of the door, expecting Narciso to open the door. However, Narciso wouldn't just knock, he would open the door without an excuse. The door slowly opened and a head popped around the corner.

"Good morning," Matilde smiled and looked around. It seemed like the briefing hadn't started yet, and Narciso was missing. She opened the door fully and stepped inside the room. "Hey," she said again.

Smiles appeared on many faces. "Matilde," a few happily said.

The room immediately brightened as Matilde entered. Her unexpected presence brought a wave of relief and comfort to the team members who had been silently dreading Narciso's briefings. Charles couldn't help, but offer her a warm smile. A sense of relief washed over his body when he saw her.

"We did not expect to see you here," Carlos exclaimed, his expression turning from surprise to genuine delight.

"I was in the neighbourhood," she casually replied. "And I couldn't just stay away because I miss this," she quickly added. Laughter filled the room. "Am I disturbing?" Her eyes were scanning the room.

"No, no, not at all," someone said. "Are you leading this briefing?" Even though it was a joke, hope flickered through their eyes.

Matilde shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. It's still Narciso's day," she mentioned.

"He's fashionably late," another engineer said.

"As always," someone else added.

"Probably appendicitis," Matilde jokingly said. Her eyes met Charles', and she offered a subtle nod, acknowledging the punctuality issue. He quickly raised his eyebrows slightly, sharing he understood her joke. "But," Matilde said to everyone. "Now that you have to wait, how is everything going? How are you doing?" She sat down on her chair, as head of the table. Narciso wasn't present yet, so she could sit there while he wasn't there.

The room buzzed with renewed energy, the tension that had been building prior to Matilde's arrival dissipating. Matilde listened carefully to everything that was being said. Team members shifted in their seats, suddenly more at ease. It was as if Matilde's presence alone had the power to transform the dynamics of the room.

"If we knew you were coming, we would have gotten something for you," a manager said.

"Please, it's fine," Matilde replied like it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a big deal to her. The fact that she saw how the dynamics changed within seconds of her arrival, made her realise what was going on within the team. And they thought of her.

"But how are you doing?"

"I'm good, as good as recovered. Glad I can finally leave the UK - not that I don't like the UK, but being stuck there is something else," she said.

Charles couldn't stop looking at her while she was talking to everyone. She genuinely was interested and she made sure everyone was heard. The way she listened to everybody was just delightful. She smiled warmly, nodded every now and then, when she was thinking, her eyes slightly narrowed, she played with her hair - that was blown out again - and she just showed positivity. She felt like coming home.

Then Narciso entered the room, he was surprised to see Matilde sitting on his seat. "Matilde," he replied, perplexed. "I didn't expect you here." He placed his stuff on the desk, like it was a sign for her to move out of his way.

"Narciso," Matilde replied. "Good to see you, too," she said and got up. "I came here to say hi to my team. And there was time for it," she smiled friendly.

"We were just about to start the briefing," Narciso said, his tone indicating a mix of annoyance and impatience.

Matilde passive aggressively stepped aside, giving Narciso his space. It became difficult for her to stay professional, as she didn't like the man. The way he treated her at the office during board meetings...Perhaps he couldn't handle it that a young woman is the team principal instead of a white man in a suit; him. "I am aware," she replied, maintaining her calm demeanour.

Narciso raised an eyebrow, seemingly unamused. He sat down and prepared himself for the meeting by organising the documents and opening his laptop. "We are about to begin. Kindly excuse yourself from this meeting." He looked over his shoulder, not wanting to look at Matilde.

Her eyebrows raised, that was direct. She looked around, reading the reactions of her team; they all looked surprised, offended and disbelieving. She threw her hands up in the air. "I wasn't planning on staying. It's your domain today, after all. Your day, your Grand Prix," she responded. She noticed how a few faces dropped to disappointment. How badly she wanted to be there for everyone today, she knew she couldn't do it and Narciso was in charge. "Good luck, guys. Don't let anybody fool you." And with that being said, she left the room again.

As the meeting began, it was confirmed to everybody what the massive contrast between the two figures in charge were. Matilde's approachability and genuine interest in her team stood in stark contrast to Narciso's more authoritative and sometimes abrasive style. And the team seemed to respond differently to the two leaders.

While every team was in a briefing, Matilde walked through the paddock to find her dad, who was just strolling around in the calmth. The guests would show up later, the teams from F3 and F2 were preparing for their races. And of course, reporters were eager to get a glimpse of Matilde or wanted to get a quote from her. However, Matilde told them kindly she was not here for photographs or any interviews. She found her dad and they walked back to the Ferrari facility for some coffee.

"And? How did they react?"

A smile covered Matilde's face. "Surprised, but happy, I think," she responded. "It was good to see them. I missed it."

"That is good to hear," he reacted surprised. "Never thought you would say it, though, after everything that has happened."

"Well, we're in a different situation now. I'm not the annoying team principal, I'm me. Chances are so big that things are changing in a couple of weeks again," she observed.

The morning slowly passed and the news of Matilde being present spread fast. Multiple team principles came by to say hello and Matilde went to visit some people. She went to Mercedes, to thank Toto for his help. She went to Red Bull to quickly say hi to Christian and Max. Kevin was ahead of her to say hi, as he had seen the photos on social media already. And she just enjoyed being around the track again, enjoyed this event with her dad and stayed in the shadows so the attention wouldn't differ from the drivers and the teams.

When the race was about to start, Matilde and her dad took a seat in the back of the garage. Matilde was aware this was probably the only time she and her dad could watch the race together at the track - unless things change, but Matilde was almost completely sure things wouldn't change.

To many surprises, Ferrari recovered from the bad weekend. After the start, they climbed to the top three. For a moment, it was undecided who would win as Max, Charles and Carlos were in a tight fight for first place. The dynamics within the teams drastically changed and people picked it up.

Matilde liked to watch the race from the back of the garage as she could oversee each and everyone. She observed her people. The way the mechanics smoothly moved during the pitstops, how everyone was communicating clearly. Things were different before. However, Narciso didn't like how it was going; his body language showed he was not amused. The team was the leader themselves instead of Narciso managing them. And she sensed some stubbornness during some discussions over the radio; different from the stubbornness Matilde knew from them.

The team was in a good spirit and once again, they were doing things without Narciso's consent. It was an unspoken statement from the team towards the board; they were running the team like Matilde taught them and how she would lead the team. And her presence at the back of the garage made a huge difference; they were racing for her, to make her proud and satisfied.

And fans were excited as well, since there was a fight going on. Not only in the front, but also in the back. The Orange Army liked the fire that was thrown on the track and its battles, the Tifosi found themselves hungry for a win and other fanbases just enjoyed the excitement.

Max unleashed a masterclass in precision and determination. His car danced through the famous Eau Rouge and Raidillon with an elegance that belied the sheer power beneath.

Charles painted his own masterpiece on the asphalt canvas. The Ferrari Roared through the challenging corners of Spa, guided by Leclerc's deft hands.

Carlos proved his mettle on the legendary track. His racecraft was a symphony of calculated aggression and skillful navigation.

The battle for the win raged on, each turn and straight adding a new chapter to the sage. Max' Red Bull soared across the finish line first, claiming the victory. Charles claimed the fastest lap by finishing a few seconds behind Max. Carlos completed the trio, securing a double podium for Ferrari.

Even though Matilde wasn't particularly waiting to celebrate the double podium around the podium, her mechanics went to the back of the garage to personally pick her and her dad up. Together, they walked to the podium. It was busy.

"It's good to see you back," Abele said to Matilde, he was the mechanic who stood up for her during the night shift after Miami and the disaster.

A smile came on Matilde's face. "Thanks, it's good to be back, to see all of you again. Well done today!"

He smiled and introduced himself to Matilde's father before returning back to the conversation with Matilde. "What does your summer break look like?"

"With my family in Italy. It doesn't feel right that I have summer break, though. I just did barely anything for three weeks straight."

"Very nice. I'm going to Portugal with my girlfriend. Finally some time off," he said. "And you shouldn't feel guilty about the summer break. You recovered, you couldn't prevent it, so you need to rest without the stress of us."

"I know, but it feels off," she breathed.

"We missed you during the night shifts, though."

"Two weeks. Then I'm there to annoy you again," she said. He smirked. "Enjoy your holiday, you deserve it."

They watched how the top three cars arrived under the podium. Yet again, Matilde didn't want to steal away the attention from Narciso. It was his double podium, he sat on that chair and led the team through the entire weekend. Besides, Matilde felt uncomfortable enough to stand between her team while she wasn't working. She looked to her left where Red Bull was celebrating their victory. Then she looked in front of her where Carlos was meeting his team. And finally, she looked at her right where Charles was meeting with his team.

"Incredible to see this in real life," Matilde's dad said to Matilde. "On TV you only see the emotions, now you witness it." There was a smile resting on his face, a precious smile.

Matilde looked at him and smiled as well. "I know, right." Her eyes met Charles' eyes; she clapped proudly, smiled widely and winked. Charles' smile was bright and grateful. Then she looked at Carlos; he didn't see her, but she was also proud of him.

It had been a while since she felt this kind of happiness, euphory. She hoped this spirit would stay, but she was aware things could change easily.

Next chapter

Taglist: @itsjustkhaos@crashingwavesofeuphoria@maryvibess @chocolatefartstrawberry @snzleclerc @ironmaiden1313 @blodwyn4u

[igglemouse]

Song of the Year #8

I don't know! I guess I just love this song and always stop on it when it comes up!

I will actually post the first posts tomorrow! What would have been the delay is I also wanted to try having a wordpress this time too and I thought it would take a few days to set that all up but I remember I set it up last year then just never continued it.

So the cadence of the releases will be a lot like my old posts, daily posts, unless I'm just not around at all then I'll pause the queue but otherwise something should post!

I feel confident that this is the one because it's been just a little bit of a week and I already have a lot! My previous legacy it would take a week just to create a week of content and this one its like it takes a week to have weeks of content. No quality is lost, because the hold up was just the restrictive way I was playing and writing. If anything quality should be gained because I could not play the game at all this week and still have daily posts for over a week. So that means next time I'm in game and want to craft some intricate scene I can do so without feeling like "Oh I need to hurry!!!"

Anyways, tomorrow I'll Introduce Marisol and Sasi!

I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years'. ~ Henry Moore

[dailydoofypokemon]

HOENN DONE!

Wowee zowee, I’ve been done with Hoenn for a while now and am about 20 into Sinnoh, but oh man, I think more people are finding the lil blog here as Hoenn was going by, I got to 100 followers and am averaging about 10 notes a day. Which I know that’s not much, but it’s so much more activity than I’ve had on my main blog. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the consistency? But that’s still rad.

Special thanks to @everysinglepheel and @drizzileiscool for being such regulars! I know I don’t respond, but y’all’s tags keep me going. I know Drizzile, you’re waiting for the gen after this one, and that’s cool! I appreciate you sticking around like you have, so thank you so much! Same goes for Pheel! Thank you for always checking out my art!

Also a little extra thanks to @somekindabard who I love very very much and is my partner in crime and life and the best and helps me finish off all the Pokémon probs gosh, has it been since the beginning of Hoenn? Either way, love yoooooou

After Hoenn, I also think I’m going to drop off the numbering for the days. I know it’s not a lot, but I keep losing track over where I’m at, and I’m almost positive I’m off by like five or ten at this point, so it’s just a little change to the descriptions, but it’s enough that I gotta do something about it and it would help me queueing everything up ‘cause I keep losing which number i was last on //OTL

I also have posters for each gen I’ve completed so far, along with one that just has the starters! Once I get my shop properly fixed, I’ll put them online if anyone is interested. They’re 11x17, and I’m honestly really happy with how they turned out because they’re just so goofy looking, and it’s great seeing everything I’ve done so far combined into one. I want to make prints of each of the these guys in a fun collectible way eventually (a la trading cards maybe? Or something in the realm of a pack of cards or something) because there’s just some thing really satisfying to the idea of that, and may be a better solution for my table situation when I’m vending, lol. I’ll have a post on that soon so if y’all are interested!

To answer a question that came up early in Hoenn: Yes I do plan on doing every version of every Pokemon eventually! My plan is to finish all the current Pokédex, then get to work on the Mega Evolutions, then regional versions, then potentially spend a month just doing the Unown alphabet to hopefully turn into a silly font. It’ll be a while until I get there, but maybe I’ll do some of the Unown alphabet over the course of a few days and upload those as a set when I get the spoons for that. So I won’t just stop at Paldea! (Or whatever gen Pokemon will be by the time I get to Paldea, lol)

Lastly, I was curious if you guys wanted me to answer more things on here? I read everything that is sent my way, but I don’t respond because I know some people do prefer to have blogs that are themed blogs to remain consistent and not see much else. If I did interact more, I would always tag these regular posts with ‘#not pokemon’ so if you block posts then you shouldn’t see them!

Anyway, thank you so much all those who’ve been following me for a while and all those who found my blog in Hoenn! Tomorrow starts the next region: Starly! …because I also already did the starters! :D

[kimmiessimmies]

'Release' is the title of the next chapter to 'A Taste of Honey', queued to go up from tomorrow onwards. I'm a bit on edge about this one. I have a pretty set timeline for my story and know where I'm going. Even if not everything is fully worked out and sometimes things change, the general direction is clear. However, 'Release' was not only very unplanned, it also messed up the entire story line and pushed certain characters in a direction I hadn't previously foreseen.

Then why did I do it? Because I believe that in the end, it's worth it, and this course of action actually enriches the story and the characters involved. Also, I kind of had to. There wasn't really any way around this.

So I went back to the drawing board. Set out the entire timeline again to make this fit. The ripple effect is real with this one. It affected so many other things. With some regret, I deleted already written (parts of) chapters even though I felt they were good, but just didn't fit anymore if I went this way. I wrote and rewrote, I kept overthinking it all, and eventually, there was 'Release'.

Now, all of this probably won't shine through in the story update itself. To anyone reading it, it'll most likely just be another chapter. And I guess if it feels that way, it's good, because it means I managed to make it fit. However, to me, this one is HUGE! So if you read it and like it (or even if you don't), please leave a comment, share your thoughts; it will mean a lot to me.

'Release' will be going live in 31(!) parts (queue-ing those took me hours!) starting with the first 4 tomorrow (Friday) at 13.00 / 1 PM GMT+1. The parts going up tomorrow will be picture only. Feel the music. 🎶

[lgbtsana]

PROLOUGE — TIMES UP?

— based on the show ‘manifest’

no one saw it coming, not even you. if anyone had told you, the once happy life you had with yeonjun would come crashing down, you’d laugh right in their face.

he’d seen the good and the bad. he told you he’d take all your secrets to the grave, you knew he meant it. yeonjun wasn’t a good liar.

when you had finally started to be happy after all the losses in your life, why’d he disappear for five years?

choi yeonjun, a famous model– known all around the world– and your boyfriend, he was currently getting photoshoots done in america. he’d call you every night to let you know he’s doing well and he’d be home soon.

life was going well for the both of you. you’d just landed a gig at a local bar to perform with your band. it was a close friends bar, but a gig was still a gig, right?

huh yunjin, the owner of the bar—and your best friend, told you she’d set up a livestream so yeonjun would be able to watch. when she offered that, you had hugged her so tightly, she had to smack your back to make you loosen up.

“sorry, jen...” you hung your head down as you rubbed the back of your neck, embarrassed by your actions. “girl, it's fine. i told you i’d do this for you, and i am!” she gave a gentle smile as she reassured you.

this was why she was your best friend, she always had your back.

later on that night, you received a call from yeonjun. “hey babygirl,” he gave a sweet smile as soon as he saw you, “i’m getting a flight home tomorrow! i figured i’d let you know.” you nearly jumped with excitement, “ah, yeonjun i'm so happy! maybe you’ll get to see my gig tomorrow at jen's bar!”

before you realized it, you were actually jumping with excitement. he noticed it before you, but chuckled at the sight. “i wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

oh, how naive both of you were.

it had been radio silence all-day with yeonjun, but you knew there was a reasonable explanation for it. he was a busy man, you understood that very well. you shrugged your shoulders, “he’ll call later on, before he gets on the plane.” giving a gentle smile to yourself, keeping yourself reassured.

yet, you couldn’t get rid of that bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.

when your phone rang in your back pocket, your hand immediately dove in for it. yeonjun was calling, “hey, babe! getting on the plane, now? it’s late, isn’t it?” you checked the time, confirming your statement.

“yeah, it’s a later flight since the one i originally booked, was over-booked. i offered to take a spot, and here i am.” he chuckled softly. “hm, alright then. what’s the flight number?” you asked out of curiosity.

“uhm... ah! it’s flight 828. what, are you going to surprise me when i land?” he teased, “we’ll see about that~” you couldn’t help but tease back at him.

“calling for flight 828 passengers to board the plane.” you heard a voice on the intercom from yeonjun’s end. yeonjun spoke up, “that’s my queue, see you when i land. love you, bye!” before you could respond back, the call had already ended.

it was during your gig at yunjin’s bar when you got the call. the call that made the world around you breakdown, and your world disappear.

“hello, is this heo y/n? the flight that carried the passenger, choi yeonjun, it’s gone missing. we lost contact with it, i’m so sorry dear...” the older lady on the other ends voice cracked, but you? you fell to the floor, onto your knees. you broke down on stage, and your bandmates had to help escort you off.

all you wished, was for that moment before he boarded the plane to happen again. you wanted the chance to tell him you love him as well, but... you knew you could never get that moment back.

[] masterlist [] next []

well, this started off nicely, i hope. took a lot of brainpower for this chapter. i tried to make it as similar as possible, but tweak a few things with the plot. i have a few ideas on how to do chapter 1, but haven’t set on which idea i’m going with yet. whatever i post, that is the idea i went with. well, enjoy for now!

TAG LIST

@makiswrld @mackjestic @soobadooba @sparejoy @be-argyu @lesilentreaper

[chaotic-orphan]

Villain has an obsession with ducks...I don't know why, neither does Hero. Maybe too much Farside?

Listen anon, this is the weirdest request I have ever gotten. I’m Irish and I was like what the fuck is far side, then I looked it up and understood. Thank you for the introduction. I had fun with this one.

PSA— my queue posted this, but I am not deleting it and working on it as it is, I will reblog when it’s finished, but for now feel free not to read as it is UNFINISHED and WIP

*~*~*~*~*

They were a series of random events, Detective had told Hero when they reluctantly had to hand over the case to them on the roof of the precinct. They didn’t know who. They didn’t know what. They didn’t know why. They just knew they were all connected.

“How do you just know?” Hero had asked, head tilting to the detective who was leaning on the railing of the roof, half smoked cigarette rolling between his fingers.

“Call it… intuition. It’s driving me up the wall Hero,” Detective grumbled, rubbing their eye with their free hand. “And the chief just told me there that she needs me on another case. More important. More serious.”

Hero frowned. “Those kids they found is it?”

Detective sighed, tapping the ashes out of their cigarette onto the roof. “Yeah. Chief said I can’t waste anymore time on a case so trivial.”

“You just need it solved.”

“For my own health, Hero. It’s keeping me awake at night. The first thought in the morning. Like a song that’s stuck in your head that’s so familiar and still you can’t get the tune, it’s infuriating.”

“I’ll get it done, detective.”

“Thank you, Hero. Call me when you do. I’ll be waiting with the handcuffs for the bastard.”

“You got it detective.”

Then they were gone.

*~*~*~*~*

When Hero got back to their room they cleared their desk trying to find their thumbtacks, rifling under stacks of books, opening their laptop bag for college, checking under yesterday’s newspaper. Hero let out a huff, turning to their cork board and saw their colourful tack pot staring at them from the windowsill.

Hero sighed and rolled their shoulders as they crossed the room to their tacks before setting to work. They pinned all the relevant information to the cork board and stepped back, eyes scanning the information lazily. They needed a shower and maybe one too many hits to the head that night forced them to go get one and come back to the case later.

And get a coffee, yeah a coffee would be good. Being tired and uncomfortable wouldn’t help them solve the case, and they had college tomorrow…

Hero nodded to themselves then, decided.

Shower. Coffee. Case.

Hero only got the shower part crossed off, dried off and pyjamas on before they were in bed, passed out, snuggled up under the covers.

They woke to their alarm the next morning, too much in a flurry to glance at the case Detective had given them and rushed out of their room and to campus.

The college campus was already lively at ten in the morning when Hero walked onto the main pavilion. School was a few weeks in session but clubs and societies stalls were still lining every green and walkway of Hero’s route to the law building.

Hero walked by the Hero support stall where a boy and a girl were in cheerleader outfits handing out colourful flyers about how Hero licences should be legalised. Hero took one and continued on their way. Hero couldn’t help but agree with them, being a Hero didn’t pay and wasn’t government funded, even though half the Heroes in Grave City had been thanked publicly and given a medal on behalf of the citizens.

Beside the Hero support stall there was a Free Food stall and then a College Socialist party. Hero walked on, and stopped at the giant duck chattering animatedly to a group of people.

It was at an animal rights stall for animal lovers and people who want to make a difference to the city’s problems with strays. Hero came to a stop beside Friend who was staring with a contemplative face at the walking talking duck.

“Riveting stuff,” said Friend with the ever present sarcastic lilt in their voice.

“I can tell. Certainly grabbed my attention,” said Hero with a smile. Friend stepped away from the group and Hero followed, falling into step with them as they walked to class.

“I thought I could get some thoughts on the animal acts essay Ford has me doing for extra credit,” said Friend. Friend didn’t need extra credit. They had a GPA of 4.15, but that wasn’t enough for them. They were determined to get a GPA of 4.2 and no matter what Hero said to them, they always insisted that they could always do better.

“And did you?” Hero asked, holding the door open for Friend who let out a small laugh.

“No,” they said.

Hero shrugged. “At least you got to watch a giant duck quack on about animal welfare.”

“Yeah,” Friend laughed. “They are known to be the vox populi of the animal kingdom.”

“I know,” said Hero. “I’ve read far side.”

Friend rolled their eyes. “Ford would love you.”

“Thought he hated animals?”

“Oh he does,” said Friend with a sigh. “He just loves destroying people’s love of animals and watching their faces drop.”

Hero hummed, “yes but does he know that at any given moment, inexplicably, there could be a duck watching him?”

“I’ll be sure to mention it next time I see him.”

The pair walked to the stairs, split apart when a line of students were walking down between them, and when they regrouped a thought struck Hero.

“I thought you didn’t have Ford this year,” Hero said, eyes sliding to Friend who tensed a little at the question. Hero frowned but didn’t say anything of it as they continued up the stairs to the first floor.

“I didn’t,” Friend grumbled, “in fact, I assured it.”

“But?”

Friend shot Hero a wry smile and said, “but Ford wanted me. And Ford is like a two year old child throwing a tantrum. Ford gets what Ford wants.”

“Ford wanted you? For like, a traineeship or something? Isn’t that good?”

“I busted my arse off to get the best GPA in the top class in the top school in the country, only to work for Ford? It makes me want sick.”

“It’s just for now,” Hero said, trying for a supportive smile. Friend had a faraway look in their eye, their hand tightening slightly on the rail of the stairs as they ascended.

“Just until Ford gets tired of me,” Friend said darkly, then shook their head and smiled at Hero, suddenly more chipper. “Or I get tired of him, but enough about me.”

Hero frowned and then blushed when Friend pulled the Hero Licence flyer from their hand. “I thought you were giving up on this Hero fantasy.”

“It’s not a fantasy, Friend, it’s real. I think the Heroes deserve to get minimum wage, at least!”

“At least? That’s what they get for destroying property and acting like vigilantes? And the Villains, Hero, should they get minimum wage too?”

“Well of course not,” Hero said, rolling their eyes.

Friend smiled. “I can guess the reasons, they terrorise the city, destroy property? Act without a moral code, very like your heroes, isn’t it, Hero?”

“Heroes don’t terrorise the city,” Hero protested and Friend raised their eyebrows.

“Oh yeah? Tell that to the unfortunate Villains who go against them.”

Friend handed Hero back the flyer and flicked them in the forehead. “Ow! What was that for?”

“You’re studying law, Hero. You can’t have these foolish ideals about good and bad, right and wrong. The world is grey, you know this. You have a brain, now use it.”

“I use it everytime I think you’re an arsehole,” Hero laughed and stepped back when Friend lunged at them.

“Aren’t you too old to be wrestling in corridors?” A cold voice asked from behind them, and Friend froze, back immediately going straight as they stood up. Hero frowned, looking over Friend’s shoulder to see Ford standing at the lifts beside the stairs.

“Shouldn’t you be busy making someone else’s life miserable?” Friend spat turning around to face Ford and Hero’s frown deepened. They had never heard Friend speak like that to anyone, they were usually so polite. Even when they hated someone.

Ford smiled, though it didn’t reach his dead eyes. “I reserve misery for you, Friend.” Ford turned and walked towards the offices in the other end of the building. “Come, we have a meeting.”

“I have class now,” Friend said, fists balling at their sides.

Ford looked back over their shoulder, eyes on Hero for the first time and said: “your friend can take the notes for you, can’t you?”

Friend looked back at Hero helpless and Hero swallowed and said: “actually I’m not in Friend’s class right now. Different lectures, I have a tutorial.”

“Hmph,” Ford said, turning back to face Friend and Hero, their glare set on Hero now, and Hero found themselves standing straighter, looking Ford head on. They were nothing but a bully, and they wouldn’t intimidate Hero, especially not with how they were treating Friend. “Fine. Find me after class and we can reschedule,” Ford said and then was gone, walking down the hall not waiting for a reply.

Friend looked back at Hero and smiled and breathed out a small: “thank you.”

“You’re telling me what that was about later on,” Hero said seriously.

Friend patted them on the arm and said, in hopes to appease Hero: “Of course I will.”

*~*~*~*~*

After class Hero went back to their accommodation, dropped their bag on the floor and fell into bed with a long resounding groan.

Then their brain twitched and Hero sat up suddenly, looking again at the case Detective had given them and frowning. There was something off. Something different. Something Hero’s brain knew before Hero did and it set them on edge as they scanned their board trying to find it, that little nugget of information that was staring them right in the face.

Something to tie up all the loose ends, something that runs through every case but as Hero looked and scanned every piece of information more and more, that twinge in the back of their mind receded further and further until Hero was groaning into their bedsheets again.

If Detective didn’t get this how on Earth was Hero supposed to?

Hero was hungry then, their stomach told them so, growling and longing and demanding. Hero wanted Chinese food.

Maybe something with noodles or duck.

Hero left the room, on the search for the menu to the local takeaway. The case slipping from their mind again.

It was only after Hero found the menu (hidden in their hall table drawer under all the other menus) that they froze, gasped, and started sprinting back to their room, menu in hand.

They threw open the door to their room and threw their hands in the air and screamed: “duck!” at the top of their lungs.

Roommate walked by the room in only their boxers and a shirt and said: “you left your door open again Hero.”

Hero didn’t even look away from the board as they grouched: “put some clothes on, Roommate!”

Roommate stopped walking wherever they were walking and stopped at Hero’s door, leaning against the doorframe. “Buy me dinner first.”

“It’s usually the other way around, Roommate. Someone buys you dinner, and then you take your clothes off.”

“I’m guessing you’ll have duck?” Roommate asked and Hero shook their head and walked by Roommate, putting the menu in their hand.

“No, um, not hungry, look buy dinner. My treat. I’ll be out for a while.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” said Roommate but Hero was already shutting the door to the apartment.

*~*~*~*~*

“Ducks,” Hero said late into the evening and Detective jumped a mile in the air, dropping their cigarette and exclaiming: “fuck, Hero! I told you to stop doing that!”

“No, Detective, not fuck! Duck!”

“What?!” Detective asked, exasperated, pulling their pack of cigarettes and lighter from their pocket. Hero jumped down from the railing, landing with the grace of a cat on the roof, grinning ear to ear.

“The connection. Between the case! The one you thought was connected but didn’t know how?”

“Ducks?” Detective asked, raising their eyebrows until they disappeared below their hairline. “Really?”

“Yes,” said Hero and took the case file from their bag. “Ducks connects them all!”

“Sounds a bit… I don’t know, Hero,” Detective said with a sigh, exhaling smoke into the cool night air and Hero nodded.

“I know, but just… I have a theory, and if I’m right I know who Villain’s next victim will be. Just trust my gut.”

Detective was silent for a moment, except for the soft crackling inhale of their cigarette. Then they shrugged, as if to say fuck it, and said: “okay kid. I trust you. Let’s follow your gut.”

Hero had researched who was in the duck costume on campus campaigning for animal welfare rights. She lived on campus, but worked at a local bar called the Ugly Duckling from Thursday-Sunday, and that's where Hero and Detective were. They sat in Detective's unmarked car with the power off, watching the bar doors.

Every now and then, Detective would curse and say it was cold, then turn the car on and blast the heat for a minute before switching it off again. They had been sitting out there for an hour and a half now.

"Christ, Hero. When does this girl get off work?"

Hero shrugged. "I don't know. Listen, this isn't a strong lead. It's more like a gut feeling."

"I have a gut feeling to go home and get into bed."

"Come on, Detective, don't you love this? The chase? The wait? The possibilities?"

"I love four things, Hero. My dog, my bed, alcohol and cigarettes. Speaking of..." Detective climbed out of the car and shut the door, leaning against it. Hero heard the distinct snap of his zippo lighter open and click shut with a metal tink. Hero sighed, leaning back against the passenger seat, pulling their hoodie tightly around them.

They pressed their head into the head rest, their eyes scanning the street and the people milling around tonight. They squinted into the dark when they saw the same model car as Friend’s. Same year too on the reg and—

They saw Ford step out with his usual distaste for everything. His movements sharp and strong, brisk but not rushing. Authoritative. Hero frowned when Friend stepped out from the driver’s seat. They watched the pair of them walk into the Ugly Duckling, Ford marching two steps ahead of Friend, letting the door close on Friend.

But Friend didn’t turn into the pub, instead he walked further to the side alley beside it and waited by the side entrance, running a hand through his hair. His nervous tic, Hero recognised with a frown.

[webbedphantom]

So, there's something I feel like I should mention-

But since it's kinda vent-y and personal, I'ma just put it under here

My older sister got me a job. It's a simple one bussing tables at a local barbecue place. It wasn't something I asked her to do, but she did it because we need actual income so we can get stable.

The issue is... I have never worked a job. And I have extreme social anxiety... and I'm autistic, and have yet to really look into resources to figure out how to live with that, because I was diagnosed in 2020, and things have been pretty rough for us since then.

Now, she set it up to try and mitigate these issues... without ever asking me if this is something I wanted to do, and I know that it's a really good opportunity, that I'd be stupid to pass up, especially with our financial situation being as bad as it is.

But to be honest, I'm terrified. I don't do well under pressure, or in crowded public spaces, and while all I'd be doing is bring dirty dishes to the back and not having to talk to anyone, I'm still stressing out about me breaking down if it gets to be too much.

Now, this isn't set in stone yet. I'm doing a sort of trial run tomorrow to see if I can handle it, so if it turns out I can't, I can just go home and still get paid for the work I did do. Doesn't make it any less stressful for me, but I told myself I'd give it shot, so I'm giving it a shot.

The reason I'm posting all this is because this is almost certainly going to effect my activity for the next few days. Though I will try to queue up some things, and in fact I already have, but I felt I should say something regardless.

If you read all this, thank you. And wish me luck. Because good GOD, am I going to need it

[tiikerikani]

I hate to be That Guy (who starts the queue)

(but somebody has to do it)

I'm trying to keep this brief because I need to sleep so I can do this again tomorrow.

2023.12.09 – Tavastia-klubi, Helsinki

It's cold. I decided to start hovering by the door at 5:15, though I'd already been standing around outside since 5. (Doors were at 6:30.) I can't feel my toes. Why am I like this???

Janne pops out and is going to the mall across the street (he returns later with a bag of food from the supermarket). He thanks me for the miniature and says it's "fabulous".

Senpai comes out carrying a backpack and says hi to me, then goes down the street the other way. I assume their hotel is over in that direction, as I saw three more band members exit carrying bags and going that way.

The space feels so small now, now that I've been to several newer and bigger clubs. I'm dead centre and I don't remember the barricade being so close to the stage in here. I can literally reach over and swipe a set list if I wanted to. When it's this close, being in the centre is no good for taking pictures of Senpai but that's okay today because I'm mostly trying to get more pictures to match my miniatures.

Leo's got an invisible microphone, lol :P

Senpai asks who's coming back tomorrow. A bunch of hands shoot up into the air. "IF ONLY WE COULD HAVE ACTUALLY GOTTEN TICKETS!" "YOU SHOULD DO A THIRD SHOW!!"

Yes my too-much-gesturing is 100% Senpai's fault

Too many of them wearing sneakers today

The Regular Groupies were talking to ... somebody who waves at me. "Hello!" she calls. It's her again!! "HOW DID YOU GET IN TO TAMPERE!??" I don't recall actually seeing her there last week but she'd have known because miniatures appeared there (and she's definitely Teemu's significant other, as the two of them left holding hands).

Janne says that "the set list is the same [tomorrow] but the atmosphere will be different". It won't be the first time I see them on a Sunday and yeah Sunday crowds are generally a bit more subdued.

I also asked him to suggest a song for me to learn next (with the caveat that I might not take it up). He named one of the old old songs; it's in the music book so I wouldn't have to work out the chords/melody. ("Have you learned all the songs from the book???" What, no :D ) He says it's fairly easy but still has interesting subtleties, and that he wrote it with Teemu so it's also, like, written on a piano and thus more playable on a piano.

"But if you want to do a new song..." he continues, "there's the one that we haven't performed yet? Don't remember the name, it goes like..." He's thinking of Jamesin takki and I think it's funny that I'm filling in the song title for him. "It'd be really challenging, I'd say it's the hardest song on the album. It has the modulation and it's in a difficult key...E-flat minor or something?" ("I'd transpose it, I'm lazy :D")

But oh no I know. It's the one that made me seriously reconsider my silly idea to learn the entire album on the piano, which I came up with before I listened to the whole thing.

Yeah I dunno about that song.

(Edit: I just checked my notes, it starts in F-sharp minor, which is much more reasonable. He was probably thinking of Ilman mua, which IS in E-flat minor and which, yes, I did transpose but could just as easily learn in the original key.)

I also think it's funny that they have to take all the equipment and the barricade and everything down just to put it all back up tomorrow. The equipment I understand, to keep it under lock and key, but I think the barricades come down so they can get the stuff out the door? Dunno.

I'm feeling lazy, here's the set list. (It is also on my arm as usual but I've had to come up with new symbols and I wasn't sure I'd remember what they meant by the time I got home.)

[Concert write-up archive and master calendar]

[slowroadtosantiago]

Day 11 - Navarrete to Najera

My phone is saying 11.9 miles today, but we’ve faffed about a bit in Najera and the walk distance was 10.6 I think.

We set off just after 7:30 as usual with full packs. It’s started to get lighter at that time, the sun was already well up, and we were once again happily assaulted by the dawn chorus.

Our breakfast stop was 4 or so miles up the road in a place called Ventosa and all along the run in there were art installations, mainly large photos of the local area or people. Breakfast was the usual coffee, fresh orange juice and a pain au chocolat.

We carried on walking through wine country and Jane took a photo of me in one of those daft cutouts as a pilgrim enjoying the wine. She refused to have her photo taken there, spoilsport!

As we were walking we were caught up by Janita who we met over dinner in Viana. She’s in her 20’s from Germany and has been given a sabbatical to do some travelling. We walked along together passing a chap playing Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones on a guitar. The landscape opened out to the mountains either side.

We stopped for a break at a bench and were joined by one of her friends, Yom from Strasbourg, who was also on a sabbatical.

The outskirts of Najera soon arrived and we said goodbye to the two youngsters.

We hadn’t booked anything and hoped to stay at the Municipal Albergue but when we got there it was closed for repairs! So we found a cafe to have a lemonade and look at our options. The other side of the bridge was another albergue that I had contacted last night who told me they don’t do reservations but would be open at 2 (it was 1 by then). Starving, we bought a small roll each from a bar and sat on the grass in front of the albergue to wait, along with a few others who had the same idea. After a while we plonked our bags in a line outside the front door as more people were arriving. I had to look up what ‘queue’ was in French for a couple of ladies who hadn’t clocked the protocol (it’s ‘file’ by the way).

Anyway, bang on 2 it opened and 15 euros each later we got settled, showered and chilled. Jane has again taken the top bunk for me. It’s another quirky place with interconnecting rooms and lovely old furniture. The rooms are designated male and female this time.

I have been amusing myself today taking photos of all the different styles of Camino directional signs. Quite often you are just looking for a painted yellow arrow, and in towns the signs could be anywhere, brass shells on the floor or proper wall plaques.

After a few hours rest we wandered out to the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real built out from a cave where in the 11th century the King of Najera found an altar with the Virgin Mary. It was an interesting half hour.

We then went to have a glass or two of wine (1 euro 20 per glass!) and some food.

We’re now back at the hostel chilling having planned our next few days.

Tomorrow is a longer stage to Santo Domingo de la Calzada so we’re having our big bags transported again. It also looks like it might rain so the ponchos will be coming out!

[ickmick]

Inktober days 11-15!!

I PROMISE I DIDNT FORGET TO POST THIS, I HAD IT WRITTEN AND EVERYTHING BUT YET TUMBLR DIDNT POST IT??? So erm.... I scheduled it for 'today' at like... 2 pm i think? my time, that is... LOL (turned out the queue didnt work! so its 6pm!)

so anyways, I'll upload yet again on sunday (tomorrow!) since I also need to post on Halloween!! oh boy!! so theres my uploads for the rest of the month, if you want to check back :D

I've actually gotten further than I thought I would! very proud of myself! and you should be too, even if you've only done a few days!

heres week one and week twos posts!

this one actually has the doc drawing >:3c

plus some other fun ones! its all under the cut, enjoy!

heres the key as always, referring to my prompt lists!!

wh = welcome home

hc = hermitcraft (I have 2!)

ink = official inktober

gore = goretober

(actual gore will be triggerwarned! so far none has any blood or violence!)

Day 11

wh: butterfly

hc: mischief

ink: wander

life: lava

oh noooo... our local pesky bird!! he fellll... (attempted a new perspective!! a lil wonky but I tried lol)

and can I just say I LOVE how peaceful grian is in the last drawing? hes so pretty and soft looking!! i surprised myself!!

Day 12

life: soulmate

I got that major life series brainrot... if you cant tell, haha... and dont even get me started on secret life!! more on that in the final notes >:D

also I didnt finish bigb im sorry BFMSVSSB

Day 13

hc: fashion

life: safety

GRIAN IN CUTE CLOTHES !! feat mumbo in the corner to make up for the last few times of neglect rip

also, was low on spoons and unfortunately did not finish the potentially adorable moment between the buttercups in grians wings... smth... xD

Day 14

hc: hermit with a background

gore: parasite

ay more like parasyte, am I right? *ba dum tiss*... ... yeah ok sorry LOL that was def more of a meme drawing ngl

AND THE FABLED DOC DRAWING!!! I posted it on its own already because im unbelievably proud of it!! listen... i know it meant to draw a bg... like a forest or smth... BUT!! i thought it was kinda funny... and I swear i was going to actually di the prompt right! but I ran out of spoons XD

Day 15

ink: dagger

life: spyglass

gore: fungi

another low spoon day, alas! but hey, at least we have some AHAA shenanigans (simply grian giggling) and a not so scar safe object!! (a dagger!! who gave him that?? /silly)

whew, there we go!! i think this weeks set was pretty good! (not that I actually drew any THIS WEEK, but thats not the point XD)

also, thank you for all the love so far!! you guys are very sweet :D

Im especially blown away from this post of tango, because it was rushed!! but im appreciative still because the post is sort of funny!! <3

*vauge talk of first secret life episodes!!*

PLUGS OVER LISTEN.... SECRET LIFE? THE SYMBOL? JIMMY POINTING IT OUT? AHHHHH!?!? /VPOS

its so good already omg... ive watched quite a few of the povs lol... i wont say anything specfic because I havent properly spoiler warned! so I will leave you simply with the wise words 'the fanfic writes itself' /silly (and oh my god scar giving grian the dang blocks ACK /pos /pos /pos)

heres week fours, 5.1s and the last post (5.2)!!

okay!! have a good week!! and remember to be easier on yourself!! I hope to see you next sunday for the next week of drawings!! 💜

[tranquil1es]

you knew my entire life story. you knew all the trauma and the pain, the abandonment, my biggest fears. you took advantage of it. you met me when i was vulnerable. became my therapist. i trusted you. it just clicked from the very first moment. which it never does for me, with anyone. we grew really close. learned more and more about esch other throughout time. i should have seen new years as the biggest warning sign of them all. intentionally playing with my feeligs. just for fun. hurting me. just for fun. just seeing how far you could go. not because you actually wanted to, bit just for fun. i forgave. ypu betrayed my trust really badly and my trust in you was higher than in anyone else, but i forgave you. and after meeting on my birthday, the love bombing started. i didnt even realize it. i was oblivious to it. this is how its supposed to be, no? i shouldve payed closer attention to the weeks afterwards. how your entire behavior changed. i shouldve payed more attention to the details over time when we were friends. having had a phase where you play with girls feelings for fun for your own amusement just to drop them afterwards. but that was long in the past right? i mean, you promised that, and your promises hold value, right? i was a delusional little puppy following along anything. wouldve done anything for you, wouldve done anything you asked for. didnt ask for anything back in return. busy? oh yea, i get that, your days are packed. energy‘s low. busy again? no problem, i told you, no need to feel bad about it!!

„theres gonna be more time from now on“

im so happy, so excited

„sorry i dont really feel like doing anything today, im too mentally drained“

„oh okay, no problem!“

„we can play a game of val or 2 before bed“

„oh my god YES ofcourse im omw“

„today ill be pretty busy so i wont be messaging much“

„and thats okay, have a lovely day anyways and just update me whenever!“

„im gonna be off school all day tomorrow“

„omg yay“

„oh but i forgot to tell you, i want that day all to myself. phone on dnd, no family, no friends, no you, just me“

„oh okay, just let me know whenever you feel better“

„i got my shift plan for next month and can manage to come visit again next month!!“

„already?“

„i mean, yea, its gonna have been over a month by then and i have the financial needs, quality time irl and seeing each other regularly is very important no“

„im gonma be very busy around that time and wont have much time to spend with you, id rather we prolong it till april or may when im more free“

„but i just wanna see you, i dont mind only actually seeing you for maybe 2 hours a day while youre home before bed, i dont mind youll be exhausted, i dont need much i wont be a bother, i just wanna ve there, its so much better than waiting months when you live hours away and the means are there“

„i promise i wont be a bother, ill sit there quietly and just eat dinner next to you and leave you be when you feel too exhausted, i just wanna see you“

„you do realize once you go back home youll get allll of my freetime, right? when doing my assignments i want to sit on call with you just so we can enjoy esch others company“

„video calls, ill set everything up for it“ yet the only one who turned on their cam every single time was me

its weird how the moment you broke up you suddenly had all the time in the world to queue as many games as you want and do whatever

[chevvy-yates]

WIP Wednesday Whenever

got tagged some time ago by @morganlefaye79, @gloryride and @ouroboros-hideout. Thank you as always <3

Writing:

Currently on refining CH02 as we had additional ideas to make it more interesting and I fixed Ryder's way to talk since this chapter is old as fuck and back then when I wrote him he was just created.

After they ended their discussion about the next gig they wanted to proceed, everyone seemed to be hanging in his own thoughts for a while. Scharfenberg just arrives back at the table with another fresh beer when he hears V cursing a mumbled “Fuck”, eyes fixed onto his mobile phone. “Yo, what’s wrong, V?” Vijay doesn’t look up but mumbles something to him instead. “Ah, I fucked up one of my programs. I’ve installed this new intrusion program, you know? ‘S called Wizard’s Book. Scans through billions of possible codes and code words in seconds, tryin’ each in one turn. In that way I can get code-ga—”  “Okay, I hear awkward runner language, V. I’m opting out!” Ry disrupts him as he sits back down at their table and promptly decides to give Chigasaki some attention instead before they fall asleep as they just yawned. Steyr puts a smirk to his lips. He knew how to stop Ryder’s curiosity. A “Hizumi-chaaan, tell me—” however is all Vijay hears Ry say in the background because his mind is back fully concentrating into finding more data about his new gained choom named Arki. 

Layouting:

Chrome Chamber Rave got a moodboard, a new OC, named Garnet, who owns the Hell Bunker, a concept and some rules:

I don't know if the current layout stays as it's been a while since I've done it and I'm always thinking about how to make it tumblr friendly as it is currently set in 16:9.

VP:

I've sorta been a busy bee and produced a bunch of new VP (some I'll still hold back until time is right as they are chapter-related and that takes me also a while). But I've set a bunch of posts into a scheduled queue so some of them might appear through the next 2 weeks while I'm in South Korea and Japan.

Here's a sneak peak:

and moooooore (bc I toook new ones today bc of some mods I was asked to take pics lol on my last day at home).

OCs:

I've collected a long long list of nexus mods for Hizu to create them as fast as possible after I come back from my trip. As you have already noticed I've chosen to create a new OC in between as I desperately needed to get him out of my head before I fly away tomorrow. So Garnet exists now. Ofc he is also available from now on for asks if there are any, as I like to develop him a bit as well. I'll put some facts in a next pic post with him.

—

tagging:

@nervouswizardcycle, @wraithsoutlaws, @astarionhistears, @kdval, @therealnightcity, @wanderingaldecaldo, @elvenbeard, @alphanight1-vp, @r3d-f0xs-blog, @heywoodvirgin, @fereldanwench, @breezypunk, @robininthewoods90, @shivsghost as always no pressure!

[lindsaystravelblogs3]

Days 64-66 – Thursday-Saturday, 27-29 July Leaving Greece, on to Turkey.

Thursday

Another day, hiding inside out of the sun.  It was not quite as bad today, with temperatures in the mid- to high-thirties and promising only thirty tomorrow – we live in hope.

We went out in the afternoon, mainly to buy more water at the supermarket but we also wanted to have a walk through the Plaka.  A couple of our guides mentioned it as containing mainly upmarket and expensive stores, but it didn’t seem like that at all to me.  There were certainly a few name-brand stores that probably were expensive, but we never checked the prices.  But there were also plenty of smaller stores, selling all sorts of touristy things as well – cheaper clothing, souvenirs, fake jewellery, and so on.  We walked right to the end of the main street, to Hadrian’s Library, and along to a restaurant area at one end of the Flea Market, and back home via the street that passes our hotel. 

Both lunch and dinner were compiled from leftovers and other purchased food in our fridge, but we will probably have to eat at least one meal out tomorrow.

Friday

We went ‘shopping’ after breakfast today.  We needed one supermarket item and a just few things from the pharmacy – anti-inflammatories, Hydralite, Panadol, etc.  Nothing too complicated and we were home again in less than an hour.

I sorted and edited photos during the day as well as keeping an eye on the cricket scores.  We also had to pack ready to leave first thing in the morning.  We checked out of the hotel late in the afternoon, but retained the key so we could spend the night there.

We ate at the Korean restaurant just across the alley from our hotel – another excellent meal – but I left my hat there, on the floor against the wall beside the chair.  We realised it a few minutes later, but decided to try to recover it when we got back from our planned trip to watch the sunset.

We walked up to Syntagma Square to find a taxi to take us up to Lycabettus Hill – the highest point around Athens.  The first cab we approached said it would cost us twenty euros, which we thought a bit rich, so we tried the next guy who said it would be fifteen euros.  We agreed, still thinking it pretty expensive – and for comparison, it cost us six euros on the meter to come back down.  They really know how to rip the tourists off.

We were delivered to the bottom of the funicular that runs up the side of the Lycabettus mountain.  There were scores of people waiting to catch the funicular, with a long queue for tickets, and an even longer one waiting for the ride up.  We eventually arrived at the top with only another forty or fifty steps to climb to the viewing area.  It was packed with many hundreds of tourists (like us), all hogging the best spots to take photos as the sun went down.  We took a few photos and retired to a restaurant ready to buy a drink, but nobody came to take our order, so we just sat and took advantage of a short rest.  I went back up to take a few photos over people’s heads as the sun set and then we scurried down to catch the funicular down to where we waited for a cab, most of which were already booked.  We started getting into one as some other people got in from the other side, so we missed that one, but eventually found an empty one and returned to Syntagma Square in time for me to run down to the restaurant to reclaim my hat.  As soon as I walked in, the chef came running out, full of smiles, to present me very regally with my hat. We had a bit of a laugh together and then we went back across the road to our hotel and bed.

Saturday

I leapt out of bed with a cramp just as the alarm went off, so I was up and getting dressed within a minute.  We packed the last-minute things and took our bags down to Reception and had a quick breakfast – and by then, our cab was waiting at the door.  He was a great driver with very good English and he gave us quite a travel talk as we drove through the suburbs.  He also told us a lot about himself and his family ambitions and difficulties – a really pleasant guy and we enjoyed the almost an hour in the cab.

There were long queues in the airport – for check-in, Passport Control and Security but all went surprisingly quickly and we were seated (in the second back seat) before the official boarding time.  Alas, the flight was delayed for fifty minutes due to traffic issues, but at least it gave us time to do some reading.  I hadn’t read any of my e-books until a couple of days ago, but finished one yesterday and started a new one on the plane – and finished it (and started a third) two days later.

The Athens airport is a new one and is huge, so we had to walk a couple of kilometres before we reached the boarding gate – and the Turkish airport is a new one since we were here five years ago too.  It is also huge and we walked almost two kilometres there too.  I reckon the plane taxied for more than ten kilometres after landing and we then waited at least twenty minutes for an air-bridge.  Then it was more Passport Control, baggage collection and Security (most people didn’t go through Security, but we were ‘selected’) – at least it was a fairly and easy quick process.

We eventually cleared the airport and found the exit where we were to meet our driver.  That was also a process.  The driver’s company had a person at the exit who found us and told us to take a seat while he went out to get our driver.  He disappeared and after some time, another guy turned up and helped us convey our bags to a car in the parking lot a few hundred metres away - where our actual driver put our bags in the back and drove us to our hotel.  It took almost two hours because the weekend traffic in the city was horrendous – one or two cars got through each set of lights when we were lucky. Much of the time, the intersections were clogged and nobody moved at all.

We booked in at the And Hotel, one floor below the room we were in last time we were here.  It felt quite nostalgic.  We hadn’t had any lunch and it was about 4pm, so we strolled across to one of the places we ate at last time.  We ordered just enough to tide us over to dinnertime, but the serving was a lot more than we expected so we really weren’t so hungry when it was time to eat again.

We ate in the hotel restaurant and again, our meal was more than we could eat.  The restaurant is on the top floor with superb views across the city so I will post a few pics taken from there in due course.  I counted at least thirteen mosques visible from the restaurant – and I counted more than seventy on the way in from the airport.

[now-we-say-c0ral]

June 25, 2023

Woke up around 8am and I'm so grateful to wake up next to this guy every morning. I truly do. We cuddled for a bit and got myself ready for the gym but I decided not to go through with it today because the front door wasn't opening. Don't ask me why. Went to the gym 4x this week so that's already good enough and I had to remind myself that it's Sunday and that I have to have a proper rest day.

I folded the laundry from yesterday after this door fiasco the I just wizzed through my diary in the morning because the backlogs that I had were piling up day after day. I tried logging in to play Diablo 4 but there was a problem with the server. Luckily, I got in after like 30 minutes of being in the queue. Spoke to my little sister and mommy and I'm just so happy that she finally passed her CV and she'll have a chance to work very soon. I'm quite excited about all this for her. Eddie made some bagels stuffed with caramelised onions and tuna flakes and some eggs on the side for breakfast. It was super yummy!

In the afternoon I just played Diablo until the whole evening. Ed came home from climbing at Canary Wharf then cooked us some burger steak for dinner and I prepared the same meal for our lunch for tomorrow. I had some broccoli on the side because I couldn't, or rather, shouldn't have rice anymore because I need to be in a calorie deficit to regain my old belly.

Preparing my bag for tomorrow because I'll TRY my very best to wake up early and go to the gym near work so that I could hit my cardio and maybe some arm exercises so that in the evening I'll just go home and have stuff ready for Ed to cook his chicken tikka masala for our lunch the day after. Life's been so good lately.

June 26, 2023

Woke up early today like 5:30am because I promised myself that I'm going to go to the gym before work and I actually fucking did it! I deserve to pat myself on the back because it literally took a lot on me not to tell Siri to Wake me up an hour later.

I got to The Gym in Bloomsbury around 6:45am and I did some abs, arms, and cardio then got to work on the nick of time. I'll try do do this again tomorrow. Hope it'll follow through.

I was assigned to work in Theatre 14 today with Matron, Kuya Ernest, and Katie. It was my first time scrubbing 6-7 hours alone in a case. I know. They told me that there's going to be many more to come. I'm just bracing myself. I volunteered to backscrub because I'm useless circulating while I'm not used to the contents of the sets and where the other stuff are found but they actually trusted me that I do the whole case by myself. I'm just glad that I haven't forgotten how to scrub yet. I ate lunch around 3:30pm and my golly was I hungry.

Ed was having an insanely bad day at work so I decided to buy him some cupcakes to help with his bad day-ness or whatever you call it. He has a sweet tooth so he'll definitely like this one.

Today was a good day!