#why is sarah 15 miles away

[archived-yiptsu]

hey bestie follow this totally legit link:

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omg what a great game!! my antivirus is telling me something's wrong but I trust you so I'm sure it's nothing haha

[metisket]

book recs request ❤🖤❤🖤 🙏🙏🙏 in this case, book recs that you feel have inspired your writing style, or inspired your fics somehow?

Hmmm...this is a fun one but a tough one, because I'm not sure I'm really self-aware enough to know the true answer here. But I'll try! A lot of books/authors I believe shaped my writing style did it when I was pretty young, so we're getting some YA over here.

Robin McKinley

I must have read The Outlaws of Sherwood a dozen times between ages 10 and 15. I love me a hero who literally doesn't want to be here and got conned into this by pushy, well-meaning friends. Marian was the most badass Marian I'd ever encountered. Random, complicated, weird side-characters, my beloved. Cecily somehow speaking directly to whatever was unhinged about my own childhood feelings about my gender. Flawless, 10/10, should really re-read to see if it holds up.

This is not to minimize the ridiculous number of times I read The Hero and The Crown, The Blue Sword, Beauty, and Deerskin, because I also read them So Many Times that they've probably become a part of my psyche. Literally none of her heroes want to be heroes. But they've been informed that they are. Apparently. Ugh. Love to hate that for them.

Lloyd Alexander

I also re-read The Chronicles of Prydain at least once a year for many years. It has almost certainly messed with my mind. I was especially unhinged about The Castle of Llyr, because Princess Eilonwy. The best, the worst, the angriest princess. Love and respect. Taran I could take or leave, particularly during his Taran Wanderer phase (I was less sympathetic to his growing pains than I was to Eilonwy's), but The High King was a fantastic payoff, loved everything, no notes.

...Damn, I need to reread this series, also.

Lois McMaster Bujold

I didn't read The Vorkosigan Saga until college, but it immediately hit my brain hard. Fantastic characterization. The way she writes trauma and recovery from trauma, amazing.

Miles. What a character. What a mess. What a problem. He is only a little guy, literally and figuratively, and he's going to do his best to convince you that he didn't mean to offend that guy, set that building on fire, or end that empire. You know. Like a liar.

Sarah Rees Brennan

My number one fanfic influence--her style of writing is so delightful that, particularly when writing Harry Potter fic, I'd sometimes find myself paraphrasing her. I had to Sarah Rees Brennan-proof my fic to make sure I wasn't being an accidentally plagiarist, because her turns of phrase would just go subliminal in my brain. This honestly may still be happening, and if it is, I'm so sorry, Sarah, it's not on purpose.

My favorite of her books is In Other Lands, the story of a boy who is whisked away to magic school in magic land and is extremely annoyed to find himself there. Like why. Why is the plumbing medieval. Why don't phones work. Why is this magical Sparta.

...He's not wrong, is the thing. But he won't bend and he won't break and he won't leave, so apparently he's just going to have to fix the world himself. God help everyone! Love him. Love his friends. Love the entire world and setup and every single side character.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

I have been informed that you can see the Pratchett and Gaiman influences in my writing. I think this is a lie people have told me to make me feel better, but you know, I Want To Believe. So I'll include them.

Pratchett: Love for virtually the entire Discworld series, with an especially fondness for the Watch books and Susan. Still obsessed with Vetinari after all these years. What if Machiavelli but chill, though.

Gaiman: Lost track of how many times I've reread Sandman. The characters, the coolness, the weirdness, the meta! Especially obsessed with Death. Just someone being very calm and collected in the face of all kinds of horrifying nonsense. I admire that. Love nearly all of his books, but my favorite is probably Anansi Boys. Bet your stupid family drama doesn't involve gods. Or at least. I hope it doesn't.

Erin Morgenstern

I'm cheating by including her, because she didn't actually influence my writing, I just WISH SHE HAD. She can't, sadly, because my outline game will never be that strong. I know my limits. But DAMN. ENVY.

Both of her books are without flaw, but I did love The Night Circus just that little bit more, probably because I am weak to a circus. I firmly recommend The Starless Sea also, though, because it features an Unhinged Library. The characters and settings and descriptions--delightful.

But the best part is the WAY the stories are told. They're not chronological--they're like little intricate puzzle-boxes, where you open one panel, and there's a story, and you open another panel, and there's a different story, and by the fifth panel, there's a story that connected to the first panel, but also a little to the third panel, and--

LOOK, I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT. It should be confusing, but it isn't. It's perfect. Just the right amount of information at the perfect time connecting to other pieces of information in a complex, interesting, deeply satisfying way. I would kill to be able to do this. Kill. I actually tried to do this in 'Mirror Image', and I had to give it up, because the level of incoherence was off the charts. ffffffffffff howwwww does she dooooo eeeeeet.

Anyway, I think those are the big ones. Special mentions to: Tom Holt, a deeply weird writer who strongly influenced one fic in particular (Some Confusion, DGM), Patricia C. Wrede, because Dealing with Dragons in general and Cimorene in particular got to me, and Dennis Lehane, because a) his historical fiction is inspiring, and b) I love his handling of The Unhinged Friend in the Patrick and Angie books. The best unhinged friend. He booby traps his own home. Love him. What is wrong with him? We'll never know.

[barricadescon]

“Why people build barricades”

Les Miserables and the Autumn of 1985: Race, Protest, Justice and Revolution by Dr. Sarah Whitfield for Barricades: A Les Mis Convention 2022

Transcription: 

And these protests - and Birmingham is a little bit further away but, but certainly the ones in London - were a few miles away from the theater, and if someone went to the theater on the 27th, or if they went to the theater on the official opening night on the 8th, they would have been carrying a newspaper, it would have been covering the real-life riots that were taking place. Living protesters that were being deplored and dehumanized in the coverage of real riots real protests, taking place.

Reporter: “Well, here at the party, the cast are being mobbed, but I’ve managed to get a few of them over to talk to me here. Alun Armstrong, were you surprised by the warmth of that reception, the standing ovation?”

Armstrong: “Yes, I was really, considering the bulk of the story is about the social problems of nineteenth-century Paris, nineteenth-century France, and we have this great glitterati audience who nevertheless wept. I think Norman Tebbit should come and see this, and he will find out why people build barricades.”   

This video is from a series of excerpts shared with the permission of presenters from Barricades 2022. If you have an idea for programming for Barricades 2023, please submit it on our website. Submissions for both academic and fan track programming close February 15.

[the-firebird69]

devils tower montana movies - Google Search

and we felt like idiots then this...this tower in jersey. illlly fell. and no and then we were jerks. and another tower..and we found it and 15 miles away. and he says her ship his. templates she may hv seen one.and for what. and macs copied it used his stones. a nd they were intriguied these are scaled dow prob one hundred or more and oh and they were upset. mb four miles wide or more. and ok they ran to it us and we saw. we are in trouble now. and below the devil. and we said what. the tree lon gone. tunnels hidden by basalt grown by a biomechanical weapon the harp shaped horns. you shall remove from the steak house or have i fllipped and use him and die no. mutate him send it back. and why. the tower in jersey. and we go therre not nice. hatred from them both. we hate it. and the vid and we see her and where now this is on it is sarah

dan

and we see now w ewant the packet

mac and why

and why ok we see it

dan

now we look

bja damnit

hahahah

sarah

ahahahh

caa

and hahh

Hera or what lucy no. rhonda nope you fool

olympus damnit hahha

[katarina-side]

Professor Styles

Rushing past the crowd of students with their backpacks and purses on their arms sending me looking for pushing past them. I hurried across the campus to make it to class in time. If I'm late to my presentation today I'm gonna fail this damn class.

Finally seeing the big brick building in front of me I glance at my watch seeing I have two minutes to spare.

"Thank god" I breathed out

I swiped my ID card walking past each door till I got to room 225 pushing the door stumbling in to see no one in the seats, "shit" I said rushing down the stairs to see professor Styles packing his briefcase.

"Professor hi I'm sorry Im late today I have a good rea-" I began til he cut me off

"You're late again Ms. Turner I told you yesterday to be here by 2 and it is 2:05" he said, not even looking up to me as he put his papers away.

I rushed around to the side of his desk placing my hands down as he looked up to me. Now Professor Styles is literally the bachelor of the university. He is one of the hottest guys I've ever met. Many girls and guys take his course just to be in his presence, not that I can blame them I mean he's perfect straight out of a book of fiction. I however have to pass this stupid French class as my last class before graduation.

"Professor I apologize I just ran about two miles to get here okay I have my script in my bag I can present right now" I said partially out of breath from running.

He looked to me breathing out a sign plopping down in his chair leaning back crossing his arms across his perfectly broad chest. Jesus Christ his shirt getting tighter to his skin.

"If I let you present how would that be fair to everyone else hm they all came on time" he said taking his glasses off in the process tossing them on the table.

"Please I'm literally begging you, I'll I I will even bake you something come on" I said trying to bargain with the god like person In front of me

"mendicité" he said

Now did I totally Google translate my whole presentation yes yes I did, I'm not really interested in learning French but for some dumb reason I need to take a language to graduate. Now did everything he say sound like pure sex? Of course in English, French, Italian, every Language the man is just enough to make you puddle and melt.

"Yes" I said not even knowing what he said

"ce serait un spectacle à voir" he said now leaning forward resting his elbows on the desk

"Umm oui?" I said more as a question cause I don't even know what this man is saying.

He shook his head, chuckling at me, "meet me at my office tonight I'll let you present to me, have everything with you and be there by 8 PM sharp my office hours are till 8:15 you'll be my last appointment got it?" He said swinging his briefcase onto his arm

"Yes yes thank you so much" I said smiling he nodded and walked up the stairs before stopping and turning around, "I'm not opposed to something sweet" he said walking out the door.

I smiled walking on out to go back to my apartment to get ready and oh yeah now I got to whip up something sweet.

Once I got home I opened the cabinet and grabbed my kitchen grabbing all my ingredients and laying them out looking at them breathing out.

See I'm a baking and pastry chef major, baking is my passion. I truly put every ounce of love and passion into my desserts and creations. Now do you see why I don't care about French. I don't understand why I had to take all these unnecessary courses throughout the 4 years in school but I did. I'll be damned if this course is the one to prevent me from graduating.

Turning the mixer to low I mix in the butter and sugar til combined adding in flour for the dough, I'm making my famous cherry pie. No one has ever had a piece and didn't like it. Rolling the dough out to the side , placing it into the dish, the door swings open revealing my roommate Sarah.

"Vicky! What did you do now" she shouted walking in seeing me throwing the crust in the oven

I laughed I'm known to make desserts as apologizes for people, "nothing I'm making a pie for my professor for my presentation tonight" I said

"Oh professor Styles" she said wiggling her eyebrows I rolled my eyes at her

"Yes that's the one" I said, beginning to mix my cherry filling together getting it ready to add to the crust once it's cooked.

"Girl I'm telling you if I wasn't gay he would be on my list for a hook up" she said siding on the bar stool at the island.

"Sarah you are in a healthy happy relationship" I said jokingly to her

"Yeah and you're not. I hope he fucks you for how good your pie tastes." She said so nonchalantly

I gasped, throwing the kitchen towel at her as she laughed, "aww your blushing!" she said, slapping the counter in excitement.

"Oh my god" I said mortified to the conversation I'm taking part in currently.

"Anyways I'm going to get changed out of these sweats cause I gotta leave in a bit please add the filling to the pie and put it in the oven thank you" I shouted walking away into my room closing the door.

I walked to the closet pulling out a black long sleeve top that was low cut and a pair of jeans and my heeled boots, getting changed. I reached over to my bedside table grabbing the stupid script I had prepared for this class snuffing it into my purse spraying myself with some perfume, letting down my hair I ran my hand through it fixing the little pieces that were out of place.

I glanced at my watch seeing it's 7:30, "shit" I said rushing out the room seeing the pie is on the counter all done. "Oh yeah you're getting fucked tonight" Sarah said now sitting up on the couch with the tv on.

I waved at Sarah not even bothering feeding into her teasing, picking up the pie and walking out and heading toward professor Styles office.

Arriving outside the intimidating door I knocked as the door swung open reading Mr. Styles looked perfect as always with his black dress pants on and his silk white top tucked into his pants with the top two buttons undone to see his cross hanging around his neck.

"Ah you made it with 5 minutes to spare" he said moving out of the way for me to walk in.

"I brought you a pie as a thank you" I said, placing it down on the desk taking a seat across from his desk as he walked leaning in front of me on his desk looking down at the pie.

"Cherry my favorite" he said smiling and now looking to me

"Well I certainly hope you have everything with you and you're ready." He said

I pulled out my script and waved it in the air toward him. He walked around the desk sitting down at his desk now grabbing the copy I handed him and throwing his glasses on looking at the paper.

"un rêve de boulanger" he read out loud, turning the page and reading. I watched as his eyes moved left to right and flipped through the pages as I sat there waiting for him to finish it.

Although yes I cheated by translating it online and not from what I was taught I did write it and meant every word. The assignment was to write our dream for after college. Mine of course being about how I wanna go on to own a little bakery in New York.

He got to the last page and turned it over, placing it down, "now your part" he said, taking the glasses off and relaxing back in his chair.

"My part?" I said confused for fucks sake that paper was hard enough to do.

"My pie? If it meets my expectations you pass" he said

I let out a giggle, "oh I didn't bring any silverware or anything figured you'd enjoy it at home" I said to him

He leaned forward sweeping his finger into the dish, getting a chunk of cherry filling on his finger and placing it in his mouth.

Holy shit that's so hot for literally no reason, I shifted in my seat waiting for his reaction.

"Jesus Christ that's good." He said going back in for another taste, licking his hand Clean.

"How rude of me" he said dipping the same finger in holding it to my mouth

"Open come on a chef should taste her masterpiece" he said

This is so wrong, so wrong but so hot, I opened my mouth as he placed his finger in my mouth. I sucked the sweet cherry filling off his finger pulling my mouth off his finger.

He looked at me with this dark look his pupils dilated. "Good girl" he said

A shock goes through my body with those two words, "So did I pass?" I asked

"With flying colors" he said, licking his finger clean looking me straight in the eye.

He opened his laptop clicking away and then closing the screen, "congratulations Ms. Turner you have passed and will walk the stage Monday evening" he said smiling at me

I shot out of my seat walking to him hugging him, "thank you, thank you so much professor Styles" I said excitingly letting go of him as he stood up taller than me looking down a bit tapping his finger under my chin to make me look up to him, "it's Harry your not my student anymore" he said placing his thumb on my bottom lip pulling down.

"Oh um I'm sorry professor this is wrong" I said stepping back

"Well your not my student anymore and you're a smart girl I can tell you like me and I quite like you as well" he said walking behind me, closing the blind on the door and locking the door. Walking to the window across he closed the blind turning now facing me placing his hands behind him on the desk looking at me with his eyebrow raised as if he was telling me to deny what he said.

"I professor" I said till he quickly reminded me, "Harry now love Harry" he said

"Harry I won't lie, yes I do like you but should we wait til I graduate" I said walking closer now as if there's this magnet bringing us together.

"Well in the eyes of me and the school I submitted your last assignment and closed the class you're not my student anymore it is Friday you graduate Monday I'd say that is close enough." He said now reaching around my waist pulling me in to close the gap behind us I let out a shaky breath looking up to meet his eyes.

"You've been driving me crazy every day this semester walking in those doors always looking good." He said brushing my hair behind my ear

"You must say that to every girl" I said not believing this

He grasped my chin in his hand, "never think back, did I ever look at any girl in class with you in the room, I've always looked at you, you in your perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect face." He said twirling my hair around his finger and stroking my check with his thumb.

There's always been some sort of pull to him since I walked into this dumb class we always caught each other's eyes during lecture.

"Can I try something I've been wanting to try for a while?" He asked me

I nodded, waiting for what was going to happen, when he placed his hands on my checks holding me as he placed his lips to mine. Dear god his soft lips pressing on mine the sweet taste of cherry on both our lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer if that's even possibly needing to be closer to him.

He ran his hand down my neck, shoulders down my arm til he got to my waist. Squeezing my sides I gasp as he whispers against my lips, "jump" he said and I did wrapping my legs around his waist as he carried us over to his desk placing me down as we made out. Separating for a second to catch our breath.

"Jesus Christ that's worth the wait alright" he said causing me to laugh

"Your not kidding" I said

"Victoria can I call you Victoria" he asked me

"Vicky just Vicky" I said in a daze from his lips

"Vicky do you want me to make you feel good a little graduation present" he said

I nodded quickly what a dumb question of course.

"mots ma chérie" he said

As if I wasn't wet enough already hearing him talk in French made me more turned on, "I have no clue what that means but yes" I said causing him to laugh

"French lessons for real starting Monday, I said words my darling I need words" he said

"Yes yes do whatever you want" I said

He picked me up and brought me to the couch in his office standing me up, "pants off" he said as I obliged, pulling my jeans off and shoes throwing them to the corner.

"Now your top" he said standing with his arms crossed watching me as I take my top off now standing in my bra and panties and thank god I wore my matching black lace set.

"Jesus Christ" he hissed looking me up and down biting his bottom lip

"Your turn professor" I said tauntingly

He smirked removing his top and pulling down his pants leaving him in grey boxers seeing his cock outlined from being hard.

"Someone's excited" I said pointing down to his cock

"Like you aren't darling now sit down" he said as I laughed sitting down on the couch.

He kneeled down in front of me kissing my chest making his way down leaving kisses on my cleavage stomach and passing the area I needed him at the most to kiss my thigh and my inner thigh brushing his nose against my clothed center.

"Lift up I'm going to take them off" he said tugging at the waistband of my panties I lifted my hips as he pulled them down leaving me a wet mess.

"So wet for me" he said, holding up my panties, licking them and throwing them to wear my pants are I let out a heavy breath.

"Now lean back and relax" he said

He places his hands on my knees, opening my legs leaning in to place a kiss right on my clit as I shiver from the sensation. He begging to circle his tounge on my clit, I threw my head back, "fuck" I moaned out causing him to moan against me causing a vibration adding more pleasure.

He began to tease my entrance with a finger he went in circles then up and down til he finally slid a finger in pulling his mouth away leaving me whimpering at the loss of contact.

"Mmm how many fingers can you take baby" he said looking up to me as I'm a whimpering mess just from his one finger.

"découvrons-le" I said back shocking him as he stopped his movement

"Ah so you did learn something in class" he said slowly begin to move his finger again curling them in the right places

"I'm guessing you can take three" he said now adding a second finger causing me to gasp out from the shock.

He thrust his fingers in and out curling them as I moaned out reaching my hand down to try and add more pressure by playing with my clit til Harry reached out with his other hand stopping me.

He shook his hand, "no no now your gonna be a good girl this is my graduation gift to you let me make you feel good" he said placing my hand to the side adding a third finger moving faster and faster, "my god your fucking beautiful looking down with that mouth open gasping and moaning all for me" he said now leaning back in to play with my clit I reach my hand to hold his head in place tugging at his hair getting a groan out of him.

"Oh you like hair tugging huh? I'll keep it in mind" I said teasingly shakingly due to the pleasure running through every point of my body.

I rolled my head back closing my eyes taking in all the pleasure till I feel his his hand wrap around my neck pulling my head forward to look down at him, "eye contact chérie look at me and don't close your eyes I wanna see the pleasure I bring to you" he said as he resumes places his tongue on my clit.

This view is everything as I watch Harry to bring me closer and closer to my release. His head between my thighs made me wetter and wetter. I'm panting now staring down locking eyes with him.

"Holy shit Harry fuck Im gonna cum Jesus Christ fuck" I shouted as he moved his finger and tounge at the same time sending me off to my climax as it took over my body I moaned and shouted while shaking all under his touch.

"So fucking sweet" Harry said pulling away liking his mouth and fingers clean.

I looked down at him catching my breath, "can I, can I do something for you?" I asked, regaining my breath.

"Baby you could do anything you want. Although I wanna make a request. I want your fucking mouth so bad." He said standing up now as I lowered myself on my knees meeting his clothed center pulling down his boxers when his cock sprung out.

"Your so big" I said looking up to him

"I know your not used to being with a real man" he said laughing jokingly

"You're 5 years older than me, calm down" I said laughing as well.

I struck my hand up and down his shaft, taking my index finger swiping at the pre cum off his cock and bringing it up to my mouth and  swirling my tongue around moaning out looking up to him.

"Oh you're a dirty girl huh I thought I had a good girl?" He said teasingly

"Now let me see how good that mouth is because you sucking that pie off my finger had me hard the whole time talking to you" he said

"Gladly I've been thinking about your cock" I said now moving my mouth to wrap around his cock slowly rocking it in and out of my mouth warping my hand around the rest that I couldn't fit due to his length.

"Oh fuck" he moaned out wrapping his hand in my hair pushing my head back and fourth guiding me.

"Sitting in class thinking about my dick huh? Does it live up to expectations for you chérie?" He said while panting tossing his head back

I grunt, nodding my head slightly, working my mouth around his cock twirling my tongue around and sucking. I pulled my mouth off now using my hand looking up at him looking down with his mouth wide open and his chain slightly dangling off his chest.

"Fuck your so hot" I said

"You my chérie are indescribable everything and more fucking beauty" he said

I smiled, rocking my hand faster up and down his shift, "you gonna cum for me, going to be a good boy and cum for me" I said looking up to him as his chest moved up and down faster and faster.

He let out a grunt and moan grabbing my head and guided it to his cock, "if it's too much tap my thigh I'll stop" he said quickly as I nodded needing his cock in my mouth. I moved my hand off and let him take control as he pushed my head down and thrust his hips forward and back allowing himself to finish as I twirl my tongue around best I could hearing him moan and come undone.

"Fuck fuck fuck Jesus Christ my good Vicky your amazing" he said finally letting go as I taste the saltiness from his cum fill my mouth he pulled my head off as I licked his shaft clean of all my salavia and his cum swallowing it all.

Harry pulled me up and kissed me as he tasted himself against my mouth and I taste myself against his. He moved backwards til we got to the couch he pulled away reaching into the pant pocket of his pulling out a condom ad I sat down.

"Came prepared now didn't you Harry" I said raising my eyebrow to him

"Been thinking about this for a while" he said as he rolled the condom on

He hovered over me now, relaxing on top of me as we both layed down. He reached between us aligning himself and sliding in as we both let out a gasp.

"God" we both moaned.

Harry began to move, thrusting in and out slowly resting his head in the crock of my neck as I felt his hot breath on my neck.

"tu te sens incroyable chérie incroyable" he said in French

I let out a moan, "faster please please" I said practically begging he leaned up on his elbows as his cross hit my chin as he thrusted in and out leaning down kissing me as we both were filled with pleasure and pain all at once.

"Can I try something?" He asked

"Oui" I said causing him to smirk

He brought his hand to my neck and slightly squeezed, wrapping his hand around my throat. Holy shit the coldness from his metal rings add to the pleasure.

I moaned out, "oh fuck me Jesus Christ" I said looking down to see his cok coming out and going into my pussy

"It's like you were made for me never felt this good my god" he said looking down as well we both looked up as he removed his hand from my neck resting our foreheads together he placed his lips on mine, "god I'm so close" I said shakily as I feel my climax approaching I've never cum this fast before.

"Cum with me" he said intensely increasing in his speed

I moaned out from the intense feeling, "give me your hand" he said as he grabbed it, lowering it down to my lower abdomen pressing down til I felt his cock moving inside me. I let out a moan throwing my head back.

"That feeling will keep me up all night, when you cum on your own when I'm not around I want you to think of this and how you feel when my cocks inside you" he said deeply.

"Harry I'm gonna cum fuck" I said

"Cum for me chérie let go" he said

That was all I needed as I felt the intense pleasure run through me leaving me to moan and shake and come down beneath him as he followed suit moaning out calling my name. I opened my eyes, seeing blurry til his face became clear he's smirking down at me with a piece of his hair in his eyes. I pushed it off back for him, "that was incredible" he said kissing me again

"Amazing" I said, catching my breath.

"I'm gonna pull out okay" he said, grabbing a tissue from the coffee table and placing it between us he pulled out as we both hissed from the loss of contact as he dried me off, pulling the condom off, rolling it in a ball and tossing it in the trash can.

He leaned back revisiting us so I was resting on his chest, "so I have one more assignment for you" he said looking at me I laughed, "and what's that?" I asked

"I want you ready at 10 pm Monday after graduation I'm taking you to dinner" he said

I sat up a bit turning to him, "like a date?" I asked excitingly

"It's a date" he said and kissed me

[the-maidofgevaudan]

JJ F'ing Maybank

Authors Note: Sorry this has taken forever, but this is the next chapter in the story I am writing. See my master list for the others- Its under OBX: The College Years. Not my Gif, so creds to the owner.

Small summary: Sloane is forced to spend more time with JJ :)

Word Count: 2.6K

Sloane is woken by a shrill shriek coming from the other side of the small house she shares with Kiara. Startled by the sound she jumps out of her bed and runs towards the source of the yelling. “Kiara! Are you okay?” She said breathlessly.

“No, I mean yes. I’m fine, but we have no hot water.” The girl complains through the closed door of the bathroom.

Sloane exhales and rolls her eyes, “Oh my gosh. I thought you were dying! That scream was because of cold water?”

Kie opens the door of the bathroom and glares at Sloane then breaks into a chuckle, “You can take the girl off Figure Eight, but some kook qualities die hard.” They both stand there laughing a moment. “I’ll call someone to look at this, but we will have to deal with cold showers for now. You have any plans today?”

“I was planning to go to UNC to check out the campus, but I am still without transportation.”

“Oh yeah. Well I would give you my car, but I have to go to work. I can text my friends and see if any of them are free.” Kie offers and begins typing a message.

“No, it's okay. I don’t want to be a burden.” Sloane explains.

“Too late. JJ already said he was free today. He’ll be over in 15.”

JJ had been planning to go surfing today on his day off from the auto shop, but quickly changed his plans when he received the text from Kiara explaining that Sloane needed someone to take her to UNC. He mentally kicked himself for volunteering so quickly; if he wasn’t careful the pogues were going to start giving him shit for wanting to hang out with Sloane. He wasn’t sure himself why he liked being around her- she was a mystery to him that he wanted to figure out. There was something under her good girl facade.There was no way she was a slut- not even a reformed slut- JJ could spot those from a mile away. She had hated him on sight because she’d been burned by someone like him before. He released an exhale as he was getting ready and had gotten lost in his thoughts; He’d finally found a girl that was interesting enough to get to know, and a version of him had already hurt her.

“Good morning.” A voice came from the end of the hallway. JJ internally cringed- it was the girl that had come home with him from the boneyard last night.

“Morning.” He responded looking at where the voice came from.

The girl came up from behind him and leaned against the doorframe giving JJ a seductive look. “Heading off so soon?”

“Yeah I have things to do today.” He responds, trying to finish getting ready quickly to leave the situation that is currently brewing. He slides by her and moves to the kitchen where John B is currently making breakfast for Sarah and himself. Sarah is sitting on the couch and gives JJ an annoyed look when she notices the girl following him around the house.

It seems the girl gets the hint she is no longer wanted at the chateau and goes to grab her things off the table in the living room. She meets JJ at the front door and smiles while wrapping her arms around him, kissing his neck. “I’ll leave my number on the counter.”

“Eh… Don’t worry about it,” He says in a casual tone.

“What?” She asks, leaning back to look into his eyes.

“Every time!” Sarah says, looking at the girl. “How are you surprised by this? He’s JJ Fucking Maybank! He is famous for this very thing, and every time they’re surprised!” She throws her hands up.

The girl pouts and gives a huff before running out the door. JJ looks at Sarah and shrugs. “Where are you headed off to so early on your day off?” Sarah asks while sipping some coffee.

“I am taking Sloane to UNC. Her car is still in the shop.” JJ says looking around the living room for something. Sarah notices his red hat discarded on the floor and grabs it. She holds it up to his line of sight and waves it around. He smiles and takes the hat from her and fixes it on his head.

“You’re taking her to UNC?” John B says and glances at Sarah with a wink.

“Yes, Kie said she wanted to go to check out the campus.”

“JJ, what do you know about the campus?” Sarah asks, raising her eyebrows.

“I’ve been to a few dorm rooms.” He smirks, “and most of my fights are in the basements of the buildings there. Speaking of- don’t forget about tonight.”

“You remember when we first went to UNC together Vlad?” Sarah grinned.

“Oui, oui Valérie." John B jokes using an accent.

“Get a room, you two.” JJ mocks.

“Careful JJ, UNC can be a very romantic first date.” Sarah teases him.

“First, it’s not a date. Second, me and Sloane are just friends and she made that very clear last night. Third, I told her I’d be over to get her by now so I'm leaving.”

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sloane is perched on a bench swing on the porch when JJ pulls up on a dirt bike. “Seriously?”

“Well hello to you too.” JJ dismounts the bike and walks over to the porch.

“JJ, I’m not getting on that.” She glances between the bike and the boy.

“That bike is your only option of transportation. I promise I will follow all traffic laws.” He holds his hand up in what looks like a boy scout salute. He seems to sense she is still apprehensive to get on the bike and continues with a more serious expression, “I wouldn’t let you get hurt Sloane.”

“Fine. When will my car be fixed?”

“The shop should have given you a call, but it needs a part we don’t have. It was ordered yesterday, but it won’t be here for a while.”

“Great.”

“Don’t worry. Between us pogues we’ll get you where you need to go.” He smiles as they walk towards the dirt bike.

He climbs on first and motions for her to climb behind him. Sloane throws her leg over and tries to find somewhere to put her hands to hang on. JJ feels her moving behind him and grabs her wrist and wraps it around his middle. “There’s nothing to hold on to, but me. Don't let go,” he says, starting the bike.

As they drive through the cut Sloane tries not to focus on the feel of his abs under his shirt or the fact that he smells so good. She is immediately annoyed with herself for enjoying riding behind him on the bike for even a moment. He begins to speed up and she instinctively grabs hold of him tighter and she can feel him laugh. They quickly come pulling up to the Ferry docks and JJ parks the bike. After climbing off his bike, Sloane smacks his shoulder. “Did you forget I was with you? Are you trying to kill me?”

“It’s hard to forget you’re behind me when your thighs are squeezing the life out of me” A smirk comes to his face as he says, “Actually, I couldn’t think of a better way to die.”

“There is something very wrong with you, Maybank.” She starts walking towards the booths to buy tickets. “Oh come on Sloane. I was going the speed limit!” He says following her.

“Yeah! Maybe if we were on the Autobahn!”

“Did you get hurt?” He asks as they join the ticket line. Sloane shakes her head. “Alright, see- I said I wouldn’t let you get hurt and we went from point A to B with no injuries.” He grins.

The line moves faster than Sloane anticipates and when they reach the booth a small man asks them how many tickets they need. JJ handles the questions and before he can pull his wallet out Sloane pays for the tickets. The man hands them over to her and they walk away from the booth. “I could have gotten those, you know.”

“You drove me here and are going to help me find my buildings on campus. The least I can do is pay for the ferry. Plus you complained about money yesterday and have a fist fight planned for this evening in the hopes of winning more money.” She explains.

“True, and I will win tonight's fight. There is no “hoping” about it.” He assures her.

“That’s pretty cocky. How can you be so sure?” She teases.

“I haven’t lost a fight since Barry got me started.”

“How are you so good at it?”

“I grew up with an alcoholic asshole of a father. I got pretty good at dodging hits and eventually started throwing some back.” He explains casually.

“Oh, JJ. I didn’t- I’m uh… I’m sorry” Sloane stutters out.

“Don’t worry about it Sloane. Dad left and I grew up. It’s alright.” They share a moment of silence as Sloane is unsure what to say now that she’s pried into his personal life. The moment is broken by a voice on a speaker calling out to board the ferry and Sloane feels instant relief.

JJ leads the way onto the ferry as Sloane follows quietly behind. JJ finds a seat that allows them to look out at the water. “Not a bad view for a commute to school.” JJ gives Sloane a sideways glance. She nods, “It’s one of the reasons I chose to come out here for school.”

“Where are you from again?”

“Small town in Kentucky.”

“What was it like growing up there?”

“It was fine. It was the kind of place where everyone knows everyone. I grew up on a horse ranch, so my childhood was pretty sweet. The ranch has been in my family for generations.”

“Kook of Kentucky?” He raises his eyebrows at her.

“Do you have me pegged as a Kook?”

“Only a little.” He gives the girl a smile and for the second time she actually returns it.

“Well I hate to ruin your perception of me JJ, but I’m not really a Kook. Ranching isn’t exactly a luxurious lifestyle; the money is good most of the time, but it's a lot of hard work. I mean my grandfather is paying for my tuition, but besides that it’s up to me to take care of myself now that I'm here. Speaking of, I need to find a place to work.”

“There’s a couple restaurants and clubs on Figure Eight that pay well. With your body you could make a killing in tips.”

“Seriously JJ?” She gives him a side eye.

“What? I'm just making an observation and giving you helpful advice.”

“We’re just friends.”

“I know Sloane, I'm not trying to bag you. We’re just hanging out.”

She scoffs, “Bag me? How do you ever get laid talking like that?”

“I don’t usually have to do a lot talking to get laid.” With his comment Sloane rolls her eyes at him and he points out where land is coming into view. “Welcome to Chapel Hill, Sloane.”

—------------------------------------------------------------------

“This place is so beautiful.” Sloane says as she looks around at UNC’s campus.

“Yeah, it's nice.” JJ says nonchalantly, looking at the paper with Sloanes schedule in his hands.

“You don’t think it's pretty?”

“It’s a college campus. It’s just a bunch of old buildings.” he shrugs.

“Come on JJ. It’s beautiful because of all the opportunities it holds.” As she says it, JJ feels like she is glowing. He gives a small chuckle, but instead of mocking her like he initially wants to, he agrees, “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty.”

He leads her around UNC for the better part of the day showing her where all her classes are and pointing out all of the buildings he’s had fights in. He also attempts to avoid a few girls throughout the day and fails miserably. He knows that Sloane is aware of his reputation, but he didn’t want to remind her of it all day.

“You’re pretty popular on campus for someone who doesn’t even go here.” She points out after a crowd of students go by with some of them yelling out phantom.

“It comes with the gig.” He shrugs.

“All of the girls that have waved at you or given you nasty looks have been because of the fighting?” She teases.

“No, some of that is my own doing.” He nudges her shoulder as they continue walking. They come to a stop in front of a building. “This is where the fight is tonight. You’re coming right?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He shakes his head, “The rest of the pogues will be here, so unless you want to spend the night alone- I think you’ll be here. Plus you kind of owe me now.”

“Yeah, I guess I'll be there.”

—-------------------

Later that night Sloane finds herself following the Pogues through the biology building down to the basement where JJ’s fight is to take place. The sounds on the descent down start out as only their breathing and the repetitive beating of feet hitting the steps. As they get closer to the basement though, what starts out as a dull roar opens up into complete chaos.

The entire basement is full of people wall to wall. Sloane can see multiple hands exchanging money for bets. She almost gets lost in all of it, but Kiara grabs her hand and drags her along with the rest of the gang, minus JJ who arrived early to prepare. “Is it always like this?” Sloane shouts over the crowd to Kie. “Yeah, but tonight's different because JJ is fighting a local UNC student. His name is Kelce- He grew up in the Outer Banks. He’s a notorious kook, so it means a little more to those of us who grew up around here.”

“Ah- the turf war continues” Sloane mocks back and Kie laughs.

Barry moves a chair to the center of the marked out ring in the middle of the basement floor and stands up on it. “Last chance to make bets!” He yells over the sea of people anxiously waiting for the fight to begin. The last few hands shoot up to exchange money and with that the crowd silences as he introduces Kelce. Sloane glances around the room and it's clear to see who has come to support the other boy. There are lots of boat shoes and button ups around the room- no doubt betting with Daddy’s money. Sloane takes in Kelce as he enters the ring- she can tell he grew up playing sports. He has a lean and muscular build to him; maybe he played baseball in high school. He’s strong for sure, but it's a different strength than JJ. Kelce grew strong by choice; JJ had grown strong by way of life.

Then amongst them are those in what looks like a mix of work clothes and beach wear; betting their own hard earned money and hoping to make a few quick bucks. Once he’s done introducing Kelce and the kooks are going crazy hyping him up. Barry still standing on his chair is clearly waiting for the crowd to quieten before continuing.

“Here comes JJ’s intro” Kie says to John B.

“He’s gonna hate it.” He replies keeping an eye on the opposite corner of the room.

“He does it every time.” Sarah interjects into the conversation.

With the crowd now quiet Barry yells out with a smirk, “Our next fighter doesn’t need an introduction, but I’ll give him one anyways!” Some of the crowd begins to cheer at these remarks alone and Barry continues causing the crowd to lose it as JJ makes his way into the ring, “Shake in your boots, boys, and drop your panties, ladies! I give you: JJ ‘Phantom’ Maybank!”

Authors note: feel free to give feedback... and I could take requests if anyone has any for JJ, as he's the only person I am currently writing for.

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

This Sarah Everard case is so terrifying for women. But not only am I terrified - I am furious.

⚠️ tw for mentions of r*pe, sexual assault, violence against women, murder etc. ⚠️

She was just walking, including walking by busy roads and not dark alleyways. She was dressed in winter clothes. Even if she HAD walked down a dark alleyway or been wearing something short or “revealing”, she still wasn’t doing anything wrong - she was just walking somewhere.

Her murderer - a police officer named Wayne Couzens - plotted to murder a woman to live out his perverse fantasy. He didn’t plot to kill a specific woman - he knew he would murder a woman, any woman he thought he could abduct, any woman who would be out at night on her own. Sarah was just there.

Not only did he drive miles and hours to kill a woman, not only was he a police officer… he used his badge, police belt, handcuffs and credentials to fake arrest her to get her into his car. If a police officer tells you to go with them, we’re told to not resist, to be obedient or we will be in even more trouble. Even if she HAD done what the MET have just said women should do - “question non uniformed officers!” - it wouldn’t have helped her because he was a police officer. He had the credentials. Why would she run away and resist a police officer? And if women do resist, the police commit violence against them (like at the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah).

He handcuffed her, drove her for hours, then raped and murdered her. This fucking monster strangled her with his fucking police belt. He burnt her body and disposed of her in a pond.

A police officer did this - a fucking police officer, a MET officer, the MET we’re supposed to trust. And you want women to trust them?!!

And I don’t want to hear that “don’t judge the whole profession based on one bad apple”, because guess what? This is not the first time a police officer has harmed a woman. There is misogyny rooted deep in the MET that needs to be addressed. Wayne Couzens was literally nicknamed “The Rapist” by other police officers and had offended in the past by flashing people, and that’s just what we know of - and yet not a single person did anything. The police joked about it. Several officers gave character references supportive of Couzens during the hearings for his sentencing, and female officers told the press that they did not feel as if they could report concerning behaviour by male colleagues.

It’s thought that at LEAST 15 serving or former police officers have killed women in UK since 2009, and HUNDREDS of UK police officers have convictions for crimes, including assault. There are many cases that do not go reported, and so it’s likely the numbers on both counts are actually higher. Why are they still allowed to serve? Why is our government giving them more power and freedom to arrest whoever they please? “It’s not that many” - IT SHOULD NOT BE ANY.

If you can’t see why there’s a huge problem with our police force and why we say “fuck the police”, you’re part of the problem.

And the fear and anger we feel isn’t new - this has been a problem for literally all of our lives.

At 11, I learnt to come home before dark, and if it was dark in the winter on my way home (meaning: every night in winter), I was taught to not go down any dark lanes, and if I was walking the dark lane I had to go down if I got the bus home, I was to walk as fast as I could and to not have earphones in because i wouldn’t hear attackers. Every day from September 2009 to July 2014, coming home from secondary school, I was told to either wait for my dad or grandad to pick me up or to walk down the busiest road that ran near my house and had constant cars on it. I couldn’t take the shortcut down the public footpath on my way home from sixth form college because it was too dark and isolated - I had to go around it and through the village instead, which took more time but was vaguely safer. Since university, I’ve made a point of waiting for the hourly bus that stops just round the corner from my home and on the busiest road, even though I have to wait up to an hour for it usually, because getting the bus that comes every 15 minutes means walking up the dark quiet lane.

At age 13, I learnt not to talk to even very friendly men, even not in broad daylight, even with a female friend, when some old man approached us and started complimenting us, telling us we had “nice smiles” and “I can hook you up with someone who can help you get into acting” and “here’s ��10, you go down to the garage down the road and get whatever you girls want”.

At 14, I learnt not to sit in trees in the park by the gate, not even during the day when it’s sunny, when an old man entered the park, took one look at me, and said “you’ve got a nice arse”. I couldn’t prove he had said anything, and I would see him on my way to school sometimes and panic.

At 19, I learnt that I could not trust friendly men online. Apologies to any decent men I have spoken to online - there’s a few who are nice and not weird, I’m not talking about them. I learnt this when a guy I was speaking to on my old blog - who had for weeks just been generally nice and checking in on me - started to send intimate and sexual messages that started with “*hugs you*” and became “*spanks your ass*”, “takes your clothes off”, “f*cks you hard”, just to name a few (and these were the milder ones). When I asked his age, he merely said “older” than me - “more than twice as old as you”, actually. I learnt to not talk to men online, and if I did then I had to set very clear boundaries in a way that wasn’t too obvious - not say it outright but make it clear I am “unavailable”.

I have to carry a rape alarm on my keys, just in case. I could go out to bars if I wanted to, I could have at university when all my peers were - but doing it meant risking the chance of being harmed while intoxicated or on my way home. I have to send my location to my mother if I get any Ubers, if I go out to theatres or cinemas in the evening I have to text my mum to say I’ve arrived safe. I only feel safe out at night if I’m with a man that I trust like my dad or grandad - I got very lucky at Uni because not only did one girl make sure I got home safely at 1 in the morning by calling me a cab, but one boy even stayed with me on another night until my dad arrived to pick me up, because he knew leaving me intoxicated at 2:30 in the morning was dangerous. I have even phoned my grandmother while walking home in the dark because being on the phone to someone means you’re less of a target to an attacker.

Men do not have this experience - or, if they do, it’s nowhere near the fear and worry women feel every day. Women can’t even walk somewhere without being worried of being attacked - we cannot go anywhere without asking ourselves “am I safe?”. Are we wearing the “correct” clothing, so as to not give off the wrong idea? Are we walking down the well lit roads where it’s busy? Are we aware of our surroundings, of every single person nearby? Do I have my keys in my hand, ready to defend myself if I’m attacked? Women are blamed if we are attacked - not men, but women. “She was dressed slutty” “she was passed out drunk” “she was walking down a dark lane” “she was out late”.

When doing safe guarding training at my current TA job, I came across this phrase: “always think it can and will happen”. Just as a teacher or TA should not think “none of my students will be victims of abuse”, women should not for one second believe that they are safe and “it will never happen to me” - every day we have to think of how to prevent our own assault or murder, just in case.

Every time I’m walking home in the dark, I have the fleeting wonder of “what picture(s) of me will they use if I’m attacked or go missing?”. I was not really surprised when I saw that other women said the same thing. Women wonder it so often it’s almost a joke, an absent minded thought. But it’s not a joke - it’s real life for us, every single day.

Sarah Everard is not a one off case. Sabina Nessa, a 28 year old primary school teacher, was murdered on 18th September this year, her body discovered the next day by a dog walker. So far in 2021, 110 women have been murdered in the UK by men (or men are the prime suspects). Only a handful get national attention because at this point, violence and murder against women have become normalised in this country.

I am not only heartbroken for all of these women and their families - I am scared for my own safety; I am scared for the safety of my mother, my grandmother, my aunts. I am scared for the safety of my 20 year old sister, the safety of my 17 and 14 year old cousins, for the safety of my older male cousin’s two daughters who are only 4 and 1. I am scared for the safety of every single girl and woman I have worked with, the safety of every woman I have ever spoken to.

But I am also furious and filled with rage. Women should not be scared to go out or have fun, we should not have to take such precautions or measures that still won’t completely prevent our assaults or murders. I am sick and tired of the victim blaming when a woman is murdered, of the indifference of “oh another woman”, of this being how women are expected to live their lives.

I’m tired of this problem being ignored by our government, tired of no one giving a shit about us or our safety.

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Fifty-Five

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Smut and Fluff.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

Your alarm goes off at four the next morning. Harry groans like you’ve never heard him before.

“Why are you up so bloody early?”

“I’m going to the gym before work.” You whisper. “Go back to sleep.” You change and pack up everything you’ll need.

“Why?”

“Too dark in the evenings right now, I have zero motivation after work. I’ll be back before I go to work.”

You ran three miles. You have no idea why, but you did. You lifted some weights, and then got back to your apartment by 6:30 to shower. Harry was still in bed when you got back. He rolled over and saw you. You strip yourself of your clothes and he thought you looked like a runway model with the way you were strutting around.

“Right, so I’ll be showerin’ with ya.” He says getting up. You turn to grin at him.

“We have to be super quick.” You fix your hair into a bun so it won’t get wet. “Niall and I are going to carpool today, and he leaves super early.”

“Well, enough talkin’ then, let’s go.”

You turn the water on and wait for it to heat up. You stand under the warm water to wash the sweat away. Harry gets on his knees and pulls you towards him. You giggle, and then gasp when you feel his mouth on your clit. Your hands rake through his hair. He moves one of your legs over his shoulder so he can lick your center easier.

“Ugh, Harry.” Your head rolls back. “Feels so good.”

He dips a finger up inside you while his mouth focuses on your clit again. He curls it up inside you making the “come here” motion, and you’re not sure how much longer you’ll last.

“Harry, shit, don’t stop.”

You feel him smirk while he flicks his tongue faster on you. It’s when his second finger slips inside that you lose it. You gasp loudly, and practically scream while your stomach coils. One of your hands grasps at the tile on the shower wall. Your release comes and he continues to pump in and out of you while you ride it out. He stands up as you catch your breath. You lean your forehead on his chest.

“Shit.”

He lifts you up quickly and puts your back flush with the wall. You wrap your legs around him and he thrusts up into you. Your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“Always so reactive in the mornin’.” He smirks. He starts moving in and out. He grabs one of your hands with his and laces your fingers together.

“I love you so much.” You kiss him while he fucks up in to you.

“I love you too.” He says into your ear. “Love this tight little cunt too.” You moan at his words.

“Keep going.” You breathe out. He could feel you pulsing against him.

“Feels so good wrapped around me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, s’like it was made just f’me.” You tighten around him.

“Fuck, Harry.” You start panting while he moves in and out of you faster. “I wanna come at the same time, can we do that?”

“Fuck, yeah.”

“Harry, it’s gonna, I’m, oh god!”

His come shoots up inside you as you release around his cock. He stays pressed against you for a moment before pulling out, and setting you down. He kisses you before stepping into the water to rinse off. You give his bum a little pinch as you step into the water.

“Oi!”

“I love that ass.” You giggle.

You get dressed quick and throw some makeup on. It was already 7:15. You made a quick smoothie and kissed Harry before heading out the door. Niall had just pulled his car up.

“Mornin’.”

“Good morning.” You smile big at him. You certainly didn’t seem the way Harry had described. But it was a new day after all.

“You seem perky.”

“I went to the gym really early, I feel so energized.”

“That’s good. Wish I could do that, I get every last drop of sleep I can possibly get. Plus, Sarah usually gives me a good work out.”

“Don’t be gross.” You nudge him.

“As if Harry doesn’t give you a parting gift in the morning.”

“Oh he does, did this morning in fact, but that’s none of your business.” You smirk.

“Mhm, yeah.”

You and Niall stop for coffee and head to the office. You liked carpooling already. It was nice to have that time together in the morning. You decided to switch off every other day. You get to your desk and get through some lingering emails. Harry texts you a kissy face and it makes your heart flutter.

//

Harry gets to work around nine. Isaac says good morning like he usually does.

“Harry! We missed you last week.”

“Thanks, wish I could say the same.” He smiles along with his joke.

“Very funny.”

“Actually, I would have much preferred you had come with us. We coulda had a lot of fun.” Isaac blushes as Harry walks into his office.

His coffee was already waiting for him. He sighs with relief. He logs onto his computer and loads up some of the pictures he started editing. He gets them onto a flash drive and walks down to Mykenzie’s office. He taps on the outside of the door.

“Hey.” He says to her.

“Hi.” She says looking over at him.

“Got the pictures from last week for yeh.”

“Thanks, you can just leave that on Julia’s desk.”

“You’re not even gonna look ‘em over?” He pouts.

“Why do I need to? She’s the one writing the pieces.”

“You’re gonna look her shit over though right?”

“Yeah, when she’s done. I’m working on something else right now.”

“Alright then.” He turns on his heel and leaves her office. She hated when he’d pout like that. It was too cute. He walks over to Julia’s desk where her eyes are glued to her computer screen. “Hey, here are the pictures from last week.” He places it on her desk.

“Thanks.” Her cheeks heat up looking at him.

“Ya good?”

“Mhm.”

“Thanks for the coffee.” He winks at her and walks away.

//

You were too busy jamming out to your Glee cast playlist playing loudly in your ears to notice Harry standing in your door way around lunch time. He got a kick out of you bobbing your head around, mouthing the words that he knew you desperately wished you could be belting out. He makes a coughing noise, and you look up at him.

“Oh! Hi, sweetie.” You pause your music and get up.

“It okay I came by?”

“Course! Wanna eat with Niall too? He missed me all week.” Harry goes to speak but you’re already walking down the hall to Niall’s office. “Hey, come to my office for lunch, Harry’s here too.”

“Sounds good!” You come back and get your lunch out of your lunch box.

“What?”

“Nothin’…” He sits down in one of the chairs by your desk. Niall comes in and sits next to him.

“Hey mate.”

“Hey. How was car poolin’?”

“Good! We’re going to do it every day.” You say sitting down.

“It’s a nice way to start to day off.” Niall says.

“Agreed.” You smile at him. “How’s work today, babe?”

“Good, everyone really liked my pictures.”

“That’s great! They were beautiful. Niall, Harry got to dive under water.”

“Ohh, he likes doin’ that.”

“Shut up.” He nudges him. You roll your eyes at the inside joke. “Hey, Niall, you ever notice how much Y/N rolls her eyes?” They both smirk.

“Oh, all the time. She should have an award for it.”

“I really don’t even notice I’m doing it!”

“The best is when I catch you doin’ it in a bad meeting, I have all I can do to not start laughin’.”

“Good to know I can be so entertaining.” You stick out tongue out at him and he sticks his back at at you.

“You both wanna come over tonight to watch The Bachelor?”

“Or you could come to our place! Is that okay Harry?” He nods yes.

“Perfect. Sarah can’t come over tonight, and I hate watchin’ it alone.”

“I cannot believe you like watching it.”

“It’s addicting as fuck! Y/N actually got me into it. When she first started here she was talkin’ about the Bachelorette like all the time.”

“Mhm, so I started Niall off with Bachelor in Paradise that summer.”

“It was wild.”

“Jesus, you two are a married couple.” Harry chuckles.

“We’d be one of the couple’s from the fifties that have the twin beds instead of like a normal bed.” You joke.

“Yes! That’s exactly how I’d picture it.” He laughs.

Niall leaves you and Harry to hang out alone around 12:30. He closes the door behind him, and you move to sit in Harry’s lap.

“Hi.” You nuzzle your nose to his.

“You’re in a good mood today.”

“Hard not to be when you gave me an earth shattering orgasm this morning.” You blush as you say it.

“Earth shatterin’ huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me scream? Jesus, I’m still thinking about it. You have magic fingers. Actually, you have magic everything.” You giggle and lean down to kiss him.

“Would love to do that for ya again, now.” You stand up immediately.

“I already told you I’m not going to fuck you in my office.”

“Can we make out then?”

“Yeah, okay.”

You sit on the edge of your desk and he stands between your legs. Your hands stay on his hips while he kisses you.

//

Harry left your office with swollen lips and a fresh hickey on his collar bone. Isaac smirked at him as he came back up to the studio. Harry grabs a mint from the top of his desk.

“What’s that face for?” He asks him.

“Nothing, I just think it’s cute that you have this like high school romance with your girlfriend.”

“High school romance?” Harry scoffs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone ready to pounce like you, you’re a like a teenager going through puberty.”

“Come off it. Can’t help that I’m with the most gorgeous girl in the world. Need to her to kiss me any chance I can get.” He shrugs.

“It’s nice seeing you so in love, H. It looks good on you.”

“Thanks, mate.”

Harry shakes his head and goes into his office. He was genuinely over the moon happy.

//

Niall drives you home at the end of the day, and says he’ll be over around 7:30. You get home before Harry, so you decide to start dinner. You get your music going and start a pot of water on the burner. You were thinking egg noodles with mushrooms and peas. Harry comes home to the smell of your cooking and sits down at the island in the kitchen.

“Hi sweetie.” You say to him. “Dinner’s just about ready.” You kiss him on the cheek. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Good, no complaints for once. How was yours?”

“Pretty good. Had a few meetings. I hate afternoon meetings, people are exhausting after lunch.” You plate up the foot for the two of you and sit next to him.

“Mm, this is delicious, thank you.”

“I made enough to have leftovers for tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. What time is Niall comin’?”

“7:30.”

“Perfect, plenty of time for a shag.”

“Harry.”

“C’mon, let’s go. Need t’save time for a cuddle and all that.”

“Okay, can we just clean up first?”

He practically throws the plates in the dishwasher, and yanks you into the bedroom. Your legs were over his shoulders before you knew it. Your back arching upwards several times. This man truly knew how to fuck a woman right, there was no doubt about that. When you were both done you laid their facing each other, legs tangled up in each other. Light pillow talk, giggles, and stolen kisses.

Around 7:15 you both get up and throw on some sweats. You decide on wearing Harry’s clothes. He notices you’re not wearing a bra.

“Hey, could you put somethin’ on under that?”

“It’s a sweat shirt, you can’t even tell.”

“Yes you can.”

“That’s because you’re looking. He won’t be.”

“Y/N.”

“Harry, I don’t know how else to say this, but Niall has seen me without a bra on several times. It’s really not a big deal. It’s not like I’m wearing a tight little white shirt. I’m wearing one of your sweatshirts. I’ll even keep my arms crossed. See?” You hear the buzzer go off. “I’m gonna let him up. Could you make some popcorn?”

“Mhm.”

“Hey!” You say to Niall as he comes in. He had his glasses on and was also clad in sweats. Harry comes out of the kitchen. “Look, he’s got his glasses on, full relaxation mode for the Irish lad.”

“Shut up, I was done with contacts for the day.”

“Want a glass of wine?”

“Wouldn’t be the bachelor if we didn’t.”

“Perfect! Go sit, I’ll get it.”

Harry felt like he was intruding on a date or something. He sits next to Niall on the couch and puts the popcorn on the coffee table. You come over with three wine glasses and pour it for them both, and yourself.

“Harry, could I please sit in the middle?” He shuffles over. “Thank you.”

The show starts and Harry is already bored. He really felt like a third wheel while you and Niall made comments to each other.

“He’s lettin’ her come back?!” Niall shouts.

“I thought we were free! I’m gonna say it, Peter’s a stupid bitch.”

“You’re right, and you should say it.”

“He literally just wants to bone, I don’t know why he wanted to do this.”

“Probably for that exact reason. Just wait for the fantasy suites.”

“What in the fuck are fantasy suites?”

“When he gets to the final three women, they each get an overnight date with him.” You explain.

“But only if the girl accepts.”

“And it’s no cameras. So the couple can talk all night without the producers meddling, or they can fuck.”

“And there’s no cameras at all?”

“Mhm, it’s like the most crucial date.”

Harry found himself getting more invested with the show. It reminded him of one his novels. You felt your eyes start to get droopy. You had been up really early, and the wine was making you sleepy. Your head falls on Niall’s shoulder. He looks down at you and chuckles. Harry’s jaw tenses. Niall nudges his shoulder up to wake you.

“Hm? Sorry, dozed off for a second.” Harry hooks his arm around your shoulders and pulls you into him. “Ya good?” You ask looking up at him.

“Yup.” Niall shakes his head, but keeps his attention on the TV.

When it ends the three of you are exhausted. You and Harry say goodnight to Niall, and you both shuffle into the bedroom, and into the bathroom to do your nightly routines. You take the sweat pants and sweatshirt off and get into bed. You couldn’t wait for Harry to wrap his arms around your soft skin. You sigh with relief when he does.

“That was fun tonight.”

“Yeah, s’not the worst show I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s very addicting.”

“Clearly.” He yawns.

“Love you baby.” You kiss his cheek.

“Love you too, goodnight.”

//

You were sort of embarrassed when you went to see Dr. Mara. You had called her office last week and told them you were too sick to come in.

“Hi, Y/N, are you feeling better?” She says to you as you sit down.

“I wasn’t really sick last week.”

“Oh?”

“I just didn’t feel like coming in and talking.”

“Well, that’s alright. Do you feel like you don’t need weekly appointments anymore?”

“No.” You sigh. “I definitely still need weekly appointments. I’ve been sort of depressed, and I’ve been trying to repress all of it.”

“What are you depressed about?”

“I don’t know…could be my seasonal thing. Harry and I have had sex from behind a couple times and I’ve had some bad flashes. I kept it to myself, but I told him about it…so I’m a little better. I was just feeling really low for some reason. I don’t know if it was because I was keeping something like that to myself, so I was just making it worse?”

“Why do you think you kept it to yourself?”

“Because I didn’t want him to worry, or treat me differently. I could tell he was really enjoying it, which made me enjoy it too…”

“You don’t have to put yourself through anything just because you know he wants it a certain way.”

“I know that, and he’s said the same thing to me.”

“So why try to force it?”

“Because I just want to be able to do things!”

“And you will, but not if you force yourself before you’re ready. I mean look at you, you look depressed.”

“I’m feeling better.”

“You look exhausted.”

“I’ve been sleeping just fine, getting up early, going to the gym.”

“Are you fatigued?”

“A little.” You sigh. “I’m going to Aruba in April…Harry and I got into a fight about it.”

“Why? Isn’t that a family trip?”

“Yeah, he was upset because he had just gotten back from a work thing in Florida, and he felt like I wanted to get away from him by bringing up my own trip. He really missed me. I missed him too, but he like really missed me.” You pause for a moment as she nods along. “He felt really bad for leaving because we were supposed to have the week off together to move. I told him it was no big deal, it really wasn’t. I honestly didn’t care, it was out of my control.”

“You usually like being the one in control.”

“On a person to person basis, yeah. But something like this, a bigger picture thing, like there’s literally nothing either of us could do, so it was whatever.” You shrug. “I don’t think he handles being out of control very well. I think once there’s a plan in place he gets really upset when it changes drastically.”

“Do you think that’s why he was upset when you brought up Aruba?”

“I think his family is supposed to come here for Easter, and he hasn’t truly accepted that I won’t be around for it. I don’t think he fully understands the relationship I have with my Nannie, even though he’s seen me absolutely sob over her…I hate it when we fight. We fight over the stupidest fucking things. We were in a restaurant over the weekend and he threw my fucking degree in communication in my face! Can you believe that?! And then when we got home he put on this big show of making it known he was going to sleep on the sofa. Good! I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him not to. An hour later he comes back in and starts yelling at me. So we talk some shit through. I mean, he drives me crazy sometimes. I know I’m not the easiest person sometimes, but Jesus neither is he.”

“Do you want to break up with him?”

“What?! God, no. I love him too much. The thought’s never even crossed my mind.” You sigh. “We had sex after our fight, it was good, but I got really emotional. It wasn’t like we had made love, it was almost angrier than that. Like a hate fuck or something. Only I was in control the entire time, all of it was coming from me.”

“Maybe you hadn’t resolved everything like you thought you had when you talked.”

“But I don’t want to have angry sex with him. Sure, a little rough is okay, but not angry. That shit doesn’t solve anything. It sure as hell didn’t make me feel better after.” You cross your arms and look away. “The next day I didn’t get out of bed until nearly one in the afternoon. I knew he was worried. I went to take a shower and he told me he needed to go to Niall’s for something. I know he went there to talk about me, why else would he have slipped out like that?”

“What do you think they would have talked about?”

“Why I was acting the way I was, I’m sure. I don’t like that it feels like I’m not allowed to not be okay. I can’t be okay all the time. Besides that, Sarah was with them and she texted me.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“Incredibly annoyed, but she told me what they talked about…I chose to just let it go.”

“What did they talk about?”

“Every depressive episode I’ve ever had. It was like a fucking team of doctors or some shit.”

“Y/N, we’ve talked about this before, but do you think you’d like to try going on some kind of medication? We could start you on a very low dosage-“

“No…that’s like a last resort. That stuff just fucks with your mood.”

“There are some side effects sure, but-“

“I said no.” You both look at each other for a moment. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. So you know Harry went over there to get some information on you, and you chose not to freak out about it. Very different from a couple months ago.”

“I honestly just didn’t have the strength or energy to fight with him again. Now he knows these things about me. Awesome, I really don’t care.”

“But you do care. You look pissed.”

“Of course I’m pissed! How would you feel if three people who were really close to you had a conference to talk about every time you’ve ever been sad? It’s embarrassing. You think I like getting like that? I’d say it’s the only thing about living with someone I don’t like. They can see every time you’re vulnerable.” You groan. “And I lied to Niall last week. I told him I came to see you, and Harry had to have told him I lied.”

“Are you going to talk to him about it?”

“I don’t know. It’s sort of a moot point now…but now who knows if either will believe me when I come here.”

“Niall’s opinion of you really matters, doesn’t it?”

“We love each other, I don’t want him looking at me differently because I fibbed one time.”

“How does Harry feel about the way you and Niall love each other?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes he cares and sometimes he doesn’t. He gets jealous really easily. But he’s just a clingy, needy, guy.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Not at all…until it starts some shit. I think it’s cute he wants me all to himself. God, you don’t think we’re toxic do you?”

“No…but you two need some boundaries set. He shouldn’t get upset with you because you’re going on a trip with your family. But you’re not off the hook either. I know how you can be. You need to cut him some slack once in a while too. He’s not a mind reader, remember?”

“But I’m not one either.”

“Exactly. So, instead of biting each other’s heads off, just try communicating more clearly. If you notice him act a certain way, don’t just call him out on it. Take a step back and think about why he may be acting that way, and go at it from another angle. I know you do that work, bring it home with you.”

//

As you drove home from your appointment, you knew she was right. She was always right. The doorman greets you as you go inside, and you check your little mailbox just in case Harry hadn’t. You say hello to the desk attendant, Michael, as you head up to the elevator. You had gotten to know Michael well during the week of moving.

You key into your place. Harry was up in the loft working. You go right for the kitchen since you were starving. You take out the leftovers from last night, put some in a bowl, and heat it up. Harry comes into the kitchen to greet you.

“Barely heard ya come in.” He kisses you on the cheek. “How was it?”

“Annoying.” You say under your breath.

“Hm?”

“Good, it was good. Actually, it exhausted me.” Your mood had soured. “I just wanna chill out and watch Chopped.” The microwave goes off and you take your food out.

“Why was it exhausting?”

“Um…I told her about what happened over the weekend.” You say taking a bite of food.

“Oh.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Would you, um, like some time to yourself?” You smile at him.

“That would be kind of nice, actually.”

“Alright, I’ll just be upstairs.”

“Thanks, Harry.”

After you eat, you change into some of Harry’s sweats, and plop down on the sofa. You turn the TV on so you can watch Chopped. After the two episodes, and some time to yourself, you looked up towards the loft. You get up from the sofa and climb the spiral staircase. Harry had his headphones in and he was playing a video game. He pauses it when he sees you. You crawl right into his lap and wrap your arms around his shoulders, nuzzling your face into his neck. He wraps his arms around you as well and rubs your back.

“My sweet girl.” He coos.

“Miss you.” You nuzzle into him more. “Can we go cuddle in bed?”

“Mhm.”

You stand to get off him, and you both go down the stairs. You both go through your routines and get into bed.

“Harry, can I just lay on you for a bit?”

“Course, love.”

You shift and lay completely on top of him. Head resting on his chest, and legs on either side of his. His hands move up under your shirt just to rub your back. You sigh happily.

“So soft.” He coos. You smile against his chest.

“Harry?”

“Yes, love?”

“I love you more than anything, I hope you know that.”

“I do. I love you too.” He holds you a little tighter to him.

You fell asleep on top of him. He didn’t mind. He actually really liked when you were needy for a change. You were his sweet little angel.

[peachade]

Writing Asks

thank u to sarah @soldouthaz, lily @theisolatedlily and late @tomlinvelvetfics for tagging me !!

1. describe how you first started writing and when you first posted

started in eighth grade after moving which fucked me up (i’m still to recover lmao) n i needed a distraction, reading had always helped but writing is what let me see what the root of my agony was. (im not trying to be pretentious i swear) i first started on wattpad (love hate relationship to this day) and beginning of lockdown this year gravitated to ao3 which has been my saving grace !!!

2. which of your characters do you typically resonate most closely with? do you base any characters off of yourself?

so far i’ve mostly written in louis’ pov. i’ve had to ask this question in the early stages — i resonate the closest to harry. most of my wips are harry centric for that reason. i mean, yes and no — i tend to take some part of me and fit it into the character but at the same time i don’t like seeing me on a page so yes and no.

3. where do you often find inspiration?

EVERYWHERE. mostly others’ stories be it in the way of songs, music, writing, art. usually it’s me coming across a vaguely aesthetic picture and my brain spitting out one or two random scenes and me trying to make that a story.

4. has quarantine helped or hindered your writing process?

both !!! i have new wips but also i lost a lot of motivation to do anything for a bit. school is sucking the soul out of me — it’s both easier and harder with it being online, the worst part is i can never truly feel like i’m getting a break from it. recently it’s been easier for me bc of the friends i made (ily all) it’s hindered a little bit bc i can’t go out and watch people and streetlights and the blur of cars and try to pour out that feeling into words and create something. at the same time it’s helped me gain more perspective on people and relationships which has been a massive help to writing in general.

5. do you listen to music/noise while you write or do you prefer silence?

depending on the number of classes i have/attend, my mental stability, the story and my sensitivity. i often can’t stand loud noises so there’s that but there is always some noise or the other so it’s never truly silent. i like it that way. sometimes i just play intense studying playlist on spotify and write, Lucida by Odin Sørlie and Haunted Heart by Dawn, Dawn, Dawn are my favourites.

6. what is your biggest writing pet peeve in your writing or in general?

excessive usage of the same word in mine. in general, i’m not a fan of stereotypical characters or romanticising harmful themes.

7. describe your ideal writing setup

2 am, in bed, music still ringing in my ears, three texts from my best friend about a story or about their day. under the blanket, the room smelling of chocolate or something sweet.

8. favorite time of day to write?

anytime but afternoon. those hours are for naps.

9. favorite genre to write + one you’d like to try writing in the future?

fiction? i’d love to write a fantasy au 👀

10. do you struggle with writer’s block? how do you typically overcome it?

yep yep. i just edit an old story or read my old works or other writers’ fics. i gave up trying to force myself into writing — i hated the end product and felt bad so.

11. what is the easiest part of your writing process and the most difficult?

probably the emotions? dialogue without a doubt — i dread writing it. it doesn’t come to me naturally. i can write lengths without dialogue tbh. also smut — it’s an eh eh aspect.

12. how do you come up with original characters? (if applicable)

my wonderful friends. they do dumb shit and i want to tell the world about their dumb shit so i make characters out of them.

13. what is your favorite and least favorite word?

as of now it is fucker — delightful word that one. least favourite is probably squelch — just no.

14. what is one thing about your writing that you’re really proud of and one thing you hope to continue working at?

the dreamy feeling i manage to write without a doubt !!!! dialogue and pacing. i don’t have the best dialogue or the pacing or the length for fics but i’m working on all of those !!

15. what work of yours has your favorite ‘verse/world building? how did you come up with it?

still a wip so i can’t tell you much except that it’s a proper treat. will write this once i’ve posted that fic !!

16. what font and size do you write in? single spaced or double?

*nervous laughter* the font changes from fic to fic — crush is comic sans, size 11. October was Lora, 11. Twisted in bedsheets is courier new, 11. stargazing is spectral, 11. so yeah — whatever the fic demands. single spaced !!!! except when i’m overwhelmed i do double spaces.

17. what is a typo(s) you find yourself making consistently?

I Cannot Type. if you think i can — congratulations you were fooled. autocorrect is the loml.

18. (if applicable) do you separate fic writing from fandom?

of course !!!! i basically do not exist out of my writing.

19. what emotion is your favorite to write? which is the most difficult?

pain, pining, longing. lust.

20. what is one thing you hope readers always take away from your works?

we’re all fucked up but we’re trying and trying sometimes is enough. you shouldn’t spend your life carved out around one person. it’s okay to ask for help and need a shoulder to lean on. i hope these come across in my future fics !!!!

21. what is the best and worst writing advice you’ve ever received?

bold of you to assume i’ve ever received advice.

22. which one of your works would you most want to see turned into a film/television show?

a new fic. will update the answer once that fic is out !!!!!

23. do you write scenes chronologically or out of order?

chronologically. i can’t do out of order. i do have a page full of scribbles but they are to tell me the order sjakmd.

24. how do you handle criticism?

if it’s constructive then well. no thick skin tbh. makes me feel as if i need validation from someone else on my art which isn’t necessary but my brain is wired to seek it and it’s a hassle.

25. what is the advice you would give to someone who is looking to start writing?

write everything you would want to read. write it bad, don’t worry about the quality. don’t worry about the audience. end of the day, it should be something you can turn to for comfort not something that makes you feel bad.

26. what kind of feedback on your work always makes your day?

people telling me they like my writing and it could take them out of this world for a few minutes !!!!!

27. which fic ‘verse of your own would you most like to exist in? which fic’s characters would you most like to befriend?

probably crush verse !!!! harry — his is probably the one character where i dump most of me in.

28. what do you always enjoy getting asks about/wish people would ask about more?

rant to me about anything. i enjoy talking. ask me about wips so i can take the little guilt and write more.

29. what has writing added to your life? how has it changed you?

it’s nice to let go and express things and create characters with a better situation than mine.

30. why do you write?

keep myself busy.

boost yourself + tags

1a. share the last sentence you wrote

No kissing. No flashbacks.

2a. describe the wip you’re most excited about

a little something i’m writing inspired by @brickredtoe’s art !!!!

3a. share the piece of dialogue from one of your works you’re most proud of

ok. well. from 5436 miles

“Or we could always add a trail of stars to one of those moons,” he replies, words dragged out, rolling around in his mouth.

He can see the glint in his eyes even behind his closed lids. Everything about Louis is inked and etched into every fiber of his being.

He would’ve kissed him, words pouring from his mouth into Harry’s, only half his.

He snorts. “And make it seem like the moon has a buttplug? No, thanks.”

4a. share the best first and last lines from your work(s)

both my published fics have circular endings.

5436 miles — Louis always had more stars in his eyes.

these tornadoes are for you — His heart beats in peace.

5a. link to the last fic you read.

sugary sweet by the immensely talented @soldouthaz

6a. link the last work you published

here

7a. link to your ao3 (if applicable)

wheeee

8a. someone that inspires you

taylor. she’s so so wonderful.

9a. a comfort fic/work that you’ve been grateful for this year

all of riv, sarah, ris and late’s fics. they’ve been so so comforting. Event Horizon by @mercurial-madhouse

10a. other writers that you’d like to tag!

@mercurial-madhouse @harryanthus are the only ones coming to mind atm. i’ve been up for too long apologies.

[p3ach3snplums]

                                                      𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒢𝑜𝑜𝒹

LISTEN ( x )

1. Count on me —Bruno Mars

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea I'll sail the world to find you If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see I'll be the light to guide you We'll find out what we're made of When we are called to help our friends in need You can count on me like one, two, three I'll be there And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two And you'll be there 'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh, yeah

2. For Good  —Wicked Cast

I've heard it said That people come into our lives For a reason Bringing something we must learn And we are led to those Who help us most to grow if we let them And we help them in return Well, I don't know if I believe that's true But I know I'm who I am today Because I knew you Like a comet pulled from orbit As it passes the sun Like a stream that meets a boulder Halfway through the wood Who can say if I've been changed for the better But because I knew you I have been changed for good

3. I´ll Be There For You —The Rembrandts

So no one told you life was gonna be this way Your job's a joke, you're broke Your love life's DOA It's like you're always stuck in second gear When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month Or even your year, bu tI'll be there for you (When the rain starts to pour) I'll be there for you (Like I've been there before) I'll be there for you ('Cause you're there for me too)

4. I´ll Stand By You —The Pretenders

Oh, why you look so sad? Tears are in your eyes Come on and come to me now Don't be ashamed to cry Let me see you through 'Cause I've seen the dark side too When the night falls on you You don't know what to do Nothing you confess Could make me love you less I'll stand by you I'll stand by you Won't let nobody hurt you I'll stand by you

5. You´ve Got A Friend In Me —Randy Newman

You've got a friend in me You've got a friend in me When the road looks rough ahead And you're miles and miles From your nice warm bed You just remember what your old pal said Boy, you've got a friend in me Yeah, you've got a friend in me

6. We´re Going To Be Friends —The White Stripes

Fall is here, hear the yell Back to school, ring the bell Brand new shoes, walking blues Climb the fence, books and pens I can tell that we are going to be friends I can tell that we are going to be friends

7. One Call Away —Charlie Puth

I'm only one call away I'll be there to save the day Superman got nothing on me I'm only one call awayCall me, baby, if you need a friend I just wanna give you love C'mon, c'mon, c'mon Reaching out to you, so take a chance No matter where you go, know you're not alone I'm only one call away

8. True Colors —Cyndi Lauper

You with the sad eyes Don't be discouraged Oh I realize It's hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all And the darkness inside you Can make you feel so small But I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors True colors are beautiful Like a rainbow

9. I´ll Remember —Glee Cast

And I'll remember The strength that you gave me Now that I'm standing on my own I'll remember The way that you saved me I'll remember

10. Darkside —Kelly Clarkson

Everybody's got a dark side Do you love me? Can you love mine? Nobody's a picture perfect But we're worth it You know that we're worth it Will you love me? Even with my dark side?

11. So Will I —Ben Platt

You say, "What if I go crazy?" I say, "That ain't gonna happen" You say, "What if I get lost? I say, "You'll just find your way back" And you say, "What if someone breaks my heart?" I'll put it back together like I do You say, "What if I don't catch the dreams That I've been out there chasing?" "What if when my fears show up,  I'm too afraid to face them?" Well, I can't fight your battles But I sure can hold your hand and promise you That the sky will still be up there And the sun will always shine The stars will keep on fallin' For the ones who wish at night The mountains won't start moving And the rivers won't run dry The world will always be there And so will I

12. Keep Holding On —Avril Lavigne

Keep holding on 'Cause you know we'll make it through We'll make it through Just stay strong 'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you There's nothing you can say, nothing you can do There's no other way when it comes to the truth

13. Oath —Jocelyn Scotfield

Wherever you go, just always remember That you got a home for now and forever And if you get low, just call me whenever This is my oath to you Wherever you go just always remember You're never alone, we're birds of a feather And we'll never change, no matter the weather This is my oath to you

14. Who Says —Selena Gomez

Who says, who says you're not perfect? Who says you're not worth it? Who says you're the only one that's hurting? Trust me, that's the price of beauty Who says you're not pretty? Who says you're not beautiful? Who says?

15. Not While I´m Around —Barba Streisand

Nothing's gonna harm you Not while I'm around Nothing's gonna harm you No sir, not while I'm around Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays I'll send them howling, I don't care, I've got ways No one's gonna hurt you No one's gonna dare Others can desert you Not to worry, whistle I'll be there Demons'll charm you with a smile for a while But in time Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around

16. Umbrella —Rihanna

When the sun shines, we'll shine together Told you I'll be here forever Said I'll always be your friend Took an oath, I'ma stick it out 'til the end Now that it's raining more than ever Know that we'll still have each other You can stand under my umbrella

17. That´s My Girl —Fifth Harmony

You've been down before You've been hurt before You got up before You'll be good to go, good to go Don't ever give up, no no Destiny said it, you got to get up and get it Get mad independent and don't you ever forget it Got some dirt on your shoulder, then let me brush it off for ya If you're feeling me, put your five high That's my girl

18. Most Girls —Hailee Steinfeld

You know some days you feel so good in your own skin But it's okay if you wanna change the body that you came in 'Cause you look greatest when you feel like a damn queen We're all just playing a game in a way, tryna win at life Most girls are smart and strong and beautiful Most girls, work hard, go far, we are unstoppable Most girls, our fight to make every day No two are the same

19. Raise Your Glass —P!nk

So raise your glass if you are wrong In all the right ways All my underdogs We will never be never be, anything but loud And nitty gritty dirty little freaks Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass Just come on and come on and raise your glass

20. Brave —Sarah Bareilles

You can be amazing You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug You can be the outcast Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love Or you can start speaking up Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do When they settle 'neath your skin Kept on the inside and no sunlight Sometimes a shadow wins But I wonder what would happen if you Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave

21. Hope Ur Ok —Olivia Rodrigo

Does she know how proud I am she was created With the courage to unlearn all of their hatred 

22. 22 —Taylor Swift

It feels like a perfect night To dress up like hipsters And make fun of our exes Ah-ah, ah-ah It feels like a perfect night For breakfast at midnight To fall in love with strangers Ah-ah, ah-ah Yeah, we're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time It's miserable and magical, oh yeah Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines It's time, oh-oh I don't know about you But I'm feeling 22 Everything will be alright if You keep me next to you You don't know about me But I'll bet you want to Everything will be alright if We just keep dancing like we're 22, 22

[the-firebird69]

Watch "Star Trek: The Motion Picture (7/9) Movie CLIP - VGER is Voyager 6 (1979) HD" on YouTube

I don't know who those two actors are the man and the woman but I think they die. And I have to tell you something you guys are seeking our people and are sick but they're right there okay they're entitled to be a little sick and they're entitled to have a little bit less fear than everybody else you people here are nuts there's nothing to see there's nothing to find there's nothing to talk about but there is right there on those two ships I don't know why you're so nuts and asinine we don't have any justice justified reason except maybe a racist being destroyed and I understand that as you would know it's a bone chilling experience and I have more people and somewhere else but really that was horrifying enough to support network it's gone. And I noted spok lost his township Stone chip and I think that he's Trump and that Mac is fighting them all that the balls of the way you were AI and all kind of enemies and the computers are there enemies so they just go right through it and they're going right up to it to try and see if they're single received that's interesting it's also interesting that it looks like those two died.

Zues

What's interesting to me is you're not trying to cover it up you don't care who sees it you don't care what goes on but still you all want to see it and you all know what it is I want to know what it is in our opinion and reactions and stuff cuz you beat yourself senseless for about 15 years to try and find something like this and books or what you're saying or what other people saying you don't quite mad but here it is for real. I believe I know who the actress is an actor and they're not special people it's a Mac and his wife and he says I don't think so he's right they're doping. And she is Sarah and he is cheesman's I think after Star wars is pulled from the fire and they thought they were transported they know that one. I looked at my husband's theory and they could have been transported out of their brain case and the Giants skulls would be the evidence and apparently those removed from the headgear and you can't tell when they're from the videos and the tapes and the pictures no you can see it doesn't look like any of them had a line. And some pictures were fantastically clear taken from only hundreds of feet away but still you need a microscope. The one in the short of it is it might not just be the AI it's in the computers it might be that people who built it and the egg that John remillard AKA Trump is sitting on is too great for him and he thinks will make him president because he's sitting on it as if he won't kidnap one person he thinks advertising is going to make it better for him and my husband to set a time and time again it gets your client eliminated and it is right now. The reason for the ACT on Mars would be the fake their deaths and try and make it work and have an exit plan and they always had one and afraid they did and they're sitting in those ships and they know about how long they have they can tell that the radiation is getting to them. I

sitting there fighting over Voyager and my husband says they're not doing it now and it's not the only thing they're fighting and it's true too and they know all about but they are held off and it held off by a crazy containment field that does not look like it's agreeing with them and we think that Tommy F grabs ship flagship a black Chip and the other one is his number one and he came back and it's supposed to be one of the crew and we think we know what happens next the spaceships you see and one of them goes to a Droid ship and these things are not small they're like half mile to a mile they say they don't have any food and there's tons of food a mile of food laughs my husband about 200 years and stored properly and not even taking up that much room just like a mile by 4 ft by 4 ft and I know it's done that many times the calculation we're going to let father speak

Hera

This is outstanding work it shows where it is and we need that and he's idiots they say good did you see where they go and it's very strange what an odd place for them to go right into the lion's den right now they're stuck out there and they can't get a signal out and trying to and it competed to do so but hey guys have to try and we have to jam it cuz it might be having a computer. Needless to say they go out with the Enterprise and something happens and the two ships are a problem and they're stuck together and Sarah supposedly beamed out and back when she decided the thing and said we have to go look at it and started acting weird had a bless her for the stage presence I've done some kind of action on film someone was watching the movie that I had and she goes wow that's sweet not what you have there is some kind of very dangerous situation and I think they had clothing and his second command fighting over the AI That's too much they left and come back with you and the most dangerous things on the computers. So they're on the fix okay they're in trouble and if they escaped it's amazing it's just getting a fight and the AI leaves and it has excellent clothing and shows up in a bunch of places screwing around with a bunch of you

Thor Freya

Olympus

[sasarahsunshine]

Congrats on 150, Sarah- I’m so excited for you!! 🥳 for your sleepover can I have 🦄 in a soft blue aesthetic and ☕️ please? 💕

Thank you Ash!! 🥺🥰

(Idk why but when looking for soft blue stuff I was really feeling the vintage vibes)

The tea! So when I was in high school I was involved in two (2) separate mailbox accidents. “What’s a mailbox accident?” You ask me. Well, it’s when my dumb friends are driving and decide to take out someone’s mailbox in the process.

The first time this happened, I was in a car with a friend who didn’t even have her drivers permit (dumb, I know). She took out the mailbox of our church’s Pastor (I lived in a small town in Texas at the time). The kicker? He was also said small towns sheriff 🙃 She got away with a slap on the wrist lol. But I was in the passenger seat, and if she was driving any faster, the mailbox would have gone through the windshield where I was. So that was fun!

The second time: same girl (lol), and another friend was staying the night at my place. Around 2am we decided we were hungry, but the nearest fast food place was about 20ish miles down the road. So, we did the super smart 15/16 year old thing to do, and “borrowed” other friends moms car. NONE OF US HAD PERMITS. We pushed the car down the road before starting it because she was scared it would wake her parents. We somehow ended up picking up some boys on the way to Jack-in-the-box? Cute ones, at least. While backing up once the boys were in the car, friend 2 backed right into a row of mailboxes, knocking every single one of them over. She FREAKED and thought she was going to get arrested. We still went to Jack’s and the boys got like, 12 tacos. I got curly fries. We put the car back (after dropping the boys off), and walked back to my house. By the time we went to bed it was around 5am (this whole thing was and ENDEVOUR folks). I told my mom the next morning and she laughed. Because I am a GOOD KID and she was a BAD KID so she thought it was hilarious.

Everyone kept joking that I was next to take out a mailbox. I’m 26 and still have yet to do so!

Lol hope you liked my story haha.

[suckitsurveys]

What battery percentage is your phone on right now? It’s at 75%. Do any medical afflictions run in your family? Yeah. Who did you last talk to in person and what did you say? My husband. We said goodnight to each other last night. What’s your favourite Mexican dish? I know it’s basic but ya bitch loves a good taco. Tostadas are also yummy but they don’t travel well so I haven’t had one in a while. OH and guacamole and salsa! Have you ever been to a professional sports game? Yes, several Cubs games, a few Blackhawks games, and a couple Bulls games.

How far do you live from New York City? About 800 miles west. How often do you talk to your parents? At least 4-5 times a week. What was the weather like in your town today? It’s 66 F right now. Are there any phrases or words that you say a lot? Of course.

How many boyfriends or girlfriends have you ever had? A few. They’re all irrelevant now except for my husband. Have you ever ordered a specially made cake from a cake shop? Yes. What’s the name of your first real boyfriend or girlfriend? Irrelevant. Do you clean your ears daily? Not daily. What accent do you have? Chicago/Midwest. What scent of air freshener do you keep in your bathroom? We have a coconut one right now. Have you ever dated a model? Lol. What’s the best job you’ve ever had? This one.  How about the worst? Party City. Do you have naturally straight hair? It’s gotten a little wavy over the past year actually. What is your ultimate goal in life? To get my health better managed and to be the best Auntie to my nieces. Have you ever visited someone in prison? No. What months were you and your siblings born in? I was born in September and my sister was born in July. Do you write down your passwords in a physical place to prevent losing them? No. What are your three favourite vegetables? Zucchini, Asparagus, Potatoes. How many times a day do you check Facebook or any other social network? A few times. When was the last time you had a blocked nose? A couple weeks ago. Who is your favourite comedian? John Mulaney and Stella. What colour are the socks you’re wearing today? I’m not. What did you have for dinner last night? Pizza and fried zuchini. What was the last concert you went to? Vampire Weekend in October 2019 in SLC. Are you an ugly crier? Idk, probably? Are any of us cute when we cry? What scent is the soap or body wash you use in the shower? Right now we have an ocean breeze scented one. Have you ever had sex in/on a vehicle? Yes. Who do you live with? My husband and our three cats. What letter does your street name begin with? W Do you do anything to groom your eyebrows? I tweeze them. When was the last time you ate at McDonald’s? Yesterday. I was craving fries and a root beer and grabbed some. What’s your favourite Popsicle flavour? Cherry or watermelon. Who was the last person you sent a Facebook message to and what did you say? I sent Mark a meme. Do you have any injuries at the moment? Not really. Have you ever been to an ophthalmologist? I don’t think so. Do you own any animal print clothes? Yeah. Are you tall, short or average? Would you change this? I’m short and no. When was the last time you went to a drug store/pharmacy? There’s a pharmacy inside my grocery store. I was there yesterday. As for a stand-alone one, that was back in April when I got my second dose of the Covid shot. Do you ever binge-watch TV shows? Yeah. Have you ever mustered up the courage to tell someone how you feel only to be rejected? No. Do you keep your files and documents organised in one place? Eh, yes and no. What’s your favourite sweet treat to bake? Box brownies, lol. Though last Thanksgiving I made a pumpkin pie that turned out amazing. That was fun. Are you good at flirting and letting people know you’re interested? No. What did you have for breakfast today? I haven’t had breakfast. It’s almost lunch time so I’m just gunna hold out. Do you prefer sweet or savoury breakfasts? Either. I don’t often do big breakfasts, so.  Do you like chick-flicks? Sure. Have you ever taken an acting class? Not really. I was in an improve group in grade school after school for a bit. And in one play in high school. When was the last time you watched one of your favourite movies? It’s been a while. How often do you use Youtube? Everyday. I watch a lot of YouTube. What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever dressed up as for Halloween? I dressed up as Nyan Cat one year and that was amazing. And my Princess Carolyn (from BoJack) costume is one of my favorites as well. And last year was LSP from Adventure time and that turned out really cool too. I made all of them from scratch.  Are you ignoring anyone right now? Nah. How do you usually style your hair? It’s either down or in a bun, for the most part. Do you have any tattoos? Tell me about them. I have 9 and I don’t feel like explaining them all.  Have you ever worked in a store while someone shoplifted there? Sure. When was the last time you used a stove? The other day. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to eat? Veal. Are you sitting, standing or laying (or something else) right now? I’m sitting. How many hours per week do you typically work? 40. What was the last pill or tablet you took? An Alieve the other day. How far away from your house is the closest grocery store? Less than two minutes. Have you ever lived in university/college campus housing? Nope. Who was the last person you complimented? My friend Sarah. Are you the type of person to take naps, even if you’ve slept plenty? Lol “slept plenty.” Do you have a crush on anyone at the moment? My husband. And Will Arnett.  The age old question: dogs or cats? CATS. When was the last time you saw your best friend? I can see my husband right now. I saw Sarah in January of 2020, Ellen in October of 2019, and Randal sometime in March or April, I can’t remember.  Have you ever been fired from a job? Why? No. Are you tired right now? Always. Do you like spring rolls? Sure. What do you live on in terms of a street, road, crescent, place, court etc? Avenue. How many purses or handbags do you own? Several. Do you get along with all your aunts and uncles? I have no living aunts or uncles. I have a couple great-aunts but they are elderly and we rarely talk. Have you ever eavesdropped and heard something you didn’t want to hear? Sure. When was the last time you used a pen, pencil or marker? A little bit ago. I have this coloring book I keep near me while I’m working and I just randomly fill in little shapes while I’m waiting for something to load.  What’s your favourite type of curry? Massaman curry, which is a coconut based curry. Do you often go to do or say something and then just forget? Ugh, I hate that. Have you ever had casual sex? Uh huh. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? My nails. What’s the last letter of your middle name? A. If your phone rang right now from a number you don’t know, would you answer? Nope. How long is your hair? A little past my shoulders. What was your first pet’s name and how did you pick that? We had two blue parakeets that were my 2nd grade class pets. My teacher asked my mom to take them for the summer and then asked us if we wanted to keep them because the school didn’t allow class pets anymore. Anyway, our class voted and named them Featherbrain and Lucky. Do you drink diet or regular soda? If I am gunna drink soda, I’m drinking regular. Have you ever been to Europe? No. Do you worry about your own health? Sure.  Who did you last make plans with, and what plans did you make? Randal and I were talking about going to the zoo or aquarium soon. Nothing set in stone yet.  Can you smell anything right now? Not really. How old were you when you got your first cell phone? I was 15. When was the last time you bought a pair of shoes? It’s been a bit. Mark and I are planning on getting some slides soon. Do you like fruit and vegetable combo juices? Yeah. Have you ever been on a spring break trip? Sure. Would you rather be warmer or colder right now? I’m fine at the moment.  How tall are your highest heels? I don’t wear heels. What’s your favourite flavour of frosting? Cream cheese. When did you wake up today? Around 7. Do you change your appearance often? No. What colour are the street signs in your town/suburb? Green. How many people do you work with? 10. What was the last thing you ate? Pizza. Do you have any plans for three hours in the future? Still be working. Has anyone ever made a comment about your weight that offended or upset you? Uh huh.

[remedial-wit]

@karasmoak01 tagged me in a first lines tag game a while back

Tag the first lines of ur last 20 (!!) Fics

(Sorry it took me so long ! 😅😅)

1. In the Night Garden (MCU, gen)

The first time Steve sees Loki he throws up.

2. as a quiet song, in my lilac dawn (MCU, stevesambucky)

He doesn’t get to dream in cryo.

3. Of All The Ways I Could (MCU, stevesambucky)

It’s cold, crisp — just, perhaps, a little too much for the first week of September. 

4. the kingdom lights shined (for me and you) (Thor)

New Year's Eve — Hela was alone.

5. If I Were A Wise Man (I Would Do My Part) (Thor)

The Sunny Acres Care Home is, to put it mildly, underfunded, understaffed and under-visited.

6. Rise Up (Into The Spiderverse)

To be honest, Miles wasn't completely sure what he was supposed to be doing. 

7. now the dust no longer moves (MCU)

The funeral is quiet. Solemn. Pretty much as you'd expect.

8. We Raise Our Cups To Them (MCU)

Her handgun was still gripped tightly, safety off, finger a second away from the trigger, when she opened the door. 

9. how does the sun even fit in the sky? (MCU)

In the end, Okoye holds her breath.

10. Sunlight Echoes (MCU)

Sammy never gets to go to school like Sarah or Gideon.

11. Press F to Pay Respects (MCU, Supergirl)

The Walmart near the Avengers Compound is pretty used to superheroes doing their weekly shop by now.

12. Graceful Rooms of Alabaster Stone (Thor)

Odin looked so still, and Frigga was alone.

13. Miss Missing You (MCU, Supergirl)

Kara Danvers quietly peeks into the office of Cat Grant.

14. Scrabble (Agents of SHIELD)

Skye’s never had a family, really. 

15. to be part of a pride (Marvel's Runaways)

It had been Gert's idea, actually, to come to the parade.

16. Aquila (Agent Carter)

There are only a few families left like Angie's.

17. to love (MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy)

Mantis didn't know about soulmates or soulmarks for a long time. 

18. Ink (Harry Potter 🤮)

Nobody visits libraries anymore, which is a shame but also kind of the reason why Luna works in one.

19. Ramen (Marvel's Runaways)

Nico lived mostly off instant ramen.

20. Dimension Hopping (Supergirl, Wonder Woman)

Kara's been to other dimensions before, quite a few including one musical one, but it never fails to be exciting still.

Tagging @aninfinitenumberofmonkeys !

[daprefected1]

I Envy Them

An answer is immediately owed when someone says something like that. “Envy who”, “Why do you envy them”, that kind of thing. Well, let me first explain myself.

I’m thirty-seven now. I’ve been in about one serious relationship my entire life. I’ve had some that have meant the world to me and yet they didn’t last over six months. I wouldn’t call them “summer flings” but I would call them “puppy love”. You know, one of those situations where you swear you love her? You know good and well this relationship is no good, you can almost feel God shaking His Head at you as if to go “Really? This is what you choose?” and you’re like “Yes God, this is what I choose and You know what, You will deal”. Yeah? Really? Newsflash. This is God. You, sir, will deal and God will have the final say. I learned that the hard way.

Every relationship fell apart. Sometimes I felt nothing. I walked away with nothing more than a Kanye shrug when one of them imploded. I had seen that coming a mile away and prayed that not only God’s Will be done but also that He grant me peace. He answered in spades. I didn’t care. I cared for her but I knew it wouldn’t work so what was the point in fighting? The second time I cried. I knew I was to blame. I knew I was wrong. I knew we wouldn’t work. It didn’t take the pain away. And really it wasn’t just pain. It was a question that I asked myself and even God. “Why”.

I grew to envy them. All of my friends, coworkers, associates, everyone happily married with children, why couldn’t I be like them? “Why God, why do You hold me back?” So this is the way the world is. You meet women. You fall for them. You know the Bible says not to be yoked with unbelievers. You bend. You know you’re wrong. You bend anyway. Some aren’t exactly unbelievers so much as not really practicing Christians. They’re Christian in word but deed? Whole different ballgame. Is that wrong? “Well, I mean, maybe I can get her to go to church with me right?” Wrong. Try it buddy. It won’t end well. “Who am I to judge? I didn’t go to church once so I’m not casting any stones”. Doesn’t matter. You go to church now don’t you? So stop bending. Stop going along with the world because sooner or later you’re going to learn that you’re either all in or all out. God wasn’t playing when He said you either love Him or the world. Sooner or later the world is going to ask you who’s side you’re on. I’m standing for God. I praise God that He nipped it in the bud before the world grabbed me.

Even so I cried. I knew that I should be praising Him for that relationship falling apart and yet I cried. “Why God. Why did you let me fall for her to begin with”. That’s when a little voice in my mind might kick in with “Of course, it’s all God’s fault. God didn’t have you lie down with her, did He? God didn’t kiss her for you, did He? Where does God take the blame? No, I’m sorry, that’s all you.” My conscience never was one to pull punches.

Whoever may be reading this, you may be asking that I get to the point. This began as a rumination but I do have a point. I’ve never been one to believe in God revealing things through the Bible. Never. I believe in God. I believe in the Bible. I believe Jesus died for my and humanity’s sins yet someway, somehow, the very thought that God could cause the Bible to flip open to a story or verse that would pertain to my situation just struck me as outright ridiculous. One day I was sitting in my room bored. I haven’t honestly studied the Bible in years. I prayed to God, “Let me just get this Bible right quick. I don’t believe You’re going to show me anything but I’m going to go on ahead and flip it open anyway”. I flipped it open and it landed on a story.

Isaac and Rebekah

24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”

6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring[a] I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim[b] and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka[c] and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.[d]23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”

“Then tell us,” Laban said.

34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’

39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’

40 “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. 41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’

42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’

“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”

52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.

When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”

55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you[e] may go.”

56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”

57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,” she said.

59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you increase    to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess    the cities of their enemies.”

61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate,[f] and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+24%3A1-67&version=NIV

This story is taken from Genesis in the NIV. Now imagine that you’re me for a moment. I’m done crying. I’m a bit frustrated. I grabbed the Bible just to say I read it and push on. Not that anyone is demanding this of me, moreso just to say I did it to myself. I’ve never been one to believe in women being predestined for men. It sounded a little too romantic to me. I mean we can hope all we want but the world just doesn’t work like that, right? Yet here we are reading the Bible and what is this? Look closer.

24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”

6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring[a] I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

The scene is set. Abraham sent his servant to find a wife amongst his family for his son Isaac.

10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim[b] and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka[c] and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.[d]23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

The servant is now in the town of Nahor. He asks God to give him a sign that this is the woman for Isaac, whoever that may be. God comes through in spades but we’re not done yet. He goes to eat with the family, the table is set and he refuses to eat until he tells his story. Let’s skip forward a bit to verse 42 as he’s telling the story to the family over dinner.

42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

Right there. Verse 44.

44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

I froze. I literally froze where I sat. Seriously? People, this is the last thing I expected to see. I expected to read a chapter, say “God speaks to everyone but He ain’t speaking to me” and keep on about my way. Right there, in my face, was cold hard proof that God is involved in us getting women. Now you, reader, may interpret this differently but to me? I read it as God does have someone chosen for me. I need to stop settling for whomever, wherever. I need to stop justifying accepting whomever whenever when I know I’m wrong. Above all I need to “Let go and let God”. Enough is enough already. I’m tired of crying.

I admit I’ve never been to seminary and I don’t know much about interpreting verses. Religion was my Minor in college and I have studied various others but that doesn’t make me an expert on the Bible. However I feel that God was reaching out to me that day and now, whenever I talk to a woman I think twice. I like to think that He does have a woman for me, that day and that story is proof and all I have to do is wait. Somewhere, somehow, she is waiting as well. He’ll bring us together soon enough.

[retro-vgm-revival-hour]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐STAGE 71: Games Of 2020⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last year may not have gone down as one of the best years we had, if anything, comparing it to a dumpster fire wouldn’t be too far off .

In a year where so many things went wrong, video games were pretty much one of the very few Highlights that stood out in 2020.

The ability to spend hours disappearing into a beautiful world like those in the far away islands of Animal Crossing, the competitive but fun gameshow aesthetic of Fall Guys or revisiting old friends in the land of Midgar was a much welcomed breather that we all needed.

These video games provided the much needed distractions from everything else happening in the world, by enabling us to visit far away places filled with hours upon hours of entertainment, colorful, unique and intriguing characters …and most of all amazing music.

SO This is why THIS stage of the Retro VGM Revival Hour has chosen the 3 most amazing tracks from the various games released in 2020 to get you excited for what’s to come in 2021.

I hope you’re ready…. so lets begin.

                                      Full track listing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Game – Composer – Title – Company⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1.) Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Chihiro Aoki & Saori Yoshida – “Kamurocho Battle Theme, Overcoming the Dragon & Substory Battle Theme“ – January 16, 2020 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

2.) Granblue Fantasy Versus – Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Nishiki & Tsutomu Narita – “Such a Blue Sky, Noble Execution & Arvess“ – February 6, 2020 – Arc System Works/Cygames – PS4 & Windows PC

3.) Persona 5 Strikers – Atsushi Kitajoh, Gota Masuoka, Ayana Hira, Hiromu Akaba & Shoji Meguro – “Camping Trip, A Waltz of Feasting & Keeper of Lust“ – February 20, 2020 – Omega Force & P-Studio/Atlus – PS4, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

4.) Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Gareth Coker – “Separated by the Storm, Hornbug & Escaping the Sandworm” – March 11, 2020 – Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios – Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

5.) Nioh 2 – Yugo Kanno & Akihiro Manabe – “Battle II, Azai Nagamasa & Dark Realm II” – March 12, 2020 – Team Ninja – PS4, Windows PC & PS5

6.) Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi, Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi & Masato Ohashi – “K.K. Slider Dream, Island Tour (Day/Snowy) & New Years Eve (12:00 a.m.)“ – March 20, 2020 – Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

7.)Doom Eternal – Mick Gordon – “BFG Division 2020, The Only Thing They Fear Is You & DOOM Eternal“ – March 20, 2020 – id Software/Bethesda Softworks – Windows PC, PS4, Google Stadia, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

8.) Final Fantasy VII Remake – Nobuo Uematsu, Shotaro Shima, Tadayoshi Makino, Masashi Hamauzu & Yasunori Nishiki – “Scorpion Sentinel, J-E-N-O-V-A – Quickening & One Winged Angel (Rebirth)“ – April 10, 2020 – Square Enix – PS4

9.) Trials of Mana – Hiroki Kikuta – “Axe Bring Storm, Swivel & Farewell Song“ – April 24, 2020 – Xeen/Square Enix – Nintendo Switch, Windows PC & PS4

10.) Sakura Wars – Kohei Tanaka – “Anastasia’s Theme, Hatsuho’s theme & Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan (w/ vocals provided by Ayane Sakura, Maaya Uchida, Hibiku Yamamura, Ayaka Fukuhara & Saori Hayami)“ – April 28, 2020 – Sega CS2 R&D/SEGA – PS4

11.) Streets of Rage 4 – Yuzo Koshiro, Olivier Deriviere, Groundislava, XL Middleton, Keiji Yamagishi, Harumi Fujita, Motohiro Kawashima, Yoko Shimomura, David Scatliffe (Scattle) & Das Mörtal – “Nora, Estel (Round 2) & Ms Y“ – April 30, 2020 – Dotemu, Lizardcube & Guard Crush Games/Dotemu – Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Linux & macOS

12.) Maneater – Daniel James – “Prologue Theme, The Great Hunter & Arc Shark“ – May 22, 2020 – Tripwire Interactive & Blindside Interactive/Deep Silver – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

13.) Shantae and the Seven Sirens – Mark Sparling, Kentaro Sakamoto & Gavin Allen – “Risky Blows the Hatch, Turbulent Hip Shaking & Rise and Shine Shantae (w/ vocals provided by Cristina Vee)“ – May 28, 2020 – WayForward – iOS, macOS, Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch

14.) The Last of Us Part II – Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla & Mac Quayle – “It Can’t Last, Allowed to be Happy & Beyond Desolation“ – June 19, 2020 – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4

15.) Marvel’s Iron Man VR – Kazuma Jinnouchi & John Paesano – “Old Tech/New Threats, Cost of Doing Business & Heroes“ – July 3, 2020 – Camouflaj/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4

16.) Ghost of Tsushima – Ilan Eshkeri & Shigeru Umebayashi – “The Way of the Ghost, The Last of Clan Adachi & The Fate of Tsushima“ – July 17, 2020 – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4

17.) Paper Mario: The Origami King – Yoshito Sekigawa, Shoh Murakami, Yoshiaki Kimura, Hiroki Morishita & Fumihiro Isobe – “Event Battle, Swan Lake (Punk Remix) & Battle at Bowser’s Castle“ – July 17, 2020 – Intelligent Systems/Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

18.) Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Jukio Kallio & Daniel Hagström – “Didn’t Fall! (You Win), Fall ‘n’ Roll & Final Fall“ – August 4, 2020 – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital – Windows PC & PS4

19.) Battletoads – David Housden & David Wise – “Battletoads, Olympian Amphibians & To the Queen!“ – August 20, 2020 – Dlala Studios & Rare/Xbox Game Studios – Windows PC & Xbox One

20.) Marvel’s Avengers – Bobby Tahouri – “The Light That Failed, God of Thunder & By Force of Mind“ – September 4, 2020 – Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix – Windows PC, PS4, Google Stadia & Xbox One

21.) Hades – Darren Korb – “No Escape, The Painful Way & The Unseen Ones“ – September 17, 2020 – Supergiant Games – macOS, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

22.) 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Yoshimi Kudo, Rikako Watanabe, Yukinori Kikuchi, Kazuki Higashihara & Azusa Chiba – “METHIONINE, Go Sentinels, Go! & VALINE“ – September 22, 2020 – Vanillaware/Atlus – PS4

23.) Genshin Impact – Yu-Peng Chen – “Make Haste Partner, His Resolution & Symphony of Boreal Wind“ – September 28, 2020 – miHoYo – Windows PC, PS4, Android, iOS & PS5

24.) Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – Walter Mair – “Rude Awakening, Stage Dive (N. Gin Theme) & A Hole In Space (N. Tropy Theme)“ – October 2, 2020 – Toys for Bob/Activision – PS4 & Xbox One

25.) Amnesia: Rebirth – Mikko Tarmia – “Ghoul Chase, The Shadow & Ending (Part 2)“ – October 20, 2020 – Frictional Games – Linux, Windows PC & PS4

26.) Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues – Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson – “Arcade, Encino & Woodley Ave“ – October 27, 2020 – Flux Game Studio/GameMill Entertainment – PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch

27.) Ghostrunner – Daniel Deluxe – “Infiltrator, Let Them Know & Truth to Power“ – October 27, 2020 – One More Level & Slipgate Ironworks/All in! Games SA & 505 Games – PS4, Xbox One, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

28.) Watch Dogs: Legion – Stephen Barton – “A Room with a Queue, It’s All Gone a Bit Tom Tit & Orwell That Ends Well“ – October 29, 2020 – Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft – Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Xbox Series X/S & PS5

29.) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner & Einar Selvik – “Kingdom of Wessex (w/ Vocals provided by Melissa R. Kaplan), Raids of Rage & Drenglynda Skáldið/ The Steadfast Skald (w/ Vocals provided by Einar Selvik)“ – November 10, 2020 – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft – Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Xbox Series X/S & PS5

30.) Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin – Hiroyuki Oshima – “Mayhem, Resentment & War“ – November 10, 2020 – Edelweiss/Marvelous – PS4, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

31.) Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – John Paesano – “All In, Rhino Rampage & New York’s Only Spider-Man“ – November 12, 2020 – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4 & PS5

32.) Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory – Yoko Shimomura, Takeharu Ishimoto, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez – “At Dusk: I Will Think of You (Main Menu 3), Night of Fate & Let It Go (Japanese ver. w/ Vocals provided by Takako Matsu)“ – November 11, 2020 – Square Enix – PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch

33.) Immortals Fenyx Rising – Gareth Coker – “Heart of the Hero, The Corrupted Heroes & Art of Warfare“ – December 3, 2020 – Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft – Amazon Luna, Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Google Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

34.) Cyberpunk 2077 – Marcin Przybyłowicz, P.T. Adamczyk, Paul Leonard-Morgan, Mattias Bärjed, David Sandström & Kristofer Steen – “The Rebel Path, The Heist & Juiced Up“ – December 10, 2020 – CD Projekt Red – Windows PC, PS4, Google Stadia, Xbox One, PS5 & Xbox Series X/S

35.) Resident Evil 3 – Kota Suzuki, Azusa Kato, Ryo Koike, Masami Ueda, Takayasu Sodeoka, Saori Maeda, Takumi Saito, Jeff Broadbent & Zhenlan Kang – “Invincible Nemesis, Resistance & Save Room“ – April 3, 2020 – Capcom – Windows PC, PS4 & Xbox One

36.) Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Kumi Tanioka, Reo Uratani, Ryotaro Yagi, Haruki Yamada, Ayana Hira, Asami Mitake, Hikaru Yamada, Shigekiyo Okuda, Gota Masuoka, Junya Ishiguro, Masako Otsuka, Takashi Yoshida & Hiromu Akaba – “Overlooking Hyrule/Prelude to Calamity (Title Screen), Urbosa: The Gerudo Chief & The Knight Who Seals the Darkness“ – November 20, 2020 – Omega Force/Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

Edgar Velasco: @MoonSpiderHugs Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/NostalgiaRoadTripChannel Official Site: nostalgiaroadtrip.com/ FaceBook: www.facebook.com/groups/nostalgiaroadtrip/ Official Twitter: @NRoadTripCast