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browneyes-issac · 2 years

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Memphis pt 3: The first date

Warnings: None I believe, just cuteness and cooking.

Summary: Its finally time to have your date with Frankie. 🤗

AN: Ok so this for real got out of hand quicklyyyy!! 🤣🙈 But hey when ideas strike ya just have to role with it, lol. So in other words, this part is really long..🙈💞

The recipe isn't really a family recipe, I just said that for the cuteness effect, lol. 🙈😆 The special idea in it is using bacon grease instead of veggie oil or other oil products. I am trying out writing this kinda in the third person mostly when it comes to talking about reader, I will try to when it's Frankie and reader too.. Also there are some parts while they are texting that I am leaving up to you to decide their reply. 💞

I'm declaring this as my birthday writing post in case I don't decide or finish a one shot by my birthday on Saturday, lol.. 🤣 Also not getting this read through because it's my gift to you all for my birthday week, and I want all of to be a surprise to everyone since it's finally their first official date and I'm hoping it'll be as sweet as I think it is to you guys. 💞🥰

AN I'm gonna start putting before each part for new readers:

Some keynotes/translations: When there is words in this font and have (") it is internal thoughts. When it is the font by itself it's me describing what the setting looks like, more in depth of what's going in their head, stuff like that. 😊 Text messages will be in the front and will be red for reader and blue for Frankie. I tried to not use emojis with Frankie's, because I feel like he knows how to use them but doesn't because he likes the simpleness of using symbols. 😆💞

All translation is from Spanish. I just went to Google and asked what it was in Spanish, lol. If I got it wrong shot me an ask or a DM. 🤗

cariño - sweetheart

hermosa flor - beautiful flower

Choosing this gif cause we all know Frankie has already been looking at reader like this. 💞🤭

Memphis Masterlist

Main masterlist

Frankie decided to text Y/N that night before he went to sleep.

Hey, I just wanted to text you and tell you that I had a really amazing time today and I can't wait until Friday. Also I hope getting settled in goes well and isn't too much of a headache for you.

Lastly, I hope your sleep tonight will be amazing, sweet dreams.

He is a little nervous to send it but he pushes it away because he really likes her and wanted to send a sweet message. After he sends it he puts the phone on the charger and goes to sleep.

The next morning Y/N wakes up surprisingly not sore from sleeping on the couch. Which is surprising, since most couches are evil and give soreness away as a present if you sleep on them. Maybe the furniture makers in Tennessee have some magical powers to make them super comfy.. 🤔

Once she was fully awake she recalls her dream she had and starts smiling because she can't believe she's already dreaming about him. But then again he's an absolute dream of a man, so who wouldn't dream about him.

She check your phone and there is a message from Frankie. She gets the most school girl smile on her face before she even opens it because she's already falling for him.

As she is reading it she gets butterflies in the best possible way and gets the cry thing in her throat because it's the sweetest thing anyone has ever texted her or even thought to do for her like that.

I am so sorry I am just now answering, I passed out on the couch as soon as i got done getting my boxes in the house from the car last night.

You are the sweetest ever. 🥺 I actually did sleep pretty good last night, didn't even wake up sore. I think there is something magical about the couches here, lol. 🤔

And I hope you slept well too. I did too, didn't ever expect to have such an amazing first day here and definitely didn't expect to meet such an amazing person. 🤭💞 I can't wait neither.

Oh and, I hope your day goes awesome.

💕😘

She sends it and puts the phone on the charger and goes and hops in the shower. Well first puts some music on ( in a country music mood so she puts on country station on Amazon music) and looks through her clothes box to get an outfit for today. She is definitely dancing while doing the task, there is no denying that and proceeds to keep doing so and singing in the shower like a complete goofball. Thank goodness she didn't get an apartment, they probably would have complained about her being loud so early in the day.

A tie dye Pink Floyd shirt that she's had forever and is one of the most comfy shirts ever, and a pair of thin jeans since its still pretty warm out.

Frankie is up at 4:45 am, he is still holding on hope that one day his military internal clock will decide to stop working so he can sleep in more. But in the mean time he makes the most of being up so darn early. Gets his shower done, makes breakfast on some days, after he's dressed and ready for the day he usually does laundry cause there is always a load to be done. Which always surprises him because he lives alone, after he thinks about it each time he reminds himself he is always doing projects and needs towels/rags and takes two showers a day since he ends up working so hard each day he needs that therapeutic shower at the end of the day to relax his muscles.

The old school in him makes him forget to check his phone shortly after he gets up most of the time, so he doesn't see that Y/N text back until around 9ish am. Which she got up around 8ish so him replying now won't be that bad.

He gets that adorable smile on his face while his cheeks heat up from reading her text, while he gets butterflies.

It's totally ok, I didn't expect a quick response in case you were busy with unpacking or sleeping. :) I'm sorry you had to sleep on the couch though.

It's nothing really, I just wanted to send you a sweet message. Well I'm glad you did sleep well. Haha, maybe there is. I think you got a better one then me, probably because I brought mine with me when I moved here. So I didn't get a magical one. :p

I did thank you. Well I'm really glad we ran into each other and I helped make your first day memorable. :) You're too kind, hermosa flor.

Same to you, cariño.

Frankie second guesses himself for second because he used sweet nicknames and in spanish. But he shakes it off because he really really likes her and hopes she doesn't mind.

She gets done in the shower. Still dancing like a goof, but there's a good reason this time.. " like i love country music " by Kane Brown is on, which is a must to dance to no matter what. After she's done drying off and is dressed, she dances to her phone in the bedroom.

She giggles and lays back on the bed. " good Lord is everything here so comfortable?? " she thinks to herself while marveling in how dang comfortable the bed is. Her checks cherry and she gets those dang butterflies again but more intense because he called her sweet nicknames.

She replys and gets up and rounds her keys, shoes, and purse to leave to get breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frankie decides that he is going to text her a good night and a morning text everyday, just to brighten her day a little bit. Which makes Y/N get all 🥰 because he's an absolute sweetheart. They end up texting everyday. Weather it's just to check in, to send cute messages, just all around cuteness and getting to know each other.

Frankie has become Y/N's personal guide through the city. " he probably is getting annoyed with me asking so many dang questions. But he's so sweet and helpful, and it's another excuse to talk to him more. " she thinks to herself while scrunching up her face but then having a blushing smile on her face as she talks it through with herself.

Little did she know, it's Frankie's favorite part of his day when he gets to talk to her and even more when he gets to help her out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's finally date dayyyyy!!!

Frankie wakes up at 5:20am today. He has to take a double take at the clock. " How in the hell did I manage to sleep in some?? " he says out loud as he's getting out of bed and rubbing his eyes. He's in his pj shorts, nothing else on. ( not even undies, cause who needs them while you're sleeping? ) once he's in the kitchen he smiles because he remembers what today is.

He text Y/N her morning text :

Good morning, hermosa. I hope your sleep was good. And that your day will be amazing. Oh and that you're excited and ready to learn some recipes tonight. I can't wait to see you. <3 :)

After he sends that he thinks to himself while nervously rubbing the back of his neck and pacing the room.. " Oh god, I hope she doesn't think I'm crazy for the last part.. "

By the way I don't mean for the last part to come off weird, I'm just excited to see you again because I had such an amazing time when we met.

He sends it and starts getting his breakfast made, so he can get in the shower and start getting the house cleaned up, and get some of the ingredients out for tonight.

Y/N is up at 7:30. " I don't think I'll ever get used to this darn bed. " she says out loud while shaking her head and getting out of bed.

" Goodness he is the sweetest most precious person ever. I'm so glad I ran into him. " she thinks to herself while texting Frankie back.

I swear I'm never going to get used to you sending morning messages. 🙈🥰 Always makes my day, even if it's just starting out lol.

I can't wait neither! I'm so excited to learn the recipes and to see you again! 💗

Oh my goodness Frankie, you dont have to apologize for that, I promise.. We've had this planned all week and have been talking about it, so full on acceptable that we are excited to see each other. 💞

Do I need to stop and get anything from the store before I come over later?

Frankie walks back into the kitchen and sees she messaged back. He smiles like a little kid getting their favorite ice cream. That weight of being nervous about saying he is excited to see her is lifted of his shoulders as he reads her text. " what did I do to deserve such a sweet amazing person in my life? " he says to himself while thinking of a reply.

Well get used to it, cariño. I'm gonna always be here as long as you'll allow me to, to send the messages. ;) And I'm glad it makes you're day. <3

Mi hermosa flor, you're too sweet to me. I just get nervous when I blurt things out like that without thinking.. My past relationships, they have gotten weirded out about me saying stuff like that and being too clingy....

Nope I got everything here. Just bring yourself. ;)

Y/N smiles and chews on her lip and smiling, while reading the first paragraph of his text. Then her heart breaks for him, "who would be weirded out by that, that is the sweetest thing ever" she thinks.

Oh you big flirt! 🤭 But for real youre the sweetest ever.

Oh Frankie... 🥺 I'm so sorry that they were, they just didn't see how amazing and sweet you are, it's their loss. 💗 And with me, you're always safe to be like that and however you want. 💞😘

Frankie's heart skips a beat and he gets the cry thing in his throat when he reads the second part of her message. " This woman is too good for me, what did I do right to get her to be in my life? " he says to himself.

He replys and gets to working on getting the ingredient out for tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It's about two hours before she needs to be at Frankie's house and she's freaking out with what to wear.

" Do I wear something casual since we are cooking or do I wear something cute and sexy, and just ask him for an apron??? " she asks Ashlyn, because she video called her freaking out about what to wear and everything.

" Well I definitely think the second option is the best option. She says while smirking. And besides he won't be able keep his eyes off of you if you wear that. "

" You are such a brat you know that? But I love you and you're right even if I am so damn nervous for this. I really like him and want tonight to go well. "

" Yes I do know, you remind me all time. Ashlyn sticks her tongue out at her. They both start laughing. Now hurry up and get ready so you can go to your sexy cooking date!! It's going to amazing, I know it, babes. "

She picks out this gorgeous but simple and comfortable purple dress that hugs all her curves in the best way. It has sleeves down to the elbows and a v neck that accents her cleavage just right. She smirks at that once she realizes it. The shoes she decides on are simple slipons that are comfortable to be in. She doesn't put any makeup on because she's never really liked it. Puts her hair up and a simple but cute ponytail.

Frankie put on his favorite button up shirt, comfortable pants. He still looks really nice and that he's ready for a date.

-------------

Y/N is nervous walking up to Frankie's door, it all goes away once she sees him.

" well you clean up pretty good mister. " she says with the most beautiful but sly smile.

Frankie just about passes out from how gorgeous she looks. He goes to talk but nothing comes out.. He's just standing there with his month open.

" Are you ok Frankie? " she ask because he hasn't said anything..

" Uhhh yeah yes, I'm sorry.. You just.. You look gorgeous. Kinda took my breath away. " he says while rubbing the back of his neck and smiling.

She starts blushing and swats him on the chest playfully.

" would you like to come in? " he says while offering his hand

" Yes of course, such a gentleman.

Oh my goodness, your place is so breathtakingly beautiful Frankie! "

Frankie is smiling all cute and embarrassed like. " Oh it's nothing. It's the perfect size for me and I fell in love with the coziness when I first saw it. " " No you are breathtakingly beautiful. " he thinks after he answers her compliment and smiling all adorable.

" Do you want anything to drink before we get started? "

" hmmm, I'll take some water for now. "

While Frankie is getting her water, he asks; " Do you want an apron to keep your dress clean while we cook? "

" yes that would be fantastic, thank you. " she says with the slyest smile on her face and blushing.

" Ok so we are going to do the tomatoes first, then I'll start the chicken fries while we are getting the tomatoes done, then we'll get the pie made and put in the oven while we are eating. "

" That sounds like an awesome plan to me. What do you want to do first? "

" I got all the bowls and ingredients out so your job is to get the bowls filled while I prepare the pan. "

" Wait, what are you using for the cooking oil? "

He chuckles and shows her the jar of bacon grease. " This. It's bacon grease. My family has always used it for cooking anything fried, especially tomatoes. "

She is absolutely in shock.. " I have never thought of that, that is an awesome and delicious idea. I can't wait to try them. " she does a little happy dance and smiles while she is getting the eggs in the bowl.

Frankie chuckles again and shakes his head while he's looking at her with so much adoration and love.

" You ready to start, hermosa ? "

" Yes! " she says all excited.

" Ok go through the line of dipping and then come over here and gently put it in the pan. " he says with a smile and his voice so sweet, but deep because he is already in love with seeing her cook.

When she gets to the pan she slides right in front of Frankie and slightly leans into him. He let's out a little groan but covers it up with a cough. Y/N catches the groan and smiles to herself.

She looks up at him and asks how's that? before waking back to the other side of the counter. And she makes sure to sway her hips cause she knows he's looking.

" You did amazing, cariño. " he says while trying to focus on cooking to take his mind off of how much she just tuned him on and caused his cock to wake up even more after she leaned on him. She is not playing nice tonight, first with that dress, now with that little stunt.. She is going to be the death of him he swears.. And his cock twitches at the thought of seeing her when he first opened the door. "Oh dear Lord, calm yourself Morales. At least get through dinner first." He thinks to himself to calm down more.

She's smiling all sly and mischievous because she knows she made me flustered.

They get done with the tomatoes. Half way through Frankie got the other pan ready for the chicken fires. When they are done getting those cooked... Y/N decides she's gonna do something...

She throws flour at Frankie with the most mischievous but cutest smile.

" oh you're in trouble now! " Frankie says as he turns the fire off and chases her into the little dinning room.

He catches her. Wraps his big strong arms around her and picks her up and swings her around a few times. They both are giggling up a storm.

He sits her down slowly and she turns around. He still has his hands on her hips while she's turning around. She runs her hands up his chest and around his neck with one hand going to his hair to run her fingers through those gorgeous curls. He pulls her closer to himself while running his hands up her back, up and down..

" you know that when you ran your hand through your hair when we were at breakfast, I just about passed out because I wanted to be the one running my hands through your gorgeous curls. " she smiles shyly at him while doing what she said..

Frankie hums but manly moans at her while she massages his scalp heavenly and tips his head back into her touch. Then he laughs while he burrys his head in the crook of her neck.

" I actually did see you looking at me all lovingly while I did that, that's why I decided to still wear my hat tonight so I could do it, and see you be all cute while I do it. " he says while bringing his eyes back up to look into her eyes while he talks.

She is awestruck and gets all cherry red. Then buries her face in his chest out of embarrassment and then says; " You saw that?? I bet I looked like a complete dork cause I was in such a trance. "

He moves his hand to her chin and guides her to look at him while he says; " You looked beautiful and really adorable. That was one of the many times that day that I knew that I wanted to get to know you more because you are so amazing. "

She moves her hand to his cheek. Slowly moves it from where she had it around his neck.

They both look into each other's eyes before they smirk at each other and have that twinkle in their eyes. Frankie leans down and Y/N gets on her tip toes a little, and then....

To be continued.... 💞🤗🤭

AN after reading: Ok so you probably are mad at me for the cliffhanger.. But I wanted to do it because I made this such a long part and who doesn't love cliffhangers!! 🤭

Also I hope I did ok with the spicy talk I did, I was nervous to do so.. 🙈 But I wanted it to happen because I feel like they would definitely be acting like that around each other, lol. 💞

But I hope you liked this part as much as I loved writing it!! 💞🤗

Taglist: @stxrrylunatic @heythere-mel @prolix-yuy @supernaturalgirl20

If you would like to be added to the taglist for future parts just shoot me an ask or a DM. 💞🤗

#Memphis pt 3 The date #Memphis series #Frankie Morales #Pedro Pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #Frankie Morales x Y/N #Frankie Morales x fem!reader

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mitmama · 1 year

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Cartagena Food & Columbia Travel Tips

Cartagena | Rosario Islands | Bogota | Food & Travel Tips

Our kids’ favorite part of the trip? the amazing Colombia food!

Cartagena Cuisine

We love seafood and really enjoyed the food in Cartagena. Their cuisine is a unique blend of Spanish, African, and indigenous influences. Being on the Caribbean coast means that seafood is a staple of the diet, and many dishes are also flavored with tropical fruits and spices.

This blog post does a great job of describing popular dishes in Cartagena:

Mojarra: a white freshwater fish with mild flavor, golden fried. It’s probably our favorite dish on the trip. It’s usually served with yummy coconut rice, and patacones or fried plantains.

Cazuela de Mariscos: seafood stew, this one from Bogota came in still boiling in a pot.

Arroz Marinero / Arroz con mariscos - similar to Spanish paella, made with rice cooked in seafood broth and sautéed with shrimp, and other seafood.

Camarones al Ajillo: shrimp in garlic oil

Ceviche: delicious as always, in Cartagena it’s sometimes made with coconut milk.

Posta Negra: This grilled steak is coated in a sweet and savory sauce. We actually had it in Bogota’s Origen Bistro. Their version is probably not the most authentic, but so tender and juicy. Probably my favorite steak on any trip for the tender and sweet taste. Sorry the picture didn’t do it justice.

Arepa de Huevo - Arepas, grilled or fried corn meal patties, are common all over Colombia and Venezuela. However, there’s a unique spin on the arepa on the Colombian coast. Before being thrown into the frying pot, the arepa is stuffed with an egg is cracked inside the arepa. The finished product is a golden brown, crunchy, and super yummy arepa.

Mote de Queso: made with chunks of the salty, crumbly costeño cheese and ñame, a root vegetable similar to yams.

Empanadas: These savory pastries are filled with a variety of ingredients, this beef one has thin and crispy skin.

Pastebono, or cheese bread, is one of my all-time favorite food, so chewy and delicious. La Esquina del Pandebono makes these and flaky pastry with Posta Negra that tastes like beef jerky. Don’t miss these!

Beer’s cheap here, about $2-2.50 in a restaurant. The local Club Colombian beer is quite good. We usually had that with our meal or tried the limonada de coco (coconut limeade), so good!

And don’t forget of course the Colombian Coffee, very flavorful.

We didn’t try as much of the Bogota local cuisine. Here’s a good blog post on that. Tell, next time!

Food tips

Food prices can vary greatly. For 5 of us including 2 kids, most meals came to $30-50, as we didn’t go for for the fancier places or ate steak in Bogota.

The exchange rate is 4,400 COP to 1 USD.

I looked for restaurants on Google Maps. The reviews are generally decent, as long as enough people rated. We did try one basic cafeteria place for dinner but didn’t really enjoyed the food much. So $$ is around the right range for us.

I usually check for recommended dish in Google Maps and also ask the waiters. Some of the best dishes I’ve had come from their recommendations, things I wouldn’t typically order.

If you order steak or salmon, more catering to Western taste, it’s gonna cost more. Stick with local cuisine and you’ll have more authentic and affordable food.

Finally, some quick travel tips.

Flights

We had amazingly smooth travel on this trip, every flight’s on time and smooth. The $300 roundtrip direct flight from Boston to Bogota was from Avianca, which charged $80 for a carry-on bag (one way), and for seats, and $3 for water. Yep, that’s how they get you. ;-)

We flew Latam to Cartagena, which also charged for bags ($17/way) but did give water and good snacks.

Data plan

Traveling without data plan would be a nightmare, as you need it to figure out where to go, Uber, and translation. Verizon offers $10/day data plan, while Google Fi has coverage of multiple countries. I don’t have either, so I got the Airalo data-only eSIM instead for $8 for 1 GB/week. Note installing can be a bit of a challenge, so be patient. You can then use apps like TextNow to call if needed.

Language

Many locals don’t really speak English. So it helps to have about some common Spanish phrases handy. After the trip, my son agrees that learning Spanish is a good idea!

Hola - Hello

Buenos días - Good morning

Por favor - Please

Gracias - Thank you

Baño - Bathroom

Cuánto - How much

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Aqua del grifo / agua en un vaso - ice water -> yes, the water is safe to drink in Bogota and Cartagena

I generally stick to simple words when traveling. It’s easier to remember and easier for others to figure out what I’m saying, so just “Baño” or “Baño, por favor”. And lots of “Gracias” for being polite.

On your phone, the Google translate app also comes in handy. You can save the Spanish dictionary on your phone.

Getting around

The easiest way to get around is using the Uber app. This saves you from having to explain where to go to taxi drivers. And most rides are $2-5, quite cheap. We had 5 people so not quite legal to ride in one cab. We were able to negotiate with taxi drivers when needed, or just tell the Uber we have 3 adults and 2 kids, so they can come prepared. You can tip Uber drivers 50 cents or $1 for good rides. Our most expensive Uber ride was a scheduled ride 5am in the morning to the airport with bags, and that was only $14 USD.

Where to stay

I typically stay in the center of town where it’s easy to walk to sites and restaurants. I chose hotels instead of Airbnbs on this trip, so we can easily ask for direction and other help. It’s very safe in Cartagena. Staying in the walled old town or Centro so you can see everything.

In Bogota we stayed in the old town, Candelaria, to be close to the sites, and the hotel guy said it’s safe until 9pm. With grandparents and children, we’re usually back before then anyway. For a more upscale stay, there are neighborhoods like Usaquén.

#cartegena #colombia #south america #latin america #foodie #food #travel tips

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hamsternamedmarinette · 3 years

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I don't want to sound invasive of your privacy but could we have more context on that movie lmao

I WAS LOWKEY HOPING SOMEONE WOULD ASK ABOUT THAT LMFAO, sorry I took so long to respond to this

In my tenth grade (age fifteen/sixteen for my non-USA friends) Spanish class, our final project was to make a movie of at least 45 minutes, completely in Spanish. I was in a group with my sister and a bunch of our friends. Our movie (and I'm realizing as I write this that it might be a little iffy, culturally o_o) was about a couple (played by myself and my then-boyfriend) who survived a plane crash and became stranded in the remote rainforests of South or Central America, where a local tribe found us and took us in. Little did we know that the tribe was going through a severe food shortage (I think?) and had decided that they needed to perform a human sacrifice to restore balance to their community, and they were planning on using one of us as the sacrifice. The movie was titled El Sacrificio.

We all like to overuse the word chaotic on this website, but when I say this movie was chaotic, I MEAN IT WAS CHAOTIC. I feel like a lot of it was "you had to be there"-type chaos, but I'll try to tell some of it anyways:

We did most of the editing the night before it was due, which was a Tuesday. So my sister and I had two of the girls in our group stay overnight on a school night working til like three a.m. doing the editing. One of the things we had to do was dub over some scenes (we had filmed some scenes in English just to get through it, making the decision to dub it in Spanish). But one of the scenes we had to dub over was a scene between the boys of the group, and the boys obviously weren't available to lend us their voices at three a.m. on a school night, so our solution was to get two of us girls to say the boys' lines in the deepest voices they could. But it still didn't sound very good, so in addition to their already deep-ish voices, we added a sound filter on the audio to make the voiceover even deeper. I'm sure the hilarity of this situation isn't showing through very well through text, but trust me when I say it was hilarious.

There was a scene where everyone was doing a rain dance or something that we had to add music over because you could hear us all saying stuff like "this movie sucks!!!" and "we're all gonna fail!!!"

We also didn't fill up the minimum requirement of 45 minutes with the script we had, so we randomly shoehorned in a Breakfast Club dance sequence as well. We also filmed some scenes in which we talked to the camera like a reality TV show, but didn't end up using those for the final product.

This is also something that isn't gonna seem as funny through text, but there was one part where the tribe leader was teaching my husband how to hunt. The tribe leader threw a spear to kill a deer, but the deer he killed was played by himself. It was like:

So yeah really dumb but we were all dying at it.

I desperately wish I could show it to you all, but it's lost forever now 😭. One of our group members tried to put it on a flash drive the day we had to give back our school-issued laptops, but I guess it was too big of a file and she couldn't get it on there in time. I made a movie poster for it on Photoshop at the time too but I lost that too. My friends and I frequently refer to it as a lost piece of beautiful cinema and stuff like that.

I'm sorry this post came out so long LOL, the worst part is that I didn't even scratch the surface of all the chaos. My friend group always made the best movie projects in high school and this was no exception. If you want to hear more about it, I'd be happy to relive it all, and I'm sure @being-of-the-universe would love to talk about it too lolol

#long post #мой пост #ask #anon #мой рисунок #i guess #not ml #do i have a tag about my life #im too lazy to make one now

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roninhunt0987 · 3 years

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The Birth of Lil Geni The Fox

By: Roninhunt0987

X3 finally after posting a bunch of pics and etc I now have the time to do the fic of Lil Geni's birth... =3 this is her here btw if ya forgot: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/42450002/

anyway the last one I did with the 7 kiddos of Gen'ichi and Ninjara there was a 6 year time skip... O.o for this one will be a 3 year time skip meaning on that the 7 kiddos will be 9 while Lil Geni will be around 3 years old... O.o so yea... anyways sit back and enjoy the hilarity

Characters(C)belongs to their rightful owners

-Kato/Prower residence-

Ninjara: -in the bathroom doing a pregnancy test as she just woke up while the others are in the living room watching cartoons-

Gen'ichi: -relaxing with Suzuki-

Suzuki: -watching cartoons-

Ran, Rei, Reiko, Rika, Miwa, Nori and Gen'ichi Jr: -watching tom and jerry-

tv: -shows tom getting hurt as the iconic Tom screaming sfx is heard in the background-

Ran, Rei, Reiko, Rika, Miwa, Nori and Gen'ichi Jr: -laughs-

Suzuki: XD hehehe

Gen'ichi: XD heh

Raph: -in the kitchen making homemade pizza- hmmm

Mikey: -reading comics which are the IDW sonic comics which is issue 24 and winces because of reading the bit where whisper is crying- ohhh geeze

Whisper: -looks over Mikey's shoulder and winces a lil because of that pain of a memory she had to go through-

Tangle: -same- Mikey: -looks to them- O.o whats wrong??

Whisper: -breathes in and then out- this... well uhm

Tangle: believe it or not mikey this actually happened.... like years ago before sonic and co moved to Station square city to help with Dad and the others...

Mikey: oh geeze i'm sorry I never knew that

Whisper: mmhmm... about a year ago Tangle and I got adopted on the spot when we saw the comic issue for the very first time....

Jared: -walks on over- thankfully around issue 29 or so things got back to normal... or well least the start of it... sonic went missing and landed somewhere at the Sol islands... he later returned to the main land when blaze used her abilities to send sonic back to help... plus the fact I was told Omega was uhm... .w. busted up as he was only a head at the time

Mikey: you mean like Lopez from red vs blue

Jared: O_o wait what??

Mikey: ya not kidding -gets out issue 25 and shows the page where cream and whisper were having a chat while omega was yammering on and such-

Jared: -looks at it- O_O oh crap I did not notice that

Omega: -looks over and looks at it and facepalms because the fact he did behave like lopez when he was only a head which was detached from his body at the time-

Jared: -looks to him- O_o ya did notice and realized that did ya Omega: affirmative I was indeed behaving like that SP Vector: .w. well least ya didn't speak spanish like Lopez Omega: Derogatory insult: SHUT THE F**K UP YA STUPID CROCK OF S**T!!!

Jared: O_o;;;;;; uhhh... rouge

Rouge: -from the kitchen- Ya?? Jared: O_o since when Omega can swear

Rouge: -from the kitchen- uhhh I dunno couple weeks ago when he was looking at random youtube videos of the swear words and such as well as other stuff

Jared: O_o got it just checking -walks off- geeze louise now Omega can swear like a sailor now gawd

Mikey: O_o oooookay

Donnie: -walks in- O_o hey what happened I could of sworn I heard E-123 omega started swearing

Leo: -walks in from the kitchen- thats because he did cuz SP Vector said something stupid insulting to Omega

Donnie: O_o owch

Ninjara: -comes out of the restroom with the pregnancy test being positive and is behind Gen'ichi and shows him that she is pregnant again- ^///^ Gen'ichi: -notices- ^^ hehehe

Suzuki: hu??

Ninjara: X3 kids just so ya know ya mama is pregnant ya may expect a lil sibling to look after which makes ya as big siblings now

Ran, Rei, Reiko, Rika, Miwa, Nori and Gen'ichi Jr: X3 YAY!!! Suzuki: XP and another kiddo for me to spoil

Gen'ichi: ^^ yup

SP Vector: O_o oh no

-first 3 months-

Ninjara: -has music playing and has the earphones on her tummy so her child can hear it-

SP Vector: -about to say something stupid until he gets a Kunai to his head- oh s**t -drops dead- X_x

Ninjara: -relaxing-

-second 3 months-

Ninjara: -eating chicken Terraki with Peanut butter on it-

SP Vector: how are ya eating all that

Ninjara: -glares- rrrrrrrr

SP Vector: O_o geeze screw you too lady

Suzuki: -doing that same Alastor moment as she is smirking like him and has a chainsaw as she revs it-

SP Vector: oh s-

Censored screen: -CENSORED: DEAR GOD NOT AGAIN!!-

SP Vector: -screaming from behind the censored screaming in bloody murder as he is getting sawed up with a chainsaw- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

-final 3 months: the birth-

-Megaville City Hospital-

Ninjara: -squeezing Gen'ichi's hand-

Gen'ichi: .w. this is fine -from his mind: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!-

-at the waiting room-

everyone: -waiting and etc-

nurse: -wheeling Ninjara in with a lil girl 3-tailed fox girl-

Gen'ichi: -smiles-

Ninjara: -smiles-

Ran, Rei, Reiko, Rika, Miwa, Nori and Gen'ichi Jr: -gathers round looking to their lil sister for the first time- ohhhhh

Suzuki: X3 hehe

Nori: X3 whats her name mommy

Ninjara: X3 this is Geni

Donnie: O.O oh wow an albino... O.o pure white 3-tailed fox girl

Lil Geni: -opens her eyes for the first time to see she has red and blue eyes and the look of saying hu- ?

Suzuki: -smiles as she holds her for the first time- ^^ hehe hey there i'm ya aunt Suzuki

Lil Geni: mew -nuzzles-

Gen'ichi: X3 awwww

Lil Geni: -looks to Gen'ichi- X3 mew mew mew mew

Gen'ichi: -chuckles and gets her from Suzuki carefully- ^^ hehe

Lil Geni: -nuzzles on her daddy for the first time- mew

Raph: -chuckles- hehe

Lil Geni: -random sticks her tongue out at Raph- Blep

Raph: O_o uhhhhhhh

Mikey: -busts out laughing at Raph- XD hehehehehehe

Raph: >< WHY YOU- COME HERE!!! -chases Mikey- Mikey: OH GEEZE RUNNING TIME!!! -runs-

Raph: MIKEY!!! -chases him-

Frenchie: 3 years l-

Karl The Fox-bat: NOPE!!! -kicks Frenchie out of the way and clears throat-

Frenchie: -offscreen groaning in pain-

Karl The Fox Bat: :3 3 years later

Ran, Rei, Reiko, Rika, Miwa, Nori and Gen'ichi Jr: -all 7 of them are now 9 years old as its fathers day which also happens to be Lil Geni's third birthday-

Lil Geni: X3 hehe -eating her cake with her dad-

Suzuki: -smiles as she has something for Geni-

Lil Geni: -notices the old plush- O.o whats that Aunt Suzuki

Suzuki: ^^ well... this was an old plush I have when I was about your age... =3 her name is Scrub... X3 I am passing her to ya now kiddo its all yours take care of her always... X3 come to me if ya want me to maintain her oki

Lil Geni: X3 oki thank you -hugs Scrub the plush- ^^

Raph: -about ready to give her b-day punches which he is gonna do carefully and then gets a cake splatter on his face from SP Vector- ._.;;;;

SP Vector: -laughs like Nelson- HA HA!!! Raph: -glares as he gets the cake off his face- YOU ARE SO DEAD CROCFACE!!! COME HERE!!!

SP Vector: OH CRAP AHHHHHH!!!!!

Karl The Fox-bat: :3 2 hours of asswhooping later

SP Vector: -in a full body cast- oooooggghhh

Leo: .w. never splat cake in raph's face

SP Vector: -muffles- oh bite me

Leo: ._. -does a karate chop on SP Vector- WHAP!!!

SP Vector: -his body cast breaks in two and has the look of utter pain on his face and insert Mamaf**ker SFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edry0kuy8bo– MAMAF**KER!! Stupid Mario: -offscreen and yells it also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edry0kuy8bo - MAMAF**KER THATS MY A LINE B***H!!! SP Vector: >< WHATEVER!!!

Scene: -does a small fart noise of blacking out-

TFS Nappa: .w. the end

-XD END XD-

-RH0987 PRODUCTIONS 2021-

@otakuneko-lotus

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beestudyblrs · 5 years

Photo

hello! i decided to finally make a studyblr to try and stay motivated and hopefully organized during the school year. i’ve always admired the studyblr community but was too scared to start my own but i’m giving it a shot! i see a lot of people making introduction posts or even reintroduction posts so i thought i’d be nice to make one as well! :)

about me

you can call me bee!

my pronouns are she/her

i’m 20 years old and a libra

i’m brazilian

i speak portuguese and english fluently

trying to learn spanish at the moment but languages is one of my biggest passions, i’d love to learn a bunch

took me a long time to figure out what i wanted but i’m finally studying psychology and i’m extremely passionate about it

interests

i love music and making long playlists (so pls feel free to send me song recs!!)

i’ll probably talk about one direction at some point

languages, especially romance languages! my goal is to be fluent in spanish, french and italian in the near future. would also love to learn danish at some point.

teaching is one of my greatest passions, i’ve been a teacher for about 2 years now

i watch way too many movies and tv shows

kindness is important!

courses

history of psychology

history of philosophical thought

environmental education

text analysis and production

psychology of the life cycle development

psychology science and profession

other stuff

i’m gonna be tagging my posts as #bee speaks

i track #bee-studyblr

i’m still a bit on the fence about posting original content like printables... we’ll see how it turns out

i love love love love getting to know people and talking about random stuff so please message me whenever! my askbox is always open!

i like talking in the tags so i’m sorry in advance skfjskdj

some people that inspired me to start this journey

@mintschlar @emmastudies @thesmallmedic @michellenstudies @the-alexsandria-studies @studyblr @ingenuestudies @pretty-little-lawblr @caffenotes @psychblrr @bu-study-dude @brbimstudying @studybroe @obsidianstudy @studyplants @tbhstudying @studylustre @peachrosestudies @athenastudying @universi-tea @triestobeorganized

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multi-fandom-imagines8 · 6 years

Text

Geeks & Heroes

Part two

Part one

Marvel Masterlist

My birthday writing challenge

Request: Hello :) I was wondering if you can do a Peter Parker x Mexican! Reader. The Reader goes to the same high school as Peter and the Reader has a small group of friends. the reader and their friends are a bunch of dorks who love Harry Potter and baking. However, the reader and their friends also like the idea of superheroes mainly because they live in an area where crime has been at its peak. What if the reader and their friends are heroes of that certain area, but they help anonymously…

Summary: Peter has a crush on you and tries to impress you in funny ways. You get together and don’t know he’s spider man. You and your friends also help anonymously. One day, Peter sees you and tells you the truth.

A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to post this. I wrote it at the beginning of June, but since I'm on vacation and don't want to go on hiatus, I update two fics per week.

Word Count: 1369

“Michelle, Ned, guess what just happened?” Peter excitingly asked.

“did you finally ask y/n out?” Michelle guessed.

“no, but I'm gonna study with her today. I'm freaking out, I don't know what to wear, what do bring her, how to act or what to say” he started panicking.

“calm down, Peter. She's not gonna bite. If she invited you over, then it means she likes you too” Ned assured him.

“no, it doesn't. It could mean that she thinks of you as a friend. Be careful of the friend-zone. You have to impress her” Michelle informed him.

“how do I do that?” he asked.

“Now that you know what she likes and all that, why don't you look them up and show her that you're interested in these stuff and start a small conversation after you're done with studying” she suggested.

- - -

“¡Hola! Hey! Spanish or English” he greeted as soon as you opened the door.

“whatever you're comfortable with. I can speak both” you chuckled “come on in”.

“nice house” he looked around.

“thanks, I guess” “do you want to bake or learn for Spanish?” you gave him a choice.

“we just had school. I'd say baking, if that's okay with you” he was very shy.

“you're too polite. Relax Parker” you shook your head and headed to the kitchen.

“so what do you want to bake?” you asked.

“actually can we cook?” he asked.

“of course, do you have anything in mind?” you questioned.

“I love Mexican food, and you happen to be Mexican, can you teach me how to make chicken enchiladas with roasted tomatillo chile salsa? Please!” he asked politely.

“you don't have to be that polite Parker. I know that you're a polite and a good person. So you can chill now”.

You explained to him how to do it and prepared the ingredients and he started to slice the onion and other required vegetables.

“you need help with that?” you noticed how he started tearing.

“no no, I got this... So what do you do in your free time other than baking?” he asked.

“I do a lot of things, but I love to read and help people, so I usually volunteer to do charity work, what about you?”.

“I don't do many things actually. I learn after school and do my homework. Sometimes I hang out with my friend Ned and I recently started an internship at Stark's industry” he informed you.

“Stark Industry? The one owned by Mr. Tony Stark? Iron man?” you wanted to make sure he's talking about the same man.

“yes, that's him. You know him?” he asked.

“never met him in person, but yeah he's famous. He's a superhero. Everyone knows him and the avengers” you informed him.

“did you hear about the new recruit?” he asked.

“you mean Spider-man or ant-man? There are so many insect men now a days” you joked.

“Yeah, spider-man. What do you think about him?” he asked.

“I don't know. I was on team cap, so...” you stated.

“But Mr. Stark was right. He said that captain America is wrong but he thinks he's doing the right thing, which makes him dangerous” he told you.

“You talked to Mr. Stark about the fight?” you were confused, 'cause why would iron man tell Peter about such a thing.

“well, no, not directly. I heard him talking to someone” he lied.

“so, who's your favorite avenger?” he added.

“he's not an avenger really. I like Loki, I know I'm not supposed to, but he's cool. Thor is cool too, I like him” you made it known.

“I like them too. We have a lot in common. We both like baking, I'm learning Spanish and you can speak Spanish, we both like Thor and Loki, not to mention Harry Potter” he joyfully expressed.

“how did you know I like Harry Potter?” you asked.

“you told me, don't you remember” he blushed.

“No, I didn't Peter. Today was the first time you talked to me. I don't tend to forget that easily” you chuckled.

“I- erm- might've asked one of your friends about what you like” he admitted.

“they would've told me, if someone asked about me”.

“Uh, yeah. I asked my friend Michelle to ask one of your friends so it wouldn't be obvious that I like you. That's probably why they didn't mention it... shit! Did I say that out loud?” he realized what he just confessed.

“you totally did. Come here” you pulled him closer and planted a kiss on his lips. His eyes were wide open, not believing what just happened, but as soon as he realized he closed his eyes and kissed you back.

“does that mean you like me too?” he wanted to be sure.

“no. I just give random people kisses” you joked.

“oh” he thought you were serious for a second.

“I'm joking, I'm joking. Yes, I like you” you laughed.

- - -

it's been a couple of months since you and Peter have been dating. It worked perfectly, 'cause when you had free time, you spent it together and when he had to go to the “internship” you were helping to fight crimes in your neighborhood. You didn't want to tell Peter about it, 'cause you thought he'd be worried.

One day, he finished earlier and you were supposed to meet at your house later. You have informed him earlier that you'd be at home all day. When he came by your house, your mom said that you were at your friends' house. He went there but your friend's mom said that you usually hang out at the park. He went there and didn't you. He called you for the fifth time and you finally answered “hey mi amor. Sorry I was asleep” you lied.

“where are you?” he asked,

“at home, where else would I be? Are you still coming at 8 o'clock?” you reminded him.

“sure thing, see you then” he was slightly worried that you might be cheating on him since you lied to him, but he was about to ask you that evening. Suddenly, Ned called him and told him, there's a robbery at some place near. He quickly suited up and went there.

And to his surprise you were there, by the corner. You helped the police catch the bad guys without them noticing. That's how you've always done it. You stayed out of the lights and did things anonymously with the help of your friend.

- - -

“so how was the internship today?” you asked.

“it was good. How was your day?” he questioned.

“it was very productive. I was able to help some people” you informed him.

“hey y/n? Do you have something you want to tell me?” he questioned.

“no, why?” you asked.

“'cause I have something to tell you... I-um- I'm spider-man” you let out a sarcastic laugh “good one, mi amor” you kissed his cheek.

“I'm serious. And I know what your voluntarily work is” he informed you.

“you do?”.

“yeah. You help the police catch bad guys, anonymously, right?”

“how did you know? Did y/b/f/n tell you?” you thought your friend told him.

“No. Ned called me and said there was a robbery there and as I went there, I saw you with her” he explained.

“why didn't you tell me before?” you asked.

“why didn't you?” he re-asked.

“I didn't want to make you worry about me. Besides, I don't like to brag about it” you justified.

“fair enough. I didn't tell you, because I thought superheroes aren't supposed to tell anyone about their secret identity” he said.

“I'm not gonna rat you out, chill” you smiled.

“so voluntarily work, huh?”.

“shut up. I guess now we have one more thing in common”.

@markusstraya @purpstraw @berruneko09 @5aftermidnight @jeansongg @deluxedepression

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letslearnnorwegian-blog · 7 years

Note

hi! could you tell us a bit about the norwegian education/school system? what is it like? do you (and people in general) think it's a good system? do people think it's gotten better/worse over time? if you have some knowledge about different systems, which country's would you compare it to? sorry, this may seem a weird question, but education is a big part of a country's culture and i think it's interesting to know the way it's perceived by people who experience it in first person thank you! :)

Hello! c:

**!! Quite honestly, I can’t remember any in-depth conversations I’ve had with my friends about our school system, so please keep in mind that what you’re about to read is only my opinion! I also know very little about other school systems around the world (or school system in general, having never really read many articles about them), so ours might be almost identical to someone else’s without me knowning, but I’m still gonna try to cover all the basics just in case it isn’t. ((and if you’ve experienced something else or I’m completely wrong about something, please feel free to add on to this post!))

----------------------------------------------------

The Norwegian Education System

---------------------------------------------------------

General

-------------------------

You have a right and an obligation to complete primary and lower secondary education in Norway (in other words, Grade 1-10/Age 6-16), which is free. Grade 1-10 is usually referred to as “Grunnskole”. When you complete both, you’re also entitled to upper secondary education qualifying for further studies or a vocation (tertiary vocational education is a short vocational alternative to higher education). Beyond this, higher education is offered at bachelor, master and PhD level.

The school year runs from mid August to mid June, and consists of two semesters with a Christmas holiday (from mid December to early January) in the middle. Other holidays include the week of Easter, a week of winter break (usually in February), and a week of fall break (usually in October).

The different municipalities in Norway are responsible for the running and administration of their public schools, and all public classes are taught in Norwegian. According to nyinnorge.no: “Pupils in primary/lower secondary school and upper secondary school are entitled to special tuition in the Norwegian language, tuition in their mother tongue and/or bilingual tuition in school subjects if they do not have sufficient Norwegian skills to follow ordinary tuition.” -- which I can’t really comment any further on, seeing as I’m a native Norwegian speaker.

Kindergarten is optional, and for kids between the ages of 1-5. The state covers 35-40% of the cost of kindergartens, while the municipality and parents pay the rest. Around 90% of Norwegian children go to kindergarten.

---------------------------------------------------------

Barneskole (Primary School)

--------------------------------------------------

Grade: 1-7

Age: 6-12

In the very first grade of Barneskolen, the children spend their days playing educational games, learning social skills and basic education (like the alphabet, basic math etc.). From grade 2 and onwards, children are taught a wide range of subjects-- the one’s I remember having are: math, P.E., religion, music, arts/crafts/woodwork, English (though I don’t think we started English until 5th grade in my school), social studies (which usually also covered history and geography in the same class), science (though more about nature than anything else), and Norwegian. You don’t receive official grades during primary school, but some teachers can write comments and “unofficial grades” on tests (x points/100 points etc).

Pupils who are unable to benefit satisfactorily from ordinary tuition are entitled to special education, and all pupils are entitled to participate in free, voluntary organised homework assistance.

---------------------------------------------------------

Ungdomsskole (Lower Secondary School)

--------------------------------------------------------

Grade: 8-10

Age: 13-16

In lower secondary, pupils are graded and need to maintain good grades to attend their upper secondary school of choice. When pupils are in the 8th grade, they have to pick a “valgfag” (elective), which is typically a foreign language or additional English or Norwegian studies. Usually, for foreign languages, most schools offer French, Spanish or German (personally, I could only pick Spanish or the additional English/Norwegian, because I live in a quite small town), though options can vary, especially in bigger cities.

As for the grades, they’re awarded in mandatory subjects before the Christmas holidays and at the end of the school year. After completing lower secondary school, you receive a certificate listing your assessment grades, and you’re also entitled to three years of upper secondary education.

There’s usually “tentamen” (midterm) before the Christmas holidays and summer holidays, in three subjects: maths, Norwegian (Nynorsk and Bokmål, so two separate Norwegian midterms), and English.

---------------------------------------------------------

Videregående (Upper Secondary School)

----------------------------------------------------------

Grade: VG1-VG3

Age: 16-19

Upper secondary school may be “optional” schooling, but on the job market there are almost no jobs available for young adults who leave school after lower secondary (the same goes for getting into uni/college) which means that upper secondary is practically unavoidable.It’s free, but you may be required to cover the costs of necessary equipment.

It’s typically divived into two routes, which are again divided into twelve programmes; four general studies and eight vocational programmes.:

- Studiespesialisering (General studies) -- Specialisation in general studies with programme areas for media and communication, natural science and mathematics; arts, crafts and design; and languages, social sciences and economics, Sports and physical education, Music, dance and drama

- Yrkesfag (Vocational studies) -- Building and construction, Design, arts and crafts, Electricity and electronics, Healthcare, childhood and youth development, Agriculture, fishing and forestry, Restaurant and food processing, Service and transport, Technical and industrial production

General studies are quite similar to your typical high school, and consists of a three-year programmes that emphasise theoretical subjects and lead up to the Higher Education Entrance Qualification-- which you usually need to get into uni or college. (I took the vocational route, so I can’t really go into detail about general studies :c )

Vocational studies usually follow a typical structure named the "2+2 model": After two years of school (which includes short internships in the industry), there’s an apprenticeship for two years in an enterprise or a public institution. The apprenticeship is divided into one year of training and one year of effective work, followed by a final exam. If you realize you’d rather work as something else, you can still get the Higher Education Entrance Qualification by supplementing a vocational education (by taking the Upper Secondary Level 3 programme, which is basically one year of hardcore general studies).

When you’re graduating upper secondary school you can choose to be a Russ, which, impractically, take place a few weeks before the final examinations of the final year. x.x

---------------------------------------------------------

If you want me to cover other things, like higher education (college/uni), folkehøgskole (folk high school), Russ, etc. just send me a message!

#norwegian school #norwegian culture #((well not really but i dont have another tag for this //c\\ ))#Anonymous

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pastpatientlywaitingforimagines · 7 years

Text

Then Her Body’s On Mine (Javier x Reader) Platonic

WC: 1472

You and Javier Muñoz had been best friends for exactly forever, and that was a fact. Your birthdays were five days apart (you would never let him forget that you were older and subsequently wiser), you grew up in the same neighborhoods, attended the same high school and college, and were in all of the same clubs. No matter what adventure your lives held, Javi was always by your side and you were always by his.

Now in your adult life, you were taking on a new adventure: Hamilton. You had been in the production for a while, Javi as an alternate and you as an ensemble member, but since most of the Original Broadway Cast had left, Javi had taken over full time for Lin and you had very recently taken over for Jasmine. While you loved the whole OBC dearly, being able to have a principle role in a Broadway production was a dream come true.

“How long have you and Javier known each other?” Mandy asked one afternoon as you were getting ready for rehearsal.

“Forever minus five days. Our mothers became friends at the hospital before we were born so I literally met him the day he was born. I don’t remember it, of course, but he’s always been there,” you answered.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed you were dating,” Lexi added to the conversation.

“We get that a lot. Coincidentally, we came out to each other on the same day. Ah high school, I remember it like it was yesterday,” you joked, pulling your hair into a ponytail before heading out of the door. You clambered down the stairs quickly to Javi’s dressing room, pounding on the closed door four times.

“Hurry up loser we’re starting soon!” You yelled. You heard Javi yelling back to you in Spanish on the other side of the door, followed closely by a loud crash. You giggled, bounding back up the steps and onto the stage.

“We’re going to be working on your blocking for ‘Say No To This’ first, so if you want to warm up your voice I would do that now,” Tommy directed as you joined your fellow Schuyler sisters on the stage. You ran through your warms ups with them, immersing yourself in the music and only faltering when Javi snuck up behind you and tickled your sides.

Tommy started directing your movements for the song, and you took very detailed mental notes. Each step you took was placed perfectly in your mind as you progressed.

You ran the beginning over and over, finally getting to the point where you and Javi were singing and acting at the same time.

“Alright, take five and then we’ll go from the chorus. Nice work guys,” Tommy said happily, turning to discuss movements with Andy.

One of the new ensemble members turned to you with wide eyes.

“You sing so well together! I didn’t think it was possible!” You laughed at their comment after graciously accepting the compliment.

“Javi and I have been singing together for a while, we’ve had a lot of practice balancing each other out.”

Singing with Javier was one of your favorite pastimes. In college you would spend your free afternoons walking around Washington Square Park singing covers of songs you both liked. Javier always sang melody and you always sang harmony, due to Javi’s firm belief that you had a better ear for it than he did. Your favorite songs with him were the ones where you got to sing a countermelody. The complexity of the piece added to the beauty of your voices in your opinion.

After your break, you began blocking for the chorus of the song.

“(Y/N), you’re gonna get right up in front of Javi and start seducing him. Grind on him, touch his face, anything you think is sexy enough to seduce Sexy Ham, ok?” Tommy cued the music, and you began your walk towards Javi. As you neared him you reached your arm out, dragging your fingers across his chest. You pressed your hips into his, ghosting his neck and cheek with your lips as the music played around you.

Due to your close friendship, acting with Javi was second nature. You had spent hours in different characters with him as you grew up and pursued your acting careers. You and Javi had basically made out onstage before during a production in your high school years, so being so close in personal with him. Nevertheless, as soon as you pulled back and made eye contact, you both burst out laughing.

You were laughing so hard that Tommy had to stop rehearsal. The rest of the cast watched in awe as you and Javier gripped each other for support.

You and Javi had these moments where you would laugh at and with each other. Just belly laughter over one little thing that filled your heart all the way to the top. You both had what could be classified as a rough childhood, and you learned early on that laughing through life together was the only way you’d make it out relatively unscathed, so that was what you did.

After the pair of you had more or less collected yourself, Tommy approached your spot on the stage.

“Do I want to know what just happened?” he asked.

“It was just so weird for us to have that kind of interaction,” Javi managed to say.

“Ok, well, it looked really good so if you can do it that way during the show without breaking character that would be fantastic,” Tommy said excitedly.

You continued running the scene, and eventually you were able to keep your composure for a majority of the acting.

“Great! (Y/N), you’re in for the show tomorrow. Let’s wrap it up everyone!”

After rehearsal you joined Javi in his dressing room for dinner, Chinese food per your request. As you shoved chopsticks full of noodles into your mouth, you each scrolled through your Twitter feeds.

“I got one,” you said, taking a sip of water and sending him the link. The two of you carefully drafted each of your responses before hitting ‘post’.

“These are more fun when you’re here to help me,” Javi said when your take-out cartons were almost empty.

“Sorry I have more of a life than constantly roasting people on Twitter,” you said, eyes staying locked on your phone. Your phone buzzed with another mention, this time from Javi.

@JMunozActor: Chinese food, tweeting, and upside down convos with my favorite

Attached was a photo of you in your current state, head hanging off the couch and feet stuck straight in the air. You glanced up and stuck your tongue out at your best friend.

“Honestly (Y/N), what would I do without you?” he asked.

“Probably cry every day from lack of fun,” you teased.

“What would you do without me?” Javi’s voice dropped just a little bit, becoming more serious.

“I don’t like to think about it Javi. I’ve almost lost you too many times now,” you said, staring at the ceiling to avoid eye contact.

“We’ll have to talk about it eventually, (Y/N). You know I’ll probably die before you,” he persisted.

“That’s a bridge I’ll cross when we get there then. For now you’re still here so we don’t have to worry.”

“I put you in my will.”

“You what?”

“You’re in my will. I gave you some money, and a lot of random stuff I have. It’s mostly high school memorabilia, stuff that my mom would throw away but you wouldn’t because you know why it’s sentimental,” he clarified. You hated thinking about losing Javi. He was your rock and your partner in crime. For you, there was no life without Javi. Even when he was sick you visited him every day.

“That’s really sweet of you, Javi,” you choked out.

“I also want you to sing at my funeral,” he said, his tone becoming more casual.

“What should I sing?” you asked, picking up on the change.

“Anything you want, really. Maybe something in Spanish? You sing so beautifully in Spanish,” he said fondly.

“I wouldn’t know what I was singing, and my pronunciation would suck. I only sing those well because you walk me through the pronunciation first,” you reminded him.

“Then we’ll pick a song and I’ll teach it to you before I die!” Javier said very optimistically, considering the topic you were discussing.

“Sure thing loser. I’ll sing in Spanish at your funeral, but only if you throw me the coolest birthday party at the last birthday of mine you’ll be at,” you bartered.

“How will I know which birthday of yours will be my last?” Javi asked. You just shrugged.

“Guess you better get party planning buddy.”

#hamilton #platonic imagine #javier x reader #hamilcast #platonic

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hamilficsfordays · 7 years

Text

New Beginning—Chapter Eight: Tragedy-Prone

Disclaimer: I don’t actually speak spanish so I apologize if any translations are incorrect

Also posted on Ao3

Summary: Autumn in New York has arrived and school has started for everyone including Alexa. Unfortunately, that’s not the only thing that has started.

Rating: M for language (in English and Spanish), teen binge drinking, mentions of rape

Words: 7828 (rip me)

Askbox / Masterlist / Chapter Seven / Chapter Nine

Tags:

@promisesandmore @justanotherfanficreader and @huffleheyguys who asked me to tag them in literally any writing.

September in New York meant the start of school. The slight excitement Alexa had was shadowed by the overwhelming fear of seeing the boys who violated her that night again. Still, she pushed on.

“There’s no shame in being homeschooled until we can transfer you to Brearley next semester.” Lin offered that morning while en route to the school.

“I’m not going to rot in that apartment for the next four months, Lin. I need to do this.”

She had on a plaid green skirt, a white polo, black stockings, and a long sleeve green cardigan. This was within the required uniform standards Alexa carefully adjusted the sleeves of her cardigan to make sure they were covering the bandages on her arms while staring up at Lin from the chair on the subway. The train was packed, full of others headed to work or school that morning.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, glancing down at her, attempting to read her face. She rolled her eyes, a light smile.

“Remember what Dr. Montgomery said?” she reminded him of the doctor’s appointment they’d been to the day before.

“As long as you take your meds as needed, you’ll be fine.” he repeated.

Alexa carefully pulled a full pill bottle of Zoloft out of her messenger bag, She took one pill and washed it down with a sip of water from a plastic bottle that she’d been holding on to. “I took my meds today, okay? So stop panicking. You’re more worried than I am.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Would you like one?” she offered, smirking.

“Very funny.” he glanced out the train window in search of a number as the train slowed to a halt.

“This is our stop.”

They arrived at the school shortly after.

“Okay, I gave you a free ‘worried parent’ pass to travel with me to school this morning. Your pass has now expired.” She gave him a light pat on his arm. “You no longer have permission to escort me to school.”

“Do I have a hug pass?”

“Those can only be redeemed at home or not ten feet from my school.”

Lin hugs her anyway, kissing the top of her head.

“Why do I make rules if you’re just going to break them?” she demanded, feeling him laugh against her.

The laughing stopped however as he saw Eric approach the school after exiting his town car. There was a smaller more sheepish boy by his side, looking slightly on edge, though Eric being beside him seemed to ease his tension slightly.

Alexa caught a glimpse of what had made Lin so serious, feeling a wave of fear wash over her as he looked their way.

He approached them then, the smaller boy beside him.

“You really shouldn’t be over here,” Lin started, stepping in front of his daughter. “It’s dangerous. I wouldn’t want something to happen to you.”

“Lin,” she stepped in between them, facing her father. “You can’t threaten someone my age. No matter how much they genuinely deserve it.”

“Ease off, George Lopez,” Eric started. “I’m here to apologize.”

They both stared straight at him, taken aback by his words. Frustrated, he glared at the younger boy beside him who nudged him forward, urging him to continue.

“Sorry for…” he sighed, glancing in another direction. “Hurting you a month ago. I was a jerk and you didn’t deserve it.”

“Hurting me?” she shot back. “That’s the best you can do?”

Alexa glanced at the boy beside him, who seemed to be curiously fixated on Lin.

“Is that your conscious?” she asked, directing to the younger boy. “He’s not large enough for you to compensate.”

Eric was enraged then, stepping close to her and leaning in.

“Don’t talk about my little brother, okay? I apologized, so get off my back.”

“Did you apologize? Is that what they call an apology where you’re from?”

“Oh my god, you’re Lin-Manuel Miranda!” Grabbing everyone’s attention beside Eric was the smaller boy, pushing past the two teens to stand directly in front of the older man.

“I listen to In the Heights like, religiously. I mean I did, before Hamilton came out. Now I listen to that religiously. I’m Daxton,” he took Lin’s hand, shaking it furiously. It’s an honor to meet you!”

“Th-thank you?” Lin politely smiled back.

“What the fuck is In The Heights?” Alexa demanded, receiving a confused look from both Lin and Daxton.

“Only his first musical and winner of Tony award for best musical of 2008! I was friends with this boy at my old school who was like—well he was Spanish—and we would always spend weekends at his place where he would try to rap all of Usnavi’s lines. It was amazing. You’re amazing.”

“You have another musical?” she asked, prompting another confused look from Lin.

Alexa glanced at Daxton, at Eric, and then back to Daxton.

“Oh my god.” she finally said. “Your brother came out and you gained a conscious.”

“Shut up.” Eric shot back.

“Eric and I have been trying to get tickets for Hamilton since it started at the Public. Right Eric?” he nudged his older brother eagerly.

“Dax really likes the show—” he tried.

“Me?! You sing Yorktown in the shower like every night!”

“Oh my god.” Alexa stifled her laughter, Lin doing the same.

He kissed the top of Alexa’s head again. “Have a good day.”

“You’re gonna have to be more genuine if you want to see that show, Eric.” Daxton folded his arms, glaring knowingly at his brother.

“Okay well… We should go.” Eric lead his brother away, glaring at Alexa who only smirked back.

This would serve as the highlight of her morning, a morning otherwise full of being called a slut or being told that she deserved it while walking in the hallways.

“Hey, how much for a lap dance?” Across the hallway from her locker, someone tossed a wad of dollar bills at her to a chorus of laughter.

And to think Lin and V are paying $47,000 a year so that I can get treated like this she thought, closing her locker and kicking the wad aside as she headed to her first class.

The class was small, quiet when she walked in. She recognized no faces, a relieving fact.

It was AP US History, a class she was destined to fly through—at least partially.

“Sorry, I’m late!” A small, blonde, white woman who could’ve easily passed for a student rushed in, papers in one hand and coffee in the other. “Mama needed a little pick me up before class started.” She shook her paper coffee cup.

There were a few chuckles, though most of the students didn’t find it amusing.

“Okay well, welcome to AP US History. I’m Dr. Rhodes, but you can call me Annie, and this year we’ll be learning how our country came to be. Included in that learning will be a single chapter on Civil Rights that’s only short because this book was written by a bunch of white people.” she laughed, prompting no reaction from her students but a small smile from Alexa, the only non-white person in the room.

“Let’s start with attendance.” she pulled out a single paper from the stack in her hand, listing off each name one by one until she got to Alexa.

“Alexa Jordan?” she asked. Alexa raised her hand.

“The same Alexa Jordan who’s the daughter of that handsome gentleman who wrote Hamilton?”

“Uh… Yeah?” she laughed, feeling the other students’ eyes on her. “I guess?”

“You know I was a TA when I was getting my masters at Yale… They’ve got a lot of love for Hamilton over there. Several of his original documents stored away. I think you and your mancandy father would have a lot of interest in that.”

There was an awkward silence.

“In fact, let’s all go! Road trip!”

More silence.

“No? No Hamilton fans here? You guys are missing out. That show is AMAZING—”

“Okay, can we actually talk about something important?” A girl in the back interrupted.

“Well excuse me,” Dr. Rhodes glanced at the attendance list again to find the girl’s name. “Hazel! I hate to admit it but you’re right. Let’s get started with the rape, pillage, and murder of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans when the white man first arrived here by ship.”

At the end of APUSH, she headed to her locker only discover an array of papers taped to the front.

“Oh great, another smear campaign.” She thought, starting to tear them off. A quick glance at one, however, changed her perspective.

Sign up for the Drama Club! This year, with special permission We’ll be producing a production of Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda

She glanced at each of the posters, all of them identical. A safe way to pander she figured. With no friends and virtually no one to talk to, she essentially had nothing to lose. She’d made a mental note to head to the school theatre at the end of the day.

She caught a glimpse of Eric headed down the hallway toward her that made her shiver involuntarily. He made a passing comment at another girl that Alexa couldn’t hear. Her retaliation, however, was loud and clear.

“¡No me jodas, Westly!” she shouted, loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear. “At least I don’t have to drug people to get them to have sex with me. ¡Chinga tu madre!”

“Like anyone would ever want to sleep with you. Don’t you have houses to clean?” he shot back, rolling his eyes. He didn’t stop to converse but continued walking down the hall. “That’s right pinche puta, keep walking!”

When he approached Alexa, she froze. Though she had stood up to him that morning, the harsh fear that came up whenever he approached didn’t seem to go away. Without Lin, she was alone.

The last time she was alone with him, it didn’t end well.

“Oh hey, looks who’s all alone with no daddy to defend them.”

He grabbed her arm forcefully, holding tight despite her attempts to pull away.

He leaned in close, paralyzing her with fear.

“Can I get you anything?” he whispered, recalling what he had said to her that night. “A drink? Maybe something a little more exciting?”

His grip on her arm tightened. She was struggling to manage a response as she continued to attempt to free herself.

“What do you feel like swallowing?” he recited.

There was a sudden jolt as the other girl shoved Eric away from her.

“You wanna fight someone?” she shoved him toward the lockers. He was clearly intimidated though he tried to hide it. Despite him being a few inches taller, the girl overpowered him in overall strength.

“Fight me, bitch!” she continued. “My father is a professional wrestler! I dare you to come at me. ¡Besa mi culo, puto!”

She had him wedged between herself and the lockers. Seeing him clearly shaken up was enough to get Alexa to take a sigh of relief. She moved away from the scene until her back hit the lockers on the other side of the hallway. When there was nowhere else to go, she slid down to the floor, watching the scene unfold.

“Whatever,” he tried to brush it off. “I don’t need to fight you. It would be a waste of my time.” he managed to fight his way out of the small space and fast-walk down the hallway.

“This isn’t over, Pendejo!”

She barely noticed the girl offering to help her up as she sat on the ground, processing what had just happened.

“Cabron,” the girl remarked, watching Eric walk off as she offered Alexa a hand. She took it, slowly pulling herself up.

The girl was Latina (unlike every other student besides Lex it seemed), unmistakably tall and rather muscular, but ever confident with herself.

“Thank you,” she finally said, brushing her skirt off. “He’s um… he’s kind of intimidating.”

“Ay, no, You wouldn’t say that if you saw the way he cried like un bebé when he was being pulled away in a cop car from that party last month.” she chuckled.

Alexa’s eyes lit up at the thought. “Wait, you were there?”

“No, but it was on New York One the next morning.” she chuckled at the memory. “Lo que es un bastardo.”

The shorter teen almost felt kind of stupid for being so afraid of him. The other girl picked up on that.

“Amiga, I’m sure he really fucked you up. He’s a pendejo and you’re allowed to handle that however you do. Just don’t let him steal your light. He doesn’t fucking deserve it.”

A small smile formed on Alexa’s face. “That was really profound.”

She shrugged. “Si, I know, I’m like a fucking latina Shakespeare.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”

Lex suddenly realized she may have been coming on too strong and felt the need to explain herself.

“I mean since you’re the only person at this school who hasn’t called me a slut so far and we hate the same person so I figured—”

“Camila.” she cut her off. “Call me Cami.”

“Cami,” Alexa repeated. “Okay.”

“Relax amiga, if you hang around me, everyone will be way too afraid to call you a puta.”

That afternoon, Alexa ventured to the basement where the theatre was located. As she opened the door to the house, she was overwhelmed by the large population of fair skinned students. As she herself was half black, she stuck out like a sore thumb as she had all day that day.

There were several glances in her direction as she entered to room, most of them other girls staring curiously. She sat in the last row, hoping to remain out of sight.

As she sat, she bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” she quickly apologized, glancing up at the stranger.

The cute stranger. The stranger whom she happened to recognize from her AP US History class that morning.

He had short brown hair, a clean-shaven, cute face and wasn’t particularly thin or muscular, a fair mix of both. At least, that’s what she could gather from under white dress shirt and tie.

He seemed to be fixated on her features as well—her light brown eyes, her curly jet black hair, her smile which was in full force.

“It’s okay.” he finally said, a smile forming. “I’m sure you’ve been getting much worse treatment all day.”

“You don’t even know.”

He offered his hand. “I’m Dan.”

“Alexa.”

“Alexa,” he paused, taking in her features once again. “I know I literally just met you, but is there any chance you would want to grab coffee after this? I know a place around the block.”

“Uh…” she paused, glancing around at the other students. “Just us?”

“Well… Yeah.”

She glanced down at her phone briefly, taking note of the time. She had promised Lin that she’d be home by 3, and it was already 2:45.

“Sure.”

Are you home yet, mija?

As Alexa moved above ground after the meeting had ended, she received a very telling text message from her father.

Hanging out with a friend. I’ll be home for dinner.

As soon as the message had sent she turned her phone on do not disturb, wanting to give Dan her full attention.

She did just that as they sat at the cafe around the corner.

“So where are you from?” he asked, once they had ordered.

“I was born in Florida, but I mostly grew up in rural Alabama.”

“Y—” he glanced at her briefly, waiting for the punchline of a joke. “Really?”

She nodded. “Exciting, I know. The south is already bad enough if you’re black let alone adopted, but I moved around a lot ended up in New York over the summer.”

“Oh, like, in foster homes?” he asked. “I’m sorry if that’s weird to ask—”

“I’m not ashamed of my past.” she crossed her legs under the table, her ballet flat grazing his leg. “Just grateful that my current foster parents stepped in when they did.”

“Right, yeah.” he smiled.

A waitress stopped at their table, setting their cups of coffee in front of them.

“My story isn’t nearly as interesting.” he started, taking a sip of his own. Just grew up in Williamsburg. Still in Williamsburg.”

“Oh, Williamsburg! That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to go there. I heard it’s supposed to have like… The best coffee in the world.”

“It definitely beats out this Manhattan crap.” he quipped, receiving a steady laugh in response.

“My mom mostly works mostly across the country as a producer and my dad’s a musician.” Dan continued. “He’s on tour pretty often, so he’s out a lot too. It’s just me and my fourteen-year-old sister Rebecka.”

“On tour, huh? Anyone I’ve heard of?” she added a touch of sugar to her coffee, using a spoon to stir it in.

“I don’t usually like to talk about it…” he started, blushing.

“It can’t be worse than being related to the guy who wrote Hamilton.” she pointed out with a smile.

“It’s uh… it’s George Abrams.”

Alexa nearly dropped the cup that she was carefully holding in both hands. “Your dad is George Abrams? He’s like a 90’s rock legend.”

Dan shrugged, still blushing. “He’s just my dad.”

“Right,” she nodded slowly. “No, that’s cool. I mean I can’t even begin to relate your experience to mine. You were kind of born with a famous parent. I obviously didn’t have the same experience.”

“You get used to it after a while. Although I will admit, some of the stuff that he has collected from his world tours over the years is insane. You should come by and see it one time.”

“That would be awesome.” Her hand instinctively reached for her curls, a move that typically only occurred when she was flirting.

Am I flirting? she asked herself, glancing carefully across the table at Dan. He was all smiles, his eyes fixated on her.

I guess it can’t hurt she concluded, placing her other hand flat on the table in hopes that he would take the bait. He did, reaching his own hand out to graze hers.

A shrill ringing sound emerged from her messenger bag and interrupted them.

“Sorry,” she pulled away, frustrated, digging for her phone.

It was Vanessa calling.

“What?” She demanded, obviously upset.

“I need you to pick up Sebastian from daycare.” Vanessa started, disregarding Alexa’s irate tone of voice.

“I’m in the middle of something.”

“Lex, I’m serious. I need your help here.” her mother insisted. “It would mean a lot if you could do this.”

“I just told you I’m in the middle of something! Have Lin do it.”

“He went to the theatre early. You told me you wanted to start relating to me more—this is a great way to start.”

Alexa rolled her eyes as she hung up, tossing her phone back into her bag.

“Is everything okay?” Dan asked, watching her put her things together.

“Not really… I have to go.”

“Oh,”

“Yeah, my foster dad and I are really close. With my foster mom, however… it’s a work in progress. I need to go pick up their son. I’m really sorry.” She pulled out her wallet, tossing a ten dollar bill on the table.

“It’s okay, I’ll just see you at school tomorrow.” he stood up.

“Yeah, of course.” She hugged him, kissing his cheek as she pulled back. “See you tomorrow!”

The next morning was an uncomfortable one. Alexa awoke nauseated, bloated, and triggered by the smell of breakfast cooking.

As she left her room that morning dressed for school and headed to the kitchen, an all too peppy Lin greeted her, singing at the top of his lungs.

“Goooooood mooooorrrrrniiiing, Gen! Happy second day of schooooooool!”

“Dude,” she groaned, setting her bag down on the table as she sat. “Please.”

“Wouuuuuld you like some breeeeaaakfast?” he offered, directing to the pan he was busy cooking with.

Alexa dry heaved, disgusted at the sight of bacon frying in the pan.

“I’ll pass, thanks.” “It’s the most important meal of the day!” he reminded her, holding up a piece of bacon with the pair of tongs in his hand.

“Seriously, I’m fine. That smells disgusting. My digestive system has been terrible lately.”

“Oh speaking of,” he paused, placing the bacon onto a plate nearby and turning the stove off. “Have you done your treatment since you got out of state care?”

Alexa groaned. “I did it just before I left.”

“That was almost two weeks ago.” he pointed out. “You’re supposed to do it twice a week.”

“I’ve been… busy.” she insisted. “Readjusting to life back at home and starting school… my immunodeficiency hasn’t been a priority.”

“It has to be. No wonder your stomach is so messed up.”

“My stomach is always messed up.” she pointed out.

“You know what I meant.” he paused, placing the bacon onto a plate nearby and turning the stove off.

“If you’re done lecturing me on my health, can I go to school now?”

“I’m not done,” he took a piece of bacon from the plate, taking a bite and offering some to her. She quickly refused. “It’s unrelated but important. Vanessa told me about yesterday—”

“You mean how she insisted that my go pick Sebastian was somehow going to improve our relationship?”

“Not the words I would’ve used, but yes.”

“I was busy. I was having coffee with a new friend and she kind of ruined it.”

“Lex, V is doing her best to relate to you, but it can be tough sometimes. You and I had plenty of time to get to know each other over the summer at the Public. Give her a chance to do the same. She’s a great mother.”

She shook her head. “I don’t do well with mom’s.”

“Did something happen in the past?” he curiously pressed.

“Nothing that I’m willing to discuss over bacon.”

“Vanessa’s nothing like that.” he insisted. “She’s the kindest, most genuine person I’ve met. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Alexa rolled her eyes.

“You gave me a chance and you said you’d be willing to do the same for her.”

“Maybe I’m not there yet.”

“You guys could bond over something you have in common.”

“Yeah, you always know how I talk about wanting to be an engineer.” she rolled her eyes again, the sarcasm thick.

“Hey, you and V both love frozen yogurt… maybe you could go get some together.”

She dry heaved again. “Could we not talk about food right now?”

Before he could respond, she rushed off to the bathroom.

Hunched over the toilet, she vomited once, followed by several dry heaves.

As she stood up, preparing to re-brush her teeth, she saw Lin standing in the doorway in the mirror.

“Are you okay?” he asked, a concerned look on his face.

“Never better.” she quipped, reaching for her toothbrush. “I think I’m gonna skip breakfast.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go to school today.” he suggested.”

“Lin, she started. “I’ve gone to school in much worse condition. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay…” He walked back down the hallway towards the kitchen. “But if you want to go home, just give me a call! And remember what I said about Vanessa!”

The train ride to school that morning was almost unbearable. Partially because of nausea, but also because certain muscles in her body had become overwhelmingly tender. Her messenger bag sat uncomfortably on her shoulder, heavily irritating her chest. By the time she had reached her destination, her symptoms had not improved. She slowly trudged to her locker only to find Dan waiting there to greet her.

“Hey,” he smiled before getting a closer look at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I thi—” her sentence was cut short by the feeling of bile rising in the back of her throat. She rushed to the bathroom across the hall, locking herself in the handicapped stall before releasing the containments of her stomach—which wasn’t much—into the toilet. She hunched over, feeling the cramps in her torso worsen as her stomach contracted.

When it was over, she was on her knees, her hair carefully hung on the outside of the seat.

She sighed, standing up and moving towards the sink to wash her face.

When Dan saw her exit the bathroom, he offered his only unopened bottle of water. She graciously accepted.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

“I’m pretty sure like ninety percent of what just came out of me was stomach acid, but yeah I’m fine.”

“Good.” he pulled a ten dollar bill from his pocket, the same one that Alexa had left on the table the day before. “Hamilton’s glad to hear that.” He handed the bill to her.

“What is this?”

“You dropped it yesterday.” he reminded her.

“Yeah… to pay for my coffee.”

“I took care of it. Here, you can keep it.”

“Dan…” She attempted to hand the bill back. “It’s fine. I can pay for my own coffee.”

“I know, but I took care of it.” He thought back to her rush to the bathroom earlier, eager to change the subject. “You should probably eat something before class. At least it’ll keep the stomach acid down.”

“Come with me?” she asked. Dan nodded and they made their way to the dining hall. Inside was an array of breakfast options that were certainly worthy of a hefty tuition. With it came an overwhelming aroma that made Alexa dry heave as soon as she stepped in the room. She stepped back out to avoid worsening the feeling.

“I think I’m just gonna go to class,” she suggested. “I’ll see you around.”

At noon, the cramps had seceded while the other symptoms worsened. While the other students entered the cafeteria for lunch, Alexa stood outside.

The smell was unbearable. She had no desire to get sick for a third time that day and gave in, headed to the nurse’s office.

She’d listed off her symptoms, the bloating, nausea and vomiting, the fatigue, the cramps, and the muscle tenderness. The nurse, a middle-aged white woman who managed to look consistently bitter, visibly rolled her eyes in response.

“Are you sexually active?” she asked, reaching into her desk.

“No.”

The nurse glanced up at her. “Miss, I can’t help you if you’re not honest with me.”

“I’m not,” she shot back. Being a virgin wasn’t exactly something she wanted to brag about, but it was true.

The nurse pulled a small cardboard box out of her desk, handing it to the teen.

“Go to the restroom, follow the instructions on the box, and bring it back when you’re done.”

The box clearly read Pregnancy Test across the front, which made it clear to Alexa that the nurse didn’t believe her.

“Whatever.” She scoffed, bringing the test with her.

In the tiny bathroom stall, she removed the test from its packaging and stared back it. It was taunting her with its simplicity.

She removed the cap on the far end, carefully sliding it between her legs and using it as instructed. The results were still pending as she capped the test and walked back to the nurse’s office.

A change on the display alerted them to the results, a plus sign.

“You’re pregnant.” the nurse announced unenthusiastically.

“This is a joke.” Alexa rolled her eyes back. “You clearly don’t know what you’re doing. I told you I’ve never had sex. That test is probably defective. It looks older than you.”

“I can’t say we’ve had a pregnant girl at Columbia Prep before, but I suppose there’s a first for everything. Especially considering your…” she paused. “Situation.”

“What situation?” Alexa demanded, glaring at the nurse. “That I’m black, that I was adopted two months ago, that I live in the heights or that my parents are Latinx and therefore unfit?”

The nurse ignored the question, unwilling to put her job at risk. “If you’re still feeling sick, I can call your parents and have one of them come get you. Just move to the cot over there.”

“Racist.” she muttered under her breath, angrily grabbing her bag as she made her way to the cot on the far end of the room.

“Okay let’s skip ahead to light cue 145, sound cue 11, and stage cue 78.”

At the Richard Rodgers theatre, the cast and crew were changing up some of the show’s lighting cues a few hours before the afternoon matinee at 2 pm. The stage manager was hard at work, directing everyone through the motions so that they could enter the correct cues into their system.

The actors were still, silent onstage waiting for direction while the lighting technicians were quietly discussing the correct cues upstairs. In the midst of a silence, there was a loud ringing noise, someone’s cell phone.

Tommy Kail, working alongside the show’s stage manager, glanced up at the stage for the source of the sound. “Who didn’t turn their phone off?”

All of the actors onstage glanced at one another briefly. Once Lin realized it was his phone, he blushed.

“Oh shit, my bad!” he pulled his phone out. “That was me.”

Hesitating for a moment, he glanced at the call not recognizing the strange number and picked it up. “Hello?”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Take five, everyone. Lin has a very important phone call to take.”

Everyone else left their positions.

“Sorry, who am I speaking with?”

The voice of an older white woman greeted him, making it clear that she was unsure of how to properly pronounce his name and wasn’t going to bother to try.

“This is Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is this?”

“I’m the nurse at Columbia Prep. Your daughter Alexa is in the infirmary with me and she needs to be picked up. She’s been vomiting all day and—”

The nurse paused. While it may have been practical to inform him of the pregnancy test, she wasn’t sure it was her place to do so. From the other side of the room, Alexa sat up from her curled fetal position. She waited, holding her breath, to see if the nurse would say anything.

“Well, she’s not feeling well.”

“Is she okay?” he demanded, the concern in his voice catching the attention of those in the theatre. “Did anyone get hurt?”

“No sir, not mentally. She’s just physically ill.”

“Oh,” he took a sigh of relief that he wasn’t proud of. The fact that he was so sure she’d had a mental breakdown that involved another student getting hurt was nothing if not slightly unsettling. He was grateful that wasn’t the case. “So she’s with you?”

“Can I talk to him?” Alexa demanded, interrupting their conversation.

“She wants to talk to you.” the nurse announced as Alexa slowly walked back toward the desk.

“Hey, Lin.”

“Hey kiddo, still not feeling well?”

“I must have a 24-hour virus or something. My hormones are off.” she glared at the nurse. “I think I should sleep it off.“

“I’ll come and get you.” he offered, already headed to his dressing room to pick up his things.

“What? No, you’re at work. I’ll just sleep in the nurse’s office until school ends. You shouldn’t leave, it’s too important.”

“Too late, I’m already leaving.” He threw everything he needed into his bag before slinging it over his shoulder and heading toward the exit. “Stay put. I’ll be there soon.”

There was a number of questioning looks he received on his way out.

“Lex is sick.” he explained to the stage manager, who seemed suddenly concerned.

“Oh, is she…” he paused, pretending to scratch his arms.

“Oh, no.” he was quick to reassure them that this wasn’t a mental breakdown similar to the one she’d had a little over a week beforehand. “She’s just been throwing up all day. I’m gonna go get her. Put Javi in for the rest of the run through. I should be back for the matinee.”

Lin opted for a cab uptown, arriving promptly and heading to the infirmary to find his daughter curled up on a cot at the far end of the room.

When she heard him come in, a look of concern crossed her face.

“What are you doing here?”

“I told you I was coming.”

Alexa glanced at the nurse, who seemed confused at their exchange. She lowered her voice to a whisper.

“I thought we agreed you weren’t coming because work is more important?”

“We never agreed on that because it isn’t true,” he whispered back. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“But…” she seemed desperate for answers. “Work is always more important.”

It was clear that something had triggered her, though Lin wasn’t sure what it was.

“Little girls who stay home from school get punished.” the thought passed through her consciousness as if she’d heard it yesterday, though she hadn’t heard the phrase in years.

Suddenly she backed away from him, up against the wall.

“I’m fine. I’m not sick. I’ll go to class. I’m sorry for making you come all the way over—”

“Hey,” he sat beside her on the cot, trying to interrupt her thoughts for a moment. “You didn’t make me come here. I wanted to come, okay? I’ll take you home and you can sleep it off.”

As expected, her medication helped her calm down a lot faster than she would typically be able to on her own. She paused for a moment.

“I promise, nothing bad will happen to you,” he reassured her. “We’ll go home, you can get some sleep and hopefully you’ll start to feel better.”

“You promise?” she pressed, still hesitant.

“I promise.”

She grabbed his hand for support, following him out of the infirmary and to the cab waiting outside.

“Just hang out here. I’ll make you some tea.” As they got home a few minutes later, Lin helped her over to the couch, putting a blanket over the length of her body before moving away to the kitchen. She had calmed down significantly on the car ride home, taking long calming breaths to ease her anxiety.

“So did the nurse say exactly what was wrong with you?” he questioned from the kitchen.

“Uh,” Alexa paused. While she was certain she wasn’t pregnant, having never had sex, she wasn’t too open to the idea of sharing everything that happened with him. “Nothing useful.” she finally said. “Just offered to call you.”

“You’re right, that isn’t very useful.” He placed the full kettle on the stove, before turning on the burner and returning to the couch to sit beside her. “Maybe we should take you back to the doctor.”

Alexa rolled her eyes. “Hopefully they’re better at their job than that shitty nurse is.”

“Are you hungry? Did you eat at school?”

She shook her head before placing a pillow underneath it to protect her neck. “The smell of everything made me want to vomit.”

“Hold on,” he stood up, headed back to the kitchen. “I think Vanessa bought saltine crackers last week.”

Digging through the pantry, he found a small box of saltines in the back with the package half empty. He grabbed the whole thing, handing it to her.

“That’s all we have, but I’ll go pick up some more—”

Alexa made a noise of protest, turning onto her stomach. “You should go back to work. That’s more important.”

The kettle began to whistle, calling Lin to attention before he could respond.

“Lex, do you want anything in your tea?”

“A spoonful of honey please.”

“Got it.” He prepared it as requested before carefully handing it to her.

She sat up and took a sip, sighing, content.

“This helps a lot.”

“I’m glad.” he kissed her forehead. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pick up more saltines?”

“Go back to work. I’ll be fine here.”

“Okay… but call me if you need anything.”

“Phone’s on,” she assured him. “I’m probably just gonna take a nap. I’m exhausted.”

“Alright well… V’s going to some work event later and I’ll be on tonight, so we’ll probably both be back around midnight. Unless you need me to come back—”

“Oh my god, Lin, go back to rehearsal.”

Lin smirked, picking up his bag and heading out of the apartment.

On her own, the silence was deafening. She could feel the fatigue overwhelming her, but sleep was far off. On paper, she had almost every symptom of early pregnancy. She never really had consistent periods, didn’t she need that to get pregnant?

No. No way. She couldn’t be pregnant because she was a virgin. Virgins didn’t get pregnant. Well, except for that one tv show, but that was fake and didn’t count.

The test I took must’ve been defective she assured herself. If I took another test, there’s no way it would come up positive.

That reassurance, however, did not help her get to sleep any faster.

She threw the blanket off.

“Fucking fine.” she groaned and took a large swig of tea from the mug before picking up her messenger bag and heading out.

The nearest pharmacy was five blocks away, a small business on the corner. She headed in, gravitating toward the refrigerated aisle. She grabbed a large can of Arizona tea—only a dollar, respectively—and left in search of her other purchase.

There they were, at eye level between the tampons and the condoms—pregnancy tests. She examined them carefully, reading each label and what special feature they boasted.

She could feel her heart pounding, her palms sweaty.

This is ridiculous she thought to herself. I’m not pregnant.

One box, in particular, caught her eye, a test boasting its ability to show how far along you were. It came in a pack of two, which she grabbed and headed to the register.

Behind the counter, the foreign older gentleman glared at her as she approached with her items.

“You’re too young to buy this.” His thick accent intruded her overwhelming thoughts.

“There’s no age limit on buying pregnancy tests.” she shot back.

“A young body like yours is too valuable to carry a child.” he insisted. “You could do much better with it elsewhere.”

“Do you want my money or not you fucking pervert?” A wad of cash in hand, Alexa glared at the man behind the counter as he placed her items in a small black plastic bag.

“Twenty-four fifty,” he announced, taking the twenty-five dollars she handed him. He passed two quarters back, watching her carefully as she left the store.

Before heading down the street, she pulled her phone out of the pocket of her skirt—her uniform still on from her time at school—opening Spotify. A quick typed search for In the Heights brought up the album of Lin’s first broadway show, a production she’d virtually never heard of. Cautiously, she tapped the first song, placed her headphones over her ears, and took the slow route home, open Arizona can in hand.

The song was still playing as she got home, tossing the now empty can in the trash. She made her way to the bathroom, the box burning a hole into her palm

She tossed the instructions aside for later, sitting on the toilet seat and carefully positioning the test between her legs.

Once it was over, she recapped the test placing it flat on the counter. It was a three-minute wait.

I’m not pregnant. I’m not pregnant. I’m not pregnant. I command myself not to be pregnant.

The test flashed a result on its screen, a tiny display that read

Pregnant

Alexa dropped the test, her heart pounding. This couldn’t be real. It had to be some kind of dream.

She grabbed the instructions, skimming them again, desperately seeking answers.

Under her result read a paragraph about conception, how the result had concluded that she conceived three or more weeks prior.

“What the fuck,” she managed, trying not to hyperventilate. She pulled her phone out, stopping the music and pulling up her calendar in the hope that a date would jog her memory of something. Perhaps an artificial insemination that she’d agreed to in an exhausted state—being a surrogate mother was a well-paying gig nowadays.

She scrolled back to two weeks prior. Nothing. Three weeks. Nothing.

“This makes no sense,” she said aloud. “There is no way I could possibly be pregnant. I’ve never had se—.”

There it was, a Thursday four weeks back. There was an event marked on her calendar entitled:

Party tonight at CP!

Memories flashed through her mind of the following day, where she was offered a Plan B pill at the hospital, took it, left to shower, and promptly got sick only minutes later giving it virtually no chance to enter her system.

She could feel the breath leave her lungs all at once, her mind going numb.

She had never considered this.

It wasn’t something one considered after having been through what she had.

She dropped her phone—or rather, it fell out of her hands—landing on the tiled bathroom floor. She put the test into the garbage can, covering it with the other items to keep it out of sight.

Her instincts brought her to the kitchen, where she easily bypassed the child lock on the liquor cabinet. She pulled out an unopened bottle of whiskey, an unopened bottle of vodka, and dug through the freezer for a tequila bottle stashed away.

The three bottles in front of her on the counter, she debated which one would be the easiest to chug. She opted for the vodka, popping the cap and downing the bitter liquid. She hesitated for a moment, the burn in the back of her throat causing her to cough, but continued anyway. It would be unpleasant, sure, but it was the easiest thing she could think of to get rid of the thing that was supposedly growing inside of her. Within minutes, the bottle was empty.

The other two bottles stared back at her, making her feel self-conscious. She left the kitchen, pacing the length of the entire house before returning to the same two bottles. Her hand reached for the empty vodka bottle, holding it for a moment before smashing it against the granite countertop. It shattered, leaving glass everywhere and cutting her palm open.

“Fuck,” she winced, clutching the palm to her chest. The blood quickly spread to her white polo, a fact that she didn’t seem to notice as she reached for the whiskey.

Twisting the cap open, she felt nothing as the bottle reached her lips, swallowing as fast as she could. The whiskey was stronger, more demanding. She could feel her throat screaming for a break, but she pressed on until the bottle was empty. The dangers of her decisions were far from her mind as she dropped the whiskey bottle on the tile floor. It didn’t shatter like she hoped it would.

She could feel the alcohol coursing through her as she paced the house again, her hand leaving a trail of blood as she walked.

Returning to the counter, the last bottle sat, waiting for her. She pulled the cork out, taking a swig.

It came then suddenly, like a truck hitting a brick wall. The effects of her binge drinking arrived hard and fast, knocking her down. She managed to pull the tequila off of the counter with her, the glass shattering on the floor beside her as she lay, numb.

“Do you think she’s allergic to something?”

Lin shook his head. “That can’t be it because she didn’t eat anything this morning.”

Vanessa held her sleeping son close, waiting for Lin to pull out his keys to open their front door. They were greeted by an empty couch, a surprise to both of them. Lin glanced at his watch.

“It’s after midnight. She’s probably asleep.” he concluded.

“I’m gonna put Sebastian to bed,” she whispered, starting toward the hallway. As she passed the kitchen, however, she paused, speechless, staring at the ground.

“What’s up, V?” he moved to her side, curious as to what she was so preoccupied with. His jaw nearly hit the ground at the sight of the kitchen floor.

Alexa was there, unconscious, broken glass and spots of blood surrounding her. Her hand was obviously impaled, a large puddle of blood surrounding it.

“Holy shit.”

#hamilcast imagines #hamilcast au #lin x vanessa #foster dad lin au #hamilton fanfic #hamilton fanfiction #hamilton imagines #imagines blog

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woofety · 5 years

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@queen-of-love-and-beauty mentioned you on a post

“10 GIFs of your favorite shows tagged by @woofety thank you ❤️ 1....”

@woofety I grew up in Albania and all we watched was Italian shows lol. I was in love with all of them. Also watched a lot of Spanish and Brazilian telenovelas. All so not age appropriate ��

Oh my god, why do Italian shows air even in Albania - isn’t it enough that we have to endure them in my country already lol? No ok, sorry, as I said, not a big fan, but glad for people who worked on them that there is someone who appreciates them! Wait, were they not appropriate because you were very little when you watched or because they were like REALLY not suitable, like 18+ or something? Well, at least I guess they prevented you from falling asleep (even if telenovelas have this weird power of hooking you to the story even if you think the show and the acting is atrocious... you know, you start watching because maybe you’re using the TV as white noise while you do other things and that is likely the most interesting thing that is airing in that moment and boom, at the end of the episode you misteriously want to know what happens next... happened to me and other people I know, can’t explain this sorcery though XD )

@woofety I love Elisa because of how well she is written as a character. She’s strong and independent which for that time wasn’t that easy. She fights for what she deserves. Season 2 was trash but the spin off with her daughter was very very good as well.

Another thing I appreciated about that show (at least, its concept, since I got to watch few episodes here and there and not everything) is that they finally decided to create a big period production, which was something rather unusual at the time for Italian shows, but yeah, a show with a female lead that is in charge of her own story (or at least, trying) is always important!

@woofety I love tough May. Coulson knew he was gonna get his ass whooped if he didn’t shut up ��

And he would have deserved it, actually, not only in general because he had been such a dumb idiot with his self-sacrificing ideas, but in the specific because he kept on interrupting and talking over her, and HE had the guts to look impatient and irritated!!!! He knows to whom you’re talking, and you don’t just dismiss Melinda May like that!!

#queen-of-love-and-beauty #reply for your life! reply for the hills!

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youreghanamissme · 6 years

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2018, Eat My Harmattan Dust!

We did it! We survived 2017! Hoo-Boy, was it a tough year. It's been a positively transformative experience, but there were chunks of time where I felt like I was drowning in a lasagna of my own anxiety, trauma, and depression. But y'know what? It's a new year, and I have plenty to look forward to. I'm probably the happiest and most content now than I've been in the last two to three years, so Cheers!/ Mabuhay!/ La Chaim! to that!!

I'm off to my COS (Close of Service) conference in a few days, and in a few months, I'll be leaving Ghana. You'll read it across the plethora of PCV blogs that exist on the internet: “two years has flown by.” It sounds a little contrived, but it's one of the truisms of service. Most folks, myself being one of them, don't really hit their stride until the one year mark, and then you're just rollin' rollin' rollin' trying to be as productive as possible while still maintaining your sanity and taking in the beauty of everything—all the cultural nuances, the environmental overhaul, the punchline in the joke—happening around you. Sometimes I feel like I just got off the plane last month. It's hard to accept that this journey is almost finished.

I was re-reading some of my old blog entries, and I was struck at how doe-eyed I was! And how many of the circumstances that perplexed me no longer seem as big of a deal. Here are some of the changes I have witnessed for myself over the past two years:

1. Time. Time is a social construct. We give it value in America. Punctuality is a virtue to possess after all. But in Ghana, time is just time. Things will figure themselves out eventually, so why rush? It's a big deal when I need to catch a tro out of my community or when it's call to prayer, but otherwise, I don't pay much attention to it. I go by the heat of the day or the movement of the sun. That being said, I do feel like my life has been on pause while I've been here. I'm a little uneasy to go back to America where I feel like I'm behind the times culturally and professionally, but things will figure themselves out somehow ;)

2. Little pleasures. Reveling in a smile. A greeting. A goodbye. The sunset. The feel of the ocean against my legs. The kiss of the equatorial sun on my face. A productive day with my community members. The excitement of students. An old friend. A new friend. The breeze. The rain. The smell of wet earth. The buzz from a drink. The euphoria of good company. A platonic “I love you.”

3. Noise. I had a hard time adjusting to the perpetual din in the background (or, sometimes, assaulting me in the face). Much like waiting hours for your tro (bus) to fill, you'll never get completely used to the bangarang, but the rooster crowing at odd hours, the 4:30am call to prayer, someone's repetitive chanting to sell something, etc... they get drowned out a little after a while. Especially if there is a much louder noise accosting you, i.e. honking of a horn around every corner, the vibrating boom of Ghanaian high-life music, or the heart-jolting shot of a musket across the village.

4. Jogging-ish. I mentioned my somehow-running journey a few times in previous posts, but that's because it's had a pretty big impact on my sense of self. Before I came to Ghana, I detested running. Absolutely hated it with vitriol. I still don't love it, but I've learned to enjoy it somehow. It has less to do with weight loss (because I haven't lost any) and more to do with transformation. I presented myself with a challenge, and I succeeded on my own terms. I ran a race in Ghana, and I've adopted a healthy habit. That makes me happy; I'm proud of myself.

5. Wholesome eating. I eat beans, maize, and a way too much oil almost every day in Ghana. And while I gorge on processed candy and biscuits whenever I can, I also crave spinach, cheeses, fresh vegetables and fruits. I'm anticipating the day when I don't have to pay a premium to eat olives or butter! The variety in Ghana is seasonal, and I'd like to maintain that commitment to support local farmers in America. I'm considering joining a CSA and am honestly gleeful at the thought of cooking and prepping most of my meals myself when I go home (but also... Hot Cheetos. They are a non-issue).

6. Friendship. The best kind of ‘ships. Without my friends I wouldn't have made it this far. Some have left the country prematurely, finished up and having a hoot at home, or got lucky and transferred to a bigger community for work, but many are still here, striving and thriving. This year I vow to commit more of myself and my time investing in my friendships. I've realized that my time is the most important and valuable artifact I can offer. If I haven't been a good friend, I'm sorry. I'll do better, be better. But know that I cherish each and every one of you, even if the last time we talked was yesterday or twelve months ago.

7. Adventure-seeking. Traveling the world is a privilege. I know there are many articles on the internet that tout “You Can Easily Travel If You Do These 10 Tips” or something along those lines. That's a load of tone-deaf shit. Not everyone can afford to travel, even if they try to put away a fraction of their paycheck for a year. Some people have responsibilities/ barriers / circumstances that prevent them from taking even a week off to see the world, to feed their soul, and amaze their wonder. Life is hard, and the economy and political climate isn't helping. But life is short, and I want to make it a priority of mine to try to see and experience as much as I can. Ghana isn't the first country I've visited, but it certainly has had a profound impact on my wanderlust. I plan to do a solo COS-trip. I'm a little scared to do it alone, but it's also part of the thrill.

8. Reading. We all read a lot, but I didn't read as many books as I did articles or op-ed's until I came to Ghana and committed to the idea of finishing a book (and then some). I've read many that affected me on more levels than I can articulate; have altered my perception of seeming truths; have educated me; made me laugh, cry, cringe; given me book hangovers. I've rekindled (:P) my love for books, the printed book industry hasn't died, and I can't wait to get my hands on some Ta-Nehisi Coates.

9. Self-understanding. I've alluded to a lot of emo, angsty shit that went down this past year. Yeeeah, I'm not going to deep dive into that on this blog. That being said, life wasn't great for a good while. I was pretty lost and acted out a lot, and I needed a lot of extra emotional support because I couldn't bear all weight on my own. I relied heavily on my friends (My undying gratitude. You lovely humans know who you are) and introspection to climb out of the pit. Sometimes I trip and fall back in, but y'know, that's gonna happen. Since then, I've gotten to know myself a lot better. I've been growing into a fuller version of my best self all the while discovering my wants, goals, bad habits, and how far I can extend beyond what I believed was a limitation. I think this is what the young people call, a “glow up”!

10. Appreciation for this Earth, My Life. I've developed a greater appreciation for our natural resources and my personal circumstances so much more. Clean drinking water, access to education and health services, the beauty in the landscape. I hope to continue reducing my waste and creating positive change in the world. And also call my parents. I'm lucky to have been born and raised in America. They're refugees and naturalized American citizens, but life for them wasn't as peachy-keen. I forget that when I'm all wrapped up in my own life, neglecting that my life is an echo of their life too.

TBT to A little nugget at the nutrition IST

There were moments in service where I contemplated extending, especially if I landed a position that worked with girls empowerment and youth development... but there were also moments where I screamed to myself, “I need to GTFO of here!” And then I ruminate on the goings on in America: FCC votes against net neutrality (I hope that it gets overturned), the tax reform that will decimate the middle class, the increasing rent and crippling job market in the Bay Area, California, and I wonder: Should I extend? Should I attempt WOOF'ing across South America? Can I just be a vagabond until 2020? The next step is daunting AF.

I'm trying to embrace the strong probability of moving back in with my parents which is utterly—complete and without qualification—soul crushing. When I moved out of the house at seventeen, I never settled back in. I would visit, but I always maintained my own living arrangements, even when I was preparing to move to Ghana. Committing the ultimate millennial move is not beneath me. They're lovely people. We just can't cohabitate. But the one truth is: I'm excited to go back and start some semblance of a career, a decision that will give my mum some relief.

I've somehow committed to the idea of finally applying to nursing school, something I've grappled with for the last three to four years. I'm going to take the plunge... I think! I'm frightened, but that kind of fear is overrated. I'm also excited to...

Do cool things! Like enroll in a class for cooking, Spanish, drawing/painting, pottery, car mechanics, yoga, boxing (I still have those gloves...). It all sounds really expensive, but I want to invest in myself more.

Clear the physical detritus of my life. I have a lot of junk. A good ½ of it was donated to Good Will when I came back for my sister's wedding, but I think I can downsize some more (coughthoseboxingglovescough ??). I'm eager to live minimally.

Move. Living with my ma and pa is a real contender for practicality's sake, but I'm anxious to see more of America. Maybe the east coast? California is a marvelous, endearing, magical bubble filled with the chillest people, the best food, and the diversity and creativity that I need and crave... and that's why I need to leave to thrive (at least for a little bit)

Hike. So many sights to see! I want to be stunned—become weak in the knees, physically and figuratively!—by the natural beauty that I often neglect by living in a city for as long as I have.

Learn how to swim. Because it's a life skill... and because all my friends are hanging over there, in the deep end of the pool :(

Live my best life! That includes continuing to grow, eating good food, reading, learning, hanging out with my favorite people, trying new things, meeting new people, and so much more!

It’s my last Harmattan, hurray!

youtube

#pcghana #peacecorps #howiseepc #ghana #harmattan #glowup #2018

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jessestoddard · 7 years

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Welcome to Chapter 10 of my blog-to-book project: Life After High School: Secrets To A Successful Life By Those Who Have Had Twenty Years To Think About It (or) What They Didn’t Teach Us Gen Xers In High School. This chapter is called Gift Registry. If you missed the last post, click here, otherwise, you can start at the beginning here.

September 6th, 2004, on her birthday, I married Mae del Puerto. I had proposed to her on the ferry-boat coming back into Anacortes from Shaw Island. She was mad about some screaming kid and I interrupted her and asked her to marry me. Talk about interrupting someone’s pattern! I have no idea if it was romantic or random or both, but it worked.

I went and asked her father’s permission. Being much older, he is not only from a previous generation (WWII), but also a different culture (the Philippines), and was not too happy with our new fangled way of living our lives (in sin), which he was showing by being very cold to me and giving me more of the silent treatment on top of the silent treatment he normally dished out.

I must admit now, that I don’t agree with our choices anymore either, proving once again that I am a crotchety old man before my time. The only thing he said to me that day was: “It’s about time.” I quickly got out my English-In-A-Visayan-Philippino-Dialect-With-Spanish-Accent Dictionary and translated it into: “Welcome to the family. Now, don’t screw it up.”

We were married at the lookout point in Washington park and just happened to have the best sunset in the history of man that evening. It was just her parents, mine, and her brother’s immediate family.

I should have kept it at that.

We felt we needed to do something for our extended family and friends (as two bright-eyed newlyweds are bound to do) and therefore threw a reception party on my birthday on September 13th. We thought that was cute and clever, and it’s easier to remember. The reception was great, except it cost me selling my Microsoft stock which I had been accumulating over the years since before the split, which would have turned into a lot more money if I had held it even longer.

The money is gone, we never even got to eat, and most of the people there don’t like us anyway.

Word to the wise: Stop caring about trying to please everyone, since you always end up looking like a jerk and people get jealous.

…

We did the whole registration thing, yet every single guest did the same exact thing! They all completely ignored our list.

“Honey, do you think we should get Mae and Jesse these highly utilitarian things that they might actually use on a regular basis?”

“Oh, they’re such a fun couple, let’s just get them that martini shaker.”

My wife and I don’t even drink!

Still, we end up with 4 plates and three thousand dollars worth of barware.

We could have opened our own tavern.

They either thought we were a bunch of lushes, or that we’d be divorced in a week.

“Those two are getting married? Good luck. Better get ‘em that set of shot glasses. They’re gonna need to start drinking right away.”

Before our wedding, we were still doing everything backward. Mae bought a timeshare and we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon… Did I mention it was before our wedding? After our wedding, we went to the Philippines to meet her family… After the fact.

We traveled a bit and also saw Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I was the only white guy on their island and it was not far from where only months after the news ran stories about the American that got beheaded by Muslim terrorists in their training camp. I was not uncomfortable at all. It was Meet The Parents meets Machetes.

I have thus far failed to mention that I continued to work in the fitness industry throughout the years. I worked around the clock during this period of my life and I did not sleep much.

As my grandpa always said, “You can sleep when you are dead.”

He’s dead, and I am tired, so I tend to try to avoid sleep deprivation now.

However, in my twenties, I had the need for money when I wasn’t working in the theater, and the gym job provided a good place to return to. I worked my way up to being assistant manager and personal trainer.

At one point, the owner offered me a chance to become a partner. I should have taken it, but I thought I might move away to New York or L.A. at a moments notice, so I turned it down. I probably should have taken the deal, as he was offering a chance to work my way into equity without having to come with cash of my own, which is extremely rare.

At one point, I worked for Pure Fitness, a chain of six clubs in Washington, run by an evil genius of an older used-car-lot style fitness mafia, era as their corporate sales manager.

I ran up and down the high rises of downtown Seattle and drove out to Bellevue and all around the area, trying to get entire companies to sign up for memberships all at once. The payoff was potentially very large for me, so I did hustle for a time. I landed a couple of huge accounts, namely Costco and Best Buy.

The commission check should have been on the order of sixty-thousand dollars, but right before that would happen, the managers above me decided to move me from one club to another and claimed that commissions I generated belonged to the former club and would not be transferred, so I was back to zero. I quit instead of fighting or suing. Unbeknownst to me, this started a string of negative business events that plagued me for years.

After Pure Fitness, I talked the powers that be at the 5th Avenue Theater (whom some affectionately called the gay mafia—their words not mine) into hiring me on in a business capacity, rather than as a performer. I explained all of my experience doing a variety of things in other fields, and they thought I would be a good fit to fill in as company manager for their new experimental launch of a show called Princesses.

The regular manager left the area to go work summer stock out-of-state, so they needed a fill-in. The 5th Avenue has a fine reputation for acting as an incubator for shows destined for Broadway, preparing and testing out a production in a lower-cost environment before sending it off to Broadway. It worked for Hairspray.

The problem for me was that I had no idea what I was doing.

I called the regular company manager, and after explaining my situation he was dumbfounded. He normally had to help out with travel arrangements for a small handful of people, while the rest of the ensemble and crew were locals. It was still tough to coordinate, but he had a simple system that worked. I explained to him that I was in charge of being the travel agent to a huge cast, and a huge crew and every single person needed to have separate arrangements at different times. He admitted he could not help, had no idea even what to recommend, and wished me luck.

To be fair, the men in charge did tell me they would get me help, which I did take them up on with an assistant, but I was at the time feeling guilty about not being able to handle it all myself on at least an organizational level, if not with all the details. The assistant I had would take some trips to the airport and handle a few things, but I was flying out to New York myself during some rehearsals and then back and working extra hours and getting very stressed out.

I felt the pay was abysmal, and I started questioning the entire arrangement, as more and more calls came in with greater and greater demands from all of these divas who fancied themselves important.

Finally, one night the choreographer called me up in the middle of the night ranting and cussing and telling me he would have my job because his taxi did not arrive. I worked to get him the ride, but he was so mad, that I was shaken up. It was the middle of the night and I had not had any free time in weeks, and I was on the edge of cracking.

I decided that night to craft a two-week notice letter. I offered to train someone to take my place and would not just leave them abruptly.

The next morning the artistic director called me and with rage cussed me out and told me to come back to work or he never wanted to see me again. It turned out it was an awkward end that would never be resolved. I tried to help out, but someone else was there to kind of tell me to go away.

Apparently, the director meant it and I have never seen him again.

Years later, I wrote him to apologize for my error of judgment. I feel I could have just asked for more help or perhaps just worked through it, and he did accept the apology. I am not sure who is at fault, but I am sorry either way. The Princesses show ended up being a flop and never went anywhere, and my career in local theater was destroyed.

I had just pissed off one of the most powerful people in the Seattle theater scene. Years passed before I ever did anything again, and by then I was much too old to be a chorus boy, which was my bread and butter.

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In the next post, I will continue with more interesting interviews.

Are you from Generation X? I want to hear what you think! Please comment below and participate in the conversation about What They Didn’t Teach Us Gen Xers In High School. What do you wish someone told you when you were eighteen?

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Life After High School: Chapter 11 Gift Registry Welcome to Chapter 10 of my blog-to-book project: Life After High School: Secrets To A Successful Life By Those Who Have Had Twenty Years To Think About It

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