#i also bought my ticket to go back to milan and that was much more expensive 😅 but it's exciting to think about going back i can't wait !

[bethegaycowboy]

one of my closest friends from uni is pregnant :)<3 so we're planning a little meet up at the end of october. so exciting !!

#i only paid 40 euros for international flights... i've never bought a 17 euro flight i don't think #i also bought my ticket to go back to milan and that was much more expensive 😅 but it's exciting to think about going back i can't wait !

[luvsfootball]

distracted by thought of you - rafael leao.

requested by - anon.

request - hi can you write a rafael leao fic. where he and reader are acquainted during the world cup and he actually already has a crush on her since shes a famous singer and a big ac milan fan.

it was the day portugal player morocco in the world cup quarter finals. you knew how excited rafael was seeing as though he hadn’t stopped talking about it.

he had already bought you a ticket much to your dismay. you hated people buying you things because you were more than capable of doing it yourself, but you knew how important this was to him.

the first time you met him was at an ac milan game. growing up in milan, your family were huge fans of the club so you naturally began to support them as well.

your profile picture on instagram was even a photo of you wearing an ac milan top from when you were a child, something your fans adored.

you lined up to get into the stadium, quickly texting rafael and telling him you were here. in the changing rooms, he smiled at the message.

“is your little girlfriend here?” ruben asked, peering over his shoulder to secretly read his message. “she’s not my girlfriend.”

“you want her to be though.”

rafael sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket. “well it’s never going to happen.”

“hey, never say never,” bernardo butted in, patting him on the back. rafael knew that it was possible for him and you to start dating, but he wasn’t sure if you even liked him in that way.

even though you did.

you fell for rafael hard, and you had the same concerns as him. what if he didn’t like you? what if you weren’t enough for him?

as you were led to your seat, the players were walking out and you saw rafael make his way to the bench.

it was a rocky start and as soon as morocco scored their first goal, a bad feeling hit you. the screens shown the bench and rafael seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

when the final whistle blew, you scurried off to the changing rooms and waited for him to come off the pitch.

a couple other players bumped into you, sending a warm smile but they still looked heart broken.

“he’s coming now,” ruben told you, and you looked over his shoulder to see rafael walking with his head hung low.

you immediately pulled him in for a hug. he returned it and you could tell he had been crying. “please don’t cry,” you begged, frowning at the tears straying down his cheeks.

“i-i can’t believe it. i don’t want to believe it.”

you grabbed his cheeks, forcing him to look you in your eyes. “it’s not your fault. it’s nobodies fault. you all tried your best.”

he didn’t have the heart to tell you that he was distracted the whole game. distracted by the thought of you and how you’d react if they got through.

+

rafael was at your house after his match, something you couldn’t make it to due to recording your new album.

the pair of you were eating from the local takeaway whilst he relaxed. your presence made him feel at home.

he’d been in your home countless times but this time, it felt different.

you were closer than normal, his head resting on your stomach as you watched the tv. your hands were running through his locks.

“y/n…”

you hummed, looking down at him for a moment then back at the screen. “do you love me?”

pausing, you took a breath whilst thinking of the right answer. “what, of course i do.”

your voice was shaky and you hoped he hadn’t picked up on it, but he did. “because i love you.”

you didn’t know how to respond; you didn’t know what he meant. did he mean it in the platonic way or the other way?

“thanks,” you mumbled, automatically cringing at your choice of response. rafael was also dumbfounded but he knew that he needed you to know.

and if you didn’t feel the same way, it was okay.

“do you remember at the world cup?” he started, shuffling so he was now sat up across from you on the sofa. “you told me it wasn’t my fault. i-i didn’t tell you why i played so bad.”

“rafael,” you sighed, taking his hands. “you didn’t play bad. please stop saying that.”

you knew it did damage to his confidence seeing the comments on social media and you had told him countless times to ignore it, but he was still bringing it up.

“no, no. it’s got nothing to do with that.”

eyebrows furrowed, you contemplated what he was going to say. “before the game, the boys were teasing me in the dressing room. they called you my girlfriend.”

“don’t listen to them then, raf.”

“no. it got me thinking so much that i couldn’t stop looking at you. i wondered if there was maybe a possibility of us being a thing. i don’t know, maybe in some alternate universe…”

he trailed off, still looking at you to see what your reaction was. you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. laugh because he was talking about alternate universes, or cry because he’d actually thought of a future between you two.

“so what are you saying?”

“i want us to be more than friends. i want to dedicate goals to you and treat you like you deserve to be treated.”

you snickered, blushing a little before nodding lightly. “if that’s how you put it, then i’d love to be your girlfriend.”

rafael nodded, unsure of what to do because of the shock of you actually saying yes. but he knew one thing for sure - he couldn’t wait to have a future with you.

#rafael leao x reader #rafael leão #rafael leao imagine #rafael leao #ac milan #football imagines #football #football x reader

[theuiucollegian]

Photo courtesy of Carlee Dove (pictured back right)

Dove studies art, explores cuisine in magnifica study trip to Italy

“I have always had a passion for traveling and wanted to go to Europe,” Carlee Dove, student-athlete of Upper Iowa University, said. Through the Academic Programs International, or API, Carlee Dove enjoyed a study abroad trip to Florence, Italy during the summer of 2022. For eight weeks, Dove visited multiple, incredible cities in Italy and took part in fun activities towards her art degree. 

For eight weeks in Italy, Dove took tours to various, respected cities such as Rome, Venice, Capri, Milan, Pompeii, and more. Additionally, Dove participated in cooking classes and wine tastings, explored many art museums and traveled via train to the beach. 

Along with traveling to beautiful cities in Italy and partaking in fun activities, Dove was joined by other students from other states who were also part of the API program. They were grouped into an apartment based on their personalities, and quickly bonded with one another. “I am so thankful to have the roommates I did,” Dove said. 

Dove plays volleyball at Upper Iowa University and is double majoring in art and graphic design with a double minor in communication studies and marketing. When it came to picking the program that was best for her, Dove looked into various programs and highlighted all the events and trips each program planned for the students. “I chose Italy due to its renaissance art movement,” Dove said.

Eventually, Dove picked API due to the length of trip and opportunities it opened for her: eight weeks for cooking classes, free museum tickets and multiple weekend trips. Being eight weeks, the API program allowed Dove to take two credit classes towards her art major. Then, Dove made sure she monitored how much she was spending on groceries every week to help her budget for the trip. 

Along with a passion for traveling, especially to Europe, Dove wanted to further her education and learn more about her major through studying abroad. Due to her being a student-athlete during the school year, the best time Dove had to study abroad was during the summer, so she took on the adventure. When she did, studying abroad in Italy helped expand her knowledge about various art styles and which art style suited her best. 

In Italy, transportation for Dove was a lot easier than she thought it would be. She traveled via taxi, bus or train if she needed to go to another town or city. Her favorite way to travel was by using the train as it moved her across the country fast, and her favorite place she traveled to was Elba, an island that did not have many English speakers and where she went snorkeling at, rode a boat, and walked to get to a beach. 

Dove met multiple people who did not speak English, but it was not as difficult for her. She was able to use the Google translate app or ask one of her program friends who spoke Italian to translate. Though Dove said she wishes she would have taken time to learn more of the Italian language to communicate with those she met in Italy more. 

When it came to communicating to her family and friends from back home in the United States, Dove bought an Italian SIM card which allowed her to receive service in places she went using the Italian phone number it came with. Additionally, there was also WiFi in their apartment. 

With these, Dove was able to make Facetime calls with her family and friends in the United States. There was one adjustment she had trouble with: there was not always air conditioning in their apartment, restaurants, shops and classrooms due to how expensive electricity is in Italy. This became hard for Dove and her roommates as the temperature in Italy got very hot during the summer. 

“There is not one thing I would change about my trip,” Dove said. “I loved every single part of it and wished I was still there.” 

Though there were communication barriers and problems with the air conditioning, studying abroad in Italy became a trip to remember for Dove. She was able to expand her knowledge with art, learn more about herself as an individual, build communication skills with another culture, strengthen her skills as a leader and made memories that will stay with her forever. 

[greenbagjosh]

27 June 1997 - Payday!  Radio Raheem reference and train ticket to and from Milan via Zurich

Friday 27 June 1997

Hi everyone, Well the day I had been waiting for had finally come.  It was the end of June 1997, and it was payday at that.

I was very excited as I had my eye on a portable cassette CD-playing radio for at least a week, on sale at Saturn Hansa for just 149 D-Mark, a 50 D-Mark discount for that week only.  It was a no-name cassette recorder/duplicator with AM, FM and Longwave bands.  I had to work that day, so I had to concentrate on my work until about 4:30 PM.  At the end of the workday, I went to Neuperlach Zentrum to see my monthly Kontoauszug, or my bank statement to verify that a money transfer took place.  A deposit of 1,500 D-Mark was deposited.  I had to be sure that I had 400 D-Mark free for rent, as well as about 80 D-Mark to pay for the next month's Ausbildungstarif II bus/train fare, so I had to be very careful what I spent.  

Saturday I had more time to go to the Saturn Hansa and pick out the portable radio.  The radio came in a box about two feet / 60 cm wide, 6 inches / 15 cm high and maybe 9 inches / 23 cm deep.  It weighed maybe 4 pounds / 1.8 kilos.  When I took it home, it did not have size "D" batteries (you might know the scene from "Do the right thing" when Radio Raheem asked for 20 of the "D" sized batteries, my radio only took six), but it had a "type C" plug which was ready to plug into a type C/type F Schuko round-pin outlet, similar to my table lamp that I bought a week prior.  I plugged it in, and it received the local FM stations, AM stations and even longwave as well.  The CD player worked fine and the tapes could be dubbed at twice the normal speed, just as advertised.  At some stage I had recorded Double's "Devil's Ball" on a longwave radio station.  You may remember Double from 1985/1986 with their "Captain of her heart" song.  

I did not do much that weekend, except stay most of the time at home and record music.  Sometimes I listened to Radio Gong, sometimes the Munich frequency for the French-based NRJ network, sometimes Bayern 3, and even some Dutch, Danish, Czech, Croatian broadcasts.  Transferring from CD to tape worked fine but there was a bit of fade-in for the first two seconds or so.  And the ticking sound of skipping songs was also audible.  I had a cheap copy of Sabrina "Boys" and Deuce "Deuce on the loose!", both of which I bought at the Neuperlach Zentrum location of Hugendubel, which has since withdrawn the music CD section.

Either Monday or Tuesday, the 30th June or 1st July, I wanted to see about taking the train to Zurich and Milan and come back through Trentino Alto Adige and Tyrol.  I had my Eurail Pass, and the DB long distance agents told me that I would have to buy a separate ticket for the section between Lindau Hbf to St. Margrethen SG, and for Brenner to Kufstein.  This was because my Eurail Pass was not good for Austria, as I had not requested Austria/Hungary to be valid.  

My next story will be an at-the-last-second journey from Munich to Zurich, Milan and back by Verona, Brenner and Innsbruck.  Will I remember where the actual youth hostel in ZH-Wollishofen is?  Hope you will join me then.

#payday #Zahltag #Saturn Hansa #radio #AM #FM #LW #longwave #Neuperlach Zentrum #Kontoauszug #Ausbildungstarif II #D #batteries #Radio Raheem #Do the right thing #CD #cassette #dubbing #duplication #high speed #Double #Dou3le #Blue #Devil's Ball #Radio Gong #NRJ #München #Bayern 3 #Dutch #Danish

[cherryatiny]

𝐒𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲! 𝐀𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐳: 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲

𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠: 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 (𝑠𝑚𝑢𝑡) 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠

𝐺𝐼𝐹𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠

⩥ 𝐊𝐢𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠

„Are you done, baby?“ Resonated the voice of your sugar daddy Hongjoong from outside the luxurious bathroom you were dressing up in. As you were finishing putting on dark red matte lipstick - the last detail of your makeup to decorate your perfect image, you opened the door and stepped outside into the wide hallway of his house.

Hongjoong was taking you out tonight. He had to use this opportunity of the only performance the worldwide famous soprano singer had in your city.

Coming out of the bathroom, you were wearing the black satin gown made by the best French tailors, Hongjoong bought for you when he was staying in Paris last week. It was as if the dress was made for you and you only, perfectly accentuating every curve you wanted to show off.

„Gosh, you look like an angel who fell straight from the sky, beautiful. Words can't explain how pleased I'm to accompany a lady this charming. Ladies first, we should get going to the philharmonic orchestra, shall we?“

Hongjoong bowed a little as he saw you, holding out his hand for you to take. A true gentleman. Going outside the luxurious mansion, a limousine was already waiting for you two in front of his grand house.

If there was anything Hongjoong loved more than you, it was spoiling you with everything you wanted, so when he heard that the primadonna you were fond of, was going to sing in your city, he had to buy the tickets with the best seats for you two.

Walking down the red carpet, straight to the VIP lounge of the philharmonic orchestra. Leaving your purse on one of the hangers, along with the coat Hongjoong helped you to take off, you sat down on one of the two velvet sofas there were, as Hongjoong did the same next to you.

The waiter who was previously waiting by the door came up to you two, a bottle of red wine from the best French winery in his hand as he poured you two a glass.

Throughout the concert Hongjoong’s hand never left its place on your upper thigh, your one, on top of his, fingers playing with the rings he had on.

However, the concert was kind of forgotten as you two just peacefully enjoyed the presence of each other.

The sound of a steak being grilled, vegetables being roasted, the tastiest smell of the chocolate lava cake that was being baked only added to the sight of your handsome sugar daddy Seonghwa, as you two enjoyed your time together in his black & white marble kitchen.

You were sitting on a kitchen counter, watching Seonghwa who had his back facing you as he stirred the vegetables, however, your mouth wasn't wetting at the vegetables, but the immaculate sight of his broad shoulders in the white shirt.

It wasn't a problem for Seonghwa to afford any 5-star Michelin restaurant or rent the best chef in the country to cook for you, but it didn't have the same atmosphere, nor was it a gesture that came straight out of his heart, like cooking for you himself was.

As he turned off the stove, he served the meal on pretty ceramic plates with golden lining. Pouring champagne into a fancy glass and dropping some strawberries into it, Seonghwa picked you up, your legs wrapped around his waist, and arms around his neck to not fall, he seated you on a dining chair in front of the glass dining table

Flashing him a smile, you dipped your tongue into the bitter alcoholic liquid, cutting the vegetables and the meat on your plate, you put some of it into your mouth, the tasty food melting on your tongue.

Like seriously, is there something this man is bad at? He is the most lovable person you know, he's smart, he's handsome, he can cook, and he can definitely bring you a lot of enjoyable moments in bed...

„Enjoy the dinner, beautiful. I hope you’ll like what I’ve cooked for you and don’t get too full, because there are also some desserts waiting for you.“

You laughed at his flirty comment because you knew the chocolate cake wasn’t the only dessert waiting for you tonight.

⩥ 𝐉𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨

Spoiling his sugar baby, buying expensive clothing and accessories for her, or just spending money on her in general, was probably Yunho’s favourite activity. So when he was scrolling down different blogs trying to look for some place to take you to next a photo of Milan in Italy popped up.

Travelling there wasn't a problem as your sugar daddy Yunho owned a private jet ready to take him wherever he pleased. And before you could say anything, you were already laying in a king-sized bed with a tray full of different types of breakfast food, because in Yunho's opinion there was no better way to start a day than with a tasty breakfast in bed.

Laying next to you, he fed you crepes with fruits, pouty smile showed up on his face as he saw how much you seemed to have enjoyed the food he ordered for you, his hand tucking your hair behind your ears so it didn't get to you face as you ate.

After the breakfast you had to take a shower because let's say, there just wasn't much energy left to shower the night before. And as you finished showering an outfit Yunho prepared for you was already waiting there, since you two were supposed to go out today and do some shopping for the next week's ball Yunho was taking you to.

And there came his favourite part of this day - shopping. It wasn't a coincidence he chose Milan for your trip, since it was a city of fashion you two adored that much. Shops like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, or Versace, you name it. Yunho's hand found your as you two intervened fingers and headed your way through the beautiful city.

„Princess, take this dress as well. I’m sure it'll look amazing on you, this shade of blue is totally your colour.“

You know, when shopping with Yunho, everyone would feel like the prettiest person alive, he won't stop hyping you up or complimenting you as you show yourself off in different robes. The current blue satin robe, that was accentuating your curves went perfectly with the clear high heels with diamond straps that adorned your ankles. However, the diamonds on the straps weren't that shining as the ones in Yunho's eyes when he looked at you in awe.

„Oh god, no words needed, we must get you this dress, it's just so... perfect on you baby. Now… what do you think of us going shopping for lingerie and you give me another private fashion show afterwards?“

⩥ 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐞𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠

After you got into a sugar daddy type of relationship with Yeosang, you learned the difference between secret and private relationship. Even though people knew you two were in some kind of relationship, no one knew what it was about and apart of that, Yeosang liked to keep things rather private and just between the two of you. So the best dates in his opinion were the dates where you two weren't in public and could be just by yourself, which was quite difficult to carry out considering your busy schedules.

„Good evening, Mr. Kang. Your table is ready, the restaurant is closed down as usual, so you two could dine and enjoy each other in private.”

Said the young waitress, who was here always at the times you two came.

Showing you the way wasn't necessary as you always took the same table. The one right next to the glass wall with a panorama of the city covered in the dark, shining lights that decorated the evening in the streets.

You usually just stood there quietly for a few minutes, while the best cooks in the city prepared your meal. A glass of red wine, in one of Yeosang’s hands and the second one, wrapped around your waist, keeping you close to him. At this point, dinner at this restaurant was like a ritual, always keeping your schedule free for a few hours on a friday evening no matter what.

Every friday, Yeosang would reserve the whole restaurant for two hours, just so you two can eat in private, and spent the time talking and enjoying each other's presence.

„The view today is magnificent, the lights are shining bright, not as impressive as my girl though, but it's still very beautiful.”

Giving you a soft peck on your cheek, Yeosang's hand motioned for you to sit down on the leather chair with soft cushions, and talk to him about your week while enjoying your favourite food with the best man in the world.

⩥ 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢 𝐒𝐚𝐧

„Gosh, princess come on, why does it always take you so long to pack when we go somewhere, it isn't like you're gonna wear something half of the time though. I told you that you don’t need to bring anything, I’ll buy you anything you need when we get there, so please hurry up already...”

You couldn't quite understand why San was being so impatient to leave when the jet you were flying by was his, therefore, it probably wouldn't be that much of a problem if you came a few minutes late, but you still listened and obeyed his complaints, zipping up the luggage you decided to take with you.

Turning around, your eyes fell on the already impatient figure of you sugar daddy San, the unbuttoned top buttons of his white linen shirt exposed how in shape he was, sometimes making you wonder why he hadn't become a model with a face and body like that, but when you came to think about that, if he were famous, he wouldn't have been yours...

San needed a well-deserved rest at some peaceful place for a while, since his job was stressing him out so much, and there wasn’t a better rest than a week on a private island with his beautiful sugar baby. And since you already finished your semester, there wasn't a problem with you leaving for two weeks.

His limousine along with a driver, with who you were well acquainted, was already outside his mansion, waiting to take you to the airport. San, like the true gentleman he was, immediately took the luggage out of your hand and opened the door of the limo for you.

Throughout the drive to the airport, you were sitting on the back seat next to him, your head on his shoulder and his fingers playing with your hair.

You fell asleep on the way to the airport since San for some unknown reason woke you up at 5 fucking am, and San just couldn't help but admire how beautiful you looked as you were in the peaceful state occupied daydreaming. And because of that, he didn't have the heart to wake you up, so as you two arrived at the airport, his strong arms picked you up close to his chest as he carried you to the jet bridal style.

⩥ 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢

Seeing the impact your overly stressful work had on you lately, Mingi couldn’t leave you to suffer and cope with it by yourself, that’s why he had to come up with a way to help you relax, and there wasn't a better way to make you relax than to take you to a luxurious spa resort in mountains.

He wanted to dedicate you a week full of massages, swimming pools, jacuzzis, saunas and of course himself. While you two were there, Mingi had carefully planned out your daily routines, so you can get as much relaxation as possible.

According to his in your opinion completely unnecessary schedule, it was time for a good massage. But for real, what was the point of creating a timetable, when you could just be spontaneous. However, it was still really cute and thoughtful of him.

The male masseur hasn't even massaged you for more than five minutes, when Mingi told him off, jealous at having to watch the way the male's strong arms rubbed on your bareback rather inappropriately in his eyes. And that was why Mingi was currently massaging scented oil into your skin, certain that he'll do better than the male masseur because he knows what's the best for his princess.

His hands roamed all over your body, not leaving any part of it untouched, and by that time, you both knew that it wasn't just a massage to relieve stress anymore. He tried to hold himself back to not tug at the towel that covered your bottom half from him, his eyes drifted to the wet swimsuit you previously had on when you two went swimming.

„Princess, what do you think of jacuzzi right now? You know, the one that's outside on our balcony, we could watch as the snowflakes fell onto the ground, while mountains covered us from the sun, while enjoying the hot water and bubbles. And since it’s private I don’t think there would be any need to wear a swimsuit…”

⩥ 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠

„Mr. Jung, here’s the virgin mojito for you and Ms. Y/L/N” interrupted the waiter you and your sugar daddy Wooyoung in a conversation full of teasing and sexual tension. Poor boy, the awkward discomfort visible on his face. You two smiled at him and took the drink he handed you „Hmm, virgin mojito, just like the first time we met, well except for the virgin part...“

You two were laying on the couchette, the beach umbrella keeping you safe before the piercing sun rays. You cringed at the reference about your virginity from the first time you two met in the club. „Oh my god, Wooyoung can you not-“

Looking at him in disbelief through the expensive sunglasses you had on, you both fell into a burst of deep laughter at the memories from a few months ago that were flooding back. Taking a sip from the cold drink in your hand, you eyed the people that were playing around on the beach or in the sea.

„Wanna go swimming, princess?“ giving Wooyoung a side-eye, you pondered over his idea, without any word being said you stood up from the couchette and made your way to the sea. Looking back you saw Wooyoung still sitting there under the umbrella watching you in the distance.

„You going or not?“ and with that, he ran over to where you were, a mischievous smile on his face as he picked you up unexpectedly, running with you deeper into the water, „Jung Wooyoung, if you throw me into the water, I'll fucking kill you.“

⩥ 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨

Opening the massive door of your sugar daddy Jongho’s penthouse, with the golden entrance card e gave you, you stepped into the marble hallway. His housekeeper took the purse from your hand and helped you take off the coat you had on.

And as you arrived in the living room, he was already waiting for you there, his eyes shining brighter than the beaming smile he had on when he was you standing there in all your glory. You two haven't seen each other for almost two months he spent abroad.

And as soon as you caught the look in his eyes, you ran towards him, not wanting to wait any longer until you can finally hug him. Jongho's strong arms effortlessly picked you up as your legs wrapped around his waist to get closer than possible to him as you hugged him, probably squeezing the soul out of him.

„Baby, I’ve missed you so much, my pretty little princess, I promise to never leave you for this long, every day I had to spend without you was like a punishment. And the guilt I felt for neglecting you was eating me alive, that’s why I had to bring you some gifts to make it up for you. Come on, let me show you.”

You pecked the tip of his nose as you always did, the look in your eyes telling him that you felt exactly the same without him, allowing him to take you wherever he wanted. Not letting you go out of his arms that held you up, he took you to the guest room of his penthouse.

The one that was usually empty, because you of course always spent the night in his room, when you were staying over. Opening the door of the room for you, you almost fell from his arms as you saw all the designer dresses, shoes or accessories there were. „Jongho, baby, but you didn’t have to buy me anything, I just wanted you to finally be home.”

„Well, then now you not only have me but all of this. I too wanted to get back to you as soon as possible, but you know how much I love spoiling the heck out of you, so buying these things for you helped me overcome the sorrow I felt from not being able to be with you, princess.“

#ateez #sugar daddy!ateez #ateez fluff #ateez reactions #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez headcanons #ateez x reader #ateez reaction #ateez smut #sugar daddy ateez #ateez sugar daddy au

[burkymakar]

Can you please post screenshots from the new Athletic post from Peter 👉👈🥺🥺

i got you!!! i'm just gonna post the text and the pictures!

About half an hour after an intense playoff practice ended, Jared Bednar wandered back to the concrete circle surrounding the boards at Family Sports Ice Arena, where he greeted a smiling, blonde-haired 22-year-old. The 49-year-old Avalanche coach and his visitor shared a connection, both having played for the same junior hockey team as teenagers: the Humboldt Broncos in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

Graysen Cameron, the guest at the Avalanche’s practice Tuesday, was a winger for the Broncos in 2018 when a semi-trailer hit the team bus, killing 16 people, including 10 of his teammates. Cameron suffered a broken back as well as a concussion and an eye injury. At the time, doctors thought he wouldn’t be able to play hockey again, and a photo from the hospital went viral of him and two teammates grasping hands.

“Bonding and healing,” read the caption, written by the father of Derek Patter, one of the other injured players.

“Just to see the strength of the people of that community and the families that were affected has been amazing,” said Bednar, who played for Humboldt from 1989 to 1991, on the three-year anniversary of the crash. “A bunch of amazing people there.”

In the aftermath of the crash, Cameron met Marty Richardson, the president and CEO of Dawg Nation, a Denver-based nonprofit dedicated to helping hockey players and their families in times of crisis, and the former Broncos player came to two of the organization’s events in Colorado. This week’s visit was less organized, as a cross-country road trip brought Cameron to town. He and his girlfriend, Madi Lynch, had been visiting his brother in South Carolina and were driving back to Alberta. He reached out to Richardson last week to see if he could stay with him while passing through Denver.

He’s gotten much more than a spare bed.

“I wasn’t going to just have him hang out here,” Richardson said. “I said ‘let’s make this a really neat trip.’”

Richardson took Cameron and Lynch to Game 1 against Vegas on Sunday, and they sat in a box with Avalanche great Milan Hejduk, an honorary board member for Dawg Nation. At one point, a few people slipped out of the box and returned with a jersey of Cameron’s favorite Avalanche player: 22-year-old defenseman Cale Makar, who Cameron watched play junior hockey while they grew up in Alberta.

Then, on Monday, Richardson texted Bednar to ask about attending the Avalanche’s skate Tuesday. The coach responded that practice would be closed to the public — but not to them.

So the three came to Family Sports Ice Arena just ahead of the 11 a.m. skate and, shortly after their arrival, met broadcaster Peter McNab, who played 14 years in the NHL and, like Hejduk, is a Dawg Nation honorary board member. They then picked out second-row seats and watched the Avalanche get to work.

“It’s a really cool experience, and I’m very grateful to watch these guys perform at their best and get ready for a big game tomorrow,” Cameron said as the players skated.

He of course enjoyed watching Makar, and he appreciated seeing Nathan MacKinnon’s speed up close. When practice started winding down, McNab walked back toward him and they talked about how fast the game looks at ice level.

As players started leaving the ice, Bednar put Richardson in touch with security, who led them down to the area next to the rink. That’s where Bednar came and met them.

“I really didn’t know what was going to happen,” Richardson said. “It was way better than (expected).”

Bednar, who is from near Humboldt and helped create the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament, talked to Cameron for around 15 minutes about his trip and the Avalanche’s second-round series, which they lead 1-0. The coach signed a photo for Cameron and is also giving him and Lynch tickets for Game 2 on Wednesday.

“You definitely see his character and the type of person he is,” Cameron said of Bednar, who he had met previously at the golf tournament. “He has a big heart and likes making people’s days.”

Added Richardson: “He’s clearly someone that thinks of others before himself, even when he’s in a really stressful time, which he is right now (with the playoffs).”

The special moments weren’t over. Richardson asked Bednar if he could have Makar sign Cameron’s jersey they’d bought two nights before as well as one for the son of a Dawg Nation’s sponsor. Bednar took both sweaters into the dressing room.

“He came out and handed me the jerseys back (unsigned),” Richardson said. “And he said ‘Cale wants to sign them out here. He wants to meet Graysen.’”

Graysen Cameron, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and Madi Lynch pose for a photo together. (Photo courtesy Marty Richardson)

Moments later, the star blueliner, who will likely be a Norris Trophy finalist this year, walked out of the dressing room area. He approached Cameron, shook his hand and posed a picture with him and Lynch. Then, as requested, he signed the white No. 8 on Cameron’s jersey. He stuck around for about five minutes, and then Bednar returned with forward Tyson Jost, the only other Avalanche player from Alberta.

“It was pretty low-key,” Cameron said. “Talked about the last game a bit, how they did and what they’re kind of expecting coming up. Just some hockey talk.”

Though he initially thought his own hockey career was over after the crash, Cameron recovered from his injuries. His first hockey game after the bus accident came in October 2019, at a Dawg Nation charity event in Colorado. He suited up alongside 10 current or former NHL players — including former Avs players Paul Stastny, now with the Jets, and Kyle Quincey, who retired in 2019 — and even scored a goal, bringing tears to his dad’s eyes.

Shortly after, he made his return to the Broncos, becoming the team’s first captain since the crash.

“Following in (the late) Logan Schatz’s footsteps there — my former captain — it was really emotional,” he said. “I just felt really honored and grateful to be a leader on that team.”

He played in 46 games that season, collecting 13 points, then suffered an ACL tear in his last game. But he rehabbed the injury and was able to play three games this past season with Northland College, a Division III school in Ashland, Wisc.

At season’s end, though, he decided to call it a career. His body had been through a lot.

“It just was starting to weigh on me mentally and physically,” he said. “ I’m happy and content with (the decision), but you always miss the game and miss being a part of practice.”

And that made watching the Avalanche skate Tuesday even more special.

“It’s really cool to see these guys do that,” he said.

Cameron is an Oilers fan thanks to his father — “he corrupted me at a young age,” he joked — so his childhood favorite team is out of the playoffs. But thanks to Bednar, Richardson, Makar and others around the organization, he didn’t hesitate when asked who he’s pulling for to win the Stanley Cup.

“Go Avs,” he said.

#colorado avalanche #long post #cale makar #jared bednar #Humboldt Broncos #injury cw #death cw #Graysen Cameron

[reversecreek]

hi it’s me... clicks across the linoleum of the dash wearing high heels w a spray tan like i’m a member of jersey shore suddenly..... best summary of willa is that she got moira rose as her #1 chara on a What Character Are You Most Like personality test out of thousands of options.... says so much. u can find her pinterest here n her playlist here 😋 like this or hmu fr plots!!

* ashley moore, cis female + she/her  | you know willa deneurve, right? they’re twenty-four, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, most of her life, on and off? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to watch me by the pom poms like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole sticking gold stars over old polaroids until you can barely see faces, dressing as marie antoinette at your high school prom & delivering fake laughter to a bratz doll you’re pretending is a talkshow host thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is august 1st, so they’re a leo, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt, she/her )

HISTORY:

willa ws born to honestly like….. the perfect family not to honk my own tit bt……………. they were jst rly quite wholesome. her mum celeste was this larger than life person who could never b contained by the four walls of any room she was in. she hd the presence of a gold glitter chess piece on an otherwise mundane wooden board. her dad marlon used to always joke that he had absolutely NO idea how he landed her bc he was just this like. rly average guy by all accounts n purposes….. blended into the sea in high skl……. had a few close friends but was never rly Notable or made a proper impression anywhere…… he always retold it as him coasting thru life until he met her in college. kind of like he’d been half awake before. they just Clicked n no-one cld believe she’d chosen him bt she was jst. completely head over heels n didn’t care what anyone had to say bc that was That

willa always very much took after celeste…… there’s this one quote i remember reading that goes vaguely like “my mom and i would sit and listen to leonard cohen and joni mitchell lyrics together. from a young age i remember her being like "i’m playing this song and when it’s done i want u to tell me what’s happening in it” n she would give me a fake glass of wine when i was 8 and i would listen and b like. i think there was an affair.” which so much summarises their dynamic…… she ws just so like. dramatic n fun n always encouraged that in willa too. her mum was like. everything she aspired to be…… got scouted by a modelling agency in college n shot one campaign before blowing it off simply bc she was bored. starred lead in a play. spent a few weeks travelling asia selling handmade candles shaped like koi fish or curled up foxes or elegantly stretched hands. dated a parisian movie star during a break she and her father took n was featured in tabloids on his arm at the premiere. sm fun n exotic stories willa literally cldn’t get enough. whenever she’d tell them to willa as a kid her dad wld roll his eyes like ohhhhh here she goes again but it’d all b playful n he’d smile bc he honestly cldn’t get enough either. the stuff dreams are made of luv (lizzie mcguire stans rise)

(car accident & death tw) so u know when ur walking down a flight of stairs n then out of nowhere u miss a step n u get that lurch in ur stomach like ur in free fall? yeah. i won’t go into it too much but one night they were driving back from getting frozen yogurt and then suddenly they weren’t. she doesn’t rly remember much about it except for completely ignoring the doctors trying to give her the news and just saying “dad chose pecan. who chooses pecan?” n repeating that over n over n over until it didn’t rly register in her ears as english any more.

willa was uprooted from irving at 11 to go n live w her aunt in NY. this was like. a huge adjustment honestly….. her aunt blanche hd always been a little unconventional bt extremely glamorous. she lived in an old defunct theatre she’d bought out n came from a lot of money. willa’s mum’s side of the family hd always been well off bt celeste opted to live a little more Ordinarily shall we say after settling whereas blanche ws jst balls to the walls dripping w eccentric excess…. wld say she was never naked bc she ws always wearing black opium by yves saint laurent…… probably the living embodiment of la vie boheme….. she’d been admitted a yr early to a rly prestigious parisian design school n is an AMAZING seamstress. a corset she stitched a broadway star into got commissioned fr an actress’ red carpet walk at an indie film festival. rly just lived such a life rich w lots of stories n lots of talent too…… had that star quality essence tht her mum had n that was smthn willa found quite comforting everything considered.

(grief tw) u would think maybe a situation like this (one involving so much sudden change) wld cause a kid of tht age to withdraw into her shell bt willa only came out of her shell MORE. she coped w her situation by spinning it into a celebrity origin story inside her head. the tear jerker tale someone tells during their x factor audition to get the judges rooting for them. mentally streamlining things. repackaging all that hurt as a surefire ticket to success bc it had to be useful for something right? there had to b a point to it right? willa decided the point was she’s a star. KFHSGKFHGFKHGKJSFHG. get it girl….. she ws literally just like ok well clearly i’m destined to be famous n i’m the main character of this story. this story called earth. it’s all about me.

rly heavily immersed herself in her high skl theatre scene……. loved experimenting w fashion n literally wore the most outlandish things like. she treated the hallways like her milan f/w debut every new school yr…… a lot of the things she wore were actual like. costumes frm her aunt’s collection…… she has a multi-story closet u have to climb ladders to reach things in like a very rustic library…. it rly wasn’t uncommon for willa to turn up one day corsetted like a pirate with billowing sleeves or sporting the baby blue gingham of a swedish milk maid. it’s like she literally jst…… became a role. always. every day. the world ws her stage. the cameras were always rolling. her aunt only encouraged this tbh n honestly? icon. we love to see it. willa partied a bunch n rly lived a lax lifestyle where responsibility was concerned…. her aunt ws her best friend…… made rly gd friends with performers in the drag club scene n loved the glitz of that….. lots of wild nights turned grossly bright mornings

snagged an agent fresh into her first yr of college (she gt accepted to a pretty competitive theatre program at [redacted] in NY bc i haven’t looked into what that wld be yet <3 i’m merely a helpless british lass <3) n booked a few commercials n things….. when i say willa wld enter audition rooms like she owned the place i’m rly not exaggerating…. once she turned up to a casting call for MEN n just walked right to the front of the line scraping a random chair along the way n then took a seat w her legs crossed popping a bubble in her gum as they all glared at her like wtf is literally going on who are u. she received several complaints n she was just like “ur all acting so jealous of me….”

i feel like she got a pretty big role in a theatre production in her last yr at school. haven’t decided what yet. maybe smthn rocky horror or even mimi in rent. this was meant to b some like huge moment for willa like yes girl finally making it ur on ur way this is what u wanted n she WAS happy abt it but once it was wrapped she jst had this strange like Huh feeling in her chest……. n a la celeste w all her exciting stories was just like well i’ve done that so what’s next? i think she’d graduate n then jst suddenly decide to move to irving in a fit of impulse. to all her college friends she’d be like “ugh a beach retreat is so necessary honestly the city is sooooooooo toxic this place cld literally enlarge my pores if i wasn’t so rigorous with my skincare routine” bt like 🤔 what u seeking girl? results pending.

SO basically i feel like she finally moved back to irving little over a yr ago. she hd a brief stint starring on a reality tv show tht filmed in one of the larger beach houses where her dog gained a handful of fan accounts dedicated to him……. u maybe will see why in the first bullet point of her personality section………… FKGHKSHFGGKFSHKHG. honestly she ws received pretty well too (mostly bc she’s so fking dramatic n like a caricature of a person) bt it wasn’t anything to warrant actual Fame (despite what willa herself might think). she’s mostly jst like. chilling honestly. accepting scripts n flying out fr auditions still. she’ll nab the occasional part bt she’s looking for that One Thing that rly feels like her big moment….. otherwise i cn just imagine her treating irving like a little dollhouse compared to the roaring mansion of NYC n having fun playing around in it. strikes a pose w a hand on my hip…. and now to personality.

PERSONALITY:

got a very large n lithe greyhound n named him marlene dietrich bc she was a black n white hollywood starlet famously known for her affairs n “bedroom eyes”. willa was like ugh. icon status instantly. didn’t rly foresee the responsibilities tht came w owning a dog tht loves exercise n complains abt him being like “ugh he wants to run soooooooooo much 🙄 like where are u literally going”. having said tht loves him dearly n he can often be seen wearing little clothes. a baby’s bonnet. a quilted leather waistcoat. a custom dog boa. he’s very glamorous. willa calls him a gay icon despite no evidence to support this theory. she also says he can sniff out evil in ppl so she brings him sometimes when she’s first introduced to a friend’s new bf n if his nose quivers a certain way she’s like “marlene has spoken. it’s done”. her friends r like omg? what’s done? willa gets up n walks away without elaborating. marlene’s little paws clicking along the floor w attitude.

literally dressed as marie antoinette for her high skl prom even tho there was no theme pertaining to this. jst loves the spotlight. can fake cry and WILL to get out of a parking ticket or teach someone to watch their tone or even simply for the theatrics of it all. the Most dramatic………….. rly fits being an actress like when people find out what she does it’s very like oh that makes sense.

says she doesn’t get hangovers. she’s just like “i revoked that it doesn’t happen to me”. alludes tht this is bc she’s an all powerful deity that was Chosen to be Blessed bt really she’s jst great at bouncing back n acting fine even w a blistering headache. it’s about believing the performance so much that u even convince urself.

has an extremely elevated sense of self importance bc this is kind of the equivalent of several layers of bubble wrap to cushion her frm the world. strives to b extraordinary bc ordinary honestly feels like a death sentence n there’s nothing she’d want to b seen as less. despite this weight she puts on that she rly doesn’t tend to let ppl’s opinions affect fr the most part like she’s quite firmly set in this I’m Literally The Most Gorgeous And Beautiful Angel Star Creature To Walk This Narsty Little Earth view

probably an incredibly big fan of dramatic short lived love affairs. she wants the glamour of it all. the scandal. the randomly breaking up w someone in a public place n sliding on sunglasses after delivering the words over a freshly ordered coffee (tht she’ll leave without drinking bc that’s star power babey she waits fr no man or no hot beverage)…….. has no preference gets w any n all regardless of gender……… romanticises things so they hv a better spin or story in her head n doesn’t rly take things seriously like jst has fun in her fantasy world…. she’s like ugh chuck i know u wanted to marry me but i’m a beautiful bird in a cage n u literally need to undo the latch n set me free……. the guy’s like……. my name’s chase n we’ve only been on two dates….. willa’s like…… please don’t take this so hard i can tell ur besides urself but people r starting to stare……. gets up n leaves. no-one was staring. chase is confused n honestly probably semi concerned fr her welfare.

always has to b the hottest n most glamorous person in a grocery store…. probably goes to them when she doesn’t even need anything jst holding a basket nonchalantly over her forearm glancing over at a cashier in her wizard of oz corset seamed interpretation on a dorothy dress thinking he wants me soooo bad it’s not even funny….. seduces him over the check out counter jst for him to ask her to come back to his so she can lean back scandalised n cry “IS THAT THE KIND OF WOMAN U THINK I AM, PAUL?! YOU’RE A GHASTLY LITTLE MAN, YOU ARE….” with all the gusto of a telenovela. attracts the shocked glances of all surrounding elderly.

speaks fluent french. probably on her brief stint on tht reality show i mentioned earlier was like “ugh can you believe Deneurve of this guy?” n in her head was like this catchphrase is sensational it’ll catch on fast the twittersphere is abt to implode but it didn’t become a thing except for in a small isolated community. despite this she’s like “yeah it went viral….. go figure. just another day in the life.”

honestly like a lot of fun bt also a huge handful at the same time. keeps her real Serious emotions in a locked box bt is always overflowing w melodramatics n rly giving her all at the drop of a hat where Performing is concerned. probably Loves parties n sees them as another form of production in which she wants to b the lead. rly just. loves herself. except does she? 🤔 lifts my hand up like rihanna n winks. find out next time. lucky by britney plays as i slowly disintegrate in spiderman rp…..

WANTED CONNECTIONS

unrequited flame: willa burns thru people like matches. bright n fast. honestly i feel like she struggles to take romance seriously so it cld be fun to play around with someone who’s been singed by that in the past…. mayb they hd actual feelings whereas willa was just messing around n having fun…. living la vida loca so to speak…….. we can discuss a time frame or specifics to expand upon this but. sexy angst perhaps.

those she knew from childhood: willa moved to NY at 11 n i feel like it was very sudden n soon after the accident. maybe she didn’t even say goodbye. maybe they were rly close n all of a sudden she didn’t show up to school the next day n when they rode past her house on their bike the sign said sold and that was that. honestly very dramatic of her even at a young age. we love a disappearing act. houdini who?

acting rival: honestly jst feel like this cld be funny. willa’s so dramatic she’d be like i literally want them dead they’re a despicable little gremlin fr trying to steal my spotlight. cld be as simple as having auditioned a few times fr the same parts or something.

childhood sweetheart: i think it cld be rly cute n sad if there was someone that kind of echoed the dynamic her mum n dad had except she was the celeste n they were the marlon…. (open to any gender)…….. so like. willa was always very larger than life commanding attention in a room n they were more to the sidelines but they just kind of got each other n brought out the best in one another. added angst to the fact tht willa wld maybe want to avoid them as much as possible now bc it dredges up feelings she doesn’t want to confront where her parents r concerned n also in a way any possibility of them winding up together feels like sellotaping an expiration date to both of their foreheads in willa’s brain

someone who was either a fan of or also on the reality show willa was: i imagine it like a reinvention of the hills honestly except based in these irving beach houses…. probably didn’t run that long bt there was a bunch of drama on it mostly staged…… maybe they were willa’s love interest bt it was all fake fr the cameras…… it wasn’t like. a huge deal n didn’t rly catch flight so much where popularity’s concerned bt. cld be fun to play with <3

patti frands: jogs in high knees to translate that into party friends as i adjust my spectacles. willa’s very sociable bt she’s also like kind of full of herself n obnoxious so do with that what u will. KFHGKSHGKGHFSKG. she knows hw to have a gd time tho like growing up she was rly into the gay club scene n the drag scene in NY so like. let’s hear it fr the gays who know how to do it right <3

someone equally over the top: i luv the idea of willa having someone who just like runs with made up scenarios n roles she makes up on the spot n them hanging out is like a 24/7 improv session tht they reel random surrounding strangers just fr the fun thrill

the other woman: willa is quite detached n selfish so she wld easily be the other woman in a relationship n not care about it n this cld make for good spice <3

#irvingintro #death tw #car accident tw #grief tw #i think tht's all of them #smiles at u all w hand on hip #this intro's so beefy bt wht else is new truly just can't control myself apparently... shocked. aghast. shaken.

[fallingsunflower]

So, I guess here comes the Camille ☕️ (if you wanna call it that)

Sorry in advance this gonna be a fucking long one.

If you have any questions just ask.

I honestly don’t know if I should be impressed or concerned that my brain still remembers so much details about this shitshow. But I guess their plan did work in the end.

So you asked about Camille. I honestly don’t even know where to start with that one. I don’t know for how long you’ve been a fan of Harry and how intensively you stan him, but this one send my bullshit detector right off in the same way that Holivia does.

Can’t really explain it but I just smell if something isn’t right. It’s not only that way with Harry but in general. I just KNOW if something doesn’t add up.

The reason hamille wasn’t overdone and ppl believe it was bc it was marketed to be real. It wasn’t for promo in the sense Holivia is or to be shoved in ppls faces. The point was to have a relationship to fall back on when his album came out to be the “long term relationship” described in the songs. To have a certain narrative if you want to call it that.

They only were papped 2 (+the time at the Classic East concert.) They went to really popular places where you only go to when you want to get papped.

Other than that they only posted „sneaky fanpics“ which was on purpose to make them look „private“ but they were anything but that.

I actually had saved so much stuff as proof till recently when I deleted it all bc it honestly has been 3 years and I didn’t think I needed it anymore to help me explain lol. And please don’t make the mistake of looking up Hamille timelines, bc they’re all created by shipper afterwards so 95% of the shit is wrong, in the wrong order or they added the wrong pics to certain events. (If you want to look for pics, specific dates and stuff look them up individually and NOT through shipper pages or similar shit.)

Alright, back to explaining why it was so obvious. Disclaimer: I‘m just gonna point out the most obvious things but there is way more.

Harry started following Camille back in June 2016. They have several mutual friends (Waseem, Alexa Chung, Matt Hitt etc) so I assume they‘ve met before. She didn’t follow back though till shortly before the „relationship“ started. So after Harry followed her in 2016 she started to tag him in posts of her and her friends ass and did that video moaning his name while grabbing her boobs (classy 🤢). Shortly afterwards Harry unfollowed for a while and started follow her again before the mess began.

Fast forward to 2017. After doing „Dunkirk“ and about to bring his debut album out they started the first attempt at what I call a failed narrative with Tess. Not gonna go over that again bc one anon pointed out right how fake it was. They got rid of her rather quickly after she posted several times from his house which wasn’t the „private way“ they intended it to go.

So they were looking for someone to replace her. Cue Camille entering the scene.

Perfect person for the narrative as she’s half french (goes well with Dunkirk promo), is a VS model, have mutual friends and she has several ex bf who have written songs/albums about her. She’s the picture perfect muse for his second album.

Please let’s first talk about chemistry and body language bc I can’t even say how awkward they always were around each other. First the two pap pics from the sushi place and in front of the gym/ yoga place: both times both had closed off body language either crossed arms, Harry walking 3 steps ahead, faces didn’t look pleased at all and rather irritated or as of they just had a fight/ were in the middle of a fight (especially the pic from in front of the yoga place). No touching or anything involved in any pap pics. If you didn’t knew they were supposedly „dating“ you wouldn’t see it.

Let’s get to their behavior at the „sightings“: they weren’t seen much together outside of touring. But when they were seen we got pics in like 95% of the cases and people meeting them always said they didn’t seem like a couple (apart from shippers who made up shit about them all the time).

Even in every „sneaky pic“ there was as much chemistry as in Holivia -> none!

We got a few pics or even videos were you could see them backstage or besides the stage (e.g. 2017 Toronto show: while Muna is on stage Harry and Camille stand awkwardly 3 feet apart from each other, both closed off body language, not interacting with each other. You’d think as they were still in their honeymoon phase at that time and in private, seemingly not knowing that anyone could see them that they acted more coupley or at least would not stand there like 🧍🏻 🧍🏻. (Have you seen him interact with Xander while watching 1D’s opening act? Total opposite to Hamilel and they were „just friends“. Also in other pics Harry would rather cling to her bag / coat etc that he was holding so he didn’t had to touch her or anything. I think the only time we saw them „touch“ was that Classic east concert („relationship debut“) when he awkwardly held her shoulders and she was swaying weirdly. She even tried to touch him or get him to sway with her but he shot that down immediately 🤣. I could go on for longer but you get what I mean...

The next weird thing is, that she was down in literally the pit or sitting with „regular fans“ 97% of the time. Without Harry’s bodyguard around. Sometimes Jeff was with her but mostly she stood there alone. Everyone knew that she wasn’t really popular and liked around fans, so why would you put your gf in the pit with all the crazys or why would you as a gf want to be in the crowd at most shows when you could watch from the side of the stage or backstage? Also the fact that we always knew when she was at a show because she was always „spotted“ even the few times she was indeed staying at the side of the stage, she didn’t stay hidden. Sometimes we even joked about how she wanted to be part of the band or something by how close she stood there in the open. But whenever Anne for example was on tour or close friends of his or whatever they always had someone walking with them for protection and Anne never was like „in the pit“ like Camille. She never followed any of Harry‘s close private friends or family. Only people who she could gain something from. Like Lambert, Jeff, Teasedale, the Crawford’s etc. And she was never at any of the London or Manchester shows where basically all of his friends and family were. Even though she would have had definitely time bc she posted herself and friends doing nothing or trolling in LA all the time in that time. When she was at that show in Paris in 2018, she brought her friend who lives in Paris and her cousin I think. We got backstage pics of them all and Harry and Camille staying as far away from each other in that pic as possible. She was seen leaving as well after that show with her friends out through the main entrance. This was also the show Anne was at and an awkward hugging video of them both came out. Tbh it’s not clear where Camille and co were sitting bc they moved around the arena the whole night. At one point you can see Anne and Camille standing next to each other and all of a sudden Camille was „hugging“ Anne but Anne was so surprised that she was just standing there like 🧍🏼‍♀️ and waited till it was over (that „hug“ looked more like as if Camille tried to tackle Anne 😂). Also serious question and not to make it sound weird, but it deadass looked in that video as if Camille just waited for a sign to go for that hug and that it was being recorded. Because the way the camera was pointing at them all of a sudden and they were just lucky enough to catch that on camera? Yeah sure...

Not to forget, she didn’t seem to have a lanyard like for example Anne had, so everyone would knew that she could move around the arena and crew as she wanted which is fucking weird not to have as a girlfriend especially if you’re apparently on tour for many dates. This also mean she couldn’t join them when she wanted but had to contact Jeff or Harry before so they could give her a lanyards for that specific date or a sticker with AAA. Sometimes she wore a lanyard but that was literally the VIP lanyard that you got when you bought a VIP ticket like any other fan. Didn’t mean she could move freely around the venue. Even weirder is that she put that AAA sticker on the back of her phone after she left tour 2018 and placed it obviously in lots of her insta stories and posts on insta (one where you can see that sticker is still up). Fan behavior not that of a real girlfriend!

Camilles mum followed Hamille shipper accounts at one point and liked a post of them. After that shippers were unbearable. Which mum follows a shipper account on insta? 😬

What I also find weird is that she was barely working and when she did she posted only like 2 about it. I mean it’s part of her job to post stuff like that?! But she went radio silent more often then not to let fans guess if she was with him or if she would turn up somewhere.

Her friends who are all are well in their 30s or older made often „jokes“ about Harry or implied stuff about him or 1D and posted this on their stories and she was laughing with them most of the time... what a girlfriend huh...

Another thing is, she was never at his house in London. Because she was never at any of the UK dates besides that one gig he did for X -factor. They were not much in London at the same time. And when she was alone in London or with her friend, they literally stayed at an AirBnB or a hotel. So I ask you, why would she as his gf of a few months not stay at his place while she’s in the UK? Or that one time when she was in the UK making it look like she was waiting for him coming back from tour in Asia and he stayed extra long there (a week or two) even after tour in Asia finished and she was in London. But he went rather out partying in London. I don’t blame him.

When she was at his show in Milan (2017) she met a „fan“ and they took a selfie in the restroom (classy 🥴🤐) during the concert. Idk but this is one thing which is really questionable bc people were speculating she was at this show but we hadn’t gotten pics yet. So that she then took a pic with a „fan“ coincidentally seems really fishy to me. Also that said „regular fan“ had allegedly floor tickets as you could see in the videos and pics she posted in the beginning of the concert. But after the pic with Camille she all of sudden appeared on the balcony as well, close to where Camille and more VIP guests were. So how did she end up there if she didn’t have connections or was told to take a pic with her so then being on the balcony was her „reward“? To add this woman was close to Camilles age so this scenario makes just less and less sense the longer you think about it.

In May she was still on tour with her then bf in Tokio. In July just two weeks before they were seen together for the first time that awkward Grimmy interview happened. Where he specifically asked about her. And Harry said he „ didn’t know her“. Fucking weird to bring up such a private topic on radio and then be seen not even 2 weeks later. (Not gonna argue on that one, it’s the same like the wedding weekend pap walk just more subtle).

Then there were so many pics of him backstage at that concert, pics with fans, official pics, „sneaky fan sightings“ in the audience... He looked rather uncomfortable holding her shoulders while she was dancing. We know Harry goes often to concerts but when did we ever get so many pics from one? Mostly it’s a blurry pic of him or one backstage pic with the artist, not like the ones we got and certainly not that many. Plus we got an relationship article the day after.

Funny is also how he was on vacation in Muskoka with the Gerbers and Anne at the end of July 2017 shortly before the first spotting of Hamille and Camille no where to be seen.

Now I‘m gonna point out inconsistencies and such might be in chronological order, might be not.

I think the next time we saw them was a „sneaky fan pic“ (just the two of them) without a source from Beverly Hills hotel at lunch. Her friend Lauren posted a instastory being at that hotel right then and there and deleted the story like 5 minutes afterwards. She wasn’t in the pic of the „fan“ so my bet is she was the one taking the pic.

Coming to the stunt props. The „ring“ he was suddenly wearing on his pinky was from Camille. She only wore it once for a photoshoot in 2013 and then all of a sudden she wore it in every story she posted for the next 2 weeks right BEFORE he was wearing it and literally made such a show out of showing that ring that it was so cringey to watch at.

Not to forget his Pink Floyd shirt that was featured in his Rolling Stones mag interview that she not only wore but posted a few instastorys with showing it up close so every Harry fan could identify it from the distinctive holes in it.

Funny was the times she wore „his necklace“ and again posted several stories wearing it and even went to an event with it that Kendall wore before. After people pointed the connection to Kendall out, she never wore it again 😂😂 Harry being papped leaving a gym while wearing Camilles ex shirt was peak comedy.

Camille making a post saying „goodbye“ to her friend Lauren before Christmas in a really distinctive fur coat. Then New Years dinner pics with Jeff, Camille and co came out. Harry looking bored as always around her. Then the weirdest thing: he took fan pics while holding Camilles distinctive fur coat in his hands in every fucking pic. And it wasn’t that cold to wear a fur coat! Why couldn’t she hold it herself while he took the pics or Jeff or put it on the chair beside him? That wasn’t really slick of them.

Then Camille having a girls trip to Corsica and literally posting so fucking often being girls only in cars an what not. Harry was in London out with Mitch and was also seen on other occasions so I assume he went to Corsica for maybe 2 days max to get pics in. (Her cousin/ goddaughter of her mum posted a pic with Harry in Corsica in 2018 from that time). Mind you they could have just „dating“ for maybe 5 week’s max at that time bc they were never at the same place at the same time before maybe late June, and that’s when Robin died and he was home so I doubt that’s when they met. I assume 1.st proper meeting was in early July or after the Grimmy interview.

Harry filmed the Manchester special for his album in Manchester literally right before he went to HC with Camille. Yet Grimmy, one of his best friends at least at that time, never followed her or hung out together.

The next thing is her being in Holmes Chapel. She hinted at it on insta, like she did EVERY time she would be around Harry. Also appearing in every pic of him in the background when she was around. Even posted a story of random people with Harry’s voice in the background. That’s also a point why it was so obviously fake.

She posted in a train and captioned it with something like „England ❤️“ and then a cow (similar to Olivia with the hedgehog and caption) and then appeared in every pic we got of him that weekend.

She turned up to several of his shows, yet NEVER to his hometown shows (neither London or Manchester) where all his family and friends were at. She also only followed people beneficial to her career like Lambert, Jeff and co but never anyone of his real friends or family even though Gemma followed her after Christmas 2017 (which was taken as the „proof“ that they spend Christmas in HC🤦🏻‍♀️ and we got this photoshopped pic of Hamille which turned out was an old pic of originally Harry and Gemma. Glenne also never followed her and Camille was also never seen with Glenne it was only ever Jeff around and people noticed that (probably why we got now the joyride etc including Glenne).

Ok so what do we have next? The charity gig where his mum celebrated her 50th bday with everyone wearing a yellow flower crown. Everyone besides Camille. She wasn’t invited and just was brought to them while Harry was already singing a song, Gemma looking annoyed in the video her friend posted. Before Harry’s set was over someone came and took Camille with them again while Anne, Gemma and co stayed in the crowd. So why was she even going to them and didn’t stay backstage if she clearly wasn’t invited to celebrate with Anne and co and left before Harry even finished his set. We got also pics of a bday dinner with Anne, Harry, Gemma and all the friends from the concert but without Camille. This was also the gig where he was groped on stage.

After that charity gig in late October Harry went to tour in Europe. He stopped wearing the ring and seemed happier than before somehow. I went to the Cologne show and let me tell you, it was fucking nuts! His energy and the way he was smirking all the time not to forget Kiwi twice.

You’d think Camille would have been quiet now on sm that Harry wasn’t around, but it was exactly the opposite! It was like as if she had to remind everyone that that „relationship“ was still „on“ after he ditched that ring bc she was literally unbearable on insta. We got her and friends singing SOTT on karaoke (while she was wearing the Kendall necklace like mentioned previously), then she did a whole photoshoot (sorry but that’s just what it was) with her friends Djuna + Nik whit a very distinctive blue totebag Harry was carrying around just a week or two before while meeting fans in LA and she did the same thing like she did with the ring and posed with that bag in every angle. As if all that wasn’t enough in the space of 3 days she then celebrated Halloween with her friends and 2 or 3 of them wore costumes that reminded of 1D and Harry. All this happened between his cologne show and Halloween. Trolling at its best.

Then Camille decided to turn up to tour in Europe but she didn’t choose days when he actually had time off (even though she evidently didn’t do anything in LA besides trolling the last few days) so she decided to pop up when Harry had shows back to back and needed to travel to them as they were all over Europe. He had two more Berlin 7.11. and an event in London on the 6th) before she turned up on 8.11. in Amsterdam where she met Ella his cousin who followed Camille then (but Camille never followed back), 9.11. Italy x-factor, 10.11. Milan , 11.11. London X-Factor). He clearly didn’t have any time then which gets even more ridiculous if you know that she was back in LA by Monday the 13th the latest bc a photographer „exposed“ her being on set early that day. So why did she even bother turning up to tour that time when she could have done earlier and be at his homeshows?

Another thing is, when Harry went to NYC at the end of January 2018 to perform with Fleetwood Mac he didn’t take her instead he took Jeff and Xander was there as well. But no Camille. Right before was one of the rare times they got papped. Harry as always looking irritated around her. And them looking as if the soccer mom collected her son from practice😂

On his b-day her friend Lauren posted Camille chilling at their home reading and hanging out with her. Harry was officially MIA but a good friend of mine actually saw him while walking her dog the next day in Hampstead rather covered up with another guy (assuming his trainer or PA) trying not to be seen. She is not a huge fan of Harry and only knows him bc I‘ m a fan but she texted me right away saying something was weird about how he was trying to not be seen.

And on cue allegedly someone (real estate Agent from London) said he was on her flight to London over a week later (even though I knew he was already there for a while).

So the last time they were actually seen together was the day they were papped (I think that was even the day of the Grammys).

Then the thing about her quitting smoking bc she was „ dating“ Harry 🤣🤣. The way she even lied about that. She posted a video and made a few instastorys throughout that year to say how long she didn’t smoke at that time „bla, bla, bla“ and Harries ate that shit up. She was caught so many times lying in regards to that. Her friends and co were the ones to always expose her accidentally. She appeared in so many stories in her friends stories were she smoked a cigarette and not „just“ a juul like she always liked to pretend (not that a juul would be any better lol). Harry probably didn’t like it when he had to be around her for longer periods of time and she would smoke around him or smell of smoke so she had to pretend she cared for his sake and quit publicly. To say is also that she publicly started smoking again after she came back from tour end of March/beginning of April 2018.

Now speaking of the big tour in 2018. Camille seemed to had joined tour again at some point. She was at the Paris show like mentioned earlier but then only joined tour 2 dates or something later in. Someone „exposed“ her of staying with friends in each city she went on tour with at that time instead of staying with him. I think he also got fed up with her bc Harry & band + some of the crew went to museums in each city. But of course Camille had to post something every time they were at a museum and so it didn’t take long till fans caught on and turned up en masse in these museums so he couldn’t go there anymore. I would have been pissed too if I were him. And girls who’s dad is the director of one of the museums did meet Harry at the museum and he invited them to the show and backstage. These girls said Harry and Camille didn’t look or behave like a couple at the museum, he was mostly around the band and she on her own. And backstage the same thing. She was kinda just there and nothing more. Not long after that she left tour and only turned up at the Ireland show and then later the NYC and LA one.

Speaking of the Ireland show, that must have been the most awkward thing ever. I saw a few videos from people who did constantly film the side of the stage and she is staying alone there with the sound guys while Mabel was performing and Harry was standing backstage with Jeff and the band, watching Mabel and preparing for their prank they did on Mabel.

Twice Harry is walking past Camille and didn’t even acknowledge her. She was once again just standing there. You could almost feel bad for her, but only almost. Then he went to prank Mabel on stage with the rest of the band and was so affectionate with Mabel something you never saw him be with Camille.

After that show the trolling did turn down a bit for a while but like 2 days before the concert she posted a Mick Jagger pic and everyone knew she would turn up in NYC. And she proved us right bc she posted about being on a plane the minute she stepped foot in said plane 🤦🏻‍♀️. At the show itself she was in the crowd/pit with with Xander, Waseem, Matt Hitt & Jeff but Jeff had to fetch her again a lanyard at first for that day bc she still hadn’t one although allegedly „dating“ him for nearly a year at that time. You’d think she had one for the whole tour but nope. And after the concert Harry was once again out with friends while she stayed with another friend in NYC. Between the NYC and LA show she was seen being cosy with Alexander Skarsgard and then her now bf Theo Niarchos. To the LA show she turned up with Djuna, Nik and another friend. All of them sat up pretty high in the nosebleeds while Kendall and co where in the family and friends lounge right above pit. And Camille and co left a little earlier before the show finished and left through the front entrance. Suspicious is also that the „break up“ was announced like exactly on the year mark of the start their „relationship“. Sorry that I wrote so much. And I probably still missed a lot but I hope it’s gotten clear what I mean.

I'm still reading this through but wanted to post for those asking about it!!

Thank you!

[mysteryofren]

So happy together part 3 (Ben Solo x Reader au)

Part 2

Note: Thanks for the likes on the last few chapters!! theres not too much ben in this one just a lot of sappy shit with ya gramps. also starting next chapter im gonna start naming them.

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  A day had passed and you had heard nothing from Ben. You wondered if he was still on campus or if he was just staying with his uncle until it was time to come back. It's not that you cared, it's that something told you to be worried about the guy. He seemed so defensive. You talked to Elaine about it over the phone. She told you not to worry about him, that he was just another rich kid asshole like everyone else at the school. She also took the time to try and lure you to her house for the week. You happily informed her you wouldn't be spending Christmas alone anymore. 

“See i know your grandpa wouldn't leave you hanging,” she said over the phone, “i just wish you would get over it and call your parents to see what they're doing.” 

  Your parents. You did try. They didn't bother to call back, not even send a text back. You didn't have the heart to tell her though. 

“My parents are actually in Russia for some business so it's hard to get a hold of them, but my pop pop did say he's having people over Christmas day, you want me to see if you can come?”

“I don't think my parents will let me. We usually do our gift exchange the day after remember?” 

“Shit that's right, I forgot. My bad, maybe you can still come over to his house for the exchange.”

“Yeah id love to see him again, besides I haven't seen him since the thing”

  The thing being your grandma's funeral. Mama and pop pop were the idea of what love is. They met young and were together right until her last breath. You were there too. You loved them both to death. They raised you more than your actual parents did so when mama died, you were heartbroken. You stayed with pop pop about 2 weeks after. He drove you to class everyday and picked you up after. You guys spent every moment together for a month after the funeral. The day you said goodbye to her was also the last day you saw your parents. They didn't stay long. Claimed they had a flight. That's when you decided you were done trying to connect with them.

“yeah , i'm sure he misses you. You're basically his other grandchild.” 

You heard someone over the phone call her name. “Hey I've gotta go, dinner time. Talk tomorrow?”

“Of course, have fun. Say hi to mom for me!”

“You know I will! Love you, bye” she shouted as she hung up.

You wondered what it was like eating dinner like a real family.

 A couple days passed and it was finally Christmas eve. You woke up earlier than normal, showered, and got dressed. You played some music while you packed a bag for the night and next day. You looked out your window and saw Ben walking across campus. Probably headed to his uncle's office. You decided to ignore him and kept packing. 20 minutes later you finally get a call from your pop pop telling you he's down stairs waiting. You have a car. You know you could just drive, but you love that he still insists on getting you. You lock your dorm and run downstairs when you run into a wall you were positive was never there before.

  You took a step back and saw the wall was in fact Ben. He turned around and looked at you with an unreadable face. Was he mad? Annoyed? What's with this dude in the first place? He opened his mouth to say something before he shook his head and walked off. After the awkward encounter you skipped out the doors and over to the old truck you were all too familiar with. To put it lightly your family was loaded. Your pop pop especially, but he still found it wasteful to buy a new car when he has one that still works. Even though he's had it since your dad was a kid. 

You threw your bag in the bed and swung the door open. 

“Hello there,” you heard your grandpa say. It was his classic greeting.”I've been looking forward to this since our conversation on the phone.” 

You got in the truck and slid towards him to give him a hug. You always loved his hugs. They were warm and comforting, and made you feel at home. You look at him and notice his hair was a bit longer than when you last saw him. He usually kept it short and simple.

“I missed you so much.” you say as you two separate. 

“We saw each other last month.”

“I know but that's too long to go without seeing you.”

“I know it is my dear, but hurry and get your seat belt on. I've got treats waiting for you at the house.”

You quickly put your buckled up on and looked out the window. That's when you caught another glimpse of Ben. He was walking again, looking at you in the truck. You give him a smile and wave goodbye. He stared at you, as if he was wondering what was wrong with you. Then he looked at the ground and continued walking. That's okay though, it didn't get to you. Almost nothing bothers you when you're with your grandpa.

  The entire ride to his house you guys listened to his old country music. Country wasn't exactly your vibe, but the old CDs in the glove compartments, and his favorite radio station were your entire childhood. You sang along with him as you approached the woods where his house was. Even though they were always business savvy, and spent their time in the city, your grandparents were country folk at heart. They had a condo in the city that they always stayed at from time to time when they had a lot to do in the city, but how for them was the house in the woods. They both took part in designing the whole house. They wanted it to be their perfect home.a place to raise their kids, retire, and take care of their family. It wasn't small, but it wasn't unnecessarily massive like your house was. It was 3 stories, had 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It had a cute little den for your grandparents when it was just them, a bigger living room for when they had company, and  a beautiful dining room. It had a long elegant table and the whole room was nothing but windows looking out towards the hills and forest. It was your favorite part of the house.

  He pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. He got out of the car and rushed over to open the door for you. You stepped out and grabbed your bag from the bed of the truck while he went to open the house. You stopped for a second to take in your surroundings. You listened to the sounds of the trees moving as the wind blew, you heard the animals calling out to each other. You saw the trees sway above the house, and watched the bird fly back and forth between their nests and the ground. You walked to the front door after your grandpa, and headed upstairs to the guest bedroom. You set your stuff down, dug out some pjs, and changed. After that you stopped by a photo of mama in the hallway. You looked at it remembering how beautiful and angelic she was. After a moment you headed back down stairs to see what was planned for the night. 

“Pjs already? You don't waste a single second young lady.” he said as he pulled out pots and pans,”so here's the plan for tonight. We are going to make a super special pancake breakfast, then we're going to watch movies and bake cookies, then for dinner have ingredients for homemade pizza, and we can do presents after my final surprise.”

“Sounds like the things needed for the best Christmas ever,” you exclaimed, “have you heard from mother or father lately?” 

“Last i spoke to them they were packing for a trip. I do wish they would come spend the holidays with us. Your aunt and cousin are on vacation with your uncle's side of the family, so they won't even be able to come” 

“We don't need 'em anyways,” you say playfully, “cause we're already having a better time than them.”

  The day went by fast. Faster than you would have liked it to. Your cookies came out great, although the last batch was a bit burnt. He had bought all your favorite toppings for the pizza too. You guys spent most of the day watching the movies on the little TV he kept on the kitchen table. You funneled through all the classics before it got dark. 

“Okay so gifts, who's going first?” he asked as you two munched on cookies in the den.

“Let me give you yours first,” you said as you stood up and made your way upstairs.

 You opened your bag and dug to the bottom when a flat gift wrapped in regular brown paper was laying. You grabbed it and held it close as you ran back downstairs. 

 “It's not too big. I hope you don't mind,” you handed it over to him. 

  He tore into it with a big smile and looked down at it. His smile dropped as he gazed in awe at it. You had saved up for 2 months to get this for him. It took a lot of money, but it was worth it. He always had a favorite painting of mama when she was younger. He loved it so much, it was the photo he chose to display at her funeral. She was done up pretty formally. Had her make up, and hair done, and was wearing the most beautiful jewelry you could imagine. I had recreated the painting for him but with me in it. I had gotten every little detail, even down to the small beauty mark under her left eye. 

“ you're even more beautiful than her.” he said as tears welled up in his eyes. You were glad he liked it.

 He placed it down and got up to hug you. You stayed in each others arms and quietly talked about how much you both missed her. After the tear fest was over he pulled an envelope out of his pocket. He sat down and handed it over to you. 

“It's not nearly as good as this was, but it'll have to do.” you gently took the envelope from his hands and opened it. Inside were two plane tickets. You looked at the destination. 

“Italy?” 

“Yes I asked Luke and he told me when spring break was so I could plan accordingly,” he said as he searched for a place to put the small painting.”You and I will be spending the week in Italy, seeing what the city has to offer. Were going to explore Florence so we can see all the amazing art in the city, the Venice, Rome and finally Milan” 

Italy was always your dream. It was a beautiful country filled with art, fashion, culture, and history. You adored fashion and art above anything else. He chose the perfect gift. After you helped him find a spot for the painting you hugged him tight. Believe it or not as rich as you were you had never been out of the country. You always figured it was something to do later in life. Now you can actually experience it. 

“Now for my final surprise, follow me.” he walked out of the den and towards the dining room. You followed after wondering what was up. As you walked into the dining room you noticed he had added curtains along the giant windows. You could tell it was to hide whatever he had waiting outside for you. He opened the door leading to the backyard and motioned for you to walk out. You slowly walked towards the door and stepped outside. Sitting in the middle of the yard was a large tent with little lanterns sitting outside of it.

“We used to do this all the time when you were a child. I thought it'd be a nice comfort to do it again.” the memories hit you all at once. Every weekend your nanny would drop you off at their house. You, mama, and pop pop would camp out in the backyard. You would all roast marshmallows, while the sound of their old country records played from inside the house. You all would gather the blankets from the house and lay them out in the tent as cushions to protect you from the cold harsh ground. Every morning the sun would shine through the tent waking you up and you would shake your grandparents awake so you could all watch it rise together. 

  You didn't realize that tears were falling down your face until he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, giving you a good squeeze. You wiped the tears from your cheeks and you turned to hug him. The tears continued to fall when it occurred to you. Nobody could ever love you this much. Not as much as they always did. Nobody would do little things like this to make you happy. Mama was already gone. What were you going to do when pop pop was gone too. 

“I love you,” you said sniffling, as you withdraw yourself from the hug, “I love this.” 

He wiped the tears away and looked like he was going to cry himself, “I love you too my dear.”

  You made your way towards the tent and unzipped the opening. It was exactly how you remember it. All the blankets were spread out. He had included pillows too, and you even noticed an old princess pillow you had left here once when you were a kid. You crawled in and felt at home. He crawled in after and sat down with a grunt.

“I suppose my old body isn't what it used to be.” he huffed out as he pulled a blanket over himself. You two stayed up talking. He told you about everything happening at his company. If you were quite honest you still weren't sure what he did for a living. What type of company did he run? It was something to do with weapons of some sort. It didn't matter though, you still listened. He asked about classes, and he even asked about how Elaine was doing. You seized the opportunity to ask if she could come over the day after Christmas to spend time with you guys, and of course he said yes. You also told him about the friendship you apparently had with Hux, even he was shocked by the news of your friendship. The town you lived in was fairly small, there were 4 main families that dominated and worked together. The Skywalker Family, the Hux family, the Palpatines, and your family, the Kenobis. The Hux family was known best for how professional and uptight they were, your father's words not yours. 

It felt like you two had spoken for an eternity before you eventually drifted off.

#teen!ben solo #ben solo fanfiction #bensoloxreader #ben solo #ben solo x reader #star wars tfa #star wars au #star wars fanfiction #star wars tros #star wars #kenobi!reader #star wars x reader #teen!reader #reader insert #obi wan kenobi #armitage hux

[connan-l]

Glitters

Fandom: The House in Fata Morgana

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationship: Maria Campanella/Pauline Asama

Summary: Teenage Maria is going to spend the summer holidays at Pauline’s home in Amsterdam. Some things goes as expected, some others do not.

For ‘Day 9: Ocean’ of Femslash February 2020!

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Link on Archive of Our Own

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Notes: Just a short and fluffy gay thing I wrote for Femslash February 2020! Well I say ‘short,’ but it actually got a lot longer than originally planned...

To be honest, I actually struggle to ship Pauline and Maria — Pauline seems way too much into Yukimasa, and Maria kinda struck me as aromantic and as the type who’s just more invested in platonic friendships — but… they’re also the most obvious f/f ship of the game? So, hey, why not. They can be cute!

This takes place during the modern days pre-Reincarnation, but I admit there are probably some details I forgot about it (can’t recall if they mentioned anything about Maria and Pauline’s childhood or about Pauline’s family), so, sorry if there are any inconsistencies with the game.

Disclaimer that I don’t speak Dutch and I’ve never been to Amsterdam or even in the Netherlands, thus there will likely be some… mistakes.

Technically this is for ‘Day 9: Ocean,’ though I actually started writing this before seeing the prompts.

Spoilers for the main game, Requiem and Reincarnation! Though you can understand even without having read Requiem or Reincarnation.

________________________________________________________________

The first thing Maria did upon leaving the plane was to throw up.

Which was a pretty unusual thing; she was never sick, be it in cars or planes or boats. But here the journey had been particularly cantankerous.

It’s the last time I take the plane in my entire freaking life, she thought to herself while she was wiping her mouth. Though she knew pretty well it was a lie, as her return ticket had already been booked. She now practically regretted bitterly to not have cancelled her vacations altogether — but it was a rare occasion, as her family rarely went on vacation, especially not in another country.

“Ahh, Maria! There you are!”

Maria turned around, and saw a young black-haired girl with a ponytail waving and running towards her with a smile. However, when she saw Maria’s pale face, she stopped and put both of her hands in front of her mouth.

“Oh my God, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay, you idiot?” Maria snapped back.

She actually hadn’t intended to sound that mean — especially not to her best friend she hadn’t seen since at least six months — but it had been a knee-jerk answer. Pauline just tended to instinctively get on her nerves and activate her hostility button.

“N-No, you don’t,” she blurted out, wincing. “Uh… I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine, forget it,” Maria said, grabbing the handle of her suitcase. “The flight was pretty awful so I just got a bit sick, but I’m good now.”

“O-Oh… well, I can ask my mom to give you some medicine once we get home—”

“I told you, it’s fine. Don’t bother. More importantly, you’re alone?” Maria asked, as she could only distinguish her friend in the halls. She looked around to search her mother’s blonde locks or her father’s boorish figure, but saw neither of them.

“Orlando is the one who brought me,” Pauline answered. “He’s waiting for us in his car in the street below.”

Right, Orlando. An old friend of Pauline’s mom. Apparently, they had known each other since they were kids, and as far as Maria was aware he’d always hanged out around the Asama family. He didn’t seem to be very fond of Pauline’s father though. (Maria always thought the dude had a crush on Pauline’s pretty mom, but she would never tell her theory to anyone of course.)

As they were slowly walking towards what Maria supposed was Orlando’s car, she caught Pauline’s gaze on her — she had a dumb, gentle smile on her face, her black ponytail bouncing softly behind her back at the rhythm of her steps.

“What?”

“H-Huh? What, what?”

“You’re staring at me!”

“Ah, umm… sorry, I was just thinking you’ve changed since the last time we’ve seen each other.”

Maria cocked an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? You on the other hand you haven’t changed at all.”

“Th-That’s not true! I’ve changed too. I took three centimeters since last time! And I bought new clothes!”

Maria just laughed, and Pauline began to complain about how “mean she was” and how “she could compliment her a little.”

Maybe Pauline had changed a little in the months they hadn’t seen each others, but on the other hand it felt like their relationship had stayed the same during these all years they’ve been friends.

________________________________________________________________

Maria had only come to Pauline’s home in the Netherlands two times.

They had first met when she was around six years old — Pauline’s father had been on a business trip in Milan, and exceptionally he had decided to bring his wife and daughter along with him. She and her mother had came in a park one afternoon, where Maria had been playing with her grandfather, and like the little bully she had been back then, she stole the ice cream of that annoying foreign little girl. But then said little girl started crying so loudly that in the end she just handed it back to her. And then for some reason they started to play together. None of them knew how to speak the other’s language at the time, but as the small kids they were that didn’t bother them much.

After that, their parents met and so they stayed in contact. Pauline’s family was actually surprisingly wealthy — her father was a tradesman traveling very often, so she was able to come to Milan at least once a year, and the rest of the time they’d call or sent each other letters and emails. Maria’s family, on the other hand, had always been more on the poor side. Not excessively so — Maria always had a roof over her head and food in her plate, and she never truly lacked of anything — but she certainly couldn’t bring herself to pay some vacations in another country whenever she wanted. Which was why, three months ago, Pauline had proposed to invite her over for the summer vacations to celebrate her fifteenth birthday together — and she would pay for everything, trip price included.

“You still haven’t decided what you’re going to do after high school?” Pauline asked, tilting her head.

They were both chatting side to side on the car’s backseat, catching up with each other’s, while Orlando was silently driving. Both Maria and Pauline were speaking in English, and the poor man barely knew how to say ‘Hello’ and ‘Good bye,’ so he was probably feeling sidelined. Pauline always tended to treat him like he was her manservant. Maria kind of felt sorry for him.

“Not sure,” she mumbled back, her eyes falling on the window behind which scrolled through Amsterdam’s streets.

“That’s not good,” Pauline said, in that big sisterly tone she sometimes used and that tended to really annoy Maria. “You’re going to enter your last grade next year, right? So you should hurry up and decide.”

“Gee, thanks Mom,” Maria replied, glaring at her.

Pauline puffed out her cheeks. “I’m saying this for your sake!”

“I don’t want to hear this from the girl who can’t even choose her own clothes the morning,” Maria said dryly, and before Pauline could reply, she just added, “And you know what? I’ve decided already. I’ll probably enter the mafia or something.”

Maria grinned at her friend, and as she expected, Pauline stared at her with her brown eyes and her mouth wide open. It was so easy to predict her reactions that it was almost ridiculous.

To be honest, Pauline had actually good reasons to believe Maria wasn’t joking: ever since she was a child, she’d always bragged about how her grandpa was originally born in Sicily and that her family, the Campanellas, used to have ties to the mafia. Now in all honesty, Maria didn’t know how much of this was true — it was some kind of unspoken rule within her family to not talk about this, and her grandfather had always dismissed her whenever she’d questioned him about it — but she certainly had a lot of fun of teasing Pauline when they were kids by telling her that if she pissed her off, some mafioso would come to skin her alive. She had stopped doing this now, of course — that had been pretty childish of her, and Maria was going to be eighteen next year, so these days she tried her best to act more like the grown up she was soon going to be. Though teasing Pauline was just so much fun and so easy it was still hard to kill that habit.

“I’m just joking,” she finally admitted, releasing Pauline from her shock. “I’m not that much of a delinquent.”

“Yes, well,” Pauline said, sighing. “With you, I never know.”

Maria chuckled, when suddenly the car came to a stop.

“Wij zijn hier,” Orlando suddenly said in a stern voice.

Pauline and her family lived in a huge, modern house in Amsterdam-Oost with an extensive view on the sea. They had two floors with multiple rooms, a big garden, a pretty balcony and a garage. The first time she went there, Maria was ten, and she could still remember the intense jealousy she felt while seeing this. Compared to this, her small humble family apartment in Milan felt miserable. It’d be a lie to say she wasn’t still a little bit jealous now, but she was used to it at least.

The two girls went out of the car, and Pauline chatted in Dutch with Orlando through the window for a moment, before finally turning around towards Maria and signaling her they could enter the house.

“He doesn’t come?” Maria asked as she saw the car pulling away.

“No, he said he had a lot of work to do. Anyway, let’s go!”

“W-Wait, don’t run! I have my suitcase with me, remember?”

Both of them entered upon the spacious patio, and Pauline excitedly opened the front door.

“Mama! Wij zijn gearriveerd!” She exclaimed, before adding to Maria in a quieter voice: “Let your suitcase here, we’ll put it in my room later.”

Maria was going to reply, but before she could she heard a sound of door open, a few footsteps, and then a beautiful woman with long, wavy blonde hair in a harlequin sundress showed up.

“Maria! Buongiorno!”

Pauline’s mother beamed at her, and Maria instantly imitated her. “Goedemorgen, Filippa!”

Maria had always liked Filippa quite a bit. She was a nice, smiling woman, radiant like the sun and always dressed in colorful clothes, and unlike her daughter, she actually had some spice to her personality. She was a stay-at-home mother, as apparently her husband’s pay was more than enough to sustain the family (and, from what Maria had gathered, it was also because Filippa’s family was pretty rich). However, she was still a busy person, as not only she was taking care of her daughter and of the house almost all by herself, she also often participated in all sort of town activities and events, and was pretty invested in charities.

Looking at Maria, Filippa brought her hands to her chest, her blue eyes shining as if she was about to cry. “Oh my God, you look so grown up now!”

“Well, it has been about two years since the last time we’ve seen each others, right? So that makes sense,” Maria said, then sighed. “Though to be honest, I don’t think I’ve grown up that much. I used to be even taller than the boys in middle school, but now I’m one of the smallest girls. Hell, I can’t believe that even fucking Pauline is taller than me now. It’s depressing.”

“Oh, but small girls are so cute!” Filippa said, giggling.

“Bleh. Not interested in being cute. I’d rather be huge and frightening, like a bear!”

“Bears stink, though,” Pauline said, wincing.

“Why is that the first thing you think of saying?”

Filippa laughed heartily. “Still, I can’t believe how much you’ve changed… The both of you are going to become young women before I even realize it. It makes me a little sad.”

“No need to be sad. Pretty sure Pauline’s gonna be eighty and still be an unreliable kid inside.”

“H-Hey!” Pauline protested, elbowing her friend, while Filippa laughed again.

“Now, now, don’t fight! Though I suppose Maria isn’t wrong.”

“Not you too, Mom!”

Then Pauline began complaining in Dutch to her laughing mother, and Maria wasn’t able to catch everything they were saying. They may have been friends since they were kids, but they’ve always mostly babbled in English. Maria could understand some basic Dutch, but she was far from being fluent. Though the same could be said for Pauline — despite the fact she’d come to Milan quite a few times, she only knew how to say a bunch of Italian sentences, and her accent was absolutely awful. Maria, like the brat she was, used to make fun of her because of this back then, and little Pauline would start crying and call her a “meanie.” Fun ol’ times.

“Anyway!” Filippa said again in English. “You girls are here just in time. I just finished the meal’s preparations, you just need to go set the table.”

“Oh, okay,” Maria replied, as Filippa was exiting the room. “So we need four plates?”

“No, it’s just the three of us,” Pauline replied.

“What? What about your dad?”

“He’s back in Japan right now, for work,” she answered.

“Eh? But it’s August. Shouldn’t he be in vacation?”

“No vacations for sailors,” Filippa answered from the kitchen. There was a very clear sharpness in her voice, and with the grimace Pauline displayed, this told Maria her mother was irritated.

It wasn’t something new. As far as she could remember, Pauline’s parents always had this problem. They didn’t have a bad relationship exactly — from what Maria had seen, they actually were quite a loving and happy couple. But Pauline’s father still privileged his work over his wife and daughter, and he was very rarely home as a result, which was something Filippa had a lot of issues with.

This never seemed to bother Pauline much, though. Her parents’ problems seemed to completely pass over her head. Maria had asked her about it once — if sometimes her mom and dad’s disputes were something distressing to her — but she had just shrugged and replied that “It’s just how it is.”

To be honest, Maria thought it was a little… weird. Admittedly she never cared much about her own parents’ problems either, but she could still remember that some of the biggest arguments they had had still impacted her a big deal. So Pauline’s indifference concerning her family’s issues felt off sometimes. Her friend had always been an airhead, sure, but sometimes it really seemed like… she was a bit too much disconnected from reality and the world around her. But maybe Maria was just overthinking it.

For lunch, Filippa served them a bountiful plate of Italian spaghettis with tomato sauce, which she had cook specially for Maria, and which was of course delicious. They finished the meal with a vlaai for dessert, and then the girls ran into Pauline’s room and Maria started to unpack her baggage. The Asamas’ house had a guest room and was big enough in general for Maria to sleep alone in a bedchamber of her own, but Pauline had insisted for them to stay together. She had accepted without thinking much about it, until she realized it also meant sleeping in the same bed as Pauline’s.

This shouldn’t be something weird; it wasn’t the first time they’d sleep together — though the last this had happened, they were in elementary school. So now that they were older — almost ‘young women,’ like Filippa had said — it felt… a bit odd to her, somehow. This shouldn’t be odd. Friends slept with each other platonically all the time, right? So there was no reason for it to be odd. Maria hoped that if she told herself this enough times, this would convince her. Somehow.

But this issue quickly faded from her mind as Pauline dragged her in the living room in front of their really big, flat screen TV, where they spent the afternoon switching channels and making fun of the stupid melodramatic soap operas broadcasted while eating snacks. Although honestly they mostly spent their time chatting and laughing rather than truly watching the TV. Filippa interrupted them two or three times to try to make them leave the couch and go outside while the sun was still up and shining, but she finally left them alone when Pauline promised her they’d go out tomorrow. And before they even noticed it, the night had already fallen.

After the dinner, Maria was the first to change herself, then she let herself fall onto the bed while Pauline was busy in the bathroom, the muffled sound of a Dutch TV presenter resonating in the background from the living room — except this time it was Filippa who was in front of the screen. In the meantime she looked around the room, which honestly hadn’t changed much since the last time she came here. Pauline’s room was pretty girly and common; some posters of boys’ bands on the walls there, some cute stuffed animals here, some romance novels scattered around. The most distinguishing features were the trinkets from all sorts of different countries and cultures that her father always brings her back from his travels as souvenirs, and that she collects on top of a few shelves.

Pauline entered back into her room, and she was dressed in a white pajamas with dolphin patterns, her long black hair unusually let down and falling on her shoulders gracefully — and, despite the fact Maria thought the dolphin pajamas looked pretty silly (she wasn’t ten anymore, dammit), she did admit she was kinda cute like that. She thought it was honestly a shame Pauline never let her hair down like that. As far as she could remember, she’d always tied it in that messy ponytail, even when they were young children.

“So,” Pauline started, smiling at Maria. “What do you want to do now? I have some board games if you want. Do you like Monopoly? Or Cluedo?”

Maria sighed, then scratched the back of her head. “Nah, I think I’d rather go to sleep.”

Pauline gasped, then stared at her as if she had just confessed she had murdered someone.

“What? I’m tired!” Maria exclaimed, feeling almost offended.

“It’s just it’s not like you at all,” Pauline gently replied. “Usually you’re the one who want to stay up as late as possible, and I have to beg you for us to go to sleep… On top of that we spent the afternoon on the couch in front of the TV…”

“Yeah, well, I spent hours travelling in a plane before coming here, remember? And the trip was pretty awful. So I’m exhausted.”

“Oh… I see…”

Pauline looked genuinely disappointed, and it was so funny Maria couldn’t herself but grin. “Ahh, I see you expected me to keep you up all night, huuuh? You naughty girl— Hmph!”

Her face as red as a tomato, Pauline threw a pillow at her, which crashed directly into her face before she could say any more words.

“No, you don’t start!” She exclaimed, then sighed heavily. “You said you were exhausted right? So fine, let’s sleep.”

“Don’t sulk, Pauline! I promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. We’ll stay up late as muuuuch as you want!”

“Ahh, shut up!”

Pauline turned away from Maria who wasn’t trying to hold back her laughers now, and picked up something from her desk, that looked like a small ball.

“What’s that thing?” Maria asked.

“Oh, it’s my nightlight,” she simply answered.

It took some time for Maria to process what she meant by that. “What, are you fucking kidding me? You’re still sleeping with the lights on? How old are you?”

“J-Just with that tiny nightlight!” Pauline protested, blushing. “It’s very faint, it shouldn’t bother you!”

“God, that’s not the issue,” Maria replied, rolling her eyes. “I swear, you’re such a baby.”

All while talking she lied down and buried herself under the sheets, while Pauline plugged her nightlight. It was indeed of a very faint, soothing blue color, and light never bothered Maria to sleep anyway, but she still couldn’t believe Pauline needed this as if she was a freaking toddler scared of the monsters below her bed. She felt the other girl rejoin her beneath the blanket, the mattress shifting under her weight. This reminded Maria of the times where they slept together as kids — Pauline is a rather touchy-feely person around her loved ones, so she’d always ended up snuggled against Maria the morning, arms tightly wrapped around her waist. She really hoped Pauline wouldn’t do this tonight. It just… wasn’t the same thing anymore, now that they weren’t kids. For a moment, neither of them spoke, only the sound of their breathing and of the muffled TV resounding in the room, and Maria almost thought she was going to fall asleep when Pauline raised her voice again.

“It’s because I have nightmares.”

Maria raised her head and looked at her friend. Pauline was staring at the ceiling, and she couldn’t really make out her expression in the darkness, but her gaze seemed unfocused.

“Nightmares?” She repeated. That was new. She’d never heard about Pauline having nightmares before — or at least, she’d never told her about it…

“It’s pretty rare,” the younger girl admitted. “But a few months ago I’ve had a really bad nightmare. Ever since, the dark prevent me from sleeping well, so Mom bought me the nightlight, and it helps.”

“Huh…” Maria didn’t know what to answer to this, and now she actually felt a bit like an asshole for having made fun of her without knowing this. Maybe Pauline read her thoughts — a pretty rare occurrence, as she usually wasn’t very good at this — because she smiled at her softly.

“Like I said, it’s not a big deal, really, so don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Maria replied by reflex, though it wasn’t completely true. She hesitated for a moment, before asking in a softer voice: “What… What are they about, exactly? Those nightmares.”

“Hmm…” Pauline’s frown burrowed, as if she was searching through her memories. “To tell you the truth… I don’t really recall well. It’s very blurry. But…” She stopped.

“I think… there’s a monster in it…” She finally added, and her voice sounded a bit odd. “A beast.”

Maria blinked. “A… beast.”

“And… I think he kills me.”

(The beast killed her.)

For some reason, a chill ran down Maria’s spine, and she felt as if her entire body grew cold.

“Strangely enough, though, I… I’m not scared,” Pauline continued. “I think… maybe it’s a bit sad, but it’s not scary…”

Maria really struggled to stay focused on her words; she felt as if she was far, far away, in a place where she couldn’t reach anyone. For a very brief moment, it was as if she wasn’t in that room anymore, warm and safe under the soft the blanket, but somewhere else, in far away old city drenched in blood and corpses — among them, clothed all in black and white, lied Pauline, looking older and motionless—

“He won’t kill you.”

Pauline blinked, and stared at Maria blankly.

“The beast won’t kill you,” she repeated, firmly. “I won’t let him.”

The black-haired girl next to her looked so confused, and Maria honestly couldn’t blame her. She wasn’t even sure herself what she was saying exactly. She just knew her body was still cold and that the scent of blood still persisted in her nose and that she had to tell her that. Instinctively, she reached towards Pauline and grabbed her hand in hers, as if she felt the need to feel her warmth there — to reassure herself she was safe and alive, by her side.

“If… If the beast ever comes to you, then all you have to do is call me, and I’ll go kick his ass. I definitely won’t let him kill you.”

Pauline’s shock slowly faded from her face, and instead a warm smile replaced it, which Maria suddenly felt kinda embarrassed about. Why was she spouting all this nonsense? What the hell was wrong with her tonight? But then Pauline giggled softly, a silly, but content and happy expression on her face… so maybe it didn’t matter after all.

“Okay,” was Pauline’s only response.

And then she gently tightened her grip on Maria’s hand, and closed her eyes.

“Maria?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Maria couldn’t really see Pauline in the dark, but she could imagine her soft and genuine smile from her voice, and while she had always loved to tease Pauline and would’ve usually retorted a snarky reply at this… this time, just for this one time, she chooses to answer sincerely.

“Me too.”

________________________________________________________________

 “I’m sorry, but I just don’t get why you find those sandwiches so good. I mean, they’re just… sandwiches.”

“They’re not ‘just sandwiches’! They’re ham sandwiches! And it’s not my fault if you don’t know how to appreciate good things.”

“I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m saying it’s… normal. Common.”

“Well, that’s why it’s great! Ah, geez, whatever, forget about it.”

Pauline puffed out her cheeks, then forcefully bite into her ham sandwich they had just bought, as if she was trying to prove to her friend how good they truly were. It had been almost two weeks now since Maria arrived in the Netherlands. They had spent a big part of their time hanging out at Pllek beach and in the Vondelpark, though Filippa had also managed to drag them to the Rijksmuseum, despite the girls’ complaints. Right now, though, they were just a few streets away from the Asamas’ home, in a cozy place with a pretty view on the sea. It had always been Pauline’s favorite spot ever since she was a child; a bit like a secret base. Well, except it wasn’t secret or a base.

“So did you manage to make Filippa tell you where we were going for your birthday?” Maria asked, swinging her legs on the bench where they were sat.

“No,” Pauline answered, shaking her head disappointedly. “She kept saying it was a secret.”

“Fuck, I hate secrets. I just hope it’s not another museum…”

“Well… I did hear her vaguely mention the Anne Frank House…”

Maria chocked on her sandwich, then glared at Pauline. “You’re kidding me! No way am I going to some dead girl’s museum for a birthday!”

“Now, don’t be disrespectful…”

“I’m not being disrespectful, I just don’t want to think about freakin’ Nazis during my summer vacations!”

Pauline chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’re just going to go celebrate to a restaurant. The Anne Frank House was about something else.”

Maria narrowed her eyes. “Wait. Did you just trick me?”

“Pauline!”

A voice called out from behind, and the two teens turned around to see a familiar middle-aged man heading towards them.

“Orlando? What are you doing here?” The interpellated girl questioned dubiously.

“Filippa asked for you two to go home,” the man replied in Dutch, and Pauline could see Maria frown besides her while trying to decipher what he was saying as much as she could.

“Why?” She replied.

“She needs your help. Did you forget? She had her new wardrobe and shelves delivered today, and she wants you to help install them.”

Pauline gasped and brusquely stood up upon hearing this. Her mother had in the prospect of redecorating the house, and she decided to start with the furniture. A few weeks ago, she had ordered a new wardrobe and shelves, and Pauline had promised her to help her out with them. Except she had completely forgotten about that! Her mom was going to be so angry!

“Hey, what’s going on…?” Maria asked tentatively, but she wasn’t able to get an answer that Pauline had already grabbed her hand and started running.

“We need to hurry! Otherwise there will be no birthday party at all, be it at the Anne Frank House or elsewhere!”

They managed to reach the house in ten minutes total, which was a record, and while Filippa reprimanded her daughter for her usual absentmindedness, there was no much of a scolding, as the girls helped as much as they could — although Maria did spend quite a few of her time grumbling. And she was still complaining about it even after the night had fell and that they were about to go to bed.

“If I’d known I was going to do manual work and have history lessons, I wouldn’t have accepted to come,” she said grumpily, sat on the half-opened window.

“It was not so bad,” Pauline tried to argue, but she only managed to get a glare from Maria.

“Vacations are made to have fun! Not to work! Your mom is a tyrant. Geez, seriously, what kind of idiot works during vacations?”

“Don’t… Don’t your parents often work during vacations…?”

“Yes! And they’re idiots!”

Pauline smiled awkwardly, then cleared her throat and quickly tried to change the subject to improve the mood. “Aren’t you cold in front of the window? We should close it. Plus, it’s starting to be late.”

“I’m not tired,” Maria replied. “And it’s not cold either. In fact, it’s still surprisingly warm outside.”

As she said this, Pauline came to her side, and indeed, she was right — there was a cool breeze, but overall the weather was still pretty hot. This wasn’t really surprising in August, though.

“Hey, Pauline?”

The girl turned her head towards Maria, and when she saw the wide grin her friend had placarded on her face, she instantly knew she was going to propose her something she wasn’t going to like.

“Let’s go hang out outside.”

I knew it! Pauline thought, and instantly frowned at Maria.

“No!”

“C’mon, let’s go! It can be fun!”

“B-But I don’t have Mom’s permission to go out tonight!” Pauline protested.

Maria rolled her eyes. “You’re fifteen! Stop acting like a baby already!”

“T-Technically, I’m not fifteen yet…”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’ll be fifteen in like, five days!”

“The point is, I don’t want Mom to get mad at me…”

“She can’t be mad at you if she doesn’t know.”

“You… You want us to sneak out of the house without permission?”

“What? You never did this before?”

“O-Of course not!”

Maria was looking at her with such a stunned expression Pauline honestly thought she was going to shook her for a minute.

“Never? I’ve been sneaking out of the house without permission since I was like, ten!”

“Yeah, well, not everyone can be like you!”

Maria rolled her eyes for what was probably the hundredth time today.

“Come on, let’s go! It’ll be fun.”

“But…”

Maria sighed yet again, then she took Pauline’s hand in hers, and stared at her straight in the eyes. Her face was so close to hers that she could feel her breathing and that their noses could touch.

“You trust me, right?”

Pauline stared at her for a few seconds, and then she slowly nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

And despite her reluctance, Pauline decided to listen to her friend, and so they started to prepare themselves. Maria grabbed a top with a cleavage that was a bit too revealing and a skirt that was a bit too short in Pauline’s eyes, then took out red high heels from her suitcase. The other girl chooses a more simple and comfy blue dress, and then Maria winked at her and unpacked a box from her bag, before Pauline realizes it was makeup. Filippa refused for her daughter to wear makeup, because she always said she was still too young for that, but she felt that if she were to say this to Maria she would just laugh at her again, so she decided to stay quiet.

“Let me guess,” Maria suddenly said. “You never used makeup before, right?”

Pauline winced. “I did,” she argued.

Maria arched an eyebrow. “For Halloween?”

“Yeah, well, that counts!”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s not the same thing at all. But don’t worry; I’ll teach you. It’s not that complicated.”

And so she did; she first put lipstick, some blush and eyeshadow on herself, and then on Pauline. She made her sit straight on a chair, and the whole experience felt pretty stressful to her — she had to stay still during the process, as Maria was only a few centimeters away from her face, applying and bumping and brushing all sorts of products on her cheeks and eyes and lips while she couldn’t see any of it. And she honestly couldn’t tell if it was not knowing what her friend was doing with her face that bothered her so much, or if it was the proximity and intimacy of feeling her delicately touching her lips and eyelids. Maria, however, seemed unfazed by this, completely focused on her work, and Pauline was honestly surprised by how thorough and meticulous she was. It made her wonder how much experience she had with this — how many parties she went to before, how many friends she have back in Milan. She knew Maria was quite the sociable type, and she had told her a bit about some of her Italian friends, but Pauline never actually got the occasion to meet any of them.

To be honest… sometimes she felt like she actually didn’t know much about Maria. They’ve known each other for most of their lives, but because of the fact they lived in two different, far away countries, they still missed quite some parts of their respective lives. And Maria wasn’t exactly a secretive person, but she was still the kind who preferred to deal with her problems by herself, or to downplay the things that happened to her. She wondered if Maria felt the same about her too — that if, in the end, she also had the impression she ignored a lot of things about her supposed best friend…

“That should be good!” Maria exclaimed, putting aside the eyeliner. “What do you think?”

Pauline finally looked at herself in the mirror, and… she had to admit that, although she’d always thought of herself as a rather plain girl, right now, with her lips shining of a pretty pink color and her eyelids and cheeks softly colored, she was… quite pretty.

“It’s… really good,” she said. “You’re really good at this, Maria!”

“Yeah, I know,” the blonde agreed, a smug grin on her face. “I’ve had quite the occasion to practice before.”

Once again, Pauline wished she’d know what she meant by that, but for some reason the question stayed stuck in her throat and she felt unable to say anything when Maria put her hands on her hips and smiled brightly at her.

“Well then, let’s go!”

“Ah… yes.”

Pauline rose from her chair, and then was going to head out of the room when Maria suddenly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“No, wait. Let them loose.”

“What?”

“Your hair. Let them loose.”

“Why…?”

“Why? Uh, no reason. It’s just… You always tie them up. So I’m curious to see you with your hair down.”

Pauline blinked at her, incredulous. Then she realized she had no reason to refuse, so she did as she asked, and slowly untied her long black hair, letting them fall on her shoulders.

“Like this…?”

Maria smiled. “Yep, perfect! Now let’s go for real.”

She enthusiastically grabbed her hand, and following her friend’s firm step, Pauline exited the room. Maria softly closed the door behind her, then put a finger in front of her lips and mimed a ‘Shh,’ which made the other girl gulp. She had almost forgotten that now came the most difficult part: sneaking out of the house without her mother noticing them. Maria still in head, they slowly advanced in the corridor, and Pauline was impressed at how little noise the blonde was making despite the fact she was wearing high heels — while on the other hand, she had the feeling she was a giant elephant with just her normal shoes.

Then Maria suddenly came to a stop, and Pauline noticed that the door of her mother’s room was open, and that light escaped from it. This almost made her panic and turn back; but Maria’s hand was still tightly holding hers, and she started to walk with such confidence that Pauline didn’t even get the time to say anything. So they managed to go down the stairs and reach the house’s entrance without Filippa show up. Pauline realized they were actually extremely lucky her mother wasn’t in the living room, because otherwise the whole operation would have been impossible. Maria then quickly asked for the keys, which Pauline knew were always hidden under a flower pot near the door, and without making a sound they got out of the house and disappeared in the darkness of the night.

________________________________________________________________

Amsterdam at night was quite different from the day. Pauline may have been born and lived in this city her entire life, but she still had very few occasions to go wandering in the street when it was dark outside, and whenever she had it had always been with her parents. Under the starry sky, her hometown almost felt like a completely different world, and even with the bright street lamps at every sidewalk, she felt wary of the dark, and she couldn’t help but threw nervous glances behind her shoulders whenever she heard a noise.

Maria, on the other hand, seemed to be completely oblivious to her struggles, and didn’t seem frightened the least in the world — she walked with so much conviction, her high heels clicking confidently on the pavement, as if she owned the entire city. Watching her from behind, Pauline felt genuinely envious of her self-assurance. How did Maria always manage to appear so bold and assertive, in every situations? It was almost frustrating.

There was quite a few people around; some workers coming back to home late, some group of friends hanging out together — and despite the fact all of these strangers seemed to be absorbed in their own little world and couldn’t care less about the two teenage girls trotting down the streets, Pauline felt suspicious of every one of them. At some point, a very tall, middle-aged man in a big black coat walked past them, and she shrieked and grabbed Maria’s hand, as if she was afraid he was going to hit her. Maria, obviously, sensed her fright and rolled her eyes.

“I swear, what a wimp,” she commented, though she still didn’t let go of Pauline’s hand.

“You’re not even a little bit worried?”

“No? It’s cool, I’m used to it.”

“But— But what if that man had assaulted us. What would you have done then?”

“I don’t know. Kicked him in the balls? Wouldn’t be the first time it happens.”

“Wha— You know what? No, I don’t want to know what happened.”

Pauline sighed, but she didn’t have the time to regain her composure that Maria then instantly added: “So, where do we go?”

“Where…? Uh, I don’t know… I thought we were just going to hang out outside…?”

Maria sighed. “That’s boring. We need to do something. I dunno, maybe go to a bar.”

“But we’re both underage.”

“So?”

“So it’s illegal! They won’t let us enter!”

“Do you think something being illegal ever stopped me?”

Of course it didn’t. “No, but, I mean, that’s still— A-Ah, Maria?”

Her friend had stopped caring about what she was saying. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she had brusquely started to run, crossing the street in the opposite direction. Pauline felt obligated to follow her, so she hurried to chase her down. When Maria finally stopped, she felt out of breath, and it took a few long seconds before she could regain her respiration.

“What… What’s going on?”

“Look!”

Pauline raised her head, and in front of her, behind a small wall, was a big, cleared esplanade, that directly gave view on the ocean. Pauline had already been to this place before, but it was the first time she actually saw it during the night; and she had to admit that the undisrupted sight of the sea, shining brightly under the moon and the stars, was quite enchanting.

“I wonder if the water is cold,” Maria pondered in a soft voice.

“It probably is,” Pauline argued. “I mean, it is the middle of the night…”

“Hmm…” Maria scratched her head, her eyes still staring at the ocean, and then a grin took shape on her face and she turned around towards her friend. Pauline instantly knew what she was thinking about without she even needed to open her mouth.

“No! Maria, don’t—”

But she had already thrown away her high heels, and without even taking the pain to remove her clothes, she climbed on the wall, and made a dive head first inside the sea, splashing everything around her, Pauline included. She resurfaced a few seconds later, the water only coming to her waist.

“Aaahh! It’s so fucking cold!”

“Of course it is!” Pauline yelled. “Hurry up and come back here! You’re going to catch a cold!”

Maria only laughed at her, then waved her hand. “Hey, you’ve always loved the ocean, right? C’mon! Join me!”

“What? I will absolute not join you!”

“Come on! For once in your life, stop being a coward!”

“I’m not being a—”

Pauline suddenly felt something grab a pan of her dress and pulling on it with all of its strength. And, as she never had the best sense of balance, this inevitably made her fell into the sea. Before she could understand what had happened, icy water was overwhelming her, and as soon as she got her head out of the sea she instantly started rubbing her arms and chattering her teeth. Then she glared at Maria, who, of course, was just giggling.

“You’re insane! I could’ve got seriously hurt!”

“But you didn’t, so everything’s cool.”

“Ah, God… I hope you’re happy now.”

“Hehe! Yes, very!”

Maria had that pesky wide grin on her face, and she looked genuinely so happy that Pauline couldn’t even bring herself to stay angry at her, which was annoying.

“Geez… The makeup you spent so much time doing is all ruined now…”

Maria shrugged. “No big deal. It’s just makeup. And it’s not like anyone can see us anyway.”

Pauline looked at Maria, and all of a sudden the situation seemed so weird and ridiculous — the both of them, two girls fully clothed into Amsterdam’s sea in the middle of the night — that she couldn’t help but chuckle. A chuckle that quickly morphed into a full on laugh, and that was contagious as Maria quickly rejoined her shortly after. Pauline knew that she should be upset at the other — the water was so cold and her hair and clothes were clinging to her skin in a really disagreeable way… but even after she calmed down and stopped laughing, despite everything, she still couldn’t help but feel strangely warm and happy.

Suddenly, she felt a hand brush her cheek. When she raised her head, her eyes met Maria’s. She was smiling gently — a soft, tender expression on her face that was a far cry from her usual smug smirks or mean grins. That was an expression Pauline wasn’t familiar with at all on her friend’s face, and it took her aback. Her hand was cold, but there was still something incredibly warm in the way she touched her cheek and put some of her black locks behind her ear.

“See? I told you.”

“T-Told me?”

“To let your hair loose. Your look a lot prettier like that.”

It was very dark, even with the light of the street lamps, so Pauline really hoped Maria wouldn’t notice the blush creeping on her cheeks.

She knew that she’d always been of the romantic, dreaming type. She had been the kind of little girl who dreamed to have a handsome prince to sweep her off her feet. Ever since she was a child, falling in love with a man, marrying him, and having children had always been her dream — and, despite the fact the people would tease her because of it, it was still her dream even now, and she never thought there was anything wrong with that.

As such, she’d always thought her first kiss would also meet all of the standard romantic criteria — after a lovely date with her boyfriend, he would bring her to a place where you could see the sea to watch the sunset, and then he would gallantly embrace her in his strong arms and gently put his lips on hers. It had always been how she pictured it. And yet…

And yet, when she looked at Maria, her blonde hair a mess and her clear green eyes shining like jewels, in the middle of that ocean of glitters, she felt a strange impulse taking root in her heart. She looked honestly so pretty, all sparkling and smiling and dazzling under the moon, and so without thinking she leaned in…

And kissed her on the mouth.

It was a brief, soft kiss; lasting only a handful of seconds. Maria’s lips were thin and soaked and salty. When Pauline pulled away, she saw her friend’s expression, which made her froze. She was staring at her, stunned, her eyes as wide as saucers, her mouth open, and her face the color of a brazen fire. Never in her life had she thought she would see Maria Campanella makes such a face, and she was absolutely sure that if she were to tell anyone, no one would believe her. And that’s only then that what Pauline had just done struck her.

“Ah!” She exclaimed. “Th-Th-That’s— I-I mean, that’s— This is—”

Pauline tried to search an excuse, an explanation. None came. She felt herself panicking. Why on earth had she done that? Sure, she’d always loved Maria a lot, but not… not like that. She… She didn’t think, at least? And Maria who just kept staring at her blankly in silence, as if her brain had just ceased functioning.

“S-Say something!” Pauline finally exploded.

“Ah, uh… I…”

At long last, Maria seemed to come back to herself, and winced while scratching her head. She opened her mouth, then closed it, and only a few seconds had probably passed by but those were actually the most excruciating seconds of Pauline’s entire life—

—until she sneezed.

The girls looked at each other in an awkward silence, and then, eventually, Maria spoke again:

“We should… probably go home before we got sick.”

________________________________________________________________

“Thirty-seven nine for Maria, and thirty-eight for Pauline,” Filippa declared, putting the thermometer on the nightstand.

The first one groaned, and the second sighed. Both of them were in Pauline’s room, muffled under the bed’s blanket with wet washcloths on their foreheads. It seemed it was a lot harder to discreetly came back home when you have an unstoppable cough, and they ended up getting caught before even reaching the stairs. Filippa had been generous enough to let them take a shower and sleep before any scolding, and when this morning they’d wake up with a high fever, she had also been relatively calm and understanding about their escapade.

“Honestly, what went through your heads? Going outside this late, all alone, without telling anyone. This is so dangerous! You’re lucky to only get out of this with a fever!”

“I’m sorry,” Pauline murmured, dipping her head under the duvet as if she hoped to disappear under it. “I didn’t want to…”

“You better not put the whole blame on me,” Maria suddenly added. “I didn’t have to insist that much for you to come with me.”

“Yes you did!”

Filippa sighed, then rose up from the bed. “Well, in any case you’ll have to stay in bed for at least quite a few days. I’ll see if Orlando can go to the pharmacy to buy some medicine…”

“So… there will be no punishment?” Pauline asked warily.

“I think spending your fifteenth birthday bedridden with a fever will be punishment enough.”

Her mother’s voice betrayed some irritation, but Pauline felt she had been more worried than angry about the whole ordeal. She then exited the room without saying anything more, closing the door behind her.

“You know your mom is still super cool,” Maria commented. “Mine would have never let me live if she’d have caught me completely soaked in the middle of the night in her living room.”

“You called her a ‘tyrant’ yesterday…”

“I was exaggerating. Trust me, compared to my parents, she’s an angel.”

Pauline had actually no troubles at all trusting her. She was well-aware Maria’s parents tended to be really strict, especially her mother. She witnessed it multiple times before, and it always made her feel grateful for the parents she had.

“It still doesn’t seem to prevent you from continuing to do bad things though…”

“What can I say? That’s just how I was born.”

A faint silence followed, until Maria broke it, in an unusual awkward voice:

“So, er… are we going to talk about it or not?”

“Talk about…?”

Maria groaned. “C’mon! You kissed me yesterday! On the mouth! Remember? I think that’s something that deserve a bit of a talk, right?”

Oh, right. The kiss. Pauline had, indeed, done that. For some reason. Yesterday felt like such an odd night honestly, and with her fever, everything seemed so far away and in a blurry that she had almost wished it was something she’d hallucinated. She and Maria hadn’t exchanged a word on the way back home, then they went to bed, and they’d been with her mother all morning. But Maria was right; obviously, this had happened, and they couldn’t just… ignore it.

“Well… I…” Pauline started, doing her best to not look at her friend in the eyes. “I don’t know.”

“You… don’t know.”

“I-I’m aware how silly it sounds. But it’s just… yesterday, things were weird, you know? We were in the sea, it was dark, and the water was so shiny, and, and… I don’t know! I thought you looked pretty so kissing you didn’t felt… out of place at the time… maybe…”

Pauline could hear Maria’s breath right next to her, but she couldn’t guess what kind of expression she had. She wasn’t courageous enough to look at her.

“So you just… felt like kissing me,” she finally said.

“Yes…”

“Because… what? I looked pretty?”

“Yes…”

Maria stared at her. She was clearly expecting… something else. But Pauline honestly couldn’t give her a comprehensive explanation. She herself didn’t truly know what had crossed her mind at that moment.

“So it wasn’t anything more.”

“More…?”

“You don’t have… any feelings for me.”

Pauline gasped. “Oh no! No, no, no! Of course not.”

Maria let out a huge, big sigh. “Right. It was just a weird impulse on the moment. You’re… just my friend. You like me, but, like, platonically.”

“Yes, yes, that’s it.”

“Yeah, of course that’s all. That’d be silly otherwise, huh?”

“R-Right…”

Then both of them looked away, an awkward silence still hanging in the room. Yes, Pauline was sure it was nothing. She wasn’t in love with Maria or anything. She was just her friend. So, really, there was no need to feel as awkward as she was feeling right now, right? She looked over at her friend (and nothing more!), who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

Surely Maria didn’t have… any feelings for her either, right? She always spent her time making fun of Pauline or telling her what a crybaby and an idiot she was… Sure, she knew Maria still liked her, otherwise she wouldn’t keep seeing her, but she wasn’t, like, romantically interested in her… She didn’t think…

Pauline felt like her brain was burning and about to blow up, and she didn’t know if it was because of the fever or because her thoughts were continuing to going back in circle in her head. So she decided she needed to stop thinking altogether, to speak.

“It was… my first kiss.”

Maria blinked, and stared at Pauline weirdly. “What?”

“You know. Yesterday. It was my first kiss.” She paused, before continuing: “I’d always thought my first kiss would be with my boyfriend, during an incredibly romantic date…”

“Oh. Uh. Sorry?”

“It’s not your fault. I mean, I’m the one who kissed you, after all.”

For some reason she still couldn’t fathom. Though thinking about kisses and Maria suddenly made an odd question birth in her mind.

“Say… Was it…”

“What?”

“Was… That wasn’t your first kiss?”

Maria snorted. “Of course it wasn’t.”

Pauline was kind of expecting that answer — Maria was older than her, and she knew she’d always been pretty popular. She never mentioned having dated anyone before, but Pauline still felt a bit disappointed that unlike her, it wasn’t her first kiss. Maybe it was childish of her. Now that she thought about it, she remembered that time two years ago when Filippa had asked her if she had a boyfriend, and Maria had just laughed awkwardly while dismissing the question… She thought she should let the matter at that, that it could be a potentially slippery topic, but the next question escaped her mouth before she even thought about it:

“Did the people you kiss before were boys or girls?”

“Is that any of your business?”

Her tone wasn’t especially disgruntled, it was just her usual snappiness, but Pauline still winced at it. And Maria noticed that, because she then sighed and added: “Both, actually.”

“Oh…”

Maybe that was why, then, that she never brought up the subject with her. Maria had never been the kind of person to be bothered by what others thought of her or to be judged, though, but… then again, what did Pauline knew about Maria, truly? They never seemed to discuss about important things together, or to really confide in each others.

But… maybe it was Pauline’s fault, too, a little bit. Maybe she should just ask Maria more about herself. She would never be able to know more if she never asked. Maybe she should take the first step and try to confide herself more to her, too.

“Though… you know, to be honest, I…”

Pauline hesitated a little, thinking maybe she shouldn’t say the rest for fear to be misinterpreted, but Maria’s green eyes seemed to push her to keep on.

“I actually don’t really regret it that you were my first kiss. I think it’s… actually rather nice for it to be with you. Plus it was also… kinda romantic, I guess.”

Maria stared at her, then finally she smirked, and let out a small chuckle.

“Sometimes you’re really so fucking weird, you know that?” She commented, and Pauline wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but there was an odd fondness and warmth in her voice, so it couldn’t be something mean.

Then she gently bumped the top of Pauline’s forehead, and she thought that, definitely, even with them ending up bedridden and with a fever, she didn’t regret at all any of the things they had done yesterday, or since the beginning of the month, for that matter. Maria always ended up causing her problems or dragging her into troubles she would have never gotten into without her, but maybe sometimes, just sometimes, it was worth it.

She thought it was worth it just to see the Maria who’d promise her to protect her against an imaginary beast from her nightmares while holding her hand, or to eat common ham sandwiches together, or to see a tender, genuine smile on her face during the night in the middle of an ocean of glitters.

And seeing a smiling, glittering Maria was worth all the fevers and punishments, and she would exchange it for nothing in the world.

#The House in Fata Morgana #FataMoru #MariPauli #Maria Campanella #Pauline Asama #FemslashFeb2020 #Femslash February 2020 #Fanfiction #The House in Fata Morgana Fanfiction #Femslash February #FataMoru Fanfiction #Connan's Fanfics #Connan's Posts #FataMoru Fanfic #The House in Fata Morgana Fanfic #Filippa Asama #Orlando (The House in Fata Morgana) #Orlando #Maria x Pauline #Pauline x Maria #Femslash #AO3 #Femslash Feb 2020 #Reincarnation (The House in Fata Morgana) #Archive Of Our Own #FataMoru Fanfictions #FataMoru Fic #Fanfictions #Reincarnation Maria #Reincarnation

[aahsokaatano]

ITALY????

Y’all I spent one whole week in Italy in 2017 and it was one of the most bizarre fucking weeks of my life

let’s break it down from the beginning

[under a read more for length]

So, fall of 2017 I was studying abroad in London. One of the classes I was taking was specifically for study abroad students, designed to get us engaging in the culture of London or whatever i dont really remember the class itself but my god do i remember the people i met in it

two in particular were these girls, also American. We shall call them Molly and Ally. They had quickly made friends with each other, and after one of the class trips into London, i was friendly with them as well. The “reading week” or fall break was coming up, and they mentioned that they were going to Italy and asked if I wanted to go. I had booked a short tour to Dover, but thought “oh my god Italy???? Fuck yes!” and so I bought my plane tickets then asked them where they had booked hotel rooms so that I could add myself to their itinerary

“Oh,” Molly said, “we haven’t, don’t worry about it”

Me, a seasoned traveler “?????? uh”

I bugged them about this for at LEAST a week and finally, about THREE DAYS from when we were supposed to leave, I just went ahead and booked an assortment of hostels and airbnbs for us in all the cities they wanted to go to and told them to pay me back later

they actually admitted afterwards that that had been a smart move on my part which like????? no SHIT its a smart move to have a plan where you’re gonna sleep every night while in a foreign country. god.

So, lets go through this day by day

Day 1 - London to Milan

we flew from London to Milan in the evening, getting there pretty late at night. and it was only once we were actually IN Italy that I learned that 1) none of us spoke Italian and 2) despite having grown up in two areas with large Hispanic populations, neither Molly or Ally spoke a lick of Spanish, which is close enough to Italian that you can kind of limp through a conversation of one if you know the other.

so, somehow, I ended up being our Italian translator for the week, armed with nothing but a translator website, a handful of Italian music terms, and the ability to roll my r’s fairly well for a white person. Literally, i figured out where the bus stop was outside of the airport because I saw the word “fermata” painted on the pavement and I knew that meant “long pause” in sheet music terms so I hazarded a guess it meant stop or similar in regular Italian

(sidenote I almost got in a fight with some random Italian dude on the bus because Molly was going on about how excited she was to try the pizza and I told her it wasn’t going to be the same because “the pizza you’re used to is an American invention” and he turned around and started going on about the tradition of pizza in Italy and I was like I just mean that American pizza is different from real Italian pizza i did not mean to offend i’m sorry!!!!!! anyways)

the bus dropped us in a square in the middle of Milan and we got out and i’m lookin at my airbnb app trying to figure out where we need to go and i said “okay we need to get a cab” and Molly and Ally are arguing about something and this RANDOM ASS DUDE walks up to us and is like “you need taxi?” and i said yes to he leads us back to his REGULAR ASS CAR, NOT A TAXI and tells us to get in, and for some unknown fucking reason I do and Molly and Ally follow me and shut up real fast because this is sketchy as fuck but the guy did take us to the airbnb without murdering us so thats a win i guess

The airbnb by the way was more like a mini hostel - it was this apartment where pretty much every room except the bathroom had been converted into a bedroom and so probably not entirely legal but whatever. whatever. 

Day 2 - Milan to Venice

i woke up early the next morning and went to take a shower at the bathroom at the end of the hall and found out that the lights didn’t work. Whatever, I’m mostly blind without my glasses anyways so i just showered in the dark, no biggie

we had an early bus to catch from Milan to Venice, so we headed out to the bus station. I’ll be honest, I do not remember how we got there. I think we walked, because I ended up with a coffee at some point so I probably got it from some cafe on the way? But idk. I was so tired.

We get on the bus, I found two empty seats far away from Molly and Ally, and immediately stretched out and fell asleep.

Ally woke me a little later and said “c’mon, we’re here!”

I was confused as all hell because it had not been nearly long enough for us to get all the way to Venice, but I got off the bus and was greeted by Molly stretching her arms out and proclaiming “Welcome to Venice!” underneath a sign that said we were at the Verona bus station.

They did not believe me when I said Verona and Venice were two different places. “Venice has canals, Verona is where Romeo & Juliet is set. There are no canals in R&J, they’re two different places!” I literally had to pull out my phone, go to google maps, and zoom out until they could see that Venice was still several hours away before they believed me.

The bus driver almost didn’t let us back on but I was able to show him on the tickets that our end destination was, in fact, Venice.

Venice itself was pretty neat. We got to go on a gondola ride and I ate an entire pizza by myself at dinner lmao.

Day 3 - Venice to Florence

we took a train from Venice to Florence the next morning, and that’s when I discovered that Italian train stations have lovely little cafes with AMAZING coffee and really good pastries. The other two didn’t drink coffee but like, their loss. it was fantastic. 

Florence was great, we found a little shop that sold really yummy gelato for only 1 Euro a scoop - Geletaria La Carraia. If you ever end up in Florence, definitely check it out!

We wandered around for a while, took a lot of pictures. There was some famous church that was undergoing some renovations, but as we walked up to it Molly gasped and said “I’ve climbed that in Assassin’s Creed!” which was pretty funny. 

We went to a museum that had made a bunch of models of some of Leonardo DaVinci’s inventions. We went to an art museum and stumbled across Michaelangelo’s David on accident, so that was the big “wtf” moment of the day. Also that night Molly decided to buy a bottle of wine to take home to a friend of her’s back in America, but realized after buying it that her backpack wasn’t big enough to cart it around for the rest of the week so I ended up carrying an entire fucking bottle of wine for the rest of the trip because I was the only one smart enough to bring a proper backpacking backpack and not just my school bag.

Also the hostel we were in had actual skeleton keys for their rooms and actual goddamn keyholes that one could clearly see through so i left the key in the lock all night AND hung my sweatshirt from the door handle so that no one could peek in at us

Day 4 - Florence to Pisa

once again, I woke up early, went into the bathroom attached to our room (the hostel had had a cancellation and so we ended up in a private room instead of a dorm style) and discovered that the lights didn’t work so I had a second shower in the dark

we took another train from Florence to Pisa, and there we ran into our only bit of bad weather

What’s the big draw in Pisa? The Leaning Tower, right?

What was the only day it rained, non-fucking-stop, the entire time we were in Italy? THE DAY WE WERE IN PISA

I got so soaked that I actually bought a new sweatshirt because the one I was wearing was DRIPPING

anyways, after we had taken several dumb touristy pictures and grabbed an early dinner at a nearby restaurant, we decided to head over to the room I had booked. The cheapest place I could find was a tiny cabin at a campground nearby. According to the map on my phone, it was a short walk away.

A solid hour later, we finally trudged up to the main office of the campground, shivering and soaked, and got the keys to our cabin. We set our stuff down, and Ally and Molly decided to go back out to the grocery store we had passed coming in. I waved them off and went to take a shower in the bathroom with fully functioning lights! hooray!

Day 5 - Pisa to Rome

another morning, another train station with excellent coffee. We got into Rome and, at this point, we were all so tired from travelling that I was finally able to take charge. up until this point, Molly had been railroading us, even sort of bullying Ally in the process, but now she was exhausted and I, through a combination of practice in functioning while dead on my feet, lots of travel experience, and Mom Friend Instincts, took the reins. We got to Rome and I said “we’re going to the church with the big hole in the roof (its a thing, look it up) and then we’re going to eat.... at this place around the corner and then we’re going to to go our hostel and check in”

they didn’t argue, and that’s a true testament to how fucking tired the two of them were, especially Molly, because she would argue about anything and everything given half a chance. We also went to the military museum that day, mostly because it was free and also air conditioned

(also while looking through my pictures of this trip i just discovered that i still have the picture i took of the Rome hostel FAQ page that had by the front desk, which i now remember i did because it had the wifi password on it and we weren’t in our room for 30 seconds before one of the other two asked what the wifi password was so, once again, i show that i am a very good traveler/travelling buddy)

Day 6 - Rome

so we had the next full day in Rome, and we got up early to get in line for the Vatican. I wanted to be there by 7am, Molly was like “it doesn’t even open until 9!” and we compromised at 8 and it was STILL an enormous line so i was like “see? this is why i wanted to get here early”

Oh, but before we went to the Vatican, i took a shower. IN. THE. DARK. BECAUSE ALL OF ITALY EXCEPT FOR PISA DECIDED THAT I DIDN’T DESERVE TO HAVE A SHOWER WHERE I DIDN’T HAVE TO FUMBLE AROUND BLINDLY LIKE AN ASSHOLE

ALSO on the way to the Vatican, I asked if the two of them had their passports. Ally said yes. Molly said yes, why?

And I had to then explain to Molly, a 20 year old RELIGIOUS STUDIES MAJOR, who was RAISED CATHOLIC and who had FAMILY IN THE CLERGY, that the Vatican, THE CENTER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, is it’s own country. 

she, again, did not believe me until i pulled it up on google for her

turned out that we didn’t need our passports stamped to enter the Vatican but still! still!!!!!

so it turned out that whatever day we were there on, the Sistine Chapel isn’t open that day, so we just walked through the cathedral and then headed out to the Colosseum and the ruins of the Senate behind it, both of which were very cool

Day 7 - Rome to Milan to London

we got up even EARLIER on our last day, I took another shower in the dark, and we rushed over to the Vatican, speedwalked through most of the museum, and finally got into the Sistine Chapel, which was absolutely breathtaking. Then we hauled ass back to the train station to catch our train back to Milan.

At this point in the trip, I was so fucking done with the two of them, but especially Molly. Ally was sweet and naive, but she was also willing to listen to new information. Molly was just a stubborn ass with a mean streak a mile wide and I was COMPLETELY done associating with her.

Luckily, since I had booked my flights separately, while we had flown into Milan on the same plane, I had a completely different flight back to London - to a different airport, even. They were going back to London City, but I was heading to London Gatwick. Both planes were set to depart around the same time, from two gates that were next to each other though, so i couldn’t really escape them until - uh oh! My flight was delayed. 

Molly and Ally were fretting about it but i was like “it’s fine. it’s fine. I’ve been flying since i was literally 3 months old and I s o m e h o w know more Italian AND Spanish than the two of you combined, even though I would never say that I speak EITHER of those languages. Just go.”

The flight ended up being delayed like 5 hours due to mechanical issues. They finally just got another plane for us, and we finally took off from Milan. When we went over Paris, the captain, obviously feeling bad about the delay, made sure to tilt the plane in both directions so that everyone could see the Eiffel Tower lit up, it was really neat.

We finally got back to London at literally like 230 in the morning. The busses and some of the trains weren’t even running at that point - certainly not all the way out to the fancy little liberal arts college I was going to. I went up to some security guard at the airport and said “just tell me how close I can get to the University of Roehampton on the trains” and he told me to take the train to Black Friars so I got out there and there was a bus, but it was like 40 minutes out. It’s now pass 3am, I am exhausted after a long, weird week in Italy, I texted my dad and he said “just get an Uber i’ll pay for it”

The Uber driver was very nice and as soon as I got in he said “you look really cold! do you want the heat on?” i could have fucking kissed him. he was super nice. actually made sure that I was still texting my dad (i had mentioned it when I got in because I almost dropped my bag while trying to text and maneuver at the same time) every few minutes. offered to let me take and send a picture of him to my dad. otherwise didn’t really speak and just let the music play. I tipped him literally whatever was in my pocket at that time, i don’t remember how much it was, but it was at least 20% and probably more. Really great guy. 

Random London Uber driver from 2017, you remain the best Uber driver and I love you

i finally crawled into my shitty little dorm bed at about 4am, exhausted and utterly bewildered by the past week

honestly??? I’m still bewildered by my week in Italy.

wtf even happened in all that mess.

#italy #venice #florence #rome #pisa #tales from the hill #chris #thebubbledragon

[thestarfishdancer]

I was going to do the blog thing last night, but the internet was painfully slow and so I gave up and went to bed early instead. Probably for the best, with this cold. The more sleep segments I can fit in, the better.

The old bridge!

Swan

Lucerne by twilight

After we left Paris, it was on to Lucerne, a city on a lovely lake in Switzerland. The sun was already mostly set by the time we arrived, so I only have nighttime pictures – and night time experience – there. I drifted down to the wooden bridge, over 600 years old, and walked across it. A choir was singing on it – not a performance, but perhaps they are touring and decided to sing together. Another little bit of magic for me! I wandered around a bit during my free time, mostly around the lake area. I did stop in the souvenir store, but since they didn’t sell stamps and I like to mail from the country they are from, I didn’t end up buying them. Instead, I went back to the lakeside to enjoy a quiet pace and take pictures of the ducks and swans. I even got a little closer than I thought I might. These swans seemed fairly chill, but you never know with them. I did keep the little wooden pillar (I think used to tie boats at high water) between me and them at all times.

We overnighted in Switzerland, at a Holiday Inn, I think. Things are starting to blur together. Then in the morning, it was on to Milan.  It rained and rained in Milan, which did put a little bit of a damper on some of my wandering. I caved and bought a cheap umbrella, which doesn’t quite stay long because that’s what happens when you buy a 5 euro umbrella off the street. It does the trick in a pinch, though, so I’ll keep it for the trip, I think. I ate pizza in a little restaurant in the mall in an Arch de Triomphe in Milan, writing my postcards and sending them onward (about twice as expensive for stamps in Milan as anywhere else), then wandered around the cathedral. I didn’t have time to get a ticket to go in, but the outside is pretty spectacular on its own.

After Milan, the bus went onward to Venice. I wish I could tell you about the scenery, but I pretty much have been napping through it all. We overnighted on the mainland, at the Albatros Hotel. It was… okay, I guess. The bed was small and the mattress should probably be replaced soon, and I’m seriously choked that none of the hotels here seem to have a room kettle – not since the Netherlands – but it was serviceable.

Cathedral.

Milan cathedral detail

Cathedral detail

A sea of umbrellas in rainy Milan.

Cathedral detail

Woman feeding birds in front of the cathedral in Milan – which I did not do, because if you are caught you are hit with a huge fine. It’s illegal!

Venice was today, and though it started cloudy, it ended up being brilliant and sunny. In Italy, you have to have an Italian city guide, so we had another tour guide today, not from our tour company. Lisa led us to our boat, to go over to the main island. She took us to watch a glass blowing maestro demonstration and to see the San Marco square with the gorgeous cathedral, then we rode gondolas before having lunch. I had the black spaghetti – cooked in cuttlefish ink! – for my first course. I liked it – simple flavour, but the colour is novel! The second course was salad with calamari and some sort of prawns. Seafood is not my favourite, but it was fine. The tiramisu for dessert was lovely, but I still had gelato on the way back, because why not?

A maestro at work.

The finished product – a unicorn pulled from glass in a mere minute!

I’m not sure what the sound would be like on this guitar, but it looks very cool!

Gondola!

I didn’t have time to go in, but the outside was overwhelmingly stunning on its own!

Another Victor Emmanuel statue! Also… look at that blue sky!

After a little more window shopping (which is fun, because between the blown glass and the masquerade masks, the windows are awesome), it was time to go back to mainland. It was another 6 hours to Rome, so I napped almost immediately (this cold is draining!) then Tim (our GoEuGo guide, in case I hadn’t mentioned that before) put on Angels and Demons, since it features a lot of the sights we’ll see tomorrow. I’d read the book but it makes a much better movie – I thoroughly enjoyed. Now I’m off to bed to hopefully have enough reserves to make it through the walking tour tomorrow.

EU Go, Girl! Adventures in Europe #7 I was going to do the blog thing last night, but the internet was painfully slow and so I gave up and went to bed early instead.

#cathedral #Food #goEugo #goEUgo tours #gondola #group tour #Italy #lucerne #milan #Solo Travel #switzerland #Travel #venice

[crispyimagines17]

A ROAD TRIP WITH TOM HIDDLESTON WOULD INCLUDE...

Written by: Crispy Imagines.

Soundtrack: [including 4DX experience, which means ambient sounds] main theme / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 

Notes: This headcanon is set in summer (in case you’re reading this in other season). If you’d like one set in autumn, let me know by sending a message or an ask. Also, the road trip takes place around European countries like Italy, France and Spain (cause if I look further this would take forever). I swear I could’ve posted my goddamn 6hrs full playlist. No kiddin. <3 

Warnings:  I don’t truly believe this is a headcanon, it’s more like a story without prose haha. So, it’s a little bit long. That’s the only ‘warning’. Listen with headphones, preferably. 

It’s a sunny sunday morning in London. Tom and you are leaning on your bed, holding hands and with all the time in the world to enjoy yourselves. Cause it’s summer; he’s not working, you’re not working. [1]

“Our official first day of vacations”

Both walk down the stairs right to the kitchen and prepare some breakfast; coffee, cranberries’ pancakes, eggs with tomato and a slice of toasted bread. [2]

“Now what?”, Tom repeats Finding Nemo’s dialogue provoking you to laugh. 

“Summer vacations, maybe?” 

“At home?” 

Tom has that playful smile of him, standing up and driving you to the leaving room in excitement. Suddenly, he jumps into the couch with a bright smile and yells;

“Get your luggage ready, honey! We’re leaving to Anywhere!” [3]

Laughing, jumping and running all over the house. 

In the closet, Tom takes out a couple of suitcases and leaves you there to run down to the garage. 

“Where are we going?”

“Just grab what’s neccessary, not too much things, darling”, his voice screaming and therefore, echoing. 

Luggage ready and a bag with secret stuff Tom didn’t wanted you to see. 

Driving “to the airport!”

A sense of adventure peeking ahead. 

VIP flight tickets. 

Holding your hand and that playful smile again. Because this will be the time together both needed after all the hard work. 

Airplane take-off. [4]

Adventure mode on. 

Wine, laughs, soft kisses and a good movie during the flight. [5]

Landing on Rome. [6]

Rent a car and driving under the city lights towards a hotel. 

Leaving your luggage in the suite room and out to walk. 

“An evening in Roma”

Dining in a little restaurant/bistro; authentic pizza, italian pasta and a glass of wine. 

Italian food = a God’s blessing. 

Soft kisses before falling asleep in La Città Eterna.

"Wake up, sunshine”

Italian breakfast down a meson. [7]

“Wait. Aren’t we going to stay?”

That playful smile appearing again over his face. 

Changing the car to a Jeep Renegade.

Sunglasses on. 

“Ready?”

“For what?” 

Tom sits in the driver place and you take the co-driver’s.

Driving towards the highway. 

Buying at a convenience store (like 7-eleven) some water, a soda, chocolates, candies, and chips. Just some human energy for a 3 maybe 5-hours road trip. 

Opening the M&M’s and placing some on your hand to give them to Tom in his mouth. 

Singing old songs and weird songs out loud, gestures and hands dancing included. [8]

“Cause I’m Mr. Brightside!” [9]

Watching the first advertisement announcing the city Tom is driving you to. 

“La Toscana! Florencia”

Tom chuckles at your reaction. 

Not going right forward to Florencia, but instead visiting a town first. 

Finding a beautiful inn owned by a typical italian woman, loving and kind. 

Down in the little town, people don’t recognize Tom, which leads you to spend an authetic and beautiful afternoon. 

Surprisingly, there’s a wedding being celebrated and both are invited by the landlady. 

Being the leading dancing couple when ‘Sway’ is played. [10]

Going to sleep after 3 a.m. because of the party. 

“Wake up, love” 

Driving to Florencia.

Fancy italian breakfast in a fancy restaurant. [11]

Because Florence is fancy, and beauty. Art, art, art everywhere.  

Visiting the daydream art museum ‘Galleria degli Uffizi’, where’s found a collection of priceless works from the Italian Renaissance.

Next stop; Venecia! (Venice)

Towards the highways. 

More singing and weird talks about childhood. 

Watching the sunset while driving and listening to a beautiful calm song. [12]

Decide to camp in a wonderful meadow that diverted from the highway. 

That mysterious bag Tom brought has camping stuff and everything needed. 

An improvised picnic at night with food bought in little stores on your way. 

Wild kisses. Soft kisses. Midnight talks. [13]

More convenience stores.

Arriving to Venice. 

Trying Gelato. 

Gelato = a God’s gift to human race. 

Enjoying the city through those boats, its magical landscapes, colors, scence and food. [14] 

A short escape to Verona. 

“I am truly, madly, deeply, foolishly, completely in love with you”

“O Thomas, Thomas, wherefore art thou Thomas?”

Love, Shakespeare and Italy. You never have enough. 

Holding hands while walking as a love promise in the ‘City of Lovers’ 

More driving, but under the night sky with music surrounding you. [15]

Taking shifts to drive. Sometimes he does, sometimes you do. 

Tom extending his shift if he feels you’re tired to take yours. 

And it doesn’t matter, cause it’s your adventure together. 

Again, more convenience stores. 

Driving all the way to France without first stopping in Milan to go shopping.

Before leaving, diverting your way for a trip to Bergamo.

Camping near the mountains and waterfalls, into the woods. [main theme]

“Oh, to see without my eyes; the first time that you kissed me.”

Making love under the clear starry sky.  

“Wake up, darling”

Bye, Italy. We love you. 

“Sicilia! We’re coming back to Italy just to visit Sicilia, that’s for sure.” 

“Of couse, darling. It’s Vito Corleone’s land.” 

On the road, on the road, the road of your lives. [16]

“Turn right to take the highway to...” 

“Now?” 

“Yes! Now!” 

*Fast & Furious kind of scene*

Sunlight burning you inside because it’s summer.

“Viva la France!” [17]

Arriving to a little town before going to the big french cities. 

Showing your french skills. 

“Oui”

Trying authentic french macarons. 

Staying the night at a beautiful little inn. 

Dancing La Valse d’Amelie slowly in your room. [18] 

“Bonjour, mon amour.” (Good morning, my love)

French breakfast. 

Talking with the landlady about daily life.

Back to the road. 

“Are we driving to Paris?”

“Paris in the 20s?” 

“Sure! Cause I’m right here in a car with F. Scott Fitzgerald himself!”

Driving through all those daydream valleys and meadows. [19]

Miraculously, you arrive to The City of Love when it’s raining. 

Walking along the Seine... Paris in the rain. 

Stops raining. 

Visiting La Tour Eiffel. 

Fancy shopping.

“Au revoir, France!”

Next stop...

“Olé, España!” [20]

Excursion to the Basilica of Montserrat from Barcelona. 

Also to La Sagrada Familia.

Acting as locals in a park at Zaragoza.

“Sí, sí, gracias”

Renting a little beach house at Playa de Andrín, Asturias.

Picnic at the beach. 

Tom and you playing with water like kids. 

Swimming until your body wrinkles by water. 

Reading and talking while his head lays on your legs.

Sunset and toast with spanish wine.

Trying paella and falling in love with its delicious mixture of flavors. [21]

Learning to dance Flamenco.

Failing plenty times until you get the rythm.

Conveniences stores (7-eleven) being the best place in the world because of the homemade candies.

“Muchas gracias por todo, España” (Thank you for everything, Spain) 

Your last night driving. And it’s towards Madrid, where you’ll later pick up a flight back home.

“Hey, we got to come back!” 

Driving at night in the rain. [22]

“Thank you for this, darling” 

“I love you, Thomas”

Landing in London. 

Of course, along your road trip, both bought several souvenirs and took photographs of every place and landscape.

Also, pictures of you two together, or eating, or sleeping, or doing whatever thing. 

Back home. 

“Uff”, throwing the luggage and yourselves over the couch.

If you’ve read all of this and still not eager to get out and have all those memories, then you didn’t listen to the whole 22 tracks. If you did, you’ve been a victim of my mental breakdown writing this and I don’t regret it haha

#* sobs* #Headcanon #tom hiddleston #road trip #roadtrip #road trip with tom hiddleston would include #summer with tom hiddleston #roadtrip with tom hiddleston would include #tom hiddleston x reader #imagine tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x you #tom hiddleston headcanon #tom hiddleston imagine

[josiejourney]

November 22, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving! What a weird feeling to be alone on this holiday. I miss my family and the meal they’re eating so so so much. I haven’t had sweet potatoes in so long. Or turkey. Or stuffing — wow, it’ll probably be a full two years until I eat stuffing (Thanksgiving 2017-2019). RIP.

Also it’s so odd to be in a place that couldn’t give less of a damn about Thanksgiving. Everything is open and people are going to school and no one even knows it’s a big holiday in America! That’s honestly kinda cool.

So I did so much stuff by myself today! I left from Campo di Marte at 11am (well more like 11:15 because the train was delayed as usual) on a Frecciargento (LMAO) that was going to Bergamo (EVEN BIGGER LMAO). [Understanding why Frecciargento is a “lmao” takes too long to explain here in full detail so I will just say that normally one would want to take a Frecciarossa when going to a big city (Milan, Rome, Florence, Naples, Venice, etc.) and the Frecciargentos don’t go the most direct route/to the most populated stops. Which makes perfect sense as to how I could take a single train from Firenze Campo di Marte to Bergamo.]

So, just for backstory, I got cheap flights on Ryanair because I didn’t plan going to Paris with the foresight that I would’ve liked. Ryanair only flys out of shoddy airports...like Paris Beauvais and Milan Bergamo.

So I went to Bergamo — got there at 2:30. My flight didn’t depart until 7:20pm, and although I had to take a freaking bus there, I knew I’d have time to kill. So I explored Bergamo! Wow, it was the most Italian place I’ve ever been yet. Like no one speaks English. Because why would they? It’s a tiny mountain town in Lombardy (technically closer to Switzerland than Milan, I believe) -- I did see the occasional English (yes, like British) or Asian tourist with their giant DSLR cameras -- and for the most part, they stay to themselves. I remember a boy who went to my high school was from Bergamo. Full circle. 

It was cold. The city is split into two areas — a Città Alta and a Città Bassa -- and the upper part of the city is a UNESCO Heritage Site for its medieval Venetian walls, old churches, and overall insanely unique presence. So unique that I had to take a funicular. A FUNICULAR. I couldn’t get a good picture of this thingy, so I’m gonna go on Google and put one on here. What the heck? I was #shook.

I spent my time in Bergamo looking at two churches. It was so worth it. They were two of the best churches I’ve ever been to in my entire life. I took the funicular back down and walked through a Christmas market they had set up on the main street towards the station. Europe is so Christmasy! After buying my bus ticket, I bought some hot chocolate from a lady for €1.50 (which is SUCH a steal) and she was so incredibly nice. Our interaction made me very happy; the entire day I was using my Italian of course, but still felt so out of place -- maybe it was my backpack, maybe it was because I was legit the only non-white person there, maybe it was just me overthinking things, but the entire day I’d felt a little out of my element, and having the quick little exchange with her (and having everything go smoothly and her not even second guess whether or not I was Italian!) made me feel so much better.

So, now the fun part ends. I got on the bus from Bergamo to the airport, was transported in the “bus in the sky” that is Ryanair to Beauvais. Took another bus from Beauvais to Paris Porte Maillot city center. Then took the metro to my Airbnb. WE LOVE EUROPE! BIENVENUE!

[wreckthelist]

a sensual Italian summer: #DroppingInOnElio trip

I ordered and received my copy of Call Me By Your Name in the post on May 23.  Three days later, I booked a budget airline flight from London’s Stansted to Milan’s Bergamo (Orio Al Serio) airport.

Was I really going all the way to Italy, renewing my Schengen Visa application (came in handy for the spontaneous Dunkerque trip in July!) and planning a whole 5-day trip around an upcoming film whose trailer and poster were yet (at the time) to be released?

Hell yes.

(Blame my in-depth digging into Armie and Elizabeth Hammer’s Instagram feed during their time in Northern Italy. Didn’t do any cool ‘in-set’ printed vs. real location picture stunts here because my sources were Instagram posts as opposed to real trailer captures. My trip was in late June, booking where the flight tickets were cheapest—I am but a poor international student.)

Even my Italian friend was surprised. “Those are….unusual places to visit,” he said, when I named the cities. He’d yet heard of the film (not unexpected), and assured me there wouldn’t be a flock of tourists for them cities, out of their remoteness.

As always, here’s the map:

Planned around my Airbnb SuperHosts’ convenience, I opted to fly to Bergamo first, then take the train down to Crema, and fly back from Bergamo.

Arrived in Bergamo where I chose to stay in the Old Upper Town (Citta Alta) which could be reached by the funicula from the Lower Town.

It’s a lovely city, with well-preserved streets and buildings. It was real refreshing the first day, to enter my 7-floor tall tower of an Airbnb and breathe in the views.

My Airbnb was like a museum, a particular favorite.

At night, I used to sit by that window and listen to songs while writing lyrics in my notebook (it’s a chilled-out trip, for me to hermit my heart out, much as I pleased, during those five days in remote Northern Italian cities.)

This shot in the trailer brought back memories of the balcony, especially the one in my room (taken from the Airbnb host’s website).

Bit more of Bergamo, though I’m not exactly sure where they shot scenes.

I did get this shot of the Main Square in the city, where its university is and where, during my first walk of blind exploration, I let out a delighted grasp at simply being there. It was free, it was sizzling hot, it was open-air Italy.

One pure delight of Bergamo (which you must, absolutely must try, if you should ever find yourself in the area) was its original dessert, unique to the city: Polenta e Osèi. Polenta is boiled cornmeal, associated with Northern and Central Italy, and this dessert was a delicious mix of sponge cake, chocolate, butter, hazelnut cream, and rum. A decadent, indulgent chewy mess.

Having some peach for breakfast :)

My second day in Bergamo I jetted off to Sirmione, a location on Armie’s Instagram of this legendary seaside shot:

And of course this:

Sirmione is actually a tourist-filled holiday island, surrounded by Northern Italy’s Lake Gerda and  reachable only by ferry from Descenzano Del Gerda. It wasn’t until after I got to Descenzano Del Gerda for a while that I realised I had to take the ferry. But first, the shots from Descenzano (also a lovely, lovely resort town. Beaches, short shorts, swim suits and sand. Summer in Italy. Ah.) :

The waters were that nice colour as shown in this shot in the trailer here:

The beaches were filled with swimmers and, as it were that blistering day in June (had yet another gelato when I’d promised myself not to), some sort of a duathlon. So the most decent picture I got of Sirmione (the others I decided not to take, out of the scene being so commercial and populated) was the one from a distance as the ferry was approaching:

Shot of the train station at Descenzano.

The next day, I packed my bags and headed by (two connections) of train rides to Crema. Now, barring anything else, I would not return back. Crema’s a quiet, vast, middle-class suburb of a city, without much to do. (Hence my decision on my last day in Italy to go off to Verona for a day trip.)

After settling in, I explored the city. I’m not saying they should hire me for pre-film Call Me By Your Name tours, but they should hire me for film tours. Walked around and found the locations purely by a map, without any aid of GPS whatsoever.

A technical note: Crema is divided into Old and New Towns, the latter being the first location you enter through the train station). The parts shown in the film’s trailer are in the Old Town where my Airbnb was.

The main highlight is the Square.

They’d removed all the restaurants’ tables and chairs and set it up as it would’ve looked in 1980s. Here’s how it looks in 2017 (Taken when approaching the Square from the New Town (a 15 minute walk):

A view not dissimilar to Armie’s night/dinner kebab (there were literally two kebab places in Crema. The one I managed to hunt down sucked, despite my 60% certainty it may have been the one Armie bought.)

Didn’t come out at night as the town was quite deserted by then – and I had a long walk alone back to my Airbnb.

Once you walk a little of the way into one of the buildings in the Square itself….

Taken when approaching the Square from my Airbnb in the Old Town:

Reached a new level of fangirling when I managed to identify the exact spot he sat for breakfast, when he dropped into Crema some time after filming wrapped.

Finally got to have cioccolata calda (Italian Hot Chocolate) again, after having my first in my undergraduate university city in Canada and have been sorely missing it ever since. Italian hot chocolate’s a gooey, melt-in-your-mouth, no-nonsense, full-on chocolate goodness. Try it, and I promise you won’t ever forget the experience.

Scoured the Old Town until I found this spot through a narrow alley. Turned out it was a car park. Surprise. Lingered there for the longest time, but no one was to help me take a decent full body picture. So I was left with the remaining option of a selfie (Sorrows of the Solo Traveler).

I remember this trailer shot as the way leading into this car park (I could be wrong, but this is post-trailer, investigative work.)

On my way to catch my train out of Crema, I lingered, staring at that alleyway leading to this parking lot for the longest time, honestly.

Crema’s full of alleyways like this, reminiscent of a shot in the trailer.

Thanking my June self so hard right now for taking this shot of the war memorial to be featured in the film.

It’s in reality a car park, and that building on the right of the picture a makeshift crafts market.

Details can be found here.

This Piazza I incidentally found, thanks to Armie’s post (and such blessings for his adorable daughter!)

That same brick wall…. (why oh why didn’t I see this picture before!)

It being summer (and because I’m a crazy person), I got the peach flavoured granita (crushed ice with sugar and syrup—ah, Italia.) from a popular joint with queues stretching beyond the entrance.

Ordered once in English, and the entire place was staring at you as one.

The Crema villa used in the film as the Perlman’s (Elio’s family’s) retails for  €2.450.000,00. 

And that wraps up my Bergamo-Crema (#DroppingInOnElio) Trip in anticipation of future Oscar Nominee, Luca Guadagnino-directed Call Me By Your Name!

Can’t wait to cry over this in theaters.

#peaches. #Call Me By Your Name #cinematic wanderlust

[highbuttonsports]

The Flames offseason took a big swing a few days back with blockbuster trade.

Yeah I’m upset. I think it was Drake who rapped that, now the city of Calgary is singing the same song. Let me preface this by saying personally, I’m not upset, let’s go with neutral. The Flames offseason took a big swing a few days back with blockbuster trade. Alright, well yea you’re right, it’s probably not a blockbuster in today’s game, but back it up 5-6 years when both of these guys were in their younger years, it might have been a decent heavy hitting deal. That’s right, breaking down the James Neal and Milan Lucic trade. 

Let’s put this deal in a brief perspective. It’s like used cars. I have a pickup truck that is no longer good to me living downtown Calgary, I can’t park it in a parking garage, I don’t drive it much anymore and need something smaller. My buddy has a smaller car, with a bunch of miles on it and although isn’t ideal it’s better for what I need. We might have a good trade off here, he actually just bought a house and could use a truck for homeowner shit. The payments are pretty much equal, the needs have changed, how about we swap? That seems like exactly what the Flames and Oilers ultimately did. However you want to help yourself sleep at night, whether it was a bad contract for a bad contract type of deal, or  “filling a need” for “filling a need” type of deal, it’s done. Looch will be wearing the Flaming C come October, and the Real Deal will be up in the blue and orange. I’ll be the first to admit, I was excited as hell last July when the Real Deal signed in Calgary. 

  Who wouldn’t love a career 20 goal scorer each year on their roster. It’s screams consistency. Even at 5.75 million some say it might be steep, others might be like that’s a pretty good deal. I’m in the decent deal boat. Obviously that was shown to be a bust this year, but when you look at some of the other contracts out there based on contribution I don’t think it’s the worst. Looking at Milan, again similar deal. 6 million for what he is now is extremely steep. He probably still calls Uncle Peter Chiarelli every summer to thank him for that ticket. I won’t disagree that it’s also steep for what he offers now, but when you’re dealing with bad contracts sometimes you just have to take your medicine. Obviously Holland just inherited this, but he still has to make the best out of a bad situation and I think he did that here. Treliving on the other hand must of felt like he had no other choice. Listening around the city on sports radio, news outlets and all things Flames, or should I say James Neal must go.  Almost a year later what we thought was a good signing, or what I thought was a good signing was traded away. 

Let’s look at it for each player. When I talk to the boys in the shop, I talk about this deal with expectations. I don’t hate that we traded James Neal, I don’t love it either. I don’t hate that we acquired Milan Lucic, but I don’t necessarily love it. When I say expectations, I go this route. Let’s look back at last summer when the Flames signed James Neal. They’re starting to change their identity after another down year. New coach, some roster changes, things are looking up. Adding what was really a bigger free agent signing in James Neal we were all under the impression he’d walk in here and score another twenty. I was in that boat 100 percent. The expectations were being set for James Neal before he ever stepped on the ice in a Flames sweater. He was going to step into the first line with Gaudreau and Monahan and flourish. Worst case scenario he’d be a second liner and likely still throw up twenty. Obviously that wasn’t the case, so as you sit back and try to find out where it all went wrong we can look at a few different things. New coach, Bill Peters. 

   Right from the get go, did he give Neal a true chance. Sure he threw him up on line one or line two from time to time for a shift to give him that shot, but nothing came to fruition. Did he write off Neal before he ever stepped on the ice? I’m not saying that this was the case, but it definitely could be possible. It could be James himself. Did he play too much hockey over the past few years and never had a true off season where he could recover, and train. This could be the case as to why his foot speed or straight up hockey sense seemed to be non existent this past year. Like I mentioned, expectations, here’s where we lie. We EXPECTED James Neal to come into Calgary, with a 5.75 million dollar contract to put up twenty goals and play top line minutes night in and night out. We don’t know it for sure, but it could be the exact same expectation James set out for himself. Once that doesn’t happen, then obviously it’s a failure. When you are expecting a 5.75 million dollar sniper to be just that, and he turns out to be a dud playing out on the third and fourth line, putting up 7 goals, 12 assists for 19 points you’re damn right we’re going to call a spade a spade and call for his head because that was an epic fail of a contract, or so it seems. Now I’m one that was expecting him to get another year to prove his worth. He would have that full summer to get himself in shape.

   He had that bad year so the motivation should be there to get his shit together. There wasn’t many options for Treliving to get rid of him as a buy out just didn’t make sense, and trade partners are extremely limited. Clearly the Flames felt the trial ran out like it usually does after 30 days and found a partner to dance with and offloaded the baggage. Looking at him up in Edmonton, again it’s a hit or miss. Either he’s going to put up 20+, or he’s going to be another dud. Everyone is expecting him to put up 30 being on a line with Connor, but can he keep up? Can he be put in the slot and get a feed from McDavid? It remains to be seen, and should be interesting to see how it plays out. I will say this though, although I’m not sure what the over/under will be set at for 2019/2020, but based upon last years totals, I got the over for James Neal goals this year.

The other piece of that trade was Milan Lucic heading down Highway 2 to the C of Red. I’ll start this bit off with a little about myself. I grew up a Bruins fan, and still love following the Bruins, but living in Calgary and attending many Flames games, and being invested I’ve come to cheer for the Flames. Call me what you want, but unless you live in the city and go through the same ups and downs and feels in the arena, don’t comment until you do! Looch was your stereotypical Bruin. I loved his game since he came into the league. He was the true big bad Bruin. Obviously times have changed, the league has changed and his game isn’t what it used to be. The game of hockey isn’t want it used to be as it’s changed so much over the past few years. That’s why I’m sitting back and waiting to see how this plays out. By the numbers, again bad contract. Calgary did save some money taking on this bad contract which will help when trying to sign our other RFA’s, but we also take on a NMC, and some signing bonus money that we didn’t have with Neal, but it’s the old adage that the change of scenery could make this work (for both teams). Let me take you back to where we talked about expectations. 

  Let’s move into this trade, and realize that we are not expecting Looch to walk in here and play with Gaudreau and Monahan, or with Backlund and Tkachuk. So yes, when you look at it in the sense that we’re paying 5.25 million for a guy on the bottom 6, but we were going to pay that anyway. Are we going to pay that for a guy that we’re expecting to do something that isn’t, or actually find the value in the fact that we have a guy playing his role, what he was brought in to do and anything he does will seem like an added bonus. Let’s not discount the fact that in 12 NHL years, he has over 500 points and 1000 PIMs in almost 900 games. That’s not terrible for a guy who has been a grinder throughout his career, but can also play up and down the lineup. In those numbers, he’s scored 15 or more goals 8 times with a career high of 30 goals in 2010-2011. Now I won’t be the one that sits here and suggests he’s going to put up 30 this year, or ever again, but I will sit here and suggest that he gets 15+ this year. If we get 15+ along with 40-50 points I think that should be considered a success. But all that aside, I think the part of this deal that will make this a win for Calgary is the fact that Milan Lucic is in the lineup. 

  Yes the game has changed, but if you don’t think he keeps guys honest out there, take a lap. He’s a presence no matter where he is, and with a younger lineup along with some vets like Gio, this has to be a win for the dressing room, not to mention allowing some guys like Bennett and Tkachuk to be their usual aggravating selves out there with a bit less pressure knowing whose backing them up. Not that they necessarily need it, but you know in the back of everyone’s minds that’s the case. I’m not sure if Milan feels as he has a lot to prove, but we know his years in Edmonton didn’t pan out how anyone was expecting let alone how I’m sure he expected it too, so maybe he is entering this year training as hard as ever, maybe even with a chip on his shoulder coming into this season with the mindset he has everything to prove. I’m hoping for that, as I’m sure the rest of Flames fans are. 

We’re still weeks away from these guys even stepping on the ice for training camp to see how this deal is going to pan out, but rest assured on every sports channel, every sports radio feed, every blog post at some point or another are going to dissect this trade all year long no matter how it starts, how it progresses and how it finishes. A very familiar scenario is going to be playing out on both ends of the QE2 Highway this year and it will definitely be fun to watch. The more I write about this trade, the more excitement I get thinking of having that 17 flying around in the Dome this year. I’ll leave you with this. Mark it down now, December 27th, 2019 up in Edmonton. The first time this regular season this trade will go head to head. Until next time C of Red.

-Murrant