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kelcemenow · 6 months

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Drive Me Crazy - Chapter 2.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 1661

Warnings Strong language, but not much and a wee bit of flirting.

Huge thank you to the Anon who sent this in! They had such amazing words to say about my writing which I massively appreciate and then to top it off, had an incredible request for me! I only have experience with mechanics in the UK, so I've tried my best with this one! "I just recently got interested in Travis K. X reader stories and wanted to let you know, I read all of yours as quickly as I could. They are so well done and I couldn’t help but laugh/giggle and feel through each word you typed out. You’re doing amazing and I’m so glad to have stumbled onto your page. If you have any space for a request, I’d be curious about what Trav would think about having a military (like fighter pilot) or engineer or mechanic girlfriend. I see a lot of stories with him paired with models/singers/social media individuals (which are phenomenal!) but just wondering how he would be with a more tomboy like girlfriend!"

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

The dialling tone rang loudly in your ear for a few seconds as you wedged the office phone between your head and left shoulder. You typed up a couple of notes on the computer when the other end of the line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it that Mr Kelce? It's Y/N from KC Auto repairs." You said, checking your notes.

A deep voice laughed, "Hey, yeah it's Travis. You can call me Travis."

"Oh, okay Travis. I had a look at your car and there is a problem with your combustion chamber. You see, vehicles need the right amount of air and fuel to mix and then-"

"Woah woah, you lost me at combustion." Travis said, "Just tell me, is the car a goner?"

You giggled, "No, you just need new spark plugs. It's around $250 including labour."

You could hear him sigh down the line, "Oh! That's fine then, do what you need to do."

"Okay, sure thing. I'll be finished with it by 4pm. Are you able to come and collect around then?"

There was a short silence, "I've got a crazy day. I got a couple of things to figure out first, I don't know if I'll be around."

You checked your schedule in the large leather bound diary in front of you, "Well, I'll be in the shop late working on some other cars, so if you drop by anytime before 7, I should still be here."

"Awesome, I'll stop by!"

"Great, catch you later." You placed the phone back onto the receiver and quickly jotted down in your diary details to remind yourself to replace Travis' spark plugs.

The office door opened and the noises of the shop floor grew increased for a second before they were muffled again as the door closed.

"Hey sport." You felt your Dad's hands on your shoulders, "Your headache gone yet?"

"Not really. I already got two cars to finish up, a service and now these new spark plugs for do for that GMC." You pointed your pen in the direction of Travis' car as you began to write out a worksheet.

Your Dad leant down across your shoulder, "I could do the GMC for you?"

"Dad no, Dr Martin said you had to take it easy." You covered the worksheet with your hand.

He swiped your hand away, "Oh come on, I'm fine! It's spark plugs."

You laughed until you noticed that his face had quickly changed when he caught sight of the sheet, "What's wrong?"

His once rosy cheeked complexion was now a ghostly shade of white, "Travis Kelce...you have Travis Kelce's car here?"

"Yeah, why?"

His eyes widened as he looked towards the shop floor, "His car is in my shop? The GMC, that's Travis Kelce's car?"

Your eyebrows lowered in confusion, "Yeah, he dropped it off this morning?"

"Oh man! Y/N, you gotta let me do it! The boys at the fishing lake aren't gonna believe this!"

"What is going on? Who is this guy?" Your voice was beginning to heighten in pitch.

Your Dad lifted his sweatshirt up to reveal a bright red jersey with the number 87 emblazoned on the front, "Travis Kelce is one of the greatest tight ends the Chiefs have ever seen!"

You rolled your eyes and turned back to your diary for the day.

"Which you would know if you ever watched football with me!" He poked you in the arm with his finger.

You tore off the worksheet from the pad, "If I give you this, will you stop shouting and making my headache worse?"

You Dad carefully took the paper from your hands and gently kissed the top of your head before dancing his way out of the office and onto the shop floor, Travis' GMC waiting in the corner of the garage.

______________________________________________________________

Glancing at the digital clock on the wall, you noted that it was 6.25pm. All of your colleagues had already left for the day, leaving you in the shop by yourself. You preferred working alone but your Dad's business had built up a good reputation in the city for being the best repair shop and it was always busy.

When you were younger, you had always preferred fixing your Barbie's houses to make them better as apposed to playing with the dolls themselves. As a teenager you could always be found in the workshop tinkering with tools and learning everything you could from your Dad. You started helping him in his shop during the summer and when you left school, he took you on and gave you a job. You saved every penny you could and when your Dad needed to take a step back from work, you bought into the business, running it alongside him.

You gazed up at the underside of the Ford that was lifted above you, squinting as the night drew in. The crackled radio played in the background and as you hummed along to yourself, the faint sound of footsteps seemed to blend into the music.

"Um...hello?"

You turned your head towards the direction of the deep voice, a silhouette standing in the doorway of the shop.

You squinted further, trying to make out any defining features but to no avail. "Karl, if this is you trying to scare the shit out of me, you gotta try harder than that." You shook your head and dropped your wrench down onto the floor, the sound of the metal hitting the cement loudly echoing in the vast room.

The figure stepped further forwards, his hands held up, "I'm sorry...it's Travis. I'm just here to pick up my car?"

You felt your cheeks flush red, "Travis? I am so sorry, that was really unprofessional of me."

"Hey, it's all good! Don't worry, I probably shouldn't have lingered in the doorway watching you."

Your mouth twisted to the side, "You were watching me?"

His eyes grew bigger, "Not in a creepy way. But now I've said that it wasn't in a creepy way, it sounds like it was in a creepy way."

You wiped your hands on your towel, smiling slightly as you listened to him struggle.

"I was just...impressed. Like I said earlier, I have no clue when it comes to shit like this." He looked around the room at the various tools and parts that were dotted around.

You slowly nodded your head, "Well, thanks...I guess?"

Travis scratched the back of his head and looked down at his feet, a clear indication that he was nervous. You took the opportunity to really look at him. He was wearing bright white trainers, dark wash jeans and a Louis Vuitton jacket with a white shirt underneath. He was so pristine and you were quite concerned that he wouldn't make it out of the shop without a smudge of oil on him.

"So, my car?"

You looked towards it, digging the keys from one of your many pockets, a couple of bolts coming out with them, "Uh yeah, my Dad took great pride in fixing your car. He's a big fan."

"Oh yeah? Well please, tell your Dad I said thanks!" He smiled before looking around again, "You on your own?"

You sighed, "Yeah, I got a few things to clear up on these babies and then I'll be done."

He unlocked his car and opened the door, pausing for a second before he turned back to you, "Wanna go for a drink?"

Your heart stopped for a beat or two and your chest tightened, a feeling you weren't used to. Men didn't usually ask you out, especially not at work. You didn't exactly make an effort to only be covered in grease all day and everyone knew that your Dad wouldn't be far away, meaning most potential dates kept you very much at an arms length. But here he was, an exception.

"I've still got some work to do." You looked down at your current appearance, "And I might not be down with the latest trends, but I'm pretty sure no one will let me in anywhere looking like this."

Travis smiled coyly, "So, is that a no?"

You winced at his hidden hurt, guessing he wasn't used to women turning him down, "Thanks...but no." Digging into your pocket, you retrieved his invoice, black fingerprints smudged across the paper.

As he reached to take the invoice, his large hand covered yours and you subconsciously held your breath, a fast heat rising to your face.

"No sweat, I might see you around anyway?" He jumped into his car, turning the engine on, "I'll wire you the money for the spark...things."

You nodded in acknowledgement, watching as he pulled away carefully out of the garage and into the night. You unclenched your shoulders and laughed to yourself, turning your attention back to the Ford.

______________________________________________________________

"A package? Who from?" You questioned.

Jordan shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I didn't open it."

"We never get packages."

You became slightly distracted as Jordan tugged at the bottom hem of his hoodie and pulled it up and over his head, his shirt lifting up slightly to reveal a peek at his toned abs. He threw the garment onto the floor beside him and gazed at you.

"Y/N?"

You blinked, "Uh...I'll go and have a look now."

You furrowed your brows, making your way towards the office and shaking your head on the way, exacerbated at yourself.

On the desk was a small brown package with no indication of who it was from. You ripped open the paper and carefully pulled out the framed photograph. It was a picture of Travis midgame, the ball safely clutched in his gloved hands and speeding towards the end zone. He had signed the corner of the photograph. You turned the frame over to see some slightly messy handwriting on the back.

"For your Dad."

You smiled at his kind gesture.

"Let me know when you want to go for that drink."

______________________________________________________________

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fartlovingblkguy69 · 8 months

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Aromatherapy (Continuing a Story from Nifty.org)

A link to the story I'm continuing: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/urination/aromatherapy

Part 1

I waited 10 minutes before leaving. I was shaking with anticipation. i had never been so excited in my whole life. He was already pulled around waiting in a 2018 GMC Sierra Crew Cab. "Get in. This isn't a free ride by the way. You can either give me gas money or get down there and sniff my gas. It's a 30 minute drive, maybe longer since it's about to be rush hour. Your choice". There wasn't even a question. I quickly climbed in the passenger side and laid down while he rose up and lowered his basketball shorts. He was wearing stained gray boxer briefs with a wet stain on the back and a big golden brown streak going up the crack. They smelled like a sweaty toilet seat. He quickly sat down and ground his fat ass around my face until my nose was right in the middle of his crack. He reached back, spreading his cheeks and pressing down until my nose was pushing the dirty undies into his hole and his ass enveloped my face. "Ah, that's it. Your nose feels great in my nasty hole. I'm still sweaty from that sauna and I just took the most massive shit so your nose is going to have to scratch that itch." He ground his ass on my face some more as we pulled out of the parking lot. We stopped at every red light on the way to the highway. It took 45 minutes to get to his place. I could smell the fresh shit around his hairy hole and he kept letting out the worst SBDs the whole way laughing each time and rubbing it in on my nose. Finally we got there and he pulled up his shorts and got out. I sat up and made my way out as well. The house was huge and there were 3 other vehicles in the driveway, 2 SUVs and another pickup. We made our way inside and he took me straight to the living room. "I'm hungry so I'm going to make myself something to eat. Get down on the floor with your head in that seat over there and I'll be back" pointing to the comfy chair in the corner. I quickly obeyed and was waiting quietly in the dark when suddenly this handsome young man walked in texting on his iPhone Xr. He had on only a jockstrap that was bulging. He looked to be about 25 maybe and he had a perfect amount of muscle, nice arms, legs, firm pecs, with a little bit of a chiseled but bloated belly and a nice happy trail. He launched himself ass first into the chair I had my face waiting in and oh boy was it a nice one. Nice smooth golden cheeks with a very hairy crack that smelled like a long day with several unshowered before it. Once he had sat down he quickly realized there was something under him but instead of getting up he just farted loudly and wetly. PRRRBBBBBBTTTTTT. "Ah. That felt good. I don't smell a thing. Pops must have gotten a new fart cushion. Awesome! Especially after all those burritos had for lunch. The cheese and beans is really fucking my stomach up." He sat on my face for 10 minutes letting let out several sbds and loud wet releases while rubbing his sexy belly and really ground his wet hole into my face before spreading his cheeks to let out a huge shart. SSSSSSRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTT. My nose was sprayed with hot air and speckles of shit "Whew that was nasty. Think I felt a little shit come out on that one. Pops will have a fit if I stained his favorite chair! He might even make me his fart cushion again! Definitely don't need that torture!" He shot up and turned around bending down to make sure he hadn't made a mess of the seat. While he did I got to see more of his handsome face. He had a perfect chiseled jaw, beautiful mischievous eyes, and a thin, long nose (think Daniel Croix with green eyes). I licked my lips as he finally got to inspecting me. "Nice. It all went on you huh, cutie? Well plenty more where that came from" He said with a chuckle. He let out a bubbling fart into the air and sniffed. "Damn that's ripe. Why don't you open that pretty mouth for me this time just to be safe. I'll try not to take a dump in it". I shuddered at the thought as I'm not into that at all. He kindly wiped my face off looking down at me with a glint in his eye. I did as he said as he turned around and spread that perfect ass open.

#male farts #hairy male #im lactose intolerant #gay shit #human toilet

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redroomreflections · 20 days

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The Loud House Chapter 1

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Note: I am only uploading the first chapter here and the rest will be on A03

Summary: Natasha and Reader are happily married with a family that rivals the Brady bunch. Both moms have to adjust to married life with six children, a new space, parents living with them, and teenage woes - based on the family from It’s Christmas

A road trip can make or break even the strongest of relationships. For you and Natasha, it certainly tested the limits. Five children, one car, and ten hours of road ahead of you were daunting in the beginning. Two of the children were barely potty trained - one of them being in diapers the entire time. Another decided that she couldn’t hold her bladder for more than three hours at a time. A teen who wanted to take selfies at every single rest stop and a five-year-old who wanted to interact with truck drivers. It tested your patience more often than not. Surprisingly those were the good times. Ten hours on the road turned into sixteen. Still, you didn’t complain. It’s the first time in weeks you’ve all been together this long. As you look at Natasha, noticing her eyes light up, you realize how good this will be for your family. You think about how good it’s been so far. Neither of you was on a time crunch and seeing the excitement on your children’s faces was like no other.

Your first road trip as a family and you’d made it. You’re just entering Cincinnati, Ohio and you’re beginning a new life.

“Oh, look, it’s the first of many signs,” Cara turns her phone out towards the street. She presses it against the window, whispering to herself about being in “Bumfuck, Ohio.”

“Hey!’ You scold her from two rows up. “There are little ears back there.”

“I’m sorry,” She says sheepishly. She lowers her phone, no doubt talking to one of her friends, as she continues to describe what she sees.

“Why are we in Bumfuck?” Charlie casually repeats what her older sister said. “I thought we're going to Cicin-canti?” She wonders aloud.

“Language,” Natasha sighs. The silence of the car ride is seemingly broken. They’re getting restless and so are you. “We are moving to Cincinnati.”

“Same place,” Cara mutters. She raises her hand in mock surrender when Natasha turns to look at her. “I’m just saying it doesn’t look too exciting.”

“Well, it can be.” You stop at a traffic light. In your rearview mirror, you can see Melina, Natasha’s mother, trailing behind you in Natasha’s Audi S8. A car she barely trusted the woman to take. After a lot of convincing and kissing, Natasha agreed to let her mother drive it. “Stay positive. It might do you some good right now.”

The car ride continues in silence. You pull onto your street, searching for the familiar address, driving by houses that are larger than life. A bit larger than you’re used to that’s for sure. Children are playing in the street, Charlie presses her face against the window to watch them as you continue past at a leisurely pace. The grass is green here. Full yards. Empty pathways. Everything was entirely different from the hustle and bustle of New York City.

Finally, you pull up to the driveway of your home. You can hear gasps, and even a whine from behind you, as you put the car in park. You unbuckle your seatbelt, flashing Natasha a smile, as you both exit the car. The engine of the 2018 GMC Acadia goes dead. You make sure to pocket the keys.

You look around. The moving truck should have been here by now. You open one side of the car door simultaneously like Natasha. She takes one child out of their seat, while you take another. Paige stretches her little legs and body as soon as you set her onto solid ground. Luke, your six-month-old son, whimpers in Natasha’s arms as he awakens.

Melina parks next to you and rushes to exit so she can help.

“Oh, this is a beautiful place,” She smiles widely as she greets you.

“Yeah, Mommy, it’s huge!” James matches her smile as he looks up at the house.

“How much did something like this cost?” Alexei, Natasha’s father, asks in deep interest. He’s already inspecting the street and the other houses surrounding yours.

“2.1” You answer easily. You help Charlie and Cara out of the car next. Everyone needs fresh air and room to breathe. You brush down Charlie’s hair as everyone turns to view their surroundings.

“2.1? What is this 2.1?” Alexei tilts his head in interest. You sometimes forget he’s not American and wouldn’t always understand what you’re saying. Though you think he’s a bit in denial.

“2 million dollars, Deda,” Cara answers for him as she snaps pictures of her new home.

“Two million dollars?” Alexei chokes on his words. He grunts when Melina tells him to be quiet but he still can’t believe it. “You know what I can do with two million dollars? Where do you even get that kind of ?”

“Alexei,” Natasha steps around the car. She bounces a whimpering and sleepy Luke in her arms. “You and Melina are staying here because we want you to grow with the kids and we want them to know you. Please, just, not now.” She begs. She pats Luke’s back soothingly as he brings his fingers into his mouth to suck on them. He gives a gummy smile when Charlie begins to play peek-a-boo with him.

“I know the movers are supposed to be here,” You shake your head. You take your phone out of your pocket to view the time. “Like an hour ago. I have the keys so we can let ourselves in for now. Maybe take in what we have in the cars?” You suggest. Natasha nods. She’s thankful for a distraction.

“I have to pee!” James announces. “It’s urgent.” He says quickly as he crosses one leg over the other. You jump to cradle him in your arms, football style, as you race with him to the front door. You quickly unlock it before rushing through the house to the very first bathroom.

You help him to unbutton his jeans and get the toilet seat up. The rest he can do on his own. You go to stand outside of the bathroom in case he gets lost. You can hear the tinkle of pee and James stretching to flush the toilet.

“This house is big,” He says from behind the closed door. “ I like it, Mommy.” He opens the bathroom door with both hands. He peeks his head up at you. “There’s no soap.”

“Thank you for telling me,” You tap his nose. “I have sanitizer in the car for now,” You gesture back outside. “I can give you some of that and once we have all of our stuff we can clean them real good. How’s that sound?”

“Like a plan,” James grins before buttoning his pants. He runs past you to meet the rest of the family at the front door.

“Wow!” Charlie steps inside first followed by everyone else.

“It’s so big right, Charlie?” James looks for his sister’s approval. Charlie nods as her eyes try to take everything in.

It is a pretty big house. Seven bedrooms. Nine bathrooms. Ten thousand square feet. More than enough room for all of you.

Cara is the last kid to step in, her face too engrossed in her cell phone, to take everything in. You walk over to her, a polite tap on her arm, she looks up at you with questioning eyes.

“Can you put that away for a second?” You ask. She obliges though she isn’t too happy about it.

“Yes?” She says exasperatedly.

“How are you feeling?” You wave your hand to the foyer. She looks at the first two rooms. The one on her left is a study, for you, the one on the right, is a dining room.

“It looks good so far,” She shrugs. “Can I see my room? I do get my room right?”

“Of course you do,” You wrap your arm around her shoulder to walk further into the house. “It’s one of the main reasons we wanted to move. To have more room for you all. Something just for you.”

Cara nods, not offering more opinion, as you lead her to the first staircase. Natasha seems to be showing everyone around the house.

“Charlie, James, Paige, and Luke will be upstairs,” You nod towards the staircase. “Now, your bedroom will be downstairs.” You can see the way her eyes light up. “There is an in-law suite down there as well which is where your grandparents will be sleeping but… you’ll have privacy.” You lead her down the stairs to the finished basement. There’s a family room, a rec area, and a home theater. Something you think Cara and her friends will be using quite often. “Mama and I wanted you to feel like you have a say in a lot of the decorations so we kept everything blank.” You open the bedroom door and Cara practically bounces in excitement.

“Mom,” Cara steps into her brand new bedroom for the first time.“I get my own bathroom too? Oh my God!” She squeals. “I can have a huge bed right? Anything I want?”

“Anything you want,” You answer. You feel elated that she’s showing interest in this move for the first time.

“Ohh, wait until I call Kelsey and Jenna, can I?” She raises her phone to type in a number before she looks to you for permission.

“Go ahead, I’ll be upstairs with Mama.” You inform her before leaving her to marvel over her new space. You weren’t lying. A big reason you all moved from the four-bedroom brownstone to this one. That and you wanted to experience something different. Why not Ohio? You’re walking back upstairs, you can hear the pounding of little feet on the third floor, and you’d rather not investigate. You find Natasha in the kitchen, feeding Luke a bottle of milk, as she leans against the counter. She lifts her head to smile at you. You kiss her forehead, tickling Luke’s stomach, with another kiss on Natasha’s cheek.

“Is she happy?” Natasha asks. She’s always so concerned. About every single one of your children.

“She is,” You answer. You can see her visibly relax at your words.“I think it will take some time.” You match Natasha’s stance. “For all of us. I’m excited. This is what we wanted. For our kids to have a place to play, to feel safer, to not be on top of each other.” You sigh. This is the right thing to do. “As for me, I’m kind of upset that the movers aren’t here because we’ll be eating and sleeping on the floor until they do.” You check your phone again for any messages.

“Consider it a sleepover,” Natasha slips the bottle from Luke’s lips. He grunts in frustration but soon quiets down once Natasha holds him upright. She pats his back firmly, hoping to receive a burp and he doesn’t disappoint. “Charlie will gladly help you set up. Air mattresses and all.” You snort. Last time you allowed Charlie to help she took over the entire operation. For a seven-year-old, she can be incredibly bossy.

“I love you,” Natasha says suddenly. Your eyes fly to hers and you smile.

“I know,” You say. “I love you too.”

“How much?” She raises a brow.

“More than Cara loves her phone” You joke and Natasha moves her head. “More than Paige loves ice cream, Charlie and her skates, and more than James and his dinosaurs all rolled into one.”

“Seems like a lot,” Natasha ponders. “Maybe once we’re all set up you can show me?”

“I’d love to,” You kiss her again as a promise for later. Luke grunts between you not okay with being squished. “I’m sorry, little guy, your Mama is hot.”

Luke simply drools on his chewed fingers. His eyes leave yours to find something behind you. Natasha turns to view three children flying down the steps, Paige almost tripping on her own feet, before she uprights herself. Your eyes widen. Maybe it’s time for a reminder on why not to run down those.

“Is there more house?” James runs to you to grab at your pants legs. He points in the direction of the backyard and you nod. There’s more of the house for them to see. “Let’s go see.”

Natasha follows with Paige holding onto her hand while holding Luke in her other hand. You keep a very bouncy James in check as you all step onto the patio. James can’t believe his eyes at what he sees. Yes, the pool is nice. It’s magnificent even. He’s more focused on the basketball court about fifty feet away from the pool. It’s painted purple and gold. Laker’s colors that you don’t care for.

“I can play here!” James runs over to the court. He begins his own game of hopscotch. “Mama, can I play?”

“You sure can,” Natasha yells back. She lets go of Paige’s hand for a second and you can see where things will go wrong. Paige toddles over to the pool, kneeling before it, to reach her hand in and touch the water. Though she can swim you’re not quite in the mood to get her out of the pool. You kneel next to her to hold onto the back of her shirt. “We have to get a gate.” Natasha muses out loud. You nod in agreement.

“Where are Alexei and Melina?” You ask.

“I sent them to the store for food and supplies,” Natasha answers. She watches as Charlie and James engage in a game of tag. “An entire list and my Amex. Should give them a bit more time to explore on their own.”

“Sounds good,” You carry Paige in your arms now. “I know baby you love the pool and maybe tomorrow we can swim. Not today.”

Paige whines but lets it go quickly. She wiggles out of your arms to follow her older siblings around the basketball court. Their giggles are like music to your ears. Children playing, running around, being themselves. You can’t imagine anything better than this.

“Mom? There’s no signal here.” Cara steps out of the house from the door leading to the basement.

“Everything will be set up later,” You remind her. “Security, cameras, internet. All of it will be done by the end of this week for sure.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” Cara pouts.

“Play with your siblings, you have four,” You gesture to the other kids. “Hang out with your moms. Unpacking is fun. Right?” You chuckle at her face. “Explore the neighborhood. Maybe you’ll find a cute boy.” Cara’s lips quirk at the idea but she doesn’t respond.

“Hey,” She grins. “We have all this space. Can we get a dog?”

“Oh no, no, no, no dogs.” Natasha immediately shuts that down.

“A dog?” Charlie stops her playing to participate in the conversation. “I want a dog. Like the one on Fuller House.” She comments. “Mama can we ?”

“Dog?” Paige echos.

Natasha looks to you for backup and you can’t back her up on this one. You’d like a dog too. Maybe not in the near future but soon. Natasha sighs. She won’t be winning this one.

“If we get a dog I’m going to be responsible for it,” Natasha argues. “I will be the one taking them on walks, playing with them, feeding them. May I remind you what happened to Gordon the hamster?” She says and each child avoids her gaze. “You guys lose interest in things rather quickly. A dog is a living being.”

“I promise we will take care of it,” Cara begs. “If we make a chart and divide the responsibilities. If I don’t you can take away my allowance for six months.”

Natasha narrows her eyes.

“A year,” She counters.

“Eight months?” Cara responds. “And I learn Russian?” She throws that in and you know Natasha is sold. You are incredibly proud of her negotiation skills.

“In a few months once we’re settled we will discuss one dog,” Natasha raises a finger to stop their excitement. “One dog. Singular. A breed we all agree on. Maybe a rescue? Older. More mellow. Mommy and I have already changed enough diapers.” She alludes to Luke’s and Paige’s diapers.

“I don’t wear diapers all the time,” Paige says indignantly. “I wear big girl panties now, Mama.” Paige frowns.

“That’s right you do,” Natasha praises her for her progress.

“Speaking of, how about we go and collect everything from the car.” You round up the kids to get everything together. They have loads of energy and you might as well put them to work.

********************************

The kids turn out to be a huge help. They take bags from the car and place them one by one in the living room. When you’re done, Melina and Alexei, have returned and you take more bags into the house.

“Baby gates,” Alexei announces. “I think with little ones and stairs it will be no good.” He shows you the box of brand new gates to be installed.

“Wow, thanks, Alexei,” You’d forgotten about the idea of either of the little Romanoffs taking the stairs. “Did you bring the tools?” Alexei’s smile leaves his face. “It’s fine. I’ll do Instacart for something to be delivered within the next couple of hours. You go rest. Let Natasha show you guys your suite.”

“Suite?” Alexei questions. “A big one?”

“Pretty big.” You laugh at his giddiness. You’re pulling random new items from the trunk of the car when a stranger approaches you.

A tall woman with deep brown skin and brown eyes. She looks nice enough.

“Hello, Neighbor,” She greets you and offers a smile. “It’s so nice to see you again. We met before, during the open house, I’m Lacy Houston.” You don’t quite remember her but you’re sure you will. She extends her hand for you to shake and you do. “It’s so nice seeing you move in. It’s about time we get a bit of diversity around here.”

Her comment stops you in your tracks. What did she mean by that?

“I just mean I’ve seen your big family,” Lacy quickly covers up. “I envy people who can do it. Kids running around. I have one and I think even he’s a handful.”

“We manage,” You look back to the trunk of your car.

“I’m sure you do,” Lacy’s voice dips lower. “You look very in shape for someone that has given birth recently.” She looks to the baby gates. “How old?”

“He’s six months,” You don’t care to correct her on whether or not you gave birth to him. From the corner of your eye, you can see Natasha approaching. “This is my wife, Natasha.” You watch Natasha’s green eyes give the woman a once over. There’s no doubt she could take her.

“Your wife,” Lacy smiles. It’s fake and you can see right through it. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Lacy.”

“Nice to meet you, Lacy…” Natasha cuts her eyes to you. She’s trying to figure out who exactly this woman is.

“Our new neighbor,” You supply and Natasha is a bit surprised.

“Right, our neighbor, lovely to meet you.” Natasha takes Lacy’s hand to give it a firm shake.

Charlie chooses that very moment to come out and interrupt your conversion.

“Mama, Cara says I can’t get my room painted pink. Can I?” Charlie looks at her expectantly.

“You can paint it whatever you want, Charlotte,” Natasha bends down to kiss her head. “Don’t listen to Cara.”

“What a beautiful name,” Lacy compliments. “For such a pretty little girl. You look like your other mother. Same eyes and everything.” Lacy waves a hand between the two of you.

Charlie presses herself into Natasha’s front, the redhead’s hands coming to rest on her shoulders, as Charlie looks up at the other woman.

“I’m adopted,” Charlie says. “What’s your name?” You almost giggle at the woman’s surprise.

“Lacy,” She answers.

“Do you have kids, Lacy?” Charlie asks.

“Miss,” You remind her.

“Miss Lacy, do you have kids?” Charlie rephrases her question with the appropriate title.

“One, my son, he’s six. Benjamin. We call him Benny for short.” Lacy looks back to her own home. “I don’t want to take too much of your time. It was nice meeting you all. Especially you Charlotte.”

“Bye,” Charlie waves to the woman as you watch her walk off. Charlie leaves you with Natasha in search of her siblings.

“I don’t like her,” Natasha says once you’re out of earshot.

“Be nice,” You shake your head. You take the remaining bag out of the trunk as Natasha follows behind you.

“I am being nice,” Natasha throws her hands up. “She wants you.”

“How can you tell in just five minutes of talking to her,” You don’t entertain the silly idea. Lacy was simply being nice. A little forward but she didn’t seem to mean any harm. You set the bags down in the foyer to look at your wife.

“I can tell,” That’s Natasha’s only response. “I’ll have my eye on her.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second,” You kiss her cheek. “What are we feeding these kids for dinner?” You open your phone to order the last few items you need to get you through tonight.

“McDonald’s,” Natasha suggests and you stop typing. Did Natasha “my children will not eat that slop” Romanoff just offer to get the kids fast food? “Unless you feel like cooking.” You shake your head. “I think we can let it slide one night.” She doesn’t like the idea but cooking was not an option tonight.

McDonald’s it is.

******************************

Once baby gates are put up, doors are locked, and food is delivered everyone sits on the floor of the living room to eat. Sheets are set onto the floor to keep the mess contained in one area. Natasha sits with Luke in between her legs as she sits to eat. Charlie is dipping her nuggets into honey barbecue sauce, while you help Paige open her apple slices.

“Mama, what’s this?” She gestures to the tiny sauce given with her happy meal. She dunks her finger into the open container before bringing the substance closer to her eyes.

“Caramel,” You answer. “You’ve had caramel before.”

“I don’t think so,” Paige scrunches her nose before tasting it on her fingers. “Oh! It’s good.”

“I told you,” You bite into your chicken sandwich.

“She’s a very picky eater,” Melina mentions. “I think it’s good she tries new things even when she’s like that.”

“It’s been a battle,” You say. “A long one.” You hand Paige her apples. She takes them happily.

“Hey, what’s my school like?” Cara asks.

“Ohh,” You nod. You could talk about that easily. “It’s really good. Pre- K through 12th grade so you all will be attending. The curriculum is right where we want it to be in terms of learning and its focus. They have a study abroad program in the upper school, sports, clubs, everything that we think you’d love. We can go on tour on Monday if you’d like.”

“Cool, cool,” Cara nods. “Is it preppy? We have to wear a uniform right?”

“Most days,” Natasha answers. “They have a dress-down thing several times a month.”

You both know it will certainly be an adjustment going from dressing however you want to wear a uniform.

“I do school too?” Paige drops her apple onto the blanket but quickly picks it up to push it into her mouth.

“Yes, for five days a week. Mornings,” Natasha dips her fries. “You will go to pre-k and then Mom and I will be there to pick you up.”

“I have friends?” Paige smiles. “And homework?”

“Let’s hope they don’t have homework.” You laugh at her excitement. Give it a few years and she won’t be so excited.

“Do you pay for this private school?” Alexei asks. “For each child?”

“Yes,” You answer. “Though it’s nothing we can’t afford.”

“Your job as district attorney pays that much?”

“It pays decently,” You shrug. “I also have investments and forms of income that set me up quite well. Natasha’s income also.” You won’t go into much detail with him but you’re both very well off. Sending your kids to private school wasn’t going to break the bank.

“And if they want to stop being private?” Melina asks. “Is that an option? These schools are very strict, no?”

“Yes, they can.” Natasha looks at each of the kids. “Public school is always on the table. I won’t push them to do something they don’t want.”

“You make us have a bedtime every night,” James reminds, causing everyone to laugh.

“I do but that’s because you’re a grumpy little guy in the morning,” Natasha reaches over to poke his belly. “We get angry James if he doesn’t sleep.”

“Angry James, angry Charlie, angry Paige, angry Cara…” You list off. “All of you need sleep.”

“Does that mean bedtime soon?”

“Bedtime for all of us,” You stretch. “For now, let’s say one thing we’re excited about living here. Does that work?”

“I’ll go first,” Natasha dusts her hands free of any crumbs. “I’m excited to see the kids grow here. I’m excited to raise them outside of New York. So they can see how I grew up. It’s a wonderful place.”

“I’m excited also to see the kids grow up here,” You say. “I’m also excited about my new job. For our new endeavors and whatever life brings for us.”

“I’m excited to paint my room,” Charlie is next.

“I’m excited to play on the basketball court,” James points to the backyard.

“I am happy to spend time with my daughters and grandchildren,” Melina says.

“I am looking forward to being with family too,” Last to go is Cara and she seems a bit reluctant. She wasn’t very excited to be here.

“Okay, okay,” She shakes her head. “I’m excited about my new bedroom, for new adventures. Also, to reinvent me. It could be fun.”

“Thank you, Cara,” You say sincerely. “We are happy that all of you are trying.”

“Bath time!” Natasha shouts. “Last one to throw away their trash and get to the bath is a rotten egg.” She takes Luke first and the rest of the children follow. This leaves you and the grandparents to clean up.

“I’m delighted you guys stayed,” You say to Melina as you walk with her to the trash. “Natasha is really happy you’re here too.”

“We are glad to be here,” Melina holds the trash can open for you.

“I have to go and help with bathtime,” You sigh. “You and Alexei can keep exploring the house or whatever it is you guys want. Movers should be here in the morning. Thank you, Melina.” You nod to her again before leaving the kitchen to find Natasha.

**************************

Bath time takes two hours. You clean and scrub each child, dress them in pajamas, and send them on their way into the living room. You and Natasha take separate showers quickly before going to your side of the living room to sleep. Only, you can’t. You’re too wound up. Natasha who’s lying next to a sleeping Luke turns over so that she’s facing you.

“Can’t sleep?” She opens her eyes to find you looking back at her.

“No,” You admit with a whisper. You raise your head to see if everyone else is. They’re out like lights. “Come with me.” You say and Natasha makes sure Luke won’t cry before she meets you in the master bedroom. It’s the only bedroom on the second floor. You close the door behind you just as Natasha steps into it.

She lets out an uncharacteristic squeal before she wacks you.

“Ouch!” You rub at the sore spot on your shoulder.

“Don’t scare me you jerk,” She frowns in the darkness. You apologize by pulling her into your arms. You kiss along her neck and chest hoping to lead her to a wall. Instead, you both meet air which causes you to fall onto the ground with her on top of you. She giggles before placing both hands beside your head to get a good look at you. “Hi.” She whispers.

“Hi back,” You wiggle under her. “How are you feeling?”

“Nervous,” Natasha breathes. “Afraid. Excited.”

“Me too,” You push her hair over her shoulders.

“Are we doing the right thing?” She bites her lip nervously.

“I think we are,” You place your hands on her hips. You can feel the heat of her core on your stomach through her sleep shorts. Natasha looks down at your hand placement. You move your right hand to caress her thigh. “Do you think you can be quiet?”

“I know I can,” Natasha opens her legs a bit wider. “Can you?”

“Never been a problem,” You challenge as you massage just a bit closer to the place she wants you most.

“Well, show me then,” Natasha whispers as she leans over to kiss you softly. “I’ve missed you.”

“Mhmm, I’ve missed you too.” You raise your head to steal another kiss. “How do you feel about mirrors on the ceiling?” You ask suddenly.

Natasha looks down at you wide-eyed.

It’s not a terrible idea.

You slide your hand into her panties to feel how wet she is.

Here’s to new adventures.

#natasha x reader #natasha romanoff #black reader #black widow x reader #black widow x female reader #natasha romanov #natasha x you

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carsthatnevermadeitetc · 2 years

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GMC Mahalo Concept, 1990. A convertible prototype that previewed the 1991 Sonoma compact pick-up (which wasn't a convertible). The lowered body had ground effects aerodynamics, a rear spoiler and bed cover.

#GMC #GMC Mahalo Concept #GMC Sonoma #1990 #concept #prototype #concept pick-up #design study #open roof #convertible

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pigeontheoneandonly · 1 year

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Astronomy 101: Stellar Life Cycles

This is the first in a series of posts I plan to make explaining basic astronomy concepts. I am not a professional astronomer, but I have a B.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics, experience performing professional astronomical research (primarily photometry), and a lifelong amateur interest in astronomy. I am committed to accuracy in these posts (though some simplification is necessary) and welcome questions/comments.

(Image source)

Nearly every aspect of a star’s evolution is governed by a single characteristic: the star’s mass. Stellar masses are enormous, and so astronomers find it more convenient to measure them in solar masses (M☉, M being mass, and ☉ being the astronomical symbol for the sun, pronounced “M-sol”). 1 M☉ is equivalent to the sun’s mass; 2 M☉ is twice the sun’s mass; 0.5 M☉ is half the sun’s mass; and so on. Our sun masses approximately two quintillion kilograms—that’s 30 zeroes!—so it’s easy to see why this convention makes comparisons between stars easier.

Stars are composed primarily of hydrogen, with non-trivial amounts of helium (ex. our sun is about 74% hydrogen and 25% helium). They fuse the elements within themselves to produce an outward pressure from radiation that balances the inward pressure imposed by their own gravity (gravity wants to collapse the star; radiation keeps this from happening). The lowest stellar mass that can sustain a fusion reaction is theorized to be 0.08 M☉. It’s not physically possible for a star to be smaller than this. On the other end, the most massive stars range up to 250 M☉. (It should be noted that as the universe ages, stars are getting smaller; it is hypothesized that new stars cannot exceed 150 M☉.)

Stars are born from the gravitational collapse of giant molecular clouds (GMC), which are large, cold, and relatively dense pockets of interstellar gas. It’s theorized that several mechanisms can trigger GMC collapse, including the shock wave from nearby supernovae, collisions with other clouds, or passing through the spiral arm of a galaxy (which is denser than other areas). These all disrupt the balance within the cloud. As it collapses, it begins to fragment, forming individual stars. One GMC will produce numerous protostars.

The protostar phase lasts a relatively short time, about 500,000 years for stars the size of the sun. During this time, the protostar continues to accrete mass from the surrounding nebula (its own pocket of the GMC). Gravitational collapse is countered by gas pressure and magnetic pressure rather than by nuclear fusion as the protostar grows. Eventually, this is not sufficient and the protostar begins to collapse and enters a new phase: it reaches sufficient density to ignite nuclear fusion in its core, and becomes a proper star.

Initial fusion in the core fuses hydrogen into helium. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the lower a star’s mass, the slower it burns through its fuel and the longer it remains in this phase of its life. Massive stars are not only much hotter than small stars, but they need to produce more energy to stave off gravitational collapse. This causes them to burn through their supply of hydrogen very quickly. Very low mass stars born early in our universe have not existed long enough to burn through their hydrogen supplies. Models predict stars of 0.1 M☉ will take 6-12 TRILLION years to exhaust their hydrogen, and our universe is only 13.8 billion years old. These stars are barely getting started. These stars, known as red dwarfs, will never become red giants. Instead, they will continuously mix their original hydrogen stores with their newly produced helium until the entire star is composed of helium, at which point fusion will shut down. As they reach the end, they are predicted to become blue dwarfs, and then eventually white dwarfs. No blue dwarfs presently exist because the universe is still young.

Stars more like our sun, ranging from 0.6 to 8 M☉, have lives more consistent with what many people are taught in high school science classes. When these stars exhaust the hydrogen in their core, they still contain a large volume of hydrogen in their outer layers. They enter the subgiant phase, where they fuse hydrogen in a shell surrounding the helium core, and the star begins to expand and cool. This new helium adds to the volume of the core, the hydrogen-fusing shell moves outwards. This phase lasts several million to two billion years, again with lower-mass stars spending longer in this phase.

(You may have read that the sun will get hotter as it ages. This is true, and it’s due to the fact that as the fraction of hydrogen in the core decreases, the core temperature and rate of fusion increase. The sun will contract and become hotter as it approaches the subgiant phase. It’s theorized that this will make the Earth uninhabitable in about one billion years. However, the effects of plate tectonics and specifically the subduction of water from the oceans and the gradual slowing of tectonic activity is likely to play as large a role if not larger.)

This hydrogen-burning shell supports the star against gravitational collapse until the helium core grows too large. The core will contract, and the outer layers will further expand and cool as the star becomes a red giant. In the case of our sun, its radius will expand beyond the orbit of the Earth, in about six billion years. Shell burning continues at an increasing rate, but the star is no longer in equilibrium, and the core continues to contract even as it increases in mass, until eventually the star begins fusing helium into carbon. This can happen very suddenly for stars at the lower end of this mass range, or more gradually for more massive stars. The growth of the star can also temporarily create new habitable zones, primarily for the moons of gas giants, lasting several hundred million years.

Stars in this mass range do not have sufficient mass to fuse carbon, and so when the helium is largely consumed in the core, the core begins to collapse, and this time, only a strange state of matter called electron degeneracy will stop it. The Pauli Exclusion principle states that no two electrons can occupy identical states, and electron degeneracy occurs when a star has collapsed to the point that all the electrons of the star have been forced to occupy all the lowest-available energy states within the atomic structure of the star. The energy of the gravitational collapse is insufficient to overcome this electron pressure. White dwarfs are very small and incomprehensibly dense; similar to the mass of the sun, they are similar in size to the Earth. A teaspoon of white dwarf would weigh about 15 tons. Fusion has ceased, and the star is an inert ball of slowly cooling degenerate matter.

This is the end of the road for stars in this mass range, which is most of the stars that presently exist in the universe. Very, very slowly, solo white dwarfs will continue to cool. White dwarfs are predicted to outlast the lifespan of galaxies as structures in our universe. They may still be extant when enough time has passed for proton decay to become a significant force and ultimately devour the white dwarf. If proton decay takes significantly longer than predicted or turns out to not exist, the ultimate fate of a white dwarf is to be devoured by a black hole in the very, very, very far future of our universe when other forms of stars have all ceased to exist. (The black hole era is predicted to begin 10^43 years after the Big Bang, but it’s dependent on a lot of poorly-understood factors. Safe to say, this is not anything anyone needs to worry about.)

More massive stars have a more interesting if shorter life. They blow through their hydrogen quickly, ranging from 1 billion years to as few as 10,000 years. (You can calculate here.) As these stars enter their supergiant phase, they lose mass rapidly due to strong stellar winds. These stars do possess enough mass for more complex fusion reactions, and will gradually develop shells fusing various elements, and finally in the core, ultimately producing iron via fusion. All elements aside from hydrogen, some helium, and small amounts of lithium and beryllium are created by stellar nuclear fusion. Iron, however, is special, because it is the lightest element on the periodic table that requires more energy to fuse than it produces through fusion. A star attempting to fuse iron is going into an energy deficit, rather than producing energy through radiation that can stave off gravitational collapse. A star cannot fuse iron.

The final days of such stars come on quickly. The core turns to iron within a few hundred years, so rapidly that there is little change in the outward appearance of the star, which continues shell burning right up to the end. Eventually, this iron core reaches the effective Chandrasekhar mass, a little larger than the mass of our sun, and the core can no longer support itself. The core collapses.

It’s easy to say the star then explodes in a supernova, but the truth is more complicated. A supernova is triggered by the release of gravitational potential energy from the core collapse. If this is insufficient, instead the core becomes a neutron star or a black hole with very little fanfare. Some supernovae (pair-instability supernova) do not leave behind any stellar remnant despite originating from supermassive stars. Other supernovae do not involve supermassive stars, but white dwarfs in binary pairs accreting matter from their stellar companion.

The core collapse takes less than a quarter of a second. Within a few hours, the shockwave reaches the surface of the star, which will brighten tremendously over the next few months. At peak, supernovae can outshine their host galaxies. Perhaps the most famous supernova, SN 1987A, was visible to the naked eye and wasn’t even located in our own galaxy, but in a satellite galaxy. This shockwave is incredibly high-energy, to the point that it not only ejects outer material from the star, but ignites fusion reactions in that material. Here, we have an excess of energy, and nuclear fusion reactions that require more energy than they create are possible. This is how all elements heavier than iron are created.

The core becomes a neutron star or a black hole. Which depends on a large number of variables, perhaps strangely only two of which are core mass and stellar mass. A neutron star is similar to a white dwarf, in that it is composed of degenerate matter, but in this case electron degeneracy was not strong enough and it is held up by neutron degeneracy. In this state, electrons have combined with protons to produce neutrons, leaving behind a highly dense star composed of nuclear matter. While a neutron star is again slightly more massive than our sun, it has a diameter of only about 20 kilometers. A teaspoon of neutron star weights approximately 4 billion tons. Many neutron stars rotate rapidly, giving off jets of radiation from their poles. These stars are known as pulsars. The fate of neutron stars is similar to that of white dwarfs; they will eventually merge into black holes in the far distant future.

Other stars become black holes. In this case, even neutron degeneracy cannot stave off gravitational collapse, and the core collapses into a singularity. A singularity is a poorly-understood object where spacetime curvature becomes infinite. We can study singularities mathematically, but we can’t observe one, because it is hidden behind an event horizon—a boundary surrounding the black hole where gravity is too strong for even light to escape. And if light can’t escape, we can’t observe anything inside the event horizon. Our current understand of physics also breaks down here; our theories of gravity aren’t sufficient to fully understand singularities. We can, however, study event horizons, accretion disks (matter falling into the black hole), and jets of particles and radiation some black holes exhibit. This has given us a good understanding of the external properties and behavior of black holes, and we detect them based on these characteristics and the effects they have on other objects (ex. an orbiting companion star).

So if everything eventually becomes part of a black hole, what happens to a black hole? The answer is they evaporate through a process called Hawking radiation. Essentially, according to quantum mechanics, space has a quality called vacuum energy that causes virtual particle pairs to continuously pop in and out of existence. The pair consists of one particle and one anti-particle, which annihilate each other and return the energy of their creation to the vacuum. Therefore, no energy is created or destroyed. However, every so often, one of these pairs pops into existence with one particle on the outer side of the event horizon, able to escape, and the other trapped inside the event horizon. The virtual particle that escapes becomes a real particle, and that energy has to come from somewhere. It takes it from the black hole. Because mass and energy are functionally equivalent, this drains a tiny amount of mass from the black hole. (Please note: this is a dramatic oversimplification, but gets the basic idea across.) On long enough timelines, this will cause even the largest of black holes to evaporate. Unlike just about everything else involving stars, smaller black holes evaporate more quickly than large ones.

#astronomy #stellar evolution #tbh every stage of a star's life could be a post on its own #and for simplicity i've eliminated discussion of several things that impact stellar evolution like metallicity #it's already a long post lol #astropigeon #also this is a strange way to learn Tumblr doesn't support subscripts

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trainsinanime · 2 years

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Trains in Miraculous Ladybug - Bonus: The Bus

[Part 1: The Metro Train]

[Part 2: The Metro Station]

[Part 3: Startrain]

[Part 4: The Gare du Nord]

It’s been a while since I made these posts, but I figured I might as well update them, and talk about the remaining public transit vehicle in the show that hadn’t been mentioned yet: The bus, shown here almost in its natural habitat.

Just like most other vehicles, the show has just the one, which is always signed as line 33 to Gare d'Austerlitz. The line is strictly fictional, just like the Metro lines, to justify this bus appearing everywhere in the city.

So let's talk about the bus itself. In the show, it gets thrown around, used to escape Zombies, it loses its breaks at the start of Gladiator, it's an animal prison, it receives the least destructive cataclysm of all time (in Animan) and way more. While it has no logos, and a slightly distorted front end presumably to avoid copyright infringement (yes, vehicle design is covered by copyright), it is unmistakably an Agora by… well, that's difficult actually, because this bus type has a complicated history.

First picture by Vincent Babilotte, from Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA; second by Eole99, from Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA

The Renault Agora was introduced in 1996 as Renault's first fully low-floor bus. In 1999, Renault Véhicules Industriels (commercial vehicles) merged their bus business with Iveco, functionally the commercial vehicle division of Fiat if you squint a bit. The new joint venture was known as Irisbus, and from 2002, the Agora became known as Irisbus Agora. Their logo is actually a dolphin ouroboros if you look closely; I have no idea why.

At the same time Renault and Irisbus were also busy buying companies in eastern europe, and reused their names, which means the Agora was also sold under such famous names (famous among bus nerds anyway) as Karosa and Ikarus in Eastern Europe. Those seem to have been co-branding things, those buses still had either the Renault Rhombus or the Irisbus dolphin on the front, and then a Karosa or Ikarus logo somewhere on the side. Some buses were also sold as Škoda (the part that makes trains, not the part that makes cars). We'll get to those later. Finally, in some countries, it was sold under the incredibly vague name "Citybus".

For Paris, we'll only care about the Renault and Irisbus versions, though. These are functionally the same, they just differ in the logo on the front, which the Miraculous bus simply omits entirely. On the inside, the Irisbus version has newer Iveco engines instead of Renault ones to meet newer emission standards, but that's irrelevant from the outside.

The main feature to recognise this bus from a distance is actually in the rear.

In order to provide a flat floor from the front right to the last seating row, Renault has arranged the engine and related mechanical parts in a sort of backpack. An angled drive shaft drives the rear wheels, which are arranged as a portal axle (a design where there is a small gear set near each wheel so the axle in the middl can be higher or, in this case, lower than the wheel hubs). This design as such isn't unique to Renault; it is also found on some Scania OmniCity buses and several ones in the US, starting with the high-floor GMC Rapid Transit Series in the late 70s. What is unique about the Renault design is how it's packaged, with a gentle curve at the top.

This design actually originated with the Renault R312, the Agora's predecessor, which was semi-high-floor (a single step to get into the bus), and continued to be used by the Agora's successor, the Irisbus Citelis, starting 2006. Here's the rear of one in Liège, Belgium:

Pictures by me, do what you want with them

In real life, the curve is not quite as pronounced as it is in the show, and the show has given the bus's rear end a pronounced overbite. Again, I think that's due to copyright, but that's just a guess.

The buses also come with a variety of rear lights; the ones on these Belgian buses don't match any of the Agoras or Citelises I've seen in Paris. Either way, the same backpack, now with LED lights, is also used on the Citelis's successor, the Iveco Urbanway.

(Oh yes, in 2013, Iveco bought the remaining share of Irisbus and renamed the bus models to Iveco only, but it's still the same fundamental bus design somewhere in there. The rest of the commercial vehicle division of Renault was sold to Volvo around the time but keeps its name. Note, that's the Volvo that makes trucks, not the Volvo that builds cars, which is completely independent and owned by Geely. This confusing shit keeps happening and it keeps getting worse.)

For extra confusion, there's also a version of all three buses that doesn't have this backpack, and instead has the engine under a raised floor. I'm going to ignore this one here.

I really love all the little details they implemented on the bus, like the colored signs on the outside that show route information.

I have no idea why Paris uses these, the buses have digital displays as well, but I like them as a concept.

You can also see the frame for the advertising. In this case it's empty; in other episodes it has shown ads for Adrien, Le Perfume, or for the weather girl contest in Stormy Weather.

On the interior, I'll be honest with you, I'm not that knowledgeable about french buses.

I think the overall layout is correct, but I think the seat color is wrong. Buses and trams owned by Paris's transit operator RATP usually have green seats. Maybe that was another copyright issue? I know that sounds weird, but the transit operator of Berlin (BVG) was recently in a legal battle with the designer of their seat patterns over the question whether BVG could sell merchandise with that pattern. RATP does not have that problem because they sell barely any interesting merch, no matter how much I'd like to buy some.

Next: The dashboard.

We get actually fairly good looks at it in some episodes, in particular Animan, and it looks pretty good.

In partikular, it seems to be a fairly close match for the VDV-Standardfahrerarbeitsplatz, seen here in a Citelis.

The buttons for the automatic transmissions are in different places here, but both versions seem to be available. Also note that this one has a display unit built in, but it seems that is also optional. The one in Miraculous Ladybug has a separate bus computer unit mounted next to the dashboard, which is a very common layout as well.

As the name implies, the VDV Standardfahrerarbeitsplatz is a german invention by an association of bus operators, who have standardised how a bus dashboard should look like. While bus manufacturers can offer their own, and some do, the standard design is usually also available. The advantage is that if you have buses from three different manufacturers, then you only need to train drivers once instead of separately for each bus. Since german companies build a lot of buses, their standards have become relevant in other countries as well; such as France. Paris has a lot of german-built buses these days as well.

I know the Agora didn't always use the VDV dashboard; you can find pictures of a weird angular Renault design. I don't know if they switched, or if the german standard design became available as an option, and I don't know which version RATP used. But it's certainly a type of real bus dashboard, and one that was used by the same company later on, so I think it's okay.

In some episodes, notably Glaciator 2 and Qilin, we also see the ticketing.

Marinette apparently has a Navigo pass, a contactless card that you touch to the validator in the bus. That seems perfectly accurate. In Qilin, she has forgotten that card, but luckily her mom has bought single-use tickets.

In Paris, you need to validate such pre-bought tickets first, which she does by touching them to the RFID validator.

That's really not how it works in real life. Instead there's a distinct validator for these bus tickets that stamps them, but this bus model doesn't have that. It's okay enough, I guess.

The main issue with the interior of the bus is something else: It has a step.

That's a bit of a problem. In real life, the Agora does not have a step, the entire floor is flat. That was its main advantage over the older Renault R312, which did have the step. I have no idea why the show chose to include a step in here. They're consistent about it as well; there's a step at the rear door, too.

(By the way, do not think about where the doors go when they're open. It's different every episode. They're supposed to swing inwards, but sometimes they swing out, or they just disappear.)

My final nitpick would probably be the underside.

I have no idea what an Agora is supposed to look like from underneath. But given that the engine is in the back, it's probably not supposed to have exhaust lines running all the way under it. Yes, that's as minor a nitpick as they come, but I couldn't resist once I saw it.

Overall, though, it's a good bus, and very appropriate if you only have the money to model one. The Agora is definitely a staple of Parisian cityscapes, with more than 2500 delivered to RATP, almost a quarter of the entire production run.

If there's one issue with its inclusion in the show, it's the age. The last Agora was built in 2006, and most of them have long been retired. A number of them are already in RATP's vast historic collection, which is sadly not open to the public except on special occasions. I don't get why; there would definitely be interest, just look at the London transport museum. Paris's public transport is every bit as iconic as London's, but they don't market it as such, and they don't have the museums and merchandise to capitalise on it, and I think that's just sad. Please allow me to give you money, RATP!

Anyway, these days, no Agora can go into Paris anymore. Paris has established a low emission zone in 2017, and all Agoras are too old to be allowed in. There are some Agoras still running in the wider Paris region, but not the city centre proper (though that one still has some Citelises, and also some Heuliez versions, which is a whole other can of worms). If we assume that Miraculous Ladybug takes place in some sort of eternal 2014/2015, which is still the best guess for a timeline that I've seen, then the Agora still fits, but it would hardly be the only or most common bus anymore.

The age becomes an issue in one particular episode, in Bakerix, where Bakerix complains that the bus is electric, and that's not how it's supposed to be.

In real life, the Agora was never available as a battery electric bus. Paris is buying lots of battery electric buses these days, including ones that have some lineage to the Agora, but the original only ever had internal combustion engines…

…well, except for sometimes. There were also Trolleybus versions of the Agora. First, there is the Škoda 24Tr (normal version) or 25Tr (articulated version), which was confusingly built in two versions, one based on the Agora and one based on the Citelis. There is also an Irisbus Agora Trolleybus with electrical equipment by Škoda. Is that a different trolley bus based on the Agora built in cooperation between Škoda and Irisbus, or is it the same one, and they just sometimes branded it as a Škoda and sometimes as an Irisbus depending on local contracts? Your guess is as good as mine. Either way, though, those were only sold in Eastern Europe. Paris doesn't have any trolley bus wires, so there were no electric Agoras here, ever.

That aside, though, I think Miraculous Ladybug did overall really well on the bus, given the constraints they had to work with, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in plenty more episodes.

I think that's the end of this series, unless the show starts bringing the tram or the RER into it. I don't think they will, because I don't think they could tell any new stories that way, but I would greatly appreciate it. Anyway, thanks for reading!

[Part 1: The Metro Train]

[Part 2: The Metro Station]

[Part 3: Startrain]

[Part 4: The Gare du Nord]

#miraculous ladybug #renault agora #irisbus agora #agora #renault #irisbus #bus #public transit #train reviews #bus reviews

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