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#welcome to tea screams about dinosaurs yet again
cosmiclatte28 · 3 years
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90′s LOVE (Sungchan x you, Mark)
The MV IS OUT!! and I really like their concept. This is like how EXO nailed the football concept and now NCT nailed the Hockey concept!! I am so excited that I have this in my mind... 
I hope this is not boring and yeah give Sungchan some more love! 
warning : i don’t want to soil the plot, but there’s some kiss..
PART TWO HERE
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You bend to untie your skating shoes; you're done with today's skating class. The locker is already crowded with the trainee for the next schedule. The ice hockey team from your club is here to play today. They're the best team in town, NCT U Dinosaur and next week they are playing against Gorillas. You bet it will be an interesting match with the Dinos winning of course, there's no doubt with that tall new center they have and the super tight bond between the players. It's like their mind is already connected and they can always pass the puck with ease. You excuse your way to your own locker, well with their padded costumes and tall bodies, you're struggling to find your way to the locker.
"Excuse me," you say between each steps and the members are all friendly to you, hey they always meet you because your class is before theirs and so you always see them preparing themselves. "Oh hey there (y/n)," Mark, your best friend and secret crush, greets you with a quick side hug. He squishes your shoulder and you just laugh nervously obviously surprised and shy from what he did. He's super friendly with you to the point where you wish he can see you as someone more than a friend. He lets you go when his other friend calls him and you make your way to the end of the locker. "I see someone is left behind again," a tall shadow appears on your peripheral views. You sigh, knowing this is once again Sungchan teasing you for your one-sided crush on Mark. Well, you knew Sungchan earlier than you knew Mark, Sungchan once went to the same elementary school as you did, so there's nothing awkward between the two of you. You got separated but meet one another again in this skating rink. Him as a hockey player, you as a figure skater. "Shut up, he's called over." You try to push the negative thought away.
Deep inside your heart, you still have the slightest hope that Mark is liking you back. Sungchan just laughs at you, he puts his hand over your head wanting to ruffle your hair, but your bun doesn't allow him to. He awkwardly puts his hand down, lucky you did not realize this. "So, you're going to stay and watch us practice?" Sungchan has hope in his tone. You look around and see your brother Ten already entering the Barn (the rink). "I guess I have to wait for Ten." you stuff your skates into your bags and grab your slippers. "Oh okay cool. Wish me luck I need to warm up." Sungchan smiles to you, you just click your tongue, "Okay big boy, good luck." you fist bump him and he makes his way out of the room. You change your clothes and make yourself comfortable in the bleachers. With one cup of hot tea and a phone in your other hand, you waste your time on the internet. "Hey you wanna go home?" Ten skates to your side and asks over the rink. You see the time, and shake your head, "I got nothing to do, I'll watch you. Focus," you shoo him away and he just pulls you his nose scrunch face. Their practice ended nicely, and you have your eyes glued to Mark on all of the game. Dude, he's a good wing man and Sungchan is a tough center. His scoring is accurate and he's super calm in the midst of the game. Your brother is playing as a wing man too. Practice ended with Mark's team winning and they all crowded the room back with their sweaty bodies. After a shower, you find yourself going home with your brother. "Next week is game day, you must watch us!" Ten says excitedly on the way home inside the bus. "Sure, I mean I am on a term break for preparing the state skating, I can watch your games." You squeeze your brother's hand. "How's your practice today?" he asks you this time. You shake your head, "Not good, I cannot do the quad axel yet and my biggest rival, Taeyong, can do that easily. I mean even when we skate on different categories... I still feel I lost to him." Ten hugs you from the side and cheers you up, "Hey you're doing great okay, you just need a few more practices It's okay." You shake your head, "It's not. He did it in two tries and I still can't do it. Maybe mom is right, figure skating is not for me." Ten looks at you in amusement, "The hell are you saying? You worked hard from seven years old and you're thinking of stopping because of one move where people acknowledge as something nearly impossible to be done?!" You laugh at yourself, "Silly? maybe I should join the hockey team. Maybe Mark will pay more attention to me." You're open to your brother about your feelings, he knows your silly one sided crush on Mark and Ten has already told you repeatedly to move on, but you're so stubborn. "Still not over him eh?" Ten changes the topic. You blush and nod your head, "He's so sweet." Ten actually knows Mark is always sweet with everyone, no he is not a player. He is just warm and welcoming to all girls, Ten knows Mark longer than you but you never listen your brother. "For once can you listen to me?" he desperately sighs, you shake your head. Ten stops. "Let me just tell you this, someone else is always there for you, but when you're busy counting stars, you forgot the moon." Ten shuts his mouth afterwards and you find his sentence confusing. What is wrong with Ten? Sungchan goes back home with his roommate, Mark. Together they walk under the warm moon and talk about random things until Mark asks Sungchan about you. "So I heard you know (Y/n) right?" The taller guy just nods his head, "Yeah why?" "It's just that is she available?" Mark directly asks this and Sungchan is surprised, is he interested in her? No way this is happening. Sungchan notices the small smile Mark tries to hide but failed. "Well as far as I know she is not seeing anyone." Sungchan admits he really wants to lie and say you're not available, but you will kill him. "Oh a cute girl like her is still single?" Mark's eyes dilate twice in size. Sungchan rolls his eyes, "Maybe because she is waiting for someone to make the move." Mark whistles, "Classic, and you? You're dating anyone?" Sungchan blushes, "No one in the moment." Mark just nods his head, "Uh maybe you can ask her out, you seem to like her." Sungchan almost froze on his steps, wait was he really obvious? He wants to yell at Mark "Oh hell yeah I am asking her out when I know she has a crush on you... you dense..." He holds his words and just toss Mark a silly look, "Nah, not now. She's not interested in me." "Why not try?" Mark nonchalantly asks. Sungchan wishes he can spill the beans, but no he can't inside his heart he only scream "Because I know that I will just be her rebound when she realizes you're really not interested in her." "I don't know Mark, why don't you try win her if you like her." Sungchan tosses back the bomb and Mark just chuckles "I am already committed." "Hell what? You never told me!" Mark blushes, "Well it's not usual so I'm not really telling anyone." Sungchan understands and touches the shorter's shoulder, "Who is he?" Mark smiles, "Haechan, it's Haechan our defence." Sungchan smiles happily for his brother, he slaps his back, "Congrats bro!" Mark just giggles, "Thanks, come on let's go in!" They arrive at their apartment and Sungchan feels his head breaking down.
So how can he tell you Mark is unavailable, and he knows you'll be so heart broken. Sungchan thought of all the possibilities and ended up sleeping. He didn't see you anymore until the game day. You are there sitting on the bleachers with your oldest brother, Taemin and the two of you are super excited. You see Sungchan on his way to the dressing room and you dash quickly to see him, you just want to wish him luck. "Sungchan-ie!!" you reach his hand and he stops in track, looking back he sees you "Oh it's you!" his smile erupts. You hand him a chocolate bar, "Good luck! Score many points today okay? Play safe" you pat his back and he can't hide his silly face, "Thanks, I will do my best. Hey where are you going?" he asks when you move away. You mouthed MARK and leave him. That's when he realizes he should've stopped you from looking Mark but he's too late. Sungchan sees you frozen in track by the door of the locker room, the energy drink you bring for Mark falls to the ground and before he can reach for you, you've ran away. Sungchan wants to run after you but his captain Winwin calls him. "Shit," Sungchan sees Mark and Haechan on the corner making out and his smart brain is enough to understand you learn the truth the hard way.
Sungchan is a professional, once he is in the Barn, he’s busy with the game and he sets aside all of the emotion and problems. He’s determined to console you after the game, so first he needs to win this game and then win your heart.
The game ended with fantastic scores, Sungchan performs very well and scores many today. You cheer excitedly by Taemin’s side. The two of you jumping excitedly when the team wins.
You’re still sad when you saw Mark earlier, but here you are once again in the waiting room congratulating everyone in the team. You hold your tears when you get a hug from Mark. His hug sure feels different now, you know it you really stand no chance. You walk to your other friend, Sungchan and you surprise him with a hug. You never hug him first, but today you feel like he’s the only one you can trust.
“Congratulations” you whisper and Sungchan excitedly picks you up from the floor. You yelp but let him pick you up, well he’s way taller than you.
“Sorry,” he whispers back, “Sorry I did not run to you earlier.”
You gulp, oh so he saw you. “No don’t be. I’m fine. You need to focus on the game earlier.”
“Yeah I did, all because you came here and gave me the luck I need.” He still has you levitating and clinging to his big tall frame.
You squirm in his touch, “Okay put me down,”
“No. Not until you cry yourself and calm down.”
Your lips tremble, Sungchan sure is a smart man.
“I am not going to cry,” you lie to him
Sungchan shakes his head, “You will. I know you want to cry now. He’s gone already, no one is here you can cry.”
You sigh, “Please.. please put me down.”
He puts you down and sits beside you.
“I am a fool wasn’t I?” You bite your lips, eyes already wet.
Sungchan pulls you into his embrace, “Pour it all out.”
You stain his jersey with tears, and you punch his chest angrily.
“It hurts,” those are the last words you say before closing your eyes and just feeling the warmth Sungchan gives.
Ten comes into the room and catches the scene, he quickly runs to take you over and lets Sungchan changes his clothes first. The younger man did what Ten said and Ten also knew what happened. Well earlier once the game ended, he clearly saw Mark kissing his boyfriend, and Ten knows you’re crying because of that.
You look up to Ten and with hiccups you ask him, “Hyung,  I focused on the star.. and now when the star is gone… did I lost my moon too?”
Ten sighs, you remember what he said that night. Ten looks into the tall man who’s cleaning up his gears and smiles, he rubs your back and brings your teary face to see him, “Hey you did not lose the moon. I can assure you, this time the moon is still here.”
“Really?” you sniffle
Ten brushes your hair away, “Yes honey, you just have to look closely.”
Your eyes catch Sungchan’s tall figure and everything clicks.
“I’ll try, I don’t want to rush…” you shy away from Ten’s gaze.
Ten smiles, “It’s okay, he waited this long, he can wait a bit more.”
Sungchan hears that and just smile, he leaves the room so you two can talk more privately, but deep inside his heart he knows if he plays the game right, he can win your heart now.
 endddd 
please support nct u 90′s love, be it streaming or just appreciate their music and maybe tell someone else about the song! It brings back memories :D
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devilbat · 4 years
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Quarantine and Chill
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Tom Hiddleston x reader
Warning: Just more fluff
Summary: This is part 2 to Quarantin online when the reader finally meets Tom after months of talking online.
               Tom: Biscuiteers, 194 Kensington Park Road, London, W11. Let's say 9 am, this Thursday? Will that work for you?
              When you woke, you'd thought it was all a dream that you didn't just Skype with Tom Hiddleston. That was until you looked at your phone. Finding that Tom had texted you after the both of you said goodnight. Even sent you a photo of himself this time of his far to a handsome face.
         Y/n: Sorry again for crashing on you last night. I've never been there, so sounds great. See you then.
———-
You stood outside the shop of Biscuiteers hoping you had the right place the quaint little cafe was a bit busier than usual as people line out the door distancing themselves from others. You looked at your watch once again. You got to the cafe thirty minutes early. You were not able to stay home. Time seems to go far to slow for your liking.
"Y/n?" A deep velvet-smooth voice purred from behind you, making you squeak out in surprise, turning on your heels to come face to chest with Tom Hiddleston. Not realizing how much taller he was then you.
"Yeah." You said shyly, your eyes fluttered upward to look into those baby blues of his. ”Hi."
"It's nice to meet you, Darling, finally." Tom took your hand being ever, so the gentleman placed a light kiss onto your knuckles. Lingering a minute longer. Tom's eyes never once left yours he smiled as he watched you turn a light shade of pink.
"It's nice to meet you as well, finally." You managed to breathe out.
"These are for you." Tom offered you a lovely bouquet. You could feel your cheek heat up when you took the arrangement. It was a perfect size, and Tom had remembered your favorite flowers.
"Oh, Tom. You didn't have to." You hummed.
"Anything for a beautiful woman." Tom winked. "Shall we grab our coffee and maybe wander around London?" You smiled up at him with a nod.
Tom grabbed coffee for the both of you, even after you laughed at Tom for how silly he looked in his mask when he came out of the shop. He showed you around London. Taking the whole day to play tour guide, Ken.
After a late lunch, Tom took you down to Tavistock street for candy floss and ice cream, a little place called Milk Train. Though you may have told him he was crazy that ice cream and Cotton candy don't go together. Which ensued a small discussion on the right term to call the sugary cloud.
Tom ended up getting cookies and cream on roasted green tea ice cream with colorful sprinkles. You got the unicorn on Matcha ice cream both as a Choo-choo, which was when they added the cloud of candy floss or as you corrected Tom as it's real name Cotton candy.
Tom being the proper gentleman that he was even took you home—not wanting you to walk back alone—even walking you to your door.
"Thank you, Tom. I had a wonderful time." You said shyly. Not wanting the night to end. Tom had been great, and you hoped that he wanted the same.
"I did to Darling." Tom smiled down at you. Both of you stood there for a moment longer, unsure of what to say or do next. "Eheh." Tom was rubbing the back of his neck. "Would you like to come over for dinner sometime? ..... To my home, that is. ... Only dinner and maybe a film."
       You giggled softly at how reassuring that it was nothing more than that. He was definitely nervous. It was nice to see this man be so normal in away. You would have always thought he would be confident in every aspect of his life.
"I would like that, Tom." You nodded with a smile.
              "Really?" Tom's voice cracked a bit overjoyed. Making you giggle. "I mean, you don't think I'm overstepping ." Clearing his throat. "I don't want to pressure you on the second date by having you come over to some stranger home. Who may or may not have his way with you. Not that I'm going to I'll be the perfect gentleman. I mean if you wan-."
            You cut Tom off, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.  "You're overthinking."
            "Eheh." Tom nervously chuckled his hand, running along with the spot that your lips were.
——-
     Tom wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted you to have the perfect night with him. He may have even gone a little overboard to make it so. Purchasing outdoor movie projector and screen. Stringed lights littered his backyard. He searched ideas for the best setting for the movies and dinner. Finally, settling on to large style inflatable mattresses. Every pillow and blanket he owned laid thoughtfully.
         The menu he had made simple something he knew you would like, and he was known for his spaghetti bolognese. You may have mentioned that you wouldn't mind seeing if he did it the right way. It didn't help with his nervousness that you cooked professionally. While he waited on the sauce.
        He almost jumped out of his skin when the doorbell rang. Looking at his watch, you were early. Well, at least he hoped it was you and not his sisters spying on him. He had let it slip to his mom about you. Therefore his sisters knew and had given him a hard time. However, they did help with ideas on his little backyard project.
         Tom grinned when he spied you throw the peephole of his door. Tom noted that you wore comfortable clothes. He wanted you to be comfortable. You didn't have to get all dressed up for him.
         "Hello, darling." Tom greeted you when he opened the door.
           "Hi, Tom. I brought wine. I wasn't sure what to bring." You rambled Tom pulled you into a hug to make you stop. Relaxing you as you hugged him back.
"You didn't need to bring anything, Darling, just yourself." Tom smiled as he took your bag and wine for you as he escorted you outside. "Dinner is just about ready. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable, and I'll be right back."
——
       Tonight's movies: The Jungle Book (Disney version.) starts after dinner, followed by Jurassic Park.  The sign said on a table as you both moved over to the area Tom had set up the movie.
      Tom set up the projector while you got yourself comfortable on one of the mattresses. Few minutes of trying to figure out the machine a few cuss words under his breath. In hopes you didn't hear him.
        Tom finally got the projector working and settled on the other mattress, not wanting to make you feel uncomfortable if he were to get in with you. You looked over at Tom when you movie came up on the screen.
          "Tom, did you mean to have the movie play upside down?" You smile, trying not to laugh.
             "Eheh, No." Tom groaned as he stood back up. To fix the problem. "Before I forgot there is popcorn, sweets, and drinks on the table if you would like at any point."
              "I'm so full from that amazing dinner maybe later. Thank you." You hummed.
             Tom finally settled, and the movie started. You giggled when Tom began to sing out loud. 'Look for those bear necessities.'
           "You, sir, are a dork." You throw a small pillow at the man.
           "Hey, now I saw your feet swaying to the music. You know you were just about to bellow it out." Tom tossed the pillow back at you.
         "You saw nothing, mister. I was rudely interrupted from the movie by off-key singing." You teased sticking your tongue out. Placing the pillow back under your head. "Now, shh it."
         Tom settled down, and you both went back to the movie. Soon the second movie started. Twenty minutes into the film, you decided on some popcorn.
         "Do you want any popcorn?" You asked, looking over at Tom, who was watching you as you got up.
         "Popcorn does sound good. But I can get it, love." Tom hummed, pulling himself up.
         "I got it, Tom. I mean, I'm already up." You smiled, walking over to the cute little setup Tom had put a lot of thought into.
         "Where's mine?" Tom poured as you came back with some candy and one bag of popcorn.
         Carefully you kneeled on to the mattress with Tom. Making sure not to spill any of the contents from your arms, laying everything down on the blanket. Tom corked an eyebrow at you. Humming to the music. While you moved under the blanket.
          "I figured we could share." You shrugged a shy smile played along your lips. Brushing a loose strand of hair back behind your ear.
          "Of course, darling sounds like a lovely idea." Tom moved over just a bit, giving you more room.
         You scooted closer to the man popcorn in hand as you rested yourself against him. Your head was resting lightly on his chest. Tom didn't hesitate to put his arm around you. You both went back to the movie.   
         "Thank you, Tom, this has been the best and one of the most thoughtful dates I have ever been on." You spoke up kissing Tom cheek, almost startling him.
           "You are more than welcome." Tom smiled.
Tom leaned forward, capturing your soft lips with his own, testing the waters almost to see if you would pull away. He paused for a moment only for Your lips pressing back along with his. Your hand that was already resting on his chest, gripped into the smooth fabric of his sweater.
          He kissed you softly, yet there was so much passion behind each movement. His arms wrapped around your waist. Your other hand found it's way to tangled into his soft locks. Forgotten popcorn spilled over the blanket. 
            Only breaking apart when a roar that made you two jump apart. Both of you looked to the screen, chest heaving and out of breath as you saw the T-Rex come back on-screen attempt to kill a car. And two kids screaming for their life.
           "Eheh." Tom laughed as he turned back to look at you. Gently Tom moved so that he wasn't crushing you too much. Some point he had slowly started leaning into you. You bit your lip when you looked up at Tom; his hair was a bit of a mess. You could feel your cheeks heat up.
          "You know for being dead, dinosaurs do have the worst timing." You said breathlessly.
          "That they do." Tom smile kissing your lips once more.
         "Popcorn?" You offered Tom as you took a piece from the pile that was currently on top of Tom's lap.
        Soon the movie came to an end, and Tom was the one that didn't want the night to end. However, he hadn't realized yet that you had fallen asleep. Not until he went to get up to turn the projector off that he noticed. You looked so cute draped over him, with your face practically buried into his chest.
"Darling, the movies over." Tom gently stroked your cheek even though he didn't want you to wake you.
"Mmhmm." You nodded sleepily but didn't show any other signs of moving.
"Y/n?" Tom kissed your forehead this time.
"Five more minutes." You yawned your arm wrapped around Tom's waist tighter.
"All right." Tom smiles as he covered both of you up. Though he didn't intend on falling asleep himself, he did.
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It’s Ok
Summary: Chris has been gone on a work trip related for a while. Reader has a complicated week, when she finds out that Chris is coming back, she is not able to welcoming him the way she wants.
Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader
Warnings: Sickness, vomiting, fainted, fever, body issues (not to profound)
Word Count: 2,768
This was written for the Week 5 Weekly Challenge of @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho ​ @donutloverxo ​ @captain-a-rogerss ​
A/N: This was kind of proof-read so if there’s any mistake, please let me know, English is not my mother tongue, and I’m still learning. Enjoy the reading!
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Monday
You had to get ready, but you were still in bed. It was one of those days you wanted to stay in bed and do nothing. You weren’t feeling ok; you assumed that it was because you missed him, your dearest boyfriend. Today marked the second week since he left for work. It was supposedly to take just a couple of day, but it didn’t go as planned because he hasn’t come back yet.
You felt alone, empty. Chris wasn’t there with you, neither Dodger; Chris insisted on took him in with his sister, so you didn’t have to worry about him. You took a deep breath and decided to get up and get ready for the day.
Once on the kitchen, you were having just a tea, not coffee today, you weren’t in the best mood and the caffeine didn’t help you. You were lost in thought about all you had to do for the day when your buzzing phone brought you back to reality.
Good morning doll. Counting the days to be back with you.
I wish you a beautiful day
Love you
Chris
Suddenly a smile appeared on your face, and felt love, just pure love. Chris knew how sad and difficult is for you to be alone for so long. You decided to text a quick response and then get ready for work.
 Hello beautiful boy. I can't wait to have you with me.
Have a beautiful week.
Love you more
Y/N
 The day at work started pretty good for your liking, but it ended up bad and it was just Monday. Someone did something wrong on important papers and your boss had to deal it with you. Being part of a group of assistants was difficult, you have to deal with the bad mood and yelling from the bosses and people who believed had a superior position than yours. You were really stressed, you needed a break to keep going but it was the beginning of the week and you still had the rest of the week ahead. You finished working around 4:30 pm and had to get ready for your classes. You’re on your third year of college with a major in Art History, your current job it doesn’t have any connection with what you’re studying but it helps the survival.
You have a few delayed papers, a few with close deadlines but still you have to prepare two final exams. The stress was starting to kick in.
Tuesday
 The same emptiness you felt yesterday today was there. You had barely slept; you stayed awake doing some papers and making flashcards to study. Last night after coming back from school, you started to cry, you were overwhelmed, and you needed Chris by your side. You had texted him but you put it aside afterwards because you didn’t want any distractions. You were starving; you didn’t have dinner yesterday, so you got up and went to have breakfast. You took the computer with you so you could update more papers. You had to checked the phone, probably some of the teachers had emailed you because you were late and the grades were coming down. You had a few texts from Chris, of course.
 Hi love! I’m sorry I didn’t answer back, I was busy.
How did your day go? I really miss you
Chris
 Babe, is everything alright? 
Pls answer me
Chris
I hope you rest well. I can’t wait to see you
Sweet Dreams, good night, I love you
Chris
You felt really bad because he wanted to talk to you, but you needed to update some of your essays. Your work was taking you more time than you had expected and because of that you were getting behind in the classes. You finished breakfast, got ready and went to work.
At lunch break, you decided to text Chris back and tell him what was going on. 
Hi honey! How are you? Sorry I didn’t answer I was catching up with homework
I hope your day it's better than mine :(
I really miss you. Can’t wait to see you
Love you
Y/N
So far the day was stressful, but manageable. You had tons of work, and probably you had to stay extra hours to finish some papers that had to be delivered the following day. After the break you started to work on those papers when you got a phone call.
-Hello –I say not seeing who was calling
-Hi love –Chris said –How are you?
-Lost in work, you? –I say
-Missing you –he says
-I miss you too –I say –Look honey, I really appreciate you calling, but I have to finish this, and I’m already late with it –I mention with a sad tone
-It’s okay doll. I wanted to check on you actually –he says –but I’ll call you later
-I’m good, don’t worry –I say
-Ok. I love you –He says upset
-Love you too. Bye –I say and hang up
If you thought that your day was going to get better after that call, you were wrong. A really strong headache hit you and made you feel dizzy, probably it was because the late night working. You decided to take an aspirin, ignore the pain and keep working.
You had to stay almost four hours after work, your headache never left and you had missed the classes of the day. You wanted to get home and get into bed and wake up on the weekend. You decided to send Chris a quick text because he had promised you to call.
Hi love! I know you wanted to talk, but I’m leaving work right now and I have to finish an essay for tomorrow and I’ll probably ignore my phone.
I’m really really sorry
Talk to you tomorrow. I promise
Love you
Y/N
 Once you got home, you took off your clothes, put some pjs and started the essays which were due date tomorrow and you haven’t started yet. It was going to be a long night with lots of coffee.
The pounding headache you had earlier got really worse, your eyes were watering making it really difficult to read and your body was really sore. It was the fifth cup of coffee when you got a text from your mom
Hello Y/N! I hope you remember our dinner tomorrow
It’s been a while since the last meeting.
I really miss you
Mom
As soon as you saw who texted you, you rolled your eyes. You’ve totally forgot the dinner with your mom, you were doing too many things but remember it wasn’t, but you couldn’t cancel it. It was the only time you were able to see her during the week.
 Hi mom! I’ll be there, don’t worry
I miss you too
Y/N
When you send it the message, you realized it that was almost 6 AM and you haven’t finished your essay yet. You stop doing it and went to take a shower and then start the new day.
Wednesday
After your late night work and your shower, you still felt tired and sore. You prepared your breakfast and went to finish your essay. Luckily you were able to finish it just in time to go to work. You send a quick text to your mom and Chris and started your day.
Your day at the office went pretty well. Some stressful moments, but besides that, everything was normal. You were feeling really bad, being all night awake wasn’t your best decision but it was worthy, your essay was perfect, as your teacher said, and you were proud. You needed to go home and crash your bed; unfortunately you had dinner with your mom. You felt feverish but you didn’t pay much attention, probably was the lack of sleeping.
Hello my love! How’s your dinner with your ma going?
The producers told me that probably I’ll be back home by the weekend. I can’t wait
I love you
Chris
Your face lighted up immediately. It was the middle of the week, and Chris was coming back home. Nothing could ruin your day.
Dinner with your mom went terrible. She’d complaint about everything you have been doing since you moved on your own. Everything got worse when she started to criticize your body and your diet; and when she compared you to your sister you snapped. You had to kick her out of your house before something bad happened. Chris promised you to call, but you weren’t in the mood, not after what happened with your mom, so you turned off your phone, drank a beer and then you went to sleep. You deserved it.
 Thursday
Your alarm started to sound pretty loud, you got up and had to run to your bathroom, it wasn’t the cleverest idea to drink a beer before bed. Once you emptied your stomach, you laid on the cold floor. Today you had to stay in, so you emailed your boss calling in a sick day. You went back to bed and you fell asleep immediately. You woke up a few hours later feeling a little bit better from your stomach. You went to the kitchen; you prepared something light to eat and went back to bed. It was the perfect opportunity to finish all your essays you hadn’t hand in yet.
Some hours later, you were emptying your stomach on the bathroom again; you probably had caught a bug during the week. You should tell Chris about it, he shouldn’t get sick. 
You remembered that you’d turned it off the night before, probably you had several messages and missed calls, but you didn’t care. You didn’t want to deal with anything. Indeed, you had several phone calls from your mom and a bunch of texts saying she was sorry and she never meant to tell you such things. Before calling her you texted to Chris quickly to give him an update on your day and your health as well
Hi love! That’s great news! Sorry I didn’t answer back sooner, I was busy…
I don’t think you should come directly from the airport, I think I caught a bug, cause I haven’t been feeling well for a few days.
I hope your day is going good.
I miss you
Y/N
And then you called your mom. She picked up after the first ring
-Y/N! Darling, are you ok? –she asks almost screaming
-Yeah, I forgot to turn on my phone –I say avoiding my health
-I’m sorry about last night, I shouldn’t have told you such horrible things –she says
-But still, you did it –I say –Look, I know you don’t like the way I’m living, but it’s MY life –I say
-I know sweetie, but I still feel bad about how everything ended –she told me.
“She was really excusing herself” you thought but your stomach had other plans
-I’m sorry mom –you say –I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later –I say and hung up
You run to your bathroom, lucky for you, you made it. You really needed Chris next to you. You heard your phone ringing, probably it was him calling you, but you didn’t have the energy to get up, you were really dizzy and you started to see black dots, and then everything went black. This wasn’t good.
You didn’t know how long you were passed out, but when you woke up, you felt terrible. You checked your temperature, the thermometer marked 100.4°; with all your energy you got up, and went back to bed to rest, you didn’t have enough energy to take anything or even cook something.
 Friday
You don’t know when exactly you woke up, you emailed to your job calling in sick again. You didn’t realize what time it was or how long you were asleep. The only thought in your mind was that you needed to clean the house, Chris was coming tomorrow and everything was a mess, even though you warned him about being sick you knew he was going to come either way. You had to take your temp again; you were shivering, probably because it went up. Certainly it did, it was 102.2°; you knew it was bad, so you dragged yourself from bed and decided to run a bath, which was going to help.
After your bath, you went to the kitchen and prepared just a tea, and grabbed two crackers, you didn’t want to push your stomach, you were still weak; and you went back to bed.
You had a few emails from school, from work and some texts from your mom and Chris. When you were about to texted Chris back he called you.
-Hello my love –he says with his calming voice
-Hi –you answer
-How are you feeling?
-Really bad –you say pouting
-I’m sorry doll. Do you want me to call someone to take care of you?
-Don’t worry hun, I’m better now. With some rest I’ll recover –you assure him
-I’m calling you because I’m about to head to the airport so, I’ll probably don’t answer my phone until tomorrow –you heard him smiling
-It’s ok love; I can’t wait to see you again –you say smiling as well
-Me too love. Me too. I’ve got to go –he says upset
-Safe travel, I love you –you say
-Love you too. Bye –he says and hung up
You were crying already, you didn’t know why, probably was the fever. You finished your tea; you put some cozy clothes and went to the kitchen to start cleaning everything.
You finished cleaning pretty late so you took another tea and some crackers for dinner. You weren’t in the mood for food and neither your stomach. Once you finished your tea, you went to your room to clean it, when a wave of nausea hit you and you had to run to the bathroom again. You lay on the cold floor; it was a beautiful sensation against your heated skin. With all your strength you grabbed the thermometer and took your temp again, because you were pretty hot. You were running a temp of 103.1°. You needed help, you tried to get up from the floor so you could go to grab your phone, but you fainted before getting up. 
Saturday
Chris arrived at dawn; he found the house clean although you told him you were sick. He noticed there was no dinner leftover, “have you been eating?” he thought to himself, he was worried
-I’m home baby –he calls but there’s no response
-Y/N? –he calls you a little louder
He thought that you might be sleeping, but his heart broke when he find you. He lifted you from the floor and put you in bed. He went to the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and pouring some cold water, grabbed a washcloth, a glass of juice and some ibuprofen and came back to the room.
When you woke up, you realized that you were on the bed, “did you make it to the bed?” you thought when you saw that Chris entering your room.
-Hey! You are awake –he says and you could barely smile
-When did you arrive? –you question
-Not long ago, I was worried –he admits -I found you on the floor –he sits next to you on the bed pulling the tray on the nightstand
-Oh –you say and you look your hands
-What is it love? -he asks caressing your cheek
-I think I fainted in the bathroom –you admit
Chris didn’t say anything; he went to the bathroom and picked up the thermometer. He came from the bathroom with a worried face
-Open –he commands
You did what he had told you and waited. He never stopped caressing your cheek. You were falling asleep when he woke you up
-Don’t fall asleep sweetie, I know you’re tired, but please, hang on –he sounded worried - Did you eat something? –he asked you but you just shake your head and the thermometer beeped
-104° .How high was the last time you checked it? -he asks you
-103.1° –you says
-We have to break this before it gets worse. How many times did you faint? –he was really worried
-Two times, I think. I don’t really know actually –you say disappointed
-When was the last time that you eat something solid? –he asks concerned
-On Wednesday, with my mom –I say –Probably that’s why I fainted the first time –I explained
-Don’t worry, doll. I’ll take care of you –he says caressing your face.
~Tag List (If you want to be part, let me know)
@iguessweallcrazyithinktho​
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luckyfaeth · 6 years
Text
hello welcome to my new favorite junksen au ! 
Aubrey is a corporate accountant at a large company, and she’s put so much time and investment into becoming the best at her job that she never really found anyone to date
But she desperately wanted a child, and she’s finally super secure financially and in a good place in her career. So she adopted a son.
Michael Reese Posen is the light of Aubrey’s life. He’s 8 years old and has the biggest green eyes and scruffy unruly brown hair and his favorite color is yellow and he loves dinosaurs and wants to be an astronaut.
He’s always been a little shy though, and Aubrey tries her best to get him to open up. The only one he’ll really talk to other than Aubrey is Bella, Stacie’s daughter (Stacie and Aubrey are coworkers and close friends)
Michael also generally doesn’t like school, but that changes when he starts 3rd grade.
He comes home after the first day and he’s absolutely raving about his teacher.
“Mama, my teacher’s name is Ms. Emily and she’s super nice and she has pretty flowers in her room they’re sunflowers so they’re my favorite color and there are fun decorations everywhere and she brought us cupcakes!”
Aubrey listens to Michael ramble on about school for another 20 minutes, and it warms her heart because he’s so happy and excited.
Michael comes home and talks about school and his awesome teacher almost every day
“Mama, Ms. Emily bakes us cupcakes when we have tests!” “Mama, Ms. Emily lets us listen to Disney songs and singalong and she said I have a good voice!” “Mama, Ms. Emily helped me learn how to spell a big word today!” “Mama, Ms. Emily sings and plays guitar!”
Aubrey is so amazed at how excited Michael is about school. Like, every morning he’s so excited to go see what Ms. Emily has planned for them
A couple months in, parent/teacher conferences roll around, and Aubrey finally gets to meet the famous Ms. Emily
She walks in the classroom (Which is like walking into a rainbow. Seriously, it’s so fucking bright) and sees who she assumes to be Michael’s teacher looking down at her desk writing something so she knocks on the door to get her attention and is like “Hello? I’m here for the parent teacher conference. I’m Michael’s mom?”
And Emily’s head pops up and she gives Aubrey a huge smile and oh no Aubrey is too gay
Ideally teacher!Emily always wears like, cute flowery dresses or fun sweaters in the winter or sometimes she'll have fun and wear like denim overalls that have cute patches on them (her students helped her pick them out!!)
Also the first outfit Emily wears in pp2 and the pink checkered button up under the sweater vest fit the teacher!Emily aesthetic anyway back to plot
“Ms. Posen! It’s so great to meet you. Michael’s told me all about you. I’m Emily Junk. You can call me Emily though. Guess you see why I go by Ms. Emily, huh?”
Aubrey laughs and is like “Oh, Michael absolutely adores you. Every day it’s Ms. Emily this, Ms. Emily that. I honestly have never seen him more excited than when you showed them that movie about dinosaurs”
Aubrey cannot believe how undeniably kind Emily is and also understands why Michael likes her so much
Calm down Aubrey.
Aubrey thanks Emily because Michael’s always been a little closed off but Emily has really helped that and Emily is like “Aw, it’s really nothing. He’s still a little shy with the rest of the class, besides Bella. But he loves talking to me about what he’s reading during quiet time.”
“Well, that’s huge for him. He barely talks to my parents even. Whatever it is you’re doing, it’s amazing.”
Emily totally blushes.
Emily highkey thinks Aubrey is so freakin' attractive like .... she showed up to the conference looking all professional bc she just came from work and oh wow ok emily don't have a crush on one of your student's moms!! omg.... but she's just so pretty and poised and !!!
As they’re finishing up, Emily leads Aubrey out and Aubrey sees that she’s wearing bright yellow converse that match her cute sundress and it’s adorable
“It was so nice to meet you Ms. Posen.”
“Please, Emily. I told you to call me Aubrey.”
“It was so nice to meet you Aubrey,” Emily smiles. “Sorry I was checking my phone while we were talking. Just a little bit of stress to start the day with.”
“Oh it’s no problem, I understand. What’s got you stressed?” Aubrey doesn’t know why she asks but she does
“I had a bunch of parents gathered to help volunteer at this Halloween party I’m doing for the kids, but one of them dropped out and it’s right around the corner...But it’s no big deal. I can totally handle it.”
Aubrey says what she’s thinking before she can think too hard about it
“I could volunteer. If you need the extra set of hands.”
“No no no I couldn’t ask you do to that…”
“I’d love to help, Emily.”
So Aubrey ends up helping out and she decorates Emily’s classroom with her and Emily finds it amusing that Aubrey needs to stand on her toes to reach the top of the chalkboard but Emily doesn’t
For Halloween Emily dresses up as Minnie Mouse with the Minnie ears and the polka dot dress and it’s so adorable
Chloe being Emily's teacher friend and she saw Aubrey and Emily decorating together yesterday and then taking down all of the decorations today and she sees Aubrey laughing and Emily grinning like a dork and is like “hhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMM”
Aubrey and Michael leave and Chloe rushes over and Emily squeals because "dont scare me like that!!" but Chloe ignores her and she's like "you like her! you like her! emily you totes like her!!!!"
“No I don’t Chloe. Shut up”
Stacie and Aubrey talk about how the party went and Stacie is like “Aubrey, you think Emily is cute.”
“What? I mean, sure, she’s like a real-life Miss Honey. But I don’t-”
“Just admit you’re hot for teacher!”
“Stacie don’t say it like that.”
“Whatever, it’s true.”
Aubrey ends up volunteering to help at all of the other little events that Emily does for her class (Stacie says she’s whipped and Aubrey just says she wants to be more involved at the school. Stacie calls BS)
Emily offering Aubrey tea when she visits the classroom one day and Aubrey’s like “Sure thank you”
Emily pours her the tea and asks, “Honey?”
Aubrey’s really glad she wasn’t drinking yet because she would’ve spit it out “I-I’m sorry what???”
“Honey. With your tea??”
“OH”
Aubrey’s a blushing mess for once and Emily thinks it’s adorable
Michael totally catches onto Aubrey’s crush (as much as an 8 year old can) and asks “Mama do you like Ms. Emily?”
“Of course I do, sweetheart.”
“I thought so cuz you look at her like Flynn Ryder looks at Rapunzel” (Tangled is Michael’s favorite movie)
Aubrey’s like “Michael stay out of it this is adult business”
“Ok mama but if you wanted to marry Ms. Emily I’d be okay with it”
“Alright time for bed goodnight”
At the Christmas party Aubrey notices again how amazing Emily is with the kids (duh) and is like “you know I think if this was my job I’d never want kids” and Emily laughs but is like “nah I love them..I really do want kids someday still”
“How does your boyfriend feel about kids?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend..or girlfriend. Haha what a weird thing for you to assume. Oh no no Carter don’t poke Hannah with the candy cane!”
Aubrey screams a little internally because that was going so well goddamnit Carter what a little shit
Teacher appreciation week and Michael’s like “Mama we GOTTA get something for Ms. Emily”
“Ok so like what...a ... gift card? ...... maybe a....apple??? What do teachers like Michael”
Michael’s like “well ms emily really likes lots of things like animals and space and flowers and cupcakes and candy and -“
“Can you speed this up honey”
“Oh she likes mugs!! She has a different one everyday!!!”
Michael helping Aubrey pick out the Best Mugs for emily and they give her one for every day of the week because Aubrey is EXTRA!!!!
Emily’s like “oh my stars you didn’t have to do all this you know most people just give me a Starbucks gift card and are done with it...”
“Well I...we. We wanted to do something special for you.”
The last day Michael doesn’t show up with a mug and Emily is a little disappointed but she doesn’t question it
But then Aubrey comes to pick Michael up which is weird because usually Michael carpools with the Conrads but Emily gladly welcomes the visit
And Aubrey’s like “Michael could you give Ms. Emily and I one second to talk?”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No sweetheart”
Emily’s like “How can I help you Aubrey?”
“In the spirit of Teacher Appreciation week, I’d like to take you to dinner tonight. If you’d like.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet! I’d love to. Is Michael coming?”
Aubrey blinks. “No, I thought this could be just the two of us.”
“Oh. Well that’s kind of weird considering I’m his teacher and it’s for teacher appreciation week”
“It’s a date! A date. I’m asking you on a date”
“Oh. Ohhhh. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
“Nevermind I shouldn’t have asked I just thought -”
“Aubrey, I’d love to go on a date with you tonight.”
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jim-reid · 6 years
Text
Welcome to the Drugstore
David Cavanagh / Select 05.1992
Spring hath officially sprung, with all the copious rising of sap that that entails, and in the crisp brightness the shocking explosion of hallucinatory pink that is the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre is looking even more of a concrete cake mix eyesore than usual. The Labour Party HQ is down the Walworth Road to the left. Some of the Capital's least convivial public houses are within gunshot; there was a highly publicised fatal gangland shooting in one of them last year. And a couple of streets away Jim and William Reid, oblivious to anything but their ongoing symbiotic rock 'n' roll quest and the shadowlands beyond, count The Jesus And Mary Chain into a tasty, fuzzified tune called "Teenage Lust", off their new "Honey's Dead" album. The studio belongs to the Reid brothers. They've done what loads of bands dream of and bought their own playground. Despite the perils of the turf outside their door, the studio's a bright little suntrap in a modernistic red-brick complex, and at least if any of their stuff ever gets nicked they won't have far to go - there's a police station over the road. The name the Mary Chain have given their little home from home was carefully chosen with their neighbours in mind. Welcome to The Drugstore. While the Reid brothers, fleshed out by long-time additional "tour guitarist" Ben Lurie and the recently-headhunted bassist and drummer from Anxious Records grungesters The Starlings, are trying to muscle up the obligatory lewd pelvic feel for "Teenage Lust"s plotline about a young girl losing her virginity, there's plenty of chance to wander around and explore. The loo downstairs, contrary to nervous premonitions, is a model of sophistication and hygiene. Up a flight of stairs, the kitchen is pristine white and user-friendly. Somebody's cut a picture of Kylie Minogue out of a style magazine and stuck it on the wall. There's a packet of Grapefruit & Orange Herbal Tea lying open on a shelf, with some Digestives nearby and - for those occasional moments of ill health -some sachets of Lemsip. The room where the Mary Chain are playing has large windows all along one wall, like a common room in a school. Indeed, the chairs they're sitting on are regulation school issue navy-blue plastic seats. There's a setlist on the wall of all the songs they'll be doing on the Rollercoaster tour, which they're working through. "We're off to Scandinavia next week," says Jim, coming into the control room. "Do, a few warm-up gigs. The rehearsals are going fine but we keep getting interrupted." Yeah, well, sorry about that. Any chance of a couple of hours of your time in that pub opposite? "Oh aye. Er…" he pauses. "Actually, better make it the one down on the road." "Been barred from the other one already, then?" someone pipes up. Jim smiles thinly. So The Mary Chain are back. This ghostly, sullen, black influence on pop's wan youth return to reclaim their children. Or something. Like My Bloody Valentine, whose lengthy absence just made the rumours about them that much wilder, the Mary Chain have flourished in absentia. Everyone from Ride down (and it's a long way down) has paid varyingly intense degrees of homage to the brothers, and specifically to their feedback-drenched 1985 debut album "Psychocandy". Although William Reid, for one believes the Mary Chain will only be fully appreciated eight or nine years after they split ("like Cubism"),their influence has spread like a bush-fire to the point where "Psychocandy" is now loads of bands' Year One. It breezed to the top of most magazines end-of-the'80s polls, clearly still intoxicating listeners five years after release with its seditionary, squalling little love-hate songs. When the Mary Chain formed, on a creed of disgust and frustration, in the appallingly shallow pop climate of '84, they were so shockingly intense that they provoked riots at gigs. At one early gig Jim's voice had screamed the word "fuck" over and over till it was time to leave the stage. The phrase "the new Sex Pistols" was used by journalists. Nihilism. The Velvet Underground. Arrogance. In interviews thay were a pair of spindly-legged naked flames somewhere between the Hair Bear Bunch and Class War. And although they may have mellowed to such an extent that they'll now toss avancular plaudits the way of Chapterhouse and Slowdive, never forget that these two guys were as scary as hell in the summer of 1984. It's been quite a resurrection. When the single "Reverence" went straight in the charts at number nine earlier this year, it was their highest placing since "April Skies" made number eight in 1987. "Honey's Dead" is easily their best LP since "Psychocandy". Everyone seems happy with the way they've leapt on the latest chattery typing-pool-from-hell dance beats, while sadistically cranking up the guitars to new, outrageously loud levels of obnoxiousness and ire. And the Rollercoaster tour, which has them playing after Blur, Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine every night, scarcely looks like the gesture of a band with low self-esteem. It's been a while. Aside from the "Rollercoaster" single in the middle of 1990 (which turns up, re-recorded on "Honeys Dead") it's been pretty much all quiet on the Mary Chain front since the "Automatic" LP in late '89, while the Reid brothers sorted their heads out. It comes as some surprise to learn that they seriously considered packing it all in around 1990, bored with doing the exact same tour of the UK for the seventh or eighth time and sick of the songs they'd by then played to death. Never the most prolific of bands (four albums in the years 1985-'92) they let '91 drift by until they were happy that all the new songs complied with the rigorously-observed Mary Chain rule of thumb - that "every song we do could be released as a single". The delay has, if anything been a good thing. Now they've got company. It would be difficult to imagine a Rollercoaster tour happening in 1987. Perry Farrell's Lollapalooza idea was the inspiration; he had actually invited them on to the bill for last years tour. They couldn't make it, but they might well be in the line-up for this year's. Their own provisional list had names like Ride, Lush and (planning a tad prematurely here, of course) Nirvana. Spiritualized, current Jim faves, made it to the last five. At the time of writing the bands had yet to meet each other (aside from the odd social drink), and the whole thing had a strong touch of the wing and a prayer about it. "Ask us when it's over." Jim and William sit drinking, respectively, a pint and a half of bitter in one of the area's safer boozers. For two blokes now in their early 30's they're looking pretty good on it. Jim is wiry and intense. Everything he says - even "Anybody want anything from the bar?" - sounds like he's been seething over it for about 20 minute. William is much more relaxed and speaks in a slightly slurred, quizzical tone. They argue good-naturedly a lot, like brothers do, and cynically puncture each other's wilder examples of hyperbole. If there's a joke to be told they both want to be first to the punchline. They refer to each other as "him" and "him". They bicker over historical details like an old married couple. What do these guys imagine the outside world sees, looking in at The Jesus And Mary Chain? "I think everybody's got an idea of what the Mary Chain are all about," says Jim, already seething a little. "But I don't think anybody really has a clue what we're about." He thinks for a moment. "I suppose that wedon't even know." A lot of it centres on their supposed arrogance. The Rollercoaster idea takes suprisingly good care of their audience - putting together the best value show in the least awful venues they could find. Wasn't the feeling before that they were The Jesus And Fuckin' Mary Chain and if people didn't like it they knew what they could do? "We're not really that arrogant these days," says Jim. "If anything we're probably pretty insecure and lacking in confidence. We've been arrogant. When we first came along we thought that you had to shout loud about how good you were to really grab people by the throat. I think we've now come to understand that it's music that grabs people. That was where the arrogance always came in." Did they feel they were on some sort of crusade at times? It sometimes seemed in the mid-'80s like it was them and The Smiths against the world. "We had very clear ideas about pop subversion," says Jim. "We really believed that if you could get a record like "You Trip Me Up" on Top of The Pops, it would seriously change the way people made music. And looking back I don't even know if that was particularly naïve. I think if "Reverence" had been on Top of The Pops (it was banned for its blasphemous references to Jesus Christ's crucifixion) there would have been a lot of people watching that night who would have realised there are other ways of making a pop record than the Kylie Minogue way, that pop records don't really have to be moronic or crass. "That was the idea. That you could make pure guitar noise and be pop stars and be on Top of the Pops. Because why bother doing it for some horrible little crowd at the ICA when you can be on TV playing for the whole country? Music only changes when the entire population of this country hears a noise they've never heard before." He seethes a bit more, snatches at his glass. The Jesus And Mary Chain used to be more of a proper band. Douglas Hart played bass and Bobby Gillespie played drums. "Psychocandy" was recorded as a four-piece. Nowadays if you read the sleeve credits on a Mary Chain record it'll tell you it was written, played and produced in its entirety by Jim and William Reid. Yet they insist on stressing how flimsy their knowledge of guitar playing is, and how despicable and appalling most musicians are. Here they are doing it again. "It took me ages to learn the guitar," recalls William quizically, "and I think the reason was I was never really interested in guitarists. I'd never listen to guitar on a record, or the bass or the drums; it'd just be the whole sound of the record that I loved. I never had any guitar heroes." "Guitarists are generally too respectful to the instrument, I find," says Jim, as William nods slowly. "A guitar is just like a hammer or a chisel. It's just something to get the job done. All that worshipping at the alter of the guitar is something we've never been into. Guitars look good. That's all we really care about. They look good, they make good sounds. You really don't need to sit down and learn to play the fuckin' thing. That would be three or four years of your life wasted. You should be doing a gig the day you get your first guitar." They both claim virtual incompetence as guitarists, although Jim reckons William is the best guitarist in the world on imagination alone. It took two of them to pull off the incredible feedback noises on "Catchfire" off the new album: one to hold the guitar and one to work the tremolo pedal. In fact, Jim was holding a guitar round his neck onstage a full year before he ever learned a note on it -he'd just turn his amp up and let it feed back. The early Mary Chain gigs were thus one continuous ear-splitting feedback shriek from beginning to end. "I think, in the studio," says William, "we're probably the least precious musicians around. If somebody in the studio can play a better guitar part than me, I'll give them the guitar. I'll give it to him," he nods at Jim, "or I'll give it to Alan Moulder (the engineer), or I'll give it too... For instance, on "Some Candy Talking", right? That bass part. He (Jim) couldn't play it. I couldn't play it. Douglas was the fuckin' bass player and hecouldn't play it. We asked all the engineers in the studio can any of you lot play it, and they couldn't play it." He starts to laugh. Jim: "It's got to be pointed out here that was an incredibly simple bass part." "It was," laughs William, "it was so simple. Then we got in a session bassist and he couldn't play it. And in the end Dick Green from Creation Records came down and he could play it. So we were like, Quick! Run the tape!" Jim: "We're producers, not musicians. We'll do anything to make a great record. We've been in studios in the past, with engineers and so on, and these guys can't believe we're serious. Cos we're sitting there with a bass or something, going like this," he does a fair impression of somebody who clearly has no idea how to play a bass, trying to play a bass. "And if we can't get it, we'll turn round to one of them and go, Aw look, have you any idea how this fuckin' thing works? We don't give a shit. If the record sounds good, who cares how it was made? I don't like musicians. I don't wanna end up like Clapton, wanking away at the Albert Hall like some propped up fuckin' zombie. That wasnae what the place was built for." Eric Clapton, for the Reid brothers is clearly Satan. He's always cropping up in Mary Chain interviews as the ultimate example of hideous technical expertise - a man with the ultimate guitar vocabulary, and nothing to say. Jim finds him "disgusting". "Musicianship's about imagination," he seethes, "not technical ability. If anything it just gets in the way. Like, Suicide could easily have been the Pet Shop Boys if they'd have gone away and learned how to play those synthesisers. But give 'em the synths - they don't know what they're doing, they'll try anything - and their first album's one of the greatest records I've ever heard." The man is on a roll. "I wanna see more people start bands. The more people start bands, the more good music there's gonna be around. Most people wait till they can play really well before they start bands. They don't need to. Spend an hour learning a chord or two, form a band. All you need is the confidence." William: "When we were recording "Upside Down", our first single, there was a drum bit in the middle, on the toms, and Murray (Dalglish) our drummer in those days, couldnae play it." He looks incredulous. "It was so fuckin' simple! He kept getting it wrong. So I said, Right, oot the way. And I played it. And, like, Murray was crying. He was really upset. So I said, Well, play my fuckin' guitar then if you think you can do something good with it. Murray... God, d'ye remember him? (He turns to Jim) He was about 16, and his father thought we were ripping him off. He told Murray to demand Musicians Union rates for gigs. So Murray's asking for, like, a hundred and fifty quid a gig, and we're only getting a fiver between us!" What's he up to now? "I think he's working in a bank." Jim: "We did a TV show once and Pete Townshend was on it. And he had Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd in his band at the time. And he (William) had a vintage Grestch Tennessean guitar that had this kind of horrible coffee-table colour. A classic guitar, you know?" William: "Cost about fifteen hundred quid." Jim: "And Dave Gilmour walks past on the way to the soundcheck and sees him sitting there with a pot of black paint, painting this wonderful vintage Grestch guitar black. Ruining the guitar, y'know? And when he sees what he's doing he goes like this (horrified look) and hurries away. Probably to tell Pete. I wish I'd had a video camera. That was one of the highlights of our career." If they're that bad at playing guitar now ("Oh aye, we're useless"), what were they like in the summer of 1984? What, for instance, was their first gig (ten minutes supporting The Loft at Alan McGee's club The Living Room in Tottenham Court Road) like? Jim: "It was awful." William: "It was not." Jim: "It was, it was shite." William: "It was not." Jim: "It would be easy to sit here and tell you that it was fantastic, but the truth is it was rubbish. We hadn't even bothered to rehearse, and we'd known about the gig for three weeks. We played to about 12 or 15 people." William: "It wasn't like that." Jim: "It was." William: "It wasn't. You don't even remember it. It was brilliant. Every song was so fuckin' deep with noise. You felt it was coming from somewhere else. We were flying..." How many songs would you have got through in those ten minutes? Jim: "About 25." William: (irritated): "No, if you remember, we used to do about four cover versions cos we didn't have any of our own songs." Jim (peeved): "Well, why are we talking about the old days anyway?" William: "Because there's a load of kids out there who would have been about eleven when we did that gig and it's interesting for them to hear us talking about it." Jim: "Aye, well, I suppose so." William: "A lot of people don't know our history. They just think we've been around forever." Jim: "Aye. Fair enough." What, then have been the pivotal moments in the history of the Mary Chain? The lyric of "Reverence" rates as a current favourite in the brothers' minds. Getting dragged offstage at the Venue in Glasgow in '84 and kicked out the back door with the immortal words: "You'll never work in this city again!" was an early highlight. The same promoter, incidentally, rang back six months later to re-hire them. Then there was the mad tour of Germany that same year with Bobby Gillespie on drums. "He had a great time," recalls William. "He hadn't really wanted to join in the first place, because he'd got Primal Scream up and going. We said, Bobby, you've got to help us out here, we've got no drummer, and he was going, Aye, but I'm a guitar player, y'know, and... All I remember from those gigs is I used to kneel in front of my amp all through the gig, with my back to the audience. And I can remember looking at Bobby and just laughing our heads off for 25 minutes. Like a couple of wee kids. It was fuckin' brilliant!" Then there were the patented Mary Chain stencilled T-shirts, as modelled by the brothers themselves. Jim's said "FUCK FUCK FUCK". William's went "FUCK C*** CANDY C***". They had vague plans for a retail chain to flood the nation with them. Jim's still a bit disappointed they didn't get it together. For a truly cosmically crucial Mary Chain moment, however, both Jim and William agree that you'd have to backtrack considerably further, to the days of sunny East Kilbride when the band was just starting. Picture the scene. Jim couldn't sing. William couldn't play guitar. Douglas couldn't play bass. "We were shit," admits William, "but Douglas was ten times shitter." They had a gig lined up, but no idea what to do with it. They knew they wanted to make an incredible amount of noise, but they didn't know how. How did you get noise out of a guitar anyway? They didn't have a hell of a lot to go on. What happened next was true crazy farce. William, on the lookout for FX paraphernalia, bought a Japanese-made fuzz pedal "from a guy round the corner" for ten quid. "Plugged it in. I was using this old twin reverb amp. And..." His eyes light up at the memory. "Ohhh... You didn't even need to touch the guitar. It just went ppkkhhwwhhkkhhpppwwhhhkkkhh!!!" "Looking back on it," says Jim laconically, "the pedal was probably broke." William: "The pedal was broke. It was completely fucked. As I discovered when I tried to flog it to some other bloke for a tenner a few weeks later. But the noise it made. It was almost as if another member had joined the band." So getting a broken fuzz pedal was of huge significance to the eventual career of the Mary Chain? "Definitely," says William as Jim nods in amusement. "I'd say our whole career swings on that pedal." Back at The Drugstore they take a stab at "Reverence". William, hunched over his guitar, is producing caterwauling grief from his strings, but sure enough looks like he only picked the instrument up that morning. The other guitarist looks far more competent. They all sit round the drumkit, grooving away. Kylie's still in the kitchen, and one sachet of Lemsip is now missing. And as you wave adios and leave them to it, and make your way out into the mean streets below, you're already singing it softly to yourself. "I wanna die like Jesus Christ... I wanna die on a bed of spikes." There, as thay say goes the neighbourhood.
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joker-0717 · 7 years
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WOULD YOU RATHER: INAZUMA EDITION - PART 2
1. Go to a dinosaur museum with Shinsuke OR go to a book club with Ichino. - Hard one because I love both, dinosaurs&books, but between the boys Ichino is my fav and seeing him being part of the game just made my day so, let’s go talk about books!
2. Let Shindou teach you how to play the piano OR let Kidou teach you how to cook. - God knows how much I want to learn how to play the piano and I can’t think about a better teacher than Shindou. But will I ever learn? Or I’ll fail on purpose so he can be my teacher forever? lol
3. Eat Tachimukai’s super super spicy curry OR eat curry that Kogure made for you (with an evil look in his eye as he passes it to you). - I can’t do spicy food & I also can’t really drink milk, but Kogure will probably put something even worse in his curry so, I’ll choose to die by Tachimukai’s food ‘cause at least I know he made it with love&good intentions, can’t say the same for Kogure....
4. Make onigiri with all the managers for a team of your choice OR make chocolates with one manager to give to only one of the boys.
5. Bake a cake with Tenma, Shinsuke, Hikaru, Kyousuke, Masaki and Aoi OR Be a manager for Inazuma Japan. - Being surrounded by all those handsome boys... What a dream job <3
6. Have Fei make you a matching plush bunny OR have Max make you a personalized hat. - I love hats but it’s hard to find one that fits well &/or makes me look good, so I’ll have to go with the plushie, at least I’ll have one more in my collection!
7. Read soccer magazines with Tenma and Taiyou (Who will never get bored) OR listen to every single one of Midorikawa’s proverbs AND Osamu’s lectures. - I like to play/watch soccer (World Cup) but I’m not so into it as to spend time reading magazines. Mido’s proverbs are one of my fav parts of the anime & I would like to learn new ones. As for Osamu’s lectures... I’ll just endure them, I have plenty of experience with boring lectures xD But maybe his won’t be as boring?
8. Go to a petting-zoo with Konoha OR play basketball with a very competitive Ibuki. - I didn’t read the “petting” part so I was going to choose playing basket BUT animals are way more important than sports, and if I can pet them then there’s no need to think about it.
9. Have Tetsukado teach you boxing OR have Sakura teach you gymnastics. - Boxing’s better to release energy&frustration, and I could learn some self-defense.
10. Cuddle up under a blanket with Fei OR eat strawberry and cream cake with Tenma. - Today’s rainy day is perfect to cuddle and have a nice nap.
11. Have Manabe help you with your homework for the year OR visit a planet of your choice from Galaxy. - Less stress, more free time. Also since we’re working together there’s a 100% probability I’ll get A+ xD
12. Have Gouenji buy you a giant teddy bear OR have Sakuma buy you a penguin keychain. - I was thinking of buying it myself since no one has done it yet, but thank you Gouenji, you’re the best! <3
13. Make high-quality chocolate with Shindou OR make traditional Japanese sweets with Kirino.
14. Be trapped in a snowstorm with Fubuki OR Endure a heatwave with Gouenji. - Can’t stand the heat. Also Fubuki could have some flashback because of the storm so I want to be there with him to give him a hug if he needs it.
15. Have Aoi teach you calligraphy OR take photos with Akane.
16. Have Tsunami and Tenma show you around Okinawa OR have Fubuki and Yukimura show you around Hokkaido. - Fubuki will attract too much attention, Yukimura will get really mad and we’ll take longer than planed to finish the tour. Tsunami will talk non-stop & drag me from place to place, Tenma is a cutipie & just seeing his adorable face will give me energy to keep running walking to keep up with Tsunami’s pace.
17. Kariya bullies and teases you OR Kogure constantly plays pranks on you. - With the amount of experience I have, he’ll be the one bullied&teased all the time xD
18. Go to the Pokemon Center with Shinsuke OR go to the Ghibli museum with Hikaru. - I hope he likes Totoro because we’ll spend most of the time in his section.
19. Go see a comedy show with Kabeyama, Kageno, Kurimatsu and the little ninja dude OR go bowling with Sangoku, Minamisawa, Kurumada and Amagi. - Bowling is fun & I wanna spend some time with this awesome quartet! They need/deserve more love <3
20. Watch old-fashioned samurai dramas with Midori OR watch old-fashioned detective shows with Minaho. - Detectives all the way.
21. Plan a surprise birthday party for Kyousuke with Tenma OR plan a welcome home party for Yuuichi with Kyousuke. - Awwwwwwwwwwwwwn just imagining it made me teared up a bit ;____; Yuuichi deserves it and imagine Kyousuke’s smile when he sees him entering the house & his surprised face. I wanna see that, they deserve it. Also I think Kyousuke would like it more, he just love his brother so much, he can wait till next year to have his bday party.
23. Go to a host club and have Minamisawa be your host OR go to a maid cafe and have one of the managers be your maid. - Ah both are so awkward... really awkward... I guess... I wouldn’t feel as awkward at the maid cafe... maybe?  Idk, both are places I want to visit to see if they’re just like in mangas/animes, but I think it’ll be too awkward for me to handle, but at least at the cafe I can just order, eat and go home.
24. Go shopping with Kirino to pick out a birthday gift for Shindou OR Have Kazemaru and Midorikawa go shopping to pick out a birthday gift for you. - At first I was like “Why are you doing this to me?!” and then I thought “Girl, you know what to do”. Is there anything betther than having my boy Kazemaru AND Mido spending some precious time to pick a bday gift for me? And since they bought it they can give it to me at my bday party & I’ll get to spend some time with them.
25. Let Fudou cut your hair OR let Burn and Gazel ‘mind’ your house for a week - Who in their right minds could agree with any of them? I’m not attached to my hair as I used to be, but that doesn’t mean I would let Fudou destroy it give me an extreme haircut. Not after letting Aphrodi treat it to make it look good as his. As for my house, it’s the only place I have, if Haruya&Suzuno burn it down, where am I going to live?
26. Eat the okonomiyaki from Rika’s shop OR eat the managers’ hand-crafted onigiri (not Natsumi’s!).
27. Visit Korea with Aphrodi, Burn and Gazel and get a personalized tour OR visit the Nara deer park with the Break Trio, Kazemaru and Fubuki. - Aside from the tour, we’ll go see live performances of my fav Kpop groups. I think Aphrodi will like it, Haruya too but he won’t say it and Suzuno, well, he’s not into Kpop but he’ll wonder why are girls/boys screaming so much at the groups, since none of its members are as good looking at him. Maybe he’ll consider joining an agency just to be the center of the group? Even if he can’t sing, his good looks would make him the most popular/loved member.
28. Hang out in America with Ichinose, Domon and the rest of team unicorn OR go on a European tour with the captains from FFI.
29. Prepare for Raimon’s cultural festival with Kazemaru and Gouenji OR go on a camping trip with Tatsuya and Midorikawa. - Definitely, cultural festivals are the best!
30. Fall asleep on the train between Shindou and Kirino OR have both Kazemaru and Fubuki walk you home (you can invite them in for tea!) - Again... Why are you doing this to me?! xD Ah... this test... I don’t think I can pass it... Sleeping between RanTaku... or walking home&having delicious tea with KazeFubu... Well... as much as I want to sleep between my boys, wich I’m sure would be a really warm&sweet experience (’cause I think Ran’s hair has a really sweet scent) imagine if I start drooling... on Ran’s arm or Takuto’s?! I can’t let that happen. Since we’re walking & they’ll stay for tea I can spend more time talking with Kaze&Fubu while we drink some black tea.
@inazuma-eleven-translations Part 2 was more difficult than part 1 & now I’m scared to play part 3, but I’ll do it anyways because this is really fun! Thank you once again for creating the game! ^^
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itsmajel · 7 years
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Majel Reads - July 2017
[What is this?]
Supernatural - Destiel
Ultraviolet by MittenWraith
The world seemed to be settling back into a somewhat regular pattern of supernatural activity after Sam officially rescinded the British Men of Letters American visa and Cas had moved into the bunker as a full-time Winchester. What seemed like a milk run hunt goes pear-shaped when Dean becomes the latest victim of a soul-devouring curse. Breaking the curse and saving his life only lead to a bigger mystery when someone unexpected steps out of the Impala and walks right into the middle of their case.
[Mature] [44919 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
What We Ache For by almaasi
Working as a prostitute (that’s ‘sex worker’ to the decent folks), Castiel has heard more than his fair share of odd requests. When he’s paid to spend a night with Dean Winchester (handsome, dork of all dorks, has a nice car... secretly a cop), the last thing Castiel expects to hear are the words “I wanna make love.” That's the one thing he’s never done before – so Dean is going to show him how to do it. But then, barely a month after that night is over, Castiel finds himself in a difficult situation, and Dean is mistakenly summoned to help. They begin to share again: Dean’s apartment, the spare bed, their deepest secrets. Over time, with the support of Dean’s brother Sam, a mystery dog, and lots of cuddles, kisses, comfort, and tea, maybe Cas can finally be loved the way he deserves.
[Explicit] [ 93,115 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Night Exhibition by almaasi
Welcome to the world's most generic museum. In the café, you'll find Dean, putting dinosaur cut-outs on his award-winning apple pies. In the gift shop, you'll find his snarky yet devastatingly handsome friend Castiel, folding t-shirts for a living. But Castiel has a second job as a night watchman, patrolling the marble halls and protecting the museum exhibits after dark. One night, Dean asks to tag along. He could never resist a crisp blue uniform, and he'll take any opportunity to have his friend show it off. It might take all night, one dance, and a playful sex act (or five) in a few unusual places around the museum before either of them realise... maybe Dean's interest was never about the uniform. And maybe their friendship was already something else.
[Explicit] [26996 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Dean and the Doula by whichstiel                                        
Castiel is Eileen's doula. FOR REASONS, you guys.
[Explicit] [8432 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
True as It Can Be by whelvenwings                          
Growing up in a small town in Kansas, Dean learned from a young age that there was only one rule that couldn’t be broken, one place he couldn’t go - through the forest, to the long-abandoned Angel’s Hollow. But when Sam disappears, Dean’s left with no choice but to follow his brother's tracks through the dangers of the wood; little does he know that the most dangerous creature of all lurks not among the trees, but in the Hollow itself. Dean sets Sam free, at the cost of his own liberty - and, bound by magic, resigns himself to living out the rest of his days in the Hollow, at the mercy of the being within. The angel of Angel’s Hollow, however, has a story - is a prisoner, too, as much as Dean is. Only one thing can free them both - but it is impossible. For, after all: who could ever learn to love a beast?
[Explicit] [71953 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
With Sure Certainty by andimeantittosting (Saylee)                
His first thought: "Who are you?"
It's the morning after his brother’s spur of the moment bachelor party in Vegas and Dean Winchester wakes up with the mother of all hangovers. Even worse, he's in a stranger's penthouse having woken up with something else as well - a weird, dorky, oddly charming, dashingly handsome… husband!
Up until now, marriage had always been off the table- Dean wasn’t relationship material, his life was in shambles, and he’d sworn off love for good. Then a night of terrible surprises, a few (okay, a lot) of martinis with Castle... no, Castiel Novak, and he's gone from first meet to marriage in one night.
Dean wants a lawyer. But Castiel’s shocking bombshell?
"I don't want a divorce."
[ Mature ] [16004 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
A Marriage of Misadventure by noxlee                              
At seventeen, Castiel Shurley fell madly in love with Dean Winchester, the steward's apprentice on his brother's estate. When they were caught together, Dean was dismissed, and Castiel was sent to war, told to bring honour to the family name or die trying. With peacetime finally upon them, Castiel is shocked to discover that Milton Park's new neighbour is none other than his erstwhile lover.
Dean, now Captain Singer, has spent the better part of a decade believing that Castiel betrayed him. When he learns that Castiel is at Milton Park, recovering from his battle wounds, he embarks on an ill-advised plan for revenge. When the man he finds is nothing like the villain he has imagined him, he must learn to put aside his anger, and trust, once again, in love.
[Explicit] [26,863 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Hear You Me by through_shadows_falling
At seventeen, Castiel Shurley fell madly in love with Dean Winchester, the steward's apprentice on his brother's estate. When they were caught together, Dean was dismissed, and Castiel was sent to war, told to bring honour to the family name or die trying. With peacetime finally upon them, Castiel is shocked to discover that Milton Park's new neighbour is none other than his erstwhile lover.
Dean, now Captain Singer, has spent the better part of a decade believing that Castiel betrayed him. When he learns that Castiel is at Milton Park, recovering from his battle wounds, he embarks on an ill-advised plan for revenge. When the man he finds is nothing like the villain he has imagined him, he must learn to put aside his anger, and trust, once again, in love.
[Mature] [ 84,459 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Arrested by Love by teacass (Fushigi)                
Running away from an affair gone wrong, famous musician and media darling Dean Winchester flees to the only place small enough to offer him security: his hometown of Madison, West Virginia.
Holing up in his father’s old cabin, he plans to wait out the storm in relative peace. Until he meets the new sheriff, Castiel Novak, who seems to be the only person in town immune to Dean’s (many) charms. Several maddening encounters and one completely unjustified arrest later, Dean is sure of one thing: his time at home will be anything but boring.
[Explicit] [42,287 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
When I See You Again by noxsoulmate [Re-Read]
It has been ten years since Dean Winchester left his hometown and moved to L.A. Ten years since Castiel Novak, his best friend and the love of his life, ended the relationship and set Dean free, so they could both follow their dreams. Now they’re both where they wanted to be in their careers, but what about their hearts? What will happen when Dean Winchester comes home after ten years for the concert of his life?
[Mature] [41,415 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Love Lab by youaresunlight
When Dean sees the flyer for a research study offering $75 to participants, he doesn’t think twice before signing him and Cas up. The problem, of course, is that it’s a romantic couples study and while Cas is his roommate and best friend, they are very much not in a relationship.
[Mature] [5,385 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Captain America / Marvel CMU - Stucky
live for the way that you cheer and scream for me by oh_la_fraise   *      
“Jesus, you're buff.” He snatched his hand back again, blushing. “Christ, I can't keep my mouth shut. Sorry. It's just, you could be Cap himself with those arms.”
Aka the one where Bucky is dressed like Captain America at a Captain America convention and doesn't realize he's talking to Captain America.
[General Audiences] [1,236 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
broken people (living under loaded gun) by obsessivereader, Slaughter_Me  
“It’s him, Nat.”
“He may look like Steve, but that’s not Steve.” Distress mars her calm, professional mask, a sign of how shaken she is. “You saw how many men he killed, the way he did it. That’s not Steve.”
Bucky knows what she means. The man in the cell was merciless and ruthless, and he killed with such brutal grace that Bucky hadn’t been able to look away. But strip Steve of his higher ideals, and that’s how he’d fight; smart, efficient, lethal; leaving dead bodies in his wake, instead of just broken bones and contusions.
So the question is, what had Hydra done to Steve, and who did Bucky have to kill in recompense.
[Teen And Up Audiences] [ 5,855 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer by boopboop
This wasn't Steve's plan for tonight.
Part of the plan, maybe. The part where he goes to a club, anonymous and dark; that's been part of the plan from the start. The part where he finds some... company; also part of the plan. He's self-aware enough to know how pathetically lonely he's feeling right now. The rest of the plan had been...less detailed, more just a collection abstract ideas. None of which he'd imagined would lead him here, his palms sweaty as they fish handfuls of cash out of his pockets, one arm anchored around the waist of a man who is very enthusiastically nibbling on his earlobe.
Or:
Steve tries and fails to master the whole 'one-night stand' thing, lies snowball in a truly epic fashion, the supervillains of New York are all out of control, Tony is the worst best friend and mediator in the history of ever, and Bucky has the patience of a saint. Guest starring: Augustus the houseplant, projectile pineapples, and Target superhero costumes.
[Explicit] [18,609 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Itinerant by  realmythology  
Maybe flowers’ll grow from me, pulling everything else out of my flesh until I’m nothing but those bones, nothing but all the love I got for you. That’ll last forever, I know it.
Got me all twisted-up, honey. Always did.
Steve Rogers tries to carve out a place for himself in a world where he isn't Captain America. Bucky Barnes tries to reclaim himself while paying back a debt that he can't shake.
Somehow, they manage to meet in the middle.
[Mature] [42,637 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
One Way Or Another by Chiyume  
When Steve volunteers to help Tony launch Stark Tech’s new Military Prosthetics Project, the last person he expects to see as he walks into the lab is the same guy who had him shoved up against a wall in the back of a club the weekend before.
Back then he had just been Steve Rogers; a civilian looking for a good time just like everyone. Here, he’s Captain America; hero, justice, and patriotism personified. Bucky, however, is still the flirtatious devil he had been back at the club, and he’s obviously not going to let something as trivial as Steve’s occupation get in the way of what he wants.
[Explicit] [22,374 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Wingman by Hopeless--Geek (wuzzy90), shanology
All Steve wants to do is finish his ridiculous assignment as a cupid quickly so he can take on the job he’s been working towards for decades: guardian angel. But somehow, every match he tries to make for Bucky Barnes ends up in disaster. It’s like the man doesn’t even want to find his true love. In fact, he seems far more interested in getting his cupid into bed…
[Explicit] [33,118 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Treasured by Dira Sudis (dsudis), Sealcat 
When everyone in town became convinced that a dragon really had come again to the Old Lair, and that the town would have to offer it tribute, they all looked at Steve.
 Honestly, he was relieved
[Mature] [24,609 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
We've been making shades of purple out of red and blue by                     Artisblue, Boyfriendsziam 
When Bucky Barnes comes back to school, Steve can't believe how he just seems to have forgotten about how they used to flirt with each other. Steve wants to hate him, he really does, but after Miss Potts pairs them up for an art project, the truth about Bucky's missing memories and limb comes out and maybe, there's a chance to rebuild what seemed to be lost.
[Mature] [27,144 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Bring It On Home To Me by mambo
Steve's students don't believe him when he says he's dating international rockstar and heartthrob Bucky Barnes, but he is, and has been since they were sixteen.
(A Captain America Reverse Big Bang 2017 collaboration between mambo and ellebeesknees.)
[Teen And Up Audiences] [10,808 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Where You Lead by mambo
“That was before I saw that you were on a date,” she says. “Date?” Steve asks, confused. "The man you were holding hands with,” Peggy says. Steve shakes his head. “No, no, that’s not a date. That’s just… Bucky. He’s Bucky.”
Steve is a single dad who manages the local inn. Bucky runs the local diner. Steve loves Bucky's coffee, but definitely not Bucky. Except, maybe that's not so true. Well, it's true about the coffee. Steve definitely loves Bucky's coffee.
(A Gilmore Girls-inspired AU that doesn't require background knowledge of Gilmore Girls to enjoy, and a Captain America Reverse Big Bang offering from mambo and tuntekorpp.)
[Teen And Up Audiences] [11,297 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
sarah castellanos: unofficial super soldier matchmaker by Ookami_Hime
@unicornweenie: momma was diagnosed with #breastcancer. running 4 her in a marathon but in desperate need of training buddy. :( hey @steverogers u down? ;) @jamesbarnes: time and place and i'll make sure he shows @unicornweenie: wtf omg @jamesbarnes r u for real? @jamesbarnes: @unicornweenie last i checked i'm real. hold up. lemme message you. don't need the paparazzi breathing down our necks ;P
[Teen And Up Audiences] [6,414 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
I Just Want to Love You in My Own Language by agetwellcard, inediblesushi
Bucky Barnes is Captain America and uses terrible pickup lines. Steve Rogers is Captain America's nurse and is not impressed by the aforementioned terrible pickup lines.
[Explicit] [ 22,436 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Like a Bruise by Shaish                
Ten years is a long time to hate someone, especially when you loved them first.
[Teen And Up Audiences] [24,724 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
A Soft Blur by agetwellcard
After recovering from his time in the army, Bucky is a successful photographer who is trying to forget his past. Two weeks after Steve's return, he accidentally spills his champagne on Bucky at a charity event. It brings them together at a time when the two of them need each other the most.
[Explicit] [28,079 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
No Diamonds on This Chain by brideofquiet
Now, Steve is no prude. In fact, he is very much the opposite of a prude, but that’s mostly behind closed doors or when it’ll earn him better tips. But he feels the blush rising on his cheeks anyway, because who really expects to pull a string of anal beads from the lost and found at their restaurant job on a Thursday morning?
No one should ever expect that. That’d be fucking weird as hell to expect that.
[Explicit] [15,766 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Once More to See You by brideofquiet
Treadmill Guy is a problem. Not a problem to be solved, but a problem to be steadily ignored until it shrinks into nothingness and stops being a bother. Unfortunately for Bucky, people don’t come to the gym because they’re trying to shrink away into nothingness. People generally come to the gym to get bigger, which is what he was doing until Treadmill Guy walked in one day and ruined all of his (fitness-related) hopes and dreams.
Or: what to do when an unusually handsome cardio enthusiast named Steve starts coming to your gym, the Bucky Barnes how-to.
[General Audiences] [7,054 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
This Side by brideofquiet
Bucky Barnes restores antiques for a living. Steve Rogers saves the world. Bucky has no reason to believe their paths will ever cross, right up until they do.
Or: the Notting Hill AU.
[Teen And Up Audiences] [35,321 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Send Nudes! by DizzyRedhead, TrishArgh
When Steve decided to cosplay Captain America, one of his favorite TV characters, at a convention, he didn't expect to meet a Winter Soldier cosplayer who looks like he stepped right off the screen (and has a great ass). He didn't expect to hook up with Bucky, or to find out that they live in the same part of Brooklyn. He definitely didn't expect the sexting, or the continued hooking up, or the dinner dates.
Steve didn't expect any of this. Especially not the feelings.
[Explicit] [21,847 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Local Raccoon Befriends Angry Chihuahua by charlesdk
Rogers was a tiny man. Bucky was sure he easily disappeared in a crowd and became invisible. He was tiny and short and skinny and didn't look like much. But his fists were clenched to his sides in anger, his jaw was jutted out, his boney shoulders were square, and his voice held more power than his body looked like it did.
Screaming and yelling and swearing like a damn sailor and asking for a fight, Bucky found him breathtakingly gorgeous. Like a tiny ball of energy and rage and justice that shined brighter than the fucking sun, punching his way through the evil and disgusting trash of the world.
Bucky never believed in love at first sight and the way his heart warmed and pounded at the mere sound of Rogers didn't really change his mind. But it did make him stop and stare, desperately reaching out for the feeling he felt when he looked at him because it was good and Bucky hadn't had good in his life in years.
OR – in which one armed veteran, suffering insomniac, and grump extraordinaire Bucky Barnes gets turned into a puddle of goo by the tiniest, angriest, most wonderful guy in the entire universe.
[Teen And Up Audiences] [15,314 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
6:13 AM by charlesdk
It was routine, getting on the train that early in the morning, and Steve had it down to a damn tee. It was tiring, waking up that early to catch a train to work, but it wasn't so bad.
Especially not after he started showing up.
He was the man with murder eyes and shockingly good looks despite the whole hobo vibe but with a soft center. Steve liked to call him the Human Impersonation of the Grumpy Cat in his head; Grumpy Cat for short when he whined about him to either Natasha or Sam.
OR – in which Steve falls in love with a stranger.
[Teen And Up Audiences] [5,885 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
An Open Heart Is An Open Wound by Kinthinia                
“Soul-bonding is very special,” his mother had said. “You can only do it once in your life so if you do it, make sure it’s with someone special.”   “But what if they don’t choose me back?” Steve had asked, thinking about his scrawny body and the way girls didn’t look at him.
“You would be tied to them forever,” his mother said gently. “That’s why it’s so important you make sure they’re the one. Because they don’t have to choose you too. And for some people, that’s more than enough. To just simply be tied to one person.”
“It should be special shouldn’t it, like what you and Dad had?”
Sarah smiled tiredly. “Yes. But it doesn’t always happen that way, for everyone.” She ruffled Steve’s hair affectionately. “Just make sure you’re prepared, when you choose someone.”
Steve laughed. “I will, Ma.”
Of course, three days later, Steve made his choice. Considering his history of relationships, he probably should have known it wouldn’t be reciprocated.
[Mature] [78,553 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Laughter Lines by gammadolphin
Bucky Barnes is a rising Hollywood star with a tragic past and a reputation for driving his bodyguards away. Steve Rogers is a veteran with the same tragic past and the need to get back out in the world. The two of them have been estranged since they were teenagers, so when Steve joins SHIELD as a bodyguard, he is less than thrilled when he finds out that Bucky is his first assignment. But how bad can it be? They're both professional adults, right?
Wrong.
[Mature] [100,248 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Captain America in Supernatural World - Stucky
Deal of a Lifetime by TwistedFate108 
Steve Rogers was small, sick, and frail, but when he runs across a book that promises him the assistance of the supernatural, it's impossible to resist. However, what he ends up with is a demon and more than he can handle. It especially sucks when said demon repeatedly refuses to take his soul, and when he ends up caring more than he should.
[Mature] [16,732 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Star Trek - James T. Kirk/Spock
Souls Lost at Sea by deesaster
Two weeks have passed since the launch of the USS Enterprise-A, and Jim feels like a stranger on board his own ship. He can tell this is not his Enterprise, even though everything looks exactly the same. However, it's good to be back after spending the past six months stranded on a starbase in deep space, away from his chair and the stars.
It would have been manageable if the only different things had been the ship and a part of his crew. On top of his uneasiness and guilt in the aftermath of the Yorktown incident, Spock has been avoiding him and Jim can't for the life of him figure out why. Even though he has come to terms with his unrequited feelings for Spock long ago, he pines for his First Officer's company more than ever, and hopes he can somehow bring their friendship back to life.
[Mature] [25115 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Among The Stars by yaoichan12                
I'm not good with summaries, but here is the best I could come up with: When Jim is accidentally abducted as a kid he discovers that humans are not alone in the universe.  No one believes him in his small town and thinks he's crazy. He looks to the stars, grows up and becomes an astronaut. After being overlooked for the first manned mission to Mars, Jim is sent to work in a secret R&D department. There, Jim meets his new boss, a weird guy that wears beanies all the time and doesn't like to be touched or to touch anyone.  Jim swears the guy looks familiar but he just can't figure out where he knows him from. Jim then discovers that there are others that know the truth and even work to keep Earth safe.
[Not Rated] [81,246 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Dangerous Territory, Part II of the Field of Evermore Series by Tiger Tyger (Southern_Comfort)
How could it be possible for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to find any trouble during their Earth-based assignments? After all, Jim is only a lowly admiral working under the irascible leadership of Steven Stearns in Fleet Operations; Spock acts as a new teacher for Science and Technology at Star Fleet Academy; and Bones is a new administrator at Medical Operations. More importantly, the three men are working their way around new relationships, adapting to different professional positions, new demands . . . as well as spiritual visitations, aggressive colleagues, jealousy, academic politics, and sudden violence. Come along and watch the next stage in the development of the legends of Star Trek: The Original Series!
[Explicit] [55,802 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Freely Given by Jenna Hilary Sinclair (JennaHilary)
As Kirk, Spock, and McCoy make a diplomatic visit to a planet where ritual kisses are common exchanges, McCoy urges Spock to consider the nature of gift giving.
[Explicit] [22,587 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Combien de Temps by rabidchild67
Sometimes, things start a little backwards. Or, five times Jim and Spock screwed before they admitted it really meant something.
[Explicit] [22,909 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Next Best Destiny by rabidchild67
AU in which Spock is Captain and Jim the (geeky) new officer in Sciences.
Science Officer!Kirk - it had to be written
[Teen And Up Audiences] [58,224 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
First by rabidchild67
It’s Jim’s first mission as Enterprise’s first officer and, well, he and Captain Spock have an important “first” of their own to get to.
Sequel to Next Best Destiny
[Explicit] [25,678 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Sea Change by jouissant
As the five-year mission gets underway, Kirk and Spock are on course to develop a friendship--or something--that will define them both. Then, a poorly-timed away mission changes everything. Before they can begin to deal with the fallout, Jim disappears. With his captain presumed dead, Spock has no choice but to accept a promotion and try to move on. But when he starts experiencing disturbing visions, he gradually begins to suspect that Jim may be alive after all. (A canon-divergent AU assuming they began the 5-year mission following STXI.)
[Explicit] [35,218 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
Last Request by AshayaTReldai
Life is messy. One moment they were celebrating Christmas: Captain James T Kirk, his First Officer Spock, his wife Commander Nyota Uhura, and their new baby daughter. The next, a heart-breaking funeral, leaving Jim to pick up the pieces. Sworn to be friends, he’d buried his love deep; the Vulcan was happily married to somebody Jim respected greatly, and contrary to popular belief he’s not that kind of guy. Yet a last request to care for Nyota’s husband and child leaves him with a dilemma, a dilemma that can only be solved by a Christmas miracle.
Written for the K/S Advent Challenge 2014, for a prompt by Misscar (see end notes for prompt).
Inspired by the Dear Spock Universe.
[Explicit] [106,277 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
The Hobbit - Bagginshield - Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
An Early Start by HiddenKitty
Everyone knows they were doing it all along, right?
My first-born or a kidney, as preferred, to HSavinien and Maybetwice, two excellent betas who deserve better than such an anxious, needy writer. Thank you guys, so much. :3
[Explicit] [44,436 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
through miles of clouded hell by yaseanne                
for the prompt: "Thorin tries to woo Bilbo... but fails miserably at it. In fact, he only manages to scare the living shit out of the hobbit." 
He believed, for a moment, in this King, and thought that this was what Balin must have meant that day in the wilderness, that this was the King he saw in Moria, noble and unbroken.
[Explicit] [13,773 Words] [Read on AO3 here]
(All summaries are the official summaries of the author. Stats and infos as according to hosting site or information given by the author)
Looking for more reading inspiration? Check out my fic rec tag  here on tumblr, my reading list masterpost or just check out my AO3 bookmarks.
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gloomystories · 7 years
Text
“Come With Me.”
Quivering tendrils of mucus trailed from the mouth. Derrick lay in his bed, shaking, staring at the creature lurching forwards along the ground. Black blood rolled over the mangled face, dripping from the salivating mouth and nose. Its jaws worked open and closed, moving with a sickening plop. As the monster put a twisted hand on the bed, Derrick felt his bladder release. A warm, dark stain spread through his rocket-ship sheets.
Though the arms were bloated with death, there was an inhuman strength in the disfigured limbs. Derrick trembled like a leaf in a hurricane. He couldn't open his mouth to scream, it was as though the gaze of the beast had sewed his mouth shut. Clumps of drool dribbled onto the bedspread. As it moved, a dank scent of rot and body odor wafted towards the young boy. Open-mouthed, the putrid stench of tooth decay and vomit assaulted Derrick's nostrils.
The ugly, bony yet swollen monster stopped in front of his face. Derrick tried to tear away his eyes, but he was frozen in place. The sickening plop, plop, plop continued as the hideous, rotting jaw opened and closed. A thin, worm-like tongue swiped over the lips, licking up the spit, swallowing it, and the jaw flopping open again. Its pale, bloodshot eyes fixed Derrick to the spot.
It leaned in close. The little boy tried to lean away. To run. To scream. He couldn't. The slithering tongue danced like a charmed snake in the monster's throat. Opening its jaw with a pop, the monster forced out a hoarse, quiet, "Come with me." Derrick's weak, mucus-filled lungs began spasming. Great, hacking coughs wrenched his body from its paralysis. The monster slipped from the bed swiftly, clumsily it hobbled to the closet. A trail of saliva followed the beast, along with the fetid stench. As tears streamed from his eyes and mucus was coughed up from his lungs, his mother came into the room. Sobbing and hacking, he wailed about the "monster in the closet", clutching desperately to his mother's nightgown. Her ample bosom was a welcoming pillow for his small body. She picked up his feeble frame and carried him to the bathroom to change his soiled pajamas. His aching lungs were soothed with warm tea and a cough drop. Refusing to sleep in his own room, he was toted on his mother's hip to the grown-up's bedroom.
Clutching his mother, he breathed in the sweet scent of lilac talcum and her strawberry shampoo. His father, returning from the laundry room, nestled into bed, putting a warm, protective arm around his son and wife. Cradled between the warmth, breathing in the clean sandalwood of his father and the flowery  talcum of his mother, he was lulled to sleep. The next day, he was sitting on the big, cold doctor's table. Crinkling the paper underneath him, the doctor chatted with his mother. "It appears he has pneumonia. I'm giving you a prescription. Give him the medicine once a day every morning." His mother, her eyes worriedly glancing between her son and the doctor, she accepted the script, and ushered her son into the car. A coughing fit overtook Derrick's young body. He was chilly, but he had his coat zipped up all the way. Crossing his arms, he coughed, loosening phlegm in his lungs. Sleepiness pulled his eyelids down. Shivering, he pulled his coat tighter, nestling into his booster seat, drifting off into a restful nap.
He woke up on the couch. Fever burned in his small body. Heat and cold, fire and ice all at once. Derrick was thirsty, wanting food but having no energy to retrieve it. Eyelids heavy, he drifted off again. Awoken at six, his mother told him that dinner was on the table. From his bed on the couch, there was the tantalizing scent of warm soup.
Ambling to his chair, he looked at the spread before him. Chicken soup with fresh cilantro, sugar snap peas, ginger, and carrots. Hot, soft biscuits hand-made by his mother with butter and honey. A bowl of brussel sprouts - Derrick's favorite vegetable - steamed invitingly. Bowing his head for prayer, he coughed gently, which built into a hacking fit. Patting his back, his mother soothed his throat with lemon-ginger tea sweetened with honey. Gratefully, he ate slowly, relishing the fresh foods. The savory chicken, the refreshing peas, the sweetness of biscuits and honey.
His father swooped him up into his arms and deposited him in his bed, now with fresh dinosaur print sheets. He smelled like the motor oil he worked with in the garage. It was a familiar, comforting smell. Weakened by his fever, his protests were quickly soothed and he lay in his bed, sweating and freezing at the same time.
In the middle of the night, he awoke. The smell of rot was pervasive. Sleepily opening his eyes, he sat bolt upright when he recognized the stench. Sucking noises started inside the closet. He screamed, wailing for Mommy. This time, the monster moved quickly. It wasn't bleeding this time, and drool didn't drip from its lips. Nevertheless, it was terrifying. Dead. Rotten. Derrick cried.
Drawing close to him, the beast sucked the spit around its lips and whispered again. "They won't wake up tonight. Come. Come with me." It offered a single, corpse-like hand. Shaking his head, Derrick refused. Frowning, the monster retracted its hand. Slinking off of the bed once again, it retreated to the closet. Derrick fled the room, launching himself into his parent's bed.
The fever was worse. He couldn't bear to open his eyes because the pain in his head was so great. The boy's body shivered and shook. He trembled. He was thirsty and hungry, but he didn't dare lift his head. The only reprieve he found was sleep. Derrick lay there as his mother poked the cool thermometer in his mouth at regular intervals. When it reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit, he was bundled up and put in the van.
He wasn't aware of anything going on because of the extreme fever. Fazing in and out of consciousness, he was aware of doctors, of nurses, of medicine, of awful food. Dimly aware. As if he was being pulled in and out of a tide. There was medicine. Medicine was the moon that brought in the tide. Gradually, the fever lessened oh, so slightly. Slight enough to be sent home with antibiotics.
When the fever dimmed, the congestion came. He was barely able to breathe. Derrick could do nothing but lay in the bed, wheezing. As night came, it felt like he was breathing through a straw. With each cough, he hacked up enormous volumes of green mucus. He coughed into his pillow until red sputum came up.
Weakly, he lay in bed. Derrick was in enormous pain, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't sit up. He couldn't call out. The young boy was exponentially worse than an hour ago, and he could never make it to his parents' room. Again, the monster came. Derrick closed his eyes and awaited his approach.
The monster sat in front of him. Now his voice was soft, almost inviting. "Come. Come with me."
Derrick felt the will to fight the monster leave his body like a dove flying from a branch. Through his phlegm and failing lungs, he murmured, "Okay."
The hands had a surprising warmth. Surprisingly soft. Opening his eyes, the beaten, rotten corpse was a young man. A man with a hole through his eye and a mangled back, but a man. Coily black hair framed his dark face. He was soft and gentle. As he pulled Derrick up from his bed, the pressure left his lungs. Taking in a deep breath, he could smell the sawdust from his new friend.
Leading the child to the closet, Derrick saw many other people. Some white, some black. Many periods of clothes, as recent as styles he recognized from his parents' high school pictures. They all peered at him with kind tenderness. The closet itself had changed. There were fruit crates turned upside down, and the ground was sprinkled with sawdust and hay. It was a sweet smell.
Derrick heard an ear-splitting shriek. He tried to run out of the closet, but the iron grip of his friend stopped him. Putting a finger to his lips, the man softly widened the door. Confusion ran through the young boy when he saw himself laying on the bed, pale as death. His mother stood above him, shaking him by his shoulders, moving him to the floor, and starting CPR. His father ran in, and began crying. They called 911 and within the hour, Derrick watched his small body be taken away with a white sheet over his face.
Looking inquisitively to his compatriots, they explained that he was dead. Shock spread over his face, but he felt at peace. He didn't want to go anywhere without his parents, though. Kindly, his friend looked at him and explained that he could latch onto an object and stay with his parents for as long as he wanted.
He asked the name of his friend. "Fenric," replied the young man with a smile. And yours?"
"Derrick."
He remained with his parents. When they cried for him. When they went to his funeral. He lovingly played with Maria, his would-be little sister. His parents were startled yet soothed when Maria told them about her friend, Derrick. Eventually, Maria stopped seeing him. But she knew he was there when he would brush her shoulder. He loved his mother so much that he appeared to her only with the scent of lilac talcum. Derrick would trail his mother's face with his fingers, giving his father a hug.
They grew old. Derrick became an uncle. One night, his mother sat in her chair, sewing. She drifted to sleep, and Derrick knew that he was to start the process. Approaching, he tenderly woke her, asking if she was ready to come. Her eyes were wide with fear, and he knew he looked as awful and rotten as Fenric had that first time. He retreated. 
The second time, she looked just as afraid, but she seemed to know it was Derrick. Again she refused. He was sad. Heartbroken. He ached for his mother. So badly he wanted to be with her again. To feel her warmth. To bury his face into her chest. 
She sat in her chair, wheezing softly. He awoke her, knowing that he appeared to be her son again. “Mommy, are you ready to come?” Her eyes filled with tears, and she nodded. Derrick took her hand, still smelling of lilac talcum, and lifted her from her seat. The body he lifted was not the old, withered one sitting in the chair, but the youthful one he so loved.
It was only a month later when his father, heartbroken, lay down. His body had given up. Derrick and his mother approached. He gladly accepted the invitation despite the ferocious appearance of the specters in front of him. His mother lifted his father from his body. Derrick and his family moved on. They had what they needed - the unfinished business was now done.
Instinctually, they all moved to the closet. At the end of the room, there was a tunnel. A tunnel filled with light. The smell of flowers and the ocean drifted through. Fear melted away. Pain melted away. Breathing deeply, the worries of this world melted away. There was only bliss.
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mikethemod · 7 years
Text
London Marathon: The Morning After
Ouch. I’m walking like I've lost my horse, my hands are covered in blisters, my arms and legs hate me and, despite a mass of lovely people telling me how proud I should feel, I can't help but feel low.
The London Marathon was much much harder than the Brighton Marathon - Having to carry Lambretta no 2 on my shoulders in London was far more difficult than pushing Lambretta no 1 around Brighton.
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Ah, Brighton - I’ve not even told you about Brighton yet. Brighton was hot. Very very hot! Here is a video story of the Brighton Marathon as it’s not as fresh in my memory as the events of yesterday.
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Back to the London Marathon. A schoolboy error meant I’d only concentrated on Lambretta no 1 for Brighton as I’d had so many injuries in the build up that I was convinced I would not be in a fit state to run the London Marathon at all.
In fact, prior to Brighton, I had managed only four four-mile runs between the beginning of February and race day on 9 April. And, after I’d completed Brighton, recovery time meant I didn’t actually put my running shoes on again until the morning of the London Marathon!
After filling myself with pasta for two days and promising myself an early night on London Marathon Eve, at 11:30pm I found myself sewing the straps that would secure the scooter to my shoulders! Tweet (timed at 23.17) exchanged with Demelza Hospice Care for Children:
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So, after a restless night, London Marathon day had arrived. Two slices of toast and a cup of tea downed then we set off. Mrs Mikethemod dropped off me and Lambretta no 2, not forgetting inflatable pillion Modette, at Blackheath early in the morning. As I walked across the heath the scooter felt fine - a little unbalanced, but otherwise fine. I met up with my fellow PWRs for some photos. Not long to go now. Ok, Green Start here I come.
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At precisely 10am we were off. When I crossed the start-line and began to run, I immediately realised this was going to be TOUGH. I could see a running tree, a running dinosaur and a running toilet roll disappearing into the distance, and here I was fighting to stop both the sideways and front-to-back movements of Lambretta no 2.
I stopped - which was a disaster as there were runners around and behind me, so already I had caused a small fracas. I tightened the straps, but it didn’t help much as Modette was weighing down the back and my headlight was pointing skywards.
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Before I had even reached Woolwich (Mile 3), Modette had fallen off the back three times. The Petts Wood Runners water station at Mile 4 was timely and Paul Kelly helped me to Gorilla Tape her back into the seat. At this point I was already sweating up quite badly so I also needed to discard my Parka and leave it with my fellow PWRs.
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Not a great start. To compensate for Modette’s weight at the back, I had to hold down the front end. I told myself I just had to make it to the Odd Mod Squad’s supporters in Greenwich so I could leave Modette with them - but I couldn’t see them in the sea of faces that greeted us as we sailed around the famous Tea Clipper Cutty Sark. My next thought was that maybe I should hang on to Modette for a while longer - just in case I was shown on the camera at the halfway mark on Tower Bridge.
At this point, I must tell you about Mr Bump. Mark Casella, friend and runner from my Bexley Athletic Club days who has since moved up north, promised me a donation of £50 if I had my photo taken with his northerner friend James Wright who was running as Mr Bump.
Now, there were FORTY THOUSAND runners in the London Marathon, so I’m sure that Mark thought his £50 was pretty safe! However… who did I Bump into as I approached Tower Bridge? Yes, you got it, none other than James Wright AKA Mr Bump. Amazing or what?!
After a quick and surprised exchange between us, Mr Bump made a sudden decision to dash ahead onto Tower Bridge to find Ore from the BBC to tell him about our promised donation. And, before we knew it, we were being beamed around the world!
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Now, since my unexpected BBC Radio interview before the Brighton Marathon, I had imagined countless times what I would say if a similar scenario arose during the London Marathon. And this is the reason -
We have an ongoing and extremely upsetting situation with our oldest son and I wanted to plead right then, on live TV, for him to make contact with us.
But, as quickly as the opportunity arose, it had gone. I was overcome with sadness and I really started to struggle. That was probably my lowest point during the entire race.
Through the overwhelming fog in my head I spotted the Petts Wood Runners’ flag on the opposite side of the road on Tower Bridge. I had never been so grateful to see those friendly smiling faces. I thought I was becoming dizzy but they kindly reassured me that it was the movement of the bridge I was feeling.
I have no idea how I managed to collect my thoughts but I continued along Westway towards Canary Wharf. I ran in the centre of the road hoping to spot speedier fellow Petts Wood Runners making their way towards the finish, a good eight miles ahead of me. I saw Kevin Chadwick looking very focused and I gave him a shout, willing him on to his first sub three-hour finish (he came very close; three hours and three minutes).
As I reached the welcome haven of peace and quiet that is the underground roundabout at Canary Wharf, Mikethemod decided that he and his Modette should part company. I knew I wouldn’t finish the race with her misbehaving on the back. Plus, Lambretta no 2 was bending worryingly. I stopped in the half-darkness and we said our goodbyes. I took off her parka - that actually belonged to Mrs Mikethemod - and left Modette on top of a dumpster. I couldn’t quite bring myself to put her IN the bin!
I had filled Modette with helium but losing her made the scooter much lighter, so that was good. I then decided it would be of benefit to lose the weight of Mrs Mikethemod’s parka too. Sorry Dawn! The scooter was now balanced but I still couldn’t take my hands off the sides as it was whipping about from side-to-side with each step.
As I passed the Tooke Arms pub I got a massive Reevesie shout. I turned around and saw a group of supporters that included scootering face Bob Downs. It was such a shame they hadn’t got to meet the now discarded Modette!
By the time I reached Canary Wharf my hands were bleeding and my feet felt like I had stones in my shoes. The crowd noise was overwhelming and it was difficult for me to focus on faces.
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Every water stop, gel stop and Lucozade stop was an excuse to, well - stop. At the next water stop was my lovely friend Christine Oliver. She gave me a big hug and I was slightly embarrassed that I was in such a sweaty state. Christine’s restorative hug could not have come at a better time.
As I left Canary Wharf, I knew I was heading for the finish line - at last. Every painful step was a step towards sitting down. It was here that I finally accepted refreshment. Throughout the entire course, children and adults alike had screamed encouragement while holding out all manner of sweets - from tiny hands holding a single jelly baby to adults offering large plastic bowls full of goodies.
I took a piece of orange. It was so fresh. Once I had taken one treat though, it was difficult to stop and at the next bowl I took a jelly snake, then a Haribo, then a milk bottle. Heaven. Just after that I was asked for a selfie with a woman running in an East Kilbride Scooter Club shirt… two fellow scooterists meeting in the middle of a marathon.
Then there were more hugs, this time from Julie and Tom Medhurst both telling me how proud I should feel - but all I wanted was for it to finish. Then an ex-colleague watching with his family gave me a big shout - thanks Keval.
Just as I was passing the Tower of London a girl in front of me looked like she was on the point of collapse. As I asked if she was ok, she said “Yes, have we finished?”, her legs gave way. I just managed to catch her and a marshal and a fellow runner rushed over to help. I hope you made it Vicki.
Next, the underpass near Blackfriars Bridge. This tunnel is another place of calm and relative quietness. Although for me, this was the point where I lost my headlight (painstakingly created by Mrs Mikethemod) AND my steering. Bloody Lambrettas!
As I made my way through the tunnel the beat of the music became progressively louder. Then I emerged into the sunlight and into an awesome cacophony of sound. It was astounding. It was the most exhilarating part of the race.  
I could hear cheering and, at the last second, glimpsed my brother, sisters, their partners and friends waving down at me from Waterloo Bridge. Fantastic! Just what I needed. My brother Paul told me afterwards that it was very emotional watching the runners’ expressions at the moment they exited the tunnel.
There were more emotional moments to come - meeting with PWRs Paul Whelan and Ian Noad who ran alongside me for a while and supported the scooter after seeing my legs ‘wobble’, then supporters Auntie Maureen, Uncle Phil and cousin Andrew with his wife Becky who are expecting twin boys in June. Then I saw PWR members Eadaoin Sacha and Nicola. And then my old friend John Askew at the Bexley Athletic Club water station at 25 miles. I hoped I would make it now.
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In my head I was telling myself there’s only 1k to go, that’s just two and a half laps of the track. Simple enough but I was in agony and I slowed to a walk in Great George Street by the Institution of Civil Engineers (where our youngest son worked as Chef de Partie for a time).
Just then there was a roar from the Teenage Cancer Trust supporters outside their hospitality area. They were shouting “Go Mikethemod!”. This made me feel tearful. I knew that somewhere along this stretch were also the Demelza Hospice Care for Children supporters - but sadly I couldn’t see them. What I could see, however, was the 600 metres sign. C’mon, jog again. Walk again. Then the 200 metres sign. Phew.
Crossing that line was SUCH a relief. I’d made it.
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I felt incredibly sick and my hands and lips were purple as I tried to find my fellow Petts Wood Runners. Then I couldn’t walk any more. I sat down then lay down on the grass at the side of The Mall. Every time I tried to stand up I thought I was going to be ill. I lay there for what seemed like ages.
Then my anxious sister phoned to ask me where I was. She sent her fiancé John to find me. He helped me, and what was left of Lambretta no 2, back to the rest of my family. My brother Paul accompanied me to Charing Cross Station then Mrs Mikethemod and youngest son Scott met us at Orpington Station. Me and my battle-scarred scooter were both carefully folded into the car and I was nearly home.
There was no time to sit down though, groan! A quick shower, a cursory assessment of my injuries, some clean clothes, my medal around my neck - and then I was gently encouraged back into the car and I was on my way to meet my lovely family for a post-marathon meal at the Harvester.
More celebratory hugs ensued, the biggest from my mum. And then - at last - FOOD. Never before had I felt such an overwhelming need to overdose on protein. A ‘Harvester 83 Combo’ sorted me out good and proper.
And, to finish off an utterly mind-blowing day, I got a text from my dad (who was in hospital post-op and sadly unable to be with us) saying how proud he was of me.
I had done it. Mikethemod, Two Marathons in Two Weeks.
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Total raised so far: £8,439.05
www.virginmoneygiving.com/mikethemod
www.mikethemod.com
Below is a fabulous video made by Teenage Cancer Trust including mikethemod’s #ReasontoRun.
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lunarfae714 · 7 years
Text
after the vernal equinox, 2015
intimacy
in the unseen, 
microbes flee 
off the tongue 
dance on the dirty rim of the teamug
bliss
on the mountain bald: the numbing wind of soltitude
guilt
in the bloodmarks on the tight, smoky skin of my lover.
***
let it go--
tybee mushroom tea
the soft songs of wind
playing in the pilsner bottles,
the mildew edges of
sharpened teeth
washed up on a
jetted shorline
catnaps on crooked grey
dark matter comes
in clouds
of grease.
painted scenes from
manhattan museums
& the gulls laugh in ritual
-the squall of sunsets
broken images super-
imposed
into sunflower seeds.
***
jaco
the woman of the sea
reigns the high tide
her power unseen,
& women drink free.
my intuition is stronger here,
dreams dark & strange, now i
watch the fan,
how the spinning taco
moves the water bubbles
on my skin.
i hear voices in the fan,
through the bamboo,
spirits dance through shadows
in sober hallucinations
my magic is fueled-
i know how people feel, where the
lost objects go.
the abuelita ghost
disgraces our dirty hostel,
why she hangs around above the cast irons
to shame how the land has moved.
the land of iguanas
and stray dogs,
the street horses
for show.
dazed by the dark
crows above,
the birds yell here
woo hoo hoo hoo,
a deep waltz of the hermit.
crabs run free to
challenge me
to a claw-off.
the birdsong &
roosters in early
sunrise & sets.
who now sows the
seeds of this
town of cement?
***
the open heart chakra
unreal
"there is so much Light coming through your eyes"
Light confused, real, or passing
Love talk dissolved into frustration fleeing
"i will take care of you"
in the bathroom at the devil's hour
nude gymnastics on the handicap bars
or the black leather couch
outside in the rain,
where the cameras don't record.
on the beach at the crowded club with the
beds for "lounging," empty pools,
loud music & people changing faces
where's does Light go when you throw your bottle on the street?
you taught me to read the ocean
when to dip on the board, so the currents 
wont
sweep me away.
***
forced hustles
when i ride my bicycle out of the tourist town
on to the highway
the welcome goes dissipates.
mango falls like lullabies
over the mountaintops,
the afternoon storm comes every day.
the zebra chicken pace roads
of tall pines lining like curtains
to hide broken huts,
roofs with holes, clustered together,
the old women and men sit
in folding chairs & scorn us 
(to stare with a darkness)
my wide eyes and white skin,
undesired swords
papayas for cash
from their backyards
in their grass
walking bills 
families against intruders
but the dark pretty boys
beneath the banana patch
throw hellos and whistles into the air
friendlier than the rest
its hard to follow the surfers advice,
shrug it off like layers of clothes
but to be a woman in a sexist country
to hear one more "ay mama"
to try and block out horns
from each car that passes by,
thumbs up, glazed stares,
but i often still take the free drinks
bring peace to
strip the patriarchy at
the end of the night when the lines
between prostitutes and strong women
turn grey with each tequila shot
in fake plastic.
and you are naked in the rain at the end of the night
jumping off the roof of the hotel next to you
shaky shingles under my wet feet
into the swimming pool.
women here are like the horses on the beach
slapped and rode without say,
"when it swells, ride it" says the beach bar,
without question.
the club called space, "because in space,
no one can hear you scream."
i will be strong
when the police motocyclist
stops me to ask if i have a boyfriend,
i got asked today
why my eyes show such confidence
he didnt understand,
pura vida.
***
nunca me dejes con el sabor de miel en mis labios
the roosters warn us of morning
& the grey stray gnaws at my toes
***
embracing the mother archetype
in the hostel home--
herd in the streetpeople,
feed 'em & paint
the cycle of Sky on the walls
because no one should spend a moment
without seeing mother moon.
***
My taste is Aging. With time, I desire someone for the whole run or nothing at all. & the platonic moments in-between....glimpses of Love, some, through the gaps of teeth of sweet teachers, Love is kindness, and I don't hesitate to tell them everything on my mind. But it's not about me. My taste is Aging. As seasons pass, quicker now, i want the patterns on my clothes to fade away-- the prints on t-shirts to melt, words to unwrite themselves, so I can be only color. Earthly hues, crotcheted shades that reflect patterns of time...mud, grass, & mojado. Celery, mirrors of colors i see most. i want to become dirt, for my fingertips to play the piano of the earth. i want to disappear into the bench so they stop looking. or to the bright colored buildings, fade into them, brilliant stains of Spanish colonization, streets once threaded by pirates, filibusters.... my skin is browning, French bread in the oven. caramel flavor in the throat every time I look up, come to the caldeza calle later, let me take you on a trip, familiar faces now they know my name...let me melt into the park bench. now a smiling man asks to share the bench, not an invitation for 20 questions, i thought, as i watch the sweat balls fall off his thick brow and slicked back hair...so much gel satures the combed jetblack hairs...he asks if im a Christian missionary, why i am not writing in Spanish can't you see I'm writing on a stream of consciousness and I cannot understand when you speak as fast as my mind runs why can't I just glide into town and eat scraps like the coyote dogs and men that circle us. the men stand in a pack in all directions, staggered, still. ready to attack. the stranger talks about nica peligroso & I wonder. sweat pounds down my face, no clouds crowd the 3pm sun, and I am wearing white, Duncan's shirt because it reminds me of him. He is my fuel when I am down, I know he will always listen & lift me up. Even if the words aren't always right, the Love, the strongest I have known. Yet my sweat swims on my chest--I love to be naked but I can't here.  I return to my job at the bar, a date with my notebook. Interrupted. pass the young kids who sell cigarettes & candy in their handwovenbaskets. I sure wish they weren't so cute. I listen to the church bells ring 5pm, catholic country, mass and processions and women who do Hail Marys in silence as they pass by churches into the streetmarkets where even toy dinosaurs are laid out on the cement. Old town. I will erase my mind so it can be filled with beauty--sights, openness, to experience as I prepare to travel again, alone, in love with the land, in love with the new. Who isn't? I love it here too, I just keep getting myself tangled in neon cobwebs. Who painted my cobwebs? The beach is dirty here & the some serpents love to bite. why are my dreams so vivid and I can feel everything? I have never felt so present, the subconscious world of the bodysoul, reigns in Granada. The volcano watches over everyone. Waiting. On clear days, i can track the crevices with raised eyes, the dips of destruction. Back to the men, there's no darkness in their eyes, only glimpses of sincerity, friendliness in their throats. i want them to notice the dark circles, crescent moons that wax under my eyes- I am tired--the scorching sun, the dorm life of people forever coming & going, the sore back and calves from wandering juices out the bubbles from my blood. I can bounce back. being of water, I am one with the the waves. I will be still soon~I can ignite locals & travelering folk with music, dancing, fast-paced mojitos, sass & stories. I can love everyone when i remember we are one. Traveling tests the pesos mi corazon can lift, what am I doing here, how can I keep the golden light with strangers when such a huge part of me is carved away & replaced by a nervous heart and dizzy stomach. I am learning. It comes in waves & will pass with time. Oscar, the cattle farmer, makes me laugh now as the dogs fight in the street, with cheesy smiles and goofy dances. He tells me I have to learn the history of dance, it's charming. If the moon is right, we will partner as he continues to tell me the rich culture of poor nicas from a sharp tongue. A barb wired bar does the appearing act with the strangers of the eve. i am learning lessons on nourishment from strangers, friends are the richest. I no longer crave what i used to, short affairs, instead Receive Love through language , through movement or starry or sun-eyed guitarists i learn ambitions & spirit through reflections and grow from similar drives in the health way. 
Waiting is rich, mature, perfect. I wait for the Love.
Stimulation so easy, so much culture & more flavor to feed the eyes. And Walking, wandering, is meditation, a way to see and cycle mantras in my head, to a clear mind--
***
there is a time of night
when only salsa music plays from the bar
as the nacho macho men 
with the necklaces of saints
sing along to ballads of love lost
**
in the land of lotus flowers
ritual earth dance
smoke & stones
hummingbirds,
sun and no sickness, 
hangovers island cured
woken by wild birds of paradise 
i wear dirt & facepaint,
smell of smoke & incense,
do not hunger
because food is all around us,
in the sunrays,
the moonbeams.
the land is kind,
inviting to connect our barefeet
to our bare selves,
our purpose, our blessings.
Isla teaches us to be kind,
in the hours of the scorching sun
we carry each other
when the gravel is too hot for the other.
my heart understands-
loses the worry, jealousy, darkness
out of my true essence.
spirit dances down my hairs
wavy & free,
dressing my naked skin
the dirt carresses my feet
clay & the smoothest sand
nothing bites my skin
& the volcanoes are gods,
watching over the island.
we eat vegetarian hot dogs on the beach
(bananas in bread)
over translator books
to aid our conversation.
we watch the rain fall
on the watchtower
we paint cosmic triangles:
material, spiritual, divine
and hold on.
***
warm rain,
and strands of lightning dance
freckles are the stars of the body
telepathy & laughter.
senses awakened, cleansed, reborn
native islandfolk offer rides on their
motorcycles, stuffed with four people
or a place at their home to sleep,
next to giant pigs
gallos replace Granada's churchbells.
crickets, the serenaders of the night.
peter pan, i saw on the ferry
wanted to cradle in his lap
with the large lips
of a cancer man.
old soul 
with marypoppins backpack
& digeridoo.
and the sailor.
my time by the water
in the hammock hut
by pirates & drugas.
when i was wondering what to do,
peter told me, 
"todo esta volando"
he sucked out the venom.
we’d fry yucca cakes
over a little fire at sunset
local farm workers
passed around a coco loco,
my skin was like job's in the devil's curse
i took it as a sign to leave.
we slept on the sunmat on the porch,
& woke each other up to speak of our dreams
after an evening
of moonlit walks around sleeping bovine
& barbed wire, 
stopping to hear the tongue
of mother moon.
on a secret path
through neighbor's farm
staring in awe,
the boys and i.
we then watched the sun set
behind Concepcion volcano
trix-yogurt colors
on a paddleboard with simone
our silhouttes divine
activitating our third eye
sunset on the pineal gland.
nude, smoking the pipe 
from a mermaid,
and i thought i’d changed my mind.
the simplicity of island life,
fallen fruit & fires,
houses from palm,
folks drank rum like water,
fished for dinner,
lived with the land,
making love at nighttime.
***
after the island
the angry boss
who doesnt share his fancy meals
speaks only french in a spanish country
has never laughed.
he looks at me, wide-eyed
like im an alien in his house,
terrified & confused
when i go in for a hug.
he spit at me
when i walked away
"an immature child
destined to go nowhere"
i can't say i didn't cry
but i sure have grown a bit
and been around
***
puerto viejo
maid life with the mad frenchman
can't he look around
at the abandoned beaches, clear as sky
with the occasional wanderers,
constant rainbow butterflies
& rich smells of the land, the jungle.
i bicycle on the one sacred road
between the jungle & sea,
a blood vessel highway,
we are beating cells
the strong heart of the land
string nebula clouds circle
between the daily storms
the beach is like a painting-
exposing the meaning of seafoam green
the brushstroke overhead is a jaded blue--
i run my toes along the coral
and the brilliant eyes-turquoise
of a slovenian man meet mine
to ask the time
he holds my hand as i try his slackline.
if only the madman could open up to see
the spiders, sacred mothers of the forest
palm-sized, red-striped, abundant
with webs like vecinas
they are the grandmothers, the ones
with the power in the latin way.
but he couldn't--
so i ran away from the french jungle regime.
that day, the sun painted a golden halo
on each passing body,
the sand & sea shone like glitter--
cerulean & pumpernickle
i ran faster than my sweatfall,
fueld by french elitism & the manic madman.
& the hearts, doors, jobs, opened as answers,
enlightened spacetalk from starseeds,
touch, words, and galatic downloads
purififying
maca starships & hummus hugs,
raising vibrations,
a new environment
for a deadly disease.
**
followed by wild dog
i out hold my thumb
and trust in the yoniverse.
***
We hide our room key in Ulysses
& fall asleep to the stream.
This truely is the rich coast--
i watch prices ascend in the tourist blackholes
of the sea. you have to pay to leave
this country, and pay hundreds
for an import.
lets turn folks to dollar signs
stand at the cascada,
dive past the reef to see clearly
the creatures live more freely than us.
***
the only sunny day in a month,
everyone at the playa 
& i
cluelessly mind the lodge
watch the freckle bugs do the pac man
along the bamboo bench,
the curtains' slow return
after the windspell,
the slightest turn from the
four diseased & sleeping dogs
& the still spider
above the bookshelf.
i listen to sitar instrumentals,
peck through Wuthering Heights,
pick a stray banana off the bunch,
as the howler monkeys' deathly cry grows & grows,
and wonder if i am moving at all.
***
the longer i wait,
the longer Plath resonates--
[i think i made you up inside my head]
***
my life is funny--
each night i have sleepovers
with a sweet, random man:
construction worker, volunteer,
survivor, who's made it.
enamored with fishing,
his desert home,
indian warfare,
accidents.
we drink from dirty glasses
(in the night, the cucurachas
throw a party--i see them scrambling
in the morning
with the eggs)
i think life focused on investments,
retirement plans, the great divide
is a scary story
as he pokes at me for being so lost,
but now-
the sun climbed out after days of strong tears--
tears that took electric sockets so we could remember
to live with the land
tears that knocked a tree
on the house of Tao
so his books could be cleansed.
the hummingbirds' salsa
& my dirty, lost self
will take each moment with gratitude,
each bite on my body, doubt on my mind
and just be--
as i wander the garden of Tao.
***
my spanish is best with the children,
they are on my level,
 delany, the nude 3-year old
i met in the ocean
we sat in shallow water
& played with the crabs,
their elusivity, our entertainment.
alejandra, the maid's daughter,
my closest nina,
we share a wildness of emotions,
and snacks.
***
throwing rocks at plastic bottles
the wasteland is wasting away, 
soon, we will too.
***
bocas del toro,
dirty, spanish verision of venice.
can be oddly romantic,
fellow travelers look to fall in love,
on the candlelit pier
pure families outside the port town.
drunk taxi boat drivers,
dirty turquoise water, 
& translucent waters of starfish beach
too beautiful to be touched, free
unlike the lobster in mesh bags,
the unreal clouds a spliff in the sky,
wild colors at sunset
over a wild jungle,
waves
in theit flavor-colored homes,
people are happier by the sea.
**
on bastimentios,
a neighbor isle,
i am one of five non-natives,
hike for hours in the jungle,
thick mud paths,
found petroglyphs,
to the beach with the piercing redfrogs.
beach hunger
of stray dogs 
& children with machetes, 
who want a pack of cheap ham.
i play poker,
cook for a family
in an unlocked pastel cabin
over the sea.
**
i escaped to the cloud forest in the mountains
where the deerflies roam freely,
& the men here stay forever, living on student loans.
where Boquete means blow job,
the nights are cool &  calm
& filled with whiskey & warm stews.
Where the bulidings are painted yellow,
on the steep hill, trails
to the waterfalls, treasure hunts
for miles & miles.
“no kids, no debt, no drama”
the giggly panamanian
honeybear caretaker
starts the massage train
& we are off.
***
,
lost on the outskirts 
there is nothing more satisfying & sensual
than being alone with the river.
men have been disappointing me,
with false friendships & mal intent,
i have to be alone--
open my legs only to the rapids
washing machine, pleasure in
singing the mating song
of prayer.
***
(bad) cravings from the worm
the hungover italian boy
working construction in the city 
keeps me company at breakfast.
i taught him to put bananas in his pb&j
and it may have changed his life.
*
Panama City
vibrantly loud town--
the parties & streetpeople last all night,
and in the mornings, (Spanish) church bells blast
for all to hear (repent)--
angelic foreign voices praise gods
this cloudy Sunday
to wake me from dreaming
of smoking fruit loop blunts,
& having my child art sold for thousands
in the galleries.
families of blackbirds circle in the sky
on beat with the songs,
to attack the sinners,
or embody ascendance?
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