#8 hour layover looks | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mister-eames · 9 months

Text

I Need You So Much Closer by sirona | Arthur x Eames | 11k

It’s Christmas -- family obligations dictate Arthur and Eames push themselves out of their warm, comfortable flat and take the pilgrimage to their respective families. Neither has any idea just how hard it would be to spend the holidays apart; thank god for meddling mothers.

2. Christmas Without You (Is A Christmas Not Worth Having by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles | Arthur x Eames | 32k

"The relationship was over and Arthur resigned himself to a Christmas and New Years alone - his first one alone since Eames had swept him up in a daydream of a life three years ago. Then the phone rings; the airport is completely snowed in and Eames - having just promised to leave Arthur's life forever - is suddenly without a place to stay. And Arthur isn't heartless enough to leave him out in the snow."

3. Best Laid Plans by 4ce_in_Sp4ce | Arthur x Eames | 15k

Eames had, against his better judgment, agreed to head out to Dom's for New Years. Bad weather and a long car ride made for a far different trip than he'd expected though

4. Holiday in Handcuffs by teacuphuman | Arthur x Eames | 24k

A barista (Arthur) kidnaps a customer (Eames) and forces him to pretend to be his boyfriend over Christmas with his parents.

5. Jonquil in December by wldnst | Arthur x Eames | 11k

Arthur and Eames tell stories about how they first met. Eventually, they tell the truth.

6. Pining for You by earlgreytea68 | Arthur x Eames | 18k

Eames has a pine tree that Arthur really wants. And that is not a euphemism. Well, not *entirely.*

7. Caught by oceaxe | Arthur x Eames | 3k

Arthur wakes up on December 14th to find a miniature Hershey's bar inside his shoe. It’s fun-sized. With a note underneath, printed by dot matrix. “we're going to have some fun,” it says.

8. Holiday Pines by nolaespoir | Arthur x Eames | 13k

Alone for the holidays, Arthur takes himself away to Aspen for Christmas, where he stumbles upon a certain forger he's been pining after, who isn't quite so alone.

9. How Eames (almost accidentally) Stole Christmas by sarahyyy | Arthur x Eames | 1k

“He’s clearly interested in it,” Yusuf concedes. “Clearly,” Eames echoes. “But he’s secretive about it,” Yusuf continues. Eames nods. “Maybe he’s got another boyfriend tuck in some remote corner of the world and he was trying to procure it for him?” Yusuf suggests. Eames gives him a look. “Don’t be daft.”

10. make the yuletide gay by rednights | Arthur x Eames | 17k

It is close to Christmas, isn’t it. The 22nd? No, that was yesterday. Or…how many hours was he on that first plane? Felt like about an entire day in itself. And then with the layover, which Eames slept through most of. If he left Buenos Aires on the evening of the 23rd, and then with the delay in Atlanta— And then the door swings open, and Arthur is standing there in a knitted jumper so repulsively festive it makes Eames question his lucidity, looking dour and suspicious and oh, god, it really is Christmas Eve, isn’t it? And Eames is so, so happy to see his angry face. He grins so hard it makes his cheeks hurt.

11. Nested by brookebond | Arthur x Eames | 1k

Christmas with Eames is always full of surprises.

12. Of mulled wine and candlelit baths by adelaide_rain | Arthur x Eames | 3k

Eames and Arthur have just moved in together. It's the holiday season and they head to the Christmas market for mulled wine, before heading home for a candlelit bath and barebacking.

13. stay awake to hear those magic reindeer by scribblscrabble | Arthur x Eames | 1k

For all Arthur's dedication to all things adult, he still has a six-year-old kid in him who comes out once a year and goes looking for trouble.

14. Tell Me Something Good by deinvati | Arthur x Eames | 9k

Eames didn’t kiss Arthur first. Eames would forget some of the details someday, he was sure, but one thing was certain. Arthur kissed him. Or, how Arthur pulling a gun on Eames (with the safety off), a few saved voicemails, a Machete, a tiger, and some VHS tapes all combine to make a perfect Christmas memory.

15. Whatever You Like by larnbean | Arthur x Eames | 2k

“How much rum did you put in this?”

#inception #arthur x eames #christmas

59 notes · View notes

lovehypegirl · 6 months

Text

EPISODE 1

synopsis: the beginning of y/n's biggest kickoff role! paring: jujutsu kaisen actor au x y/n warnings: some cursing probably but either way, none notes: visuals are at the end of the episode and I recommend that you view them first

10:00 AM - NEW YORK CITY - THE PLAZA HOTEL (NEW YORK STATE, USA)

y/n sat on a chair in her hotel room at the Plaza Hotel in New York City

She had just finished up her MIUMIU photo shoot the previous day and was relaxing, enjoying her Belgian Waffle from room service, and watching a new episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians as her phone rang

She reached over to the chair next to her and checked the screen to see her manager calling

She paused the TV as she answered the call

"Hello?" she said, food still in her mouth

"y/n? Hello! How are you?" her manager - Kyube - asked

"I'm doing fine...enjoying the hotels room service while I can..what's up?"

"Have you checked your email yet?"

"Uhh which one? I have like 7 different accounts" she picked a strawberry from her plate

"The one where your audition results come through? Did you check it?"

"I mean I would if I could find my computer"

"Just do it on your phone"

"But I'm on call with you?"

"I'll tell you then. The role you auditioned for in Jujutsu Kaisen?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You got the part! You'll need to head to JFK immediately. Like today. I already bought your plane tickets and your flight is red-eye. I know it's ten in the morning but since you tend to wait until the last minute to pack but please do it now"

"Twin you can drop this all on me at once"

"I just did! You'll need to leave by 8 or 9 so start getting ready by one in the afternoon. Your flight will take you to San Francisco for a layover and then over the Pacific to Japan"

"Ooookay..so 17 hours?" y/n said as she yanked her pink suitcases out of the closet

"That's right! Oh, and I'll be meeting you at the gate at SFO when you land"

"Okay, thanks for letting me know" y/n placed her Hermes shopping bags on the bed and began to take the boxes out leaving them unopened and carefully placing them in her suitcases

9:00 PM - JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NEW YORK CITY (NEW YORK STATE, USA)

y/n waited by her gate after making it through the nightmare of security and baggage check

She tugged on her sweatshirt and sweatpants combo each with the Yankee logo. Naturally, she choose the most comfortable outfit for a 17 hour flight

Lowering her Yankees cap down on her head to avoid getting noticed as she ate her donuts from Dunkin'

"Gate 34, now boarding. Repeat: Gate 34, now boarding. Please proceed to Gate 34 should it be your designated gate" the announcement came from the loudspeaker and y/n wiped her mouth and threw out any trash in the nearby trashcan and she picked up her travel bag and walked to the gate

"Any passengers now boarding first class line up at the checkpoint. Repeat: Any passengers now boarding first class please line up at the checkpoint"

y/n moved over to the checkpoint and handed the flight attendant her boarding pass

The woman's eyes widened slightly as she saw who's name was on the boarding pass and y/n smiled slightly albeit awkwardly

"I'm a huge fan!" the woman whispered as she let y/n onto the plane

y/n quickly found her spot in first class and tossed her bag down and sunk into the plush chair as people began to board the plane

Before she fell asleep, a Twitter notification hit her phone but she was too lazy to check it, opting to sleep instead

9:00 PM (WESTERN TIME) - SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - SAN FRANCISCO (CALIFORNIA, USA)

y/n yawened as she got off the plane and looked around for her manager

"She should be here..." y/n muttered under her breath "hmmm...ah! There she is"

Kyube was sitting to the side in the lounge area typing away at her computer which was covered in NewJeans and Twice stickers that y/n had given her

"Kyu!" y/n called out as she walked to her manager

Kyube looked up at the sound of the girls voice "y/n! Hi love, how are you?" Kyube stood up to hug the girl. y/n was shorter than Kyube...probably since Kyube never left the house without her heels

Her manager was very beautiful and a former actress, but a past accident didn't allow her to return to her career

"I'm good, how are you?" y/n looked up at Kyube

"I'm doing fine, honey. Are you hungry? Our flight for Japan leaves in about an hour and a half, would you like to go eat?"

"Yes please"

"Alright then"

10:30 PM (WESTERN TIME) - SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - SAN FRANCISCO (CALIFORNIA, USA)

"Gate 5 now boarding. Repeat: Gate 5 is now boarding. Please proceed to Gate 5 should it be your designated gate"

y/n looked up from her finished plate as the announcement

"There we go!" Kyube stood up and took their plates to the counter

"On your feet, y/n. Time to go"

"Any passengers now boarding first class line up at the checkpoint. Repeat: Any passengers now boarding first class please line up at the checkpoint"

y/n walked to the checkpoint with her manager and Kyube handed in their boarding passes

They made their way into first class and y/n practically lunged for the comfortable seat, ready to sleep again

She put her headphones on and scrolled through the artists that she followed on Spotify to find one to fall asleep to

NOW PLAYING: ICHIKO AOBA ON SHUFFLE

She kept her eyes on the leaving city as they began to fly over the Pacific ocean

2:30 PM (ASIA TIME) - HANEDA AIRPORT - HANEDAKUKO, OTA CITY, TOKYO METROPOLITAN PREFECTURE (JAPAN)

y/n woke up to someone gently patting her arm

"y/n? y/n the plane is landing...time to wake up" Kyube moved her hand to gently pat the girls hair

"mmmm..." y/n rubbed at her eyes as she slowly opened the window and squinted her eyes to adjust to the light

Below them, Japan was coming closer and closer to the plane as it began the descent

"What time is it?" she said groggily as the plane jolted from it's landing

"2:30 pm" Kyube said as the plane slowed to a stop and the post-flight announcement came onto the loudspeaker

"C'mon honey, time to go" Kyube held her hand out for y/n to take and y/n did so hauling herself to her feet

The duo walked out of the plane and into Haneda Airport

"Are you hungry? I want to get a coffee" Kyube said as they walked deeper into the airport

"Yeah can we go to Dunkin?" y/n looked up at her manager

"Sure, but we need to get our bags first"

"'Kay"

The duo went to the baggage claim carousels and y/n placed her hands on her knees staring intently at the suitcases went by. It was a little impossible to miss her pink suitcase among the darker colored suitcases but it never hurt to be careful

Once y/n's suitcases came down the carousel, she hauled them off albeit clumsy and helped Kyube get her suitcases which were way heaver and larger than y/n's

"What on Earth do you have in those?"

"Shoes"

"Good grief"

Once they got out of the baggage claim area, they made their way to the food court to buy coffee for Kyube and donuts for y/n

"Kyube pleeeeaaasseeee!!!! pleasepleasepleaseplease!"

"No, you are getting one donut and that's it. Donuts and Tanghulu isn't a meal. You want strawberries? We'll get you a fruit bowl, but no donuts and Tanghulu together"

"Please...? I promise I won't wander around unknown areas or talk to strangers again!"

"My words are final"

"Aww man. But I'll take you up on that fruit bowl"

Kyube and y/n sat at a table in the food court. Kyube was working on y/n's upcoming schedule for and y/n was posting her dumb shit on twitter

y/n placed her phone down as she poked a piece of cantaloupe with her fork and looked to the side but she spotted two familiar people a few tables away

"Hey...Kyube?"

"Yes?"

"Who're they? They look familiar" y/n pointed a thumb to the somewhat familiar duo

Kyube looked in the direction that y/n was pointing in and squinted her eyes from behind her sharp rectangular glasses (the bayonetta glasses)

"Thats Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru...you've been in a movie with Geto once, you were young though"

"Huh...are they filming Jujutsu Kaisen too?"

"I can't tell you that"

y/n picked up her phone to scroll through twitter again and decided to eat her donut in three bites. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw a tweet from a familiar name

y/n snickered and looked over her shoulder at Gojo and Geto. The former had moved his sunglasses onto his forehead and was gaping at his phone

'pretend like you've got no idea' she mouthed to Geto who nodded

"y/n please do not cause problems" Kyube scolded

"Alright...y/n, we need to leave now to get to the hotel in time"

"Okay" y/n stood up and threw out the now empty cup that once held fruit and the bag from the donut

She followed Kyube out of the airport and passed the table that Gojo and Geto were out giving the duo a shit-eating grin

Gojo playfully stuck his toungue out at her and she returned the gesture in the same playful manner

"Come along y/n" Kyube beckoned the girl "Our car will be here shortly"

"Coming!"

TAGLIST

@moonmalice @lavender-hvze

VISUALS: PLAZA HOTEL ROOM

SUITCASE

KYUBE YAMAMOTO

#hypegirlwhispers #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen actor au #jjk geto #jjk gojo

34 notes · View notes

taekooktimeline · 10 months

Text

December 8, 2023 -

Jk goes live days before enlistment! As he walks back to his place, he mentions that “crazy fans” are at the front of his home these days, and reminds them (even though he shouldn’t have to, people really should learn respect and boundaries) not to come.

Timestamp 3:48

To compound this point, and how under a microscope members are, someone shouts out as he walks back to his home, “Kim Taehyung,” which causes Jk to look back, before he says he won’t show his (shaved) hair.

Timestamp 4:58 https://x.com/kookieantae4eva/status/1733541288413429887?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg

Back at his home, Jk shares that he got Bam in Daegu (and how sweet is it that Jk picked the puppy who couldn’t drink his mom’s milk?) -

Timestamp 14:09

Which, of course, naturally made myself and everyone else flashback to when Daegu-born Taehyung shared this precious photo of him and Daegu-born puppy Bam on Weverse, and wrote that he raised Bam since he was young -

And during Festa 2021, Tae had commented he wanted to find a friend for Tannie, but his dad may hesitate about him getting a second dog. Jk had smiled knowingly and said his dad would meet the dog and “love it.”

Recap of Tae’s Weverse post - https://www.tumblr.com/taekooktimeline2021/668193486339801088/november-16-2021

Recap of Festa 2021 - https://www.tumblr.com/taekooktimeline2021/654793371031928832/start-of-may-mid-may-2021

Festa 2021 raw link - https://youtu.be/wRWMeT6ykFU?si=GJpgCuj35GGhnuFw, Timestamp for conversation is 13:03

With only fifteen minutes left in his live, Jk informs viewers that he’s sweaty and he’s going to change. As he steps off camera, he sings BTS’ “blood sweat sweat & tears” but he changes it to “blood, sweat, get it out.”

Timestamp 1:16:11 https://x.com/nonakv99/status/1733116445737861282?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg https://x.com/camthkim/status/1733112709363933441?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg

Translation -

As noted above, Jk’s change of lyrics is a direct reference to Jinny’s Kitchen: Team Building (S1, 2023), when Wooshik (Wooga member, actor and Tae’s friend) made a mistake during the God of Communication game. Jk changing BTS’ lyrics to Wooshik’s indicates Jk watched the two-part series.

https://x.com/vitaemintae/status/1733115070559969456?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg https://x.com/tkkslayy/status/1733116530039345225?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg

Jk originally was wearing this outfit when he first started his live -

But when there were only about 13 minutes left of his live, he emerges from off camera in a new outfit, his “fight for love” Rloveution pride collection sweater. Interestingly, after changing into this sweater, he sings three snippets of Taehyung’s “Layover” songs. He didn’t change out of his “sweaty” clothes for over an hour, so I find this to be a statement, but please decide as you like.

Timestamp 1:17:23 (when he sits back down)

Outfit -

Jk asks what he should do, then starts singing Tae’s “slow dancing.”

Timestamp 1:18:55 - 1:19:40 https://x.com/_k91230v_/status/1733114210887033334?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg

Accepting various requests, he sings brief excerpts such as BTS’s “Let Go.” However, he refuses to sing “Magic Shop,” explaining that it’s too high (refer to the screenshot below), though he expresses willingness to listen to it. Immediately after, he spontaneously sings a snippet from another of Tae’s songs, specifically “Love Me Again,” with the lyrics “love me again…love…nobody else.”

Timestamp 1:23:26 - 1:23:32 https://x.com/_k91230v_/status/1733115083721740545?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg

He seamlessly performs a series of song snippets, beginning with the word “euphoria” and transitioning to “louder than bombs I break.” Following that, he melodiously croons, “rainy days, I’m thinking ‘bout you,” blending words and melody while swaying to the rhythm. Notably, this is from Tae’s creation, “Rainy Days,” featured in his solo debut album “Layover.” Subsequently, he skillfully weaves in the words “fake love” and a snippet of “my you,” followed by a diverse array of snippets from various other songs.

Timestamp 1:24:24 - 1:24:36 https://x.com/_k91230v_/status/1733115465634111888?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg Compilation of Jk singing three of Tae’s songs - https://x.com/eri_purpledream/status/1733117037030133875?s=46&t=StSwHjW0_Domk_lHUFMaCg

Raw - https://weverse.io/bts/live/3-142418350

39 notes · View notes

brunette-barbie4562 · 8 months

Text

Uncharted (Duff McKagan X OC fic)

Summary: Unsure of her next steps in life, Carreen Joy "CJ" Thompson finds herself taking a job working under the Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan during the Not in the Lifetime... Tour. She faces the fast-paced and foreign world of rock n' roll, touring, and groupies, as well as blossoming taboo feelings for her boss.

Posting chapters one and two here even though they can already be found on AO3 and Wattpad. Currently working on chapter three for those who messaged and asked :)

May 2017

Somewhere over Ireland

CJ had been a lot of places in her 28 years. She had been to more places in the first 6 years of her life than most people had, going from state to state, constantly on the road. But she had never been out of the United States or Canada, especially entirely on her own. After 12 hours of travel time that included one short layover, the plane was finally descending into Dublin, Ireland. Her body was still on Sacramento time, where it was 12:00 in the afternoon. But in Dubin, it was 8:00 in the evening.

As the captain turned on the “fasten seat belt” sign, CJ rolled up the plane window to look out at the foreign landscape. The city below looked like a play set of twinkling buildings, cars, and roads. Despite the beauty of it she felt her anxiety slowly increasing. CJ considered herself an independent person, but this was outside of her comfort zone. Two weeks ago, she would have never thought she’d be on a plane to Ireland. Two weeks ago, she had been sitting in her bedroom, fretting over graduate school applications and the thought of possibly taking out more student loans.

After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in psychology a few years ago, she had been toying with the idea of applying for graduate school for the coming Fall. She had agonized over the idea and gone back and forth about it for months, unsure what she truly wanted for the future. Then, her aunt Mindy had offered her a surprising and unexpected alternative. She could go work for her old friend for the summer, and possibly beyond that if she enjoyed the work. She had warned her it would be a lot of traveling, but it would be a chance for her to see the world a bit, gain some life experience, and think over her options in the meantime.

Back in 1980’s, before her aunt Mindy had settled down, she had spent much of her time on the Sunset Strip, working as a bartender. During that time, she had met the infamous Axl Rose, who had been living off North Gardner Street with his ragtag band of misfits in a tiny storage unit. After Mindy had proven her loyalty, defending Axl in a bar room fight one night, they became fast friends. In addition to this, her aunt was very same sex oriented and had a little substance habit going on at the time, so the girls, the booze, and the drugs kept her in the back Gardner alley. Mindy also allowed Axl and his boys to stay the night at her little studio apartment on and off throughout their time clawing their way to fame.

When things had started to really take off with the band, Mindy had supported Axl from afar, being a soft spot for him to land when things got hard. However, drastic changes were occurring in her own life at that time, and she had had to shift her focus when CJ was born in 1989. This had pulled Mindy away from the seedy nightlife of the Sunset Strip. Despite this, Axl valued loyalty above all else and while they had physically drifted apart over the years, they never lost contact. Even with his long mental health battle and his legendary career as the world’s greatest frontman, they always checked back in on one another, usually by phone.

There was one year that CJ could remember meeting him in person. She had been a young child; it had been sometime after her aunt had been awarded custody of her. She remembered him squatting down to her height, smiling at her affectionately with his shiny white teeth, and introducing himself while extending her a hand. Considering she had been mute for almost an entire year after moving in with her aunt, she had not responded verbally. Instead, she had reached out and took his hand and held it with her small one, not understanding that she was supposed to shake it. There had been something about him that she trusted. He felt warm and sincere. He had a magic energy about him. Little did she know at the time, he had also been an abused and traumatized child. He didn’t push CJ to speak to him or see her as strange for spending the majority of his visit hiding behind her aunt’s legs. He had understood.

Now, she’d be seeing him for the first time since that day. In one of their monthly phone calls, Mindy had mentioned to Axl that CJ was struggling with her direction in life, having graduated years ago. Axl had been eager to tell her there was a position open on the band’s team and it was the perfect opportunity. CJ had worked her way through college as her aunt’s office assistant and continued to do so after graduation. She was very attentive to details, had strong organizational and problem-solving skills, and was adept at keeping track of documents and schedules. Based on this, Axl knew she would be a good fit for the position, which involved being a personal assistant. Other than requiring these skills, as well as knowing it would involve a high level of traveling, CJ was unsure what she was getting herself into. Several thousand feet below, Duff McKagan was unsure of the same.

Conrad Dublin Hotel / Dublin, Ireland

“C’mon man, you’ll love CJ! We need some more young people on our team.” Axl followed eagerly after a tense Duff. Duff had asked Axl to help him find some potential options for a personal assistant, considering the short notice in needing one. He had told Axl to tell him about any potential candidates, but instead Axl had just hired one without consulting him. Someone who had no road experience. Now he was regretting not just handling the entire thing himself.

You remember Mindy Thompson from back on Sunset?” Duff stopped in his tracks and turned to face Axl. He had not heard that name in a very long time.

“I do.”

“CJ is her kid, well her sister’s kid, but whatever, she pretty much did all the parenting.” Duff thought back on Mindy Thompson. She had been a frequent face way back during the Gardner Street days. She was a close friend of Axl’s and spent most of her time running around with him. The memories from those days were hazy, but he did remember that Mindy had always disliked him. And for good reason. Now mildly interested, Duff asked,

“What has Mindy been up to all this time?”

“She’s been in a director position at a cannabis farm in northern California for a long time. CJ’s been her office assistant for years. I think it’ll be a great fit.” Axl laughed before saying, “We could use a spry 28-year-old kid running stuff around here. Just give it a chance.” A 28-year-old with no road experience was not someone Duff would have selected. He knew Axl liked to hire people with personal connections, but that typically did not spill over into his or Slash’s own personal staff selections. The touring lifestyle was rough even on experienced staff. While someone might have the skills to be a personal assistant, the constant traveling and frequent shows put a challenging twist on things. His previous assistant had a family emergency that had taken him away from the tour and back home to the United States for an extended and indeterminate amount of time. While Duff could handle his own business, it took a load off him to have someone else assisting with things like scheduling interviews, vetting potential partnerships, and running social media. Social media. Something he was not great at. Maybe a 28-year-old would help in that department. Even the simplicity of finding a moment to get a decent cup of coffee was difficult some days. An assistant was monumentally helpful with that. Although he still felt skeptical, Duff cracked a smile and jokingly said,

“Are you telling me we’re getting old?” Axl laughed and said,

“I am.” Duff smirked at his response.

“Alright, well in that case, I’ll give it a chance. For you. But if it doesn’t work out you owe me.”

“Sounds like a deal.”

“So, when is Mindy’s kid getting here?”

“Tonight.” Duff turned to him wide-eyed in shock.

“Tonight!?”

“You told me you needed someone ASAP.”

“I can’t orient a new assistant tonight, Axl, I have some calls I need to make, I told Grace I’d facetime her later, and-” Axl cut him off and said,

“I’ll handle it tonight and introduce you tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?

“Don’t worry about it. The show is not until Saturday, you have plenty of time.”

Dublin Airport / Dublin, Ireland

When CJ walked into the baggage claim area it was empty enough that she immediately spotted a man holding a sign with her name on it. He was dressed in a black suit and looked official enough. CJ approached with a small smile and said,

“Are you my ride?”

“Are you Ms. Carreen Thompson?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes,” he said with a smile, “I’m Robert, I’m here to help you get your bags. The driver is out front waiting with the car to take you to the hotel.” They went to stand by the baggage carousel, where she could see her bags drop down to the conveyor belt. CJ had brought what she assumed would be enough clothing to last her for some time in two large suitcases. Mindy had told her she’d have a brief break between legs in July to come home.

Despite trying to insist upon taking one herself, Robert wheeled both of CJ’s bags outside. The street was busy and bustling with people arriving and departing. It was a cool night and fog hung thickly in the air. It was not California weather. CJ had expected to see a four-door car or maybe an SUV. What she did not expect was a limousine. She almost wanted to ask the man if a mistake had been made. She had never been in such a nice vehicle and a wave of unworthiness washed over her as she stood there in a pair of her old gym leggings, a sweatshirt, and sneakers, with her thick curly hair in somewhat of a mess. With the length of the flight, she had dressed comfortably. She had not thought about having to look put together on the other end. For a split second, when Robert opened the door for her to get in, she thought about bolting. This was not her world and far from her comfort zone of academia, the winter slopes of Mt. Shasta, her aunt’s house in Redding, or the little office where she spent her time working. What had Mindy gotten her into here? How did she think this would be a good idea?

“Are you ok Ms. Thompson?” Robert’s voice brought her back to the reality of the cool night air and the busy street. She swallowed and nodded. Pushing back her anxiety, she slid into the limousine.

CJ was fascinated and charmed with the nightlife of Dublin as they cruised through the city to the hotel. She could have sat and watched out the window the entire ride. But instead, she was desperately trying to pull herself together to look a little more presentable for whoever or whatever she would meet on the other end. She didn’t have much in her carry on to help, but she did her best to rake her uncooperative hair into a neat-ish bun and apply some quick, light makeup. The clothing would have to do, as her bags were in the trunk of the limo and inaccessible. She thought about calling Mindy and raging at her for putting her in such a foreign situation, but it would only make her nerves worsen.

When the car came to a stop outside of the hotel, CJ felt her heart jump into her throat. She was not ready. Robert came around, pulled the door open for her with a smile, held out his hand, and said,

“We’re here Ms. Thompson.” Just beyond him, she could see two bellhops already rolling her suitcases into the hotel. She took a deep breath, hoisted her backpack up, and took Robert’s hand to step out. She was met again by the cool night air on her face. She could see that the hotel lobby was busy and full of people checking in, leaving for a night out, or lounging around. Inconspicuously waiting by the doorway was a short, dark-haired, and kind looking woman who smiled warmly at her. There was a motherly aura about her that instantly drew CJ in and calmed her nerves before she had even spoken.

“You must be CJ.” The woman spoke with a thick accent.

“I am.”

“I’m Beta, Axl’s mother. He wanted me to come get you to take you upstairs. You’ll have to forgive him for not coming to greet you himself, he does not leave his room much while on tour.” CJ spotted some people milling around in the lobby already wearing Guns N’ Roses apparel and said,

“Oh no, it’s no problem, I get it.” Beta smiled and said,

“Come along then, he’s excited to see you.” Beta turned into the lobby and CJ followed. “It’s been so long since he last saw you. Mindy has sent pictures throughout the years of course, but he’s excited to see you in person.” CJ could not fathom why Axl Rose of all people would be excited to see her. She had been unaware her aunt had spoken some much about her on the phone.

They approached the elevators and CJ could feel eyes upon her. She turned to see a group of women standing in the corner watching her, unsmiling. A chill went up her spine as they glared at her. Beta took notice and said,

“Oh, don’t worry about them honey. They’re just groupies you know?” CJ had heard the term before but did not know what it meant. Beta leaned in and spoke to her in a hushed tone. “Groupies, they’re here for one thing.” CJ understood what she meant. “They know who I am, they see you, a young attractive girl, with me, and assume the worst. Don’t let them bother you.” CJ was confused and before she could filter her response she said,

“For an 80’s band? There are still groupies?” Beta laughed and said,

“Oh honey, you have no idea. Welcome aboard.” The elevator dinged and the doors opened. With one last look at the glaring groupies, CJ walked inside. As the doors shut, Beta said,

“I can tell you’re Mindy’s girl, you look so much like her.” CJ couldn’t help but smile to herself at the compliment. Only a handful of people throughout her life had told her that she looked like her aunt. Every time she heard someone say it, it was a boost to her self-esteem. While they often gave each other a hard time, Mindy was someone she aspired to be like. CJ knew she was nowhere close to resembling her mother in personality, but she had spent a long time fearing that she would resemble her mother in appearance as she got older. That was something she’d see in the mirror every day and wouldn’t be able to change or outrun.

The elevator brought them to the top floor, and they stepped out. Every room on the floor was double doored and undoubtedly suites. This must be where all the rich people stay. She followed Beta to a door at the end of the hallway. Beta took a key card from her pocket and swiped it across the card reader. The door clicked open. While much of her anxiety had dissipated with Beta’s warm welcome, there was still a lingering sense of dread. She felt as if she were stepping into a lion’s den. The room was dark and dimly lit. She rounded the corner and there he was, the world’s greatest front man, sitting in an armchair, smiling at her with an immense amount of pride.

#duff gnr #duff mckagan #slash gnr #saul hudson #axl gnr #axl rose #guns n roses #izzy gnr #steven gnr #GNR #80s rock #80s music #rock n roll

20 notes · View notes

cynical-things · 3 months

Text

had such a lovely time in Crete and it’s been such an amazing holiday. sadly not a great end as my flight home last night got cancelled last minute but can’t really grumble at an extra day in Crete and flights home have been booked for tonight !! (with an 8 hour layover so it’s taking 13 hours to get back to England when it should only take 4 hours but gotta look on the bright side)

#got a room upgrade when we came back tho so good vibes

8 notes · View notes

mrscakeishere · 8 months

Text

new tag game fuck it

For my writing pals, mostly. But Who's Counting. It's cocky hours but make it communal.

For as many as you want of your published works, pick your favorite line/paragraph and post it up here. Let yourself feel proud of your creations.

I was tagged by @thescholarlystrumpet and @polychromicron-persei-8.

Ok, here are my solo faves:

Wellington's Second Coming (Mature)

Sergeant Maaka placed his elbows on his desk and began searching through his encyclopedic knowledge of the paranormal to find something that could match two arguing middle-aged English men having a row over a younger man while taking a moment to disparage his country before vanishing into thin air.

Angels are from Heaven, Demons are from Hell (Mature)

Uninspiring blowjobs are ones you give to someone you have loved for a very long time, but you currently would rather be doing almost anything else.

The Layover Before Home (Mature)

Either way, as far as Aziraphale was concerned, this all meant that the Bajorans were the spiritual equivalent of being the smallest matryoshka in a set of Russian Nesting Dolls.

Pass The Remote, Angel (Mature)

“He said to tell you that he hopes you enjoy Agent Doggett,” Muriel chirped.

Aziraphale studied Muriel’s face to see if there was anything in their expression that would provide a clue as to Crowley’s meaning, but Muriel only returned his gaze with their usual glowing, innocent smile.

“Did he say anything else?”

“He said he’s not returning the blanket.”

A Demon Gets His Due (Mature)

“Did you know there's a tag called ‘Crowley Needs A Hug?’”

“I did not.”

“I don't know why anyone thinks I need a hug.”

The angel snorted.

And of course the collabs with @polychromicron-persei-8 (so I'm choosing her lines):

An Ode to Eclairs (Explicit)

He tried to mentally flick back a page to confirm, but the fantasy had rapidly deteriorated into a classic case of too many cocks.

The Long Road to Meatballs (Explicit)

“I don’t want to feel like you don’t have a choice but to be here. I want you to choose me.”

He met Aziraphale’s watery gaze, waiting.

“Mmm-hmm-m-mm!”

“Oh! Right, sorry.” He undid the clasp.

Sensors and Sensibility (Explicit)

“I’m not fellate—” he looked around, leaned in, lowered his voice. “I’m not fellating it. I’ll have you know that confit courgettes are extremely delicate, and this is my patented method of drawing them into my mouth so as to appreciate their tender texture as well as their buttery release.”

A Not So Secret Santa (Teen)

Aziraphale pointedly didn’t mention the stash of fondant fancies he’d left out on the kitchen counter just a few hours earlier, even now picturing them half guzzled by vermin and covered in little brown hundreds and thousands.

Ok picking out lines is hard! Now, on to the tagging! And trying to pick some new folks: @lemon-tart-221, @mellow-cello-charm, @ineffable-obsession

#good omens #fic post #tag game

12 notes · View notes

jordanandegypt · 14 days

Text

Zürich, Switzerland

Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024

Greetings All. We are in Zurich trying to change our body clocks by 6 hours. Easier said than done. We flew yesterday from Detroit to Amsterdam and the idea is to sleep the night away as we transverse the Atlantic - but both Mark and I got maybe 2 - 2.5 hours of sleep during our 7 hour flight. We left Detroit at 6:30 PM and arrived 7 hours later in Amsterdam at 8:30 AM their time. - but at 1:30 AM our time. We had a short layover (1 hr and 25 minutes) but in Amsterdam this is JUST enough time to get to your next flight - so we got to the gate and boarded. The flight from Amsterdam to Zürich is only an hour and while I may have slept on that flight it was not more than 20 minutes.

We got a pretty pricey cab from the airport to our hotel - but we could not face figuring out public transportation as tired as we were. Sadly - our hotel room was not ready. We opted for a leisurely lunch in which Mark had cold spicy melon soup and I have garam marsala butter chicken - both delicious - but really all we wanted was a bed to stretch out on. (Don’t worry I will not tell you everything we eat!!) After lunch we got the news that our room still wasn’t ready and I did something I have NEVER done - feel asleep in a chair in the lobby of the hotel. But by 3:30 we were in our hotel and we opted for naps - until 5:00. Hopefully bedtime will come easily...

Enough about us…. Let’s get to our adventure...

The theme for this trip is “OLD STUFF.” We will start with "real old" and work our way to "OMG WAY WAY OLD." We, in the US, get so excited when we see a structure from the late 1600s or early 1700s - but that is a joke in this part of the world - kinda a “baby building.”

So let’s start with Zürich Switzerland - our current “home."

From what we have seen, Zürich is a beautiful city surrounded by the foothills of the Alps mountains located at the northern end of Lake Zürich and built on Limmat River (pronounced “Limit” that flows from Lake Zürich. This city has a history going back centuries.

The town was founded by the Romans a bit over 2,000 years ago. Recent excavations show evidence of settlement even before that - over 6,400 years ago.

We explored the old city from about 5:30 to 9:00 - or 17:30 to 21:00 - as any citizen of the world would say - with a a few exceptions - like us.

Surprises: There are no “walk/don’t walk” signs - pedestrians just have the right of way - PERIOD!

There is graffiti everywhere - I was shocked!

EVERYONE smokes! Or it seems that way. DISGUSTING!

I went to buy our 24 hour pass for public transportation and was told to just keep in with us. If asked we would have to show it - but there is no check in - check out system. Trust, my friends.

Things we expected: Public transportation options would be numerous and easy to use and very clean.

People would be helpful and kind

Things would be EXPENSIVE.

We took the tram to old town and at one point saw this:

While we were listening to this:

Kind of eye and ear candy.

I think I forgot to say what the Swiss flag looked like - so here you go…

We ate dinner at an outdoor cafe - late - (when in Rome, so they say) and it was outstanding. Mark had cold roast beef with horseradish sauce and I had “Rösti” with smoked salmon, onions, capers and a dill sauce. OMG!!!

Rösti is shredded potatoes fried in butter and made into a mound. You can get lots of different kinds of “Rösti’ and I highly recommend it. Split with someone - it is huge. (It will be breakfast for us tomorrow.)

Tomorrow - we will explore more than the transportation system. I’m going to bed. It is 22:00 here and I'm hoping to wake up for the first - and maybe only - presidential debate - which would be 3:00 AM here. If I do - I'll watch it live. If I don't - I will be more rested when I watch it later Either way - we are in Zürich rooting for Kamala!!

CIAO! (Yes - they say that here too)

#zurich #switzerland

2 notes · View notes

peru-perusals · 4 months

Text

Day 19 - Miami Layover

Photo by Holly

We landed in Miami at an ungodly hour of the morning but by the time we made it out of the airport, it was a much more reasonable time!

Photo by Holly

We took bus down to the Playa cafe, across the street from the Eggstaurant we had been to on our first Miami layover.

Photo by Holly

I got an excellent Cuban sandwich and pondered @b1g-cheese's post about Karen Gillan filming a movie at George Fox.

Photo by Holly

Bernadette wanted to go to mass and more people kept tagging along until all of the students went to mass at St. Patrick's and Holly went out to the beach.

Photo by Alyssa

The mass was incredible, they had a full orchestra and choir in the loft, which just rung through the entire church. I was glad to have sung Mozart's Mass in C in choir this past semester so I knew what they were singing about in Latin. When mass got out, we had a half hour before we had planned to meet up with Holly so we sat in the shade beneath this lighthouse sculpture.

Photo by Haley

We went from there to a crab place renounced for their key lime pie. They gave us a full can of whipped cream that we used excessively.

Photo by Alyssa

We headed out to the beach and headed into the waves! We played a thrilling game of wavelength while we bobbed about. I was remarkably bad at that game, guessing 8 when the actual number was 5.

Photo by Holly

Photo by Alyssa

This is where the story gets much less fun. If you want to skip that, please pretend that we picked up lunch from Trader Joe's and spent the rest of our time in Miami at the botanical garden, before taking the bus back to the airport as planned and boarding our flight back to Portland and all living happily ever after. Thanks for reading my blog and following along as I perused Peru!

But here's what actually happened. We got out of the water and set off towards the botanical garden. As we walked through the park, I rapidly grew weak and collapsed to the ground in a relatively controlled manner. The group had continued walking, so I texted them and tried a group call. I was hyperventilating and losing fine motor control, so I used Siri to call a number of members of the group individually, but nobody picked up. I was entirely paralyzed by this point and I dropped my phone into the grass. I thought I saw a dinosaur over me, but it turned out to be an iguana hanging out in the tree. Apparently they had stopped at the bathroom nearby to change out of their swimsuits. My memory is a little hazy, but someone noticed me and they started attending to me. Claire, who is studying to do sports medicine, raised my feet and started walking me through exercises of trying to close my fist and lift my limbs. I wasn't able to do either of those things at first. Bernadette filled my water bottle repeatedly. Someone put cool towels on my chest. Holly called 911 and shortly thereafter paramedics arrived to check my vitals, which were all good. An ambulance arrived too, but they called it off. They said this was pretty normal for the weather, especially since we weren't used to it. I was their fifth call like this of the day. One of the tests they ran hurt a lot; they connected me to what looked like a boombox and it felt like all of my muscles were being activated at the same time. Remind me not to get electrocuted. While I lay on the ground, Holly went to the store to get ice packs and popsicles. By the time she returned, I had regained much muscle function and we walked to the bus station. On the bus, I noticed that the weather had a excessive heat warning for 106-110 in Miami Beach. Missed that. We rode back to the bus station, which had a place for dolphins to park. How accommodating!

I changed out of my swimsuit and we took the tram back to the airport. I was getting weaker as we waited in line for TSA for a few hours, so I sat down and scooted myself along the ground until we got to the front, where I did my best to act like a fully functioning human being as I went through security. They fell for my ruse, but I fell to the ground shortly after we got through. I had cold feverish chills emanating from my spine and rippling through my body, which was fairly concerning to Holly, who called 911 for the second time. Paramedics arrived and ran a series of tests, but luckily not the excruciatingly painful one. Once again my vitals were fine, and encouraged me to get food and liquids in my system. I lay on the ground while Holly tried to hail one of the accessibility golf carts to take me to our gate, halfway across the airport. A while later, she succeeded. Unfortunately, I lost my key lime pie on the way over. I cleaned up and we rode the rest of the way. We arrived at the gate and reconvened with the rest of the group but our fight had moved to another gate. I thought I was feeling strong enough to walk there, but after a few hundred feet, I needed to sit down again and we hailed a cart to take us to the new gate.

We sat and waited for the flight but I wasn't feeling well enough to board. The rest of the group boarded but Holly stayed behind with me. I fell asleep on the floor at the gate while Holly stood in the line for hours to rebook us for a flight the following day. When I woke up, I hailed another accessibility cart to take me as far as the airport hotel where Holly had booked us a room. The line snaked around the room, so I parked myself on the floor, slowly scooting me and my luggage forward as we moved. Holly arrived about midnight, just as I got to the front of the line. She had booked through some sort of 3rd party and they only sent over one confirmation code which the hotel computers read as there being one room. She had to call the 3rd party but the hotel's phone lines were down so they couldn't receive confirmation by phone. While she got this sorted out, I fell asleep, slumped over my backpack on the floor of the hotel lobby. Holly eventually woke me up and I moved to a couch while she continued to sort things out with the hotel. I fell asleep there as well. At 1:30am, the hotel gave us our keys and we took the elevator up to our rooms and I collapsed into my bed, which was much more comfortable than all of the various places in the airport where I had slept on the floor.

2 notes · View notes

allthevmff · 1 year

Text

At the Overlook by @nicemom93

It's the summer of 2011 and the surprise of her life is knocking on Lilly's front door.

Blister in the Sun by glamorouspirate

Woohoo! School's out and the 09er crew find themselves at the Kane holiday house by the lake, all primed for some good times. But with everyone coupling up, how will single Veronica deal?

Bound by a Kiss by @vmsteenbeans

Sequel to my one-shot, Collecting Kisses. Can one kiss change the course of fate?

Brush Pass by @happilyshanghaied

He couldn't really blame them, he would have probably made the same assumptions were he in their shoes, but he was tired of being prejudged. “Look, I signed up for this shitshow, and I wouldn't have done it if I weren't prepared to get my hands a little dirty.”

“If you think this is getting your hands dirty, then you’re greener than I thought.” The agent paused, as if she were about to say something else, but then took a sip of wine instead. “I know why you were late tonight. You probably spent hours wandering around the city, maybe halfway down the bottle, wondering if you'd done the right thing today, questioning if you were still a good person?”

“Wrong. I was never a good person,” he said, a little too quickly, then drained the rest of his glass in one go. He refilled it with a shaky hand, the crimson wine sloshed over the lip of the goblet onto the white tablecloth beneath.

Her head tipped to the side as she stared at his face, expression unmoved. “Telling yourself that isn't going to make this job any easier, and it's definitely not going to make it true. You wouldn't be sitting

Building Bridges by @chikabiddy

Veronica lands herself in a little bit of trouble on a case and a quasi-pocket dial gives Logan the chance to help.

By Any Other Name by @vmsteenbeans

Takes place during the summer between S2 and S3. Veronica takes on a new case, enlisting the help of her closest friends and her on-again boyfriend, Logan Echolls. But as she tries to solve the mystery of her client's past, the events of her own past continue to haunt her. Works within canon, and also as a prequel to Knowing the Difference.

By Contrast with the Love by @petpluto

Keith dies. Logan works to pick up the pieces left in the wake of Cassidy's destruction.

Call It What You Want by @marshmallowatheart

Sequel to the events from Total Eclipse of the Heart; life is different when you've seen your archenemy naked, it's different when you've felt their fingers inside you, it's different when you see them and all you can think about is the way they taste.

Chicago Layover by @troublescout

AU: A midwestern blizzard strands Veronica and Logan. They haven't seen each other in 8 years. What's a star-crossed couple to do? Share a bed perhaps?

Come Around by @absolutelyiris

A woman travels the world over in search of what she needs and returns home to find it.

Damn, Damn the Circumstance by @invidiosa

If Logan hadn't left with the easy freshman that night...

2nd Roundup post continuing the celebration of @vmficclub's WIP It Good Challenge. For more WIPs shared during the challenge visit --> X (or checkout the upcoming roundups) Did we miss a WIP? Please feel free to reply + share your favs

#vm fanfic #wipitgood #veronica mars fanfic #veronicamarsfanfiction #vmfanfic #vm fic #veronicamarsfanfic #vm fanfiction

13 notes · View notes

irishgolfadventure · 1 year

Text

Day One

Hi to All - We arrived early this morning in Dublin at 8:00a which was 3:00a ET in the U.S. Everything went smoothly with the exception that Delta canceled our flight out of Indy and put us on an earlier flight which caused us to have a six hour layover in Boston. Small inconvenience.

Once we landed in Dublin and secured our rental car, we headed north for Newcastle which is about 80 miles up the east coast from Dublin located in Northern Ireland. Of course getting adjusted to driving on the opposite side of the road with the steering wheel on the right side, caused some early anxiety for both driver and passenger. The round-a-bouts were and continue to be the most confusing part of the driving adjustment!

Newcastle was very busy today as the people of Northern Ireland celebrate May 1st as a holiday. So the streets were packed with people and the pubs were doing a brisk business. So we parked our car and walked around and enjoyed some people watching. Rural Ireland seems like a step back in time to the fifties and sixties which to us creates a quaint cool vibe!

We’re staying at The Briers Country House. The property was recently acquired by Darren Fenton the new owner. He and his staff personify the friendly nature of the Irish people. Very helpful, kind and always willing to strike up a conversation...and it may last a while. And they have a trait we could all use more of - very attentive and great listeners!

We learned some of the differences between Ireland and Northern Ireland which were helpful. First of all, they are both separate countries and occupy one island! Northern Ireland is part of the UK and Ireland is a sovereign country that is part of the European Union. Northern Ireland’s currency is the British Pound and Ireland is the Euro. There are no patrolled borders but since Brexit there is ongoing debate as to whether there should be. I’m sure you’re thinking that’s enough info on this topic!!

Tomorrow we play our first round of golf. And we’re starting with one of the courses I’m most excited to play, Royal County Down. By all measures RCD is one of the best courses in the world and you can find it ranked anywhere from number one through number ten in the world. Pics and videos will be in tomorrow’s post.

Are you wondering why I included a picture of Tom Coyne’s book, A Golf Course Called Ireland in this post? First of all, the book is a very enjoyable read whether you’re a golfer or not. Secondly, I reached out to Tom and was able to have a 90 minute Zoom call and a couple of other follow up calls with him to go over our agenda. He was extremely helpful and gave me a ton of names and places not to miss along the way. He also told me using his name would be helpful with acquiring golf merch and course favors at many of the courses! Of course you know, I would never think of doing such a thing.....by the end of the trip people will think Tom and I are brothers! :-)

Have a good evening! Look forward to sharing our Royal County Down experience with you tomorrow. gb

12 notes · View notes

aetherspoon · 1 year

Text

A not-so-simple relocation, day 7/8/9/10

Last Time:

Trips to the aquarium, to my partner's home, to ikea, and to a gaming table to play Dorf Romantik. If you're still with me this far, that's impressive! Have a boat. I think it is a Ketch, but this is definitely not a boat I had seen in Sid Meier's Pirates!, so forgive my lack of boat knowledge.

Day 7 - The day everyone leaves.

Sunday was departure day.

Our friends flights were scheduled to depart at 13:10 local time. This time, everyone were on the correct flights, everyone arrived with plenty of time to spare, everything should be fine!

... yeah, not a single flight for their trips back went to plan. Folks, you might wonder why I grouped four days together on this post. That's because the last of my friends finally got home at 3:55a (my time) on day 10. Which is seven hours ago, as of the typing of this Tumblr post.

Backing up a bit, when I originally booked these flights, I asked my friends what they wanted me to book. I wouldn't be on the flight back, so from my perspective all I was doing was paying for them. The flights back consisted of two sane routes - one gave a 55m layover in Copenhagen, one gave an 8.5h layover in Copenhagen. I warned them that a 55m layover was quite short but, assuming the flights were on time, absolutely doable since you aren't going through airport security. The 8+h one would probably mean they'd get a chance to explore Copenhagen before heading back. They chose the short layover.

They chose... poorly.

The flight out of Bergen was an hour or so late in arriving, meaning their 55m layover turned into a -7m layover. Why was it so late? Because the flight was late in arriving in Bergen. Where did the flight come from? Oslo.

That's right! Oslo needs to get their shit together on Sundays! I told you it'd come back. :)

As they were in the air from Bergen to Copenhagen, I received three notifications about rebooked flights. I looked at the rebookings and realized that my friends were about to have an awful day. You see, when they rebooked their flights, they didn't put them on the later flight, no... they flew them to Stockholm, then from Stockholm to Chicago, then Chicago to Milwaukee.

Wrong direction, sure, but why was I so adamant about their bad day? Because the layover in Stockholm was eighteen hours long. They had an overnight layover. Then another five hour layover in Chicago. Then they had a 7+ hour drive back, then another one of the friends had an additional 13 hours to drive back to his home on top of that first drive. Can you see how it took him four days to get home yet? All because Oslo didn't have their shit together on a Sunday.

I, on the other hand? Didn't do all that much. I finally set up my portable desktop computer, started typing these out, and made an order for cat food and other cat supplies. I would have loved to done some grocery shopping or purchasing of other needed supplies, but I couldn't.

That's because Day 7 is a national holiday here in Norway, as is Day 8. Absolutely nothing was open outside of a couple of small kiosks downtown (and, as I later found out, a couple of restaurants for delivery).

Day 8 - Holiday doldrums.

Norway has an interesting set of national holidays. There aren't a huge number - only one more than the US, in fact - but they're all clumped up around Easter. A full half of their national holidays are latched onto Easter, likely owing to their state religion. Unfortunately, the next national holiday is Christmas Day. This is the year I get short-changed on paid holidays due to my timing of the move from US-based to Norway-based work.

Day 8 is Whit Monday, a part of the Ascension holiday. The last of the bracketed-around-Easter holidays. I'm not Christian (although I was raised in a Christian society, so I have a lot of cultural osmosis there), so the day itself is meaningless to me. Incidentally, same day as the US Memorial Day this year, but that's a complete coincidence.

I basically just cleaned up a bit around the house and attempted to make some online orders... only to fail. Everywhere.

International Banking, part 2

The other thing I said would come back at some point!

When someone from outside of a country tries to order something online inside of the country, one of four things tend to happen:

The order lets you put in an international address for billing, everything works file.

The order requires a domestic billing address, but everything still works fine because your credit card company just nods along.

The order requires a domestic billing address and adamantly fails to run on a non-domestic account.

You can't even sign up to get an order because you don't have domestic contact information.

Most times, multi-national organizations hit option 1. The place I ordered the cat supplies from, for instance, did not care one bit about the fact that my billing information was US-based. The company itself is based out of Germany, so they're used to international business anyway.

Online food ordering around here seems to hit point two. I used a credit card to pay for my food delivery for my friends while they were here; I put in my address here for my home address and away it went.

The other two though? I'm out of luck. My partner has to order things for me, which is utterly ridiculous given that I already owe them nearly 10k USD for house-related expenses anyway. It also makes me feel infantilized, given that I'm apparently not allowed to do anything. I can't repair my own desktop computer without parts, and I can't get those parts without my partner ordering them for me (as that online retailer hits #4 - you literally can't order from them without a Norwegian phone number). They won't do that right now, as they're probably freaking out over just how much money this whole thing has cost. I can't buy a chair that will let my back hurt less (as I'm using a dining room chair right now, which isn't even ours), since that's a site that hits problem number three.

Norwegian telephone numbers

And that brings us to rage target number two. Norway basically has two cell providers - Telia and Telenor. Everyone else is basically using one of those two networks, kind of like how the US basically has four providers and everyone uses one of those four. Similar to the US, there are both prepaid and postpaid options.

Unlike the US, however, Norway uses cell phones for a lot more than just calls and data. Their entire banking system relies on a cell phone number for mobile banking, for instance, and mobile banking is default.

Postpaid options, however, require you to have a two year long credit history. I do not exist according to Norwegian banks. I literally cannot get a postpaid cell phone for the next two years because of this. As far as I can tell, I can't even be added to my partner's postpaid contract as a family member (although I can't be sure on that), giving me fewer rights than a twelve year old here.

So, why not go with prepaid? Let's look at Telenor's site. This is via Google Translate, for reference, so forgive the weird grammar.

So, let's see if I get this straight. Postpaid I can't get because Noob. Prepaid I can get but can't use for BankID (which is the primary authentication method in Norway and the mobile part is used for MFA - kind of needed) or for sending any non-data communication outside of Norway (which is kind of needed to even communicate with my own company / HR departments).

Day 9/10ish - I miss the US.

I mean, given the frustrations above, this is hardly surprising. But damn is it rough right now. I feel like I'm basically trapped here and have made All The Mistakes. Again, I knew this would happen, I just didn't how what would trigger it and how.

Apparently, it is entirely based on the fact that I can't easily leave the house or feed my cats.

Leaving the house

I talked about the hill of doom before. It is 50-someodd meters of a walk uphill, rather steep for someone who grew up within a meter of sea level. I'm not out of breath so much as my legs are screaming at me with high amounts of pain. We're talking comparable-to-kidney-stones levels of pain not counting my gout. There also isn't really a way around it; my apartment is at the end of the road and almost the entire hill is on the same road. There isn't anywhere I could go that I wouldn't need to go up that same hill, even if I just wanted to stretch my legs.

This makes me feel trapped in this apartment. If I had known how steep that hill walk would be, I would have actually rejected this apartment.

My plan for this day was to go up that stupid hill again to go shopping (mall non-grocery), come back, then go up a second time with Kriatyrr to further go shopping (grocery). I've been a bit lazy in the mornings for me, but I'm still up hours earlier than Kriatyrr due to the way my brain works with times. As I was feeding my cats, I realized how low on food we were.

Cat food

We're low. Very low. Kriatyrr had bought a 1.5kg bag of cat food for me before my arrival. My cats eat a prescription food called Hill's T/D - it is for dental health and my cats have been on it for around a decade now. Weighing it right now, I have 469g of food left. Based on when I arrived, that should give me enough food for another eight days... except that my numbers are off. Remember a while back when I said Zoan wasn't eating? He certainly is now, but he didn't start eating until day five. So that information is kind of bunk, but I do have some telemetry data coming from their feeders.

Looking at their feeding history, Issun eats around 1560g per month, Zoan eats around 1450g/month, or around 100g/day combined. So I have four days of food left.

Kriatyrr informed me that the site I ordered my cat food from takes over a week to arrive. I did not realize this. I have made a terrible mistake.

Does that look like the face of a cat that will be happy when I'm out of food? No. That's the look of a creature that will eat ME if I do not feed.

So on Day 9, we went to the grocery store and also added in some supplemental wet food. We picked out a variety Kriatyrr's cats enjoy, as then any leftovers can go to them. We mixed some wet food in with their T/D and fed them last night.

This was the even-worse mistake.

After feeding time, the profuse vomiting began. Zoan threw up seven times in 40 minutes. Issun threw up four or five times in that same span. This continued on until this morning. I've since fed them T/D... only to have Issun throw it all up again, this time on top of multiple objects that aren't easy to clean.

Oh right, cleaning. Did I mention that we still don't have a washing machine? Or freezer?

What did arrive is a letter from the Norwegian Government, addressed to me. I can see it in the mailbox. The locked mailbox, the same locked mailbox we don't have a key for because the landlord never finished giving us things for the apartment.

I'm really fed up with having to rely on everyone to get anything done.

#oslo get your shit together on sundays #blog #travel blog #moving abroad #personal

4 notes · View notes

cottoncandyruby · 2 years

Text

I was gonna do more lil updates for MythiCon but the journey here has been so tumultuous all I’ve wanted to do is sleep and scream 😂

I forgot how to do read more on tumblr so just scroll by if ya don’t wanna read aha

"Anticaption, Aviation & Allergies"

Part 1. A little trip to Dublin

Of course the shortest part of my trip would be the easiest. So my mum and I were up at 3 am got a very expensive taxi, cos there were no trains, to the closest airport. Lingered there until our flight left at 8. I was so excited even though I’ve been on a plane before when I was small, I had no sensory memory of it or anything so the sensation of flying was like woo.

Tis a very short flight to Dublin, like an hour and I had a window seat so the absolute dream 😍. (Also that's like the only picture I took because I forget to take pictures)

Part 2. Dublin to New York

So we had to chill in the airport for 4 ish hours, we shared some BK chips cos airport food is overpriced lol. Anyways, it all chill until we get called to the lil reception people by the gate and they wanna look at our info and we don't know why or what the issue is. We booked this trip through booking.com but it is unclear what info actually went through lmao. They change something on our tickets and we get moved seats (?) And then it's all fine.

We end up talking to this Irish lady who travels for work and tell her about our super fun New York layover; it's 14 hours, we were very excited that we could go explore New York in the later afternoon/evening cos the only thing we anticipated doing was attending MythiCon. The lady's like "Oh....14 hours" with an obvious, "honey something went wrong" face.

Part 3. The New York Flight

We get on the plane to New York and we are on the exit row where you have to verbally confirm that in an emergency you will be able to open the door and help people get out, no pressure right?! I am on the aisle seat, my mum the middle and our new friend Steven(?) is in the window seat.

This flight lasts 7 hours and I spend the entire time reading the first LotR book cos I can't hear Steven for shit, airplanes are loud y'all, and avoiding eyecontact with bathroom users who are queuing up in front of us cos the loo is directly opposite. I made the mistake of wearing, what i used to call, my comfy jeans and I'm a big girl with some thicc thighs and oof ma legs had no circulation.

Steven talks my mums ear off for near 6 of the 7 hours in which she sparingly looks at me for ways out of the conversation or for me to join in, and I genuinely cannot hear him but also the whole ordeal is hilarious to watch. Except Steven thought we were a couple and I am realising I will have to spend the whole of MythiCon reinstating that I am travelling with my mum not my partner. Gosh.

Part 4. Newark, not New York

We arrive and Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry have just left Tom Bombadil and we realise we are not getting out of this airport. We retrieve our bags, my suitcase is slightly broken and won't stand up properly but we move. A very nice woman informs us we won't be able to store our luggage anywhere and that our flight which leaves at 6 am, we arrive at 4pm in New York by the way, won't be open for check-in until 3.30 am.

So, we must keep our luggage with us at all times and journeying into New York is suddenly much less appealing. I am also internally reeling from the disappointment of not going up the Empire State Building which was something I thought my mum had booked but no. Anyways, I don't wanna walk around New York with my suitcase but the other big issue besides the prospect of sleeping in the airport is Mielle Rosemary and Mint Hair Oil.

Here be some context before I continue:

I am biracial. My mama's white and I have no connection to my relatives of colour wherever they may be. So, despite being black I have lived a very white experience (still had the racism and all the shit but anyways) for y'all readers of colour or informed folx, you will know afro hair requires different products and care to white hair. I have slowly become aware of this over the last 5 or so years. I have never had a protective style and the town over from me is more diverse than where I live and has afro hair salons. So, I boldly book in for Goddess Locs cos I'm Jamaican and they look pretty and why not spice things up before going on a 33 hour flight?

Unlike as specified in the booking information for this hair it is not 30 minutes but 8 hours and not 55 quid but 85 and its this very rude 19 year old doing my hair. She puts some spray on and recommends I put hair oil on to keep my scalp hydrated. This is the Sunday before we leave. We get the flight to Dublin on the following Wednesday morning.

On Monday, I purchase the aforementioned hair oil. My hair feels a little itchy and I cannot tell if it is mild discomfort because of the weight of the locs or the spray she's used. So on the Tuesday night my mum liberally applies the hair oil across my entire scalp, a lil bit runs down my back across my face etc.

I wake up Wednesday morning, it still itchy.

....

We do the Dublin flight, the New York flight and when we land in Newark I am starting to feel very sick and my head feels warm to the touch. It could be from lack of sleep but fainting is imminent so we take the AirTrain to Penn Station and purchase some antihistamines. We see a sign for Madison Square Garden and head back to the airport.

We awkwardly finagle ourselves into a bathroom stall with our suitcases and my mum gets some nail scissors out from her suitcase and cuts my 85 pound hair off of my head. My scalp and more clearly my hairline is covered in bumps. I dont have phobias well except arachnophobia but hives and bumps make me feel sick. So I could not touch my head and boy I wanna scream and cry, I know that I must look as awful as I feel.

We remain in the airport til our flight, I get no sleep, my mum dozes off awkwardly on the chairs and my head gradually stops hurting but is still hot and itchy. The nausea abates over time.

Part 5. New York to Austin

Flight is smooth, my mum sleeps the whole way and I listen to music and half watch ParaNorman with no sound on cos I'm a multitasker.

Our flight is early, and we had booked a driver (which felt so posh) and Austin airport is lovely looking I must say. Anyways, our flight is an hour early so we sit in the pick up bit for am hour gettin chilly. Our driver arrives when he was scheduled to around 10.30 and says he'd been waiting for ages because he saw the flight was updated. Immediately felt guilty aha but he was nice. My mum woke up with a headache so I'm doin most of the talking.

The drive to the hotel is exciting, we passed by so many beautiful houses. Its so much more colourful than I thought, not that I had a whole bucket of ideas about Texas' aesthetic.

The hotel is tall, brown ish and angular. Inside its kind of intimidating but to the right of the entrance my eye catches this big sign for MythiCon and they've got a little reception area fashioned with all the merch Mythical Beasts get when they arrive which I'll post pictures of separately but it's lovely looking. The posters are huge and I fear they will be crumpled on the way back but c'est la vie.

We go to reception after being armed with Mythical Merch and they have shuttle buses runnin' to and from Stat Hill Ranch so my mum and I make a mental note to catch the earliest one which is at 2.30pm today ahhhh.

Anyways reception. Everything's going fine, despite my email the dude respects my chosen name which is very satisfying after being called ma'am several times awoke the gender angst in me. He asks for a small deposit of 225 bucks.

Side note - My mum and I are bad with money. We know she'll have got paid Friday morning for work and that that will cover Mythicon expenses. By the time we get to the hotel, we only have 100 dollars.

My mum calls my nan, I message my best friend, who graciously send us the money and 30 minutes later we are through. Check in was advertised at 4pm (it's around 11 ish when we arrive) but one moment of good luck allows us a room early. He might've just pitied us I don't know. I hate money, I hate capitalism. I know im saying this after having spent so much to just get here but that wasn't even money we had and it feels like we're being reminded of how we don't deserve to be here I don't know. It was very humbling anyways, and I could tell my mum wanted to cry and I was ready to zone out but it got sorted.

We get into the room, I'll share some pictures later cos it is nice in here. I go into the bathroom and do what I usually wind up doing when I hold stuff in and start to cry, a bit from the malaise of travelling its been over 24 hours and I've not slept, a lot from the continuous bad luck, and the rest for the renewed discomfort of the hair oil on my head.

The mirror confirms one thing which is I look abysmal. The product she used on my hair has fried and looks like dandruff, my skin is blotchy, and it's a big oof. I get in the shower to wash out the oil...consequently, I wash it onto my skin and the rest of my body. I bawl whilst doing so.

My hair starts to cool as I dry off but my body starts to swell. My already thicc thighs be getting thiccer, my hands and feet swell. My body, limbs specifically have a veneer of numbness like when you fall asleep on your arm and it takes a while to get any feeling back. It's a bit concerning but I take another antihistamine and finally sleep.

We had planned on exploring last night but we did not go anywhere beyond our room.

Part 6. Fog and Furtive (?) Optimism

Today the bumps on my head feel smoother, I'm still swollen but less so and I am very thirsty. It has been a heck of a journey but if it is the price to pay to see Rhett and Link up close and personal I'll do it.

But I had to rant and feel sorry for myself on the internet first.

If you read this to the end I would like to both thank you and apologise. I am manifesting that things will only get better from here.

This weekend is gonna be Mythical!

#mythicon #personal #about rube #it has been a ride #i am tired #hungry #and ready for rhett and link #they're better be some rhinky shit this weekend

13 notes · View notes