#it rained so crazy down upon us in the queue

[revengeisourlullaby]

Everything Happens For a Reason

Warnings: 18+, smut, Cheating/mentions of cheating, “revenge” sex, arguing, dealings of breaking up, ex-partner being shitty, dom themes, hair pulling, dumbification, degradation, feelings of worthlessness, Thor being an asshole, Loki being an asshole sexually, sensual themes, some angst, some softness but mostly tough love vibes, this will take place around the time of Ragnarok for visual reference, kinda domestic but not really 

a/n: This is my first time writing for marvel characters! I previously was writing for mha, which I still do if you’re interested. Apologies to the Thor lovers, he’s an ass in this. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it and that I do a good job of representing characters that we all enjoy. :)  

Word count: 6.7k

Main: Loki x female!Reader Ex: Thor x female!Reader

You were on your way back home after ending a grueling shift at work. Everything around you left you in a sensory overload. The sound of your feet pattering on the sidewalk, the aggressive car horns of New York’s taxis, conversations you passed by all created a stinging buzz that roared in your head. Finally reaching the station, you walked down a flight of stairs, the horrific New York air filling your nose. A stench that made you feel at home but somehow could never get used to. Sighing you thought to yourself.

I just wanna get home.

The idea of having to mush yourself into the train in desperate hopes of not only being able to find a seat but to not be bombarded with the evening nonsense made the buzz in your head turn into an unfortunate headache. Waiting for the train to rush through the tunnel, you grabbed your phone and frowned, seeing that your boyfriend had yet to answer the text you sent earlier. He said he was free from any heroic duties for the next month so it was peculiar to not hear from him. You began to grow worried. 

Picking at your nails, you were thinking about all the possible “what ifs” that could have happened with Thor. You guys had been dating for some time now, almost two years. It had become common to be met with all the craziness that his job title of hero held. Truly anything could happen. So, of course, your brain was constructing all of the terrible things that could’ve possibly happened with him. 

You couldn’t fuss about it too long, the train came bustling through the tunnel, the air from up underneath it blasting you in the face with the trademarked scent of burnt rubber tires and gasoline smoke. You trudged your way into the train, squeezing your way to a spot closest to the door so you could make your way out quickly. Holding on to the railing beside you, you popped your AirPods in and dissociated. Trying your best to drown out the noise and the perpetual thoughts of what was going on with your boyfriend. You couldn’t help the aggressiveness of your worries so you pulled out your phone and gave Thor’s phone a ring.

You waited, and waited, and waited and the line went to voicemail. Your mind was running a mile a minute. It felt like you couldn’t breathe. You tried composing yourself, you were almost at your stop. When the PA system announced your stop, you rushed through the automatic doors and ran to your apartment. The sky, now overcast, and the slight smell of rain tainting the air, only adding to the tension. Running up the outside set of stairs, you headed to the elevator preparing yourself for the worst. Once the elevator dinged, you rushed down the hallway to your apartment. 

Fumbling with your keys at the door, you began to hear a slew of moans. Stopping in your tracks, you moved your head closer to the door to make sure that you were hearing the moans slip from the other side of your apartment door. Placing your ear against the door your suspicions were confirmed with a groan that seemed to billow from none other than Thor’s throat. Your heart began to shatter and become blanketed with the bitterness of winter, you slowly turned the key into your apartment. 

Conscious of your steps you tried your best to not cause creaks to squeak from the floorboards. The air wreaked of sex and was starting to become seasoned with rotten jealousy. Turning the corner to head down to your shared bedroom, you were acquainted with Thor pile driving into your best friend. 

She caught you in the doorway and to your dismay, she called out

“Y/N! Oh my god. Thor stop!”

With the mention of your name, Thor whipped his head around but you were already making your way towards the front door. He threw on his pants that were thrown on the floor and rushed his way over to you.

“Y/N!”

You turned around with a quickness and landed your hand right across his cheek. Leaving him with a scarlet mark to brand his betrayal upon him. You looked up at him through your eyebrows because you didn't have the strength to look at him in the eyes for the tears that were welling up would threaten to spill over. 

“Thor...why don’t you go finish your business with her. Since clearly, she’s the priority.”

“Y/N, it’s not what you think it is. She brought herself upon me.”

“Oh! And you just couldn’t resist right. Cause she was just so overbearing against yourself?”

His silence solidified your suspicions and you wanted nothing more than to just get out of that apartment. Not waiting for him to come up with another response you grabbed your bag that you dropped on the floor and turned on your heel to leave.

   “And when you release yourself of whatever leftovers you’re straining to hold, I want you to get your shit and leave. There’s nothing here to be salvaged and honestly, the last thing I wanna do is attempt to fix this.”

You slammed your apartment door and took the stair exit, not wanting to chance to have to confront him again while waiting for the elevator. Coming up on the last flight of stairs you held yourself up against the railing and felt the emotion in your throat bubble up and release itself. 

It hurt. A strangled whine erupted from your throat and you hid your face in your hands. Hoping that it would muffle your cries enough so that no one would hear you in the stairwell. All of your insecurities began to settle in and resurface. Why weren’t you good enough for him? What made your best friend better? It's not like she was otherworldly or something. You could maybe understand if it was Valkyrie, but this was some regular bitch. This was someone you knew and felt undeniably close with. It felt sour, like residual vomit on the tongue. 

You pushed yourself up from the stairs and slowly walked to the main door of your building. You were brought out of your haze with cold droplets of water that began to roll down your face.

“This is just comedic now.” 

You laughed to yourself. Not only did you just spoil your eyes by seeing your now ex-boyfriend inside of your best friend but now you're stuck out in the exordium of New York rain with no real place to settle. Not at least until Thor packed his things and left. You put your bag over your head and searched for the nearest station to just catch a ride on. Walking down the steps, you again waited in the queue for the next train. Leaning on the wall you were suddenly overwhelmed with the stench of your wet outside clothes and wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep.

With the roar of the train coming through the tunnel, you got on. Unaware of where you were going just desperately wanting to get away from the drama currently suffocating your mind. Trying to forget about the world around you, were brought back into reality by the buzzing of your phone in your pocket.

Of course, you had a list of missed calls from Thor as well as your best friend. Lists of texts from Thor, but the notification that stood out the most was a text message from Loki. It was unlikely for you to hear from him and coupled with today’s events it felt like salt being rubbed in a wound. 

It can’t get any worse, honestly. Just open it. Fuck it.

Going against your brain and entrusting your gut, you opened his message.

Would you happen to be in the Manhattan area? 

You looked up at the sign above the train doors, flashing the streets of the next stop. Luckily for you, you were getting ready to be dropped off right in the heart of Manhattan. Sighing you swallowed the lump in your throat and straightened your shoulders. Replacing your previous weight of mourning with now a sudden spark of pride and revenge running through your veins.

Yeah, I’m actually on my way there now, why?

You rolled your head back and bounced your leg, sudden nervousness striking your body. You didn’t fear Loki, it was nothing like that. But rather you were intimidated by him. His presence demanded attention and you were one to give it to him. You couldn’t deny that he was incredibly handsome. Despite his condescending nature, you found him all too alluring. Yet, here you were awaiting a response from him to come through. 

Interested in some company while visiting your planet for personal business. Care to be that company? 

Your heart started to thump behind its ribcage, beating a rhythm that you hadn’t been familiar with. You were excited. Quickly you typed back, not wanting to wait too long. 

Sounds like a plan. The train is getting ready to stop, probably will be in central Manhattan in about 10. Where should I meet you?

I’ll be waiting outside the Baccarat.

The train doors dinged and you rose from your seat and maneuvered your way through the 5th Avenue-53 St. station. Climbing the stairs, you were met with the unfortunate luck of it still raining and now with nightfall completely draped over the sky, you were beginning to regret accepting the invitation of meeting Loki. Looking ahead you noticed a store on the corner. You bolted in there, desperate to find something to change your soaking top out for. You walked in and saw yourself in the mirror. Your hair was still okay somehow, not too damaged by the wetness in the air. Just a tad more frizz. Fluffing your hair, you walked away from the mirror and searched for the men's section. 

Wanting an oversized hoodie you felt you had your best chance to find what you wanted there. Coming across a graphic hoodie, you pulled it off the rack and walked to the checkout. 

You got into a fitting room before you left, taking off your soaked shirt and now bra, and slipped into the hoodie. Stuffing your hair under the hood, you placed your clothes into your bag, sprayed some perfume on, and walked back outside to head to the hotel. The rain had let up some but you weren’t trying to risk it considering today had been littered with bad luck. You quickly walked up the street and finally made it out to the front of the hotel. 

You went to pull out your phone from your pocket, but when you did you were tapped on the shoulder. You whipped your head around, an instant attitude flooding your body. You were about to mouth off until you looked up and realized it was Loki who had grabbed your attention.

“Tense, are we?”

You rolled your eyes, wondering why you showed up. His tone worming through your ear and rattling your brain with contempt. He seemed to be a bitter reminder of his brother and you questioned why you thought this was a good idea. Looking up towards his face, you remembered why you came. His features, absolutely tantalizing, and the cadence of his speech almost always put you in a trance. The suit he was in only added to your inner desire. This was a moment of revenge, a moment of sheer pride that you needed to take advantage of. Finally, you opened your mouth and looked up at him. 

“A little, the day has been quite rough, but I don’t think you’d want to hear about all that.”

You looked toward the entrance of the hotel silently wondering why you two were still waiting outside. 

“Shall we go in? Standing in the rain like this is quite puerile.”

You looked up at him incredulously, 

“I swear you can read minds.”

You both shared a chuckle while he guided you in the hotel, his hand resting upon your lower back. Once you were in, you were struck in awe of the decor of the building you were in. It’s not that you had never been anywhere nice before but compared to your day-to-day lifestyle this was something very unexpected. You soaked it all in, not wanting to ever leave the luxury. 

“Y/N? You in there?”

You finally came to and gingerly shook your head to settle back in your body realizing you were now standing in front of the elevators.

“Yeah, I just got distracted, my bad.”

The door dinged and you two stepped into the elevator. He pressed the last set of numbers on the pad and you waited to be dropped on the floor of what you assumed where his room was. Your stomach dropped when the elevator arrived on the floor, almost adding to the anxiety you were feeling being so close to Loki. Walking down the hallway you reached his room and he pulled out his room key. Wanting to cut through the silence you broke the ice by asking Loki a question. 

“So what are you doing back on Earth? Here to cause some trouble or just for leisure.”

“Leisure, more or less. I came back for my brother but he has yet to inform me of his whereabouts.”

Dropping your bag down at the door you felt your body become heavy. Like someone had just dumped an anvil on your shoulders and expected you to be fully prepared. It stung. You couldn’t escape the sour taste that lingered from the day's earlier events. You sat down on the bed and had become unusually short. You had spit back at Loki.

“Yeah, he failed to let me know as well. Had to stumble in on him.”

“What do you mean “stumble in on him”? Where was he?”

Expelling air, you puffed out your cheeks slightly. Silently expressing your disdain for the question asked. You suddenly became aware of your hair still being tucked under your hood when you went to trail your hands across the top of your head. Removing the hood and fluffing your hair, you stood and walked up to the mirror to fix yourself before sighing again. Tears of frustration began to well in the corners of your eyes. You pursed your lips into a tight pucker and had to look up toward the ceiling to prevent them from spilling. 

“I’d prefer to skip over the antics, darling-”

“-Your wonderful brother was fucking somebody I was once close with, but now that relationship is undoubtedly severed, and quite honestly thinking about the event makes me want to cry and vomit.”

You finally let your voice shake and a fat tear rolled down the left side of your cheek. Hot and stinging your lash line before it fell. Exhaling more air, you shook your hands in a feeble attempt to calm yourself down. You heard the springs of the bed squeak as Loki situated himself on the bed.

“No one ever listens to me about that brute. He may be my brother but he lacks the capacity of decent intelligence.”

Turning around to face Loki, your eyebrows furrowed wondering how in the hell you thought sitting in a room with the smuggest piece of shit to ever exist would be a good idea after being cheated on by none other than his brother. Sniffling you brought yourself together and smiled at him.

“You know, for someone to be baggin on someone else about decent intelligence, you sure are lacking in the emotional department.”

“Never said I was perfect sweetheart, just alluded to being better.” 

You laughed. You had to. It was all too much to bear. Your ex-boyfriend sleeping with your ex-best friend and now you’re stuck in a hotel room with his shit-eating brother. You wanted to peel off your skin and remove your brain from its confinements. You needed to leave, you could find somewhere else to loiter around until tomorrow. 

“Ya know, I’m still trying to figure out why I thought having you for some company would be a good idea. Think I’m gonna leave you and your better than average intelligence to fuck off together.”

You couldn’t even look at Loki because inside you didn’t really wanna walk away. You were just projecting because all day everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It felt like your legs and heart were going to buckle at any moment and it was becoming too much to lug around silently. You wanted to scream for hours on end. Walking towards the door, you picked up your bag. Too engrossed in your thoughts to hear the bed creek signaling Loki’s movement. 

“Y/N, wait.”

Loki grabbed your wrist and your heart stopped beating for a moment, almost forgetting what it was you were upset about because you had someone else’s warmth heating your tainted soul. You looked up at Loki, creases in between your eyebrows beginning to form from you trying to hold back the tears that were welling up once again. 

“What? Look, Loki. I don’t want to be the downer of the evening and I’ve surely already done that. The last thing I want to do is burden you fully with what’s going on. I’m not gonna dump it all on you.”

“Will you sit down, please. Don’t leave.”

Sighing you dropped your bag and flopped onto the bed. Leaning over and burying your face in your hands. 

“Let me apologize. I was not thinking about the severity of what you were dealing with, that was foolish of me.”

He sat next to you on the bed and once again placed his hand on your back but this time it was rubbing back and forth. An action that seemed to calm you down instantly. Taking a deep breath you looked at him and couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of lust pool in the pit of your stomach. It felt wrong but, so right. You hoped he wasn't looking too deep into your eyes because you could almost predict how blown your pupils must’ve looked. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap and be so dramatic.”

Loki chuckled to himself, a small smile dancing across his face as he unbuttoned his suit jacket and laid it on the bed.

“No need for an apology, I was being insensitive. As for your dramatics, I’ve grown used to them.”

Your face folded and your lips pursed, annoyance clear on your face. 

“Yeah, you would be used to dramatics, Mr. “I need to rule over Earth cause I can’t back home.”.”

Your eyes lidded, you had your lips rolled around your teeth trying your best to hold a snicker in. 

“You Midgardians never know how to let things go, do you?”

“Well considering you were demolishing half of New York with an alien army it’s kinda hard to forget....I forgive you though.”

“Do you now?” Loki raised his eyebrow smirking at your remark.

“Yup, kinda hard to stay mad at someone so easy on the eyes.”

It wasn’t until after you said your words, did you realize what just rolled off your tongue. Your eyes grew wide and heat rushed to your face. You breathed heavily out your nose and brought your gaze to his. 

“Easy on the eyes huh?”

“I-” you couldn't even get any words out you were so embarrassed. All you could do was laugh to yourself and decide to be a little bit bold. 

“There’s no reason for me to be shy about it. You’re obviously the more attractive one.” 

Grazing your hand across his knee, you trailed your hand up to the meatier portion of his thigh.

“Are you planning on plowing through every Asgardian you meet?” 

Mouth agape you couldn’t believe what he just said to you. But you realized quickly this was your time to go in and plant the seed.

  “Not exactly. You’re the one I really want. Your brother just happened to fall in my lap first. It’s always been you though. Honestly, I was just too afraid to say anything. I couldn’t fathom the thought that you’d look my way.”

In the moment of your ramble, you hadn’t realized Loki rolling up his sleeves, using his nimble fingers to expose his veiny forearms. Once you had looked down you noticed his now exposed arms and your eyes met Loki’s again, the tension between you two becoming so thick it created a fog. 

“Honestly, I have yet to meet someone as dense as you are. The verity of my liking for you I thought was terribly noticeable. Yet you still somehow ended up with my oaf of a brother. It’s quite amazing actually.”

You were astonished, to say the least. While Loki was sarcastic with you, he had confessed his liking for you. Not just an inkling for you but a liking for you in a romantic aspect. You were over the moon. You stood up not being able to contain your excitement. Walking towards the desk you stared in the mirror and composed yourself. Looking in the bottom right-hand side of the mirror you caught Loki’s blue eyes in the corner. He stood up and walked behind you, almost stalking you like a predator does prey. 

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“Truly I thought you were happy darling, it wasn’t my business to interfere. Although, if I knew your deepest feelings sooner, I would’ve acted with more haste.”

Hearing “darling” come from his mouth so freely made butterflies fly hoops in your stomach. It did something to you that you had yet to describe outwardly. Turning around to face him, you hooked your fingers into the loops of his pants and pulled him closer to you, all so nonchalant. 

“Shall we make up for lost time then, Loki?”

Lust dripped off your tongue when saying his name. Your tone penetrating through the fog of sexual tension and your eyes undressing him before the affair would begin. You heard his breath hitch while you looked back up at him, his blue eyes were now almost black. His breath heavy and waiting for the go-ahead to indulge in each other's desires. For a moment you saw his eyes flicker to portray something of uncertainty. Dare you say something of insecurity.

“Only if it’s true. I want you to want me in the purest form of carnal desire. Not as a pawn to veil what you want to erase from your mind.” 

You moved your hands from his belt loops and traced your hands up his arms and planted them upon his neck, playing with the hair at the nape. 

“ Don’t stop now, we’ve already started. I’m begging for you Loki. Always have, always will.”

With the quick reassurance, his lips found yours in a heartbeat. Intertwining with each other like flies in a spider’s web. It was intoxicating you couldn’t breathe properly and still you pressed yourself closer against his body. Your leg inching up on his side and grinding into his now hardening dick. Your hand that was resting at the nape of his neck, crawled its way into his hair and grabbed a fistful of it, fully giving into the moment of you and Loki getting lost in each other. Your fistful of his hair would soon be gone, being replaced with his hand buried in your mass of hair and craning your neck back to look up at him.

“I control things around here, Pet. Don’t forget your place.”

His voice seemed to drop in pitch. Your eyes glossed over fully with lust and the sheer need to be ruined. Dominance enveloped his being which instantly quelled the brat in you. The reality of sleeping with Loki made you dive headfirst into a subservient space. You wanted him, you needed him. In being completely lost in submissive thought you almost forgot who was in front of you. That was until he spoke again.

“Understand?” 

He grabbed your hips and pressed your body against his, eliciting a slight whimper from you while nodding your head.

“Yes, Loki, I understand.”

Your voice was so meager, a complete 180 from your previous behavior in the night. You wanted as much of him as you could get so you shoved your lips against his again. A fiery kiss that made you dizzy and warm all at once. He moved with such fluidity, it made you feel like you were floating. His hands snaked down your back and his large hands landed on the cush platform of your ass. Squeezing, you moaned into his mouth and he picked you up. Turning around and laying you down on the bed. Your lips dislodged from one another and you felt empty and needy without him on you. He preyed over you, his stygian locks falling down his face.

“If you don’t want this, tell me now and we’ll never speak of this aga-” 

“-Loki, there has been nothing I want more than you…I need you. Please.”

With that, Loki attacked your lips again, his hands wandering up your hoodie. You had forgotten you ditched your bra earlier until Loki’s hands found your pert nipples. 

“Expecting this, weren’t you.”

You went to respond, but Loki rolled them between his fingers and a breathy moan was all you could muster up. Your hips rolled upwards, aching for some type of friction to your core that was more than soaked. 

“Maybe I was. Have to be prepared for anything.”

To emphasize your tease you moved your hand down to the tent in his black pants and applied a bit of pressure. Loki sucked in air through his teeth and released a light laugh. 

“Careful, Pet. Make sure you can hold up this front you’re putting on for me. Not sure you can handle it all.”

It was a challenge and a challenge you’d be more than happy to oblige in. Smirking up at him you began fiddling with his belt and undid his pants. Fishing your hand into them you lightly stroked his cock. 

“Try me.”

The restraint in him broke and a sardonic smile adorned his face. You knew you were in for it and were entirely ready for everything he had to offer.

“Darling I hope you’re ready to feel what it’s like to be fucked by a real god.”

Your hoodie came off with one swift motion of his hand and they wandered over your body egregiously. He was taking his time with you and was determined on making you fall apart. You messed with his dress shirt buttons but couldn’t get them off fast enough for your liking. Catching onto your frustration Loki mocked you,

“Aw, look at you, Little one. Having some trouble there?”

You huffed, the attitude in you not wanting to fully give in just yet. You finally got the top button undone and slid your hand back down to his pants in a feeble attempt to take the heat off of you.

“Ah ah, it doesn’t work like that. Let me help you out since you’re in such need of relief.” 

Finishing off the rest of his buttons, he pulled off his shirt and threw it somewhere in the room. Snaking his way down your body he undid your jeans button and peeled off the zipper with his teeth. Looking down at him you shuddered, excitement coursing through your veins.

“Easy now Y/N, I’ve barely even started.”

Removing your pants and underwear completely, you were now fully exposed to him and almost felt a bit of shyness envelop you. And of course, he noticed your legs attempt to cover yourself,

“Don’t hide from me darling, I want to see every bit of you crumble before me and show you how it feels to have your concupiscence satiated.” 

You let your anxieties fade away once his tongue placed a swipe across your aching cunt. A moan louder than you expected emitted from your throat, catching you off guard and a chuckle to release from Loki. The vibrations only added to the pleasure you were already feeling. Losing yourself in the silver tongue of the god between your legs, your hand found itself in his stark black locks. Your moans became more frequent and you were beginning to feel the coil tighten in the bottom of your stomach, heat spreading to your core. 

“Loki, please I-”

You hadn’t enough time to finish your sentence for Loki had wrapped his arms around your hips pulling you closer to him and making your back arch off the bed. Your moans becoming higher in pitch you could feel yourself coming to the precipice of your orgasm. Lifting his head for a moment he caught your eyes as you moved your head to look down at him.

“Cum for me Y/N, I can feel that you’re there.”

As Loki went back to devouring your pussy, you threw your head back into the pillow behind you, your orgasm finally washing over you. It was like none other you had before. Your legs caved in around his head and your body began to shake. Coming down from your high you reached for his neck to guide him up to your face, sharing a sloppy yet intimate kiss. The taste of yourself evident on his tongue and glistening on his chin. You felt the need to return the favor. Turning you two over you were now on top and you slid your way down to his basal regions. Undoing his pants you felt his hand upon your wrist.

“Not tonight, this is about you Y/N”

You shook your head, surprised by his actions. But, it wasn’t in your nature yet to fully comply. You went back to the hem of his slacks and went to pull them down. While Loki let you slip them off with ease, egging you on with a few hitched breaths, it wasn’t until you came back up and lined your mouth up with the head of his painfully erect cock that he took control again. You placed a kitten lick on the tip of his head, looking up at him while doing so. Loki then grabbed a fistful of hair, forcing you to stay stuck on his face and giving him full leverage of where he wanted you.

You crawled up his body because you had no other choice unless you wanted to continue to feel the slightly painful pull on your hair. Obeying his silent command you were brought face to face with him once again.

“You just don’t know how to listen, do you?” he chided

“Neither do you, but you don’t see me complaining.”

In an instant you were flipped over again, being towered by Loki’s body. Your breath quickened and you watched his blue eyes dilate once again. A lascivious smirk and energy cast across his body. Wanting nothing more than to feel him, you raked your hands down his back and dragged them across the sides of his ribs, only to let one of them begin stroking him again. 

“Ah~ Y/N”

It was at this moment that the last bit of power you had completely dissipated. Loki’s hand moved with such a quickness that it took you a moment to realize that his hand was now wrapped around your throat. Sending your eyes to roll to the back of your head in absolute euphoria.

“Such a dumb little girl you are. Can’t follow simple instructions yet here you are begging, for me to ruin you. Fortunately, you’re pretty. Otherwise this would be quite pathetic of you.”

Your walls clenched around nothing. It was becoming painful to not have some form of release. You just kept being pushed towards your edge with his words bringing you closer every time he spoke. He was dragging it out on purpose, you could see the sadism glint behind his eyes. Strangled you spoke, tears of desperation falling lightly from the side of your eyes.

“L-Loki, please. I need you so bad. I can’t take it anymore, please.”

“You may need me, but do you deserve it is the question at hand.”

“I promise no more games, I’ll be good for you” 

Removing his hand from your neck, he traveled them down the valley between your breasts bringing one hand to massage one while the other traveled further, landing on your soaking clit. 

“All this, from a little degradation...I expected more from you, darling”

Jutting your hips toward the hand currently nestled between your folds you begged,

“Loki, please I need you inside me, I need to feel you.”

He finally lined himself up with your entrance, teasing you with just his cockhead, reveling in your juices. You couldn’t help but whine the teasing was getting to a point of something almost unbearable. Your voice breathy and hot you whimpered one last plea,

“Please~”

When he fully sheathed himself inside you, your head rolled back, moans coming out of you at a pace you couldn’t control. He made you feel so full. You had yet to feel something so reminiscent of rapture. It almost made you dizzy. When you looked up at him there was a softness in his eyes that contrasted his tone of dominance a moment ago. It caught you off guard, but you were soon brought back to reality when his head brushed against the inflamed spongy spot within. 

“Oh! My god”

“Yes darling, I am your god-”

You couldn't help but roll your eyes at his comment. His cockiness always finding a way to rear its head. But in your moment of ecstasy, you didn’t think he’d be able to catch it. Wrong. In a second, his length left you, flipped you on your hands and knees, and slipped back into your drenching cunt. You settled into the position, propping your ass out even more so to give him better access. You heard him growl behind you, his hand coming across your ass check and without a doubt leaving a mark. You yelped, startled by the sudden action. His pace became unrelenting, pounding into you with a ferocity that would make angels weep. His hand slid down your back and rested and the bottom of your hairline, once again grabbing your hair and pulling you back so your back met his chest. Directing your head to the side to face his own, he got in your ear,

“Roll your eyes at me again and there will be more than just a simple punishment awaiting you.”

Your walls clenched around his cock, eliciting a loud groan to come from Loki. You couldn’t help it, the noises he made were beyond divine and each one had you one contraction away from being sent over the edge one more time. 

“Fuck, Loki, you feel, so good~fuck, please.”

You weren’t quite sure what you were pleading for; it just felt right leaving your mouth. 

“Yeah, you like it when I fuck you like this. Like the little whore you are.”

“Fuck! Loki, oh my god~”

You were in so much pleasure you couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down your face. It felt so good to have this instinctual release. Loki released his grip from your hair and pressed your face down into the mattress. Unable to truly control the noises that flew from your mouth, you were now whimpering in the mattress. The ravaging of your body sending you into a full-blown frenzy that you never wanted to be free from. Loki’s thrusts became more erratic and his moans and groans flew more freely from his mouth. Enjoying the moment of approaching his climax.

“You’re going to cum with me and I’m going to paint your pretty little insides my color. Wanna know why?”

You tried your best to be attentive, flipping your hair out from your face, you looked behind you facing the god above you.

“Why, L-Loki?”

Bringing his hand around your body to massage your clit, he gave you an answer that you weren’t prepared for. 

“Because you’re mine now. There’s no leaving after this. You belong to me.”

With one final clench, you tightened around his cock. Both of you reaching your peak at the same time, milking him of his seed. Both of your breathing was heavy, bodies sticky with sweat. Loki pulled out of you, his seed spilling out of you like donut filling. You rolled over on your back as he did the same and there was a comfortable silence that filled the room. 

With the distraction of reaching a climax now faded, you felt violently vulnerable under his gaze. You found your courage and looked back at him, his eyes still dilated but now with a different emotion swimming through them. Adoration? Wonder? Regret perhaps? Before you could let one more intrusive thought in Loki brought you out of your head.

“Stop worrying, you’ll make the wrinkle between your brow permanent.” 

Your mouth opened slowly in disbelief, slightly offended by his comment but also at a loss for words for him figuring you out so quickly.

“Is it that easy to figure me out.” you chuckled.

“Yes, in fact, you wear every single emotion on your sleeve. You couldn’t hide what you feel even if you wanted to.” 

You sighed, a smile stretching across your face as you exhaled. 

“Can’t fool you, can I?”

“It’s quite hard to fool someone who is the master of fooling others. I’m the creator of the ins and outs of mischief.”

You shared a light laugh but you couldn’t ignore the overwhelming feeling of guilt and disquiet swirl in your head. Did he honestly feel for you, or did he perhaps just indulge your desires because he had wants of his own. You were in the perfect state to be taken advantage of, heartbroken and needing something else to fill the hole in your heart. You rolled on your side, your hand resting on his chest, beginning to draw feather-light patterns on his skin. Your hand created a path up to his neck, your fingers guiding his face forcing him to have nothing else to focus on but you. You needed to quell the noise in your head, you didn’t want this to eat you alive as well. 

Worst he can say is no and we just move on Y/N. That’s all that can be done. Just ask him.

“I know you’re not one for sentiment, but did you mean what you said to me? About your liking for me.”

Moving a few coils of your hair away from your face he gazed into your eyes with an intensity you were unsure how to read.

“One thing about me darling is that through all my moments of deception, dealing with such intimacy is not something I take lightly. While not sentimental, I meant every word. I assure you of that. Now, dry your eyes.”

You hadn’t even realized the petal-soft tears slowly rolling down your cheek. You were too engrossed in Loki’s words of affirmation that you felt you left your physical body for a moment. Loki’s hand came up and wiped the tear streaks away from the bridge of your nose and under your eye. He made you feel at home. Warm and comforted even if he had his instances of sharpness, you didn’t want this moment to end. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

You chuckled and the light was restored in your face.

“I don’t care what you say to me, you can read minds. Now stop reading mine, you’re freaking me out.”

Your laughs echoed through the room, any remnant of tension long gone from the space. You stared at the ceiling thinking about how the rest of your days would pan out. You felt the waters would be rocky but they would calm eventually. The thrashing of emotional waves turning into gentle swells. You felt at peace for the first time in a while. Pulling you once again from your thoughts, Loki’s voice filled your ears. 

“Now, I am aware that we have done this quite backward, but would you care to join me for dinner tomorrow night? And do this the right way?”

Rolling back over onto his chest you smiled against him

“I’d love to”

Amiable silence fell over the room as your body began to rest. The beating of Loki’s heart created a rhythm that seemed tailored specifically to put you to sleep. Eyes growing heavy, you fell asleep, ultimately feeling secure within his arms. 

[adenei]

Summer of Jily - Week 7

Yahoo! I'm all caught up for @efkgirldetective's summer of Jily Challenge!

This week's prompts: Ice cream and "I don't want anyone touching you like I do"

*********

Two days passed since their impromptu first date in the coziness of the cabin, and things could not be better. At least, that’s what James thought. The only snafu in the plan was that neither he nor Lily had discussed telling their friends about the relationship. Stolen moments alone were spent enjoying each other’s company while keeping an ear out for anyone who might intrude on their private time together.

They were no closer to coming up with a way of revealing their relationship, and if James was being honest, he quite liked the thrill of keeping his girlfriend, Lily, a secret from the Marauders. Sirius would probably hex him into tomorrow if he found out James was hiding something, but he would deal with that when the time came.

After two days of rain, the weather had finally cleared up, and the boys found themselves roaming up and down the main street of town while the girls were off shopping.

“Honestly, how much shopping can they possibly do?” Peter asked as he plopped down on a bench.

“With Mary and Marlene at the helm? It’s safer not to ask,” Remus thought out loud.

“It’s been two hours, and they’ve still got another half hour before they’re due to meet us for that picture show Mary’s been droning on about,” Sirius pointed out.

In an effort to avoid his friends’ complaints, James looked around the area for something to pass their time. His eyes settled on an ice cream shop across the street.

“Well, we could either sit here or go get some ice cream over there at that shop,” James suggested.

Peter perked up at the mention of ice cream while Remus gave a noncommittal shrug. Sirius was the only one to verbalize his agreement as he stood and led their way to the shop, his mood much brighter than moments ago.

“I could go for some ice cream! I prefer Muggle cotton candy ice cream to Fortescue’s strawberry peanut butter any day.”

The rest of the Marauders followed and approached the queue. They stood behind an older couple and waited. James continued to observe their surroundings, hoping that the girls might appear. He already missed Lily despite only being separated for a couple hours. As he was scanning the area, a group of girls who looked to be around their age joined the queue behind them, which Sirius was quick to point out.

“Look how hot that lot is, mate.”

James nodded, though he didn’t take the time to check them out. He was about to change the subject when one of the girls took notice of them and giggled. The sound caught his attention and distracted his attention. One of the girls was eyeing him; she was blonde with bright blue eyes and a petite frame, certainly attractive, but no longer his type. His type was Lily Evans, plain and simple.

He flashed a polite smile, then averted his gaze as the queue moved up. The boys were called up to the next window to order, and he was happy to put some distance between them and the group behind. Knowing it was easier for them all to order and have one person pay, James placed his order first and then turned to have the others follow suit. He dug out his muggle money to handle the transaction while the rest of the Marauders moved over to the pick-up window to wait for their treats.

“This is so different from Fortescue’s. Why can’t we watch them prepare it?” Peter whined.

“You mean scoop ice cream into cones and dishes and hand it to you? Beats me,” Sirius chided.

“He has a point, Pads. It’s interesting to watch sometimes,” Remus defended Peter’s observation as James chuckled.

“Yeah, beats waiting around having to make small talk with you,” he joked.

“Large cotton candy?” called the attendant from the window.

Sirius leaped up to claim his ice cream, looking like a kid in a candy store upon his return.

“Care to share a lick?” James teased as he leaned in to try and swipe a bite before Sirius had a chance to dig in.

“Not a chance!” Sirius guarded his cone as the attendant called out again.

“Crazy vanilla!”

“Ooh, that’s me!” Peter clapped his hands and went to collect his order.

Remus looked at James and Sirius. “Does he realize that that flavor is just vanilla ice cream but dyed different colors?”

“Shh, don’t ruin it for him, Moony!” Sirius waved him off. As Peter returned to the group, Sirius waved him along. “C’mon Wormtail, let’s go snag that table over there while these two wait for their more complicated orders.”

They took off while James and Remus continued to wait.

“Hot fudge sundae!”

“That’s me!” James jumped forward, approaching the window at the same time as the blonde who was checking him out earlier, and both reached for the same dish.

“Oh! Sorry,” she said, pulling her hand back and tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.

“No, no, go ahead,” James took the dish and handed it to her. “You’ve got good taste,” he added with a polite smile.

“So do you,” she smiled back. “Are you on holiday with your mates?”

Her inquiry takes James by surprise, but he supposes a bit of small talk can’t hurt. “Er, yeah. We’re staying in a cabin on the lake.”

“Oh, us too! On the north or south side?”

“Er, north, I think?”

James wasn’t sure if he was being honest, but it wasn’t like they were going to run into the girl again, so a little white lie couldn’t hurt.

“Same for us! I’m Elaine, by the way.” She held out her hand with the introduction.

“James,” he responded, reaching out to give her hand a quick shake.

“Say, what are you doing tonight? We could get together for a fire or something?”

Unfortunately, it looked like his willing response gave the wrong impression as the girl to the opportunity to ask him out. Her smile had turned seductive and James realized a moment too late that she was flirting. Had he really lost his game so quickly since making a go of things with Lily?

Another hot fudge sundae order was called along with Remus’s chocolate milkshake. James was about to excuse himself to grab his ice cream when Remus appeared out of nowhere.

“I’ve got this, mate.”

“Oh, er, thanks.” James grimaced.

Because Remus didn’t know about Lily, he didn’t know that James needed the ice cream as an excuse to get out of this.

Of all the times Remus decided to urge me on.

“It’ll be a fun time, I promise,” Elaine winked. “Come with me to our table and I can write down our address for you to meet us later. It won’t take long.”

The blonde reached out her free hand to graze James’s forearm and lead him to the table her friends had occupied. He followed since he couldn’t think of a way out of it. At least the solution after this point was easy. He’d thank her, make a false promise to show up, and then never follow through.

He wasn’t expecting Elaine to keep hold of his arm, and the feeling sent prickles of discomfort through the rest of his body. James wasn’t even aware that the girl was still chattering away as he was still thinking of a way to get back to his friends, and hoping Lily was still on the opposite side of town so they wouldn’t get in a row over this.

And that’s when he felt another hand grasp his opposite arm.

The feeling of the second touch was much warmer, searing his bicep as it pulled him away from the blonde with a force he wasn’t used to. As his body spun around he caught a flash of red hair before the second person’s lips were on his, the kiss deep and searing, taking him by surprise.

He was familiar with the feel of Lily’s lips by now, and forgetting that they were in public, James’s body melted into the embrace even though it was far from romantic and comforting. As Lily’s arms snaked around his neck to pull him closer, James realized she was staking her claim and it was hot. He felt the immediate arousal strain against his trousers as the thought of Lily’s jealousy sent a course of desire through his body.

It barely phased him that they were in a very public place, no doubt in front of all their friends. Yet, when the thought finally registered in his lust-filled brain, clarity sobered his body, replacing the desire with a nervous excitement.

So much for keeping things quiet.

When Lily pulled away, her gaze was fierce as she narrowed her eyes and squeezed his arms a bit harder while whispering in his ear, “I don’t want anyone else touching you like I do.”

Bloody hell, would it be improper to disapparate us back to the cabin to have my way with her right now?

Yes, yes it would. Stupid statute of secrecy.

The battle to act on his instincts versus do the right thing warred in his mind.

“And you,” Lily peered over his shoulder to the blonde who was standing behind them, mouth gaping open in surprise, “keep your hands off my boyfriend.”

“Your WHAT?!”

A chorus of shouts and shrieks escaped the mouths of their friends at Lily’s over-zealous warning.

“Looks like it’s not a secret anymore,” Lily shrugged as she pulled James back to their friends.

“Hmm, I was hoping that maybe they didn’t notice the public snog assault you just attacked me with,” James laughed. “You know I wasn’t going to do anything with her, right? She cornered me and Remus of all people helped her along. I couldn’t get away.”

“Yes, yes, I trust you. I just let my temper get the best of me, I suppose,” Lily admitted, though she didn’t seem ashamed in the slightest.

“Don’t worry, I like Aggressive Lily. Maybe I’ll let other girls try and whisk me away more—”

“Don’t you dare,” she warned, though the glint in her eye reassured him that she knew he was kidding.

“I suppose it’s time to face the onslaught of our friends, don’t you think?”

Lily sighed, “You’re sure we can’t just disapparate away instead?”

“I wish, but I’ve got a hot fudge sundae over there with my name on it. If you answer all the questions, though, I might be inclined to share.”

A devilish smirk crossed her lips as she dropped his hand and made a beeline for the table. “Not if I get there first!”

“Hey!”

James followed after her, knowing full well he’d share the ice cream with her regardless as they took turns answering their friends’ questions. Maybe it wasn’t the way James and Lily intended for the group to find out, but it certainly made for a good memory to look back on someday.

[citydreamgrls]

they were roommates - part two

a weasley twins x fem!reader fic

summary: she had nowhere to go, fleeing home to pursue something along the lines of freedom, so being welcomed into the entrepreneurial twins life was a whole world of new experiences waiting to happen.

an: thank you for the overwhelming love for the first part of this series, which i will link HERE for you guys!! also MASSIVE thank you for over 700 followers, when i posted the first part i was just hitting 600, so this has been crazy, love you always and hope you enjoy <333

words: 4,949

A warmth covered y/n’s face as she grumbled to herself, trying to roll herself away from the light that spilled in from the large windows. Her eyes squinted uncomfortably and the noise of the room finally settled into her head bit by bit.

The sound of a coffee machine whirring, doors opening and closing, and the faint sound of the morning radio show that Neville would often play at the inn. It all felt so new, yet so familiar.

“Morning sleepyhead,” The girl frowned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes to see one of the twins place a mug on the small coffee table nearby. “Feelin’ better?” The girl nodded, feeling guilty that she once again couldn’t tell whether it was Fred or George that was talking to her.

“I’m sorry- this is really rude but, are you Geor-”

“I’m Fred.” He didn’t seem bothered by her wild guess, standing up as if nothing was amiss and heading to the kitchen. “Come and get something to eat will you, or else it’ll get cold!” He called back, disappearing to find his brother and leaving her to pull on a nearby hoodie.

She shuffled over to the table, a small chuckle sounding out at the sight of their plates. Piled high with more food than she’d usually eat in a whole day, the girl sat down and started on a piece of toast, hoping they wouldn’t mind her starting a little prematurely.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” George laughed, his twin obviously urgent to have them sit down together for breakfast. Was this normal for them, or was she the exception? They both wore matching suits, dressed for their day of work, with the difference being that Fred’s tie was red and George’s blue.

One glance at the clock and the girl wanted to head straight back to bed, but if she wanted to thank them properly for their hospitality, then it needed to be before the shop opened anyway. Their sofa had felt like heaven, and now she needed to leave it behind and fend for herself.

The two men sat across from her at the table, as they had done the night before. But now the jeans and t-shirts had been forgotten, and their once loose hair was now fixed neatly. It was funny to the girl how they could pull off two extremes so well.

They sat with a grin on their face, watching her sip on her coffee warily, unsure as to what they were waiting for.

“Are you two okay?” Please don’t let them be creeps, not now. She begged to herself, seeing them exchange a nod before looking back to her once again.

“We have an idea to offer up,” Fred started.

“One that will benefit both of us.” George added in, y/n urging them on with her sunny smile. She couldn’t help but smile around them, it was like they were made to make people laugh.

“We’ve been saying for a while that we need help in the shop,”

“Someone to cover the tills when we’re talking to customers mainly,” “Oh yeah, we hate the tills.” They went a little off track, but managed to catch train of thought again.

“Anyway,” George chuckled, seeing her look of confusion. “You need somewhere to stay, and we can’t afford to pay for someone to work in the shop.” “So, if you agree to help out then we’ll let you stay here.” “With us!”

They waited, a small moment of silence as they watched her face for a reaction. The news took a second to process, as she realised it was the ideal outcome for both of them. That way she wouldn’t feel in debt to them if she stayed, either.

Her head bobbed up and down very slowly, the two men sharing a look of pride as they high fived like kids. The girl stood up, racing over to their side of the table and wrapping her arms around them both.

“Thank you so much,” She didn’t dare speak too loud, in case she broke the floodgates on their shoulders.

Fred and George chuckled, squeezing an arm each before reassuring her that it was fine, they didn’t want her to feel as though she owed them the whole time.

“I’ll help out anywhere I can, I mean it, not just in the shop either-”

“Y/n,”

“I can cook, I can do the laundry or- or even just shop for food every week.”

“Calm down,” Fred laughed, seeing her fall into a rant over her possible chores.

“We don’t need you to do all that!” George teased, ruffling her already messy hair and heading off to the bathroom.

“Better get ready quickly, looks like there’s already a queue out there!” He chimed, peering his head to look from one of the windows to the street below, where hoards of excited kids were already waiting to get inside.

“Come on then y/n, we’ll show you everything don’t worry.” Fred had noticed the way her smile faltered at the warning of so many people all at once, she’d never had a job before working at the leaky cauldron and now she needed to learn everything in one go.

She got up, wasting no time, and made herself look presentable. The girl grabbed her open case and pulled out some black trousers and a green cardigan to put on, slipping into the bathroom once George was finished to get changed.

“I’ll go open up!” She heard him shout once the door was shut, and she stumbled around trying to be as quick as possible. Once she charmed her hair to wave nicely and cast a quick freshen up spell, y/n found Fred waiting in the living room.

“Here,” he held a little badge inside his large palm, the swirly writing showing her name. “That way, everyone will know who you are.”

Y/n took it from him, a wide smile on her face as she placed it onto her cardigan. Only a handful of people had ever bothered to learn her name when she was pulling pints, the twins included, but now everyone would know it. They wanted people to know it.

Fred felt his cheeks blush at the way she squealed with excitement, her previous nerves nowhere to be seen as she bounded towards the door of the loft.

“Wait for me!” He laughed, running after her, grabbing his jacket that hung on the back of the chair.

The girl ran down the few flights of stairs that were out of sight before running into the chaos. Now, the shop that she had seen sleeping the night before burst into action before her eyes. The entire place was a cacophony of lights, sparks and laughter. A small crowd of children watched in awe as George showed off yet another variety of firework, their cheers of delight echoing up to where y/n watched from.

“Come on then, better get on the tills before people start nicking things.” Fred nudged the girl’s back a little and she happily weaved through the shop to reach the little counter where an old till sat waiting for them. People were already waiting to pay, so Fred took charge, giving her a chance to watch what he did before giving it a go herself.

-

After the initial shock of the morning, y/n easily settled into the flow of the shop, working well between the two twins who watched her proudly while she served customers. It was around midday, and less and less people were coming in as the time passed, giving the three of them a chance to relax after the neverending hoard they’d dealt with.

“It’ll pick up again-” Fred laughed, leaning against the counter as she sat upon it and sighed happily.

“It always does, every single day-” George joined. “Without fail.”

“At about two normally.”

Working there was such a difference to the bar that she almost felt surprised when people would greet her with the same smile she’d give them. That had been a rarity when all she had been to people previously, was a barmaid.

“I love it here,” The girl admitted, swinging her feet off the side of the counter like a child. George was moving boxes from the back onto the shopfloor, opening each one and emptying the contents onto shelves. She wondered how he hadn’t run out of space yet, there was already a surplus of things everywhere she looked.

“I’m glad you do.” Fred beamed, turning to look at her.

“Hey! You guys, we’ve got a new shipment of bottled weather!” George pulled them from their daydream, calling the pair over to see what he’d found.

“What’s that?” She asked.

“Well it’s weather… in a bottle.” Fred tried to explain, but saw he wasn’t much help. “It’s probably just easier to show you.” He chuckled nervously, fishing through the cardboard box until he found one he liked the look of. “See, this one’s a rainbow.”

He screwed open the top, leaning back a little so that the beam of colour could release itself without hitting him in the face. Him and George had learnt to avoid it the hard way when they started selling them a year ago.

Y/n’s face lit up, watching it bounce around in the air until it found its place and settled into a perfect curve.

“Wow,” Her eyes surveyed it intently, wanting to reach out and touch it, but knowing that would most likely end up bad. “That’s incredible!” The man beside her swooped the jar over it and pressed the lid on tightly, the strip of colour disappearing once again in front of her eyes.

“Oh yeah, they’re incredible, until every fourteen year old boy wants to open one and suddenly there’s a load of rain clouds in here and plenty of puddles for me to clean up!” George grumbled, finishing up with that box and heading off to find another. The girl giggled, unable to picture his tall figure with a measly mop.

“He’s not a fan of the rain.” Fred whispered to her, not helping the giggling to go down. “Personally, I love it.” “Me too, well, I used to.”

Their quiet moment was caught off guard by the sound of the bell tinkling, telling them that someone was coming in. A voice called out, one that she vaguely recognised, but couldn’t for the life of her know the name to go with it.

“Fred! George! It’s Harry!” Well, that was always helpful.

“By the till mate!” He called back, standing up from the counter to give him a quick hug.

She recognised this man’s face, he’d been in the leaky cauldron with them a couple times over the past months. But he had very rarely spoken to her, just the quick exchange when he would get another round for everyone.

Harry’s face seemed to reflect his confusion, surprised to see her sitting with a nametag on that matched the twins’ instead of behind the bar. Still, she smiled his way, which he eventually returned.

“It’s good to see you again y/n, are you- do you work here now?” He looked to Fred for confirmation, to which the man just nodded.

“She’s staying with us for a bit, and INSISTED on helping out.”

“So you’ve set her to work so soon, how charming.” Harry joked, greeting George when he reappeared with another handful of boxes to unpack, surely they didn’t do this every day?

She watched the sun outside as it danced through a select few shop windows, including one of their own, the stream flying in and lighting up the small flecks of dust that flitted across her line of sight. It was easy for the girl to get lost in her own thoughts, drowning out the sound of Fred and Harry talking enthusiastically about quidditch as she basked in the warmth that hit her legs.

George came up behind her, placing a few boxes down beside her.

“Could you do me a favour,” She jumped a little at his voice, nodding when she realised what he’d asked of her.

“Of course,” “I took some paperwork up to the loft the other night, it’s on the desk in my room, could you grab the invoices for these wonderwitch packages and bring them down. I need to go set up the blasted thing, and god knows Fred won’t be helping any time soon.” He grinned, rolling his eyes at his brother and their friend getting more and more excited about something.

The girl got up with a smile, taking a quick mental note of how many different products there were before the man took them away to be set up near the front window. She scurried off, bounding up the stairs with a spring in her step. By the time she reached the top she was well out of breath, but it didn’t matter. Never in her life had she been treated with such kindness from almost strangers, not to mention that they actually seemed to like her.

George’s door was half-ajar, his open window blowing the light curtains around gently, as she walked inside. It felt cosy, yet fresh, in there. His bed was neatly made and everything seemed to be put away very methodically, much like how he preferred to display things in the shop. Whereas Fred was the one who would just shove things anywhere.

As long as people buy it!

He had told George nearly four times just that morning, unfazed by the way his brother went around correcting it all once he was seemingly out of sight. Fred never mentioned it, leaving the other twin to do as he pleased.

But it seemed as though George’s desk was the one place where all the rules on organisation went, quite literally out the window, as there were sheets and quills and parchment all over the place. She sighed, getting to work on finding what she needed.

-

Downstairs, Fred and Harry had just about talked each other's ears off about Ginny’s last match, discussing how amazing she had been as her teams substitute seeker when the actual player had gotten a mild concussion.

“She’s training all day today so that’s why I’m delivering her messages today.” Harry chuckled, knowing that Fred would make some kind of remark about his sister bossing him about so easily. In truth, he didn’t mind. “She wanted me to let you know that she’s gonna pop by later and visit after practice.”

“Ah! So we’ll be seeing her more than you, poor boy.”

“Be quiet, I’ve booked her all weekend.” Harry huffed, just glad to have his fiance to himself for more than one evening at a time.

“So, how’s things with y/n getting on?” He asked the twins when George came over to catch up with the younger wizard.

“She’s doing great, given that it’s only her first day.”

“Yeah, and we’re actually sorting out a surprise for her.” Fred peeked up the flight of stairs, seeing no sign of the girl. “Come on, we’ll show you before she comes back.”

The three of them went to the storage room round the back of the counter, where George had been ferrying boxes out of all morning.

“We’re gonna clear all this out and then get her some furniture and posters and the like, make it feel a bit more homely for her.”

“Woah, so you guys must like her.” Harry laughed, nodding at the large amount of room there was when nothing was stacked up inside.

“She’s worth it, isn’t she Freddie.”

“She deserves it, you mean.”

-

By the time the girl found the paperwork George had asked for, Harry had left to go see Neville and Hannah, just in time for the afternoon rush to start up and distract them all once again.

Fred kept an eye on the girl, who continued to happily serve behind the till, from the safety of the shelves where he was taking a break between product demonstrations. George, he hoped, would finish clearing out the storage room by the end of the day so that they could get to work fixing it up for her while she slept in the loft that night.

The two twins became so overwhelmed with jobs to do that day, that both of them forgot to mention to y/n that their sister Ginny was to visit that evening. Only getting a chance to speak to their new worker once the last customer left and the front doors were locked shut.

“That seemed like more people than last week eh Georgie?”

“I could barely reach the back shelves; there were so many of them, at least most of them are small so I can just reach over their heads.”

“Still, it’s good business.”

“Hey- where’s y/n gone?”

Fred found the girl near the back of the shop, her cardigan slumped over a nearby chair, as she swung her wand back and forth. The broom beside her followed perfectly, sweeping the floor of mess that had been trudged about throughout the day. She clocked the man behind her and smiled.

“I’ll finish up sweeping then do a once over with the mop.”

“Jesus, I don’t think we’ve ever cleaned that much!” Fred laughed, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Why don’t you head up and chill out, you’ve done more than enough for us already.”

“Are you sure?” Her eyebrows joined together in a concerned frown, but the man could only smile down at her and nod.

“Go on, we won’t be long anyway.”

The girl thanked him and went up the stairs, flashing a grin George’s way when she passed him.

“Good idea, now we can get some furniture in without her seeing.” He whispered, crediting his brother’s sharp mind.

“Come on Georgie, you need a break sometimes too, we can finish it off tomorrow anyway.” They both looked up in the direction of the loft when music came filtering down.

“Do you think she’s really happy here Freddie?”

“She seems it.” He shrugged. “She always seems happy, but do you think she really is.”

“Probably… I hope so.” “Me too.” George hummed, finally giving up his task of the day and offering to get them dinner from a nearby muggle restaurant while Fred finished brushing up behind the counter.

The music got louder, but he didn’t mind. Most days, him and George would be too tired to do much together besides their weekly pub visits. And even then it was only because someone else would persuade them to take a break. Now, just having y/n around, was like taking a breath of fresh air amongst their hectic and exhausting days.

Fred saw a flash of long blonde hair pass the front of the shop window, flattering slightly before moving off again. He scrambled to his feet, watching as he saw his little sister’s friend a little further down the alley.

“Luna!” He called out, waving when she turned slowly, a genuine smile on her face. She always was happy to see people.

“Hello Fred. It’s been such a long time, how are you?”

“I’m not bad, how are things with you- how is Rolf and the Boys?”

-

Y/n flung herself on the sofa, her legs aching with the day’s work well behind her. The guitar whined out in its case to be used, but she couldn’t find the energy to even pick it up, let along strum something decent. So she flicked her wand towards the radio, the stations passing by until she found one she liked, turning it up with a content smile.

Not long after, there was a flash from the fireplace that sat lonely at one end of the loft’s long living room. The girl jolted up, not having seen a floo line used very often when she lived at one. For a second the green flames put her in a trance, her mind forgetting that it meant someone was going to appear in the room before her.

A tall girl, wearing just jeans and a hoodie stood before her, a bewildered and yet excited look on her face. She turned towards the radio that was blasting out an old rock song, the red hair on her head bobbing as she dropped her sports bag and laughed.

“I love this song!”

-

“Give the twins a kiss from me!” Fred called after Luna, glad to have caught her when he did. With her husband always off exploring new magical creatures, she was often left with her hands full looking after the young twins. Still, she seemed composed as ever.

“There you are, took long enough!” George rolled his eyes at his brother’s words, holding out a bag for Fred to take from his one hand.

“Yeah well I was just going to get enough for the three of us but remembered Ginny was coming and thought she must be hungry after practice.” He explained.

“Oh yeah of course- wait!”

“GINNY!” They both exclaimed, the twins rushing to lock the shop doors behind themselves so they could warn their newest tennant of their little sister’s arrival.

But when they both burst into the loft, they realised there was nothing to worry about. The sight of both girls dancing around the kitchen together and laughing along to the way neither of them could get the lyrics right, settling their nerves.

“So I see you two have met.”

“Brothers!” Ginny laughed, making no moves to greet them, too enthralled in the girl’s company. She had friends on her quidditch team of course, and her siblings and their fiances. But god she loved new people, especially when they were always up for a good time like she was. “I love her! Can we keep her! Please, please, please.” She begged, gripping the girl’s arm like a whining child.

“Y/n’s our guest okay, so play nice.” Fred grumbled, setting down the food and letting everyone help themselves.

“I’m always nice, see I got the drinks ready for everyone.” Hey! That’s ours.” George pointed to the bottle of wine she had already cracked open.

“Exactly, ours.” Ginny giggled, passing him a glass, which would no doubt keep him quiet until he had one too many, then you’d never shut him up.

All four of them clinked glasses, the twins soon loosening up and matching their sister’s party attitude as they joined in with the girls’ dancing. George was headbanging like a madman, his grown out hair flying all over his eyes. His mother had been begging to cut it like she had done when they still lived at home, but he realised he had always preferred it longer. Fred had done the same, keeping his a bit neater around the edges than his brother, but enjoying the length over the breeze he felt whenever it got shorter.

Ginny had always seen the twins as nuisances when she was younger and still at school, but after the war ended she learnt to enjoy her life a little more. That was when she finally realised that they had been doing so all along. The youngest Weasley sibling then decided to join a professional quidditch team and take life one day at a time, her mother had been horrified of course, but like the twins she couldn’t deny how good Ginny was when she whizzed through the sky.

-

Y/n got to know the girl better, as their glasses were refilled by George everytime they took a sip. He always did enjoy hosting, especially when he was getting as drunk as everyone else. The four of them had danced for what felt like hours, grateful for the lack of neighbours, then collapsed onto the sofa where they continued to share stories and finish off another three bottles of wine between them.

“These two threw water over me and blamed Ron!” Ginny laughed, reminiscing on their summer holidays at the burrow.

“Mum would have never believed us!”

“I can’t remember why she did?” The twins protested, their many pranks over the years made it hard to recall smaller ones such as drenching their sister in her sleep.

“Because you timed it so that when mum went to find Ron he was filling up a bucket to water the plants!” She explained, having heard the other brother’s recollection every time it was brought up at a family dinner.

“Ah yes!” They said in unison, the girl in between them in fits of giggles over their mischievous side.

“You two really are trouble,” she chuckled, keeping her nearly empty glass out of George’s sight in fear of having a horrible hangover the next morning. At least the shop was closed on Sundays, or else they would have all struggled.

“You can’t escape!” Fred boomed, acting like a brainless zombie.

“We’ve trapped you.” His brother joined in.

“Good luck with these two, they’ve obviously tried to keep the chaos hidden… but it’ll come out sooner or later.” Ginny laughed, checking the time with a humorous face. “Good lord, I better get back before Harry starts sending owls after me.”

“He can wait!” George whined, pouring into her glass as she tried to stand up.

“I know he can Georgie, but I’ve also had a very long day at the pitch so I need to get some sleep soon.” Her legs turned to jelly as she wobbled over to her sports bag, staggering under its weight. The redhead waved goodbye from the fireplace, taking a handful of floo powder and announcing her address before bursting into flames.

Y/n sort of wished that Ginny would have stayed longer, as she was only just beginning to know her properly. But she too couldn’t deny the wave of fatigue that hit her like a brick wall the second she blinked a little longer than she should have.

“Tired darling?” George sneered from beside her, waking her again.

“Oh no… not at all.”

“Leave her be, you can sleep if you want- we won’t disturb you.” Fred leant over her to shove his brother playfully.

“You should sleep too Georgie-” She teased, her drunken smile still just as perfect as her regular one.

“And why’s that sunshine?”

“Because you’ve been moving all those boxes, you must be exhausted by now!”

Both men froze a little, concerned that she’d noticed him working on the storage room all day. Fred eyed his brother, urging him to say something in the awkward silence they had created.

“Uh- yeah- well, we need to make space for a new shipment.” George lied, in a panic, the other twin silently grimacing and how awful he was under pressure.

“That means things are selling right? That’s good?” She looked between them, seemingly oblivious to the way the men were freaking out in their heads.

“Alright- alright we’ll go to bed!” Fred laughed, breaking the tension, and standing up to clear the coffee table of glasses and plates. George joined him, wanting to avoid any more possible interrogation if he could help it.

The girl reached for the bowls before her but they cut her off.

“We can do all this, you get some sleep okay?” George smiled sweetly, to which she just nodded, too tired to argue back this once.

“Thanks,” She murmured, reaching into her case to find her pyjamas.

While she went to change in the bathroom, the two men stood together in the kitchen, very aware that they were quite drunk by now.

“She’s good isn’t she,” George mused, stacking more plates into the sink that washed them.

“See, I knew you’d come round to her.” Fred accused. “I didn’t dislike her!”

“You weren't mad about her.” 

“And you are?”

There was a moment of silence, which worried George, as he knew his brother all too well. If what he’d asked wasn’t true, then Fred would immediately deny it, in turn sounding guilty. But the silence always meant he was right.

“She’s different,” He finally spoke up, focusing his attention on drying whatever came from the sink.

“She’s also living here Freddie.”

“I know, it’s not ideal, but I just like her.” “Everyone likes her, she’s well- she’s her.” George stuttered, never having heard his brother talk about a girl this way before. Even his high school crushes had been purely based on appearances.

“Exactly, I can’t help it.”

“And say you tell her- and she doesn’t feel the same, which is very possible-” “I know.” Fred snapped.

“She has nowhere else to go, and telling her something like that would force her away… you know it would.”

The sound of the bathroom door opening echoed across the loft, making both men jolt into action, trying to seem as natural as possible despite the air of awkwardness around them.

“Night you two,” Y/n smiled, leaning into the kitchen.

“Night darling.” George replied, wondering whether he should drop that nickname around Fred.

“Night y/n.” He barely looked up from the sink, watching his reflection distort in a handful of spoons, with the hope that she would just go to bed.

The girl, luckily for him, was still very much tipsy and didn’t notice anything wrong with either of the twins as she turned and headed for the sofa. George stepped closer to the sink, watching to make sure she couldn’t hear them.

“Look Fred,” He whispered.

“It doesn’t matter okay, leave it.” He threw the cloth down with an agitated sigh, obviously not having thought over the consequences to his little crush, and went to leave.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

[peter-pan-on-neverland]

I’ll leave my widow open: Part 2

Summary: You visit Neverland in your dreams, will you leave everything behind and go with Pan or will you stay put?

Pairings: Pan x reader

Warnings: none

Well.... this is a blast from the past lmao, be sure to check out the first part!

The sweet smell of pancakes filled my nostrils as I sat up in my bed, stuck in a permanent state of silent confusion. Frantically, my eyes peered around my messy room, the window was wide open, curtains were delicately swaying side to side due to the genital draft which was now dancing around, causing my skin to erupt in thousands of tiny goosebumps. So many unanswered questions sprung to mind, I strived to know more like an alcoholic in need of a drink.

What was that?

Who were those people?

Why did that dream feel so real?

Was that even a dream?

Where even was I?

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at my door, making them all disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Y/n, breakfast is ready." The muffled voice spoke.

"Coming." I said as sweetly as I could before throwing my covers off me and rushing down stair.

I got dressed and ate in a blur, before rushing out the door to a place I like to call hell, although others know it as school. The sound of music was all I could hear as I walked down the quite streets of my home town, completely absorbed in my thoughts.

Nothing much happened around here, no new faces, no drama, nothing. It pained me how boring it was, I wanted to go some where I could live an exciting life full of laughter and happiness, as cringy as that sounded, not somewhere that was dull all of the time.

I crossed the road, passing through the barred gates which lay outside the entrance of my school. I let out an audible sigh, the day hadn’t even started yet and I already felt like giving up. 

My body seemed to grow heavier and heavier with every passing second as I trekked further and further into the brick building. My attention was glued to my phone, too preoccupied with picking what song to listen to next I didn’t realize I was about to walk into someone before it was too late.

In one swift movement, mine and the strangers things were littering the hall way floor.  I swooped down, not even bothering to look at who I had just ran into as I tried to gather my things as quickly as I could.

My eyes flicked up, to look the stranger in the eyes and apologize before taking my leave, but my breath seemed to get caught in my throat.

Those piercing blue eyes, the scar running down his face, his shaggy blonde hair, I had seen it all before. My blood ran cold, It couldn’t be...there was no way.

“Hey.” A voice spoke, sounding like whoever was speaking was underwater.

This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening.

My head grew fuzzier and fuzzier every millisecond that ticked by, it wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. My breath hitched in my throat as panic took over my body. My lungs burned, gasping for air like I was running out of it quickly.

I blinked a few times, my sight getting spotty before that familiar face disappeared from my vision and as if a curse had been lifted everything suddenly stopped, returning to normal once more.

Although they were less frequent, my breaths grew shallower.

carefully, they placed a hand on my shoulder, "It's OK, it's OK." Their voice was deep and soothing like an ocean, making me feel safe.

“Are you OK?” They asked, clicking their fingers in front of my face in order to try and grasp my attention and snap me out of whatever spell I was under.

What was happening? I must be going crazy.

It was as if my voice box has suddenly been taken from me like in the littler mermaid because no matter how hard I tried to answer the boy I couldn't. I was forced to stare, he wore thick, black trimmed glasses that sat upon his slightly crooked nose. It was clear he was older than me, maybe a senior? His hair was a light caramel colour, his fringe swooped in front of his chocolate brown eye's ever so slightly, see nothing like the boy in my dream.

"Miss?" his voice made me returned to my senses.

“I’m fine, sorry” I said, before shooting up and walking away, my face was sure to be red from embarrassment. I could’ve sworn he looked exactly like.... But I had thought about my dream since this morning. Why would a random guy from my dream suddenly invade my thoughts?

I shrugged it off as I walked down the hall, I just wanted this day to be over as soon as possible.  

...

I was only half way through my day and I already feeling misrble, I had tried my hardest to push this mornings events out of my head, but of course the situation kept replaying in my brain as if it were stuck to repeat.

The lunch bell rang and eager, hungry teenagers stormed through the corridors in a hurry to be the first person in line for the canteen.  I, of course, took my time, partly because I wasn't too bothered weather or not I was the first in the queue, but mainly because I didn't want to run into that guy. The first time meeting him was already embarrassing enough, imagine the second time.

"Hey Y/n!" One of my few friends called out across the hall, quickening his pace so he could catch up with me.

His dark, brown hair bounced slightly as he made his way over, he looked as normal as ever, rocking some grey joggers and a plain black T-Shirt, he didn't make much of an effort when it came to his appearance but he didn't fail to make any girl swoon at the sight of him.

"Hi Cam." I spoke, looking directly into his green eyes.

"I didn't see you this morning, were you late again?"

I could feel my cheeks heat up, I needed to stop thinking about what happened this morning, yeah it was weird but everyone had probably forgotten it by now.

"Yeah, something like that." I said, in a low voice.

"Well you don't seem to happy, what's up?" he asked as we walked side by side into the lunch hall, Cameron could read me like a book which doesn't surprise me anymore. I had known him for what felt like an eternity, our mum's were friends so he came over quite a lot, his parents would even offer to babysit Adam and I when we were little. At this point he was more like a brother than he was a friend.

"Cam! Cam!" An obnoxious, high pitched voice squealed interrupting our conversation and causing everyone to turn and stare at her.

I could see the brown haired boy discreetly roll his eyes at the girl, I followed his line of sight which Lead me directly to a girl called Becky Timm's who was desperately trying to get his attention.

I tried my hardest to bite back a snigger.

"Don't." He shot we a warning glare, if looks could kill I would be dead on the floor right now.

"Really? Becky? That's your new mystery girl?" I chuckled, once upon a time I would feel sad whenever Cam got a new girlfriend, I had known him for so long and part of me thought he may have feelings for me the same way I had feelings for him, but of course I was wrong. Never the less I put those days behind me, it was for the best, I mean what if we did date them broke up? I would rather have Cam as a friend than not have him at all and so my feelings for him slowly but surly dissolved.

"She's hot." He said with a smirk on his face, shrugging his shoulders.  

"You," I chuckled, "Are unbelievable."

"Hey babe," She over excitedly spoke before she threw her arms over him, "Are you coming?"

"Um, actually I was gonna-" But she clearly didn't care about whatever he was about to say, her hand was already intertwined with his as she started dragging him away.

He looked at me from across the room with a look in his eyes which said he was sorry but also help me.

I chuckled to myself before sitting down and pulling out my phone, this is normally the part where people would text whoever was trying to get a hold of them back, but me, I only had one friend and he had just been kidnapped by a strangely cute blonde girl.

Once again I was in my own little world, trying to block out my surroundings and jam out to some music.

"Hey, Y/n right?" I voice sounded.

I fought the urge to scream, "Um yeah?" Looking up I saw who was now sat opposite me.

Oh shit, It's glasses guy.

"I just wanted to check if you were OK after what happened." He spoke slowly, as if he were making sure he wasn't making any wrong moves.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine now thanks." I couldn't be sure, but it felt as if my face was growing hotter and hotter by the minute.

"I'm John by the way, John Darling. I'm the new teacher." He said, sticking his hand out for me to shake, I was about to open my mouth to tell him my name but them I remembered he already knew it, wait how did he know it?

"Nice to meet you." I smiled, he probably just asked around.

Lunch ended as slowly as it had came around, it wasn't all that bad, I got to talk to John - Mr Darling, and know more about him. He told me he moved here not long ago and quickly applied for a teaching position, we talked about normal things like what interested us before we had to go back to class.

...

The bell rung out loud and clear for everyone to hear, telling us all that we were free from the prison they were currently holding us in.

I gathered the things faster than flash could run before dashing out of the building. The walk home was a long, dull, wet one, dark clouds hung miserably in the sky as rain left it’s mark on the streets in the form of a puddle. A shiver runs down my spine as a crash of thunder and flash of lightning dart across the black sky. My feet pick up their pace, desperately wanting to get home and fall into the safe, comfy haven of my bed.

Another loud crash of thunder sounds, seeming to shake the world around me as I jump out of my skin. I stand stock still for what felt like an eternity as I caught my breath, there’s nothing to be scared about, it’s only a little thunder and lightning. 

Hesitantly, I began to move my feet again as the wind pick up speed with great force. Whistling and howling into the stormy sky as if it were crying out in pain. Rain pelted down onto the pavements, soaking the ground and soil, drowning the plants and flooding animals homes. 

I had never seen a storm this bad before.

It was as if the wind was whispering incoherent words into my ear, cursing me and the ground I walked upon, cursing this town, but why? A shiver ran up and down my spine as nature seemingly placed a hex on me that I could never shake.

Leaves clung onto the branches of trees for dear life, hoping, praying, pleading that they wouldn’t be ripped from their homes in one fail swoop. But alas the voices were not heard over the screams of the sky, yelling and shouting over everything else as if it were trying to dominated the world itself. Auban and orange leaves feel victim to the wind, zipping and flying through the sky at the vicious hand of the overpowering gale.

I tried my hardest the plough through the strange, evil weather, my heart beat seemed to pick up but not because I was scared, I couldn’t quite place my finger on why. 

The sky seemed to grow darker and darker the angrier it got, thunder crashed as lightening cracks painted the sky, that’s when my e/c eyes fell upon something that would truly haunt me.

Yellow eye’s.

Glowing, yellow eye’s that stared at me through the twisted tree branches, curious to see what I would do next. Watching me every second as if I were chess piece ready to make my move.

My lips parted with shock as It’s black humanoid body flew through the sky. I was stuck in a trance, my eye’s glued to the incongruous being that wanted so desperately to escape into the clouds.

Another lightning strike flashed across the array of once fluffy white clouds, snapping me from my thoughts. I blinked a few times, making sure I wasn’t going crazy, was the ghost, demon, angle, spirit really there? And if so, why?

As if I had just woken up from a strange dream my instincts kicked in, I couldn’t stay out here any longer. My feet pounded against the road as I ran all the way back to my house, my legs and chest burnt, like there was a fire light inside them but I wouldn’t dare stop.

This was it, I was at the home stretch, the door to my house was in sight, so close I reached out, hooking my fingers around the door handle before bursting into my warm home. 

My hair was sopping wet, dripping on the floor making it’s own little puddle, my now ruined clothes clung uncomfortably to my body as I caught my breath.

“Y/n?” I heard Adam say, there was a hint of relief in his voice but also... panic?

His blue eyes searched mine out from across the room, it was only then I saw how puffy and red they were. Tear’s left a merciless trail from the corner of his eyes all the way down his cheeks, staining his face.

“Adam? What is it?” I asked, slowly shutting the door behind me.

“I just got a call from the hospital,” He chocked out, “It’s mum.”

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

I finally got something up! I'm back in the writing mood!! Whoop whoop!

I have a whole plot line figured out for this story but I kinda want your guys opinion on it because idk if you'll like it or not but at the same time I don't wanna spoil anything too major.

PLOT LINE BELOW:

So basically theres 2 ways to save Pan from dying the 1st is Henry's heart, the other is true loves kiss. The shadow know that you are Pans true love but he think love will make him weak so every time you visit in your dreams the shadow always finds a way to send you back. BUT Pan is considering letting you stay, you're the only girl so there must be a reason for that right 🤷‍♀️ and he wants to know what it is but he wont let you stay if you're anything like Wendy so you have to prove yourself to him. The shadow doesn't like this so he blackmails John into ;)seducing;) you so that you love him and not Pan. That's where its going with the whole John thing (kinda like a student x teacher because I've been watching to much PLL lately) but it doesn't work and you still get sent to Neverland. Eventually Pan decided to let you stay and the rest of the story will carry on from there (I don’t wanna spoil it hehe) but is that something you guys would wanna read? That's only gonna be the first couple of parts until we get to Neverland then the whole reader x pan x Felix shit starts and happy days ;) let me know!!! Xxxxxxxxxxx

[xxsanshinexx]

The Beat of Rain

Request: Hongjoong best friends to lovers au? you get caught in the rain and you dance around n stuff and something just changes? 

Characters: Hongjoong x reader

Words: 2089

Genre: Crack in the beginning fluff at the end

~

“Look Hongjoong,” Seonghwa huffed, picking at the smeared flour that coated half of his face, “Get these idiots their demands. I don’t want to be subject to another one of the fitful pranks.”

You only looked at the older in amusement, seeing how distraught he was from the youngers torment, “What? You don’t like being doused in flour? Or finding fake cockroaches in the shower?”

Seonghwa gave you a deadly glare, “If they so much as touch me in the next twenty minutes the two of you are gone, there's going to be leftovers for once.”

“Don’t kill Mingi while we’re gone,” Hongjoong snorted as he came up to stand besides you, shaking his head at the furry in Seonghwa’s eyes, “It’d be too hard to explain to the management.”

“And you’d end up in jail.”

“And I’d be dead!” Mingi huffed from behind the three of you, “Most importantly I would be dead. Thanks for the sympathy.”

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow at the younger and shook his head, “We wouldn’t be debating any of this if you and the rest of them could just shut up and stop pranking for five seconds.”

“Chocolate milk is important, hyung.” Mingi shrugged and leaned back against the couch, “And besides it’s San and Wooyoung fighting, not me.”

You followed behind Hongjoong towards the door of the dorm, “Wooyoung and San can’t reach the door frame, Mingi.”

“Uh.. Yunho helped them?”

“Yunho’s been asleep this whole time.”

“Step stool?” The grin Mingi gave you was enough to show his guilt, to which you and Hongjoong both laughed at.

“Don’t make Seonghwa angrier, Mingi,” Hongjoong advised as he opened the door, a grey world beyond the frame, and called back to the disgruntled Seonghwa, “We’ll be back in twenty minutes!”

To say being friends with the boys was a mess was putting it lightly. They were crazy, robust and never knew when to quit; but overall they were good guys and great friends. There was never a dull moment around them and you were often included in their disasters. You had Hongjoong to thank for all of that. The two of you had met during school and had been friends since then; sticking together even once he found his place amongst the idol industry. Everyone who had ever met the two of you thought you were inseparable- where one went the other followed. Even the boys found the two of you endearing upon your initial meeting; one where you jumped on Hongjoong and nearly knocked the both of you to the ground.

“They always blow the smallest things out of proportion,” Hongjoong chuckled as the two of you began to walk down the bleak sidewalk. The entire world was rather gray outside, a stark contrast to the liveliness inside the dorms.

You nodded and ducked your head a little further inside your sweatshirt, the cold air nipping at your nose, “Though, i’m surprised it wasn’t over something smaller. Last time, didn’t Jongho nearly break Wooyoung spine because of plate of spilt pasta?”

“Plate of cake actually,” Hongjoong chuckled, eyes searching the sky above, “All the same though.”

A scoff sounded from you as you rolled your eyes, “You make it seem like it’s a viable action.”

“They’re just having fun, y/n.”

“Wooyoung’s spine seems to differ.”

The laugh that came from him was boisterous and you couldn’t help but laugh along with him. There was always a light to Hongjoong that never failed to make those around him happy. A small grin dotted his features as he turned his eyes from the sky and down to you, “You always care so much for Wooyoung, I don’t think you’d care that much for me if I got myself in that spot.”

“I’d say you deserved it,” You nudged him with your elbow as the two of you walked, “Though, i would be upset if you let your maknae snap your spine.”

“Ever so sympathetic you are, y/n.”

“I try, i really do,” Your eyes trailed up to meet his and you gave him a cheeky grin, “So are we seriously only going to the store for chocolate milk?”

Hongjoong gave an exasperated nod, “And cleaning supplies, and paper plates, and chocolate and a new thing of coffee for Seonghwa-”

“So a lot more than what you told me originally?”

“Pretty much. We’re going to buy out the whole store,” He shrugged and his eyes flicked back up to the sky.

You frowned and looked up with him, though you couldn’t see anything very captivating besides the movement of clouds, “What do you keep looking at.”

“I think it’s gonna rain.” He frowned, and as if on queue, a small droplet fell onto his face and he scrunched his nose up at the contact.

“It’s not like rain is gonna stop us,” You stuck your hand out and sure enough, little droplets bounced against your palm. It wasn’t supposed to start raining for at least another day.

Hongjoong nodded and pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt, like it would deter the water, “I know, it just gets kind of annoying sometimes.”

“Annoying?” You laughed, turning around so you could completely face him as you walked, “You live with seven the of the rowdiest boys known in existence, and you think rain is annoying?”

He rolled his eyes and pushed your shoulder, though it didn’t make you budge in the slightest, “You’re annoying.”

“Is that seriously the best you could come up with?”

“You’re just proving my point.”

You stuck your tongue out childishly in response, exactly as the light droplets turned into a heavy downpour. It was like someone had poured a bucket of water over your head and both you and Hongjoong stood their shocked as the cold seeped into your bones. It wasn’t like the two of you would have been able to do much about it anyways, there was no cover for a minute or so in any direction.

“Now this!” Hongjoong yelled over the change in volume, his head soaked despite the hood covering it, “This is annoying!”

You just laughed, the newfound wetness to your skin seeming to make you more joyous than sad, “Hongjoong it’s not that bad!”

“All of my clothes are soaked, Y/n!”

“Who cares!” You walked up to him, grasped the ends of his hood and pulled it back; revealing his fully soaked hair and the water droplets sliding down his face. He looked entirely different from normal: a soft smile on his face, a light in his eyes despite his glare, and a new sense of childlike energy seemed to encase him as he was fully exposed to the elements. You can’t remember the last time you saw him so effortlessly carefree. Your words came out softer as you caught his eyes, hands trailing down to his shoulders. “It’s not like anything bad is gonna happen.”

“We’ll probably get sick,” He chuckled, the two of you close enough so that you could feel his breath against your skin.

You raised your eyebrow in response, “Has that ever stopped us before?”

He just shook his head and brought his hand up to clasp your own against his shoulder, a benign twitch on his lips. The look in his brown eyes, the utter softness to them, had you so captivated. Never once had you been physically captivated by your best friend, but the rainfall seemed to bring about a time of firsts. Hongjoong carefully laced your hands together and his lips fully formed a grin, his eyes mimicking his smile, “Will you dance with me?”

“Dance?” The words were breathless as tilted your head to the side, eyes switching from Hongjoong to your hands, “Weren’t you just complaining about all of this-”

He shook his head in exasperation but that soft delight was still present on his features, “Just dance in the rain with me, Y/n.”

You opened your mouth and closed it a few times and he seemed to grow tired of it quickly; pulling you along before you had a chance to reply. He expertly spun the two of you around in a circle, one that might have been much to fast for it to be considered dancing, and continued to twist you through the raindrops. Every little turn, spin, and step had laughter bubbling from you. You both bounced into each other or would make crazy faces when you came to face one another again. Your favorite was when the pair of you waltzed straight through a puddle, the splashing coating your pants and emitting a bubble of giggles from the two of you.

Hongjoong slowed your frantic waltzing, pulling the two of you into a leisurely sway as the rain continued to fall without mercy. His arms were wrapped gently around your waist while your hands found a spot back on his shoulders. It should have been awkward, being this close to Hongjoong with his fingers tracing small circles on your clothes and the pair of you swaying to the beat of the rain; but you had never felt more content.  

Your heartbeat was calm, your body relaxed, and there was such a feeling of euphoria coursing through your veins that a smile became permanently settled on your lips. Hongjoong seemed to feel the exact same as you. His lips were tilted upwards, his body didn’t seem to remember what tension was, and his eyes peered down at you with a look you couldn’t place.

“Hongjoong,” You said softly, wondering if he could even hear you against the rain, but the way his eyes shifted ever so slightly to your eyes told you enough, “What’s with the look?”

“What look?” His voice matched your pitch as his eyes continued to rove your features, getting transfixed on one spot here and there. It made you feel small in his arms.

You pursed your lips and drummed your index finger against his shoulder blade, feeling anxiety take place of the calm you had once held, “This… look. I don’t know you’re just staring at me differently... I’ve… I’ve uh... never seen you look at me like that before.”

“I just…” The words came out trance-like and he shook his head a little, trailing his gaze back to meet yours. Still, there wasn’t a word you could think of that matched the softness of his orbs, “I really want to hold you right now…. Is that so bad?”

“Hold me?” There was a squeak to your words that matched how your heartbeat sped up erratically.

Hongjoong was no better, and he was thankful for the downpour obscuring both your visions; it helped hide the color in his face, “I just… I just want to hold you, Y/n.”

His voice was barely above a whisper but it made all the difference. An elated rush surged through your blood and you did your best to hide the smile rising on your lips. There was no reason for you to be so happy at such a simple request, Hongjoong asked to hug you an abundance of times prior, but something about this time felt different. Maybe it was the rain and its cold that was messing with your emotions, giving Hongjoong that new light in his eyes and the new melody in your veins, but the bashful smile made its way onto your lips.

“You can hold me,” You whispered, tightening your grip around his shoulders slightly. Hongjoong took that as a sign to pull you closer. Your head found solace in the crook of his neck and you smiled at how warm he was despite the chilly weather. His head rested against your own, with his nose brushing against the shell of your ear every so often sending shivers down your spine. Neither of you moved, not as the rainfall seemed to feel more like hail than water, not as your clothes became more like bathing suits than day clothes, not as both of your heartbeats seemed to speed up and decline at rates that seemed unhealthy. You were both too content.

After a few moments of blissful silence, you mumbled against his sweatshirt, “The boys are going to be pissed about their chocolate milk.”

“Eh,” His breath caressed the side of your ear as he nuzzled the side of your head with his nose, “you’re much more important than their complaints.”

You could finally place the look that had been in his eyes, because it was the same thing that laced his voice.

It was fondness.

Maybe even love.

[manjuhitorie]

Hitorie’s unreleased concert recordings, are coming out on wowaka’s birthday

https://www.hitorie.jp/Loveless_IKI/

Hitorie’s full length DVDs of 2 concerts: The Loveless tour final and the IKI tour final in their full glory! It's region free and the release date is November, NOVEMBER, 4th. wowaka’s birthday.

The cover art has been unveiled, and the details of the bonus items have been divulged! 

The standard edition cover feautures wowaka in ai/SOlate T-shirt twanging his guitar! 

It comes with both concerts and an envelope with a lottery ticket for a chance to win a framed photo. It's cheaper and only comes with the 2 DVDs, the perfect piece! Regular edition DVD: via cdjapan

The limited edition cover features all members basked in laser lights! 

The complete special package comes with both concerts, a new special photobook of unreleased photos by cameraman Nishimaki Taichi, sticker replicas of the staff passes used for both tours, and an envelope with a lottery ticket for a chance to win a framed photo.  It’s also separated into Blu-ray and DVD, so make sure you buy the right one for your gear! DVD limited complete edition: via cdjapan   Blu-ray limited complete edition: via cdjapan Bonus pre-order items!!!

If you preorder from select stores you’ll receive a A2 size poster of the wowaka photo (Tower Records and CDJapan are sure to have it)!

Amazon preorders will include a 5 piece set of concert photo post cards! (Amazon hasn’t prepared a page yet though, I'll link it ASAP).

And preorders from the concert venue booths will nab you a Hitorie-chan themed ticket case. 

The track list is as follows

From Hitorie’s UNKNOWN-TOUR 2018 "Loveless" at EX THEATER ROPPONGI March 25th 2018 01. NAI. 02. Shinya 0-ji 03. Inperfection 04. One Me Two Hearts 05. Nichijou to Chikyuu no Gakubuchi 06. Bathtub and Sleepwalk 07. Eve Stepper 08. Loveless 09. Monocolor 10. Glare 11. Senseless Wonder 12. Unhappy Refrain 13. Social Clock 14. Namid[A]me 15. Talkie Dance 16. Unknown Mother Goose 17. Absolute Encore 1. Dancing Mannequin, Singing Fool Encore 2. Little Cry Baby

AND

From Hitorie’s National Solo Tour 2017 "IKI" at STUDIO COAST May 7th 2017 01. Heart Breath 02. One Me Two Hearts 03. Inperfection 04. Daydreamer(s) 05. Eve Stepper 06. Rularula 07. doppel 08. Lights in the Polar Night 09. Saihate 10. KOTONOHA 11. Hagure no Color 12. 5 Count Hello 13. Dancing Mannequin, Singing Fool 14. Shutter Doll 15. Little Cry Baby 16. Glare Encore 1. Kara no Waremono Encore 2. Senseless Wonder Encore 3. SisterJudy Encore 4. Montage Girl

"The full crowd bouncing around today was the best, I wish I could've shown everybody how crazy you guys looked. Please stick with us through future endeavors to come." After the IKI show in the DVD, ygarshy had said this.

And now.... that chance to see that day's craziness and follow their future is upon us, please do consider purchasing and dancing!!! And thank you for looking... 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

⚠️~~~⚠️~~~⚠️The rest of this post is unnecessary bonus manju material⚠️~~~⚠️~~~⚠️

I had report on the Loveless final compiled together from way back on March 28th 2019, so I’ll post it here again to give a small taste....!

●The stage lighting for Namid[A]me was apparently breathtaking, they made it look like it was actually raining, ●Yumao used a real gong for Social Clock. ●During Senseless Wonder yg went all the way over to snd’s side of the stage, stuck his body against his, and they played it out together. Then came the encore MC break.

●Yu started cheering himself on, while making flamboyant poses: "Yumaooooo!!  Oooh~!  WOooooOOah *rough voice* !!💪( ＞ω ＜💪)” Crowd: “You’re so cool~!” Yu: “Thank goo~ *Goes to a cutesy voice*” “You’re so cute~!” “Thank goo. Thank you!” SND: “Hey dude, they’re all callin’ ya cute and cool y’know.” Yu: “…(short pause) Thank goooo~~~”

wowaka: (laughing) We’re done, that's all we need for MC ahahaa.

●Leaving members stuck on what to ramble about, they’ve already talked so much throughout the whole tour, what’s left? So wo suggested that they do a re-cap on all those fun boring discussions they’ve had. Omnibus time. 

●Back when the Japan was collectively swept off their feet by the Olympic ice skater Yuzuru Hanyu-kun and his performance, wo had also praised him during MC.  Yet just thinking about him puts pressure on Yumao, it inspired Yumao to do his best. And as the next song on Rie’s set list was the inspirational Memai, he concentrated so hard, poured himself in and played super neatly, “Oh shit oh no oh shit, Hanyu-kun makes me nervous.” Yumao explained. 

●During the span of the tour SND fell off the stage way more then once... SND: “The skin on my back peeled off once too.” Yu “Eeeh?!” SND “Saying it peeeled all the way off is an overstatement but..” ”Well then the scab ripped off.” “Seriously?!” “But it healed nicely.” “Ahh” “After that, in Niigata, when I went to brandish my guitar up with a “pwooosh” towards the roof, it went bonking into my forehead.” ●SND’s middle finger had also stopped moving, (nerve palsy maybe??) During Talkie Dance there’s the “piropiropiro” where a “pero, pero” bit comes in between (Queue SND and Yuma singing the riff together), which is very straining. He has to press his fingers against the strings one by one to play it, he was scared but nonetheless. So Yuma watched him at the piropero part wondering “Oh no oh no is it gonna move? Is it moving today??””

When it came down to it his middle finger moved for him so thank goodness... (Manju comment: SND is this karma for all the times you gave the crowd the middle finger when they cheered your name,,, or flipped off girls who waved at you, or giving wo the middle finger a lot? God I love you)

●Yumao “Also ygarshy laughed ONCE!” “There was the one time I was talking nonstop (queue SND and Yumao making “blaghblergh” noises together to imitate him). When yga let out a chuckle, which made me super proud in front of everyone… I went Wahooo!!! but turns out it wasn’t because my story was funny or anything.  It was because yga was off on his own! Testing how many candies he could eat before we would shut up!” SND: “Did you chuckle because you finished the third candy?” yg: “Uhhh” SND: “Well tell us about it.” wowaka: “Is this the first time he’s talking?” yga: “See, I always think our encore MCs are… long. So I feel like having some candy. I was originally worried I wouldn’t be able to finish eating one in time, the song would start and turn into a problem, but.... it turned out that day’s had become the longest MC yet. I lost my inner bet, damn it, I thought. You guys really can talk. Three whole candies worth of talk! So I laughed, and Yumao thought I was laughing at hims story”

Yu: “Yeah yeah!! Honestly the story I had been telling didn’t have a punchline, so I just used your laugh as an escape.”

SND “Foolish” Yu “Yep” wowaka “Well that day the most” Crowd “laughing” Yumao “...Thank goo~ (laughing)” (Yumao you never have a punchline I swear to God I love you too)

●wowaka talked about the story from back when he used to be so so scared of standing in front of people. In middle school his teacher chose him to represent his class in the English speaking competition, yet he was so afraid that he just, went out to the podium crying hysterically. “I can’t talk English in front of everyone waghhh....”

But now he’s able to do >this<. He’s become such an adult. 

SND “I bet there wasn’t even as many people at the competition as there is people here today, haha and you’re able to even talk naturally here, eh, look at you.”

Yu: “Ahh even SND’s such a big boy now~.” SND: “Well we all have.” ●They announced the next nexUs tour at the Loveless tour final. “We just love doing shows” 

●Also Pre- Little Cry Baby emotional speech from wowaka.   “In living we find cool things and sparkling things, yet there’s moments when we betray those things, we worry if ahhh was I wrong with that, there’s so much of this, in actuality that’s all I do, yet still we’re made out of things we can’t throw away, that’s what I think, what is it! Like those sorta texture that have a paint dried over them, like things that are just superficial just… Those are things that I have NO FUCKING  interest in! Like it’s that, c’mON, with music, people are just humans!! trying to be, they’re trying to do what they can do! I have interest in things that only humans can do, some things that can even surpass human, and that’s what fuels me to do music. As long as you follow me, I feel like ,, I could go anywhere!!!!! thank you always, thank you for making me!! Thank you for being here!!!”

This was also the showing they used during the Memorial Service on June 1st… STAFF WE ARE GOING TO CRY “Thank you we were Hitorie, let’s definitely! *through deep breaths* definitely! Meet again!”

Also some from IKI

●wowaka’s mother came to this show.... As divulged in this interview. THE ORAL CIGARETTES had sent Rie flowers in celebration of the event, which were on display at the venue.... Shiohigari SND’s good friend went, also the Synth player of the band “the telephones” who took the picture that’s featured on this blog) went also! ●Before Shutter Doll Yumao did his signature, Yumao! Yumao! Yumao! cheer on rhythm with the familiar intro, but with “Final! Final! instead. Along with We’re ●Hagure no Color had snazzy band introductions molded in between it. ●wowaka had actually cried during Little Cry Baby..... It really is a song that’s so important to him.... I’m anxious to see the video... ●MC: One was wowaka talking about how thankful he is for everyone and everything about this IKI tour. wowaka “I don’t want it to to enddd!” SND “We’re been on this tour for 4 months, it’s been a long time though, it’s amazing, it’s a new record for us.” wowaka “Now what am I going to do with myself tomorrow.“ SND “Go back to our dark dark life...” wo “Why”

SND “You guys had been waiting outside all this time, how was it, was it cold, are you okay? Further crowd: “We were okay-! Closer crowed “(less voices) We were okay.” SND “So you guys were okay and you were cold, okay (laughing). Well if you were cold, then see this sweatshirt Leader is wearing.. please wear one too That thing is perf.  Crowd: “Woooah!!” SND: “Why the fuck ‘Woah.’ Even if you said you’re okay then still go buy one alright. Thanks..”

[communitypoolhands]

even at the forefront of innovation even in the hands of an obligatory door to door knife salesman blending paints into the recordings of moving pictures he got carried away with making out like broken february

i knew you'd be spoken to like a bomb dropped overheard in the neck-deep pools and beachside concessions dropping tears off at the contemporary art exhibit where you couldn't find parking for over 30 minutes

i knew you'd seek immolation from your father's amplifier collection from your mother's sunlight intentions under a clouded breakfast from your brother's attempt to make a soda can spit numbers from your cousin's left knuckles rubbing against idolized symmetry

left behind macro strawberry syrups home-made in a bath tub leaving facemasks on desk chairs sitting nylon cross-legged near the scared lizard-tail corners over flammable dirt where the city can't spin right

it should've never rained in november when the mall played mariah carey by the stationary outlet where you vested up in khaki to sell children's lives up to the wealthy remiss about the south american student's fixation on doing right by god

while eating candies searching face time with weird animals and studying nothing in particular under trees in university parking lots left to get a degree in being confused planning trips to the mountains that started to seem impossible

waking up in hospitals in other countries or tearing metal bars from navels enough times to invent scar tissue writing names on walls in marker for photo ops high on pills, squatting on poles, removing friendships

twisting and turning pulling blankets into a corner i'm overwhelmed with the picture perfect sickening color representation of the 20-somethings filling the static with their adidas and caution-inducing pickup attempts things that the FCC would frown upon

bartenders feigning culture in their tanned leather straps and raw denim stone-washed aprons horn-tipped mustaches pointing in directions mocking their bow ties feeding you ill-remembered journeys on trains into the hands of overtime'd conductors

a valley is a strip of road surrounded by queues too cool to stay home and do something time consuming like vacuuming the insides of closets filled with grey lint and otherwise committing to minimalism

several sets of staircases separating different colored atmosphere settings made stone-cold serious by genre of music some songs too sad to dance to some songs made to burn your throat alone on someone's grimy, patched couch

stamp your hand and find hip hop in bathrooms you only start seeing the remnants of kick drums in black light vodka red bulls keeping the eyes open when the body sways white regrettable when thinking of excuses to avoid a taxi

weed smoke and lucky first cigarettes out windows to avoid room mate disapproval when using the kitchen starving through veganism because not everyone can do it quite right so it makes the 5 foot walks to a bathroom full of weight

amazement in american yellow buses being more than internet phenomena and family-sized snacks coloring the grocery store aisles like a jackson pollock sick bag canvas existing to glutton-ize the gun loving martyrs of democracy

am i crazy to keep the plastic bag half-full and hidden under books with no relevance while telling myself it'll be cathartic to look down at handfuls of photographs, unfazed and purposeless

shared mutual masturbation over signals and microphones left heavy clouds on casual conversation with people who never knew when to crack the ice cubes stopping the water from properly filling the solo cup

acceptance of an accent from restaurant regulars who always order the catfish asking about malls every two miles and their significance i never knew an $800 shoe on the foot of a conservative mother would invite the bones out for a reason to justify spending habits

you'll see a tunnel go on for as long as they made it driving by speed cameras to have more reasons to save money staring at long drawstrings that served their uncommon purpose eating chicken tenders with an aftertaste made of nostalgia

sad foot gloved in forced lower back stance underneath green screened theme park attractions before inhaling under faux turkish alleyway family reunion tents we spoke softly of the sanctity in old dogs' cliff-side curiosity

[sjworldtour]

01/12/19 Sweaty steps on Nusa Penida

We've just returned from a two day tour of Bali's neighbouring island, Nusa Penida. It's surrounded by stunning cliffs and bright turquoise ocean, but the heat and humidity rival anything we've met so far. 

We woke up early yesterday and said goodbye to our lovely Aman Gati hotel. Friendly Wayan drove us about an hour and a half through manic scooter traffic to Sanur, where we got on a fast boat to Nusa Penida. Everything was a bit confusing at the boat terminal, and Joey got wet shorts wading out to the boat. We arrived and met our guide Eno (sp?!) a man of few words but who navigated the super narrow and mostly unmade roads with much skill and beeping. 

Our first stop was Angel Billabong, a crystal clear rock pool perched high above the ocean. We clambered down to paddle in the water, a guy near Joey slipped down the rock ouch. The sea below was a gorgeous colour, super dark blue and clear, with milky white patches of bubbles where the swell swooshed up the cliffs below us. The whole coastline is pale limestome, incredibly high and incredibly steep cliffs - a perfect combination for dramatic stacks and islands and weird formations. After Angel Billabong we walked round a loop track overlooking Broken Beach - a beautiful pool connected to the sea by a huge and dramatic arch, which we walked over. 

More so than other things we've done so far, this tour has felt very touristy. We've been driven to the island's highlights, each one set up for Instagram-perfect photos and our guide has been ready to take ten zillion photos of us from perfect snapping points at each location. It is stunning, but I think we kind of surprised him when we said we were keen to actually walk down to sea level at our third stop, Kelingking Beach. Although it seems pretty obvious that we would want to go to the beach when visiting a beach, it was actually a pretty intimidating prospect. The car park was at the top of the cliff, and the walkway down to the bottom was very long, incredibly steep, fairly busy, and exposed to the baking hot sun. We made it down though, dripping profusely, annoyingly following someone super slow for the last hundred metres who wouldn't move over and let the huge queue of people behind her pass. The beach itself is gorgeous and we went for a swim - also not for the faint hearted as the waves and currents are pretty huge. The climb back up would have been a bit of a push but totally fine in a sensible climate, but at midday in this part of the world was seriously punishing and Joey nearly gave up and died from hot. Sam found us a shady spot to sit at the top and we sat chugging water and swimming in sweat, trying to recover before enthusiastically piling back into the air conditioned car. 

We had lunch at a warung and went to our last stop of the day, Crystal beach. This was very pleasant and a good spot to swim without waves trying to crash hapless bodies onto coral reefs, but it was too hot to stay long and we were suffering any minute we spent in the sun. We went to find our driver, and stumbled upon a game of (almost definitely illegal) gambling. When we went back a few minutes later, all traces had gone. 

Driving through the interior of the island was very different to the glistening tourist spots on the coast. The landscape is very parched, they are expecting rains to come in December and the rough brown terraces with their scrawny banana trees definitely need it. Every now and then are the bright white scars of limestone quarries, the rock being cut by hand which must be an incredibly hot and tiring job. The road got narrower, steeper and rougher as we headed towards our hotel, but we eventually made it and were greeted with cool ginger tea in the reception. The hotel was very nice with a large room and swimming pool / bar overlooking forest covered slopes. We relaxed and swam, trying to cool down after the crazy heat of the day, and ate dinner in the pleasant but anty restaurant. 

This morning we had a slightly questionable breakfast, then Eno picked us up and took us to Teletubbies Hill - a viewpoint over smooth green hillocks. This was a slightly strange spot, interesting to see a different landscape and presumably it looks more dramatic after a rain makes everything bright green, but to be honest it was just some grassy hills. 

The next stop was more impressive, another clifftop above two beaches - Atuh beach to the North, which we didn't climb down to, and Diamond Beach to the South, which we did. It was a fair few steps, but nowhere near as extreme as Kelingking, and a gorgeous beach with lots of little islands out in the bay. We had a nice wavey swim and sat in a shady spot under a cliff watching someone in a yellow floaty dress fly out above the beach on a Balinese swing.  

After that we popped round the corner to the "treehouse", a nice viewpoint for taking photos back across to the islands and Diamond Beach. There were more wicker hearts and circles and the big treehouse, all designed to be perfect photo foregrounds (but all costing money of course so we avoided). We had lunch at a roadside warung and drove back across the island and along the North coast to the port. There were lots of square patches marked out in the shallows where apparently they are growing seaweed. 

We arrived in plenty of time for the ferry and Sam went to find ice creams - lifesaving in the heat. The boat back was fairly quiet and we managed to find Wayan despite the boat parking somewhere completely different and it being the most manic beach ever. Drove up to Ubud and had a pleasant surprise that the Umaya villa had overbooked normal rooms so we have been upgraded to a private suite with it's own private pool - all very fancy. The lane outside is full of monkeys (as we're right by the sacred monkey forest) and they warned us to lock the doors at night so monkeys don't come in! They gave us ginger welcome drinks and a bowl of scary looking fruit. 

We had dinner at Lake Leke, a restaurant just down the street that was beatufully landscaped, they have dances and displays to promote Balinese culture (although not tonight). There was an actual koi pond in the actual toilet. Sam had scary looking bacon prawns and Joey had superhot curry. 

[mercurialtraveller-blog]

Clear Sky, 20°C

691-14 Gokashōyamamotochō, Higashiōmi-shi, Shiga-ken 529-1431, Japan

Day 5 Fuji-Q Theme Park! We woke late again. Surprise, surprise! Managed to get to the park at about 10:30am. On the way I ate this strange japanese melon roll that I had been saving. It was a green bread roll which was filled with melon flavoured goo. Almost like a doughnut. The green colouring turned out to only cover the top layer. Somewhat tasty, but not something I'd buy again. Upon arriving we were informed that the ride with the fastest acceleration in the world was closed. I was irritated by this as Stealth is one of my favourite rides of all time - the adrenaline rush is amazing! However I soon forgot about this once we ventured forth into the park. First up was Eejinaika 📷 . This was the huge rollercoaster we had seen the day before upon arrival into Fujikyu Highlands. We could see it looming ominously above as we made our way towards it and established that initially it started backwards before somehow flipping forwards. We assumed that when you went over the initial drop you were upside down and backwards and were understandably somewhat apprehensive whilst filing through the hour long queue, complete with warnings against the elderly, disabled, diabetic, epileptic and unsure and accompanied by an irritating soundtrack of 'Eejanaika! Eejanaika!' chants. We potentially fell into the unsure category, but for adrenalines sake pretended that we didn't. Eventually we boarded the ride, after removing our shoes and locking up our belongings. Before long we were climbing a large incline, backwards. Before the main drop, there was a small dip - a taster, if you will. It was at this point that I noticed Maddy screaming 'Oh my god! Oh my god!'; I chuckled to myself before sharply being brought back into focus by the impending carnage that proceeded me. I don't think anything could have prepared me for Eejanaika. The only word I can describe it with is 'intense'. Fortunately you didn't go down the first drop upside-down and backwards (it inverted to forwards as you went over the edge), however it was a ride where you had no idea what direction you would be taken next. If you imagine the arms of Samurai at Thorpe Park, and imagine those arms were attached to the rollercoaster with the world record for most twists... You might get somewhat close to the intensity that is Eejinaika. It was the first rollercoaster that I've ever been on where I've gotten off the ride, legs shaking from adrenaline, and said 'I'm not sure if I can go on that again'. Perhaps I'm getting old, or perhaps that ride is the craziest ride I've ever been on. I'm still unsure. Once we had recovered we moved round the park to a more chilled 'coaster - somewhere between a Sky ride and a rollercoaster, where two people could sit, one in the other's lap and go round at a leisurely pace. In the queue a crazy, happy, old Japanese man arrived on his own, muttering and shouting things in his own language. Ville and Maddy got on the first car that arrived. I was left to get the second on my own. My worst fears were confirmed when the old man tried to get into the car with me! Thankfully I was saved by the park attendant and enjoyed a nice, chilled out ride on my ones (hashtag forever alone). A lucky escape from sharing a ride which Maddy described as 'intimate'! The sun was blazing, so we took a chance (despite knowing the forecast was rain!) and went 'no poncho' when we rode the rubber dinghy rapids, mate. The sun shortly went in thereafter, and our wet feet would haunt us throughout the rest of the day. From there we hit up the free fall tower - complete with Ville shouting 'I regret! I regret!' at the top before we dropped. This became my catch phrase for the rest of the scary rides the park had to offer. The views from the top of it were amazing (even if Fujisan was hidden by the clouds). The suspense when you are held at the top... Not so much! Next, to the Evangelion exhibition. Not an anime I'm particularly into, but along with some awesome models of the cast and mechs of Evangelion, I did find my new bae in there 📷 . Onwards to Fujiyama 📷 . This was a massive 'coaster. Probably the longest in the park. No loops and no twists, but a maximum speed of 80mph awaited us. This was wicked fun; would recommended - you could really feel the Gs with this one! We decided to slow things down a bit due to what lay ahead and went on a mount Fuji flight simulator, which was made amusing by the attendants impression of an air hostess. This decision was also fueled by the fact that for the whole time we had been near mount Fuji we were unable to see it due to the clouds! The simulator was a '4D' kind of deal with motion, smell, breezy wind and mist coupled with a massive screen, and was surprisingly fun. Next up was the coaster with the steepest drop in the world - even steeper than Thorpe Park's Saw ride. Rather than dropping 90 degrees a la Oblivion, you go over-vert. Takabisha 📷. This was a fun, if not a little bit short coaster. Not as intense as Eejanaika, but very smooth, and when you get winched up for the over-vert drop, you're lying totally horizontal. Many cries of 'I regret' rang out whilst we climbed this one, but the actual over-vert drop was reasonably slow/tame. The rest of the coaster was awesome though - just expected more from the drop. Ville and I hit up Eejanaika once more (we made it!) whilst Maddy couldn't hack it again. Once again, it was VERY intense. But glad I went on it again as there's no other coaster like it, and I had the feeling I wouldn't be back here soon. It was near the end of the day and the skies started to open. We headed back to the hotel. I used the toilet and plucked up the courage to use the 'butt spray' and was surprised... As Maddy had informed me previously, it seemed to 'know' *exactly* where to spray. Whilst it was accurate and not cold as I had expected... This defo wasn't something for me - too weird and gross feeling. Won't be using that again! We headed out for food. Once again we set out towards Miyaki and once again we were disappointed that it was closed. At this point it was raining hard, so we stopped at the next restaurant we saw - 55Meat - I popped my head in and looked at the menu to find out it was fairly expensive, so we went on the hunt for some cheap eats, with Trip Advisor our guide. We were lead down a dead end by Trip Advisor and after a discussion including me joking that this would make my blog more interesting describing this detour we ended up heading back to 55Meat with our tails between our legs. In hindsight, it really didn't' make it any more interesting! 55Meat was an amazing little Yakiniku restaurant, where we were brought the finest cuts of Wagyu beef and cooked it over a charcoal grill. I ordered 55 day aged tongue. It was delicious! So glad to have eaten at an authentic Yakiniku restaurant, and once again I was amazed by how helpful the staff were - despite the (large) language barrier they went all out to show us how to cook the meat and make us as informed as possible over what we were ordering and make us feel as at home as possible. Maximum respect, Japan! Very satisfied, we headed back to our hotel and got some rest; with the long journey to Kyoto ahead of us in mind.

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[divinedaizy-blog]

2. An Inventory of Being

Margarita: An Inventory of Being

I admire my name, it means daisy

And those who know me, think I’m crazy.

In Latin, my name also means pearl

So I’m not just some ordinary flower girl.

I am the ocean, I am the sea

My other half is space, and its galaxies.

My thoughts and mind are extraordinary

And those who don’t understand, might think I’m scary.

I’ve always liked lavender, but not liked its scent.

I’ve never understood this, but people tell me I have a cute accent.

It’s never the girls that do, it’s the boys.

I’ve seen enough girls being treated like toys

And it makes me wonder if everyone is addicted to pain

But then again, I don’t want to dwell in my brain.

Psychology is something so fascinating

But I can’t wrap my head around it, so it’s frustrating.

A lot of people are also addicted to fame

And I can see through it as just a big game.

I don’t have time to watch TV or movies

I’d much rather rest in nature and enjoy some smoothies.

Let the gloomy rain trickle down the window glass

As I sit around, waiting to leave class.

All everyone asks nowadays is “what do you want to be?”

But I’ve got no valid answers, and it’s not something that brings me glee.

The lead dances across the paper as I express what I’m feeling

In both drawing, and writing, since I’m journal keeping.

I love the feeling of freedom, and positive thoughts

And I hate when my hair gets tangled in knots.

I try to stay away from toxic people

Because I know that they’ll want to trample me like I’m some beetle.

I walk my path and never go astray

And that’ll be a phrase I want my kid to say.

I enjoy being organized, and that’s how I’m living

But my mom has told me a million times, that it’s not something I’m giving.

My parents and I love travelling, and our favourite place is Punta Cana.

Every time we’re out in the blazing sun, my mom wants me to wear a bandanna.

People sometimes tell me I’m passive aggressive,

But I don’t see how, that could be possessive.

Sometimes I eat healthy, and sometimes I don’t

But I’ll know what’s best for me, once I’ve grown.

I used to wear a key charm, the key to heart, upon my neck

But now there’s a different charm in its place, because love unlocked me in a sec.

I live in the moment, and do what’s best for me,

I’m thankful for the all the things, people I have, and I can’t forget about tea.

The kettle WHISTLES, and it’s my queue to leave

But don’t worry, I’ve got much more up my sleeve.

My name is Margarita.

I am sixteen years old.

Sept. 18, 2017

[alexllove-blog]

Although it rained the night before, it’s done little to cool the air. Even at 9am, the sun is already blazing down. The thermometer shows 39 degrees Celsius and is poised to climb further. It’s Easter, so the schools are closed, and there’s a snaking queue at the ticket counter of Ramoji Film City (RFC), on the southeastern edge of Hyderabad, in the Indian state of Telangana.

The set of popular Telugu mythological TV series Sri Bhagavatam

Sprawled across 810 hectares, RFC features in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest film studio complex in the world, specialising in Telugu-language cinema. It’s widely visited by movie buffs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the two southern Indian states that share Telugu as their main language. If that sounds niche, Telugu is in fact one of the 22 major languages in India, ranked third in the country by number of native speakers. Moreover, according to US-based publication Ethnologue, it’s also the 12th-most spoken language in the world, with 82 million speakers.

Introducing Tollywood

It makes sense then that, as well as being a working film studios, RFC is one of the most popular tourist attractions in India, welcoming around 1.5 million domestic and international tourists each year. On any average day, the studios see a footfall of 2,500 visitors. During last year’s summer holidays, it topped 16,000 in a single day. The crowds come for a chance to wander through the sets of their favourite films and shows, with secret hopes of catching famous actors at work.

Models of trains and vintage cars from the props department

Also known as Tollywood, this strand of Indian cinema dedicated to producing movies in Telugu may not be as well-known internationally as Bollywood, but a handful of its past deliveries have seen it go toe-to-toe with its Mumbai-based cousin, in terms of budgets and box office numbers. A recent example is 2017’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, the second of two period films that follow a young villager who discovers his royal heritage and saves his fictional kingdom in medieval India.

“Entertainment is the only mantra in Telugu films; they spend lavishly on costumes, sets, special effects, action scenes and musical scores”

This lavish production, shot entirely at RFC, cost INR2.5 billion (S$49 million) to shoot and went on to capture worldwide attention. A dubbed version was the highest-grossing Hindi movie of all time. Also made available in Tamil, Malayalam, Japanese, Russian and Chinese, the film grossed INR18.1 billion (S$353 million) at the box office worldwide. Buoyed by its success, there have been a series of even more ambitious Telugu productions in the works, including one titled RRR, from Baahubali director SS Rajamouli. Another action movie, this time set in pre-Independence India, the film will cost INR4 billion (S$78 million) and is set for release next year. Sci-fi action thriller Saaho, featuring Baahubali star Prabhas, is coming to cinemas on 15 August this year and cost more than INR3 billion (S$58.5 million) to make. Needless to say, both films were shot at RFC.

Remnants of the Baahubali set

A cinematic visit

Beyond the ticket counter and after a brief security check, I join the visitors to get into a bright red, vintage-style, hop-on-hop-off coach that will take us around the complex. Each coach seats about 25 visitors and includes a guide who points out the different landmarks where iconic scenes of popular films were shot.

Our coach makes its first stop at Eureka, a huge courtyard that acts as the entry area into five major attractions. Designed to mimic with white marbled floors, lavish staircases and landscaped gardens, the threshold to this cinematic town hints at what lies ahead.

Princess Street is one of the many urban city sets in RFC

Despite Telugu cinema’s long history dating back to its first silent feature film in 1921, it was only in the early 1990s that the Telugu Film Industry (TFI) completely shifted base to Hyderabad, as major Telugu producers started setting up their own sets and studios in the state capital. RFC was founded in 1996 by film mogul and producer Cherukuri Ramoji Rao.

Recognising the need for an infrastructure of pre-designed sets and ambience, Rao shaped RFC while at the peak of his career “to provide comprehensive filmmaking facilities under one roof,” explains RFC vice president AV Rao. “The tourism potential was only realised in later years when people expressed a desire to have a glimpse of where their favourite films were made.”

Entrance to the five live shows in RFC

According to Rao, over 2,600 films in various languages have been shot at RFC so far. There are around 50 shooting floors, the largest being the size of two football fields. RFC also has dedicated departments for set construction, props, craft services and camera and lighting rental.

Back at Eureka, I find shade under a flowering bougainvillea, as traditional Rajasthani music floods the open compound and early visitors fill in. At 9.45am, the music switches to a more energetic number as two wooden plank-doors leading to the Central Court start to ancient Indian forts and palaces, complete swing open and a group of dancers dressed in golden costumes and ornate jewellery appear to draw in the mass of visitors.

A hop-on-hop-off coach takes you around the film city

“Which way is Fundustan?” A hassled parent with two young children in tow breaks the calm that descends after the music stops. Our guide, a burly man in his forties, directs them towards the themed children’s play area, where thrilling rides and fascinating games await. Adjacent to it is Borasura, a spine-chilling walk-through designed as a magician’s workshop.

Globalising entertainment

Largely devoted to mainstream filmmaking with a wide commercial appeal, Tollywood has in recent years shed its regional character, delivering colossal productions that are dubbed in multiple languages worldwide. “Entertainment is the only mantra in Telugu films. They spend lavishly on costumes, sets, special effects, action scenes and musical scores,” enthuses Himavati Kurup, a college student from Coimbatore and my fellow passenger in the RFC coach. “And we love watching them.”

Setting up a scene at a pre-designed railway station set

Another college student and amateur filmmaker Venu Nagaraju, who is also on the tour makes another interesting observation. “In most Telugu films, you will see a surprising storyline,” he says. “We, the Telugu people, love fantasy and horror and will lap up any film that gives us these. And if the story is not strong enough to hold your attention, the costumes and sets will definitely do it.”

As we chat, our coach passes by a replica of the Hawa Mahal, the pink palace in Jaipur, a doorway of Fatehpur Sikri – the Mughal city just outside Agra – before driving past rolling, landscaped fields. My fellow passengers raise a cheer whenever our guide names the popular Bollywood and Tollywood films – such as Dilwale (2015) or Mirchi (2013) – that were shot at the locations we pass.

A visitor walks past part of the Baahubali set

The coach pulls to a stop near North City, where permanent sets resemble a suburban neighbourhood in a north Indian town, with multi-storied buildings featuring adorned columns, arched doorways, winding corridors and wooden carvings. A film is being shot inside one of the palatial houses and some of us try to sneak in, only to be pulled back by our guide.

“When a location is rented out for a movie, the producers take over and arrange for props to further dress up the scene. The area then belongs to the producer and we are not supposed to trespass,” he explains.

Guests enjoying a Rajasthani dance performance

As such, visitors are unlikely to witness a film being shot. However, some guests do get lucky and chance upon film stars. R Lakshmana Rao, a Hyderabad businessman on his third RFC visit, shares how he met Bollywood superstar Salman Khan here two years ago. “He was awesome and very humble, and took pictures with us.”

Just down the street are façades of rural village homes that can be found in South India, and around a corner, a street dressed up to look like a generic urban thoroughfare in Europe or the US. Our guide quips: “This is the only place in the world where you can travel from a North Indian city to a South Indian city by crossing a street, and to Europe or America without a passport.”

At these permanent railway sets, the hoardings, letterings and billboards can easily be changed to match the film

The bus halts next at the indoor sets of Sri Bhagavatam, a popular mythological Telugu television series from 2013, based on the life and deeds of Lord Krishna. Diagonally opposite this fantastical set is the façade of a tiny airport, with a huge parking lot. Our guide reveals that the fight scenes from the 2015 Shah Rukh Khan romantic action film Dilwale was shot here.

“This is the only place in the world where you can travel from a North Indian city to a South Indian city by crossing a street, and to Europe or America without a passport.”

“I am here to see the sets of Baahubali,” 75-year-old Manorama Nair from Kochi tells me, pausing for breath as she braves the noon sun while her granddaughters run up the staircases to reach the famous throne. “Baahubali was a great entertainer, and I am curious to know how they made the film. I have read almost every article written about the movie.”

The massive wooden entrance that leads to Central Court

It’s almost past 1pm and I am ravenous. Over the buffet spread at Superstar, one of the most luxurious restaurants in RFC, I reflect on the meaning Telegu cinema holds for its fans. Telugu viewers hold their films and their film personalities in high regard. I think back to the words of Anna Kowalski, a young Polish tourist I met on the coach earlier today. She and her partner were struck by their fellow riders. “We will take back with us the exuberance and craziness of the people here, and how they relate to films as well as they relate to life.”

Indeed cinema here is not just entertainment; it’s a way of life. It’s the high emotion, the grandness of life as it appears in Telugu cinema that pulls people into its fold – and why a visit to RFC is such a draw.

SEE ALSO: Taste of summer: India’s love for mangoes

This article was originally published in the June 2019 issue of Silkwinds magazine

The post On set in Hyderabad at the largest film studio in the world appeared first on SilverKris.

[qqueenofhades]

i know you [i walked with you once upon a dream]

Because I saw this post from @twilight-deviant​, about if how if Flynn had saved his family, he’d return to a reality where none of the adventure had happened, the time team didn’t know each other, and Lucy didn’t know him, and immediately had to write the thing, for reasons (I hope that is ok!). Tagging @extasiswings​ as well because she is an enabler, and because if this becomes a multi-chapter, it will be entirely her fault.

February 20, 2017

Palo Alto, California

Lucy Preston pushes through the office door with her hip, because her arms are full of books, binders, half-marked papers, a catalogue from the bridal shop that Noah wants her to take a look at, and her purse, car keys, and the memo she just picked up from the front desk at the history department. Her tenure meeting has finally been scheduled, six weeks from now. Trust the chucklefucks to give her a short deadline, but she’s had most of this prepared for the past two years anyway. University politics are always a merry-go-round of emailing people, emailing the people they put you in touch with, pestering them to answer their email, emailing them to answer their email, and then discovering at the last minute that the class they timetabled you in for the fall is, whoops, happening in spring instead, and so forth – but Lucy feels vindicated. She’s been working for this her whole career, and now it’s finally happening. She just hopes Mom hangs on long enough to see it – and for that matter, her wedding. The last reports from the doctor, well. . . the words “end of life care” and “memorial arrangements” came up. This is a lot, but Lucy thinks she’s handling it. Most days.

She dumps the avalanche on her desk and boots up her computer, sifting through the stack of papers with her free hand. Logs onto her stanford.edu email, where there are 125 unread messages waiting. It’s only been a weekend, but for some reason it feels as if she’s been away much longer. She woke up feeling strange this morning. Broke down in the shower, for no reason. Noah was comforting, said it was just nerves, expected with everything – the wedding, her mom, tenure worries. Probably was.

Probably was.

Lucy frowns, then shakes herself. Deletes the spam from the fraudster academic publishers and the nineteen thousand “Campus Events” circulars, politely replies to the dozen students in her lecture who somehow cannot find the reading (the book is in the bookstore, or likely available free online as a pirated .pdf), debates whether to send her half-dozenth email to the tiny local archive in Illinois that she’s been bugging to let her into their Lincoln papers (she can probably wrangle a minor research stipend from the department – enough to cover a plane ticket, at least), and decides that no, she is definitely not brave enough to check her bank account. Tries to calculate whether the due dates for various bills have passed – internet, phone, gas, car insurance – and no academic gets into it for the money. As a junior professor, she’s definitely not making it rain, and Noah’s not making gigabucks as a doctor just yet either. Especially in this real estate market. The two of them, with their combined professional incomes, can just about afford to rent a nice closet. Lucy was – still is – living at her mom’s house a lot, but she really needed somewhere to escape to. Her own place. It feels like she needs to get away.

She’s just vainly hoping she may have time to do some actual research this morning, before she has to run to the library and print out her lecture handouts for tomorrow, when there’s a knock on her door. “Dr. Preston?”

“Yeah?” Lucy says, opening up her PowerPoint to make the edit she thought of last night washing the dishes. “Office hours aren’t until 1pm, can you – ”

“Sorry.” It’s one of the grad assistants. “There’s someone who wants to see you. Out in the foyer. Do you have a meeting this morning?”

“No, I don’t.” Lucy frowns. “Are you sure they’re looking for me?”

“They – well – he – seemed pretty sure. Lucy Preston, history and anthropology of American political movements, 450 Serra Mall, Building 200, Stanford University. I asked him if he was doing a project or something and he said no. Do you know a Flynn? Garcia Flynn. I think he’s European.”

“No,” Lucy says again, unsettled and confused as to why she had a momentary impulse to say yes. She isn’t exactly a big enough fish in the academic world to have people randomly turn up begging to consult her or take advantage of her expertise, and they usually email in advance anyway. It’s possible she lost it among the nightmare of her inbox, yes, but this is still strange. This also isn’t the kind of profession where you get crazy fans. Unless he saw her article in the American Historical Review in January, and just had to drive all the way out to Palo Alto to tell her how much he liked it (or hated it, you never know).

This is all weird, is the point, and it isn’t helping Lucy’s strange disjoint. But while the smart thing to do would be to insist that Garcia Flynn, whoever he is, is mistaken and send him packing on his way, she hesitates, then decides that the handouts can wait. She doesn’t have anything last-minute on her plate, and her curiosity is piqued. She logs out, puts her computer to sleep, and follows the graduate assistant out into the sunny hall.

Garcia Flynn, or so she assumes he is, is standing correctly at attention like a soldier on parade, watched intently by a few of the student services officers. The first thing Lucy notices is that he’s tall – six-three, six-four – and dark-haired, with a strange, intent stillness like the world moves differently around him. He’s wearing a black suit and tie and a black overcoat, making him look like he came from a convention of either morticians or accountants, and he turns with an odd expression on his face. “Lucy.”

“I’m sorry.” He’s not holding out his hand as if he expects to be introduced, and Lucy doesn’t offer hers either. “Do we know each other?”

He smiles, half to himself, as if that is either a funny question, or the worst thing he’s ever been asked. “We used to.” His accent is, as the GA said, European of some sort. Foreign intelligence service? Or domestic? Lucy doesn’t think she qualifies as an enemy of the state, but then again, with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in office, maybe they’re cracking down on the academics now. “Recently.”

“I. . . I don’t think so, sir.” Lucy feels further unsettled – and yet, though perhaps she should, not afraid. “I’ll be happy to point you to whoever in the department you’re looking for, but I don’t think that’s – ”

“Can we meet for coffee? This afternoon, if you’re free. I promise, one hour of your time, that’s all I ask. Then I’ll be gone, and you never have to see me again.” He has an unsettlingly direct way of looking at her. “I would very much appreciate it, Lucy.”

“I. . .” Innate politeness, the impulse to say, yes, of course, let me check my calendar, wrestles with the fact that this is completely inexplicable. But if nothing else, historians love a good mystery. It’s possible he’s planning to duct-tape her and throw her into the back of a van, but he probably wouldn’t ask straight out if he was, or plot to stage her abduction in a busy public place. “I suppose I can spare an hour. I’m free for the rest of the morning. Campus Starbucks?”

“Wherever you want.” He inclines his head. “Thank you.”

Lucy pauses, then goes to get her coat. She didn’t have time to grab breakfast this morning, so if nothing else, it will be a decent opportunity to get a bite to eat. If he does turn into a kidnapper, she can scream; security services will take care of the rest. She pulls it on, locks her office, and gestures to him. “Right, come on.”

They take the elevator down and step out onto campus, which is busy with its usual currents of students, bicycles whizzing by; one of them nearly rides into Lucy, and Garcia Flynn reaches out automatically to grab her arm, pulling her back. It’s a surprisingly forward gesture from a man she met five minutes ago, and Lucy disentangles herself. “I’m fine. I’ve got this.”

He pauses, considering her. Almost as if he’s looking for something, testing for some kind of reaction. Then he nods again. “Yes,” he says. “I suppose you do.”

They reach the Starbucks and join the typically lengthy midmorning queue, finally order their drinks – he pays, which is considerate of him, since he dragged her out of her workday and all – and jostle through the tables to find an unoccupied one in the corner. By now, Lucy would really like some answers. “Are you some kind of government agent? For. . . I don’t know who? I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done, but if so, I want a law – ”

He utters a short, dry laugh. “If I was interrogating you, Lucy, I assure you, I would not have bought you a latte and a croissant beforehand.”

“So are you? Government?”

He shrugs. “Do I look like it?”

“You look like something.”

He shrugs again, as if to say that he supposes he can’t deny that. He drinks a single espresso, straight, black and strong. “It would take too long to explain what I am.”

“Try me.”

Again, that look he gives her, straight to the back of her head. Then he turns and pulls the San Francisco Chronicle off the newsstand, opening it and pointing to an article about Mason Industries, one of the thousand high-tech aeronautics engineering companies around here. There’s a group picture, something they’re launching. Second from the left, a black guy with a gap-toothed grin and a MIT sweatshirt. According to the caption, he’s Rufus Carlin, project consultant. “Do you,” Garcia Flynn says, “know him?”

“No?” Lucy is starting to wonder if this was in fact a mistake, latte or otherwise. This man is clearly not right in the head. Still, though, it almost makes her. . . sad. “We’ve never met.”

“Ah.” Flynn folds up the paper and puts it back. “Yes,” he says, half to himself. “You wouldn’t have, would you?”

“Care to cut out the Tall, Dark, and Cryptic act, and give me some answers?”

“As I said. None of it would make sense. But I have to tell you anyway. I took the information you gave me. I went back and killed the men who killed my family. They’re. . . here. Alive. But it’s not the same as it was. They think I’ve just been gone for three years – and I have, more than I can ever explain. Lorena thinks I just left one day and didn’t come back. Iris – ”

He stops. Whatever he was about to say is clearly too painful to go on, and Lucy, despite the fact that absolutely no part of this makes the remotest bit of sense, feels her heart twist. “I’m sorry,” she says, with no idea what she’s comforting him for. “But I didn’t give you any information.”

“Let’s just agree that you don’t have the full story, Lucy.” He speaks calmly, but with an edge of irritation. “Yes?”

Lucy’s hand clenches on her drink. She doesn’t have to sit here and subject herself to this escapee from the mental asylum, can get up and tell him to stick it. But there was still that sense this morning, this entire day, that something is missing, and very much against her better judgment, she stays in her chair. “If I don’t,” she says at last, almost a whisper, “tell me.”

“I can’t. It makes no sense.” He looks frustrated. “I told you once that after I saved them, I would leave, because I could no longer be their husband and father after what I’ve done. And now I return to a world where they never died, where I never became a wanted terrorist, never stole the Mothership, and so you and I never met – or the other two, for that matter. You can tell Rufus I’m sorry about Chicago – but then. As you said. You don’t know him.”

Lucy keeps staring at him. As strange, as utterly cracked as this sounds, she is almost starting, or so she thinks, to get what he thinks, in his deluded little brain, is going on here. Some kind of alternate-universe, parallel-existence BS, where some version of her met some version of him, and they – well, she’s still completely lost on what they were supposed to be doing, but at least it explains why he’s so insistent that they know each other. “Do I. . . know you?” she asks again, slowly. Hesitantly. “Were we friends?”

“No,” he says quietly. “We weren’t friends.”

She wants to dispute that, the same impulse to reassure anyone selling themselves short, but instead he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a thumb drive. “Here,” he says. “Your journal doesn’t exist anymore, because you never had any reason to write it, but I did my best. You gave my world back, the least I can do is return the favor. I wrote down as much as I could think of, what happened. Look at it. You don’t have to see me again.”

Stunned, Lucy takes it by reflex. “This – ”

“Be careful, Lucy,” he says, still more quietly. “It’s not going to be easy to open that box. I don’t blame you if you don’t want to. Your life now is a lie – ” he shrugs a third time, that expression of trying to communicate that he doesn’t care, it’s nothing to him, when she can tell that he does, more than anything – “but not one you’d have any way of easily disproving. And not one that would hurt you, perhaps, to stay in. But if the time comes when you want answers, at least you’ll have them.”

Lucy opens and shuts her mouth. Nothing comes out.

“And as I said. You don’t have to see me again.” He finishes his espresso, puts the demitasse cup on the saucer. “I’m not sure where I’m going to go just yet. It’s. . . being the only one who remembers, it’s. . . it’s not something I’d wish on my worst enemy. And believe me, I know what it means to say that. You used to, once.”

“Garcia – ” This is the most surreal half-hour of her life, and yet Lucy can’t help but feel sorry for him. She leans forward, putting a hand over his as he seems to be ready to get up and leave, and his eyes flare with shock. “I’m sorry, all right? I hope you do find what you’re looking for.”

He looks at her. As if – and this, of course, is utterly not what it is, but she thinks it for a second anyway – it’s sitting in front of him right now, and because there is no other choice, not even the remote dream of one, he will get up and walk away forever. As if whatever he lost the first time, he knew all along there was no going back, and he has burned his bridge to a second chance. Their eyes flick to her hand on his, and a constrained shudder moves through him, as if the fact that she’s touching him gently and sympathetically proves once and for all that she truly does have no idea who he is. Wryly he says, “You’ve never called me that before.”

Lucy wants to point out that she’s never called him anything, since they don’t know each other, but arguing him out of this elaborate and complicated delusion would take more time than she has, and she senses somehow that it’s all he has left. His eyes flicker to the diamond engagement ring on her finger. “I’m taking it,” he says, “that’s not from the idiot?”

“What? Noah? Do you know Noah too?”

“No. I don’t.” He keeps looking at her. She really wishes he’d stop, or at least that he’d blink, or something, anything would break this spell. And at the same time, as insane as he is, and insane as all this is, it is the only thing that feels solid or centered or real, as if he’s drawn her into that slightly altered reality around him, where time moves slower, where the world is bent that just bit different, where the odd ache in her chest is gone, and it –

Well.

It makes sense.

She almost wants to tell him not to leave, when thirty minutes earlier, she couldn’t wait to get rid of him. They stare at each other over the table, their silence straining even over the bustle of the coffee shop, until he finally clears his throat. “I’ll walk you back to your office?”

“Ah. Yes, of course.” Lucy distractedly crams the last bit of her croissant into her mouth, chews, washes it down with a few slugs of her lukewarm latte, and gets to her feet. They head out and walk back toward the history department, as she finds herself dawdling, dragging her steps, wanting a few more moments around him. “So, are you going to be in Palo Alto long?”

“No. Just for today.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “As I said, I wanted to tell you that it was done. I destroyed the Mothership, by the way. Rittenhouse won’t get hold of it, but. . .” He pauses, as if trying to decide what else to tell her. “I can’t guarantee that Mason Industries won’t invent a new one. Then maybe this will get a chance to happen after all. Who knows.”

“You have to know,” Lucy says gently, “none of this means anything to me.”

“No,” he says again. His eyes are very far away. Perhaps it’s her imagination that he too is delaying this last parting (last parting? That sounds dark and tragic and damaging, as if he’s a part of her soul she can’t send away, and not just an eccentric stranger she charitably had a coffee with for a few minutes this morning) as long as he can, his last connection to any world he knew, any chance of understanding what’s going to happen to him next. As if when he says she won’t see him again, he means it in a way she can’t even possibly imagine.

They reach the history building and walk up to her office. “So,” Lucy says at last. “That was. . . well, I don’t know exactly, but. . . I hope you find some peace, all right?” Moved by a sudden impulse, she reaches out and squeezes his hand. “If you’re back in town, let’s have coffee again.”

“I won’t bother you.” His large fingers curl briefly around hers, as if pressing an ungiven kiss into her palm. “I wish you the best. Goodbye, Lucy.”

And with that, he inclines his head again. Pulls up the collar of his overcoat, and turns around, striding out of the office, the door shutting behind him. As she stands there, tempted to ask someone if they actually saw him, or if she’s just been conversing with herself this whole time in true cracked-academic, Beautiful Mind-style. As if he is indeed a visitor from a parallel reality briefly intruding on her own, one of those inexplicable incidents that you tell as a good story at a cocktail party. And there is certainly no reason for her chest to ache as much as it does. As if her heart was whole for a few beats, and now with him, and whatever life he thinks she belonged to, taken from her again, it’s fractured back into pieces.

Lucy closes her fingers around the flash drive he gave her. She doesn’t want to read his bizarre manifesto. It would be best to throw it out, not have it sit there, tempting.

Would be best.

She goes inside to her office. Opens up her email again, tries to concentrate. Still so much to do. There always is. Wedding. Mom. Tenure. It repeats in her head like an echoing, endless litany.

Her phone buzzes. It’s a text from Noah.  Hey beautiful! How’s my favorite historian doing? On my lunch – miss you. Hope Monday isn’t too bad. See you tonight. Xoxo.

Lucy stares at it for a long moment, fiddling with the ring on her finger. I’m taking it that isn’t from the idiot, Garcia Flynn’s voice whispers.

Lucy gets up, closes her office door. Sits down in her chair, leans her head into her hands, and silently, thoroughly, savagely, with no idea who or what she is even grieving, begins to sob.

[heyligaya]

That word.

There’s a word that gets everyone round up. People write poems, books and songs. It causes people to act weird and say funny stuff. It makes people smile. It upsets some people. Friends had been ripped by this word. It makes a grown man stand up in the rain with a boom box. We wouldn’t have 90’s RNB if it wasn’t for this word. No Jojo. No Boys2Men. No Whitney Houston. It has a lot of political baggage these days.

Love.

Everyone is crazy about love. People are searching for love harder than a lost set of keys. So I want to dedicate this blog to all the lovers out there and maybe some who aren’t because everyone needs something or someone to love.

*queue in Bobby Womack song “If you think you’re lonely now..”

Our culture has a couple of ways of defining love in general. So… these are not all of the ways but this is what we see is most common.

1. Love is an impersonal force that overcomes two people. This force comes and leaves when it chooses to. It really has nothing to do with our will but rather this force that overtakes us and and we can’t fight it…..We…just…can’t…fight….true… love.

2. Love is simply a feeling that comes from the heart and it cannot be controlled or subdued. At least it is dependent upon our outside elements. This idea plays itself out of phrases like “You can’t help who you love”, “You just have to listen to your heart” or “ I can’t help it. I just don’t love her anymore”. Your emotions or your lust makes you stay when you shouldn’t and when you “fall out of love” then your emotions make you leave. So when you come in to a relationship with an uncontrolled emotional high, then you can leave a relationship with an uncontrolled emotional high or emotional low. This views are common in our culture.

As popular as these views are and many others, they contradict what The Bible says about love. You can’t possibly get her into a relationship or marriage with this view because you’re not always going to be “feeling” it. Humans in general are not always feeling it. A perfect example for this would be every time we buy something, we have to get a receipt with a 7 or 30-day return policy on it because what we like now is likely to change within the next 7 or 30 days. Following my heart is a trap.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17:9”

Our emotions rise and drop. Situations change. Life changes. We grow and we, as people change. If love is based on anything but a deliberate choice to say no to pride and stay, then we’re on unstable grounds.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy ir boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth. Love bears all things, believes in all things, hopes all things, endures all things - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7”

Love is a deliberate choice followed by deliberate actions. “Im going to love this person despite how I feel and despite how they act”

Real love is a choice and that doesn’t mean that emotions are absent. Love does have emotions but it’s not lead by emotions. It’s not based completely on how we feel. We can choose to love people.

“And he said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your soul and with all your mind/ This is the grand and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.-Matthew 22:37-40”

In the bible we are commanded to love and not invited to love if we feel like it. We cannot find if love is directly linked to a feeling but we can see that it is directly linked to actions.

“By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:35”

This may not seem as “romantic” as some people would like to think because it is much different as to what has been taught. This is so much freedom. We don’t have to be a slaves to our feelings or slaves to our lust. We can slow down, read The Bible and pray and carefully think about what we SHOULD do versus what we feel like doing.

Christ on the cross is the greatest act of love ever. Christ coming to save sinners was very much a choice, not a feeling. Christ chose to love us and this is the perfect view of love that we have. Im sure there was no RNB music playing or no rose petals or no heart emojis but this….this was LOVE.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.. - Ephesians 2:4,5”

He didn’t love us simply for what we can do for him because we had nothing to offer him. He didn’t love us because we were lovely. Christ loved the unlovable to make them lovely. His love was not dependent upon our good behavior or how good we treated him but completely on what He chose to do. If Him, choosing to love us is the standard, then this should change everything about how we previously thought of love

-JS

[bike42]

Paris. September 5-11, 2019

Thursday September 5, 2019

Not my “usual” kind of adventure, but I’m traveling to Paris / London to celebrate Bailey’s 30th birthday. Her birthday isn’t until November 22nd, but I thought the weather would be better in September (I decided that when Jeff and I were in Paris in the rain/cold in May).

We left Madison about noon yesterday, had a layover in Detroit (nachos and beer at the bar there), and then an uneventful flight over the pond, even in coach! I watched the three episodes of season 2 of “Big Little Lies,” then we both watched “Crazy Rich Asians,” before I tried unsuccessfully to sleep. Ended up just playing Black Jack through breakfast until we landed, just after 7am local time (7 hours ahead). It doesn’t help me with jet lag to think about what time it is at home!

I think because of construction, we off loaded down the stairs (like the Caribbean) and onto buses, which dropped us off at the terminal where we were directed up the stairs and into a long queue for border control. We had about the same wait as when we left Paris last May (>1 hour!). From there to baggage claim where our bags had arrived earlier and were just sitting there - yikes! From there, we began the long walk/escalator trip to the train. I’d done this before, but in my research last week I found a guy who’d posted the whole experience step by step with photos, so having just viewed that, and following the words “to the train” in English made it easy! Some issues with the kiosk to get tickets, but Bailey figured that out. Then down to the platform and to the train. We picked one with lots of stops, but through Gare du Nord with no issues and 2 stops later we got off at the station in the Latin Quarter, just 600m from our hotel.

It was a beautiful day, and we rolled our bags up and down Rue des Écoles a bit until we got oriented enough to figure out the numbers (normal anywhere). We got to our hotel just after 10:30am, not expecting to check in, but delighted when we were able to!

We got settled in our little room (emphasis on little - especially the shower!), the the beds were just too inviting. 90 minute naps, and while we were still groggy, we hauled ourselves out onto the street. Amazing location!

We walked just two blocks and came upon a little market, and stopped in a cafe. Bailey got her first crack at ordering from the menu. She learned she doesn’t like “cafe americano,” she needs to order cafe creme, and her Mac and cheese with salmon was a bit too fishy for her. I had an omelet with salad and fries, and black coffee the way I like it!

With full bellies, we set off, just two more blocks and we were at the Seine, gazing out at what was left of Notre-Dame after the fire last spring. I had to pull a photo up on my phone to compare what it had looked like. The roof and the spire are gone. What’s most striking however is the scaffolding. What remains is the scaffolding that was there for the repairs that started the fire. We learned later that the heat of the fire fused it together and the immediate challenge is what to do with it! The whole block is cordoned off, so it’s best viewed from the left bank of the river.

From there, we continued our stroll along the Seine. Bailey was intrigued with the “Left Bank booksellers,” just like I always am. Good to have a fellow traveler that doesn’t mind poking around like that! We crossed the Pont Neuf and headed towards the Louvre. Initially we set out just to see that, and then we were going to turn back. But the closer we got to things, the more excited Bailey was to see everything, so we just kept going! When we saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance, she wanted to make a beeline for that! I told her it was further than it looked, but she was determined. We walked there and back! I’d changed into tennis shoes, but she was in sandals and got a big blister on the bottom of her foot (didn’t complain though!).

We strolled back along Boulevard St Germaine and stopped at a Brasserie to recharge, with salads, water and wine. Then an easy walk back where we collapsed into bed. Walked over 12 miles today!

Friday September 6, 2019

I’d pre-booked an excursion for us today, not really considering jet lag. We fell asleep easily, but up at midnight, 1am, 2am, etc. Alarm went off at 6, and of course I was sleeping then! We got up and we were back on the street before 7am. Grabbed a coffee and croissants from Starbucks and headed down into the metro station, emerging near the Eiffel Tour about 20 minutes later. Quick walk to the tour office helped us wake up, and we arrived with lots of time to spare and browse the brochures to see what else we might want to do this week. I’d booked this excursion online through Viator and it worked great.

Soon our guide, Mechell, arrived and we headed off to the van, with 4 folks (sisters and husbands) from St Louis and another couple from Ohio. All the folks awaiting various were older (70s), not a lot of families traveling right now. We loaded into a VW van and headed out towards Giverny and Monet’s garden. Mechell was a great guide, talking about French history and art, and pointing out sites along the way. We approached through the back country, little farming villages a lot like what we’ve cycled through in Europe. We didn’t go through Vernon or see the river, soon we were just in the familiar parking lot.

We arrived about 9:30am and there was practically no one there yet. We quickly viewed the house and used the bathroom (Bailey for the first time saw that “no squatting on the toilet” sign) and then crowds started to descend. We enjoyed the gardens, shopped a bit, and still had 30 minutes to explore the little artist village. We walked to the church when Monet and his family are buried before walking back and joining the group.

Back in the van for about 15 minutes, then we arrived at our lunch stop. I thought lunch might be a sandwich and coke somewhere, but it was a three course lunch with wine. Beautiful venue, along a little stream and a house that had been a mill. Great food and conversation with our delightful little group (Bailey may not have been the most excited, but as for random trip mates, these were great).

Back in the van, and in about 30 minutes more we were arriving at Versailles. It was a beautiful day and I was glad to learn we were able to tour the garden too. Mechell had left us on our own at Monet’s, but she was our guide at Versailles, first in the garden and then all through the palace. This was my 4th time here, and I hadn’t seen it this sparsely crowded - some bottlenecks here and there, but not too bad. I had forgotten how extensive the garden is, what we saw just barely scratched the surface.

Back in the van, and Mechell was willing to drop us wherever, so we had her drop us near the Galleria Lafayette to do some shopping. The crowds and size of the store overwhelmed Bailey a bit, so we bagged the idea of shopping and started walking back towards our part of Paris, deciding we’d find dinner on our way.

We decided to stop at an Italian restaurant. I screwed up my salad order (octopus!), but we also had a nice bottle of Chianti, a pizza and Bailey had pretty standard looking spaghetti with meat sauce. It was a fun scene to watch - people parading by on the street. Towards the end of our meal, light rain started! I put up my umbrella, rather than trying to move inside. It was quick light rain anyway.

We wandered through neighborhoods a bit as we snaked our way back; lots of action being Friday night!

Super exhausted again as we fell into our beds.

Saturday September 7, 2019

We slept in this morning and missed breakfast, but found a cafe on the river where we could still get omelets.

Last night I bought 2 day passes for the Hop On Hop Off Big Bus, which had a stop right outside our cafe. Before boarding, we also bought tickets for the night ride for this evening.

We rode the bus along the Seine, up and down the Champs-Elysees, getting off in front of the Grand Palais. From there, we walk through the Jardins des Champs-Elysees and around the Place de la Concorde, working our way over towards the opera where we jumped on the Big Bus blue line up to Montmartre. We rode through Pigalle and past Moulin Rouge, getting off near Square Louise-Michel and walking the steps up to Sacre-Couer.

It was very crowded with folks just hanging out on the steps, eating picnics and enjoying the day. We saw our first “yellow vest protest,” and while they had some signs, it looked more like a family picnic. We hung out for a bit just watching people and chilling out.

I remembered when I was here long ago, we’d walked though an area where artists were painting and selling their work. We cut to the right and came to a beautiful square where we saw exactly that. Many doing charachtures or portraits on the spot, but some other really good painters. Felt right to see that happening in Paris!

Back on the bus, Saturday evening traffic was crazy so it took quite awhile to get back to the opera stop, but it’s always so enlightening to view the city from the top of the open air bus. I’d seen this before, but it’s so funny to transition from Pigalle and the sex shops to just around the corner and there is a block of wedding dress shops!

Back to the opera stop, then we walked down to the Louvre and took a right, all the way through the gardens to the Champs-Elysees. Lots of families out enjoying the gorgeous evening.

We had about 2 hours before the 9pm night bus tour, so we settled in at the Pierre Hermès cafe that was part of the L’Occitane store for a great dinner and bottle of wine. Only negative part was being surrounded by cigarette smokers, but we were having dinner outside on the Champs-Elysees!

Boarded our bus and got great seats on top for the 2+ hour after dark trip. It got cooler as the night went on, and by the time we stopped to see the Eiffel Tower light show from the Trocadero, we were ready to be done. Unfortunately the tour also ended at the top of the Champs-Elysees, 3 miles from our hotel. Given the late hour, we walked down to the end of the boulevard and hailed an Uber - easy way to get back to our hotel about midnight!

Sunday September 8, 2019

As we boarded our bus yesterday, we were told there would be a route “disruption” today due to the women’s race (we’d seen the setup for it on Friday by the Eiffel Tower). Good excuse to be pokey ourselves.

I got tickets for a 12:30pm climb to the second tier of the tower, so we had our Starbucks breakfast and jumped on the metro. When we got out, we could hear the excitement of the “La Parisienne” run - might have been a breast cancer run, reputed to have 1000 musicians along the 7km course! We walked along the course for quite a ways, finally found a space where we could dart through the runners and get to the inside for our tower climb.

We got into the now secured area under the Eiffel Tower a bit early. As we climbed to the first tier, I had a minor panic attack, not being a fan of heights. I looked down to see how high we were, and up to see how far we had to go yet, and thought about what this tower was made of and how old it was. Then I just rationalized that today was probably not the day it was going down and kept plugging along. It was a beautiful view, and fun to see the race going on all around us below.

We walked all around the first tier, then climbed the stairs to the second tier, and the view was even more spectacular. Didn’t dally there though, and we had to walk back down and catch the elevator down from the first level. Good tour and I’m glad we did it.

The streets were still blocked because of the run, so we had some time until the buses would be running again. We got crepes and a bottle of water and sat by the Seine for a bit, then decided to walk over and check out the Trocadero and it’s fountains. Windy day, so the fountains felt like rain.

We got to the top, and saw our Big Bus there, so we got on board to finish the tour of the red route. From nowhere, we had a few raindrops and they handed out free plastic ponchos so we put those on and stayed on top. Most of the tour we were already quite familiar with, but we stayed onboard to see what they’d say anyway. Disappointing that 6 months after the fire, they hadn’t changed the language about touring Norte-Dame and they still talk about climbing the tower, etc.

We continued the ride and got off at the top of the Champs-Elysees, and walked through the tunnel under the round about, coming out at the Arc de Triomphe. It was chilly and very windy, and they had much of it blocked off. We took a quick gander and enjoyed watching the traffic spin around. We noticed a bike event, where about a 100 riders wearing the same jersey were huddled with bikes and support vehicles, but couldn’t tell what it was from across the street.

We headed back through the tunnel, and then saw a few riders walking towards us, while the others had crossed the Champs-Elysees and were now mulling around along with the French police. Their jerseys said “Bike to Paris” and they appeared to be a Legion group from the UK. The police stopped traffic on the roundabout, and led them across to the Arc - much horn beeping from the stopped traffic, that I don’t think was of the supportive nature!

We got back on the Big Bus, and spun around the Arc again - should have gone back over to check out what ever kind of ceremony was happening!

Rode just down to the next stop at Petite Palace, then walked across the river to the Orsay museum. I’d been there before, but was happy to go back. The Orsay is a renovated train depot that hosts the paintings of the impressionists Monet and Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas as well as many sculptures. The building itself is a work of art! It closed at 6pm, but we entered at about 4:45pm without much wait, and we were able to kick it into turbo to see most of the paintings and enjoy the amazing building.

Afterwards we walked back to the Latin Quarter, and stopped at an Italian restaurant where we enjoyed salad, pizza and maybe too much wine.

Monday September 9, 2019

Everyone knows that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, so I’d bought us Monday tickets in advance, which is actually a smooth easy process!

We had breakfast at a nearby cafe, then strolled an easy walk to the Louvre and got in a bit early actually. We rented headphones and set out for the self guided tour. We stumbled upon all we wanted to see, and at the winged victory sculpture I recalled how to get to the Mona Lisa from there, so we followed the crowd that seemed to be heading there. Much to all of our dismay (tour guides too), she’d been moved - completely to the other side. We finished off that section, really enjoying some French work by Delaroix that Bailey had studied in art history. Then set off to find ML. Our hunt took us to parts of the Louvre I’d never before been in, and found it quite interesting. At the end, we finally learned that we had to exit back through the pyramid, stand in a separate line and follow that line up escalators to the 4th floor of the Richelieu wing, and there she was. It was a smooth and rather entertaining process actually.

By 3pm, we’d had all we could take. We left and got a sandwich, water and coffee and browsed around in some high end shops before staggering back towards our hotel. We stopped at a brasserie near our hotel and Bailey had a cheeseburger, while I had yummy French onion soup!

Tuesday September 10, 2019

Last full day in Paris. Started our day with Starbucks and the metro again to get over to the Eiffel Tower neighborhood. We walked through the Rue Clar markets, was fun to recall being here for several fun dinners with JT and mom & dad 4 years ago. Also saw flower shops that looked like they had flowers direct from the warehouse we saw in Holland last year!

We went to the Invalides, which is a collection of military museums, a veterans hospital (past and current), and a cathedral with Napoleon’s tomb. Jeff and I had been here before, but most of what we saw today was new to me. Most amazing was the Musée DeL’Ordre De La Liberation, which told the story of resistance workers during WWII, both the resistance effort, and the deportation to concentration camps for those who were found out. I’ve been to Dachau and the Holocaust museum, but this display was very different. Though few likely survived, this display showed their resistance side, a resourcefulness versus being victims, even after they were captured. Most haunting where the sketches of fellow prisoners, with dates and locations. There was also a handmade set of playing cards and a little domino set made out of clay.

After several hours, we grabbed a sandwich in the cafe, then took a walk over to the Rodin house and garden. This was also new to me and I enjoyed it, plus it was a spectacular day to be outside today! The house is an amazing early 18th century mansion, and Rodin started by renting rooms there for his workshop, and ended up with the whole thing (which he donated along with many castings of his works). As a lover of art, he also has a few Van Gogh and Monet paintings in his collection!

By 5p we were thoroughly exhausted, 6 days of walking over 10 miles per day (many of those at a killer shuffling pace). I had all I could do to make it back to the Latin Quarter (so tempting to jump on a bike or electric scooter and fly back). We found another Italian restaurant and enjoyed salad, pasta, pizza and a bottle of wine.

Back early to shower and organize our stuff. Early train to London tomorrow!

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.31

“Nemo Sum Game”

A/N: In my sleep-deprived state I accidentally splinched a few paragraphs that were supposed to be in the previous chapter from the draft, so if you read it when it was first posted, go back a chapter and Ctrl-F "family" for the missing section.

Title is a triple play on words: nemo sum, Latin for "I am no one"; a zero-sum game is a situation in which each participants gain or loss is exactly balanced by the gain or loss of the other participants; Captain Nemo was the commander of the Nautilus.

Additionally, worth noting that adult content does exist for this chapter and several other recent ones (Serot, more Billingsley, Sollis, and Sollis and Caxus), but I'm currently still in such a rush that I'm skipping writing it to try and get the Buran section of the story wrapped up before this Sunday's episode. I promise I'll indicate when this content is ready and available, and then you'll be able to find out the exact details of how that alarm got tripped, if you're so inclined!

Full Chapter List Part 1 - Objects in Motion << 30 - Exit Strategy 32 - Home >>

When he arrived, her head was poking out of the vat and she was blue again, chatting merrily away with Yoon. For a moment, he was very happy, and then almost instantly he was very, very angry. She did not need to ask to know what he was feeling, because never had anything ever been more clearly written on his face.

He crossed over to the vat in three long strides, elbowed Yoon aside, reached his hands in, grabbed Lalana, and pulled her halfway out. Biomimetic gel clung to her like putty. It felt like partially-congealed pudding under his fingers. He shook her.

"What the hell were you thinking!"

She let out a soft trill, the sound usually associated with alarm or surprise.

"Captain!" said Yoon, grabbing hold of his arm.

"Stay out of this," he snapped at Yoon, then resumed shouting at Lalana. "You were free to go anywhere, do anything! An entire universe of stars to run to and you came back to the one place you're not supposed to be! What the hell, Lalana!"

She trilled again. This was not an adequate level of communication.

"What!"

"Samaritan asked for my help."

Lorca looked at Lalana in utter disgust. "You do not get to blame this on Dr. Li. Don't you dare. I see exactly what you're doing. And if you think I'm going to fall for one of your cleverly-crafted 'repurposed truths'—"

She covered her face with her tail and began knocking her hands together.

"I'm not falling for that, either!" he exclaimed, face contorted with fury.

Yoon was aghast. "Captain!"

"Don't give me that look, lieutenant. This is the lului equivalent of crocodile tears." It wasn't, but it might as well have been.

Thankfully the translators were on full idiomatic settings, not the lower, more literal threshold Lalana preferred, and she understood his meaning perfectly. She squirmed in his hands. Her fur actively pushed back against his fingers. "I'm not lying! She said she needed my help to save Starfleet! I thought I could return the favor and save your people like you saved mine!"

"Save us from what?" Yoon ventured, eager to try and extricate Lalana from what she felt was an unjustified interrogation.

Lorca rolled his eyes and let out a low groaning growl. It was impossible to explain without dropping into a tone that bordered on levity. "Dr. Li is convinced Starfleet is being run by an illuminati shadow cabal."

"What?" went Yoon. From her perspective, this conversation just kept getting weirder and weirder.

"Exactly." Lorca returned his attention to Lalana. Bits of gooey gel were dripping down the outside of the vat. "You fell for that load of crap?"

Lalana's hands stopped tapping and her tail slid up. "So it is not true?"

"Of course it's not true! It's a goddamn conspiracy theory! Crazy people make them up!"

"Why?"

"Because they're crazy!"

Yoon immediately tried to jump to Lalana's defense again. "You can't blame her for not knowing that! How could she know that?"

Lorca looked at Yoon with something akin to wryness. "She could have asked. You like asking questions, don't you, Lalana? What does this mean? Why do humans do that?" The level of mocking derision in his voice bordered on comical. Then he dropped back into anger. "And yet, when Li spins you some yarn about a shadow government, you don't think to ask anyone? That just sounded perfectly right as rain to you?" Cornwell had clearly been right about the dangers of letting Lalana loose into the galaxy.

"She said I could not tell you. Any one of you might secretly be section agents."

"Oh my god," said Yoon, realizing how deep this delusion went. The assistant doctor hadn't just been crazy, she needed serious medical intervention.

"But Gabriel," Lalana continued, "I do not think Samaritan was lying."

"Just because Li believes it doesn't make it true." His arms were beginning to hurt. She probably weighed ninety pounds with all the goo on her. He was going to have to put her down or bring her closer towards him fairly soon or the choice would be made for him.

"Then I will find proof," she said.

"You can't prove something that's not true."

"If I do, then you will forgive Samaritan and forgive me, too."

His arms began to tremble faintly from the strain. Lorca closed his eyes. When he opened them, he had made his decision. Despite the fact she was covered in gel, he drew her close against his shoulder and lifted her free from the vat. He did not release her immediately. "When you put yourself in danger on this ship, it's my responsibility. I don't want to lose anyone else."

For over a month now, Lorca had been operating under the self-imposed delusion Walter Chen's death did not affect him, that he was somehow above the grief and melancholy and doubt of it all. He was not. Morita had made the choice that sent Chen on that mission because Chen had asked to go, but Lorca had signed off on it, and he knew Chen's service record. He knew the service records of everyone on the crew. While there was no one single point of blame, he was the ultimate bearer of responsibility for events on his ship.

Lalana vibrated the gel off the end of her tail into the vat and then put her tail onto his head so the filaments stroked through his hair. Feeling like an interloper, Yoon made her way into the bathroom, the only place she could go.

"How did you even get back on the goddamn ship," he whispered.

"A private shuttle charter flight." There had been a few of those; people avoiding the transporter queue in favor of a trip with a view.

He sighed. She was gooey, but for once, because of the heated nature of the vat, she was warm. "I don't know what to do with you."

"Can you take me to the shower? I am dripping on the floor."

With a short, involuntary laugh, he did as asked.

"You do understand," she said once she was in the shower, "that I was merely in a state of suspension and not going to die? It is possible to survive in suspension for many years."

"Maybe if you and Li had actually gotten some goddamn oversight instead of sneaking around like a pair of bandits, that would have been clear to someone beside you!" He turned the water on, full blast, hot, and then assessed the state of his uniform in the mirror, which was not looking good. He made a face as he scraped the biomimetic gel from his neck.

"Allow me, captain," said Yoon, giving him a washcloth and using a second one to assist in removing some of the goo from his tunic.

Lalana stepped out of the shower, dry as a bone. "But we could not include anyone in case the section found out."

"I don't want to hear another word about that shadow cabal," he said. It sounded like a threat.

"Very well, but I will prove that they exist."

Lorca groaned loudly and leaned his hands against the vanity counter. "You are not investigating an imaginary shadow cabal in Starfleet. Do you hear me? That's an order."

"Then do I still have my commission as ensign?"

He'd forgotten about that particular joke. "If it'll get you to do what I say for once, then fine."

"Then, aye, sir."

It was something, at least. "Right. I'm going to change. Ensign, you are not to leave these quarters until I say so. Understood?"

"Aye, sir!" At least she liked this little game and seemed eager to play along at being a member of Starfleet. They'd see how long that enthusiasm lasted when she realized the order was sincere.

Six weeks left until decommission.

Given the fact they had already made one unusual stop, Lorca decided it was too much a risk to make another. Someone might begin to suspect something was up. Certainly if reports of a lului suddenly surfaced at the Triton's unscheduled stop, someone would put two and two together. Lalana would be spending the remaining six weeks of the Triton's service life confined to two small rooms until such a time as they could sneak her off with the cargo at Spacedock.

This did not bother her. "I do miss hydroponics, but it is very nice in here. There are many stars outside the window, and a great quantity of music I have not yet listened to."

He scrupulously avoided going to Morita and Yoon's quarters to arouse any further suspicion and kept his contact with Lalana to the comms in his ready room and quarters. He could almost pretend she was somewhere else, on someone else's ship, and not an ongoing issue he was going to have to deal with.

Absent any other meaningful entertainment, she queried him as to the events of his day, listened to any complaints, and offered her own pithy, fortune-worthy insights, like "even a captain cannot always control the crew that he commands" and "the ground is an ocean you can walk upon."

Unloading his day on her was fun. She stood completely outside Starfleet's command structure, had immense patience, and never once suggested anything he talked about was unimportant in the grand scheme of things, even when sometimes it was. About the worst thing he could accuse her of was occasionally providing too much of an echo chamber. She sometimes provided an alternate perspective in a gently supportive manner, but more often she seemed to want to try to see things from his perspective and support his views on any given topic.

With one exception. She remained determined to investigate Li's insane theory. He did his best to warn her off it. "You can get into real trouble if you start sticking your nose into Starfleet's business. I'm serious, Lalana. They could have you arrested."

"Ah, like Venel and Egarell? For how long?"

He threw a number out. "Eighty years!"

"That is not so bad."

He stood there for several moments, staring into space with his hands in the air in confusion, wondering what precisely it took to get her to take any part of this seriously. "Eight hundred years?" he tried.

"Now that is something more approaching a punitive length of time!" she clicked at him.

She was not taking it seriously at all. "They'll send you back to Luluan."

She went quiet. Then, "That is not funny."

"My point exactly. Take this seriously."

Finally, she said, "I will not look into it because it seems to upset you that I would. Will that suffice?"

"That'll do very nicely. You promise?" There was silence. His voice dropped into a warning tone. "Lalana."

"I cannot promise not to look into it forever, but, for as long as it concerns you, I will not."

That seemed to be as much guarantee as he was going to get. Fair enough. He couldn't stop her wasting her time or getting into trouble her entire life, not given the length of it. At some point, he'd be dead.

On the one hand, her almost constant irreverence surely constituted some form of character flaw, but on the other, more often than not their conversations ended up in laughter.

"You are the worst," he said to her late one night, after she attempted a series of rather juvenile knock-knock jokes she had apparently gotten from the ship's databanks.

"And you are the best, which balances out quite nicely."

He quietly smiled to himself, glad she could not see his face, and retorted, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"But flattery and a starship can take you very far!" He couldn't decide whether to laugh or groan at that, so he did both.

They were ten days out from D-Day, which was what the crew had taken to calling their pending release from the dingy old halls of the Triton, when he walked into his quarters and discovered Lalana sitting in the middle of his bed. He slammed his fist to lock the door behind him. "How did you get in here!"

"Da Hee and Reiko would like some time to themselves now, so I thought I could stay the night with you. Do not worry, no one saw me arrive."

He smeared a hand across his face. "That's not what I mean. This door was locked. Did Morita..."

"Einar helped me."

Ten days left in his commission. The Swede had a funny idea of how best to leave a lasting impression. It was clever, though. What was Lorca going to do, throw him in the brig for ten days for breaking into the captain's quarters? People would ask why. Lorca didn't want people asking questions.

He contemplated calling Morita and Yoon to come pick Lalana up, but that seemed a little cruel, given that they'd been hosting Lalana in their quarters for two months and probably deserved that alone time. It didn't add up, though. Morita would have asked him before pawning Lalana off. "Where does Reiko think you are?"

"With Dr. Ek'Ez."

"And Ek'Ez thinks you're with..."

"Einar."

"Then you can go back to Einar's quarters."

"Nnnnnn," she went. "But I do not want to go to Einar's quarters. I want to stay with you. I will repurpose a truth if it will help. Come, tell me about your day."

He crossed his arms and shook his head. "You're more trouble than you're worth."

"I think you'll find that's not the case, if you'll come join me."

The comms beeped. "Benford to captain."

"Stop, stop!" went Lorca, sitting up and gasping for breath. "Captain here."

"Is... is everything all right, captain? There was a report of screaming from your quarters?"

Quarters were supposed to provide noise isolation for privacy. It was likely they had tripped an internal monitoring alarm. Lorca bit down on his fist and hastily collected himself. "Nope, I'm fine, Jack, everything's fine."

Lalana stuck her tongue out and flattened it against her eye to keep from laughing.

"...Are you sure, sir?"

"I'll try not to make so much noise. Lorca out."

Lorca and Lalana sat shock still. Then they burst into laughter, a fearsome combination of clicks and deep, booming guffaws. "I can't, I just can't. How did you even think to do that?"

"Sollis explained the biology and standard techniques, and then it was a simple matter to figure out how to lelulallen the right cells." He was never going to view lelulallen quite the same.

"Sollis?"

"Yes, we speak every day."

Lorca blinked several times and then flopped back onto the bed. He had not realized Lalana was talking to other people over the comms. "Remind me to send her a fruit basket." He chuckled some more.

"And how did that compare to Billingsley?"

"That wasn't even on the same planet."

"How could it be? We are on a starship."

Lorca batted her lightly with his hand in admonishment. "I need a shower."

When he returned, damp and mostly recovered, he found her poking around the bedroom, opening the storage areas built into the walls. "What do you think you're doing?"

Another human would have jumped or reacted in some way reflecting the fact they had been caught snooping, but Lalana did not have the same understanding of private space and failed to register any wrongdoing. "I am learning all of your items."

"Learning them, or licking them?" he shot back.

She trilled her tongue at him. "I have learned now not to lick things around humans! But yes, I did lick a few. This looked like it had been alive, but tasted wrong." She pointed her tail at a pair of leather shoes. They were synthetic, of course.

There wasn't really anything overly incriminating in his quarters (and certainly she was the last one to pass judgment on anything, being largely ignorant of human social mores), so he let her rummage, answering questions periodically, until she made her way back around to the bed. "And I was wondering about this book." It was his copy of Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. "Why do you keep it next to your bed?"

"Well, this, this isn't just a book. I know you thinks books are flat and not worth your time, but, come here. Maybe this one'll surprise you." She hopped up onto the bed beside him. He picked up the book, the worn texture of its cover a familiar comfort, lay down, and opened it to the first page exactly. "Chapter one, A Floating Reef. In the year 1866 the whole maritime population of Europe and America was excited by an inexplicable phenomenon..." Lalana curled up contentedly besides him and they were soon aboard the Abraham Lincoln with Pierre Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land.

Morita looked over the nightly security logs. Stress alarm triggered in the captain's quarters? She cleared her throat, signaling Lorca to come to the security console, and pointed to the log. "Dare I even ask?"

"No, you may not," said Lorca, reaching past her and deleting the offending record from the system.

Part 32

[houstonlocalus-blog]

It Comes at Night: An Interview with Director Trey Shults

It was not a normal Monday night at the Alamo Drafthouse Mueller in Austin. A24 Films and Fons PR had assembled well over one hundred members of the press and regional film movers and shakers to attend a secret screening of It Comes at Night. But the screening wasn’t at the theater.

As twilight descended on the capital city we were loaded onto a handful of yellow school buses lined up outside the theater. Our handlers passed out those plain cotton earloop white masks, not unlike the kind that are worn by the checkers at my local Whole Foods. The guides, however, were wearing heavy-duty military grade gas masks and carrying powerful hand lanterns. Both those props play into the visual motifs in It Comes at Night.

Departing the theater, the buses headed in queue to a woodsy destination. Everyone was bumping up and down in their seats as a dirt road filled with dips and potholes tested the shocks of the buses. Branches from low hanging trees slapped against the sides of the vehicle.

At one point the bus stopped (I was in Bus A, the lead bus) and one of the guides walked up a hill that was only directly illuminated by the bus’ headlights. He disappeared at the top of the hill and I was half expecting his head to come rolling down.

He returned and confirmed that the rural road we were on was indeed correct. As the buses pulled up to what would’ve been an idyllic location in daylight, we were guided down a dirt road, not muddy despite rain earlier in the day, to a red door in the middle of a barbwire fence. A red door also figures prominently in the plot of It Comes at Night.

As the crow flies we couldn’t possibly be that far from Austin. We’d driven in circles and had been mostly on paved roads. However, now we were in pitch darkness in the woods.

Walking the length of a football field, the contingent comes across an outdoor screen and lots of rows of folding seats. There’s plenty of beer in cans, and good craft brew like New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Real Ale, stashed in a couple of three giant white coolers that are as long as that stubby electric car my Aunt Leica drives.

As the movie progresses I look up, and my eyes accustomed to the dark viewed the Little Dipper directly overhead. After the movie ends, writer/director Trey Edward Shults does a Q&A moderated by Meredith Borders. It Comes at Night had previously had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival in late April.

It Comes at Night can be firmly placed in a list of movies that deal with post-apocalyptic events. But Shults knows how to mix genres, so at times the audience wonders if they’re viewing a psychological thriller or a straight-out horror film. A nuclear family lives in a rural area with all the windows bordered and sealed.

Joel Edgerton plays the paterfamilias. His wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) and their son, close to adulthood himself, Travis (Kevin Harrison, Jr.), are all seen at the beginning of the movie wearing gas masks. It’s obvious from the get-go that some sort of virus has wiped out humanity and this family survives by keeping wandering survivors away from their property. There’re no zombies – it’s not that kind of movie. Yet any survivors at this point are armed and dangerous until proven otherwise.

The trio are essentially burying one of their own, an old man with festering sores all over his body. It’s a mercy killing with a quick cremation to prevent the spread of disease. The deceased man was the wife’s father. Only after they return to their house do they remove their masks.

Previously, the apocalyptic survival genre was populated by visions of a world destroyed by nuclear weapons. Compare films from a different generation as diverse as Five (1951), The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959), and Panic in Year Zero! (1962). Planet of the Apes (1968) and A Boy and His Dog (1975) gave the genre sardonic twists. The recent Z for Zachariah (2015) covers the dynamics of a trio of individuals grasping for life after a cataclysmic event, yet that film was playing to the art house crowd by making the drama, well, dramatic.

Things change in It Comes at Night when a man shows up. After a strange kind of quarantine — that really means he was tied to a tree for a few days for virus observation — he (Christopher Abbott as Will) bargains his life with the promise to bring goats and food supplies, along with his wife (Riley Keogh as Kim) and small child (Griffin Robert Faulkner).

Once the two families acclimate to the new situation, loyalties shift, visions occur during nightmares and the dog runs off. The main barrier is a red door that acts as a singular opening to the outside world. It’s a big house. Perhaps not oddly, Shults’ previous film Krisha also takes place in a single house.

Shults’ debut film Krisha was a labor of love that Shults shot at his parents’ house in Spring, Texas. Krisha crushed it on the international film festival circuit and got Shults a deal with A24.

“The production budget for Krisha was $35,000,” says Shults the morning after the outdoor screening from his room at a luxury hotel on South Congress Avenue.

Typically movies that are picked up by distributors get a budget boost for post production services like sound mixing and marketing, which can add hundreds of thousands to the eventual bottom line.

“Back when I made Krisha as a short film, the budget was $7,000 of my own money with five days to shoot it. I had a friend who had a Red camera and I asked him to DP so we could use the camera for free,” says Shults. “He was busy but told me if I used Drew [Daniels] I could use the camera. We hit it off; we have the same exact tastes. So he shot Krisha,” adds Shults.

Daniels also shot It Comes at Night, but now the digital camera was the Arri Alexa. Originally Shults and Daniels wanted to use film, but budget concerns as well as the practicality of lighting scenes with flashlight and lanterns made digital photography’s grasp of low light a necessity.

Some of the lanterns had high wattage bulbs or “attachments to the front that you couldn’t see.”

Some of the inspiration for It Comes at Night comes courtesy of Pieter Bruegel’s (1525 – 1569) painting “Triumph of Death,” which hangs on one of the walls of the house. Upon first seeing the painting in the film I immediately though Bosch and another person in the preview audience mentioned Goya. But Bruegel has his own sense of decay.

“The Bruegel painting was a personal thing. I grew up in my grandparent’s house. My grandpa was in World War II and was a prisoner of war. And escaped. He had war paraphernalia on the walls. He had rifles and guns, he had a Nazi Luger and Bruegel paintings. He didn’t have ‘Triumph of Death,’ but he had ‘Hunters in the Snow’ hanging over the fireplace, and another one I can’t remember the name of,” Shults says.

“Crazy story about how he hid out in a house with a friendly family. That’s how my Aunt Krisha got her name because the family had a daughter named Krisha.

“Grandpa wasn’t a talker – he wasn’t an emotional guy, but what was going on with him internally was on his walls.”

When Shults started writing It Comes at Night, influences like the painting added to the recent death of his father, giving the film its bleak view.

Shults also read lots of books dealing with holocausts including American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World by David Stannard and Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide by James Walker. “I also watched the documentary The Act of Killing,” says Shults. “It’s a subject that fascinates me. They’re not monsters, they’re regular people. As a society how do you do this? It was definitely an inspiration for this story.”

The film was shot outside of Woodstock, NY with its small cast and crew using the location house as the practical set and the nearby woods for all outside scenes.

“The closest we got to a set was the red door, we built the frame and the red door in a hallway,” says Shults. “You could say the red door signifies a welcome into Travis’ nightmares.”

Is Travis the main character? In the movie there’s a middle of the night scene where Travis meets Kim in the kitchen. Neither can sleep, but the sequence almost becomes a seduction as Shults changes camera angles on their faces as they talk and the scene changes meaning.

“You never know, in a film like this anything could happen,” says Shults. “I see Travis as the main character; he’s like an observer, too. A lot of the shots are my interpretation of how Travis sees things. His nightmares link the whole movie together. You have this new woman and that affects his hormones, and you have the death of his grandfather, or his own fear of death.”

Talking about editing the movie and putting Travis’ nightmares in order of creepiness Shults admits, “You never know.

“I thought the first dream would be scary but didn’t know if it would be scarier than the last. I’ll say in editing one-hundred percent we felt that the first nightmare was a scare moment. Then you brace yourself each time another dreams occurs. When they happen they become less about the scare and more about what is going on in Travis’ mind.”

It Comes at Night opens in area theaters this weekend.

It Comes at Night: An Interview with Director Trey Shults this is a repost