#settles into her full time career at NASA

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 34—Epilogue (Mastermind)—MOTA Fic

A/N: And so we have reached the end of the road with Mastermind. It has been a joy to write and so much fun to share with all of you! If you have any further questions about this fic, fill free to drop them in my inbox! My requests will remain open for post-war prompts or scenes you want to see....and I have a few I'm working on in my inbox! That being said, I'm hoping that I'll be able to work through some of my requests in my inbox this week for x readers. It's also my birthday on the 28th, so I'm looking forward to hopefully spam posting a lot of request stuff that day too! Enjoy and as always, let me know what you think!

District Attorney Ruth Sharpe-Rosenthal slipped peacefully away in her sleep in 2007—two weeks before her husband Robert Rosenthal passed away.  The two of them enjoyed 62 years of marriage together—full of many passionate court cases, affectionate arguments, and a desire to serve and help those around them. 

Directly following the war, Ruth became a legal aid in helping the immigration process of Jews who wanted to leave Europe.  She played a major part in helping set up different agencies and charities in helping those affected by the powers of Nazism to get back on their feet and find a community of support.  

Ruth enjoyed a wonderful career that she was able to share with her husband—and he supported her in all of her work and goals.  The two of them lived close to their families in Brooklyn and were often found at the Sharpe’s or Rosenthal’s for dinners.  For several years after the war, Ruth struggled with infertility issues from the lingering damage done by her ex-fianceé Timothy.  

As such, she and Robert Rosenthal adopted three children—Anthony, Lila, and Sara.  They were surprised after several years to discover that Ruth had fallen pregnant—after several previous miscarriages, this was a miracle baby by all senses of the word.  She gave birth to a son—and they named him Abe after their favorite brother. Abe Rosenthal was born deaf and Ruth and Robert began learning American Sign Language to better help Abe be able to access more opportunities. 

Robert Rosenthal became a steady advocate for the Deaf Community and between him and Ruth being active participants in the community, they found a good footing for their youngest son.  

Abe Sharpe, on the other hand—he finally got his high school diploma.  He ended up actually going to MIT (go figure, I suppose).  While there, he connected with the younger sister of none other than John Brady (who was not pleased about the turn of events).  The two of them enjoyed a short engagement before getting married.  Abe went on to be hired by NASA and worked on the moon landing with his brilliant mind—all the while helping his wife with their two boys and one daughter. 

Jonah Sharpe returned as a hero from the Pacific.  Interested in bettering things for veterans, he immediately went into psychology and began working on helping veterans readjust to coming home and how they could deal with their trauma.  He spent a long time dealing with alcoholism after the war, but eventually found a nice Jewish girl and settled down.  They had one son together and lived very happily.  

Alice Sharpe went on to raise a beautiful family of four children.  Her husband inherited Thomas Sharpe’s store and they stayed close to help take care of Adaline and Thomas when they got older.  She and Ruth eventually became close together over the years and bonded over missing Sarah.  

John Sharpe hadn’t the slightest clue of what he wanted to do with his life.  He spent a long time in college before going to Medical School.  He served in the Korean War and then after returning, he became a doctor.  He returned to work for the military, primarily performing life-saving surgeries on the soldiers he admired and loved so much.  He met a WASP and fell in love.  The two enjoyed a whirlwind romance wherein they eloped (he cited that Ruth had done it first, so his family really couldn’t be all that mad at him).  Although they have no children, the two are happily enjoying their retired lives in the countryside.  

Mary Sharpe had a lot of big dreams and ideas—and given the fact that most of her family had traveled, she decided that she wanted to do the same.  She attended an art school in Italy before returning home to become an architect.  Mary was later introduced to a friend of Abe’s from off of Thorpe Abbotts and the two of them are now married and have five children (much to Abe’s chagrin). 

Liesel Braun continued learning English.  She fell in love with literature and learning and was eventually accepted into Cornell University.  Liesel went on to become a writer and acclaimed author, sharing her story of survival with any who would listen.  It was in one of her English classes that she met a former paratrooper and fell in love.  The two moved to Long Island and have three children.  

Sveta Braun began working closely with her Aunt Adaline.  She became a renowned seamstress and took over Adaline’s clientele.  She made dresses for all sorts of people—including Priscilla Presley, Jackie Kennedy, and Marilyn Monroe.  Sveta eventually founded a fashion company and chose to retire quietly in Manhattan, enjoying Broadway and the theater in her freetime.  

David Aderman went to school with Abe at MIT—and then dropped out to find other work.  Ruth connected her cousin with her friend Lewis Nixon and he ended up working at Nixon Nitration Works before attending a trade school and opening up his own company in New York.  He fell in love with one of Mary’s friends from school and married her shortly after.  The two are still in New York and have two children. 

Yosef Sharff never remarried.  His beloved Magda remained in a picture on the mantle for the rest of his life.  He lived with Thomas and Adaline until the day that he died—a wintery day in 1960—and though his time on this earth was short, he left a powerful impact in the community and within his own family.  

Ruth and Rosie’s families still get together every year for birthdays, family reunions, passovers, festivals, and to see one another.  And every time that they do, Abe Sharpe takes the credit for pulling all of this together.  And really—he truly does.  How else to explain the fact that Ruth and Robby had found their way to one another through a whole war and through the most impossible of circumstances?  How else to explain the miraculous survival of their family members and friends?  How else to explain the profound beauty that was their story?

Finé

[miss-rogers-all-american]

I honestly am sick of the narrative that housewives are poor abused victims. Women who choose to be housewives are not naive victims, many of us are educated, and have worked in a career field before. I’m friends with a gal who is a former nasa employee, making far more than her husband. She decided she would be happier at home and left, her family is thriving.

Many women have simply realized the value of staying home. When you work full time (and my goal is not to shame anyone who does or wants that) it is very hard to be there for your family. Using a personal example, my mother is actually one of the reasons I want to be a stay at home mom and homeschool my children. My mom is a teacher, she has the same mentality as many women today. Don’t ever trust a man to provide because he might leave you, or turn out to be a deadbeat, or pass away leaving you with no contingency plan. She wanted me to wait until I finished my bachelors and my masters in education before settling down, she even encouraged me to apply for phd in history. All of this despite the fact that I have no desire to continue my education, and feel miserable and depressed in a strict academic setting. I am chronically ill, for me personally working, and going to school, and raising a family or working towards that goal is an impossible task. My doctor once told me that I would have to choose between a career or a family, and you can make a simple guess as to which one I chose.

A lot of women have had to make the same choice, for one reason or another. I never want my children to feel like they are not my priority. I never want to feel like I don’t have the energy to deal with my own children because I was dealing with someone else’s. I never want to have to guess at what my children are interested in or learning about because I’m never home. You may have been raised by a career woman and feel very differently from me, but I know that I never felt like a priority in my home.

As far as the idea that we have to be totally established in careers and finished with school and living on our own before we get married, that’s poppycock. I am going to be married very soon, for both economic reasons and also to assist my family in caring for my elderly grandfather, we will be staying in my home with my parents. I will be going back to school to get my bachelors degree so I can work as a substitute teacher as needed. My fiancé is going to trade school to do line work. We are not financially established, but we both have a good work ethic, a love for each other, and most importantly, love and trust in God. I trust that the Lord will provide as he always has. Things may be hard, but God never promised easy and happy.

Trust in yourself, trust in your partner, and above all, trust in God.

(This concludes my rant)

[abvndonedbydisney]

[ peyton alex smith, cis man, he/him. ] ✧･ﾟ is that [ MATHEO LEBLANC ] who just stumbled into town? rumour has it that they’re the [ TWENTY-FIVE ] year old child of [ ROBAIRE ] from [ TURNING RED ]. i’ve also heard that they’re [ ARTISTIC ] but [ ARROGANT ] and have [ 2 ] siblings. i could almost swear i heard [ NASA - JOSH LEVI ] playing when they appeared.

full name: matheo leblanc.

nicknames: theo.

gender: cis man.

pronouns: he/him.

sexuality: closeted bisexual.

age: twenty-five.

date of birth: august 7th.

zodiac sign: leo.

aesthetics: random lyrics scribbled onto notebook paper, baggy t-shirts, an award winning smile, a voice like honey, and bass loud enough to feel it reverberating.

parents: robaire from turning red.

siblings: two younger siblings.

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘.

if there was one downside to being the son of a worldwide famous popstar, it was quite possibly the fact that it was almost impossible to fill your parents’ shoes. almost possible, that was something matheo leblanc wanted to put to the test. he was brought into this world after his father’s relationship with his fake girlfriend became complicated, one drunken night spent together leading to a blessed accident. while robaire was nowhere near mentally prepared to become a father, the success that 4*town was beginning to die down at this point. maybe it was time for him to throw in the towel and settle down, almost as if this unexpected pregnancy was a wake-up call of sorts for the popstar. while both were left feeling unsure, the birth of their first son was the confirmation they both needed. they wanted to at least try to make a family unit work out.

although now that matheo is grown up, he is unsure if his parents ever loved one another. it almost feels as if they stuck together for the mere sake of their children and nothing more. maybe his father’s heart always belonged to someone else. it was a question he didn’t dare ask. not that he would’ve had the time to do so. even with 4*town only doing their reunion tours every couple of years, matheo’s father was barely present in his life. his former popularity offered him modeling deals, commercials, television appearances, and so on. due to the outpour of gigs he had, he was constantly on the go.

due to his mother being overwhelmed raising three children on her own, she was quick to look into boarding schools. matheo was the first to leave home, attending a private boarding school during his middle school years. it was there he discovered the only thing he had in common with his father: a shared passion for music. he wanted to write, produce, and perform his own tracks. but somehow he couldn’t seem to escape his father’s shadow wherever he went. everyone always compared his vocal skills and dancing to his father’s. while it might have seemed like high praise considering his success, the flattery grew to bitterness rather quickly.

it was in high school when matheo was truly able to step into his own light and begin to pave a path for himself. he was attending a private arts school where he was provided the tools to strengthen as a musician. not only that but he found a muse: his secret boyfriend. despite not being open about his relationship, he never made his partner feel like a dirty secret. although when they graduated high school, they both had dreams of fostering their own music careers. both of their dreams came true but with their skyrocketing popularity, they both became rather distracted. keeping their relationship a secret grew more difficult, leading matheo to break things off despite how deeply he had fallen for the other at this point.

while it might’ve seemed like a dick move, matheo finally had what he had dreamed of nearly his entire life. on top of that, he finally made a name for himself where his father was rarely brought up when the media spoke about him and his music. he wasn’t going to allow anything to ruin the life had created for himself, not even love.

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.

the other children of the members of 4*TOWN.

[faerune]

i’m not sure when exactly diana and steve would wanna get married. i feel like steve would be entirely gungho about it during diana’s later years of her bachelor’s but i think she’d want to at least have her master’s before they get engaged

[knpjpr]

fucked up. | jjk sm au

⇆series: #fake

⇆main ship: gamer!jungkook x student!reader

⇆genre: angst, angst, and angst and then some fluff

⇆word count: 4.5K (unedited)

⇆warnings: theres cussing, unprotected sex, (wrap it up smh.) riding, dirty talk, tension between yn and jungkook, slut shaming, taehyung x lou ;), taejoon friendship confirmed, jimin and yoongi fight, jungkook and yn fight, everyone is messy tbh

⇆ a/n: if you'd like to be added to the taglist, send me an ask + time stamps are in this part for a reason

Yn ; October 31th | 11:21 pm

The minute you and Lou are entering the house, everything is in full swing. People scattered all around, some at the bar table filling their cups with whatever type of booze they could, others dancing, playing beer pong, and much more that you knew Jin would throw a fit about later.

Lou is parting ways with you, automatically walking her way to the booze table and pushing some guy you’ve never seen over as you make yourself home to a space on the couch. Lou looked pretty, just like your dark angel costume, she’d placed herself in a white version, the curve of her body showing nicely. She was indeed a pretty angel.

Taehyung is the second person who you see tonight, walking up to you with the same smile you’ve known since fifth grade. “Care if I join you?” He’s noticeably a vampire, the corners of his mouth leaked with fake blood as his red contacts contrast with the costume.

“Sure, Lou went and ditched me… as usual.”

He’s laughing, the only sound that made you feel comfortable in this crowded house full of people you’ve seen but never made the time to get to know. The two of you had finally been able to talk after a long time and it was nice. You and Taehyung were good friends and you hoped it stayed that way.

“I like your costume.” He says, taking a quick glance over at your outfit, but deciding that if he looked any further it would make you uncomfortable.

You’re smiling at him this time, settling into the party as your side tucks into his. “You want something to drink?” Nodding slowly, Taehyung is standing up and walking towards the bar table.

It had been a few minutes of you sitting there when you decided to walk around the place. Loud music with people’s chatter to overlap with it. You easily are swinging past bodies, trying to find Taehyung’s figure who wasn’t at the bar table any more. It wasn’t until you feel a hand on your shoulder when you are close by the backyard sliding doors that you stop. “Hey.”

You turn and there Jungkook is, red solo cup in hand, and a smile placed on his face as your heart pounds. He looks hot, black hood over his head with clown makeup decorating his face, his jeans ripped like always. His costume was simple, but even so, still made your heart race.

He had been waiting to see you all night, got here early due to Namjoon’s request to get out the house and help, and so seeing you here made his heart happy, made him happy.

He’s taking a long glance down your body, swallowing hard when he notices that you aren't wearing alot to cover your figure, parts of your body like your cleavage and thighs on full display to him. “Like what you see?” You tease as he frowns down at you, which has you laughing, unintentionally placing your hand on his chest.

His gaze softens the minute your touch is all he feels. “Why don’t we go somewhere quieter?” He asks, watching as you move closer to him every time someone pushes past you. “Sure, follow me.” You say as you slip your hand into his and start leading him past others, not noticing the blush that rises on your cheeks.

Namjoon ; October 31th | 11:37 pm

Namjoon was a tall.. a little too tall handsome guy, to which he had found out by the longing glances he would get from girls and even so guys. This was not his usual thing, never had himself at a party so he was determined to find someone he knew and hang with them for the majority of the night.

Slipping past a few people, he’s coming into sight of Taehyung, choppy brown hair displaying in messy waves as a red solo cup had been accompanying him for the night. Namjoon is walking up to him, dimples on full display, which has Taehyung splitting his gaze from something to him in an instant. “Yo dude, like your costume.”

Namjoon did not plan to go all out for this simple halloween party, and seeing as Jin told him that it was a costume party, he opted to dress up as his future career. He wore a bright orange nasa jumpsuit, one that his mom bought him per his request. He wanted to be an astronaut and sure hell this kid could do it.

“Thanks.” Namjoon takes a seat beside Taehyung, finally realizing that his attention wasn’t on the 5’11 tall ass guy seated next to him, but rather on a shorter girl who’s doe eyes were scanning around the kitchen.

Namjoon recognized her almost instantly, didn't even have to question it by the way Taehyung is sighing hard. “When has she looked that pretty, and why am I just realizing this.” He blurts, Namjoon not knowing if he’s talking to him or to the air that this party didn’t have enough of.

“Why don’t you talk to her?” Taehyung cocks his head in Namjoons direction, an unrecognizable look on his face. He had been watching her the minute he assumed you found Jungkook, his gaze not being able to falter at all from her direction.

“I don’t know man, I don’t want to fuck up our friendship.” Taehyung admits, he didn’t know whatever the feeling that he felt right now was. But he did know if he were to explore it, he could possibly fuck it all up.

“Well, you never know. That’s why they are called “leaps of faith,” namjoon shifts in his spot on the couch, watching as the girl they had been looking at is startly approached by another figure. “You never know. If you don’t go, others will.”

Taehyung doesn’t need to be told twice, getting up from his seat the minute the girl’s face crinkles in uncomfortableness at the other unknown guy. Taehyung didn’t know what would come out of him and Lou, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t ignore how he felt at that moment.

Jimin ; November 1st | 12:03 pm

If there was one thing Jimin knew, it was that costumes at Halloween parties are not mandatory. He very much disliked dressing up in some tacky costume, like a couple who had just walked past him as a firefighter and a dalmation. Fucking lame.

Instead, Jimin dressed hot, dressed in clothes that he wore all the time, but for Yoongi, it made his heart pound and Jimin knew that. Could tell all just by the way Yoongi would take long glances the whole ride to Jin’s and would constantly suck in air the minute Jimin is softly brushing against him.

Jimin had been seated on one of the bar stools in the den of Jin’s house, carefully watching as Jin and Yoongi go at it in a round of beer pong. Yoongi was losing terribly, his attention too intertwined with the blonde that was sitting comfortably behind him.

Jin’s turn was next, only had three more cups to go before Yoongi was completely plastered, which meant that Jimin would have to drive them home. Yoongi was already starting to become drunk, the smell of booze making Jimin’s nose crinkle in a cringe. Drinking was overrated.

Jin takes one of the balls in his hands, angling his hand as he squints before chucking the ball, the sound of a plastic ball hitting liquid making Yoongi groan. “F-fuck man.” Yoongi grunts, slipping the ball out of the cup before tipping the cup up to his lips and chugging the rest of its contents.

Jimin watched with distaste, Jin smirking widely before waiting for Yoongi to try his shot with the remaining eight cups left on Jin’s side. “Man, I think it’s far to see I've won.” Jin says taunting but Yoongi glares hard at the older male. “You, you shut your big lip ass up. I can do it just fine you f-fucker.”

Yoongi reaches his hand down into the small basket full of ping pong balls, grabbing the plastic orb and trying to copy Jin’s movements, but failed with a drunken stance, the ping pong ball bouncing off the table and onto the floor.

“S-shit.” He groans, Jin smirking as Jimin rolls his eyes. There was no way that Yoongi was going to win and it was starting to annoy Jimin because he was sitting here watching him just drink and drink.

Soon enough Yoongi was sipping down his last drink, proving ultimately that Jin won fair and square. “Damn dude, usually you beat me. Must be my lucky day.” Jin laughs out and Jimin slips off from the bar stool. “I’m going to go get me some water.”

Yoongi being completely plastered was a bad thing. Not only was he extremely clumsy but he was ill-tempered and acted rash and right on the spot. So the minute he’s coming to the conclusion Jimin’s leaving him behind, he’s turning fast and accidentally spilling the remainder of booze on Jimin’s clothes.

“Fuck! Baby I didn’t mean to.” Yoongi says, not paying attention to the looks people are starting to give the minute they realize what just left his mouth.

Jimin didn’t care about his clothes, but what he did care about was Yoongi just outting them out. Outting him out. Yoongi had been trying to wipe away the stain with his hand, not even understanding that wasn’t how it worked.

Jimin slapped his hand away, Yoongi’s face forming into a frown as he realized Jimin was pissed. “Don’t fucking touch me.” Yoongi finally realized around him that people were watching, looking back at Jimin.

And here came the ill-temper that Yoongi had when drunk.

“Are you fucking embarrassed of us? What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Yn ; October 31th | 11:42 pm

You had found no one occupying Jin’s guest room, slowly leading Jungkook inside and locking it so no one could come busting inside and interrupting the two of you. Which was usually drunks and or people looking for places to fuck.

Jungkook sat on the end of the bed, his usual man spreading pose coming into your line of sight. It makes you blush, having to stop yourself from being anymore of a fool that you could possibly be.

“Hey, you can come sit too.” Patting with persistence you’re sitting down with a slight giggle that has Jungkook smiling back at you. He had noticed the blush that placed your cheeks, his starting to burn.

“You’re blushing.” You blurt out, that has Jungkook flinching as a slightly irritated look was on his face. “You’re the one who’s blushing.” He says, eyebrows furrowed as you look away from, trying to cool down your face.

“It’s because of you,” he speaks out, his straightforwardness never faulting in his personality. You turn your head to face him, face bright red with doe eyes piercing his gaze. “It’s because of you that is making me blush.”

At this moment your heart is beating fast, his body shifting closer to yours as you swallow hard. Jungkook has always been clear cut, always knew what he wanted, but when you came along, his dynamic changed. He wanted you, and he wanted to prove it.

“Tell me if you don’t want to.” That’s all he says as he waits for your response. Your heart almost about to burst out of your chest. You wanted this, for him to kiss you again and to be wrapped up in just him. “Go ahead..”

That is all you had to say before his lips are in the space of yours, hearts beating at the same pace together. His hand slowly creeped up and intermingled with yours. Your stomach filled with butterflies, his warmth and smell surrounding your senses.

The next thing you knew, you were spread out on the sheets of Jin’s guest room, Jungkook’s flushed face and deep breaths as he doesn’t know what he wants to do first. “I don’t have a condom.” He says, because obviously he didn’t think he would be over your naked body like this, about to fuck you like this.

Your response is filled with shyness, the fact you’ve never let someone look at you like this, and because he didn't know he looked so adorable at this moment. Hair standing up every which way, eyes hooded, and cheeks pink. “You can continue..”

“Is this your first time?" He asks as though that should be the response to what was about to happen. You can't help the giggle that tumbles from your lips, gesturing along to his slightly shocked face. "Yeah, it is." 

He's coming over to you, looking you in the eyes as you slightly bite a hold on your lip. "Ah, uhm okay. I’ll be gentle, just tell me if anything is hurting." He talks distractedly as he investigates your body and you can't tell if he’s nervous or just doesn't know what he’s doing.

Whenever he's settled on his decision, he's moving to lay over you once more, your legs spread out towards him. Going to press another kiss to your mouth, however you're halting him before your lips are contacting. "You can chill too, you know? I don’t expect this to be perfect." 

He’s nodding his head, before sitting up and pulling his shirt off his head, which was the last article of clothing that made the two not fully naked.

"How about you ride me," An idea that plainly flew into his head, however he's finishing, moving back and onto his back. You couldn’t help the blush that crept up on your face the minute his hands came in contact with your waist, placing you above his torso.

He’s moving to align himself perfectly with your entrance, a slight moan escaping from your lips the minute you're slowly slipping to be seated on him. He groans, his hands coming to make a place on your hips. You didn’t know what to do at first, this had been your first time, and it wasn’t like you were taking notes on how to be fucked.

It was the way he would moan differently that had you figuring out a better pace for the both of you. His head had been placed back into his pillow, at an angle to where he could watch how your tits would bounce and exactly how your wetness would pool down onto his dick. “God fuck baby, you feel so fucking good.”

His words rolled off his tongue with such ease, you hadn’t been uncomfortable at all by his dirty talk. And he knew that just by the way your walls would clench and a longed out whine would slip past your lips. If you did that again he probably would have cum right then and there.

His hands held a tighter grasp on your hips the minute you were placing your hands to rest on his chest, your hips rolling at a quicker pace, his dick rubbing up and down on your walls. “Fuck..” His tip slips back as you bring down your hips back onto him. 

“Yeah baby, just like that." He praises, voice stressed as he feels his cock jerk somewhere inside you. He's not even sure where you learned this, because plot twist you didn’t learn it anywhere. Your pussy fixes around him at the finish of his words and it pushes him to the edge, making him throw his head back again.

It’s when he’s feeling his high coming that he’s moving your back, your chest pressed to his as he’s moving his legs and thrusting into your pussy. You moan loudly, his nails digging into your hips as your hands are tangled in his hair. Lips finding each other as you could feel your climax reaching too.

He doesn’t stop his fast thrusts until your moaning non stop, the feel of your nails digging hard into his hair, legs shaking uncontrollably as the two of you are hitting your climax. The sound of his moans mixing with yours as the only person you thought about was him.

His arms stay around your body until the roll of your hips transforms into little jerks, gasped breaths hitting his neck which has him smiling softly. His neck cranes so he can get a decent glance at your face, a fucked out smile on your face. “Damn, dick that good?” He teases as he feels a huff pressed to his skin.

You're fast to turn in his arms, scrunching your nose as you gaze toward him. "You suck, you really looked hot in that costume," He laughs loudly at that, as he rests his nose in the crook of your neck. You're immediately loaded up with warmth as his arms wrap themselves around your waist. He wanted nothing but to stay in this moment with you.

An all around recognizable feeling starts to pool in your stomach. It was beginning to get harder to contain your complete infatuation with Jungkook, to hold yourself back from falling excessively fast. The way he had been holding onto you gently, drawing circles with his fingertips, and even humming softly, you knew you were fucked.

Yn ; November 1st | 12:37 pm

Soon enough Jungkook is slipping away from your grasp, checking the constant notifications dinging from his phone which made him shoot up from the bed and hurry up to put on his clothes.

“Woah- Is everything okay?” You ask, pulling the sheets with you to cover yourself. Jungkook could see the worried expression on your face, “Yeah baby, don’t worry Hoseok needs me down stairs, Jimin and Yoongi are fighting.”

The minute you are hearing his words, you have to digest. First, he called you baby and boy did you like it, and second Jimin and Yoongi were fighting? You were shocked, hurrying to get out of bed but Jungkook is stopping you.

“No. You stay here okay? I’ll come back after it’s all done, it’s just so you don’t get hurt.” That’s all he says before he’s rushing out of the room leaving you with a shocked and worried feeling.

It had been about twenty minutes and Jungkook still hadn’t come back, so you decided that you would go see what was going on by yourself.

Walking down the stairs in one of Jin’s hoodies and shorts, you heard a lot of yelling, but most importantly crying. Slipping through a few people your heart almost broke at the sight.

Jungkook had been holding back Yoongi as Hoseok and Jin did the same with Jimin, Yoonig’s face streaming with tears, eyes red and nose bloodshot. “Why the fuck are you so scared huh?? Am I nothing to you?!?” He screams, trying to claw out of Jungkook’s hold as Jimin’s eyes are just as hurt as Yoongi’s are. “I never said shit about that Yoongi! I just wished you would have given me time!”

Yoongi can’t control what he’s feeling at that point, tears still streaming as he’s still trying to fight his way out of Jungkook's hold. “You’re my fucking boyfriend Jimin?! Why is that so hard to accept??” Everyone is shocked as Jimin breaks down. You had never seen Yoongi so hurt before, never seen him cry and sure as hell never seen him interested in someone. Jimin doesn’t even look Yoongi in the eyes before he’s leaving, slipping past people who were recording, tears streaming through both of their eyes. Yoongi screams after him, begging him to stop walking and come back but Jimin doesn't and you could tell it broke Yoongi more.

Soon enough Jin announces the party will continue and for no one to panic as him and Jungkook lead Yoongi up towards his room, trying to calm down the crying guy with every walk.

You needed something to drink after that, today was a lot to process and a drink from whatever was in the bottle that was in your hand would suffice. “Now bitch, boy do I have some tea to spill for you.” Lou’s voice rang from beside you, a bright smile on her face.

She instantly notices you’re in Jin’s clothes, but decides that she’ll ask you about it later, but first she needs to tell you about what she just experienced. “Girlfriend guess who just kis-” She doesn’t even get to finish her sentence before someone is walking up.

Lou steps beside you the second her personal space is being invaded, the look on the guys face nasty and uncomfortable. “I’m glad I finally found you again, I never got to ask your name before that one guy came.”

From the way Lou shudders and the way he talks you can tell she’s met him and doesn’t want to again. “Listen dude, she’s not interested.” You speak up, but the guy doesn’t take his hint, a sour look on his face the minute you’re interjecting.

“Listen bitch, why don’t you go get fucked somewhere else alright?”

He’s motioning towards Jin’s clothes, a ping in your chest the minute you realise he just slut shamed you, an instant feeling of discomfort coming through your skin. Lou is seconds from saying something before Taehyung is stepping behind the guy and coughing loudly.

The guy falters, looking over his shoulder and swallowing down. “You know what? I think my friend just called me.” No one gets to say anything before he’s walking fastly away, a worried expression on Taehyung’s face. “Yn? You alright?”

You couldn’t move, the minute you are hearing the concerned voices of Lou and Taehyung has you unintentionally crying. Taehyung doesn’t know what to do when he sees this, softly reaching out and grabbing a hold on your arm and pulling you into a hug.

Jungkook ; November 1st | 1:13 pm

Jungkook helps Jins put Yoongi on his bed before he’s walking across the room into the guest room and being hit with emptiness. He rushed downstairs and looked across the house only to see people going back to what they were doing.

It’s when he looks toward the kitchen that he sees you, but what he sees makes his thoughts run loose. He couldn’t deny that since the day he had proposed to “fake date” that maybe you still thought of it like that and even so, liked Taehyung.

He was pissed, pissed because now he was convincing himself that you played him, pissed at himself for slowly falling for you when he shouldn’t have. He’s walking over towards the kitchen area and clawing you out of Taehyung’s grasp. “Man what the fuck.” Taehyung frowns hard at the younger guy, but Jungkook isn’t looking at him.

“I think it’s time to end the deal.” Jungkook seethes through his teeth, his jaw clenched as you looked confused. Lou and Taehyung were confused behind him. “Jungkook why are you ups-” He doesn’t let you finish, the grip on your hand tight. “I was stupid to think you liked me, but you know what that’s what I get huh? I mean I was the one who suggested for you to fake date me to get over Taehyung for Lou. But even still it looks like Taehyung likes you over her.”

“You did WHAT??” And that’s when shit hits the fan. Jungkook’s eyes widen the minute he realizes what he’s said, Lou scrunching her fists around the cup she had in her hands, liquid spewing out.

“What a load of bullshit.” She doesn’t even look at Jungkook, her cold gaze directed towards you. You had seen this look before, always toward her mom or her brother when they severely pissed her off, but now it was directed toward you for the first time.

“I knew it was all fucking weird. But you two seriously took me for a fucking fool huh? I can’t believe this is what you do behind my back.” You were scrambling, trying your best to not break down. “Lou it’s not what you think-” She doesn’t let you finish either, grabbing a bottle of alcohol and throwing it on the floor, breaking it. “So this is the kind of friend you take me for!!” She looks you dead in the eyes, before turning around and realizing that Taehyung had heard Jungkook’s words. She couldn’t do this, turning around fully and running away, out the house or somewhere in the house, just anywhere away from there.

You push your way out of Jungkook’s grasp, making him realize that he fucked up the minute that he’s watching your back, your figure running away and out the house. You had just lost your best friend and the guy you were falling for all in one night.

↫ masterlist ↬

— "first loves have always been confusing, but when you're bestfriend confesses she likes someone, your willing to do anything, even fake date and even so, find your first love."

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TAGLIST: @pjmriri @yoongiofmine @shatzkrinslinzki @sereni-soo @avke @betysotelo18 @she-is-dreaming @jkslachimolala @rageyoudamnednerd @teti-menchon0604 @peachy-skz0325 @shreyuuu @pvt-only @lovelytaes-blog @awseokjin @girlwiththeglittereyeliner @tanumiki

[kuramirocket]

undefined

In the grand cosmos of her life's journey, Ali Guarneros Luna discovered early on, the path to the stars is not a straight shot - but a winding course that sometimes skirts peril and disappointment.

As an engineer at NASA, Luna knows what's involved in navigating space. Her engineering fingerprints are all over numerous satellites currently orbiting the earth. And as project manager for NASA's Small Satellite Program she's worked on projects aimed at deepening understanding of what lies beyond. But her trajectory was definitely not a direct line.

"I was born in Mexico. My mother was born there. Being an immigrant in this country," Luna said, "having a harsh beginning, being a woman, it’s difficult, right?"

Luna's passion for space travel touched-off when she was seven-years-old living in her native Mexico City.

Unlike others who gaze up at the stars contemplating the meaning of the universe, Luna wondered about the machines that would make the trip possible.

"I was just so captivated at seven -- that I was like 'I want to do that!'" Luna recalled. "That’s exactly what I want to do and at that age I was like, 'I’m going to be an aerospace engineer.' My upbringing was different, I want to say, from most girls because I was never told that I had to fit certain roles. I guess it was because I was the oldest one of four. I had to step up. And the two youngest ones were boys. And I was a hyperactive child. So I never had that actually being a situation where I felt that I was not good enough in math or science. Because I had to be the boss. So it just happens that in that environment, even though I was only one of two girls within a bunch of young kids, mostly boys, I was doing what I wanted to do. And it was very exciting. So I never really had that. So with me going into aerospace engineering, I think it was an easy thing.”

After the 1985 Earthquake in Mexico City, her life changed. Ali and her mother immigrated to California and settled in San Jose, CA. With only two pieces of luggage, they left everything behind, especially close friends and family.

During the anti-immigration efforts like California Proposition 187 in 1994, school was the only thing Ali was allowed to do as her mother feared deportation. Her new schedule was limited to traveling from home to school and back, with no room to do the sports she loved. So school became her outlet — it became a safe place for her to grow up, where she could continue to learn and grow.

“So within six months of working full-time, my mother lost her job. So I became the one that supported the whole family. And I did it for about five years. It was tough because being so young and understand that my mother needed my support. And my brothers, being they were looking up to me -- it's something that's heavy when you're so young. You don't understand. But when I was growing up, I always moved on the opportunities that presented in front of me, and I did what I needed to do without looking back.”

Despite being a single mom, Ali’s mother worked hard to make sure Ali had every opportunity growing up. Ali was very athletic and participated in many sports and gymnastics, track being her favorite. When she wasn’t playing sports, she was reading the encyclopedias that her mother bought for her.

“My mother loved encyclopedias. My mother had so many. I would just sit in the living room reading about space shuttles after school because I really wanted to understand what they did.”

On the cusp of adulthood, she graduated high school and went straight into the workforce. Although she loved school, she wanted to support her mother and her family. She attempted to go to community college while working full time, but the emotional stress was overwhelming and she dropped out. In the next few years, she had four children, with two who had special needs. While caring for her children at home and researching their disabilities, she realized that she needed to go back to school.

“I saw my kids who were born with special needs, and I asked myself ‘How I can help them?’… it was clear to me that I needed to go back to school. I wanted to give them a stable life.”

Back-to-school, together. After her youngest child enrolled in kindergarten, Ali enrolled at San Jose City College and transferred to San Jose State University majoring in Aerospace Engineering. In this transition from stay-at-home mom to full-time student, she became a single parent. She was a full-time student while being a full-time mom, taking care of four children. 

"I was too old, I was not as young as any of the students, and I definitely was not in that mold of students," said Guarneros Luna. "I had four children. I didn't think of myself as someone who was going to contribute something special."

“I went and applied for an internship without thinking that I was ever going to come and work for NASA. I did have a bachelor's degree, but I was old. I was not a young person. The internship was only going to be for three months.  Because of the internship I have to leave one job and then be here. I knew it was only for three months, but the opportunity was too much to pass up. And then I became a contractor. And then it was important to apply for a civil servant. And I became a civil servant. ”

Ali has managed ten interns, introducing them to aerospace engineering through several projects including building three satellites and researching the design for return capsules for the International Space Station. Commercializing ISS has been a difficult problem for NASA and the process to ship products back and forth from the space station has to go through large space vehicles like Falcon, which takes three to six months. Space is limited on these vehicles and launching them gets very expensive. She and her team are paving the way to redesign return capsules with small payload returns so that astronauts can get the products they need for experiments in three business days rather than months later, allowing for more research to be done more efficiently.

Here is a part of the conversation with Ali Guarneros Luna, NASA Engineer and Deputy Project Manager at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley:

Host: When you became a civil servant you were working on some safety aspects?

Ali Guarneros Luna: Yeah. Safety mission assurance. So when I started for this small set of projected, specifically the TechEdSat, you're going through the space station. And you're dealing with humans inside. So everything you put inside the space station, you have to be careful of what you put in there and understand what are the consequences if something goes wrong.

So I was one of the group of engineers who started that process and started learning and setting it up for the following satellites that are going to be deployed from the space station. So I ended up doing all the safety data package, which is like documentation about your hardware that you put into space where you analyze all the hazards that you present to the space station or to the astronauts and then how are you going to control them and how are you going to verify them. So I was doing that. I became so good that I ended up doing every single one from the one first one to now, right?

Host: You do it right once, then they keep coming back.

Ali Guarneros Luna: Yes.

Host: This is my job now.

Ali Guarneros Luna: Yes. I was an engineer. I was part of the engineer group like two years ago. But there was an opening in safety mission assurance. Just for me to learn, I just say, "Why not? Let me go in there." So when you're an engineer and you go to school, nobody teaches you anything about that. You learn it on the job.

Despite her unique circumstances, Ali believes the challenges she experienced guided her to make the right decisions for her future. “I am resilient, if there’s a problem, there’s more than one solution”, she states, “To overcome difficult decisions, you need to plan for them…educate yourself so that you have the tools to make a plan of action.”

Every summer, Guarneros Luna gives back to her community. She goes back to San Jose State as a professor. "It's important for them to hear from somebody who did not come from a privileged background and did not come from parents that were educated," she said. "In my mind, I have that 'semillita' of education, that I wanted to get educated. A seed planted in me to go and get an education early on." The next time you look up and think your dreams like the moon are too far to reach, Guarneros Luna wants you to remember: 238,000 miles is actually closer than you think.

As an aerospace engineer, Ali is an advocate and actively promotes Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. She is registered with the NASA Ames Speakers Bureau and is an active participant of this program. Ali also supports yearly programs like, Girls Scouts Go Tech, SWE Get Set, Soles Science Extravaganza, Society of Women Engineers (SWE) “WOW that is Engineering”, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE )“Noche de Ciencia” by providing hands-on activities and tours of the labs at SJSU. In 2012, Ali had contact with the Mexican university,, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, UABC. She hosted a 6-week workshop at SJSU for the UABC students to build and launch an armature rocket. The success of this project was greatly broadcast in Mexico and as a result the Agencia Espacial Mexican, AEM, is interested in organizing a similar program but with the involvement of more universities.

Ali is committed to encouraging young people to pursue science, technology and engineering careers. In recognition of her achievements, the Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC) named Ali Guarneros Luna as one of the 2013 Luminary Honorees. In October 2015, Ali was awarded the NASA Honor Award - Equal Employment Opportunity Medal., She also received the ISS Space Award in 2014 for her contributions to SPHERES, Modular Rapidly Manufactured Small Satellite (MRMSS), Nodes and TechEdSat Series Projects:

SPHERES: For dedication and exceptional performance in the development and operations of free flying robotic satellites inside the ISS testing autonomous satellite maneuvers.

MRMSS: For dedication and exceptional performance in research and development of modular design and manufacturing processes for spacecraft systems.

Nodes: For dedication and exceptional performance in two nanosatellites that will be deployed from ISS to demonstrate networking and advanced multi-spacecraft operations

TechEdSat Series: For exceptional performance and dedication in the development, test, launch, ISS deployment, and operation of the TechEdSat Nanosatellite spaceflight mission; launching the first NASA CubeSat from the ISS. TechEdSat-3p: For exceptional performance and dedication in the development, test, launch, ISS deployment, and operation of the TechEdSat-3p Nanosatellite “Exo-Brake” spaceflight mission; launching the first 3u NASA CubeSat from the ISS.

Ali Guarneros Luna currently works with the Office of System Safety & Mission Assurance (SS&MA) at NASA Ames Research Center. Prior to her work in the SS&MA, Ali worked in Ames’ Engineering Directorate as a technical authority for small satellite development and payloads bound for the International Space Station (ISS). In the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) National Lab, she worked as the system and safety engineer. In the Edison Program, Ali served as the system engineering, mission and ground operations, and launch vehicle service expert for multiple CubeSat projects including the Technological and Educational Nanosatellite (TechEdSat). Ali functioned as the Deputy Project Manager, ISS expert, and launch vehicle interface for the Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program’s Nodes project. In the Sub-Orbital Aerodynamic Re-entry EXperiments (SOAREX) Series of suborbital experiments, Ali has performed in multiple engineering roles to include design, building and testing engineer. Ali is currently the deputy project manager and co-investigator for the SOAREX 9 and SOAREX 10 missions.

She received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from San Jose State University (SJSU) in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Ali obtained an internship at NASA Ames with the Office of the Chief Technologist. During her time as an intern, she led and helped develop education and outreach programs for SJSU. The first program was called System of Networked Autonomous Positioning Satellites (SNAPS) followed by the TechEdSat Series. As a professional engineer, Ali has lead various projects affiliated with the ISS.

During her internship at NASA Ames, Ali supported the SNAPS project, which is an evolution of the SPHERES program which aims to demonstrate the practical applications of a network of autonomous probes. SNAPS was a test bed for guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) capabilities to enable probes to navigate without human interference or the need for external control.

As a professional engineer, Ali was mission manager for TechEdSat-1. In this capacity, Ali had managerial and oversight on all technical and programmatic aspects of the NASA Ames- SJSU project. In particular, Ali provided technical contributions to both speed the development and avoid ISS define hazard that could stop the mission, through innovative design, lab testing, and qualification methods for the TechEdSat flight hardware. She also developed and engineered the Auxiliary Lateral Inhibit (ALI) Switch for safety deployment from the ISS. Ali has co-authored technical papers for the TechEdSat structure and payload including the project plan and Safety Data Package, among others. 
Her efforts enabled the project to successfully meet both ISS program and Ames Engineering Requirements. Developed, built, tested and certified for flight to the ISS in only 9 months, TechEdSat-1 was the first American CubeSat deployed from the ISS as well as being one of the first CubeSats deployed from the Station overall. TechEdSat-1 completed a life cycle with over 1000 beacon packets and 208 days of service. The TechEdSat-1 deorbited May 5th, 2013.

As a result of TechEdSat-1’s enormous success, an opportunity was presented to develop, build, test and certify TechEdSat-3P which ultimately launched to the ISS in 2013. For this mission, Ali served as a mentor to the other students and engineers as well as performed the role of safety engineer. For TechEdSat-4, launched in 2015, Ali was a radio frequency, safety and system engineer.  Currently Ali is working on TES-5 as the quality and system engineer.

Ali is the deputy project manager, liaison and lead for ISS requirements for the Network and Operation Demonstration Satellites (Nodes) mission.  This mission was deployed from the ISS in May 16th, 2016.

Developing new technology, Ali currently works with the SOAREX Series team. SOAREXserves as a test bed for a variety of re-entry and supporting technologies for use in automous sample return and other applications. Within the SOAREX team, Ali has multiple engineering roles from designing, building and serving as a testing engineer. She is also the deputy project manager and co-investigator for SOAREX 9 and SOAREX 10 missions. Ali supported the Orion Thermal Protecsion System (TPS) as a S&MA lead for the sensor on the Heat Shield (HS). She oversees the quality and safety of the design, build and testing of the sensor that would be installed in the HS for the next flight back in 2018.

In 2011 Ali was a member of the Plug-n-Play Mission Operations (PPMO) Workshop organizational committee at NASA Ames and helped organize the workshop held at SJSU. In 2013, Ali was on the student committee for the 10th International Planetary Probe Workshop (IPPW-10), which was held at SJSU the week of June 17th 2013.

Sources: (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

[bellaireland1981]

Lights, Camera, Coffee in LA

Ok, this is my absolute first time posting a story I’ve written and I am anxious as hell about it lol. Please be kind! 

Summary: Elena “Lena” is off to LA for the summer to visit her brother. Her summer gets off to a great start when she ends up sat next to none other than Chris Evans on the plane. (I suck at summaries!) Thank you SO much to @denisemarieangelina​ for reading and providing feedback, and a WAY better title than I’d managed to think of! You’re AMAZING! 

Characters: Chris Evans x OFC Elena

Word count: 4921

Warnings: None... absolute fluff

“I’m boarding the plane now, Mikey,” I gasped, out of breath from running through the airport.

“Oversleep again, Lena?” He asked laughing on the other end.

“Actually, my Uber was late and then we hit traffic on the freeway, thank you very much!” I said, indignantly, making my way down the gangway and onto the plane.

“Ok, well safe flight, I’ll see you in a few hours.” he responded, “Love you, Sis!”

“Love you too, Mikey! Can’t wait to see you!” I was excited to see my big brother. He’d moved out to L.A. when I was 12 years old to pursue a career in acting. He’d made a name for himself on a soap opera, but had decided he preferred being behind the camera instead of in front of it.

I quickly located my seat and stowed my carry-on in the overhead compartment before dropping into the seat by the window. One perk of having Michael book my tickets was an upgrade to first class.

I had just finished another year teaching 2nd grade and was looking forward to spending time in California with my big brother. Due to budget cuts, we had ended up with overcrowded classrooms this past year (meaning I’d had a class of 30 second graders as opposed to the normal 20 I was used to!). Needless to say, I was exhausted and needed a break.

“Can I get you something to drink before we take off ma’am?” a flight attendant asked me, smiling.

“Do you have any tea?” I asked, smiling back at her, I hadn’t had time to stop for caffeine on my way to the airport and wasn’t firing on all cylinders yet. “Or at this point, I’d drink week-old coffee resembling mud.”

“We can’t have you drinking mud, I’d be happy to get you some tea” She replied laughing, “Any milk, sugar, or honey?”

“Just plain, please!” I replied, “You’re seriously a life-saver!”

“All part of my job title!” She said before collecting the pre-flight drink orders from other passengers settling into their seats.

“A fellow caffeine addict, huh?” A smooth, deep voice sounded next to me. It appeared as though my seat neighbor had arrived.

“Not even ashamed to admit to that! “In all fairness though, it is before 8 in the morning, and a Monday no less.” I smiled up at the newcomer, and almost swallowed my tongue in the process.

Chris freaking Evans was standing less than a foot away, placing his bag in the overhead compartment. He had on a gray Henley with the sleeves pushed up, jeans, and a NASA hat pulled down to help disguise his identity.  Pull it together Lena, do NOT fangirl on the poor guy!

“Both fair points!” He said taking his seat and turning slightly towards me. Even with the added room in first class, he was still insanely close to me. I could smell his cologne or aftershave, which didn’t help my already overloaded senses.  “I’m Chris, by the way.”

“Elena” I replied, smiling, “Everyone just calls me Lena though.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lena” He replied with a smile of his own. Ugh, his azure blue eyes were seriously going to be my downfall. “What has you headed to L.A?”

“My brother lives there. I’m just going to visit for the summer. “A much-needed break from reality.” I replied, impressed that my inner fangirl wasn’t showing through...at least I hoped it wasn’t noticeable to Chris.

“I can definitely understand the need for a break.” He said, “The whole summer, huh? Must be a teacher?”

“Very good deduction skills!” I said laughing

“My older sister is a teacher as well, it was an easy deduction to make” He smirked, winking at me. “What do you teach?”

“I’m a second-grade teacher, although there are days I’d say ‘kitten wrangler’ would be a better job title.” I replied honestly. “Especially this past school year.”

“An entire room full of, what… 8-year-olds?” His eyes widened, “That’d be like a room full of my nephews… yeah, you need a break!”

“Yeah, 7 and 8-year-olds… 30 of them to be exact.” I replied, “I’m a kitten-wrangling ninja, what’s your superpower?”

He threw his head back at that and laughed, his left hand coming up to grab his chest. I smiled like an idiot at the fact that I was able to make him laugh hard enough to get the left boob grab.

“Super-human strength, quick healing abilities, and I look damn good for 100!” He replied, cheekily.

“Your tea Ma’am” the flight attendant interrupted, bringing my much-needed drink.

“Thank you so much!” I replied, taking the steaming cup.

“Can I get you anything, Mr. Evans?” she asked Chris, batting her eyelashes at him. I turned my head away to quickly stifle the snicker that was bubbling up.

“I’m good for now, thanks though.” He replied, then turning back towards me.

“Get that often, Mr. Evans. Or do you prefer Captain?” I asked as the flight attendant walked away.

“So, you do know who I am. I wasn’t too sure if you did or didn’t know.” He replied, laughing nervously.

“Yeah, figured that one out as soon as I looked up.” I replied gently, “But, honestly, I get that constant public adoration can get old, so I kept the fangirling to a minimum.”

“Fangirling, huh?” He asked, his smile getting bigger. “So, you’re a fan?”

“I may or may not be team Cap” I replied, my inner nerd shining through.  “I’m also team Thor though, so…”

“I’ll take it!” He replied laughing, “You said team Cap first, so that’s all I’m hearing.”

It was my turn to throw my head back laughing at his child-like response. It was nice to see the playful side of Chris, the true person that he is not the actor everyone knows.

“Welcome aboard flight 723 with non-stop service to LAX.” One of the flight attendants announced, “We will be pushing back and getting underway here in the next few minutes. At this time, we ask that you make sure that your seatbelts are fastened and return any seats and trays to the upright position. We are right on time, and should be landing at LAX at approximately 9:55 am local time.”

“Ugh, this is my least favorite part of flying. I wish I could just click my heels and arrive wherever I want to be.” I admitted to him in a nervous manner.

“Not a fan of flying?” He asked sympathetically, looking over at me.

“In general, flying is fine” I responded, trying to keep my breathing normal, “It’s taken off and landings I’m not exactly fond of.”

“Did you have a bad experience?” He asked out of curiosity.

“Nope” I replied, “But the way I see it, if something goes wrong at either takeoff or landing, you’re close enough to the ground still where chances are it’s going to hurt. When you’re in the air, you’re high enough up where if you crash, you’re just dead and won’t know how much the pain sucks.”

Chris was momentarily speechless as he processed my theory. I’m sure the theory is flawed but hey, fears are generally irrational right?

“Wow” he said finally, “I can’t say I’ve ever thought of it that way before.”

“I’ve never actually put that into words before, and I will admit that it does sound absurd.” I replied, “It sounded much less insane in my head.”

“No, not insane.” He quickly reassured me, “Probably has some validity to it...somewhere.”

“You’re way too nice!” I replied smiling, “Let’s pretend I didn’t disclose that information, and you don’t know the level of my nerdiness.”

“We’ve all got some nerdiness in us,” he replied with a flirty smile, “But I have to admit that the nerdiness is pretty damn adorable on you.”

I could feel my face heating up at the compliment. Holy shit, Chris Evans just called me adorable. My inner fangirl was screaming.

Before I was able to form a response, the plane started moving away from the gate. I could feel anxiety starting to boil in my gut. I gripped the armrest of my seat, knuckles turning white.

“Hey” Chris said softly, pulling my attention away from the window, “Keep breathing, Lena” His

right hand reached over and gently engulfed my hand in his own. I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax.

“I promise I’m not normally such a spaz.” I said apologetically, looking at him.

“None of that,” He said smiling, “We all have things that make us anxious. No judgement here.”

“So, are you heading back to L.A. for work or is that your home base?” I asked, trying to focus on something else.

“A little of both actually.” He replied, “I’m meeting with a director about a film I’m really interested in doing, but I do have a house in L.A. that I spend a lot of time at. Home though… that’s always Boston. Where is home for you?”

“I live in Providence, but I grew up in Newport.” I replied, “With the exception of my brother, the rest of my family is all still in Rhode Island.”

“Another New Englander!” He said smiling broadly, “It’s not Boston, but… you’re in the right region!”

“The only time I’m ever in Boston is when I’m catching a flight.” I admitted, “I always tell myself I’m going to drive up and spend some time there especially Salem, but something always comes up.”

“What!?” He exclaimed, “There is so much more to Boston than the AIRPORT!”

I laughed at the shock and dismay displayed on his face and in his voice.

“I’ll make a point to get there before I go back to work this fall.” I laughed, crossing my heart like the second graders I taught often did.

“I’ll hold you to that” He said, attempting to give me a stern look...but failing, as the laughter in his eyes gave him away. “What are you planning on doing while in L.A. this summer?”

“My brother actually lives in Malibu, so I will be spending as much time at the beach as possible.” I was very excited to spend time in the Pacific Ocean, surfing and hopefully diving at some point. The Atlantic was great, but definitely much colder. “I will also be buying an annual pass to Disneyland so I can go as often as I want and get my Disney fix. Once will definitely not be enough.”

“You’re a Disney fan too?” Chris asked, eyes growing wide, “You’re perfect you know that?”

“Far from it, I assure you.” I laughed, “Just ask my brothers.”

“Are you a Patriot’s fan?” he asked, turning his whole body towards me now. “Because seriously, if you are, I’m marrying you as soon as we get off this plane.”

I laughed and tucked a stray piece of brown hair back behind my ear nervously.

“I’m not really into football…” I replied smiling, “I’m more of a soccer fan. I enjoy baseball too.”

“I can accept that” He replied smiling widely, “I don’t know much about soccer, but what’s your favorite baseball team?”

“The Red Sox.” I replied, “My dad is a huge Sox fan, as are all my brothers. Mikey tries to play like he’s a Dodger fan now that he lives in L.A, but honestly that’s just to mess with my dad.”

“I was right, Lena.” Chris said teasingly, “You're legitimately perfect.”

“Even if I’m not a football fan?” I laughed. Butterflies were swarming in my belly for a whole new reason now. My fear of taking off, long forgotten. I glanced quickly out the window to realize we were in the air. Chris had kept me occupied to ease my anxiety during takeoff.  “Well played, Evans.” I said, looking back over at him. He shrugged and gave me a boyish smile.

“Sometimes it helps to keep the mind busy when you’re anxious so that you aren’t focused on what is causing the anxiety.” He replied, seemingly from experience.

“Thank you” I replied simply. I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“So, what’s your favorite ride at Disney?” He asked, changing topics.

“Is it acceptable to say that I love them all?” I asked him hopefully. Seriously, how do you choose just one ride?

“Nope. You got to pick one,” he said, shaking his head, “No cop out answers.”

“Ok, well I adore Space Mountain, but I also love The Matterhorn. The Haunted Mansion though is also a favorite…” I replied, “Best I can do is Top 3 favorites.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” He conceded, “Good choices too. You went with the classics.”

“What are your favorite rides?” I asked, “And no ‘cop out’ answers either.”

“Space Mountain.” He said without hesitation. “That’s the one I could ride all day.”

“Favorite Disney movie?” I asked him.

“Of all time? Dumbo” he replied, “But I honestly love all the Classic Disney movies, and the newer ones too. What’s yours?”

“All-time favorite… Pinocchio.” I replied thoughtfully. “I adore Jiminy Cricket. But I also wore out two copies of the Oliver and Company movie.”

“I love Oliver and Company!” He exclaimed, “My dog, Dodger, is named after the Dodger in that movie!”

“It’s a great movie.” I agreed, “Where’s Dodger now?”

“He’s back in Boston with my mom and sister.” he said, a sad smile on his face. It was obvious he loved his dog. I’d read and watched interviews with him, whenever asked about his dog he lit up like a kid at Christmas.

“Are you going to be in L.A for a long time?” I asked

“Depends on my meeting with the director, I guess.” He replied, “If it goes well, I’ll bring Dodge out and we’ll stay out here until filming ends. I don’t have anything else on the schedule at the moment. Just finished my contract with Marvel.”

“It’s got to be a good feeling to have the freedom to just relax and pick what you want to work on.” I said, “I won’t lie though, I’m heartbroken you won’t be Captain American anymore.”

“It was hard to walk away after the last day on set, but it was definitely time. I was burning out.” he said honestly, “I feel like I went out on the right note though.”

“I’ll admit that I literally ugly cried in the theater during Endgame.” I confided in him, “Complete with crocodile tears, blotchy eyes...the whole nine yards. You broke my heart into a million tiny pieces.”

“But it’s not like Cap died!” he reasoned, “He just finally got the chance to live out the life he wanted!”

“Although that part did make me teary, the part that broke me was watching Cap get his heart broken when Natasha and Tony died.” I explained, “The scene where you’re sitting there and the tears are falling… ugh.”

“If it helps, it was extremely difficult for us all to make it through that film.” He said, “We were all emotionally attached to the characters.”

“That does make me feel better, thanks.” I replied.

The rest of the flight was spent talking about anything and everything. I was so caught up in the

conversation that I never even heard them announce we were beginning our descent into L.A., so when the plane touched down and started to taxi up to the terminal gate, I was shocked.

“Again, well played Mr. Evans” I laughed looking back over to Chris. “Thank you”

“I really enjoyed this flight, Lena.” He said smiling, “I’m actually kind of sad we’ve landed.”

“I can honestly say, this is the best flight I’ve ever had.” I admitted, a blush spreading over my neck and face. “I wouldn’t have been sad if it had been longer.”

The plane had taxied into the designated gate and came to a stop. Around us people were rushing to gather up their belongings.

“As crazy as this sounds, I’d really like to see you again.” Chris said, looking anxious for the first time since he’d introduced himself. It was as though he doubted, you’d want to see him again, which made absolutely zero sense! 

“It doesn’t sound crazy, Chris” I reassured him softly. “I would like to see you again too.”

“Put your number in my phone and then I’ll text you so you have mine.” He said handing me his phone.

I quickly typed my number into his phone before handing it back to him. He finished saving the contact info and then sent a text to me. I heard my phone’s notification ping, alerting me to a new message. It was if the ping of my phone set off a swarm of butterflies in my belly. The anxiety from earlier in the flight was back, but for a whole new reason.

I opened up the message from Chris and quickly saved his contact info. Chris grabbed his bag down out of the overhead compartment then grabbed mine down and handed it over to me.

“I’m assuming since you’re here for a while, you’ve got more luggage checked” He laughed,

“Either that, or you travel extremely light.”

“Honestly, I probably over packed” I laughed, rolling my eyes at myself. “I never know what I’ll need or want when traveling so I just throw it all into the luggage and go with it.”

“That’s one way to do it, I suppose.” He winked at me, “If you don’t mind, I’ll walk with you that way.  I’m getting picked up at arrivals anyway.”

“I don’t mind at all.” I replied, “My brother is supposed to be picking me up. I’m guessing he’ll be at arrivals too.”

We walked towards baggage claim, making our way through the large crowds at LAX. I noticed

Chris kept hat down low over his eyes, doing his best to blend in and not be recognized. He stayed close to me, trying to avoid being separated.

We arrived at baggage claim right as the bags were starting to appear on the conveyor belt.

Luckily, my bag came around quickly. I grabbed it off the belt and turned around, almost running straight into Chris. I hadn’t realized he was so close.

“Sorry!” he said, a boyish grin on his face, as he steadied me, “I didn’t want to lose you in the crowd.”

“No worries” I said breathily, enjoying the close proximity to him. “I think this is the fastest my bag has ever gotten off the plane. Thankfully, it wasn’t lost this time!”

“That’s happened before?” His eyebrows shot up in shock, “That must have sucked!”

“It did” I agreed, “I was in Germany too, which made it even worse. I was with a student group and we weren’t staying in one spot, so it was quite the production getting my stuff to me!”

“Well at least had it happened here, you’d have been stationary” He laughed, “How long did it take to get reunited with your luggage?”

“It took 3 days for it to catch up with us.” I said, “Thankfully, I had enough in my carry on that I was able to survive the separation.”

“LENA!” I heard a familiar voice yell. I quickly looked up and around for the source of the voice to find my sister in law, holding a neon green sign with my name in pink sparkles. I laughed, shaking my head at her.

“Talia!” I giggled heading over to her and hugging her. I adored my sister in law, in fact, she was probably my favorite. “Was the sign necessary?”

“Of course, it was!” she replied laughing, “I’d hate to be accused of being basic!”

“Extra… yes” I laughed, “Never basic.”

“I see you’ve made a friend already” She said, glancing over to where Chris was standing, his eyes dancing with laughter at the exchange.

“Talia, this is Chris.” I said making the introduction. I figured she had already figured out exactly who he was. “Chris, my sister in law, Talia.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Chris” She said smiling brightly. Talia is also a huge Marvel fan, but she’s more team Iron Man/ RDJ. Being married to my brother, she was used to being around celebrities and has perfected the art of remaining cool. I had a feeling I needed to take a page from her book this summer if I was going to survive in my brother’s world.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Talia.” Chris responded warmly.

“Ok, let’s get out of here!” Talia exclaimed, “Michael gave me strict orders to bring you straight to him before going to the house. I think he missed his baby sister.”

“I’ve definitely missed him too” I said, excited to see him.  

We all headed out of the airport and into the balmy California weather. I smiled looking around at the palm trees and feeling thesunshine beat on my face. It was going to be a great summer!

Straight ahead of us was a pick up line filled with limos, black SUVs, and sedans along with their drivers holding signs with the people they were looking for.

“There’s my ride,” Chris said, seeing his name in the line. He wrapped me in a quick hug before pulling back and smiling. “I’ll text you later Lena and we can make plans to get together.”

“Sounds great!” I beamed, trying to remember how to breathe. Chris Evans just hugged me!

Talia and I quickly made our way across the pickup lanes and headed towards the parking garage attached to the airport.

“Already making friends with Hollywood Heartthrobs before even landing in L.A., huh?” Talia joked as I threw my luggage into the back of her black Land Rover.

“He’s super sweet, Lia!” I gushed, “He kept me occupied the entire flight, especially during takeoff and landing, so I wouldn’t freak out. We talked about everything, and he never made me feel like a major dork.”

“Michael has mentioned several times that he’s very down to earth and a genuinely nice person.” She revealed, “He’s actually meeting with Chris this week about a part in the film he’s directing.”

“Ohmygod!” I exclaimed, “THAT’S the movie he was talking about? He said he was in town to meet with a director but never said what the film was or which director. What is the flipping’ odds he’d be meeting with my brother?”

“Hollywood is actually not that big” Talia said laughing, “Everyone is essentially connected to someone through a mutual friend. Not that shocking he’d know Michael. I’m guessing Chris didn’t put it together?”

“My last name never came up honestly” I replied, “Well, I guess this means I’m guaranteed to see him again!”

Being that it was past rush hour, it didn’t take too long to get from the airport to the studio lot where Michael was preparing for his next film. Talia found a parking spot close to a large building that I assumed contained a sound stage.

“Alright, he’s inside meeting with a few set designers. He said to come straight in when we got

here.” Talia said getting out of the vehicle.

We walked into the building, which currently looks like a cross between an airplane hangar and a warehouse.

“There’s my Little-Bit!” Michael said jogging over towards us. He quickly scooped me up into a hug, lifting me off the ground and spinning me around. “I’ve missed your kiddo!”

“I’ve missed you too, Mikey!” I said laughing, “I hate that we live on opposite sides of the country now!”

“I know, Kiddo.” He said setting me back on my feet and taking a step back, “You know, there are plenty of schools out here you can teach at.”

“Don’t tempt me!” I joked, “We just had one of the worst winters in over a decade this year… the temptation to leave it all behind is strong.”

“I know you probably want to get settled and freshen up from your trip, but I couldn’t wait to see you” He said, “I have a few more meetings but should be out of here by early afternoon, so we can make plans to go out somewhere for dinner tonight.” 

“Perfect, I am in desperate need of shower and clean clothes.” I replied, “Other than that, my social calendar is wide open.”

“For now, at least.” Talia teased, bumping into me and smirking. “I doubt it stays that way.”

“Yeah, I’m totally on the prowl to fill my calendar” I rolled my eyes, trying to play her comment off so Michael wouldn’t ask questions.

“That’ll be hard to do if you spend all summer at Disney, Little-Bit.” Michael teased, “Although, I hear Goofy is still single.”

“Oh wow, all have jokes today.” I laughed, turning towards Talia “On that note, I’m ready to leave now.”

“OK, you’re chariot awaits milady!” She responded, “I’ll see you at home, baby.”

“Drive safe, stay out of trouble.” He said, “Love you both.”

________________________________

I woke the next morning to my cell phone alerting me to a new message. I sat up and grabbed my phone. I was shocked that I’d managed to sleep past nine. I leaned back against the queen-sized headboard and opened up my text messages.

C: 7:35AM Hey Lena, I’ve got a meeting this morning about that project I mentioned but would

really love to see get together later if you’re available. Maybe get some coffee, or another beverage?  

C: 8:00 AM Ok, that sounded really lame. Let me try again. Lena, would you like to go out for a drink later?

L: 9:04 AM Hi! Sorry, I just woke up! You didn’t sound lame at all. I’d love to get coffee...or another beverage with you later! I don’t think I have anything going on today. Let me track down my brother to make sure he didn’t plan anything.

I pushed the covers back and got out of bed, my bare feet sinking into the plush carpet in the guest bedroom I was staying in. I pulled my long brown hair up into a messy knot on top of my head, deciding to deal with it later, and headed downstairs in search of Michael or Talia to see what the plans for the day were.

Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I could hear voices on the back patio that overlooked the beach. I detoured to the kitchen first to grab a bottle of water from the fridge before heading out to the patio.

I opened the French doors and stepped out onto the cool bricks, before stopping dead in my tracks like a deer caught in headlights.

“Morning, Little Bit!” Michael said cheerfully, oblivious to my panic. “This is Chris, I’m trying to recruit him for my current project.”

“We actually met on the plane yesterday,” Chris said, winking at me with a smirk, “Morning, Lena. Love your shirt.”

I quickly glanced down, forgetting what I was wearing, and realized I still had on my old Red Sox tank and a pair or navy-blue sleep shorts.

“Thanks” I laughed nervously, “Good Morning.”

“Grab a seat Lena and join us for breakfast” Michael offered, “Lia had to meet with a client this morning, but will be back later.”

I sat down, next to Michael, which put me directly across from where Chris was sitting. I grabbed some grapes from the fruit bowl and placed them on the plate in front of me. Michael passed a platter of bacon and toast, so I added some of that to my plate as well.

“Lia made sure to make some of the bacon extra crispy for you too” Michael said shaking his

head, “although by that point it’s like eating straight bacon bits.”

“I’ll only eat it when it’s crispy because I can’t stand the idea that I’m gnawing on pig fat.” I replied, sticking my tongue out at him. “You’re lucky I’m even eating pork again.”

“There was a time you didn’t eat pork?” Chris asked, his eyebrow cocked.

“I had to dissect a pig in my honors biology class sophomore year.” I replied, “my lab partner was a little over zealous, and after a week of picking at a pig carcass, I couldn’t bring myself to eat pork anymore.”  

“She wouldn’t eat any meat for about a month.” Michael added smiling at me.

“What made you decide to start eating meat again?” Chris asked curiously.

“I missed cheeseburgers” I shrugged, “Being a vegetarian wasn’t working for me, so I decided to be a porketarian instead.”

Chris laughed, shaking his head, “How long did you go without eating pork?”

“I just started eating it again about a year ago.” I admitted. “So, about 20 years.”

“That’s a long time.” he said looking shocked, “What made you decide to eat it again?”

“She missed bacon” Michael replied.

“Pretty much” I agreed. “I missed BLTs… and turkey bacon wasn’t the same.”

“Fair enough” Chris said.

“So, what’s on your agenda today Mickey?” I asked my brother, steering the conversation away from me.

“I have a couple of meetings at the studio but I should be wrapped up by late afternoon, I was planning on grabbing steaks on the way home so we can throw them on the grill tonight.” He replied, “What are your plans for today?”

“I was thinking of going to grab coffee, or a beverage of some kind today” I smirked at Chris.

___________________________

That’s all I’ve got! Should I make a part 2?? Thanks for reading!!

[scribbles97]

Left Behind - Part 2 - Chapter 14

And now on to Part 2, just when things were meant to be settling down, they get a hell of a lot more complicated again. 

PART 1 /  Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21

Read on Ao3

Lucy hadn’t been sure that writing was a good coping mechanism. That letters that would never be read was simply holding onto ghosts of the past rather than letting them go. Sally had assured her otherwise though, that getting thoughts and feelings out on paper would help her process and organise what she needed to. Her mother-in-law had even given her the empty journal to write in.

She hadn’t realised just how many thoughts she had shared with that little book until she found herself writing on the last page. For the time being her little corner of the world was under control so she could allow herself the chance to flick back through the notes of the last few years written in her scrawl.

It was John completing his NASA training that had dominated her first entry, following exactly in his father's footsteps to gain his space rating, ready to be launched into the atmosphere. Jeff should have been there on launch day, imparting all the wisdom he had for space flight on their red haired son. Lee had been there, flown back from the retreat specifically for the occasion but the advice wasn’t the same from an Uncle as it was from a father, even if the sentiment was still there.

She hadn’t expected Lee to stay home after that, yes he had been calmer, more at ease than she had seen him since Jeff had been gone. There was still something there though, hidden behind the blue of his eyes and never spoken about even when she had asked. It was still there, even four years later, she had hoped that he would eventually say something to her but the conversation had never come and after a time she had given up asking.

Flicking forward a few pages and she had to smile at the photo stapled onto the page. The 2056 Olympic games, and the achievement of a lifetime for Gordon. She knew he kept the gold medal safe in his room on the island those days. Months of literal blood, sweat, and tears had been worth it. Days when he had been convinced he couldn’t do it, where the balance between school and swimming had gotten too unequal and Lucy had had to be the harsh reminder that both were equally as important. The win had been celebrated in true Tracy style that night by them all.

What she hadn’t realised at the time was how Gordon decided to continue the celebrations in the weeks that followed. She had trusted the sixteen year old to use his free time well. School finished, medal won, it was only a matter of a few months before he would be joining the academy. It was only when the newspapers had picked up on the underaged Tracy partying late into the night that she had realised just how far he had taken his liberties and she had been forced to step in with sharp and strict consequences.

Too much on her plate, the Tracy Industries board had said. Too busy to be a proper mother, the papers had reported. Too soft on them all, Lee had commented.

It had all stung. Even with Hugh helping with the business, she was constantly busy. Even with Scott flying Thunderbird One, she was still needed on more rescues than she would have liked, Alan still needed the care of his mother to oversee his school work and be there for bedtime at the end of the day. Meals needed cooked, paperwork needed approving, maintenance needed completing.

She had started to break, wondering if Jeff could have done it better, questioning if she should have taken his place.

There was a big chunk after that which she knew could be skipped. Some of the pages had been torn out in the past, hurt or anger being unleashed on them when there was no other outlet available. Rough, heavy sketches adorned the corners of some of the pages, depicting the monsters that had snuck in and haunted her mind, forcing her to take a temporary step back from IR.

There was one entry half way through the darkness that she always paused on and never failed to make her smile. It had been just before Christmas, John was only a few weeks returned to earth from his latest stint on the NASA orbital. It hadn’t bothered her that he hadn’t returned straight to the island at the time, he was a grown man, if he had things to do she wasn’t going to question it.

At least not until he turned up on the island with International Rescue’s best space operator in tow.

She knew Scott had spoken highly of Ridley, and she knew he had taken the chance at his Passing Out party to introduce her to the family’s own astronaut. That the two had apparently kept in touch after that, sharing tips and advice on space travel and managing both in and out of orbit. John had admitted having kept it very quiet from everyone, unsure of his own feelings and where the friendship had been going for the longest time.

It had felt unprofessional to squeal at one of her own operatives, but it had always been John she had worried about the most, lacking a certain confidence that the rest of her boys carried. Of course, she hadn’t been sure that a relationship was something he aspired to in life, and so had never said anything more about it when he hadn’t readily taken up the conversation with her on more than one occasion. That he had turned out to be the first of the five in what seemed to be a serious, steady relationship had made her heart swell for him.

Smiling to herself she made a mental note to check when the pair were next rota’d down from space at the same time, quietly hoping they would come out to the island for some time off before each of their next rotations.

Debates against herself filled a few pages, half way through his training Virgil had been asked what area of the organisation he wished to specialise in. Whilst for Scott there had been no question, for Virgil the decision wasn’t quite so straight forward.

The young man held a degree in engineering, but his interest in helping others had him leaning towards the operative line of work. When he had brought EMT training into the mix she had raised her eyebrows but listened regardless. It had been clear he had wanted to be able to do everything in order to be best equipped to help.

A visit to Roca and discussions with other students in various stages of their training had revealed Virgil wasn’t the only one in that boat. Looking at the broader picture, Lucy could see they had a point. Not everyone was Like Scott or John, with one set career in mind and a focus purely for that.

What had surprised her most was when Gordon had thrown his name into the ring for wanting to study more than one specialist area, apparently also keenly interested in following the EMT route alongside being an aquanaut after his olympic training.

Questions from the educational board had followed, comments that she was simply going out of her way for her boys rather than doing what was best for the organisation. The students had stuck with her though, as had the current operatives, all too aware that being part of IR required each and every member to have more than one simple skill set.

It wasn’t the only change that Virgil turned out to be responsible for. Tanusha and Penelope had been qualified security operatives for year at that point, yet he had pointed out they seemed to have very little in the way of contact with the rest of them.

Lucy hadn’t thought much of it, yet had found herself questioning it in the pages of her journal. Did the two women need more contact with the team they were assigned to? Was it her place to order them back to the Island more often to keep in contact? Or was it better that she kept her nose out of it and trusted the judgement of the experts?

A quiet word with Kyrano had confirmed Tanusha could well benefit from being based on the Island, and some discussions later she had moved in full time.

It was from there that drawings of a new jet started to fill pages, ideas jotted here and there for secret gadgets and silent flying. It was only then, two years after Tan’s move, that the newest of the Thunderbird fleet was finally coming together.

Protest had come from Alan at the discovery of a new Thunderbird being built, the teenager unhappy that he seemed to be the only family member somehow not involved in the operation. The youngest didn’t understand his mother’s worry, it was likely he never would. In time she knew she would have to let him join, and it would likely be sooner than she would like. It had been a consolation prize to let him near the simulators once he hit thirteen, a clear breach of protocol but better than him trying to break into an actual ship. The scores he had quickly racked up though had made her jaw drop and sent her for the records they kept. The boy was beyond a natural, more skilled without any training than some of the students she saw with two years under their belts.

A promise of eventually having a place to pilot Thunderbird Three had made his face light up, even as Lee had scowled behind her son’s back. Yet, what else could she do? It had always been Jeff’s promise to the youngest, the rocket painted the brightest red just for him in a reminder that someday she would be his.

Protocol stated that Alan would have to be twenty before he stepped near the ship. Knowledge of her youngest son told her that staving him off for another five years was going to be near impossible.

Alan being stubborn. Virgil officially joining her team. Gordon working as an apprentice alongside his two older brothers. Somehow none of them seemed like big things in comparison to her final entry.

The Hood, Gaat, Kyrano’s brother, had seemingly vanished alongside Jeff. There hadn’t been any confirmed activity relating to him since the incident involving both Tanusha and Kyrano.

Four years had lulled them all into false security, hope had started to creep in that perhaps he was gone for good and no longer out to get them and everything else relating to International Rescue.

There were whispers though. Kyrano had reported murmurings that his brother was back in the business and looking for assailants to take under his wing.

It scared Lucy for what his reason may be.

Things were different after four years, her sons were in the business now, she couldn’t afford to risk their lives.

Yet she knew she couldn’t drag them away from it either.

Closing the book she sighed heavily, shaking her head as she looked to the photo next to her bed, “What do I do Jeff?”

[guilianafms]

            new  york’s  very  own  guiliana  rasananda  was  spotted  on  broadway  street  in  gucci  marmont  logo - embellished  leather  sandals  .  your  resemblance  to  lalisa  manoban  is  unreal  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your  twenty  third  birthday  bash  .  while  living  in  nyc  ,  you’ve  been  labeled  as  being  doctrinaire  ,  but  also  pragmatic  .  i  guess  being  an  aquarius  explains  that .  three  things  that  would  paint  a  better  picture  of  you  would  be  the  lingering  scent  of  her  perfume  after  she’s  long  gone  ,  a  fenty  beauty  gloss  bomb  as  her  staple  to  any  makeup  look  ,  and  the  glitter  of  diamond  encrusted  jewelry  on  tanned  skin  .

            hello  ladies  ,  gents  ,  and  nonbinary  pals  !  my  name’s  jin  and  i’m  super  stoked  to  be  here  !  i’ve  seen  this  group  in  the  tags  over  the  years  ,  and  i  decided  that  it  was  high  time  for  me  to  slide  in  (  and  now  that  my  school’s  closed  ....  indefinitely  ....  i’ve  got  the  time  )  .  giuliana  is  fairly  new  so  i’m  still  working  out  some  kinks  that  may  arise  ,  but  i  have  a  pretty  good  idea  of  the  direction  i  want  her  to  go  in  !  i  can’t  believe  that  this  is  my  first  time  playing  lalisa  in  a  couple  of  years  ,  but  since  the  chance  arose  ,  i  decided  to  take  it  .  i  won’t  chat  too  much  ,  and  i  need  to  make  a  new  d.iscord  since  i  forgot  the  password  to  my  old  one  but  if  anyone  wants  to  plot  ,  feel  free  to  slide  into  my  dms  (  or  i’ll  slide  into  yours  !  )

basic  information  .

FULL  NAME  :  guiliana  kanya  rasananda  .

NICKNAME(S)  :  gigi  ,  lia  ,  liana  ,  ana  .

BIRTHDATE  +  AGE  :  february  12th  +  23  .

ZODIAC  :  aquarius  .

HOMETOWN  :  new  york  ,  ny  .

GENDER  :  cis  female  .

NATIONALITY  :  thai - american  .

ETHNICITY  :  thai  .

HEIGHT  :  5′6″  .

LABEL(S)  :  the  amaranth  ,  the  vixen  ,  the  trust  fund  baby  ,  and  the  princess  .

ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION  :  biromantic  .

SEXUAL  ORIENTATION  :  bisexual  .

LANGUAGE(S)  SPOKEN  :  english  ,  thai  ,  japanese  ,  and  learning  spanish  .

OCCUPATION  :  socialite  ,  ‘  model  ’  ,  and  youtuber  /  social  media  influencer  .

POSITIVES  :  clear - headed  ,  assiduous  ,  self - reliant  ,  pragmatic  ,  and  cosmopolitan  .

NEGATIVES  :  disputatious  ,  exigent  ,  doctrinaire  ,  selfish  ,  and  unscrupulous  .

PLAYLIST  :  roxanne  /  arizona  zervas  ,  bad  guy  /  billie  eilish  ,  body  /  loud  luxury  ft.  brando  ,  nasa  /  ariana  grande  ,  mother’s  daughter  /  miley  cyrus  ,  sway  with  me  /  saweetie  w.  galxara  ,  say  so  /  doja  cat  ,  mad  at  me.  /  kiana  ledé  ,  apeshit  /  the  carters  ,  elastic  /  joey  purp  ,  watermelon  sugar  /  harry  styles  ,  ain’t  my  fault  /  zara  larsson  ,  lemon  /  n.e.r.d.  ft.  rihanna  /  nice  for  what  /  drake  ,  sugar  /  brockhampton  ,  icon  /  jaden  smith  ,  zimzalabim  /  red  velvet  ,  come  thru  /  joji  ,  in  my  head  /  ariana  grande  ,  broke  bitch  /  tiny  meat  gang  ,  honey  /  lay  ,  deserve  /  kris  wu  ft.  travis  scott  .

biography  .

let’s  see  if  we  can  keep  this  short  ,  am  i  right  ladies  ?

ratana  saelim  has  humble  beginnings  in  bangkok  .  her  parents  owned  a  small  restaurant  in  their  neighborhood  ,  and  they  lived  comfortably  ,  but ratana  still  had  to  work  hard  to  ensure  that  she  got  into  college  and  could  stay  in   college  .  she  often  did  her  homework  behind  the  counter  of  the  restaurant  ,  and  eventually  went  on  to  attend  bangkok  university  .

she  met  her  future  husband  at  bangkok  university  ,  a  fellow  student  named  kamnan  rasananda  .  he  was  studying  business  while  she  was  studying  law  .  in  contrast  to  ratana  ,  kamnan  grew  up  in  an  extremely  affluent  home  and  was  set  to  inherit  his  family’s  company  .  he  was  a  year  older  than  ratana  ,  and  the  two  got  married  after  her  graduation  with  her  master’s  degree  .  they  settled  in  bangkok  following  their  wedding  .

the  years  passed  ,  and  the  couple  established  themselves  in  their  respective  fields  .  kamnan  started  his  own  business  in  real  estate  and  construction  ,  so  they  decided  to  expand  out  of  asia  and  into  the  states  .  they  made  their  home  new  york  city  ,  and  settled  easily  into  a  multi - million  dollar  penthouse  on  the  upper  east  side  .  since  they  were  to  focused  on  their  careers  ,  it  wasn’t  until  they  reached  their  mid - thirties  when  they  had  their  first  and  only  child  ,  a  daughter  they  named  guiliana  .

guiliana  was  a  beautiful  little  baby  who  has  an  infectious  personality  while  growing  up  .  ratana  and  kamnan  may  have  been  busy  people  ,  but  they  never  had  an  issue  with  putting  work  on  pause  to  spend  time  with  their  daughter  .  the  couple  supported  their  daughter  in  everything  that  she  did  ,  and  that  even  included  when  she  turned  fourteen  and  decided  that  she  wanted  to  start  doing  youtube  videos  . 

going  through  high  school  ,  guiliana  had  been  a  member  of  the  photography  and  yearbook  clubs  ,  and  this  was  at  the  same  time  that  she  started  to  truly  focus  on  her  channel  .  of  course  ,  her  content  at  the  time  was  quite  cringy  (  shoutout  to  that  one  song  that  everyone  used  in  morning  routines  )  .  as  the  years  passed  ,  she  obtained  the  right  equipment  to  make  her  content  better  .

by  her  senior  year  of  high  school  ,  her  channel  grew  to  massive  numbers  .  she  dropped  the  makeup  videos  since  she  found  that  she  was  more  interested  in  fashion  than  makeup  ,  and  was  comfortable  with  sharing  her  personal  style  .  she  got  a  lot  of  backlash  because  she  grew  up  rich  and  people  often  felt  that  she  was  ‘  flaunting  ’  her  lifestyle  ,  but  really  ,  most  of  her  clothes  from  the  places  that  were  often  the  rage  at  the  time  (  urban  outfitters  ,  brandy  ,  etc  )  with  the  occasional  luxury  piece  like  a  purse  or  something  .

now  ,   she  isn’t  that  active  on  youtube  anymore  since  she’s  grown  into  more  of  a  socialite  ,  but  she’ll  still  do  weekly  vlogs  ,  catching  up  videos  ,  and  her  fashion  videos  .  despite  not  being  that  active  ,  her  channel  is  still  growing  and  has  now  amassed  five  million  subscribers  .

personality  .

guiliana  has  been  a  part  of  youtube  since  she  was  a  fourteen  year  old  ,  so  she’s  been  able  to  start  ignoring  the  haters  !  quite  honestly  has  the  most  idgaf  attitude  towards  people  who  have  anything  to  say  about  her  only  showing  luxury  outfits  and  such  on  her  channel  .  that’s  all  she  knows  since  she  grew  up  in  that  ,  but  quite  frankly  she  doesn’t  care  !

out  of  all  of  her  labels  ,  i’d  say  she  mostly  resonates  with  the  trust  fund  baby  .  outside  of  her  youtube  channel  ,  guiliana  doesn’t  do  much  other  than  spend  money  and  sleep  until  eleven  so  don’t  expect  her  to  be  out  there  making  businesswoman  moves  .

don’t  give  her  a  compliment  because  what’s  the  saying  ...  give  her  an  inch  and  she’ll  take  a  mile  ?  that’s  guiliana  to  a  T  !  she  knows  that  she’s  cute  and  her  parents  have  only  ever  praised  her  ,  so  she’s  got  something  of  an  over  inflated  ego  at  times  .  she  can  go  on  and  on  ,  so  please  tell  her  ass  to  shut  up  if  she  starts  taking  it too  far  !

headcanons  .

a  born  and  bred  new  yorker  ,  guiliana  doesn’t  possess  a  driver’s  license  .  she  gets  driven  around  in  a  bentley  bentayga  and  when  her  driver’s  not  available  ,  she  exclusively  uses  uber  black to  get  around  the  city  .

her  style  is  pretty  similar  to  lisa’s  where  one  day  she’s  exclusively  wearing  streetwear  ,  another  day  she’s  a  bit  more  feminine  ,  and  then  sometimes  she’s  wearing  pieces  straight  off  the  runway  !  when  it  comes  to  her  more  feminine  style  i  think  of  the  youtuber  kerina  wang  .

she’s  most  comfortable  when  she’s  in  her  apartment  .  usually  ,  she’s  only  wearing  a  lingerie  set  (  not  the  entire  thing  )  and  lounging  around  .  she’ll  throw  on  a  robe  or  something  to  answer  the  door  ,  so  just  call  her  ahead  of  time  .

i  can’t  make  up  my  mind  on  how  guiliana  usually  has  her  hair  (  since  lisa  switches  between  long  and  short  )  so  we’ll  just  say  that  she  gets  extensions  a  lot  !  currently  ,  i  love  her  long  brown  hair  so  click  for  reference  here  .

she  has  no  real  plans  for  the  future  ?  she’s  kinda  of  taking  it  day  by  day  and  enjoying  her  twenties  while  she  has  them  .  right  now  her  main  focus  is  her  instagram  and  her  youtube  ,  and  she  has  no  real  aspirations  to  do  anything  outside  of  that  at  the  moment  .

never  leaves  the  house  without  wearing  a  pair  of  heels  ?  even  when  it’s  cold  outside  ,  she’s  wearing  ankle  boots  with  a  heel  or  the  ever  elegant  over - the - knee  boots  .  

her  go - to  drink  from  starbucks  is  a  cold  brew  with  vanilla  sweet  cream  .  she  doesn’t  drink  coffee  with  sugar  .

wanted  connections  .

            i’ll  more  than  likely  end  up  reblogging  things  into  the  tag  i  made  for  these  ,  but  since  there’s  nothing  there  right  now  ,  i’ll  just  list  off  some  specifics  that  i’d  love  to  have  !  if  none  of  these  are  to  your  taste  ,  we  could  always  brainstorm  ,  work  off  chemistry  ,  or  let  me  know  if  there’s  something  that  you  think  guiliana  could  fill  !

i  might  end  up  sending  this  in  to  the  main  ,  but  i’d  love  to  have  the  fiancé  that  she  left  at  the  altar  !  truth  be  told  ,  i  kind  of  feel  as  though  she  may  have  done  it  simply  because  she  finally  realized  that  things  were  moving  too  fast  and  she  kinda  of  needed  to  pump  the  breaks  ?  she  definitely  didn’t  do  it  in  the  best  way  ,  but  it  could  be  an  interesting  relationship  /  dynamic  to  explore  .

she’s  been  in  new  york  since  forever  so  i  just  imagine  there  being  a  slew  of  connections  stemming  from  that  ?  friendships  ,  rivalries  ,  and  romantic  connections  !  idk  why  i  love  them  so  much  ,  but  i’d  really  love  for  her  to  have  an  ex  best  friend  .  we  can  determine  why  their  friendship  ended  ,  but  i  really  love  exploring  the  demise  of  relationships  .

my  brain  is  blanking  so  🤠  .

[grapesodatozier]

It’s Not Like Christmas At All

merry chrysler!! have some christmas wheelzier angst lol

title taken from “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” which is my favorite christmas song ever

words: 4,226

no warnings other than sadness lol

read on ao3 or below!!

It had been the one of the worst Decembers of Mike’s life. He loved his new job, he really did, but it had him living in Florida, and the only place he sometimes travelled to was Texas. He’d once been sent to Nevada, which had been awesome, but it still didn’t change much temperature-wise. Mike felt so out of his element; December wasn’t supposed to be hot. Getting up every morning for work was so much worse when he had to put on light clothes. He grimaced whenever he left the house without a jacket, the image of snow-covered mountains on his calendar mocking him. He pouted as he tried to smooth his frizzy hair down all day, a struggle that was year-round in Florida. He missed New York, where the humidity only affected him for about a quarter of the year. He missed the trees and the lights and the snow and the hot chocolate. He even missed the carolers and the tourists.

Most of all he missed Richie.

It had been ten months since Mike landed his new job at NASA. It had been seven months since he and Richie had come to the painful realization that Richie living in New York City while sometimes travelling to Los Angeles and Mike living in Florida while sometimes travelling to Texas was not going to allow for their relationship to continue. This was Mike’s first Christmas without Richie in five years, and he just wanted to drink spiked egg nog with him while cuddling under a blanket and watching Christmas movies. The heat and humidity were salt in wounds that were still very open and felt very fresh.

Mike loved his job; it was his dream job. He even went to the holiday party his local branch had thrown, and it was actually pretty fun - maybe not as flashy as the ones he’d attended with his famous comedian boyfriend, but impressive as far as company holiday parties go. But he still had to face the mistletoe, had to remember that there would be no lanky, charming dork to pull him underneath it so that he could press tipsy kisses all over Mike’s face in front of high profile people Mike was trying to impress. Mike smiled fondly at the memory of Richie calming him down, of working the nerves out of him with a little bit of rum and a whole lot of hand holding and kisses to his heated cheeks. A year later and Mike swore he could feel the ghost of that large hand placed on his lower back to gently guide him through the crowd. You’re so cute when you’re star-struck. He could hear the low, teasing voice in his ear, he could almost feel his breath cascading down his neck. Mike struggled to remember the smell of his cologne, something he desperately didn’t want to forget.

Mike had made plenty of work friends, some of whom recognized him as Richie Tozier’s boyfriend from the tabloids and all of whom did their best to set him up with eligible bachelors and bachelorettes at any opportunity. Mike was sure that news of whom he had broken up with to get this job had spread, and he also knew that he looked pretty miserable at times, despite the genuine love he felt for what he did. Because of this, he wasn’t surprised that his friends were trying to get him to move on. He even accepted one of the dates a couple of weeks before, but the entire night things fell flat. No one had Richie’s wit, no one painted bold strokes to bring out Mike’s own like Richie had.

His one solace was that he was leaving in the morning on a flight to Indiana, where he could see his mom and sisters, and where it would at least be cold. It had been years since Mike had spent Christmas day in Hawkins, as he and Richie had spent the morning together in their New York apartment before driving a couple of hours upstate to spend the afternoon of the holiday and the next day or two with his parents. They flew out to Hawkins after that, spending a few days with Mike’s family (and some of the Party, if they were lucky) before flying back to New York, the only place to welcome the New Year, Richie would say every year.

Despite the Florida heat, Mike’s bed felt unbelievably cold as he fell asleep on the night of December 23rd.

He was grateful for the stress of a holiday airport, as he always had something to focus on, something to keep him alert and distracted from the longing and melancholy that threatened to consume him. He read on the flight, doing his best to not think about all the planes he had taken around this time the past few years. Unfortunately, he found it nearly impossible to forget how adorably excited Richie would get watching the animation of their plane flying over the country, the way he would insist on giving Mike the window seat just to lean over him and stare at the world below. He missed the weight of Richie’s head on his shoulder, even the harsh jab of his glasses. He missed sharing a set of headphones with Richie and trying to suppress his laughter at the ridiculous sight of Richie playing highly exaggerated air guitar and air drums - much to the dismay of the haughty, three-piece-suit-clad other first class passengers. Mike spent a lot of his current flight holding back tears.

His shoulders slumped in relief as he caught sight of Nancy and Jonathan waiting for him at his gate. He hugged them both, taking his time, allowing himself the comfort of familiar embraces, familiar smells. Still, though he was happy to see them, luggage claim wasn’t the same with them. He found himself making up stories in his head about the owners of each piece of luggage like he and Richie used to do, but that only made his eyes brim with tears. He clenched his jaw and held them back, but the way Nancy rested her head on his shoulder told him he wasn’t doing a great job of hiding his efforts.

The cold air that blasted him as they exited the overheated airport was very welcome to him, and he took a moment to close his eyes and just embrace it. “You guys have no idea how good you have it,” he told them, refusing to get in the car for a solid minute. He let the cold seep into his bones, let it nip at his nose, just as it should that time of year.

Nancy and Jonathan filled Mike in on what Holly’s new girlfriend was like on the drive home, both of their voices full of mirth and amusement and resounding approval. It made Mike smile; he was happy for his sisters, even if he was a bit jealous of their thriving love lives. Mike’s heart also lifted at the knowledge that the entire Party would be home for the holiday, that all six of them would be together for the first time in a while. Having that to look forward to helped ease the tightness in his chest. He watched Indiana pass him by through the car window, nodding absently along to the mixtape Jonathan had made, answering the questions he and Nancy asked him, ignoring the empty seat next to him as best he could until they were pulling into the driveway.

Holly popped up from the couch as soon as the door opened, hugging Mike before he had the chance to even set his bags down. Karen wasn’t far behind with a warm hug, gushing about all of the freckles Mike had, “And on the fourth day of winter! I’m glad you’re taking advantage of the sun, God knows we could use some of that up here.”

Mike chatted weather with his mother for a little while longer before she told him to go upstairs and unpack. Holly insisted on taking one of Mike’s bags up to his room and chatted his ear off the whole way about all of the homework she had been assigned over break. It made Mike smile, a genuine warmth in his chest as his little sister plopped herself down onto his bed, her long blonde hair spread around her head comically. Mike debated whether or not he should unpack and then decided he could live out of his suitcase for the week before settling on the floor with his back against his desk to listen to his sister ramble.

Usually the fact that he could never get a minute alone during visits home had Mike extremely on edge, but this year there was nothing he was more grateful for. His family kept his mind off of Richie as much as possible. Holly didn’t leave his room until Karen called them down for dinner. Jonathan had gone home to eat with Joyce, Hopper, El, and Will, as well as El’s partner, which left Mike alone with his mom and sisters. Over dinner they asked him about Florida and Texas, about the food and the weather and the wildlife. (“Wait, you’ve seen how many alligators?” - Holly’s incredulous question.) Mike asked Holly as much as he could about her life while avoiding the dreaded college search questions that would undoubtedly take up the majority of the conversation on Christmas Day when Karen’s sisters and parents came over. Karen spilled all of the town gossip she knew, to which Mike listened with an amused grin and a knowing look shared with Nancy. Nancy told what she could about her job, but her career as a detective didn’t much lend itself to dinner conversation (a rule enforced more by Karen than by the United States government, as she insisted it was too dark for the dinner table).

Mike did the dishes as usual - partly to spite his dad, who never even considered washing a dish in his life, but mostly because after so many years it still made his mom so happy she got teary-eyed. If Mike hadn’t already wanted to punch Ted before, the fact that his mother got emotional at the sight of a man in her life doing something small and considerate for her sure made him want to deck him. He was putting the last of the dishes away when he heard the basement door open and the unmistakable sound of Max shouting “Wheeler!” excitedly up the stairs.

Mike beamed and rushed down the stairs, finding Lucas and Max shivering and coatless in his basement. Mike shook his head fondly - they both insisted that the walk down the block didn’t warrant coats, yet they were always shaking by the time they got to Mike’s house, and they were cold to the touch as Mike wrapped his arms around each of them. “Wow, a year in Florida and you’re still as white as a sheet,” Max teased.

“Ten years in California and I could say the same about you,” he teased back with a smile. As he was hugging Lucas again, Will, Dustin, El, and her partner, Dylan, flooded in, swarming him in more hugs. It sort of took Mike’s breath away, the amount of genuine love he was receiving. He definitely got choked up, his voice barely working as he struggled to say his hellos and hold back tears at the same time. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he’d been around so many people he actually loved. He thought El might’ve noticed, as she gave him one of her looks and held him a bit tighter and longer than normal. He blushed at how obvious he must’ve been, but then his feelings were rarely a mystery to El. It was actually very comforting, as El never pushed - just gave him a small smile that said everything, in a way so genuine and caring it made Mike want to cry even more.

It was so nice to be back together with all of his friends. They spent a while discussing Will’s new art exhibit, and Mike was happy to answer all of the questions his friends had about his new job. He even laughed at the “Houston, we have a problem” jokes Dustin kept making. It was also nice to talk about his job with people he loved who could largely understand what he was saying.

But it was weird without Richie. Dustin’s girlfriend had to stay in Colorado and Will’s boyfriend in New York, so it wasn’t like Mike was the only one without a hand to hold, but he’d grown so used to having Richie’s arms around him as they lounged on the floor together. He’d grown used to Richie’s voice bouncing off the walls of his basement, followed by a chorus of both laughter and groans. The banter Richie had always shared with Max was noticeably absent, and even though it had been something Mike had playfully complained about any time it happened, it left the room feeling somehow empty, the air a bit off. He missed the way Richie would press sporadic kisses to his hair, despite the fact that Mike complained ceaselessly about Richie’s affinity for PDA. He missed his hands and his jokes and his voice and the smiles the party members gave him. He loved Max and Lucas to death, and they were adorable, but he could barely look at them as the spiked egg nog brought them closer and closer to each other throughout the night. There were a few moments where they were cuddling and whispering and giggling together that Mike genuinely felt a bit nauseous. He blamed it on the egg nog. However, when he noticed the ring on El’s finger - which definitely hadn’t been there last year, or even in her last Instagram post - he knew it wasn’t just the alcohol or the dairy. He met El’s eye as he looked up and forced himself to smile when he saw that she was blushing and grinning at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, prompting her and Dylan to announce their engagement to the room. There were many cheers and shots of congratulations afterwards, Mike not excluded. He was ecstatic for them - they were great together. But with the alcohol running through his veins it was just a little too much to see the way Dylan looked at El, to see the look she returned to them. Once he’d hugged them both and offered his sincere congratulations, he snuck away to the kitchen, grateful to find that Karen, Nancy, and Holly had all gone upstairs.

He leaned on the sink and took a deep breath. His head swam a bit; he hadn’t realized how much he’d had to drink, and that last shot had him drunker than he had intended to get. He was so focused on steadying his breathing that he barely heard El come up behind him. “Hey,” she said softly with a gentle hand on his shoulder. Still, Mike jumped as he turned around.

“Hey,” he smiled back shakily. He took her hand in his and marveled at the ring on it. “This is beautiful, El. Dylan is super lucky.”

“I’m lucky too,” she smiled. But then her face got serious again, and she gripped Mike’s hand while caressing his face with the other. Mike’s bottom lip quivered at the contact; it had been so long since someone had touched him so tenderly. (The fact that it was his first love who now had a fiancé shook him even more, and the alcohol certainly wasn’t helping.) “How have you been?” The concern and openness in her voice nearly made him crumbled. He held her hand to his face and watched hers grow blurry.

“It’s hard,” he admitted in a shaky whisper. “I miss him.” At the first sign of a tear on his cheek El wrapped him in a tight embrace, allowing him to bury his face in his hair as he caught his breath. She didn’t say anything, and for that Mike was grateful - they both knew she didn’t have to say much. She said all she needed to by holding him: I’m sorry you’re going through this, but I’m right here. You’ll always have us. Maybe she was thinking other things, like maybe that he and Richie could work it out in the future, but if she was thinking them she thankfully didn’t voice them. She just held him until he pulled back and wiped the tears from his face. “I really am happy for you,” he told her. “You so deserve this.”

“I love you,” she smiled, running a hand through his hair once before holding both of his hands in her own.

“I love you, too,” he grinned. And even though the words were everything he needed to hear, and even though they were coming from one of his favorite people in the world, he still wished he could hear him saying it, wished that he was sitting down stairs with a drunk Richie wrapped around him whispering endless I love yous into his ear throughout the night. “I think I’m ready to go back down now,” he told her, letting her lead him downstairs. The thoughts didn’t subside, but they were easier to ignore when there were so many things going on in his friends’ lives for him to catch up on.

Everyone filed out around one-thirty, leaving Mike to turn out all of the lights and head up to his room alone. Normally he’d be leading a drunk Richie behind him, shushing him through poorly suppressed giggles. He’d have Richie’s mouth on his neck and his hands on his waist. Maybe before that they would’ve sprayed some whipped cream into each other’s mouths, trying and failing to stay quiet as they laughed at the innuendo. Then Richie would purposely get some on the corner of his mouth just so he could beg Mike to kiss it off. Mike remembered Richie deepening the kiss after that, every time, lifting him onto the counter and sliding his hands up his shirt until Mike stopped him, breathless, not wanting his mom or sisters to come down and find them. But that wasn’t happening tonight, maybe not ever again; it was like he was a ghost, though Mike knew rationally that he was only a phone call away, if he really needed him. Mike gripped the railing a little bit harder than necessary as he climbed up the stairs, willing himself not to cry now that he was alone with his thoughts. He made his way to his room quietly, hoping not to wake anybody as he closed the door. He walked over to his window, staring out of it onto his backyard. He smiled to himself; it was snowing.

He was about to change into his pajamas when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, figuring Dustin must have left something behind. He froze when he saw the caller ID. Apparently he never got around to changing his contact picture, as an image of Richie pressing a kiss to Mike’s cheek was filling his screen. He answered, bringing the phone to his ear, his blood cold. “Hello?” he nearly whispered, afraid his voice might not even work.

There was a beat of silence. Then, for the first time in months, Richie’s voice. “Hey,” he said, almost surprised, as if Mike had called him. “I didn’t think you were gonna pick up.” Mike’s heart dropped.

“I’ll always pick up when you call.” He figured he could blame that on the alcohol in the morning, but he knew the rum really had nothing to do with the lump in his throat and the fact that his heart was racing a mile a minute.

“Mike,” Richie breathed, his voice desperate and strained. Mike bit his lip and closed his eyes; he’d missed Richie saying his name. “Fuck.”

“So what’s up?” Mike asked, his own voice cracking. “Why… why’d you call?”

“I miss you.” Mike gripped the windowsill.

“Are you drunk?”

“Tipsy.”

“Me too.” There was silence from the other end of the line for a moment. Richie started to say something, just like he always did, but Mike cut him off. “I miss you too.”

“You do?” Richie’s voice was so soft and so vulnerable. The snow became blurry before him.

“I miss you so much,” he said, letting out a soft sob. “Every day.”

“Baby,” Richie said, his voice like a blanket around Mike’s shoulders; he wanted to crawl into it, wanted to tuck his head under Richie’s chin and listen to his heartbeat, the way he always did when he was upset. The tone of Richie’s voice made Mike wish they had ended badly. He wished - so many times - that there had been a fight, that all of his fond memories of Richie could be countered with bad ones. But any bad memories were inconsequential, unconjurable. Mike could only remember the good, because they hadn’t ended badly. They never really fought about anything serious. They never went to bed angry. And the end had only been so painful because they were both still so in love with each other. “I wish I was there with you, too. I wish I could be there for you.” Mike sobbed quietly, unable to express how badly he needed that, how badly he needed Richie to hold him. He should be holding Mike right now, tucked safely under the covers of Mike’s childhood bed, singing soft Christmas songs in Mike’s ear, first funny pop ones and then soft, sentimental ones until Mike fell asleep. But he was thousands of miles away. “I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have called-”

“No,” Mike insisted, mindless of his volume for a minute. Bringing it back down, he said, “I’m glad you did. God, I fucking miss you so much. I wanna see you so bad. Everything is, is wrong without you.”

“Baby-”

“I wanna go back to New York,” Mike kept on, the tears freely flowing, his sniffles and hiccups interrupting his speech. “I wanna wake up next to you tomorrow morning. I wanna suffer through airport lines and airplane food with you. I wanna drink coffee with you and see whose presents are more tragically wrapped.” Richie gave a small, pained chuckle at that. “I miss all of it. I miss you.”

“Mike.” Richie didn’t cry often, but he sounded close to it. “I love you.” Mike didn’t realize he’d fallen to his knees until he was looking at the heater instead of the snow. The sound of that voice saying those words had him trembling.

“Say it again,” he whispered.

“Mike Wheeler, I love you so much,” Richie said, his voice swelled with something Mike couldn’t quite place. “I have not stopped loving you, not for a single day.”

“I never stopped loving you,” Mike said, his voice cracking again. “I love you so much, Richie. It’s so nice to hear your voice.”

“It’s nice to hear yours, too.” Mike could hear the small grin in his voice. “I needed to hear your voice. Kind of a… masochistic Christmas present to myself.”

“It doesn’t have to hurt,” Mike said. Richie stayed silent. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“Mike,” Richie started again, his voice tired and hurting.

“I could quit.”

“Mike.” His voice was much firmer now - still gentle, but Mike knew not to argue. “Why don’t you get some sleep, angel? If you’re feeling up to it tomorrow we can talk again. I’d love to hear your voice again. But right now I think you’re a little drunk and very tired, and I think you need to sleep.”

“Sleeping is so much harder without you.”

“Fuck, I know,” Richie agreed with a heavy sigh. “I miss holding you so bad. But we still have to sleep, okay? I don’t want you to exhaust yourself.” Mike nodded, even though Richie couldn’t see him. He didn’t know how he managed it, but Richie was one of few people who could tell Mike what to do and get results instead of punched.

“Okay,” he relented. “Do you promise to call me tomorrow?”

“If that’s still what you want.”

“Okay.”

“Merry Christmas, Wheelbarrow.” Mike smiled fondly at the old nickname.

“Merry Christmas, Richie.” And with that the line went dead.

He sat for a minute before getting up. He changed into pajamas and got into bed, wiping the salty tracks from his cheeks as best he could. In the time it took him to get into bed, Nancy had texted him twice.

Everything okay? 1:41 am.

Do you wanna talk about it? 1:42 am.

Maybe tomorrow, he sent back.

He settled into bed, emotionally drained but looking forward to talking to Richie again. He was extremely shaken, but it had also been really, really nice to hear Richie’s voice. He convinced himself that something might come of this talk. Deep down he knew it was unlikely that anything would change, but his tipsy and emotionally overwhelmed mind lulled him to sleep with overly optimistic assurances and fantasies. It was Christmas, after all, and he fell asleep exhausted but still high on the sound of Richie’s voice.

perma tag: @clouded-eyes-and-salty-tears @reddie4thesinbin @deadlighturis @constantreaderfool @reddieloserz @jessicaheartsderry @vegetarian-avocado @tinyarmedtrex @sml1104 @chocolatemangoose @reddie-for-anything

[dnkaus]

Fateful Visions | Chapter 13: Infatuation

Namjoon x Reader (OC)

Summary: Idol Namjoon meets a grad student, Maya, but he experiences strange visions each time their eyes meet and they touch one another. Fate plays a magnetic role, & keeps bringing them together. Are these visions a sign that they should stay away or stay together?

Genre: Angst, Fluff (eventually)

Previous Part: Chapter Twelve  Next Part: Chapter Fourteen 

After the conversation with Namjoon, Maya truly grasped the reality of her own situation. She realized she was going on a date the next day. She also realized this was no ordinary date. This was a date with Kim Namjoon. Was this really happening? Had she really been just asked out on a date by Kim Namjoon? As Maya came in terms with her reality her blood pressure started going up. She began to question everything. She began to realize she didn’t even know where he was taking her on the date. She had no idea how she should dress or what they would be doing on their date. Maya started to panic. Why didn’t she ask him where they were going? How could she be so stupid?!

Meanwhile, Namjoon was also almost as much stressed as Maya. He had managed to ask her on the date, but he had no idea where he was taking her either. Namjoon did what every other millennial does when they are unsure about things: he searched the web for the best places he could take Maya on a date. He also had to pick a place that was secluded so that they could be alone without anyone knowing. No fans or paparazzi. Namjoon decided they could go on a hike on a small trail near Inwangsan mountain. That trail was usually pretty empty and would be an easier stroll for the two of them. He hoped that Maya was okay with their date being somewhat less fancy. It was just hard for him as an idol to go to public places. Nonetheless, Namjoon decided to ask Maya what she thought about his idea. Namjoon texted Maya around 2am, thinking that she was probably asleep by that time and that he would probably just end up receiving an answer the next day. However, Maya could not sleep at all after their phone conversation, and so she was wide awake when she received the message from Namjoon.

Once again, Maya had somehow managed to subtly read Namjoon’s mind. Maya knew what Namjoon meant when he said go to sleep. In fact, her response was supposed to be for Namjoon’s original message that he didn’t end up sending.

Maya’s heart was full after that text conversation. Namjoon would never know just how grateful Maya felt when he asked her about how she felt about hiking. This was new to Maya. With Caleb, things rarely went the way Maya wanted. The fact that Namjoon was so considerate of Maya’s likes and dislikes just made Maya less nervous about her choice.

On the other hand, Maya would never know just how grateful Namjoon was to know that she was okay with them just going hiking. Namjoon was worried, because Ji Hyu was not really into nature and she hated outdoor activities. It was good to know that with Maya at least Namjoon would be able to be more of himself.

Soon the time arrived when Namjoon was supposed to pick up Maya. He had just finished his schedules for the day and had told the members he was going to go hiking with his other idol friends. Truth be told, members were getting more and more suspicious of Namjoon’s behavior. Besides, Yoongi no one really knew what was happening.

Namjoon also messaged Maya that he was leaving, before he left, just to give her a warning that he was coming over. Namjoon wanted to make sure Maya was comfortable. He wanted to make sure that she did not regret giving their relationship a chance.

When Namjoon arrived to Maya’s apartment, Maya was all ready to go. Maya had especially went shopping just for the outfit she would wear for their date. She was afraid that her usual clothes would fall flat compared to Namjoon’s high end wardrobe. In fact, that was one of Maya’s biggest worry going into this relationship. She was worried she would not be able to keep up with Namjoon’s elite idol lifestyle. Nonetheless, she was trying her best. Little did she know that Namjoon could care less what type of clothes Maya wore, so when she walked out with her unusually expensive outfit, Namjoon was slightly confused.

Namjoon didn’t say anything when Maya came towards the car. Again, his main priority was to make sure Maya felt comfortable with him and besides she looked amazing, so he had no reason to comment. At least not now. Namjoon went around to open the door to the passenger side seat for his new lady friend. Maya was caught by surprise at his gesture even though he had done the same thing the last time they rode together.

“Here you go,” Namjoon said while opening the door.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I can open the door” Maya replied.

“I know you are completely capable of opening your own doors, and might even be better than me at opening doors. But still, I wanted to. Please, if it’s okay with you. Can this be our thing?” Namjoon asked gently.

“Our thing?” Maya asked, her heart fluttered a little with the way words sounded when they came out of Namjoon’s mouth.

“Uh, nevermind...maybe that was a bit too forward. I am sorry! I won’t do this if it makes you uncomfortable. I just--” Namjoon was doing that thing again and Maya realized so she stopped him.

“Namjoon, you are fine. You can open the door for me, but in return I get to have a ‘our thing’ too” Maya smiled. She was good at bargaining.

Namjoon tilted his head, indicating that he was taking her offer into consideration. “Alright, what type of thing?” Namjoon asked.

“Hmmm, I am not sure yet, but I will let you know when I find it.” Maya answered.

“Hmm, alright. Well, for now let’s head out, shall we?” Namjoon responded.

Maya nodded and sat down in the car. Namjoon closed the door once Maya was settled and went back to the driver’s side seat.

Soon they were off to Inwangsan mountain trail. At first, both of them were quiet, as they didn’t know what would be an appropriate topic to talk about. They had always stuck to topics like books and literature, but they both knew they eventually needed to branch into other conversations if they planned on getting to know each other. Hence, they both took the first few minutes to figure out what to say. Eventually, Namjoon came up with a topic they had not previously talked about much.

“So, do you really have 5 siblings?” Namjoon asked. He assumed he should know at least a little bit more about her family if they were going to date.

Maya laughed. “Yep, I do and they are all brilliant.”

“Oh, really? More brilliant than you? I doubt it.” Namjoon looked over at Maya with his hands still on the steering wheel.

“Oh, but it’s true. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Two of my sisters are studying to be a doctor. One wants to be an anesthesiologist and the other wants to be gastrointestinologist. Both are twins and they just applied for a Doctors without Borders program in Cambodia. My other sister is in the pre-law program at UCLA and she wants to study immigration law so she can help those who get wrongfully deported from America. One of my brothers wants to work for NASA, and has already received an internship from NASA, even though he is only a sophomore in high school. And my youngest brother is only 14, but he builds computers as a hobby. I am telling you, my siblings are way more brilliant than me.” Maya explained.

Namjoon gulped after hearing the background of each of Maya’s siblings. He imagined what it would be like if he met any of them. Would they ever approve of Maya dating someone who has only studied music? He tried to shake away the thought as he was worried he would have a panic attack just thinking about it.

“Wow, you do have quite a family. But that doesn’t mean you are any less brilliant.” Namjoon retorted.

“Namjoon, you don’t have to lie just because we are...you know…” Maya couldn’t finish her sentence. The word ‘date’ made her heart beat too fast and she didn’t want to have a heart attack while she was on a date. Maya blushed and looked down at her hands.

“We are on a what?” Namjoon immediately noticed Maya’s hesitation in using the word ‘date, and so he decided he had to take this opportunity to tease her about it.

“We are...you know” Maya still couldn’t say it. She bit her lips and looked outside her window. She could feel Namjoon staring at her but she wouldn’t dare look at Namjoon.

“I am not sure what you mean?” Namjoon was starting to enjoy this game.

Maya sighed and looked back at him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked in a frustrated voice. Of course, Namjoon found her frustration even more adorable.

“I am not doing anything though. What did I do? I am just asking since you didn’t finish the sentence.” Namjoon answered with a smile, and he shrugged his shoulders while his hands remained on the steering wheel.

“Fine. I’ll say it. You don’t need to lie to me just because we are on a…(inhales) date” The last part of the sentence came out as more of a mumble. She again became shy, and started staring out the window.

Namjoon couldn’t control his laughter at Maya’s response. How can someone be just so cute?  He thought. “Anyways, I wasn’t lying when I said you are brilliant. Pursuing your PhD in writing isn’t a small feat.” Namjoon decided to get back to the original conversation.

“I guess…. But writing isn’t really viewed as a good career in my family.  My parents always say I am wasting my potential.” Maya’s face became glum as she thought about her parents’ reaction when she told them she wanted to become a writer.

“I understand. At the beginning my parents also had a hard time accepting my choice of pursuing music.” Namjoon replied.

“They did? How did you convince them?” Maya asked.

“I don’t know. I think my mom saw how happy I was when I was with my music and she realized it was more important for me to be happy.” Namjoon answered.

“Hm, well I am grateful you pursued music, because who knows what this world would have done without your music.” Maya thought back to the night when she wanted to break up with Caleb. It was BTS’s lyrics that had given her the motivation to break up with him. The messages in their songs were what kept so many people going.

Maya’s words tugged at Namjoon’s heart. “Thanks. I guess I wouldn’t have been able to meet you either if it wasn’t for my music.” Namjoon looked over once again.

This time Maya returned the look and a small smile spread across her face. “I guess not.”

The rest of the car ride was quiet again. It wasn’t the awkward silence. It was a reflective silence. Both of them were just thinking of all the things and decisions that had led them where they are.

Soon Namjoon pulled the car towards a small parking space in front of a park. He parked the car, put on his mask, grabbed his backpack from the backseat, and said “here we are. The trail is actually a bit farther away, but this is the only place for us to park, so hope you don’t mind the walk.”

“Of course, not. We are here to hike anyways!” Maya said as she  picked up her bag from her lap and  tried to open the car door. However, before she could open the door, Namjoon suddenly appeared by her door.

“This is our thing remember?” Namjoon reminded Maya as he held the door while Maya got out of the car.

“Are you seriously going to do this every time?” Maya asked while laughing.

Namjoon aggressively nodded.

“I am going to need some time to get used to this” Maya replied.

“No worries. Take your time. What’s the rush?” Namjoon assured.

Maya gave a slight nod and looked away, her heart was still beating fast. She tried to calm down her nerves as they both began walking towards the trail. However, there was just no end to Maya’s nervousness.

Halfway towards the trail Namjoon suddenly stopped and opened his backpack.

“What happened?” Maya asked out of curiosity.

Namjoon pulled out two water bottles and handed one to Maya. “Here take this, in case you get thirsty.”

Maya laughed as she took the water bottle in her hand. Namjoon gave her a confused look.

Maya explained the reason for her laughter by opening her bag and pulling  out two water bottles. “I have one for you too.” Maya said as she handed Namjoon one.

Namjoon also laughed. “Great minds think alike!” Namjoon said.

“Especially when they have 98% same biorhythms.” Maya added.

Both stopped and laughed for a while. “I guess I won’t be needing this one then.” Namjoon said as he  put the water bottle he brought for himself back into his backpack.

“Same here.” Maya also put the one she had brought for herself back into her bag.

Both exchanged a smile  for a second and continued walking. Soon they arrived at the trail.

“Here it is.” Namjoon said once they got to the front of the trail. There were brochures and maps at the front for hikers to grab before they started their journey. Maya immediately went and grabbed every brochure she saw. There were some about the history of the town, some about the trail, and the maps were about all the different routes they could take to reach the mountain. Maya started reading. Namjoon also joined in and both started talking about the different things they were learning about the place. After a few minutes, Namjoon realized they should probably pick a route and start hiking.

“So, should we start? Which route do you want to try?” Namjoon asked.

Maya looked at the map and tried to decide the route she preferred. “Umm, maybe route B? There is also a view of the lake if we take this route” Maya suggested. It was the route that she thought would be most scenic.

“Okay that works for me.” Namjoon agreed. “Let’s go.”

Namjoon and Maya started their hike. Both of them focusing on their surroundings. Every now and then both of them would point out something they saw or stop to take pictures of the scenery. At one point, Maya saw a grasshopper on a leaf so she stopped and went towards it to take a look. “Woah, look at this little fellow.” Maya said. As she observed the colors. Unlike other grasshoppers this one was colorful. Maya became absorbed in the beauty. She pulled out her phone and started taking pictures. However, instead of the grasshopper, Namjoon was more intrigued by Maya’s reaction to it. Namjoon also pulled out his phone. However, his subject was Maya, not the grasshopper. He wanted to capture Maya’s curious expressions. Her eyes were focused on the little bug and she was so absorbed in the moment that she didn’t notice Namjoon taking her picture.

“He is so pretty!” Maya said she finally looked up at Namjoon. As she did, Namjoon quickly tried to hide his phone to prevent her from knowing that he was taking her picture. But it was too late. Maya became suspicious.

“What were you doing?” Maya asked.

Namjoon was terrible at lying his expressions were flustered and he didn’t know how to hide it. “Umm, nothing. I wasn’t doing anything.” Namjoon responded.

“What were you doing with your phone then?” Maya asked. She folded her arms.

“Oh, I was just looking up what type of grasshopper it was.” Namjoon tried to come up with a reasonable excuse.

“You were taking a picture of me weren’t you” Maya squinted her eyes and looked at Namjoon.

Namjoon gulped. Crap! She knew!

“No...I wasn’t” Namjoon gave one more futile attempt at hiding the truth.

“Delete it!” Maya demanded.

“But why?” Namjoon asked.

“Just delete it! Please!” Maya pouted.

“But...but I don’t have any pictures of you…and you looked so cute…please let me keep it” Namjoon pouted back.

Maya started making whiny noises, which were even more adorable. Namjoon was afraid he would melt and give in to her puppy face. But he knew he had to hold his ground. He really wanted to keep that picture.

Maya continued to whine  “No, it’s not fair. I don’t have any pictures of you either!” Maya said.

“Are you kidding me? You can just google my name and get a billion pictures of me a thousand different angles. At least let me keep this one” Namjoon argued back

“Uggh, fine. You are getting away this time mister, but now I am watching you.” She pointed at Namjoon and warned him. Then she continued to walk ahead. “ Aish, it’s probably such an ugly picture.” Maya mumbled to herself.

“It wasn’t ugly! I don’t know how to take ugly pictures! See” Namjoon pulled out his phone and showed her the picture. Namjoon was right. It was beautiful. The trees in the background, and Maya’s glowing skin under the small beams of sunlight that peaked through the canopy of the forest made her look beautiful. Her attention was on the rainbow colored grasshopper and there was a small smile on her face. It was perfect.

Maya carefully looked at the picture and then rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I am watching you Kim Namjoon. Don’t try this tactic again.” Maya reminded.

“Yes, Ma’am!” Namjoon jokingly put his hands up in the air as a gesture that he was retreating. He couldn’t stop smiling knowing that he had still gotten to keep the picture.

Maya scrunched her face and continued walking. The two of them continued to walk until they reached a stream. Namjoon was about to step over the stream until he saw Maya’s hesitation.

She gulped when she saw how wide the stream was. She wasn’t sure how she would cross it. There was a rock in the middle, but it was covered in moss and the force of the water was strong. She was worried she would fall. Namjoon knew exactly what was going through Maya’s head.  Namjoon slowly went ahead and stood on the rock that was in the middle of the stream. It was wide enough to fit both of them. Then he reached out towards Maya. “Give me your hand.” He said.

Maya looked at him with hesitation. She shook her head. “It’s okay.”

“Maya, just trust me. I won’t let you fall.  Just give me your hand” Namjoon insisted with a demanding voice.

Maya gulped and slowly put her hand into Namjoon’s. Namjoon grabbed her delicate hand tightly and slowly pulled her forward. Maya gently stepped towards the rock where Namjoon was standing. They were both standing close. So close that Maya could hear Namjoon’s heartbeat. So close that Namjoon was tempted to pull her into a hug, but he was trying to resist. That was until Maya almost lost her balance, so Namjoon quickly put his hand around her waist to keep her steady and Maya grabbed onto Namjoon’s shirt to keep her balance.

“I got you. You are okay” Namjoon assured as he felt the panic in Maya’s body language and noticed how tightly she was holding on to his shirt. Holy cow, was this real? Why did it feel so right? She didn’t want him to let go. He didn’t want to either. But he eventually had to for him to go forward.

Namjoon slowly let go of her waist and took another step towards the other side of the stream. He was still holding on to Maya’s hand, but she was feeling scared again as she was alone on the slippery rock. “You are still good. You are okay.” Namjoon kept mumbling as he went  to the other side.

Once he was on the other side. He gently tugged on Maya’s hand, to gesture her to come to the other side. She followed by slowly stepping forward. Namjoon even reached out his other hand in case Maya wanted to hold it. She took the offer and now was holding both of her hands with Namjoon’s.

She then reached the other side and let out a sigh of relief, while she continued to hold both of Namjoon’s hands. She realized within the next split second and let go immediately with her face becoming bright red. “I am so sorry. Thank you for helping.” Maya quickly put her hands in her jacket pocket and  looked away. Namjoon was a little disappointed when Maya let go of his hand. He wanted to hold it longer.

“You can hold it longer...if... if you want.” Namjoon blurted out his selfish thought.

Maya immediately looked back at him. Her heart was pounding, but when her eyes met his chocolatey brown orbs she couldn’t feel any nervousness. Of course, she wanted to hold his hand longer and it was clearly written all over her face. Namjoon read her expressions, and he smiled and held out his hand again. Maya looked at his hand, gently tucked one of the strands of hair behind her ear, and put her hand gently into his again. Namjoon pulled her closer beside him and they started walking again. Both were careful not to make eye contact while the held hands. They just walked quietly. Enjoying each other’s company.

Soon the trail ended and they reached the exit. “Welp, we made it!” Namjoon said.

“Wow, is it already over?” Maya questioned as she gently let go of Namjoon’s hand.

“Why? did you want it to go on longer?” Namjoon jokingly asked.

“No...I mean...it was fun” Maya hesitantly replied.

“Yeah it was. I am glad you had fun too.” Namjoon felt relieved.

“I guess we should head back.” Maya said.

“Yeah we should.” Namjoon agreed.

They both got to the car and again, Namjoon opened Maya’s door before she could even think about it.  Maya laughed and sat down. Then he came around and sat down on the driver’s side.

Namjoon started driving. It was quiet until Maya requested that Namjoon play his music in the car.

“I always like the songs your recommend on Twitter” Maya told Namjoon.

“You do?” Namjoon was surprised to hear.

“Yeah I think almost all of them are on my phone.” Maya said.

Namjoon felt thrilled to know that Maya liked the type of music he listened to. He loved sharing his music with the world, and it felt like now he had someone close that he could share his music with too. It warmed his heart.

Namjoon again reached out and took Maya’s hand into his. “May I?” He asked.

Maya smiled, nodded, and intertwined her fingers with his tightening the grip. It felt so right.

The two then began to talk about their childhood days. They talked about Maya’s life in California and Namjoon’s life in Ilsan. They talked about Namjoon’s trainee days and Maya’s undergraduate experiences. They shared anything and everything that came to mind. No filtering and no hesitation. Their conversations were just falling into place.

Unfortunately, the car ride eventually came to an end when they arrived back at Maya’s apartment. Namjoon sighed. “I guess here we are.”

“Yeah, time keeps flying by too quickly.” Maya noted.

Namjoon decided to at least drop off Maya till her apartment door. He was trying to buy as much time with her as he could. They walked upstairs together to her apartment and stopped when they reached the door.

“Maya…thanks for giving me a chance” Namjoon said almost in a whisper to make sure none of the neighbors heard them.

“Thank you for today” Maya whispered back.

“Does this mean you’ll go on another date with me?” Namjoon asked. Maya was looking at her feet, but Namjoon saw the shy smile that spread across her face. She simply nodded.

“Maybe you can plan next time, if you want” Namjoon suggested.

“Really?” Maya’s eyes lit up as she looked at Namjoon.

Namjoon suddenly became worried. There were not many places he could go with her, he thought he should tell her that they can’t go anywhere with a lot of crowd.

“It’s just...we have to be careful. We can’t go out where there are…”

“I know. Actually, I am not sure how you would feel about it...but can I ever come see your studio?”

Namjoon was surprised at Maya’s request. Of all the things she could have asked. She wanted to come see the place where he felt the most comfortable. It was as if she had read his mind.

“You really want to come to my studio?” Namjoon asked, his eyes were wide in surprise.

“Of course. I want to see where you create all your masterpieces.” Maya laughed.

Namjoon smiled. “Ah, I wouldn’t call them that...but I would love for you to come see it.”

Maya quietly clapped her hands. “Eeee, I am so excited!”

“You’re silly!” Namjoon shook his head. He couldn’t understand why she was so excited to see it.

Maya merely laughed and slowly started unlocking her door. She wanted to spend more time with him. She didn’t want him to leave. But she knew he would eventually have to. “I guess I should head in.” She said.

“Alright. I will see you next time.” Namjoon waved and started walking away from Maya’s apartment. Maya stood there for a moment. She felt like she already missed him even though he was only just a few steps away.

“Namjoon…” Maya called out his name before he started heading downstairs. Namjoon stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“What is it?” He asked.

Maya had no idea what she was doing. She just went along with what her mind told her. She went up to Namjoon and gestured him to lean closer to her. Namjoon was confused but he followed Maya’s directions. She leaned into his ear and whispered “I like you.”

A really bright smile formed on Namjoon’s face as he comprehended Maya’s words. And as soon as the dimples appeared, Maya leaned in again, gave him a quick peck on his right dimple, and ran away while saying “you’re silly too!” and closed her apartment door behind her.

Namjoon was so astonished he couldn’t move for a good while. He just touched his cheek where he still felt warmth from Maya’s soft lips. He was so disoriented that he almost stumbled down the stairs. He wanted to scream and shout with joy, but he couldn’t. He had to somehow drive to his house without having a complete meltdown.

Meanwhile, Maya had a meltdown after she realized what she actually did. She had no idea why she did what she did. She collapsed onto her bed and hid her face in the pillow trying not to  think about what she had just done. She couldn’t believe it. She had just given a kiss on the cheek to Kim Namjoon. Had she gone crazy? Perhaps she had.

The rest of the night both Maya and Namjoon were submerged in the euphoria from their date.

Few days later

As per Maya’s request, Namjoon picked out a day when she can come to his studio without any of the other members knowing. This time happened to be late at night. He had told Maya they had to meet at night so that there wouldn’t be other staff or members there. Maya understood.

Maya had insisted that she would just meet him at the studio as it wasn’t very far from Maya’s apartment. Namjoon had told her to call him, when she got there so he could let her into the building.

Maya arrived 5 minutes before their decided time and called Namjoon. Namjoon was busy organizing his studio, making sure everything was perfect. He didn’t want anything out of place. Still when Maya called, his heart began to beat faster.

“Hello! I am here” Maya said as he picked up the phone.

“Hey, I’ll be right out” Namjoon said.

“Okay, see you soon” Maya said.

Namjoon half ran to the front door of the building and before opening the door put his hand on his heart trying to calm himself down. Truth be told, he was still not over their last date.  Maya’s sweet parting gift from last time still had left Namjoon intoxicated. How would he see her today without melting?

Nonetheless, with shaky knees and butterflies in his stomach, Namjoon opened the door and found Maya’s smiling face.

“Hi…” Namjoon managed to mutter.

“Hi…how are you?” Maya asked.

“I am...I am good” Namjoon answered.

Namjoon opened the door wider so he could let her in. She stepped inside the building feeling a bit overwhelmed. She couldn’t believe this was the BigHit Entertainment building. She couldn’t believe she was stepping into the world that she knew almost nothing about just couple years ago.

“What’s wrong?” Namjoon asked as they started walking towards the studio.

“Nothing, I just can’t believe I am in this place.” Maya said.

“Why?” Namjoon asked.

“I don’t know. It’s just hard to believe everything that’s happened the past few days.” Maya answered as she adjusted the shoulder strap of the bag she was carrying.

Namjoon nodded. “I understand.”

Eventually they reached the studio and Namjoon unlocked the door and led Maya inside. Suddenly Maya felt a wave of familiarity wash over her. She remembered she had seen this room in some of her visions.

“Here it is. My safe haven.” Namjoon introduced his studio.

Maya smiled and looked around at all the little figurines and collectables. Maya knew about Namjoon’s obsession with collecting KAWS toys. She found it incredibly precious and also thought it impressive how many he had managed to collect.

“I hope my collections don’t scare you away.” Namjoon joked.

“Nah, this doesn’t scare me. You haven’t seen my collection of stamps.I understand the obsession”

“Wait, really? I didn’t know you collected stamps. You’ll have to show me sometime” Namjoon asked.

“Sure...my book is at my apartment.” Maya replied and continued observing the studio. She was careful not to touch anything and just looked from distance. Namjoon also had some gifts from fans that he had on display, along with a picture of BTS and his family. Maya and Namjoon had talked about his family during their last date. It was clear that Namjoon was close with his mom.

Namjoon just let Maya look around for a bit and then asked “So, what do you think?

“Oh, sorry...I just got carried away. It’s awesome in here. It feels like...it feels like you” Maya responded.

Namjoon nodded in intrigue. “Interesting. And what do I feel like?” Namjoon asked.

Maya thought for a second. After her bold move during their first date, Maya was slowly letting go of her walls around Namjoon. “I guess this might come off as a little weird but you feel like a sanctuary” Maya responded the word that came to mind every time she tried to describe how she felt when she was around him. It was a feeling of both contentement and tranquility that was fused in with her emotions of euphoria and ecstasy. He was becoming her sanctuary. Namjoon made her feel safe and free at the same time. It was strange because she had never felt that way before.

Namjoon was silent for a moment. He just continued to look at Maya. Maya suddenly became self-conscious about her words, regretting her decision to be so forward and to give away such personal thought she felt towards him.

“I am sorry...that was a bit weird wasn’t it.” Maya said as she put her hand on her forehead out of regret.

But her regret faded, when she suddenly felt Namjoon’s arms around her. A feeling of both excitement and  serenity spread  throughout Maya’s body as she felt the heat of his body enveloping her. Her sanctuary was embracing her.

“I have wanted to do this for a long time. I hope this is okay.” Namjoon said as he was going through similar waves of excitement and peace inside of him. But he still wanted to make sure Maya was comfortable with his sudden move. He had never felt so complete or content in his life. When Maya called him her sanctuary, Namjoon knew exactly what she meant as he often felt the same way around her. He knew there were no real words to express this feeling, so he just described it through his actions.

Maya nodded into his chest, as she wasn’t sure she would be able to speak. She slowly put her arms around him, slowly melting further into his arms. Namjoon pulled her closer in, as he had finally had her permission. Namjoon could smell his favorite Maya’s fragrance again and that elevated all his feelings. He wanted to stay like this forever.

Namjoon suddenly heard muffled sobs coming from Maya. He immediately loosened his grip to see what was wrong.

“Hey, what happened?” Namjoon asked as he looked down towards her. He saw tears rolling down from Maya’s cheeks. Maya quickly let go of Namjoon, took a step back,  and hastily wiped her tears.

“I am sorry, I am not sure where these came from.” Maya replied. “This is embarrassing.” She let out a fake laugh.

“Maya, is everything okay? You can tell me anything.” Namjoon was concerned. He understood the overwhelming emotions they were feeling, but he couldn’t quite understand the tears.

“No, everything is fine. I guess, I just got carried away. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You don’t scare me, Maya. Just know that you can tell me if there is something bugging you. Okay?” Namjoon was concerned because he suddenly remembered what Junmyeon had said about Maya’s past. There was something painful that Maya had been through, and Namjoon wondered what it was.

Maya nodded. “Okay, I will...for now, I wanted to ask, have you already eaten?” Maya changed the topic, returning back to her bright and cheerful self again.

Namjoon knew this was just Maya’s way of changing the topic, but he didn’t want to force her to say anything, so he decided to leave that discussion for later. “Ummm...no I haven’t had dinner yet. Why?”

“Well, I actually brought dinner for us.” Maya took out a few containers from her bag.

“Dinner? Really?” Namjoon was surprised. “Wait is this homemade?” Namjoon noticed the tupperware.

“Yes it is!” Maya answered excitedly.

“Wait, how? I thought you couldn’t cook…” Namjoon asked.

“Yeah, but I am learning from Han Bi. Let’s be honest, I can’t keep eating convenience food for the rest of my life.” Maya laughed. “Anyways, Han Bi helped me make Samgyeopsal, and kimchi stew, and for dessert we made rice cakes.”

“Wow, really? Did you really make all of this just for me?” Namjoon asked. He was too surprised.

“Well, it’s not just for you. I am eating with you.” Maya laughed.

“Yeah but still…This is too much.” Namjoon complained.

“I mean, this was supposed to my planned date right? So, let me have this. In fact, this could be my ‘our thing’!” Maya suggested, as she moved a small table in the corner,  in front of the couch in the studio and set up the food.

“What do you mean, you are going to bring homemade food everytime you come here?” Namjoon was getting worried. He really didn’t want Maya to feel like she had to bring him things every time.

“Well, maybe not homemade food, but just some treat of some sort.” Maya shrugged and sat down on the couch. “Please let this be our thing” Maya pouted.

As expected, Namjoon couldn’t resist. “Okay, fine”

“C’mon sit down, let’s eat! I am hungry!” Maya encouraged Namjoon to sit down on the couch next to her.

Namjoon sat down next to her and they both started eating. “So, do you like the food?” Maya asked half way through.

“It’s surprisingly good.” Namjoon gave a nod.

“Why is it surprising? Did you think it would be terrible since I helped make it?” Maya raised her eyebrow.

“No, I thought you didn’t want to cook because you weren’t good at it, but now I think you would be pretty good if you learned it” Namjoon replied.

“Yeah, I think I am mostly used to living alone and I never really felt like cooking just for myself,  so I never learned it.” Maya answered.

The conversations continued with the dinner. When it came to the dessert, Maya tried to convince Namjoon to eat the last rice cake, but Namjoon pretended like he was going to eat the cake and at the last second stuffed it in Maya’s mouth. Maya looked so cute with the rice cake stuffed in her mouth that Namjoon couldn’t stop laughing. In return, Maya jokingly kept hitting his shoulder. “You are so mean!” Maya tried saying with her mouth still full, which made Namjoon laugh even harder.

After dinner they cleaned up everything and Maya put the small table back into the corner. Both were happy and satisfied.

Then Namjoon dragged Maya towards his office chair where he would sit for hours and make his music.

“Sit here” he said.

“Are you sure? Isn’t this like your main chair?” Maya asked. She was surprised by Namjoon’s suggestion.

“Of course. Sit here. I want to show you something.” Namjoon insisted.

Maya followed Namjoon’s direction and sat in his chair, while he leaned over her shoulder to find what he wanted to show Maya on the computer. He clicked on a password protected file and then quickly entered the password to access the document he was looking for. It was a music file.

Before playing the file, he turned on the speakers with a remote that was sitting next to the computer keyboard. Then he finally clicked on the file.

Music started playing. At first Maya didn’t understand what song it was until she heard Jungkook’s voice. Maya slowly turned her chair to face Namjoon. She wasn’t completely sure if her hypothesis was correct. But from the lyrics she was starting to feel like her assumption was true.

She looked up at Namjoon. “Is this the song that…” Maya didn’t need to complete her sentence because Namjoon nodded before she did.

“It’s our song.” Namjoon confirmed Maya’s hypothesis. “Just listen to it.” He added.

Maya’s eyes stayed glued to Namjoon’s while she silently listened to the lyrics of the song. Her heart was so full with warmth that she was unsure how long she would be able to hear such sweet words before her heart failed completely. Jungkook’s sweet melodious voice filled the room, which fit the lyrics of the song so perfectly. Maya knew what the lyrics of the song meant. These lyrics were Namjoon’s way of asking Maya to give him a chance. His way of saying he believed in whatever strange fate that had brought them together. His way of saying just how much she meant to him.

She suddenly got up and wrapped her arms around Namjoon’s waist again. He returned the hug by wrapping his arms around her shoulder and they both stayed like that until the song ended.

Maya let go of Namjoon and stepped back after the song was finished so she could look at Namjoon again.

“Namjoon this is beautiful.” Maya said. She wanted to say more, but there were just no words. However, Namjoon was able to hear the unspoken words. He could feel what Maya was trying to convey.

“You think so?” Namjoon replied as he stepped closer caressing Maya’s cheek. He was careful not to look into her eyes. He focused his attention on her face and lips. Maya could feel the blood rush up to her cheeks. She couldn’t breathe due to Namjoon’s closeness.

“I wrote it while thinking of you. I really like you, Maya.” Namjoon stated the obvious, but hearing those words made Maya’s heart skip a few beats. Especially since he was gently cupping Maya’s face into his large hands. Maya was careful not to look into his eyes, even though she was dying to.

“I really like you too” was all Maya could mumble as she put her hand over Namjoon’s hand that was still cupping her face.

“Close your eyes” Namjoon suddenly demanded. Maya became confused, but she followed his direction.

Namjoon finally let out a small sigh of relief, as he was now able to look at Maya without worrying that they might accidentally make eye contact while touching, which would trigger a vision. He was relieved because now he could look at her carefully and memorize every curve and freckle on her face without worrying he would get distracted by her beautiful eyes. He was relieved because after all this time, Namjoon could do what he had been dying to do.

Namjoon leaned his face closer to Maya’s bringing his lips closer to her right cheek, while he still had his hand under Maya’s chin, leaving a small peck and he whispered “this is for last time.” Maya let out a small sound of shock, as she had not expected him to do that. But Namjoon wasn’t done yet. He leaned in towards her left cheek, and left a small peck there, and whispered “this is for earlier when I saw you at the door”. Maya inhaled sharply. Her stomach was in knots. Of course, Namjoon was still not done yet. He leaned in once again, this time aiming for her lips. His target was clear.  Next thing Maya knew, Namjoon’s lips crashed against hers. The sweet taste of his lips took over whatever sanity Maya had left inside of her.  The euphoria that Namjoon had described in the song was now being felt ten times more by both of them. They both felt fireworks going off inside their hearts as their soft lips moved so delicately against each others.  Maya slowly put her arms around his neck and stood on her toes while Namjoon moved his hand away from her face and put his arms around her waist.

They could feel their heart beats synchronize and their brain waves molding into one, even though their eyes were closed. They could feel their union being celebrated somewhere in the heavenly skies by some deities and angels, as this had to be a divine intervention that had led them to this moment. Their kiss was gentle like rose petals and feathers landing on the ground, but their kiss was also strong like waves of an ocean taking away any small  fear and doubts they had about each other. This kiss was the beginning. A turning point for their journey and they both knew they would never be able to turn back.

Namjoon slowly let go of Maya’s lips and whispered “this is for everyday from now on.”

[wazafam]

Especially with everything that’s been going on, everyone could use a little more joy, laughter, and lightheartedness. Thankfully, there are shows like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC, which keep things fun and heartwarming, despite its heartbreaking storyline (something that was inspired by the show creator’s own personal story).

RELATED: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: The 10 Best Episodes, According To IMDb

As fans know, the show is full of incredible music numbers and for those who can’t get enough of this, the good news is that there are also movies that share some similarities with the show’s concept and overall plot.

10 500 Days Of Summer

Just like on the show, this off-beat rom-com has a workplace romance going on. It all started when Zooey Deschanel’s Summer starts working for a greeting card company where she meets Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom.

The film is set around one year after they’ve been together. Summer thinks they’re over because she doesn’t really believe in relationships. On the other hand, Tom isn’t convinced so he decides to recount their relationship. 500 Days of Summer is one of the best films to premiere at the Sundance film festival.

9 The Greatest Showman

Just like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, this critically acclaimed 2017 film is full of musical numbers. The movie tells the story of an American entertainer named P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) who decides to create a live circus show unlike any other.

The group he gathers represents a true talent showcase, which includes Zac Efron, Zendaya, Shannon Holtzapffel, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Keala Settle, and many others. The movie also stars Michelle Williams who plays Jackman’s wife, and it scored an Oscar nomination for its original song This is Me.

8 Yesterday

Just like with Zoey (Jane Levy), the lead character in this film also experiences something ‘extraordinary’ following an incident. In this film though, Jack (Himesh Patel) doesn’t watch people sing their innermost feelings.

RELATED: 10 Films Inspired By The Beatles, Ranked

Instead, he realizes that all of a sudden, he’s the only person who knows about the Beatles or any of their songs. The movie boasts of a lot of incredible musical numbers, performed by Patel himself. To prepare for these, he told NPR that he had to get “a lot better at guitar and piano.”

7 Mamma Mia! / Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Just like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Mamma Mia movies are full of musical numbers (and memorable outfits) that fans can sing and dance to forever. Based on several hit songs from the pop group ABBA, the story begins when young bride-to-be Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) discovers that there are three men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård) who can possibly be her father.

Unbeknownst to her mom (Meryl Streep), Sophie invited all of them to their wedding to figure it out. Meanwhile, the Mamma Mia sequel sees Sophie discover more about her mother’s past following her death.

6 The High Note

The High Note tells the story of a music superstar named Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) and her overworked assistant, Maggie (Dakota Johnson). Despite having an incredibly busy job, Maggie is still determined to become a music producer. And one day, she’s presented with a choice that can change the course of the women’s careers.

The relationship between Johnson and Ross’ characters has some resemblance to the relationship between Zoey and her boss, Joan (Lauren Graham). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that fans would be seeing Joan again anytime soon as Graham had to exit the series.

5 A Short Stay In Switzerland

On the show, Zoey’s father (Peter Gallagher) passes away from progressive supranuclear palsy at the end of the first season. Meanwhile, this British film puts the spotlight on that very disease. Based on a true story, A Short Stay in Switzerland chronicles the decision of Dr. Anne Turner to end her life after she was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy.

While her body was still able, Turner traveled to Switzerland where she could get assistance from an organization to have an assisted suicide. She passed away just a day before her 67th birthday.

4 The Wedding Planner

Zoey may not be a wedding planner but at one point, she does help Simon (John Clarence Stewart) and Jessica (India de Beaufort) out with some stuff for her engagement party. However, Zoey is obviously falling for Simon and their attraction for each other eventually becomes obvious to Jessica.

RELATED: Jennifer Lopez’s Top 10 Films, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

In The Wedding Planner, Jennifer Lopez’s Mary also ends up falling for her husband’s groom. For the record though, nobody blames her since the groom is played by none other than hunky Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey. Not to mention, his onscreen chemistry with Lopez is undeniable.

3 The Pitch Perfect Franchise

This list largely feels incomplete without mentioning the Pitch Perfect franchise. After all, the movies are full of musical numbers, much like the show. At the same time, it’s also worth pointing out that actor Skylar Astin also stars in these movies.

And whereas he plays Zoey’s love interest on the show, Astin becomes the boyfriend of Anna Kendrick’s Beca here. Not to mention, Astin also puts on his singing talent on display here. And though both these characters sing effortlessly, Astin strongly believes that they are two very different individuals.

2 CodeGirl

This documentary focuses on young women who pretty much want to be like Zoey one day, an accomplished computer coder who gets promoted to manager of engineering. Here, viewers meet high school-aged girls who are working together to improve their community through technology.

Determined, they join the Technovation Challenge, which encourages young women to develop their very own apps for an international competition. The winning team would win $10,000. Perhaps, more importantly, they also get a jumpstart to a coding career as the app they have developed also gets released.

1 Hidden Figures

On the show, Zoey almost makes it seem like women have always been successful in the tech world. In reality, however, women have had to fight their way towards equal recognition in the industry. Hidden Figures is one movie that sheds light on this point in time.

This biographical drama rightfully puts the spotlight on Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), three women at the center of NASA’s space race. In the film, Mary memorably says, “Every time we have a chance to get ahead, they move the finish line.”

NEXT: Top 10 Movies From The 2010s On Disney+, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

10 Movies To Watch If You Like Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist from https://ift.tt/2Q7x7FL

[solveeduproblems]

Educational Problem Solving

This article presents the instructive arrangements module of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site (menuchics), depicting serious contributions, the client profile, issue situated arrangements, target markets, item contributions, and ease of use highlights. It presumes that the module is a significant commitment to the data interstate.

 Presentation

 The point of this article is to acquaint with the world the instructive arrangements module of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site. The article is routed to those perusers who may have an instructive issue impeding them and who may along these lines be searching for an exit from their scrape. The peruser might be a parent, kid, or understudy.

 It is a typical unavoidable truth that we as a whole have issues and that we are frequently disappointed or we will in general lash out on account of our failure to discover open and dependable data about our issues. This expert site fills this need - as our commonsense companion for tackling our instructive issues.

 To be of the best use to individuals a critical thinking site must consolidate sober minded conversations of their own or expert issue with trader items that give more definite data. Normally, the site will give free data as news, articles, and guidance, which direct the guest on what to do to tackle her issues. Supplementing this, the site will likewise give vendor items which examine in detail how the guest can approach settling her concern. This implies the best, guest arranged critical thinking site will be a data pressed business site - as is the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site and its authority destinations.

 The methodology that we have received underneath is to depict serious contributions, the client profile, issue arranged arrangements, target markets, item contributions, and convenience highlights.

 Serious Offerings

 Coming up next are the top instructive destinations on the Internet, alongside their contributions.

 US Department of Education. It characterizes the US instruction strategy and gives data on money related guide, instructive exploration and measurements, awards and agreements, and educating and learning assets.

 Instructive Testing Service. It gives a scope of test assets.

 FunBrain.com. It gives instructive games to K-8 children.

 PrimaryGames.com. It gives fun learning devices and games for kids.

 Jewel. It gives instructive assets, for example, exercise plans and other educating and learning assets.

 Instruction World. It gives guidance on exercise plans, proficient turn of events, and innovation reconciliation.

 NASA Education Enterprise. It gives instructive materials and data identifying with space investigation.

 Spartacus Educational. It is a British online reference book that centers around authentic subjects.

 Office for Education and Skills. It is a UK government office site that offers data and exhortation on different instructive and aptitudes themes.

 Times Educational Supplement. It offers showing news, instructing and instructive assets, and dynamic discussions to help UK instructors.

 Every one of these destinations are valuable in the spaces that they spread. Their fundamental impediments are as per the following:

 1. They will in general cover just an extremely tight section of the instructive market.

 2. They don't take as their beginning stage the every day instructive requirements of the commonplace family.

 3. They come up short on a difficult center; i.e., they don't detail the ordinary learning and instructive issues that understudies, understudies, and guardians face consistently.

 4. Because of the first point, the arrangements offered are not as sharp (for example as issue focused) as they could be.

 5. They don't offer trader items that develop the guest's comprehension of her concern and of the ensuing arrangements.

 The instructive arrangements module of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site tends to these issues by focusing on a variety of market sections, receiving a client profile that fits the commonplace training seeking after family, considering the particular needs or issues that this family may confront, offering sharp (issue focused) answers for the different issues, and offering a scope of vendor items that extend the guest's valuation for her issues and of the arrangements that are relevant to them.

 Client Profile

 The client profile or target guest attributes of the instructive arrangements module is equivalent to for all expert locales of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site. The site has been intended to address the issues of guests who have an instructive issue impeding them. It is intended for the two guys and females, despite the fact that it is regularly advantageous to allude to only one sex when composing.

 This guest utilizes web crawlers to investigate data about her own or expert issue, with the expectation of discovering answers for it. The guest is not kidding about tackling her concern and is in this manner ready to purchase items that help her to accomplish her main goal, given that she can discover solid and legitimate data about applicable items so she can settle on an educated choice about which ones to gain. This data will assist her with applying her funds monetarily, and thus abstain from squandering cash.

 The guest will need an unconditional promise so that if an item doesn't satisfy hopes or in the event that she were deluded into purchasing an item she can get a discount. Such an assurance clears her of procurement hazards.

 The guest is insightful (without essentially being a virtuoso), taught (without fundamentally being a PhD), PC proficient (without essentially being a PC master), and cash disapproved (without essentially being a complimentary gift tracker or a jobless individual). This obviously doesn't imply that complimentary gift trackers or jobless people can't increase a thing from the site. In actuality, there is a lot of free data on the site. Simply that it is difficult to perceive how anybody can pick up the full advantages of the site without purchasing items.

 The guest needs great data items (ordinarily in advanced structure) and needs to follow through on the least expensive cost for these (without addressing such a great amount of accentuation on cost that she bargains quality). The guest likewise needs free extra offers that are appended to the bought products.

 The guest is confident and can adapt all alone by perusing, processing, and applying counsel about her concern until she fathoms it or finds that she needs assistance from an expert, so, all things considered her obtained information will assist her with decreasing her counseling charges. Because of the information picked up, the guest will have the option to survey specialists so as to evade awkward or false ones.

 Issue Centered Solutions

 Our free arrangements are sorted out as commonsense articles that are composed by top specialists. Each article tends to a particular every day issue, however doesn't broadly expound. It clarifies the issue and mentions to the guest what she should do to tackle her concern. In any case, it doesn't tell the guest how she should fathom it - this is a lot for an article. To get some answers concerning the how, the guest must purchase an item (typically a digital book or digital book set) that goes into more prominent profundity.

 The arrangement of instructive articles that we have picked, to give introductory answer for a guest's concern are as per the following:

 Indications of a Gifted Child - Informs guardians on the best way to recognize whether their kids are skilled.

 Fundamental Parenting Lessons for Enriching Your Child's Education - Teaches guardians how to improve their kid's training.

 Utilizing Positive Affirmations to Be a Better Student - Teaches understudies how to utilize positive confirmations to improve their presentation.

 They Are Just Afraid of Writing - Teaches composing abilities to understudies

 In what capacity Can Parents Encourage Their Children to Read? - Shows guardians how they can improve their youngsters' understanding abilities.

 Test Preparation Tutoring - Discusses the subject of mentoring understudies to get ready for tests or tests.

 Test Taking Strategies - Discusses different methodologies for taking and finishing assessments or tests

 Playing and Winning the Scholarship Game - Describes how to win grants.

 The most effective method to Get a Scholarship to a UK University - Describes how to win grants to a UK college.

 Setting aside Cash for College - Instructs understudies on how they can set aside cash in anticipation of school.

 Understudy Loans: When Your Educational Dreams Can't Compete with the Cost - Explains to understudies the advantages of an understudy advance.

 Instruction Loans Can Fund a Higher Degree to Boost Your Career - Also discloses to understudies the advantages of an understudy credit.

 The Secret to US Department of Education Loans - Teaches understudies how to get a US DoE advance to back their advanced education.

 Understudy Loan Consolidation - Save Money, Pay Less, Spend More - Explains to graduates how to utilize advance union to lessen their understudy credit reimbursements.

 Advanced education: Finding the Right College for You - Explains to understudies how to locate the correct school or college for their advanced education contemplates.

 Versatile Learning - An Alternative Worth Considering - Explains the idea of portable learning and its place in training.

 Online Degrees - Is Online Education Right for You? - Analyses the benefits of web based learning when contrasted with customary learning.

 An Online College Education Overview - Reviews the entire idea of web based learning.

 Finding the Right Quotation for Your Paper or Speech Online - Shows scholars and speakers how to locate the correct citation to use in their compositions or addresses. [https://menuchics.com/]

 Coordinated effort: An Important Leadership Development Skill - Explores the helpful idea of cooperation and its part in administration advancement.

[spookyscaryzakuulans-blog]

Solving educational problems

This article presents the instructive arrangements module of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site, portraying focused offerings, the client profile, issue situated arrangements, target markets, item offerings, and ease of use highlights. It reasons that the module is a noteworthy commitment to the data superhighway.

Presentation

The point of this article is to acquaint with the world the instructive arrangements module of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site. The article is routed to those perusers who may have an instructive issue stalling them and who may in this way be searching for an exit from their pickle. The peruser might be a parent, tyke, or understudy.

It is a typical unavoidable truth that we as a whole have issues and that we are frequently baffled or we tend to lash out on account of our failure to discover available and solid data about our issues. This pro site fills this need - as our down to business companion for taking care of our instructive issues.

To be of the best use to individuals a critical thinking site must consolidate realistic dialogs of their own or expert issue with dealer items that give more point by point data. Ordinarily, the site will give free data as news, articles, and exhortation, which guide the guest on what to do to tackle her issues. Supplementing this, the site will likewise give dealer items which examine in detail how the guest can approach settling her concern. This implies the best, guest situated critical thinking site will be a data pressed business site - as is the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site and its pro locales.

The approach that we have received underneath is to depict focused offerings, the client profile, issue arranged arrangements, target markets, item offerings, and ease of use highlights.

Aggressive Offerings

The accompanying is the best instructive destinations on the Internet, alongside their offerings.

US Department of Education. It characterizes the US instruction approach and gives data on a budgetary guide, instructive research, and measurements, allows and contracts, and educating and learning assets.

Instructive Testing Service. It gives a scope of test assets.

FunBrain.com. It gives instructive diversions to K-8 kids.

PrimaryGames.com. It gives fun learning devices and diversions for kids.

Diamond. It gives instructive assets, for example, lesson designs and other educating and learning assets.

Instruction World. It gives the exhortation to lesson designs, proficient advancement, and innovation joining.

NASA Education Enterprise. It gives instructive materials and data identifying with space investigation.

Spartacus Educational. It is a British online reference book that spotlights on verifiable points.

Division for Education and Skills. It is a UK government division site that offers data and exhortation on different instructive and aptitudes subjects.

Times Educational Supplement. It offers showing news, showing and instructive assets, and dynamic gatherings to help UK educators.

Every one of these locales is valuable in the spaces that they cover. Their primary constraints are as per the following:

1. They tend to cover just an extremely limit section of the instructive market.

2. They don't take as their beginning stage the day by day instructive necessities of the run of the mill family.

3. They do not have an issue center; i.e., they don't detail the commonplace learning and instructive issues that understudies, understudies, and guardians look every day.

4. Because of the previous point, the arrangements offered are not as sharp (i.e. as issue-focused) as they could be.

5. They don't offer shipper items that develop the guest's comprehension of her concern and of the resulting arrangements.

The instructive arrangements module of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site tends to these issues by focusing on a variety of market sections, embracing a client profile that fits the run of the mill training seeking after family, considering the particular needs or issues that this family may confront, offering sharp (issue focused) answers for the different issues, and offering a scope of dealer items that develop the guest's energy about her issues and of the arrangements that are material to them.

Client Profile

The client profile or target guest attributes of the instructive arrangements module is the same with respect to all pro locales of the world's latest individual and expert critical thinking site. The site has been intended to address the issues of guests who have an instructive issue stalling them. It is intended for the two guys and females, despite the fact that it is frequently advantageous to allude to only one sex when composing.

This guest utilizes web search tools to explore data about her own or expert issue, with the goal of discovering answers for it. The guest is not kidding about taking care of her concern and is in this manner willing to purchase items that assistance her to accomplish her central goal, gave that she can discover solid and genuine data about important items with the goal that she can settle on an educated choice about which ones to gain. This data will help her to apply her funds financially and thus abstain from squandering cash.

The guest will need an unconditional promise so that if an item does not satisfy desires or on the off chance that she was deceived into purchasing an item she can get a discount. Such a certification vindicates her of procurement dangers.

The guest is clever (without essentially being a virtuoso), instructed (without fundamentally being a Ph.D.), PC educated (without fundamentally being a PC master), and cash disapproved (without essentially being a complimentary gift seeker or a jobless individual). This obviously does not imply that complimentary gift seekers or jobless people can't pick up a thing from the site. Despite what might be expected, there is a lot of free data on the site. Simply that it is difficult to perceive how anybody can pick up the full advantages of the site without purchasing items.

The guest needs fantastic data items (as a rule in an advanced frame) and needs to pay the least expensive cost for these (without paying such a great amount of accentuation on a value that she bargains quality). The guest additionally needs free extra offers that are appended to the bought products.

The guest is independent and can adapt without anyone else by perusing, processing, and applying counsel about her concern until the point when she unravels it or finds that she needs assistance from an expert, and soon thereafter she obtained information will help her to diminish her counseling charges. Because of the learning picked up, the guest will have the capacity to evaluate specialists keeping in mind the end goal to maintain a strategic distance from clumsy or false ones.

Issue Centered Solutions

Our free arrangements are sorted out as logical articles that are composed of top specialists. Each article tends to a particular everyday issue, however, does not broadly expound. It clarifies the issue and tells the guest what she should do to take care of her concern. Be that as it may, it doesn't tell the guest how she should settle it - this is excessively for an article. To get some answers concerning the how the guest must purchase an item (more often than not a digital book or digital book set) that goes into more prominent profundity.

The arrangement of instructive articles that we have picked, to give starting answer for a guest's concern is as per the following:

Indications of a Gifted Child - Informs guardians on the most proficient method to distinguish regardless of whether their kids are skilled.

Basic Parenting Lessons for Enriching Your Child's Education - Teaches guardians how to upgrade their tyke's instruction.

Utilizing Positive Affirmations to Be a Better Student - Teaches understudies how to utilize positive confirmations to enhance their execution.

They Are Just Afraid of Writing - Teaches composing aptitudes to understudies

By what means Can Parents Encourage Their Children to Read? - Shows guardians how they can enhance their kids' perusing aptitudes.

Test Preparation Tutoring - Discusses the theme of mentoring understudies to get ready for tests or exams.

Test Taking Strategies - Discusses different methodologies for taking and breezing through tests or exams

Playing and Winning the Scholarship Game - Describes how to win grants.

The most effective method to Get a Scholarship to a UK University - Describes how to win grants to a UK college.

Sparing Money for College - Instructs understudies on how they can spare cash in the arrangement for school.

Understudy Loans: When Your Educational Dreams Can't Compete with the Cost - Explains to understudies the advantages of an understudy advance.

Instruction Loans Can Fund a Higher Degree to Boost Your Career - Also discloses to understudies the advantages of an understudy credit.

The Secret to US Department of Education Loans - Teaches understudies how to get a US DoE advance to back their advanced education.

Understudy Loan Consolidation - Save Money, Pay Less, Spend More - Explains to graduates how to influence utilization of advance solidification to decrease their understudy to credit reimbursements.

Advanced education: Finding the Right College for You - Explains to understudies how to locate the correct school or college for their advanced education examines.

Versatile Learning - An Alternative Worth Considering - Explains the idea of portable learning and its place in training.

Online Degrees - Is Online Education Right for You? - Analyses the benefits of internet learning when contrasted with conventional learning.

An Online College Education Overview - Reviews the entire idea of web-based learning.

Finding the Right Quotation for Your Paper or Speech Online - Shows essayists and speakers how to locate the correct citation to use in their compositions or talks.

Joint effort: An Important Leadership Development Skill - Explores the helpful idea of cooperation and its part in authority advancement.

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[mst3kproject]

K19: Hangar 18

If the History Channel were to make a movie, Hangar 18 would be it.  

We open in space, on a shot of the same 1/100 scale space shuttle model kit I built as a kid, except theirs has a better paint job. You can tell it's sci-fi because the credits are in a public domain approximation of the 80s NASA font.  During the mission, a satellite collides with a UFO – the satellite is destroyed, the astronaut who was working on it is apparently decapitated, and the UFO itself makes an emergency landing in Arizona.

From here, two things happen.  The surviving astronauts are somewhat upset when the ensuing coverup blames them for the death of their colleague, so they set out to find some proof of what really happened while the government tries to keep them in the dark.  Meanwhile, scientists attempt to study the UFO, and learn that Erich Von Däniken was right about absolutely everything and aliens invented MP3s long ago.  Eventually, the people in charge of the conspiracy decide that this is going to ruin everybody's careers if it gets out, and crash an RC plane into the hangar where the saucer is being kept.

Robert Vaughn is in this.  His ears are still distractingly small.

Before I say anything else, permit me a small Space Nerd moment. Nobody involved in this movie had any idea how things are done in space.  You can't just throw on a space suit as if it's a light fall jacket. It takes at least fifteen minutes to get into the multiple layers of padding and cooling systems and then you gotta double-check all your seams because you really, really, really don't want anything to leak in fucking space.  Spacewalking astronauts also have to pre-breathe, which gets extra nitrogen out of their blood so they won't get the bends.  The shuttle's three main engines were only used on ascent and the shuttle itself had a minimum crew of four. The lack of detail on their shuttle sets and spacesuit costumes is utterly laughable, as is the tiny mission control room that looks to have maybe twelve people in it.

Some of this may be blamed on the fact that Hangar 18 was released in 1980, while the real-life space shuttle didn't begin test flights until 1981.  Thing is, the production actually thanks NASA in the end credits, which suggests that they spent some time there and had plenty of opportunities to ask questions like, “what would this look like?” and “how long would it take to do that?”  So either they didn't bother to ask, didn't bother to use what they'd learned, or just didn't care – and as a result the beginning of their movie looks like something out of Mighty Jack.

All right, with that out of the way, what is this movie supposed to be?  Well, as I said above, it's the History Channel.  Hangar 18 is basically a distillation of the entire modern UFO mythology (yep, here I go again), complete with Men in Black, abductions, Area 51, ancient astronauts, and crash retrievals – all in a ninety-six minute nutshell!  The only thing it's missing is a cattle mutilation.  The problem is that none of these things really make any sense when you think about them with your tinfoil hat off, and the movie doesn't try very hard to make sense of them.

First, there's the whole 'government cover up' angle.  In the movie, the bigwigs don't want anybody finding out about the UFO at first because they fear it will affect the outcome of an impending election.  In the interests of keeping things quiet they move the craft to a secure facility and pay off the witness who saw it land so he won't talk to anybody – sure, that works.  But there are also the two astronauts who watched this object kill their colleague.  You would assume that they would be interviewed and then told about the need to stay mum for a while... but this never happens.  In fact, for reasons that are absolutely not remotely 'reasonable', the conspiracy just ignores the astronauts entirely until they start making pests of themselves.

When a news story breaks blaming the two astronauts for the death of their colleage, the higher-ups don't even comment on it.  When the astronauts themselves start asking questions, they are shut out, followed, and harrassed, until one of them and at least four of the federal agents are dead.  Why was any of that necessary?  One guy did suggest, right at the beginning, that it would be easier to just write them a cheque and ask them to take a vacation while this all got sorted out, but apparently trying to assassinate two celebrities in public was much more acceptable.

At the end, the conspiracy realizes that the saucer itself has become a liability.  If anyone finds out about the stupid decisions they've already made, their careers will be over, so it's time to do one more mind-numbingly idiotic thing and blow the whole thing up.  Oh yes, clearly, destroying the scientific find of the millennium and killing everybody who knows about it is the obvious solution.  That will definitely make all their problems go away.

Naturally it does not, but we never really see the consequences of this.  A voiceover tells us, as the credits roll, that the people who were inside the ship survived the blast and the fire.  The secret is now out, but we never get a hint of the fallout.  At the end of Captain America: the Winter Soldier we saw the evil senator getting arrested and a glimpse of Black Widow testifying, and that's enough to assure us that everything turned out okay.  In Hangar 18 we're supposed to take it on faith that the conspiracy guys will be punished, instead of, say, vanishing into 'retirement' on a tropical island somewhere. We're not supposed to be curious about the effect these revelations will have on society, or what will happen when the aliens actually return.  Any of these things would be a more interesting movie than watching two guys in bell-bottoms getting chased across the desert by Men in Black.

The UFO itself had quite a bit more effort put into it than anything else in the movie – maybe this is why they had no money left and were forced to settle for that plastic model kit of the space shuttle.  In space it is visible only as an arc of orange lights, actually looking rather like the Phoenix Lights of 1997, and is really kind of eerie.  Then we get a closer look at it in the hangar, and find it is nothing at all like the standard-issue flying saucer we were expecting.  It looks more like a piece of industrial equipment you'd find at an oil refinery, with a strong sense of weight and scarcely a hint of aerodynamics as we know them.  The first time it appeared, I honestly wasn't sure what I was looking at – was that supposed to be the UFO?  I'm not entirely sure if I like this treatment of it, but it definitely surprised me.

The inside of the craft looks more like we might expect a UFO to look, with silver walls and blinky lights and dead dudes with shaved heads.  Much is made of the fact that symbols on board the spaceship are identical to those known from assorted ancient cultures, but the ones we see are all completely made up because that means they didn't have to do any research.  The space armadillo in the glass tube is somewhat interesting.  The blonde woman who wakes up screaming could have been interesting, but the movie just puts her in an ambulance and forgets about her.

Then there's the aliens.  This is the bit where the movie goes full Von Däniken, with a character proclaiming that human evolution has been shaped by these beings from the start.  That's why we and they have identical internal organs, right down to the useless bits like the appendix and the nictitating membrane.

Human anatomy is derived from the same primate ancestor as that of the other great apes, which in turn is derived from the last common ancestor of all mammals, which is derived from the last common ancestor of all tetrapods, which is derived from the last common ancestor of all vertebrates, and so on, and so on, and so on.  There is nothing in our bodies that other animals don't have in some form, because we all began with the same source material.  You can follow this right down to the molecular level: every living thing on Earth uses the same chemistry, because we all have a common origin.

If we're positing that a creature from another planet has the same internal organs as us, it doesn't matter how much they're supposed to have messed with our genes, it's still ridiculous.  A true alien would have had to start from scratch.  There's no reason why they would even use the same genetic code as us (for example, with three A's in a row coding for lysine, aka the one the Jurassic Park dinosaurs can't make), let alone have an appendix.  For these aliens to be responsible for our anatomy looking just like theirs, they would have had to guide the origins of life on Earth from its formation, and kept an eye on it since to make sure it didn't wander off on an evolutionary tangent before inventing bilateral symmetry or something.

Don't even get me started on the idea that aliens could interbreed with us.  It'd be like trying to create something that was half-human, half-watermelon, only even more so.

Other than the strange-looking UFO, Hangar 18 doesn't offer us anything particularly memorable.  The characters aren't very interesting, the aliens are utterly forgettable movie aliens, and the effects are unconvincing at best.  The story avoids the more interesting ideas it brings up and sticks to the obvious. It's mediocre and disappointing, and I can't imagine I'll ever want to watch it again.

[historicboyertown]

It's time for Building A Better Boyertown's Face to Face Friday! Meet Jillian, our fearless leader! Jillian has been the Main Street Manager since March 2020. She currently holds three degrees, her most recent from Drexel University. Her career path has traveled through the service industry, education, photography, diplomatic affairs, finance, museums, and has settled on the non-profit sector. While every day can look different, most of her work at Building A Better Boyertown can be categorized as connecting with the community, running the organization, advocating to local and state government, and planning for the future. You can usually find her in a meeting. She is very excited to share all the good Building A Better Boyertown brings to the community and looks forward to showing off its newest project: Boyertown Evening Market. When she isn't in the office Jillian likes to get creative. Whether it's quilting a new gift, painting, or experimenting with a new medium, her craft room is always ready and waiting at home. She has a deep passion for all things outer space and when she needs a moment to relax, her favorite place is in any museum gallery. She lives with her partner, Ryan, their three cats, dog, and pond full of frogs. Family outings include concerts, hikes, movies, game nights, and traveling to new places. One day, when she grows up, she wants to work in the historical archives at NASA. #boyertown #boyertownpa #pennsylvania #berkscountypa #mainstreet #mainstreetmanager #community #nonprofit #betterinboyertown (at Boyertown, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CP_GtTwrkA7/?utm_medium=tumblr