#this photo was taken a few minutes after 4 and the pie is on the balcony edge of my friend's downtown tattoo studio that we stayed at

[awholefuckinglifetimeofthis]

It's my 20th birthday today <3

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

A/N ::: *puts finger up and opens mouth like I may actually have ANYTHING of importance to say but changes my mind and closes my mouth and puts my finger down because let's face it ... I don't have shit to say that anyone really needs to hear.*

C/W ::: Language, more broken heart stuff, angst? Longing. No smut yet. aged up character. You'll all see my handy dandy 18+ thing when there is. Thank you for reading, I do appreciate it. ❤

WC ::: just about 1,800

Part I

Part II

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part III

You stared at your phone for another few minutes before you turned it off. Sitting it down on the nightstand - your nightstand, you stood up and began looking around to collect some things - your things - from around Katsuki's place.

He hadn't taken down any of the pictures of you guys that were scattered about the space. There were innumerable frames hung on the walls, sitting on the mantel, and end tables. You guys at the fair, at the beach, on vacation. On staycations. There were a few things you hadn't gotten to do yet. But you'd always assumed that what you two hadn't done, you would eventually get around to doing at some point.

You grabbed your favorite photo - the two of you in the middle of the carnival, mid-kiss. It was so rare to see a moment where Bakugo was fully relaxed and happy. The person who took the photo was from out of town. They were 'so captivated by Katsuki's unique looks' they snuck the photo and then approached you to show you what he'd captured in the sweet but unspoken display of true love.

It broke your heart to remember that. Was it supposed to hurt this much? You've been heartbroken before. But this was physically painful. It was like your lungs couldn't take in air. Your stomach churned like you'd just been in a car for 4 hours after eating spoiled food. Your eyes burned from the tears that hadn't stopped and they ached from the tears that already fell.

You were exhausted and you still had to get all of your things together and back to your apartment before Kats got home. For the most part, if you were being totally honest with yourself, you didn't want to see him. It wasn't because you couldn't bear the thought of his face, but because you didn't know if you could keep yourself from falling to your knees in front of him and asking why all of this was happening.

But you know why it's happening. You’re why it's happening. It was hard for you to carry this alone. Somewhere in this mess, you know he was responsible for something. It was just a matter of figuring out what his slice of this shit pie was.

You went to the kitchen and stood at the fridge for a minute before you pulled out a half-empty bottle of white wine and made yourself comfy on the couch and watched whatever movie was left sitting in the DVD player.

It almost made you vomit to see that it was his surprise 25th birthday party you’d planned. You didn’t even know he had all of that stuff put onto a disc.

It was turning out to be from-the-bottle kind of night.

The next thing you know, you were waking up on the couch. Your right hand down your pants, your left hand cradling the empty wine bottle, and Katsuki standing over you. A smirk on his lips and a growl leaving his mouth. “Long night?” He asked, taking the empty bottle from you.

“I - I - when - oh … shit.” Pulling your hand from your pants, you know you turned a red brighter than a sun-ripened strawberry. “Kats it’s …"

He shook his head and calling you a dumbass, he turned and walked into the kitchen to rinse and put the bottle in the recycling bin.

You got up and followed him, standing close to him but not too close that you were invading his space. It was almost like you were sent back in time. You watched him work around the kitchen like it was second nature. Like it was any of the other days you two had been in there.

He had such a strong presence that you had to look away before he caught you staring.

He sucked on his teeth and asked, "It's what, y/n?" His voice soft and gentle. It wasn’t the way he normally spoke. It wasn't like him to sound so quiet and fragile. It was almost like he was trying to break you in a way that wouldn’t cause too much damage.

"It's - it's nothing. I just wanted to know how long you were there." You looked at him, a nervous smile tugging at your lips. You didn’t know where you stood. Was this a joke? Did he know how much you missed him? How much you still loved him?

Katsuki leaned back against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. "I got home 3 hou- I mean, a little while ago. Don't worry about it, ok? You're fine. You just looked so cu- uh, so comfortable and I didn't wanna bug ya. Why didn't you sleep in the bed? You could've, you know. Didn't have to sleep on this shitty couch." He laughed quietly.

"Hey! I picked out this couch." You wanted to reach out and squeeze or slap his bicep but fought off the urge.

"Yeah," he snorted. "And? I thought that was mutually understood that you pick out shitty furniture." His smile was so warm. You felt the overwhelming desire to kiss him. To touch him. Anywhere. You wanted to brush the hair from his face. To smooth down the perpetually creased skin between his eyes. Something.

Dear God. Anything to feel his warm skin.

But you couldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever again.

"Ok, well, I should get going. I didn't get a chance to get all of my stuff out of here. I don't know what I left. I'll buy you a new bottle of wine," you said as you picked it up to look at the label. "Huh. Never heard of this one before. It was really good. Thanks. And uh, well, sorry. I hope it wasn't anything special. Jus' throw my shit out, I guess. If I -"

He moved and stood in front of you, one hand on the bottle, the other in his pocket. "I'm not going to throw your stuff out, y/n. Don't be so damn dramatic about it. Jesus."

"Eh, if I didn't already miss it, I don't think there's much of a point in me having it back." You felt stupid as soon as you said it. It hadn't been years since you had last seen it. Maybe weeks, and even that was being generous. Katsuki was right. You were being dramatic about it.

You were both standing there, each of you had a hand on the empty wine bottle. Both of you were waiting for the other to say something but neither of you had any idea what to say or do with yourselves.

Moving first, you let go of the bottle and reached into the pocket of his sweats you wore to retrieve the key to his apartment. "I uh," you tapped it on the marble counter as tears burned your eyes again. "Heh," you said, choking on the lump in your throat. "... fuck. Kats ..."

His face fell when you said his name. And it wasn't too much longer before his arms were wrapped around your waist and his face was in your neck. "God fuckin’ damn it, y/n." Katsuki held you tighter than he ever had before. His grip was vice-like and you knew that you couldn't go anywhere without a struggle. So you gave in.

You held him back and tried to steady your breathing. It was hard to believe that the last time you two were in this position was less than 2 weeks ago. "I know, Katsuki. I know. I ... miss you so much." You couldn't hold it back any longer. The tears began to stream down your face, soaking the collar of his shirt and the hair that poked out from behind his ear.

You wanted to kiss him. To pull his face to yours and breathe in the scent of his skin. To feel his breath on your lips.

But you couldn't. Not like this. Not when you both were still so lost and confused about what had happened.

It took you several minutes to pull away from him. Your body didn't want to let go of him. Your soul didn’t want to let go of him. You needed the physical comfort that his embrace provided. It was a home that you couldn't find anywhere else.

You pulled back and wiped your face with the sleeve of his hoodie. "I'm sorry, Kats. I'm so sorry. I have to go. I have to finish getting my shit out of here. Please, can you just let me get my things another time? And I'll be gone." You choked back a sob and turned away from him, not wanting him to see your face anymore.

He reached out for your hand and took a deep breath. "Y/n, stop. Just ... just wait, ok? It's fine. You can take whatever you want. I don’t give a shit. Take the bed. The couch. The tv. I really don’t care. But you gotta … Just stop this shit. Stop runnin’ away ... stop fuckin' runnin' from me. Don't leave like this. Don't make me live without you completely. I don't -" He pulled you back and looked at you, his eyes red. "I can't ... don't want to lose you. You're ... you're the ... Fuck. Please, just don't make me lose you." His voice cracked and he leaned his forehead against yours. "I'll fix whatever it is I did wrong."

Your heart sank. You didn't know what to say. He hadn't done anything wrong. It was your fault. Your issues. Your baggage.

"No, Kats. You haven't done anything wrong. It's not you. It's … ugh fuck. I have to fix some things. And I have to deal with the fact that we can't fix this. At least, not - not right now. Please, let me get my things when you're not here and that'll be that. OK?" You started to cry again as you pushed the key to him again. "I love you, Katsuki. I don't think I'll ever love anyone like I love you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

It hurt a little when you gave in to the comfort that you had been going without. But it would have hurt more to not reach for him. Even though it had been a short while, you couldn't believe how much you missed his touch. His smell. His warmth. It was like he was a drug that you couldn't live without. And while you knew that it wasn't healthy to depend on someone like that, you couldn't help but want to give in to the temptation. You were weak and would give into him. No questions asked.

Just one ... last ... time.

Taglist ::: @arlerts-angel @darkstarlight82 @millennialmagicalgirl

[talesofarcadia78]

Our Time || One shot

Summary: Douxie’s remembering the good old times. 

Warnings: angst, mention of character death, that's it I think?

Word count: 1,735

Everything was set. The lanterns were hung up on the trees nearby, providing light to Douxie for the night. The campfire was crackling just a couple of feet away from the round dining table and chairs that Douxie had set up not too long ago. The plates were also ready on the table, waiting to be filled with food.

Douxie magicked up a bouquet of roses, and placed them in the vase that was in the middle of the table.

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap behind him. He quickly spun around, staff and bracelet ready, only to see Archie looking up at him in his cat form.

"You seriously thought that I was danger?" Archie questioned with an eyebrow raised.

Douxie magicked his staff away and deactivated his bracelet, "Hehe… yes."

Archie rolled his eyes at his familiar's response, "Do you not remember that you put a ward around this whole area?"

Douxie just shrugged and went back to doing last minute preparations.

After a few minutes of silence, Archie cleared his throat to gain Douxie's attention.

"Yes, Arch?" Douxie asked, turning his gaze to the cat.

Archie pointed to the two figures in the distance heading towards them.

Douxie's eyes widened at how time flew by quickly. He didn't even have time to get changed!

He quickly got behind a tree and used a spell he had recently learned, and changed into a black dress shirt (sleeves rolled up of course), black pants and shoes, keeping his signature skull necklace.

He stepped out from the tree to see Archie fly away. His eyes wandered around until they landed on both you and Jim getting closer. You were wearing a stunning black A-line lace dress that went down to your knees with half laced sleeves and beige heels.

You were blindfolded as Douxie had requested Jim to do to you so you had a surprise.

Douxie could hear you complain to Jim how you didn't like being blindfolded. Jim just rolled his eyes at your antics and told you that all would be revealed in a matter of moments.

Douxie walked up to you two siblings and took you from Jim.

"Thank you, Jim. I'll take her from here," Douxie smiled and took your shoulders.

"No problem, Doux! Tell me the end result!" Jim waved and walked off.

"Douxie, where in the world am I?" you asked.

"Shhh. Be patient, love. All will be revealed," Douxie reassured.

After a few moments, the blindfold on your eyes was taken off.

You took in your surroundings. The trees were decorated with lanterns, a dining table was set and a campfire was already lit. Everything was beautiful.

You spun around to see Douxie holding out a rose for you to take, which you, without a doubt, accepted.

"Shall we, m'lady?" Douxie inquired, holding his arm out.

You nodded and you let him take you to the table.

~~~~~

Douxie had prepared f/f for dinner, and for dessert, an apple pie.

Now, the two of you were quietly sitting on a blanket at the campfire, leaning on each other.

"Love?" Douxie asked.

You hummed in response, letting him know he had your attention.

"Remember the first time we met? I had spilled a drink on the ground in the cafe and you rushed to help," Douxie remembered.

"Yeah," you nodded, memories flooding back.

~~~~~

You anxiously tapped your feet on the ground, waiting for your order to arrive.

You were in a big rush.

Mom had called to tell you that Jim was in the hospital. You knew that he was the Trollhunter, so he had gotten a lot of injuries, though, he didn't need to go to the hospital to get them treated, so you knew that this was serious.

Abruptly, you heard a crash from behind you. You turned around to see a drink had spilled all over the floor. The waiter was already on his knees, trying to clean it up.

You got up from your seat and ran over to help him. You kneeled in front of the guy to hear him faintly say, "Fuzzbuckets". You saw a faint sky blue spark come from his hand.

A wizard.

You placed a hand on his arm, making him look up into your e/c eyes. You mouthed ‘no’ and shook your head, telling him not to perform the spell. He stopped and sighed before cleaning up the mess the old fashioned way with your help.

After helping him, you returned to your seat.

Just when you were about to leave, getting fed up of the wait, the same waiter you had helped rushed up to you, order in hand.

"Hey! You were the one who helped me with the spill a couple of minutes ago, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," you nodded and then added quietly, "And the one who stopped you from using magic as a shortcut."

You smiled and took your order from him. You headed out but got stopped by the same guy.

"Hey, I never got your name. I'm Hisirdoux Casperan, but you can call me Douxie," Douxie winked and held out his hand for a handshake.

"Y/n, Y/n Lake," you replied, shaking his hand. "I'm really sorry, but I really need to go."

He nodded understandingly and waved goodbye.

As you walked to the hospital, you opened the bag that had your food in it, as well as a note. You took it out and read it:

Hey, stranger, who I probably got the name of!

I was wondering if you would grab a bite with me tomorrow at the cafe. 4 pm sharp.

Don't be late.

Yours truly,

Hisirdoux Casperan.

You smiled. You had finally found a fellow magic wielder.

~~~~~

"Then, the time when Jim got a bit overprotective of you when you were at the bookstore."

"A bit?"

"Okay, extremely overprotective of you."

~~~~~

The sun was shining high in the sky, your hair moving along with the gentle breeze, and a nice cup of coffee in your hands while you and Jim made your way to GDT Arcane Books.

Jim opened the door to reveal Archie, Douxie's familiar lying on the ground near the fireplace.

"Hey, Archie!" you greeted.

"Hello," Archie called.

You turned your attention away from the cat and to Jim, who was looking around in suspicion.

"Jim, what is it now?" you asked, placing your hand on your brother's shoulder.

"It's just… why does this store seem so… magical?" Jim inquired.

"Because a magical being owns the bookstore," you replied.

Jim nodded in response.

"Hello!" a new voice spoke.

You turned around to see Douxie coming out of the back. From the corner of your eye, you saw Jim's gaze harden at the sight of the wizard. He pulled you a bit closer to him.

Overprotective brother mode switched on.

"Hey, Doux. Did you call us in for some help?" you inquired.

"Yep! There's only so much a 900 year old wizard can do by himself," Douxie nodded.

Douxie told you and Jim what he needed help with.

Jim was sent off to get some supplies from around town, to his dismay. He wanted to keep an eye on you and Douxie, but alas, he had to go shopping.

Before Jim had left, you heard him send a death threat to Douxie.

"Don't do anything funny with my sister, Casperan. I won't hesitate to slice your head off with Daylight."

Your eyes widened. You knew Jim didn't like Douxie, but you didn't know that he hated him so much to actually threatened him.

Geez. He's way too overprotective.

You made your way over to Douxie as soon as Jim left the store.

"Don't mind him. He's just overprotective," you told Douxie.

"Uh-huh," Douxie nodded slowly.

~~~~~

"We know each other so well, made so many wonderful memories, we've spent so much time together," Douxie sighed. "And I want to spend more time with you."

You turned your head towards him, silently asking him to elaborate.

Douxie moved away and got up. He lent you his hand, which you accepted and followed suit. He took a deep breath and got down on one knee.

"Y/n, love, we've been through so much together. Good and bad. Sad and happy. And I'll continue to. You made me the most happiest man when you became my girlfriend and I thought I couldn't be any happier. But today may prove me wrong," Douxie expressed.

You gasped and clasped your hand over your mouth as Douxie took out a golden ring with embroidery and held it out.

"Y/n Lake… make me the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?"

You had tears in your eyes at this point. Douxie looked at you with hope, love, admiration, and so much more as he waited for your answer.

"Yes."

Douxie's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning, and quickly got up. He grabbed your waist and brought you close. He leaned down and softly kissed you as he slipped the ring onto your finger.

~~~~~

Douxie stared at the photo of you two on your wedding day. You were wearing a short lace white dress and beige ankle strap heels and Douxie was wearing a white dress shirt, black tuxedo, black tie, black pants and a rose attached on the left as you two stood in front of each other, hand in hand while Douxie was kissing your forehead.

Douxie placed the photo back and glanced down at his wedding ring. It was simple, a silver band with swirl embroidery as you had the same, but gold. He remembered the feeling of your hand in his. Your giggling. Everything. But alas, ever since you had passed in battle, he couldn't seem to bring any of those memories back.

Tears formed in Douxie's eyes as he remembered the good times.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Jim and Claire.

"Hey, Teach. What were you--" Claire started before she noticed the tears streaming down his face.

Douxie wasn't going to cry but as soon as he saw the wedded couple, he couldn't help himself.

Jim and Claire rushed over to Douxie and enveloped the wizard in a hug, attempting to comfort him. He sobbed into Jim's chest as Jim ran his hand through his hair and Claire rubbing Douxie's back.

Nothing was going to be the same without you.

[lostinaseaoffictionalbliss]

Twisted 4

Summary: Dean just dropped a major bomb. Is he right? Did you just do the unthinkable?

Pairing: Sam Winchester x green eyed!fem!reader

Word Count: 1087

Warnings: unprotected sex (wrap before you tap) p in v, oral, dirty talk

You stood there looking like a deer in headlights. Dean's words bounced around in your head over and over. She might be my kid! Your mom had never really told you much about your parents. All you knew was that you had been adopted and your parents were from the area. Could he be your dad? If so had you just had sex with your uncle?

Oh God! Did you sleep with your uncle?! The thoughts swirled and made you sick. You took off to the bathroom, dropping to your knees by the toilet. The contents of your stomach quickly came up. You groaned and hacked at the vile taste. Tears welled in the corner of your eyes. You felt disgusted with yourself. No matter how sexy Sam was if he was your uncle what you had done was wrong.

Sam watched you and frowned. He wanted to come take care of you, but he had to figure out what Dean was going on about. "What do you mean might be your kid? She's twenty and you're thirty-six."

"I know that," Dean hissed. "Ever since you mentioned the town I kept feeling like we've been here before. I couldn't really remember and didn't think it was that big a deal. At least not until I got to the damn apartment. There's a picture of her and her mom. I recognized the mom. At least I was sure that I did. So I really looked the picture over. I did know her. I was sure of it. So I got dad's journal after ganking the ghost."

"And?"

Dean sighed and turned onto the road with the motel. "It was over the summer when I was 16. You were sick and staying at Bobby's, but I was with dad. We stayed for two weeks. I hooked up with her mom."

Sam glanced toward you again. You did have green eyes like Dean, your smirk was similar, and you wanted pie. "Dammit Dean. I might have had sex with my niece," he whisper-yelled. He began to pace back and forth. His stomach churned. Your age hadn't bothered him, but you being related to him certainly did. Every part of him was hoping and praying Dean was wrong.

"Yeah well I'll be there in a minute and we can discuss it more." Dean ended the call.

You looked up at Sam as he walked in the bathroom. "Sorry." You took the cup of water he offered you and sipped it. "So you're my uncle?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure. Dean seems to think so. And look if you are then we didn't know. We didn't do anything wrong. At least not really. We acted on our attraction."

You sniffled. "Yeah, but...I wanted to do it again. Part of me still does and I know that's not right."

"No." He sighed. "But we will figure this out. With hope Dean is wrong and our attraction won't be looked at as a bad thing."

You nodded and took another sip of your water. You really wanted that to be the case. Because despite your disgust a major part of you still wanted Sam. No one had ever made you feel as good as he had.

Dean walked in a few minutes later and found you two still in the bathroom. "Uhh why are you in here?"

"Got sick." You finally stood and walked out, sitting down on the bed. "So what makes you think you're my dad?" You gazed right at Dean, studying him almost.

Dean gazed right back at you. "Our eyes and smile are really similar. Plus I knew your mom a long time ago. Hooked up with her while I was in town. Tasha Morrison." He pulled out the photo of you and her that he had taken from his apartment.

You grabbed it and looked down at it. You stared for a long moment before laughter began to bubble up from your chest and escape. Your shoulders shook from the force of it. Tears fell down your cheeks. This time in relief instead of disgust.

She's laughing! Dean thought. She thinks being my kid is funny?!?! Oh God,  did my brother have sex with my daughter? This is truly 50 shades of fucked up! I think I'm going to be sick. Yep, I'm gonna be sick. My brother FUCKED my daughter!! Goddammit. He went to the bathroom to do what you had been doing right before he arrived.

Sam just stared at you like you had grown a second head. What the hell was so funny?! This whole situation was strange, gross, stomach turning, and confusing. Not one part of it made him want to laugh.

After a minute you finally stopped laughing. You sat the photo down and wiped your tears away. You took a few breaths to calm yourself and regain your composure. A small smile graced your lips when Dean rejoined you and Sam. "I'm not your kid."

"What?. But your mom and I…" Dean looked at the photo and then you. "Plus our similarities."

Sam turned to you. "I'm just as confused as Dean right now. Care to share?"

"I can't explain how we have similarities other than it's just one of those things that happen. You and mom didn't make a kid. I'm adopted. She was my first foster parent and she decided to keep me. I was eight at the time. She doesn't know and neither do I what happened to my birth parents." You leaned back and looked at both men, letting the information sink in for them.

Sam gazed at you and slowly began to smile. "I'm not your uncle? Dean isn't your dad? That means what we did wasn't wrong or gross. Means we can do it again."

Dean raised a brow. "Really Sammy? You find out she's not mine and your mind goes straight to having sex with her again. Fuck's sake."

Sam shrugged. "What can I say? She was fucking good." 

You felt your face heat at his words. "Thanks. You were amazing too. Best I ever had."

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Leave you two alone," Dean mumbled and headed for the door. He had gone through one two many emotions in the past 45 minutes and he didn't want to deal with anything else. 

You snuggled up to Sam and smiled. "Food and getting to know each other before a second round. What do you say?" 

Sam kissed you softly. "Sounds like fun to me." 

***

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[steve-rogers-new-york]

Recipe Wednesday #39

Happy Recipe Wednesday!

These are real period recipes, taken from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a local newspaper that would have been accessible to Steve, his mother, and Bucky during their time in Brooklyn.

This week’s recipes are partially apple-themed! Which goes to show how much I love you all, as I hate apples with a deep burning passion. I felt squirrelly all the way through transcribing these. The recipes come from the Tuesday 1 November 1927 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. For context, Steve would have been 7 (comics) / 9 (MCU), so these are recipes that Sarah Rogers may have made, or which Steve might have learnt or inherited from his mother.

Marshmallow Icing Boiling 1 cup of sugar and ¼ cup of cold water till it spins a thread or is 238 degrees by the sugar thermometer. Beat the white of 1 egg till stiff and gradually pour the syrup in the egg, beating constantly. After the syrup has all been added add 1 cup of marshmallows cut in pieces. Flavor and beat a few minutes longer and spread on the cake.

To Make Noodles Beat an egg slightly, add enough flour to make a stiff dough and a little salt. Toss on a bread board, knead till very smooth and roll till thin as paper. Cover with a towel and let stand half an hour. Roll the dough up like a sheet of paper and with a sharp knife cut the desired width. Unroll and let dry. Cook in boiling soup or stock.

Apple Cobbler Wash, pare, core and quarter cooking apples. Put in a saucepan, add ½ cup of water and ½ cup of sugar. Cook until the apples are tender. Make a batter by creaming 2 tablespoons butter, add 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 egg well beaten. Add ½ cup of flour sifted with 1/8 teaspoon of soda and a pinch of salt, alternately with ¼ cup of sour milk. Mix the batter well and pour over the hot fruit which has been poured into a baking dish. Bake in a moderately hot oven about 25 minutes. Serve with lemon sauce or cream.

Apple Fritter Pare and chop tart cooking apples. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and lemon juice and let stand a while. Make a batter of 1 1/3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, a pinch of salt, sifted together. Add 2/3 cup of milk and 1 egg well beaten. Add the prepared fruit and drop by spoonfuls into fat hot enough to brown a cute of bread in 60 seconds. Cook until brown, drain on unglazed paper and serve hot with a sauce or confectioner’s sugar.

Butter Cakes 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon (scant) soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 1 1/3 cups sour milk Mix and sift the dry ingredients and add the milk to make a dough that can be handled. Turn on a floured board, roll ½ inch thick cut with a biscuit cutter and bake slowly on a well-greased griddle. Be sure to turn butter cakes only once. It will require about 10 minutes for them to bake.

Apple Strudel Rub 4 tablespoons butter into 1 ½ cups of flour, add a pinch of salt and 1 egg well beaten. Add just enough milk to make the consistency of pie dough. Mix 2 cups of prepared chopped apples with 1 cup buttered crumbs, a ½ cup chopped raisins, a ½ cup chopped almonds, ½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll the dough thin and spread the fruit mixture over it. Roll up like a jelly roll and twist to resemble the figure eight. Bake in a moderate oven about 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold. Lemon sauce is a good addition.

Orange Marmalade 6 oranges 1 lemon 10 cups cold water 10 cups sugar Wash the fruit well and slice crosswise through the skin and pulp in as thin slices as possible. Take care to discard all seeds as they will make the mixture bitter. Add the cold water and let stand overnight. In the morning boil gently till the rind is tender. (This will take several hours.) Add the sugar and boil for 1 hour. Pour into sterilized glasses and when cool seal with a think layer of paraffin.

Southern Candied Yams 6 yams 1 tablespoon butter 1 1/3 cups brown sugar 1 ½ cup cold water Pinch of salt 1/3 lemon sliced very thin Pare the potatoes and cut in ½-inch slices. Lay in a baking dish, add the other ingredients, cover, bake in a moderate oven until the potato is tender. After ½ hour uncover.

Scalloped Apples Butter a baking dish, put in a layer of sliced tart apples, a layer of buttered crumbs and so on until 2 cups of apples, 1 cup of crumbs and 1 cup of sugar have been used. Bake in a moderate oven and serve with hard sauce. Scalloped apples are good served with meat, in which case they may be baked in individual ramekins, each ramekin being lined with a strip of bacon.

Apples Stuffed with Sausage Meat Wash and core large tart apples. Fill the cavities with sausage meat, place in a baking pan, pour a little hot water around the apples and bake in a hot oven, reducing the heat 10 minutes after the apples were put in. These apples are excellent served with scalloped potatoes or creamed ones.

I’d love to hear if you try out any of these recipes! Take photos and I might post them on the blog.

Visit the Recipe Wednesday Masterpost for the all the Recipe Wednesday posts, and the Indexed Recipe Wednesday Masterpost for all the recipes broken down individually!

[ Support SRNY through Patreon and Ko-Fi ] And join us on Discord for fun conversation! I also have an Etsy with up-cycled nerdy crafts

This post is the result of meeting a Patreon Goal. Thank you to all my wonderful Patreon subscribers for enabling the return of the Recipe Wednesday posts!

[samdeancass]

Kick Ass

Requested by: Anonymous

Pairing: Sam x reader

Genre: Fluff

Characters: Sam, Dean, Y/N

Description: Sam and Dean need help on a hard case. Another hunter tells them to find Y/N, which they do but at a photoshoot. The brothers question whether they’ve found the right person until they go on the hunt, turns out Y/N is badass!

“Dean, we really need help on this. We won’t be able to do this by ourselves, the pack is too big.” Sam leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face. He knew his brother despised working with other hunters, he didn’t know if they could be trusted. 

“Really? Couldn’t we just take the kid with us, he’d be able to smite them to oblivion with just a flick of his finger.” Dean walked into the library with his mouth full of pie and sat down in front of his brother. 

“Dean, you know we can’t. He’s lost his soul, we don’t know how he’ll react if we take him out into the field. We have to call for backup.” Dean threw his head back and groaned. 

“Alright. But they best not get in my way.” He pointed an accusing finger at Sam, who held up his hands in surrender. 

“I’ll call Garth and see if he can lead us to anybody who can help.” Sam stood up from the table and walked away from the table to have the conversation without Dean butting in every 2 seconds. Dean placed his plate of pie on the table and turned the laptop towards him, continuing the research.

After a few minutes, Sam had found that there was a hunter nearby who specialized in hunting werewolves. He walked into the library to tell Dean and found him dropping bits of pie onto his laptop. “Dude! Seriously! You’re 41 and you still eat like a toddler!” He picked up the laptop and began to shake it, crumbs falling off and onto the floor. “You’re cleaning that up.” Dean looked up at Sam with a deadpan look on his face. “Yeah, no.” Dean opened his mouth to argue back when Sam cut him off.

“Alright, enough Dean. Garth pointed me towards a hunter who lives not too far from here. If we get going now, we can make it before dark.” Sam walked away and started to gather up his gear, leaving Dean pouting a little. “But, my pie.” He looked down sadly at the piece of pie that was still left on the plate. “Until we meet again, gorgeous.” He got up from the table and went to gather up his gear to.

A little over 2 hours later, Sam and Dean rolled up to a large building. “Dude, I think Garth gave us the wrong directions again. Surely, this hunter can’t live here. What’s their name anyway? I can’t work with anybody who has a weird name, freaks me out.” Dean shivered and Sam rolled his eyes. “Her name’s Y/N and she’s supposed to be the best werewolf hunter around.” The brothers scouted the building once more before getting out of the Impala and walking inside the building. 

All they could see around them were cameras and flashing lights. They looked around to find any sign that there was a hunter around but they couldn’t see any. No flannel, no guns, nada. Dean noticed a young woman in the middle of the room posing for a photo shoot and nudged Sam. “Dude, do you think that’s her?” Sam shook his head in response. “Surely not. She doesn’t look like a hunter.” 

Sam was transfixed with you. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. From your legs, to your body, to your hair. Every part of your body had him drooling. He hadn’t even noticed Dean talking until he nudged him. “Earth to Sammy. Hello!” Sam shook his head. “What?!” Dean began to laugh. “You’ve got the hots for her, haven’t you?” Sam smacked the back of Deans head and began to walk over towards the woman.

Between the flashing lights, you could see two tall figures in the background. Garth had called you earlier and said that some hunters needed help with some werewolves. When you seen one of the figures walk towards you, you told the cameramen to stop and began to walk towards him.

“Hey. Is there anybody around here called Y/N? We need to talk to her.” You looked up at the incredibly tall man that was standing in front of you. His hair shaped around his face in a way that had you weak at the knees. His body on the other hand, was a different story. 

“You’ve found her.” You smiled up at the mysterious man who looked taken aback. “Wow, Ok. I just never expected a model to moonlight as a hunter.” You began to laugh. “Well, a girl has to make her money someway and this is the best way I could think of. Now what did you need to talk to me about?”

You and Sam began to talk about the case the brothers were hunting whilst Dean stood back and watched his brother. A small smirk crept up onto his face. He hadn’t seen his brother like this with a girl since Jessica and it was lovely to see how at peace he was. Sam and you walked over to Dean, who still had a small smile on his face. 

“Your ready, Dean? Or are you gonna keep smiling like a complete idiot?” You and Sam laughed in unison, whilst Deans’ expression turned into a frown. “You’re an idiot.” 

The three of you walked over to the Impala and got inside. “So, Y/N. How does a model like yourself get into the life of a hunter. Surely, it gets a little hard for you to explain your injuries to those people. Unless your too girly to actually hunt properly.” Dean began to laugh which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Sam.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer, Dean. I’ll show you just how girly I am when we find those werewolves and then you will eat your words.” You gave him a sarcastic smile and moved your head to look out of the window. Dean laughed in response. “I like this one, Sammy. She’s got spunk.” “Just shut up and drive, Dean.” 

After a few hours drive, you had arrived at where the pack was hiding out which was, surprise surprise, an abandoned hut in a forest. “Alright, Sammy, you go in through the back, me and Y/N will go through the front. She’ll need protection.” Dean wiggled his eyebrows, indicating he wanted to get a rise out of you, which was working. “Excuse me! I don’t need protection from anybody. I’ll go in through the back, thank you.” You grabbed your gun out of the trunk of the car and walked around to the back of the building.  Dean laughed at your reaction and Sam shook his head in disapproval. “C’mon, idiot.” Sam strutted off towards the entrance of the building and Dean followed. 

You had your head up against the door of the building, listening for movement. From what you could tell, there were about 6 werewolves in there which meant that the three of you had to take on 2 each. You burst through the door at the same time as the brothers and began to shoot. Your first shot took down one wolf but your second shot missed. You ducked out of the way before the wolf could injure you and punched them square in the face. The brothers had both taken down the 4 werewolves that were on them and were currently standing in awe at what they were seeing. 

You had the werewolf up against the wall and ducked down to get the silver knife from the pocket of your jeans. The wolf began to snap and snarl at you which made the brothers inch towards you a little more, ready to jump in if something went wrong.

“Listen you little bitch. The last thing you will see as I slice threw your throat will be the smile on my face. This is what happens when you chomp down on innocent people.” You sliced the blade through the wolfs neck and the body fell to the floor, completely lifeless. You wiped the blood off your blade and turned to the brothers, who had their mouths open in shock. “What? Have you never seen a model hunt before?” You walked straight past them and into the backseat of the Impala, a smug smile on your face. 

“Sammy, if you don’t make a move on her, I will. She is badass! She truly did prove me wrong.” Dean strolled off to the front of the Impala and took his seat. Sam smiled to himself and walked off after his brother. He knew he had to keep you around, somehow.

Tags: @akshi8278

[lostinfantasies38]

Ten Favorite Dialogues from 2020

I picked 10 dialogue exchanges that I loved from the stories I posted this year. A few of them are from the same stories, since I spent a good chunk of the year working on long fics instead of one shots or shorter stories. Under the cut bc they are lengthy.

I also realized that most of my zingers tend to be in my descriptions and don’t always make it into my character’s dialogue. I might have to change that. 

In no particular order:

1.

Dorian chuckled. “Honestly, you two are disgraceful. You can’t come to a club looking like sex on legs when you aren’t single. You’re going to give people a heart attack.”

“Jealous, Dorian?” Alistair needled.

“Insanely,” he replied smoothly. “Aside from myself and Zevran,”—he saluted the elf who shot him a saucy wink—“you’re the most attractive men here. And to add insult to injury, you’re together,” he sighed dramatically.

Accidental Alliance, a oneshot modern Cullistair AU 

2. 

“Step two of the pie liberation was to avoid suspicion of the adults.” Evan giggled at Connor’s phrasing and thought he heard Alex snort in amusement, too. “Zoe’s job was to act as a distraction, which wasn’t hard to accomplish because Cynthia decked her out in this frilly monstrosity that every woman within a five-mile radius oohed and aahed over. She fucking hated it, of course, but it worked in our favor for The Plan. And yes, those are honest to God capitals, babe. Think Mission Impossible: Thanksgiving 2010.”

“Alternate title: Pie Larceny,” Evan quipped, overjoyed by Connor’s rich laughter. Alex definitely chuckled at that.

“Yes! Oh my God, that’s amazing. I’m totally renaming it Pie Larceny.”

Save Me From Myself - part 3 of my DEH series, Connor Murphy/Evan Hansen

3.

“It makes me want to wrap you in blankets and bubble wrap and smother you with attention until you’re sick of looking at me, though.”

A broken laugh tumbled out of Evan’s mouth. “Well, there’s a mental picture. What are you gonna do? Roll me down the street?”

“I’m working out the logistics, but rolling you around does sound kinda fun,” Connor teased.

Snorting, Evan retorted, “I mean, you do have practice rolling joints. Guess a bundled up boyfriend isn’t much difference.”

Connor’s borderline hysterical laughter almost drowned out Evan’s airy chuckles. “Jesus Christ, Evan,” he wheezed, shakily wiping away tears. 

Save Me From Myself - part 3 of my DEH series, Connor Murphy/Evan Hansen 

4.

Returning his head to the shadows, he hissed, “Sister Agnes is milling around. I need a distraction so I can reach our room.”

Kai grinned and pulled a dehydrated pepper from his pocket. “Down the hatch.”

Gavin stopped him with a concern expression. “Are you sure about this?”

He snorted softly. “Please, I grew up eating these. My mum sends them because she knows I love them. They’re like candy. I’ll be shitting fire for a week, but they don’t hurt my mouth. I’ll burn hot and sweat like crazy though. Trust me, it’ll work.”

The redhead arched an eyebrow. “So you carry them in your pocket at all times?”

“No,” Kai answered irritably. “That’s why I needed Easton earlier. To act as a distraction for me so I could get it out of my room.”

Gavin sighed. “If you’re sure. I mean, we could brawl in the hallway, that would work, too.”

Alistair glanced around the corner. “Hurry up and choose. I’m not waiting forever.” Kai smirked and popped the pepper in his mouth.

“Well, that decides it,” Gavin groaned. Alistair tried not to laugh as over the course of a few minutes, Kai’s face visibly flushed in response to the spicy heat and sweat pooled under his hair, running in rivulets across his face.

“How do I look?” he asked.

“Like you’ve got the sweat,” Gavin replied sardonically.

“Perfect,” he retorted. “Right, good luck, Alistair. If I fail to distract everyone, Gavin’s got you covered.”

Find Me Well Within Your Grace - young Cullistair prequel fic - excerpt from Ch 11 featuring a few of my OCs and Alistair 

5.

Wrapping his arms around her as she hummed at the stove, he said, “Sirra and Alistair either just left my apartment or she only now deigned to tell me they’re gone.”

Eowyn grinned wickedly at him, checking the clock on the dining room wall. “My, my! Four hours later! Scandalous.”

“I wish you could have seen them. The magnetism! It was instant.”

She giggled. “I saw the photos. That’s more of Alistair’s almost-O face than I ever want to see again, thanks very much.”

He snorted. “Fair enough.” After a pause, Zevran chuckled, “I give them a month.”

Rounding on him in horror, Eowyn stared at him with wide mossy eyes. “You just said they were perfect together! Do you think we made a mistake?”

“No, amore mio. I mean, I give them a month before they elope. I might have been party to their engagement shoot today.”

She blinked slowly as the giggles built until she was clutching the kitchen counter in a fit of uncontrolled mirth. “Okay, that may be accurate knowing Alistair!”

“I’m thinking of changing my business cards. Should I add ‘Matchmaker Extraordinaire’ or ‘Signor Soulmate’?” he asked cheekily.

Shot In The Dark - Sirra Brosca/Alistair modern AU oneshot [dialogue shown is between Zevran/OC]

6.

Cullen grinned with him. “Me either. Maybe we can improve your chess skills enough for you to graduate from mediocre.”

“Oh, ha ha. You and the others can have fun with that, thanks very much. Here I was hoping we could spend more time in bed,” he teased, sliding a hand into his curls.

Rolling his eyes playfully, the blonde retorted, “Of course, count on you to think how often we can sleep together instead of improving our skills.”

“That is how we improve our skills.”

“Training skills, you fiend.”

Heaving a melodramatic sigh, Alistair quipped, “Well, one of us has to be the boring one in the relationship. Glad it’s not me.” Cullen elbowed him gently in the ribs, chuckling along with his lover’s bright laughter.

Find Me Well Within Your Grace - young Cullistair prequel fic, excerpt from Ch 12 

7.

“You’re not worthless,” Alistair whispered. The breath she’d been holding passed her lips with a tiny mewl of surprise. Still unable to look at one other, Alistair kept his hand on her wrist and she resisted the urge to scoot further away.

Sirra murmured, “You don’t know me, Alistair. You can’t say that.”

“I can,” he insisted firmly, his fingers pressing just a bit harder on her flesh. “It doesn’t matter who you were. When you join the Grey Wardens, all that matters is who you are. I may not know who you used to be in Orzammar, but I have a pretty good idea who you are in the sun.”

Sun Touched - excerpt from Ch 4

8.

“I’m sorry, Alistair, I wanted to surprise you. Most dwarves in Orzammar, caste and casteless alike, have genital piercings. It’s cultural and unrelated to murder.”

His eyebrows climbed into his hair. “Even the men? How in the Maker’s name does that work?” Sirra opened her mouth to explain, but he hastily held up a hand and shivered. “Rhetorical question. Please do not answer that.”  

Sun Touched - excerpt from Ch 14

9.

“I love you, too,” she murmured, gracing him with a watery smile. “If I had known you were up here, I would have left Orzammar years ago and tracked you down,” Sirra mused, only half joking. 

“Oh, really?” he quirked an eyebrow in amusement. “I can just imagine you sneaking into the droll monastery and breaking me out. I would have assumed you were a figment of my imagination, a desire demon, or Maker-sent. Regardless, I doubt I could have resisted the mischievous glint in your eyes as you crept in to find me in my smalls, surrounded by thirty other recruits, and told me to run away with you.” 

Laughing, Sirra raked her short nails down his toned chest. “A naked teenage version of you? I would have taken you on the spot, letting the recruits feast their eyes on us, before dashing out the front door with your bare ass in tow.” 

He closed his eyes with a lusty moan, and swallowed hard, his voice strained when he replied. “Definitely Maker-sent then. To think, we could have been on the lam for the last few years, making mad love wherever we went.” 

Sighing melodramatically, Alistair smirked and playfully bopped the tip of her nose with his. “Ah, well, at least I have you now and that’s all that matters.”

Sun Touched - excerpt from Ch 17

10.

“Stop it,” Morrigan mumbled irritably.

Alistair feigned innocence. “Stop what? I’m sitting here like a good patient. I wasn’t even talking until right now.”

Yellow eyes bored into hazel as the subtle light faded around them, his shoulder apparently healed. “You know very well what. Stop staring at my hands. ‘Tis most distracting.”

“And here I thought it was my hands distracting you during the fight,” he smirked. “Not where my eyes happened to land. How could you have known that I might have been paying attention, if you weren’t observing me, too, hmm?”

Scoffing, Morrigan took a large step back and crossed her arms haughtily over her chest. “You are insufferable.”

Sheathing his sword, Alistair shrugged with affected boredom. “I may be insufferable, Morrigan, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Deny it all you want, but we both know the truth.” 

Snagging his shield from where it fell on the ground, he slung it over his back and murmured for her ears alone. “Besides, for a cranky witch who grew up in a swamp, they’re surprisingly soft and gentle… when they want to be, that is.” 

You Give Me That Lovin’ Feelin’ - ch 2. Part 1 of 3 of Morristair written for @scharoux 14 Days of DA Lovers 

[villanelleismyeviltwin]

Killing Eve Season 1 - 2 Timeline

I’ve personally been wondering about the timeline of Villaneve obsession, so I break it down here after spending 11 hours 15 minutes binge-watched season 1 -2 the other day. Why? Because I don’t have a life LOL!

I’m a little amazed it took only around 2 months (or a little more or less) for the two seasons to run. Villaneve obsession is so strong it took such a small span of time like this. Wow!

If you want to see the full timeline, just keep reading.

Warnings: This is a long ass post and 100% spoiler. So, don’t read if you haven’t watched them.

Season 1

1x01

Day 1

V killed a Russian politician in Vienna

E and MI5 team went to karaoke for Bill’s BD party

Day 2

MI5 was assigned to protect Kasia in London

E interviewed Kasia and secretly recorded it for Niko and Dom to translate

V went back to her apartment in Paris

Day 3

V went to kill a mafia in Tuscany

E slit her own leg to see how blood runs

Day 4

V was woken up from her threesome and assigned to kill Kasia in London that night

E and Bill switched their lunches (E’s shepherd’s pie/ B’s sushi)

E took Dom to visit Kasia at the hospital

E & V met in the bathroom for the first time

Kasia and other 3 people killed

E and Bill were fired

Carolyn came to see E telling her about this female assassin

V bought a new bed sheet by Liliana Rizzari and look at her next job in Bulgaria

1x02

Day 1

V killed a man in Bulgaria at night

Day 2

E met C at the Purple Penguin, was hired by MI6, met Kenny

V went back to her apartment in Paris / met Sebastian

Konstantin got V assessed by Jerome who didn’t sign her off

V stole her next job from Konstantin

V tried to do something normal and had sex with Sebastian

Day 3

V went back to her apartment to make a poison perfume

E invited Bill and Elena to join the team

V killed Carla De Mann with her poison perfume

K let V know about E

Sebastian died

E came to the office to search for V in nurse profiles Kenny had provided

V searched for E on the Internet

E & V realized that they had met

1x03

Day 1

E described V to sketch at the police station

Day 2

V killed Wu in Berlin using E’s name

Day 3

E found out about Berlin

V waited for E at the crime scene but no show / got laid with Pamela

E asked B to go to Berlin with her

Day 4

E & B arrived at the crime scene in Berlin

V stole E’s bag / Konstantin came to order her to watch E / got laid with Pamela

V stalked E in the apparel shop and chose a belt for her dress / bought new expensive clothes for E

E video called Niko / V recorded and listened

E & B talked about his sexuality before going to the train station

B saw V and stopped her from following E

E had dinner with Jin and he gave her a data

B followed V to the club and was stabbed to death before E could approach him

1x04

I lost track of time here. Maybe a few days after Berlin.

Day 1

Bill funeral

V held a birthday party for K / was assigned to work with Diego & Nadia in England

Niko wanted E out of her job / E got her bag back with clothes, perfume, and a note “Sorry Baby x”

Day 2

V and the team went to Bletcham to kill Frank

E took her bag to the office for DNA checking

Kenny traced the data Jin had gave E and found there were money had been transferred to Frank’s kids’ school in Sussex

E and Elena went to Bletchem to talk to Frank

Nadia killed Diego after F got away

V ran a car over Nadia and hunted F alone until she saw E

1x05

Day 1 - the same day as the last scene in 1x04

E decided to stop the car and went towards V but she escaped

E & Elena took F to the safe house / Elena left

E and Carolyn investigate F together until they found out about The Twelve

E went back to the office, met Kenny and found out V’s real name (Oksana Astankova) and got her prison file back home

E went home, wore perfume and a dress from her bag, found V broke into her house

E & V have dinner together / V took E’s phone / while leaving V met Niko and Dom / they don’t know who she was

V went to the safe house and killed F

E went to C’s house to tell her about V but found out Kenny is C’s son.

E & C went to the safe house and found F dead

Day 2

V lied to Konstantin about Diego and Nadia

K told V Nadia was  still alive currently in Russia / He ordered V to get into the prison to find and kill Nadia

V asked K about The Twelve

1x06

Day 1 - probably a little time jump for K and V going to Moscow

K took V to the prison in Moscow to kill Nadia

V got into the prison

E & C decided to go to Moscow

E & Niko had a fight and she slapped him (I’m confused here how N knew that V - “scary ladies” - had broken into their house when he didn’t have an idea who V was at the end of 1x05. Or E told him? I don’t think so, though)

E & C arrived Moscow, met Vlad and Konstantin

Day 2

K took E & C to the prison to talk with Nadia

V found Nadia working in the kitchen / befriended with Agniya/ provoked Agniya to punch her / met the doctor and got a knife

E & C in the hotel bar talked about Vlad and Konstantin

E asked Kenny to find out about Anna and also asked him to search for correspondences of C & Konstantin

Day 3

V met Nadia in the kitchen / killed prison guards

E met Vlad asking him to give Nadia to them

Nadia slipped a note addressed to Eve before V killed her

V was taken to the hole and realized she’s trapped

1x07

Day 1

E & C found out about Nadia’s death

Kenny came to Moscow / gave what he found to E including Anna’s info

V was taken to the same cell as Inga and killed her

C came to the prison to talk to V

E went to see Anna at school

V was helped to escape / met and killed Anton / found out her next target was Konstantin

E went to Anna‘s apartment / got V’s passport, credit card, money

Konstantin went home and found V there to kill him / hit her with a log and escaped

E & Kenny found out from prison’s CCTV that it was C who met V

1x08

Day 1

V Kidnapped Irina

E & Kenny went to see C at the hotel and met Konstantin in her room

E and Konstantin went to Anna’s apartment together

V took Irina to Anna’s apartment / searched for her stuff but found E’s note “Sorry Baby x” instead

Anna met V and killed herself

V asked Irina to steal the money and they went to Café Radozhny

E got a call from V asking for her passport so E & K went to the Café

V shot K and fled the scene

E, C, and Kenny at the airport to go back to London / C told E to close London office (fired her)

E got a call from Elena about V’s apartment in Paris

C & K went back to London

Day 2

E went to V’s apartment and trashed it

V came back to her apartment and met E

E stabbed V

V ran away

Season 1 = Approx. 24 days

Season 2

2x01

Day 1 - 30 seconds from the last scene in 1x08

E left V’s apartment and found The Twelve cleaners there to clear V’s apartment up

C called and ordered Eve to go back to London immediately

E went to Gare Du Nord and took a train back to London

V managed to get herself to the hospital and got her wound treated

E arrived home and cooked for Niko / lost her mind in the bathtub

V befriended with Gabriel and manipulated him to steal a doctor gown and key card for her

E bought a shit ton of really expensive windows

V got some medications and a little money before she passed out

Day 2

E met C at the park

V woke up and prepared to leave the hospital / be honest with G about his face

C took E to the morgue to find the real cause of death of Alister Peel because of Nadia’s note

V mercy killed G and left the hospital to Calais

E confessed to N she had bought a shit ton of really expensive windows

V in the trunk of a car heading to England thinking of E

E couldn’t sleep thinking of V

2x02

Day 1

V arrived Basildon, England early in the morning and walked to sleep at a laundry shop

E searched for V’s news / bought a blue dress

V woke up at the laundry shop and all her medication had been stolen

E talked to N about work / slipped V’s name / dreamed of Bill

V changed her clothes and found Julian at the supermarket

E went to MI6 office to meet her new team and briefed them about V

V stayed at Julian’s creepy house

E found Gabriel’s news and knew it was V’s kill

V met Julian’s mother in the middle of the night / V hates ghost 

Day 2

V asked Julian to get some medications at the pharmacy for her before passing out

E & H realized Alister Peel’s killer wasn’t V

E & C went to Alister Peel’s house to meet Aaron and Amber Peel / E showed them V’s photo but they didn’t know her / E knew there was a new girl in town

Julian still didn’t get V the medications she asked for and started being a control freak

V tried to escape but all doors and windows were locked

E and Jess discussed the new assassin

V called The Twelve and MI6 while Julian went out

E briefed the team about “The Ghost”

Julian was mad V made a call before V kicked him in the face and finally killed him

C asked E to go with her because of V’s call

V met Raymond and was almost choked to death

E & C arrived at the crime scene when V was leaving / E didn’t see V but V saw her

E & C found Julian’s body / E knew immediately it was V’s kill

C took E to her home to meet very much alive Konstantin

2x03

Day 1 - the same day as the last scene of 2x02

E & K talked about V as The Hungry Caterpillar

Day 2 - I think there was a time jump about 1-2 weeks for V to fully recovered

V killed a man in the lift in the morning

V checked in a hotel in Paddington

R came to see V provoking her about The Ghost and E not thinking about her

V made a prank complaint at N’s school

E and her team discussed if the latest kill was The Ghost’s or V’s

V bought loads of clothes using R’s credit card

V observed N at his school and found a pawn to play with (Gemma)

E came home and realized that she had to go to N’s school party

V came back to the hotel, made a pasta necklace, and stalked E

R interrupted by approaching E and V had to stop stalking E

E arrived at N’s school party and met G / E asked N to show her his classroom

Konstantin asked C where his family was but she didn’t tell

V approached G and suggested her to manipulate N & E’s relationship

E seduced N in the classroom and freaked out when she saw an apple

E set the false alarm, waited for V to show up outside the building / N harshly told her to go home

V approached E from behind and put a lipstick in her purse without E knowing (dumbass)

Day 3

E found a lipstick and went to Kenny forcing him to get Konstantin’s family address

R called to scold V for spending his credit card

E went to C’s house to negotiate with Konstantin to find V in exchange for his family’s address

V was informed that there was a new guest

V and Konstantin reunited. He asked her to run away with him and work as freelances.

Eve and armed polices arrived at the hotel and attacked V’s room

V saw E through the peephole and the classic door scene happened

E and the team didn’t find V

C knew and told E not to go behind her back again

Kenny confronted E about her actions today. He was disappointed in her.

Konstantin and V were in the car together heading to Amsterdam

K provoked V to get jealous of The Ghost

E used to lipstick from V and cut by a hidden little blade. She loved it.

2x04

Day 1

C was called in to meet her boss’s rage

J & H arrived the office finding E was working on finding The Ghost. She caught them up about the kills of people around Alister Peel

J told H to contact Aaron Peel for a meeting

V & K is in Amsterdam planning for the kill their target tonight

K took V to an art museum for her to get the idea to kill

E & J went to meet A but got nothing out of him

The Ghost killed Alister Peel’s secretary

V wrote a postcard to E while watching her target

E & J went to the crime scene of Peel’s secretary

V in the piggy mask killed her target for a show in the red-light district

E came home and had a fight with N about a security guard

V got back to the hotel asking K to go back home (London) / K told her to give up on E because she didn’t interest in V anymore. Of course, V didn’t believe him.

Day 2

C checked all mails addressed to E and found V’s postcard. She kept it and assigned J to go to Amsterdam

V had nothing to do so she went to wait for E at the crime scene

E smartly figured out who The Ghost was and it impressed H

V saw J coming instead of E so she was so heartbroken

H asked E to have late night fried chicken. The talked and almost kissed.

Kenny found The Ghost

V was so broken she took drugs and almost choke a girl to death / Konstantin had been following V, stopped her from killing, and took her back to the hotel.

Day 3

E arrested The Ghost

V cried her heart out for E, believing that she was forgotten. She realized she could feel and her feelings for E were real. She was glad and embraces thme

E looked at herself in the mirror and realized she wasn’t the same E she used to be

C asked E from the other side of the mirror if she was ready to investigate The Ghost

2x05

Day 1

V killed a rich teenager in the car wash in England

E & J were watching The Ghost being investigated before C came in

E tried to talk to The Ghost (Jin) again mentioning V’s name and Jin was obviously scared of V

V met K while she was doing her new hobby. K gave the payment for killing the teenager to her.

E & J discussed V & K being freelances and E suggested hiring V to kill her in order to crack info from The Ghost.

Day 2

Everyone in the team, especially Kenny, was upset with a plan except H. C gave E a green light to do it.

J warned E about someone didn’t want a paper trail on her.

K & V went to get a new job, which was E.

V freaked out and refused to do the job. K gave her a tough love; making V realize that E made her weaker and more stupid.

C sent Martin - an expert on Psychopaths - to subtly assess E’s state of mind.

V grieved at a hotel with Tony - a hotel room service - soothed her. She excepted the truth that she had to kill E.

E came home to have a dinner with N. He told her about a sudden trip to Oxford for a couple of days.

Martin reported E’s reactions to his sloppy presentation and recommended that E was to close. This was a no-go. C ignored it.

V sent E funeral flowers shaped as her name. She got horny because of it to the point she asked N to have sex with her.

Day 3

K took V to select a nice weapon to kill E at his friend’s store.

C asked E if she was sure about this plan, but still vague and shady about her support for E.

H prompted E to wear a bulletproof vest.

Kenny confronted Eve about the plan, reminded her about Bill, but E sacked him.

E’s darkness was awakened by an asshole at the subway. She almost pushed him on the rail.

V put all her effort to select the most beautiful outfit of mourning to kill E

E arrived home feeling uncomfortable with the bulletproof vest so she took it off as soon as the bell rang.

V in her mourning outfit; black dress and veil was in front of the door. E let her in.

V & E played pushed and pull control games by their conversations and some trust testings.

V decided to help E crack The Ghost with a condition that E would give her everything she wanted.

They sat in the car to Forest of Dean for 3 hours without interaction with each other.

Day 4

The Ghost was taken to Forest of Dean while E & V followed.

V looked out for E asking if it was legal to do this.

E tried to warn The Ghost to tell her but she didn’t talk.

V went in to get the info from The Ghost while E was nervously waiting outside

V came out with the info E wanted. She asked for a thank you but E was a dick to her instead

E checked if V killed The Ghost or not, she didn’t. The Ghost called E “Monster!”

Day 5

V went to Oxford to meet N and told him about E stabbed her to provoke and make him doubt E.

2x06

Day 1 - the same day as Oxford

N came home telling E that V had come to see and told him about the stab

N & E had D & S sex while V was standing in the rain outside observing (and probably heartbroken)

Day 2

E was pleased with last night sex but Niko decided to leave her

V was bored at the hotel so she broke into E’s house and mess things up.

E met C at the restaurant watching AP’s video recorded by a dead journalist. C told E to be in Rome for a Pharaday conference that AP would go.

E and the team discussed how to get close to AP because he hated people and they came up with an idea.

E & J went to C’s house and met Konstantin. They offered him and V a job which didn’t involve killing.

E went to see V at MI6′s apartment, briefed her about AP and how to get close to him through his sister - Amber.

V created a persona - Billie - to join an AA meeting that Amber was attending. E approved.

E went to MI6 office telling H to create Billie’s profile

Day 3

C briefed E & V about this operation as a Moscow rules and gave them gadgets to work.

V asked C if she was the real boss and C said yes.

E & J was buying lunch together talking about N. J suggested BJ would help before leaving to the office.

V came to see E and said BJ wouldn’t work. N was too normal for E.

E talked down to V that it was hard to be a decent person than being a person like her. V said “Like us, you mean’“ E was speechless.

Day 4

V as Billie joined the AA meeting, and messed thing up by using E’s real-life story. She was called out by the group though.

Amber came to talk to V and advised her to be honest.

V went to E who was mad at her for using her story at the meeting. E talked harshly to V and V spoke up for herself that she liked Eve but not that much. E seemed taken aback before leaving.

Day 5

V being honest about her feelings to the group. it worked, the group embraced her. E was intrigued by V’s speech too.

V and Amber were talking when her assistant came to remind her to not associate with anyone in the group.

V killed Amber’s assistant in front of E. E was shocked, intrigued, and jealous when she saw V hugging and soothing Amber.

V went to see report C the progress that V and Amber were texting each other. C was satisfied and didn’t give a shit about the kill.

V & K took a walk together while V was texting E who saw the texts and ignored them.

V got a text from Amber inviting her to have supper with her and Aaron on Thursday

Day 6

E went to see N at G’s house and trashed her bra drawer. She gave up on him.

Day 7

V as Billie went to The Peels house for supper as invited. K & E were listening to the situation in a van.

Aaron looked and talked down at V shamelessly. V tried to be patient for her job.

E tried to order V around to do things so V took the earpiece off and literally swallow it.

Aaron still provoked V until she realized and called him out as a bully before smacking his face with a book and carelessly left.

E wanted to follow V but K told her to let V cool off because E was all over her.

V went to the kebab shop to cool herself off. She met two attractive girls so she scared them and walked home with them.

2x07

Day 1

V got an apology note attached with a Philosophy book she used to smack him with from Aaron and was invited to have lunch with him tomorrow.

E came into the apartment looking exhausted so V asked her if she was OK and encouraged E to talk

E asked if what V had said about her feelings in the second AA meeting was true or not. V didn’t know and wasn’t sure. E nervously asked “You don’t feel anything?” so V said the only things she surely knew “I feel things when I’m with you.”

The brunette girl from the kebab shop came out of nowhere to thank V for the sex. E was obviously jealous but V told her not to because “I’m not with them, when I’m with them.” Then the blond girl came out to say bye. Eve was so done so she ordered V to see A and get them to Rome

Day 2

V as Billie went to have lunch with Aaron. She intrigued him very much so he asked her to go to Rome with him

E bombarded V’s phone with 9 missed call and 3 voicemails

V came back from lunch and saw her phone. She listened to E’s voice and was glad E cared and worried about her.

Day 3

E, C, and Konstantin discussed Rome operation. C chose the safe word “gentleman”. E asked for a team, K volunteered but she refused and took Hugo with her.

V stalked N & G to his storage unit and asked him the recipe to his shepherd’s pie because she thought Eve liked it. N told her the ingredients.

C subtly assesses V’s and E’s state of minds and reminded E not let V kill Aaron or anyone.

V asked N if he loved G, he said no. When asked if he loved E, he said yes, sure E was his wife. The answer was so close for V to let them both go. V learned from the past the if she hurt N, E would never forgive her. She didn’t want that so she handled both of them in her own way.

Kenny warned Eve not to go to Rome but was interrupted by Carolyn.

Konstantin came to see V packing, briefed her about the operation and gave her a mic in disguise of contraception pills. He warned V that if V planned anything, she couldn’t kill her way out of it. She and E would be on their own.

Day 4

E went to see Martin consulting him about V. He assessed her with questions about her and V. E told him she felt wide awake. Martin told E that his recommendation to take her off this operation was ignored for her safety. Eve thanked him and left.

Day 5

E & H went to Rome and stayed at the hotel near Aaron’s palazzo. They set up all stuff in H’s room.

V & A arrived at the palazzo. V was guided to her room which A had prepared everything for her and didn’t let her have her bag. So, she couldn’t wear a mic.

A watched V from his monitor room creepily.

Eve was so worried that V didn’t wear a mic yet. So, she made an excuse to see V by giving her a mic. H called her out on that.

V & A were in the restaurant. When A was away from the table talking on the phone. E signaled V to “Try the bread.” and sent a bread with a mic to her. V couldn’t help to take a chance touching E’s hand longingly.

A finished his phone. He told V they had to go back because there would be a meeting with a buyer at dinner.

V wore a mic as soon as she arrived at her room and sing a song for E to know she was on. A couldn’t see that because V know where the cameras are so she hid from them.

V dressed for dinner but A was a control freak telling her to do things. V was patient for the job so she did everything he ordered.

At dinner, turned out A’s weapon was “in-depth personal information”, not a physical weapon.

E & H got all the info.

A told V he knew nothing about her and found a shadow, nothing real, a void (because the profile MI6 had created was wiped out by someone so he couldn’t find it)

V realized that A is a psychopath too but she felt superior to him because she had feelings and could feel things while A couldn’t.

H excused himself to sleep while E chose to stay up. He asked her to put the earpiece in and go to bed.

V was in bed knowing that E was listening so she seduced her to have phone sex together. V touched herself while E used H as a human sex toy. It was their first sex although it wasn’t direct physically.

Day 6

V greeted E with “Morning. Did you sleep well?”

H realized that he was used for sex when he saw E took the earpiece off. He thanked her for a threesome before getting coffee for them.

E didn’t feel guilty while V was still in bed feeling happy.

At the storage unit, N woke up and found G was killed. They were locked inside for 3 days.

2x08

Day 1 - same as Day 6 in the last episode

V found A’s monitor room and murder clips. She went to see A in a dining room without saying anything about what she had found.

H got E coffee. She told him to call Jess how they were doing. H went outside to call Jess.

A showed V the buyer that would come today. It was Raymond so she said “What a weird-looking gentleman.”

As soon as V said the safe word, E was about to go out but she heard a gunshot and hid under the bed. The Twelve sent an assassin to kill them. E was lucky enough not to be found though.

E found H was shot so she left him bleeding there to get help downstairs but no such luck because she didn’t know Italian emergency number.

E dressed as a maid to get into the palazzo to find V and A talking and laughing in a dining room.

V revealed her true self to A so he asked her to work for him, started by killing E.

V played being torn because A offered to give her everything and she would never feel bored again. E was afraid that V would kill her for real this time.

Turned out V slit A’s throat and forced him to watch himself die in front of the mirror.

E was in shock about what just had happened so V slapped her to make her calm.

E wanted to go back to the hotel to save H and keep all evidence they had. V thought it was a stupid idea but she helped E finally.

E went back to the hotel and found that everything was cleaned up. C came to see her and let her tell about A. E told C he was dead, V killed him. C said A was killed by The Twelve’s assassin was better than MI6. That was when E realized C used her and V to kill A.

E refused to go with C so she was on her own.

Meanwhile, V was trying to find a car to pick up Eve at the hotel as promised. Turned out K and MI6 had provided it for her with a gun and money. K told V to leave E behind but she didn’t.

K told V to run away from The Twelve as Raymond was in Rome. V didn’t believe him until K confessed that someone had asked Raymond not to kill V until she killed A.

V realized she was used and hurt more when K chose his family over her. K hinted that V still had a family left.

V waited for Eve outside of the hotel for while before grabbing a gun, tucked it in her back, and went inside the hotel to save E.

There she found Raymond with an axe ready to kill her

V provoked R as a “nobody”. He seems to have issued with self-importance so he laid the axe and fought bare hands with V.

They fought until V was choked to nearly death. She saw E picked up the axe so she told her to do it.

E told R to stop but he underestimated her and kept on choking V until her face turned purple. That was when E decided to hit him with an axe at the shoulder.

V told E to kill R by hitting his head with the axe. E hesitated but V manipulated her until E killed him.

E was in shock and V helped her to flee the scene. She took E to the shortcut to the ancient ruins.

C gave K’s family address to him as promised. He walked away without saying anything.

V asked E what she wanted for dinner. E was still in shock so she agreed with everything V said like going to Alaska, being normal, she would look after her, blah, blah, blah. V looked so happy like a girl got her wishing gift on Christmas Day.

Then, the fucking birds happened, V was always aware of everything so she took the gun out of her back.

E saw that V had it so she realized she was manipulated to kill R.

V tried to calm her down but E came to her sense and rejected all V’s feelings for her. She stepped back from V and turned to leave.

V was heartbroken because of E‘s reactions so she shot her and left. She became the same old V right after Anna abandoned her.

Season 2 = Approx. 42 days

[lockdownuk]

Lockdown Diary Part 7

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 181: Typing on day 182. I received an email from someone at DSM who had got my CV from Helen Proctor (she was the manager that interviewed me along with the founder) and wants me to interview for a IT business consultant role for a shoe firm (Loakes) in Kettering. I called the chap and had a quick chat and arranged it for Wednesday.

A few beers, as it’s Friday, and caught up via video chat with Foggy and Irish Mike (Foggy’s on quarantine having holidayed in the south of France). It was a late one and they were both pissed, but nice to chat. Andy and Ham were meant to join but were no shows - Ham had his sister’s funeral this week - might explain it.

Day 182: I messaged Ham - he went round his folk’s house after work last night as his two sisters were there. I have to admit, I am ignorant of all of Ham’s brothers and Sisters so he may well have meant one was Preaya in an urn.

Someone on the Oundle Chatter FB group asked about Google Hangouts (on behalf of her son who is attending college and they have online classes using it. I am now about to look into it for her. Why did I get involved. It’s 8pm on a Saturday, ffs!

Update, I researched it and messaged her - seems I hit a nail on the head and she seemed suitably grateful. Booze and pizza coming right up (at 9:15pm)

Day 183: Up at just before 2pm - I drank shed loads last night and went to bed after 4am. Faffed about but did manage my stair climb, a 10km walk and I am now making a roast dinner-ish tea (chicken breast stuffed with red leicester and wrapped in bacon) with all the veg and yorkies (I am trying to empty the freezer as it needs defrosting).

Day 184: I posted on FB that today was half a leap year of lockdown (that’s wrong, should have been yesterday). Rachel replied that it isn’t lockdown anymore. I replied that it is for me but that got me thinking - are we officially in lockdown still? Checked, and we are. Posted that on the same thread and Badger replied that the current level of lockdown has been uprated to level 4, whatever that actually means. Rachel’s post worries me - 1. ‘cos it’s indictative of the far-too-relaxed attitude and, 2. I wasn’t even sure even though I’m still observing the same lockdown behaviour that I was before Boris made his announce on March 23rd. Scary how facts bleed into fiction. 

Jim contacted me today, asked me to call. I did so, he says I’ll be asked to return to work (from home) on the 5th October (two weeks). Shirley from HR will be in contact. I’ll believe when I see the email from her! 

Day 185: Boris announced a tightening of the relaxed lockdown including pubs shutting at 10pm. None of it really affects me since I’m still in as full a lockdown as when it started.

Received an email from John Morton at DSM for an interview at Loakes tomorrow (Wed) at 09:30am.

Received a Facebook message from the editor at Oundle Chronicle - he wants to do a short article about the photos I take and post on the Oundle Chatter fb group.

Day 186: Interview went ok.

Called Dad and Rita to let them know that I received an email from RCI confirming that I will be back at work on the 5th of October.

In the evening, Facebook had posts concerning somebody walking round Creed Road with a knife in his hand, and the police getting involved!

Day 187: Spend spend spend. Paid my speeding fine today £357, my water bill £147, bought two new duvet cover sets and two new sheets £58, a new pair of walking boots (my relatively new Hi-Tec are leaking and falling apart) £75. Oh, and the car insurance renews day after tomorrow, £230. Thank fucking fuck I’m being taken off furlough!

Day 188: Friday and I’m going to have a few beers and watch a couple of films.  I’ve been trawling through Seinfeld and am most the way through S3, and it’s brilliant. The Kramer character is mentally good. One episode had the actress who played Janice in Friends - that episode is a classic - which also included an scene whereby the cast are all exclaiming ‘Saturday night’ similar to the Friends TikTok trend. Got a call this morning about a service delivery lead role for EPM, a education service provider, based in Huntingdon. It’s a good role, very involved, reporting directly to the head of IT. But it’s only £32k pa. I replied to the email the recruiter subsequently sent to say I am interested but that salary is less than £5k pa than I am on now as a 2nd line support techie!  Lastly, I am well on my way to doing 500,000 steps in September!

Day 189: I was woken by the doorbell - a delivery of one of the duvet cover sets. On the door mat was a missed parcel delivery note from Ryal Mail (I have to get whatever it is from Warmington PO) and a note from next door (No. 34) asking for me to turn my music down at 10.30pm. That’s fair enough but....10.30pm! What are they, 80 years old? I have felt low today. There is no rhyme nor reason as to my moods suffice to say I am not of the happiest dispostion on a permanent basis, resigned to being alone. In fact, I have come to terms with the fact I’ll die alone but, it seems, some days I cope with it a lot worse than others. On that cheery note, it’s 8.45 pm on a Saturday night so, I am about to launch into some beers, weed and pizza. I think tonight I’ll seek out the second John Wick film - watch the first last night - so fucking good. You gotta love Keanu!

Day 190: Hopefully the last Sunday of having an enforced no-work-on-Monday so I’m going to have a beer or two (it’s now 8:20pm - just cracked open a Bud), watch American Sniper and eat Chilli and naan bread and onion rings. I did a 12 km walk today - I recall a time when 40-45 minuts walking was enough. Today’s walk was 2 hours! I know it’s only walking but I feel fitter than I have for years; still unfit, but fitter. Day 191: Well, I enjoyed the decadence of boozing last night but it meant getting up at after midday! Still managed two walks, trip to Tesco’s in Hampton after picking up the mystery parcel from Warmington PO. It was two unknown bottles of beer for a marketing campaign I entered a few days ago! I have to not open the beers until I receive instruction whereby I’ll be joining in with other drinkers in video chat! Day 192: Smahed 500k steps for September with one day to go! Cleaned the kitchen - I’m going to do the whole house over the next few days while I have the free time since I’m back to work on Monday.  The lad from next door called round this eveing to ask if I got the note. When I said yes, he told me they (he and his partner) can still hear music. FFS! I asked where their bedroom was, it’s along side mine, so I guess it’s the TV sound that is travelling up and disturbing them. Great, fuck knows what I should do if I want to watch anything after 10:30pm. I suppose going back to work is good timing..I shall be going to bed around that time myself, especially if I want to get up early to get a walk in before starting at 09.00 am.

Day 193: Typing on day 194. Only managed one walk today, before 9.00am. It made a great change walking that early. I then set about doing housework (which I started yesterday) - I want to clean the house from top to bottom before going back to work. i.e. while I have time during the working week. I did the Kitchen yesterday and the whole lounge today. It’s fucking knackering. I managed 519k steps in September, works out at 9.6 miles per day, which is good and, also, annoying. I have taken delivery and laundered all my new bedding. It’s brushed cotton lushness, can’t wait to try it. Last ‘happy hour’ of (this current) furlough, so I had beers (and a fucking spicey sausage casserole)...hence penning this a day late.

Day 194: I didn’t get out of bed until nearly 2pm, FFS. Spome with Ricky Roberts about kayaking, it sound sliek something I could take up but, I would need to join the boat club to have somewhere to get in and out!

Day 195: Sueanne from work called to let me know she’s taking over from Jim ‘til new yer and that the team are looking forward to my return - lovely. Dad called, he and Rita are fine as usual - lovely.

Day 196: Got up fater 2pm. I was seriously fucking wasted last night. Had a video chat with Fog - just checked, it ended at 02.04am and I did a lot more drinking and smoking after that. I still managed a 9.7km walk and am now going to settle down to a few (just a few!) beers, shepherds pie and watch Casino. Day 197: Quiet Sunday with some bizarre results in Super Sunday in the prem. Man U lost at home to Spurs 1-6 and Liverpool were thrashed at Villa Park, 7-2. Work tomorrow, feeling a little apprehensive, not sure why. Got to go to the office (to reset password) at 09.00am

Day 198: Back to work. It went OK. I had to go to the office so that my a/c could be enabled and password reset and t get VPN working. There were a few problems but I was back home and logged in OK in the afternoon. Saw Mark in the office - he’s lost weight and was telling me about a cycling accident - I knew about it, but I didn’t realise he had been in hospital and had a plate put in his shoulder. He also has the exact same issue with codeine as me! I am pleased to be back at work but it’s different - no Jim and Sueanne in charge is the main thing. I’m just going to keep my head down; it’ll be for the best.

Day 199: Second day back at work and I’m (trying to) crack on with it. It’s all coming back... New walking boots arrived today (I have them on as I type); I reckon I’ll be OK to walk in them with no breaking in. That’s just as well as my evening walk took me by the marina and the path between the lock, the small bridge and, especially, the larger bridge into the field at the bottom of Basset Ford Road was flooded, no way my boots will be dry for tomorrow.  I did my stair climb before work, 3.5 km walk at lunchtime and then a long, second one, as mentioned, later. I want to try and do a short walk before work in future, hopefully. On the way back from the lunchtime walk, I saw the lad from next door who thanked for me keeping the music down as per the note he left, so, that’s all good.

Day 200: I’ve started a work diary,  à la ENDC....nowhere as urgently required but I just think it’s a good idea.

I wore my new boots for the lunchtime walk (3.6km) and they’re fine. However, I didn’t use them in the evening, they niggled the left foot a bit, so some breaking in is required. My usual ones were just about dry enough having been sat on the radiator! Day 201: Popped into the office today to pick up my full headset dongle, did a quick shop at Asda. So, only one walk today. I have not yet managed to get a walk in before work, just the stair climb, so missed out on a lunchtime walk today since I was shopping. Did 8.5km in the evening. Bought a card online for K’s birthday. Not sure why, we seem not to be communicating - I haven’t heard from her for over a month now which, as mentioned before, I shouldn’t find as hard as I do. The card’s pretty cool though, a quip about just getting a card as a present would involve non-essential travel. Now I am back at work, I want a to do loist app. I recall a smart one that was a linear/curved affair that I saw on Producthunt but, fuck me, I couldn’t find it after over an hour looking. Then I checked Google apps and there it was (Lightpad.ai) - I was chuffed and relieved. The lad from oundle School has been trying to get hold of me via Messenger (he tells me by email) so he can interview for the article in the Chronicle. He has pencilled in Saturday at 6pm.Fuck knows if it will go ahead, the whole thing is sketchy. Day 202: First week back at work over and done. I ordered some stuff from Amazon (slippers and socks) and they offered a free trial of Prime, which is the norm, but, seeing as I have had a free trial under that a/c, I assumed it would error, as I have seen before. This time it didn’t! So, tonight, I just about to have some beers, eat pizza and watch The Gentlemen,. It was suggested by Miles on FB when I asked for  recommendations. It’s been on my to-watch list since its release. I need some cheering up, I’m having a low ebb today.Day 203: Typing on day 204. The Gentlemen was pretty good. I had lots of beers and smoke and went to bed fucking late, gone 4am. Up at lunchtime. I was meant to be going up Foggy’s for a few beers and to listen to Cobblers vs Posh but I sacked that off. I went for a walk at tea time when it got dark fucking quick and pissed down. I didn’t mind ‘cos Posh won 0-2. I watched two films in the evening: Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Official Secrets. Both excellent. Day 204: Another late night, so up at just before 2pm. 12.64 km walk! I’m going to make stirfry and watch Knives Out...taking advantage of Amazon Prime.Day 205: I didn’t watch Knives Out last night, Amazon Prime was playing up. Tonight, however, after uninstalling and reinstalling the LG app, it’s working again. But, rather than a film, I have started watching The Boys series. 3/4 through the first episode and I’m kinda hooked. Another long walk tonight (I didn’t go out before work or at lunchtime), over 5 miles. My new boots are a marvel...they’re still new - I can tell I’ve got a little bit of wearing in still to do, but, pretty much from the off, I can walk long distances in them. I’m impressed. I think, because they are so light, they may be susceptible to the cold, especially now I can walk for longer periods without hypo-ing. The snow and frost will be the test.Day 206: Bit of a frustrating day at work. I am pleased I have a diary of events to update, that’s all I will say on this potentially public diary. Had a chat with Mark about certain aspects of the day, it was a good chat whereby he agreed with some of my gripes. In the evening I took part in a Ipsos marketing test of two beers with a whole bunch of people online. Ultimately, you have to choose one of two beers you prefer and answer questions why. It’s then revelaed which beer you chose. The beer I iked best was Stella but 4.6%, I think that’s the next product iine for them. You don’t get to find out the other beer. I shoudl recieve a £15 amazon voucher for partaking. If that actually happens, I’m going to buy a pair of gaiters. My new boots are fab (although I did turn my ankle last night) but their insides don’t half attract gravel and debris.Day 207: A productive day incorporating ToDoist with work and GCal, I have sacked off Lightpad.ai (it was too cumbersome moving tasks between dates) - so I managed to tick a few things off the task list as a result (responding to Jo Broom’s voicemail, chasing an eye appointmen, for example). Tim came round and did the garden, nice chinwag. I saw little Derek the other day, as well, he’s not coping great with the whole pandemic atm, certainly now lockdown has relaxed, he’s not as social as before. Day 208: Had a chat with Sueanne today, which is not unusal, and I was asking about creating KBs...she remarked how well, and quickly, I getting up to speed. It pleased me. I am having battered fishcakes, potato wedges and peas for tea. I am looking forward to it the most ridiculous amount (it’s cooking as I type). I shall eat as I watch more of the rather excellent The Boys. Seinfeld is on the back burner atm. Day 209: Emily Folgate’s room mate at uni has tested positive for Covid19! Marc’s avoiding the pub and I am glad I didn’t pop up there last Saturday! Bumped into Ash and Dee when i walked past the vets, chatted for 5 mins, it was really nice to see them. The lady next door (38) stopped me outside to say she recently realised that it was me who posts photos to FB, and said they’re ‘amazing’! End of week 2 back at work. As I type, I’m on my first beer, about to have many more and a smoke, half way through The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. Living the dream! Day 210: Things got messy last night. Sugar levels were a mess. I couldn’t even make it upstairs at one point, laid down on the long rug nursing a big bottle of coke. Got up at around 1pm and did usual shit, now having a beer, spicy sausage casserole in the oven (and it is fucking spicy) and I’ll pick a film to watch in a bit. Posh won, 2-0 at home to Oxford, up to 4th, one point behind Lincoln.

[moneysourceyt]

My Personal Experience With John Crestani’s Super Affiliate System

How It All Started

It all started on one weekend when I was scrolling on my Twitter timeline. My attention was drawn to this one retweet from one of my friends on Twitter. He had retweeted a tweet by John Crestani. I don’t remember much about what exactly the tweet was all about but it was something in the line of “financial freedom” and “making passive income.” I guess I was a little too excited to pay attention to the details.

So, I clicked on the link provided and found myself on what looked like a well-crafted landing page. On this page, John shared lots of information regarding a system that he had discovered and one that he believed could empower beginner and intermediate affiliate marketers.

I wasn’t new to affiliate marketing at that time. The first time I heard of it was back in 2014 when I was doing some online research on how to make money online. After sifting through dozens of scams, I finally managed to sign up for the Amazon Associate program.

Once my account was approved, I simply went to my back-end, picked a few banner codes and pasted them on my blog. At that time, I didn’t know much about targeting the right audience and the need for being niche specific.

So, as fate would have it, my affiliate marketing dream hit a snag. My account was closed within 90 days and that’s because despite delivering some clicks, no one was buying through my affiliate links. To cut the long story short, I completely gave up on the idea of making money online by getting random strangers to make purchases through some goddamn links.

I chose to stick to my day job which to be honest I didn’t like that much. But as any other person looking to pay the bills would do, I had to keep going to the office, deal with numerous client calls and sit in a dimly lit cubicle all day.

So, when I came across John Crestani’s tweet and eventually the landing page, my dream of being independent once again came back to life.

Who Is John Crestani

The reason John grabbed my attention is that he had a story that was almost similar to mine. He was once stuck in a boring day job but unfortunately, for him, he got fired without a clear exit strategy. I can only imagine if I was the one in such a situation. How would I pay my rent? How would I convince my daughter that there was no food in the house or money to keep the AC working?

But John somehow managed to go through it all, effectively building a $500k business from scratch. Having seen it all, John seeks to help you and me learn the tricks and techniques it took him years to master.

I really liked how genuine he sounded but, to be honest, I was still a bit skeptical. That’s because John kept talking about his current affluent life. I even peeped into his Instagram and Facebook pages and realized that he frequently posts photos of himself standing next to Lamborghini’s. Why do you need a Lambo to sell a $47 course?

I am not a fun of marketing tactics that involve showing off what one owns or drives. If anything, it’s always possible to rent a Lambo and fool people on social media that it’s all yours.

In my opinion, if John could spare us all the stuff about his personal life, he can be a bit more convincing and authoritative. Otherwise, one might mistake him for a scammer despite the fact that he’s selling a really good course.

How It Works

So, I started out by signing up for the Internet Jetset program. It’s a subscription-based service which goes for $47. This program comprises some awesome lessons for beginners. In particular, it walks you through some awesome ways to generate valuable traffic without spending a dime.

These are strategies that other marketers hardly talk about. And even if they talk about them, they hardly bother to get into the details as John does.

The lessons are presented in video format. John narrates everything using screen recordings. This makes his courses pretty easy to follow. In fact, you can do everything he says as he narrates to you and that’s because it’s possible to pause the videos and resume when necessary.

What I didn’t like, however, is that it’s not possible to “fast-forward” the videos. So, if you’re already familiar with whatever John is talking about at any given moment, you’d have no alternative than to still listen to it. This can be quite annoying and time wasting.

Also, I don’t know if it’s just me or that John talks really slowly. Some of the lessons could have been 30 minutes but he talks rather slowly and a good number of them go up to 45 minutes in length. The upside is that you get some highly detailed and in-depth training no matter your level of skills.

Also, the Internet Jetset courses are divided into tiny, little portions. Ideally, you should take 1 module per week meaning you’d need several weeks to finish the entire program. Fortunately, you don’t have to finish it for you to start making real cash. You can start using your skills to get the systems up and running. For instance, you can use the skills learned within the Google Free Traffic Module to tap into the power of SEO.

The Upsells

The Jetset is pretty affordable at $47 per month, so what’s the catch? Well, the catch is that you’ll constantly receive emails from John enticing you to buy one of the premium packages on offer. For instance, if you’re already enrolled in the Internet JetSet program, you’ll constantly be enticed to go for the Super Affiliate program which goes for close to $1,000.

There’s also the JetsetLIVE webinars package that goes for $97. You’ll also find the JetSet Xtreme Members course which goes for $187.

I accidentally subscribed to the JetSet Xtreme Members course when I clicked on the link out of curiosity. And instead of being taken to a check out page, I got a message reading “Thank you for purchasing the Jetset Xtreme Members” course.

My Thoughts on the JetSet Xtreme Members Course

This is a platform full of pre-recorded videos of other affiliate marketers who have used this system to successfully make money. The course also provides you with links to third-party tools that you can use to make purchases. At first, I thought these were free tools but upon clicking on them I realized they belonged to other companies and you had to pay up to use them.

So, in my opinion, while the JetSet Xtreme is full of value especially if you’re looking to learn from the experiences of other affiliate marketers, it doesn’t really provide you with free tools. Just a bunch of affiliate links to other services.

I did not find this part of the program to be worth the $187 they charge for it. And for that reason, I claimed my money back. Fortunately, John kept his word and I got back all the money I had accidentally spent on this upsell.

I really liked the fact that the company is made up of honest people. It’s rare to come across companies that are willing to refund money nowadays – so two thumbs up to the Super Affiliate System team.

My Thoughts on the $997 Super Affiliate System (SAS)

While the Internet Jetset program focuses on the free sources of traffic, the SAS shows you exactly what you need to do to leverage on paid traffic methods. In my opinion, the $997 you pay for this course is worth it but only if you’re willing to sit down and learn the tricks. It won’t work like magic.

You see, everyone can place an advert on Facebook, Instagram or even Google Adwords. But if you ask around, you’ll realize that most of those ads don’t convert. It doesn’t matter how much you invest in the course unless you really understand the psychology of the buyer, you’d end up making shots in the dark.

The good thing with paid traffic is that it works almost instantly. That’s unlike the free traffic methods which take months or even years to materialize. So, if you don’t have the time to build dozens of backlinks and implement other SEO tasks for your site to rank (which normally takes years), this strategy enables you to start making money immediately.

And the best part is that besides exposing you to the language of paid affiliate marketing, the SAS course also provides you with 3 core skills. These include:

Copywriting

Data analysis

Research

In general, the SAS is an 8-week course which comprises 50 hours’ worth of content. It also contains lots of additional resources that can help complement your unique strategy.

Week One – The System Setup

This section of the training mainly comprises stuff to do with creating a website, setting up a presell page and rolling out Facebook ads.

Week Two – Understanding the System

Introduces you to the core skills of online business. It also aims to help you unlock a super affiliate mindset so you can profit from different situations.

Week Three – Marketing Skills

How do you get people to click on your ads and convert? As we all know, it takes an expert to hack this. Luckily, those skills are provided within this section of the training.

Week Four – Facebook & Google Ads

Facebook and Google have more than 2 billion active users per month. So, if you were to get a piece of this pie, chances are that you’d make some pretty huge bucks as well. And that’s what John Crestani does in week 4 of his training.

Week Five – Native & YouTube Ads

Ever thought of leveraging the power of native ads? Basically, native ads are ones that are included within a media format. For instance, you can include such ads on your webpage content and so forth. Besides that, you’ll also get to learn how to do YouTube Ads and so forth.

Week Six – Scaling and Outsourcing

Once you have the skills needed to make the first dollars, you’ll need to find ways to grow and expand your trade. Using the tidbits shared in the 6-th week of this training, you’ll be able to outsource and automate quite a number of tasks so you can focus on growing your business.

Week Seven – More Ad Campaigns

Most people usually limit themselves to Google and Facebook. But did you know that there’s a lot of unused potential on platforms like LinkedIn and Bing? In this module, you’ll be able to learn about all that plus a lot more.

Week Eight – Implementing the System

If you’re wondering which ad network to join and which niche to embrace, this is the module you’ll need to take. It’s a highly advanced section of the training that helps you decide the direction you want your online business to follow.

My Results

After going through this program, I’d like to admit that I learned quite a lot. Most importantly, I was able to re-apply for the Amazon Associates program and got accepted. I have been making quite some bucks over the last few years. One of my sites rakes in $1500 while the other one brings about $2000 per month.

My goal is to scale these two sites up – I know there’s potential to make $10,000 per site (per month) with more content and a stronger SEO presence. But that might take time. For now, I appreciate the fact that the investment I made in the Super Affiliate System is now paying back.

The Pros & Cons

Pros

Easy to use

Contains tons of useful advice

Relevant information provided

Well thought out curriculum

John is a good trainer and he takes time to explain different points

They offer a genuine money back guarantee

Pre-built templates for ads

Cons

Customer support only available via email

Quite a few optional upsells included

Frequent emails were sent to market their upsells

Final Thoughts

The Super Affiliate System by John Crestani is not without its flaws. But that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. In fact, as long as you’re willing to learn and implement its contents, you can truly benefit from it. I personally would recommend it to any person looking to make genuine cash in the vast online markets.

You can check it out here.

[destiel-love-forever]

15.3 CODA: Part 2

Read part one [HERE]

Castiel wakes just as the sun is rising. Despite not getting much sleep, he feels rested and ready to take on the day. As rested and ready as possible under the circumstances, anyway. The coffee pot is full of dark liquid that’s still warm. A yellow sticky note is stuck to the front of the machine, neat writing informing him that Jody had to go into work early, and telling him to help himself to anything he needs until she’s back at four P.M.

After pouring himself a cup of coffee, Castiel walks over to the two large sliding glass doors by the kitchen table and heads outside. The air is cool and crisp, but it feels nice. Refreshing. Castiel leans on the railing of the wooden deck and looks out at the brilliant colors of the back yard. The leaves are breathtaking.

“It’s freezing out here,” Castiel hears from the sliding doors. He glances over his shoulder and forces a smile when he sees Claire standing there.

“I don’t mind.”

She gives him a critical look before stepping out onto the porch and offering him a blanket, hat, scarf, and mittens. When he stares at them instead of taking them from her, she rolls her eyes. “You’re such a doof. Come here.”

When Castiel approaches her, she tugs the burgundy hat over his head, then winds the scarf around his neck. He gets with the program and gives her his coffee so she can hold it while he puts the mittens on as well. After, she wraps the flannel blanket around his shoulders and pats him on the shoulder.

“Much better,” Claire declares. Castiel just now notices that she’s dressed similarly, her black jacket matched with a black hat, a gray scarf, and a pair of mittens that are black with white and gray polka dots. She gives him his coffee back and smiles. “Now, you go ahead and do your weird staring off into space thing that you were just doing, but when you’re done, come inside. We have a long day ahead of us.”

“We do?”

“Yup. All sorts of plans.”

“We have plans? You and I?” Castiel asks, trying to clarify.

She rolls her eyes. “And Alex, too, yup. Chop chop.”

With two claps of her mitted hands, she heads back inside. He stares at the sliding door for another moment before turning his focus back to the trees.

“What in the world could they have planned with me?” he asks the myriad of red, yellow, and orange.

The trees don’t answer.

Just another reason to hate Chuck.

----

The first stop on their schedule is to a bakery. Castiel, Alex, and Claire all get something to drink and eat before hopping back in the car. As they drive, Claire and Alex talk to each other in a constant babble, letting Castiel be as he enjoys his hot cocoa and blueberry muffin. He's feeling much better now that his stomach is full and he's decently rested. Claire must be able to sense this, because she broaches the subject they've all clearly been avoiding as Alex pulls the car into a store parking lot.

"How are you, Cas? Jody said it was a rough night?"

"Rough few days," Castiel says quietly, looking down at his empty to-go cup. "I'll be fine, though. I am always fine."

There's a pause long enough for him to glance up. He finds that both girls are now frowning at him. "What?"

"Well, you're talking to two experts on pretending to be fine when you're really a fucking mess, so don't bullshit us," Claire says matter-of-factly.

"What Claire meant to say in a much kinder way, I'm sure," Alex says with an eye roll, "Is that you don't have to pretend with us. We don't have to talk about it, but feel free to do so. Or to just be sad or whatever else you feel like being. Okay?"

Castiel nods, understanding. "Okay."

"Great. Now, let's fix your coat."

Looking down at his trench coat, Castiel asks, “What’s wrong with my coat?”

“First of all, it’s thin, and you’re clearly more human now considering the way you scarfed down that muffin, so you need something warmer,” Alex explains. “It’s nearly winter now. You’re going to be too cold in that, Cas.”

“Oh.”

“Plus, that thing is atrocious, and old. My dad got that for Christmas when I was like… five. Time for a change, dude.”

Castiel doesn’t like change. He’s had enough damn change in his life recently. Eleven years ago, he commanded a garrison. He was one of Michael’s chosen few. Was given the privilege to save the righteous man. Michael’s true vessel. It was one of the highest honors.

He was respected.

He was feared.

Then he fell in love with humanity. With Dean, if we’re being honest. Those freckles that were like a galaxy on pale skin. Those green eyes that held so many questions and even more answers.

Castiel lost it all.

But he’ll tell ya what - he still has this trench coat. It’s been to hell and back - more than once. It’s all he has left.

That’s why, even though he’s shown multiple options, given at least a dozen eye rolls, and told twice that he’s a doof, Castiel walks out of the coat store with something very similar to his trusty trench coat, just made of wool instead so it’s warmer.

----  

Pumpkin patches are wondrous places. Castiel had assumed it'd be a small farm with pumpkins everywhere, but that's not the case. At least not here. Yes, there are pumpkins. Many, many pumpkins, all of different shapes, sizes, and even colors. But there are also apples - an entire orchard of gorgeous red apples. There’s a corn maze, which Castiel finds both entertaining and frustrating. He gets lost so many times before a five or six year old child takes pity on him by leading him out. It was still a lot of fun, even if Alex and Claire teased him for being terrible at it.

They went for a hayride, too. The farm provided them with big flannel blankets and hot cocoa as they rode in the back, brought around the entire farm, the man driving telling them fascinating information on the crops and harvest, as well as the history of the area and the farm. Then they got to pet the farm animals. Castiel became fond of a horse that enjoyed licking his face. He even giggled, which felt very good to be honest.

Of course, Castiel’s favorite part of their day at the farm was the Bakery & Farm Store. He’s never tasted anything so delicious. They sat at a little table for over an hour, stuffing their faces until Castiel nearly got sick. Between the three of them sharing their treats, they all tried apple cider donuts, cinnamon rolls, strawberry crepes, apple pie, strawberry cream cheese danish, chocolate covered croissants, strawberry rhubarb pie, blueberry muffins, and caramel apple pie. The little old lady running the place liked them so much, she shared her pumpkin pie recipe with Castiel, who promised he’d go home and make it that night.

They left the farm with seven pumpkins, two bags of apples, a dozen apple cider donuts - which were Castiel’s favorite - and caramel apples to-go. By the time Castiel got to the car, he was full, happy, and exhausted. It was the perfect combo to curl up in the backseat and take a little snooze during their long ride home.

He fell asleep smiling.

----

Dean is wide awake despite it being the middle of the night. He's been stalking Castiel's Instagram. Yes. Instagram. Apparently Claire and Alex thought he needed one. Dean only has the damn thing to stalk Dr. Sexy MD actors, but now he's using it to stalk a certain falling angel he can't stop thinking about.

Since he saw the first picture, Dean has been refreshing the page every other minute. It had been a picture taken by Claire, which is how Dean originally came across it, with Castiel tagged in it. He was standing outside, wrapped in a flannel blanket and drinking something from a mug as he stared off at the colorful backyard. Claire's caption had been: Finally finding his peace.

That was at 4:07 P.M, though clearly it had been taken much earlier in the day.

Suffice to say, Dean has gotten nothing accomplished tonight. He hasn't even eaten dinner. All he's done is sit in his room, drink whiskey, and refresh the page.

At 4:37 P.M, there had been the first two photos uploaded by Castiel himself. One was of him reaching up to pluck a leaf off of a tree. The other was just his mitted hand holding the same leaf. The caption for the two was a simple: My favorite.

Dean ached at the fact he wasn't there. He wondered what Castiel's face looked like when he caught sight off this one perfect leaf. Wondered if he had smiled when he finally got it in his hands. Wondered if Castiel still had the leaf, or if he had easily tossed it onto the ground after the photo, just like Dean had done to him.

At 4:42 P.M, Claire uploaded a few photos. One was of Castiel in his new coat and winter gear Dean noticed in the previous photos. He was smiling at something off to the side, a pumpkin patch lined by colorful trees behind him. The next was of Castiel's mittens holding a blue travel coffee mug. Then a photo of Castiel's torso as he holds a pumpkin. Dean knew it was Castiel because of the tiny scar on his thumb. It was from nicking himself with an angel blade last week. With his lowered grace, it hasn't healed properly. Dean had to choke down a new wave of guilt at that reminder before he could look at the final photo. It was of the girls and Castiel around a table where they seemed to be carving pumpkins. They were laughing.

Castiel was wearing a new sweater.

At 5:13 P.M, Castiel posted a photo of a carved pumpkin. It was quite awful. The eyes were different sizes, the nose was partially cut out, but the piece of pumpkin was still stuck inside of it for some reason, and the smile was… unique. The caption was: Claire said I 'nailed it.'

Dean had to wait two hours for another photo. And that's what he did. He waited. Did nothing but drink and hate himself. And, of course, refresh the page.

At 7:22 P.M, Castiel finally posted another photo. It made Dean's heart skip. Well… the caption had, anyway. The pumpkin pie itself was a bit shaky, considering the darker-than-they-should-be edges. But the caption had brought tears to Dean's eyes. It would have tasted better with you.

Dean had tried calling Claire after that. Then Alex. Then Claire again. They ignored him. When he tried calling Jody, she sent a text back saying she was at work, asking if it was an emergency.

With a fresh glass of whiskey, he had waited.

At 8:36 P.M, Castiel posted two more pictures. One of someone making a s'more, a bonfire in the background. The other, two pairs of feet wearing wool socks as they rest up against the side of the fire pit. To the right were blue socks with little snowflakes on them. To the left were bright yellow socks covered in bumble bees.

Dean knew which one was Castiel.

The caption was a simple: Happy.

It made Dean curl into his pillow and cry.

The last one that Dean saw was at 11:57 P.M. It showed Castiel sitting on a bed, holding a purple mug with Witch Please written on it in one hand, and holding an open book in the other. He was in a gray hooded sweater, his legs covered with a blanket the same color as his gorgeous eyes. It was captioned: "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

It's at 3:09 A.M. that Dean realizes Castiel must have fallen asleep.

He crawls under the covers and closes his eyes after, heart racing even though it has no reason to be. It takes a while for the whiskey soaked exhaustion to win over his mind, but eventually Dean slips into a dream.

Castiel is there. In a pumpkin patch. He looks at Dean with a smile and hands him a beautiful leaf. "My favorite for my favorite."

And Dean kisses him.

He kisses him like his life depends on it.

He kisses him like he knows, deep down, that he'll soon have to wake up.

If you enjoy my work & would like to support it, please consider buying me a quick coffee [HERE] or become a Patron [HERE]. Thanks!

[glapplebloom]

Its Christmas season and its time to review some Holidays. And waiting for the Revisiting Series to get to here will be too long.

((Due to Uploading Problems, no pictures in this one. Its why some text are like what it is.))

The Special begins with the girls recovering from a big Study session. Sadly, it wasn’t good enough as they have a big test today and they fear that they won’t do as well. But Rainbow Dash got an idea: make Celestia think its snowing to give them a snow day. Twilight has doubts but she is convinced by the others.

Pinkie Pie’s Part of the Plan is to Peel these Potatoes while Preventing a Poaching Raccoon from Pilfering her Produce. But I do have to question why do they need potatoes to create a snow day considering what the others are doing.

Rarity is knitting a scarf. That is all. And Sunset is painting a backdrop so the entire city could look like its covered in snow.

And the Potatoes are used to make a snowman for some reason.

And the rest has to make the actual snow. From Applejack bringing in ice blocks to Fluttershy convincing Woodpeckers to Dash and Twilight setting up the snow in places.

We also see Sunset’s powers extend to inanimate objects, as the snowflake she touches remembers when it was a rain cloud to liquid to snow flakes.

But it seems to be working as both Celestia and Luna sees what they made and believes it to be real. But Cranky comes in to tell them the truth and the girls got Busted.

But it was all part of Dash’s plan. The test was about how snow fits into the Water Cycle and they spent two hours of school time (they had a half an hour to get there when they woke up) working on it. And detention after the test sounds a lot better than Failing a big test.

And its over. Yet the special has a lot remaining. Which brings up the big downside of this: this special is just a collection of shorts. Normally this isn’t a big deal, but this is the final Equestria Girls we’re gonna get unless they somehow fit into the Pony Life spinoff in between Gen 4 and 5. So it is kind of a big let down. Its understandable since I doubt even they knew MLP was gonna end in Season 9.

The next short has Sunset helping Pinkie Pie with making a soufflé and delivering it to Rarity. Every time Pinkie tires to for their tradition, it deflates before Rarity can try it. So that’s 7 minutes before it deflates (which turns into 3:30 because she wasted time). But there is one problem...

Its a snow war and Pinkie Pie’s House is Ground Zero. Lots of fun so i’m gonna let you see it. But in short, Sunset swears they’ll get it to Rarity and powers through because AJ made fun of videogames. And she has help from Flash Sentry.

For about five seconds.

Bad news, Pinkie failed to get out of her yard in time. Good news, Rarity was there and with seconds to spare, she tries a not deflated soufflé and enjoys it. It ends with Dash’s 2 day pretending to be a snowman plan failing because Rarity can make shields.

The next short is a battle of wits between Twilight and the Apples Vs the Flim Flam Brothers. Again, this is just a fun one to see so I won’t spoil it. But I will highlight one thing...

I’m going to find a way to give Apple Bloom a pet worm. Maybe pull a Carol on it.

The next story has the girls heading towards a storage locker because they’re gonna deliver toys to kids. But Sunset forgot her keys in school and its currently closed. Consider this episode their take on Episode 200: planning a heist to get into a highly secured location.

The first plan is Sunset’s: go through the air vents, hack the motion security system, distract the Janitor, and get it in and out before they notice. Twilight rejects the plan because of numerous problems, like its breaking and entering, Fluttershy likely not going to use her animals to attack the Janitor and if someone saw them going through the vents some dumb kid might want to try it to.

Next is Pinkie Pie’s Plan: Make cupcakes to lure Celestia out of School and go in while the door is still open and Celestia eats them outside. Twilight’s problem this time: how do you make a dozen cupcakes before the Toys for Kids festival, which is just in a few minutes. Not to mention the lack of a licorice lasso and the fact its still trespassing.

The funniest to me is Applejack’s plan: WE GOT SUPERPOWERS AND I’M SICK OF NOT USING THEM! Its so obvious why this is a bad idea Twilight doesn’t even say it. So they decided to let Twilight come up with the plan to entering the School. And what is her plan?

Ask to be let into the school. With the key recovered and the toys delivered, it ends with them leaving their gift cards in school.

The next part, ignoring Sinister looking Twilight above, is a gift exchange and Dash forgot to get Fluttershy a gift. And since Discord isn’t here to help and most of the Mall is crowded, there’s only one store she can go to to get a gift...

The Store Zephyr Breeze works in. Luckily this one is a worker and he lets Dash skip the line. What follows is a montage of them trying to figure out what to get Fluttershy. I’m skipping this one because I don’t find it as entertaining as the ones above.

Eventually, Zephyr convinces Dash to get a camera since Fluttershy likes these instant cameras. He should know because he got her one last year. But now with two she can do two angle shots, so she loves it.

Who got who?

Rainbow Dash > Fluttershy

Applejack > Pinkie Pie

Rarity > Rainbow Dash

Sunset Shimmer > Twilight Sparkle (It is about the Parakeet)

Fluttershy > Applejack

Pinkie Pie > Sunset Shimmer

Twilight Sparkle > Rarity

The final short has Applejack wanting to begin a tradition by having the friends do a group photo to give to friends. Specifically one with a theme based on what the Apples do. They agree but regret it since they expect to wear costumes while Applejack doesn’t mention she didn’t want them to.

Rarity does the outfits despite not knowing what a cornucopia is (or how to pronounce it). They put it on and walk towards where the photo is going to be taken place in, despite being embarrassed to wear them and having the other students see. Would have solved a lot of problems if they got dressed at where they need to take the photo instead of in the Drama Department.

Its now that Applejack tells them that she didn’t want them to wear outfits, just stand in front of this cutout. But the girls do make her wear one of them since she didn’t tell them. Again, could save a lot of trouble if they just got dressed here and not at the Drama Department.

Now normally it would cut to them alluding to AJ’s fate, but since this is the last Equestria Girls, they decided to give us a Seasonal Greetings as a farewell to the series.

Overall, it is a shame EQG ends like this, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t expect it. I could see like a scene or two being added as a way to give closure, but overall this is a collection of shorts they plan to (and have) release it on Youtube. My personal favorites are the second, third and fourth shorts. It remains the same.

[keepingupwithabi]

Guess What Day It Is?

*sighs deeply*

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog. 

Today has been one of those non-stop kind of days. I started the day like any other: I woke up, showered, got dressed. Then I cleaned my car off and headed to Dunkin because guess what?! I had to get an oil change and inspection sticker. That was an adventure all in its own, the guy literally forgot to put a new sticker on so I left thinking I was all set only to get home and realize I didn’t have a current inspection sticker. After calling the car place, they were really nice and just had me come back so they could put it on. 

Once that situation was sorted, I picked up my friend and we headed to the store to pick up some groceries. Tomorrow is my apartment’s “Friendsgiving” and I am in charge of the green bean casserole, sweet potato pie (well, Patty Labelle made that for me), and squash. I have also taken it upon myself to make name cards for the place settings... just as a sweet touch. I might find some type of activity where everyone writes down something they’re thankful for then we put it in a bowl and pick it out and we all have to try and guess who wrote it.

ANYWAYS. Upon returning home from the grocery store, I found one of my roommates mid-meltdown due to the apartment common spaces not being clean enough. To give some background, the past day and a half have been pretty tense. I think all our hormones are kind of raging right now, it’s a little crazy. There has been some arguing.

So back to what happened. I helped my manic roommate clean the kitchen, bathroom, and mudroom to her liking. After that, she made up with my other roommate and I swear to God we all had a kumbaya moment, folks. 

Upon all this, I ate a quick lunch and got ready for work. That has literally been my day. A crazy kind of shit show-- excuse my language. But any type of schedule I had totally and completely got tossed out the window because life TOTALLY happened. 

Tuesday was a better day, though. I know I’m back tracking, but I got everything I had planned done. 

I went to history class for 11am.  

I ran the UTimes meeting and got everything on the agenda accomplished (meaning I got through a list of things I needed to go over with my staff writers)

I got my big communications report draft handed back, stay tuned because I have another draft due next Tuesday and there are a TON of edits I have yet to make (this will be the third draft). 

I presented my Spanish project and dipped from class early (it was snowing really bad last night and since it’s a late night class, he let us leave when we were done).

I came home and got some homework done-- thank goodness, because I clearly had NO time until 8:30pm Wednesday. 

Tomorrow will probably end up being another one of those days where I’ll just be running non-stop. Here’s what I have to look forward to:

9:30am: Wake up.

11:am-12:15pm: History.

2:00-3:15pm: PCJ.

3:20-4:45pm: Run to store for any last minute needs for dinner, prep squash, make sure turkey is cooking, get casserole stuff ready. 

5:00-6:15pm: Spanish.

6:15-8:00pm: Homework, cook, get table set.

Dinner is sadly going to be pretty late tomorrow because two of my roommates have basketball games, which is fine, but it’s just going to be a long day. 

Believe me when I say that I am going to need a FULL bottle of wine to make it through tomorrow evening. Thank goodness I don’t have anything early on Friday because I have a feeling I am going to be exhausted. 

Any who, I think the last day and a half has taught me a lot about how I manage everything. I honestly don’t know how I do it. I think I just tell myself that it’s one foot in front of the other. At this point, I also remind myself that it’s just a few more weeks till I am home for a month with my boyfriend and family... also, one more week until turkey day. 

I’ll be sure to take pictures of how our “friendsgiving” goes, I’ll also be sure to give you a full report of it in Friday’s blog post. 

That’s all for now folks! 

Yours truly,

Abi

p.s.-- my roommate asked my what day it was earlier and you best believe I looked at her like she had three heads as I responded, “HUMP DAAAAYYYYYY”. So, that’s why I chose the photo I did. 

Goodnight! 

[ultsracha]

Idol!Changmin (Q) x Model!reader Fluff

Anon:  Yes! We need more the boyz writers! If I may request, could you write a bulletpoint piece model!fem reader and idol!changmin/q meeting and falling in love? ❤️ A/N: Ahhh thank you for the request! changmin is my bias and so i would absolutely love to write for him so im glad this was requested. *disclaimer* this is the first thing ive written in a very long time and im sure it’s not the best, im sorry for that but hopefully i made up for it with adding other members cracky content as well <3 

being a model was never what you intended to do when you grew up but you started posing for photography students during school and from there more and more people want to take your picture 

now, 3 years later it’s a whole career and you get to work alongside some amazing brands and creators to promote stuff 

one week, you were sent to seoul for a shoot with numerous other people to promote a clothing brand 

usually you didn't mind flying out to new places, in fact it was the best part of the job once you got over the language barrier 

but this time, you were completely alone, your manager couldn't come due to family problems and all of your friends had work

so you were completely alone going to this event

and little did you know it wouldn't just be a small shoot, tons of people were there from all over the world 

they had actors, singers and models from tons of different places and companies 

and most of them were older than you which made things more stressful

so, first day there and everyone’s being told their schedules and what they need to be doing 

when you’re given your schedule you see you’ve been put on the same shoot as a boy group and a handful of other models 

not that you minded because maybe you could make some friends seeing as you’d be there for a while 

luckily your shoot wasn’t for a while as they didn’t choose you as one of the major people involved with the project so you ended up in a backroom with a few other people minding their own business

it was reasonably quiet in the room, people chatting away and on their phones until the door burst open and a group of boys walked in

all of them were, well

very very very very cute

its uwu time

no wonder they’d been picked for this project, who wouldn't want something modelled by them 

They walked in together, one following behind the other. The final boy to walk in looked around at everyone until his eyes met yours

and when i say awkward eye contact, i mean awkward eye contact for about 6 seconds before he accidentally walked into his group member in front of him

followed by some profuse blushing and apologising 

they proceeded to disperse into the room and sit down

the one who made intense awkward eye contact lingered for a second, looking around before settling into a seat opposite you 

Now there were around 18 people all sat together, not really talking very much

and the air was, awkward. 

Until the organiser of the event came in to introduce himself and explain what you were all meant to do

The whole time he was introducing himself you felt someone looking at you, but whenever you searched everyone's faces no one was looking 

everything was going fine and dandy until the guy explaining the concepts and the activities you guys would be doing for the shoot asked everyone to introduce themselves one by one 

it wouldn’t usually be a problem, you’re a confident person and modelling has certain helped that but when surrounded by so many beautiful humans it’s scary as hell 

so, they all introduced themselves. one of the members called Hyunjoon even threw in a cheeky wink at the end of his introduction 

like who ??? let you be so cute 

but then it came to the one who held the awkward eye contact

he seemed dead set on never looking at you ever again after that first moment up until the second he stood

he looked right at you as he introduced himself 

explaining that he didn't mind being called Q or Changmin 

what a freaking cutie pie 

when it was your turn you felt the most amount of butterflies in your stomach since probably your first kiss back in primary school

introducing yourself as calmly as possible, only looking up from the floor briefly to see Changmin staring into your eyes with keen interest 

oof that was enough to set your heart on fire 

Finishing your introduction of where you’re from and how old you are, you sat down quickly feeling the heat in your cheeks increase when you saw two of the boys whispering together 

once the man was gone it was a lot easier for everyone to chat and discuss how they thought the project would turn out, excited to be part of such a unique shoot 

Changmin was glancing your way every few seconds, looking like he was having an internal battle with himself 

You decided to just be a bad bitch and go speak to him yourself 

he was with Hyunjoon anyway and you needed to congratulate him on winning the best introduction of the team award!! 

when you got there they both abruptly stopped talking and looked at you, waiting with wide eyes for what you were going to say 

“so you’re part of a boy group yeah?” you ask

might as well ease in gently yanno

they both looked at each other before Hyunjoon answered and began explaining their roles in the group

he explained in great length that Changmin was the main dancer 

speaking very briefly of the other members in order to explain that Changmin can sing and dance so well and he’s super amazing with fans 

Changmin all the while stood there blushing and trying to disagree with him 

honestly a sweet but strange interaction 

until finally Hyunjoon was called away by another member of the group 

leaving just you and Changmin alone 

you’d moved to a couch nearby by now so for a few moments you sat there admiring him as he watched Hyunjoon walk off 

when he turned back he rushed to say “I’m sorry about him, he loves to hype us all up. I’m not really that cool’ 

“No, I think you’re pretty cool...” You shrug, trying to pass off the compliment slyly which didn’t go unnoticed by him. 

A faint blush was working it’s way up his neck when the organiser walked back in with 3 sheets of paper 

“I can see you’ve all got to know each other more and now, I want you to divide yourself into teams as evenly as possible. I don’t want all the girls put in one team though because there are less of you” 

He then leaves the sheets on a table and walks off again leaving you to find the courage to ask Changmin if he’d want to be in the same team as you

Because I mean you’ve only known him for about 45 minutes but he’s already showed how sweet he is and you can’t help but feel excited at the idea of spending the next few days working with him

“So would yo-” 

“Hey could w-” 

You both tried to ask each other to be on the same team in the exact same second

Both of you burst into laughter and write your names on the paper one under the other still giggling the whole time 

The rest of the morning goes by just like this, giggling together and gradually getting to know one another more and more

by the time the afternoon rolls around he’s basically your best friend

You both love the same movies, same books, enjoy similar music 

Even as hair and makeup is being done you don’t stop talking and giggling

Lets be real here, a crush was growing 

It’s like within the space of 4 hours you’d become inseparable 

When the photos were being taken your teams connection together was so genuine

Working for a brand that’s entire concept is friendship and having fun together it was hardly surprising that the laughter didn’t end there 

The rest of the time you were there your cheeks never stopped hurting from how much you smiled and laughed 

Not just from Changmin but also from all of his groupmates too

Such a wonderful, fun group of people to be around 

You truly felt like one of them by the end of the shoot 

but lets not ignore the lingering glances you and Changmin exchanged, or how he always managed to find an excuse to be stood with you and how whenever he’d walk you to your hotel room door he would try and make the conversation last as long as possible and always, always end the night with a hug 

okay lets be real again, a crush had definitely formed, grown up, moved in and was now decorating the kitchen in your heart 

Like you couldn’t get enough of his happy energy and humour 

At the end of the final shoot when you’re all stood around talking and laughing Changmin grabs your arm and pulls you away

Clearly you don’t resist because like anyone would accept some alone time with Changmin 

Gently he leads you to a couch in the corner of the room and sits down

His cheeks are already rosy when he starts to speak, his hand starting to get clammy against your own

“y/n, will you go on a date with me?” he blurts out quickly and then opening his eyes wide as if he was surprised he said it

and in that moment 

your heart

burst and stopped and did a trip round the globe 

“Of COURSE” you literally scream

His face lights up immediately and he jumps up hugs you quickly and darts off back to the others

you hear them all cheer and see them start hugging and pushing around a very, very blushy Changmin 

Later that evening he arrives at your hotel room door, still wearing that same red hue on his cheeks 

You go to the arcade together and the whole evening is wonderful

it’s no different than how you guys have spent time together the last few days but this time Changmin insists on holding your hand every second 

As well as hugging you from behind when its your turn on the claw machine

Unfortunately you claw machine skills are... 

Limited 

But of course, your knight in shining hoodie and jeans swoops in and wins you the stuffed animal you really wanted 

After you’d played every arcade game and taking endless amounts of cringey pics of each other you walk home slowly still hand in hand 

“You know, I’m really glad I met you” he states out of the blue, still looking ahead of him

“Me too, I feel so complete with you around me” you reply back, swinging your joined hands slightly 

From then on, you were never apart

Literally like the brand you did the shoot for hired you permanently for big moneys and a promise of a successful modelling career a few weeks after your first date with Changmin

Which you graciously accepted for only that reason

Not the fact the love of your life happened to live down road from your new apartment 

and all you wanted to was hold his and forever 

plus the rest of the group fully accepted you as one of their own 

like seriously it was hard to find any moments alone with your boyfriend when hanging out at the dorms because hyunjae liked to ask what you’re doing every 3 minutes 

as well as father maknae line demanding your attention every second you were there

not that you complained about any of it 

because who would complain about a family like that 

and a boyfriend like Changmin 

really out here living your best life huh

[steve-rogers-new-york]

Recipe Wednesday #40

Happy Holidays and Happy Recipe Wednesday!

These are real period recipes, taken from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a local newspaper that would have been accessible to Steve, his mother, and Bucky during their time in Brooklyn.

For the month of December, Recipe Wednesday is being extended to all month long with Christmas Treats!

The recipes come from the Saturday 22 December 1934 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. For context, Steve would have been 14 (comics) / 16 (MCU), so these are recipes that Sarah Rogers may have made, or which Steve might have learnt or inherited from his mother.

Black and White Ice Box Cookies 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 3 tablespoons milk 1 1/2 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 square chocolate Cream butter and sugar; add the unbeaten yolk of egg, milk and flour sifted with salt and baking powder, and blend thoroughly. Divide mixture in half and to one portion add the chocolate which has been melted over hot water. Roll the white and chocolate doughs into thin rectangular sheets of the same size. Place one on top of the other and roll over and over until roll is about 2-inches in diameter. Chill the dough for several hours, cut in thick slices and bake in a 400 degree oven until crisp (about ten minutes).

Coconut Kisses 1 can condensed milk 12 ounces shredded coconut 1 teaspoon vanilla Into the condensed milk stir coconut; add flavoring. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2-inches apart on a baking sheet and make them in a slow oven (235 degree F.) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until brown. “It takes but a minute to mix the batter for coconut kisses...be sure to use condensed milk fort this recipe. Do not attempt to use evaporated milk as it is not sweet enough. The baking of these coconut kisses is quite important. They are baked in a slow oven because they will brown over quickly if the oven is very hot. Take them off the cookie sheet immediately after removing them from the oven and put them on a cookie rack to cool. If you do not remove them immediately you will have a difficult time getting them off.”

Checkerboard Sandwiches Yield: 16 Sandwiches 8 slices whole wheat bread 8 slices white bread 4 1/2 ounces cream cheese 3 tablespoons Orange Marmalade Use fresh, close-grained bread. Remove crusts with a sharp knife. Cut into half-inch crosswise slices of white bread. Blend cheese and marmalade till smooth. Spread thickly on slice of white bread. On this lay a slice of whole wheat, bread and again spread mixture. Repeat to produce a cube 4 slices thick, about 2 1/2-inches each way. Place in refrigerator for filling to harden. Remove and cut sandwich cubes in half-inch slices to obtain striped slices. Spread these with cheese-marmalade mixture and lay together to brown layers rest on white and vice versa, by reversing slices as they are cut from cube. Place four slices squarely together to form another perfect cube. Wrap in wax paper and chill. When ready to serve, cut again in half-inch slices to obtain checkerboard design.

Chocolate Dollars 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/4 cups bread flour, or 2 1/2 cups pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts 2 squares chocolate Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, slightly beaten. Add milk, vanilla, sifted dry ingredients and walnuts. Add the chocolate melted and form into roll two inches in diameter. Wrap in wax paper. Chill. Cut in 1/8-inch slices. Bake in moderate oven 375 degree F., 8 to 10 minutes.

Scotch Shortbread 1 pound butter 1/4 teaspoon salt Citron peel Few almonds 6 cups flour 1 cup sugar Sift the flour and salt. Rub in the butter, working it in very well, then add the sugar. Turn it out on to a floured board and knead it into a smooth round. Roll out the paste into one large or two smaller rounds about 1/2-inch thick. Shape them round with the hands and pinch round the edges with the fingers or mark them with a knife. Put the shortbread on a greased baking tin and prick it all over with a fork. Garnish with candied cherries and nuts and bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 25 or 30 minutes.

No-Bake Lemon Pie Filling 1 1/3 cups sweetened condensed milk (one 14-15 ounce can) 1/2 cup lemon juice Grated rind of 1 lemon 2 eggs, yolk 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar Baked pie shell Meringue

Baked Alaska 1 quart strawberry [ice] cream (brick) 1 layer sponge cake Meringue Place on board covered with white paper. Sponge cake cut to the shape of the brick of ice cream. Spread with meringue. bake in hot oven 450 to 500 degrees F. 10 minutes or less. Meringue 3 eggs [whites?] 6 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar 1 teaspoon rum extract

Christmas Cake 2 cups butter 1 cup sugar 4 cups flour 2 eggs 1 teaspoon almond extract Wash butter until waxy; cream and add sugar gradually. Add eggs, well beaten and flour. Force through cookie press onto baking sheet. Decorate with candied cherries and angelica. Bake 12 minutes in a moderate oven (375 degree F.)

Cranberry Relish Grind up a pound of cranberries and one orange, rind and all. Add a cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

I’d love to hear if you try out any of these recipes! Take photos and I might post them on the blog.

Visit the Recipe Wednesday Masterpost for the all the Recipe Wednesday posts, and the Indexed Recipe Wednesday Masterpost for all the recipes broken down individually!

[ Support SRNY through Patreon and Ko-Fi ] And join us on Discord for fun conversation! I also have an Etsy with up-cycled nerdy crafts

This post is the result of meeting a Patreon Goal. Thank you to all my wonderful Patreon subscribers for enabling the return of the Recipe Wednesday posts!

[umichenginabroad]

Cliffs of Moher

I’ve barely been in Ireland 4 days and the program here has already taken us on an incredible trip to the Cliffs of Moher. We left early Saturday morning on a chartered bus and all of us were exhausted, either still from jet-lag or a late Friday night. Most everyone fell asleep within minutes, although 7 or 8 of us at the front couldn’t seem to stop talking and we still haven’t run out of questions to ask our program assistant Grace, who accompanied us.

Within the hour we made our first stop at the Barack Obama service plaza. Whacky huh? Turns out Obama stopped here on a trip to the county some of his ancestors are from and they re-branded to capitalize on some of that star-power. I mean who can blame them?

Not to scale, but he didn’t want to hold my hand. Photo Credit: Sumner Holtzman

Later we made small stops at Bunratty Castle and the “Baby Cliffs” which were both pretty neat. At the Baby Cliffs we go to look out over the Burren, which is an uninhabitable rocky portion of the country made up of fractured and eroded limestone crags that, though bleakly beautiful, was where many Irish were exiled to eke out a difficult life by the British empire under much less touristy circumstances.

Bunratty Castle

The Burren

We made our way into a small town named Doolin for lunch and I scarfed down my seafood chowder in a matter of minutes. I really need to make a habit here of photographing my food, because I always wind up getting distracted by the deliciousness of it and then none of my wonderful readers get to see it.

After lunch we hightailed it to the Cliffs. Our tickets were only good for entering at a window between 2 and 2:15 and we were running a little late so everyone was nervous, but we made it with a couple minutes to spare and were let loose to mingle with the tourists for about an hour and a half. After using the bathroom I set out with a group of 6 others to the path that led to the left along the cliffs. We were in total awe 500 feet above the churning sea as the wind swept our hair back, carrying with it the faintest scent of the ocean up from far down below us where the seagulls were flying. A protective barrier stood between us and the drop, but about half of the visitors, ourselves included, risked a closer look beyond the 3 foot wall of stone, staying as safe as we could. Some in our group took a few risky photos but I, knowing a little something about geology and the looseness of the dirt we were standing on abstained, even staying very tense for this relatively safe photo. Please don’t make fun of me for it.

Photo Credit: Sarah Holles, Awkward Pose Credit: Me, 

Photo Bomb Credit: Unknown

Cliffs!

We made our way back and I chose to head up the right side of the path while the rest in my group made their way back down to the museum and gift shop. I enjoyed my brief hike alone just as much as with the group and the views were equally stunning, if not more so. The limestone cliffs were jagged and rocky, but splotches of vegetation littered the sides adding an emerald beauty to the bleak grey walls. One cliff, which was at a much less sever angle than the rest, was completely blanketed in bright green making it look like a little wedge of mossy pie. Small islands, the splintered remnants of the cliffs old extremities poked out of the undulating water; a perfect nesting spot for the thousands of gulls flying about.

Moss Pie

Birds Nesting on an Island

Alone and more or less satisfied with the pictures I had taken I was able to go much further, simply soaking in the beauty of the cliffs beneath the cloudy Irish sky. About a kilometer down the path I found a much safer, more solid plane of rock and laid down on my stomach, sticking my head over the edge ever so slightly and gazing down the sheer drop for as long as I dared. 

I walked back as quick as I could because I hadn’t really wanted to leave and was running a little late. As we rode back everyone fell asleep again, even those of us in the front, and we got back around 7:30, 12 hours after we had left.

Beyond the barrier but still a safe distance from the edge. Photo Credit: Some Stranger.

Elijah Richards

Civil And Environmental Engineering

Physics 240 and History in Ireland