#casa bonita after hours be like
Text
CHEMISTRY
pairing: matt stone x f! assistant reader
summary: casa bonita outing (sixth part to circumstances)
genre: fluff..at first
word count: 3050
cw: legal age gap, uh uh cunnilingus, fingering
author's note: it's happening
if you haven't read the first part check it out here: "CIRCUMSTANCES"
After the plane ride, Matt took you to your hotel and you got your room key before practically running away from him, including making the elevator doors close before he had a chance to enter himself. You walked to your hotel room and fumbled with the hotel key before walking in and shutting the door behind you, collapsing on the bed and letting the tears fall. You weren't even letting out sobs, just letting tears roll down your cheeks as you stared at the white ceiling above. You didn't want to keep pushing him about the situation but you knew it happened. I mean sure you had your moments of imagination before but that..that was REAL.
You wiped the tears from your face as you curled up higher on the couch, closer to the pillows, just taking a minute. At first you thought about taking Matt's suggestion and doing some sight seeing, after all this was your first time to Denver. The flight itself only took about two hours so by the time you arrived at the hotel it was a little after 11, including the travel in between.
The temperature wasn't too different from LA to Denver, which helped since you weren't entirely sure what to pack for in the first place. You let out a deep breath before deciding to get up from the bed, and walking towards the door, as you grabbed your purse and phone, leaving the room.
The hotel was a block away from a place called the 16th Street Mall so you decided to take a walk through there. While walking through, you looked at the people around you, taking in the sights. Even though some of it was the same as home, it was different. A different vibe, different energy. Almost peaceful.
As you walked past the windows at the store, you noticed a dress in the window on a mannequin. It was a mid-thigh length dress in a nice red wine shade, with chain straps and a cowl neckline. You looked down at yourself, and looked back up to the mannequin. The dress you had chosen for the opening tonight was a simple black dress you picked up from Target a few years back and you just consistently wore it to multiple events since then. It was a short black dress with a black sheer cover over it that reached down to your knees.
You thought for a moment before making your way inside the store, being greeted by a few people working at the shop. You asked them for help in finding the dress in your size before trying it on in the dressing room. You looked in the mirror and ran your fingers along the velvet fabric of the dress. The dress fit you just like how it sat on the mannequin, and you noticed a small slit along the bottom where the fabric wrapped over itself.
After looking at yourself in the mirror for just a little bit longer, you decided to buy the dress and wear it tonight instead of the dress you originally bought, picking up some matching jewelry before checking out and leaving the store.
You spent the next few hours, grabbing a bite at a local restaurant and continuing to walk around the streets of downtown Denver, even riding one of those electric scooters that connect to your phone in the process.
Once you realized it was almost 6, you decided to head back to your hotel room before bumping into a familiar figure in the lobby, causing you to drop your bags on the floor. "Oh sorry Y/N," You looked up and saw Trey as he smiled down at you softly, helping you pick up the bags. You smiled at him softly, while thanking him.
You never really talked to Trey much, as most of the time you two saw each other, one of you were in the middle of something and just waved and then went on with your day.
He looked at you softly, "Are you okay? You were really quiet on the plane and I know how you and Matt usually are?" He asked, handing you the bags he picked up for you. You nodded in response, looking up at him, "Yeah I'm fine. Just tired." You were lying to him, but I mean if Matt was going to act like the kiss never happened, you might as well have done the same. Especially if he hadn't told Trey about it. He smiled softly, "Well alright then. I'll see you later tonight?"
You gave him a nod before you both parted your ways and you headed back to your room. You decided to take a shower to start getting ready for the celebration, taking your time as you cleaned yourself, and fixed your hair and makeup as well.
----------
You finished getting ready right before you heard a knock on your door and you opened it revealing Matt in a button down shirt, black slacks, and a blazer. The top few buttons on his shirt were left unbuttoned, revealing a few strands of chest hair poking out the top. You held your bag close to you as Matt stood in the doorway, eyes scanning you, before he looked up and made eye contact, "You look...really good."
Shrugging at his comment you walked past him, shutting the door behind you as you started walking down the hallway. Matt followed closely behind, he came up behind you, lightly touching your arm making you jerk your arm away as you two ended up in the elevator. You pressed the button for the lobby and leaned against the wall of the elevator, crossing your arms across your chest, while trying your best to keep your eyes off Matt.
But in the moments where you struggled to look away, you noticed him eyeing you intently. His eyes narrowed as he took in his bottom lip through his teeth ever so slightly.
His attention was averted when the elevator rang the bell signaling you two had reached the lobby, as you walked out when the doors opened, not even bothering to wait for Matt in the process. He continued walking behind you trying to keep up with your pace, before you two arrived at the car and got in the back, as the driver began driving the two of you to the restaurant.
While in the car, Matt leaned over the back seat, "Did I do something?" He whispered, looking at you. You turned your head, looking out the window, keeping quiet. You noticed a small reflection of him through the window as he continued looking over at you, before letting out a soft sigh and looking out his own window.
You rested your head on the window as you watched the city go by, trying to not look over at Matt. You haven't had a good look at him since the kiss because you struggled to do so, more than usual. You thought of him when you opened the door, the way he was dressed. The way his beard and hair were beginning to grow gray with age and it was a little patchy, but he still made it look good. It was only a little gray, like on the sides of his head and mainly on his chin. He was also letting his hair grow out a little more, so his curls would stick out a little above his forehead.
The drive to Casa Bonita wasn't that long, despite the pretty heavy traffic on the way there. Once you arrived, you and Matt climbed out of the car and walked in together where he led you to a table that had a few chairs, pulling one out for you. You made eye contact with him, before moving to a different chair, sitting down while looking at the menu on the table.
His jaw clenched and he grabbed onto your arm before lifting you from your chair, dragging you to one of the offices, shutting the door and locking it behind him before turning and looking at you, "Okay what the fuck?"
You crossed your arms across your chest, raising an eyebrow as you looked at him from across the room. "What do you mean?"
He rolled his eyes while scoffing letting out a chuckle, "Don't fucking do that."
"Do what Matt? Act as if nothing is happening?" You questioned, glaring at him, feeling the anger rise inside of you as the two of you drew closer together. He blinked, looking away for a minute before turning back to you, "You've been ignoring me since we got on the plane."
You kept quiet, avoiding eye contact with him. You didn't want to talk to him, afraid of anything you might say be from frustration or anger. Because despite what happened, you still liked him. A lot.
"So are we going to talk about it? Or are you going to continue to give me the silent treatment?"
You rolled your eyes at him before looking at him, "What is there to talk about Matt? Nothing happened between us so I have no reason to be mad at you. Right?"
He crossed his arms, looking down at his shoes as he got quiet before you spoke up again, "I don't even care though. I'm going back out there."
You walked past Matt and put your hand on the knob to unlock the door before hearing Matt mumble under his breath. You slowly turned and looked at him, "What?" You asked him, with a hint of annoyance under his breath.
"I said. Fuck. This." He repeated, his voice getting louder, looking at you. You scoffed and rolled your eyes at him, "Fuck what exactly?"
"This," He sighs, "We kissed. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
You rolled your eyes, turning back to the door before you felt Matt grab you and push you against the wall next to the door, his body pressed against yours as he looked down at you, his hand firmly holding your waist, "And it's all I can think about."
He pushes his lips onto yours as you take a minute to fight back, still feeling the anger at him before giving in and kissing back. You closed your eyes, reaching your hands up to hold onto the collar of his shirt. His beard scratched at your face as you kissed, but you didn't mind it. He kept your lips attached as he pulled you away from the wall, hands around your waist as the two of you stumbled over to the desk in the middle of the room, where he lifted you up to sit on top.
He pulled away, his forehead against yours as he looked in your eyes, "You look so fucking hot in this dress. I couldn't help but think about ignoring this whole thing and fucking you in that hotel room."
Your eyes widened slightly at his statement, this was a new side to Matt but you weren't going to complain about it. And of course you were still mad about his incident but that wasn't really at the front of your mind right now.
Matt moved his hands to your thighs as he pulled you closer to him, standing between your legs before leaning in to kiss you again. You ran your fingers along Matt's torso, unbuttoning a few more buttons from his shirt as you ran your fingers underneath, lightly scratching his chest with your nails as you did so, causing him to let out a soft moan into the kiss.
He pulled away from you as he began leaving a trail of kisses down your jawline, to your neck, careful not to linger in one spot too long so he doesn't leave marks. Your breathing increased, as he ran his hands up the skirt of your dress, lifting it up in the process, before he pulled his face away from your neck and looked up at you.
"I don't want to do anything you don't want to." He whispered, his hands resting on your upper thighs, as his thumbs continued to rub circles on your thighs. You bit your bottom lip looking into his eyes, "I want this." You assured him, as he nodded in response.
He attached his lips back to yours, the skirt of your dress was now lifted to where your underwear was on display as he continued moving his hands slower up your thighs. He went back to attacking your neck as you let out soft gasps in response, "We should hurry."
He chuckled at you before looking up, "Should we now?" He teased, kissing your chest a he lowered himself more. You nodded in response, knowing that eventually people would be wondering where the two of you disappeared to, especially since you and Matt hadn't been the most secret about leaving in the first place.
He got to his knees, looking up at you as he left kisses on your thighs. You squirmed slightly under his touch, feeling the way his beard tickled at your thighs as his lips moved closer to your core. He chuckled at your actions as he glanced up at you, to see the pleading look on your face. You had been waiting for this moment for months and now that it was finally here, he was taking his time.
"Tell me what you want." He instructed, his thumbs continuing to rub circles on your thighs as he moved even closer. He knew exactly what you wanted, but to hear it come from your lips is what he needed.
"I...I want you," You whimpered out, moving your hand to his head trying to move him closer causing him to stop and look at you. "No no. I want you to tell me exactly what you want." He tsked at you as he looked at the wet spot that continued to grow in your underwear before looking up at you with a smirk on his face.
"I want you. To fuck me." You breathed out and he licked his lips looking up, "Oh what profanity on a pretty mouth," He joked as you rolled your eyes before he blew out a stream of cold air to your clothed clit causing you to gasp, sending a shiver down your body.
He pulled down your panties and left another wet kiss against your thigh, "Are you ready?"
"Yes. Please." You begged him, not sure how much longer you could handle the wait. He nodded with a grin before using his tongue to run it along your slit, as you moved your hips up from his action. He used his hands to force your hips back down, holding them in place as he began moving his tongue around your clit.
You used one hand to keep you propped upright on the desk, while the other you tangled into his small patch of curls. You let out a soft moan as he continued to flick his tongue, the grip on your hips tightening.
He moved one of his hands and began using two of his fingers to thrust into your hole. You tightened your thighs around his head as he curled his fingers inside, closing his lips around your clit. The chuckles he made from your reaction sent vibrations through you, making you let out another moan, this one louder than before.
He pulled his mouth away, continuing to pump his fingers as he watched your head lean back, shushing you in the process. You bit your bottom lip to suppress any moans, as he attached his mouth back onto your slit, teasing his tongue in circles through your aching clit.
You could feel yourself starting to reach your high as the grip on his hair tightened. You buckled your hips up, his fingers continuing to curl as they thrust into your g spot. "I'm so close," You barely whimpered out, as his continued to send vibrations through your core from his chuckles.
He enjoyed seeing you like this, barely able to form words under his touch. His fingers curled one last time before you felt yourself reach your high. You moved your hips, grinding into his mouth as you released. You felt air catch in your throat as you wanted to let out moans, but pushed yourself to stay quiet, letting out whispers of profanities.
Matt pulled his mouth and fingers away before putting his hand up to your mouth, "Suck."
You looked at him, taking his fingers into your mouth as you cleaned them off. He pulled his fingers out, a small string of spit attached as he looked into your eyes, kissing you once more.
You kept your fingers tangled in his hair as he started to unbuckle his slacks before hearing the sound of his phone buzzing on the desk. He groaned as he pulled away looking into your eyes, "Out of time." He whispered.
You whined a little as he pulled his hand from his pants and grabbed the phone, ignoring the call.
He left a small peck to your lips as he cupped your face in his hands, "Fix yourself up. I'll go stall a little." He whispered against your lips. He fixed his shirt and grabbed his blazer from the floor as you looked him up and down, seeing the growing bulge against his pants in the process.
He chuckled as he looked down, buttoning the blazer, using it to cover it to the best of his ability, "Nothing I can do about it now." He glanced over at you as you shakily hopped off the desk, your legs trembling.
You looked around for your underwear as Matt chuckled at you, before holding them out in his fingers, "Looking for these?" You nodded, taking them from him as he grabbed your chin in his hands once again, putting his lips to yours, as if he was reliant on you.
"Okay. Okay," He spoke softly, "I'm leaving now." He told you before pulling away and walking towards the door, unlocking it as he left the room, taking one last glance at you.
You leaned against the edge of the desk, in disbelief of what just happened. Wondering what would happen next.
updated a/n : next part! 🎉
#IT FINALLY HAPPENED#it'll get better i swear#the smut was mid#this is my apology for last chapter#matt stone#matt stone x reader
215 notes
·
View notes
Note
Love the way you write flowerfang! Request: Miguel actually meeting Miles' parents! people always avoid it (for valid reasons) but I would love to see that confrontation. Maybe with 18+ year old Miles? So it's more of 'oh no age gap' rather than just 'oh no it's illegal'
Been getting lots of requests for Miguel to meet Miles' parents so I'm filling two at once here!
Also yallre so sweet ily 🥺 the sketchbook idea is one of my absolute favs b/c its just so sweet and fun.
The inevitable happens about a month before Miles turns 19.
“Tu casa es muy bonita,” Miguel says when he shakes the hand of Miles’ mom.
His mom turns that quick, sharp look of hers on Miles, part surprise part exasperation, before turning back to Miguel. “Miles no mencione que hablas español,” she says in that way that’s simultaneously a compliment to Miguel and an accusation to Miles. “Please, come in.”
When Miles was 15 he’d gotten this new sketchbook, right after all the fighting about the multi-verse had died down. He hadn’t bought it with anything in particular in mind, and he hadn’t even known what he wanted to draw the first time he’d cracked it open.
An hour later he’d been staring down at Miguel’s sharp features and was honestly a little confused about it.
The second and third times he’d drawn Miguel had been even more confusing, and he’d shoved the book into the back of a drawer and tried to forget about it, limiting himself to practicing his graffiti letters on the margins of his notes.
The sketchbook saw light again when Miles and Miguel had gotten together right after Miles had turned 16. Miguel isn’t the only thing or person Miles draws in it, but he’s on basically every single page. Maybe it’s a little weird but hey it ain’t hurting anyone and Miguel is pretty okay? Not like, conventionally so. But the way he moves, the way he carries himself, the sharp, long lines of him in his suit…those things deserve to be committed to paper. That’s all Miles is saying.
Anyways, nobody was ever supposed to actually see this sketchbook. Miles still kept it in the back of a drawer most of the time, and had a primary book that he used more often too. But he’d taken it with him to the dorm and it was still in his bag when he’d visited last week and it had fallen out and open and…
Well, Miles is grateful the more explicit art hadn’t been on display, but Miguel is sill here for dinner. Miles wants to melt through the floor, or perhaps set off another collider just to get out of it. He’d talked to Miguel first of course, and they have their story straight about where they met (Miguel is a graduate student at Miles’ college), when (at the start of the year), and how long they’ve been together (five months). They definitely didn’t get together when Miles was underage, no ma’am or sir, and Miguel totally isn’t a superhero from another dimension nope.
“Miles does have a tendency to leave things out,” Miguel agrees amiably as he comes inside. “Thanks for having me.” Out of his suit he’s not quite so a striking a figure, but he fills out his button-down and jeans well and practically towers over Rio. Even more surprising is when Miles’ dad, Jefferson, steps up to shake Miguel’s hand as well, and Miles has the realization that Miguel towers over him too. Miles is the same height as his father now, even if he’ll never have Jefferson’s wider build, but in his mind that’s still his dad. Larger than life and stronger than anything. He doesn’t look fragile next to Miguel exactly but it’s a near thing.
Miles feels an elbow in his side and glances down at his mother, finding it difficult to shift his attention from where Miguel and his dad are exchanging awkward pleasantries. Sizing each other up, Miles thinks. His mother is also watching them but she glances up at Miles from the corner of her eye, smirks, says, “Eres como tu mama.”
She’s already heading for the kitchen by the time Miles catches her implication; that she chose a man three times her size, and now her son is following in her footsteps. He feels himself heat in embarrassment, and when he glances at Miguel he knows the man’s superior hearing picked the comment up too. Jerk.
“Vamos, boys!” Rio calls, successfully breaking Jefferson and Miguel apart. Miles isn’t even sure what they’d been talking about at this point and raises an eyebrow at his boyfriend in silent question. Miguel just shrugs as he falls in just behind Miles’ shoulder, following him into the dining room.
“Te pareces a ella, también,” Miguel murmurs, nearly making Miles trip.
Everyone please stop comparing me to my mother he thinks desperately because there’s no time for him to reprimand Miguel or his mother out loud. At least not without embarrassing himself further.
Rio hands them each a plate as they pass her on their way to the table. And because she will forever be Miles mother through and through, the first thing she says when she sits down is, “So, Miguel, ¿cuántos años tiene?”
Miles nearly does a spit take and his first bite hasn’t even reached his mouth yet.
If Miguel is put off by the question he doesn’t look it. Well, he looks mildly constipated but that’s kind of just his resting bitch face. “I’m thirty-six,” he replies evenly.
“Thirty-six!?” Jefferson repeats, aghast, and looks between Miguel and Miles. “No wonder Miles hasn’t said anything about you. Christ, you’re twice his age.”
Miles cringes, dropping his fork entirely. “Dad, please.”
“You father has a point,” Rio reprimands, but still turns and tells Jefferson, “Relax, baby. I’m sure Miguel is lovely.” Her gaze is sharp and warning when she tacks on, “But we’ll see.”
The table descends into awkward silence. Miles notices that Miguel isn’t eating, just pushing his food around on his plate. He clears his throat after a while and Miles wants to groan. This can’t be good.
“If it helps,” Miguel says haltingly, “I didn’t pursue him. He’s…persistent.”
His parents give slow, reluctant agreement with this statement and Miles rolls his eyes. He wants to remind Miguel that he’s been more than enthusiastic since they got together, but then decides this is probably not an appropriate place nor audience. Instead Miles just awkwardly tries to get a conversation moving. One that doesn’t involve the elephant in the room, but still draws Miguel out of his shell a little so his parents see exactly how amazing he is.
Unfortunately, Miguel’s resting bitch face really doesn’t give up. Miles knows it’s because he’s nervous as hell, but his parents don’t.
By the time the plates are being cleared, the air is a lot less awkward. at least His parents seem reluctantly impressed by the fact that Miguel’s a geneticist and listen when he explains a few of the tamer experiments Miles knows he has going on. He makes it sound like they’re happening in an lab on campus and not in another universe, and also like he’s a PhD student. As far as cover stories go it’s pretty good.
“So how did you two meet?” Rio asks as she’s stacking everyone’s plates and passing them to Jefferson to take to the kitchen.
Immediately Miles perks up, because they practiced this. “He’s part of the mentor program for the undergrads! He got assigned to a friend of mine.”
At the exact same moment Miles says “Genke,” Miguel says, “Gwen.”
They both pause, Miles swiveling to stare wide-eyed at his boyfriend. “Uh,” he says. When he glances back at Rio her eyes are narrowed suspiciously. Thank fuck Jefferson is already in the kitchen and didn’t hear that. Mom senses are even better than cop senses but at least now it’s two on one instead of an even playing field.
“Gwen!” Miles corrects, smiling like nothing at all is wrong. “I meant to say Gwen! Man, it’s so hard having two friends with Gs names. Gotta give em nicknames or something,” he finishes lamely with a small, awkward laugh.
Rio’s suspicious look hasn’t eased. “No me digas,” she says, in that way that clearly means uh-huh, yeah, sure. Usually Miles hears that right before he’s grounded. But seeing as there’s company and also he’s eighteen, she just shakes her head. “I’m going to help your father clean up in the kitchen. There’s dessert though, so no te escapes, claro?”
“Si, mami,” Miles says obediently. “We’re not going anywhere.”
He sits very, very still until she’s finally out of the room. Then he drops his head head to the table with a long, dramatic groan. A moment later he feels Miguel’s big hand on his nape, squeezing gently in that way that makes Miles boneless.
“It’s not so bad,” his boyfriend murmurs. “I like them. They obviously care for you, and I’d be suspicious too if my kid brought home someone like me.”
Miles rocks his head to the side and glares up at Miguel. “You’re fucking amazing, and I want them to love you like I do.” He pauses, considers the words that just left his mouth, then adds, “Well, not exactly like I do, but still.”
The corner of Miguel’s mouth tilts up in a small smile, and it’s the most relaxed he’s looked all night. Miles desperately wants his parents to see this softer, caring side of Miguel. “They’re certainly closer to my age than you are.”
Miles sits up so quickly it dislodges Miguel’s hand from his nape, and he narrows his eyes playfully. “Hey! My parents are off limits, old man.”
Miguel just smirks, the asshole, and then Rio and Jefferson are back so Miles can’t even say anything else without thoroughly embarrassing every single person at the table. He almost considers doing anyways it just to spite Miguel.
96 notes
·
View notes
Photo
✨ Top Five Treys ✨
#2: Trey and Matt’s Conversation with the CO Governor (2021)
(Series with @a-magical-evening 💖)
Sorry about the GIF quality, I know they’re kinda slow. I’ve work shopped these fuckers for hours, and I just can’t get it right :/ I’ll learn, but for now I’m writing this at midnight and I’m so tired and this is good enough. It was slow or better quality, with my limited skill set, so slow it is.
Sooo uhhh TW for NSFW and my unbridled passion on this post....There will be some objectification. Very NSFW 👀
So normal stuff first: this was where Casa Bonita was officially announced!! The part where Trey’s telling the story where Matt’s like ‘don’t get too excited, but we may get it’, and Trey has to pull over. How many conversations over how many years did this go on? Love how Matt already knew. Facilitating Trey’s dreams 😍 So sweet
I’m glad they were open about vaccination and climate change. Honestly, clarity is key, especially when people like to keep labeling them ignorant conservatives and things were (ARE) still shitty in the US. Ugh.
How random to just sit down with Polis?? Love that for them, he seems like a relatively good governor (looking at Abbott 😡).
ANYway! 💖 I chose this because Trey’s so fucking hot my eyeballs burned out of my head and they’re just smoking holes now. This awakened me. A year ago I was kinda like those “I like them in the 90s only” bitches, where I loved pretty blonde Trey and was alright with him current day. Then this fucker came out and blew my mind. Who knows what it was, the cargo pants? The flip flops? The pit sweat? The tan lines? The shirt that fits just right?? Wowowowow
I love an older man okay, but I started dating a guy my age and decided that the concept was gross, but this just restarted my brain wiring and I went full old man lover again. (Trey is literally two years younger than my father...and I was born in ’97)
So I severely lusted after him in this video. I’ve watched it more than any other interviews combined. I’ve downloaded it. I’ve capped it. I’ve GIFed it. I’ve done other things with it. Okay? Chill 💖
His body is just?? Fuck. His thighs, I wish they’d just smother my face. He’s so fineee. So Dad. Only thing that would make this better was his chest hair showing. Maybe a chain. Throw in an earring. 😭😭😭 Dammmnnnnn. If he “looks like Matt’s dad”, well Matt, I’m sorry but I’m your new step mom.
I have much more to say, but it’d just be describing my sexual fantasies at this point, and nobody needs that. Yikes. If this were written at any other time than 12:15 I’d behave myself.
So number 2 is Trey’s fine ass on this fuckin couch. 🥵🥵🥵
#Top 5 Treys#trey parker#TW for LUST#lol#not much to say about this but sorry the quality is eh#I'm predictable#trey#Look at him!!!!!!!
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
For the past few years I’ve been making posts on New Year’s Eve about my life, so… gotta keep the tradition alive I guess!
Some things I accomplished this year:
Another year of maintaining my Duolingo streak. I’m still not confident in speaking Spanish but I feel like I’m making progress understanding it.
Paid off all of my credit card debt. I’m very proud of this one because I’ve been in debt since I turned 18 and got my first credit card, and I thought it was just a fact of life, but it didn’t have to be!
Saved up $10k for… idk, part of a down payment, day care costs for whenever I finally decide to have a kid, whatever! The world is my oyster.
Developed a healthier relationship with food. My weight loss goals ultimately didn’t pan out, I only lost 20lbs and gained some of that back over the holiday months, but I feel good about my mental progress.
Started exercising more. I joined the local Y and attended a variety of classes that I really enjoy going to, and I walked outside a lot when the weather was nice. I even hiked a couple of times! Which was a big deal for me considering how out of shape I was and how little confidence I had in myself.
Highlights of the year:
Going to Colorado!!! Absolutely my favorite thing about 2022 was the South Park 25th Anniversary Concert and the whole trip surrounding that, from visiting Fairplay, to eating fancy food at Wolf’s Tailor in Denver, to hiking up to Hanging Lake. Even standing in the merch line in the blazing hot sun for hours at Red Rocks had its moments. I definitely want to go back after Casa Bonita reopens in May.
Reconnecting with a friend who ended up becoming one of the people I spent the most time with in the back half of 2022. Going walking together and doing Y classes, having House of the Dragon watch parties, dinners and drinks… it’s just been really great having her around this year!
Hiking a full mountain to see the foliage. It was a small mountain in the grand scheme of things, but I still felt accomplished!
Just generally going out and doing things more, socializing and being active and not worrying so much about money. It put a dent into how much I’ve been able to save but you know what?? Worth it.
In general this year was a good one. I’m still miserable working at my waitressing job, but it’s necessary to be able to save money. Work in my career is going well, though - I feel like I connect with the kids even though I’m constantly worrying I’m not doing enough there. My mental health has been pretty stable, some hiccups here and there but nothing drastic. And my cats are doing great, thankfully! I even went on a date to end the year and I’m seeing her again tomorrow!
Goals for 2023:
Another year of Duolingo.
Save another $10k.
Get in better shape before summer so I can do more difficult hikes.
Lose weight… I should stop putting this as a goal but it’s tradition at this point.
Read more books!!
Practice drawing more often.
And on that note…
Happy New Year!
I truly hope that 2023 is good to all of you!
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
@nunukim-182 here it is! Thank you very much for waiting, I'm sorry it took me so long. Enjoy it!
Since the kindergarten, I have been a child with difficulties to communicating. I commented on Star Wars all the time, it was very difficult for someone to put up with me. Actually, apart from my parents and my sister Esther, only one person cared about me. Her name was Rebecca Tucker.
Red was my best friend since kindergarten. she always sat next to me at lunch, in class, we worked together at school, and we also sat together on the bus. We even brought different fruits to lunch to exchange them, we went together to the cinema and to a Casa Bonita, it was funny. But all that changed when we got to fourth grade.
in this grade, everyone tried to appear "mature" and groups (some forced) were formed to "improve the interaction". There were the populars, the emos, the ugly ones, among others. red was adjusted immediately between the "hot girls" and me, obviously, with the nerds. I thought this wasnt going to affect our friendship, but as soon as the groups were defined, she started to avoid me and left with her friends.
Although Red avoided me, I continued to observe her and I realized that all our years of friendship were not in vain. I remember one time that she suggested seeing "the attack of the clones" to her friends when they chose which movie to watch at the cinema. Obviously her friends rejected that option for being a "nerd" movie and Red smiled falsely.
Our biggest interaction was on a school trip to "Villarejo dos peregrinos" where everyone said it was 1864. Our teacher told us to make pairs, and Red grabbed my hand instantly. I was surprised, because we hadnt spoken in months. During the tour, we talked as much as we could and i enjoyed her company a lot.
I didn’t realize, but I missed her a lot. Her voice, her smell, her hair, how she played with his strands as he spoke, the freckles she tried to hide with makeup, the perfume she wore ...
all those things that I missed, were back ...
but my joy evaporated as soon as the armed men invaded the place and threatened us.
I stood in front of her when they sat us on the floor, to prevent her from getting hurt. After the men were arrested, Red was so grateful that she sat with me back on the bus, and she forgot her friends during the trip, which sadly lasted only a few hours, and we kept talking. when we arrived, there was still a lot to talk about...
I thought she would continue talking to me later, but no, she was with his friends again. Even so, all those memories would follow my memory.
Even without her, I was not alone all this time. I started sitting at lunch with my friend Bradley, who was also a fan of galaxy wars, and with whom I had many things in common. I can say that at the time Red avoided me, he was my best friend.
besides him, I started to get together with Craig, Token, Tweek, Jimmy and Clyde. Somehow, I fit into their group, and among all of them, Clyde became a close friend. I confess that I felt betrayed when he started dating Red. However, thanks to Master Yoda, his engagement didnt last long.
at some point, I even played with eric, and ended up in Somalia, on a french ship with my laser sword, a heroic moment.
Over time, my interactions with Red decreased. some of her friends discovered her looking at me at lunch, and they started bothering her with that.
one day there was a talk about yaoi art at school and they showed images of Tweek and Craig, doing things that they normally don’t do. unlike the others, I was familiar with this topic and knew very well that tweek and craig were not really gay. I mean, there are a thosands of fanarts and fanfics about obi-wan x Anakin and Spock x Kirk and they are not really homosexual ...
During this event, I saw Red. She behaved like the other girls and found everything very nice. I dont doubt that when returning home, she looked for the two previous couples.
I thought Tweek and Craig were not really gays until they both ended up in front of the whole school. I was surprised with everything Tweek said, never imagined that Craig would be capable of all those things that Tweek said. I was also curious to know who Michael was, who apparently had been guilty of the separation.
The next day, Craig lost the class and Tweek appeared, but he looked very discouraged. Red also looked sad, it was as if the relationship of those two gave her hope for something.
But the next day, Tweek and Craig arrived at school holding hands, to the astonishment of everyone, including myself. Despite the surprise, I was glad that they were together again.
¿Red looked ... hopeful? I had never seen that expression on his face before.
At lunchtime, I sat next to Bradley, as I always did since the beginning of the year. Our table was next to the girls table. I could clearly hear a conversation from Red that caught my attention.
‘’Wendy, when you sayed that every kind of love is magical… you meaned that even a popular girl and a nerd can fall in love and it would be beautiful too?’’
That was not a typical Red question, and her friends noticed it too, so she got everyone at the table to raise their eyebrows. Wendy, meanwhile, took Red's hands and answered dreamily:
"Of course, any kind of love is magic!"
Red smiled shyly and could swear she blushed.
Bradley finished eating and ran away without saying goodbye. I was confused, but I finished my meal too and went out to the courtyard. all my friends were busy doing something, so I decided to sat in a corner to observe.
But before I did, Red appeared in front of me!
‘’Kevin... can we talk?’’ she asked.
‘’of course…’’ I answered surprised.
He took my hand and led me to the most isolated corner of the courtyard.
‘’Kevin ... do you remember that dance we had last year?’’ she asked looking me straight in the eyes and smiling shyly.
Of course I remember it! I smiled widely as soon as the memories arrived.
Flashback~~~~~~
In third grade, we had a dance near the end of the year. I remember well that Red decided to dance with Token, and I was sitting, feeling excluded. No girl wanted to dance with me, and I did not want to dance with anyone else.
It was like this until a girl dressed in a vulgar manner began to kiss several boys, including Token, who left Red aside to go with her.
Red was upset and sat in the stands. I went to talk with her and ask her if she wanted to dance with me, she accepted and we danced until the end of the dance.
After the party was over, they threw us out of the gym and Red sat down to wait for her uncles, and I sat with her to wait for my parents. As Esther was playing with the snow and Craig was playing with her friends, I was alone with her.
We talked and at some point, she took my hand and told me that I was the coolest guy in the entire galaxy. I felt extremely happy and I told her that she was also the coolest girl in the whole galaxy.
But before we could say anything else, the car of her uncles had already arrived for her and craig, leaving me alone with my sister.
~~~~~~~
I must have been thinking about that for a long time, because when I realized, Red was calling me. When I react, she kept talking.
'' ¿So, you still think I’m the coolest girl in the whole galaxy? '' she asked, holding my hands in his.
I thought about it a little. Even after she had avoided me, she was still the coolest girl I had ever met.
‘’ Of course, you are and always will be the coolest girl in the galaxy, and the planets beyond’’ I said without letting go her hands.
She smiled as she looked our joined hands.
‘’ you know kevin ... I still thinking that you’re the coolest guy in all the galaxies and I ... I like you, you know?’’
I was shocked. I also liked her too, actually, I always liked her, even after she started to ignore me.
‘’I… I…’’ I failed to form some phrase.
‘’So ... kevin ... what if you're Han Solo and I'm Princess Leia?’’ she suggested, winking at me.
I smiled. I had not thought of rejecting her, and now, less! she used a low blow!
-yes red! she smiled and hugged me.
As we parted, she grabbed my face, pulled her close and closed her eyes. Before I understood what was happening, our lips joined in a kiss. I felt very excited, it was silly, but in the end it was my first kiss.
‘’let's Rock!’’ she said after kissing me. We ran hand in hand to the courtyard. On the way, Clyde intercepted us.
‘’So ... are you guys together, huh? kevin, I thought these things didn’t interest you!’’ he scoffed, raising his eyebrows. I wanted Clyde to be sent to the farthest planet, from the farthest galaxy.
and somehow, my wish was fulfilled, because tweek and craig passed by holding hands and Clyde ran after them.
However, as soon as he left, Bebe arrived.
‘’I always knew you liked geeks! eh Red? I want to be the godmother of your wedding!’’ she said dreamily.
I wanted her to be sent to a planet farther away than Clyde's. But unlike Clyde, she went faster, winking at us.
When we get to the swing, we take turns pushing ourselves.
From that day, Red and I continued together, as if that separation by groups hadn’t happened. She surprised me with kisses and hugs, and I take my hand, as I always wanted.
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
The soundtrack of our lifes. // Rami Malek.
Hello! This was written in colaboration with @nateywrites and I think we made quite a good job!
Remember, requests are open
Summary: Rami and (Y/N) are together after a long time.
Words: 780.
Warnings: to fluff (maybe?)
After three months of tour with Saint Boulevard, band which I was the guitarist and singer from, I was finally in Los Angeles, at home, celebrating the success of the band with my family and my boyfriend. We hadn't seen each other since before the tour, because he was in London, working on Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic of one of my favourite bands, Queen.
I still remember the day he told me he was going to play Freddie Mercury, in the beginning I didn't believe it, I thought it was one of Rami's jokes, until he showed me a photo with all the clothes they were preparing, that it's when I saw my idol reincarnated in my boyfriend.
After a lot of nights missing him, and thousands endless video calls, I was finally in where I consider my home, with the person I love.
I stretch myself in bed, with my eyes closed, looking for Rami's warmth, instead I find his side of the bed empty, which was quite surprising. I get out the room looking for my boyfriend and when I get to the living room, I find the desk full of boxes in wrapping paper, with Rami seating on the couch. I had been so occupied and tired with the tour and the new album that I had forgotten my birthday.
I walk to him and I hug him as he steals a gentle kiss.
- Happy birthday, love. - he says after breaking the kiss. I answered with a shy laugh while he gave me a box. - this is for you. - when I opened the box, I saw some cassette tapes. - I thought it would be nice to give to my favourite guitarist the music that reminds me of her. - I took the first cassette and read the songs in it.
LOVE OF MY LIFE MIXTAPE PT1
Love of My Life-Queen. It was "our song", even before Rami got the role on the movie, it was one of the songs we listened and danced to alone, in silence, at home.
Take On Me-A-Ha. Our first date was weird, Rami made a reservation in a restaurant that in the end didn't exist, so we ended up in a karaoke in the centre of the city. After a few drinks I told him I was the singer in a rock band, Rami forced me to get on the stage to show him my skills.
God Is A Woman-Ariana Grande. The first time Rami heard this song we weren't together, I was at the studio and he was rehearsing. He sent me a message that said "I remembered you while I was listening to this, I remembered the most feisty and feminist woman I know, and that's you"
Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood. It's my favourite song, something that Rami discovered on a long car trip in which we showed each other the songs of our close youth.
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley. During our time apart, I had suffered some crises in which I called Rami when in London it was three or four in the morning, when I realized the change time it was too late, I had awakened Rami.
He insisted on talking to me to reassure me, I spent way too much apologizing and saying I was a disaster, that I was afraid he would find someone better, and he always sang the famous verse of the song.
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars. Not every day I woke up being the same self confident singer I looked like, many mornings I would put myself in front of the mirror, naked, ready to find all the mistakes I could. Whenever Rami caught me doing this, he would approach me and sing that song to my ear.
Rebel Rebel - David Bowie. One day we got drunk alone at home and we ended up dancing this song in repetition for half an hour. I do not remember much of that night, it just hurt my stomach to laugh.
I looked at Rami while taking out the second tape.
- That's all your guitar riffs I've been able to find. - I quickly recognized the origin of that gift.
- Did you make me the same gift as Freddie did to Brian? - He nodded, I jumped at his neck, hugging him and giving him a kiss. - In the end it's going to be true that you have a little Freddie inside you, still.
- I hope he stays forever. - He said, with one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen. Then I realized again how lucky I was to share my life by his side…
Después de casi tres meses de tour con Saint Boulevard, banda a la que pertenecía y de la cual era guitarrista y cantante, por fin estaba en casa en Los Ángeles celebrando el éxito de la banda con mi familia y mi novio, Llevábamos sin vernos desde antes de que empezara el tour, porque él estaba en Londres trabajando en Bohemian Rhapsody, el biopic sobre una de mis bandas favoritas de toda la vida, Queen.
Recuerdo el día en el que me contó que iba a ser Freddie Mercury, al principio no me lo creí, pensaba que era una broma más de Rami, hasta que me enseñó una foto con todo el vestuario que estaban preparando, entonces vi a mi novio reencarnado en el ídolo de mi infancia.
Después de muchas noches echándole de menos, y de miles de interminables videollamadas, por fin estoy en la casa que considero mi hogar con la persona a la que amo.
Me estiro en la cama, con los ojos cerrados, buscando el calor de Rami, pero me encuentro con su lado de la cama vacío, lo cual me sorprende. Salgo de la habitación en busca de mi novio, al llegar al salón me sorprende la mesa llena de cajas envueltas en papel de regalo, y Rami sentado en el sofá. Había estado tan ocupada y cansada con la gira y el nuevo disco que le había restado importancia a mi cumpleaños, tanta que se me había olvidado.
Me dirijo hacia él y le abrazo, él me roba un tierno beso.
- Feliz cumpleaños, cariño.- dice tras romper el beso. Yo respondí con una risa tímida mientras él trae de la mesa una caja. - esto es para tí. - cuando la abro veo varias cintas de cassette dentro.- Me pareció bonito regalarle a mi guitarrista favorita música que me recuerde a ella. - saco el primer cassette y leo las canciones que incluía.
Love Of My Life—Queen. Era “nuestra canción”, incluso antes de que Rami consiguiera el papel en la peli era una de las canciones que escuchábamos y bailábamos solos, en silencio, en casa.
Take On Me — A-Ha. Nuestra primera cita fue rara, Rami reservó en un restaurante que resultó no existir, así que acabamos en un karaoke en el centro de la ciudad. Después de varias copas le confesé que era la cantante de una banda de rock, Rami prácticamente me obligó a subir al escenario a que le enseñara mis habilidades.
God Is A Woman — Ariana Grande. La primera vez que Rami la escuchó estábamos separados, yo en el estudio y él ensayando. Me la mandó en un mensaje que ponía “Me he acordado de ti mientras escuchaba esto, me he acordado de la mujer más luchadora y feminista a la que conozco, tú.”
Sweater Weather — The Neighbourhood. Es mi canción favorita, cosa que descubrió Rami en un largo viaje en coche en el que nos enseñamos las canciones de nuestra juventud cercana.
Never Gonna Give You Up — Rick Astley. Durante nuestro tiempo separados yo había sufrido algunas crisis en las que llamaba a Rami cuando en Londres eran las tres o cuatro de la mañana, cuando me daba cuenta del cambio de hora ya era demasiado tarde, había despertado a Rami. Él insistía en hablar conmigo para tranquilizarme, yo pasaba mucho tiempo diciéndole que lo sentía y que era un desastre, que me daba miedo que encontrara a alguien mejor, y él siempre cantaba el famoso verso de la canción.
Just The Way You Are — Bruno Mars. No todos los días me levantaba siendo la misma cantante segura de ti misma, muchas mañanas me ponía delante del espejo, desnuda, dispuesta a encontrarme todos los fallos que podía. Siempre que Rami me pillaba haciendo esto se acercaba a mí y me cantaba al oído esa canción.
Rebel Rebel — David Bowie. Un día nos emborrachamos solos en casa y acabamos bailando esta canción en repetición durante media hora. No recuerdo mucho de esa noche, solo que me dolía la tripa de reírme.
Miré a Rami mientras sacaba la segunda cinta.
- Eso son todos los riffs de guitarra tuyos que he podido encontrar. - rápidamente reconocí el origen de ese regalo.
- ¿Me has hecho el mismo regalo que le hizo Freddie a Brian? - él asintió, yo me lancé a su cuello, abrazándole y dándole un beso. - Al final va a ser verdad que tienes un poquito de Freddie dentro de ti, todavía.
- Espero que se quede para siempre. - dijo él, con una de las sonrisas más bonitas que había visto nunca. Entonces volví a darme cuenta de la suerte que tenía de compartir la vida a su lado…
#rami malek#rami malek imagine#rami malek imagina#rami malek imagines#rami malek x reader#rami malek fluff#rami malek fan fic#rami malek fic#bohemian rhapsody#bohrap#bohemian rhapsody imagine#Borhap cast#gwilym lee#ben hardy#joe mazzello#mr robot#until dawn#the pacific#freddie mercury
36 notes
·
View notes
Text
Leopold “Butters” Stotch
hi! i think i’ve worked out that i’ve reached the activity limit with my overall replies & discord rp-ing (16 replies overall) but, if not, I’m happy to leave this in your inbox until it’s ready x
out of character info
Name/Alias: Grace
Pronouns: She/Her
Age: 23
Join Our Discord: Yes – already in x
Timezone: GMT
Activity: 8
Triggers: N/A
Password: Jimmy can fast pass my ass
Character that you’re applying for: Leopold “Butters” Stotch
Favourite ships for your character: Butters/Kenny, Butters/Eric, Butters/Chemistry
in character info (heavy trigger warning for parental abuse and neglect throughout !!)
Full name: Leopold “Butters” Stotch
Birthday: 11th September 2000
Sexuality, gender, pronouns: bisexual, male, he/him
Age and grade: 17, senior.
Appearance:
Butters is cursed with eternal baby-face: chubby cheeks and big blue eyes. Even his hair is as soft and fluffy as the day he was born, with his parents making sure that he never deviates from his short-back-and-sides style by cutting it themselves every Sunday evening. That’s not the only thing that hasn’t changed; his clothing style is as sweet and standard as his middle school days – boot-cut jeans, comfortable sneakers and the teal fleece his mom bought for his 15th birthday (he’s barely grown, since). Sometimes, Butters will experiment with a graphic-tee, his favourite being his array of Hello Kitty Island Adventure merchandise, or bright coloured polo.
Butters stands at just under average height and just over average weight, with a cute bit of chub on his belly that he doesn’t think will ever go (he’s banned from visiting the gym after his dad’s bathhouse escapades). One time, his mom threatened to fatten him up so much that he’d never be able to leave, and he’s never been able to budge the extra weight, since. He doesn’t mind, though: he’s as body positive as can be, and thinks that anyone who don’t think he’s handsome ain’t looking hard enough.
Personality:
Butters is a mess, frankly, though he thinks he’s just an ordinary fella living life as anyone should: by being kind and helping others. He’s dangerously gullible and painstakingly naïve, with a generous soul even after everything he’s been through. He just wants to do right by the world, especially his friends. He has a strong sense of justice, though this can be easily manipulated to the point where he’ll believe that what’s wrong is right and what’s right is wrong. Despite often being misguided, he’ll stick by his guns and stay true to himself when the time comes. He’s got better at standing up for himself as he’s got older, too, and isn’t afraid to put his foot down and say heck no if necessary. Most days, he's very confident in his own skills and self-image, but that can all change with one comment.
His disrespect for authority is an interesting personality trait. He’ll fudge the police and tell his teachers to go suck a popsicle, but there’s two people he can’t say no to. Butters has been gaslighted his entire life, and the emotional and physical abuse he receives from his parents has led to humiliating and childlike obedience (what 18-year-old accepts being grounded for using twitter after 9pm?). When he’s caught doing wrong by his parents, all his self-confidence and cowboy-like bravado is shot to smithereens: he’s just a no good miscreant who ain’t gonna amount to nothin’, so he may as well give up on his dreams and stick to bein’ a plain ol’ nobody.
History:
Butters was born to Linda and Stephen Stotch on 11th September 2000. Ever since that fateful day, his life has been nothing but chaos and control and, though he wakes up to the sound of his own screams every night, he’s grateful for every opportunity he gets. It would be impossible to write all of his ups and downs in a couple of paragraphs, but there are two things that have really shaped Butters as a person.
One: his family. Stephen Stotch uses fear to control his son whilst his mom, Linda, is dangerously protective. Though seventeen, Butters still calls his dad ‘sir’ to his face and does what he’s told or faces severe consequences. The night that his mom asked him to stalk his father to the bathhouse changed a lot of things; he saw the internalised secrets and lies that have corrupted both of his parents and has watched them wear white-picket-fence masks in public every damn day since. He saw his dad embrace his sexuality yet treat it as a sin. He experienced his mom, breaking down, vulnerable and distressed, ready to kill her own son. Not to mention the time he was sold to Paris Hilton as a pet. Linda and Stephen Stotch are manipulative and controlling parents whose ‘love’ of their son, however much they fret over him and cover him with kisses, will never make up for the trauma instilled in him.
Two: his friends. Scrotie McBoogerballs, AWESOME-O, Good Times with Weapons, Marjorine, Casa Bonita. The list of shenanigans that Butters been apart of, and victim of, is endless. He’s been locked in a fridge, publicly shamed on television and stabbed in the eye with a shuriken, yet he still hangs out with these guys. Why? Because he was never part of the gang in kindergarten, and he’s never really had a true friend, someone who has made the effort to see what he’s been through and respect him regardless. Besides, hanging with these guys (whatever injuries and humiliation they bring to him) has given him a strength he never knew he had. He’s become a pimp, rekindled his confidence to dance, got his wiener out at school, become a best-selling novelist and, best of all, learned to say no to Eric Cartman. Not bad for a good-for-nothin’.
Sample paragraph: (At least two paragraphs, centred around your character)
For the first time in a long time, Butter’s internal sludge pile of shame and humiliation is joined by anger. He’s so gosh darn mad that he don’t care who knows it, but no-one is gonna know it, ‘cause he got no cell, no internet, and no hope’a gettin’ outta his stupid ol’ room. It’s the same ol’ story: Eric and the fellas convinced him to get a fake ID so they could get some sorta fancy alcohol for Bebe’s party tonight. Kyle said it had to be him, ‘cause he looks the oldest, and he’s the best actor outta all of ‘em. Butters ain’t sure if that’s true, but he appreciated the compliment, and it’s a bad pal that says no to a favour, especially when the entire party rested on his hands.
He got the booze, alright. And he was nice and proud of himself, until Eric said it was the wrong one. Ain’t no one wants to drink this kindergarten crap, Eric said, we’re men now, we gotta drink whiskey. Well, Butters thinks whiskey tastes like butt, and ain’t no one wants to taste butt, ‘cept maybe Kenny. He thought the blue an’ pink bottles looked cute and bubblegum is his favourite flavour, no doubt about it, but maybe he should’a followed the plan and done what he was told. Darn it all.
He was in trouble with the guys, but at least he weren’t in trouble with his mom and dad, and that meant he’d finally be able to go to a real life party, maybe show off his dancin’ skills and eat some cheese and pineapple sticks. But then they found his fake idea when doin’ their routine search’a his room, and all hell broke loose. You ain’t goin’ anwhere today, mister, they said, you’re gonna sit right here on your tushie an’ think about the consequences of identity fraud. I’m goin’ to that party, Buttons said, puttin’ his foot down. Well, that just about earned a slap around the noggin and a week without his cell, so he couldn’t even tell the fellas he weren’t comin’ tonight.
A knock on his window jolts him outta his angry pacing. He doesn’t want to look up, ‘cause he knows it’s probably Eric, comin’ over just to make fun of his current predicament and boast all about how much fun he’s gonna have tonight. Well Butters weren’t gonna have it, no sir-ee. He puts his hands on his hips and he gets ready to march right over there and give Eric a proper telling to, but then he sees it ain’t Eric, it’s Kenny, an’ he got a proper determined look on his face.
“We’re breaking you out,” Kenny says, an’ Butters ain’t gonna argue this time.
Headcanons:
Butters still plays Hello Kitty Island Adventures, but he’s also a massive animal crossing fan. Any game that lets him escape his house, have some independence, and talk to (or raise) cute animals can keep him hooked for hours. Unfortunately, his mom and dad turn the internet off at 9pm and keep his phone in their bedroom at night.
Butters keeps his sexuality a secret from his parents, and it’s no surprise why. After his mom found out about his dad’s trip to the bathhouse (subsequently attempting to murder her son) and after a gruelling (and very confusing) trip to conversion camp, Butters thought it best to hide any ‘abnormal’ feelings. Fortunately, his friends and their often open sexualities has made him feel comfortable and confident with himself, and he’s resoundingly grateful for it.
He is quietly considering his gender and what it means to be Butters. At the moment, he doesn’t think he needs to put a name to it, but it doesn’t hurt to research, and he’s ecstatic to see he isn’t the only one who doesn’t sit on one end of the binary. Though exploring the possibility of being non-binary, he’s happy to be referred to by male pronouns for now.
Butters wants to be a pre-school teacher, even after what happened to Ms. Claridge. He loves drawing and storytelling and wants to share those gifts to others, helping kids who might not be happy at home.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t think his mum will let him go as far as college without having a breakdown or threatening something real bad. Though his parents have started to treat him a little better as he’s got older, their distrust of the world around them, and of their son, has grown rapidly.
Butters works part-time at the ice cream parlour and adds something special to every sale. Most of the time he uses the wafers and chocolate chips to make little teddy bears, but his extra special treat (for people he really likes) is the unicorn uni-cone with lots of sparkles.
Butters is a wonderful artist! He loves using watercolour pencils and paint the best and though his work isn’t always the most profound (it’s usually portraits of his friends or cute animals he sees), it's always beautifully coloured and full of love.
Anything else: thank u guys 4 the opportunity
6 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Las Terrenas, Samana Peninsula, Dominican Republic. 01-2019.
It’s time to write about the place I liked the most in Dominican Republic. In the end of December already nine month old Thaissia and I moved from Kite Beach, Cabarete to the town called Las Terrenas on Samana Peninsula. We moved there in comfort as we managed to rent a car together with a couple of friends from Cabarete. Guys were going to celebrate Christmas with their friends in Las Terrenas, we joined them and were even able to take our car seat with us. It’s not too far, three hour drive, distance is 155 km. Through friends I found an excellent place to stay in Las Terrenas. So, for five weeks we rented a cosy house in Villa Sonrisa Casa de Huespedes, three minutes walk from an amazing beach called Las Ballenas. The owners of Sonrisa is a wonderful Russian family (Vladislav, Valentina and their three kids). My daughter was very excited to meet them all. I would like to thank them for these incredible five weeks that we have spent there!
Our friends from Cabarete were staying in Las Terrenas for three days, and we took a couple of day trips to beautiful places in the area with them. The day after our arrival we went to Coson beach, which is about 10 km away from town. This beach was already very different from the ones we saw over in Cabarete, Punta Rucia and Monte Cristi. Here in Samana beaches have a lot more palm trees and therefore more shade. On Christmas day we went to the opposite side of the peninsula, to visit another beautiful beach called Playa Rincon. It took us around two hours to get there (75 km) via hilly winding picturesque road and it was definitely worth it. I think it was the most beautiful beach I have seen in Dominican Republic – 2.5 km of white sand and all kinds of sea colours backed by forested hills and no village or town near by. One other beach we saw near Las Terrenas was Playa Bonita.
As we came back to our cosy house in Las Terrenas, Thaissia and I started to make ourselves at home. It was so nice and comfortable in the house that I even got desire to cook breakfasts and mini lunches there (salads with ricotta, mozzarella and goat cheese). Every morning on our spacious kitchen me and my little one were enjoying fresh fruit and porridges, French bread and chocolate tea. Chocolate tea, by the way, I have discovered in Dominican Republic. It is cacao husk that you can brew just like regular tea. So tasty! Further on our day would unfold like that: after breakfast we would take a shower, play a bit at home, put sunscreen on and go to the beach with a stop for croissants in French bakery Panam in Plaza Colonial. There are lots of French permanently residing in Las Terrenas, so we had no problems finding fresh croissants, bread, cheeses and chocolate mousse.
Little note about local transport. In Las Terrenas me and my little one completely relaxed and started living more or less like locals, so we were taking moto taxis (motoconcho) couple times a day. Usually we would just go back and forth from Playa Las Ballenas over to town to the bakery during the day and then for dinner in the evening (about 1.5 km one way). The ride costs 50 peso or 1 USD. Also once a week we would take motoconcho over to the French supermarket called Lindo. It’s great that there are those moto taxi in DR as they were saving my energy for long beach walks. But after all those adventures I have no idea how can I make my baby go back to traveling all strapped in and attached in a car seat in California, Europe and Russia… In Dominican Republic Thaissia got to know the world in a different way, simple and free. For example our car seat in DR served us just as a baby gym in the bathroom…
Every day we bathed in the ocean on our “home” beach Las Ballenas. A week later we already knew all the surroundings and people, would say hello to everybody, and Thaissia would of course smile non stop (it became a very important part of our day). Playa Las Ballenas is a long stretch of beach (more than 2 km) with lots of palm trees, azure water, without wind and waves. For baby Thaissia this was the best beach I could imagine! Bathing with her in the ocean every day was just so pleasant. After the beach we would go back home, shower and rinse off beach stuff, and then Thaissia would fall asleep for two-three hours listening to birds chirping in the garden. And I had time to write a bit in the blog, cook lunch or do something else. After the siesta we would go back to the beach to see the sunset (it’s very nice indeed when watching the sun go down becomes a performance of every evening that can’t be disrupted by anything else). Playa Las Ballenas is located in such a way so the sun goes down behind a cape and you can watch it almost till it sets completely. The further side of Las Ballenas is a magic place; it’s so nice to stroll around there in the evening when everything is filled up with soft orange light!
When it would get dark me and little one would flag down a moto taxi and head over to town to have dinner at our favourite spot – French bistro La Cave a Vin. There we were received like a family. They cook really tasty meals (attention, chef is French!), and they have plate of the day (something from classical French cuisine usually) which costs 290 peso (around 6 USD), plus desserts are amazing! Thaissia and I had dinner there for New Year’s Eve (not at midnight, of course, but in the early evening), so 2019 was started with champagne and foie gras. I loved this little place and all the people we met there. We would come there to have dinner every evening as their daily special was always different. As we returned home from the bistro me and little one would say hello to our house hedgehogs (the owners of the place had two of them living in the garden), Thaissia loved to see them every evening. Then we would read our books (one of them has a hedgehog as a character) and I would put my baby to sleep. Later on I would sit in the living room and crochet toys listening to the sea in a distance as well as crickets and other tropical insects in the garden. We had no mosquitoes in the house and the sofa in our living room was very inviting to sit and crochet (from June 2018 I had absolutely no time to crochet, or places where we would stay with my daughter were not suitable for this activity). In other words, life was wonderful over there.
The area where we stayed is a sort of bourgeois neighbourhood with lots of villas with pools, dogs in collars, quads and gardens behind tall fences. The crowd on Playa Las Ballenas was not the same as on Kite Beach in Cabarete. Fit (or almost fit) kite surfers were replaced by French families or Italian pensioners. We quickly got used to this change of scenery and came to a conclusion that like that it was even cosier on our beach and we always had somebody to chat with on all five languages that I speak. On weekends Las Ballenas would fill up with local Dominican families, grilling something and swinging their hips to bachata or salsa playing from their car speakers.
Everything in this place would dispose to relaxation, to a pleasant routine of morning croissants and evening sunsets. I did not feel like leaving all this and go anywhere in the world, not even to the nearby beaches, it was so nice to just get stuck like that in one place and enjoy it every day. Waking up in the morning to birds singing and hugging my little Thaissia, I felt like repeating our Caribbean day again and again. Five weeks in Las Terrenas was not enough. I felt like moving there for a couple of years, or at least come back again next winter.
I shall conclude this article by responding to a banal question “What did you like the most about Dominican Republic”? The ease of living there with a baby, friendly locals (who sincerely love babies) and beautiful beaches!
From Dominican Republic we flew back to California. To be continued…
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Draft 1: revised (kind of)
I grew up with consistently saying I have crazy aunts. That my family is crazy and so Mexican, whatever that meant. I bragged about my family in Los Angeles to my school friends. Telling them what presents they would buy me and all the cool places they would take me. I love my mom’s side of the family. Her older and younger sister are my favorite aunts. They still are. Tia Rosa and Tia Mary. Two beautiful crazy women who helped shape who I am today.
Lets start with how “crazy” they became and how, as I grow older, see their craziness for humanity.
Tia Rosa is hardworking, badass, sailor mouthed woman- who will not take any ones shit. She has tough skin but a merciful soft heart. Born as the oldest of five children, she was a mother to all. Carrying, literally the burden of motherhood at the age of 7 and forever. She was the first one to see and experience the land of opportunity and all its tragedies. Crossing the border with her mother at 13 gave her another layer of skin that would later be very useful in her life. The first sister of five to work 12 hours a day alongside her mother at a sewing sweatshop in downtown Los Angeles. My mother describes her as “chigona para coser” which mean she was a badass on the sewing machine. She would sew hundreds of belt loops on jeans an hour. This was essential in sweatshops (still is) time is money, and she more than anyone knows the importance and stress of time. Her hardworking green money would be sent across the border to brown Mexico where her three siblings were waiting in for her and her money to survive. Where they waited days, months, years to be reunited with family. Tia Rosa loved working, loved helping her mom and dad put a roof over their heads. She is the main reason there was enough money to send back and buy a home in Hollywood California, where it still stands today. Tia Rosa has been described as a beautiful woman with dark curly hair and fair skin. She herself still talks about the heels she would wear everyday when she was my age. My crazy tia was a young, healthy, hardworking, beautiful woman that was human and in love. Her betrothed came from a different village in Mexico where our family isn't from, and has no relation to. He came in the Hollywood home and asked her father for her hand. “ Ella creia que no vi su pansa cuando entro a las casa, pero yo sabia que estaba embarezada”. My mother recalls the time she saw her older sister walk through the door with a baggy blouse and dark man in front of her, leading her into the kitchen. Tia Rosa was at her parents home to let them know she was going to get married. A child was on the way but no one spoke of it, neither my mom who can clearly identify the bump under her shirt or her, who had her head lowered in shame.
Tia Rosa married a man that as my mom’s side of the family label as “un Moreno feo, con una muchacha tan bonita”. He was seen as undeserving of my aunt and sometimes I think he was. This man was her husband, father of her children, her lover. He was also human though, a man that was not loyal or lovely. He was a man with a sick sense of humor, dirty shirts, and dirty actions. Till this day I dont know if they married for love or because they felt they had to. Sometimes I feel like pressure of marriage and staying together bled throughout their entire time together as “couple” and their offspring. And many times is see the proof of their resentment first hand, every time I visit them.
Her husband Sebastian has helped my mother and father with loans and loyalty, always looking out for his wife’s younger sibling like a father. A father and a mother. Sebastian loved the bitter taste of tequila and beer, and even better when they were mixed together. He loves cantinas and he loved other woman’s bodies more than his wife’s. He would cheat. Again and again and again. This hurt my tia. A lot. It didn't help that they had three children and home to look after.
1 note
·
View note
Text
BRAVEST FACE
pairing: matt stone x f! assistant reader
summary: matt invites you to go on a mini vacation (fifth part to circumstances)
genre: fluff
word count: 1026
cw: legal age gap although nothing happens....yet
author's note: i’m sorry
if you haven't read the first part check it out here: "CIRCUMSTANCES"
It was now Thursday, despite it being apart of your job, you and Matt would hardly say a word to each other when you'd go into the office. He would just give you a list of things to do in exchange for his coffee, and then when you were finished, he'd send you home. Normally when he'd send you home you'd object but it was different now. Anytime you exchanged glances, the kiss would replay in your mind. The feeling of his lips against yours.
You sat on your couch, watching some random show from Netflix you decided to put on. You just started it and weren't paying much attention because all you could think about was Matt. He kissed you. That was the key thought through all of this. You had thought about kissing him, but he was the one who kissed you. Who knows what could've happened if Trey hadn't knocked on the door?
You jumped from the sound of your phone ringing as you looked down to see the called ID was the man himself. You hovered your finger over the answer option, knowing it could be important but could you bring yourself to have a conversation?
You slowly answered and lifted the phone to your ear, "Hello?" Matt let out a small sigh from the other end before speaking up, "I have a business trip to go on. I need you to come with me."
Your eyes widened softly at his comment, expecting him to at least say something. "A business trip? Where?"
"Colorado. Trey and I have to go to Casa Bonita for a soft opening event. It's kind of like a test opening with just a few people. Most of the crew will go, but I wanted you to go. With me."
"With you?" You repeated the words to him, and he chuckled slightly, "Not with me. But like with me."
Your voice dropped a little bit with disappointment but you tried to mask it, "Oh yeah. Um..yeah I can do that. It's my job after all." You sat up more straight on the couch, pausing the show on the TV before Matt started talking again, "Okay well..be ready by 8am tomorrow morning. The opening is tomorrow night and we're leaving the day after that. But I wanted to give you time to do a little sight seeing and maybe some shopping before we went to the opening. If that works for you?"
You nodded before responding, "Yeah that sounds good. I'll meet you at the airport by 8?"
"No it's alright. I can come get you if you're okay with that."
"Yeah that's fine. I'll be ready by 8 then."
He said his goodbye before hanging up, the silence resonating in the room. You didn't know how you could handle being on a plane with him for a few hours, and you especially didn't know how you would handle going to an event with him, and everyone from the office as well. But the best you could do was put on a brave face and do your job. Right?
———
The next morning you finished packing up the last few things you needed before receiving a text from Matt saying he had arrived right at 8. You took a deep breath as you looked one last time in the mirror before grabbing your small duffel bag and leaving the apartment, locking the door behind you. You took the elevator down to the bottom floor and walked slowly to Matt’s car, each step feeling heavier as you got closer. When you arrived at the car, Matt was waiting outside with the trunk open, and helped you put your bag next to his before you both got into the car.
The car ride to the airport was quiet, and the air felt so heavy you thought you were going to choke. It was even worse than the night Matt picked you up from the bar. At least while you were riding in silence he was glancing at you, now he just kept his eyes on the road as he held the wheel with both hands, not even bothering to drum his fingers to the music. You took a deep breath, hesitating to speak, break the silence, maybe just get the air cleared before you arrived at the airport. Maybe fix things.
“Are we going to talk about what happened?” You squeaked out, barely making it above a whisper. Matt glanced at you before turning down the music, “Hm?”
“Are we. Going to talk. About what happened?” You asked, louder now. Matt thought for a moment, keeping his eyes on the road, his fists tightening slightly on the wheel, “What do you mean?”
Your eyes widened slightly at his question, “What do you mean ‘what do I mean’? Are we gonna talk about Monday? What happened on Monday?”
Matt shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean. When you got sick and had to leave early?” He told you, continuing to stare forward at the road ahead. You felt your stomach drop to your ass as he said this, he wasn’t actually serious was he?
“What do you mean I got sick?”
He chuckled slightly, “Well you were looking at the paperwork, and then Trey came in, and then you said you weren’t feeling well and left.” He glanced over at you, his face serious.
“So nothing happened between us?” You asked, not believing what he was saying. He fucking kissed you, and now he’s acting as if nothing happened. Like his tongue wasn’t down your throat. Like it was something you should forget about.
He’s shook his head while shrugging and you frowned slightly before turning to look out the window, placing your fingers against your lips softly, “Oh.”
You kept silent as you continued to ride to the airport with Matt, his music continuing in the background. You didn't know what to say or what to do. He was acting as if the kiss didn't happen and despite how much you wish you could've done the same, you couldn't. You just...couldn't.
updated a/n: next part
162 notes
·
View notes
Text
Colorful Colorado 💙
At this point I would say that my relationship with New York is a rather complicated one; it is like one of those difficult relationships where an artist holds onto their lover after seeing all their imperfections with complete transparency. But I love it; I love New York. And one of the reasons why I love this city is because it brings to me all the inspiration I need to appreciate every single detail around me. I could write a poem about every street, every Park, every bar of New York. There is always something to write about; the discovery of a new place entails the awakening of new feelings, a new person brings new experiences, everyday contains an anecdote. And for a writer, that’s priceless. That’s why so many writers come to this city, because it’s full of passion, of stories. You can breathe and feel how many (stories) a city of ten million people contains in it. I idealized New York to the extent that I didn’t see myself living somewhere else in this country…until I went to Colorado for the first time. I didn’t know anything about Colorado when I took my flight from New York to Denver to start my roadtrip. I only knew that the plan was arriving to Denver at 2 a.m and drive to the top of Mount Evans to see the sunrise, but I didn’t know what to expect from “the most colorful state”.
I arrived after almost 20 hours of not sleeping, but the excitement of discovering a new place was enough to keep me awake. We took the highest road in North America up to Mount Evans, and even though everything was dark and I couldn’t see how high we were, I could tell that we were in a very high place by the difficulty when breathing.
We saw the sunrise little before arriving to the summit of Mount Evans, and the only thing I can say about it is that it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my entire life. Words cannot describe what I felt when I arrived there, I felt something else. It was freezing cold and it was difficult to breathe, but that didn’t stop me from admiring what I had in front of me at that moment: the sublime embodied in a landscape. And it’s true that you can’t compare the skyline of Manhattan to anything in the world, but you will never imagine how you see the world from the top of Mount Evans when the sunshine bathes every valley and every top of every mountain, reflecting in the remains of snow that are left from last winter. There are things that you can only experience once in a lifetime and one of them is the feeling of being in one of the highest mountains in North America for the first time, surrounded by mountain goats jumping around while feeling the freezing breeze touching your skin.
That was probably the most revealing and beautiful moment of the ten days of my road trip.
We stayed at a hotel in Basalt, a small town next to Aspen, and I can’t even describe the beauty of all the little mountain towns that we drove through. The contrast between the blue sky and the red houses, the green mountains with beautiful lakes at their base, the abandoned cabins waiting for someone curious enough to get inside while enjoying the sight of the flowers that surround them, and the pointy houses cutting the clouds.
I found myself in the most picturesque places: a wonderful cave called The Grottos, an amazing scenic view in Independent Pass, a small beautiful town called Twin Lakes, a perfect place for hanging a hammock in The Devils Punchbowl…it doesn’t matter what direction I looked at while we were driving, every place was like looking at a painting of any painter who sees the world in the most beautiful way they can imagine.
Van Gogh said once that the sight of the stars made him dream, and I couldn’t help it but dream when I saw the millions of stars and the Milky Way in its brightest moment. I remember my last night in Colorado watching the meteor shower from a hot spring, I raised all my hopes to the sky at that very moment.
If traveling changes you, Colorado was my change, forever.
*******************************************************************************************
En este momento diría que mi relación con Nueva York es más bien complicada; es como una de esas relaciones en las que los artistas se aferran a su musa o a su fuente de inspiración incluso después de conocer todos sus defectos a la perfección. Pero aún así me encanta Nueva York, sigo enamorada de esta ciudad tanto como el primer día. Pasé de idealizarla a conocerla, y aceptar sus aspectos negativos y su hostilidad como parte de su encanto, porque así es Nueva York. Pero quizá la razón por la que adoro esta ciudad es porque me aporta toda la inspiración que necesito para apreciar cada uno de los detalles que me rodean. Podría escribir un poema sobre cada calle, cada parque, cada bar de Nueva York. Podría cargar con la emoción que despierta esta ciudad todos esos poemas, y enseñaros que a cada paso hay algo distinto sobre lo que escribir. El descubrir un sitio nuevo despierta nuevos sentimientos, una nueva persona trae consigo nuevas experiencias, y cada día se transforma en una anécdota. Intensidad es la palabra que mejor describe la vida aquí. Y para un escritor, eso no tiene precio. Esa es la razón por la que muchos escritores vienen a esta ciudad, porque está llena de pasión, de historias que están todavía por contar. Porque puedes respirar y sentir la cantidad de historias que alberga una ciudad de diez millones de personas. Y desde el principio idealicé Nueva York hasta el punto en el que no me imaginaba viviendo en otro sitio de este país…hasta que fui a Colorado por primera vez.
No sabía nada acerca de Colorado cuando cogí mi vuelo de Nueva York a Denver para empezar mi ruta por el oeste de Estados Unidos. Solo sabía que llegaría allí a las dos de la mañana y que el plan era conducir hasta la cima del Monte Evans para ver el amanecer, pero no sabía qué esperar del “estado centenario” y de sus montañas rocosas. Llegué a Colorado después de veinte horas sin dormir y casi cuatro horas de vuelo, pero la emoción del viaje y de conocer un sitio nuevo fue suficiente para mantenerme despierta. Cogimos la carretera más alta de Norte América para llegar allí e incluso cuando todo estaba oscuro y no podía ver dónde nos encontrábamos, la dificultad para respirar con normalidad y el frío me decían que estábamos en un punto muy alto; más de lo que yo había estado hasta entonces. Paramos para ver el amanecer junto antes de llegar a la cima, y lo único que puedo decir es que fue una de las mejores experiencias de mi vida. Ni siquiera puedo describir con palabras lo que sentí cuando llegué arriba; nunca me había sentido tan llena por el simple hecho de estar en un lugar. Y ni el frío, ni el cansando, ni la dificultad para respirar me impidieron admirar lo que tenía enfrente de mí: lo sublime hecho paisaje.Y es verdad que no puedes comparar la vista del horizonte de Manhattan con todos sus puentes y rascacielos con nada más en el mundo, pero tampoco te imaginas como se ve el mundo desde Mount Evans cuando los rayos de sol bañan cada valle y cada cima de cada montaña, relejándose en las placas de nieve que todavía quedan del último invierno. Hay ciertas cosas que solo puedes sentir una vez en la vida y una de ellas es la sensación de estar en una de las montañas más altas de América del Norte por primera vez, rodeado de cabras montesas saltando alrededor de ti mientras sientes el frío viento acariciando tu cara.
Nos alojamos en un precioso hotel en Basalt, un pequeño pueblo al lado de Aspen, y ni siquiera puedo describir lo bonitos que eran los pequeños pueblos de montaña a través de los que condujimos. Todo era fascinante para mí: el contraste entre el cielo azul y el color rojo de las casas, las verdes montañas con lagos a sus pies, las cabinas abandonadas esperando a que alguien sea lo suficientemente curioso como para entrar en ellas pasando a través de las coloridas flores que las rodean, y los puntiagudos tejados recortando las nubes. Me encontré a mí misma en los lugares más pintorescos: una increíble cueva llamada The Grottos, un precioso saliente en la carretera en el que sentarte a admirar la vista en Independent Pass, un precioso pueblo de montaña llamado Twin Lakes, el sitio perfecto para colgar una hamaca en The Devils Punchbowl…y muchos más sitios que dejamos de lado cuando íbamos conduciendo. No importaba donde mirase, todo parecía un cuadro pintado por alguien que ve el mundo de la manera más bonita posible.
Van Gogh dijo una vez que mirar a las estrellas le hacía soñar, y entendí a lo que se refería cuando vi la lluvia de estrellas y la Vía Láctea en su momento más brillante con miles de estrellas alrededor, desde dentro de una fuente termal natural. Esa fue mi última noche en Colorado.
Si viajar te cambia, Colorado a mí me cambió, para siempre.
Pictures: Ben Ford Photography (@mr._ford on Instagram)
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
To Go Back, To Come Back, To Be Back, To Get Back, To Return – Qual a diferença?
IMAGEM: ArturVerkhovetskiy/Depositphotos | EDIÇÃO: Proddigital Idiomas
Fala aí galera! Este artigo se trata de uma área bastante complicada da língua inglesa, uma mistura de phrasal verbs, expressões e jeitos de falar. Para complicar ainda mais, em português, tem somente um verbo para traduzir este conjunto de verbos, sendo, voltar. Aqui eu vou tentar finalmente tirar suas dúvidas e explicar duma forma bem completa como usar os phrasal verbs e expressões To Go Back, To Come Back, To Be Back, To Get Back e To Return. Sim, é muita coisa! Mas não se preocupe, com exemplos, explicações e áudios, tudo vai ficar super claro para você! Prometo!
Todos estes verbos ou expressões se tratam para voltar. Mas como é possível ter tantas formas de falar em inglês o mesmo verbo em português? Ahhh galera, em inglês gostamos muito de phrasal verbs e expressões! A tradução literária do verbo voltar é To Return, mas, este verbo é pouco usado é na verdade, formal demais pra conversas diárias. Antes de começar, preciso pedir que você pense no lugar de onde você está enquanto fala sua frase. Isso vai importar muito! Vamos começar!
Como Aprender Inglês com Filmes e Séries? — E-BOOK GRATUITO
Veja também:
To Be Used To, To Get Used To e Used To — Qual a diferença?
To Move, To Move In, To Move Out, A Move — Qual a diferença?
To Lose e To Miss — Qual a diferença?
To Go Back — Voltar
Este phrasal verb está composto pelo verbo To Go (Ir) e, a palavra Back, que se usa muito nos contextos que fala sobre voltar ou estar de volta. Back tem a tradução literária as costas (a parte do corpo) ou os fundos (localização), mas temos que ignorar estas traduções quando aprendemos estes phrasal verbs! Está bom?
Aqui estamos falando de voltar para um lugar fora de onde você está. Podemos somente usar este phrasal verb para falar de um lugar fora ou longe de onde estamos no momento de falar. Faz sentido? Por exemplo: eu estou no Rio de Janeiro no meu apartamento no bairro de Catete, somente pode voltar para outros lugares fora destes. Veja exemplos e áudios deste phrasal verb:
I want to go back to Thailand one day, it was so beautiful. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu quero voltar pra Tailândia um dia, era muito bonita.
Did you ever go back to that Japanese restaurant? The food was delicious! — ouvir áudio 🎧
Você já voltou para aquele restaurante japonês? A comida era gostosa!
I went back to university last year, I took a break to travel. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu voltei para universidade no ano passado, eu tirei uma pausa para viajar.
I can’t go back to that bar, the music was terrible. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu não posso voltar para aquela bar, a música era terrível.
Note que usamos a preposição to com este phrasal verb que é a tradução literal de para. Não se usa outra preposição com To Go Back e o lugar/objeto.
To Come Back — Voltar
Agora temos a segundo opção para falar voltar em inglês. To Come Back é um phrasal verb composto pelo verbo To Come (Vir) e de novo, a palavra Back. Qual a diferença com o verbo acima To Go Back? Aqui, estamos falando de voltar de um lugar para onde estamos no momento de falar.
Pensando na diferença dos verbos Ir e Vir, deveria ser possível entender a diferença. Podemos somente vir para onde estamos. Não é? De novo, importante anotar o local da pessoa falando. Eu vou dar exemplos de alguém falando do seu escritório em São Paulo. Pronto? Let’s go!
I just came back from my vacation in Spain, I had a great time. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu acabei de voltar de minha férias na Espanha, eu me diverti muito.
Yesterday I went home for lunch and came back to work a little late.* — ouvir áudio 🎧
Ontem eu fui para minha casa para almoçar e voltei ao trabalho um pouco atrasado.
*Lembrando que a palavra home em inglês é excepcional e diferente que português: não usamos preposições com estas palavra. I went to my home ou I went to home está errado!
I lived in Rio de Janeiro for three years, but came back to São Paulo because I missed my family. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu morei no Rio de Janeiro por três anos, mas voltei para São Paulo porque eu sentia saudades de minha família.
You have been on vacation for such a long time, when are you coming back?* — ouvir áudio 🎧
Você está de férias há muito tempo, quando vai voltar?
*Aqui estamos usando o present continuous (to be + gerúndio) com sentido do futuro, algo muito comum em inglês. When will you come back está também correto mas menos natural.
I always come back from the gym feeling so energized, it helps me work more productively. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu sempre volto da academia me sentindo tão energizada, isso me ajuda a trabalhar duma forma mais produtiva.
Note que com o phrasal verb To Come Back, podemos usar a proposição toquando estamos usando o lugar onde estamos como objeto, ou, from quando estamos usando o lugar de onde vimos como objeto.
Na verdade, na hora de falar é muito fácil confundir estes dois phrasal verbs. Até falantes nativos usam às vezes To Come Back para lugares onde eles não estão, é comum. Não fique muito preocupado com o uso certo, não será um erro feio! Mas melhor aprender certo, concorda?
To Get Back — Voltar
Mais um phrasal verb que se traduz como voltar! Podemos tratar este phrasal verb de uma expressão porque usa o verbo To Get, um verbo com vários usos e sentidos. Vocês já sabem disso com certeza! Os verbos acima To Come e To Gopelo menos tem sentidos de movimento ou deslocamento, mas To Get não tem um significado literário de movimento.
Então, o que significa To Get Back? É sinônimo do phrasal verb To Come Backe é bastante usado na língua falada informal. Lembrando que este verbo se usa para falar do lugar onde você está. Let’s have a look!
I got back from my vacation very late last night, I’m so tired! — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu voltei de minhas férias ontem à noite muito tarde, estou muito cansada!
When will you get back from work tonight? I’ll make dinner if it’s not too late. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Quando vai voltar do trabalho está noite? Farei o jantar se não for tarde demais.
I leave for Cabo Frio on Saturday and get back Tuesday. * — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu vou para Cabo Frio no sábado e volto na terça-feira.
*Usamos o present simple com sentido no futuro quando algo está arranjado, planejado ou com data fixa.
Exemplos da seção acima trocando de verbo:
I always get back from the gym feeling so energized, it helps me work more productively.
I just got back from my vacation in Spain, I had a great time.
Observação: somente podemos usar este phrasal verb usando o objeto do lugar onde estivemos com a preposição from (de). Os exemplos mais acima com a preposição to, é o objeto e é o lugar onde estamos no momento de falar, não podem usar To Get Back.
I lived in Rio de Janeiro for three years but got back to São Paulo because I missed my family. (aqui a pessoa falando está em São Paulo)
Yesterday I went home for lunch and got back to work a little late. (aqui a pessoa falando está no trabalho)
De novo, estas regras são um pouco flexíveis, quer dizer, não são erros como conjugar no tempo errado, usar a preposição errada ou vocabulário inapropriado.
To Return — Voltar/Devolver
Aqui temos o verbo certinho como tradução do verbo voltar! Podemos usar em todos os exemplos acima sem problema, mas, é mais formal e muito menos usado. Assistindo às séries americanas ou filmes em inglês ou até escutar um nativo falando, vai escutar muito mais os phrasal verbs! Este verbo tem um outro significado importante e mais comum que vamos revisar sendo o verbodevolver. Are you ready? Let’s go!
She went to Paris to study and never returned, she still lives there! — ouvir áudio 🎧
Ela foi para Paris para estudar e nunca mais voltou, ela ainda mora lá!
She returned to work a few months after having her daughter, she didn’t want to take too much time off. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Ela voltou ao trabalho alguns meses depois de ter a filha dela, ela não quis tirar muito tempo de folga.
I returned to India five years after my first trip. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu voltei para a Índia cinco anos depois de minha primeira viagem.
Anote a preposição to usada com o lugar/objeto deste verbo.
Exemplos do outro significado do verbo To Return:
I need to return the dress I bought last week, I changed my mind and don’t like it anymore. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu preciso devolver o vestido que comprei na semana passada, mudei de ideia e não gosto mais dele.
We paid a fine because we returned our rental car five hours late. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Pagamos uma multa porque devolvemos nosso carro alugado cinco horas atrasado.
I don’t like to lend books to anyone because they never return them. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu não gosto de emprestar livros para ninguém porque eles nunca os devolvem.
Com o significado de devolver, não usamos uma preposição com o objeto direto (a coisa sendo devolvida), mas usamos a preposição to com objeto indireto (o lugar ou a pessoa recebendo a coisa de volta).
You can return the bike you rented to any of our company’s locations. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Você pode devolver a bicicleta que você alugou para qualquer um dos locais da nossa empresa.
To Be Back — Estar de volta
Uma última expressão para completar este artigo sobre as várias formas de falar sobre voltar em inglês. Usamos a palavra Back duma outra forma com o verbo To Be como se fosse um adjetivo. Esta expressão está descrevendo o estado de alguém ou algo que já voltou, similar a estar de volta em português. Veja exemplos:
I’m back from my vacation, let’s go out for a drink! — ouvir áudio 🎧
Estou de volta de minhas férias, vamos sair para tomar um drinque!
My boss was away for a few months but she’s now back. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Minha chefe ficou fora por alguns meses, mas ela está de volta agora.
You’ll need to wait to start your English classes, the teacher isn’t backat work yet. — ouvir áudio 🎧
Você precisará esperar para começar suas aulas de inglês, o professor ainda não está de volta ao trabalho.
I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere!
Eu volto já, fique aqui! / Eu vou estar de volto já, não vá a lugar nenhum!
Outros exemplos do uso de Back com outros verbos comuns:
I need to call you back, I’m busy! — ouvir áudio 🎧
Eu preciso te ligar de volta, estou ocupada!
Please give the toy back to your sister, it belongs to her! — ouvir áudio 🎧
Por favor, devolva o brinquedo a sua irmão, pertence a ela!
We’re finally done! Acabamos de ver vários verbos e expressões em inglês que se tratam de voltar sendo To Go Back, To Come Back, To Get Back, To Return and To Be Back. São muitos verbos, sim! Ainda na dúvida? Tem alguma pergunta? Deixe seu comentário abaixo e fale com a gente! Responderemos assim que possível! Thanks so much!
One more thing! Para usar este artigo da forma mais efetiva possível, recomendamos o uso da ferramenta Anki. Esta ferramenta é ótima e trabalha com um sistema de repetição espaçada onde você mesmo adiciona suas frases. Nunca ouviu falar dessa ferramenta? Não se preocupe então! Basta clicar aquipois criamos um artigo completo sobre o que é o Anki e como baixa-lo no seu computador ou celular.
Como Aprender Inglês com Filmes e Séries? — E-BOOK GRATUITO
#aprender ingles#ingles online#estudar ingles#falar ingles#aprender inglês#aprender inglês grátis#idiomas#curso de inglês#curso de ingles online
0 notes
Text
Hips Don’t Lie
Author: @supernaturallymarvellous
Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1219
A/N: This is my entry to the “Sweep Me Off My Feet Song Challenge” hosted by @theoneandonlysaucymo. It’s based on the song “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira. I hope you enjoy reading it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She’s an employee. She’s an employee. She’s an employee. It’s become a mantra, a chant that I’ve had to repeat to myself throughout the course of this evening. I can’t sleep with this woman - I can’t ruin the perfect working relationship I’ve developed with her by giving in to my desire.
I’ve worked with Y/N for over a year now and hand on heart, she’s the best damn assistant I’ve ever had. She keeps me on track, makes sure I’m where I need to be whenever I need to be there, and her ability to deal with whatever is thrown at her is incredible. She’s not just my assistant, she’s my right hand woman and I don’t know what I’d do without her. Which is why I can’t make a move on her, why I can’t march over there, grab her hand and drag her off to my bedroom.
She likes me, I know she does. I’m not being big-handed. There was one night when we’d been on the way back from a meeting and had got stuck in traffic (should have taken the helicopter). Three hours later and after we’d finished off a couple of bottles of champagne to celebrate the successful negotiations we’d just finished, Y/N had kissed me; well, she’d actually climbed into my lap and it had taken ever ounce of strength I had to push her away….she was drunk and there was no way I was going to take advantage of her when she probably wouldn’t even remember it the next day. But that was months ago and neither of us have mentioned it so it’s water under the bridge….just something that slipped away. Or at least that’s what I thought up until tonight but something about the way Y/N has been acting at this party has me thinking something might have changed.
If I’m being honest, I can’t even remember what this party was in aid of. See that’s why I need Y/N, that’s the kind of thing she would know without even having to think about it. Whatever it was about, it’s almost over; the last few guests are leaving and there’s only the team left, scattered around the room in various small groups. Banner and Barton are at the bar discussing something, while Captain Spangle Pants and Thor are on one sofa drinking. And the girls; well, the girls are sitting opposite them, heads together in a close knit circle as they giggle like teenagers.
Everyone is happy and most of them are completely drunk. A lot of alcohol has been consumed tonight and the only people who aren’t going to wake up with one hell of a hangover are Rogers, Thor and me. Oh and Y/N. I’ve been watching her all night long and I’m pretty sure she’s been nursing the same glass all night. Unless she’s been topping it up without me noticing, all she’s had is a single drink, albeit some of that amazing whiskey I had imported last month.
Despite being surrounded by some of the most stunning women I’ve ever met, Y/N is without a doubt the most beautiful. She’s wearing a long-sleeved, midnight blue dress and her hair is tied loosely in a bun at the base of her neck. She’s sitting with her feet curled up underneath her and she looks so relaxed and happy that I can’t help but watch her as she laughs at something Natasha has said. It suddenly dawns on me that I’ve been staring at her for too long and I force myself to look away but just as I do, a high pitched squeal bursts from Wanda.
“That’s a wonderful idea Y/N. Friday, could you set up that dancing game for us?”
“Of course Miss Maximoff. Shall I load the same songs as the last time you played?”
“Yes. Thank you Friday.”
At a speed and with a grace that you wouldn’t usually associated with people who have been drinking all night, the girls all jump up and rush over to stand in front of the giant tv screen that dominates one wall of the room. I have no idea what they’re up to but Y/N is smiling and seeing that makes me happy. I leave the place I’ve been standing for the past few minutes and head over to take a seat next to Cap.
“Come to watch the show, Tony?”
“What show? How do you know what’s happening and I don’t. I feel like I’m missing something important.”
“Well, whenever they get some down time, they play this game. I’ve never seen any of them have as much fun as they……”
He’s cut off by music pumping out from the speakers located around the room.
I never really knew she could dance like this
She makes a man want to speak Spanish
Como se llama…..bonita…..mi casa, su casa
My eyes are immediately drawn to Y/N who appears to have taken centre stage and is dancing like I’ve never seen her dance before. It’s almost as though she’s lost in the music, hips twisting this way and that, arms twirling above her hand…….and it’s mesmerising. And even though this is meant to be a dance game, Y/N has apparently forgotten this and is also singing along, although I can barely hear her over the music.
Oh baby when you talk like that
You make a woman go mad
So be wise and keep on
Reading the signs of my body
No sooner have those words left her lips than I realise that it’s more than lust that I’m feeling, more than a base carnal desire to make her mine; I adore her and everything she does and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to come to that conclusion.
My eyes are glued to the rest of her performance and before I know it, her turn is over and Nat has unceremoniously shoved Y/N aside so that she can have a go. I keep her in my line of vision as she picks up a bottle of water, taking a drink from it as she walks back to the sofas and sits down right next to me, her thigh touching mine. She looks right at me with the biggest, cheekiest grin I’ve ever seen spread across her face.
“So, Tony…..did you enjoy my performance? I mean, you‘ve been staring at me all night so I thought that I‘d actually give you something to watch.”
“That was all for me?”
“Of course it was. Look, I’m fed up of trying to tread carefully and not mention what happened a few months ago. I like you Tony. I like you a lot and I know it might seem like a bad idea but you don’t usually shy away from something risky. Think you could take a chance on us?”
She stands up and holds a hand out to me, an invitation without words, and I can‘t think of a single excuse not to accept. Previous thoughts of ruining everything have gone and all I can see is this beautiful woman standing in front of me, silently begging me to follow her.
The rest of the team are so engrossed in watching the dancing that no one seems to notice Y/N and I slip out of the room.
Also tagging@ @waywardimpalawriter, @thetalesofmooseandsquirrel and @eileenlikesyou-maybe.
80 notes
·
View notes
Text
Weekend 2 - Cuenca
Cuenca es una ciudad que está ubicada en el sur del país. Es un sitio de Unesco world heritage. Hay muchos ex-pats que viven aquí ahora. De riobamba a Cuenca, el bus dura 7 horas por todos los paros. Salimos a las 730 de riobamba (hemos ido al jueves para verificar las horas de salida y la chica nos dijo que el bus iba a salir a las 730). Pero cuando llegamos a la terminal el viernes, el hombre nos dijo que el bus iba a salir a las 7. Así que había un momento de pánico. Después de 7 horas en bus, llegamos a Cuenca! Teníamos mucho hambre. Así que fuimos al hostel yakumama para dejar las maletas y después fuimos a comer al café moliendo. Es un café colombiano y los dueños eran fantásticos (muy amables). También la comida fue muy rica y deliciosa. Después fuimos a caminar por El Centro de la cuidad. Vimos muchas iglesias y la plaza principal. Fuimos a comprar algunas frutas del mercado. Habían un montón de tiendas pequeñas dentro de un edificio grande. Después tomamos un poquito de vino en el hostel y después fuimos al lounge del hostel donde conocimos a una chica de Inglaterra. Ella había viajado 5 meses en Ecuador y quería encontrar a un hombre para casarse con el. Era un poquita loca! Después comimos la merienda en un restaurante de Italia. Solo habían 4 mesas! La comida era tan deliciosa pero no pudimos terminarla. Terminamos la merienda a las 1115! Tan tarde para comer.
La próxima mañana nos levantamos y desayunamos al hostel (un desayuno gratis con café, fruta y pan). Después fuimos al centro para subir un bus de dos pisos para girar la ciudad. Habían dos rutas de la ciudad: una por la Norte y una por el sur. Primero fuimos al norte. Fuimos las única personas en el bus!! Que suerte. La guía hablo en español sobre la historia de la ciudad. Algunas de las iglesias fueron construidas en el siglo 15. Aunque hay muchas casa aquí en Ecuador que están mal construidas o necesitan reparadas, las iglesias eran bonitas. Al medio de la gira, fuimos al museo del sombrero de Panamá. Estuvo muy interesante. La guía nos enseñó sobre el proceso de hacer un sombrero y todas las detalles. También pudimos comprar sombreros de estilos diferentes. Recibimos un pedacito de chocolate de ****. Fue increíble. Después, fuimos a almorzar. El dueño del restaurante es el sobrino de Jorge Duchicela - el director de cachamsi!! Que coincidencia!! La comida era muy rica también y podía comprar café ecuatoriano allí. En la tarde, hicimos la segunda ruta por bus. Fuimos al sur donde pudimos ver el mirador puri que tuvo una iglesia muy alta en la montaña y también pudimos ver toda la ciudad. Con suerte, no llovió. Por la noche, notamos que todas las tiendas en la ciudad estaban cerradas! Dez y yo fuimos a comprar algo dulce. Tuvimos que caminar un montón de cuadras jaja pero al final encontramos una panadería muy barata. Cuando regresamos al hostel, yo vi in restaurante chileano que vendió empanadas. Así que tuvimos que comprar dos. Tuvimos tanto hambre que comimos todo, y después fuimos a comer una empanada más.
El domingo, fuimos al río para verlo. Después desayunos en un restaurante muy moderno. Yo pedí un omelet de champiñones y espinaca con tostado y un café latte. Fue fantástico!! Tratamos de irnos portal artesanal donde venden cosas artesanales. Pero no abrió hasta las 10 (y la verdad eran las 1015). Y no compre nada adentro (quería una pintura).
Fue un fin de semana muy divertido y pudimos ver muchos lugares hermosos!
-----------------------------------
Cuena is a city located in the south of Ecuador. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are a ton of ex-pats that live here now. From Riobamba to Cuenca, the bus takes about 7 hours because of all the stops it makes alongside the road. We left at 730am on Friday (we had gone on Wednesday to verify the bus schedule as the times are all different due to the holidays. The girl working was super unfriendly and told us the bus leaves at 730). However, when we arrived to the terminal on Friday, we were told the bus was leaving at 7 and we were missing one of our travel mates, Laura. Luckily she arrived before the bus left (and it ended up being 730 anyway those stinkers). We finally arrived to Cuenca at 230pm with a lot of hunger. We went to our hostel (Hostel Yakumama – a really nice place with friendly people!) to drop off our suitcases and went to eat at Café Moliendo, which is a Colombian restaurant run by some amazing people. The food cost 4$ and we got a tostada tortilla with beans, spicy meat, cheese, chips and fresh avocado. It was fantastic. Paired with a Colombian café, we were set! (My host family always uses instant coffee and that stuff ain’t real). Afterwards, we walked around the city center where the principal plaza and churches are. We bought some fruits from the market. That night, we met a girl from England. She has been living in Ecuador for 5 months and is basically looking for an Ecuadorian man to marry, she was a little crazy haha. That night we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant that legit only had 4 tables in the place. It was fantastic food, though we didn’t finish eating til 1115 at night!!
The next morning we woke up and ate breakfast in the hostel. Afterwards we went on a city bus tour that had two routes: north and south. We did the north route first. We were the only people on the bus!! We asked the girl to give us the tour in Spanish, and she spoke very clearly and a little slower for us. She narrated the history of the various churches in the city center, some of which were built in the 15th century. Although a lot of Ecuadorian buildings appear to be in disrepair, the churches are pristine and well kept. In the middle of the tour, we stopped at the Museum of the Sombrero de Panama. Such an interesting museum where they walked us through the production of these sombreros – it was cool to learn. The hats are originally from Ecuador, and are so named Panama hats as the workers wore them during construction of the Panama Canal. The hats take anywhere from 2-8 months to construct, depending on how fine the fibers are. The paja plant is used to make them. At the end of the tour, we were able to try on and buy various hats ranging from 30USD to 2000USD. Afterwards, we went to eat lunch. The owner of the restaurant was the nephew of the director of our program: Dr. Jorge Duchicela!! It was such a neat happenstance. In the afternoon we did the south route of the city and went to the mirador del turi where we could look out over the entire city. We got so lucky and it didn’t rain all day. We got back that afternoon around 3 and noticed that a ton of the city shops were closing. We went to a market and thenreturned back to the hostel. We were so hungry though and nothing appeared open. Dez and I went in search of a panaderia (like a bakery) for a snack to tide us over. We bought 6 pastries for 3$ and while walking back saw a Chilean empanada store and bought two. After the four of us scarfed that down, we went back and each got our own empanada for dinner.
Sunday, we went to the river to see it. We then ate breakfast at a very modern café. I ordered an omelet with mushrooms and spinach with aji (spicy salsa) and café latte. So stinking good. We tried to go to this artisan place where they sell crafts afterward but it wasn’t open so I couldn’t find/buy the painting I was searching for. All in all, a solid weekend in such a beautiful city! Highly recommend.
1 note
·
View note
Text
The Art of Topophilia: 7 Ways to Love the Place You Live
The Art of Topophilia: 7 Ways to Love the Place You Live
http://bit.ly/2mVChGJ
If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who are. –Wendell Berry
As time went by, I also realized that the particular place I’d chosen was less important than the fact that I’d chosen and focused my life around it. Although [where I live] has taken on great significance for me, it’s no more inherently beautiful or meaningful than any other place on earth. What makes a place special is the way it buries itself inside the heart, not whether it’s flat or rugged, rich or austere, gentle or harsh, warm or cold, wild or tame. Every place, like every person, is elevated by the love and respect shown toward it, and by the way in which its bounty is received. –Richard Nelson, The Island Within
Have you recently moved somewhere new, and still feel out of place? Or maybe you’ve been residing somewhere for years, decades even, and yet haven’t developed a sense of being rooted there. You may live in a town or city, but don’t feel you belong to a real community; you don’t feel as if you’re embedded within a context of meaningful relationships, environment, and culture.
While “at-homeness” might seem to be something that will come automatically with the passage of time, like every good thing in life, topophilia — a love of place — takes intentionality to develop.
Like coming to love another person, developing affinity for a certain place involves intimately getting to know it. If your current home base might be compared to a lady, you want to learn all the details about her, whether profound or mundane. You want to know her background, how she came to be the way she is. You want to enjoy the prominent foot she puts forward, while uncovering her little-known secrets. You want to really come to an appreciation for her strengths, not only to most fully enjoy them, but as a buffer that creates more tolerance for her flaws.
It’s not only possible to kindle this kind of topophilic love affair with “sexier” places chock full of well-hyped advantages, but also with so-called undesirable communities that aren’t on the cultural radar. Just as people who may initially appear lowly and unappealing, but have warm and welcoming personalities, come to seem more attractive the more we get to know them, so too can sleepier, less vaunted locales.
Even if you don’t think the place you’re currently residing is your “one and only,” to have and to hold ‘til death do you part, it’s still worth trying to develop a deeper relationship with it. A strong sense of place and rootedness is a worthy satisfaction to pursue, even if you know it won’t last. Cliche as it is, you really ought to try to bloom where you’re planted, for however long you’re planted there.
I know it’s possible to feel like casual, distant roommates with your current hometown, rather than intimate partners in life; even after 7 years of living in the Denver area, I have sometimes still felt like a foreign interloper here. But that’s diminished the more I’ve taken proactive steps to put down roots. Here are 7 I suggest to sink your own real or adopted hometown deeper into your heart.
1. Get to know the history of where you live.
A sure recipe for feeling like a transient spectator somewhere, is to treat a place as if it only sprang into existence once you moved there. By instead making a concerted effort to get to know the history of your neighborhood, town, and state, you’ll gain a greater gratitude for it, feel more like you belong, deepen your understanding of why things are the way they are, and develop more confidence in navigating its contours — both literally and figuratively.
Perhaps the easiest place to start in discovering the past of a place is by reading. Local bookstores often carry lesser-known regional histories that sometimes get as local as individual neighborhoods. Be sure to even delve into novels set in the city or state you live in; reading Centennial and Plainsong did more to help me understand Colorado than just about any non-fiction book could have.
It takes more than reading to get a feel for a place’s history though. That’s just a start. Visit state and national parks and monuments (and battlefields and trails), stroll through the nearest history center/museum, take a guided walking tour of downtown, and just generally get your feet on the ground to do some firsthand exploring (see #2). Don’t be afraid to drive two hours to go see something for one; even the drive time itself will enhance your understanding of the place you live — remember, there’s power in liminal spaces.
2. Explore on Foot or Bike
Few things will open your eyes to the details of your city like exploring its streets, neighborhoods, and trails via the power of human locomotion.
More days than not, I get outside for a walk, run, or bike ride. These excursions have helped me see the real beauty of where I live on a slower and smaller scale (that is, beyond just the mountains on the not-too-distant horizon). I’ve discovered little streams and patches of meadows riddled with wildflowers, as well as a bunch of small parks and playgrounds for the kids that I otherwise would never have found.
Carried along by foot- or pedal-power, you’ll naturally come to notice things that you would have missed had you been traveling by car. You’ll be able to really look around and engage all your senses. You’ll say hello to the people you come across, who are in fact your neighbors, even if you’re a few miles from home. Plus, it’s just fun to look around while walking — at the houses, at the sky, at the flora and fauna.
3. Embark on Microadventures (Even to Chintzy Places)
Even in your backyard there are new adventures, new sights, new perspectives: you just have to make the small effort to go and discover them. –Alastair Humphreys
Microadventures, as coined by modern-day explorer Alastair Humphreys, are expeditions in and around your locale that take only a few hours to a day. It could be a nighttime bike ride, a walk on a new trail, a visit to an overlooked museum, or any number of other outings. The idea is that adventures don’t have to be grand in scope to be fun and fulfilling.
A few years back the McKay family took up the habit of weekly microadventures, and Brett and Kate found that they “really enjoyed exploring more of [our] local community, and ended up feeling more connected to, and pride in, living in Oklahoma.”
Make it a goal to get out for a small adventure in your area once a week. Drive to a tacky roadside attraction, look at a map (a paper map!) and pick a park or small museum to visit, rent a canoe or kayak and paddle a nearby river or lake. All of these things will enhance your understanding of your community, and further your ties to it.
One of the very best ways to develop topophilia is to get out into the nature of a place, and really experience its unique weather, landscape, and environment. There’s something about getting the dirt of the terrain up into your nostrils, and coming to know how the air feels and smells at dawn and dusk, that really moves a place into the marrow of your bones.
But don’t neglect an area’s less wild and more popular spots either. When you live somewhere, it’s easy to take its tourist attractions for granted; if you’re not careful, the people who regularly visit you might come to know the cool things to do in the area before you do! You should know your hometown so well that you become an expert in making recommendations to your out-of-town guests as to what things to do there and what things to avoid. At the same time, being well acquainted with your city’s must-see attractions initiates you into a sort of club amongst the locals too, and you can actually end up feeling left out if you’ve not done them — hence our own family’s continued embarrassment of having never experienced Casa Bonita here in Denver.
4. Read the Local Paper
Most towns, even the small ones, have a local weekly newspaper. They’re often a touch boring and the writing sometimes leaves something to be desired, but they’re a treasure trove of the ins and outs of what’s going on in your community.
Be it information about volunteering, fun events and festivals on the calendar, restaurant openings, job listings, or simply news that might not be important to the larger region but sure is in your neck of the woods — the local newspaper is highly undervalued.
In the past, the little newspaper that lands on our driveway on Thursday mornings has been relegated to the firestarter pile without so much as a glance. But lately I’ve been making an effort to at least skim through it, and I sure feel that much more like a real local rather than a transient interloper.
5. Volunteer
If you remain a “consumer” within your city, you end up only seeing one “strata” of it — socially, geographically, and experientially. A great way to get more immersed in a place — to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the locations and institutions you might otherwise just use superficially or pass by altogether — is to volunteer.
Teaching at church, tutoring at a school, coaching your kids’ little league team, helping at a soup kitchen, sorting books at the local library (I do this and it’s great fun) . . . whatever it is, your town has needs, and you certainly have skills that can help fill those needs. Not only will you be providing a service, but you’ll see immense benefits yourself too. It’ll be impossible to not feel a greater sense of care and responsibility towards the place you live and towards the people you live near. At the same time, you’ll meet different kinds of people than you might otherwise rub shoulders with, as well as like-minded and equally passionate fellow volunteers who might become your good friends.
6. Be a Regular Somewhere
In our younger days, my wife and I liked to venture out to as many new places as we could — breweries, coffee shops, trails, etc. While some novelty is still fun and important to us, what’s held even greater reward has been in becoming regulars at some favorite local spots.
You’ll get to know people — both employees and regular patrons — and you’ll get to hear the scuttlebutt around town. When you frequent a place, you won’t mind paying the higher prices of independent shops and you’ll even come to tip more at restaurants and coffee shops because you genuinely care about the people whose livelihood depends on your business.
Beyond that, you’ll gain a special sense of belonging. When the barkeep or barista asks how your kids are doing and comps you a drink now and then, you’re conferred a certain status that can keep you powerfully rooted to the place you live. One of our greatest human desires is simply to be known; being a regular helps scratch that itch.
7. Find Other Ways to Meet People in Your Community
Many of these things — volunteering, frequenting a local shop, even having a regular walking route — will inherently help you meet people. But sometimes you just need to intentionally get out and see some local faces. Attend your neighborhood block parties (even when you don’t want to), sign up for the 5K happening downtown, chaperone a kids’ field trip if you’re able. There are so many things you can do to just get out there in meatspace.
And really, you don’t even have to make friends (right away, at least). Just knowing the faces in your community offers some sense of recognition and makes saying hi at the grocery store a little friendlier instead of a little awkward. Research says we come to like people out of sheer familiarity alone. There are plenty of people in our neighborhood who I wouldn’t consider good friends, but that I can recognize when out and about and have a friendly conversation with. It’s just another one of those things that helps me feel like I belong here — more rooted — and therefore increases my feeling of topophilia for this northwest suburb of Denver; though we were strangers when we met, the more I get to know her, the more I’ve come to love her.
Listen to our podcast with Melody Warnick about the art and science of loving where you live:
The post The Art of Topophilia: 7 Ways to Love the Place You Live appeared first on The Art of Manliness.
via The Art of Manliness http://bit.ly/2NeG3FZ
October 2, 2019 at 01:24AM
0 notes
Text
Top 10 Best Things About Denver
Top 10 Best Things About Denver
#1 The Weather in Denver
The first time I visited Denver it rained for 3 days straight and all the mountain views were shrouded in clouds! Somehow I still fell in love. After living here for 2 years I don’t think I have ever seen consecutive full days of rain.
When news got around that I was leaving New York for Denver, the reactions were heavily riddled with concern for the fierce weather. But, the 1870’s claim that Denver receives 300 days of sunshine was attractive to me! When we moved in during the first week of January, I remember thinking what a great stretch of weather for moving in! The weeks went on the same exact way and I was taking selfies in tank tops with disbelief. Truly, the weather here is refreshing! Denver gets more clear days than Miami and more hours of sunshine than San Diego and Tampa…raising the question, what really is “The Sunshine State”? Sunglasses are a must!
On the other hand we are the 6th driest city in America. I have found that no normal lotion, no regular lip balm, no hydrating shampoo will do the trick! I am talking about a dryness that when simply walking around and breathing the air makes you parched. I actually don’t mind it. It means being conscientious about drinking water and protecting your skin, nails, and hair. But honestly, the dryness is so much more comfortable and tolerable in the heat and in the cold.
Denver also has an incredibly dramatic and ever changing skyscape! The sky in Colorado actually is bluer because ofthe low humidity. But apart from the blue sunny skies, the mountains create their own weather, it is ever changing. Some patterns we see here in Denver are wave clouds, virga, and Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, which are known to exist at the boundaries of Earth’s magnetic environment and also within the atmospheres of Saturn & Jupiter. The sunsets are like no others I have ever seen. I have even witnessed a lightning storm at sunset. This is big sky country and out on the flat plains there are no trees to speak of and therefore 180 degree views of stars and planets.
And of course, there is the altitude. At a mile high, the air is thinner, which translates to less oxygen, more fatigue, dehydration, sun-exposure, magnified effects of alcohol, and being prepared for four seasons on any given day. You may need a coat in the morning, a raincoat around noon, a tank-top in the evening, and once the sun goes down the temperature drops quickly because of the low humidity. For example, 3 hours ago I walked to the store in shorts and flip-flops. An hour ago it was thunder and lightning. At this very moment, as I write, it is snowing! CRAZY! It’s best to dress in layers! Mountain weather is unpredictable, and storms pop up and move through quickly…almost every afternoon in mid-summer. As the saying goes, “If you don’t like the weather in Colorado, wait 5 minutes”!
For more on this topic see my personal blogpost “Storms”
#2 Denver is Walkable
I have never lived in a city before! The first few months learning my way around was an adventure! There is so much to do and see in downtown Denver.
Museums
Shopping
Art galleries
Opera
Live music shows
Classical music concerts
Comedy clubs
Performing arts center
City parks
Recreation centers
Zoo
Aquarium
Larimer Square
Hip RINO District (full of hipster types with outrageous mustaches)
The National Western Stock Show
REI flagship store complete with indoor climbing wall and tons of classes (it’s worth a visit if you’re in town for a short trip…it’s that cool)
…need I say more?
For the first year my husband and I often were troubled by our feet from all the walking until we became accustomed to it (and yes, we are those weird people who wear the shoe inserts. They save my life!) But there is something very satisfying to be able to leave my wheels behind and reduce my carbon footprint in exchange for health, well-being, and convenience! And whenever the destination is just a little too far, there is always public transportation or Uber!
youtube
#3 The Rocky Mountains
Though I have now adapted to being a city girl, the ONLY way that I can remain such is that Denver is so closely situated to the Rocky mountains. In 30 minutes I can be in a sparsely populated wilderness area and enjoy all the peace and quiet I could ever want. The mountains are home to big horn sheep, mountain goats, mountain lions, black bears, rattle snakes, raptors, foxes, moose, elk, coyotes, record-breaking trout, black widows, and rodents of all sorts. Colorado has close to 60 fourteeners, which means peaks of at least 14,000 feet. Daytrips could include:
Rocky Mountain National Park
hiking
cycling
climbing
fishing
snow-tubing
snow skiing
snow shoeing
camping
snowmobiling
dog-sledding,
zip-lining
ice-climbing
ice-fishing
rafting, canoeing
4-wheeling
Having greenspace close by is essential for city life in my opinion! People here embrace the outdoors and are active in all seasons. No wonder the facts say Colorado is the least obese state! It’s a contagious attitude! Meanwhile, everywhere you look from downtown Denver, the buildings frame a beautiful scene of snowcapped mountains and blue sky! It takes my breath away every day!
#4 The Denver Food Scene
Within 5 blocks of my house, there are two major grocery stores! That has been a game changer and I no longer stock up my freezer…instead I shop every day or two, picking whatever looks fresh. Every Saturday May-October there is a wonderful farmer’s market at Union Station featuring the best just-picked fruits and vegetables, eggs, local meats, cheeses, colorful flower bouquets, honey, coffee, and fermented goods. They also offer many enticing ready to eat delights such as hand held burritos and a porchetta sandwich made from slow-cooked garlic and herb pork belly served with blanched broccoli rabe and a tangy dressing, all on a delicious grilled ciabatta roll. The market has a great vibe, families come out with their dogs and children. It can be hot and busy…so I enjoy it most early in the mornings but it lasts until 2 pm.
Denver Union Station Farmer’s Market
Denver has a dense community of restaurants! Yelp says there are 202 restaurants within one mile from my home! 202!!! There are 377 Pho shops, and 1698 Mexican restaurants in Denver. With the population explosion of 77,000 new residents last year in Colorado, the pressure is on for competing restaurants to please the elevated pallets of foodie-type millennials moving in from out-of-state.
5280 Magazine reports: “Restaurants are closing that were good enough for a while, but now there are too many options”…says Symensma…”without innovation, relevance, and uniqueness it’s tough to stand out and survive.”
Thankfully, for connoisseurs, this means the bar is raised and we get better service, cooler atmospheres, and tastier food. One thing that is lacking in my opinion is that small-town feel…places where you can belly up to the bar and everybody knows your name and drink of choice to the point that we become friends and exchange numbers. I have found that elusive in Denver, and something I highly prize in my eating and drinking experience…I’m not sure Denver will ever be able to create that.
Another great thing about Denver is the food truck scene! Three times a week May-October almost seventy local food trucks gather to Civic Center Park creating a festive mid-week lunching experience! It is a unique phenomenon that I have never witnessed anywhere else. You can join in on a free workout with a professional trainer in the shade of the trees and walk a few meters into an eating frenzy like no other!
Last but not least there is kitschy Casa Bonita, as seen on a South Park episode and said to be the “Disneyland of Mexican restaurants”! You can dine on the worst Mexican food while surrounded by tacky décor and watch really bad acting shows and cliff divers that jump into the indoor waterfall. There is also fire, magic, puppets, and a pirate cave! It is so bad that it is good…and a must-see for Denver visitors with kids.
#5 Denver Communal Spaces
There is a wonderful trend in Denver for shared spaces.
Union Station
Avanti Food & Beverage
The Source
Denver Central Market
Avanti Food & Beverage
Stanley Marketplace
Zeppelin Station.
From train station to shipping containers, former airplane hangars, and warehouses…a mix of part food hall, drinkery, retail shopping, and shared office space…I love these places! If you feel lonely or isolated, hanging out in one of these lively buzzing market halls will give you the shot in the arm of belonging that you crave. And though many will be shocked with disbelief that I have left legalized pot off of this top 10 list…an equally gripping habit of coffee culture as a social lubricant and a widely consumed stimulant is very real here in Denver. All of these moving parts provide great networking opportunities and everything you need for an alternative work place, including beverages, like-minded people, and USB outlets…so if you work from home and are tired of the same old four walls…get out there and communalize!
#6 The Beer
A good friend planning a visit from the east coast said she wanted to check the breweries in the area and wanted to know if they were close by. My response was there is one on every street corner…google says around 20 within a mile and 643 in Denver!
Some of my faves:
Great Divide
Ratio
Black Shirt
Our Mutual Friend
Denver Beer Co
New Belgium
Lefthand out of Longmont
Every Saturday evening and also the first Friday evening of every month Drink RINO sponsors free eTuks to this neighborhood offering ease of access to many of the top area breweries without having to drive…WIN-WIN! And of course there is the quintessential Coors, the largest single brewery facility in the world which offers a 30-minute self-paced tour and free tasting.
#7 Red Rocks
Red Rocks Amphitheater
I have never been to so many concerts in my life. I don’t know if it’s the ease of access to them, or the beautiful venues available in Denver like Red Rocks, or if there are just more good bands passing through town. There is nothing that quite compares with driving 30 minutes out of downtown Denver, passing through the suburbs, and driving within sight range of this beautiful, natural landscape of protected lands, open fields, and this gorgeous red-orange angled rock formation jutting out, forming an open-air amphitheater with ideal, natural-occurring acoustics. In the back drop you can see the Denver city skyline. It’s just an awe inspiring place to experience artists like no other. If you haven’t been…you need to try it.
The climb up to the amphitheater from the parking areas is not for the faint of heart. It can be a trek! There are some convenient shuttle services from a couple of locations in Denver that provide a safe and stress-free alternative to driving. They usually include some sort of pre-concert special offering from a local restaurant and they permit you to bring your own beverages to tailgate with as long as it’s not glass.
Besides concerts, there are many other fun things to do at Red Rocks including miles of hiking trails, picnicking, yoga & exercise for fitness, fossil exploration, and full length movies projected onto the rock.
# 8 Green Chile
Why are so many of my favorite things about Denver food related? I moved to Denver from New York. When we eat chili it’s usually while camping or tailgating…it’s fall weather food. Our east-coast chili is rich and beefy and red. It’s spicy, has beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, ground beef, lots and lots of chili powder, cumin, and we top it with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onion. When you say chile in Colorado, it means “green chile”! We even spell it differently here in the west! These chiles come from New Mexico in many varieties but one of my favorites is the Hatch variety, grown in the Hatch Valley. Chile stands pop up beside the streets of Denver during late summer and into fall. You typically order them by the bushel and wait as they are freshly fire-roasted right in front of you, releasing a smoky, earthy flavor that permeates the air! From this state they are frequently eaten as-is, frozen for year-round use, or commonly we make pork based green chile which is used as a tasty dipping sauce, over eggs, mac-n-cheese, and to smother burritos or french fries. YUM!
#9 Team Loyalty
youtube
Whether it’s professional football, baseball, hockey, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, or rugby…Denverites love to support their sports teams. On any given game day they come out in droves! After moving here two years ago and already having my own favorite team, I felt the pressure to convert to become a Denver fan…or I might as well move back to New York. I became a Denver resident in January 2016, the year the Broncos won the superbowl. The homecoming parade was INSANE! I think every business closed down…because the streets were a sea of over a million fans decked out in orange flooded the city to show their loyalty to their beloved team. It’s an infectious zeal, one that makes a united community…and you just want to be a part of it. And though, I am not quite to that level yet, I respect and admire the Denver fans.
#10 DOGS DOGS DOGS
Last but not least, I happen to love dogs and so does everyone else here in Denver. It’s a very dog-friendly town. Everywhere you look people are out and about with man’s best friend. Dogs are eagerly welcomed most places that humans are. For example, one night we met up with friends at a local brewery and when we stepped inside there were no less than 20 dogs inside laying at their owners feet, making new friends, lapping up spilled beer while everyone around benefits from that “zen” factor that dogs can be the source of. It’s no secret that dogs decrease stress, promote relaxation, influence social and emotional development, and encourage an active lifestyle. What’s not to love about that!
I hope you have enjoyed my long-winded storytelling journey and slice of life from here in Denver…now come visit!
from Blog https://ondenver.com/top-10-best-things-about-denver/
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
