#I owe a lot to DE honestly.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Detectives at the Disco (Elysium)

#disco elysium #kim kitsuragi #harry du bois #“Hail holy queen of the sea -- You're whirling in rags -- You're vast and you're sad.” #I have been taken back by the disco fever and I wanted to draw these guys now that I can...y'know...draw. #I owe a lot to DE honestly. #If it were not for yagrandmapeach's daily disco elysium comics this blog would have never existed. #The idea that I could do lighthearted daily doodles made art feel possible and approachable. That fun was most important! #I was so inspired by their fun style and goofs! I loved the pen on paper look and their stylizations! #I'm still really inspired by them to this day! Peach if you're out there (unlikely)...Thank you for all the art you have shared. #To those who are considering giving DE a try: please be aware of it's many content warnings. #It is dark but also so extremely full of hope and love!!! #it's a murder mystery where you think you're supposed to be finding the culprit but you end up finding....yourself. #Also it has Kim Kitsuragi. The best companion you will ever have in a video game. #And it lets you dress up a stinky old man in whatever clothes he finds lying around. It's great.

[evilminji]

You know what? I just had A Thought(tm)~☆

Danny. Our bby boy. MINDING HIS BUSINESS. Maybe visiting one of his buddies in the Realms after he graduates. When he just?? Get full on tackled from the sky.

And like?

Huh.

THIS hasn't happened in a bit. Not since he's become king. Legit, no one dares. He's honestly kinda missed it. Alright, square up... Mr. Uuuuuh.... Who are you?

And it's this barely formed New Ghost. Still in that glitch-y goopy blob phase and everything. Is Baby. Why... why does this infant Want To Fight God? I mean. He Respects It(tm), no lie, but? Not exactly usual for him?

And it turns out? This dude is some rando hero. He basicly JUST died. By all rights SHOULD be resting and gathering his strength to Form Right. But he's so worried for his team mates and everyone else he CAN'T. Recognized a fellow Hero's Costume even at a distance.

Please. PLEASE! You have to help him! We have to WARN everybody!

And Danny is just? Oh no. This Actual Infant Baby is gonna Anxiety himself to Actual Second Death at this rate. Yes! Sure! Just CALM DOWN! Anything you need buddy! BREATHE.

And this dude? Who died? Is legit a minor player who got WAY too deep but refused to abandoned People In Need(tm). It happens. It HURTS. But he saved a LOT of lives before he went down. Him and his team were just some Minor Heros from Belarus. How they ended up in deep space? Even THEY couldn't tell you.

They couldn't even bring him home.

He forgives them.

He could NEVER blame his friends. Not for this. The planet is in danger. Some... some THING. An invasion. The League has to be made aware. He DIED helping a planet try to evacuate all that they could. He... at least he...

He can't remember if the Eggs got out. They... they're like babies. A whole room full of toddlers who couldn't run. They had to de-connect from the main building to lift it out. He can't... can't...

He saved them... right? Held on.. long enough? Why can't he.. he...

Danny has to make him focus be for the kid spirals. Don't think of your last moments. Purpose. You NEED to do something right now, right?

Right! The League! We gotta warn them! And... okay. Danny can totally do that. (What LEAGUE??!) He DEFINITELY knows who you are talking about and will tell them Right Away. YOU however are gonna rest up.

So he leaves the kiddo with Lunch Lady. Mother and Frightening Matriarch Extraordinaire. Lunch Box promises to SIT on him if he tries to sneak off. Good kid. Now eat your soup before you BECOME soup.

Time to bully the eyeballs. Whoms't the F*ck is this "league"? And where does he find it? Talk. He has sand and he's not afraid to use it. Don't MAKE him get out the pepper grinder! Yeah. That's what he THOUGHT.

After much, prolonged and unnecessary, whining and dramatic threatening... he gets a printed out map. Cheapskates even used flimsy paper. He gets there. Jaunt is even kinda nice. He says hi to a few folks he hasn't seen in a while.

Opens a portal.

Steps out.

Gets punched in the face. RUDE! He punches the flying blue man back. Dents their wall. Not even a LITTLE sorry about that now! See if HE does you a favor aga-... is that his Ex? John?

John! Constantine you B@STARD. YOU OWE ME 20 BUCKS. *Ten different hands slap a twenty on the table at his feet, including Constantine. Who is refusing to look at anybody.* Well, okay then. Debt payed. Gonna buy himself a shake or something, after this.

ANYWAY~ Good News Or Bad News?

He is met with silence. It's like they've never seen an ethereal, giant, glowing man with a suit that looks like a cut out of the night sky, step out of an eye searing rip in reality before. Man they're lives must be boring. But frankly? Danny can wait. It's not HIS reality that's gonna get messed up. He can take care of it if the wanna be Wah Babies. Good News or Bad News??? Pick one.

He sits back in the air and waits.

@stealingyourbones @cyrwrites

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp prompt #Message From Beyond AU #danny totally showed up mid-meeting #yes superman is mildly concussed #to be fair though #Kryptonians get the spookies around ghosts Super Easy #he panicked OKAY #Constantine gets around #this is actually the most amicable Ex hes run into in a while #wanna hook up in a closet? #john no they say #john YES he informs them

[spiderfreedom]

I honestly owe detrans people, and especially detrans women, so much, because reading about their experiences has taught me a lot about... well, everything? About myself and my own trauma re: femaleness, autism. About the factors that lead people to transition. About resilience and moving forward and making a life for yourself in a world where there's no space for you.

Some of my favorite writings from detrans people:

somenuancepls (Michelle Alava, active on substack) has multiple great posts, especially on resilience and growth for detrans people. I recommend "Actually I was just crazy the whole time" (on the mindset that leads medical transition to be viewed as a panacea), "We Shouldn't Have to Be Here" (on how detrans people are expected to act as martyrs) and "Let's Talk About How We Talk About Detransition" (on how to ethically and compassionately talk about transition and detransition without harming (de)/transitioners).

destroyyourbinder (no longer active) has so many amazing posts that I really can't list them all, but "Unriddling the Sphinx: Autism and the Magnetism of Gender Transition" was genuinely revelatory for me as a gender non-conforming autistic woman. (It also kinda sent me spiraling for a few days so if you are also an autistic gnc, read with caution)

funkypsyche has been writing a lot about 'woke' culture in a way I don't agree with, but "The Archetypal FTM Sensitive, Quirky, Artistic Weird Girls" (on the type of people attracted to transmasc identification and the ways society fails them - do you see also see yourself in this list?) is a good read. As a supplement, there is "The History of Tumblr: Gender and Woke Indoctrination, Video Essay", and if you can get through the parts about, well, 'woke indoctrination', it provides a perspective on tumblr and its relationship to mental illness and gender. You do not realize how much mental illness is normalized and glorified on tumblr until you see someone explaining it from the outside and you go "huh, I did not realize that happens and that I do that, too..."

Max Robinson wrote "Detransition: Beyond, Before, and After", the only academic text on detransition to my knowledge. An in depth view on factors influencing transition such as lesbophobia, and the relationship between gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia and how the latter is treated as frivolous and vain while the former is treated as profound and serious.

And there are a lot of tweets I've collected I can't really link here, there are many detransitioners on Twitter. I really do recommend reading a broad variety of detransitioned people, detrans women and men. Even read people who retrans like CrashChaosChats, who once wrote on detransition but then retransitioned after finding that she was unable to deal with dysphoria. If you actually care about dysphoric people, trans people, and detrans people, you need to read broadly to understand the full range of reasons people transition or detransition or retransition.

Feel free to reblog with your additions of writings by detrans people, or people you follow on Twitter or other social media if they don't have long-form content.

#mypost #detransition #detrans women #radical feminism #300 notes tag

[yermes]

PAC: ❄️ 

Deinfluence your life and practice

I am a hypocrite. Me buying a vintage moomin shirt before I do a reading on deinfluencing magic and living. First of all I am HUGE on buying cute and pretty things because you like cute and pretty things but I think since theres so many cute and pretty things on the pump and dump being made unethical and contributing to waste we may need to think about what, how, and where we buy (IF YOU HAVE THE RESOURCES TO DO SO)

Disclaimer: please take what I say with a grain of salt and not as the gospel. I just want to share some ideas of practicing and giving advice using the medium as often as I can with school, work, and my own personal studies and practice.I was going to record Prometheus Rising today but I am so awfully tired I am going to do it early Saturday morning Instead. Sorry for the delay posting my tumblr was not working! Liking and sharing does a lot 🥰

Socials: TipJar | Follow me!

Pick a meme

1 2 3

The cards

Mice + Bouquet 💐 🐁 

You don’t have to bend over backwards, be nice, or be gracious in every situation. The more you sacrifice your self respect for the betterment of someone else the more that it eats away at you causes more and more stress and makes it harder and harder to be genuinely kinder to yourself. Stop eating the lies that you owe people kindness and understanding especially in relation to YOUR life and YOUR practice.

Coffin + Tower ⚰️ 🏰 

I know boycotting some businesses and establishments can be hard but honestly if they’re not serving you and you can get yourself a better product why not do that? You don’t even have to de glamorize the experience of it either. But you should look at the companies that you support currently and see if they actually suit your needs, wants, and personal morality.

Ring + The Lady 💍 👠

You don’t need big friend groups with empty ass people who serve you nothing. You need friends and relationships who ACTUALLY LOVE AND CARE FOR YOU. If they do not reciprocate your love its time to downsize. Do not let people who don’t care about you make decisions for you or claim importance in your life. This also refers to covens too.

Extras: 🛌

Story/vent:

I am so sleepy.

#suitlifeofgerm #askgerm #pick a card #daily card #pick a picture #germ reads #shadow work #tarotoftheday #pac #cartomancy #lenormand deck #lenormand #tarot community #tarot deck #tarot blog #tarot witch #free tarot #tarot spread #daily tarot #tarot reading #tarot cards #tarot #tarot spreads #tarotblr #tarotcommunity #pick a reading #divination #daily card pull #pick a photo #pick a image

[in-death-we-fall]

The Ultimate Rockstar Test

This week: Joey Jordison, Slipknot/Murderdolls

Bands like to think they’re badass, but who’s truly the most rock’n’roll of them all? We test them and find out who’s top of the class for chaos!

Words: John Longbottom

(drive link)(Wednesday's Rockstar Test)

Have you ever broken an instrument in anger? “Absolutely! One time was when I was playing with the Murderdolls in Glasgow. We got to the end of Let’s Go To War and my guitar was short-circuiting, so I took it off and I smashed it really hard on the floor and then picked it up and threw it across the stage. The neck snapped off as soon as it landed and I immediately just thought, ‘Fuck, I really wish I hadn’t done that!’ My guitar tech ended up fixing the fucker for me, so it all ended up okay!” Bet it looked cool at the time, though. You owe your tech some crisps. Pass ✔

What’s been your most diva-ish rider request? “Slipknot try to keep our tour riders to a minimum. Most bands ask for complete shit and then they don’t even use half of it. Here’s what a band wants; they want booze, tea, water and enough food to feed everybody. That’s basically it. Slipknot always asks for loads of disinfectant for our overalls. All the sweat combines when you’re playing and sometimes if we have two shows back to back we can’t get them cleaned properly, so we have to wear our sweaty suits from the night before. It’s fucking gross climbing back into those things sometimes, I can tell you! Oh yeah, and we need wet wipes to get all of the greasepaint off our faces.” We were expecting some goat heads on the rider. But wet wipes? Fail ✘

Have you ever had a run-in with the law? “Let’s just say I shouldn’t have been driving. I went to jail for the night. I do regret it but everybody has to go to jail at least once in their lives! Honestly, I can’t remember much about it, I was too fucked-up to remember anything! That made the whole situation a lot easier, I guess.” If you shouldn’t have been driving, the police were right. Fail ✘

When was the last time you threw a punch? “A while ago. I used to be a bit of a fighter in the early Slipknot days; we all did! We’d get in big fights with other bands. In 1995-’97 we were basically in an all-out war with everybody – that whole time in our lives we were all fucking crazy. We’d play shows and drink and get in fights – we didn’t take shit from anybody and we still don’t. Looking back on that whole era, I just can’t believe some of the fights we used to get into!” Now that’s more like what we wanted. Pass ✔

Have you ever trashed a hotel room? “No! I don’t do that kind of shit; it’s childish. I think most people just do it to say that they’ve done it. I don’t need to do that – I’m respectful. It’s peoples’ jobs to take care of that stuff, to clean up those hotel rooms. I’m not juvenile enough to just fuck their day up just for the sake of it!” Ooh, I’m in the world’s scariest band and I’m really considerate. Fail ✘

What’s been the most extravagant thing you’ve ever bought? “That would definitely have to be my house. It’s in Des Moines, Iowa, and it’s a very nice house – not a completely crazy mansion like some MTV Cribs shit, but a very sweet house. It looks very proper from the outside, but inside it’s very gothic-looking. You walk in the front door and you’re in a fucking different dimension. You could be out in the blazing sunlight, but step into my house and close the door behind you and you’re in the chamber. You won’t even know what time it is in there – I don’t have any clocks in my house! There are cobwebs painted on the walls – it’s very, very cool.” We think that’s, ahem, time for another pass, then ✔

Joey scored 75% Something is very, very wrong here. We once saw the Slipknot drummer do a toilet on the street outside his bus to prove how rock’n’roll he was. That version of Joey Jordison must have been taking the day off, because this is a pretty disappointing score. He’s better – or at least, more unhinged – than this.

2013 Leaderboard ↑Perry Farrell, Jane’s Addiction - 98% Cronos, Venom - 92% Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe - 91% ↓Devin Townsend - 12%

#joey jordison #slipknot #murderdolls #interview #at least kerrang doesn't condone drunk driving

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1183: The Ex King and The Glamorous Succubus (Super Smash Bros Ultimate X Darkstalkers)

9:34 a.m. at the Smash Town.......

Cloud: (Yawns a Bit While Driving a Silver Segway on the Sidewalk) Okay, It's not nearly fast as Fenrir back home, but I don't mind it honestly. This is nice. (Turns to his Passanger Behind Him) You enjoying the ride back there, Tif?

Tifa: (Playful Salutes to Cloud While Holding onto Him From Behind) Indeed I am, Captain Handsome!~

Cloud: ('Groans a Bit') You mind not calling me that throughout this trip?

Tifa: (Starts Pouting) And why not? You are the captain of this joyride, you know? (Leans Over to Close With a Very Seductive Smirk on her Face) And a very dashing looking one at that~ (Gives Cloud a Kiss on the Cheek)

Cloud: (Gently Boops at Tifa's Nose) Hey-ey-ey, hey, no cute, loving affections until this ride is over. (Turns Back to the Sidewalk Road) You'll distract the driver if you keep doing that.

Tifa: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fiiiine, I'll put it on hold for now. (Playfully Pokes on Cloud's Cheek) Just know that you now owe me a lot of kisses after this, mister.

Cloud: (Playfully Rolls his Eyes a Bit) Don't worry. I won't forget.

Tifa: Better not. Though, I gotta ask: What made you wanna take drive us around on your segway in the first place?

Cliud: (Simply Shrugs) I never got the chance to test drive this thing since De gave it to me for Christmas back at New Donk City months ago, so I figured now would be an opportunity to do. Also, I....(Starts Rubbing The Back of his Head Back and Forth While Blushing) Brought you here with me cause.....I want or whatever.

Tifa: (Smirks Again) And because you love me?~

Cloud: ('Sighs in Defeat') And because I love you......

?????: Cloud! Tifa!

Cloud stops driving his segway as he and Tifa both look up to see the Former King of Dreamland, Dedede, calling for them while pushing his custom Wheelie Cycle in front of them.

Dedede: What y'all doing out here?

Tifa: (Smiles Brightly at Dedede) Morning, De!~ Cloud was taking me on a morning joyride~

Dedede: (Raises an Eyebrow in Confusion) On a segway??

Cloud: Yep. Figured I finally take it for a spin for the day. Liking it so far by the way.

Dedede: (Smiles Brightly) Heh-Hey, my man! That's good to hear! I'm glad y'all having better luck out here than I am right now, that's for sure.

Cloud: (Raises an Eyebrow in a Bit of Confusion) Why you say that?

Tifa: (Starts Getting A Tad Bit Concerned) Did your Wheelie broke down or something?

Dedede: ('Sighs Heavily') Yeah, it did......And right at in the MIDDLE of the damn road too! I was....(Points Cloud and Tifa Forward) Alllllllll the way over there when it first happened, had to run for my life the moment I saw traffic coming in from all sides. Now look at me: my feet is aching, I'm all sweaty and tired....(Starts Hearing his Stomach Growling) And now I'm hungry. Right on cue too.

Cloud: Not for long. (Points Dedede to a Breakfast Dine-In in Front of the Three of Them)

Dedede: ('Sighs in Pure Relief') Oh thank you Lady Palutena, I don't have to search all around town.....(Grabs his Chin While Thinking) But do I have enough money for it though?

Tifa: Mind if we tag along and pay it with you?

Cloud: (Turns Back to Tifa) You wanna eat already?

Tifa: (Turns to Cloud) I feel like now would be the perfect to do so, you know? Plus, I'm pretty sure you need to eat the most considering all the driving you did.

Cloud: (Crosses his Arms) Pass. I don't get hungry as easily as you two- (Eyes Widened as He Suddenly Hears his Stomach Growling Very Loudly)

Tifa: (Giggles Softly)

Dedede: (Raises an Eyebrow While Smirking) You were sayin'?

Cloud: (Sighs While Facepalming Himself) Let's just go in the damn dine-in already......

Minutes Later at the Breakfast Dine-In.......

Dedede: Man...(Starts Eating his Food While Speaking) I dunno what y'all are about. ('Mm.') I can look after myself just fine!

Cloud: (Already Has a Deadpinned Look on his Face While Sitting Next to Tifa in their Table) Quit talking with your mouthful, De.....

Tifa: (Already Has. Worried Yet Firm Glare on her Face) We know you can take of yourself, your majesty. Truly. But you can't be too careless around that Morrigan chick. Not even for a millisecond!

Dedede: Okay, now you're being little dramatic. (Finally Swallows the Food He Was Eating) Y'all seem to like her little sister just fine.

Cloud: That's because we got to know her more in person as more time passes. We barely met the woman and the only thing we know about so far is that she uses her charms to take advantage of any new prey she encounters.

?????: Ohhh my!~ (Giggles Softly)

Cloud: ('Sigh') And speaking of which.......

The trio turn their attention towards a waitress with long, teal hair walking towards their table while swaying her hips from side to side.

??????: Are those three familiar faces I see before me?~ (Smirks Very Seductively at Dedede in Particular) And a very handsome former king happens to be one of them?~

Dedede: (Immediately Recognizes the Woman in Front of Him) Morrigan! (Clears his Throat Before Taking Off his Helmet and Flips his Hair Around Before Smirking Back at the Succubus) 'Sup, baby. Didn't know you were working here.

Morrigan: Yes, it's one of my many part-time jobs I've been taking as of late. The trips to runway shows aren't exactly cheap, you know? What brings you here in this fine establishment?~

Dedede: Oh you know? Just having breakfast with pals, chattin', thinking about you- (Immediately Corrects Himself) I-I-I mean! Thinking about how.....good you look in that.....waitress dress of....yours? (Forms an Awkward Grin on his Face)

Cloud: Smooth.

Morrigan: (Giggles Some More) Ohohohoho my!~ You are such a sweethearted man, dear~ I thought about you as well.

Dedede: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise) about have?

Cloud/Tifa: (Equally as Surprised as Dedede) You have?

Morrigan: (Happily Nodded) That's right~ I had a nice time talking to you at the mall on that night. It was such a shame that it was cut so short at the time.

Dedede: (Starts Rubbing The Back of his Head Back and Forth) Yeah, sorry about that. Had to continue lookin' out for the family and whatnot.

Morrigan: That's quite alright, dear. Family is most important in the globe after all. (Starts Writing Something Down on her Pad) Though, I do hope we could make up for loss times one of these days. (Rip a Paper Out and Give it To Dedede)

Dedede: (Looks Down at the Paper in Front of Him) Wait a second......(Eyes Widened at the Realization) You're giving me your phone number!?

Tifa: ('Gasps')

Cloud: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Shock) Holy shit.

Morrigan: (Giggles Some More) Goodness!~ Is it really that surprising that I'm giving you my number?~

Dedede: Considering my long, embarrassing history in the dating scene, I'mma hafta say so, woman!

Morrigan: (Giggles Yet Again) Well, surprise!~ I want to know more about you, your majesty-

From the Back: OI! WAITRESS! FOOD'S READY TO BE SERVED!!!

Morrigan: ('Sigh') Atlas....It seems our lovely chit-chat will have to be cut short. Again.

Dedede: You want me to write my number to you just in case?

Morrigan: No need. I'm already wasting enough time as it is. (Smiles Softly) But please, do text me once my shaft is over in the afternoon. I'll be sure to give you my much needed attention soon enough~ (Makes a Kiss Sound Before Leaving and Waving Goodbye to Dedede) Cio, for now, Former King Dedede~ Ohohohohohoho!~

Dedede looks back at the paper: the very first time he has ever received a phone number from a very pretty lady, since......forever. The offer was so amazing that it causes him to form a big Grin on his face and start laughing wholeheartedly until....

'A-HEM'

The former king turns to see the couple in front of him. One his pouting at him and the other still has a deadpinned look on his face.

Dedede: Y'all still worried about me, aren't ya?

Cloud: I'm more surprised if anything. And slightly proud of you, actually- (Felt Tifa's Bumping His) But yeah. We're still worried.

Tifa: (Simply Nodded) Mmhmm.

Dedede: (Sighs Before Placing his Hand on his Chest While Raising the Other One Up) Look, I promise and swear that I'll be cautious around her going forward

Tifa: (Pulls Out her Pinky) Pinky Promise?

Dedede: Girl, I don't have a pinky. (Takes Off his Glove, Revealing his Fingerless Hand) See?

Tifa: Oh. Right. Well.....We'll just form a promise hug and it could NEVER be broken. Ever. Cloud, get in on this too. This is group effort.

Cloud: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fiiine......Bring it in. (Gets Pulled into a Group Hug Before Noticing Something Outside) Uhh....De. Don't panic, but......It looks like your Wheelie is getting towed away.

Dedede: WHAT!?

Dedede immediately got up from his seat and rushes himself out the door with Cloud abd Tifa following behind.

'Door Opens'

Dedede: NOOOOO! (Got Down on his Knees and Watches in Despair as his One and Only Wheelie is Being Towed Away) I was going to fix it all over again too damnit!! Now, how else am I gonna get home!?

Tifa: Welllllllll

Eventually..............

Cloud: (Sighs While Driving the Segway Very Slowly Now that Dedede is Riding on Tifa's Shoulders) Not the outcome I was expecting, but whatever.

Dedede: (Looks Down at Tifa) You sure I ain't too heavy on ya, Tif?

Tifa: (Smiles at Dedede Reassuring) Positive. I have carried lots of heavier stuff on my shoulders the past after all. Though, I do hope you know that this means that you will have to come back to our training session starting this week, right?

Dedede: ('Sigh') Yeah, I know.

@bestpony666

@cyber-wildcat

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@caleb13frede

@theweebmaster31

#super smash ultimate #darkstalkers #final fantasy 7 #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #king dedede #morrigan aensland #segway ride #cute romance #humor #fluff #cloud x tifa #dedede x morrigan (?) #edited

[humblequestvinyl]

DETOUR

DETOUR, JJ MAYBANK X FEM!READER

APART OF THE HUMBLE QUEST SERIES

SUMMARY: after moving a couple hundred miles, dealing with a few bad ex’s and going off of the road that’s most traveled on, y/n realizes its the detour that brought her to the one person she loved the most.

inspired by detour by maren morris

warnings: swearing, underage drinking, death of a loved one, depression, anxiety, literal tooth rotting fluff its going to be bad.

lowercase is intentional!! word count: 1.6k

a/n: somebody tell me why this took me three months to write because i am so lazy hello??? also this was kind've fun for me to write. + stream humble quest: in rare form!!!

NEVER IN Y/N’S RIGHT MIND DID SHE THINK THAT MOVING 1,021.3 MILES AWAY FROM THE ABSOLUTE BITTER COLD, TO ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR TOURIST TOWNS WOULD DO HER ANY GOOD.

when the h/c girl moved away from forest city maine in the middle of january, she brought two distinct things with her.

the bitter bitter cold

the thick canadian accent that was attached to her.

the day the girl arrived, it was 20 degrees out, (a rarity for outerbanks), with it feeling like 10 degrees because of the windchill. 

to say the least, the pogues were confused and pissed about the cold.

“who’s moving in with jack?”jj asked as he stood outside with john b, kie and pope, all four shivering to death.

“no clue, but i’m sure you’ll find out on monday.”john b cupped jj’s shoulder, giving him a grin, before they saw a h/c girl storm out of jacks house, with him following behind her.

“putain je ne veux pas être ici ! pourquoi emmy et toi ne pourriez-vous pas vivre tout seul à forest city!”the girl yelled, catching all the pogues off guard, not expecting that from her.

“parce que tu as moins de 18 ans et si tu n'étais pas venu vivre avec emmy ou moi, l'état t'aurait pris!”jack yelled back, and jj turned to pope, with a puzzling look on his face, “pope what are they speaking?”

“they’re speaking french!”

all the pogues looked to their left, seeing sarah walking towards them, and john b furrowed his eyebrows, “how did-?”

“taylor swift.”she cut him off, before she stood next to the group, watching the entire scene unfold, with the two arguing back in forth in french.

“Va te faire foutre!”the girl finally yelled, before storming off inside, and the five saw jack sigh, before he turned and saw the pogues.

“oh shit.”john b stated as they saw jack walking over to the group, and to say the least, the 26 year old looked stressed.

“so, whos that?”jj asked bluntly, causing kie to smack him upside the head.

“jj!”

“ow!”

jack chuckled, before pushing away the stray hairs from my face, “that's my sister.”

“and she’s from france?”jj questioned, causing john b to chuckle, and jack to laugh, “no. on the border of maine and canada.”

“that explains a lot.”

“do you guys just mind keeping an eye out for her at school?”jack brought up, trying to read the look on the pogues faces, “i’m honestly worried about her and don’t need her getting suspended.”

“yeah, shes going to need a tour guide right?”kie asked, and jack nodded before she looked over at sarah, “yeah, we’ve got her.”

“thank you guys.”jack said, before the six heard a door slam, and the h/c walked out of the house, 

“jack!”

—-

“YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW.”

y/n turned her head to look at her brother who sat in the drivers seat as they sat outside of outer banks high school, waiting to go inside.

“is this some kind’ve joke?”she asked, with her thick french canadian accent peaking through, and jack gave her a stern look, “i have already told you i’m doing online school. i already paid for it.”

“and i told you that if you were going to be with me in outer banks, you were going to high school.”jack reminded her, causing her to roll her e/c eyes, “i cannot have you being at the house right now during the day while i’m out at work.”

“un - fucking - believable.”she muttered, before exiting the car after seeing it was 9 am, “putain de trou du cul.”

“i heard that.”jack told her as the two entered the school, and the 16 year old was not amused.

after getting the girl settled, jack had left, leaving y/n alone sitting across from the school’s principal, “you’re going to love it here y/n.” the girl bit her tongue from saying what she actually wanted to, and instead forced a smile before nodding, wanting nothing more than to go into the bathrooms and hide out for the rest of the day.

“i’m going to have someone whos in a few of your classes come and give you a tour of the school!”dr.folk exclaimed, before leaving her office for a moment and bringing back a gorgeous girl who had a bright smile on her face.

“y/n, this is kiara! shes going to be in most of your classes and giving you a tour of the school today!”dr.folk explained excitedly, before handing y/n her schedule, “alright! off you go girls!”

the two walked out of the office, and y/n looked to see how far they had walked before finally speaking up, “is she always like that?”

“yeah.”kiara chuckled as they turned down a different hallway, “you can call me kie by the way.”

“alright.”she nodded, before kie had started to give a tour of the school, pointing out everything she would need to know.

“and this is your class.”kie gave y/n a smile as they stopped outside of the history room, “i’ll come find you before lunch and we can hang there.”

“thanks kie.”y/n waved towards the girl, before walking in, seeing the entire class staring at her.

this was going to be fun.

—

“NOW WHO’S THIS?”

y/n’s head snapped towards the front of the table, seeing a blonde boy standing at the head of the table, causing kie to roll her eyes and smack hin, “this is y/n, now will you stop trying to be intimidating?”

“the french girl herself?”he questioned as he sat down next to the new girl, and y/n raised an eyebrow at him, “how did you-?”

“Va te faire foutre!”he imitated her accent, and her jaw dropped, “you know, you’re very loud.”

“connasse.”y/n muttered under her breath, causing kie to laugh, knowing that the girl had taught her what that meant only minutes before.

“what was that?”jj questioned, and y/n forced a smile as she took a sip of her starbucks drink.

“i said you had beautiful eyes.”she lied, seeing other people join the table, and jj scoffed.

“mhm. keep telling yourself that babes.”

—

FOUR ENTIRE MONTHS HAD PASSED, AND ALMOST EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED.

y/n had become one of the pogues, and spent almost all of her time with them, and when she wasn’t, she was working at the wreck which the pogues would visit often because of both her and kie.

on this day though, all the pogues were sitting on the beach, except for jj and y/n, who were out in the water, surfing.

well, trying to at least.

“babes your balance is off, that's why you keep falling whenever the waves come.”jj told the girl who was becoming more frustrated by the second.

jj had finally convinced y/n to let him teach her how to surf, and here they were, and she was getting frustrated after not getting the handle of it yet.

“it makes no sense though! i was fine on the sand!”she exclaimed as the two hung onto the board, taking a minute to catch their breath and figure out where she was going wrong.

“do you want me to do it with you?”jj questioned after a few moments, and y/n nodded, before the two got up onto the board, and waited for a wave to come in.

“other than your balance you’re doing good. do not beat yourself up over this.”jj told the girl, know how hard she was on herself all the time, “it’s your first time doing this. remember that.”

surprisingly, within the four months jj and y/n had grown extremely close, and jj was one of the only two people who had gotten through to her, hell he was the only one who was able to get through to her that was alive.

“alright, ready?”jj asked, and she nodded before they started towards a wave, trying to think positive, knowing her mom always said to think positive, and good things would happen.

the two caught the wave, and y/n’s face lit up, knowing she had finally gotten the hang of it, and all of the pogues cheered, “i got it!”

“i did it!”she cheered as the two reached the edge of the sand, “i did it!” 

“you did it babes.”jj chuckled as she leaped into his arms, filled with joy and how proud she was of herself.

it took her almost 17 years, a couple of detours, but she realized in that moment she found her person. the one she could go to no matter what, and the one who knew everything about her. the highs, the lows, how to deal with her when she went on an angry tangent in french, and how to pick her up during some of the worst days of her life.

jj was that person for her, and even though it took her a few detours to get to him, she didn’t mind it.

as long as she get to be his, she didn’t mind a detour.

#jj maybank x reader #humble quest #outer banks #obx angst #john b #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x routledge!reader #jj maybank x y/n #pogues x reader #maren morris #jj maybank x you #obx jj maybank #obx jj x reader #obx netflix #obx fanfiction #jj maybank one shot #outer banks fanfiction #jj maybank angst #sarah cameron #kiara carrera #pope heyward #jj outer banks #pope outer banks #john b routledge #john b obx #john b x sister!reader #sarah cameron obx #kiara carerra obx #humble quest writing series

[aluminescent]

Illuminate Book 2 Status + Fic Recs

Hi All! I know it's been pretty quiet on my end, and we're getting to the end of 2023 to soon traverse into 2024. That begs the question: Where are does Part 2 of Illuminate stand?

Well to reassure you, this is a positive post to say that there is definitely a continuation in the works. I'm more desirous than ever to post book two (title still undecided!), and every time I'm listening to a podcast or podfic/fic via TTS, these give me more ideas and continue to spur me on.

Alas, the spirit is eager, but the flesh . . . you know the rest. I have a heavily fleshed-out outline that—despite its heftiness—still needs a lot of cleaning, and I'm currently in the works of writing some scenes out. There's clear direction of pivotal events that occur in this next book—but with some significant gaps that still need filling.

However.

Between owning my own business and also having additional employment (because times are tough!), and also having had a daunting/exceedingly busy summer filled with multiple personal issues, my timeline has been pushed back significantly. I also severely underestimated how much time I'd need to write this second installment, thinking it'd be easier than the first time around since I had more background material to build upon. How foolish of me to think that; Book 1 took me—no lie—more than a decade to outline/re-plot/re-outline and write—on and off—as the show series progressed and I was given more and more canon material to work with, although the bulk of it was written in 2020/2021.

While I'm not saying that you guys won't see me for another 10 years, I am saying that more time will be needed for me to finish writing this next installment and then cleaning it up (hopefully more neatly than the first book so that there aren't massive gaps between updates). I honestly don't anticipate this taking more than another year and some months to write and spruce up. Hopefully.

I'll definitely keep you all posted on progress, and I know that I still owe some fic recs! As I type, I'm actively downloading/organizing my faves in a Google Drive folder and trying to select the crème de la crème of these for you all, but it's a huge undertaking (much like everything these days, it seems).

Also, I have a new CM fic in the works that I might need to get out of my system in the meantime, or that I might write up after the Illuminate series is done. Preferably in between so that my sanity is kept in tact. It will definitely have all the warnings needed, and I'm still debating if it'll be a complete DD:DNE or if I'll have some 'healing' or an open-ended 'bright horizon' thrown in the end. Debating on if its limited third person POV scene or if I take a stab at omniscient POV.

I hope that I can update you soon on progress, with recs, or other tidbits, but thank you for now!

#illuminate series #sorry that I don't have a better update #I hope you're all happy and healthy #or doing what you can

[fruitsgoblin]

*kicks in the door* I heard you like Sigma and I need your thoughts on him (I have recently discovered him and I feel like I’ve slept on this)

YES... he is the current little meow meow of my heart... tragic enthusiastic astrophysicist with a good heart and a great voice my beloved

im gonna ramble now so---

you can see his origin story video on youtube and currently from what I'm getting there hasn't really been much lore for him since he released like... 3.. years ago? BUT there are little crumbs of information you can get and/or interpret from the voice lines he has and his interactions with the characters in game, some of my faves in particular being:

all the sombra lines with him where it feels like she genuinely cares and worries for him, she looks out for him as Moira and the others perform... definitely """non-intrusive""" experiments on him as he says (I am new to the OW world proper but I can't help but wonder if Talon's experimenting on him is part of why his mental state isn't improving as much as it should (his mind tends to wander).. it's already known that they just want him to be their living weapon and not actually support his research... I hope we get to see him changing over to overwatch's side and get life quality improvements with Winston's help)

the kill lines when you take down moira and doomfist, which are apparently dutch proverbs -- I wonder what his true thoughts are on his "co-workers" and if he truly doesn't realize he's being used

all the voice lines with him asking silly things which convinces me he would 1000% be the one roommate to wake you up at 4am to say things like "if two astronauts were on the moon and one threw a rock at the other one would that be messed up or what"

and... more, honestly, he's a HUGE DORK and while you can feel he's a sweet person trough a lot of the lines theres ones where hes absolutely savage ("death traveled lightyears to take you" when killing someone by throwing a huge rock at them via his gravity powers -- or, my absolute fave that made me cackle maniacally out loud, when interrupting Genji's ability "oh! sorry did I interrupt your swordplay?" LIKE... SIR.)

also bc I just realized I completely forgot to mention the main things about him:

called "sigma", his real name is siebren de kuiper and he's a 62 yr old dutch astrophysicist, focus on black holes, got his gravity powers from said black holes (experiment gone wrong), got emprisoned by the government and boy I can only imagine the trauma this blorbo has (was he receiving proper care??? therapy???? man is literally out here losing himself) and then got rescued by The Baddies TM (Talon) to be turned into a living weapon on the pretense of wanting to help him with his research

(clutches my little gay heart) I have so much love for this senior citizen I will cherish him and kiss he. which is really super funny because I started out playing him because it was funny to inflict ToesMan on my friends but then I heard him and more about him and turns out. I was the one being inflicted with ToesMan all along (we lovingly call him toesman because in most of his skins the only skin showing are his head and his feet)

#melon talks #melonask #buddyfromearth #sigma overwatch #siebren de kuiper #overwatch #tagging so people can mute in case they dont want ToesMan TM or just overwatch #which. understandable. fuck u blizzard. I started playing OW2 like a week or so ago only to play with my friend

[feydstan]

People You'd Like to Know Better tag game!

got tagged by @spacepunksupreme thanks!

three ships:

first ship: The Dark Urge x Gortash from bg3 (yes, this is ofc durge specific, but let's think "typical" durge or pre-amnesia durge, whatever durge that's scratching and biting gortash and fucks him while doing so) second ship: Mizrak x Olrox from Castlevania Nocturne (gays, angst, I just want them to be together, they have me barking, also hail them for making Olrox this fucking pretty and making such a good chara (@kakimari we probably owe you our thanks)) third ship: Esen x Ouyang from She Who Became the Sun/He Who Drowned the World (very niche but I am crying, throwing up, dragging my teeth across concrete bc of these two) media: last film: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (let's say the title is very fitting because it could almost have been a musical if more people than Lucy would sing plus someone really turned out to be the biggest fucking snake to no one's surprise, but overall a good prequel, lots of references to the hunger games movies (obvi but u get it)) currently reading: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker Chan (my favourite author and I honestly think that the second book of the duology is even better than the first, it's gay, angsty, humorous, exciting, I literally never got this attached to characters in a book, it's also super interesting even without much knowledge about China's history and Mongol invasions, you'll learn a lot, and luckily a map is provided in the beginning, I literally have to check it each time) and The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang (Just started but the action in the book is amazing and I can't wait to read more, I love the main character) currently watching: Narcos (I never got around it up until now but I love it, it's super interesting, informative, and since I'm learning Spanish, I get to enjoy that part of it, too (Casa de Papel taught me the basics such as dinero and joder) and well another big plus is Pedro Pascal) and the Once Upon a Witchlight campaign from Legends of Avantris (a DnD campaign I very much love, peak entertainment, my fucking legs) currently consuming: anything Baldur's Gate 3 related, vampire-related stuff, Dune as always, Tolkien stuff currently craving: the will and strength to write my fucking book, to draw all I want to draw, manage to open commissions and stuff, and I'm also craving MORE ART and the SOULS OF ARTISTS tagging: @alex-goes-brrr @moryri @tripleyeeet @carrot--cube @volotramp @mr-oldman-appreciator @feylights

#tag game #trying to get to know people more #also trying to grasp your interests mutuals #mutuals my beloveds

[taravangianlistenstothebeachboys]

15 to 17

end-of-year book ask game

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

I honestly don't know how many books I read this year won awards. I know The Shadow of the Torturer won a bunch of sci-fi awards, and I did really love it—though I enjoyed it more as a part of the larger Book of the New Sun series than I did as a standalone work.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

I don't have the hater's temperament. Most things that are popular I'll enjoy, most things that aren't popular I'll enjoy. The closest I had to something being "overhyped" for me was not getting a lot out of The Duino Elegies, if you can count "my brother really likes them and was telling me about them positively" as something being over-hyped. I can't even hold it against Rilke, I don't think I was really coming to those poems on his terms.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

I've been perpetually trying to get through the Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings for a while now. Sade doesn't have the most gripping prose and I'm unable to get much thematic depth outside the unending, overwhelming excess of lurid grotesquery he spends countless pages dryly relating. Look, I'm from Vegas, I'm all for unending overwhelming excesses of lurid grotesquery, but it hasn't really built up to anything meaningful for me yet. Which is dissapointing, considering how much I liked Salò.

That said, I also read his novella Incest, and was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the little thing. The characters were arch and simple, but that just made me more surprised by the quirks of their characterization. Take this passage about the mother, who had just discovered her daughter had been groomed into a sexual relationship with her husband:

The unhappy Mme de Franval could no longer take refuge in her illusions; not a single one remained for her to indulge in; it was all too clear that the heart of her husband — the most precious thing in her whole life — had been stolen from her.... And by whom? By the girl who owed her the most respect.... and who had just spoken to her with such insolence!

This character is supposed to be a paragon of virtue, and she reacts to this all by claiming her daughter stole her husband? That her daughter wronged her? Not that her husband wronged their daughter horribly, not that she wronged her daughter by letting her be isolated from all but him for years.... And she says her daughter owes her respect? She had no hand in raising her, is she supposed to be owed respect for bringing her into this world? Incredible. I love reading about how the structure of role expectations and power dynamics in families is irreparably fucked.

#leo says #incest cw

[slashingdisneypasta]

Poly!Cruella De Vil and James Nolan/Prince James x Reader || Headcanons

Plot: These two together totally skeeve me out but I just find them as a concept so amusing!! And I'm glad they found eachother XD So, poly relationship HC's are a must.

Warnings: These two are complete freaks. So there are nsfw themes throughout. Kinks include heavy Mommy Kink, James is her bestubbled 'Golden Boy', Pet Play mentions, domestic kinkiness (the way you all act is not just sexual at this point, it's just your dynamic), etc. Also obnoxiously cutesy nicknames like 'Jamesy-poo' XDD That's definitely a warning! And feelings, which sneak up on you (: By the time you realise, its too late XD

This was a blast XD

<3 <3 <3

Alright so Cruella is definitely!! in total control here. She's the Boss. The Dom. The Asmodeus to yours' and James' Fizz, to you Helluva Boss fans.

The Mommy of your little 'family', basically.

Then James is her 'Golden Boy'/naughty boy, and you are their sweet, sweet pet. So like, James is a little bit higher up in the procession of power then you, but not by much.

Often its her directing the two of you equally, but occasionally she'll ask James what he thinks they should do with you, or leave you two to 'play on your own'- and she makes it clear that Jamesy-Wamesy is in charge, while she's away.

"Sweetheart stay with darling Jamesey-poo, mommy has some work to do." - Cruella, whenever she has to go do some Evilness.

When you're cold its really a toss-up; Cruella may actually give you some furs to wear (This version of her really likes the idea of branding you~ ) or you might get James' jacket. His prince jacket! Ahh <3

Cruella may have you dressing like James eventually. She thinks its cute if her two playthings have a uniform.

If you'll remember, James left his old flame Jack to die at the top of the beanstalk, totally heartless- but let me tell you, Cruella has that man so whipped he wouldn't even think about doing that to her unless there was a HUGE pay out. You, he may consider abandoning. But one nasty look from her and he'll save your sweet ass like the prince he was groomed to be. He does love you (As much as he and Cruella can love at least), its just that (In the words of his Wiki Page) he's inherited 'King Georges lack of empathy and ruthless personality'.

You and Cruella watching James fight with David-

You: Oh god, which one's James?? Cruella: The ruggedly handsome one. You: I- which one!? Who's winning?? Oh, ow! Who just got punched in the jaw?? Who's the one bleeding? Cruella: Oh, you tell me! They look exactly the same, darling! You: *deadpanned at her*

You and James have an odd relationship where you kinda argue a lot, when you're not being their obedient 'pet'. You're very snarky with each other and it makes Mommy Cruella roll her eyes- but she loves it. She loves being the 'favourite'.

Cruella, to David: Jimmy has always resented you for being the one that those horrible parents of yours kept... You: ... ehhh, I don't think he's that deep actually. I think he's just sore he had the best sword lessons in the enchanted forest and still got killed by a Behemoth. Cruella: Darling- You: ... and also David got a castle. And people like him. and I don't know how identical they are under the clothes but I bet his dick is bigger, too, honestly. Cruella: 🙄 Darling... You: aM I wRoNg???? Cruella: *Sigh, turning back to David who's very understandably uncomfortable* My darlings are such a pain sometimes... anyway Sheriff Stubbles, where were we?

... You and James fight over Cruella often. Who gets to make her drinks, who gets to kiss her first, who gets to go down on her (You've been known to actually trip that asshole off the bed before and he has dragged you to the end of the bed and tied you to the bedpost before. All the while Cruella just sits there all pleased with herself~~ Maybe acting annoyed a little, but acting badly XD), etc.

That doesn't mean you two aren't very fond of each other, though. Its mostly fun, and foreplay (;

Cruella and James are both allowed to have 'fun' with other people (Whether that be actually going out and sleeping with others or just that- 'fun'. Like when Cruella pretended she though David was James and when James pretended to be David to kiss Snow), but let me be clear- you are not.

Cruella: Darling you're like our faithful Rottweiler, aren't you?? You would never hurt us like that. You could never be pleased by anyone else but us. Hm?

James: Yeah, and no one else would put up with you, either *eyeroll*

They don't actually do it very often though, mess around with others. They're both quite content with this relationship right here! Not that either of them would admit it.

<3 <3 <3

#OUAT Cruella De Vil #OUAT Prince James #OUAT James Nolan #Cruella De Vil x Reader x James Nolan #Cruella De Vil x Reader x Prince James #Headcanons #OUAT Cruella De Vil x Reader #Cruella De Vil x Reader #Prince James x Reader #James Nolan x Reader #OUAT Prince James x Reader #OUAT James Nolan x Reader

[a-gal-with-taste]

Baked and Battered (4/4)

Summary: It’s the classic story: Boy meets girl, Sumpsnipe meets Promenade-brat, baker meets rebel. And then it becomes so, so much more than that, for both of them.

(Inspired by @sweatandwoe​ & Secret Ingredient, a must-read)

Warnings: SFW. Baker!Reader, romance, revolutionary-shenanigans, young love, time-skip, bit of world-building, hurt/comfort, humor, angst, reunion, happy-ending

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

"Do you want a basket for that?" 

Owlish, this time, two pairs of gleaming eyes whirl-around to meet you. Both brighter than the one from years, upon years ago... or maybe your memory is just getting old. You, certainly, have not grown any younger in the passing years, but you hope those memories from your childhood you hold dear, don't turn gray and murky just yet. 

Memories are all that's left. 

"If you ask nicely, I might even be tempted to give you something fresh," You bargained, biting the inside of your cheek to hide a grin, while the pink-haired girl scowled. Honestly, it was like the child could sniff-out humor. 

"Askin' nice doesn't get you anywhere, lady," Violet said,  crammed-mouth full of buttered biscuits. Savory, not sweet for her, you remembered fondly. "Usually, all asking leads you to, is owing somebody." 

"And we already spent our allowance,'' chirped Violet's sister. Powder, hilariously, seemed to be utterly transfixed by the powdered-sugar coated honey-buns you had fixed up in the front-display, but didn't dare to touch them, and only took mournful nibbles of the biscuit her sister split with her. You imagined it had something to do with her report on her monthly coin-allowance. "Claggor and Mylo wouldn't split theirs for us to get a bite. Jerks." 

"Well, would you have split yours?" 

"No." 

Well, points for honesty. 

And such a virtue deserved an extra sort of reward, something of the sweets-variety, so you made sure when you grabbed the basket, tuck in a few extra, fresher honey-buns into the collection... before handing one to Powder, who immediately ditched the biscuit to begin gobbling up the stickier treat. 

"You're supposed to share these, you know," Eyeing Violet with your words, the pink-haired girl grinned with all her teeth as she snatched the basket from you. One could swear, blood or not, she was well on her way to inheriting the wolfish grin of the Hound of the Underground. 

"Never heard of it. 'Til next time, lady!"

Powder at least had the manners to wave, even as her elder sister snatched her hand, all but bolting them both out of the place while you shook your head, weary, but fond. Sumpers through and through... no matter how many times you assured them, none of your words seemed to fully erase the seed of distrust that had been planted from infancy inside them, and only growing more with every passing-day in the Underground...

"They're good kids," Vander assured you, later, blunt nails tapping out a hollow beat on his glass. This didn't happen often - this meeting. Neither you had the time, the chance... the spirit for it, really.

It was a silent agreement that these meetings, between a Promenade baker and the de facto leader of the Lanes, was nothing more than continuing a habit. Not that... you hated him. Or didn't miss him. But his presence, no matter how large it was, wasn't quite enough to fill the emptiness the room held between you. A void that couldn’t be filled, a yawning gap between you that, no matter how hard either of you tried, deep down, you both knew it was destined to stay empty.

"I know," You said simply, pushing the last of the tray of cookies into the coolbox, in preparation for tomorrow. "Better than you lot were, anyway. They at least wait, and take what's offered - not whatever strikes their fancy. Remember that time you tried to take a whole cake?"

"It looked good."

"A wedding cake, Vander?"

Gray eyes nearly turned silver with his laugh, one that you joined after a moment of a pointed, unamused brow raised in his direction. 

It settled back into silence... not quickly, but the memories could only last so long. It’s almost scary how quickly the Lanesman goes from the Sumper from your childhood, to an old, old man.

Janna, you both aren’t that old, but Vander looks like he has lifetimes piled onto him.

“‘M sorry. Keepin’ an eye on them to keep ‘em from trouble, would take an army, and I got only got me... ‘zo every thursday.”

"You know it's no trouble, they're always welcome here," You assure him with a shake of your head, tilting your head around his form to gaze out the door with a fond smile. You never imagined kids would be in your cards... nor in Vander's. But the moment he came in, two pairs of bright blue eyes peeking around him up at you - with two little boys quick to follow, mere months later - you had felt a burst of warmth inside you. 

Oh, they could claim they were 'grown' now, and Zaunite-independence had nestled deep inside their bones to fuel such independent spirits. That didn't stop the warmth that bloomed inside you at their occasional-visits, the thought tempting to imagine the occasional being permanent. A treacherous temptation, one that dangerously toed the line between the odd-sort of aunt you had become to them... and something you never got the chance to be.

Quick to brush away dreams, of chances, wants, dreams, of a family that could never be, you instead reach over, managing a smile as you rested your hand over Vander’s - yours was practically miniature in size, but when you squeezed it gently, your friend glanced up to you, “Vander, it’s fine. They’re welcome... I'm happy to have the kids here, you know that.”

You smile, and Vander’s eyes grow sad. Despite the soft grin, he sees beyond it, and you can’t even find the time to smile wider to dissuade him before he’s murmuring, “I’m sorry.”

“I told you, I don’t-”

“I’m sorry,” He says again, in a hoarse whisper, and you both know he’s not talking about the kids anymore. You pull your hand away, swallowing, reaching for his plate instead.

“I... you know I am, right? I’ve never forgiven myself... for you, for him.” Vander’s voice grows so heavy, it’s as if another lifetime, another fallen-life, has fallen onto his shoulders. You attempt to relieve the burden, by telling him you know.

You know, and that doesn’t fix a damn thing.

“All we can do is look forward, Van,” You say, the rushing water in the sink as you clean plates and trays - almost a comfort in the heavy-silence between you. “Look to our future, to our kids. It’s gonna be their turn, soon enough, we ought to make sure they have a bright one.”

“Brighter than we ever got,” He agrees, pauses, then asks hesitantly, like asking any favors of you was crass at best, unthinkably cruel at worst, “Would you be able to help with that?”

“Babysitting?” 

“Nah, just... you remember how I was. How we were.” 

Understatement of the year, but you nodded, drying off your hands with a nearby towel before crossing your arms, eyes curious. Vander took a moment, drumming his fingers loudly on the counter, “Just... keep an eye out on ‘em. There’s been talk.”

He didn’t look surprised when you stiffened, your face growing pale. The last time there had been talk, Enforcer patrols started to ramp up again. Last time, talk had led many independent voices to grow quieter, disillusioned with yet another cycle of raids, patrols, arrests, and even worse things. Talk hadn’t made leadership any easier, as seen by decisions, choices from Vander that seemed to change, flipping on the daily, hourly...

The last time, talk had led Vander, and those still willing to fight, onto the Bridge. There was no talking after, when all that walked-off that bridge was Vander, and two little girls.

Vander knows, and remembers in perfect clarity - that’s why grief, guilt and understanding pass in his gaze, in rapid succession to his quick assurance, “I just - somethin’ happens to be, anything at all... make sure the kids are okay, ‘right? I shouldn’t ask but... I’d give me some peace of mind.”

The feeling is mutual, and despite the uncertainty, there's a determination inside that's already made the decision for you.

"Of course." A pause, and Vander looks at you, still weary, like he knows exactly what you're going to ask, and isn't sure how he can tell you. "It's... you aren't-?"

"No. 'M not the one talking, sweetheart," His hand travels - not to your own, but to another point of comfort. Comfort, and by the way his hand hovers over the wrapped-band around a decades' old scar, maybe a curse as well. "It's just talk. It'll quiet."

That's the hope, but you learn not to lean on such a concept too much. Once upon a time, you hoped for a lot of things, a brighter future most of all. Now, you know better.

And you know better than to allow yourself to be blind with what's happening around you - you did that once, with what was happening right in front of you, and you lost him because of it. Pushing aside the guilt, the pain and the mourning from such memories, you instead raise your chin up, keep to work as usual, but this time, you promise yourself to pay attention.

People talk at your counters. Bitter discussions of rising rent, trade Topside imports, regulations... it's talk, but as you smile and chuckle, sneak treats to particularly effective puppy-eyed kids and swap pleasantries with worn-down adults, you carefully pluck out bits and pieces of the different conversation, until a picture starts to form, and you start getting suspicions that talk, is slowly but surely becoming much, much more than that.

And when it does, you start to take better notice of the details around you - specifically, of the person on surveillance across from your shop. 

You feel like a fool for not taking note of them earlier - subtly is not a top-priority, but considering how quickly you had been able to sniff out the presence of a snipe in your kitchen as a mere child, it’s almost embarrassing how, as an adult, it takes you too long to realize there’s another kind of street-kid standing-guard just outside your shop window.

Still, he’s no better. It takes three-days of you eyeing him pointedly, periodically sweeping an already spotless front-entrance, and finally, a purposefully placed plate of cookies on the window-still, and a pointed removal of the bell hanging over the front-entrance.

But the kid isn’t skilled with stealth, and you’d been managing your bakery for years... not to mention you were quicker. 

Pale-blue eyes narrowed at you, after they had blown wide at your fast movements around the counter and then they became even slimmer as they glanced between you, and the plate of cookies you held just out of reach.

“Talk."

“I'm... not supposed to.”

“But you’re talking now. Which means you can keep talking.” 

The boy - little older than Violet - scowls, and glances between you, the door... but eventually, his gaze returns to the plate of food. 

It takes a master, skilled at years of resisting temptation and battling against gluttony, to resist a plate of freshly-baked chocolate-chip cookies. But this is a boy smack in the middle of his teenage years, and you’re fairly certain you’ve never seen him take so much as a drink to consume on his now-daily watches of your shop, let alone a lunch. 

He doesn’t just talk when the temptation becomes too much for him to even hope to talk control of. The kid all but sings-out, exactly what you want to know, and also exactly what you never asked for.

"These streets? Practically handed to me, not like there was much competition!"

"Uh-huh..."

"Seriously! I'm probably his favorite... no, his apprentice of sorts. Probably gonna take over some-day, get up-there with the big-leagues for sure. That's why he's been testin' me, you see, he totally thinks I'm the next big-deal this town's gotta watch out for...!"

"Standing guard outside a mid-class bakery - that counts as a test?"

Bless the kid's heart, he looks more confused than offended at your unconvinced-tone, "Ye-es?

You have this pestering habit to take pity on the street-urchins in the world, and even the ones with false-bravado and an abundance of arrogance earns your sympathy, and you had him another chocolate-chip between your wiping of the counters, waiting for the timer to go off on the oven. "Alright, I'll bite then - what kind of man gives a test of guard-duty at a little old bakery?" It's said as casually as possible, but the boy still stiffens, crumbs and a smear of milk chocolate at the corner of his mouth - you're too invested in your private investigation of such unusual activity, to chide yourself by spoiling yet another child from the streets. Claggor, Vi, Mylo and Powder were bad enough, not to mention your very, very first, years ago...

"Er... I dunno. Just do what I'm told, there seems to be a rotation for this job,” His convincing does little good, but he manages to avoid your peering gaze as you hum thoughtfully. This sparks a defensive side, as the blonde straightens and lifts his chin challenging, "Hey, I don't have to tell you anything, lady-!"

You interrupt him to pleasantly tell him your name and without skipping a beat, he snarkily gives his own, "Deckard, and like I was saying - and it's a need-to-know basis," He stresses. "I need to know, and m'boss needs to know, but you? You don't need to know anything."

“Then I suppose you don’t need these snacks,” You say, calm as can be as you take the plate, send a silent prayer for forgiveness, before turning it over the trash-can beside the counter. 

Deckard gaps, and looks just a little heartbroken at the loss of a good snack. You keep your expression flat to avoid looking the same at the sacrifice for answers. "No wonder he likes you so much - you're evil, lady."

"Your boss likes me?” Interesting, and something that piqued your already-heightened curiosity in regards to this so-called ‘boss’ of this kid. “Because what I've picked up, he likes discussing other, more dangerous topics than that of a bakery,” Plainly, you toss the words over your shoulder as the timer goes off. Fetching your mitts, you soon pull out the mini-pies, and aroma of spices and apples filling the shop. 

One of your favorites, but it didn’t necessarily bring joy - only a sensation of melancholy, even as you set them out to cool on the awaiting rack.

“Like I said,'' The kid continues, ignoring your implications in favor of trying not to be salivating at the sight of the golden-crusted, fresh treats straight out of the oven. “You’re evil, lady. No wonder Silco’s got his eye on ya-”

Never.

Not once, in your years and years of living, and surviving in the most challenging location on the planet, did you ever burn your hands.

Such a feat was quite remarkable - your mentor, wherever they had ended up after abandoning you in the growing unrest of the early Rebellion, had once considered it a worthy-enough skill to take on an apprentice in their own craft.

You imagined, wherever the bitter old baker was, they were rolling at the thought of you clenching tight around a burning-hot tray and instantly dropping to your knees with a yell at the fiery-hot pain that cut through the cold that had spread through your body.

“Oh shit, are you okay-?!”

“I...” 

Closing your eyes, you inhaled, long and slow... exhaling the same way, trying to ignore the piercing throbbing in your flesh, and behind your skull.

Silco.

Was it foolish to hope? 

Foolish, and perhaps desperate to hope that it wasn’t just a coincidence? 

That one attempting to rekindle the fires of a revolution, that the one talking in the shadows, wasn’t some random punk stirring up age-old trouble, but-

Standing, you hold your burnt hand with eyes that are both laser-focused, and staring at a distance no one else could see, your heart pounding in time with the throbs of pain in your damaged-hand and the whirls your mind is making.

“... here.”

“I - wait, are you...?” The kid has more on his mind than your well-being, particularly as you’re quick to grab a to-go basket with your free hand, and, mitt firmly placed on, you transfer the cooling pies into the container for its journey. You force those same hands to stay steady as you tuck the cover over the fresh-baked goods, even while one is shaking - no. They both are, terribly so, but you succeed eventually, and slide the basket over to the teen.

“Here,” You say again, voice quiet, but firm. “Deliver that, take one for yourself while you’re at it.”

Deckard bristles, insulted and indignant with a whine in his voice, “I’m not your errand-boy, lady-!”

“It’s for Silco, too.” When was the last time you said his name, aloud? His story was not a tale to share with Vander’s kids, not to mention neither the Hound nor Benzo enjoyed reminiscing on the fallen. His name feels painfully, disgracefully unused on your lips... but, giving in to that speck of hope inside, you allow yourself to feel a hint of warmth at the idea of speaking his name again. At... the impossible, the painful thought, of not just hearing him, or speaking of him, but maybe, just maybe seeing the man you loved once-again.

It’s an impossible dream. One that hurts, warms, and angers you all at once - to the point of completely overshadowing the burns on your hand as you curl your fingers into a fist, voice firm as you give the order once more to Deckard.

“Go give this to Silco. He’ll know where to find more.”

He knows where to find me.

You just hope he comes.

That night, you’re finishing up everything early - dishes and utensils clean, the morning pastries and bread already prepped. Even the larger projects, like the cookie order for some birthday in the richer-section of the Alcoves, or the decorated wedding cake for two, are all prepared to be ready at a moment's notice.

You like to think you're prepared.

You aren't, but you like to think that you are - physically calm, hands clasped in a not-too tight grip, and your face smooth, almost impassive.

No one would ever be able to tell how you're mere seconds from tipping over the edge, or your heart is pounding so loudly that you're stunned the entirety of the Undercity isn't bracing for an earthquake. You keep that calm expression as you sit, and wait. Watching the door and watching as day-lights of the Undercity take on their more hazy shades to signal the coming of the evening, and the streets outside grow vacant with the day-crowd, and the people who live for the night claim the streets in the shadows.

You sit, and you watch, as evening turns into the proper night, and soon enough, even the night-owls begin to leave the streets. Body aching, and sore from sitting, it's almost a relief when the streets become, for the first time in hours, completely, and wholly empty.

He doesn't leave you waiting much-longer after that.

You raise your head - holding back a wince as your shoulder-muscles ache from the first movement in at least an hour - as a gloved subtly taps at the 'CLOSED' sign. 

He had to know it was unlocked. He had to know you were waiting.

Thankfully, Silco didn’t leave you waiting much longer.

You didn’t move, didn’t blink much, really. Only taking him in - older, not the boy you first met, not the teen you had journeyed the Undercity with. Not even the revolutionary, or the Son of Zaun you had once known, and had remembered him as.

You don’t know this man. You don’t know him, but you still struggle not to burst into tears the moment you lay eyes on him. Tears of joy, tears of pain... of loss, and of a sudden, hot burst of anger that flares to life at his first words to you, the very first thing he says after years and years of being separated from your side:

“You shouldn’t have fed him.”

Silco looks around, studying your shop like it was the most fascinating thing in the world as you sit there, not daring to blink, hardly allowing yourself the chance to breathe. “The boy needs to learn restraint. In both keeping his mouth shut, and to not take food from strangers... a boy he may be, but Janna knows he needs to learn.”

“I don’t know,” You say, astonished at how steady your voice is as you stand from your stool, walking around the counter with your hand wrapping around a rolling-pin you had brought for this occasion. “Last time I fed a kid on the streets, it turned out pretty fine.” 

Silco doesn’t look away from your eyes  - before, your shop might have been fascinating, but Silco looks at you like you’re something beautiful, and otherworldly. Something to be worshiped instead of standing stiffly, too-far-away from, something he’s been waiting eons for... Silco looks at you with absolute, unfiltered, unable-to-be-contained love.

And you almost, almost regret seeing it fade, when his eyes pop-out wide and he barely manages to avoid the first swipe of your rolling-pin.

You’re screaming, now. Something horrible - saying some horrible things, to be honest - as you attempt to land blow upon blow on this idiot, this bastard, this stupid, stupid cowardly man...

But Gods-know you aren’t a fighter, and Silco manages to side-step, duck and weave around every attempted smack, leaving you to strike uselessly at air.

Uselessly, from the way you have no battle prowess to speak off, and the fact your vision has become very, very blurry. At the realization, your arm droops, boneless as you heave-in breath after breath, stepping back as your free-hand comes up to wipe beneath your eyes and pressing your palm to it when that doesn’t clear the wetness under your eyes. The tears flow freely, without permission and without any sign of stopping, not even as you struggle not to sob.

It becomes even more difficult not to, when the rolling-pin is safely tugged free from your hand, and after a second’s pause of hesitation, long arms wrap around you. They’re tight like chains, unyielding after so, so long, but you’ve never felt lighter all your life - you’ve never felt so free, except right now, in the arms of a man you loved, thought dead, maybe hated just a bit for allowing you to think that...

But ultimately, you love him. There’s a thousand ingredients to make up exactly how you feel about Silco in this exact moment, but the most prominent is the deep, fierce and unrelenting love you feel for this absolute bastard that left you...

Said-bastard winces, and you don’t even feel guilty for saying that aloud.

“I had to,” He murmurs into your hair, not quite pleading, but there’s a pressing search for understanding. “Zaun... it needed my focus, my attention. I would’ve returned for you - I always planned on returning to you.”

"You returned too late."

"You don't mean that."

It sounds like Silco tries to convince himself of that as well, and the small, tight grudge inside you weakens immediately as you slump closer to him. "No, I don't," You whisper into his chest, blinking rapidly but still leaving wet-marks on the front of his ebony-vest, lined in gold. “...But you took a long, long time.”

“I know.”

“Why didn’t... not even a goodbye. You didn’t even talk to me, before you stormed out.”

His arms, impossibly, go even tighter around you. The words sound like they have to be dragged out of him by hooks, but he manages to get the long-overdue words out, “I’m so sorry.”

“You should...” Trailing off, you just shake your head, pressing your face against his chest. Hard with leanly built muscles, warm and if you strain your hearing, there’s a rhythmic beat of his heart. Eyes slip close, and you focus on that beautiful melody of his heartbeat, not daring to mute it by speaking too loudly, “You should be.”

He was. Again... this man was not one you recognized, not entirely. The Silco you knew, the Silco you had loved and lost, would’ve greeted you with a smile, a smirk if he had done something mischievous, or had just returned from another impressive feat while working on the revolution for Zaun’s independence. That Silco wouldn’t hesitate to apologize for letting you think him dead...

Gods. The man even feels different.

Lean muscles remain, but they feel wiry, bred from a crueler survival than even that of the Lanes. There’s a certain desperation in the way he holds you, one that you never recalled him showing before... he grips you with fingers twitching in the physical-struggle not to curl into claws, claws that are used to clawing their way from the depths.

The depths of what, you’re unsure for now. You think you’ll find a clue on his face, and hesitantly peel your face off his chest to gaze up at him. For a moment, only one eye gazes back at you... it’s a stranger's eye, and a strange eye overall. Freezing under the glint of hellfire surrounding a circle of coal, you gaze up at Silco until his green-eye flutters open, meeting your gaze through a half-lidded, resigned gaze.

His arms grow slowly lax around you, releasing you in theory, but still lingering in-practice.

“Unsightly, but such is the appearance of monsters, no?” The man murmurs as if it were a joke, but it falls flat in the quiet way he speaks it, and he grows even quieter as your hand reaches up. 

Rough. The skin beneath his eye, permanently open and forever the colors of hell-itself, is rough in their graying, crackled ridges. You barely graze the skin, and yet you’re still surprised when the man doesn’t so much as twitch as you gently travel the pads of your fingers along the rough scars along his face, but despite your lack of medical knowledge, it doesn’t take a genius to imagine the nerves beneath the ruined skin, are as devoid of life as Silco’s eyes have become.

Resigned, and unreadable besides. Silco gazes at you with the patience of a man waiting for something terrible - and if he’s feeling anything close to how you feel, you imagine the most terrible thing he can imagine at this moment, is you flinching away from him.

He says as much, “I can leave. You won’t need to see me again... perhaps this was a mistake in the first place. But such a message deserved to be responded to in-person.”

“Oh, you didn’t come for a snack?” You hear yourself murmur, and it’s there. A flicker of light, bright and mirthful, and familiar in that seagreen gaze you had known so well, once upon a time. 

It’s gone in seconds. But it was there, and it’s more than you could’ve ever wished for.

“I’m serious. I can leave-”

“But you won’t,” Hand flattening fully along the rough scars, you cup the ruined-side of his face gently, then the other with an equally caring, bandaged hand, both of which Silco freezes at. “I won’t let you. Not again, Silco... never again.”

The assuring, firm note in your voice holds him still for a moment along with your hands, but he gives the faintest of shakes, tone equally firm, “I’m not the same man that left you. That man died, I'm the remainder of the man you knew, but no more than that.” The defense is met with only a raised brow from you, and Silco narrows the one he has remaining, the space between his eyes becoming pinched in his faint frustration at your nonchalant attitude. “I mean it. You don’t know me anymore... you don’t know the man I’ve become.”

He’s right, much as you loathe to admit it. You had been quick to regard this man as a stranger, and in some ways, he still seemed so, so strange to you.

What had happened? Why hadn’t he returned to you? Since when did he rely on the skills and structure of streetgangs, rather than the stronger-than-blood ties of his fellow revolutionaries?

What hurt him? Why had he become this way, to the point where your loving touches were met with hesitancy, with the distance of someone who has only imagined such affection for far, far too long?

A battered man stands before you - in your eyes, you had initially labeled him a stranger... and yes, in some ways, you needed to relearn this man for what he had become... and what he could be, now that he had returned to you, and there was no way you were letting him go again.

“It’s okay... I want to learn,” You say, a faint but genuine smile upon your face, and warm as you lean up. Silco grows frozen again at the third-point of touch that you offer, full of affection and love that makes your heart twist at how unused he seems to be from it...

But after a second, and very faintly, Silco melts at the gentle, faint kiss you press to his uneven lips.

“Thankfully... I baked some snacks,” You murmur, the beginnings of a small smile on your lips. “I imagine you’re used to introducing yourself over food. This’ll be... what, your second-time, right?”

There it is, again.

A glint of the man you used to know, the humor faint but there in his eye, and with it, something else shows itself. 

There’s a glint of hope, once more, inside you.

“The last introduction over food was... more than a bit unexpected. Made more so by your presence, if you recall. I think I'll prefer it this time, if I’m honest.”

“Because I made your favorites?”

A faint huff of warm breath brushes your face, before his lips are meeting yours in the hesitant, but first of many, many overdue kisses Silco has to offer.

“Because your presence is far, far more welcoming this time.”

On that, you can agree on. 

Because when Silco, united with you once again, kisses you, it feels like he’s welcoming you back to a place you can call home.

#silco #arcane #silco arcane #silco x arcane #arcane fanfic #fanfic #angst #romance

[spidertalia]

I want to finally introduce my beloved boy, Florida !!

Florida is the oldest state in my AU, going off of settlement (St. Augustine was founded in 1565, 20 years before Roanoke) and is physically 24, older than Alfred himself. His full human name is Félix Agustín Avilés-de Leon, though he typically just goes by Félix Avilés.

Félix is generally loud, excitable, cheerful, weird, energetic, talkative, friendly, welcoming, shameless, good-spirited and a jokester with a good sense of humor. He will even make jokes at his own expense on occasion, and he's the type that can joke about just about anything. He's very entertaining and is the type that easily makes friends and can make people laugh without even trying.

Some fun facts about him:

He's 5'11 or 180 cm in height

He has roughly 3A hair

He has a lot of specific quirks that make him seem weird to others, but he doesn't care. These include decorating palm trees with christmas lights, being overly obsessed with Publix, always wearing flip flops or sandals and handling alligators with his bare hands

He's indigenous hispanic, with some black heritage as well.

He's had his current hairstyle since the late 2000's, but he does change his hairstyle up every other decade or so.

He loves falling asleep to rain and/or thunderstorms. He actually finds thunder comforting

He's honestly a lot like Alfred, minus the hero obsession. The two are unsurprisingly very close and get along really, really well

He owns a pet alligator he named Flagler

He's very shameless and proudly himself. He doesn't really care too much about what others think of him; he'll do what he wants and be as loudly himself as he wants to be. He knows he's weird, and he embraces it

However, he will absolutely shut people down when they bring up outrageous stereotypes. Yes, he finds Florida Man memes funny, but he won't hesitate to shut someone down if they try and generalize his citizens.

He's actually friends with Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and New Jersey. He, Texas and Ohio have formed a little 'weird states' club. He does bicker with Georgia a lot, but they are ultimately friends.

He has the vibes of that free-spirited, really fun oldest sibling or weird uncle who swoops in every once in a while to throw a party and then dip.

He owns 8 houses- in Miami, Saint Augustine, Tallahassee, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Key West.

He's completely unaffected by heat, and actually thrives in temperatures of 82 degrees or higher (28 celsius). He especially loves weather between 85 and 92 degrees (29-33 celsius)

He's also unaffected by rain, and actually loves storms and rainy days

He's actually very intelligent, despite what his eccentric nature might suggest. After all, he did contribute quite a bit to the Space Race. He still has a lingering deep love of space as a result.

He's incredibly fucking weak to the cold, reverting to putting a jacket on at 70 degrees (21 celsius)

He tends to prefer owning 'weird' or misunderstood animals, like pitbulls, snakes, reptiles, etc. In terms of dog breeds, he exclusively owns pitbulls and no other breed.

He has owned a Florida Panther before. Don't ask

He has an annual pass to Universal, Disney World and Busch Gardens. He absolutely adores roller coasters- the bigger and faster, the better. His personal favorites are Velocicoaster, Cheetah Hunt and The Hulk.

His fashion style largely consists of button ups (especially summer-y ones), loose graphic t-shirts, muscle shirts, shorts and flip flops or sandals. He owns very few hoodies, jackets and cold weather clothing.

He's actually quite strong, partly owing to his childhood of dealing with dangerous animals

He absolutely loves key lime pie and will take any excuse to make it. He also just loves key lime flavored things in general

He's very hard to scare

He thoroughly enjoys ghost stories. He can actually see ghosts, and has encountered a number of them.

He tans easily but never burns

He's one of the better and most powerful swimmers

He's very adventurous with food, and will eat literally whatever you put in front of him. He'll eat anything fried, and has eaten gator before. He can even stomach England's cooking, but he's only ever had it once.

Despite this, he's actually a pretty good cook. Not phenomenal or anything, but good nonetheless.

He's great at dealing with wildlife, especially dangerous animals. He will pick up a 200 pound alligator snapping turtle with his bare hands like it's nothing, and he'll gush over it too. He thinks they're just so neat

He's quite creative in how he deals with wildlife

Outside of his Indigenous languages, he speaks English, Spanish, Haitian, Portuguese and French fluently.

He most enjoys action, animated, adventure and horror movies. He also enjoys objectively bad/awful movies.

He throws really good parties

He enjoys singers like Pitbull, Flo Rida, Jason Derulo and T-Pain; all from his state, of course. That's the general type of music he enjoys most, stuff he can dance to

One of his absolute favorite songs is absolutely the Bayside Boys remix of the Macarena.

His state bird is the Northern Mockingbird, but he constantly jokes that it's the mosquito.

He throws hurricane parties every time there's a hurricane incoming

His absolute favorite kind of movie is literally anything with pirates in it. He just really loves pirates

His main hobbies are fishing, swimming, going to the beach, being outdoors and going to theme parks

He does have a micronation- The Conch Republic. He's currently raising her as his daughter

He's not a great driver, but he's not an awful one either. He's truly in the middle

He's actually quite hard to make truly upset or angry. However, when you do truly upset him, you better run for it.

He loves being outdoors and around people. He's actually rarely indoors, preferring to always find something to do.

He fucking hates DeSantis

His likes include: Pirates, theme parks, rollercoasters, oranges, grapefruits, key lime pie, the beach, swimming, hot weather, kayaking, canoeing, floating down rivers in an inner tube, springs, NASA, Publix, Winn Dixie, boating, fishing, sports, hurricane parties, animals, alligators, latino music, dance music, rain storms, parades, Gasparilla.

His dislikes include: The cold, love bugs, roaches, humidity, driving, traffic, most tourists, Spring Break

I will be including/posting more about him later on, but this is all that I have so far ! I love him so fuckin much so expect more of him :))

#my art #spider's statetalia #statetalia #hetalia #hetalia art #hetalia state ocs #aph florida #hws florida #statetalia florida #félix avilés

[redwineconversation]

Olympique Lyonnais Behind the Scenes (Episode 6)

Kind of like last month's segment, I didn't want to do this one either because of how annoying fucking stans are. They genuinely make me want to not translate / transcribe things because they have an inability to just take a step back and act like a normal human being / football fan. However, I also want [normal?] people to get to a point where they can understand this team the way I do, so it leads us to this: me screaming into the void at how much I hate stans overstepping boundaries while I translate a genuine cause of sleep paralysis.

Again, I feel this would be simpler if OLPlay would let one screen record and my technology skills were better, but here we are. Can't have everything in life.

Blah blah standard disclaimers apply; @OL Comms Dept either chip in for Starbucks or a bottle of wine, I'm cool with either option; banning stans from stadiums would make the sport a better place; what won't I do to put off vacuuming? Apparently not much; y'all know the speech by now.

Come for Cascarino being unable to hide her Lyon DNA, stay for Becho's admiration of the likable red team. Love a team who literally recoils in horror at the thought of being seen as human. It's not that Lyon creates monsters, they honestly don't. The players were already monsters before they signed for Lyon, the only thing Lyon did was take the muzzle off.

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS BEHIND THE SCENES (EPISODE 6)

[LYON -SLAVIA PRAGUE GAME FOOTAGE]

Danielle van de Donk: We had a draw against Slavia Prague at home as well. It was a bit frustrating, it was just not nice for us because we wanted to get into a nice flow.

Vicki Becho: It's not the kind of performance we want to do, it's not the kind of result we want. So it was disappointing for us, for our fans. It's the type of performance we have to keep in mind to tell ourselves there are still lots of things to work on, and that we have to do much more.

[OPENING SEQUENCE]

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE]

Delphine Cascarino: After the draw against Slavia Prague, we wanted to do much better, and then we played against Reims. There was good content in the game.

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: I was really happy for Euge[nie Le Sommer] because she was going through a complicated period and that she scored, I was really, really happy for her. I remember Eugenie's brace because I provided the assist on one of her goals. Having playing time again, getting some minutes under my belt, it was the best of things. And in that game, when I provided the assist, I'm happy. That's what I take away from it. Beyond that, I told myself that I can do much better and those are just the kind of performances I should keep in mind to do even more.

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

van de Donk: Eugenie [Le Sommer] scored her 300th goal, so that was amazing for her. And I saw the people in the stands with the little paper going up. Everyone on the bench was asking what that was for, I think it was Laura [Benkarth] and I explained to her that she [Le Sommer] had 300 goals for Lyon, which is just amazing. It's great, they're so much more up to date than I am. They're actually very helpful.

Cascarino: Obviously - obviously we were happy for Eugenie [Le Sommer] because she deserves that status of top scorer for Olympique Lyonnais. And yeah, I hope she will score many more. It's quite frankly exceptional for her and the club. It shows that she's really a club legend.

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Cascarino: There was a good context within the game. However we conceded a goal, so that was - that was a negative.

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Cascarino: Conceding a goal is never easy, be it for the goalkeeper or even for the forwards. We owe it to ourselves at Olympique Lyonnais to not concede any goals.

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: We won, but it remains super frustrating because we've been conceding quite a lot lately. At the beginning of the season we weren't conceding at all. Lately we've been conceding more. We need to do better. We know our previous performances haven't been that good, we need to do better in terms of defense, and offensively we need to do much better.

[LYON - STADE DE REIMS GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: At the end of the game, when I saw Eugenie, I said to her "Another one? Another record? How am I supposed to catch up to you?" [Becho laughs. I don't] No, I really like to tease Eugenie. I'm really happy for her. She leaves such a big imprint at Lyon and even in French women's football, and global women's football. And I know that for many girls, she's a role model.

van de Donk: After the game, in the locker room, we celebrated of course with the song and everything. We did a little bit extra for Eugenie [Le Sommer], of course, because it's just amazing to achieve that.

[TRAINING FOOTAGE]

[UWCL DRAW FOOTAGE]

Cascarino: So there was the possibility between Benfica, Ajax and Hacken. We landed on Benfica, who is a really good team. So yeah, we know it won't be easy. They drew 4-4 against Barcelona. So we're expecting a really good opponent.

Becho: They can cause problems for us, so we will need to avoid falling into their trap. We'll need to play really good football to get past them. I would have liked to have played against Ajax, I see what they're doing this season and honestly it's incredible. They manage to sell out their stadium, they're doing a lot of things. So they're a really good team that I wanted to play against. In any case, to win this competition we have to beat the best.

van de Donk: I do think Benfica is like very tricky, they're all very technical players. I feel it's just like the Portuguese team. As we experienced it lately with the Netherlands, they're quite hard. But yeah, I'm just very excited. I mean, they're kind of my style of football so I love to see them play, now I have to play against them. They want to keep possession all the time, they have all the skills. It's just going to be frustrating, but we're just not going to have to bite, you know. And then get them when they're the most - I don't know how you say it - when they're the most vulnerable?

van de Donk: The thing is, when you build it from the back, that's kind of my quality, coming out with the press[ing]. I know when to go, so when people do it, it's fine for me. But I do think that Lyon has a good press. It's kind of our game.

[MICHELE KANG FOOTAGE]

Cascarino: Honestly, it was positive than it ended - that it became official, but unofficially we knew that the club had been sold to Michele Kang, so it was just formalities that needed to be sorted out. Now it's done and we can move forward with peace of mind.

Becho: We talked about it a lot. We heard a lot of people talking about it as well. But as long as it wasn't done, we couldn't look ahead as much as we can now. And now we have peace of mind. We know there is someone there for us, we know there is someone who wants us to have the best possible conditions. We know our future is set, so there aren't any worries in that regard. We're very happy on our side.

Becho: She hadn't even officially taken over her role and she was already doing a lot for us. We saw the number of staff members increase. A lot of things changed. For the better, but with the caveat President Aulas had already done an enormous amount for us. Knowing there will be this person going forward, it was reassuring for us.

Cascarino: Since Michele Kang's arrival, there has been a lot of positive changes. There's almost as many staff members as there are players. So it shows we're becoming even more professional. We're getting even closer to what is done for the men's teams. So it's really positive for Olympique Lyonnais. In every area, whether it's nutrition, fitness preparation, psychology, mental health, in every area, if there's any doubt then we have someone we can ask questions to. It really helps us to reach the highest level.

van de Donk: We were kept up to date with how the process was going with Michele [Kang] buying our side, of course. Because as soon as she stepped foot in our changing room, when I met her, I was blown away by her. I think she's amazing. She's going to do very, very good stuff for women's football. So yeah, I'm a big fan, not going to lie. When I heard it was done, it was just a nice feeling. I think we're in good hands.

van de Donk: She's so involved with the women's side. She was already making so many changes for us. You can tell that she wants things to be better and bigger, which is really nice for the next steps of professionalism in women's football. When it was all done, because everything in France takes a while I think, I think it was very good. I was very happy.

[TRAINING FOOTAGE]

Becho: You're not allowed to lose a Lyon - PSG game. You're not allowed to lose. Those are the types of games we like to play, those are the types of games we want to play.

Cascarino: We know that PSG knows us by heart, we know them by heart. So it really comes down to tactics to win the game. We worked really hard in preparation for PSG. We worked really, really hard on tactics that week.

van de Donk: Every time we play against PSG, it's just - it's wild. I think everyone goes into a different mindset. I think everyone is just a little bit more focused because the rivalry, it's just amazing. It's just a different kind of level, everyone just really wanted to beat them.

van de Donk: Before the big games, we do a lot of tactical training during training sessions [news to anyone who has watched Bompastor coach recently]. It's not necessarily my favorite part of training sessions, but I like all the small stuff, all the small games, the technical stuff. But I do think we need all the tactical stuff. But it was good. You can taste what kind of game you're going to play or something. It's hard to describe how it is if you're not a player yourself. But normally you have a whole week to prepare. So the beginning of the week it's a bit more chill, a bit more jokey, we can have a bit more of a laugh during training. But before PSG it's just not like that, everyone is focused, "we need to get this and go."

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE]

Cascarino: It was a pretty close game, pretty difficult.

Becho: We started the game off well. We started really strong, we managed to press pretty high, we're in their half. We had chances.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: As time went by our level dropped, we weren't pressing as much, there was a slower reaction time. We weren't unified. We were a little - how to say this - we were late in the press, and it could be felt. The team opposite us starts to gain the upper hand over us.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

van de Donk: Obviously they have a good team, super fast wingers. On the midfield, I feel they just overload us. The attackers are dropping into the midfield so we're having to play four or five against three. It's going to get complicated if we don't do the defending very well.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Cascarino: It was pretty frustrating to see that we weren't able to do it.

van de Donk: They had one long ball on Chawinga. It's complicated because she's just super fast. It was outside of the foot, I remember. So it was actually a very good goal, but it's just hard. Don't allow them anything and you give one long ball away and it's goal.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: For the whole game we didn't give them any opportunities, and that's - that's the top level. If we let them have one opportunity, we'll pay for it. We told ourselves that we had done everything not to concede that goal, but yeah. We conceded. So now we have to switch on.

van de Donk: No, losing is just not an option for us. There's certain players on the team who make sure we're not losing. They keep the standards very high and whenever we need to be picked up, they will pick us up. I think it was kind of an equal game, like both parties were in the "gray, but not bad". It was just a bit of a weird phase in the game. Luckily, when Delph[ine Cascarino] came in, she changed the game so, so much.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Cascarino: I felt that the team needed help in that moment and was losing 1-0, so you have to take risks. You really can't hesitate to go into a challenge, and press for a goal.

Becho: I think it's harder to come on when the team is behind, because you don't have the same way to react. When you're losing, you want to do everything quickly, you want to score, you want to equalize. When I came on, I said to myself it will come from us, the substitutes. The game was at a bit of a stalemate. You have to bring something extra to the team. They have to feel like we are there for them, that they can count on us, that we're a relief.

Cascarino: It wasn't easy to come into the game, especially a game like that with so much intensity. But I owed it to myself to give it my best for the team.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: Delphine [Cascarino], when she comes on, we know what she is capable of. The opponent knows it too. But I don't think they were expecting her to do it so quickly and at that moment. Delphine got the ball and she did what she had to do, what she knows to do.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Cascarino: Well in that moment I felt there weren't really any solutions because they were defending well, really, really well. They're playing one-on-ones. I could feel when I got the ball PSG as hesitating. So I took advantage of it and faked passing in order to dribble past some players. Then I put in a strong cross. I said to myself "it doesn't matter, Ada [Hegerberg] is a little behind." But I put weight on it anyway. And she managed to get the defender off balance enough to put the ball at the back of the net.

Cascarino: At that moment we - you're not thinking. You're acting on instinct. I saw there was a small amount of space. I scampered into it and it paid off. Sometimes it doesn't work, it depends. It depends on the situation. It depends on a lot of things.

van de Donk: Delph[ine Cascarino] did this trick with her leg, it was crazy. She runs with the ball. She's super fast, first of all. It's hard to keep up with her. And then she does stuff with her leg in the air, and she keeps going and goes past you. It's just done.

Cascarino: It made me happy in the moment to have been at the origin, if we can call it that, of the equalizing goal. But I was still disappointed with the final result because we didn't win the game.

[LYON - PSG GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: We weren't able to put forth the style of play that we wanted, but we didn't lose and that's what we should take away from it.

[OLPLAY STUDIO ANALYSIS]

van de Donk: I had no idea where Montauban was, it was a bit of a shock. It was quite far as well. But it was a cool game to be fair, I think they had a good crowd going on.

Becho: The away trip to Montauban, it reminded me a little of the away trips when I was young. You could tell the crowd was family-leaning.

Cascarino: Montbaunan was playing the game of their lives. It was good, the crowd was really pushing them to play well, so it was nice, we like those sorts of games.

[MONTAUBAN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE]

van de Donk: Games like that, they always start off a bit weird because the pitch is not as good, the opponent is fired up because they're fired up because they're playing against Lyon. They always go the extra mile, I would say, a bit harder in tackles and everything.

Cascarino: We gave ourselves a fright at the start. Unfortunately I gave away a penalty. I think it was the first time in my career.

[MONTAUBAN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Cascarino: Maybe subconsciously there was a little bit of carelessness. Maybe a bit of tiredness as well. The month of February is never easy physically. So maybe that's why there was a bit of a drop-off.

van de Donk: I think we're just very patient as a team. Instead of killing them straight away, I think we're like "get into the game first, play our game, and then the goals will come". In the end that was true, but the second half was more easy.

[MONTAUBAN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: It was nice but in that moment, I wasn't thinking that- I was frustrated. Like I said, we've been conceding more goals lately, and it's something that I really hate. We are Lyon, and we - I want no team to think they can beat us or even think to themselves that we tossed them a bone or that they got something from us. No. We can't let them have anything. So I was frustrated to have conceded that goal.

[MONTAUBAN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

van de Donk: Yeah, everything is a bit harder, it's a bit always - when you start the game, then after five minutes you know what kind of game it's going to be or how they are exactly. But that's why they are a bit more hard. I think it's a bit more difficult but very exciting always.

Becho: In the end, when you could see even the substitutes, Eugenie [Le Sommer] come on, Ada [Hegerberg] come on. We know we're a team where you can count on everybody.

Cascarino: Yes, the second half was much better and the goals kept coming.

[MONTAUBAN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Becho: After that, we were really happy to see Alyssia [Paljevic - former Lyon academy goalkeeper, best known for being the same height as Selma Bacha], who used to play with us. We were happy as well because we qualified for the semifinal.

[MONTAUBAN - LYON POSTGAME FOOTAGE]

van de Donk: Before the game I saw Alyssia, our little goalie from last year. I think she's amazing, she's such a good kid. So it was really nice to see her but I could tell in her eyes that she was a little bit down. I figured it's because she didn't start the game. But for her it was really nice, she came on so she could play against her old club. She's just amazing, I love her.

[INTERNATIONAL BREAK]

Becho: We're leaving for the international break.

Cascarino: First of all I really happy to be called up by the head coach. It was really nice for me to go back to the French National Team and play in my city [Lyon] as well. So it's really a pleasure for me to play in the Groupama Stadium. And yeah, we were really happy to have won.

Becho: In the final, we were playing against Spain. They were playing at home. We know that in that moment we have an entire stadium against us. But it's okay, we tell ourselves it's a final, it's the League of Nations. We have to win it. They were better than us, we're not going to hide it. They had a better game plan than us, we tried to play with what we had.

Cascaarino: They played really well tactically. They really moved the ball around, they really lulled us. And yeah, we know it, it's the style of play that they have and it worked. Unfortunately for us we weren't able to impose our style of play and, yeah. I came on as a substitute. It was complicated to come on in that type of game, especially when we were down 2-0. We weren't able to get any goals back.

Cascarino: Now we are ready for the month of March and we hope we will win everything in the month.

#all good love stories start in the rain #danielle van de donk #Vicki becho #delphine cascarino #monsters recognize monsters

[pebblysand]

[books of 2022]

this is long overdue (i mean, it's april, but sure look) but i wanted to hop on here and do a little bit of a wrap-up of the books i read last year. i will say this: i am not (at the moment) a "voracious" reader. since the pandemic, i've struggled to find time to read - partly because i used to read whilst traveling, and i didn't do much of that in the past few years, and partly because i've been writing a lot, and i've always found it hard to do both at the same time. i must admit i find the #booktok girlies who read hundreds of books a year particularly unrelatable, but i did get through ten books last year (and DNF-ed three) so, i'll happily talk about those.

READ:

enfant de salaud by sorj chalandon (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: this isn't in english i know no one on here will read it, but sorj chalandon is and will always be one of my favourite writers in the world, and honestly the only french writer whose books i actually read voluntarily. i think what i like about sorj chalandon is that he's not only a fantastic fiction writer (his style - omg! his style ❤️), he's also a war reporter. as such, there's always a lot of "wars" in his books, either figurative or literal, which is obviously a topic i find incredibly interesting. this book is set in the 80s and centres on a reporter who is covering the klaus barbie trial in france, as well as coming to terms with his relationship with his father, who is a pathological liar. i really liked both aspects of the book. the klaus barbie trial story gave me a lot of food for thought for castles at a time when i was planning/writing the wizarding war trials, and the personal story was super interesting. i gave this a four-star because it's not my favourite book of his (retour a killybegs is) but i thoroughly enjoyed this.

au guet-apens by maître mô (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) [non-fiction]: another french book (sorry ^^) but this one was probably my favourite read of 2022. it made me laugh, it made me cry. maître mô was a french lawyer specialising in criminal law who got somewhat "twitter famous" in the 2010s for talking about the reality of his criminal law practice (the good, the bad, the ugly) - always with a lot of empathy, humour, and humanity. he passed away from lung cancer in 2020 and a compilation of his best blog (he also had a blog) posts was published, and i was very glad to be able to read it. there are so many funny and tragic human stories in there, and a beauty in the idea that everyone (yes everyone) is owed a criminal defence. i would so very much recommend it to anyone who has ever wanted to ask the question: 'how can you defend them?' the writing is gorgeous and i think it's the kind of book that strangely gives you faith in humanity again.

men explain things to me by rebecca solnit (⭐️) [non-fiction]: i hated this book so much i wrote a tumblr rant about it. i'm still angry i wasted my precious time skimming through it until the end. i refuse to give it another minute of my time. the one star is for the quality of the paper it was printed on.

none of this is serious by catherine prasifka (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: i picked this up in the shop a bit at random, but i really, really liked this book. it's a bit of a concept (the main character never speaks out loud, all you ever get is her internal monologue), but it's a concept that works. it also tackles very well that awkward time between finishing university and getting your first job, and how powerless and scary it all feels. minor tw for sexual assault there, but i truly enjoyed this. the writing style was very much my jam (present tense and not trying too hard) and again, i really loved the concept. i do feel like it could have done without the sci-fi element but i liked how chronically online the main character was (#relatable). i loved how there's just so much talk around her, and while you always know what she thinks, you never know what she actually says. would definitely recommend!

we had to remove this post by hanna bervoets (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: i've spoken about this book on here a lot already but again, i really, really loved it. this was probably my runner-up favourite, the only thing i have against it is that it felt Too Damn Short. broadly, the book is about the tech world and particularly the job of content moderators, which is a massive ethical can of worms. as someone who works in tech and in the "trust and safety" space (although i've never worked in content moderation myself), i found the book very faithful to reality, very well-researched, and deeply fascinating. the characters are incredible and the end twist was... a twist, to say the least. absolutely loved this.

an american marriage by tayari jones (⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: it took me three years to finally finish this book. i should have DNF-ed it. i kept picking it up and putting it back down again. i think i stuck with it because everyone said it was an Important Book about the mass incarceration of black people in america, but honestly, it wasn't really a book about that. it's a book about three people who are all equally unbearable and cannot make decisions to save their lives, and the fact that one of them happens to be in prison for a crime he didn't commit is, frankly, secondary. i really want to read a good book about racial issues in america, particularly regarding the justice system (if anyone has recs, please hit me up!) but this was not it.

bullshit jobs by david graeber (⭐️⭐️⭐️) [non-fiction]: this was both incredibly funny and incredibly triggering. really makes you realise how much of the corporate world is just bullshit, and i definitely include my own job in this category. most of us just serve zero purpose lol. that man is dead right. giving this three stars because while fine, the writing wasn't mind-blowing, but honestly, i'm glad i read this.

vox by christina dalcher (⭐️⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: like, idk. this was fine. i read this on the beach and had a good time. the romance was a bit nonsensical and the end a bit "blah" but i liked the premise. basically follows the life of a woman in a society where women are limited to saying 100 words a day. it was trying a bit too hard to surf on the handmaid's tale mania in the same way we had all these vampire books after twilight, but still, it was good. a fine summer beach read.

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: everyone and their cousin has read this book and recommended it so i'm not going to reinvent the wheel. i promise, it is a great read. i very much enjoyed it. someone sent me an ask about it a few months ago, in which i shared a few more thoughts, if you want to head over there to find out more.

station eleven by emily st john mandel (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) [fiction]: this is a fantastic book. it's a masterpiece. it also fucked up with my mental health so badly i considered going to therapy again and totally messed with my brain for months. i think i'm on the tail end of it now. but, if you're an artist who has anxiety about dying before you manage to finish whatever it is you're working on, don't read this. honestly.

DID NOT FINISH:

i had a whole period of my life where i thought I Must Finish All Books, but that is no more. as that fake german heiress said: 'i do not have time for this, i do not have time for you'.

a brief history of the future by stephen clarke: it pains me to say because i really loved the merde series, but i've been dragging this book around for years, trying to finish it, and i think it's time to say goodbye. i just couldn't even tell you what the plot is, or what the point of the whole teleportation machine was... i'm just ... confused. i suppose one cannot write great books 100% of the time.

1984 by george orwell: look, i tried. but i think the issue with this book is that while it was the first in its genre, it was far from the last, and as a result of having read a lot of the dystopia that came after it, this just felt boring and stilted. the misogyny is also rather off-putting. i have read 100 pages and that was sufficient.

la peste (the plague) by albert camus: fuck, i love camus. i really, really do. the stranger is the only book that was assigned to me in school that i actually read. and, having now lived through a pandemic, la peste is strangely prescient. probably too prescient. i think the reason why i gave up on this is because 1) i "read" it as an audiobook and i think i'm just not an audiobook person and 2) i started this in the middle of the pandemic and it was just too much. the bubonic plague lockdown in the middle of the covid lockdown was hard to handle. so i just stopped listening to this on my walks and began listening to music instead. i don't think it's abandoned forever (i'll probably pick it up in book format again some day) but at the moment i just can't lol. no need to repeat the station eleven experience lol.

#book recs #2022 round up