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#I read this book earlier last year when I found it in my school library and fell I love to the point my friend generously got it for me
berryzxx · 4 months
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could you do some Grayson Hawthorne as a kid hcs 🤭 (when you have time ofc lovely x)
(so i found this idea super cute and might have done it earlier than i was planning. Hope u like it xx)- these also vary in age so some go from teenage years to 4-5
Grayson Hawthorne Headcanons- when he was younger
He took ages to sleep. Playing chess games with himself, trying to draw the world map by memory literally did anything to fall asleep faster
Sometimes when he had nightmares he would just lay in bed knowing that Jameson would come to his room first. Once he did they would talk about things (never about their nightmares) but just in general. Once he knew Jameson was asleep he would finally sleep as well
Always took care of Xander even if it meant being the uptight brother
Wanted his mothers attention so would draw her cute cards and gave her flowers that he had dug up from the gardens
When he was bored, if his grandfather was at home he would follow him around sometimes discretely to see what he did and how he acted (he wanted tips on what to do once he got the fortune)
Being super young, Grayson sometimes wondered down corridors, just so he could get lost and then maybe he would get a little attention and someone would come find him
Instead he just found his way back to his room because obvs he's extremely smart
He also made up a lot of games for him, Xander and Jameson to play when they were younger
Always asked Nash for advice before doing anything because he didn't want to do it wrong
Never or barely cried in front of everyone because he didn't want to be seen as weak
He was a quiet child in class but always put his hand up to give the answer
Liked it when Jameson joined his school because Jameson was able to make friends in a heartbeat with literally everyone
Didn't trust his friends completely but he did enjoy spending time with them
His favourite extra curricular was Photography which he had joined because he had wanted to create memories that lasted forever
He is naturally good at drawing/art.
When he was small and the boys had a maid he would tell her "Please could you style my hair so it looks neat?" Cared about his presentation when he was like 6 years old
Also was always so so polite. His teachers always complimented his manners in parent meetings
Great at sports especially cricket but he's not really a fan of how long the game is
Whenever he wanted something he would whisper it at first "Could I please have the crayon?" He had to repeat himself like twice before the other children could hear him
Wasn't necessarily a shy child but he was quiet compared to Jamie
Jamie and Gray always get compared by teachers "You sure he's your brother? He's the complete opposite"
Anytime any child made eye contact with him he would give them the sweetest smile his dimples showing.
He didn't have very close friends but everyone in the class liked him so he was voted for class president quite a few times
His uniform was always so clean like there would not be a spot of dirt on his clothes. He was a clean child.
Unlike Xander who always had paint splotches down his shirt
When Xander was super young like 4 years old, all 3 of them would go to Nash's room and make him read a bed time story on Saturday nights
Slowly this tradition changed to Grayson also getting a part in reading. Xander and Jamie would fall asleep and so whenever it was Jameson's turn to read he had fallen asleep
Nash would ask if he wanted to sleep here as well but because Grayson likes to be independent he would leave to his own room- half an hour later he would creep into Nash's room and sleep next to Xander
Also still liked spending time by himself. Finding a comfy corner in the library to read his favourite book to escape for a bit- he would usually find Jamie here as well seen as though he loves reading
When he was quite young he insisted on having an opticians appointment because he thought people with glasses were smarter. Of course he turned out to have 20-20 vision.
He is the most hot fucking person in the whole of Hawthorne house (had to add this because i couldn't leave it at 29😭)
(and yes i am getting to my other grayson requests soon everyone! xx)
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dduane · 10 months
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...So this is the time of year when I return to this piece of digital art (or its earlier versions), tweak it a little, and repost it for Pride.
At the moment I'm looking at These Two Idiots (for so they are) and considering how long I've been working with them. Of all the characters I've worked with in print, the only ones I've known longer would be the crew of NCC-1701.
I first "met" these guys in late 1970, when I went to college and met the two people (not gay, incidentally) on whom they would be based. Not even knowing the word "trope" at the time, I fell headfirst into one, because there was this tall dark man and this short blond one... and much to my surprise, they started pulling a world together around them. It assembled itself bit by bit, in a sort of patchwork that gradually started undoing its seams and growing together into a rather unusual tapestry.
It was a crude one, to start with. But one thing the characters made plain to me from fairly early on was that their relationships with one another were not what mainstream 1970s culture would consider conventional. They were gay... but that wasn't at all the most important thing in their lives.* And as I continued assembling their background world through nursing school and then my first job in Manhattan as a psych nurse, their personalities began to fill themselves out in the foreground.
One of them turned out to be the son of a provincial nobleman, well aware of the expectations of those around him—that he might eventually wind up running that province himself. Yet at the same time he was aware that he had other problems, chief among them the discovery of a nascent power that would kill him young if he couldn't master it. And in the last thousand years, no one of his gender ever had...
The other presented himself more and more clearly as something of a hard case: someone who wanted to very much to be good at the family business, but wasn't... and knew it. Kind of a screw-up, always doing the wrong things for what he was sure were the right reasons. Yet, no matter how often he screwed up, he was also the kind of person who keeps picking himself up and trying again, because he's been told over and over that that's what people like him have to do: otherwise they're no use to anybody.
Imagine my shock when I realized that these two men—initially enemies in their adolescence, then frenemies, and as they grew, best friends and then much more—were the (incomplete) answer to the question I'd asked my Mom at the end of the bedtime reading of some fairy tale or other: "Why can't a prince rescue another prince?" Because one of them got himself more than once into situations where he really needed one kind or another of rescuing. The other one obliged him, while once or twice getting rescued himself. In short: a pattern was forming.
And when it broke out in full flower in 1978, the very last thing I expected was to be immediately dragged gasping and flailing under the surface of the novel that would begin the tale of what more they had to become. It was probably the most interesting six weeks of my life (and that includes the six weeks during which I first scrubbed in on brain surgery). The book—which sold a couple of weeks after it landed on its publisher's desk—kicked off my career as a novelist and screenwriter, and in its way proved that the world was at least somewhat ready for epic fantasy in which the basic culture was pansexual, polyamorous, and inclusive in ways that hadn't been attempted before.
So I owe them a debt, those two gentlemen up there: the tall dark guy with the amateur strategist's mind, the blacksmith's shoulders, and the peculiar sword, and the short fair gent who if he could would stay at home, live quietly in town, and work in the local library...but whom when kingship requires has risked everything on subsuming his being into that of the family demigod, in order to save the world in which he and his loved (and the rest of their found family) live their lives. A lot of people in the 1980s and '90s who'd never seen queer representation in a fantasy novel, found it at last while following Herewiss and Freelorn down their road. And it's been my pleasure to hold that space for new readers, and keep adding to it... because (if you ask me) it's needed more now than ever.
So, to the readership of the Middle Kingdoms works—now pushing half a century old—and everybody else who's celebrating the season: happy Pride!
*Not least because everybody else in their world is (at least potentially) some shade of queer, including God.
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daegall · 2 years
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no bc Imagine that haechan have so much confidence in you that he asks you to pick up their little brothers from school because he’s busy, and when they see you they are super excited because they love their brother’s girlfriend and want to play with u :(
no bc .
pairing: bf!hyuck x (fem!) reader ft. hyucks brothers who don't have names LOOOL
genre: fluff, established relationship! AU
warnings: none i think
word count: 652 words
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It's 12 pm, on a thursday, and to your luck, you don't have much work to do. In the meantime, you had decided in wasting time on a book, one Donghyuck had recommended a few weeks ago, and you have to say, it's very enjoyable to read.
Speaking of the devil, there's a ring from your phone. Knowing it's your dear and adorable boyfriend from the special ringtone you set for him, you don't hesitate to pick up.
"Hyuck?"
"Hi baby," You can almost hear the smile in his voice, and you're sure he can hear yours as well.
"What's up?"
"Don't mean to bother you jn any way, but could you pick my brothers up from the library? Or accompany them until I get there?"
Instantly, yourheart swirls and throbs with love at the mention of his little brothers. You love them to death, and would do anything for them. You remember the first time you met him, they wouldn't stop telling you stories about their eldest brother. As much as Donghyuck was annoyed, he felt relieved, as his brothers wouldn't really talk to people they just meet. Having them tell you every single detail about their home when you've been in it for 20 minutes really says something.
Not to mention the trust they have in you, the trust you have in them and the trust he has in all of you, he can't help but love you even more.
"Fuck yeah," you say into your phone, grinning at the chuckles that leave the speakers just a moment later.
"Thank you so much, Y/n! I'll pick you guys up at 2,"
It's 15 minutes to 1 when you arrive at the library, walking in and instantly heading to the computers, where you know Donghyuck's little brothers will be, playing fireboy and watergirl as they always do.
The older son is in his last year of middle school, while the youngest is still yet to finish his 2nd year of middle school. They've grown right ubder your nose, and you can't believe how far they've gotten.
The moment they've noticed you, they're grinning, jumping, exclaiming your name as they rush towards you. "Y/n! We've missed you so much!"
"Awee what! I just saw you guys a couple weeks ago,"
The younger boy huffs into your shoulder, shaking his head. "That was for a day. I can't believe mom disapproved our sleepover proposal."
You can't help but agree. They did a whole musical number, only for you to go home just 30 minutes after it finished.
"Where's Hyuckie?"
You take their hands and lead them to the bean baf section, a secret place for the three of you to hang out, plopping on your usual orange bag. "He'll be picking us up in about an hour, how about we read our favorite books?"
Instantly, both of the brothers nod eagerly, setting off to find their choices. You yourself bring out the previous book Donghyuck recommened you. It doesn't take long for them to come back and flock around you, finding a comfortable position on their bean bags, before growing immersed in your own worlds.
It also doesn't take long for all 3 of you to knock out cold for a quick nap session.
And knocked out cold is how Donghyuck found the three of you at 2:15, his heart suttering at the sight before him. One brother had his head on your lap, snuggling into your hoodie you had offered him earlier, the other brother with his arms wrapped around yours.
Donghyuck approaches the cuddle puddle, whipping out his phone to snap a few pics, snickering at the thought of blackmail. Despite that, as Donghyuck walks over to place a soft kiss by the corner of your lips, he knows there's a deep part in him that knows you're the one, that there will be nobody his brothers will love more than you, that there will be nobody he will love more than you.
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uneducated-author · 7 months
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I got a present from a student of mine, a beautiful hardcover copy of 'Howl's Moving Caste' and I'm so happy, but it does remind me of what 10 (AND A HALF) year old me did when she found out that it wasn't in my local WHSmith.
Full of rage and vitriol I knocked on the door of every classroom in my school (I was a renowned introvert, so this was EXTREMELY out of character) and politely asked if anyone had a copy. I received Many Many Many rejections. Inconsolable I lay in the library and wept. Then, like a beacon from the dark, the librarian miraculously told me that when I'd asked earlier she was mistaken and 'oh, I think we have it actually! It's just in loan'
I've looked back in this moment with the benefit of hindsight and realised that the librarian, who knew me as the girl who'd hide from bullies in the reading room and spent lunch hours organising books, must have elected to specially order the book for me, and it makes an already sweet moment even sweeter.
But a week later, I was distraught again. The winter holidays were coming up. I would loose access to the only library that had this treasure. I was holding Diana Wynne Jones masterpieces in my hands, despairing against my upcoming tragedy, until it came to me. The perfect solution.
I just had to write the whole book.
'Oh you fool, you could not write three books in a week'
I could sure as hell try.
I was in a frenzy. I would shovel breadsticks into my mouths and fervently write at lunch. I stayed up late and wrote by torchlight.
(Honestly, I probably could have written by lamp, but torchlight felt more dramatic and I lived for the feeling it evoked.)
I wrote in my reading class, permitted because I'd finished the list of books and the assorted quizzes. I wrote in friday PE because the friday teacher never took attendance and nobody cared if a young girl had locked herself in the bathroom for an hour, scribbling away.
I learned how to write with my left hand, but I was too slow if I wanted it to be legible, so I worked through the pain.
So? Did I finish? Was my fervent effort rewarded? Books had to be returned to the library on Thursday so I didn't even have Thurday night. Would the fortnight be enough?
Sort of. I finished my transcription of 'Howl's Moving Castle' and 'Castle in the Air' but couldn't move on to the final book in the trilogy. Hence started my winter vacation. I poured through the story, luxuriating in the rereading. I impressed my mother with my skill in making whipped cream, turns out mixing is much less intensive than furtive writing.
And on Christmas, I opened a beautiful collection of three paperbacks. I reread those books until I could recite swathes from each, and memorised the whole first chapter, which I'd murmur to my younger cousins.
I passed those books down to a younger girl in the neighbourhood, who passed them down to her sister, who gave them to a friend who lost them on a holiday. I have no idea where they are now.
But I have a book, from a student who loves reading where she used to hate it, and revels in a story with happy ending and good characters.
I don't know if there's some greater meaning to this. But I love the story, and it's come back to me. And my wrist almost hurts remembering almost 100,000 words for this story, but I can't help remember how much I wanted it.
Sometimes I think 'do I have that passion now? Is there anything I'd care about to that extent, until it hurts, until I hate it?'
I was so foolish, but so so alive and that week feels impossible. I talked to strangers! I transcribed a book! I didn't give up, not for a second!
(In fact two years later I did the same thing for Good Omens, transcribing the copy at my library over the period of a whole Summer. I purchased a copy a year after that, and gave it to a friend last year.)
I'm proud, of what ten and a half year old me did. Not because it was specifically moral, or impressive. Because of how much she loved something that she resolved to do anything to keep it with her.
The frantic handwriting is unfamiliar to me. It's spidery and smudged. The paper seems unbelievably thin, and the script uneven and unlevelled. A whole chapter has been lost to water damage. I barely have any of the book memorised. I keep it all the same because ten (and a half) year old me would weep if I lost it.
A heart is a heavy burden. But I poured mine into a strangers words, and then into those pages. I can't give them away.
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shuriflurry · 8 months
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Season 1 of Owl House: complete. And it was fine. It was ok. It was 19 episodes of mostly wasted potential. But that's ok (I guess).
I really liked the 2nd to last episode, which is unfortunate in a way because it made me question even harder why the previous 17 episodes had been so bleh. It really feels like the creators were focusing on all the wrong aspects during this first season. This is gonna get long soooo....
The best example I can think of for how the team wasted time was by them needing to show us repeatedly that Willow gets bullied. Like, I understood that from the 3rd episode. I didn't need to be shown and have entire episodes about how Willow gets bullied. The subplot between Amity and Willow's past also felt unnecessary (Amity saying "I can't be friends with them. They're mean!" did make me go into an actual fit of hysterics though. God forbid Amity just be a nasty, feral demon child). I think one of the benefits of this being a Disney channel Y7 show is that viewers can pick up on little stereotypes and tropes to make inferences about character archetypes and such and get a feel for the characters without needing to be shown or told (and don't tell me kids can't do that. Children are not stupid). Which isn't to say that means they should have removed ALL backstory. It just means IMO that the back stories they focused on really didn't add to the greater story and instead seemed to exist as a way to purge Amity of any wrongdoing.
I didn't mind Lilith's role in the season, but I found her motivations to be muddy and the timeline didn't seem to make much sense. I also found it hard to believe she was forgiven that easily for what she had done. I don't hate Lilith, and I 100% see what they were going for, but I think it needed a bit more time on the writing table/it needed to be mentioned earlier.
Like, instead of Eda learning Lilith is the reason she's cursed, get mad at her, then forgive her in the course of like one week (being generous), have Eda have learned about it years ago. Have Eda be festering in her anger for what her sister did while also missing her terribly. Have Lilith be trying to fix it the only way she knows how to (I'm blatantly ignoring the pain sharing spell because it's dumb). And have them finally make up at the end when the one thing Eda was convinced Lilith would never do - betray the Emperor - is exactly what she does and it's only then they can fix their relationship.
Speaking of the Emperor: I'm into that funky dude. I liked his little chair (both of them!). I liked that he had a cool room. LOVED the beating heart over him. Liked the thought of him dealing with elementary school children in his house. He seems threatening? He has a cool blue eye. Willing to do public executions. All good things IMO. My only complaint is that he was such a non-entity for every other episode this season.
I think it would have been really cool to drop little hints about him throughout the earlier episodes, but because we see the world through the eyes of Luz it gets brushed off/not addressed. For example, statues of him in the background, or the book King was reading in the finale on a table during the library episode. Just anything so when he does finally appear it means something lmao.
These thoughts are very disjointed and I'm sorry if they don't make sense. But I also feel like that's the best way to summarize my feelings towards The Owl House season 1. It was disjointed. It was sloppy. It went off on unnecessary tangents. It had plots that seemed interesting and then made no sense or got dropped.
I still love Amity even though she is already starting to be a shell of her former self. I like Belos even though I know he turns out to be one big nothing burger. But even still, I'm tentatively positive Season 2 will be more solid.
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chloealaina · 8 months
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Good Guess
Gregory Goyle x reader
(It’s based off of when Ron and Harry used the poly juice potion in their second year but I guess it could take place in any year really.)
You had just left the great hall after dinner and made your way to the library. It probably wasn’t the best time, but you needed a few books for an assignment. After finding the books you made your way to the Slytherin common room.
As you were walking there you found Percy Weasley with your friends, Draco and Crabbe. And Goyle, with glasses? You made your way up to them and greeted everyone. Once you got to Goyle, you wrapped your arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. You noticed that he tensed a bit instead of hugging you back.
“Are you okay Goyle?” You asked him.
He nodded his head yes.
“Okay… then why do you have glasses?”
“Um… for reading,” he answered.
“Reading?”
Goyle never told you he owned a pair of glasses, and when you were talking to him earlier that day he told you reading was probably the worst thing on the planet . You were just about to question him again when Draco beat you to it.
“Reading? I didn’t know you could read,” he said.
“Draco.” You hissed at him.
“What?”
Before saying anything you looked at Goyle again and he didn’t seem himself. You thought maybe you were just imagining it and you needed sleep.
“Never mind, I’m going to bed. See you all tomorrow.” And you left.
The next morning, you got up, got dressed, and made your way to the Great Hall for breakfast. You spotted Goyle and tried to go talk to him but you were stopped by two of your friends, Ron and Harry.
“Hey Y/n!” They said.
“Oh hey guys!” You greeted back.
“Um, we have a question for you,” Harry said.
“Okay, what is it?”
“Do you, by any chance, have a boyfriend or someone you fancy?” Ron asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“We just want to know.” Said Harry.
“Okay then, I do have a boyfriend.” You told them.
“Well, who is it?”
You thought for a moment before answering.
“Guess.” You said.
“What!?” They said in unison.
“Guess.”
“Um,” they thought for a few seconds. “ Is it that Goyle kid? One of Draco’s goons?” Ron said.
“He is not a goon! And anyways, out of all the people who go to this school you chose Goyle?”
“Um, yeah. We just guessed.” Said Harry.
“ Well then, that was very good guess. I’ll see you guys later!” You said walking away and making your way to the Slytherin table.
“Hey everyone!” You said arriving to the table, getting a few hi’s back. You sat next to Goyle and wrapped your arms around his waist giving him a hug. And he hugged you back with a smile.
“Hello love.” He whispered in your ear.
“Hi,” you said with a smile. “What happened last night? You were a little tense, and you had glasses. Where did those come from?”
“What do you mean? I didn’t see you last night.”
“You didn’t?”
“No?”
“One moment.”
You stood up from your spot and sped walked to the Gryffindor table.
“Harry-“
A/n: Hi, this is my second story. I’ve had this idea for a while and wanted to write a story about it. It could have been better and I probably have to back to fix spelling and grammar mistakes, but I hope you like it and have a great day!
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quickdeaths · 24 days
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【ME & 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗜'𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥】
- ALIAS / NAME: Bryn, Ya Girl, Hey You
- BIRTHDAY: March 20
- ZODIAC SIGN: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh pisces/aries cusp but I will be honest I don't know much about astrology - I consider it harmless fun but it is harmless fun that I do not participate in, feel free to drag my ass because that's EXACTLY what a pisces/aries/pisces-aries would say
- HEIGHT: 5'11
- HOBBIES: Reading, writing, video games, dungeons and dragons/other TTRPGs, hanging out with the fam and/or the squad, watching tv sometimes when I can get the adhd to be quiet and focus on something. I like studying, too, to a point, and I would like to get back to like Working On A Skill in some way. Maybe polishing up my Japanese back to where it was when I lived abroad?
- FAVORITE COLOR: I say purple, which is kind of true, but actually a like, darker blue purple, like an indigo.
- FAVORITE BOOK: I'm annoyingly that girl you went to school with who loved all the books that they made you read. If there is a classic novel from like, 1800-1960 that they made you read in school, I like it, probably. I would also say, when I was in high school, which probably was (along with college) the time that I read most for pleasure, as well, I was really emotionally affected by Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World, and Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato and considered them faves.
Probably what I would say now though is Imogen Binnie's Nevada. I read it on a flight down to a weekend work retreat, read it on the flight, in the cab, and skipped dinner/informal meeting to read it all in one sitting. It's not an easy book to read, nor a "fun" one in a lot of ways, but I read it over 5 years ago and I think it about it constantly. It feels very raw and honest, and like 10 years after publication, I feel its influence on so much queer literary fiction.
There's also some books of poetry that I hold in high regard. I have Paul Muldoon's Poems: 1968-1998 and Seamus Heaney's Opened Ground, Selected Poems 1966-1996. I also have a story about being in college and writing a capstone essay for a notoriously difficult class where we were supposed to write about a book of poems of our choice. My laptop had broken, so I was confined to one of the shitty computers in the computer lab, and I had been working on the essay about a book of poems I found in our school library for maybe three weeks before the due date, and by happenstance, I ended up reading The Captain Asks for a Show Of Hands by Nick Flynn. I immediately had the thought of "I need to write about this," deleted my entire existing essay, and crunched for basically the entire remaining week to write a new one about Flynn's book instead.
- LAST SONG: I'm not sure what song specifically, but I was listening to the entire album Bon Iver by Bon Iver while writing RP replies earlier. I'm very much a full album girlie most of the time. Before that we've got "POPPY (Japanese Version)" by STAYC, "Champions of Red Wine" by The New Pornographers, "Biohazard" by Momma, and "Star" by LOONA (they're still together I swear here is how LOONA can still win-)
- LAST FILM / SHOW: I started watching the She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat live action drama last night. Probably gonna start watching Shogun with my mom soon when I go to have dinner and visit with her? As for movie... I saw Origin with my mom in theaters last month. I thought it was a very creative choice to adapt a nonfiction book into a narrative about the author writing the book, while still managing to incorporate a lot of the themes and content of the book into the film.
- RECENT READS: A lot of manga tbh... I read the She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat manga recently, as well as reread My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness after twitter drama thrust it back into my consciousness. I've been meaning to read Dungeon Meshi so probably soon? In terms of non-comic books, I read this nonfiction book called The Digital Closet: How The Internet Became Straight by Alexander Monea recently that was very engaging! In short, it's a dissection of the way that the American government's attempts to regulate and censor the internet (for a variety of reasons) have had the knock-on effect of things like age-gating even non-sexual queer content on youtube, or social media algorithms burying queer posts. I'm slowly working through Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett, which is about a woman trying to hold things together and run her family's taxidermy shop after her father's sudden death. It's weird, but good. It's probably also time for my annual(ish...) reread of Stephen King's On Writing, too.
- STORY BEHIND URL: It's a Maki quote! Her and Shuichi are talking about Tenko's death, and Shuichi says something about Maki's insight coming from experience, and she responds, "Of course. Quick deaths are my specialty."
- FUN FACT ABOUT ME: I used to be an elementary school English teacher in Japan, probably everyone knows this by now, but it is my funnest fact. I used to be a decently good soccer player and I was a pretty high-ranked doubles tennis player in my middle school district district for a little while (my partner carried me but still!) I honestly spend WAY too much time doing D&D prep - I spent basically the entirety of summer 2021 rewriting the entirety of the Curse of Strahd published D&D adventure to fit my preferences, and that of my players, complete with new characters/maps/statblocks/items/plot points/etc. Before the campaign had even started, I had absolutely dumped probably 100+ hours into it.
TAGGED BY: @more-than-a-princess the bestie thank youuu
TAGGING: @lunaetis @hopeds @honoosenshi @amoriscustos @wouldhope and you!
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plushpinkfox · 1 year
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ok fine
so i know i already did a whole "i'm so excited about this!!" post but i wanted to flesh one out a little bit more now that we're down to less than six hours till the movie releases.
i think i first picked up a copy of the school for good and evil in 2015, but it could have been earlier. i found it on the shelves of my local library while i was still in middle school, and i was TRANSPORTED. and every time i open a copy nowadays, i can still remember that feeling.
i remember being so invested in the initial twist. i remember my heart racing while i read through the trial by tale. i remember a big smile on my face when agatha realized she was beautiful all along. i remember getting so excited and wiggling around while i read the ball proposal scene. i remember putting my book down in shock as sophie and agatha disappeared.
and most of all, i remember the girls. i remember identifying with both of them: sophie's pathological need to be loved and agatha's incredible lack of self-confidence. but also, how much they did ultimately love each other, despite their whole fairytale trying to pull them apart.
so i bought all the books (even red school! a terrible sacrifice). and i made an account on the website. and i watched entv videos. and i wrote goodreads reviews. and i waited, patiently, as did so many others, for news of the universal pictures project to finally follow through on the rights they purchased. when the netflix announcement came through, i celebrated. i made friends with kate in august of 2020 and we've been talking ever since. i became mutuals with soman chainani on twitter and spoke to him with the golden ticket contest. i made a tumblr fan account and accidentally helped shut down the entire forum section of the sge website. i made analysis posts and promised to make more that i just completely forgot about. and i had such a damn good time doing it all.
hearing the netflix news was so exciting and it hasn't stopped since. we are FINALLY at the end of the road for the first film. to be frank, i couldn't care less if it does well critically. i think paul feig put his all into making an adaptation that caters to what the fans want to see. i think the cast tried their hardest to emulate the characters we all know and love. i think this movie looks absolutely gorgeous, and i am so excited to see all the cringe and camp and camaraderie and care that comes from it. i am so excited to see the culmination of the last seven-odd years of fandom devotion that i have been waiting for.
this isn't a "last post" sort of deal, but i feel like this is the end of an era so to speak. maybe we'll get movies in the future, and i'll come right back here and get to make this whole dramatic speech again. maybe soman will continue the series somehow in more corny ways and i'll get to rag on those for years to come. maybe i'll outgrow it all and abandon this account and never come back! (not today, but someday i suppose). in the meantime, i will just enjoy this moment. i will get back to you with movie feedback after i am done watching it at 3am est.
with love.
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pentanguine · 7 months
Text
Sundry reflections
I love my new job, but holy shit I'm overwhelmed. A lot of onboarding stuff that has to be done at the same time I’m being trained on three different service points at once, and then school starts next week which I'm told Changes Things in chaotic ways. But also...this is truly a dream job. My coworkers are so welcoming and actually respect my gender; I work in a very cool location with a lot of restaurants and cultural opportunities to explore; I get to lead the fantasy book club, which is honestly a dream come true. I feel extremely lucky to be here
As part of being so overwhelmed, I haven’t read through tumblr in almost two weeks, which is the longest I’ve gone in eight years without being fully “caught up” on my dash. I’m not sure how I feel about this; on the one hand, letting go of the need to perfectly complete something is always a good move for me, but also I do enjoy tumblr and it doesn’t give me Bad Social Media Feelings. Currently ambivalent on whether this marks the start of a new era or a blip in a continued tumblr way of life. In any case, if my queue runs out, that’s why.
I’ve also overcompensated on my desire to read fewer books by hardly making time to read at all, and I’m feeling burned out by that. Maybe sometimes I dive into too many books as a way of avoiding life and at the expense of other potential hobbies, but also sometimes reading restores me to myself and is the best way I can relax and enjoy myself, and I shouldn’t fight that.
That being said, I have realized that I don’t actually like buying new books. For one thing I’m out of room for them, and for another, I love library books! I love the feel of the plastic crinkling beneath my fingers, and the serendipity of finding them on the shelf. I love the ease of reading a book you’re not sure you’ll love, with no pressure to enjoy it because you spent money on it. I love getting to read every book in a long-running series without having to buy twenty different books. Libraries are awesome, and working in one is dangerous
I want so badly to grow the world’s shittiest little goatee, but I am stuck instead with two uneven tufts of fuzz with a gap in the middle, and no prospect of improvement. I know it looks better when trimmed, but unfortunately I love it too much and still harbor the unrealistic hope that one day it will fill in.
I didn't realize one of the things I would miss most about moving out of the south is the summer insects. The nights are just so empty here, and the few insects that do trill sound so tame and lonely. Earlier tonight I went on a walk and found a patch of trees where the insects were absolutely shrieking, and I took a second to bask in that and feel like I was home.
The September flowers are in full bloom: black-eyed Susans, sunflowers, lavender, marigolds, and hydrangeas. There are still a few last straggling roses, but the tiger lilies are gone, and the hibiscus are drooping and falling to the ground in dried up curls. I love keeping track of the year through a calendar of flowers
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walks-the-ages · 1 year
Text
Well after reading Irene Hunt's "the lottery rose" in almost one sitting (I read it in 2 sittings onto because I fell asleep around 3am lol, and ended up having to wake up at 6am....) , I would like to emphasize once again the importance of revisiting old media and books over the years.
If you read a book in elementary and middle school, you should definitely try rereading it as an adult and see how your perceptions change!
I can't find any of the posts (thanks, Tumblr search) but for literal years the only details I could remember from this book was a kid with his prized rose bush lives with nuns and another boy with autism/down syndrome/unspecified developmental disorder was being taken care of by the protagonist and it ends in tragedy. I was horrified, reading this book in middle (or elementary??) School.
Because guess what-- My reading comprehension in middle school compared to now was Jack Fucking Shit, lol. (And I was the star reader of every class I was in, so I can only imagine how my classmates took the book... ) And that's why it's so important to revisit media you read as a child once you're an adult , so you can see all the things you missed or forgot or misconstrued.
Traumatized middle school me thought The Lottery Rose (I only found out the title of this book from an anon last year who successfully interpreted my shitty summary of what I could remember) was a book about shoving the responsibility of looking after an autistic kid off onto another kid, causing tragedy from the lack of supervision by the boy in charge of looking after him when he decided to hang out with friends instead. (I.... Think I was misremembering a mix-match combination of The Lottery Rose and Bridge to Terebithia somehow. I'll have to reread that next...)
Adult me is pretty much delighted at how a book published in the 70s (and set probably much earlier) handles the portrayal of an autistic (down syndrome/unspecified intellectual disability, ) in a young child better than even many forms of media do today-- and especially on rereading it's clear to me that the main character is also either autistic or has ADHD or a combination of both, on top of his obvious trauma from horrific child abuse.
This is a book about trauma and tragedy, but more than that it's a book about learning to heal, look forward, and accept help from the people who care about you.
(Content warning: this book has heavy themes of child abuse, and child death)
Here's where you can read this book on the web Archive, and your local public library probably has it as well if you're actually able to access your public library!
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cillybillyy · 2 years
Text
Jim x Reader
"Matchmaker" Part 2
Jim x Virgin reader with mixed POVs
Warning: Fluff
Word: 736 words
Writers Note: Apologies if this isnt great, I am quite new to writing and occasionally struggle with where this is going. Bare with me. It will get better, hopefully <3
---
“Are you alright?” A small figure stood above you as you lay on the muddy road.
You felt a hand reach down to assist you to your feet. Your head was pounding.
As you regained your balance, you saw the rest of the hand that assisted you.
A small woman, with long blond hair resting on her shoulder beneath her helmet.
“Y-Yes, I’m okay” a small smile swept across your face as you started to see the humour in the situation.
“I didn’t see you, I’m so sorry!” She pleaded.
As you looked at longer, you realised how beautiful she was. She had this air of confidence about her that seemed to energise you.
“It was my fault.. uh I mean my dog ran off on me and I..” You realised you were so distracted by the woman that you forgot you had to find Bentley.
“I have to go find him – I’m sorry. Can I grab your number so I can pay for the damages I caused, well my dog made me cause” you laughed looking at the front tire of the bike which was no longer circular or ridable “oh you don’t need to pay for it, but here’s my number” she said as she grabbed your phone and entered her digits.
You began to cross the road getting busier, “thank you, I’ll be in contact, I’m Jim” you shouted from halfway across the road. “Y/N” she shouted back with a warm smile
You found Bentley near the local café, trying to bother anyone for a scrap.
You grabbed his leash and bent down “what was that eh boy? You made me run into a beautiful woman” you said to Bentley as you mind recalled her beauty.
You hadn’t even thought of looking at women since Danielle cheated on you with your dying best friend. But there was something about this woman that made you want to gaze at her forever.
You returned home an hour later, fed Bentley, and sprawled out on the couch.
You should really return to your work, but you had no motivation.
You recalled when Y/N put her number in your phone, which prompted you to pull it out of your pocket and open a new message
God, what are you doing? You felt like a nervous teenager.
You typed “Hello, it’s the clumsy guy you bumped into earlier”
You erased the message – why are you over thinking this?
You typed “Hi, its Jim from the road. Hope you’re okay, I will send you some money to get the bike repaired.
Send.
---
Later in the day, you went to pick up your son Ben from the airport bus bay. Ben had just returned from a school trip in Birmingham, UK. They had been doing a project about the gangs and industrial revolution that went on in the 1920s.
“How was the trip!” you managed to ask you Son as he climbed into the car.
“It was incredible Dad, oh my, what an interesting trip. We learned so much about the gangs and violence with the start of motor car importing. It was so intellectually exciting” Ben said with pure passion in his voice. Ben was the academic of the family. He was a history buff and loved a good book. Just like his father.
“That’s great to hear, I’m glad you enjoyed it!”
As you pulled into the driveway, Ben ran inside, eager to have a shower and unpack.
Walking inside you heard you phone buzz in your pocket.
You had a text from an unknown number
“I’m glad I don’t feel like my wheel looks.  – you don’t need to do that, I was only 7 minutes late to school”
To school? How old was she?  Maybe she looked older? She wasn't wearing a school uniform?
Are you a teacher? you responded
Haha, no. I am repeating my last year again. You received back
Well in that case, I insist on paying the damages. Was this okay? She is still in secondary school.
Alannah returned home with Charlie and another friend.
The school term has just begun so your house was the best to study in, with the indoor library and study you had renovated the second lounge room into. A family of bookworms. All 4 of you reading constantly, now all 3 of you.
You said hello to Charlie and Alannah. And there she was again. The woman on the bike standing in your kitchen.
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rrainexoxo · 2 years
Text
We fell in Love in October
June 25, 2020
A twenty-two year old man has been suffering from a blood cancer called leukemia for the past five years and has trouble finding a stable job to afford his medicines and chemotherapy.
He received the news about his leukemia from his doctor after a check-up when he was eighteen years old. He doesn’t have enough money to afford chemotherapy and decided to take medicines until he found a stable job that pays well so he can finally afford necessary treatment for his condition.
After looking for some time, he found a job at a car wash near a convenience store, but got fired after his last customer got angry for not cleaning his car spotless. Days went by, until he didn't have enough money to buy medicines, even cheap ones. It was hard to find a nice job since most needed a degree, something he didn’t have after dropping out of college. He decided to stop going to school as he couldn't afford it anymore.
August 28, 2020
That's when he came across a middle-aged lady on the way home.
"Hi there!”, the lady said. “Would you like to tell stories to kids? 500 pesos a day, and if you're interested, you can come in and talk to our manager, who also owns this library".
"Library?" he whispered as he looked up to see a sign that displayed the words - Thalia's Library.
Five hundred pesos a day could give him enough money to buy medicines, and if luck is on his side, he could save up for his chemotherapy.
"Reading stories for kids wouldn't be bad," he thought. He accepted the offer and went inside to talk to the owner. The lady he was talking to earlier saw him go in and rushed to call the owner.
He was sitting at one of the tables and examining the place, it was simple yet peaceful and so calm. “I might like it here”, he thought to himself.
After some time waiting, the owner went out of his office and sat in front of him.
"Hello I'm really thankful you agreed to have this job. There's no one willing to take this job, so thank you!” The owner said.
The man could not pay attention to whatever she was saying as he was star struck by her beauty and kind words.
"Yeah.. uh.. no problem", he said and smiled at her.
"My name is Rain Thalia! I'm the current owner of this library. My grandma gave this to me because she couldn't take care of it anymore.", the owner said.
She then clarified his working hours, one to five o’clock in the afternoon every day, with weekends off, explaining he'd get his pay check once his work hours are done.
"That's it! I'll see you tomorrow then?", she said smiling, but he was still staring at her. "By the way! I didn't quite catch your name. What was it again?", she asked.
He snapped out of his thoughts, "oh-uh.. My name? Oh... My name is Terrence Carlsen. Nice to meet you Rain".
"That's a nice name”, Rain said. “Well then, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow at work. Don’t be late!".
He went to work on time the next day, but Rain had not arrived yet, which made him upset. He didn’t know why he felt that way, but he carried on with his day and told the kids many stories. He packed up his belongings and his day was complete, but came to a sudden halt when he heard the bell ring, and there she was, behind the front desk, her hair tied up like yesterday.
When Rain noticed him packing his belongings, she went to welcome him, but Terrence believed he'd start a ruckus, so he grabbed the first book in front of him and stuffed it back into the shelves. Rain was perplexed by his behavior and pursued him, "Hey, Terrence!".
Rain greeted, "Is it true that your first day went off without a hitch? "
"Yeah... the kids were nice, and it wasn't too much of a problem for me," he said.
"Oh, don't let me forget about this!" Rain smiles cheekily as she hands Terrence his pay check for the day.
Terrence thanked her as he proceeded to walk out the door, ending his day at work.
September 20, 2020
Fall arrived as Terrence was on his way to the library for his 3 o’clock afternoon shift when he was stopped in front of the door.
"Closed? But it's Tuesday, and Tuesday is a fairy tale day," he said as the wind picked up and he realized he needed to find cover soon, or risk freezing to death.
He was walking down the street looking for a place to stay for the time being when he noticed a black-Mercedes parked in front of a convenience shop. He recalled that Rain had a black Mercedes and decided to go inside the shop. He scanned the room for the one and only person he'd been hoping to see all morning.
"Rain? Are you crying?" He asked as he took a seat next to her.
Raine raised her eyes to Terrence and immediately wiped her tears away with her palms, sniffling a little and shaking her head no.
"Here, take this. It's not dirty!" Terrence said as he offered her a handkerchief with a “T” emblem on it, "I could just go out and get you some Kleenex tissues if that's what you want?".
Rain laughed as she snatched his handkerchief from his hands. "Thank you. Were you in the library? Sorry for not informing you we were closed for the day... something occurred," she added, sobbing into Terrence's handkerchief.
"I know a spot where you may rest your mind for some time. I'm here to listen to you and if you need someone to weep on, I'm just a phone call away", Terrence assures her as he extends his arm towards her. "Trust me, this location will offer you peace of mind, I guarantee it."
"I trust you," Rain said as she accepted Terrence's hand. Terrence gave Rain the location's address, and she started to drive.
When they arrived, Terrence got out of the car first to open Rain's door when they arrived at the site. "Is it a cliff?"
"Just wait till you realize it's not just a cliff", Terrence said, taking Rain's hand in his and leading her to the spot. "Okay, this is it”, Terrence remarked. “Cover your eyes," giving Rain an affiliative smile.
Rain giggled and followed Terrence's lead as he grabbed Rain's shoulders and whispered, "You may open them now", before walking alongside her to take in the scenery. Rain removed her hands from her eyes and gazed down at the city below. She looked at the clouds and witnessed the sunset.
"Terrence, how frequently do you come here?" Rain asked.
"The first time I came here was when I ran away from home after receiving the news that my parents
were… dead", he let out an awkward chuckle. "..you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this stuff... sorry", Terrence continued.
"No, it's alright... you can open up to me, I swear I won't tell anyone", Rain assured.
"No, I brought you here so you could clear your mind and not listen to my problem," Terrence argued. "Plus, it was years ago, and I'm okay now. Right now, don't worry about anything; just think about yourself, close your eyes, and find your safe haven."
Rain closed her eyes as she tried to conjure up a pleasant image of her safe haven until she came across the cliff where she is today. She saw herself laughing on the ground with someone, and that someone was none other than Terrence. Rain opened her eyes, perplexed as to why she had thought up such a picture in her mind.
"Do you think you're feeling better now?", she asked him, still dumbfounded by her thoughts. "Yeah.….", as he rubbed her back and said, "It's no big deal, I told you it's not just a cliff".
She smiled broadly and said, "I don't even know why I'm crying earlier, thank you Terrence it means a lot for you to help me, especially when I was about to have a panic attack”.
They both witnessed a shooting star after a time of sitting and star gazing.
"A shooting star!", Rain exclaimed as she shook Terrence's shoulder. "Fast! Make a wish Terrence!"
Terrence grinned and responded, "Okay! Okay!" They both then made a wish and closed their eyes. He was thinking, "I hope I could make this girl the happiest she's ever been till death comes by."
Rain hoped for, "I wish I could spend the rest of my life with this person till death comes by".
"Done! What did you have in mind when you made your wish?”, she asked him. "Nope! If I tell you, my desire will not come true," he said.
"So, just a hint?", she asked.
He shook his head.
"No? humph! Fine, I'm not going to tell you mine either.", she joked while smiling.
"It's becoming late, I guess we should go home", Rain offered. “I’ll drive you home because it's too late to catch the bus.", and off they went.
September went by and as days passed, the two of them became closer. Terrence chose to hold a five-day birthday party before Rain's real birthday, which is on October 25th, six days before Rain's birthday.
October 25, 2020
He's been in love with Rain since the day they went to the cliff, as much as he despises admitting it because it would be difficult for him to confess given his illness, though it wouldn't hurt to merely express his thoughts. Since they have become closer, he also grew weaker, unable to afford therapy yet. Today he decided that he'd give her the flowers she adores the most.
"Good day, Terrence!" Rain welcomed him.
"Hey, I know your birthday is coming up, so I decided to give you this," he added as he handed her the bouquet of flowers.
"Oh my god!", she exclaimed. “You didn't have to, right? Apart from the fact that my birthday is on the 31st of October, I appreciate it and thank you.", as she hugged Terrence.
Over time, she began to see Terrence becoming skinnier day by day, and she wanted to question him if he eats frequently or skips meals, but she didn't want to anger him because he may have a rapid metabolism. "Since you've agreed to give me these, I'll take you to my favorite restaurant," she urged.
"But I don't have enough money with me-", he argued.
"No stupid! It's on me, and I'll meet you up front after work hours, okay?". Terrence groaned and just nodded after a smile.
"That's the kind of smile I enjoy! Now go back to the back and choose a book to read to the kids later," she remarked as she walked away.
Rain gathered her belongings to meet Terrence outside as the library closes at three in the afternoon. She was strolling into the library when she heard coughing. "Terrence?! Is something wrong? "
"No, it's just a little chilly", he said.
She began to suspect him of having a fever, despite it not being very chilly today. "Are you sure you're alright? You're not sick, are you?" she inquired one more. "Nope, I'm a-okay. Let's go?" he said, attempting to conceal his dissatisfaction. ------
Rain drove Terrence back to his flat after they had finished their meals. "Are you sure you'll be okay here?", Rain inquired. "Yeah, safe drive, okay?", he remarked, smiling at her, but his grin faded and his lips had become paler.
"All right, just phone me if anything goes wrong, okay?", she said.
"Yeah I will, don't worry", he laughed.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow".
She said her goodbyes and went back home.
Terrence coughed as he watched her car drive away. He had been trying all night to mask his cough, so when he arrived at his apartment, dizzy, he unlocked his door and immediately found his medicines. He coughed louder and harder, and he began to feel colder and colder. He took his medicine bottle and opened the lid, but there’s one remaining pill left. He felt a bit better after taking the last medication, so he decided to take a nap.
Rain is thrilled to go to the library in the morning, but she is sad that Terrence did not show up for work today. She was concerned and contacted him to see if he was well, to which he replied, "Yeah, I'm good, sorry if I didn't make it to work today, I had
an emergency"
October 30, 2020
Five days had passed and he had still not shown up, so Rain decided to pay him a visit later at his flat. She was anxious not because he was not turning up at work, but because he didn't even tell her why he wasn't going to work. It was 9 o’clock and Rain arrived at Terrence's flat, knocking on his door, "Terrence! This isn't funny, I'm becoming scared since it's been five days since I last spoke to you."
She continued to knock on his door, and the apartment's landlord approached her, "Miss? Sorry, but no one has been staying here since yesterday, and the owner only left this morning."
She was confused. Was he unable to pay his rent because he lacked sufficient funds?
She asked the landlord if they had any clue where Terrence might be because she was having a lot of ideas, but they gave her no for an answer. She drove around the city for hours hoping to catch a sight of Terrence, but it was now 11:20pm and there was still no trace of Terrence. She had sent him a lot of texts and phoned him a thousand times with no luck. She was on the edge of crying while driving and decided to pull over to the cliff, hoping she would see him there. She was in luck because she noticed him resting on the ground and hurried up to him right away.
"Terrence?! I've been looking for you everywhere, why aren't you responding to any of my texts or answering my calls?"
"Did you know how much I hated rain when I was a kid," he began.
"What are you talking about?! Are you even listening to me?" Rain answered, her voice tinged with concern.
"The rain made me weak, and it made me much colder," he said as he sat up to look at Rain, she noticed the blood on his shirt and a smear of blood on his lips.
"Why do you have blood? Did you get into a fight?"
"Not until I met this Rain, this Rain made me stronger and made me feel warm within." he continued, ignoring what she asked as she pulled a towel from her bag to wipe it in Terrence's mouth.
"I know you'd be the one from the day I first saw you." he said, coughing blood, and Rain gasped her eyes widening, "We need to take you to the hospital!".
Terrence took her hands in his and placed them on his chest, "It's still beating, I'm still alive." He said weakly.
"We need to visit a doctor right away! You have a bloody cough!" she started to panic.
"Did you even hear what I said earlier?" he asked and chuckled, "There's no need to see a doctor right now, it's all about us right now, I just want you to know that I like you, | really do", he said weakly.
She kissed Terrence's hands and held it tight, "I like you too, I do since that moment you made it obvious that you're blushing while I'm talking to you... so please let's go to the hospital," she pleaded. Terrence brought her to his embrace and brushed her hair.
"Please Terrence, let's go see a doctor", she began to weep, allowing her tears to fall on his shoulder. Terrence had her look at him and held his cheeks as he wiped her tears away.
"Do you believe in reincarnation?" he asked and Rain nodded. "If I get reborn, I'll come find you no matter how long it takes or how many lifetimes I have to live," he said, and Rain looked at him puzzled, "I promise you. I’ll come find you no matter what, I only hope you'd remember" he added.
Rain's lips quivered, "What are you talking about?!".
"I love you," he whispered as a tear streamed down his face. "Let's meet in the library soon", he said and his body slipped down to her chest.
Rain sobbed while holding Terrence. But then she heard a ringtone, she unlocked her phone with her other hand while still hugging Terrence. It was a voicemail from Terrence, and she saw that he was still breathing lightly, she placed him on her lap and kissed him on the forehead, "Open your eyes for me, okay? Just stay with me," she whispered, squeezing his hand for assurance.
She then played Terrence's voicemail for her:
“Hey, I'm not sure whether I'll be able to make it to your birthday party because I promised you a large birthday celebration. I'm really thankful for you, and I hope you realize that you gave me hope to live a little longer. Although I only had a brief time to know you, I felt as if I knew you better than ever. I have blood cancer, sorry for not telling you. I didn't have enough money to pay for chemotherapy, so l accepted the job at the library. I took it not for the money, but for you; you looked so pretty the first time I met you, and you spoke sweetly, and you gave me this strange feeling, until I knew I fell for you. I hope you enjoyed our time together; I hope you'll understand I fought to stay longer.. to stay with you, but my illness kept getting worse day by day. Please accept my apologies for declaring my love through voicemail. You have no idea how much I adore you. I'll never forget the first time I saw you and the days we spent together; please don't forget about me; try to think of me even if it's only for a second from time to time. I suppose I should finish this here... I wish you a happy birthday and hope you have a wonderful day. I love you. Bye Rain"
October 31, 2020
After listening to his voicemail, she turned off his phone and checked Terrence’s pulse; but she couldn't find one. Her phone rang once again, showing that it was midnight. "Hey... if you're just playing a joke on me, you can stop now. Terrence, it's already my birthday... Please open your eyes for me", she begged a thousand times as tears streamed down her face. She clutched his hands firmly and kissed it, shivering from Terrence's chilly body, "I love you too... so much".
October 31, 5060
Many years have passed, many centuries went by, and today is October 31st, 5060. A girl waits for her train while standing, and after a long wait, her train arrives. She stood up and walked up to her train, but her wrist was grabbed by someone.
"Miss, you dropped your handkerchief," he said as he handed her handkerchief, which had a letter “T” initial emblem on it. "Thank you," she said as she gazed at the man in front of her.
“Train 107 is departing now. Train 107 passengers, please board now”
That's her train, and she needs to get on it now, or else she'll have to wait for another three hours. "Thank you very much!" She remarked to the stranger before entering the
train and peering out the window to look at the man while clutching the handkerchief in her grip.
He went away with a little smile on his face and whispered under his breath, “I found you”
“Finished”
____
As I finished the novel I was working on, I wiped a drop of sweat from my forehead.
After closing my laptop, I grinned to myself as I completed another novel and gazed out the window, looking at the sky.
“I’ll see you at the library soon, Terrence”
-Rain Thalia
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reasoningdaily · 7 months
Text
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/07/29/black-hair-children-book-bans/
Her book empowers Black children, and hopefully won’t enrage adults
Tumblr media
The email shouldn’t have made me nervous.
It was from a young Black woman raised in D.C., and it contained an advance copy of a children’s book she had written.
The work had grown from an earlier project St. Clair Detrick-Jules launched after her younger sister, Khloe, was bullied by classmates for her Afro and didn’t want to return to school. Other students had called the 4-year-old’s hair ugly, and she had believed them. Hearing what happened to her sister reminded Detrick-Jules of how she was teased for her own hair when she attended a predominantly White elementary school in D.C. and how it took her until after high school to stop wishing her face was framed with straight, silky strands.
She didn’t want her sister to waste that much time disliking a part of herself. So, Detrick-Jules taught herself photography. She then photographed 101 Black women with different natural hairstyles and compiled those images in a book she titled “My Beautiful Black Hair.”
I told you about that book in a column two years ago.
If at the time Detrick-Jules had told me that she was also planning to publish a children’s book, I wouldn’t have felt nervous for her. Not even a little bit.
But the country has changed in the past few years. We are now witnessing a war on children’s books that is expanding in ways that would be laughable if they weren’t so concerning.
The push to pull books that address race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ issues out of public spaces has lately been growing even uglier and more unpredictable.
People have gone from focusing mostly on school libraries to now making demands of public libraries. A recent Washington Post article detailed what that has looked like for a community in Virginia. In Front Royal, people have overwhelmed the library staff with hundreds of book “reconsideration” requests, persuaded lawmakers to withhold library funding until concerns are addressed, and accused the library of sexualizing and brainwashing children. “Bearing the brunt of the anger is the library’s staff and its 15-member, all-volunteer Board of Trustees, who include a retired Air Force general, a lawyer, an accountant, parents, grandparents, churchgoers and home-schoolers,” my colleague Gregory S. Schneider wrote in that article.
People across the county also are taking aim at picture books. That’s right; they are scrutinizing those brightly illustrated books created to capture the attention of babies, toddlers and young readers and filing complaints with school systems about them.
Some of the illustrated books that have received complaints, according to an article that my colleague Hannah Natanson recently wrote, are: “Julián Is a Mermaid,” a book that features a boy who dresses as a mermaid, “Peanut Goes for the Gold,” a book about a nonbinary guinea pig, and “Skippyjon Jones,” a book about a cat who believes he is a swordfighter.
The person who filed a complaint about that last book, according to the article, argued that it “promotes negative stereotypes towards Mexicans and the Spanish language” because the letter “O” is added to the end of the words throughout the book. The cat sings at one point, “My name is Skippito Friskito. / I fear not a single bandito. / My manners are mellow, / I’m sweet like the Jell-O, / I get the job done, yes indeed-o.”
Yes indeed-o — that is how ridiculous the fight over the children’s sections of libraries has become.
I remember reading “Skippyjon Jones” once to my sons when they were younger. I’m Mexican American, and I didn’t find it offensive. I found the rhythm catchy, and I was glad the story held the attention of two squirmy boys for a few minutes.
But that was just my impression of the book. I don’t expect everyone to share it. I can respect that some people will want to put down the books I want to pick up. What I can’t respect is their belief that they have the right to snatch from my hands, and the hands of other parents, books that we want to read to our children. That picture books are coming under attack shows that the objectors’ fight never was about supporting parental choice. It’s always been about eliminating choice.
The titles and themes of the books that these groups want to ban may differ, but they all share this: They empower the people those groups would rather see weakened.
“I’m deeply concerned about the current slew of book bans across the country,” Detrick-Jules told me. “I’m concerned for Black and Brown students, for LGBTQ+ students, for immigrant students, for students with disabilities. … Our kids — collectively, as in, the kids of America — deserve to feel seen, represented and valued.”
After Detrick-Jules published “My Beautiful Black Hair,” her book was mentioned by name in a column by the conservative author Ann Coulter. In it, Coulter wrote that “white schoolchildren are being browbeaten about their ‘white privilege’ and instructed to ‘unpack’ their ‘white privilege knapsack.’”
When people share their stories with me, I become invested in them, which is why I was nervous to read Detrick-Jules’s new book. I knew the story behind it — that it had grown out of White children teasing a Black child. I also knew that other children’s books that have dared to point out how racism has harmed, and continues to harm, Black people have become targets for book bans.
But when I opened her book, which was illustrated by Tabitha Brown and will be available to buy in September, I realized she didn’t tell that part of the story. It was a picture book, after all. The book is titled “My Hair Is Like the Sun,” and the pages feature photos of Black children with different hairstyles next to images from nature.
Detrick-Jules said the idea for the book came to her when she was interviewing one of the women for her other book. The woman told her that her classmates used to call her “Tree Girl” because she wore an Afro. The nickname was meant as an insult, but it got Detrick-Jules thinking about how curls can resemble the waves of an ocean and how locs can flow downward like the rain.
“So much of what we admire in nature — its power, its strength, its freedom, its beauty, its joy — can be found in our own kinks and curls,” she told me. “For so many Black kids, and adults, our hair is seen as a chore, as something that needs to be done. I want ‘My Hair Is Like the Sun’ to be a reminder that our hair is actually a gift, and it’s a blessing that we get to experience it in so many forms.”
One page of the book reads: “My hair is like a waterfall, rushing toward the ground.”
Another page: “My hair is like a river, winding all around.”
When I finished flipping through the book, I felt sure of one thing and unsure of another. The book will no doubt empower some children. Less certain is whether it also will upset some adults.
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peaamlipoetrydoctor · 2 years
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Revisiting The Sealey Challenge 2021 ~ 12
The last of last year's sample, as the summer holiday kicks in.
Wislawa Szymborska's book is one of very few I've read so far in translation - although, thanks to the advocacy of Astrid Alben at her Poetry School workshops, I realise that I need to change this or will be much the poorer reader (/ and, presumably, writer) for that.
It's presented with the original Polish on the LH pages and the translated text on the RH pages. I can't read the original, but there's a sort of reassurance about seeing it - an echo of the gesture towards legitimacy that academics make when they offer references (and which, most of the time, is an academic habit I continue to value).
Unsurprisingly, given my taste preferences, I was much more taken with the joy-in-small-things poems (from memory, more of these in the second part of the book?) and found it hard to look at the ones that address atrocity. The ending of the title poem, for instance, is pretty hard to read - but isn't the point that I should also be disturbed by the apparently idyllic life described in the earlier part, given the cost-to-others that made it possible? (That's a big yes, BTW.)
Here's what the publisher said about that poem, extracted from the cover narrative about this collection:
Nobel laureate Symborska takes on current events and ancient conundrums in this elegant, terse new collection.
The title abbreviates the opening poem, "Monologue of a Dog Ensnared in History": the dog stands for all the citizens who served, or simply failed to resist, dictators, then wondered at the revolutions that displaced them. 
And a quick flashback to the moment when I shifted from thinking - I AM DEFINITELY NOT READING FOR THE SEALEY CHALLENGE THIS YEAR - to thinking - ok, I'm in, but just - you know, more slowly this time, maybe. I particularly appreciated the idea that we focus on sharing a favourite poem from the week's reading on a Wednesday.
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Well, I have two e-books from the lovely Southbank Centre Poetry Library and they're both pretty hard going...
Which is not AT ALL to say that they should be avoided (although, yes, that is my instinct). They were written, I'm taking it, because the world is NOT right and this should be witnessed, protested.
Today's featured poem is called "Canto" (meaning - song) from "Songs My Enemy Taught Me" by Joelle Taylor. This is a book from 2017, so before C+nto won the TS Eliot Prize this year. It's almost entirely poetry-as-reportage, and, yes, comes with background notes in a reference section. Taylor has written poems sometimes about, sometimes in-the-voice-of the women whose oppressions she uncovered (spoiler - it wasn't hard to uncover stories of violence against women... usually framed as "of course" or "unsolveable").
She says of the work that it's like crossing a poet with a photo-journalist and then taking away the camera. The words as record.
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Just a small extract from Canto, which opens the piece - caught my eye because the vivid capture of a dissociative moment, and yes, because it features the word "Wednesday". (Also, quick confession that the line breaks are messed up here, mea culpa).
I once witnessed my own murder.
It was Wednesday. It is always
Wednesday.
After my death people continued talking to me
as though I were still
there.
And here's a small extract from Joelle Taylor's introduction to the collection, where she writes about her motivation:
... I was continually moving, trying to break free from the skin that had imprisoned me by birth as a woman. I could have been forgiven for believing that I was transgender. But I am not. I am a woman who is afraid of being a woman, and that is very different...
... But inside every poem is a poem, and inside that there is another one still. The same principle applies to this book.
Once I had begun to see myself, I could not help noticing what was happening to women worldwide...
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I chanced upon some of my old notebooks - notes dating back to 2020 and earlier, when I was not in National Service but in school, preparing for my IBs, pretty much my last year of high school. In between preparations I had occasional obsessions with mathematics and physics, I read Ian Stewart books of mathematics, borrowed from the school library, and pored over an online edition of Richard Feynman’s lectures in physics, and a hardcover edition I found in a three-volume box set in the school library. I was very interested, still, in content out of the syllabus: here is a bunch of notes on solving basic differential equations I wrote around 9 July 2020.
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nurserykidsblog · 2 years
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5 ways parents can prepare their children for preschool.
Last year one of my neighbours approached me anxiously and it happened to be about her 2.5 year old son who was going to start his preschool classes. They already had booked an admission on the best kindergarten in Dubai while she was flustered about his clingy child who was not taught many basic things to do by himself. As an experienced mom, I could have started a lecture on preschool planning. Rather I narrowed down my ideas to quick tips on preparing those clingy Children for preschool, that every new mom wants to hear badly.
Set a routine
Till the day the child is comfortable on his own habits. So an over preparation brings burden to him if parents start abruptly. Start talking to him about school in an upbeat way, the friends he is going to make, the coloful environment before him and new things he has to explore. Set a routine for his most basic things like sleeping habits, playing schedules, studing time and eating habits. Routines creates opportunities for them to understand time, order, sequencing etc so that they act responsibly and make decisions on their own. Establishing this order in his life so that your child can adjust well in a new environment. Don’t forget to choose a best nursery near greens to introduce him about the most beautiful nature outside.
Develop his social skills.
Preschool is the key to formal education. When you child is too emotional or sensitive and depend too much on you, try to make him more sociable by introducing him to the outer world a little. Our children develops social skills at home. Make him play games with a family members, take him to a party or a family function to interact with the social group for reducing his fear and anxiety. Teach him to say thanks to someone or sorry at times of making mistakes and share his things to know about the act of kindness and respect. Now he is a better kid, so talk about the best kindergarten in Dubai you have found for him. Look he got excited!
Fine- tune his motor skills
Your child may have that natural skill to solve puzzles or a fast learner in the home environment. Despite that encourage them to do crafts, learn the basic colour patterns, shapes, letters to fine tune his motor skills. Make them move a lot physically, play with the peer groups for a healthy physical and mental development.
Set up daily chores.
Many parents are not aware of encouraging their children to do the basic chores atleast for them. Support kids to pick up his toy, dress on his own, remove his plate from the table, clean the place after playing or even make his bed for developing them to be a better independent person. Even though the best preschools in Dubai provide comprehensive practices in self sufficiency, these little things you do in the home truly reflects when he is on the preschool.
Try Reading practices
Read to you child truly enhances his vocabulary. He will love the world of books and knowledge if you introduce them in the basic stage. Reading for them makes him think creatively and develops his language at an earlier age. The best kindergartens in Dubai provide Library facilities and language rooms for child development.
In Conclusion
If those ideas helped you, start preparing your children for preschool without worry. Then it’s time to narrow down your search for the best preschool in Dubai. You are at the right place. Little Minds Nursery is full of warm and happy faces, caring and training the beautiful buds of our school for the brightest future.
Our specialists
Little minds is the nursery near greens welcomes every child who steps into our caring environment. We provide early learning education to suit pre-school children from 1- 4 years. Our specialists include,
✓We follow British EYFS (Early years foundation stage) curriculum.
✓We have full day, year round programs which suits to working parents.
✓Our premises and classrooms are spacious enough to suit pre-schoolers with age appropriate resources.
✓Specifically designed indoor and outdoor play areas with age appropriate toys and playing equipments with all safety standards.
✓We provide clinical facilities in Little minds with a DHA approved nurse working regularly for children’s care and sharing knowledge on the health and hygiene. That make us one of the best preschools in Dubai.
✓ As the best Kindergarten in Dubai, we provide transportation service for all students regularly in and around UAE with training staffs on board.
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