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juletheghoul · 3 years

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Burning Hour (Part 3)

This series has completely taken over my life and I am so happy you are all enjoying it so much - thank you for all of the lovely messages and comments - I treasure them deeply.

So - you shouldn't be surprised that this particular moment on the red carpet absolutely inspired a scene in this story and I regret nothing. Hope you all enjoy this fantasy that's keeping me going lol.

Din Djarin x F!Reader (Virgin reader)

Pairing: Din x F!Reader

Word Count: 4.9k

Warnings: (18+ NO MINORS) Angst, pining, slow-burn, implied arranged marriage, language, age-gap (about 10-11 years, legal, reader is of age) Yearning, jealousy, fingering/touching / slight dirty talk (slightly possessive)

Let me know if I missed anything!

reblogs are appreciated

Masterlist Series Masterlist Part 4

—

You floated through the morning.

Your dreams were full of kisses, of declarations of love and beskar glinting under the sun and it was hard to concentrate on anything.

You smiled to yourself as you broke your fast with warm bread and butter, feeling his eyes on you from his place behind your father.

“Your highness-” Your father’s advisor came through the door holding the usual paperwork, things for him to look over, letters to read. “-A letter has come for the Princess.” He turned to you then with a smile. He was an old man, grandfatherly and sweet. He handed it to you and you noticed from the corner of your eye Din’s helmet turn towards you.

It was a small letter and you noticed how beautiful the script was as you opened it.

Dearest Princess,

I would be honoured if you were to join me here at my home for dinner. My messenger awaits your response and if you agree, I will send my personal household guard to accompany you. I also imagine your knight will be in attendance, I welcome him and whoever else you choose to bring at my table. Ruby as well of course.

Hoping you’ll say yes.

Ever yours,

Poe. D.

“It’s from Poe, he asks that I join him this evening for dinner.” You were frowning at the letter, conflicted because you wanted to stay home, wanted to meet Din in the garden again. A tiny part of you however, the tiniest part wanted to say yes - wanted to see how Poe would behave. Part of you wanted him to do something unforgivable to wipe the smiles off your parents faces.

“Oh but you must go!” Your father’s voice boomed through the room and you imagined that you could almost hear Din’s jaw clenching.

“Yes my darling, you must go. What does the letter say?” Your mother held her hand out and you handed it to her. She smiled as she read it. “Din, you must accompany her.” She was smiling big, excited at the prospect of a match having been made. No one bothered to ask if you wanted to go.

“Yes of course, let his messenger know that the Princess will be in attendance. She will go, Din- I leave her safety in your hands. Take you who must.” It had been decided for you, and you had to accept it. You felt Mila’s hand grasp yours under the table in understanding.

“Which gown would you like to wear your highness?” She asked sadly as you put on your undergarments and you sighed.

Whichever one makes everyone leave me alone.

“Whichever you think would look best sweetling, I have no preference.” You said the words and they were honest. Yes - Poe was charming and sweet, handsome and in another life you would have been faint with excitement at his interest in you but you were in love with Din. He was the one you wanted to share a meal with. He was the one you wanted to kiss in the open - to have holding your hand as you sat together in front of the hearth. He was the one you wanted in your bed.

“How about this one?” She held out a lovely powder blue gown. You would have said no, something more plain but you had to be seen to be making an effort.

“Yes, that will do nicely.” You smiled but it didn’t reach your eyes. She didn’t comment on it.

“I will tie a blue ribbon around Ruby’s neck to match, and I think you have some sapphires as well.” She brought over a tray of jewelry for you to peruse while she laced up your gown.

Your mind drifted to an interesting place. You imagined you were preparing for dinner with Din and imagined your knight picking out jewels for you to wear.

Would he prefer diamonds? Would he like me better in opals or emeralds?

You had a feeling he wouldn’t mind either way, but it was lovely to pretend even for a moment. She placed a dark blue cloak about your shoulders and stood back.

“You look beautiful Princess, the blue looks lovely against your skin.” She held up a silvered looking glass and you saw the reflection of a happy woman, although why she was happy - no one could know.

“Thank you sweetling, let's get this night over with shall we?” You smiled at her as you both made your way outside.

---

Din, along with five of his best knights, waited for her to set out for Damerons home. Damerons own household guard waited as well, having been sent to accompany her and he surveyed them. They seemed competent enough, he gave them their space nonetheless.

It was getting more and more difficult to put the future out of his mind - he knew that the Princess would marry at some point, it was her duty as Queen. She might even marry Poe - he knew that objectively they were a good match but his mind simply couldn’t stay objective. Not when it came to her.

This whole thing was moving faster than he hoped and he didn’t know what he could do about it.

You have to face facts Djarin, you’ll never marry her. You are a knight, she is a Princess, there is no place for you. Maybe you should just let her go.

It was in him to do so, to ignore his feelings for her; to find Gisela and ask her to marry him - have a couple of little ones and pray for things to work out. The harsh words to get her to hate him on the tip of his tongue but they evaporated like dew on a sunny day when he saw her come out to meet him.

She was a gem- a bright, glittering thing that he wanted so desperately to hold onto.

“I am ready Sir, shall we?” She smiled shyly and he nodded.

“Of course Princess, allow me.” He guided her into the wheelhouse, dreading and cherishing every single second.

The ride was uneventful, the road was quiet thankfully with nothing to see but long swathes of trees and greenery in the gloaming of the evening.

Ruby was napping softly in your lap but woke quickly when you arrived, her little tail wagging happily at the prospect of exploring.

“Yes my little darling - we are here.” She was in Mila’s arms when you pet her, the two of you waiting for the wheelhouse to come to a stop.

Din opened the door for you, he was helping you climb down when you heard Poe’s voice sounding out.

“Princess, I am so pleased you agreed to come-” He was striding over, his squire on his heels. “-I am happy to see you all. Please - be welcome.” He was smiling big at everyone as his guards retreated, no doubt returning to their posts. He crouched quickly to pet Ruby before approaching you.

“Hello Poe, I thank you for your invitation.” You smiled as you took in your surroundings. His home was a beautiful sprawling estate. He must have been wealthier than you thought. “You must give me a tour of the grounds - I would love to see the gardens.” You smiled at him as he offered you his arm.

“Of course Princess, I will show you whatever you wish after our meal - unless you’d like to go now?” He paused for a moment.

“After dinner would be just fine.” You answered as he guided all of you inside.

You weren’t sure what to expect about his home when the letter had come in earlier but it was a pleasant surprise. There were fresh cut flowers everywhere, painstakingly detailed tapestries hung up on the walls as you made your way to the large dining room. Lush carpets and plush chairs, truly a man who enjoyed his comforts.

“You have a lovely home Poe.” You smiled as he led you to your seat.

“I thank you Princess -“ He turned to Din and the other Mandalorians waiting by the table. “-Please, sit with us. I meant what I said, you are all welcome at my table.” He gestured to them to sit.

“I do not wish to intrude, we would be happy to eat with the rest of your household guard.” Din replied, his voice was clipped however.

“Nonsense. I insist, I dare say the Princess would be more comfortable if you were to join us.” He said it with an easy smile and Din hesitated slightly before agreeing. They all sat, lining their helmets up before them.

Din barely spoke.

He had never been one for long speeches - you were unsure whether it was because of the helmet, or just his nature. The other Mandalorians were friendlier and Poe took it all in stride. You could see that he took nothing personal and treated them just as he treated you.

Aside from Din’s cool demeanor and Poe’s etiquette, the dinner went well. The food was wonderful and you didn’t fail to notice some of your favourites on the menu.

“I took the liberty of finding out what you like to eat.” He said it quietly, not wanting to draw attention and you favoured him with a smile. It was hard not to like him, he was very thoughtful.

Once the meal was done, he fulfilled his promise and escorted you outside. It was much more open than the gardens back home - everything illuminated by torches and lanterns. There were flowers and neatly pruned shrubbery surrounding the large building. You noticed a stable on one side, as well a modest greenhouse on the other.

“It’s nothing compared to what you’re used to but I enjoy it. The kennels are just behind the stables and there are flowers and different fruit trees just to the right there - that’s where they get the most sun. I’m afraid the night doesn’t do it justice, it’s much lovelier during the day.” He was walking you through the grounds, your arm tucked under his as your party followed.

“It’s lovely, truly.” You were sincere and you couldn’t help but look up, the sky awash in stars. “I would imagine you must spend a lot of time out here.” You let him guide the way.

“Not as often as I'd like to, but I try. Perhaps when we marry I’ll make more of an effort.” He said it with a wink and you scoffed loudly but without malice.

“Oh is that so? Well then I suppose I’ll have to change some things around since in your mind I’ll live here hm?” Your tone was playful but sarcastic and you were acutely aware of Din following the two of you.

“Oh yes Princess, I am quite sure. My home is yours and you may do with it what you will. I live only to make you happy.” He was just as playful and as annoyed as you were that he was so confident in your union, it was also aggravatingly refreshing to be able to speak to someone so honestly - better yet for them to respond in kind.

You ignored it, Poe was charming, that’s all.

Much to your annoyance, the night was enjoyable. Poe was an excellent host and it was later than you had originally planned when you set off for home. The woods were pitch black in some spots, it made you anxious to ride in the wheelhouse while the world outside seemed like it didn’t exist. The soft light of the moon doing nothing to pierce through the darkness of the road at times.

Reaching the palace had been a relief and you said as much when you stepped out.

“You should have told me Princess, I would have ridden in it with you - if it would have helped.” He spoke as he guided you inside. You had wanted to, but the temptation of having him so close would have been too much - and as much as Mila knew about your feelings towards him - you didn’t want her to see you kissing him.

You patted his arm in silent thanks and he said nothing else.

When you reached your room you hesitated at the door, wanting him to pull you away somewhere but he didn’t - instead he waited until Mila got in. He took his helmet off and you smiled at the state of his hair. Your fingers itched to ruffle through it.

“Princess, if it’s not too late, I would ask you to join me for a midnight ride.” He waited for your answer and your smile widened.

“Of course! Would you permit me to change quickly?” You didn’t want to ride in such a stuffy gown - as beautiful as it was.

“I will wait however long it takes.” He motioned for you to go and you did - urging Mila to help you once you reached your bedchamber.

“The soft linen dress I think - with the long shift and the heavy cloak. I want to be comfortable and warm.” You changed as fast as humanly possible - all but ripping the jewelry off and within a few minutes you were rushing out the door. The two of you making your way towards the stables as silently as possible.

You watched him work deftly, his skilled hands saddling his horse with ease. One horse, not two.

“Are we to ride together?” You looked at him confused.

“Is this a problem for you Princess? I thought it might be quicker to get us to safety should something happen if we were on the same horse. I could saddle you your own if you prefer - we just wouldn’t travel too far.” He hesitated momentarily and your heart leapt at the thought that he would be holding you so closely.

“I trust your judgment Sir, one horse it is.” You kept your voice neutral and he nodded, finishing his work quickly. Once he was done - he helped you up and pulled himself up behind you. The cool beskar pressed up against your back as his arms reached around you to grab the reins.

Your dress pooled up around your thighs slightly, but your legs were covered by your big cloak but it was exciting nonetheless. You felt exposed, with his proximity it excited you way more than it should have. It felt forbidden, taboo and thrilling to have it feel like he was holding you. You couldn’t stop yourself from leaning back into his body slightly but he didn’t complain.

The ride through the forest was quiet except for the sound of the night birds, the crickets and the creatures that prowled at this time. The sound of the horses' steps, the sound of its breathing mixing with yours as well as Din’s. He rode through trees, through the little paths only he seemed to know and after a while you were beside a lake. The soft sound of the water kissing the shore added to the nightsong and you were happy that he had brought you here. He had been silent the whole ride, but you felt him take his helmet off behind you and secure it somehow to the saddle.

“You should know that you looked exceptionally lovely today Princess, blue is your colour.” His breath tickled your neck and you shivered. You turned slightly to look back but you couldn’t fully face him, the angle awkward but he kissed you just under your ear to let you know it was okay.

“I thank you Sir, I hoped you would like it.” You leaned back into his arms to tuck your head under his chin.

“You wore that for me? I thought you wore it for Dameron.” His hands came up to hold onto your arms as he pressed little kisses to your neck.

“I always dress for you.” You left it at that, hoping he would understand that despite everything- he was the one you wanted.

“Can I confess something?” His hand came up to slowly undo the cloak tied at your throat.

“Yes, anything.” You answered almost breathlessly, watching his hands open up the cloak to expose your shoulders, the skin of your thighs poking out where the dress had bunched up even more.

“You might think me wicked but, I thought about what it would be like to kiss you.” His hand trailed down as he spoke, rubbing at your thighs over your dress and you watched them in the low light of the moon, mesmerized.

“You’ve kissed me before Sir, you could kiss me now.” You turned a little more but he stopped you.

“I wasn’t thinking about kissing your mouth lovely girl, I was thinking about kissing you somewhere else.” His hands slowly gathered the fabric of your dress, bunching it in his fist - lifting it inch by inch to bare your legs to him. “May I show you where I want to kiss you?” He stopped but you clung onto his arms around you.

“Yes - please show me.” You felt is other hand join the fray and soon he had exposed your lower half to the cool night air. Your undergarments were damp you knew it - the arousal pooling low in your belly at the thought that he might touch you where you most wanted him to. He didn’t disappoint.

His hand trailed up your inner thigh lightly, slowly, up until he skillfully slid it into your undergarments. He groaned deep in his chest when he touched your bare sex.

“Right here. I long to kiss you, taste you here.” His touch was feather light on the lips of your womanhood, slipping along the seam of you. You whimpered, no one had ever touched you here and you felt the slick dripping out of you as you let him explore. “Would you let me Princess? Would you let me bury my tongue right here?” He dipped his fingers low, parting you slightly to dip his fingers just at the entrance - collecting your arousal onto his fingers before slipping them out and bringing them to his mouth behind you. You moaned at the sound of him sucking you off of them and you nodded frantically.

“Yes Din, I would let you - I’m yours.” You moaned the words and his other hand held you in place.

“And I am yours.” He responded before bringing his hand back to where you craved it, this time he spread the lips of your cunt open wide, honing his middle finger on the pearl of your sex. He rubbed tight, slow circles around it and you moaned - trying desperately to open your legs wider. He chuckled darkly behind you.

“Does that feel good Princess?” He turned your face with his other hand, twisting his upper body enough to capture your mouth in a messy kiss, not quite aligned but it sent a shiver of arousal through you and you felt yourself climbing higher and higher- his finger relentless as he sped up a little.

“Yes - Gods yes - it feels so good Din, I thought about you too.” You moaned the words into his mouth. “I think about you touching me like this, when I do it to myself.” He groaned at your confession, his tongue thick in your mouth when he kissed you again.

His finger dipped low to collect more wetness and the glide of it was just right, just slippery enough to send you over the edge and you almost screamed. Your body seizing up with pleasure as your sex clenched around nothing. He cooed into your ear as you rode it out.

“You are intoxicating my lovely one.” He kissed your neck, as he lowered your skirts.

You watched him, blissed out and boneless as he licked his fingers before grabbing the reins again and slowly making his way back to the palace.

Mila was snoring softly when you slipped into the room and you were careful not to wake her and as tired as you were from travel it took you a long time to fall asleep. Your heart full of love for Din and a hunger you couldn’t satiate filled your belly. It was a craving for his body, for his kisses, for physical love a woman shared with her husband. You fell asleep hoping - though secretly knowing- that he craved you the same way.

—-

As happy as you were when you awoke the next morning, it was quickly dampened - your father informed you that Poe was to arrive at the Palace as his honoured guest. That he was to stay for a time as a gesture of good will.

You saw right through it.

Your parents had decided that Poe was the suitor they wanted for you and they weren’t being at all subtle.

They informed you with big smiles on their faces, no doubt in hopes of pushing you towards him. It was exhausting - this constant reminder that you would never be truly free to live the life you wanted with Din.

When Poe arrived, he was happy - taking this as a sign that he was winning you over.

“Greetings Princess, I cannot tell you how happy I am to be able to spend more time with you.” He was all smiles and you had no choice but to smile back.

“It will be interesting for sure.” With the way you felt about Din, the intense desire to be around him was at the forefront of your mind. As well as the way Din behaved around Poe, it would definitely be interesting to say the least.

—

Your father invited Poe to dine at your private table, and he engaged him in conversation almost the whole night. They spoke of the future, of how Poe would help rule if he were indeed to marry you. Your mother smiled silently, happy to let the conversation center around the two of you.

Din stood still behind your fathers chair and you wanted nothing more than to pull him to sit with you. To talk to him, kiss him and feed him from your own plate.

“I would want to help people to be quite honest, extend a hand to those that aren’t as fortunate as us. There are people out there starving and that doesn’t sit right with me.” He was honest, to a fault like he said but you admired that.

“That’s very noble of you my boy.” The king nodded.

“It’s very honourable isn’t it my darling?” Your mother smiled at you and you smiled back, nodding around a bite of your food.

“I’m sure the Princess and I could do much and more to help the people who need it the most, if she would let me that is.” He had a shy, genuine smile for you, tentatively reaching over and taking your hand in his. You couldn’t very well snatch it back but you felt Din’s eyes burning into the interaction.

This could get messy.

“Princess, I would humbly ask that you accompany me for a walk through the grounds - chaperoned by your knight of course.” He asked as the remnants of the meal were taken away.

“Oh I’m sure she’d love to join you wouldn’t you sweetling?” Your mother cooed, and you smiled and nodded.

“Yes of course.” You let him guide you, Din following closely behind.

—

“I hope I’m not intruding - I know that the King and Queen are very keen for this to work between us.” He held your hand as you walked arm in arm and you couldn’t help but sigh softly.

“Yes they are aren’t they.” Your tone came out a little more exasperated than you’d hoped but he was well aware that you were not to be swayed by him so easily, you knew he should expect some hesitancy from you.

“I understand that you aren’t impressed and that I am most likely not your first choice. For all I know you might already have your eye on someone else.” He laughed and you couldn’t help but look over your shoulder at Din. “Regardless of that Princess, I know this must be difficult for you but I beg of you to give me a chance to show you that there is potential here. I believe that in time you might come to love me.” He pulled your hand up to his mouth and kissed your fingers.

“You are selling yourself quite hard Poe, I appreciate that you understand that my feelings for you aren’t where you want them to be.” You looked up at him apologetically, expecting him to have a sad look on his face but he surprised you; he was smiling - content to listen to you speak.

“I know, it’s not in you right now but I believe you will see me in a different light. I have faith.” He left the conversation there.

——

It was hard to find time to meet with Din, Poe seemed to be everywhere and his determination seemingly had no bounds.

Your mother found you as you dressed for the day - she had a note from Poe. He was asking you to accompany him into town to hand out some supplies. You couldn’t refuse him, not when your mother had delivered it herself.

“Will Din accompany us?” You asked it offhand, your voice neutral - your face a mask of nonchalance.

“No your father is going on a hunt and Din will be protecting him, there will be other guards with you.” She said it with a shake of her hand as she searched your wardrobe for an appropriate dress. “This will do nicely.” She picked out an off the shoulder, deep berry coloured dress that was not at all practical for a day out in the city.

It would have to do.

He had taken you to an orphanage in the heart of the city. There were kids running around of all ages and the older ones ran towards Poe when you entered - recognizing him. He had a big smile on his face as they hugged him around the middle, all decorum forgotten.

“Poe did you bring us anything?” A boy of about twelve years was eager, looking around you to the entourage of guards waiting behind you.

“Of course, brought all of you some good stuff like I always do.” He ruffled the boys hair before he held his hand out to you, you smiled and stepped forward. “I have someone very special here with me today, this is the Princess. Come on over and say hello.” He called them over to you and you saw some of the little girls eyes light up. They flocked to you, asking you if you were indeed the Princess. Asked you if you had a crown, and most importantly why you were there. They were precious.

“She’s here to help just like I am.” Poe answered for you.

A little girl of about six pulled on your dress and you lowered yourself slightly to be at her level.

“Princess, I like your dress, you’re so pretty.” She was smiling at you, her hair was a tangle but her eyes were bright.

“Thank you sweetling, you are much prettier I must say.” You moved the hair out of her eyes and she smiled wide, her little hand clutching at a makeshift cloth doll.

You helped Poe hand out toys and new clothes and there was food for them to eat. You spent the day playing with them and learning about their lives. The women who ran the orphanage knew him and you saw that all of the talk of helping the less fortunate was real, he had already been doing much more than you had ever even imagined.

It was hard to deny the little spark of something that he held within you.

He was handsome, he was kind and smart- funny and generous and with the way his eyes found yours throughout the day; he felt something for you. His eyes were piercing, dark and mysterious and for the first time, he gave you butterflies.

One of the little ones was showing you his space within the building, his bed and his tiny toy horse. He was waxing poetic about how one day he would be a knight. You were smiling at him when Poe stood next to you, his gaze heavy and it sent a flush crawling up your neck to light up your ears.

The fabric at his neck was crumpled and you couldn’t help but reach up to fix it, your arm extended over to him and his gaze focused on it, reached up to hold it to his neck. He placed a delicate kiss to your bicep and pulled you closer. The act was small, but so intimate it did something to you. Melted a tiny piece of you that up until now was frozen to him and he saw it on your face. Felt it in the way you let him hold you close, your arm still around his neck, his hand moving down to hold onto your waist.

The little boy was in front of you now, asking Poe if he would ever give him a real horse and he laughed, not unkindly.

“One day my boy, one day I will give you a horse - only if you promise to behave and be on your best behaviour. Can you do that?” The little boy nodded sagely promising he would. You didn’t pull your arm away, and you couldn’t pinpoint why.

—-

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smollestnerd · 3 years

Text

XigXem SFW Headcanons

I love doing these to get ideas for headcanons I wouldn’t normally consider, and since I finished filling these out today I thought I’d share! Borrowed from the @otp-imagines-cult post here!

(Just a heads-up, this is a messy mashup of canon-compliant and modern au headcanons)

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other?

Xemnas spends so much money on Xigbar. He doesn't even try to say no at this point, he knows Xig will get his way.

Xigbar sometimes feels guilty about how much Xemnas spends on him, but those feelings fade as soon as Xem comes back from shopping with bags full of gifts for Xig.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap?

Xigbar sleeps in Xemnas’s lap. It's rare that it's the other way around, usually only if Xem is extremely tired or upset (he'll fall asleep while being comforted and held of course).

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes?

They both do. Well, Xigbar runs around HALF naked, Xemnas is just full frontal at any given point if they’re home alone. Xig will tell him to cover up, but he doesn't ever mean it.

When they have guests, Xigbar is fully clothed 100% of the time. Xemnas, though? There’s always at least a 10% chance he’ll forget wearing a shirt is a thing people expect from him. Everyone is either too afraid or horny to tell him to put one on, thus the responsibility falls on Xigbar to tell him. (Again, about a 10% chance he’ll “forget” to tell him to put on a shirt.)

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway?

Bold of you to assume they both don't have 11pm bedtimes.

But every so often Xemnas will lose himself in his work and suddenly it's 3am.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies?

Xigbar is forbidden from cooking anything that isn't microwaveable.

Xemnas's fallback career was fancy chef if “Superior of the In-Between” didn’t work out.

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”?

Neither, but only because neither of them are very online. I think if they were though, Xemnas would see their relationship in everything but not say anything out loud. He just smiles to himself and moves on.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes?

Xigbar is an accomplished hoodie thief. Xemnas wears Xig’s croptops sometimes to work out in, but always returns them when he's done.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?”

Xemnas is usually the one running errands, but he rarely forgets anything on the list. Xigbar always asks if he remembered everything, though, just to soothe his own anxiety, and quietly hoping to catch Xemnas slipping up so he has something to tease about.

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions?

Xigbar drives ever since Xemnas got his license suspended for running too many red lights.

Or; Xig drives like a maniac and Xem is just so used to it he doesn't even bother to insist on driving anymore (unless he's the designated driver, which usually he is). Xem is lowkey surprised Xig has a clean driving record.

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws?

Xemnas poses, Xigbar draws. Xig’s had plenty of lifetimes to perfect his hobbies, and even though he hasn't had time for them in a while, it doesn't take long for him to get back into the swing of things. What better way to capture his lover's radiance than through charcoal drawings and oil paints?

Plus, Xemnas absolutely adores the attention. He just basks in the glory of another being finding him beautiful enough to immortalize on canvas.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips?

I want to say Xemnas is the super cool backflip guy and Xigbar is the one with the chips, but honestly? It's the other way around. Xig likes to show off in front of his man, and who could blame him?

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking?

Xemnas overdoes it. He doesn't drink nearly as often as Xigbar does, so he doesn't exactly know his limits. Xig tries to keep his eye on him and make sure he doesn't drink too much, but unfortunately Xem is REALLY good at acting sober, so Xig never realizes Xem has overdone it until its too late.

He takes really good care of Xemnas, though, no matter how drunk he is himself.

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts?

Xemnas and Xigbar both surprise each other quite often. Xigbar gives Xemnas little things like seashells and shiny baubles he finds on missions/outings that he thinks Xemnas will like for his office shelves. Xemnas sends Xigbar flowers when he senses Xig having a bad day, and buys him every new book that Xigbar expresses even a passing interest in.

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own?

Xemnas. He's definitely the romantic here. He's got an Entire Notebook filled with different combinations of their names squashed together.

Xigbar is lowkey terrified of major commitment. He'd say yes if proposed to of course, but he'd never offer himself up like that.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside?

Xemnas saves it, Xigbar just squishes it. Neither are afraid but they have different approaches to dealing with bugs.

16: Which one gives the other their jacket?

On most cold days you can find Xigbar wearing a too-big leather coat and Xemnas in naught but a t-shirt or turtleneck.

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling?

Ansem tried. He tried so hard. But he severely underestimated Xigbar’s resistance to intimidation tactics.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other?

Xemnas. He planned out a whole mega-elaborate date for the two of them, and confessed his love for Xigbar.

Xigbar: "Wait we weren't dating already??"

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting?

They would make fantastic fathers, they'd care about their kids so much. But christ alive that household would be chaotic as all fuck.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters?

Xemnas used to type with perfect grammar and spelling until he learned about text lingo. "It's more efficient, Xigbar, I am a busy man and don't have time to type everything out." It's a damn lie, though, he just thinks it's neat.

Hell will freeze over the day that Xemnas uses an emoji.

Xigbar relies on emojis and autocorrect and if it doesn't catch a typo or he sends the wrong emoji, “Oh well.”

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them?

The bully gets attacked by them.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun?

Xigbar is the pun king. Genuinely funny. “10/10 would hear again.” -Xemnas, probably

Xemnas tries sometimes, bless his soul. Xigbar just doesn't have it in him to tell him they're bad.

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy?

To Xigbar's dismay, this has happened more than once. He's the dad that is against the pet but ends up loving it, and Xemnas just can't resist bringing home strays.

They have 2 big dogs, a little dog, and a cat, and have fostered a few puppies and old, sickly cats here and there.

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired?

When Xemnas gets too drunk to stand, Xigbar will give him a piggyback ride, but he never tells him the next day. Xemnas is too prideful and would be very ashamed to hear of it. Plus, Xigbar kinda likes keeping those moments between them to himself; like a secret he’s keeping safe for a special occasion.

Xigbar will ask for piggyback rides all the time, and Xemnas is happy to indulge him.

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering?

When Xemnas cheers for Xigbar, it's less overzealous and more normal cheering, it's just that Xemnas' voice is booming and carries over the rest of the crowd with ease.

(Don’t ask me what competitive activity Xigbar does, for I Do Not Know)

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder?

They both do. The main difference is that Xemnas focuses the camera on Xigbar, and Xigbar gets them both fully in the shot.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked?

Both of them would be willing to give the other a makeover, but neither of them have asked.

But! Xemnas does Xigbar’s makeup sometimes, and Xigbar has bought his own style of clothes for Xemnas on a few occasions, just to see what he’d look like.

(Unrelated sidenote: they have matching onesies with cat ears and a tail that Xigbar refuses to wear unless he has to, or unless Xem asks him while Xig is wasted)

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of?

Before they moved in together, Xigbar refused to go inside Xemnas's house unless his husky was in the backyard. He got used to her over time, and now Xemnas sometimes comes home to them asleep cuddling on the couch.

Xemnas was never actually afraid of Xigbar's beloved corn snake, but he wasn't a fan either. He’d hold him, but he wasn’t thrilled about it.

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains?

Xemnas holds the umbrella, Xigbar holds the Xemnas

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures?

In a canon setting they’d go worldhopping for a week, but in a modern au they'd take trips every year to cities and small remote locations around the world.

They've never been properly camping though. Xemnas refuses.

Their first trip together was small, just to a little known beach on the west coast. They lounged on the beach most of the time, and every night they ate at a different food truck. The last night they were there Xemnas surprised Xigbar with reservations for the fanciest 5-star restaurant in the city.

Xigbar thought he took all the pictures until he was going through them after the trip, only to find over half the memory card filled with photos of himself that Xemnas took when he wasn't looking

#kingdom hearts #xemnas #xigbar #xigxem #xemxig #xemnas/xigbar #otp headcanons #my writing #headcanons #sfw

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jeannereames · 5 years

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Happy Birthday to the real Amyntor: Ed Reames

9/11 is a day of mourning in the US. But for me, 9/11 means my father’s birthday. And with Dancing with the Lion: Rise coming out next month--which is dedicated to my father’s memory--I decided I’d post here the tribute to my father that I wrote shortly after his death in February of 2017. My father (and mother) provided the model for Amyntor in the novel. So if you’d like to meet the “real” Amyntor, here he is.

Calvin Edward Reames, c. 1944

As some of you are already aware, my father’s health—physical and mental—has been failing, especially since autumn. In late January, he caught pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital. He never regained conscious awareness and was placed on palliative care. At 3:15pm, Eastern time, February 10, 2017, he died, almost exactly 92 years and 5 months since he entered this world.

Social media has become the communication currency of our time, and supposedly nothing on the Internet ever really disappears. Ergo I want to tell you about my father so HE won’t disappear. This is my own reflection. No one’s life can be understood by any single individual in it. We’re too multifaceted. The father I knew wasn't even the father my brother knew, as we were born almost 18 years apart--he at the beginning of the Baby Boom and me at the tail end. Yet my father raised a writer for a daughter, so I feel the need to eulogize him as I knew him. Others will have other stories, more or less flattering.

Born on the now-infamous date of 9/11, 1924, in Gorham, Jackson County, (Southern) Illinois, he survived the Tri-State Tornado at only 6 months of age. With him in her arms, his mother ran for the railroad tracks and got on the opposite side from the mile-wide monster bearing down on them, then laid her own body over his; the tornado leapt the tracks and spared them. Perhaps that was an omen for a charmed life. On the face of if, his life might not seem particularly charmed, but he survived the Depression, a world war, and mostly made good on the American Dream. He even lived long enough to see his Cubbies win the World Series.

Iva Mae Gregersen Reames & Daddy, 1925

The eldest of 13 children, he grew up in a family who were poor even by Depression-era standards. It made him generous, occasionally foolishly so. Yet if he decided someone was “his” (family or friend), he saw it as his obligation to help. That conviction stemmed less from abstract ethics than from an innate kindness arising out of his recall of what it meant to be in need. Sometimes people say, “Well, I managed …” and expect others to suffer as they had. Daddy could do that, too, but mostly he didn't. If he could prevent someone from suffering, that made him happy. He just wanted a “Thank you.” When he was in the war, he sent virtually his whole paycheque home to his mother each month to help care for his younger brothers and sisters. He kept $5. Yes, $5 went much further then, but as an unmarried corporal in the US army, he made about $65 dollars monthly in 1944. So he kept 1/13th of his income and gave away the rest.

US Army Corporal, 126th AAA Battalion, 1943

That, perhaps better than anything, exemplifies his fundamental nature. It’s in our actions and choices that, I believe, we reveal our true selves.

He liked to laugh, and kid, but never cruelly. For some families, a disparaging jest is meant as back-handed affection, but that wasn’t heard in the house in which I grew up. When I was younger, I was frequently teased because I walked right into comments with potential double meanings. Perhaps one of the values of getting old(er) is that I’ve aged out of being an easy target. Yet I never learned to hear what others said as an opportunity for ribbing because my parents didn’t find that sort of thing funny. My father's sense of humor was devoid of sarcasm, as he thought it mean-spirited. Some of that owed to his own mother, who—to hear him talk about her—should have been beatified immediately upon her death. But I also believe it owed to having lived through real struggle himself.

To his mind, the world is mean enough. He saw no need to make it meaner via our interactions with people about whom we should care. It's partly for that reason, and a basic aversion to drama, that he was a much-desired member of the pastor-parish relations committee at our church in Lakeland, Florida. His presence tended to tamp down exaggerated crises and occasional bouts of flailing (which is actually a bit funny, given his own tendency to worry).

My father had a will of iron, and a quiet ambition easily overlooked. For instance, when he decided to stop smoking, back before I was born, he’d just received a new carton of cigarettes for Christmas. He threw them in the trash and quit cold turkey because he’d decided he was done. He took up a pipe later (I think largely for image), but decided he didn’t want to do that, either, and just put down the pipe one day. That was it.

"The Lineman," Normal Rockwell

When Daddy decided to do something, he did it. “Failure is not an option”: Apollo 13’s motto. Well, the men (and women) who got Apollo 13 home are my father’s generation. When he returned from the war, he was one of millions looking for a job. He tried on several, but finally decided to work for the telephone company because communications seemed like the future. Before the war, he’d wanted to be a pharmacist, yet circumstance had curtailed the college degree required. So he began showing up regularly in the hiring offices of General Telephone Electric (GTE), asking for work. He made himself annoying. But squeaky wheel gets the grease, and finally they sent him north as a telephone lineman … in January … during a blizzard. He was a relatively little guy (wiry, but short), and they doubted he’d last 2 days. They figured it was a good way to get rid of his terrier persistence.

Daddy on right, GTE employee award

He persisted for 40+ years, and retired as a (self-taught) senior engineer in the mid-1980s. Never tell a Reames, "You can’t do that."

The guys who’d worked under him at the end liked him so much, they kept coming to visit him for years after. He had that effect on people, whether at work, at church, or as a ham radio operator ("This is K9RWP calling..."). They sensed he truly cared about them, and responded in kind. He wasn’t a boisterous or especially outgoing person, but he was still an extrovert. He’d strike up conversations with random strangers in lines at store check-outs.

Especially if there was a baby involved.

Daddy & his great-granddaughter, Leila

See, Daddy loved babies. And babies loved Daddy. Maybe as a result of being the eldest of 13, but he could burp them, change a diaper pronto, or make them laugh. He so enjoyed watching little kids, especially as he aged; he’d break into a grin just to see them playing at a distance. He was never among the “Children should be seen and not heard” crowd. To his mind, children should be talked to and played with. They would inherit the earth. When my son was born just a few months after my mother's death, Daddy said, “He’s my little replacement.” At the time, I worried his words were fatalistic. But he went on to survive my mother by almost 20 years, and now, I see his words as an expression of continuity. We are our ancestors.

Daddy, Grandson Ian & Licorice as a kitten

So my son, Ian, is his replacement, in the larger sense. When we look forward, we also look back to where we came from. I tried to insure that Ian got to know his Grandpa, who was there just days after he came home from the hospital after birth, and was there when he graduated from high school, even paid his first bill for books at college. Because that’s who Daddy was. If he didn’t get to attend college himself, he made sure both his kids did, and his grandkids. For him, that was an achievement.

As I said…the success of others, especially friends and family, seemed to Daddy the same as his own.

Yet his generosity and empathy extended beyond just people. Daddy was a cat magnet. We used to joke that if he sat down and there was a cat within 50 feet, pretty soon, that cat would be on his lap. He liked dogs, to be sure, but dogs (and horses) were my mother’s favorites. Daddy liked cats, and they liked him. Dogs are forgiving. They’ll stay with even an abusive owner; but cats leave. They don’t put up with crap. Daddy? Even semi-feral cats trusted him.

Daddy, me, Ian, and a completely random barn cat who decided to adopt him for the day at my aunt’s farm

So while he was raised in a time when animals were tools and food more than family members, and he certainly went hunting from a young age to help put food on the table, I think he, more than my mother, had a soft spot for animals. I remember in the ‘70s, he decided we were going to raise rabbits for food, and bought a pair of does. Well, it didn’t take long for yours truly to make pets not only of the does, but of the first litter of babies. All of them had to go to homes where they’d be pets, not dinner. And while I’d made the pronouncement, it didn’t take much to convince my father. Shooting a wild squirrel for the stew pot (especially when hungry) was one thing; killing the rabbits one fed regularly and took care of was another. So our venture in home-grown meat failed miserably (to, I’m sure, the rabbits’ collective relief). Yet it wasn’t just due to my agitating. I don’t think Daddy could have killed a one of them, even if I hadn’t protested. They had names, after all.

He wasn’t a saint. None of us are. The cliche applies: we're a mix of vices and virtues, like shadows against the backlight of the sun. Age softened some of his, while exacerbating others due to a failing filter. Among other things he did well, Daddy was a champion worrier. He worried about anything you can imagine (and then some). Perhaps that owed to growing up in such an unstable era as the Depression when it seemed anything could happen, but for instance, he would remind me constantly to hold onto handrails while going up and down stairs. It seems trivial, but he genuinely angsted over me falling at home and hurting myself when nobody might find me for days. So I (mostly) hold onto rails, because I hear his voice in my head, telling me to.

The irony, of course, is that he was in much more danger of falling, yet he didn't tend to worry about himself. Before he moved up to be near my brother, I tried to get him to buy one of those Life Alert systems. I even employed the ultimate weapon: his grandson (Ian), to beg. He refused. He’d be fine, because he’s of that generation when all a man should need was himself, a gun, a good job, and a driver's license. And oh, boy, getting him to relinquish that driver's license as he went increasingly blind from macular degeneration was quite the battle, one my poor brother largely had to face when Daddy moved north to Kentucky in his last years. Daddy never did let go of the worrying, though.

He could be impatient, and critical, too, sometimes overly so. I never wanted to sing in front of him because he, like many of his siblings, had an excellent ear and I was, well, usually a little flat. He could hear it, and would say so. But the one he was most critical of was himself, if he failed to live up to his (very high) standards of what he thought he ought to do. Some of that, I lay at the feet of his own father, at least as my mother told it to me. Yet in contrast, as noted earlier, he delighted in the success of others. As a child and young woman I wanted to succeed not because I feared his critique (except about my singing), but because I basked in his happiness when I did well. He could be downright embarrassing in his bragging. If failure, especially his, was not an option, he didn't feel the need to build himself up by tearing down others. He was happy to share the spotlight, or even to applaud from the sidelines--and mean it. Again, maybe that owed to being one of 13, but I think it went deeper, back to his fundamental worldview: “You and me,” not, “Me or you.” He was quietly ambitious, but not especially competitive. Except at cards. Then all bets were off (sometimes literally).

Daddy with Mama, Christmas, c. 1990

One of his most outstanding virtues was his loyalty. For instance, he fell in love with my mother and stayed married to her for 51 years, then never remarried. While it might have been nice for him to remarry, I don't think it was in him; it would have felt like "replacing" her, and to his mind, she had no replacement.

After her death in 1997, I recall going through old pictures of her with him, one from just after the war, which showed them out with friends. Keep in mind that my mother, from childhood until after the birth of my brother, was…pudgy. While on the shorter side, my father was never heavy in his youth. In fact, he got quite buff during WWII: broad-chested and slim-waisted. But as we looked at that picture of my mother next to her friends, he pointed to her with tears in his eyes, and said, "She was the most beautiful of them all." Yup, the "pudgy" girl.

Idalee Brouillette, c. 1944, the picture my father carried during WWII

But he was right: Mama was a stunner. I know that, now, people say I look a lot like her, and I’m honored it’s so. But I was never as pretty as she was, especially in her youth, and I think my father felt bedazzled that this beautiful, black-haired Brouillette girl decided she was going to marry him, and that was the end of it. Her family was better off financially during the Depression, even with Indian blood; they had a farm with a full section, and a car, and enough money for my grandfather to send my mother and her sisters into town to go to school when he thought the teacher at the school on Buttermilk Hill was unqualified. So I suppose you could say Daddy "married up." But to Mama’s mind, she’d won the deal, getting the determined, smart guy.

See, long before they met in person, Mama had gone with her best friend Annie to Gorham High School for a day, visiting. In math class, the teacher put a problem on the board and asked the class to solve it. Only one student could: my father. He got up and wrote the solution on the blackboard, and Mama was enchanted. She asked Annie, “Who is that guy!?”

Some years later, she married that guy.

March 8th, 1946, wedding picture

In many ways, my parents were quite different people. My mother was progressive in thought beyond her time, naturally empathic and perceptive, a bookworm introvert with a steel spine when she needed it and the amazing ability to keep 5+ people’s business in her head without forgetting anything. Everything I know about organization (and I’m pretty good at it), I learned from my mother. My father was conservative, protective, supportive, more intelligent (in sheer IQ), but less emotionally intelligent (EQ), more driven, but less philosophical. Yet they created a unique alchemy of spirit. They didn’t share common interests—Mama loved reading novels, Daddy never read fiction, Mama loved watching murder mysteries, Daddy preferred ball games or the news. Yet they looked out on the world in the same direction, and that’s what mattered.

Ed Reames in high school

In the end, what can I say but that Daddy was the epitome of the Greatest Generation. And now he’s gone. I won’t say we’ll never see their like again, because nobody knows the future. They weren’t perfect—racism was an institutionalized assumption enshrined in segregation, women barely had the vote, LGBTQ wasn’t even talked about—but we, in our current America, could take a page from those who survived abject poverty and economic collapse without government safety nets, then went on to save the world from fascism. They did it not by grand deeds, but by the simple heroism of young men and a few women storming a beach at Normandy or Iwo Jima, a lot of whom never came home. Daddy used to joke that he chased Hitler all over Europe but never caught him.

Daddy, you did catch him. You were part of the men and women who stopped him.

You are my hero. You are the real Captain America.

I’m privileged and grateful to be your daughter, and I love you, forever.

#My 9/11 #The Greatest Generation #Amyntor #Ed Reames #Dancing with the Lion #DwtL #tribute to my father

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jeremystrele · 4 years

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11 Affordable, Emerging Painters To Start Collecting Now!

Art

by Sally Tabart

‘Sunday Morning’ by Lucy Roleff.

‘Satin and Blueberries’ by Lucy Roleff.

Artist and musician Lucy Roleff in the studio. Photo – Kim Landy.

‘Heirloom’ by Lucy Roleff.

Left: A Window. Right: Gemini by Lucy Roleff.

Lucy Roleff

Inspired by objects and arrangements in her daily life, Melbourne based Lucy Roleff taught herself how to paint from YouTube videos! Describing her style as ‘painterly realism’, Lucy likes to paint simple, domestic spaces that straddle the worlds of familiarity and grandeur. ‘I really enjoy the meditative practice of mixing colour and laying down brushstrokes’, she says. ‘There’s also a particular pleasure that comes when a painting starts to work – it’s very special!’

As if being a supremely talented painter wasn’t enough, Lucy is also a classically trained folk musician and composer! There’s a melodic feeling to her still life scenes as well – you can almost hear music drifting through an open window just out of frame. Dreamy.

Price point

Ranging from $780– $2,400

Where to find it

A TDF Collect solo show later this year… stay tuned!

Artwork by Bronte Leighton Dore.

Artwork by Bronte Leighton Dore. Right: Portrait of artist Bronte Leighton Dore. Photo – Robin Hearfield.

Artwork by Bronte Leighton Dore.

Bronte Leighton Dore

Bronte Leighton Dore paints landscapes, still life and portraits. Her works are spontaneous and gestural, with an intuitive use of colour. Citing nature as her primary inspiration, Bronte’s work captures the ‘immersion of being in a moment’.

As a shortlisted artist in the prestigious 2019 Wynne Prize (the Archibald Prize’s cousin for landscape painting), Bronte is certainly on the rise!

Price point

Smaller pieces are $1,100 while the large scale works are around $4,800.

Where to find it

A solo show at Martin Browne Contemporary in April and Edwina Corlette Gallery in November.

Artist Charlotte Alldis in her Brunswick studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Artwork by Charlotte Alldis.

Charlotte at work in the studio. Photo – Henry King.

Charlotte Alldis

Young Melbourne-based artist Charlotte Alldis likes to make a mess. ‘My work is playful, silly and imaginative’, she describes. ‘It involves storytelling of characters and feelings’. Wobbly flowers, sunbeams and rainbows in wonderfully bright colours are frequent guests in her paintings, murals and textiles, bouncing into each other and welcoming the viewer with big grins and sleepy, starry eyes.

Look out for a more in-depth profile on Charlotte and her work on TDF in next few weeks!

Price point

Varying depending on size and medium.

Where to find it

Charlotte and two of her best friends recently started their ‘Making A Mess’ workshop series for people to come together and explore mark making, constructing and creative expression, all free of judgement. Keep up with them via their Instagram.

Artwork by Charlie Ingemar Harding.

Portrait of Charlie Ingemar Harding. Photo – Tim Hardy.

Charlie Ingemar Harding

Charlie Ingemar Harding’s artwork feels both casual and serious at the same time. There is a sincerity in his paintings – these are works that don’t immediately announce themselves, but draw you in the more time you spend with them. Like a comfortable conversation, without many words exchanged.

Working across a variety of different mediums, from oil paintings to raw textile compositions, It’s hard to pigeon hole Charlie’s style into a specific genre, because it changes all the time. At the moment, he’s found himself consumed by textile works. ‘The works are large and immersive, whereby the viewer can traverse freely across vast areas of material until reaching a loose thread or seam solidified in composition,’ he explains. ‘They sit in space, unobtrusive, quiet, breathing in and out contemplative air.’

Price point

Varying dependent on the work.

Where to find it

Charlie is building a body of textile works that he plans to show in the near future. In the meantime, keep up with him on Instagram.

Artwork – Elynor Smithwick.

Elynor Smithwick

It’s hard to believe that Elynor Smithwick only graduated from her Honours year at the Victoria College of the Arts in 2019!

Her quiet, intimate oil paintings have a nostalgic quality about them – places that you might have been before, or scenes that feel a bit familiar. ‘The settings are usually in a time and place you can’t quite put your finger on’, Elynor tells. In her last two bodies of work, she’s looked to old family photographs as her anchor. ‘Usually I find my inspiration in small things, looking out windows, going on walks, returning somewhere, closing my eyes’, she says.

Price point

Around $400 – $800

Where to find it

A group show of 12 painters at George Ponton Gallery, opening on May 20th. A joint exhibition in Mount Buller showing works created on a six-week residency from the Mount Buller Residency award, opening July 18th. And, a group show at Stockroom Gallery showing works created in Kyneton under the Macfarlane Fund residency, opening November 14th

Emma Currie working on a large piece in the studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Artwork by Emma Currie.

Emma painting in the studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Emma Currie

We first profiled Melbourne-based artist Emma Currie’s work in late 2019, ahead of her inclusion in our end of year show, ‘Art and Artefact’, where her painting was one of the first to be sold! Emma makes abstract figurative oil paintings, using bold, geometric shapes and colours to depict the female form. Dynamic and soft at the same time, Emma’s work is a beautiful balance of hard edges, and feminine fluidity.

‘I’m inspired by the geometric lines found in Picasso’s cubist work, and I often reference Matisse cut-outs’, Emma says of her key references. ‘I also love contemporary Spanish photographer Carlota Guerrero‘s work and find myself drawn to her Instagram feed when I’m feeling creatively blocked.’

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – Emma Currie is one to watch!

Price point

Anywhere between $800 and $4000 depending on size.

Where to find it

A TDF Collect solo show… just around the corner!

Artwork by Gabrielle Penfold.

Left: Portrait of artist Gab Penfold. Right: Artwork by Gabrielle Penfold.

Artwork by Gabrielle Penfold.

Gabrielle Penfold

Gabrielle Penfold’s joyful work feels just like drinking a cocktail at sunset on a beach in Italy – bright, carefree and full of potential! Bouncing between still life and landscapes, and sometimes dabbling in abstraction, Gabrielle’s sweet scenes are inspired by traveling to places rich in history and culture. ‘It’s in those places ideas are fed to me’, she says. ‘I will always refer back to my photographs, sketches and books when in the studio.’

Price point

Smaller works start at $800

Where to find it

Contact Gab via her website.

‘Horse-tail sheoak beneath clouds’ by Ileigh Hellier.

’24 hours at Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve’ by Ileigh Hellier.

‘Small Trees’ by Ileigh Hellier.

‘Sky Trees Pool’ by Ileigh Hellier.

Ileigh Hellier

‘I’d describe my work as playful, colourful representations of the Australian landscape’, says Newcastle-based artist Ileigh Hellier. Her smudgy, colourful paintings depict loose representations of the natural world – not just what she sees in front of her, but what’s up in the sky and below the ground. Layers of topography are laid flat in a brilliantly fresh and elegant, yet childlike way.

There’s a little bit of abstract Ken Done present in Ileigh’s paintings – and as it happens, Ken is at the top of the list of artists she admires. Ileigh is a finalist in the 2020 Glover Prize, an annual art prize for landscape paintings of Tasmania.

Price point

Around $300 – $850 (and varied depending on gallery commissions)

Where to find it

You can see Ileigh’s work in the Glover Prize finalist exhibition, opening March 6th at the Falls Park Hall in Evandale, Tasmania.

An abstract group show at Allison Kate Bellinger Gallery in Inverell, NSW.

A show Purple Noon Gallery on the Hawkesbury River, NSW, opening on April 4th. A show at Back to Back Galleries in Newcastle, NSW, opening July 10th.

Artwork by Niah Mcleod.

Niah McLeod

From a distance, Niah Mcleod’s paintings look like broad patterns in subtle gradient hues. Look closer and you’ll notice each tiny dot or line painstakingly pressed to canvas, to form incredibly powerful rippling movements. Inspired by the sky and the stars, water and the earth, Niah’s works are meticulous and moving.

As a mum of two kids, painting is what gives Niah a sense of belonging. ‘I feel like I can show the world just a tiny, beautiful piece of Aboriginal culture’, she describes. ‘I’m also very lucky to learn my native Language (dhurga) and to teach it to my children through painting, and that to me is everything.’

Price point

Between $550 – $14,500

Where to find it

A group show at Kate Owen Gallery in Sydney opening on May 9th.

Artwork by Seth Searle.

Seth Searle

Seth Searle’s oil paintings including portraits, still life and interiors demonstrate excellent control of her medium. Her moody, quiet works elegantly highlight hand gestures, distortions through glass and pattern with apparent ease!

Seth finds inspiration in writers who explore the confines of gender roles, like Maggie Nelson and Virginia Woolf.

Price point

$900 – $1400

Where to find it

Seth will be in a joint exhibition with her good friend Lucy Roleff (see above on this list!) at BOOM Gallery in September.

Photo by Thea Anamara Perkins.

Thea Anamara Perkins

Thea Anamara Perkins explores her identity as an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman, but her practice also forms an investigation into art-making itself.

Thea brilliantly captures light and a surprising level of detail in the thick, broad brush strokes of her landscapes and portraits. Inspired by the art of Central Australia, she has worked with Tangentyere Artists including Sally M Nangala Mulda over the last couple of years.

‘I think of art as a forum of ideas, and creativity is a way of grappling with the vast abstract world’, says Thea.

Thea was listed for the Archibald Prize in 2019 for her portrait of contemporary artist and family friend Christian Thompson. An incredible feat for an artist still in her 20s!

Price point

Around $2,000 – $3,000

Where to find it

My Imagination group show on NOW until March 14th at Edwina Corlette Gallery.

**Please note that the price-guides quoted here are representative of the time of publication, and may be subject to change.

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mikemortgage · 6 years

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In era of trade uncertainty, the Bank of Canada’s Stephen Poloz was made for this moment in history

Time flies. Stephen Poloz has now begun the sixth year of his seven-year term as Bank of Canada governor. The 62-year-old still has lots of road in front of him, but he’s now crossing into legacy territory, where assessments of his policy decisions will be mixed with debate about his accomplishments and mistakes.

That’s certainly fair: someone who started dreaming about running the Bank of Canada when he still was in university surely wants to leave a mark. And his immediate predecessors, Mark Carney and David Dodge, made names for themselves despite leading what is, after all, a second-tier central bank.

Poloz started quietly, but he is starting to do the same. The housing doomsters will never forgive him for inflating asset-price bubbles — even if those bubbles never burst. But if he retired tomorrow, he would be lauded for cutting interest rates in 2015 before most realized the oil-price collapse would cause as much damage as it eventually did.

Bank of Canada raises rates as Poloz’s tale of recovery from Great Recession finally comes true

The foundation of Canada’s financial system has a few cracks

Kevin Carmichael: Amid trade battles, some good news on our economy: Canadian companies are expanding

His early interest in trying to figure out a way to model uncertainty has gone from arcane to urgent following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. His time at Export Development Canada makes him unique among central bankers in that he has an intimate knowledge of the global trading system that Trump appears ready to wreck.

Just as Carney, a former investment banker, was perfectly suited for the financial crisis, Poloz was made for a moment that will require seeing the world through the eyes of exporters.

But Poloz’s defining achievement could turn out to be how he played chicken with inflation — and won. As warning signs flashed red, the Bank of Canada bet that the traditional indicators were sending false signals. Policy-makers left interest rates low, creating the conditions for an historic run of hiring.

Something still could go terribly wrong, but Poloz’s record so far is the kind upon which legacies are built.

On July 11, just after Poloz announced the fourth interest rate hike in a little more than a year, the Financial Post sat down with him for an interview in the Towers boardroom at the central bank’s headquarters in Ottawa, as portraits of Carney, Dodge and the six other former Bank of Canada governors looked on.

FP: At the G7 meeting in Whistler, you led a session on uncertainty, something you guys (at the Bank of Canada) have been talking about for months. Can you talk about the nature of that discussion? Why should we care?

Poloz: We’ve begun to build a bit of literature on it here at the bank. The biggest advance was the paper by Mendez and Murchison and Wilkins, which really tries to replay history and look at episodes and ask, “What kind of model could actually explain what actually occurred?” It was uncertainty that was driving the decisions. What that research shows is that uncertainty skews decisions, so it plays a role in the outcome in ways that are not predicted in standard types of models.

The finance ministers were dong this thing on development, and we had a free morning, so instead of playing golf, the central bankers got together for breakfast and spoke about this. Of course, at the time, I would say a source of uncertainty was the one we’re talking about today — trade and all that — but it doesn’t matter much what it is. If you have these tail risks, or maybe that puts it too extreme, but big, weighty things that you think are fairly low probability, how do you actually get them into your decision-making and appropriately reflect them?

You might argue we have this huge possibility of auto tariffs and stuff like that, so you should just wait and see (and leave policy unchanged). Well, no, because there are lots of things I could tell you that are big and nice, as opposed to hairy, that we’re also not allowing to influence our decisions. For example, NAFTA gets restored. Boom. Aluminum and steel tariffs just go away. We should put a higher weight on that possibility than on auto tariffs, frankly. But, you know, they’re both big and they’re harder to quantify.

FP: You said you’d put higher weight on a NAFTA resolution than on auto tariffs. Do you want to elaborate on what you mean? I assume you don’t want me to read too much into that.

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz at the central bank.

Poloz: Yeah, I don’t want you to read too much into that. I’m not actually going to assign weights. But … I don’t remember the last time I read anything about the prospect for NAFTA renewal. It’s all about the other. I thought it was appropriate today to remind people that we should at least be putting a weight on the possibility that it all gets worked out between friends in a way that is beneficial to everybody. There’s no reason why it can’t. Politics makes everything a bit more special. It’s not the same if, say, the central bankers all got together and hashed it out.

FP: How does your thinking about uncertainty apply to the day-to-day, the last decision, for example, to make this more real for people?

Poloz: Let’s set aside trade and all those big hairy things. Just imagine where we’ve been for, say, the last four or five years: pretty widespread underperformance of inflation, right? And (there’s) this continued concern that maybe we should even have higher inflation targets to have better ammo for the future. That’s kind of a prevailing theme.

With two-sided risk, which we always face … we could be right or wrong in this direction or in that direction. But if we’re wrong in that direction, the risk is that with inflation starting at, say, one per cent, we actually have a deflationary outcome, which we all know from our student days has a lot of things associated with it that are much more difficult for an economy to extract itself from.

What that means then is that you weight the downside risk more highly than the upside risk. And it gives you an extra degree of patience in this normalization thing, even though your model — and your Taylor Rule in the model — is telling you, “Oh, look, the economy’s approaching (its speed limit) and you’ve got to get interest rates up to neutral.”

Detail of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.

The U.S., which was ahead of everybody, went far slower than any Taylor Rule would have suggested. And again, setting aside the fiscal shock (of Trump’s tax cuts), which is probably one step too many for an economy that was already there, consider the last two years and how much extra movement and the GDP per person that happened because (the U.S. Federal Reserve) did not pre-empt (the rebound) by operating according to a mechanical rule.

This to me is the perfect counter to those who think, “Oh, central banks should obey rules because it’s more predictable.” What is more predictable is that they’re targeting inflation and inflation was underperforming, and that gave them licence to take their time.

I would say that’s been the same thing for us. We’re behind. We’re behind what a Taylor Rule would say (about when the Bank of Canada should raise interest rates). We’re also behind the United States, with good reason, because the oil shock delayed us for two to three years. It gives you that sense of, “Well, yes, we know that interest rates are too low given everything else we know. And yet it’s possible that we’ll get (something) just like the U.S. expansion in labour supply, and additional investment to go with it.”

The NAFTA uncertainly has put a bit of a wedge in that story and made it a little less obvious that it’s happening, but we have upgraded potential quite a bit the last two forecasts … what we call endogenous potential growth. There’s not much extra labour-force participation yet, but the latest (Labour Force Survey) gave us a positive sign. In other words, we want to wait and see with certainty that the economy is into the zone where we have to rebalance the risks, positive and negative, exactly as normal.

FP: In January 2015, you cut interest rates in the face of the oil-price shock even though the economic backdrop looked pretty good. Today, the backdrop looks good. But, facing what could be a tough shock if worst-case scenarios come to pass, you raised rates. What’s the difference between now and 2015?

Poloz: It’s all about what we know versus what we don’t know. Back in the lead-up to Christmas 2014 and early 2015, oil prices were literally collapsing. They got down to 20-something (dollars per barrel). There was an active debate on Bay Street about how that could be positive or negative for the economy: positive because cheaper oil and gasoline (could create) more consumer spending power; negative because we have this huge contributor to the economy, which is the oil sector.

To us, that wasn’t even a contest. We had a very good read from the companies themselves, not just that they would cut investment, but by how much. It ended up being 60 per cent. They told us 50 per cent in our January conversations, December, actually, December-January conversations. We knew the size of shock we were dealing with and how negative it would be.

And inflation expectations were extraordinarily well anchored, had demonstrated all that in the post-crisis period, and, of course, inflation was kind of low besides. We knew the exchange rate would move and that would cause inflation to go up. It all turned out.

Fast-forward to today, it’s quite a bit different. The real economic consequences are quite ambiguous. You’ve got trade battles on various fronts creating unintended consequences. The trade diversion effects that can happen could cut either way. And so that’s ambiguous.

If they do cut negatively, which would be my prior (assumption), what happens then is the economy goes into a period where we’re actually exiting businesses that used to be big based on trade. They go smaller and supposedly something else gets bigger because of the countermeasures.

The short version would be instead of buying steel from the U.S., we buy it from (ourselves). But what if we don’t make that kind of steel? We have to develop that, how long does that take? In the meantime, we’re no longer selling steel to the U.S. And so we get layoffs. Investment falls to zero, just like in the oil shock.

Monetary policy is completely ineffective at counteracting those big effects. What it can do, if there are government policies of some kind, is play a complementary or a bit of a supporting role: inflation is rising, but people understand it’s temporary, so we can cut rates a little bit, maybe, just to buffer it; or hold firm and stop our (plan to raise interest rates gradually) to give the economy more breathing space while it adjusts.

Those are the kinds of things you can contemplate, but it’s around the margin and, again, you honestly don’t know. I can just as easily concoct a scenario where it’s much more appropriate for us to raise rates in that setting, because if you have a sizable depreciation (of the exchange rate) and a big pop in inflation, we’re in the four-per-cent zone (for inflation), and I’m saying (to the public), “Don’t worry, it’s only going to be 18 months or two years and it’ll be back to two per cent.” People would be like, “Really? No, I want four-per-cent weights on it this year because it’s right there in front of me.”

The risk of de-anchoring your expectations is much higher. That’s where the first priorities take over. That’s the one thing that we cannot allow to happen. That’s the one thing that we want to make sure people can count on us to do. If we have the opportunity to do some other things within that scope because our credibility gives us coin, then, okay. Like with the oil shock, we had good credibility. We had some coin, we used some coin. People understood it and the next thing you know, we were right and inflation was right back where it belonged.

Here, it would be much more ambiguous.

FP: Is the situation with lumber helpful in assessing what might happen with other industries?

Poloz: For lumber, the interesting thing is that no one has needed any of the benefits that the government put in place because everything’s going so well. And the only result out of all that is the U.S. consumer is paying more. That’s the only thing (the tariffs) did. How is that protecting or helping anybody?

FP: Is it possible to extrapolate from the lumber experience and suggest that because U.S. demand is so strong, exports of aluminum, steel and what have you will find their way to market and the impact of the tariffs might be less than we fear it could be?

Poloz: It’s a tough call to make. All of (the Bank of Canada’s) tools are ceteris paribus tools, so they don’t distinguish very well between those things. But in a risk-based assessment of it, you could begin with, “Well, gosh, from a macro standpoint (aluminum and steel are) pretty small. The market’s pretty hot. There is all this infrastructure spending and all kinds of demand for steel. The car market is hot.” Yeah, it could end up looking a bit like (lumber).

Plus, the federal government’s counter measures include this way of claiming rebates if you’re bringing in U.S. steel to make something, and then you are re-exporting the thing, so you have the ability to go and say, “Well, I shouldn’t have to pay.” And that’s true. That can take the sting out in a cross-border setting.

Steel rebar at a condominium construction site in Toronto.

In general, it could be that we’re putting too much energy into it. But at the same time, if we’re not going to spend energy on it, just because this is small, or that’s not going to have much effect, what good are we? There are principles involved. There’s a sense of, “If that doesn’t work, (the Trump administration) will try something else.” We need to resolve this in a more fundamental way, go to what is the true thing that is trying to be achieved, and suggest other ways to go about it, rather than distorting everything else in sight.

FP: You’ve struggled as an institution to get your forecasts right. Where are you at in your assessment of what’s going on with exports? How confident are you in the latest export forecasts?

Poloz: We have some new research that supports the new projection. We said in April that we would work hard on it in the intervening period and we did. The idea is to try to understand the forecast error. What are the things that could cause that? And we’ve said, “It’s falling into a residual,” which means it’s not any of the normal things you put in your models. We call that “competitiveness challenges.”

They’re not new, they go back like 10 or 15 years. They’re old. The things that make that list are: the gradual increase in red tape or process, or even simple things like expanding your plant in Vaughan or Mississauga. It’s not as simple as it sounds … it’s amazing how much time all this takes.

People will tolerate some things for a good reason, plus they’ve got fixed costs sunk in the ground. But then (electricity) is twice as much as what they are paying in their plant in Michigan. And, “Oh, by the way, the excess electricity from Ontario is being dumped, you know? Why can’t I have that? Dumping it for almost nothing.” That’s often mentioned.

And access to labour. People are all mentioning to us now they’ve got 12 jobs, or 20 jobs, and they just can’t find people. I’ve been saying, “You know, it’s gonna take 10 or 20 years for the education system to somehow remake itself and suddenly turn out people that are turnkey for you.” That’s not gonna work. You’ve got to go a little bit German here and say, “Give me some smart people and I’ll teach them what they need to do.” In Germany, they take a much bigger share of the responsibility at the company level and we know well that it succeeds well.

Anyway, what our work shows is that we have lost (capacity to make things). It is not some temporary error in our model. In the past, you think, “Well, look, in the past year exports have grown less than we thought. It could be because of this, that or the other thing. So over the next couple of years we’re going to get at least some of that back.” That is your first way of thinking. And this was true back in 2013. It’s been true all along.

I came along and said, “Well, which companies are going to give you all that?” It turns out, they’re all gone. So we knocked (the outlook) down. That was our first big revision in the fall of 2013.

It’s almost the same now. Those competitiveness issues that we now think we understand, well, they’re not going away tomorrow. It means those shocks won’t reverse, so we reset at that lower level.

And then we say, “Well, surely from there, if none of those things change, we at least have a chance that this will grow roughly at the same pace as foreign demand.” That’s a very conservative kind of assumption, because our models would normally say, “It’s going to skyrocket.” Of course, we’ve got other monkeys in murk now, so (exports) could be affected again, very tough to model.

Exports have actually recovered a lot, they just haven’t grown beyond (previous levels). We’re seeing lots of examples of new emerging sectors and companies, which is actually where the true excitement is. That’s where the productivity will come from. IT services (is) the fastest-growing employment generator, the fastest-growing export category right now. And there are the stresses of finding the right people, because if you can add 10 more people, you can take on more clients. It’s very exciting.

FP: To what extent has the Canadian economy changed structurally? For example, are exports the driver of the economy like they used to be?

Poloz: We will forever be a trade-dependent economy. It’s possible that we will be less driven by fabrication than we were in the past just in terms of the basic numbers. But fabrication can happen anywhere and increasingly is automated. What we want to make sure we are a part of is the design, the engineering, the marketing, the thinking of new products.

People forget, even in a car, only five or six per cent of the value of that car is created at the assembly point. An assembly plant, we get all excited, but where are the pieces coming from? Because the pieces are most of the value, like 95 per cent of the value, which is why the Magnas and the Linamars and so on have been so successful.

You get a new doodad on your car that does something that your buddy’s car doesn’t because you got the latest model. Well, it was a parts company that thought that up, not the assembly company. Isn’t it ironic that much of the value in cars is in that end of things, a lot of it is U.S. value and it’s not recognized in this conversation we’re having about autos.

FP: Last question. Some of your counterparts around the world really seem to be struggling to get wages up. That’s creating worry they won’t be able to meet their inflation targets. One, how concerned are you about wages? And, two, if Canada is an exception, what does that mean for policy-making here?

Poloz: I’ll go with the last part first. What it may mean is the so-called neutral rate, or the natural rate of interest, is lower than we think. We may not know until it’s actually true. Based on our methodologies, we think we’ve got that figured out, but there’s a question around it. I’ll openly admit that. Of course, that would mean that our target would probably be different.

Our understanding of (Canada’s neutral rate, which is estimated to be between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent) is very heavy influenced by the global rate, and so it’s not made in Canada, not entirely, it’s partly made in Canada. For sure, your reasoning is correct and (lower global interest rates) would come full circle and it would affect the destination (of Canadian rates.) In a sense, it’s like saying, “You’re stimulating the economy less than you think because the neutral rate is lower than you think, so you have less stimulus to take out.” That’s an open question.

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz at the central bank in Ottawa.

Getting back to where are the wages (and) inflation … here’s the key: I think we’ll discover someday that everybody is enjoying a positive supply shock at this time. The digitalization, the automation, all the things we point to as potentially keeping prices from going up as much as usual, all have a mirror image, which is that we’re more productive and more efficient and better than before.

It is a little bit like the (Alan) Greenspan era when he said, “Oh, I feel that I can keep interest rates lower” and all this, and he was right. In the end, we understood later, there was a positive supply phenomenon. We’ve identified that all along. That’s built into our thinking. It is built into our model, a conservative view of it, so that’s why we keep mentioning that at this point in the cycle it’s much more likely that we will be positively surprised by potential because we’re taking a very conservative view on it.

The U.S. is a good illustration because, as I said, the models would have told them to raise rates a lot faster than they have and they’ve gotten a remarkable labour market and output performance with low inflation as a result. In the end, the academics will say, “You know what, that was a supply shock and it wasn’t just the U.S. It was digitalization.” Arguably, globalization is part of that. That’s what I did in the Storer lecture (at Western Washington University in September 2016).

Of course, we run the risk of backtracking on it. It could be a negative supply shock. If we do all the tariff wars and stick with them, we will create our own negative supply shock and that will be inflationary. The central banks will have to work hard, because it will be like in the seventies, the last really big negative supply shock that we had. And that would be regrettable.

The Q&A above has been edited and condensed.

• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: carmichaelkevin

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cassidy-malta · 7 years

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March 9: Educate Yourself

"How are the Americans doing?" -our kindly old religion professor every class about midway through

"The Americans have accepted their imminent failure of this course and are spending their time doodling, checking social media, journaling, and writing postcards." -what I want to say

"The Americans are doing great." -what I actually say

I've gotten a lot of questions about how the Maltese University system works and this post is hopefully going to explain it all! First things first, yes, I do occasionally go to school! Between all of the international trips, weekend outings, and island adventures, I go to class for a total of 12 hours every week in addition to 2-3 hours of volunteering for credit. I purposefully made a schedule that only has class every Wednesday and Friday in order to give myself extra long weekends for traveling and fun- this was an incredibly wise decision. The walk to and from school is a 30-45 minute hilly death trap that involves dodging cars, busses, dog poop, and trying to avoid the temptations of neighbourhood Pastizzeria (a Maltese exclusive hole-in-the-wall shop filled with greasy variations of cheese, meat, and fried bread). My calves thank me for minimising the number of times I have to make the trek.

(The University is full of outdoor corridors and a labyrinth of above and below ground classrooms and hallways)

(Malta loves its stray cats. It’s become clear that this is the cats’ island and I’m just living on it. This guy decided to visit us in the cafeteria yesterday)

First of all, the University of Malta does not measure its courses in credits but ECTS. One ECTS is equal to half of an American credit. Most full time students take a max of 31-32 ECTS and my friends and I are taking 22 ECTS (11 US credits) and I simply can't imagine taking any more. Wednesday's I have class 12-2 and 3-5 (Paideia 450 and Malta & the Maltese: History and Culture) and Friday's I add a third course to my schedule from 10-12 (Sexuality, Theology, and Marriage).

(A very famous neolithic statue entitled “The Sleeping Lady”- we learned about it in class and then went to a museum where we got to visit it)

(A couple friends and I went to explore a neolithic temple on our day off class after learning about them- talk about applied learning!)

You read that right. Classes are two hours long and every Friday I get the joy of six hours of class. At Luther this wouldn't really warrant a complaint but classes at the University of Malta are lecture style (cue the spooky foreboding music). You truly don't know what you have until it's gone and I realised this when I lost my comfortable discussion based Luther classes. The two hours of class are sometimes broken up by a 5-10 minute break but usually consist of a very old man sitting behind a desk and reading in such a heavily accented voice that we only pick up on every third or fourth word. The classes will cumulate in a final exam or paper depending on what a professor prefers, but we have no homework or busy work during the week. I spend the majority of time in class writing postcards and filling my notes with doodles and caricatures of the content.

(Neanderthal pictured, not pictured are the subsequent doodles of the Normans, Spaniards, Sail Boats, and a random Scuba Diver)

In order to have enough credits to qualify as a full time student back at Luther, I have also started to earn “service credit” at the local Humane Society. Once a week for 2-3 hours I have to go play with dogs (sounds awful, huh?). I’ve gotten very connected to the other volunteers and residents of the shelter. The men, women, and gender fluid individuals who work there are kind hearted and eager to teach us the proper walking technique and tell us the stories of the dogs. There are usually approximately 14 dogs in the shelter, about two or three getting adopted or dropped off weekly. Some have been in the shelter for ten years, others only last a week. The dogs are never euthanised unless they are in considerable pain and never due to age, viciousness, or length of stay at the shelter- the one aggressive dog that literally took a chunk out of somebody’s arm once greets us daily with a happy tail wag and booming bark. I’ve never actually worked at a Humane Society before and this experience has changed me completely. The dogs choose me, nuzzling onto my lap, pressing their noses through the bars into my knuckles. When I take them on walks their big goofy smiles and flopping tails fill me with joy. I hear their stories of abandonment and abuse and try to fill their deep soulful eyes with love and compassion since they have been shown so little in their lives. I’m certainly getting more out of this experience than a few college credits.

(I hate cats. I’m allergic to them, but this guy chose me and I had to pet him. I feared the consequences if I didn’t)

(Boccu is a sweet Fox Terrier at the shelter. I accidentally mispronounced his name and apparently swore in Maltese to the other volunteers’ cheeky delight)

(we only got to meet Emmy once before she was adopted but she was such a happy puppy. All dogs and cats are spayed, neutered, and microchipped before they are adopted, and you can pay for your own pet to be taken care of for a mere 50 euro)

(I know I shouldn’t pick favorites, but Argo is by far my favorite. He was left behind by his owners when they moved to Italy. At 80 pounds, Argo likes to drag me along on walks and is looking forward to going to his forever home next week. There’s no way you can look into his eyes and not believe that dogs have souls)

In my free time when I’m not exploring some distant corner of the island, touring a national aquarium, or going on a wine tour (the contents of this last weekend), I’ve enjoyed sunbathing on the roof with a good book (I just finished “Gone Girl” after being hopelessly glued to it), long naps, walks along the seaside, and ample time spent in my journal.

(Top Left: Christ the Redeemer with local fish, Top Right: Cass the Redeemer with local fish, Bottom Left: Turns out I love sting rays. Absolutely beautiful, Bottom Right: I even enjoyed the reptile and amphibian room!)

I have picked up a wonderful habit of bullet journaling. For Christmas my godparents bought me a Moleskin bulleted journal that has quickly become my constant companion. It's a perfect balance of a planner, to do list, memory book, habit tracker, and journal. Completely customisable, I have been filling my journal with receipts, tickets, maps, funny stories, monthly layouts and weekly to do lists. It's a total source of distraction and comfort and will definitely end up being my most cherished souvenir. I hate to admit that have made the most progress on the pages during the two hour lectures (oops!).

(Here is my beloved journal. Slowly but surely I’m coating it in stickers from the places I’ve been. It’s my most constant companion)

(I’ve used the journal to collect ticket stubs, maps, boarding passes, and document memories- it will be my favourite souvenir)

(The journal is so multifunctional that I never have to pay attention in class! I fill the pages with whatever my heart desires. It took four hours of class on March 8 to make the International Women’s Day doodle!)

(I’ve planned out my entire month on this page. It ages me about 5 years every time I look at the sheer amount of stuff)

(this is an example of a to-do list. I have one per week and I only fill it out Wednesday and Friday. It makes sure that I stay on track and keep everything prioritised. Every week has a different colour scheme and layout)

So you just got a cool snapshot into an average week in Malta. This weekend we might be heading back to Gozo for the day on Saturday but strong winds might keep the ferries from running. Keep the locals in your hearts as a beloved landmark collapsed due to the crazy weather (RIP Azure Window). I head to England in two weeks on my first traveling adventure so feel free to shoot me any recommendations for the Nottingham area and London area! Much love, keep in touch, & let me know if you want a postcard!

Special shout out to Grandma & Grandpa Woods, Steve & Susan Woods, Dixie Forsberg, and Mom & Dad for the postcards, packages, and letters! I LOVE MAIL.

#maltagram #malta #azure window #norseadventures #norse adventures #luther college #University of Malta #Bullet Journal #Humane Society #Dogs #Cats #Cassidy

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goodieghosty · 7 years

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Can't really read that when your blog is set to automatically redirect to the dashboard and use the sidebar version, which doesn't open readmores (or is that a blog-specific glitch I occasionally get?)

I’m on mobile and a buddy says the read more works, maybe right click and open in new window? Unless you’re not on desktop.

eh I’ll just paste it here, warning, it’s a lot and rlly rough lol. Also probably a glitch

——————–Nora’s eldest daughter-Theodosia-felt threatened when she(Fiona) was born so at the first opportunity she kidnapped her and locked her away in a tower. That was when Fiona was really young, she was lead to believe-by Theo-that the castle was under attack and that they had to hide away. And now she believes that the kingdom was destroyed, Nora was killed, and that there’s a bloodthirsty king and his bandits out for their royal blood.

She loves fairytales and would beg for Theo to bring her some from her trips out of the tower. Now she has her own personal library.

One day-when she grew old enough and her tail got fckin long as all hell-she managed to climb down the tower. She explored a little-and then climbed back up before Theo arrived. And Theo knew right away what she had done since she was covered in grass-and y'know, giant snake trails had p much flattened the grass all around the tower so.

And that’s where that pointy tail cuff comes into play. It’s digging into her scales and as she’s /still growing/ her tail’s starting to grow around the spikes. If she really, really wanted to she could try and pull it off-if she wanted to potentially lose a good portion of her tail.

She’s in a lotta pain and uses all kinds of numbing herbs and what not to /try/ and help.

Now she knows that her sister’s… off. She just can’t say anything or you know, she’ll probably lose her only source of food. Or end up dead.

The song “I know it’s today” from the Shrek Musical really suits her tbh.

(Lil sad snippet because I just thought of this and if I gotta feel bad so do you guys)

Fiona was almost saved once-well, that’s what /she/ thinks anyhow. So Theo hires people to keep the tower in order and deliver food to Fiona, and to also make sure no one tries anything like ‘saving’ Fiona. There’s at most two guards there at any given time. Theo is away a /lot/. She’s trying to build her own kingdom and that takes time and connections.

There are multiple levels to the tower and Fiona has access to the top three. The two above the third “bottom” level is like-imagine a shelf? Kinda open so she doesn’t have to worry about doors in her space, not a Lotta corners-i’m off topic.

Anyways-so one of the new men that was hired-this is important, so prior to being hired he and his w i f e were trying to have a child. Only she’s unable. So he goes to the village-idk what they’re called. The people that the rest of the village go to for advice and spells??? But they’re-a witchdoctor maybe??? Whatever-so he goes, and she says, “There is one sure way for you to ever sire a child, you must lay with a serpent.” “… Do you mean slay-” “No you ninny! Lay! You must lay with a serpent! And when she gives her heart to you will you be blessed with the gift of life.”

Where’s he supposed to find a serpent to nail?? He doesn’t know, so he goes to a tavern to drown his sorrows. That’s where he’s recruited by Theo.

Now the village and the tower is like, maybe a two week trip by carriage.

He gets there, Theo leaves. He gets curious and investigates the upper floors. Then he sees Fiona: a serpent lady.

What a lucky break

So he lays on the charm. And mind you Fiona is a shy gal, and she’s never interacted with anyone other than her sister(and she reads so many romance novels and fairytales) so after say, a month she tells him that she loves him, they bone-and then he’s gone.

He went back to the village and immediately boned his wife. He waited-and after like, a lotta love making and several months he finds the witch doctor and says “You lied to me.” “Me?! A liar?!” “I laid with a serpent and my wife remains barren.” “And what of the serpent? Hm-maybe you /were/ supposed to slay the serpent. This old mind of mine…”

So he goes b a c k to the tower in the night, says Theo told him to take over, and sneaks into Fiona’s room. And he’s got his dagger out, ready to kill himself a serpent, when she moves in her bed and it’s revealed that she has an egg with her.

He doesn’t kill her, instead when she wakes up-and she’s pissed ofc-he tells her that Theo wanted him elsewhere. And she’s gullible, and you know-first love and all that, she’s ready to have herself a little family with this guy.

And then the baby hatches a month later. It looks completely human-only it has gold eyes. He takes it back to the village while she’s asleep.

Fiona is distraught. Theodosia comes back, Fiona tells her what happened. “So you’ve learned your lesson? I’ve told you dear sister, you can’t trust anyone outside these walls. But you can trust me.”

Now some Nora stuff since I bet you’re all curious about what momma’s doing during this

Like, okay she was kidnapped during a castle raid and she was lit a damn baby and the dragon that took her got shot out of the sky and so-now she’s on the ground next to this dead guy. And Kinder heard the noise and went to investigate like a curious bitch. Like “oh there’s a dragon bab” “what do” and just took her in and raised her as his own, but when she’s around 11 he catches wind of a kingdom filled with dragons matching her desc and he’s just “heeeeeeyyyy…” and he goes and checks it out, then he comes back and brings Nora with him because “these are your people and your culture”.

But the entire kingdom and their mothers know that the Queen had a missing emerald and diamond baby that would be around Nora’s age and next thing Kinder knows he’s being dragged off to see the Queen and he’s confused??? And the Queen explains and like-he didn’t exactly have a choice and h a d to give Nora over n she’s confused and scared like? Who’s this woman? Fuck her.

And she doesn’t see Kinder until she’s an adult and is allowed to leave-and h e e e e e re’s where it gets dramatic.

To preface: the dragons in the kingdom are all covered in gems. The more rare and precious they are the higher on the power scale they are. The gems can be removed for whatever reason. But certain gems are tied to certain things, such as abilities. There was a rumor that if a dragon wore the gems of a deceased dragon they will become crazed and start to crave m o r e gems. Like drug addicts n shizz.

And the Queen had just lost a son, and she fastened a few of his gems into a necklace to wear.

And she got b a t s h i t crazy

Obsessed with power.

Crazy paranoid.

And jealous of anyone and everyone.

So she started putting new laws in place. Crazy laws. And soon more than a third of the kingdom was locked away. Oh but they started running out of room. So she’d have their gems taken, and if you have no gems you’re practically a powerless, obedient husk. She’d store alllll the gems away. Nora knew this, but she didn’t want to be next as the Queen had already started turning on her other siblings

And Nora was starting to gain popularity with the people. She had a mate at the time and they were going to be wed. So everyone was talking about a grand wedding and Nora becoming the new queen.

Queen(her names Vivienne btw i just don’t wanna type it alot lol)didn’t like this and seduced Nora’s mate, then killed him. Nora was livid-of course-and claimed that come morning everyone would know.

So Queen snuck into Nora’s room as she slept and tore the gems from her back. And ye Nora woke tf up and punched the woman and had to McFuckin flee. But with her back all fcked just summoning her wings and shifting was painful. So by the time she was out of the kingdom she was exhausted.

Idk wtf happens during this, besides boring training n shizz, boom, she comes back and kills her mother, reclaims her gems, and becomes Queen. But this would be years after she fled. And her gems became tainted, so she began to get a lil batshit as well.

Only she k n e w. And she was able to fight it, but it got so tiring and she was always erratic with her emotions that she just tore the tainted gems from her and waited.

Then there was a human guy and she had Theodosia, and she loved Theo so much and spoiled her. But Theo was a b i t c h. An evil lil cunt. So when Nora had her next daughter, Fiona, Theo-now 16 by human standards and worried for her position for the throne-took her and locked her away in an old tower surrounded by a magic barrier to keep her in.

And Nora didn’t know, she thought Fiona was dead and gone. But when she found out-a whopping two hundred years later, when Fiona would be a young adult-she locked Theo away and demanded to be told where Fiona was.

Theo escaped. Nora never found out where Fiona was. She sent out countless parties to search for her.

So in she lost a father, several siblings, a mate, a mother, and two daughters.

Now onto the son Fiona had with that guard. He’s not all that ordinary. He talks to snakes and has an knack for getting himself in and out of trouble. He parents love him very much-and his mother is concerned about where her husband says he found him “I found him floating down the river” he says. She doesn’t buy it, but she loves the child like he was her own. And for all little Kandro(to be changed, maybe) knows he /is/ her son.

He likes fairytales just as much as her mother, he particularly likes the one about the maiden with the long gold hair locked away in a tower. Now, this village isn’t all human. No, there are minotaur and satyrs and all in between. He feels drawn to them-but his father doesn’t want him anywhere near “the likes of them”.

He does it anyways. He’s a lovable lad, everyone’s friend. Always knows just what to say.

And then Nora’s search party makes it to the village. They have posters made from a description a seer gave them(“she looks like this and she’s in a tower” “what tower” “a tower in a forest” “which forest” “I can’t tell you that, I’m a seer, not a tour guide.”)-and his father is quick to turn pale. But then he hears of the reward for her safe return. And suddenly he’s a greedy Lil shit, goes right up to them and says “I know where she is”

Kandro sneaks into the carriage because “I want to see the princess”. Ah, there’s that adventurer in him. Course he’s found about half way there, but they can’t just turn him back on his own so they let him stay. His father’s upset about it, but hey it’s not like he remembers Fiona anyhow-only in a way he /does/. Kandro knows Fiona’s scent, he just k n o w s. Like-she’s imprinted in his mind.

When they get to the tower there are guards-and they’re dispatched p fckin quickly. And Kandro was told to stay at the carriage but he’s thirteen, he don’t listen. So he runs up the stairs and bursts into Fiona’s room and blurts out. “I’m here to rescue the princess!”

And she’s startled-but then she sees his eyes and she knows. He knows. And she pulls him up in a hug and it’s sappy.

Nora’s men come in as well and everyone has to c o n v i n c e her that it’s safe to go outside and that Nora’s kingdom is safe and strong. They also tell her the truth about Theo. Fiona almost isn’t surprised, “I guess a part of me always knew…”

The guards have to remove the chain-they try the cuff but it’s stuck too bad and they don’t have the supplies for it. So she has to travel like that. And she does not let go of Kandro’s hand, they sleep together during the night and when they reach the village and his mother comes Fiona tells her just what her husband did.

So the lady’s livid, there’s a lot of yelling. The husband’s ashamed. But Fiona-after hearing his side-is like “I understand how you felt, you were desperate, but that doesn’t give you the right to use me or lie to your own wife.”

Woman ends up at a loss-but she asks “where are you taking my son?” “I’m taking him home… do you want to come?” “I… yes, please.” “You can tell me all about him and his adventures on the way.”

So they ditch the husband there-after putting him in the stocks to be publicly shamed n what not.

The wife-I’m calling her Matilda-ends up being a very close friend and her and Fiona raise Kandro together.

“What kind of name is ‘Kandro’?” “Oh-Erwin picked it out. Always hated it. Never really fit… what would you have named him?” “Oh, please don’t laugh. I would have named him Charming.” *cue giggling* “I think that’s a much better fit! He’s always had a way with people!”

Kandro becomes ‘Charming’ and proudly says “I have /two/ mothers! Hah!”

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