#I have a great day with a new friend at a beautiful location? cool but ur gonna be in such bad pain u can’t stand for at least 3 days after | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luashinazugawa · 1 year

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My Brazilian Girl

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─̸─̟Warnings: None, just a beautiful romance💗

─̸─̟┈┄ Wow!😱 I'm so glad I wrote this, I wasn't planning on doing anything considerably big, so there will be a part 2! probably roll SMUT in the next chapter. Enjoy and I'm reading all the ideas you sent me and planning your plots, this will probably end up becoming a series.💗

Sorry if I hear mistakes, I'm not fluent but I did my best! 🇧🇷

Explaining some things you can read: Paraná is a Brazilian state, located in the south.

Bora!, it's a slang used throughout Brazil, which basically means let's go!

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It had been 2 months since you got your British citizenship, you had been in London for 2 years and arrived in the city decided to have a life outside Brazil, after all you got an exchange program to finish college in London, and you already saw yourself in an internship at a small local team in the city that was financed and supported by a few companies. As soon as your college and internship ended, you found yourself looking for a permanent job, lucky for you the coach of the football team had a contact at Tottenham, who was one of the great supporters of the team. You found yourself so grateful for that kind man, and the team of young people with a bright future ahead, all of whom would stay in your heart.

You knew that it would be difficult to get that job at Tottenham as a physiotherapist, after all you only had experience with the team of young athletes supported by them, and they would probably have more qualified people in front of you, who probably already worked in other clubs. You felt like running away from your interview that day, but luckily for you everything worked out, as the coach of the team where you trained was a good friend of your new boss in physiotherapy, whose name was George.

After that day you went through a few more conversations with some of the club's staff, to sign all the legal paperwork, and terms of employment; What has been 3 days since your interview, but lucky for you you would only work the other week, and today was already that day. You were so excited and nervous, you had little knowledge of the Tottenham players but you knew Son, Harry Cane, Emerson and Richarlison.

As soon as you arrived at your work environment, you found yourself organizing your own room to get ready for the athletes you were going to attend, and after that you changed your clothes for the uniform left to you by Tottenham in your room. Your living room was cool so you wore a black tank top and team shorts, you didn't know if you wore the full outfit so you just got the shorts and your white lab coat instead of the jacket.

You found yourself looking in the mirror for a few seconds, and then you smiled when you saw the Tottenham crest on your shorts. "I really don't know if I should wear this lab coat… what if it's too formal?" - I was soon taken out of my little conversation by the door being opened, as soon as I turned around I was face to face with 2 athletes, these being Son and Richarlison, God help me not to panic! Son had one hand around Richarlison and his arm around her neck.

"We are so sorry Doctor..." - "y/n please, what happened?" - I said worried going to them and helping Son to sit Richarlison in my chair, as soon as I sat down he touched his thigh hissing in pain.

“We were at the gym talking after training and God, we were sitting on the floor and Ivan was going to put the gym weight in the right place, but he accidentally fell and landed on Rich thigh" - He said running a hand through his hair, he was worried about Your Friend.

"We haven't found anyone else from the physical therapy team, could you take a look at him?"

"Don't worry, I'll take a look." - I nodded and knelt beside Richarlison, before touching him I looked at him "I'm going to lift your shorts a little ok? And let me know if anything hurts" - He nodded and I gently pulled her shorts up As far as I could, the area was starting to swell and turn red.

With subtle touches I felt the area with both hands, and as soon as I touched it lightly he hissed in pain "Sorry...I'll finish now, Son, can you tell me how heavy the object was?" - I get up going to the drawers and taking out a refreshing spray that would relieve the local pain, and then going to the small fridge that had ice packs.

"I think it was a 4kg...it wouldn't break a bone like that right?" - The Korean said leaving close and giving me space to kneel again beside Richarlison, and so I passed the spray.

"It doesn't hurt a lot anymore when you fall, which leaves the place swollen and painful, it's like hitting your thigh accidentally... hold the ice pack now, okay? It will help to deflate.." - I held his front and he took a while to take more accepted putting on his leg.

"I'm relieved that it's nothing serious, I'll let our colleagues know, our training starts soon, but I'll pack up his everything and take him to his apartment" - he smiled at me and then touched his friend's shoulder who stared at him. "I'll be right back, okay?" - Son said slowly to Richarlison who nodded in agreement and soon left the room.

And so I took a sheet and started making a situation report. "Doctor I...play?" - Richarlison said and I looked again, I didn't understand what he said because I was distracted "Can you repeat that?" - then he did a kick with the other leg. "Play...sabe (You know?)" - He said staring at me, and I then realized, of course, Son said slowly because Richarlison wasn't so fluent in English yet.

I let out a small laugh at my mistake, and he stared at me blankly. "Oh desculpe Richarlison, não sabia que você não era tão fluente em inglês (Oh sorry Richarlison didn't know his English wasn't fully fluent)" .

He then stared at me surprised by the sudden Portuguese "Você fala português, que impressionante, você é Brasileira(You speak Portuguese, how impressive, are you Brazilian girl?)" - Richarlison let out a relieved smile.

"Sim sou Brasileira mais vivo em Londres a 2 anos, sou do Paraná, nascida em Curitiba (Yes I'm Brazilian girl but I've been in London for 2 years, I'm from Paraná, born in Curitiba)" "Que incrível... bem vinda ao Tottenham (How amazing..welcome to Tottenham Doctor)" - He extended his hand and I approached him squeezing, both with a smile on your face.

"Me chame de Lua por favor, como esta sua dor? (Call me y/n please, how is your pain? )" - I said softly touching her wrist to withdraw her hand and then ran my fingers gently over the area.

"Suportável agora.. (Bearable now..)" - He said and then we stared at each other for a few seconds "Isso é bom.. (That's good..)" - I quickly broke the look embarrassed, but kept my composure.

"Quero que venha aqui todo dia pois presciso avalia-lo ate o inchaço sumir e faremos exercícios para ajudar na recuperação, lamento dizer mais nada de treino por 3 dias e nesse período não faça muita força ou exercícios. (I want you to come here every day because I need to evaluate you until the swelling is gone and we will do exercises to help with the recovery, I'm sorry to say no more training for 3 days and in that period don't do too much strength or exercises)".

"Esta bem y/n (It's ok y/n)" - He said my name with so much good that I could swear his smile had ulterior motives.

"Bem.. prescisa de muletas por hoje certo, não quero nenhum peso sobre sua perna (Well..need crutches for today alright, don't want any weight on your leg today)" - I walked over to the corner cupboard where there were two pairs of crutches, I picked them up going to him.

"Vamos achar Son, esta de folga Richarlison (Let's find Son, he's off today Richarlison)" - He agreed and then got up with the support of his hand on the chair and then stood on one leg, when he got up he was so close to me that his chest his collided with my breasts. We both stared at each other again and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, God this room was cool but why is it so hot right now.

His gaze was so serious but at the same time so calm about me. "B-bem deixe-me..ajudar (W-well let me..help)" I said and pulled away a bit putting the crutches under each of his arms.

"Sim... e obrigada y/n (Yes..thank you y/n)" - he said softly "É..so meu trabalho (It's..just my job)" - Said silly and soon the door was opened, we both looked and saw that it was Son.

"I took his things Doctor, bora? (Let's go?)" Son said with a smile to his friend and I couldn't help but laugh hearing him say bora.

"Bora! Bye y/n vejo você amanhã (Let's go! Bye y/n see you tomorrow)" - Richarlison said with a smile to me and I waved to both boys saying goodbye.

As soon as they left I fell to my knees on the floor with my face in my hands.

"Oh God... what a hot man... "

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most popular: topmew and fire

favorite: alanwen poetry edit i spent soooo long learning keyframes for the heartbeat effect and then the ghosting effect was a happy accident thank you person in the background walking past at the right moment

(i also love my charn laws of attraction set because he was a surprise favorite character this year, i loved collecting the quotes for how he speaks of himself)

october

most popular: only friends sandray finale parallel set (it is. very very close to 1k which is. so many).

favorite: he's coming to me edit because it was so fun to make for @dudeyuri

november

most popular: not me sean and black getting along super duper well!

favorite: moonlight chicken haunted house edit, accompanying this meta/creative writing thing. i loved choosing liminal feeling shots for it and i liked how the simple typography turned out

december

most popular: a little jim and wen set i am very fond of

favorite: the moonlight chicken new years set i posted today. i love this little chicken diner

hey look i managed to mention moonlight chicken almost every month (i swear, i watched so many favorite shows this year but i loved making mlc gifs so much)

and that's that! thanks for reading if anyone read til the end.

no pressure tags for some amazingly talented creators who have made some of my favorite sets this year (if you feel like talking about some of your highlights, whether monthly or not, because you all make so much incredible work and i'd love to hear about it) : @hoppipolla @sollucets @icouldhyperfixatehim @celestial-sapphicss @chinzhilla @krystaljungs @moonkhao and anyone who wants to, consider yourself tagged <3

#tag game #bl superlatives 2023 #rambling rambles #*mine #this was a fun retrospective!#thank you to all of the amazing creative people in this community that inspired me and taught me so much

15 notes · View notes

vintage-retro-queen · 4 months

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Chapter Four-Watch Us Work (Not Quite Famous)

It was just another ordinary day in Camp Wawanawkwa.

Where Lucy and Marinette are just doing the usual thing they usually do. Marinette was working on some new fashion designs while Lucy was reading another one of her Stephanie Queen books. While they were working and reading, Marinette had her cell phone playing some music for them. When one song finished, the host of the R+B (Romance and Bloom, love song themed) radio station EPIC-FM, DJ Smooth, started talking. "Alright! That was Start Again by Alayah. This next one was from 1995. A love song for the late lucky girl and New Rustvale's beloved sweetheart, Luci Grassette. This is Our Perfect Love by Perfection Division in 198.5 EPIC!" As the song starts, Lucy and Marinette start to listen to it, feeling intrigued.

This one's for you, Miss Grassette!

Our love for you is like the most perfect,

Your face reminds us of your gorgeous self,

Together, we are like Vicki and J.D.

Oh darling Luci,

Our beautiful,

Our glamorous,

Our perfect companion to our longing-yearning souls.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

We love our perfect times,

But not as much as we love being with you!

Oh darling Luci,

Your eyes are like our favorite candy that will never fail, You're like the most beautiful princess to ever walk New Rustvale

Your loving pretty face,

Your breathtaking soul,

Your gorgeous eyes,

Your glamorous princess being...

How can we look at another when our perfect love is so strong?

We love you Miss Grassette!

"Alright! That was Perfection Division! Can you feel the love? Because I certainly can."

"Yeah, that was a great song," Marinette commented. "Yeah. That Luci girl must've been so lucky to be featured in a song like that." "You know, it's hard to believe that it's been twenty-something years since we lost all the five members of Perfection Division in a horrific hit and run." "How terrible," "May Luci and the Perfection Division rest in peace," Lucy said, crossing her heart for the late girl and late boy band.

Just then, after a moment of silence for the late girl and boy band, they hear Chris talking on the loudspeaker. "All right, campers, enough beauty sleep. Time to show us what you're made of." "Welp, time to get going, Nettie," Lucy said, getting up and closing her book with a 50s diner-themed bookmark in the pages she was in. Marinette nods and gets up from her spot as well.

After a bit, Lucy, Marinette, and the rest of the campers head over to the location they were told to go to for their next challenge. When they got there, they looked to see Trent and Gwen waving to them. "Marinette, saved you a seat." "Oh, thank you, Trent," Marinette said happily. Lucy sat down next to Gwen, and they started having a conversation about their favorite horror films. The four of them were not even aware of Cody trying to impress the girls but ended up falling on his seat, yet still trying to look cool.

Chris then got everyone's attention and talked to them: "Welcome to our brand-new, deluxe, state-of-the-art outdoor amphitheater. Okay, this week's challenge is a summer camp favorite: a talent contest." "Yes! Awesome," said Owen. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise.

CONFESSIONAL: MARY-LOURKRITIA CORLEONE

"Well, that was unexpected. I haven't performed in a while since the last tour incident when the MetaBetas and I were performing in a small town. We were finished with our performance and when my friends and I were ready to head into the bus, some people were talking while we were walking. They were talking about, well, honestly, I don't know what, but frankly, I don't even want to know. Anyway, asides from that, it sure has been a while."

"Each team has eight hours to pick their three most talented campers. These three will represent them in the show tonight. Sing, dance, juggle. Anything goes as long as it's legal." Chris explain, signing a 'Got my eyes on you' to Duncan, causing him to snap his fingers with a frown. Chris continued, "You will be judged by our resident talent scout, former D.J., V.J., and rap legend, grand...Master Chef who will show his approval via the Chef-o-Meter. The team that loses will send one camper home tonight. Good luck." with that, Chris headed off the stage.

After a little while, with the Screaming Gophers, Heather blows her whistle. "Okay, I'm the team captain, so here's how it's going to work," she said until Gwen cut her off. "Wait, who said you were team captain?" "She did. Just now," said Lindsay. "Lindsay, Beth, and I took a vote, and I won." "Threatening them to vote for you isn't exactly democratic." "I'm with the bambina on that," Lucy said, agreeing with Gwen. Trent then walks over to Marinette. "Hey, snagged you an extra muffin." "Oh, thank you," Marinette said. Just then, Beth headed over to them. "Hey, Lucy, Marinette. Chris was hoping to talk to you about something. He's saying that there's an urgent call from someone." "Oh, jeez. It better not be about Slick and Brutus trying to get all the action figures in stores to find another legendary collectible again. I swear those two just won't knock it off." Lucy said, unamused, as she and Marinette headed over to the location Beth gave them.

As Lucy and Marinette head over to the location, they head into a cabin, which seems to be empty, and they see that there are no cameras in sight. "Huh, odd that there's no cameras here," Lucy said, closing the door behind them. "Yeah, there wasn't even one following us while we were on our way here. What do you think Chris is up to? And what do you think he wanted to meet us here for?" Marinette asked. "Heck, I don't know. But still, if it's about those two trying to find a legendary collectible, I swear to all the gods above, I'm gonna volunteer out of this show and give those two a piece of my mind."

Just then, another light in the room turned on. There, the two see Chris sitting on a table as a comic book character would be. "You two are sooo busted," he said, making the two sweatdrop in fear and panic. "I'm sorry, what's that now?" Lucy sputtered out in both fear and confusion. "Y-yeah, what are you talking about?"

"Marinette, it's okay. He and Chef know." a ladybug-like creature appears right beside him. "Whoa! What in the" Lucy gasped. "What is that? A pixie fairy or something?" Lucy looked confused. "We're not." Lucy turned to see more animal and bug-like creatures floating around the three of them. "What are you then?" Lucy quietly asked, trying not to make a wrong move. "We, my queen, are called kwamis." "Uhh...Nettie, you got a lot of explaining to do, sorella." Lucy said, looking more confused than ever before. Even though Marinette was shocked about how Chris knew about this. However, since the kwamis seem to trust him and feel worried about a confused and panicky Lucy, she explains everything to Lucy about it, having her finally understand, yet looks shocked about it. Even Chris was a bit shocked himself. "Okay, I can understand that now, but how did you know about them?" Lucy asked Chris. "That isss because Chrisss here is one of the original Miraculous holdersss," Sass explained. "He was?" Marinette asked, looking at Chris surprised. Chris nodded.

"Before Master Fu got the turtle miraculous back, he lent it to me as a temporary holder. I was known as TurtleTurbo." "Holy freak! The TurtleTurbo?!" Lucy gasped, her eyes lit up in shock and amazement. "Ah, you've heard of me?" "Are you kidding? You helped find and catch that former country idol! That's amazing!" Lucy turned to Marinette and said, "He helped the detectives find and arrest the former country idol after he and a female idol from another genre were missing in the past couple of days. Weeks even. I even have the newspaper article my nona saved to prove it too, look." Lucy explained, taking a newspaper article out of her hoodie pocket and showing it to Marinette. Marinette looked surprised as she looked at the picture on the paper and quickly read through the article. "Wow. I never knew that," she said. Chris shrugs. "Eh, that's just how it is. Some people may forget, but some and more will never forget what they remember and sometimes hear," he said, crossing his arms and smiling. "But wait, you know about me, but what do you know about Lucy?" Marinette asked. "Oh, I believe this will answer your question." Chris then placed down a brooch-shaped amulet and a talisman. Both have a dragon symbol in the middle. Lucy looked at the two things, confused. "What are those things?" Marinette asked, looking at the two, surprised yet confused. "These, my dear Marinette, are the Kombatant Amulet and a talisman. This talisman, by the way, was like a flip phone and was used back in the early years." Chris explained, showing Marinette flipping the talisman open as a flip phone. Marinette looked surprised as the talisman opened up holograms of multiple apps. "I didn't know we have those," she said. "We don't," said Chris. He then places down an old photograph of a teen girl and says, "But the former holder does."

Marinette, Lucy, and the kwamis all look to see the photograph turns out to be a school yearbook photo teenage girl who looks a lot like Lucy, yet in a very different outfit. "Whoa! She looks just like you!" the ox kwami says, looking at the photograph and then at Lucy. Lucy looked surprised to see that the ox kwami was right. "That look-a-like is known as Anarchy." Lucy looked confused about the girl's name. "That's her name?" she asked. "Eh, no one can't really blame her. The place she used to be at had some names that weren't very common. Some maybe, but not all and she doesn't want to be left out." "Oh, I see." Lucy said, as she, Marinette, and the kwamis now understood. "Listen, as much as I would like to continue on with the explanations about Anarchy and how this version of the kombatant talisman, all of that is gonna have to wait, because..." Chris shows them the news in Paris, France. Marinette sees that it is Copycat. She wasn't surprised that it was Theo, once again for the seventy-ninth time in a row.

"That's typical Theo, for being so girl-crazy after he discovered girls after going through the first stage of puberty, facial hair and voice change." she says, looking unamused. Chris then hands Lucy the amulet. "Anarchy would've wanted you to become the new Anarchy," he said. "Uhm, okay." "Oh, and quick heads up, there's gonna be a lot of visions from out of the random, so I'd be prepared for one in case it happens today if I were you." Chris quickly explained to Lucy. She nods as she now understands about the random visions. "Knock 'em dead, girls. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna slip out." with that, Chris left.

As he did, Marinette put on a pair of earrings and put a ring on her ring finger, then saying the words, "Tikki, Plagg, Unify!" the ladybug kwami, Tikki, and the black cat kwami, Plagg, both get sucked into the earrings and ring, transforming Marinette into Bug Noir. Lucy looks at her, amazed. "It's your turn, Lucy!" the tiger kwami said. The rest of the kwamis cheer for Lucy. She then gives in and puts on the amulet. The amulet then shines a bright light with the dragon symbol moving and then roars. The dragon then flies out of the amulet, growing a big size and transforming Lucy into her heroine form. The dragon flies in circles around Lucy, transforming her casual clothes into her heroine clothes: a black crop tank top with the word 'REVENGE' and a pink teddy bear with white X's for eyes, a red plaid skirt with black lace, a thick jean-like belt-buckle, and a jean blue colour XOXO on it, maroon torn leggings-socks, black platform boots with red-visible-laced shoelaces, spikes on both left and right sides of the boots, and an anarchy symbol on the right boot. The dragon then flies back into her amulet, which then turns into a black belt choker-spike choker-silver chained-necklace combination. The necklace turns into an anarchy symbol. Earrings and other piercings then magically appear in her ears. On her right ear is her right stud earring, which is shaped like a black blotch with white X-shaped eyes and a smile on its face. On her left ear is her left dangle cross-designed earring, along with four three-stud piercings on her left ear lobe. Her wrists then glowed, summoning silver wrist guards on both of her wrists. After that, she noticed a note in her pocket, read, 'Close your eyes, and say these words.' when she closed her eyes, she said the words from the note, "Blood-Creation Breathing, Sixth Form, Hide and Conceal." dark crimson liquid started to come out from behind her ears and flow to her face, creating a face mask. After creating her face mask, it began to change its pattern to black and words in a white spray paint font that says 'REVENGE' on it. When her mask and transformation were complete, Lucy finished her transformation, striking one of her fighting poses along with a dragon's fiercest roar in the end.

Marinette and the rest of the kwamis looked amazed after Lucy transformed into her heroine self. "What do you think?" Lucy asked, surprising them with a deep Brit accent. "You look amazing!" Marinette said happily. "And that accent is amazing, Anarchy." "You know what. I say my name will be... Anarchia." Marinette nods. "Let us head over, shall we?" Lucy then summons up a portal. Marinette looked surprised but smiled. "Well, I say, I believe I am starting to get the hang of this." Anarchia says happily. After that, they head to the portal, off to find and stop Copycat.

When they went through the portal, it took them to their exact location. Paris, France. "Oy! Are you talking about us?" Lucy, or Anarchia, asked out loud, getting Copycat and everyone's attention. "And who are you?" "Your worst bloody nightmare." Anarchia then throws her chained kunai at the akumatized person. The chained kunai wraps around the Copycat's waist and holds them tightly. "GET OVER HERE!" Anarchia yelled, pulling Copycat over to her. When she did, and before Copycat could summon his Cataclysm and attack her, Anarchia's hands and wrist guards started to glow a light bluish colour, and when she aimed her hands at Copycat, it froze him into ice. All but the akumatized item, which turned out to be a piece of paper. When Anarchia grabs it, she turns to Ladybug. Ladybug nods, and Anarchia freezes the akumatized item, which causes it to break and tear the paper into small pieces, and the akuma flies off of it. After Ladybug catches it, de-evilizes it, she yells out her usual catchphrase, and the ladybugs turn everything back to normal, including a full-on thawing out Theo as he returns to normal. "Punch it in!" Ladybug and Anarchia both said as they fist-pound. They then noticed a lot of newscasters heading over to them, holding and flashing their cameras at them, holding their microphones out, and asking the two a lot of questions. And she and Anarchia answered them quickly.

"Ladybug! Who is this with you?" "All you mates, can call me Anarchia."

"How did you meet Anarchia?" "She was there for me when I was on patrol." "An armed picket-pocketer was spotted, and I quickly caught 'im 'round the same time she showed up." "She was very useful for a lot of other things asides from akuma attacks."

"Is it true that you stopped endorsing the Ladyblog?" "Sadly, yes. Only because of various reasons. One of them is one person claiming that she is my 'best friend', which is not true because I never have any time hanging out with civilians." "Some cottonheads never understand what the real world works and never fact-check like they are supposed to do. Not to mention some bloody cottonheads always lose their minds over what wanker tells them what they want to hear. That, and they never got to wake up and smell the real scent of tea to face reality. However, speaking of facing reality, I do recommend this brilliant site and app I have endorsed back in London. It is called Face Reality. Because I have heard they are having some of their best reporters start here in about the next week." Anarchia said, along with remembering what one of her friends from back home had said to her.

Everyone started to get very interested and continued questioning the two. Since the two still had time to spare. Bug Noir and Anarchia answered a lot of questions until sunset, and Bug Noir's ring and earrings started beeping. "Well, I say it is time for us to leave. Good day." Anarchia said, going to her pockets and grabbing a pair of keys, after pressing one button, it summons a motorcycle, automatically driving to her and stopping and staying by her side. Even though she and Bug Noir are surprised that Anarchy can have a motorcycle, they know that this will now be Anarchia's way to get anywhere. As Anarchia gets on, she drives off along with Bug Noir, uses her yo-yo, says a quick 'Bug out,' and leaves with Anarchia.

When they got to a quick empty spot, Anarchia summons a portal and they quickly go through there and are back to the same safe place in Muskoka. "Boy, I'm really getting the hang of this Anarchy-heroine thing," Lucy said happily.

After they de-transformed back to their normal attire, Lucy gets a sudden ringing in her head, causing her to feel a headache-migraine combination. "Ugh!" she groaned as her eyes started glowing white with small lightning bolts coming out. Marinette looked shocked and surprised to see that, while the kwamis looked at the scene surprised. Lucy then looks to see that it was a vision that Chris was talking about. The vision shows Heather holding a box with a little book in it. Lucy then realized that the book was not just a book. It was Marinette's diary. However, before Heather can get a hold of it, the box closes itself shut, trapping both the diary and Heather's hand. Causing her to scream. The next vision comes up, showing her Howard playing music, along with her, her friends, and Marinette singing one of the MetaBeta songs she and her two friends always sing, Watch Me Work.

After seeing the two visions, Lucy's eyes closed, and she got on her knees, panting. "Lucy, are you okay?" Marinette said, worriedly helping Lucy up, looking at her with worried eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got two visions that Chris told me about." Lucy explained, rubbing her right temple. "What was it?" Tikki asked. "Oh, while we were in Paris, Heather was about to read your diary, but thanks to the box you made for it, it closed, trapping her hand along with it. So I guess you could say that your secrets are safe." Marinette sighs in relief hearing that. "Okay, that's good to know." "Tell me about it."

CONFESSIONAL: MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG

"Probably should've warned the girls that I have a box for my diary. But in this case, not warning Heather was actually a blessing in disguise. I'm glad I brought the box with me."

CONFESSIONAL: MARY-LOUKRITIA CORLEONE

"See, that's exactly why I don't bring a diary around me anymore. What Heather did, that's the reason."

"Oh, and the vision I got is saying that we're going to perform in the talent challenge," Lucy added. "Wait, us?" "Yeah, you, me, Harold, and two of the MBs." Marinette looked surprised to hear that. "You go meet up with the Killer Bass. I'm gonna call my friends, get Harold, and I'll meet you in a minute." Marinette nods and heads out to meet the rest of the Killer Bass. Even though she wasn't sure what the elder gods were thinking or what they had in mind about her performing at the talent challenge. "Well, if the vision say so, I guess it couldn't hurt to try," she mumbles to herself.

When she got there, she finally met up with the Killer Bass. "Hey, guys." "Marinette! Thank goodness you're here. You and Lucy got to help us!" Bridgette said. "Katie and Sadie are covered in barf." "That only leaves Tyler, Duncan, or Harold. And we already know Tyler stinks. What can Duncan do again?" "Carve a picture of his own skull into a tree? What are we going to do?" Courtney asked, panicking. Geoff then noticed. "Wait, where's Marinette?" Bridgette and Courtney now noticed that he was right that Marinette wasn't there anymore. "Where did she go?" Just then, they hear music playing. They looked to see Harold started playing some music with his keyboard. The spotlights then shine on four girls, which turn out to be Marinette, Lucy, and the two girls of the MetaBetas, Angie and Malviña. Who are also known as Miss Maleficent and Queen Red Hood. They started dancing and singing.

youtube

Lucy: Never gets old no matter how much I'm told I'm amazing

Angie: You're amazing

Lucy: It's hard to get tired when I'm always on fire I'm blazing

Angie: Ooh, you're blazing

Malviña: All my greatness. It doesn't come for free. All my talent. It doesn't grow on trees. Take a breather. They'll take it all away.

Marinette: If the top is where you wanna stay

All Four: You gotta work hard. To make it look easy. You gotta live fast. To keep making that money. If you want to be as famous as me. You gotta work, gotta work, gotta work. Watch me work.

They all looked surprised seeing Marinette and the MetaBetas perform onstage for the Killer Bass side. Their singing and dancing were all in sync. They were even surprised with their outfits. They were wearing hoodies in their colors. Angie in purple, Malviña in black, Lucy in navy blue, and Marinette in pink. On the back of their hoodies have their logos in silver, and their stage names in rhinestones. While Chris on the other hand, was actually enjoying the show, munching on some popcorn.

Angie: Haters want to be me or be with me yeah, they're fr-fr-fr-freaking

Lucy: Yeah, they're freaking

Angie: I just keep on working, lurking, smirking when they think that I'm peaking

Lucy: Never peaking, yeah

Malviña: All my greatness. It doesn't come for free. All my talent. It doesn't grow on trees. Take a breather. They'll take it all away.

Marinette: If the top is where you wanna stay

All four: You gotta work hard. To make it look easy. You gotta live fast. To keep making that money. If you want to be as famous as me. You gotta work, gotta work, gotta work. Watch me work.

After they ended their performance with a pose of their choice, there was a quick pause in the audience in front of them. Until they all started to cheer for their performance. Chris then walks up to them, clapping. "Wicked music playing, dude. And MetaBetas, a very outstanding performance." "Hey, it's what we do." Malviña said "And a perfect way to help endorse Total Drama." Angie added. "Especially with our newest member of the MetaBetas. Our very own Knitting Fairy." Lucy happily announced, wrapping an arm around Marinette. Marinette giggles as she waves to the others, causing them to cheer more about Marinette now being a new member of the idol group. "And we would like to thank Harold for taking part in aiding our performance." Harold smiled and nodded to the girls as thanks and a way of saying 'happy to help.' "Congratulations, Marinette, for now being in their group. And check it out. Grandmaster Chef has declared his winner. Even though they held the lead, the Screaming Gophers have been trampled by the Killer Bass."

"Harold, Lucy, Marinette, that was amazing." "You guys did it." As Courtney and Bridgette hugged the five who saved their lives, Chris continued, "And as for the Screaming Gophers, pick your favorite loser, and I'll see you at the bonfire."

CONFESSIONAL: HEATHER

Heather held her hurt wrist, glad that Marinette got her hand free out of the diary box. However, she was still shaken by Lucy's 'warning' after that. She sighs, "I'm just glad my hand is out of that lame-o box. And people thought that I was mean about what I was going to do to Marinette with her diary. Whatever. All I needed was four votes against Justin. Lindsay and Beth were easy. Izzy's just crazy. And Owen, piece of cake."

CONFESSIONAL: OWEN

Owen laughs while literally holding a piece of cake. "Piece of cake."

At the elimination ceremony, Chris started talking, "Kudos to you all for an incredible night of entertainment, music, drama, trapping, barfing. There's only one marshmallow left on this plate. Justin, you reminded us all that looks matter a lot. And, Heather, you're full of surprises. But almost about to read another girl's diary out loud to the whole world until a box trapped your hand as an actual trap would do to a bear? Man, that is whack. No kidding. That's really messed up what you were about to do, dude." he said. "Oh, please, just give me my marshmallow already." Heather scoffed. "Justin, I personally think this is very wrong, but tonight hotness just wasn't enough. The last marshmallow goes to Heather. Time to catch the Boat of Losers, Brah." "Later, Brah."

CONFESSIONAL: GWEN

"If that evil little cow thinks she's getting away with this scot free, she has another thing coming."

At night, while most of the campers were getting ready for bed, Gwen knocked on the guys' side of the Killer Bass door. Harold answers, and Gwen asks him, "Did you say you brought a red ant farm with you?" "Yes."

Later, while everyone was asleep, Heather ran out of the Screaming Gophers cabin, covered in red ants, screaming and trying to get them off of her. "Sweet dreams, everyone." Gwen said, laughing.

Meanwhile, Lucy's eyes squinted, trying to sleep while Heather was still screaming. "Man, I thought I was done with this when I was at that sleepover with Kit, Mills, Jade-Jade, and Sonya." she whisper-mumbled while putting her pillow over her head in order to drown the noise.

Desc Prologue Get to Know My OC Chpt 1 Reactions Pt 1 Chpt 2 Reactions Pt 2 Chpt 3 Reactions Pt 3 Reactions Pt 4 Chpt 5 Reactions Pt 5

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fizzypopsoda-comics · 1 year

Photo

Introducing new members of the Other Webb Family, Roderick Webb and his Mistress’s other children;

Frayden Frost Webb is a coolheaded boy who’s a conceited smooth talker that acts in a high-class manner to those around him. He can create ice and snow from the palm of his hands, and even harness the cool breeze from his fingertips. He’s very sociable and receives adoration from people who are drawn to his captivating coolness, which he himself take great pleasure in, as he’s always contented to have “friends” who are willing to do as he pleases. When it comes to meeting those who has potential of improving the family business, Frayden wishes to see if they’re capable enough to exceed his father’s expectations of them by testing their loyalty and overall abilities, and he has no problem being cold-blooded to whoever dares go against him or anyone in the business.

Freya Flare Webb is a lukewarm girl whose very reserved and only speaks to others when it’s necessary. She can create fire and lava from her fingertips, as well as manipulate ashes of what was burned to a crisp. Unlike her twin brother, Freya keeps to herself and doesn’t care about receiving admiration from people around her she sees as “followers” blinded by her blazing appearance, as all she really focuses on is expanding her family business without any distractions. Her pet Pheonix Cyra assist her in locating people she sees as a threat to the business, only to then burn them to a crisp with a merciless glare in her eyes. While she’s very indifferent towards others who gotten themselves involved in anyway, she offers them a chance to just leave her family be without spouting a single word about the family business to be spared of any pain her family had in mind for them, and only meeting them with same fate as everyone else before if they so force her hand.

Liliana Webb, who prefers to just go by “Lily”, is the most faint-hearted of her siblings and is very self-conscious about her haggard appearance, in which she spends most of her days in the deepest darkest parts of the deep blue sea, where she believes all the most dangerous and feared creatures like herself belongs. Despite having little to no air, Lily somehow managed to live in the water for so long even with the water filled up in her lungs. As a spider that hardly eats due to her lack of catching her prey properly, a smell or taste of a single drop of blood is enough to trigger her hunger and devour anything insight until she has her fill. She despises anyone who only cares about their beauty and charming looks, as well as how much acceptance they receive than she does with their much more healthier appearances. And so. Lily tends to lure those types of people into the ocean where they’ll be swimming with the fishes in the darkest parts where no one.

I thought of making a reference of these three after doing a rp where they made their debut, I might make doodles of them in the future or so whenever I get the chance, hope you like it! ^^

#fizzypopsoda comics #cuphead ocs #my ocs #my art #Webb Family #Frayden Frost Webb #Freya Flare Webb #Liliana Webb #reference sheet

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siremasterlawrence · 1 year

Text

The End Of The Heroic Age: Superman’s Rebellion

It has been like whirlwind adventure for me in the take down of Superman the flying man of fools, I enter one portal and exit another one leading to his own downfall how wonderful.

Poor Clark he has no idea that in a varied world were countless men with the same name but very different out looks carry his mantle a multiverse of insanity ensure each one has bowed at my feet.

Unfortunately, my body comes curling down like a meteor in a hot fiery bath of hot blue flame across my the sky going into this new world Clark Kent’s attention rather quickly as he sits with Lois at a dinner.

I have no idea why I went back in time upon my landing but it is 1970 something I can tell by the clothing design and the ugly building structures and the faint vocal coos of the carpenters blowing in the wind.

I shatter through some portal creating many shards of invisible glass breaking without a single cut. I buckle my feet in pulling them to my torso and flip till I somersault landing with gymnastic level of perfection.

Clark is in the midst of revealing his identity to his girlfriend and co-worker worldwide renown Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for our very own Metropolis The Daily Planet home of Perry White.

A loud boom hits the ground shaking the city to its core hitting Clark’s senses right on contact he turns hus face instantly picking up everything. He stares outward with his x-ray his vision locating the scene his eyes pan the area.

The fume emitting from Lois ears at the words of what Clark was about to utter to excuse himself for the one hundredth and eighth time as he runs off to god knows what he does.

Cinematic beauty unfolds as Clark pays thecheck racing out of the dinner speeding to the otherwide block. He jolts in to the alley way down another block he passes a line of civilians to the phone booth closing it he spins out of his suit in to his costume.

Clark exits the phone booth in a whoosh of wind he floats off the ground breaking every known law of physics he then cracks the time barrier flying over countless cities using his x-Ray visions to find me.

Cool I wait for him to arrive with that air of confidence and that expression of I am the most powerful man. The arrogant good ole American attitude that precludes all men of his type or status if were Superman all day.

We are in the midst of stand off with me in a moment of excitement I have felt the rush of over and over again. He stops standing still his arms cross and he begins to scan the area as if he is on surveillance.

“I sense a disturbance here from hundreds of miles away, I am guessing you are the cause of that. I would advise you to leave but I am pretty sure you won’t take kindly to that.”

“Superman! In all your glory I see not very impressing sorry to say. I can’t help you with that though.”

“I want to end this as quickly as possible give up.”

“Or what Supper Pussy”

“If that is how you want to play it.”

“Oh! I definitely do.”

“You seem way to confident for someone so young. What evil scheme do you deign to try and unleash now?”

“Evil? Hardly! All I want so to have some fun with you just like all the rest.”

“What are you talking about you obsessive psychopath?”

“Be careful Clark! I can be your friend, your enemy or your end. You choose they all did.”

“No! This cannot be possible”

“They all felt the same way fist it could be fun to watch if it was not so pointless. Futile attempts to defeat me always end in the same way. I win.”

The great Superman is left confounded for the first time in his life as the area grows pitch back dark and I fade in to the back he chases after me.

He stops in the middle of nowhere watching the darkness lighten a bit a shooting star can be seen in the sky then like an early stock film camera it rolls on.

Images of every version of Clark Kent’s life I have conquered in his personal life and his

professional life as Clark. The rock landing from his home planet of krypton to show pen childhood.

Exiting the bus in Metropolis for the first time he off loads his stuff in a brand new apartment. Dawning the Superman costume with a whole new person eviscerating all go Clark’s identity.

His life is left in shambles as I return to the fray with one lays ditch effort the air flows under his feet. He propels towards me all ski power in his hand he throws one punch I easily catch.

“Bastard? How did you do this to me I mean to us.”

“Your own ego is your downfall Clark and you can’t even see it.”

“I have no ego, they call me Boy Scout.”

“Your ego is your own power, duality and existence.”

“Being Superman means being strong, being powerful and never needing help.”

“You are a one man band, rarely lose and everyone wants what you have.”

“You are like a great empire eventually they all have of fall. I am merely the one tips you off your shoulder. Feel lucky Clark the other version of you I fought, I manipulated, I broke mentally, but you are suffering the cinder of that. You will never win this game because reality has let you fall prey to me therefore you are what they all led too.”

“Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Go head l! Keep fighting it as it erases all of your will free will.”

“Keep challenging your proper ending.”

“Every punch kick is fighting your own self”

“The walls of self preservation are falling .”

“I am the winner”

“Try as you might”

“You know I am right “

“Nnnnnooooooo!”

“I am sorry Lois”

“Who cares about Lois?”

“Yes Master! Put me to your will”

The end

#superman #mind control #hypnosis #christopher reeve #brandon routh #tyler hoechlin #henry cavill #The End Of The Heroic Age

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rosemaidenvixen · 21 days

Text

Algea

Chapter 2

Ao3

Content warning: near drowning

“Cannonball!”

They all shrieked with laughter and swam back out of the way as Gus leapt from the small cliff top, tucking his arms and legs in as he landed in the lake with a splash.

After a few seconds he resurfaced with a gasp of breath “Did I do it right Luz?”

“You betcha!” she flashed him a thumbs up from where she swimming in the shallower water “A flawlessly executed human style cannonball,”

“Man human warfare is weird…” Jerbo mumbled.

“Amity Viney Luz over here!” Skara shouted “Let’s play cockatrice!”

Luz eagerly paddled over, Viney and Amity not far behind. It was such a beautiful day and she was having a blast. The sun was shining, turquoise waters of the lake sparkling as they all swam and splashed around inside the sheltered inlet.

A perfect beach day.

“Oooh what’s cockatrice?”

“We sit on someone’s shoulders and try to push each other off,” Skara replied, extending a hand to Viney. Viney grinned back and accepted it, using the leverage to hoist Skara onto her shoulders.

“Neat! We have that in the human realm to,” Luz turned towards Amity “Hey is it ok if I climb onto your shoulders?”

Her face flushed a deep pink “Oh, sure– of course! That sounds great,” she leaned down in the water and helped Luz get on top of her

“Cool!” Skara looked back over at them, from her perch on top of Viney “Traditionally it’s played over a pit of bile beetles, but being in a lake works to,”

“...yeah I should have seen that coming,” Luz finished climbing onto Amity's shoulders then glanced down “Alright sweet potato you ready to show these guys what we’re made of?”

Amity giggled, cheeks pink “Let’s do it!”

The two of them squared off against Skara and Viney. Amity and Viney slowly walking towards each other in the water until they were close enough for Luz and Skara to lean forward and grasp the other’s hands. Skara flashed Luz a feral grin, which Luz just as easily returned. Below them their partners tightened their grip on each of their legs to anchor them. Behind her Luz could hear the others laughing and splashing around in the lake water.

From below them Viney locked eyes with Amity and smirked “On your mark…get set…go!”

Twigs and leaves snapped under her shoes as Boscha stomped down the forest path, birds and bugs fleeing scattering as she approached but Boscha barely noticed. Glancing back down at her scroll, her mouth twisting in a deep scowl.

She’d asked Skara to hang out today, but Skara said she was busy with a family thing. Only Boscha’s mom had run into Skara’s dad at the tea house and according to him Skara had the whole day free.

Smelling a rat, Boscha had checked ‘Find your friends’ and spotted Skara’s location at the south shore of lake Lacuna and headed straight there to catch her in the act of double crossing her. That’s why she was walking the rest of the way after riding her staff to the lake. She wanted to catch Skara off guard so she couldn’t cover anything up.

And according to the blinking dot on her scroll, Boscha was almost on top of her.

Her fingers tightened into claws around the device, sizzling with the beginnings of magic.

No lying or weaseling her way out of this, it was bad enough Amity had stopped hanging out with them. No way Boscha was going to lose control of any of her other friends.

Skara was going to pay for ditching her.

So was so focused on her scroll that it took her a few seconds to recognize a new sound echoing towards her through the trees.

Laughter and splashing water.

Shoving her scroll in her pocket, Boscha rushed ahead and burst through the forest right on the edge of a cliff. Down below was a small inlet, a narrow strip of water butting up against a small beach and sheltered by cliffs on either side. Skara was down there, laughing and splashing around in the water close to the beach, but she wasn’t alone.

Skara was sitting on top of another witch’s shoulders, one of the multi track losers, propping her up so she could square off with the human. Each of them trying to push each other into the water. She squinted and took a step closer, trying to see who the human was sitting on–

Her jaw dropped open, hands falling to her sides, for a moment she was so stunned she forgot to be angry.

Amity. Amity was down there holding the human up on her own shoulders. All four of them shrieking with laughter as they tousled in the water.

The sound of more splashing drew her attention, shutting her jaw with a click and glancing around the inlet.

That scrawny illusion witch and the oracle dog demon were conjuring images in a pool of shallow water while some other loser witch built a giant abomination out of algae with stupid half-a-witch Willow.

Boshca felt her face growing hot, hands balling into fists at her sides, palms beginning to sear with heat while she quivered with rage.

It was bad enough that Skara lied to her, but seeing both her and Amity ditch her to hang out with losers like that human and worthless half-a-witch Willow–

A growl escaped her clenched teeth, smoke rising from her sizzling fists as she stomped down the trail that led to the cove.

Her friends thought they could ditch her, these losers thought they were good enough to hang out with real witches, stupid enough to think they were actually worth something– Well Boscha would show them, she’d teach them all a lesson they’d never forget…

Hunter allowed himself a small sigh of relief as he crossed the last location off the map. Belos had ordered him to scout the forest on the southern side of lake Lacuna for potential locations of the Looking Glass Graveyard. It had been grueling work, and he hadn’t found any trace of the graveyard, but after long hours of searching he had finally ruled out all the locations on his map. Now he could head back to the castle and debrief.

Folding up the map and tucking it away, he headed towards the edge of the forest. Just needed to get clear of the trees and he could use his staff to fly back. But part way to the treeline a strange noise caught his attention. Hunter paused for a second, training an ear towards the sound. It sounded almost like screaming, but something in it was…off.

He shook his head. Whatever that sound was played no part in his mission and was therefore irrelevant. He should ignore it and head back to the castle. Despite knowing this he couldn’t make himself continue on, his curiosity piqued.

Against his better judgment Hunter pivoted course and followed the sound to a further side of the forest. Breaking through the trees he found himself at a narrow inlet of the lake, lined on either side by steep cliffs, the lake water having turned the stones at his feet to coarse sand, but that wasn’t what made him stop in his tracks.

A group of witches were swimming around in the water, the sound he’d thought was screams actually their laughter, but not just any witches. His heart gave a little leap as he recognized the other Emerald Entrails through the narrow band of vision allowed by his mask. The human was here to, letting out a shriek of laughter as she was pushed off of Blight’s shoulders into the water. Tumbling into the lake with a splash, emerging seconds later, the whole group giggling. Hunter was so stupefied at the sight that for a moment he couldn’t move.

Which unfortunately gave the human the opportunity to spot him.

“No way, Hunter!?”

He jerked sharply, tightening his grip on his staff, as all the witches in the lake turned towards him. Torn between the desire to flee and stand his ground as the human started swimming towards the shore straight towards him.

“What are you doing here?”

He straightened up, falling back into the stiff, professional bearing of the Golden Guard, clearing his throat to speak in his most authoritative tone “I’m on a mission for the Emperor,”

“A mission to spy on our beach day?” the youngest witch asked– Gus he remembered his name was.

One of his eyes twitched behind his mask “The objective of my mission is classified. But it’s not…that,”

For a few moments the only sound was the soft lapping of water on the shore as they all appraised each other. Then the human– Luz, broke the silence “Wanna swim with us?”

Hunter blinked “What?”

“What!?” Blight whirled on her, eyes wide.

“I’ve got a spare pair of swim trunks?” a skinny brown haired witch added hesitantly.

Blight glowered, glancing back and forth between Hunter and the others “You guys can’t be serious, this is the Golden Guard! We can’t trust him,”

“Bark bark,”

“Barcus says his aura checks out,” Viney said with a shrug “If he’s cool with Barcus and Jerbo he’s cool with me,”

“So how bout it….” Luz spread her arms wide, beaming in Hunter’s direction “Want to join our beach day?”

“Come on,” Captain– Willow said, waving him over “It will be fun to have all the Emerald Entrails together again,”

“Yeah hop in,” Skara shouted “The water’s great!”

“I can’t believe you guys are considering this…” Blight grumbled.

Meanwhile Hunter was trying to figure out how to make his voice work again.

This was foolish, frivolous, insubordinate! He had responsibilities to uphold, the idea of him abandoning his duties to just…paddle around a lake with civilians was outrageous. Now that he’d finished his mission his first priority was heading back to the castle to give his report. He should just do that and leave these civilians be.

Then again…they did look like they were having fun. And he did finish his mission early. Scouting the lakeside was supposed to take the whole day, if he was out a few more hours no one would question it–

He took an involuntary half step back. No. He shouldn’t. Couldn’t. He was the Golden Guard. The titan ordained right hand to the Emperor himself. He had a standard to uphold. He couldn’t just goof off and….

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using your spare time to do something that makes you happy

Something unfamiliar but not unpleasant fluttered up in his stomach. Part of him still thought this was wrong. He couldn’t let his uncle down, break the trust he’d put in him by abandoning his post.

Then again Headwitch Darius did say it was good to make connections outside the castle, and he was a knowledgeable capable coven head. So if he said it was fine to take a little time for himself…

A little voice in the back of his head was still screaming that this was wrong but deep down he knew his mind was made up.

He pulled back his hood and lifted his mask away “I’ll…take those trunks if you don’t mind,”

Just a quick swim, an hour, two tops and he could still be back at the castle in time to give his report well ahead of schedule. The empire wouldn’t come crashing down if he went for a quick swim.

The witches in the water cheered and whooped with delight. All except for Blight, mouth twisted in a scowl as she glowered at him.

Hunter just smirked back, folding his cloak and setting it aside.

A quick change into borrowed trunks later Hunter was wading into the lake to join the others, suppressing a shudder as he waded further and further into the lake. Cool water soaking into the trunks and climbing up his legs. The temperature was nothing compared to what he’d dealt with during scout training, but it was still a noticeable difference from the open air.

Reaching others in the waist deep water, Hunter cleared his throat to dispel some of the nervous tightness “Since this inlet is sheltered from the winds, we should take advantage of the calm waters and do laps to build our endurance, then we can take turns with breathing ex–”

He was cut off by a wave of cold water smacking into him from the side, the sudden shock making him jerk and shiver. Whipping around, he spotted Luz standing behind him, smirking and meeting his gaze unapologetically.

“Human! What is the meaning of–”

She slapped a hand against the water and splashed him again, giggling as Hunter sputtered.

“Stop it with your childish–”

Another wave of water cut him off as she splashed him yet again.

A growl built up in the back of his throat, smacking his own hand against the water to hit Luz with a wave of his own. She was splashing, he was splashing, she was laughing–

From out of nowhere a tangle of vines shot out of the water, snagging Luz around the waist with a yelp and suspending in midair her above the lake.

“Sorry Luz,” Willow swam up to Hunter’s side, one hand spinning a green spell circle “But the Emerald Entrails have to stick together,”

Luz shrugged while still tangled in the vines “Well I can’t argue with the power of friendship,”

Willow flicked her wrist, the spell circle dissipating and the vines lowering Luz back down into the water.

Hunter pushed the now damp strands of hair out of his face “Th– thank you captain, now to start with laps–”

“Dude you don’t have a beach day to swim laps,” Viney swam up to join them “You just do it to chill,”

“The temperature of the water is properly invigorating,”

“What she means it to relax,” Gus cut in “Take a break and unwind,”

“What could be more relaxing than training to better prepare yourself for the future?”

The four of them shared a look, knowing glances flashing between each other in a way that indicated they were aware of something that he wasn’t. Hunter felt his face growing hot, wishing he had his mask to hide the bright red no doubt filling his cheeks.

“If you’re set on laps…” the skinny witch– Jerbo, spoke up, gesturing behind himself with a thumb “I can race you to the side of those cliffs and back,”

Hunter gave a curt nod “That seems like an adequate substi–”

“Readysetgo!”

A large splash hit him as Jerbo whipped around and dove into the water, rapidly paddling towards the cliffs.

“Hey!” Hunter sunk lower into the water up to his chest and took off stroking through the water “Get back here!”

A few minutes later a pouting Jerbo swam back to the group, where Hunter had already rejoined them.

“I demand a rematch!”

“You couldn’t beat me when you had headstart,” Hunter folded his arms with a smirk “What makes you think you can beat me in a fair race?”

“I’ll race you Jerbo!” Luz piped up, diving into the water with a splash that smacked Hunter in the side, her and Jerbo racing off back towards the cliffs.

Hunter glowered, pushing wet hair out of his face again.

“Think fast!”

From the corner of his eye he saw something flying towards him, reflexively whipping around in the water and catching it in midair, finding it softer and much lighter than he expected.

“Hey Hunter!”

He looked up, spotting Gus waving both arms in the air.

“Toss it to me, I’m wide open!”

Hunter glanced away from Gus and back to the object in his hands–.

Oh. It was a ball. This was a game.

Hesitating only a moment, he gently tossed the ball at Gus, who caught it with a whoop.

They spent some time spiking and tossing the ball around, as far as Hunter could understand there were no rules or structure beyond moving the ball around but didn’t speak up about the seemingly nonsensical nature of the activity. The members of their group shifted as people joined in and peeled off to take turns racing to the cliffs and back in pairs.

Eventually they’d all rotated through, half of them panting with exhaustion.

“Man…” Skara said between gasps “There’s just no competing with your freakishly long arms,”

Jerbo smirked, giving his wet hair a toss “Excuse me I think you mean championship winning freakishly long arms,”

Skara flopped back in the water with a groan.

“Well as fun as all that racing was,” Gus spoke up “I’m ready for snacks,”

“I’ll join you,” Luz swam up to his side “Eda packed some really good stuff,”

“I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit,” Willow waved them off “I want to try some deep diving,”

Viney lit up at that “Oh yeah count me in!”

“Bark bark,” Barcus paddled up to them.

“What about you Hunter?”

He jerked at hearing the human call his name.

Glancing around, he saw the group's eyes on him again.

“You ready for snacks or wanna do some deep diving?” she continued.

“I’ll– I’ll participate in the deep diving, that sounds like an enjoyable endurance activity,”

“I’ll join in to,” Blight swam over towards the four of them “It’s always good to build lung capacity and good breathing practices,”

“Ok,” Jerbo waved as he and the others started heading towards shore “See you back at the beach,”

The others left for the beach and soon it was just Hunter, Viney, Barcus, Blight, and Willow paddling further out towards the lake proper. The cliffs widened around them and soon enough the lake bottom fell away, the five of them kicking in deep water.

“So uh…” Hunter spoke up slowly as they swam out further“How should we begin?”

Without slowing down Viney drew a spell circle and materialized a cluster of uniform, brightly colored sticks into her hand “Easy, we toss each of these in at different depths of the lake. And for each one we all dive at once and see who can grab it first. Then we move on to the next stick,”

“Bark!”

“Oh yeah, and we attach light glyphs to them so we can see to the bottom,”

“That sounds…sufficiently challenging,”

“So glad our lake day activity earns your seal of approval,” Blight said in a clipped tone.

Hunter narrowed his eyes at her, Blight meeting his gaze unflinching. He couldn’t quite tell if her comment was meant to be sarcastic or not.

Abruptly Viney halted in the water, the four of them stopping behind her as she tapped the paper fastened to the end of the stick, wound up her arm, and tossed a it further out in the lake. She kept throwing glowing sticks in at various points of the lake while Willow passed out nose clips. Hunter just finished fixing his in place as Viney dropped the last one directly below them“Ready guys?”

All four of them chorused with “Ready!”

Hunter sucked in the deepest breath he could manage, filling his chest with as much air as possible, the others around him all doing the same, and then they dove.

The water wasn’t too deep here, only about seven or eight feet, and fairly clear. The ball of golden light tethered to the orange stick directly below them illuminating the muddy lake bottom. But beyond their little bubble of light the lake was pitch black. The only thing piercing the gloom more small lights from more sticks trailing off into the distance.

Hunter tore his eyes away from the sight and angled his body down, pushing himself through the water to head towards the bottom. His distraction had cost him, he’d fallen behind and Willow, Viney, and Barcus were nearly at the bottom. Using his full strength to push forward he started to close the distance between them but not fast enough to beat Barcus to the stick. He grasped it in his jaws before pivoting and paddling upwards, the rest of them following suit.

One by one they broke the surface, gasping and panting.

“Great job Barcus,” Willow said between breaths.

Barcus made a muffled ‘murp’ sound from behind the stick.

“He says thanks,” Viney translated.

For reasons he didn’t quite understand Hunter found himself smiling “Your performance was excellent Barcus, but I bet I’ll get the next one,”

“Hah!” Viney nudged him with her shoulder “I’ll take that bet,”

Hunter did get the next one, Willow the one after that, Viney the next one. After which Barcus promptly told them he was heading back to the beach for snacks.

“I’ll catch up with you and Jerbo soon!” Viney called after him as he paddled away “I just need to smoke these guys at least one more time!”

Hunter let out a sharp laugh “Oh we’ll see who smokes who,”

“Are you doing alright Amity?” Willow spoke up gently “You haven’t been getting close to the bottom, is this too much for you?”

“Oh– No, it’s fine, I’m having fun just trying,”

“Ok then. Two more, let’s go guys!”

They all dove.

Each of their diving sticks had been in progressively deeper water. For this one the glowing glyph was visible from just below the surface, but the stick didn’t become clear until Hunter got closer. His lungs were actually starting to burn as they approached the bottom. Blight was about five feet above the rest of them; Hunter, Viney, and Willow staying even with each other as they moved towards the bottom. Viney managed to surge ahead and grab the stick, immediately pivoting and kicking towards the surface once she did. The others right alongside her.

By the time Hunter broke the surface Viney was already there, sucking in deep, shaky breaths as she tread water.

“Oh man guys, I think that’s it for me. I’m gonna head back,”

“Ok then,” Willow said with a wave “Save me a not-dog,”

Viney flashed a quick wave back before she turned and started heading towards shore.

Now it was just Hunter, Willow, and Blight floating in the water.

“You guys up for trying the last one?” Willow glanced between the two of them “It’s in pretty deep but I’m up for the challenge if you are,”

Hunter snorted “I’m the Golden Guard, I think I can handle a dive,”

“Me to,” Blight bobbed her head “Let’s do it,”

The three took a deep breath and dove. The sounds of gentle breeze and lapping water vanishing in the silence of the lake water.

The last stick was nearly at the edge of the inlet, part of the lake proper, only visible as a faint glimmer. So far down that for the first time Hunter wasn’t sure he’d actually be able to reach it. Still he wouldn’t allow himself to give up. Kicking and paddling further and further down until the stick and the lake bottom were finally visible.

He and Willow kept pace with each other as they got closer and closer to the bottom, Blight having fallen behind early on. At the last second Willow outpaced him by an arm’s length, reaching down and grasping the stick with the tips of her fingers.

She turned towards Hunter, the two locking eyes, a triumphant grin on her face , dark hair floating around her face in a halo. For a few seconds Hunter lost himself in the peace of the moment, the two of them sheltered in their small bubble of light at the bottom of the dark lake, sheltered by the peaceful silence of the water.

Then Willow gasped, a large bubble of air escaping her, and the spell was broken, a sharp spike of panic taking its place.

Hunter grabbed her upper arm and immediately started kicking towards the surface with all his might.

The water lightened as they rose up, he could see Blight kicking on the surface above them. But it was far, too far. Hunter had to fight against the rising panic and keep his motions strong and steady while making sure his grip on Willow stayed firm. His lungs burned to let out the breath he was holding, but if he did then it was over for both of them. He was fast and holding that pace well; but based on their speed, the distance left to cross, and the pressure in his chest he wasn't sure he’d make it to the surface in time, and Willow had even less time than he did–

Hunter clamped down on the thought hard.

Don’t think about how far the surface was, how much water was on top of them. Put all of his focus into moving them up, put all his strength behind each kick and push to move them ahead–

Abruptly something pressed into him from behind, pushing the both of them and rapidly accelerating their ascension, the surface getting closer, closer…

He broke the surface, light and sound returning to the world with a pop. Fumbling with his nose clip, gasping and sucking in deep lungfuls of cool air. And to his immense relief Captain was coughing in breaths of her own right alongside him, strands of wet hair pasted to her skin.

“Are you guys ok?” Blight dispelled her spell circle, the abomination arm that hauled them to the surface dissolving “It looked like you were struggling for air,”

“We went too deep,” his voice was raspier than he would have liked but that wasn’t important right now. He shifted around to grasp Willow’s other arm as well, keeping a firm grip to make sure her upper body stayed above water “Captain, are you alright?”

“I’m–” she let out another series of coughs and cleared her throat, flashing him a weak smile “I’m ok, guess we went a little too deep there,”

“Oh– umm…yeah, we should probably train more before attempting to dive at this depth again,”

Willow giggled at that, Hunter found himself smiling as well, until he looked down and noticed something that made the smile drop off his face. Abruptly dropping Willow from his grip and swimming back, cheeks filling with heat.

“Captain! Ah– uh– your bathing suit! The strap is…”

Willow blinked and glanced down, seeing that the tie of her swimming suit had indeed come undone.

Face red, she quickly reached into the water and grabbed the straps, refastening them behind her neck “Thanks,”

“N– not a problem. And I– I– didn’t see anything!”

“I know you didn’t,”

A protest and an apology rose up in the back of his throat at the same time, tangling together and coming out as a strangled squeak.

She giggled at him “The suit is tight enough that it stayed in place without the strap,”

“Oh, that’s…good,”

The soft clearing of a throat pulled both their attentions, turning and seeing Blight treading water a few feet away.

“Let’s…head back to the beach. That was too close, we should rest and get some snacks. You guys start and I’ll follow behind,”

Hunter gave her a nod “Understood,”

He took off paddling towards the beach, Willow following short behind and Blight trailing them both.

Boscha smirked to herself as she walked back into the forest, the noise and brightness of the lakeshore fading into the shadowed quiet of the trees.

She’d planned on tossing a few fireballs, maybe even summoning a swarm of gore leeches to get payback. But instead she got something much much juicier.

She had no idea who the blonde witch with the scars was, probably someone from Glandus or Saint Epiderm, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was she’d managed to snap a picture of him holding up Willow, the two looking at each other with dopey expressions, right at the moment the straps of her bathing suit slipped beneath the water.

Between that and the lake being up to their chests, anyone looking at the photo had no reason to think either of them were wearing bathing suits at all.

Boscha felt her smirk growing into a vicious grin as she typed out a caption.

Half-a-witch Willow spotted skinny dipping with unknown witch, does this look like a Flyer Derby captain to you?

Vindictive glee bubble and popped inside her as she tapped the button and posted the photo to Penstagram.

#the owl house #algea #rmvwrites #tw near drowning #drowning #luz noceda #skara #viney #jerbo #gus porter #barcus #boscha #willow park #hunter

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colleen-gilly · 2 months

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Cameron Park

this was for a creative writing class I took, but enjoy :)

My shoes hit the ground as sweat drips down my face. I narrowly maneuver around the large rocks and hanging tree limbs that could so easily knock me off my feet. My chest pounds, legs ache, lungs gasp, but I can only think one thing: “I’m home”.

I grew up running the trails of Cameron Park, the second largest inner-city park in the United States, located in the heart of Texas – Waco. Twenty years ago, the towering pine trees provided cover for local gangs to sell drugs and various other contraband. Now, the park acts as the heart of the city, drawing trail runners, mountain bikers, and swimmers from across the state – proving that given enough time and effort, change is possible.

Unfortunately, the city of Waco has been tainted by the gruesome memory of the 1993 siege — a 51-day standoff between a religious cult and law enforcement that resulted in an 82 death massacre. For years, Waco was known as a home to convicts, culprits, and criminals, all of whom ran the town, including my beloved Cameron Park.

As a child, I was naïve to the dangers that the park presented. I would happily ride in my stroller crunching on a bag of Honey Nut Cheerios as my mother pushed from behind. Occasionally, I would see men in dark clothes deep in the woods, seemingly exchanging what I innocently mistook as cookies. Despite the southern charm that my mom worked so hard to instill in me, we would avoid all contact with the men in the mysterious hoods. Instead, we would stick to the river trail, occasionally ducking behind the trees for a quick potty break or down to the river to cool off.

Eventually, I graduated from the stroller and began to run alongside my mom. In the early mornings we found peace in the isolation of the woods. Running gave us more freedom than the stroller had ever allowed. Our explorations took us deep into Cameron Park and closer to the possibility of encountering the hooded men. Having my mom as my companion, the dangers that plagued the park never concerned me — I was safe, or at least I felt safe.

It wasn’t until I was much older when I overheard conversations my mom had with friends or family that I realized we had been in the face of danger all those years. Many days we would arrive at the park and be greeted by a swarm of police cars that would politely ask us to come again another day — a detail I casually overlooked as a six-year-old. My mom would simply tell the nice police officer, “No worries. We’ll be back tomorrow.” And she would drive us home.

Whether we were applauded for our bravery or condescended for our stupidity, my mom was willing to risk the dangers of venturing into the park to observe its unexplored beauty with me by her side. We would run the unworn trails for hours, engulfed in the forest around us. If we weren’t looking out for hooded men in the distance, we were acutely aware of the vultures soaring overhead or the possibility of getting bitten by copperhead snakes that roamed the grounds. Running in Cameron Park required our complete attention, allowing the rest of the world to momentarily fall away. It became the foundation of my relationship with my mother, establishing her as my central protector.

When I was eight, my father got a new job that required us to move away from the place my mom and I laid these roots. For years, our only visits to Cameron Park were brief stops on our way through Waco. With each stop we made, we noticed more and more people discovering the land we once loved. Trails once avoided out of precaution were cleared for mountain bikers and hikers alike. State troopers would remain on watch, patrolling the grounds on horseback. The park was no longer a hidden gem.

When you love something and let it go, it will find its way back to you if it’s meant to be. Like any great love, we found our way back to Cameron Park. Nine years after leaving the place my mom and I laid the roots of our relationship, we found ourselves moving back to Waco. But it was different this time. Cameron Park was not the same place we had left it. Instead, it was filled with people. The dangers that once troubled the park were no longer present, and it was as if the town had rewritten its story. Previously known for a deadly siege and high crime rates, Waco had become a town of prosperity and restoration.

Much like the changes that overcame the town, my relationship with my mom completely transformed. When I was young, I viewed my mom as my protector. In my eyes, she had the power to stop any bad thing from happening to me. During the years away from Waco, we had gradually grown apart, no longer running together like we once had. I was no longer naïve to the harsh realities of life and had learned to become my own protector. When we found ourselves back in Cameron Park all those years later, we became united again, but in a much different way. We no longer ran together in the mornings but would take a daily afternoon hike through the park in which we would discuss the perils of our day. Previously my bodyguard, my mom had grown to be my closest confidant and best friend.

Despite the drastic societal changes that took place in Waco and the change in my relationship with my mother, Cameron Park has remained a natural beauty that I can always rely on. The steep white cliffs that hold a beautiful array of botanical life on top, tower over the blue water that rushes through the Brazos River below, creating a divide between the past that the town is trying to flush away and the new life it is growing above.

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folansstuff · 6 months

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Song of the year?

Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

Game of the year?

Best month for you this year?

Something you want to do again next year?

What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year?

Favorite place you visited this year?

If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

Thanks for the ask! Answers below!

Song of the Year

God that's hard. It's like, probably Strong Enough by boygenius, that's definitely the song I had on the most frequently, that whole album is so good though. There was a ton of good albums this year, so it's hard to choose.

Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

This is the year I finally understood 100gecs. A band has never made me feel more old, but after listening to 1000gecs like 10 times in a row I finally understand.

Game of the year?

Unfortunately due to computer troubles and the price of games being kinda nuts I didn't get to play a lot of the really big hits from this year. In an alternate universe where I played it the GOTY was probably BG3, but in reality it was Hi-Fi Rush. That game is the first time I've really clicked with a rhythm game, and all it took was looking great, sounding great and being a Hack n' Slash.

Best month for you this year?

June I guess? That's when I moved, and when I met a bunch of really cool people. Otherwise this year has been pretty mediocre all up.

Something you want to do again next year?

I know it isn't every year but I do want to go to PAX again. That was such a good time, even with all the stress of planning to get up there included. Melbourne is such a nice city too, almost, almost makes me miss Brisbane.

What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year?

I'm in an entirely new place! I moved in with a friend of mine in their place in Victoria, and honestly it's been so nice. The town I'm in is very nice and community focused, and it's just so quiet.

Favourite place you visited this year?

Again, loved Melbourne, but really the answer was the Twelve Apostles. The ocean always kind does weird stuff to my brain, and mixing that with the really beautiful landscapes and the rock formations is actually mindblowing.

If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

Probably just tell myself to move earlier to be honest. And to save literally as much money as you can for when you get there because everything you own will suddenly break horribly.

Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

"Lol." He said. "Lmao."

Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

May I direct you to the #atticus moore tag? Seriously though, Atticus is easily the most effort a I've put into a singular character in literally years. There's something about how interesting the X-Men universe is, I guess? But that still doesn't explain the documents and documents I have on his timelines and relationships with every character.

#asks #beloved mutuals #sans #rep-meow-tay-tion

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wanderlandgracie · 1 year

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LONDON

Hello friends! So beginning my trip to Europe, we landed in London at 12:30ish on May 23, 2023. After the unfathomably long plane ride, which I thankfully slept through, we were all exhausted, yet hopeful for the weeks ahead of us. The rest of that day was spent resting and mingling in the hotel.

The next day, we went to Hyde Park, a beautiful expanse of green space much like Central Park in New York City, although much older and history-rich. With its sprawling green and luscious plant life, the park was originally used as a hunting reserve by King Henry VIII, yes that one. Interestingly enough though, James I opened it to the public in the early 17th century, and since then it has been a sight of great popularity in London. One location of particular interest in the park is Speakers Corner, a set apart bit of the park specifically designated, by parliament, for free speech. Since its designation in 1872 due to a forceful takeover of the park by a men's suffrage group, the corner has been used by many free speakers in an attempt to rally change amongst the masses. In the early 1900's suffragettes used the corner as their place of protest. Since its designation many orators, such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and George Orwell have used the corner to speak their thoughts. This sight has such specific value because it continues to hold captive peoples attention and birth reform where it is most needed. Also an interesting place to visit in the park is the Rose Garden, a beautiful, as the name would suggest, rose garden. The garden has a wide variety of flowers and plant life, and it is absolutely stunning to look at.

Westminster Abbey is another place I had the privilege to explore when in London. With its sprawling architecture and truly astounding number of graves, Westminster Abbey is set apart as one of the most beautiful and most disturbing buildings in London. Impressively, the Abbey is the final resting place to over 3000 native britons, but despite this, the Abbey has been the location of many coronations in the country's long history. "Since William the Conqueror in 1066, every British Sovereign has been crowned in the Abbey except for Edward V and Edward VIII, who were never crowned." (Britannica) For literally just under a millenium, british kings and queens have begun their official reign here. Also cool to note, royal weddings have been held in the abbey, the most recent of which was the marriage of William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2011. On an entirely different note, the Abbey is the final resting place of over 3,000 native britons, including William Shakespeare, C. S. Lewis, and Jane Austen. This fact seems super cool until you realise that the majority of the graves are part of the floor, requiring you to walk over them to get around the massive Abbey. Apart from the staggering number of graves in the Abbey, it is also home to beautiful stained-glass windows, most of which picture apostles, saints, or the Savior Himself. Westminster Abbey and its beautifully detailed architecture has been integral to the culture, society, and rulers of the United Kingdom for almost a thousand years, and it continues to have such significance in culture as well as religion. Christian worship has been held here for as long as the building has stood, and even today as people are touring the Abbey, occasionally a priest will come on the intercom and ask people to be still and silent while they pray. It is a holy place of solemn worship, even today.

The final culturally significant location I visited was Big Ben and the House of Parliament. Just from an outside look, which is all the looks we got to have, the gothic-style spires and towers of the House of Parliament are one of the more eye-catching buildings in London, as it has been since its construction in the 11th century for Edward the Confessor. It was then expanded by William the Conqueror shortly thereafter. The building had been previously used as a palace until a fire in 1834, after which the palace was rebuilt in its current gothic style. Inside, the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet and make decisions for the country, which is why when we visited these buildings, there were small yet loud groups of protestors standing outside of it. Accompanying the House of Parliament is the famous, iconic, beautiful, Elizabeth's tower. Now you might be thinking, "wait, isn't it called 'Big Ben?'" No, dear reader, you silly goose, you. Big Ben refers to the bell inside of the tower, which is well known for its accuracy and loud toll on the hour, as most bells are. Elizabeth's Tower, and subsequently Big Ben, have been iconic structures seen in British centric pop-culture for ages, such as Peter Pan, V for Vendetta, and Enola Holmes. Overall, these two iconic buildings have been amongst the most recognizable buildings in all of history, but not only that, they have been the center of political circuits for generations.

Overall, London was a beautiful whirlwind of history and awe, combined with the pure wonder of being able to walk or take public transit wherever you wanted to go. All these factors combined makes this city one of my top favorites of the trip.

#london #travelblog #travel #europe #studyabroad #student #Spotify

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firespirited · 1 year

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Today's ramblings :

Some of the pornbots have great usernames, hope they get recycled.

Today sis and I went to Lidl again, she had a small list with her, I wanted to try beef jerky and find a low sugar sandwich or pizza. When we're out and about I check in with her every few minutes to see how she's doing,

if we need to turn back or take a moment...

but we split up looking for different things and when we met up at different aisles she'd tell me about how hot and sweaty it is today and how she hadn't found the items she was looking for, twice I wondered briefly why she'd told me how long we'd been in the shop before getting distracted again.

By the time we got to the checkout, I could tell something was horribly wrong. We sat outside in a cool spot and I waited for her terror to pass and offered various snacks, til she finally opened up about how she'd been trying to tell me she wasn't remotely ok for almost half hour. She'd had had a POTS thing then got distraught that I wasn't listening or that I didn't care. That's awful. I had no clue. I used to be much better at this.

I was in hyperfocus, overstimulated, tunnel vision and couldn't tell she was distressed. I messed up SO bad.

Forgot to explicitly ask "are you ok, should we leave?" at any time.

Once home, we tried honey bbq beef jerky (way too sweet) and a calzone style ham and cheese oven pizza (a little bland but warm crunchy bread with melty cheese is always a delight). We also talked about disorientating it was to be in a shop where things aren't in their aisles but in multiple places (cosmetics is nowhere near beauty and hygiene but next to the tills) meals are organized in categories like current specials, Mediterranean food, foreign instead of by what they contain. So three different rice meals are in 3 locations (french, italian, chinese). They have bath/shower gels all over the shop (at least 4 locations). 🤔🙄

I've apologised and we've talked it over: when in social or 'loud' environments I need to find ways to shut it all out and actually listen and trust my gut if the convo sounds odd (the amounts of time we'd been in the shop for example) and she needs to be frank and voice her needs directly ("i am sick. we need to go now" ) even if she finds that rude because I need the equivalent of a big shake or a small slap to bring me out of the blur into the moment. So completely clueless to what was going on and also can't promise it won't happen again, I can't summon the sort of hypervigilant state I'd go into back in the day where I was aware of everything, just everything, it'd leave me super drained and slightly paranoid about how I was perceived but it wasn't this current emotionally zombified mess.

At least we talked it over twice to iron out any and all misunderstandings and establish new strategies as a team so I'm not spiralling and neither is she.

—–———––—

Got to use a parcel locker for the first time to deposit Tiana teal kiwi. I sold CAM Mummy teal dense nylon last week. They were some neat customs. Really hope I can find another mummy with a well aligned face someday.

I was about to take down the 1€ and postage auctions for sets of the trash-find cleaned-up figurines (the DBZ are still bleaching and myondolls gets first dibs), I'd hoped that would be a good way for them to find their way to collectors but they got no views.

Well the Gormiti sold today so that's nice. I'll give the others a month at least before they go to a friend who knows a second hand shop.

I really need to cut and bleach my hair. Not sure that's possible in one go because shoulders. but it's driving me nuts having a big fluffy mushroom on my head with a lanky centre. It always ends up worth it and boosts confidence when it's neat.

PS oreos are called neos in france. No idea how they taste. Still not touching sugar.

#saf #Ramblings

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gizmo1022 · 2 years

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KPTS Episode by Episode word vomit

HEAVY SPOILERS

Episode 1 Aka

Meet cute? Starring a hot bartender and Mafia boss.

Kinn is a dangerous cocky cutie. And Porsche OMG that open shirt and the CHARM of this boy like sir how dare you and your perfect face @ me like that.

Poor Big this is gonna be a life-altering injury you don't even know but cool action sequence and Kinn is cool as hell.

Yes, Porsche rescue the handsome rich guy you never met from weapon-wielding thugs it’ll open up so many new avenues for you.

Uh peeing in bottles is kinda ew but also kinda cool how he then used it as a weapon…that’s gross-out damage on top of glass breaking,

getting scammed at the pawnshop is a mood,

shitty uncles,

cute little bros,

the first rule of fight club,

and wtf never go to a second location Porsche! Not that you had much choice but this is how you get murdered,

Kidnapping the sassy boy,

fighting dirty…I mean seriously crotch shots and biting?!,

blackmail-ish lots going on here.

But now Porsche is gonna have a newfound family.

Episode 2 Aka

secondhand embarrassment galore,

Porsche stop. Be a good bodyguard please!,

bodyguards are butlers i guess?,

rich snobs,

point 1 for Kinn for that wasabi drink OMG,

Just call him William “Porsche” Tell,

fire hazard-Porsche,

getting choked by your boss,

mixing up the rich snobby kid with the help,

SO many work blunders makes we wonder why anyone thought he was a so amazing and would be a good bodyguard,

Kinns type is NOT beautiful lady assassin dumbass he's gay,

drunk on the job and in Kinns arms…this will be a thing huh,

the poor fish,

Tankhun is magnificent,

new boss is fun but Kinn is Hotand Hot for you so weigh your options and get your life straight my disaster bi boy.

Episode 3 Aka

Porsche's training montage,

Tankhun's STYLE,

Soap operas versus porn with friends - the debate,

biglittle brother Kinn takes care of Khun,

Kinns so gay Porsche how are you this dumb,

Porsches first kill,

Kinn hates seeing his future baby so upset over being a thug/murderer,

OMG they're doing the injury care thing,

Kinn you've got it bad already omg,

Kinn showing he can be fun too and brings his stlyish rich pals out,

bonding at the bar,

WTF Arm that striptease with the drink what happened???,

KP first kiss cute but kinda dubcon,

Use of music here was great though,

drunk Porsche can be soooo cute omg he blew the dirt off Kinns hand,

seconds ago! You slay me sir.

This show gets a plus over9000 for production value and wow KinnPorsche can ACT.

Episode 4 Aka

Say what you mean dumbass don’t just skirt around shit!,

kissmiss-understandings,

OMG the herbal spirits poor Kinn was so confused,

Spa day and ofc Kinn is magnetically and magically drawn to Porsche's location,

faceplant faint,

Pale lipped Porsche at DISNEYLAAAAAND,

Pete youre too cute,

Vegas meal showdown and wow that dramatic music,

No Vegas you cant have Porsche Kinn…er…Tankhun says no lol.

Auction wth are those glowy crystal ball things???,

Vegas speaking English again,

Yes Tae he's a hearthob keep telling Kinn so he gets his head out of his ass,

Also Tae that hair and outfit is smashing,

Porsche drugged by shitty bartender,

Vegas playing games at the auction,

noncon with Vegas thankgod it didnt go far,

dubcon with Kinn…but beautifully shot at least,

drugged Porsche is cute but handsy and bratty…

and listen…Kinn is trying SOOO hard and he’s SOOO tortured but he still shouldn't have done that.

Be the bigger man asshole.

Episode 5 Aka

THE AFTERMATH, Porsche you’re literally breaking my heart man you need to talk to somebody,

Kinn take responsibility and say the words!

What you did to Porsche was wrong and skirting around it wont make it go away!

shut your Korn mouth,

unfair punishment made me very uncomfortable,

Perth and Nodt how do you do it??? Be so bad when youre IRL so good,

although Big is still my love,

trauma-porsche,

the bathroom scene was so well done and edited but it broke my heart,

friendPete giving advice and getting Porsche out of his shell,

Nope your love life is now very decidedly stuck on THE ONE boys,

No more nameless bedwarmers (or alley warmers???)

dumbKinn is dumb and contradicts himself constantly,

He’s so jealous but in this cae he’s right about Vegas that fucker,

Vegas drugs and assaults Porsche and has the nerve to hide behind anonymity and be this fakesweet good guyn to him

DumbKinn is also TryingKinn thanks to his dumb heart and Petes advice,

Lol Jom and Tem ordering Kinn around and insulting him unknowingly had me dying,

and KP are kidnapped again,

That back of the truck chained fight scene was awesome!! Like the coordination and everything i had to watch it over and over and in slowmo,

Poor Big crashed and blames himself now its ok baby i love you.

Episode 6 Aka

WHEN YOURE LOST DONT WANDER OFF STAY PUT EVERYONE KNOWS THIS,

ok maybe hide a little because guys are after you but like you knew Chan etc were close so why wander a million miles away,

but yes wander off so you can have a cute romantic camping trip handcuffed to your crush thats good,

best episode by far i’m in love and will watch this on my deathbed

Their entire relationship journey redone and sped up in one episode

Start with antagonistic petty squabbles and posturing,

Becsome cute fighting and friendship/helping each other out,

Throw in some deep talks about life, childhood, fears, and dreams…ya know the big stuff,

Teaching eachother skills….well mostly Porsche teaching…and also teasing/flirting,

WTF Porsche with your damn lighter you asshole Kinn should be allowed to smack him for that one.

Random kisses and touches thrown in like theyre (mostly Kinn) trying to fight their love but just cant help it sometimes when their guard is down….like nope cant kiss him except uhoh i did it whoops lets just stop wth

Poor Apo was shivering in that waterfall guys that hug/kiss was lifesaving for body warmth,

Skull freaked Porsche out hes so cute,

Asleep inside the truck and Kinn’s content smile KILLED me thatw as the cutest everrrrr,

Also Kinn’s freaked face when he (stupidly) believed Porsche was poisoned by the fruit was SO cute and concerned,

Also Porsche is right Kinn’s smiles are fantastic and make him SO cute and handsome,

Moody serious kinn is dangerously sexy but smiling Kinn is cute and fun feeling,

Porsche is always cute. Or sexy. Or BEAUTIFUL that man’s is just gorgeous,

Ok so whyyyyyy did Kinn wait so long to take the cuffs off after the knife was introduced???!

You really gonna be like “it helped us bond”...your lives were in danger and what?

YES YES YES APOLOGIZE for THAT NIGHT! Be specific YES.

We love you but that was dubcon/noncon squicky and then you didnt talk and instead punished Porsche and played with his feelings and blamed him

(ok Porsche should never drink anything even water on the job he cant be trusted obv)

...but still dude he was traumatized and you made it worse and you took advantage and if he said he coulnt forgive you hed be in his rights.

Porsche is a brat and dramatic have i mentioned? But the scissors thing was sweet.

I guess the handcuffs and knowing how to get out of the ravine was payback for the lighter???

OMG your love is stunning Kinn…you’d let Porsche go and lie to everyone about it because you love his happiness more than even taking care of your own heart.

The actual definition of “if you lovehim let him go”,

That KISS was jawdroppingly perfect and now theyre both on the same page about their love finally but then Porsche LEAVES,

Kinn’s little tantrum after was so sad/cute I may have listened to him kicking dirt and swearing a few hundred times.

And Porsche comes to the rescue only to need saving…like who bodyguards the bodyguard???obv his love interest/person HES supposed to protect.

Sir its his job tot ake the bullets youre making Chan and Big and Porsches life difficult again.

Episode 7 Aka

obligatory mafia missions and nice action sequences

Hey its Pete from the title song!

Vegas being a buttface playing with Porsche to amuse himself and throw shit in Kinns face because he just can.

Kinn made an error letting his interest in Porsche be so obvious to Vegas…its a vulnerability to exploit and Porsche gets caught in the crossfire as an innocent casualty to their family drama peacocking bs.

But seriously WHEN did Vegas CLOCK that interest? Because it feels like he always knew….

Kinns pining and jealous ofc and he shows up at the minor fam house just to see Porsche and beg him to come back to him!,

lots of innuendo with guns and wow they’re such BOYS,

noncon again dude Vegas was gross and not smooth at all with that spill,

Pete are you team KinnPorsche already?? No because youre surprised in episode 9 when Arm brings it up….so why spy on Vegas and Porsche...did Kinn put you up to it???

someone keep porsche from drinking forever please,

jealous Kinn being even dumber than his usual dumb.

but i mean his drunk bf was shirtless in the bathroom with another guy after Pete said theyd basically been flirting,

can't blame him from being paranoid there but still dude chill,

BEAUTIFULLY shot romantic handjobs…but handjobs as an I’m sorry for not trusting you and slutshaming you nonetheless.

OKAY THIS SCENE I WATCHED SO MANY TIMES PORSCHE”S FACE IS SO GORGEOUS AND I LOVE HOW SMILEY AND CUTE KINN GETS DURING…

Like dude is really being himself and enjoying it not just physically but EMOTIONALLY,

Like you don’t see that shit when hes with boytoys that genuine.

"Episode 8 Aka

sneaking around honeymoon period,

Ah to wake up in the arms of your most beloved one in a fucking mansion skyscraper thing with automtaic blinds and room service Porsche youve finally made it.

THE BREAD AD omg Porsche

Like I hate crumbs in my bed….but that was cute and funny.

How are you so fooled Pete you're smarter than that and yet also the innuendo in Porsches line makes up for the denseness of Petes thought process…unless its an act?

Doubted.

footsie scene why are they pointing guns at the celing and the noises were hilarious

Also Kinn what do you mean whya are they stopping you slammed your hands on the table how are you not caught in the act yet youre not subtle!

smexiness proving they CAN do it all…lovemaking, bratty casual…and now FUCKING.

the CUTEST date…Porsche really researched how to date for this,

The pictures were toothrottingly weets and Porsche was so serious about getting everything right while Kinn was just relaxed and happy to be with him wow

and then it's nearly ruined by a ghostly sighting of a turd,

Thankfully beautiful lights, music and an underwater kiss saves the day.

How the hell did that guard not hear or see them getting into that pool….the splash….the echo….guard needs to be vetted better.

poor baby scaredy cat Porsche gets booted from movie night,

Only after dropkicking pol ofc.

Tawan is bad nope dont want him.

Episode 9

Aka No go away i don't like Tawan,

naughty couch scene,

at least Tankhun and Big have brains and distrust Tawan,

jealous Porsche for once also distrust him but for diff reasons methinks,

bless your heart Pete that entrance was the amazing and how can you sleep through THEM what are your dreams gonn be like?,

Ugh ofc Tawan tries to live up to the old Republican motto…accuse others of what you yourself are doing to take the heat off you.

I KNOW KINN DOESNT REALLY CHOOSE TO BELIEVE TAWAN OVER PORSCHE BUT THE TIME BETWEEN THE FRAMING AND THE REVEAL KILLS ME.

I cant watch them confront/take Porsche into custody i die if i try

I HATE these types of misunderstandings and secondhand embarrassments,

mole reveal,

KEN/Perth?! NO!

Episode 10 Aka

FU Tawan,

and Porsche please stop trusting Vegas you dummy god so lucky youre cute,

why must my babies fight? No Pete and Porsche you cant!,

Kinn just tell him the truth and to TRUST YOU! Don’t just drop your gun and let him go hes walking into a viper pit moron,

more kidnapping but this time its the babyest baby,

bare-armed Kim amd Big parkouring there way to rescue the Kittisawat bros,

dumb plan Vegas and super dumb Tawan don't you know Vegas is a dick and a player.

NO BIG NO!!!!!! BIGGGG!!!!! And like…his words show how loyal and devoted he was to Kinn boy oh boy Ken being the mole wouldve really upset him. I LOVE YOU and you WILL be avenged but apparently theres no funeral and only one like two more brief mentions of you,

asscheeks in the BTS,

Chay is big mad at his best brother and i guess i cant blame him,

mole removal including his head,

What's in the booooxxxx???!,

never trust the barbie doll even though Perth is perfect IRL

bed scene from trailer is gorgeous but also funny and gross….why are boys like that?

"Episode 11 Aka

Kinns confession was adorable,

But it puts Porsche in the principal's office,

Bodygurads aka team KP vindicated,

VegasPete getting weird and frisky,

IMO if thats your thing fine but idc it squicks me,

KimChay reveal and breakup thing

Poor Tankhun doesnt know the bomb he just dropped on that little spark of sunshines life.

Episode 12 Aka

Chaybaby takes heartbreak hard,

don't let dumb boys make you fall apart and skip out on your dreams,

though Porsche dropping Chay off was SUPER cute,

jealous Porsche couldve been handled better like ngl it was kinda awkward,

can't believe they spied on the boss wth that was too OOC,

but i'm glad they talked it out and Kinn is really growing up and being BETTER,

Korn is a lying liar who lies and also hes shit,

More VegasPete but better-ish…still stockholm,

RIP Hedgehog my new Fave Character lol,

Supportive BF Kinn and NOW malewife bread advertisement Kinn???!,

But he can't cook,

ALSO I'm sorry but ewwwwww bugs,

Sonic haired Chay going darkside so Kimm to the rescue?,

Korn being even more evil,

old man scapegoat and he was gonna just let Porsche possibly kill him???

Yeah that wouldve gone over well…like if Porsche kills the guy and one episode late finds out it was a lie and Korn used the old man to disguise his own actions???,

Proud BF Kinn wants to startover and my heart is aflutter,

shit uncle is back with a doozy of a tale and the plot thickens into real crazy soap opera type conspiracy land.

Episode 13 Aka

Abusive Kan making me feel bad for Vegas,

also vegas can cook wow,

Korn is EVIL I HATE him,

Kinn is reaaaaally growing…trying to communicate and be honest,

willing to side with porsche and learning when Porsche is holding back just by watching him and waiting for Porsche to be honest and open up to him.

Kinns sooo good now,

Porsche I know it's a tough subject but try to meet him halfway cuz he’s NOT Korn. He's your soul so trust him,

although Porsche tried to tell Kinn about his doubts once and Chan interrupted,

not Chan's FAULT but still,

try again don't drop it and hide,

Vegas lashing out at Pete after being abused…like stop misdirecting your feelings,

and FINALLY Petes missing Status is taken seriously Tankhun is the only one with brains in tis dumb family,

Yes Pete tell him off bcuz You're NOT a pet or his dman therapist,

Pete is his own savior,

Pete Tom Sawyers his funeral and scares the shit outta everyone especially Porsche,

burning money AND the FUCKEN ATM lmao,

Kinn looked SO hot in the funeral scene though omg that shirt and his pecs,

Pete protecting Vegas from the avenging BFF Porsche except Porsche is no dummy and he’ll get some retribution anyways,

Kim's got it bad now but pretty music often comes from pain,

Porsche punches Vegas but still trusts him with shit wth TRUST KINN,

KiinPorsche before the graves confessing but LOL that introduction…my boss…Porsche is a brat now and forever.

KP confessing to each other properly for the first time in a pool, THE POOL SCENE! And it was way more sweet and emotional than we thought ",

Episode 14 Aka

FU Korn I don't buy your bullshit,

Kinn is sooo conflicted but he'll side with Porsche if push came to shove i know it,

omg the soap opera-iness of this family wth,

Liar faker coward Korn can't take the consequences of his own actions stop faking it you shithead and die for real,

love the 3 brothers bonding though, and Kim comforting his big bros.

Tankhun just being soft and Kinn trying to keep it together for him with all the pressure on his shoulders and hes also sad,

so baby Kim is a good nong,

boss kinn can be kinda scary omg…lile…he just shoots dissenters in the meeting like its fucken nothing,

also WTF is Kan wearing to this rebellion????,

Chan is king…and…NOOO CHAN NO NOT AGAIN!,

Vegas speaking english always gets me,

bodyguard batallion but man they lost sight of Kinn fast and Pol got hit but hes ok.

battle husbands spinning around and groping like is a ballroom dance, love t

he FREEFALL english version playing in the fight scene,

Kinn freaked about losing Porsche more thanabout the gun in his face baby your heart is GLOWING,

Arms robots to rescue with flare and pizazz,

Erikaaaa!,

Like the Vegas Pete thing here and I AM glad he lived but he needs some seriour redeeming to actually get me to like him and them together,

Pete you're perfect ofc, I hate uncle and Korn idc who did it they both suck,

also mama are you for real right now? faking it? idk if i trust mama,

wth is going on,

soap operas again, Porsche as boss in the green suit is fine,

no longer bodyguard dating but mob boss dating,

i wanna be on that boat,

kinn makes drinks with his heart,

kim pouring his heart out in song and Chay crying,

Lovely ending but cmon history is written by the victors said by the victorious shithead Korn hes obv still a lying piece of garbage",

Sidestory Episode

Aka post camping adventure hospital scene,

Tankhun you jerk don't you see how sad youre making Porsche,

lol Pete trying to quiet him,

And Kinn wakes to the sound of Vegas creepily hitting on his boy, GO and take the flowers with you lol,

OMG Kinn is so smart scaring Porsche with ghost stories bcuz like Porsche is such a cute scaredy cat,

CUDDLES! YES. Even though Kinn is hurt he wants to hold Porsche.

#KinnPorsche the series #spoilers #kpts spoilers #word vomit

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jaanusbooktalk · 2 years

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Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo - Book Review

8/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: homophobia, racism (slurs), miscarriage, misogyny, sex (non graphic), underage drinking

(TWs are ranked in order of severity, please take them seriously!)

Last Night At The Telegraph Club had been sitting in my virtual TBR for months, and my bookshelf even longer. I’m so glad I finally got around to it this pride month!

I will say right off the bat that after reading I don’t necessarily agree with how it was marketed; the back of the book labeled it a thriller, whereas I felt like it was way less thriller and more historical fiction (I like both so this wasn’t a problem, just a heads up)

I fell in love with the characters, and even though it was a pretty slow-paced read I liked that I could enjoy it leisurely, put-it-down-and-pick-it-back-up-later type of vibe.

The story is set in California during what’s known as the “Red Scare” - when the U.S. government was firing employees and detaining anyone suspected of communist ties. Because of this national suspicion, Chinese Americans were especially at risk of discrimination and sudden deportation. In the midst of this, there’s teenage girl - Lily Hu - coming to terms with her sexuality and falling in love for the first time.

The book is incredibly well researched, and it was cool to get the stories of other members of Lily’s family. It really rounded them out as characters, as people instead of plot devices.

I think this book is a great read for anyone coming to terms with their sexuality or people who enjoy reading coming of age. I’ve also always been really interested in the history of queer nightclubs during the 50s, as “safe spaces” and this book taught me a lot! (Not to mention the aesthetic is just gorgeous)

Summary:

“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other. And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: Have you ever heard of such a thing?

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father--despite his hard-won citizenship--Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.”

TL;DR Two girls (one Chinese American, one white) fall in love at a gay nightclub in San Francisco during the 1950s amidst the Red Scare and fight to stay together despite their circumstances.

^lots of smoking & drinking in this book bc.. it was the 50s

So on to representation:

(Not really an own voices review, just saying what I noticed)

A good portion of the book takes place in Chinatown, either in Lily’s home or the greater community. Lily’s family celebrates the Chinese New Year while her best friend Shirley takes part in the Miss Chinatown Beauty pageant. The edge of Chinatown is located close to a gay nightclub called The Telegraph Club, and these are all historically accurate- the beauty pageant actually happened as an effort for the Chinese American community to better assimilate during the Red Scare.

There are moments when Lily is in predominantly white spaces that she has uncomfortable encounters with white queer people - they call her things like “China doll” as if it’s a compliment. Today this is definitely not okay to call someone, and even back then it made Lily uncomfortable, despite her wanting to fit in with those queer spaces. I think Malinda Lo did a really good job of showing this reality - the difficulty queer POC face when entering white queer spaces.

Kath, Lily’s love interest, is Italian. This isn’t touched on too much aside from sharing food from their respective cultures.

One thing I appreciated about the lgbtq+ rep in this book was it really addressed how difficult it is fight comphet, or compulsory heterosexuality. Even when someone isn’t in the closet, your family, friends, and community can try to force you back inside for their comfortability. What Lily and Kath go through is far from easy and reflects situations still faced by LGBTQ+ people today.

Finally, here’s a pic of some actual Ms. Chinatown contestants that was in the author’s bibliography/after notes (always read those!)

What I Loved:

For this book, I loved that it told more than one story. Sure, there’s the obvious storyline of Kath and Lily’s romance. But there’s also the story of Shirley and Lily’s tumultuous friendship, the story of Lily’s aunt and her life in a new country, the flashbacks to the story of Lily’s mother and father. There’s the story of Tommy Andrews, male impersonator and performer at The Telegraph Club, the story of queer women who boldly went out at night to an illegal establishment to watch those performances.

There’s the story of love in there because of this. All these people are tied together in such different ways, all just trying to love the best they can. I think that’s beautiful.

I also liked how the book didn’t idealize romance. There were times when Kath and Lily fought, when they made up, when they made out in janitor’s closets and it wasn’t at all like in the movies. They had to be vigilant with how they loved eachother, aware of every brush of their hands, and as a queer girl myself I felt really seen. It’s hard loving in a way that your world condemns as “wrong” or “sinful”. Especially as teenagers, when the LGBTQ+ scene is so dominated by adults, it’s difficult to find a place for us.

Back then, and now, it’s challenging to find spaces to celebrate queerness that aren’t also populated by mature themes (drinking, smoking, s*x, etc).

Note: Gay relationships are so taboo that society has dubbed them “mature content” to the point where a simple gesture like holding hands or a peck on the cheek can be labeled Rated R, making it hard for queer youth to preserve the innocent part of themselves and their relationships. Ex. People losing their minds over the lesbian grandmas from Lightyear.

The imagery was raw and there were definitely some scenes that left me emotional, especially when it came to Lily and her family/friends. Reconciling queer identity within communities of color is difficult because two kinds of love appear almost opposed to each other. Lily’s struggle with this hit close to home for me.

^my face during every scene where Shirley was talking (ily Lan Wangji😭)

Why I couldn’t give it a 10:

Honesty it came down to pacing. There were some parts where I felt the story was moving too slowly, or that certain copious amounts of detail were unnecessary and detracted from figuring out what was going on. At times I simply felt bored, because a page or two read like a history textbook or article. I understand needing to set the scene with historical fiction, but placing that in the middle of something happening took me out of the moment. I felt like it could have been better done if a character had given that background in dialogue (shorter) or if it was at the beginning of the scene. Putting it in the middle made it feel abrupt, and having a mini history lesson as one character’s thoughts (?) read more like the author trying to give me all of this (admittedly interesting) information about the event and political environment of the time.

I appreciate it, but here there’s a time and a place and I felt like it could have been done separately. That being said, I am in awe of how much effort was put into researching. This is by far one of the best researched historical fiction books I’ve ever read - I enjoyed reading the author’s note a lot!

I sincerely recommend to:

History buffs (especially if you’re curious about Chinese American/queer history)🔎

Fans of historical fiction novels (ex. Number the Stars, Promises to the Dead)📕

Fans of Luck of the Titanic/The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee 🚢

Closeted gay people (get a false cover if you need to!)🚪

Anyone looking to diversify their LGBTQ+ reading selection (y’all can’t all just be reading The Ones We Burn 🤢)

In hindsight, it could be that the background felt abrupt because I haven’t read historical fiction in a while - can’t even think of a time when I’ve read queer historical fiction before! Grateful to Lo for bringing this much needed representation ❤️

Overall, it was a good book and I enjoyed it! It definitely reinforced by desire to move to California (rip to my wallet) 🕊 Lily is a space nerd like me so that was awesome too 🪐

I also made a Pinterest board for this book since I kept thinking about it, here are some of my favorite additions:

“The vast majority of fiction about queer women is contemporary because until very recently, most people denied the fact that queer people even existed before modern times. Historical fiction in America and in the West is certainly very white-centric - just like all fiction - and I’d definitely love to read more historical fiction about queer people of color.”

- Malinda Lo, author of Last Night At the Telegraph Club

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mliter · 2 years

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Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

With an engaging story that picks up from the start, flashy UI, and great characters to go on an adventure with, XC3 is a game that's worth the wait. I'm not a big Xenoblade guy and i picked this up the night it dropped because i was curious where things were going, and the people around me were super excited.

This game looks amazing. I spent a lot of time taking screenshots of the views and the places i was walking around. And graphics wise, they've done something to make everything look sharper. I'm not sure what it is, but monolith have cracked the code. This looks beautiful. Both handheld and docked.

This game borrows elements from both 1 and 2, and for people that have played at least one of the two would appreciate the things being borrowed from each world. There are decayed locations from each game that appear. And almost every race from each game is represented in the party, somehow... I spent my time going "AYOOOO" looking at the ones from 1. I was a big fan of the ferronis of Keves (the big robots of this game) looking like mechon. Guess Melia had no problem borrowing from them.

With borrowed concepts, there's also new ones. I really like the irises all the characters have. They look cool. And probably save a lot of explaining.

Heroes are introduced in this game, they're straight up characters from the story/world that can join you for your adventure. It's like the gacha heroes that can join in 2 but much less of a hassle to get. They have their own quests and stories too, i'm working on going through the ones i'm interested in. My favorites are Ashera and Ghondor. You'll initially find Ghondor's attitude annoying, but with the time you get with the character you just get that's who she is and still like her for her quirks. Ashera is hilarious. Her personality matched with her exceptional voice actor's work makes for one of the most entertaining characters out of the entire game. She's awesome.

The music is elite this time around. The composers must've worked as if they were to leave a legacy behind at that moment. The music, (with it being adaptive) one of the greatest parts of 3. The menu theme is this calming melody, and all of the boss themes are intense bangers that match the mood of every fight. And the M. boss fight themes? oh my god?

Just like within the character design, music, world design, and general concept, the gameplay also took the best parts of both 1 and 2. The simple art interface from 2 is back! Chain attacks are flashier than ever. This has the wild ideas from 2, but with the grounded RPG feel i get from 1.

Xenoblade is another masterclass in the JRPG genre. Monolithsoft takes risks, hits, and release all of it with pride. I'm happy i experienced this.

Spoilers because. wow.

You're first introduced to this world by Noah, Lanz, and Eunie. Noah always looks like he has something on his mind. Lanz is a big guy with a lot of regret. And Eunie is the foul mouthed healer of the team. These three are childhood friends. They've been soliders in a war against a neighbouring country by the name of Agnus for their entire lives. A chance meeting lands them a mysterious power, making them reluctant outlaws. The mysterious power has them team up. Mio with Noah, Taion with Eunie, and Lanz with Sena.

Noah and Mio are considered the leaders of their respective groups. They're quite kind on their own. They learn to work together quick.

Taion is the brains of the group. He's also quite a bit of a nerd. He's paired up with Eunie. They're the most polarizing pair, but they end up working well together, showing to care about each other the most.

Sena and Lanz?

They're all wonderful. I enjoyed my time with their adventure.

The story's a ride. I spent this week getting everything i had to do for the day ASAP so i could find out what happens next. Like a good storybook. If a game has me acting like that, it's good. So much happens here that i can't type out and explain. I loved it all.

The ending is quite sad though. It's revealed that the world is a strange mashed up version of both Xenoblade 1 and 2's worlds. After the final confrontation, the characters that were from 1 and 2's worlds had to go back. This quest was in reality, to get time flowing again. This weird world was one frozen in one moment. It's how these completely different worlds got to even meet. Can't happen forever. Seeing Lanz, Eunie, Noah & Joran again as kids that don't need to fight is had me staring at my TV going "damn."

Realizing that you've been watching this party that represents the best of each game work together in such a fashion is a realization we all came to finishing this story. The ending is super powerful. A lot of the locations you revisit you'll look at with sad eyes.

#game log #xenoblade #best of 2022

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learningnewways · 2 years

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Israel - Day 2

I woke up this morning and wanted to go right back to sleep... I was so tried... But adventure was calling! We started our day by driving past Bethsaida where the feeding of the 5,000 took place. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop, but it was still great to see the location on the Sea of Galilee.

We then went to Gamla in the Golan Heights, which actually used to be part of Syria until 1967. There we saw ruins from a 1st century synagogue where it is highly likely that Jesus preached at. Crazy! Our tour leader John read Luke 17 and discussed how Jesus shared about the Kingdom of God, which was about allowing the reign and rule of a God in our lives, that the Kingdom of God is within us. We also got to see mustard seeds fresh off the plant itself, which was very cool. I don’t think I’d ever seen the size of a mustard seed, they are very tiny! We talked about how Jesus knew the Scriptures so well, helped by the fact that Jews memorised the whole Torah by the time they were 12. Yikes!

It was quite a steep walk down to the ruins of Gamla and back up the hill, and I was so out of breath, hot and very sweaty! Welcome to Israel in the peak of summer! As I was walking back up the path, I overheard some people from my group talking about the passage in Job 1 about how the Lord gives and takes away. I was so tired and weary that I teared up hearing them talk about it. I’m still trying to process the fact that I’m going to be away from New Zealand and the people I love dearly for quite awhile... And with the Gaza stuff going on here, my anxiety is heightened, so my emotions are definitely on edge. It hasn’t even been a week since I left New Zealand but I’m already so homesick it’s crazy. Even with all the fun things I’m doing and seeing.

After Gamla, we continued to drive through the Golan Heights to a spot where we could see the Syrian border. It was so close, it was unreal! There was even a United Nations base really close. We then drove to Mt Hermon, passing Nimrod Castle which was pretty cool. We didn’t stop but it was amazing to see. So, Mt Hermon. It is actually a mountain that is shared between Israel, Syria and Lebanon. Since it’s a mountain, in winter on the Israeli side there is a ski field! We went there today and rode the gondola up the mountain, then walked down the trail.

Luckily since the elevation is 2,000m above sea level, it was a bit cooler and there was also a lot of wind, making for great walking conditions. It was a bit scary being able to literally see both Syria and Lebanon from the walk, especially given they are both enemies with Israel. Practically, the walk was very difficult to say the least! Absolutely beautiful, but very difficult! There was lots of loose rocks and we all slid down the first part, trying not to fall on our butts. There was a boulder section where we had to climb over giant rocks. Welcome to the adventure tour!

My mum and I agreed that our good friends Rachel, Jeff and Quentin would love this hike. They’re very outdoorsy and adventurous, and would love the Biblical connections. I could picture them running ahead of the group, smiling the whole way. The best Biblical connection is that it could be the site of the transfiguration! Woah! Jesus could’ve brought Peter, James and John here, and they could’ve seen Moses and Elijah! Woah!

After our hike down the mountain, we drove past Caesarea Philippi, where sadly we didn’t get time to stop, but it is where Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” We then went to Dan, where there is a large natural water spring. Our Israeli guide Shlomo played us a traditional song on the recorder and John read to us from Psalm 42 which was really good.

Then we went to the border of Lebanon and got even closer than we had to Syria. Crazy! Pretty sure New Zealand travel safety websites recommend staying away from the boarders... After that we went to a secret walkway where we got an incredible view of almost the whole width of Israel, from the Sea of Galilee all the way to Mt Carmel. Apparently on a clear day you can even see the Mediterranean Sea. It is John’s favourite view in the entire country and I can see why. At this point, We hadn’t had a toilet stop for over 4hrs and weren’t going to get one for at least another hour, so, I had a loo with a view, the best loo view in my life! Haha.

Then we fiiiiiiinally got back to our hotel at like 8pm, after 12hrs of adventuring. It felt like all I did today was hike and go to enemy boarders, which is pretty much what we did. Even between stops, there wasn’t much time in to catch your breath. We didn’t even stop for lunch! Luckily I’d stashed some food in my bag from the breakfast buffet, which was so needed. I ate soooo much food today, which I needed to with all our hiking in the heat! It was surreal seeing Syria and Lebanon so close up and hearing all about their conflict with Israel over the years. Makes me very glad to be a New Zealander, where we are safe and have a functioning democracy, at least for now.

Unfortunately the conflict with Gaza is on my mind 24/7. I know I’m supposed to trust God and not fear, but I’m not very good at doing that it turns out. Rocket sirens and explosions were heard West Jerusalem today, which is where we are headed in a few days... Gaza shot rockets at both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, of which 97% were apparently intercepted by Israel, meaning no one got hurt... But I’m definitely worried about our time in Jerusalem coming up in a few days, as it’s an obvious target. Particularly the Temple Mount which we are staying very close to... The Israeli’s and American’s don’t seem to be worried at all, saying it’s just the same old same old... But that doesn’t stop me from being freaked out...

I’m trying to speak these passages over my life, heart and mind right now. Please pray that I could believe this and live it out.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41.10

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

“Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!” Luke 12:6-7

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