#I was not about to out myself and my extensive lackluster use of the french language but please don't @ me for it if it's bad

[micallum]

normal day in the assy house in 20 years https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJHhDLCH/

Okay, I have calmed down and I come bearing gifts (cursed gifts but gifts nonetheless):

I will not go 20 years into the future but I think a little less is enough, so picture this with me (sorry for the short fanfic - something came over me):

You are making dinner in your cute modest home somewhere in Monaco, life has been good; you married your long-time boyfriend Arthur almost 7 years ago, had a dog, and provided shelter to all neighborhood cats. You have managed to have 2 kids during the past 5 years, with a third (and hopefully last) one on the way you believed the family was clearly complete.

You hear a lot of noises coming from the living room, as you do most days when Arthur is home. He is a good dad, in fact, it surprised you that he is so present even when he spends so much time away for races. The man makes a conscious effort to be reliable, which you thank him for since the Leclerc gene is an inescapable truth and your two boys have it.

What is the Leclerc gene? WELL, the Leclerc boys are full of energy, very focused, and very independent. If only they wouldn't try to do things on their own the entire time. You have been called to school more than once. The first time, little Oli had made a mess with a tube of white paint because he wanted to cover some crayon artwork his friend made on the wall... A more recent event was when your youngest started a food fight during naptime - somehow.

So you are used to the mess and the noise. It still worries you how the 5 and 2-year-old boys are going to deal with their newborn brother.

You rub your belly at the idea, at least Oli has the experience of when Marc was born, but Marc? Baby Macky? No, he is going to lose his mind in June.

With the table set you call out for the boys, hoping Arthur will help. A couple of minutes go by and nobody walks into the dining room. You poke your head out the hallway and call for Arthur this time.

"Tutuuuuur!" You tip-toe in your yoga socks.

Oh, and there they are. Every boy is on a different piece of furniture. Arthur balances his weight between the coffee table and the armrest of the loveseat as he giggles. Oli hugs a pillar with his arms and legs as he screams "Papa, je tombe!" Macky simply yells and covers his face with his hands as he waits for Arthur on the other end of the loveseat.

"What are we doing?" You ask the three of them in French, and everyone stares back. "It's dinnertime, come on!"

"How is she doing it?" Oli asks, climbing the pillar with the agility of a monkey.

"Mama?"

"I told you!" Arthur turns his body and points a finger at you, "I married a witch!"

Macky gasps but reaches out to you, bright innocent eyes staring back. You roll your eyes but your feet move automatically toward your child, walking right past your husband. You grab the youngest boy and hold him on your hip, he rests his arm on your shoulder and plays with a strand of your hair in his other hand.

"Mama, are you a good witch?" He mumbles.

He is almost a copy of his father and his timid smile makes anyone's heart melt. His kindergarten teachers are proof of it, and you are not immune either.

"Am I a good witch?" You put a finger on your chin for a moment and watch Arthur get off the furniture and go pick up Oli, "Most days I am."

"I think that makes Daddy a wizard!" Oli chimes in.

Arthur laughs and blinks repeatedly. "I don't know about that..."

"Okay, you two..." Your eyes narrow at Arthur, "-you three need to go wash your hands."

"Can't you use magic to clean them?"

Arthur smiles at Oli and gives him a high five, though upon seeing your face, he puts him down and comes to grab Macky.

"We'll be right back," he whispers, taking a second to give you a quick peck on the cheek.

"Of course you will, food's getting cold and we're starving!"

You have picked up the habit of speaking about yourself in plural, a hand on your belly almost at all times now that the baby bump is bigger. Arthur always smiles and makes a little noise at the sight, tonight is no exception. He gives you a wink and runs off to the bathroom with a boy on each arm.

"Come on boys! Your brother's hungry!" You hear Arthur tell the kids.

"What brother?" Macky asks.

You turn on your heal, knowing that your husband's got it and will not say anything inappropriate to your children.

"I told you, Mama's a witch! She is making a baby in her belly!"

"WHAT?" Macky yells, "BUT I AM A BABY?!"

"ANOTHER ONE?!" Oli sounds less than thrilled, "We have this one!"

Arthur's laughter is loud across the house as he tries to calm the boys down.

"I promise you guys; this is the last one!" Arthur says, but you know he might not mean it.

The only reason you are pregnant again is that he convinced you to try for a baby girl, and you are sure he will try to talk you into it again in a couple of years... if you will give in is still uncertain, but you know there are few things you will deny him.

#I was not about to out myself and my extensive lackluster use of the french language but please don't @ me for it if it's bad #I think I understand it way better than I produce it sorry #full offense: arthur is going to be the goofiest bestest dad some day I have chosen already to die on this hill #asks #cassy tag #tutur brain rot #arthur leclerc fluff #question mark #sorry for the baby fever I was not in the mood for grownup kids stuff

[realreader-blog1]

First and foremost, I must try my best to convey to you the truly hypnotic sense of this novel. It’s unbelievably difficult to explain, but this book is so astoundingly complex and atmospheric that I can’t help but think about it all the time, even after I’ve finished it. It’s slightly bittersweet, though, because nothing else I read even comes close to The Secret History. More often than not I struggle to put into words why this book is so unique to me. So here is what some others have come up with which I feel do a decent job of describing such a fascinating book: “A huge, mesmerizing, galloping read, pleasurably devoured... Gorgeously written, relentlessly erudite.” -The Times (London) “I adore the slow, building tension and the sense that I, as a reader, was being skillfully manipulated.” -Maggie Stiefvater “...the novel certainly hit me hard, hard enough that I found myself on Google at 4:30AM searching for articles, comments and others enchanted by this wonderful work of art.” - Micheal Cater Essentially, this book is about Richard Papen, a young man from a small suburb in California who, with much financial aid, is able to attend Hampden College in Vermont. Richard finds his entire life to be rather pathetic, and upon moving across the country, begins to build a new identity for himself. Particularly through his acceptance into a very exclusive, cult-like Greek class with 5 extremely pretentious students and one enigmatic professor called Julian, Richard creates an entirely new life for himself. Even more interestingly, in the very first page of the prologue, two things are revealed: One of the members of the group has been murdered, and the rest of the group is responsible for his death. Donna Tartt tells you exactly who kills who in the first page. The story becomes not a whodunnit, but a whydunnit. Interestingly enough, it makes the novel incredibly more suspenseful. Richard begins telling the story starting from when he met the rest of the group, taking us through all the events which lead up to the murder, and then the second half, Book II, follows the aftermath of the killing. To my surprise, this approach was so much more powerful than any other mystery I’ve come across. As we follow Richard through his first months at Hampden, he becomes absolutely infatuated with everything around him, simply because it is so different from his lackluster upbringing. From the Greek lectures to his new group of peers to the college campus itself, Richard’s narration almost seems as if he observes everything through a rose-tinted lens. He even admits that his recollections are blurred in this way: “It is only here that the stilted mannequins of my initial acquaintance begin to yawn and stretch and come to life. It was months before the gloss and mystery of newness... would finally wear off.” Each description is borderline dreamlike, and yet there is an ever-present foreboding feeling constantly looming in the back of the mind, because Richard and the readers know that one of them ends up dead. Donna Tartt’s decision to name the murderer and murdered on the first page, I think, gives the same powerful anticipation like that of The Iliad and The Odyssey, which tell exactly what is going to happen before it even does. This, along with potentially many other allusions which I am not well-read enough to catch, parallels the characters’ obsession with Greek and the Classics, making The Secret History somewhat of a Greek tragedy in itself. The ending in particular is especially dramatic, and shows how this group was so obsessed with tragedy, that they turned their lives into one. The opening sentences of Chapter 1, on a basic level, sum up much of the book very well: “Does such a thing as ‘the fatal flaw,’ that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn’t. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.” This exact idea is seen in countless ways throughout the book. It is in the groups’ fascination with dramatic tragedy, in Julian’s decision to have an extremely small and selective class, even in Richard’s descriptions of Camilla’s ‘glowing’ beauty. The students’ obsession with aesthetic and beauty at all costs is seen even in their iconic physical appearances: the twins who often wear white, Henry with dark English suits and permanently carrying an umbrella like an accessory, Francis with French cuffs and fancy neckties. Their obsession naturally carries into their rather sophisticated behaviors as well, and it seems as though these characters are practically living in the wrong century. All of them, save Richard, have more money than they know what to do with, and are extremely privileged, living in their own little bubbles filled with ancient philosophy. Henry, at one point, is incredulous to hear that a man had actually walked on the moon, proving these characters’ extensive and voluntary isolation to reality. It is understandable why some may find the characters intolerably pretentious, however to me, that is all the more reason to admire the book. The characters are not superficially likable in the slightest, and are rarely, if ever, relatable. But they are also pretty despicable human beings, and you aren’t supposed to like these people. They’re murderers for crying out loud. But above all, they’re realistic. Through their actions, they prove the lengths people are willing to go in order to save themselves. This book contains an unprecedented level of complexity, paired with masterful writing to create a true work of art. My words can never do justice to what experiencing the novel is truly like, and I could never have enough time to go in depth on every detail which inspired thought. This is one of those books you can’t stop thinking about once you’ve finished. For the first time in my remembered life, I can confidently say I have one favorite book.

#the secret history #mystery #murder

[sloane--chappell-blog]

CHILDHOOD & FAMILY TASK 001 | LACKLUSTER NEWS INTERVIEW

Hello and welcome to Lackluster News. Thank you for agreeing to the interview, are you nervous at all? SC: “I do have to admit, I am a bit nervous. -chuckles- It’s been awhile since I have talked extensively about my family, so this should be interesting.”

If you don’t mind, we would love to ask you a series of questions in regards to growing up and family life. Could you tell us about when and where were you born? SC: “Of course. So, I was born in August of 1905 in Kansas City, Kansas. If you are not familiar, it’s basically smack dab in the middle of what is considered to be the United States. I lived in that area until the late 1920s.”

How did your family come to live in Lackluster? SC: “Earlier that year, as I was still coming into some of my powers, I experienced a vision that many of the other prophets that started Lackluster had seen. It was really only pieces of it and my family wasn’t really sure what to believe that the time. After a few months, I finally confessed my sight to my mother and that was about the time that recruiters started looking for people like myself. The choice was made a few days after. My mother, uncle, myself, and cousin… We just knew we needed to be here.”

And how would you best describe your family? Would you say it’s a healthy relationship? SC: “Um-- I would say that I had a very interesting relationship with them. My father, may he rest in peace, was not the most sound of mind. He spent a lot of his time boozing or doing whatever junkies normally do. He actually passed away about a year before we decided to come to Lackluster and I do have to say, that was probably for the best for all of us. My mother and him were never going to be able to successfully patch up the damage that he had done to her over the years. She was a rock through it all, sticking by me and make sure that I had an unaffected childhood. I can honestly say that the rest of my family has always been extremely protective over my safety. I loved my grandparents dearly, but my grandfather refused to let go of the home he had built for them and we didn’t want to argue. The only other family that really leaves is my Uncle and cousin, who both felt closer to me than that. My uncle always stepped in and act as the father figure in a lot of ways, especially with teaching me how to defend myself. But really, the closest person in my life has always been my cousin Anthony. -few tears fall down her face- May I have a tissue? Thank you. -minutes later- I just miss them all, that’s it. I wish they were all still here with me.”

What do you now about your family surname(s)? SC: “Yes, quite a bit. I have journals of information about our history and where the bloodlines fall. Chappell has connections to areas in Wales and Isle of Man, then there is my mother’s side of the family. The Rangel’s. They all have ties to Mexico and the Aztec. Then there was also a few of my family members that were part of the Quantrill raiders, French revolutionists. -laughs- It’s crazy.”

Did you have any nicknames while growing up? SC: “My grandfather called me Pequeño Guerrero or Pequeño Papoose. The translation is Little Warrior or Little Native Child. Other than that, not really. Sometimes I heard Lo used. -shrugs-”

Would you say your guardian/parent was more strict or lenient? SC: “Oh, strict. -laughs- Not that it was completely a bad thing. My mother just encouraged a schedule and my grandparents kept me active in the church. So, I suppose I just didn’t have a lot of wiggle room for error or trouble.”

What family member did you look up to the most? SC: “Mi madre, of course. She was just always so strong, unwavering, and just did what she set out to do. Wonderful inspiration while I was figuring myself out and never once did she not support me. Always trusted in me, believed me when I told her about my intuitions.”

Do you still own any childhood items or family heirlooms? SC: “Yup! I brought a few of them in today to show off. My grandfather was a hobbyist and when he wasn’t building something, he was usually making trinkets. I have a small collection of what was left after he passed away, but these are my favorites. Anthony and I constellations, along with this snake broach. The stone in the middle is a peridot for August, my birth month, and then a pearl dangingly for June, my mother’s birth month.”

What is your favorite childhood memory? SC: “Spending time out on my Uncle’s land, learning to hunt and wandering around the woods.”

What was a typical family dinner like? Did you have any favorite dishes? SC: “My family loved to cook and they all had their ‘specialty dishes’. Dinner was always the place where we gathered and caught up, very important to us all and was pretty traditional. Some of my favorites were fried river fish, roasted pork, and anytime my grandparents made sweets. Mexican hot chocolate and apple pastries constantly.”

Does your family have any special traditions? SC: “One that is pretty basic is that we each got a special holiday ornament or trinket for Christmas. Other than that, I can’t really think of any.”

Where there any childhood games you enjoyed playing? SC: “I really enjoyed playing those string finger games. The ones were you do the cat’s cradle or a bird. Other than that, reading.”

Could you describe your childhood home? What was your favorite thing about it? Least favorite? SC: “It was your stereotypical 1800s style home with burgundy red and light brown stones. Two stories and an amazing chimney. I would say that that was probably the best part of the house. My mother and I lived there with my grandparents on a nice piece of land next to a creek. My only complaint about the house was that indoor plumbing was not a thing.”

What did you want to be when you grew up? SC: “A scholar and librarian. -chuckles-”

Of all the things you learned from your elders, what do you feel has stuck with you the most? SC: “That you should always treat others with respect and you will receive that in return. How important it is to not judge someone or even expect others do your job for you. Be strong, understanding, and smart. Always be smart.”

Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with us. I know that all of us here at Lackluster News appreciate it. On a final note, if you could go back and give any advice to your younger self, what would it be? SC: “You have been through the worst of your days and survived, good job.”

#lusteredit #lltimedtask #task001