#eve's pin cactus | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

coffeeandcalligraphy · 3 years

Text

Land Mammal | Feeding Habits Update #7

Hello! We are back for another Feeding Habits update, but this time we’re chatting chapter 8, aka Land Mammal.

Just a reminder: This is my original work and plagiarism of any form will not be tolerated.

Scene outline & excerpts under the cut because this one is a long one! If you missed previous updates or are new to the project, check out the novel intro page (which links all the updates) HERE!

Taglist (please ask to be added or removed): @if-one-of-us-falls @qatarcookie, @chloeswords, @alicewestwater, @laughtracksonata, @ev--writes , @jaydewritesfiction, @jennawritesstories , @august-iswriting, @berinswriting

Scene A:

After Harrison enters his apartment to find his ex Lonan hanging out in his kitchen in chapter six, he nopes to his room and tends to his German Shepherd puppy, June.

His mother, Suzanna interrupts him and attempts to explain that he can’t run away from his problems, and after the two argue, Harrison exits his room to find Lonan mopping up Harrison’s tracks of seawater from chapter six.

Scene B:

Harrison brings Lonan to a kiosk for canoe rentals and rents a canoe. Harrison sets up their journey whereas Lonan refuses to enter the water after subtly announcing a new fear of it. Instead, he collects beach stones from the sand. They have their first conversation in months where Harrison eggs Lonan on until he finally gets in the canoe. They set out on the water where Harrison questions Lonan regarding his relationship with Eliza (who he presumes he’s still in a relationship with) who is not there with him. Harrison accuses Lonan of murder and subsequently capsizes the canoe so they reunite underwater.

Scene C:

Harrison wakes up alone the next day on a hay bale, having stolen Lonan’s money (and shirt tea tea tea). We can assume he’s abandoned him and has travelled to the barn mentioned in chapter six. Here, he decides he needs an excuse for why he’s there early to the homeowners. He decides, since they hired him to fix up their barn, he’ll just say he was trying to be a good worker and get a head start.

However, as he approaches the farmhouse, the door is opened for him by Sharleen Harvey, his boss’ wife. He bullshits his excuse for being there so early just as Sharleen leads him to the breakfast table where Lonan sits (lol). Everyone there knows Harrison is clearly lying.

Scene D:

Harrison eats pancakes on the porch with the Harveys’ dog when Lonan joins him.

Scene Ea:

We dive into what happened after Harrison capsized their canoe. Harrison gets a lil unhinged and things get a lil murdery oops. This leads to shenanigans!! That is all I will say!!!

Scene Eb:

A very short, poetic paragraph that collects details from sentences in scene Ea that follow a Blue [NOUN] structure.

Scene Ec:

A two-sentence nudge at the ~the shenanigans

Scene F:

Harrison notices Lonan wears the ring he and Harrison tracked Eliza down to retrieve, and questions him as to why he didn’t propose to her with it. He goes on a desperate rant on why they should’ve gotten married before Lonan insists it’s now time for him to bring him home. The end of this scene signals a very slight glimpse of Harrison finally humanizing Lonan after a chapter of demonizing him (and also Harrison’s failing mental state).

Scene Ga:

Harrison falls asleep on the car ride back to his apartment in the city and doesn’t wake up until a day later. In this time, Lonan has stayed with him. He eventually wakes up and immediately notices Lonan fiddling with the guardian angel pendant he gifted him. Harrison seems to finally realize the weight of Lonan’s humanity in this scene and allows himself to trust him once again to some extent.

Scene Gb:

A second poem paragraph that references the water shenanigans that occur in scene Ea

Can you tell I’ve been really into poetry lately the poet in me said hello!

Excerpts:

This is a ~tender excerpt that explains Harrison’s mindset!

Suzanna is prettier in bad light. The tungsten of his bedroom’s cheap lightbulb cratering her waterline so the smudge of kohl shifts, the zip of her crow’s feet, the shimmer on her cheeks, all the soft things about her. She holds a beach towel, cactus print. This new life a second try neither asked for but committed to, this move back to the east their thing. Window-shopping for kitchenware on Sundays, snatching samples of bratwurst and sauerkraut for each other at the market, sharing each other’s toothpicks, burning caramel popcorn and renting the wrong DVDs, inventing new takes on boeuf bourguinon, sending postcards to each other even though they share an address. Undeniably theirs. A life unappreciated, and yet what he says next is “Where’s Eliza?” instead of I don’t want this life to end. Harrison pets the dog.

The following is the entire scene of the boys’ first interaction in months. TW: homicide, religious content, suicide, nods to self-harm

A canoe-rental kiosk ruching the Hudson River. Harrison pays for a two-hour timeslot with the last of his savings and lugs it to the shoreline by himself. It is nearly midnight, the sky clogged with fog and moonlight.

Lonan will not enter the water. Back near the kiosk, he fiddles with a beachstone, bathing in tungsten from the streetlamp above him. He gave no reason for his rejection, just picked stones as they walked along the boardwalk, through the parking lot, to the kiosk. As if he’d polish them, feed them through a rock tumbler as if he has the patience for that, tend to them like infants, shape, polish, burnish, sell them for thirty dollars a piece and donate the money to an animal sanctuary, as if has the mind to.

Harrison shifts the canoe perpendicular to the water and steps in. The boat cranks under his weight, its coldness seeping through his jeans.

Lonan stoops for more stones. His knees luminescing in white sand. His hair oilslick, cropped to his scalp like blunt grass. His fingers arrowing through sand, a raven filching seed. He unearths the stones with urgency, a paleontologist, a gravedigger.

“You’ll never make a sale on those,” Harrison shouts from the canoe. His voice splinters the night and puffs with the sand.

Lonan nearly drops his handful of stones. It takes him a moment to look up, and when he does, he searches the treeline first, the windows of a parked SUV, the gaps between a thicket of lifejackets before reaching Harrison, and he’s so deerlike, Harrison thinks, he’s so limp, so feeble, so susceptible. His hair jutting briefly from his scalp like an accordion, badly cut probably because Eliza likes it that way. His skin nearly lilac in places, a gauntness in his face, a hunger.

“My mother tells me you like her cooking,” he continues. “That you’re here for your sister. That you’re here alone.”

Lonan reaches for another stone.

“Eliza wants you to look like a deacon.” Harrison frills a hand toward his hair, snaps his fingers like scissors. “So holy. I could ordain you right now. Make you born-again. There’s so much water.”

“I don’t swim,” Lonan says. He reaches for another stone, then another so his palms turn into one.

“You don’t? You’re a land mammal. Rhinoceros. Hippopotamus. Is it the stones? You’re afraid they’ll sink you?”

“I’m not keeping the stones.”

“Then why search for them?”

Lonan sets the pile down. They clatter into the sand and toil into new holes, a sand cloud disguising them in the minute he rises, dusts himself off, limb by limb, and walks toward the canoe.

“Is it supposed to be avant garde?” Harrison asks as he gets closer. “The hair. So avant garde. So high fashion. Everyone wants you.” And then, “You’re scared of water now. The last time I knew you that’s where you wanted to be buried. It’s a good opportunity. Take the stones with you. Company that serves a purpose.”

Lonan hikes into the canoe. He takes a seat opposite Harrison and grips the paddle as if it’s a murder weapon ready to save him.

“She might be dead,” Lonan says. They push from the shore, and Lonan scores the water with the paddle until the kiosk shrinks. His hands jitter, unsteady, but takes them through the water. “She’s not with me.”

“Are those things related?” Harrison shifts closer to him, that haunted, lilac, hungry face, the edges of him he knows, he’s touched, the nose he’s nudged, the eyelids he’s dabbed, the ears he’s breathed into and out of, the mouth he’s spoken into and spoken out of. That hunted lilac hungry face, searching for a place where he can be sustenance, a place he knows, a place of comfort. The holes all closed. Those pores no longer constellations he’s memorized. That haunted lilac hungry face no longer his. “How did you do it?” Harrison asks. He stares at Lonan’s hands, the hands he should know, nailbeds he’s scored with his own, fingers he’s matched with his own, palms he’s stamped with his own. “Asphyxiation? Death by drowning. Death by land mammal.” He tries his wrist next, tendons flexing with the paddle, that expanse of skin a flute of ivory, those veins he should know, where they conjoin, where they branch like an oakwood. Those scars he knows the stories of—accidents, non-accidents, safety pins, lighters, cigarettes, ballpoint pens. Harrison could recite those stories a year ago and now they’ve dissolved, unmemories.

“It was an accident.”

“You’re a murderer.”

“I’m sorry.”

They’ve paddled so far from the kiosk, it’s like they’re on their own planet. A planet of only water. A planet uninhabitable, where land mammals sink and never come back up. Lonan’s eyes glisten with moonlight, and his waterline should be recognizable, dampening now, cattled with wet eyelashes, should be memorable, what it felt like to touch their ledge. All foreign. He’s foreign. So foreign. His anti-hair, anti-face, anti-hands, anti-wrists. He’s crying and immemorable. He’s crying and sorry.

Harrison shuffles forward until their knees touch. He reaches. He makes contact. He touches his skin. He touches his ear. He touches cheek. He touches eyes, fingerprints his irises, wrings the tears from his waterline, pulls his face by the jaw, cradling his land mammal. He is crying. They should both cry. They are both crying. Their own lake puddling in Harrison’s palm. Theirs as Harrison dips his free hand into the water. Theirs as he hushes Lonan’s writhing. Theirs as he christens him, the water gorging his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Theirs as he promises it will be okay. Theirs as he says he will get to know this stranger. Theirs as they promise to both regrow. Theirs as Harrison jerks the canoe. Theirs as they capsize. Theirs as they reunite in fizzing tide, caught in the river, both animals trapped in amber.

Tea:

The next time he is dry, he is lying on a bale of hay, wearing the wrong shirt, a hundred dollars richer. All of these things are related. The hay only because he paid for a cab with money he only has because of the shirt, five twenties easily slipped into the breast pocket when Lonan wasn’t looking. Twenty on the cab ride to Brooklyn, and now he’s face-first in a spool of hay that is better than sleeping in his own bed.

Harrison being chaotic and embarrassing lol:

A seagull on a ceiling beam gorges on a French fry. It eats with conviction, the fry lost in its throat before he even blinks. It flies through the hole in the roof as Harrison rises off the hay bale.

He did not announce his arrival to Theodore Harvey. In fact, he entered the property like it was his own, picked the barn’s lock with the edge of one of Lonan’s beachstones—he did keep one, in the pocket with his shirt, right behind the money—and slept without worrying what his mother would think. His third life is no longer necessary—it has already been disturbed. It is more efficient to deescalate than renew.

He decides he will not tell Harvey of his stay but lie and say he arrived at the farm early, 6AM, a good man trying to start his work early. Trying to impress. He’ll lie, say he tried picking up a tray of raspberry danishes from the bakery but it was too early for anyone to have opened. He’ll lie, apologize to Harvey’s wife Sharleen for showing up empty-handed. It’s rude to bring no offering.

Harrison fixes himself in the reflection of an overturned wheelbarrow, its silver belly clouded with rust. He exits the barn dry, well-rested, a richer, more fashionable man.

Before he even finishes ascending the veranda of the Harvey house, Sharleen opens the door. Her white hair is pearled into a bun. She wears a paisley patterned apron, chartreuse.

“Raspberry Danishes,” Harrison says. “All I wanted was to bring you some fresh raspberry Danishes, but all the bakeries were closed.”

Sharleen rolls up her sleeves. Her hands are caked with flour and fat.

“I considered tulips, but realized I’ve never asked for your favourite flower. Is it tulips? Hydrangeas? Chrysanthemums?”

Sharleen juts open the screen door and holds it open for him. He enters the foyer, and it smells like cinnamon, like sugar.

“I’ve heard marigolds are helpful for warding off squirrels,” he says, taking the hand she offers for his jacket. Sharleen doesn’t jump when he runs his finger across her wedding band and pecks her knuckles with his mouth. She doesn’t even speak. “Is that true?” as they usher toward the kitchen. “Pretty and purposeful. Sounds fake.”

Sharleen dusts her hands on her apron and jars open the kitchen door.

“Could be a double whammy. Or a scam. Or an old wife’s tale,” Harrison is saying as they walk into the kitchen, so occupied with the marigolds he does not notice when Sharleen returns to the stove to flip a pancake, so occupied, when he turns to the kitchen table, expecting only Harvey but seeing Lonan, all he says is, “Sounds too good to be true.”

Lonan joining Harrison on the porch after the above:

Harrison eats his pancakes on the porch. The Harveys’ dog joins him, a golden retriever named Leila. He cuts her a rift of cake and slots it into her mouth when she whines. One bite for him, another for Leila. Him, Leila, him, Leila. The good news is since he fixed their coffee machine, he now drinks drip.

It does not take long for Lonan to follow him outside. Harrison’s known this was inevitable and has dreaded the last five minutes because of it. He slits another triangle of pancake and feeds it to the dog.

It’s too cold to be out without a jacket. Wind nips Harrison’s ears and icicles his fingertips. Lonan’s shirt, the pale blue button-up he nabbed knowing he’d have cash, brays under the breeze, barely denser than a tissue.

TW: This gets a bit murder-y!

Suspended in water, Lonan was aquatic. Blue eyes turning into blue skin into blue lips into blue throat, chest, wrist. Shards of his sheared hair slung in sheathes of bubbles, his face blissfully marred by their movement. Blue collarbones, blue earlobe, blue shoulder blade, blue pinkie finger.

Harrison pulled him by the shirtsleeve before he could swim back to the surface, contorting them under the hex of the overturned boat. Him and the water a double team as they took Lonan by the shoulders and held him underwater, an insect stilled and ready to be inspected. Saltwater burned Harrison’s eyes as he stared, but that wasn’t a deterrent. If he only had a moment to look, he wanted it to be in stillness, in a place time unravels. Blue knuckles, blue abdomen, blue forearm, blue tibia.

When Harrison dragged them toward the six-inch gap between the water’s surface and the canoe’s dome, he held them both there, sheep and shepherd, slain and slaughterer. His hands cupped around his throat like butterfly wings, holding him there for safekeeping. Blue nose-bridge, blue sclera, blue cheekbone, blue teeth. He coughed water.

Iconic dialogue (TW: this is also a bit murder-y!):

“Pull me under,” Lonan said, spitting water, his voice grating under pressure. He trembled, his limbs his betrayal, tremoloing in the waves.

And Harrison did. Dousing him by the shoulders and holding him under so only he floated in the miniscule gap of air, Lonan a sunken, thrashing speck. It was thrilling, holding a body in his hands, determining its fate. And equally as thrilling to hold it as he lulled Lonan back up and over his shoulder where he deflated, gasping. At first Lonan coughed, once twice, heaving saltwater and saliva. But then a birdlike sound, compact but jittering, the wisp of a laugh, and Harrison couldn’t help but wonder if he was thrilled, too

“Do you feel accomplished, Harrison?” Lonan asked, his teeth prattling like an accordion. His hand trailed up the tail of his jacket, scrawling along the soaked leather. Lonan shifted, his body dead weight nearly drowned. And there was the sound again, chirping, “You’re not the first person who’s tried to kill me this year. Congratulations.”

Harrison angst in its prime:

Harrison adjusted his grip around Lonan so one arm supported his torso and the other scored his jaw. His fingers pressed against the skin there so it paled, exploring along that blue skin, blue mouth. The facts were: Lonan was not there for him, or so he told Suzanna, and so he was a changed man, uncoupled, unromanced, a clean restart. They would get out of the water. Harrison would climb into the backseat of the car Lonan drove instead of the passenger’s side because he wouldn’t want to look at him, and they would return to the apartment and not speak again. Suzanna would intervene in the next morning, maybe get up early to make breakfast, French toast, or crepes, or single-serve omelettes, and they would look at each other and it would be easier to forgive Lonan for a decision Harrison made. Suzanna would say he shouldn’t feel rejected when he was the one doing the rejecting and apologize a few hours later, blame it on the side effects of her cough drops. So it would be fine. They would be friends, or whatever they were before Eliza, and Harrison would live his cyclical life with a new-old person who didn’t come searching for him. Glamorous.

This is scene Ec if you were wondering what that looked like:

After, in a wash of cattails, saltwater in their mouths. Their bodies keeling over the other’s like the matrix of a ribcage. Snowmelt turning them both blue.

I find this description v cute ok I need a Harrison flannel:

Lonan is on his fifth button. His skin crests from underneath the squares of orange and red. The fabric smelling dangerously of Harrison: cigarette smoke, cinnamon.

Harrison badgers Lonan about not marrying Eliza and then it gets PURE:

“Why won’t you marry her?” Harrison asks. “You could have children. A honeymoon.”

Lonan stuffs his free hand into his pocket. His breath fogs with every exhale, his nose pinkish with cold. Harrison doesn’t feel any of it, the breath, the cold, his hands. He doesn’t move to button up his flannel. He doesn’t want to move.

“You’re going back to her. You’re here to check on Reeve, and then you’re going back. To get married. To have children. To honeymoon forever.”

Lonan’s hair is awful. Spoking from his scalp like a raven’s wings, some sections ragged, uneven. Not a haircut, but punishment.

“You’re perfect,” Harrison says. He should being shivering, be freezing, but he feels nothing. “Why can’t you say you’re perfect?”

Lonan moves first. They could reabsorb. Go back to blue. But Lonan only reaches for the flannel with his free hand and drapes it around Harrison’s shoulders. Arm by arm, slotting them through the sleeves. Button by button, securing it up his abdomen, his chest, right up to his throat. If Harrison looks closely, one of his eyes is rimmed with scarlet, like a vessel there popped, and a pool of lilac simmers, almost undetectable, across his temple.

“You could’ve married her,” Harrison says. His voice has dropped to a whisper. Lonan swings his jacket around his shoulders, securing his arms through each loop of leather, one, two. Zipping so his exposed skin may rewarm.

“I need to take you home,” Lonan says. Lonan with the broken eye. Lonan with the blackberry skin. Lonan with the teeth-shorn shirt. Lonan with the mowed hair. Lonan with the burned palms. Lonan with the wedding ring that was never really a wedding ring. Lonan who looks as if he’s always prepared to blink, just in case something comes out to get him.

The following is from scene Ga:

Harrison sleeps in the car on his way back and doesn’t wake until the next day. In that time, Suzanna slots takeout boxes through the unrolled window, three full meals: sweet corn and tomato fusilli, beef stifado, meatless cassoulet. What she doesn’t know is they sit, untouched, under the passenger’s seat, not because Lonan is averted by her cooking, but because he’s saving them to share, just in case. She brings a vacuum sealed bag of extra comforters the first evening when flurries dot the windshield, Harrison is swathed in them all by the time the snow reaches half an inch. One lined with Sherpa closest to his skin when he stirs, the bulbs of fabric like cottage cheese. In the time he’s in the car he dreams. Of driving into the ocean. Of haircuts. Marriage.

When he opens his eyes, Lonan is nuzzled against the windowpane, his arms folded over his chest. He wears only the corduroy jacket, the layers of blankets piled over Harrison’s arms in dense tufts, like the Pasteis de Nata he and Suzanna watch the bakers laminate at the local bakery.

The only valid thing about snow is that I can get these descriptions out of it:

The snow has levelled to a healthy four inches. In sunbeams, it griddles with light, fractals picking the windshield, Lonan’s eyes. And for a few minutes, this is it: the blanket life-ring, the sun coiled in the space between them. Suzanna makes apple cider in weather like this. Cinnamon to pair with the subtle remnants of winter, cloves to warm, turmeric and ginger to surprise. Inside the apartment, Harrison imagines her stirring a saucepot bobbing with fruit and rind, skinning oranges, lemons, turning the kitchen lights on, off, on, off, until her son comes home.

And to end this update, here is the final “poem-y” paragraph:

Land mammals in the water. Spitting bubbles and rims of wave. Their mouths caverns, limbs rattlesnaking, lungs inflating. Land mammals in the water. Coasts apart now re-seamed, kicking up sand, knocking teeth, touching spines. Land mammals in the water. Eyelashes drowning, mouth to mouth. Land mammals in the water, gaping at each other’s throats.

Thank you for reading! Hope y’all enjoyed this very chaotic chapter!

--Rachel

#writing #amwriting #writeblr #writerblr #writingupdates #fostered #feedinghabits #mothwork

36 notes · View notes

samuelsongs · 3 years

Photo

𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝟏𝟑: 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊

sam.mp3: close-up of me on our family xmas card. why do I look like that.

Sam is, as always, excited to go home! He does honestly love it at Gallagher, but he loves his parents even more, and it’s always great to be back home again. It’s different this year, at least he didn’t have to wait to see Ingrid again, but he’s sure his parents are happy to have both of their kids home again. He’s at the helm of the road trip car as always, and it’s just what he needed after that first semester to feel way more at peace with Ingrid and Rei in the car, music blasting as he drives the admittedly short distance back to their city.

Before he left, handed his gifts to their respective recipients, making sure to catch them before anyone leaves campus. His roommates are of course first, giving Julian ( @julixneaton), Anya ( @ofanya ), and Aileen ( @aileenmacnee ) each a box of homemade brownies and a Christmas card attached (yes, it’s his family’s Christmas card but he thinks it works). He wasn’t sure whether to get Ting ( @tingzhao ) a gift but he saw this plush from We Bare Bears and had to get it because it reminded him of the pin she always wears. He also stops by the labs and hands Kiki ( @jjamppong ) her gift, which are some magnifying glasses (just pretend they’re her favorite color: red) that he imagines will come in handy with all her projects! He brings the last presents home with him to be opened on Christmas Day. For Rei ( @reignregine ), he found this cool jean jacket and packages it along with a bunch of patches to get it started (she doesn’t have to add them all, but he insists on this cactus one because he says that’s him). And for Ingrid ( @ingridsong ), he got that cute new BMO dock for her Switch and some more brush pens for her artwork! Finally he tells her a new gaming chair is being delivered to Gallagher so she can start to have at least somewhat as cool a set-up at school as she does at home.

Being back at home for a good minute, even if just for a handful of days, gives him time to breathe. Sam is confident he can take on boot camp pretty well this year, so he does his best not to think about school at all. Instead, he focuses on his hobbies, picking up his camera and his guitar again, and he hangs out with Ingrid and Rei as much as they’ll let him. His parents talk to him of course about how he’s doing at Gallagher, and they always leave the conversation open to him to ever admit he doesn’t want to do it anymore, but Sam is still as determined as ever to stick with it, and he still loves what he does despite how hard it can be.

Christmas is great as it always is with the Songs, though he and Ingrid had planned to head back for the New Year’s Eve party. He’ll miss Rei while she stays in Great Falls, but he thinks it’s important to participate in the school’s activities, and he thinks Ingrid should get to experience them too! Although, he is watching like a hawk in case anything happens because he would absolutely lose his mind if she were ever in harm’s way. But anyway, party time!

@gallaghertasks

#i would like to know why im so slow at googling picture skjsnvfks #anyway finally!#gallagher:task #abt #vis #ingrid #rei #julian #anya #aileen #ting #kiki #i want that panda plushie now tbh #I DID IT #he thinks his insta handle is funny and so do i :)

18 notes · View notes

brokenstrangetown · 3 years

Photo

And now, for interrotation background pictures! The kids, especially Eve, are getting out and about, and so are the animals.

#Backgrounds #Eve #Darwin #francis IV #Hagen #Georgia #doggies & kitties

8 notes · View notes

procrastinating-story-writer · 4 years

Text

Little Getsure

-Being Kazekage was lot of work but Gaara enjoyed every minute of it. The paperwork, helping the village, making decision that would better his home and people. Yes, Gaara enjoyed it all.

-But just like any other Job, it came with its challenges and hard days. Today was one of those days that left Gaara with a ranging headache.

-No one would even know because of how good he was at masking his emotions.

-Trying to ignore the pain, he continued to sign document after document. It looked never ending. Just then a knock sounded at the door before he saw Temari enter, holding a box in her hands.

-Placing it on the desk, she smiled before handing him an envelope.

-”Who is this from?”

-”You’ll have to open it to find out. I did my part. See you later Gaara and don’t work too hard.”

-Opening the package, he was greeted with a row of 4 small cacti. His eyes opened in surprise. Knowing who sent them, he couldn’t believe you managed to find them. So opening the envelope, he found a note.

-Dearest Kazekage, Hi Gaara. Sorry, you know how much I hate the formality crap. Anyway...if you’re reading this it means the package arrived safely. Finding these beauts was a royal pain but so worth it and I wish I could be there to see your expression. I guess we’ll both have to wait another month until we can see each other. Contained are: Eve’s pin, Golden barrel cactus, Cephalocereus senilis and Rebutia in that order.

I miss you and hope you’re not working yourself too much. Enjoy the plants. Naruto says hello and that you need to visit him soon, who knows maybe I’ll bring his along on my next visit. Maybe. Until then.

Y/N.

-A small smile graced Gaara’s lips as he put down your note. He loved that even though you both lived in different villages, you always made the effort to stay connected. What you loved to do most was send him little gifts.

-He went back to work, mood improved but every now and then would look at the plants decorating his desk, thinking of seeing you again.

#gaara #naruto shippuden #cacticollection #cacti #kazekage #gesture #drabble #gaara drabble #garra x you #gaara x reader

38 notes · View notes

bestartdealswork · 3 years

Photo

Cactus forks, prickly pear, eve's pin, cereus and ferocactus plants, triangular geometric shapes abstract modern framed effigy photo canvas print, botanical wall art, Best Quality 2 piece canvas print set. To know more about this artwork, please search our store the SKU code: BADWAN2CP987

#abstractart #myart #artgallery #artwork #makearteveryday #contemporaryart #workinprogress #HomeDecorArtPrint #BedroomDecor #LargeWallDecor #CanvasWallArtPrints #CanvasArtPrints #DinningRoomWallArt

1 note · View note

roswellprompts · 5 years

Photo

it’s time for another event on here! woooohoooooo! [graphic design is my burden pls dont @ me about it] a holiday advent, in fact! throughout the month of december, there will be a prompt a day all holiday season themed [see below]. there are no sign ups for this! it’s just a grab ‘n go. so if you see a prompt you wanna make, just post it on that day. want to do the whole list? hell yeaaaah! that’s amazing and i can’t wait to see it! want to make one work including everything??? wow you crazy lil devil that sounds freaking amazing! as always, this is a chill place. we aren’t stuck on rules and stipulations. this is about having fun and supporting all the awesome stuff everyone else makes! so...happy making!!!

Avoiding Family

Fake Dating

Childhood Memories

Max + Miracles

Gift Stress

String Lights

Wild Pony Theme Night

Holiday Service / Ritual

Ugly Sweater Competition

White Elephant Gifts / Secret Santa

Deck the Halls

Snowed In

Kid Songs + Movies

Holiday Vacation

UFO Emporium’s Holiday Masquerade

Tacky Decorations

Foster Holidays Best Forgotten

Mistletoe

Mr. Grinch

Anonymous Donation

Yule Log / Bonfire

Travel Plans Ruined

Isobel's Party Planning

Heartfelt Gifts

Traditions

Grand Gesture

Found Family

Alone for the Holidays

Resolutions

New Year's Eve at the Crashdown

Enigma

prompt clarification...in case there’s anything that doesn’t make sense. [if you aren’t sure about something and i haven’t explained it below, please just send in an ask!]

4. max + miracles: max’s character is surrounded by jesus symbolism/healer/etc. in the original show, max cured a bunch of kids of cancer on christmas eve nearly killing himself in the process. but don’t let that limit you! max is in need of his own miracle rn being ‘dead’ and all soo....let your creativity run wild!

8. holiday service / ritual: i wanted to keep this list secular, but here’s the opportunity for some religious specific things. could be going to a service or avoiding one. who knows! [if you want any ideas, i have lists of prompts running for hannukah, christmas, and yule so just send me an ask if you want something more specific]

15. ufo emporium’s holiday masquerade: paper faces on paraaaaaade! masquerade! dont mind me i just really really wanted an excuse to have a masquerade ball somewhere nothing specific in mind, just thought it’d be a fun town event!

17. foster holidays best forgotten: all those years in foster care around the holidays that michael would prefer never having to think about again k thnx [old memories, his first gift, seeing his foster siblings again, etc.]

23. isobel’s party planning: in the og show, the holiday episodes always talk about her being an xmas nazi overbearing holiday planner

30. new year’s eve at the crashdown: in the og show, there’s an early-to-bed kinda party with bingo, resolutions pinned on a fake cactus they light on fire, and a new year’s countdown at 10pm so people can get to bed earlier

31. enigma: in the same episode as talking about in 30. there’s also a secret party in the middle of the desert that you can only find via following a scavenger hunt around town and working out the clues. it’s like party of the century, dance until dawn kinda thing.

#roswell new mexico #roswellprompts #holiday advent #malex #echo #events

73 notes · View notes

cactiandplants · 6 years

Photo

Austrocylindropuntia subulata - “Eve´s Needle”, “Eve´s Pin Cactus”, “Long Pine Cactus

#austrocylindropuntia #cacti #cactus #suculent #nature

11 notes · View notes

a-lame-constellation · 6 years

Text

Korean MVs that came out in 2017

~Since i’m not into most kpop groups i might forget to write a comeback so feel free to tell me some that i haven’t written yet or if i have done a mistake.~

*The songs are not in order

**I’ve already made a 2016 list (and i’m making a 2018)

January:

AOA - Excuse Me

AOA - Bing Bing

Bae Da Hae - Knock Knock Knock

S.E.S. - Paradise

AKMU - Last Goodbye

INA - Rainbow

April - April Story

WJSN - I Wish

Davii - Navigation (ft. Heize)

Jun.K - Your Wedding

Minje - Our City

TopSecret - She

Varsity - U R My Only One

Mixx - Love Is a Sudden

NCT127 - Limitless

Vromance - I’m Fine

Day6 - I Wait

Ravi - Bomb (ft. SanE)

Sonamoo - I Think I Love U

Young Cream - 042

Shinhwa 13th - Touch

TRAX [STATION] - Road

Soulights - Crush

EVE - Candle

Jun.K - No Shadow

I - I Wish

Hello Venus - Mysterious

Dreamcatcher - Chase Me

Choi ye_guen Band - Adult

Rain - The Best Present

Niel - Love Affair

CLC - Hobgoblin

Seohyun - Don’t Say No

Zizo - Dynamite Girl

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/YeoJin - Kiss Later

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/Heejin, Hyunjin - My Sunday

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/Heaseul, Yeojin - My Melody

Yoon Do Hyun [STATION] - Sparks Fly

Kasper - Lean On Me

I.O.I - Downpour

40, Dasom - You&I

Park Kyung - When I’m With You (ft. BrotherSu)

Kang Sira - Don’t Wanna Forget

Jooheon - Rhythm

Luna, Hani, Solar - Honey Bee

Joo Chan, So Yoon - No One Like You

2NE1 - Goodbye

Gain, Jeff Bernat - Play

Pentagon - Pretty pretty

Yesung, Selgi [STATION] - Darling U

Jessi - Don’t Make Me Cry

San E - I Am Me (ft. Hwasa)

A.Leean - Fall Back

Suzy - Yes No Maybe

Dynamic Duo, Chen - Nosedive

Sam Kim, Loco - Think About’ Chu

MelodyDay - You Seem Busy

Ryan - Don’t Tell Me Why (ft.Addy)

Kassy - Dream

Masta Wu - Shit (ft. Dok2)

Crybaby - Paramount (ft. TakeOne)

Cheetah - Blurred Lines (ft Hanhae)

Gallant, Tablo, Eric Nam - Cave Me In

Kebee - My Foreigner (ft. BrotherSu)

Ji Hoon Shin - You Are A Star Already

HuhGak - Miss You

Zion.T - The Song

Red Velvet - Rookie

Crown J - Hajima

Lydia Lee - Blue

February:

Imfact - In The Club

Suho, Song YoungJoo [STATION] - Curtain

Masc - Tina

Block B - Yesterday

SF9 - Roar

Day6 - You Were Beautiful

Jung Joon Young - Me and You (ft. Jang Hyejin)

Rhythm Power - Bangsaneung

Cross Gene - Black or White

San E - Counselor

1NB - Stalker

NCT Dream - My First and Last

SunnyHill - Crossroads

B.I.G - 1.2.3

Bts - Spring Day

Bts - Not Today

SBGB - Card Captor Sakura

J’Kyun - Soaking (ft. Cherry Coke)

Jang Joon, Young Taek - Drought (ft. BéE)

Soyou, Baekhyun - Rain

BeautyHandsome - This Game

Skull - Crazy (ft. Verbaljint, KittiB)

Moon Kim - Dark Chocolate

BiPA - Coffee Shop Oppa

MelodyDay - Kiss On The Lips

K.a.r.d - Don’t Recall

Kim Jinho - Graduation Picture

Scarlet mojo-Pin - Ez come Ez go (Gorilla-Man)

Eden - I’m Still (ft. Kwon Jina)

Dean - Beyond (ft. Yerin Baek)

VAV - Venus (Dance With Me)

Taeyeon - I Got Love

Taeyeon - Fine

Twice - Knock Knock

100% - Sketch U

Cheeze - Love You

Solar - Happy People

Soma - Midnight In Paris

Soma - Pale Blue

HeeJun Han - Think of You

San E - What If

Junggigo, Chanyeol - Let Me Love You

Subin - Strawberry

Subin - Circle’s Dream

High4 - Love Line

gugudan - A Girl Like Me

Lovelyz - WoW!

Park Won, Suzy - Don’t Wait For Your Love

Ailee - Reminiscing

Penomeco - WTF (Went Too Far)

Code Kunst - Fire Water (ft. G.Soul, Tablo)

Most Badass Asian - MBA

Most Badass Asian - Joker

Most Badass Asian - Thursday Party (ft. Big One)

Most Badass Asian - Turn Off The Radio (Taxi Driver)

Beatwin - Don’t Leave

March:

Ovan - Virgin Love

Live - Known Me (ft. Dean)

Live - Please (ft. Kim Hyo Eun, G2, Dumbfoundead)

Victon - Eyez Eyez

Ovan - Girl You Deserve It

Kim Ji Soo - Dream All Day

Blanc7 - Yeah

GFriend - Fingertip

BtoB - Movie

Day6 - How Can I Say

Rare Potato - Starlit Night

B.A.P - Wake Me Up

LambC - Love Like That

Romeo - Without U

Jung Key - Anymore (ft. Whee In)

Eric Nam x Somi - You, Who?

Brave Girls - Rollin’

Highlight - It’s Still Beautiful

Highlight - Plz Don’t Be Sad

Got7 - Never Ever

Dorothy Scene - We Are Just..

Cherry Coke - Like I Do

Jung Joonil - Wish

MVP - Take It

Oohyo - Pizza

Cao Lu, Kisum, Yerin - Spring Again

Mad Clown - Love Is A Dog From Hell (ft. Suran)

Seven O’Clock [SOC] - Echo

Hwanhee - So It Is

Yang Hee Eun x AKMU - The Tree

Cnblue - Between Us

Monsta X - Beautiful

Pristin - Wee Woo

IU - Through the Night

BigFlo - Stardom

DJ Juice - BEATful Life (ft. Verbal Jint, Nuck)

J-Min - Alive

Lee Sun Jung Band - Because of Love

Pretty Brown - Grey (ft. Verbal Jint)

Sanchez - 5 More Minutes (ft. Beenzino)

Moon Hyuna - Cricket Song

Roydo - Rewind

Lucy - B-day

Eyedi - Best Mistake (K)

Ofa - To You For You

X.Q - Long Time

Girl’s Day - I’ll Be Yours

Seo In Guk - Better Together

D.G.N.A - Lucky Man

Owol - Nuna (ft. Microdot)

Jero - Delusional

Red Velvet [STATION] - Would You

Seventeen - Smile Flower

I’M - Save Me

OFA - Somebody

OFA - Grow Old

JK Kim Dong Uk - Universe

April:

DPR Live - Cheese & Wine

Oh My Girl - Coloring Book

Winner - Really Really

Winner - Fool

INX - 2Gether

Dreamcatcher - Good Night

Imfact - Tension Up

Taeyeon - Make Me Love You

SBGB - Ki-dult

Corona - Holding Your Hand

Hong Dae Kwang - Fall In Love

Gaeko - Gajah (ft. Rap Monster)

Day6 - I’m Serious

Okdal - Love Advice

Okdal - Intern

Ten [STATION] - Dream In A Dream

Baekhyun [STATION] - Take You Home

Jenyer, Samuel Seo - Cliché

Jeong EunJi - The Spring (ft. Hareem)

EXID - Night Rather Than Day

MiSO - KKPP

Teen Top - Love Is

Lee Hae Ri - Pattern

Lee Hae Ri - Hate That I Miss You

Unit Black - Steal Your Heart

BLACK6IX - Please

Kim Na Young - Being An Adult

Zico - She’s a Baby

Daze - Friday

Berry Good - BibbidiBobbidiBoo

Apink - Always

Kisum - Sleep Tight (ft. Gilgubonggu)

DIA - Will You Go Out With Me

Yesung - Paper Umbrella

DinDin - Super Super Lonely

Hyolyn, Changmo - Blue Moon

Minzy - NiNaNo (ft. Flowsik)

Baek Ji Woong - Your Day

SF9 - Easy Love

Laboum - Hwi Hwi

Chung Ha - Week

IU - Palette (ft. G-Dragon)

Junggigo - Across The Universe

Hyukoh - Leather Jacket

Hyukoh - Tomboy

Hyukoh - Wanli

IU - Ending Scene

K.A.R.D - Rumor

14U - Very Very Very

Varsity - Hole In One

OLNL - OYeah

Reddy - Supreme

Jonghyun - Lonely (ft. Taeyeon)

Stella Jang - Vanishing Paycheck

Triple H - 365 Fresh

Jah Vinci Skull, C Jamm, Jah Vinci - Killa Dreads

Boi B - ADY (ft. Sik-K)

Sugarbowl - Second Date

Knowing Bros - Theme song

May:

Yong Jun Hyung - Wonder If (ft. Heize)

Lovelyz - Now, We

G.Urban - I’ll give it to you

VAV - Flower (You)

JeA - You’re Different (ft. Ra.D)

Ludonph Yongjunko - Tell Me It’s Okay (ft. Luna)

Busters - Dreamer

Day6 - Dance Dance

Romeo - Stay With Me

Psy - I Luv It

Psy - New Face

Twice - Signal

Vixx - Shangri-La

Unnies - Right?

Honeyst - Like You

Urban Zakapa - Alone

Sohee - Spotlight

B.I.G - Hello Hello

IKON - Bling Bling

IKON - B-Day

Roy Kim - Egoist

Roy Kim - Suddenly

Cheeze - Be There

Dean - Love (ft. Syd)

Loco - Movie Shoot (ft. DPR Live)

Loco - Too Much (ft.Dean)

Seventeen - Don’t Wanna Cry

Dear Cloud - Silver Lining

Map6 - I’m Ready

A.C.E - Cactus

Yezi - Anck Su Namun

Yong Yong - Scribbling

KNK - Sun, Moon, Star

Kriesha Chu - Trouble

Yoo Yong Min - Nobody Knows

Goretexx, Black Nut, Han Yo Han - Silky Boys

South Club - Hug Me

Marmello - Puppet

MeiMei Jane - Forever

Shin Hyun Woo - So Amazing

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/Eclipse

Joo - Late in the Morning

Kyuhyun - Goodbye For Now

24K - Only You

Most Badass Asian - Officer

Highlight - Calling You

Sistar - Lonely

Astro - Baby

The Black Skirts - Who Do You Love

Baek A Yeon - Sweet Lies (ft. The Barberettes)

Still PM - True

June:

Elris - We, First

Suran - 1+1=0 (ft. Dean)

S.E.T - Nalari

TopSecret - Mind Control

Gummy - I I Yo

Chung Ha - Why Don’t You Know (ft. Nucksal)

Ft.Island - Wind

Day6 - I Smile

WJSN - Happy

G-Dragon - Untitled, 2014

Eddy Kim - Heart Pound

Pentagon - Critical Beauty

NCT 127 - Cherry Bomb

Vermuda - Dream Girl

Monsta X - Shine Forever

Mamamoo - Yes I Am

Mamamoo - Age Gag

BlackPink - As If It’s Your Last

South Club - Dirty House

South Club - I Got The Blues

South Club - Liar

Henry - I’m Good (ft. Nafla)

Ahn Jung Jae - You’re Fine

Apink - Five

Heize - Don’t Know You

Heize - You, Clouds, Rain (ft. Shin Yong Jae)

LOONA/JinSoul - Singing in the Rain

BoA - Camo

Lee Hyuri - Seoul (ft. Killagramz)

Crush - Summer Love

July:

The Barbarettes - Summer Love

Favorite - Party Time

Bang Yongguk - Yamazaki

Min Chae - Latata

VAV - ABC (Middle of the Night)

Lee Hyori - Black

Hyolyn, Kisum - Fruity

Crush - Outside (ft. Beenzino)

Day6 - Hi Hello

Take - Good Enough

Yu Seungwoo, Sandeul - Oppa

Red Velvet - Red Flavor

South Club - No

Millic - Paradise (ft. Fanxy Child)

One - Heyahe

One - Gettin’ By

Urban Zakapa - Moai

Xiumin x Mark [STATION] - Young & Free

Zico - Artist

Zico - Anti (ft. G.Soul)

Jessi - Gucci

Mind U - Love Me

Park Boram - Why, You? (ft. Seo Samuel)

Voisper - Crush On You

Hotshot - Jelly

WJSN (Cosmic Girls) - Kiss Me

Exo - Ko Ko Bop

Geeks - Woo

Psy - Love (ft. Taeyang)

KNK - Rain

Kard - Hola Hola

Jung Yong Hwa - That Girl (ft. Loco)

The Night Of Seokyo - Walking in the Moonlight )ft. Dawon, Lasier)

AKMU - Dinosaur

offonoff - gold (ft Dean)

Luda - I Will Give You All I Got

Dreamcatcher - Fly High

Monsta X - Newton

LOONA/Choerry - Love Cherry Motion

JJ Project - Tomorrow, Today

Longguo & Shihyun - the.the.the

9Muses - Remember

August:

Winner - Island

Winner - Love Me Love Me

GFriend - Love Whisper

Girl’s Generation - Holiday

Girl’s Generation - All Night (Documentary Ver.)

Yoo YoungJin x Taeyong [STATION] - Cure

Samuel - Sixteen (ft. Changmo)

Eddy Kim - Now

ONF - ON/OFF

CLC - Where are you?

The Rose - Sorry

Juniel - Last Carnival

Groovyroom - Sunday (ft. Heize, Jay Park)

Raina - Loop (ft. Aron of Nu’est)

N.Flying - The Real

Drug Restaurant - Drink O2 in the water

Primary - ~42 (ft. Sam Kim , eSNa)

Day6 - What Can I Do

Boyfriend - Star

WannaOne - Energetic

Weki Meki - I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend

Pristin - We Like

Momoland - Freeze

Oguogu - Ice Chu

Sunmi - Gashina

Heize - In The Time Spent With You

Hur Young Ji - Memory Clock

Hoody - Hangang

Kassy - Let It Rain

Victon - Unbelievable

Yu Seungwoo, Younha - Can’t Stop This Feeling

Jisook - Ilhoon - Baesisi

Aleph - Fall in Love Again

S2 - Honeya

Lee Seung Hwan - God Of Money

VIXX LR - Whisper

10cm - Help

HyunA - Babe

Jackson Wang - Papillon

Good Day - Rolly

S.I.S - I’ve Got A Feeling

Rolling Paper - Polaroid (ft. DalShabet’s Serri)

Jeong Sewoon, Sik-K - Just U

IZ - All You Want

Henry - That One

Babylon - Lalala

GreatGuys - Last Men

Golden Child - DamDaDi

Sanchez - Mesmerised (ft. Yong Jun Hyung)

Primary - Right (ft. Soyou)

Primary - Diet (ft.Solji)

Primary - Hello (ft.Lena Park)

Primary - Hush (ft. Jaebum)

9Muses - Love City

September:

10cm - Phonecert

Junho - Fine

Pentagon - When I Was In Love

Exo - Power

B.A.P - Honeymoon

Lee Gikwang - What You Like

Black6IX - Like A Flower

Day6 - I Loved You

Pentagon - Like This

Soyou - The Blue Night of Jeju Island

Yonko - Butterfly (Black Ver.)

San E, Penomeco, Microdot, Kebee - Fresh Up

Jeong Eun Ji - Manito

Elris - Pow Pow

Bobby - I Love You

Bobby - Runaway

Bts - DNA

IU- Last Night Story

B1A4 - Rollin’

P.O - MEN’z NIGHT (ft. Chancellor)

Day6 - When You Love Someone

U-Know [STATION] - Drop

K.will - Nonfiction

Seventeen (SVT Leaders) - Change Up

LOONA/Odd Eye Circle - Girl Front

Bolbbalgan4 - Some

Βolbbalgan4 - Blue

Bolbbalgan4 - Imagine

Bolbbalgan4 - Fix Me

Yoona [STATION] - When The Wind Blows

Koh Nayoung - Stars

Sugarbowl - A Very Special One

20 Years of Age - Not Him

October:

Stray Kids - Hellevator

TRCNG - Spectrum

Hash Tag - Hue

Got7 - You Are

Nu’est W - Where You At

Basement Claxxic - Always on my Mind

Davichi - To Me

Jang Wooyoung - Still Me

SF9 - O Sole Mio

Rainz - Juliette

Woo Seok - Lift off (ft. E’Dawn)

Varsity - Can You Come Out Now?

Up10tion - Going Crazy

Masc - Do It

Yu Seungwoo - Tonight

Paul Kim - Stranger

Mate - A Day

Mate - Baby

Dpr Live - Jasmine

Hi Cutie - Play U

HA:TFELT - I Wander (ft. Gaeko)

HA:TFELT - Read Me (ft. Punchnello)

Highlight - Can Be Better

Taemin - Move

BtoB - Missing You

Jung Jin Hyeong - Tru (ft. Sik-k)

A.c.e - Callin’

JBJ - Fantasy

Killagramz - Coloring (ft. Hash Swan)

Seventeen [Vocal Team]

Jimin (AOA) - Hallelujah

Playback - Want You To Say

Super Junior - One More Chance

Twice - Likey

The Rose - Like We Used To

Juniel - I Drink Alone

Epik High - Home Is Far Away + Love Story

November:

Astro - Crazy Sexy Cool

Nick&Sammy - Without You

Jinbo - My Love By My Side (ft. Chancellor)

Super Junior - Black Suit

Byul - Leaves (ft. Junoflo)

Minah - 11°

Mind U - If

Jeon Soyeon - Jelly

Seventeen - Clap

VAV - She’s Mine

Eddy Kim - Bet On Me

Yiruma - F r a m e d

Sonamoo - I (Knew it)

Day6 - All Alone

Nieah - Baby I

Hyeongseop X Euiwoong - It Will Be Good

Sole - Ride (ft. Thama)

Martin Smith - Season Comes Again

Park Jimin - Say I Love You

Block B - Shall We Dance

Monsta X - DramaRama

Exid - DDD

Hwang Chi Yeul - Rewind

Rothy - Stars

Victon - Remember Me

Urban Zakapa - When We Were Two

Swings - Clock Out (ft. Jay Park, Crush)

WannaOne - Beautiful

Samuel - Candy

Kard - You In Me

Kiggen - Cloudy (ft. Solar)

Soma - In My Phone

Soma - Someday + Face Me

Pentagon - Violet

Pentagon - Runaway

Red Velvet - Peek-A-Boo

Joonil Jung - I Like

George - Boat

Jackson Wang - Okay

Soyou, Sung Si Kyung - I Still

No.11 - B1 (ft. Sung Joo of Uniq)

E Z Hyung - I Feel Good

Lee Ha Rin - A Strange Day

Fly To The Sky - Your Season

Kim Dong Wan - Afterimage

Map6 - Love Is Gone

Nell, Groovyroom - Today

UV - Za Bro (ft. Choiza)

HuhGak - Only You

Kream - Photograph

Zion.T - Nu DAY

Drug Restaurant - Catwoman

gugudan - Chococo

Jeebanoff - Timid (ft. Changmo)

December:

HyunA - Lip & Hip

Han Dong Geun - Undoable

Kisses - Dead-End

Day6 - I Like You

Kard - Trust Me

Zion.T - Snow

The Boyz - Boy

Dpr Live - Martini Blue

Dpr Live - Text Me

Taemin - Day and Night

K.Will, Soyou, Boyfriend, Mad Clown, Monsta X, Wjsn, Junggigo, Brothersu, Jeong Sewoon, Lee Kwanghyun, Yu Seungwoo, Mind U, #Gun, Duetto- Christmas Day

B.A.P - Hands Up

Soyou - The Night (ft. Geeks)

Car, the garden - Island (ft. OhHyuk)

Taeyeon - This Christmas

Twice - Heart Shaker

Twice - Merry & Happy

Laysha - Pink Label

Crush - Be By My Side

Exo - Universe

Loona/Chuu - Heart Attack

Lay - Goodbye Christmas

Eric Nam - Hold Me

Younha - Parade

Sunwoo Jung A - C A T (ft. IU)

Yang Da Il - Lie

Osshun Gum - Life’s a Dream

Kim Na Young - Miss U

1K notes · View notes

roominthecastle · 6 years

Text

Okay but Sting’s Desert Rosé... I am officially fixated on this one

bc Cheers!!!!

bc I’m almost sure it’s Michael’s handiwork. He has the ability to construct such things + a history of hiding puns in them, e.g. “Strangers Under the Train” & “Bend It Like Bentham” can be spotted in the background in his trolley problem simulation (TPS)) + Janet doesn’t leave the tape room

bc it specifies that the bar serving as a framework for this (forbidden) meeting w/ Eleanor is named after Sting’s Desert Rose which Sting described as a song of romantic-sexual longing placed within a larger philosophical context - “romantic love as an analog for the greater love of God” [x] and thus redemption (see the “Redeem Yourself” poster on the wall by the door).

Now overthinking/reading into things is my forte, and that’s exactly what’s happening behind the cut, so beware:

The puns in Michael’s TPS have direct relevance not only to the “practical nature” of the simulation at hand (strangers are literally under the trolley as they keep mowing them down amidst spurting blood and flying body chunks that “curiously” only hit poor Chidi despite Eleanor’s close proximity), but also cleverly hint at Michael’s own feelings on the issue that won’t get revealed until later. Bentham’s famous “greatest-happiness principle” governs his actions when he chooses to sacrifice himself to give Eleanor & the others a chance to secure passage to the real Good Place where eternal happiness awaits. He “bends it like Bentham”.

IF we can take TPS as precedent (and that’s a big if, I know, but it’s fun), then Sting’s Desert Rosé is also likely to be more than just a simple pun. Then it is both relevant to the practicalities of the situation at hand (it is a bar that serves wine) and to feelings which have not been articulated yet and will come into play later. Michael’s solution to the trolley problem (self-sacrifice) develops silently and remains in the background until a situation demands its disclosure. The implication of Sting’s Desert Rosé is a feeling of deep longing for the love of a woman and even that of a higher being (God) - a painful desire to return to the “good place” (or the “pre-fall” condition).

Michael is already invested in how Eleanor sees him and he also wished to follow them to the real Good Place, but since he is still a demon, gaining both her & (the show’s version of) God’s love (=entry) must feel like a long shot at best. I think he became painfully aware of this as a result of those ethics lessons and his billion failed attempts to sneak into the Good Place. All this likely informed his trolley problem solution, too. Being made aware of how fundamentally disqualified he is hasn’t enabled him to change it, it just made him feel miserable since the longing is still there, a longing no other “sane” demon has. Yet it doesn’t stop him from trying to help the others, which makes me wanna wrap him in an eternal hug.

If we look at the lyrics and compare/contrast them w/ the show, several thematic similarities emerge. (ofc these could be entirely accidental and/or irrelevant, but they are still there, imo)

“I am looking for myself and my loved one”

The Algerian Arabic intro (which sounds almost like a prayer) sums up Michael’s journey of discovering what it means/feels to be human. Such a journey inevitably involves the pains & pleasures of choice, of identity forging, and the experience of love (returned or otherwise). Janet started out as an anthropomorphized mainframe and now, after a social “evolution” induced by environment interacting w/ some unique “susceptibility”, she is questioning what/who she is. Michael is in the same boat: he started out as an office drone demon but that’s not quite what/who he is anymore. Both were obedient workers “pre-programmed” to serve but now they make their own paths separate from their kind. They threw out the rulebook and are actively choosing the recipients of their devotion, even when those recipients can no longer remember them.

“I dream of love as time runs through my hand those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire My life is for you”

Janet gravitates toward Jason and Michael toward Eleanor in particular. They have to let them go at the end of S2 as another round of experiment kicks off, but one connection, in form of ticker tapes, remains and we can see them holding and reading these w/ unwavering commitment. It’s likely just a coincidence but a very nice one still, so I am going there: the word “ticker” can refer to a watch (and thus time), the heart, and the machine connecting Michael and Janet to Eleanor and Jason respectively.

The titular desert rose is not without concrete relevance, either. All her life Eleanor lived in Arizona which is home to several deserts (Sonoran, Mojave, Chihuahuan). This is at the core of one of my favorite gags where Michael keeps asking the freshly rebooted Janet for Eleanor’s file, and she keeps handing him cacti instead. Then, when she finally produces the file, it still has a bunch of cactus pictures in them. If we roll w/ this desert connection, then Eleanor = desert rose def works too (+ she is wearing red in the bar scene)

“This memory of Eden haunts us all This desert flower This rare perfume, is the sweet intoxication of the fall”

The fall and Eden are key elements in Genesis. Eve shares the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil w/ Adam and they get booted from paradise. Something similar happens in the show, too, albeit w/ some neat twists. Eleanor insists that Michael attend Chidi’s ethics lessons (=“tree”) where they acquire knowledge (=“fruit”) of, yes, good and evil. She shares it w/ him and it changes Michael, which leads to his disobedience or “fall” and ultimate banishment as their “good place” gets completely disassembled.

Michael has a spark of deviance in him from the get-go, an innate urge to color outside the lines, but he starts to cross them in earnest only after Eleanor enters the picture. First, it’s in the form of 802 reboots, which is 800 more than he is authorized for, but he gets fixated on besting her. The 2nd big moment is when he takes his senior staff pin (the very symbol of everything he ever wanted) and pins it on her, irrevocably betraying everything he previously stood for. He pulls a sort of “reverse Lucifer” (his “rebellion” takes place in the show’s approximation of hell and is driven not by pride but by humbling himself) but it’s patterned on the fall of man. This mix of demonic and human heritage would be very in-keeping w/ his character: a demon longing to experience what it’s like to be human.

“No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this.”

It is one of the greatest sources of irony in the show how the torture master ends up tormenting himself with and within the very framework he constructed for others. At the end of those 802 reboots, nobody is suffering more than Michael. His subordinates may be frustrated but they eagerly turn his failures to their advantage while the ultimate responsibility still rests w/ Michael who, already after the 2nd failed reboot, runs the very real risk of dying the only death his kind is able: the eternal shriek. The four humans endure a measure of psychological-emotional torture, but they forget all but the last week of their afterlife due to rebooting, whereas Michael remembers everything. He has to endure failure over and over again bc Eleanor keeps figuring him out, upping the pressure w/ each reboot, and, finally, exposing him to blackmail by his own underlings. This is when he reaches complete isolation which is a special kind of hell even within hell.

This 1st type of torture Eleanor (unwittingly) puts him through is mental in nature. She repeatedly hits him where it hurts the most at that time - his sense of intellectual superiority -, gradually evicting him from a life he’s known since forever. The direct continuation of this process is when she makes attendance of Chidi’s lessons compulsory, which again forces him to fully confront the fact that he’s not always the smartest guy in the room, not always in control, and - most importantly - that it’s okay bc the others are there to help and guide him when he’s in need.

This breakthrough gives way to the 2nd, more complex phase that involves (social) emotions that tend to develop as a result of cooperation (esp the kind Team Cockroach engaged in). We can already see their effect creep in when e.g. Michael is plagued by fear at the possibility of losing his friends or when he experiences the first sharp pangs of remorse. He is no longer immune to the full palette of “human suffering” bc he cares and even loves now, and it all stems from and loops back to Eleanor. She is the one he desperately clutches after the dangers pass, it’s her disappointment that slices through him even though he let the rest of them down too, and it’s her “progress reports” that fill his life after they have to part ways.

In this new phase he is forbidden to help or have any kind of contact, but when he can no longer stand doing nothing, he has to risk everything again in exchange for a few minutes w/ her. He could have easily nudged her in the right direction w/o revealing himself - the way he did when he saved her life. But no, this time he shows himself, prompts her to just ramble on about Kangaroo Jack, which, objectively speaking, is an insane risk to take when you can get caught every second, so you know Michael only took his feelings w/ him and left objectivity behind, and, at the end of it all, she still looks at him and sees a total stranger bc this is the only way for her to gain entry to paradise.

Now that’s some exquisite torture in a bar named after a song of romantic-sexual longing placed within a larger philosophical context.

#michael x eleanor #speculation #musings #tgp wank #q

62 notes · View notes