#not my Christmas cause i celebrate on 7 January
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Diabolik Twitter ー Reiji Sakamaki [2021 Compilation]
–> This post includes all tweets posted on the official Rejet Twitter account for Reiji Sakamaki (@DialoverReijiS) in 2021.
Shuu l Ayato l Kanato l Laito l Subaru l Ruki l Kou l Yuma l Azusa l Carla l Shin l Kino
January 22, 2021
> Good grief, not just Ayato, but Subaru as well. I truly wish they would stop destroying the manor...
> I wonder if they do not realize that our household’s budget decreases, the higher the reparation costs get?
> No, I shall use this opportunity to make sure they understand once and for all.
> They will not get their favorite food nor any pocket money until they have finished all reparations by themselves.
February 14, 2021 (Valentine’s Day)
> Thank you once again. I shall eat them since I have no other choice…Just kidding. Would you laugh if I were to admit that I look forward to your chocolates every year?
March 14, 2021 (White Day)
> Thank you very much for the Valentine’s Day chocolates. Putting in all of my skill, this is what I have prepared for you in return. I made these to fit your personal tastes, so please savor them thoroughly. Furthermore, I shall also treat you to a cup of this high-quality tea.
April 1, 2021 (April Fools)
> Press F in the chat.
T/N: The original expression used here is ぱおん. Which is based on Shuu’s ぴえん, but expresses an even stronger sense of sadness.
May 19, 2021
> Excuse me, how long will you keep on sleeping? I cannot believe I had to come pick you up...Good grief.
> Listen carefully? As long as we live underneath the same roof, I shall not allow such a lazy attitude.
> A fine response. It appears that you understand who you belong to.
> Well then, I shall make you a cup of my very own deluxe tea, so please go freshen up in the meantime.
May 26, 2021
> From dance steps to the correct way to pour a cup of tea...I have taught you many things so far, have I not?
> I am the one who should thank you. After all, you have taught me a much more valuable lesson.
> Well then, do you understand what I’m referring to?
> Fufu, I suppose I will have to let you know sooner rather than later.
June 18, 2021
> I am delighted to hear you enjoyed it...Although you could have dropped the ‘occasionally’. (@Carla)
> I do happen to own the sequel as well. Would you like to borrow it? (@Carla)
> Do you not think it is up to the demanding party to come get it? (@Calra)
July 7, 2021
> It is most likely the high humidity which has caused his hair to explode. He happens to have very fine, soft hair so it poofs more than it would for the average person.
July 31, 2021
> I pray that I will get less complaints about my brothers from the teachers. #TanabataWishes
August, 2021
> Who tore off the curtain in the living room?
> I can only assume Ayato is behind this...This is not the first time either. He shall not be forgiven.
> He will not get any pocket money this month to cover for the reparation fee.
August 29, 2021
> Honestly, I would have not been surprised if you had kept things simple this year, but you prepared thoroughly for the celebration. Thanks to you, I find myself very much looking forward to this day every year. Well then, my dear, please come here. Let us end the day in the best way possible.
October 4, 2021
> I have been very much into rooibos tea as of late.
> I heard it also improves health and beauty.
> I shall pour you a cup as well next time.
November 21, 2021
> Do you have a minute? There is something important I must tell you.
> This is a present for you. We have spent a very long time together, and said anniversary is approaching. I chose this especially for you from various other products. You will accept it, right?
December 23, 2021
> Oh dear, I cannot believe that even picking out presents has become something enjoyable to me, as long as I know I am choosing something for you.
December 24, 2021
> Did you enjoy Christmas? Well, it only makes sense you did, considering I have been secretly planning everything since quite some time ago. I am also very happy we were able to spend today together.
#diabolik lovers#dialovers#reiji sakamaki#diabolik lovers twitter#diabolik lovers tweets#diabolik lovers translation
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Egg-onomics: Avian Flu’s Affect on the Egg Market
For many, eggs are an everyday food item that is essential to a protein-rich, nutrient-dense breakfast. Eggs have been a staple of the American breakfast due to their affordability, versatility, and ease of preparation, however, Avian Flu outbreaks or “Bird Flu” among egg hens has led to significant changes in the egg market.
A large scale outbreak of “Bird Flu” resulted in a record high for egg prices in 2023, with a dozen large grade A eggs costing $4.82 at its highest in January. Since then, egg prices had decreased until recently in November and December of 2023, when a second wave of the “Bird Flu” hit many California egg farms. In the “Egg Basket of the World,” Petaluma located in Sonoma County, California over a dozen farms were forced to slaughter entire flocks of hen chickens resulting in the loss of over 1 million birds. Outbreaks such as these have been seen in across California affecting an estimated 7 million chickens. Furthermore, farms must receive federal approval to begin repopulating farms which is not expected to begin until later spring months, after which the hens must grow to egg-laying maturity. Such a massive loss in production capability has had a significant impact on the consumer market and will continue to affect prices and supply throughout 2024. In addition, surveys have indicated that egg consumption per capita has been increasing steadily since 2022.
This graph shows how the recent Avian Flu outbreak has affected supply and demand curves for farmed eggs. The demand curve shifted right as a result of increased egg consumption as well as heightened demand among scarcity. The supply curve shifted left due to the death of millions of egg-laying hens drastically decreasing egg production. Together, these trends caused the equilibrium point to shift to a significantly higher price at a decreased quantity supplied. As evidenced by the graph, price P1 prior to the Avian Flu outbreak is less than price P2 after, yet the quantity of eggs supplied after the Avian Flu outbreak Q2 is greater than the quantity supplied prior Q1.
As someone who eats eggs on a daily basis, I have witnessed this shift in price and quantity first-hand. I remember returning to my apartment after Christmas and going to Costco and noticing the price for 5 dozen eggs had shot back up above $10 again when I had been previously celebrating the price finally dipping down to about $7 before the outbreak. Since then, I have noticed decreased stock of eggs on the shelves, and have even had to make special arrangements to visit Costco earlier in the day to ensure that there are still eggs available for me to buy.
The increased egg prices have also caused me to reconsider my buyer preferences. Standard cage-free eggs can be considered a normal good, a medium level of quality with similar but not exceptional nutritional gain. Likewise, pasture-raised eggs can be considered a luxury good, offering slightly higher nutritional value at a higher price. Before the 2023 Avian Flu outbreak, I would consistently treat myself to the higher quality pasture-raised eggs in a way that was not proportional to my income. However, the shift in supply-demand equilibrium caused me to change my buying habits to exclusively purchase cage-free eggs, the normal good. For my dietary goals I would consider plant-based egg alternatives an inferior good. When determining what to buy, my preferences could be displayed as such.
pasture-raised ≽ cage-free ≽ plant-based
These preferences are rational as they are both complete and transitive. I can say they are complete because I can compare and make a choice between any comparison. They are also transitive as they are not contradictory in individual comparison.
pasture-raised ≽ cage-free
pasture-raised ≽ plant-based
cage-free ≽ plant-based
As the impact of the recent Avian Flu outbreak continues to affect the consumer, we can further observe these trends every time we visit the grocery store. While I do hope that prices will return to previous levels (as my love for eggs is very pricey nowadays), it is interesting to observe the basic principals of economics at play in my life every time I visit the store.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/19/why-egg-prices-are-increasing-again.html#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%20368,2022%20into%202023%2C%20Rispoli%20said.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/183678/per-capita-consumption-of-eggs-in-the-us-since-2000/#:~:text=The%20demand%20of%20eggs%20has,eggs%20per%20capita%20by%202024.
https://apnews.com/article/avian-flu-chicken-outbreak-california-poultry-eggs-976f0f82843bf716dbad64f459b4b8be
Name:
Noah Castillo (36847622)
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Stuff I'm Looking Forward to in December
I can't believe it is now the END of 2023 and it's the last month of the year. In addition to Pearl Harbor Day (Dec. 7), Hanukkah (Dec. 7-15), Winter beginning (Dec. 21), Christmas Day (Dec. 25), Kwanzaa (Dec. 26-Jan. 1) and New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) here is what's on my radar:
Movies:
Silent Night
John Woo is one of my personal filmmaking heroes. I even made a tribute to him with my short film To Be John Woo. He has not made a film in the U.S. in twenty years and now he's back with an action-packed revenge film. Opens 12/1 (review to come).
A Disturbance in the Force
The 1978 TV special Star Wars Holiday Special has become legendary…mainly because it was so critically reviled and George Lucas has tried to prevent it from ever being re-broadcast or released. I got my bootleg DVD and I’ve written about it quite a bit here. Now there is a documentary about the SWHS. It’s directed by Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak. Coon co-directed Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, which I named my #14 Documentary of the 2010s! Blu-ray and streaming release on 12/5.
Wonka
I have a very special place in my heart for Roald Dahl's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In third grade we did a production of it and I made my acting debut as an Oompa Loompa. Tim Burton's 2005 remake got a bad rap, but I kind of liked it and dug how they tried to get into his background. Now there is a new prequel about Willy Wonka's early days and the lead up to his becoming a chocolate king. I would call myself cautiously optimistic about this. Opens 12/15.
Ferrari
I can't say I love every movie Michael Mann has made, but when he's good he's really good and whenever he has a new film I always check it out. This biopic of Enzo Ferrari looks good! Opens 12/25.
The Boys in the Boat
George Clooney has directed some of his best work when it's based on real life, i.e. Good Night and Good Luck and The Monuments Men. This one is about the 1930s University of Washington rowing team. Opens 12/25.
Occupied City
Steve McQueen's directed some great narrative films and now he has a new documentary about Amsterdam from World War II to now. It's also 4 hours and 6 minutes (not a typo). Opens 12/25.
Music:
Peter Gabriel I/O
Peter Gabriel hasn't released a new album of original material in 21 years (there's been covers and re-recordings since then), so this new album he's been teasing throughout the year is cause for celebration. Album drops 12/1.
TV:
Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?
As the singer and bassist for Rush, Geddy Lee has amassed quite a cult following. Now he is doing his version of a travel show, where he meets with other notable bassists to do some of their favorite activities, see their home and area, talk shop and yes, compare bass playing tips. Series premieres on 12/5 on Paramount+.
John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial
The 1980 murder of John Lennon is one of the great tragedies in that he was such a tremendous talent taken from us at age 40 by a deranged "fan". This 3-part docuseries deep dives into that killing and the aftermath. Series premieres on Apple TV+ on 12/6.
End of the Year Lists:
As anyone who knows me knows, I wait until after the year ends to begin unveiling my best-of-the-year lists (you never know, something great might be released on 12/31!), so expect my lists to be rolled out beginning in January. In the meantime, I’ll be reading all of the Best of 2023 lists that begin dropping this month!
#stuff i'm looking forward to#silent night#john woo#a disturbance in the force#a star wars holiday special#jeremy coon#steve kozak#peter gabriel#geddy lee asks: are bass players human too?#john lennon: murder without a trial#wonka#paul king#film geek#music nerd#tv
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What I think about every month
JANUARY: it’s pretty chill, beginning of year and the last few days of this month is the final days of winter break, overall 7/10, could be better
FEBRUARY: I honestly have no thoughts about Valentine’s Day (cause I’m the hottest kid in the grade so I get plenty of asks for valentines) but the rest of February is nice and pretty chill, overall 8/10
MARCH:I don’t have much to say about march either, nothing cool happens during march, it’s boring, overall 2/10
APRIL: commonly the month before school ends, also Easter, that I don’t celebrate, cuz I’m Jewish (I don’t go to church but it’s treated like any other day) but pretty good spring month, overall 5/10
MAY: the last month of school for some, and a month before my birthday, also, may is a pretty good and chill month, overall 10/10!
JUNE: the first days of this month are the last days for people who start school in September, I like this month cuz my birthday and its very slay, so 9/10!
JULY: I hate this month, I’m British and sense I live in the states all I hear is HAA, 0/10 wtf George Washington
AUGUST: the first month of school, I like school, so personally 7/10
SEPTEMBER: the second first month of school, I like this month cause of fall cause I like the spooky vibes, so 109/10
OCTOBER: no comment, purely amazing 3847376373728373/10
NOVEMBER: I like this month, I get to start listening to Christmas music and get to start decorating, but I wouldn’t think the same for the guys sadly,
DECEMBER: I like dis one too, very festive and a lot of family time! Overall 10/10!
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The following reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager © 2022. Don's website is located at Dailyscripture.net
Meditation: What is the connection between Bethlehem and Calvary - the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and his passion and death on a cross? The very reason the Son of God took on flesh and became a man for our sake was to redeem us from slavery to sin and death and to give us new life as the adopted children of God. The way to glory in the kingdom of God is through the cross. If we want to share in Jesus' glory, then we, too, must take up our cross each day and follow in his footsteps.
The cost of following and serving the Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus never hesitated to tell his disciples what they might expect if they followed him. Here Jesus says to his disciples: This is my task for you at its grimmest and worst; do you accept it? This is not the world's way of offering a job. After the defeat at Dunkirk during World War II, Churchill offered his country "blood, toil, sweat, and tears." Suffering for the name of Christ is not the message we prefer to hear when the Lord commissions us in his service. Nonetheless, our privilege is to follow in the footsteps of the Master who laid down his life for us. The Lord gives us sufficient grace to follow him and to bear our cross with courage and hope. Do you know the joy and victory of the cross of Jesus Christ?
"Lord Jesus, your coming in the flesh to ransom us from slavery to sin gives us cause for great rejoicing even in the midst of trials and pain. Help me to patiently and joyfully accept the hardships, adversities, and persecution which come my way in serving you. Strengthen my faith and give me courage that I may not shrink back from doing your will."
The following reflection is from One Bread, One Body courtesy of Presentation Ministries © 2022.
witness stand
“You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to give witness before them.” —Matthew 10:18
Christmas is a special opportunity to witness for Jesus. Because St. Stephen was the first witness to give up his life for Jesus the faithful Witness (Rv 1:5), it is appropriate that he is the first of the Christmas saints. Witnessing is not just saying good things about Jesus. Witnessing is communicating a personal experience of Jesus. St. Stephen was a witness not just because he spoke about Jesus, but because he saw Jesus at the Father’s right hand and proclaimed this to the crowd (see Acts 7:56). Witnesses for Jesus share not just what they have received from other human beings in conversation or instruction. Rather, their witness is based on their personal experience of revelation from Christ (Gal 1:12).
Moreover, witnessing is not just communicating a personal experience of Jesus. Witnessing is in the context of a trial. This may not be a legal trial but any situation where people have decided to cross-examine Jesus again and to pronounce judgment on His followers. These courts are set up at work, in politics, social events, entertainment, mass media, and even church. When we proclaim our personal experience of Jesus in a legal court or in a “kangaroo court,” we are witnesses for Jesus in the true sense of the word. Then the Holy Spirit will put words in our mouths (Mt 10:20). We will be persecuted and possibly even martyred. Then Sauls will become Pauls, and Christmas will be truly the celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Prayer: Father, may my simple, persistent witness shake the social fabric in which I’m involved.
Promise: “As Stephen was being stoned, he could be heard praying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ ” —Acts 7:59
Praise: “Stephen’s face seemed like that of an angel” (Acts 6:15). St. Stephen, please pray the Holy Spirit will give us peaceful and courageous hearts.
Reference:
Rescript: "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from December 1,2022 through January 31,2023. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio April 12, 2022"
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements
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I love your writing! My bday is on Valentine’s Day and I was wondering what the Demon Bros would do when they find out.
Keep up the great work!!
[happy birthday in advance!]
Lucifer
went and immediately started thinking of gifts to give to you
fuck work, that can come later, i need to think of something as MC's birthday and valentines gifts.
actually couldn't think of anything cause everytime he'd think of buying it he'd back out.
"i can't believe i'm doing this..." *knocks on Asmo's door* "hey, can you help me pick out a gift for MC?"
asmo was so happy they ended up shopping for 7 hours :D
Lucifer had fun tho but he won't tell that<3
Mammon
already knew about it
started saving up money on january which was VERY VERY hard for him. so please give him extra love and affection
he's your first man! of course he knows what you want!!
"you should be greatful! the great mammon saved up money just to buy that for you!"
he kept looking at you with hopeful eyes as you open the present. hoping that you'd like it.
now that you open it, can you give him a reward for saving up money for it? he wants it now >:((
Leviathan
let's be honest this bitch would forget that your birthday and valentine's day is on the same day if it weren't for his brothers who had to remind him.
just like christmas, he hate valentine's day as well. but now his view on the holiday has changed ever since you arrived.
panics, more panic, even more panicking cause he doesn't know what to get you
ends up being the one buying you alot of things (second to asmo)
"im sorry..! i didn't know what you'd like so i just bought things that i think you'd love..."
very shy boi
Satan
he's calm because he already got you a present the moment it hit february
is having fun seeing his brothers perish from panicking and thinking of presents for you.
quietly sneaks you out the house to show you the present he prepared for you.
the dude rented a cat cafe for the whole afternoon just for the two of you.
"i hope you like the gift i prepared, sorry if it's not much but i still hope you like it."
smiles from ear to ear when you say that you loved what he prepared.
Asmodeus
is the most stressed one out of all 7 brothers.
he wants to buy you the most perfect gift for the most perfect human of course!
starts planning out your gifts right after everybody went to sleep on new year's eve.
"come on asmo, think. what gift would be perfect for the most wonderful human there is to live?"
excited for you to open his gift, proud of himself cause he got you the perfect gift ever.
even more happier when you thanked him with a kiss on his cheek!
now do it on the lips.
Beelzebub
had no idea what to gift you so all he did was take over your chores and do them instead
he even shared his food with you D:
you found it very adorable and you swore you could have died right then and there.
"beelie, you don't have to share your food with me.. just you being kind and taking over my chores is enough.."
"but...i didn't get you anything for your birthday nor valentine's day..."
"oh hush darling, gift or no gift, i'm still thankful cause you're here."
clinging to you for the whole week.
he loves you.
Belphegor
slept through the whole afternoon of your celebration of your birthday.
he prepared something though, so don't be sad.
goes to your room at 7 pm and leads you out to the garden only to be greeted with a blanket on the grass with pillows, food, drinks, fairy lights, flowers. the whole shebang.
"i wanted to stargaze tonight on your birthday with you. so here it is."
chuckles when you said that you thought he forgot about your birthday.
cuddles with you and starts to ramble everything he knows about astronomy.
#obey me fic#obey me swd#shall we date obey me#obey me shall we date#obey me fandom#omswd#obey me mc#gn!mc#obey me#obey me brothers#obey me lucifer#obey me mammon#obey me leviathan#obey me satan#obey me asmodeus#obey me beelzebub#obey me belphegor#obey me fluff
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25 Days of Chris-Fics
25 𝓓𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼-𝓕𝓲𝓬𝓼
Happy Holidays, my lovely elves and reindeers! Hope you got yourself some hot chocolate with some marshmallows and gingerbread cookies with you because we have another challenge for you all! For those who did my October Challenge, you might like this one! Don’t be afraid to gather more friends to join on this one!
As some of you know, it’s December, my birthday month! If you’d like to do a special fic for me, feel free to message me and you can work from there (Will add the day of my birthday if you’d like to gift it on the day of it). As always, I’m grateful to have you all gathered here, I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving with your families!
This is my first time celebrating my birthday on Tumblr so it’s going to be a nice thing to do.
There will be a lot of choices for you so choose whatever you please to make this Holiday a nice treat for those.
Rules and Prompts are provided below the cut!
Do you have to follow Dino to participate?
No. You do not have to, this is for everyone. But I’d appreciate it.
Deadline?
No deadline, you could even start it in January. Even though it says 25 Days of Chris-Fics. And if you’re late for my birthday, you can post it before or after
(if you plan on something special. I don’t expect something for me cause you’re enough)
Rules
Minimum 500 words. No max
Unlimited choices, you can do whatever you choose, but keep it below 5 choices.
Limit of 2-3 stories per person.
No Smut! Implied is allowed just have very little and warnings.
These can be reader insert or OC stories.
Ethnic, Interracial, LGBTQ+ and polyamorous stories are welcome and encouraged.
It must be an original work and not part of an existing series.
Be sure to tag me and if I ever miss your fic and didn’t reblog it in two days, feel free to throw a message at me and I will surely give you a reblog in 24 hours.
My Birthday is on the 21st of December, so you’re welcome to post your fic on that day!
Prompts:
Choose your favorite prompt and use it for your Holiday Fic!
Song Prompts:
List of your favorite Holiday Songs you can use for your characters can sing, dance, listen to in your story or represent your story.
Movie Prompts:
This can be something the family could watch or only two people could be alone with a nice cozy blanket. Or if you’re interested, you can use it as a AU. Ex: Choice of Character hates Christmas and ruins it for the other. (Grinch)
Picture Prompts:
This is for your story to come to life, represent what your story holds. Either a nice hot chocolate on a winter night, a nice Christmas dinner, or decorating a tree.
When you have your Holiday Story written, tag me in that fic and use the tag #ODNHolidayBDay2020
Prompts
1. “Is that a Mistletoe? Are you holding a Mistletoe?”
2. “So help me if you eat another Gingerbread man, me and you are going to fall out.”
3. “Christmas movies, Christmas lights, Christmas songs and you? That’s my ideal Christmas.”
4. S/O dresses up as Santa for the kids.
5. Secret Santa with family.
6. “You’re slowly turning into Buddy the Elf, so calm down.”
7. “Santa’s not real...” “I will cover you in Christmas lights and tinsel, turning you into a Christmas tree if you say that one more time.”
8. Person A and Person B decorate their Christmas tree and they argue who puts the star on top.
9. Dressing their pet up as Santa, Rudolph or an Elf.
10. “Stop being such a Grinch!”
11. “If you eat one more cookie from that plate, we’re going to have problems.”
12. “I want a reindeer.”
13. Person A mounts lights onto the house while Person B holds the ladder as they’re panicking that Person A will fall.
14. Snow fights/Ice Skating
15. Person A and B both are making Christmas treats.
16. S/O makes hot chocolate and sets a cozy date on the couch for their S/O.
17. S/O hates Christmas but after a lot of convincing it works.
18 . The kid(s) wake the parents up at 5am.
19. “____, come back to bed, please.” S/O with camera, “I will prove he exists.”
20. “Did you really set a trap by the fireplace?”
21. Kid(s) wrap S/O in wrapping paper and puts a bow on their head.
22. S/O shows the other how to wrap presents.
23. Making Gingerbread houses.
24. Matching pajamas (including pet)
25. S/O takes the kids sledding.
26. Go riding with the reindeers.
27. “You really outdone the house.”
28. S/O dresses up as an Elf while cooking dinner.
29. “I’m going to tie you with Christmas lights if you don’t stop.”
30. Going to a Christmas Light Show in a park with live animals.
31. “Ooh, cookies-” “Get out of my kitchen!”
32. “You’re drinking wine at 7 in the morning-?” “You keep bothering me, I might soon enough be drunk.”
33. “You better get your ass out of bed.” “You better get your ass out of my room.”
34. “Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.”
35. Singing Xmas Carols in a plaza to earn money for the homeless.
Song Prompts
36. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
37. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
38. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
39. It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year - Andy Williams
40. The Christmas Song (Remastered) - Nat King Cole
41. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
42. Last Christmas - WHAM!
43. Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes
44. Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer - Gene Autry
45. Frosty The Snowman - Jimmy Durante
46. Santa Claus Is Coming Town - Jackson 5
47. (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays - Perry Como
48. I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Michael Bublé
49. Wrapped in Red - Kelly Clarkson
50. Silver Bells - Andy Williams
51. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
52. Jingle Bells - Frank Sinatra
53. Where Are You Christmas - Faith Hill
54. 4 Carats - Kelly Clarkson
55. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
56. Winter Wonderland - Darlene Love
57. Underneath the Tree - Kelly Clarkson
.
Movie Prompts
58. Fred Claus (2007)
59. Last Christmas (2019)
60. Four Christmases (2008)
61. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
62. Home Alone (1990/1992)
63. The Polar Express (2004)
64. Elf (2003)
65. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
66. A Christmas Story (1983)
67. Frosty The Snowman (1969)
68. Deck The Halls (2006)
.
Picture Prompts
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
TAGS:
@jtargaryen18 @donutloverxo @captainchrisbaby @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @stop-obsessing-over-those-actors @star-spangled-beard-burn @nickysurfer28 @nbarnes @cheeseburgersstuff @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @navybrat817 @waywardodysseys @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @queen-kass-the-writer @ssebstann @writerwrites @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad @anika-ann @ladywitheclecticheart @a-little-counter-esperanto @heavenlypugpizza
Signal Boost if you want!
#ODNHolidayBDay2020#Chris Evans Challenge#writing challenge#Chris Evans x Reader#optimistic-dinosaur-nacho#Dino's Challenge#Birthday Challenge
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Miah’s 1K Celebration
so...
welcome to the mess that is my 1k celebration cause i’m unable to make simple choices and can’t stand the thought of letting people down
as you can see, i’m perfectly normal
the literal 1005 people following me would disagree on that but heyyy details
so anyway
one thousand
one bloody thousand people following me
my inicial reaction is whyyyy??? i’m just a bisexual disaster who sometimes writes a half decent fanfic but you deemed me worthy of your follow?
then i started crying cause yk
but bottomline is, i love you all, you’re the bestest people in the whole entire world, so i’m gonna make both a sleepover and a writing challenge
sleepover cause i like answering questions
writing challenge cause it gives me a chance to show you all other artists and discover other artists myself cause we all need them and they deserve more recognition
special shoutout to my mutuals who i’ll tag at the end for always being there for me and supporting me through every high and every low, y’all are the real heroes here
BUT ANYWAY, ONTO THE CELEBRATION PART, WHICH FINDS ITSELF UNDER THE CUT OTHERWISE IT’D BE TOO BIG TO PROPERLY REBLOG (i tend to ramble a bit, but you already knew that)
Starts: December 11th 2020
Ends: December 20th 2020
Who can participate: everyone, anon or not! no need to be following me either
send me asks for:
✨ my opinion on...
🌻 cast my mutuals as...
🎵 i'll put my playlist on shuffle and give you a song
🍉 random fact about me
🦔 what's my favorite...
🍀 i'll give you advice (or just listen to you rant, if you want)
💬 last text [insert person] sent me
💌 handwritten letter
🎬 movie rec
📖 fic or blog rec
📘 inspiration behind [insert fic name], how i came up with it or if you have questions about it
🖋 line from one of my WIPs (tell me if you want fluff or angst, i won't tell you the pairing or anything, that's no fun)
💋 kiss, date, marry [insert people]
🎤 give me a song an i'll do a mini cover of it (it will be 1min long tops cause that's all tumblr can take lmao)
📷 random picture from my camera roll (you can request a theme if you want, like pictures from my childhood or awkward pics or something)
Rules:
• Open to anyone (don't have to be following me)
• Send me a DM or ask with the prompt(s) you want (two people tops per work) and who you're writing about
• Smut is allowed but make sure to put it in the warnings
• I will accept works for any Marvel character or cast member, part of the Holland clan, 1D member or affiliated, Teen Wolf characters or cast member, Maze Runner character or cast member
• Can be reader inserts or not, but please specify it in your DM/ask too
• Tag me when you're done
• All works will be rebloged under #Miah's 1k writing challenge and put in a masterlist that will be specifically created for this writing challenge
Starts: December 11th 2020
Ends: January 11th 2020
Prompt list:
1. “Is that my shirt?” “You mean our shirt?”
2. “Home stopped being a place when you entered my life.”
3. “Stop moving and let me braid your hair.”
4. “Could you say that again?” “Were you not listening?” “No I was, I just like hearing your voice.”
5. “Can you just please hold me?”
6. “You come here often?” “Well considering I work here, yes.”
7. “Can I stay here tonight?”
8. “You’re really warm.”
9. “I’ve been in-love with you since we were kids.”
10. “Why are you wearing my sweater?” “Because it smells like you.”
11. “You are crushing me right now.”
12. “Darling I love you and all, but please get out of my kitchen.”
13. "I leave you alone for five minutes and this happens."
14. "I didn't fall. The floor looked lonely so I wanted to hug it." "Then why are you crying?" "It was an emotional reunion."
15. "There's no such thing as too many fairy lights."
16. “I’m leaving.” “Of course you are, that’s all you know how to do.”
17. “I love you.” “No you don’t”
18. “Any other lies left to tell me?”
19. “I miss the old you.”
20. “What happened to their happily ever after?” “Not all love stories get a happily ever after, sometimes it’s just once upon a time.”
21. “Lie to me. I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”
22. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t leave.”
23. "It's okay. It's not your fault that I couldn't be enough."
24. "Please don't leave me."
25. "You have the emotional range of a teaspoon."
26. "Will you shut up for once in your life?"
27. "This isn't about us."
28. "I will shove a christmas tree so far up your ass that when you open your mouth we'll see the fairy lights."
29. "I'm not crying, my eyes are sweating"
30. "Is that blood?" "Yes, but it's not mine." "Is that supposed to make it better?"
31. "I’ll drink to that.” “You drink to everything.” “Cheers!”
32. “Why is arson always your first answer?”
33. "What are you doing?" "What does it look like I'm doing?"
34. "I can explain!" "Then explain." "Okay, I can't explain."
35. "Get out of here with your facts. Just because you're accurate does not mean you're interesting."
36. "How many hearts did you break while trying to keep yours intact?"
37. "I know everything. It's in the job description."
38. "One more word out of you and I'll rip your throat out with my teeth."
39. "Do you listen to girl in red?"
40. "Is that code for something or am I just paranoid?"
41. "With how things have been going, I might as well start working at a circus."
42. "I love (him/her/them)." "Then why did you give up?" "Cause (he/she/they) deserved better."
43. "I want to ask but something tells me the answer will be more disturbing than anything I can think of."
44. "Do you think he's... *flicks wrist*?"
45. "Do I look like an idiot to you?" "Do you want me to answer that honestly or politely?"
46. "Just how clumsy are you?"
47. "So... the weather?"
48. "Just leave."
49. "Don't you fucking dare!"
50. "You don't have to talk right now. But whenever you're ready, if you're ever ready, I'll be here to listen."
tagging and complimenting my amazing mutuals cause y’all deserve it
@parkersbliss thank you for marrying me, first of all, and for being the most amazing wife one could ask. i wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you and i will never stop ebing thankful for your existence
@peterspideyy thank you for listening to my rants along with grace and supporting me during all my simping, you’re the sweetest thing existing since powdered sugar
@theamazingtomholland thank you for always putting a smile on my face, reminding me that i’m loved everyday and just being you, cause it’s the best thing you could be
@lozzypoz321 thank you for listening to me rant abt my fics and how much i hate writing and then motivating me to write again or do basic things like get out of bed lmao (we still have the best taste in music)
@everything-is-alrightt kenzie lovely, thank you for being the pure little ball of unfiltered joy that you are cause even thinking about you and the jump shit your brothers get up to makes me smile like crazy, you’re amazing and don’t you dare forget it
@spider-trash thank you for being my brother, going alon with my ridiculous schemes for corrupting posie and making me laugh out loud every time you come up with something even worse, you’re the coolest bro i could ask for
and finally, thank you @fallinfortom for inspiring me to write in the first place, being an amazing mum to us, an actual good role model for me to have and for your random appearances in my dreams and the fun english teacher who makes us read tom holland fics instead of english literature. you’re amazing and i’m incredibly thankful to know you
love you all to the ends of the universe and back again, Miah
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1060
(made by: tickle-my-pickle)
1. What do you think is the best way to start off the New Year?
Everyone has their own way of ushering in the new year. Me personally, I just like to start everything with a little more optimism. I don’t have to be super excited, but it’s important that I at least have a healthy mindset.
2. What is something that you can do in order to make your house look/feel ready for the New Year?
We turn on every single light in the house. My family and I also dress up since we usually go to NYE mass. To get into the mood, I will usually play music on the speakers.
3. Do you/your family put up any sorts of decorations for the New Year? Do you celebrate with any props such as hats, blowers, etc?
We don’t really put up New Year’s decorations (do those exist?) and the only decor we have are items for Christmas, which we keep until the end of January. Sometimes my mom will buy horns and New Year-themed glasses and headbands.
4. What was your most memorable New Years, and why was it so memorable?
2013. It was our first New Year’s with my dad home, so we really went all out with the celebrations and offered to host dinner for both my dad’s and mom’s sides. For the first and only time so far, my parents also bought a shit-ton of fireworks that we ourselves could set off – we never buy our own since a single pack that will only last a few seconds is already quite expensive.
5. What was your worst New Years celebration, and what about it made it the worst?
The New Year that ushered in 2019. I was alone and felt extremely alone that night. I remember taking a selfie at midnight to serve as a reminder to myself that better days are ahead, but until now I can’t even look back at the photo because all it does is remind me of how sad I was at the time.
Slight trigger warning below the cut.
6. What is something new that you did this year and hope to do again in future years to come?
I’m really getting the hang of embroidery and am glad that the hobby stuck with me and didn’t die out within a week or so. I’ve also been taking myself out on more dates, and I feel very happy and at peace when I do so.
7. If you could be anywhere in the world on New Years Eve, where would it be, and why?
I know New York is such an iconic New Year’s spot, so I’d love to be there one of these years. It’s one of the rare times I will allow myself to be like a basic tourist, hahaha.
8. What was something stressful about this past year?
[trigger warning: self-harm] The breakup of a long-term relationship and the massive weight loss, tears, sleepless nights, nightmare-filled nights, despair, depression, and new self-harm scars it gave me. There was also powering through my thesis during the virus’ peak; the existential crisis that followed my college graduation; and the whole mess that was job-hunting. Our financial situation at home has also caused me to feel a bit stressed at times.
I was on autopilot for most of the year and I thought 2020 was pretty decent on my end overall, but as I typed all those out I just realized how fucking shitty this year was. Holy shit, it was really that bad?
9. Do you know of any other ways that the New Year is celebrated in other countries around the world? Is it on the same date or a different date?
I know there’s something about a ball drop in New York that I want to see. Chinese New Year also happens at a later date in the new year and I just know there are dragons involved lol; my Filipino-Chinese friends also usually give me mooncakes.
10. What is something that you would change about this past year, if you could?
I wish I got to enjoy my last year in university, that I was able to spend time with my friends, that no pandemic happened, that I remained in a happy relationship that I personally found fulfilling in every sense of the word. And that all my relatives were kept alive.
11. Has anything about you changed over the past year? If so, what?
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” am I right? I went through so much inconvenient bullshit that I pretty much feel indestructible now.
12. Did you make any new friends this year? What about losing any old friends?
I made a handful of new friends. The biggest additions were the people I interned with - Angel, Justine, and Bianca. I’ve also been able to build a good rapport with some people in the team, like Pia, Jazz, and Redd. As for old friends, I lost Callo and Gabie this year.
13. Some of the best books you’ve read this year:
I read some wrestling memoirs but tbh it would be a little unfair to call any of them the ‘best’ since all of them were just so-so in terms of writing, as great as some of their stories got. There’s a reason they’re wrestlers and not authors, hahaha.
14. Some of the best movies you’ve seen this year:
I barely watched any movies this year.
15. The best television/Netflix/etc series that I’ve found to binge-watch this year:
Descendants of the Sun, Start-Up, The Crown,
16. Some of the best new artists/groups I’ve listened to this year:
Chase Atlantic, Benee, and Beach House have been my favorite discoveries.
17. Some of the best new songs that I’ve heard this year:
Not a big music year for me. I do remember falling in love with no song without you by HONNE, at least back when it meant something. Hayley Williams’ entire solo debut album was great too.
18. Have you tried any new foods within this past year? If so, what are they?
Baked sushi is my favorite food discovery this year. Didn’t get the chance to be too adventurous when it came to food because Covid.
19. Did you take up a new hobby this year? If so, what was it?
Doing embroidery has been the biggest and my favorite new thing for me.
20. Have you played any new games this year? (board, card, video) If so, what were they, and did you enjoy them?
I don’t think so. Most of the games I joined I had already played before, like Boggle, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, certain Jackbox games, etc.
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Diabolik Twitter ー Subaru Sakamaki [2019 Compilation]
–> This post includes all tweets posted on the official Rejet Twitter account for Subaru Sakamaki (@DiaLoverSubaruS) in 2019.
Shuu l Reiji l Ayato l Laito l Subaru l Ruki l Kou l Yuma l Azusa l Carla l Shin l Kino
January 4, 2019
> The fuck’s Kanato doing outside? He was carrying a bottle of syrup or something
> Uwah...He started eating it
--> In Kanato’s Tweets on this day, he is talking about how the snow might taste like cotton candy if he puts syrup on it. :P
> I don’t need it. Just throw it away
February 14, 2019
> Ah? I don’t need your fuckin’ chocolates. Give them to some other guy who might like them. ...Wha!? Don’t make that face as if you’re ‘bout to burst out into tears! You want to give them to me that badly? ...Fine! You leave me with no other choice, so I’ll take them. I won’t accept this kind of stuff from anyone but you though.
February 18, 2019
> I had to pair up with Ruki for a school event the other day, he kept on ordering me ‘round, it was really annoyin’...
> Bet he looked down on me ‘cause I’m his junior
> He was more talkative than I thought, I wish he would just shut up
March 14, 2019
> Fuck
> Yuma’s here
> If people find out I visited this store, it’s gonna suck
> Ah
March 19, 2019
> Because Shuu got woken up by the banging of a frying pan yesterday?
March 28, 2019
> Someone’s makin’ a ruckus outside of my room. Who the fuck’s screaming?
> Kou? God, that guy’s so persistent
April 1, 2019
> Get away from me
> It’s Mukami Ruki
June 11, 2019
> The days have gotten longer
> Who the fuck would wear something so over the top?
> No way it suits me
July 7, 2019
> Leave me alone #TanabataWishes
August 7, 2019
> You got time now?
> You should come to the festival tomorrow too. Even a boring party becomes somewhat bearable when you’re there
> You ready? Hurry up
August 16, 2019
> Why do I have to buy sugar on my way home? Reiji should just go himself
> This really is a drag
August 22, 2019
> Fuck. How long does this festival of the death last?
> By the way, the fuck’s that? The fluffy thing on top of your head. A hair accessoiry?
> I-I guess it suits you?
October 11, 2019
> Ahー
> Can’t sleep
> Guess I’ll move my body a little
October 29, 2019
> ...Che
> Do something ‘bout this sickingly sweet smell. No matter how much I suck, I only crave more. At this rate, you won’t last
> Or should I just suck you dry already? Then we’ll be together forever. What do you prefer?
October 31, 2019
> Unbelievable
> I asked for a lamp to use inside my coffin
> I never ordered an eyepatch
> Actually...I feel like I’ve seen this thing somewhere before
November 4, 2019
> You’ll celebrate my birthday again this year? I don’t really want you to, honestly. I’m only celebrating with you ‘cause you seem happy. Also, having you congratulate me doesn’t feel half bad. ...God, stop being that cute. I won’t be able to hold back.
November 6, 2019
> Fuck off. Don’t talk to me
> Che. Don’t talk as if you know me. The fuck does a measly caterpillar know?
–> They are doing a Parody of Alice in Wonderland on this day because of a Dark Wonderland event which was going on during the beginning of November.
> I don’t give a damn
November 21, 2019
> Azusa. One of your brothers is here. Come take him back already
> Hurry up. Kou’s a fuckin’ pain in the ass
December 11, 2019
> Who cares ‘bout the cold? I’m right here in front of you, so don’t be getting distracted by other things
December 24, 2019
> Merry Christmas
> Don’t just look at the Christmas decorations, but pay some attention to me too. ...N-Not that I’m lonely or anything!
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13?
13. does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?
I don’t know how well-known these traditions/superstitions are, but those are the ones popular in my family:
- To sit for good luck before the trip. Basically, just before you go for a big trip (to another city or country), you should sit in the hallway (on your luggage if you can) for a few moments. Actually we find this custom pretty useful, cause when you sit, in your head you go through all the stuff you have taken and if you remember about something, you can take it when you are still in the apartment. And that is very important, because…
- It is bad luck to return home just when you have left the apartment. Can’t tell you why, but if you left the apartment, and then realised you have forgotten something, it is better not to return, otherwise you will have a bad day.
- Speaking of bad days, leap years (like 2020), are considered to be unlucky and pretty hard. So…we were warned.
- If you whistle in the house, you will have money problems.
- We celebrate the “Old New Year”. In my country, New Year is a more important holiday than Christmas, and we celebrate Christmas on the January 7, but the “holiday period” starts with Catholic Christmas and ends with Old New Year, which is a New Year according to the old Julian calendar. It falls on January 14. However, our lovely government only gives us 3 days off: December 25, January 1, January 7. Yes, we work on December 31, because “people want to celebrate with their coworkers” (they don’t).
- This is not really a tradition, but something every Belarusian knows all too well. The joys of customs control when you leave/enter your country. The majority of us drive to Poland or Lithuania for the airports (more options and the tickets are way cheaper), but then we have to go through customs control, which usually takes from 2 to 6 hours. On your way back, your homeland greets you with checking all your luggage and asking you what you have brought from vacation. Once I bought a travel mug abroad and the customs authorities asked me to open it so that they could see if there was anything inside. It sure as hell sets the mood of our country quite perfectly.
Ask me about stuff outside of the USA
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What Comes Next
My final piece for Alex Manes Week 2020, written for day 6 | Prompt: The Lost Decade. Also, italics may not show up on mobile. They aren’t for me, not sure why. If that happens, you may want to read on AO3.
Read it on AO3
May, 2009
Alex Manes had lost his virginity to a man.
The to a man part of that statement was important to him. The most important part, if he’s being honest, because six months after basic and it still surprised him. Growing up under Jesse, in Roswell of all places, he had expected to have to bite the bullet with a girl he (hopefully) didn’t hate, therefore crushing of the last thing of he had to fantasize about that his dad couldn’t poison. That, or stay a virgin forever.
Neither were very appealing options.
And it turned out that the poison of his father was far more infectious and lethal than he had imagined.
So yeah, the fact that he had managed to lose his virginity to a man without the world ending was what allowed him to find a bar two days before his first deployment, buy a man a beer, and follow him to his apartment where said man currently laid sprawled out under him, one hand on his chest and another gripping tightly to the headboard.
“Fuck, Alex.” His back arched up as Alex added another lubed finger in his ass, spreading them and stretching him open.
The man – Bryce? No, Boyd, – had started to top, but Alex hadn’t let him get as far as ripping open the condom before flipping him on his back and taking it himself. There was only one person Alex had bottomed for and he wasn’t interested in repeating the experienced for a drunk nobody from a bar he drove an hour to get to. Based off the loud moans coming from the man underneath him, it hadn’t been a problem.
“Just, just fuck me, please,” Boyd begged, spreading his legs further.
Alex pulled his fingers out and pressed his mouth to a nipple instead, flicking it with his tongue. This was his only chance to get laid until after an 8-month deployment.
They were just getting started.
* * *
December, 2010
The beers had yet to stop coming, the cheering and base of the music growing louder with each glass bottom he reached. Alex had raced past drunk 2 hours ago, eager to chase away pangs of regret over the beautiful man at the club’s bar who had caught his eye as soon as he walked in. Half his unit was here, still wearing their t-shirts identifying them as Air Force. Beautiful men weren’t in the cards tonight.
Based off the number of hands clasping his shoulder and inching him towards a group of obviously tipsy, well-dressed women, everyone else hadn’t gotten the memo.
“Come on, Alex, you need to lighten up,” Montgomery yelled over the music from behind him. “I know just the thing.”
And then warmth filled him as soft lips met his and a chest pressed against his own. He wrapped his hands around the hips and was faintly aware of his name being hollered.
The next thing he knew, wind was hitting his face and fingers were fumbling for his belt buckle. Another hand pulled his hair hard and Alex leaned into the touch, eyes closed. The hand on his belt, job completed, pulled up his shirt and pressed a cool touch. Lips hit his own again, a pair of breasts the only thing touching when they did.
Breasts?
Alex flung his open and took in everything he had missed before. He was in an alley, presumably behind the bar. The tug on his hair almost numbed it, but he could feel nails digging into where fingers curled against his skull. Long hair tickled his back where it slipped under his shirt. This was one of the women from the group inside, the one in the tight dress and heels she now teetered on.
Alex pulled back and gently pushed her off.
The dazed woman looked back at him.
“You’re drunk. Go back inside,” he finally said, still flustered. The alley around him seemed to spin.
He ignored the annoyed curses in favor of kneeling over and giving into the churning feeling making its way up his throat. He doesn’t know how long he laid there with a hand pressed against the stained bar wall before the city sounds where joined by faint music from inside.
Rough hands gently lifted him up, tilted his head back, placed something hard against his lips.
“Come on, Alex. Can you drink this for me?”
Cool water rushed down his throat. He grabbed the bottle, chugging the rest in an effort to wash away the taste of beer and cherry Chapstick. It ran down the sides of his chin onto his shirt. He dropped the empty bottle and pressed both hands against the cool concrete, intending to push himself up against the wall.
“Careful,” the voice warned.
Not fast enough. The word had barely registered before what colors he could see in the dark haze swirled together and the building pressure in his head finally popped.
-
Here, open up.
Light burned his eyes. He squeezed them tighter. The light was gone. It helped, a bit. Something small and round was pressed into his mouth, followed by a straw he slowly sipped from. It tasted strangely metallic.
Voices he couldn’t distinguish echoed.
A blanket was laid over him. He pulled it over his head and the hushed voices faded completely.
-
The pounding in his head woke him. At least it was dark this time. He curled in on himself and willed it away.
-
Alex opened his eyes to morning light just barely peeking out from behind his blackout curtains. He was in his bed, tucked under a pile of blankets. A note folded in half was placed on the nightstand.
>>Take these, dumbass
Advil lay beside a glass of water. A trash can was underneath.
Alex moved to sit up and a body in the bed shifted next to him. Jaimie and Nibble’s sleeping forms snored lightly beside him. Across the room, Montgomery slept in a chair, curled up with a blanket Alex recognized from his living room.
They had stayed. Alex did as he was told and laid back down, a ghost of a smile on his face.
* * *
January, 2012
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed officially back in September of 2011. He got the news from a friend of a friend while he was deployed in West Africa.
Alex didn’t sleep that night, and it wasn’t because of the heat.
* * *
June, 2013
The couple across from him was laughing. Clay’s old service buddy had told a bland military joke that had sent Clay and the other couple, old friends he’d met before, into a fit of laughter. Clay apparently saw his confused expression over the reaction it had caused and explained: it had been an inside joke from before their unit had split up and the buddy (whose name was currently unknown due to Alex forgetting to listen when the man introduced himself) had retired with an honorable discharge.
To his annoyance, group of 7 isn’t enough to hide in and the wine in front of him couldn’t make up for that or the bland chicken casserole in front of him. Alex consoled himself by remembering that in hour, maybe less, he could excuse himself from the family-and-friends dinner from hell without offending anyone or getting an angry phone call from Dad later about how he had, yet again, disappointed and embarrassed him.
“Don’t like that kind of humor,” a gentle voiced asked. Miranda, Clay’s wife, sat to his right. Clay had taken the seat at the head of the table, leaving Miranda sitting between them.
“You hear it a lot,” he answered. And you did, especially as the youngest of four in a military family where everyone joined a different branch.
“I’ve been a military wife for a decade,” she said with a laugh. “Trust me, I know. But that’s not what I asked.”
Alex tipped his head. “Very astute. And to answer your question, it’s not exactly my niche.”
She hummed. “No date, tonight?”
“I’ve been pretty busy with my station at base. Haven’t had a lot of time for meeting people.”
“Well, we missed you at Christmas.”
It was Alex’s turn to humm. He appreciated the sentiment, but considering he’d had one of the best Christmas’ in years celebrating at Patrick’s place with eggnog, rum balls, and a family that, despite not being his own, had welcomed him with his own stocking hung among the others? He somehow doubted that.
“Okay,” Miranda rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I missed you at Christmas. You left me alone with a bunch of vulgar boys!”
“I don’t count as a vulgar boy?”
Miranda shot him a sly smile and leaned in until she could speak directly into his ear. “I think we both know you’re the exception to the Manes family, in the best ways possible.” She met his eyes and glanced pointedly down to her stomach and glass of water. “I hope they take after you.”
The wife of Clay’s buddy, who’d brought the bad tasting casserole, caught Miranda’s attention to ask about a fundraiser she was planning.
I hope he takes after you.
Huh. Clay, a father. He felt a twang of regret over the state of his strained relationship with Clay at the idea of missing out on knowing his little niece or nephew.
“It’s for a good cause,” the woman was insisting. “Fundraising is important in times like these. It’ll do good to see a handsome Airman like you supporting them.”
Alex regretting tuning the woman out earlier. Aside from her asking him to involved in a fundraiser, he had tuned out what exactly he was being asked to do, and for what. It must be something military, he supposes. He hadn’t heard them talk about other causes.
“It’ll be good to see you again, Alex.” Miranda nudged his shoulder. “I miss having a brother-in-law around. And you’ll still be placed at Griffiss in December, so it’ll only be a short train ride down.”
“You’re welcome to stay here,” Clay added, almost an afterthought.
Alex took another bite of his chicken casserole, thought about a baby growing up in Clay’s household, with his father and Flint for regular visitors, and agreed.
-
An hour later, Alex excused himself with fumbled explanations and Clay clasped him on the shoulder. “I appreciate you helping out, baby bro." He leaned in closer to whisper “I know this isn’t your usual style.”
“The department really appreciates your donation,” Clay’s buddy (whose name Alex still hadn’t found out) exclaimed with an obvious wink.
The department?
Oh. Not his style.
This was a Christmas police fundraiser. Fan-fucking-tastic.
He would never admit to it, but for the first time in his life, he sent up a (unanswered) prayer to get deployed.
* * *
December, 2013
“Wear your dress blues,” they said.
“Make sure you’ve got a nice change of clothes,” they said.
“You’ll have to plan on staying for a day or two after the fundraiser,” they said.
At no point did they bother to say by the way, you’re going to be on a stage being auctioned off to woman and wives of the force for a date.
Alex got to find that out from the announcer on said stage.
It wasn’t nightmare-worthy embarrassing, but only because an older woman in her sixties named Barbara had bought him for $600 in auction. She said she had a grandchild who’d appreciate “a man like himself.” What that meant, Alex didn’t know.
He got to see Miranda, 7 months pregnant, waddling around in her dress. She beamed at him and pressed his hand to her stomach. She didn’t tell anyone that his eyes teared up when he felt the tiny kicks.
-
Barbara insisted Alex accompany her and her grandson, Will, to mini golf. It was innocent enough until the end, when Alex climbed into Will’s car alone after She ditched them for a friend who she ‘coincidentally’ ran into right as the three finished their game.
It seems that ‘a man like himself’ turned out to mean gay.
Will took Alex back to his apartment where Barbara had insisted Alex drove meet them and then leave Clay’s borrowed car.
He had barely shut the door behind him when Will had him pressed against the wall, inches from his face.
“Is this okay,” he whispered.
Alex leaned forward and kissed him.
They didn’t waste any time before making their way over to the bed in Will’s small room. Sitting against the bed while Will stood between his legs, Alex ripped off Will’s shirt and unfastened his belt while Will undid his own.
Alex grabbed Will’s hand seconds before he could pull down his briefs. “I’m a top,” he stated. “Is that okay for you?”
“Lube and condoms are in the top drawer,” Will grinned.
Alex didn’t tease him. After Will was prepped, he turned him around and lined up his cock with Will’s ass. He traced a finger lightly down his spine, feeling Will’s body tremble at the soft touch, and pushed in.
Unlike Alex, Will wasn’t quiet. He came with a shout onto the bed just before Alex, and both men laid on the bed panting.
They exchanged numbers before Alex left.
* * *
February, 2015
The news came that Miranda had filed for divorce.
In October, a judge grants her majority custody of Eugene ‘Tripp’ Manes IV. Clay would have visitation every other weekend.
-
Alex visited for Tripp’s one-year birthday. It was adorable; Miranda got him this miniature cake that he shoved in his mouth face first.
Clay is there. Miranda says they parted amicably enough, and she wants Tripp to have a father, even if she can’t have a husband.
It’s the best trip there he’s ever had.
-
Alex visited Will before he left and ended up staying an extra day. They don’t do much talking but agree to meet up when Alex comes down to babysit Tripp for a weekend that Miranda and Clay will both be out of town.
-
They do. It’s nice.
* * *
April, 2017
Alex got the notice that he’s being deployed via email at midnight two weeks before he’s due to report.
He almost didn’t, but he called Will. They spend the two weeks in bed.
* * *
September, 2017
He’s a codebreaker. He doesn’t go out in the field. It’s what he told Will when he left (It’s as safe as it can be, don’t worry. I’ll call if I can, okay?) He actually does, too.
“Don’t be typing too much, now,” he always says at the end of every call. “Don’t want those fingers cramping up.” He sounds suggestive when he says it and it reminds Alex what they are: fuck buddies that ended up friends-with-benefits. In that sense, he likes it.
On the other hand, him saying ‘other activities’ always makes him picture freezing up when he needs to pull the trigger, and the other guy pulling it first.
He has nightmares about that.
-
The combatants they’re up against got a new hacker. They must have, because someone had the sense to limit system access to a specific location ping tied to the server that he needs to access.
“What does that mean?” Patrick sounds nervous at Alex’s tone and it’s not fucking helping.
“It means that even if I spoof my location and claim I’m within the vicinity of the system, the server sweeps for a signal to be bounced back within the set perimeters. Since I won’t be there, the signal can’t get bounced back and the system triggers an alarm that shuts it down.”
The team stared at him, silent.
“And?” Patrick again, apprehensive this time.
Alex sighed. “It means I have to go there.”
-
No one is happy about it, but they have a plan.
Another unit fakes a mission gone wrong on the opposite side of base to draw attention. Montgomery takes out the guards left on side Alex needs access to with a sniper. Jaimie and Nibble drive Alex to the perimeter edge so he can step inside. Ten minutes, and his program gets everything they need. He, Nibble, and Montgomery on sniper can watch Jaimie’s back while he drives away.
Alex got all the way inside the perimeter before things go sideways. With three minutes on the clock, they’re spotted. And for three minutes, everything is fine. He’s dressed like them, they all are, so no one attacks him in his hiding spot in a personal tent. He made it within feet of the jeep when the world explodes.
He woke up to screams and a piercing ringing filling his head. Smoke clouds his view of anything past him, but he doesn’t need to see to feel the heavy metal of the jeep railing crushing his leg.
The ringing doesn’t stop, he can’t hear, and if he can’t hear, he doesn’t know if it’s safe to call for help or move or do anything. Bullets flying light up the red-tinged smoke. The red doesn’t make sense at first, but he tried to lift his head, to understand, and the dripping on the ground is clear. His eye has blood over it, from a head wound it seems, and the stinging is so bad that despite his best efforts, they shut.
Private.
Can you open your eyes for me, private?.
He’s hallucinating. Why else would those curls be brushing against his head?
Captain Manes!
* * *
October, 2017
Alex let the darkness take him in Iraq and woke up in Germany.
He’s been in a medically induced coma for two weeks. There are three things that he knows.
Jaimie and Nibble are dead. Patrick’s eyes are rimmed red when he tells him.
He missed the funeral.
And it turned out that he’s missing a lot more than a funeral. It’s not there but he feels it, feels it fucking burning and it won’t stop and he’s screaming and screaming and screaming.
Patrick offered to call Will. Alex remembers trying to shake his head and shooting pain. Whatever happened, Will never called.
When Alex opened his eyes after that first time, Jesse was there. He couldn’t deal with – but he hadn’t seen him yet.
Alex closed his eyes again.
* * *
January, 2018
Physical therapy makes him want to pull out his hair, but he still doesn’t think it as bad as actual therapy.
His PTSD triggers aren’t so black and white as a lost limb, and he isn’t about to unload the drama of his abusive Air Force father onto an Air Force-mandated therapist. It’s a waste of time for the entire eight weeks mandated.
* * *
April, 2018
The news was early, which was unusual. The Air Force is anything but fast acting, and he submitted his request four days ago. Allowing for a week, the earliest he should be getting this letter is Friday.
It was Wednesday.
Alex ripped it open and read the words. And read them again. And again.
But no matter how many times he reads them, the words haven’t changed. Aren’t going to.
Per request, you are assigned to Roswell, New Mexico for the duration of your commitment.
He’s going home.
See it on AO3
#roswell new mexico#alexappreciation2020#alexweek2020#Malex#alex manes#roswellnm#roswell nm#rnm#michael guerin#the lost decade
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SkyFire 2: Chapter 1
Saint Lucia & NYC: January 2016
Word count: 2.6k
PART 1
SkyFire 2 MASTERLIST
CW/TW consider this a standing warning for this entire series. Aurora has PTSD and severe damage to her left hand after being involved in a mass shooting during Part 1. The ramifications of that come up quite often in the early chapters of Part 2
>Instagram posts
Aurora spent the first day of the new year in surgery, once again working to piece her left hand back together. She had undergone 3 surgeries in as many months to repair the horrific damage that had been caused to her hand and she’d long since stopped paying attention to the surgeons. Instead she just let her fathers hyper-focus on the details of every procedure, but she was pretty sure she remembered them saying that the focus of this latest operation was to repair the muscles and reattach them to the correct place in her hand which was still mostly made of plates and screws. She very rarely took the brace off but when she did, the vast web of scar tissue stretching across her skin made her stomach roll and pitch. She had been trying not be shallow about it but she couldn’t help but hope that when the surgeons were finished cutting her open over and over again, that a plastic surgeon would be able to do something about the scarring like they were planning to do with skin grafts on her shoulder masking the bullet wound that had ripped through her skin there.
When she awoke in the hospital, Harry was waiting patiently by her side, with Tony and Steve nearby as they always were. Since the band’s final performance before Christmas, Harry had barely left her side, for which Aurora was intensely grateful. Having his comforting presence next to her every night had kept the nightmares at bay and she had actually found herself able to enjoy the holiday season, much to her own surprise. She was able to go home the day after the surgery once the surgeon had once again run through the extensive list of post-op procedures for her to follow.
They had a big family dinner the night after the surgery celebrating Aurora’s 21st birthday a few days early before Harry whisked them away to spend 2 weeks in Saint Lucia, soaking up the sunshine.
xXx
They arrived late in the afternoon and caught a cab from the small airport to the beach side cottage Harry had rented for their stay. They were both tied from travelling and decided to curl up together on the sofa and watch movies instead of heading out to explore.
When she woke the next morning, she was alone in the bed, bright sunshine streaming in through the open windows and the sound of the nearby waves filling the small house. She climbed out of bed, throwing Harry’s discarded shirt over her and padded out towards the kitchen where she could hear soft music playing.
“Morning,” she mumbled, wrapping her arms around his waist as he stood at the stove, flipping pancakes. She kissed across his bare shoulders as she tried to wake up fully.
“Morning, love,” Harry replied, moving the pan off the heat so that he could turn around in her arms and kiss her softly. “How d’you sleep?”
“The best I have in weeks,” she replied with a yawn, letting go of him to head to the fridge and pour them both a glass of orange juice. She sat down at the island bench while Harry finished putting together their breakfast and then they both walked outside to the little table and chairs set up on the patio, looking out over the beach.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Harry said after he swallowed the first bite of his pancake.
“It’s perfect,” Rori agreed. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Had to make your 21st special,” Harry smiled. “Want to head down to the water after breakfast?”
“Absolutely.”
They chatted aimlessly as they ate, staring out across the waves and soaking up the early morning sunshine. Once they finished eating, they took the dishes to the sink and then Aurora headed into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit. Harry slipped into his yellow shorts and threw on a white t-shirt, then started to rub sunscreen on his arms and legs while he waited for Rori. She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, her hair up in a messy bun, a light blue one piece covering the scars on her stomach. Without a word, she stepped in front of where he sat on the edge of the bed and he rubbed sunscreen across her shoulders and down her arms. He didn’t say anything when he saw that the brace was still in place on her arm, instead continuing down to cover her legs as well.
“All done,” he said, lightly slapping her arse and causing her to jump and let out a squeak. He stood up, grabbing two towels to leave on the patio and started to head for the door.
“Wait,” Rori called out before he stepped outside. “Before we go out…” She took a deep breath and Harry quickly walked back towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders as she steadied herself. “I can’t go in the water with the brace on,” she finally said. “But before I show you, I just need to warn you that it looks really bad Harry.”
“It’s ok,” Harry promised. “You can show me.”
She took another deep breath before unstrapping the brace and removing it. Harry reached towards her hand, stopping when his fingers were nearly touching her.
“May I?” He asked, looking up and searching her face for any hint of distress.
She nodded quickly. “Just be gentle,” she whispered.
His fingers ghosted over her skin, tracing the spiderweb of scars across the back her hand, up across her wrist and onto her forearm. The newest incision from the surgery she’d gone through earlier in the week was covered by an opaque plastic bandage. He traced the edge of it with the tips of his fingers.
“It’s waterproof,” Rori explained. “Dr Walker said it will be fine in the ocean, but I’ve got a spare one in case I have to swap it over before we leave.”
“Does it hurt when I do this?” Harry asked, tearing his eyes away from her hand to look back at her face.
“No.” She smiled softly back at him. “It feels amazing to not be hiding anything from you anymore.”
“I love you,” he replied, kissing her deeply. “Now there’s a beach out there with our name on it.”
They both grabbed their sunglasses off the kitchen counter, then headed out through the door and straight down into the waves. The bright sunshine had warmed the water and Rori smiled brightly as she sank down until only her head was left above the surface.
They spent the next two weeks sunning themselves on the beach, swimming in the ocean and wrapped up in each other’s arms. The warmth helped chase away the aches in Rori’s shoulder and spending everyday laying out in sun beside the beautiful Caribbean waters was exactly what they both needed to relax and unwind after an exhausting year. Harry rented a boat for them for Aurora’s birthday and they’d spent the day sailing around the island. On one of the other days they hiked into the rainforest. It was a beautiful trip and Harry loved seeing a constant smile on Rori’s face, but before either of them liked, the two weeks were over, and they headed back to New York. When they returned from the Caribbean, Aurora went back to her surgeon for a follow up appointment.
xXx
Harry sat beside her as they waited in the Doctors office, holding her hand. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait too long before Dr Walker entered the room, she was surprised to notice that Aurora wasn’t joined by either of her fathers but rather by a young man she assumed was the elusive fiancé she had heard about but not yet met.
“Good to see you again, Aurora,” she said when she took her seat in front of them, her desk was set against the far wall allowing her more space in the small room. “How are you today?”
“Good to see you too, Dr Walker,” Rori smiled. “I’m really good. This is Harry.”
“The illusive fiancé?” she asked as he shook her hand.
“The one and only,” Rori chuckled, a slight blush colouring her cheeks.
“How was your birthday?” Dr Walker asks. “You’re looking very tanned.”
“It was wonderful, Harry took me down to Saint Lucia for the last 2 weeks. We only got back yesterday.”
“That would explain why you asked about salt water when I last saw you,” she laughed. “How was the hand while you were away?”
“It was ok. “Aurora shrugged. “I had to change out the bandage after about a week, but I made sure the stiches stayed dry the whole time. It’s still hurts if I try to move my fingers, but I think the warm weather helped. My shoulder feels better than it’s been in months.”
“That all sounds good,” the doctor nodded. “I’m planning to look at your knuckles when I next operate so that should help with the pain and we’ll get you in to physical therapy in a month or two to start getting things moving a little bit.”
“That would be great,” Rori nodded. The Doctor wheeled her chair closer to Rori then, asking for her hand and removing the brace and bandages to inspect the most recent wound. Aurora winced when she pressed on a certain spot and Harry squeezed her other hand.
“Everything looks to be healing nicely,” she said after a few minutes. “I’ll have a nurse remove the stitches and rebandage it before you head home.”
“Thank you,” Rori replied, resting her hand back in her lap.
“Now I hope you don’t mind but I’ve been talking with Dr Forster and since I know you hate surgery days, we thought we might combine the next one for your hand with your skin graft surgery.”
“Really, you can do that?” Aurora asked excitedly. “That’s sounds so great!”
“Skin grafts?” Harry asked, speaking up for the first time since greeting the doctor.
“We are going to use skin from Aurora’s forearm to try to smooth out some of the scarring on her shoulder,” Dr Walker explained. “I’m looking at early February for our next surgery, does that work for you?”
“I’m going to London at the start of February,” Aurora replied, looking to Harry and smiling.
“We can come back a little early,” Harry said. “Like maybe around the 4th or 5th?”
“Let’s pencil it in for the 7th?” the doctor asked.
“Ok,” Rori nodded, excited to finally have her scarring addressed, but overall, not enthused by the prospect of another surgery.
“Excellent,” Dr Walker replied. “Know let’s get a nurse to get those stitches out and then you can go back to enjoying the rest of your day.”
xXx
Harry stayed in New York for another week after the appointment with Aurora’s surgeon before he had to fly to London for meetings. Aurora decided to stay behind in New York, and the two made plans for her to join him at the end of the week for his birthday.
xXx
With Harry in London for meetings all week, Aurora decided to finally head down to her art studio for the first time in months. It was a cold January day, but the sky was clear, and the sun streamed in through the massive floor to ceiling windows in the studio, warming the room and bringing a smile to Rori’s face as she set up a canvas on her easel.
Aurora threw down her paint brush in frustration. She hadn’t even been in the studio an hour and she had already spilt her paints 3 separate times. With her left hand still wrapped up in its brace, she was struggling to stabilize her palette on the worktable she had dragged over next to her easel. Angry tears stung her eyes and she found all her inspiration for the half-finished canvas in front of her evaporating. She left the room in a huff, turning towards her music studio down the hall in the hopes of channelling her bubbling emotions into her other avenue of art. She lasted barely 20 minutes in the studio, struggling to utilize any of the instruments with only one hand, before her anger intensified beyond her control.
“Sir? Captain? It appears that Miss Stark is quite destressed in her recording studio and she may have reinjured her left hand.”
Tony’s head snapped up at JARVIS’s announcement, his eyes locking with Steve’s across the workshop. He saw his own concern mirrored on his husbands face as they both lurched to their feet and rushed from the room.
A chair smashed against the wall when they entered the recording studio that Tony had built for their daughter, and said daughter was crying hysterically in the middle of the room, clutching her injured hand to her chest. Damaged instruments scattered the room and sheet music had be thrown across the floor. They both rushed towards her, Tony reached her first and wrapped his arms around her from behind as she screamed wordlessly, sobbing as her legs gave out, his grip the only thing keeping her on her feet. Steve joined them a moment later, adding his arms to the hug and sandwiching the young woman between them both. They sank to the floor together as her screams died down and her sobbing lessened. Nobody spoke as she continued to shake in their arms, her face pressed into Steve shoulder.
“What happened baby?” Steve asked softly after her breath finally began to even out.
At first, she didn’t answer, but when she did her voice was hoarse and cracked.
“I wanted to work,” she explained in barely more than a whisper. “I had lyrics in my head, and I wanted to get it out, but I can’t.” Her tears returned then, coating her cheeks and staining Steve’s shirt. “I can’t play anymore, and I couldn’t even keep the paper from sliding around when I tried to write.”
“JARVIS said you hurt your hand,” Steve said, reaching out to as if to touch the hand through its brace.
“I think I hit it when I through the bass at the wall,” she admitted guiltily. “I’m sorry dad,” she added, finally lifting her head to look at Tony over her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to trash everything. I just got so angry.”
“It’s ok kiddo,” Tony promised. “We can replace all of this. I’m just worried about you.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now,” she admitted. “I can’t play. I can’t write. Painting is so hard without being able to hold the palette and I can’t get my sketchbook to stay still on the table to sketch. What am I supposed to do with my life?”
“I don’t know baby,” Steve said, not wanting to lie to her. “But we’ll work it out, ok?”
“The surgeon said my hand will never be the same, no matter how many more surgeries I have,” Rori reminded the two men and then she whispered a sentence they both instantly knew would haunt them for months. “Sometimes I wish I’d died that day.”
“Please don’t say that baby,” Tony begged. “We’ll help you figure this out. I promise it won’t always hurt like this.”
Between the two of them, Tony and Steve managed to calm her down and the three of them made their way back upstairs and curled up on the sofa together to watch a movie.
NEXT CHAPTER
OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3
#skyfire#skyfire fic#aurora stark#dad!tony#iron dad#step dad steve rogers#stony#stony fic#boyfriend harry styles#harry styles fanfiction#superfamily#harry styles#tony stark#fiancé harry styles
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1095.
1 - If you have caffeine late in the day, does it cause you to struggle with your sleep?
>> If I have a high enough amount of caffeine early in the day, it can mess with my sleep. I think high stimulant use in the past might have oversensitised my system, but also I take the Pill and apparently one little-known side effect is that it keeps caffeine in your system longer. So, basically, I just avoid anything that has more caffeine than a cup of black tea.
2 - When you struggle to sleep, what do you do instead?
>> Read, usually. A lot of my reading gets done when I get awakened in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep.
3 - Who was the last person you spoke to for the first time? How did you come to speak to this person?
>> I have no idea.
4 - If you have a pet, have they ever embarrassed you in public or in front of friends or family members? What happened?
>> ---
5 - Do you leave the house every single day?
>> I’ve left the house every weekday this week (still not sure whether I’ll go out today, but I’ll at least get the mail and maybe take the long way). I’m trying to form a walking habit for the 3285784th time.
6 - Would you rather spend the day at the beach, or a day in the snow in the mountains?
>> I can’t really choose like that. It’d depend on a lot more factors.
7 - Do you prefer tops that are plain, or ones with patterns/logos/slogans?
>> Almost all my shirts have some kind of design on them.
8 - Are there any TV shows from your childhood that you still watch today?
>> I don’t think so. I didn’t really get to watch much back then anyway.
9 - How many texts would you say you send on an average day?
>> Zero, most of the time.
10 - Do you enjoy buying gifts for other people, or do you never know what to buy them?
>> I can’t say I understand the stress behind this. I mean, I can put two-and-two together (people get anxious about the recipients’ responses and stress themselves out that way; people feel like they need to predict exactly what the recipients want; etc), but I can’t imagine getting that caught up in it. Then again, I wasn’t really raised around that sort of thing (I experienced exactly one commercial-style Christmas as a minor, and birthday gifts were sporadic at best), so maybe that’s why. I got to come into my own feelings about gift-giving, on my own time. So, yeah. I love buying gifts for other people, because I associate it strictly with having fun and showing appreciation. If someone doesn’t appreciate the gift I chose, that’s nothing to do with me. My part in the interaction is done, they can do with the gift whatever they like.
11 - Girls - if you get periods, do you suffer from period pain or any other horrible symptoms?
>> I’m not a girl, but I do get a period when I’m not on the Pill, and half the reason I’m on the Pill is because of the debilitating pain and resultant fear and stress that was just ruining my life. The other half is the fact that having a period at all is a source of intense despair and dysphoria for me.
12 - The last time you were in a car, where you were travelling to? Were you the driver or a passenger?
>> Schuler Books. I was a passenger, of course.
13 - Who were you with the last time you went out for a meal?
>> The last dine-in experience we had was when Sparrow’s niece was visiting from Utah and we went to a restaurant with patio seating with said niece, Sparrow’s sister and brother-and-law and baby nephew, and her parents. (Yes, that’s people from four different households and two different states, all at one table. Loved it.) It was definitely one of those “if I was in Sparrow’s position I wouldn’t have went at all” kind of deals, which describes a lot of the situations involving Sparrow’s family.
-- Actually, I just realised that wasn’t the last time, but I don’t feel like deleting all that after having typed it. The last-last time was actually to IHOP on Sparrow’s birthday. The seating was distanced and we wore masks while being waited on. We also didn’t linger for long.
14 - What book do you wish they’d make into a film or TV series?
>> ---
15 - The age old question - do you prefer coke or pepsi?
>> I don’t drink either.
16 - What’s the last thing you watched on TV? Is this a programme you watch regularly?
>> The last TV show I watched was called How To With John Wilson, on HBOMax. I only just discovered it but I’m definitely going to be following it as long as it exists. It’s adorable and I love it.
17 - Do you have a favourite documentary subject (eg. nature, celebrities, history, crime)?
>> I’m not sure. I think I like a variety of documentary subjects.
18 - Do you prefer sweet or savoury snacks? What snack would you say is your overall favourite?
>> Savoury. I like some sweet things, but usually in combination with other flavours (so, like... a sweet and salty snack mix, for example). I don’t have an overall favourite snack.
19 - Does having to wear a mask stop you from doing anything, just because you dislike them or find them uncomfortable?
>> Nah, I’ve gotten used to them. I still find certain aspects of them to be uncomfortable and I don’t like wearing them for long stretches of time, but that’s not really a problem for something like grocery shopping (which is really all we do these days).
20 - Do you prefer zip-up or overheard hoodies?
>> Zip-up, easier to put on and take off. I do like overhead hoodies, but my erratic body temperature situation makes it annoying to wear them.
21 - If you have a yard or garden, how much time do you spend out there?
>> I wish :(
22 - When was the last time someone bought you flowers? What was the occasion?
>> I mentioned the Thanksgiving flowers story on one of the surveys I took last night and don’t feel like rehashing it.
23 - How often do you get takeaway? What’s your favourite thing to order?
>> Not very often; there’s not much of a budget for it.
24 - Do you own a lot of clothing items in your favourite colour? What is your favourite colour, anyway?
>> I don’t own any gold or yellow clothing items (although I do own gold jewelry).
25 - When was the last time you stayed overnight away from home? Was this with friends, family or in a hotel somewhere? What was the occasion?
>> January. I was in a motel. I went to Houston for Elle’s wedding.
26 - Would you ever be interested in seeing a live magic show?
>> It’s not something I’d choose to pay to see.
27 - What’s your favourite period to learn about in history? What got you interested in this particular era?
>> I don’t have a favourite era.
28 - Do you still use or carry cash, or do you pay for everything via card?
>> I have been paying almost exclusively with card (barring places like the farmer’s market, where some stalls don’t have card readers for whatever reason) for years now.
29 - Are there any TV shows that remind you of your grandparents for some reason?
>> ---
30 - Have you ever had to wear a tie for school or work? If not, do you know how to tie a tie without looking it up?
>> No. I do know how to tie a tie, but because it’s information I so rarely use, sometimes I forget a step or the exact order of steps and have to double-check with a guide.
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A Christmas Post
Well, merry Christmas I guess. As an Israeli-Jew, I celebrate Hannukah each winter (it never has a fixed date in the Greogrian calendar) and never celebrated Christmas. That is, I never got a chance, because I'm actually quite interested and curious in American and European celebrations of Christmas. As a child, I was enthralled by "The Nutcracker", and less by the choreography, rather than Tchaikovsky's music. Even though I saw only one performance live so far (and that was when I knew much about it and was slightly older, so it didn't really make an impact on me), I have seen back then 2 productions: a 1977 production of the American Ballet Theater, choreographed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, starring him and Gelsey Kirkland. I must admit I haven't seen that one in a very long while, and I actually don't remember much of it, so I can't really say how much I like it, except that it is quite of a "traditional" Nutcracker so to speak. The music is provided by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Schermerhorn, some of the numbers are cut.
Much more memorable is the 1999 production of the Berlin State Ballet. This one, choreographed by Patrice Bart, is one of those "reinterpetations", which entered the opera world by the '70s, if not the '50s (the Wieland Wagner productions at Bayreuth, for example). It's one of those things, which made sense to do only in Berlin (both the company and its building, the State Opera, were part of what was then called East Berlin). This one puts revolution and psychology to the fore, and I will leave the rest to John Phillips from MusicWeb International:
Patrice Bart placed a prologue before the ballet [i.e. after the overture]. Its purpose was to elucidate the story in which Marie was abducted as a young child. Russian revolutionaries had attacked Marie and her aristocratic family and killed her father. The mother survived but went missing, leaving the traumatized little girl to believe that she lives in an imaginary land of ice and snow. She was adopted by the Stahlbaum family, but there she does not feel happy [...] She is not a 'normal' child [...] carefree and happy on Christmas Eve; the trauma will not leave her. This is where the wondrous figure of Drosselmeyer comes into the story. Drosselmeyer knows of Marie’s history. He intends to lead her back to her mother, so he brings the Nutcracker to life and reconciles Marie with her past. [...] [T]he Nutcracker is not a Christmas present from Drosselmeyer but a toy which she has always carried with her since before the abduction. The wooden puppet, whose uniform awakens memories of her father, is the catalyst for Marie’s renewed confrontation with the gruesome event in the dream — therapeutically speaking it is the first step towards becoming aware, towards healing.
Whatever you may think of the concept, it is superbly danced, but I will like to put your attention to the music itself. Most ballet orchestras will usually seem to have the orchestra playing Tchaikovsky's dramatic music (it is dramatic at least in the first act) rather lifeless and mechanical (of which the production mentioned above might be faulty), but this isn't the case if you're having the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim in the pit. Barenboim seems to accentuate well how the music: a. has really strong connections with the composer's symphonies, and b. how much Tchaikovsky was inspired by Liszt and Wagner, even in what for some people would be seemingly unimportant music. Again to quote Phillips: "[W]e have a superb orchestra [...] playing as if their very lives depended upon it. Even where Barenboim slows the tempo down to suit the choreography, there is a passion and sonority in the playing". Unfortunately, this production is not available online for viewing (apart from a few excerpts from the later parts of the ballet), but you can buy it online.
From here on, I quite liked Nutcracker, and felt always rather disappointed when, looking at the discography at the Tchaikovsky Research website, there were barely any recordings by Austro-German orchestras (I quite like hearing music played by these kinds of orchestras). I apparently had, lying around, the 1998 recording by Valery Gergiev and the Kirov (alias Mariinsky) Orchestra. Listening to a few excerpts now, in retrospect, it seems a bit too fast, or even skating over the surface. But, as with Barenboim, there is honest feeling and passion to the music. Later, I was also given the full score of the ballet (easy to get online, Dover reprint), and it's quite full of markings right now.
In elementary school, some of my friends among the classmates were of Russian origin (more than a million of former Soviet Jews have emigrated during the early '90s), and as a consequence they didn't go to school on 1 January, because of Novy God (it's just like Christmas, only more pagan than Christian. The role of Santa Claus is filled by Grandfather Frost). Yet in recent years, I'm much more interested in - obviously - the German-speaking Christmas traditions. There are some traditional Christmas carols which are originally in German, and I'm going to talk about one of them right now.
My favourite Christmas song is Stille Nacht (Silent Night in English, but I will practically keep referring to the original German title), and it's one of the most famous Christmas songs (Bing Crosby's 1935 rendition is reported to be the fourth best-selling single of all time). My favourite performers are, however, the Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben). They recorded Stille Nacht quite of a number of times, as they released many Christmas albums over the years. The 1990 recording includes all of the six stanzas, and can sound quite mundane on repetition, even if you're able to appreciate the German lyrics. Look for some of the shorter recordings, yet this longer one has a particular dark timbre that I like more than the crystal bright one from the other ones.
But it's time to leave the holiday coziness, and shatter it alla Mahler into pieces. The first example is the rendition of Simon and Garfunkel, recorded in 1966, and it's typical of its time. On one channel, the duo sings the carol, while on the other, a news reporter announces the "7 o'clock news", obviously pessimistic and hope-drowning. Even though I'm about to show a way in which this dissonance is - in my opinion - better portrayed, Paul and Artie should not be easily dismissed, and their take on this carol is original and fresh in its own right.
In 1978, Alfred Schnittke wrote his "Stille Nacht", reportedly as a Christmas card to his friend, the violinist Gidon Kremer, for violin and piano. That probably tops all other Christmas cards in irony and hate-of-kitsch, so to speak. This Stille Nacht is full with dissonances, is creepy, cringy and actually makes Christmas sound more as if Halloween didn't yet understand that it was time to go already. Yet there it also makes the piece more humorus. When I played this to my dad for the first time, a few weeks ago, he laughed so hard, that I had to stop in the middle, because I was afraid he will run out of oxygen. He then told me that it was one of the most funny things he has heard in years. So it can be a good Christmas joke, but you do need to put it in some context. Schnittke, a Soviet of Jewish origin, was held in contempt by the Soviet system for being such a "problematic" composer, so to speak. Yet there is also not only light to be shed on the personal, but also the historic. When Kremer and his pianist wife Elena (currently Barenboim's wife) premiered the piece in Austria, it caused a scandal. By 1978 Austria, as well as Germany, were tainted by the years and crimes of Nazism, and after the catastrophe of two world wars, with the threat of a third, it didn't seem that anyone - either in Austria or Germany or anywhere else, for that matter - could believe - willingly or otherwise - that the idyll offered by "Stille Nacht" could become reality. A "Stille Nacht" for our time perhaps? Not a single one, as mentioned above, but in my opinion the main one. Gidon and Elena Kremer, shortly after the premiere recorded the piece. Schnittke, however, revised the piece a bit later. This is presented with a score in a performance by Mateja Marinkovic and Linn Hendry. Yet the former recording makes more of the irony and dark humor, inherent in the piece.
So, as this day comes to a close, try to enjoy or chill for your last moments of the last Christmas of the decade.
(Originally posted: 25 December 2019)
#tchaikovsky#nutcracker#daniel barenboim#valery gergiev#silent night#stille nacht#vienna boys choir#simon and garfunkel#alfred schnittke#gidon kremer
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