#we're really close i think you can tell

[meraki-yao]

So RWRB is basically part of my identity now, I can't remember how many times I've seen the movie, and I'm on a constant quest of getting my friends to watch it too. And it's working!

But the thing is, my own younger sister, who's my literal best friend, the closest person to me, hasn't.

Her only exposure to the movie is coming in to my room on premiere night when I was watching it for the first time and tagging along for like ten minutes then leaving, coming into my room when I'm watching clips and watching along for a bit until I give her attention (she's like a cat) and hearing/seeing me very passionately rambling about it either on social media or out loud

She's not interested in romance like, at all, so this isn't her cup of tea, and I'm not gonna force her to watch something she's not interested in.

However out of curiosity, I asked how much she knows/remembers about rwrb from what little exposure she had. She started rattling off points that made me laugh deliriously, then asked if she could type it down.

So here's rwrb according to my sister, who has never finished the movie, nor read the book (she literally typed the list below herself which is why it's in first person)

enjoy! :D

henry's a prince and alex is fsotus

they met before once but it did not go well?

Henry and Alex see each other at a wedding and a big ass cake falls over

they pretend to be friends cuz PR

they text and/or email each other a lot

there's a children's hospital??? and they cram into a room???

there's a dog called David

turkeys in alex's room cuz thanksgiving

also sth sth insomnia

ok not a plot point but i rlly like how them texting was presented

henry's dad is an actor and he's dead

henry has a sister, she's nice

i rmb the name zara but i forgot what she specifically does (I'm so sorry)

new year's party. dramatic eye contact.

'oh I'm not going to sing karaoke' 'BURNING THROUGH THE SKYYYY YEA, 200 DEGREES THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME MR FAHRENHEIT, I'M TRAVELLING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHTTTTTTT, I'LL MAKE A SUPERSONIC MAN OUT OF YOU'

the room with red wallpapers and alexander hamilton, 'the book is very bookish', f in chat for security lady

henry walks out of the closet literally

there's this grey(?) room with a white marble statue and it was very emotional???

henry's a sad boi

i think they fucked or sth

also there was a lake?

the emails get leaked on reddit by this reporter dude (who i think Alex knows before???) during the election

alex gives a speech

alex's mom wins the election

henry wore a yellow tie or sth because texas???

a pride parade outside the palace???

at least in the movie they go to a house or sth

deleted scene but they were next to a campfire and henry was talking and sad and alex was listening

ok Meraki back hope you enjoyed that lmao

if you have a favourite out of this list or have any message you want to tell my sister about the movie leave them in the notes lol she kinda wants to know what yall think of her recall

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #alex claremont diaz #nicholas galitzine #henry hanover stuart fox #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #rwrb rambles #my rwrb list #i have a tendency to drag her at the very least marginally into my hyperfixation #we're really close i think you can tell #this is a mess #rwrb memes

[strangerays]

THIS JUNE

[wip introduction]

(originally known as the project Nothing in Particular and Everything)

start date: february 2021

stage: 4th draft

pov: first person, past tense

tags: #nip: inspo, #nothing in particular and everything, #this june, #this june inspo

Ask to be +/- from the tag list if that is something you would like!

Story

Ray's friends are finally back home from college. But in the seaside town where they grew up, everything has changed. Madison is always distracted by work and her controlling parents. She's dating Oliver. Oliver doesn't know what he wants to do with his life anymore, but he knows he can't stay in Point Blink. Lonan has made a new home for himself in the city with his boyfriend, so nobody is quite sure what he plans to do next.

June in Point Blink isn't turning out as perfect as Ray planned.

Judith just moved to Point Blink.

A somewhat disastrous pair, Ray and Judith fall victim to an act of arson on a mysterious landmark in the woods. Whilst the girls uncover the identity of the arsonist on a dusty old camera, they develop a strong bond with one another and a connection to their mental health neither of them had before. However, as Ray gets closer to saving herself, she digs up damaging truths about her closest friends that threaten to tear the five of them - and Point Blink - apart.

Characters

Ray – 20, a somewhat optimistic college student who misses her friends but will do anything to keep them together. spends most of her time in alone her bedroom or in the woods with a camera.

Judith – 19, the energetic new girl in town with an enigmatic background and a savior complex. used to live with her brother but decidedly does not anymore.

Lonan – 20, Ray’s best friend who loves his friends dearly but struggles to put himself and his art first. struggling to live with past decisions while navigating a new relationship.

Madison – 20, hates the idea of college and is very set in her ways, which can be detrimental to her friendships. works at a local coffeehouse.

Oliver – 19, the last person to join the friend group; the first person to leave. known for his boastful grades and sour humor.

#this june #so yayay!! here is my new book!!!! #i love my book i hope you do too :) #as you can probably tell the story is pretty much the same except the characters have aged up a few years and are in college #im exploring the exact same themes in a more mature setting #also !! i am a second year college student now as well!!!!! #the struggle is real and i need a place to put everything if we're being honest haha #so i think this book is gonna do that for me <3 #technically i didnt finish draft three but i did get close before getting SICK of writing it #sorry if there are typos in here i just really wanted to post this today ;-; #i dont have many exceprts yet but i am about 8k words into this draft so i suppose i shall have something soon!! #my writing #creative writing #original story #writeblr

[arsonist-chicken]

Do you ever like.. get a sudden surge of love and admiration and just general happiness because of a friend, so much so that it's almost overwhelming, and you are just so, so glad you met them and hope you'll never have to let them go and get to keep them in your life forever? Yeah ❤️💖🐗🧚‍♂️🦄

#i should go to sleep #but these are the moments i wonder again if i know what a crush feels like and if i can tell the difference between periodical very strong #but platonic affection for a friend and having a tiny crush on them #oh well. in the end does it matter? #but it would still be nice to be able to tell the difference. if nothing else then to know when i actually have a crush on someone i'm not #that close to like that friend or that fond of #fucking hell god please never let me have to let them go. i don't think i've ever met someone i'm that comfortable around and around whom #it's so easy to just be myself #or rarely. maybe with two other friends i don't feel the need to hold back myself from blurting stuff out and interrupting them and #apologising and asking them to continue or just like.. say whatever comes to mind or touch electric pasture fences to see if it still stings #(it does btw but in a sensorally really nice way 10/10 would recommend) #why do amazing people often live so damn far away? last time i met a bunch of people i really got to love was almost lifesaving and #definitely mental health saving. we used to talk every day and now i barely know what any of them are up to :( covid really fucked us over #with everyone just trying to survive and stay sane. we really lost touch and now it #*it's hard to get that back because we're strewn across europe and brasil and the us and everyone's an adult with responsibilities now #i miss them :( gotta try harder to rekindle that #anyway @the universe or whatever fuckers listening: if you put me in circumstances that make me lose touch with her like with them #i'll set the world on fire. she's become far too important to me to let that happen #okay as always i couldn't damn shut up in the tags alright bye bye good night whatever my cat's purring now instead of snoring #scientists of tumblr invent a teleportation machine now. i want to lie in a park and watch dogs and read side by side and remember how good #life can be #mine

[ashorterurl]

.

#holy shit i hate the fb groups so much #like do NOT tell people dont speculate as if its something bad #we're left with nothing but speculation #you wake up one day and they tell you good morning btw this person is gone anyway bye #and youre just supposed to say ah ok i see thay sucks #?? #obviously the friends and family sre a priority and its way too early to tell the fans anything #but i hava the right to wonder why and how and like. why #it's a natural response to seek closure #and you have a bunch of people who are like oooohhh you can't speculate thats baaaad if friends and family want to share at some point they #will #like shut up dude #i dont claim we have a right to know about what happened because we really dont and this is truly up to the people close to him #and in the end if they want they can also lie #but we do have the right to wonder why something like this happened so suddenly wnd out of nowhere #ranting because i hate it when people tell you it's unethical to ask questions about something even if its just thinking out loud #as an emotional response #like how the fuck do you guys think I'll process this #with this dry and vague announcement #if it works for you great but for me it doesnt really #i know because its been 3h now and im still waiting for them to maybe say something more about it #logically its not going to happen so soon but still

[guinevereslancelot]

i'm so bummed i accidentally turned town a job interview for a job where I could have worked with a good friend and mentor 😔

#i was telling her abt the preschool i got hired at and i was like yeah im worried bc the other teacher doesn't seem nice #and the student teacher ratio is really bad they're really understaffed and underfunded im just really worried it will be too much for me #and she was like oh you should apply to the school i work at bc we're hiring snd the ratio is great and the pay might be better also #and i never knew the name of the school she worked at until then #and its one i DID apply to but i told them nevermind after this one hired me 😬 #but now i really wish i'd taken that interview #i'm going to call or email first thing on monday tho and hopefullyyy i can get in for an interview before i start my new job on thursday #so i wont literally have to take time off for it #and then if they offer me i will be able to tell the new job nevermind while its still early #either that or i'll try to stick it out a few months then apply to the other one for summer or something #but im not sure whether its best to quit immediately or let them think im dependable and staying then leave in three months lol #but mostly for the other job idk if it would ruin the opportunity to tell them nevermind i want the job a week after i said no #compared to a few months later #they might have forgotten me by then which would probably be good #idkkk #my first reference literally works there which will hopefully help and maybe they'll give me a break #the pay scale looks the same as the one i just accepted but i think they'll offer less bc they're not as desperate #but i literally dont care its such a better working environment #and the pay scale is the same so they would give me a raise after a few months #and the work will be so much easier #and the commute #and i Definitely know i can work with my friend #vs the co teacher at this new job who seems really intense and unfriendly #anyway!! #im really anxious abt this new job and i'll stay if the other place wont take me now #but i really hope they give me another chance #also its super close and easy drive and the commute for the other one scares me a bit lol #this has been a shitpost

[hella1975]

update on date guy so i was supposed to go to his place sunday for lotr + wine but i fully cancelled on him 😭 i have no excuse it was my first day to myself after exams and i just wanted to be lazy like my social battery was OBLITERATED i had to put me first okay. and he was kinda mardy about it which is SO funny to me but anyway we rescheduled and im now seeing him in two hours and im being so brave about it

#im not as nervous today as i was like im kinda excited for it i think there's potential #and worst case scenario is i watch lotr in silence with free wine and free food like okay i can live with that #but omg i can feel the urge to Freak Out and i feel like im batting it away with a twig #ill be like 'i wonder how tonight will go :) *feels something creeping up behind me*' #like NO we're being POSITIVE we're trying NEW THINGS #bc that is really the crux of the issue like meeting him in a coffee shop was fine for me #so ironically i was less stressed for our FIRST date than i am the second which is so dumb #but just being at his house and the fact im actually dipping my toe into these things #is rlly scary for me personally just bc my experiences in this field are either surface level #or just absolute horror shows #like ik all my mates are kinda just like 'it's a date get over it' but it's NOT there's LAYERS there's IMPLICATIONS #im in a fistfight with three of my younger selves who are all simultaneously yelling 'NO!' give me a fucking MINUTE #but yeah i will tell you how it goes lotr is LONG too so im nervous of that but at least watching a film we dont have to make constant conv #*conversation #even tho tbh our first date we stayed until close at that coffee shop which meant we were talking for like 2.5 hours #which is almost lotr runtime #FUCK #this is going to be good this is going to be so good i am openminded and confident i CANNOT CANCEL AGAIN #hella goes to uni

[annie-thyme]

you'd think that saying "this is not a point for debate, this is me telling you how I actually feel" would like. trigger at least an understanding if not an apology but no

#I just cannot believe honestly #my first time telling someone irl I think of myself as nb rather than woman and boy did it well #not go wrong exactly but rather baffling #this is a very close friend I'm talking about and yeah in the end we settled on #you can be whatever you wanna be #but like #taking it as a point for debate and a challenge just felt really weird #- I rather think of myself as nb these days - but phYsiCalLy yOu'Re a wOmAn #sigh #- I'm definitely not a man but not a woman either - BuT yoU ARE a- #BIG FUCKING SIGH #so does it mean you're gonna change your pronouns now #no I'm not changing them but that's not the point #although that's in Russian only idc for Russian pronouns but hey I'd love to be addressed as they/she in English bc it feels right I think #anyway after I repeatedly stressed the that's how I feel now point of conversation I got a 'sure you can be whatever u want' #so we're okay now I think #still feels so fucking weird #gender #ah fuck it I'm not done here #it honestly makes me not want to talk about it to any other ppl in my life it feels so discouraging #bc this friend is the first fiend I ever came out to as bi #and all the support I got back then I just #didn't even have the slightest trepidation I just said it bc it just came up in the conversation #and that reaction was like a slap in the face and like oh #Oh #is this transphobia #even though I'm not trans??? #and I know I know I'm not doing nonbinary wrong bc there is no wrong way to be nb #yet I catch these thoughts here and there and have to shut them down #which is not something I was going for!! I'm outta tags turns out you cannot rant for more than 30 oh well

[dirt-str1der]

Boys were invented for me to chase around the nightmare woods with a big knife and blunderbuss

#Yakzua loveblog #oh kiryu ... really want to see how fast a guy can run in the darkness and how many scrapes he will accumulate just from being scared #lets roleplay bloodborne youll go crazy and lose your humanity and i spray your flesh everywhere with a hacksaw till you die #i was gonna be like guess who this post is about then i took a sip of diet coke and realised how good it was. like i wish i had a lemon at #my mercy so i can cut a slice and drop it into my coke ... this would taste so good with a lemon #literally want someone to run and i chase them like a serial killer it would be so good for the both of us if i let him get a little furthe #and then when he thinks hes safe he crouches behind a rock and then i blow a hole into the stone beside his head and he feels the shot #explode over his face and he reels back blind and in pain and crawls away and i grab another fistful of gravel to reload #i chase him till he doesnt want to run anymore he collapses on his stomach wheezing and then i come out into the clearing and aim my gun at #him and he grabs it by the barrel and wrenches it out of my hand and it overbalances me and i fall hard on my side and he gets on top of me #but i whip my knife out and stick it in his flank and he yowls and we roll again and when im on top i twist it as i pull it out and then #slam it down on his face and he redirects my strike with the back of his fist and my knife lands in the dirt beside his head and he #attempts to throw me off while im pinning his shoulder to the ground and i use the motion to pull my blade out the soft dirt and #drive it into his ear but he kicks me away and the knife misses and swipes under his chin instead barely an inch from his throat and hes #taking the opportunity to roll to his feet while im on the ground disoriented and he gets on top of me again and i take another swipe at #his chest but he grabs my hand and twists it and im forced to drop the knife and we're both panting like hell and hes holding my wrists #above my head and we're really close breathing on each others faces then we start making out sloppy style and on the train ride back i tell #him that a small blunderbuss is called a dragon and he says hm ... pretty cool

[july-19th-club]

one cool new thing about me is that i will wake up six times in the night and it'll take me half an hour to get back to sleep, and round about 5 in the morning i will have some hideous dream and wake up half an hour later going 'well at LEAST i know i was asleep because i just had that hideous dream'

#and the therapist i met yesterday afternoon.... we did not gel #i went in extremely nervous and forgot to ask any of my important questions and didn't know if I was talking too much or too little #and even though i said like six times that i had no idea how it was supposed to 'work' she like.....did not tell me how it works #she was very hard to read and then she just ended it really abruptly like she didn't even say 'oh we're getting close to our time limit' #just turned around and started looking at her calendar to schedule the next time and then was like ok see you then! ma'am... #like ok im brand new to this and clearly anxious can you PLEASE just. walk me very slowly through everything so i know what's going on #but i didn't SAY that bc i didn't want to be rude #anyway i think that means i get (or she gets?) a bad grade in therapy

[a-guy-named-e]

I dont know you, I don't even follow you, but I've never met another person named e, so I respect you hell yeah brother

hell yeah e buddies!!!

#can i tell you guys a secret? #shh it's okay we're in the tags so no one can hear us rn #my name... isn't actually e #it's actually ellys #shocker i know #don't worry you can keep calling me e #in fact i'd prefer it #i picked e not because my name starts with e #it was actually a trans joke #once upon a time i had a tumblr account #from back when i was first dipping my toes into the whole ''realizing i was trans'' thing #and my user was ''a-guy-with-e'' #like. estrogen #very funny haha i know #but everyone on that acc ended up just calling me e #(for reference i was going by quinn at the time i think?) #and like #my deadname Also starts with e #(i picked my current name specifically to be close to my deadname #bc i really Like the name but it just Wasn't Quite Right) #and at the time i was still really uncomfy with my deadname #but e stuck #so i went with it #and i think that's part of the reason i'm so fond of my deadname now #i would probably have a different name altogether if it weren't for that old deleted blog #crazy how things like that happen #anyway #sorry for the long tags #i've been dying to tell this story to someone #don't let it detract from us being e buddies tho!! still loving the name

[prestonmonterey]

its really difficult for me to open up about things, ESPECIALLY things that could be really harmful (parents, mental health) if unchecked, do u have any advice?

genuinely i am so sorry i dont have any solid advice for you :(

umm lightheardedly tho

whooaaa dude same eyyyyy

#marble asks #um #lil #thing in the tags #hmm how do i phrase this in a way that wont get me in trouble #uhhhhhhhhhh please proceed with caution #hopefully the tags cut off #right about here somewhere??? #that means you dont have to look at this #yea um recently ive been in a really bad place mentally :( and im really not sure why #i think? ive been getting ok sleep and my friends are really nice about it but i dont really want to talk to them about it bc it feels too #personal? idk anyway #uhh my intrusive thoughts have been getting REALLY bad outta nowhere #like #relating to sh :((( #and i cant really talk to anyone bc theyll like tell my parents bc “im a danger to myself” or something #uhm anyways its like #stuff like that im kinda dealing with rn too #soo i guess i feel ya :( #maybe if you can.. try talking to someone you trust? #a therapist if you have one. or a close friend or adult idk #if you really wanted i guess you could send me asks #even tho we're just strangers on the internet #sometimes it helps just to talk to someone and know youre not alone #ok the tags cut off a couple of times and i dont want to make this too long #but i believe in you! you will do great things. have a lovely day/night <3

[jackalhadrurusluvr]

repeating my therapists words in my head like the bike message in pokemon

#i am not responsible for other people #i am not responsible for their actions or feelings i am not in control of that #if its not in my control then i need to take a step back and accept that #tw drugs #soooooooooooo my dad picked up the op of the iods. which he was addicted to for about a decade and stopped a decade ago #like if he had gotten them when the hospital offered it to him it would be whatever yk because he has suffered burns #but he said no at the hospital and stressed that he wouldnt take that poison again #his words idk anything about them #and now that we're talking about weaning him off of his gabapentin (what hes been taking for pain) #he picks them up dawg you say youre not in pain enough to take regular old medicine anymore #i am quite so very stressed about it. our genepool is very heavy on addictions and yk my mom never stopped so i Experienced it #and of course i Experienced it as a child but i dont remember any of my childhood #but i would really rather my father not get addicted to them again i think that would be really quite terrible #i confronted him about it and he said he was just going to keep them as a backup just in case #like ofc i dont want my dad to be in pain. but he cant just say hes feeling really good and then pick them up #because that sets off the “he just wants to use them for Using them” alarm in my head #but i am not in control of him i cant control his actions i tried my best and now whatever happens happens i guess #trying very hard not to freak out very hard right now (everything in my body wants to have a cheeky panic attack and/or spiral) #have no close friends/friends i feel like i can just vent to for freesies is kind of a nightmare #i miss my Friends i miss my Friends i wish i could tell them my situation and just feel like i am Supported and Cared For #being lonely is all fun and games until bad things are happening in your life and you have no one to distract you or help you

[talkorsomething]

Too [insert adjective here] for guard ...................

Well, it's only half related.

We "hit a pothole", "had a slipup", whatever you want to call it — sunday. Aka: for the sake of my sanity we are not labeling it a relapse but good god does it feel as though I have invited the demons back in.

I know why, but I don't really know why. Because, I mean... I never have, to begin with. So: when I decided i was doing it sunday, i accepted it. "Let it happen", as someone would probably say to me. It's not...

I've been thinking about it for a while now. It's like anything - it comes and goes, a few times a year, and no matter what, I always ignore it.

Except, maybe there's something I'm not paying attention to? Or, ignoring, is the better word for it?

Of course it would be the one thing I have happening in my life.

November, I was burnt out for unrelated reasons. It was a lot to take in. That made sense. Now? ... why now?

There's not really any pressure on me. Yes, I have to do things, yes, it will be noticed if they're bad, but ...... it's not important. We don't spend time on it. I'm coming back next year, but it might be at the cost of ... all of this. I think it's progress. I haven't touched my guitar in any serious capacity in over a year. I think it's progress.

I don't take compliments well. I can't tell if that's why I don't get them, but I'm not being corrected much either. Only when I drift too far from what the work is supposed to be, only after weeks of it going, I can only assume, unnoticed. I keep getting stuck.

...push it back down.

Telling me I'm doing good isn't telling me what I know I have to be getting wrong. I could take it, at the cost of... all of this. I'm anticipating, and I know it can come. This is not where I was when I started.

It's been said, I haven't been told, that not starting it means you're more of a burden, by making the other person have to do it first. I know that. I do. And still it doesn't help. I'm not drowning. It wasn't an accident, but it wasn't planned, either. I don't know you.

I don't know you.

I'm not a good person. I'm not a nice person. Every week I tell myself this is really it, and every week I come back, and ... what? Forget I ever said anything? Forget we're not friends?

Well, we're not, huh? Nobody is, with me. What you see I swear you misunderstand. You don't ask. If you do, well, I can't answer. We're at an impasse.

It's not even my fault we didn't make it. I shouldn't feel like this over nothing. I don't do anything. You will, correctly, not let me do anything, because potential doesn't matter if you can't back it up. If you won't back it up. I let things happen to me.

I don't even feel better. And, actually, ironically, i think i know what would let me feel better. If I can't be upset with anyone else, at least I can be with myself.

... but, well, not even that. Your heart in my hands, but I mean it diegetically. And metaphorically. I hate putting myself out there, I hate having to actually perform, and yet every time, no matter what, I do it. I'm fine. I only cared at the start, and even then not very.

I don't feel anything. Not a lot, anyways. I don't let it happen. I can't. I don't know what it'll mean if I start being honest with myself.

...

I've pulled myself out of this before. A few times, now. Different circumstances, but I've done it all the same. Seasonal depression notwithstanding.

I'm only here because I did things I was scared to. And still, I'm the same. No progress made. The only way out is to do it again but I feel like I can't. I can't.

Will someone just let me say that?

Will someone just fucking help for once?

#sh tw #(implied - i know i didnt actually say it in the post but yes i did c** myself sunday) #100% секретный дневник левы НЕ ЧИТАЙ #im cursed with being a bit too self aware so #i think its compounded by my nepotism hire ... not letting me do my nepotism hire things #(for legal reasons i cannot say) #and then to add to that not letting me do anything I probably COULD actually do given slightly more instruction (at guard) #its just ... im a very angry person actually . except right now thats because im not EATING RIGHT EITHER #BECAUSE ALL OF MY PROBLEMS ARE COMBINING INTO ONE BIG INTERCONNECTED PROBLEM #back to my point. #guard instructors decided that for my first year i will not do anything cool because i'm not able to learn in about 2 seconds flat #[read: get very upset very quickly when i get things wrong and then . cant do them because im trying not to have a breakdown over] #[something REALLY STUPID like NOT BEING ABLE TO DO A SIMPLE TURN WHILE MOVING WITH THE FLAG] #so like okay. i get it okay. i'm not good at this. could you at least TELL ME i suck so i can feel justified about feeling bad about it. #could you just fucking tell me this isn't a guard where you can show up with no experience. could you do me a real solid and tell me that. #i dont know maybe the real sign it wasnt for me was when i was seriously considering not turning up for the second 'audition' #really i just hate how much he yells at us. not even at ME because i do so little there is no room to fuck it up. just at everyone else . #it doesn't motivate me to come back but i NEED 'friends' so bad and i love performing so now i just get anxious enough that i cant eat .. #.. before going to rehearsal. which is stupid. because i've done it a million times before. #...... #i'm just.... everyone says he isn't actually that bad. & he used to be worse. so it really is just me. #it's just me being oversensitive. because i've never had any REAL experience in ... just about anything #so; yes. it IS on me how I feel and obviously how I react. and I keep pushing it down because it's stupid; really; to still feel this way. #anyways. our last weekend without a competition is this very weekend #so you'll never guess who's having a REALLY FUCKING HARD TIME trying to practice #i'm like this close to going to bed early and without having done the dance warmup for the third day in a row. #лёва there is no TIME why are you STILL NOT PRACTICING for the love of god get it together #(oh also when i say 'friends' in quotes it is because i desparately want to believe we're friends but they dont even talk to me really) #(and because im not even IN most of the show theres not much to bond over. literally like i have everything down Decent enough (apparently) #so theres not even any 'i will help u with this toss' team bonding. no shared moment of we are all out of breath because i DONT DO ANYTHING

[sophiamcdougall]

I am never going to complain about Greek Duolingo again

I mean, I am. But still.

So, as some of you know, my family has been coming to this tiny Greek seaside village for several years. Just over a week ago I came out here with my mum, under the impression that early September, after the height of the summer heat, would be a good time to have a holiday. ANYWAY Storm Daniel had other ideas about that. Locally things are improving (I'm actually really pissed off about the disaster-porn tone of most English-language media coverage, but that's another post). The power is back on, there's running water most of the time, and though the latter is not drinkable, a truck from the government came and handled out free bottled water yesterday. But we are currently kind of stuck. Can't do tourist things. Can't go home. There aren't any local flights out until Saturday and the road to Thessaloniki is still closed.

So this evening, feeling kind of aimless and depressed, I go down to the nearest beach with a couple of binbags and start cleaning up in an effort to at least do something positive. I always try to do this at least once out here and obviously, after the storm, there's a lot more plastic and rubbish than usual.

At some point I find this large, round bit of metal - some kind of machinery part, I think -- that's too big for the bag, so I take it to the bins on its own, leaving the rubbish bag on the beach. And when I come back for it, something among the stones beside it moves.

Specifically, it pulls its head sharply inside its shell

So, meanwhile I've been trying to learn some Greek with the help of Duolingo.

I currently have a 33-day streak and... I have questions. Shouldn't I be able to use the past or future tenses by now? Shouldn't I be able to say "x is like y"? I can't do those things. But one thing I absolutely can say all day long is έχω μια χελώνα : I have a turtle.

This is far from the limit of Duolingo Greek's turtle-related content. "An obsession with turtles" is my mother's characterisation. I can inform you that the turtle is not a bird, and, improbably, that the turtle is drinking milk. I can introduce you to a turtle in company with a horse and an elephant. As far as Duolingo is concerned, it really is turtles all the way down.

Now this, you may be able to see, is not a turtle. It has claws rather than flippers. It is a tortoise. I know there are wild tortoises in Greece: my aunt once rescued a pair of them shagging in the middle of the road -- but that was up in the mountains. I've even seen one myself, but it was also on a road and very dead.

I am 95% certain they don't belong on beaches. There's nothing for it to eat, except, unfortunately, a lot of plastic. Even if it gets off the beach it will immediately find itself on a road where it could get hit by a car. I'm pretty sure it must have been washed down by the floodwater and has been just sitting there, dazed, ever since.

Now obviously the first thing I want to do on encountering this unusual animal is to go and tell my mummy, so I do. The tortoise immediately brightens her day. She agrees that the tortoise is not happy on the beach and needs to be taken somewhere safe. it gets surprisingly wriggly when picked up so we put it in a carrier bag with some grapes and cucumber and go looking for somewhere to rehome it.

We find a path leading up between the houses towards a likely-looking field, but before we get very far a dog in a yard goes berserk and a man's head pops over a fence and demands to know what we're doing. He does this in English, as evidently we're just that obviously tourists.

"I found a tortoise on the beach!" I explain. "We want to find somewhere to put it."

"A what," he asks.

"It's like a, you know," I begin and then to my astonishment I find myself saying... "μια χελώνα"

"Oh! A turtle!" he says.

"But from the land. δεν είναι χελώνα", [it is not a turtle,] I say, as I am worried he will tell me to put it back near the sea where I found it. As it turns out it actually IS a χελώνα, Greek does not distinguish between turtles and tortoises, but I don't know that; I can't even name the days of the week or identify any colours other than pink yet, give me a break.

The man's entire demeanour changes and thaws. He does not worry about my turtle-that-is-not-a-turtle conundrum. He knows where οι χελώνες come from and where η χελώνα μας belongs. He leads us through a gate into a courtyard area.

"[somethingsomething] μια χελώνα," he explains to the assembled onlookers, of whom there are, suddenly, a surprising number.

"ΜΙΑ ΧΕΛΩΝΑ!!!" crows the throng of delighted small children, who are, suddenly, everywhere.

"μια χελώνα!" I agree, accepting that at least for current purposes, that is what it is.

"Μπορούμε να δούμε τη χελώνα σας; [can we see your turtle?]" asks an adorable little girl, shyly, and I understand??

The children fucking love looking at the χελώνα and showing it to them is kind of magical?

I finally put the tortoise down on the grass of this wild area off to the side of the courtyard, and marvel aloud that it is weird that I barely know any Greek except how to say μια χελώνα.

"I think she will soon run off," a kind lady called Aspasia assures me, seeing I remain slightly anxious about its fate. "I don't know why I'm saying 'she'. I suppose because χελώνα is feminine in Greek."

"Yes! I know that!" I exclaim, thrilled.

"Well done!" she says. And also she asks if we are OK for drinking water after the storm and if we need any help with anything and is just generally incredibly lovely and now we know more of the neighbours!

So "μια χελώνα" has just become, by a long way, my most-used and most understood and all-around most conversationally successful phrase in Greek. So I guess I have to admit I was wrong to doubt Duolingo's wisdom: it is correct to be obsessed with turtles. And I concede that prior to learning how to count to ten or to distinguish right from left, the simple ability to yell the word TURTLE over and over again is, it turns out, a crucial element of the responsible traveller's social skills.

(I am pretty fluent in Italian and turtles haven't come up in conversation even once?)

#story time

[tealfruit]

it's not actually difficult to get me to work hard, or maybe not hard but generally well at least, all you have to do is be a decent person who does their own job and treat me and others with respect and I will be ride or die for you

#nerd alert #thinking about the time when one of my 2 fav supervisors was closing and we had no dish person for the last 2 hours #and at 11 (when we're scheduled to leave) most of the kitchen was done but there was like 3 racks of dishes + 1000 plates still to do #and sam (the supervisor) was like 'yall can go ahead and clock out if you want' #and i said 'are we just leaving all the dishes for tomorrow or something' and he said 'no ill knock em out real quick' #i was like 'sam that is going to take you a calendar year. ill stay and help' #he was like 'u dont have to but i rly appreciate it' #a couple others did as well and the 4 of us washed all those goddamn dishes. took us till 1am #but there was no way in hell i was gonna let sam wash all those by himself. that wouldve been so cruel #he already works WAAYYYYY harder than he gets paid for imho (idk his exact salary but it Cannot be enough for all he does) #i always tell him this place doesnt deserve him LOL. and im right #anyway. idk if it had been a certain other supervisor id have been like. r u sure? ok well bye 👋 have fun ig #but sam works hard and treats me really well so ill bend over backwards for him when i can

[nighttimenothings]

thinking about slow saturdays. edging my girl all day—fleeting looks and lingering touches. in the morning, touching you gently over your panties while we're tangled up in bed, waiting till your hips are rolling and you're whimpering before stopping.

later during lunch, keeping my hand high up on your thigh, thumb stroking slowly, so close, yet nowhere near where you want me to be. you like that, baby?

in the afternoon, we're on the couch, a movie playing on the tv, but neither one of us is really paying attention because i've got two fingers thrusting slowly in your cunt and my other hand pinching and tugging at your nipples. you're soft little moans become more and more desperate as i bring you close to the edge. and right before you're about to come, i stop. that's my girl. just one more. can you hold on for me?

we're cooking dinner together, i'm stealing kisses, hands trailing over your stomach, waist, and hips. you giggle and tell me i'm distracting you, and i laugh because this is nowhere near distracting.

during dinner, i can see you squirm in your chair when i nudge my foot against your leg. i raise a brow and you flush. you're so easy to fluster, sweetheart. i adore how pink your cheeks are and how shy you get.

cleaning up is simple. you wash and i dry, but today i can't help but stop, stepping up close behind you, pressing you against the counter and sneaking a hand down your panties again. your slick has already leaked all over your thighs and my fingers glide frictionlessly.

i'm touching and tasting, licking and leaving kisses all over your neck. you're so pretty, baby. i love seeing you like this. thank you for being so good for me. my hands are everywhere and i can't stop touching. soon enough, you've given up on the dishes and we're now facing each other.

fingers or mouth, baby? you're voice is breathy and high when you tell me you want both. greedy girl. but you've been so good for me, so i'll give you everything—i'll make sure you can't stand by the time i finish with you.

i get on my knees and i pull down your pants, panties coming off too. there's a string of slick that sticks to your panties and i groan at the sight of it. good god, you're dripping and making a mess everywhere. let me clean you up.

you taste so good. you're thrusting and gasping, fingers threaded in my hair. i have my hands wrapped around your thighs, keeping you up as your thighs start to shake and your slickness continues to drip. the sound is obscene, the steady squelch of my tongue in your cunt, my lips sucking your clit.

you beg for my fingers and i oblige, immediately giving you two. you're getting close—i can tell. your breaths come out strangled and your eyes are bleary and unfocused. can you wait, baby? hold on for just a little longer for me? you're so close to crying, i can see the tears clinging to your eyelashes and can hear the way your voice cracks. you tell me you can—that you wanna be good for me.

i add another finger—you whine, high and desperate—and i lick your folds gently. so perfect, so good. that's it. finally, when i know you've reached your limit, i curl my fingers and suck your clit. come for me, baby. you've been so good for me.

#lesbian #sapphic #wlw #lesbian nsft #sapphic nsft #wlw nsft #men and minors dni #nighttimenothings #NNlongnights