#(and more!!)

[finsterkiibo]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAEDE!!!!!!!! I couldn’t do anything big because WORK but I wanted to do at least SOMETHING for her birthday, so here’s some sketches of the woman ever!!!! eheh

i tend to forget birthdays quite easily BUT I TRY!!!!!!

have been wanting to tweak my personal design for her too!!! so here’s a peak at that! kind of brought features from my old redesign onto her cuz I was so fond of it AUGH

[maiko-coy]

I'm participating on this years ArtFight!!!

If anyone would like to join and/or fight, come get me >:]]]

[our-future-is-up-to-us-2]

Americans In London

I'm back on the Narcovember grind! (Mayyybeee...) Fic number 12 @narcosfandomdiscord

As the current hyperfixation is Ted Lasso, buckle up! They're gonna be everywhere >:D

Prompt #23, Book Of Just Chaos™: Fanwork with a cracked crossover/ship with characters from two very different genres 

The main crossover in question is: Dani Rojas (Ted Lasso) & Mika Camarena! (+ other Narcos: Mexico and Ted Lasso characters) 

Word Count: 1.9K

Relationships: Kiki Camarena/Mika Camarena, Mika Camarena & Dani Rojas

Warnings: None in terms of content, but just ignore the vastly different time periods of the shows... Let's just pretend that they co-exist, ok? Ok.

~ Read the fic under the cut ~

Mika walks through the streets of Guadalajara, mostly when she knows that Kiki’s out, and won’t be back for a while. 

She gets it, maybe not as entirely as she thinks, but she gets it. This job is important to him, and her husband’s always wanted to do good. For the family, for the world, or at least a portion of that world: Mexico. 

But sometimes, no, actually, most of the time, she believes it’s too much. She tells him, late at night, how dangerous things feel. How he just needs to have some time off, to recalibrate… To focus on the good things in life. 

He zones out at the barbecues hosted, sitting back with his drink and watching his companions revel about trivial things, their wives joining in on occasion. 

But there’s no victory. Not when they’re falling so far behind. When the drug lords of the world are only rising up the ladders, and they’re… Revelling. Socialising. Over nothing.  

She needs to get him out of here. Even if it means they might not come back… For a week, or two, or three– Hell, a holiday! DEA agents work so hard, of course they’re gonna need one! 

The afternoon sun bears down on Mika as she finds spaces of green, families in parks, many enjoying picnics or popsicles. 

But one particular green space catches her eye, barred off by a green wiry fence. There’s a door to this area, how else would all the boys get inside? But she’ll watch from her distance. 

She listens, keenly, to the mix of English and Spanish in the air. Young boys, lined up in jerseys and sport shirts. Black and white balls at their feet… 

A practice enclosure. A field. A training ground. 

Maybe they’ll go to a football game, Kiki and Mika, and do something else for a day… But a single day off? It’s nothing. It’s about as good as one of those barbecues, and off they all go, into regular life again. 

However, she won’t give up hope so easily. 

One young man gets pulled aside by the coach, and the coach speaks harshly to him in a flurry of Spanish. The young boy should probably be crumbling at the severity, but instead, he’s steeling himself, waiting patiently, properly– 

There’s her ticket. There’s his ticket. 

“ You’re no longer good enough for El Tigre. Only because you’re better. Tomorrow, off to Richmond. You play the big game, Dani. ”  

The boy’s eyes, Dani’s, widen in an instant. He first salutes his coach, before jumping up and down, shaking his hand. “ Gracias, Coach! ¡Muchas gracias! ” 

And it’s like the world has fallen into his hands. Like Guadalajara is now too much for him, perhaps too small for him… And this Dani fellow might not even fit into London very well, and he might come running back to the safety, the familiarity of El Tigre.  

Mika knows it’s no good to eavesdrop, to watch from the side, but then she remembers that Kiki does this every day. Around drug lords. And this? It’s a community football team, who is she kidding?! 

“Hey, you!” She calls out to the young boy, “Dani, isn’t it?!” 

“ Sí! ” He responds, his dark brown hair jumping up and down with him, “That’s me, Dani Rojas. Do you support the team?” He gestures back to his teammates, hell, they’re his friends. And he’ll miss them. 

Mika waves a so-so hand and sighs, “Look, I’m sorry if this seems weird, or rude, or something, but… My husband and I needed a getaway from Guadalajara. He’s not very keen on a holiday, but I am, so… Why don’t we join you in Richmond?” 

Dani’s foot taps against the ground, likely mulling it all over… Which is fair enough. A random woman, approaching him, basically trying to follow him to where he goes– It’s almost stalker-y, if Mika was the last thing from a stalker, and Kiki actually… Kinda stalked for his occupation. 

The smile on his face is like a ray of sun itself, bursting with life on her face. “Coach told me the flight’s for 9 o’clock tomorrow! Ooh, it’s going to be a long day, my friend!” 

She nods and brushes back a strand of her hair. This is our ticket.  

“You seem like a lot of fun, Dani.” She shrugs, “Call me Mika.” 

***

Kiki Camarena arrives home late that night. 

Not that Mika Camarena has any objections this time around. 

All the lights are on, bags are strewn on the floor, clothes everywhere– It’s like Mika’s pretending to be him when he packs for a long stakeout. 

And it’s confusing, because he hasn’t been assigned to any long stakeouts, and hasn’t had the guts to try again after last time… He’s been complacent (somewhat) working with the information that they have, sticking with the group, no crazy travel destinations! 

So why does this feel like he’s going to a crazy travel destination? And, if it’s related to anything with the DEA, why does his wife know first?  

“Hey, honey?” Kiki begins, knocking gently on their bedroom door, “Do you mind telling me what this is?” 

Mika laughs and looks up from her pile of clothes, her expression surprisingly bright. “Yeah, Kiki. We’re goin’ on a holiday tomorrow.” 

“A holiday?!” He immediately exclaims, furrowing his brows, “Mika, we’re here in Guadalajara, we don’t have time for a–” 

“Holiday.” She finishes, “Yes, we do. I’ve talked to Jaime, he’s given you time off. You’ll be back on the job the minute we get back, ok?” 

“Fine.” He resigns, gesturing to all the clothes, “So, where are we going? And when’s our flight?” 

“9 o’clock tomorrow morning, and we’re off to Richmond. It’ll be fun!” 

London, of all places? Why? What’s going on? What surprises are there?! 

“Help me out here, and do yourself a favour, sweetheart. Prepare for jet lag.” 

***

“When’s the new player, what’s-his-name–” 

“Dani.” Both Nate and Beard say in unison. 

“Yeah, him…” Ted sighs, rubbing his hands over his eyes, “When’s he comin’ in?” 

“Should be sooner or later. He’s from Mexico, remember?” Beard reminds, “But we should cut him some slack.” 

“Yeah, that’s right.” The manager stretches, looking out onto the pitch. It all reminds him of Sam, his homesickness, and his struggle for a few days. It’s not going to be fair to him to force him to play his best. 

After all, they need to figure out who Dani Rojas is, as a player and a man. It’s Ted's approach, after all: Find out one’s skills, one’s weaknesses, one’s personality… And slowly let them click into place. And whoever they click with? Well, it’s not his choice. 

As long as they fit in somewhere, the team can work with that. 

Little do they know what sort of storm is coming. 

***

Dani, Kiki and Mika step off the plane, and they each consult each other for directions, until they find taxis. 

And now, they’re on their way to Richmond AFC. 

It turns out that Dani Rojas, not unlike his new coach, Ted Lasso, talked for the majority of the flight. He didn’t seem entertained by any of the movies, games, and so on in front of him… Instead, he was enthralled by the idea of going to Richmond, of pouring himself and his life out onto Kiki and Mika. 

Mika did most of the talking in return, especially with her husband and his job. It’s because of that that he holds suspicions about everybody. 

Even this young footballer, fresh off a team in their area, and the sort of guy who’s filled the most loving personality. 

He repeats his mantra several times over to his newfound friends: “Football is life, right?! Oh, you’ll see… Football is life. ”  

Kiki tries to smile in the taxi, watching the world pass them by. A new place, new temporary accommodation, but his mind simply itches with bigger and better things: The drugs, the routes, the kingpins at the head of the game. 

He can’t switch off. At least, not for long. 

It helps to watch the young man, at times, seeing how he’s humming things to himself in Spanish… Mika clearly knew what to do, to make a strong connection with this guy, and something that would interest him enough to think about anything but the drugs. 

Maybe a part of that plan was working. 

They step out at Richmond AFC and Dani races through the front door of the club, surrounded by grey, blue and red. New colours, new themes, new surroundings… And he’s anything but fazed. 

And out the back door? That’s his ticket. The sun shining down on the gloriously green pitch, marked up in white. 

“Come on, amigos! ” He calls out to Kiki and Mika, “Let’s play!” 

The pair follow after Dani, sharing a small chuckle at that. The last thing they’ll be doing is playing, instead, just observing. Being completely honest with themselves, they would have rather headed to their accommodation first– But things are sorted out there, apparently. 

Besides, they’re here to support their new friend. 

And, in doing so, they end up beside the manager himself, Ted Lasso. 

He turns to face the newcomers with a bright smile, “Oh, hey!” He waves, “I’m only assuming you came with Dani?” 

“Yeah!” Mika smiles back, encouraged by the man’s initial reaction, “I’m Mika and this is Kiki. We’re friends of Dani’s.” 

“Well, ‘friends’ is one way to describe it.” Kiki chips in with a small frown, “It’s a long story.” 

“Perfect.” Ted says. Right off the bat, a long story connecting these two and Dani? Of course, he’s ready. “You can tell me everything, more than happy to hear it. I’m Ted, by the way, Ted Lasso.” 

From there, the woman dives into the details, with Kiki adding his own sentiments every now and then, a few sparing details about his job, because this man… Mika seems to trust him. 

And sometimes, that’s all he can believe: His own wife’s emotion and intuition. 

“Now we’re here. All because of Dani.” The DEA agent finishes, turning back to face the pitch, “Hold on… How is he not jetlagged as hell?! And he’s–” 

Really good. Is what he was going to say, and the three of them watch the young player circle around the other Richmond players, scoring a smooth and impressive goal in quick time. 

“Ooh, boy… He’s like a goshdarn puppy, that one!” Ted laughs, unable to help it. “Look, you two, you enjoy your time here. Rest is one of the best things you can get, Kiki, alright?” He pauses for a moment, but not enough to let anyone interject, “Hey, and if you need anythin’, just give me a holler, you got it? I’ve been here for a few months now, I’m not perfect, but– You’re two fellow Americans in London, so, we’re all in the same boat.” 

Kiki considers his words and sighs quietly. Rest is one of the best things you can get…  

He realises, only just then, how much his body’s been aching, how much his eyes struggle to stay awake, how the constant frustration and anger is only added to this amalgamation of things. 

God, he needs some rest. 

The minute that the pair walk away from the football scene, the man finds himself leaning his head against Mika’s shoulder, and she presses a kiss to his head. 

“Exhausted, aren’t you?”  

“Yeah…” Kiki replies slowly. 

“Well,” Mika simply laughs, “I’m glad that Ted Lasso got to you. ‘Cause it’s about damn time.” 

[byfulcrums]

i love making my favorite characters aromantic

[plugnuts]

Happy Homestuck day, even if I don't understand it

Thank you! And honestly? Y’all probably don’t even want to- it’s one helluva rabbit hole

[sora227]

modern au but mafuyu and wanderer are siblings

[thedoubteriswise]

nothing funnier to me than when AI does math wrong. like I get why it happens, it's a language model that's treating the numbers you feed it as words rather than integers and then giving you an answer based on how those words typically appear in a block of text instead of actually performing a calculation. but the one thing computers are genuinely incredible at. you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did, look at it it's got hallucinations

[marvelsmostwanted]

There are people – some in my own Party – who think that if you just give Donald Trump everything he wants, he’ll make an exception and spare you some of the harm. I’ll ignore the moral abdication of that position for just a second to say — almost none of those people have the experience with this President that I do. I once swallowed my pride to offer him what he values most — public praise on the Sunday news shows — in return for ventilators and N95 masks during the worst of the pandemic. We made a deal. And it turns out his promises were as broken as the BIPAP machines he sent us instead of ventilators. Going along to get along does not work – just ask the Trump-fearing red state Governors who are dealing with the same cuts that we are. I won’t be fooled twice.

I’ve been reflecting, these past four weeks, on two important parts of my life: my work helping to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and the two times I’ve had the privilege of reciting the oath of office for Illinois Governor.

As some of you know, Skokie, Illinois once had one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors anywhere in the world. In 1978, Nazis decided they wanted to march there.

The leaders of that march knew that the images of Swastika clad young men goose stepping down a peaceful suburban street would terrorize the local Jewish population – so many of whom had never recovered from their time in German concentration camps.

The prospect of that march sparked a legal fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was a Jewish lawyer from the ACLU who argued the case for the Nazis – contending that even the most hateful of speech was protected under the first amendment.

As an American and a Jew, I find it difficult to resolve my feelings around that Supreme Court case – but I am grateful that the prospect of Nazis marching in their streets spurred the survivors and other Skokie residents to act. They joined together to form the Holocaust Memorial Foundation and built the first Illinois Holocaust Museum in a storefront in 1981 – a small but important forerunner to the one I helped build thirty years later.

I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly. But I know the history intimately — and have spent more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust. Here’s what I’ve learned – the root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed – a seed of distrust and hate and blame.

The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.

I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings — that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems.

I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next.

All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.

I swore the following oath on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible: “I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor .... according to the best of my ability.

My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don’t have kings in America – and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one. I am not speaking up in service to my ambitions — but in deference to my obligations.

If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this:

It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.

Those Illinois Nazis did end up holding their march in 1978 – just not in Skokie. After all the blowback from the case, they decided to march in Chicago instead. Only twenty of them showed up. But 2000 people came to counter protest. The Chicago Tribune reported that day that the “rally sputtered to an unspectacular end after ten minutes.” It was Illinoisans who smothered those embers before they could burn into a flame.

Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the “tragic spirit of despair” overcome us when our country needs us the most.

Sources:

• NBC Chicago & J.B. Pritzker, Democratic governor of Illinois, State of the State address 2025: Watch speech here | Full text

• Betches News on Instagram (screencaps)

[ducktollers]

🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊

[nightmare-from-heaven]

Hey. Your brain needs to de-frag. Literally it needs you to sit there and space out.

If you want your memory or executive function to improve, stare out a window at the skyline or sidewalk or trees or birds on the electrical wires for like 20+ minutes per day. (With no other stimulation like a podcast or TV if you can manage but hey baby steps innit). If you're fortunate enough to have safe outside with any bits of nature, go stare closely at a 1 meter square of grass and trip out on the bugs and shapes of grasses and stuff.

Literally this will make you smarter. Our brains HAVE TO HAVE this zone out time to do important stuff behind the scenes. This does not happen during sleep, it's something else.

That weird pressurized feeling you get sometimes might be your brain on no defrag.

Give your brain a Daily Dose Of De-Frag.

[astriiformes]

I know that realistically you can only fit so many movies into a list of approximately 100, but I cannot take that "How many of tumblr's favorite movies have you seen?" list that's been going around seriously because there are some truly egregious omissions.

Some of it is very clearly recency bias, which makes me wonder if the op truly wasn't on here in 2013 or so, but you're telling me you made a list of "tumblr's favorite movies" that doesn't include Pacific Rim or Mad Max: Fury Road? Because, like, I was there, Gandalf.

[wishfulsketching]

Silco and his terror of a daughter

[guiiay]

jinx and isha visit a walmart

[magic-can]

The deadline has passed, the scumbags voted to continue sending money to Israel. Keep protesting, keep fighting. And keep supporting verified campaigns. The Alanqar family still needs help (verified #6 here) so if you want to do something please support their campaign in any way you can: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rising-from-the-ashes-ghadas-journey-of-hope-and-resilien?utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&lang=en_US

While you are at it, please share @zinaanqar ‘s campaign (link here)

[captain-price-unofficially]

Pepsi distributed Dr Pepper (on the left) And Coca-Cola distributed Dr Pepper (on the right). Dr. Pepper isn’t owned by either company, it is it’s own company Keurig Doctor Pepper, BUT they don’t have a bottling facility. In an area, they use whichever bottling facility gives them the best deal. That’s why sometimes it’s Pepsi shaped and sometimes it’s Coke shaped.