#Dominicans ALL RISE

[thejudgingtrash]

I‘m so sorry but you’ll have to pry Afro-Latino Percy from of my cold dead hands

[whatudowhennooneseesyou]

𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢 𝟏𝟖+ 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 (𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 & 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝)

Disclaimer: This is for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken seriously. 18+

Methodology: Traditional and Whole Sign

Placements:

Leo Sun

Cancer Moon

Sagittarius Rising

Virgo Venus (retrograde)

Scorpio Mars

Is He A Fuckboi?

6/10

People who have a Virgo Venus can enjoy having sex without feelings involved so Mingi probably can be a fuckboi but his Cancer Moon would intervene and he would become emotionally dependent on you very quickly.

His Sagittarius/Jupiter influence means he has a high drive like super fucking high he can go all day if he had the opportunity.

So, I feel in his horny moments he could just fuck a random stranger but afterwards or when it's out of his system, he'd probably feel bad or low-key guilty about pursuing sex if there's no 'feelings' involved.

Red Flags:

Mommy Issues! Mingi is a huge Mommy's boy and he's mentioned in the past about how his relationship with his mother is the most important to him.

This is EXTREMELY common in men who have Cancer Moons and they usually grow up with a mother who 'babies' them and have a borderline codependent relationship with their mother.

So you might struggle with being accepted by his family and consistently fight for approval or validation from the women in his family.

Green Flags:

Your No 1 Support Person! You will feel like you haven't experienced as much support and hype energy from your loved ones like the support you'll experience from Mingi.

He will be devoted to you and worship you and do whatever he can in his power to ensure your life is easier and more enjoyable whenever you're with him.

Whilst Mingi is a high-maintenance partner, his presence as a boyfriend would have a healing impact on you and life will fill like a more positive experience when you're with him.

Ideal Type: If He's Into Women (Which I'm Damn Sure He Is)

Personality Traits:

Extroverted!!! He has a 5th House in Aries so he is attracted to women who are loud, outgoing, extroverted and are not afraid to speak up about their needs.

Mingi is someone who's a constant over thinker so he needs a partner who is okay with being upfront about what their needs and expectations are of him, it's why he has a strong friendship with Yunho because Yunho tells him what to do and he does it.

Protective!!! He really is low-key looking for someone who will embody a 'mother' role and ensure he feels safe, protected and cared for all the time.

If you look at heaps of fancalls with Mingi, the ones where you can tell he's invested in the Atiny are the ones who lead the fancall and just basically hype him up and froth over him.

Physical Traits:

Here's the Link to a fancall with an Atiny where he explicitly says 'you're my type' and you can TELL omg he looks like he wants to devour her in those remaining 30 seconds.

A feminine/girly aesthetic with a slight emo/punk twist combined with a masculine attitude is the best way to describe Mingi's type physically.

If you don't want to click the link, he says word for word to the Atiny 'look so amazing, black (he did say that but the Atiny muted it), and dark, and your accessory and outfit is so beautiful...yeah my type'.

The Atiny later revealed she's British and Dominican so the rumours of Mingi being attracted to women who are of a different ethnic background are probably true (a win is a win).

Sub, Switch Or Dom?

Mingi is a switch with a submissive preference and the only member of Ateez who has a submissive preference and would fall into the category of being an obedient and needy/clingy sub.

He has an 8th House Moon and these people are NASTY in the bedroom usually so his partner would have to be open to trying new things.

In a dominant position, Mingi would become a soft/service/pleasure dom and would probably still need a lot of reassurance even if he's taking the lead.

And men with a Scorpio Mars are the type to fuck and love passionately so whilst he's not a degrading/mean lover...he wouldn't necessarily be a gentle lover either because he struggles with verbally expressing his love for you so he's going to ensure you know he loves you in another way.

Which usually manifests in him fucking you so deep your hips bruise, legs are shaky and there's an ache in between your thighs the next day.

Speaking of thighs...

Kinks: (Just A Few)

Ass and Thigh play!!!

Mingi is an arse and thigh guy all the way, he loves seeing your arse jiggle as he fucks you doggy style and leave hand prints all over your cheeks.

Would enjoy a late night lovemaking session where he can hit it from the side and squeeze and play with your thighs as he fills you with his love.

He'd enjoy pulling out and covering your arse with his sticky cum, watching it drizzle down your thighs while he takes a few sneaky pics for his phone collection.

You think he's been a bad boy and want to punish him? It hurts his feelings that he can't fuck you but he'd be more than okay with pushing his dick in between your thighs and just getting off in that way.

And don't think this is just for you no honey, this goes both ways.

You riding his thighs? Using him like a personal toy just to get yourself off? He'd have to force himself from not cumming in his pants with how hard it would make him.

Scratch his thighs, smack his arse, you can low-key bite the meat of his arse and leave a bruise there and he would enjoy it all the same.

You just need to validate him and tell him how good he is, how proud you are of him, how wet he makes you feel.

'Look how wet you made me right now mmmh? You deserve a reward for being such a good princess for me right?'

On a more taboo level, Mingi could also be into kinks like anal, arse play (both giving and receiving), rimming, and I think in the right environment he'd even let you peg him.

Just ensure he receives the most immaculate aftercare, allow him to do the same to you and he'll never leave your side.

He's tied to you for life.

I won't be publishing anything in September because I'll be writing for Kinktober so pls enjoy this longer post!

It's been a struggle for me to stay motivated on here because my last few posts have flopped with receiving attention and/or interest...considering how long I have been on here.

So adieu until October!

Taglist: @scuzmunkie @marievllr-abg @umbralhelwolf @starsareseen @lino-jagiyaa @mischiefsmind @mrcarrots @junieshohoho @gyuhanniescarat @partywithgyu @whatsk-poppinhomies @hologramhoneymoon @staytinyinmybpack @necessiteez @wooyoungmybelovedhusband @berryberrytan @laylasbunbunny @bangchanbabygirlx @i-love-ateez @anyamaris @krishastumblernow @hexheathen @michel-angelhoe @northerngalxy @justaaveragereader @ja3hwa @silentreaderthings @daddysspecialdollyworld @abby-grace @wisejudgedragonhairdo @smilefordongil @writhingwrecked @hongthoven @youre-alittle-taste-of-hell

[chiquita99]

Prison Life Can Be Tough**

Summary: You are known as the wife of Michael Scofield. Unfortunately many people in your prison have a hate for him but you are the closest they can get to him. Michael fights for your survival.

⚠️ warnings ⚠️ None

_____________________________________

"Prison life can be tough" the warden states as she rises from her desk and walks to face Scofield.

Michael has his hands on his hips in a thinking matter.

"If I remember correctly, you have two missing toes that can attest to that" She stated.

"You're not listening to my words. Y/N is NOT SAFE HERE" Michael shouts and glares at the she warden dressed in a suit.

He regains composure and continues in a more calm tone.

"Please" he sighs, "please just approve the transfer to another facility. Too many people here have a hit for me and Y/N shouldnt receive that punishment".

The warden makes a face and replies "If I grant her a transfer, everybody's gonna want one".

Michael quickly tosses another option out "What about segregrated housing?"

The warden looks at him peculiarly and advances like predator to prey, "Is there something that I should know about the structural integrity of SHU?".

Michael scoffs in annoyance "I see where this is going".

"I know who you are. And I'm not going to let you turn my prison into the next Fox River" She tells him in a stone cold tone.

"All I'm trying to do, is keep my wife alive. Someone tried to posion her today and have you seen what marks are on her face" he replies and takes a step forward just as she did, "You do know she's pregnant".

"I don't care" she replies just as coldly.

Michael looks away in disbelief.

"In case I haven't made myself clear--Y/N Y/L/N is not getting any preferential treatment" the warden says as a final statement.

[Later]

"Hey baby" Michael smiles as you sit in the chair across from him at the conjugal table.

"Hi my love" you respond.

Michael focuses on the bruising that's on your face.

He raises his hand to your cheek and gently strokes where a nasty red mark sits.

You close your eyes and sigh.

Sigh in relief he is here but also at how unfortunate events have turned out in here.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you" he tells you, not being able to look away from the beating evident on your face.

"It is what it is" you respond.

Michael watches you bring the back of your hand to your mouth. It felt like you had to burp or vomit.

You close your eyes, focusing on something different than how you are feeling right now.

"What is it?" Michael questioned with concern.

"Only nausea" you tell him, "I think it's my stress and the baby".

"I understand baby" he says and puts his hand ontop of yours on the table.

"Anyone who touches you, will lose a lot more than they bargain for" Michael says gruffly.

"Don't be like that Michael. There's no good in both of us incarcerated" you tell him, one hand on your nauseous stomach.

"I'm getting you out of here" he whispers and squeezes your one hand firmly.

You scoff in frustration.

"What did I just say Michael" you tell him.

"We will dissappear in Dominican Republic and you can finish your pregnancy in peace" he smiles softly.

"Our babies will pick plantains off the farms and swim in the ocean while we sunbathe and get drunk off margaritas"

You hum a sweet smile, "I would love it".

"I'm going to make it happen baby" he assures you.

"When are you coming in?" You ask in a whisper.

"Tomorrow" he says.

[sutekimar]

A Sagittarius Sun Observation

I have a few family members, friends and people I know with a Sagittarius Sun, and I’ve noticed some patterns regarding their father figure.

Before I begin, it’s important to note that the Sun is typically associated with the father in a natal chart, while the Moon represents the mother. Saturn is also seen as a representation of the father figure. However, I believe that Jupiter can symbolize the father figure as well, especially in a woman’s chart. This is because, as females, we often look for traits of our fathers in our husbands, and Jupiter represents the husband in our charts. This perspective leads me to think that the 9th house is more indicative of the father, rather than the 10th—though that’s just my opinion, and it doesn’t have to be universally applicable.

On the other hand the 9th House which is ruled by Sagittarius and Jupiter represent: higher mind, expansion, international and long-distance travel, foreign languages, inspiration, optimism, publishing, broadcasting, universities and higher education, luck, risk, adventure, gambling, religion, philosophy, morals and ethics.

Observations

Mother:

Her mother and father are the same age, but they come from different religious backgrounds. My grandmother was Catholic, while my grandfather was Protestant. As a result, all my aunts and uncles have two sets of godparents—one from the Catholic side and one from the Protestant side.

Niece:

My niece's father and mother are also around the same age, but there’s a cultural difference: her mother was born in the USA, while her father was born in Puerto Rico. Her mother has Puerto Rican heritage. Interestingly, my brother was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and while he speaks English, he doesn't speak it as fluently as his younger siblings. This is partly because he was out of school when my mother moved us here.

An Old friend:

As far as I know, his Father was older than his Mother. Because of what he told me once his dad was Half puertorican half African American, Not only that he was born in United States while his mom was born and raised in Puerto Rico, she moved him as a baby to Puerto Rico and he grew up over there.

My Mexican Friend:

Regarding my Mexican friend, I don’t remember if she mentioned whether her dad is older than her mom, but I do know she wasn’t born in Mexico. Her mom crossed the border and gave birth to her in the USA, then crossed back to raise her in Mexico. Interestingly, she has her Sun in the 4th house and currently lives in the USA.

Lo Que Pasó, Pasó:

Now, about this man: his father was born in Puerto Rico, and as far as I know, his mother was born in the USA but has Puerto Rican heritage, similar to my niece's mom. His dad is fluent in Spanish, as is his family, but he doesn’t speak Spanish, and as far as he told me, neither does his mom.

Interestingly enough, I know (because I’m worse than the FBI) that his two sisters also have their Suns in Sagittarius. His oldest sister is his father's daughter, while his other sister is from someone else, but based on her last name, I know her dad can’t be Puerto Rican. As for his younger brothers, one is a Cancer and the other is a Pisces, but I don’t have enough birth data to know all their positions.

Another detail about his parents' relationship is that they met in high school.

El Dominicano's Daughter:

This man has four kids; out of those, two are mixed. I don't have much information about the last child, but the baby girl is a Sagittarius Sun. Her mom is Puerto Rican, and her dad is Dominican. That's all I have to say.

Honorable Mentions:

Ex-Husband:

He is a Leo Sun with his Sun in the 9th house and a Sagittarius rising. His father is 14 years older than his mother, and he met her when she was in high school while he was a grown man of 30. (If I had known this story before we got married, I would have canceled the wedding.)

PLEASE IF YOU ARE A SAG SUN OR HAVE THE SUN IN THE 9TH HOUSE LET ME KNOW IF YOU SEE ANY OF THIS PATTERNS IN YOUR LIFE.

PS: I don't own the right for the image used in this post.

[thesweetestdevotion]

့ ◌๋ ✿ ˚ㅤHello Tarot Tumblr!့ ◌๋ ✿ ˚

I am not new to tarot tumblr, I’ve been lurking here for a while (hehe).

My name is Stella, I’m a tarot reader and astrologer, nice to meet ya ;3. I’m 21 years old, Dominican 🇩🇴, and I live in the USA. I’m an Aries sun, Scorpio moon, Leo rising!! (Vedic: UPB sun, Vishakha ♎️ moon, Ashlesha ⬆️)

I have loads of experience in doing readings in real life, although I’ve never advertised my services online. I want to begin to expand my business virtually so I thought it would be nice to begin offering readings here on tumblr!

✿ linktree ✿ find my other socials here!

Masterlist

Check masterlist for daily updates on new readings

Free Personal Readings CLOSED!

I want to build up my clientele here first so I’ll be offering a three+ card pull for one question, for a couple of people per day! (See masterlist for updates on free readings)

Please!! Send your reading requests to my inbox!

normal asks are open all day! including celebrity asks, and personal asks, questions etc... (see masterlist for readings I’ve done and have planned)

rules and further info below

Rules:

Please Include the following info: Relevant initials and zodiac sun signs, and your one question! (Ex: AG, Aries, My question is…)

If you want to anonymously submit your question, please make a regular submission and add three unique emojis (Ex: 🍀💧❤️) to the post, then make an anonymous post with just those three emojis, I will answer your question there!

Also please indicate that your submission is for a daily reading (just so its easier to keep count)

PLEASE DO NOT ❌:

Request more than once per day (so its fair for everyone)

Request the same question in the same month (energies and answers can become fumbled, I want to provide you with the best accuracy I can)

Harass or bully me or others!

DISCLAIMERS 🫖:

I will not read for minors, only 18+

I have the right to refuse/ignore a reading

I am willing to answer nsfw questions 👀

If you like how I read and you’d like to book a full paid reading you can order on ko-fi! Or send me a tip!

thank you for stopping by on my blog, your support and interactions are greatly appreciated!! 💖

[novistarplanet]

Thinking about Dominican!Connie cooking he’s favorite dish Mofongo for you.

you never understood the hype Connie had over certain spices but lord knows he eats everything in hes sight.

Waking up in your king sized bed realizing your heat source was gone rising up taking a quick look around your boyfriend connie was no where to be found

groaning as you slipped out of the bed and headed down stairs a intrusion of flavors attacked your nostrils causing your mouth to water up

to your amazement you see your boyfriend connie in the kitchen with a bunch of pots and spices lined up on the counter 

“pa what the hell are you making? you know your not allowed in here alone?!?” walking in the entrance of your kitchen already frustration rises up as you can see the piles of dishes in your rear view eyesight

“you got food on the floor and i ju-“ all of a sudden he shoves a piece of food in your mouth. Flavors and warmth bust into your tongue feeding your taste buds

“mhmmmm mami i know its yummy” shoving  pieces of plantians in your mouth.

“cmon ill make you a plate”

[dragonmarquise]

BRC Headcanon Full Names

I have another BRC ask to work on tonight, thus I figure I should post this now. So then, behold! A big ol’ list of full name headcanons!

Basically a continuation of this post I made a long while back. This covers pretty much all the major characters, at least the playable ones. Plus even specific crew members from the rival crews!

Some of these have specific meanings that I used for the particular character, others were just kind of more general vibes, like “Oh this sounds cool/cute/etc.” A few of these will have extra notes on why I picked particular given/family names, but otherwise just assume it was because I liked the sound of it! Went with mostly Dutch last names for most of these characters since, well, dialog in parts of the game imply New Amsterdam is still in the Netherlands, so that made it a bit easier when I couldn't think of anything else to try, y'know? :P

Also note, not everyone here has a middle name. Not everyone irl has one anyways! Also also, some of the Dutch last names may be in the format of “Van (something)” or “De (something”, so just wanted to point that out in case anyone might get confused and think Van/De is a middle name, lol

Starting with the main cast:

Tryce = Tristian Christoffel

Bel = Annabella Pieper

DJ Cyber = Cyrus Rafaël Nassau

Felix = Bernard Manfred Van Steen (I still maintain that Felix looks like his real name would be Bernard, lol)

Vinyl = Florence Zoë Hendriks (when she was a child, she would sometimes write it as “Hendrix” and try to convince people she was related to Jimi Hendrix; it worked more often than it probably should have)

Solace = Levi Smit

The five bonus BRC members:

Rave = Vanessa Yvonne Ziegler (A headcanon, note, her dad is a black German, and her mom is from the Dominican Republic! Since she has a bunch of lines in German, and at least two in Spanish (one in particular being specifically Dominican slang), so that’s how I’m handled this :P )

Mesh = Bassam Karimi (first name means “smiling” in Arabic, last name is derived from the given name Karim/Kareem, which in turn means something along the lines of "generous, noble" or “dignity”; my research into this yielded differing results, but this seems to be more or less the overall idea. Honestly think it both sounds nice and really suits him!)

Shine = Sol Bakker (“Sol” just means “sun” in Spanish and Portugese, basically the idea is she derived her street name from that!)

Rise = Josephine Katherina Thomas (She hates being called any sort of nickname for her first name. It’s either Rise or Josephine, that’s it)

Coil = Oscar Meijer (Fun fact, the English equivalent of Meijer is Meyer/Mayer. I genuinely did not intentionally make Coil’s real name to be a roundabout reference to the lunch meat, but now that I realize it, I’m definitely keeping it this way, loool)

Some others:

Rietveld = We know here full name is Irene Rietveld, but a bonus idea: the rest of BRC point out it’s a bit awkward for her to go by her real name as her street/writer name, so she eventually settles on Rivet as an alias! :D

Escher = Matthias Conrad Escher (Originally just Matthias, but then decided to make a reference to the actual M. C. Escher, “Yeah, my parents knew what they were doing.”; thanks to @slappels for the suggestion way back when!!)

My Devil Theory OCs! The season in parentheses is what in-game palette they correspond with.

Sai (spring) = Tomás Lucas Ortiz

Nunchaku (summer) = Roxanne Beverly Sullivan

Daishō (autumn) = Hiro Francisco Morikawa (first name using the character for “prosperous” (浩); last name using the characters for “forest” (森) and “river” (川). Not that he ever gets a chance to write them in Japanese characters anyways :P )

Bō (winter) = Gavril Jansen

Now for DOT EXE! A repeat from the full DOT EXE headcanons I made a while back, but still including it here for convenience.

Cueball = Ernesto Alberto Visser (Dutch father and Italian-American mother; “Her side of the family were like, the conservative Italian-American types. The kind that makes an annoyingly big deal about celebrating Columbus Day.”; his first and middle name come from two different great grandfathers on his mom’s side)

Eight Ball = Frederik Visser (older half-brother to Cueball, they share the same dad)

Cinco (five ball) = César Hugo Raúl Garcia-Flores (last name got hyphenated when he moved to New Amsterdam while getting his papers in order and stuff; not sure if I ever clarified it in the original post, but in most (probably all?) Spanish-speaking countries, people have two last names, one from their father and the other from their mother. When moving to a country that doesn’t allow for two last names, some people end up forced to pick one or the other. Cinco went with just hyphenating it to be able to effectively keep both.)

Neun (nine ball) = Sebastián Montero Sebastian Jäger

Twoson (two ball) = Beau Driessen

Fourside (four ball) = Robin Zaal

Jūrō (ten ball) = Maximilien Théodore Perrault

Quatorze (fourteen ball) = Marie-Madeleine Lucille Perrault

And heck, the rest of the New Amsterdam crews too while I’m at it. Same as with DT and DE, the season in parentheses is the corresponding in-game palette for the playable rival character.

The Franks:

Flesh Prince = Ruben Vos (last name meaning fox, and apparently was/is a nickname for a clever person… or a person with red hair, lol)

Bill (spring) = Caspar Westenberg

Charles (summer) = Thomas Vogels

Michael (autumn) = Abraham Joël Admiraal

Larry (winter) = Lennard Van Herten

(For their street names besides the Prince, they’re named after famous basketball players, specifically from this list; Charles, Michael, and Larry are probably obvious, with Bill there’s at least two different Bills on that list lol)

Eclipse: (Street names come from constellations, I tried to go with more (relatively?) obscure ones for the names)

Vela (spring) = Sara Al-Ghazzawi

Aquila (summer) = Melissa Agnes Fortuin

Lyra (autumn) = Hannah De Klerk

Cassiopeia (winter) = Xandra Gemma Daalmans (given name is actually Alexandra, but she goes mostly by Xandra for her business)

And finally the rest of FUTURISM: (see my recent short headcanon post about them!)

Nyx (spring) = Laura Kappel

Jazz (summer) = Vincent Linden

Veronica (autumn) = Paula Prinsen (Paula is the feminine form of Paul, which in turn has roots in the Latin word Paulus which can mean humble. This is an intentionally ironic name choice for this character, lmao. Also Prinsen means “son of the Prince”, so this one is more in line with her haughty attitude)

Quantum (winter) = Esther Katja Hoedemaker (She goes by Kat as a nickname)

This next one only applies to my fanfic AU of “What if we take the postgame at face value and Red somehow became a separate person from both Felix and Faux”, but anyways:

Red = Russell Miles Van Steen (Picked the first and middle names himself, note that Russell just means “red” lol. He took on Felix’s last name since they see each other as brothers after a certain point. And it’s not like Red could come up with a better last name anyways. His middle name when paired with Felix’s middle name is a Miles Edgeworth reference :P )

[universalcowboyclown2006]

Florida's relationship with his family (aka: the ex colonies of the spanish empire and Spain):

(old post that was on the drafts)

I wanted to do this since I knew that Florida used to be a spanish colony (and it was when I was on the countryhumans and statehumans fandom and the pandemic).

Well, let's just say that Florida's existence usually is forgotten by his "siblings" (sorry for that, Flo) because he's mostly perceived as an inmature, kept, dyslexic and having a younger brother's attitude mostly of the time. Otherwise, Florida also doesn't have a close relationship with them besides Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and mostly all the caribean countries because of the distance and diplomatic stuff due his "siblings" are all or almost all independent countries with their issues and governments.

When Florida was a colony, he was neglected but not too much thanks to Mexico (yes, here Mexico is kinda nice but also had to mature fast to help to look after his "siblings" and end up with a generational trauma which Texas end up being a victim too), Cuba and Puerto Rico but yet neglected by Spain; usually passing his time playing alone and talking with gators. That made on him a more reserved and "calm" personality (he stills being hyperactive), submissive to Spain and loving her as his mom (thing that Spain TOTALLY doesn't deserve) no mattering what; in actual terms could be he was afraid of her abandoning and/or hurting him.

When the rise of independence in latinoamerica started, he felt he was being set aside by everyone in his family (Also Philippines and Guam felt the same as Florida but they were used to it), so he decided to do the same; get independence from Spain. He got a little help from Venezuela (West Florida Republic reference) but Spain didn't accept it in right terms and after the try of independence from Florida but before she sell him to the US, she punish him and...

???

The rest is unknown because...

Florida doesn't like to talk about it and possibly forgot it.

So...

He has mommy issues (daddy issues if you see Spain as a man)? Yes

And the rest of spanish colonies too (including my country of course)? Yes

And also, he has abandonment issues by the way because... Being honest, some colonies didn't give a shit if Florida existed or not or if he was dead or alive (that also includes my country, sorry), they were minding their own bussines and even didn't know his existence.

But they've known what punishment did Spain to him but they don't talk about it because for them it was traumatic to know and see the consequences of the punishment for Florida

[dusk-outlaw-gaming]

Following up with my previous post, here's the full scene.

I'm a bit rusty in terms of writing but I hope it's still alright to read.

With that said, happy reading

:)

***

"So... do you have a crush, Noceda?"

Luz turned her head to look at the witch with her eyebrows raised, "what?!"

"A crush," Amity quipped, "you know, someone you-"

"I know what a crush is, thanks!"

"So- who is it?" the witch asked, a teasing gleam shimmering in her golden eyes, "anyone I know?"

Luz snorted, "wouldn't you like to know, Blight?"

"I'm just... curious."

"Why? What's it to you?"

Luz was kind of taken aback by the rather odd questions; until now Amity Blight has never shown any sort of honest interest in the human's life or anything regarding her really. So to have Amity be this nosy all of a sudden was a completely new experience, maybe even a bit suspicious.

"No particular reason," Amity responded, halting Luz's train of thoughts.

"Uh... okay?"

"Do you?"

Golden eyes stared intently into hazel ones.

For a brief moment Luz thought she could see something in those eyes; something she couldn't put her finger on but it was enough to make her avert her gaze.

The brunette sighed, staring up at the ceiling. She gulped, a familiar warmth rising in her abdomen, traveling up to her chest as her heart began to beat faster, accompanied by a fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"I... I do." A blush infiltrated her cheeks.

"Uh huh?"

Amity sounded... hopeful?

"But I'm not gonna tell you," Luz quickly added, a wide grin spread on her face.

'Nice safe.'

Unfortunately the Dominican-American got a bit too carried away by her supposed triumph over Amity, distracted enough to not notice the pillow being flung towards her, hitting her square in the face with a thud.

"Ow! What the fuck, Blight?!"

"Be glad I only threw it... suffocating you with it was actually my first impulse."

Luz grumbled as she pushed the pillow aside, shaking her head, "you and your-"

"I got a crush too, you know" Amity blurted out, the ivory skin around her cheeks tinted in a soft, rosy color.

Luz blinked, her heart skipped a beat. Was Amity trying to-

No.

No, it can't be.

Not her.

Not Amity Blight.

That just wasn't going to happen.

'Don't get your hopes up, Luz.'

Afraid of what the witch might be able to read from her reaction, Luz resorted to what she knew best, to what had been their dynamic for years.

Or call it lack of better judgment.

"You?!" she scoffed, "you of all people? Didn't know that heart of yours knew feelings."

As soon as the last words had left her lips, the brunette instantly regretted what she had said; it had come out a lot harsher than intended.

She watched Amity's frame stiffen as she wrapped her arms around herself. The witch's expression hardened, in her eyes a clear reflection of how those words hurt.

"Y-yeah," Amity voice cracked, fingers digging into her arms, "I know, right? How could I possibly have feelings for someone? I'm expected to be a cold-hearted bitch with no emotions, right?"

'LUZ! YOU FOOL!'

"A-Amity, I-"

"I know I always act like I don't care!" the lavender haired witch barked, blinking back tears, "but the truth is I'm scared and confused!"

Amity's hands fell onto her lap, fingers clenching around the hem of her skirt.

"Scared because I fell in love with someone despite pledging to myself to never let that happen again! To not be vulnerable anymore," Amity hiccuped, her grip tightened, "confused because that certain someone managed to sneak into my heart so... effortlessly!

All because I think it's adorable how she pulls her beanie into her face when she gets flustered, because I like the way she makes my knees go weak whenever she speaks Spanish and because I like how her laugh causes my heart and stomach to flutter!"

Luz froze.

She stared at Amity, wide eyed with her mouth agape.

She was used to outburts like these but they never had been so emotionally charged and... sincere.

Did she really just-?

Guilt began to creep up on the human, it paralyzed her. She hated making others cry. It was one of the reasons Luz felt so insecure about herself and why she thought all she was capable of is failing.

She messed up.

Again.

The word echoed in her mind, merging with Amity's sobs.

Luz acted on impulse.

Throwing caution to the wind, well aware she could risk a broken nose if she followed through with the thought roaring loudly in her head, she finally moved.

It was worth a try.

She owed it to her.

"Amity..."

The addressed woman's body tensed further as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her trembling frame, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I'm terribly sorry, Amity," Luz murmured, her voice hushed but full of sincerity, "it wasn't fair of me to disregard you and your feelings like this and be a dick about it. I shouldn't have said that. I'm... so sorry."

Luz braced herself for a punch to the gut at the feeling of the lavender haired witch stirring; instead she found herself astonished as Amity sank into her body, her own arms wrapping around Luz's midriff, face buried into the human's shoulder.

With that, Amity crumbled. Her entire body shook as tears fell freely, hands clutching the back of Luz's army jacket, sobs and hiccups filled the room.

It was clear that Amity has had all these feelings bottled up inside her for quite some time, the added pressure of keeping up an image with a nonchalant demeanor must've been exhausting.

The brunette's heart squeezed painfully at the realization. She took a quivering breath, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

Luz internally cursed herself; this was her fault. She was the one who had been insensitive about the whole thing to begin with.

She had to fix this.

She needed to.

She wanted to.

And Luz knew how. Or at least she hoped.

The dark haired woman shifted, placing her legs onto either side of Amity's thighs so she could pull her closer. Cautiously Luz moved one hand to the back of the witch's neck, drawing soothing circles into the ivory skin with her thumb, letting the other do the same on Amity's back.

To Luz's surprise it seemed to have immediate effect, the heavy shaking and erratic breathing calmed gradually.

"Y-you know... the one I fell for-" Luz gulped, "she uh... has this habit of twirling the hem or the sleeve of her shirt in between her fingers whenever she's nervous. I think that's adorable.

She's... super cute when she's deeply focused. She does this spinning trick with her pen... I still haven't figured out how she does it but... she looks so fucking cool doing it."

Luz could feel her cheeks begin to burn, by now her heart raced; it became harder and harder to remain calm and collected.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she heard Amity gasp.

"She uh- she's got such beautiful eyes, the most wonderful, magnificent golden eyes I've ever had the pleasure to gaze into and... lose myself within."

Silence emerged between the two of them, each passing second made Luz grow more anxious.

By now Amity's sobs had died down, replaced by soft snuffles.

The witch eventually moved and wiggled out of Luz's embrace, hands gliding along the smaller woman's back, sliding beneath the jacket to come to a rest at her hips.

The warmth of Amity's hands seeped through the fabric of Luz's t-shirt and caused her heart thump eagerly in her chest.

Slightly reddened eyes stared up into hazel ones, darting back and forth in between them.

Luz swallowed, bringing both her hands up to cup Amity's face, gently running her thumbs across the witch's cheekbones to wipe away her tears.

The digits lingered, shyly caressing the rosy cheeks as she gazed into Amity's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Amity," Luz stated, her voice at the verge of cracking, "I'm sorry I-"

"D-did- did you- did you mean all that?"

The witch's voice was small, almost nothing more but a mere whisper.

"I am sorry, yes. I really did mean-"

"N-no... what you... said about-"

A small but gentle smile found it's way onto Luz's lips, her response emphasized by a shy nod and a quiet, affirmative hum.

"Mhm."

It felt like time stood still as their eyes locked onto one another, Luz's hands still resting on the other woman's cheeks.

She noticed Amity's eyes briefly dip down, saw her swallow, heard the quivering breath the lavender haired witch released.

Something lingered in the air and it made the human's heart palpitate, making her head swim but strangely, it elated her.

Gathering all the courage she had, she took action.

She reached to tuck a strand of hair behind Amity's ear and slowly, she leaned in.

Their lips brushed against each other in a shy manner, nerves seemed to get the better of them. They were so close already, breaths mingling and quickening in anticipation.

"Luz..." Amity breathed and shifted, wrapping her arms around Luz's neck, which prompted the human's arms to drop, circling around Amity's waist.

The lavender haired witch pulled Luz in to close the gap and finally their lips melded together.

Tension released, causing both women to sigh into the kiss as their bodies relaxed.

Long lasting, suppressed affection bubbled to the surface, finally breaking free from imaginary shackles and allowed two hearts to soar.

Their lips separated, albeit briefly, eager to find each other once more.

And again.

And again.

One last, lingering kiss got shared before their lips parted with a soft sound, breathless but happy chuckles filled the room.

"I guess," Luz whispered, forehead resting against Amity's, "that answers your question?"

Amity laughed softly and gently caressed the back of Luz's neck, stealing yet another peck.

"It does."

A comfortable beat of silence passed in between them, enough time for their breathing to return to normal.

"You uh... wanna go for some coffee?" Luz asked, her usual shy demeanor making an appearance.

"Are you asking me out, Luz Noceda?"

"W-well, I-" she cleared her throat, hand subconciously reaching for her beanie to pull the accessory into her face, "y-yes?"

Amity chuckled and reached to push the fabric back up to meet her eyes, "I'd love to have a coffee with you."

The human beamed and excitedly jumped to her feet, slightly staggering from a head rush.

"Luz, are you okay?" Amity inquired, having noticed the wobble in the brunette's legs.

"Yeah, just got up too fast. It's fine," Luz responded with an embarrassed snicker, offering a hand to the lavender haired witch who gladly accepted.

Luz threaded their fingers together, holding Amity's hand tightly.

"Shall we?"

"One more thing..."

"What is-"

A loud thud broke the silence of the room as Luz's shoulder got aquainted to Amity's fist.

"OW!"

"That's for making me cry," Amity remarked and grinned widely, baring her fangs.

"Yeah... yeah, okay. I deserved that one," Luz hissed, rubbing the aching spot on her shoulder.

***

And that wraps up this one.

If you made it to here: Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read through all of that. I really appreciate it. Hope you'll be having a fantastic day! :)

And hey, I don't bite. If you wanna talk, shoot me a message :)

[iambutmortal]

Chapter 2 for @elucienweekofficial Day 2: Magic

Summary: When Elain signs the divorce papers she’s sure she’s done with Lucien Vanserra. Until they’re offered the chance to recreate their honeymoon as a part of her job. For free. But reliving all those memories with Lucien proves leaving may be more difficult than she thought.

Word Count: 3.3k

Read on Ao3 | Chapter 1

Elain was convinced some higher power had it out for her as she looked at the seat number on her boarding pass, and then up at the row number on the plane bulkhead. Number thirty two on both, in the back row of the plane, with no window and direct access to whatever smells came out of the bathroom.

And two men currently crammed in the aisle seat on either side.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nesta muttered from behind her.

“Elain,” Cassian cried, rising to his feet and pulling her into a rib-crushing hug in the middle of the aisle. A broad grin spread across his face, too bright for someone about to spend eight hours smushed into a too small airplane seat.

“What are you doing here?” Elain asked, smiling up at him. 

Rhys’ brother was one of her favorite people to see at family dinners, his energy was just so contagious. He never failed to make everyone laugh at whatever absurd story he came armed with. Everyone except Nesta, who seemed to wear a permanent scowl whenever she was in his presence.

Cassian gestured to the black camera bag thrown in the seat next to him.“I’m your photographer.” 

Elain glanced behind her to see Nesta glaring daggers. “You’re joking.”

“Nope,” Cassian said. “Got the orders two days ago.”

“That’s amazing,” Elain said, as Cassian took her bag and slid it into the overhead for her. She’d seen a few of Cassian’s photos before, when Feyre cajoled him into it, and he was far, far more talented than the celebrity house tours he spent most of his time doing.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Cassian promised. “The four of us galavanting across the Dominican.” 

Right, because the man in the seat opposite him was Lucien, who was apparently too engrossed in whatever he was reading on his black kindle to notice their arrival.

“Fun?” Nesta asked, voice incredulous. “Galavanting? On a work trip?”

Cassian’s bright grin seemed to dim a hair. “I’m sure we’ll have time for things other than pictures, might as well take advantage. Think about it, Nes, all of us on a beach, fruity little cocktails in hand, getting tanned.”

“I don’t need a tan, I live in LA,” Nesta muttered, picking up her carry-on to shove in the storage bin, pointedly ignoring Cassian’s offered hand. “And this shoot could make or break all of our careers so maybe we shouldn’t let some fruity little cocktails get in the way.”

 “I know,” Cassian said, raising his hands defensively. “But we don’t need to be serious all the time.”

“Speak for yourself.” Nesta shoved past Elain and Cassian to slide into her seat, back ramrod straight so as not to wrinkle her pantsuit. “And don’t call me Nes.”

“Right then,” Cassian muttered to himself, taking his seat next to Nesta.

Which left Elain to face Lucien.

“I’m sitting here,” she said softly. Lucien looked up at her. He’d slid on a pair of reading glasses, the black rimmed, round ones that always made him look like a professor. A look helped by his khaki pants and white button down rolled up at the elbows.

He reached over, grabbing the tray of coffees on her seat, and stood to let her in. He had to duck slightly to avoid baking his head on the top of the small aircraft. He took up space, too much space, and Elain had no choice but to slide her body against his as she stepped past. Anywhere they came into contact broke into traitorous shivers, clearly not having gotten the message that she was done with Lucien.

“If I’d known you were coming, Cassian, I would have gotten you a coffee too,” Lucien apologized, passing a hot cup to Nesta and an iced one to Elain. She took a small sip. Two creams and three pumps of caramel, the way she always got it in the morning. Elain was oddly touched he’d remembered.

She muttered her thanks before pulling out her own kindle, a Christmas gift from Lucien last year, and slid her purse under the seat.

Elain tried not to notice the way Lucien shifted uncomfortably as he sat back down, scrunching to make his legs fit. He’d managed, with some contortion, to get in with his knee pressed up to his chest when Elain gave in. She angled her body towards the window, and Lucien gave her a grateful nod as he slipped his foot in front of her. The position left his thigh pressed entirely against hers, the warm pressure familiar, and not entirely unwelcome.

“I guess all inclusive didn’t include first class,” Lucien joked, and Elain gave a flicker of a smile.

“Anything to save money in the marketing budget.”

“If I’d known I would have upgraded us.”

Elain shrugged. “I think Nesta’s thinking about it right now.” Her sister and Cassian had played their own sort of balancing act to fit in the seat, with Nesta pressed as far against the window as she could get in order to avoid any part of her body touching Cassian’s. “But I think we can withstand roughing it. We survived the first time.”

 “That’s because you spent our flight budget on your wedding dress,” Lucien accused, but his tone was light.

“It was a nice dress,” Elain defended.

“You looked beautiful in that dress,” Lucien confirmed. “And it also led to us sitting in the back row of the plane next to a bathroom with a toilet that didn’t flush.”

Elain shuddered at the memory. “We lived.”

“Lived,” Lucien said. “And then joined the mile high club while the rest of the plane was disembarking.”

Elain laughed softly. “Not one of our finest moments.”

“Oh, I think it was a highlight.”

“You didn’t have a faucet shoved between your ass cheeks.”

“Then I guess we remember it differently,” Lucien said, souring suddenly. “Like a lot of things.”

“I—yes, I guess we do.” Elain turned back to the window, which didn’t do much good, since it granted her a perfect reflection of Lucien behind her. He had gone back to his kindle, no doubt reading the latest political memoir. He looked so studious, the sun practically making his skin glow, even in the plane lighting. Elain could imagine him in a few years looking similar on some campaign poster, a carefully crafted image to project intelligence, yet relatability. His future was all laid out for him. A future she wasn’t in.

She closed her eyes for a second, before turning to her own book. A romance about a woman in her early thirties trying to find love after her divorce. A little too biographical for Elain’s taste, although she was at least ahead of the curve. She’d ruined her marriage before she was twenty eight.

The next eight hours passed in uncomfortable silence, the two of them ignoring each other, except for the single time Elain asked Lucien to move so she could use the restroom. As she washed her hands, she couldn’t help but remember what they’d done in there. And honestly, it hadn’t been the worst sex of her life, which was a true testament to Lucien’s skill.

She splashed a bit of water on her face and smoothed her hair down before emerging.

Only to almost run into Nesta who looked just as flustered, racing for the bathroom.

Lucien gave her a single don’t ask shake of his head when she stepped around the curtain. Cassian had sunk low in his seat, arms crossed over his chest. And when Nesta came back, he didn’t bother to stand, just slid into the window seat and let Nesta take his.

Which served Nesta well, since she darted off the plane as soon as the door opened, leaving the three of them to gather the bags.

“Cosmopolitan said they’d meet us at baggage claim with the car,” Nesta said, when they finally assembled. She was already typing on her phone, and Elain didn’t want to know how much she was paying for international coverage.

“Lead the way,” Lucien said, gesturing for Nesta to go ahead. Elain weighed her options briefly, deciding between the two devils in front of her, before opting to walk next to Nesta, leaving Cassian and Lucien to trail in their wake.

“I thought you and Cassian got along now,” Elain hissed. Early in Feyre and Rhys’ relationship the two of them had had some truly vicious fights, but it had been years since they’d really gone at it.

Nesta snorted. “We manage for dinners. Barely. But not if he’s going to ruin this for us by not taking it seriously.”

Elain shrugged. “All his other shoots have turned out well.” Or seemed to on the rare occasion she flipped through a home and garden magazine while waiting in line at the grocery store.

“And,” Nesta said, plowing on as if Elain hadn't spoken, “not when I ask him not to touch my leg and he asks if it’s because I want him to touch me somewhere else.”

There it was, Elain thought. She opted not to comment on the uncharacteristic blush spreading across Nesta’s cheeks. For her own safety.

As promised, there was a car waiting for them at baggage claim. A hummer limo, entirely too large for the four of them.

“So,” Cassian explained, as soon as they were settled inside. “The director of photography is already scoping out locations. I hope you don’t mind but we found what excursions the two of you did and were hoping to recreate them. The angle we’re going for is ‘A honeymoon three years apart, different lives, same love.’”

Elain bit her tongue to keep from commenting on the ‘same love’ part. 

“So it’s the exact same trip?” Lucien asked.

“As of right now,” Nesta answered. “You guys had a good mix of things, including some of their less popular, but still good, options they wanted to push. The whole ‘you can do the same things celebrities do even on a regular budget.’” Because three years ago Elain’s career had been nowhere near as lucrative, and Lucien was still working bottom rung in a local political office.

“Fine,” Lucien said with a nod. “Same rooms too then?”

Nesta checked her phone. “No, they were nice enough to put you in the honeymoon suite, full service.”

“Rose petals on the bed, champagne on the nightstand” Cassian said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“We could get some good shots with those,” Nesta added.

Elain coughed. “Maybe we can wait until Lucien is more warmed up in front of the camera before we do more intimate photos.”

Nesta grimaced at the thought. “I’ll sit those out.”

Lucien snorted. “You don’t want to see your brother-in-law in his underwear?”

Nesta pointed a manicured nail at him. “Don’t push it, you’re barely holding onto your status as favorite of my sisters’ husbands.”

A status he was very quickly going to lose. Lucien must have realized it too, because the satisfied grin dropped off his face.

“I think I should be offended on Rhys’ behalf,” Cassian groused.

“Everyone knows Az is my favorite out of you lot,” Nesta said.

“Only because he talks the least,” Cassian protested.

“And I value that in a man.”

Cassian huffed, but stayed silent the rest of the ride. At least until they pulled up the drive that led to the resort they’d be staying at. “We’re here,” Cassian announced, bouncing excitedly at the window.

His enthusiasm was infectious. Even Nesta smiled, though she tried to hide it behind her phone screen.

True to the company’s word, it was the exact same hotel Elain and Lucien had stayed in for their honeymoon. In the last three years, nothing had changed: same faded pepto bismol pink walls, same overgrown hedges bursting with roses, same crumbling roof.

Nesta wrinkled her nose slightly. “I hope it photographs better than it looks.”

“There’s some pretty gardens inside,” Elain defended. It had been what drew her to the place in the first place, the blooming flowers highlighted on the hotel’s website.

“It should be fine,” Cassian said. He’d already pulled out his camera and was fiddling with the settings. “Exposure should wash some of the color out.”

Nesta sat straight up in the chair. “And wash out Elain?”

Cassian shook his head. “It’ll be fine, I can edit—”

“It will not be fine.”

Lucien sighed, throwing open the door of the now-parked limo. “Let’s leave them,” he whispered in Elain’s ear and she nodded, following him out onto the curb in front of the main entrance. Lucien led them up to the front desk. He leaned over the counter casually, giving Elain a too-good glimpse of his well sculpted ass. She quickly averted her gaze.

“I think we have four rooms booked, under the name Vanserra.”

The desk worker shook herself from the apparent daze seeing Lucien had put her in, and buried herself in her computer. “I’m sorry but I only have three rooms under Vanserra, sir.”

Elain slid next to Lucien, wrapping an arm around him. He tensed at her touch. “Three rooms will be fine, thank you.” Because of course she would be sharing a room with her husband.

The employee, Amy from her name tag, relaxed, grateful to not have to engage in a customer service fight. Elain recognized her expression well from when she worked in a botanical garden ticket center in high school. She was always shocked at how entitled tourists could be.

“I can sleep on the floor,” Lucien promised, once they’d gotten their key cards and waved Nesta and Cassian off to their own rooms.

“I’m sure there will be a couch,” Elain said, sliding the card into the door lock.

She opened the door to reveal that there was not in fact a couch, there was barely room for a bed. A bed currently covered in bright red rose pedals. A chilled bottle of champagne stood ready for them on the nightstand.

“Really spent big on this one,” Lucien said dryly, setting his bag down on the floor roughly.

Elain flopped down onto the bed with a sigh, scattering rose petals everywhere. “They took ‘recreate your honeymoon’ a little too seriously.” 

“I can ask for an upgrade, or a separate room,” Lucien said, still standing in the doorway. Because there certainly wasn’t enough floor space for Lucien to lay down unless he wanted his feet to spend the night in the bathroom.

Elain shook her head. “It’ll raise too many questions.”

“Want me to set up a pillow wall,” Lucien offered. “Like me and Callum used to do as kids when Beron cheaped out too much to get another room. No cooties for us.”

Elain barked out a small laugh. “Yeah, that should work.”

Lucien dropped their bags onto the little floor space available and held out a hand. “Come on. At least the beach is big.”

Elain took it, enjoying the momentary warmth and rough calluses against her skin before Lucien quickly let go.

To give the hotel some credit, they were right on the water, the last door on the hall opening up to the private beach access.

And the beach was picture perfect, the water a shade blue that shouldn’t exist in real life and smooth sand that slid between Elain’s toes once she took off her flip flops. “You did good picking this place,” Lucien said, stepping forward to join her.

Elain smiled faintly. “You said that the first time.”

Lucien nudged her shoulder. “Still true.” Elain could still remember how excited she felt when they arrived. She’d checked to make sure she had the simple silver band on her fourth finger at least every twenty minutes, not believing it was real. That first night her and Lucien had been far too busy in their small room to make in on the beach before sunset. And by the time they had, it had been deserted and they’d made love in one of the hammocks hanging from palm trees. Lucien had dutifully taken the rope burns without comment, and Elain had rubbed on the aloe they’d bought for “sun burns” the next morning. The sight of Lucien’s bare ass had led to a few more rounds of moving love making before they made it to breakfast.

Lucien was leading them back over to a hammock now, and Elain sat down on it silently. He popped open the bottle of Champagne he’d nabbed from the room and offered it to her. Elain grabbed it and took a large swig, staring out at the rolling waves to avoid meeting his eyes.

They stayed like that for a while, Lucien standing and Elain sitting, passing the bottle back and forth. The alcohol was hitting more than it should, and Elain wracked her brain trying to remember the last time she ate. She’d had a granola bar on the way to the airport, and the coffee Lucien brought, oh god was that all?

“You doing okay?” Lucien asked.

“Fine.”

Lucien arched an eyebrow. “Really? Because your cheeks have the red look they get when you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk,” she protested, rising to her feet. Only to sway slightly in the sand. Lucien reached out to grab her arm, holding her steady.

“Yeah, not drunk.” A smile tugged at his lips.

“Shut up,” Elain said, shoving her shoulder into his. It unbalanced her more than it affected him, and Lucien reached out to steady her again.

“Sit,” Lucien said, directing her down into the hammock.

“You’re not the boss of me,” Elain pouted, but did as he said. For her own sake, not his. Just until some of the alcohol wore off.

This time, Lucien joined her in the seat, the side of his body pressed tightly against hers. She rested her head on his shoulder, something she would doubtlessly curse herself for in the morning, but for right now he was warm and present.

“What happened Elain,” Lucien asked after a long moment.

Elain stared out at the ocean, watching as the sun started to set, casting the water in shades of pink. “I don’t—” she trailed off.

“I thought we were happy.” Lucien’s voice was imploring, each word a dagger to her heart.

“We were, until we weren’t.”

“We?” Lucien asked. “Speak for yourself, but I was happy.”

Elain rubbed her forehead. “God can’t you see that was the problem. You were happy with your perfect life.”

“How can I know what the problem is if you never talk to me,” Lucien challenged. “You just iced me out one day and a week later my stuff was on the porch.”

Elain sighed, watching as the waves crashed against the shore. “Can we please not have this conversation now. Not when we have to be around each other for a week straight.”

“Typical. Divorce papers are signed and you still don’t want to talk about it.”

“Maybe because you’re impossible to talk to.” Elain turned to look at Lucien at last, at the mixture of outrage and hurt written clear as day across his face.

“Did you even try?”

Elain flinched away from him.

Lucien rolled his eyes. “Fine, then, don’t talk to me. We can go this whole week pretending we’re this perfect happy couple and then first thing when we get back I’m dropping the papers off at the courthouse.”

“Good. That’s all I wanted to do anyway.”

Lucien nodded, eyes searching her face, as if looking for any sign of hesitancy, but there was none. So Elain went back to staring moodily at the sea, pressed tightly against her soon to be ex, too upset to appreciate the magic of the beach in front of her.

[aaknopf]

The novelist Michael Ondaatje has been a poet from the beginning. “Lock,” like other poems in new collection A Year of Last Things, speaks swiftly across time, striking at poetry’s core, where a singular memory flares in the dark and illuminates everything.

Lock

Reading the lines he loves he slips them into a pocket, wishes to die with his clothes full of torn-free stanzas and the telephone numbers of his children in far cities

As if these were all we need and want, not the dog or silver bowl not the brag of career or ownership

Unless they can be used —a bowl to beg with, a howl to scent a friend, as those torn lines remind us how to recall

until we reach that horizon and drop, or rise like a canoe within a lock to search the other half of the river,

where you might see your friends as altered by this altitude as you

The fresh summer grass, the smell of the view— dark water, August paint

How I loved that lock when I saw it all those summers ago,                         when we arrived out of a storm into its evening light,

and gave a stranger some wine in a tin cup

Even then I wanted to slip into the wet dark rectangle and swim on barefoot to other depths where nothing could be seen that was a further story

More on this book and author:

Learn more about A Year of Last Things by Michael Ondaatje.

Browse other books by Michael Ondaatje.

Hear Michael Ondaatje read at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival on Saturday, April 13. Michael will be in California and will read at Green Apple Books in San Francisco on April 15 at 7:00 PM (register here), Dominican University of California in San Rafael on April 17 at 7:00 PM (register here), and Copperfield Books in Petaluma on April 18 at 7:00 PM (register here).

Visit our Tumblr to peruse poems, audio recordings, and broadsides in the Knopf poem-a-day series.

To share the poem-a-day experience with friends, pass along this link.

[herdivineopulence]

who am I? I’m just a girl 

I am a first generation, first daughter to a Dominican woman who immigrated to the u.s in the early 90s, and the first daughter to an African American man with unhealed trauma from Brooklyn. LOL sorry but its the truth! We’ll talk about that later BUT yes, first daughter. That’s me! A 26 year old who’s doing her best at figuring this life out. I’m a virgo sun, taurus moon, & libra rising, a Venusian princess if you will <3 Im from the Bronx, but have lived in PA for most of my life. I have a younger brother, a kitty and a yorkie shitzu or chihuahua (its hard to tell xD). I’m a Lover girl at my core, Love is all I Live for. I live and die for this shit! It keeps me going, it literally gives me life. I am currently single and been single for such a long time… well technically only 5 months since my last “relationship” (at the time I’m writing this) but I don’t count that bc I literally felt nothing. Even the sex was mid LMFAOO, but I was with him bc he was the main one there really trying so I settled.. he also wasn’t everything I expected him to be, but we will definitely talk about that later too, I’ve been through a lot of heartbreaks.. its amazing that I’m still here! But i will say, i am truly blessed with platonic Love. I have such an amazing support team behind me, living and non living LOL. I have great friends, a wonderful mother, and overall a great tribe so far. But its time to expand. I need like minded people now that im entering a new phase in my life.

I Love anime, food, everything Venusian! FASHION, JEWELRY, HAIR SKIN NAILS, ROMANCE, oh the ROMANCE! PURE OPULENCE. But I still find myself not exactly where I want to be. This blog is something that has been in the works for idk how long… I made a actual blog website two years ago and only made one post and never posted again. I even had someone email me saying how they were eager for me to continue posting .. and I failed them :,(  But one thing I learned is to put myself first and be gracious and gentle with myself. I am a manifesting generator and for those who don’t know what that means, you can either look it up or stay tuned I’ll definitely put you on and teach you somethings, but long story short, I am not meant to stick to one thing, or do things that no longer excite me. So not being consistent is not a flaw but just my nature and how I function. Only when I follow my design will the things that excite me draw out the consistent energy needed to keep whatever I’m working on going longterm. Stopping and starting is normal too!

But I do know I need to be more disciplined and I really want to blog. I Love writing its my passion that I’ve recently discovered is what I absolutely Love & have since I was a preteen. I always have energy for it. I also have lots to share. As a 12H native with multiple planets there, being open and “exposing” myself is kind of hard. All my social media platforms have barely any followers. Except for twitter lol ( X ) that’s where I spend most of my time, but now its one of my goals to expand my horizons and expand my reach.I have so much to share, and I really want to jog my journey as well. The good thing is that I’m still at the beginning so to speak. I am starting over, AGAIN. Trial n Error, figuring out what I want, what works for me, what truly brings me happiness. that’s part of the journey & clearly part of my experience.

So here I am my Loves I hope this reaches the people that are meant to come across this. My goal is to build a community filled with like minded people to share my knowledge to those who really could use the information to better their lives. To learn! One thing about me I Love to learn, and I know i'll always be a student. Hopefully you can learn a few things from me, use me as an example, a role model, and your healer of hearts. Boy oh boy do i know how to heal a heart! I have so many goals, join me on my journey to accomplishing them all using all the tools we have at our disposal ; astrology, human design, witchcraft, law of attraction, health and beauty! Are you ready? HOP IN BITCH WE'RE LEVELING UP!

TTYL, BESOS ;*

~ Aurora

[murcielagatito]

idk how even to start this post bc wile im using miles morales as an example his actual comic race differs and this is the fault of people just straight up not understanding how race in regard to us puerto ricans works. and its all thanks to racism colorism and the depiction and representation of latinos in media

to fully understand this and how deeply we are affected we need to go alllll the way back to the beginning

its 1490whatever and cristobal colon has just discovered the americas. and on one particular island, boriken, he discovers a tribe, the tainos <3. we brought him gold and showed him kindness. and to make a long story short he fucked us over immensely. if we didnt bring meet his gold quota it was chopped off hands. he killed us he raped us he did countless atrocities. we were given a new name: puerto rico “rich port”. most americans know what happened to the many indigenous nations on the mainland but not many are taught about us the indigenous islanders. los tainos. we spanned across el caribe: jamaica, cuba, haiti, dominican republic and puerto rico (where im from!)

but dont get it twisted we didnt just roll over and take it. the very first freedom fighter, cacique (chief) hatuey fought with many other tainos to be liberated. unfortunately, he was executed in 1512 and that was that

one year later, in 1513, what imma call ‘phase two’ began. with him this time, colón brought enslaved africans to work the fields alongside tainos. its over for us. we are miserable, malnourished, and theres no escape. and as one does when youre live and work and die together, you love together. and love we did!

everyone who lived in puerto rico loved and loved and every combination possible of taino, african, and spaniard was born. and this has continued for 500 years. a caste was created. and that caste still hurts and affects us to this day. because all it was is colorism and racism. and after seeing the horrid takes about latinos in the spiderverse fandom and beyond…. well here we are now because somebodys gotta say it

but hellbaby? why did you have to add all the history stuff?because the way miles’ family was portrayed could have been awesome representation for many afrolatinos. and they fumbled big time. its not bad representation so dont twist my words. it just could have been better

the representation of latino families in hollywood has always been a bit…. stereotypical. and not just sterotypical but homogenized and caricaturized. anyone remember george lopez (the show)? when someone thinks about latinos NOW, the household names are pedro pascal, gina rodriguez, or oscar isaac. pale people!!! and then as fame works, jenna ortega and all the other pasty latina biddies are who rise to fame and household name status. everyone recognizes them ofc

but what about gina torres, laz alonso, rosie perez, judy reyes, tatyana ali, selenis leyva, amara la negra and many more? how many of these actors can you recognize from name alone? did you know theyre all afrolatino? (and did you know theyre in extemely well known movies and tv?)

how many stories in television do you know in this day and age that have afrolatino characters whose latinidad isnt ignored? i can name one off the top of my head. monse from on my block. a show revolving latinos that was relentlessly made fun of. like i get it its a comedy and its funny and fun. but latinos may as well be synonymous with getting laughed at at this point and we are soooooo fucking tired of it

it all boils down to one simple message. the erasure of black and indigenousness from the latino community. “miles is latino because his mom is latina” “miles is black and latino” its not something you can put into two separate labels. miles is a black latino. he is afrolatino. and that means a lot of things for a lot of different people but until you can understand that black people can also just be latino we will always be stuck in this horrible era of people assuming that afrolatinos cant just literally be black hispanics…

when miles morales was first announced to be the protagonist of spiderverse so many rasict ass latinos were upset. “why does an afrolatino have to be the first representation we get of a latino spiderman?” and many other things like that were said about him. “well the reason hes latino is only because of his mom” and just like that, the knowledge of the existence of black people that have been latino for centuries has gone down the drain. a new (old) misconception was brought back to the surface and popularized. and its gutwrenching and heartbreaking and horrible. black latinos exist and miles morales is afropuertoriqueño

there are so many nuances when it comes to race and latinodad that ppl just dont bother learning more about and how racism and colorism plays into it. and it has had many negative effects to how real life afrolatinos and indijenolatinos are perceived and treated. we arent asking for the impossible we’re just asking for recognition and understanding

[antoine-roquentin]

This is a miniseries about the 1965 American invasion of the Dominican Republic, the fifth by that nation, in the midst of a much larger series about the CIA in the 1960s and god knows what else. The above clip is from a primetime CBS news broadcast on March 13, 1967, a few weeks after the Ramparts revelations, called In the Pay of the CIA. Take note of the foundations mentioned. You can watch it here, and I would recommend doing so, because it shows which allegations the CIA was hoping to get ahead of and which ones they were hoping to bury with a counternarrative. William Small at CBS News had asked the CIA to provide a list of who at the station was in their employ, and unlike with other news organizations, the CIA refused to confirm or deny. Given the testimony of former CBS men like Sam Jaffe, foreign correspondent, as to the pushiness of the agency, it's likely that at least some were compromised. The previous part in this series, Part 6, can be read here.

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the American socialist movement was deeply split. Jewish Americans tended to see the Bolsheviks as the liberators of their people still held captive by Tsarist anti-Semitism and joined the Communist Party USA. Protestants, held captive as they were by a tendency towards paternalistic politics, were horrified by the atrocities committed against Orthodox priests and of state atheism and tended towards the Socialist Party USA. Jay Lovestone, as the former, became a rising CPUSA star, working to support the party through labour union entryism in the American Federation of Labour. Politics in the party mirrored those in the Soviet Union: Lovestone supported Bukharin, James Cannon supported Trotsky, and William Foster supported Stalin. Foster and Lovestone booted Cannon from the party, then Foster booted Lovestone. Lovestone went to the Soviet Union to argue his case in front of Stalin himself, and as he tells it, he criticized the man to his face, was jailed, and had to escape. This fostered a lifelong hatred for Stalinism in his eyes, although for a number of years after he defended him opportunistically even on the outside of the Party. He brought along with him a number of loyalists, most notably Irving Brown, his best friend and muscle man (Part 3). Lovestone fell under the influence of David Dubinsky, leader of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, member of SPUSA, and a vehement anti-communist. Dubinsky, the head of an all-male leadership of a 3/4 female union, prided himself on turning down wage increases when he felt they would threaten the stability of the industry, and once said "workers need capitalism like a fish needs water". He used his intelligence chief, Gus Tyler (Part 3), who had experience breaking Trotskyite groups, to suppress any local taken over by communists. He used Lovestone as his outside man, sending him to the UAW to prevent them from joining the CIO over the AFL. Victor Reuther, brother of the UAW president, described Lovestone as "one of the most Machiavellian union-splitters ever to prey on the American labor movement".

During the war, both Lovestone and Brown applied to work at the OSS. The spy agency wanted people who could provide information about the Soviet Union and communist trade unionists in Europe, who had become some of the few resisters against the Nazis. Brown was accepted, but Lovestone was felt to be too compromised. Instead, he was appointed by Dubinsky's close friend Irish Catholic George Meany, AFL treasurer and future AFL-CIO leader as well as a close CIA collaborator, to head up a new project. Meany was a schmoozer who prided himself on his conversational skills and his ability to be arrogant without seeming it, like keeping the American president waiting on the line. Lovestone was a classic intelligence man, obsessed with gleaning information and putting it to use. An underling reported that he read "twenty newspapers a day". Lovestone noted that the AFL was at the height of its power, and Dubinsky and Meany should use that to prevent the Soviets from taking over Europe. He saw that communist, socialist, and Catholic trade unions were the only ones who had survived the war, typically through extreme resistance in the case of the former and collaboration for the latter. Lovestone was appointed to create an international intelligence network to crusade against communism. By 1946, the FBI noted that Lovestone had a man in the majority of America's European embassies, largely thanks to Dubinsky's influence in the White House. The network was called the Free Trade Union Committee.

Prior to WW2, an attempt had been made at a global trade union conference. The International Federation of Trade Unions refused to take a hard line on colonialism, feminism, socialism, or any other prominent political questions of the day and so fell apart. The English Trade Union Congress attempted to create a new post-war version, the World Federation of Trade Unions, and invited Soviet and communist trade unions to participate. The AFL refused, complaining of communist subversion, but the CIO attended. Lovestone devoted hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it from the women, largely Jewish, of the ILGWU sewing repetitively for 44 hours a week, to breaking the WFTU apart. For the AFL triumvirate, any organization that had communists was a front group. In Germany, Italy, France, and Greece, Lovestone worked hard at creating a merger between pre-war socialists and Catholics that would shut out communists who had massive sway among new membership for their part in the resistance. He used the same tactics he had at the UAW, while Brown brought his OSS experience. In large part, he succeeded because he was the only one with money in these war-torn countries. In large part, this was the same debate club tactics. People were brought together and prepared with pre-canned lines for the big debates both on the shop floor and at the general meetings. Both sides dropped phony measures with friendly, unobjectionable language to see which side independents would support. In the background, money was exchanged and positions were promised. If big wins weren't found at the conventions, plans were made for open splits with expensive press conferences and advertising. In the streets, blood had to be spilled to keep the rank and file in line and to take over a local from the outside. Money went a long way there too, as did contacts with mafia members. Wherever possible, locals that had fled to America to escape were brought in to replace the local leadership.

Ultimately, this was the same way the National Student Association got started, to torpedo an international effort feared converted by the Soviets. Like them, the AFL would soon have CIA backing to do it. The money would come from the Marshall Plan. Reconstruction was important and would require the acquiescence of labour. The point of the plan was to get people paid higher wages so they could buy more and fuel growth. American agents on the ground would distribute money to worthy projects, gaining local contacts and bettering the American brand. Countries that chose not to participate would face lower living standards. This was the perfect way for the newly formed CIA to gain intelligence on the ground. Many of the CIA's operatives were former OSS who had gone to work in the State Department and were now in charge of the Plan. Most important of these employees was Frank Wisner, who was not officially CIA but often dined with their leadership as part of the Georgetown Set, which included Ben Bradlee, Cord Meyer, and Dick Bissell. He and a more famous employee, George Kennan, writer of one of the most famous documents of the Cold War, went to work using Marshall Plan money for covert projects. These included bringing fascists from Eastern Europe to America where they could be protected, trained, and sent out to conduct guerilla warfare, and helping to sway the 1948 Italian elections with the help of anti-communist trade unions. Soon, Lovestone's FTUC was being funded with more CIA money than union money.

These men hated each other. The CIA boys were WASPs and the union men were Catholics and Jews with little in the way of formal education. They shared objectives and funding but felt that they were acting independently of each other and claimed so in their autobiographies. Thomas Braden (part 5), Lovestone's handler in the early 50s, complained of never getting any accounting books, while Lovestone derided Braden and his comrades as "fizzkids". Nevertheless, the historical record betrays a close cooperation. In a top level meeting, Wisner was described in CIA memorandum as "Mr. Lawyer", Meany as "Mr. Plumber", Dubinsky as "Mr. Garment Worker", and Lovestone as "Mr. Intellectual". They shared an odd political affiliation, a liberalism that was moderate supportive of working class demands but against any radical changes to the overall system and most definitely against the Soviet Union. They didn't just want fascists from Eastern Europe, they also wanted independent trade unionists. One of these men was Sacha Volman. In Romania, Volman had worked for the social democratic party, fighting in the resistance against the Nazis before being forced out of the country by the Soviets. Like his patrons, he was well educated and spoke many languages. They set him to work on a joint project between the AFL and the CIA, a radio station known as Radio Free Europe, translating propaganda broadcasts. Volman knew who was paying him, but like Lovestone and Brown felt like an independent, calling himself a "half-virgin".

The CIA's attention soon turned to Latin America. They brought together the remnants of the Caribbean Legion, who had contacts on the ground and in some cases had become local leaders, with Eastern European trade unionist exiles, who had backgrounds in organizing workers and could testify to the brutality of the Soviet system. Volman became personally attached to the Dominican Juan Bosch, who in exile in Figueres' Costa Rica had become attached to a training program for democratic activists sponsored by the AFL and SPUSA. Now, you may be asking yourself, why would America train people opposed to the allied regime of Trujillo? The benign explanation would be that the political attachment of American government employees to liberalism made them wish to do whatever they could to improve the character of foreign governments while working within the system. The more sinister one would be that nobody in politics trusts anyone to stay attached to them for any longer than the present moment. If your ally betrays you or even just isn't performing that the level you'd prefer, you'd better have someone you can replace him with on short notice. Better yet if the new guy has more local legitimacy than the old guy. Juan Bosch certainly did, having worked underground to organize workers as part of his banned opposition party, the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD).

Betrayal wasn't what Trujillo was doing, but he certainly pissed off the wrong people. He knew how to pay people off to his benefit, and American politicians were no exception. One of the first men he bribed was congressman Hamilton Fish III. Fish was a progressive anti-Soviet isolationist in favour of civil rights who objected openly to the massacre of Haitians. Trujillo gave him $25,000, his standard fee, and two years later he welcomed the Dominican leader to New York with a speech proclaiming he'd created a "golden age for his country". In that case Trujillo's investment was devalued, however, by Fish' 1938 speech at a pro-Nazi conference, leading to his isolation and ultimate election loss in 1944. Others were primarily from the Senate Agricultural Committee. They held control over how much raw sugar could be imported to America for refinement, ensuring that the price remained stable and high. In turn, Trujillo owned about two thirds of the country's sugar plantations and American investors 30%. Most were staunch anti-communists, southerners, and pro-segregation. They helped determine who got foreign aid, both money and weapons, in the fight against Soviet influence in the region. Most notable of these was James Eastland, perhaps the most right wing senator in the 50s and 60s and a good personal friend of J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was so committed to the man that when he informed Eisenhower about the bribes from Trujillo, he kept Eastland's name off the list (note: wiretapping had been ruled illegal, so Hoover simply spied on everybody in Congress and told the president the most salacious gossip so that he wouldn't object. Only Truman and JFK were uncomfortable with it). If you've seen the recent Elvis biopic, you might recognize Eastland for his bit role in the film. Of course, it wasn't just money that changed hands. The Dominican's tourism industry went from bust to boom during the 50s, and Trujillo maintained a controlling interest in all the brothels as well as many ritzy properties where members of Congress could enjoy themselves. All, of course, were bugged and had two way mirrors to expedite filming.

Despite his best efforts, in the long run these policies alienated America. Dominican dissident Jesus Galindez, a Spanish civil war vet, FBI informant, and Columbia University professor, disappeared from New York City and was never found. A man arrested in the Dominican Republic, Octavio de la Maza, was found dead in his cell with a confession that the FBI considered to be forged. Trujillo hired a high priced American PR firm that did work for the Mafia and Tammany Hall to defend the nation. Hoover got a former agent of his, Joseph Farland, appointed ambassador. Farland quickly confirmed that much of the embassy was compromised. Farland's second at the embassy even openly bragged about spending time in one of Trujillo's mansions, leading to his replacement. In 1957, members of the Chicago, Philadelphia, and Tampa Mafias, including Meyer Lansky and Santos Trafficante (large investors in Cuba, also see part 1), were flown in to discuss opening casinos on the island. The investments were minor, mostly slot machines in hotels, but led to Trujillo hiring mafia-linked men for the Galindez job as well as an attempt to kill Jose Figueres. Hoover, Eisenhower, and the brothers Dulles began prepping for an orderly transition of power. The CIA initiated funding for Juan Bosch through the charity of businessman J.M. Kaplan, owner of Welch's Grape Juice and an investor in Dominican sugar plantations, a project managed by Sacha Volman. Together, they trained 200 Latin American students in 10 week courses in politics and social change, including a heavy dose of liberal anti-communism. Some of the Kaplan money made its way to Carlos Prio, who in turn handed some of it to Castro at a meeting in 1956. Arms sales, meanwhile, were quietly suspended in early 1958 to both Trujillo and Batista, although ongoing deliveries continued and both simply bought from Nicaragua.

1959 was the key year. In the decade since the Caribbean Legion, Castro had gone from using his elected position to try and pass a law against Batista's coup to fighting in guerilla warfare. One of the men he fought with was a former OSS man named Frank Sturgis. He used his links to pick up weapons wherever he could, likely including from the CIA's Samuel Cummings, who also sold to Batista, and from Rafael Trujillo, who had wanted to bribe Batista, then tried to kill him, then begged America to resume arms sales to him. This was not strange for the lower level CIA men, who rationally assessed Castro's claims to be an liberal nationalist. Their opinions turned when the men they'd trained to staff the anti-communist secret police began to be executed. Early New Year's Day, Batista touched down in Ciudad Trujillo, the renamed capital of the Dominican Republic. "Trujillo next", Castro shouted on the day he arrived in Havana. He only intended for rhetorical support, but Che had acted quickly to set up camps to train Haitians and Dominicans in promoting revolutions. Eisenhower's advisors recommended cautious engagement to draw Castro away from Che. The president's own paranoia, not to mention Vice President Nixon's, told them otherwise. Moreover, so did the Wall Streeters who owned Cuban plantations that were now being redistributed to peasants. In March, Frank Sturgis, who'd been helping clear the gangsters from the casinos but ended up going to work for them, reached out to the FBI and let them know his own negative assessment. Castro reached out to the Soviets for aid, hoping like any small national leader to play against American intransigence in providing their's. Cuba and the Dominican Republic sent rival adventurers to overthrow each others' governments, the former backed by Romulo Betancourt, president of newly democratic Venezuela. Those in the Cuban group were armed with AR-10s that Cummings had continued selling to Castro, who had liked the feel of captured ones, after Batista had been overthrown. (Cummings was in the Dominican when it happened trying to sell more guns, and Trujillo had demanded answers, as I found out reading the CIA's files.) Eisenhower read into these actions his own worst fears. What scared him more was when Trujillo did the same thing, reaching out to the Czechs to buy arms.

In the summer, Hollywood star and socialist Ava Gardner (just saw her in the great The Killers), who'd thrown down with Rubirosa as well as JFK, decided to visit Cuba and ended up seeing Fidel. She'd wanted to bang him but was blocked by a nineteen-year-old woman named Marita Lorenz, who prevented Gardner's private notes from reaching Castro. Ultimately, the two had a physical fight that had to be broken up by a Cuban security guard. Lorenz would later float around Cuban exile circles and claimed at one point, unconvincingly, that she'd been recruited to the CIA by Sturgis and the two had met Lee Harvey Oswald to look at maps of Dallas in 1963. In an odd coincidence, Jack Ruby testified to the Warren Commission that he'd seen Gardner while in Havana on business for Santo Trafficante (Another coincidence, Juan Peron was living in exile in the Dominican Republic at the time and was quite friendly with Trujillo, but ended up getting kicked out and fled to Madrid instead where he became Gardner's neighbour). On 11 December, Dick Bissell of the CIA (his name is on the ZR/RIFLE file in part 1) put out the first written recommendation for the "elimination of Fidel Castro", although by the time this memo hit the president's desk it was toned down. On the 20th, Dick Rubottom (there's a guy who was born to be in porn) at the State Department signed off on an order to remove Trujillo from office. This was likewise written on paper to be a charm offensive to convince the man to step down. However, as we saw with ZR/RIFLE, on paper there was a burglary operation, and in real life there was something more sinister.

[scrublord27]

.Introduction Post.

READ BELOW.

Since some more stuff has happened to me since my last intro post, here’s a new one.

^ Persona

How Ya Doin’?

Name- Scrub, but some people call me Jimmy, because I like it that way.

Age- 15, MINOR.

Birthday- September 30th.

Gender- Male, born male, stayed male

Ethnicity- Dominican-American

What’s up with ya?

Here’s a “couple” of things I enjoy:

Series:

-Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul

-LEGO Monkie Kid

-Marble Hornets

-The Sopranos

-Gravity Falls

-Invader Zim

-Homestar Runner

-Moral Orel

-The Twilight Zone

Films:

-No Country For Old Men (2007)

-Fargo (1996)

-Die Hard Franchise

-Falling Down (1993)

-Con Air (1997)

-James Bond Franchise

-Reservoir Dogs (1992)

-The Usual Suspects (1995)

-The Shining (1980)

Games:

-Castle Crashers

-Team Fortress 2

-Left 4 Dead 2

-OFF

-Dead Rising

-Little Nightmares

-Danganronpa

-Mario Franchise (Nintendo in general, honestly)

-Super Smash Bros.

Music:

-Will Wood (and The Tapeworms)

-Gorillaz

-My Chemical Romance

-Tally Hall

-They Might Be Giants

-The Mountain Goats

-The Avalanches

-Green Day

-Forrest Day

And the Other Stuff:

-…Homestuck.

-Scott Pilgrim

Who’s Askin’?

You’re welcome to send me asks, I’ll most likely answer them, just no weird shit. Again, this is a minor you’re dealing with.

DNI to all them Racists, Transphobes, Homophobes, Yknow all the bad stuff.

And?

That’s actually pretty much it, I should express that I mostly post art here but Yknow I could do other stuff,

So, Grab a drink, have a good time now, and continue with your random scrolling.

[ukrfeminism]

The number of women dying during pregnancy or soon after childbirth has reached its highest level in almost 20 years, according to new data. Experts have described the figures as “very worrying”.

How many women are dying?

Between 2020 and 2022, 293 women in the UK died during pregnancy or within 42 days of the end of their pregnancy. With 21 deaths classified as coincidental, 272 in 2,028,543 pregnancies resulted in a maternal death rate of 13.41 per 100,000.

This is a steep rise from the 8.79 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies in 2017 to 2019, the most recent three-year period with complete data. The death rate has increased to levels not seen since 2003 to 2005.

Where have the figures come from?

The data comes from MBRRACE-UK, which conducts surveillance and investigates the causes of maternal deaths, stillbirths and infant deaths as part of the national Maternal, Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review Programme (MNI-CORP).

MNI-CORP aims to improve patient outcomes and is funded by NHS England, the Welsh government, the health and social care division of the Scottish government, the Northern Ireland Department of Health, and the states of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man.

Why are so many women dying during or just after childbirth?

The main cause of death was thrombosis and thromboembolism, or blood clots in the veins.

The second most common cause was Covid-19. But even when deaths due to Covid were excluded, the maternal death rate for 2020 to 2022 – 11.54 per 100,000 pregnancies – remained higher than the rate for 2017 to 2019.

Heart disease and deaths related to poor mental health were also common, according to a review of the data by the Guardian.

Why is the mortality rate increasing?

The researchers behind the data project, led by Oxford Population Health’s national perinatal epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford, highlight several issues.

They say maternity systems in the UK are under pressure but also point to pre-pregnancy health and the need to tackle conditions such as obesity, as well as critical actions to work towards more inclusive and personalised care during pregnancy.

Is there any good news?

Not really. The maternal death rate among black women decreased slightly compared with 2019 to 2021, but they remain three times more likely to die compared with white women. Asian women are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or soon after compared with white women.

Are there other factors aside from health?

Absolutely. Women living in the most deprived areas of the UK have a maternal death rate more than twice that of women living in the least deprived areas.

Persisting ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities show the UK must think beyond maternity care to address the “underlying structures” that impact health before, during and after pregnancy, such as housing, education and access to healthy environments, said Dr Nicola Vousden, co-chair of the women’s health specialist interest group for the Faculty of Public Health.

Are deaths during pregnancy only increasing in the UK?

No. Maternal death rates are rising in many countries, yet this alarming trend has not been seriously addressed by governments and healthcare systems worldwide.

Rates have doubled in the US over the last two decades, with deaths highest among black mothers, a study in Journal of the American Medical Association found. Indigenous women had the greatest increase.

It is difficult to compare precise death rates between countries because the data is not uniform. But other countries seeing substantial rises in rates include Venezuela, Cyprus, Greece, Mauritius, Puerto Rico, Belize, and the Dominican Republic.

What can be done to reverse the trend?

Urgent action is needed to bolster the quality of maternal healthcare, ensure it is accessible to all, and repair the damage inflicted by the pandemic on women’s healthcare services more generally.

Clea Harmer, the chief executive of bereavement charity Sands, said improving maternity safety also needs to be at the top of the UK’s agenda.

The government said it was committed to ensuring all women received safe and compassionate care from maternity services, regardless of their ethnicity, location or economic status.

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow women and equalities secretary, said Labour would seek to reverse the “deeply concerning” maternal mortality figures by training thousands more midwives and health visitors and incentivising continuity of care for women during pregnancy.

NHS England said it had made “significant improvements” to maternity services but acknowledged “further action” was needed. It has introduced maternal medical networks and specialist centres to improve the identification of potentially fatal medical conditions in pregnancy.