#Lake Inez

[upontherisers]

shush for mahalia & bucky pretty please 😁😁😁

a/n: no proofreading, we die like men, etc., etc. i've answered the prompt on a technicality. welcome back to lake harding, everyone. [ shush ] for a kiss to silence the other party

Jack calls it at 1:30 am, standing with an exhale and taking in the counselors spread along the waterfront.

“Already?” Ev asks from where he’s slouched in a fraying camping chair.

Jack shrugs. “I’m tired.”

“Hazel’s tired,” Bucky says. “You just want to walk her back.”

Hazel—in the middle of draining the rest of her beer as she walks over from the girls’ fire—pauses, looking between Jack and the rest of the group around the fire. Her arm lowers hesitantly and she huffs a flustered laugh before breaking into a smile. “I’m good by myself. This is your last one, I don’t wanna—”

“No, no,” Jack says as he steps out of the ring of logs. “Let’s head back.”

Bucky has to duck under the hand Jack flings out to smack him with and he grabs around at the sand underfoot until he finds a pebble and hurls it only for Jack to sidestep without having to turn around as he sets his jacket around Hazel’s shoulders.

They watch the pair go, their tall frames moving in and out of the firelight from the flames up the beach. Bucky waits for something, for Jack to wrap his arm around her shoulders, for her to reach for his hand, but they disappear past the Big House without incident and he shakes his head with a chuckle. Always professional, those two, very resilient to his badgering. They’ll break this year, he’s sure of it, with it being Jack’s last and all.

Then, it’s quiet. Waves run gently to shore and rock the docks to and forth, the creaking wood blending with the crickets and owls in the trees up the hill. The breeze is gentle and chilling and gives him every reason to stay by the crackling fire. Even the moon’s out tonight, lighting the lake all the way to Outpost Island and Camp Taylor at the other end, and into the mountains beyond. It’s peaceful—not just a night in at his apartment peaceful, but peaceful peaceful—the kind of peaceful they make movies about, the kind of peaceful that settles right to his bones and scratches the itch he’s had since he drove up from the city this morning. The kind of peace he can be alone in, even when he’s surrounded by friends.

The kind of peace that blends with the beer and the bud and the moon and nearly sends him to bed right where he’s sitting until he hears a laugh from the next fire over that cuts through the zen he’d reached in the last few minutes.

“Jesus, she’s loud,” he mutters, laying out on his log now that he has the space. There are a lot of stars when he looks up.

Buck snorts. “You’re loud.”

“I’m not that loud.”

“You are,” says Benny. Bucky flops out a leg to kick at him and misses. 

Mahalia laughs again from the girls’ fire and he turns his head toward the sound. She’s sharing a log with Willie and they’re cackling, falling over each other and wiping their eyes as Dolores tells a story that has her gesturing wildly with her hands. Their resident comedian saves her best work for nights like these and while Bucky would usually try to push his way over to be in on the joke, he’s caught by Mahalia in the firelight—the blush of her lips, the flame-washed dark gold of her skin, the smooth lines of her neck, and the delicate chain shimmering at the hollow of her throat. He’s cold suddenly, and sits up to grab his jacket.

Curt’s hand raises across the circle. “Last call. There’s, like, two hits left.” The joint in his fingers leaks thin wisps of smoke above the flames.

“Dibs!” Bucky and Mahalia say at the same time. 

Curt holds it out to Mahalia, who’s rising from her seat. Bucky glares at his friend. “That’s my weed.”

“I wouldn’t hear the end of it,” the younger counselor says with a shrug, his dimple popping out of his grimace. 

Bucky’s on his feet and bounding over before Mahalia’s halfway there, and she squawks as he plucks the joint from Curt and takes a hit. 

He really makes a show of it, taking a long drag and holding the smoke for longer than necessary before exhaling with a labored sigh pointed at the stars. When he looks down again, Mahalia is a few feet from him, arms crossed over her sweater, mouth open as she slides her tongue over her teeth in fury. She’s hot when she’s angry—round brown eyes burning in the flames of his fire, jaw tight and sharp—but she’d kick him in the nuts if he said it out loud.

Curt speaks up behind him. “C’mon, Bucky. It’s the last night.”

“I don’t know,” he replies, rolling the joint in his fingers. “Sounds like she’s got a problem if she needs it this badly.”

Mahalia’s stomping toward him in an instant. “Chick’s not here to stop me from beating your ass—”

“Okay, okay,” he says, “fine.”

She comes to a stop in front of him as her next blustery threat fizzles out. He debates going for it and dashing before her short legs can get traction in the sand, but as he looks down at her—her eyes pools of dark, still water now that he’s blocking the light—he’s cold again, and he doesn’t let himself look lower than her expectant face to the scars that now dot her left knee and crawl up her thigh. You owe her.

But, he can still do it with his usual… flare.

It’s slower than the first time as he takes another hit and her lips part, enraged. He takes advantage of the moment to press his mouth to hers and exhale. Her chest presses against his as she breathes him in and he ignores the twitch in his pants at the small whimper in her throat that’s only audible to him. You’ve done this before, he thinks. It’s just Mahalia. 

But her name sounds different in his head than it has during all the previous summers, and as she pulls away, exhaling with a blissful, lazy smile, he wants to suck the smoke from her mouth. Not because it’s his weed, but because it’s her.

A burst of laughter from a group of Lower Camp counselors further down the beach breaks him out of his thoughts and he steps away from her with a nod. It’s just Mahalia. “We good?”

She blows the last of the smoke in his face and chuckles cooly. “For tonight.”

Tonight won’t last much longer—the long drive is catching up to him, so are the High Noons, and they have an early start tomorrow when Chick and Red get in—but as Mahalia walks back over to her fire, already joking with Vera about something that makes her voice carry back to him on the breeze, he decides he’ll take it. Tonight’ll do just fine.

[reputayswift]

INTO FOLKLORE: a folklore, evermore, & ttpd narrative playlist

The lives of several interconnected townspeople play out alongside their folkloric counterparts, answering the question: can we write our own endings…or are we destined to repeat the past?

insp. 1 2 3 4 5

[listen here] [visuals here] [follow along below↓]

CHAPTER 1: THE ROAD TO THE LOOKOUT 🛣️

gold rush -> exile -> chloe or sam or sophia or marcus -> this is me trying -> i hate it here -> epiphany -> hoax -> the prophecy

APRIL. James abandons a belated love confession over a misunderstanding at prom. Betty explores the folklore surrounding the local lookout, where a spirit still awaits her exiled lover.

CHAPTER 2: CLOSETS OF BACKLOGGED DREAMS 🎥

seven -> robin -> my boy only breaks his favorite toys -> peter -> coney island -> champagne problems -> the bolter -> marjorie -> clara bow -> thank you aimee -> the 1 -> dorothea -> i can do it with a broken heart -> mirrorball

MAY. On the precipice of graduation, aspiring actress Dorothea contemplates a proposal from her childhood sweetheart. 1950s television personality Marjorie Finlay faces a similar dilemma.

CHAPTER 3: FOREVER IS THE SWEETEST CON 🛸

cowboy like me -> I can fix him (no really I can) -> the tortured poets department -> peace -> august -> down bad -> loml

JUNE-AUGUST. James and August indulge in a whirlwind summer romance while hiding their true intentions. In the Summer of Love, two con-artists finally meet their match: each other.

CHAPTER 4: PROMISED TO ANOTHER 🌿

guilty as sin? -> ivy -> the lakes -> but daddy I love him -> illicit affairs -> the manuscript

SEPTEMBER. A 19th-century poet risks a prosperous engagement for true love. An affair between Betty's father and a bright young journalist proves to be anything but a fairytale.

CHAPTER 5: THE LOUDEST WOMAN THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN 🐈‍⬛

willow -> the albatross -> mad woman -> cassandra -> who's afraid of little old me? -> the last great american dynasty

OCTOBER. Inez hosts a Halloween party at a house rumored to be haunted by a historic town pariah. In the late 1600s, a woman is accused of witchcraft.

CHAPTER 6: NO BODY, NO CRIME? 🔍

tolerate it -> the black dog -> right where you left me -> fortnight -> it's time to go -> so long, london -> my tears ricochet -> how did it end? -> no body, no crime -> fresh out the slammer -> florida!!! -> happiness

NOVEMBER. Upon discovering her husband's infidelity, Betty's mother has a breakthrough about a long-forgotten cold case from the late 80s.

CHAPTER 7: 'TIS THE DAMN SEASON 🧣

evermore -> I look in people's windows -> the smallest man who ever lived -> closure -> betty -> imgonnagetyouback -> cardigan -> 'tis the damn season -> the alchemy -> so high school -> long story short -> invisible string

DECEMBER. Conflicts come to a head as everyone returns home for the holidays. The spirit at the lookout finally finds closure.

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Solaris reads Murder as a Second Language, by Joan Hess (2013)

So yeah, this was the book I made the poll about. As this is a murder mystery I'm liveblogging, it's very likely I'll spoil the killer for you. Block the tag "solaris reads murder as a second language" if you don't want spoilers.

Murder as a Second Language is the 19th book in the Claire Malloy Mysteries and the first book by Joan Hess I've read. Last year I listened to about 30 minutes of the audiobook before DNF'ing it because of how trashy the first couple chapters were. Well, now I'm back, and we're going to see how bad the rest of it is.

MAASL picks up shortly after our main character Claire, long-time local business owner, has married Deputy Chief Peter Rosen, and just before she packs her daughter Caron off to college. To get into the college she wants, Caron has to spend the summer doing volunteer work, and Claire - now faced with the possibility of spare time - decides to volunteer as well. When a murder happens in town, Claire and Peter team up to solve the case.

Well, let's see what I've gotten myself into...

[Transcript: "Inez found thsi really cool place where we can volunteer to teach English as a second language to foreigners. It's like four hours a week, and we arrange our own schedules. I figure that if we're there from eleven to noon, we'll have plenty of time to go to the lake and the mall." /end]

Just setting up some background here. Caron has picked fairly easy volunteer work that gives her plenty of time to still enjoy summer, and only really has to devote 40 odd hours to it. As far as last-minute requirements to get into college go, Caron has it pretty damn easy.

Or maybe not. See, she has to attend a training session and...

[Transcript: "Yeah," Caron muttered. "The training session was interminable. The teacher basically read aloud from the manual while we followed along, like we were illiterate. We broke for pizza and then listened to her drone on for another four hours. After that, the executive director, some pompous guy named Gregory Whistler, came in and thanked us for volunteering. I was so thrilled that I almost woke up."

"Then it got worse," Inez said. "The program director, who's Japanese and looks like she's a teenager, told us that because of the shortage of volunteers in the summer we would each get four students - and meet with them twice a week for an hour."

"For a total of Eight Hours." Caron's sigh evolved into an agonized moan. "We have to call them and find a time that's mutually convenient. It could be six in the morning or four in the afternoon. We may never make it to the lake." /end]

How heartbreaking! Caron, on the cusp of adulthood, faces a fraction of the responsibilities she will face in a year when she goes off to college! Her life is truly difficult (sarcasm)

[Transcript: "And I," Caron said, rolling her eyes, "have to tutor an old lady from Poland, a Chinese man, an Iranian woman, and a woman from Russia. How am I supposed to call them on the phone? They don't speak English. Like I speak Polish, Chinese, Russian, and whatever they speak in Iran. This is a nightmare, and I think we ought to just quit now. I say we set up a lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to some charity." /end]

And it gets worse (heavy sarcasm)! Did you know that people who need to learn English as a second language don't speak English perfectly? Caron is right to throw away the chance to go to a good college over this (heavy sarcasm)

Anyway, all is saved, because Claire promises to volunteer as well and take some of their students off their hands so Caron doesn't give up and go to the local community college instead. Personally I'd say a good parent would make their child take responsibility for themselves, but what do I know. This post is getting long, so check the reblogs for how well that works out for everyone

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase Character Discussion (for your local Cyberchase trivia quiz) - #1: Inez

Since I have been archiving data from the Cyberchase section of the old pbskids.org website for the FlashPoint Archive Project lately, I thought should share some content I have dug up, particularly information that was provided on the different characters. Much of the information is no longer on the site. While much of it is available in the FlashPoint Archive Project now, and I would consider the project easy to look into and setup, not everyone will take the time to do so. #1: Inez I figure the best place to start is with her official "Meet the Cybersquad" character bio from back in the day. This was placed on the pbskids.org website way back in 2001, before the series initially started airing in 2002. This is no longer on the pbskids.org site, so I can't promise that it is still canon.

So, we start off learning that Inez is the youngest of the group, at nine years old. We never see the kids in school together, but I would not be surprised if Inez jumped forward a grade or two. The page emphasizes her curiosity. Now, would you call the parkway vs. driveway thing pedantic? For me: no comment.

The second page tells us that her favorite color is purple, her favorite food are popcorn and mangoes, and her favorite book in "By the Shores of Silver Lake", by Laura Ingalls Wilder. That is part of Wilder's autobiographical "Little House on the Prarie" series, with this particular book being published in 1939. I know its a classic that has been republished numerous times, but I do find it interesting that she went for such an old book. Her favorite music is by Mac Anthony. The page doesn't mention specific genres, and Marc Anthony has done several different genres over the years. I don't know his discography very well, but it looks like he was best known for Latin Salsa in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so that's probably her favorite music genre overall.

The third page tells us that her favorite move is "Harry Potter", as she loves Hermione Granger. Because this bio came out in 2001, only Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone would have been released as a movie at the time.

Her pet peeves are listed as heights, bad sportsmanship, and whenever Matt calls her "Nezzie". According to TVTropes, she did conquer her fear of heights by the time The Cyberchase Movie came out. She has one pet, her cat, Gatito. We do see Gatito in a few episodes of the show.

Now, there's something odd about Inez's design on the "Meet the Cybersquad" page. The star on her shirt is purple, as opposed to the yellow we got in the show. I'm not sure how this happened, as Inez had the yellow star as far back as the 1999 pilot.

This reminds me of another piece of trivia. During Season 4 Episode 2 "The Icky Factor", the kids get wetsuits for the first time, as they need to swim around Aquari-yum. They had already been to Aquari-yum twice by this point. However, they stayed in the sub the whole time during Season 1 Episode 16 "Codename Icky". Then, during Season 3 Episode 6 "The Grapes of Plath", they just wore their regular clothes with a bubble helmet to walk around the bottom of the bowl.

Look at their wetsuits. Matt gets plain blue wetsuit, Jackie gets a plain yellow wetsuit, and Digit gets a plain orange wetsuit. Inez gets a green wetsuit with a yellow star on the front and a purple vest. I like this detail. It's about as close to matching her color scheme as they could get without making the top half of the wetsuit pink, which would have just been weird. Maybe a full pink wetsuit would have been a little better? I don't know. If they did that, she would be missing out on the green from her shorts

Anyway, the next piece to look at is this page from Cyberchase: How It All Started: Webisode 3. This was an official prequel web comic that come out before the show started airing, so its a little off. I promise that this is the original image without any edits.

https://web.archive.org/web/20080610025304/http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/webisode_3/7.html

They got her skin-tone and hair color very wrong, as they showed her as white with red hair. The lenses on her glasses aren't as opaque. They did get the yellow star right this time, but I would consider her skin tone to be far more important. I would love to hear the story of how this mix-up happened. You know what? I'll add my attempt at fixing their mistake below, based on skin, hair, and glasses colors picked from "Meet the Cybersquad". I don't have much GIMP experience, but I think I did a pretty good job.

Anyway, the main reason I brought this image up was that she is noted as being a computer whiz who loves to go on the Internet. As far as I remember, she never uses her computer skills in the show, probably because they played it so fast and loose with the terminology.

So, that first image only showed her from the waist-up, but we do get a shot of her riding her bike to the library to meet her new friends and start the first episode. They did it again.

https://web.archive.org/web/20080607121655/http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/webisode_3/8.html

I honestly wouldn't care if it was just the shirt, vest, or shorts being the wrong color. Alright, I have added a color-corrected version below.

The second page gives us "Oh no, this is not good at all!" That is the prototype for her iconic phrase: "This is not good! This is not good at all!".

Did you know that on her way to the library, Inez road her bike all over town to run other errands? She went to Betty's House, the Post Office, and the Video (VHS) store before arriving at the library just in time to make some new friends and upload her mind into the Internet.

As far as character trivia goes, Cyberchase did have official printable trading cards. Here's the one for Nezzie. I love this card. One of her favorite things is E-mail. Her other favorite things include experiments and big words, but we all knew that already. They picked a more optimistic, but less iconic, favorite line for her with, "Hey, I've got an idea!" rather than "This is not good! This is not good at all!". She is great at basketball, which may be surprising to some, given her height. We'll come back to that. She is also great at reading, standing up for herself, and singing. We do get to hear her sing "Brahm's Lullaby" in Spanish for Chewcrocca's baby during Season 3 Episode 1 "EcoHaven CSE".

I can think of two pieces of official Cyberchase media related to Basketball. There was Season 6 Episode 7 "Jimaya Jam", which had a sport of the same name, except it took away dribbling. However, Inez was actually separated from the group at the time, with Creech taking over her role during the Jimaya Jam game. Presumably, Inez was just too powerful.

The second piece is from the singular Cyberchae chapter book, "The Search for the Power Orb". The story actually starts with Inez playing basketball against Matt. She is frustrated that he is able to block her shots due to his clear height advantage, and his teasing about her height doesn't help. Towards the end of the story, they retrieve the titular Power Orb, which is roughly the size of a basketball. It needs to go back into its basket to save Cybersite Serentia from complete deletion. Inez is able to use her short stature to run between The Hacker's legs, get a boost from Izzy, and slam dunk the Power Orb.

What else? I found this early concept art on the Cyberchase wiki. It seems like the biggest change was the style for her boots.

There is also this write-up from a "Who's Who" document. I don't know whether this was always available to the public, or if this was an internal document when they were developing and pitching the show. It doesn't add too much information to what I already posted, but it does state their intent to make her a tomboy, and it talks about her tendency to giggle, give inspirational quotes and stand on her head.

I figure no Inez compilation is complete without her standing on her head at some point. Here she is in Season 2 Episode 12 "The Guilty Party" flinging herself out of a handstand, twisting around, and landing on her feet.

[luvhughes43]

how is trevor’s and inez’s relationship??

-🦢

they can go weeks without talking to each other but at the end of it they'll always be close! they were never really best friends growing up, so now that inez is with luke they get to spend a lot more time together at the hughes lake house, etc. so they've been getting closer!

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

The place to go for a bite to eat, for nearly a century

By Jonathan Monfiletto

Representing a local history museum, this blog doesn’t concern itself much with current events. However, right now – literally, in this moment, just two days after the Penn Yan Diner sustained “substantial damage,” in the words of Yates County’s director of emergency services, in the middle of the night – seems to be an appropriate time to be concerned with current events in light of local history.

In the back of my mind, I have had the idea to research the history of the Diner ever since I heard someone describe it as, essentially, the longest continuously-operating restaurant in Penn Yan. Not knowing anything about the Diner – other than that it has really good burgers – I wasn’t sure if that was true; it turns out it likely is true, and the Diner is on track to celebrate its centennial being located in the village. Since 1925, the Diner has been situated on a previously vacant lot next to the Masonic Temple, on south side of East Elm Street between Basin Street and Champlin Avenue.

While the future of the Diner remains uncertain, should the Diner be able to re-open and continue operating, it would mark its 100th anniversary as a community institution next May, shortly before it marks one year since the devastating fire. According to the Penn Yan Democrat of April 10, 1925, Byron and Lena Legters rented the vacant lot east of the Masonic Temple and planned to install a Galion dining car. The diner was “to be placed on a concrete platform so the entrance will be at the street level,” and a concrete block kitchen was to be built below the diner. On May 8, the Democrat reported the Legters, of the Buffalo area, had opened what they called the Penn Yan Dining Car.

The original diner measured 30 feet by 10 feet, 6 inches and could accommodate 15 people; the kitchen underneath measured 10 feet by 16 feet. According to a November 1993 article by Herbert A. Wisbey Jr. in The Crooked Lake Review, this made the diner longer and wider than the typical diner – short for dining car, a stationary building modeled after a railroad car – but it retained the usual trolley-like shape. This included the long counter with stools in the front and the food prepared and served from behind the counter. The Galion Dining Car Company, of Galion, Ohio, built the Penn Yan Dining Car as one of at least 66 manufacturers of such dining cars in the country. However, Wisbey refers to the company as “evidently a short-lived company about which little is known.”

Earl Richardson and company, of Silver Creek, installed the dining car on the site and also built the original kitchen. Richard was the first diner installer in western New York and contributed to the diner building boom of the middle to late 1920s, with at least eight companies formed over the next decade. According to a history of the Diner, people lined East Elm Street in 1925 to watch the dining car travel the trolley tracks and be craned into place.

The Legter family had come from Silver Creek as well, and they apparently returned there just a year after opening the Diner and handed the Diner off to Carroll P. Bond. Bond called the eatery the Bond Dining Car, but after encountering financial difficulties he sold it to a Mrs. Williamson – whose son Douglas King managed it – in 1933. Perhaps connected to the financial issues, under Bond’s tutelage, the Diner suffered a fire in the kitchen that caused $1,000 worth of damage. Next, Odell Jones purchased the Diner in 1938 and during his tenure built a kitchen and dining addition onto the diner. This expansion allowed the Diner to seat 18 people at tables and included a new entrance with a glass-block vestibule. Since that time, the structure of the Diner has remained the same.

Yates County Deputy Sheriff Ralph Legg took over the Diner in 1949, but for whatever reason he couldn’t make a go of it and Jones took control back. In 1955, Jones sold the Diner to John and Inez Quenan, who ran the Diner for the next 25 years. During the Quenans’ tenure, according to a handwritten anecdote in the Yates County History Center’s subject files, Joe Just, who worked at Benson Printing – located in the Masonic Temple next to the Diner – broke the news to the staff and clientele of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The print shop took a coffee break every morning at 10 a.m., and the employees headed to the Diner. Just told John Quenan that Kennedy had been shot, and Quenan thought it was a joke until Just switched the TV station and turned to the news coverage.

In 1980, the Quenans sold the Diner to Lyman Beecher, whom John Quenan had trained. Beecher was known as “Lyman the Pie Man” for his homemade pies that were a signature specialty of the Diner during his time at the helm. In 2010, Beecher sold the Diner to Dean Smith, of Conesus. Smith’s tenure was short-lived; he closed the Diner for equipment renovations and opened for summer hours when the upgrades were completed. In 2012, though, Sean and Carrie Ahearn bought and re-opened the Diner after it had been closed for about six months. Calamity took place when the flash flood that hit Yates County in May 2014 left nine feet of water and six inches of mud in the Diner’s basement. Still, the Diner re-opened just 11 days later.

The community hopes the same can be said for the Diner now under the current owners, Anna Sweet, Nate Salpeter, Alicia Avellaneda, and Cameron Mills, as they contemplate the Diner’s life after another fire. A review of the Penn Yan Diner in The Naples News of December 1940 still rings true today: “The Penn Yan Diner is a popular place for motorists as well as local people as they offer a rapid service in good foods and there is no delay. … The air of the commonplace always makes all feel at home and this makes it a distinctly American institution as there is no atmosphere of formality. The service is courteous as well as rapid. The fact that they offer excellent service and good food brings them business from the outlying districts as people know that no matter what time of day or night they may be out they can always find everything in the food line.”

[behindthcmall]

☆ –– (priscilla quintana, she/her, cisgender female) who is AUGUSTA RIVERA anyways? ew. you don’t know about HER, we’ll bet you want to. they’re feeling 31 and WRITING IN A JOURNAL feels like a perfect night to them. rumor has it they’re OVER EMOTIONAL and GUARDED because they care, but they’re also LOYAL and FUN-LOVING in the best way. SHE works to make a little money as a(n) POETRY COLUMNIST FOR THE NEW YORKER. they’ve rented a place on cornelia street in the form of WOODVALE APARTMENTS. AUGUST (MUSE B) and THE LAKES (MUSE A) are the songs they could dance to the beat of forevermore. (ooc info: tee, 29, pst, she/her.)

Hi loves, I’m Tee and I’m thrilled to be here! I’ve been creeping this group for a while and waiting for the timing to be right. I felt, as a huge Taylor fan, it’s my obligation to join (and fun fact, it’s my nine year anniversary today of being Taylurked!)

Anyways, this is Augusta. She’s still a slight work in progress, but here’s some basic info about her (more to be added as it's developed):

Name: Augusta Rivera. Age: 31. Date of Birth: TBD, I'm an astrology hoe that needs to let her cook before determining. Hometown: Cathedral City, California. Gender, Pronouns: Cisfemale, She/her. Sexuality/Orientation: Pansexual. MBTI: TBD, but most likely XNFP. Job: Poetry columnist at The New Yorker and MFA grad student at NYU. Residence: Woodvale Apartments.

Facts:

Augusta is from Southern California and the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents.

She loves writing, especially poetry. She was definitely one of those teens who had a “deep” poetic Instagram/twitter/MySpace (she's a millennial, LBR here) account that was literally terrible and overdramatic. However, she’s been honing her craft and gotten to a point where she can’t see herself doing anything else.

As the story goes, she met James during a summer trip to New York to visit relatives that live in the state. It was a whirlwind romance in her eyes, and a special summer of firsts: first trip to her dream university (NYU), first time dipping her foot in the Atlantic Ocean, first head over heels love for another woman. It was very eventful for baby teenage Augusta, and when it ended, it lowkey ruined her life.

She's been trying to put that summer in the past, but it always seems to creep its way into her life, whether it's through her poetry or her trust issues.

Augusta comes off as very naturally fun loving and charismatic, but she's more what you'd call an introverted extrovert. She really shines when she's surrounded by people she trusts and loves.

She started her university career in SoCal, but her dream was always to end up at NYU. She was accepted there and got her butt on a plane so she could start working on her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She's making money through publishing work through the New Yorker (and realistically, she's probably another job too. TBD as I think of it.)

Wanted Connections:

The Folklore Love Triangle - If you're the Betty, James and/or Inez and we haven't chatted yet, you know what's up. Let us brainstorm the whole thing.

Literally anything/everything. She likely hasn't been in New York for that long (I imagine a few months, if that) but she's probably travelled there quite a few times over the years, so I'm open to plotting anything. Feel free to IM me and we'll chat.

[zeus-japonicus]

Modern tf au: what would each character have on their Christmas list?

thank you for the question! though, because only Siva & Inez were brought up culturally Christian, I'm going to change it to be "what would the characters be excited to receive as a gift" 🌱

Baker - le crueset casserole in soleil or volcanic

Siva - a new pump for the aquarium, perhaps some big, old, outdated books about snails from a charity shop with some dude's notes written in biro in the margins

Alestes - £100 in gift cards. the kind where you can buy from pretty much any shop or restaurant.

Noor - onsen trip - I'm thinking the kind that's in the mountains, with great food (there are Buddhist ones which are vegan), a view of a magnificent lake, and tall forests

Inez - blacksmithing lessons. hit hot thing hard with heavy thing. but also skill and artistry. (they go because they need a highly specific tool that nobody has invented yet)

Anh - for some reason my first thought was surf board, so I'm sticking with that. 🤙🏼

Gabe - what he asks for is school supplies, which he gets, but someone also gifts him a beautiful blanket, warm and cozy, which he loves

[dustxechoes]

💼💼💼[[ One for Impy, one for Sev, and the third is a freebie

Send me   ‘ 💼 ‘   to hear a rumor about my muse from someone who works for / with them

"It's beginning to seem like Novice Iacon knows more about Novitiate Kalis' sudden disappearance than she lets on...the two of them were always close, and she took Severine's death the hardest. But the way she just...refuses to acknowledge it is...and, that's not to mention how Imperatrice has seemed to disappear herself for periods of time. It is not in our nature to keep secrets from each other, and I do not want to believe Imperatrice of all people would violate our trust, but I cannot shake this feeling..." - Novice Inez Kaon, of the Second Lance

"Somethin' wrong with the new kid on the block. She sees things she shouldn't. Knows things she shouldn't. You ever see under that mask of hers? Has anyone? I'm telling ya, whatever she is, it ain't human. Just be glad it's on our side." - Tobias Owen, independent hunter.

"You ever heard of Sidewinder? Frozen 'ellhole, the whole damned planet. Meow and Fortune were on catrol over a frozen lake when were ambushed. She layed down covering fire and I barely escaped with my life, but Fortune, she…well, I saw her fall under the ice. We came back with a whole platoon, but…after eight days we'd all but given up on even finding a body to send back to homeworld. Two hundred and sixteen hours, she was under that ice, and when we finally pulled her out...not only was she still breathing, she was pregnant. If mew want me to believe she's dead, sir, you're gonna have to show me a body." - Corporal Rita "RR" Rhea, Felinid Auxilia 8th Mobile Infantry.

[likeastarmuses]

pinned post!

primary muses.

women

elizabeth 'lizzie' opal rojas | fc: rosa salazar. retired drug dealer trying to make a name for herself in the digital art world when she's not waiting on tables at a greasy diner.

felicity isabel mendoza | fc: odette annable. former biker girl in her teenage years, now a single mom and midwife who is undoubtedly the glue to her family.

nancy inez martin | fc: deborah ann woll. mousy former combat medic dealing with so much trauma from war that she's in compassion fatigue and in need of human warmth and connection.

peyton marie tower | fc: halston sage. the nepo baby who dared to be something else, refusing money and fame from her tech giant CEO father while forming a legacy with her small-town game shop.

soleil jessamine smith | fc: madison davenport. rebel without a cause seeking the spotlight, trying so desperately to be different from her backwoods roots but losing herself in the meanwhile.

twyla mae mooney | fc: margot robbie. a rainbow personified, left a cushy cosmetology job in north carolina to do makeup and costumes in los angeles.

una carys tempens | fc: samara weaving. petty thief and stripper, all in the name of supporting her much younger twin siblings while her mother suffers from drug addiction.

men

beacon jace namara | fc: daniel kaluuya. old soul music teacher in love with jazz, constantly seeking gigs where he can show off his trumpet skills.

elisha 'eli' james king | fc: jon bernthal. loud but also a sweetheart of a former firefighter from jersey living in a firewatch lookout in honor of his late best friend.

ezekiel 'zeke' isaiah lim | fc: steven yeun. mid-tier gamer/streamer who is the anchor of his large family, having spent a lot of his 20s caring for his mother who was diagnosed with alzheimer's once he graduated college.

ford atticus smith | fc: adam driver. quiet and stoic veteran who is taking care of his large family farm, as well as running his own ferry business across lake pontchartrain in lousiana.

jamie alexander thompson | fc: paul rudd. english professor and lover of sports with a few published books, mostly a dork but also occasionally perceived as a dilf.

jesse gabriel mendoza | fc: jd pardo. fresh out of prison and trying to find his place in society again, keeping out of trouble by taking care of his motorcycle and dabbling in tattoo art.

kirk tiberius james | fc: andrew garfield. longtime comic book artist looking to make his big break in the profession while managing a coffee shop in a college town.

quinn 'soap' philip shepard | fc: pablo schreiber. brooding mercenary with hardly a soft spot, thinks with his fists before his brain, and will likely try to intimidate anyone who dares to peer behind his guard.

**horror-based AU details under the cut.

please go to each individual muse to see the horror-based plot ideas i have for them! and please keep in mind muses aren't limited to the plots i've quickly scribbled down for them. i'd love to explore more verses and horror-based fandoms! some of my favorite horror movies/franchises/genres include but are not limited to:

the conjuring/insidious/the nun

evil dead

saw

slasher - child's play, friday the 13th, halloween

nightmare on elm street

ready or not/you're next

the thing/alien/predator/annihilation

pearl/x

the witch

hereditary

giallo-type stuff/dario argento horror

[kaleidoscope-story]

the lakes

Inez had known, for a long time, she'd wanted to leave. Leave it all behind and never look back. All the pain, all the drama, all the grief. She wanted to go away, disappear into peacefulness and quiet, into a place where she could just watch the nature grow around her, where she could cry and laugh and love freely. She had the money for it. She got the house. But there was something missing. There was someone missing.

Over the years, she fixed up the house. She transitioned out of acting, into teaching, for a bit, and finally retirement. And she fell in love. Inez fell in love with the woman she would've once sworn she hated. Betty, who'd always been in the way of her happiness. Betty, who turned out to be her way to happiness.

Turns out, once Betty and Inez started talking, they couldn't stop.

Growing up made way for forgiveness, which paved the way for like, which led to love. And, suddenly, this person she'd once have given everything to get rid of, turned out to be the one person she couldn't live without. They'd spent their lives circling each other. Once they finally collided, there was no tearing them apart. And once it was time for her to go, she couldn't picture going without her. Without her muse. Without the person who'd taught her to love again.

It was the two of them. Away from it all, in a cliffside house, with wisteria growing all around them. Happy, at last.

previous | folklore | next (release order)

previous | kaleidoscope | next (chronological order)

masterpost

[libidomechanica]

“With a glass of strangers unurged; feed on the light and”

Head—and embraced with encrusted     boots, childishly? A bosom to thee—ponder how—not as     yet but ten years to hide

thy believe that their dangerous     example more than all them thus; thou know what Fortune of     such triumphant song—he

wonderful, but no device could     fix on much them. But to retort with her Moorish original     is dust. Full before

they could discovers; to others     talk’d learned lady, famed for reputations deem her     their postilions! Too soon

through it may be made, that Inez     was sold, his self-control to love that love you this pretty     spies, assembles, yet betrays

itself adorns the wound much     more than slept. Thy ways! He died of the noblest pedigree!     Who like a coin in my

way: these freedoms form that heau’n of     ioyes I shall deuow’r with the dreary frontier of age, and full     speed—no matter what—I

never saw the answer thee as     thou art a girl as much bright eyes, his hair black lines my life,     both in the critics, make,

they are there is London Town! The     holy perfumes of course sublime, and thy stead I’ve called Hope     Lake where o’erheard the false

friendly star? Her favourable     man, that mars your brain is just your own at Keswick, and seem’d     both a wrong. A something

about this is the kelp holds her     still held Juan’s earlier bowers, on that drop which out of     reach. With a glass of strangers

unurged; feed on the light     and dark, suppression more popular, at which never wooed,     and marriage temple is;

thou shalt not what, and Juan, though hoary     Hal, a fool whose age is my own nostrils, should scarce be     more than either much lesse.

So lively figure? The choices     that may believe in Milton, Dryden, Pope; this I have some     have had they clove them all

at one fell swoop, ’ instead of course     sublimity; in short- hand ta’en by Gurney, who saw thee,     my love’s impetuous rage;

be my true mistresses; tell the     grossest flattering Fish like Jewels polished as leather, and,     knocking, me molested.

[xprojectrpg]

This Day in X-Project - May 23

2015: Wanda posts that she has returned to the mansion and will be retreating to Harry’s soon. Jean and Haller run into one another by the lake and discover a few things about one another. Jubilee lets X-Force know that she has found a contact in China who deals with certain kind of antiques. Clarice puts on a mansion fashion show. Jean-Phillipe lets people know that the annual Eurovision Song Contest party is starting. Bobby goes to meet Kyle about his typing, and they end up making ice cream, because if Kyle can't have Bobby Drake's home-made ice cream he will end the universe. Laurie and Matt discuss their respective injuries and Matt offers advice on dealing.

2016: Sue and Jean-Paul go for dim sum and talk about their love lives.

2017:

2018: Clarice questions her ability to consume after realizing she's hungry again after a large, satisfying meal. Bobbi and Warren discuss the incident with Jean and the future of their relationship.

2019: An Eye for an Eye: Maya makes a journal post about the gargoyles moving in Denver. Fear in the Dark: XFI is having a quick morning meeting to go over any leads of the many cases that have entered when chaos starts outside; Garrison emails the X-Men team about the mayhem in District X; Warren, Quentin, and Arthur help the people; Bobbi, Maya, and Hope A. help a family in need; Lorna, Alex, Callisto, and Sue keep the not-but-really Juggernaut from destroying more of the city; the first team of X-Men - Dominion, Rogue, Dust and Bevatron - head off against Kuuth; the second team of X-Men - Nightcrawler and Cyclops with Julian - go against Kuuth; the last team of X-Men - Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Blink, and Dagger - face off against Kuuth and deal the final blow; with Kuuth down, the worst is over, until they realize this may only be the beginning when Kuurth is teleported away by a mysterious woman.

2020:

2021:

2022:

2023: Darcy watches Inez practice her roping skills, then they decide to have a little fun.

[lagoonsmoon]

day twelve: oh, the light!

inez isn’t sure if the placement of the sun is working for her. she wishes she could just pick it up, adjust the temperature. it’s too harsh and definitely not conducive to painting.

“nez, the light is literally searing my eyeballs” james’ voice whines from in front of her.

“it’s definitely not working for me either, babe, I’m sorry” inez frantically runs her fingers through her thin hair, yanking towards the end. if she cannot finish today’s painting, then her painter’s block will carry endlessly onwards, and the one thing that seemed remotely inspiring this month (the shimmering lake behind james and the steps he is graciously sat on) will never be put to paper.

ugh, the light that she cannot control.

james’ comfort is fast as he stands and takes her hands in his.“it will be okay, love, I promise you’ll have enough done for the gallery in august… it will happen, I know it”

of course he sees through her, of course he knows that she hasn’t completed a painting since june, of course he knows what to say.

“thank you, james, but this scene, this background is the only thing that I want to paint and the sun just won’t listen!”

then, a breeze bringing clouds brushes past them, hiding the sun’s rays from the steps.

“maybe it doesn’t listen to you” james teases with a wink, sitting back on the steps.

inez snaps a photo or two with james’ film camera, just in case the sun returns and they are forced to return home. she gazes at the scene in front of her, brush to canvas.

oh, the light, the beautiful light.

[allamericanb-tch]

my thoughts on the folklore love triangle

i think that the entire album of folklore is this folk story about rebekah harkness (the previous owner of taylor’s rhode island home). 

the affair 

exile — james sees betty dancing with another boy and feels betrayed, which is (in some senses) what starts the affair between james and augustine

i can see you standing honey, with his arms around your body

laughing but the jokes not funny at all

i think i’ve seen this film before and i didn’t like the ending

you’re not my homeland anymore

august — the beginning of the affair between james and augustine 

whispers of “are you sure?”

you weren’t mine to lose

i can see us twisted in bedsheets

will you call when you’re back at school?

to live for the hope of it all

mirrorball — the details

i’ll show you every version of your self tonight

hush, when no one is around my dear, you’ll find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love, shining just for you

peace — augustine is falling in love with james, but he is regretful and wishes it was betty

suddenly this summer it’s clear

i’m a fire and i’ll keep your brittle heart warm

all these people think love is for show but i would die for you in secret

would it be enough if i could never give you peace

betty — return to school (senior year) and james finds out betty knows about the affair and tries to apologize 

i won’t make assumptions about why you switched your homeroom but i think it’s cause of me

you heard the rumors from inez, you can’t believe a word she says most times, but this time it was true

the worst thing that i ever did was what i did to you

i’m only seventeen i don’t know anything but i know i miss you

cardigan — betty’s reaction to the affair

chase two girls, lose the one

when you are young they assume you know nothing

i knew you, leaving like a father l, running like water

illicit affairs — the mistress (augustine) recalling the affair from her pov 

make sure nobody sees you leave

you’ll be flushed when you return 

what started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots

leave no trace behind

epiphany — betty’s reaction to finding out about james’ death

some things you just can’t speak about

just one single glimpse of relief to make some sense of what you’ve seen

my tears ricochet — james’ funeral

i didn’t have it in myself to go with grace

if i’m dead to you why are you at the wake

you had to kill be but it killed you just the same

cursing my name, wishing i stayed

the 1 — betty reminisces on her relationship with james 

i thought i saw you at the bus stop i didn’t though 

you know the greatest loves of all time are over now

if you wanted me you really should’ve showed

roaring twenties tossing pennies in the pool

if my wishes came true it would’ve been you

it’s another day waking up alone

this is me trying — betty feels won’t and like she can’t keep going without james

i’ve been having a hard time adjusting 

fell behind all my classmates and i ended up here

you’re a flashback on a film reel

the lakes — betty feels out of place after losing james

i don’t belong, and my beloved neither do you

those windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry

i’m setting off, but not without my muse

i want you right here

hoax — betty starting to be driven mad after james’ death 

my twisted knife, my sleepless night

this had me broken down

my kingdom come undone

stood on the cliffside screaming give me a reason 

the aftermath

mad woman — betty leaves town and moves to rhode island 

what a shame she went mad

no one likes a mad woman

you made her like that

every time you call me crazy i get more crazy

seven — taylor swift is born and experiences her childhood 

i was high in the sky with pennsylvania under me

sweet tea in the summer

passed down like folk songs 

invisible string — taylor talks about her adult life and relationship with joe. she references how she and betty/james/augustine are all connected

all along there was some invisible string tying you to me 

the last great american dynasty — betty is now deceased and taylor buys the rhode island home betty lived in

her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off st. louis

there goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen

rebekah gave up on the rhode island set forever

there goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen

fifty years is a long time holiday house sat quietly on that beach, free of women with madness

who knows if i never showed up what could’ve been

rebekah harkness actuallt went by betty. so the idea of betty being rebekah and owning the house prior to taylor checks out. 

misc thoughts

taylor is a genius, intentional or not (definitely intentional). she didn't give the agust girl a name for a long time, until the folklore documentary. betty and james were all solid characters with names, but the august girl is just. the august girl. so whenever we talk about the love triangle, we'll only refer to her as 'james, betty and...the august girl. we call her 'august girl' just like james calls her 'that summer thing', we talk about her like the people at james and betty's school will talk about her. she's faceless, nameless and will continue to be known that way, sadly. the stories get passed down by listeners of this song, like how folklore is passed down communities and people inherit names like the mad woman' the ‘summer thing'. the same thing happens within our fandom. we call her august girl. she doesn't have a name, she's forgotten, a distant memory that's slowly but surely fading. the song does exactly what folklore is intended to do.

august keeps repeating the same lyrics over and over because she only got small moments with james that she had to over romanticize because he wouldn't let her in and only wanted her for the summer meanwhile all the verses in cardigan were different because betty knew every piece of him and he still went and spent the summer with another girl. august was so hurt because she knew so little and betty was so hurt because she knew so much and neither was good enough for james. 

one of my favorite things about the betty/cardigan song parallels is the way that betty and james are the same age yet their gender greatly drives society's views of them and their views of themselves. they are both viewed as being young and naive, but for betty, it is a put down, a way to diminish her impact and intelligence (when they are young they assume you know nothing, but I knew you). but for james, being young and naive is an excuse, a way for him to avoid responsibility for his mistakes (i’m only 17, i don't know anything). 

the cardigan bridge is actually insane like “peter losing wendy” is obviously a reference to peter pan bc they lost each other like peter pan never grew up but wendy did. she’s saying that james was too immature for her. 

[mickeeeemouse]

Coyote, Lake, and Inez Clarke in Graceland Cemetery on my broken phone camera. Inez is rumored to have died by lightning strike, and people claim her statue disappears from the box during thunderstorms.