#catalonia stuff

[bluastro-yellow]

We also have a poodle puppy. We called him Marx to remind us that we had never read Marx and now we have read a little and taken so strong a personal dislike to the man that we can't look the dog in the face when we speak to him...

Eileen O’Shaughnessy (George Orwell's wife) in a letter to her friend Norah Symes Myles

[lumpyflakycum]

The woke liberal in me wants Spain to fracture so that Catalonia, Valencia, The Balearics, and Galicia are finally independent

The nationalist imperialist in me, however, wants a fractured spain so that Portugal gets Olivença and Galiza.

[mj0702]

I hope i got it right...

I want to put out there that this is extremely heavy and angsty

Self doubt

“Ay Puta...” you heard behind you while you were standing next to the Barca bench observing the ongoing game

“PUTA!!” you heard again turning around wondering why someone would swear at a fan like this – you thought for a second that it was a fan from the other team trying to start trouble in “your” fan block just to be met with a Barca-fan glaring at you

“eh??” you looked at him confused

“Sí tu.. Eres una perra” the fan glared at you pointing aggressively towards you

“eh... gracias?” you looked unsure

Your spanish was getting better – thanks to Aitana. But you were still a beginner and most of the times you didn't understand half of the stuff the girls were saying. All of them were very lovely and spoke slow around you but there were still too many words you didn't know. Aitana was the one who took it upon herself teaching you – Ona, Alexia, Mario, Marta, even Mapí switched to english (more Spanglish) when you were around them. Which was very nice and polite but you were always one to learn new things. Aitana noticed this and slowly started to tell and teach you new things. It started with small things football related like positions. Goalkeeper – Cata... portera. Defence – Lucy... defensa. Midfielders – Keira... mediocampistas. It transitioned into every day things. Not Buenos dia – Bon dia. You were in Catalonia. Definitely not Buenos Aires.

“Tu perra estúpida” the man rolled his eyes his aggressive demeanour not faltering

You shrugged your shoulders apologetic turning around again. You knew he called you stupid. You understood more than people realize. Especially the things Keira would slap your head for. But you promised Keira and Lucy to behave today. It was the last game before international break and Lucy promised you, she'll let you go on a date with your girlfriend once back in England if you'd behave. Keira promised you she'll occupy Lucy for more than one night. So you HAVE to behave. That's when you felt something connect with the back of your head. You looked down on the ground next to you to find an empty plastic cup laying there making you turn around. Of course it was the man who already called you stupid

“What's your problem man?” you asked bewildered

“Tú eres la razón por la que el equipo ya no está tan orientado a los fanáticos... todo es sobre ti y lo preciosa que eres... perra simplemente regresa a tu país” the man sneered

“Lo siento... I no.... mucho spaniard” you said carefully but you understood what he said – more or less.

“puta” the man spat at you and you noticed that he was quite intoxicated

“gracias” you nodded deciding there was no use in getting into an argument

“Eres una perra inútil que viene aquí complicando las consas – espero que mueras pronto... Lucía estaría mucho mejor sin que tú la detuvieras” the man huffed behind you and this time you flinched a little

“Another great win for the blaugrana” Lucy gloated in the locker room grinning widely

“Sí... it was a good win” Alexia smiled “... even your performance was nearly acceptable Bronze”

“Ay... big words for someone who warmed the bench today” your sister shot back both of them smirking just waiting for you to join in

To their surprise you didn't. You sat on the far end in the locker room chewing on your lower lip deep in thoughts

“Hey Bubs...” Lucy called out softly “... what's bothering you?”

“Nothing” you looked up quickly before your attention was back on your hands

“Bubs...” your sister started to come over just to get held back by Keira

“Leave her... you know how her mind works... she's dealing with something at the moment...” Keira said her voice low her hand still wrapped around Lucys wrist “... she'll come around”

“It's just not her to be like this after a win” Lucy spoke just as low keeping an eye on you

“... maybe she saw something today and already works on a solution... you know she immediately needs to fix things in her head otherwise she'll be up the whole night” the englishwoman said softly watching you out of the corner of her eye

“Yeah... but... it's different than normal” your sister said seeing the little creases that started to form between your eyes

“I'll take her back to mine tonight okay...” Keira said “... maybe that helps”

“I can take care of her thank you very much” Lucy snapped “... I did it before you were around”

“Lucy...” her ex rolled her eyes “... it's not about that... you invited half the team to your place for a little after-game snack...”

“Oh... yeah...” your sister said ashamed already forgotten that she invited everyone before the game even started

“The way she scratches herself tells me she won't be able to deal with lots of people tonight...” Keira ignored the little outburst “... just her and me...”

“Yeah sounds good... just...” Lucy looked guilty

“... I'll keep you updated yes” the blonde smiled softly

“Thank you” your sister whispered taking another look at you

“Come on Bits...” Keira said softly carefully touching your shoulder

“Eek” you squeaked scared shuffling away

“It's just me....” the blonde said gently not following you keeping her distance

“Sorry...” you mumbled once your brain realized who it was that touched you

“Your brain running 500 miles an hour again, hm?” Keira asked lightly

“Mhm...” you muttered looking at her apologetic

“Come on Bits... it's time to go home” the blonde smiled

“Where is everyone?” you looked around confused the locker room empty except for Keira and you

“Mapí and Ingrid left around 15 minutes ago” Keira said holding out her hand

“And the rest?” you shook your head not coping with the fact you missed everyone leaving

“... Mapí was the last one... as always... the rest is probably at Lucys already” the blonde kept her voice soft still waiting for you to come around

“Okay...” you sighed pushing yourself off the bench your mind already starting to run circles again with the knowledge that your home will be invaded by the Barca squad

“We won't go there...” Keira got your bag walking behind you

“Where will we go?” you asked the blonde seeing how you fought your own body on its instincts

“My place...” the blonde simply said

“Okay...” you said lowly the thoughts your mind is producing starting to flare up again

“We'll talk at home” Keira said gently seeing how your shoulders slumped down

“Am I in trouble?” you asked carefully

“No.... Bitsy no... why would you be in trouble” the blonde quickly answered looking confused “... you were perfectly behaved today”

“Then why am I going with you?” you looked at Keira bewildered

“Oh Bits...” the blonde sighed now understanding where you're coming from “... you're not getting punished but I know you... I can see that you wouldn't be able to handle a team night right now... I can feel you need a quiet night... that's why I told Luce I'll take you with me so you can sort your head out in peace... without Pina and Mapí pulling you into their wrestling matches”

“So I did nothing wrong?” you looked at the blonde uncertain

“You did nothing wrong Bitsy” Keira smiled softly pulling you against her pressing a loving kiss against your hairline

“You're awfully quiet tonight” Keira said watching you with eagles’ eyes

“Just thinking about... stuff” you mumbled

“You want to talk about that stuff?” the blonde asked trying to get a hold on your current mood

“No” you muttered as you pushed your food around on your plate

“Bitsy...” Keira put her hand on yours stopping you from pushing your potatoes around “... talk to me”

“I just.... need some time...” you mumbled pushing your chair back standing up “... can I please go to my room?”

“Yeah okay...” the blondes sighed deeply “... I'll put your food in the fridge if you get hungry later”

“Thanks momma” you murmured as you shuffled down the hallway

“What's going on with you Bitsy?” Keira whispered to herself as she watched you

The next days went on like the evening you spend with Keira. You were extremely quiet, stayed away from players. You didn't give into Lucys prodding. Ignoring her teasing. You packed your bag for England with coercion precise which told your sister that something was really wrong. She tried to talk to you about it but you just brushed her off. Ona noticed as well. Of course she noticed. She loved you. She loved you like a little sister so she noticed that something was wrong. Ona approached you the night before you were leaving for international break trying make you feel comfortable enough so you would say something. But to her surprise you didn't falter. Just explained in your broken spanish that it's nothing and you'll just need to think about things.

Next morning on the way to the airport Lucy and Keira changed meaningful looks while you were occupied chewing your nails. You flinched once as the security guard checked your leg going over your knee but other than that you kept to yourself. Even on the flight to London you just sat there staring down on your hands.

Now two days into camp Keira watched you with growing concern as you more and more withdrew from any interactions. You kept your clear from Sarina, Lucy, Leah, Millie, herself, Mearps – all the people you normally would console if something was wrong.

“Kei... uhm... you have a minute?” Georgia asked quietly

“What's up G?” the blonde looked up from her book

“My girlfriend... is not my girlfriend anymore” Georgia said uncomfortable “.. I want to know why”

“I wish I could help you G... but I don't know what's going on with her” Keira said apologetic glancing over where you where hunched in a beanbag “... it started after the last game.... it gets worse every day... she didn't want to talk to me... or Luce... or Ona... I don't know what's going on G.... I kinda hoped you could get her to talk”

“I got a hug as a greeting Kei....” the younger blonde shook her head “... we didn't see each other for month and I got a HUG”

“She also flinches when someone touches her G...” Keira took a deep breath

“Kei.... is there someone else?” Georgia asked somewhat scared of the answer

“Don't be daft G... of course not....” the older player looked outraged

“It's just... a hug” your girlfriend looked so lost so hurt

“I know G... she's not herself since the last game” Keira looked just as lost feeling bad for her best friend “... be patient G... let her come to you... be there for her when she does... don't push her to tell you things... I know it's hard G but you need to be patient”

“I just want to hold her... tell her everything's gonna be okay” Georgia looked over to you

“Then do just that” the older one said “... not right now... but maybe tonight after dinner... lure her into your room... I'll talk to Leah to stay out of your way.... just see if she lets you hug her.... if she hugs you back... then go from there.... If you feel her freeze let go of her immediately”

“What happened at that game?” your girlfriend asked

“I don't know G... I was on the pitch... Lucy too... we told her we trust her to behave and we used you as a bait... so we let her be on her own without supervision – it helped that Mapí was on the pitch with us... of course Alexia and Frido had an eye on her but they told me she was perfectly behaved... Just that at one point she came back to the bench and was... quieter” Keira said “... so I don't know what happened”

“I see if can get something out of her...” Georgia mumbled seeing how you started to chew your nails again

“Don't force it G... she'll run” the older player said gently

“Then I'll run with her... I'm faster anyway...” your girlfriend smiled but Keira saw immediately it was just for show

“Patience G.... patience” Keira said softly

That was three weeks ago. You spoke to no one about what stressed you out so much. You didn't want to burden anyone with your problem. Lucy was out of ideas. Keira was out of ideas. Alexia was out of ideas. Mapí, Patri and Pina tried to carefully pull you back into their shenanigans but you blocked all their attempts. Lucy was this close to call your old therapist asking for help when Keira told her that it'd be useless since you always were one who needed to come forward with her problems herself. You saw how your current mood was putting a strain on different relationships. Lucy and Keira had words. Lucy snapped at Ona one night who in result threw her shoe at Lucy and hit your sister straight on the head. Alexia was tense to no end which costed Mapí a lot of extra laps after telling her best friend – not her capitana – to get laid soon before everyone gets beheaded. All that didn't help to ease your mind. It was confirmation in your head that that fan was right. They all be so much better without you around. And just like that there were these thoughts again. Maybe if you didn't call Leila last time (eventho you wanted Hempo) maybe then the team would be better now. Lucy would have mourned yes but she would've gotten over it and would be even better now. Olympic gold better maybe. Leila saved your life. Maybe she shouldn't have. Your life isn't that valuable. You're a nobody. A nobody that held the people around you back from getting to their full potential.

“I'm going for a walk” you mumbled as you walked past Lucy

“Bubs” your sister tried to go after you but you quickly jumped the barrier immediately starting to sprint off

“She knows her way around now Lucy...” Alexia said carefully looking after you where you cut the corner out of the trainings centre “... we made her memorize our numbers... she'll contact one of us okay”

“I have a bad feeling....” Lucy mumbled “... a really bad feeling”

“You know there's no use in hunting her down” Keira appeared next to Lucy and Alexia

“I know....” your sister sighed massaging her forehead

“I have a bad feeling too.... but we won't find her if she doesn't want to be found” the englishwoman said

“Everyone” Alexia announced loudly to get everyones attentions “... all phones into the basket....”

“Why?” Ewa asked confused

“The Cariño might call one of us if she needs help or something and if we don't hear it because the phones are in the locker room I will personally make sure your legs will fall off from all the laps you're going to run” the blonde catalan said threating and everyone scrambled and stumbled to get their phones

The call Alexia hoped for never came. Training was long over by now most of the Team already on their way home. Lucy was still sitting in her trainings outfit on one of the benches hoping you'd come back any minute. It got dark about an hour ago the temperature dropping but still warm for english blood. By now your sister expected the worst. She send Ona home just in case you went home or showed up there.

“Luce...” Keira said softly sitting down next to her ex

“Just ten more minutes...” Lucy said deep in thoughts

“These ten minutes won't make a difference Luce...” the blonde squeezed your sisters’ knee carefully

“... but what if...” your sister started

“... she won't come back here Luce...” Keira said gently “... there's no point in waiting for her here”

“She might....” Lucy said her voice breaking

“She won't and you know it... you knew the second she jumped over the barrier instead of going through the tunnel... just like I knew” the blonde said her voice low

“Why are you so rational about this? I'm seriously freaking out expecting the worst and you sit next to me all calm and collected” your sister snapped not knowing how to react anymore

“I trust her to make the right decision whatever this decision might be...” Keira said looking at Lucy “... I trust her that she'll call one of us when she needs to.... I don't care if it's me or you or Ona or Pina or Jenni... I trust her that she'll do it....”

“I just can't sit around waiting for....” Lucy broke the eye contact with Keira her head falling into her hands

“... go home Lucy.... you have a supportive girlfriend waiting for you... whoever she calls... that person will inform you” the blonde squeezed her ex knee one last time before standing up walking away to her car

You ran. Once again you ran. Your knees burning and hurting but you kept running. You felt like you were drowning in the trainings facility like that place won't let you breath. So you ran. Your lungs burning but you pushed yourself to keep going. You didn't know where you were going you just felt you needed to get away. That's how you found yourself standing in the middle of the beach your breathing coming out as harsh pants and you just sank to your knees for the first time letting yourself feel. You cried. You cried until there were no tears left and you nearly passed out because you couldn't breathe properly. People passed by just looking weirdly at you but no one dared to asked if everything is okay. You stayed there until the sun started to go down. You stayed because it was easier to sort your thoughts there. Where no one interrupted your mind. Again you asked if it would've been better if you went through with it back in Manchester.

“Yes?” you heard the friendly voice on the other end

“Do you think I hold Lucy and Keira back from showing their full potential?” you asked without any greeting whatsoever

“Did you hit your head? Where's that load of bullshit coming from?” the person asked bewildered

“I shouldn't have phone you...” you mumbled “... sorry....”

“No no no no... if you hang up now I'll call Alexia and tell her where you are” the person immediately threatens you knowing you didn't call her by accident

“You don't know where I am” you grumbled

“At the beach... I can hear the waves in the background...” you got your answer quickly “... talk to me Guapa”

“I just... my mind won't shut up...” you said your throat already tightening again

“What does it say...” the woman asked calm

“That I shouldn't have called you...” you mumbled trying to keep your breathing under control

“... but you did... so what do you need” her soft voice helped you staying calm

“Not this time... the last time” you finally said it out loud – more or less

“Guapi... do I need to call the caballerá? Do I need to call Alexia and tell her she has to bring an ambulance with her?” Leila asked seriously already her second phone in her hand ready to call her Nationalteam capitan

“No... I promise....” you said quietly “... but my mind tells me I shouldn't have called you”

“You were good for so long... what happened?” the spanish woman asked falling into her couch all the way in Manchester

“There was this fan....” you started but somehow thinking about it made you nauseous

“... do you trust me Guapi?” Leila asked as you didn't keep talking

“Sí...” you breathed out

“Bueno... You stay where you are... I’ll send someone to pick you up and get you somewhere warm....” the brown haired woman said softly

“Not Alexia...” you quickly panicked

“I promise not Alexia.... not Lucy or Keira either...” Leila kept her voice calm “... I want you to stay on the phone until they pick you up okay? Can you do that for me Guapi?”

“Sí....” you mumbled

“Bueno Guapi... I promise she'll help you without asking questions...” the spaniard said smiling a little

“Ingrid? You called Ingrid??” you asked upset as you saw the norwegian coming your way

“Yes... she'll help you without forcing answers out of you” Leila answered as a matter of fact “... I can't come get you this time Guapi... she's one of the few people I trust to provide you with whatever you need”

“If I wanted Ingrid I would've call her myself” you snapped still upset

“But you didn't... you said you trusted me so let me do my job as your guardian angle and help you out when you don't know which way to go” the brown haired spaniard said

“If you'd be me guardian angle you'd already committed suicide...” you grumbled watching Ingrid carefully who stood a few feet away probably waiting for you to come to her

“True.... and the 50 who would come after me too...” Leila shrugged her shoulders hearing how you slowly warmed up to her plan

“I wouldn't accept any angel after you” you grumbled

“Good... I am special” the spaniard grinned “... go Guapi.... Ingrid will be good for you.... I also told her to keep Mapí away from you”

“I like Mapí...” you huffed

“But she won't help you right now... you need someone like Ingrid....” Leila said gently “... vamos Guapi”

“Don't you vamos me...” you huffed but you got up “... gotta go now...”

“Just tell Ingrid what you need... she'll do it without questioning” the brown haired spaniard said softly

“Lei...” you started

“Sí?” Leila hummed

“Gracias” you mumbled getting closer to the norwegian

“Siempre Guapi....” Leila smiled

“Can you... maybe... say... anything?” you asked quietly sitting next to Ingrid in her Cupra

“Frido and I played together in Wolfsburg... Pernille too... Ewa was at the time at Wolfsburg too... and Poppi...” the norwegian started as she took another right turn and you noticed she wasn't going home or to any home you knew

“I remember... you played City....” you said your voice still low “... Poppi will die in Wolfsburg...”

“Hm... yeah... Pernille, Frido and I agreed to meet up one day we had off and Pernille told us about that little bistro place....” Ingrid kept her voice light “... so Frido would come and pick me up and we should meet P at the Bistro... Frido decided we could walk there.... according to her it was “just around the corner”...”

“It wasn't was it?” you snorted and it was the first time in nearly four weeks that Ingrid heard that sound and it made her heart swell

“Of course not... P called us an hour later where we were, she's waiting forever already...” the norwegian keep talking “... we needed another hour to get to the Bistro... Pernille died laughing at our idiocy... especially since she made us walk back even tho her car was parked two streets away... she said it was a lesson for Frido and I just had to suffer with that godforsaken Swede”

“You don't like Frido?” you asked surprised

“Oh I love her like my sister...” Ingrid quickly clarified “... but like a sister I sometimes want to strangle her”

“Lucy would carry me around on me ankles when I was little...” you got quiet again mentioning your sister

“I really had problems with the German language you know...” the norwegian noticed the change in your demeanour immediately “... even tho we have similar words... but I still had problems with the grammar”

“G absolutely sucks at grammar... not that I know what she's saying but her teammates tell me she sucks...” you shrugged your shoulders “... Guili says her pronunciation is good but her grammar is terrible...”

“German is one of the hardest languages to learn” Ingrid hummed

“Do you still speak german?” you asked your mind easing up again

“A little... not much... I can order a coffee and a piece of apple cake...” the norwegian smiled glancing at your face trying to read you

“G always takes me to this place in Munich... they have these... pancakes style things... but they're deep-fried... they're SO good... I always guilt trip into eating one too and then she has to do extra gym time...” you just started talking and Ingrid saw how easy it was on you to talk about your girlfriend but not your sister “... I once made Alex eat one... he was whining the whole afternoon his stomach hurts... that was funny”

“You meet up with P and Mags when you are in Munich?” Ingrid asked taking another turn

“At least for one dinner... P makes this... Danish things that are sooooo good... and Magda and G always fight for the last Kanelbullar which P always gives to me and then Mags and G fight who's fault it is that no one of them got the last one...” you talked like a kid on Christmas

“Sounds like Magda....” the norwegian snorted “... she's like María... a force on the pitch... a kid by heart”

“I'm keeping you from your evening with your girlfriend” you suddenly noticed shrinking back into the seat

“Kjæreste.... you're not keeping me from anything... I had to fight María when Leila texted... she was so scared that something happened to you....” Ingrid said softly “... you are so important to all of us... I did text her when I found you, I texted your sister that you are save now...”

“I'm not important” you mumbled

“You are... you impacted all our lives and made them so much better with just being you” the norwegian felt this was part of the problem you had the last weeks “... I can't even remember what training was without your laughter and banter with Alexia or your wrestling with María... or how you always “accidently” kick the ball against your sister head...”

“I'm not important” you repeated quietly starting to scratch the back of your hand again

“Who told you that?” Ingrid asked putting the car into Park and you saw now where you were – the norwegian drove you to Camp Nuo... Home of FC Barcelona

“No one...” you said quickly looking outside the window

“Hm... because I tell you right here right now that you ARE important... not only to me” the norwegian grabbed your hand preventing you from scalping your own hand “... to so many people... there are young girls asking us how you are and where you are at meet and greets.. you are a role model just like Alexia, Lucy, Frido, Magda or P...”

“I'm NOT important..” you stressed “... I'm holding you guys back”

“No you don't...” Ingrid said surprised “... why do you think you're holding us back?”

“People see it.... I should've seen it” you stressed your breathing getting quicker again

“Kjæreste... stop” the norwegian said firmly “No... you don't hold us back... you make us so much better... when we don't find a way through a backline – who does Alexia... Alexia Putellas – La Reina... looks too? To you... When Aitana – Ballon d'Or winner – can't get a pass right... who does she come to? To you... And you really want us to believe that Sarina came up with all that brilliant plays before the Euros? No Kjæreste.. we all know who's play it were... yours... but not only on the pitch you are important... off the pitch even more”

“I'm not important” you started to feel your chest tighten

“Come with me...” Ingrid said getting out of the car waiting for you to join her “... Alexia wanted it to be a surprise for the Champions League final...”

The norwegian grabbed your hand leading you over to the entrance of Camp Nuo. There were the pictures of her, Maps, Messi, Aitana.... and you... you in a Barca-kit (to the day you die you'll swear it was photo shopped) looking serious your arms crossed in front of your chest.

“What?” you asked confused

“That's not all... come” Ingrid said pulling you along to a place where all the important players had their own plaque – again... Alexia... Messi... Johan Cryff... Aitana.... and...

Y/n Bronze – Sangre inglesa, corazón blaugrana

“Why?” you asked tears pooling in your eyes

“Because you are just as important as anyone of us... you just need to see it...” the norwegian said softly

“He said I'm holding you back and that he hopes I die soon...” you cried “... I'm not important”

“Oh Kjæreste” Ingrid said gently pulling you against her letting you cry into her jacket

“I thought about it....” you cried feeling Ingrid tightening her arms around you “... I didn't want to hold you back... and then England lost against Sweden in that friendly and it just showed that it was because of me and I don't want to be a burden anymore”

“You, min Kjæreste.... you are not a burden.... you never were you'll never be... you are outstanding amazing... you changed so many peoples live to the better... believe in yourself... believe in your abilities and most important... believe in your system – every single one of us would give a leg for you... I could call P right now in the middle of the night telling her you need her and she'd be on the first flight over... not only P... you have France, Sweden, Norway, Austria, england, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, united states.... all of them are part of your system Kjæreste... it doesn't matter if you call Magda Eriksson, Wendi Renard, Laura Feiersinger, Megan Rapinoe or Alex Popp... every single one of them would drop everything to come and get you” the norwegian mumbled against your hair “... don't let ONE person drag you down so much.... they are not worth it and you are way above them – and that's what they can't deal with... that you are out of their league”

You cried for a while into Ingrids jacket who just held you pressing soft kisses to your hair once in a while

“Oh thank god and every other holy guy that's out there” Lucy came running down the stairs when Ingrids car pulled into her driveway

“Babe...” Ona sighed “... can you please not run into a driving car”

“She already parked” your sister said flabbergasted

“Give her space” the blonde catalan rolled her eyes seeing how you were slumped into the seat

“She's sleeping” Ingrid said as she got out of her car

“No wonder when she ran from Johan Cryff all the way to the beach” Lucy snorted looking down at you through the window

“Lucy....” the norwegian began and your sister saw the serious look on her teammates face “... it was bad... someone told her she's holding us back and that she hopefully dies soon.... she thought about ending her life tonight...”

“She what?” Lucy stumbled backwards like someone hit her square in the face

“She thought about ending her life...” Ingrid repeated “... she called Leila – I don't know why so don't even ask – but Leila convinced her to come with me... I tell you because I don't want you to bombard her with questions tomorrow morning... just be there for her okay... we ALL need to be there for her... if you can get Georgia here too... she'll need every person who loves her behind her – she promised me to talk to a therapist and we all know talking to therapists means opening up about feelings and for that she'll need us”

“I will... I'll call G later... she's still up anyway waiting for an update...” Lucy said after she processed the information “... thank you Ingrid... I don't know how to thank you for getting my baby sister back”

“You don't need to thank me” the norwegian said “... when she smiles again someday then that's reward enough”

[kashilascorner]

I was just checking his filmography just in case he had indeed done this thrice and came across this I CACKLED SO HARD I DID NOT SEE THE CASTILLIAN ACCENT COMING AT ALL

I think I'd only have two nickels if we count every time Santiago Cabrera has played a character belonging to an elite military group that fell in love with a married queen but the funniest part isn't even that it happened twice. it's that it happened twice on BBC

[reasonsforhope]

"An upcoming community center in Tanzania will be defined by its cutting-edge 3D-printed design. However, rather than being built from layered concrete as you'd usually expect with 3D-printed projects, its walls will be created using locally sourced soil.

The community center is being headed by Hassell, in collaboration with Australian-based charity foundation One Heart, for the Hope Village in Tanzania. It forms part of a wider plan to provide housing, a school, childcare and skills training to vulnerable young girls in Kibaha, eastern Tanzania.

"The Hope Village community hall design seeks to create a beautiful, functional, safe and uplifting environment that provides both hope and education for vulnerable girls," says Mark Loughnan, Principal and Head of Design at Hassell. "The hall is a welcoming space that creates an innovative central activity hub that also connects with its surrounding environment. The design and building process for the hall aims to engage the community and provide ongoing opportunities for local participation and education throughout construction."

Structurally, the community center is quite complex. Its walls (which are not load-bearing) will be built using soil sourced within 25 km (15.5 miles) of the site and a WASP 3D printer. WASP has been researching this stuff for years now and a previous project used a mixture of mud, straw, rice husk and lime. A similar process will be happening here, with a clay based earthen mixture being extruded out of a nozzle in layers to build up the walls. A representative at Hassell told us that the walls will also be reinforced with a thin wire mesh between layers.

Inside, the design brief calls for a large, open floorplan that suits the local climate, with a limited number of columns to ensure its flexibility. To achieve this, Hassell has conceived a central steel beam that serves as the structural spine of the hall. This will support a roof made from locally sourced timber sections. The roof will feature cladding made of readily available corrugated metal sheet panels, helping to keep costs down.

The project also involves the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, IAAC, and ClarkeHopkinsClarke. We've no word yet on when it's expected to be completed, though prototype walls have already been produced.

Pictured: A prototype of the community center's 3D printed walls has already been created.

-via NewAtlas, August 13, 2024

[useless-catalanfacts]

Now it's been a week since the floods, but we must remember that the damage is not nearly over. It will take months and years for the affected families to recover. And that's not counting that 215 people have died and 78 are still missing. Many homes, streets, fields, schools, etc are destroyed. I'm glad for all the solidarity we've seen this first week, but they are going to be needing help for a long time to recover.

All the local organizations are thankful but for some days have been asking for people to stop sending them objects (tools, clothes, food, etc) because the collection points have so many that they can't manage them and they don't even need so many of some things being sent, for this reason there are storehouses full of materials that they don't need but people keep sending and some volunteers are having to stay there to coordinate the stuff that arrives instead of being where they're needed. So, please, don't send any more things unless you are coordinated directly with a local association there that asked for a specific thing. They say that the most useful donations now are money and not any more food nor second-hand objects. (Again, thank you very much because this overwhelming response speaks of the goodness and solidarity of everyone who immediately reacted by sending things! but let's do it in a coordinated way with the affected people to make sure it's useful).

Also, recently some well-meaning people have been sharing fundraisers to help the victims, but some of these posts seem to be made by outsiders compiling what they found on Twitter, which ended up spreading fundraisers that belong to far right-wing groups, the Catholic Church, and to associations that aren't well known in the area.

If you can make an economical donation to help these people who have lost everything in a day, these are some trustworthy associations:

Fundraiser by Fundació Horta Sud. This is a foundation created by many local associations of the Horta Sud area, one of the areas that has been the most impacted by the catastrophe. It's a well-known foundation that brings together many local associations. This and the next one are the fundraising that is most recommended by people on the ground working on immediate needs.

Casals i Ateneus dels Països Catalans (federation of social centres of the Catalan Countries) has many social centres in the affected areas and is coordinated with trade unions to provide immediate needs. The bank number for donations is ES74 3025 0002 4614 3344 7057.

Fundraiser to help small family-owned farmers (farmers are one of the poorest segments of population in our country, families own a small plot of land and they're very threatened by big corporations, they're at the forefront of fighting for climate and the rural communities' traditional way of living with nature). The fundraiser is created by the International Centre of Rural and Agriculture Studies (Centro de Estudios Rurales y de Agricultura Internacional). This is the fundraiser shared by trustworthy Valencian associations that work in favour of rural communities and traditional cuisine, such as Tasta'l d'ací.

Fundraiser for the grass-roots cultural associations and cultural heritage guardians, organized by the Federation of Local Studies Institutes of the Valencian Country, the Coordinator of Local Studies Centres of the Catalan-Speaking Countries, the Federation of "Ateneus" of Catalonia, and the Ramon Muntaner Institute. Many local archives, centres of local studies, "ateneus" (social and cultural centres with an important task as a library for the community and as historians of the area, among other cultural activities) and other cultural associations headquarters have been destroyed. They are very important for the memory, history and culture of small areas. To write articles about the history and legends for this blog, I very often use work published by these local study groups, because most of the time they are the only ones working in detail on the historical and cultural heritage of their hometown. Here is the information on how to donate, as shared by the organizers:

Translation: Let's help the Valencian cultural and heritage associations affected by the 2024 floods. You can send your donations to [the bank number] ES98 3159 0066 91 3048828523 Or the BIZUM code 10586 (starting on 7th November 2024). You can send the receipt of your donation to: solidaritatcultura@fedinespv.org.

You can find more associations that are collecting donations in this document by Suport Mutu DANA València.

Thank you very much for caring.

[mischelmayleys]

Only this first one is going to be post here probably so for more go to my wattpad: football_woman_11

CHAPTER 1

Mapi and Ingrid were the perfect ending for each other. They knew it of course. But sometimes they felt like something was missing. Maybe someone. Some little legs running around their shared apartment in the catalonia town. 

It started as a thought from their conversation one simple evening that turned them into a fostering process. They were told they are too busy and always traveling for the games as all the workers have said. It wasn't an environment for a little kid that probably came out of something tragic to find itself in a foster system. 

They still tried. They still asked if there was someone they could foster and later adopt. But the simple "No" set their hopes to minimum, until one day.

„Are you totally insane Eliza!" My social worker yelled at me as soon as she found me in a police station sitting in the 24 hour jail. I looked down at my bleeding knuckles and pursed my lips to stop the pounding pain in them.

I shrugged my shoulders and let myself sink further into the uncomfortable wooden chair.

„Do you have any idea how this will look  on your record. Running from yet another of your homes is one thing there but fights. And don't let me start at your school records." She was looking at me through the bars of the cell.

„They weren't my home." I said looking up at her.

She sighs: „Eliza I know you don't like them, but you need to at least try. There aren't many families that want a 16 year old, yet trouble maker. You know how hard it was for me to find you Mr and Mrs Freemans?" She let the question sink. She didn't expect me to answer her, yet she stayed quiet.

„I was protecting myself in the fight AND running away was a way better option than staying." I argued back at her. She doesn't know how it is in the foster system. For her every family is good, but it's never the case.

I was in five families so far. Neither of them were okay.

In the first one the father abused me mentally the second one physically, but no one ever believed me.

Who would believe a 16year old girl over people who put everything together once they're investigating? No one...

I didn't eat normal food for a long time, of course I always ended up getting some bread or cold food, but my body was missing some hot and fresh food.

„Eliza we talked about this. A roof over your head is home.“ Again I stayed quiet and just stared at my now numb hands. She wasn’t right. Home is when you are somewhere you are loved and treated right. 

My social worker continued to look at me for a few more minutes until she signaled for the cop to release me: „You are sleeping in my office tonight. The family dropped your things into my car. Come on.“ She grabbed me by my arm and dragged me into her car. 

„You bailed me out?“ I asked as she started the engine. 

„Yes.“ It was a simple answer but it made me smile a little. At least someone cared. 

The next day my social worker forced me into my classes and said after school to go immediately to her office, saying she found a family for me to stay over there for a couple of days. I didn’t bother to go, instead I went to a small football field where I sneaked and borrowed one ball which was always lying around somewhere on the pitch. 

I threw my backpack onto the field which didn’t include any of my school stuff. Instead of books it was filled with my football shoes and a half of my skateboard. The other half was showing from the back pack as it of course didn’t fit into him.

I quickly changed my shoes and began to do some tricks with the ball that I learned online. They were simple but at least I didn't suck at it like I did with school. 

It wasn't like I was stupid or something, I just didn't care. Foster kids don't normally get picked out to the school football team or to anything really. You don't have many friends because you are always moving around and no one likes new kids anyway. 

After some time my phone blew up with messages and missed calls from my social worker asking where the FUCK I was. I just rolled my eyes and said I'll be there in a few minutes. It was better to come late, at least they won't pick me if they see that I'm not bothered. 

I would lie if I didn't say I was scared to go into the office door. It would mean meeting the people who I would live with. They never were nice people fostering me. 

They seemed okay but most of them turned out into drug junkies, alcoholics or abusers. Sometimes all at once. I am kind of used to it now. I mastered a skill in running away and quickly scanning the areas I was in to see a potential way out. 

I took a deep breath and with a bored expression knocked on the door and opened them immediately after. 

I was met with my social worker and two women talking.  

„Eliza, come here. Sit.” My social worker said, making me sigh and sit into the chair next to her facing the two women. 

„This is Maria and Ingrid and they will take you in, until I find someone to adopt you.” my social worker was saying but all I was focusing on were the two women in front of me. 

One of them had tattoos all over her arms and one on her neck. I focused on that one more: 

Looks can be deceiving

Hmm interesting. People with tattoos tend to look aggressive and most of the time they are. One of the last foster homes I was in, the man had many tattoos…I used to look at them when he beat me up. How his muscles flexed and the tattoos moved on his arms. 

„Eliza!” I was torn from my thoughts because my social worker called my name. 

„Yeah, sure whatever.” I mumbled annoyed and stood up. 

„Be nice and please stay out of trouble.” She said as I followed Ingrid and Maria out of the door. 

I took a deep breath: „No.” And with that I closed the door and turned around to find them staring at me.

„What?” I asked.

Ingrid smiles at me: „We are waiting for you.” she stuck out her hand and I just looked at it and walked past them. 

„Or not.” I heard Maria mumble as they followed me closely.

Due to me not knowing where to go I stopped and looked back at the two women. 

„It’s that black Cupra.” Ingrid pointed out a black car sitting at the back of the parking lot. 

I nodded and walked to the car feeling them right behind me. 

I quickly slipped into the back seat and sat down with my backpack next to all of my bags which I don't know how they got there. Probably my social worker. 

I pulled my board between my legs so I don't make the interior of the car dirty. It was so clean. 

„So, are you hungry? Or did you eat in school?” Maria turned from the front seat facing me. 

I shook my head quickly: „I am not hungry.” I learned that by now, when someone asks me if I'm hungry the answer always has to be no. I once said yes and I hadn't eaten anything for three days due to me being ungrateful. 

They both shared a concerned look which I didn't see because I was already looking out of the window.

When Ingrid stopped the car I realized that we were in front of McDonald's. I frowned, why are we here if I said I'm not hungry?

„I know you said you aren't hungry but I think some fries aren't that big of a deal, what do you say?” Ingrid turned my way smiling. Why the fuck is she smiling at me? 

„I guess…” I mumbled in case this was some kind of a trap. Ingrid and Maria looks nice…nicer that the other people, but I am done trusting the system putting me somewhere nice.

They both went outside of the car as I stayed in. 

„Well you are coming too let's go.” Maria said as she opened the door on my side. Fuck! I mumbled under my breath and got out of the car carefully placing my board into the space between the seats. 

They were asking too many questions. If I really want just fries? If I want a burger as well? Or what I want to drink. I tried to reply short and no to most of the questions, but in the end I ended up with The nuggets, fries and coke zero in the back placed safely in my lap as we sat in the car to their house.

I still don’t know what to think about them. They are smiling at me, buying me food and making sure I have everything and it has only been two hours since they first met me. There must be something wrong with them…

Ingrid parked the car in front of a flat building in the center of Barcelona. It looked expensive here…or at least better than the streets where my usual foster parents lived. Maria took all of my bags even though I said I could carry them on my own, but she dismissed me by saying: “Why would you do that?” 

I didn’t fight her back on it, not because I didn’t want to, but it was Ingrid who literally guided me out of Marias way. 

“Come on let Maria be, I am going to show you your room.” Ingrid said and with her hand on my back she led me into the elevator. I had the Mcdonald's back in one hand and my board in the other one. I get my own room? 

[walkman-cat]

AAAAAA!!!!!! THE SILLIES!!!!!

@walkman-cat 's oc arsenoë meets beast!chimera

she's so fun to draw i love her

[wonder-worker]

"Almost every great Occitan dynasty (and many a castellan family as well) could name the matriarchs of their near or distant past, women whose lives were as charged with intrigue, ceremony, and warfare as those of their male contemporaries. [...] The Trencavels were particularly rich in such matriarchs, beginning on one side with Garsend, heiress to the viscounty of Beziers in the late tenth century, who by her marriage to Count Raymond of Carcassonne joined her coastal lands that dominated the land route between the Rhone and the Pyrenees to the interior lands of her husband, which sat athwart the roads from Narbonne and the Massif Central to Toulouse. Their son Peter Raymond married Rangard of La Marche, sister of Almodis (whose three marriages-the second to the count of Toulouse and the third to the count of Barcelona-made her into the stuff of legend in both the Christian and the Islamic world). On her husband's death, Rangard, along with her son, took over the rule of his counties. On her son's death in 1067, she allied herself with the count of Cerdagne (in the Pyrenees, to the south of Carcassonne and Toulouse) in order to stay in power. She was outwitted by her daughter Ermengard and Ermengard's husband, the viscount of Albi and Nl'mes, who allied themselves with the count and countess of Barcelona to conquer the lands of the count of Carcassonne with the help of sacks of Moslem gold. This Ermengard was the real creator of the family enterprise that modern historians know as the Trencavels. After her husband's death, she took the reins of power as her mother had done before her, going from castle to castle all the way from Albi in the west to Nl'mes in the east and the Razes in the south to collect oaths of fidelity. In the 1080s she repeated the process with her young son Bernard Ato, hoping thus to assure his quiet succession when she passed from the scene. The Trencavels also surely remembered Ermessend, sister of the count of Carcassonne and the bishop of Gerona. As wife and then widow of Count Ramon Borrell of Barcelona, she was twice regent, once for her son and once for her grandson; the latter, along with his wife Almodis of la Marche, had to wage war against her and finally buy out her dowry in order to take personal rule of Catalonia. On the Albigeois side of the family there was Diafronissa, far back in the early tenth century. Clergy bearing an ancient charter could remind them of her, for there she was, listed first in a gift to the canons of Beaumont-d'Aveyron, taking precedence in the document over a son and grandson, both of whom were already viscounts at the time the gift was made, and over another grandson who was bishop. Despite her great age, she had not retired from the concerns of this world."

— Fredric L. Cheyette, Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours

[djangari]

Ok, I screenshotted this but didn't like it so if you know the original post pls gimme the name TT

But saw this like a minute ago.

Hear me out.

2021.

Papa Vale. Hard launching the fact he is a dad. Kind of. Just posting the photo and giving it a caption with bambino or something. At the beginning of the year, something like that.

And the world just got the news that Marc birthed a healthy baby like three days ago. (Yes, I am using qatar and the injury for this. Let me. It's much angst cause of the crash and the operations.)

The world goes crazy.

Correlation? Yes.

You see that skin? Marc. You see that hair? Vale.

She is the perfect mix.

Nothing official is said tho. Although she appears once in the Honda garage with Marc for one weekend in Catalonia and rumours tell she was seen in yamaha too... (Of course Marc races again, HE IS MARC MARQUEZ)

But the world keeps on turning.

Skip forward to Spielberg.

Rossi declares this is his last year as a motogp rider. Says he retires.

Says he wants to focus on the team, his family, his daughter.

The world is in shambles.

Everyone goes crazy, CRAZY.

(They are very amused btw and their brothers are too busy with spoiling their niece to shake their heads and act disappointed.)

They still haven't confirmed anything. THE WORLD STILL DOESN'T KNOW IF THEY ARE BACK TOGETHER. DON'T KNOW IF THEY EVER FUCKED IN 2013 TO 15. They don't say anything more than that. Marc only says stuff like oh yeah it's sad to see a legend like him leave the track but I'm sure he has thought his through and that he spoke with his partner to make this hard decision. Does his unique :3 face.

Fangirls go crazy. Defend them like their life depends on this. Whole wars on any social media. 60 oages google docs documents. (I shall remind 21, no-one had anything to do) Marquez hater have a life crisis, asking themselves constantly if they hate the man that has brought them a rossi spawn.

Anyways, skip to 22.

The world forgot again. Well, yeah, fans jumped in joy as they get the BMW news. But they don't think too much about that. Only some fans go crazy about pic drops from both Marc and Vale and also Luca and Alex. Christmas pictures were super sweet.

Qatar. Again.

Vale appears in the Honda garage, speaking with Santi, holding their daughter, both in partner look, wearing matching VR46 shorts and a red 93 shirt.

The world explodes. EVERYONE and their grandmother goes crazy.

Especially as Vale loudly declares after the race that he is very proud Marc managed this race so good and that he will do better soon and gives him a fat smooch after the podium. Marc plays plane with their daughter and runs around with her in his arms, up and down the pit lane for everyone to see. Most riders, at least the academy boys and Alex and fabio come out to play with her.

Every fangirl needs a month supply of tissues on his day and some therapy afterwards.

Thank you for listening to this 2 am rant :D

[5-7-9]

This panel is pretty funny 😂 just because of how wish fulfillment it is

Like, you wish this happened, huh?

I don’t like it when stories use their citizens as some kind of monolith hive mind, they just suddenly get inspired to do good or bad for no reason or the reason is too superficial. It bugs me, what can i say? 🤷

Interesting part to note is how they treated people taking up Joker's masks though.

Joker’s mask seems to be what gives these hooligans the freedom to cause mayhem. I’ve already said it before, but this comic treats Joker’s smile as insincere, something to hide, fake. As if being allowed to a secretive identity removes guilt over responsibility. Like when internet trolls can’t be tied to their face. This is expanded on through Alex Kayes the best. Although I don’t like her character’s existence, she highlights the part of Joker’s legacy that was perhaps misguidedly applied to Joker. Social media and public outcry.

Remember Logan Paul’s infamous apology video? James Charles? Etc. social media people? The comic even got the YouTube logo on it.

Red Flag is having a political podcast 🚩😙 sorry~ but if you’re anything like Andrew Tate, the alt-right pipeline is one you don’t want to stay in. Don’t believe everything you hear.

“It’s about sending a message” …was it hate speech? Jkjk. But this is exactly what Heath Ledger’s Joker’s mission in The Dark Knight Rises movie by Chris Nolan was like.

He was also described by Alfred as “Someone people just want to watch the world burn” with absolutely no reason to be evil, he just is evil 🙃 So there is some similarity to Punchline to this movie’s Joker.

Social media and the constant criticisms done by people reacting and adding their own stuff like idk tiktok i guess? Oh right, the comic said it, yeah. Idk any tiktok challenges like this one, so no video example 🤷

Joker War was also mentioned in other comics. I think it’s interesting how Bao Pham’s origins with Joker and Harley was, and his eventual rise to being Joker Hunter and protecting his city. Then i think he left eventually (idk). Huh.

More Punchline, this time from oftentimes copaganda and all times police commissioner Jim Gordon! More teenagers that support Punchline being bullies, what else is new. I totally forgot what I wanted to say, so I’ll just skip to the end of what I really wanted to comment on. Y’know I only recently learned about this so that’s why I’m talking about it but I think it was really awesome that Joker 2019 traveled all the way around the world because people were using his face masks in activism. That’s the positive side of having a brand, DC comics can go across countries and be recognizable. The more recognizable you are, the more people hear you. That’s what happened in the case with the Joker from the protests in Lebonon, Chile, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Colombia, Spain, Catalonia, and Ecuador (there may have been more but idk). (Warning! Talks of death and possible SA in this video!)

(I’d like to take a special time to acknowledge the Iraq Joker (mustafa makki kareem) since I found a rather in-depth interview video of his efforts). (This was 4 years ago, so I’m afraid the political landscape of Iraq has taken a turn… I hope he’s okay).

An interview with some Hong Kong protestors that wear masks to protect their identity. Interestingly enough, this video calls the mask similar to Batman :)

Also they mention reasons for hiding their identity, and methods!

There’s a few clips of Bolivia’s Joker too

Some faces of Lebonon Jokers (this video is edited with TDK Bane’s message but the original video isn’t allowed in my country?)

More edits of Chile Lebonon and Hong Kong (again, original video linked in description but unavailable to me)

In fact, that’s what happened to the Joker 2019 movie. Nowhere in the comics had Joker been depicted as he was in that movie, a victim of an oppressive system. That movie essentially took back a villain and made him this icon. That was the first time ever after Joker’s further evilization after “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Death In The Family” and “The Killing Joke” made Joker one of the evilest Batman characters (considering the ever so slightly sympathetic side to the rest of the rouges). Not to go off on it, but I think it really was a good thing for Joker. I think his criminalization crossed a line at some point, so in a way, this makes up for it.

Of course, even with all of this, it’d be unfair of me to not mention all the bad that did come from Joker. I will not discount that. And no- the 2012 Aurora shooter James Holms had orange dyed hair and is NOT inspired by Joker, he didn’t even know the movie was going on, fyi. • The Florida man Lawrence Sullivan who was arrested in 2017 for allegedly pointing a firearm at an officer. (I reached my 10 video limit 😭). • The recreation of Joker 2019 bus killing scene with suicidal 24-year-old Kyota Hattori in Tokyo train. • The “Gypsy Crusader” or Paul Nicholas Miller was a popular troll that liked to cosplay as Joker in the 2019 movie and comics Riddler while making jokes (i think he did offensive humor?) of the “radical” alt-right stance. (Ironically, the racists didn’t want a Roma descent racist on their side 💀). He was arrested for possession of an unregistered rifle and a lot of ammunition. He also lived in New Jersey…

• 2014 Jerad Miller from Las Vadas Nevada shot two police officers and one bystander dressed as the Joker with an accomplice. Essentially doing a murder-suicide when they then shot themselves. He posted videos to Youtube of his messages. (I think there was some mental illness going on? But idk) (there is also mentions of political stuff like angry at drug laws and the corrupted government and a swatsika?) (yeah idk, it was confusing).

Yes, the criminal turned devil turned sympathetic villain leads to multiple interpretations of Joker, who would’ve guessed? (sarcasm). Even London and Clermont mocked their presidents with the clown face. It’s not entirely black and white 🤷

Still, despite all the flaws in Joker 2019’s movie, all the good that came out of it… I feel as though it outweighed the bad. So, it’s not easy to hate it. Shout out to this video analysis essay that made me critically think about the Batman movies!

[quatregats]

Well ummm I managed to make it through and there were a few things that made it worth it but god this really is the trial of the century

Hornblower as a character is like catnip to me but C.S. Forester is so so annoying <3

[butterfrogmantis]

I've been holding onto Matador since I got back from Barcelona months ago and here he FINALLY is. And also another newbie!

Matador Smurf:

-Ironically very anti killing. He just wants to show off more than anything. Can usually subdue large or dangerous animals into crashing into walls and stuff quite well but he's a noble heart, will never go for the kill. IS a skilled fencer for other sapient opponents when it's fair. Would fight Don more but Don's a swashbuckling kind of hero whilst Matador sticks to fencing rules and would probably lose in a real swordfight.

-The Barcelonian! From the Catalonia region of Spain. Knows both mainland Spanish and Catalonian but tends to use Catalonian to P off Elena who only knows mainland Spanish … bit of a cultural rivalry there XD

-As bad as Smooth for flirting with everything that moves. Actually that includes Smooth too. It's a flirt off. And by that I mean dating but not. It's similar to Smooth and Slammy, both are wayyy too non committal to settle down but after Smooth's 174758th rejection from Jokey and when Slammy is back to doing his part time dating of the band Smooth can usually be found crawling back to Matador

SmurfHemlock:

-Born SmurfSunflower (Sunny) was a shy kid who disliked the other typical grove activities like archery and dance. Thought she didn't really fit in with anyone and would usually just be found down by the swamp poking stuff with sticks. She had one friend tho, a friend she thought was just as weird. SmurfRafflesia was obsessed with the undead and paranormal, and through her admiration of her, Sunflower came to enjoy these things too, finding beauty in death and wanting to preserve it somehow.

-Teenage Sunflower takes on a goth not-phase and changes her name to Hemlock (Sunflower was so … preppy!) and begins to study the art of taxidermy. Still regarded as one of the black sheeps of the grove but she minds it much less now - she kind of revels in the solitude. Begins developing a fairly big crush on Rafflesia before one day … Raff just goes missing out of the blue. It breaks Hemlock's heart and she sinks further into the loner persona. Also some weird demon got out somewhere but Papa and Willow took care of that.

-Lol JK Raff isn't gone forever, she shows up one day as a ghost and claims some Archaeologist from the guy village found her and whoops she's been gone for a century what did she miss haha. Well Hemlock is PISSED. I mean who does that? Esp/ since Rafflesia admits she wasn't even trapped she was just vibing in the mausoleum Archie found her in (Raff and Archie are a bit similar in that way, they're both married to their work and can be a bit self absorbed in it at times)

-Anyway Hemlock's been doing great w/ her taxidermy all this time. She's very careful and only sources natural deaths or kills … but may adopt elderly insects with some ulterior motives. At least she's good to em and they get a very comfortable end of life before becoming art pieces. Go figure. She's made up w/ Raff, it is pretty cool to have a ghost friend after all, and apparently Rafflesia also made some new friends in the village - holy shit is that a talking skeleton?? That's pretty goth.

-Skelly groans internally. Yet more admirers. Will he 'ere be rid of his fans ("Shut up Skelly")

Smooth (c) The Smurfs

Matador, Elena, Rafflesia and Hemlock are mine

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Round One: Abditosaurus vs Ibirania

Factfiles:

Abditosaurus kuehnei

Artwork by @i-draws-dinosaurs, written by @i-draws-dinosaurs

Name meaning: Walter Kühne’s forgotten reptile

Time: 70.5 million years ago (Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous)

Location: Tremp Formation, Catalonia, Spain

For a species only fully described in 2022, Abditosaurus as a fossil has a long history, stretching back to its discovery by Walter Kühne in 1954. Kühne began his palaeontological career as a political refugee from Germany after he was imprisoned by the Nazis as a communist sympathiser then forced to migrate to Britain in 1938. There he hunted for tiny Triassic mammal teeth, and in his later career he would find the fossil site where Abditosaurus was buried. After collection expeditions in 1954 and 1955, the site was abandoned when funding for the dig was lost. The rest of the skeleton was assembled together piecemeal over the next six decades, with other researchers returning to the site in 1956, 1984, 1986, and 2012-2014! Finally, after decades of languishing in storerooms and being misassigned to other genera, Abditosaurus is back together as the most complete titanosaur ever found in Europe!

Ibirania parva

Artwork by @i-draws-dinosaurs, written by @i-draws-dinosaurs

Name meaning: Little wanderer of Ibirá (a municipality of São Paulo, Brazil)

Time: ~85 to 72 million years ago (Santonian to Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous)

Location: São José do Rio Preto Formation, Brazil

Enormous sauropods keep making the news as the next giant behemoth, stacking up a roster of incredibly huge animals that push the limits of how big a land animal can get. But every now and then, a sauropod comes along that is just a certified Little Guy, and that is Ibirania! Described in 2022 as a new genus of saltasaurine, Ibirania is remarkably little even within this modest-sized clade. It clocks in at under 6 metres long and only a couple heads taller than the average human, which also makes it an extremely temptingly rideable size. Like that’s just a less messed up horse with some slightly more uncomfortable armour plates! Another unique feature of Ibirania is the evidence for acute osteomyelitis in the leg of one specimen, an example of one of the many diseases that could and did affect dinosaurs throughout their probably pretty difficult lives. Not only that, but there are preserved blood parasites inside the leg bone that would have caused the infection, a definite first in dinosaur paleontology! Kinda sucks for the dinosaur, but also fascinating stuff!

DMM Round One Masterpost

[wipbigbang]

Round 4 of the Regular WIPBB art claims is live! You may claim as many fics as you want, just fill out a separate form for each and give each claim a different username.

Art claims for this round will be open until August 29th! This is the FINAL chance to claim stuff!

This is just one of the stories still available for claiming…

Gundam Wing #046 Title: The General's Daughter Pairing/Characters: Quatre Winner/Dorothy Catalonia Rating: Mature | M Warnings/Tags: Major Character Death Suicide; Alcohol Abuse; Unhealthy Relationships; Manipulation; Dubious Consent; Sexual Content Summary: This story is set about 6-7 years after Gundam Wing canon and is a fusion adapting the plot of the 19th century play Hedda Gabler into the 'After Colony' GW era. Dorothy Catalonia is a former aristocrat from Earth whose circumstances have been much reduced following the war of Gundam Wing, and she has entered a marriage of convenience to Quatre Winner, hoping to capitalize on his wealth and good name. The story opens as the couple arrive at Quatre's home in the L4 space colony cluster. As the story unfolds, Dorothy's machinations lead to her final ruin and ultimate death by suicide.

The first 4 chapters are available on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9875081

And here are the links to the claims list and the form to claim fics:

[iraprince]

From what I've seen from surveys and bits of news, Spain seems like it's pretty good with trans acceptance and stuff. Is that true?

Relatedly, you've said you started in Ohio and ended up in Spain. How would you reccomend someone else from Ohio do that?

oof, haha. this is a tough time to ask this -- for the past three years that i've lived here my answer would have been an enthusiastic and pretty confident yes, but recently we're all pretty worried bc in recent elections there have been gains made by the far-right + conservative parties. things where i live are still okay, but in other regions there is reason for concern. if you end up seriously planning on moving to spain, i would heavily advise you to do research on the political situations of different autonomous communities (essentially like provinces or states; catalonia is the community i live in, valencia is a community, madrid has its own community, etc) bc they all have individual governments and the experience of living in one community can be vastly different from another regardless of what's going on on a federal level. as an example, madrid is only a 2 hour train ride away from where i live but in comparison covid has been a million times worse there, absolutely fucking nightmarish, bc they have an extremely conservative government and their healthcare systems were privatized + managed differently by that government in a way that caused a lot of suffering.

i would still say it is resoundingly better than the united states, especially on the front of LGBTQ+ safety. i'm not "visibly trans" -- i believe 99% of the ppl who see me out and about probably perceive me as a cis woman -- but i'm very visibly gay, my wife and i are often affectionate in public, and the worst we've ever personally gotten have been frowns and disapproving glares. most of the time, even when ppl stare at us, it's more harmless curiosity than anything else. this doesn't mean hate crimes and discrimination never happen here, bigotry is everywhere, but in comparison i am frankly in a constant state of anguish and fear about what's going on in my home country.

(asked my wife to read this over for accuracy and offer his input and he wants to add that while on a legal level things are pretty stable -- a lot of laws that have been passed that protect LGBTQ+ rights would be difficult to revoke or repeal -- on a social level things have gotten noticeably worse and violence has objectively risen over the past few years. 2022 was the most violent year in a decade, specifically in terms of homophobic hate crimes. we both feel that this is more about rising fascism worldwide than about anything specific to spain, but still.)

as for immigration, i'm afraid i can't really offer any help or advice on that one! my residency here is based on my marriage to my wife, who is a spanish citizen, so i have no knowledge at all on other methods of obtaining residency.