#montero blue

[russellius]

2024 MONACO GP | Friday

[rwpohl]

el coleccionista de cadáveres, santos alcocer 1968

[distortedplatinum]

The Blue Lions class of 1206

Here's a massive post with my future Blue Lions' short bios and references. Hope you like my babies!

You can also attack all of them on Artfight!

P.S.: I used a translator to help me write in English, sorry for any dumb mistakes. :')

Aleksei Irek Blaiddyd

Aleksei Irek Blaiddyd is the worst prince the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus could wish for. Born as an adorable child to Dimitri and Ksenia, the moment he entered adolescence he turned into a real monster. He hates his parents (especially Dimitri), he hates Faerghus, he hates good manners, he hates everything around him. Inside him brooded an ever-growing anger, which reached its peak in 1206; the year when, together with the leader of the Black Eagles Hans, he set the Garreg Mach on fire and disappeared.

He would then spend the next eight years in a village in the Hrym Mountains, raise an army of fools by pretending to be a god, and begin a peaceful march to the kingdom to dethrone his father. When Sera, the woman he loved, is killed shortly after the expedition begins, he breaks down completely, becoming a mirror of what his father once was. He is defeated in Fhirdiad after a strenuous duel against Dimitri.

Despite hating everything and everyone, he is very close to his cousin Artemiya, loves sweets, reading, tarots, and fighting. He despises fish.

He was born with the Minor Crest of Blaiddyd, but at his 18th birthday the Major Crest of the Crescent Moon, his mother's, also manifested. He calls it "the plague".

Artemiya Rosenrot Blaiddyd

Artemiya Rosenrot Blaiddyd is a bastard child. Her mother's name is Ekaterina Zelenia Blaiddyd, daughter of Rufus Thierry Blaiddyd. At a young age she was forced to marry a rich merchant by whom she had two children; in 1176 Anatoliy Yakov was born and in 1182 Fridrich Ilya. And seven years later Artemiya was born, but immediately everyone noticed how much she did not resemble Ekaterina's husband; in fact, the child had brown hair and dark eyes, both traits not present in either parent. She was the child of adultery; her mother had cheated on her husband with the man she had fallen in love with so many years before, but whom she was forced to leave because he was a commoner. Both Ekaterina and Artemiya did not suffer any consequences only because of the intervention of Dimitri, who threatened serious repercussions if harm was done to either of them. However, Artemiya lived a life of abuse by both the merchant and Anatoliy, who hated her viscerally. Fridrich was the only one to protect her where their mother could not. All this led her to develop a very closed, submissive and shy personality. She could only feel comfortable with a sword in her hand.

A year after the fire of 1206 she was kidnapped by the Agarthans, who began experimenting on her to awaken the Crest of Blaiddyd. Although she was able to manifest it, a very serious infection threatened to kill her, and to contain it her left arm was amputated. Although she was in serious condition and on the verge of death, once she returned to Itha she was forced to make use of the Major Crest acquired in battle and was put in charge of the Bloody Rose Squadron. It was she herself who halved Aleksei's army at the border between Faerghus and Leicester. The two will not recognize each other. In 1214 Aleksei and Mitja will bury the hatchet and take her to Duscur to Björn, who will forge a prosthetic arm for her. Later Mitja will kill both Ekaterina's husband and Anatoliy.

She wields Areadbhar Γ.

Paired with Mitja.

Mitja Leclerc

Mitja Leclerc is a weirdo. He is the eldest and only son of Yuri and Constance; his younger sisters are named Diana and Angelica. Since childhood he always had odd interests, which as he grew up became quite macabre and disturbing. In fact, he has an obsession with death, especially in seeing corpses and entrails, to understand how they work, so he used to improvise autopsies on dead animals he found lying around. He does not like to talk about himself, all he tells is that he traveled a lot together with his father and so learned many things. He enrolled in the Officer's Academy as an undercover agent for Those Who Slither in the Dark for the purpose of collecting the blood of a bearer of the Crest of Blaiddyd, and having Aleksei as his main target he enjoys angering him, hoping in this way to injure him in a fight and get what he needed.

But, because of the fire of 1206 and the disappearance of the prince, the Agarthans opted to kidnap Artemiya because she was predisposed to develop it, so as to take her blood. Mitja's affiliation, however, had always been to be able to destroy Shambhala from the inside, and when they reduced the woman he loved to a mutilated doll, he felt tremendous guilt and, above all, responsibility for all the harm done to her because he had failed in his mission. He will never have the guts to reveal to her his involvement in the whole thing.

His weapon is a magic rifle made by the Agarthans.

Fortuna Beatrice Fraldarius

Fortuna Beatrice Fraldarius doesn't have the guts to show herself for who she really is. The eldest daughter of Annette and Felix, since childhood she has always tried to give a stern, cold and serious appearance, hiding her true self behind an icy, intimidating gaze. In her head she had to act like a machine to be able to be the worthy attendant of the prince, hiding all frivolous thoughts and constantly limiting herself. For this reason Aleksei will come to hate her deeply.

After the fire of 1206 she will spend all her energy in the search for the disappeared prince, determined to find him more than anyone else, driven by the love she had felt for him since childhood. She later becomes Ksenia's personal knight and in 1214 fights on the front lines against Aleksei's army, ending up badly wounded in the back by it, but fortunately the damage was not debilitating.

Fortuna, Aleksei, and Artemiya are childhood friends; the three were always inseparable until Aleksei changed and left Fortuna aside. Her friendship with Artemiya, on the other hand, never ended.

Fun fact: I gave her the timeskip hairstyle in 2019, three years before Three Hopes Annette lol.

Oktavia Ubert

Oktavia Ubert had the potential to be remembered in the centuries to come. Daughter of Ashe and a seamstress from Fhirdiad, she always showed great intelligence, kindness and talent in all her passions. Like her mother she loved making clothes and accessories, she enjoyed reading and also painting, but her biggest talent was in magic. Before going to Garreg Mach she also studied at the Fhirdiad's Royal School of Sorcery, graduating with the highest honors. Despite her kindness and sweetness, what made her stand out was her strong and decisive personality; she was not afraid to speak her mind and would not let anyone step on her feet.

Everything changed after the 1206 fire at the monastery. Although she managed to escape without serious harm, in 1210 she was kidnapped by a group of pirates, taken to Albinea and sold in marriage to a wealthy nobleman. She was able to kill him two years later, escaped from his manor and, cutting her hair to pretend to be a man, sailed on a pirate ship to manage to return to Fódlan. The ship's captain discovered her secret, but he kept it nevertheless and allowed her to return home.

She, Artemiya and Fortuna are best friends. Oktavia hates Aleksei because of his demeanor and doesn't understand why Artemiya likes Mitja so much; she considers him too weird and different from her.

Ragnhildr Azulai

Ragnhildr is a princess of Sreng, sent to the Officer's Academy as a token of peace between Sreng and Faerghus. She has a very calm and quiet personality, pretends not to know the language well but can speak it fluently. She tends to stare at people and has a crush on Eldjárn.

In 1208 her father decides to invade the Gautier territory and she is forced to fight, and in 1211 she will purposely get captured and become a war prisoner.

Eldjárn Mjöllnir Gautier

Eldjárn is the eldest son of Ingrid and Sylvain. He has similar attitudes to his father in his youth and spends most of his time chasing women; he is jealous of his brother because he is more successful while not caring. He does not like to study, but he is very smart and a great tactician. His best friend is a wyvern named Jord.

In 1208 he finds himself having to fight Ragnhildr, and she will injure him in the face in one of their many fights. The two will later form an alliance to stop that futile war, and she will be captured of her own free will.

Mikhail Adam Gautier

Mikhail is the youngest son of Ingrid and Sylvain. He's very quiet, silent, gets lost in books, and it is difficult to rouse him from his concentration. Hating him is impossible because he keeps so much to himself that he is almost unknown even to his own family members. Because of this he fascinates women very much, but he cares nothing about them.

In 1208 he joins his family's army to fight the invasion, but after less than a year he gets tired of fighting and runs away to Brigid to take a vacation of indefinite length. He hates cold and loud noises.

Björn Montero

Björn is originally from Duscur. He is a highly respected artist in his village and a "gentle giant". He always keeps a calm tone and can be intimidating at times, but he is actually extremely kind and always puts forth his immense strength to help others, no matter who or why. He made himself known at the Officer's Academy because he was the only one who could stop Aleksei's outbursts of rage with his bare hands, and if not for him, it would have ended badly for Mitja several times during their violent bickering.

After the fire of 1206 he returned to Duscur and began working as a blacksmith, mostly building works of art with his skills. In 1209 his daughter, whom he named Fatima, was born, and in 1214 he built a prosthesis for Artemiya's left arm.

At the academy he was close friends with Artemiya and Oktavia, and together they spent their free time painting.

Supports

[wrosix]

henry and alex’s playlist is so blatantly gay

i love it so much

[herpsandbirds]

Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis), family Meliphagidae, order Passeriformes, Australia

photograph by Ruben Montero

[kokushibosbestie]

OOOOH. I've seen ur playlists. Ngl, they're SUPER accurate...

Idk if u watch MHA, if not feel free to ignore me lol.

But anywayssssss I was wondering if you could do Dabi? If you haven't already anyways. :3

Luv u <3

౨ৎ Toya Todoroki / Dabi Playlist ౨ৎ

A/N: OFC I'M SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! I luv u too! >_<

Play With Fire - Sam Tinnesz, Yacht Money LET THE WORLD BURN - Chris Grey Blow - Kesha

Insane - Black Gryph0n, Baasik Monster - Lady Gaga Bye Bye Bye - NYSNC I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift Looking At Me - Sabrina Carpenter There's Nothing Holding Me Back - Shawn Mendes Treat You Better - Shawn Mendes exes - Tate McRae greedy - Tate McRae You Broke Me First - Tate McRae Worth It - Fifth Harmony, Kid Ink One Dance - Drake 10 Things I Hate About You - Leah Kate Maniac - Conan Gray Attention - Charlie Puth How Long - Charlie Puth Can't Hold Us - Maklemore & Ryan Lewis, Ray Delton Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer Blood // Water - grandson Hell's Comin' With Me - Poor Man's Poison Human - Rag'n'Bone Man ur not hot - callmespice GOSSIP - MANESKIN Done For Me - Charlie Puth, Kehlani Ick - Lay Bankz Sweet Dreams (Sky Like Dreams) - Ferdinand fka Left Boy Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer Toxic - Britney Spears Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored - Ariana Grande 34+35 - Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande motive - Ariana Grande, Doja Cat Sorry Not Sorry - Demi Lovato Need to Know - Doja Cat You Right - Doja Cat My Oh My - Camila Cabello Walls Could Talk - Halsey hot girl bummer - blackbear Runway Walk - Demrick, Brevi Fuck You Forever - VRSTY Sick - VRSTY Cloud City - VRSTY Petty Trappin - SLAVES Warning from My Demons - SLAVES Let This Haunt You - SLAVES Back to the Roots - SLAVES MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - VRSTY (Rock Cover)

I used to be OBSESSED with this guy for absolutely no reason. Maybe it was the blue eyes. I have a tendency for liking anime guys with blue eyes/black or white hair 😭. Anyway, I definetely think he'd privately listen to Doja Cat and Ariana Grande, as well as VRSTY and SLAVES. And yes, I used to watch BNHA. Hope you like it and feel free to request more! <3

NONE OF THE PICTURES OR SONGS BEING USED / MENTIONED ARE MINE, ONCE AGAIN THEY ARE NOT MINE. ALL CREDITS GO TO ORIGINAL POSTERS / CREATORS!!!

[valeriaarts]

Carnotaurus sastrei sculpture

I've wanted to make a post about this sculpture's process, so I will take advantage of how Tumblr works to show photos of the phases and my experience using Milliput for the first time.

Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the exact beginning, but here's an image from a story I posted on Instagram. You can see that the sculpture is at a very early stage and is a general volume of what would later become the final figure, the whole inner part is made with aluminum foil, cardboard, and painter's tape, while the first outer layer is made with cold porcelain.

Once the bust was covered with cold porcelain and it had dried I could start sculpting the first details using Milliput, an epoxy mass that gives you 3 to 4 hours to sculpt and the truth is that I was pleasantly surprised because it allows it to work very well small details and is very easy to handle, the only thing I should have taken more into account is that once dry the Milliput gives a lot of weight to the figure.

In this first phase of detailing I focused on working in those areas that were going to require more time due to the type of texture of each one. For example, in the eyes, there are a lot of folds and wrinkles, in the horns I wanted to achieve the growth of the keratin.

For the next phase, the whole part of the skin of the face, I was guided by the images of the study of the scales of the Carnotaurus of 2021_ The scaly skin of the abelisaurid Carnotaurus sastrei (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia.

I also used them as a reference for the paleoart scales that in my opinion showed me very well or at least gave me an idea of how I could work the skin of my bust. For example one of my mains references while doing this sculpture was the art of Fred Wierum

Now how I've tried to apply what I search about the scales.

At first I was not sure if I was going to make a neck, but as I progressed with the sculpture I could see that I was going to need the neck to give it more shape and put it on a good base.

With all the sculpting part done It was time to prime the dino!

For the painting part of the bust I wanted to try to get away from the red and yellow that is usually painted, so I decided to do some research on the types of lizards that live in Argentina and see if any of them had a pattern and colors that would fit what I was looking for. In the end I discovered Fitzinger's tree iguana, an animal with very nice colors and pattern that moved away from the reds and mixed greens with oranges and blues.

Photo credit: Roman Montero

And finally, the complete sculpture!

So here it is, I am very happy with this bust and the learning process I have gone through to make it as correct as possible.

Hope you like it!

[gadriezmannsgirl]

Not Like Others -P.G (2)

Not me ending this as soon as I got home and did all my homework a bit rushed at 1:35am knowing I had to wake up early today✌🏻😌✨😁 But still I fell asleep with my phone in hand, so I didn't posted it on the time I had finished😭🥴 and now I'm off of work and decided to take a little breather from Uni work. Anyways... I hope you enjoy it! Please, let me know what you think of this! And I want to hear/read you guys out, what do you think it'll happen in the series?!

|Chapter I| |Chapter III|

Summary: When you get the chance of meeting Pablo Gavi, you don't seem to react as the rest of people would do and that attracts him to you

Two Weeks Later

Being the new girl was absolutely awful, everyone is looking at you, talking, whispering about you, judging the way your looks without getting to know anything from you first. You hated it and you hated being in the spotlight.

You had a week going at the Universitat de Barcelona and you were still pretty much alone since no one has got closer to you for anything. You now remember why you hated the thought of moving to a new country, this was exactly what you imaginated and exactly what you disliked.

Walking into the cafeteria, everyone turned to look at you once more, you sighed grabbing your lunch and going towards the table that was in the back, ready to eat. Have you said you hated being in this kind of spotlight?

Because you had done a revalidation and equivalence of your recent college studies in Canada for the transfer, you were now in your third semester (two semesters behind of what you actually were), where the UB had been the first one interested in you and opened their doors, accepting you into their university family. You were currently sat at one of the tables eating your lunch and enjoying some words of Colleen Hoover “Regretting You” when two girls and three boys stood in front of you

"¿Les puedo ayudar en algo?" (Can I help you with anything?) You said

"Yes, ¿Podemos sentarnos contigo?" (Can we sit with you?) The red haired girl said with a small smile

"Hemos estado queriendo acercarnos desde que llegaste pero no sabíamos como" (We've been wanting get closer to you ever since you came here but we didn't know how) The sunkissed skin boy said showing his dimples as you nod witth a light smile

"Sure" You made space for them to fill the table

"Anastasia Rodríguez but everyone calls me Ana" A dark haired girl with glasses said

"I'm Olivia Montero" The red haired girl said doing a peace sign with her fingers

"Jonathan Ontero" A blonde guy smiled

"Eric Wolf" A dark haired boy with deep blue eyes said

"Antonio Figueroa" The sunkissed boy said

"Nice to meet you guys, I'm Y/N Santos" You smiled softly

"Have you got any other friends? What do you think of the Uni?" Jonathan asked as you shake your head laughing

"You guys are the first ones to come by" You admit shyly "And it's huge, I keep on getting lost" They laugh "but it's really pretty"

"Is that why you came late to Paint II?" You nod shyly

"I think the professor doesn't like me though, he keeps on putting this bitchy face whenever I appear on his vision" They laugh

"No, that's his face. I promise" Eric chuckled as you nod laughing quietly

"I'm sorry if this may sound a bit out of place, but it's so cool and at the same time so weird to have a Canadian between us"

"I'm not" You shook your head "I'm Spaniard"

"You're even cooler then!" Ana exclaimed making a few heads come to where you were sitting, Jonathan sushed her as she softly pushed her finger up to her lip in a quiet motion. You couldn't help but laugh

"Lo siento" You said as they waved you off with a smile.

They kept on talking and it was safe to say you liked them, they were really funny. You don’t know how or when but after the lunch they had spent the rest of the day with you. Anastasia claiming you as one of them now, you smiled and accepted. You had enjoyed the day with their jokes, occurrences and got a hold of the whole system at college because of them.

They reminded you a little bit of your old friend group but instead of being five (six including you), your old group consisted of four, two and two. However these guys were chattier than ever and you loved that too seeing that you also loved to talk.

“Oh, Y/N! One of my friends is doing this party this Saturday, you should come!” Jonathan said as you all were meeting after the last class of the day.

"Party?" You ask "It's their birthday?" He shook his head

"More like a celebration" He added "He's in a team and wants to do a celebration for this big win" You nod processing

“Oh gosh! Yes, that’s such a good idea! You can socialize more, get to know people and even Barcelona!” Olivia said as you shook your head lightly

"I don't know" You said doubtly "I know nobody in there and I'm sure you guys will do your thing" You waved your hands around "The last thing I want is one of you stop spending a good time to practically babysit me and no, señor. That's not happening" You shook your head and also shook your finger side to side as they all smiled

"You're cute if you think we won't spend THE greatest time over there" You smiled blushing lightly at Eric

"Also, you're cute thinking we'll give up on the first try" Ana wrapped her arm around your shoulder "You just have to wait, you'll be crazy for the party"

And three days later you were tired of waiting. The persuasive method of these guys was extremely annoying and you were already guessing the words that could come out of their mouths, each one, taking turns on who was the one speaking next.

You could even say you had dreamed with the: 'You have/gotta/should come to my/Jonathan's friend party! It'll be awesome and we'll all be there, pretty please' words.

And when Antonio opened his mouth you instantly shushed him off.

"I'll be there" You said to him as he smiled nodding fist bumping the air

"I knew it!" He exclaimed a little bit too loud

"If you already knew the various artistic movements, Mr. Figueroa, I ask you to come up here and explain some of them" Miss Alba, the professor of Modern Art, told him in a monotone voice and her facial expression was up in interest as everyone turned around to look at you both. You looked down in shame and blushed hard as Antonio stuttered

"I-I...mmm"

"The most seen, used and that we can qualify as importants are cubism, futurism, surrealism, impressionism, expressionism, art brut and a few more" You spoke up with determination, you had already seen this curse back in Canada and you had nailed every test, quiz, popquiz, presentation and essays.

"Well done, señorita Santos. Now, señor Figueroa, le aconsejo que preste un poco más de atención a la clase y deje de hablar con Y/N, entendemos que es una chica muy bonita, inteligente y es nueva aquí, pero por favor, para los chats existen las horas de descanso" (Mr. Figueroa, I suggest you to pay a little more of attention to the class and stop talking with Y/N, we understand she's pretty, smart and new girl here, but, please, you can do that bit of chatting on your resting times) If you had blushed you were now rainbow coloured, Antonio had murmured a quiet "Sure, professor" and sank back on his seat as you heard the laughs of the whole class came in embarrassing the two of you

"Happy?" You whisper ask "You embarrassed us!"

"No, I embarrassed myself. You saved your ass answering to that question" He said with a light smile on

You shook your head and smiled lightly

"Good thing is" Antonio said softly leaning over you "... You'll go to the party" You smile nodding

"You did it, guys. I'm going to the damn party" He fist bumped the air again

"¡Joder que si!" He says as you sush him once more

"Stop that!"

...

You wonder how you got in this position.

Antonio said he was going to give you the lift but his car suddenly broke down and he was coming later because of it. Jonathan and Ana were already there since the evening helping Jonathan's friend out, Olivia was going with her boyfriend and he was driving her. And Eric had a last minute issue with his grandmother so he couldn't go, nothing too big though.

You didn't trusted going in cabs alone, you never liked it, ever since you were little and saw that a man had kidnapped a woman like that you had hated it, and on really weird ocassions you were going into one but you always had to be on the phine with someone or messaging.

Your parents were busy at the traffic and you were stuck, you thought of pulling out from the party but you also hated it, giving your word and then not fulfilling in what you said.

So, with a call to your mom letting her know you'll go there walking and a google map direction from Jonathan you decided to grab your keys and walked all the way there. It was 4:30pm so the sun was still visible and when you realized the walk was 25 minutes away, it got better and didn't think to much of it.

But how the hell did you decided to get to the party on foot was the best option if you only had two weeks and three days moved in the Catalan streets?

...Guess who ended up lost?

You sighed once more, the map only confusing you even more, you were supposed to be at El Camino street but you saw around you and you were at the Las Palmas street. You sighed in defeat.

"I'll die today" You murmured sighing

You tried to go up to people and ask them directions but you were either too shy or they didn't stopped not even to give you the time.

You were about to call desperate to any of the guys or even your parents to take you either back home or towards the party when you saw three boys across you eating a cup of ice cream.

This was your chance to get all sorted out and hopefully go to the right way towards the house.

"Hola" You touched one of the guys shoulder when he turned around his expression was full on scrunched up, it seemed like he was bothered by your presence and you smiled at him "Lamento molestarles" (Sorry to bother you, guys) You said softly to direct yourself towards the guy who's shoulder you touched and face was scrunched up "¿Quería preguntarte si tu podrías...?" (I wanted to ask you if you could...?) He cut you off harshly

"No estoy disponible para fotos o autógrafos ahorita, lo siento. Estoy con mis amigos en una salida y queremos pasarla bien" (I'm not up for pics or autographs right now, sorry. I'm with my friends and we just wanna have a great time) He said and you furrowed your eyebrows before laughing lightly

"¿Okay? Eso está perfecto. I wanted to-" (That's perfect)

"Please, no autographs nor pics"

"¿Autógrafos? ¿Fotos? I'm sorry, who do you think you are?" (Autographs? Pics?) You asked laughing lightly

"Like you don't know who I am" He said not believing it

"I don't know actually! Are you that important for me to ask for a pic or something?" He stood there without saying anything

"I don't believe it. Just go please, I'm not in the mood right now" He said and you sighed shaking your head

"Ay, hermano. ¿Sabes? Olvídalo. Was going to ask you to give me this address because I'm new here and most likely, lost; but nevermind" (Oh, bro. You know what? Just forget it) You shook your head watching his face fall a bit once you showed him your phone with Google maps on "Gracias de todas maneras" (Thank you either way) You said "Lamento arruinarles la tarde" (Sorry to ruin your evening) You said once more before turning around

"Oye, no. Lo siento, déjame-" This time you cut him off by showing your palm

"Don't worry, have a nice day" You smiled politely "Try not to be an arrogant asshole next time, maybe" You left them hearing the calls from the guy but you didn't paid attention to him too busy looking at your phone trying to guess if it's right or left

"Hola" Someone said behind you, you turned around seeing one of the guys that were along with the arrogant brunette "Disculpa a mi amigo. Es un poco quisquilloso" (Hi. Excuse my friend. He's a little peaky)

"Un poco arrogante, diría yo" (A little arrogant, I'd say) He laughed nodding

"Only sometimes" You hummed

"That's not nice at all, then" You say crossing your arms across your chest "So...?" You ask hinting on him to tell you the reason why he had come up to you

"I'm willing to help you out find the address" He said and you nodded taking out your phone, showing it to him "You're close, five minutes away tops"

"Really?" You ask impressed watching as he laughs nodding

"This is Las Palmas street, the next one is El Camino. It says here you take a turn on the left and at the end of the street there's this residence, it's in there" He smiles as you nod smiling too

"Okay okay, cool. Thank you so much. I'm sorry for ruining your evening"

"You didn't ruined anything in fact, I'm sorry for Gavi's behaviour" You smile shaking your head

"Is he really known? Or he was just taking the piss out of me?" The guy stays quiet for a bit as you shook your head "Well, nevermind... Just tell him to come down from that cloud of his, please. Arrogancy doesn't look nice at all" You said as he nods pointing gunfingers at you

"Got it" He smiled "I'm Diego, by the way. I hope Barcelona is of your liking"

"Thanks, it's really gorgeous... I just have to learn the streets" He laughed as you smiled waving at him "Gotta go, bye! And thanks once again"

"No problem at all!" That's the last thing you heard from the guy before you're walking away.

As you followed instructions from him, you indeed realized you were a block away from El Camino street, you smiled once you saw the big white house as Jonathan had described. You texted him letting him know you were outside, music was being heard from the inside and you smiled grew when you saw Jonathan came out opening the door for you.

"Y/N! I'm glad you are here!"

"I know, I'm glad too! I came here walking and got 'lost' and then there were these guys, one of them was an incredible hijo e'puta but the other helped me out"

"First going out, first party, first fight, first lost and first almost everything today... Checked from the list" You smiled shaking your head "C'mon, let's introduce you to Alejandro, my childhood best friend" Once you got inside, Jonathan's eyes were dancing across the people inside here "¡Balde!" He yelled across the upbeat song "There he is"

You walked next to him until you stopped in front of two guys who were talking and laughing in their world

"Guys! This is Y/N, the newest member into the Uni club" All four guys smiled

"Soy Alejandro" A black skin boy said hugging and giving you two kisses as you did the same "Alejandro Balde, es un placer conocerte. And this is a friend of mine, Ferran Torres"

You greeted the short haired boy just like you did with Alejandro

"¡Bienvenida a Barcelona!" Ferran said as you smile

"¡Gracias!"

"Y/N, mi casa, tú casa" Alejandro said "The kitchen is over there with the drinks and food, the backyard" He was pointing to everywhere he talked "And if you need the bathrooms, let me know, going to the downstairs bath in a party is a bit awful" You laugh nodding and agreeing with him

"¡Gracias!" You said once more

"Don't worry, hope you have a nice time!"

Yeah. You hoped that too.

After a long while drinking some Coca-Cola, dancing, eating a few snacks and overall having a nice time with your friends and Jonathan's buddies, you all sat down outside to enjoy the starry night

"Oh! I just remembered!" You said "Jonathan told me you guys were doing some celebration. I really don't know what you guys have achieved but congratulations" Ferran, Alejandro, Eric and Pablo Torre laughed lightly

"We're football players"

"That's nice!" You open your eyes lightly "And what did you guys won?"

"La Supercopa España" Pablo said as if nothing and you nodded once again "We're first team players"

"Really?"

"You don't watch football?" You shook your head a bit ashamed

"I don't really like it that much" They faked hurt "Sorry!" You all laugh "I rather hockey tho"

"Nice sport" You nod

"It truly is" You smile remembering your team "And which club you guys are in?"

"FC Barcelona" You smile got bigger.

Yes, you didn't liked football but that doesn't meant you don't know the game or the different leagues of it and Barça was a really good and skilled team. You knew your rookies about it, not many but enough to defend yourself.

"Really cool" You said "Well, then... Congratulations on the win guys"

"Gracias" Ferran said "Let me just say... Having us a friends, you'll end up falling in love with football"

"And most important, terminarás siendo una Culé" (You'll end up being a Culé) You shook your head smiling softly

"I don't think so... Gotta stay loyal to my hockey and my Mapple Leafs" They laugh

"Nah, ya verás" (you'll see) Alejandro said shaking his head

"Lo veré" (I'll see) you all laughed

"Let's see that now, then. We'll be waiting for you" Ale said

"Waiting for me when and where?" You asked

"You're invited to the next game at Camp Nou, Y/N" Torre said as you nod

That sounds good... I mean, what could possibly happen? It's just a game with your new friends.

"Deal"

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Taglist: @gaviypedrisbride @stuckinaf4nfiction @elijahslover @azzpenswrld @anastasia-nova @pixwls @footballerficsposts @dessxoxsworld @berriesarenice @chaotic-taco-collector-blog @mystic-aquarius @bisexualbith @sideeblogsstuff @http-isabela

I'm doing a taglist for Not Like Others, if you want to be there, comment a little "NLO taglist, please" and I will know that you wanna be included in it and you will be. Like I said in the beggining, I truly hope you guys like it, let me know what you think. Please, feedback is really important to me because it lets me know you like my works, it helps me with writing and makes me feel nice knowing all the effort I put in these little stories is worth it. With this being said, I read you guys, take care!

[akufiwaku]

Camp Overlook MC: @campoverlook-if

Name: Noa

Surname: Montero

Gender: Agender

Eye color: Grey

Hair color: Ash brown dyed navy blue, teal & aqua

Skin color: Olive

Height: 5'8"

Calm & confident, Noa’s the type of person whose prescience sends out good vibes with their free-spirited energy and overall optimism. With such a relaxing view of life almost nothing seems to even remotely piss them off, though being the new camp counselor might put their seemingly chill temperament into trial, as well as their sanity-

During their time at Camp Overlook, they’ve developed a good amount of friendships since their time attending as any impressionable young child. Though those friendships were a struggle to keep up during the school years, with only a few still kept in contact, and even fewer were in their close circle. Though that doesn’t mean they aren’t open to new connections! Even with those that are quite…odd.

With their new job as camp counselor, Noa takes it as a new learning experience before they eventually have to move away from Crescent Cove for college, wanting to make at least a huge impact into what they consider a nostalgic package of memories. Which also means tying up the loose ends that, to this very day, sends shivers down their spine. Along with confronting other stressful situations like managing very active middle schoolers and possible murders!! (Wait what?)

It was no secret that even Noa, no matter how friendly they are with others, has a secret displeasure for certain folks of Camp Overlook even if they can never admit it to themselves or to others. It was childish of them to hold onto those impressions even to present day, but it didn’t seem like a bad idea at the time (probably considered safe too) until the worst comes to fruition during a seemingly simple camp exercise and those were thrown OUT the window. Because while they were never afraid of ghost stories or anything horror related in general, they’d rather spend an entire week cooped up with W than face some kind of weird paranormal serial killer out for them and the kids-

Other trivia:

Noa has turtle named Jasmine (based on the Disney Princess) that’s currently being looked after by a high school friend of theirs while they’re away

Was a major dinosaur lover ad a kid and wanted to be an archaeologist, nowadays they’re more into geology than anything

Often their name gets mispelled with a "H" at the end (which they don't mind but used to be pretty annoying when they were younger)

Has been going under a pescaterian diet ever since they were 12, and never plans on changing it

Avid monster energy chugger✌️

They used to have a sort of wannabe angsty emo phase as a teenager, the messy black eyeliner, ripped tights and constant Spanish cussing the whole shebang!! Well maybe not the last part, they just thought it was cool and intimidating-

Used to take self-defense lesson in high school, which is quite handy if such stressful situations were to arise.

Years ago they had a lil accident during camp and got a large scar in the left side of their stomach, while they don’t remember how they got it they do know they were around the deeper parts of the forest when it happened, but it’s not like it’s going to come back again and bite them in the ass…right?

[radiohimalaya]

On Memoirs, Autobiographies And The Truth And Fiction Within Them

books mentioned:

Stolen - Ann-Helén Laestadius | Frankenstein in Baghad - Ahmed Saadawi | La casa de los conejos - Laura Alcoba | Stone Butch Blues - Leslie Feinberg | Hijab Butch Blues - Lamya H | In the Dream House - Carmén María Machado | El peligro de estar cuerda - Rosa Montero | Rememberings - Sinéad O'Connor | Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars - Kai Cheng Thom

[xthescarletbitch]

BESTIE I HAD ANOTHER ESPADA IDEA so like it’s late at night and you’re restless and you usually don’t smoke but you see espada outside smoking so she offers you one and lights it with the tip of her own and you’re so close you’re almost touching noses and she lingers in your space even after your cigarette is lit and you two stay huddled together and talk about what’s keeping you up at night and she lets her walls down and is more open with you than with anyone else and you’re kinda worried that when the day comes things will go back to how they were but when she sees you, there’s something different in the way she looks at you and when you go out to see her that night, she shares her smoke with you instead of having you smoke your own and each time you two get more comfortable with each other until she finally kisses you and wiwonroaueowhrpe

bestie, i'm sorry this is so late. i forgot about it in my drafts. i also must apologize in advance because clearly, i am not an experienced writer when it comes to those intimate moments... so i hope i did this idea some justice. <3

hazy midnights || camila "la espada" montero x reader

sfw, but i still prefer no minors (curse words are involved)

cw: reader has insomnia and anxiety, there is smoking involved

word count: 3200+

author's note: so i wrote this with the idea that the reader and camila have already had some sort of mutual pining going on, but it's gotten nowhere until you meet up one night. i also incorporated a lot of spanish to keep with the theme.

no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t seem to disregard the incessant thoughts that circled around in your head. all you wanted to do was sleep, but you couldn’t, and the more you fixated on the amount of sleep you were losing, the worse it got. to make matters even more frustrating, what felt like hours passed of trying to sleep turned out to only be a few minutes. 

you thought you’d see the light of the next day at any moment, but the gloomy darkness in the barracks remained. the only light that peered in was what the stars were giving from the night sky, in addition to the faint lighting of the lights around camp. the setting was made for sleep, but you found none. of course, that wasn’t new to you–insomnia was no stranger in your life, nor were the intrusive thoughts that plagued you. 

laid on your back, you turned your head to the left and caught a glimpse of dani snoozing away on her bed. it was intriguing how she could manage to sleep after all the horrors she’d witnessed and the trauma she’d experienced. you were happy for your friend, but you would be lying if you said you didn’t feel pangs of jealousy and resentment. 

you glanced back up at the ceiling and decided to take out your phone, which was placed underneath your pillow. as soon as it was raised into your view, the time flashed across the screen: 1:15. 

“mierda,” you cursed under your breath. “it’s going to be a long night.”

you decided to turn on your right side, which gave you a clear view out the window. in the distance, over by a tree, you saw a spark of light appear and then diminish. it could’ve been something as simple as a bug, but considering that you were at the montero farm, the most rational explanation to you was the lighting of a cigarette. you had no idea who it could’ve been, though; out in the west, it could’ve been anybody–it seemed that everybody smoked… well, except you. however, you were intrigued to join them anyway. after all, it seemed more appealing than staring at random objects around the barracks and cursing yourself for not sleeping. 

slowly creeping out of bed, you slipped into your combat boots and laced them up. you snuck up to the door of the barracks that was left slightly ajar and quietly pulled it towards you until there was enough space to make a stealthy exit.

as you walked out of the barracks, the gorgeous night sky caught your attention. it was a beautiful shade of blue that was magnificently complemented by flecks of white and yellow that almost resembled stars–who knew for certain in yara? there was a gentle breeze that brushed against your skin, promptly reminding you that you hadn’t even considered a jacket, but still, your feet continued to take you forward. you’d be fine.

you approached the tree and peeked around the other side to spot espada leaned up against it with a cigarette between her fingers, huffing out a cloud of smoke. she noticed your presence and waved you over to her. 

“hey,” you said, rounding the tree to stand by her.

“hola,” she muttered, putting her cigarette between her lips. she took a puff before speaking again. “you smoke?”

you weren’t generally a smoker, but the release of chemicals it would bring sounded enticing. plus, the thought of spending some alone time with espada didn’t seem so bad, either. you’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t have a bit of a crush on her. then again, who didn’t? 

reading your face for an answer, espada grabbed her cigarette box from her shirt pocket and flipped the top open, pulling one out. you extended your arm out to grab it, thinking that she would place it in your hand. instead, she stepped forward and casually raised it to your mouth herself. you welcomed the interaction, parting your lips and closing them around the cigarette. your eyes made contact as she pinched her cigarette and leaned forward, getting close enough to light your cigarette with her own. 

once your cigarette was lit, and your belly was fluttering from the small interaction, espada stepped back to lean against the tree again but never quite returned to her prior distance. she remained lingering in your space, facing you, her eyes rarely leaving yours. there were a few moments of silence when you would both take drags of your cigarettes, looking up at the night sky every so often.

“what has you up so late?” she asked, seeming genuinely interested.

“too much on my mind, i guess,” you admitted. the same could be said for just about any yaran, but they could sleep just fine. why couldn’t you? “y tú?”

she shrugged, sighing as she exhaled her cigarette smoke. “i dunno, the same.”

you nodded your head in understanding. it was right back to the silence filling the air, along with the cigarette smoke and your attempts to stifle the little coughs that tried to escape. you wanted to say more–to keep the conversation going–but nothing hit you.

“it’s beautiful, no?” she finally broke the silence once more, pointing up to the sky with her cigarette in hand. 

“sí,” you nodded. “not many beautiful nights like this.”

she looked hesitant for a moment, staring right at the ground. it seemed like she wanted to tell you something, but she couldn’t quite get it out yet. you waited patiently, continuing to admire the night sky. it was beautiful. 

“mi mamá and i would watch the stars sometimes,” her eyes looked up for a second, but then went back to the ground, like she couldn’t make eye contact while recollecting those memories. “she would tell me that when we go, we become like them.”

“that’s beautiful, espada,” you complimented, tilting your head to admire her for that bit of information, appreciating the vulnerability. you never thought you’d see a softer side of her, and you certainly didn’t think she’d ever willingly let you see it.

“i look for her on these nights, you know? been gone for years, but i keep lookin’.” 

you smiled at her as she looked back at you, and a tiny smile appeared across her face as well. more moments were spent looking up at the night sky, with your occasional glance back down to espada, who seemed to have a lot more on her mind. 

“is something bothering you?” you finally decided to ask, worried about her, but knowing that you may not even get a response back.

her attention was now on you, rather than the night sky, and you could read her expression better. there was a sort of longing that you couldn’t quite place, though–a longing for what? 

“yes.”

“do you want to talk about it?”

there was hesitation. her eyes peered all over, but never quite landed back on yours yet.

“look, you’ve shown that i can trust you, sí? you can’t repeat what i’m about to tell you–not yet.”

“of course,” you assured. “you can talk to me.”

she nodded and looked back at you, maintaining eye contact, but seemed to still hesitate to divulge any information. you squeezed your eyebrows together and continued to look at her. 

“what’s going on, espada?”

“mierda… do you remember the lieutenant i’ve been trying to locate?” 

“sí.”

“he’s not just any lieutenant. he’s my little brother.”

“espada, i-“

“he changed his name when he joined the fnd. now he’s working for that hijo de puta josé.”

“does anybody else know?”

“some do, and they call him a traitor,” her voice trailed off. “but he’s still a montero.”

“are you close to finding him?”

“no sé. i just know he’s a big scientist at one of the facilities, but i don’t know which one.”

“what’s the plan when you find him?”

“to… bring him home.” espada spoke lower that time, lowering her head as well. “i don’t know if he will come back. papá has always been so hard on him. on both of us. alej couldn’t take the heat, so he left. papá says he doesn’t care, but i know he does. deep down.”

“i’m so-“

“no. i don’t need your pity.”

you just tilted your head to apologize, not wanting to ruin the moment. you were surprised that she was even telling you something like this, but honored at the same time.  

“pinga. anyways,” she put out her cigarette and immediately lit another. “do you want to talk about what’s keeping you up?”

you shrugged, not knowing what to say, but getting the hint that she wanted to move on with the conversation. “i’ve just always had a hard time sleeping.”

“por qué?”

“i dunno,” then you looked to the ground. “i just think too much.”

“ah.”

“sí,” you hesitated for a second, but then realized how hard it must’ve been for espada to open up herself. “i don’t know how to stop some recurring thoughts.”

“what are they about?”

“sometimes irrational things, sometimes rational things.”

espada nodded as she listened, giving you the go-ahead to keep going. 

“i think, no, i worry a lot about this war. i know we are strong, but do we really have what it takes?”

“fuck yes we do. we are going to get that comemierda.”

“will i even be there to witness it?”

“herma’… you’re a good guerrilla. don’t forget that.”

“pero-“

“oye, how do you think you survived this long?”

“help from some amazing guerrillas.”

“sí,” she stepped closer, putting her hand on your shoulder. “and you’re one of them.”

“i guess so.” you looked down at her hand, which lingered. “thank you, espada.”

“call me camila. and i am always out here around this time, so join me when you can’t sleep. i could use a smoking buddy.” there was another one of her adorable smiles–rare to see, but you were just getting spoiled with them that night. 

“gracias, camila.”

~

even after your cigarettes were put out, you continued to small talk. hours passed until the sun was finally starting to come up, and you parted ways. 

you walked back to the barracks with a fear that the intimate moment you just experienced would be forgotten forever. you felt even closer to camila after the night you had, and you wanted to get even closer. there was a glimmer of hope in you that she might begin to see you differently–if she hasn’t already–and maybe even try to get closer to you, too. unsurprising to your habit of overthinking, you also wondered if she truly meant her invitation to meet up again at night. 

~ 

after managing to get an hour of sleep, you were awoken by the sound of the others around you getting up and ready for the day. you figured there was no use in trying to get any more sleep because the noise alone would keep you awake. you pulled your pillow over your face to stifle a grunt before deciding to get up and perform your morning routine. 

last night’s thoughts remained in your head as you got ready for the day. you were obviously no stranger to overthinking, but you couldn’t help but ponder your crush on camila. what happened only intensified it, and you just wondered if there was potential for anything more there. getting caught up in your own thoughts, you were reminded by dani that it was time to go.

finally finished and ready, you stepped outside, spotting camila executing her attack moves with her knife near her tree. you stopped and found yourself staring at her, admiring her prowess. she paused for a moment to take a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead before glancing around and finally landing her eyes on you. 

fuck, you thought. 

expecting a cold stare or even a quick head-turn on her part, you were instead greeted with a gentle smile before she returned to her sparring. her small expression made you smile as well, and you continued about your day, following dani out of the camp. 

you were not immune to ruminating over the previous events as you and dani fought soldados in madrugada. she caught you distracted a few times, but you brushed it off like it was nothing. she did not need to know about your silly crush because it was silly, right?

~

that night, when everybody else was sound asleep, you took a chance and went out to meet camila again. as you once again rounded the tree, camila saw you and smiled, seemingly happy to see you.  

“ven acá,” she commanded. “i want you to try this.”

you made a spot next to her against the tree and grabbed the cigarette she offered you from her hand. you inhaled quickly, then exhaled slowly. 

“mmm…” you pulled the cigarette from your lips and rotated it in your hand, analyzing it. “qué es esto?”

she took the cigarette from your fingers and took another puff. as she blew out, she opened her mouth to proudly utter: “the good shit. i’ve been saving it.”

~

the night went by quickly as you conversed, took turns smoking the same cigarette, and enjoyed each other’s company. you discussed more things about yourselves, relishing in the time to get to know each other some more. interest was shared on both sides and it was a pleasant experience. you hoped that every night would be like that.

the most unfortunate part always crept up, though, and that was when you had to call it quits and retire back to the barracks. it was the same as the night before–camila offered to meet up again the following night, and then the night after that, and the night after that.

~ 

several nights went by, and they were several nights filled with meetings between you and camila in various spots, like the tree or sniper’s nest by the camp. they have been nights when you both took pleasure in each other’s company, getting to know each other on a deeper level. you both grew close so fast, and it felt like you had known each other for ages. 

the “silly” crush on camila has since grown exponentially as you revealed more of yourself to her and, in turn, learned a lot more of her. your feelings get to a point where you can no longer contain them anymore, and one night, you decide it’s time to approach her about them. 

~

your head was against camila’s shoulder as you both sat, looking out onto the camp from the sniper’s nest on the mountaintops. camila was talking about her day and how she managed to make some strides with the other guerrillas–which she can now call them–that she was training. you looked up at her every so often, hoping to make eye contact with her, and when you did, it left butterflies in your stomach. you had to tell her how you felt. 

as with every other night, there was one cigarette shared between the two of you. when it was finally gone, camila rubbed it on the ground and flicked it off the mountain. the hand that was holding the cigarette was then rubbing your shoulder as your head still laid against her shoulder. when you turned to look at it, she removed it.

“i-i’m sorry,” she muttered quietly, sitting up a little bit.

you lifted your head off of her shoulder and watched as she stood up. she brushed her thighs off with her hands and looked down at you with that same longing glance that you saw several nights before. you had previously dismissed it as just having been missing her mother, but at that point, you were starting to wonder if it was more than that–if it was much more in that moment. 

“what’s going on, camila?” you questioned, worried, but also fairly curious to see where it was going. would you even be able to work up the courage to confess your feelings to her?

“there’s something i’ve been meaning to tell you.”

oh? you thought. could she have been feeling the same way? no. she couldn’t be.

“what is it?”

her face reddened, and her eyes lingered on yours. she hadn’t even spit it out, and she was already looking nervous–it must’ve been a big deal. the least of your worries caught your attention in that moment and you couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. the moonlight shone on her skin divinely, accentuating her features and making her lips glisten. you felt bad for staring at a time like that, but it was true. she was beautiful.

you finally stood up and stepped closer to her, hoping that the closeness would bring her some comfort to share what has been plaguing her. 

“camila? what’s the mat-“

you were quickly cut off by her lips against yours, her gloved hands cupping your face on both sides, and her body moving you slightly backwards. you instinctively placed your arms behind her neck to bring her even closer to you, deepening the kiss. her head tilted to the side to give for better access as you both continued to savor the kiss. you found your hands lifting to brush against her face–which was surprisingly soft–as you held her in place. you never wanted that moment to end.

so many emotions were running through you as your lips were together. was this it? was it finally happening?

camila pulled away for some air, causing your lips to turn into a pout. you slowly opened your eyes to see a smiley camila looking right back at you. your hands were still on each other as you pulled each other close once more to share a quick little smooch or two. 

before she pulled away for good, she rubbed her nose against yours and then exhaled slowly. your cheeks already had some heat in them as you maintained eye contact with camila, whose hands were now off you as she stepped back. she studied your expression, worried about the impulsiveness that she just gave into. 

“lo siento.”

“why are you sorry?”

“pinga, i just couldn’t hold that in anymore.”

“it’s okay, camila. i’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”

she was somehow shocked: “really? i mean, me too.”

you giggled, and since she was still within an arms reach, you pulled her close to you once more, but this time, to hug her. you felt safe and secure in those arms, and it was another place you did not want to leave. she put her arms around you and squeezed you tighter, letting out a rather large exhale–one you can only guess is of relief.

when you pulled away again, you were both smiling, feeling good about the turn of events. it was clearly soemthing you have both been waiting for as those nights have passed, and it couldn’t have turned out better. 

~

you and camila went back to your little blanket to watch the stars. your head was back on her shoulder, and her hand was on yours–and this time, it was going to stay. she ran her hand up and down your arm, enjoying the moment, happy to finally have gotten that out of the way.

before you went back down the mountain, camila turned to you and took your hand in hers. 

“so, same time mañana?”

[sometimesanalice]

Bradley’s Room from Give Me Your Hand {Here Is My Heart}: updated with headcanons

This is the before, and here’s the after! 

Bradley is practical. If it’s in good condition then he isn’t going to throw it out, not if it serves the purpose he needs it to. He knows he’s not the best at decorating, but he does his best.

More headcanons below!

Bed: His bed and the wall print are his newest additions to his room. This was his first time picking out his own bed. (his dorm came with one, his semi-furnished apartment had one, and the the Navy always provided him with one) was a bit overwhelmed by the options when he first settled on getting a new one. So he went to IKEA and picked one out in the show room and called it a day. Then the print caught his eye on the way to the check out. All the people and all the choices had stressed him out, so when he got home the first thing he did was got to his fridge for a beer. Which turned into a few, and then putting the bed together seemed like a piece of cake, so he definitely half-assed a couple steps. He’s a fairly light sleeper, so sometimes that squeak does wake him up when he rolls over.

Other furniture: Some of the things he has, like his bookcase and desk lamp, are things from his college years that he took care of. His taste has always been pretty classic (except for his affinity for Hawaiian print shirts), so when his graduating friends would offer him things they were trying to offload, he would only take what he thought he’d get good use out of. Things that could sit in storage for a long while, but he would still like years later.

He doesn’t care much for the aesthetics, but he does try to match woods or get things that are complimentary. (Like he was excited about finding his nightstand because it tied in well with the desk he had.)

Other things like his tall standing lamp and desk were handed off to him by Navy friends who had their own places and were upgrading to nicer things (usually at their partner’s insistence). He’s never thought much of it, but realizing that his stuff is really just other people’s cast offs that he’s accumulated really hits him when she’s in his bedroom for the first time. And probably because it wasn’t an intentional choice to source things secondhand, but a byproduct of necessity and being survival mode for so long.

Bookcase: His book case is mostly NATOP manuals. But he has his childhood collection of the Hardy Boy series, the copy of ‘Why Men Love Bitches’ that Phoenix gave him as a “congrats-on-your-break-up” gift, ‘A Promised Land’ by Barack Obama and some other political biographies. He also definitely has a copy of 'Infinite Jest’, that he touted as his favorite book in college until someone called him out for having the taste of an “elite fuckboy”. While he does enjoy a good mystery novel, he doesn’t have the time to read them. He’ll try and start them to decompress from the, but usually ends up falling asleep because he’s drained. So some of those novels have some noticeable creases from accidentally rolling over on them in his sleep.

Model Fighter Jet: Displayed on his bookcase, there is a model F-14 Tomcat that was his favorite toy when he was a kid. His mom had it mounted on a stand and gave it to him as a gift for his 16th birthday. (the same birthday that Mav gave him the blue Montero and spent the summer helping him fix it up) So he didn’t have an appreciation for it back then, but it’s come to be one of his most prized possessions.

After he redecorates his room (with that canopy bed and expensive dresser), SG moves the model downstairs to a place of honor on his fireplace mantle, so that he can enjoy it more. And in the winter on the rare occasion that they turn on the fireplace, she moves it to his side table with the framed picture of his parents. Just as a precaution, since she doesn’t want the heat to do anything to it.

Framed Sheet Music: The framed sheet music is from a book of music that SG gave him for his 12th birthday. She was so excited when her mom agreed to take her to the music shop and she found one that had “Great Balls of Fire” in it after she had heard him saying it was his favorite song. She spent a long time doing her fireball art on it because she thought it would make it more fun to learn if there was something to look at. (her mom thought it was a *choice* but didn’t say anything about it) But at his birthday party when she gave it to him, he laughed along with the other tween boys who thought playing the piano was for nerds. So she faked a stomach ache and had her mom take her home early. It’s kind of bittersweet, because it really was Bradley’s favorite song, but he wasn’t the nicest about receiving it. (he definitely still feels guilty about it sometimes) This was before they had really formed their own friendship outside of their moms, but for his next birthday he asked that they go to the retro diner that had giant milkshakes. So he keeps it with him because it reminds him of her, but also of home.

And when they move into their perfectly charming 1930′s tutor house, they hang it on the wall by the entry, so it’s the first thing you see when you walk in.

[padawanton]

the NO-SKIP albums: a tag game 🎶💖

rules: share the albums that you can listen to nonstop. those lightning in a bottle-albums that scratch ur brain just right. every single track, an absolute banger. u could not skip one if u tried. no notes. stunning, show-stopping, immaculate. ur no-skip albums.🔎 bonus & optional (but imo, v fun) rules: 1) add a track rec for us to listen to! AND 2) share ur favorite line(s) from that track! 👀

Thank you for tagging me @faeryclown 🥺🤍 sorry it took me so long lol 😳 I'm not tagging anyone but feel free to do this 💖

🎧 album info/track recs/favorite lines under the cut

🥀Paramore's All We Know is Falling

Favorite Track: Pressure Tell me where our time went / And if it was time well spent / Just don't let me fall asleep / Feeling empty again

🌎Wrabel's these words are all for you

Favorite Track: pale blue dot I wonder what happiness feels like / I wonder if I felt it before / I wonder if love comes one time / Or two, or three, or even more

💀My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade

Favorite Track: The Sharpest Lives A light to burn all the empires / So bright the sun is ashamed to rise and be / In love with all of these vampires / So you can leave like the sane, abandon me

🌟Stray Kids' 5-Star

Favorite Track: Collision As time passed, we met and broke / The traces of it remain throughout the universe / Tonight

🦋Lil Nas X's MONTERO

Favorite Track: LOST IN THE CITADEL I remember when I met you / Thought the universe sent you / Thought you were someone I could vent to / So I hit your line, what you getting into?

👰🏼‍♀️The Crane Wives' The Fool in Her Wedding Gown

Favorite Track: Tongues and Teeth I will only break your pretty things / I will only wring you dry of everything / And if you're fine with that / You can be mine like that

🫧Fall Out Boy's So Much (For) Stardust

Favorite Track: Love From the Other Side I saw you in a bright clear field / Hurricane heat in my head / The kind of pain you feel to get good in the end / Good in the end

🧡IDK HOW's GLOOM DIVISION

Favorite Track: WHAT LOVE? What love, what love, what love / What love would get this viscous? / That's right, but never mind / This blood sometimes, holiness brings you

⚡️Red Velvet's Chill Kill

Favorite Track: One Kiss Almost out of reach, one, two, three / Gonna lose your head / Like falling into a swamp / One kiss / A trick that will swallow you up in an instant

[stxrslisten]

a study.

BASICS.

full name : onora cavalier ( born onora caliadne of rusalka )

name meaning : honor, radience, compasion, like a inspiring beacon

nicknames : nora, nana, cali ( by her mortal family )

epithets : the enchanting siren

titles : ambassador of the dawn court, former princess of rusalka

gender / pronouns : cis woman / she/her

sexuality : heterosexual

date of birth : on the twenty nine day of the eight month

age : thirty going on three hundred

zodiac : virgo

place of birth : mortal lands ( royal palace of the forgoten city of moros in the extinct kingdom of rusalka )

species : caldroun made fae

languages : common tongue, holy tongue, forgotten rusalkan tongue

allegiance : the dawn court

APPEARANCE.

faceclaim : dominique devenport

height : 5′8″

eye color : blue/green

hair color : brown

dominant hand : right hand

MAGIC.

abilities : immortality, winnowing, heightened senses, ability to manipulate dreams, a bewitching voice

weaknesses : vulnerable to certain magic attacks, individuals with higher level of magic, burn out

PERSONALITY.

positive traits : spirited & clever

negative traits : secretive & guarded

hobbies : sailing, singing, swimming

charcater inspiration : elizabeth swann, nesta archeron, elena montero de la vega

RELATIONSHIPS.

parents : lord amedeo cavalier & lady invidia cavalier nee galene ( adoptive fae parents ), late king ardian of rusalka & late queen odessa of rusalka ( mortal birth parents )

siblings : late princess astara of rusalka, late prince eiran of rusalka

extended family : late usurper king urmas of rusalka

spouse : n/a

children : n/a

BIO.

the kingdom of rusalka is more of a fairytale now after centuries of its damnation, but once upon a time three hundred years ago a princess of the name of onora was born daughter to a just king and brilliant queen. a kingdom were the female line inherited the crown, she was born to rule one day once her parents grew old and she was ready.

her childhood was nothing out of the ordinary for someone born under a crown. there had been lessons from history to mathematics and science as well as etiquette, the arts and as boring subjects as needle point. and while expectations had been placed over her frail shoulders, she had been happy, her parents had dotted on her and her siblings. she remembers those days with fuzziness, but with a light that always puts her in a good mood.

but like every story worth telling, tragedy struck the once unwavering kingdom of rusalka, sickness came knocking on its gates, many were lost to the ancient rare deceased. the young prince had been amongst the first to go, the queen followed not long after, but the real blow came when it took their king. onora had been shy from fifteen as she inherited a crown and a crumbling kingdom with a baby sister that looked at her for guidance. the young queen had been determined, and while she try her best to remain focused and find a solution to the deceased, a more dangerous enemy lived right under her roof.

her mother older brother who had always resented the law of female inheritance within their kingdom decided to strike then as he saw the moment to eliminate the two girls that stood on his way to the throne. with a small group of supporters and in the middle of the night with the defenses of the castle weakened urmas took the new queen and the princess and sold them to the pirate king of the erythrian sea with the guarantee that they would never return to the continent and so taking the throne for himself.

the sisters were together for a fleeting moment, onora had tried her best to plea, pray and beg to allow them to remain together, but the pirates did not allowed them to. astara was the first to be sold off, onora had know little aside from the fact that she had gone to the mortal lands across the sea from her home. she had sworn to find her way back to her even if it was the last thing she did. but the pirates had the worst saved for her, for the young queen that barely was in request of her dearest uncle.

onora had not know how long or how far they had sailed, somewhere along the way she had gotten sick, she was not sure if it was the same that had ailed her people or if it was something else, but it weakened her greatly. when she found herself back on land, foreign soil, the pirates had sold her to a creature of the fae lands to serve as a servant. her sickness had remain, not truly getting worst but not getting better either, it had been so for many months as she worked hard to remain in the good graces of her masters. the creatures were not entirily awful to her, but they were terrifying to a human girl who had never dealt with the fae lands.

a year into her captivity she had learned very little of where she was, a neutral central location of the continent of prythia near the borders of the dawn court. she had barely manage to get a sense of her location when her sickness began to progress once more. as the weeks passed them the once youthful girl became withered, barely able to move. the creatures took pitty on her, a girl who regardless of her sickly frame had served them well and caused no trouble, they had heard of the caldron and whispers of the healing magic. unaware that the waters of the caldron would do more than simply heal her.

onora still remembers being lowered into the murky waters, even in her delusion of feverish reality she had known it was some ancient magic that swallowed her. even as it filled her lungs and she began to trash for air within, onora had felt it in her bones, that the girl who she had once been would no longer be. she had felt herself being torn to shreds only to be pieced back together, the fear of death by some ancient dark magic she did not understand had made her claw at the caldron, she would not allow it to take anything from her, no, too much had already been taken from her.

when she had been tossed out and onto the floor, air filling her lungs she had been disoriented, dizzy and confused, she did not understand what had happened to her, what the change in her was. simply that she no longer felt sick. the creatures began the journey back to their home, they eyed her wearily and she did not understand even then.

they had almost made it out of the dawn court borders when they had been spotted, the creatures confronted about the fae girl that traveled with them. the words had echoed in her mind, and while she seemed to get another piece of the endless puzzle her life had become, she was still lost, alone, and afraid. but when her eyes met that of julian caadlawon, she had allowed herself to hope for the first time since the loss of her parents. the young lord of the dawn court had become her savior, taking her away from the creatures and shielding her in the dawn court not as a servant but as a guest. she told him her story and he began to explain to her what had happened to her in and after the caldron. she knew then, she could never return to the mortal lands even if she wished it, there was no place for her there.

while the dawn court had welcomed her onora had known she could not stay there forever idle, a few months went on, her sixteen birthday came and went. onora had met a few other fae in her time there, but she had often gravitated towards the general of the armies who had began to teach her how to defend herself, the bond between them had been natural, a mentor and a studen, a father and a daugther. when general amedeo had introduced the young fae to his wife, invidia, the older fae had fallen in love with the gentle onora. the two began to spend time together, until the two ancient fae who had never been blessed with children had asked her if she would like to be their daughter. onora had been beyond moved, she had cried before the words had left her, and so she renounce her birth name forgetting about the queen of rusalka, and becoming lady onora cavalier of the dawn court.

the years of an immortal seemed to slipped fast and steadily, life began to have meaning again, and although with the hardship and weight of the past, she began to be happy again. to make a life for herself, eventually becoming the emissary and ambassador of the dawn court, creating a place for her in the world.

II. EXTRAS & OTHER THINGS

onora forced herself to swim even when the waters reminded her of the worst times of her life, but overcoming that fear was what allowed her to move on, then swimming became a part of her, something she could not go too long without.

she never gave up on finding her sister, with the help of her fae parents and many years later onora was able to reunite with her mortal sister who at the time had been age by the years while onora had remained almost untouched. she returned freedom to her sister, helped her settle in the mortal lands and kept tabs on her until her very last breath.

she had forbidden herself from ever seeking information of her homelands, but almost two hundred years latter she had learned that the usurper king had drove the once bright kingdom into darkness, eventually it had been overtaken by revolts and the neighboring kingdom had conquered them, erasing rusalka as it had once been entirily.

CONNECTIONS.

a best friend

pen pals

emissary friend/allies

a pass betrothal

a cousin

[provincial-charmer]

As Boundless As The Sea

We'll be posting this in order directly from my AO3, so the first two chapters, then updating as more is added, so...

Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean

When This Takes Place: After On Stranger Tides, but in the year 1742, due to the fact I really just couldn't stand how many time skips there were and wanted to just keep At World's End 10 year time-skip. There's another reason, but shh...

Rated: This chapter is E for Everyone, as it mostly sets the scene, but later chapters might not be! No warnings for this chapter, either!

Fic Summary: Marco Montero has, for the most part, lived a quiet life. Raised on a family fortune built by academia, he was sent many years ago to Venice, Italy in order to pursue the career of his dreams. However, these dreams would never come to fruition, as the death of his father would suddenly send him back home to Cádiz, Spain, in order to claim what remained of his family inheritance.

What a pity that inheritance also included a steep debt to the Spanish Royal Navy. Eighteen years later, it seemed to get no smaller, and Marco’s threadbare patience only grew thinner with time. That is, until one fateful day, when the work that nearly killed him brought him a strange map...

Chapter One: The Sun Rises Regardless

In which we are introduced to our protagonist, his daughter, his neighbors, and his schedule on his days off.

30th of November of 1742  Today, I dreamt of a storm. A storm too terrible to be natural, one that tossed rugged waves over the deck of the ship as sailors struggled to keep her afloat. The wind threatened to rip her sails apart. The water threatened to sweep her crew away. The only light that reached us came with the clash of lightning, which danced around us in flashes of blue and white.  I know not what I was doing aboard. Was I part of the crew, or an unwitting passenger? Was I a body, there to withstand punishment, or merely a ghost, only there to bear witness?  It didn’t matter. Whatever I was, I wasn’t staying there. With another crashing wave, a young man near me was swept off of his feet and over the side of the ship. The lightning showed me his face for only a moment.  He wasn’t much older than my daughter. His eyes were full of fear. I briefly imagined the grief of his mother, learning she would never see her little one again, his body lost to the unforgiving sea. To lose a man’s body at sea is to be expected, but to lose a child…  I couldn’t bear the thought. I dove after him.   It was strange, I thought, that I could see the storm better in the water than on the ship. However, I had neither the time nor the mind to question the reason behind it. My focus was on saving my fellow sailor. Luckily for me, he had not drifted far. His body, so light and so fragile, had been swept below the waves.  He lingered there, motionless. It wouldn’t be long before he drowned.  Quickly I swam down to him. I did my best to wrestle against the ocean’s conflicting currents, but she was a relentless beast, refusing to give way. However, I was equally stubborn, and so with unending determination, I made my way down.   But then, I saw something else. As I took hold of him, as I drew him under my arm, the lightning flashed again. And in the light that flashed through the dark ocean, I saw another face, looking up to me from deeper down. It was the face of a young man. One that was younger than me by many years, with long, dark hair tucked under a bandana, and sweet, sorrowful eyes.  Eyes that were open. Eyes that watched me. Eyes that were accompanied by other eyes, belonging to other faces in the deep.  I was staring at another crew, at another captain, on another ship. A ship that looked as if it sailed under the sea itself.  And then I woke up.

 As I laid my pen down, I turned to look out the window. Had the weather been warmer, I would have blamed the sun for my nightmare. I had forgotten to draw the curtains shut before retiring the previous evening, so it would not have been difficult for the radiant sunlight to disturb my slumber. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as the sunlight this morning had been far more welcoming against the cold.

 I was certain that whatever had troubled my sleep, I only had myself to blame. I couldn’t cast ill blame on the sun. I usually loved waking up to the sun on my face, whether I was watching it through my window or basking in it on my morning walks.

 Of course, that was on the days when I awoke at such hours by choice. This was not one of those days.

 But then there came a knock at my door. One that I knew by heart. As soon as I heard it, all ill thoughts fell away from my mind.

 “Papá?” That darling little voice called to me, “Papá, are you awake yet? I have breakfast!”

 I smiled. “I am now! Come in!”

 The door carefully creaked open, and in walked Perlita. Perlita was my daughter. Oh, she was just the sweetest little thing, with her strawberry blonde hair cut in short waves, her dark brown eyes shining, and her little blue dress bouncing with each happy step. She was planted on my doorstep around sixteen years ago by a late friend of mine, with only a note with her birth name - Toireasa - and a plea to care for her. How could I refuse?

 “Took you long enough!” She teased. “I was afraid you would sleep through the entire morning!”

 “Part of me wishes that I did!” I responded in earnest. Certainly, it would have taken precious time out of my day. But my sleep might have been more peaceful. “But the sun seemed to think that I had slept for long enough. I had a nightmare.”

 She paused as she was setting down the tray. “Oh, you did? What was it about?”

 “The ship in the storm.”

 “… Again?”

 “Again.”

 Perlita sighed. We were quite used to this. The same subject would repeat for some days, if not weeks, and then stop. Then I would have new, unique dreams until another recurrence happened. She was always very sympathetic. I was just glad that she never had to deal with them, for they sometimes granted me some truly cursed visions.

 “That’s the second time you’ve dreamt of that.” She went on to say. “I hope it doesn’t happen again. I can’t imagine what it could mean.”

 “I think it means I need to stop drinking cocoa before bed.” I set one hand on her shoulder to reassure her, “I'm certain it won’t happen again.”

 She frowned in a way that left me uncertain as to whether I had truly convinced her, but regardless, she dropped the subject, instead focusing on serving breakfast. She had always been like this. Worrying over her old man day and night. I was often endeared by it, in spite of how silly it felt at times. I was supposed to be taking care of her, after all!

 But then, some part of me couldn’t help but feel bad. Would she worry over me nearly as much if I could take better care of us? If I didn’t have to worry about paying off the Navy, what kind of life would we have? I thought I knew what hers might have been like – all the time in the world to talk to her friends, to learn medicine, to enjoy herself without judgement for who she was.

 So what would my life be like? If my father hadn’t fallen on that expedition, if I hadn’t been saddled with this debt, what would I be doing with my time?

 I didn’t know. All I knew was that the more I thought about it, the worse it would make me feel. So I pushed it aside. I had to focus on the life we had. Where we were, there and then.

 And I had places to be.

 Before I continue, allow me the courtesy of an introduction. I am Marco Montero, the last son of Lazzaro and Diamante Montero. At the time, I had spent eighteen long, loathsome years as a translator for the Spanish Royal Navy, with only occasional commission work for other customers. What free time I had was spent helping Perlita read, translating personal subjects in my study, or sitting at one of the local taverns at the docks to watch the world go by. Outside of that, I had very little else on my schedule.

 Now, my usual morning routine went as follows: I would wake up, grab a cup of coffee or cocoa, then head out on an early morning stroll. I would walk all throughout the quiet streets to the port, find my usual spot to rest, and watch the sun rise. I would greet whoever might acknowledge me in passing. Then, once the sun had risen fully from the gentle embrace of the sea, if I had nowhere else to be, I would walk back home and get to work.

 I had no such work that day. No one had commissioned me in some time, and the Navy had not bothered me for work for several weeks. So I was left with what I hoped was a significant amount of free time. Once I had gotten dressed, I took my cup of coffee, thanked Perlita for cooking with a kiss on her head, retrieved Orfeo from his cage, and headed down to the docks.

 Ah, that’s right!

 Orfeo!

 I haven’t introduced him yet!

 Orfeo was the family pet. A Macaw of proud stature who had been with the family for nearly twelve years at the time. He was a big bird, with feathers the color of sapphire, tall enough to stare down small children and playful enough to pull at their hair. But we taught him how to act and how to talk, so that he would behave himself in such situations. He only pulled on someone’s hair if they upset him, or if we gave him the secret signal to be a little troublemaker. And when he behaved well enough, we would reward him with treats. 

 He loved plátanos and mangos best.

 As I removed him from his enclosure for our morning routine, he greeted me as he always did, with a facsimile of Perlita’s voice. “¡Buenos días papá!”

 “Ah, buenos días, Orfeo! How did you sleep?”

 “How did you sleep?”

 I laughed. He was imitating me now. “No, no, I asked you first! How did you sleep, Orfeo?”

 He would do this sometimes, making circles out of conversations. But I was patient. I had to give him the chance to properly respond. He would know what I meant after a few rounds.

 Eventually, after some thoughtful bounces on his part, he finally gave me a different answer. “Like a baby! ”

 “Good boy!” I responded, holding out a small plátano piece for him. He took it with his beak so carefully, it was as if he was handling glass.

 I always tried to tell people he was smarter than he seemed. Sometimes, he would hold entire conversations with himself, in absence of me or my little pearl! I’ve caught him doing it! Sometimes, he would even come up with responses to conversations that I never taught him! Yes, surely he copied them from others, but the fact still remains that he learned to apply it!

 And yet our neighbors were insistent that he was nothing more than some “dumb tropical bird.”

 Pah!

 I took him with me on my morning walk, as I always did when the weather was fair enough for him. And it was off to the docks we went!

 The docks were easily one of my favorite parts of Cádiz. Second only to the beaches and bakeries, of course. Ever since I was little, I loved heading out at the earliest hours I could, just so I could watch them come to life. I watched the sails of returning ships billow in the breeze before they were doused, as men on the docks and on the boats prepared for the arrival of the other, voices calling out to one another, like seagulls coming home.

 They were always glad to see the land, too. There was never a sailor who came back who didn’t share some look of relief at the sight of the pier, or show a big smile when he undoubtedly saw someone he recognized waiting for him, to be answered with a cry of joy in return. For I watched as loved ones came out bright and early to see their ships return, tying their hair up as nicely as they could with pretty little ribbons of all colors, waving favors and hands to greet their jolly sailors.

 Today, a ship of particular pride was brought to port. Yes, new ships were always a sight,  but this one in particular was truly a sight to behold. One that caught my eyes as well as the eyes of any dock workers awake at that hour.

 The Pride of Venus.

 She was a ship of the line, and a fine example of her craft. No other ship present could compare. Elegant and lethal, she was fully rigged with three masts, three decks full of cannons, and three emblems of the Spanish Royal Navy hand-sewn upon her sails, with details of doves and dolphins on display anywhere they could be painted or carved. Her figurehead itself represented Venus in all her glory, rising from the waves with her arms outstretched in invitation. The sunlight warmed her painted skin so much, she looked like she was just as real as I was from a distance.

 She was a treasured gift to King Philip V from King Louis XV. Any Spaniard would have been proud to sail under her banner, making their way in the world with such beauty beneath them.

 I would have been proud of her too, if only she didn’t serve the Navy. But I could admire her fine craftsmanship without thinking of the blood she was stained with. The art of creating such beautiful vessels was slowly but surely falling out of public practice. Newer ships were being made with more cannons, more masts, and sleeker, simpler shapes, leaving little room for expressions of art such as this.

 It was such a shame. It was far easier to identify ships and their captains from afar when their ships were just as unique as they were. If they all started to look alike, I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy watching them anymore. And one day, The Pride of Venus would fall out of my sight forever, into the endless blue sea.

 My only hope was that, perhaps if such creatures as merfolk existed, then they would appreciate such ships as her more than we ever could. That perhaps the fish in the sea would make a good home from her bones.

 Still, I could appreciate her while she stood. So I did. I slowly whittled away at my coffee, getting lost in dreamy ideas as to her adventures overseas while the world came to life around her. Dock workers helped tie her and other vessels down, while their crews filed out of their ships in orderly lines. The sailors maintained their professional airs while their captains addressed them, but once they were dismissed, they turned from men into boys once again. Those that had loved ones to reunite with did, running to them with much excitement, to be greeted with excitement in kind by those they left ashore.

 Some of them were taken into open arms, while others had their weary faces cradled in the hands of their other halves. A lucky few were painted in kisses from sweethearts that clearly missed them just as much, leaving colorful marks of affection wherever they could.

 I did my best to ignore that. Instead, I drank in the warmth of the sun, the songs of the gulls, and the smell of the sea, along with my coffee. Once my cup was empty, I wiped it clean, stowed it, and moved on.

 My next stop was the book store. Carrasco’s Book Shop, to be precise. Pearce was an old business associate of mine, having worked with my father long ago. Whenever I needed new paper, or was interested in the newest book release, he was the man I went to.

 Orfeo couldn’t come inside. This was due to a no-pets policy on Pearce’s part. An understandable rule, given the destruction any untrained animal could inflict upon those old bookshelves. Even my lovely bird was no exception, with beaks and talons that could make bedding out of any book’s pages. At my command, Orfeo flew up atop the sign for the shop and stayed there, well out of the reach of any would-be thieves. He was a very valuable bird, after all. Very pretty and bright.

 The bell above the door announced my arrival, prompting a look from Pearce behind the counter. He was a lean old man, as lithe and lax as an old cat, with just as fine of a face. What few scars he bore at his neck and arms told of his old life at sea, the life he said he had left behind for the comfort of the shore. He seemed to be finishing setting up shop for the morning, as I could see him putting a few things beneath the counter when I arrived. When he saw me, he smiled.

 “Good morning, Marco!” He greeted me, with a voice that creaked softly. “Normally you’re here before I’m open! Is it safe to assume that you slept in?”

 “Yes, sir,” I responded with a smile of my own, “but certainly not by choice.”

 “Is it ever by choice?” Said he. It was a tease, we both knew, so we shared a chuckle at the idea. Once he was finished putting things away, he then told me, “Your order arrived just this morning! If you’ll allow me to fetch it for you…”

 “Of course, sir! Take your time!”

 And so he disappeared into a room behind the counter, well out of sight. While I waited, I looked around. Hand-painted scenes on the wall depicted all kinds of adventurous moments, from a meeting of politicians to a crew of sailors heading out to sea. A fisherman had caught a mermaid on his line above one shelf, while another showed a procession of fairies walking through the woods, to the amazement of the children looking on from the bushes. Opposite of the sailors, a crew of pirates were burying their treasure, with their captain hiding a pistol behind his back.

 They had not been repainted in some time, so all their colors were worn. But in my mind, they were as bright as they were when I first walked into the shop, back when I was just a child. My father would happily chatter with Pearce while I looked through the shelves, only to stare at me in shock at the tower of books I came out with. My appetite for knowledge was insatiable.

 It still was. I just didn’t have as much desire to read as I used to. And most of it I had already read through countless times. I didn’t pick up too many books these days.

 “Here you are,” Pearce said as he came out, holding a wooden crate of fair size, “all blank pages, as requested! I have the paper for you to sign here…”

 I watched as he set the crate on the counter, waiting until he had fully released it before going to inspect it for damages. Sometimes, my shipments from overseas came in less… desirable condition. So it was always good to check.

 The crate itself looked to be intact, save for some residual dampness from the rain the night before. Upon prying the lid off, however, I was relieved to find all the paper inside to be completely untouched. Dry as sand, even. Perfect!

 He handed me the papers to confirm I had received my package, and I took them, and the quill, quite happily… only to stop.

 The name on the shipping order wasn’t mine.

 Instead of Marco Montero, it was addressed to Lazzaro Montero.

 My father.

 This happened sometimes. Mail for our house would come in with my father’s name, even though he had been dead for many years. It had been so long, in fact, that I had made the mistake of assuming these kinds of things would eventually stop.

 I was wrong. As usual.

 “... Marco?”

 I glanced up to Pearce.

 “Is everything alright?” He asked me. His oak-brown eyes were alight with concern behind his eyeglasses. “Is anything damaged?”

 “Oh, no,” I reassured him, “not at all! In fact, it’s all in remarkably good condition! It’s just… they put my father’s name on it again. See?”

 I showed him the paper, taking care to point out where his name was. Upon seeing it, his expression fell only further. “Oh, Marco, I’m so sorry… You would think they would learn to fix that by now!”

 “You would think… ”

 Regardless, I signed the paper with my name. When I handed the paper and quill back, Pearce reassured me, “I’ll correct them as soon as I’m able. This can not keep happening, it’s incredibly unprofessional…”

 He didn’t need to. Not because nothing would change, but because it didn’t bother me as much as it used to. It was just one small thing. An ant hill in a mountain of other, far more worrisome things. That, and I confess, I did still miss him. Sometimes, it was nice to think that perhaps that name wasn’t a mistake, and I would see him again when I went home.

 I would. But never in the flesh. I had long since accepted that.

 Holding the crate under one arm, I made my way to my next destination: a bakery. It was only a wooden crate full of parcels of paper, so it was no trouble for me to carry on my walk, even with Orfeo having returned to my shoulder. I walked slowly through the streets, letting the smell of firing ovens and baking bread delight my senses. If the coffee didn’t wake me up, this smell always would, without failure.

 I was most loyal to one bakery in particular. I could partake of the others whenever I liked, but my most devoted business was reserved for the Belmonte Family Bakery. It belonged to one of my dearest friends, Isabela.

 Isabela wasn’t the easiest friend to make, mind you. She was hard to crack open, with a harsh temper. To me, she was like one of those German nutcrackers, with a bite that could break bone and a stiff spine that no man could bend. In spite of it all, I knew that beneath that harsh exterior was a good heart. I wouldn’t hear anyone say otherwise.

 She was already dealing with a customer when I came in, so her greeting to me was brief. “Morning, búho!”

 “Morning, burra!”

 She finished packing up a loaf of bread for a young man she was dealing with, then spotted the crate under my arm and stopped. She tilted her head and frowned, a crooked frown that favored the right side of her face more than her left.

 “That’s funny, I don’t recall ordering any books.”

 “Ah, that’s because you didn’t. This order is mine. ”

 “So what are you doing bringing it into my shop, then?” She asked.

 I teased her and replied, “I figured you could use kindling for your oven. I don’t see any devils flying about to keep it alight, so I must assume you’re actually using your firewood, in which case you must be struggling.”

 She laughed. It was a loud sound, and a lovely one at that. “Ah, so you’ve noticed! Give it an hour or two, then you’ll see them, don’t you worry!”

 Once she had sent her customer on his merry way, she turned fully to me. She leaned against the counter with one arm as she asked, “Now, what do you need?”

 “I was wondering what your recommendation would be for us today.” I then told her, smiling. “I’m thinking Perlita and I could try something new!”

 Her proud brow-line lifted slowly. “New? You? Ha!” She scoffed loudly at this. “The day you try something new is the day Hell freezes over!”

 “Ah, but you were married to the Devil once,” I teased, “so you would know if Hell was cold today, wouldn’t you?”

 This got a good, long laugh out of her. This was because her former husband was a terrible, terrible man. One with a hard-earned reputation for putting past wives in the ground. He died several years ago, having apparently choked on his dinner.

 She insisted she had nothing to do with it. I pretended to believe her.

 When she could eventually speak again, she said to me, “Well, he was always complaining about having me around, so I figured I would give him some space. But the next time I go down to see him, I’ll check on him, just for you~”

 She then gestured for me to set my belongings aside with a wave of her hand, so while she perused what she had on display, I set the crate on the part of the counter farthest away from her work space.

 As I stood there waiting, I took the time to enjoy the atmosphere of the room. There was some comfort to be found in roasting wheat, in the smell of toasting almonds and slightly burned sugar. Isabela’s cooking always felt comforting. For all how harsh her exterior was, one could taste the truth in her mazapán, delicate and sweet. One could feel her comfort in the warmth of her bread, and find her kindness in the quiet tang of her mantecados.  

 But it wasn’t mantecados she brought me, or mazapán. Instead, what she brought up was a small woven basket, full of sugar-dusted pastries cut into familiar, fluffy squares. I would recognize them anywhere. My mother baked them every so often for my father when we were small.

 Beignets.

 My familiarity must have been obvious, for her typical biting commentary came more softly than before. “It’s been a while since you’ve had these, right?” She asked. “The man who ordered these threw me a fit, so he didn’t get them. I don’t know if you still like them or not, but…”

 Looking over to her, I only said this: “If ever I were to fall out of love with beignets, then I would no longer be myself. How much do you want?”

 “Don’t bother.” She slid the basket over to me. “It’s on the house.”

 Now, I hated to leave anyone unpaid for their services, and she knew this. But when I tried to object, as she no doubt knew I would have, she only snapped her fingers at me. “And you’re going to take it, or it’s going on the house, got it?”

 “But– you could still sell it to me–”

 “I’m not selling anything that isn’t hot and fresh.” She rolled her eyes and huffed. “ Please. At least I know you’ll eat them. Now take them and go, before another customer sees.”

 So I looped the basket over one of my arms, took up my shipment, and did just that. If Perlita somehow didn’t appreciate the treat, I knew that I would.

 Perlita was already gone by the time I had returned. She was apprenticed to Dr. De la Fuente, and so spent much of her afternoons with him, learning what she could on medicine and the human body. He was the only one willing to teach her, as no one else took her seriously when she told them she wanted to be a doctor.

 This was alright with me. I knew she would be safe there. And it gave me plenty of time to myself. I set all of my things aside, set the basket of beignets on the coffee table, then took my shipment of paper upstairs to my office. But not before putting Orfeo away.

 Once I was inside, I got to work sorting out my shipment. The parcels were sorted onto my paper shelf one by one, nestled in neat and orderly fashion with the rest of the blank paper I had. It kept them cleaner to leave them in their parcels, rather than removing them. Especially with a pet like Orfeo. As well as he behaved, he still could make a mess if I wasn’t careful!

 That, and my office didn’t have that much space. Compared to my bedchambers, it was much smaller, with only enough space for my writing desk, my work table for book binding, and some bookshelves for storage. The window to the room also wasn’t as big. My father’s personal study back at our old home was much larger, with more breathing room, more books, more seating…

 This office felt more fitting for a mouse. I could scarcely be satisfied with my sorting, when I didn’t have much room to store the new paper in the first place. This was the other reason they stayed in their parcels.

 Not wanting to get lost in my thoughts, I went back downstairs for the beignets. With no commission work currently available, no tasks from the Navy, and Perlita gone from the house, I was hoping to finally be able to relax. So I took a beignet for myself, seated myself in the nicest armchair in the reception room, and was just getting ready to take my first bite… when I heard it.

 A knock at the front door.

 This knock was also familiar to me. However, unlike Perlita’s knock, this was a knock I never looked forward to answering. Also unlike Perlita’s knock, this was a knock that I couldn’t turn down. With a great sigh, I rose from the chair I had just seated myself in. I took a bite of my beignet to comfort myself, then came to answer the door.

 When the door opened, I was greeted with a charming smile. One filled cheek to cheek with wolf’s teeth.

 For my own well-being, I chose to be polite. So I answered his smile with one of my own.

 “Ah. Good morning, Captain Gutiérrez.”