#probably at a better place than i have been since the beginning of December since today I nearly blew through 1K without even trying

[sabraeal]

1000 Followers Update!

Due to some super fun chronic health shenanigans, the posting for the 1000 Followers Celebration is being postponed a month! Posting will start on 2/2 with to all the ghost still standing in this room, and continue as previously planned from there. Thank you guys for bearing with me-- I struggled with the idea of even postponing for a week, but it became very clear on Monday that I would not be able to catch up with the schedule unless I took an extended break to recover. Can't wait to show you guys what I've got up my sleeve!

[ms-demeanor]

hi, hopefully this isnt a stupid question -- this is only my second election i'm voting in, and i'm a little confused about results. is it actually confirmed that trump has won, or is it just almost certain based on the counted votes? bc i know that provisional ballots (like mine) probably arent immediately counted, and there was that thing about votes needing to be verified because of signatures, plus to my knowledge the electoral college doesnt vote til december? i'm probably just grasping at an infinitesimal chance of things not being shit, but also i do actually want to understand and google is not helping :( if you can't explain no worries, you just seem to be knowledgable & willing to answer questions haha

This is absolutely not a stupid question.

So everything is currently pointing at what is most likely, not at what is 100% certain, but it's like 99% certain. There are still votes being counted, but in the states where the election has been called it has been called either because enough of the ballots have been counted that the remaining count wouldn't change the results, or that the area is historically so strongly in favor of one party that it's exceptionally unlikely that they'd flip the other way (for example, they're still counting california's ballots but you're more likely to get struck by lightning five times today than california is to flip red in this election). The places that have not yet been called do not have enough electoral votes for Harris to win the election.

The electoral college is exceedingly unlikely to flip their votes against the state/district vote; "Faithless electors" is the term for members of the electoral college who would vote against the vote they are committed to for their region. It was something discussed in both the 2016 election and the 2020 election and flipping the electoral college without winning the election was the motivation behind J6. As shitty and bullshit as I think the electoral college is, if you're going to have one and you're going to have the rule of law, you can't hope for faithless electors because what you're hoping for at that point is that the people representing you are acting directly against the choice of the voters.

I want you to listen to me. I have been voting in presidential elections since 2004. Presidential elections always suck. Who the president is does matter, and does impact your life, but you genuinely do not have a ton of influence over that so you can't let it throw you into despair and inaction, because we should be active and political and protesting the wrongs of the world even if your favored political party wins. Vote in local elections, work with your local community, and if your local community sucks too, work with online communities to both give and get support.

Whenever something like this happens, people pass around the Mr. Rogers quote about looking to the helpers. I like that quote. I think it's good, I think it's hopeful, I think it helps! But I also think that sometimes it's even more effective if you look for how to help. Who are you the most scared for after this election? Who are you worried about in your community or among your friends? What can you do that might make their life easier? What can you do to protect people like that in your community? What don't you know that might make you better prepared to help them in the future?

One thing that I think is a fantastic way to prepare to help is to either begin or continue learning a language that you don't know. I am working hard on my Spanish because I live in California and there are a ton of Spanish speakers here who I might be able to help. Is it directly aiding anyone right at this second that I'm practicing conjugation? No. But it might help someone who is being harassed by a cop, or who is unhoused and needs help, or who is being abused by an employer at some point in the future, and I can get myself ready to help. Learn how to use naloxone and pick up up an inhaler; you might not need it now, but it'll make you ready to help someone who does need it. Order free covid tests every chance you get, even if you don't need them, because then you can give them out to people who do need them. Plan B has a multi-year shelf life. Pick some up so that you've got some on hand if someone needs it.

Maybe there's nothing you can do right at this exact second (though if you are able to donate to gender affirmation fundraisers, border kindness, abortion funds, bail funds, etc., you can absolutely do that), but you can get ready to help someone who will need you someday.

[l2vedive]

PLOT TWIST w. lee chan (dino)

celebrating new years, implied exes + fluff (800)

pairing: lee chan (dino) x fem!reader

note: i'm alive !!! i saw svt yesterday and i'm still reeling w the excitement AAAAAA but also , happy new year mooties and caratblr !!! i'm a little late so here's something before january ends <3

you’re wandering through times square on a crisp december evening, the air electric with the promise of a new year. neon lights paint the streets in a swirl of watercolours, and the distant murmur of excited voices fills the air. you tuck your hands into the pockets of your coat, your breath visible in the cold, when you spot a familiar figure standing just a few metres away.

it feels like time stops.

it’s chan.

you haven’t seen him in five years—not since the two of you broke up. back then, you were young, unsure, and overwhelmed by the weight of trying to make life work. but now, as your eyes meet across the bustling square, something shifts. he looks older, sharper somehow, but his smile—the one that always lit up your world—spreads across his face when he recognises you.

“oh my god,” he says, almost breathless, as he steps forward. “is it really you?”

your heart races. you smile, mirroring his disbelief. “chan! i—what are the odds?”

neither of you hesitates. you close the distance between you, wrapping your arms around each other in a hug that feels both familiar and new. there’s no awkwardness, no hesitation—just warmth.

“you look...” he says when you pull back, his eyes scanning your face like he’s trying to commit every detail to memory. “wow. you look as good as the day i still had you.”

“so do you,” you reply, laughing softly. your heart blooms at his comment and you try to push that funny feeling down. “it’s been ages. how are you?”

“better now,” he admits, his cheeks reddening—not just from the cold. “are you, perhaps, busy ? or do you have time to catch up?”

“oh! not at all,” you say, surprising even yourself with how easily the words come. “i'd love to.”

soon, the two of you are walking through central park, the city’s noise fading into the background as the quiet beauty of the park surrounds you. snow dusts the ground, and the bare branches of the trees reach up towards the night sky.

“so, what’s new?” he asks, glancing at you with a soft smile.

you laugh. “that’s a loaded question. i finished university, started working. nothing too glamorous, but it’s good. what about you?”

“same, really. i’m in music production now,” he says. “it’s been kind of challenging, but worth it.”

there’s a pause, comfortable yet heavy with the elephant in the room waiting to be addressed.

it comes like whiplash.

“i’ve thought about you,” he says softly, breaking the silence. “over the years. more than i should’ve, probably.”

your chest tightens. “me too,” you admit, your voice barely above a whisper. “i always wondered how you were doing, if you were happy.”

he stops walking, turning to face you. “i am. but right now, being here with you... it feels like a piece of something i didn’t realise was missing just clicked back into place.”

the vulnerability in his voice takes you by surprise, but you don’t shy away from it. instead, you take his hand, your fingers cold against his warmth.

“i’ve missed you,” you say honestly.

the two of you continue talking, sharing stories of the past five years—mistakes, triumphs, and everything in between. as the hours slip by, the conversation feels effortless, as though no time has passed at all.

eventually, you find yourselves back in times square, where the energy is even more palpable. the countdown is minutes away, and the crowd surges around you, buzzing with anticipation.

chan turns to you, his face illuminated by the flashing lights. “this feels surreal,” he says, his voice barely audible over the noise.

“i know,” you reply. “but in the best way.”

the countdown begins.

“ten...”

he takes your hand, his thumb brushing over your knuckles.

“nine...”

you glance up at him, your heart pounding.

“eight...”

his eyes search yours, soft and full of something unspoken.

“seven...”

“can i—” he starts, but you don’t let him finish.

“six...”

“yes,” you whisper.

“five...”

he leans in, his breath warm against your cold skin.

“four...”

your eyes flutter shut.

“three...”

his lips brush yours, tentative and soft.

“two...”

the kiss deepens, and everything else fades away—the noise, the crowd, the cold.

“one...”

the crowd erupts into cheers, confetti raining down, but all you can focus on is him and the promise of a future you both dreamed of, something familiar, yet different.

when you pull back, he’s smiling, his forehead resting lightly against yours. “so,” he murmurs, his voice full of quiet hope. “where do we go from here?”

you smile, taking his hand. “wherever we want.”

you don’t say it aloud, but you both know: this is the start of something new. or perhaps, something familiar, rediscovered and revisited.

— please do not copy , translate or repost any of my works anywhere.

© l2vedive on tumblr

[grillthegridmydear]

Oscar and number 7 🫶🏻 Thank u so much!

Spotify Wrapped - No. 7

Jackie and Wilson ~ Hozier

OP81 X Reader

Oscar spends his winter break on an extended holiday in Ireland after Lando and Logan decide they want good beer, good culture and a (hopefully) White Christmas.

Meeting her was the last thing he was expecting.

A/N: Kicking it off with Hozier is terribly on brand, set in Dublin cause it's my hometown.

The sheer volume of people trying to battle their way through Grafton Street could have filled a grandstand. This was the only thing that Oscar could think as he tried his best to follow Logan and Lando down the busy street, trying desperately to avoid bumping into passing strangers, their arms loaded with shopping bags as they dart between stores trying to get last minute gifts as the snow fell above them. It was December 17th and instead of spending Christmas at home with his family in Australia or even in his new home in Monaco that he has been living in for less than a year, Lando essentially made the decision for him.

Oscar was added to a groupchat with all of the remaining single drivers and Lando dropped the bomb that he was organising a trip for the winter break to let off steam and enjoy themselves before the 2025 season kicked off. Logan was going because he had recently signed to drive with a new team in a different series, so it would probably be the last time they would be able to see him for a while due to everyones busy schedules. Everyone else had plans with their families or another convenient excuse not to attend, but Oscar was still riding the high of their Constructors Championship victory over Ferrari, and with the promise of spending time with Logan he was very quickly sending a thumbs up to the plan and booking a plane ticket. A month in Dublin, Ireland so that they could be close enough to home that if Mclaren called them back to the MTC they could be there within a few hours. What could go wrong.

After apologising to the third person he bumped shoulders with in the last five minutes Oscar was beginning to regret agreeing to leave the apartment they had booked. It was cold and crowded and honestly he would have been happy with going to a quiet dinner with the boys before relaxing. Lando finally managed to guide them to the mouth of the street and across the road to stop somewhere out of the way of traffic. "Pub anyone?" Lando voiced their collective opinion out loud, the cold was starting to eat through their jackets and honestly with the amount of sightseeing they had been doing since they arrived a week ago, just sitting down with a drink sounded great to Oscar.

Logan started trying to google where they should go while Lando was arguing that they should just start walking in a random direction. Looking back to that moment Oscar was sure that it wasn't a coincidence that they managed to stop directly outside the gates of Trinity College University (a place Oscar only remembered the name of because of the tour they took a few days prior, to look at some old book, it was Logan's idea) because just as they finally seemed to settle on a place Lando immediately searched for the first person he could see to ask for directions. "Excuse me love, could you tell us how to get to The Temple Bar?"

Oscar heard her laugh first, but once he turned to look at the poor girl his teammate was harassing he was a goner. She was dressed far better for the cold than they were, her long black wool coat matched her boots and by the smile on her face he could tell that she thought the question was ridiculous. There was a sparkle of recognition in her eyes as she took in the trio of racers stood in front of her. "I could, but you'd be spending outrageous money for a shit pint and its so crowded this time of the day you might not get a table for hours." Out of the corner of his eyes Oscar could tell that Logan and Lando were content to start looking for other people to ask but he bet them to it. "Would you know somewhere better we could go?" His voice made the other two boys stop in their tracks and look at the her expectantly, and good god Oscar was not ready for her to aim that megawatt smile at him, he could physically feel his heart stutter and begin racing. "I might, I'm actually heading there myself if you boys want to join me?"

That was how they ended up on the other side of the big river that Oscar couldn't care to remember the name of right now, joining a table of four people in the beer garden of Fibber Magees. They had been there for two hours but he wouldn't have been able to tell if not for the fact that the band that was playing music inside the pub when they arrived had ended their set, another one quickly taking their place. Lando had disappeared with one of your friends to grab another round of drinks, and Logan was too busy talking to another one about the NFL. But Oscar, he was completely captured by her. The night stretched on with the Aussie hanging onto her every word, learning about her studies, her hobbies, the man was so whipped that by the time the bar was calling for the last orders of the evening he knew her favourite bands by name and had the names of her dogs (Jackie and Wilson) comitted to memory.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ ✦

As the group tumbled out onto the streets that were started to become littered with snow, everyone was having a blast, and clearly, no one wanted the night to end. However, the promise of early engineering lectures and a date with that absurdly old library from earlier in the week had the girl that Oscar was sure he could sketch in perfect detail deciding to retire for the evening, but not before she whipped her phone out of that obscenely warm coat she wore and held it out to him.

It took a beat before Oscar figured out that she wanted his number, and despite how cold his fingers had now gotten he triple checked that he had in fact not mis typed the wrong digits, the name 'Oscar (from Fibbers)' being his final addition before he handed it back to her. The laugh that left her was warm, so much so that his nearly frost bitten fingers were completely forgotten in that moment. She started typing on the screen and when she pivoted the screen back to him so he could read it, where his contact name had originally sat on the top of the now open chat a new name took its place, 'lucky number 81 🧡' now filled the space and before he could think about how he hadn't ever actually told her that he was the famous Oscar Piastri that drove for Mclaren F1 and not just Oscar the Australian tourist that had been slowly falling in love with her for the last 6 hours, she stood on tip toes to land the softest kiss on his cheek. And with that, she gathered her friends, and before he could move from the spot he was rooted to, the group had already turned the corner at the end of the street and was gone.

When the trio finally made their way back to the apartment and stopped making fun of him for his smitten behaviour, Oscar was distracted by his notification tone. The text was simple, and attached was a Google maps link to Irish International Circuit Mondello Park.

Unknown Number: you did really well last season, but I want to see if you've still got those karting skills. Friday at 12, don't be late!

Fibbers girl xx

. ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

The season had officially drained Oscar and best believe that he was ready for his winter break to start, the final laps of the Abu Dhabi GP had his entire life's dream in its grasp, Mclaren has already secured their fourth constructors championship in a row and now he and Lando were neck and neck for the drivers championship. Not starting from pole was not ideal for the aussie but after an intense back and forth overtaking fight with Max and Lando and a red flag pitstop from Esteban in his Haas, Oscar found himself leading the final lap of what has to be the drive of his life. Tears welled in his eyes and the rumble of screams from the grandstands could be heard over the throttle. The last corner was finally behind him and before he could process that his championship fight was finally over, with him victorious, he was out of the car, weighed for the FIA and being hoisted onto the shoulders of his team.

But the moment that finally grounded him to reality was when he finally managed to escape from the clutches of Zak and his extreme enthusiasm and let his eyes fall on his family still stood crowding the barriers. His sisters finally managing to hop the fence and tackle him into the biggest hug the three girls could muster. There were times that Oscar felt like the worst brother in the world. Leaving his home and family to chase what seemed like an impossible dream, leaving Mae Edie and Hattie behind only experiencing them growing up through photos in family group chats, late night face time calls and flying visits to his home between races. They were proud of him though, he could see it in their eyes as they finally relented their vice grips on him.

His mother stood in place behind the barrier, the tears in her eyes and the smile on his face telling him that all their sacrifice was worth it, that her pride in him would never waver and that before he was the new world champion, he was her son.

Finally, his eyes landed on her.

The warm wool winter coat that he met her in that day was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a papaya dress that did absolutely nothing to hide her growing belly, or the ring on her finger. The smile on her face split his heart in two the same way it did in the freezing cold years ago, and for a second, he considered pulling a Rosberg. He was world champion, he had nothing left to prove, so disappearing from the racing world to spend his life wrapped up in you, in your growing family, and Jackie and Wilson who were no doubt snoozing on their couch at home in Monaco.

Well it didn't sound bad, not one bit.

. ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Did I start this over a month ago?? Yes.

Life got busy for a hot sec so I'm extending this event until the season starts in March.

Hope you enjoyed xx

A xx

[oldfashioned-lovergirl]

If you’re still taking requests: sebson mistletoe matchmakers, one of those 5+1 things, like they use mistletoe together other drivers and the one time others do it to them

❃ FLUFFCEMBER 2024 ❃

day 12: mistletoe — jenson button x sebastian vettel (+ webbonso, brocedes, maxiel)

note: happy christmas everybody!! thank you for the request! btw, i will probably reduce the days becuse 1 i have not that many fanfic ideas 2 december is coming to an end and 3 sadly i have to study for my exams. but keep the requests coming :) i’ll do my best to fulfil them. ps: mark sneak in the pic but it does give the idea of a christmas party. i also couldn’t think of 5 couples from the old grid so i’ll give you 3 lmao hope it’s enough. i enjoyed writing this A LOT.

fluffcember masterlist | main masterlist

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

That year drivers’ dinner was organized in a big villa. The atmosphere was beautiful, everyone was having fun. But you know what was funnier?. Jenson and Sebastian’s plan to pull a prank on the other drivers by mysteriously making appear a mistletoe above their heads. After all, what’s better than playing matchmakers?

The first pair they wanted to fall in their trap were obviously Mark and Fernando. Not only because those two were dancing around each other for years by now, but also because they were undoubtedly the easiest target, assuming that two people who became extremely touchy at any given time would be the most likely to kiss. Their assumption revealed itself, in fact, correct.

It wasn’t even that difficult: the two of them were already talking together in a side of the room. All it took was for Jenson to hang the mistletoe above them with a broom handle while Sebastian proceeded to distract them.

The two friends, as expected, weren’t very pleased with Seb interrupting their conversation, and they quickly dismissed him by ignoring him.

“They really wanted alone time.” Sebastian stated with a smirk on his face, once he was back to Jenson.

“Well, let’s see how it plays out. But not from here.” Jenson took Sebastian by his arm and pulled him in the hallway, from where they would’ve had a better visual.

Just as planned, Mark’s head bumped into the mistletoe, and both of them looked upwards. Fernando’s face turned to a shade of red once he understood the situation.

“Oh.” Mark’s eyes were back on Fernando, who was trying his best to find something else to look at. “I haven’t seen many mistletoes around, we must have ended up under the only one.”

“Si, I guess.” The Spaniard was clearly wishing he could dig a grave for himself in the floor. A small grave would have been enough for his size, he wouldn’t take that much to make it.

The taller man seemed uncomfortable too, but overall more collected. “Should we follow the tradition? I mean, if you’re in for it, of course.”

Fernando blushed even more if possible, but nodded nonetheless. “It’s just a tradition, after all.”

Mark didn’t let himself be told twice. He leaned down and pressed his lips on his friend’s. Fernando welcomed the kiss, holding him by his shoulder, while the Aussie’s hands fell down to grab his snatched waist.

Jenson and Sebastian exchanged an accomplice look. That was the sign for them to continue with their mission. It suddenly got extremely fun.

Their next target were the two inseparable best friends, because what was funnier than threaten to break a sexual tension lasting years with a Christmas kiss?

This time was even easier to place them right where they wanted. They hung up the mistletoe in the isolated hallway they have been. Jenson then began a conversation with Nico, subtly leading him in that direction, while Sebastian did the same with Lewis. Once they were all together in the designed spot, Jenson and Seb found a way out and left the two alone, under the infamous plant. They sat on a table where they could watch them from afar without being seen.

It was quite frustrating at the beginning, since those two didn’t seem to realize where they happened to be, too busy doe-eyeing each other. That, until a berry fell on Lewis’ shoulder.

“I can’t believe they really put mistletoes around here.” said Nico, picking up the berry from the Brit’s suit.

“That must be why Mark and Fernando were passionately making out before.”

Nico chuckled, remembering the sight. “Care to imitate them?”

Lewis froze suddenly. He was never out of words, but in that moment he really couldn’t find anything meaningful to say, so he just stayed silent.

“What? You don’t think your masculinity can handle it?” Nico teased him, stepping forward to cancel the empty space between them. “Or you’d rather take it and use it to kiss some pretty girl?”

Lewis didn’t believe there could ever exist a girl prettier than Nico. “Is it a challenge?” And God knew how much he loved challenges.

“I don’t know, would you accept it?”

Lewis took Nico’s face in his hand and pulled him in a kiss.

Seb gave Jenson the high five. It was proving all easier than expected.

They decided to have a drink or two before concentrating on their next victims.

“I must say I didn’t think it would’ve gone so smooth. Why is everyone tonight so fucking horny?” Sebastian said in a softer tone, careful not to be heard by anyone but his accomplice, and they both shared a laugh.

“Look,” Jenson got closer to his friend “tell me he’s not dying to kiss Verstappen from the moment he stepped in this place tonight.” He pointed discreetly at Daniel Ricciardo, sat in a table not too far from them, who was too centered on keeping his eyes on Max to hear what they were saying.

The two appeared in front of the poor boy, blocking his sight. Jenson initiated the talk. “Hey mate, how you doing?”

Daniel snapped instantly back to reality. “Oh. Good, thank you. I was just–“

“Yeah, we know.” Seb stopped him, saving him the awkwardness, then took a mistletoe out of their secret mistletoes bag and handled it to him. “We could have done it for you, but we thought it was more fun if you’d do it yourself.”

The young Aussie looked at the little plant, then at them, a bit confused. Then his big brown eyes widened and his lips parted in realization.

“Max.” Daniel greeted him, after finally finding the courage to approach him.

The boy was sipping casually on his drink. He smiled as soon as he saw his teammate. “Hi Danny. Are you having fun?”

The RedBull driver tried to keep the conversation going until he took the decision: it was finally time to shoot his shot. He sneakily dropped the mistletoe without being seen by his friend, then he slyly dropped down his eyes. “Oh, look. It must have fallen from the ceiling.”

Max frowned, then picked it up and scanned it, turning it around in his hands. “It doesn’t surprise me. Those two are hanging these damn things around since they arrived. Such a childish tradition.”

“Do you think it’s childish?” asked Daniel, finding it hard to hide the disappointed tone. He was usually able to easily break the tension by saying something funny, but in that moment he found himself out of jokes.

“I mean,” Max tucked his hair behind his ear, letting his nervousness shine through. “They’re like the cat and the fox, playing matchmakers, and now everyone is making out. We don’t want them to fool us too, right? Not that I don’t want to kiss you, but– Wait, sorry I didn’t mean it like–” he sighed and shook is head “What am I saying? Sorry, I’m being so bad with words. I just–”

His nonsense rumblings were interrupted when Daniel silenced him with a kiss. Max stiffened at first, but when his friend’s hand found his, he relaxed and kissed him back.

Sebastian and Jenson were watching them satisfied, sipping their second drink. Their game then succeeded most of the times for another hour. At least until they accidentally left their mistletoes bag in a corner of the room to go to the bathroom, and when they were back, it wasn’t there anymore.

“I knew we shouldn’t have gone at the same time.”

So smart of them. “Maybe someone picked it up thinking it was theirs.”

They asked around, but no one seemed to have seen it.

“Has someone lost a navy bag?” Nico Rosberg’s voice resounded suddenly among the people.

“It’s ours!” The two quickly approached the Mercedes driver, soon realizing he wasn’t alone. Lewis was with him, and also Max. And Daniel. And Mark with Fernando. Oh.

The Spaniard had his arms crossed. “I think I’ve seen it there.” He pointed to a door.

Seb and Jenson wasted no time and ran in the said direction. It didn’t take them very much to notice that they ended up in a room full of mistletoes, all hanging from the roof, from the walls, scattered on the floor and all over the furniture. The door closed behind them.

“I think they caught us.” Jenson commented, looking around. The other drivers’ laughters echoed from afar.

“Very perceptive of you.” Sebastian couldn’t help an amused smile.

“We kinda had it coming.” The Brit turned towards him.

“Kinda?” Seb shrugged. “It was inevitable.” His eyes met the other man’s ones, and betrayed his feelings. He couldn’t hide them anymore. “So, what shall we do?”

Jenson tilted his head a bit, his intentions so obvious, so readable on his face. He stepped closer and closer, forcing the other driver to back up against a wall. “Well, it would be very hypocritical of us to avoid the trend at this point.”

“I think so too.” The German’s gaze dropped to his lips.

Jenson trapped him by leaning on the wall with one hand. “May I?” His voice was low and his breathe heavy.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need your British manners with me.”

They smashed their lips together. They explored each other’s mouths, savouring each other’s taste. Sebastian’s hands held him close by behind his neck, while Jenson’s found a way down his body.

When they broke the kiss, they were breathless. Sebastian’s blue doe eyes were still fixated on the other man’s lips. “You know, I think I saw a mistletoe in my hotel room too.”

Jenson chuckled.

[heartsmadeofbooks]

[New Story]: Through Crooked Aim.

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing great.

I wanted to share with you the preview of my upcoming Klaine fic, Through Crooked Aim, which will start next week, Thursday December 12th.

This is a story that I've wanted to write for a while now, and I'm excited to finally get to share it with you all. I hope to see you next week for the first chapter.

Hope you like this little snippet. Story is beta'd by @christinejaneanderson and the picture for the preview was made by @nerdishedits.

See you on the 12th for a new adventure!

The sun was hinting its presence in the horizon as the car took the last turn. The radio was playing softly in the background, the weather man of the usual show he listened to as he got his day started predicting a lovely April day, Spring in full swing, perhaps a bit chillier as the night returned to cover Lima, Ohio. But until then, it would be a warm, beautiful day – it made Kurt smile as he parked the car in his usual spot.

The diner looked good. They had given the exterior a new coat of paint just last month. The only thing that showed just how long it had been there was the sign on the roof, the one Kurt refused to change because it had been picked by his father, many, many years ago: the second m on Hummel’s was dimmer than the other letters. Kurt knew it could be easily fixed or replaced, but he refused to. Sometimes it was okay to choose history over esthetics.

And there was so, so much history here.

Hummel’s had been around for decades. It was the go-to diner for most of the residents of Lima, founded by his own father when he was barely out of high school. It had had a bumpy start – Kurt had heard the story ever since he could remember, how his father had turned years of savings and some money he’d gotten from his family after graduation, into his livelihood. It had been hard at first, doing everything himself because he couldn’t afford to hire any help, a few friends popping over here and there to help flip pancakes or make small repairs as Burt did everything else. Eventually, though, it began to grow, and Burt had enough money for new furniture, for a better grill, for a couple of waitresses. The business grew, and there had been plenty of sweat, tears and sleepless nights invested in it until it did. But Burt Hummel had been a proud man, and when things got hard, he worked harder, until he beat all the odds that had been against him.

“I didn’t have many choices after high school,” Burt had told his son on more than one occasion. “I knew I had to start my own business – I wasn’t exactly book smart, I’ve never been. For a while I entertained playing football in college, but then I got hurt during my senior year in high school so that was out. My dad owned a garage back then, and I thought about following in his footsteps, but there was enough competition in town that my dad was already struggling and going to work with him would have been a terrible idea. It was also probably a terrible idea to open my own diner – I didn’t even know how to cook, for god’s sake. I don’t even know where I got the idea to begin with. But I just knew I wanted my own business. And we all used to drive all the way to Kenton or even Dayton on the weekends for a good dating spot. There was nowhere decent to have a meal with your friends or your girlfriend here. I know you still call Lima a small town, but it certainly was small back then…”

For a younger Kurt, who dreamed of big cities filled with skyscrapers, Lima was certainly small – small-minded, too. He couldn’t imagine anything smaller than that.

Nowadays, Kurt wouldn’t think of Hummel’s as a dating spot, but he guessed back then it had been a pretty decent option, before places like Breadstix opened when he was a teenager, or even the Lima Bean, the local coffee shop that Kurt had loved when he was still in high school. Slowly, Hummel’s had become everyone’s go-to choice for a quick breakfast before school or work, or even a dinner stop at the end of a long day. Everyone had loved Burt Hummel – he had been a bit gruff, but always decent and kind and he would always sneak an extra scoop of ice-cream on every kid’s order of waffles.

A couple of years ago, that thought had sent a pang through Kurt, ache and grief mixing to make everything in him feel tight, tight, tight. Now, it had dulled into a manageable ache, and he was able to smile whenever one of the patrons shared a memory of his father with him. He still missed him – what he wouldn’t give to get one more hug, one more piece of advice, to hear his laughter once again – but it didn’t take his breath away, as it used to.

Kurt unlocked the door and went into the diner, turning every light on as he went. First order of business, every morning, was to turn the coffee machine on, so he went straight to it on the counter and got it started before he went into the office to leave his bag. As the scent of freshly brewed coffee began to fill the empty diner, he started to take the chairs down from the tables, getting everything ready for the first few customers, who would surely be here soon.

The inside of Hummel’s had a classic American diner vibe. In recent years, Kurt had only allowed himself to change a few things in the décor, mostly those that were too worn with age. He kept all the framed photographs that filled one of the walls, though, the ones that showed the history of his family with this place. He had only added a few, marking the moment he had taken over the diner after his father got sick and eventually passed away. Now, alongside pictures of his parents in their 20s, you could find pictures of Kurt’s twin daughters sitting side by side on the counter, or of his husband, Ryan, helping to fix a leak in the kitchen sink. His chest filled with pride as he stared at them, as he did each morning – he had never imagined they would end up here, and yet now… well, he couldn’t picture himself elsewhere.

The little bell above the door twinkled as it opened. Kurt turned and smiled at Marley, the morning shift waitress, as she came in. She was already wearing the dark blue uniform, her hair pulled up in a pony tail. She was also a recent addition to Hummel’s. Kurt liked her – she was kind and quick and responsible, and she was never late. Whenever he had to hire someone new, he wondered whether his father would approve. He thought he had nailed it with Marley.

About a minute after she had arrived, the door opened again and Blaine Anderson walked in.

[udretlnea]

The Divine City, Interlude Quest: Dormiens Factorem

Previous page \ Next page \ Prologue

(Words: 2.7k)

(Edit: I added more explanations to the Author’s Notes. Check it out for more insights about this chapter. Additionally, I deleted the interaction scene with Henry, Cecilia, Lyla, and Guy because - after checking my notes - that would’ve seriously ruined the pacing. (their interactions aren’t until later don’t worry).

(Disclaimer: This work is non-canon to the plotline of the Divine City by yuriisclumsy)

For anyone with siblings, one thing was consistent: they were a constant test of patience. Or if they didn’t have siblings they had that one friend who was practically sibling-coded. For Henry, he knew better than anyone what it was like to have a hyperactive little brother. Especially when said brother asks ridiculous questions like -

“Big bro, why can’t we just let the cows free and let them establish a brand new nation with the new milk element?” Henry paused mid-throw as he processed his little brother’s words.

The teen scoffed, amused more than confused. “Because they have no experience in ruling an entire nation, let alone harnessing the power of a new element.”

Henry was - as family - already used to his sibling’s more…imaginative daydreams. There was little he could do about it other than entertain them (Such is the need to have patience when you had siblings).

He continued his task of refilling the cow feed in the pen. One-two-one-two-one-two.

“Hey, rebel dingus, can you toss me that bucket?” 

“I’m no rebel! I’m future supervisor Bobby of the new cow republic!” He puffed out his chest and brushed back his dirty blonde hair with a hand. “Nobody can tell me what to do except-”

“Guy,” Henry said almost impatiently. He swore he could feel the threads of his patience begin to unravel. “Bucket. Please.”

His little brother wordlessly hopped off the fence, grabbed a nearby empty bucket and handed it off. 

Henry strolled over to the nearest cow and - having put a stool in advance - sat down to start milking. The liquid poured into the bucket without much ceremony. Distantly, Henry could hear his little brother start humming. 

Nothing much else to do while the rest of the adults take care of the harvest, he thought. 

Mornings are often this: After finishing this one chore, it’s on to the next. The two work in tandem cleaning the pens, gathering eggs, and taking care of the livestock. As Henry is patiently tending to the horses, Guy is excitedly and quickly sweeping up dust and sticks. The cries of birds, cows, pigs, and sheep fill the air. It’s a generally lively and pleasant day filled with things the two can expect.

“Ya think mom and dad will take us to see the parade?” asked Guy.

“That’s not until December. And yeah, probably,” Henry answered. He grabbed a brush and began gently brushing the horse. A memory of last year began to play in his head, one filled with warmth and whimsy. “I love that parade. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since the harvest started.”

“Me too. The food was very yummy. Can you believe Fontainians can eat cake every day?”

Henry raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “No way they do that.”

“Yes way! I heard it from a - a riputable source!” 

“Sure dingus. Maybe when we visit Fontaine we can ask to get those special 16-slices of cake that you can only get per day,” he dryly remarked.

Guys eyes lit up in what he could only describe as pure innocence. “Yeah!”

Henry chuckled. Setting the brush down they collected their things and headed out for their next assignment. The house needed to be cleaned, and luckily it was just right across the barn. He inhaled the morning air - savoring the scent of pine - and looked up at the sky. Maybe after this we can sneak into town and nab some cookies off someone’s window.

The teen was in high spirits and his head was filled with bright thoughts of mischief.

At least, until he heard the sound of wood and stone exploding in the distance. The two brothers froze in place and snapped their heads to the right where the path rose into a hill. For just five seconds everything was quiet. And then they felt the ground rumble. Henry put a hand on Guy’s shoulder as he braced himself. 

In the distance, a cloud of dust was kicked up. Henry widened his eyes as he witnessed tens of sheep racing down the hill. Whatever spooked them had caused them to break away 

- And into the brothers’ path.

Henry grabbed Guy’s hand. “Move move move!” 

They barely made it to the other side when the animals sprinted past them, followed closely by a couple dogs and several people carrying rope. The two passively observed them chase.

Excitement welled within Henry’s gut that compelled him to do what he was about to do.

“Guy, go inside and tell Mom I’m following them. Now.”

“Wait what - hey! Henry!”

Without even looking back, Henry ran after them.

As he caught up to the tail end, some of the sheep had broken off leading the others to chase them. The majority of them still ran straight. Henry managed to catch up to a young woman who acknowledged him with a quick glance.

“What - what the heck is going on?” he gasped out.

The lady bared her teeth, but it was out of frustration and had no bite. “I don’t know! Everything happened so suddenly! One minute we were helping the harvest and the next thing I knew a whole herd of sheep got loose and ran away!”

“Oh, it’s going to be one of those days where something weird happens and we have to work together to fix it,” Henry said almost tiredly.

“Eh, personally I find it fun! Keeps things interesting.”

Henry dryly chuckled. “Same! Ya can’t get any more fun out here.”

“Aight, enough yapping. I’ll take that group while you take the ones ahead.” The young woman ran to the right to corral more sheep that had broken off.

Henry saw three sheep running away and straight into a small forest. Cursing under his breath, he stopped to catch his breath. 

Henry greedily gulped down air. He hadn’t run this hard since that three-legged race with the rest of the kids. Henry wiped his brow, slick with sweat, then observed the forest in front of him. 

He remembered this place as where everyone would sometimes play hide ‘n seek. It wasn’t terribly dense, but still thick enough in some places. But now something was different about it.

The air exuding out of it felt…commanding, like a king to his people except he was kind of scary about it. What was that word? Opp - oppresi-something?

Maybe it was a trick of the mind, but he can’t let anything stop him now.

“Is this where the sheep went?” asked Guy.

“Yeah, they went - wait WHAT!?” Henry’s head swiveled to his left. To his utter shock and surprise, Guy was there. “How did you - where did you - why are you - ?”

“Mom told me to follow you in case you needed help. She’s back there calling dad,” he plainly explained. 

“I - you know what, fine. You can come with me, but you're sticking close to me.” Guy nodded. 

Guy wordlessly slipped his hand into Henry’s. Then, the two marched straight into the forest.

///////////////

The two brothers quietly marched down the trail. Their eyes darted to and fro from every direction; the atmosphere — previously light and calm — became charged with anxiety. 

Guy huddled closer to Henry. 

The teen gave a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. Once we find the sheep, we’ll be out of this creepy forest.”

Seriously though, when did it get so weird? It’s almost dark here despite it nearing noon. He steps over a particularly large root and carries Guy over it. He’s just about to take another step when he hears it.

SNAP

A couple feet away, right in front of him, a branch breaks. 

Both freeze as they hear footsteps come closer. A vague outline forms in their line of sight as it steadily grows clearer and clearer to reveal —

Baaaaa

A fluffy white sheep with a bell around its neck saunters over with the air of a prince. It regards them like he just reunited with his retainers. There's a collar on it; it reads Lambchops.

Guy sighs. “Oh it’s just one of the sheep.”

Henry makes an exasperated noise. “Of course. Of course it’s the sheep. I mean, what else would it be? A Hilichurl? They don’t even get this far into the city!”

The teen laughs his anxieties off while the lamb just stares at them expectantly. 

“So what do we do now? Should we have him follow us while we search for the rest?”

Henry thinks for a second before shaking his head. “No. Here’s what we’re going to do: You’re going to take this guy back to the farm and get more help. The more bodies combing the forest the better. Meanwhile, I’m going to head further in and try to find the rest.”

Henry pauses to process what he just said before adding, “How many sheep are left to find exactly?”

“Three, including Lambchops.”

“Great. That just leaves two more.” Henry gently reaches a hand to help guide Lambchops who steps to Guy without complaint. “Are you okay with this? I can guide him out with you and get help together.”

Guy shakes his head. “Nah, I’ll be alright. Remember who won that test of courage two months ago?”

“Of course. How can I forget how you lauded around the fields wearing a paper crown and cape bossing everyone around for a week?” Henry flatly stated.

“Ahhh,” Guy blows a raspberry as he pushes Lambchops gently toward the exit. “That was fun and you know it! I’ll be back soon! Don’t die!”

With that cheerful note, Henry is alone.

He feels a chill down his spine. Henry has to fight his mind from coming up with spooky what-ifs to keep him grounded.

“Alright, let’s go find the rest.”

The next sheep is thankfully not that far and Henry calmly guides it by a rope still attached to its collar. Unfortunately, that’s when his luck ends because he can’t seem to find any more hints pointing toward the last one. Henry shivered and took a quick glance up. He cursed when he saw dusk already turning to night.

This is great. I can’t - I can’t go back with just one sheep. And where the heck is the help? He thought impatiently.

SNAP

The teen and the sheep froze. He whipped his head toward the direction and gasped. 

There, some meters to his left was a thicket that showed signs of something passing through. Henry squinted until the pressure on his eyes made his sight blurry, but he thought he saw a familiar round shape. 

“Finally…!” He muttered. Excitement welled up within him and he walked toward the thicket. He could see it now, coming out of the forest just in time for the others to arrive, and handing the sheep off. And then a nice warm dinner at home as Guy recounted the story with…with…!

What in the name of the creator am I looking at?

It should’ve been a sheep, but it wasn’t. Instead it was glowing purple and seemed to. Its skin was a dark shade of violet and its hooves were…webbed feet?! 

And then - as if sensing his presence - it turned its head to him. Henry covered his mouth with a hand. It was all he could do to prevent his breakfast from coming back up.

Two sets of yellow eyes with slit pupils looked at him. If he squinted, Henry could see what was supposed to be a sheep’s face, but the horn in the middle of its forehead was messing it up. He looked at the neck to see if - yeah, there was a collar there.

Just when it seemed like things couldn’t get any weirder Henry finally noticed the purple mist blanketing the ground. The sheep stepped to the right and the teen laid eyes on a glowing black cube with purple glowing runes. (At least he assumed they were).

The moment he laid eyes on it he heard it.

It was a small, velvet-y voice that whispered in his ear.

Pick it up, it said. Henry felt a pressure on his hand as he was dragged - no, guided to the cube. 

The regular sheep stood behind him, observing quietly.

Another step. And another until Henry could crouch down and hold it in his hands. He did just that when both sheep suddenly bellowed. The purple mist and runes suddenly glowed with new intensity. Henry shut his eyes as the light got as bright as the sun. The last thing he felt was the grass.

///////

…

Ah. It’s you.

So, how’s it feel?

Is it everything you ever asked for and more?

Aye, thought as much. Those upgrades I gave you really lended you an edge over that dastard. Hahaha…

Thanks to you, we have a shot of rebuilding. It won’t be like it used to, but so long as the foundation’s there our home will still stand.

So then, I guess that’s it. You’ll be executing your plan of escape huh?

I wish I could come with you, but I’m afraid I’m more suited here. Still, good luck mate. Oh, one more thing. I know those souls outside this vault seem scary, but I ask that you don’t be too hard on them.

I’m sure they’re similar to you in some respects.

…

I won’t be hard on them, but I can’t promise anything if they attack me first. Besides, what I’m looking for out there is nothing profound or special. What I truly want -

Is to take back my lost time.

//////////

Henry didn’t remember what happened after that. It was all a daze. One minute he was walking out of the forest with both sheep, the next he was getting lectured by his dad while his mom checked him for injuries. He’d been impulsive before, but this time was different. 

He tried to think back to his earliest memory.

There was this weird looking sheep…purple mist…a black cube that he picked up. Wait, where did he put it?

Curiosity and awareness filled his youthful mind. He certainly didn’t feel it on his person. Did he give it to Guy? To that lady? Or maybe he dropped it -

“Henry, are you listening?” says his father. The teen regards the man - wide shoulders, nigh-bulging muscles, tanned skin, and calloused hands. Despite the obvious difference in size, he’s gently rubbing circles into Henry’s hand.

In lieu of an answer the teen nods. 

Henry’s father sighs. “Why don’t you get some sleep bud? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. 

But I still have chores to do! As Henry opens his mouth, his father speaks before him.

“Don’t worry about your chores. I’ll take care of ‘em.”

Henry just hums; he’s too exhausted to care. He goes to his room and climbs in bed. After ten minutes of staring at the ceiling he manages to fall asleep.

///////

…

Thank you.

///////

Elsewhere, two hooded figures sprinted back across the bridge and into the defunct service tunnel.

Any bystanders would’ve noticed their cloaks were singed near the edges. They were so focused that they didn’t see the purple bird carrying a black cube in its beak, flying over the city wall.

///////

High above the city, a pair of eyes was watching a screen. It let out a couple of beeps, signaling that something changed.

A female in what almost passed as scientific uniform quickly hailed the Acting Director. “Acting Director, we’ve got readings.”

There was a brief flash of small light as an almost childlike figure instantly appeared by her side. “Show me.”

Tack tack tack tack

“Oh no, please don’t tell me - “

“It’s going inside the city,” She confirmed.

The Acting Director grimaced. “...Well shit - pull back everyone. Get ‘em back here. I’m going by myself. And keep scanning. Notify me of any changes.”

“Understood,” There was a beeping in her ear that she put a finger to. “Oh, squad 3 had a run-in with some civilians.” 

Marc raised an eyebrow. “How bad?”

“They got spooked, that’s all.”

“...Keep an eye on them for three more days. If they make too much of a ruckus I want them here and their memories scrubbed.”

“Yes sir.”

Marc nodded, already turning to leave. I’m fine. It’ll be fine. The creator isn’t even in the city - isn't even here so there can’t be anyone with sufficient power to open it.

And then Marc remembered that Teyvat was a fantastic place where coincidence was another word for fate. Things happened for a reason. If things were consistent like back home, the vault could be opened.

He growled. Best to be quick about it, then.

His body blinked out of the room.

//////////

A/N: 

Inspired by The Divine City by @yuriisclumsy

Ta-da! Revealing Henry’s little brother’s name. Also, I tried to execute how it felt to have a little brother; using some of my own experiences definitely helped and I hoped I achieved that. 

Yeah, peasant life is full of work. That’s what I wanted to convey.

I hope the sheep scene weirded at least one person out. I know I would if I found a mutated animal.

Hmm…odd how Ceci and Lyla’s cloaks are burnt. I wonder what caused that?

Up next, we’ll check in with Andre, Hugh and…Emery?! I swear there’s an important reason we’re going to them before we check in on Ceci and Lyla. Please bear with me!

Remember: If you have questions, comments, or critiques post them! They help keep me motivated! 

[bellaswan-kinnie]

jack antonoff being messy pt. 3,546

forever icon jack antonoff has given us some earth-shaking information to commemorate the release of you're losing me on streaming and once again my understanding of the midnights album has been upended. she's truly the album that keeps on giving!!

(everything i'm about to say is speculative i realize i don't actually know this woman i just treat her music like a scholarly text)

when midnights first came out i went along with her sneaky deception that the songs were just reflections on sleepless nights from her past for the sake of a cool concept album, not really considering why she'd be fixating on past relationships and events. then when the news broke in april that it was joever, the album made so much more sense to me. i believed that taylor was reminiscing on these nights to understand why her current relationship with joe was unraveling, examining her psyche both independently of and in the context of dating. the album is her asking herself "who am i and how did i get here?"

after the revelation that you're losing me was written and recorded on december 5th, 2021, almost a year before midnights was released and a year and a half before the breakup was reported, i still think my second assessment is likely accurate, but it muddies the waters when it comes to when exactly they broke up.

i kind of always suspected that april was not the real end date of their relationship, since the announcement was largely spurred on by joe's noticeable absence from the vip tent at all of the eras tour shows. originally i assumed they had broken up just before the tour started, but now i think it was mid-late 2022, around the time midnights was finalized and then released.

(remember it took 5 months for the public to find out about their relationship in the first place. my girl can hide things when she wants to!!)

the fact that taylor didn't release you're losing me until after her breakup with joe was public tells me that she wasn't ready to admit that her and joe weren't going to make it at the time of the album's completion. she also probably didn't want to share the details publicly, since the breakup was much fresher in relation to the album's release than it typically has been in the past (also more drawn out and difficult).

labyrinth now sounds to me like it was written during a breather from the turmoil, "i thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around." the lyric "oh no, i'm falling in love again" could imply a rekindling of the honeymoon phase in their relationship, a new "lavender haze" she wanted to cling onto against her better judgement. she knew there were major problems, but she had put so much time and effort into their life together that she kept trying to make it work anyway. "do i throw out everything we built or keep it?" also the consistent use of "you" in the song instead of a "him" vs. "you" situation tells me that it's about one man, not her falling in love with a new guy after a breakup.

i used to think maroon was a reflection on the relationship with jake gyllenhaal since maroon is a darker shade of red, but now i'm fully on board with it being about joe. first of all she calls the man poor again, and i can't imagine jake gyllenhaal having a roommate at that age and point in his career. the lyrics also imply a bit of infidelity on her part, "the mark they saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephones," which i've theorized was a major factor in the beginning of their relationship (hiddleswift u will always be iconic).

anti-hero and dear reader show that (at least at some point) she really blamed herself for the failure of this relationship, both songs being filled with self-loathing and self-doubt. mastermind and you're losing me also reference her tendencies for scheming and people-pleasing.

you're losing me is the most explicit illustration of why they eventually broke up, but it's point of view kind of goes back and forth. she switches between past and present tense, still unsure if it's really over yet. i've seen people talk about how it was written a week after taylor visited joe in panama where he was filming a movie along with a bunch of other songs, so that time of separation must have been very eye-opening to her.

there's a lot more re-re-fathoming i'm gonna have to do but i'm understanding more and more why this album is kinda confusing in its storytelling. that woman was going through it!!!

[nightmaretist]

TIMING: Mid-December PARTIES: Zofia @zofiawithaz & Inge @nightmaretist LOCATION: Dance Macabre/the streets around said bar SUMMARY: Inge finds Zofia in the undead nightclub by accident and addresses her — the two string up a conversation and find common ground. CONTENT WARNINGS: None.

Dance Macabre always enveloped her with welcome arms, it seemed. Inge didn’t really wish to go out in any place else in this godforsaken town, as she kept finding herself looking over her shoulder. Here, though, her kind gathered and here, she was certain she could find some kind of sanctuary. Nothing perfect, nothing that didn’t make her wonder if perhaps she should be looking out for that Cortez, that Rhett, that Owen.

She was in a good mood, all things considered. The alcohol helped. As did the relative absence of Christmas decorations in this place. But she was still alert, at least somewhat, and when she passed by a woman introducing herself to another as Zofia she halted, turning on her heel. Inge took her in, this dark-haired beauty and went over all she knew.

A woman scorned, a woman maimed, a woman seemingly maddened — these were all grounds for her hard-to-gain sympathy. But then she had undone Cassius, hadn’t she? And so, her empathy ended before it could even properly begin. She mixed herself into the conversation with little hesitation, not having struggled with taking up space in at least a few decades. “So you’re the elusive Zofia,” she said, extending a hand when she’d like to raise it to smack the other like she’d smacked Cassius. “Ingeborg.” She was sure to squeeze tight and smile sweet. “Heard a lot about you.”

___

Zofia needed a fucking drink. 

She’d finally obtained some clothing that didn’t look as though it had taken a trip to hell and back and was also her own taste. She’d traded in the jeans and t shirt she’d been given by Alistair for some new finery the moment she’d had the means to do so. Donned in sheer black lace cut in a deep v down her chest, maroon pants, and red lipstick, she felt more herself than she had in an eternity. 

Sat at the bar, she kicked one leg over the other as she surveyed the space. No familiar faces. For the best, probably. She wasn’t sure she could deal with complicated reunions and questions of where she’d been. Or worse, running into those she’d already seen since she’d been back. 

She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder, downing the last of her drink. She felt a tap on her shoulder and a face she didn’t recognize asked if she was someone named ‘Jessica’. Did she look like a Jessica? “No. I’m Zofia. Sorry.” The stranger went on their way, and Zofia went back to her drink. 

Her name carried over the music from a voice she hadn’t heard before, and Zofia felt as though she’d been doused in ice water. She went still as a statue, fighting every urge to hastily dispatch whoever it was and get the fuck out of there. But that would cause a scene, and scenes were bad for people trying not to be hunted again. That and something about promising to try and better herself and then lashing out sat wrong with her. A fake smile gritted across her face, appearing more like the bared teeth of a wild animal. 

She turned, taking in the other woman, trying to assess if she was a threat or not. “I’m at a disadvantage, Ingeborg.” She took the woman’s hand, giving it a shake. “You seem to know me, but I don’t know you.” Her eyes narrowed. “So who sent you?”

_____

Was she a bad friend, for being intrigued by this elusive creature? Sofie, the person she’d only ever known as Cassius’ disappeared lover as he’d never introduced them. Zofia, the person who had left him crumbled upon her return. Were there other versions of her out there, just like she carried her past versions with her? Nika Beinhacker, Ingeborg Beenhakker-de Jong, Ivonne Coëme and now Inge Endeman, all different editions of the same person. Who was this Zofia and perhaps more pressingly, why was she?

And she did resent her, this vampire who had hurt someone she cared for. But another part was intrigued, the way she often was. In a way that went against better judgment, in a way that made her cross whatever boundaries she may have set for herself. Inge had never been a person of very strong principles. She followed her heart, and if not, she followed her desire for whimsy, inspiration and distraction. She wasn’t sure win what category the vampire fell, yet.

The other didn’t seem quite as charmed by her, as it turned out, and Inge was intrigued by this. She was quick to take the seat next to the vampire, settling easily as she crossed her legs and considered her drink options. That could come later, though.

“Oh, no, no. No one send me. I am not someone who is sent.” She gave a knowing smile, which hardly revealed anything. Perhaps she should try harder at not seeming like a hunter type, but the notion of her being anything like a hunter was so offensive to her that she hardly considered it. She turned her attention to the barkeep, ordering another round of, “Whatever she’s having, for the both of us.” 

Then, back to Zofia. Sophie. Sofieke. Whoever. “We have a mutual …” Inge thought for a moment, then shrugged, deciding against a label, “Cassius. I heard you went through quite an ordeal, but …” Tsk, her lips clicked together. “Have been causing a stir yourself. That’s all. I figured we should meet and hey, here you are.”

————-

She was pretty. About the same height as her, with big brown eyes and auburn hair. Zofia’s eyes flickered from feature to feature, looking for any clues as to what she was, and what she was up to. She had come to Dance Macabre, so there was a good chance the woman no longer had a pulse. Or she was a hunter who was running the risk of being caught for the sake of staking out a target. Literally. 

The stranger ordered another round, and a few moments later two dry vodka martinis with lemon twists floating on top were set before them. Good. The drink would make whatever this was about to be more tolerable. 

At the sound of an all too familiar name, Zofia took a lengthy sip of her drink. “I imagine whatever you heard of my ordeal is lacking in details.” Another lengthy sip as she started thinking of an exit strategy. There had to be other places to drink in this town where she wasn’t likely to get a stake in her chest. Or that didn’t have friends of Cassius lurking to confront her for her actions at their little reunion. 

Perhaps, on second thought, being staked would be preferable.

“So you are a friend of his?” She asked. It wouldn’t surprise her. Cassius, after all, was a good person. A kind person. A person who frequented all the same spots as her- how the hell was she going to find new places to go when only a handful of places were designed for undead clientele?!

__________

She gave a hum of approval at the drinks that appeared, taking her glass and taking a small sip. The vampire had good taste, that at least could be said. Inge could appreciate that. As for who she was and what she’d gone through and done subsequently — well, she hadn’t quite made up her mind. For all the love she had for Cassius, she did sometimes think his judgment to be rather poorly. (Which in Zofia’s case could be a blessing or a curse.)

Not that Zofia’s judgment seemed all that sound. Leaving bodies around for a past lover was admirable on a dramatic level, but otherwise a rather outrageous action. “Well, they do say every story has many sides. I’ve heard his.” Inge shrugged. “I am not opposed to hearing yours.”

And that was true. She had been in a position like this before, hadn’t she? Escaped from hunters, her mind frazzled and not quite her own. Looking over her shoulder. She was a solitary creature, one of little loyalties, but she did feel a kinship with her fellow undead — most especially when they had fallen into the claws of some cruel slayers. “What I do know is that hunters can do a number on you. Irregardless of whatever else.”

Inge nodded, circling the rim of her glass. “Yes. But like I said, he didn’t send me. It’s — well, pure coincidence.” She smiled, as if it was a lucky and happy accident. She considered rubbing in the other’s face that Cassius was properly heartbroken, but swallowed the words. 

———

The music changed in the club to something with a consistent pulsing beat. It made Zofia’s skin crawl. She lifted the glass in a half-salute before downing another sip, trying to chase the thoughts away. 

Her eyebrow raised over the lip of her martini glass as the other woman offered to listen to her story. “Are you asking out of morbid curiosity?” The music thumped on. Her eyes closed, her face screwing up in concentration as she tried to shove away the matching plink plink plink of leaky pipes in her mind. The tempo changed and the thoughts subsided. 

A sad smile settled on her face. So that was it. She sat back in her seat, her hackles no longer completely raised. “They certainly can.” She sighed. “Tell me, how old are you?” Zofia cocked her head to the side. How much had she experienced? How much running, how much fear? How much living had she done?

She hummed, unamused. It figured that the universe would have a warped sense of humor. Depositing friends of his directly into her path. “It’s a small world, after all.” Zofia glanced around the space, trying to determine who else might be a friend of Cassius’s, intent on coming over and reminding her of what she’d done just by announcing his name. “Care to take this conversation outside? It’s quieter.” And less of a chance of being overheard. And there were more routes for a quick escape.

———

Many things Inge did were out of morbid curiosity. She’d watched a zombie maul a man because of it, just as she’d entered Parker’s workshop because something within her needed to be satiated. But this wasn’t really one of these cases — whatever Zofia had done and gone through wasn’t bound to stir her to her core like a hunter’s place for torture, after all.

Maybe it was simple solidarity. She did think that important among her fellow undead and besides, she could not help but draw a parallel between what she’d heard about Zofia and what she herself had gone through. “No. Curiosity, yes. Morbid, no.” 

Some relief seemed to spread through the other which was a welcome sight. Inge didn’t mind people being distrustful of her, but she disliked it a little when it came to people like Zofia. Undead. “Almost eighty,” she said, knowing it could be relatively young by certain standards. “What about you?”

She nodded. “Exactly.” Never mind that Zofia had returned to Wicked’s Rest, rather than flee to another town — which is what Inge would have done, in her shoes. Always running, barely ever returning in case of what if. She considered the other’s proposition. “What do you suggest? An alley, in stead?” That wasn’t particularly safe, either. “A quieter place would do, though. We could go for a walk?” 

________

Zofia could respect curiosity. A little. She thought. But what good had sharing the little details of her life done for her in the past? Gotten her friends? Maybe so. But where had those friends been when she’d needed them? She took another long sip of her drink. 

Almost eighty. The ‘almost’ drew a smile from the vampire. It reminded her of when little children insisted they were almost the age they’d be in eleven months, which meant they were practically a grown up. Of course, almost eighty was long past childhood. Long enough to experience, long enough to grieve, to love, to mourn, to hurt… But still young. It was closer to childhood than Zofia had been in a long, long time. “Three hundred fourteen. Three hundred fifteen in the new year.” 

Taking one last sip of her drink, she set some money down on the bar before sliding off her chair. “A walk sounds good.” Moving was good. Moving meant if she was being followed she would notice sooner rather than later. She slipped her coat on, wrapping herself in the burgundy wool, even if the cold night air wouldn’t really bother her. She extended her arm for the other old woman to link her arm through before heading out the door. “I’m sure you have questions.” She sighed, glancing back at the other woman. “Will you ask them now, or shall I start at the beginning?”

_______

Oh, she was old. Properly old. Inge felt a tinge of inferiority spread through, almost wished she had lied about her age — seventy seven was still just a human age, one that people lived to with some back pain and complaint but generally little issue. But being over three centuries old, now that was an accomplishment.

But she swallowed her insecurity and gave a look that did reveal her being impressed, “Good job on sticking around for so long.” Not everyone managed, did they? She’d known undead like them to lose their minds in their immortality. Though that might be a kinder fate than having your head chopped off. She thought of Sanne, how there had been a small moment of her head falling before she’d turned into dust. 

She threw down some money as well, still wanting to pay for the round she’d ordered on proud principle and wrapped her own body in her leather trenchcoat. She’d gotten it in the nineties. Inge stared at the arm offered to her, bemused and surprised by this move, and took it. If it was a challenge, she’d meet it. If it wasn’t, then she wasn’t sure what it was. Once the night air greeted them, it seemed the conversation was bound to properly start. “I’d rather you tell it however you want. I know speaking of such matters isn’t always the most … easy.” She certainly did not talk of the ways hunters haunted her, still. “Speak, if you’re fine with that. If you’d rather have questions, sure. Start with what happened.”

________

Zofia snorted. “It goes by in a blink.” She’d heard it said so many times over the years, from people with white hair that spilled around faces with lines and wrinkles. People with eyes that spoke of a wealth of human joys and sorrows. She wondered what her eyes spoke of. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know anymore.

Ingeborg linked her arm in Zofia’s, and the vampire led on. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, she sang over and over in her thoughts. She didn’t know if she had friends any longer. It was safer to keep everyone so very very close. The closest of enemies, so that she could see the cogs tick in their minds, so she could figure out the trap before it snapped shut with her inside. 

She sucked the cold night air in, embracing the chill. “It’s a story that started some time ago.” Zofia said simply. “You would have been a young thing. Maybe in your twenties. I had a family. A family that I chose, and for hundreds of years a family that continued to choose me. And god, did we live.” A wistful smile stole at her features, only to be swept away as the story continued. “Someone plucked them all away from me. Dead. Missing. Who’s to say, really. I never saw them again, and I gave up hope that they’d ever turn up a long time ago.” 

“And then I started to rebuild. Let myself enjoy life again. Enjoy love. And…” She cut herself off, her eyes darting toward an alley at the sound of a crunch. She watched, waiting for the trap to spring to life. A rat skittered out of a dumpster with some papers in its little mouth, squeaking as it scampered away with its prize. She continued walking.

“It was dark there. You’d think I wouldn’t mind the dark, since I can’t enjoy the sun anymore. You’d think it would have been a wonderful little respite. But it’s never been fully dark out here. I’ve always had the stars… the moon…” Zofia looked up at the distant, twinkling lights. A reminder that she had found a way out. “A dark, small room. A bunker, really. In the ground, deep down, below some old cabin in the woods. Probably long since forgotten by everyone in this damned town, except  for the monsters who hunt things like us.”

“They were looking for information.” She continued, not wanting to live in the details for any longer than what was necessary. “They used all the tricks of their trade. All the things they knew could hurt, to try and figure out where the members of my clan, my family, had hidden themselves away. I was the easiest to find. The easiest to catch. The weakest remaining link. And they tried so very hard to break me.” Her voice wobbled. She stopped talking for a few minutes, refusing to cry in front of a stranger, especially one who’s knowledge of Zofia consisted of information gained from a love story that had ended spectacularly badly. “They succeeded. Just not in the way they were hoping.” 

She couldn’t always see them. Couldn’t always hear them. But she knew they followed. The ghosts that had visited her. Haunted her. Watched her, unable or unwilling to help. She could see them now. Lurking just at the corner of her vision. Still not helping. Still not quite comforting. Simply watching. Waiting. Zofia fixed her gaze on the woman who’s presence she’d proven to herself was real when she’d taken her arm. “What questions do you have.”

__________

“So they say,” Inge said. And she supposed on one hand life had flown by. How many years had it been since her daughter had died? Since Sanne? Since she had died? It all still felt like something that had happened not much longer than a few weeks ago while simultaneously feeling like a lifetime ago. Decades stretched, decades melted together. Time was an incomprehensible thing, both in dreams and in real life. 

As the other started speaking she moved with her in tandem. She had always envied the vampires and their clans, those houses and families that stayed together forever. She’d had Sanne once, her former nightmare and for a while current dream — but it hadn’t been the same. She was glad for her nature, did not envy those that had to drink blood to survive (boring, compared to the nightmares) but mares were often so solitary. Even if named after animals that moved in packs.

But what good where these micro-societies when hunters could rip them apart? It meant there was more to lose, more to leverage against you. Inge did not envy Zofia any more in that regard. The losses she’d suffered had ruined her enough, she figured.

She let her talk, resisting the urge to interject or let out an expletive, but her expression was one of empathy. Slayers were a cruel kind. Never able to simply kill, it seemed. Taking advantage of the undying bodies of their prey that could be maimed endlessly. She needn’t ask what had happened. She remembered Italy. She remembered Switzerland. She remembered Wicked’s Rest.

The story wrapped with a request for questions, as if Zofia was one of her students presenting a piece of art. Inge looked at her inquisitively. Her eyes were red. She should don her sunglasses. “First off, I am sorry that some people felt entitled to ruining your family. That they thought — that there was some righteousness there, that it was their right to. They’ve taken from me too.” Sanne’s head toppled from her neck and turned into dust before it could hit the ground. She blinked up at the stars. “And I am sorry they did this to you. It is an ugly delusion, that they think they can. That they think —” She shook her head. “It makes them better than us. I’ve always figured it makes them worse.” At least vampires healed fast, she figured. At least there was that blessing. In this area she envied her blood-drinking kin, too. 

“Did they survive you, in the end?” That was most important. “Are they after you, still?” That mattered to her personally, too. More slayers was never a good thing, especially not in this damned town. “And … what is it you’re after?”

__________

Zofia knew what pity felt like. It was cloying and smothering and altogether intolerable. This wasn’t pity. This was understanding. She didn’t cringe away from the red eyes as they studied her.  Whatever Ingeborg had been through in her life, it was enough to compare to the last half century of her own life. Steely eyes shifted to a red that matched Inge’s, and Zofia met the younger woman’s gaze. 

“I’m sorry for whatever cruelties you’ve endured at their hands.” She wasn’t used to this understanding. It wasn’t uncomfortable, thankfully. It was bolstering. It made her feel as though she could reforge the broken bits of her with damascus steel, remake herself into something that would not be torn asunder again. They both could. 

“Only one was there when I got out.” A dark smile drew up the corners of her mouth as a memory of lullabies and the metallic scent of fresh blood drifted through her mind. “I wish I could say he got what he deserved, but I didn’t have time for that. He’s burning in hell, all the same.”

The smile fell as another face drifted through her mind. “The one in charge wasn’t home. He’s still out there. And the other one probably had friends.” Zofia took a moment, mulling over the final question. “Everything they took from me. Security. Family. Peace. And I won’t have any of those things until I see the life fade from their eyes. Is that too much to ask for?”

———

She supposed that was an acceptable way of putting it. Having endured cruelties at their hands. Inge refused the title of victim. It was not one she would don, not for Hendrik, nor Sanne and certainly not a handful of hunters. But she had endured cruelties at all their hands. Endured, being the key word, cruelty being the condemnation of the other party. To have gone through it made them stronger. To have doled it out made the perpetrators worse than them. (Still – she didn’t quite think her ex-husband or creator perpetrators. She preferred not to think of them at all.) 

“It’s okay,” she said resolutely. “I will outlive them all, in the end. And so will you.” Those slayers, with their petty lifespans and their even pettier lives … most of them didn’t make it that far in life. “Let every scar we bear remind us of what we’ve managed to survive, hm?” This unlife was to be a celebration.

Zofia had killed one of her tormentors. That was good, Inge thought. A closure of sorts. She wondered if the vampire was vengeful enough to after the rest of them. “Good. Let him burn there forever.” She wondered for a moment how the other murdered. Was it all vampiric fangs and bloodshed? She carried herself with grace now, but perhaps she was more brutal out there. 

She halted, looking at the vampire. “I understand.” Did she? She ran from her tormentors. She ran from town to town, finding no security, no peace, no family. But art — there was always new art. “It is an understandable approach. They deserve nothing less.” Inge wasn’t going to offer her assistance. She barely went after the slayers she encountered. Worse, she’d recently bought one a drink and fucked another. “You deserve nothing less.” 

But. There was a but. She let it dangle in the air for a moment before grabbing it. “But, Cassius. Can you leave him be? I know — well, I don’t, not fully. But whatever transpired, it must ache.” Sanne’s head toppled from her neck. A lost lover could make one quite lost. “I suggest you do if you want those things in this town. Security. Peace.” Inge shrugged. “Perhaps even family.”

———

“That we will.” She certainly planned to outlive hers. It would be easy, since she didn’t plan to rest much until they were incapable of doing harm to her or anyone else again. Though Zofia supposed it would be easier when the scars weren’t still open wounds on her soul. It would be easier when every noise and shadow wasn’t another threat. If that day ever came. 

A dark smile danced across her features for a moment. It was a memory that gave her comfort. One gone. She managed to avenge the lives of those she’d lost and herself, even just a little. 

She paused in their walk, the humor that had momentarily flickered in her eyes all but snuffed out at the reminder of who she was there on behalf of. Even if she hadn’t been sent by him, he’d no doubt hear of this exchange in passing. “That won’t be an issue,” Zofia’s affect was cool and detached. “He has another, now.” Now. As if so much time had passed. The vampire felt herself bristle. Replaceable. Was that what she was? A piece that could be swapped out and exchanged easily with another? 

“Perhaps,” she echoed, the anger that had bubbled up fading at the mention of the one thing she still, somehow wanted. Family. “I’ll rebuild, I’m sure.” 

_______

There was a switch, like all the heat was sucked out of the air. Inge wasn’t surprised. She looked at Zofia calmly, vaguely understanding of the anger of a scorned woman but also, most of all, protective of Cassius. It was a strange balance to try and uphold. To care for him while also understanding her.

Because there was a string of past lovers, faces that had come after Sanne. She had broken some – if not most – of their hearts, but some of them had left her own metaphorical one cracked. There was still, even after all these years and all her experience, something deeply intimate and vulnerable about the exposure of sex, the constant return for it. She was still emotionally driven, more than by lust. She’d haunted a man who’d broken her heart, once. She got it.

But she wouldn’t tolerate it. Not in herself, let alone in Zofia.

“Indeed.” And it was cruel of him, wasn’t it? To have moved on. It was, in a way. But matters of the heart often were. She got that, too. “And I am sorry, for that. It’s no easy thing. But there’s no use in … eyes for eyes, and the like.” 

Inge hesitated for a moment, then linked her arm back with Zofia’s. “You seem like you know what you want. So you shall get it. And there’s plenty interesting people in this town, surely you know that.” Cassius was one of them — but there was a whole world beside him. “If there’s one thing our kind has, it’s time.”

———

“Well there is a use for it,” the vampire sighed, shaking her head. “But not in this case. Not with him. I can spend that currency elsewhere. With people who actually deserve what is coming to them.” Zofia would rather spend her resources securing her safety and exacting her revenge on the hunters that had taken everything from her than wasting it on someone who, at the end of the day, did not deserve it. 

She let out a soft huff. “I’m very old. I have only  so much time before some switch in me flips and whatever humanity I cling to burns out like a lightbulb. If there’s even much of it left, now. This town may be full of interesting people, but I’m not sure time has much left in that particular deck of cards for me.” Still, there was no point in writing it off entirely. She could still enjoy herself, if she could allow anyone close enough to her to enjoy. 

“You have my word. I’ve no intention of hurting your friend. I have better things to occupy my time with, and no interest in spending it hurting myself further.”

———

Inge had killed a slayer before. Humans died so easily compared to the likes of her. Lacerations of her skin hurt, but she would never bleed out, her skin would always regrow — but humans bled. Humans didn’t need their heads cut off or their bodies starved from sustenance for over a week. But when she’d taken a slayer’s life it hadn’t been calculated revenge. It had just been a move of self defense and desperation. She tended to run, after all, as that was the easiest option for her. Flee into the astral and look down on the world and its dangers. Except for that time. That time she’d drawn her gun and loosened all six bullets and disappeared.

Had it felt good? Sure. There had been a satisfaction. But it hadn’t lasted. Not because she felt guilty, but because in that case death wasn’t the end. She was still looking over her shoulders, there were still hunters out there. It had been futile. It was not something to just throw on the table, though, this insight in that fear of hers she was still convinced didn’t exist. “Good. Focus it on them, then.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps. Maybe the issue is that you’re still thinking in terms of humanity when we’re not human any more and haven’t been in some time,” Inge said. “But you can find your people again. That we do need, hm?” Even she had her tethers. Even if she snipped them from time to time, when she ran. 

She nodded, appreciative. “Perfect,” she almost smiled while saying it. Unsaid went the pain she’d already delivered to Cassius, but Inge wasn’t the type to think much of a slap to the face anyway. “Perhaps we can spend some of that time together, hm? I’d like to hear about all the things you’ve seen and done in your years.”

______

A smile flickered at the corner of her mouth. “Perhaps,” the woman drawled. It was a difficult thing to let go of, humanity. She’d been playing pretend for centuries. Drinking blood from glasses as if it were simply another expensive vintage from the DuPont wine cellar. Zofia had known better, had always known better. It might do better to let herself be something more. Something new. Something not quite human, but not quite monster. And perhaps it was time to find more like minded people. 

“ I think,” The flicker of a smile caught on her lips and lingered. “I think I’d like that very much.” 

[absolutebitchgetter]

The problems of CS. Combined in one.

Since the CS ninjas are onto me, i shant give up. You will forever hear the tunes of the rumours of ABG'S unbanning.

Heres all the CS posts i can find:

All of this might share the same topic, and thats a feature of how Comic Studio doesnt - or probably will never - fix its problems. Insane. I know. However, why am i not giving up if we cant fix it?

To save people's sanity.

Im trying to get unbanned so i can prove i am trying to become a better person, and save people's mental health by pointing out thr flaws in:

-moderation

-people

-studios

-controversy

-kids

Its honestly pretty scary how kids are exposed to Jayst- i mean the toxicity of comic studio, and also how the experienced CS users are saying its worse than fucking Twitter.

Where can i begin with the fucking moderation? Where were they when i was getting banned? One is treated like an angel after the fucking outrageous calls he does. How long was i banned? 8 months? Yes. 8 Fucking Months. Above Half a year. One has literally made DOXXING JOKES TO ME and made me fear for my life. One in the cs discord takes someone elses side when i ask for a spoiler for Binding of Isaac (a pretty scary game). One is just fucking horrible at moderation. And one is probably biased after i did a few too many pings in a server. A server i owned btw, no one stopped me. You know who you are. :)

To name a few very shit studios,

-Probably fucking most of them

Probably 10% of the studios get used.

And a lot of them are just fucking shit.

We have a fucking NICK JR studio for like 2 YEAR OLDS.

When is there a fucking Despicable Me comic studio?

To name types of people:

Suspected pedophiles

probably pedophiles

pedophiles

nazis

racists

homophobes

transphobes

xenophobes

sexists

anti semetic

Jokes aside tho there are lot of people i named that are actually one of the things above. There are also lots of fucking toxic people.

To my next point

popular beats all apparently

If your popular, dont fear of being banned! You fucking wont be!

I can name, a shit ton of people that should be banned but wouldnt because they have a shit ton of followers and that would get a lot of people to quit the site.

-Puffyy (Should i say more?)

-Jaystar (☠️)

-Onion_Rabbit (Threw about users like hell, faked harassment, legit got people to witchhunt me (December 2022), was toxic to me before i got banned (unfairly) (July 2023)

-Deathzy (A fucking mpreg and sex comic untagged, did the same as Onion_Rabbit July 2023, has known cases of being cocky as fuck when they get their way)

-SarahKomik (Has threw about users under the bus pretending to victimise themselves over the slightest of out of context things. The current situation with Oka is one.)

-Zappy (The same as above.)

Theres a lot more! Holy fuck

This community has a complete fucking hivemind too.

When popular users say "this person has done something bad (slightly or horrible) target them guys" and when they say "dont harass this person pls" they're praying that the mods dont fucking mob them. Oh wait.

Its like a lot of people have pointed out popular beats all!

Also, this is how people say "fuck the rules" (e.g, Oka and me)

If you have any problems, comment it, You probably shouldnt have but if your a snowflake, combat me.

Oh yeah i also forgot Tammy got knocked about like the school thot at summer time with the football team. They need apologising yall. This is the reason why people quit, my point above. Tammy quitting is one of the worst things to happen to CS.

[galacticlamps]

I was tagged by @terryfphanatics​ (thanks! sorry I took forever - I started answering these & didn’t finish and just remembered it was in my drafts)

What book are you currently reading?

The Two Towers! which upsets me bc I’ve been at it since August (technically - I wasn’t ‘at it’ in, uh, October, November, December, January, or February, for lack of time - but I’m back at it now, and I even convinced myself to start over from the beginning so I didn’t forget anything)

What's your favourite movie you saw in a cinema this year?

sorry but the last time I went to a movie theater was probably in 2017, 2018 at the latest, so... yeah I’ve got nothing

What do you usually wear?

jeans, boots, at this point in the winter usually some combination of flannels, sweaters and/or sweatshirts. (I’ve been really cold lately)

How tall are you?

5′6″ ish

What's your star sign?

capricorn

Do you share your birthday with a celebrity or historical event?

I do, yeah

Do you go by your name or a nickname?

mostly nicknames, I have quite a few at this point. I’ve yet to pick one to use on here, I should probably do that soon, I’ve been meaning to for years now

Did you grow up to be what you wanted to be as a child?

I don’t recall ever wanting to be anything in particular as a child, honestly, but I can say that so far I’ve pretty much stuck to the career path that first caught my interest in high school, if that counts

Are you in a relationship? Who is your crush if not?

nope! and it’s been a very long time since I’ve had a serious crush either, which I’m honestly grateful for. I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship at this exact point in my life anyway, so I’m just gonna keep vaguely admiring every funny girl who’s kind to me for the time being without actually developing feelings for her. I hope It seems to be going well so far mostly

What's something you're good at versus something you're bad at?

(I’m trying to think of two that relate to each other)

I am very good at drawing objects and not at all good at drawing people! technical plans are something I’ve dealt with extensively both academically & professionally, but in the more general sense I’ve always been an ‘I can’t draw’ person. tbh I should find some of those artists who complain about backgrounds and just do all their architecture etc for them

Dogs or cats?

nothing against dogs but cats for sure, always cats

What's something you'd like to create content for?

not to sound like a jerk, but I work in the arts industry & really hate the place ‘content creation’ has come to occupy in everyone’s vocabulary, even though I totally realize that in a context like this it’s probably just trying to be a vague enough term to be inclusive of the many different things people can create. I like writing the fanfic that I do, so without switching subjects, I would like to get better at drawing people because sometimes I have ideas that would be better expressed as images or even short comics

What's something you're currently obsessed with?

Obsessing over 60s who is my baseline so I don’t think that counts - but it’s been almost a month since I watched Holding Achilles & there have only been hours when I didn’t think of it, not entire days

What's something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

Ngl, (& not to be a total downer, but) the last 12 months-ish have been an extremely busy/hectic/unpredictable year for me, with both the good & the bad stuff coming out of left field most of the time. So while there were certainly more than enough disappointments, for the most part, they weren’t the kinds of things you could be excited about beforehand (relatives dying, people fighting, strained relationships, illnesses, work stuff in a perpetual state of flux - or as I’ve taken to calling it: death disease & dubious employment). I suppose there were a lot of events I wanted to make it to that I didn’t, due to the aforementioned junk, and I certainly imagined myself getting to read more books & write more fics than I did, but that doesn’t feel like a good specific answer.

What's a hidden talent of yours?

I suppose that depends who you ask? There are lots of work or work-adjacent skills I could name that would be news to people on here, but those are such prominent parts of my life otherwise that they definitely don’t feel ‘hidden.’ But I guess even among people who expect me to be handy/crafty, more overtly artistic things tend to surprise them - like I’ve had people forget that I was the one who painted something, for instance, because that’s not the kind of skill most associate with me. (and I am very good with color & pigment tbh)

Are you religious?

nah. I’m not like, a committed atheist or anything either, I just grew up catholic & don’t go in for that anymore, nor do I have any desire to go seek out another faith

What's something you wish to have at this moment?

time uh, let’s say a haircut

tagging people kinda seems rude after taking multiple months to come up with so many kind of non-answers oops, but if anyone would like to copy the questions, either as an opportunity to do a little q&a or an excuse to tag/ask your friends, be my guest

[pmbueckers]

— for evermore

01 ‘tis the damn season

⌞and it always leads to you in my hometown⌝ – taylor swift ⋆⁺₊❅.

pairing – paige bueckers x fem oc!dorothea greene

summary – they’ve been at it since highschool, this back and forth, but what happens if and when paige and thea finally realize this hometown situationship might be worth something more?

word count – 3.7k

warnings – idgaf abt punctuation, language

links – masterlist , series masterlist

authors note – find all the information abt this fic with the link above! tried my very best to line it up with the ttds lyrics but giving it my own twist/meaning. it makes sense to me but thats coming from a chronic swiftie so idk if its gonna be confusing for others or not.. pls lmk but be nice lol

dorothea greene pov, december 2023

if i wanted to know who you were hanging with while i was gone i would have asked you 

its been three years since we graduated and no matter how much i told myself the throwing of our caps in the air was it, the symbolic end, i knew myself better than that. i knew her better. i knew us better.

because you can never truly escape paige bueckers.

shes like vines, and once youre in, youre in.

im going home tonight, to celebrate the holidays with my family and hometown friends, but the odds that i dont see her are slim to none. and shes all i can think about as im trying to pack. everything im throwing in my bag, a reminder of her. the shoes she got me for my birthday years ago, my favorite t shirt to sleep in that may or may not be hers. even what im wearing to the goddamn airport, a sweatsuit i bought at the mall of america with her, and a necklace she gave to me before we graduated that i cant muster the strength to give up.

i know i dont mean anything to her anymore, honestly i dont know if i even meant that much to her back then, but i cant help but be conflicted myself, why is it the whole year im fine, “cured” of paige bueckers, but the second it hits december and i know snow is falling back home, i need to be back in hopkins wrapped up in her arms? she probably has someone else by now. no, she definitely has someone else by now. this shouldnt be so hard. i just need to go back home, and not get drawn back in. easier said than done.

im loading all my things into my car, this car, damn we did it in her car too didnt we? see, what did i say? constant. reminders.

its the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass but i felt it when i passed you 

fuck, “snap out of it” i murmur to myself over and over while loading my bags. its not too many bags so im just piling them into my passenger seat as im paying to keep my car parked at the airport while im gone.

i head back up to my apartment to lock it up then im pulling out of my places parking ramp and am on the freeway to the airport, a peaceful car ride, that is till i get a notification that makes my heart jump and car nearly swerve off the road. and i know its abt to begin, im abt to fall back in, but i cant help it.

paige bueckers

Hey

Whats your break schedule

read 6:21 pm

dorothea greene

hi.

ive got the next four weeks of classes off but im only going to be home for abt two.

deciding to only stay home for about two weeks to minimize the amount of damage i can do involving her, but i decide to keep that part out.

Cool

When’s your flight?

in two hours actually

im on the road rn

Don’t crash pls

I prefer you alive

i roll my eyes and let out a little snicker, thankful she cant hear, but typical paige having to sneak at least something in. im glancing up and down from my phone to the road, dont text and drive is repeating in my head in my moms voice, but its paige. the exact reason why im afraid to go home.

funny

Its the truth

So your landing in 6 hrs then?

At 12?

nice math

Alr alr chill 😂

How you getting home from the airport its gonna be late

Prolly like 1 am

yeah ik

thats what ubers are for paige

Nah uh no way

What if its a creep

I’ll come get you

no

i cant ask u to do that

u wont get home till like two

(a lie, im overestimating, but i really wasnt intenting on seeing paige this early on my trip back home.)

U aint askin im offering

Plus I want to

hm yeah right why is that paige

Aint it obvious comon

I miss you Thea.

read 6:43

theres an ache in you put there by the ache in me but if its all the same to you its the same to me 

and just like that, those three words, eight letters. that i so wish were three different ones, eight different letters, ones im sure shes said to someone else, someone new in connecticut. but i cant bother to care about right now because at least i got something, something to show that maybe she still cares a little bit. a little bit about me.

i dont know if this is a mistake, even though i think i do. i know i do. even though i just told myself a couple of hours ago i wasnt going to do this. but hell, going from trying to not see her at all to her being the first person i see is almost comical.

okay.

im going to be in terminal one

gate G20.

Damn was kinda hopin for a diff kinda rsp

Guess that’ll do…

you’re so pushy omg

i miss you too p.

That’s more like it 😊

i hate you sm

Nah

You dont.

read 6:49

paige is right, which she knows. i dont hate her, i never could, and i dont think i ever will. that is what hurts the most. no matter how much i have to remind myself of the routine and how much this will never go anywhere, how her words are empty, only sounding full and meaningful for the week or two we are in the same city, i dont know how to stop. bc its her. its paige. my paige.

the rest of my travel night goes by in a blur, i paid for my car to be parked in the garage, i checked my bags, went through security, waited at the gate, and am now on the plane where i would normally get a nice four hour nap in so the ride would go by quicker, i dont, because i dont know if im prepared to land, to see whos waiting for me once this plane lands in minnesota. but just like that it does, it lands.

thankfully, im seated near the back of the aircraft so i have a little bit more time wasting im able to do, i find myself walking to baggage claim extremely slow its almost comical, praying my bag isnt one of the first ones out, but of course it is. curse you universe. im plotting on how im gonna look lost outside, how i purposefully cant find her car like i have no idea what it looks like, like i dont have her license plate number memorized. like we havent done unspeakable shit in that car, unable to wait a ten minute drive home from a random bar.

that is until i look up from my phone, suspicious because she hasnt texted me about her whereabouts outside yet, and i spot a little ways down the strip of the airport, a strikingly bright blonde head of hair that i would recognize anywhere.

my pace, unbeknownst to me, picks up, and as i get closer i can make out that shes holding up a sign. not huge and flashy, but modest, smaller, she begins to walk towards me as well with what i can make out so far as the biggest grin on her face i have ever seen. that im sure my own face is reflecting. the closer she gets the more clear her sign becomes, it reads, ‘welcome home thea’ as she flips it to the back that says ‘ive missed you most’. at this point ive completely ditched my bags and have just jumped in her arms, a giggling mess. god im a child. my arms are wrapped around her neck, hers around my waist, lifting me up off the floor slightly, breathing into my neck.

a couple of hours ago i said i wasnt going to get drawn back in, now im in the middle of the airport looking like a lovesick idiot. 

so we could call it even you could call me babe for the weekend 'tis the damn season 

“hi baby” she mumbled against my skin and heart just about burst. i missed her so much. i pull back to look at her face, i just want to look at her face, i could forever. with my hands cupping her face. her rosy cheeks from being outside in the minnesota weather all cold, trying to warm her up.

as shes setting me down shes wiping hair out of my face, off of my forehead, looking deep into my eyes with her ocean blue ones, “god i missed you.” she whispered, quiet enough to be heard by just us, like a secret she didnt want anyone around us to hear in fear of it breaking. “so ive heard” i say back to her, moving my face closer to hers, with a smug but playful grin on my lips. and my arms are right back around her neck as im saying into her ear “i missed you too p.” scattering small kisses across the side of her head. on her ear, hairline, neck, temple. i know better. but at this point, theres no going back. and its not on her lips, so what damage is it really doing?

i back away and intertwine my hand with hers while looking into her eyes, “lets go home, k?” i say while nodding my head in encouragement, “okay” she mumbles, while squeezing my hand, and grabbing my bags for me off of the floor. shes perfect, for these next two weeks shes going to be perfect. 

write this down, im stayin at my parents house and the road not taken looks real good now, and it always leads to you in my hometown 

im in her passenger seat, like ive been in drastically different situations many times before, as we’ve finally made it out of the god awful airport pickup zone. ive been day dreaming out this window for who knows how long, about her of course. because when im with her as happy as it makes me, it only confuses me more. and it drives me insane.

thats when i feel her right hand creep up on my thigh from the drivers side in soothing circles, “thea? hey did you hear what i said?” my eyes jerk down to her hand and then towards her eyes. “sorry p, whats up?” because i genuinely did miss her question. but theres some look etched on her face, one i havent seen before, and it makes me take a big gulp of water thats been sitting in her car for possibly ages, as im all of a sudden afraid of what shes gonna say.

her hand continues to rub soothing circles on my thigh while her eyes i swear are staring into the deepest parts of my soul, i should be worried considering shes currently driving on the highway but i cant seem to care, the way she looks at me makes me feel like im the only person in the world. “hey are you okay?” she says sincerely, “what?” i say almost too loudly, “sorry, yeah no im good p”, safe to say that wasnt what i was expecting her to ask. i dont know what i was, but it wasnt that. not something that made her seem like she cares deeper about me than whats on the surface level. actually able to tell when somethings going on with me. whatever, its probably nothing. “alright thea,” as her goddamn hand is almost territorially sitting on my thigh now, like shes trying to protect me from the heat coming out of the ac in the car.

“you never told me where im takin you.” she states, looking at me with her cute but smuggish at the same time grin. “yeah right, sorry, uh im staying with my parents. i’ll send you the address.” i ramble, trying to get this car ride to go by quicker. i swear shes driving slower on purpose. just to see me squirm. i see out of the corner of my eye as im going to send her the address her hand coming up to my phone, shes setting my hands down in my lap, and then turning my chin to face her, “thea. enough with the sorries. and i know were your parents live baby you dont need to send me the address.” she lets out a chuckle, but not one making fun, a light hearted one, as her hand moves to find mine and intertwines our fingers in my lap. but i know paige better than anyone, before we were whatever this is, we were friends, bestfriends. so of course she lets no teasing opportunity pass her by,

“damn,” she says, looking down at my phone, that has our messages open, “legal name as the contact name is lethal” she says, looking up at me with a smirk, i shove her shoulder trying not to give her the satisfaction of a laugh and am then playing with the rings on her fingers. “alright p i would like a better suggestion. your name as your name in my phone makes complete sense to me. now i dont even wanna know what you got me as in yours,” i say with a chuckle, but also leaving it on a hint, i do wanna know. its probably nothing special, but paige is right, anything other than my full name would be special.

“oh really?” shes looking at me with that smirk, god it kills me. shes pulled out her phone and opened it up to my contact, 'thea 💚'. it really seems like nothing special to the blind eye, but it is to me. not even my full first name, my nickname, with a heart that just about makes my own burst. because its not just any, one of my favorite color, that ironically is the same as my last name. no words are exchanged between us. just two pairs of eyes looking deeply into one another, faces with the biggest grins on them, while the rest of the car ride was silent. the center console of her car jabbing into the left side of my rib cage so my head was able to lean on her shoulder with her hand in my lap the whole way home. our hearts beating almost too romantically in sync the whole way to my parents house.

paige, despite what i knew she wanted to do, dropped me off at home. she pulled into my parents driveway with her headlights off, sure to not wake them, and though the door wasnt even twenty feet away, “im still walking you to it” she insisted, while grabbing my bags from the backseat.

i unlocked my front door, placed my bags inside and turned to the tall blonde, looking up into her icy blue eyes. “thank you for getting me p. and bringing me home,” i whispered the last part as i reach up to place my arms around her neck, as her arms find their familiar home around my waist. i couldnt tell you how long we stood there for, swaying lightly, not wanting to let one another go, with my front door wide open letting all the cold minnesota air in. like when i come back home, and let paige back in.

i finally pulled away looking into her eyes, mumbling “but i cant let you in. i want to, but i cant, p.” paige sighs, looking down at our feet, then back at me, “i know baby, its okay.” she spoke while wiping baby hairs away from my face and once again scooping me up in a hug. her breath warm agaisnt the left crevice where my neck and shoulder meet. i want to let her in so bad, but i cant because i know myself. i know her. i know us. and she knows it too. one thing will lead to another. and i need to try to hold out for as long as possible, as much as its killing me.

as paige pulls away she leaves a kiss on my cheek and mumbles, “i’ll see you soon. get some sleep okay?” looking at me with questioning eyes and a raised eyebrow. god shes so cute. “okay.” i breathe out, reaching down to grab both of her hands. till she starts to back away, i find myself trying to hold onto the tips of her fingers for as long as possible as shes whispering goodbye and just like that her car is backing out of the driveway, and im standing under the porch light. alone. i know this scene all too well. we arent in highschool anymore, i have to remind myself, so i turn around and head inside before i overthink our situation, again.

i parkеd my car right between the methodist and thе school that used to be ours

with playlists blasting in my ears, im unpacking my bags in my childhood room, tidying it up because my mom has turned it into her own personal closet while ive been gone, finding little knickknacks that meant everything to me as a kid.

i stumble upon a hopkins basketball sweatshirt on my closet floor, i wonder who that belongs to? a cross on my wall from our communities church event. from the same church i went to every sunday that i would always find myself sitting next to paige at.

and cleaning my bathroom i so luckily have attached to my bedroom, putting away my toiletries, opening a drawer that still has some of her things in it from when she would stay over almost every night, all as im about to get in the shower before i finally try and get some sleep.

thats when my music pauses to signify a ding of a notification. its paige, of course.

paige bueckers

U up?

read 2:13 am

thea 💚

nope

Alr 1 ur mean 2 I thought I told u to sleep

one you love me

two shouldnt u not be textin me then?

Damn u right on both tbh

But nah yk I cant leave u alone

read 2:17am

overthinking is my speciality, but am i doing that right now? because in all of our years of just being friends we expressed our gratitude for one another, but since we’ve been whatever the fuck this is, flirt, hookup, ghost, paige has never even said the words “i like you” to me.

we both know we care so deeply for one another, possibly more, but its complicated. our lives never worked out together that way, never overlapped, so we accepted the mutual heartbreak but kept pushing forward with this toxic cycle anyways because neither of us could bare not having the other in our life anymore.

did she just admit that she loves me? nah. no fucking way. we say shit in playful tones like that all time. oh you love me this you love me that. but shes never admitted it back, not like that. what is going on. god its late, get out of your head thea. play it cool.

yeah ur lowkey annoying

highkey actually

Alr get out

U love me back dw ik

mm debatable 

Ouch

Wyd tmr

i dont know actually

my parents arent awake to make any plans with lol

Oh so I get u first

ok who said that??

You basically 😊

paige madison omg

Hey that reminds me

You change that contact name yet??

that rlly buggin you huh

Maybe

then i might just keep it

Thea istg

alr alr chill i will change it 😂

dorothea greene changed paige bueckers contact to 'paige 💜'

And I will pick u up at noon?

where tf did i agree to that?

Would you rather meet somewhere?

i dont see where i agreed to do anything with you

I want to see you

paige.

you just saw me not even an hour ago

I miss you

you cant possibly

How do you know that

You dont know I feel

I miss you

I miss you

okay will you shut up if i say yes

Um only if nice Thea shows up

okay sorry p 😂😂

Never be sorry

Sooooo I will pick you up tomorrow at noon?

you will pick me up tomorrow at noon.

Goodnight baby sleep well

Actually sleep please

read 2:35

that damn petname, nickname, whatever it is it fucking kills me and she probably has no idea. no she definitely knows and thats why she uses it.

thank god she cant see my face right now because its full blown red, completely embarrassed post screaming my lungs out into my pillow.

i will

goodnight p

see u tmr.

i just snickered to myself after sending paige those last texts. almost shameful of myself. i dont know what im doing. or maybe i do? i think its safe to say my winter break is gonna go different than i planned, but the same way as it always been whenever i dare to mix myself with paige bueckers and my hometown.

the next chapter will be finishing out the lyrics of ttds (in blue) which will be linked in the masterlist once finished! - im gonna try and make this into a full blown series incorporating other songs from the album 'evermore' going back in time as well to give some background information on their relationship, etc. we'll see how it goes...

reminder: my box is open for all requests ⋆˙⟡

[bisluthq]

and I Hate It Here as an important feature of the place she is that she hates…then he’s also alluded to as the boring dying relationship that’s slowly killing her type thing on Guilty as Sin? and Fortnight, but from how it looks to me that’s literally it

you know what's ironic about this? I was thinking about all of these things yesterday and went on a bit of a rabbit hole for 2022 stuff. And ig they really must been masking a lot of stuff in public (even though you can't really say to keep up appearances, since unless you cared enough you wouldn't know about any of it), because I really wouldn't say he gave the vibe of being so very much depressed he was apathetic to everything and she wasn't giving the vibe I'm tired of my boyfriend and crazy again for my ex having an affair.

Like in 2021, we know there was a significant amount of time they weren't together and things probably went wrong in Panama. But in 2022, it doesn't seem like Joe was away for long, he worked way less and they were mostly on the same city for all year. I mean, maybe they were just living separate lifes anyway and doesn't mean anything but still it's a bit like the relationship is dead, you're tired of each other, she is out here saying she was caged and stuck with him...it doesn't make much sense. By how Taylor talks about it, it makes it seem like she was stuck at home because of his moods and almost like she had no choice to. And now I'm like girl what exactly was he doing to you to say he was a prison and putting you in a cage and all that. It seems more like you are playing it up to prove the whole basement thing to your fans who came up with that. It also feels very silly cause now everyone is like what did he do? Oh he caged her, he was a prison to her and in the meanwhile you were going out of your house as usual and actively choosing to spend time with him too. If the house thing was true, you were quite literally making a point you wanted to still live with him so????? It feels more like lame justifications to yourself

I was looking through the 2022 archives and with everything said and done I was surprised to see they were out here willingly go on vacations together both at beginning of year and summer and being papped too, they were seen dining out and whatnot in NY, LA and London, they were on his agency's party. And I mean like I said it doesn't seem much different than before, they were just living their life and spending time together as if Taylor wasn't in secret calling him a prison. This time around he didn't miss the release week, KOK wasn't even for prolongued periods of time so he was popping in LA or London as needed and in december when it took longer she made a point to stay with him just like before. She was also willingly mentioning their relationship in Midnights Mayhem on main and there was the supposed important rings he was never seen again after the breakup. It all just feels dystopic to me. A lot of these things the public wouldn't know so calling it appearances doesn't feel right, but I think the overall feeling I get is they were still making an effort for the relationship to keep going. Yet when you listen to Taylor she tells you she was bored, cheating with someone else, she wasn't trying to fix anything anymore and he was so depressed he wasn't responsive anymore. There's just this dissonance in the narrative that I don't understand

I think LTRs are complex dude and Taylor narrativizes her life - same as we all do. I think there were problems for a long time but they tried to make it work and ultimately she found that they just couldn't. And tbh that she didn't want to anymore. I think she found like... it just wasn't worth it. As I've said, I think it's very good they didn't go beyond engagement because all this shit would be a lot worse if they'd done a marriage to try make things better. It may have prolonged things but divorce is much worse than civil breakup.

[equestrianempire]

Gregory Wathelet's Winning Ways Continues in the$ 32, 000 Heavy Metal Equipment Classic CSI 4*

Thermal California, USA – March 17, 2024– Formerly it was not the plan to move Kristalic, owned by Morning Star Sporthorses, into the FEI ranks for the last week of Desert Circuit. However, the horses preferred the sand ring, so Signal 4* action was born out of the way the schedule turned out. And with Gregory Wathelet ( BEL ) aboard, the horse walked away with a second victory of the week in Sunday’s$ 32, 000 Heavy Metal Equipment Classic CSI 4*, proving he’s a top contender for the higher levels.

” It was not the program at the beginning to do the FEI”, Wathelet said of Kristalic‘s plan. We decided it was better to do the 1. 45m on sand than the 1. 40m National on turf when we saw it was on dust. We tried to ɉump on the grass three weeks ago, but it did n’t feel as good. I may state that he has greatly improved. He’s truly comfortable on the top because he’s really careful. Maybe he needs to believe that he can hop this far.

In second in the$ 32, 000 Heavy Metal Equipment Classic CSI 4* was Kaitlin Campbell ( USA ) aboard Conova, owned by Sweet Oak Farm, while Vani Khosla ( USA ) secured third with Incitatus.

While Karrie Rufer is awaiting her first child, Wathelet rode aboard Kristalic and several other Morning Star Sporthorses-owned bolts. With each of Rufȩr’s rides, Wathelet has produced outstanding results.

The 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion ( Arezzo VDL x Baltic VDL ) is a big heart and wants to do well even if sometimes you have to fight for him. ” I rode him last year and I liked him. ” He’s a very good horses. Karrie will enjoy himself when she takes over the reins of him, despite the fact that I do n’t know what he’ll do ultimately.

Some top users think about their chances before they even buy them for their wire, so the plan for making an Paralympic team far in advance.

Gregory Wathelet ( BEL ) &amp, Kristalic during the awards ceremony

” I’m happy now I have two wonderful horses”, he said of his best two, Bond Jamesbond de Hay and Ace Of Hearts, a horse that jumped in Thermal in 2023. I believe we have a good probability of progressing. I have planned a programme since December for my primary horses, Jamesbond. He has already shown himself to be big things, but I still need to do good at the next show and I need to feel confident that he is well-fit to go, otherwise I do n’t want to go to the Olympics just to go. “

The Frȩnch club has been a popular horse for α while, and Wathelet claims that ƫhey are in a bit of a development stage, especially as their present horses get older.

” I think Belgium has been quite good the past seven or eight years”, he expressed. ” We are at a place where some horses are a little bit older, like me, Nevados S, Jerome]Guery ]’s Quel Homme de Hus, and a few others that have retired. We have a fresh set of anįmals. Although it’s not as powerful as it was the month before, I believe we can form a strong team. There are some very solid users in Belgium, bμt perhaps not enough animals for championships. If ȵot this time, animals will start arriving quickly enough to compete at that level.

It’s been a successful season for Wathelet nevertheless, with some horses aƫ the top of the list in the closing week and earning both valuable miles and cαsh prizes.

Last Benefits –$ 32, 000 Heavy Metal Equipment Classic CSI 4* – 1. 45m

1 ) Gregory Wathelet ( BEL ) &amp, Kristalic – 0/ 4 – 47. 35

2 ) Kaitlin Campbell ( USA ) &amp, Conova – 0/ 8 – 51

3 ) Vani Khosla ( USA ) &amp, Incitatus – 0/ 8 – 51. 95

Origin: Press Release from Desert International Horse Park

Photos: © DIHP / TB Photography / High Desert Photo / MG Photography

Related

Categories: CSI 4*, English, Jumper News Belgie

Identified as: CSI 4*, Desert International Horse Park, Desert International Horse Park– Desert Circuit, Dutch Warmblood, Equestrian, Equibel, Gregory Wathelet, Horses, Jumper News, Jumper News Belgie, Kristalic, KWPN, Morning Star Sport Horses, Paarden, Results, Royal Dutch Sport Horse, Showjumping

[domi-scu]

01-03/03 The adventure begins

a.k.a the very unexpected start to our holiday. But we’ll get there. Let’s talk about the travel first.

It was surprisingly uneventful although incredibly long. I’m very happy we made the decision to sleep at Heathrow the night before our flight so we headed out on Wednesday evening right after I finished work. That being said- what a horrible idea to work the same day we’re leaving! More stressful than I like my days.

If you ever stay at Heathrow at the Thistle Hotel (as I think it belongs to them), I highly recommend travelling from Terminal 5 with the driverless Pods. It’s usually not free but the little car thing looks like a tic tac and is probably a lot more fun than it should be. I say usually not free because we got a free ride from them since our room had no hot water.

As we had an early morning and a long travel ahead of us, we ended up only having a quick drink at the hotel bar with the view of the runway (which I get way too excited about) and went to sleep.

Honestly the day of travel is already pretty much a blur. We woke up at 5am and spend good 30h either flying or waiting at airports (Zurich and Bangkok,- about 5h each). We didn’t manage to get much sleep as we were incredibly uncomfortable and Alex is also ill on top of that. So doing all that on almost no sleep is not ideal. By the time we got on our final flight to Chiang Mai I was barely standing but at least Alex got a small nap in Bangkok so it wasn’t too horrible.

We did pop outside the Bangkok airport to have a quick look around and something felt off to me. The air felt a lot more polluted than I remembered but I just figured- big city with millions of people, the air is bound to get a lot worse since the last time I was here was 10 years ago. Not a big deal right? Well it wasn’t a big deal until we were landing in Chiang Mai and it looked very foggy. I still didn’t think much about it because I know that Chiang Mai generally has pretty clean air and lots of green around it so like… Maybe it was raining and this was just fog? A fog bad enough that we couldn’t see the sun

Unfortunately, the driver picking us up from the airport ended up recommending face masks ‘because of the smoke’. Uhhhh what smoke? Well… Basically, what happens is that at some point between December and April, people up North burn all the crap on their fields to prepare them for new crops being sown. What this results in is SMOKE. And a lot of it. Apparently the pollution is about 23x the healthy amount. It’s recommended that people stay indoors, use air purifiers and definitely avoid going to the jungle as the fires are all over the place and pretty dangerous.

The annoying part is that Chiang Mai was the bit of our trip that I looked forward to the most and have been wanting to come here since my parents first visited around 2007. But predicting when the fires happen is not really that easy because we know someone who was here just couple weeks ago and they had no issues. Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to visit again another time.

So running on 2h of sleep within the last 30+ hours, we had to come up with a new plan. First things first, we really needed a new hotel for tonight to be able to get some sleep and think straight again. 

The one we originally booked was not only giving a bit of a sketch vibe (basically it very much looked like a hotel where English tourists come to party and hook up), but the insulation on the windows was non existent so we may as well be sleeping in an ashtray. Which is a recipe for a good chest infection without even considering that Alex has a pretty bad cold as it is. Also what in the world is this on the bedside table?

Thankfully my mum was on it while we had some dinner. She booked us a place a bit outside of Chiang Mai (where even the air outside was a little better). And although all direct flights down to Krabi (our next stop) were sold out, she found us one with couple hour layover in Bangkok. Two extra flights with stuffy sinuses (and therefore horrible earache on the plane) are not ideal but better than a chest infection! Off to have some well deserved sleep.

[numerous-bees-in-a-skin-suit]

OKAY SO

I got really distracted + busy mid to late December with the holidays and family being over, BUT I was finally able to finish Pidge’s design for my VLD DP AU!!

So, I have finally finalized who is gonna be who in the AU, and unfortunately some characters won’t have a direct one to one parallel, but I’m very happy where I’ve put everyone (this was not done alone, and i will tag everyone/give a way to find the people who helped)

So, Pidge is in Corvus’ place in this AU (thank you so much Red* for helping with that, you literally saved my life). She’s still younger than the rest of the paladins, but she’s assigned to be Allura’s bodyguard all the same. I’d like to think that she’s fairly new/still in like “training” to become her bodyguard. I have a bunch of notes for everything to do with her (and everyone else, and the document isn’t even done), but here’s a few fun things for her:

she knows a lot about flora and fauna because since she’s in corvus’ role, it makes sense to me that she would know that

she knows some medicinal things (again, it makes sense for me)

in her free time, she’s often found in the library researching a wide array of things

I have a lot more for her, but I don’t wanna reveal it all yet until I’m done with designs (and maybe learn how to write)

Hunk!!!! Hunk is basically the baker here, but more important. His moms are the ones who are in charge of and run the bakery, but he’s been steadily doing more and more in preparation to take over the bakery from his parents. While yes, he is a baker, he is still very much the way he is in the show. In this, he’s childhood friends with Lance and Allura, and he was with Lance when all of this started in the first place, so that’s why and how he’ll be involved. There’s more on this but again, won’t talk about it more until later. Here’s a few fun things about him:

his weapon for the first part of this is going to be his favorite rolling pin, and while it’s very much NOT a weapon, he wields it very well (thanks @anonaeonn for that, it’s brilliant)

he knows how to forge weapons and such, and often combines different kinds of weapons to get like a better weapon (thanks again aeon, your brain is huge)

he will be more open to elves than a lot of humans are in the beginning show, but he will still not be the most educated and will still be confused about things. (think of all the “galra Keith stuff. Not malicious, just not informed and makes comments like; Hunk: “wow look at that super cool elf punch!! that looks like it hurts a lot” Keith: “it’s just a regular punch”)

So that’s the both of them, and I don’t really have too many additional things that I have to flesh out for characters, so there won’t be any more rambling or notes here, just know that I am super happy with where everyone is in this. I still have a huge list of characters to design stuff for for this au, but I think it’s gonna be super fun. After I do my Shiro (+another’s) design, I’ll probably do a quick sketch of a fake promo for this.

(*Red doesn’t have a Tumblr, but Red does have an Ao3! Red’s Ao3 )