#re: na siblings

[unhetalia]

i see so many posts that has matt being annoyed at al bl a bla bla and to ME it's not quite the right flavour of their dynamic that i like to consume because most of the time it's "matt has issues with alfred (alfreds fault)" BUT to ME the right flavour would be "matt has issues with alfred (matt's fault)"

like TO BE HONEST... matthew does not care that alfred is loud and talks too much and is oblivious. i truly believe if al offended the whole world matthew would not give a shit. someone complains to him about how al did this and that and he is HMMing brain thinking about pancakes and planning a hike.

matthew's issues with al (to me) is that we have this man who gets too little attention with a sibling that gets ALL of it. he notices it and he wishes he got that. Al is the same. A guy who feels lonely envying his brother who is amazing at being perceived as friendly. the difference is that Weirdly, matt is more prone to lashing out than al. al is envious and that envy is wistful. matt is the same 75% of the time but the remaining 25% it twists into something too bitter and he has to stop himself from taking it out on his brother. he's successful three-quarters of the time.

SO ye. matthew being annoyed at his brother but I'M his counsellor and i respond to his 3 hour rant with "is it your brother who you want to change or the way people react to him?" "do you truly care that your brother doesnt pay attention to world meetings or is it the fact that both england and france will be paying attention to him and not you?"

[polux-aka-hyakunana]

Cooking my own food between projects pt.2

Pt 1 feat Tycoon and Buffa

And context on the rambling tags of this past post lol

[gallusrostromegalus]

My drawing skills suck are very unpracticed but I have a mighty need to create fanart of the garbage tarot. I don't even know anything about the source material but I am in love with these idiots.

Actually... I do a lot more mixed-media than I do drawing........... Hmm...

As a Completely Unrelated Thought, what do you think Zaraki's handwriting would look like?

I'm glad you asked because there's na specific answer for AEIWAM fic! Zaraki!

(Note: in AEIWAM, Kakiyo was Tousen's adopted sister, not an unrequited crush, and she raised money to go to the academy by working as a travelling schoolteacher for a while)

---

The first time Yamamoto gets a report from Zaraki, it genuinely throws him for a loop. Its a thorough if somewhat gruesome report about the 11th dealing with a pack of hollows that had been attacking isolated villages. Nothing Yamamoto was not already used to, but reading descriptions of mutilated villagers is somehow more unsettling when the descriptions look like this:

(a stylistic example)

Yamamoto takes him to task next meeting.

(continued under the cut)

"I know you're still learning the job Zaraki, but you can't foist your paperwork off on Miss Kusajishi." Yamamoto growls.

"I... Didn't? What?" Zaraki looks extremely confused, but the Captain-General is not fooled.

"You mean to tell me THIS is your handwriting?" Yamamoto snaps, throwing the report on the table, sheets spilling out as it slid down the length of it, so everyone could see the bizarre cutesy hand it was written in.

Zaraki's face darkened, jaw clenched. "Yeah. What about it? You goin' blind as well as senile?" He growled.

"THIS IS THE HANDWRITING OF A LITTLE GIRL, ZARAKI, DO YOU HAVE THE SAME HANDWRITING AS YOUR DAUGHTER?" Yamamoto slammed his hand on the table, temperature sharply increasing around him.

Zaraki began to arch his back and crackle with Reiatsu as well, but was stopped by loud ringing chime and a hand on his arm.

Yamamoto blinked in surprise to see Tousen, of all people , holding the giant back. There was a click as Tousen fully re-sheathed his sword. Suzumushi's chime wouldn't effect either of them, but it redirected their attention very effectively.

"My apologies, Yamamoto-sama." He bowed his head before turning his ear up at Zaraki. "Kakiyo wrote about this to me. You could only afford for one of you to receive schooling, right?"

Zaraki huffed and shook himself before answering. "Yeah, I was a broke-ass bastard before this." He grumbled, scratching his neck in a de-escalation feature. "Yer sister was a fuckin' saint and a genius. Neither of you have any business tellin' the whole world though."

"I think it was an exceptionally brave and difficult thing you did." Tousen shrugged. "Even when she used that method, less than one in a hundred parents actually stuck to it, much less achieved what you have."

Zaraki started looking everywhere but at Tousen, thinking. "... wouldn't call it brave, it was just makin' sure she was doin' good in school." He muttered.

Tousen kept listening intently at Zaraki. May I tell Yamamoto-sama so he doesn't cause another scene?"

"You're going to tell me what you're muttering about whether you like it or not." Yamamoto menaced.

"My sister taught Zaraki-taicho and Miss Kusajishi how to read and write." Kaname sighed and took off his goggles to rub the bridge of his nose. "It's extremely common in the Rukongai to have to teach children whose parents have never had any kind of schooling. Many of the parents would like to go to school too, but can only afford to send their children- actually , usually only one child. It's not usually an issue of money, but time- the parents can't afford to miss fishing season, or spare any siblings because they're needed on the farm. But, when you have a parent who is as attentive and caring as Zaraki-"

"Tttch!" Zaraki huffed at Kaname, who pointedly ignored him.

"-You can get around the schooling fees and scheduling problems by telling the student that their homework is to teach their parents what they learned in school that day. The homework you give the students is for their parents to do after they pass the lesson on and grade them on how well they taught their family." Kaname explained, putting his goggles back on. "Kakiyo was in awe of Miss Kusajishi's dedication to teaching you, and immensely proud of your efforts."

Zaraki still refused to look at Tousen, but his ears were bright red.

"...ohhh." Ukitake realized. "Wow, that's... I thought it was impossible to learn how after a certain age, that's - well, I don't think it's something I could have done!"

"What?" Glared Yamamoto.

"Zaraki-taicho and Miss Kusajishi have the same handwriting because he learned how to read and write by learning her school lessons from her." Unohana translated. "-An exceptionally difficult way to learn, and commendable for even trying." She continued, arching an eyebrow at him as a warning.

"Yeah and with all due respect Yama-ji? You're not exactly in a position to be complaining about anyone else's handwriting-" added Shunsui. "Zaraki's handwriting is odd, but it's perfectly legible. Nanao-chan framed your last memo because she thought it was an abstract painting."

Yamamoto turned to Shunsui with an aggravated glare.

"I'm afraid I have to second Kyoraku-taicho." Tousen said, without an ounce of chagrin in his voice. "The kido spell on my glasses can translate nearly everyone's hand, but the only person in the ninth who can read your memos to me is third-seat Maegawa, and mostly because she's had several centuries practice."

"Wait, we were supposed to be getting memos?" Mayuri squawked. "Dammit! I thought that squiggly garbage was the fax machine breaking every other week! I disassembled that thing three times trying to fix it!"

"You can all shut up now." Yamamoto snarled, and everyone did, but there were still a lot of pointed looks around the table, and Unohana's eyebrow had not resumed it's usual curvature yet. "Please consider my complaint withdrawn."

Unohana's eyebrow arched further and she cracked her eye open to reveal a coal-black iris, going from Warning to Threat.

"...My apologies, Zaraki-taicho. That was. Inconsiderate of me." Yamamoto muttered.

"Ya gonna shut up about it now?" Zaraki asked, not quite facing Yamamoto, but back still arched.

"I will hold my judgment in check in the future." Yamamoto acquiesced, watching him.

"Sure." Zaraki grunted, shaking his shoulders to drop the subject. "Right, what the fuck were we doing?" He asked, returning to the agenda.

---

After the meeting, Tousen took a minute to stand in the late afternoon sun, exhaling and releasing the tension of the day, when someone grabbed one shoulder and plopped something heavy on the other.

"Yeh didn't have to do that." Zaraki grunted just behind Tousen's ear, his forehead resting on the small man's shoulder, half gratitude, half grumble.

"One of the responsibilities of a captain is to keep the general in check, and I had a particularly good opening to stop that nonsense for good." Kaname hummed, hand reflexively coming up to touch the giant's head on his shoulder, fingertips tracing over the scarred visage and peculiar hairstyle.

"Didn't read that in the employee handbook." Zaraki grunted, grin in his voice.

"Yamamoto wrote those handbooks, and he'd rather we let him do as he pleases. You have to learn how to read between the lines, Zaraki." Kaname teased.

Zaraki gave his strange, low clicking chuckle of amusement and affectionately mock-bit Kaname's ear before standing up, still holding his other shoulder.

"...Thanks. " he muttered, giving his arm a squeeze and stepping away. "Gotta go pick up Sensei, you talk to her if you think I need more tutoring!" Zaraki waved, striding off to collect Yachiru in completely the opposite direction from her school.

"ITS THE OTHER- oh, he'll figure it out." Kaname sighed.

The sun was low in the sky, but it was still warm, and the first Cricket of summer started chirping, startling him. Suzumushi chirped with it, singing her mournful loss of her original wielder, but not so despairing this time.

"Kaname?" Sajin asked, heard before he was felt as usual. The lieutenant's meeting must have wrapped up late.

Kaname smiled and put a finger up, indicating he should listen. Sajin did, helmet tipping slightly to hear.

"Crickets!" Sajin realized, and offered Kaname his gauntlets hand to lead him home. "...I miss Kakiyo too." He sighed.

"You're not really gone if some part of you lives on in someone else." Kaname hummed. "I realized she is not so far gone today."

"Oh?" Sajin asked. "Where does she live on?"

"Have you read any of Zaraki-taocho's reports yet?" Kaname grinned. "His hand is not his hand alone."

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Wait wait wait hold up hold up hold up I can’t I’m emotional

Each of Sanji’s siblings taking turns rescuing him?? Starting with the boys, who despite saying they’re there to take down Big Mom and are only coincidentally on the same side as Sanji and have no obligation to help him having already done what they needed to “repay their debt” earlier at the tea party, go OUT OF THEIR WAY to help Sanji.

Calling him a pain and troublesome in the MOST affectionate they’ve ever sounded. Sanji is still fully in argumentative mode but they’re almost playful?? Like Ichiji is the typical leader not showing anything except order Sanji to run in the most “I’ll handle things from here” kind of demand. But Yonji and ESPECIALLY Niji (who was by far the most brutal of the brothers) cracking jokes but propelling Sanji forward nonetheless into safety???

The way it so heavily reads “yeah we were assholes to you but no one else is allowed to be”. And the way I’m like, do I… do I see a speck of humanity?? Even if it’s nothing more than some semblance of loyalty to someone they once perceived as their brother??? And it wasn’t by Judge’s orders that they help him either. This is purely their own volition. They want to help him out.

And then the last person to help was the first person that helped Sanji escape the first time around. Reiju sends him off last but instead of demanding he never look back like she once did, she says “ja na!” Which is closer to see you later in Japanese. Which means she is hopeful they will meet again! That they may even meet again under nicer circumstances!

And she returns to the battle with a smile that Sanji mimics. A stark difference to the tearful parting when they were children.

And when Reiju re-enters the fray, it’s so subtle as her smile shifts to a straight face as she goes back into battle mode.

But once she’s back on the ground with her brothers, they all smile.

And so does Sanji! Because it wasn’t just Reiju that sent him off this time. It was all his siblings. They may never get along. They may never truly heal the wounds of the past they dealt on Sanji (tho I argue given the boys programming and how their father manipulated them they only did what they were inherently born to do and Judge has zero rights as a father to have anything close to this kind of reconciliation with Sanji), BUT in this moment, they all fought as a family with the same mission. To get Sanji to safety.

And Sanji knew that. And in this one moment he felt like their family. And he was finally returning to his true one.

[scarletwinterxx]

fool for you - mark lee dad scenario

a bit late to this but OH MY GOD MARK LEE GIRL DAD😭🥺😭🥺 we already know he's going to be the best dad to his kids in the future🤍🤍

you already know my feels went through the roof after seeing that cli[ so here's another mark dad scenario and can you believe this is the 10th one OMGGGGGG anyways i hope you like it!

part1: day with dad mark lee

part2: another day with dad mark lee

part3: a day with the lee's

part4: (prologue) i don't know how to make eggs

part5: glitter pens and goodnight kisses with the Lee's

part6: first love and kisses

part7: naps and baby kicks

part8: then there was three

part9: just like you

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

and if you want, u can buy me coffee(totally optional but any donation is very much appreciated!) thank you🥺💛

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2024 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

(gif not mine, credits to rightful owner)

"in my next life, I think I'll become a fool for my daughter"

"Lovie, can you stay with Minjee? I'm just going to the mall with Minjung to get new shoes and a few other stuff for the baby" you tell your husband who is currently on the sofa resting.

It's around that time again when you're counting down the days until the new baby comes, this time the two of you choose to keep the gender a surprise. You won't find out until you give birth. There's an on going bet in your household whether it'll be a girl or a boy.

"Why don't I come with him? You sure you okay to go out?" he asks, watching you struggle putting on your shoes. He chuckles before walking toward you, kneeling down to put it on for you even double tying the shoelaces just to be sure.

"It's okay, besides the doctor said it's healthy to walk around. And we both know it'll be easier to look after Minjung then Jee" you laugh, your husband agreeing with you

"She's the main character, we're all just living in her world" he says

You smile at Mark, giving him a kiss before getting your purse and keys.

"Call me if you need anything" he tells you

"Minjung, let's go" you shout, your son appears from the staircase ready to go

"You already know, buddy. Take care of mom, okay? Call me if something happens" he gives his son a quick hug before watching the two of you drive away

The two of you finished the errands and is now getting a quick snack before heading home. You like having one on one time with your kids. It helps you keep a closer relationship with them. And even though you know the two siblings get along very well, you still make it a point to spend time with them one by one. And so does Mark.

"Is there anything else you need, buddy?" you ask your son

He shakes his head, taking a bite of his sandwich. You smile watching him, it feels just like yesterday you were sitting in the backseat with newborn Minjung in the baby car seat on your way home from the hospital and now he's 13.

"How do you feel about getting another sibling?"

He looks at you, it's like looking at Mark's eyes. They same round, adorable chocolate eyes you love so much.

"Excited. It'll be cool if it's a boy. I'll teach him to play basketball and bike. It's okay too if it's a girl" he shrugs

"You know mommy and daddy loves you very very much"

"I know, I love you too" he smiles back at you

When you get home, Minjee welcomes you excitedly asking if you got her a cakepop which Minjung hands over to his sister

"Wah thank you, oppa! Dad look oppa got me a pink cakepop!" she screams excitedly, running to wherever Mark is. You and Minjung follow her, Mark in the kitchen getting dinner ready

"Cool, but you can have that after dinner okay? Na uh don't give me that look, missy. I ordered chicken just like you asked" the father-daughter banter continues

The two siblings help set up the table while you stay in the kitchen with Mark, "How did it go?" Mark asks you

"Good, we had fun. You sound like you had fun too" you joked

"I swear she knows how to make me says yes" he mumbles, you walk towards him, giving him a side hug

"You love her" you tell him with a chuckle and a kiss on the jaw

"That I do. I'd do anything for our kids" he says, looking down at you. He kisses you on the nose, eliciting giggles from you before breaking away

"Okay, dinner time!"

After dinner and everyone finished with their night time routines, it's finally time to call it a night.

You lay on your side of the bed, getting the pregnancy pillow ready

"Can I keep that after?" Mark asks, you watch him step out of the shower. Towel hanging on his hips while he dries his hair with another

"No" you tell him with a tight smile, Mark laughs before walking towards the dresser to get clothes

"Oh come on, let me enjoy the view some more"

"Woman, you are already pregnant" he tells you, playfully throwing the towel he was drying his hair with towards you. He puts on his sleeping shorts, leaving the shirt behind. He goes out the room to check all doors before going to bed

He turns towards you, the two of you face to face.

"Just a few more days and it'll be five of us" he whispers. His hand resting on your belly

"I'm calling it, this one will look like you again" you tell him

"You love us"

"That I do, I love you and all versions of you. Especially the little humans we made" you smile at him. He scoots closer to kiss you. Kissing you on the lips then on your cheeks a few time until you were laughing.

"Okay, time to rest. Goodnight, baby. I love you" he tells you

"Love you"

Minjung woke up to something poking his back, groggily looking to see Minjee

"Jee? What?"

The girl hiccups, still crying. This woke Minjung up more, sitting up on his bed and turning the bedside light on,

"Why are you crying? Did you have a bad dream?" he asks

"Will mom and dad not let me live here when the baby comes?" she asks, her tiny voice breaking

"What? of course not" her brother immediately answers. He gets out from under the blanket to hug his sister, wiping a few tears running down her face

"When you were born, I was so excited. Dad took me to the hospital to meet you. You had this big bow on, you were crying a lot too" he tells her

"You were there?" she asks

Minjung smiles "Yea, dad even helped me to carry you. You were really tiny. When the new baby comes, we'll go together to meet them"

"Will you still play with me when they come?"

"Of course I will, we're bestfriends right? You gave me this" he says, showing the beaded bracelet Minjee made for him. Similar to what she's wearing.

"You promise? You'll still get me cakepops?"

"Of course, pinkypromise"

The two siblings lock pinky fingers, the younger one finally smiling.

"Wait here okay?" Minjung says before going out of his room and carefull walking towards his parents bedroom. Knocking lightly before going in.

He walks towards Mark's sleeping figure, tapping him awake

"Huh what wha huh?? Minjung? Are you okay? What's happening?" Mark asks, sitting up immediately

"What time is it?" he asks, looking for his phone to see it's 2am

"Minjee woke up crying, she's in my room now"

Mark stands up carefully, looking over at your sleeping figure before quickly putting on a shirt and walking out with Minjung

"She okay? bad dream?"

"No uh it's about the new baby"

His son didn't need to elaborate anymore, already getting a hint why his babygirl was crying.

When the two walks back to Minjung's room, Jee still sitting there.

"Hey, Jee. Come on, dad will come with you. Goodnight buddy, thank you for being a good brother" Mark tells his eldest, kissing him on the head before stepping out of the room with the younger one

"Do you want warm milk before going back to bed?" Mark asks the 6 year old girl, getting a no from her

When they get to Minjee's room, the two sat on the bed

"Are you sad right now?" Mark asks his daughter

"Will you still love Jee when the baby comes?" Jee asks and Mark crumbles

"Oh my girl, of course I will. I'll love you longer than forever and that's a long long long time. You'll always be my princess. Even after the new baby comes, mom and dad might need to spend more time with them but that doesn't mean we love you and your brother any less" he tucks her hair behind her ear, pinching her cute round cheeks she definitely got from you.

"Can dad have a hug?" he opens his arms, Minjee scooting in her father's embrace

"Always remember, dad loves you so so much. I'd give you the moon and all the stars if you want. If you ever feel sad you can come and talk to me okay?"

He feels the younger one nod. Tucking her in bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead before calling it a night (again)

When he gets back to your room, he slides under the sheets then he feels you search for him

"Min?" you mumble

"Here, baby. Go to sleep" he leans over to give your temple a kiss. He sees a sleepy smile on your lips before your heads goes down on the pillow again.

Just like that everyone was asleep again, but before he fades into dreamland he says a silently thank you to heaven for this life. Ready and excited to face tomorrow with his family.

[uraniawrites]

𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐫 𝐫𝐞-𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨

Hi there, I'm Ale (she/her) and I'm making my re intro again because I was struggling so bad with uni and I couldn't be here so much. Now I'm trying to be active again to post my writing and repost other people's writings. I'll try to explain my wips and update regularly. Please interact with this post if you'd like to be mutuals and reblog our writings as well!

𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

I'll try to explain them because they're a mess, but stick with me. It'll be worth it. I promise. My native tongue is Spanish, so, sorry in advance if there's any mistake, lol. Also, I'll create/post tags, pages in these days because I had to remake everything from scratch.

𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

-Science fiction, fantasy (urban, paranormal, high, epic), historical fiction.

-Found family. Because I'm a sucker for this trope. Also, I have siblings dynamics, trauma, death, action, etc.

-Both, character and plot development.

-Morally grey, ambiguous characters who don't think of themselves of heroes for all the bad things they've done, but still, they try.

𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 (𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧).

Sci-fi NA series (6 books) about superhumans (people with superpowers). Due to an accident, hundreds of super end up in jail. The altered are human creations that are getting out of control and threat to break the order. A group of superhumans are selected for their powers to try to stop the altered and the experiments that humans are making with them and creating new drugs. The only problem? These kids are in prison for being super. Will they succeed or will they kill each other before the fun begins? (This is my main wip)

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞 (𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧).

This is a prequel trilogy of Hidden Heroes. Sci-fi NA. Set during The Cold War (with some historical changes, just because, lol), a group of superhumans discover that humans are experimenting with them to create a super soldier, someone who can fight their wars and stop them before they even begin. They will have to risk their lives and hearts trying to stop something that seems impossible. First generation.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐲.

Standalone sequel after the events of the Second Generation. Sci-fi NA. Vasilisa Azarova (orphan since 7 years-old) has been trained since she was young to become a lethal spy, trained to kill and torture, and to blend to get information, by a Russian organization that specializes in training humans and superhumans to create the best European spies. During a mission, Vasilisa discovers that the things she's been told all her life, may be lies. Vasilisa and her team will try to scape and destroy the organization that once raised them and trained them. Will she succed, or will she lose everything again?

𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

Paranormal urban fantasy YA trilogy. Isabelle Jones is a witch that wants nothing but greatness and to become the greatest witch the world has ever seen. But first, she must understand that the world doesn't revolve around her and that some alliances and friends from her new paranormal school, Ashckerton Academy, are important to defeat the evil that is looming on them.

Thanks for reading! Please interact, I'll try to follow back. If you're interested on being in the taglist, please let me know! <3

[jukti-torko-golpo]

A Moment with the Mothers :

Hiranyavarna

It has always seemed that I am not built for the corporate life. I sit in the office shivering in the cold air conditioned room. The air seems so synthetic. I can see the sky from the large windows, the brilliant clouds painting the sky with so many colours, the birds....I feel trapped. The screen burns my eyes, the fear of failing eats me up. I have dreams to lead a creative life with the love of my life. The corporate life is a stepping stone for that dream life some day. The fear of the dream shattering keeps pulling me down with mind-numbing anxiety. I want to run away...far far away.

I return home, exhausted, after a day in the office. My bag is heavy, hair plastered on my forehead, I feel some deep sadness in my heart, a longing for my freedom. I sit on the bed crying. I know I have privileges but I cannot help feeling how I am feeling.

A soft scent of incense wafts into the room. There is a warm golden glow behind the door. I wipe my tears and open it. I walk into a cozy little hut. I am greeted by a man with a beak-like nose and a familiarity that I cannot explain. It feels like we have been siblings for so long.

'Kire? Etokkhone eli?' (1) He asked me. 'Meye elo naki?' (2) A voice sweeter than honey called out from another room. A woman walked out wiping her hands on the anchol (3) of her saree. A golden glow emanated from her fair skin. She had a heart shaped face radiant like a comforting winter sun. Her lips were the colour of fresh rose petals. She was dressed in a soft pink taant saree with intricate golden borders. Delicate gold jewelleries adorned her body. It seemed as though she was the one for whom solah shringar was made. Her alta stained feet looked like fresh buds of lotus. Her anklets chimed with every steps sending waves of joy each time.

She looked at me and smiled the warmest smile. Her eyes beheld me with the love of a mother who is looking at her child tucked into bed happily and peacefully. 'Hyan re bhaat bere rekhechhi toh...chol...khabi na naki?' (4) She held my hand and led to me to the other room where she had prepared somefood for me. Khichudi and bhaja. It tasted like the first time I had tasted puja bhog. I could not help my tears. I finished every bit of food on that plate. She stood up and walked up to me.

She held me close to her, occasionally wiping my tears. I cried my heart out. She then took me to a bedroom dimly lit only with her glow. 'Ne ghumiye por toh shona meyer moto,' (5) she said smilingly. I laid down and she sat beside me stroking my head. I shift my position to lay my head on her lap. She lets out a loving giggle. There is such a beautiful sense of peace. This is where I belong.

As if hearing my thoughts, she tells me this is where I actually do belong. This is where I can return to anytime. It is not silly to have dreams. It is not silly to be scared of that dream shattering. But we must carry one. She resides in that dream which leads to a happy honest life. Money is not something that should govern life. But it is a blessing from her that lets our spirituality and principles govern our lives efficiently. We often face a bumpy stretch of road. But we must not give up. She is there holding our hands and waiting with food after a tiring time. Vairagya is not everything that fulfills a person. Sometimes the smiling faces of our loved ones are the biggest peace before we attain moksha. In fact it is a stepping stone for the same. We must seek out simple joys and comforts which leaves our hearts feeling warm. Only then can we strive for knowledge and wealth. The perilous road is unavoidable but stopping for a while to look at a pretty wildflower does not deters from our path. In fact it fills us with more motivation and bhakti. Life should be a balance of gyan, samsaar and adhyatma.

I clutch the corner of her anchol tightly. She laughs ever so sweetly and plants a loving kiss on the top of my head. The golden glow fades and I wake up clutching my pillow. My mother is calling me for dinner. My room smells of incense and there is a pink cotton thread on my pillow.

(1) - You came so late? (2) - Is daughter home? (3) - pallu of a saree (4) - I have laid the table for you to eat...won't you eat? (5) - Go to sleep like a good girl. ( Shona literally translates to gold and is a term of endearment )

[suzannahnatters]

2023 In Books!

Due to mild fatigue, 2023 was a bad reading year for me - I did not reach my yearly 2-books-a-week goal for the first time since I began logging them, and many of the books I did read did not agree with me. But I still found ten fiction and 7 (!) non-fiction books I had to shout out for the end of the year.

Top 10 Fiction THE RED PALACE by June Hur A historical murder mystery set in Joseon Korea, featuring crystalline prose, a painstakingly evoked historical setting, and an understated romance in a dark atmosphere of terror, secrets, and palace intrigue. Despite being written for a young adult audience, this book impressed me with its complex picture of a deeply flawed real historical context.

TOOTH AND CLAW by Jo Walton A Victorian style comedy of manners in which every single character is a dragon, from the dragon parsons and spirited young lady dragons to the crotchety old dragon dowagers and feckless young dragons-about-town. All of them wear little hats. Sheer cosy perfection.

DRAKE HALL by Christina Baehr My bestie surprised me this year by spontaneously producing four whole novels pitched as "cosy Victorian gothic, with dragons". I haven't read the final edition of DRAKE HALL yet but it's sunshiney, summery, cosy goodness. With dragons.

CRIMSON BOUND by Rosamund Hodge (re-read) A dark and bloody fantasy full of lifegiving female friendship, ride or die siblings, theology, guilt, and stabbings. This one also contains gratuitous St Augustine quotes, a one-page retelling of the VOLUNDARKVIDA, and a love triangle that exists to present the heroine not so much with drama as a proper ethical dilemma.

EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett The story of a mildly autistic lady academic researching faeries with her flamboyant rival professor, who is probably secretly an exiled fae king…but the annoying part is his habit of making his students do all his field work. Cosy, thrilling, hilarious.

THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE by Roshani Chokshi This gothic-infused psychological thriller was dark, creepy, and sometimes heavy, but it's also a tale that flips the roles of innocent maiden and Bluebeard, engages in valid Susan Pevensie Discourse, and ends on what I found to be a genuine note of hope and healing.

THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN by Holly Black This book tackles vampirism as a metaphor for the evil hidden in the human heart, and it's epic, bloody, twisty, and monstrous. I couldn't put it down. Not sure I'd recommend it for the target audience, but it's mature and well-crafted enough to be enjoyed by grown-ups as well.

THE WITCHWOOD KNOT by Olivia Atwater I've read a number of Olivia Atwater books, and this one is head and shoulders above the rest. The best blend of gothic and fae, like a grown-up LABYRINTH, with one of the great fae butlers and so many subtle yet walloping feels. It felt like an old fairytale in the best possible way.

BEHIND THE CURTAIN by WR Gingell The WORLDS BEHIND series is about trauma and healing and repentance, and in this, the fourth book, everything comes decisively to the boil as our favourite twisty knife uncle pits his wits against an enemy who very uncomfortably mirrors himself.

Top 7 Non-Fiction (because I couldn't get it down to just five)

TWO VIEWS ON WOMEN IN MINISTRY by Beck & Gundry (eds.) Four New Testament scholars from a range of complementarian and egalitarian perspectives debate the question of women in ministry, with a lot of detailed scholarship. If nothing else, this book proved that this is something orthodox Christians can honestly disagree about, because there are significant exegetical strengths and difficulties with each position - it's time to stop seeing women holding ministry positions in the church as tantamount to heresy.

REFLECTIONS: ON THE MAGIC OF WRITING by Dianna Wynne Jones This collection was magical - funny and sad tales of her life, many good and passionate thoughts on books and writing, and one absolutely marvellous study of narrative structure in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Absolutely delightful and highly recommended.

PATERNAL TYRANNY by Arcangela Tarabotti A 17th-century nun takes aim at the misogyny of early modern Europe, wielding razor-sharp logic to argue boldly for the equality of women. But it's Tarabotti's passionate faith, which somehow managed to survive moral injury and spiritual abuse, and even came to see hope and encouragement in scriptures which must so often have been used against her, that will stay with me.

THE GOLDEN RHINOCEROS: HISTORIES OF THE AFRICAN MIDDLE AGES by Francois-Xavier Fauvelle A series of bite-sized essays on the medieval history of Africa from approximately the Islamic conquests of the 7th century to the arrival of Portugese colonists in the fifteenth. Each essay offers the most fleeting glimpse of a long-vanished, half-imaginary world of often breathtaking sophistication and splendour. I loved them.

ONE HOLY LOCAL CHURCH? by Bojidar Marinov This short book, which draws very solidly on past luminaries like Rutherford, Gillespie, Spurgeon, and Hodge, helped me think through some of the questions I've been asking myself about ecclesiology and the role and authority of elders, particularly as I've been rethinking women in ministry. Terrific.

TEN DAYS IN A MAD-HOUSE by Nellie Bly "People on charity should not expect anything and should not complain." In 1887, the American "girl reporter" Nellie Bly got herself locked up in a New York lunatic asylum, and this shocking expose was the result. Sometimes, nineteenth century attitudes towards women and the poor were beyond parody.

A PEOPLE'S TRAGEDY: THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes Some aspects of this book have aged poorly - the unthinking acceptance of Russian imperial aspirations, for instance - but apart from that, this is a sweeping, epic picture of the Russian Revolution, covering three decades and every level of society, from daily life in the village commune to the political rivalries of Lenin's declining years, without ever becoming dull or bogged down in detail.

[aleyn-de-vries]

Diabolik Lovers: Rebirth And Royalty Chapter 1

NA. Hello, first written post, I think hahaha. Well I decided to create a fanfic of Kino and my OC that I have been putting off for a LONG LONG time and probably after this chapter I will put it off again because university takes up time (Understand, please). But well, here is the first written chapter. Unfortunately Kino won't appear so soon because these first chapters focus on Carolyne adapting to the life of the ghouls, so, enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Day That Everything Ended

It was the rainy season in the valleys of Cochabamba, after the December holidays. It was the night of January 15, 2020 to be precise. A girl with blue hair and a silver streak was trying to walk as best she could. With a broken ankle and supporting herself with a grab stick, it was not a good strategy to wander through the valley at night, especially since she did not know the environment where she fell. The sounds of nocturnal birds such as owls singing or the sound of crickets and toads could also be heard, which was the only thing that accompanied the young woman in this thick darkness. The phone she had had no signal and the battery was running out. If only she could find the Cochabamba - Oruro highway and wait for a bus that could take her back to Cochabamba or to the nearest town for medical attention. But with each step she took, the young woman did not know if she was getting closer or further away from civilization. It was supposed to be a memorable reunion. Her brother Kevin was the one who came to visit from Miami to see the rest of the family and also to go to the funeral of their maternal grandmother who passed away in Cochabamba. Both Carolyne and Kevin traveled from La Paz and Miami respectively to go to the funeral. Both of their parents and maternal aunt were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Gomez brothers, who only had to board a flight from Cochabamba - La Paz that was supposed to take 30 minutes at the latest. The young woman began to remember everything that happened to get to the point where she is.

Let's go back a couple of hours, it was 6 in the afternoon at the Jorge Wilstermann airport. Both siblings were listening to music while waiting for the next flight that would take them to their family. Kevin was more of an electronic music fan, while Carolyne listened to a band called “Rise Against,” a band he became a fan of after playing one of their songs “Prayer of the Refugee” on “Guitar Hero 3” and the song “Re-education (Through Labor)” on “Guitar Hero World Tour.”

“Carolyne, could you pay attention for a moment?” Kevin asked the girl who was listening to the music.

“Of course I'm listening to you, am I paying a lot of attention to you?” Carolyne replied.

“Then tell me, which of the gifts are you going to give to the aunt and which is yours?” Kevin asked, somewhat annoyed.

“Auntie gets the necklace and I get the sweater?” Carolyne asked curiously, frustrating her brother in the process.

“It’s the other way around, kid,” Kevin said, annoyed.

“Oh, right, so that's it,” Carolyne replied.

“Oh, when will you change? You’re always in your own world. "Wake up, you're going to be a college student soon!" her older brother asked her.

Young Carolyne was a kind, quiet girl with few friends. She always liked to stay at home reading a fantasy book or a programming book, since the Academic Proficiency Test (APT) exams were just around the corner, which would determine Carolyne's future.

“Well, you are starting a new stage. You will take your exam for the college you want to go to, you will go to college at one of the best universities in Bolivia… And when you finish everything, we will do the paperwork for your American residency so that you have better opportunities in life.”

Indeed. Her brother moved to Miami as soon as he graduated from school, having been born there, and he took their mother with him to attend residency. All that was left was to save a lot and for Carolyne to finish her degree so that she could have a prosperous life. It seemed like the perfect plan when…

Two people were talking at a distance, they were the pilot and the traffic control. The traffic control man warned that a small radar was not working, but if the flight was wanted it could depart calmly, it was only a matter of visual planning. With that in mind, the pilots thought it was a better idea for the plane to take off that same night, after all, everyone had already paid for their tickets and the flight was only 30 minutes long. So they decided to board all the passengers and the flight took off. Apparently there were no problems… But as the saying goes, it is better to waste a minute in life than life in a minute. Meanwhile, on the plane, Carolyne looked at the landscape outside and Kevin was sitting next to her.

“I hope these days turn out to be better, Carol. You promised grandma at the funeral that you would do your best,” Kevin said and the girl just nodded.

“I am so excited! I want to see my dad, my mom and my aunt,” Carolyne said.

“So, tell me, what do you plan to study? Remember that you are already 18 years old,” the older brother asked her.

“What I plan to study is…”, the girl was interrupted by a sudden movement.

The plane had the bad luck of entering a storm cloud, so they decided to go inside. Suddenly, there was a jolt, then another stronger than the previous one. The wind shears, also called turbulence, were trying to destabilize the flight and the desperate screams of the passengers were getting louder. Kevin asked Carolyne to imitate what he did when a thunderclap hit the side where Carolyne was sitting, causing her chair and seat to come off the plane. The girl could only watch nervously as she fell 10,000 meters in free fall, getting soaked by the torrential rain as she watched the plane pass by and fainted thinking it was a dream.

Fortunately for her, the blue-haired girl fell in the valleys of Cochabamba. The treetops and the fact that she fell with her seat were what cushioned the fall. Meanwhile, when she reacted, she saw a horrible scene. At a distance from her, a thick ball of smoke could be seen ascending... It was the plane that fell a few kilometers from her.

“Kevin…” Carolyne said when she saw the thick cloud of smoke, her brother probably already passed away. The girl tried to get up but a slight pain wouldn't let her. Her right ankle ended up fractured, so she crawled and found a stick that fit her, so she leaned on the stick and started walking. Her goal was to find the road and say that she was the only survivor of that fateful flight. As she wandered further and further, she began to get lost in the valley, so she decided to continue looking for help, this time from a peasant. The bad thing is that probably in those places, most of the peasants speak Quechua, but Carolyne didn't know how to speak that language, she only learned English and French, but she never lost her curiosity to learn an indigenous language because she saw it as useless, but in this situation she swallowed her words and saw that it wasn't so bad to learn an indigenous language at this time. She only hoped that the person who finds her is someone kind and not hostile.

“I don’t care if the peasants call me privileged… I need help…”, the young girl thought.

She saw a small tunnel that would connect to the other side. The fame of the valley tunnels is that they connect different towns, so she decided to enter there to seek shelter from the rain or find another small town. The young girl continued walking deeper into the tunnel. After about 15 minutes, she reached the exit of the tunnel which was a place full of fig crops. The young girl tried to take a couple of figs for the road, when suddenly, the young girl began to cough up blood. She was not quite okay, she had internal bleeding that was aggravated by the effort she put in.

“N-No… I don’t want to die…”

The young girl tried to keep walking, but the tiredness made her fall into the mud. Carolyne ended up crying out of frustration. Her family already had a funeral... And now they will have two new ones, causing more pain to her hurt family. With those thoughts, the young woman closed her eyes and her heart stopped beating... Or at least, that's what she thinks.

[eclipsecrowned]

RE: Laerion. A key character point is how he avoids a leadership role. As AU fodder, if Rhaen*s was to take the throne and Laerion was born a prince, how does that change his approach to personal power? If something should still happen to his older siblings, would he take the throne for himself after his mother passes? If yes, how would his rule progress? // anonymous.

anon i just want it on the record i love u and i have been chewing on this literally since about 10 am this morning. this is everything i want in meta/au asks. i get to be so unwell about the lil bastards i make up with my own brain juice <3 i love hypothetical/if they were canon scenarios so much!

As for Laerion, well. I feel like there was always this feeling of like, the comfort of Laen0r's shadow in his mainverse? He's the second son, and he would sooner see La*na rule before him if anything should happen, as if it can somehow make up for what their mother went through. There's this earnest joy to him when he thinks of a life as advisor/council to a sibling, that he can have it all, that he can aid and support his family while still pursuing his own happiness at sea.

That's completely different in any scenario where he's credibly in line to the throne. A lot of it would depend on how differently he'd be raised by his parents in any event where his mother takes the throne, whether at the Council or saying 'fuck that. rebellion.' Laerion doesn't face the potential pass that is 'Eh, Laen0r and La*na have kids, if the lords of the realm push me too hard I'll just abdicate.' In fact, I think in his mainverse this is precisely what he does for Alyn by necessity since he breaks canon. Here, he's far too caught up in legacy and, in essence, the miracle his mother pulled in upending generations of tradition.

He is her son. Her last living child, in the scenario you described. He's got to make something of that, regardless of if he's as much the free-wheeling sailor or a more composed princeling. Plus, presuming that he was groomed to take a different throne altogether and represent his consort father's family in the future, he'd have a much stronger base than he does in mainverse.

(Not that I think either iteration of his parents would skimp on his stewardship lessons, mind. I just think it would be at two different octaves between 'the spare to the island' as compared to 'spare to the throne at best, doubtlessly becoming lord after his father at absolute least.')

Regardless, Laerion in this concept would have a sense of devotion and obligation to his role. He has to do this for his family, even if he would as soon give all of it up. Especially, I feel, for the siblings he lost along the way. Even if it's just a role he's playing to serve his family, he'll review his lines and steps to as near to perfection as he can get. The First of His Name. Son of the first reigning queen.

As for what his reign looks like... That will really depend on the foundation his mother laid down. I am not enough of an expert on the character to conjecture, she's just a MILF I froth over whenever I go into tags, you know? But I think he'd be devoted in legitimizing his mother's reign as much as he can, carrying on what works she pursued, working the PR machine for her almost as soon as she passes so that she is as entrenched and legitimate to the realm as Aeg0n himself, or J*haerys and Alys*nne. Slap her name on some building, chase leads towards getting some Divine Right of Queen propaganda going. Make sure the people remember her as a just, powerful woman, devoted to her people, whatever her rule might have been.

Once he's solidified Rhaen*s' legitimate rule and started getting people to come around to the propaganda, he's got a few core concepts. He's definitely looking at the last great T*rgaryen success story in his great-grandparents. Start small -- with smallfolk. Peasant court, beggar feasts, making sure the people know him, and that he can understand them on some level. He can never fully balance the scale without the Lords of the realm killing him outright, but he can at least enforce some new rights and make the plight a little easier. Some might grumble he spent too much time among common sailors in his youth, and they might be right -- he does this to aid those who there there for him on his ascent but will be forgotten by the singers.

Trade. Economy would be a major aspect of Laerion's rule. He's got connections in Ess0s and he needs to pull those strings before they can be pulled from the other side. He wants to bring prosperity to his realm in a way that will last, something that outlives him and benefits all in the kingdom. Strengthening bonds overseas, making sure that the gold and goods are spread around within Wester0s, provided he actually has a head for economy and not just trade, he might just get somewhere. Worst case scenario is he falls for some Trickle Down Economics spiel and starts over-rewarding certain nobles for their part in the game expecting them to actually pass it on to those who worked the fields/looms/mines.

Personal diplomacy is definitely going to be where he suffers most. He's very easygoing, not fussed with certain aspects of life. In mainverse, it's very 'I find someone I love and settle into bliss or I don't, it doesn't matter, my siblings have the family covered for future generations.' A king can't do that. A king can favor his relatives, but not without some backlash for his nepotism. I think balancing his fondness for the Velary0ns and his exhaustion with his mother's kin would be a hard line for him to walk. You can't exactly wine and conversation Daem0n into behaving as is his most common trick to foster amiable relationships. He'd have to send the madman to the Wall if he was still up and kicking at the time of Laerion's coronation just to know peace.

(Vizzy would be fine in this setting. Dude is making models of Valyr1a, his beloved wife is probably still alive due to not being a broodmare for the Throne, he's got a hellion daughter to mind and spoil, he's doubtless floating through court winning at life. It's Daem0n that would be the sore loser about the Council and we all know it.)

Back on track. I think he definitely makes personal plays to mitigate the control others have on his personal life and his future children. No Great House marriage, and definitely no marrying back into the family. He'd likely aim for a lower but still prominent House with no grand designs, or at least those that could not be brought to heel. Ed floated Bolton as a potential match, but I could as easily see Tarth, Frey, Dayne, Reyne, Royce, similar 'known but not as hot of shit as their liege lords' Houses. I also think he might indulge in more of a love match, but not totally guileless. He wouldn't marry solely to serve his position, but he also wouldn't ruin it with a disadvantageous match based solely on compatibility.

Wild as it is, I can also see him establishing something regarding Dragons. Regulations, perhaps. He is no rider himself, and based on certain maternal relatives, he'd like to keep the scaled nukes on a tighter leash. He might not be able to control Dragons proper, Targ blood aside, but he can control those who would approach.

Lots of progresses! He'd miss sailing so much, being landlocked, he'd want to sail to every place he could when his schedule allowed. Lords are either sick of him or love this man for the energy he brings every time he drops in. He also makes sure the smallfolk see and know him not just in KL, which serves his own ends.

Overall, I think his legacy is pretty good to the little people he gives a shit about. I'm less certain about the histories written by those in power, be they Noble or Church. I can see him being held up as a mild but successful king in pursuit of servicing the realm, if perhaps something of a nuisance or bitch for the way he treats his council. Didn't quite live up to the splendor of a king. Sept might go for it, but nobles likely mock it. Considered an underwhelming but not necessarily bad follow up to his mother's rule, more someone who laid the foundation for his own dynasty off of his mother's works.

[purinsesukinny]

Special Day

in which kenny’s siblings and friends scrounge up the resources to celebrate his birthday

Pairings: slight k2, mostly gen and friendship

Word count: 3032

Warnings for: none! just some light angst

[AO3 Link]

Kevin re-counted the amount of money in his hands, down to the last penny, and blinked. 

“Mrs Marsh, I think you gave me too much.”

She peered over her glasses at him. She glanced at the money, and said, after a moment, “No, honey, I gave you exactly the amount I meant to give you.” Then, she went right back to the farm’s accounting books.

And normally, Kevin wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this was thirty extra dollars. He took the bills back out, holding them out to her insistently. “It just don’t feel right, ma’am.”

Every week for the past year or so, Kevin McCormick found himself down at Tegridy Farms because Karen wanted piano lessons, and Shelly Marsh was the only person in town who Kevin knew was offering. Of course, that didn’t mean he had the money to pay for them— instead, he offered to do her favors for the lessons, and was aptly confused when she sputtered, turned red, then swung her heavy backpack at his head. 

Which was how he ended up doing her chores. 

So, every week, while Karen plunked away at piano keys —becoming a downright prodigy, if Shelly’s begrudging comments were to be believed— Kevin worked the fields and packaged the products with Mr Marsh, and if he had the time, he helped Mrs Marsh juggle numbers. This was where getting paid came in, since it wasn’t really part of Shelly’s chores, and Kevin was good at math when it mattered. (Being good at math when it mattered meant that the lights stayed on through dinner and that the household had hot water until next month.)

He was happy to help, happy to get paid for it, and when he asked Mrs Marsh if her husband was really okay with paying him for the extra work, she’d said, “What he doesn’t know won’t kill him. And if it does, good.”

She waved him off. “Kenny’s birthday is coming up, right? Consider this a gift from the Marsh family.”

“Oh, okay.” Kevin stared at it a bit longer, starting to turn pink. “...What should I get with it?”

“Something nice, Kevin!” She gave him an incredulous look that softened when he curled in on himself. “What do you usually get him for his birthday?”

He thought about it for a moment. “Gloves. New socks, if I have enough.” He shrugged. Anything that wasn’t threadbare and could actually help keep the cold out. Shit, he should visit the thrift store soon. He mentally set aside clothing money from what he’d just gotten. 

“Well, what does he like?”

“Um.” Porn? Drugs? Cats? He couldn’t get Kenny any of those. How was he supposed to explain to her that he’d never had to worry about getting his siblings presents they’d like before, since before they hadn’t had the money to even consider it? It was too many words, and would've garnered more sad looks than he was comfortable with. The longer he sat there, not answering, the heavier the weight of her eyes became. It was making his hands clammy, so finally he just shrugged again. “Nas…car…?” 

Brother of the year, really. 

Karen would know what to get him.

He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his clammy, gross hands as Mrs Marsh said, gently, “Listen, sweetheart, Karen’s probably done with her lesson by now. Why don’t you go meet her out front?”

“Yeah… Thank you, Mrs Marsh.”

Ah, he realized as Karen hopped up into the passenger seat of his truck, chattering brightly about this sick riff she finally learned how to do, I never did get her to take the money back.

---

Tegridy Farms was thirty minutes out from the town proper, and after about ten minutes of listlessly replying to Karen, she spent a moment just staring at him. 

“So, Kev,” she started, pulling her leg up to rest her chin on her knee. 

“Foot off the seat, Karen.”

She set her foot back down. “So, Kev,” she tried again. “Where are we going?”

He spared her a confused glance before shifting his eyes back to the road. “Home? Where else?”

“Wha— Home?! But you said we would go shopping for Kenny’s present today!”

“Oh.” He had said that, hadn’t he? He rubbed idly at the old scar that cut through his left eyebrow. “Hey,” he remembered the earlier conversation with Mrs Marsh. “What kind of present do ya think Kenny would like?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, he glanced in her direction again, only to see her with the same amount of guilt on her face as he felt roiling through his stomach. She smiled nervously. “...um. Porn?” 

“...we can’t get him porn, Kare.”

She threw her hands up. “I know we can’t get him porn, which was why I was hoping you would know what to get him!” She huffed and crossed her arms while Kevin snickered at her expression. “It’s just like– I know he likes singing, but what else do you need besides your voice for that? I know he likes tinkering with the junk out in the front yard, but that’s the thing about tinkering with junk– all you need is junk!” He nodded along as she ranted; those were his thoughts exactly. (Kind of.) Then, Karen quieted, turning somber. “Come to think of it… he hasn’t been doing that stuff too much lately, has he?”

Kevin paused a little, in his movement to turn down the car’s stereo. He racked his brain for everything he’d noticed about their brother in the last couple of weeks, wanting to refute the point. But it was true. Kenny really hadn’t sung in a while. Not in the shower, nor while doing dishes, humming little ditties off the top of his head. He also hadn’t come into the house with his hands covered in grease, grinning over his latest metal monstrosity and showing it off to everyone who cared to listen. 

Kenny, lately, had instead gotten into the habit of staring vacantly off into space, only stirring when addressed. He made barbed comments more often than he laughed, and he was starting to spend more of the time he was home holed up in his room. And Kevin would’ve chalked it up to hormones, except for the fact that he knew that Kenny spent as much time as he could with his friends before high school began. Between them and his part-time job at City Wok, there was no reason why he should be at home, holed up in his room, so frequently. 

…unless something happened with his friends? It wasn’t like they didn’t talk anymore. Kenny’s friends still came over every now and then, making a ruckus and causing mayhem in the McCormick’s barely-standing household. So…?

“Y’know, Kenny’s been saying…” Karen was chewing on her bottom lip, fiddling with the drawstrings of her jacket. “He’s been saying that he’s scared that his friends aren’t gonna have time for him anymore.”

Kevin blinked. They were entering the town now, buildings accumulating as they drove. “He told you that?” He was honestly surprised that Kenny actually said it. Getting anything out of him, sometimes, was like pulling teeth. (Or, maybe, it was more that Karen was a talker and Kevin simply wasn’t.)

“I mean, not in those exact words. But he keeps talking about it– growing older, growing out of the things that you used to enjoy, forgetting things from when you were a kid.” Forgetting people, too hung unspoken in the air. 

It was like he believed he had already been left behind. 

And how could Kevin ever fix something like that? He’d never been blessed with the “big brother” powers Karen used to joke about Kenny having. He’d never been anyone’s guardian angel, least of all Kenny’s. 

He puzzled over the question as he drove, absentmindedly asking, “Where were you thinking of going first?”

“Oh! Can we go to the library, actually? Tricia wanted me to make a copy of this picture I took…” The rest of her words faded out in Kevin’s ears as he finally figured it out. 

He hit the brakes. “ Karen, you’re a genius!”

“ Aah!! How?!”

---

So far, for his birthday, Kenny’d gotten a $25 gift card to Bennigan’s with a neat little card from Butters, the entire first season of Hamtaro on DVD with a sticky note that read get cultured, bitch from Craig, and a set of cake pops in a baggie from Tweek that Cartman had demanded a stick of at lunch. All in all —though he was now down two cake pops, because Eric had snagged another one while he wasn’t looking— not a bad haul. All that, plus Kyle had invited the boys (Cartman included begrudgingly) over to his house after the school day, so Kenny even had Mrs Broflovski’s awesome cooking to look forward to. 

After a long period of shitty day after shitty day, it finally felt like today was going to be a good one. 

On the bus, Cartman invited him to a game of heads-up poker, and by the time they arrived at their stop, Kenny had soundly beaten his opponent, winning $50 doing it. “God dammit!” hissed Cartman, throwing the dollar bills at him.

Kenny gathered them up off the ground. “Shouldn’t’ve bet so much,” he responded, licking his fingers and thumbing through his earnings. “I warned you, man.”

“Remind me to never get you a present again,” Cartman muttered darkly as Kyle and Stan joined them on the sidewalk.

“You got me a present?”

“Well, no.”

Kenny rolled his eyes. 

“You’re an ass, Cartman.” Kyle shoved past him to open the door. 

Stepping through the doorway, Kenny’s eyes widened at the banner strung across the Broflovski’s living room, the streamers hanging from every corner, and finally at the poppers he was greeted with. He blinked. “Karen? Kevin? What’re you guys doing here?”

Karen and Ike each had a popper in hand, beaming up at him while Kevin stood a little more off to the side, wearing a smaller smile. Swallowing, Kenny took another look around. This was… really nice. He knew that Kyle had wanted him to come over because it was his birthday, but he didn’t think it would be like this. Decorations and the whole nine-yards. There was a pie on the table with a candle in it, waiting to be lit. Everyone was putting on party hats. His siblings were even here.

Kyle nudged him with his shoulder. “Do you like it?”

Nodding slowly, Kenny looked at him with what he hoped wasn’t a watery expression. “...pie?” he asked.

“‘Wishing You a Happy Birthday’ apple pie. Made it myself. It’s a bit of a working title, but ultimately I thought you’d appreciate the reference anyways.” Kyle grinned when Kenny giggled.

“Kenny!” cried Karen, coming up in-between them. She pulled him forward to sit in front of his birthday pie. “Sit down and blow out your candles so we can get to your presents! Kevin and I got you the best present ever, it’s gonna kick all these other mofos’ presents outta the water!”

A bit later saw him staring down into the flickering light of fourteen candles. Watching the fire dance made his chest feel cold. Another year older. Already, Kyle was spending more time practicing basketball with Tolkien and Jason, hoping to make it onto the varsity team fresh out of middle school. He’ll probably study like crazy, making new friend groups that could actually keep up with him academically. Even if he still saw Stan every day at school, Stan was talking about starting to volunteer at the animal shelter in Denver, and the farm was too far out for him to visit just whenever. But maybe if it was for their band… And Cartman was cagier than ever about what his plans for the future were, but Cartman’s plans could always be trusted to be stupid enough to bring the four of them back together. In sickness and in health, and all that. 

The coldness had moved from his chest to his stomach. He was nervous, like actually nervous about this. As if not blowing out the damn candles can keep him from getting older. As if he could transfer his immortality over to the flames, and that would keep him from dying and being forgotten and dying and being forgotten, and suddenly the day that death finally sticks and his friends just fucking forget all about him altogether isn’t something to worry about anymore.

“Make a wish, Kenny,” murmured Karen.

With his heart in his throat, he closed his eyes and prayed that he and his friends could keep being dumbasses together. He blew out the candles.

Hearing a quiet click!, he opened his eyes amidst the cheering, locking gazes with his older brother. Kevin had a fancy camera in his hands that Kenny wasn’t sure where he’d gotten it from, but he couldn’t quite focus on it because Karen was cheering in his ear and Ike and Cartman were high-fiving because they’d both started requesting slices from the pie at the same time and Kyle was yelling at them both to shut up and Stan was pushing a box gently into Kenny’s hands and holy shit it was the Phyrexian Faves expansion pack.

“You know this is gonna make me pretty much undefeatable now, right?”

Stan rubbed his nose. “Nah, I’m only giving myself a handicap. I don’t wanna wipe the floor with you too hard next time we play.”

“Oh yeah? Wanna go right now?” Stan’s face paled, shaking his head ‘no’ as Kenny continued, “Come one, come all, gather ‘round for the rematch between reigning champion Kenny McCormick and challenger Stan Marsh, whose record remains a steady 0-33!”

“We don’t have time to watch Stan get his ass kicked at Magic,” deadpanned Ike. “There’s pie.”

Cartman nodded sagely. “Ike’s the only one around here that gets it.”

Kyle paused from where he was setting out plates, then shook his head. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about you saying that.”

Once Ike ran off with his slice of pie and Kenny’s friends had grabbed slices themselves, Karen waved her arms to get their attention. She was holding the fancy camera Kevin had been holding earlier. “Say cheese!” This time, after the flash, he curiously watched as film printed from the bottom of the camera. “I’ll give it to you in a sec, I know ya wanna see it,” she said, sweetness coloring her voice. “It takes about a minute to develop.” 

The minute passed, all four boys clambering over each other to look at the finished product. Kenny held his breath at the photo. It was just a normal picture of the four of them— Kyle and Cartman looking moments from getting into a fistfight, Stan with his hands on Kyle’s shoulders talking him down, and Kenny leaning over the table to steal a bit of Cartman’s pie right from under his nose. 

“Doesn’t look bad, right?” Kevin leaned over his shoulder to take a look at the photo himself. “Got you a camera. We thought it might help you with making memories and everything, since y’all are going into high school.”

“Wait, we need like three more of these!” Kyle cried out before he could fully process Kevin’s words. 

Kenny’s friends gathered into a cluster around him as Karen giggled and lifted the camera again, clicking the shutter once, twice, three times. She set the undeveloped film down again, repeating the process; after a minute, Cartman flipped over the photos and started cackling. “I look so good, and then there’s Stan!” He continued cackling, pointing at Stan in each of the photos. He was blinking in one, looking very high in the other, and in the last one, he was still busy fixing his hat. Cartman, meanwhile, had the same expression that he wore in all his photos, the one that specifically made him look like an angel. 

Kyle, too, was smiling in each of the pictures, with only one difference in the first one where he’d spent just a moment too long watching Kenny out of the corner of his eye. It was the same way he was probably watching him now, since a lump had risen in Kenny’s throat as Cartman and Stan were starting to yell. Kenny pulled his hood up and tightened the drawstrings in an attempt at hiding the way tears were welling up in his eyes. The room was full of his favorite people in the world, but that didn’t mean his brother and his friends weren’t going to heckle the hell out of him for crying like a baby over a couple of pictures.

So he didn’t cry, not one bit. Not even when Kyle pulled him into a hug, nor when Stan left the argument to throw his arms around the two of them. Not when Karen joined in, pulling Cartman in after her, and definitely not when Kevin momentarily set aside his aversion to touch to ruffle Kenny’s hair. Nope. “This is gay as hell,” he said, instead of crying.

He spent the rest of the day practicing taking pictures with the camera, with Cartman directing him on how to optimize lighting and angles and film storage for the best photos, since “a poor fuck like him” wouldn’t know how to properly use an instant camera. He took pictures of his sister sitting at the Broflovski’s piano to teach Ike a simple melody line of something from the Minecraft OST, of Kyle and Stan yelling at each other as they played Mario Kart, of Mrs Broflovski laughing brightly at a joke Kevin told. Cartman posed for him in front of the window, and as the sun set, Mrs Broflovski insisted that the McCormick siblings take a picture altogether.

And after that, Kenny still didn’t cry, but he did tuck the camera under the loose floorboard in his room. With the photos… he looked around his room. There was a bit of wallspace next to his window that he hadn’t covered up with posters. 

He needed some tacks…

---

a/n: happy belated birthday to the specialest boy on planet earth!!!!! i wanted to write him a little fic, but when i mean "little fic" i meant more like 500 words.... 100 words.... i was lucky that i was on break this week so i could knock this out so fast (like three days-ish. last time i wrote anything this long, it took me like a month... yeah i know ._.)

anyways i put so many headcanons in this bad boy!!!!! (i forgot to mention on ao3, but i also put a reference to a musical in there. lmk if you recognized it!!!) it was really self-indulgent and fun for me, but i hope you guys liked it too <3

happy belated kenny day 🧡🧡🧡

[unhetalia]

People don't realise it, but Alfred is actually a lot more soft-hearted and forgiving than his twin. Matthew's more personable, for sure, but he's cutthroat AND he holds grudges.

Baby Alfred chose Arthur because he saw Arthur was sad. He chose to comfort a stranger over FOOD, which we know Alfred loves. He barely hesitated.

I like to think Matthew watched Francis be sad about losing to Arthur for two weeks before finally deciding, well, his food DOES look good...

When someone wrongs Alfred he's pretty okay with either ignoring it or forgiving it; Matthew is taking notes and treating it like it's a personal insult and he is NOT letting it go. (When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, Matthew had Canada declaring war before America even did - man does NOT fuck around about defending his baby brother when he needs to).

Alfred doesn't get a free pass, either. If Matthew does something hurtful or annoying, Alfred barely flinches and just moves on. He forgives and forgets easily. Mattie is HOLDING A GRUDGE and bringing it up for the next twenty five years. Sometimes, he goes too far in retaliating, and then Alfred is crying and Matthew loses the high ground and feels guilty. But after Alfred's done crying he's quick to forgive, so Matthew's not really learning any lessons on restraint.

When you wrong him and you're NOT his brother... well, philosophically, is it really murder if you know they'll come back to life?

[a-z0-9-i-n-gram-completionist]

1:    a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p r s t u w y    21/36    (21/26)    ⚢7/7⚢

2:    aa ag ai al an as at ba bb be bi bl ch ci co di dy ea eb ed ee ei el en er es ey ff fi fl ge ha he ia ib ic id ie il in is it kn la lb le li ll lm ln ls me mu na ne ng ni no ns of os ou ow pe ra re sa sb sd se si sn sp ss st tc te th tu ur us yi yo    83/1296    (83/676)    ⚢40/49⚢

3:    aaa ail alb ale ali all als ana ang ani ans ase asi ass atu bal ban bas bbi bbl bea bee bia bib bis ble bli cha cia cos did dyi ean eba eel een eis eli ell ens era esb ffi fic fla ged han hey ial ian ibb ibi ibl ici ien ies ill iln ine ing ini isd ise ite kno lag lba lee les lie lil lin lit lli llm lme lna lsa mus nai nan nas nge nia nib nie nis now nsi off ost pel rat rei sal sas sbi sdy seb sen ses sib sil sin sna spe ssa ssi sss stc tco tel ter the tur ure use yin you    119/46656    (119/17576)    ⚢76/343⚢

4:    aaaa alba alee alie alsa anan ange ania anie aseb asil assa assi atur bale ball bani base basi bbib bble bean beel bian bibb bibl bise bles blin chan cial cost dyin eani eans ebal eeli eisd elin elli ellm ensi erat esbi ffic fici flag hang ibbi ibbl ibis ible icia illi ilna inis isdy ises iter know lban leen lesb lien lies liln line ling lini lite llie llin llme lnas muse nail nana nged nian nibb nies nsib offi ostc pell ratu reis sals sass sbia sdyi seba sens sibl sill snai spel ssas ssin ssss stco tell tera they ture urei ying    107/1679616    (107/456976)    ⚢71/2401⚢

5:    aaaaa alban aleen alien anana anged anian anies aseba assas assin ature balee bania baseb basil bbibb bbles beani beans beeli bibbi bible bises blini chang costc dying eanie eball eelin eisdy eline ellin ellme ensib eratu esbia ffici ficia hange ibble ibise icial illie ilnas isdyi itera lbani lesbi lilna linis liter llies lling nanan nibbl nsibl offic ostco pelli ratur reisd salsa sassi sbian sdyin sebal sensi sible silli snail spell ssass sssss tellm terat turei ureis    79/60466176    (79/11881376)    ⚢52/16807⚢

6:    aaaaaa albani asebal assass aturei baleen banian baseba bbibbi beanie beelin blinis change costco eanies eeline eisdyi elling ensibl eratur esbian fficia ficial hanged ibbles ibises illies isdyin iterat lbania lesbia lilnas litera nanana nibble nsible offici pellin rature reisdy sassin sdying seball sensib sillie spelli ssassi ssssss tellme teratu tureis ureisd    52/2176782336    (52/308915776)    ⚢30/117649⚢

7:    aaaaaaa albania aseball assassi atureis basebal beanies beeline changed eisdyin ensible erature fficial isdying iteratu lbanian lesbian literat nibbles officia pelling raturei reisdyi sensibl sillies spellin ssassin teratur tureisd ureisdy    30/78364164096    (30/8031810176)    ⚢14/823543⚢

8:    aaaaaaaa albanian assassin atureisd baseball eisdying eraturei iteratur literatu official ratureis reisdyin sensible spelling terature tureisdy ureisdyi    17/2821109907456    (17/208827064576)    ⚢5/5764801⚢

9:    aaaaaaaaa atureisdy eratureis iterature literatur ratureisd reisdying teraturei tureisdyi ureisdyin    10/101559956668416    (10/5429503678976)    ⚢1/40353607⚢

10:    aaaaaaaaaa atureisdyi eratureisd iteraturei literature ratureisdy teratureis tureisdyin ureisdying    9/3656158440062976    (9/141167095653376)    ⚢1/282475249⚢

11:    aaaaaaaaaaa atureisdyin eratureisdy iteratureis literaturei ratureisdyi teratureisd tureisdying    8/131621703842267136    (8/3670344486987776)    ⚢1/1977326743⚢

12:    aaaaaaaaaaaa atureisdying eratureisdyi iteratureisd literatureis ratureisdyin teratureisdy    7/4738381338321616896    (7/95428956661682176)    ⚢1/13841287201⚢

13:    aaaaaaaaaaaaa eratureisdyin iteratureisdy literatureisd ratureisdying teratureisdyi    6/170581728179578208256    (6/2481152873203736576)    ⚢1/96889010407⚢

14:    aaaaaaaaaaaaaa eratureisdying iteratureisdyi literatureisdy teratureisdyin    5/6140942214464815497216    (5/64509974703297150976)    ⚢1/678223072849⚢

15:    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa iteratureisdyin literatureisdyi teratureisdying    4/221073919720733357899776    (4/1677259342285725925376)    ⚢1/4747561509943⚢

16:    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa iteratureisdying literatureisdyin    3/7958661109946400884391936    (3/43608742899428874059776)    ⚢1/33232930569601⚢

17:    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa literatureisdying    2/286511799958070431838109696    (2/1133827315385150725554176)    ⚢1/232630513987207⚢

18:    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa    1/10314424798490535546171949056    (1/29479510200013918864408576)    ⚢1/1628413597910449⚢

...

90:    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa    1/116741446195279078628053382791335881633270131715832481723779676398836856930282974584939114053628368372944886748404030500135265750611474251776    (1/22263903829969996912976647181757169390323557208501249825339683936386553656853271234102179783588778043841325996746915453260005376)    ⚢1/11450477594321044359340126713545146077054004823284978858214566372120240027249⚢

lesbian 2-grams missed in this post: ab, ae, bn, bs, ii, nb, nl, nn, sl

[shadowserenity28]

Serena Shadowens

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕠𝕗 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕖, 𝕒 𝕤𝕙𝕪 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒 𝕓𝕚𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥. 𝕊𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕠 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥, 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕕𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖…

━━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

“If any of you knew what I know, you’d have an existential crisis.”

━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━━

~General information~

Full name

Serena Shadowens

Pronunciation

Se-re-na

Sha-do-wens

Meanings

First name:

Serena

Latin origin, means clear, tranquil and serene

Last name:

Shadowens

Rare British last name, meaning unknown

Nicknames:

Shadow

Madame Trickster(Rook)

Shrimpy (Floyd)

Sex:

Female

Gender:

Female

Age:

19

Date of birth

28th June

Zodiac sign

Cancer

Sexuality

Straight

Nationality

German

Homeland

Germany

Place of residence

Ramshackle Dorm at Night Raven College

Job/Occupation

Student

♡Relationships♡

Family

Unnamed parents

Unnamed stepmother

Three Unnamed siblings

Friends

Ace

Deuce

Jack

Epel

Malleus

Significant Other

None

━━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━

“I’ll never call my family crazy again…”

━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━━

◇Appearance◇

Skin tone

Generally pale, but tanned in summer

Eyes

almond eyes, brown

Hair

shoulder-long, brown hair with purple underneath

Height

1,72 m

Weight

99 kg

Body type

A little chubbier, most of which is in the upper legs and lower stomach.

Birthmarks

three moles next to her right eye

Clothes and accessories

Serena usually wears comfy and practical clothes, she has lots of hoodies with Mickey Mouse on them. But occasionally, she enjoys wearing dresses and skirts.

Special features

She always wears three festival ribbons on her right wrist.

━━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━

“I don’t get the Savannaclaw guys… what’s so fun about running in circles?”

━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━━

.°. Personality .°.

Description

Serena is kind and easy to get along with. Among big groups or people she doesn’t know too well, she’s rather shy and quiet, often overwhelmed by the presence of the others. But among people she’s close to, she is way more open and enjoys cracking jokes. She dislikes fighting and avoids it at all costs, if she can’t avoid it the fight usually ends with her crying from anger. Most of the time, she can blend in very well and not be noticed by others. She will help the people around her in every way she can.

While she is a creative person and loves everything crafty from drawing and writing to building little models and crocheting, she has a very scientific mindset, which shows itself in her career choice and in how adept she is in chemistry and biology. She also thinks of magic as a type of science.

Likes and loves

Science

Disney

Languages

Drawing

Writing

Festivals

Dislikes and hates

Noise

Disorder

Intolerant behavior

Running

Good traits

Creative

Smart

Kind

Funny

Bad traits

Reticent

Shy

Forgetful

Socially awkward

Habits

Biting her lip

Bobbing her foot

Hopes and Ambitions

Serena wants to work in a forensic laboratory to help with solving crimes.

Motivations

She has always been interested in the human body, but she knew that she lacked the social competence to be a doctor. So she opted for her second most interest, crime solving. Again, she couldn’t handle speaking to victims or potential suspects, so she decided she wants to work in a laboratory where she evaluates the evidence found at the scene of the crime.

Fears

Heights

Spiders

Riddle

Insecurities

She feels down whenever she has to analyze something poetic or needs to understand idioms, as she often struggles with them.

Biggest Dream

Becoming a forensic scientist

Pet Peeves

Letting paint brushes stand in the water

Open doors

Too much on the table

Favorites

Favorite color

Purple

Least favorite color

Orange

Favorite food

Sushi

Least favorite food

Brussels sprouts

Favorite drink

cola

Least favorite drink

iso-drink

Trivia

-Serena is a self-insert, so most of the information as well as her looks are based on Shadow Serenity.

-To not share too much personal information, some of the information has been altered or exaggerated.

-Serena is the vice prefect of Ramshackle, the prefect being Naomi

-Originally, Naomi had the nicknames “Madame Trickster” and “Shrimpy” but these have now been transferred to Serena.

-Serena Shadowens is a play on Shadow Serenity.

-If Serena had magic, she would be in Pomefiore due to her scientific knowledge

-Serena knows the stories of the Great Seven from how they were told in our world, but decides not to say anything about it.

-Aside from drawing and writing, she also does crocheting and embroidery.

-Naomi and Serena share the spot of the MC. They usually work together, though one might shine more than the other in different chapters.

━━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━

“Why are you all coming to me? I’m literally magicless.”

━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━━

~•~ School Life ~•~

School

Night Raven College

Dormitory

Ramshackle Dorm

Year

First

Class

1-A

Student Number

Nr. 9

Best school subject

Potionology

Worst school subject

P.E.

Club

Science Club

━━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━

“I want to go home, but… I’ve never had so many friends before.”

━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━━

Backstory

Hehehe ... Wouldn't you like to know?(•̀ᴗ•́)

━━━━━━━━━~•~━━━━━━━━

“If you always look back, you’ll run against a wall. So I look forward to everything.”

[marin3llyells]

Unto the first days of a new year; 2024.

Spent a whole day with the family at Indang, Cavite wherein the place was not crowded as if we got it for ourselves. I honestly loved the idea that we only planned to go out but without specific plans on what activities to do or even having a specific place to go to. I even got to realized that I was no good at navigating google maps as we have missed turns since I was not able to direct which turns to take, during that time I was always late to say it out loud and the google map needs to re-route multiple times.

Still we ended up to a place wherein it actually fits our preference of being able to avoid heavy traffic and crowded place. It was so peaceful.

Peaceful— I meant, good food, time well spent away from all our usual routine and errands such as school works for my siblings and work for my parents and I. We were also able to enjoy our own "thing" such as painting and journaling for myself. Took lovely photos as well! And best part was, got to play monoply as initiated by our bunso, Bing. 🤍 (she won btw!)

Our January first was really a good recharge as I was also able to return to work with a fresh start. I was able to perform sessions with my students as if di ko ramdam yung pagod. My heart was definitely happy. This continued for few more days after.

One thing I also appreciate was receiving a gift from my brother. We've been talking about dressing up, improving outfit styles lately, and yep, I was taught to going back to basics. I've been receiving jeans from him which definitely was a step forward for me in embracing other styles than my usual fitted jeans and a shirt.

Sagot niya one basic top from a brand I would've never buy from as a kuripot sa sarili, or probably it was still something I'm working on for myself. This time tho, I bought 2 more shirts that time alone. Thanks to my brother for encouraging. I love being reminded unconsiously to do better on treating myself other than buying myself coffee most of the time. It actually motivated me in gaining more self confidence, lalo nung nakikita ko sarili ko sa isang malaking mirror during fitting. Sakto pang may new body mirror ako since mama and dad tried to save a mirror from a vintage cabinet na inaanay, sakin na lang raw. Siempre yes na yes agad! Placed it in my room and took photos as I pair the shirts I bought with another short I got on a thrift shop with my brother few months back. Reading a message (as feedback lol) "bagay nga" was a big yey moment for me, lalo di ako usually nagsusuot ng ganung klaseng outfit dati.

Anyways...

I'm really looking forward that this year will motivate me to do more, be encouraged to better on both small and big things. Lalo na hearing mama saying, "24 ka na". It was definitely a reminder that I have to face adult life. (Scary, tbh!!!)

By the next few days; even months, I know I'm still preparing for more attempts on improvements and embracing challenges. Yes, I'm still scared, but as one of my aunties say, "It has to be done".

Good thing I found new bunch of people that could potentially be part of venturing a new journey. Sana nga nakaka-motivate rin ako para sa ibang taong nakakasalamuha ko.

For now, I'll yell for motivating myself and shoo away my negative thoughts.

Ewan ko, siguro tama rin namang mapagod sa pagiging takot na mag-stay sa comfort zone at failures na nangyari. Surely, it's happening to simply see how far we'll get.

I'm happy to share that fear is what could remind as that there are some things we still value, which potentially will help us to do better. Kaya takot, kasi may halaga at gusto kasi talaga natin mga bagay na yun.

I'll definitely get back to this, hopefully, in a way that I'm already done with just dwelling with the past and already celebrating what "attempts" of doing better has good results already. Yung masasabing may bunga na lahat, klaro na kung bakit nangyayari mga di inaasahan.

Cheers to our attempts for the past year of surviving. Let's kickstart with a fresh one—mindset ba!

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

Granite Hills Bios: Dallas Gray (1980)

Filmography, History, Music Technology & Theatrical Studies Student D. N. Gray.

Student & Member of multiple groups Dallas Nathaniel Gray.

"Jethro, introduce us to your new friends."

Name

Full Legal Name: Dallas Nathaniel Gray

First Name: Dallas

Meaning: From a surname that could either be of Old English origin meaning 'Valley house' or of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning 'Meadow Dwelling'.

Pronunciation: DAL-as

Origin: English

Middle Name: Nthaniel

Meaning: Variant of 'Nathanael', from the Hebrew name 'Netan'el' meaning 'God has given', from the elements 'Natan' meaning 'To give' and ''El' meaning 'God'.

Pronunciation: na-THAN-yal

Origin: English, Biblical

Surname: Gray

Meaning: From a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.

Pronunciation: GRAY

Origin: English

Titles: Mr

Nicknames: Nathan, Nate, Nat, Niel

Goes By: Dallas (Pronounced: DAL-as)

Characteristics

Age: 23

Gender: Male. He/Him Pronouns

Nationality: American Citizen. Born in America

Ethnicity: White. American

Birth Date: 25th February 1957

Sexuality: Straight

Religion: Christian

Native Language: English

Known Languages: English

Relationship Status: Single

Astrological Sign: Pisces

Played By: Brendan Fraser

Appearance

Height: 6'3" / 192 cm

Eye Colour: Blue

Hair Colour: Brown

Hair Dye: None

Body Hair: Sparse

Facial Hair: Mostly Clean Shaven

Tattoos: None

Piercings: None

Scars: None

Health and Fitness

Allergies: None

Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker

Illnesses/Disorders: None Diagnosed

Medications: None

Any Specific Diet: None

Relationships

Affiliated Groups: Camera Heads, Fencing Club, Historical Re-Enactment Society, Music Appreciation Society

Friends: Monique Curtis, Andrew Garfield, Ruben Valdez, Luke Flynn, Orlando Guerrero, Hugh Sweeney, Trenton Abbey, Ramona Dunn

Shares A Dorm With: Jethro Butcher, Quentin Hollister

Significant Other: None

Parents: York Gray (46, Father), Montana Gray (48, Mother, Née Green)

Siblings: None

Extras

Classes: Filmography, History, Music Technology, Theatrical Studies

Occupation: Student

Employer: None

Hobbies/Interests: basketball, running, swimming, rock climbing, dancing, reading, listening to music, playing guitar